Feast of Mary Queen of Apostles[1]
The feast of the Queen of Apostles was established on the first Saturday after the Ascension by the Sacred Congregation of Rites at the request of the Pallottine Fathers. Mary initiated her mission as Queen of Apostles in the Cenacle. She gathered the apostles together, comforted them, and assisted them in prayer. Together with them she hoped, desired and prayed; with them her petitions were heeded, and she received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Mary is Queen of Apostles because she was chosen to be the
Mother of Jesus Christ and to give him to the world; she was made the apostles'
Mother and our own by our Savior on the cross. She was with the apostles while
awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit, obtaining for them the abundance of
supernatural graces they received on Pentecost. The most holy Virgin was and
always will be the wellspring for every apostolate.
·
She exercised a universal apostolate, one so
vast that it embraced all others. The apostolate of prayer, the apostolate of
good example, the apostolate of suffering--Mary fulfilled them all. Other
people have practiced certain teachings of the Gospel; Mary lived them all.
Mary is full of grace, and we draw from her abundance.
·
Mary attracts the zealous to the various
apostolates, then protects and defends all these works. She sheds on each the
warmth of her love and the light of her countenance. She presented Jesus in a
manner unparalleled throughout the ages. Her apostolate is of the highest
degree--never to be equaled, much less surpassed.
·
Mary gave Jesus to the world and with Jesus came
every other blessing. Thus, because of Mary we have the Church: "Mary is
the Mother of the Church not only because she is the Mother of Christ and his
most intimate associate in 'the new economy when the Son of God took a human
nature from her, that he might in the mysteries of his flesh free man from
sin,' but also because 'she shines forth to the whole community of the elect as
a model of the virtues' (Lumen Gentium. 55, 65).
·
She now continues to fulfill from heaven her
maternal function as the cooperator in the birth and development of the divine
life in the individual souls of the redeemed" (The Great Sign, by Paul
VI). What do we have of value that we have not received through Mary? It is
God's will that every blessing should come to us through her.
·
Because the Blessed Mother occupies a most important
position in God's plan of salvation, all humanity should pay homage to her.
Whoever spreads devotion to the Queen of Apostles is an apostolic benefactor of
the human race, because devotion to Mary is a treasure. Blessed is the person
who possesses this treasure! Mary's devotees will never be without grace; in
any danger, in every circumstance they will always have the means to obtain
every grace from God.
Mary - Mother of Christ, Mother of
the Church[2]
963 Since the Virgin Mary's role
in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to
consider her place in the mystery of the Church. "The Virgin
Mary. . . is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of
God and of the redeemer. . . . She is 'clearly the mother of the
members of Christ’. . . since she has by her charity joined in
bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its
head.""Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church."
Mary's
Motherhood with Regard to the Church
Wholly
united with her Son. . .
964 Mary's role in the Church is
inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This
union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from
the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death";504 it is
made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:
Thus,
the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully
persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in
keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity
of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and
lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given,
by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with
these words: "Woman, behold your son."
965 After her Son's Ascension,
Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers." In her
association with the apostles and several women, "we also see Mary by her
prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in
the Annunciation."
966 "Finally the Immaculate
Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her
earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and
exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more
fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and
death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular
participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection
of other Christians:
In
giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the
world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived
the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.
. . .
She is our Mother in the order of grace
967 By her complete adherence to
the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the
Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus
she is a "preeminent and.. . Wholly unique member of the
Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" of the
Church.
968 Her role in relation to the
Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way
she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the
Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason, she is
a mother to us in the order of grace."
969 "This motherhood of Mary
in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she
loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering
beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to
heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold
intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.
. . . Therefore, the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under
the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."
970 "Mary's function as
mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ,
but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men
. . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ,
rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from
it." "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate
Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various
ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is
radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of
the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation
which is but a sharing in this one source."
Devotion
to the Blessed Virgin
971 "All generations will
call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is
intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the
Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed
Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection
the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very
special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which
is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit,
and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated
to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of
the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Mary
- Eschatological Icon of the Church
972 After speaking of the Church,
her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by
looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her
mystery on her own "pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the
homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy
and Undivided Trinity," "in the communion of all the
saints," the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of
her Lord and as her own mother.
In
the meantime, the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and
soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be
perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the
day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim
People of God.
973 By pronouncing her
"fiat" at the Annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation,
Mary was already collaborating with the whole work her Son was to accomplish.
She is mother wherever he is Savior and head of the Mystical Body.
974 The Most Blessed Virgin Mary,
when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul
into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's
Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body.
975 "We believe that the Holy
Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to
exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ" (Paul
VI, CPG § 15).
Auxilium Christianorum - Praying for Persecuted Priests
R. Who made heaven and earth.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Christ hear us.
Christ graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God, save us.
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament, save us.
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony, save us.
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging, save us.
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns, save us.
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross, save us.
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation, save us.
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness, save us.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls, save us.
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us.
Blood of Christ, victor over demons, save us.
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs, save us.
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors, save us.
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins, save us.
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril, save us.
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened, save us.
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow, save us.
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent, save us.
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying, save us.
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts, save us.
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life, save us.
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory, save us.
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor, save us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
R. And made of us a kingdom for our God.
From hatred, fornication, and envy - We implore Thee, deliver us, O Lord.
From thoughts of jealousy, rage, and death - We implore Thee, deliver us, O Lord.
From every thought of suicide and abortion - We implore Thee, deliver us, O Lord.
From every form of sinful sexuality - We implore Thee, deliver us, O Lord.
From every division in our family, and every harmful friendship - We implore Thee, deliver us, O Lord.
From every sort of spell, malefice, witchcraft, and every form of the occult - We implore Thee, deliver us, O Lord.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us.
Virgin Most Powerful, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
All You Holy Angels, pray for us.
Introduction to 2 Samuel[1]
Many moons ago, in a time of great darkness, Madonna said that she was "a material girl in a material world"… And, many moons before that, King David was a Deuteronomistic guy in a Deutoronomistic world. That might sound kind of complicated—but it just means that the same editors involved in putting together the Book of Deuteronomy also put together the group of books that includes 2 Samuel, running from the book of Judges to 2 Kings. For the story of 2 Samuel is part of what we commonly call the "Deuteronomistic History" and David is just one teeny part of it. But here's the thing. When we say "history," we're using that term pretty loosely. It's hard to tell what extent 2 Samuel (and 1 Samuel, since they were originally one work) is hard history or legend or the exaggeration of real events or a crazy mixture of all these. For many true believers, naturally, it's going to be history all the way. Yet it's easy to interpret the Biblical writers' account of David's life as being perhaps a bit whitewashed. See, for the most part, in their eyes, David can do no wrong. But yet certain unsavory facts about his life are too big for the authors to omit particularly David seducing the wife (Bathsheba) of one of his generals, and then having that general murdered.
The
authors don't attempt to justify this at all—it's way bad—and
it might make the reader see a more complicated picture of David in other
situations, like when the writers keep insisting he had nothing to do with the death of
another general, Abner.
So, if you wanted to, you could easily see the whole book as an example of
pro-David propaganda, trying to justify his legacy as God's one beloved king.
But that wouldn't really do justice to the book as a whole. It gives a pretty
thorough picture of Israelite kingship as an institution—how it works, how kings maintain
power. It's a fascinating glimpse into the way people in the ancient Near East
viewed at least some of their kings: as people both divinely guided and humanly
flawed.
In
the period of time depicted in the book, the Israelites were wrestling with the
transition from being ruled by Judges like Samuel—with God as the only true king and creator of laws—to being ruled by a human king (who
was still considered to be divinely guided).
This
was sort of like having a Supreme Court but no President (except for God). And
yeah, this could get kind of confusing and messy… But to be fair, so could being ruled by a king, as
evidenced by the reign of Saul in 1 Samuel. What 2 Samuel does, then, is to
tell the story of a king who managed to pull himself together and rule in the
right way.
Why
Should I Care?
How do you manage to seduce one of
your general's wives, orchestrate that same general's death in battle, refuse
to punish your first-born son for committing a heinous crime against his own
sister—and still wind up with a reputation
for being the greatest of all Israelite kings, and God's prize favorite?
The book of 2 Samuel may or may not
answer that question for you—but
it'll help you take a good, hard look at the life of the character who did all
of the above: King David. Of course, David did a lot besides those rather
dubious and devious actions. There's heroism, tragedy, plain bad luck, and
moments of sublime goodness in his story, as well. Also, he's a smooth
operator. Even when he's doing something wrong or questionable, David remains
totally human—flawed,
but recognizably one of us. In a way, the dark patches in David's life are what
help make him one of the very most intriguing and compelling people in the
Bible as a whole. After God and Moses, David is arguably the most important
character in the Hebrew Bible (most people would probably agree that he's the
third-most-central figure.) Even though the book has a huge and interesting
supporting cast, the Second Book of Samuel really is all about David, the
heart of the story. What King Arthur is to Great Britain, and Caesar Augustus is
to Ancient Rome,
and Luke Skywalker is to Tatooine, King David is to Israel. He's the
model hero, the best example of how to do it right (despite the serious things
he does wrong).
"We Can Be Heroes" (to
Quote David Bowie)
That's
fine, and David might be an interesting guy—but what does the book have to do with life today?
Well, since people throughout the world have been reading the Bible for a
while, it's shaped the kind of hero’s people look for and write about. Heroes
from other books and other cultures demonstrate heroism in different ways—like Odysseus in the Odyssey,
they might be crafty warriors trying to outwit the gods and make it home. Or,
like King Rama from Hindu myth, they might be gods themselves, fighting for
truth and righteousness against demonic powers. But the important thing to
remember is that David is a human—a
human who is trying to live according to a higher law, and serve his God's
purposes, sure—but a human,
nonetheless. True, Odysseus is a human, too, but his goals are also all
typically human, related to getting back to his kingdom, seeing his wife and
son, and regaining power. David's concerned with his personal power, too, but
he has to balance that with what he believes God wants. His goals are both
human and divine.
This
ends up being a pretty tricky tight rope to walk, and watching David walk it,
wavering between his own selfish ambitions and this higher cause, is part of
the value and fun of 2 Samuel. Life
actually imitates art pretty often. People mimic the heroes they see on TV or
in the movies or read about in Newsweek
or wherever (there's recently been an increase in people who are imitating
superheroes by wearing underwear over leotards and trying to hit criminals with
nun-chucks). Since David is one of the most widely read characters in the
history of the world, the story of his reign (which begins when 2 Samuel
starts) can help give us a better idea of what we actually think about heroes
and leaders—what we
expect from them, what qualities they have.
That's
not just important for understanding the heroes we see depicted around us every
day—it's also a useful way to
understand ourselves, to see how we measure up, and to define our own ideas of
true heroism.
MAY 29 Saturday after Pentecost-Ember
Day
2 Samuel, Chapter 1, Verse 14
Honor God’s Anointed[2] It appears that the Amalekite was
trying to get a reward for killing the enemy of David (Saul). Everyone in the
nation knew that Saul and David were at odds and that Saul was trying to kill
David. When he stumbled onto the body of Saul, he thought that he had hit the
jackpot. Instead of telling the truth about what he found he lied to David with
the hope of getting gain. David was faultless in killing him because the man
told David that he had killed the Lords anointed. In David’s eye that was a
serious crime and the man brought it on himself. Notice and verse 14 of second
Samuel he says "How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy
the Lords anointed?" and in verse 16, "And David said unto him, thy
blood be on thy upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee,
saying I have slain the Lords anointed." Even though he did not kill Saul
he lied in hopes of being rewarded and he was, just not in the way he thought though.
The wages of sin is death.
The lesson here is, do not be a
person who seeks to gain from another’s misfortune.
Cue up
the Sad Violins[3]
·
As 2 Samuel begins, Saul and Jonathan have just
died fighting the Philistines—David almost fought for the Philistines,
but ended up getting excused at the last second, and headed off to fight the
Amalekites.
·
Saul had committed suicide after seeing his
defeat was inevitable (with, as it turns out, a little help), and Jonathan was
killed in the battle.
·
A survivor from Saul's army finds David and
tells him the news. It turns out the survivor was an Amalekite who (at Saul's
request) helped Saul finish dying, giving him a fatal sword thrust, before
bringing Saul's crown and armlet to David.
·
However, David is offended that this guy had the
guts to help kill the Lord's anointed, so he has one of his own men kill the
Amalekite.
Singing the Blues
·
Then, David sings the blues. In a song, he
laments the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, singing, "How the mighty have
fallen!"
·
He hails them both, paying tribute to their
strength and good qualities, and telling the rest of Israel to weep for them in
mourning.
·
He also says that Jonathan's love for him was
"wonderful, passing the love of a woman," before repeating again,
"How the mighty have fallen."
Apostolic Exhortation[4]
Veneremur
Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling
of The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of
Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My
beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Part II
I. The Graces of Holy Communion
i. Holy Communion changes and
transforms us into “Alter Christus”
36. This Eucharistic Christ gives life
to those that receive Him, assimilates them and transforms them into Himself.
Jesus called Himself the “Bread of Life” precisely to make us understand that
He does not nourish us as ordinary food does; rather, as He possesses life, He
gives it to us. Being assimilated by Jesus in Holy Communion makes us like Him
in our sentiments, desires, and our way of thinking. In Holy Communion, His
heart nourishes our hearts; His pure, wise and loving desires purify our
selfish ones, so that we not only know what He wants, but also start wanting
the same more and more. Saint Paul aptly wrote, “I live, no longer I, but
Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). Through the Eucharist, we really become not
only an Alter Christus – Another Christ – but indeed Ipse Christus,
Christ Himself. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in a homily on Corpus Domini
speaks of this divine assimilation:
“The
purpose of this communion, of this partaking, is the assimilation of my life
with His, my transformation and conformation into He who is living Love.
Therefore, this communion implies adoration; it implies the will to follow
Christ, to follow the One who goes ahead of us” (Homily, Corpus Domini,
2005).
37. Have you ever wondered why Jesus
chose to leave us His presence under the appearance of bread and wine? He
reveals the reason in His discourse on the Bread of Life:
“Just
as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the
one who feeds on me will have life because of me” (Jn 6:57).
He wants to be nourishment of higher
order of life within us, a capacity to love and act like Him, even to “be
perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
38. Bread and wine are also powerful
symbols that convey eloquently Jesus’ invitation to walk the same path of
sacrificial love. The grains of wheat that are used for making bread had to go
through a grueling process. They are plucked, thrashed, crushed, and ground up,
kneaded and shaped, and finally, they are thrown to be baked in an oven. In a
similar way, the grapes are plucked and smashed. Their juice is purified and
bottled. Then they are left until maturity. If we look up at the Crucified
Jesus on the Cross, we can see a similar grueling process He went through in
His Passion and Death; this is what true love really means. Every time we come
to the Eucharist; we are invited to imitate this sacrificial love of Christ.
To be continued…
Saturday after Pentecost-Ember Day[5]
EPISTLE, Romans v. 1-5.
BRETHREN: Being justified therefore by faith, let us
have peace with God, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom also we have access
through faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and glory in the hope of the
glory of the sons of God. And not only so; but we glory also in tribulations,
knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience trial; and trial hope,
and hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our
hearts, by the Holy Ghost Who is given to us.
GOSPEL. Luke iv. 38-44.
At that time: Jesus rising up out of the synagogue, went into Simon’s
house. And Simon s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever, and they
besought Him for her. And standing over her, He commanded the fever, and it
left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them. And when the sun was
down, all they that had any sick with divers’ diseases, brought them to Him.
But He laying His hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went out
from many, crying out and saying: Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them,
He suffered them not to speak, for they knew that He was Christ. And when it
was day, going out He went into a desert place, and the multitudes sought Him,
and came unto Him: and they detained Him that He should not depart from them.
To whom He said: To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God: for
therefor am I sent. And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Today is the
end of Paschaltide (after the office of None).
Ember Saturday Meditation on the Entombment[6]
And when evening was now come (because it was the
Parasceve, that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a noble
counsellor, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, came and went
in boldly to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. But Pilate wondered that He
should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if He were
already dead. And when he had understood it by the centurion, he gave the body
to Joseph. And Joseph buying fine linen and taking Him down, wrapped Him up in
the fine linen, and laid Him in a sepulcher which was hewed out of a rock. And
he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulcher.
Liturgy of the Cloth: How the Early Church Incorporated
the Shroud and Sudarium in the Mass[7]
New research suggests that the burial cloths of Jesus have
been central to the Roman liturgy for more than a millennium, and possibly from
the earliest days of the Church.
A German theologian and friend of Benedict XVI, drawing on
the writings of a ninth-century bishop, appears to have made a historic and
fascinating discovery, revealing how the Shroud of Turin and the sudarium (the
Veil of Veronica) were central to the Roman liturgy from as far back as the
Carolingian times, most probably before. The two relics and their inclusion in
those early liturgies also point to the Real Presence. The discovery has only
now come to light, after debate over the burial cloths has intensified over the
past 10 years and interest has developed regarding their authenticity. The
Register spoke recently with German journalist Paul Badde, who has been
following the discovery closely and is an authority on the Holy Face of Manoppello, which many believe to be the true
sudarium.
The discovery was made by
Klaus Berger of Heidelberg, a German theologian, an old friend of Joseph
Ratzinger and New Testament scholar, who is carrying out detailed research on
the Apocalypse of St. John. During his studies, he came across one of the great
commentators on the Apocalypse, Amalarius (775-850), a liturgical expert from
the Carolingian times. Amalarius, who used to be bishop of Metz in France and
archbishop of Trier in Germany, was a great liturgist of the Carolingian age,
whom Pope Sergius II made a cardinal. Even in those times, he said the cloth of
the altar resembled the shroud and the sudarium, found and discovered first by
the apostles Peter and John in the empty holy sepulcher the first Easter
morning. But we have an enormous gap in documented records from the first Easter
morning in Jerusalem and the moment when they first appeared in public. We know
that the sudarium appeared in 1208 in Rome in public, when Pope Innocent III
put it on public view, and the shroud appeared in 1355 for the first time in
the West in Lirey in the Champagne area of France. But we can be sure that the
two cloths have always been part of the “memory
of the liturgy,” even though their presence arrived later. Amalarius may have
witnessed seeing them there [in Constantinople], and it’s important to note that their
presence in the liturgy didn’t
begin in Carolingian times, but [they] were probably used from the very
beginning. …
Where were the cloths kept before that time?
They were stored for many
years in the East, but they were always hidden. Showing them to the public wasn’t a big deal in the Orthodox world.
In the West, we make historical records, but in the East, they don’t have it that [record keeping as]
much. But even in the Dark Ages, in the first millennium, there used to be a
tradition in the Roman liturgy that the cloth on the altar had to be linen, and
the altar had to be rock to be understood as a sepulcher.
What is the significance of altar linen — does it date back to these two priceless relics?
Yes, from this we can
understand why the altar linen, analogous to the shroud, until 1969, had to be “pure linen” and why the so-called corporal
must always be folded in a particular way by way of analogy with the sudarium.
John says that, after Christ’s
resurrection, it was found by Peter and John in the empty tomb: “not lying with the linen cloths but
rolled up or folded (enteeligmenon
in Greek) in a separate place.”
That corporal is the starched cloth, which, in the old rite, after the priest
had come at the altar in contact with the bread and wine, could only be touched
by him reverently with his thumb and forefinger.
How is the altar significant in this?
Since the altar linens of
the liturgy are called sindon
and sudarium and
theologically are in connection with the Real Presence of Jesus in his body and
blood, Berger contends that their purpose is to point to the mystery of the
Eucharist on the altar stone. There, the inanimate matter of the bread and wine
— as the
tomb of Christ in the rock in Jerusalem, which had never been used — is always transformed into the “Bread of Life” and living blood of Christ. After
the [Second Vatican] Council, we had the discussion: Is the altar about
Communion? Is it a table? Or is it a sacrifice? Until that time, it was clearly
a sacrifice. The altar was understood as a sepulcher, where lifeless elements
were turned into something living —
flesh and blood. That was also the tradition in the eighth century. But whether
the actual relics were seen at the altar or not, the shroud and the sudarium
have been mentioned by St. John and the liturgical tradition, not only in
public, but also been remembered as far back as the eighth and ninth centuries
as something very special, very important in the story of the Resurrection. And
this we have also to keep in mind. Very much can be said about the liturgy, and
one thing is for sure: The liturgy can also be understood as the “inner hard drive” of the sacred memory of the
Church. So, it’s
quite clear that everything Amalarius reports about it in his time has not and
cannot be invented and introduced in the liturgy in the Carolingian age. It
must be much older and points right back to the beginning of the Church, just
like the holy Eucharist itself.
Could you explain more about how this points to the
Real Presence?
The depiction of the face
of Jesus on these cloths could be understood similarly to the so-called Mass of
Pope Gregory (540-604). Gregory, I saw, appearing to him, a bloodied Lord,
directly in connection with the transformation of the Eucharistic species. The
shroud and the sudarium of Jesus would, therefore, be understood as the direct
expression and the personified Real Presence of Jesus on the altar and would be
directly related to the Eucharist as the center of the holy Mass. In this way,
they agree as biblically confirmed evidence of the resurrection of Christ with
the mystery of the Eucharistic transformation (transubstantiation). You could,
therefore, say: Instead of the vision of Gregory, in Amalarius, there is the
real, symbolic content of the altar cloths. In both cases, it is an expression
of the Real Presence of Christ. What is true for Pope Gregory is the content of
the vision, namely, the real, bodily presence of Christ (particularly of the
suffering Christ). According to Amalarius, it would be expressed sensibly (sinnenfällig) in the liturgical
altar linens. On the burial cloths, showing the stigmata on the shroud and on
the sudarium the face of Jesus, there appeared a lasting imprint of what
happened for an instant in Gregory’s
vision.
What does this mean for Holy Face of Manoppello?
To me and to many, there’s no doubt that Manoppello is the
historic sudarium, also called the Veil of Veronica. It was kept in Rome and
often venerated until 1527. It is, in fact, the very veil that had been laid on
the face of the dead Lord when he was laid to rest in the sepulcher. So, it
contains the first breath of the resurrected Christ. No wonder that nobody can
explain how the image —
without any colors! —
got into the sacred veil. Now, the Easterly sudarium of Christ is coming back
into history, at the beginning of an enormous “iconic turn” caused by the digital revolution — not to the eyes of a chosen few
anymore, but to the eyes of all men. And it doesn’t come back to tell the Gospel
anew with more words, but to reveal the Resurrection of the Lord from the dead
with one true and unique image.
MEDITATIONS ON THE LITURGY FROM THE
EXTRAORDINARY FORM FOR EACH OF THE EMBER DAYS AFTER PENTECOST.
Written
by Monsignor Martin B. Hellriegel, originally published in the journal Orate
Fratres Vol. XVIII, May 14, 1944, No. 7, pp. 299-305, later reprinted in Vine
and Branches, Pio Decimo Press, 1948.
These meditations are attached to
the 1962 Extraordinary Form liturgy. The current lectionary has different
readings and prayers not specific to the Ember Days.
Prayer:
EMBER SATURDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Station "With St. Peter
The charity of God is poured forth
in our hearts, alleluia (introit)
"At the end of holy Mass
Paschaltide comes to a close," so reads a little rubric after today's post
communion. Needless to say, this little note reminds us not only of the fact
that this blessed season is over but also of the duty of gratitude for the inexpressibly
precious gifts we have received during this most sacred period of the Church's
year.
The merciful Father so loved us as to
give us His only-begotten Son. The obedient Son died and rose that we might
have life, and have it more abundantly. And the charity of God is poured forth
into our hearts by His Spirit dwelling in us, alleluia! "Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and let all that is within me bless His holy name!"
(em>introit). We are the Father's adopted children; we are the Son's
redeemed members; we are the living temples of the Holy Spirit, bound to Christ
our Head, and bound to one another by the charity of God, which is the
Paraclete Himself. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro!
The prophecy of Joel (first lesson),
quoted by our station saint, Peter, on the day of Pentecost, is fulfilled:
God's Spirit is poured out upon us. Aided by the quickening power of the Holy
Spirit we call upon the name of the Lord and we shall be saved. "Alleluia,
it is the Spirit that quickened, but the flesh profiteth nothing.
The seven weeks, that is to say, the
fifty days, have expired. The victorious Lord led us into the land flowing with
the milk and honey of His eucharistic sweetness. Let us never forget the loving
kindness of our Lord! Gladly shall we offer Him the first fruits of our love
and gratitude and shall leave them int he sight of the Lord, adoring the Lord
our God (second and third lessons).
And now that the Lord has set up His
tabernacle in the midst of us, we shall faithfully walk in His precepts and keep
His commandments, so that He may remain our God and we His people
(fourth lesson). May the divine fire which our Lord Jesus Christ sent into our
hearts never be extinguished but burn mightily by the power of His Holy Spirit
(collect).
Like the three Babylonian youths we
were wondrously saved from the fire of the eternal furnace (fifth lesson); we
are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
by whom also we have access through faith into this grace wherein we (now)
stand, possessing the hope that we are God's glorious sons...because the
charity of God is poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given
to us (epistles).
We celebrate this closing day "in
the house of Peter: (station: St. Peter). Jesus will enter this house this
morning and will lay His healing hands upon us. May He in His infinite love
remove the last traces of our weakness and give us full health. At the same
time we will ask Him in all humility: Stay with us, Lord, do not depart form us
(gospel), and grant that "Thy holy mysteries which we have
celebrated (in this paschal season) may inspire us with divine fervor, that we
may delight not only in their celebration but also in their fruits" (postcommunion).
And so we conclude this blessed
paschal season, grateful to the most Holy Trinity for all that we have received
but determined also to preserve in our souls the divine life of our
victoriously reigning Lord to whom be thanksgiving and glory for everlasting
ages. Amen. Alleluia.
Prayer Source: Orate Fratres/Worship: A Review
Devoted to the Liturgical Apostolate , The Liturgical Press
Mountaineering[8]
Sir Edmund Hillary was
the first man to summit Mt. Everest
on May 29, 1953.
Climbing a summit
is deeply spiritual. Christ climbed tabor, Moses Sinai and even St. Patrick had
a favorite climb today call Patrick’s Croagh. We even have Saints that were mountaineers.
Today we will look at Pier
Giorgio.
Pier Giorgio Michelangelo Frassati was born in Turin, Italy on April
6, 1901. His mother, Adelaide Ametis, was a painter. His father Alfredo was the
founder and director of the newspaper, “La Stampa," and was influential in Italian politics, holding
positions as an Italian Senator and Ambassador to Germany.
At
an early age, Pier Giorgio joined the Marian Sodality and the Apostleship of
Prayer, and obtained permission to receive daily Communion (which was rare at
that time). He developed a deep spiritual life which he never hesitated to
share with his friends. The Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin were the two
poles of his world of prayer. At the age of 17, he joined the St. Vincent de
Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to serving the sick and the
needy, caring for orphans, and assisting the demobilized servicemen returning
from World War I.
He decided to become a mining engineer, studying at the Royal Polytechnic
University of Turin, so he could “serve
Christ better among the miners," as he told a friend. Although he
considered his studies his first duty, they did not keep him from social and
political activism. In 1919, he joined the Catholic Student Foundation and the
organization known as Catholic Action. He became a very active member of the
People’s Party,
which promoted the Catholic Church’s
social teaching based on the principles of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical letter, Rerum
Novarum.
What little he did have, Pier Giorgio gave to help the poor, even using his bus fare for charity and then running home to be on time for meals. The poor and the suffering were his masters, and he was literally their servant, which he considered a privilege. His charity did not simply involve giving something to others, but giving completely of himself. This was fed by daily communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist and by frequent nocturnal adoration, by meditation on St. Paul’s “Hymn of Charity” (I Corinthians 13), and by the writings of St. Catherine of Siena. He often sacrificed vacations at the Frassati summer home in Pollone (outside of Turin) because, as he said, “If everybody leaves Turin, who will take care of the poor?”
In 1921, he was a central figure in Ravenna, enthusiastically helping to organize the first convention of Pax Romana, an association which had as its purpose the unification of all Catholic students throughout the world for the purpose of working together for universal peace.
Mountain climbing was one of his favorite sports. Outings in the mountains, which he organized with his friends, also served as opportunities for his apostolic work. He never lost the chance to lead his friends to Mass, to the reading of Scripture, and to praying the rosary.
He often went to the theater, to the opera, and to museums. He loved art and music, and could quote whole passages of the poet Dante.
Fondness for the epistles of St. Paul sparked his zeal for fraternal charity, and the fiery sermons of the Renaissance preacher and reformer Girolamo Savonarola and the writings of St. Catherine impelled him in 1922 to join the Lay Dominicans (Third Order of St. Dominic). He chose the name Girolamo after his personal hero, Savonarola. “I am a fervent admirer of this friar, who died as a saint at the stake," he wrote to a friend. Like his father, he was strongly anti-Fascist and did nothing to hide his political views. He physically defended the faith at times involved in fights, first with anticlerical Communists and later with Fascists. Participating in a Church-organized demonstration in Rome on one occasion, he stood up to police violence and rallied the other young people by grabbing the group’s banner, which the royal guards had knocked out of another student’s hands. Pier Giorgio held it even higher, while using the banner’s pole to fend off the blows of the guards.
Just before receiving his university degree, Pier Giorgio contracted poliomyelitis, which doctors later speculated he caught from the sick whom he tended. Neglecting his own health because his grandmother was dying, after six days of terrible suffering Pier Giorgio died at the age of 24 on July 4, 1925. His last preoccupation was for the poor. On the eve of his death, with a paralyzed hand he scribbled a message to a friend, asking him to take the medicine needed for injections to be given to Converso, a poor sick man he had been visiting.
Pier Giorgio’s funeral was a triumph. The streets of the city were lined with a multitude of mourners who were unknown to his family -- the poor and the needy whom he had served so unselfishly for seven years. Many of these people, in turn, were surprised to learn that the saintly young man they knew had actually been the heir of the influential Frassati family. Pope John Paul II, after visiting his original tomb in the family plot in Pollone, said in 1989: “I wanted to pay homage to a young man who was able to witness to Christ with singular effectiveness in this century of ours. When I was a young man, I, too, felt the beneficial influence of his example and, as a student, I was impressed by the force of his testimony."
On May
20, 1990, in St. Peter’s Square which was filled with thousands of people, the
Pope beatified Pier Giorgio Frassati, calling him the “Man of the Eight
Beatitudes.”
His
mortal remains, found completely intact and incorrupt upon their exhumation on
March 31, 1981, were transferred from the family tomb in Pollone to the
cathedral in Turin. Many pilgrims, especially students and the young, come to
the tomb of Blessed Frassati to seek favors and the courage to follow his
example
Memorial Day Build Up
Every day from now to Memorial Day I
ask your prayers for each service and all of our defenders to include police
and fire on Memorial Day.
The
United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC), also referred
to as the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, is the
federal uniformed service of the U.S.
Public Health Service
(PHS), and is one of the eight uniformed
services of the United States.
The commissioned corps' primary mission is to the protection, promotion, and
advancement of health and safety of the general public. Along with the NOAA
Commissioned Officer Corps,
the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is one of two uniformed services
that consist only of commissioned
officers and has
no enlisted or warrant
officer ranks,
although warrant officers have been authorized for use within the service.
Officers of the commissioned corps are classified as noncombatants, unless
directed to serve as part of the military by the President or detailed to a service branch of
the military. Members of the commissioned corps wear the same uniforms as the United
States Navy, or
the United
States Coast Guard
(when assigned to the Coast Guard), with special PHS Commissioned Corps
insignia, and hold naval ranks equivalent to officers of the U.S. Navy and U.S.
Coast Guard. Commissioned corps officers typically receive their commissions
through the commissioned corps’ direct
commissioning program.
As with its parent division, the Public Health Service, the commissioned corps
is under the direction of the United States Department of Health
and Human Services.
The commissioned corps is led by the Surgeon
General, who holds
the grade of vice
admiral. The
Surgeon General reports directly to the Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant
Secretary for Health;
the Assistant Secretary of Health may be appointed to the rank of admiral if he or she is also a serving
uniformed officer of the commissioned corps
Daily
Devotions
·
Saturday Litany of the Hours
Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
·
Offering
to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face
·
Rosary
[1]https://www.shmoop.com/1-samuel/
[3]http://www.shmoop.com/2-samuel/chapter-1-summary.html
[5] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[6] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[7]http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/liturgy-of-the-cloth-how-the-early-church-incorporated-the-shroud-and-sudar
[8] https://frassatiusa.org/frassati-biography
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