Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Thursday 30 April 2015

Saint Catherine Of Siena (1347 - 1380). Doctor Of The Church. Virgin. Feast Day 30 April.


Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Catherine of Siena.
Doctor of The Church.
Virgin.
Feast Day 30 April.

Double.

White Vestments.



Saint Catherine of Siena.
From the Church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Prati,
Rome, Italy.
Date: 19th-Century.
Source: http://www.tanogabo.it/religione/santa_caterina_siena.htm
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


"The Holy Order of Preachers", which yesterday offered a Red Rose to Jesus risen again
[Editor: The Feast Day of Saint Peter of Verona, Martyr], offers Him, today, a Lily of Dazzling Whiteness". [The Liturgical Year, by Dom Guéranger: The Paschal Season. Vol. II. 30 April.]

Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was the last but one of twenty-four children. In her childhood, she chose Jesus for her Spouse (Epistle). Subjecting her delicate body to frightful mortifications, her only support during her prolonged Fasts was Holy Communion (Postcommunion).

She received, from The Crucified Lord, The Stigmata and Inspired Knowledge, concerning the most profound Mysteries of Religion. It was by her persuasion that Pope Gregory XI left Avignon to return to Rome.

When, like Christ, she had reached her thirty-third year, she entered Heaven with her Divine Spouse to take part in The Nuptial Banquet (Gospel) in The Holy Joys of The Eternal Passover (Introit, Alleluia).

"Let us offer to God, on this day, The Sacred Host embalmed with the Virginal Perfume of Blessed Catherine" (Secret), so that He may grant us, in return, Life Eternal (Postcommunion).

Mass: Dilexisti.



The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Saint Catherine of Siena, Third Order of Saint Dominic, T.O.S.D. (25 March 1347 in Siena – 29 April 1380 in Rome), was a Tertiary of The Dominican Order and a Scholastic Philosopher and Theologian. She also worked to bring the Papacy of Pope Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France (Avignon) and to establish peace among the Italian City-States.


Since 18 June 1866, she is one of the two Patron Saints of Italy, together with Saint Francis of Assisi. On 3 October 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of The Church, by Pope Paul VI, and, on 1 October 1999, Pope Saint John Paul II named her as one of the six Patron Saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden and Edith Stein.

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Saint Catherine Of Siena: The Fire Of Divine, Most Ardent, And Immeasurable, Love.


This Article is taken from ENLARGING THE HEART



Saint Catherine of Siena.
From the Church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Prati,
Rome, Italy.
Date: 19th-Century.
Source: http://www.tanogabo.it/religione/santa_caterina_siena.htm
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


And the day passing by, full of marvel, the evening came.

And I, feeling that the heart was so drawn by the force of love that I could offer no resistance to going to the place of prayer, and feeling that disposition come upon me which was at the time of my death, prostrated myself with great compunction.

And rising, with the impression of what I have said before the eye of my mind, God placed me before Himself.

I am always before Him, because He contains everything in Himself, but now He placed me before Himself in a new way, as if memory, intellect, and will had nothing whatever to do with my body.




And this Truth was reflected in me with such light that in that abyss were then renewed the mysteries of Holy Church, and all the graces received in my life, past and present, and the day in which my soul was wedded to Him.

All this then vanished from me through the increase of the inward fire.

And I paid heed only to what should be done, that I should make a sacrifice of myself to God for Holy Church and for the sake of removing ignorance and negligence from those whom God had put into my hands.

Then the devils called out havoc upon me, seeking to hinder and slacken with their terrors my free and burning desire.




So these beat upon the shell of the body; but desire became the more kindled, crying “O Eternal God, receive the sacrifice of my life in this mystical body of Holy Church!

“I have naught to give save what Thou hast given to me. Take then my heart, and may Thy Bride lean her face upon it!”

Then Eternal God, turning the eyes of His mercy, removed my heart, and offered it to Holy Church.

And He had drawn it to Himself with such force that had He not at once bound it about with His strength – not wishing that the vessel of my body should be broken – my life would have gone.




[. . .] Now I say: Thanks, thanks be to the Highest God Eternal, who has placed us in the battlefield as knights, to fight for His Bride with the shield of holiest faith.

The field is left free to us by that virtue and power which routed the devil who possessed the human race; who was routed, not in the strength of humanity, but of Deity.

Thus the devil neither is nor shall be routed by the suffering of our bodies, but by strength of the fire of divine, most ardent, and immeasurable love.

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380): Letter to Raymond of Capua, OP.



Saint Catherine Of Siena. Doctor Of The Church. Papal Advisor. Mystic. Visionary.


This Article is taken from CATHOLICISM PURE AND SIMPLE



Saint Catherine of Siena.
The Church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Prati,
Rome, Italy.
Source: http://www.tanogabo.it/religione/santa_caterina_siena.htm
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


To those who think the Church’s day has come to an end:

“If you reply that it looks as though the Church must surrender, for it is impossible for it to save itself and its children, I say to you that it is not so. The outward appearance deceives, but look at the inward, and you will find that it possesses a power that its enemies can never possess.”




On finding God in the midst of a busy life:

“Build an inner cell in your Soul and never leave it.”


Faithfulness to duty:

“Let all do the work which God has given them, and not bury their talent, for that is also a sin deserving severe punishment. It is necessary to work always and everywhere for all God’s creatures.”


To Pope Gregory XI, who was weak and indecisive:

“You can do what he (Pope Gregory the Great) did, for he was a man as you are, and God is always the same as he was. The only thing we lack is hunger for the salvation of our neighbour, and courage.”


To a Cardinal, on the need for courage:

“A Soul which is full of slavish fear cannot achieve anything which is right, whatever the circumstances may be, whether it concern small or great things. It will always be shipwrecked and never complete what it has begun. How dangerous this fear is! It makes holy desire powerless, it blinds a man so that he can neither see not understand the truth. This fear is born of the blindness of self-love, for as soon as a man loves himself with the self-love of the senses he learns fear, and the reason for this fear is that it has given its hope and love to fragile things which have neither substance or being and vanish like the wind.”




To her Spiritual Director, Blessed Raymond of Capua, on courage:

“(I long) to see you grow out of your childhood and become a grown man . . . For an infant who lives on milk is not able to fight on the battlefield; he only wants to play with other children. So a man, who is wrapped in love for himself, only wishes to taste the milk of spiritual and temporal consolation; like a child he wants to be with others of its kind. But when he becomes a grown man he leaves behind this sensitive self love . . . He has become strong, he is firm, serious and thoughtful, he hastens to the battlefield and his only wish is to fight for the truth.”


To those who think the Church’s day has come to an end:

“If you reply that it looks as though the Church must surrender, for it is impossible for it to save itself and its children, I say to you that it is not so. The outward appearance deceives, but look at the inward, and you will find that it possesses a power that its enemies can never possess.”


To us all:

“If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the world on fire.” (Source)




Saint Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) was born in Siena, Italy, the 25th child of a wealthy wool dyer. She began having profound mystical experiences at the age of six, which encouraged her in a life of virtue, extreme Penance, and total Consecration to God. She became a Dominican Tertiary at the age of 16, while continuing to live in the home of her parents as a Virgin.

She had regular mystical visits from, and conversations with, Jesus, Mary, and many of the Saints. Catherine had no formal education and could not read, however, her Theological knowledge astounded many. She was especially devoted to the unity and spiritual health of The Church.

Among her most famous accomplishments, was that she persuaded the Pope to go back to Rome from Avignon in 1377. She became an important political figure in her day, and her spiritual and practical wisdom was widely sought after, both inside and outside The Church.

Saint Catherine was granted The Stigmata, which was made visible only after her death in Rome at the age of 33. In 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of The Church. Her Feast Day is Celebrated on 30 April.

Monday 27 April 2015

Solemn High Mass.



Solemn High Mass.
Illustration: CALEFACTORY.ORG


The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Solemn Mass (Latin: Missa Solemnis), sometimes also referred to as Solemn High Mass or, simply, High Mass, is, when used not merely as a description, the full Ceremonial Form of The Tridentine Mass, Celebrated by a Priest with a Deacon and a Sub-Deacon, requiring most of the parts of The Mass to be sung, and the use of Incense. The term "High Mass" is also used in the United States to describe the less elaborate Missa Cantata, which lacks Deacon and Sub-Deacon and some of the Ceremonies connected with them.

These terms distinguish the Form in question from that of Low Mass and Missa Cantata.

The parts assigned to the Deacon and Sub-Deacon are often done by Priests in Vestments, proper to those roles.

A Solemn Mass celebrated by a Bishop has its own particular Ceremonies and is referred to as a Solemn Pontifical Mass.

The terms "Solemn Mass," "Solemn High Mass," and "High Mass" are also often used within Anglo-Catholicism, in which the Ceremonial, and sometimes the Text, are based on those of The Sarum Rite or the later Tridentine Mass.

Sunday 26 April 2015

It's Coming ! The Thirty-Third Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage. 23 - 25 May 2015.


This Article is taken from RORATE CAELI




Notre-Dame de Chrétienté, the organisers of The Chartres Pilgrimage, the largest Traditional Catholic event of the year, have just released the names of the Celebrants of the main collective events this year:

- Dom Louis-Marie, Father Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Mary Magdalene of Le Barroux, will celebrate the Solemn Mass on Saturday, May 23, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris (Notre-Dame de Paris).

- Bishop. Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, will celebrate the Pontifical Mass for Pentecost Sunday, May 24, at the Rambouillet Racecourse.

- Bishop. Michel Pansard, Bishop of Chartres, will preside at The Benediction of The Blessed Sacrament on Pentecost Sunday evening at the bivouac at Gas.

- Father Emmanuel-Marie de Saint Jean, Father Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Mary of Lagrasse, will celebrate the Pontifical Mass, closing the Pilgrimage, on Pentecost Monday, May 25, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Notre-Dame de Chartres).

There's still time to go ! Additional information in English at their WEB-SITE, and to take part go HERE, either directly or helping the event from the outside in any country ("Guardian Angel", "Ange Gardien").

Saturday 25 April 2015

Saint Mark The Evangelist. Feast Day 25 April.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Mark the Evangelist.
Feast Day 25 April.

Double of the Second-Class.

Red Vestments.



English: Saint Mark the Evangelist.
Español: San Marcos.
Artist: Jusepe Leonardo (1601–1653).
Date: Circa 1630.
Current location: Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, England.
This File: 7 June 2010.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Saint Mark, the Disciple of Saint Peter, is one of the four Evangelists (Collect) who wrote, under the inspiration of The Holy Ghost, an abridgement of The Life of Jesus. His narration begins by the mission of Saint John the Baptist, whose "voice was heard in the desert"; he is represented with a lion lying at his feet, because the lion, one of  the four symbolical animals in the vision of Ezechiel (Epistle), makes the desert re-echo with its roaring.

He was one of the seventy-two Disciples (Gospel). He went to Egypt, where he was the first to announce Christ at Alexandria. The Preaching of the Gospel, which his Martyrdom confirmed, made him to enter into glory (Secret), where Saint John shows him to us as one of the four symbolical animals who attend the Triumph of The Immolated Lamb.




Statue of Saint Mark the Evangelist (Copy).
Artist: Donatello.
Location: Orsanmichele, Florence, Italy.
This File: 22 August 2005.
(Wikimedia Commons)



His body was taken to Venice, whose Patron he is since the 9th-Century. Rome possesses a Church Dedicated to Saint Mark, where a Station is held on the Monday of The Third Week in Lent.

Let us profit by the teaching of Saint Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Christ and Preached it, and let us have recourse to his Prayers (Collect).




English: Venetian merchants, with the help of two Greek Monks,
take Mark the Evangelist's body to Venice.
Deutsch: Bergung des Leichnams des Hl. Markus (vor der Restaurierung).
Artist: Tintoretto.
Date: 1562-1566.
Current location: Accademia of Venice, Italy.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Greater Litanies. 25 April. The Lesser Litanies. Rogation Days. Litany Of The Saints.


Roman Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Station is at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Violet Vestments.


File:The Ancient Custom of Blessing the Fields on Rogation Sunday at Hever, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 556094.jpg

The Ancient Custom of Blessing the Fields,
Rogation Sunday, Hever, Kent , England.
Photo: 9 February 1967.
Source: From geograph.org.uk.
Author: Ray Trevena.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Church celebrates, today (25 April), two Solemnities, which have nothing in common: The Greater Litanies, so called on account of their Roman origin, and the Feast of Saint Mark, which is of later date. The word "Litany" means "Supplication".

In ancient Rome, on 25 April, used to be celebrated the pagan feast of Robigalia. It consisted, principally, of a Procession, which, leaving the City by the Flaminian Gate, went to the Milvian Bridge and ended in a suburban Sanctuary situated on the Claudian Way.

There, a ewe was sacrificed in honour of a god or goddess of the name Robigo (god or goddess of frost). The Greater Litany was the substitution of a Christian, for a pagan, ceremony. Its itinerary is known to us by a convocation of Saint Gregory the Great. It is, approximately, the same as that of the pagan Procession.




All the Faithful in Rome betook themselves to the Church of Saint Laurence-in-Lucina, the nearest to the Flaminian Gate. Leaving by this Gate, the Procession made a Station at Saint Valentine's, crossed the Milvian Bridge, and branched off to the Left towards the Vatican.

After halting at a Cross, it entered the Basilica of Saint Peter for the celebration of The Holy Mysteries.

This Litany is recited throughout the Church to keep away calamities, and to draw down The Blessing of God on the harvest. "Vouchsafe to grant us to preserve the fruits of the Earth, we Pray Thee, hear us," is sung by the Procession through the countryside.

The whole Mass shows what assiduous Prayer may obtain, when, in the midst of our adversities (Collects, Offertory), we have recourse with confidence to Our Father in Heaven (Epistle, Gospel, Communion).

If The Feast of Saint Mark is Transferred, The Litanies are not Transferred, unless they fall on Easter Sunday. In which case, they are Transferred to the following Tuesday.



Litany of the Saints.
Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/KiM9uJIN64g


LITANY OF THE SAINTS.

The Litany of the Saints is used in connection with:

Holy Mass on The Greater Litanies (25 April);
The Lesser Litanies (Rogation Days);
Holy Saturday;
The Vigil of Pentecost;
Masses of Ordination before the Conferring of Major Orders.

On Saint Mark's and Rogation Days, if the Procession is held, The Litany is preceded by the Antiphon, "Exurge, Domine," (Psalm XLIII. 26), and all Invocations are sung by The Cantors and repeated in full by The Choir [i.e., "Doubled"]. 

If the Procession cannot be held, the Invocations are not repeated.

On the Vigils of Easter and Pentecost, the Invocations marked with an asterisk (*) in The Missal are omitted; all the remaining Invocations are repeated, either there be a Font and a Procession from the Baptistry or not.

At Masses of Ordination, only the first five Invocations are repeated.



Litany of the Saints
at the Funeral of Pope Saint John Paul II.
Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/SZ0Cw5LmkDI?t=1m45s


Rogation Days are, in The Calendar of The Western Church, observed on 25 April (the Major Rogation) and the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday immediately preceding Ascension Thursday (the Minor Rogations).

The first Rogation, the Greater Litanies, has been compared to the ancient Roman religious festival of the Robigalia, a ritual involving prayer and sacrifice for crops, held on 25 April. The first Rogation is also observed on 25 April, and a direct connection has sometimes been asserted, with the "Christian substitute" following the same processional route in Rome. If Easter falls on 24 April or on this day (the latest possible date for Easter), the Rogations are transferred to the following Tuesday.

The second set of Rogation Days, the Lesser Litanies or Rogations, introduced about 470 A.D. by Bishop Mamertus of Vienne and eventually adopted elsewhere, are the three days (Rogation Monday, Rogation Tuesday and Rogation Wednesday) immediately before Ascension Thursday in the Christian Liturgical Calendar.




The word "Rogation" comes from the Latin verb "rogare", meaning "to ask," and was applied to this time of The Liturgical Year because the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday included the passage, "Ask and ye shall receive" (Gospel of John 16:24). The Sunday itself was often called Rogation Sunday, as a result, and marked the start of a three-week period (ending on Trinity Sunday), when Roman Catholic and Anglican Clergy did not Solemnise marriages (two other such periods of marital prohibition also formerly existed, one beginning on the first Sunday in Advent and continuing through the Octave of Epiphany, or 13 January, and the other running from Septuagesima until the Octave of Easter, the Sunday after Easter). In England, Rogation Sunday is called "Chestnut Sunday".

The Faithful typically observed The Rogation Days by Fasting in preparation to Celebrate The Ascension, and farmers often had their crops Blessed by a Priest at this time. Violet Vestments are worn at The Rogation Litany and its associated Mass, regardless of what colour was worn at the ordinary Liturgies of the day.




A common feature of Rogation Days, in former times, was the Ceremony of "Beating the Bounds", in which a Procession of Parishioners, led by the Minister, Churchwarden, and Choirboys, would proceed around the boundary of their Parish and Pray for its protection in the forthcoming year. This was also known as 'Gang-Day'.

The reform of The Liturgical Calendar for Latin Roman Catholics, in 1969, delegated the establishment of Rogation Days, along with Ember Days, to the Episcopal Conferences. Their observance in the Latin Church subsequently declined, but the observance has revived somewhat, since 1988, (when Pope Saint John Paul II issued his Decree Ecclesia Dei Adflicta) and especially since 2007 (when Pope Benedict XVI issued his Motu Proprio, called "Summorum Pontificum"), when the use of older Rites was encouraged. Churches of The Anglican Communion reformed their Liturgical Calendar in 1976, but continue to recognise the three days before Ascension as an optional observance.

Friday 24 April 2015

Saint Fidelis Of Sigmaringen. Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 24 April.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen.
Martyr.
Feast Day 24 April.

Double.

Red Vestments.


English: Wall painting of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
in the Church of Saint Venantius, Pfärrenbach, Horgenzell, Germany.
Deutsch: Filialkirche St. Venantius, Pfärrenbach, Gemeinde HorgenzellWandmalerei
im Kirchenschiff: Hl. Fidelis von Sigmaringen.
Photo: 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Photo: Andreas Praefcke.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Saint Fidelis was born at Sigmaringen, Swabia (or, Suabia), Germany, in 1577. He was at first a Magistrate and took so much interest in the Poor that he was called "the Advocate of the Poor". He entered the Seraphic Order of Saint Francis, intimately united to God in continual Prayer and work. He asked, and obtained from Him, to shed his blood for The Catholic Faith.

He was sent to the Country of the Grisons, where Protestant Soldiers, fearing his influence, stabbed him to death at Sévis in 1622 (Collect).

This Holy Martyr, who, in The Paschal Cycle, takes his place among the attendants of The Risen Lord, shares with Him the felicity of The Sons of God (Epistle).

The Gospel of The Martyr's Mass in Paschaltide is, like the Gospels after Easter, a passage from the last discourse pronounced by The Master on the eve of His Death.

On the symbolical vine, which is Jesus, there are two sorts of branches which receive different treatment. Those without fruit are cut off and thrown into the fire. Those that bear fruit are, on the contrary, "carefully pruned, in order that they may produce still more". That is why Saint Fidelis was persecuted and put to death.

Let us obtain by the merits of this Saint to be, like him, "so confirmed in Faith and Charity that we may be faithful in God's service unto death" (Collect).

Mass: Protexisti.

Thursday 23 April 2015

Saint George. Martyr. Feast Day 23 April.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint George.
Martyr.
Feast Day 23 April.

Semi-Double.
(In England: Double of the First-Class with Octave.)

Red Vestments.



Martyrdom of Saint George.
Artist: Paolo Veronese (1528–1588).
Date: Circa 1564.
Current location: San Giorgio in Braida, Verona, Italy.
Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Saint George, born of an illustrious family in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey), was promoted by Emperor Diocletian to the First Ranks in the army.

When the Emperor had published at Nicomedia his first Edict against the Christians, Saint George reproached him for his cruelty. Immediately, Saint George was cast into prison and subjected to such atrocious torments that the Eastern Church calls him The Great Martyr. He was beheaded in 303 A.D.

This Patron of armies is Venerated by Greeks and Latins. Rome possesses a Sanctuary erected in his honour, where The Station is held on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday.

England chose him for her Patron in the 13th-Century. Therefore, in this Country, his Feast is a Double of the First-Class with an Octave. He is one of the fourteen Auxiliary Saints.

Mass: Protexisti.



Saint George killing the Dragon.
Artist: Bernat Martorell (1390–1452).
Date: 1434-1435.
Source: AA.VV.,El llibre d'or de l'art català,
Edicions Primera Plana, Barcelona, 1997.
Author: Bernat Martorell (1390–1452).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from Wikipedia -the free encyclopaedia.

Saint George, was a Soldier in the Roman army and was later Venerated as a Christian Martyr. His father was Gerontius, a Greek Christian, from Cappadocia, and an Official in the Roman army; his mother, Polychronia, was a Christian, from Lydda. Saint George became an Officer in the Roman army in the Guard of the Emperor Diocletian, who ordered his death for failing to repudiate his Christian Faith.

In hagiography, Saint George is one of the most Venerated Saints in The Catholic Church (Latin and Eastern), AnglicanOrthodox, East Syrian, and Miaphysite Churches. He is immortalised in the myth of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His Memorial, Saint George's Day, is traditionally celebrated on the Julian date of 23 April (currently the 6th of May according to the Gregorian Calendar), and he is regarded as one of the most prominent Military Saints. Many Patronages of Saint George exist around the World, including Countries and Cities, as well as The Scout Movement, in addition to a wide range of professions, organisations, and disease sufferers.


Wednesday 22 April 2015

"I Would Give Up My Life A Thousand Times. Not Only For Each Of The Truths Of Sacred Scripture, But, Even More, For The Least Of The Ceremonies Of The Church." Saint Thérèse Of Lisieux (Saint Teresa Of The Child Jesus).


Saint Teresa of The Child Jesus
(Saint Thérèse Of Lisieux).
Virgin.
Feast Day 3 October.

Double.

White Vestments.



Saint Thérèse Of Lisieux
(Saint Teresa of The Child Jesus).
Illustration taken from



Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, O.C.D.
Nun and Doctor of the Church.
Source: Thérèse de Lisieux,
from fr:Wikipedia.
This File: 5 March 2005.
User: 竹麦魚(Searobin).
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Ceremonies Of The Catholic Church meant so much to Saint Thérèse Of Lisieux.
A Traditional Roman Catholic Mass (Pontifical Solemn High Mass) on the 5th Anniversary 
of the Inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI. Celebrated at The Basilica of The National Shrine 
of The Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C.,, on Saturday 24 April 2010, 
by His Excellency Edward J. Slattery, Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa. 
Fr. Calvin Goodwin, FSSP is commentating, along with Fr. John Zuhlsdorf.
Available on YouTube at

Illustration taken from


The following Text is taken from CATHOLIC ONLINE

Generations of Catholics have admired this young Saint, called her "The Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for their own lives than in volumes by Theologians.

Yet, SaintTherese died when she was twenty-four years old, after having lived as a Cloistered Carmelite Nun for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a Religious Order, never performed great works.

Her only book, published after her death, was a brief edited version of her Journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her Letters and restored versions of her Journals have been published recently.) But within twenty-eight years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was Canonised.

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Saint Anselm. Archbishop Of Canterbury (1093-1109). Feast Day 21 April.


Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.




Saint Anselm. Archbishop of Canterbury.
Depicted in a 19th-Century, English, Stained-Glass Window.
Source: http://www.arspublik.com/public-domain-images-saint-anselm/
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Saint Anselm of Canterbury (circa  1033 - 21 April 1109), so-called "Anselm of Aosta", after his birthplace, and "Anselm of Bec", after his Monastery, was a Benedictine Monk, Philosopher , and Prelate of The Church, who held the Office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the Founder of Scholasticism, he has been a major influence in Western Theology and is famous as the originator of the Ontological Argument for the Existence of God and the Satisfaction Theory of Atonement .

He entered the Benedictine Order at the Abbey of Bec, Normandy, France, in 1060, at the age of twenty-seven, where he became Abbot in 1079. He became Archbishop of Canterbury, under William II of England . He was exiled from England from 1097 to 1100 and, again, from 1105 to 1107 (under Henry I of England), as a result of the Investiture Controversy, the most significant conflict between Church and State in Mediaeval Europe. Anselm was proclaimed a Doctor of The Church, in 1720, by a Papal Bull of Pope Clement XI. His Feast Day is 21 April.




from A. P. Stanely's Historical Memorials of Canterbury.
Date: 10 September 2012.
Source: This File was derived from: Anselm of Canterbury, seal.jpg

The original uploader was Srnec at English Wikipedia
Derivative work: MLWatts.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Anselm was born in Aosta, in the Kingdom of Arles, around 1033. His family was related, by blood, to the ascendant House of Savoy and owned considerable property. His parents were from a noble lineage. His father, Gundulf, was by birth a Lombard. His mother, Ermenberga, was related to Otto, Count of Savoy.

At the age of fifteen, Anselm desired to enter a Monastery, but could not obtain his father's consent, and so the Abbot refused him. Disappointment brought on apparent psychosomatic illness. After recovery, he gave up his studies and lived a carefree life. During this period, his mother died. When he was twenty-three, Anselm left home, crossed the Alps and wandered through Burgundy and France.

Attracted by the fame of his countryman, Lanfranc (then Prior of the Benedictine Abbey of Bec), Anselm arrived in Normandy in 1059. The following year, after some time at Avranches, he entered the Abbey as a Novice at the age of twenty-seven, submitting himself to The Rule of Saint Benedict, which reshaped his thoughts over the next decade.

In 1063, Lanfranc was made Abbot of Caen, and Anselm was elected Prior of the Abbey of Bec, an Office he held for fifteen years, before he became Abbot at the death of Herluin, the Abbey's Founder, in 1078. He was Consecrated Abbot, on 22 February 1079, by the Bishop of Évreux. This Consecration was rushed, because, at the time, the Archdiocese of Rouen (wherein Bec lay) was sede vacante (vacant). Had Anselm been Consecrated by the Archbishop of Rouen, he would have been under pressure to profess obedience to him, which would compromise Bec's independence.




12th-Century Illumination from The Meditations of Saint Anselm.
Current location: Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.
Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Under Anselm's jurisdiction, Bec became the foremost Seat of Learning in Europe, attracting Students from France, Italy and elsewhere. It was during his time at Bec that he wrote his first works of Philosophy, the "Monologion" (1076) and the "Proslogion" (1077–1078). These were followed by "The Dialogues on Truth", "Free Will", and "Fall of the Devil". During his time at Bec, Anselm worked to maintain its freedom from Lay, and Archiepiscopal, control. Later in his Abbacy, Anselm worked to ensure Bec's independence from Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, and from the Archbishop of Rouen.

Anselm occasionally visited England to see the Abbey's property there, as well as to visit Lanfranc, who, in 1070, had been installed as Archbishop of Canterbury. He made a good impression while there, and was the natural successor to Lanfranc as Archbishop.

Upon Lanfranc's death in 1089, however, William II of England seized the possessions and revenues of the See, and made no new appointment. In 1092, at the invitation of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, Anselm crossed to England. He was detained there by business for nearly four months and then refused permission to return to Bec by the King. The latter suddenly fell seriously ill at Alveston, the following year, and spurred on by his wish to make amends for his sinful behaviour, which he believed had caused his illness, he allowed the nomination of Anselm to the vacant See, on 6 March 1093.

Over the course of the following months, Anselm tried to refuse, on the grounds of age and ill-health. On 24 August 1093, Anselm gave William the conditions under which he would accept the See, which amounted to an Agenda of: The Gregorian Reform; that William return the See's land which he had seized; that William accept the pre-eminence of Anselm's Spiritual Counsel; and that William acknowledge Pope Urban II as Pope (in opposition to Anti-Pope Clement III).




New Hampshire, United States of America.
Photo: 6 January 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Ericci8996.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Anselm's professions of refusal aided his bargaining position as he discussed terms with William. William was exceedingly reluctant to accept these conditions; he would only grant the first condition. A few days after, William tried to rescind even this; he suspended the preparations for Anselm's Investiture. Under public pressure, William was forced to carry out the Appointment. In the end, Anselm and William settled on the return of Canterbury's lands as the only concession from William.

Finally, the English Bishops thrust the Crozier into his hands and took him to the Church to be Inducted. He did homage to William, and, on 25 September 1093, he received the lands of the See and was Enthroned, after obtaining dispensation from his duties in Normandy. He was Consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury on 4 December 1093.

It has been argued whether or not Anselm's reluctance to take the See was sincere. Scholars, such as Southern, maintain that his preference would have been to stay at Bec. However, reluctance to accept important Ecclesiastical positions was a Mediaeval trope. Vaughn states that Anselm could not have expressed a desire for the position, because he would be regarded as an ambitious careerist. movement.

One of Anselm's first conflicts with William came the very month he was Consecrated. William was preparing to fight his elder brother, Robert II, Duke of Normandy, and needed funds for doing so. Anselm was among those expected to pay him, and he offered £500. William refused the offer, insisting on a greater sum. Later, a group of Bishops suggested that William might now settle for the original sum, but Anselm told them he had already given the money to the poor. In this episode, Anselm was careful, and managed to both avoid charges of Simony and be generous.




English: Saint-Anselme Church, Saint-Anselme, Quebec, Canada.
Français: Église Saint-Anselme, Saint-Anselme, Québec, Canada.
Photo: 23 June 2013,
Source: Own work.
Author: Bernard Gagnon.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Anselm continued to agitate for reform and the interests of Canterbury. His vision of The Church was one of a Universal Church with its own internal authority, which countered William's vision of Royal control over both Church and State. Consequently, he has been viewed alternatively as a contemplative Monastic or as a man politically engaged, committed to maintaining the privileges of the Episcopal See of Canterbury.

The Church's rule stated that Metropolitans could not be Consecrated without receiving the Pallium from the hands of the Pope. Anselm, accordingly, insisted that he must proceed to Rome to receive the Pallium, but William would not permit it. The Anti-Pope Clement was disputing the authority of Pope Urban II, who had been recognised by France and Normandy. It does not appear that the English King was a partisan of the Anti-Pope, but he wished to strengthen his own position by asserting his right to decide between the rival claimants.

Hence, when Anselm asked leave to go to the Pope, the King said that no-one in England should acknowledge either Pope till he, the King, had decided the matter. On 25 February 1095, the Bishops and Nobles of England held a Council at Rockingham to discuss the issue. The Bishops sided with the King, with William de St-Calais, the Bishop of Durham, even advising William to depose Anselm. The Nobles chose Anselm's position, and the Conference ended in deadlock.

Immediately following this, William sent secret messengers to Rome. They prevailed on Pope Urban to send a Legate (Walter of Albano) to the King bearing the Archiepiscopal Pallium. Walter and William then negotiated in secret. William agreed to acknowledge Urban as Pope, and secured the right to give permission before Clerics could receive and obey Papal Letters; Walter, negotiating for Pope Urban, conceded that Urban would send no Legates without William's invitation.




English: Chester Cathedral, England. Stained-Glass Window (1916)
depicting Saint Anselm of Canterbury (detail). Refectory East Window.
Deutsch: Chester ( England ). Kathedrale: Refektorium - Ostfenster ( 1916 ):
Heiliger Anselm von Canterbury ( Detail )
Photo: 13 July 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Wolfgang Sauber.
(Wikimedia Commons)



William's greatest desire was that Anselm be deposed and another given the Pallium. Walter said that "there was good reason to expect a successful issue in accordance with the King's wishes". William then openly acknowledged Urban as Pope, but Walter refused to depose Anselm. William then tried to extract money from Anselm for the Pallium, and was refused. William also tried to personally hand over the Pallium to Anselm, and was refused again. He compromised, and Anselm took the Pallium from the Altar at Canterbury on 10 June 1095.

Over the next two years, no overt dispute between Anselm and William is known. However, William blocked Anselm's efforts at Church Reform. The issues came to a head in 1097, after William put down a Welsh Rebellion. He charged Anselm with having given him insufficient Knights for the Campaign and tried to fine him. Anselm resolved to proceed to Rome and seek the Counsel of The Pope, because William had refused to fulfill his promise of Church Reform, but William denied him permission. The negotiations ended with William declaring that, if Anselm left, he would take back the See, and never again receive Anselm as Archbishop. If Anselm were to stay, William would fine him and force him to swear never again to appeal to Rome: "Anselm was given the choice of Exile or total submission."

As an Exile, in October 1097, Anselm set out for Rome. William immediately seized the revenues of the See and retained them until his death, though Anselm retained the Archbishopric. Anselm went into Exile to defend his vision of the Universal Church, displaying William's sins against that vision. Though he had done homage to William, Anselm qualified that homage by his higher duty towards God and the Papacy.

Anselm was received with high honour by Pope Urban at the Siege of Capua, where he garnered high praise from the Saracen Troops of Count Roger I of Sicily. At a large Provincial Council, held at Bari, Italy, in 1098, which 183 Bishops attended, Anselm was asked to defend, against representatives of the Greek Church, the Filioque and the practice of using Unleavened Bread for the Eucharist. In 1099, Pope Urban renewed the Ban on Lay Investiture and on Clerics doing homage. That year Anselm moved to Lyon.




The Meeting of the Countess Matilda and Anselm of Canterbury
in the Presence of Pope Urban II.
Date: 1637-1642.
Artist: Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610-1662).
Source: http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.it/
2009/04/st-anselm-900-years.html
(Wikimedia Commons)



William was killed on 2 August 1100. His successor, Henry I of England, invited Anselm to return, writing that he committed himself to be counselled by Anselm. Henry was courting Anselm because he needed his support for the security of his claim to the Throne; Anselm could have thrown his support behind Henry's elder brother, instead. When Anselm returned, Henry requested that Anselm do him homage for the Canterbury Estates and receive from him Investiture in his Office of Archbishop. The Papacy had recently banned Clerics doing homage to Laymen, as well as banning Lay Investiture. Thus started Anselm's conflicts with Henry.

Henry refused to relinquish the privilege possessed by his predecessors, and proposed that the matter be laid before the Pope. Two Embassies were sent to Pope Paschal II, regarding the legitimacy of Henry's Investiture, but Paschal reaffirmed the Papal rule on both occasions. In the meantime, Anselm did work with Henry. Henry was threatened with invasion by his brother, Robert Curthose, and Anselm publicly supported Henry, wooing the wavering Barons and threatening Curthose with Excommunication.

At Michaelmas, 1102, Anselm held a Council in London, in which he prohibited marriage and concubinage to those in Holy Orders (as well as condemning Simony and reforming regulations on Clerical Dress and sobriety). He was among the first to take a public stand against The Slave Trade. In 1102, at a Church Council in Saint Peter's Church, Westminster, he obtained the passage of a Resolution against the practice of selling men like cattle.

For his part, Henry granted Anselm authority over all the Church in England, and agreed to obey the Papacy. However, because Paschal had reaffirmed the Papal Rules on Lay Investiture and homage, Henry turned once more against Anselm. In 1103, Anselm, and an Envoy from the King (William Warelwast), set out for Rome, Paschal Excommunicated the Bishops whom Henry had Invested.




English: Illuminated Initial from Saint Anselm's "Monologion",
Late-11th-Century. Preserved at The Bibliothèque Municipale de Rouen, France.
Italiano: Iniziale miniata da un manoscritto della fine dell'XI secolo del Monologion
di Anselmo d'Aosta. Conservato presso la Bibliothèque municipale de Rouen.
Source: Anselm of Canterbury's Monologion, manuscripted by Hugo Pictor,
Jumièges Scriptorium, Late-11th-Century.
Author: Hugo Pictor.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Anselm withdrew to Lyon, after this Ruling, and awaited further action from Pope Paschal. On 26 March 1105, Paschal Excommunicated Henry's Chief Advisor (Robert of Meulan) for urging Henry to continue Lay Investiture, as well as Prelates Invested by Henry and other Counselors, and threatened Henry with the same. In April 1105, Anselm threatened to Excommunicate Henry himself, probably to force Henry's hand in their negotiations.

In response, Henry arranged a Meeting with Anselm, and they managed a compromise at Laigle, Normandy, on 22 July 1105. Part of the agreement was that Robert of Meulan's (and his associates') Excommunication be lifted (given that they Counsel the King to obey the Papacy). Anselm agreed to lift the Excommunications on his own authority, an act which he later had to justify to Pope Paschal. Other conditions of the agreement were: Henry would forsake Lay Investiture, if Anselm obtained Paschal's permission for Clerics to do homage for their Nobles; that the Revenues of his See be given back to Anselm; and that Priests not be allowed to marry. Anselm then insisted on having The Laigle Agreement Sanctioned by Pope Paschal before he would consent to return to England. By Letter, Anselm also asked that the Pope accept his compromise on doing homage to the King, because he had secured a greater victory in Henry's forsaking Lay Investiture. On 23 March 1106, Pope Paschal wrote to Anselm accepting the compromise, though both saw this as a temporary compromise, and intended to later continue pushing for The Gregorian Reform, including the custom of homage.

Even after this, Anselm still refused to return to England. King Henry travelled to Bec, in Normandy, and met with him on 15 August 1106. Henry made further concessions, restoring to Anselm all the Churches that had been seized by King William. He promised that nothing more would be taken from the Churches. Prelates, who had paid his controversial tax (which had started as a tax on Married Clergy) would be exempt from taxes for three years, and he promised to restore all that had been taken from Canterbury during Anselm's Exile, even giving Anselm security for this promise. These compromises, on Henry's part, strengthened the Rights of The Church against the King. Anselm returned to England following these promises.




Saint Anselm's Church, Anselmo, Nebraska, United States of America.
The Gothic Revival Church was constructed in 1928. The Saint Anselm's Complex, which includes the Church, Rectory, and Parish Hall, is listed in The National Register of Historic Places.
Photo:: 3 June 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Ammodramus.
(Wikimedia Commons)



By 1107, the long dispute, regarding Investiture, was finally settled. The Concordat of London announced the compromises that Anselm and Henry had made at Bec. The final two years of Anselm's life were spent in the duties of his Archbishopric. As Archbishop, Anselm maintained his Monastic ideals, which included stewardship, prudence, and fitting instruction to his flock, as well as Prayer and Contemplation. During his service as Archbishop, Anselm maintained a habit of pressing on his Monarchs at expedient times (when they needed his help, and when he would have public support) to advance his Church Reforms.

Anselm died on Holy Wednesday, 21 April 1109, in Canterbury, Kent, England, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.




Ceiling painting depicting The Virgin Mary appearing to Saint Anselm of Canterbury.
Ossiach Monastery, Feldkirchen, Carinthia, Austria.
Artist: Josef Ferdinand.
Photo: 25 June 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: JJ55
(Wikimedia Commons)



The following Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Anselm.
Bishop, Confessor and Doctor.
Feast Day 21 April.

Double.

White Vestments.

A native of Aosta (Italy) and a Monk of Bec Abbey, Normandy, Saint Anselm became its Abbot and, later, Archbishop of Canterbury (Communion). "Filled with Divine Wisdom" (Introit) and endowed with superior talents, he endeavoured to develop the science of God by a rational method, which cleared the way for Scholastic Theologians.

"I do not try to understand in order to believe", he declared, "but I believe in order to understand". Thereby, he realised the saying of the Gospel: "You are the Light of The World" and The Church has awarded him the Title of Doctor.

"A hero for Doctrine and Virtue", declares Pope Urban II, "he was equally intrepid in fighting for The Faith". Like a courageous Pastor, he defended "in Season and out of Season" (Epistle), against the ambitious tyranny of William Rufus, the Sacred Liberty which Jesus had bought for His flock with His Blood.

"Christ", he affirms, "loves nothing so much in this World as the liberty of His Church".

Saint Anselm died at the age of seventy-three on 21 April 1109.

Let us honour Saint Anselm "so that he, who was a Doctor of Truth on Earth, may intercede for us in Heaven" (Collect).

Mass: In medio.

Monday 20 April 2015

"Vidi Aquam". "I Saw Water".


This Post can be read in its entirety at VICTIMAE PASCHALI LAUDES



"Vidi Aquam".
Available on YouTube at
https://youtu.be/7JN9Sdv_uXQ.


Vidi aquam egredientem de templo,
a latere dextro, alleluia:
et omnes, ad quos pervenit aqua ista,
salvi facti sunt, et dicent, alleluia, alleluia.

Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus:
Quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto:
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
et in saecula sæculorum.

Amen.


I saw water flowing from the temple,
on the right side, alleluia:
And all to whom that water came
have been saved, and they will say, alleluia.

Worship the Lord, for He is good:
for His mercy is forever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.

Amen.


Prior to the Main Mass on Sundays, the Asperges Me is normally sung, while the Priest sprinkles Holy Water on the people.

However, during Eastertide, the Asperges Me is replaced and Holy Mother Church gives us the sublime Vidi Aquam.

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