Happy Independence Day, America!

Magnificat of America

America, Our America!

Hold to the Vision of Mary,

Mary Immaculate.

Her glory fills the earth,

She is our race,

Its 'solitary boast.'

She, alone with out sin,

Keeps the doom of wrath from thee,

Who art defending Her glory.

She, Conqueror of evil,

Conquers evil fro thee,

Who art resisting evil.

America, our America!

Pray always to Mary,

Mary Immaculate.

She, the Mother to Nations-

She, the Mother of Christ,

The Lord of all nations,

She guards them and guides,

Subduing their hates,

Inspiring their spirits.

She mourns for the prodigals,

As childless mothers mourn,

Torn by their treasons.

America, our America!

Give thy heart o Mary,

Mary Immaculate.

Join Her prayer of praise,

All Heaven attending,

For our land that is free.

Sing though Her song of Joy,

All nations listening,

Giving thanks to God.

Sing thou thy song of souls,

The Magnificat of Mary,

The Magnificat of America.

- Cardinal Francis Joseph Spellman
From the July Magnificat.

Painting of the Immaculate Conception by Murillo.

Two Priest Stories to Share

"My Lord and My God"

1. From CNA:

"...then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant . . .'" Matthew 26:27

“For most priests, the chalice is the most significant vessel that they use. Of all the vestments and vessels we use, it’s the most significant because it’s the one we use the most often, and because the Eucharist is at the heart of what we do as priests as far as being nourished ourselves and nourishing the people of God.

“The chalice is very significant.”

That’s how Father Alex Zenthoefer understands the importance of the chalice. He’s the assistant pastor at Holy Rosary Church and chaplain at Memorial High School, both in Evansville, Indiana, and diocesan director of Vocations.

His own chalice has added significance, because it connects him to two other diocesan priests, linking them all the way back to 1911.

Chalice connects three priests over 99 years

2. From Insight Scoop:

Winter 1989, downtown South Bend, Indiana. The night is snowy and crisp. Inside the bar, already humid and smoky, the guitarist lights his cigarette, takes a long, patient drag and wedges it among the strings in the head of his guitar. As the smoke drifts from his mouth he begins moving his fingers across the fret board, the distortion turned up to eleven. The opening riffs of Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" crackle from the bending strings. Standing next to him, I watch his fingers glide effortlessly across the wood and steel. The toe of my boot taps to the chucky thumping as the bassist, my older brother, and the drummer make their entrances. With my forehead already sweaty from the lights and body heat of the room, I gather the lyrics in my head, press the microphone to my lips and begin navigating through the first verse. The crowd packed tightly into the small place begins pulsing with the beat. I feel the palpable rush from that invisible electricity between band and crowd beginning to fill the room. As the music crescendos to the refrain, I saunter over to my brother's side of the stage area where he is cuing the approaching vocal harmonies. He steps up to his microphone and we belt out, "Ain't talkin' 'bout love".

Nine years later in the Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, I lie prostrate, my forehead pressed into the cool marble floor. The smell of incense and burning candles mingles with the warm June air imbuing it with a holy fragrance. The tightly packed church, imploring the intercession of the angels and saints of Heaven, chants the litany of the saints for us who are about to be ordained priests. The invisible and peaceful presence of grace fills the church. After the examination the Archbishop, a successor to the apostles, lays his hands on each of our heads and pours the scented chrism on our hands.

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love? Why This Gen-Xer Is a Priest | Fr. John Cihak, S.T.D.

Death of the Virgin Mary

Please check out this very interesting painting by Caravaggio on Terry's blog. I had not seen this particular painting before and it was a bit shocking to see the Blessed Mother portrayed in such a vulnerable manner. It makes me wonder what Caravaggio mindset or inspiration was when he decided to paint this particular subject in such an unusual way.

Terry: BTW, I wanted to leave you a comment at your blog. Are you familiar with a painting "The Assumption of Mary Magadelene."  Have you ever heard this story before?  Thanks!

The history of the Legion of Christ, a congregation that seeks to convey...

Pray for the Legionaries of Christ. They are fine men and do good work for the Lord and the Catholic Church.

ACN News - Uganda celebrates its martyrs

ACN-USA News

7/1/2010

Uganda celebrates its martyrs


Walking up to 250 miles on foot for days, over 500,000 pilgrims in Uganda sang and prayed as they celebrated their country’s martyrs in an event supported by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The celebrations on June 3rd occurred at the national shrine in Namugongo, close to the capital Kampala, in the Diocese of Moroto. Pilgrims included participants from Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and some from as far away as Malawi and Nigeria.

"We are standing on soil that is soaked with the blood of the martyrs," declared Bishop Henry Ssentongo of Moroto in his homily.

Between 1885 and 1887, 22 young men who served as pages at the Court of King Mwanga in Namugongo were put to death for refusing demands from their ruler that went against their faith. They were among the first Christian converts in their country.

Today over 12.6 million of the country's 28 million inhabitants are Catholics, and every year some 400,000 more are baptized.

Each year more and more have come to take part in the great feast, and estimates for the throng have gone as high as one million. Among the pilgrims were hundreds of priests, all the bishops of Uganda and a handful of foreign bishops, along with thousands more watching on television.

The northeast of Uganda is the most underdeveloped region of the country, one that continues to be so sorely marked by violence. One of the organizers was shot dead on the eve of the departure of the pilgrims from Moroto for the festival.

Father Andrzej Halemba, who heads the Africa desk of ACN, commented on the celebrations, "I am proud that we were able to help for this!"

"At last the people of the Karamoja region have been able to show that they have something really precious to offer their country and their Church!"

Bishop Ssentongo went on to emphasize in his homily, "This pilgrimage should mark a turning point in our lives... it is not enough to celebrate the fact that Uganda is a country of martyrs; instead we must follow in their footsteps and imitate Christ right up to the end!"


With pictures from the celebration of Ugandan martyrs in Namugongo (Photo: ACN)

From Editor's Notes:



Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org

Catholic Converts

I hope you will enjoy this video as much as I did.

The Very Inspirational Nick Vujicic

H/T to Kathleen

The Catholic Priest in the Modern World: A Living Martyr for His Faith in the Priesthood

Picture Source

...Consequently, as a society becomes more secularized and materially preoccupied, there will be a corresponding lack of interest in the priesthood. Once flourishing Catholic cultures that have become materially wealthy, become proportionally de-Catholicized and, to coin a term, desacerdotalized. Vocations to the priesthood decrease, as departures from the active priesthood increase. As we might add, naturally.

The modern media in societies like our own are, with rare exception, not friendly to the Catholic priesthood. Or, more accurately, the media are friendly in so far as Catholic bishops and priests do not challenge the secular values of a society—like contraception, sodomy or adultery. But once these values are challenged, the opposition is a plain fact of contemporary history.

However, this is not, in my judgment, the main grounds for claiming that a Catholic priest must expect to live a martyr’s life in the modern world. I believe the main reason is the spread of alien ideas in nominally Catholic circles about what exactly is a priest...

You can read Father John Hardon's article in its entirety here.

Thanks Sue Cifelli.

Pontifical Approval of Home of the Mother

Three Missions in the Church:
- The Defense of the Eucharist.
- The Defense of the Honor of Our Mother,
especially in the privilege of her virginity.
- The Conquest of the Youth for Christ.

Home of the Mother

ACN-USA News: Crisis at the Crossroads of faith

ACN-USA News

6/28/2010

Crisis at the Crossroads of faith


The impact of extremism on Christians in the Middle East was laid bare by a leading Vatican expert on Islam who appealed for action to safe-guard the Church’s continued presence in a region where its survival is under threat.

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr. Samir Khalil Samir spelled out the problem of extremism – both in the Middle East and the West.

Focusing mostly on the Middle East, the Egyptian-born Jesuit based in Lebanon categorized countries in the region according to a sliding scale of anti-Christian oppression, with Saudi Arabia being the worst.

Fr. Samir, who is coordinating preparations for this autumn’s Middle East Synod of Bishops, in Rome, said, “Christians in Saudi Arabia cannot even gather in their houses to pray. This is the worst situation, where human rights are practically unknown.”

Underlining how in many parts of the Middle East Christians have dwindled to a tiny minority, he went on, “For many, the only solution is emigration – proselytism, announcing Christ to everybody, is forbidden. There is no equality.”

Fr. Samir described how starting at the end of the 1960s some Middle East countries, especially Saudi Arabia, took advantage of new-found oil wealth to bankroll militant Wahabi Islam, which, he said, has been spread far and wide, including to the West.

“They built mosques, mostly paid by Saudi Arabia but also Teheran, sending with the mosques preachers and imams, and they gave them this very narrow vision of Islam.”

Underlining a dramatic move towards Christian oppression dating back to the 1970s, Fr. Samir went on to stress the need for dialogue with Islam, underlining that the Middle East faithful played an indispensible role in this area.

He said, “The question is: ‘Who is able to dialogue with Islam?’ In fact, although the situation is hard for Arab Christians, the main people dialoguing with Muslims and bringing change are precisely the Arab Christians.

“We are involved in dialogue every day. We work together, we go to school together.”

The priest, who has established 20 schools and authored at least 40 books, underlined the need for joint projects with Muslims, aimed at breaking down ignorance and mistrust and promoting education.

Stating that Islam “is in crisis” amid growing insecurity among Muslims about the
relationship between faith and modernity, he nonetheless made clear that theological discussion was extremely difficult because of differing views on Jesus Christ and the Bible, as well as the Prophet Mohammed and the Qur’an.

Fr. Samir, who is a university professor in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Paris, as well as the Gregorian, in Rome, said, “We need your help – we need your spiritual help, your prayer to support people in a region where there is oppression. We need your support for projects which promote education and peace.”


With picture of Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, SJ

Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org