Stational Church: April 6, 2006

Today's Stational Church is the Church of St. Apollinaris

There are actually two stational churches indicated for today. The first Lenten Station was established by Pope Gregory II (715-731) in the Church of St. Apollinaris and the second established by Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) with apostolic privilege in the Church of St. Mary the New in the Roman Forum as a closing for a Holy Year of Redemption.

A week from today we shall begin the Pascal Mysteries. The truer the sorrow for our sins and the greater the realization of the need of God's grace, the more fruitful will be the efficacy of these Pascal Mysteries.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the dignity of human nature wounded by excess, may be reformed by the practice of self-denial. Through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.

Source: St. John Cantius Parish

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Prayer Before a Crucifix

O good and dearest Jesus, I kneel before your face. With all my heart I ask you to place in my heart more faith, hope and charity. Give me a true sorrow for my sins and a strong will to do better With great sorrow and grief I look upon your five wounds and think about them. Before my eyes are the words that the prophet David said of you, O good Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and feet They have numbered all my bones."

Prayer Source: Holy Lent by Eileen O'Callaghan, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1975

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A Science v. Religion Joke

I opened up my email this afternoon and found this quite amusing joke.

God is sitting in heaven when a scientist prays to Him, "God, we don't need you anymore.

Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the "beginning."!

"Oh, is that so? Tell me..." replies God. "Well," says the scientist, "We can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man. "God answered; "Well, that's interesting...show Me." So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.

"No, no, no...interrupted God; "Get your own dirt."

"SCORE------God 1 Scientist 0"

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Words of Inspiration: April 6, 2006

Today is Thursday, April 6, 2006. Let's try something new today. As Lent begins to near its end, we will soon remember Christ's death on the cross on Good Friday. Let's begin reflecting on our Lent and, if necessary, begin incorporating extra penance this week. Remember, we don't perform penance to earn salvation, but rather to show God that extra love for Him - who loved us so much that He allowed nails to be driven into His Hands and feet. He allowed a crown of thorns to pierce His Precious Head, and He allowed himself to be beaten with a rod. He allowed a Cross to burden him and wound his shoulder. Christ allowed himself to have his skin ripped apart in the scourging. He allowed Himself to die. The King of Glory came not to be honored but to die - to be condemned by sinners and to die on a tree. All of this was done out of pure love that we, His executioners, may one day be pardoned.

Today's scripture meditation:

"But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you" (1 Peter 3:15)

I also had to include some words of Blessed Mother Teresa:

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

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The Saint for the Year Devotion Continues

(Moved to the top of my blog)

This is my last reminder about this devotion for this year. If you have not participated yet, I strongly encourage you to do so.

The devotion of having a special patron saint for the year chose you is still ongoing! This isn't built on superstition or the like. Rather, a friend of mine over the Internet has a tin of 1500 saint names. I relay each name/screenname to her that askes for a saint, and she pulls a saint name for each person. The connections for some have fit to the tee and others have had to dive deeper into a relationship with their saint.

Above all, saints are alive in Heaven and continue to intercede for us. This is a part of our faith as stated in the Nicene and Apostle's Creeds. Their intercession is a wonderful part of our faith

If you would like more information please see the original post, and I've just posted more results so please also see my Results Page.

If you'd like a special saint, just ask and it shouldn't be more than a few days. This is a great tradition and if you have not participated yet, it's a great addition to our lenten purpose of getting back to Christ.

Here is a comment below that is from the person that is drawing the saints:

Let me just say that it is NEVER too late to request a patron saint for the year! Believe me, they are just sitting back and waiting for you to request them! For those that are wondering how to build a deeper relationship with their saints, I would recommend "googling" their saint and getting as much information as possible ... for so many, the connections will be obvious and almost frightening! For others, the connections will not seem to be there at all ... but don't fret and don't give up hope! Pray, meditate and talk to your saint and ask them why they chose you. Believe me, you will find out! Probably when you least expect it. Take a good, hard look at your life and compare things in your saint's life with your own. Maybe your saint is telling you something about how you are living your life. Perhaps your saint is a patron saint for some difficulty or cross in your life. Perhaps your saint's feast day is an important day in your life. Maybe your saint bore their cross in a way that will make your cross easier for you. Who knows and who will know better than you? And when you find out ... let us know. God bless and have fun finding out what your heavenly intercessor is all about!

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Stational Church: April 5, 2006

Today's Stational Church is at the Church of St. Marcellus

A patient sufferer, condemned by his enemies to work in a horse-stable, the good shepherd, Pope Marcellus, is our leader today to the King of Martyrs, Christ, our Good Shepherd.Why must a human being suffer, physically, spiritually, or both? This has always been and ever will be, the great problem—indeed a problem and a riddle for the worldly individual, but not for the follower of Christ, who finds the answer at the foot of the Cross.

For the Christ-loving soul, there is no suffering for suffering sake, there is suffering only for Easter sake, with its peace and strength and never fading victory.The mystery of the Cross is the great answer, a solution, which the carnal-minded man will never find. St. Marcellus found it, and having found it, suffered gladly as a true athlete of Christ. "I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou has upheld me and has not made my enemies to rejoice over me."

Let us pray: Sanctify this fast, O God, and mercifully enlightening the hearts of Thy faithful, do Thou hear favorable those to whom Thou grant the grace of devotion. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Source: St. John Cantius Parish

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Words of Inspiration: April 5, 2006

"Anyone is capable of going to Heaven. Heaven is our home. Dying is not the end, it is just the beginning. Death is a continuation of life. This is the meaning of eternal life; it is where our soul goes to God, to be in the presence of God, to see God, to speak to God, to continue loving Him with greater love. We only surrender our body in death - our heart and our soul live forever."

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Breast Cancer Risks from Abortions

The Philippine Foundation for Breast Cancer is now the 8th Medical Association claiming a high risk of breast cancer because of abortion. Not only does abortion murder an innocent child, but it hurts the mother too.

"[W]e acknowledge the abortion and breast cancer link based on the physiologic changes in the breast lobules of a woman who chose to deliberately interrupt her pregnancy (induced abortion) and the risk for breast cancer this will pose to that woman," Dr. Santos wrote.

Source: LifeNews

Prayer written by Fr. Frank Pavone:

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself Never to be silent, Never to be passive, Never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, And never to stop defending life Until all my brothers and sisters are protected, And our nation once again becomes A nation with liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all, Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

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A Passage of Scripture for Lent

This passage of scripture came from last Sunday's Mass readings, but how appropriate they are as we journey closer to Lent. We must remember that we too must follow the Lord - we must serve Him.

But Jesus answered them, saying: The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, 25 Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal. 26 If any man minister to me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall my minister be. If any man minister to me, him will my Father honour. John 12:23-26

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Pope Benedict XVI Continues to Advocate the Pro-Life Message

Last year John Paul ll left this world for the next, but Pope Benedict XVI has continued to preach the truth of the pro-life movement. This not only includes the sinfulness of abortion but also embryonic stem cell research, in-vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, artificial contraception, gay marriage, and euthanasia to name only a few.

Pope Benedict XVI said, "Every human life as such deserves to be always defended
and promoted," Benedict observed. "Life is exalted while it is enjoyable, but there is a tendency to stop respecting it when it is sick or experiences some kind of disability."

An April 2005 Quinnipiac poll found that most American Catholics agreed with John Paul ll's condemnation of abortion. The poll also found that two-thirds of Catholics oppose abortion in all or most cases. Eighty percent said that the pope's position should also remain the same.

Let us pray that two-thirds will become three-thirds one day because abortion is an intrinsic evil, something that is never acceptable in any situation.

I am also pleased to report that abortions have substantially declined in recent years according to LifeNews.

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Lenten Prayer 2

Father, through our observance of Lent, help us to understand the meaning of your Son's death and resurrection, and teach us to reflect it in our lives. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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St. Isidore of Seville

Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): April 4
Double (1955 Calendar): April 4

Today the Church celebrates the feastday of St. Isidore of Seville who lived from (c. 560 - 636) in Spain during a period similar to our own - one of conflict and the promotion of lies. Spain was divided between the Catholic Romans and the Arian Goths. The Goths believed in the heresy of Arianism, which claims that Jesus Christ is not God.

St. Isidore helped unite Spain and defeat the heresy there. He came from a family in Cartagena, which included three other saints. St. Isidore followed his elder brother as bishop of Seville.

Above all, St. Isidore was a scholar. He was called the "The Schoolmaster of the Middle Ages" because the encyclopedia he wrote was used as a textbook for nine centuries! He required seminaries to be built in every diocese. St. Isidore wrote numerous books, one was a history of the world beginning at creation! He helped found numerous schools and even wrote a Rule for a religious order. For the last six months of his life, as he died, his house was filled with the poor and needy. St. Isidore cared for them regardless of his own condition. He has been declared a Doctor of the Church.

St. Isidore has even been proposed as the patron saint for the Internet. So, whenever you have a problem with your blog, remember to ask for his intercession.

The Traditional Reading for St. Isidore from Matins:

Isidore, by birth a Spaniard, was an illustrious Doctor of the Church. He was born at Carthagena, and his father, whose name was Severianus, was governor of that part of the country. He was solidly trained to piety and learning by his two brothers, Leander, bishop of Seville, and Fulgentius, bishop of Carthagena. He was taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; he was put through a course of canon and civil law; and there was no science or virtue in which he did not excel. While yet a youth, he so courageously combated the Arian heresy, which had long before infected the Goths who had entered Spain, that he with difficulty escaped being put to death by the heretics. After the death of Leander, he was, in spite of himself, raised to the episcopal See of Seville, by the influence of king Reccared, and with unanimous consent of both clergy and people. His election was not only confirmed by apostolic authority, but St. Gregory the Great, when sending him as usual the pallium, is said to have appointed him his own vicar, and that of the apostolic See, throughout all Spain. 

It would be impossible to describe the virtues of Isidore as bishop: how firm, humble, patient, and merciful; how zealously he laboured for the restoration of Christian morals and ecclesiastical discipline, and how untiring he was in his efforts, both by word and writing, to establish them among his people; and, finally, how he excelled in every virtue. He was a fervent promoter of the monastic life in Spain, and built several monasteries. He also built colleges, in which he himself applied himself to teaching the sacred sciences to the many disciples that flocked to him; among whom may be mentioned those two glorious pontiffs,Ildephonsus bishop of Toledo, and Braulio bishop of Saragossa. In a Council held at Seville, he spoke with such power and eloquence, that he may be said to have destroyed the heresy of the Acephali, which threatened to undermine the true faith in Spain. So great, indeed, was the universal reputation he had gained for piety and learning, that he had scarcely been dead sixteen years, when, in a Council held at Toledo, and at which fifty-two bishops were present, St. Ildephonsus himself among them, he was called the illustrious doctor, the new glory of the Catholic Church, the most learned man who had been seen in those ages, and one whose name should never be mentioned but with great respect. St. Braulio not only compared him to St. Gregory the Great, but said that he looked on him as having been sent by heaven, as a second St. James the apostle, to instruct the people of Spain. 

Isidore wrote a book on Etymologies, and another on Ecclesiastical Offices, and several others, of such importance to Christian and ecclesiastical discipline, that Pope St. Leo IV. hesitated not to say, in a letter addressed to the bishops of Britain, that one ought to adhere to the words of Isidore with the same respect as is shown to those of Jerome and Augustine, as often as a difficult case should arise, which could not be settled by canon law. Several sentences of his works have been inserted into the body of the canon law. He presided over the fourth Council of Toledo, which is the most celebrated of all those that have been held in Spain. At length, after having driven the Arian heresy out of Spain, he publicly foretold the day of his death, and the devastation of the country by the Saracens; and having governed his See for about forty years, he died at Seville, in the year 636. His body was first buried, as he himself had requested, between those of his brother and sister, Leander and Florentina. Afterwards, Ferdinand I., King of Castille and Leon, purchased it for a large sum of money, from Enetus, the Saracen governor of Seville, and had it translated to Leon. Here a church was built in his honour, and the miracles that are wrought by his intercession have led the people to honour him with great devotion.

Prayer:

O God, Who didst give blessed Isidore to Thy people as a minister of eternal salvation: grant, we beseech Thee, that we, who have had him for our teacher on earth, may deserve to have him for our advocate in heaven. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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The Stational Church: April 4, 2006

Today's Stational Church is at the Church of St. Cyriacus

The Sacred Texts, which like a garland, surround the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Divine Office must not only be understood in their literal and historical sense, but above all in their liturgical one. This is always the case, but especially during Passiontide.

The Divine Head, who nineteen centuries ago underwent the great Passion is now undergoing it in His Body, the Church. An attack on the Church is an attack on Christ. Whenever the Church suffers, her Divine head suffers. But all these sufferings lead to victory. "They have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. The disciple is not greater than the Master." Persecutions and sufferings purify the Church. They remove what is not of God. They cast forth all that comes from Satan—the arch-enemy, and that comes from the fatal act in Paradise—the arch-sin.

May the holy Deacon Cyriacus obtain for us "God's light and truth and conduct us and bring us to His holy hill, to the altar, to Calvary, to Easter, to the immortal Christ at the right-hand of the Father.

Let us pray: O Lord, deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. Send forth Thy Light and Thy Truth. They shall lead me on. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Source: St. John Cantius Parish

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Pope Benedict Calls for Fasting April 3-4, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI has called for us to fast yesterday and today (April 3rd and 4th) for peace throughout the world but especially in Iraq. He specifically called the Iraqi Christians to pray while "entrusting this intention to the intercession of Mary most holy, Queen of Peace."

Let us fast and pray for them today:

O God, Who bringest wars to nought and shieldest by Thy power all who hope in Thee, overthrowing those that assail them: help Thy servants who implore Thy mercy, so that the fierce might of their enermies may be brought low, and we may never cease to praise and thank thee. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal, Votive Mass in Time of War

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Words of Inspiration: April 4, 2006

"Never let anything so fill you with pain or sorrow so as to make you forget the joy of Christ Risen."

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Today's Meditation on the Eucharist

"Who does not see that the hidden life of Nazareth is continued in the divine Host of the tabernacle, and that the Passion of the Man-God on Calvary is renewed in the Holy Sacrifice at every moment of the day and night and all over the world? Is not our Lord as meek and humble in His Sacrament as during His mortal life? Is He not always the Good Shepherd, the divine Consoler, our bosom Friend?"

(St. Peter Julian Eymard)

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Stational Church for April 3, 2006

Today's Stational Church is at the Church of St. Chrysogonus

We are branches of Christ, the Vine. As such, we share in His life, share in His joys, and must share also in His sufferings, and thus—as the Apostle so boldly put it—make up in our own body what is yet wanting in the sufferings of Christ, the Head. This we shall do gladly in these holy Passion days. Our mortifications, our self-discipline, our temptations, our trials from within and from without, all our sufferings, we will unite with Christ's Blessed Passion. They will then be lifted out of their own smallness and will share in the greatness and efficacy of His sufferings. He will suffer in us and we in Him.

We humbly ask St. Chrysogonus, in whose Roman home we observe today's mysteries of redemption, that he would accompany us to "the Lord of Hosts, the King of Glory."

Let us pray: O God, hear my prayer. Give ear to the words of my mouth. Save me, O Lord, by Thy name and in Thy power deliver me. Through Christ, Our Lord.Amen.

Source: St. John Cantius Parish

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John 11:25-26

With Lent approaching I wanted to start posting scripture here relating to Christ's death and our salvation.

Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live:And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever. Believest thou this? John 11:25-26

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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Philippines Update

Update: Keep praying!

In mid-January I posted about a bill in the Philippines (HB 3773) that would create a law similar to China requiring a "two child per family limit." The bill is highly opposed by the majority of the country and the Catholic Church; the Philippines is 87% Catholic.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo just announced that she will veto any legislation approved by lawmakers that would legalize abortion in the Philippines. She called this her "best birthday gift" to Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, the chairman of the Philippines Catholic Bishops Conference.

President Arroyo of the Philippines said that bill "pave[s] the way for the kind of human rights nightmare that is already in China, with its coercive sterilization and contraception practices."

I commend Arroyo, a practicing Catholic, for standing up for the truth - that human life is worthy of dignity. Thanks be to God for this great news.

Visit The Filipino Family Fund for more information and a petition against this dangerous bill

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An Offering of the Precious Blood for Souls

O my God, I beg of Thee, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, through the merits of the Precious Blood offered to Thee in every Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, to grant that, this day, one sinner may be converted, one mortal sin be averted, one soul in doubt be converted to truth, one soul about to die in sin receive the grace of repentance and a happy death, and the deliverance of that soul in Purgatory which is nearest Heaven. I wish, by this offering, to console the Heart of Jesus in Agony for souls lost through the teaching of error against the true Church of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Prayer excerpted from Schouppe, Father F.X., Purgatory: Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints. Rockford: TAN, 1991. "Appendix 3: Prayers for the Poor Souls", pp. 413-427. Imprimatur, Nihil Obstat.

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain

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