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Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”

Joining me in the studio to discuss the readings for the Second Sunday of Lent were Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., who serves the University Parish of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village, and Fr. John Farren, O.P., who resides at the Priory of St. Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan.

“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM EST on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.

Word to Life - February 26, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent the following letter yesterday to Sentate Marjority Leader Harry Reid.

February 24, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader

Dear Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we strongly urge the congressional leaders from both parties meeting on February 25, 2010 to commit themselves to enacting genuine health care reform that will protect the life, dignity, consciences and health of all. It is time to set aside partisan divisions and special interest pressures to find ways to enact genuine reform. We encourage the Administration and Congress to work in a bipartisan manner marked by political courage, vision and leadership.

The Catholic bishops have long supported adequate and affordable health care for all, because health care is a basic human right. As pastors and teachers, we believe genuine health care reform must protect human life and dignity from conception to natural death, not threaten them, especially for the voiceless and vulnerable. We believe health care legislation must respect the consciences of providers, taxpayers, purchasers of insurance and others, not violate them. We believe universal coverage should be truly universal and should not be denied 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.

The U.S. Catholic bishops continue to urge the House and Senate to adopt legislation that:

• Ensures access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care for all;
• Retains longstanding requirements that federal funds not be used for elective abortions or plans that include them, and effectively protects conscience rights; and,
• Protects the access to health care that immigrants currently have and removes current barriers to access.

For details on the bishops’ positions on health care, please visit www.usccb.org/healthcare.

We will continue to work vigorously to advance true health care reform that ensures affordability and access, keeps longstanding prohibitions on abortion funding, upholds conscience rights, and addresses the health needs of immigrants. Dialogue should continue and no legislation should be finalized until and unless these basic moral criteria are met. Without commenting on specific proposals that may be brought to the summit, we will work to ensure that legislation meets these criteria and will oppose legislation that does not meet them. We hope and pray that the Congress and the country will come together around genuine health care reform that protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all.

Sincerely,

Bishop William F. Murphy
Diocese of Rockville Centre
Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
Chairman
Committee on Pro-life Activities

Bishop John Wester
Diocese of Salt Lake City
Chairman
Committee on Migration

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New Strategies for Getting Your Wealth Plan on Track!
Sponsored by Boomers and Beyond

On Thursday, March 18, Boomers and Beyond will host a financial planning forum at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola.  Beginning at 7:00 PM, a panel of speaks will address topics such as managing savings and retirement income, consolidating IRAs and other retirement plans, and estate planning.  Speakers will include Lawrence Klepner (Manhattan Ridge Advisors), Lisa Whitcomb (Glenmede Trust), Tom Johnson (New York Life), and Larry Kudlow (CNBC’s The Kudlow Report).

Tickets for the forum are $15 for singles, $25 for couples ($20 and $30 at the door).  To purchase tickets online, email us.  Or send a check to: Boomers & Beyond / Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola / 980 Park Avenue / New York, NY 10028.  For more information, call 646-241-1332.  Please RSVP by March 15th.

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From the Dominican Ordo:

Born at Fabriano at the beginning of the fifteenth century, Blessed Constantius received the Dominican habit at the age of fifteen.  He was noted for his austere and prayerful life, as well as his efforts in promoting peace.  As prior at Fabriano, at Perugia, and at Ascoli he labored to restore regular life.  He died at Ascoli on February 24, 1481.

God of justice and truth,
you made Blessed Constantius renowned
for his unceasing prayer
and his zeal for peace.
By the hellp of his prayers
may we wwalk in the path of justice
and reach everlasting peace and glory.

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.

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“THE IMPORTANCE OF A WILL”

On Sunday, February 28, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer will host a free wills seminar for interested parishioners.  Co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York, the seminar will feature Joan Palumbo, a New York lawyer, who will address a variety of topics concerning the legal side of estate planning and end of life issues, such as the reasons for having a will, why young parents need a will, saving on estate and death taxes, designating health care proxies, the pros and cons of living trusts, and designating durable powers of attorney.

The seminar will begin at 1:30 PM in the Priory Parlor.  All are invited.

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From Sr. Lucy, SV, at the archdiocesan Family Life Office:

Dear Friends in the NY City area,

As you know, March 27th is our Family Life Conference honoring the legacy of Cardinal O’Connor – see here for more info www.flrl.org.

I am trying to making it easy for NYC residents to attend since it will be in Yonkers and sometimes travel outside the city can be a challenge. I can make arrangements to get a bus leaving from Manhattan but need a minimum of 22 people in order to do so.

Please let me know if you think your parish might have people interested in going on this bus. I can arrange the bus to leave from a particular Church with the greatest number of people. We will handle registrations.

Here are more details:

Location of pickup yet to be determined. Pickup time would be approx 8:45am. Conference begins at 10am (people would have to attend Mass locally if they wished) or I can arrange an even earlier pickup (7:30am) to get people to the Seminary for 8:45am Mass.

Size of Bus Cost per Person:

22 passenger                            $19
32                                          $16
54                                          $14

Let me know if you would like bus transportation. Thank You.

Sr. Lucy Marie
Respect Life Coordinator
Archdiocese of New York
1011 First Ave., 7th Floor
New York, NY 10022
212-371-1011 X3192

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Fr. Jones's Homily - February 21, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Keitz's Homily - February 21, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Guilbeau's Homily - February 21, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Azaro's Homily - February 21, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”

Joining me on the program to discuss the readings for the First Sunday of Lent were Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., who serves at the University Parish of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village, and Br. Ezra Sullivan, O.P., one of four newly ordained deacons at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.

Word to Life - February 21, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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For eighty-six years I have served Jesus Christ and he has never abandoned me.
How could I curse my blessed King and Savior?

From American Catholic:

Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), disciple of St. John the Apostle and friend of St. Ignatius of Antioch, was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century.

St. Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, and later at Troas wrote him a personal letter. The Asia Minor Churches recognized Polycarp’s leadership by choosing him as a representative to discuss with Pope Anicetus the date of the Easter celebration in Rome-quite a controversy in the early Church.

Only one of the many letters written by Polycarp has been preserved, the one he wrote to the Church of Philippi, Macedonia.

At 86, Polycarp was led into the crowded Smyrna stadium to be burned alive. The flames did not harm him and he was finally killed by a dagger. The centurion ordered the saint’s body burned. The “Acts” of Polycarp’s martyrdom are the earliest preserved, fully reliable account of a Christian martyr’s death. He died in 156.

Click here to read St. Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians, and here for the Acts of his martyrdom.  As mentioned above, St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letters also give us a glimpse into the life and holiness of St. Polycarp.

God of all creation,
you gave your bishop Polycarp
the privilege of being counted among the saints
who gave their lives in faithful witness to the gospel.
May his prayers give us the courage
to share with him the cup of suffering
and to rise to eternal glory.

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.

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Join the Catholic Charities Junior Board (a young adult division of Catholic Charities) for our the Way of the Cross through Central Park on Tuesday March 9th (Rain Date March 16th) and March 23rd (Rain Date March 30th).

We will exercise our feet as well as our faith, while we enjoy the sights of Central Park and pray and meditate on the final moments of Christ’s Passion. We will meet at 6:30pm at the big fountain at Grand Army Plaza, outside the Plaza Hotel on the SW corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue (look for our “Way of the Cross signs”). Then we will head into the Park to recite all 14 stations.

For more information, email Mario.

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From the Dominican Ordo:

Blessed Christopher was born at Milan around 1410.  He dedicated his whole life to itinerant preaching after the example of St. Vincent Ferrer.  The austerity of his life and his zeal for souls led an ancient chronicler to say of him: “He was truly a Christ-bearer, for he carried Christ not only in name, but in his heart and on his lips.”  While master of novices he wrote a treatise On the Service of God for them.  He died at Taggia in March, 1484.

Click here for more on the life of Blessed Christopher, including a description of his gift of prophesy.

God of all truth,
you made Blessed Christopher
a faithful herald of your word to the people.
By his life and ministry
may we keep Christ ever in our thoughts
and in the love of our hearts,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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From the Dominican Ordo:

Born at Zamora, Spain, towards the middle of the fourteenth century, Blessed Alvarez entered the Order in 1368.  He preached throughout Spain and Italy and established the priory of Scala Caeli at Cordova where he promoted the regular life.  By his preaching and contemplation of the Lord’s Passion he spread the practice of the Way of the Cross throughout the West.  He died on February 19, about the year 1430.

For more on Blessed Alvarez, click here.

God of mercy,
you endowed Blessed Alvarez
with the gifts of penance and divine love.
With the help of his prayers and example
may we always bear the suffering of Christ in our bodies
and your love in our hearts.

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.

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On Saturday, February 27, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer will host an Afternoon of Monastic Reflection led by Fr. Christian Leisy, OSB, a monk of Christ in the Desert Monastery in Abiquiu, New Mexico.  He will be assisted by Sharon Colby, an oblate of the monastery.  Together they will introduce participants to the rich spiritual tradition of Benedictine monasticism, and explain how the lessons of this centuries-old tradition of prayer and study can benefit the busy lives of lay Christians in the world.  There is no cost for the afternoon, though a free will offering will be taken.

The afternoon’s presentations will begin at 1:30 PM in the St. Vincent Ferrer Church Hall (869 Lexington Avenue @ 66^th Street).  Registration is not required, but please call the Parish Office (212-744-2080) to reserve your seat.

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PAPAL HOMILY FOR ASH WEDNESDAY
Basilica of Santa Sabina, Rome
February 17, 2010

“You love all creatures, Lord,
And do not loath anything you have made;
You forget the sins of those who convert and forgive them,
Because you are the Lord our God” (Entrance Antiphon)

Venerated Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

With this moving invocation, taken from the Book of Wisdom (cf 11:23-26), the liturgy introduces the Eucharistic celebration of Ash Wednesday. They are words that, in some way, open the whole Lenten journey, placing as their foundation the omnipotence of the love of God, his absolute lordship over every creature, which is translated in infinite indulgence, animated by a constant and universal will to live. In fact, to forgive someone is equivalent to saying: I do not want you to die, but that you live; I always and only want your good.

This absolute certainty sustained Jesus during the 40 days transpired in the desert of Judea, after the baptism received from John in the Jordan. This long time of silence and fasting was for him a complete abandonment to the Father and to his plan of love; it was a “baptism,” that is, an “immersion” in his will, and in this sense, an anticipation of the Passion and the Cross. To go into the desert and to stay there a long time, alone, meant to be willingly exposed to the assaults of the enemy, the tempter who made Adam fall and through whose envy death entered the world (cf Wisdom 2:24); it meant engaging in open battle with him, defying him with no other weapons than limitless confidence in the omnipotent love of the Father. Your love suffices me, my food is to do your will (cf John 4:34): This conviction dwelt in the mind and heart of Jesus during that “Lent” of his. It was not an act of pride, a titanic enterprise, but a decision of humility, consistent with the Incarnation and the Baptism in the Jordan, in the same line of obedience to the merciful love of the Father, who “so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).

The Lord did all this for us. He did it to save us and, at the same time, to show us the way to follow him. Salvation, in fact, is a gift, it is God’s grace, but to have effect in my existence it requires my consent, an acceptance demonstrated in deeds, that is, in the will to live like Jesus, to walk after him. To follow Jesus in the Lenten desert is, hence, the condition necessary to participate in his Easter, in his “exodus.” Adam was expelled from the earthly Paradise, symbol of communion with God; now, to return to that communion and, therefore, to true life, it is necessary to traverse the desert, the test of faith. Not alone, but with Jesus! He — as always — has preceded us and has already conquered in the battle against the spirit of evil. This is the meaning of Lent, liturgical time that every year invites us to renew the choice to follow Christ on the path of humility to participate in his victory over sin and death.

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Lord, my heart is not proud and my eyes are not haughty;
truly I have stilled and quieted my soul.

Today the Dominican Order celebrates the feast of one of its most famous friars, Blessed John of Fiesole, more popularly known as “Fra Angelico.”  Like all Dominicans, this priest prayed, celebrated the Divine Mysteries, and contemplated the Divine Word, but instead of using words he preached the Gospel with pictures, holy images on wood and plaster created by his own skilled hand.  A pivotal figure in the history of art, Fra Angelico’s works can be seen in convents, churches, and museums around the world.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Guido of Vicchio was born in the region of Tuscany in 1386 or 1387 and studied art in Florence while still a young man.  Feeling drawn to religious life he entered the Order at the convent of San Domenico in Fiesole.  This convent had recently been established as a house of regular observance by Blessed John Dominic whose name he took when he entered.  He served as superior of San Domenico, promoted regular observance and handed on the fruits of his contemplation through his paintings for the altars at Fiesole and for the convent of San Marco in Florence.  He was called to Rome by Pope Eugene IV to decorate two chapels, one in the Basilica of St. Paul and one in the Vatican.  Pope Nicholas V also commissioned him to decorate his private chapel at the Vatican.  His work is also found the convent of San Domenico in Cortona and the Cathedral at Orvieto.  Pope Eugene IV wished to appoint him archbishop of Florence, but he declined in favor of Saint Antoninus.  On February 18, 1455, he died in Rome at Santa Maria sopra Minerva and was buried there.  The special quality of his painting earned him the title “Fra Angelico.”

Identifying his place in the history of art, Grove’s Dictionary of Art (II:30-40) describes the influence Fra Angelico exercised over future generations of painters.

[Fra Angelico] rose from obscure beginnings as a journeyman illuminator to the renown of an artist whose last major commissions were monumental fresco cycles in St Peter’s and the Vatican Palace, Rome.  He reached maturity in the early 1430′s, a watershed in the history of Florentine art.  None of the masters who had broken new ground with naturalistic painting in the 1420′s was still in Florence by the end of that decade.  The way was open for a new generation of painters, and Fra Angelico was the dominant figure among several who became prominent at that time, including Paolo Uccello, Fra Filippo Lipi and Andrea del Castagno.  By the early 1430′s Fr Angelico was operating the largest and most prestigious workshop in Florence.  His paintings offered alternatives to the traditional polyptych altarpiece type and projected the new naturalism of panel painting on to a monumental scale.  In fresco projects of the 1440′s and 1450′s, both for S Marco in Florence and for S Peter’s and the Vatican Palace in Rome, Fra Angelico softened the typically astringent and declamatory style of Tuscan mural decoration with the colouristic and luminescent nuances that characterize his panel paintings.  His legacy passed directly to the second half of the 15th century through the work of his close follower Benozzo Gozzoli and indirectly through the production of Domenico Veneziano an dPiero della Francesca.  Fra Angelico was undoubtedly the leading master in Rome at mid-century, and had the survival rate of 15th-century Roman painting been greater, his significance for such later artists as Melozzo da Forli and Antoniazzo Romano might be clearer than it is.

Click here and here for more on the life and legacy of Fra Angelico.

Google his name and you’ll find many of his works online.  Or click here and here for a sampling of his paintings.

God of eternal beauty,
in your providence you inspired Blessed Fra Angelico
to reveal in images of earth
the tranquil harmony of heaven.
With the help of his prayers
and by following his example
may our lives reveal that same splendor
to the hearts of all our brothers and sisters.

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.

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During his General Audience address on February 10, Pope Benedict reflected on the life and witness of one of the Church’s most popular saints, the thirteenth-century Franciscan Anthony of Padua.  Posted below are the Holy Father’s remarks.

GENERAL AUDIENCE ADDRESS
February 10, 2010

Dear brothers and sisters,

After presenting two weeks ago the figure of Francis of Assisi, this morning I would like to speak about another saint belonging to the first generation of Friars Minor: Anthony of Padua or, as he is also called, of Lisbon, referring to his native city. He is one of the most popular saints in the whole Catholic Church, venerated not only in Padua, where a splendid basilica was built, which houses his mortal remains, but in the whole world. Dear to the faithful are images and statues that represent him with the lily, symbol of purity, or with the Child Jesus in his arms, in memory of a miraculous apparition mentioned in some literary sources.

Anthony contributed in a significant way to the development of Franciscan spirituality, with his outstanding gifts of intelligence, balance, apostolic zeal and, mainly, mystical fervor.

He was born in Lisbon of a noble family around 1195 and was baptized with the name Fernando. He entered the canons who followed the monastic rule of St. Augustine, first in the monastery of St. Vincent in Lisbon, and subsequently in that of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, renown cultural center of Portugal. He dedicated himself with interest and solicitude to the study of the Bible and of the Fathers of the Church, acquiring that theological science that he made fructify in the activities of teaching and preaching.

The episode that marked a decisive change in his life took place in Coimbra: In 1220 the relics were exposed there of the first five Franciscan missionaries who had gone to Morocco, where they met with martyrdom. Their case aroused in young Fernando the desire to imitate them and to advance in the way of Christian perfection: He then asked to leave the Augustinian canons and become a Friar Minor. His request was accepted and, taking the name Anthony, he also left for Morocco, but Divine Providence willed otherwise. As the consequence of an illness, he was obliged to return to Italy and, in 1221, he took part in the famous “Chapter of the mats” in Assisi, where he also met St. Francis. Subsequently, he lived for a time totally hidden in a convent near Forli, in the north of Italy, where the Lord called him to another mission. Invited, by totally accidental circumstances, to preach on the occasion of a priestly ordination, he showed he was gifted with such learning and eloquence that the superiors destined him to preaching. Thus he began in Italy and France such an intense and effective apostolic activity that he induced not a few persons who had separated from the Church to retrace their steps. He was also among the first teachers of theology of the Friars Minor, if not even the first. He began his teaching in Bologna, with Francis’ blessing who, recognizing Anthony’s virtues, sent him a brief letter with these words: “I would like you to teach theology to the friars.” Anthony set the foundations of Franciscan theology that, cultivated by other famous figures of thinkers, came to its zenith with St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and Blessed Duns Scotus.

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Fr. Guilbeau's Homily - February 17, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Jones's Homily - February 14, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Fr. Keitz's Homily - February 14, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, like the hypocrites.

Today the Church begins her forty-day pilgrimage to Calvary.  With crosses upon our shoulders and also on our foreheads, we set out to follow Christ on his long via crucis.  Golgotha is the goal to be sure, but already we fix our eyes too on the nearby tomb that still sits empty.

The apostles were the first to walk this road with Christ.  St. Mark tells us in his Gospel that Jesus and his disciples made a long and winding journey through Galilee en route to Jerusalem.  Along the way he confounded them by retelling over and again the fate that awaited him in the Holy City: “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise” (9:31).  That first Lent seemed to bear little fruit for the apostles.  Only one of them stood with Christ atop Golgotha.

In our day, the Church leads us to Calvary not through Galilee but through the desert, where Christ spent forty days in prayer before bearing the rigors of his mission.  There, in anticipation of his preaching to the multitudes, the poor, humble, and hungry Christ vanquished Satan and redeemed us from the power of his deceitful tongue.  Still hallowed by Christ’s victory, the desert provides us the straightest path to Calvary.  Traveling through its ashen landscape, we receive the lush graces of Christ’s victory over temptation, which when properly received through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving transform us and free us to endure both Golgotha’s horrors and Easter’s joys.  In the desert, we are prepared by Christ to die and rise with him.

Though austere by design, the Lenten desert is not completely barren.  A couple of years ago I wrote a short article in which I reflected on the opulent feast this season serves our eyes.  What I didn’t say then is that our ears too are treated to sensuous luxury.  Lenten hymns, and especially Lenten chant, contain some of the richest melodies of the entire liturgical year.

One of my favorite Lenten chants is the Media vita, which is the responsory to the reading proclaimed at Compline.  Sung only on the Sundays of Lent and during Holy Week, the Media vita‘s text and melody coalesce into the perfect Lenten prayer—a rich plea for salvation from the barrenness of sinful death.  Tradition has it that St. Thomas Aquinas wept in choir while singing this chant.  Listen for yourself and ponder the reason for his tears.  Was it delight?  Or fear?  Or both?  More importantly, what are the reasons for our tears this Lent?  What crosses do we carry through the desert?  And how will Christ’s victory bring us safely to the shadow of his cross and the brilliance of his tomb?

Media vita

Media vita in morte sumus: quem quaerimus adiutorem nisi te, Domine, qui pro peccatis nostris iuste irasceris? Sancte Deus, sancte fortis, sancte et misericors Salvator, amarae morti ne tradas nos.

V. Ne Proicias nos in tempore senectutis; cum defecerit virtus nostra, ne derelinquas nos, Domine. Sancte Deus . . .

[In the midst of life we are in death; of whom may we seek help but you, O Lord; who for our offenses are justly displeased?Yet, O God most holy, O holy and mighty, O holy and merciful Savior, give us not over unto bitter death.

V. Cast us not away in the time of age; forsake us not, O Lord, when our strength fails us. Yet, O God most holy . . .]

Media Vita Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The Catholic Charities Junior Board (a young adult division of Catholic Charities) will present a Two-Part Lenten Recollection on February 25th and March 4th at the Cathedral of St. Patrick Parish House, 14 East 51st Street, from 6:30pm-8:30pm.

On February 25th, Fr. John Bartunek, author of The Guide to the Passion, will show scenes from the film, “The Passion of the Christ,” and offer meditations on these scenes.

On March 4th, Fr Ron Perez, from Blessed Kateri Parish in Dutchess County, will provide a reflection on Our Lady and the Passion of Our Lord through her eyes.

Please rsvp to Mario Bruschi at mario@cspya.org.

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Enjoy the two videos below.  They relate the forgotten religious background of today’s secular celebration.

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He announced the good news;
the hand of the Lord was with him.

From the website of the Irish Dominicans:

Blessed Jordan was born in Saxony into the family of the Counts of Eberstein. While a student in Paris, he met St Dominic but did not immediately enter the Order of Preachers.

When Blessed Reginald of Orléans arrived in Paris in 1220 and caused many students of the university of Paris to enter the Order, Blessed Jordan was among those who received the habit on Ash Wednesday.

He was subsequently appointed first provincial of the province of Lombardy, and was later elected to replace St Dominic as Master General. It is said that his preaching caused over one thousand men to join the Order.

He was also author of the Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum (Booklet on the beginnings of the Order of Preachers). This text offers the first history of the foundation of the Order as well as the first life of St Dominic. The now traditional Dominican practice of singing the antiphon “Salve Regina” after Compline each night was established by Blessed Jordan at Bologna.

He died in a shipwreck near Syria in 1237 while returning from Palestine where he had visited priories of the Order. His body was recovered and was buried in Akko, in present day Israel. He was beatified in 1825 and his feast is observed on 13th February.

Again today the Office of Readings has us reflect on Blessed Jordan’s written description of the beginnings of the Order.  In the lesson we read yesterday for the feast of Blessed Reginald, Jordan tells of his mentor’s grace-filled reception of the habit.  Today we hear Jordan describe his own entrance into the Order under Reginald’s inspiration.

From Blessed Jordan of Saxony’s Libellus on the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers:

Brother Reginald, of happy memory, came to Paris and began his energetic preaching.  I was moved by divine grace to conceive within myself a desire to join his Order, and I made a promise to this effect in my mind, thinking that I had found precisely the safe way to salvation which I had often thought about, even before I got to know the friars.

Once my own mind was made up, I began with all eagerness to try to entice my friend and companion to join me in my purpose, seeing that both his natural gifts and his gifts of grace would make him a very useful preacher.  He resisted, but, far from giving up, I redoubled my efforts to persuade him.

When the day came on which the imposition of ashes reminds the faithful of their creation from the dust and their return to the dust, we decided that it was a suitable occasion for us to begin our life of penance, and to fulfill what we had promised to the Lord.

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Click below to hear this week’s edition of “Word to Life.”

Joining me on today’s program to discuss the readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time were Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, parochial vicar of the University Parish of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village, and Br. Ignatius Schweitzer, OP, one of four newly ordained deacons at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.

Word to Life - February 12, 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Blessed be the Lord who sent the Mother of Mercy to our brother Reginald
to anoint him for preaching the gospel of peace.

From the Dominican Ordo:

Blessed Reginald was born near Orleans about the year 1180.  He became a doctor of law and taught at Paris.  On his way to visit the Holy Land he stopped at Rome where he was captivated by Saint Dominic and the ideal of his Order. While there he fell dangerously ill, but was healed through the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  He then received the habit from Saint Dominic, the very habit which Our Lady had shown him.  His example and eloquent preaching attracted many young men to the Order, first at Bologna and then at Paris.  He died at Paris in 1220 and was buried at Notre Dame des Champs.

The second lesson of today’s Office of Readings is an account of Blessed Reginald’s life written by his friend, Blessed Jordan of Saxony, whose feast we celebrate tomorrow.  Writing during his term as the Order’s second Master, Jordan was careful to highlight Reginald’s important role in organizing and strengthening the Order in its infancy.  As Jordan explains, grace and nature came together in remarkable ways to bless Brother Reginald, and through him, despite his early death, the lives of all the brethren.

From Jordan of Saxony’s On the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers:

While Master Dominic was in Rome in 1218, Master Reginald, then dean of St. Aignan in Orleans, arrived there, intending to go overseas.  He was very highly thought of, a most learned man and a prominent public figure.  He had taught canon law in Paris for five years.

On his arrival in Rome, he fell seriously ill, and Master Dominic went to vist him several times, urging him to follow the poverty of Christ and to join his Order.  He prevailed upon him to agree, fully and freely, to enter the Order, so much so that he bound himself to it by vow.

So he was rescued from the serious, well-nigh desperate peril of his illness, not without a miracle of divine power.  While he was feverish, with a high temperature, the queen of heaven and mother of mercy, the Virgin Mary, came to him visibly and anointed his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, navel, hands, and feet with a healing balm which she had brought wth her, saying as she did so things like, “I anoint your feet with holy oil to make them ready to spread the gospel of peace.”  She also showed him the complete habit of the Order.

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Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

“Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing, you reign now in splendor with Jesus, our King.  Ave, Ave, Ave Maria!  Ave, Ave Maria!”

Who doesn’t know this hymn by heart?  It’s one of the first we learn as children. As the official hymn of the Marian shrine at Lourdes, pilgrims sing it there daily, and their voices are echoed around the world as Christians render honor and devotion to the Immaculate Mother of the Savior.  “Ave, Ave, Ave Maria!  Ave, Ave Maria!”

Because Mary identified herself to Bernadette Soubirous as the “Immaculate Conception,” we relish on this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes in Mary’s sinlessness as the hope and refuge of the human race.  Preserved at the moment of her conception from the stain of Adam’s sin, Mary emerged from her mother’s womb fit for the divine maternity she would assume, and because of this hidden grace she was destined to become the closest companion her Son would have, both on earth and in heaven, in the unfolding of his salvific mission.

Ever free from sin, Mary, with Christ, wields a power over sin and death that not only reveals to us our destiny—in her we see our future glory—but also shows us the way to attaining it.  Under the refuge provided by her sinless mantle, we sinners find the strength and protection to undergo the sometimes painful transformation by grace offered us through friendship with Christ.  When we pick up our cross to follow Jesus, Mary meets us on the way, as she met her Son, to suffer and to rejoice, as the hope of salvation finds fulfillment in us.  Sinless by grace, she, too, crushes the serpent’s head in us.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Click here for a great resource page on the history behind today’s feast.

God of mercy,
we celebrate the feast of Mary,
the sinless mother of God.
May her prayers help us
to rise above our human weakness.

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.

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Now this wise virgin has gone to Christ.
Among the choirs of virgins, she is radiant as the sun in the heavens.

From Catholic Online:

St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her life to God from her earliest youth. After her brother went to Monte Cassino, where he established his famous monastery, she took up her abode in the neighborhood at Plombariola, where she founded and governed a monastery of nuns, about five miles from that of St. Benedict, who, it appears, also directed his sister and her nuns. She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not allowed to enter his monastery, he went in company with some of his brethren to meet her at a house some distance away. These visits were spent in conferring together on spiritual matters. On one occasion they had passed the time as usual in prayer and pious conversation and in the evening they sat down to take their reflection. St. Scholastica begged her brother to remain until the next day. St. Benedict refused to spend the night outside his monastery. She had recourse to prayer and a furious thunderstorm burst so that neither St. Benedict nor any of his companions could return home. They spent the night in spiritual conferences. The next morning they parted to meet no more on earth. Three days later St. Scholastica died, and her holy brother beheld her soul in a vision as it ascended into heaven. He sent his brethren to bring her body to his monastery and laid it in the tomb he had prepared for himself. She died about the year 543, and St. Benedict followed her soon after. Her feast day is February 10th.

St. Gregory the Great recorded this famous episode in the life of St. Scholastica in his Dialogues.  Click here for a translation of Gregory’s original account.

Lord,
as we recall the memory of Saint Scholastica,
we ask that by her example
we may serve you with love and obtain perfect joy.

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.

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