FEAST OF SAINT ANN
2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 1
Since we have these promises, beloved, let
us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, making holiness
perfect in the fear of God.
All are called to the vocation of love. We express
this vocation of love via marriage. All are called to marriage to the Holy
Spirit as was our Lady who out of her perfect love gave forth the Son of God,
Christ our Lord. Yet, this love; this marriage of the spirit of God with ours
can be expressed in normally three vocations: that of a Holy single life who
serves via their chosen career; then there is the call to religious life where
a soul makes promises to a religious order and finally there is the love of
male and female in sacred union to bring life and love into the world. We are
all called to be Holy. We are all called to be greater than ourselves. We are
all called to service that is perfected through the fear of God and expressed
in our humility, generosity, chastity, patience, temperance, understanding and
love.
Is calumny a grievous sin?
When the occasion is important, and the slander is deliberately uttered, with
evil intention, when one’s neighbor is thereby grievously injured, and his good
name damaged, everyone may see how grievous and detestable, in such a case,
this sin is.
Is it sinful to disclose the faults of our neighbor?
To make public the faults and sins of our neighbor uselessly, merely for the
entertainment of idle persons, is always sinful. But if, after trying in vain
to correct his faults and sins by brotherly admonition, we make them known to
his parents or superiors, for his punishment and amendment, so far from being a
sin, it is rather a good work and a duty of Christian charity.
Is it a sin also to listen willingly to calumny?
Yes; for thereby we furnish the calumniator an occasion for sin and give him
encouragement. For which reason St. Bernard says: “Whether to calumniate be a
greater sin than to listen to the calumniator I will not lightly decide.”
What ought to restrain us from calumny? The
thought, 1, of the enormity of this sin; 2, of the number of sins occasioned
thereby of which the calumniator, as the occasion of them, becomes partaker; 3,
of the difficulty of correcting the harm done, since we cannot know the full
extent of the injury, nor stop the tongues of people. Finally, we must think on
the eternal punishment which follows this sin. The holy Fathers say that of
young persons who are condemned the greater part is for impurity, but of the
old, for calumny.
"Celebrate
and reverence God's vision of human sexuality."
Natural Family Planning Awareness Week is a national
educational campaign. The Natural Family Planning Program of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops develops a poster each year with basic
supportive materials. It is the individual dioceses however, that offer a
variety of educational formats in the local church to focus attention on
Natural Family Planning methods and Church teachings which support their use in
marriage. The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week highlight the
anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25) which
articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love and
responsible parenthood. The dates also mark the feast of Saints Joachim
and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Mother. For further
information, contact nfp@usccb.org.
ALL that we know of St. Ann is that she was married to
St. Joachim of the tribe of David, and lived with him in all virtue and piety,
but for a long time was childless. This she bore with all patience, till at
last the Lord heard her supplications, and made her the mother of the most
blessed Virgin. This distinction on the part of God is praise enough for her.
On this account the faithful have always shown great veneration for her, and
continually invoke her intercession. “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, keeping
festival in honor of St. Ann, on whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and with
one voice praise the Son of God. My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my
works to the King.”
The
Mysterious Relics of Saint Anne[4]
On Easter AD 792,
Charlemagne discovered the relics of Saint Anne. Below is the account,
preserved in the correspondence of Pope Saint Leo III, concerning the
mysterious discovery of the relics of Saint Anne.
Fourteen years after Our Lord’s death, Saint Mary Magdalen, Saint Martha, Saint Lazarus, and the others of the little band of Christians who were piled into a boat without sails or oars and pushed out to sea to perish — in the persecution of the Christians by the Jews of Jerusalem — were careful to carry with them the tenderly loved body of Our Lady’s mother. They feared lest it be profaned in the destruction, which Jesus had told them was to come upon Jerusalem. When, by the power of God, their boat survived and finally drifted to the shores of France, the little company of saints buried Saint Anne’s body in a cave, in a place called Apt, in the south of France. The church, which was later built over the spot, fell into decay because of wars and religious persecutions, and as the centuries passed, the place of Saint Anne’s tomb was forgotten. The long years of peace, which Charlemagne’s wise rule gave to southern France, enabled the people to build a magnificent new church on the site of the old chapel at Apt. Extraordinary and painstaking labor went into the building of the great structure, and when the day of its consecration arrived, the beloved Charlemagne, little suspecting what was in store for him, declared himself happy indeed to have journeyed so many miles to be present for the holy occasion. At the most solemn part of the ceremonies, a boy of fourteen, blind, deaf and dumb from birth — and usually quiet and impassive — to the amazement of those who knew him, completely distracted the attention of the entire congregation by becoming suddenly tremendously excited. He rose from his seat, walked up the aisle to the altar steps, and to the consternation of the whole church, struck his stick resoundingly again and again upon a single step. His embarrassed family tried to lead him out, but he would not budge. He continued frantically to pound the step, straining with his poor muted senses to impart a knowledge sealed hopelessly within him. The eyes of the people turned upon the emperor, and he, apparently inspired by God, took the matter into his own hands. He called for workmen to remove the steps. A subterranean passage was revealed directly below the spot, which the boy’s stick had indicated. Into this passage the blind lad jumped, to be followed by the emperor, the priests, and the workmen. They made their way in the dim light of candles, and when, farther along the passage, they came upon a wall that blocked further advance, the boy signed that this also should be removed. When the wall fell, there was brought to view still another long, dark corridor. At the end of this, the searchers found a crypt, upon which, to their profound wonderment, a vigil lamp, alight and burning in a little walled recess, cast a heavenly radiance. As Charlemagne and his afflicted small guide, with their companions, stood before the lamp, its light went out. And at the same moment, the boy, blind and deaf and dumb from birth, felt sight and hearing and speech flood into his young eyes, his ears, and his tongue. “It is she! It is she!” he cried out. The great emperor, not knowing what he meant, nevertheless repeated the words after him. The call was taken up by the crowds in the church above, as the people sank to their knees, bowed in the realization of the presence of something celestial and holy. The crypt at last was opened, and a casket was found within it. In the casket was a winding sheet, and in the sheet were relics, and upon the relics was an inscription that read, “Here lies the body of Saint Anne, mother of the glorious Virgin Mary.” The winding sheet, it was noted, was of eastern design and texture. Charlemagne, overwhelmed, venerated with profound gratitude the relics of the mother of Heaven’s Queen.
Things to
Do[5]
·
See
more about the Shrine
of Sainte Anne de Beaupré in Quebec, Canada. Several relics of St. Anne are also located in this shrine.
Take a video tour of the Shrine here
accompanied by beautiful Gregorian chant.
·
Foods related to St. Ann and Joachim: It seems
shellfish, particularly lobster, is one traditional type of food served in
France for this feastday.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
29. You
will never be a leader if you see others only as stepping-stones to get ahead.
You will be a leader if you are ambitious for the salvation of all mankind. You can't turn your back on your fellow-men: you have to be anxious to
make them happy.
·
Please
pray for me and this ministry
·
Please
Pray for Senator
McCain and our country; asking Our Lady of Beauraing to
intercede.
[1] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.
[3]
Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[6]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
Comments
Post a Comment