Pope Benedict XVI Visits the Column of Mary

His Most Supreme Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has visited the Column of the Virgin in Munich's Marienplatz. His native Bavaria is rich in traditional culture and Catholicism. It is very different from Germany as a whole. In 2004, 101,000 Germans left the Catholic Church and in 2003, 129,000 left the Church of Jesus Christ. How sad...all of these souls are leaving the truth.

Let us pray that the Holy Father's return will revive the Catholic faith in Germany as a whole. According to Yahoo News, only 14 percent of Germans attend Sunday Mass.

Today on September 9, 2006, the Holy Father visited the Column of the Madonna in Marienplatz in Bavaria. The Column of Mary was erected in 1638 in the center of Munich Square and has existed as a symbol of hope for centuries. The Catholic News Agency has a good article on the history of the Column of Mary.

Photos:

AFP/DDP/Joerg Koc

AP Photo: Bernd Weissbrod, Pool

AP Photo: Maurizio Brambatti, Pool

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Pope Benedict XVI Arrives in Bavaria, Germany

Photo Source: REUTERS/Stephan Jansen/Pool (GERMANY)

On Saturday, September 9, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI landed in Bavaria, Germany, his birthplace and where he spent most of his life. He is beginning a 6-day visit to his native country of Germany. This is his first return to Bavaria, Germany since before his election as Pope.

Among the many people that greeted him at the airport, he was greeted by German President Horst Köhler, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber.

From Catholic News Agency:

The German president welcomed the Pope, speaking glowingly of the first years of his Pontificate. Köhler, who is Protestant, recalled the “moving experience” of last year’s World Youth Day, held in Cologne. The president remarked at the “powerful presence” of the Catholic Church in Germany and spoke hopefully of the ongoing process of ecumenical dialogue.

Following Köhler’s words of welcome, the Pope reflected briefly on the purpose of his trip. “Conscious of how much I have received,” Benedict said, “I have come here above all to express my deep gratitude towards all those who helped shape me as a person.”

But, the Pope continued, “I also come here as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, to reaffirm and strengthen the deep bonds linking the See of Rome and the Church in our native land.”

Benedict reminded everyone of the tremendous history of the Catholic faith in Germany and particularly in Bavaria. A history, he said, which has been constantly nourished by firm adherence to Christian values.

He also noted that the faith history of the country “is witnessed to by famous monuments, majestic cathedrals, statues and paintings of great artistic value, literary works, cultural initiatives and above all, the many individual and community events which reflect the Christian beliefs of successive generations in this Land which is so dear to me.”

The Pontiff insisted that although society has changed, it is important to continue passing on the faith to younger generations.

“I think we are all united in the hope that new generations will remain faithful to the spiritual patrimony which has withstood all the crises of history. My visit to the land of my birth is meant to be an encouragement in this regard: Bavaria is a part of Germany; sharing in the ups and downs of Germany’s history, and has good reason to be proud of the traditions inherited from the past. My hope is that all my compatriots in Bavaria and throughout Germany will play an active part in the transmission of the fundamental values of the Christian faith to the citizens of tomorrow.”

The Pope concluded his remarks expressing his desire to someday visit other parts of Germany and thanking all those who have worked to prepare for his visit. He offered a greeting to all Germans, noting that he was not only thinking of Catholics, but Lutherans, Orthodox Christians, and members of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities as well as “all people of good will.”

“May the Lord bless the efforts of all those concerned to build a future of true well-being for the good of the whole nation,” the Pope said, entrusting his intentions to the Blessed Virgin Mary through a traditional Bavarian prayer. “Preserve, O Virgin and Patroness, your Bavarian people, their goods, their government, their land and their religion!”

The Pope then departed for downtown Munich, where he will offer a special prayer at the Marian statue in the city’s central square.

Photos:

REUTERS/Bernd Weissbrod/Pool (GERMANY)

AP Photo/Markus Nowak, Pool

AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

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"Catechism on the Real Presence" by St. John Vianney

Our Lord is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit Him, and make our request to Him. See how good He is! He accommodates Himself to our weakness. In Heaven, where we shall be glorious and triumphant, we shall see him in all His glory. If He had presented Himself before us in that glory now, we should not have dared to approach Him; but He hides Himself, like a person in a prison, who might say to us, "You do not see me, but that is no matter; ask of me all you wish and I will grant it. " He is there in the Sacrament of His love, sighing and interceding incessantly with His Father for sinners. To what outrages does He not expose Himself, that He may remain in the midst of us! He is there to console us; and therefore we ought often to visit Him. How pleasing to Him is the short quarter of an hour that we steal from our occupations, from something of no use, to come and pray to Him, to visit Him, to console Him for all the outrages He receives! When He sees pure souls coming eagerly to Him, He smiles upon them. They come with that simplicity which pleases Him so much, to ask His pardon for all sinners, for the outrages of so many ungrateful men. What happiness do we not feel in the presence of God, when we find ourselves alone at His feet before the holy tabernacles! "Come, my soul, redouble thy fervour; thou art alone adoring thy God. His eyes rest upon thee alone. " This good Saviour is so full of love for us that He seeks us out everywhere.

Ah! if we had the eyes of angels with which to see Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is here present on this altar, and who is looking at us, how we should love Him! We should never more wish to part from Him. We should wish to remain always at His feet; it would be a foretaste of Heaven: all else would become insipid to us. But see, it is faith we want. We are poor blind people; we have a mist before our eyes. Faith alone can dispel this mist. Presently, my children, when I shall hold Our Lord in my hands, when the good God blesses you, ask Him then to open the eyes of your heart; say to Him like the blind man of Jericho, "O Lord, make me to see!" If you say to Him sincerely, "Make me to see!" you will certainly obtain what you desire, because He wishes nothing but your happiness. He has His hands full of graces, seeking to whom to distribute them; Alas! and no one will have them. . . . Oh, indifference! Oh, ingratitude! My children, we are most unhappy that we do not understand these things! We shall understand them well one day; but it will then be too late!

Our Lord is there as a Victim; and a prayer that is very pleasing to God is to ask the Blessed Virgin to offer to the Eternal Father her Divine Son, all bleeding, all torn, for the conversion of sinners; it is the best prayer we can make, since, indeed, all prayers are made in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ. We must also thank God for all those indulgences that purify us from our sins. . . but we pay no attention to them. We tread upon indulgences, one might say, as we tread upon the sheaves of corn after the harvest. See, there are seven years and seven quarantines for hearing the catechism, three hundred days for reciting the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, the Salve Regina, the Angelus. In short, the good God multiplies His graces upon us; and how sorry we shall be at the end of our lives that we did not profit by them!

When we are before the Blessed Sacrament, instead of looking about, let us shut our eyes and our mouth; let us open our heart: our good God will open His; we shall go to Him, He will come to us, the one to ask, the other to receive; it will be like a breath from one to the other. What sweetness do we not find in forgetting ourselves in order to seek God! The saints lost sight of themselves that they might see nothing but God, and labor for Him alone; they forgot all created objects in order to find Him alone. This is the way to reach Heaven.

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Words of Inspiration: September 9, 2006

Archbishop Fulton Sheen:

“What has happened to that double side of sympathy which is the basis of the Christian philosophy of life; ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep?’ It has been said that the wounded deer sheds tears, but it belongs to man to weep with those who weep and by sympathy to divide another’s sorrows and double another’s joy.”

Blessed Mother Teresa:

"Surely if God feeds the young ravens which cry to Him, if He nourishes the birds which neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, if He vests the flowers of the field so beautifully, how much more will He care for men whom He has made in His own image and likeness and adopted as His children, if we only act as such."

St. Padre Pio:

"This heart of mine is Yours… my Jesus, so take this heart of mine, fill it with Your love and then order me to do whatever You wish."

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Pope Benedict XVI to Visit Bavaria

The white and gold flag of the Vatican is everyone in Bavaria, Germany, as Pope Benedict XVI starts a 6 day-trip to his native homeland in Bavaria, Germany. Even the Catedral of Our Lady in Munich (photo above) is decorated with the Vatican's flag. About 7.2 million Catholics live in the state of Bavaria - a quarter of all of the Catholics in Germany.

Very shortly Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in Germany. I hope to blog extensively on the trip. During the course of the Holy Father's trip, he will visit "Munich, the city of which he was archbishop from 1977 to 1982; the Altoetting Shrine, symbol of Bavarian Catholicism; Marktl am Inn, his birthplace; and Regensburg, where he was professor, where his brother lives, and where members of his family are buried" (Source: Zenit).

The Holy Father said the purpose of his visit is "... precisely because I want to see again the places where I grew up, the people who touched and shaped my life. I want to thank these people...Naturally I also want to express a message that goes beyond my country, just as my ministry calls me to do. The basic theme is that we have to rediscover God, not just any God, but the God that has a human face, because when we see Jesus Christ we see God."

The Holy Father's schedule (source):
September 9 & 10:

• Land in Munich's Franz Joseph Strauss airport; welcome ceremony
• Visit the Column of the Virgin in Munich's Marienplatz
• Meet the German President Horst Koehler, Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Minister-President Edmund Stoiber of Bavaria.
• Celebrate Mass

September 11:

• Travel to the Marian shrine of Altotting by helicopter where he will celebrate the Eucharist
• Visit and inauguration of the Chapel of the Miraculous Image in Altotting
• Participate in Marian vespers with religious and seminarians of Bavaria in the basilica of St. Ann
• Visit his birthplace of Marktl am Inn and the parish church of St. Oswald
• Tour the major seminary of St. Wolfgang in Rosenburg

September 12:

• Celebrate Mass on Regensburg's Islinger Field
• Meet with representatives from the world of science in the Great Hall of the University of Regensburg
• Attend an ecumenical celebration of Vespers in the city's cathedral

September 13:

• Bless the new organ of Regensburg's Alte Kapelle - where his brother was previously the director
• Visit his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, and visit the cemetery where his parents and sister are buried

September 14:

• Visit Freising to meet with priests and permanent deacons of Bavaria in the cathedral of Sts. Mary and Corbinian
• Leave Germany for Rome

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Hola, Amigos!

I'm still here!

And classes are extremely hard. While my history, philosophy, and calculus classes are going extremely well, I am not doing as well as I wanted in either English or my science course for this semester. Because of the huge amount of work this semester, I have not been able to post very much. Plus, with working part time, I have had even less time to post on my blog.

Anyway, thank you all for keep reading my blog. Just to let everyone know, I am still praying the Liturgy of the Hours daily, and I love it. I also will be starting the formal application process of applying to my diocese at the end of this month. Prayers for all of these things would be so graciously appreciated.

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New Traditional Institute Created by the Vatican!

Today, the 8th of September, the Vatican created a religious institute of pontifical right (The Institute "Good Shepherd"), to accommodate 5 priests who had been expelled from the SSPX (such as Fr. Laguérie) and a few seminarians.

Of more general importance, is that, according to the piece, the Holy Father wishes to establish that the Traditional Missal is not a separate missal, but as a mere variation of the Roman Rite.

This is so exciting for me! I will definitely keep an eye on this since I am a so strongly connected to the Tridentine Rite. I love the Tridentine Latin Mass!

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"Catechism on the Priesthood" by St. John Vianney

Since, I hope to become a priest, this Catechism by St. John Vianney is really important to me:

My children, we have come to the Sacrament of Orders. It is a Sacrament which seems to relate to no one among you, and which yet relates to everyone. This Sacrament raises man up to God. What is a priest! A man who holds the place of God -- a man who is invested with all the powers of God. "Go, " said Our Lord to the priest; "as My Father sent Me, I send you. All power has been given Me in Heaven and on earth. Go then, teach all nations. . . . He who listens to you, listens to Me; he who despises you despises Me. " When the priest remits sins, he does not say, "God pardons you"; he says, "I absolve you. " At the Consecration, he does not say, "This is the Body of Our Lord;" he says, "This is My Body. "

Saint Bernard tells us that everything has come to us through Mary; and we may also say that everything has come to us through the priest; yes, all happiness, all graces, all heavenly gifts. If we had not the Sacrament of Orders, we should not have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that tabernacle? It was the priest. Who was it that received your soul, on its entrance into life? The priest. Who nourishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, by washing that soul, for the last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest -- always the priest. And if that soul comes to the point of death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmness and peace? Again the priest. You cannot recall one single blessing from God without finding, side by side with this recollection, the image of the priest.

Go to confession to the Blessed Virgin, or to an angel; will they absolve you? No. Will they give you the Body and Blood of Our Lord? No. The Holy Virgin cannot make her Divine Son descend into the Host. You might have two hundred angels there, but they could not absolve you. A priest, however simple he may be, can do it; he can say to you, "Go in peace; I pardon you. " Oh, how great is a priest! The priest will not understand the greatness of his office till he is in Heaven. If he understood it on earth, he would die, not of fear, but of love. The other benefits of God would be of no avail to us without the priest. What would be the use of a house full of gold, if you had nobody to open you the door! The priest has the key of the heavenly treasures; it is he who opens the door; he is the steward of the good God, the distributor of His wealth. Without the priest, the Death and Passion of Our Lord would be of no avail. Look at the heathens: what has it availed them that Our Lord has died? Alas! they can have no share in the blessings of Redemption, while they have no priests to apply His Blood to their souls!

The priest is not a priest for himself; he does not give himself absolution; he does not administer the Sacraments to himself. He is not for himself, he is for you. After God, the priest is everything. Leave a parish twenty years without priests; they will worship beasts. If the missionary Father and I were to go away, you would say, "What can we do in this church? there is no Mass; Our Lord is no longer there: we may as well pray at home. " When people wish to destroy religion, they begin by attacking the priest, because where there is no longer any priest there is no sacrifice, and where there is no longer any sacrifice there is no religion.

When the bell calls you to church, if you were asked, "Where are you going?" you might answer, "I am going to feed my soul. " If someone were to ask you, pointing to the tabernacle, "What is that golden door?" "That is our storehouse, where the true Food of our souls is kept. " "Who has the key? Who lays in the provisions? Who makes ready the feast, and who serves the table?" "The priest. " "And what is the Food?" "The precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. " O God! O God! how Thou hast loved us! See the power of the priest; out of a piece of bread the word of a priest makes a God. It is more than creating the world. . . . Someone said, "Does Saint Philomena, then, obey the Cure of Ars?" Indeed, she may well obey him, since God obeys him.

If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. The latter is the friend of God; but the priest holds His place. Saint Teresa kissed the ground where a priest had passed. When you see a priest, you should say, "There is he who made me a child of God, and opened Heaven to me by holy Baptism; he who purified me after I had sinned; who gives nourishment to my soul. " At the sight of a church tower, you may say, "What is there in that place?" "The Body of Our Lord. " "Why is He there?" "Because a priest has been there, and has said holy Mass. "

What joy did the Apostles feel after the Resurrection of Our Lord, at seeing the Master whom they had loved so much! The priest must feel the same joy, at seeing Our Lord whom he holds in his hands. Great value is attached to objects which have been laid in the drinking cup of the Blessed Virgin and of the Child Jesus, at Loretto. But the fingers of the priest, that have touched the adorable Flesh of Jesus Christ, that have been plunged into the chalice which contained His Blood, into the pyx where His Body has lain, are they not still more precious? The priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.

When you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901 - 1925) was born on April 6, 1901, into a wealthy family- his mother was the painter Adelaide Ametis and his father was an agnostic, the founder of the liberal newspaper "La Stampa". His father later became Italian ambassador to Germany. Blessed Frassati was an excellent athlete, average student, and a pious youth. He was tutored at home by his sister, Luciana, and he later studied minerology after graduating high school. He worked with Catholic groups like Apostleship of Prayer and the Company of the Most Blessed Sacrament. These groups ministered to the poor and promoted Eucharistic adoration along with Marian devotion and chastity. He also worked with political groups opposed to Facisim that took care of the poor like Young Catholic Workers Congress.

In 1922 he became a Dominican tertiary and took the name Girolamo. Blessed Frassati spent his fortune on the poor and cared for the sick. And in his work, he contracted polio that would kill him on July 4, 1925. His body was found incorruptible in 1981.

On May 20, 1990, Pope John Paul II beatified him.


Here is the prayer for canonization:


"O merciful God, Who through the perils of the world deigned to preserve by Thy grace Thy servant Pier Giorgio Frassati pure of heart and ardent of charity, listen, we ask Thee, to our prayers, and, if it is in Thy designs that he be glorified by the Church, show us Thy will, granting us the graces we ask of Thee through his intercession, by the merits of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

(Imprimatur: Maurillo, Archbishop of Turin, 1932)

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The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God, proclaimed joy to the whole world; for from Thee arose the sun of righteousness, Christ our God; who released us from the curse, and gave us blessing; and confounding death, He granted us eternal life.

Feast (1969 Calendar): September 8
Double of the II Class (1955 Calendar): September 8

While the day before the Nativity of our Lady is not a fasting day (and neither is it a vigil), we can nevertheless keep September 7th as a day to prepare for Marymas by praying the 9 Hail Mary's Devotion.

September 8th is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where we recall her birth and the beginning of her work in the accomplishment of the divine plan for our salvation. This feast dates back to c. 750 AD. It was granted an Octave by Pope Innocent IV in 1243. In 1913, with the Divino Aflatu reforms, the Octave was downgraded to a simple octave and the Octave Day itself, September 15th, was replaced by the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Let us celebrate today as a day of joy in honoring the birthday of our Blessed Mother! Today was previously a Holy Day of Obligation as listed in Universa Per Orbem by Pope Urban VIII in 1642, though it has not been one for centuries.

From a Sermon of St. Augustine of Hippo:

The hoped-for day of the blessed and venerable Mary ever a Virgin has now come; therefore let our earth rejoice with great gladness, illuminated by the birth of so great a Virgin. For she is the flower of the field from which came forth the priceless lily of the valley; by her child-bearing the nature inherited from our first parents is changed, their fault wiped out. In her that sentence passed on Eve was remitted which said, "In sorrow shall you bring forth children," for Mary brought forth the Lord in joy.

Eve sorrowed, but Mary exulted; Eve carried weeping in her womb, but Mary carried joy, for Eve brought forth a sinner, but Mary innocence itself. The mother of our race brought punishment into the world, but the Mother of our Lord brought salvation into the world. Eve was the source of sin, Mary the source of merit. Eve by killing was a hindrance, Mary by giving life was a help. Eve wounded, Mary healed. Obedience takes the place of disobedience, faith makes up for faithlessness.

Mary may now play on her instruments, the Mother strike the cymbals with swift fingers. The joyful choruses may sound out and songs alternate with sweet harmonies. Hear, then, how she sings, she who leads our chorus. For she say, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid; for, behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; because He who is mighty has done great things for me." And so the miraculous new birth takes away the cause of our increasing burden of sin, and Mary's song puts an end to the weeping of Eve.

A Brief History of the Miraculous Image of Maria Santissima Bambina 

The Miraculous Image of Maria Bambina was made before 1730 by a Franciscan nun, who afterwards entrusted the image to others, so that during the ensuing years she eventually came into the care of the Sisters of Charity at Lovere, Italy. In 1866 these Sisters of Charity were requested to take over the management of the Hospital of Ciceri in Milan. In 1876 the waxen image was carried to their Mother House at Via Santa Sofia 13, where the Bambina has remained ever since. Throughout this period, the statue was exposed for veneration only on the 8th of September, the Feast of Mary's Nativity, but in 1884 Maria Bambina manifested her desire to reward those who honored her by their devotion to her Holy Infancy. 

One of the Sisters, Sr. Josephine Woinovich, due to paralysis in her arms and feet, was bedridden and in unbearable pain. On the 8th of September, Our Lady's Nativity, she begged Mother Superior to bring Maria Bambina and to leave the image near her overnight. The following morning the Mother Superior was inspired to take the image, so old, worn, and grayish colored, to the other sick Sisters in the infirmary so that they could venerate and kiss her. In the infirmary was a fervent Novice, Guila Macario, who was unable to move because of her serious illness, but who, overcome by her ardent faith, took the Maria Bambina into her arms and pleaded with her in tender and loving words for the grace of her recovery, if such was according to God's Holy Will. 

She was instantaneously cured, for such faith and confidence moves mountains! And at the very same time, the miraculous image itself underwent an amazing transformation from its former dull gray color to the warm flesh hues it has today, as can be seen, where she is enshrined in the Sanctuary of the Mother House in Milan. Many graces and miracles are attributed to the beautiful devotion to Maria Bambina, among them the recovery of Sister Josephine Woinovich herself. For this reason, the Sisters of Charity became commonly known as the Suore di Maria Bambina.

Prayer by St. Anselm:

Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin; give me strength against thine enemies, and against the enemy of the whole human race. Give me strength humbly to pray to thee. Give me strength to praise thee in prayer with all my powers, through the merits of thy most sacred nativity, which for the entire Christian world was a birth of joy, the hope and solace of its life. When thou wast born, O most holy Virgin, then was the world made light. Happy is thy stock, holy thy root, and blessed thy fruit, for thou alone as a virgin, filled with the Holy Spirit, didst merit to conceive thy God, as a virgin to bear Thy God, as a virgin to bring Him forth, and after His birth to remain a virgin. Have mercy therefore upon me a sinner, and give me aid, O Lady, so that just as thy nativity, glorious from the seed of Abraham, sprung from the tribe of Juda, illustrious from the stock of David, didst announce joy to the entire world, so may it fill me with true joy and cleanse me from every sin. Pray for me, O Virgin most prudent, that the gladsome joys of thy most helpful nativity may put a cloak over all my sins. O holy Mother of God, flowering as the lily, pray to thy sweet Son for me, a wretched sinner. Amen.

Prayer:

Bestow upon Thy servants, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the gift of Thy heavenly grace: that as the childbearing of the Blessed Virgin was the beginning of our salvation, so the solemn feast of her Nativity may bring us an increase of peace. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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