Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Poland

Photo Source: REUTERS/Peter Andrews

 
Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting Poland from May 25-28, 2006, and I will try to post as often as I can as the Holy Father makes this journey to Poland. Poland's TVP public broadcaster has promised to ban all TV ads that contain any erotic or violent scenes during the Pope's visit. Pope Benedict XVI is calling this trip a journey of remembrance for his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

The Holy Father's schedule:

May 25:

• He arrives in Warsaw, Poland

May 26:

• He celebrates Mass in Pilsudski Square
• He journeys to Jasna Gora to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa

May 27:

• He visits John Paul ll's birthplace, the shrine of the Divine Mercy, and meets with the youth

May 28:

• He visits Auschwitz
• Departs Poland

Poland Statistics

• Total Population: 36,684,000
• Number of Catholics: 34,850,000; 95%!
• Percentage that attend Sunday Mass: 53%
• According to most sites, 75% of Poland Citizens are practicing Catholics
• Number of parishes: 9,941
• Number of priests: 26,911

Statistics Source: Institute of Statistics of the Catholic Church SAC

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Pope Raises Standards for Beatifications

Pope Benedict XVI has called for raising the standards for beatifications, which comes after his predecessor canonized more saints than any previous pope. In his letter to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Benedict XVI says a cause should not be opened unless there is "a proven reputation for holiness."

Source: CWNEWS

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Novena for Vocations: Day Two

Please join in the second day of the Novena for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. It is available at Cirque de moi.


Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Prayer to the Holy Cross

The Discovery of The True Cross by Gustave Dore

I adore You, O glorious Cross, which was adorned with the Heart and Body of my Savior Jesus Christ, stained and covered with blood. I adore You, O Holy Cross, out of love for Him, Jesus, who is my Savior and my God.

(Pope Pius IX declared that reciting this prayer five times on Friday will free five souls from Purgatory and 33 souls by reciting it on Good Friday. This prayer should be recited before a crucifix with a contrite heart and praying a few minutes for the Pope).

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Prayer for Mary's Intercession by St. Francis of Assisi

Holy Virgin Mary, there is no one like Thee born in the world among women, Daughter and Handmaid of the Most Highest King, the Heavenly Father, Mother of Our Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, Spouse of the Holy Spirit:

Pray for us with St. Michael the Archangel and all the powers of Heaven and all the Saints before Thy Most Holy and Beloved Son, the Lord and Master.

Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, ...

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Words of Inspiration: April 26, 2006

“Behold, for you I have established a throne of mercy on earth—the tabernacle—and from this throne I desire to enter into your heart. You can come to me at any moment, at any time; I want to speak to you and desire to grant you grace.” “My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart . . . For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow grace upon souls”

(Words of Jesus to St. Maria Faustina)

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Georgetown University to Remove Pro-Abortion Links

Earlier this year I posted a link to the Cardinal Newman Society's review of Catholic university websites, many of which posted links to abortion promoting places. I was outraged over this because a Catholic university must, first and foremost, stand up for Catholic values. That is why I am extremely pleased that Georgetown University is revising its website to remove links to groups that perform or encourage abortions.

This is wonderful news, and I ask you to please join me in praying for an end to abortion and for all of God's children to have a chance at life - the most basic of all principles.


Prayer:

Heavenly Father, in Your love for us, protect against the wickedness of the devil, those helpless little ones to whom You have given the gift of life.Touch with pity the hearts of those women pregnant in our world today who are not thinking of motherhood.Help them to see that the child they carry is made in Your image - as well as theirs - made for eternal life.Dispel their fear and selfishness and give them true womanly hearts to love their babies and give them birth and all the needed care that a mother can give.We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.

Image Source: Use with Permission (Wikipedia)

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Novena for Vocations - Day One

Please join me in a novena for Vocations to the Priesthood that K has started on her blog. I'm completely humbled and so grateful that she started this novena for me!

We need priests, and we all need to follow our vocations in life. Everyone is a sinner and in need of God's strength to fulfill their vocations. Please join me in this novena for more priests, religious brothers and sisters, and more dedicated lay people. We all are in need of God's mercy, so please join me in prayer.

Visit K's Blog for Day One

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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St. Mark the Evangelist

Feast (1969 Calendar): April 25
Double of the II Class (1955 Calendar): April 25

Today is the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, as well as the Greater Litanies (Major Rogation Day).  Of St. Mark, it may be said:

• He is one of the four Gospel authors
• He was likely the unnamed young man present at Jesus' arrest (Mk 14:51-52)
• He was the son of a Christian woman in Jerusalem named Mary
• He had a miraculous escape from prison
• He was the cousin of St. Barnabas
• He had a falling out with St. Paul (later reconciled when he visited St. Paul in prison)
• His Gospel was probably written in Rome around 60 AD
• He died as a martyr after a pagan mob tied a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets of Alexandria in Egypt.

St. Mark is the patron saint of evangelists, and we can learn so much from his example. We must also be evangelists and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ not only by our words but also by our actions. All of us are called to serve Jesus Christ in our vocation. We don't have to go to the third world and proclaim the Gospel. We can simply live prayerfully while keeping God's Commandments. By doing this, we can help convert many of those around us to the truth of the Catholic faith.

St. Mark's body is buried under the High Altar at St. Mark's Basilica in the main plaza in Venice, Italy.

St. Mark's Day As A Former Holy Day of Obligation

The first catalog of Holy Days comes from the Decree of Gratian in c. 1150 AD, which shortly thereafter gave way to Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1295, Pope Boniface VIII enacted the decretal Gloriosus which "commanded that each of the feasts of the twelve apostles, four evangelists, and four doctors of the Church be celebrated as an officium duplex" (The Cambridge History of Medieval Canon Law by Anders Winroth and John Wei).

In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull Universa Per Orbem which mandated the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 34 days as well as the principal patrons of one's one locality (e.g. city and country). Those days were the Nativity of Our Lord, the Circumcision of Our Lord, the Epiphany of Our Lord, Monday within the Octave of the Resurrection, Tuesday within the Octave of the Resurrection, Ascension Thursday, Monday within the Octave of Pentecost, Tuesday within the Octave of Pentecost, Most Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, the Finding of the Holy Cross, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Dedication of St. Michael, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, St. Andrew, St. James, St. John (the December feast day), St. Thomas, SS. Philip and James, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, SS. Simon and Jude, St. Matthias, St. Stephen the First Martyr (the December feast day), the Holy Innocents, St. Lawrence, St. Sylvester, St. Joseph, St. Anne, and All Saints.  

Ultimately Universa Per Orbem helped bring more uniformity to the Church since some parts of the Catholic world observed even more holy days of double precept (i.e., mandatory attendance at Mass and rest from servile work). One of those former days kept in some places as the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. 

For instance, in modern-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, which were included in the ecclesiastical province of Mexico, the feasts were regulated by the Third Council of Mexico in 1585, as American Catholic Quarterly Review states: 

"In these parts besides those already mentioned, the faithful observed as holy days of obligation St Fabian and St Sebastian (January 20th), St Thomas Aquinas (March 7th), St Mark (April 25th), St Barnabas (June 1), the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin (July 2), St Mary Magdalene (July 22), St Dominic (Aug 4), the Transfiguration (Aug 6), St Francis (Oct 4), St Luke (Oct 18), St Catharine (Nov 25), the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin (Dec 18). 

And while our ancestors in the New World in Florida and Louisiana would not have kept St. Mark's Day as a Holy Day of Obligation, it was kept as a day of abstinence from meat on account of it being the Major Rogation Day. See A History of Holy Days of Obligation & Fasting for American Catholics for more information on this forgotten history.

St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy

Prayer:

O God, Who didst exalt blessed Mark, Thine Evangelist, by the grace of preaching the Gospel, grant we beseech Thee, that we may ever profit by his teaching and be defended by his prayers. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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God or the Girl: First Episode

Well this last Sunday when I got back from meeting the diocese about my own vocation to the priesthood, I watched the final episode of God or the Girl. I was overall very pleased with the series although I wish more of them would have entered the seminary. I'm extremely happy for Mike, who obviously loves his job, as well as Joe, who is serving God as a lay counselor.

I was actually somewhat disappointed in Dan. I hope he serves the Lord as a youth minister, but in my own opinion, he really needs to focus more of the group's time on studying the faith and the Bible. I think that his inability to defend the Church against the fundamentalist's accusations show this. I agree with Gerald's statement that Dan is under too much of an evangelical influence; he needs to just focus on quiet contemplation and prayer and apologetics above some other things.

However, I'm very happy for all of them to have made a decision. I'm was so happy for Steve when announced his decision to enter the seminary. It was so heartfelt and poignant as he stood before his parish and announced His decision. I wish him the best, and I ask all of you to join me in praying for Him and for greater vocations to the priesthood in general. Think about it, without the priesthood we would not have the Eucharist. For hundreds of years priests and Christians in general were murdered for their faith, and today we live in an age where we can worship without fear. Yet, only a small percentage of Catholics attend Mass! Hundreds of years ago, nearly all Catholics attended Mass and would even accept martyrdom for Jesus Christ.

This series has really helped us remember the importance of vocations, but it also brought to mind the need for lay Catholics committed completely to the faith. We must be the light shinning in the darkness for Christ; we must proclaim the Good News!

Prayer for Vocations:

Compassionate Heart of Jesus, graciously listen to our prayers. Give us generous hearts to respond to your call in our lives. Lift up courageous men and women willing to follow after your heart as priests, sisters, brothers, and deacons.

Help parents and teachers to share the faith and to encourage young people to explore religious vocations. Guide all people, Lord, in your ways of compassion, truth, and peace, that we may find happiness in fulfilling our vocation. Amen.

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