A blessed and joyous Christmas to you all! Our community will be praying a Christmas Novena of Thanksgiving from tonight until January 1st for all our benefactors, family members, friends and all who have asked for our prayers.
Our Christmas Schedule at Cor Jesu Oratory (Sacred Heart Church, Edson, WI)is:
December 24, 10:30 PM Matins (Divine Office) followed by first Mass of Christmas in the Extraordinary Form December 25, 10:30 AM Third Mass of Christmas in the Extraordinary Form
January 1, 10:30 AM Mass in the Extraordinary Form
Directions to Cor Jesu may be found at our community's website: isjoseph.com.
VATICAN Let us prepare for Christmas by looking to Saint Joseph, says Pope During the Angelus, Benedict XVI entrusts all the pastors of the Church to the protection of Jesus’ lawful father so that they may offer the faithful and the world “Christ’s words and actions”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Today’s Angelus was devoted completely to the figure of Saint Joseph, a “righteous man” who bore witness to Mary’s virginity, God’s selfless deed”, and took care of “the earthly life of the Messiah”. Inspired by today’s Gospel (fourth day of Advent), Benedict XVI said that Saint Joseph was the “new man, who looked to the future with confidence and courage, who disregarded his own goals, but entrusts himself completely to the infinite mercy of the One who fulfils prophecies and opens time to salvation.” To him, the universal patron of the Church, the Pope entrusted all the bishops, urging them to “quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world”. Here is the full text of the Pope’s reflection before the Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s Square.
Dear brothers and sisters,
In this fourth Sunday of Advent, the Gospel of Saint Matthew tells us the story of Jesus’ birth through the eyes of Saint Joseph. He was betrothed to Mary, “but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit” (Mt,1:19), faithful to God’s law, and ready to do his will. For this reason, he becomes a party to the Mystery of the Incarnation when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt, 1:20-21). And so it came about that Joseph gave up the idea of quietly repudiating Mary, and took her in because at this moment his eyes could see in her the work of God.
In his commentary on Saint Luke, Saint Ambrose said, “in Joseph you find the friendliness of the righteous, to give greater worthiness to his standing as witness” (Exp. Ev. sec. Lucam II, 5: CCL 14, 32-33). “He,” Ambrose said, “could not contaminate the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of the Lord, the womb fecundated by mystery” (ibid, II, 6: CCL 14, 33). Despite his turmoil, Joseph did “as the angel of the Lord ordered”, certain that he was doing the right thing. Even when he gave the name “Jesus” to the child who carries the universe, he joined the army of humble and faithful servants, like the angels and the prophets as well as the martyrs and the apostles, praised in ancient eastern hymns. Saint Joseph announced the marvels of the Lord and bore witness to Mary’s virginity, God’s selfless deed, whilst protecting the early life of the Messiah. Let us venerate Jesus’ lawful father (cf CCC, 532), because in him we see new man, who looked to the future with confidence and courage, who disregarded his own goals, but entrusted himself completely to the infinite mercy of the One who fulfils prophecies and opens time to salvation.
Dear friends, I wish to entrust all pastors to Saint Joseph, universal patron of the Church, urging them to “quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world,” (Letter proclaiming a Year for Priests). May our life join more and more the Person of Jesus, because the “One who is the Word takes on Himself a body, comes from God as a man and draws to himself the whole of humanity, bringing it into the word of God (Gesù di Nazaret, Milan: 2007, 383).
Let us confidently call on the Virgin Mary, full of grace, “adorned with God”, so that on this coming Christmas, our eyes might open and see Jesus, and the heart rejoice in this admirable meeting of love.
"Do not fear this nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I, your Mother, not here? Are you not under my protection? Do not be afflicted by the illness of your uncle; he is now cured."
Allow these beautiful words of comfort, assurance and love of our blessed Lady to fill your heart with joy. She is truly our Mother, our Protectress, and our Guide.
The feast of our Lady of Loreto, the Virgin of Nazareth, has a special significance for our community. The Holy House of Nazareth in Loreto, Italy was transferred there according to legend by angels to protect it from being destroyed by the Muslims. The statue in our Advent weathe is a replica of the statue at this shrine. May our Lady of Nazareth, Patroness of the Unborn, help of sick and dying, refuge of sinners, and loving guide for all families, pray for all us!
Worthy of belief Bishop Ricken approves Marian apparitions at Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help GREEN BAY, Wis. (December 8, 2010) -- Bishop David Ricken announced today that he officially approves the Marian apparitions at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help at Champion.
The announcement was made during a special Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help at Champion.
Declared with moral certainty
Reading from his decree, the Bishop stated, "I declare with moral certainty and in accord with the norms of the Church that the events, apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in October of 1859 do exhibit the substance of supernatural character, and I do hereby approve these apparitions as worthy of belief (although not obligatory) by the Christian faithful."
Today’s declaration makes Our Lady of Good Help at Champion the first and only site in the United States of an approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Three apparitions in 1859
In October 1859, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on three occasions to Adele Brise, a young Belgian immigrant. Brise stated that a lady dressed in dazzling white appeared to her and claimed to be the "Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners."
The Lady asked Brise to pray for sinners, as well as to gather the children and teach them what they should know for salvation. The Blessed Virgin followed the commands with these words of assurance to Adele Brise, "Go and fear nothing, I will help you."
Since 1859, countless faithful have made the pilgrimage to Champion, Wisconsin to offer prayers of thanksgiving and petition to Jesus and to ask for intercession from Our Lady of Good Help.
Fulfilling obligations
After receiving the apparitions, Adele Brise immediately began to fulfill the obligations the Blessed Virgin entrusted to her. She gathered local children and taught them how to pray, make the sign of the cross, and to give love, thanks, and praise to the Lord.
As part of her commitment to the Blessed Virgin, Brise set up a Catholic school and began a community of Third Order Franciscan women. Eventually, a school and convent were built on the grounds to further the mission entrusted to Brise. Spared during Peshtigo fire
The 151-year history of the Shrine is rich with written and oral accounts of prayers that have been answered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. The sources document physical healings and conversions that have taken place as a result of pilgrimages to the Shrine.
In addition, as the Peshtigo fire of 1871 engulfed the surrounding area, the entire five acres of land consecrated to the Blessed Virgin remained unscathed. It is believed that the land was spared after Brise organized a prayer vigil that circled the area.
Contact Deacon Ray DuBois Director of Communications Phone: (920) 272-8213 or 1-877-500-3580, ext. 8213 E-mail: rdubois@gbdioc.org From: http://www.gbdioc.org/newsevents/news/857-worthy-of-belief.html
Each Cardinal is assigned by the Holy Father a church in Rome when he is elevated to the Cardinalate. This is an ancient tradition and is a sign of the new Cardinal's incardination into the Diocese of Rome, as one of the chief collaborators of the Pope and one who is to the elector of the next Pope.
Saint Agatha
Two early churches were dedicated to her in Rome,[11] notably the Church of Sant'Agata dei Goti in via Mazzarino, a titular church with apse mosaics of ca. 460 and traces of a fresco cycle,[12] overpainted by Gismondo Cerrini in 1630. In the 6th century the church was adapted to Arian Christianity, hence its name "Saint Agatha of the Goths", and later reconsecrated by Gregory the Great, who confirmed her traditional sainthood. She was given to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel, and her nine daughters, but in response to their threats and entreaties to sacrifice to the idols and submit to Quintianus, she responded
My courage and my thought be so firmly founded upon the firm stone of Jesus Christ, that for no pain it may not be changed; your words be but wind, your promises be but rain, and your menaces be as rivers that pass, and how well that all these things hurtle at the foundement of my courage, yet for that it shall not move. Among the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts. An apparition of Saint Peter cured her.
After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion, her scorned admirer eventually sentenced her to death by being rolled naked on a bed of live coals, "and anon the ground where the holy virgin was rolled on, began to tremble like an earthquake, and a part of the wall fell down upon Silvain, counsellor of Quintianus, and upon Fastion his friend, by whose counsel she had been so tormented."[20]
Saint Agatha died in prison, according to the Legenda Aurea in "the year of our Lord two hundred and fifty-three in the time of Decius, the emperor of Rome."
text: from "Agatha of Sicily", Wikipedia photos: St. Agatha,http//bishopalan.blogspot.com
After a week of recuperating and catching up (along with all the normal daily duties), I have some time to reflect upon the great Pilgrimage I was most fortunate to attend for the Consistory of Cardinals, where Cardinal Burke was elevated to the College of Cardinals. More will be forthcoming about the meaning of the role of the Cardinal, the symbolism of his sacred vestments, the homily by Pope Benedict, and my general experience and impression.
For now, I leave you with one of the best pictures I have seen of our beloved spiritual father, fearless leader and Cardinal of the Church. He begs our prayers, especially with this most important mission entrusted to him by Pope Benedict XVI.
Although this music is associated with Lent and Passiontide, the season of Advent also has this 'ethos' of sorrow, mourning, longing for salvation-restoration-fulfillment. The "city" of the Church cries to the Lord for His redeeming Presence and Power. The days before our Lord's coming in the flesh had these desires; we, in our own day, long for Him; in our sacramental life, He comes to us; in our prayer and penance, He comes to us; in our daily lives, filled with sorrow, tension, unfulfillment and temptations to despair, He comes to us, in spite of evil and sin. He will one day come to take us in death and ultimately at the end of time. Then, the lasting city of the New Jerusalem will be our home. And we shall be with Him and the Communion of Saints and Angles for ever.
This motet was widely sung in Elizabethan recusant circles, as the seven surviving manuscript sources show. It provided a model for Byrds famous Civitas sancti tui (Ne irascaris Domine Part II). One factor in its popularity was undoubtedly its text, a responsory from the Roman and Sarum Breviaries which was sung during the weeks before Advent. It laments the desolation of the Holy City in language derived from Jeremiah: Aspice Domine, quia facta est desolata civitas plena divitiis, sedet in tristitia domina gentium: non est qui consoletur eam, nisi tu Deus noster (2) Plorans ploravit in nocte, et lacrimae eius in maxillis eius. Non est qui consoletur eam, nisi tu Deus noster. (Behold, Lord, for the city once full of riches is made desolate, she who ruled the peoples sits in sadness: there is none to console her but thou, our God. (2) She wept sorely in the night, and her tears were on her cheeks: there is none to console her but thou, our God). Texts of this type (which also feature widely in Byrds penitential and political motets of the 1590s) were widely read by the Elizabethan recusant community in contemporary terms as expressions of Catholic nostalgia for the old religious order. The Non est qui consoletur canon was probably widely sung in recusant circles with the same connotations. Although this version has not survived in written form, the canon subject was simple enough to have been memorized and transmitted orally.
Yesterday, December 1, was the feast of St. Edmund Campion, priest and martyr. His heroic life of service during the bloody persecution of English Catholics demonstrates the great witness of one who loved Jesus above all and His Church, even to the shedding of blood. He is a remarkable example and intercessor for our own day; our times require great courage, fortitude, faith and especially, love: for God, for His Church, for our neighbor. St. Edmund Campion, pray for us!
A consecrated diocesan hermit priest who is moderator of the Hermit Fraternity of the Three Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph of Nazareth, in the public association of the Christian faithful in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
