REFLECTIONS ON OUR FAITH AND ITS PRACTICES

The Vatican site has a whole section about Lent, and pbulished theis full list of the station churches of Rome and which one is the station of the day. So if anyone will be in Rome between now and Easter time, it's a good thing to check out. It's in Italian but the days of the week and the church names are pretty obvious.

Interesting is that the station church today is the Church of St. Augustine in Campo Marzio, about which we had a story a few days ago about how it has serious structural damage and needs contributions to do first-aid repairs! And that St. Peter's itself - as well as the other major basilicas of Rome - are station churches (often more than once).

I'd love to be able to try and illustrate each station church with a little picture - but just now I need to continue translating the Pope's Q&A with the Roman clergy .

Mercoledì delle Ceneri S. Sabina all'Aventino
Giovedì S. Giorgio al Velabro
Venerdì Ss. Giovanni e Paolo al Celio
Sabato S. Agostino in Campo Marzio
Domenica I di Quar. S. Giovanni in Laterano

Lunedì S. Pietro in Vincoli al Colle Oppio
Martedì S. Anastasia (S. Teodoro) al Palatino
Mercoledì S. Maria Maggiore
Giovedì S. Lorenzo in Panisperna
Venerdì Ss. XII Apostoli al Foro Traiano
Sabato S. Pietro in Vaticano
Domenica II di Quar. S. Maria in Domenica alla Navicella

Lunedì S. Clemente presso il Colosseo
Martedì S. Balbina all'Aventino
Mercoledì S. Cecilia in Trastevere
Giovedì S. Maria in Trastevere
Venerdì S. Vitale in Fovea (via Nazionale)
Sabato Ss. Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano (via Merulana)
Domenica III di Quar. S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura

Lunedì S. Marco al Campidoglio
Martedì S. Pudenziana al Viminale
Mercoledì S. Sisto (SS. Nereo e Achilleo)
Giovedì Ss. Cosma e Damiano in Via Sacra (Fori Imperiali)
Venerdì S. Lorenzo in Lucina
Sabato S. Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano
Domenica IV di Quar. S. Croce in Gerusalemme

Lunedì Ss. Quattro Coronati al Celio
Martedì S. Lorenzo in Damaso
Mercoledì S. Paolo fuori le Mura
Giovedì Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti
Venerdì S. Eusebio all'Esquilino
Sabato S. Nicola in Carcere
Domenica V di Quar. S. Pietro in Vaticano

Lunedì S. Crisogono in Trastevere
Martedì S. Ciriaco (S. Maria in via Lata al Corso)
Mercoledì S. Marcello al Corso
Giovedì S. Apollinare in Campo Marzio
Venerdì S. Stefano al Celio
Sabato S. Giovanni a Porta Latina

SETTIMANA SANTA
Domenica delle Palme S. Giovanni in Laterano
Lunedì S. Prassede all'Esquilino
Martedì S. Prisca all'Aventino
Mercoledì S. Maria Maggiore
Giovedì S. Giovanni in Laterano
Venerdì S. Croce in Gerusalemme
Sabato S. Giovanni in Laterano
Domenica di Pasqua S. Maria Maggiore

PERIODO PASQUALE
Lunedì S. Pietro in Vaticano
Martedì S. Paolo fuori le Mura
Mercoledì S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
Giovedì Ss. XII Apostoli al Foro Traiano
Venerdì S. Maria ad Martyres in Campo Marzio (Pantheon)
Sabato S. Giovanni in Laterano
Domenica II di Pasqua (in Albis) S. Pancrazio

An end note says that the Pontifical Academy on the Cult of Martyrs is preparing a liturgical booklet which, besides a brief background about each church, will also include the prayers said at the station visit, in both Latin and Italian. It's presumably coming out soon because it says the intention is to help the faithful better follow the stational itinerary.

Since this post is on a new page, I will re-post below some facts from a backgrounder on the station churches posted by Benefan in the previous page.

WHAT THE STATION CHURCHES ARE

Following the station church tradition, the faithful make their way to a different church each of the 40 days of Lent for Mass and the singing of the litany of the saints.

The tradition started as early as the third century to honor the martyrs of Rome. Similar to the 15 meditations of the Stations of the Cross, the 40 designated station churches offer time for mediation on the lives of the martyrs and prayers of intercession to these Roman saints.

In the sixth century, the tradition was designated by St. Gregory the Great to be a daily Lenten practice.

When the papacy moved to Avignon the tradition fell into disuse but was revived after the Council of Trent in the 16th century. It became popular again in the 20th century.

Deacon Andrew Keswick, studying for the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia, who attended all the station church Masses last year, said, "Attending the station churches truly enriches Lent beyond the regular sacrifices."

"The rhythm of a different church, a new martyr each day so early in the morning, is a powerful reminder of the purpose of Lent and the Way of the Cross lived by so many in the past," Keswick explained.

Seminarian Nicholas Vaskov, from the Diocese of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, remarked that there is a sense of pilgrimage when visiting all 40 churches, especially for those who walk to them.

"The experience of following the martyrs is very humbling. It makes our sacrifices pale in comparison with their ultimate sacrifice," Vaskov said.

The station churches include the basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore, St. Peter's and St. Paul Outside the Walls, as well as lesser-known churches scattered throughout Rome.

A plenary indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly visit a station church on its stational day, taking part in the morning or evening services conducted on that day, along with the usual conditions for indulgences.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2007 22.16]

Thanks to Curt Jester for reproducing this Reconciliation Guide given out this Lent by the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. It appears the Archdiocese has even developed a website called "The Light is On for You Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation", from which he got the following text:
==============================================================

Stop by any Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of Washington this Lent to experience God's mercy and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). If you haven't been in a while, this handy guide will help you prepare.

Before entering the Confessional or Reconciliation Room:

Begin with prayer, placing yourself in the presence of God, our loving Father. Seek healing and forgiveness through repentance and a resolve to sin no more.

Review your life since your last confession, searching your thoughts, words and actions that did not conform to God's love, to his law or to the laws of the Church. This is called an examination of conscience. Here are some questions to help you. They are based on the 10 Commandments.

Do I pray to God every day? Have I thanked God for His gifts to me?

Did I put my faith in danger through readings hostile to Catholic teachings or involvement in non-Catholic sects?
Did I engage in superstitious practices: palm-reading or fortune-telling?

Did I take the name of God in vain? Did I curse or take a false oath?

Did I miss Mass on Sundays or holy days of obligation through my own fault? Am I attentive at Mass?
Did I keep fast and abstinence on the prescribed days?

Did I disobey my parents and lawful superiors in important matters?

Did I hate or quarrel with anyone, or desire revenge?
Did I refuse to forgive? Was I disrespectful?

Did I get drunk? Did I take illicit drugs?

Did I consent to, recommend, advise or actively take part in an abortion?

Did I willfully look at pornography, entertain impure thoughts or engage in impure conversations?
Did I use artificial means to prevent conception?

Was I unfaithful to my spouse? Did I engage in sexual activity outside of marriage?

Did I steal or damage another's property? Have I been honest and just in my business relations?

Have I been responsive to the needs of the poor and respected the dignity of others?

Did I tell lies? Did I sin by calumny, or detraction, of others? Did I judge others rashly in serious matters?

Have I envied other people?

During the Sacrament:

The priest gives you a blessing or greeting. He may share a brief Scripture passage.

Make the Sign of the Cross and say: “Bless me father, for I have sinned. My last confession was…” (give the number of weeks, months, or years).

Confess all of your sins to the priest. The priest will help you to make a good confession. If you are unsure about how to confess or you feel uneasy, just ask him to help you. Answer his questions without hiding anything out of fear or shame. Nothing that you say to the priest will ever be revealed. Place your trust in God, a merciful Father who wants to forgive you.
Following your confession of sins, say: “I am sorry for these and all of my sins.”

The priest assigns you a penance and offers advice to help you be a better Catholic.

Say an Act of Contrition,* expressing your sorrow for your sins. The priest, acting in the person of Christ, then absolves you from your sins.

After you've left the Confessional or Reconciliation Room:

Complete the penance you received.
*Act of Contrition (please note this is one option):

God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to confess my sins, do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

YVONNE...If you have some time and you have any pictures, maybe you might want to share us something about doing the Via Crucis in Jerusalem along what is believed to be the original Via Crucis. I have the prayer book (prepared by the Franciscans in the Holy Land) that I used in 1997 - which has a colored picture of each of the stations. As I don't take pictures myself [how anachronistic, but then I don't drive, either!], those and what's in the guidebooks are all I have, but I have to scan them.

And for those who may not have done so yet, you may print out Cardinal Ratzinger's 2005 Meditations and Prayers from
www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/documents/ns_lit_doc_20050325_via-crucis...
(Click on the picture to get the full page for each station).

I just watched "The Lost Tomb of Jesus". It was on the Discovery Channel. Sadly, I know that tomorrow I will hear all about it from people I work with... people who will take it VERY seriously. In 1980 a 1st century AD tomb was discovered with 10 "bone boxes". DNA evidence was taken from 2 of the boxes. The DNA was very fragmented and the kind that could only show if the 2 people were siblings. The evidence showed the 2 were not siblings. From this it was concluded that "Jesus son of Joseph" and "Mary" were husband and wife. Further conclusions were made. Mary and Jesus had a son. This son was the unnamed "Beloved Disciple". The "woman" and "son" Jesus spoke to on the cross were his wife and child. Also Jesus had other siblings. Then in a neighboring tomb they found an interesting box and concluded that it held the bones of Peter. After all "there is no archeological evidence in Rome that Peter is buried in the Vatican". I would laugh except like I said I know that there are those people who will believe that garbage.
The "research" was sloppy at best. The conclusions were like adding 2 and 2 and getting 11. But that is just my humble opinion.

[Modificato da NanMN 05/03/2007 5.51]

Thank you for the info, Nan! It sounds even more stupid than I thought it would be. Let's all hope it's a nine-day wonder. Unlike a page-turning novel, I don't think people will rush to the stores to buy a DVD of this crap. Even a high-school biology student who is taught the basics about DNA would split his sides laughing down their claims!...In the back of my mind, I was afraid they were going to say they got some DNA from the Shroud of Turin as their reference DNA for the male, you know! DNA does not prove anything without a reference sample - maybe they could have claimed they had Mary's DNA to link to their 'Jesus' figure! ... And the Apostle John was the son of Jesus? Did they even stop to consider ages??? Jesus would have met Mary of Magdala some time between age 30-33, certainly not earlier - so if he was the son, the Beloved Disciple couldn't have been older than 3 years old at the time of Calvary! Are they insane, these guys????

I would laugh so hard were it not so pathetic that otherwise intelligent adults would so delude themselves [WOW! WE'RE GOING TO BRING DOWN THE WORLD'S MOST WIDESPREAD RELIGION, WE'RE GOING TO DEBUNK CHRIST!!! WE'RE REALLY GOPING TO BE MORE FAMOUS THAN JESUS CHRIST, AS JOHN LENNON ONCE SAID!] as to lose all common sense, and even more pathetIc, that there are a lot of suckers out there just waiting to gobble up the latest weirdo theories.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/03/2007 6.17]

I came across this today, and if I did not already have a high regard for Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, this would have told me two things about him: his heart's in the right place and his mind lives up to it, and two, he's a man after the Pope's heart!

I wonder if there's any other bishop who has bothered to put together basic information like this to clarify to his diocese members what they need to know about the Old Mass and prepare them properly for any move the Pope will evnetually make about it.

Here then, from the website of the Archdiocese of Genoa, dated November 27, 2006:


Clarifications regarding an eventual promulgation of a "Motu proprio" to ease the application of the indult on the use of the Missal called of Saint Pius V
November 27, 2006

1) The Pope, due to his supreme authority, has the power to put in practice universally valid and binding juridical and pastoral acts.

2) The legitimate and fruitful celebration of the Eucharist requires full ecclesial communion, of which ultimately the Supreme Pontiff is the guarantor, who personally received from the Lord Jesus Christ the mission to confirm the brothers in the faith (cfr. Lk. 22, 32; Mt 16, 17-19; Jn 21,15-18); therefore it is indeed the Bishop of Rome who presides, with great mercy and joy, universal charity, never ceasing to seek the unity of those who believe in Christ.

3) The Second Vatican Council did not abolish the Mass of St. Pius V nor asked it to be abolished; rather the Council asked the reform of the order as it clearly appears from reading the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, chapter III, numbers 50-58 (cfr. EV 1/86-106);

4) The amplification of the indult regarding the so called liturgy of St. Pius V, is not equivalent in any way to rejecting the Second Vatican Council or the Magisterium of Popes John XXIII and Paul VI.

5) Pope Paul VI himself - who in 1970 promulgated the Roman Missal, according to the indications of the Second Vatican Council -, personally conceded to Padre Pio of Pietrelcina the Indult to continue to celebrate, publicly as well, Holy Mass according to the rite of St. Pius V, although since Lent 1965 the liturgical reform had been under way.

6) Pope John Paul II had already offered, on October 3, 1984, with the "Quattuor abhinc annos" Congregation of Divine Worship Letter (cfr. EV 9/1034-1035) the possibility to Diocesan Bishops of utilizing an Indult, by which Holy Mass could be celebrated using the Roman Missal according to the 1962 edition, promulgated by Pope John XXIII. Moreover the same Pontiff, with the Motu Proprio: Ecclesia Dei adflicta, (July 2 1988, cfr. EV 11/1197-1205), established,among other things, by force of his apostolic authority: "respect must everywhere be shown for the feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical tradition, by a wide and generous application of the directives already issued some time ago by the Apostolic See, for the use of the Roman Missal according to the typical edition of 1962";

7) In the Church since the IV century, different liturgies or rites are in force that, although answering different traditions and sensibilities, express the same Catholic faith; such variety is a tangible sign of the Catholic Church's vitality.

8) The Council of Trent did not will to unify with an act of authority the rites then existing in the Latin Church; in fact, based on the principle established by the same St. Pius V - who, at the request of the Council, enacted the reform - the churches and religious orders which had for at least two centuries their own rite of venerable tradition, could keep it.

As years passed by, as a matter of fact, the Roman Rite affirmed itself, though not in an exclusive way; the case of the Ambrosian rite is an example of that, spread through some valleys of the Ticino (called "Ambrosian Valleys") and the entire Archdiocese of Milan, though, even there, with exceptions: Monza, Trezzo, Treviglio;

9) Two valid expressions of the same Catholic faith - that of St. Pius V and that of Paul VI - cannot be presented as "expressing opposite views" and, thus, as mutually irreconcilable;

10) In liturgical ambit, the decisions and deeds of Popes - namely John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI - and of Councils - Tridentine and Vatican II - cannot be presented in a conflictual way and, even less, as alternative to one another.


===============================================================
3/13/07

COMMENTS BY CONVERTS ABOUT
FELLOW CONVERTS WHO THEN HAVE
'SECOND THOUGHTS' ABOUT CATHOLICISM


In order not to divert attention from the posts in NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT today about the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, I am parking this post here temporarily. It's from Gerald Augustinus, who begins by quoting Phillip Blosser, a Catholic convert like him:


Pertinacious Papist (aka Philip Blosser) writes about Protestant converts who re-vert to Protestantism after a while.

---

....They are thrilled when they finally come, at least on some level, to apprehend the Catholic vision of the Church and to see and and understand her glory -- "ever ancient, ever new." They love the Church that spans the ages, the Church of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Newman, Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict XVI. .... They love the magnificent beauty of her ancient European cathedrals, her basilicas, her paintings and sculptures, her Gregorian chant and polyphony. They love her theology, which they encounter in the writings of great doctors and theologians of the Church....

But then they join a local Catholic parish ...

The process usually begins with a desert experience called RCIA (Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults) -- a series of meetings and classes in which they are treated more like preschoolers than intelligent adults, spoon fed pathological doses of hand-holding and introspection, and treated to ample quantities of shared feelings. If they survive that, they're welcomed into an Amchurch parish, whose music is Haugen and Haas, whose homilies are psychology tips from Dr. Phil, whose art and architecture is a combination of bog Bauhaus and degenerate Art Deco, and whose members never read traditional Catholic authors but whose discussion groups can't stop talking about Richard Rohr, Thomas Groome, Anthony Tambasco, Sr. Joan Chittister, Andrew Sullivan, and John Dominic Crossan.

It would be easy enough to say their conversion to the Catholic Faith was never authentic, or that their understanding was incomplete. Lord knows there was ample collective agonizing, introspection and speculation over that question when Rod Dreher defected to Eastern Orthodoxy.

....
I worry whether, one day, one of these students who gets fired up and converts to Catholicism will want to take me to court and sue me -- or the Church, for that matter -- for dishonesty in advertising.

---

I can relate to that to some degree - I certainly was shocked when I first saw a band in the sanctuary (not that I go to that anymore), when RCIA was just a lil too touchy feely and a bit short on substance, when I discovered the "progressive" element, and the ultra-reactionary element (which is mostly outside of the Church nowadays though) and so forth.

It's a bit like falling in love and eventually taking off the rose-colored glasses. Then comes the question whether you were really only in love with your own fantasy or whether you can accept reality.

It's certainly naive to expect uniformity and perfection in an organization with a billion members. It's pitiful to leave for some little group where everyone is in lockstep and look down on the big, messy Church (be it some tiny Orthodox congregation or SSPX or whatever) - the peanut gallery has no right to say anything about the Church, frankly. Nobody needs that carping from the sidelines. Within the family, we can bicker and rant, but woe to the person who attacks it!

This very blog started partly as the expression of this outrage over the reality versus the ideal, and certainly there was many a time when I overdid it and was too rash.

There's always the danger of, as Nietzsche said, becoming a monster when fighting monsters. He added, "and when you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you." Certainly that doesn't mean one should gladly accept any kind of nonsense, but the response to a rigid progressivism shouldn't be a rigid conservatism ("fly-in-amber" Catholics, (C) Fr.Z).

There's also the temptation to put the baby out with the bathwater - "American bishops are gutless" or engage in hyperbole - "Mahony is an apostate!" or reject anything automatically that doesn't come from one's own viewpoint. Certainly, there have been many occasions on which I've succumbed to that temptation myself! Adequate terms are important. If one calls the violation of liturgical rubrics apostasy, what does one call apostasy ?

Even looking at the 60s generation - they certainly weren't wrong about everything. Obviously, there were bad currents in the Church before Vatican II - as during any other time, just read St. Paul's epistles - frequently the opposite of what happened later on, that which caused the over-reaction in the other extreme.

Nothing is more difficult than moderation. There seems to have been cases of devotionalism as a form of l'art pour l'art, or as an expression of mere cultural Catholicism, even superstition - but the answer to that wasn't to throw out devotions altogether !

There frequently was an over-emphasis on guilt and sin - the term "Catholic guilt" didn't come out of thin air - always reminds me of some of St. Therese's confessors who routinely scared the crap out of her with talks about Hell - but the alternative wasn't to toss out the notion that one can do wrong altogether !

The alternative to a perfunctory Tridentine 15 minute Mass (not as a rule, but, in a way, the old form of abuse) isn't a Club-Med-style party - and so on, the examples are endless.

In recent years, there's been a change in all that and it stands to hope that a healthy moderation can be reached. We certainly don't want a timewarp back to 1950 or 1890 either. The Catholic Church is relevant in society, a museum-piece offshoot is not. Of course if you're not in a "bubble" group but "out there", there are certain risks and many fell prey to them. Moderation just isn't "sexy" for either "side", I guess.

In brief, there never was a Golden Age. The Church is much, much better in many areas today and worse in others. To expect Her to suit one's every preference in every parish is childish. To stand firm against real abuses and betrayals is healthy. Wisdom is to know the difference, something I am still trying to approximate.

Conversion is much like courtship - everything seems ideal at first. It seems unthinkable that the object of your affection might be imperfect. Certainly, if you never commit yourself to someone, everything will remain glossy and superficial if you jump ship at the sign of trouble. The whole package means that, if you spend every night with someone, there might be a time when they involuntarily let one rip in their sleep (of course I am not speaking from experience! *ducks* lolol). There'll always be annoying tics, outright hurt feelings and so forth. Commitment means to say yes, despite and because of everything.

These are interesting times. With a great Pope, who's neither mealy-mouthed nor "God's Rottweiler", who knows both the fallacies of "museum" and "revolutionary" approaches, and an increasing number of priests who share this vision, we are on the right track. That of course doesn't mean I won't continue to slam outrageous things in order to further their demise.

What has been very instructive for me in the almost 2 years of being a Catholic - and a blogger - was to see how easy it is to go wrong, to become fanatical on the left or the right, how to , as John Paul II said, to think that a piece of the pie is the whole pie. Another common mistake is to think that if one is against something liberal it has to mean being for something conservative, or vice versa.

The search for the perfect church eventually ends in the "church of me" - once the Catholic Church isn't "perfect" enough, one might go Orthodox, or SSPX, heck then SSPX might not seem "perfect" enough anymore and one joins SSPV etc...in the end one'd be ordaining oneself. Community of saints: Population 1.

So, as an exhortation to myself and everyone - keep a close watch, but don't use a microscope. And, to adapt a corny saying, be the change you want to see in the Church.

Laudetur Iesus Christus!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/03/2007 14.23]

If faith can move mountains, it certainly could draw blood from stone - or plaster, in the cases of the weeping Madonna images reported lately from Sri Lanka. Let us all pray for Mary's intercession for an end, or some peaceful resolution, to this decades-long civil war, and in behalf of all those who are its victims.

SRI LANKA
Another statue of the Virgin
sheds tears of blood at Mannar,
where civil war rages
Its’ the third case in under a month to occur in the north of the country, deadlocked by civil war.





Mannar, Mar. 29 (AsiaNews) - A statue of Our Lady in Sri Lanka’s war-torn Mannar district has reportedly shed tears of blood.

This is the third such report to come from the north of the island since last month, following similar claims made about two statues in Jaffna District. All three statues are in places that are in the thick of Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Church sources told AsiaNews that the statue, which was situated in a house of religious Sisters, has been moved to St Sebastian’s Cathedral on Mannar Island. People are flocking to see it.

In Jaffna town, a statue said to have cried blood in early February was transferred to St John the Baptist Church, where it remains to this day. The other statue that reportedly shed tears of blood is an image of Our Lady of Vailankanni (a Marian shrine in southern India) in Chavakacheri, another town in Jaffna peninsula.

The reports come as the war goes from bad to worse in Sri Lanka, inflicting untold suffering on civilians. Ongoing fighting between the Sri Lankan security forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Meanwhile, civilians are being abducted and killed daily in the north and east and elsewhere. Others are arrested and detained for long periods without formal legal charges against them.

One priest from Mannar Diocese told AsiaNews: “I think every mother in the north and east is crying blood in her heart because of the atrocities taking place here. Anyone who has a heart - and I think Blessed Mary has a big heart - will cry these days in Sri Lanka."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/04/2007 16.26]

This post from blogger Gashwin Gomes
gashwingomes.blogspot.com/
made me realize with a jolt that I really have not attended nor ever had a chance to attend a Catholic rite that was notthe previaling Roman rite. Have any of you had such a privilege? If so, it would be nice to hear your impressions of it.

But here's how Gashwin describes the Palm Sunday service he attended yesterday just outside Bombay (with thanks to amyu Welborn for this lead):


Palm Sunday Service at St. George Orthodox Syrian Church
(Malankara), Mulund, Bombay.
The liturgy of St. James, the brother of the Lord.



He thoughtfully posted some clips on YouTube and this is the link - sorry I haven't quite figured out yet hot co copy a YouTube.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF84kP9HWfo


Morning prayer (which precedes all Eastern liturgies on Sunday) had just begun when we arrived, a little after 6:30 am. There were few worshippers present, men on one side, women, heads covered, on the other. The chancel was veiled by a bright red curtain.

The most immediate thing one notices, however, is the singing. The entire service is chanted and sung, and I still have the cadences and lilts and the retroflexive liquid sounds of Malayalam ringing in my head.

And the entire congregation (which swelled considerably once the actual Qurbana had begun. I'd say some 700 or so people, most outside the sanctuary, following along on TV screens) sings. Loudly and beautifully. Full-throated, powerful, rising to the heavens. The singing at Catholic congregations (Latin-rite) that I have worshipped at in India is reduced to anemic bleating by comparison.

I don't speak a lick of Malayalam (well, I can count to 29. Don't ask), and I certainly don't read it. (The Malanakara church actually encourages the congregation to bring hymnals and service books to church so as to chant the service properly) ... my friend had provided me a with useful English-Malayalam guide to the service so I could follow long.

For the most part, I just listened to the sound and tried to get as prayerful as I could in the sweltering heat, smiling at the occasional Sanskrit word (Malayalam has the most Sanskritized vocabulary of the Dravidic languages) I caught.

I also increased my Syriac vocabulary (it was almost nil to begin with) a lot - the phrase "Barekmor" ("Bless me Lord") occurs almost as frequently as "Amin" - and, of course, there were tons and tons of "Kurielayisons" all throughout, along with the sign of the cross everywhere (the Malankaras follow the Latin custom. They also use the Gregorian calendar, though this year, both lungs of the Church are celebrating Easter on the same date.)

There was a procession with Palms in the middle of the liturgy, circling the surrounding grounds. And several humorous moments when the kids (well really only the boys, who were standing right up front. The girls on the other side were much better behaved!) got a bit rowdy and had to be scolded by the priest or the deacon.



At several points in the service, to chants of "Oshanna" the congregation threw handfuls of gold and yellow marigolds up in the air. The boys, as one can imagine, got a bit carried away. I found myself wondering if I'd be thoroughly bored, but for such interludes, had I grown up with long chanted services regularly. More on that some other time.

One stands through the bulk of the service - sitting for the Old Testament readings (which occur, somewhat hurriedly, between Morning Prayer and the Qurbana), and for the sermon (which the priest gives from behind the veiled chancel, and which, of course, I didn't follow at all). Periodically, the priest reminds the congregation, "sthoumen kalos." Let us stand well!

The bread is, following Eastern custom, leavened, and today, the Precious Blood was poured over the Host. I'd say maybe a third of those present received. After receiving, each communicant takes a drink of water from about half a dozen plastic bottles placed on the table in the middle of the nave.

According to my friend, this is to facilitate the swallowing of the leavened bread (I guess one doesn't chew?). And, given the heat and lack of functioning fans, I'm sure most took more than the symbolic needful. :)

The offering is given at the end of the service, when everyone present lines up and goes and gets an individual blessing from the priest, and drops his offering in a basket.

As with all Eastern liturgies, everything is repeated, the prayers are long and elaborate, and every gesture drips with meaning. In this rite, particularly interesting was the gestures the priest makes when invoking the Holy Spirt, waving his hands up and down over the chalice and paten.

There's the bell ringing and the incense, the colors of the vestments and the altar, the layout of the church, the veiling and unveiling.

Everything has biblical roots, and focuses on the central mysteries of the faith. The Mother of God is honored everywhere, as are the Fathers of the Church (one of the post-consecration intercessions, called "Thubden" or "Diptychs" honors 23 Fathers), the saints and martyrs, the faithful departed, the church universal.

If there is one thing that comes through clearly it is this: this is heavenly worship. This is the "living sacrifice" that St. Paul speaks of. One isn't creating something down here, on one's own authority or following one's own whims and fancies. One is entering into something that transcends space and time.

Having been AWOL from the Church at the time the 500-yer-old Mass was summarily changed, I never did get to know how exactly the changes were decreed. Thanks to Father Zuhlsdorf at
wdtprs.com/
I have a much better idea now - and I can see why the changes as decreed came to be interpreted by almost everyone as a laissez-faire to do as they please with the liturgy [by which I mean here the ensemble of things - material, physical and verbal - that make up a liturgy]. The Italians have a phrase for it - "La Messa fai-da-te" (The do-it-yourself Mass).

Well, did you know today is the 38th anniversary of that in-many-ways-disastrous changeover? And so, Fr. Z thought it useful to dredge up the document that effected the change and reprint it. It's fairly short for such a 'revolutionary' [as in the action of a washing machine which tosses everything together and spins them around] document. And Fr. Z takes the unusual action -it may well be unprecedented - of fisking a Papal document, an Apostolic Constitution, no less!

I was debating whether to leave in his fisking, and I went for it - although reducing the comments to 8 pts to be less 'distracting ' from the text being commented on - because he is, after all, a priest, and a respected, reputable one.

==============================================================


PROMULGATION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL
REVISED BY DECREE OF
THE SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

Missale Romanum
Apostolic Constitution of
Pope Paul VI issued on April 3, 1969

PAUL, BISHOP
Servant of the Servants of God
For an Everlasting Memorial

The Missale Romanum was promulgated in 1570 by our predecessor St. Pius V, in execution of the decree of the Council of Trent. It has been recognized by all as one of the many admirable results that the Council achieved for the benefit of the entire Church of Christ.

For four centuries it provided Latin-rite priests with norms for the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice; moreover messengers of the Gospel brought this Missal to almost the entire world. Innumerable holy men and women nurtured their spiritual life on its readings from Scripture and on its prayer texts. In large part these prayer texts owed their arrangement to St. Gregory the Great. [My comment: And someone named Mons. BUGNINI - Mons. Marini's idol, identified by all as the Protestantizing hackmaster responsible for the Novus Ordo - actually dared tamper with what GREGORY THE GREAT did! What happened to Paul VI - he had a demential lapse?]]

A deep interest in fostering the liturgy has become widespread and strong among the Christian people [The "Liturgical Movement" of the 20th century] and our predecessor Pius XII has viewed this both as a sign of God’s caring will regarding today’s people and as a saving movement of the Holy Spirit through his Church.

Since the beginning of this liturgical renewal, it has also become clear that the formularies of the Roman Missal had to be revised and enriched. A beginning was made by Pius XII in the restoration of the Easter Vigil and Holy Week services;[The reform of 1955, which many of the traditional stripe don’t like.] he thus took the first step toward adapting the Roman Missal to the contemporary mentality. [qui proinde primum quasi gradum posuit ad Missale Romanum novis huius temporis animi sensitius accommodandum.]

The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, laid down the basis for the general revision of the Roman Missal:

[1] "Both texts and rites should be drawn up so that they express more clearly the holy things they signify"; therefore,

[2] "the Order of Mass is to be revised in such a way that the intrinsic nature and purpose of its several parts, as also the connection between them, may be more clearly brought out, and devout, active participation [pia et actuosa fidelium participatio] by the faithful more easily achieved."
The Council also decreed that

[3] "the treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that a richer share in God’s word may be provided for the faithful"; and finally that

[4] "a new rite for concelebration is to be drawn up and incorporated into the Roman Pontifical and Roman Missal."
[Hmmm… what about the part of Sacrosanctum Concilium that said that 'no changes be made except for the true benefit of the faithful'?]

No one should think, however, that this revision of the Roman Missal has come out of nowhere. [Heck no… we can show you the desks where it was pasted together!]

The progress in liturgical studies during the last four centuries has certainly prepared the way. Just after the Council of Trent, the study "of ancient manuscripts in the Vatican library and elsewhere," as St. Pius V attests in the Apostolic Constitution Quo primum, helped greatly in the correction of the Roman Missal.

Since then, however, other ancient sources have been discovered and published and liturgical formularies of the Eastern Church have been studied. Accordingly many have had the desire for these doctrinal and spiritual riches not to be stored away in the dark, but to be put into use for the enlightenment of the mind of Christians and for the nurture of their spirit.

Now, however, our purpose is to set out at least in broad terms, the new plan of the Roman Missal. We therefore point out, first, that a General Instruction, for use as a preface to the book, gives the new regulations for the celebration of eucharistic sacrifice. These regulations cover the rites to be carried out and the functions of each minister or participant as well as the furnishings and the places needed for divine worship [C][... in such a way as we will not really be sure how it is to be done… exactly.].

It must be acknowledged that the chief innovation in the reform concerns the eucharistic prayer. Although the Roman Rite over the centuries allowed for a multiplicity of different texts in the first part of the prayer (the preface), the second part, called the Canon actionis, took on a fixed form during the period of the fourth and fifth centuries. The Eastern liturgies, on the other hand, allowed a degree of variety into the anaphoras themselves.

On this point, first of all, the eucharistic prayer has been enriched with a great number of prefaces – drawn from the early tradition of the Roman Church or recently composed – in order that the different facets of the mystery of salvation will stand out more clearly and that there will be more and richer themes of thanksgiving.

But besides this, we have decided to add three new canons to the eucharistic prayer. Both for pastoral reasons, however, and for the facilitation of concelebration, we have ordered that the words of the Lord be identical in each form of the canon.

Thus in each eucharistic prayer we wish those words to be as follows: over the bread: Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes: Hoc est enim Corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur; over the chalice: Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes: Hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei novi et aeterni testamenti, qui pro vobis et pro multis [Yah… they sure got that right in translations, didn’t they? It only took over 30 years to correct the error there.] effundetur in remissionem peccatorum. Hoc facite in meam commemorationem.

The words Mysterium fidei have been removed from the context of Christ’s own words and are spoken by the priest as an introduction to the faithful’s acclamation.

In the Order of Mass the rites have been "simplified, [and made more ambiguous so as to leave them open to illicit improvisation] due care being taken to preserve their substance." [Hmmm… ]

"Elements that, with the passage of time, came to be duplicated or were added with but little advantage" [Like the Last Gospel? The Offertory Prayers? Stuff like that?] have been eliminated, especially in the rites for the presentation of the bread and wine, the breaking of the bread, and communion.

Also, "other elements that have suffered injury through accident of history" are restored "to the tradition of the Fathers," for example, the homily,[That’s right. Because no one ever preached between 1570 and 1969 after all.] the general intercessions or prayer of the faithful,[And what a gift they have been for improvisation artists!] and the penitential rite or act of reconciliation with God and the community at the beginning of the Mass, which thus, as is right, regains its proper importance [but eliminated the names of Michael the Archangel – who drove Satan before his face, John the Baptist – the greatest man ever born of woman, Sts. Peter and Paul… well tooooo Roman…].

According to the decree of the Second Vatican Council, that "a more representative portion of the holy Scriptures be read to the people over the course of a prescribed number of years," [thus running the risk of turning the Mass into a didactic moment and making sure that the faithful remember perhaps less of it than they knew before] the Sunday readings are arranged in a cycle of three years [thus for the most part detaching the readings from the antiphons of the Mass].

In addition, on Sundays and all the major feasts the epistle and gospel are preceded by an Old Testament reading [Normally beyond the ability of the priest to preach about] or, at Easter, by readings from Acts. This is meant to provide a fuller exposition of the continuing process of the mystery of salvation, as shown in the words of divine revelation [because from 1570 to 1969 we haven’t had any of that?].

These broadly selected biblical readings, which set before the faithful on Sundays and holydays the most important part of sacred Scripture, are complemented by other parts of the Bible read on other days.

All this has been planned to arouse among the faithful a greater hunger for the word of God. [Just ask, Your Holiness, the faithful leaving Church on a Sunday what the second reading was.] Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this hunger will seem, so to speak, to impel the people of the New Covenant toward the perfect unity of the Church. [let’s see… would that be a change to our Rite to promote ecumenism perhaps?]

We are fully confident that under this arrangement both priest and faithful will prepare their minds and hearts more devoutly for the Lord’s Supper and that, meditating on the Scriptures, they will be nourished more each day by the words of the Lord [as our packed churches demonstrate even today…].

In accord with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, all will thus regard sacred Scripture as the abiding source of spiritual life, the foundation for Christian instruction, and the core of all theological study [just after the New York Times].

This reform of the Roman Missal, in addition to the three changes already mentioned (the eucharistic prayer, the Order of Mass, and the readings), has also corrected and considerably modified other of its components: the Proper of Seasons, the Proper of Saints, the Common of Saints, ritual Masses, and votive Masses.

In all of these changes, particular care has been taken with the prayers. Their number has been increased, so that the new forms might better correspond to new needs, and the text of older prayers has been restored on the basis of the ancient sources. As a result, each weekday of the principal liturgical seasons, Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, now has its own, distinct prayer.

The text of the Graduale Romanum has not been changed as far as the music is concerned. [But give us time.] In the interest of their being more readily understood, however, the responsorial psalm (which St. Augustine and St. Leo the Great often mention) as well as the entrance and communion antiphons have been revised for use in Masses that are not sung. [And without question everyone will still be singing Masses in Latin with Gregorian chant!!]

After what we have presented concerning the new Roman Missal, we wish in conclusion to insist on one point in particular and to make it have its effect. [Ad extremum, ex iis quae hactenus de novo Missali Romano exposuimus quiddam nunc cogere et efficere placet.]

When he promulgated the editio princeps of the Roman Missal, our predecessor St. Pius V offered it to the people of Christ as the instrument of liturgical unity and the expression of a pure and reverent worship in the Church.

Even though, in virtue of the decree of the Second Vatican Council, we have accepted into the new Roman Missal lawful variations and adaptations, our own expectation in no way differs from that of our predecessor. [EXCEPT….EXCEPT... That whereas Pius V said that rites older than 200 years would be preserved in places where they were used though no priest, even in those places, could ever be prevented from using the new Missale Romanum, from 1969 onward priests would be effectively forbidden to use the form far older than 200 years used precisely through the whole world in the same way.]

It is that the faithful will receive the new Missal as a help toward witnessing and strengthening their unity with one another; that through the new Missal one and the same prayer in a great diversity of languages will ascend, more fragrant than any incense, to our heavenly Father, through our High Priest, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. [And that you will barely be able to recognize, in some places, from parish to parish, that they even belong to the same Church, much less are using the same book.]

The effective date for what we have prescribed in this Constitution shall be the First Sunday of Advent of this year, 30 November.

We decree that these laws and prescriptions be firm and effective now and in the future, notwithstanding, to the extent necessary, the apostolic constitutions and ordinances issued by our predecessors and other prescriptions, even those deserving particular mention and amendment.

Given at Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on Holy Thursday, 3 April 1969, the sixth year of our pontificate.

PAUL PP VI

================================================================

What was Paul VI trying to do? The press conference (in L’Osservatore Romano, English edition, 8 May 1969, p. 8) at the release of the Constitution put greater light on his project. My emphasis and comments.


PRESS CONFERENCE ON
THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION MISSALE ROMANUMFather Lecuyer

By the Apostolic Constitution "Missale Romanum", dated Holy Thursday, April 3, 1969, the Holy Father has approved and commanded to be promulgated the new Missal revised on the basis of the directives of the Second Vatican Council.

Now, by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, dated April 6, 1969, there appears the volume which contains the Ordo Missae and the general norms, brought together into one document entitled "Institution Generalis Missalis Romani". The Ordo Missae and the general norms come into force on the first Sunday of next Advent, November 30, 1969.

I.

The Ordo Missae in its new form marks the goal of the reform of the Mass, after the intermediary stages reached with the Instructions of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of September 26, 1964, and of May 4, 1967.

The points, that have been altered are the following:

1. Introductory rites. The prayers at the foot of the altar are suppressed in their present form, and the celebration opens with the singing of the Introit, while the celebrant goes to the altar and then goes to the seat. Then, at the seat, the celebrant makes the sign of the cross together with the people, and greets the assembly.

Certain formulae of greeting derived from St. Paul’s Letters can be used (for instance, "The love of God the Father, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you"), or the traditional "The Lord be with you". In every case the people reply: "And with your spirit" (or "And also with you").

Then comes the penitential act, which can take different forms, and before which the priest may speak some words to the faithful as an introduction to the celebration beginning. The rite then continues with the Kyrie and the Gloria.

2. Offertory rites. This part of the celebration, left completely untouched in the preceding reforms, is now rearranged to correspond better to its true meaning. [Oh Yah? Let’s chat about those offertory prayers used now and see if they "correspond better to the true meaning" of the offertory.]

The formulae accompanying the placing of the bread and wine on the altar have been changed, so as not to anticipate the true offering of the sacrifice, which will be done in the Canon.

Use has been made of expressions of blessing traditional in the Bible, stressing the creative action of God and man’s participation in the offering of the elements that will serve for the sacrifice: "You are blessed, Lord, God of the universe. From your generosity we have received the bread which we present to you. It is the fruit of the earth and of man’s labour. And from it will come to us the bread of life".

A similar formula, with the necessary changes, accompanies the placing of the chalice on the altar. The formula for pouring water in the wine has been shortened, and that of the washing of hands changed. [Changes which were really 'helpful to the Christian people'!]

3. The rite of the "Fractio" and of the "Pax". The elements that constitute this part have been arranged in a clearer fashion. [Because, as we all know, people are pretty dumb and can’t possibly sort those out.]

The Our Father, which begins the communion rites, is followed by the embolism ("Deliver us…") in a shortened form [Hmmm… is there another phrase for that… let me think….] and without the names of the saints.

This concludes with the memorial of the return of the Lord and the acclamation of the people: "...we may be ever free from sin and safe from all disquiet, awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our saviour Jesus Christ. Yours is the kingdom, yours the power for ever". [Just like the Protestants do!]

The rite of the kiss of peace has been arranged thus: first the priest asks of God the gift of peace for the Church and the world with the prayer "Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you …."

Then he addresses this wish to the faithful "May the peace of the Lord be always with you" and the invitation "Give one another the kiss of peace".

The faithful may exchange a greeting of peace by a suitable gesture [often involving undignified chaos to distract us from the Blessed Sacrament on the altar and our own impending Communion (without recent confession of sins)] to be determined by the Bishops Conferences.

Then comes the breaking of the Eucharistic Bread for the Communion, accompanied by the singing of the acclamation "Lamb of God". The Communion rites remain unchanged. [Except for that whole confession part… oh yah… and the eventual Communion in the hand thing… and … um…. we’ll talk about distribution of Communion by those whose hands are not consecrated later.]

4. There are other minor changes throughout the Ordo. [OMG, LOOK OUT FOR THE LIGHTNING BOLT!] Of these we note two touching the Roman Canon.

In it too the words of the Lord in the narration of the Last Supper have been made uniform with the reading adopted in the new eucharistic prayers: "This is my body which will be given up for you" for the consecration of the bread, and ‘This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting convenant. It will be shed for you and for all men so that sins may be forgiven".

The first formula has received the addition of the phrase "which will be given up for you", and the second has had removed the words "the mystery of faith", [Keep repeating … "MINOR CHANGES… MINOR CHANGES…] which are said by the celebrant as an introduction to the acclamation of the people: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again".

Besides, the conclusions "Through Christ our Lord" recurring in the Canon are put between brackets and may be omitted. The same procedure is used for the names of the saints: in the Communicantes only the names of the Blessed Virgin, of St. Joseph and of the Apostles Peter, Paul and Andrew remain obligatory; [Keep repeating … "MINOR CHANGES… MINOR CHANGES… ] in the Nobis quoque the names of the saints mentioned in the Bible are obligatory, namely John the Baptist, Stephen Matthew and Barnabas.

In this way the venerable Roman Canon acquires greater unity and ease of recitation, on the lines of the new eucharistic prayers. [Which was reeeeally for the benefit of the people of God…we know. But.. wait just a minute here! What is this "greater unity and ease of recitation, on the lines of the new eucharistic prayers business? Let’s dumb down - yah, that was the phrase I was looking fo - the Roman Canon because the other prayers are simpler. Now I get it.]

II.

The Institutio Generalis of the Missal, summarizes the Missal’s present introductory documents: The General Rubrics, the "Ritus Servandus in Celebratione Missae", the "De Defectibus in Celebratione Missae Occurrentibus" [Try not to laugh here].

Its style is of course pastoral rather than juridical and rubrical, [PASTORAL GOOOOOOD, JURIDICAL BAAAAAAD] so as to guide the celebrant not only in the exact performance of the rite, [You have got to be joking. He’s kidding, right?] but also in understanding its spirit and significance. [People understand Mass sooooo much better now!]

The document contains eight chapters.
The first is an introduction of doctrinal character.

The second reviews the various elements of the celebration, giving the doctrinal and rubrical presentation of each.

The third illustrates the roles of each of those participating in the celebration: priest, people and ministers.
The fourth sets forth the various forms of celebration: Mass with the people, private Mass, concelebrated Mass; and contains also the norms for communion under both species.

The fifth offers an ample set of directives on the arrangement of the church as the place of the celebration.

The sixth reviews what is needed for the sacred action: the sacred furniture, vessels and vestments [pottery, polyester, etc.].

The seventh gives guidance in choosing the formulary of the Mass and of its various parts: readings, prayers and chants, offering also a whole series of possible adaptations and a number of different forms [just to keep the faithful guessing… because that is reaallly for their benefit].

The eighth summarizes in two pages the [Keep repeating … "MINOR CHANGES… MINOR CHANGES on votive Masses and Masses for the dead.

================================================================

As we have been assured time and time again, the post-Conciliar liturgical reforms have brought great fruits.

It also produced great nuts, I think.

I am sure it is true in some places there there have been abundant fruits from the post-Conciliar liturgical reform. I can attest personally to the fact that where everything was obeyed and then implemented in the most Roman fashion possible, with a mind to the will not just of the GIRM but also of the Council Fathers (who in no way intended to provoke what we actually got), there have been some remarkable fruits.

Still, I must challenge any unreserved claim that, across the board, the post-Conciliar reform has born great fruits in the Church.

So great is my trust in the power of the Church’s rites, however, that I am confident a stronger liturgical hermeneutic of continuity will in fact begin to multiply those anticipated fruits in a way more abundent that we have hitherto experienced.

================================================================

I've said it before and I will say it again. I still have to come across a convincing rationalization of the Pauline [or, to be more correct, Bugninian] changes. The documents above are certainly far from positive, IMHO.

I love Paul VI, not only because he was the first Pope I saw and met, but more importantly, because he saw the potential in one Joseph Ratzinger and took him out of academe to make him a cardinal.

BUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE? His brain took a rest and let Mons. Bugnini take over?

One of the reasons I can't wait for Benedict XVI's motu proprio is the hope that he will say something enlightening about what led to this almost-grotesque mis-execution - as I understand it - of the reforms intended by Sacrosanctum Concilium, because he would know firsthand, having been at the Council, the deliberations that led to it, and therefore, its context and genuine intent.

Consumer’s Guide

David Warren
Crisis Magazine
April 2007

As a Catholic convert in the media, I get letters from many young, smart, skeptical, “postmodern” people seeking religious advice. Many want to become Catholic, but know almost nothing about the Faith. We are called to evangelize, and in the hope that this might be useful to others, here is a stripped-down version of the “Consumer’s Guide to Catholicism” I fling at my own correspondents:

1. You asked, so I will answer: Yes, you should become a Catholic, right away. Find a church—to my mind, the more traditional, the better. Take a deep breath before you go in, and pray: “Lord, I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief.” Then remember: “With God, all things are possible.”

2. Even if the first priest you go to makes you cringe, put up with it. Work your way into the Church around him, if necessary. It is Christ you are looking for. No matter what happens, if you love Him, He will save you.

3. Don’t worry the small stuff to death.

4. Get a crucifix, the kind “with the little man on it.” The kind that shows Him suffering; the kind that strikes you as rather tasteless at first, as if it might drip on your shoe. There is something peculiarly Catholic about getting a crucifix even before you go out to buy a Catholic edition of the Bible. Kneel. Cross yourself.

5. Get a daily prayer manual from some Catholic bookstore—any one at all, to start with. From there, I think the best Catholic things to read are the classics, such as St. Francis de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life. There are thousands of such devotional guides, written through all the centuries. You will soon find several that speak to you directly. The Catholic Church has been around for 2,000 years, and it’s amazing how you accumulate stuff in that sort of time.

6. It is the depth and breadth of Catholicism that first overwhelm the (usually lapsed) Protestant visitor. There are Catholics of every ethnicity and faction; the hierarchy is vast and truly planetary; there are countless monastic orders; everything is historically layered. You’ll never be able to picture the whole thing. Don’t worry—it persists. God is taking care of it.

7. The Church exists for sinners. If we didn’t sin, we wouldn’t need the Church. Individual Protestants, Jews, Muslims, and others are often better people than we are. We know it.

8. The Catholic Church is sacramental. The Mass is the center of everything. The mystery of the Body of Christ presented in the Mass is the focus and pivot of the Church’s life. Nothing else.

9. Unfortunately, in the last couple of generations, the Church’s liturgy has taken quite a beating. This will take a few generations to fix, and will require some divine intervention. Be patient. These things sort themselves out over time. In the meantime, if you can ever find a Latin Mass, go there.

10. Buy CDs of Palestrina and other old Church composers. Follow their settings to the Latin words of the Mass. The cultural heritage of the Church is fabulous beyond imagining. The same goes for Catholic art—all 20 centuries of it. And have you checked out the cathedrals?

11. Get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’s a big, thick thing. A stitched hardcover copy makes sense: It should get a lot of use, like a dictionary. Browse the index; what Catholics believe is all laid out with rational precision, and the answer to pretty much any question you have on a matter of doctrine you will quickly find there.

12. Finally, as Chesterton reminds us, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” Don’t panic about getting anything wrong; you’re new here. So am I. And they’ll probably let us stay.

David Warren is a Canadian journalist who writes mostly on international affairs. His Web site is www.davidwarrenonline.com.

[Modificato da benefan 14/04/2007 22.37]

Father Zuhlsdorf shares this with us, from Fr. George Welzbacher, retired professor of ancient history and former pastor of St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota, whom he calls "one of the smartest priests I know."

Fr.Welzbacher writes a Pastor's Page in the parochial paper, and Father Z has picked up his article this week:

Pastor’s Page
By Fr. George Welzbacher
April 22, 2007

In last week’s Pastor’s Page I alluded to Pope Benedict’s intent to restore to the liturgy of the Western Rite a more abundant use of Latin. Such restoration will include the singing (in Latin) of Gregorian Chant.

In so doing, Pope Benedict is in no way subverting either the word or the spirit of Vatican II. Rather he is affirming what the Second Vatican Council taught. The Council’s document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, declares that, among all the options for the musical enhancement of the liturgy, Gregorian Chant enjoys pride of place, even as the pipe organ (as compared, let us say, to a guitar) is to be judged the instrument best suited to evoking the sense of grandeur that befits the worship of Almighty God.

How the Council’s praise for Gregorian Chant as the preferential option for music at Mass should have come to be perceived as a mandate for abolition is a mystery.

Equally mysterious is the misconstruing of the Council’s allowing the use of the vernacular in the Mass, without prejudice to the status of Latin as the official liturgical tongue, as in some way an interdiction of Latin. It would seem that in the minds of some the phrase "may be used" converts rather too easily to "must be used".

There is much to be said for Pope Benedict’s campaign for the restoration of Gregorian Chant. The reverent singing of these ancient melodies in their original tongue can reinforce our sense of unity with successive generations of the Catholic past as well as with the faithful dispersed around the globe today.

Reminding us that we belong to a community that transcends political borders and etlmic boundaries, these chants can strengthen our allegiance to an order that is holier and higher than the more recently emergent entities and values that compete for our allegiance today.

Moreover a widespread familiarity with certain basic Chant settings for the Latin texts of the Common of the Mass will provide in this age of global travel a practical advantage, greatly facilitating at international gatherings such as Catholic World Youth Days a more active participation in the liturgy.

In the aftermath of the French Revolution and the frenzy of demolition that accompanied it those who turned to the study of Gregorian Chant with the intent to restore its employment in the the liturgy were the monks of the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter at Solesmes (pronounced: Soh-lemm). (If you think of France as shaped like a tea-pot with its spout pointing to the west, Solesmes is located where the spout joins the pot).

During the later decades of the nineteenth century, enthusiasm for the restoration of Gregorian Chant spread from Solesmes to much of the rest of Europe. And with the call of Pope St. Pius X (1893-1914) for its use throughout the Latin rite its serious study took root in our seminaries here in America.

But paradoxically – indeed, inexplicably – beginning quite suddenly in the mid – nineteen sixties and in open defiance of the explicit pronouncements of Vatican II the American Catholic Church, supposedly in the "spirit" of Vatican II, was seized with a frenzy of its own, in which every piece of music that suffered from the disadvantage of pre-dating the Beatles was consigned to the dumpheap.

Catholic congregations were in consequence subjected to an era of hip-swinging, thwanking and whanking self-celebrating guitarists, belting out anthems such as "Here We Are, All together as We Sing Our Song, Joyous-lee-eey!" Trash such as this became coin of the realm, in irrefutable demonstration of Gresham’s Law.

In time a reaction set in against these proletkult imbecilities, and American Catholic churches tentatively at first, and following as often as not in the footsteps of our "separated brethren" (who were blessed with better taste), began once again to draw from the whole immense range of the Catholic musical repertoire, from Chant and polyphony through the triumphs of the Baroque and the masterpieces of the School of Vienna to the exuberant lyricism of the Romantic Age and the astringent neo-mysticism of major compositions of our own time.

The Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota, under the pastorate of Monsignor Richard Schuler, helped spectacularly to lead the way. Eventually it would come to pass that recordings of Gregorian Chant sung by the Spanish monks of the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos would be flying off the shelves of CD stores all over the world.

In view of all of this I thought you might be interested in reading about the monastery where the "resurrection" of Gregorian Chant began: the Benedictine monastery of St. Pierre de Solesmes.

Let’s book passage with Reporter John Tagliabue of the New York Times for a visit to Solesmes via a story that appeared in the April 10th issue of the Times.

* * * * *

At the Local Abbey,
Singing Unto the Lord an Old Song
By John Tagliabue
Solesmes, France


One of the tasks of Roger Sever as mayor of this quaint village in western France is to console misguided tourists who want to hear the monks in its 11th-century monastery singing in Gregorian chant. "People come and ask, ‘Can you visit the concerts?’"

Tourists are restricted to the back of the church, he said, shaking his white hair in mock exasperation, "I tell them: ‘You can visit at the chanting of the [Divine]Offices. You can admire the sculptures in the church.’ But the monks say, ‘We’re not here to receive tourists; we’re contemplatives.’"

The monks, 55 of them, inhabit the monastery that hovers over the village like some great granite mother hen over her chicks. But in recent times the monks have gained a measure of fame for their dedication to Gregorian chant, the simple vocal music whose cadences, in Latin, for centuries adorned the Roman Catholic liturgy.

Now, a constant stream of visitors comes to Solesmes to sit in the monastery church and listen while the monks sing the psalms and prayers, seven times a day, of the sacred liturgy.

"They want their calm," Mr. Server, 65, a retired schoolteacher, said of the monks. "And after all, the monastery was there before us."

The monks’ dedication to Gregorian chant dates to the 19th century, when the monastery was refounded as the Benedictine abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes after being closed after the French Revolution.

When it came to life again, in 1833, the monks resolved to restore Gregorian chant to its proper place in the Church, after centuries of neglect. With time the papacy came to recognize Solesmes’s role as the guardian and propagator of the chanting.

"Monasteries have always been places where you conserved a patrimony in the church," said Dom Yves-Marie Lelievre, who left a career as a professional violinist to become a monk and the monastery’s choir-master.

That mission was hurt in the 1960’s by [the misrepresentation and botched implementation of] the Second Vatican Council, which opened up the liturgy to contemporary musical forsm and a greater use of instruments.

"The council was an opening, an evolution," said Dom Lelievre, 42, taking time between Holy Week services to receive a visitor, "But after [though not at the command of] the Council, parishes dropped Gregorian chant," he said, and deserted the Latin texts of the liturgy for the vernacular.

But with the church’s sanction, the monks of Solesmes, the oldest now 95, the youngest 22, remained faithful to their mission, spending their days researching ancient Gregorian manuscripts, publishing updated texts and retaining Latin as the language of their chanting.

They were encouraged recently when Pope Benedict XVI, in a papal pronouncement known as an apostolic exhortation, decreed that….at international gatherings….the liturgies should be celebrated in Latin, except for the readings and the homily. Moreover, he said, "If possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung."...

Some saw the remarks as a slap in the face to contemporary church music, with its sometimes lively public participation.

"Exit the guitars and the xylophones," wrote Henri Tincq, Le Monde’s Vatican correspondent, adding "Condemned are all ‘abuses’ in the adaptation of liturgies to local cultures."

Dom Lelievre, a compact, friendly man who entered Solesmes 14 years ago, was naturally pleased with the pope’s endorsement of Gregorian chant. Yet he said that Gregorian chant did not need the pope’s support for revival.

"Beginning 10 or 15 years ago in France, chant has regained interest in the musical milieu," he said, "as have baroque music and medieval song." The monks of a Benedictine monastery in Spain, Santo Domingo de Silos, recorded several internationally popular CD’s of Gregorian chant in the 1990’s.

Despite their cloistered life and flight from the world, the monks of Solesmes have accepted invitations to lecture and provide demonstrations at conservatories in Paris and other places.

More recently other church choirs in France have begun to adopt Gregorian chant. In nearby Le Mans, the cathedral choir has begun using Gregorian chants, as has a church choir in Nantes.

The mayor here is pleased that the growing interest is translating into a somewhat heavier flow of tourists. The monks, for their part, take in visitors in several monastery guest-houses, some for religious retreats, and are generally content with the flow of tourists, who recently have shown signs of better preparation for their visit.

"Tourism has always existed," said Dom Lelievre. "Maybe it’s more specific today. Before it was just visit. No there isless of that. Now there is more interest in discovering this way of life.

Most townspeople say relations between the village and the monks are good. Didier Guilot, a chauffeur who occasionally drives for the monks, recalls the kind of open house - for men only, of course - that the monks organize every year at Christmas for people they do business with.

"Electricians, plumbers, drivers, everyone who works for them is invited," he said. "They are very agreeable."

He paused, then added, "They are men of another age."

Avvenire runs a continually updated newsfeed on line, which came on with with this following report at 7:30 p.m. Italian time....I have always wanted to do a story on this, among the many ongoing 'wonders' within the Church. For now, I will post this report - and will add on the background later.


NAPLES
St. Gennaro's miracle
takes place on schedule

The traditional miracle of San Gennaro (Januarius), patron saint of Naples, took place today, May 5, as expected. The saint's blood kept in a vial at the church of St. Clare liquefied one hour and 20 minutes after the traditional rites officiated by the Archbishop of Naples, Cresencio Sepe .

As soon as the blood liquefied, the Archbishop faced the crowded Church to show the vial with the saint's blood and said, "San Gennaro loves us and wishes us well."

A few minutes earlier, the faithful had applauded, thinking the liquefaction had taken place, but it was a false alarm. A few more prayers were needed before it actually did.

San Gennaro's miracle takes place three times a year: on his feast day in September; on the Saturday that precedes the first Sunday of May; and in December.

The rites today began with a procession from the Cathedral of Naples to commemorate the transfer of the saint's relic to the church where it is now venerated. It was the first such procession led by Cardinal Sepe, who assumed his seat in Naples only last july.

================================================================
St. Januarius
Martyr, Bishop of Beneventum.


The image of San Gennaro venerated in Naples. Pictures accompanying this part of the post were taken by Italian-American pilgrim Anthony Palmisano who was in Naples last year for the May event.

Saint Januarius, or San Gennaro, bishop of Benevento, is a saint and martyr in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions.

According to legendary sources, he died in 305 during the persecution of Diocletian near Puteoli at the sulphur mines near the Solfatara, where he was visiting imprisoned deacons. He was beheaded along with many other companions (see Saint Proculus of Pozzuoli). His body was later transferred to Naples, of which he is now the patron saint.

St. Januarius is believed to have suffered in the persecution of Diocletian, c. 305. With regard to the history of his life and martyrdom, we know next to nothing.

The entry about him in the present Roman Martyrology says:
"At Pozzuoli in Campania, [the memory] of the holy martyrs Januarius, Bishop of Beneventum, Festus his deacon, and Desiderius lector, together with Socius deacon of the church of Misenas, Proculus deacon of Pozzuoli, Eutyches and Acutius, who after chains and imprisonment were beheaded under the Emperor Diocletian. The body of St. Januarius was brought to Naples, and there honourably interred in the church, where his holy blood is kept unto this day in a phial of glass, which being set near his head becomes liquid and bubbles up as though it were fresh."

In the Breviary a longer account is given. There we are told that "Timotheus, President of Campania," was the official who condemned the martyrs, that Januarius was thrown into a fiery furnace, but that the flames would not touch him, and that the saint and his companions were afterwards exposed in the amphitheatre to wild beasts without any effect.

Timotheus declaring that this was due to magic, and ordering the martyrs to be beheaded, the persecutor was smitten with blindness, but Januarius cured him, and five thousand persons were converted to Christ before the martyrs were decapitated.

Legend has it that the bishop's body, and severed head, still dripping blood, were gathered up by an old man who wrapped them reverently in a cloth. A good woman of Naples dried up the blood with a sponge and filled a phial with the precious red liquid.

Then, as the Breviary lesson continues, "the cities of these coasts strove to obtain their bodies for honourable burial, so as to make sure of having them advocates with God. By God's will, the relics of Januarius were taken to Naples at last, after having been carried from Pozzuoli to Beneventum and from Beneventum to Monte Vergine.

"When they were brought thence to Naples they were laid in the chief church there and have been there famous on account of many miracles. Among these is remarkable the stopping of eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, whereby both that neighbourhood and places afar off have been like to be destroyed.

It is also well known and is the plain fact, seen even unto this day, that when the blood of St. Januarius, kept dried up in a small glass phial, is put in sight of the head of the same martyr, it is wont to melt and bubble in a very strange way, as though it had but freshly been shed."

The first recorded reference to the 'miracle of the blood' was in 1389. According to Neapolitan tradition, Mount Vesuvius will erupt at some point during a year in which the saint's blood fails to liquefy.

It is especially this miracle of the liquefaction which has given celebrity to the name of Januarius, and to this we turn our attention. Let it at once be said that the supposition of any trick or deliberate imposture is out of the question, as candid opponents are now willing to admit. For more than four hundred years this liquefaction has taken place at frequent intervals.

If it were a trick it would be necessary to admit that all the archbishops of Naples, and that countless ecclesiastics eminent for their learning and often for their great sanctity, were accomplices in the fraud, as also a number of secular officials; for the relic is so guarded that its exposition requires the concurrence of both civil and ecclesiastical authority.

Further, in all these four hundred years, no one of the many who, upon the supposition of such a trick, must necessarily have been in the secret, has made any revelation or disclosed how the apparent miracle is worked. Strong indirect testimony to this truth is borne by the fact that even at the present time the rationalistic opponents of a supernatural explanation are entirely disagreed as to how the phenomenon is to be accounted for.


The reliquary holding St. Gennaro's blood - The phials are within the glass globe at the top, framed by the sunburst. The priests are closely watching to see when the blood liqeufies..

What actually takes place may be thus briefly described: in a silver reliquary, which in form and size somewhat suggests a small carriage lamp, two phials are enclosed. The lesser of these contains only traces of blood and need not concern us here. The larger, which is a little flagon-shaped flask four inches in height and about two and a quarter inches in diameter, is normally rather more than half full of a dark and solid mass, absolutely opaque when held up to the light, and showing no displacement when the reliquary is turned upside down.

Both flasks seem to be so fixed in the lantern cavity of the reliquary by means of some hard gummy substance that they are hermetically sealed. Moreover, owing to the fact that the dark mass in the flask is protected by two thicknesses of glass it is presumably but little affected by the temperature of the surrounding air.

Eighteen times in each year, i.e. (1) on the Saturday before the first Sunday in May and the eight following days, (2) on the feast of St. Januarius (19 Sept.) and during the octave, and (3) on 16 December, a silver bust believed to contain the head of St. Januarius is exposed upon the altar, and the reliquary just described is brought out and held by the officiant in view of the assembly.

Prayers are said by the people, begging that the miracle may take place, while a group of poor women, known as the "zie di San Gennaro" (aunts of St. Januarius), make themselves specially conspicuous by the fervour, and sometimes, when the miracle is delayed, by the extravagance, of their supplications.

The officiant usually holds the reliquary by its extremities, without touching the glass, and from time to time turns it upside down to note whether any movement is perceptible in the dark mass enclosed in the phial. After an interval of varying duration, usually not less than two minutes or more than an hour, the mass is gradually seen to detach itself from the sides of the phial, to become liquid and of a more or less ruby tint, and in some instances to froth and bubble up, increasing in volume.


[C]"Blood liquefied at 7:38pm, May 6, 2006 - We are blessed", says Palmisano. Archbishop Michele Giordano displays the phials to the faithful.

The officiant then announces, "Il miracolo é fatto", a Te Deum is sung, and the reliquary containing the liquefied blood is brought to the altar rail that the faithful may venerate it by kissing the containing vessel. Rarely has the liquefaction failed to take place in the expositions of May or September, but in that of 16 December the mass remains solid more frequently than not.

It is of course natural that those who are reluctant to admit the supernatural character of the phenomenon should regard the liquefaction as simply due to the effects of heat. There are, they urge, certain substances (e.g. a mixture of spermaceti and ether) which have a very low boiling point.

The heat produced by the hands of the officiant, the pressing throng of spectators, the lights on the altar, and in particular the candle formerly held close to the reliquary to enable the people to see that the mass is opaque, combine to raise the temperature of the air sufficiently to melt the substance in the phial - a substance which is assumed to be blood, but which no one has ever analysed.

Further, ever since the early years of the eighteenth century, sceptical scientists, by using certain chemical preparations, have reconstructed the miracle with more or less of success; that is to say, they have been able to exhibit some red substance which, though at first apparently solid, melted after an interval without any direct application of heat. None the less, it may be said with absolute confidence that the theory of heat affords no adequate explanation of the phenomena observed.

For more than a century careful observations of the temperature of the air in the neighbourhood of the relic have been made on these occasions and the records have been kept. It is certain from the scientific memoirs of Professors Fergola, Punzo, and Sperindeo that there is no direct relation between the temperature, and the time and manner of the liquefaction.

Often when the thermometer has stood at 77° Fahrenheit or even higher, liquefaction has been delayed for as much as twenty or even forty minutes, while on the other hand the contents of the phial have sometimes liquefied in considerably less time than this when the thermometer remained as low as 60 or 65 degrees.

Moreover, the heat theory by no means accounts for another more remarkable fact observed for quite two hundred years past. The mass in melting commonly increased in volume, but when it solidifies again it does not necessarily return to its original bulk. Sometimes the whole phial is seen to be occupied, at other times hardly more than half.

This has led a Neapolitan scientist of modern times, Professor Albini, to suggest a new physical theory derived from observing the behaviour of a viscous fluid such as partly congealed honey. He conjectures that the unknown substance in the phial consists of some highly divided solid matter which is partly held in suspension by a disproportionately small quantity of liquid.

When at rest, the liquid sinks to the bottom of the phial, while the solid particles form a sort of crust not easily displaced when the vessel is turned upside down. This cohesion is however overcome by repeated movements, such as those that the reliquary experiences when the moment of liquefaction is impatiently waited for. Further, such a viscous fluid easily cakes upon the walls of the containing vessel, and admits large air bubbles which cause the deceptive appearance of a change of volume.

Professor Albini claims to have reproduced all the phenomena with a compound made of powdered chocolate and the serum of milk. On the other hand, those who have studied closely the process of liquefaction of the contents of the phial declare that such an explanation is absolutely impossible. Moreover, there seem to be well-attested instances of liquefaction taking place both in the case of this and other similar relics of blood, when the reliquary has been standing by itself without any movement whatsoever.

Accordingly, the suggestion has also been made (see Di Pace, "Ipotesi scientifica sulla Liquefazione", etc., Naples, 1905) that the phenomenon is due to some form of psychic force. The concentration of thought and will of the expectant crowd and specially of the "aunts of St. Januarius" are held to be capable of producing a physical effect. Against this, however, must be set the fact that the liquefaction has sometimes taken place quite unexpectedly and in the presence of very few spectators.

Probably the most serious difficulty against the miraculous character of the phenomenon is derived from the circumstance that the same liquefaction takes place in the case of other relics, nearly all preserved in the neighbourhood of Naples, or of Neapolitan origin. These include relics which are affirmed to be the blood of St. John the Baptist, of St. Stephen the first martyr, of St. Pantaleone, of St. Patricia, of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, and others.

Further, it is asserted by eyewitnesses of scientific credit and high respectability that a block of basalt at Pozzuoli, reputed to bear traces of the blood of St. Januarius, grows vividly red for a short time in May and September at the hour when the miracle of the liquefaction takes place in Naples (se Cavène, "Célèbre Miracle de S. Janvier", 1909, 277-300)

Three other points attested by recent investigators seem worthy of special note.

It now appears that the first certain record of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius dates from 1389 (see de Blasiis, "Chronicon Siculum incerti auctoris", Naples, 1887, 85), and not from 1456, as formerly supposed.

In 1902 Professor Sperindeo was allowed to pass a ray of light through the upper part of the phial during liquefaction and examine this beam spectroscopically. The experiment yielded the distinctive lines of the spectrum of blood. This, however, only proves that there are at any rate traces of blood in the contents of the phial (see Cavène, "Le Célèbre Miracle", 262-275).

Most remarkable of all, the apparent variation in the volume of the relic led in 1902 and 1904 to a series of experiments in the course of which the whole reliquary was weighed in a very accurate balance. It was found that the weight was not constant any more than the volume, and that the weight of the reliquary when the blood filled the whole cavity of the phial exceeded, by 26 grammes, the weight when the phial seemed but half full. This very large difference renders it impossible to believe that such a substantial variation in weight can be merely due to an error of observation.

We are forced to accept the fact that, contrary to all known laws a change goes on in the contents of this hermetically sealed vessel which makes them heavier and lighter in a ratio roughly, but not exactly, proportional to their apparent bulk (Cavène, 333-39).

The reality of the miracle of St. Januarius has repeatedly been made the subject of controversy. It has had much to do with many conversions to Catholicism, notably with that of the elder Herder. Unfortunately, however, allegations have often been made as to the favourable verdict expressed by scientific men of note, which are not always verifiable. The supposed testimony of the great chemist, Sir Humphry Davy, who is declared to have expressed his belief in the genuineness of the miracle, seems to be a case in point.

Neapolitan Folklore

The people of Naples have reached their own conclusions about the Saint. In their opinion he is not merely a "specialist" to involve in certain situations, but a "general practitioner" to whom they can have recourse in all needs and circumstances.

They pray to him for protection from fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Vesuvius; for preservation from plagues and droughts; in short, for all the favors and blessings they need or desire. In every emergency San Gennaro is their powerful champion and universal helper.

Each year on the first Sunday of May, the blood of their venerated patron preserved in two phials and his head enclosed in a silvery reliquary are carried on procession. The crowds wend their way from the Duomo of Naples to the Franciscan Church of Saint Clare, where the miraculous liquefaction takes place.

The statues of several saints, including Saint Joseph and Saint Anthony of Padua, are likewise borne in the procession, which is often described as the procession "of the wreathed," because of the garlands used on this occasion.

The annual highlight is the solemn commemoration which the Neapolitans hold in their cathedral on September 19. Civil and church authorities are on hand, as are also vast numbers of the laity. The procession forms with the congregation singing the Litany of the Saints. When the prodigy of the liquefaction takes effect, the priest exhibits the phials of liquefied blood in full view of the gathering. A joyous Te Deum is sung and clergy and laity approach to venerate the relics of the ever-popular patron.

Nobody in Naples would care to miss that red letter event in honor of San Gennaro.

================================================================

As an adoptive New York City resident, I feel I must add this item, too:


New York City's biggest, best known
and longest running street party



The beloved Feast of San Gennaro is an annual celebration of the Patron Saint of Naples. The first Feast in New York City took place on September 19, 1926 when newly arrived immigrants from Naples settled along Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of New York City and decided to continue the tradition they had followed in Italy to celebrate the day in 305 A.D. when Saint Gennaro was martyred for the faith.

Since then, the Feast has grown from a one-day street party to a gala 11-day event. On September 19 during each Feast, a Religious Procession, including the Statue of San Gennaro, winds along the length of Mulberry and Mott Streets, between Canal and Houston Streets. The procession begins immediately following a Celebratory Mass held at the Most Precious Blood Church on Mulberry Street, the National Shrine of San Gennaro.



"Although there is a party atmosphere that permeates the Feast, this is really a religious celebration that has become a proud tradition handed down from our grandparents," a Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. and longtime neighborhood resident says.

"For 11 days and nights the streets of Little Italy are filled with happy people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds eating fabulous Italian cuisine, listening to great live entertainment and just having a wonderful time. But there is a religious purpose behind it which is never forgotten, and that becomes evident on September 19th, the Saint's Day."

The continued growth of the Feast over the past seven years has enabled Figli di San Gennaro, Inc. to donate more than $1-million to worthy causes providing valuable services for children and education in the Little Italy community and beyond.

Each year, at the conclusion of the Feast, sizeable donations are distributed to scores of worthy organizations in all five boroughs and the tri-state area to help the needy and the young. No other public festival donates more money to charity than does the Feast of San Gennaro.

One of the most popular events each year in New York City, the Feast of San Gennaro attracts crowds exceeding 1-million people during its 11-day run. Activities for the entire family take place along Mulberry Street, Hester Street and Grand Street, from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (Midnight on Fridays and Saturdays). The streets are decorated with festive banners and arches in green, white and red, the colors of the Italian flag.

More than 35 of Little Italy's most famous Italian restaurants roll out the red carpet for Feast visitors, and many provide outdoor dining facilities for the event, offering a variety of Italian specialty foods and pastries. Some restaurants even have strolling musicians to entertain their customers.

In addition, there are more than 100 street vendors who set up shop along the Festival Streets selling a wide variety of goods and merchandise, including international foods, official Little Italy souvenir items and boutique merchandise including jewelry and clothing. The Feast also has a number of arcade games as well as many fun activities for the younger members of the family, including carnival rides.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/05/2007 1.23]

How a leading Italian author known for his homosexual writings came back to the faith before dying of AIDS - thanks to Curt Jester for providig the lead:

Famous Homosexual Italian Author
Returned to the Church Before Dying of AIDS
By Gudrun Schultz


COREGGIO, Italy, May 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A leading Italian author of the 80’s who was known for extreme depictions of homosexuality, violence and pain in his work underwent a conversion to the Catholic faith shortly before dying of AIDS.

Openly homosexual Pier Vittorio Tondelli was recognized as one of the greatest Italian authors of his time. A writer and playwright, Tondelli’s work was initially censored by Rome officials on charges of obscenity for his explicit portrayals of homosexual life. He was eventually acquitted of the charge of obscenity, but scandal continued to follow his work over the homosexual content.

In the months leading up to his death Tondelli returned to the Catholic faith. He had largely withdrawn from society after discovering he was infected with HIV and had kept his illness out of the public eye.

Fascinated throughout his life by the works of Jewish mystics, the Imitation of Christ and the writings of such Catholic leaders as St. Teresa of Avila, Tondelli wrote, “I love to look through them, to find and read stories, and the idea of holiness.”

After his conversion, Tondelli called chastity “a mystic virtue for those who have chosen it and perhaps the most superhuman use of sexuality.”

In the days before his death Tondelli read the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, the last material he read. Notes jotted in the margins read, “Literature does not bring salvation, never. Only love, faith and falling back into grace saves.”

Tondelli died of AIDS in Milan in 1991. His silence about his infection with HIV and the quiet lifestyle he chose for the final years of his life have been a source of outrage to the homosexual community.

With files from Catholic News Agency

Fatima: The secret's out, despite claims to the contrary

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
May 11, 2007

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Despite claims there are still secrets connected to the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Benedict XVI and his secretary of state said the entire message has been published and has been interpreted accurately.

The Marian apparitions to three children in Fatima, Portugal, began 90 years ago May 13, and Pope John Paul II ordered the so-called "third secret" of Fatima to be published in 2000.

As the Fatima anniversary approached, the Vatican bookstore was selling copies of "The Last Fatima Visionary: My Meetings With Sister Lucia." The 140-page, Italian-language interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, opens with a letter of presentation from Pope Benedict.

The two men worked with Pope John Paul to publish the "third secret" and to write an official commentary on it, describing its depiction of a "man dressed in white" shot down amid the rubble of a ruined city as a prophetic vision of the 1981 attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul.

In the new book, Cardinal Bertone said Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, at the time the last surviving visionary, confirmed the Vatican's interpretation.

He also said Pope John Paul felt that since the assassination attempt had already taken place and he survived, the 2000 beatification of Sister Lucia's cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, was an appropriate occasion for announcing the publication of the secret.

The continuing rumors that the Vatican is still hiding something puzzle Cardinal Bertone and, he said, they irritated Sister Lucia, who died in February 2005 at the age of 97.

In the book, Cardinal Bertone said, "The most diehard 'Fatimists,' like those who follow Father Nicholas Gruner's Fatima Crusader magazine, remain disappointed."

Father Gruner, a priest based in Canada, repeatedly has said that the Vatican's text does not match other accounts by Sister Lucia and, basically, does not contain anything worrying enough to have prevented Popes John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II from publishing it earlier.

The strange thing, Cardinal Bertone said in the new book, is that Pope John Paul decided to publish the secret precisely to put an end to the wild speculation that had surrounded it.

"The pressure from the 'Fatimists' was extremely strong," the cardinal said.

"The most absurd theses" were being spread, mainly presuming that the secret predicted catastrophic world events or widespread heresy at the top levels of the church, Cardinal Bertone said.

"Clearing up the question was a pastoral concern," he said.

Pope Benedict's letter, written in late February, reflects that concern.

The publication of the third secret "was a time of light, not only because the message could be known by all, but also because it unveiled the truth amid the confused framework of apocalyptic interpretations and speculation circulating in the church, upsetting the faithful rather than asking them for prayers and repentance," Pope Benedict wrote.

The pope, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said he wrote the Vatican commentary "after having prayed intensely and meditated deeply on the authentic words of the third part of the secret of Fatima, contained on sheets written by Sister Lucia."

Pope Benedict said that for him the secret can be summarized "by the consoling promise of the Most Holy Virgin: 'My immaculate heart will triumph.'"

Cardinal Bertone's knowledge of the Fatima secret is not something that comes just from a book.

As secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was sent by Pope John Paul to Fatima to discuss the upcoming publication of the secret with Sister Lucia.

What was known as the "third secret" was, in fact, the third part of a vision shown to Sister Lucia and her cousins.

Sister Lucia had made the first two parts public in the late 1930s. They included a vision of hell shown to the children, along with prophecies concerning the outbreak of World War II, the rise of communism and the ultimate triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, especially in Russia if the country was consecrated to her Immaculate Heart.

Sister Lucia wrote down the third part of the message, sealed it in an envelope and gave it to her local bishop. The message was sent to the Vatican in 1957, where successive popes read it, but decided not to reveal its contents.

As for objections that the secret could not refer to Pope John Paul since he did not die, Cardinal Bertone said such objections show an ignorance of the spiritual purpose of prophecy.

"Prophecy is not guided by a deterministic fatalism," he said. "Prayer and penance are stronger than evil and than bullets."

While prophecy warns of what could happen if people do not pray and repent, he said, it also demonstrates the fact that "conversion, penance and prayer can change the course of history."

I didn't see this item till today because it came out when the Brazil visit was under way, and I am glad it was reported on, but I do want to say that this practice has never died out in my country - contrary to what this report appears to show - and that at least up to a few years back, it was being practiced in some parishes in metropolitan Manila even, and certainly in my hometown.


PHILIPPINES
Flores de Mayo:
Devotion to Mary to give young people
and families a Christian focus



by Santosh Digal

Manila (AsiaNews) – Flores de Mayo is a project that seeks to enhance traditional Marian celebrations in Catholic parishes across the Philippines. Flowers will be offered to the Virgin, prayers will be recited, and moments of reflection will be shared.

The initiative of reviving the centuries-old Marian custom of offering flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May was spearhead by the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (EPFL) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) headed by Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto.

The project Flores de Mayo seeks “to develop and deepen Marian devotion [. . .], especially those that concern human sexuality and family life,” Archbishop Aniceto said.

Mgr Joel Baylon, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Youth and bishop of Masbate, urged various youth groups to take part in the celebrations. In doing so young people can get to know the Blessed Mother better.

“I would like to encourage the various youth groups in the parishes all over the country to support this worthy practice,” Bishop Baylon said. “For, aside from the usual prayers to Mary and the floral offerings, the Flores de Mayo project also offers ways to reflect and share themes and topics that are very relevant and timely for the youth of today.”

The Flores de Mayo project also provides an opportunity to evangelise the youth and their families on the need to practice chastity within and before marriage by following a programme based on the theme of purity.

“Speaking about the immaculate purity of Mary, we shall teach young Filipinos the value of chastity,” the ECFL organisers said.

At the end of the month, when celebrations will come to a close, there will be a procession. "On that occasion, we shall present a spiritual bouquet to Mary that includes our intentions, promises to stay pure, offerings of sacrifices and personal consecrations to the Mediatrix of All Grace,” they said.

Many Church leaders backed the Flores de Mayo project, including Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles and Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, not to mention Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto.

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Next to December, May was the most festive month of the year for me. For one, it was summer vacation, and there were all the Marian festivities, and for some reason, the best tropical fruits are in full season at this time.

In my childhood, the month of May was always associated with Flores de Mayo - literally, 'flowers of May' - for the Virgin, along with block rosaries and the 'Santacruzan' pageant-procession [which originally was meant to commemorate St. Helena's finding of the True Cross in the Holy Land, but which somehow became a Marian procession, in which a number of Biblical figures and various manifestations of the Virgin are commemorated]. I had always wanted to do a full piece on this for the Forum, but I have not done enough research on various aspects of these practices, so maybe next year].

The article above does not say what is done during a Flores de Mayo activity, but the parish (or the church) generally organizes pre-teen children who take turns on different afternoons to come to the Church and offer flowers in little baskets to the Virgin Mary. One had to be dressed all in white, and generally, the baskets were actually little white boxes prettied up with ribbons, and of course, the best flowers one could get from the family garden.

Usually singing the Ave Maria hymn from Lourdes, the children come up to the Altar and deposit the flowers before the image of the Virgin. They then take their seats and the rosary is prayed, ending with the Litany of Loreto.

Afterwards, the usual ending to any religiois festivity in the Philippines: an afternoon treat of hot chocolate, ricecakes and other sweets (although in later years, cold drinks instead of hot chocolate have taken over!)

The block rosaries said during neighborhood processions in the city were just as exciting. A family was chosen to be the 'host' every afternoon, and the procession would start out from that house, usually with just a small image of the Virgin carried informally.

The rosary is prayed aloud by all the participants, and Marian hymns are sung in between mysteries. Besides the Ave Maria hymn of Lourdes, my favorite hymn - and a much older one, dating back to Spanish colonial times - was the Hail Mary sung in Spanish. It is so vivid that when I think of it, even now, I am able to evoke all the sights and sounds of a May evening celebrating Mary. And yes, the procession ended up at the host's house, where people could have drinks and snacks served right on the street...

The Santacruzan was the Sunday variation of the block rosary, when for the young ladies chosen to represent the Empress Helena and the various manifestations of the Virgin (a different cast every Sunday to give everyone the chance to participate), the occasion was almost as socially significant as a formal debut is for more hoity-toity folk! Families spent on the costumes, and there was a cachet to being chosen a "Reina Elena'(Queen Helena).

[The socio-cultural significance of the Santacruzan is such that when gays became socially acceptable in Philippine urban society in the 1970s, gay organizations were soon competing with each other for the showiest all-gay Santacruzan, because what better excuse was there for them to be made up like women and to dress up as beautifully as they wished - the costumes are generally lavish variations of the Filipina national costume with butterfly sleeves, or evening gowns that are elaborate but modest, meaning no decolletage. Go figure!]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/05/2007 1.29]

An estimated 50,000 recite rosary in event at Pasadena's Rose Bowl

PASADENA, Calif. (CNS) -- Southern California's largest rosary recitation in more than 50 years offered a broad cross-section of ages and ethnicities in the local Catholic Church, and a link to a storied tradition. Some 50,000 people at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena May 19 prayed the rosary during the Rosary Bowl, an event sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries and its Family Theater Productions in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. With the theme "A World at Prayer is a World at Peace," the event continued the work of the late Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, the founder of Holy Cross Family Ministries. Before his death in 1992, Father Peyton conducted more than 40 events throughout the world reaching more than 28 million people. Taryn Wilson, a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Lancaster, attended the Rosary Bowl with her son, Trenton, 16, and her mother, LaVelle. She said she was attracted by the idea of praying the rosary as a family. "It is important for your whole family because the family that prays together, stays together," she said, quoting Father Peyton.

Thanks to Gerald Augustinus for this item and leading us to the site of the Institute of Christ the King,
www.institute-christ-king.org/
which looks like, among other things, a very good source of information about the pre-Conciliar Mass.



On Friday, June 15th, starting at 1:00 pm, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Missouri, will be the site of a church event not seen in St. Louis in decades - ordinations to the priesthood in the Traditional Latin Rite.

The Most Reverend Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will be presiding at this ceremony, in which two deacons of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest will be ordained Roman Catholic priests.

The Institute of Christ the King is a society of priests dedicated to Catholic tradition, founded in Italy in 1990. Priests of the Institute were assigned the historic St. Francis de Sales Oratory in July 2005 by Archbishop Burke. Once known as the Cathedral of South St. Louis for its size and magnificence, this church is now home of the Latin Mass Community of St. Louis.

A vibrant community has grown at St. Francis de Sales since the Institute arrived almost two years ago, attendance increasing from 300 to nearly 800 each Sunday. Here the Classical Latin Mass is offered every day, and twice on Sundays, along with several traditional Catholic devotions throughout the week.

The 'Latin Mass' has been the focus of much media attention in the past months, since rumors surfaced that Pope Benedict XVI plans to issue a document granting a wider use of the Classical or Traditional Latin Rite. This millennial liturgy was substituted in 1969 by the 'New Order of Mass,' now celebrated in most Catholic churches.

However, Pope Benedict and other high ranking officials of the Catholic Church see an important role for the Classical Latin Rite, and recognize the ever waxing interest and desire for the traditional Mass in Latin.

Unlike what many would think, the Traditional Latin Rite is not a subject of nostalgia. Anyone attending one of the now hundreds of churches in the United States where the Latin Mass is celebrated, will immediately note the youthfulness of the congregation, and the vibrancy of the community. Young adults and young large families with many children skew the average age to the mid 40s if not lower.

The reverence, beauty, timelessness and transcendence of the venerable Rite are often cited as the points of attraction. And it is the general experience of the clergy who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass that their congregations are growing very steadily.

All the churches staffed by the Institute of Christ the King demonstrate this phenomenon, St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis being a particularly striking example, were the congregation has nearly tripled in size in two years.

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest itself is evidence of this growth factor. It was founded in 1990 by two French priests, Msgr. Gilles Wach and Fr. Philippe Mora, who sought to establish a seminary that would train young men for the priesthood desiring to be formed and educated in the tradition of the Catholic Church - theological as well as liturgical.

While at first established as a mission seminary in Gabon, Africa, in a matter of months the Institute was invited by the Archbishop of Florence, Italy, to relocate to the village of Gricigliano in his archdiocese. Two heiresses had left property to the Archdiocese of Florence to be used by any Catholic order or community dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass. It was to in this property, the Villa Martelli in Gricigliano, that the Institute established its motherhouse and seminary.

After only sixteen years the Institute of Christ the King now has more than 50 priests stationed in over 40 locations in Europe, Africa, and the United States, where all the sacraments of the church are offered in the Traditional Latin Rite.

In the United States the Institute is present in Chicago, Rockford, St. Louis, Kansas City, Green Bay, Wausau, Oakland, and Santa Clara. It receives several inquiries on a weekly basis from young men who wish to become priests in the Institute.

As its seminary formation program is nearly filled to capacity with 70 men at the different stages of preparation for the priesthood, the superiors of the Institute of Christ the King have the rare problem of having too many aspirants to their seminary.

The ceremony on June 15th, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis will mark the first time that priests of the Institute of Christ the King are ordained in the United States. Usually, the ordinations take place at their seminary in Florence.

Members of the Institute will be providing the Gregorian Chant and filling the several liturgical roles of the intricate and strikingly beautiful Ordination ceremony and Pontifical Solemn High Mass, which will be presided by the Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, Archbishop of St. Louis.

Father Karl Lenhardt, Rector of St. Francis de Sales Oratory operated by the Institute of Christ the King, commented: "All the members of the Institute and faithful who attend our several churches around the country are very much looking forward to this special event. We are especially grateful to His Grace, Archbishop Raymond Burke, for having the ceremony at his own Cathedral Basilica, and above all for his kindness to the Institute throughout so many years."

Sorry...Just edited out a double post of the above (this 'updated' system drives me nuts!)...

I posted this originally in NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT, since the essay here starts out as a valid reflection on the double standard that MSM use on when to report a Catholic happening as news - neither the Italian MSM nor the English wire service agencies considered the Corpus Domini Mass and procession - in which at least 100,000 took part - worthy of reporting. After the essay, I describe what it led me to....

Essayist Antonio Socci - whose views I find congenial except for his fixation on a supposed 'fourth secret' of Fatima - wrote one of his editorial commentaries for Libero today on this blatant double standard but went far beyond that, to an 'exploration', if you will, of the mystery of the Eucharist, in a way that one does not expect to find in a secular newspaper column. Here is a translation:


When 100,000 in procession
is not considered news
By ANTONIO SOCCI


Those 4 anti-Bush demonstration leaders have been hogging the front pages and the opening news of TV newscasts for the past few days. But the 100,000 faithful who took part, with the Pope, Thursday night, in the annual procession of Corpus Domini did not merit a single line from anyone.

That's the dictatorship of relativism for you.

Oh, yes, Catholics might be interested to know that in Assisi, a few hundred people marched for peace with Bertinotti (an Italian politician) - and this was reported - but they would not care about tens of thousands who accompanied the Eucharist along one of Rome's major routes. After all, what news is there about a God who became human and who is worshipped now as a real presence in his Body and Blood?

No, the public has been led to be believe that the Green Party leader protesting Bush even getting into Trastevere is more important. Even we intellectuals think that these protesters and others like them - shooting stars passing across our daily news ephemera - are those who 'make' news, not the Lord of history, Beauty incarnate, who has been with us for 2000 years and who has promised to stay with us always. Are we just blind or banal?

Even if - in our respective desperate secular solitudes - we think that 100,000 Romans in procession are nothing but folklore, or like Odifreddi [Italy's own Richard Dawkins - unregenerate God- and Christian-hater], think that all Christians are cretins, it is still an obvious social phenomenon. Not worth reporting?

And what about the fact that our cathedrals and our greatest works of art have been dedicated to that mystery represented by the Eucharist? And that among the most devout of 'cretins' we can find Mozart, Dante, Raphael who have all expressed in art their awe for the God who made himself our daily bread?

A multitude of martyrs have given their lives for Him, and the greatest saints have been passionate lovers of Jesus, Bread of Life - from Francis of Assisi to Catherine of Siena, from Thomas Aquinas to Mother Teresa; from a St Clare who actually stopped a Saracen invasion by holding the Ostensorium before them to Padre Pio.

And what about the many eucharistic miracles that have made us appreciate the unsayable mystery residing in that piece of bread! Let me cite the two most famous - Lanciano and Siena.

In Lanciano, around 750, a monk was saying Mass, someone who had been assailed for some time by doubts: how could that little white host become in his hands the true Body of Christ? While he prayed to God to deliver him from these doubts, he saw the host literally change to flesh. That flesh is still kept today in the Church of St. Francis.

In 1971, it was subjected to testing. On March 4 1971, Prof. Odoardo Linoli made known the results: It was a piece of human cardiac tissue, from the left ventricle, with human blood of type AB. In the serum component of that blood were all the components of fresh human serum (tested by electrophoresis). All tests conducted on the flesh and the blood showed no trace at all of any foreign substance, much less of preservatives.

Linoli said any hypothesis that the tissue could have been taken from a corpse was not plausible because of the kind of tissue it is and of how such tissue can be extracted - "The first dissections of human tissue did not take place until after 1300."

Besides, he said, a study of the concentric contraction of the tissue shows that it was 'living tissue' at the time the monk found himself holding it in place of the host.

Siena's eucharistic miracle took place almost a millennium later. On August 14, 1730, robbers took away a ciborium full of consecrated hosts among their loot of the Basilica of St. Francis. The sacrilege upset the whole city. On August 17, the hosts were found in an almsbox at the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in Provenzano.

To make a long story short, the hosts have remained miraculously intact to this day, and close scientific examination has shown that they are "intact and without any breakage" - which is remarkable considering how fragile and brittle a host is.

Professor Grimaldi, the investigator, said: "The Holy Hosts of Siena are in a perfect state of conservation against every physical and chemical law, notwithstanding the unfavorable condition in which they were found. A truly exceptional extraordinary phenomenon."

And there are several other eucharistic miracles acknowledged and recognized by the Church. Not to mention those that have yet to be declared miracles and have happened in recent times.

Perhaps the best-known took place in the lower Basilica at Lourdes, on November 7, 1999. Mass was concelebrated by the Archbishop of Lyons, and the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Lustiger, and many other bishops. The Mass was telecast live on France's Antenne-2, so everything is on tape (and may be seen on the Internet).

At the moment of the epiclesis - when the priest extends his hands over the chalice and the host, and invokes the Holy Spirit so that the sacrifice may become the Body and Blood of Christ - one can clearly see that the big white host rises from the paten on the chalice, then rests suspended in the air for several minutes a few centimeters above the paten, until the Canon ends. Experts have examined the tape and have ruled out any technical manipulation.

Similarly inexplicable is what happened with a Korean lady, Julia Youn Hong-Son. On October 31, 1995, she heard Mass celebrated by pope John Paul II in his private chapel. She took Communion from him - and the host turned into flesh on her tongue. There is a film which shows how John Paul II, after the Mass, goes to Julia, who kneels in front of him and shows him the 'miracle'. One can see the Pope's amazement - he caresses Julia's cheek and traces the cross on her forehead (the video was first seen in Piero Vigorelli's documentary(?) 'Miracoli' shown on Rete-4 on May 18, 2001). [But what did Julia do then with the flesh? Did she swallow it, did she spit it out reverently into a blessed receptacle, where is it now, what did John Paul do about it, etc...Mr. Socci, how can you not have anticipated these logical questions?]

The Church still has to make a statement about these two episodes. But the eucharistic miracles that have been ascertained and established speak clearly: To man's thirst for meaning, beauty, love, Christ answers, in the form of bread to nourish us, to help us transform ourselves and bring the divine into our body which is mortal and is deteriorating every moment. But if we feed on him, it will be a body as glorious as that of Jesus after the resurrection, no longer subject to space and time but eternally youthful.

That is why at least 100,000 Romans came out to meet, as the Pope said, "Jesus who passes through our streets".

Forty years ago, Cardinal Siri, on an occasion analogous to President Bush's visit today, said: "In this world, there's Kennedy, there's Khrushchev, there are all the others, who after a time will no longer be around. I ask you to remember that in this world, there is Jesus Christ - and with this everything is said! - that He is the Son of God become man, therefore the infinite as well as the most human of all, the only truly human being because absolutely unrepeatable, and he went to the Cross for all men.....People who talk only about celebrities are talking of nothing but ephemeral shadows, as absolutely ephemeral and inconsistent as any shadow - they are those who forget that Our Lord and Savior, He who was crucified for them, is always there in the tabernacle, God and man, not with a spiritual presence only but with a real presence..."

It is a Presence that fills every solitude, triumphs over pain and death, and moves each of us and calls us by name.


Libero, 9 giugno 2007

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Wanting to find out more about the Korean lady described above, I googled her, and with the first three results alone, came upon loads of material in Italian - there's a detailed account that's 140 pages long.

Julia has been the protagonist since 1982 of visions of Jesus Christ and our Lady, starting with a statue that weeps blood and natural tears, unexplainable phenomena that have taken place in sight of many priests and faithful, and ecstasies in which she undergoes the torments of the Crucifixion and shows the stigmata (also witnessed and recorded by priests) that have taken place in Naju, a city 130 kms south of Seoul, Korea. And this, soon after she became a Catholic (she was married, had four children, started having serious health problems, and in tyring to find comfort, saw a Catholic priest)...In short, there are more things on earth unheard of, Horatio, than you might imagine...

I'm still looking for the miracle that happened in John Paul's presence, because she already experienced the same miracle in Naju years earlier...Perhaps her reputation as a visionary was what earned her the invitation to hear Mass in the Pope's private chapel, to begin with...

P.S. Yes, I found the accounts on pp. 103-104 of the long document. The Pope had been made aware of the events in Naju over the years, and South Korean bishops had brought him picture albums showing the weeping statue of the Virgin and the eucharistic miracles experienced by Julia [from what I've quickly skimmed so far, the host starts to bleed in her mouth and gradually changes into a heart-shaped piece of flesh, which she then swallows] - and that is why she was invited to the Vatican.

But nothing else is said about what John-Paul may have said or done later, beyond what has been described, because the Canadian-Korean priest who has been writing up these accounts says the Vatican has not authorized any further disclosures regarding the Pope. Julia herself, who experiences visions when the 'host transformation' occurs, describes her vision in the private chapel - angels surrounding the Pope as he said the Mass, and the voice of the Virgin speaking to the Pope.....

I am completely worked up, as you can imagine, because I wasn't expecting to get into anything as long-standing and as multiple a phenomenon as this. I thought I was simply translating an essay I found significant...And by the way, only the first 3 results of the search mattered - all the rest are based on elements of Julia's name and are not about her.

The Naju phenomena may be much more widely known, and I simply have been ignorant about it till today, so if anyone out there knows anything about it, please post something here, even if it's just a link. Thank you.