St. Claude la Colombiere - 15th Febraury 2009

This is a special day for the Jesuits, who claim today’s saint as one of their own. It’s also a special day for people who have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion Claude la Colombière promoted, along with his friend and spiritual companion, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The emphasis on God’s love for all was an antidote to the rigorous moralism of the Jansenists, who were popular at the time.

He was the third child of the notary Bertrand La Colombière and Margaret Coindat, was born on 2nd February 1641 at St. Symphorien d'Ozon in the Dauphine, southeastern France. After the family moved to Vienne Claude began his early education there, completing his studies in rhetoric and philosophy in Lyon.

It was during this period that Claude first sensed his vocation to the religious life in the Society of Jesus. We know nothing of the motives which led to this decision. We do know, however, from one of his early notations, that he "had a terrible aversion for the life embraced". This affirmation is not hard to understand by any who are familiar with the life of Claude, for he was very close to his family and friends and much inclined to the arts and literature and an active social life. On the other hand, he was not a person to be led primarily by his sentiments.

At 17 he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Avignon. In 1660 he moved from the Novitiate to the College, also in Avignon, where he pronounced his first vows and completed his studies in philosophy. Afterwards he was professor of grammar and literature in the same school for another five years.

In 1666 he went to the College of Clermont in Paris for his studies in theology. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, Claude was assigned by superiors in Paris the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of Louis XIV's Munster of Finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert.

His theological studies concluded and now a priest, Claude returned to Lyon. For a time he was teacher in the College, then full-time preacher and moderator of several Marian congregations.

Claude became noted for solid and serious sermons. They were ably directed at specific audiences and, faithful to their inspiration from the gospel, communicated to his listeners serenity and confidence in God. His published sermons produced and still produce significant spiritual fruits. Given the place and the short duration of his ministry, his sermons are surprisingly fresh in comparison with those of better-known orators.

The year 1674 was a decisive one for Claude, the year of his Third Probation at Maison Saint-Joseph in Lyon. During the customary month of the Exercises the Lord prepared him for the mission for which he had been chosen. His spiritual notes from this period allow one to follow step-by-step the battles and triumphs of the spirit, so extraordinarily attracted to everything human, yet so generous with God.

He took a vow to observe all the constitutions and rules of the Society of Jesus, a vow whose scope was not so much to bind him to a series of minute observances as to reproduce the sharp ideal of an apostle so richly described by St. Ignatius. So magnificent did this ideal seem to Claude that he adopted it as his program of sanctity. That it was indeed an invitation from Christ himself is evidenced by the subsequent feeling of interior liberation Claude experienced, along with the broadened horizons of the apostolate he witnesses to in his spiritual diary.

On 2nd February 1675 he pronounced his solemn profession and was named rector of the College at Paray-le-Monial. Not a few people wondered at this assignment of a talented young Jesuit to such an out-of the-way place as Paray. The explanation seems to be in the superiors' knowledge that there was in Paray an unpretentious religious of the Monastery of the Visitation, Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom the Lord was revealing the treasures of his Heart, but who was overcome by anguish and uncertainty. She was waiting for the Lord to fulfill his promise and send her "my faithful servant and perfect friend" to help her realize the mission for which he had destined her: that of revealing to the world the unfathomable riches of his love.

After Father Colombière's arrival and her first conversations with him, Margaret Mary opened her spirit to him and told him of the many communications she believed she had received from the Lord. He assured her he accepted their authenticity and urged her to put in writing everything in their regard, and did all he could to orient and support her in carrying out the mission received. When, thanks to prayer and discernment, he became convinced that Christ wanted the spread of the devotion to his Heart, it is clear from Claude's spiritual notes that he pledged himself to this cause without reserve. In these notes it is also clear that, even before he became Margaret Mary's confessor, Claude's fidelity to the directives of St. Ignatius in the Exercises had brought him to the contemplation of the Heart of Christ as symbol of his love.

After a year and half in Paray, in 1676 Father La Colombière left for London. He had been appointed preacher to the Duchess of York - a very difficult and delicate assignment because of the conditions prevailing in England at the time. He took up residence in St. James Palace in October.

In addition to sermons in the palace chapel and unremitting spiritual direction both oral and written, Claude dedicated his time to giving thorough instruction to the many who sought reconciliation with the Church they had abandoned. And even if there were great dangers, he had the consolation of seeing many reconciled to it, so that after a year he said: "I could write a book about the mercy of God I've seen Him exercise since I arrived here!"

The intense pace of his work and the poor climate combined to undermine his health, and evidence of a serious pulmonary disease began to appear. Claude, however, made no changes in his work or life style.

Of a sudden, at the end of 1678, he was calumniously accused and arrested in connection with the Titus Oates "papist plot". After two days he was transferred to the severe King's Bench Prison where he remained for three weeks in extremely poor conditions until his expulsion from England by royal decree. This suffering further weakened Claude's health which, with ups and downs, deteriorated rapidly on his return to France.

During the summer of 1681 he returned to Paray, in very poor condition. On 15th February 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, towards evening Claude suffered the severe hemorrhage which ended his life.

On the 16th of June 1929 Pope Pius XI beatified Claude La Colombière, whose charism, according to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was that of bringing souls to God along the gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us.

Red Envelope Campaign for life

This idea is from this blog. It can be modified for Canada as well, the address for Prime Misnister Steven Harper is

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2

I do hope we can do this in earnest, this Red Envelope strategy is one of the best i have seen. I urge all my fellow bloggers to spread awareness about this.

" Dear Friends and Intercessors: This afternoon I was praying about a number of things, and my mind began to wander. I was deeply distressed at the symbolic actions that President Obama took as he began his presidency. Namely, that he signed executive orders releasing funds to pay for abortions, permission to fund human stem cell research, and federal funding for contraception. I have been involved in the pro-life movement for nearly 20 years, and it pained my heart to see a man and a political party committed to the shedding of innocent blood. This man, and this party lead our country, but they do not represent me or the 54% of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong and should no longer be legal. As I was praying, I believe that God gave me an interesting idea. Out in the garage I have a box of red envelopes. Like the powerful image of the red LIFE tape, an empty red envelope will send a message to Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue. It will be quiet, but clear. Here is what I would like you to do: Get a red envelope. You can buy them at Kinkos, or at party supply stores. On the front, address it to President Barack Obama (or Steven Harper) The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington , D.C. (Address for Steven Haper is on top) On the back, write the following message: This envelope represents one child who died in abortion. It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception. Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president."

Ave Maria

As today is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, let us listen to Ave Maria by Schubert as performed by the Heralds of the Gospel.



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Our Lady of Lourdes - 11th February 2009

The first of the eighteen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the humble Bernadette Soubirous took place at Lourdes on February 11, 1858. On March 25th, when Bernadette asked the beautiful Lady Her name, She replied: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The Church for long centuries had believed in Her Immaculate Conception, Her exemption from every trace of the original sin which through Adam, our first and common father, separated man from his God. It was never proclaimed a dogma, however, until 1854. Mary Herself, in 1830, had asked of a Vincentian Sister at the Rue du Bac in Paris, that a medal be struck bearing Her likeness and the inscription: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.” Our Lady by Her apparitions at Lourdes in 1858 seems to convey Her appreciation for the formal proclamation of Her great privilege, by Pius IX, in 1854. Countless and magnificent miracles of healing have occurred at Lourdes, confirmed by physicians and recorded in the Lourdes shrine “Book of Life.” To name but one: a doctor wrote a book describing the great miracle he had witnessed for a dying girl, whom he had observed on the train that was carrying handicapped persons from Paris to Lourdes. He had not expected her to survive and return home from the sanctuary.

Through the Lourdes Apparitions, the devotion of persons in all parts of the world to the Immaculate Mother of God has been wonderfully spread, and countless miracles have been wrought everywhere through Her intercession. The Virgin Mother of God is truly the chosen Messenger of God to these latter times, which are entrusted to Her, the chosen vessel of the unique privilege of exemption from original sin. Only with Her assistance will the dangers of the present world situation be averted. As She has done since 1858 in many places, at Lourdes, too, She gave us Her peace plan for the world, through Saint Bernadette: Prayer and Penance, to save souls.

http://www.lourdes-france.org/index.php?contexte=en&id=405

St. Scholastica - 10th Febraury 2009

Of this Saint but little is known on earth, save that she was the very pious younger sister of the great patriarch Saint Benedict, and that, under his direction, she founded and governed a numerous community near Monte Casino. Saint Gregory sums up her life by saying that she devoted herself to God from her childhood, and that her pure soul rose to God in the likeness of a dove, as if to show that her life had been enriched with the fullest gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Her brother was accustomed to visit her once every year, before Lent, and “she could not be sated or wearied with the words of grace which flowed from his lips.” On his last visit, after a day passed in spiritual conversation, the Saint, knowing that her end was near, said, “My brother, leave me not, I pray you, this night, but discourse with me till dawn on the bliss of those who see God in heaven.” Saint Benedict would not break his rule for the sake of natural affection, but his sister bowed her head and prayed, and there arose a storm so violent that Saint Benedict could not return to his monastery, and they passed the night as she had prayed, in heavenly conversation.

Three days later Saint Benedict saw in a vision the soul of Saint Scholastica going up in the likeness of a dove into heaven. Then he gave thanks to God for the graces He had given her and the glory which had crowned them. When she died, Saint Benedict as well as her spiritual daughters, and the monks sent by their patriarch to her conventual church, mingled their tears and prayed, “Alas! alas! dearest mother, to whom dost thou leave us now? Pray for us to Jesus, to whom thou art gone.” They then devoutly celebrated holy Mass, “commending her soul to God;” and her body was borne to Monte Casino, where her brother lay her in the tomb he had prepared for himself. It was written that “they all mourned her many days.” Finally Saint Benedict said, “Weep not, my sisters and brothers; for assuredly Jesus has taken her, before us, to be our aid and defense against all our enemies, that we may remain standing on the evil day and be perfect in all things.” Her death occurred in about the year 543.

St. Jerome Emiliani - 9th February 2009

Saint Jerome Emiliani, born in 1481, was a member of one of the Christian patrician families of Venice, and in early life a soldier. Showing in his youth much inclination to virtue, he studied the humanities with success until the age of fifteen, when the clash of arms interrupted his peaceful pursuits and his practice of virtue. And then, only his ambition for honors placed limits to his disorders; it was necessary to live honorably in order to receive promotions. He was appointed governor of a fortress in the mountains of Treviso, and while defending his post with outstanding bravery, was made prisoner by the enemy. In the misery of his dungeon he invoked amid tears the great Mother of God, recognizing that his chastisement was just. He promised, nonetheless, if She would set him free, to lead a new and better life, more worthy of his Christian heritage, and to make known Her benefits in every possible way. Our Lady appeared to him at once, gave him the keys he needed, and commanded him to fulfill faithfully what he had promised. She led him out through the ranks of his enemies to the gate of the city. He went to Her church at Treviso and dedicated himself to the service of the One who had delivered him, proclaiming Her mercies to all listeners. He consigned to writing, and had notarized, an account of his deliverance.

On reaching his home in Venice he undertook a life of active charity, causing admiration in all who had known him as a worldling. His special love was for the deserted orphan children whom he found wandering in the streets during a famine and an epidemic in 1528. Already he had converted his house into a hospital, selling even its furnishings to clothe and feed the poor folk who came in great numbers to him, when they heard he had procured wheat from other regions. He acquired a house for the children, and after recovering miraculously from the illness which he had contracted during the epidemic, he himself taught them the Christian truths. Soon the accounts of his pious orphanage brought visitors, and financial aid sufficient to sustain the enterprise. He was then entrusted with the Venitian Hospital for the Incurables. When he needed some particular grace, he had four orphans under eight years of age pray with him, and the grace never failed to arrive. In Venice he was aided in his Hospital by his friends, Saint Cajetan of Thienna and Saint Peter Caraffa of Naples.

He founded a hospital in Verona and an orphanage in Padua. At Bergamo, which had been struck by a pestilence and famine, he went out with the reapers he could assemble, and cut wheat in the hottest season of the Italian summer. At their head, he sang Christian hymns in his rich voice, engaging the others to follow his example. There he founded two orphanages and succeeded in closing a number of houses of ill repute; he gave their inhabitants whom he converted a rule of life and procured a residence for them. The bishop was aiding him constantly; and he sent him out to other villages and hamlets to teach the children Christian doctrine. Multiple conversions resulted in all directions. Two holy priests joined him in Bergamo, soon followed by other noble gentlemen. This was the origin of the Congregation of Regular Clerics, called the Somascans because of their residence at Somasca, situated between Milan and Bergamo. The Congregation was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III, and the Order spread in Italy. Saint Jerome died in 1537 at the age of 56, from the illness he contracted while caring for the sick during an epidemic in the region of Bergamo.

Worrying sings of a chastisement

Look around at the newspapers and one will notice that Nature is beginning to chastise man for sins against God and nature (eg. homosexuality).
I do not want to be a doomsday prophet but the snow in the UK is an example of the signs of the times.

Here is a link to an article in the Globe and Mail which talks about what will happen if the ice sheets in West Antartica melts

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090206.ICE06/TPStory/Environment

I don't but in to the mass hysteria about global warming. I do believe the book of Revelations as well as prophecies at Fatima and Akita which say that at the chastisement 2/3rds of the worlds population will be wiped out.

Are you ready, is your soul ready to meet God - if not please go for confession and make repentance.

St. Paul Miki and Companions - 6th February 2009

When the first missionaries, like St. Francis Xavier, came to Japan in 1549 they were welcomed. Many Japanese became Christians. When the leader Hideyoshi took command, he feared that Christians would take over the government. In 1587 he banished them and destroyed many of their churches. Some missionary priests stayed and went into hiding, dressing like Japanese in order to minister to the Christians.

More than 3,000 Christians were martyred in Japan. On December 8, 1596, Hideyoshi arrested and condemned to death the friars of Miako. Among them were three Japanese Jesuits, six Franciscans (four of them Spanish), and seventeen Japanese laymen. Charged with attempting to harm the government, they were sentenced to crucifixion. Some of these men were very young: Louis was 10; Anthony, 13; Thomas, 16; and Gabriel, 19. The best known is Paul Miki, who was a Japanese of a noble family, a Jesuit brother, and a brilliant preacher.

The twenty-six men were tortured and then forced to walk more than 300 miles from Miako to Nagasaki through snow and ice and freezing streams. Along the way they preached to the people who had come out to see them. They sang psalms of praise and joy. They prayed the rosary and told the people that such a martyrdom was an occasion of rejoicing, not of sadness. Finally, on February 5, they reached Nagasaki, where twenty-six crosses awaited them on a hill now called the Holy Mountain. It is said that the Christians ran to their crosses, singing. Soldiers bound them to the crosses with iron bands at their wrists, ankles, and throats. Then they thrust them through with lances. Many people came to watch the cruel deaths. Hideyoshi and his solders had hoped the example would frighten other Christians. Instead, it gave them the courage to profess their faith as the martyrs had.

In 1858, Japan again permitted Christianity in Japan. Missionaries found thousands of Christians still in Japan. For two hundred years they had carried on the faith in secret.

Born in a wealthy family in 1562 at Tounucumada, Japan, the son of a military leader, Paul Miki felt a call to religious life from his youth. He became Jesuit in 1580 after being educated at the Jesuit college at Anziquiama. He became a successful evangelist, and when the political climate became hostile to Christianity, he decided to continue his ministry and was soon arrested. On his way to martydom, he and other imprisoned Christians were marched 600 miles so they could be abused by, and be a lesson to, their countrymen; but all of them they sang the Te Deum on the way His last sermon was delivered from the cross: "The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain".

He died by being stabbed with a lance while crucified at Nagasaki, Japan. Paul Miki and his companions were canonized in 1862 by Pope Pius IX.

First and Second part of theFatima Vision

This is the first and second part of the secret that our Lady Revealed to the 3 Sheppard children at Fatima.

Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.

We then looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so kindly and so sadly:

“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world”

For the entire understanding of Our Lady Of Fatima please click on the EWTN LINK

Consecration as per Our Lady of Fatima.

Above all creatures, may you be blessed, you, the Handmaid of the Lord, who in the fullest way obeyed the divine call!

Hail to you, who are wholly united to the redeeming consecration of your Son!

Mother of the Church! Enlighten the People of God along the paths of faith, hope, and love! Enlighten especially the peoples whose consecration and entrustment by us you are awaiting. Help us to live in the truth of the consecration of Christ for the entire human family of the modern world.

In entrusting to you, O Mother, the world, all individuals and peoples, we also entrust to you this very consecration of the world, placing it in your motherly Heart.

Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths towards the future!

From famine and war, deliver us.

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.

From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.

From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.

From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.

From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies.

Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the ‘sin of the world', sin in all its manifestations.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!

St. Agatha - 5th February 2009

(The Martyrdom of St Agatha - TIEPOLO, Giovanni Battista)

Saint Agatha was born in Sicily of rich and noble parents, a child of benediction from the first, for she was promised to her parents before her birth, and consecrated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of body and soul, and she died for love of chastity. Quintanus, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Decius, had heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth, and he made the laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning her from Palermo to Catania, where he was at the time. “O Jesus Christ!” she cried, as she set out on this dreaded journey, “all that I am is Thine; preserve me against the tyrant.”

And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given herself so utterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the offer of her life and safety, if she would but consent to sacrifice to the gods, “Christ alone is my salvation!” When Quintanus turned from passion to cruelty, and cut off her breasts, Our Lord sent the Prince of the Apostles to heal her. She told the elderly gentleman who appeared to her that she was Christian and desired no treatment, for her Lord could cure her by a single word. He smiled, identified himself as Saint Peter, and said: “It is in His name that you will be healed.” And when he disappeared, she saw that her wounds were healed and her flesh made whole. But when she was rolled naked upon potsherds, she asked that her torments might be ended. Her Lord heard her prayer and took her to Himself.

Saint Agatha gave herself without reserve to Jesus Christ; she followed Him in virginal purity, and then depended upon Him for protection. And to this day Christ has shown His tender regard for the very body of Saint Agatha. Again and again, during the eruptions of Mount Etna, the people of Catania have exposed her veil for public veneration, and found safety by this means. In modern times, on opening the tomb in which her body lies waiting for the resurrection, they beheld the skin still entire, and experienced the sweet fragrance which issued from this temple of the Holy Ghost.

We live in an unchaste era. Let us pray to this Saint to teach us chastity.

St. Joseph of Leonissa - 4th February 2009

The third of eight children, He was born to John Desideri and Serafina Paolini at Leonessa on January 8, 1556. At baptism he was given the name Eufranio. His father, a wool merchant, and his mother, who came from a family of distinction, were esteemed throughout the area for their virtue. Both parents died when Eufranio was about 12 years old.

Eufranio's uncle, Battista Desideri, a teacher at Viterbo, provided for Eufranio's upbringing and education. His uncle arranged a marriage between Eufranio and the daughter of a noble Viterban family. Feeling inclined toward religious life, the prospect of marriage caused Eufranio a great deal of stress. He fell ill, and doctors suggested that he return to Leonessa. After a few days removed from the pressure, Eufranio's health improved. While recuperating at Leonessa, Eufranio was introduced to the Capuchins who were building a friary outside the Spoletine gate. Impressed by the example of Matthew Silvestri, who had left the medical profession to embrace the Capuchin life and whose holiness was evident, Eufranio was inspired to become a Capuchin.

When his uncle found this out, he demanded that Eufranio move to Spoleto to continue his studies. The young Eufranio obeyed, but arranged to keep in contact with the Capuchins at the hermitage of St. Ann, hidden in the woods of Monte Patrico. There, far from his family, Eufranio managed to meet the provincial minister of the Umbrian province to whom he manifested his desire to become a Capuchin. He was admitted to the novitiate. Without telling anyone his plans, Eufranio left everything and traveled to Assisi to the place known as the Carcerelle where he received the habit and the name Joseph.

Once his family discovered what had transpired, they went to the friary and used every means at their disposal to convince Joseph to abandon religious life. Their attempts proved futile. Having completed his year of probation, Joseph made profession on January 8, 1573, after which he applied himself assiduously to his studies, delving especially into the writings of Bonaventure whose insights the Capuchins had espoused from their earliest days. Joseph was ordained presbyter at Amelia on September 24, 1580. After ordination, he continued his studies at Lugnano in Teverina. Although drawn to contemplation, Joseph wrote, "Whoever loves a life of contemplation has a serious obligation to go out into the world to preach, especially since the world's way of thinking is very confused and evil abounds on the earth."

On May 21, 1581, the Capuchin general vicar issued patents for preaching, the ministry in which Joseph would be engaged for the remainder of his life.

Relying solely on grace and with a mission crucifix always tucked in his cincture, Joseph negotiated the most obscure, mountainous regions of Umbria, Lazio and the Abruzzi in an intense and extensive mission of evangelization among those who were poor. On one occasion the legend of the wolf of Gubbio was apparently repeated when Joseph played the dual role of reconciler and evangelizer. In 1572, a law had been passed which granted amnesty to certain prisoners who had fought the Turks. In the vicinity of Arquata del Tronto, a group of about 50 of these former prisoners banded together and were terrorizing the local populace. All else having failed, Joseph was asked to find some solution. He boldly went in search of the band, found their hiding place, gathered them together and invited them into the church of St. Mary Camertina. Once inside, with his preaching cross in hand, Joseph began to speak to them about the need for conversion. As a result of his very moving appeal, all without exceptionresolved to change their lives. When leaving the church, each was given a rosary. The following year, Joseph was invited back to that town to preach a Lenten series. The reformed bandits were among the first to fill the pews.

Joseph enjoyed such great success in preaching because of his intimate union with God which was cultivated by incessant prayer. He would pray and meditate on the road, while holding his crucifix. In 1583, five Jesuit missionaries were murdered in Constantinople. Thereupon, the ambassadors of Paris and Venice asked the pope to send some Capuchins as their replacements. Joseph was among those who volunteered for the mission. On June 20, 1587, the Capuchin general vicar, Jerome of Polizzi Generosa, sent letters of obedience to those who had been chosen. Joseph was not among them. Though disappointed, Joseph accepted the decision. One of the chosen missionaries, Giles of Santa Maria, was prevented from leaving for reasons of health. In his stead, Joseph and Gregory of Leonessa received letters of obedience to join the Constantinople mission on August 1, 1587. After a few days, the two departed for Venice where they embarked on a boat headed for the Bosporus. After a long and harrowing journey, they arrived safely in Constantinople where they joined the other Capuchins who had taken up residence in the Galatan quarter of the city. Joseph was assigned as chaplain to some 4,000 Christian slaves who worked in the penal colony of Qaasim-pacha. He immediately went to work bringing the gospel and charitable relief to those who were languishing in inhumane conditions.

Many times he offered himself as a substitute in order to obtain the release of a slave who was near death. His offer was never accepted. One day Joseph wanted to visit the penal colonies at Top-Hane and Besik-Tas. He remained with those condemned to forced labor until late afternoon. Obliged to leave, he headed back for the friary but found the gates to the Galatan quarter already bolted. Exhausted, he fell asleep near a military guardhouse. In the morning, he was discovered by soldiers, arrested as a spy and thrown into prison. He remained there for over a month before being released in response to an appeal made by the Venetian ambassador on his behalf.

When the plague broke out in the penal colonies, the Capuchins immediately took up the ministry of assisting those who were sick and dying. Two Capuchins, Peter and Dennis, died doing so. Although Joseph became ill, he and Brother Gregory alone survived to remain at the mission. After converting a Greek bishop who had renounced the faith, Joseph devised a plan which entailed approaching the sultan, Murad 111, to seek the recognition of the right of freedom of conscience for anyone who was converted or returned to the Christian faith.

His first unsuccessful attempt at approaching the sultan took place as the sultan was passing by on the street. A second failed attempt was made while the sultan was at prayer in the mosque. Joseph was restrained by the sultan's bodyguards. Finally, a court physician and friend offered to obtain an audience for him on condition that he would put aside his religious habit and dress as a prestigious person might. Joseph preferred to witness to evangelical poverty and to present himself as a Catholic missioner seeking the recognition of a fundamental human right. He went to court early one morning and, unhindered, entered into the sultan's antechamber. When Joseph attempted to enter the sultan's chambers, he was arrested and bound in chains. He was condemned to an immediate death by being hung on hooks. He was hung from the gallows with one hook through the tendons of his right hand and another through his right foot. Tortured in such an atrocious position, parched by thirst and thrown into convulsions, death by a slow and spasmodic agony seemed to be his only release. He suffered there for three days, soldiers having built a slow fire under him so as to suffocate him with the fumes. Near death, on the evening of the third day, the guards cut him down. A young man (who some say was an angel) carefully freed him from the hooks and gave him medical attention, bread and wine. Joseph quickly recovered.

The young man said to him, "Return quickly to Italy and continue to preach the gospel there; your mission here is finished.'! Joseph quickly left Turkey and arrived at Rome where he and the converted Greek bishop presented themselves to Pope Sixtus V. Following Joseph's return to Italy, in the autumn of 1589, he took up residence at the Carcerelle in Assisi. The local bishop had requested that a Capuchin preach the Advent series in the cathedral that year. Joseph was chosen and met with great success, partly because he was already venerated as something of a martyr for the faith. Despite the local minister's hope that the Capuchins would gain prestige by having Joseph remain at Assisi, Joseph asked to resume his itinerant preaching ministry in the small villages and mountain towns of central Italy. Joseph ignored danger and inconvenience. When he couldn't reach a place by foot, he would crawl on hands and knees to get there. He would go anywhere to preach, especially to poor, rundown places where no one else was inclined to go. He would think nothing of plunging into a river or fording a stream in order to reach his destination, or of traveling barefoot through forest and thorn thickets.

Among the Capuchins who travelled with him, he was known as the "preacher of the thickets," and the "companion-killer." No one could keep up with his stamina and resolve. Joseph would forego food and sleep for the sake of reaching yet another small village where he could preach. No sooner would he finish in one town than already be on his way to the next. When farmers heard that Joseph was in town, they would leave the sowing of their crops half finished in order to hear him, even if it meant that the seed already sown would be lost to the birds and other animals.

In the aftermath of the Council of Trent, Joseph spent much time and energy catechizing. He began a ministry of evangelization among shepherds who lacked even rudimentary knowledge of the faith, prayer and the commandments. He would walk through the streets ringing a bell, reminding parents to send their children to catechism class. He used his preaching as a form of advocacy on behalf of those who were in need. He preached to the poor and addressed the social injustices which adversely affected them. For the benefit of all those who were poor and hungry, and especially women, Joseph was instrumental in establishing food cooperatives where anyone who was hungry could find food. Joseph would preach and beg for grain or other items which could be bartered for grain. Women who had themselves experienced poverty and hunger were placed in charge. Convinced that it was Christ reaching out to him in those who experienced want, Joseph sought them out. He recognized not only his personal call to help others, but also the need to create stable social programs for helping those who lacked the necessities of life. He also was instrumental in establishing hospitals and shelters to accommodate pilgrims, the sick and the homeless. His charity knew no limits. He ministered in prisons, visiting and helping the detainees in a variety of ways, and assisting those condemned to death. During epidemics, he did not hesitate to carry cadavers on his own shoulders to bring them to the cemetery. He never hesitated to offer himself, even at the cost of his own life.

One day while traveling from Leonessa to Montereale, he found himself in the middle of a brawl between two rival gangs. With incredible boldness he walked into their midst, raised his crucifix, prayed and spoke about the need to find alternatives to violence.

Two towns along the ancient Roman via Salaria, Bornona and Posta, had for some time been involved in a territorial dispute. Joseph preached in both towns and succeeded in doing what no one else could.

When he became deathly ill, Joseph asked to be taken to Leonessa in order to pay his last respects to his relativesand friends. The doctors then suggested that he go to Amatrice. His local minister and nephew, Francis of Leonessa, was at his deathbed. On Saturday evening, February 4, 1612, after beginning the divine office,which proved too difficult to continue, Joseph repeated his favorite prayer: "Sancta Maria, succurre miseris." Quietly and peacefully he slipped into death's embrace. Joseph was beatified by Clement XII in 1737 and canonized by Benedict XIV in 1746.

Signs of the time - Prophecy

Look around, every one has an idea that something is wrong but they don't know what it is. Everyone is hoping that the economy will improve. As Catholics, our Hope is in God. We dont need to run around here and there looking for solutions, we know that in good and bad times God will lead us and care for us as he did for our ancestors as they wandered for 40 years in the dessert.

Dear reader, the link below is a prophecy of Ralph Martin, I suggest you read it and understand it and digest it well. Following this I urge you to say many rosaries asking Our Lady to grant you the grace of perseverance in the time of chastisement and persecution..

http://al007italia.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-will-lead-you-into-desert.html

In this coming week, i will post summaries of prophecy by St John Bosco, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady at Akita and then lastly and most importantly those of Dr Plinio

Support Pope Benedict

In France, but probably also in other countries, the media, including alas so called catholic media, have been very hostile to the Pope's decision concerning the excommunication of four bishops of the SSPX. A petition against the decree is even circulating. We then decided to take the opportunity to say thank you to the Holy Father and to give him our full support. This initiative was launched by a group of friends, some of them from the SSPX, most of them not, but all of them very grateful to the Holy Father.

St. Blaise - 3rd Febraury 2009

It is not known precisely when or where St. Blaise lived, but according to tradition he was a bishop of Sebaste, Armenia, in the early part of the fourth century, and suffered martyrdom under the Roman emperor Licinius, who had commanded the governor of the province, one Agricolaus, to prevent the spread of Christianity in his territory. After this edict had been promulgated, Blaise fled to the mountains and lived in a cave frequented by wild beasts. He used his skill to heal the animals that he found wounded or sick, and when the emperor's hunters, bent on collecting wild animals for the royal games, discovered him in this cave, they carried him off to Agricolaus as a special prize.

On the way, the story goes, they met a poor woman whose pig had been seized by a wolf. At the command of Blaise, the wolf restored the pig to its owner, alive and unhurt. During the course of this journey he also miraculously cured a child who was choking to death on a fishbone. For this reason St. Blaise is often invoked by persons suffering from throat trouble. When he had reached the capital and was in prison awaiting execution, the old woman whose pig he had saved came to see him, bringing two fine wax candles to dispel the gloom of his dark cell. When he was finally killed, he is supposed to have been tortured with an iron comb or rake, and afterwards beheaded. In the West there was no cult honoring St. Blaise prior to the eighth century.

One of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, his emblems are an iron comb and a wax taper.

One reason for St. Blaise's popularity arose from the fact he was a physician who cured, even performing miraculous cures. Thereby, those who were sick, especially with throat ailments, invoked his intercession. Eventually the custom of the blessing of throats arose, whereby the priest held two crossed candles over the heads of the faithful or touched their throats with them while he invoked the prayer of the saint and imparted God's blessing. In our present Roman Ritual, the priest prays, "Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." This practice continues in many parishes on St. Blaise's feast day.

While we invoke St. Blaise for his protection against any physical ailment of the throat, we should also ask his protection against any spiritual ailment - profanity, cursing, unkind remarks, detraction or gossip. St. James reminds us, "If a man who does not control his tongue imagines that he is devout, he is self-deceived; his worship is pointless" (1:26) and later, "We use [the tongue] to say, 'Praised be the Lord and Father'; then we use it to curse men, though they are made in the likeness of God. Blessing and curse come out of the same mouth. This ought not to be, my brothers!" (3:9-10). Therefore, may St. Blaise protect us from all evil, physical and spiritual, which may attack the throat.

Sermon by Saint Sophronius - Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord

(Presentation of Our Lord - Giotto)

In honour of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all hasten to meet Christ. Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light.

Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendour of the one who comes to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ.

The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the true light in her arms and brought him to those who lay in darkness. We too should carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light as we hasten to meet him.

The light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows; the Dayspring from on high has visited us and given light to those who lived in darkness. This, then, is our feast, and we join in procession with lighted candles to reveal the light that has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come to us through him. So let us hasten all together to meet our God.
The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world. Let all of us, my brethren, be enlightened and made radiant by this light. Let all of us share in its splendour, and be so filled with it that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves as we go together to meet and to receive with the aged Simeon the light whose brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Father of the light, who sent the true light to dispel the darkness and to give us all a share in his splendour.

Through Simeon’s eyes we too have seen the salvation of God which he prepared for all the nations and revealed as the glory of the new Israel, which is ourselves. As Simeon was released from the bonds of this life when he had seen Christ, so we too were at once freed from our old state of sinfulness.

By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as he came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we have now become the people of God. Our eyes have seen God incarnate, and because we have seen him present among us and have mentally received him into our arms, we are called the new Israel. Never shall we forget this presence; every year we keep a feast in his honour.

St. John Bosco - 31 January 2009

Today we celebrate the feast of St. John Bosco. Lets us read what Dr. Plinio has to say about this saint.

These are two excerpts from the book Some Pedagogical Ideas of Don Bosco.

• It is undisputable that the personality of Don Bosco’s mother, Mamma Margherita, influenced his formation. This woman, a widow at age 29, profoundly marked the souls of her three sons. She had little formal education but remarkably good sense. Her uprightness of judgment, great piety and virile firmness made her an exemplary educator. Margherita required her sons to work either in the house or the fields. From the break of dawn, after morning prayer the children worked hard all day long. “Life is too short to lose the best part of the day,” she would say.

Laziness was not permitted. The meals were simple and at night they slept on the floor. She never allowed self-complacence and had always her mind turned toward heaven: “We are soldiers of Christ always with our weapons ready, facing the enemy, and we must win,” she used to say. This is the way she prepared her sons for life.

• In addition to the work of his religious congregation, the building of churches, the foundation of numerous orphanages and preparing missions in faraway countries, Don Bosco dedicated time by day and night to write. He knew how to serve the Church with the pen, at times combating errors, at times strengthening souls. As a man of his time, he was aware of the great influence of that new modern giant, the press. He used his pen for more than 45 years producing a variety of works according to the needs of his fight.

When Protestantism launched offensive attacks against the Catholic Church with popular periodic brochures, Don Bosco countered with his Catholic Lectures, a monthly publication with timely articles and questions that responded to the Protestant propaganda.

(Mamma Margherita)

Comments of Prof. Plinio:

Let me comment on these excerpts one at a time.

Regarding Mamma Margherita, she fits the description of that strong woman of the Scripture who fulfills her duties and whose value is "far and from the uttermost coasts." She lived her life uprightly, she formed her sons perfectly, and one of them became the great St. John Bosco.

Her life offers proof of just how erroneous the progressivist mentality inundating the Church today is. Indeed, for this flawed mentality, anyone who has to bear hunger, cold and suffering cannot have a spiritual life. According to it, the first step is to do away with poverty and hunger. Only then can one begin to talk about a spiritual life. Therefore, the beginning of all apostolate is this material action. Doing away with poverty becomes, then, one of the main if not the principal ends of the Catholic Church.

The life of Mamma Margherita demonstrates precisely the opposite. Her house was so poor that all the members of the family slept on the floor; the meals were frugal; the family members were subjected to much hard work. They led a typical poor life. Notwithstanding, she knew how to profit from this life and sanctified it by means of fortitude and the spirit of abnegation and sacrifice. Despite the poverty of the family, she saw to their material needs: her sons became strong men, capable of all kinds of work. At the same time, and this is what is important for us to note, she also took good care of their spiritual lives.

You see how Progressivism lies and fools Catholics when it implies that soft, comfortable conditions are indispensable for sanctity. This is completely wrong. Austerity, not softness, is what is needed.. This austerity must be observed in the formation of every family, even those of high levels with many resources.

In Europe this austerity was maintained in the formation of children and youth until some time ago. In the memoirs of the Duke of Nemours or the Duke of Alençon – I don’t remember which – it tells about the time when he was in London, exiled from France. He was young and lived with several other noble young men in the same house along the River Thames. The windows of their large bedroom were on the second floor opening straight out to the Thames. He wrote that when they would wake in the morning, it was their habit to jump out the window into the Thames. They would all do this every morning in the winter. This shows how they were accustomed to austerity. It is an example that comes to my mind on austerity in the formation of nobles. I wonder how many bad consequences would have been avoided if austerity were imposed in the formation of the youth of today’s wealthy families.

Regarding the second excerpt, it is interesting to observe how St. John Bosco was always aware of the problems of his times. He was not a saint living in the clouds, as sentimental hagiographies depict many saints. St. John Bosco knew the problems of his time and combated the enemies of the Church as they actually were. When the Protestant propaganda became strong in north Italy, he developed an effective intellectual action against it.

Today most people have a revolutionary understanding of what is important. They think that the economic means is more important than intellectual skills, and that the material is greater than the spiritual. For this reason, when they speak about St. John Bosco, they tend to stress his works of social assistance, and underplay his intellectual work. I also praise and recognize the importance of the foundations he made to help poor boys and give them a good formation, but I don’t agree that he should be remembered primarily for those works.

When you examine his life, you see that he spent a large number of years writing; therefore, he was as much a writer as a man of outside activity. It is why he joins St. Francis de Sales as one of the two patron saints of the press. It is good for us to stress this point that sets things aright.

Let us ask St. John Bosco to give us the spirit of austerity he had and protect our intellectual work and our Catholic journalism.

St. Hyacintha of Mariscotti - 30th January 2009

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Hyacintha of Mariscotti.

Italian nobility. Educated in a Franciscan convent. Franciscan tertiary for 10 years, though with no real enthusiasm; she used her personal funds to insure comfortable lodgings, and none of the privations of the other tertiaries. A serious illness caused Hyacintha's confessor to bring her Communion, which allowed him to see her rooms for the first time. Scandalized at the life she provided herself, the priest told her to live more humbly. Hyacintha took his advice, became humble in her food and dress, did the most menial work in the convent, and replaced her bed with a few bare boards. She became an exceptional mistress of novices, and developed a special appeal for "those who are despised, who are devoid of self-love and who have little sensible consolation." Over the years she developed a special devotion to the sufferings of Christ and, by her penances, became an inspiration to the sisters in her convent.

How differently might Hyacintha’s life have ended if her confessor had been afraid to question her pursuit of a soft life! Or what if she had refused to accept any challenge to her comfortable pattern of life? Francis of Assisi expected give and take in fraternal correction among his followers. Humility is required both of the one giving it and of the one receiving the correction; their roles could easily be reversed in the future. Such correction is really an act of charity and should be viewed that way by all concerned.

St. Francis told his friars: "Blessed is the servant who would accept correction, accusation, and blame from another as patiently as he would from himself. Blessed is the servant who when he is rebuked quietly agrees, respectfully submits, humbly admits his fault, and willingly makes amends" (Admonition XXII).

The Annuciation - Fra Angelico

Today let us just admire this work of art by Fra Angelico. Let us go beyond admiration and contemplate it.

(Fra Angelico. Altarpiece of the Annunciation. c. 1430-1432. Tempera on panel. 194 x 194. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.)

This is the Annunciation, Our Lady has already given her Fiat to God as you can see the golden rays indicate her being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The Angel Gabriel is waiting with eyes bowed low for the Mother of God to say but one word and the Angel is ready to obey Her. God the Father looks down on them in approval. Notice how colourfully dressed our Lady is as well as the angle. They reflect the colourfulness of heaven and in their faces one sees the joy of heaven.

Notice in the top left corner, St Michael the Archangel is leading Adam and Eve out of the garden. The garden is lush in greenery, St Micheal is sad as he assists them out of the garden, He knows what is to happen to man. Adam and Eve themselves are sad becasue they know that things have changed and they are aware of what they have lost. notice that their clothes are grey and sad, unline the angels and the mother of God.

Lastly notice Angel Gabriels wings are a bit outside, indicating that while he is with Mother Mary he is also outside in the world doing what She tells him to do (distribute God's graces). I personally love the look on Angel Gabriels face

St. Thomas Aquinas - 29 January 2009

Today is the feast of the Angelic Doctor of the Church - St. Thomas Aquinas. Lets us read the commentary of Dr. Plinio.

Biographical selection:

“In truth, St. Thomas possessed all the moral virtues in a very high degree, and so closely bound together in his soul that they formed one whole in charity [the love of God], which, as he himself states, ‘informs the acts of all the other virtues.’ If, however, we seek to discover the specific and particular characteristics of his sanctity, the first thing that appears is a virtue that gives St. Thomas a certain likeness to the angelic natures. We refer to that chastity which he preserved unsullied in a crisis of the most pressing danger. Because of this he was judged worthy to receive from the Angels a mystic girdle [belt of purity] ….

“The most distinctive feature, however, of the sanctity of St. Thomas is what St. Paul describes as the ‘word of wisdom’ [sermo sapientia], and the union of the two forms of wisdoms – the acquired and the infused – with which nothing accords so well as humility, devotion to prayer, and the love of God.

“That humility was the foundation upon which the other virtues of Thomas were based is clear to anyone who considers how submissively he obeyed a lay brother in the course of their communal life. It is no less obvious to anyone reading his writings, which manifest such great respect for the Fathers of the Church. As Leo XIII noted, ‘Because of his utmost reverence for the doctors of antiquity, he seems to have inherited in some way the intellect of all.’

“But the most magnificent illustration of his humility is to be found in the fact that he devoted the faculties of his divine intellect not to gain glory for himself, but to the advancement of truth. Most philosophers as a rule are eager to establish their own reputations, but St. Thomas strove to efface himself completely in the teaching of his philosophy so that the light of heavenly truth might shine with its own effulgence.”

Excerpt from the Encyclical Studiorum ducem, of June 29, 1923, by Pope Pius XI
Comments of Prof. Plinio:

There are several interesting points in this selection. First, let me give you a clarification regarding his purity. When Pope Pius XI referred to the crisis St. Thomas passed through, he was alluding to a particular episode.

St. Thomas wanted to be a Dominican, but his father, who was a noble from southern Italy, opposed his decision. He ordered his son to be imprisoned in a tower to see if isolating the youth from everyone would make him leave aside his vocation. Instead of abandoning it, he took advantage of the solitude to pray and study.

Seeing this, his father did another bad thing. He arranged for a public woman to visit St. Thomas to invite him to sin against purity. It was a chilly day, and a fire was burning in the fireplace of the room where St. Thomas was locked. When the woman approached to tempt him, he took a stick of burning wood from the fire and threatened to burn the woman should she come any closer. She fled in panic.

Having thus conquered the temptation of impurity, he received the visit of an Angel who rewarded him with a kind of mystical girdle, that is, an invisible protection against the temptations of impurity. So this great angel, St. Thomas of Aquinas, was free of the temptations of the flesh that could disturb the progress of his mind or damage his studies and the great work he did for the Catholic Church.

Second, regarding his obedience, it is remarkable that St. Thomas, on the order of his superiors, always had a lay brother whom he obeyed. This person was incomparably inferior to St. Thomas, but he nonetheless exerted an authority over the Saint rendered by the vow of obedience. And St. Thomas obeyed him. It is admirable to consider a person with the sanctity and culture of St. Thomas curbing himself and submitting to the yoke of a person so less learned and probably much less holy than himself. This helps to explain what Pope Pius XI was referring to when he said humility was the foundation of the virtues practiced by St. Thomas.

Third, the encyclical also observed quite aptly how St. Thomas effaced himself in his teaching. It is truly magnificent to see how the man does not seem to be present in his writings. One has, as it were, philosophical and theological reasoning in its pure state. One does not feel any hint of the presence of the man. The only thing that appears is Catholic doctrine. One would say that Catholic doctrine speaks through his lips.

I offer you these few comments in honor of the great St. Thomas Aquinas, asking him to help us to love Catholic doctrine as he did, and to protect us against so many occasions of impurity that present themselves in our days.

St. Angela Merici - 27th January 2009

St. Angela has the double distinction of founding the first teaching congregation of women in the Church and what is now called a “secular institute” of religious women.

All around her hometown she saw poor girls with no education and no hope. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century that Angela lived in, education for women was for the rich or for nuns. Angela herself had learned everything on her own. Her parents had died when she was ten and she had gone to live with an uncle. She was deeply disturbed when her sister died without receiving the sacraments. A vision reassured her that her sister was safe in God's care -- and also prompted her to dedicate her life to God.

As a young woman she became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis (now known as the Secular Franciscan Order), and lived a life of great austerity, wishing, like St. Francis, to own nothing, not even a bed. Early in life she was appalled at the ignorance among poorer children, whose parents could not or would not teach them the elements of religion. Angela’s charming manner and good looks complemented her natural qualities of leadership. Others joined her in giving regular instruction to the little girls of their neighborhood.

She was invited to live with a family in Brescia (where, she had been told in a vision, she would one day found a religious community). Her work continued and became well known. She became the center of a group of people with similar ideals.

She eagerly took the opportunity for a trip to the Holy Land. When they had gotten as far as Crete, she was struck with blindness. Her friends wanted to return home, but she insisted on going through with the pilgrimage, and visited the sacred shrines with as much devotion and enthusiasm as if she had her sight. On the way back, while praying before a crucifix, her sight was restored at the same place where it had been lost. But this must have been a reminder to her not to shut her eyes to the needs she saw around her, not to shut her heart to God's call.

When she was 56, Angela Merici said "No" to the Pope. She was aware that Clement VII was offering her a great honor and a great opportunity to serve when he asked her to take charge of a religious order of nursing sisters. But Angela knew that nursing was not what God had called her to do with her life.

At 57, she organized a group of 12 girls to help her in catechetical work. Four years later the group had increased to 28. She formed them into the Company of St. Ursula (patroness of medieval universities and venerated as a leader of women) for the purpose of re-Christianizing family life through solid Christian education of future wives and mothers. The members continued to live at home, had no special habit and took no formal vows, though the early Rule prescribed the practice of virginity, poverty and obedience. The idea of a teaching congregation of women was new and took time to develop. The community thus existed as a “secular institute” until some years after Angela’s death.

It took many years of frustration before Angela's radical ideas of education for all and unmarried women in service were accepted. They are commonplace to us now because people like Angela wanted to help others no matter what the cost. Angela reminds us of her approach to change: "Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them."

Saint Angela Merici reassured her Sisters who were afraid to lose her in death: "I shall continue to be more alive than I was in this life, and I shall see you better and shall love more the good deeds which I shall see you doing continually, and I shall be able to help you more." She died in 1540, at about seventy years old.

St. Timothy - 26th January 2009

Today is the feast of St. Timothy, let us read what Dr. Plinio has to say about this saint.

Timothy was born in Lystra in Lycaenia, present day Turkey. His father was a Gentile and his mother, a Jew. As a youth St. Timothy was converted by St. Paul when he came to Lystra. Seven years later, St. Paul returned and took him as a companion on his journey.

Eventually St. Paul made Timothy the first Bishop of Ephesus in order to govern that church. It was there that he received the two Epistles by St. Paul, one written from Macedonia and the second from Rome, to direct him in his pastoral needs.

Timothy could not bear that the people of Ephesus offered the devils that inhabited the idols a sacrifice due only to God. On a feast day of the goddess Diana, he entered into the crowd who were worshiping the goddess, and exhorted the people to renounce their idolatry and embrace Jesus Christ. Infuriated, the people turned on him and stoned him. The Christians of the city transported him half-dead to a mountain, where he expired.

Catherine Emmerick adds to these data that Timothy was tall, thin, and pale with dark hair; he was greatly loved by the Catholics. In Ephesus he fought relentlessly against the disordered revelries and orgies that took place often to celebrate the idols. This was the cause of his death.

Comments of Prof. Plinio:

The first thing that catches one’s attention in this description is the courage of St. Timothy.

The temple of Diana in Ephesus was one of the most famous monuments of antiquity. It was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I have seen reproductions of this temple and it was, indeed, very beautiful. It was an enormous temple constructed of white marble that sat atop an ensemble of monumental stairs surrounding the edifice. The ceiling was very high and in proportion to the other parts of the building.

A large statue of Diana stood within. Today some art critics complain that its architecture was not purely Greek in style, but was mixed with some Eastern elements. I don’t see that this detracts from its great beauty.

The goddess Diana, or better said, the devil that possessed the idol, worked all kinds of extraordinary acts and marvelous phenomena to impress the people of Ephesus, which helped to spread Diana’s fame and sustain the popularity of idolatry.

By going to the temple and trying to stop the worship there, St. Timothy manifested an extraordinary courage and a remarkable capacity to face the enemy. Because of this, he was stoned and died.

Facing evil and error head on, he took a position of frontal and public attack, with full knowledge of all the inconveniences that could follow, as in fact they did. He did not care about these consequences; he chose to immolate himself for the glory of God by dying in this way.

Should we always face the enemy in a frontal attack? Or should we at times take this tactic, and at other times face the enemy with astuteness, maneuvering to lead him into a trap, and then win the battle?

Many times, in the life of the saints, they have a divine inspiration to act in an extraordinary way. Their actions are certainly meant to inspire us and to be admired, but not necessarily to be imitated.

For example, consider the famous case of St. Francis of Assisi quarreling with his father, Pietro di Bernardone. His father opposed the decision of Francis to dedicate his life to religion. He argued that everything Francis had was due to his work and efforts and therefore, Francis was obliged to his advice. Even the clothing Francis was wearing was owed to him, Bernardone argued. In response, St. Francis took off his fine garments and told his father “Take your clothes, then. I will go without them … ” And he went away almost naked.

This episode does not mean that every person who fights with his father or mother for similar reasons should take off his clothes and walk away nude. It is an episode that should inspire us to maintain the ideal of the vocation God gave us, even when our families or friends oppose it. We should be inspired to have a similar strength, not to repeat the same action.

So, regarding the episode of St. Timothy, it should inspire us to be as audacious as possible against our enemies. It is an invitation to never step back from our enemies. In this sense it could very well be seen as an inspiration for the vow of the Templar knights: To never retreat in battle. It is also an inspiration for all who combat for the Faith to never make any concession to the evil, even when it gives us prestige, fame or popularity. We should face the evil and fight to destroy it – with the price of our lives, if necessary. We can be sure that Our Lord will reward us for that, as he rewarded St. Timothy, giving him the honor and veneration of all Catholics throughout the centuries in History, and more than that, eternal glory in Heaven.

Notwithstanding this lesson and inspiration from the last combat of St. Timothy, sometimes in our fight we need to use other methods, depending on the circumstances. At times, we should imitate the audacity of St. Timothy walking straight up to the idol and trying to destroy it and drive away its audience. At other times, we have to wait for the right moment to come, and then attack.

Let us ask St. Timothy to give us audacity when it is for the greater glory of God, and also discernment to know when to use this audacity and when to use prudence in order to take and destroy the enemy later.

St. Vincent - 22 January 2009

When Jesus deliberately began his “journey” to death, Luke says that he “set his face” to go to Jerusalem. It is this quality of rocklike courage that distinguishes the martyrs.

Most of what we know about this saint comes from the poet Prudentius. His Acts have been rather freely colored by the imagination of their compiler. But St. Augustine, in one of his sermons on St. Vincent, speaks of having the Acts of his martyrdom before him. We are at least sure of his name, his being a deacon, the place of his death and burial.

According to the story we have (and as with some of the other early martyrs the unusual devotion he inspired must have had a basis in a very heroic life), Vincent was ordained deacon by his friend St. Valerius of Saragossa in Spain. The Roman emperors had published their edicts against the clergy in 303, and the following year against the laity. Vincent and his bishop were imprisoned in Valencia. Hunger and torture failed to break them. Like the youths in the fiery furnace (Book of Daniel, chapter three), they seemed to thrive on suffering.

Valerius was sent into exile, and Dacian now turned the full force of his fury on Vincent. Tortures that sound like those of World War II were tried. But their main effect was the progressive disintegration of Dacian himself. He had the torturers beaten because they failed.

Finally he suggested a compromise: Would Vincent at least give up the sacred books to be burned according to the emperor’s edict? He would not. Torture on the gridiron continued, the prisoner remaining courageous, the torturer losing control of himself. Vincent was thrown into a filthy prison cell—and converted the jailer. Dacian wept with rage, but strangely enough, ordered the prisoner to be given some rest.

Friends among the faithful came to visit him, but he was to have no earthly rest. When they finally settled him on a comfortable bed, he went to his eternal rest.

St. Agnes - 21st January 2009

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Agnes , let us read and contemplate what Dr. Plinio has to say about this great saint.

Biographical selection from St. Ambrose, On Virgins, Book II:

St. Ambrose speaks with great admiration of St. Agnes, who was martyred at the tender age of 12. In his work, On Virgins, he wrote: “This is a new kind of martyrdom! One not yet of fit age for punishment, but already ripe for victory. One unready for combat, but able to win the crown. One who has not yet reached the age of judgment but who has mastered virtue ....

“Joyfully she advances with unhesitating step to the place of punishment, her head not adorned with plaited hair, but with Christ. All weep; she alone is without a tear. All wonder that she is so ready to deliver her life, which she has not yet enjoyed, but which now she gives up as though she had lived it fully. All are astounded that she stands forth as God’s witness although at her age she could not yet decide about herself! And so it came about that what she said regarding God was believed, although what she said about man would not be accepted. For that which is beyond nature is from the Author of nature. ....

“She stands, she prays, she bends down her neck. You can see the executioner tremble, as though he himself has been condemned. His right hand is shaking, his face grows pale. He fears the peril of another, while the maiden fears not for her own danger. You have then in one victim a twofold martyrdom, of chastity and religion. She both remained a virgin and she obtained martyrdom."



Comments of Prof. Plinio:

St. Ambrose’s commentary on St. Agnes has a literary value that is both profound and very beautiful because it is all composed of contrasts. Through the use of these contrasts, St. Ambrose shows the points he wants to emphasize.

First, there is the contrast between her age and the martyrdom. She is too young to be condemned to death because at such a young age no one can deserve such a punishment. And yet she is already ripe for the victory. The one who is not mature in years is nonetheless ripe to win the victory. It is a glory. The immaturity of the years and maturity of the virtue.

The second contrast: She is unready for combat, but ripe for the crown. A young girl at that time did not have any conditions to fight, yet she won the highest of all the laurels, which is the crown of martyrdom.

The third contrast: She is so young that she is still under the guardianship of others. The law does not consider her capable of governing herself. All present admired her because she was a witness of the Godhead, even though she was still a minor who could not be a witness of anything in a court of human law. Her word would not have any value in a normal process of law, yet she has impressed everyone with her defense of Our Lord.

In addition to this, there are the contrasts that one can find in the actual martyrdom. She advances joyfully, with unhesitating step, to the place from which all people naturally flee.

Another contrast: her adornment is not artificially plaited tresses but rather Jesus Christ, because He is the true adornment, the real beauty of the soul who consecrates itself to Him.

Another contrast: she is not crowned with flower wreaths like the other young Roman girls of her time, but with purity. That purity in her is splendorous and makes a kind of halo around her head.

There are still other contrasts. All are weeping to see a young girl who will be killed. But she is not. It is a glorious contrast, because she is thirsting for Heaven, and not for earth. Along those lines, everyone is astonished that she can so easily give up a life that has hardly begun. Yet she sacrifices this life as if she had already lived and enjoyed it fully.

And what is the reason for all these contrasts? It is because St. Ambrose is trying to emphasize that there is something absurd in her martyrdom. For it would be natural for her to do the very opposite of what she is doing. The reason that she acts as she does with a strength that is beyond nature is because such strength can only come from the Author of nature itself. What is beyond nature is what is more that the merely natural. What is more than nature here is the One who is its author. God revealed Himself in the sanctity of St. Agnes and in the miracle of her death.

She goes forward and bends her head. She sees the executioner trembling as if he were the one who was condemned. But she – the condemned one – is calm and steady.

His right hand is shaking, his face pale. He fears the peril of another, while the maiden fears not for her own danger. The executioner trembles with fear to use the tools of punishment. But she has no fear of the executioner.

You have then in one victim a twofold martyrdom, of chastity and religion. She both remained a virgin and she obtained martyrdom.

This is the magnificent commentary of St. Ambrose on St. Agnes.

Euthanasia Laws in Kerela India oppsed by Catholic church

I found this article online

Church leaders in Kerala state, southern India, are up in arms against the state government's move to legalize euthanasia.

Media reports said the Kerala Law Reforms Commission has prepared a draft bill for legalizing euthanasia as one of its recommendations for legal reform. If the state government, a coalition of communist parties, accepts it, Kerala will become India's first state to legalize euthanasia.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council has publicly opposed the move, releasing statements in the media since media reported on the draft bill in the last week of December.

The council's Family Commission chairman, Bishop Mathew Anikuzhikattil of Idukki, said the Church would use all democratic means to oppose legislation allowing euthanasia.

About 100 representatives from all 29 Catholic dioceses met on Jan. 14 in Kochi, the state's commercial center, 2,960 kilometers south of New Delhi, to discuss the draft bill. They protested the bill by burning a copy of it.

Having read the draft, Bishop Anikuzhikattil said legally sanctioning such a practice is "anti-humane and against basic principles of Christian faith." The commission is scheduled to submit the report of its recommendations to the government on Jan. 24, but it was released to media in advance.

For more details refer to the entire article here

Please pray for India and the Catholics there the catholic church is really facing a crisis in India.

Pope St. Fabian - 20th January 2009

"It is said that Fabian, after the death of Anteros, came from the country along with others and stayed at Rome, where he came to the office in a most miraculous manner, thanks to the divine and heavenly grace. For when the brethren were all assembled for the purpose of appointing him who should succeed to the episcopate, and very many notable and distinguished persons were in the thoughts of many, Fabian, who was there, came into nobody's mind. But all of a sudden, they relate, a dove flew down from above and settled on his head as clear imitation of the descent of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove upon the Savior; whereupon the whole people, as if moved by one divine inspiration, with all eagerness and with one soul cried out "worthy," and without more ado took him and placed him on the episcopal throne."

According to the prosaic "Liber Pontificalis," Fabian was a Roman, the son of Fabius. He appointed seven deacons to the seven districts of Rome. He ordered subdeacons to cooperate with the notaries in gathering the acts of the martyrs. He brought back the body of St. Pontian from Sardinia and buried it in the Cemetery of Calixtus. This cemetery was enlarged and beautified. Vaults were adorned with paintings. A church rose above the cemetery. Later writers attributed all kinds of regulations to the busy time of Pope Fabian. Gregory of Tours, the famous historian of the Franks, even credits Fabian with starting the evangelization of Gaul. This is manifestly false because the Church existed in Gaul before the time of Fabian, but it is probable enough that he did something for the Gallic Church.

All this activity was made possible by the peace which the Church enjoyed at this time. The first half of the third century was in general a period of peace. Septimius Severus, at the beginning of the century, and Maximinus, just before Fabian's reign, had been persecutors, but they were exceptions. After the death of the ex-wrestler Maximinus, his successors Papienus, Balbinus, and Gordianu had left the Christians pretty much alone. And Philip who murdered and succeeded Gordian was himself a Christian-- of sorts. Philip, though he presided at pagan games, was quite friendly to the Christians, and during his reign Christianity flourished. Fabian's activity has been noted; and at the same time Gregory, the wonder-worker, bishop of Neo-Caesarea, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, the great Origen, and others were writing to create Christian literature. It looked as if the Church were going to burst out of the catacombs to flourish in the light of day.

But the pagans were angry. Even before the death of Emperor Philip in 249 there had been isolated outbreaks against the Christians. The pagans bitterly resented Christian growth, and when Decius succeeded Philip as emperor, that resentment mounted the throne. Decius was on principle a determined and ruthless enemy of the Christian name. Septimius Severus had tried to stop conversions; Maximinus had gone after the leaders. Decius issued an edict ordering all Christians to deny Christ by some tangible sign such as offering incense to idols. The storm hit a church softened by peace. On all sides many hastened to deny Christ, but there were many too who stood up and faced the worst tortures and death for Him. Among these was St. Fabian. The details of his martyrdom are lacking, but it is historically certain. He is buried in the Cemetery of Calixtus. His feast is kept on January 20.

In the catacombs of St. Callistus, the stone that covered Fabian’s grave may still be seen, broken into four pieces, bearing the Greek words, “Fabian, bishop, martyr.”

Fra Angelico

My favourite Catholic painter is Fra Angelico. Today we will read up a bit of history of this Saint Paniter before we go into contemplating his paintings.

The life of Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, baptized as Guido di Piero (born around 1395 in Vicchio di Mugello, died in Rome in 1455) is the stuff of legend. “Angelic” was how he came to be known soon after his death; the name “Beato” was a comment on his painting and not a reference to his beatification, which happened only recently, in 1984.

Fra Angelico was a Dominican, and a mendicant, so, not being part of a closed order, he was free to meet and talk to others in the city. In 1420-1422, he entered the convent of San Domenico in Fiesole with his brother Benedetto. It was here that he produced his first works: altarpiece for the high altar, Altarpiece of the Annunciation, The Coronation of the Virgin, as well as the frescoes for his monastery.

On June 23, 1983, Pope John Paul II granted official cultus to Fra Angelico, who is now a Blessed with an office, a mass and obligatory memory (and now Patron of Artists)

Fra Angelico not only gained recognition as a painter, but must have commanded respect in his convent because he was appointed Vicario for the first time in Fiesole from 1432/33, a post he was to hold frequently in later years.

In the 1430’s the painter worked in Florentine churches. He carried out the following commissions for the Dominicans in Cortona: the Cortona Triptych and the Annunciation panel. From 1438, he worked on his most important commission, the San Marco Altarpiece and the frescoes for the convent of San Marco in Florence.

In July 1445 Fra Angelico was summoned by Eugenius IV to Rome, where he painted frescoes in the chapel of Santissimo Sacramento, which was later destroyed under Pope Paul III. For Eugenius’ successor, Pope Nicholas V, he painted the frescoes of St. Stephen and St. Lawrence between 1447 and 1449 with the assistance of Benozzo Gazzoli (1420-1497), in the Capella Niccolina in the Vatican, named after the Pope who commissioned the frescoes.

In the summer of 1447, he began work on the frescoes in the Capella di San Brizio (10), in the cathedral at Orvieto. These were competed by Luca Signorelli fifty years later. From 1450-1452, he returned to his old convent in Fiesole as Prior, before going for one last time to Rome, where he died on 18 February 1455. He is buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where his grave has always drawn worshippers. After his beatification by Pope John Paul II in 1984, the headstone was placed on a plinth and surrounded by a bronze grille with floral motifs. His feast day is 18 February, the day of his death.

Catholic Art

Today we will start a new chapter in this blog. We will look, contemplate and learn from great Catholic art.

In the middle ages, Catholics learnt about Christ and the bible from the sermons of the saints, the stained glass on the cathedrals and the paintings by painters like Giotto di Bondone, Fra Angelico etc etc.

We wont just be admiring paintings, we will look at the details and let those details touch our souls and lift us up to Christ who is the artist extraordinaire.

Two Paintings, Two Mentalities, Two Doctrines

(The Virgin and Child by the Maitre de Moulins)
(The Virgin and Child by Rouault)

Indulge in an exercise of fantasy, and suppose that by rewinding the thread of bygone centuries it has become possible for you to return to the time of Christ and walk into a room of the Holy Family's humble dwelling in Nazereth.

Imagine that you find the Virgin playing with the Child, and that both were just as Rouault depicted them in the painting on the upper right. Would such a sight fulfill your expectations? Would it correspond to what you might have hoped from the Mother of God and the Word Incarnate Himself? Would you find in those images the authentic expression of the Christian spirit and the ineffable virtues of Jesus and Mary?

Obviously not.

Therefore, whoever earnestly wants that Christian art worthily and duly reflect the spirit of the Gospel cannot be indifferent to paintings of this nature becoming widespread among the faithful. What kind of impression would people have of the Holy Family if nothing else were shown to them but paintings of this ilk? As far as it is able, Christian art has the role of an accessory to the spreading of sound doctrine. The spirit of this painting cannot be deemed proper for that end.
In order to illustrate these affirmations better, look at the painting by the Maitre de Moulins (fifteenth century), which also portrays the Virgin and Child, and consider how efficacious it is in helping us understand, through the senses, what the Church teaches about Jesus and Mary.

(Clik on both images for a larger view)

St. Charles of Sezze - 18th January 2009

Born in Sezze, southeast of Rome, Charles was inspired by the lives of Salvator Horta and Paschal Baylon to become a Franciscan; he did that in 1635. Charles tells us in his autobiography, "Our Lord put in my heart a determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor and to beg alms for his love."

Charles served as cook, porter, sacristan, gardener and beggar at various friaries in Italy. In some ways, he was "an accident waiting to happen." He once started a huge fire in the kitchen when the oil in which he was frying onions burst into flames.

One story shows how thoroughly Charles adopted the spirit of St. Francis. The superior ordered Charles — then porter — to give food only to traveling friars who came to the door. Charles obeyed this direction; simultaneously the alms to the friars decreased. Charles convinced the superior the two facts were related. When the friars resumed giving goods to all who asked at the door, alms to the friars increased also.

At the direction of his confessor Charles wrote his autobiography, The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God. He also wrote several other spiritual books. He made good use of his various spiritual directors throughout the years; they helped him discern which of Charles’ ideas or ambitions were from God. Charles himself was sought out for spiritual advice. The dying Pope Clement IX called Charles to his bedside for a blessing.

Charles had a firm sense of God’s providence. Father Severino Gori has said, "By word and example he recalled in all the need of pursuing only that which is eternal" (Leonard Perotti, St. Charles of Sezze: An Autobiography, page 215).

He died at San Francesco a Ripa in Rome and was buried there. Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1959.