"I would rather die than miss Communion once, unless obedience says otherwise" (St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi).
St. Mary Major is important to Christendom for three reasons:
(a) It stands as a venerable monument to the Council of Ephesus (431), at which the dogma of Mary's divine Motherhood was solemnly defined; the definition of the Council occasioned a most notable increase in the veneration paid to Mary.
(b) The basilica is Rome's "church of the crib," a kind of Bethlehem within the Eternal City; it also is a celebrated station church, serving, for instance, as the center for Rome's liturgy for the first Mass on Christmas. In some measure every picture of Mary with the divine Child is traceable to this church.
(c) St. Mary Major is Christendom's first Marian shrine for pilgrims. It set the precedent for the countless shrines where pilgrims gather to honor our Blessed Mother throughout the world. Here was introduced an authentic expression of popular piety that has been the source of untold blessings and graces for Christianity in the past as in the present.
On the Esquiline Hill, not far from St. Peter in Chains, towers the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
If Grandiose, both in its exterior and in it interior, the Basilica was erected by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), one year after the proclamation by the Council of Ephesus of the dogma of Theotokos—Mary, Mother of God. Before being called "St. Mary Major," the ancient Romans had called it the Basilica Liberii (back to Pope Liberius (352-366). In August 352, Pope Liberius experience a vision of Our Lady and it was She, who traced out the dimensions of this church. Pope Liberius then saw with his own eyes the area of land covered in snow on which the church was to be built.
This Basilica also contains the revered image of the Madonna of St. Luke, called Salus Populi Romani.
How have I kept the first eight days of Lent? Surely, as "the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai" and upon Moses, so the "right hand of His Majesty" was extended over us during the past week.
Let us pray: Graciously look down, O Lord, we beseech Thee, upon the devotion of Thy people, that they, who are mortified in body by abstinence, may be refreshed in mind through the fruit of good works. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Linked to this church is the tradition of the "first-light" Mass—Mass at dawn—which is celebrated in the first hours of the Christmas morning.
We keep this day in company with the widow-martyr, whose heavenly birthday the Church observes on the very birthday of the Light of the world. In the Christmas Mass "at dawn" St. Anastasia, whose name means "dawn"—the new light—is commemorated. In that "aurora Mass" and again today, the words fulgebit, fulgeat—"shine, radiate—occur.
A holy "radiating" is the fruit of a holy Lent. Everyone is called to be an "Anastasia", a new light, replenished by the light of Christ—Lumen Christi.
Let us pray: Look down upon Thy household, Lord, and grant that our souls, chastened by the mortification of the flesh, may radiate in Thy sight with the desire for Thee. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
From the heart of the Roman Forum, the penitential procession climbed up the road winding up towards the Esquiline Hill and came to the church of St. Peter in Chains, also called the "Eudossian Basilica" (as it had been built in the place of another church by Eurdossia, wife of the emperor Valentinian III, to preserve in it the chains of St. Peter).
The Station of this day is at St. Peter in Chains and the Church takes us today to the divinely appointed watchman of "the lambs and sheep of Christ"—St. Peter.
The Chains, which held the shepherd of the lambs and sheep consist of forty-four links. Forty-four days separate us from Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Paschal solemnities when our "Lenten" work must be an accomplished fact.
How many links has that chain from which Christ, our good Shepherd, desires to free us in this acceptable time? We are fully aware that during this season of salvation this chain must be broken and the links thrown out—the big ones in particular. Which are your principal faults? Are you working against them?
Let us pray: Convert us, O God our salvation, that the Lenten fast may be of profit to us. Instruct our minds with heavenly discipline. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Continuing my series on "The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent", I would like to start by linking to my previous article on the Fifth Session.Feb. 23, 2007 (CWNews.com) - In an unusually candid conversation with the monthly Inside the Vatican, the secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship concedes that liturgical reform after Vatican II “has not been able to achieve the expected goals,” and indicates that Pope Benedict XVI is determined to address the crisis in Catholic liturgy.
In a lengthy interview, Archbishop Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don told the Inside the Vatican that a revival of the Catholic liturgy is essential to counteract the decline in practice among the faithful, particularly in the Western world.
The Cathedral Basilica of Rome—caput et mater omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis—triumphantly celebrates the first solemn day of Lent.
Today, the faithful pilgrim in spirit to the Lateran Basilica of the Most Holy Savior, "head and mother of all the churches of the City and the World," the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. In this basilica Lent officially begins, in this church also, it is concluded.
The acceptable time is at hand. "We exhort that you receive not the grace of God in vain." "It is true," says St. Leo, "there is no season, which is not rich with God' gifts. His grace does ever give us an entry to His mercy, yet at this time the minds of all should be urged with greater earnestness towards spiritual progress, and should be animated by a trust in God stronger than ever, for now the anniversary of that day on which we were redeemed is drawing near. Therefore, let us be moved to perform every work of godliness, to the end that we may be able to celebrate, with clean minds and bodies, that mystery, which excels all others—the mystery of the Lord's passion." (Matins, Second Nocturne)
This holy fast (Quadragesima) will open unto us the gates of Paradise. We must embrace it with prayer and supplication, so that we may rejoice with the Lord on the day of Resurrection.
Let us pray: O God, who does purify Thy Church by the yearly observance of forty days; grant to Thy household that what we strive to obtain from Thee by self-denial, we may secure by good works. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
Pope Pasquale II (1099-1118) laid the relics of St. Tryphon to rest under the present church of St. Augustine.
Health of body and, above all, health of soul are precious gifts from God—gifts for which we must be grateful. The Church is particularly concerned about the health of our soul, the well being in us of the life of Christ. She knows our spiritual shortsightedness, she knows, the unsteadiness of our will, she knows the power of our passions, all of them—infirmities caused by Original Sin, as well as by our personal sins. She sees her children make resolutions and break them. She knows how often the fuller unfolding of the sacramental life is impeded because her sons and daughters are lacking in purity of intention and proper appreciation of God's gifts.
For that very reason she instituted this holy season as a time of great healing. Lent is God's hospital. Serious operations are to be performed during this time. And blessed are they who gladly submit to them. Vitia comprimis, mentem elevas—vices are to be curbed, spiritual cancers to be removed, the mind is to be renewed, elevated, so that, after our stay in His hospital, the same mind may be in us, which is also in Christ Jesus. We humbly implore our dual Saints to guide us to the Divine Physician, the Healer of our soul and body.
Let us pray: Be mindful, O Lord, of our supplications, and grant that we may keep with devout service this solemn fast, which thou has wholesomely ordained for the healing of our souls and bodies. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
An Ordinary Public Consistory was held by Pope Benedict XVI to announce the canonization on June 3, 2007 for the following Blesseds. The Brazilian priest will be canonized on May 11 when Pope Benedict XVI visits Brazil:
On Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at 7 p.m., the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas according to the traditional calendar, the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest will offer Solemn High Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.
This is a truly exciting event-- it will will be the first traditional Latin Mass publicly celebrated in the Archdiocesan Cathedral for at least 35 years. Deo gratias! All are welcome to attend.
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A few years ago a deacon pal and I were discussing ashes. He was helping to distribute them for the first time in his parish and was trying to decide if he would use the old smudge-formula, “Remember you are dust and into dust you shall return,” or if he would forego that for the “new, improved, feel-good” formula, “Turn away from sin and believe the Gospel.”
I could only tell him that I didn’t need to be treated like a delicate flower with some benign advice about believing the Gospel. “If we’re Christians and we’re there receiving ashes, isn’t it pretty much a given that we’re already believing the Gospel? No, please, say it the old way - it’s a pithy reminder that we should ask ourselves - if we die tomorrow - have we been living our lives to right purpose? We hear nothing but happy platitudes about our specialness from the rest of the world (and too many lecterns) every single day. For this one day, let us face some cold, hard truth.”
He wrote me the other day that he remembered that conversation and that this year he will be reminding people that they are dust…I’m glad.
We need to hear it from time to time, that no matter what we do we’re going to die.
Ash Wednesday is a good time to take a look at how we’re living our lives, which are over quickly. Are we fully living the lives for which God loved us into being, or just treading water waiting for the next wave?
How are we managing our time and talents? Are we fully utilizing the gifts with which we (every one of us) were born? Are we sharing them, being generous with them?
What about the rest of our time - the few weeks or decades we have left? Maybe you haven’t murdered anyone this week, but have you been indulging in some so-called “innocent gossip” at work today? Is that what you were born for?
Have you been sitting at your computer for four hours tapping out one vile word after another in an unstoppable seizure of hate for anyone with whom you disagree? Is that the purpose for which you were begotten - loved into being?
Have you been slacking off at home, taking people for granted? Is that what you do with the love that has been given to you?
Seen in the light of eternity our lives are mere momentary blips, little flashes here and gone, noted only by the Eternal, who waits for our return, who says, “come back to me, with all your heart…” (Hosea 14:2-10).
Today, we acknowledge that we are finite, that we will not last, and that all of our fusses and furies won’t matter much, really, in the end. But our love - how much we have loved, or how little - that will define us, both in this life and the next.
In a world and an era where humility is for losers, we take a little time to let ourselves be humbled. And in that humility, we find some commonality, and perhaps inspiration to do better - to work on ourselves a bit - and to seek reconciliation where we can.
"It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, While we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6).
The second-largest phone company in Canada has reversed its earlier decision to begin selling pornography thought its mobile phone service after numerous customers, including the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, threatened to cancel their contracts.
"It was the type of feedback and the sincerity of it that caused us to reflect on the service and ultimately to withdraw it," Telus spokesman Jim Johannsson told Reuters in an interview.
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The third Lenten Station takes us up to a high hill of ancient Rome—the Celian Hill, which stands in front of the Palatine and which dominates the valley of the Circus Maximus. The church was built upon the house where Saints John and Paul were martyred and buried. Martyred in the year 361, by Julian the Apostate, they were two imperial officers in Constantine's court.
We celebrate the divine mysteries today in the light of the "two candelabras shining before the Lord," as the Church calls the two brothers John and Paul. There can be no fruitful lent without practical charity. Practical charity means that we must come to our brother's rescue sincerely, unselfishly and supernaturally.
As children of the God of charity, let us so approach today's Eucharist that it may enkindle in us the spirit of true Christian charity, and thus to "be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect."
Let us pray: Regard with Thy loving care, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the fast which we have begun; that the abstinence, which we keep with our body may be exercised with sincerity of mind. We ask this Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
~by Pope St. Leo the Great
Just a short distance from St. Sabina stands our second stational church, St. George in Velabro. The church dates back to the year 500, but was reconstructed under Leo II (682-683). This church is one of the original 25 diaconal seats of the Roman church. The head of this warrior Saint is preserved under the high altar.
The purpose of Holy Lent is to bring about a spiritual renovation. This work of renovation is accomplished by both God and man; by God, principally through the holy Eucharist; by man, mainly by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. May our stational patron, St. George, helps us to overcome the dragon of inertia in our prayer life and to cast again with new fervor our cares upon the Lord.
Let us pray: O God, who by sin art offended and by penance appeased, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy suppliant people, and turn away the scourges of Thy wrath, which we deserve for our sins. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
Remember man that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return.
If there is any place in Rome where Lent, with its atmosphere of penitential solitude mixes with the reawakening of spring, then it must be along this path which climbs up from the Circus Maximus towards the Aventine, on the top of which stands the Church of St. Sabina.
In God's name then let us go up to the holy mount. Is it not significant that the first Lenten mystery is celebrated on a mount, the Aventine? Already in pre-Christian days this hill was an asylum for refugees, a post of security. To St. Sabina—a martyr, converted to the faith by the prayers, fasts and example of her Christian servant—we entrust ourselves today. To her we have recourse in our sinfulness. She will present her martyrdom and her prayers to God on our behalf and obtain His blessing upon our Christian warfare, so that "we may be converted to God with our whole heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning, and rend our hearts and not our garments, and turn to the Lord, our God."
Let us pray: Grant, O Lord, to Thy faithful people that they may begin the venerable solemnities of fasting with becoming piety, and may persevere to the end with steadfast devotion. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
This is a day of mandatory abstinence and fasting (Can. 1251). All Catholics aged 14 or old must abstain from meat on this day (Can. 1252). Meat is considered to be the flesh and organs of mammals and fowl. Also forbidden are soups or gravies made from them. Salt and freshwater species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are permitted.
Randolph W. Sly, former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and one of the early founders of the CEC in 1992, was received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, along with his wife, Sandra, on November 12, 2006 at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia.
Sly indicated this decision came from an extended time of discernment for the two of them. “We were at a point last summer personally and ecclesiastically in the CEC where I felt a change was coming. Sandy and I had found ourselves moving deeper into catholic Christianity during our tenure in the CEC. More recently, the draw toward full communion in the Roman Catholic Church had grown greater and became a very strong call in the six months prior to our conversion. We are delighted to continue our service to Jesus Christ and His Church as Catholics.”
Fr. James Kauffmann, Pastor of St. Benedict Catholic Church issued the following statement: “It was my great joy to receive Randy and Sandy Sly into the full communion of the Roman Catholic Church at the Divine Liturgy at Saint Benedict Catholic Parish on November 12, 2006. What a glorious day it was! It was also a wonderful gift to, along with Deacon Keith Fournier, work with the Sly's during their period of catechesis leading up to their reception. Their love for the Lord and the ancient yet ever fresh Catholic Faith is an inspiration. Their prior years of service to the Lord have only prepared them for what lies ahead as they respond to God's continuing invitation to serve Him in the New Evangelization called for by the late Servant of God John Paul II. We welcome them home and eagerly anticipate all that lies ahead for them in the fullness of Catholic faith.”
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VATICAN CITY, FEB. 19, 2007 (Zenit.org) - The baptized need to rediscover the sacrament of reconciliation so that they can experience "the boundless renewing power of divine love," says Benedict XVI.
Use Lent to vanquish the enemy, and be thus preparing for Eastertide. Accordingly, dearly-beloved, that we may be able to overcome all our enemies, let us seek Divine aid by the observance of the heavenly bidding, knowing that we cannot otherwise prevail against our adversaries, unless we prevail against our own selves. For we have many encounters with our own selves: the flesh desires one thing against the spirit, and the spirit another thing against the flesh. And in this disagreement, if the desires of the body be stronger, the mind will disgracefully lose its proper dignity, and it will be most disastrous for that to serve which ought to have ruled. But if the mind, being subject to its Ruler, and delighting in gifts from above, shall have trampled under foot the allurements of earthly pleasure, and shall not have allowed sin to reign in its mortal body, reason will maintain a well-ordered supremacy, and its strongholds no strategy of spiritual wickednesses will cast down: because man has then only true peace and true freedom when the flesh is ruled by the judgment of the mind, and the mind is directed by the will of God. And although this state of preparedness, dearly-beloved, should always be maintained that our ever-watchful foes may be overcome by unceasing diligence, yet now it must be the more anxiously sought for and the more zealously cultivated when the designs of our subtle foes themselves are conducted with keener craft than ever. For knowing that the most hollowed days of Lent are now at hand, in the keeping of which all past slothfulnesses are chastised, all negligences alerted for, they direct all the force of their spite on this one thing, that they who intend to celebrate the Lord's holy Passover may be found unclean in some matter, and that cause of offence may arise where propitiation ought to have been obtained.
Here is a list of suggestions from the Real Presence Association:
Q: Should holy water be removed from the holy water fonts during Lent?"1. The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being praeter legem [beyond the law] is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.
"2. The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of the [sic] of her sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The "fast" and "abstinence" which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church. The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday)."Source: Catholics United for the Faith
The forty days' fast, which we call Lent, is the Church's preparation for Easter, and was instituted at the very commencement of Christianity. Our blessed Lord Himself sanctioned it by fasting forty days and forty nights in the desert; and though He would not impose it on the world by an express commandment (which, in that case, could not have been open to the power of dispensation), yet He showed plainly enough, by His own example, that fasting, which God had so frequently ordered in the old Law, was to be also practiced by the children of the new. The disciples of St. John the Baptist came, one day, to Jesus, and said to Him: 'Why do we and the pharisees fast often, but Thy disciples do not fast?' And Jesus said to them: 'Can the children of the Bridegroom mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.'The Baltimore Catechism:
Hence we find it mentioned, in the Acts of the Apostles, how the disciples of our Lord, after the foundation of the Church, applied themselves to fasting. In their Epistles, also, they recommended it to the faithful. Nor could it be otherwise. Though the divine mysteries whereby our Saviour wrought our redemption have been consummated, yet are we still sinners: and where there is sin, there must be expiation.
The apostles, therefore, legislated for our weakness, by instituting, at the very commencement of the Christian Church, that the solemnity of Easter should be preceded by a universal fast; and it was only natural that they should have made this period of penance to consist of forty days, seeing that our divine Master had consecrated that number by His own fast.
Q. 1342. When do fast days chiefly occur in the year?
A. Fast days chiefly occur in the year during Lent and Advent, on the Ember days and on the vigils or eves of some great feasts. A vigil falling on a Sunday is not observed.
Q. 1343. What do you mean by Lent, Advent, Ember days and the vigils of great feasts?
A. Lent is the seven weeks of penance preceding Easter. Advent is the four weeks of preparation preceding Christmas. Ember days are three days set apart in each of the four seasons of the year as special days of prayer and thanksgiving. Vigils are the days immediately preceding great feasts and spent in spiritual preparation for them.
Q. 1344. What do you mean by days of abstinence?
A. By days of abstinence I mean days on which no meat at all may be taken (complete abstinence) or on which meat may be taken only once a day (partial abstinence). This is explained in the regulations for Lent. All the Fridays of the year are days of abstinence except when a Holyday of obligation falls on a Friday outside of Lent.
Q. 1345. Are children and persons unable to fast bound to abstain on days of abstinence?
A. Children, from the age of seven years, and persons who are unable to fast are bound to abstain on days of abstinence, unless they are excused for sufficient reason.
Q. 1346. Why does the Church command us to fast and abstain?
A. The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins.
Today is their feastday, and I suggest readers look to my post from last year for information on them.
London, Feb. 16, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Roman Catholics will soon become the largest religious group in Great Britain, outnumbering Anglicans for the first time since the Reformation, the London Times reports.
Weekly Mass attendance at Catholic parishes now stands at about 1 million, roughly equal to the number attending Anglican services. But the Catholic population of Britain is steadily expanding, mostly because of immigration, while the Anglican community is in decline, the Times observes.
After doing some Internet searching tonight, I was very saddened by what I found. As I stumbled upon Myspace, I found countless users that claim to be atheists or agnostics. I found pagans and scientologists. I found a few Catholics who obviously didn't follow the faith since they cursed using our Lord's Holy Name in vain on that page. I found not only faithful Catholic - not a single one.
I was reminded of the account of Abraham speaking to the Lord in Genesis 18:20-32. There the Lord promised to spare Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction even if there were as little as ten righteous people left. Yet, as we know, the cities were destroyed because not even ten God-fearing men could be found. Is our world today any better?
I wonder what will happen in our world today. So many people do not believe and live there lives away from God seeking happiness and money - all without God. They will fail in this life and be condemned in the life to come. Then there are people even more horrifying - those that truly hate God and chastity and all things holy. They seek to destroy it. These people are corrupted by the devil. They too shall fail. For hell is not just intense pain, it is more terrible than that. Hell is painful not because God seeks to torture souls. No, not at all. Rather, the souls that go to Hell go there because it is the one place that God is not present. And the deprivation of God's love is the torture suffered by those souls. They rejected the Holy Church and refused to turn aside from sinful ways. These people turned away from God and earned what they had all along - a life without God.
St. Catherine received a vision of the devil once from Our Lord. And she told Him that she would rather walk on burning coals for the rest of eternity than go to hell and look upon the devil's face for one more moment. For in hell, the condemned will look on the face of satan, the father of lies, for all eternity. There truly shall be no end. This is the faith of those that ignore God, hate God, and die in the state of mortal sin.
So now I sit here gazing at the Crucifix contemplating his most precious wounds and the blood loss and pain He endured. Yet He endured that suffering for me as much as for each one of those people hate Him. And even if one of those people had been the only one to ever exist, Jesus would have mounted that cross just for him too. I once saw a picture in store. In the photo a little girl was looking up to Heaven and asked, "How much do you love me, Jesus?" Jesus answered, "I love you this much," and then He opened up His arms and died.
I am re-posting the rest:
I ask you to say this prayer for all that still live in darkness and do not see the great joy of Jesus Christ!
Dear Lord:
On the night before your passion you were taken from us, beaten and mocked and condemned to death. Bound and beaten on your precious head, the very head that lay in a beautiful manager in Bethlehem. Your back was ripped open in the Scourging, and on the road to Calvary so many hated you; you almost died on the way. Your precious face was disfigured - your body beaten and ripped apart. O Lord, your precious hands which worked so many wonders, were pierced. On that day Lord, you liberated me. May your blessings be upon me and transform me on my pilgrimage to Life Everlasting. May the grace and joy of Christmas and Easter enkindle an eternal flame in my heart for love of you and neighbor that shall never abate. And, permit me O Lord, to die in love of Thee for Thou hast died for love of me.
O Lord, so many hate you. So many call you false and a liar. So many pretend as if you ascended to Heaven and left us here - alone. So many pretend the Eucharist is not truly YOU. So many hate the good of your Church and deny your eternal word of scripture; so many utter lies against your faithful. Lord, so many ignore you. They refuse to acknowledge you, and they practice political correctness instead of acknowledging You as the only God to have worked wonders. But, You, O Lord, are the only truth. You are the only light on our journey. If I died today, would I be no more? No! For the miracles you worked are forever recorded in scripture, the miracle of the Eucharist is ever before us. May your light shine upon those that hate you Lord. For, O Lord, your skin was ripped open for them. Your blood poured forth from your heart for them. It was by your Cross alone we are saved. The God of all Creation truly took flesh and mounted a tree to redeem our disfigured race. What love! And what greater love is there than truly giving yourself to me in the Holy Eucharist each and every Mass!
Lord, you need nothing as You alone are perfect. Please, permit me, if you will, to offer up the sacrifices in my life to you in reparation for those that hate you, my best friend, my Love, my All. O Lord, you let your apostles help you in the miracles of the loaves, permit me to offer my small sacrifices in union with Your perfect gift on the Cross. May my sufferings offered for you bring one soul to the truth of your Church. O Lord, grant that my work may produce much fruit and at the end, when I leave this world, you may say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Lord, I love you. Forgive us all, my Crucified Lord. Forgive us, for you are the Savior of the World.
Amen
