Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Father Richard Lo Hung explains how to "Live the Mass" on EWTN
THE AUTHENTIC SAINT PATRICK
by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.. Used with permission.
What do we really know about St. Patrick? His background is shrouded in mystery. What we have heard often mingles myth with reality. To separate fact from fiction we need a closer look. We need to ask the real St. Patrick to please stand up.
In the fifth century A.D. an adolescent boy in Britain was kidnapped and enslaved by marauders from a nearby country. The youngster they captured eventually eluded his captors in Ireland, but several years later returned as a priest with the conviction that God had chosen him to convert that country to Christianity. That young Briton named Patricius died an Irishman named Patrick. Ireland and Christianity have not been the same since. Meet the authentic St. Patrick.
Fact over Myth
His life was clouded by legend, but peeling away the myth we discover that what is factually known about St. Patrick is far more interesting. He never chased the snakes out of Ireland, nor do we have any certainty that he used the shamrock to teach the Trinity to his converts.
History possesses no written records about Britain or Ireland from the fifth century except those few about Patrick. Quite simply Ireland had no written records prior to Patrick.
The sequence of his life is not clear, and historians cannot identify when he was born, ordained a bishop, or died. But scholars agree that the two extant examples of his writing are clearly the work of the same man we today call Patrick.
The two brief compositions of Patrick, his Confession and his Letter to Coroticus, are the sources of all we know for certain about the historical Patrick.
The Confession, not really a biography, recounts his call to convert the Irish and aims to justify his mission to an unsympathetic people in Britain.
The Letter to Coroticus, an Irish warlord whom Patrick excommunicated, illustrates his power as a preacher, but yields little biographical information.
His Life
In a nutshell these are the biographical facts. Patrick was born Patricius in Roman Britain to a Christian family of some wealth. He was not religious in his youth, and claims he was close to renouncing his family’s faith. Kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave for a warlord, he worked as a shepherd for six years and then escaped. At home he began studies for the priesthood with the intent to return as a missionary to his former captors. Clearly he had committed his life to Ireland until death. By the time he had written the Confession, Patrick was recognized as bishop of Ireland by both the natives of Ireland and by Church authorities on the continent.
His Character
Two traits are patently evident in Patrick’s Confession: his humility and his strength. These characteristics are missing in early biographies and in the legends.
The missionary Patrick who returned to Ireland was a strong and vigorous personality. He was tough and determined. He had to be to pursue the vision that launched him in the evangelization of the pagan island. He was not the least bit reluctant to undertake this mission despite the fact that in 400 years no one had taken the Gospel beyond the bounds of Roman civilization. As each obstacle was encountered, Patrick mustered the strength to overcome it.
With limited education -- he was chiefly self-educated -- but with the grace of the experience of his enslaved exile, Patrick determined to do what no other had done in the previous four centuries of Christian history. He decided to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and he planned wisely a way to do it. Unaided he figured out how to carry Christian values to the barbarians who practiced human sacrifice, who constantly warred with each other, and who were noted slave traders. That was neither simple nor easy to attempt. Most likely he hazarded this challenge of evangelization never before undertaken by the missionaries of the Greco-Roman world because the Christians of the continent did not consider barbarians to be human.
Patrick’s years as a slave had uniquely molded his attitude to mount a heroic effort to reach the minds and hearts of these untamed people. Patrick detested slavery, and may have been the first Christian leader to speak out unequivocally against it. The Church did not formally condemn slavery as immoral until the late nineteenth century. Patrick had experienced this suffering, knew how to suffer with others, and understood the sufferings of others. Compassion was his strong suit.
A more genuine advocate for the disadvantaged and the marginated of society than Patrick would be difficult to find. Without doubt he is one of the great saints of the downtrodden and excluded whom others shun.
In Patrick women too find an advocate. He speaks of them as individual human beings, lauds their strength and courage in the sufferings they endured in slavery, and respects them as handmaids of the Lord. Unlike most of his episcopal contemporaries, he might be the first male Christian since Jesus to speak so positively about women.
Patrick was convinced he had a God-given mission, and that Providence would see him through thick and thin. This gave him the will to return to the barbarians who had mistreated him. Patrick saw God at work in the world as a loving and benevolent Father.
His Legacy
Did Patrick accomplish his mission? At the time of his death human sacrifice had ceased, the Irish people abandoned the slave trade, and, although they had not stopped warring with each other, the battles were more restrained. Patrick knew these people would not change overnight.
This is the legacy left by St. Patrick: he had met the objective set by Christ, the Master of Apostles, to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. And his successors continued the pursuit of that objective.
As Ireland without Patrick is unthinkable, so too is life today without the saints. The saints are for the ages, ours no less than others. Without saints life would be miserable. The saints are for everyone -- believing and unbelieving -- because they are the people who proclaim by their lives that life is valuable, life is worth living, that a provident God cares for us. Without them life would be a series of disasters. St. Patrick personified this Christian hope.
Triduum to St. Joseph for Priests - Starts Today
March 17, 18 and 19
O glorious Saint Joseph,
who, on the word of the angel
speaking to you in the night,
put fear aside to take your Virgin Bride into your home,
show yourself today the advocate and protector of priests.
Protector of the Infant Christ,
defend them against every attack of the enemy,
preserve them from the dangers that surround them
on every side.
Remember Herod's threats against the Child,
the anguish of the flight into Egypt by night,
and the hardships of your exile.
Stand by the accused;
stretch out your hand to those who have fallen;
comfort the fearful;
forsake not the weak;
and visit the lonely.
Let all priests know that in you
God has given them a model
of faith in the night, obedience in adversity,
chastity in tenderness, and hope in uncertainty.
You are the terror of demons
and the healer of those wounded in spiritual combat.
Come to the defence of every priest in need;
overcome evil with good.
Where there are curses, put blessings,
where harm has been done, do good.
Let there be joy for the priests of the Church,
and peace for all under your gracious protection.
Amen.
Thank you Father Vince!
The Curé of Ars - On Envy
Envy is a sadness which we feel on account of the good that happens to our neighbor.
Envy, my children, follows pride; whoever is envious is proud. See, envy comes to us from Hell; the devils having sinned through pride, sinned also through envy, envying our glory, our happiness. Why do we envy the happiness and the goods of others? Because we are proud; we should like to be the sole possessors of talents, riches, of the esteem and love of all the world! We hate our equals, because they are our equals; our inferiors, from the fear that they may equal us; our superiors, because they are above us. In the same way, my children, that the devil after his fall felt, and still feels, extreme anger at seeing us the heirs of the glory of the good God, so the envious man feels sadness at seeing the spiritual and temporal prosperity of his neighbor.
We walk, my children, in the footsteps of the devil; like him, we are vexed at good, and rejoice at evil. If our neighbor loses anything, if his affairs go wrong, if he is humbled, if he is unfortunate, we are joyful... we triumph! The devil, too, is full of joy and triumph when we fall, when he can make us fall as low as himself. What does he gain by it? Nothing. Shall we be richer, because our neighbor is poorer? Shall we be greater, because he is less? Shall we be happier, because he is more unhappy? O my children! how much we are to be pitied for being like this! St. Cyprian said that other evils had limits, but that envy had none. In fact, my children, the envious man invents all sorts of wickedness; he has recourse to evil speaking, to calumny, to cunning, in order to blacken his neighbor; he repeats what he knows, and what he does not know he invents, he exaggerates....
Through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world; and also through envy we kill our neighbor; by dint of malice, of falsehood, we make him lose his reputation, his place.... Good Christians, my children, do not do so; they envy no one; they love their neighbor; they rejoice at the good that happens to him, and they weep with him if any misfortune comes upon him. How happy should we be if we were good Christians. Ah! my children, let us, then, be good Christians and we shall no more envy the good fortune of our neighbor; we shall never speak evil of him; we shall enjoy a sweet peace; our soul will be calm; we shall find paradise on earth.
Source: Day 29: March 17, 2010
St. Patrick's Feast Day
Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!
I want to thank Breadgirl for sharing this beautiful Irish melody on her blog. She posted it for Mothering Sunday but I thought it appropriate to share it on St. Patrick's Day. Very touching.
A Mother's Love Is A Blessing
(Thomas P Keenan)
An Irish boy was leaving
Leaving his native home
Crossing the broad Atlantic
Once more he wished to roam
And as he was leaving his mother
Who was standing on the quay
She threw her arms around his waist
And this to him did say
A mother's love's a blessing
No matter where you roam
Keep her while she's living
You'll miss her when she's gone
Love her as in childhood
Though feeble, old and grey
For you'll never miss a mother's love
Till she's buried beneath the clay
And as the years go onwards
I'll settle down in life
And choose a nice young colleen
And take her for my wife
And as the babes grow older
And climb around my knee
I'll teach them the very same lesson
That my mother taught to me
A mother's love's a blessing
No matter where you roam
Keep her while she's living
You'll miss her when she's gone
Love her as in childhood
Though feeble, old and grey
For you'll never miss a mother's love
Till she's buried beneath the clay
Lyrics Source
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
"Esolen's Rules" - On Marriage
One of my sisters shared the following with me. I think this is great!
Dr. Anthony Esolen was recently a guest on EWTN's Life on the Rock. He is a good speaker. He has his Ph.D. in Renaissance English Literature. The following are some points for young people to consider in a person before marrying them.
He states that some of the points were meant to be facetious. But the gist of the points is quite good.
... So then, whom could you marry? A long time ago we came up with something we called "Esolen's Rules." They're only half facetious. But they are an attempt to get at the normal:
1. Don't marry a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs. You may marry a woman who doesn't like either, or whose reason for not liking dogs is that one of them bit her when she was a toddler. But a woman who likes cats but does not like dogs will be a Joan Crawford or Jane Wyman. Ronald Reagan married Jane Wyman, and look how sorry he was about that.
2. Don't marry a man who is neater than you are. You may, however, marry a man who polishes his tools and puts them away after use....
3. Don't marry anybody, man or woman, who says, "I'm going to call you at eight," and then leaves you waiting by the phone for an hour. Exceptions can be made for people who are kidnapped by Arabs, or who have epileptic seizures.
4. Don't marry anybody who insists on a separate bank account, bed, bathroom, vacation, or zip code. It makes no sense to be one flesh and two wallets.
5. Don't marry a woman who spends more on makeup than she does on food. In general, don't marry a woman who engages in the sin of reverse gluttony...
Read the rest here
On Purity
..."I need grace to be pure. The will to be pure is necessary as well, but it is not enough. I must understand that or I shall not be chaste. And I must pray for that grace daily."
From Rosary meditations on Joyful Mysteries on Purity. Father Peyton's Rosary Prayer Book.
Cheating this Lent? It May Not be a Sin
I may have mentioned that when we were kids, it was forbidden to do anything on Good Friday, EXCEPT to watch the latest episode of Dark Shadows. My mom still cringes at her ignorance on observing the most solemn day of the liturgical year. All of us have done similar things like this during Lent or Holy Week.
But the good news is, even though we are weak and fall short of our Lenten resolutions, it may not necessarily be a sin.
Read Cheating on Lenten sacrifice no sin
Also, there is a debate on whether or not to take a break of our Lenten fast on Sundays during Lent. These Sundays are referred to as "little Easters". One friend believes that Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days straight so why shouldn't we? Yet Every Sunday is a celebration of the Day of the Lord's Resurrection. and the Church celebrates on these days.
I do not think there is a right or wrong here as long as one is doing it for the right reasons, to grow closer to Christ during His Passion, and of course, not to judge his or her neighbor if they do the opposite.
And, another popular form of fasting this Lent is fasting from Facebook. See article here.
I am one of those individuals who have chosen to fast from Facebook this Lent. I must tell you, I have never felt so free. This shows me that Facebook was becoming too addictive for me. At first it was tempting to log on to see what was going on in the world of my "friends". Yet, other than to accept friend invites, and to send direct messages that I deemed absolutely necessary, I really do not miss being on Facebook. I have more time to do more spiritual reading, works of mercy, make stuff that takes lots of time like making jam, etc. I know it was the right thing for me to do.
On the other hand, Catholic blogger, Fr. Daren did not give up Facebook for Lent. You can read his reasons by clicking on his name.
Again, there is not a question on what is the right thing or the wrong thing to do. It is what is right for the individual. Fr. Daren makes a good point on why he continued to be on Facebook.
BTW, a big mahalo to Deacon Greg for both links.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The 10 Principal Virtues of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
Photo by Esther G.
1. Her profound humility
2. Her lively faith
3. Her blind obedience
4. Her continual Prayer
5. Her universal mortification
6. Her divine purity
7. Her ardent charity
8. Her heroic patience
9. Her angelic sweetness
10. Her divine wisdom
- According to St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)