CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : THURS. FEB. 21, 2013

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VATICAN : POPE - SCHEDULE OF FINAL ACTIVITIES AS PONTIFF AFRICA : KENYA : RIP FR. VADASSERY FOUNDER OF KOMAROCK SHRINE ASIA : SYRIA : CAR BOMB KILLS 53 - WOUNDS OVER 200 AUSTRALIA : 238 TO BECOME CATHOLIC AT CEREMONY TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : WED. FEB. 20, 2013 TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 21 : ST. PETER DAMIAN NOVENA FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI AND ELECTION OF A NEW POPE - SHARE POPE'S FINAL ACTIVITIES, POSSIBILITY OF A MOTU PROPRIO, RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SOCIETY OF ST. PIUS X Vatican City, 21 February 2013 (VIS) – This morning Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, presented information related to the Holy Father's calendar and clarified some issues that have been raised in the past few days. (Image share - Google) At 9:00am on Saturday, 23 February, the Holy Father and the Roman Curia will conclude their spiritual exercises. Traditionally, the Pope addresses those present briefly. That same day, at 11:30am, he will meet with the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano. On Sunday, 24 February, Benedict XVI will pray the last Angelus of his pontificate with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. On Wednesday, 27 February, Benedict XVI's final general audience will take place in St. Peter's Square in the usual fashion, except for his re-entry to the Apostolic Palace, the path of which will wind around the square in the popemobile so that he may greet the many participants who are expected (to date, over 30,000 people have requested tickets). On 28 February, as announced in a notice from the Papal Household, he will personally greet all the cardinals present in Rome, that is, both those who are resident here and those who have come to the capitol in recent days. There will be no speech. Regarding his departure from the Vatican, shortly before 5:00pm, the Pope will greet Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., in the San Damaso Courtyard and, upon reaching the Vatican heliport, will bid farewell to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. On arrival at Castel Gandolfo he will be received by the president and secretary of the Governorate of Vatican City, the mayor of the town, and other civil authorities and will appear at the balcony of the Apostolic Palace to greet the faithful present. On a different topic, the director of the Holy See Press Office has stated that the date of the conclave is established by the congregation of cardinals during the Sede vacante, independently of a possible Motu Proprio from the Holy Father that could specify some details of the Apostolic Constitution "Universi Dominici Gregis". Regarding the issue of the Society of St. Pius X, he reaffirmed that the date of 22 February to decide the issue is pure hypothesis and that Benedict XVI has decided to entrust the matter to the next Pope, therefore, a definition of relations with that society should not be expected by the end of this pontificate. In conclusion, he confirmed that the Commission of Cardinals (Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko, and Salvatore De Giorgi) set up by the Holy Father to prepare a report on the Holy See has made its results known exclusively to the Pope. The cardinals will not grant interviews or otherwise comment on the results.

NOTICE FROM THE PREFECTURE OF THE PAPAL HOUSEHOLD Vatican City, 21 February 2013 (VIS) – On Thursday, 28 February, the Holy Father Benedict XVI will meet and personally greet all of the cardinals who are present in Rome.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS Vatican City, 21 February 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father: - appointed Bishop Ramon Alfredo Dus as archbishop of Resistencia (area 28,250, population 6000,000, Catholics 495,000, priests 62, permanent deacons 13, religious 114), Argentina. Archbishop-elect Dus, previously of the Diocese of Reconquista, Argentina, succeeds Archbishop Fabriciano Sigampa, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit. - appointed Fr. Marco Aurelio Gubiotti as bishop of Itabira-Favriciano (area 8,996, population 789,000, Catholics 565,000, priests 65, religious 77), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Ouro Fino, Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1989. He has served in several pastoral and academic roles in the archdiocese of Pouso Alegre, Brazil, most recently as a professor of theology, pastor of Nossa Senhora de Fatima parish, and member of the archdiocesan Presbyteral Council. He succeeds Bishop Odilon Guimaraes Moreira, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. - erected the Apostolic Vicarate of Puerto Leguizamo-Solano with territory taken from the apostolic prefectures of San Vincente-Puerto Leguizamo and Leticia, Colombia. - appointed Fr. Joaquim Humberto Pinzon Guiza, I.M.C., as the first apostolic vicar of Puerto Leguizamo-Solano (area 64,000, population 46,000, Catholics 36,000, priests 7, religious 8), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Berbeo, Boyaca, Colombia, in 1969 and was ordained a priest in 1999. He has served in several missionary, academic, and administrative roles in Colombia, most recently as the Institute's regional superior in Colombia-Ecuador. - appointed Fr. Ilario Antoniazzi as archbishop of Tunis (area 162,155, population 10,549,000, Catholics 21,000, priests 32, permanent deacons 1, religious 149), Tunisia. The archbishop-elect was born in Rai, Treviso, Italy and was ordained a priest in 1972. He has served in several pastoral roles in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, most recently as pastor of Rameh in Galilee, Isreal. - appointed Fr. Gabriele Marchesi as bishop of Floresta (area 15,806, population 253,000, Catholics 252,000, priests 21, religious 22), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Incisa Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy and was ordained a priest in 1978. He has served in several pastoral and administrative roles for the Diocese of Fiesole, Brazil, most recently as pastor of Sao Pedro Apostolo and Nossa Senhora do Rosario parishes, coordinator for Pastoral Service, and episcopal vicar. - appointed Bishop Miguel Angel D’Annibale as bishop of Rio Gallegos (area 265,614, population 306,000, Catholics 214,000, priests 47, permanent deacons 11, religious 95), Argentina. Bishop D'Annibale, previously auxiliary of that same diocese and titular of Nasai, is a member of the Commission for the Liturgy in the Argentine Episcopal Conference.

AFRICA : KENYA : RIP FR. VADASSERY FOUNDER OF KOMAROCK SHRINE

CISA NEWS REPORT

MACHAKOS,February 22, 2013(CISA) –Rev Fr Thomas Vadassery, the founder of Komarock Shrine in Catholic Diocese of Machakos was laid to rest on Wednesday, February 20, at Katoloni cemetery. Fr Thomas passed away on Saturday 16 two weeks after the Catholic Diocese of Machakos’ Prayer Day which was held at the shrine. He did not attend this years’ event for he had already been hospitalized.

Before the burial, Rt Rev Martin Kivuva Musonde, the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Machakos led priests (over 100), sisters, religious men and women and the laity in a funeral service at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in Machakos town.

Bishop Kivuva praised and thanked the late Fr Thomas for his service, contribution and dedication he offered to the diocese. He said that he will not only be remembered because of his work at the shrine but for other developments and spiritual nourishment he offered in all the parishes that he served.

“He was very committed to his work. A sacramental priest; from confessions to Eucharistic retreats that he offered in addition to being very self-less. He received a lot of support and escort by everyone when he was taken ill. We should not mourn but hope that our Fr Thomas is safely in heaven. Remember that ‘the way you live is the way you die’” said bishop Kivuva.

Four of Fr Thomas’ family members attended the service and told the congregation that Fr Thomas “loved the people of Kenya more than those in his motherland, India.”

Fr Thomas was born in1928 in India and ordained in 1960 as a Society of Jesus (Jesuit) priest. In 1979, he was invited to the Catholic Diocese of Machakos by the late Bishop Urbanus Kioko where he worked as a Fidei Donumbefore being incardinated into the diocese.

He taught in Machakos Boys School then worked as a parish priest in the following parishes; Ngunga, Mitaboni, Tala and Komarock Shrine. He single handedly started most of the outstations in these parishes from scratch; from buying the land to fully constructing new church buildings.

Of his 52 years as a priest, 32 were spend in the service of the Catholic Diocese of Machakos. Fr Thomas spent his twilight years developing Komarock Shrine which attracts thousands of faithful both Catholics and non-Catholics who go there for pilgrimage, retreats and for prayer. The shrine is located 50 kilometres east of Nairobi along Kangundo road.

SHARED FROM CISA NEWS AFRICA

ASIA : SYRIA : CAR BOMB KILLS 53 - WOUNDS OVER 200

ASIA NEWS REPORT
The bomber blew himself up just a few meters from the headquarters of the Baath Party. Most of the victims are civilians. More than 200 wounded.


Damascus (AsiaNews/ Agencies) - The bomb exploded in the center of the Syrian capital in the headquarters of the Baath Party. At least 35 victims with more than 200 injured. The explosion damaged several buildings, including the Russian embassy. This is the worst attack in Damascus after the double attack on May 10, 2012, which killed 55 people
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, two more bombs exploded shortly after the first in the district of Barzeh, killing other civilians, but it is not clear if the two attacks are connected. The attack comes after days of clashes and bombings in Damascus and in the midst of a crisis between the Free Syrian Army and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim group close to Assad,  accused of having plundered villages and rebel camps near Homs.
In recent days, the rebels attacked  Damascus and launched mortars at the presidential palace. Yesterday, Russia and the Arab League offered to mediate talks between the government of Bashar al-Assad and insurgents.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT

AUSTRALIA : 238 TO BECOME CATHOLIC AT CEREMONY

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
22 Feb 2013

Bishop Julian Porteous was Principal Celebrant at the Rite of Election

Bishop Julian Porteous welcomed 238 catechumens and candidates into the Church at St Mary's Cathedral's Rite of Election ceremony which is traditionally held on the first Sunday in Lent.

"Today marks a moment in which you can be assured the Church accepts you and looks forward with great anticipation to Easter when you will become fully part of her family," he said explaining that as the group of 194 catechumens and the 44 candidates for the Eucharist, who are converting to the Catholic faith from other Christian denominations, that this final phase is not so much a time of instruction but a time of spiritual preparation.

"It is a period in which you are encouraged to deepen your life of prayer, to listen more attentively to the Word of God, to give more time to quietly seeking the presence of God. It is the time to ask for the full gift of God's grace offered to you at Easter," Bishop Julian told the catechumens and candidates along with more than 700 family, friends and fellow parishioners who attended the ceremony at the Cathedral.

Bishop Julian Porteous welcomes candidates and catechumens into the Church

The Rite of Election marks the final phase for catechumens from parishes and Catholic communities across Sydney in their formation into the Catholic faith.

 "The Church rejoices this day throughout the world as thousands of men and women are enrolled to be baptised or received into the Church at Easter," Bishop Julian said.

The final stage for catechumens and candidates will take place at the Easter Vigil when they are fully incorporated into Christ and the Church. This is when they become known as neophytes, the new members of the Church and enter into the full life of the Catholic community. 

Within the Archdiocese of Sydney the number of catechumens entering the church continues to increase with each year along with the numbers of those from other Christian denominations who wish to become Catholic.

At the Rite of Election at St Mary's Cathedral last year, 180 Catechumens were enrolled while 45 baptised men and women different Christian denominations were accepted as Candidates for the Eucharist. This year the numbers for Candidates has remained steady while the number of Catechumens has increased by 14.

More than 700 friends and family attended the Rite of Election at St Mary's Cathedral

Each of these Catechumens and Candidates have been drawn to the Church by different experiences and circumstances, with different stories to tell of their journeys toward God, Bishop Julian explained.

The Candidates at this year's ceremony came from 22 of Sydney's parishes while catechumens came from 33 parishes including some from the Vietnamese Catholic Community at Revesby, the Chinese Catholic Pastoral Centre in Haymarket and the Indonesia Catholic Community at Randwick.

Bishop Julian signs the Book of Elect for each parish or community represented at the Rite of Election

For the 194 catechumens enrolled on Sunday, the journey began many months ago when they embarked on the first stage by beginning their formation and learning the values of the Gospel. In addition at the many parishes which offer the Rite of Christian Initiation Adults (RCIA), these pre- catechumens had the opportunity to question and explore different aspects of the Catholic faith.

The next stage involves what is known as the Ritual First Step, a more formal commitment when pre-catechumens learn about the Catholic faith and undertake faith formation. This is when the enquirer accepted by the Church as a catechumen, after which the longest and most formal part of the process begins. In this phase, catechumens not only continues their studies and faith formation but they are expected to participate with the broader Catholic community and parishes, not only Sundays but throughout the week so that prayer, learning and the power of God becomes part of their lives each and every day.

After this period, comes the Rite of Election when the Church accepts the petition of catechumens together with the testimony of the Catholic community, and enrols them as the elect.

As part of the ceremony their names are inscribed in the Book of the Elect, which is held by each parish or community.

Representatives from each parish or ethnic community are an important part of the

Rite of Election

The third and final stage is the sacred process known as the Period of Purification and Enlightenment, which takes place during Lent and is marked by three community celebrations, known as the Scrutinies. The Scrutinies coincide with the third, fourth and fifth Sunday in Lent, when the elect and their local Catholic parish focus on their lives in light of the Gospel and ask God for healing and forgiveness. 

The final and most important state, the Third Ritual Step takes place during the Easter Vigil which is when each catechumen is full incorporated into Christ and the Church by Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Sacraments and Eucharist.

"You will be changed. You will have a new identity as Son or Daughter of God," Bishop Julian told the Catechumens and Candidates last Sunday. "In some 40 days you will receive the great Sacraments by which God will enter and transform your lives. These will be moments of great grace and will be personal experiences which will stay with you for the rest of your life."

To find out more about embracing the Catholic faith or converting from another Christian denomination, contact the Archdiocese of Sydney's Catechumenate Office by phoning 02 93905951 or go to www.rcia.org.au

SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY

TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : WED. FEB. 20, 2013

Matthew 7: 7 - 12

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7"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.9Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!12So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 21 : ST. PETER DAMIAN

St. Peter Damian

BISHOP, CONFESSOR, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

Feast: February 21

Information: Feast Day: February 14 Born: 988, Ravenna Died: February 22, 1072, Faenza

Peter, surnamed of Damian, was born about the year 988 in Ravenna, of a good family, but reduced. He was the youngest of many children, and, losing his father and mother very young, was left in the hands of a brother who was married, in whose house he was treated more like a slave, or rather like a beast, than one so nearly related; and when grown up, he was sent to keep swine. He one day became master of a piece of money, which, instead of laying it out in something for his own use, he chose to bestow in alms on a priest, desiring him to offer up his prayers for his father's soul. He had another brother called Damian, who was arch-priest of Ravenna, and afterwards a monk; who, taking pity of him, had the charity to give him an education. Having found a father in this brother, he seems from him to have taken the surname of Damian, though he often styles himself the Sinner, out of humility. Those who call him De Honestis confound him with Peter of Ravenna, who was of the family of Honesti. Damian sent Peter to school, first at Faenza, afterwards at Parma, where he had Ivo for his master. By the means of good natural parts and close application, it was not long before he found himself in a capacity to teach others, which he did with great applause, and no less advantage by the profits which accrued to him from his professorship. To arm himself against the allurements of pleasure and the artifices of the devil, he began to wear a rough hair shirt under his clothes, and to inure himself to fasting, watching, and prayer. In the night, if any temptation of concupiscence arose, he got out of bed and plunged himself into the cold river. After this he visited churches,  reciting the psalter whilst he performed this devotion till the church office began. He not only gave much away in alms, but was seldom without some poor person at his table, and took a pleasure in serving such, or rather Jesus Christ in their persons, with his own hands. But thinking all this to be removing himself from the deadly poison of sin but by halves, he resolved entirely to leave the world and embrace a monastic life, and at a distance from his own country, for the sake of meeting with the fewer obstacles to his design. While his mind was full of these thoughts, two religious of the order of St. Benedict belonging to Font-Avellano, a desert at the foot of the Apennine in Umbria, happened to call at the place of his abode; and being much edified at their disinterestedness, he took a resolution to embrace their institute, as he did soon after. This hermitage had been founded by blessed Ludolf about twenty years before St. Peter came thither, and was then in the greatest repute. The hermits here remained two and two together in separate cells, occupied chiefly in prayer and reading. They lived on bread and water four days in the week: on Tuesdays and Thursdays they ate pulse and herbs, which every one dressed in his own cell: on their fast days all their bread was given them by weight. They never used any wine (the common drink of the country) except for mass, or in sickness: they went barefoot, used disciplines, made many genuflections, struck their breasts, stood with their arms stretched out in prayer, each according to his strength and devotion. After the night office they said the whole psalter before day. Peter watched long before the signal for matins, and after with the rest These excessive watchings brought on him an insomnia, or wakefulness, which was cured with very great difficulty. But he learned from this to use more discretion He gave a considerable time to sacred studies, and became as well versed in the scriptures and other sacred learning as he was before in profane literature. His superior ordered him to make frequent exhortations to the religious, and as he had acquired a very great character for virtue and learning, Guy, Abbot of Pomposia, begged his superior to send him to instruct his monastery, which consisted of a hundred monks. Peter stayed there two years, preaching with great fruit, and was then called back by his abbot, and sent to perform the same function in the numerous abbey of St. Vincent, near the mountain called Pietra Pertusa, or the Hollow Rock. His love for poverty made him abhor and be ashamed to put on a new habit, or any clothes which were not threadbare and most mean. His obedience was so perfect that the least word of any superior, or signal given, according to the rule of the house, for the performance of any duty made him run that moment to discharge, with the utmost exactness, whatever was enjoined. Being recalled home some time after, and commanded by his abbot, with the unanimous consent of the hermitage, to take upon him the government of the desert after his death, Peter's extreme reluctance only obliged his superior to make greater use of his authority till he acquiesced. Wherefore, at his decease, in 1041, Peter took upon him the direction of that holy family, which he governed with the greatest reputation for wisdom and sanctity. He also founded five other numerous hermitages; in which he placed priors under his inspection. His principal care was to cherish in his disciples the spirit of solitude, charity, and humility. Among them many became great lights of the church. He was for twelve years much employed in the service of the church by many zealous bishops, and by four popes successively, namely, Gregory VI, Clement II, Leo IX, and Victor II. Their successor, Stephen IX, in 1057, prevailed with him to quit his desert, and made him Cardinal-bishop of Ostia. But such was his reluctance to the dignity that nothing less than the pope's threatening him with excommunication, and his commands, in virtue of obedience, could induce Peter to submit. Stephen IX dying in 1058, Nicholas II was chosen pope, a man  of deep penetration, of great virtue and learning, and very liberal in alms, as our saint testifies, who assisted him in obliging John, Bishop of Veletri, an anti-pope, set up by the capitaneos or magistrates of Rome, to quit his usurped dignity. Upon complaints of simony in the church of Milan, Nicholas II sent Peter thither as his legate, who chastised the guilty. Nicholas II dying, after having sat two years and six months, Alexander was chosen pope, in 1602. Peter strenuously supported him against the emperor, who set up an anti-pope, Cadolaus, Bishop of Parma, on whom the saint prevailed soon after to renounce his pretensions in a council held at Rome; and engaged Henry IV, King of Germany, who was afterwards emperor, to acquiesce in what had been done, though that prince, who in his infancy had succeeded his pious father Henry III, had sucked in very early the corrupt maxims of tyranny and irreligion. But virtue is amiable in the eyes of its very enemies, and often disarms them of their fury. St. Peter had, with great importunity, solicited Nicholas II for leave to resign his bishopric, and return to his solitude; but could not obtain it. His successor, Alexander II, out of affection for the holy man, was prevailed upon to allow it, in 1062, but not without great difficulty, and the reserve of a power to employ him in church matters of importance as he might have occasion hereafter for his assistance. The saint from that time thought himself discharged, not only from the burden of his flock, but also from the quality of superior, with regard to the several monasteries the general inspection of which he had formerly charged himself with, reducing himself to the condition of a simple monk. In this retirement he edified the church by his penance and compunction, and laboured by his writings to enforce the observance of discipline and morality. His style is copious and vehement, and the strictness of his maxims appears in all his. works, especially where he treats of the duties of clergymen and monks. He severely rebuked the Bishop of Florence for playing a game at chess. That prelate acknowledged his amusement to be a faulty sloth in a man of his character, and received the saint's remonstrance with great mildness, and submitted to his injunction by way of penance, namely, to recite three times the psalter, to wash the feet of twelve poor men, and to give to each a piece of money. He shows those to be guilty of manifold simony who serve princes or flatter them for the sake of obtaining ecclesiastical preferments. He wrote a treatise to the bishop of Besanzon, against the custom which the canons of that church had of saying the divine office sitting; though he allowed all to sit during the lessons. This saint recommended the use of disciplines whereby to subdue and punish the flesh, which was adopted as a compensation for long penitential fasts. Three thousand lashes, with the recital of thirty psalms, were a redemption of a canonical penance of one year's continuance. Sir Thomas More, St. Francis of Sales, and others testify that such means of mortification are great helps to tame the flesh and inure it to the lab ours of penance; also to remove a hardness of heart and spiritual dryness, and to soften the soul into compunction. But all danger of abuses, excess, and singularity is to be shunned, and other ordinary bodily mortifications, as watching and fasting, are frequently more advisable. This saint wrote most severely on the obligations of religious men,4 particularly against their strolling abroad; for one of the most essential qualities of their state is solitude, or at least the spirit of retirement. He complained loudly of certain evasions, by which many palliated real infractions of their vow of poverty. He justly observed: "We can never restore what is decayed of primitive discipline; and if we, by negligence, suffer any diminution in what remains established, future ages will never be able to repair such breaches. Let us not draw upon ourselves so base a reproach; but. let us faithfully transmit to posterity the examples of virtue which we have received from our forefathers." The holy man reconciled discords, settled the bounds of the jurisdiction of certain dioceses, and condemned and deposed in councils those who were convicted of simony. He notwithstanding tempered his severity with mildness and indulgence towards penitents where charity and prudence required such a condescension. Henry IV, King of Germany, at eighteen years of age, began to show the symptoms of a heart abandoned to impiety, infamous debauchery, treachery, and cruelty. He married, in 1066, Bertha, daughter to Otho, Marquess of Italy, but afterward, in 1069, sought a divorce by taking his oath that he had never been able to consummate his marriage. The Archbishop of Mentz had the weakness to be gained over by his artifices to favour his desires, in which view he assembled a council at Mentz. Pope Alexander II forbad him ever to consent to so enormous an injustice, and pitched upon Peter Damian for his legate to preside in that synod, being sensible that a person of the most inflexible virtue, prudence, and constancy was necessary for so important and difficult an affair, in which passion, power, and craft made use of every engine in opposition to the cause of God. The venerable legate met the king and bishops at Frankfort, laid before them the orders and instructions of his holiness, and in his name conjured the king to pay a due regard to the law of God, the canons of the church, and his own reputation, and seriously reflect on the public scandal of so pernicious an example. The noblemen likewise all rose up and entreated his majesty never to stain his honour by so foul an action. The king, unable to resist so cogent an authority, dropped his project of a divorce; but, remaining the same man in his heart, continued to hate the queen more than ever. St. Peter hastened back to his desert of Font-Avellano. Whatever austerities he prescribed to others he was the first to practice himself, remitting nothing of them even in his old age. He lived shut up in his cell as in a prison, fasted every day, except festivals, and allowed himself no other subsistence than coarse bread, bran, herbs, and water, and this he never drank fresh, but what he had kept from the day before. He tortured his body with iron girdles and frequent disciplines, to render it more obedient to the spirit. He passed the three first days of every Lent and Advent without taking any kind of nourishment whatsoever; and often for forty days together lived only on raw herbs and fruits, or on pulse steeped in cold water, without touching so much as bread, or any thing which had passed the fire. A mat spread on the floor was his bed. He used to make wooden spoons, and such like useful mean things, to exercise himself at certain hours in manual labour. Henry, Archbishop of Ravenna, having been excommunicated for grievous enormities, St. Peter was sent by Pope Alexander II, in quality of legate, to adjust the affairs of the church. When he arrived at Ravenna, in 1072, he found the unfortunate prelate just dead, but brought the accomplices of his crimes to a sense of their guilt, and imposed on them a suitable penance. This was his last undertaking for the church, God being pleased soon after to call him to eternal rest, and to the crown of his labours. Old age and the fatigues of his journey did not make him lay aside his accustomed mortifications, by which he consummated his holocaust. In his return towards Rome, he was stopped by a fever in the monastery of our Lady without the gates of Faenza, and died there on the eighth day of his sickness, whilst the monks were reciting matins round about him. He passed from that employment which had been the delight of his heart on earth to sing the same praises of God in eternal glory, on the 22nd of February, 1072, being fourscore and three years old. He is honoured as patron at Faenza and Font-Avellano on the 23rd of the same month.

source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/P/stpeterdamian.asp#ixzz1n2mqLnHe

NOVENA FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI AND ELECTION OF A NEW POPE - SHARE

Share - Novena Prayers for Pope Benedict and the Election of a New Pontiff

Heavenly father, Your Providence guides the Church and the successor to St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI. May he be protected at all times from spiritual attacks so that he may lead Your Church to greater holiness and unity through your Holy Spirit.
We invoke our Mother Mary, united in prayer with the disciples in the Upper Room, to intercede for our cardinals to select the next Holy Father in docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, her divine Spouse. With Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, we entrust this conclave to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, and offer these prayers for your guidance and protection over the choosing of the next Vicar of your Son. (Section from Dr. Miravelli)

Prayer for the Pope:

Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.

May the Lord preserve him,

give him a long life,

make him blessed upon the earth,

and not hand him over

to the power of his enemies.

May your hand be upon your holy servant.

And upon your son, whom you have anointed.

Prayer of St. Benedict

Gracious and holy Father,

please give to our Pope, his successor and 

to we the faithful:

intellect to understand you;

reason to discern you;

diligence to seek you;

wisdom to find you;

a spirit to know you;

a heart to meditate upon you;

ears to hear you;

eyes to see you;

a tongue to proclaim you;

a way of life pleasing to you;

patience to wait for you;

and perseverance to look for you.

Grant your servant the 

Pope, his successor and we the faithful:

a perfect end,

your holy presence.

A blessed resurrection,

And life everlasting.

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory Be...

Amen.