Saint Stephen The First Martyr

Just after Christmas, the Catholic Church remembers its first martyr, and one of its first deacons, Saint Stephen. Roman Catholics celebrate his feast Dec. 26, while Eastern Catholics honor him one day later.

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke praises St. Stephen as “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” who “did great wonders and signs among the people” during the earliest days of the Church.

Luke's history of the period also includes the moving scene of Stephen's death – witnessed by St. Paul before his conversion – at the hands of those who refused to accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Stephen himself was a Jew who most likely came to believe in Jesus during the Lord's ministry on earth. He may have been among the 70 disciples whom Christ sent out as missionaries, who preached the coming of God's kingdom while traveling with almost no possessions.

This spirit of detachment from material things continued in the early Church, in which St. Luke says believers “had all things in common” and “would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

But such radical charity ran up against the cultural conflict between Jews and Gentiles, when a group of Greek widows felt neglected in their needs as compared to those of a Jewish background.

Stephen's reputation for holiness led the Apostles to choose him, along with six other men, to assist them in an official and unique way as this dispute arose. Through the sacramental power given to them by Christ, the Apostles ordained the seven men as deacons, and set them to work helping the widows.

As a deacon, Stephen also preached about Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament law and prophets. Unable to refute his message, some members of local synagogues brought him before their religious authorities, charging him with seeking to destroy their traditions.

Stephen responded with a discourse recorded in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. He described Israel's resistance to God's grace in the past, and accused the present religious authorities of “opposing the Holy Spirit” and rejecting the Messiah.

Before he was put to death, Stephen had a vision of Christ in glory. “Look,” he told the court, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

The council, however, dragged the deacon away and stoned him to death.

“While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’” records St. Luke in Acts 7. “Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.”

The first Christian martyrdom was overseen by a Pharisee named Saul – later Paul, and still later St. Paul – whose own experience of Christ would transform him into a believer, and later a martyr himself.

Credits : Catholic News Agency 

Saint Peter Canisius -- A Saint For Today

The Feast Of Saint Peter Canisius is celebrated on December 21. 

St. Peter Kanis, Canisius in the Latin form of his surname, was a very important figure in the Catholic 1500s. He was born on May 8, 1521, in Nijmegen, Holland. His father was burgomaster of the city. While he was a student at the University of Cologne, he often visited the Carthusian monks of St. Barbara — a propelling center of Catholic life — and other pious men who cultivated the spirituality of the so-called modern devotion. He entered the Society of Jesus on May 8, 1543, in Mainz (Rhineland-Palatinate), after having followed a course of spiritual exercises under the guidance of Blessed Peter Faber, Petrus Faber, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

He was ordained a priest in June 1546 in Cologne and the very following year, he attended the Council of Trent as a theologian with the bishop of Augusta, Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg, where he collaborated with two confreres, Diego Laínez and Alfonso Salmerón.

In 1548, St. Ignatius sent him to complete his spiritual formation in Rome and then sent him to the College of Messina to exercise himself in humble domestic services. He obtained a doctorate in theology in Bologna, on Oct. 4 he was assigned by St. Ignatius to the apostolate in Germany. On Sept. 2 of that year, 1549, he visited Pope Paul III in Castel Gandolfo and then he went to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray. Here he implored the help of the great Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to give permanent efficacy to the Apostolic Blessing for his important destiny, his new mission. He wrote in his diary some words of this prayer. He said: “There I felt that a great consolation and the presence of grace were granted to me through these intercessors [Peter and Paul].

They confirmed my mission in Germany, and they seemed to transmit to me, as apostle of Germany, the support of their benevolence. You know, Lord, in how many ways and how many times on that same day you entrusted Germany to me, which I would later care for, and for which I desire to live and die.”

We must keep in mind that we find ourselves in the time of the Lutheran Reformation, at the moment in which the Catholic faith in German-speaking countries, in face of the fascination of the Reformation, seemed to be fading away. The task entrusted to Canisius was almost impossible, as he was charged with revitalizing, with renewing the Catholic faith in Germanic countries. It was possible only in the strength of prayer. It was possible only from the center, that is, from a profound personal friendship with Jesus Christ; friendship with Christ in his Body, the Church, which is nourished by the Eucharist, his real presence.

Following the mission received from Ignatius and from Pope Paul III, Canisius left for Germany and went first to the duchy of Bavaria, which for several years was the place of his ministry. As dean, rector and vice chancellor of the University of Ingolstadt, he looked after the academic life of the institute and the religious and moral reform of the people. In Vienna, where for a brief time he was administrator of the diocese, he carried out his pastoral ministry in hospitals and prisons, both in the city and the countryside, and he prepared the publication of his catechism. In 1556 he founded the College of Prague and, until 1569, was the first superior of the Jesuit province of Upper Germany.
In this office, he established in Germanic countries a solid network of communities of his order, especially of colleges, which were starting points for the Catholic Reformation, for the renewal of the Catholic faith.

At that time he also took part in the colloquium of Worms with Protestant leaders, among whom was Philipp Melanchthon (1557); he participated in the two Augusta Diets (1559 and 1565); he accompanied Cardinal Stanislaw Hozjusz, legate of Pope Pius IV to Emperor Ferdinand (1560); he intervened in the final session of the Council of Trent where he spoke on the question of Communion under both species and on the Index of Prohibited Books (1562).

In 1580 he went to Fribourg in Switzerland, wholly dedicated to preaching and the composition of his writings. He died there on Dec. 21, 1597. Beatified by Blessed Pius IX in 1864, in 1897 he was proclaimed the second apostle of Germany by Pope Leo XIII, and canonized and proclaimed doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

St. Peter Canisius spent a good part of his life in contact with the socially most important persons of his time and exercised a special influence with his writings. He was editor of the complete works of Cyril of Alexandria and of St. Leo the Great, of the Letters of St. Jerome and of the Prayers of St. Nicholas of Flue. He published devotional books in several languages, the biographies of some Swiss saints and many homiletic texts. However, his most widespread writings were the three catechisms composed between 1555 and 1558.

The first catechism was addressed to students able to understand elementary notions of theology; the second to boys and girls of the people for an initial religious instruction; the third to adolescents with a scholastic formation at the level of middle and high school. Catholic doctrine was explained with questions and answers, briefly, in biblical terms, with much clarity and free of criticisms. In his lifetime alone there were a good 200 editions of this catechism! And hundreds of editions succeeded one another until the 1900s. Thus in Germany, still in my father’s generation, people called the catechism simply the Canisius: He is really the catechist of the centuries; he formed people’s faith for centuries.

This is a characteristic of St. Peter Canisius: to be able to harmoniously combine fidelity to dogmatic principles with respect due to every person. St. Canisius differentiated a knowing, culpable apostasy from a non-culpable loss of faith, in the circumstances. And he declared, before Rome, that the greater part of Germans who went over to Protestantism were without fault. At a historical moment of strong confessional oppositions, he avoided — this is something extraordinary — the harshness and rhetoric of anger of the time in discussions among Christians, something rare as I said — and he looked only to the presentation of the spiritual roots and to the revitalization of the faith in the Church. His vast and penetrating knowledge of sacred Scripture and of the fathers of the Church served this cause: the same knowledge that supported his personal relationship with God and the austere spirituality that he derived from modern devotion and Rhenish mysticism.

Characteristic of St. Canisius’ spirituality was a profound personal friendship with Jesus. For example, on Sept. 4, 1549, he wrote in his diary, speaking with the Lord: “In the end, as if you opened to me the heart of the Most Sacred Body, which it seemed to me I saw before me, you commanded me to drink from that source, inviting me, so to speak, to attain the waters of my salvation from your founts, O my Savior.”

And then he saw that the Savior gave him a garment with three parts that were called peace, love and perseverance. And with this garment made up of peace, love and perseverance, Canisius carried out his work of renewal of Catholicism. His friendship with Jesus — which is the center of his personality — nourished by love of the Bible, by love of the Sacrament, by love of the Fathers, this friendship was clearly united to the awareness of being a continuer of the mission of the Apostles in the Church. And this reminds us that every genuine evangelizer is always a united instrument with Jesus and the Church and, because of this, fruitful.

St. Peter Canisius was formed in his friendship with Jesus in the spiritual environment of the Carthusian monastery of Cologne, in which he was in close contact with two Carthusian mystics: Johann Lansperger, Latinized into Lanspergius, and Nicholas van Hesche, Latinized into Eschius. Subsequently he deepened the experience of that friendship, familiaritas stupenda nimis, with the contemplation of the mysteries of Jesus’ life, which form a large part of St. Ignatius’ spiritual exercises. His intense devotion to the Lord’s Heart, which culminated in consecration to the apostolic ministry in the Vatican Basilica, has its foundation here.

Rooted in the Christocentric spirituality of St. Peter Canisius is a profound conviction: There is no soul solicitous of its own perfection that does not practice mental prayer every day, an ordinary means that permits the disciple of Jesus to live in intimacy with the divine Master. Because of this, in the writings destined to the spiritual education of the people, our saint insists on the importance of the liturgy with his comments on the Gospels, on feasts, on the rite of the holy Mass and on the sacraments but, at the same time, he is careful to show to the faithful the need and the beauty of personal daily prayer, which should support and permeate participation in the public worship of the Church.

This is an exhortation and a method which preserves their value intact, especially after they were proposed again authoritatively by the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution “Sacrosanctum Concilium”: Christian life does not grow if it is not nourished by participation in the liturgy, particularly in Sunday’s holy Mass, and by personal daily prayer, by personal contact with God. Amid the thousands of activities and the many distractions that surround us, it is necessary to find moments of recollection before the Lord every day to listen to him and to speak with him.

At the same time, the example that St. Peter Canisius has left us, not only in his works, but above all with his life is always timely and of permanent value. He teaches clearly that the apostolic ministry is effective and produces fruits of salvation in hearts only if the preacher is a personal witness of Jesus and is able to be an instrument at his disposal, united closely to him by faith in his Gospel and in his Church, by a morally coherent life and incessant prayer as love. And this is true for every Christian who wishes to live his adherence to Christ with commitment and fidelity.

Credits : Zenit News 

Saint John Cantius -- The Saint Of Christmas Eve

On the northwest side of Chicago, near Milwaukee Avenue and what locals often call the “Polish Triangle” for its strong Polish roots, stands a gorgeous baroque church, known for its traditional liturgies and sacred atmosphere.

Resting amidst the ornately decorated High Altar is a painting of an old man, adorned in scholarly black robes, handing a kneeling girl a jug. In the background, bystanders observe the man and girl, seemingly with awe and wonder, and behind them two princely church steeples overlook the entire scene. Those who have visited  Krakow will immediately identify those steeples as belonging to Saint Mary’s Basilica.

Why does this very Polish painting hang above the altar of a Chicago church? Even the name of the church—Saint John Cantius—doesn’t sound particularly Polish. When one learns that it was founded in 1893 by Polish immigrants, however, and that the name John Cantius translates to “Jan Kanty,” the connection becomes clear.

But who was Jan Kanty, why was he so revered, and what’s going on in the altar painting? In the spirit of All Saints’ Day, let’s learn a bit about this Polish Saint.

His Life and Works:

Born to a wealthy family in the small Polish town of Kęty, near Auschwitz, in 1390, Kanty was christened after Saint John the Baptist. Little is known of his childhood. Indeed, he first appears in the historical record as a student in Krakow’s famed Jagiellonian University in 1413, where he studied philosophy before entering the priesthood.

After ordination, he spent eight years as rector of a clerical school in Miechów. During this period in history, priests and monks dedicated much time to quiet study, and, most of all, copying manuscripts. In this age before the printing press, the only way to replicate anything, was to manually write it out. Kanty spent many hours of his life copying down Holy Scripture and other theological writings.

Today, 18,000 hand-written pages survive, and that’s only believed to be a small fraction of his life’s work.

In 1429, he got a job in the Philosophy Department at Jagiellonian University and worked on earning his doctorate. Soon after, he became director of the school’s Theology Department.

Kanty’s intellectualism was matched only by his piety and dedication to his parishioners and fellow priests.  He developed a reputation as a great listener and mentor, and as one who “lived the Gospel.” He rejected material desires, living in a small room and fasting often. In one story, he was hosting a dinner when a beggar entered the room. Kanty rose from his seat shouting  “Christ is coming!” and offered his seat to the guest. As a priest, among his holy passions was cultivating the Sacrament of the Eucharist and encouraging the faithful to adore and partake in it.

The Miracle of the Jug:

One of the most famous stories surrounding Kanty is the supposed “Miracle of the Jug,” depicted in the painting hanging above the altar in Chicago’s Saint John Cantius Church.

In June of 1464, an elderly Kanty was walking through the market square in Krakow when he observed a weeping girl with a broken jar. It was a servant girl who had been carrying a jug of milk for her stern mistress when she had dropped and broken it. She was crying for fear of punishment. Moved with compassion, Kanty took the broken jar from the girl’s trembling hands and prayed upon it. Miraculously, when he fitted the pieces together, they remained whole and the jug was fixed! He then told the girl to fill the jug with water from a nearby spring. When she did so, Kanty again took the jug and prayed upon it. When he returned it to the girl, the water inside had turned to milk.

Other miraculous tales surround Kanty. In one, as he was walking the streets of Krakow on a cold winter’s night, he saw a beggar freezing on the roadside. Without thinking, Kanty threw his robe over the shivering man. Later, when he arrived home, he found the same robe back in his room. Had the beggar been Christ in disguise ??

Kanty died on Christmas Eve in 1473 and was interred in Jagiellonian University’s Collegiate Church of Saint Anne. In 1767, he was canonized a Saint by Pope Clement XIII. Today, he remains a very popular Polish Saint, in the same league as Saint Maximilian Kolbe and Saint Pope John Paul II.

His Feast Day is celebrated on December 23. 

Three Female Saints Who Promoted Devotion To The Holy Eucharist, His Sacred Heart, and Finally To His Divine Mercy

Among the most beautiful of all Catholic practices are the Solemnities of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the celebration of Divine Mercy. They are part of the Church’s liturgical calendar because God graced three young women, in different eras, to be his instruments in the development and implementation of these special devotions. Juliana of Cornillon (1192-1258), Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90) and Faustina Kowalska (1905-38) were holy women, and though originally unknown to many, were not unknown to God.

Each of them claimed to have received visions and messages from Jesus. While the Church does not ask us to believe personal revelations, the results of their visions and impact on the Catholic faith are undeniable.

Through the divinely inspired revelations of these three young nuns, Holy Mother Church offers prayers, practices, and special celebrations that elevate us above worldly things, and calls us to the loving heart of Jesus, to his body and blood, to his Divine Mercy.

St. Juliana of Cornillon | Corpus Christi

By the early 13th century, the Church faithful were abstaining from receiving holy Communion. It wasn’t that they were not devoted to the Eucharist, but they believed they were unworthy to consume the body of Christ — a belief that was not discouraged by many of the clergy.

A kind of distancing between the clergy and laity began that included a physical separation in many churches; rails and screens were placed between the congregation and the altar. People didn’t receive Communion but wanted to worship the Eucharist by looking at the consecrated host during the elevation. Sometimes they would go from church to church arriving just when the host was being lifted up. Some priests were offered money to hold the consecrated host up for an extended time. The “gazing adoration” was a kind of substitute for consuming the Eucharist. This lack of receiving Communion led the Church to mandate that all Catholics had to receive holy Communion at least during the Easter season (Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council).

Beginning in 1208, Jesus would use a pious, holy and humble nun, St. Juliana of Cornillon, as his instrument to take advantage of the increasing visual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and, at the same time, return the People of God to regularly receiving holy Communion. Juliana would be Christ’s source to establish the feast of Corpus Christi.

Pope Benedict would say of Juliana, “She is little known, but the Church is deeply indebted to her, not only because of the holiness of her life, but also because, with her great fervor, she contributed to the institution of one of the most important solemn liturgies of the year: Corpus Christi.”

St. Juliana of Cornillon was a 13th century mystic.

Born in 1192, near Liege, Belgium, Juliana was orphaned at age 5 and placed in the Augustinian monastery at Mount Cornillon, where she spent most of her entire life. Beginning when she was a teenager, and for several years, she experienced a near continuous vision of a bright moon with a dark line across it. Eventually she had a dream where the Lord explained to her that the moon represented the Church year with all its feasts and the line depicted the lack of such a special day that honored the Eucharist. Jesus asked Juliana to establish a feast day during which the faithful would adore the Blessed Sacrament, when they would seek pardon for the times they had distanced themselves from Jesus in the sacrament.

She was uncertain that she could accomplish the task that Jesus commanded and, on several occasions, asked that the cause be given to someone else. Juliana prayed: “Lord release me, and give the task you have assigned to me to great scholars shining with light of knowledge, who would know how to promote such a great affair. For how could I do it? I am not worthy, Lord, to tell the world about something so noble and exalted. I could not understand it, nor could fulfill it” (“The Feast of Corpus Christi,” Barbara R. Walters, Vincent Corrigan and Peter T. Ricketts). But Jesus had made his choice, and he would be with her, guide her and place others along the way to help.

Juliana waited nearly 20 years, when she had been selected as the superior of her convent, to make her visions known. She delivered the secret to her confessor, Canon John of Lausanne, who, in turn, explained the visions to others outside the convent. The reception was mixed, but one who believed Juliana and recognized the value in a feast day to honor the Eucharist was Robert de Thorete, bishop of Liege. He ordered such a feast within the Liege diocese to begin around 1246. Unfortunately, Bishop Thorete died before the feast was implemented, and it was not added to the diocesesan calendar. The idea more or less was shelved; in fact, some argued that Holy Thursday was already the feast of the Eucharist, as that day celebrated the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus. But Holy Thursday is part of the Triduum, a sad period focused on the passion of Christ. It did not celebrate Jesus in the Eucharist.

As God designed, at the time Juliana made known her visions, there was an archdeacon named Jacques Pantaleon in the Diocese of Liege who favored a feast day dedicated to Jesus. Jacques would become Pope Urban IV (r. 1261-64), and in 1264 he issued a decree supporting the feast day and, at the same time, rejecting the argument about Holy Thursday already recognizing the Eucharist. He issued a papal bull adding the feast to the universal Church calendar, but as was the case with Bishop Thorete, Urban died before the feast was instituted. It would be left to Popes Clement V (r. 1305-14) and John XXII (r. 1316-34) to institute the Corpus Christi feast in the universal Church. In most of the world Corpus Christi is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday and is a holy day of obligation; in the United States the solemnity is moved to Sunday.

Over the centuries, and stemming from Juliana, we have many rituals and devotions during which we eagerly and publicly honor the Eucharist — for example, through processions such as those on the feast of Corpus Christi, and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (Eucharistic adoration) including Forty Hours of adoration. These rituals and special events draw us closer to Jesus. Of course, such activity is capped by receiving Jesus in holy Communion.

Corpus Christi procession and traditions

Eucharistic processions are held all around the world on the feast of Corpus Christi. Some traditions process the Blessed Sacrament from one house of worship to another. Others entail parishioners setting up altars in their front yards to display the monstrance. Still, few traditions are as vibrant as those seen in some countries, such as Poland and Spain, where colorful carpets guide the procession route. In Spycimierz, Poland, a small village with a population of less than 400 people, pilgrims and tourists flock every year to witness the flower carpets arranged for the feast of Corpus Christi. The path depicts Bible scenes, images of the Eucharist and the sacraments, and intricate designs all created from flower petals set upon beds of sand, leaves and grass. Following Mass on Corpus Christi, the Blessed Sacrament is led down this path, and many locals join in full traditional dress to celebrate the occasion. This tradition has continued for more than 200 years. Similarly, in Elche de la Sierra, near Albacete, Spain, residents cover the streets with alfombras de serrin (carpets of sawdust) during the early morning hours of Corpus Christi. Imitating the flower carpets from other parts of the world, a small group in 1964 started their own tradition of using multi-colored sawdust to create elaborate street murals. Over 50 years later, the entire district participates in a large festival, and though it has become a secular event, the Eucharistic procession is still a main part of the day.

St. Margaret Mary | Sacred Heart of Jesus

Every liturgical year on the third Friday following the great feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The heart has always represented the whole person, and the heart of Jesus is the symbol of his eternal love for us. The solemnity is our opportunity to acknowledge his love and offer repentance for the times when we have ignored his affection.
It was a young nun named Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Visitation order at Paray-le-Monial, France, who would become Jesus’ conduit to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the Roman Church.

This is an ancient devotion that began when the Roman soldier stuck his spear into the side of our crucified savior and God’s grace, in the form of water and blood, flowed from his side, from his heart. Saints, theologians, writers and individuals have long recognized the Sacred Heart as the source of endless blessings, mercy and love. But for centuries it was mostly a personal devotion.
In the 17th century,

Catholicism was under attack from the spread of Protestantism and the heretical beliefs of Jansenism. The Jansenists, who were Catholics, claimed that only a chosen few people would reach heaven and that God was to be feared. They degraded the humanity of Jesus, including his heart, and wanted the Church to return to rigorous penances of the past. Both Protestantism and Jansenism impacted the fervor the faithful had for many Church teachings, including devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus would confront this falling away through Sister Margaret Mary.

Beginning in 1673 and over a period of more than 18 months, Sister Margaret Mary claimed to have received visions during which our Lord Jesus displayed his Sacred Heart as the symbol of his love for mankind and told Sister Margaret Mary that she was to be his instrument to spread a universal devotion to his divine heart.

In one vision, Jesus appeared with his “divine heart, enthroned, as it were, in flames, was surrounded by a crown of thorns, and the wound it had received was still open, while a cross more brilliant than the sun, surmounted all”

According to Margaret Mary, Jesus told her that despite loving mankind so much that he gave his life for them, he was being treated with irreverence, coldness and ingratitude. He wanted the world to recognize the love he continually poured out for them symbolized by his Sacred Heart and for mankind to make amends for their ingratitude.

He urged Sister Margaret Margret to begin a personal devotion to his divine heart by receiving holy Communion every first Friday and spending an hour in prayer the night before, both focused on seeking his pardon and making prayerful reparations for mankind’s desertion of his love.
In another vision, Jesus asked her to establish a Church feast day to honor his Sacred Heart, one to be held on the third Friday following Pentecost. On that day, those faithful to Jesus would attend Mass, receive holy Communion, profess their love and offer reparations for the way he had been insulted by mankind. These visions are the basis for the first Friday devotions and the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we have today. The love and compassion of Jesus’ heart dispels the heresies of Jansenism.

When Margaret Mary first attempted to explain the visions, many around her were skeptical. It was St. Claude de la Colombiere, her spiritual adviser, who recognized the holiness, fervor and sincerity of Margaret Mary. Even when she was believed, as a cloistered nun there was little she could do to foster her visions outside of her order. Thus it was St. Colombiere, along with St. John Eudes, who would continue promoting a Sacred Heart feast day to the faithful and to the Holy See. Pope Pius XII (r. 1939-58), in his encyclical Haurietis Aquas, wrote: “The most distinguished place among those who have fostered this most excellent type of devotion [Sacred Heart] is held by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque who, under the spiritual direction of Blessed Claude de la Colombiere who assisted her work, was on fire with an unusual zeal to see to it that the real meaning of the devotion which had had such extensive developments to the great edification of the faithful should be established and be distinguished from other forms of Christian piety by the special qualities of love and reparation” (No. 95).

Universal approval eventually came from the Vatican in August 1856 during the reign of Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-78). In 1899, Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878-1903), encouraged by Catholics around the world, consecrated the human race to the Sacred Heart. In our time, the devotion is celebrated every first Friday Mass, and the solemnity is part of the Church liturgical calendar.

The devotion is acknowledged through numerous prayers and depicted in thousands of images, including the image of Our Lord holding his flaming compassionate and merciful heart. Many homes are consecrated to the Sacred Heart. During Eucharistic adoration we revere the Sacred Heart in our Benediction prayers: “May the heart of Jesus, in the most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection, at every moment in all the tabernacles of the world, even until the end of time.”

Margaret Mary died in 1690 and was canonized in 1920. Some argue that, like in the 17th century, our fervor for the Sacred Heart is again waning today. Turning to the visions and words of Margaret Mary, once again we can rally to this symbol, this source of Christ’s love.

Promises of Jesus to Margaret Mary for anyone who practices devotion to the Sacred Heart

1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life. 2. I will establish peace in their homes. 3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions. 4. I will be their secure refuge during life and above all in death. 5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings. 6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. 7. Tepid souls shall become fervent. 8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to great perfection. 9. I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored. 10. I will give to priests the gifts of touching the most hardened hearts. 11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be blotted out. 12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the first Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in my disgrace without receiving their sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their refuge in this last moment. Source: “Modern Catholic Dictionary,” Father John A. Hardon

St. Faustina | Divine Mercy

Between 1931 and 1938, a young nun named Sister Maria Faustina claimed to have experienced a series of visions, messages and conversations in which our Lord Jesus asked her to establish a devotion to his Divine Mercy.

Helen Kowalska, Sr. Maria Faustina, from the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Warsaw, was born near Lodz, Poland, in 1905. When she was 20 she entered the convent and lived there her entire life. She began receiving messages and visions of Jesus soon thereafter. Faustina documented all these episodes — over 1,800 entries — in her diary that today is a classic book called “Divine Mercy in My Soul.” She was a prophet, a mystic, graced with many supernatural gifts. Her deep love of the Eucharist and love of the Blessed Mother were likely among the reasons Jesus chose her to share his message of mercy.

The messages imparted to Faustina were received during an era of growing unrest throughout Europe: economic disaster, Hitler and the Nazis were taking over Germany, as were Mussolini and the fascists in Italy. The first concentration camps were built, and the German anti-Jewish Nuremberg laws were passed. Control of most European countries was increasingly in the hands of tyrants, which led to the horrors of World War II. All this came on the heels of World War I that had ended less than 25 years earlier. Jesus told Faustina that “mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to my mercy” (Diary, No. 300).

The diary reflects that to attain the divine mercy of Jesus, mankind needs a trustful relationship with Our Savior. Jesus tells Faustina repeatedly that we can depend on his love, his mercy if only we turn to him, repent of our sins and trust in him: “Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would my mercy not embrace a trusting soul” (Diary, No. 1777). He also repeatedly told her that he wanted her to establish a feast of mercy and hold that celebration on the first Sunday after Easter.

He said: “My daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. I desire that the feast of mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially poor sinners. On that day the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy. The soul that will go to confession and receive holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. … My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter” (Diary, No. 699) The mercy of Christ that we receive is then shared with our neighbor; as he is merciful to us, we are to be merciful to them.

After St. Faustina died in 1938, the original diary was rewritten by members of Faustina’s order and, based on the contents of that version, both the diary and proposed devotion in 1959 were banned by the Vatican. It was 19 years later that a review of the original documents of Sister Faustina led to the lifting of the ban.

On April 30, 2000, Faustina would be the first person canonized in the new millennia. Pope St. John Paul II (r. 1978-2005) not only elevated Sister Faustina Kowalska to the altar of sainthood, but he said during his canonization homily that “from now on throughout the Church [the second Sunday of Easter] will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” Certain religious groups are advocating for St. Faustina to be named a Doctor of the Church.

When we attend a Divine Mercy celebration on that special Sunday, we are touched by the beautiful prayers that Jesus gave to Faustina: “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.” And then, “For the sake of his sorrowful passion have mercy on us and on the whole world. Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world” (Diary, No. 476).

In many Catholic churches, there is a picture known as the Image of Divine Mercy.  According to St. Faustina’s diary, this is how the picture came about: “In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand [was] raised in the gesture of a blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, two large rays, one red, the other pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord; my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, ‘Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then] throughout the word'” (Diary, No. 47). Credits : Our Sunday Visitor, August 1, 2019

Saint John Of The Cross -- An Awesome and Amazing Carmelite

These main events in the short life of St. John of the Cross do not leave us with the full picture of his character and personal spirituality. His early first-hand acquaintance with deprivation, the later misunderstandings and imprisonment, the final persecution that he suffered, all might more easily have brought forth a bitter cynic; instead, the result was a man purified and enlightened. Events outwardly sad but inwardly transforming bore fruits in charity toward others and deep compassion for the sufferer. Together with these came a rare, clear vision of the beauty of God's creation and an intimacy with the Blessed Trinity that John found somewhat describable only through comparisons to the life of glory.

But first, regarding the physical appearance of Friar John of the Cross, he was a small man, measuring four feet, eleven inches. Whenever St. Teresa referred to him she seemed almost obliged to use the diminutive. In describing his imprisonment, she writes: "For the whole nine months he was in a small prison where, little as he is, there was not enough room for him to move." He was also thin, but his lean, oval face and his broad forehead, receding into baldness, gave him a venerable appearance.

His nose was slightly aquiline, his eyes dark and large. Rounding off this figure of Friar John was his old, rough, brown habit and a white cloak so coarse it seemed made of goat hair.

Marked by the poverty he suffered as a child and even as a friar, he found it hard to ignore others in the distress of material need. With his penitents he did not limit himself to seeking their spiritual good, but he looked for ways to help them when they were in want. Sometimes he gave them alms from the meager funds of the monastery, or sometimes he begged alms for them from other devout people. Noticing once that a priest who came to him for confession was wearing a worn-out cassock, he asked some benefactors for money to buy the priest a new one. He grieved over the poverty of many of the nuns at the Incarnation who didn't have the material resources enjoyed by those from well-to-do families.

One day, entering the convent for his ministry, he saw a nun sweeping the floor barefooted, and doing so not out of penance but because she had no shoes. Immediately he trudged up to the city and asked some charitable persons for money, which he in turn gave to the nun so she could buy shoes for herself. Then there was the year 1584, a year of barrenness and hunger in Andalusia. As prior in Granada John did everything he could to help with either food or money all the needy who came to the monastery gate. Those of higher lineage he helped secretly because, even though in want, they were ashamed to beg openly.

Finding the poor wherever he journeyed, he also found the sick. He began to understand intimately the affliction of the latter during his hospital work as a youth in Medina. Taking pains to show the most delicate sympathy for the sick, he knew how to care for them, comfort them, and give them hope. He would not allow the question of money to interfere with his desire to give his sick friars the best possible care. He once asked a doctor if there were any remedy for a lay brother who was undergoing extraordinary suffering. The doctor answered that the only medicine he knew was very expensive and would do no more than relieve the suffering somewhat. Despite the penury of the community John sent for the medicine and administered it to the sick brother himself, and did so happily. On arriving at a monastery he always made it a point first to greet the sick after his visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

Quick to perceive sadness or depression in another and eager to comfort the downcast, he could appreciate humor. Surprisingly, witnesses have told of his gift for humor and the enjoyment he got from making others laugh. They looked forward to having him present.

As prior he accepted the responsibility of having to call others to account, but he was intent on not discouraging anyone. His opinion was that people "become pusillanimous in undertaking works of great virtue when they are treated harshly by superiors." Nor did he think he had the answers to all problems. His practice was to consult others in the community, a method of government that helped to create an atmosphere of serenity. Being a saint does not free one from the capacity for making mistakes, nor does being a superior, and John once remarked of himself at the end of his life: "When I recall the foolish mistakes I made as superior, I blush."

Human needs are not only material and psychological; there are distinctive spiritual needs as well. In his oral teaching John used to point out that the more you love God the more you desire that all people love and honor him and as the desire grows you work harder toward that end, both in prayer and in all other possible works. His preferred work was spiritual direction, whereby he could help to free individuals from their moral and spiritual illnesses.

In this endeavor he did not spare himself, so special was his awareness of our exalted destiny. From university professor to humble, unlettered shepherds' wives, people of all classes felt the allure of his confessional. The ease the humble lay sister, Catalina de la Cruz, experienced in his presence is evident in the kind of question she once asked him: "Why when I go to the garden do the frogs jump in the water?" Quickly seizing an opportunity to draw out a spiritual lesson, John replied that it was because they felt safe in the depth of the pool and "that is what you must do, flee from creatures and hide yourself in God." Sinners also found their way to him without fear. "The holier a confessor," he used to say, "the less fear one should have of him."

In his spiritual direction of others John focused on communion with God in faith, hope, and love, called by some the "theological life." This life is both active and passive and encompasses everything, from the first steps in Christian living to the highest reaches of the mystical journey. In an age that found severe austerities a fascinating and necessary part of spiritual pursuit, his ascetical teaching pointed to faith, hope, and love as the way to sanctity in the following of Christ.

But his deepest concern was for those who were suffering in their spiritual life. The needs of souls struggling with inner trials stirred him to write The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night. If his intense portrayal of the afflictions of the dark night can prove frightening to some, his desire in so presenting them was to include everyone by describing these sufferings in their extreme form. He wanted everyone to find comfort in the thought that however severe it may be, purification is still the work of God's gentle hand, clearing away the debris of attachment and making room for the divine light. Pain for him was not a misfortune but a value when suffered with and for Christ.

Nothing about John's life indicates that he thought he should have a specialist's priorities in the use of his time. He participated in all the different tasks necessary to keep a community running. We find him in the choir, the confessional, the kitchen, weeding the garden, decorating the altars, making architectural plans, joining in construction work, visiting the sick and, of course, writing.

Hard physical labor, small and delicate though he was, seemed to attract him. Was it his way of protesting the thought of the Illuminists who held that the servants of God should not undertake manual labor? At both Granada and Segovia, when these monasteries were being built, he joined the workmen in quarrying stone for the construction.

At Beas, when free from counseling the nuns he would do chores for them, setting up partitions, laying bricks, and scrubbing floors.

He observed how creatures can enslave and darken and torment. But the deceptive delights of those who are attached to creatures cannot compare with the joy of people who are detached from them. Beholding in creation a trace of the divine beauty, power, and loving wisdom, John could not easily resist the enchantment of nature.

Because he missed the lyric country solitude of El Calvario after founding the student college in Baeza, he acquired some property in the country, making it possible for him and the young Carmelites to escape from the bustling city. He would take the friars out to the mountains, sometimes for the sake of relaxation, "to prevent their wanting to leave the monastery from spending too much time in it," as he once remarked; sometimes, so that each might pass the day alone there "in solitary prayer." At Segovia he had his favorite grotto, hollowed out by nature, high up on the back bluff overlooking a marvelous stretch of sky, river, and landscape. He grew to love this silent grotto and spent all the time he could spare there.

John's letters exhibit the warmth with which he usually communed with others. But his brother Francisco seems to have given him special happiness. He used to introduce Francisco by saying, "May I introduce you to my brother, who is the treasure I value most in the world." St. Teresa, also, it should go without saying, awakened in him particular admiration, so much so that he carried her portrait about with him.

Accompanying the outward, evangelical simplicity of his manner was a soul on fire, like Teresa's. Of his intimacy with God he once admitted in Granada: "God communicates the mystery of the Trinity to this sinner in such a way that if His Majesty did not strengthen my weakness by a special help, it would be impossible for me to live." Overwhelmed with awareness of God's goodness, he was frequently heard to exclaim, "Oh, what a good God we have!"

Requiring little sleep, he spent much of the night in prayer, sometimes kneeling at the altar steps before the Blessed Sacrament; at other times he knelt beneath the trees in the garden, and sometimes at the window of his cell, from which he could look out at the heavens and all the countryside. In the latter years of his brief life, his absorption in God could become so profound that he experienced difficulty in attending to ordinary affairs, secretly having to hit his knuckles against the wall so as not to lose the trend of conversation.

His experience of God was always rooted in the life of the Church, nourished by the sacraments and the liturgy. Witnesses of his life spoke of the devotion with which he celebrated Mass. A center of his contemplation, Mass often proved to be an occasion for special graces. During the celebration he could become so lost in God that he had no consciousness of his surroundings. His greatest suffering during the imprisonment in Toledo was being deprived of the Eucharist.

The Blessed Sacrament was "all his glory, all his happiness, and for him far surpassed all the things of the earth." The one privilege he accepted when major superior in Segovia was the cell closest to the Blessed Sacrament.

The liturgical feasts and seasons meant more than an external commemoration; they were the occasion of an interior transformation in the spirit of the mystery being celebrated. On the day before Christmas he used to organize with the friars a kind of paraliturgical procession to recall how Mary and Joseph went in search of lodging for the divine Infant.

At Christmas time above all he felt his heart pulsate with love for the Child Jesus. One Christmas, seeing a statue of the Infant lying on a cushion, he cried out, "Lord, if love is to slay me, the hour has now come." Another Christmas, taken with love, he took the statue of the Infant in his arms and began to dance with enraptured joy.

His countenance, in fact, corresponded with the Church's liturgy. Once during Holy Week he suffered so intensely from the Passion of Christ that he found it impossible to leave the monastery to hear the nuns' confessions. Among his favorite feasts, besides those of the Blessed Trinity and Corpus Christi, were the feasts of the Blessed Virgin. In his prison cell, on the Vigil of the Assumption, after nine months of severe privation, he was asked what he was thinking of. He replied, "I was thinking that tomorrow is the feast of our Lady and that it would give me great joy to say Mass."

The sight of an image of the Mother of God brought love and brightness to his soul. Once, on seeing an image of our Lady while he was preaching to the nuns in Caravaca, he could not conceal his love for her and exclaimed: "How happy I would be to live alone in a desert with that image."

The Bible, the book he cherished most of all, helped him to enter into intimacy with the three Persons of the Trinity. He loved to withdraw to hidden parts of the monastery with his Bible. While he was in Lisbon, the other friars urged him to come with them to visit a famed stigmatic of that city, but he refused; drawn by the ocean, he remained on the shore reading his Bible while the others went off to observe the curious phenomenon.

From his Bible and his nearness to God, John knew that loving confidence in Providence was the appropriate response to life's worries and anxieties. He observed that when God, like a loving mother, wants to carry us, we kick and cry and insist on walking by ourselves, and get nowhere. Some thought that since he was prior of a poor monastery he should show more concern about material needs. They would have liked him to worry. But his habit of seeing the hand of God in all things contributed, in fact, to an air of peace and calm.

This was his way, too, in persecution. He saw the hand of God there and urged others not to speak uncharitably of his persecutors, but to think "only that God ordains all." He wrote that trust in God should be so great that even if the whole world were to collapse one should not become disturbed. Enduring things with equanimity reaps many blessings, he said, and helps a person in the middle of adversity to make an appropriate judgment and find the right option.

This total trust in God gave him peace in his final illness. Being reminded of all he had suffered, he replied with these remarkable words: "Padre, this is not the time to be thinking of that; it is by the merits of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that I hope to be saved."

Our Lady Of Guadalupe -- The Woman Of Life

Elena Rubio, a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, was five years old when she first heard the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“It was on a family trip to Mexico,” she recalled. “Back then, I couldn’t figure out whether the Virgin Mary and this lady were the same person. Then my mom told me that Our Lady of Guadalupe had appeared in Mexico, and I was totally intrigued. I was fascinated, because it seemed to be a real thing, something with proof left behind.”

For Rubio and millions of other Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, December 12th holds special significance. It marks the date in 1531 when the Virgin Mary appeared to an indigenous Mexican, in the last of several apparitions.

To the present day, Our Lady of Guadalupe remains a powerful symbol of Mexican identity and faith, and her image is associated with everything from motherhood to feminism to social justice.

Across the U.S., many of the faithful will be attending mass; in some communities like Des Plaines, Illlinois the mass is preceded by a pilgrimage to a venerated shrine for the beloved virgin.

Rubio is continuing the religious tradition, telling her own young children about Our Lady of Guadalupe. “It’s interesting how, in our culture, she is still so prevalent and recognizable. She is still revered, like the ultimate symbol of goodness.” Rubio revealed to NBC News that in her home, she has Our Lady of Guadalupe artwork, icons, and even a small nightlight bearing her image. “I guess she’s watching over us,” Rubio laughed.

According to lore, it was a winter’s day in 1531 when the Virgin Mary first appeared to Juan Diego, a peasant, as he was crossing a hillside near present-day Mexico City. She appeared as a dark-skinned woman who spoke Nahuatl, Juan Diego’s native language. This woman asked Juan Diego to build her a little house, a casita, on the hill. Twice Juan Diego reported this to his local bishop, who didn’t believe him. The second time, the bishop asked for proof of the apparitions.

Early on the morning of December 12th, the lady appeared again to Juan Diego and told him to gather some flowers at the top of the hill – a strange request because flowers were not in season in December. Juan Diego did as he was instructed, and found an array of Castilian roses. The lady helped him arrange them in his tilma (cloak), and he returned to the bishop with them as evidence. As Juan Diego presented the tilma to the bishop, the flowers tumbled out and the two men discovered a life-size image of the Virgin Mary on the inside of the cloak. This image is known as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

To Jeanette Rodriguez, author of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Faith and Empowerment Among Mexican-American Women, there are aspects of this story that make it unique. She finds it significant that the apparition chose to appear to a peasant.

“That makes sense, because God always chooses the people the world rejects,” she said. “The Lady of Guadalupe also offered a different brand of faith. She didn’t say, go to church or say the rosary. She said ‘If you love me, trust me and believe in me, I will respond.’”

The historical context of this story is important, according to Rodriguez, a professor at Seattle University. The apparitions were seen only ten years after the conquest of central Mexico by the Spanish, at a time when the indigenous people of the Americas were devastated.

The notion of a brown-skinned Mary figure was critical to the eventual conversion of millions of indigenous people to Roman Catholicism.

“When indigenous people saw Guadalupe’s image on the cloak, they could recognize the symbols surrounding her; the sun, the stars, the southern cross, and the placement of her hands indicating a gesture of offering,” Rodriguez said.

The sash around Our Lady of Guadalupe’s waist, Rodriguez explained, indicates that she is with child – one of the rare depictions of the mother of God as pregnant.

Today the Basilica of Guadalupe stands on the site where Our Lady of Guadalupe is said to have appeared to Juan Diego. It is one of the top attractions in Mexico, drawing millions of tourists and pilgrims every year. The cloak bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is on display, its colors seemingly not faded after hundreds of years.

December 12th became a national holiday in Mexico in 1859. 

Pope Pius XXII crowned Our Lady of Guadalupe “Empress of the Americas” in 1945, and she has long been recognized as the patron saint of Mexico.

The Immaculate Conception and The Holy Eucharist

Wherever you find a love for, and a devotion to, the Virgin Mother of God, invariably you will find a more fervent response to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We could never speak in terms of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God had it not been for Mary who channeled that human body and human soul to Him for us to eat and to drink. Some would say that Mary’s union with her Divine Son in Holy Communion from the hand of St. John the Apostle was more intimate, even closer, than when the Son of God was wrapped for nine months in her own immaculate flesh. The fully human consciousness of Jesus is present in the Risen Lord of the Holy Eucharist.

Mary is the Mediatrix of All Grace, especially the greatest grace and gift of them all: Her Divine Son in the Sacrament of His Love. She it was who stood so bravely beside Him at the foot of His Cross during his first Mass as He hung there dying, making available to us until the end of time His most Precious Body and Blood. A Father of the Church went so far as to say that Mary would have been willing to slay Her Divine Son with her own hands, if that were God’s will, just as Abraham was prepared to slay his son Isaac at the request of God. The only measure of Mary’s love is always to be without measure, just as with Jesus on the Cross and on the Altar.

Isn’t it true: we do well the things we prepare well for? When God the Father sent God the Son into this world, He was not too particular about His Son’s food or clothing or lodging; but He was most particular about the appointments of His mother. She had to be perfect; and she was in virtue of her Immaculate Conception. Mary can teach us too to ready the homes of our hearts for Jesus’ coming in Holy Communion. Listen to her! Imitate her readiness: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Thy Word.” That was Mary’s “Fiat.” The priest echoes Mary’s “Fiat” over the bread and wine at Holy Mass: “This is My Body. This is My Blood.”

Mary’s shrines throughout the world are the refuge of sinners where countless numbers repent to be prepared for the Holy Eucharist, perhaps after many years of wandering about in the midst. No doubt it was Mary who dried the tears of St. Peter after he had denied Jesus three times so that he might return to the Altar. Mary is the Mother of the Good Shepherd who will still feed us with His Body and Blood, his Truth and His Love so that we will not faint on the way.

Pray for us sinners, Mary, at the hour of our death, too, that we might receive Holy Viaticum, our food for our trip into Eternity.

Our Lady Of Ostrabrama

The original of the holy image of Our Lady of Ostrabrama is housed in the chapel of the Dawn Gate of Vilnius, Lithuania.

The original painting is 163 x 200 cm and was painted by an unknown artist on 8 oak planks around 1630. It was covered with silver and gold around 1671. The head of Our Lady is adorned with two crowns. Two little angels lower the crown with colored glass inlays upon the smaller crown. The two crowns, made of pure gold, were blessed by Pope Pius XI in 1927. On July 2, 1927 a coronation ceremony took place and the painting received the title of Mother of Mercy.

The painting is an unusual portrayal of Mary since she is depicted without the infant Jesus.

The painting depicts the many facets of Mary. Her head is gently leaning to her right, her eyes are half closed, her hands are crossed in devotion. This reminds us that she is a virgin, humble servant of the Lord, merciful mother and patron of the people. At the same time, her head is surrounded by sun rays and her body is covered in elaborate gold and silver clothes and crowns. These are the symbols of her divine and majestic role as the Queen of Heaven.

The history of Our Lady of the Dawn, who is also known as Our Lady of Ostra Brama, begins in 1386. In that year prince Władysław Jagiełło (1351 – 1434) of Lithuania married the Polish princess Jadwiga. As part of the contact for marriage Jagiełło pledged the conversion of the Lithuanian people to Christianity. The marriage resulted in the joining of Poland and Lithuania into a Commonwealth of Nations. With the advent of Christianity, Marian devotions were introduced by princess Jadwiga.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (or The Commonwealth of the Two Nations, Rzeczpospolita Oboja Narodów in Polish) was a federal monarchy-republic formed by the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania and which was governed by an elected monarch.

Due to frequent attacks on the Lithuanian lands from the Tartars and regular conflicts with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, in 1503 Grand Duke Alexander of Lithuania granted the city of Vilnius a privilege to build fortifications of brick and stone around the entire city. The Gate of Dawn was built between 1503 and 1522 as a part of these defensive fortifications for the city of Vilnius. It has also been known as the Medininkai Gate, as it led to the village Medininkai south of Vilnius. 

In the Lithuanian language this gate was commonly known as ‘Auros Vartai’ (the gate of dawn). The Polish speaking population knew it as ‘Ostra Brama’ (the sharp gate).

Of the nine city gates, only the Gate of Dawn remains, while the others were destroyed.

Above each of the gates the people of the town placed an image of the Blessed Virgin. in the 16th century city gates often contained religious artifacts intended to guard the city from attacks and to bless travelers. About a century later, the Carmelite Order took over one of the parish churches in the vicinity of the southeastern gate of the town.

In 1655 the army of Moscow set fire to the city of Vilnius and most of the town was destroyed. The fire lasted seventeen days. However, the image above the Ostra Brama gate survived without any damage. This strongly encouraged the people’s devotion toward it and attracted many pilgrims. Since then it is considered a miraculous symbol of Lithuanian and Polish independence.

Between 1671 and 1761 seventeen more miracles attributed to the Lady in this image were chronicled. One story tells of a boy who fell from the second floor of a building and died. When his mother prayed before Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn he revived.

In 1702, when Swedes occupied Vilnius, it was forbidden to worship the icon publicly and to gather in the street. During the liberation fight of the gates, the icon of Our Lady was damaged by a shot. In 1711 the Chapel holding the image burned completely, but not before the miraculous painting was carried out of the fire by a young monk. For 20 years, the painting resided in the Church of St. Teresa. A new Chapel was subsequently built by the gate and the miraculous painting was reinstalled with great ceremony.

In 1799 Russian forces began to destroy the walls and gates of Vilnius. Inexplicably the Ostra Brama gate was left untouched.

In 1829, the chapel took on the style of the late Classicism. The chapel was built so that the faithful could pray in front of it in the street, because the entrance to the chapel was from the monastery's garden, and lay people, especially women, were not allowed to enter there. During the reconstruction work in 1828-1829, the side windows were enlarged to reach the floor level.

The chapel was renovated in 1931-1932. During the Second World War and the Nazi German occupation of Lithuania the Archbishop of Vilnius decided that the miraculous picture should stay in the town. During the Russian communist occupation of Lithuania the chapel of Ostra Brama remained open.

On September 4, 1993 Pope John Paul II said The Rosary at the Gate of Dawn Chapel.

Prayer

Prayer to The Mother of God of Ostra Brama Mother of Mercy

From St Faustina Maria Kowalska’s Diary

“O Mary, my Mother and my Lady, I offer you my soul, my body, my life and my death, and all that will follow it. I place everything in your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart, soul and body. Defend me with your power against all enemies, and especially against those who hide their malice behind the mask of virtue (79). Fortify my soul that pain will not break it. Mother of grace, teach me to live by God’s power (315).” “O Mary … a terrible sword has pierced your holy soul. Except for God, no one knows of your suffering. Your soul does not break; it is brave, because it is with Jesus. Sweet Mother, unite my soul to Jesus, because it is only then that I will be able to endure all trials and tribulations, and only in union with Jesus will my little sacrifices be pleasing to God. Sweetest Mother, continue to teach me about the interior life. May the sword of suffering never break me. O pure Virgin, pour courage into my heart and guard it (915).”

The messages concealed in the bronze ciborium of St. Charles Borromeo

The ciborium, which dominates the main altar of the Duomo di Milano, is the heart of the Cathedral’s Eucharistic life.

It could be considered the architectural element that, more than others, recalls the legacy of St. Charles’ Liturgical Reform (ca. 1580), specifically regarding the themes narrated in bronze, but we shall take a few steps back in time to understand why.

When Card. Charles Borromeo came to Milan in 1565 as Archbishop, he appointed Pellegrino Tibaldi (called Pellegrini), architect of Veneranda Fabbrica from 1567 to 1585, to create a new presbytery that would implement the Counter-Reformation model of the church in the Duomo to celebrate Eucharistic worship even outside the mass, thus contrasting the Lutheran negation of the actual presence of Christ in bread and wine.

Hence, the Holy Eucharist was given the utmost importance in symbolic references and in the episodes portrayed.

St. Charles’ project followed a solution that had already been proposed by Nicolò Ormaneto, Borromeo’s Vicar General during his absence from Milan in 1564-65. The tower-shaped tabernacle lifted by angels (it was donated by Pius IV, at the time Giovanni Angelo Medici, to his nephew Charles Borromeo during his episcopacy) was placed at the centre of the monumental bronze ciborium, which was designed ex novo.

Visually the displayed presence of the Holy Eucharist in the presbytery formed the one-point perspective not only of the Cathedral’s architectural lines. In fact, it also summarised the spiritual tension dictated by usinf the presbytery both for festive celebrations and as weekday chapel.
The faithful had to solely focus on the ciborium, while the former altar was turned into the base of the ciborium itself. Hence, adoration and worship were emphasised.

The ciborium designed and constructed by Pellegrino Tibaldi in the 1580s features 8 bronze Corinthian columns with capitals and golden details. They support a dome that is lined, both inside and outside, with embossed, gold-plated bronze sheets. The circular architrave that embraces the perimeter of the dome counts 8 bronze angels with the symbols of the Passion. An almost life-size statue of the Blessing Resurrected Christ is placed at the top.

This construction stands on a composite-shaped base that includes four steps to access the tabernacle and a complex shape that develops to a height of ca. 10 m with maximum width 6 m. The tabernacle alone, which is placed at its centre, is 2.30 m high with base diameter ca. 1 m. The latter, one of the most precious masterpieces of art, was made in Rome, designed by Pirro Ligorio and cast in bronze on a model by Aurelio, Gerolamo and Lodovico, the Solaro brothers from Lombardy who designed the creation.

There are many references to the Holy Eucharistic, precisely decorations with grape vines and ears of wheat, the life of Jesus depicted in 8 scenes in the lower base, Melchisedech’s offering presented as the first episode narrated, after Prophet Elijah with the bread, the food the angel brought him for his long journey. An actual example of the Counter-Reformation’s new expressiveness.

The ciborium was the source of deep architectural, spatial and artistic inspiration, and became the model for many variations during the subsequent European Baroque period.

The restoration of the ciborium was completed in 2015. All operations concerning metal parts and cleaning were performed by three highly qualified restorers under the guidance of Dr. Stefano Lanuti, owner of Studio Angelucci. Workers from Veneranda Fabbrica’s Construction Site provided a crucial contribution for all that concerned handling and disassembling the various parts.

A Eucharistic Prayer Of Saint Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.

Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.

May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God; may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably.

Amen.

Our God Is A Fabulous God

Can U Imagine This -- There are 80,000 Humpback Whales That Come To Breed and Live Off The Australian Coastline.

Off The Western Australian Coastline there are 45,000 Humpback Whales and Off The Eastern Australian Coastline there are 35,000 Humpback Whales.

Australia is really blessed in more ways than one with a variety of Marine Mammals like Pygmy Blue Whales, Southern Right Whales and Most Importantly Humpback Whales.

Additionally, Off The Brazilian Coastline there are 25,000 Humpback Whales.

Off The South African Coastline in the Western Indian Ocean there are 30,000 Humpback Whales.

This Only Means That Our God is a Fabulous God who blesses us with the best of "MARINE MAMMALS" to appreciate but do we ever take the time to appreciate them. 

Credits : Whale Watch Western Australia and National Geographic

Saint Juan Diego --- A Humble Peasant Who Loved The Blessed Mother

Every weekend, Juan Diego walked nine miles to the nearest church to attend Mass and learn more about his faith. He lived during the Aztec Empire, which practiced human sacrifice to keep the gods happy. When the Spanish arrived, they brought missionaries to convert the people to Christianity but had limited success.

However, Juan and his wife were baptized into the Catholic Faith. They were one of the first Catholic married couples in the New World.

On one of those journeys, December 9, 1531, an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego. His devotion to her and her request led to his canonization in 2002 and the conversion of countless people. As Juan Diego travelled near Tepeyac Hill, he heard an unusually beautiful birdsong. As he reached the top of the hill, a voice called his name and he saw before him a beautiful woman shining like the sun. She told him she was Mary, the mother of the true God as well as his own compassionate mother. She asked him to deliver a message to Friar Juan de Zumarraga requesting the construction of a Shrine on Tepeyac Hill.

Taking a Different Path:

Juan Diego took the request to the friar, but the friar was skeptical and sent him away. Friar Zumarraga was working hard to combat the idolatry of the time and was reluctant to believe the humble Juan Diego.

When he returned to Tepeyac Hill and saw Mary for the second time, he begged her to find someone more respected and important to give the message to the Friar. he said:

“’I am really just a man from the country, I am the porter’s rope … just a tail, a wing’” (Anderson, Sanchez 11).

She replied that she wanted him to relay the message and ordered him to return.

At the second meeting, Friar Zumarraga asked for proof that Juan Diego is in fact carrying a message from the Virgin Mary.  Juan Diego left, confident he could get the evidence needed. When he returned home he found his uncle was very sick and in need of a priest for his final confession. On December 12, Juan Diego set out, wrapped in a tilma to keep warm, and as he passed Tepeyac Hill, he remembered he had to go see the Virgin Mary again. He took a different path, hoping to avoid her but she appeared anyway. He explained that his uncle was dying and promised to return after he found a priest.

The Plain Tilma of Peasants:

Mary comforted him and reminded him of her love.  She told him not worry about his uncle’s illness. She directed him to the top of the hill where he would find flowers to take to the friar as proof. Despite the cold winter weather and the rocky ground, he found the flowers. He gathered them and brought them to Mary who arranged them in his tilma. In his culture, flowers were a symbol of truth.
He returned to the friar but the servants would not let him in. Curious, they asked what he held in his tilma and when he showed them, the flowers suddenly appeared as if someone painted them onto the tilma.

The servants then let him in and when he opened the tilma to show the friar, the flowers spilled out and revealed an image of the Virgin Mary on the fabric. The Friar realized that this was truly a message from God.

It was through Juan Diego’s tilma that Mary gave “a new and elevated dignity to the common person and especially the Indian” (Anderson, Sanchez 19). In that time, only those who were wealthy and noble had decorated tilmas. The peasants wore plain ones.

Exposed and Unblemished :

While Mary was giving the flowers to Juan Diego, she was also visiting his uncle. She healed him from his illness and told him to call her “Holy Mary of Guadalupe.”

On December 26, less than a month after the first apparition, the locals finished building the temple on Tepeyac Hill. Many people, after seeing the tilma in the temple, requested baptism. Often they came from places missionaries had not yet visited.

The tilma has remained intact for 487 years despite nitric acid being spilled on it in 1785 and a bomb exploding near it in 1921. For the first 116 years, the tilma was displayed without any protection, exposed to the saltpeter in the air, humidity, dust, incense smoke and pilgrims touching and kissing it.

No Natural Explanation:

In March of 1666, experts received permission to study the tilma. They could not explain how such a detailed image could be painted on such a rough surface. They determined only God could do this. Later that month, a group of chemists studied the tilma and could not explain how it survived the humidity and the airborne saltpeter. They also noted that the image itself was soft to the touch yet the material was rough and coarse. In the late 1700s, pilgrims made several replica tilmas and placed them near the original. It wasn’t long before they became discolored and fell apart.

As technology developed, experts performed more studies. In 1956, someone took a photograph of the Virgin’s eyes and revealed that the image’s “coloration not only depicts her pupils but also depicts the types of images one would see reflected in the eyes of a living human being – in this case, the reflected images of people” (Anderson, Sanchez 30).

“Even as science has advanced … it has become increasingly clear that there is no natural explanation for the phenomenon of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Juan Diego’s tilma” (Anderson, Sanchez 30).

The One True Son:

In addition to the tilma’s extraordinary physical qualities is the message embedded in the image itself that would be meaningful to the Aztecs. The blue green cape with stars represents heaven and the flowered dress represents earth. Together they represent the universe. An angel under the moon has eagle wings, not dove wings as is common to European depictions of angels. The eagle was a sacred bird to the Aztecs. Juan Diego’s birth name translates to Talking Eagle.

The angel is holding the cape (heaven) in his right hand and the dress (earth) in his left which tells the Aztecs that the one true son has united heaven and earth, bringing them in harmony.  The black ribbon above her stomach indicated Mary was pregnant, but her hair is worn straight as was customary for virgins in the Aztec culture—reaffirming the virgin birth of Christ.

Scholars have recently discovered the importance of the flowers. The flowers are symbols or glyphs in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. The four petaled jasmine represents the fifth sun god to the Aztecs. On the tilma it is just below Mary’s black pregnancy band indicating that her son, Jesus Christ, is the one true Son. 

Saint Catherine Laboure ---- The Apostle Of The Miraculous Medal

The sound of the evening Angelus bells floated across the fields and vineyards of Burgundy. It was the second day of the month of May in the year of Our Lord 1806. In the little village of Fain-les-Moutiers a child of destiny was coming into the world, a tiny instrument of God, who would one day be the confidante of the Queen of Heaven to usher in the age of Mary. Her name was Catherine Labouré, the ninth child of a family of eleven.

The following day, the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross, the small child was baptized. All her life she was to have a deep devotion to the Cross of Our Lord. It would not be long before she was to feel the weight of sacrifice with the death of her mother at the age of nine.

Early one morning shortly after her mother's death, a family servant came silently upon the little one standing on her tiptoes, stretching upwards, impelled by love, until she reached the statue of the Blessed Virgin. As she held the statue in  her arms and leaned her head against the Madonna, the servant heard the child say: "Now, dear Blessed Mother, now you will be my Mother!"

Catherine received her First Holy Communion at the age of eleven on January 25th, 1818. From that day on, she rose at four o'clock each morning and walked several miles to assist at Mass and to pray for grace and strength before the start of her day's work. Her only desire now was to give herself without reserve to her dear Lord. Never was the thought of Him far from her mind.

By this time Catherine's elder sister, Marie Louise, had left to join the Daughters of Charity, and the little girl who had always been obedient now had to direct and supervise the homestead. She looked after everything: she made the bread, cooked and did the housework, carried daily meals to the workmen in the fields and cared well for the animals.

A Daughter of Charity:

Once, when she was in the village church, she saw a vision of an old priest saying Mass. After Mass the priest turned and beckoned to her with his finger, but she drew backwards, keeping her eyes on him. The vision moved to a sickroom where she saw the same priest, who said: "My child, it is a good deed to look after the sick; you run away from me now, but one day you will be glad to come to me. God has designs for you. Do not forget it!" At that time, of course, she did not understand the significance of the vision.

As is the European custom, Catherine's father invited various suitors to seek her hand in marriage and always her reply was: "I shall never marry; I have promised my life to Jesus Christ." She prayed, worked, and served the family well until she was twenty-two, when she asked her father's permission to become a Daughter of Charity. He flatly refused, and to distract her, sent her to Paris to work in a coffee shop run by her brother Charles. During the entire year spent there, she maintained her resolve to become the bride of Christ.

Her aunt, Jeanne Gontard, came to Catherine's aid and enrolled her in the finishing school she directed at Chatillon. Since Catherine was a country girl, she was miserable at this fashionable school. One day, while visiting the hospital of the Daughters of Charity, she noted a priest's picture on the wall. She asked the nun who he might be, and was told: "Our Holy Founder, Saint Vincent de Paul." This was the same priest Catherine had seen in the vision. Later, after much persuasion from her Aunt Jeanne, her father granted permission for Catherine to enter the convent.

In January of 1830 Catherine entered the hospice of the Daughters of Charity at Chatillon-sur-Seine. This was just after the Reign of Terror in France, where sacrileges were committed in the name of freedom. Licentious women danced on the main altar of Notre Dame. Even the body of St. Genevieve, the Patroness of France, was desecrated. Saint Vincent de Paul's body had been hidden, but four days after Catherine's entry into the Mother House, his remains were transferred back to his own church with joyous processions and ceremonies.

Shortly after her entrance, God was pleased to grant Catherine several extraordinary visions. On three consecutive days she beheld the heart of Saint Vincent each time under a different aspect. At other times she beheld Our Divine Lord during Mass, when He would appear as He was described in the liturgy of the day.

First Apparition:

In 1830 Catherine was blessed with the apparitions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal. The first apparition came on the eve of the feast of St. Vincent, July 19. The mother superior had given each of the novices a piece of cloth from the holy founder's surplice. Because of her extreme love, Catherine split her piece down the middle, swallowing half and placing the rest in her prayer book. She earnestly prayed to St. Vincent that she might, with her own eyes, see the Mother of God.

That night, a beautiful child awoke her from her sleep, saying: "Sister Labouré, come to the chapel; the Blessed Virgin is waiting for you." When Catherine went to the chapel, she found it ablaze with lights as if prepared for Midnight Mass. Quietly, she knelt at the Communion rail, and suddenly heard the rustle of a silk dress. The Blessed Virgin, in a blaze of glory, sat in a chair like that of Saint Anne's.

Catherine rose, then went over and knelt, resting her hands in the Virgin's lap, and felt the Virgin's arms around her, as she said: "God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world."

 

A pained expression crossed the Virgin's face. "Come to the foot of the altar. Graces will be shed on all, great and little, especially upon those who seek them. Another community of sisters will join the Rue du Bac community. The community will become large; you will have the protection of God and Saint Vincent; I will always have my eyes upon you." (This prediction was fulfilled when, in 1849, Fr. Etienne received Saint Elizabeth Seton's sisters of Emmitsburg, MD, into the Paris community. Mother Seton's sisters became the foundation stone of the Sisters of Charity in the United States.)

Then, like a fading shadow, Our Lady was gone.

The Second Apparition:

Four months passed until Our Lady returned to Rue du Bac. Here are Catherine's own words describing the apparition:

"On the 27th of November, 1830 ... while making my meditation in profound silence ... I seemed to hear on the right hand side of the sanctuary something like the rustling of a silk dress. Glancing in that direction, I perceived the Blessed Virgin standing near St. Joseph's picture. Her height was medium and Her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of the dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head was covered with a white veil, which floated over Her shoulders down to her feet. Her feet rested upon a globe, or rather one half of a globe, for that was all that could be seen. Her hands which were on a level with Her waist, held in an easy manner another globe, a figure of the world. Her eyes were raised to Heaven, and Her countenance beamed with light as She offered the globe to Our Lord.

"As I was busy contemplating Her, the Blessed Virgin fixed Her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: ' This globe which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular.'

"There now formed around the Blessed Virgin a frame rather oval in shape on which were written in letters of gold these words: ' O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.' Then a voice said to me: ' Have a medal struck upon this model. All those who wear it, when it is blessed, will receive great graces especially if they wear it round the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be in a special manner under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.'

"At the same instant, the oval frame seemed to turn around. Then I saw on the back of it the letter 'M', surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under the monogram of the name of Mary, the Holy Hearts of Jesus and of His Mother; the first surrounded by a crown of thorns and the second transpierced by a sword. I was anxious to know what words must be placed on the reverse side of the medal and after many prayers, one day in meditation I seemed to hear a voice which said to me: ' The 'M' with the Cross and the two Hearts tell enough.' "

The Miraculous Medal:

The Mother of God instructed Catherine that she was to go to her spiritual director, Father Aladel, about the apparitions. At first he did not believe Catherine, but, after two years, approached the Bishop of Paris with the story of the events that had taken place at Rue du Bac. Our Blessed Mother had chosen well Her time for the apparitions as the Bishop at that period was an ardent devotee of the Immaculate Conception. He said that the Medal was in complete conformity with the Church's doctrine on the role of Our Lady and had no objections to having the medals struck at once. The Bishop even asked to be sent some of the first.

Immediately upon receiving them, he put one in his pocket and went to visit Monsignor de Pradt, former chaplain to Napoleon and unlawful Archbishop of Mechlin who had accepted his office from the hands of the Emperor and now lay dying, defiant and unreconciled to the Church. The sick man refused to abjure his errors and the Bishop of Paris withdrew in defeat. He had not left the house when the dying man suddenly called him back, made his peace with the Church and gently passed away in the arms of the Archbishop, who was filled with a holy joy.

The original order of 20,000 medals proved to be but a small start. The new medals began to pour from the presses in streams inundating France and the rest of the world beyond. By the time of St. Catherine's death in 1876, over a billion medals had been distributed in many lands. This sacramental from Heaven was at first called simply the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, but began to be known as the Miraculous Medal due to the unprecedented number of miracles, conversions, cures, and acts of protection attributed to Our Lady's intercession for those who wore it.

In 1841, the most remarkable miracle occurred - the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a wealthy Jewish banker and lawyer and also a blasphemer and hater of Catholicism. M. de Bussieres, gave him a medal, daring him to wear it and say a Memorare. After considerable persuasion he agreed to do so. Not long after, Alphonse accompanied M. de Bussieres  to the Church of Sant'Andrea delle Frate to make funeral arrangements for a dear friend. There Alphonse saw a vision of Mary as on the Miraculous Medal. He was converted instantly and immediately begged for Baptism.

Alphonse Ratisbonne later went on to become a priest, taking the name of Father Alphonse Marie. Working for thirty years in the Holy Land, he established several institutions. Out of reverence and gratitude to Our Savior, he built the expiatory sanctuary of the Ecce Homo on the spot where Pilate displayed Jesus to the Jews. So great was the love he had for his people, that he dedicated the remainder of his life, as did his brother, Father Theodore, to work for the conversion of their immortal souls. Among the converts of these two priest brothers were a total of twenty eight members of their own family.

Conclusion:

On the last day of 1876, St. Catherine passed to her eternal reward. For the forty-six years from the year of the apparitions until her death, only she and her confessor knew who it was to whom the famous Miraculous Medal was revealed, despite many pressures she received to reveal the secret. 

The years passed by, Catherine performed daily her mundane and very ordinary tasks of sewing and door keeping, unknown to the world around her, which was buzzing with the miraculous effects of the medal. Because of this humility, she is often called the Saint of Silence. When her body was exhumed for beatification 57 years after her death in 1933, it was found as fresh as the day it was buried. 

 Her incorrupt body can still be seen today at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity in The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, 140 Rue du Bac in Paris.