Saturday, August 13, 2011

Patron Saint Meme

Anne, the lovely blogger of Imprisoned in my Bones tagged me for this new meme.

The rules are as follows:


"Assuming you are a saint, and your cause has been executed, your miracles confirmed, your date on the calendar established, all that is required is to select that of which Holy Mother Church will name you Patron (ess) of.

For this meme, you must name your patronage
and then tag 5 other people who would like to play along.

Linking your answer to your nominator's post would make it easier to get your answers."

Anne actually informed me of this tag a few days ago. At first I thought I could not possibly play along because my canonization is far beyond the stretch of the imagination! But this morning right before Mass I started thinking about it. I am not sure why. It occurred to me that the choice was fairly obvious...I would be the patroness of animals!! I think everyone pretty much is aware of my love of all animals. So that is what I would like to be.

I would like to tag my Hawaii friends for this one:

1. Father Daren.

2. Sarah

3. Easter

4. Melissa

5. Cy

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Priests and Blogging

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Good post! Does a Parish Priest have time to blog?

Feasts of Sts. Clare and Philomena

St. Clare of Assisi

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Friend of a very popular saint, St. Francis of Assisi.

Prayer to St. Clare of Assisi - Patroness of Television Workers

Dear St. Clare,
inspired by St. Francis,
you became a poor nun for the sake of Jesus,
and established the "Poor Clares."

We are told how greatly you cherished Christ
present in the sacrament of the Altar.
Is the Mass not a kind of television
of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross?

Help all television workers to broadcast the truth
and draw away from falsehood and evil.

New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book

St. Philomena

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St. John Marie Vianney and St. Damien of Molokai both had big devotion to this little saint.

Novena Prayer to St. Philomena

Illustrious Virgin and Martyr, St. Philomena,
behold me prostrate before the throne whereon it has pleased
the Most Holy Trinity to set thee.
Full of confidence in thy protection,
I entreat thee to intercede for me with God.

Ah! From the heights of Heaven deign to cast a glance
upon thy humble client.
Spouse of Christ, sustain me in suffering, fortify me in the
temptation , protect me in the dangers surrounding me,
obtain for me the graces necessary to me, and in particular...
Above all, assist me at the hour of my death. Amen.
St. Philomena, powerful with God- Pray for us.

Saint Philomena - Powerful with God by Sister Marie Helen Mohr, S.C.

ACN News - Musical for World Youth Day



The musical Pelican – Into Thy Hands is to be performed once again at the World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid.

The performance will be presented by a group of young Polish actors between 15 and 19 August at the Teatro Bellas Artes in Madrid. A total of nine performances are planned.

This musical, about the martyrs of the 20th century, was first performed at the World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany in 2005. Other performances followed in the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania and Rome.

The present stage performance, presented by the internationally renowned Polish choreographer Henryk Konwinski, is based on a concept devised by Father Joaquin Alliende, President of international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Set to contemporary music and incorporating dynamic dance scenes and choreography, Konwinski’s setting presents the lives of a handful of people who were willing to die for their faith in God.

Among the lives the young performers of the Polish performance group “Theater A” from the town of Gliwice, not far from Kraków, will present is that of the young German seminarian Karl Leisner, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1944 while a prisoner in Dachau concentration camp. He died just a few months later, as a result of the inhuman conditions of his imprisonment.

Also presented will be the life of the young Italian doctor Gianna Beretta Molla, who gave her life in order to bring her baby daughter into the world.

Other scenes portray moments from the life of the Spanish chemist Francisco Castello, who was murdered during the Spanish Civil War, and of the Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko, who was murdered by the Communist secret police.

The lives of the murdered Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of San Salvador and the fate of a group of seminarians in Buta, Burundi, who were likewise murdered, will also be featured.

The musical interweaves historical photographs and film footage with the choreography.

The title of the musical refers to the ancient legend of the pelican, who pecks her own breast in order to feed her chicks with her blood, saving them from a certain death. Christian symbolism took this to represent Jesus Christ, who shed his own blood for the salvation of the world.

More details about this performance are available at pelikanperformance.com


With poster image and scene from the musical.


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

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

ACN News- Iraq’s Christians need more security




A senior bishop in Iraq has demanded that the provincial government provide increased security for the region’s Christians following another attack on a church last week.

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Syrian Catholic Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche of Kirkuk called on politicians to guarantee better protection.

According to the archbishop, the terrorist car-bomb attack on Kirkuk’s Holy Family Church was only possible because of inadequate security in the province.

He said, “The local government is weak and unable to assure security and stability in the region.”

The archbishop said the responsibility lay with political leaders who were more concerned with their own status than the concerns of ordinary citizens.

In his interview with ACN he said, “Who is ultimately responsible? Is it not those who are immersed in political quarrels and interested only in safeguarding their own positions and maintaining their share of the nation’s wealth?”

He called on Iraqi political and religious leaders to take a firm stand against the recent violence.

Archbishop Mouche said, “They need to strongly denounce this repulsive crime, which will badly damage the reputation of Islam and the dignity of Iraq.”

Kirkuk Provincial Council issued a statement condemning the attacks shortly after they occurred, saying that “today’s assault on the Holy Family Church is a new black page in the history of the fundamentalist groups.”

The archbishop went on to say how this latest attack would not cause the Christian community to give up hope.

He said, “I hope that all what is happening in Iraq today will only serve to consolidate the firmness of faith of our Christians and their solidarity with one another.”

Archbishop Mouche added, “No matter how big the evil may be, it can’t shake faithful hearts. Brave souls remain firm.”

The car bomb exploded outside the Syrian-Catholic Church of the Holy Family in the city center of Kirkuk on August 2nd, injuring up to 23 people.

Describing the events the archbishop said, “It went off at half five in the morning, when the children were still asleep in their beds.”

“The explosion from the car bomb sent an electricity generator flying, which made a large hole in the wall of the church.”

He noted, “It was the second day of the Ramadan, the month of repentance and forgiveness.”

The explosion was so severe that people asleep in nearby homes were injured by falling glass and other debris.

Speaking about whoever planted the bomb, Archbishop Mouche said, “Perhaps he was an Iraqi by passport, but certainly not in his heart, because a true Iraqi does not eat the flesh of his brother.”

Aid to the Church in Need has prioritized help for Iraq providing help for Sisters and seminarians and Mass stipends as well as aid for refugees and displaced people.


With picture of Archbishop Yohanna Petros Mouche outside the Church of the Holy Family


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

San Lorenzo

The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence by Agnolo Bronzino

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It seems that everyone is familiar with the grim humor shown by our saint while he was on the grill.  According to a book I am reading, that was not the rest of the story.
Saint Lawrence by Fra Angelico

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According to Robert Eimer, O.M.I. author of Tilted Haloes, St. Lawrence also continued with the following: 

Martyrdom of St. Lawrency by Valentine De Boulogne

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"It seems that the Roman deacon Lawrence, gleefully, as we hear today, was being roasted alive on a spit over blazing coals.  Turning to his executioners, he remarked: 
The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence by Jacopo Vignali

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'Let my body now be turned; one side is broiled enough.'  Then he added the phrase we seldom hear:  'Eat now, for it is well done.'"

The Bruce Publishing Company, Milwaukee

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

EWTN TV - Deacon Bob Ellis with Fr. Mitch Pacwa


From World Apostolate of Fatima: Honolulu Division

WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA, USA
A Pontifical Association of the Faithful

EWTN TV - Deacon Bob Ellis with Fr. Mitch Pacwa


Deacon Bob Ellis, the National Coordinator for the World Apostolate of Fatima, Our Lady's Blue Army, will be Fr. Mitch Pacwa's guest on EWTN Live tomorrow Wednesday August 10th at 8:00 pm Eastern 5:00pm Pacific.



Check your local listings, record it, watch it and pass the word!



"Fatima... More Important Now than Ever" Pope John Paul II

Learn, Live and Spread Our Lady of Fatima's Message of Hope to a World in Great Need!



The World Apostolate of Fatima is an Association of Pontifical Right present in over 100 countries. It is the only organization given Ecclesiastical Authority to speak on the Message of Fatima and the mission by the Catholic Church to help people, Learn, Live, and Spread Our Lady of Fatima's Message of Hope.



Visit www.wafusa.org for more information.



For more information about "Fatima Prayer Everywhere,"

Visit: FatimaPrayerEverywhere
Email: prayer@bluearmy.com

The Death of Two Saints



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Today is the feast of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, formerly Edith Stein, a Jewish convert. This Sunday  is the feast of another martyr who died at the hands of the Nazis, St. Maximilian Kolbe, formerly Raymond Kolbe.

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One saint's search for the truth led her from the life of a secular Jew, to atheist to Catholic nun and finally to being canonized a saint.

The other saint knew the truth from a very early age. In fact in a vision, when the Immaculata presented him with the choice of either virgin or martyr, chose both.

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These two saints loved God and His most holy mother with their whole hearts, especially St. Maximilian Kolbe. His love for the Immaculata is still evident today with the many members of the Militia Immaculata.


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Edith Stein was an intellectual. She was a philosopher who could call many famous intellectuals in Germany, friends. It was her love of philosophy that ultimately lead her home to the true Church.


It is very tragic that this nun and priest had to have their lives taken so cruelly and maliciously and so prematurely by evil men.


The following document is from the Netherlands Red Cross.

BUREAU OF INFORMATION OF THE NETHERLANDS RED CROSS
9 Jan Everts Street, 's-Gravenhage, 2 June 1958
Settlement Bureaur for Jewish Affairs
Dossier Nol 108796
Your Letter of May 16, 1958

Certification

The undersigned, Chief of the Settlement Bureau for Jewish Affairs of the Netherlands Red Cross Bureau of Information confirms hereby that according to the papers kept in our archives

Edith Teresa Hedwig Stein

Born on: October 12, 1891 in: Breslau
Last Residence: Monastery of the Carmelite Nuns,
Bovenstrestraat 48, Echt (Holland)
For Reasons of Race, and specifically because of Jewish Descent
on 2 August, 1942, arrested in Echt, via K.L. (Concentration Camp)
Amersfoort (Holland)
On 5 August, 1942, handed over in KI.L. Westerbork and
on 7 August, 1942 deported from K.L. Westerbork to K.L. Auschwitz,
The, above named person is to be considered as having died on 9 August, 1942* in Auschwitz.

Notice to this effect is given on 15 February, 1950 in Echt
...(conditions are given regarding legal procedures)...
(Signed, official seal applied by Chief of the Bureau)

*For official purposes this date of death was established as deduced from various available facts. Individual statements regarding the exact time of death are not available.

Source: Edith Stein: Life in a Jewish Family 1891-1916, An Autobiography

"Thus two weeks passed..." (fellow Pole Bruno Borgowiec's personal testimony.)..."Meanwhile, the prisoners died one after the other, so much so that at the end of the third week only four remained, among whom was Father Kolbe. To the authorities it seemed that they lived on too long. The cell was needed for other victims.

For this reason, on August 14, the criminal Bloch, a German and the director of the hall of the sick, was brought in. He gave everyone an injection of poisonous acid in the left arm. With a prayer on his lips, Father Kolbe held out his arm to the killer. Being unable to stand what my eyes beheld, under the pretext of having to work in the office, I went away.

After the guard and the executioner left, I returned to the cell, where I found Father Maximilian Kolbe sitting down, leaning against the wall, with eyes opened and his head bent to the left side. (It was his usual position.) His serene face was beautifully radiant.

Together with the barber of the block, Mr. Chelbik from Karwina, I took the body of the hero to the bath. Here it was placed in a box and taken to the mortuary cell of the prison.

Thus died the priest, the hero of the camp of Auschwitz, offering himself voluntarily for the father of a family, quiet and tranquil, praying until the last moment.

Source: Saint Maximilian Kolbe: Apostle of Our Difficutl Age, Antonio Ricciardi, OFM Conv.

Father Kolbe died on the vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. How appropriate!

Monday, August 08, 2011

St. Dominic - Patron Saint of Astronomers

"Death of St. Dominic" by Fra Angelico

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Wonderful Saintly Founder
of the eloquent Order of Preachers
and friend of St. Francis of Assisi,
you were a fiery defender of the Faith
and a fighter against the darkness of heresy.

You resembled a great star that shone close to the world
and pointed to the Light which was Christ.
Help astronomers to study the stars
and admire their wonderful Maker,
proclaiming: "Give glory to God in the highest."

New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book