For you grammar nazis’ . . .
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Saint Olaf of Norway
Posted by Jacob
Today, July 29, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Olaf
of Norway (955-1031), martyr, “eternal king” and patron saint of Norway.
Through his efforts, faith, and miracles, Norway was brought to the faith.
Unhappy with his efforts, Olaf was slain in a revolt by his people, earning him
the martyrs’ crown in 1030.
Born Olaf Haraldsson, royalty was in the blood of the future
saint. His father was King Harold Grenske of Norway, and Olaf was to follow in
his footsteps. Referred to as “Olaf the Fat,” he spent his youth as a Norse
raider until approximately age 15 when he was baptized at Rouen. At 18, Olaf
traveled to England and offered his services to the king, fighting against the
invading Danes. Following his father’s death, and his ascension to the throne,
Olaf traveled home to Norway, and fought tirelessly to free his lands and
people from the Danes and Swedes. Succeeding, he immediately requested that
Christian missionaries from England be sent to Norway, and the faith began
spreading across the land.
King Olaf ruled with certainty, reigning over Norway for 13
peaceful years. He tried to convert his people, using force if necessary as was
common at the time. To Olaf, the fight for souls against Satan required force.
But many of the noble class found his policies harsh and his were slow to
accept the faith. In 1029, they rebelled against him, and siding with King
Canute of Denmark, overthrew Olaf. He was exiled to Russia, where he held to
his faith, and returned to Norway in 1031, only to be slain in battle.
Buried at the Cathedral of Trondheim, numerous miracles
began being reported at his tombside, and he became especially revered and
venerated there. His final resting place became a place of pilgrimage, and the
people of Norway came to recognize him as the champion of Norwegian
independence. He was canonized the patron saint of Norway in 1164. What the
sword couldn’t do even in “good faith, ”the Spirit did. Norway became
predominantly Catholic.
Most memorable among his
accomplishments as King was the development of what came to be known as Saint
Olaf’s Law. Ahead of its time, Olaf’s Law prescribed prayer to Christ for
peace, required newborn babies to be allowed to live and not abandoned in
fields or forests, slaves were to be ransomed each year, polygamy was
forbidden, and severe penalties were exacted for rape and the kidnapping of
women. Olaf himself traveled the length of Norway promoting his new Christian
Law, and he insisted that it be applied equally upon both rich and poor.
Almighty, eternal God, you
are the crown of kings and the triumph of martyrs. We know that your blessed
martyr, Olaf, intercedes for us before your face. We praise your greatness in
his death and we pray you, give us the crown of life that you have promised
those who love you, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Olaf - King of Norway
Olaf II Haraldsson (995 – 29 July 1030), later
known as St. Olaf, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028.
He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae (English:
Norway's Eternal King) and canonised in Nidaros (Trondheim) by
Bishop Grimkell,
one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030.
His remains were enshrined in Nidaros
Cathedral, built over his burial site.
Olaf's local canonisation was in 1164 confirmed by Pope Alexander III, making him a universally
recognized saint of the Catholic
Church.
The exact position of Saint Olaf's grave in Nidaros has been
unknown since 1568, due to the Lutheran iconoclasm in
1536–37.
Saint Olaf is symbolised by the axe in Norway's coat of arms, and the Olsok (29 July)
is still his day of celebration.
The Order
of St. Olav is named after him.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
St. Anne & St. Joachim
St. Anne’s Novena
July 18 – 26
&
St. Anne & St.
Joachim Feast Day Mass
July 26
At The Rosary Shrine of Saint Jude
Washington, DC
Good St. Anne, pray for us and our
loved ones.
The Dominican Friars will
include you and your family in the prayers and Masses of this Novena
That Honors The Grandparents
of Jesus,
St. Anne is a model for grandparents
today in guiding their families to live good and virtuous lives.
The greatest gifts grandparents can
give are love and faith.
The Rosary Shrine of Saint Jude
Dominican Friars
Washington, DC
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
At the
Carmel of the Holy Spirit Monastery
In Littleton, CO
This feast, instituted in the 14th
Century by the Carmelite Order, commemorates the day in 1251 when the Blessed
Mother gave the brown scapular to Saint Simon Stock in England.
“The Blessed Virgin Mary watches
unceasingly with a mother’s loving care over the beloved of her Son, and lights
us along our pilgrim way to the Mount of your Glory, our beacon of comfort, and
the embodiment of all hopes as members of the Church.”
You and your family will be
included in the prayers and Mass offered today by the Carmelites.
Carmel of the Holy Spirit Monastery
Littleton, CO
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Dancing to "All Night"
Talented . . .
This video was totally viral about three or four weeks ago,
a time for levity in the loft of a young man identified only as “JustSomeMotion” on
YouTube.
His fancy footwork is set to the tune of “All Night” by
an Austrian musician and DJ named Parov Stelar.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart
This was sung at Latin Choral Mass yesterday at Holy Ghost
Catholic Church in Denver. Beautiful . . .
The 'Ave Verum" by, of course, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (1756-1791 Austrian Composer).
This hymn brings you to the centre of our Catholic Faith,
that is Christ in the Eucharist!
The Eucharist gives us a 'foretaste' of Heaven. In the
reception of 'Communion' we receive Christ Himself("Body, Blood, Soul and
Divinity).
Christ truly enters into us and imparts to us His Holy Spirit
of Love and Truth.
After Communion I often say, "Jesus, it is good for us
(me) to be here." during my 'thanksgiving'!
Ave, verum corpus
natum de Maria Virgine,
Vere passum immolatum
in Cruce pro homine,
Cujus latus perforatum
unda fluxit et sanguine,
Esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.
Hail, true Body,
born of the Virgin Mary,
who having truly suffered,
was sacrificed on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet] in the
trial of death.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Pipe Organ - Gregorian Chant - Polyphony
What would you say if I told you:
“In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to
be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds
a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s
mind to God and to higher things.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 120.)
To the extent that the new sacred music is to
serve the liturgical celebrations of the various churches, it can and must draw
from earlier forms — especially from Gregorian chant — a higher
inspiration, a uniquely sacred quality, a genuine sense of what is religious.
(St. John Paul II, 1980)
“other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony,
are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord
with the spirit of the liturgical action.” (SC 116)
Pope Paul VI saw the dam that broke in the
Church music situation. In 1974, he tried to plug the hole and set the Church
back on course when he wrote to all the Bishops of the world. He sent all the
Bishops a book called Jubilate Deo. This document contains all
of the basic chants that should be familiar to every practicing Catholic.
Over 50 years after the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium and
it is still probably one of the most debated documents of the Church. It’s time
for every musician and every Catholic to slowly and prayerfully read the source
to see what the Father’s of the Second Vatican Council really said and what
they did not so as to stop making it up as we go along.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
St. Odilia - Patron of the Eyes
St. Odilia – Patron of the Eyes & of the Afflicted
Solemn Novena
July 10-18
On each day of the Annual Solemn Novena, the
Crosier Fathers and Brothers of Onamia, MN will pray
to
Saint Odilia
Asking her to intercede for your special intentions
and healing needs.
National Shrine of St. Odilia
Crosier Fathers and Brothers
Onamia, MN
Odilia was born in France in the seventh century. When she was
still an infant, her parents realized that she was blind. Her father was so
angry that he ordered his only child put to death. But Odilia’s mother
convinced him to allow Odilia to be raised by nuns.
The nuns raised Odilia with faith and love. They gathered around
her on the day of her baptism when she was twelve years old. As the priest
blessed her with chrism, her blindness was cured. A legend about this miracle
says that the priest then said to her, “Now you will see me in the kingdom of
heaven.”
Odilia was welcomed home and began to get to know her family. She
was a beautiful young woman and her father planned for her to marry a rich man.
Odilia wanted to become a nun and to live the life she knew so well. Her father
again lost his temper and treated her badly until one day he saw her hiding a
bowl of food under her cloak as she left the castle. He asked her what she was
doing. Odilia explained that she was bringing food to the poor.
Odilia’s father gave her his castle to use as a convent and a place
for the hungry and sick to find help. At her request, her father also built a
monastery at the foot of the steep hill that led to the castle so that the
elderly and lame could be cared for without a long journey uphill. Soon,
Odilia’s father also built a large church so that everyone, poor or wealthy,
could worship God together.
The Church honors St. Odilia on December 13. She is the patron
saint of anyone with eye problems. St. Odilia teaches us to see the everything
we do with eyes of faith and to believe that with the Lord, anything is
possible.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Hacked To Death by Chinese Boxers
St. Gregory Grassi and Companions (d.
1900)
Christian missionaries have often gotten caught in the
crossfire of wars against their own countries. When the governments of Britain,
Germany, Russia and France forced substantial territorial concessions from the
Chinese in 1898, anti-foreign sentiment grew very strong among many Chinese
people.
Gregory
Grassi was born in Italy in 1833, ordained in 1856 and sent to China five years
later. Gregory was later ordained Bishop of North Shanxi. With 14 other
European missionaries and 14 Chinese religious, he was martyred during the
short but bloody Boxer Uprising of 1900.
Twenty-six
of these martyrs were arrested on the orders of Yu Hsien, the governor of
Shanxi province. They were hacked to death on July 9, 1900. Five of them
were Friars Minor; seven were Franciscan Missionaries of Mary — the first
martyrs of their congregation. Seven were Chinese seminarians and Secular
Franciscans; four martyrs were Chinese laymen and Secular Franciscans. The
other three Chinese laymen killed in Shanxi simply worked for the Franciscans
and were rounded up with all the others. Three Italian Franciscans were
martyred that same week in the province of Hunan. All these martyrs were
beatified in 1946 and were among the 120 martyrs canonized in 2000.
Martyrdom is the occupational hazard of missionaries.
Throughout China during the Boxer Uprising, five bishops, 50 priests, two
brothers, 15 sisters and 40,000 Chinese Christians were killed. The 146,575
Catholics served by the Franciscans in China in 1906 had grown to 303,760 by
1924 and were served by 282 Franciscans and 174 local priests.
Great sacrifices often bring great results.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Webinar: How To Talk To Protestants
I attended Dr. Taylor Marshall’s webinar last night on “How
to talk to Protestants and Non-practicing Catholics.” He was
shocked that over 700 people joined the one-hour live
webinar.
Opening Poll Question: Your friends think of you
as:
-
A crazy religious zealot
-
A mean and intolerant Catholic
-
A hypocrite
-
A source for religious information and guidance
Why should you bother trying to explain Catholicism to your
family and friends?
-
For the sake of their salvation so they don’t
end up in hell or spend a long time in purgatory isolated from their loved ones
who are already in heaven.
-
We gain graces for helping others to find the
Way, the Truth, and the Light.
-
We love our family and friends and don’t want
them to miss out in the next life.
What are 3 positive ways to start conversations about
religion and about Catholicism?
-
Ask the person about their worldview, why we are
here on earth, what happens after we die, and about their religious beliefs
-
Move laterally – ask them next if they have a
relationship with Jesus and how intimate it is now and how they keep that
relationship growing
-
Drop silent bombs – don’t be confrontational –
send them e-books that you have read and recommend, send them Google
articles/links that you find interesting,
-
(Never ask a Protestant what religion they
are. They will be insulted and will say “Christian” and
wonder why you think they are Buddhist or Jewish or Muslim.
Instead, ask them what denomination or “faith tradition” they follow.)
What are 3 things we must know when sharing our faith?
-
Know about scripture. Read it daily
(Magnificat comes in handy). Read books (Pope Benedict’s books are
of great help explaining scripture.)
-
Know about the various Protestant religions and
how they differ from Catholicism. Use Dr. Marshall’s handy
Apologetics Bible Sheet (6 pages) to explain the differences so you don’t get
in heated arguments and debates. Let the Bible Sheet show
what we believe based on the referenced lines of scripture and leave it at
that.
-
Know Catholic Theology, History, Devotions, and
Customs. Read books and web sites that are rich sources of
this information that can be shared.
Homework Assignment:
Study Theology – Aquinas in 50
pages (free from Dr. Marshall), Augustine’s Confessions, Pope Benedict’s books,
podcasts
Study History – Lives of the
Saints, Saint of the Day,
Study Devotions – Rosary, Sacred
Heart, Divine Mercy
Study Customs – Feast Days,
Novenas, Sacramentals such as Miraculous Medal and scapulars
Show Peace by example – Who needs
yoga or mental therapy when you can go to chapel and meditate before the
Blessed Eucharist?
Show Wisdom by example – Talk about
the pilgrimage you went on, the beautiful church you visited, the book you just
read, the Catholic movie you just saw, the saint you just read about.
Show Joy by example – The joy of
talking to Jesus daily in prayer and the daily scripture readings (Magnificat),
, the joy of being freed from sin in Confession, the joy of being part of the
only religion where our priests bring Jesus directly to us in Holy Communion,
the joy of our pope greeting the sick, the joy of our nuns/monks helping the
poor, the joy of our parish doing good things for others, they joy of seeing
our babies being baptized and youngsters receiving First Holy Communion,
the joy of being able to directly receive Jesus every day in Holy Communion –
you can’t have a more intimate relationship with God than that!
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Radical Old Geezers
From Father Z’s
blog . . .
Apparently
the progressive Association of American Priests., average age 69, and the
so-called Catholic Church Reform International (like the Council of Elders?), ”are
taking the pope seriously.”
To wit:
They are
asking the Vatican Synod on the Family to do four things:
1. To bless those who
choose to live together in preparation for
marriage [read: shack up] as well as those who form new
relationships after a marriage breaks down. [read: commit adultery]
2. To say that Humanae Vitae was a mistake. [And we
should force people to pay for other people's contraception too!] They want the church
to emphasize the joyfulness of marriage [and shacking up and adultery] rather than finding
new things to condemn. [More sex with everyone! With everything!] They’re looking, they
say, for the church to advise couples on the values and practices that
genuinely promote openness to life. They want more from the church, it seems,
than just another list of sins. [No, they want the Church to abandon the very notion of
sin. They should become Anglicans. They have a rite of baptism that
doesn't mention the Devil.]
3. To treat all people with
the same respect regardless of their sexual orientation andrefrain from making gender a definition of the roles and tasks of
either church or society. [Why limit yourself to gender? Abolish species-ism!]
4. To proclaim the truth
that the church is expressed through the sensus fidelium, through
“priests, religious, and the people learning and teaching together.”[Bishops, let out?]
[...]
This is
clearly a body in motion.
You can hear them coming as the canes clack down the hallway.
Their
battle cry? ”Yesterday’s blunders, tomorrow!”
Pope Francis would approve of those bullet points? I
think not.
I’ll go take my 50+ vitamin now.
Friday, July 4, 2014
To The Heights - Pier Giorgio
Do yourself a favor and read more about his
life here and learn more reasons
why we love him by watching this video; but for our purposes here, suffice it to say that he was a man who
lived his life to the full.
His life was one of Christ-centered adventure.
He coined the phrase, “to the heights” (“verso l’alto” in Italian), when he
scribbled it on a picture of himself climbing a mountain. It has now
become his mantra.
Pier Giorgio was a man who sought the heights in
everything he did, in everything and everyone he encountered. He
spent his whole life reaching for the heights of his potential, the heights of
service, the heights of love, the heights of holiness.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Happy St.Thomas Day - No Doubt About It!
July 3 - St. Thomas the Apostle
Poor Thomas! He made one remark and has been branded as
“Doubting Thomas” ever since. But if he doubted, he also believed. He made what
is certainly the most explicit statement of faith in the New Testament: “My
Lord and My God!” (see John 20:24-28) and, in so expressing his faith, gave
Christians a prayer that will be said till the end of time. He also occasioned
a compliment from Jesus to all later Christians: “Have you come to believe
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have
believed” (John 20:29).
Thomas
should be equally well known for his courage. Perhaps what he said was
impetuous—since he ran, like the rest, at the showdown—but he can scarcely have
been insincere when he expressed his willingness to die with Jesus. The
occasion was when Jesus proposed to go to Bethany after Lazarus had died. Since
Bethany was near Jerusalem, this meant walking into the very midst of his
enemies and to almost certain death. Realizing this, Thomas said to the other
apostles, “Let us also go to die with him” (John 11:16b).
COMMENT:
Thomas shares the lot of Peter the impetuous, James and John, the “sons of thunder,” Philip and his foolish request to see the Father—indeed all the apostles in their weakness and lack of understanding. We must not exaggerate these facts, however, for Christ did not pick worthless men. But their human weakness again points up the fact that holiness is a gift of God, not a human creation; it is given to ordinary men and women with weaknesses; it is God who gradually transforms the weaknesses into the image of Christ, the courageous, trusting and loving one.
Thomas shares the lot of Peter the impetuous, James and John, the “sons of thunder,” Philip and his foolish request to see the Father—indeed all the apostles in their weakness and lack of understanding. We must not exaggerate these facts, however, for Christ did not pick worthless men. But their human weakness again points up the fact that holiness is a gift of God, not a human creation; it is given to ordinary men and women with weaknesses; it is God who gradually transforms the weaknesses into the image of Christ, the courageous, trusting and loving one.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
El Camino Real - Junipero Serra
I still need to visit all of his missions in California . . .
July 1: Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
In 1776, when the American Revolution was beginning in the
east, another part of the future United States was being born in California.
That year a gray-robed Franciscan founded Mission San Juan Capistrano,
now famous for its annually returning swallows. San Juan was the seventh of
nine missions established under the direction of this indomitable Spaniard.
Born
on Spain’s island of Mallorca, Serra entered the Franciscan Order, taking the
name of St. Francis’ childlike companion, Brother Juniper. Until he was 35, he
spent most of his time in the classroom—first as a student of theology and then
as a professor. He also became famous for his preaching. Suddenly he gave it
all up and followed the yearning that had begun years before when he heard
about the missionary work of St. Francis Solanus in South America. Junipero’s
desire was to convert native peoples in the New World.
Arriving
by ship at Vera Cruz, Mexico, he and a companion walked the 250 miles to Mexico
City. On the way Junipero’s left leg became infected by an insect bite and
would remain a cross—sometimes life-threatening—for the rest of his life. For
18 years he worked in central Mexico and in the Baja Peninsula. He became
president of the missions there.
Enter
politics: the threat of a Russian invasion south from Alaska. Charles III of
Spain ordered an expedition to beat Russia to the territory. So the last twoconquistadors—one
military, one spiritual—began their quest. José de Galvez persuaded Junipero to
set out with him for present-day Monterey, California. The first mission
founded after the 900-mile journey north was San Diego (1769). That year a
shortage of food almost canceled the expedition. Vowing to stay with the local
people, Junipero and another friar began a novena in preparation for St.
Joseph’s day, March 19, the scheduled day of departure. On that day, the
relief ship arrived.
Other
missions followed: Monterey/Carmel (1770); San Antonio and San Gabriel (1771);
San Luís Obispo (1772); San Francisco and San Juan Capistrano (1776); Santa
Clara (1777); San Buenaventura (1782). Twelve more were founded after Serra’s
death.
Junipero
made the long trip to Mexico City to settle great differences with the military
commander. He arrived at the point of death. The outcome was substantially what
Junipero sought: the famous “Regulation” protecting the Indians and the
missions. It was the basis for the first significant legislation in California,
a “Bill of Rights” for Native Americans.
Because
the Native Americans were living a nonhuman life from the Spanish point of
view, the friars were made their legal guardians. The Native Americans were
kept at the mission after Baptism lest they be corrupted in their former
haunts—a move that has brought cries of “injustice” from some moderns.
Junipero’s
missionary life was a long battle with cold and hunger, with unsympathetic
military commanders and even with danger of death from non-Christian native
peoples. Through it all his unquenchable zeal was fed by prayer each night,
often from midnight till dawn. He baptized over 6,000 people and
confirmed 5,000. His travels would have circled the globe. He brought the
Native Americans not only the gift of faith but also a decent standard of
living. He won their love, as witnessed especially by their grief at his death.
He is buried at Mission San Carlo Borromeo, Carmel, and was beatified in 1988.
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