November 2009
Monthly Archive
Witness for Life – December 5
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 30 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Parish News
From the Sisters of Life:
Witness for Life ~ Saturday, December 5th
8am Mass at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC
Come to all or part of the morning.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral begins our day.
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament follows, and then participants can either remain in the church to adore our Lord or attend the rosary procession to the local abortion clinic (Planned Parenthood – 2 blocks away).
Upon return from the clinic (approx 10:15am) we will have a social (complete with coffee and donuts) with a short (10 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.
Saint Andrew
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 30 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
I bow before the cross made precious by Christ, my Master.
I embrace it as his disciple.
Today is the feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle of the Lord and the brother of St. Peter.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
The name “Andrew” (Gr., andreia, manhood, or valour), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century B.C.
St. Andrew, the Apostle, son of Jonah, or John (Matthew 16:17; John 1:42), was born in Bethsaida of Galilee (John 1:44). He was brother of Simon (Peter) (Matthew 10:2; John 1:40). Both were fishermen (Matthew 4:18; Mark 1:16), and at the beginning of Our Lord’s public life occupied the same house at Capharnaum (Mark 1:21, 29).
From the fourth Gospel we learn that Andrew was a disciple of the Baptist, whose testimony first led him and John the Evangelist to follow Jesus (John 1:35-40). Andrew at once recognized Jesus as the Messias, and hastened to introduce Him to his brother, Peter, (John 1:41). Thenceforth the two brothers were disciples of Christ. On a subsequent occasion, prior to the final call to the apostolate, they were called to a closer companionship, and then they left all things to follow Jesus (Luke 5:11; Matthew 4:19-20; Mark 1:17-18).
Finally Andrew was chosen to be one of the Twelve; and in the various lists of Apostles given in the New Testament (Matthew 10:2-4); Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13) he is always numbered among the first four. The only other explicit reference to him in the Synoptists occurs in Mark 13:3, where we are told he joined with Peter, James and John in putting the question that led to Our Lord’s great eschatological discourse. In addition to this scanty information, we learn from the fourth Gospel that on the occasion of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, it was Andrew who said: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes: but what are these among so many?” (John 6:8-9); and when, a few days before Our Lord’s death, certain Greeks asked Philip that they might see Jesus, Philip referred the matter to Andrew as to one of greater authority, and then both told Christ (John 12:20-22). Like the majority of the Twelve, Andrew is not named in the Acts except in the list of the Apostles, where the order of the first four is Peter, John, James, Andrew; nor have the Epistles or the Apocalypse any mention of him.
From what we know of the Apostles generally, we can, of course, supplement somewhat these few details. As one of the Twelve, Andrew was admitted to the closest familiarity with Our Lord during His public life; he was present at the Last Supper; beheld the risen Lord; witnessed the Ascension; shared in the graces and gifts of the first Pentecost, and helped, amid threats and persecution, to establish the Faith in Palestine.
When the Apostles went forth to preach to the Nations, Andrew seems to have taken an important part, but unfortunately we have no certainty as to the extent or place of his labours. Eusebius (Church History III.1), relying, apparently, upon Origen, assigns Scythia as his mission field: Andras de [eilechen] ten Skythian; while St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Oration 33) mentions Epirus; St. Jerome (Ep. ad Marcell.) Achaia; and Theodoret (on Ps. cxvi) Hellas. Probably these various accounts are correct, for Nicephorus (H.E. II:39), relying upon early writers, states that Andrew preached in Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia, then in the land of the anthropophagi and the Scythian deserts, afterwards in Byzantium itself, where he appointed St. Stachys as its first bishop, and finally in Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and Achaia. It is generally agreed that he was crucified by order of the Roman Governor, Aegeas or Aegeates, at Patrae in Achaia, and that he was bound, not nailed, to the cross, in order to prolong his sufferings. The cross on which he suffered is commonly held to have been the decussate cross, now known as St. Andrew’s, though the evidence for this view seems to be no older than the fourteenth century. His martyrdom took place during the reign of Nero, on 30 November, A.D. 60); and both the Latin and Greek Churches keep 30 November as his feast.
For more on the life of St. Andrew, click here and here.
Click here for the message Pope Benedict XVI sent today to Bartholomaios I, the Patriarch of Constantinople and occupant of the See of St. Andrew.
Continue reading after the break for more images of St. Andrew.
Lord,
in your kindness hear our petitions.
You called Andrew the apostle
to preach the Gospel and guide your Church on earth.
May he always be our friend in your presence
to help us with his prayers.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Dear Santa Project 2009
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Parish News
Please take the time to stop by and make an underprivileged child’s Christmas wish come true!
This year, the students of St. Jerome’s School in the Bronx are the beneficiaries of your generosity and good will. Please give them hope and faith in the miracle of Christmas. All we ask is that you chose one letter and make their Christmas wish a reality! The project meeting is on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 6:30 P.M at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick Parish House, 14 East 51st Street, between Madison and 5th Avenues. Please rsvp and visit our web site at www.cspya.org.
Mass of Solemn Profession
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Dominicans, Parish Events
Click above for video of the Mass of Solemn Profession celebrated here this past November 7th, during which Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., and I professed our final vows in the Order of Preachers.
The music heard in the video is an ancient Dominican chant entitled “Sicut in holocaustis arietum.” It was sung during the Offertory of the Mass by a schola composed of student brothers from the Dominican House of Studies, who traveled to New York to attend the Profession Mass. The full text of the chant reads, in English: “As a holocaust of rams and bullocks, and of thousands of fatted lambs, so let our sacrifice be in your sight on this day, that it may be pleasing unto you. For there is no shame for those who put their trust in you, O Lord.” In his Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas uses the image of the holocaust, mentioned in the chant, to illustrate the complete nature of the sacrifice required by religious when they make solemn profession. “The religious state may be considered . . . as a holocaust,” writes the Angelic Doctor, “whereby a man offers himself and his possessions wholly to God” (ST.II-II.186.7).
Fr. Dominic Izzo, O.P., Prior Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph, celebrated and preached the Mass.
The St. Vincent Ferrer Chorale shared musical duties with the chant schola, thus adding their own beauty and reverence to the solemn liturgy. Other student brothers assisted at the altar. Fr. Jordan Kelly, O.P., served as the Master of Ceremonies.
Organ Recital – November 30
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Music
We invite you to our next musical event here at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, an opportunity to hear one of the finest concert organists here in New York City.
David Enlow, Organist and Choir Master at Church of the Resurrection here in Manhattan, and a faculty member of the Juilliard School, will perform an Organ Recital on Monday, November 30 at 7:00 PM. Mr. Enlow’s program will include works by Franck and Dupré.
The recital is free and open to the public.
We hope to see you!
“Bringing Morals to the Public Square”
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
The following essay was penned by Carl Anderson, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus. It appeared a week ago on Zenit.
BRINGING MORALS TO THE PUBLIC SQUARE
Catholic Political Leaders Need to Make Principled Stand
By Carl Anderson
As much of the world moves in a secular direction, some commentators have taken to speaking of a “post-Christian” society.
Certainly, the days of the close embrace of Christianity by civil authority are a thing of the past. We might say we live in a “post-embrace” world. But that does not — and must not — mean that Christianity is headed for a marginal “ghetto” existence.
Indeed, it was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) who wrote in the 1980s: “In the long run, neither the embrace nor the ghetto can solve for Christians the problem of the modern world.”
As the Church faces a culture that is increasingly secular and finds little place for Christianity in the public square, it will be up to Christians, who value conscience, to create the “creative minorities” Benedict XVI has called for to bring moral reasoning into the public discourse.
Pope Benedict on the Theologians of St. Victor
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 29 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
At last week’s General Audience, Pope Benedict continued his survey of medieval Christian culture by turning our attention to the twelfth-century theological school of the Augustinian Abbey of St. Victor in Paris. As one of the academic forerunners of the University of Paris, St. Victor produced some of the greatest minds of the Middle Ages, including Peter Lombard, Hugh of St. Victor, and his disciple, Richard of St. Victor. All three composed theological works of immense depth and skill. Their writings on the Trinity and on the sacraments especially helped to prepare the stage for the great flourishing of theology in Paris in the thirteenth century, when figures such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure took center stage. In Wednesday’s audience, the Holy Father focused on the work of Hugh and Richard specifically.
GENERAL AUDIENCE ADDRESS
November 25, 2009
Dear brothers and sisters,
During these Wednesday audiences, I have been presenting some exemplary figures of believers who have been determined to show the harmony between reason and faith, and to witness with their life the proclamation of the Gospel.
Today I would like to speak to you about Hugh and Richard of St. Victor. Both are among those notable philosophers and theologians known by the name of Victorines, because they lived in the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris, founded at the beginning of the 12th century by William of Champeaux. William himself was a renowned teacher, who was able to give his abbey a solid cultural identity. In fact, inaugurated in St. Victor was a school for the formation of monks, open also to outside students, where a happy synthesis was made between the two forms of doing theology, of which I have already spoken in previous catecheses: namely, monastic theology, mainly oriented to the contemplation of the mysteries of the faith in Scripture, and scholastic theology, which used reason to attempt to scrutinize these mysteries with innovative methods, to create a theological system.
We know little about the life of Hugh of St. Victor. The date and place of his birth are uncertain: perhaps in Saxony or in Flanders. It is known that he arrived in Paris — the European capital of culture at the time — and spent the rest of his years in the abbey of St. Victor, where he was first a disciple and then a teacher. Already before his death, which occurred in 1141, he achieved great notoriety and esteem, to the point of being called a “second St. Augustine”: Like Augustine, in fact, he meditated much on the relation between faith and reason, between profane sciences and theology.
“Word to Life” – November 27, 2009
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 27 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Word to Life
Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”
Joining me on the program today to discuss the readings for the First Sunday of Advent were Fr. Jordan Kelly, O.P., a parochial vicar at the Church of St. Catherine of Siena in Manhattan, and Br. James Brent, O.P., a deacon completing his formation for the priesthood at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
Thanksgiving Day
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 26 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer wishes you and yours a Happy and Holy Thanksgiving.
After the turkey and stuffing, click here for a great summary of St. Thomas’s teaching on gratitude.
Pope Benedict’s Message to Artists
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 26 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
Last Saturday, Pope Benedict welcomed over 250 artists from around the world to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, where he led his guests in a reflection on beauty and the service rendered it by the artistic community. Assembled beneath Michelangelo’s famous ceiling were painters, sculptors, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and architects, including Bono, Andrea Bocelli, Arvo Part, and Ennio Morricone. The Pope encouraged his listeners to enter into dialogue with believers in their quest for beauty, and then in their arts to strive not only to communicate beauty but to communicate in and with beauty.
The meeting marked the tenth anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, and the forty-fifth anniversary of a similar meeting Pope Paul VI held with the artistic community of his day.
For press coverage of last Saturday’s meeting, click here and here.
MEETING WITH ARTISTS
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
Sistine Chapel
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Dear Cardinals,
Brother Bishops and Priests,
Distinguished Artists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
With great joy I welcome you to this solemn place, so rich in art and in history. I cordially greet each and every one of you and I thank you for accepting my invitation. At this gathering I wish to express and renew the Church’s friendship with the world of art, a friendship that has been strengthened over time; indeed Christianity from its earliest days has recognized the value of the arts and has made wise use of their varied language to express her unvarying message of salvation. This friendship must be continually promoted and supported so that it may be authentic and fruitful, adapted to different historical periods and attentive to social and cultural variations. Indeed, this is the reason for our meeting here today. I am deeply grateful to Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church, and likewise to his officials, for promoting and organizing this meeting, and I thank him for the words he has just addressed to me. I greet the Cardinals, the Bishops, the priests and the various distinguished personalities present. I also thank the Sistine Chapel Choir for their contribution to this gathering. Today’s event is focused on you, dear and illustrious artists, from different countries, cultures and religions, some of you perhaps remote from the practice of religion, but interested nevertheless in maintaining communication with the Catholic Church, in not reducing the horizons of existence to mere material realities, to a reductive and trivializing vision. You represent the varied world of the arts and so, through you, I would like to convey to all artists my invitation to friendship, dialogue and cooperation.
Some significant anniversaries occur around this time. It is ten years since the Letter to Artists by my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Pope John Paul II. For the first time, on the eve of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the Pope, who was an artist himself, wrote a Letter to artists, combining the solemnity of a pontifical document with the friendly tone of a conversation among all who, as we read in the initial salutation, “are passionately dedicated to the search for new ‘epiphanies’ of beauty”. Twenty-five years ago the same Pope proclaimed Blessed Fra Angelico the patron of artists, presenting him as a model of perfect harmony between faith and art. I also recall how on 7 May 1964, forty-five years ago, in this very place, an historic event took place, at the express wish of Pope Paul VI, to confirm the friendship between the Church and the arts. The words that he spoke on that occasion resound once more today under the vault of the Sistine Chapel and touch our hearts and our minds. “We need you,” he said. “We need your collaboration in order to carry out our ministry, which consists, as you know, in preaching and rendering accessible and comprehensible to the minds and hearts of our people the things of the spirit, the invisible, the ineffable, the things of God himself. And in this activity … you are masters. It is your task, your mission, and your art consists in grasping treasures from the heavenly realm of the spirit and clothing them in words, colours, forms – making them accessible.” So great was Paul VI’s esteem for artists that he was moved to use daring expressions. “And if we were deprived of your assistance,” he added, “our ministry would become faltering and uncertain, and a special effort would be needed, one might say, to make it artistic, even prophetic. In order to scale the heights of lyrical expression of intuitive beauty, priesthood would have to coincide with art.” On that occasion Paul VI made a commitment to “re-establish the friendship between the Church and artists”, and he invited artists to make a similar, shared commitment, analyzing seriously and objectively the factors that disturbed this relationship, and assuming individual responsibility, courageously and passionately, for a newer and deeper journey in mutual acquaintance and dialogue in order to arrive at an authentic “renaissance” of art in the context of a new humanism.
US Bishops on the Senate Health Care Bill
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 25 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
Late last week, the US Bishops sent the following letter to each member of the US Senate. In it, the bishops outline their concerns regarding the health care reform bill currently progressing through the upper chamber.
November 20, 2009
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we strongly urge the Senate to incorporate essential changes to the Senate’s health care reform bill to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all. We especially urge the Senate to act as the House has in the following respects:
- keep in place current federal law on abortion funding and conscience protections on abortion;
- protect the access to health care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to access;
- and include strong provisions for adequate affordability and coverage standards.
The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long supported adequate and affordable health care for all. As pastors and teachers, we believe genuine health care reform must protect human life and dignity, not threaten them, especially for the most voiceless and vulnerable. We believe health care legislation must respect the consciences of providers, taxpayers, and others, not violate them. We believe universal coverage should be truly universal, not deny health care to those in need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive here. Providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects these fundamental principles is a public good, moral imperative and urgent national priority.
Sadly, the legislative proposal recently unveiled in the Senate does not meet these moral criteria. Specifically, it violates the longstanding federal policy against the use of federal funds for elective abortions and health plans that include such abortions – a policy upheld in all health programs covered by the Hyde Amendment, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program – and now in the House-passed “Affordable Health Care for America Act.” We believe legislation that violates this moral principle is not true health care reform and must be amended to reflect it. If that fails, the current legislation should be opposed.
Blessed Margaret of Savoy (1382-1464)
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 25 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Dominican Saints, Liturgical Feasts
Give her the reward of her deeds;
they will proclaim her as she enters the gates.
From the Dominican Ordo:
Blessed Margaret, a member of the noble family of the Dukes of Savoy, was born probably in 1382 and married the Marquis of Monferrat, a widower with two children. They lived a model Christian life, sharing their wealth with the poor, educating the ignorant, and caring for victims of the plague. Upon the death of her husband she vowed herself to widowhood and with the encouragement of Saint Vincent Ferrer took the habit of the Sisters of Penance and founded the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalen at Alba. In a vision our Lord offered her three arrows: “sickness,” “slander,” and “persecution.” She endured all of these and offered her sufferings for the peace of the universal Church, for the Western Schism had begun a short time before. She died on November 23, 1464.
For more on the life and virtue of Blessed Margaret, click here and here.
God of holiness,
you taught Blessed Margaret
to leave the royal court
and to follow you in humility.
Following her example
may we learn to cherish what is divine
and to overcome all adversities
through love of your cross.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Open House at The Gianna Center – December 8
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 25 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
Manhattan Declaration
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 25 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Miscellaneous
On November 20, Archbishop Timothy Dolan joined dozens of religious and cultural leaders from around the country in signing the Manhattan Declaration. As drafted and agreed upon by the original signers, the Declaration reaffirms their commitment as Christians to work for the protection and promotion of the common good in American society.
From the Manhattan Declaration’s website:
Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.
We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:
- the sanctity of human life
- the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
- the rights of conscience and religious liberty.
Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
In just under a week, over 110,000 others have attached their names to the Declaration.
To read the Declaration, click here. To sign it, click here.
St. Catherine of Alexandria (4th Century)
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 25 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
Now this wise virgin has gone to Christ.
Among the choirs of virgins she is radiant as the sun in the heavens.
Today the Church remembers the early fourth-century virgin and martyr Catherine of Alexandria, whose feast was recently restored to the Roman Calendar after its removal during the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council.
Dominicans have been particularly happy with the return of today’s feast, for since the Order’s inception it has honored St. Catherine as a patroness and protectress.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
Of noble birth and learned in the sciences, when only eighteen years old, Catherine presented herself to the Emperor Maximinus who was violently persecuting the Christians, upbraided him for his cruelty and endeavoured to prove how iniquitous was the worship of false gods. Astounded at the young girl’s audacity, but incompetent to vie with her in point of learning the tyrant detained her in his palace and summoned numerous scholars whom he commanded to use all their skill in specious reasoning that thereby Catherine might be led to apostatize. But she emerged from the debate victorious. Several of her adversaries, conquered by her eloquence, declared themselves Christians and were at once put to death. Furious at being baffled, Maximinus had Catherine scourged and then imprisoned. Meanwhile the empress, eager to see so extraordinary a young woman, went with Porphyry, the head of the troops, to visit her in her dungeon, when they in turn yielded to Catherine’s exhortations, believed, were baptized, and immediately won the martyr’s crown. Soon afterwards the saint, who far from forsaking her Faith, effected so many conversions, was condemned to die on the wheel, but, at her touch, this instrument of torture was miraculously destroyed. The emperor, enraged beyond control, then had her beheaded and angels carried her body to Mount Sinai where later a church and monastery were built in her honour.
Devotion to St. Catherine reached its zenith in the Middle Ages, when she was counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers. It is then that St. Dominic himself developed his devotion to her. Dominic’s legend claims that St. Catherine appeared to him in a vision.
For more on St. Catherine of Alexandria, click here, here, and here.
Lord,
you have told us that you live for ever
in the hearts of the chaste.
By the prayers of the virgin Catherine,
help us to live by your grace
and remain a temple of your Spirit.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Homilies for the Solemnity of Christ the King
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 24 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Homilies
Dominican Martyrs of Vietnam
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 24 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Dominican Saints, Liturgical Feasts
The holy martyrs rejoiced to share in the suffering of Christ;
they reign with him in eternal glory.
From the Dominican Ordo:
This group of 117 martyrs suffered for the name of Christ during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the region known today as Vietnam. Of this number 96 were Vietnamese, 11 were Spaniards, and 10 were French; 58 were associated with the Missions Étrangères of Paris and 59 were members of the Dominican Family.
The members of the Dominican Family included six bishops, sixteen priests, three memebers of the Priests’ Fraternity of Saint Dominic, ten members of the Dominican laity, and twenty-four of the faithful from Dominican missions. They were martyred at different times and places, eg:
- Eighteenth Century: the priests Francis Gil de Federich (1745) and Vincent Liem (1773);
- 1838-1840: the bishops Ignatius Delgado (1838) and Dominic Henares (1838), the priest Joseph Fernández (1838) and twenty-three others;
- In the year 1861: the bishops Valentine Berrio-Ochoa and Jerome Hermosilla, the priests Joseph Tuâm and Pedro Almató, and the catechist Joseph Khang;
- During the years 1857-1862: the bishops Jose Maria Diaz Sanjurjo (1857) and Melchior Garcia-Sampedro (1858); several native priests; and Dominic Phan Trong An Kham (1859), a member of the Dominican laity.
For more on the Dominican Martyrs of Vietnam, click here, here, and here.
Compassionate God,
you gave Saint Ignatius and his companions
the courage to be faithful to the cross of your Son,
even to the shedding of their blood.
With the help of their prayers
may we spread your love
among our brothers and sisters
and truly become your children.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Theology in the City – November 23
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 22 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Lectures, Parish Events, Parish News
Presentation of Mary
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 21 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
Holy Mother of God, Mary ever-Virgin,
you are the temple of the Lord and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Beyond all others you were pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ.
From the Protoevangelium of James (c. 2nd century AD):
And the child was two years old, and Joachim said: Let us take her up to the temple of the Lord, that we may pay the vow that we have vowed, lest perchance the Lord send to us, and our offering be not received. And Anna said: Let us wait for the third year, in order that the child may not seek for father or mother. And Joachim said: So let us wait. And the child was three years old, and Joachim said: Invite the daughters of the Hebrews that are undefiled, and let them take each a lamp, and let them stand with the lamps burning, that the child may not turn back, and her heart be captivated from the temple of the Lord. And they did so until they went up into the temple of the Lord. And the priest received her, and kissed her, and blessed her, saying: The Lord has magnified your name in all generations. In you, on the last of the days, the Lord will manifest His redemption to the sons of Israel. And he set her down upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God sent grace upon her; and she danced with her feet, and all the house of Israel loved her. And her parents went down marvelling, and praising the Lord God, because the child had not turned back. And Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there, and she received food from the hand of an angel.
Eternal Father,
we honor the holiness and glory of the Virgin Mary.
May her prayers bring us
the fullness of your life and love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
“Word to Life” – November 20, 2009
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 20 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Word to Life
Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”
Joining me on the program today to discuss the readings for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King were Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., parochial vicar of the Church of St. Joseph in New York City, and Fr. Sean Connor, pastor of St. Ann’s Church in Neposet, MA.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
Blessed James Benfatti (+1332)
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 19 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Dominican Saints, Liturgical Feasts
God’s word is alive; it strikes to the heart.
It pierces more surely that a two-edged sword.
From the Dominican Ordo:
Blessed James was born at Mantua, Italy, in the latter half of the thirteenth century. He entered the Order there and come to the notice of Nicholas Boccassini, Master of the Order, who made him his socius. Blessed James continued as his advisor when Nicholas was created cardinal in 1298 and when Nicholas became pope as Benedict XI he was named bishop of Mantua in 1304. There he fought against the hatred and division which plagued the city. Because of his devotion to the poor during a time of pestilence and famine he was called “Father of the Poor.” He died on November 19, 1332.
Click here for more on the life of Blessed James.
Eternal God,
you established Blessed James as a model for your flock
and make him renowned for his zeal for peace
and for his mercy towards your people.
By his prayers and example
may we be united in the truth of your word
and ever ardent in your divine love.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
“Human Capital” Lecture Series
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 19 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Parish News
Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Saint Paul
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 18 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
You have made them princes over all the earth;
they declared your fame to all generations;
for ever will the nations declare your praise.
From Butler’s Lives of the Saints:
As the commemorative feast of the dedication of the archbasilica of the Lateran is kept by the whole Western church, so also is that of the other greater patriarchal basilicas at Rome, St Mary Major on August 5, and St Peter’s and St Paul’s together on this day, November 18th. Amongst all the places which the blood of martyrs has rendered illustrious, that part of the Vatican Hill which was consecrated with the blood and enriched with the relics of the Prince of the Apostles has always been the most venerable. “The sepulchres of those who have served Christ crucified,” says St John Chrysostom, “surpass the palaces of kings; not so much in the greatness and beauty of the buildings (though in this also they go beyond them) as in other things of more importance, such as the multitude of those who with devotion and joy repair to them. For the emperor himself, clothed in purple, goes to the tombs of the saints and kisses them; humbly prostrate on the ground he beseeches the same saints to pray to God for him; and he who wears a royal crown looks on it as a great privilege from God that a tentmaker and a fisherman, and these dead, should be his protectors and defenders, and for this he begs with great earnestness.” The martyrdom of St Peter took place according to tradition at the circus of Caligula in Nero ‘s gardens on the Vatican Hill, and he was buried nearby. It is held by some that in the year 258, to avoid desecration during the persecution of Valerian, the relics of St Peter, together with those of St Paul were translated for a time to the obscure catacomb now called St Sebastian’s; but they came back to their original resting-place, and in 323 the Emperor Constantine began the building of the basilica of St Peter over the tomb of the Apostle. For nearly twelve hundred years this magnificent church remained substantially the same, a great papal establishment gradually growing up between it and the Vatican Hill. This was made the permanent residence of the popes on their return from the exile at Avignon, and by the middle of the fifteenth century the old church was found to be inadequate. In 1506 Pope Julius II inaugurated a new building designed by Bramante, whose erection was carried on over a period of a hundred and twenty years, undergoing many alterations, additions and modifications at the hands of various popes and architects, especially Paul V and Michelangelo. The new basilica of St Peter, as we see it today, was consecrated by Pope Urban VIII on November 18, 1626, the day of its original dedication. The high altar was set up over the Apostle’s resting-place, which until 1942 had been inaccessible for many centuries. Though St Peter’s must always yield in dignity to the cathedral of St John Lateran, it has nevertheless for long been the most important church of the world, both in fact and in the hearts of Catholic Christians.
The martyrdom of St Paul took place some seven miles from that of St Peter at Aquae Salviae (now called Tre Fontane) on the Ostian Way. He was buried about two miles therefrom, on the property of a lady named Lucina, in a small vault. Early in the third century, according to Eusebius (Hist. eccl., ii, 25, 7), a Roman priest, Caius, refers to the tombs of SS. Peter and Paul: ” I can show you the trophies [tombs] of the apostles. If you go to the Vatican or on the road to Ostia you will see the trophies of those who founded this church.” Constantine is said to have begun a basilica here too, but the great church of St Paul Outside-the-Walls was principally the work of the Emperor Theodosius I and Pope St Leo the Great. It remained in its primitive beauty and simplicity till the year 1823, when it was consumed by fire. The whole world contributed to its restoration, non-Christians as well as non-Catholics sending gifts and contributions. During the course of the work the fourth-century tomb was found, with the inscription PAULO APOST MART: To Paul, apostle and martyr; it was not opened. The new basilica, on the lines of the old one, was consecrated by Pope Pius IX on December 10, 1854, but the annual commemoration was appointed for this day, as the Roman Martyrology records. “We do not”, says St Augustine, “build churches or appoint priesthoods, sacred rites and sacrifices to the martyrs, because, not the martyrs, but the God of the martyrs, is our God. Who among the faithful ever heard a priest, standing at the altar set up over the body of a martyr to the honour and worship of God, say in praying: We offer up sacrifices to thee, Peter, or Paul, or Cyprian? We do not build churches to martyrs as to gods, but as memorials to men departed this life, whose souls live with God. Nor do we make altars to sacrifice on them to the martyrs, but to their God and our God.”
Lord,
you give your Church the protection of the apostles.
From them it first received the faith of Christ.
May they help your Church to grow in your grace
until the end of time.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Rose Hawthorne and Health Care
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 17 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Dominicans
In a recent article published at Inside Catholic, Edward Short brings the evangelical witness of the Hawthorne Dominicans to bear on the current debates surrounding health care reform. Entitled “Rose Hawthorne and a More Human Vision of Health Care,” Short’s brief essay sets the congregation’s care for the dying poor in sharp contrast to certain provisions contained in the reform bills advancing through Congress. After distinguishing these two visions of health care, Short concludes that the Dominican sisters’ century-long practice of charitable medicine serves to remind lawmakers that compassionate sacrifice should trump pragmatic calculation in all efforts to reform health care. He writes:
For their compassionate vision of health care, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne can cite the authority of Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote in his first encyclical:
“Love — caritas — will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suffering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour is indispensable. The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person — every person — needs: namely, loving personal concern.”
These insights, which describe so accurately the “service of love” for which the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne were founded, should also guide those who wish to bring about truly humane health-care reform.
Click here to read the article’s full text.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231)
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 17 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Liturgical Feasts
All the world will recognize you as my disciples
when they see the love you have for one another.
The life of the “secular saint” we honor today offers hope and inspiration to all men and women who suffer abuses from their relatives, especially from their in-laws.
From American Catholic:
In her short life Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. The daughter of the King of Hungary, Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism when a life of leisure and luxury could easily have been hers. This choice endeared her in the hearts of the common people throughout Europe.
At the age of 14 Elizabeth was married to Louis of Thuringia (a German principality), whom she deeply loved; she bore three children. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar, she led a life of prayer, sacrifice and service to the poor and sick. Seeking to become one with the poor, she wore simple clothing. Daily she would take bread to hundreds of the poorest in the land, who came to her gate.
After six years of marriage, her husband died in the Crusades, and she was grief-stricken. Her husband’s family looked upon her as squandering the royal purse, and mistreated her, finally throwing her out of the palace. The return of her husband’s allies from the Crusades resulted in her being reinstated, since her son was legal heir to the throne.
In 1228 Elizabeth joined the Secular Franciscan Order, spending the remaining few years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital which she founded in honor of St. Francis. Elizabeth’s health declined, and she died before her 24th birthday in 1231. Her great popularity resulted in her canonization four years later.
Catholic Online relates that St. Elizabeth is the patroness of “bakers, countesses, the death of children, the falsely accused, the homeless, nursing services, tertiaries, widows, and young brides.”
For more on St. Elizabeth’s short but remarkable life, click here.
Father,
you helped Elizabeth of Hungary
to recognize and honor Christ
in the poor of this world.
Let her prayers help us to serve our brothers and sisters
in time of trouble and need.
We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Organ Recital – November 17
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 16 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Music, Parish Events
On Tuesday, November 17, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer will host an organ recital performed on its famous 86-rank Schantz pipe organ. Dr. Mark Bani, the parish’s music director, will be the featured organist. He will perform compositions by Bach, Boyce, Mozart, Widor, and Barber.
The recital will begin at 7:00 PM. It is free and open to the public.
CSPYA’s Sixth Annual “Dear Santa” Project
Posted by Fr. Aquinas on 16 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Parish News
Please take the time to stop by and make an underprivileged child’s Christmas wish come true!
This year, the students of St. Jerome’s School in the Bronx are the beneficiaries of your generosity and good will. Please give them hope and faith in the miracle of Christmas. All we ask is that you chose one letter and make their Christmas wish a reality!
The project meeting is on Tuesday, December 1st at 6:30 P.M at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick Parish House, 14 East 51st Street, between Madison and 5th Avenues. Please rsvp and visit our web site at cspya.org.