Saint Anne. Mother Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 26 July.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Anne.
Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Feast Day 26 July.

Double of the Second-Class.

White Vestments.

English: Parish Church of Saint Ulrich in Ulrichsberg, Austria.

Statue of Saint Anne teaching the Virgin Mary to read (1722).

Deutsch: Pfarrkirche Sant Ulrich in Ulrichsberg.

Statue der Heiligen Anna, wie sie der

Jungfrau Maria das Lesen bei bringt (1722).

Photo: 20 June 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Wolfgang Sauber.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne,

parents of The Virgin Mary.

This File: 2 October 2006.

User: Gipsy.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Joachim and the Angel.

Français: Joachim et l'Ange.

Artist: Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528).

Date: 1504.

Current location: Petit Palais, Paris, France.

Source/Photographer: Albrecht Dürer : œuvre gravé,

catalogue de l'exposition à Paris, au Musée du Petit Palais,

4 avril-21 juillet 1996. ISBN 9782879002705.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Anne (also known as Ann or Anna, from Hebrew Hannah חַנָּה, meaning "Favour" or "Grace") of David's House and Line, was the Mother of the Virgin Mary, and Grandmother of Jesus Christ.

Joachim ("he whom YHWH has set up", Hebrew: יְהוֹיָקִים Yəhôyāqîm, Greek Ἰωακείμ Iōākeím) was the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the Mother of Jesus,. His Feast Day is 16 August.

Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.

Réjouis toi Marie, 1/6.

Opéra d'images de Jean-Michel Mahenc.

Créé pour les Nocturnes de Notre-Dame de Paris - L'hymne acathiste : un magnifique poème byzantin du VIe siècle sur la Vierge Marie. Sommet de la spiritualité orthodoxe -

Commande du DVD : Tel 0160664564 - magali.barbizon@me.com

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/FPmcbirpHmw.

The Akathist Hymn (Ἀκάθιστος Ὕμνος, unseated Hymn) is a Hymn of Eastern Orthodox tradition dedicated to a Saint, Holy Event, or one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity. The name derives from the fact that during the chanting of the Hymn, or sometimes the whole Service, the congregation is expected to remain standing in reverence, without sitting down (Ancient Greek ἀ- (a), [without, not] + κάθισις (káthisis), [sitting]), except for the aged or infirm.

Mary's mother is not named in the Canonical Gospels, nor in the Qur'an. Anne's name and that of her husband, Joachim, come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Protoevangelium of James (written perhaps around 150 A.D.) seems to be the earliest that mentions them.

Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.

Réjouis toi Marie, 2/6.

Opéra d'images de Jean-Michel Mahenc.

Créé pour les Nocturnes de Notre-Dame de Paris - L'hymne acathiste : un magnifique poème byzantin du VIe siècle sur la Vierge Marie. Sommet de la spiritualité orthodoxe -

Commande du DVD : Tel 0160664564 - magali.barbizon@me.com

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/j-iQ4csZXRI.

Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.

Réjouis toi Marie, 3/6.

Opéra d'images de Jean-Michel Mahenc.

Créé pour les Nocturnes de Notre-Dame de Paris - L'hymne acathiste : un magnifique poème byzantin du VIe siècle sur la Vierge Marie. Sommet de la spiritualité orthodoxe -

Commande du DVD : Tel 0160664564 - magali.barbizon@me.com

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/GECTm8kH68Q.

Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.

Réjouis toi Marie, 4/6.

Opéra d'images de Jean-Michel Mahenc.

Créé pour les Nocturnes de Notre-Dame de Paris - L'hymne acathiste : un magnifique poème byzantin du VIe siècle sur la Vierge Marie. Sommet de la spiritualité orthodoxe -

Commande du DVD : Tel 0160664564 - magali.barbizon@me.com

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/FKPX32a8EKg.

Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.

Réjouis toi Marie, 5/6.

Opéra d'images de Jean-Michel Mahenc.

Créé pour les Nocturnes de Notre-Dame de Paris - L'hymne acathiste : un magnifique poème byzantin du VIe siècle sur la Vierge Marie. Sommet de la spiritualité orthodoxe -

Commande du DVD : Tel 0160664564 - magali.barbizon@me.com

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/OzrO2PKCALU.

The story bears a similarity to that of the birth of Samuel, whose mother Hannah had also been childless. Although Anne receives little attention in the Western Church, prior to the Late-12th-Century, dedications to Anne in the Eastern Church occur as early as the 6th-Century.

In the Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, she is revered as Hanna. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Hanna, is ascribed the title "Forbear of God", and both the Birth of Mary and the Dedication of Mary to the Temple are celebrated as two of the Twelve Great Feasts. The Dormition of Hanna is also a Minor Feast in the Eastern Church. In Protestant tradition, it is held that Martin Luther chose to enter religious life as a Roman Catholic Augustinian Monk after crying out to Saint Anne.

Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.

Réjouis toi Marie, 6/6.

Opéra d'images de Jean-Michel Mahenc.

Créé pour les Nocturnes de Notre-Dame de Paris - L'hymne acathiste : un magnifique poème byzantin du VIe siècle sur la Vierge Marie. Sommet de la spiritualité orthodoxe -

Commande du DVD : Tel 0160664564 - magali.barbizon@me.com

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/ddJCEi67Cfs.

Saint Anne. Mother of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Illustration: The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
available from ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

The Church honours, with the Angels, in Holy Joy (Introit), the Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As her name signifies, [the name "Anne" derives from Hebrew. 'Hannah' meaning 'Grace"], Grace was poured on her, and she was Blessed by God for ever (Communion). "By His Grace, He made her deserve to be the Mother of the Mother of God" (Collect).

Filled with the Virtues which the Holy Ghost grants to good women, the Spouse of Saint Joachim surpassed all women by her Privileges and Graces (Epistle). Her Holiness made her leave everything for God, and she thereby acquired this pearl and this treasure (Gospel).

The devotion to Saint Anne is founded on the bond which unites her to Mary and to the Incarnate Word. Its ancient Liturgy dates from the 6th-Century for the Eastern Church and the 8th-Century for the Western Church.

It was authorised by Pope Urban IV in 1378. In 1584, Pope Gregory XIII fixed 26 July as the date of the Feast and Pope Leo XIII, in 1879, extended it to the whole Church.

Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Aftermath. Have You Forgotten Yet . . ?

Illustration: HDWALLSOURCE.COM

Aftermath.

Siegfried Sassoon (1919)

Have you forgotten yet . . ?

For the world’s events have rumbled on since those gagged days,

Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:

And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow

Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you’re a man reprieved to go,

Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.

But the past is just the same - and War’s a bloody game . . .

Have you forgotten yet . . ?

Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you’ll never forget.

Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz –

The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets ?

Do you remember the rats; and the stench

Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench -

And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain ?

Do you ever stop and ask, ‘Is it all going to happen again ?’

Do you remember that hour of din before the attack –

And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then

As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men ?

Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back

With dying eyes and lolling heads—those ashen-grey

Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay ?

Have you forgotten yet . . ?

Poem available on ABOUT.COM POETRY

Illustration: SUN HATS & WELLIE BOOTS

Saint Christopher. Feast Day 25 July.

Text (unless otherwise stated) is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
which is available from ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

Saint Christopher.
Feast Day 25 July.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Saint Christopher carrying The Christ Child.

Artist: Hieronymus Bosch.

Date: 1480-1490.

Museum Boymans-van Beuningen,

Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This File: 22 January 2007.

User: Alekjds.

(Wikipedia)

Saint Christoper was a native of Chanaan. His name ("Who bears Christ") expresses his love of Jesus. A generous Soul, he walked like a giant in the Way of Virtue.

The Piety of our Fathers, inspired by this grand allegory, caused them to place a colossal statue of Saint Christopher at the entrance to Cathedrals. He was Martyred towards 250 A.D.

He is one of the "Fourteen Auxiliary Saints".

Mass: In virtúte.

Ave Maris Stella.

Hail, Star of the Sea.

Ave Maris Stella.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/TacNIbmDZ4s.

The following Text is from Wikipedia -the free encyclopaedia.

Ave Maris Stella (Latin, "Hail Star of the Sea") is a Plainsong Vespers Hymn to Mary. It was especially popular in the Middle Ages and has been used by many composers as the basis of other compositions.

The creation of the original Hymn has been attributed to several people, including Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (12th-Century), Saint Venantius Fortunatus (6th-Century) and Hermannus Contractus (11th-Century). The Text is found in 9th-Century Manuscripts kept in Vienna, Austria, and in the Abbey of Saint Gall, Switzerland.

The melody is found in the Irish Plainsong "Gabhaim Molta Bríde", a piece in praise of Saint Bridget. The popular modern Hymn, Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star, is loosely based on this Plainsong original.

It finds particular prominence in the "Way of Consecration to The Blessed Virgin Mary" by Saint Louis de Montfort.

Madonna and Child

(Galleria Borghese, Rome).

Date: Circa 1742.

Source: Web Gallery of Art.

Author: Pompeo Batoni (1708–1787).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Plainchant Hymn has been developed by many composers, from pre-Baroque to the present day. The Roman Rite employs four different Plainchant tunes for the Ave Maris Stella; the first three are designated for Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials of The Blessed Virgin Mary; a fourth is given in The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary as an alternative to the Memorial Tone. These Plainchant Tones have been used as the cantus firmus for some Polyphonic Settings of the Mass, including those by Josquin and Victoria.

Renaissance Settings include those by Felice Anerio, Palestrina, Dufay and Byrd. Baroque Settings include Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610. Romantic Settings include those by Dvorak, Grieg, and Liszt. Modern composers who have either set the Text, or used the Hymn as an inspiration, include Grace Williams, Peter Maxwell Davies, Otto Olsson and Trond Kverno.

Saint James The Greater. Apostle. Brother Of Saint John. Feast Day 25 July.

Text (unless otherwise stated) is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
which is available from ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

Saint James The Greater.
Apostle.
Feast Day 25 July.

Double of the Second-Class.

Red Vestments.

Saint James the Greater.

He is depicted clothed as a Pilgrim; note the scallop shell,

on his shoulder, 

and his staff and Pilgrim's hat beside him.

Artist: Rembrandt (1606–1669).

Date: 1661.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint James, brother of Saint John, and son of Zebedee, was a native of Bethsaida, in Galilee. He is surname "the Greater", i.e., the Elder.

One day, his mother, approaching The Saviour, asked of Him "the favour for her two sons to be seated, one at His right-hand and the other at His left-hand, in His Kingdom" (Gospel). Christ then foretold their Martyrdom. Saint James "shall sit on a Throne to judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel" (Communion), but he will first have to mix his blood with that of Jesus (Gospel) and undergo, like all the Apostles, a life of suffering and persecution, such as the Epistle describes.

After the Ascension of Jesus Christ to Heaven, says the Office of today, James preached His Divinity in Judea and Samaria. He soon betook himself to Spain. When he returned to Jerusalem, Herod Agrippa, desiring to please the Jews, condemned him to death and he was beheaded towards the year 42 A.D., a short time before the Feast of Easter.

It would seem that, for fear of the Arabs who were masters of Jerusalem, the body of the Saint was later carried to Compostella, in Spain, where he is greatly honoured. 25 July recalls the date of this Translation.

His name is inscribed in the Canon of the Mass, with that of Saint John, his brother (First List).

Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

Commemoration of Saint Christopher, by the Collects of the Mass: In virtúte.

Ave Maria.

You might wish to add this Ave Maria to your Daily Prayers.

Ave Maria.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/aQVz6vuNq7s.

Saint Christina. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day 24 July.

Text (unless otherwise stated) is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
which is available from ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

Saint Christina.
Virgin and Martyr.
Feast Day 24 July.

Red Vestments.

English: Statue of Saint Christina,

The Church of Saint Christina,

Ravensburg, 

Germany.

Deutsch: Hl. Christina von Bolsena, Skulptur von Moriz Schlachter,

Pfarrkirche St. Christina, Ravensburg, Germany.

Photo: 20 January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: AndreasPraefcke.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Christina was born in Tuscany, Italy. At the age of ten, she took away the silver idols, in her father's house, and broke them up. On this account, she was delivered up to the persecutors, tied to a post, and pierced with arrows.

She thus added, to the merit of her Virginity, that of Christian Fortitude (Collect). This was under the Persecutions of Emperor Diocletian towards 300 A.D.

Mass: Me exspectavérunt.

English: The Parish Church of Saint Christina,

Regensburg, Germany.

Deutsch: Pfarrkirche St. Christina, Ravensburg.

Photo: 20 January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: AndreasPraefcke.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Saint Christina of Bolsena, Italy, also known as Christina of Tyre, or, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as Christina the Great Martyr, is Venerated as a Christian Martyr of the 3rd-Century. Archaeological excavations of an underground cemetery, constructed at her tomb, have shown that she was Venerated at Bolsena by the 4th-Century A.D.

The existence of Christina is relatively well attested. Although some versions of her legend place her in Tyre (Phoenicia), the most credible evidence points to Bolsena, Italy: An ancient town in central Italy, near an Etruscan site called Volsinium, with catacombs, in which archaeologists have found the remains of an Early-Christian Church and the tomb of a female Martyr.

Inscriptions, found on the site, confirm that this Martyr had a name like Christina and that the local community was Venerating her as a Saint by the end of the 4th-Century. Some corroborating evidence is provided by a 6th-Century mosaic in the Basilica of Saint Apollinare Nuovo, at Ravenna, Italy, which includes, in its Procession of Virgins, a Saint named Christina, wearing a Martyr's Crown.

The Mass at Bolsena.

Artist: Raphael (1483–1520).

Date: 1512.

This File: 30 March 2007.

User: David Sneek.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Mass at Bolsena is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist, Raphael. It was painted between 1512 and 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Raphael Rooms, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple.

The Mass at Bolsena shows an incident that is said to have taken place in 1263. A Bohemian Priest, who doubted the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, celebrated Mass at Bolsena, Italy, where the Bread of the Eucharist began to Bleed. The following year, in 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi, to celebrate this miraculous event.

The Priest was saying Mass, and, when he doubted the Transubstantiation, Blood spouted from the Host and fell onto the Altar Cloth, in the shape of a Cross, and he was rec-converted.

Present in this painting, is a self-portrait of the artist, Raphael, as one of the Swiss Guard in

the lower right of the fresco, facing out with bound-up hair. This is one of several instances

in which Raphael has placed himself in his paintings. Also shown in the work is

Pope Julius II (1443-1513), kneeling at the right, and his daughter, Felice della Rovere,

shown on the left at the bottom of the steps, in profile, in dark clothes. The four Cardinals,

to the right, have also been identified as Leonardo Grosso della Rovere, Raffaello Riario,

Tommaso Riario and Agostino Spinola, relatives of Julius.

The Martyr, Christina, lived during the 3rd-Century. She was born into a rich family, and her father was Governor of Tyre. By the age of 11, the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. Christina's father, however, envisioned that his daughter should become a pagan priestess.

To this end, he placed her in a special dwelling, where he had set up many gold and silver idols, and he commanded his daughter to burn incense before them. Two servants attended Christina.

According to legend, on one occasion, Christina was visited by an Angel, who instructed her in the True Faith. The Angel called her a Bride of Christ, and told her about her future suffering. Christina smashed all the idols in her room and threw them out the window.

In visiting his daughter, Christina's father, Urban, asked her where all the idols had disappeared. Christina was silent. Then, having summoned the servants, Urban learned the truth from them.

A second legend is connected to Saint Christina. The Miracle of Bolsena, often considered to be the catalyst for the Feast of Corpus Christi, recalls an event in the Umbrian region of Italy in 1263. A Priest, named Peter, from the City of Prague, nurtured doubts regarding the Transubstantiation of the Host during Mass, and, during his Pilgrimage toward Rome, Prayed to be relieved of his questions.

While saying the Words of Consecration, in the Church of Saint Christina, in Bolsena, Italy, the Host dripped Blood on his hands and on the Altar Cloth, below. The Miracle of Bolsena is depicted on the walls of the Vatican, in a painting by Raphael.