St. Valentine's Day

Simple (1954 Calendar): February 14

Happy St. Valentines Day to all!

On the Traditional Catholic Calendars, today is a day to remember St. Valentine, priest and martyr.

February 14th, St. Valentine's Day, is based on the life of St. Valentine, a Roman martyr who was beheaded in c. 269-273 AD. Emperor Claudius II declared that unmarried men were potential soldiers, so he outlawed marriage. However, St. Valentine refused to accept this pernicious error, and the saintly priest continued to marry young couples.

Claudius attempted to convert St. Valentine to paganism, but St. Valentine resisted and attempted to bring Claudius to the Church and Jesus Christ. For this, the Emperor had St. Valentine beheaded.

In prison, he helped imprisoned, soon-to-be martyrs. The jailer saw that Valentine was a man of learning, so he brought his daughter, Julia, to Valentine for lessons. Julia was a young girl, who had been blind since her birth. During the lessons, St. Valentine would read to her about the history of Rome. And he taught her about God. The following is an account of St. Valentine:

"Valentinus, does God really hear our prayers?" Julia asked one day.
"Yes, my child, He hears each one." 

"Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night? I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you've told me about!"

"God does what is best for us if we will only believe in Him," Valentinus said.
"Oh, Valentinus, I do believe! I do!" She knelt and grasped his hand. 

They sat quietly together, each praying. Suddenly there was a brilliant light in the prison cell. Radiant, Julia screamed, "Valentinus, I can see! I can see!" 

"Praise be to God!" Valentinus exclaimed, and he knelt in prayer. 

On the eve of his death Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia, urging her to stay close to God. He signed it, "From your Valentine." His sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D., near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory. 

He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. It is said that Julia planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near his grave. Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and friendship. On each February 14, Saint Valentine's Day, messages of affection, love, and devotion are exchanged around the world."

After her healing, the jailer, too, was converted to the Catholic Faith.

As part of today’s feast day of St. Valentine, consider ordering a copy of "Marriage in the Heart and Mind of the Church" to further your knowledge of the Sacrament of Marriage or consider it as a gift to those you know who are about to receive Holy Matrimony this upcoming year. It is a must-read for all couples and a great resource for parishes to use with couples!

Prayer:

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God: that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of blessed Valentine, Thy Martyr, may, through his intercession, be strengthened in the love of Thy name. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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The Eucharist and the Priesthood

I wanted to pass along some articles that are worthily from the Real Presence Association. These are articles on the priesthood by Fr. John A. Hardon. My favorite is "The Eucharist and the Priesthood."

Part of that article:

"A priest makes the Real Presence possible and no one, no king, no genius, not even the will of a thousand people, or the combined efforts of a whole nation, can substitute for the power of a priest’s consecrated words: “This is My Body...This is the chalice of My Blood.”"

An ordained priest, bishop, cardinal, or Pope are the only people that can perform such a miraculously act. Consequently the Eucharist of other Christian denominations is not the Body and Blood of Christ as is the case in the Catholic Church.

More: "No less than the Real Presence, so the Mass is impossible without the priest. In fact, it is only at the Mass that the Consecration takes place, changing bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Yet, we know that the Mass is not merely the Eucharistic Consecration. The Mass is not only a means to give us Christ's Presence, it is also Christ's Sacrifice."

This divine power comes only from Christ. He gave his disciples this power: "Do this in remembrance of Me," which has passed from them (the first bishops) to our priests today throuhg apostolic succession. This is truly miraculous. Christ is there at every Mass. He is there as truly present as He was in Jerusalem on the Cross or in Bethlehem in the manger. Yet, how sad that still so many don't understand and know him. The pharisses are not gone; today they are none other than false teachers claiming to know Christ. But if one does not know Christ in the Eucharist, he does not know Christ at all.

Pray for our priests!

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Florida pro-life law upheld

More good news in our crusade for the diginity and recognition of all human life -

A federal judge has turned Planned Parenthood's request to stop enforcing a parental notification law down. The law was declared constitutional and was previously by Florida votes in a 65% appove to 35% oppose ratio.

It remains unclear whether the decision will be appealed, but luckily this law has already taken effect June 30, 2005. These parential notification/consent laws save lives.

(Read more on this story)

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The Miracles of St. Padre Pio

A reader of my blog asked me to make post on this, and I was more than happy to do so.

St. Padre Pio (1887 - 1968) lived in our modern world but was everything other than ordinary. On September 20, 1918, St. Padre Pio received the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. He is the only priest in history to receive the Stigmata. Roughly 300 others in Church history have also received it including St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Frances of Rome, and others. While the Church has yet to issue an official statement on this phenomena, it is surely an act in accordance with the Divine Will.

Doctors examined St. Padre Pio and could find no natural cause of the wounds. These wounds remained his entire life until his death when, as he predicted, they were healed. However, there was no scarring of the flesh. The blood that flowed from the stigmata was reported by others to have a smell of roses and flowers. St. Padre Pio was a living example of how holy an individual can become by faith.

He had the gift of Bilocation:

"Among the most remarkable of the documented cases of bilocation was the Padre's appearance in the air over San Giovanni Rotondo during World War II. While southern Italy remained in Nazi hands American bombers were given the job of attacking the city of San Giovanni Rotondo. However, when they appeared over the city and prepared to unload their munitions a brown-robed friar appeared before their aircraft. All attempts to release the bombs failed. In this way Padre Pio kept his promise to the citizens that their town would be spared. Later on, when an American airbase was established at Foggia a few miles away, one of the pilots of this incident visited the friary and found to his surprise the little friar he had seen in the air that day over San Giovanni." (Source: EWTN)

There are numerous other bilocation miracles that have been confirmed by numerous eyewitnesses. Read about them here.

"In order to attract us, the Lord grants us many graces that we believe can easily obtain Heaven for us. We do not know, however, that in order to grow, we need hard bread: the cross, humiliation, trials and denials." Padre Pio

He had the Gift of Levitation:

In his life, St. Padre Pio was a miracle worker. He also could levitate. On one occasion, St. Padre Pio levitated through the air in order to reach the Confessional without being seen and stopped. He immediately began to receive penitents. A man in the church was amazed how the priest had gotten to the confessional because so many people were outside of his door waiting to talk with him. St. Padre Pio said to him that God made him invisible and he walked on their heads to the confessional.

He healed others:

In 1919, St. Padre Pio received a penitent using two canes. The doctors could not help the 62-year-old man, but after Confession St. Padre Pio said, "Stand up and go away! You have to throw away these canes." The man could walk perfectly again. There have been numerous other healings too.

He had the Gift of Perfume:

Sometimes God allows saints to emit a beautiful perfume in order to draw more people to Himself and holiness. This perfume is smelt only by a privileged few, not all. St. Padre Pio had this gift and the smell of roses, incense, ammonia, and others was emitted from him. He said to some inquiring about them: "They are only a sign of my presence."

Father Agostino of San Marco in Lamis had a malfunctioned olfactory gland and could only smell strong odors. He said, "I smelt a number of times the perfume that many people smell. Even when I was distant from San Giovanni Rotondo I smelt it." The Gift of Perfume continued after St. Padre Pio's death. Not just places connected with him but also places in American and distant places of the world smelt the distinct perfume.

The Gift of Light:

On October 5, 125, Dr. Giorgio Festa operated on St. Padre Pio for a hernia. Before he had to stitch the would, the doctor noticed St. Pio had lost consciousness. He took advantage of this and look at his left side - the place of Jesus' wound from his stigmata. And, he was the wound was "fresh and of a vermilion red and in the shape of a cross...From the edges of the wound emitted small but unmistakable rays of light." Dr. Giorgio put on the bandage and St. Padre Pio regained his senses.

He also had the Gift of Visions, the spirit of Prophesy, Clairvoyance, the power to read hearts in Confession, and Xenoglossy (The ability to write, speak, or understand an unknown language).


Reading:

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Jesus on trial?

A few weeks ago I posted about a horrible court case in Italy, where a man is suing a priest, Enrico Righi (76), for teaching about Jesus. The plantiff Luigi Cascioli (72) claims Jesus is not real and it is deceitful for the Church to teach otherwise.

I was glad to read today that the case is over - the case was dismissed by the judge.

However, Cascioli, the atheist suing, plans to appeal to Italy’s highest court, and then he plans to go to The Hague.

Keep praying and for more information see Jesus Blog

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Template Change

Alexa has created a beautiful new template for my blog, so please excuse the minor adjustments and changes occurring today on my blog.

Thanks

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Today's Saintly Wisdom

"Perpetual adoration is the most beautiful thing you could ever think of doing. People are hungry for God." -Blesssed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

St. Padre Pio - "Save souls by continuous prayer."

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain, St. Hugh of Grenoble

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Thank you for your Prayers

Thank you all for your prayers! I ended my scheduled speaking this year and hope to compile all of my notes and make formal copy of my speech. Your prayers have given me strength today and I do appreciate them.

Thank you everyone

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Please pray for me today

I beg all of you for your prayers today. Today is my last scheduled speaking day when I will be presenting my speeches. Please pray that I do well and that I feel well all day in order to speak well.

Thank you, everyone.
God Bless

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World Day of Prayer for the Sick

February 11th is the annual World Day for the Sick. After our nine-day novena to Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes, we arrive at the Feast of Our Lady under the title "Our Lady of Lourdes" today. Our Lady of Lourdes, patron of the sick, pray for us sinners.

Today please pray for the sick, visit them in a hospital, or visit them in a nursing home. Please continue to pray for the healing for our physical and spiritual illnesses, and may Our Lady of Lourdes, Mary Most Holy, join us in prayer to her Divine Son.

Prayer to St. Camillus de Lellis for the Sick Poor 

O glorious Saint Camillus, special patron of the sick poor, thou who for forty years, with truly heroic charity, didst devote thyself to the relief of their temporal and spiritual necessities, be pleased to assist them now even more generously, since thou art blessed in heaven and they have been committed by Holy Church to thy powerful protection. Obtain for them from Almighty God the healing of all their maladies, or, at least, the spirit of Christian patience and resignation that they may sanctify them and comfort them in the hour of their passing to eternity; at the same time obtain for us the precious grace of living and dying after thine example in the practice of divine love. Amen.

Indulgences for World Day of Prayer for the Sick:

Please read up on the many ways to gain a plenary indulgence today which EWTN has made available from the Vatican. Part of that document states the following on today's indulgences:

"[A] Plenary Indulgence will be granted "to the faithful who, under the usual conditions (sacramental Confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer in keeping with the intentions of the Holy Father), and with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin, participate on February 11 at the cathedral of Adelaide, or at any other place decided by the ecclesiastical authorities, in a sacred ceremony held to beseech God to grant the goals of the World Day of the Sick."

The decree continues: "The faithful who, in public hospitals or in private houses, like 'Good Samaritans' charitably assist the sick -especially those with mental problems who require greater patience, care and attention -and who, because of the service they provide, cannot participate in the aforementioned ceremony, will obtain the same gift of Plenary Indulgence if on that day they generously provide, at least for a few hours, their charitable assistance to the sick as if they were tending to Christ the Lord Himself,with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin, and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the conditions required for obtaining the Plenary Indulgence."

The faithful who, "through sickness, old age or similar reason, are prevented from participating in the aforementioned ceremony, may obtain the Plenary Indulgence if, with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the conditions required, they spiritually participate together with the Holy Father in the aforesaid ceremony, pray devotedly for the sick, and offer - through the Virgin Mary 'Health of the Sick' - their physical and spiritual sufferings to God."

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