Stational Church: Saturday in the First Week of Lent

Image Source: St. Peter's Basilica in March 2016 (c) A Catholic Life Blog

Today's Stational Church is at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.  For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent. Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

In the past, people used to prepare with prayer and fasting throughout the night before coming to this Station, which takes place in the major church of Christendom, at the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles.

It was at this Station that the Pope consecrated priests, joining to the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that of the Ordination of Priests. The monumentality of the Basilica and the columned square, which embraces the vast crowds like immense arms, is only a framework to the great light, which from here radiates to all the world.

St. Peter, rock of the Church, bearer of the keys of God's Kingdom, great priest of Jesus Christ, holy shepherd of His flock, bless those who are called to be fishers of men.

Let us pray: Direct our actions, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by Thy inspiration and further them with Thy continual help; that every prayer of ours may begin always from Thee and through Thee likewise be ended. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.

Dom Gueranger remarks on this day's Stational Mass:

The Station is in the basilica of Saint Peter on the Vatican, where the people were wont to assemble towards evening, that they might be present at the Ordination of the priests and sacred ministers. This day was called Twelve-Lesson-Saturday, because, formerly, twelve passages from the holy Scriptures were read, as upon Holy Saturday. The Mass, during which the Ordinations were given, was celebrated during the night; so that by the time it was over, the Sunday had begun. Later on, the Ordination Mass was said early on the Saturday, as we now have it; but in memory of the ancient practice, the Gospel for Saturday is repeated on the Sunday. The same is observed on the Saturday in the Advent Ember week; because the Ordination Mass of that season was also anticipated.

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Stational Church: Friday in the First Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is at the Church of the Twelve Apostles.  For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent. Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

Today we find ourselves at the Basilica dedicated to the Apostles and in particular to the Saints Philip and James the Minor, whose bodies are enclosed in a precious marble urn located under the main altar in the crypt.

Today, thirty-eight days before Easter, the Church reads to us the account of the cure of a man sick for thirty-eight years. This miracle occurred at the pool of Bethsaida. The merciful Jesus healed body and soul of this friendless sufferer. After the cure, Jesus said to him: "Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee."

This sick man is a picture of the world, especially of the pagan world—a world in a state of utter helplessness, laden with sin, steeped in despair, with no one to help it but Him who is "the expectation of all nations and their Savior." The Church entrusts us today to the Holy Apostles. In their company we will celebrate the healing mysteries. In their presence we will answer the question of the king of Apostles: "Will thou be made whole?" "I will, Lord. Save Thy servant, O my God that trusts in Thee. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer."

Let us pray: Be gracious, O Lord, unto Thy people, and even as thou make them devoted to Thee, so mercifully revive them with Thy kind assistance. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

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Cardinal Biffi: Ecumenism Downplays Christ

This is another article I found on Catholic World News:

Excesses of ecumenism and a tendency to downplay the Cross of Christ reflect the spirit of the Antichrist, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi warned Pope Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia.

In a meditation preached during the Lenten Retreat for Vatican leaders this week, the outspoken Italian cardinal cited the vision of the Russian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev. “The Antichrist presents himself as a pacifist, ecologist, and ecumenist,” he said.

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The Anti-Catholic Military

I was reading Dymphna's Well this morning, and I came upon this article that I found worthy to share:

Father Henry Heffernan has been reinstated as a Catholic chaplain for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) after being removed for refusing to accept the NIH's call for a "generic chaplaincy", in which chaplains of various faith backgrounds would hold services for different denominations.

Heffernan was subject to openly anti-Catholic jokes after the priest insisted that only Catholic clergy can administer Catholic sacraments. NIH supervisors bragged about their determination to oust the priest.

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Death and Humiliation

While visiting Overheard in the Sacristy, I found this to be a profound bit of wisdom worth contemplating during Lent:

"All things, even humiliation and death, help to save us."

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Stational Church: Thursday in the First Week of Lent

Today's Stational Church is at the Church of St. Lawrence in Panisperna.  For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent. Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

This church was built in ancient times under the Emperor Valerian on the site of the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (258). In its harmonious interior, at the end of the nave is a large fresco depicting the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.

We place all our Lenten petitions in the hands of the "standard-bearer of the Roman Church"-St. Lawrence, to whose prayers and martyrdom is attributed the final triumph at Rome of the Cross over paganism—of light over darkness. May the Holy Deacon, whose heart was filled with Eucharistic fervor, accompany us on this Thursday to the reception of "the bread, which is Christ's flesh for our life for that of the whole world."

Let us pray: Mercifully look down, we beseech Thee, O Lord, upon the devotion of Thy people, that they who are mortified in the flesh by abstinence, may be refreshed in mind by the fruit of good works. We ask this Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.

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Lack of Posts

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. I have been very sick, so I have not been able to post very frequently. I have slept most of the day and just logged into blogger to post on the stational churches.

I hope to resume frequent postings either this weekend or next week.

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Prayer Request from Darren

Darren from My Catholic Reflections has asked for prayers for a very serious health problem. Please visit his blog and join in a novena.

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Words of Inspiration: February 28

"I would rather die than miss Communion once, unless obedience says otherwise" (St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi).

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Stational Church: Wednesday in the First Week of Lent

Inside St. Mary Major in 2016 (c) A Catholic Life Blog

Today's Stational Church is at the Basilica of St. Mary Major (formerly called the Basilica of Our Lady of the Snows). For information on this devotion, see the Stational Churches of Lent Homepage.

The Importance:

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.

Source: The Church's Year of Grace by Pius Parsch

Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:

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.

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