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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Catholic News World : Sun. August 2, 2015 - SHARE

 2015

#PopeFrancis "...a hunger for eternity that only He can satisfy as He is the “bread of life.” Angelus Text/Video

Translation of the address Pope Francis gave today before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, good morning. This Sunday we continue reading the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel.
After the multiplication of the loaves, the people had begun to look for Jesus and they found him in Capernaum. He understands well the reason for so much enthusiasm in following after him and he reveals it clearly: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”
In fact, these people follow him because of the material bread that had satisfied their hunger the day before, when Jesus had multiplied the loaves. They had not understood that this bread broken for so many, for the multitude, was the expression of love of Jesus himself. They had given more value to the bread than to its provider.
Faced with this spiritual blindness, Jesus points to the need to go beyond the gift and discover the giver. God himself is the gift and the giver. And thus in that bread, in that gesture, the people can find the One who gives the bread, who is God.
He invites to open oneself to a perspective that is not only that of daily concerns: what to eat, what to wear, success, one’s career. Jesus speaks of another food, he speaks of a food that does not perish, and that is necessary to seek and to welcome. He exhorts: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” That is, look for salvation, an encounter with God.
With these words, he wants us to understand that beyond physical hunger, man has a different kind of hunger – all of us have this hunger – a hunger that is more important and that cannot be satisfied with normal food. This is a hunger for life, a hunger for eternity that only He can satisfy as He is the “bread of life.”
Jesus does not eliminate the preoccupation with and search for daily food. No. He doesn’t eliminate the concern for all of this that can make life more advanced. But Jesus reminds us that in the end, the true meaning of our earthly existence is in eternity, is in the encounter with Him, who is gift and giver. And he reminds us as well that human history, with its suffering and joys, needs to be viewed in a context of eternity, that is, in the context of that definitive encounter with Him.
And this encounter enlightens us during all the days of our lives. If we think of this encounter, of this great gift, the small gifts of life, and also the sufferings, the worries, will be illuminated by the hope of this encounter. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” This is a reference to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that satisfies the soul and the body.
To find and to welcome Jesus within us, the “bread of life,” gives meaning and hope in the often-difficult path of life. But this “bread of life” has been given us with a task: that we at the same time satisfy the spiritual and material hunger of our brothers and sisters, proclaiming the Gospel in every place. With the testimony of our attitude of fraternity and solidarity with our neighbor, we make Christ and his love present again in the midst of mankind. The Holy Virgin helps us in the search for and following of her son Jesus, the true bread, the living bread that does not perish and that “endures for eternal life.”
[The Pope then led the people in praying the Angelus:]
[He then made the following comments:]
Dear brothers and sisters, I greet all of you, faithful of Rome and pilgrims from other countries. I greet the Spanish youth from Zizur Mayor, Elizondo and Pamplona, and also the Italians of Badia, San Matteo della Décima, Zugliano and Grumolo Pedemonte. And I greet the pilgrimage sponsored by the 'Arciconfraternita Parte Guelfa' of Florence.
Today we recall the Feast of Pardon of Assisi. It is a strong call to draw close to the Lord in the sacrament of mercy and also to receive Communion. There are people who are afraid of approaching confession, forgetting that there, we do not find a severe judge, but rather the immensely merciful Father.
It’s true that when we go to the confessional, we feel a bit of embarrassment, and that happens to everyone, to all of us, but we have to recall that this shame is also a grace that prepares us for the embrace of the Father, who always forgives and always forgives everything.
I wish everyone a good Sunday. And please, don’t forget to pray for me. 'Buon pranzo' and 'buona domenica.'
[Translation by ZENIT]

Catholic #Quote to SHARE by St. Gianna Molla "As to the past, let us entrust it to God’s mercy, the future to Divine..."


"As to the past, let us entrust it to God’s mercy, the future to Divine Providence. Our task is to live holy the present moment." — Gianna Beretta Molla

#Viral Video of Baby saying "I Love You" at 3 months old - SHARE

Amazing Video of Baby Saying “I Love You” Goes Viral in North Carolina. Ted Moskalenko held his three-month-old son as he said, “I love you” when he repeated baby sounds to him.  He captioned the video, “My baby boy Ben said ‘I love you’ for the first time. Good thing my wife had the camera rolling. Enjoy!” Since July 11th, the video has gone viral and over 2 million people have viewed it online.  Listen to Ben talk in the video below. Share this story: 

Saint August 2 : St. Peter Julian Eymard - "Apostle of the #Eucharist"

365Rosaries: “The Eucharist is the life of the people. The Eucharist gives them a center of life. All can come together without the barriers of race or language in order to celebrate the feast days of the Church. It gives them a law of life, that of charity, of which it is the source; thus it forges between them a common bond, a Christian kinship.” 


Today, August 2, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868), “Apostle of the Eucharist,” and founder of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation, a new society dedicated to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. At his canonization, Pope John XXIII said of Saint Peter, “Yes, dear sons and daughters, honor and celebrate him who was so perfect an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament; after his example, always place at the center of your thoughts, of your affections, the undertakings of your zeal this incomparable source of all grace: the mystery of faith, which hides under the veils the author himself of grace, Jesus the incarnate Word.”

Peter Julian Eymard was born in Mure d'Isère in the Alpine mountains of southeastern France. His family, supported by his father who worked as an olive-presser, was rather poor, but strong in devotion to their faith. His mother inspired Peter’s devotion to Our Blessed Mother, teaching him of the Holy Eucharist, and the dangers of sin. As a child, Peter demonstrated great piety and desire to serve the Lord, promising at his first Holy Eucharist that he would become a priest. However, Peter’s father wished him to assume responsibility for the family’s small olive oil press, and discouraged his priestly endeavors. Nonetheless, Peter studied Latin on his own, and sought spiritual direction from a local missionary priest.
His father was to die while Peter was a young man, and with his mother’s permission, he entered the Oblate novitiate at Marseille. Not long after receiving the habit, he was sent home from the monastery for reasons of poor health. Near death, Peter received the Last Sacraments, and in agony prayed to the Lord for the strength, grace, and endurance to celebrate only one Mass prior to death. Monsignor de Mazenod, the local bishop of Marseille and founder of the Oblates, assisted Peter in entering the diocesan seminary, and there he was ordained at the age of 23. Peter was assigned to a small country parish, and within a few years had transformed the splintered faith community into a fervent and devoted congregation. With his healing improving, Peter felt a strong call to enter the Marist Society of Lyons. There, he was successively named to three important posts in the administration of the society. It was as Spiritual Director at one of the society’s colleges that he demonstrated great efficacy and grace in the direction of souls. The families of the students, in addition to the professors and students themselves, found their piety flourishing miraculously under his gentle influence.
Ever open to the call of the Lord, Peter felt himself being pulled in a new direction, one based upon the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Peter became certain that he must found a Congregation dedicated uniquely to promoting the glory and reign of Jesus in His Sacrament of Love. “You take communion to become holy, not because you already are,” he preached. However, it took some time to convince his Superior and the other members of the Marists, whom he loved, and who desired to keep him within the order. Eventually, it became clear that he must leave, and founded his new order, the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament.
The fledgling order grew slowly but steadily, outgrowing any building it inhabited, and working to prepare adults for the sacrament of First Communion in Paris and then throughout France. Despite exhaustion, poor health, and constant opposition, Saint Peter Julian led the order, and founding a second community—Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament—as well as an Association of Priests. During these years of constant opposition, demolitions, shock and unrelenting trials, Saint Peter Julian was exhausted by the difficulties of founding not one, but two Communities — a second one for Sister-Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as an Association of Priests.
In declining health, Eymard lived to see his own Congregation begin its expansion outside France in the mid 1860s. His mystical life deepened during his final years, as he came to recognize what he called the ‘gift of self’ which involved an act of total self-surrender based on the model of Christ. Today, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament continue their devotion to the love of Christ through perpetual adoration of the Eucharist. The society, inspired by their founder, practices charitable acts throughout the world, prepares adults and children for First Communion, and models devotion and love to the saving grace of the Eucharist.
Selected Quotations of Saint Peter Julian Eymard

“We believe in the love of God for us. To believe in love is everything. It is not enough to believe in the Truth. We must believe in Love and Love is our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is the faith that makes our Lord loved. Ask for this pure and simple faith in the Eucharist. Men will teach you; but only Jesus will give you the grace to believe in Him. You have the Eucharist. What more do you want?” 

“If the love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament does not win our hearts, Jesus is vanquished! Our ingratitude is greater than His Goodness our malice is more powerful than His Charity.” 

“Every time we come into the presence of the Eucharist we may say: This precious Testament cost Jesus Christ His life. For the Eucharist is a testament, a legacy which becomes valid only at the death of the testator. Our Lord thereby shows us His boundless love, for He Himself said there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.”

”The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man, since It is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His Life.” 

”He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.”

“How kind is our Sacramental Jesus! He welcomes you at any hour of the day or night. His Love never knows rest. He is always most gentle towards you. When you visit Him, He forgets your sins and speaks only of His joy, His tenderness, and His Love. By the reception He gives to you, one would think He has need of you to make Him happy.” 

"Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Without such passion we may produce isolated acts of love; but our life is not really won over or consecrated to an ideal. Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament we shall accomplish nothing."

"The Eucharist is the work of a measureless love that has at its service an infinite power, the omnipotence of God."

"Have a great love for Jesus in his divine Sacrament of Love; that is the divine oasis of the desert. It is the heavenly manna of the traveler. It is the Holy Ark. It is the life and Paradise of love on earth."

"Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God or be more profitable for your soul than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the favorite devotion of the saints."

Saint Peter Julian, who received the great privilege of so perfectly knowing what treasures are ours in the Most Blessed Sacrament, of being all afire with seraphic love for It, and of consecrating unto It your untiring zeal that It might be perpetually adored and glorified by all mankind, we beg of you to obtain for us the spiritual and temporal favors of which we stand in need. 


Obtain for us particularly to become, in imitation of you, faithful adorers in spirit and in truth of the Most Blessed Sacrament, while tending ever more toward the acquiring of Christian virtue, above all, of sincere humility. Thus we hope to live that life of union with Our Lord which was the aim of your constant zeal, as it is the principal effect on Holy Communion in our souls.


Finally, Saint Peter Julian, obtain for us your own filial devotion toward Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, that we may learn from that dear Divine Mother how to serve and adore on earth Our Savior hidden in His Sacrament, and thus come to adore and glorify Him unveiled in heaven. Amen

Shared from 365RosariesBlogspot

Sunday Mass Online : Sun. Aug. 2, 2015 - 18th Ord. Time


Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 113


Reading 1EX 16:2-4, 12-15

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them,
“Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!”

Then the LORD said to Moses,
“I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;
thus will I test them,
to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.
Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,
so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.
In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,
and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert
were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?”
for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them,
“This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”

Responsorial PsalmPS 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

R. (24b) The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
What we have heard and know,
and what our fathers have declared to us,
We will declare to the generation to come
the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength
and the wonders that he wrought.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
He commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven;
he rained manna upon them for food
and gave them heavenly bread.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels,
food he sent them in abundance.
And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountains his right hand had won.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Reading 2EPH 4:17, 20-24

Brothers and sisters:
I declare and testify in the Lord
that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their minds;
that is not how you learned Christ,
assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,
as truth is in Jesus,
that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,
corrupted through deceitful desires,
and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

AlleluiaMT 4:4B

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone, but by every
word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
you are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
So they said to him,
“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
So Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

So they said to him,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Saint August 2 : Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula

Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula
Feast: August 2


Information:
Feast Day:August 2
A town and parish situated about three-quarters of a mile from Assisi. The town, numbering about 2000 inhabitants and officially known as Santa Maria degli Angeli, has grown up around the church (basilica) of Our Lady of the Angels and the adjoining Franciscan monastery. It was here that on 24 Feb., 1208, St. Francis of Assisi recognized his vocation; here was for the most part his permanent abode, after the Benedictines (of the Cluny Congregation from about 1200) had presented him (about 1211) with the little chapel Portiuncula, i.e. a little portion (of land); here also he died on Saturday, 3 October, 1226. According to a legend, the existence of which can be traced back with certainty only to 1645, the little chapel of Portiuncula was erected under Pope Liberius (352-66) by hermits from the Valley of Josaphat, who had brought thither relics from the grave of the Blessed Virgin. The same legend relates that the chapel passed into the possession of St. Benedict in 516. It was known as Our Lady of the Valley of Josaphat or of the Angels -- the latter title referring, according to some, to Our Lady's ascent into heaven accompanied by angels (Assumption B.M.V.); a better founded opinion attributes the name to the singing of angels which had been frequently heard there. However this may be, here or in this neighbourhood was the cradle of the Franciscan Order, and on his death-bed St. Francis recommended the chapel to the faithful protection and care of his brethren. Concerning the form and plan of the first monastery built near the chapel we have no information, nor is the exact form of the loggia or platforms built round the chapel itself, or of the choir for the brothers built behind it, known. Shortly after 1290, the chapel, which measured only about twenty-two feet by thirteen and a half, became entirely inadequate to accommodate the throngs of pilgrims. The altar piece, an Annunciation, was painted by the priest, Hilarius of Viterbo, in 1393. The monastery was at most the residence, only for a short time, of the ministers-general of the order after St. Francis. In 1415 it first became associated with the Regular Observance, in the care of which it remains to the present day. The buildings, which had been gradually added to, around the shrine were taken down by order of Pius V (1566-72), except the cell in which St. Francis had died, and were replaced by a large basilica in contemporary style. The new edifice was erected over the cell just mentioned and over the Portiuncula chapel, which is situated immediately under the cupola. The basilica, which has three naves and a circle of chapels extending along the entire length of the aisles, was completed (1569-78) according to the plans of Jacob Barozzi, named Vignola (1507-73), assisted by Alessi Galeazzo (1512-72). The Doric order was chosen. The basilica forms a Latin cross 416 feet long by 210 feet wide; above the middle of the transept rises the magnificent cupola, flanked by a single side-tower, the second never having been finished. In the night of 15 March, 1832, the arch of the three naves and of the choir fell in, in consequence of an earthquake, but the cupola escaped with a big crack. Gregory XVI had all restored (1836-40), and on 8 Sept., 1840, the basilica was reconsecrated by Cardinal Lambruschini. By Brief of 11 April, 1909, Pius X raised it to a "patriarchal basilica and papal chapel". The high altar was therefore immediately rebuilt at the expense of the Franciscan province of the Holy Cross (also known as the Saxon province), and a papal throne added. The new altar was solemnly consecrated by Cardinal De Lai on 7 Dec., 1910. Under the bay of the choir, resting against the columns of the cupola, is still preserved the cell in which St. Francis died, while, a little behind the sacristy, is the spot where the saint, during a temptation, is said to have rolled in a briar-bush, which was then changed into thornless roses. During this same night the saint received the Portiuncula Indulgence. The representation of the reception of this Indulgence on the façade of the Portiuncula chapel, the work of Fr. Overbeck (1829), enjoys great celebrity.
The Portiuncula Indulgence could at first be gained only in the Portiuncula chapel between the afternoon of 1 Aug. and sunset on 2 Aug. On 5 Aug., 1480 (or 1481), Sixtus IV extended it to all churches of the first and second orders of St. Francis for Franciscans; on 4 July, 1622, this privilege was further extended by Gregory XV to all the faithful, who, after confession and the reception of Holy Communion, visited such churches on the appointed day. On 12 Oct., 1622, Gregory granted the same privilege to all the churches of the Capuchins; Urban VIII granted it for all churches of the regular Third Order on 13 Jan., 1643, and Clement X for all churches of the Conventuals on 3 Oct., 1670. Later popes extended the privilege to all churches pertaining in any way to the Franciscan Order, even to churches in which the Third Order held its meetings (even parish churches, etc.), provided that there was no Franciscan church in the district, and that such a church was distant over an Italian mile (1000 paces, about 1640 yards). Some districts and countries have been granted special privileges. On 9 July, 1910, Pius X (only, however, for that year) granted the privilege that bishops could appoint any public churches whatsoever for the gaining of the Portiuncula Indulgence, whether on 2 Aug. or the Sunday following (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, II, 1910, 443 sq.; Acta Ord. Frat. Min., XXIX, 1910, 226). This privilege has been renewed for an indefinite time by a decree of the S. Cong. of Indul., 26 March, 1911 (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, III, 1911, 233-4). The Indulgence is toties-quoties, that is, it may be gained as often as one wishes (i.e. visits the church); it is also applicable to the souls in purgatory.
While the declarations of the popes have rendered the Portiuncula Indulgence certain and indisputable from the juridico-canonistic standpoint, its historical authenticity (sc. origin from St. Francis) is still a subject of dispute. The controversy arises from the fact that none of the old legends of St. Francis mentions the Indulgence, and no contemporary document or mention of it has down to us. The oldest document dealing with the Indulgence is a notary's deed of 31 October, 1277, in which Blessed Benedict of Arezzo, whom St. Francis himself received into the order, testifies that he had been informed by Brother Masseo, a companion of St. Francis, of the granting of the Indulgence by Honorius III at Perugia. Then follow other testimonies, for example, those of Jacob Cappoli concerning Brother Leo, of Fr. Oddo of Aquasparta, Peter Zalfani, Peter John Olivi (d. 1298, who wrote a scholastic tract in defence of this indulgence about 1279), Blessed John of Laverna (Fermo; d. 1322), Ubertinus of Casale (d. after 1335), Blessed Francis of Fabriano (d. 1322), whose testimony goes back to the year 1268, etc. In addition to these rather curt and concise testimonies there are others which relate all details in connection with the granting of the Indulgence, and were reproduced in numberless books: e.g. the testimony of Michael Bernardi, the letters of Bishop Theobald of Assisi (1296-1329) and of his successor Conrad Andreae (1329-37). All the testimonies were collected by Fr. Francesco Bartholi della Rossa in a special work, "Tractatus de Indulgentia S. Mariae de Portiuncula" (ed. Sabatier, Paris, 1900). In his edition of this work, Sabatier defends the Indulgence, although in his world-famous "Vie de S. François" (Paris, 1894), he had denied its historicity (412 sqq.); he explains the silence of St. Francis and his companions and biographers as due to reasons of discretion etc. Others seek to accord more weight to the later testimonies by accentuating their connection with the first generation of the order; others again find allusions to the Indulgence in the old legends of St. Francis. On the other hand, the opponents regard the gap between 1216 and 1277 as unbridgable, and hold that the grounds brought forward by the defenders to explain this silence had vanished long before the latter date. No new documents have been found recently in favour of the authenticity of the Indulgence.
[Note: The norms and grants of indulgences were completely reformed by Pope Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council in his Apostolic Constitution "Indulgentiarum Doctrina" (1967), and the Portiuncula Indulgence was again confirmed at that time. According to the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, the Catholic faithful may gain a plenary indulgence on 2 August (the Portiuncula) or on such other day as designated by the local ordinary for the advantage of the faithful, under the usual conditions (sacramental Confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff), by devoutly visiting the parish church, and there reciting at least the Lord's Prayer and the Creed. The Indulgence applies to the cathedral church of the diocese, and to the co-cathedral church (if there is one), even if they are not parochial, and also to quasi-parochial churches. To gain this, as any plenary indulgence, the faithful must be free from any attachment to sin, even venial sin. Where this entire detachment is wanting, the indulgence is partial.]

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/O/ourladyoftheangelsofportiuncula.asp#ixzz1TsqoFpjW

Saint August 2 : St. Peter Faber : #Jesuit

peter-faber

St. Peter Faber, SJ (1506–1546), a master of the Spiritual Exercises, was the first of St. Ignatius Loyola’s six companions. Peter Faber and Ignatius met in Paris, where Faber had come to study after life as a shepherd on the mountains of Savoy. Peter Faber was the first of the companions to be ordained.

Peter Faber had a gentle spirit and a tendency to be very hard on himself. Ignatius proved to be the perfect mentor for him, and Faber eventually became the master of the Spiritual Exercises. While hard on himself, Faber was gentle with others and became a gifted pastor of souls, winning others for Jesus.
Faber was sent to Germany in 1541, where he found the state of the Church in such disarray that it left his heart “tormented by a steady and intolerable pain.” He worked for the renewal of the Church a person at a time, leading many in the Spiritual Exercises. Princes, prelates, and priests would especially find Peter Faber a gentle source of instruction and guidance leading to renewal.
Between 1544 and 1546, Peter Faber tirelessly continued his work in Portugal and Spain. Throughout all of his mission years in Germany, Spain, and Portugal, Faber traveled on foot. His final journey in 1546 was to Rome where, exhausted from his labors, he died in St. Ignatius’s arms at the age of 40.
Pope Francis announced the canonization of Peter Faber on December 17, 2013.
Shared from Ignatianspirituality

Saint August 2 : St. Eusebius Vercelli : Martyr and #Bishop

St. Eusebius Vercelli
MARTYR AND BISHOP
Feast: August 2


Information:
Feast Day:August 2
Born:283, Sardinia
Died:August 1, 371, Vercelli, Piemonte
Patron of:Vercelli
Bishop of Vercelli, b. in Sardinia c. 283; d. at Vercelli, Piedmont, 1 August, 371. He was made lector in Rome, where he lived some time, probably as a member or head of a religious community (Spreitzenhofer, Die Entwickelung des alten Mönchtums in Italien, Vienna, 1894, 14 sq.), Later he came to Vercelle, the present Vercelli, and in 340 was unanimously elected bishop of that city by the clergy and the people. He received episcopal consecration at the hands of Pope Julius I on 15 December, of the same year. According to the testimony of St. Ambrose (Ep. lxiii, Ad Vercellenses) he was the first bishop of the West who united monastic with clerical life. He led with the clergy of his city a common life modelled upon that of the Eastern cenobites (St. Ambrose, Ep. lxxxi and Serm. lxxxix). For this reason the Canons Regular of St. Augustine honour him along with St. Augustine as their founder (Proprium Canon. Reg., 16 December).
In 364 Pope Liberius sent Eusebius and Bishop Lucifer to Cagliari to the Emperor Constantius, who was then at Arles in Gaul, for the purpose of inducing the emperor to convoke a council which should put an end to the dissentions between the Arians and the orthodox. The synod was held in Milan in 355. At first Eusebius refused to attend it because he foresaw that the Arian bishops, who were supported by the emperor, would not accept the decrees of the Nicene council and would insist upon the condemnation of St. Athanasius. Being pressed by the emperor and the bishops to appear at the synod, he came to Milan, but was not admitted to the synod until the document condemning St. Athanasius had been drawn up and was awaiting the signature of the bishops. Eusebius vehemently protested against the unjust condemnation of St. Athanasius and, despite the threats of the emperor, refused to attach his signature to the document. As a result he was sent into exile, first to Scythopolis in Syria, where the Arian bishop Patrophilus, whom Eusebius calls his jailer, (Baronius, Annal., ad ann. 356, n. 97), treated him very cruelly; then to Cappodocia, and lastly to Thebaid. On the accession of the Emperor Julian, the exiled bishops were allowed to return to their sees, in 362. Eusebius, however, and his brother-exile Lucifer did not at once return to Italy. Acting either by force of their former legatine faculties or, as is more probable, having received new legatine faculties from Pope Liberius, they remained in the Orient for some time, helping to restore peace in the Church. Eusebius went to Alexandria to consult with St. Athanasius about convoking the synod which in 362 was held there under their joint presidency. Besides declaring the Divinity of the Holy Ghost and the orthodox doctrine concerning the Incarnation, the synod agreed to deal mildly with the repentant apostate bishops, but to impose severe penalties upon the leaders of several of Arianizing factions. At its close Eusebius went to Antioch to reconcile the Eustathians and the Meletians. The Eustathians were adherents of the bishop St. Eustatius, who was deposed and exiled by the Arians in 331. Since Meletius' election in 361 was brought about chiefly by the Arians, the Eustathians would not recognize him, although he solemnly proclamed his orthodox faith from the ambo after his episcopal consecration. The Alexandrian synod had desired that Eusebius should reconcile the Eustathians with Bishop Meletius, by purging his election of whatever might have been irregular in it, but Eusebius, upon arriving at Antioch found that his brother-legate Lucifer had consecrated Paulinus, the leader of the Eustathians, as Bishop of Antioch, and thus unwittingly had frustrated the pacific design. Unable to reconcile the factions at Antioch, he visited other Churches of the Orient in the interest of the orthodox faith, and finally passed through Illyricum into Italy. Having arrived at Vercelli in 363, he assisted the zealous St. Hilary of Poitiers in the suppression of Arianism in the Western Church, and was one of the chief opponents of the Arian Bishop Auxientius of Milan. The church honours him as a martyr and celebrates his feast as a semi-double on 16 December. In the "Journal of Theological Studies" (1900), I, 302-99, E.A. Burn attributes to Eusebius the "Quicumque".
Three short letters of Eusebius are printed in Migne, P.L., XII, 947-54 and X, 713-14. St. Jerome (De vir. ill., c. lvi, and Ep. li, n. 2) ascribes to him a Latin translation of a commentary on the Psalms, written originally in Greek by Eusebius of Cæsarea; but this work has been lost. There is preserved in the cathedral at Vercelli the "Codex Vercellensis", the earliest manuscript of the old Latin Gospels (codex a), which is generally believed to have been written by Eusebius. It was published by Irico (Milan 1748) and Bianchini (Rome, 1749), and is reprinted in Migne, P.L. XII, 9-948; a new edition was brought out by Belsheim (Christiania, 1894). Krüger (Lucifer, Bischof von Calaris", Leipzig, 1886, 118-30) ascribes to Eusebius a baptismal oration by Caspari (Quellen sur Gesch, Des Taufsymbols, Christiania, 1869, II, 132-40). The confession of faith "Des. Trinitate confessio", P.L., XII, 959-968, sometimes ascribed to Eusebius is spurious.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/E/steusebiusvercelli.asp#ixzz1Tsqboa4m

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The Pope's Monthly Prayer Intentions for August 2015 Universal Intention - Volunteers. That volunteers may give themselves generously to the service of the needy. Evangelization Intention - Outreach to the Marginalized. That setting aside our very selves we may learn to be neighbors to those who find themselves on the margins of human life and society. 

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