I just got an email about this great site, Protect Marriage Illinois. If you are from the state of Illinois, please visit this site and sign the petition to "place a referendum on the November 2006 ballot calling on the Illinois General Assembly to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment permanently defining marriage as one-man, one-woman."
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Friday, January 20, 2006
Today is my 3rd day for the Novena for Christian Unity. Especially since we are now in the Week of Prayer for Christian unity, please join me in this novena.
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Double (1954 Calendar): January 20Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 20
Today the Church remembers St. Fabian along with St. Sebastian. St. Fabian was a Roman layman, who was coming in from the fields one day when the clergy were preparing to elect a new Pope. As soon as St. Fabian came into the assembly, a dove came and rested upon his head - a sign for the laity and clergy. St. Fabian was chosen as Pope.
He led the Church for 14 years and died in 250 AD as a martyr. St. Fabian is remembered for baptizing the emperor Marcus Julius Philippus, known as Philip the Arab, along with his son. Pope St. Fabian helped build in the catacombs, improved the organization of the Church in Rome, and appointed officials to register the deeds of the martyrs. His grave, though broken into four pieces, is still readable today in the catacombs of Saint Callistus: "Fabian, bishop, martyr"
As we continue down our journey in this world, please don't forget all of our past. For hundreds of years, Catholics were murdered for their faith. Let us not forget the martyrs who gave their lives to Christ and His Church. Even today, men and women die for their faith in Christ. Let us praise God and know that He is life (John 14:6); no one else is pure joy.
May Christ reign in His Church and may we pray for the unity of all Christians, especially during this week of prayer for Christian Unity.
Traditional Matins Reading:
Fabian, a Roman by birth, governed the Church from the reign of 'Maximian to that of Decius. He divided the City into seven parts, which he consigned to as many Deacons, and to them he gave the charge of looking after the poor. He created also a like number of Subdeacons, who were to collect the Acts of the Martyrs, written by seven Notaries. It was he who decreed that every year, on the fifth Feria of our Lord's Supper, the Chrism should be renewed, and the old should be burnt. At length, on the thirteenth of the Kalends of February (January 20), he was crowned with martyrdom, in the persecution of Decius, and was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus, on the Appian Way, after reigning fifteen years and four days. He held five ordinations in the month of December, in which ordinations he made two and twenty Priests, seven Deacons, and eleven Bishops for divers places.
St. Fabian, ora pro nobis! “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” (Tertullian).
Prayer:
O Almighty God, have regard to our weakness: and since the weight of our own evil deeds is oppressive, may the glorious intercession of Thy blessed Martyrs, Fabian and Sebastian, protect us. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Prayer:
O Almighty God, have regard to our weakness: and since the weight of our own evil deeds is oppressive, may the glorious intercession of Thy blessed Martyrs, Fabian and Sebastian, protect us. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Thursday, January 19, 2006
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. - St. Augustine
It is especially during this week of prayer for Christian Unity that I appeal to you. We all are entitled to our own opinions, but that doesn't mean they are right.
Look at all of the various beliefs out there - but realize there can only be one right answer. And, I can say, without any sense of arrogance but rather with pure joy of heart, that Jesus Christ is the answer! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - Our One God is the true answer. People can twist the Gospels and believe what they want, but realize that only one set of beliefs is right. And, I firmly believe this for Our Savior said His Church would be protected from the fires of hell (Matthew 16:18) We feel the Holy Spirit in life - in the joy of the Eucharist. We know the truth and if you hold the truth in your heart, don't hold it back but share this light of life with others. For a light dispels the darkness of ignorance and sin. Share this light of Christ with others.
Read the Gospels - believe in Him, in His Church!
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." - St. Joan of Arc
Yesterday the United States partially sidestepped an abortion ruling. But, the Court did say that the parental notification law in New Hampshire, which was ruled unconstitutional, was struck down prematurely. They sent the law back to the lower court to reconsider whether it was appropriate to strike down the law.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Today, January 18, begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, lasting until January 25. Let us remember to pray that all of us, as believers in Christ, may be brought to the fullness of the Truth - the Catholic Faith. Let us pray as Our Savior prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before His passion: "That they might be one."Update: See my 2007 post for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity for more information.
Please join me in this Novena for Christian Unity:
O Lord Jesus Christ, who said unto Your Apostles, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you," regard not our sins, but the faith of Your church, and grant unto her that peace and unity which are agreeable to Your will, who live and reign, God, forever and ever. Amen. O Lord, increase in us the faith. My God, unite all minds in the truth and all hearts in charity Amen
Source: Catholic Culture
Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
"Every time you sacrifice something at great cost every time you renounce something that appeals to you for the sake of the poor you are feeding a hungry Christ.You are clothing His nakedness.You are offering shelter to a homeless Christ. Every time we are concerned about the poor whether they are near or far away we do it all for Him. "Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
With today being Tuesday, January 24th, I wanted to continue my Tuesday tradition to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Please join me in prayer:O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee.
In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased.
But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.---3 Hail Marys.
Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Some bad news...
The United States Supreme Court today upheld the Oregon law allowing physician assisted suicide. Let me reiterate the Catholic Church is opposed to this intrinsic evil because it allows the murder of a human being - it is an attack on the culture of life.
The only promising part of the 6-3 ruling to uphold the law, was that Supreme Court Justice Roberts voted to strike down the law. He is a Catholic and I was so happy to hear that he stood up for life.
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The United States Supreme Court today upheld the Oregon law allowing physician assisted suicide. Let me reiterate the Catholic Church is opposed to this intrinsic evil because it allows the murder of a human being - it is an attack on the culture of life.
The only promising part of the 6-3 ruling to uphold the law, was that Supreme Court Justice Roberts voted to strike down the law. He is a Catholic and I was so happy to hear that he stood up for life.
Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 17
Double (1954 Calendar): January 17
Today is the feastday of St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356). After the death of his parents, St. Anthony, only 20 years old, left the world and its riches after hearing the Gospel: “Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor” (Mark 10:21). St. Anthony sold his house, furniture, and the land he owned, and he gave the proceeds to the poor. He joined the anchorites who lived nearby. At age 35 he moved alone to the desert and lived for 20 years in an abandoned fort.
Although he barricaded himself inside in order to achieve solitude, admirers broke in. St. Anthony miraculously healed people while agreeing to be the spiritual counselor of others. He also founded two monasteries on the Nile: one at Pispir, one at Arsinoe. In 311 AD, he left his solitude in order to combat Arianism and comfort the victims of Emperor Maximinus' persecution. While there, he again met his sister, who had also left the world and lived as a nun.
St. Anthony was modest and courteous. He died in solitude in 356 AD at Mount Colzim of natural causes at the age of 105; his relics are located near Vienne.
Prayer:
May the intercession of blessed Anthony the Abbot commend us unto Thee, we beseech Thee, O Lord: so that what we cannot acquire by any merits of ours, we may obtain by his patronage. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Traditional Matins Reading:
Antony was born in Egypt, of noble and Christian parents, who left him an orphan at an early age. Having one day entered a Church, he heard these words of the Gospel being read: If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all thou hast, and give to the poor. He took them as addressed to himself, and thought it his duty to obey these words of Christ his Lord. Selling therefore his possessions, he distributed all the money among the poor. Being freed from these obstacles, he resolved to lead on earth a heavenly life. But at his entrance on the perils of such a combat, he felt that besides the shield of faith, wherewith he was armed, he must needs fortify himself with the other virtues; and so ardent was his desire to possess them, that whomsoever he saw excelling in any virtue, him did he study to imitate.
Nothing, therefore, could exceed his continency and vigilance. He surpassed all in patience, meekness, mercy, humility, manual labour, and the study of the Sacred Scriptures. So great was his aversion for the company of, or conversation with, heretics, especially the Arians, that he used to say that we ought not even to go near them. He lay on the ground when necessity obliged him to sleep. As to fasting, he practised it with so much fervour that his only nourishment was bread seasoned with salt, and he quenched his thirst with water; neither did he take this his food and drink until sunset, and frequently abstained from it altogether for two successive days. He very frequently spent the whole night in prayer. Antony became so valiant a soldier of God that the enemy of mankind, ill-brooking such extraordinary virtue, attacked him with manifold temptations; but the Saint overcame them all by fasting and prayer. Neither did his victories over Satan make him heedless, for he knew how innumerable are the devil’s artifices for injuring souls.
Knowing this, he betook himself into one of the largest deserts of Egypt, where such was his progress in Christian perfection that the wicked spirits, whose attacks grew more furious as Antony’s resistance grew more resolute, became the object of his contempt, so much so indeed, that he would sometimes taunt them for their weakness. When encouraging his disciples to fight against the devil, and teaching them the arms wherewith they would vanquish him, he used often to say to them: 'Believe me, Brethren, Satan dreads the watchings of holy men, and their prayers, and fasts, and voluntary poverty, and works of mercy, and humility, and above all, their ardent love for Christ our Lord, at the mere sign of whose most holy Cross he is disabled and put to flight.' So formidable was he to the devils that many persons in Egypt who were possessed by them were delivered by invoking Antony's name. So great. too, was his reputation for sanctity, that Constantine the Great and his sons wrote to him, commending themselves to his prayers. At length, having reached the hundred and fifth year of his age, and having received a countless number into his institute, he called his Monks together; and having instructed them how to regulate their lives according to Christian perfection, he, venerated both for the miracles he had wrought, and for the holiness of his life, departed from this world to heaven on the sixteenth of the Calends of February (January 17).
St. Anthony Receives His Vocation by St. Athanasius:
When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.
Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles had left everything and followed the Saviour, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor – you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.
It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.
The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation, he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practised great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.
Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.
Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.
When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.
Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles had left everything and followed the Saviour, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor – you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.
It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.
The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation, he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practised great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.
Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.
Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.
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