Showing posts with label Feasts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feasts. Show all posts

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Feast of Pope Saint Pius X: Bane of Modernists


Have raised up a chosen man from My people; with My holy oil I have anointed him, that My hand may help him and My arm strengthen him. Ps. 88:2. The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever; through all generations my tongue shall proclaim Your faithfulness. [Latin Mass Propers]

Image: wikicommons

Sunday, June 28, 2015

The Czech Republic is About to Make Good Friday a Holiday Again

The Communists are against it - 50 years ago the Communists abolished the day off - 86 percent of the 10.5 million inhabitants of the Czech Republic no longer have a religious affiliation

Prague (kath.net/ idea ) in the Czech Republic - one of atheistic countries in the world - to the Good Friday from next year will be a national holiday. A bill was initiated by Socialist Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet on June 24. The proposal originally came from the co-governing Christian Democratic People's Party. According to Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Chief Bělobrádek, the impact of an additional public holiday on the economy is minimal. Czech media expected that the project will find a broad majority in Parliament. Already 90 of the 190 MPs have signed a corresponding cross-party application.

The Communists are against it.

Only the Communists are against the draft. In the 50s they had abolished Good Friday as a public holiday. To date, Holy Thursday and Good Friday were only school days off, but not general holidays. 86 percent of the 10.5 million inhabitants of the Czech Republic are non-denominational, ten per cent Roman Catholic and a Protestant percent. Good Friday is in many countries - including Germany and the majority of Switzerland - a national holiday. In Austria, it applies only to members of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (Lutherans) and Helvetic Confession (Reformed) and the Old Catholic Church and the United Methodist Church.

Link to Kath.net...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Vigil for the Feast of Blessed Charles of Austria, an Inspiration and a Hope

Edit: we have a devotion to Blessed Charles, and a hope for the restoration of a Catholic America.
Born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria, his parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles’ Great Uncle. 
Charles was given an expressly Catholic education and the prayers of a group of persons accompanied him from childhood, since a stigmatic nun prophesied that he would undergo great suffering and attacks would be made against him. That is how the “League of prayer of the Emperor Charles for the peace of the peoples” originated after his death. In 1963 it became a prayer community ecclesiastically recognized. 
A deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began to grow in Charles. He turned to prayer before making any important decisions.
Link to nobility.org....

Friday, December 26, 2014

Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr

Take Note of St. Stephen's Liturgical Rainment
Edit: some interesting aspects of this great feast which might escape notice.  From an entry by Catholic Encyclopedia.  Some will even note that this great feast will feature vestments of crimson to commemorate the Deacon's martyrdom:
The conflict broke out when the cavillers of the synagogues "of the Libertines, and of the Cyreneans, and of theAlexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia", who had challenged Stephen to a dispute, came out completely discomfited (vi, 9 10); wounded pride so inflamed their hatred that they suborned false witnesses to testify that "they had heard him speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God" (vi, 11). 
No charge could be more apt to rouse the mob; the anger of the ancients and the scribes had been already kindled from the first reports of the preaching of the Apostles. Stephen was arrested, not without some violence it seems (the Greek word synerpasan implies so much), and dragged before the Sanhedrin, where he was accused of saying that "Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place [the temple], and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us" (vi, 12 14). No doubt Stephen had by his language given some grounds for the accusation; his accusers apparently twisted into the offensive utterance attributed to him a declaration that "the most High dwelleth not in houses made by hands" (vii, 48), some mention of Jesus foretelling the destruction of the Temple and some inveighing against the burthensometraditions fencing about the Law, or rather the asseveration so often repeated by the Apostles that "there is no salvationin any other" (cf. iv, 12) the Law not excluded but Jesus. However this may be, the accusation left him unperturbed and "all that sat in the council...saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel" (vi, 15). 
Stephen's answer (Acts 7) was a long recital of the mercies of God towards Israel during its long history and of the ungratefulness by which, throughout, Israel repaid these mercies. This discourse contained many things unpleasant toJewish ears; but the concluding indictment for having betrayed and murdered the Just One whose coming the Prophetshad foretold, provoked the rage of an audience made up not of judges, but of foes. When Stephen "looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God", and said: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (vii, 55), they ran violently upon him (vii, 56) and cast him out of the city to stone him to death. Stephen's stoning does not appear in the narrative of the Acts as adeed of mob violence; it must have been looked upon by those who took part in it as the carrying out of the law. According to law (Leviticus 24:14), or at least its usual interpretation, Stephen had been taken out of the city; customrequired that the person to be stoned be placed on an elevation from whence with his hands bound he was to be thrown down. It was most likely while these preparations were going on that, "falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (vii, 59). Meanwhile the witnesses, whose hands must be first on theperson condemned by their testimony (Deuteronomy 17:7), were laying down their garments at the feet of Saul, that they might be more ready for the task devolved upon them (vii, 57). The praying martyr was thrown down; and while the witnesses were thrusting upon him "a stone as much as two men could carry", he was heard to utter this supremeprayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (vii, 58). Little did all the people present, casting stones upon him, realize that the blood they shed was the first seed of a harvest that was to cover the world. 
The bodies of men stoned to death were to be buried in a place appointed by the Sanhedrin. Whether in this instance the Sanhedrin insisted on its right cannot be affirmed; at any rate, "devout men" — whether Christians or Jews, we are not told — "took order for Stephen's funeral, and made great mourning over him" (vii, 2). For centuries the location of St. Stephen's tomb was lost sight of, until (415) a certain priest named Lucian learned by revelation that the sacred body was in Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem. The relics were then exhumed and carried first to thechurch of Mount Sion, then, in 460, to the basilica erected by Eudocia outside the Damascus Gate, on the spot where, according to tradition, the stoning had taken place (the opinion that the scene of St. Stephen's martyrdom was east ofJerusalem, near the Gate called since St. Stephen's Gate, is unheard of until the twelfth century). The site of the Eudocian basilica was identified some twenty years ago, and a new edifice has been erected on the old foundations by the Dominican Fathers.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Feast of the Saint John of Capistranon Christ's Captain at the Siege of Belgrade

Edit: on July 22nd, Catholic and auxiliary troops, led by St. John Capistrano, defeated the Turk at the siege of Budapest in 1456.  The seemingly invincible Turks were fresh from the disastrous fall of Constantinople, and were poised to conquer Hungary, and advance beyond.  Today is St. John Capistrano's feast!

It's also the anniversary of the 1956 uprising in Hungary against another perfidious foe, the Soviets.

These heroes of the past will be a flame to kindle the hearts of the heroes, martyrs and saints of the future.

Photo: CNA

Monday, October 8, 2012

He was a Great Franciscan and Explorer and Probably a Saint


Presently, America is celebrating Columbus Day. In many other parts of the world it is celebrated on the 12th, which is also the Feast of the Pillar of Our Lady. Unfortunately, many of countries have attempted to transform the great feast into a politically correct melange, reducing the glory and wonder of this feast, falling as it does after the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

The tomb of Christopher Columbus- considered a saint by many- in the cathedral of Seville. The statues bearing the reliquary represent the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarre. -JDB

A good source for debating your less-than-manly opponents around the water cooler, would be to start with an excellent article by New Advent, which challenges a lot of the myths and gives a very unemotional account, unpolluted by malicious contemporary commentators.

Here's a nice writeup from TFP:

  Five Myths About Christopher Columbus
1. MYTH: Columbus was sailing to prove the world was round.
FACT: Every educated person at the end of the fifteenth century knew the earth was a sphere, a fact known since antiquity. What was in dispute was the earth’s circumference, which Columbus underestimated by one-fourth.
2. MYTH: Queen Isabella sold her crown jewels to finance the first journey.
FACT: The royal treasury of Spain was depleted after the completion of the conquest of Granada early in 1492. However, Luis de Santangel, the royal treasurer, was able to secure funding by reaching out to the Crusading societies throughout the Mediterranean, as well as other financial backers from Spain and elsewhere. The crown put up very little to finance the journey.
3. MYTH: There was a priest on board the Santa Maria in 1492.
FACT: Because of the dangers involved, there were no priests or friars on the first voyage, despite the deep piety of Columbus. Many of the paintings of the first landfall in the new world on San Salvador show a priest with Columbus—contrary to the facts. There were five priests on the second voyage: Benedictine Father Buil; the Jeronymite Father Ramon Pane; and three Franciscans.
4. MYTH: Columbus introduced slavery to the New World.
FACT: Slavery was already widespread among the native Indians when Columbus arrived. Columbus was insistent on the fair treatment of the Indians, a policy which gained him many enemies as governor of Hispaniola. Bartolome de las Casas, a Spanish friar who worked for the protection of the Indians, is quick to excoriate his fellow Spaniards in their grave abuses, but is filled with nothing but respect and admiration for Columbus. The mass subjugation and importation of Africans to the Americas did not begin until a generation after Columbus’ death.
5. MYTH: Columbus died a pauper, in chains, in a Spanish prison.
FACT: Despite the fact that the Spanish crown retracted some of the privileges promised to Columbus, he was relatively wealthy at the time of his death. Although he returned to Spain in chains in 1500 after his third voyage, the King and Queen apologized for the misunderstanding and had them removed.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Feast of Saint Peter in Chains

Edit:  it's a great feast, also known as Lammas, and commemorates the miracle of St. Peter being freed from his chains in prison by an angel so he could continue his mission.

If there's an analogy there, or a spiritual message you can come away with upon meditating on this miracle, thank God for it.

The significance of this feast seems to point at our current Peter and his own struggles with things as they are.

Here's the collect stolen from societas-regnum-christi:

O God, Who didst loose the blessed apostle Peter from his bonds and didst send him forth unharmed; loose, we pray Thee, the chains of our sins, and in Thy great mercy keep us from all evil. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.



Photo from...travel folio...

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

St. John Bosco's Dream


Edit: today is the feast of the Saint, Dom Bosco. Here is his dream, which is one of the most poignant and fascinating things about him.

The Holy Saint John Bosco had a Prophetic Vision of Hell in 1868 A.D., (*which is recorded in its entirety below.) Many of the dreams of St. John Bosco could more properly be called visions, for God used this means to reveal His will for the Saint and for the boys of the Oratory, as well as the future of the Salesian Congregation. Not only did his dreams lead and direct the Saint, they also gave him wisdom and guidance by which he was able to help and guide others upon their ways. He was just nine years of age when he had his first dream that laid out his life mission. It was this dream that impressed Pope Pius IX so much that he ordered St. John Bosco to write down his dreams for the encouragement of his Congregation and the rest of us. Through dreams God allowed him to know the future of each of the boys of his Oratory. Through dreams God let him know the boys' state of their souls. On February 1, 1865 St. John Bosco announced that one of the boys will die soon. He knew the boy through the dream the night before. On March 16, 1865, Anthony Ferraris passed away after receiving the Last Sacraments. John Bisio, who helped Anthony and his mother during the former's last hour, confirmed the story of his part in this episode by a formal oath, concluding as foIlows: "Don Bosco told us many other dreams concerning Oratory boys' deaths. We believed them to be true prophecies. We still do, because unfailingly they came true. During the seven years I lived at the Oratory, not a boy died without Don Bosco predicting his death. We were also convinced that whoever died there under his care and assistance surely went to heaven."
Link to source...Today's Catholic World. H/t: kath.net news.

Monday, January 30, 2012

The Baby Jesus of Brooklyn: Candlemass

Mexican Traditions help wayfarers against their homesickness -- Candlemass, in the Spanish is called, 'Candelaria',  brings the Christ Child into the Church.  by Gundula Schmidt-Graute [KNA]


New York (kath.net/KNA) Life in New York is hard, especially for Mexican newcomers, who are often without official papers.  The Feast of Candlemass, which will take place on February means home and warm to them.  In their home, in Mexican, Candlemass is an important feast day.  Actually the Mexicans in New York can not travel back home in the middle of winter.  So they make themselves as comfortable as possible in the sleet and cold.


Some participate in traditional services in The Church of the All Holy in Brooklyn.  The church is brightly lit on the 2nd of February, the many holy figures look homey and warm between the neo-Gothic columns.  The people speak softly, mostly in Spanish.  Even the children are quiet and serious.  One sees many indian faces there.  Adults carry little baskets or stick puppets with elaborately decorated and dressed baby puppets.  Some of the figures have white, but most are in colorful dresses.  It is the Jesus Child from the family crib -- much larger than any, which one would find in a European crib.

 >>At Candlemass, which is 'Candalaria' in Spanish, the Jesus Child is brought into Church<<, explained Juan Carlos Aguirre of the Mexican Cultural Association 'Manoamano' [Hand in hand].  >>As Jesus, according to Jewish tradition was brought into the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth.  That is also the Liturgical end of the Christmas season.<< It begins in Mexico on the 16th of December.  >>One goes from house to house on the 25th and plays Mary and Joseph looking for lodging.<< , explained Aguirre.  >>These are called 'Posadas' [Inns].  On Christmas Day the Jesus Child will be lain the a crib.<<

The Feast of the Three Kings is also important in Latin American Tradition.  In East Harlem, the largest Hispanic concentration in Manhattan, a parade takes place with countless Kings and real camels.  Mexican families break bread: >>rosca<< as it is called;  a kind of cross bun, in which a small figure of Jesus is baked inside.  Whoever finds it is the Godfather of the Jesus Child and responsible for the dressing and eventual repair of an older crib figure.  The Godfather must also have a small party in their home after Mass. >>The object hidden in the bread also has special meaning.<<, said a member of the Cultural Association.  >>King Herod wanted to kill the child, who he learned from the wise men from the East would be declared as a new king.<<

At Maria Candlemas the Priest is dressed completely in white.  All of the songs sung will be Marian, and the Ave Maria will be prayed.  Newborns are brought to the altar and the priest blesses them.  The largest part of the service takes place in Spanish.  >>We pray for families who've been the victims of violence.

Link to original...

Friday, January 27, 2012

Immemorial Mass Commemorating Feast of Bl. Charlemagne the Great in Aachen


Germany. Next Saturday the Diocese of Aachen, the Imperial Capital of old, celebrates the Feast of Charlemagne the Great († 814 on January the 28th at the church of St. Gertrud „In virtute tua”. The event is going to be celebrated by Pastor Guido Rodheudt von Herzogentrath at the usual Saturday Mass time at 9:00. It will be preceded by a lauds at 8:15. The Aachen 'Schola Carolina' will sing under the direction of Dr. Micheal Tunger. This was according to the page 'summorum-pontificum.de'.

A prayer borrowed from Tradition in Action and Dom Prosper Gueranger's Liturgical Year:

“Hail, o Charles, beloved of God, Apostle of Christ, defender of His Church, protector of justice, guardian of good customs, terror of the enemies of the Christian name! 

"The tainted diadem of the Caesars – purified by the hands of Leo – sits on your august forehead; the globe of the Empire rests in your vigorous hand; the ever-victorious sword in your combats for Our Lord is sheathed at your waist, and on your forehead the imperial anointing was added to the royal unction by the hand of the Pontiff who consecrated you and confirmed your authority. As the representative of the figure of Christ in His temporal Royalty, you desired that He would reign in you and through you.

OffersChurchtoOLady.jpg - 42093 Bytes

Above, Charlemagne offers the Royal Chapel of Aix-la-Chappelle to Our Lady and Our Lord.
Below, the Basilica of Aix-la-Chappelle.
A02_AachenRoyalChapel.jpg - 64928 Bytes
“Now God rewards you for the love you had for Him, for the zeal you displayed for His glory, for the respect and confidence you showed toward His Spouse. In exchange for an earthly kingship, transitory and uncertain, you enjoy now an immortal kingdom where so many million of souls, who by your hands escaped idolatry, today honor you as the instrument of their salvation. 

“During the days of celebration of the birth of Our Lord by Our Lady, you offered to them the gracious temple you built in their honor (the Basilica of Aix-la-Chapelle), and which is still today the object of our admiration. It was in this place that your pious hands placed the newborn garment worn by her Divine Son. As retribution, the Son of God desired that your bones should gloriously rest in the same place to receive the testimony of the veneration of the peoples. 

"O glorious heir to the three Magi Kings of the East, present our souls before the One who wore such a humble garment. Ask Him to give us a part of the profound humility you had as you knelt before the Manger, a part of that great joy that filled your heart at Christmas, a part of that fiery zeal that made you realize so many works for the glory of the Infant Christ, and a part of that great strength that never abandoned you in your conquests for His Kingdom. 

“O mighty Emperor, you who of old was the arbiter of the whole European family assembled under your scepter, have mercy on this society that today is being destroyed in all its parts. After more than a thousand years, the Empire that the Church placed in your hands has collapsed as a chastisement for its infidelity to the Church that founded it. The nations still remain, troubled and afflicted. Only the Church can return life to them through the Faith; only she continues to be the depositary of public law; only she can govern the powerful and bless the obedient. 

"O Charles the Great, we beseech you to make that day arrive soon when society, re-established at its foundations, will cease asking liberty and order from the revolutions. Protect with a special love France, the most splendid flower of your magnificent crown. Show that you are always her king and father. Put an end to the false progress of the faithless empires of the North that have fallen into schism and heresy, and do not permit the peoples of the Holy Empire to fall prisoner to them.”  H/t: kreuz.net...

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Today is the Feast of the Circumcision

Edit: it's also sometimes the feast of St. John Chrysostom, in the Byzantine Rite.

Here's a Sermon on the importance of obedience.

How refreshing it is to hear a priest who talks about the Gospel of St. John, and not the "Johannine Gospel" like we're at an undergraduate bible class at a Liberal University like Creighton.

 It's also interesting to note that the way he's talking seems to indicate that there are a good number of young people at Divine Liturgy.
True authority comes from service.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Vigil of St. Andrew the Apostle: Happy B-Day Archbishop Lefebvre



Edit: today is the birthday of Archbishop Lefebvre as well as the vigil of the great feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. It's fortuitous since both men were persecuted and suffered for the Faith. Here's the day's collect from a woman's Catholic spirituality blog:

Collect:We humbly implore your majesty, O Lord,
that, just as the blessed Apostle Andrew
was for your Church a preacher and pastor,
so he may be for us a constant intercessor before you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen+


Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland and Russia. The reason for the saltire cross which is the national flag of Scotland, is the way in which the Saint was crucified during the persecution of Nero. The Catholic Encylopedia says:

Eusebius (Church History III.1), relying, apparently, upon Origen, assigns Scythia as his mission field: Andras de [eilechen] ten Skythian; while St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Oration 33) mentions Epirus; St. Jerome (Ep. ad Marcell.) Achaia; and Theodoret (on Ps. cxvi) Hellas. Probably these various accounts are correct, for Nicephorus (H.E. II:39), relying upon early writers, states that Andrew preached in Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia, then in the land of the anthropophagi and the Scythian deserts, afterwards in Byzantium itself, where he appointed St. Stachys as its first bishop, and finally in Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and Achaia. It is generally agreed that he was crucified by order of the Roman Governor, Aegeas or Aegeates, at Patrae in Achaia, and that he was bound, not nailed, to the cross, in order to prolong his sufferings. The cross on which he suffered is commonly held to have been the decussate cross, now known as St. Andrew's, though the evidence for this view seems to be no older than the fourteenth century. His martyrdom took place during the reign of Nero, on 30 November, A.D. 60); and both the Latin and Greek Churches keep 30 November as his feast.


Monday, August 1, 2011

Yesterday Was the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Commemoration of SAINT IGNATIUSIn the year 1521 a cannon ball fractured the left leg of Captain Ignatius Loyola, the future founder of the Jesuits. While he was convalescing, Ignatius read about Christ and His saints and thus turned wholly to God. He then undertook to equip himself for Christ's service by acquiring a good classical and theological education. On the feast of the Assumption, 1534, the seven pioneer Jesuits pronounced their vows in Paris. The members of the Society of Jesus became the shock troops of the Church in the battle against the spread of Protestantism in Europe, as well as one of the greatest foreign mission organizations that the world has known. Ignatius died on July 31, 1556.

Link, here...