Sacra Domus Nazarena

Jack Russell MOMO 2010

2011-05-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

We are pilgrims

2011-05-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Jesus Taking Leave of His Apostles

Today's Epistle in the Extraordinary Form reminds us that we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth.

Jesus, in His Last Discourse to His disciples, reminds them that He will leave them and yet return.

During this Easter season, we have joy and the sorrow of being "in this vale of tears" awaiting our true home, the Kingdom of Heaven.

Is not this the real yearning of the human heart?

We are pilgrims and strangers as those who follow Christ; so much sorrow, so much pain, so many separations...and yet...

His Risen Life...His Easter Gift...is the beginning of our life with Him in Heaven.

For wherever He is, Heaven is.

I read something to the effect that if the "signs and outer appearances" of the Sacred Host were made apparent to us we would see Heaven.

May we receive, in a deep way, the Easter Gift of our Lord's Presence, Heaven Itself,
to give us courage in the midst of all the sin, darkness, evil and suffering this present life offer us.

"I leave and yet I remain."

Yes.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Image source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9sScfAI8Y6E/ShEKACaYFDI/AAAAAAAAANw/pfs1pVKowdI/s1600-h/Fatimskaia.jpg

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

2011-05-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today is the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.
May we heed her call to pray the daily rosary, make reparation for sin and live the Gospel of Her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ!

Image:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9sScfAI8Y6E/ShEKACaYFDI/AAAAAAAAANw/pfs1pVKowdI/s1600-h/Fatimskaia.jpg

Theology of the Body

2011-05-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict XVI extolled his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, for introducing the “theology of the body,” as he met on May 13 with participants in a conference organized by the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

Offering his own reflections on the subject, Pope Benedict noted that with a proper knowledge of human nature “we can understand that our bodies are not inert, heavy material but, if we know how to listen, they speak the language of true love.”

With the Incarnation, the Pope said, “God takes on the body and revealed himself in it.” In his short talk, the Holy Father extended his predecessor’s meditation on the language of the body.

Source: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=10325

As an anecdotal aside, I was asked, when teaching at a Northeastern seminary, to teach a class on the the "Theology of the Body".

I opted for a focus upon the "foundations" of this particular teaching of Blessed John Paul II rather than the "popular" Christopher West material, which has come under critique and criticism from people such as David L. Schindler, a renowned theologian, and Alice von Hildebrand, a philosopher and wife of the heroic Dietrich von Hildebrand, a man that Pope Pius XII called "a 20th century doctor of the Church".

I am most grateful that Pope Benedict XVI has made the "authentic" teaching of his predecessor a positive thing. Unfortunately this whole issue has become polemical in the last two years because of a lack of proper understanding.

The Incarnation is truly the point of reference. The authentic interpretation of the "Theology of the Body" absolutely must be seen in the light of "The Word made Flesh";
every other interpretation fails when it is grounded in the mere material aspects of human existence. Christ reveals who man is (from Lumen gentium, Second Vatican Ecumenical Council). It is not the other way round. We do not know Who Christ Is from our human experience: He, and only He, reveals who we are. That is fundamental.

There are all kinds of "interpretations" out there...unfortunately, there are those who either dismiss this as some kind of "modernism" or those who try to make the love between man and wife in marriage something it is not meant to be.

Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Revelation reveals to us our inherent dignity, our mission/vocation to a love that is completely self-giving (in marriage or in virginity/celibacy) and He is the only reference-point. Marital union is an aspect of the Sacrament of Marriage; it must always be held within the moral law of God and in the sacred "reserve" of intimacy/secret (as the von Hildebrands emphasize) that upholds both the dignity of the partners and the dignity of the marital union.

I am the Good Shepherd

2011-05-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

Open Wide the Doors to Christ! Beatification Hymn of Blessed John Paul II

2011-05-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Rit. Open the doors to Christ!
Do not be afraid:
Open wide your hearts
Love of God

Witness to Hope
for those who await salvation
pilgrim of love
on the roads of the world. Chorus.

Father to the young
You sent it to the world,
sentinels of the morning,
living sign of hope. Chorus.

Witnesses to Faith
annunciasti that with life,
firm and strong in the test
confermasti your neighbor. Rit.

Insegnasti to every man
the beauty of life
indicating the family
as a sign of love. Chorus.

Bringer of Peace
and herald of justice,
you made between people
nuncio of mercy. Chorus.

In pain betrayed
the power of the Cross.
Always drive your brothers
love on the streets. Chorus.

In the Mother of the Lord
indicasti us a guide,
in her intercession
the power of grace. Chorus.

Father of mercy,
Son, our Redeemer,
Holy Spirit of Love
to you, Trinity, glory be. Amen. Chorus.

(google translated it from the site, so it may not be perfect)

Kieran, the wonder dog\!

2011-05-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

This is just like our "kieran"...he's a fiesty Jack Russell Terrier...he'd go to the death for us...he's a wonder dog, just like this JRT. We love him so much!!

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!

2011-05-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Beautification of Blessed John Paul II is a tremendous moment for the Church.
Whether or not some people like it, this man died in the odor of sanctity before the entire world. His obvious suffering, his complete commitment to Christ and to the Church until the very end give a great testament to a life given to God.

His numerous writings, especially the encyclicals, pave the way for the Church in the New Millenium. I had the fortunate grace to study the writings of John Paul II and the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council with teachers who knew how to present the perennial teachings of the Church with the insight and direction that Blessed John Paul II gave.

History will give us the real story. For now, we must attempt to follow Christ in the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, who is continuing the legacy of his predecessor.
Open wide the doors to Christ! Be not afraid!

Thank you, dear Lord, for Blessed Pope John Paul II!

Image:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/world/pope-beatifies-john-paul-ii-before-1-5m-1446190.html

Blood and Water Flowing From the Side of Jesus, Have Mercy on Us!

2011-05-01T13:05:00.001-07:00

http://www.discerninghearts.com/archives/3338

Today, three important things converge: it is the final day of the Octave of Easter, Low Sunday; it is the Feast of Divine Mercy, initiated by Jesus' revelations of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina and confirmed by Pope John Paul II; it is the day of Beautification of the Venerable Servant of God, John Paul II.

The Gospel, in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, is the "showing" of Jesus' glorified wounds to the gathered disciples...He enters through the closed doors to confirm their faith and to encounter St. Thomas who places his hands in the wounded side and wounds of the hands of His Crucified and Glorified Lord.

It is a great day of rejoicing for the Church, for the world.

The Divine Mercy was a prominent and central focus of the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II. He made present to the world his own encounter with Jesus, the Divine Mercy. Without his intervention, the devotion to the Divine Mercy and the liturgical commemoration of the Divine Mercy on this Low Sunday, the last day of the Easter Octave would not have been.

Divine Providence led the Blessed Pope John Paul II to make this message clear throughout his pontificate.

Jesus, I trust in You!

Could any other message be more poignant, more clear, more necessary in this age of darkness?

Deo gratias!
Again and again!

Holy Week, the Devil and Easter Octave

2011-04-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

Easter Monday I was hit with an awful case of bronchitis.

I was in bed until today, coughing myself silly.

We had a very beautiful Holy Week; we celebrated the Sacred Liturgy of Holy Thursday and Good Friday with much zeal, attention and the good graces of assistance from Fr. Joseph Redfern (Pastor of St. Mary, Altoona) and Br. Mark, an Oblate of the Camaldolese.

The chant and liturgical actions, assisted by Br. Mark, Br. Joseph and on Good Friday, Patrick (Paddy) Phillips and Greg (a college student from the University of Eau Claire), were indeed inspiring.

That's why I'm sick as a dog this week.

I'm paying for it, so to speak. I'm always suspect that the Devil will pay "his due" whenever something good happens here. And, this, is just another example of that.

It's okay.

Dying and rising with Jesus make a considerable cost. I'm just paying the price, so to speak.

I'll be okay in a week or two.

I'm just so very grateful that we were able to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord with the kind of reverence, care, and total dedication that He deserves.

In addition, last Monday of Holy Week I was hit with a horrendous virus/worm, you name it.

Put me out of business for a good week.

I was Googling info about "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" which I had viewed in the previous day.

Go figure.

The Volto Santo (Holy Face) of Manoppello

2011-04-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

Monday in Holy Week: Mary Anoints the Feet of Jesus

2011-04-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

"Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price,a nd anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." (John 12,3)

What Mary performs here is the gesture of absolute extravagant giving. It is the deed of contemplation. Nothing has prepared this act. But still, the ointment is there. It is present in the house of the contemplative, who has renounced everything for the Lord. In the house in which one assuredly does not know any special wealth. Nor is it something that belongs to the house; it is rather something that belongs to Mary alone. It is only the symbol of her extravagant giving. And she uses the whole of the precious ointment, she uses it only for the Lord's feet, and she pours it out still more lavishly in that she dries the anointed feet again with her hair and lets the perfume spread in this ordinary house...Mary shows...how much she has lavished the gift of her own self. She no longer knows what calculation and proportion are. Her entire relationship to the Lord is expressed through one single word: everything. Everything for him.

(Adrienne von Speyr, The Discourses of Controversy, Meditations on John 6-12, San Francisco: Ignatius Press)

Let Thy holy Mysteries, O Lord, impart to us divine fervour; that we may delight both in their celebration and in their fruit. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen. (Postcommunion Prayer, Monday in Holy Week, 1962 Missale Romano)

Image: Mary Anoints of the Feet of Jesus by Frank Wesley

Passion/Palm Sunday at Cor Jesu Oratory

2011-04-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament before the Conventual Missa cantata

Woven palms and pussy willows

The singing of the Passion Gospel

Elevation of the Chalice

Ecce Homo--Behold the Man

2011-04-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ecce homo--"Here is the man!" (John 19,5)

Ecce homo--the expression spontaneously takes on a depth of meaning that reaches far beyond this moment in history. In Jesus, it is man himself that is manifested. In Him is displayed the suffering of all who are subjected to violence, all the downtrodden. His suffering mirrors the inhumanity of worldly power, which so ruthlessly crushes the powerless. In Him is reflected what we call "sin": this is what happens when man turns his back upon God and takes control over the world into his own hands.

There is another side to all this, though: Jesus' innermost dignity cannot be taken from Him. The hidden God remains present within Him. Even the man subjected to violence and vilification remains the image of God. Ever since Jesus submitted to violence, it has been the wounded, the victims of violence, who have been the image of the God who chose to suffer for us. So Jesus in the throes of His Passion is an image of hope: God is on the side of those who suffer.
--Pope Benedict XVI
From Jesus of Nazareth-Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection (2011. San Francisco: Ignatius Press).

Holy Week Schedule at Cor Jesu

2011-04-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

17 April 2011
Passion Sunday (2nd)/Palm Sunday
10:30 AM Blessing of Palms
Procession
Missa cantata (1962 Missal)

21 April 2011
Holy Thursday
4PM Missa cantata of the Lord's Supper (1962 Missal)
Tenebrae (Extraordinary Form)
Adoration until midnight
9 PM Sung Compline (Extraordinary Form)

22 April 2011
Good Friday
4PM Liturgy of the Lord's Passion (1962 Missal)
Tenebrae (Extraordinary Form)

The community will attend the Easter Vigil and Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Chippewa Falls--no Easter Vigil at Cor Jesu Oratory

Easter Sunday
10:30 AM Missa cantata (1962 Missal)

Cor Jesu Oratory is at Sacred Heart Church, Edson. Directions found at isjoseph.com.

Soul of My Saviour

2011-02-28T07:37:00.000-08:00

Cor Jesu Oratory

2011-02-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

A story about Cor Jesu Oratory was in the Sunday Eau Claire Leader Telegram. This is just a short summary on their website.

Cor Jesu Oratory, also known as the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, is undergoing a makeover

A church that was built in the 1860s, stood empty for decades and is now being turned into a monastery stands as a testament to ...

The Cor Jesu Oratory, also known as the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, is undergoing a makeover, and part of the building constructed in the 1860s will be used as a monastery for monks and nuns. The inside of the church is well-preserved. The town of Edson church has a new roof, but windows and flooring need to be replaced and it lacks handicap-accessible restrooms. The interior of the church remains much as it was when built, with hand-carved altars and other intricate woodwork.

Posted: Saturday, February 26, 2011 11:00 pm

Cor Jesu Oratory, also known as the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, is undergoing a makeover By Chris Vetter Chippewa Falls News Bureau Leader-Telegram | 0 comments

BOYD - After sitting empty for more than a decade, the Cor Jesu Oratory, also known as the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, is seeing new life.

The church, at 31350 Highway MM in the town of Edson, was built in the 1860s, but activity in the building died down in the 1970s as the congregation shrunk. Continuing services there proved difficult when no priest was assigned to the church, Sister Petra Gwidt said.

[One correction: The sisters will live in the former school convent and the monks will live in the former rectory.]
Source:http://www.leadertelegram.com/features/chippewa_valley/article_7578c37e-15c2-55f4-aa58-dc207e39bb50.html

For Terry--Happy Epiphany!

2011-01-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

Vigil of Christmas

2010-12-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

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.

Christmas Novena: Day 9

2010-12-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

Image:http://www.nickifaulk.com/2008/12/23/merry-christmas-happy-solstice-and-merry-yule-yall/

Christmas Novena: Day 8

2010-12-23T19:31:00.001-08:00

Christmas Novena: Day 7

2010-12-22T20:11:00.001-08:00

Christmas Novena: Day 6

2010-12-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

Image:http://www.fscc-calledtobe.org/living/index.php/2009/02/07/visitation-popular-catholic-word/

Christmas Novena: Day 5

2010-12-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas Novena: Day 4

2010-12-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

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.

Text: http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=20295

Christmas Novena: Day 3

2010-12-18T06:37:00.001-08:00

Christmas Novena: Day Two

2010-12-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Novena: Day One

2010-12-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

Consoling Words from Our Lady of Guadalupe

2010-12-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

"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.

Our Lady of Loreto, December 10

2010-12-09T18:52:00.000-08:00

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!

Wisconsin Apparition and Shrine Officially Approved

2010-12-08T09:44:00.001-08:00

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

Advent at Cor Jesu Oratory, 5-12-10

2010-12-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

Cardinal Burke's Titular Church: Sant'Agata dei Goti

2010-12-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

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

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

2010-12-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

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.

Image:http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af308/CatholicTimes/The%20Vatican%20Consistory/Burke08.jpg

Civitas sancti tui--The Holy Cities are in ruins

2010-12-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

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.

St. Edmund Campion, English martyr

2010-12-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

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!

Advent: Vigilate (Keep Watch!)

2010-11-29T07:13:00.000-08:00

Vigilate is a five-part Latin motet by the renaissance English composer William Byrd (1543-1623). It was published in the Cantiones Sacrae of 1589 and takes its text from Mk. 13 : 35-7, where Christ exhorts his disciples to watch for the end of the world.

Watch ye, therefore,(for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning). Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch.

The Martyrs in Iraq

2010-11-12T12:24:00.000-08:00

We Are the Christians of Iraq

Letter of an Iraqi Priest to His Wounded Country

By Father Albert Hisham Naoum

ROME, NOV. 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The martyrs of the Church of Our Lady of Salvation showed the world once again who we are, the Christians of Iraq, and they joined the martyrs of our Church, those who sacrificed their lives to Christ our Lord, who taught us to bear witness to the resurrection of life, for forgiveness, for hope, for love, for faith, joy.

The blood of our fallen heroes cries out to the world and all humanity, and urges the Christians of Iraq, wherever we are, to "preach" to the world about the suffering and risen Christ who lives in our wounded land.

Yes, I say "preach" because our faith is good news, as it "was and will always be." Who has ears to hear, hear us now, and know that Christ lives in the Christians of Iraq. It's a witness that lives and will continue to live. And if there is someone who does not feel the importance of witnessing in life, we would only say to him and to the whole world, that for us it is life itself. What the world calls "nothing," for us it is "everything"!

The Christians of Iraq are well aware that the risen Christ has conquered death, not because they are baptized believers, but rather because, with him, they have experienced death on the cross several times, and with him they drank the bitter cup, and have experienced the abandonment of others. And side by side with him they walked the way of his cross, and fell under the weight of their cross -- once in the attack on their churches, one with death, and yet another with the massacre of Our Lady of Salvation. Yet, they continue to stand up and live their faith as they have always done throughout history, walking along the path of suffering.

For Christians in Iraq, Oct. 31 was not the first time they have suffered, and no human being, especially those who claim to want peace, but really don't, can pretend that this will be the last time. But they do not interest us, because our hope has never been, and never will be, in them, but in the One who took up his cross and walked the path of death to ensure that life will continue and eventually win.

Joy and tragedy

Iraq's Christians have experienced deeply the meaning of life because they have experienced its joys after having tasted the bitterness of grief. They have lived in hope after experiencing the power of tragedy. They experienced laughter after having paid tears, and have experienced smiles after seeing their will broken by violence. These are really the Christians of Iraq with their good hearts, who love everyone, their country, and life, and these are those who forgive their enemies, and sow goodness wherever they are, spreading the spirit of peace. And despite their great suffering, they never forgot to live their Christian spirit in every place they went.

As an example of all this I can show you the Church of Our Lady of Salvation, which speaks on behalf of all Christians in Iraq, and which give examples written with the blood of its martyrs.

Have you heard how they died in this massacre, the two brave priests, and Wasim Sabieh and Thaier Saad Abdal? Did you know that they defended the faithful and tried to save their lives by offering their own from the first moment thecriminals set foot in church? Did you know that a father protected his son by covering him completely with his own body while they were lying on the floor, and died in a hail of bullets so that the child would survive? Have you heard that the killers murdered a four-month-old baby girl and a young woman who, on the day of her death, had received the best news, namely that she was pregnant, and so went to church to thank God for this gift?

O people of the world, these are the Christians of Iraq. Hear and evangelize to everyone!

And you Christians of Iraq, when sadness fills your soul and you cannot imagine the future, look up there, to the God of Heaven and Earth, and remember well who you are and let the world know! Christ will not leave us alone, we are his "little flock," and he wants us to remain forever with him, to live our faith and our love for all as we have always done, because as he tells us, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples" (John 13: 35).

We witness with our lives, so that the world can see what is happening to us, so that those who have plugged their ears and those who have shut their mouths will speak about who we are. We are the Christians of Iraq!

[Translation from Arabic by ZENIT]

* * *

Father Albert Hisham Naoum is an Iraqi Chaldean priest studying communications in Rome, and was a friend of Father Wasim Sabieh and Father Thaier Saad Abdal, the two priests who died in the Oct. 31 attack on Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Church.

O sweet Jesus...O Holy Loving Mary, Mother of Sorrows! How absolutely horrid this is; yet in faith, in love, in hope, we know that the witness of the faithful brings forth grace for Your Church! Help us, give us strength, make our lives conformed to the true Image of God...dear Sorrowful Savior and Sorrowful Mother, help us!

The Eponymous Flower: Iraq: New Attacks on Christians -- Three Dead, 26 Wounded

2010-11-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Eponymous Flower: Iraq: New Attacks on Christians -- Three Dead, 26 Wounded

Update on the Persectution/Martydom of Iraqui Catholics/Christians

2010-11-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

This has not been reported on the international news; not that I can see.
What a horrid and absolute abomination.
Please pray for our Catholic/Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq and in the Middle East.
Islamic fundamentalism is creating a terrible crisis here; in the West, we may be next.
Don't you ever think otherwise.

Archbishop Matokas cries for help to the international community of nations: 'If someone would like to drive us Christians out of the country, then they would succeed. We don't know any more what we should say. Families want to leave. It is horrible!'

Bagdad [kath.net/Fides] In Baghdad a new wave of attacks against Christians: On Wednesday in the early morning between 4 and 6AM explosive devices were set off at several Christian homes.

The attacks took the lives of at least three people and 26 were wounded, as reported by a representative of the Interior Ministry. Already on Tuesday evening, three Christian homes were attacked in Mansur. No one was injured in those attacks.

"What could we do, what should we say?", complained the Syro-Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, Atanase Matti Shaba Matoka. "In our communities there is great panic. The wave of violence will become much greater. Ten days ago there was a terror attack against our Cathedral. Today our homes were targeted. Families are aggrieved and want to flee. It is horrible!"

Before his visit to stricken families the Archbishop said to Fidesdienst: "All of the forewarning and urging the government has done nothing to halt this wave of violence which has swept over us.

Police are standing in front of the churches, really it's the homes of our faithful which have become targets of attack. Among the victims there are Christians of various confessions in the district of Doura. The terror knocks on our doors. The families are horrified. This is not life any more, they say."

If one would like to drive us from the land, then it would succeed. This country is the victim of desolation and terror. The suffering of Christians will become ever greater and lead them to leave their country. We don't know any more, what we should say."

Finally, the Archbishop appealed to the international community of nations and the world Church: "We pray for a quick response of the international community of nations and hope for the assitance of the Holy Father and the world Church.

Today there is nothing else for us to hope for and to pray and to put our lives in the hands of God. Through their tears the Iraqi Christians are saying: In manus tuas, Domine".

Read original... kath.net...
Posted by Tancred at 3:48 AM Labels: Chaldeans, Iraq, Islam, Terrorism
http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com/2010/11/iraq-new-attacks-on-christians-three.html

Christian Martyrs

2010-11-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

On October 31, 2010, Islamic gunmen entered a Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad, Iraq and opened fire upon the congregation assembled for Holy Mass. Three priests were killed. Many laity were killed. This is a martyrdom in our own day.
Please pray for the families of these holy men and women, for their comfort and peace in this most distressing time; please pray for the conversion of their murderers.

Hood tip to John Sonnen at:http://orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.com/2010/11/christian-martyrs.html

Pilgrimage

2010-11-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

When I was in English literature class in high school, we had to memorize this introduction of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales":
WHEN APRIL with his showers sweet with fruit
The drought of March has pierced unto the root
And bathed each vein with liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,(5)
Quickened again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun
Into the Ram one half his course has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye(10)
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)—
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.
And specially from every shire’s end(15)
Of England they to Canterbury wend,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek
Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.
Befell that, in that season, on a day
In Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay(20)
Ready to start upon my pilgrimage
To Canterbury, full of devout courage,...

Now, although I would LOVE to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury (my roots being English with an Irish flavor...mostly my tendency to weep and my temper!) I be going to Rome next Monday for the elevation of Cardinal-elect Raymond L. Burke to the College of Cardinals.

He is my spiritual father; he has been the supporter and guardian and mentor for our Association of the Faithful, the Institute of Saint Joseph. And he ordained me as a priest of Jesus Christ in 2003...just in time, before he was called to be Archbishop of St. Louis.

I take all of you with me to Rome; if you have particular intentions you would like remembered in my Masses and prayers at the holy shrines there, please let me know.
If you want to have a more private communication, my email is jmgilbert85@gmail.com.
I promise to remember you all and every intention you might want me to include.
This is not only a joyous occasion, but a historical one, as well.
I'm just in absolute awe.

Pope Benedict consecrates Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

2010-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to You, O Jesus

2010-11-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful Christmas hymn, which can also be a Communion hymn, in Irish.
Welcoming Jesus, our most Holy Savior and Lord, into our hearts in holy Communion is always another "Christmas", where with the Holy Virgin and Saint Joseph, we receive and adore the Divine Infant. How wondrous a Sacrament! How privileged we are to receive Him, our God and our Savior!

He is the Bread of Life, the Hope of Eternal Life, the Guardian of our Souls! Each Holy Communion, received with love, fervor and devotion in the state of grace increases our love for Him and His Love for us unto eternal life.

We pray for the dearly departed during this month of November; we also prepare to enter into the "shadow of death" one day. Let the joy and love of these Eucharistic moments prepare us to meet Jesus, our Lord, our Love, our All!

A hundred thousand welcomes to you, o Jesus, o Jesus,
A hundred thousand welcomes to you, o Jesus,
A hundred thousand welcomes to you, o Saviour,
A hundred thousand welcomes to you, o Jesus, o Jesus...

Glory and praise to you, o Jesus, o Jesus,
Glory and praise to you, o Jesus,
Glory and praise to you, o Saviour,
Glory, praise and thanks to you, o Jesus, o Jesus...

A hundred thousand welcomes to you, o Saviour,
A hundred thousand welcomes to you, o Jesus, o Jesus

All Souls Day Meditation: Lough Derg- Ag Criost An Siol

2010-11-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

English translation adapted in metre:

Christ's is the seed, Christ's is the wheat

Into God's store may we harvested be.

Christ's is the fish, Christ's is the sea

And into God's net may we gathered be

From the dawn of the day and from sunset to dawn

May your two hands, O Christ, o'er us be drawn

From our birth to our death, when a new birth we see

In your heavenly grace, may we ever be.

Happy All Saints Day!

2010-11-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

Cardinal Van Thuan

2010-10-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege to attend seminary with Vietnamese seminarians at Holy Apostles, Cromwell, CT, some of whom, knew the Cardinal personally.
Their stories, their witness, their absolute fidelity to Jesus and His Church will forever be in my heart and in my mind. I am for ever grateful.
I have vestments made by Vietnamese Sisters given to me at my ordination by my Vietnamese friends. These "confessors of the faith" became my friends, one of whom was tortured daily by the Communist North Vietnamese; he eventually emigrated to the USA, worked in a factory, until he could attend seminary and be ordained a priest in his '50s...what a legacy of faith. He was the most kind, gentle and holy soul; what an inspiration!
My Dad was a Dr. sent to Vietnam from 1967-68. He took care of many civilians, as well as the soldier casualties. When my Vietnamese seminarian companions learned this, they adopted me as their "brother". My Dad had cared for their women, children, old men and women; I was "one of them".
So very overwhelming.

My "Spiritual Father" is now a Cardinal! Deo gratias!

2010-10-20T09:52:00.001-07:00

Archbishop Burke issued the following statement:

I am deeply humbled and honored by the announcement that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI intends to name me to the College of Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church at the Consistory which he has convoked for this coming November 20th. Having received the news of the Holy Father’s intention, I express my deepest gratitude to His Holiness for the great confidence which he has placed in me, and I renew my commitment to serve Him, as Shepherd of the universal Church, in total fidelity and with all my being.

Considering the weighty responsibilities of the members of the College of Cardinals in assisting the Holy Father as his closest co-workers, even “to the shedding of blood,” I am more than ever conscious of my own weakness and of my total dependence upon the help of divine grace, in order that I may fulfill worthily and generously the responsibilities which will be mine, God willing, as a Cardinal of the Church.

I count upon the continued intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Communion of Saints, and the prayers of the many faithful whom I have been blessed to serve as priest and Bishop, especially in my home diocese, the Diocese of La Crosse, and in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, and of those with whom I have been, in the past, and am now privileged to serve in the Roman Curia, especially my co-workers at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. Only the knowledge of God’s immeasurable and unceasing outpouring of mercy and love from the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus gives me the confidence to accept the great honor and burden which His Holiness intends to confer upon me.

Today’s announcement turns my thoughts with deepest affection and gratitude to my late parents and all my family, living and deceased; and to the priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful who have assisted me to know my vocation to the Holy Priesthood and to respond to it with an undivided heart over the more than thirty-five years of my priestly life and ministry. Today, with all my heart, I humbly thank God for the gifts of life, of the Catholic faith, and of my vocation.

At the same time, my thoughts naturally turn to the many challenges which the Church faces in our day in carrying out her divine mission for the salvation of the world. In particular, I am deeply conscious of the critical importance of the loving witness of the Church to the truth, revealed to us by God through both faith and reason, which alone is our salvation. It is a witness which Our Holy Father tirelessly gives with remarkable wisdom and courage. I pledge myself anew to assist Pope Benedict XVI in this critical witness and in the many works of his pastoral charity on behalf of all our brothers and sisters in the Church and in the world.

I ask for prayers that I may be able to assist our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the best of my ability and with every ounce of my strength. I, once again, place my whole heart, together with the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, into the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the glorious pierced Heart of Jesus, I am confident that I will find the purification, courage and strength which I will need to carry out the new responsibilities to be confided into my hands. I thank, in advance, all who will pray for me, and ask God to bless them abundantly.

I am SOOO proud to be a spiritual son of this holy priest of God! He ordained me to the priesthood in 2003. God love him! Mary keep him! St. Joseph protect him!

Hood tip: http://stlouiscatholic.blogspot.com/

Image:http://te-deum.blogspot.com/2010/07/audio-interview-with-archbishop-burke.html

DID ROSARY STOP HORRIFIC SERIAL KILLER?

2010-10-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

During this Month of our Lady's Rosary, we need to reflect upon how wonderful and magnificent this gift is to us. A story about a very dramatic "rescue" is found at this link. Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

DID ROSARY STOP HORRIFIC SERIAL KILLER?

For Terry...in honor of Xena-Celine, his "best friend"

2010-10-15T16:01:00.001-07:00

Santa Teresia, Ora pro nobis!

2010-10-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.avila.com/avila_guide/saint_teresa_of_avila

One of my favorite saints...she loved Jesus so absolutely! And her life is a testimony of the great Mercy of the Lord.
Saint Teresa, pray for us!
Pray that we all may know the mercies of the Lord...and His loving-kindness...we need to know this more than ever today!

Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, Fatima, 1917

2010-10-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

A video of Sister Lucia, visionary of Fatima, singing the "Ave Maria" with her sisters in Carmel.
Beautiful!

Hood tip to:http://4thepriests.wordpress.com/
and http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/fatima-visionary-sings-ave-maria/#

A guide about the angels

2010-10-11T08:38:00.001-07:00

Angel of God, My Guardian Dear

2010-10-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

I believe in the power and action of the Guardian Angel.
This last summer I was driving home on the interstate, after doing errands.
In front of me, a truck with a trailer, all of a sudden began to veer; the trailer detached from the truck...it came right into my direction...somehow it did not hit me...if it would have, it would come in through the windshield...I could have been "pulverized"...
I am so grateful that my Guardian Angel loves me and cares for me.
So very grateful.
Tell your Guardian Angel tonight how grateful you are that you have been spared from sudden death.
Really.

Memorial of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus and the Holy Face

2010-10-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this photo of St. Therese. From what I have read, this was taken by her sister, Celine, when she was so very ill. Her penetrating gaze is so awesome...the fire of the Holy Spirit is just so present.
St. Therese has been my sister and guide all these years of my life as a Catholic. I believe she chose me; guided me; prepared me for religious life and the priesthood.
I love her so very much...she was so in love with Jesus, loved Holy Mother Church so passionately, and yet, was very human (she mimicked the chaplain...and she's a saint!)...I love her sense of humor and irony...she had no illusions about life, about faith, about what it means to live a spiritual life, about what it means to belong to Jesus, "absolutely", and her meditations upon our Holy Mother are so filled with deep, intimate knowledge of the Mother of God and Her love for each of us.
St. Therese, pray for us! Pray for bishops and priests! Pray for families! Pray for consecrated souls that they may be "a holocaust of love" that you lived in Carmel!

Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

2010-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

On Sunday April 24th 1994, Pope John Paul II recommended this prayer be used by all Catholics as a prayer for the Church when he said:

"May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians: 'Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power' (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world."'

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

Source:http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/michael.htm
Image:http://www.msgr.ca/msgr-3/st_michael_the_archangel-1.htm

Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society

2010-09-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

An update on the Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society ...

Just 24 hours ago we announced the new Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society (see previous post below). I would like to personally thank everyone who has wished us well on this new apostolate and offered prayers for its success.

In terms of the response, we have already received names to be enrolled by nearly 40 people, most of whom each sent numerous names of passed loved ones.

Possibly even more remarkable is that we also have already secured three holy priests to offer weekly Traditional Latin Masses for all the souls enrolled in the Society! I will make two of the priests' names known on Friday when the first listing of souls is posted (one of the priests must remain anonymous for now). The first TLM will take place this Friday, October 1, at 11 a.m. CST for those here who would like to unite themselves spiritually to the Mass. If there are other priests who would like to do the same, please email me. Also, for our readers, please remember these good priests in your prayers as well.

I would also like to thank The Remnant, New Advent and Vatican Watcher for sharing the news of our Purgatorial Society on their fine websites and I ask all of our sister blogs to please consider sharing the original link to our announcement below with your readers. We want everyone to know that, while sadly many Catholics neither pray for the dead nor even believe in Purgatory, there is a place they can turn, free of charge, to help bring eternal rest and perpetual light to their suffering loved ones.

Our Lady Queen of Purgatory, ora pro nobis!

And please remember to follow @RorateCaeli on Twitter.

Labels: Purgatorial Society

posted by Christopher J. Paulitz at 1:08 AM 0 comments

Original post: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19978542&postID=932870706891574140

Pope on the Illustrious English Nation: "The Dowry of Mary"

2010-09-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

Our Lady of Walsingham, the Nazareth of England

"The love and care of the Roman Pontiffs for England has been traditional from the days of Our holy predecessor Gregory the Great."

-Pope Leo XIII

Hood tip to John Paul Sonnen:http://www.orbiscatholicus.org/2010/09/pope-on-illustrious-english-nation.html

My heart's one desire

2010-09-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Blessed John Henry Newman on the English Martyrs

2010-09-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hood tip to Patrick Madrid:http://patrickmadrid.blogspot.com/2010/09/blessed-john-henry-newman-on-english.html

A Marian Prayer of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman

2010-09-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

O Mother of Jesus, and my Mother, let me dwell with you,
cling to you and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honour, love and trust of a child.
Give me a mother's protection, for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind the same thoughts, the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal for the interests of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son. Instill in me a love of all that is noble, that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness. Help me, dearest Mother, to acquire the virtues that God wants of me:
to forget myself always, to work solely for him, without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help to be what Jesus wants me to be.
I am his; I am yours, my good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you and your divine Son for all eternity.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=357

A Tribute to "Fr Ted" and "Fr Jack"....he, he. he...

2010-09-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

I deleted these posts...outta "Irish guilt" and I'm re-postin' 'em...
Because I received some positive comments (!). I know you'll understand (!).
God luv ya! I don't know if I can repost the comments...but t'ank you!!
Nuns! Nuns! Nuns! Reverse:<)!!

Tyburn

2010-09-19T13:23:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFS0nvY-Rc&feature=related

Pope Benedict mentioned Tyburn in his homily at the Vigil at Hyde Park.
Here is a video describing that place of execution. Many Catholics martyrs were horribly killed here, hung, drawn and quartered. May their prayers before the Lord give conversion, grace and assistance to us all!

Today a Benedictine Monastery of contemplative Nuns dedicated to Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is not far from the Tyburn Tree (as it is called...the gallows)...the relics of the Martyrs are venerated there and a replica of the gallows rests over the altar of the Tyburn Martyrs.

http://www.tyburnconvent.org.uk/home/index.html

Prayer Vigil at Hyde Park with Pope Benedict

2010-09-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Stabat Mater

2010-09-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

By the Cross her station keeping
Stood the mournful Mother weeping
Close to Jesus to the last.

The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

2010-09-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

O my dearest Mother,
I can only contemplate the wounds of your Heart, the swords of Sorrow,
Mother, my dearest Mother,
"Make me feel what He has felt...make my heart and soul to melt"
in the love of Christ Divine.
Your tears, the thing that makes my heart to absolutely hurt, don't cry, Mother!
Your children, so many, so far from Jesus, the beloved of Your Heart,
Bring them back to you...
Back to Truth, Love, Beauty, Wisdom, Truth...bring them into His Kingdom.
Thank you, dearest Lady for your love for all your children,
me, in particular;
thank you, dearest Lady...my Mother...my Queen.

Dedicated to Terry

2010-09-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

For Terry and all of you who have had a bad day.
Lord knows how many I have had and will have.
We commiserate, yeah??:<)!

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

2010-09-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

O Jesus, Love Divine,
Your Wounded Hands, Feet, and Pierced Side
Reveal the Love that You so richly bestow on everyone
Who desires Your forgiveness, love and mercy.
Bless all those who persist in sin; give them the riches of Your Mercy;
Lord, help me, for I'm so absolutely weak and powerless;
Your Love and the Blessed Water and Blood that flow from Your Pierced Heart
are the only means of my salvation, my life, my love.
Jesus, I love you!
Draw all sinners to Your Pierced Heart!

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2010-09-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

We adore Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, and we bless Thee,
because by Thy Cross
Thou hast redeemed the world!

Pray a Novena for the Pope's Visit to the UK

2010-09-07T12:32:00.001-07:00

The Holy Father will be visiting the UK soon.
Please pray a rosary, make other prayers, offer Masses, Holy Communions for his safety, the openness of the British people to his message, and the safety of all those participating.
England is the "Dowry of Our Lady".
She could very well bring about a real conversion, return to Truth, love of our Lord and of His Holy Church.
But we must pray.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2010/09/07/novena-for-benedict-xvis-visit-to-britain-starts/

In Honor of the First Thursday of September

2010-09-02T14:09:00.001-07:00

O sacred Banquet, in which Christ becomes our food,
the memory of His passion is recalled, our souls filled with grace,
and our pledge of future glory is given.

We pray this after Morning Office each day in the presence of our Lord exposed in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Today is a First Thursday; a day to thank the Lord especially for the great gift of His Eucharistic Sacrifice, Presence, Communion.

"Rays of Musical Light"

2010-09-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

source:http://romancatholicvocations.blogspot.com/2010/07/rays-of-musical-light-cloistered-nuns.html

"The Real Thing"

2010-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

I was so moved by this video; these Nuns have such beautiful faith, hope and charity.
Pray God we may know this kind of complete fidelity to our Lord and to His Holy Church...to prayer, sacrifice, long-suffering, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Just absolutely astounding and beautiful. Thank you, Jesus!

Source: http://anglocath.blogspot.com/2010/08/real-thing.html
Thank you, Miss Hillary Jane Margaret White (Orwell's Picnic).

And, in case you missed us; we were on pilgrimage, yeah!

2010-08-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

We snuck off to the Alps...well, we followed the Mizzus POTUS and entourage..in Spain (stopping at Compestella, of course, this being the Jubilee Year of St. James...) and then had tea with Pope Benedict and Msgr. Ganswein...well, maybe not tea, but we might have HAD tea in the near vicinity!!
Just kiddin'.
Another hats off to the great Vincenzo, who for some reason, likes us, and is very creative in his computer work! (Can you tell who is who here? A rosary prayed for you for your correct guesses!).

Source: SANCTE PATER, Vincenzo.
ttp://www.sanctepater.com/2010/08/nazareth-priest-on-pilgrimage.html

Why is Nazareth Priest "Going Funky"?

2010-08-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Things have been rather busy here; sometimes TOO busy.
But we do take time to celebrate, relax, "go funky"...can you guess why your "blog host" is going funky here??

Source: SANCTE PATER, the wondrous Vincenzo.
http://www.sanctepater.com/2010/08/nazareth-priests-groove-thang.html

The Installation Mass of Bishop William Patrick Callahan, Tenth Bishop of La Crosse

2010-08-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

H/T to "The Badger Catholic"...his report on the installation Mass of our new Bishop is at:
http://badgercatholic.blogspot.com/2010/08/bishop-callahan-roundup.html
Thanks, Matt, for your coverage of all that is important in our Diocese.
You do great work for the Lord and His Church!

Mighty Mouse

2010-08-13T22:39:00.001-07:00

What three-inch being could possibly set a monastic house on "its edge"...the smell of death and the sewer everywhere?
The fear and loathing of drying clothes in the dryer that smelled like "death"...literally?
Yep.
Mighty Mouse.
He got fished outta da dryer by our most efficient and manly janitor...(we religious too scared, grossed out, or just plain stupid to take apart said dryer, for fear we couldn't put it back together again...I'm not kiddin'...unfortunately, we're about as capable as "school girls" when it comes to these things...Jesus, send us some mechanically inclined vocations...please!!?)
He's gone now.
But his remnant "odor" remains...the JR Terrier immediately went for the dryer when he got downstairs...no dummy he...but even he didn't know how to explicate said rodent...
Mighty Mouse...
Mighty odor, he.

Eastern Catholic Nuns in Rome

2010-08-13T10:43:00.001-07:00

H/T to "The New Liturgical Movement."

Do we open our lips to praise the wonders of the Lord?

2010-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today's Gospel in the Extraordinary Form (the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost) is the encounter between Jesus and the deaf/mute man.
The Lord heals him.
It is a sacramental encounter; in our Baptismal rite, we have the "Ephephta"..."be opened" given to the one being baptised.
Do we allow this exorcism of the Evil One, who prevents us from declaring the great works of God in our lives, to be a true reality?
Do we renew this rejection of the Evil One, by the use of holy water, prayers to the Archangel Saint Michael, to our prayers to the Holy Mother of God?
Are we doing spiritual warfare against the Evil One, all his pomps, lies, and promises of material comfort, as opposed to the promise of eternal life, made present by the Death and Resurrection of the Lord?
Use holy water; make confessions of faith, in the Apostles Creed, pray the Holy Rosary...Satan is looking for all kinds of "windows of opportunity" in the lives of those who love the Lord and His Church.
Do not give him free reign.
Renounce him and call upon the saving power of the Lord.
He not only frees the deaf and dumb from their physical limitations; He enables us to praise Him, to tell of His wonders, to make His salvation known to the world!

Another Irish ballad

2010-07-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

This touched me very deeply; there is a mystical sense about these words.
We are in a "foreign land" here on earth...we know, instinctively, and by faith, that we belong to another "land", "another home."
The Irish, because of their particular history, know what it is to "leave", to "long" for "home"; their traditional Catholic Faith held them to the "ultimate home"...Heaven.

But now, because of the horrid cases of child abuse that have rocked the Church in Ireland, causing the resignation of bishops, poor morale among the clergy and religious, and in the Fall, a Vatican investigation to the Archdioceses and religious communities that will hopefully bring reconciliation and healing, there is much need of prayer and love for the Irish Church.

Many bishops, priests, men and women religious from Ireland came to the USA and served this mission Church of ours for over a hundred years. Many, many of them are heroic in so many ways; they sacrificed much, leaving home, family and even giving their lives to bring the message of our Lord to this country.

The Church in Ireland deserves our love, prayer and respect.
This song is in honor of the many nameless priests and religious who came here to give of themselves to the poor and destitute, to educate children, care for orphans and all the unwanted. Some of them were even in the Civil War, caring for our soldiers on both sides. They are truly heroes and heroines. May God bless Ireland.

An Irish kinda mood

2010-07-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

I'm in an Irish kinda mood today.
Pray for the Church in Ireland; they are in such dire need of our prayers, concern and best.
The lyrics:
English Translation:

Halleluia, halleluia
Halleluia, my Savior
You are my God, I am your servant
Halleluia my heart forever

My love, my God, my guardian, my rock
My fair love, my Lord
My love, my christ, my love, my heart
My love in full, You, my glorious King

(Chorus)

My love __, holy in your court
My love, your heart and your fair appearance
My love, your flock, long is your path
My love, my light, my strength, my king

(Chorus)

You are my God, I am your servant
Halleluia my heart forever

A Place of Peace, of Rest, of God

2010-06-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

With so much strife, enmity, tragedy and sadness...let us place ourselves in the "Heart of God"...where we can find a true source of strength, holiness and meaning.
Our prayers for all of you struggling...we feel the pain, sadness and anxiety of your lives. Trust in the Lord! He is our refuge and strength!

There is something beyond this material world; it is something we intuit by just "being"

2010-06-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

I love this music from "The Secret Garden"...it just takes you to a "place beyond time and space"...to God.

Prayers and blessings from our little dovecot of our Lady! We love you all!

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!

2010-06-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Homily for the External Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
13 June 2010

Our texts from this Sacred Liturgy, the External Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, point toward a wonderful mystery: God has so loved us, has made Himself so vulnerable, so approachable, so absolutely weakened by physical, psychological and mental sufferings that no sinner could ever feel that the God who created him, loved him from all eternity, shed His very Blood for him, suffered untold agonies in the Garden of Gethsemane, was scourged without mercy at the pillar, tried before men who closed their hearts to the the Truth, was given a heavy Cross-beam, was humiliated before the crowd, affixed to the Cross in a most horrible manner, suffered for three hours, forgave His enemies and entrusted Himself to His Eternal Father before He breathed His last; this is Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, Whose Sacred Heart bore all of these burdens for our sake, Who was wounded, and at His death, His Sacred Heart was pierced, from which blood and water flowed. The source of all Sacramental life; the water of Baptism; the Blood of the Holy Eucharist which came forth from the Sacred Body of the God-Man Who loved each one of us unto death, the complete spending of Himself in obedience, the complete blood=letting of His Precious Blood.

We stand before this most sublime mystery today in our celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which Holy Mother Church allows us to celebrate in an External Form on this Sunday closest to the actual Feast. The Patron of this church, of this “Oratory of Cor Jesu”, which, God willing, will soon have the daily praises of the Divine Office sung here; the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; the daily Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; the daily reparation requested by our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque, in her French convent, some four hundred years ago. It is no mistake that our small, humble, hidden monastic community was given this place dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; Archbishop Raymond Burke entrusted us with the work of writing an icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that he blessed and then consecrated our Diocese in 1999 to the Sacred Heart. We have gone through many years of discernment and search of where our “permanent home” would one day be; the Lord knew the answer; He gave us this most historical religious site, dedicated to His Sacred Heart. The church bell that rings out the announcement of the Holy Mass each Sunday is dedicated to Saint Joseph, under the inspiration of Fr. Goldsmith, the great missionary of this area. And it was consecrated on June 11th, the birthday of our co=founder, Rev. William Felix, one hundred years before we took possession of this holy ground. The Lord, in His Providence, makes no mistakes; He knows and provides for everything. Praised be His Holy Name!

Pope Benedict, in his homily for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday of this last week, in the closing Mass for the “Year for the Priest” spoke most eloquently of the “Good Shepherd,” Jesus Who loves and cares for his sheep, His people. The past years have been filled with the news of how bishops and priests have not loved their flock as “Good Shepherds”, have, in fact, abused their authority and responsibility toward the innocent, the vulnerable, the dependant; this is a grave sin and a horrid violation of the true vocation of the “Good Shepherd”, one who is to imitate Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd and
Guardian of Souls. The violation of even one of the innocent is a sin that cries to God for vengeance; it is a horrible violation of the trust that a representative of Jesus Christ, a bishop or priest,
must be always careful to observe. I want to make public reparation, apology, and ask forgiveness from any of you, here present, who have been treated in any way that is abusive or somehow outside the proper treatment that a “Good Shepherd” should treat His flock. It is a horrible crime for the innocent to be violated in any way by the very one who should be leading them to God. It is not always sexual abuse that is the case, here; many times, the abusive and atrocious behaviour of God’s representatives manifests itself in the insensitive, uncharitable, and dismissive acts and attitudes of bishops and priests, who should, above all, be very sensitive and attentive to the needs of the faithful.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a pierced Heart; it is a Heart that is full of mercy, kindness, forgiveness, understanding, compassion, love. Pierced by a lance. From which blood and water flowed. A Heart so vulnerable, so impassioned, so full “of fire”…how can we ever begin to understand the Divine Compassion?

In the revelations to Saint Margaret Mary, Jesus made a definite reference to a very important point: He was deeply offended by the lack of love of His chosen ones; He felt the deep sadness and neglect of those who should be His dearest friends. In other words, Jesus came to us, in these revelations, as a beggar. He so wants our love, our adoration, our reparation, our time, our attention…He is like a neglected friend who calls, leaves messages, tell us that He wants us to “call back”…He wants us to spend time with Him, He wants us to avail ourselves of the graces that He wants to give us…He wants to be our constant friend and companion.

For me, this is most poignant and important.
Jesus begs to be MY friend; my friend.
He is the God of all; the Second Person of the Trinity; the Lord and Beginning and End of all; and He begs to be MY friend?
How is this possible?
How is this even imaginable?

When we say the Creed, we bow or genuflect at the words “Et incarnatus est”—the Word became Flesh…He is one of us! He unites Himself to us! Always and forever more!
His Sacred Heart, beating within the womb of the Virgin Mother, knows me, He loves me, He has thought of me from time immemorial! How can I not accept His Love?

The true devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is based in the biblical revelation that “God so loved us, that He sent His Son”…He sent His Son! Born of the Virgin Mother; Who lived thirty years at Nazareth under the obedience of a Son to His Mother and Guardian, St. Joseph. This is most relevant to us today; the Christian family, who is under constant attack, must be rooted in the home of Nazareth: the love of the Son for His Mother and Guardian, St. Joseph. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the love for the family, both the Christian family of mother, father and children, the family of the religious community who is consecrated to the Holy Family in the Holy Trinity and makes present the “Kingdom of God” and the men and women who are consecrated to the Lord in various ways, celibate for the Kingdom of God. The reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is manifest in those who give everything to God in their particular circumstances; who live only for Him, through Him, in Him by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and their commitment to living His Law according to their particular state in life.

This is the charism of our Institute of Saint Joseph. We endeavour to promote and sustain the “universal call to holiness” that the Church has consistently taught and which is made manifest in “Lumen gentium”…the call to holiness of all the members of the Body of Christ, His Church. This is what this Oratory and future priory of monastics is all about: “to make God present to the world, and the world present to God” through the daily celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, the daily celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Adoration of the Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament, and the oblation of love, sacrifice and commitment to the norms of Christian life.

This place is meant to be a “Temple of the Lord”. We need your prayers, your financial help, your gifts and assistance. This is not meant to be a place only for ourselves. It is meant to be a holy place, a place “set apart” for the exclusive praise of God, for daily Sacrifice, reparation and love.

It is meant to be a place where the “Heart of Jesus” is loved above all. Where He is put first. Where He matters the most. We are most grateful for all that you do to assist us in this aim; we are in most need of your continued help. Jesus is not loved in most places; His Heart is wounded, beyond measure, in many places, especially where the innocent and vulnerable are abused or neglected. We attempt to make reparation for this and want to be a “sign of hope”. Will you assist us? Can you help us?

“Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you.” Amen.

Octave of Corpus Christi

2010-06-09T14:08:00.000-07:00

In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, we are in the final days of the "Octave of Corpus Christi", which culminates in the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, June 11.

This is the Sequence from the Mass of Corpus Christi. It was written by St. Thomas Aquinas specifically for this Feast. It gives the essential teaching of the Catholic Church on the Holy Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine.

Let us worship and adore the Lord, present in such humble forms; let our adoration never cease!

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

2010-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Homily for Holy Trinity Sunday, 30 May 2010
Cor Jesu Oratory

We hear in our Epistle for today’s Mass, the Feast of the Holy Trinity: “”For from him and through him and in him are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen.”

This phrase from Sacred Scripture is the “final doxology” at the end of the Roman Canon where the priest takes the Sacred Host and over the Chalice of the Precious Blood signs with the Cross three times and then two times in front of it saying words based upon this praise of the Most Holy Trinity. It is a profound signification of the life and action of the Holy Trinity: the Father sends the Son to become a “victim” in complete obedience in the Love of the Holy Spirit.

The three “signs of the Cross” indicate the Trinitarian work present in the Sacrifice of the Cross; the two “signs of the Cross” in front of the Chalice indicate the identity of the Son Who offers Himself in Sacrifice: True God and True Man.

Deacon Laurence Hemming, in his work, “Worship as Revelation”, describes the “unfolding of the mystery” of our life in God, in His Trinitarian life, in the rites and words of the Sacred Liturgy, particularly in the Holy Mass. He writes:

Symbolically the activity of the liturgy….is how the altar ‘speaks’ and how it enters into human conversation. The conversation is double; it is the means by which the conversation between the First and Second Persons of the Divine Trinity is made available to the understanding of the baptized, and so how the baptized are inserted into the eternal conversation between the Father and the Son through the work of the Spirit; and it is the means by which mere human conversation is fully taken up into the divine life so that it can disclose, and so be, what it signifies. ‘Speaking’ here does not just mean words: it means every symbolic or ritual gesture, every silence, that the liturgy employs in its divinely authorized activity (p. 54).

The sacred actions and words of the Holy Mass reveal to us who God is, what God’s requirements are, how we are to approach Him, how we are to be formed and molded according to His image and likeness.

Our understanding of the Holy Trinity is not merely an intellectual exercise, like mathematics. We do not leave aside our ability to reason, our intellect, but are transformed and allow the concepts we have to be transcended in the grace of God, His revelation to us, given through the Holy Church, by the action of grace. Deacon Hemmings describes this reality in this way:

…God is no longer ‘other’ to me…God’s interior self-revelation in the Persons of the Trinity, through the redemption wrought in Christ, now includes me insofar as I am called to live within it, and know myself to be so living. This is in consequence of the death and resurrection of Christ, within which mystery I am included through Baptism…now I live through the Son in the power of the Spirit toward the Father: insofar as I receive the Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation, I live in the Christ I come to know in the liturgy, and so I am brought to meet the Father. Insofar as I am in Christ, I am caught up into the divine, Trinitarian, life….my every participation in the liturgy re-enacts, brings into existence, and enfleshes the baptismal even and makes it real, above all in the even of the Mass and my reception of the Eucharist. I live my Baptism, above all through my very embodiment (whilst gaining an understanding of what it will be to have a new body on a new earth under a new heaven)…My Baptism is the conditioning possibility of my vocation as a Christian (pp. 41-42).

This mystical, sacramental encounter with Jesus Christ in the Sacred Liturgy makes it possible for me to know the Father in the Holy Spirit; where One of the Trinity is active, the others a present, as well. The initial “immersion” in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Baptism and the sealing of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation is a transition and transformation from merely “natural” life to supernatural life. It is the very basis of the universal call to holiness, which the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Lumen gentium, has defined and made clear. All of us, in every state in life, are called to become saints; we are called to nurture and increase the life of grace within us, to become virtuous and living signs of the “Kingdom of God”, according to the duties and obligations of our particular vocation. Each state in life makes present the particular mystery of Christ’s Love and Redemptive Sacrifice: the married are called to live in the love of Christ and His Church, the sacrifice of self for the other in imitation of the Lord and His Church; the priest is called to be “alter Christus”: to be the sign and Redemptive sign of the Saviour’s Love for all mankind by offering the Holy Sacrifice, absolving sins, anointing the sick, witnessing Marriages, baptizing the faithful. Consecrated persons are called to witness to the primacy of the Kingdom of God, to renounce possessions, family and their own wills to live in a stable form of life to give glory to the Father, to worship the Son, to live in the grace of the Holy Spirit. I include both religious and secular consecrated persons, as well as those, for whatever reason, remain single in dedication to God’s glory.

The life of the Holy Trinity is the origin of the Church. It is the very mystery of our liturgical life. In the celebration of Holy Mass, all of the Sacraments and the praying of the Divine Office, as the Church calls it, “the song of love between Bride and Bridegroom”, the great mystery of God, His very essence, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is made manifest through the outward signs and symbols, words and chants of His Church.

Deacon Hemmings has a further reflection which illustrates this reality. He writes;

To know ‘about’ the God disclosed through the liturgy is not the same as knowing God in the liturgy…To know the Trinity, to know God as Trinity, is to know through faith in Jesus Christ that God as Father calls me through the Spirit to be an adopted son or daughter. To know, to believe, to trust, that Jesus is the Son of God is to know that I too can be filiated to God. The experience of participating in the liturgy is the practical working out of that knowledge. It is knowledge that can only be gained by, and rejoiced in, through faith. Through faith, and by Baptism, we enter into the life of God by means of the liturgy. The liturgy discloses an understanding of God as he reveals himself to be, in Christ, in a knowledge that can only be gained through faith, not deduced or derived by reason or a rational act of self-posting (I think: I am).

This why the Lord, in our Gospel reading for today, unites the preaching of the Gospel and teaching its truths with baptism in the Name of the Holy Trinity. Faith is not merely the “content” of faith in its intellectual format; it is the interior acceptance of God’s revelation in His Son through the action of the Holy Spirit; Holy Baptism in the Name of the Trinity immerses us in the very life of God. We are then made sharers in that life; we must nurture it, love it, deepen and expand it by our response in love. We can know God, in certain ways, through our reason unaided by grace, it is true, it is the teaching of the Church. But we cannot know God intimately, personally, in union unless assisted by grace, the grace we receive in Baptism, the grace we participate in through the reception of the other Sacraments, esp. Penance and Holy Communion, our prayer, virtuous acts, spiritual reading and acceptance of the demands of our state in life.

May this Eucharistic Sacrifice to which we are present make us more open to the graces God wants to give us, in the imitation of our Lady, Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, and St. Joseph, the "man of silence" who did God's will in perfect obedience. May the fruits of this Holy Mass enable us to "be witnesses" in the midst of the world, in our daily duties, to be the "sign" of His Love and work.

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen."

"The Icon of Holy Saturday"

2010-05-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

This is a moment to which I have been looking forward. I have stood before the Holy Shroud on various occasions but this time I am experiencing this Pilgrimage and this moment with special intensity: perhaps this is because the passing years make me even more sensitive to the message of this extraordinary Icon; perhaps and I would say above all this is because I am here now as the Successor of Peter, and I carry in my heart the whole Church, indeed, the whole of humanity. I thank God for the gift of this Pilgrimage and also for the opportunity to share with you a brief meditation inspired by the subtitle of this solemn Exposition: "The Mystery of Holy Saturday".

One could say that the Shroud is the Icon of this mystery, the Icon of Holy Saturday. Indeed it is a winding-sheet that was wrapped round the body of a man who was crucified, corresponding in every way to what the Gospels tell us of Jesus who, crucified at about noon, died at about three o'clock in the afternoon. At nightfall, since it was Parasceve, that is, the eve of Holy Saturday, Joseph of Arimathea, a rich and authoritative member of the Sanhedrin, courageously asked Pontius Pilate for permission to bury Jesus in his new tomb which he had had hewn out in the rock not far from Golgotha. Having obtained permission, he bought a linen cloth, and after Jesus was taken down from the Cross, wrapped him in that shroud and buried him in that tomb (cf. Mk 15: 42-46). This is what the Gospel of St Mark says and the other Evangelists are in agreement with him. From that moment, Jesus remained in the tomb until dawn of the day after the Sabbath and the Turin Shroud presents to us an image of how his body lay in the tomb during that period which was chronologically brief (about a day and a half), but immense, infinite in its value and in its significance.

Holy Saturday is the day when God remains hidden, we read in an ancient Homily: "What has happened? Today the earth is shrouded in deep silence, deep silence and stillness, profound silence because the King sleeps.... God has died in the flesh, and has gone down to rouse the realm of the dead" (Homily on Holy Saturday, PG 43, 439). In the Creed, we profess that Jesus Christ was "crucified under Pontius Pilate, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again".

Dear brothers and sisters, in our time, especially after having lived through the past century, humanity has become particularly sensitive to the mystery of Holy Saturday. The concealment of God is part of contemporary man's spirituality, in an existential almost subconscious manner, like a void in the heart that has continued to grow larger and larger. Towards the end of the 19th century, Nietzsche wrote: "God is dead! And we killed him!". This famous saying is clearly taken almost literally from the Christian tradition. We often repeat it in the Way of the Cross, perhaps without being fully aware of what we are saying. After the two World Wars, the lagers and the gulags, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, our epoch has become increasingly a Holy Saturday: this day's darkness challenges all who are wondering about life and it challenges us believers in particular. We too have something to do with this darkness.

Yet the death of the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, has an opposite aspect, totally positive, a source of comfort and hope. And this reminds me of the fact that the Holy Shroud acts as a "photographic' document, with both a "positive" and a "negative". And, in fact, this is really how it is: the darkest mystery of faith is at the same time the most luminous sign of a never-ending hope. Holy Saturday is a "no man's land" between the death and the Resurrection, but this "no man's land" was entered by One, the Only One, who passed through it with the signs of his Passion for man's sake: Passio Christi. Passio hominis. And the Shroud speaks to us precisely about this moment testifying exactly to that unique and unrepeatable interval in the history of humanity and the universe in which God, in Jesus Christ, not only shared our dying but also our remaining in death the most radical solidarity.

In this "time-beyond-time", Jesus Christ "descended to the dead". What do these words mean? They mean that God, having made himself man, reached the point of entering man's most extreme and absolute solitude, where not a ray of love enters, where total abandonment reigns without any word of comfort: "hell". Jesus Christ, by remaining in death, passed beyond the door of this ultimate solitude to lead us too to cross it with him. We have all, at some point, felt the frightening sensation of abandonment, and that is what we fear most about death, just as when we were children we were afraid to be alone in the dark and could only be reassured by the presence of a person who loved us. Well, this is exactly what happened on Holy Saturday: the voice of God resounded in the realm of death. The unimaginable occurred: namely, Love penetrated "hell". Even in the extreme darkness of the most absolute human loneliness we may hear a voice that calls us and find a hand that takes ours and leads us out. Human beings live because they are loved and can love; and if love even penetrated the realm of death, then life also even reached there. In the hour of supreme solitude we shall never be alone: Passio Christi. Passio hominis.

This is the mystery of Holy Saturday! Truly from there, from the darkness of the death of the Son of God, the light of a new hope gleamed: the light of the Resurrection. And it seems to me that, looking at this sacred Cloth through the eyes of faith, one may perceive something of this light. Effectively, the Shroud was immersed in that profound darkness that was at the same time luminous; and I think that if thousands and thousands of people come to venerate it without counting those who contemplate it through images it is because they see in it not only darkness but also the light; not so much the defeat of life and of love, but rather victory, the victory of life over death, of love over hatred. They indeed see the death of Jesus, but they also see his Resurrection; in the bosom of death, life is now vibrant, since love dwells within it. This is the power of the Shroud: from the face of this "Man of sorrows", who carries with him the passion of man of every time and every place, our passions too, our sufferings, our difficulties and our sins Passio Christi. Passio hominis from this face a solemn majesty shines, a paradoxical lordship. This face, these hands and these feet, this side, this whole body speaks. It is itself a word we can hear in the silence. How does the Shroud speak? It speaks with blood, and blood is life! The Shroud is an Icon written in blood; the blood of a man who was scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and whose right side was pierced. The Image impressed upon the Shroud is that of a dead man, but the blood speaks of his life. Every trace of blood speaks of love and of life. Especially that huge stain near his rib, made by the blood and water that flowed copiously from a great wound inflicted by the tip of a Roman spear. That blood and that water speak of life. It is like a spring that murmurs in the silence, and we can hear it, we can listen to it in the silence of Holy Saturday.

Dear friends, let us always praise the Lord for his faithful and merciful love. When we leave this holy place, may we carry in our eyes the image of the Shroud, may we carry in our hearts this word of love and praise God with a life full of faith, hope and charity. Thank you.

© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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On the Lighter Side

2010-05-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

Couldn't resist this!
Monastic hood tip to Mulier Fortis via The Crescat (aka Kat) on Facebook.

Blessed Feast of Pentecost!

2010-05-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to John Sonnen and The New Liturgical Movement.

The red roses are a symbol of the tongues of the fire of Pentecost that rested upon the Apostles.

What a beautiful signification of this most wonderful Feast!

Prayers and blessings to all of you from our Nazareth monastic Community!
Today is our founding day; in 1987 (The Marian Year), Bishop John Paul gave us official recognition as an association of the faithful. Thanks to the help of then, Fr. Raymond L. Burke (now Archbishop Raymond Burke, head of the Apostolic Signatura in Rome). May Bishop Paul rest in peace. May Archbishop Burke be given every grace and blessing in his mission given by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict.

A happy and blessed Feast to you all!

Wednesday before Ascension Thursday

2010-05-18T13:57:00.001-07:00

Contemplative monastics, being notoriously "late" because of all kinds of everything:<)!, are, however, not dismissive of the liturgical year; we did, in fact, have the "Rogation Litany and Procession" on the Wednesday before Ascension Thursday (in the "usus antiquior"...the former Usage of the Roman Missal) at our future "Cor Jesu Priory and Oratory"...although it was only the monastic community, the whole Church was present, even if invisible.

Here are photos of the "Litany of Saints" and the opening rites of the Holy Mass.
We prayed for protection against natural disasters, for a good crop, for the needs of Holy Mother Church, for the protection of the faithful against natural disasters, for the propagation of the Holy Catholic Faith...for all of you who read this blog.

We are small...we struggle mightily...but we love the Holy Roman Church, all of Her Traditions, all of you...we depend upon your kindness and generosity in your prayers and in your offerings...we struggle financially, but that's okay; it means we are poor and dependant upon the loving kindness of the Heavenly Father.

We pray for you; we really do.
If you could help us in any way financially, we are most appreciative.
Our website: www.isjoseph.com.
Your help is most appreciated and will be rewarded by our prayers and the help of the Heavenly Father. Many, many thanks. We'll pray, regardless if we have to eat herbs and bread (not likely around these parts...these folks are most generous with food)...but our medical/insurance debts are increasingly difficult...if you could help us in any way, God reward you! Mary help you! Joseph protect you!

Ascension Day

2010-05-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Ascension Homily
16 May 2010
Cor Jesu Oratory

The Gospel for today’s Holy Mass begins, “Jesus showed Himself to the Eleven themselves while they were at table.” This refers in a significant way to the Eucharistic Mystery, the place and time that Jesus revealed Himself during the forty days after His Resurrection to the disciples, who at Pentecost would become Apostles, in other words, those sent out on mission. And what was this mission? To preach, teach, sanctify and lead the Church. Within the context of the Eucharist, the Lord makes known to them, and today, to us, through the apostolic succession, within the Sacred Liturgy, the truths and mystery He came to bequeath both to them and to us: the saving power of God.

The Ascension of the Lord into heaven is the culmination of His Sacred Passion, Death and Resurrection. In the Roman Canon, directly after the Consecration, these mysteries are mentioned together:

“For this reason, O Lord, we your servants and likewise your holy people remember the blessed suffering of the same Christ, your Son, our Lord. We remember his rising from the abode of the dead and his going up to the glory of heaven. Mindful of all this from among the gifts you gave us we offer to your radiant majesty a victim, pure, holy spotless the sacred bread of life eternal the cup which gives salvation forever.”

The earthly presence of the God-Man Jesus Christ is changed, not ended. His Sacred Humanity ascends to sit at the right hand of the Father. But His mystical and sacramental Presence remains. The symbolism of the Paschal Candle being extinguished after the Gospel is to signify the transition from the Risen Lord's earthly presence before the Ascension to the Eucharistic Presence indicated by our sanctuary lamp, which is always burning whenever the Sacred Species is present in the tabernacle. He leaves, only to remain. The Temple of the Body of Jesus in His earthly reality replaces the Temple of Jerusalem. There was only one temple in the religion of Israel. With this transformation, there is a Temple wherever the Blessed Sacrament is reserved or where the Sacred Liturgy is celebrated. The universal commission, “Go, teach all nations” becomes reality in the countless oratories, chapels, churches, and cathedrals throughout the world. This is the establishment of the dominion of Christ the King, the Lord of All. He reigns on this earth wherever He is present Sacramentally; wherever His grace is dispensed and received with faith; wherever two or three live in charity.

The angel says to the Eleven in the words of our Introit: “Men of Galilee, at what are you amazed, while you look up to heaven?...Just as you saw him going into heaven, so will he come back…” I believe we can see this in two ways: it promises the return of the Lord in His Second Coming when all of human history will be at an end and He will carry out the General Judgment. But it can also indicate that Jesus “returns” with the coming of the Paraclete in the Pentecost event, which makes Apostles out of the disciples, establishes the beginning of the Church and the celebration of the “breaking of the bread”, or the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which is mentioned early on in the Acts of the Apostles. The amazement of the disciples experiencing the Ascension of the Lord must become the “Eucharistic amazement” of which Pope John Paul II made great emphasis in his encyclical on the Holy Eucharist, “Ecclesia in Eucharistia”, the Church is born of the Eucharist. This is the great Ascension mystery which is fully revealed in Pentecost. The nine days of waiting between the two events is the “great Novena”, the “original Novena” of prayer. This preparation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which we will celebrate next Sunday is a time for us to intensify our prayer that we may become His witnesses in a greater and more profound way.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his recent pilgrimage to Portugal, reminded us of the essential task we have as believers.

We know that she also has quarrelsome and even rebellious sons and daughters, but it is in the saints that the Church recognizes her most characteristic features, it is in them that she tastes her deepest joy. They all share the desire to incarnate the Gospel in their own lives, under the inspiration of the eternal animator of God’s People – the Holy Spirit. Focussing her attention upon her own saints, this local Church has rightly concluded that today’s pastoral priority is to make each Christian man and woman a radiant presence of the Gospel perspective in the midst of the world, in the family, in culture, in the economy, in politics. Often we are anxiously preoccupied with the social, cultural and political consequences of the faith, taking for granted that faith is present, which unfortunately is less and less realistic. Perhaps we have placed an excessive trust in ecclesial structures and programmes, in the distribution of powers and functions; but what will happen if salt loses its flavour?
In order for this not to happen, it is necessary to proclaim anew with vigour and joy the event of the death and resurrection of Christ, the heart of Christianity, the fulcrum and mainstay of our faith, the firm lever of our certainties, the strong wind that sweeps away all fear and indecision, all doubt and human calculation. The resurrection of Christ assures us that no adverse power will ever be able to destroy the Church. Therefore our faith is well-founded, but this faith needs to come alive in each one of us. A vast effort at every level is required if every Christian is to be transformed into a witness capable of rendering account to all and at all times of the hope that inspires him (cf. 1 Pet 3:15): only Christ can fully satisfy the profound longings of every human heart and give answers to its most pressing questions concerning suffering, injustice and evil, concerning death and the life hereafter
…Christ is always with us and always walks with his Church, accompanies her and guards her, as he has told us: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). Never doubt his presence! Always seek the Lord Jesus, grow in friendship with him, receive him in communion. Learn to listen to his word and also to recognize him in the poor. Live your lives with joy and enthusiasm, sure of his presence and of his unconditional, generous friendship, faithful even to death on the cross. Bear witness to all of the joy that his strong yet gentle presence evokes, starting with your contemporaries. Tell them that it is beautiful to be a friend of Jesus and that it is well worth following him. With your enthusiasm, demonstrate that, among all the different ways of life that the world today seems to offer us – apparently all on the same level – the only way in which we find the true meaning of life and hence true and lasting joy, is by following Jesus.

Our Holy Father is emphasizing here that it is the growth in the interior life, of a life centered upon Jesus and His Way in His Church, that makes saints and is victorious over sin and evil. Even the “darkness” of these times cannot extinguish the Light of Christ if we trust in Him. We must not conform ourselves to the spirit of the world, but be transformed in Him. Our lives do make a difference in these times; our small contribution is essential for the mission of the Lord and of His Church, even if it is hidden and isolated. The early Church is our example of fidelity in the midst of persecution; joy in the midst of trial; courage and constancy in the midst of a society that has lost its moral bearings. The joy of Easter does not end at the final day of the Octave nor of the end of Paschaltide. It begins in earnest on Pentecost Sunday when what we have celebrated and learned becomes a stronger foundation for faith, hope and charity.

With our Lady, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Church let us await the new out-pouring of the Spirit that the Lord is preparing. With Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer and the Universal Protector of the Church, let us avail ourselves to a greater love of Jesus and of His Church. The wondrous Mystery that is enacted before our very eyes at this Altar is the Presence of the One Who died, but lives. May He be praised for ever. Amen.

Image: 16th C. Russian icon; http://campus.belmont.edu/honors/FestalIcons/FestalIcons3.html

Prayer to Our Lady

2010-05-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

VISIT TO THE CHAPEL OF APPARITIONS

PRAYER TO OUR LADY

Esplanade of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima
Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Holy Father:

Our Lady,
Mother of all men and women,
I come before you as a son
visiting his Mother,
and I do so in company
with a multitude of brothers and sisters.
As the Successor of Peter,
to whom was entrusted the mission
of presiding in the service
of charity in the Church of Christ
and of confirming all in faith and in hope,
I wish to present to your
Immaculate Heart
the joys and hopes
as well as the problems and sufferings
of each one of these sons and daughters of yours
who are gathered in the Cova di Iria
or who are praying with us from afar.

Mother most gentle,
you know each one by name,
you know each one’s face and personal history,
and you love them all
with maternal benevolence
that wells up from the very heart of Divine Love.
I entrust and consecrate them all to you,
Mary Most Holy,
Mother of God and our Mother.

Cantors and Assembly:

We sing to you and we praise you, O Mary (v. 1)

Holy Father:

The Venerable Pope John Paul II,
who visited you three times here in Fatima
and thanked the “unseen hand”
that rescued him from death
in the assassination attempt on 13 May
in Saint Peter’s Square almost thirty years ago,
wanted to offer to the Shrine of Fatima
a bullet which gravely wounded him
and was placed in the crown of the Queen of Peace.
It is a profound consolation
to know that you are crowned
not only with the silver
and gold of our joys and hopes,
but also with the “bullet”
of our anxieties and sufferings.
I thank you, beloved Mother,
for the prayers and sacrifices
that the shepherd-children
of Fatima offered for the Pope,
led by the sentiments
that you inspired in them in the apparitions.
I also thank all those who,
every day,
pray for the Successor of Peter
and for his intentions,
that the Pope may be strong in faith,
bold in hope and zealous in love.

Cantors and Assembly:

We sing to you and we praise you, O Mary (v. 2)

Holy Father:

Beloved Mother of us all,
here in your Shrine at Fatima I consign
the Golden Rose
that I have brought from Rome
as a homage of gratitude from the Pope
for the marvels that the Almighty
has worked through you
in the hearts of so many who come as pilgrims
to this your maternal home.
I am sure that the shepherd-children of Fatima,
Blessed Francisco and Jacinta
and the Servant of God Lucia of Jesus,
are united with us at this hour of prayer and jubilation.

Cantors and Assembly:

We sing to you and we praise you, O Mary (v. 5).

© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Image from: http://amigosderusiasannicolas.blogspot.com/2009/05/icon-of-mother-of-god-of-fatima.html

Pope Benedict : "The pleasant surprise...[in the] the movements and new ecclesial communities..."

2010-05-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
TO PORTUGAL ON THE OCCASION OF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE BEATIFICATION OF JACINTA AND FRANCISCO,
YOUNG SHEPHERDS OF FÁTIMA

MEETING WITH THE BISHOPS OF PORTUGAL

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Conference Hall of the "Casa Nossa Senhora do Carmo" - Fátima
Thursday, 13 May 2010

Dear Brother Bishops,

I thank God for giving me this occasion to meet all of you here at the Shrine of Fatima, the spiritual heart of Portugal, where multitudes of pilgrims from all over the world come looking to discover or to reinforce their certainty in the truths of Heaven. Among them has come from Rome the Successor of Peter, accepting the oft-repeated invitations and moved by a debt of gratitude to the Virgin Mary, who herself transmitted to her seers and pilgrims an intense love for the Holy Father which has borne fruit in a great multitude which prays, with Jesus as its guide: Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren” (Lk 22:32).

As you see, the Pope needs to open himself ever more fully to the mystery of the Cross, embracing it as the one hope and the supreme way to gain and to gather in the Crucified One all his brothers and sisters in humanity. Obeying the word of God, he is called to live not for himself but for the presence of God in the world. I am comforted by the determination with which you too follow me closely, fearing nothing except the loss of eternal salvation for your people, as was clearly expressed in the words of greeting spoken by Archbishop Jorge Ortiga upon my arrival in your midst, and which testify to the unconditional fidelity of the Bishops of Portugal to the Successor of Peter. From my heart I thank you. I thank you as well for all the attention that you have given to organizing my Visit. May God reward you, and pour out the Holy Spirit in abundance upon you and your Dioceses so that, with one heart and with one soul, you may bring to completion the pastoral work which you have begun, that is, offering each member of the faithful an exacting and attractive Christian initiation, one which communicates the integrity of the faith and genuine spirituality, rooted in the Gospel, and capable of forming free and generous labourers in the midst of public life.

In truth, the times in which we live demand a new missionary vigour on the part of Christians, who are called to form a mature laity, identified with the Church and sensitive to the complex transformations taking place in our world. Authentic witnesses to Jesus Christ are needed, above all in those human situations where the silence of the faith is most widely and deeply felt: among politicians, intellectuals, communications professionals who profess and who promote a monocultural ideal, with disdain for the religious and contemplative dimension of life. In such circles are found some believers who are ashamed of their beliefs and who even give a helping hand to this type of secularism, which builds barriers before Christian inspiration. And yet, dear brothers, may all those who defend the faith in these situations, with courage, with a vigorous Catholic outlook and in fidelity to the magisterium, continue to receive your help and your insightful encouragement in order to live out, as faithful lay men and women, their Christian freedom.

You maintain a strong prophetic dimension, without allowing yourselves to be silenced, in the present social context, for “the word of God is not fettered” (2 Tim 2:9). People cry out for the Good News of Jesus Christ, which gives meaning to their lives and protects their dignity. In your role as first evangelizers, it will be useful for you to know and to understand the diverse social and cultural factors, to evaluate their spiritual deficiencies and to utilize effectively your pastoral resources; what is decisive, however, is the ability to inculcate in all those engaged in the work of evangelization a true desire for holiness, in the awareness that the results derive above all from our union with Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit.

In fact, when, in the view of many people, the Catholic faith is no longer the common patrimony of society and, often, seen as seed threatened and obscured by the “gods” and masters of this world, only with great difficulty can the faith touch the hearts of people by means simple speeches or moral appeals, and even less by a general appeal to Christian values. The courageous and integral appeal to principles is essential and indispensable; yet simply proclaiming the message does not penetrate to the depths of people’s hearts, it does not touch their freedom, it does not change their lives. What attracts is, above all, the encounter with believing persons who, through their faith, draw others to the grace of Christ by bearing witness to him. The words of Pope John Paul II come to mind: “The Church needs above all great currents, movements and witnesses of holiness among the ‘Christifideles’ because it is from holiness that is born every authentic renewal of the Church, all intelligent enrichment of the faith and of the Christian life, the vital and fecund reactualization of Christianity with the needs of man, a renewed form of presence in the heart of human existence and of the culture of nations (Address for the XX Anniversary of the Promulgation of the Conciliar Decree “Apostolicam Actuositatem”, 18 November 1985). One could say, “the Church has need of these great currents, movements and witnesses of holiness…, but there are none!”

In this regard, I confess to you the pleasant surprise that I had in making contact with the movements and the new ecclesial communities. Watching them, I had the joy and the grace to see how, at a moment of weariness in the Church, at a time when we were hearing about “the winter of the Church”, the Holy Spirit was creating a new springtime, awakening in young people and adults alike the joy of being Christian, of living in the Church, which is the living Body of Christ. Thanks to their charisms, the radicality of the Gospel, the objective contents of the faith, the living flow of her tradition, are all being communicated in a persuasive way and welcomed as a personal experience, as adherence in freedom to the present event of Christ.

The necessary condition, naturally, is that these new realities desire to live in the one Church, albeit with spaces in some way set aside for their own life, in such a way that this life becomes fruitful for all the others. The bearers of a particular charism must feel themselves fundamentally responsible for communion, for the common faith of the Church, and submit themselves to the leadership of their Bishops. It is they who must ensure the ecclesial nature of the movements. Bishops are not only those who hold an office, but those who themselves are bearers of charisms, and responsible for the openness of the Church to the working of the Holy Spirit. We, Bishops, in the sacrament of Holy Orders, are anointed by the Holy Spirit and thus the sacrament ensures that we too are open to his gifts. Thus, on the one hand, we must feel responsibility for welcoming these impulses which are gifts for the Church and which give her new vitality, but, on the other hand, we must also help the movements to find the right way, making some corrections with understanding – with the spiritual and human understanding that is able to combine guidance, gratitude and a certain openness and a willingness to learn.

This is precisely what you must foster or confirm in your priests. In this Year for Priests now drawing to a close, rediscover, dear brothers, the role of the Bishop as father, especially with regard to your priests. For all too long the responsibility of authority as a service aimed at the growth of others and in the first place of priests, has been given second place. Priests are called to serve, in their pastoral ministry, and to be part of a pastoral activity of communion or oneness, as the Conciliar Decree Presbyterorum Ordinis reminds us, “No priest is sufficiently equipped to carry out his mission alone and as it were single-handed. He can only do so by joining forces with other priests, under the leadership of those who govern the Church” (No. 7). This is not a matter of turning back to the past, nor of a simple return to our origins, but rather of a recovery of the fervour of the origins, of the joy of the initial Christian experience, and of walking beside Christ like the disciples of Emmaus on the day of Easter, allowing his word to warm our hearts and his “broken bread” to open our eyes to the contemplation of his face. Only in this way will the fire of charity blaze strongly enough to impel every Christian to become a source of light and life in the Church and among all men and women.

Before concluding, I would like to ask you, in your role as leaders and ministers of charity in the Church, to rekindle, in yourselves as individuals and as a group, a sense of mercy and of compassion, in order to respond to grave social needs. New organizations must be established, and those already existing perfected, so that they can be capable of responding creatively to every form of poverty, including those experienced as a lack of the meaningfulness in life and the absence of hope. The efforts you are making to assist the Dioceses most in need, especially in Portuguese-speaking countries, is praiseworthy. May difficulties, which today are more deeply felt, not make you shrink from the logic of self-giving. Let there continue and flourish in this country, your witness as prophets of justice and peace, and defenders of the inalienable rights of the person. Join your voice to the voices of the least powerful, whom you have wisely helped to gain a voice of their own, without ever being afraid of raising your voice on behalf of the oppressed, the downtrodden and those who have been mistreated.

I entrust all of you to Our Lady of Fatima, and I ask her to sustain you with her maternal care amid the challenges which you face, so that you will be promoters of a culture and a spirituality of charity, peace, hope and justice, faith and service. To you, to the members of your families and to your diocesan communities I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.

© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Image from: http://www.bentoxviportugal.pt/default.asp

Half a Million Pilgrims Join the Pope for a Mass in Fatima

2010-05-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

Fatima

2010-05-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Anne Marie's First Holy Communion

2010-05-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

My niece, Anne Marie, is making her First Holy Communion tomorrow.
She looks so very much like this photo (monastic hood tip to The Crescat)...
she's a real fire-cracker...one that is destined to be a CEO of some corporation or a Mother Superior (the last option I am praying for!)

My sister, Julie, and her husband, Dan, are great parents...their four children (three boys and Anne Marie) are such great kids. (I'm prejudiced here...I'm their uncle, after all!).

I pray for these young people, all of them, that they may respond to God's call and be what He wants them to be, what He has destined them to be from all eternity.

I love them all so very much!
God is so good!
Never, in my wildest imagination, when I became a Catholic some thirty years ago, did I imagine seeing my nephews and niece receiving Jesus in Holy Communion...in following Him in the Holy Catholic Faith.

I am so happy!

Oremus pro invicem--Let us pray for one another!

2010-05-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Priests need the prayers of the faithful; the faithful need the prayers of priests.
In this "Year for Priests" and this month of May, dedicated to our Lady, let us pray the rosary for one another.
This is a most beautiful testimony to the power of the Rosary and love between the faithful and priests.

Monastic hood tip to His Hermeneuticalness, Fr. Finigan, http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/.

2010-05-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Joseph, the Worker. In our Diocese of LaCrosse, it is a Solemnity because he is the primary patron of our Diocese. And, he is the Patron of our Public Association of the Faithful, the Institute of Saint Joseph.

This feast was instituted to combat the "Worker's Day" of the Communist Party in the 1950's by Pope Pius XII by emphasizing the Catholic understanding of the dignity of the human person and the dignity of work, not as an "end", but as a "means" of perfecting and sanctifying the human person, in the imitation of Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer and Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Fr. Marie-Dominique Phillipe, OP, founder of the Community of Saint John, in the recently released book,"The Mystery of Joseph" (Ignatius Press), has a beautiful meditation upon Saint Joseph, work, the monastic life and the lay life.

The great grace of the Second Vatican Council was perhaps to make us discover, or rediscover, the unity that exists between the Christian household and the monastic life, and to show us that there is no separation between the two. There is a distinction, obviously, but a distinction for the purpose of a much deeper unity, because we are all tending towards the same holiness, towards the same intimacy with Christ, with Mary, with Joseph. It is very important that the spirituality of the family today not be separated from monastic spirituality, and that there are profound exchanges in the order of charity (in the order of 'agape') between Christian households, which are in the world and have temporal responsibilities, and monastic households--spiritual and contemplative households which are totally consecrated to God. The latter remain linked to temporal households and families, and must help them to go further.

The monastic life, in its most classic and simplest features, is rooted in the life of Joseph, in the silent and hidden life of a worker who worships God and loves Him--a faithful worker, meek and poor...

'Poor' in the work that he did, Joseph accepted that he would not see immediate results. 'Faithful', he ceaselessly offered his work to God, working to the best of his ability yet doing so for God. 'Meek', he did his work without jealousy or rivalry. He worked as a man of poverty, to glorify God. Where did this unceasing concern for God's glory come from? From his faithfulness to adoration. The demands of adoration (which are 'interior' and not simply the forced carrying out of a legal recommendation) leave us completely stripped of everything. A man who truly adores considers his work as matter to be consumed in the interior fire of adoration, and he does not expect anything else. Far from being an opposition to prayer or the contemplative life, work that is lived in this way is a foundation for monastic life....

What we are talking about here is true for all Christians; for all Christians the fundamental requirement is to live by adoration,'in spirit and truth' and then, stemming from the adoration, to live by a thirst for contemplation...

You Are Loved

2010-04-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

To all who feel heartbroken, in despair, feel worthless, are at "the end of your rope", I offer this musical meditation.
Don't give up.
Hope is the theological virtue of hanging on, because God is everything, even when it looks and feels so dark...He is there; He is there. Don't give up.
His Sacred Heart embraces you; His Divine Mercy envelops you.
He is there.
Don't give up.

A beautiful witness of God's Love and Presence in our Day

2010-04-23T12:54:00.000-07:00