Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

June 23 is the Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist since June 24th is the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the last of the prophets. Along with solely the sinless Blessed Virgin Mary and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church remembers the birth of St. John the Baptist. Together, the Church only liturgically celebrates these three holy births.

From the propers of the Mass for June 23, the Introit occupies a place of importance, expressing comfort and hope:

Fear not, Zachary; thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John; and he shall be great before the Lord, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb; and many shall rejoice at his birth. V. (Ps. 20: 2) In Thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in Thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly. v. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Fear not, Zachary...

From a sermon given on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine proclaims, "When John was preaching the Lord's coming, he was asked, 'Who are you?' And he replied: 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.' The voice is John, but the Lord 'in the beginning was the Word.' John was a voice that lasted only for a time; Christ, the Word in the beginning, is eternal."

As we prepare for the Nativity of St. John, which used to be a holy day of obligation, we focus on the Scriptures and the Traditions of the Church. The Gradual Prayer from the Vigil Mass' propers is taken from John 1:6-7, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to bear witness to the light, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people".

As we seek to pray daily with the Church's liturgical prayers, we now turn to the exemplar figure of the last of the prophets of whom Jesus said, "Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is the lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11). An interesting fact is that our musical scale (do, re, mi) took its names from the tones of the Vesper Hymn for St. John.

The Catholic Gentlemen

I will be celebrating the great festival of the Nativity of St. John by having a traditional Bonfire, during which old, worn-out sacramentals are reverently burned. Describing this ancient custom, Fish Eaters writes:

The temporal focal point of the festivities, though, is the building of fires outdoors in which to burn worn out sacramentals and to serve as a symbol of the one Christ Himself called "a burning and shining light" (John 5:35). These fires used to be huge, communal bonfires, and this still occurs in parts of Europe, but smaller, "family-sized" fires will do, too. The fire is built at dusk, with this blessing from the Roman Ritual, and allowed to burn past midnight:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray. Lord God, almighty Father, the light that never fails and the source of all light, sanctify + this new fire, and grant that after the darkness of this life we may come unsullied to Thee Who art light eternal; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.

The fire is sprinkled with holy water; after which the clergy and the people sing the "Ut queant laxis":

O for your spirit, holy John, to chasten
Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen;
So by your children might your deeds of wonder
Meetly be chanted.

Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending,
Bears to your father promise of your greatness;
How he shall name you, what your future story,
Duly revealing.

Scarcely believing message so transcendent,
Him for a season power of speech forsaketh,
Till, at your wondrous birth, again returneth,
Voice to the voiceless.

You, in your mother's womb all darkly cradled,
Knew your great Monarch, biding in His chamber,
Whence the two parents, through their offspring's merits,
Mysteries uttered.

Praise to the Father, to the Son begotten,
And to the Spirit, equal power possessing,
One God Whose glory, through the lapse of ages,
Ever resounding.

P: There was a man sent from God.
All Whose name was John.

Let us pray. God, Who by reason of the birth of blessed John have made this day praiseworthy, give Thy people the grace of spiritual joy, and keep the hearts of Thy faithful fixed on the way that leads to everlasting salvation; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.

...

After the blessing, a decade of the Rosary is prayed while walking sunwise -- clockwise, not widdershins -- around the fire, the old Sacramentals are reverently burned, and then the party begins. In most places, brave souls leap over the flames of the bonfire -- an act which is given different meanings in different places, with most saying it is an act to bring blessings.

If you're in a farming family, it is customary to carry torches lit from this fire through your fields to bless them. Whether you're a farmer or not, tend the fire as late as you can go (at least until after midnight) and have fun. If you have a fireplace, light a fire in it with flames from the bonfire to bless your home. Note that it is customary, too, to save some of the ashes from this fire to mix with water to bless the sick.

It is my hope that many of my readers will take part in similar celebrations on the night of June 23, as we begin to celebrate the birth of holy St. John. Christ Himself is truly the "burning and shining light" (John 5:35), which knows no darkness. And St. John the Baptist was his herald. Let us pray with joy on June 24, the Collect from his feastday: " O God, Who hast made this day honorable to us on account of the birth of blessed John, grant Thy people the grace of spiritual joys, and direct the minds of all the faithful in the way of everlasting salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God... Forever and ever. Amen"

Fasting on the Vigil of St. John the Baptist

Days of Fasting and Abstinence (like Holy Days of Obligation) varied from country to country and even within the countries. As such, some colonies that would form the United States kept it while others did not.

The South East Colonies (in modern-day Florida and Louisiana) kept the Vigil of the Nativity of John the Baptist as a fasting day. Fast days were, by definition, days of abstinence as well. The Western Colonies (in modern-day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California) were included in the ecclesiastical province of Mexico. Their feasts and fasts were regulated by the Third Council of Mexico (1585). Per those rules, the Vigil of St. John the Baptist was a day of fasting and abstinence.

After America's foundation and as new territories were added, the territories generally kept the laws formerly in place. There was no uniformity in America from 1776 until 1885. Uniformity was established by the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1885. By this time, the Vigil (June 23) ceased being a fast day anywhere in America. And the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) ceased being a Holy Day of Obligation anywhere in America.

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Courage Apostolate

I wanted to share the following email that I received from a blogger, who is a member of Courage. Courage is an apostolate of the Roman Catholic Church, which ministers to those with same-sex attractions and their loved ones.

I find your blog very interesting and educational and I admire your zeal for Orthodox Catholicism. I share the same view with you. Your obedience to your superiors is definitely praiseworthy. I pray that you remain faithful to your vocation. By the way, I am a member of Courage, the Roman Catholic Church's apostolate for people struggling with same-sex attraction. You can visit www.couragerc.net for more details. You can add it to your long list of links too. I will also link you to my blog. Hope you can link mine too. My blog is about my struggles to live a chaste life despite my condition. I read with great interest your article about people with deep-seated homosexual tendencies desiring to enter the religious life. In our group, we have ex-seminarians who are struggling with same sex attraction and I know a person in our group who is also contemplating of entering the priesthood. What can you say about that personally? How can you tell that person without offending his sensibilities that maybe, just maybe, a religious life is not the right vocation for him. Im very much aware about the Holy Father's instructions on those candidates for priesthood with homosexual tendencies. I hope you can counsel me on this. God bless you brother.


Going Straight
http://gayguygoingstraight.blogspot.com

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Patriarch Alexy II: Unacceptable to Bless Homosexual Unions

Moscow, June 19, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia considers church blessing of homosexual unions unacceptable though it becomes wide spread among Protestant communities in the West.

"Blessing of the marriage urges God to bless childbearing and giving birth," Alexy II said at his meeting with general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance Neville Callam in St. Daniel's monastery in Moscow.

"We have every reason to think that the majority of Baptists share our concerns for today's state of Christian communities in the world and together we can oppose these destructive tendencies," the patriarch said.

The Baptist World Alliance's general secretary believes "militant secularism has become the highest and the strongest challenge" Christians face today.

"We, Baptists, also oppose this cancer of secularization and we seek to spread the good news of Jesus Christ like you do," Callam said. He hopes that friendly relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Baptists will develop and it will let both parties "denounce the monster of secularism."

The patriarch reminded that the resolution of the last joint seminar of the Moscow Patriarchate and Russian Baptists held in 2006 "expressed deep concerns with alarming tendencies in some Protestant communities which revise Biblical norms of morality and ordain women." The resolution further stated "the necessity to reach harmonic unity between human rights and moral values."

The Russian Orthodox Church suspended contacts with the Lutheran Church of Sweden as it "not only blessed homosexual "marriages," but even worked out the text for blessing them in the church," Alexy II noted.

The Moscow Patriarchate had to suspend relations with the Episcopal Church of the USA as its leaders ordained an open homosexual.

Source

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Orthodox leader suggests "Dual Unity" for Eastern Catholics

Constantinople, Jun. 19, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople has responded favorably to a suggestion by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church for a system of "dual unity" in which Byzantine Catholic churches would be in full communion with both Constantinople and Rome.

Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople welcomed the proposal in an interview with the magazine Cyril and Methodius, the RISU news service reports. The acknowledged leader of the Orthodox world suggested that the "dual unity" approach would produce something akin to the situation of the Christian world in the 1st millennium, before the split between Rome and Constantinople.

Cardinal Lubomyr Husar of Kiev, the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church-- the largest of the Eastern Catholic churches-- had offered the possibility that Byzantine Catholics might seek communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, without giving up their communion with the Holy See. Patriarch Bartholomew expressed distinct interest in the idea, saying that "the mother Church in Constantinople holds the doors open for the return of all her former sons and daughters."

Patriarch Bartholomew acknowledged that a restoration of unity would require study, and important differences would have to be overcome. However, he observed that major steps have already been taken to resolve disagreements-- most importantly the revocation of the mutual decrees of excommunication issued by Rome and Constantinople against each other in 1054.

While Catholic and Orthodox theologians continue their efforts to reach agreement on doctrinal questions, Patriarch Bartholomew said, "the people at the grass roots have to come together again." He pointed to the "dual unity" idea as a possible step toward practical unity.

Cardinal Husar, the Ukrainian Catholic leader, has suggested in the past that the Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics of Ukraine should unite under the leadership of a single patriarch. That provocative suggestion is particularly interesting for two reasons.

First, Byzantine Catholics in Ukraine argued for years-- particularly since emerging vigorously from the shadow of Communist repression-- that the Ukrainian Catholic Church should be accorded the status of a patriarchate. Both the late Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have expressed some sympathy for that suggestion. The Byzantine-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church is substantially larger than other Catholic churches that are recognized as patriarchates, including the Maronite, Melkite, Chaldean, Syrian, Armenian and Coptic Catholic churches. However, Kiev is not a historical patriarchal see like Antioch or Alexandria. And the recognition of a Ukrainian Catholic patriarchate would be sure to provoke outrage from the Russian Orthodox Church, which has complained frequently and bitterly about the activities of Byzantine Catholics in Ukraine.

Second, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine is badly split, with three different groups competing for recognition as leaders of the Byzantine faithful. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Kiev Patriarchate is led by Patriarch Filaret, who was once acknowledged by Moscow but broke with the Russian Orthodox Church after Ukraine gained political independence. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church- Moscow Patriarchate retains ties to Russian Orthodoxy. The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, smaller than the other two, has frequently sided with the Kiev patriarchate in efforts to form a single, unified Orthodox Church in Ukraine, independent from Moscow.

Source: Catholic World News

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Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer: Uruguay in Dire Need of HLI Family's Help

As I write you today, the situation in Uruguay is extremely perilous!

The agents of death are intentionally sacrificing the women and unborn of Uruguay in order to establish an abortion beachhead in Latin America.

A loophole in Uruguay’s laws allows for “abortion counseling” in public hospitals. Acting as “counselors” abortion advocates tell vulnerable women that they’d be better off killing their babies ... and that abortion is a “reproductive right.” Official statistics reveal that 90% of Uruguayan women “counseled” in this way choose to have an abortion. And once they do, medical personnel tell them how to obtain the drug Misoprostol in pharmacies or on the black market ... and how to use it at home in order to abort their babies.

As you know, however, taking Misoprostol alone does not always result in an abortion. It’s only half of the RU-486 regimen. And the callous individuals in Uruguay who are telling women to take Misoprostol know this!

Not surprisingly, then, 56% of the mothers who begin these Misoprostol abortions come back to the hospitals hemorrhaging and needing a dilation and curettage (D&C) to finish the abortion.

This is precisely what the heralds of the culture of death want to happen. They are literally creating the “unsafe abortion” crisis that they plan on using to launch a new call for legalized abortion-on-demand in Uruguay. And if a few thousand unsuspecting women die in the process, so be it.

Even as you read this, our HLI pro-life missionaries are working round the clock to expose this treachery.

But they desperately need your help in order to succeed.

We can make a big difference for them ... and at relatively little cost. For example:

* $10,000 will enable HLI to sponsor a conference that would instruct pro-life activists on what’s going on, organize them into a cohesive force, and show them how to mobilize the people to demand that government officials restore Uruguay’s lifelong pro-life and pro-family laws.

* $14,000 will allow HLI to provide materials – films, publications and preborn baby models – to pro-life high school teachers in every school in the country, which they can use to refute the abortion propaganda now rampant in Uruguayan schools and instill in young people respect for innocent human life.

* $5,000 will allow HLI to publish brochures, pamphlets and other publications to HLI’s pro-life missionaries who are on the ground and ready to distribute these materials all across the country.

We need to act now to help spread the truth about what the culture of death has in store for the women and babies of Uruguay.

Click here to send an emergency contribution that HLI will use to help the people of Uruguay cast out the abortion demon. Time is of the essence.

Catholics for a Free Choice and other liberal pro-abortion groups have targeted this small Latin America nation to become the abortion base of operations from which they will spread out and impose their anti-life agenda throughout all of Latin America. Years of anti-life propaganda has already reduced the country’s fertility rate to below replacement levels. And earlier this year, the agents of death put on an international abortion conference in Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo. Conference leaders had the gall to promote the use of Misoprostol as a way to end “unsafe abortions” ... all the while knowing that this “abortion cocktail” would in fact lead to the deaths of many women and create the very crisis they proclaim to the world they are trying to prevent!

Right now, only a few brave pro-lifers – led by HLI’s pro-life missionaries – stand in the way of these “murderers” and “liars.”

This is your chance to help rescue an entire country – and quite possibly an entire continent! – before it becomes the next victim of the culture of death!

Click here to send HLI the largest gift you can give today.

And please join me in invoking the heavenly aid of Uruguay’s Guardian Angel. Lift your heart to God and say the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. Do this right now:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend the people of Uruguay in battle! Be their protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil! By the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about Uruguay seeking the ruin of souls!

May God bless you!

Sincerely Yours in Christ,

Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International

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Russian Orthodox Reject Interconfessional Worship

Portal-credo.ru, 12 May 2008

Once again it has been asserted in the Russian Orthodox church of the Moscow patriarchate that they do not consider it possible for Orthodox persons to perform divine services jointly with representatives of other Christian confessions.

"We wish to affirm once again our intention to refrain from participation in joint worship with persons of other confessions," a worker in the Secretariat for Inter-Christian Relations of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow patriarchate, the priest Alexander Vasiutin, told the "Interfax-Religion" portal.

He said that this matter has acquired new pertinence in the process of preparing for the XIII General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches which is scheduled for July 2009 in Lyons (France).

The news agency's interlocutor, who also is a member of the assembly's organizing committee, noted that "the position of the Russian Orthodox church, unfortunately, does not always meet with understanding among representatives of other local Orthodox churches."

As an example, Fr Alexander told how at a recent session of the organizing committee Metropolitan of Gaul Emmanuel (Constantinople patriarchate) responded to the suggestion of refraining from performing interconfessional worship at the assembly by saying that "the position of representatives of the Moscow patriarchate on this matter reminds one of the behavior of a man who has a wife but doesn't sleep with her."

In addition, the representative of Constantinople posed the question, "why do representatives of the Moscow patriarchate always refuse to participate in joint worship with non-Orthodox, while Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and all-Rus participated in joint worship with Catholic clergy in the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris when he was there?"

"There is no need to repeat the information disseminated by many church and secular news media that in reality an Orthodox prayer service was conducted in the Paris Notre Dame cathedral at which representatives of the Roman Catholic church were merely present, including Archbishop of Paris André Vingt-Trois. But one cannot speak of any joint service or worship in this case," Fr Alexander stressed. (tr. by PDS, posted 6 June 2008)

Source: Russia Religion News

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Requiem Mass for Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, Andrew Bertie

The New Liturgical Movement has several excellent photographs (including the above image) from the Requiem Mass offered for the repose of the soul of the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, Andrew Bertie.

His full title was His Most Eminent Highness Fra Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ. He was the fourth cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Image Source: Via, New Liturgical Movement

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Spanish Cardinal urges Parents to Resist Government Indoctrination

Toledo, Jun. 13, 2008 (CWNews.com) - A Spanish cardinal has called upon Catholic parents to "use all legitimate means in your power to defend your right to determine the moral education of your children." Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera spoke out in response to the obligatory "Education for Citizenship" classes that will be introduced in some Spanish public schools in the next academic year. He warned that the courses offer "a moral formation that is not determined by parents" and sometimes contradicts the moral teachings of the Church. In a pastoral letter issued for the close of this academic year, Cardinal Cañizares argued that "public authority cannot impose any certain moral code on all people, whether it be supposedly a majority choice, or Catholic, or any other kind." That authority is reserved for parents, he insisted. Addressing himself specifically to administrators of Catholic schools, the cardinal said that they should not accept the "Education for Citizenship" curriculum because it "would go against your mission." Even public schools should not promote the course, he continued, because it would violate "the ideological neutrality they should have." Cardinal Cañizares strongly encouraged citizens to use every means to stop the imposition of the moral-education program, assuring them that "there is still time remaining to change the course of events." Political activism is amply warranted in this case, he added, because parents "are not asking for anything more than they should have." Source: Catholic World News

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Archbishop Capalla on Mass Dress Code

MANILA, Philippines - A Catholic bishop on Wednesday said that "freedom of expression" should not be used as an excuse for some churchgoers who continue to ignore a "dress code" inside the church.

Davao archbishop Fernando Capalla said it is foolish to invoke personal freedom in the choice of dress for liturgical functions.

"We have to admit that, while living in society, our personal freedom is limited by the rights of others. And if we want to live in peace and harmony with others we have to observe certain proprieties of behavior," he said in a statement on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website.

Capalla said the dress code is a sign of propriety and reminded all Catholics in the archdiocese that liturgical functions require decent and simple attire.

According to him, he issued the reminder not because he took offense felt insulted, but he is simply concerned about order and propriety in human relations.

"This applies to both ministers and the faithful and there are liturgical guidelines to this effect," he said.

"I am only supporting what the home, the school, and social and civic institutions are supposed to be doing on this matter," he added.

Capalla said that in the celebration of the Eucharist, which the Church considers a solemn occasion, churchgoers are required to be in their decent attire.

"Everyone should be able to dress up simply and decently even not elegantly for Mass. (But) to come to Mass in short pants or jogging pants would be out of place and can be very improper and unbecoming (behavior). Short pants are for the person's privacy or sporting occasions, so are the jogging pants. Beach wear and working outfits are not for the solemn and sacred celebration like the Mass," he stressed.

"Sunday best has become a common expression of people who know the value of the Sunday celebration and so those who pride themselves on self-respect choose the best for the Lord. I am not very sure now whether that passage in the Gospel where an invited guest was thrown out because he was not dressed properly, is applicable here. It seems it is," he added. - GMANews.TV

Source

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Beatification soon for 250 Spanish Civil War Martyrs

Valencia, Jun. 12, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The Spanish financial newspaper La Gaceta de los Negocios reports that the Vatican has given the green light to the beatification of 250 Spaniards martyred in Valencia during Spain's Civil War. The Vatican has not issued any formal announcement. 

Valencia's Cardinal Agustin Garcia-Gasco opened the cause in 2004 for 183 priests, 10 religious, and 57 laymen, including a woman who was 9 months pregnant, who was asked her captors to let her give birth to her child so that she could baptize him but sadly her request was denied. In 2001, John Paul II beatified 226 other Valencian martyrs of the Spanish Civil War. 

 Source: Catholic World News

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