CSVF Blog

At last Wednesday’s General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI resumed his regular catechetical series, in which he is currently reviewing the lives and writings of early medieval saints.  He chose as his subject St. Theodore the Studite, a ninth-century Eastern monk and theologian.  As is evident from the photo below, he also had time to kiss a few babies.      

GENERAL AUDIENCE ADDRESS
May 27, 2009

Dear brothers and sisters:

The saint that we find today, St. Theodore the Studite, brings us to a period that from the religious and political point of view was rather turbulent. St. Theodore was born in the year 759 to a noble and pious family. His mother, Teoctista, and an uncle, Plato, abbot of the monastery of Sakkudion in Bithynia, are venerated as saints. It was precisely his uncle who guided him toward the monastic life, which he embraced at the age of 22. He was ordained a priest by the patriarch Tarasios, but afterward he broke communion with him because of the weakness he showed in the case of the adulterous marriage of Emperor Constantine VI. The consequence was Theodore’s exile to Thessalonica in the year 796. Reconciliation with the imperial authority came about the next year under Empress Irene, whose benevolence brought Theodore and Plato to be transferred to the urban monastery of Studios, together with the majority of the community of the monks of Sakkudion, to avoid the invasions of the Saracens. In this way began the important “studite reform.”

The personal life of Theodore, nevertheless, continued to be very hectic. With his characteristic energy, he became the leader of the resistance to the iconoclasm of Leo V the Armenian, who opposed once again the existence of images and icons in the Church. The procession of icons, organized by the monks of Studios, brought about the reaction of the police. Between 815 and 821, Theodore was flogged, jailed and exiled in various parts of Asia Minor. In the end, he was able to return to Constantinople, but not to his monastery. Thus he established himself with his monks on the other side of the Bosphorus.

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Founded by a group of St. Vincent Ferrer parishioners, Pregnancy Help, Inc., is celebrating its fiftheenth anniversary this Tuesday, June 2, at the 5:30 PM Mass. All are invited to attend.  A reception in the priory will follow the Mass.

Click here to learn more about Pregnancy Help and its important work.

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From the Sisters of Life:

Dear Coworkers of Life,

Join the Sisters of Life Saturday, June 6th for their First Saturday Witness for Life! This will be our final Witness until September.

Mass at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral (263 Mulberry Street) will begin at 8am. Come to all or part of the morning.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass begins our day in Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the Sisters of Life will provide a singing Schola), Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament follows, and people can either remain in the Church to adore our Lord or attend the rosary procession to the local abortion clinic run by Planned Parenthood.

Upon return from the clinic (approx 10:15am) we will repose the Blessed Sacrament and have a social (complete with coffee and bagels) with a short (15 mins) presentation by the Sisters of Life. You will hear of concrete ways to be of service, as Co-Workers, helping vulnerable pregnant women that are currently being served by the Sisters.

Promote this to your friends and keep the spiritual success of this effort for Life in your daily prayers.

God Bless You.

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From Sr. Lucy Marie, SV, the archdiocesan pro-life coordinator:

Dear Friends,

On May 22nd the New York State Assembly voted in favor of redefining marriage. The beautiful gift of marriage as the sacred union of man and woman, our religious freedoms, authentic family life and our children are once again under great attack. The Senate may vote on this issue in the next three weeks — so it is essential that we take action immediately to show them our support for the real definition of marriage.

Join us Tuesday, June 9th for the “Stand 4 Marriage Rally” in Albany. The Family Life/Respect Life Office is sponsoring a FREE bus (through the generosity of the Knights of Columbus). The bus departs at 7:15am from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. Donations will be welcome toward the driver cost.

The Rally is an ecumenical effort put on by New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms. Already tentatively scheduled to attend are Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long, and many pro-family legislators. The New York State Catholic Conference has encouraged our attendance on one of their recent Action Alerts against Same Sex “Marriage.” 

The rally begins at 10:30 AM and lasts until 12:30 PM.

After 12:30 PM, attendees are strongly encouraged to go in the State Capitol and let our legislators know that there is tremendous support for the traditional definition of marriage throughout the State of New York. Some attendees will be participating in prayer rallies at each of the four corners of Capitol as well.

Lunch can be purchased (or bring it) while in Albany, and we expect to depart at 2:30pm.

RSVP by email – seats are limited.

If you are in the upper counties and wish to drive please join us there as well!

And of course, let us continue to keep this in our prayers.

God bless you.

Sr. Lucy Marie
Respect Life Coordinator
Archdiocese of New York
1011 First Ave., 7th Floor
New York, NY 10022
646-794-3192
Mon-Thurs 9:45am-4:45pm

UPDATE (6/3/09):

From Sr. Lucy:

Our bus to Albany for the “Rally 4 Marriage” is almost filled, and the Knights of Columbus have generously provided a second bus.

Both buses will depart from Dunwoodie, Seminary in Yonkers (201 Seminary Ave) at 7:00am – new time adjustment and there are 2 separate second stop pickups.

* Sacred Heart Church, 301 Ann Street, Newburgh. Bishop Lagronegro will celebrate Mass upon arrival – approx 8:15am – and pick up new passengers.
* St. Patrick Church, 137 Moseman Road, Yorktown Heights. Mass will be celebrated upon arrival at approx 8:00am and pick up new passengers.

RSVP if you wish to attend and please indicate location of pickup – either Yonkers (7am), Newburgh (8:15am), or Yorktown Heights (8am). Please reply by email – I am not able to take all the phone calls that are coming in.

FYI – Our New York State Bishops Conference is now headed up by Archbishop Dolan.  Just today it released a statement on Marriage.

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