EUROPE: FRANCE : POLICE BEAT CATHOLIC DEMONSTRATORS
ASIA: BANGLADESH : 4TH NATIONAL INTER- CHRISTIAN FORUM- HOPES FOR GREATER RIGHTS
AFRICA: BURUNDI: 4TH MAJOR SEMINARY STARTS
AUSTRALIA: EVERY SECONDARY STUDENT TO RECEIVE A COMPUTER
TODAY'S SAINT - OCT. 25: ST. GAUDENTIUS
TODAY'S GOSPEL : OCT. 25: LUKE 13: 18 - 21
for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2012
Migration and the New Evangelization
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Proclaiming Jesus Christ the one Saviour of the world “constitutes the essential mission of the Church. It is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present-day society make all the more urgent” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14). Indeed, today we feel the urgent need to give a fresh impetus and new approaches to the work of evangelization in a world in which the breaking down of frontiers and the new processes of globalization are bringing individuals and peoples even closer. This is both because of the development of the means of social communication and because of the frequency and ease with which individuals and groups can move about today. In this new situation we must reawaken in each one of us the enthusiasm and courage that motivated the first Christian communities to be undaunted heralds of the Gospel’s newness, making St Paul’s words resonate in our hearts: “For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16).
“Migration and the New Evangelization” is the theme I have chosen this year for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, and it arises from the aforesaid situation. The present time, in fact, calls upon the Church to embark on a new evangelization also in the vast and complex phenomenon of human mobility. This calls for an intensification of her missionary activity both in the regions where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time and in countries with a Christian tradition.
Blessed John Paul II invited us to “nourish ourselves with the word in order to be ‘servants of the word’ in the work of evangelization ... [in] a situation which is becoming increasingly diversified and demanding, in the context of ‘globalization’ and of the consequent new and uncertain mingling of peoples and cultures” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, 40). Internal or international migration, in fact, as an opening in search of better living conditions or to flee from the threat of persecution, war, violence, hunger or natural disasters, has led to an unprecedented mingling of individuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, religious and spiritual ones. The current and obvious consequences of secularization, the emergence of new sectarian movements, widespread insensitivity to the Christian faith and a marked tendency to fragmentation are obstacles to focusing on a unifying reference that would encourage the formation of “one family of brothers and sisters in societies that are becoming ever more multiethnic and intercultural, where also people of various religions are urged to take part in dialogue, so that a serene and fruitful coexistence with respect for legitimate differences may be found”, as I wrote in my Message last year for this World Day. Our time is marked by endeavours to efface God and the Church’s teaching from the horizon of life, while doubt, scepticism and indifference are creeping in, seeking to eliminate all the social and symbolic visibility of the Christian faith.
In this context migrants who have known and welcomed Christ are not infrequently constrained to consider him no longer relevant to their lives, to lose the meaning of their faith, no longer to recognize themselves as members of the Church, and often lead a life no longer marked by Christ and his Gospel. Having grown up among peoples characterized by their Christian faith they often emigrate to countries in which Christians are a minority or where the ancient tradition of faith, no longer a personal conviction or a community religion, has been reduced to a cultural fact. Here the Church is faced with the challenge of helping migrants keep their faith firm even when they are deprived of the cultural support that existed in their country of origin, and of identifying new pastoral approaches, as well as methods and expressions, for an ever vital reception of the Word of God. In some cases this is an opportunity to proclaim that, in Jesus Christ, humanity has been enabled to participate in the mystery of God and in his life of love. Humanity is also opened to a horizon of hope and peace, also through respectful dialogue and a tangible testimony of solidarity. In other cases there is the possibility of reawakening the dormant Christian conscience through a renewed proclamation of the Good News and a more consistent Christian life to enable people to rediscover the beauty of the encounter with Christ who calls Christians to holiness wherever they may be, even in a foreign land.
The phenomenon of migration today is also a providential opportunity for the proclamation of the Gospel in the contemporary world. Men and women from various regions of the earth who have not yet encountered Jesus Christ or know him only partially, ask to be received in countries with an ancient Christian tradition. It is necessary to find adequate ways for them to meet and to become acquainted with Jesus Christ and to experience the invaluable gift of salvation which, for everyone, is a source of “life in abundance” (cf. Jn 10:10); migrants themselves have a special role in this regard because they in turn can become “heralds of God’s word and witnesses to the Risen Jesus, the hope of the world” (Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, 105).
Pastoral workers – priests, religious and lay people – play a crucial role in the demanding itinerary of the new evangelization in the context of migration. They work increasingly in a pluralist context: in communion with their Ordinaries, drawing on the Church’s Magisterium. I invite them to seek ways of fraternal sharing and respectful proclamation, overcoming opposition and nationalism. For their part, the Churches of origin, of transit and those that welcome the migration flows should find ways to increase their cooperation for the benefit both of those who depart and those who arrive, and, in any case, of those who, on their journey, stand in need of encountering the merciful face of Christ in the welcome given to one’s neighbour. To achieve a fruitful pastoral service of communion, it may be useful to update the traditional structures of care for migrants and refugees, by setting beside them models that respond better to the new situations in which different peoples and cultures interact with one another.
Asylum seekers, who fled from persecution, violence and situations that put their life at risk, stand in need of our understanding and welcome, of respect for their human dignity and rights, as well as awareness of their duties. Their suffering pleads with individual states and the international community to adopt attitudes of reciprocal acceptance, overcoming fears and avoiding forms of discrimination, and to make provisions for concrete solidarity also through appropriate structures for hospitality and resettlement programmes. All this entails mutual help between the suffering regions and those which, already for years, have accepted a large number of fleeing people, as well as a greater sharing of responsibilities among States.
The press and the other media have an important role in making known, correctly, objectively and honestly, the situation of those who have been forced to leave their homeland and their loved ones and want to start building a new life.
Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, by enhancing what is reciprocally enriching, as well as by fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person, the safeguarding of the family, access to dignified housing, to work and to welfare.
Priests, men and women religious, lay people, and most of all young men and women are to be sensitive in offering support to their many sisters and brothers who, having fled from violence, have to face new lifestyles and the difficulty of integration. The proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ will be a source of relief, hope and “full joy” (cf. Jn 15:11).
Lastly, I would like to mention the situation of numerous international students who are facing problems of integration, bureaucratic difficulties, hardship in the search for housing and welcoming structures. Christian communities are to be especially sensitive to the many young men and women who, precisely because of their youth, need reference points in addition to cultural growth, and have in their hearts a profound thirst for truth and the desire to encounter God. Universities of Christian inspiration are to be, in a special way, places of witness and of the spread of the new evangelization, seriously committed to contributing to social, cultural and human progress in the academic milieu. They are also to promote intercultural dialogue and enhance the contribution that international students can give. If these students meet authentic Gospel witnesses and examples of Christian life, it will encourage them to become agents of the new evangelization.
Dear friends, let us invoke the intercession of Mary, “Our Lady of the Way”, so that the joyful proclamation of salvation in Jesus Christ may bring hope to the hearts of those who are on the move on the roads of the world. To one and all I assure my prayers and impart my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 21 September 2011
Benedictus PP. XVI
WELCOMING MIGRANTS AND REJECTING RACISM
VATICAN CITY, 25 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples held a press conference this morning in the Holy See Press Office to present Benedict XVI's Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2012. The Day is due to be celebrated on 15 January 2012 under the theme of "Migrations and New Evangelisation". Participating in this morning's press conference were Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil and Fr. Gabriele Ferdinando Bentoglio C.S., respectively president, secretary and under secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
Archbishop Veglio explained how the Holy Father's Message is divided into three parts, covering migrant workers, refugees and international students. New evangelisation is addressed to all these groups, he said, in a social context in which "the mix of nationalities and religions is increasing exponentially. ... Faced with this challenge, the Church is impelled to reconsider her methods, forms of expression and language, so as to renew her missionary efforts. A 'new' evangelisation, then, does not affect the contents and the value of the missionary mandate, as handed down by Holy Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium".
Migration offers an opportunity to teach the Gospel to people from other regions of the world who have not yet met Christ. At the same time, many Christians migrate to countries in which theirs is a minority religion, or in which it has been reduced to a mere cultural phenomenon. In both these cases, lay people can announce the good news through word and example, supported by appropriate pastoral care. "New evangelisation in the world of migrants must, in fact, involve the laity and rest on dialogue at all levels", said archbishop Veglio.
Finally the president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples expressed his desire to echo the Pope's words in thanking everyone "who dedicates time, energy and resources to the pastoral care of migrants, often in silence and sometimes even at the risk of their lives".
Bishop Kalathiparambil noted that, according to statistics of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 80 percent of the world's refugees are currently hosted in developing countries. At the same time, in many industrialised nations there are growing feelings of hostility towards such people. Christians, however, are called to see in asylum seekers and refugees "the face of Christ, which makes us brothers and sisters", he said. "Welcome may be defined as a sign which distinguishes the Church. It is the fundamental characteristic of pastoral solicitude for migrants and refugees, and runs counter to all feelings and expressions of xenophobia and racism".
Fr. Gabriele Bentoglio focused his remarks on the question of international students, whose numbers are expected to reach seven million by the year 2025. For this reason, he said, "there is an urgent and growing need that places of education and formation, especially universities, make the vital strategic link between the 'profound thirst for truth and the desire to encounter God'". At the same time, in a globalised world, "education must be extended to cover the integral formation of the person, and the transmission of such values as: individual and collective sense of responsibility, ethical work, and solidarity with the entire human family over and above national identity".
Finally Fr. Bentoglio announced that the pontifical council is in the process of organising a world congress on the pastoral care of international students. The congress, due to be held in Rome from 30 November to 3 December on the theme "International Students and the Meeting of Cultures", will bring together 123 delegates from all over the world, as well as representatives from religious institutes, lay associations and regional and international organisations.
CON-SM/
VATICAN CITY, 25 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam,Netherlands, presented by Bishop Johannes Gerardus Maria van Burgsteden S.S.S., upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Msgr. Johannes Willibrordus Maria Hendriks of the clergy of the diocese of Rotterdam, Netherlands, canon of the cathedral chapter and rector of the major seminary of Haarlem-Amsterdam, as auxiliary of Haarlem-Amsterdam (area 2,912, population 2,847,001, Catholics 474,000, priests 208, permanent deacons 41, religious 701). The bishop-elect was born in Leidschendam,Netherlands in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1979. He obtained a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical GregorianUniversity in Rome and has served as vice pastor and pastor in a number of parishes in his country. He teaches canon law at the major seminary of Haarlem-Amsterdam and is a consultor of the Congregation for the Clergy.
AMERICA: USA: BLESSED JOHN PAUL II SEMINARY DEDICATED BY CARDINAL WUERL
ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON DC REPORT: Cardinal Wuerl Dedicates Blessed John Paul II Seminary
“…bless this house and all who study here so that the vision, the dream and the legacy of Blessed John Paul II will long continue at the service of God’s holy Church.”
October 22, 2011
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, formally established a new seminary for the archdiocese at a Mass on October 22, the feast day of Blessed John Paul II who was beatified in Rome this past May. “This new seminary is a manifestation of the New Evangelization,” said Cardinal Wuerl. “We see Blessed John Paul II’s legacy continued in the formation of new priests in this archdiocese.”
The seminary is located near The Catholic University of America at 145 Taylor Street, NE, Washington, DC. Renovation of the building began last year after plans for the seminary were announced in October 2010. Seminarians for the Archdiocese of Washington will begin their formation through the new seminary, which opened its first semester on August 29. The seminary has space for 30 men who will attend The Catholic University of America while receiving their priestly formation at the seminary. Before ordination, they will complete an additional four years of theology studies. Currently, 72 men are studying for the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Washington, including 35 in college and pre-theology studies.
“The men who will be formed here are preparing to be priests of this millennium, the agents of the Holy Spirit renewing the face of the earth and the voice of the New Evangelization calling all people near and far to embrace the Lord Jesus and to respond to the call, “Who do you say that I am?” and “Do you love me?” said Cardinal Wuerl in his homily at the dedication Mass for the seminary.
“Just as Jesus on the cross entrusted John to his mother, so does the Church today continue to encourage all of us to entrust our lives, our vocation, our ministry, our service to Mary, mother of Jesus, mother of God, mother of the Church. It is under that title that we bless this chapel — dedicated to Mary, Mother of the Church,” said Cardinal Wuerl. The seminary’s chapel was completely restored in the renovations.
Housed in the chapel is a first-class relic, the blood of Blessed John Paul II stained on the cassock he was wearing when he was shot and critically wounded during an assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. Pope John Paul II was struck four times, twice in the stomach, and suffered severe blood loss. The man who shot him, Turkish militant Mehmet Ali Aðca, was apprehended immediately, and sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope immediately forgave Aðca for the assassination attempt.
Additionally, the seminary contains another relic of Blessed John Paul II, an amice that he wore when he celebrated Mass. An amice is a liturgical vestment that consists of a white cloth, traditionally of linen, connected to two long ribbons by which it is fastened around the shoulders to cover the collar and protect the other vestments. Its use is no longer mandatory, but it is still to be worn if the alb does not cover completely one’s ordinary clothing. It symbolizes the helmet of salvation and is a sign of resistance against temptation.
The altar and ambo in the chapel are the ones built and used for the Papal Mass with Pope Benedict XVI on April 17, 2008, at Nationals Park. The altar stone in the chapel at Blessed John Paul II Seminary was the one used by Archbishop John Carroll, the first Bishop (later Archbishop) of Baltimore, and the first Bishop in the United States. The stone contains relics of two early martyrs (identities unknown) and was also used with the altar at the Nationals Park Mass.
“What makes this altar particularly significant is that it is the very altar on which our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, celebrated Mass at Nationals Park three years ago. It says to us that Benedict, who is the chief shepherd, who came to our country in the exercise of his ministry as Successor to Peter, to confirm us in our faith, is the rock on which our Church stands and the rock that we turn to for support and confirmation in our faith,” said Cardinal Wuerl in his homily. He continued, “The ambo also used at that Papal Mass reminds us that it is the Word of God that the priest proclaims, it is the teaching of the Church that he announces. His fidelity is to both because it is not himself that he preaches but Jesus — and Jesus crucified.”
Cardinal Wuerl announced the faculty appointments for the seminary at the Chrism Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral on April 18 this year:
• Monsignor Robert Panke is the Rector and is serving as Director of Formation for all the seminarians of the archdiocese and as Director of Continuing Clergy Formation for all the archdiocese’s priests.
• Father Carter Griffin is Vice-Rector and the new Director of Priest Vocations for the archdiocese.
• Father William Gurnee is the Seminary Spiritual Director and the Director of Spiritual Formation.
• Father Scott Woods is Assistant Director of Priest Vocations for the archdiocese and will continue as pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in St. Mary’s City, Maryland, and St. Peter Claver Parish in St. Inigoes, Maryland.
• Father Robert Walsh continues as the Assistant Director of Priest Vocations for the archdiocese and as the Catholic chaplain at the University of Maryland.
• Father Mario Dorsonville is Adjunct Spiritual Director and continues as Director of the Spanish Catholic Center and Vice President for Mission at Catholic Charities.
To read more about Blessed John Paul II Seminary and to meet the archdiocesan seminarians, go towww.dcpriest.org.
The Archdiocese of Washington is home to over 600,000 Catholics living in Washington, DC and five Maryland counties: Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s.
EUROPE: FRANCE : POLICE BEAT CATHOLIC DEMONSTRATORS
LIFESITE NEWS REPORT: PARIS, France, October 21, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A group of Parisian Catholic students was beaten by riot police during a protest in front of a theater during the premiere of a blasphemous play by Italian playwright Romeo Castellicci, on Thursday evening.
On the Concept of the Face of the Son of God is a scatological representation of an old man wracked with diarrhea whose son wipes and cleans him repeatedly on stage under a large reproduction of a Face of Christ by Antonello da Messina. Brown feces fill the stage - synthetic odor included -, the two actors leave the stage, then a dozen children carrying schoolbags make their appearance and throw plastic grenades at the image of Christ. The image later appears to crack up and a dark liquid similar to the feces seen earlier invades the face which is then covered with the words, “You are not my shepherd”.
For the first night at the publicly subsidized “Théatre de la Ville” in Paris on Thursday, several unrelated groups organized public protests. One group had bought tickets and disrupted the show with stink bombs before climbing on the sage with banners proclaiming “Cathophobia : we’ve had enough”. Riot police entered the theatre to move out the protesters, some of whom were arrested.
Another group of young activists of the historic French royalist movement, l’Action française, chose to organize a peaceful demonstration in front of the theatre. A few dozen young French Catholics chained themselves to the railings of the theater under the noses of three vanloads of riot police (“CRS”) who quickly closed in to dislodge them. Heavy-handedly using their bats and teargas, the armored police forces beat up the young people, handcuffed them and forced many of them flat on the ground.
One young man who was lying handcuffed, with part of his body on the street, unable to move, was injured at this point when a police van backed into him, riding over his foot. The injury appeared to be severe as he was in great pain, and he was quickly evacuated by emergency services to the nearby “Hôtel-Dieu”, the historic Parisian hospital near Notre-Dame. As it turned out there was only a severe flesh wound. A complaint is being lodged against the police force responsible for this brutality.
Seventeen other young demonstrators were arrested and kept in police custody for 24 hours, at the end of which three of them were charged with “rebellion”. One of the young men has also been charged with “theft” as one of the police force’s caps was missing…
At the beginning of the week the rights defense group AGRIF (Alliance against racism and for the respect of French and Christian Identity) used an emergency procedure to obtain an order to block the showing of On the Concept of the Face of God. The request was rejected on the ground that some scenes were undoubtedly offensive and violent, but that they were susceptible to many contradictory interpretations.
The judge, Emmanuel Binoche, made clear that there is no anti-blaspheme law in France. Although the judge was correct, anti-hate-crime laws nevertheless make it an offense to dishonor and ridicule believers through the most sacred aspects of their faith. Still Binoch ruled that AGRIF must pay the “Théâtre de la Ville” 1,200 euros in costs.
The judge’s stance aided by the fact that a few priests have been applauding Castellucci’s play for its thoughtfulness and insight.
On the other hand, a growing number of French bishops have publicly voiced their dismay at the rising number of anti-Catholic shows and plays: cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris and the spokesman of the French bishops’ conference, Mgr Bernard Podvin, both called on French Catholics to make their indignation public and to question public funding of the shows.
In December, Paris will be hosting a Hispano-Argentinian play called Golgota Picnic which outraged Spanish Catholics when it opened in January this year in Madrid. Like Castellucci’s work, it is obsessed with the image of Christ and heaps insults and accusations on the Church. Typically, it accuses the traditional representations of the Crucifixion of planting the seeds of pedophilia within the priesthood.
Another Catholic group which launched a petition (defendonslecrucifix.org) against these plays, “Civitas”, received support from a French bishops including Mgr Aillet of Bayonne and Mgr Aumonier of Versailles who encouraged Catholics to react against these “insults to our faith”.
http://www.lifesite.net/news/french-police-brutality-against-catholic-demonstrators
ASIA: BANGLADESH : 4TH NATIONAL INTER- CHRISTIAN FORUM- HOPES FOR GREATER RIGHTS
Three government ministers attending the fourth national council of the country’s largest inter-denominational Christian forum over the weekend have vowed to examine several of their demands.
“The nation can’t deny the direct and indirect contributions of the Christian community in Bangladesh’s education, health and socio-economic and moral development, including the country’s liberation war in 1971,” said Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA) president and state minister for cultural affairs Promod Mankin on Saturday.
Mankin, a tribal Garo Catholic, added that various Christian institutions are among the finest in the country and that the government should pay heed to Christian views.
BCA secretary-general Nirmol Rozario handed Mankin, home minister Shamsul Haque Tuku and religious affairs minister Shahjahan Miah 10 demands to present to the government.
These included declaring Easter Sunday a national holiday, an allocation of seats in parliament and in the cabinet and revoking discriminatory land ownership transfer processes.
In his address, Tuku said Christians, like all other people in the country, should be allowed to enjoy their rights equally, adding that the BCA demands are legitimate.
“We all shed blood for liberation of the country. The term ‘minority’ should be avoided and all should have equal dignity as well,” the home minister said.
Miah echoed his colleague’s speech and assured the gathering that the association’s demands will be duly addressed.
“Bangladesh has been a non-communal country since the beginning where we can exercise our right equally,” the religious affairs minister added.
Vincent Rozario, a BCA activist from Gazipur, near Dhaka, said that the gathering was very important in that it sent a message that Christians in the country should be taken seriously and listened to.
http://www.ucanews.com/2011/10/25/christians-want-greater-say/
AFRICA: BURUNDI: 4TH MAJOR SEMINARY STARTS
The Mass was presided by Archbishop Venant Bacinoni, Vice President of the Episcopal Conference of Burundi and Bishop of Bururi. The President of the Episcopal Commission for Vocations, the seminaries and novitiates, His Exc. Mgr. Bonaventure Nahimana, Bishop of Rutana, thanked the various organizations that donated funds for the construction of the new structure: the Pontifical Mission Society of St. Peter Apostle, Missio, Aid to the Church in Need, the Papal Foundation, the Episcopal Conference of the United States of America and that of Spain, and the archdiocese of Cologne.
The chapel, classrooms, the Sister’s house, the refectory, kitchen and two groups of 60 rooms have already been built. Two other groups of 60 rooms will be finished next March. The priestly and religious communities will be installed in early November in preparation for the academic year 2012-2013.
The Apostolic Nuncio underlined that the priestly and religious vocations are flourishing while the parishes are overcrowded, hence the need for a major seminary to form new priests. Mgr. Coppola noted that the donations collected for the Seminar represent the contribution of the faithful around the world who accept to donate their contribution. Addressing the Bishops of Burundi, the Nuncio urged them to send their best priests as trainers to the new seminary and to be careful in the discernment of the seminarians. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/10/2011)
AUSTRALIA: EVERY SECONDARY STUDENT TO RECEIVE A COMPUTER
CATH NEWS REPORT: Every secondary school student in Australia will have a computer by December 31, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has confirmed, reports theAustralian.
With public schools well on their way to meeting the target, Catholic and independent schools are gearing up to deliver the remaining units to students.
As of June 30, Catholic and independent schools had a balance of 19,741 and 32,345 computers to give students, respectively.
The initial target was 163,672 for Catholic schools and 116,044 for independents. Government schools from all states and territories are poised to meet their target of providing more than 500,000 computers to students.
Labor hopes to deliver 786,848 computers to secondary school children.
TODAY'S SAINT - OCT. 25: ST. GAUDENTIUS
Feast: October 25
Information:
Feast Day:
October 25
Born:
Brescia, Italy
Died:
410
Bishop of Brescia from about 387 until about 410; he was the successor of the writer on heresies, St. Philastrius. At the time of that saint's death Gaudentius was making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The people of Brescia bound themselves by an oath that they would accept no other bishop than Gaudentius; and St. Ambrose and other neighbouring prelates, in consequence, obliged him to return, though against his will. The Eastern bishops also threatened to refuse him Communion if he did not obey. We possess the discourse which he made before St. Ambrose and other bishops on the occasion of his consecration, in which he excuses, on the plea of obedience, his youth and his presumption in speaking. He had brought back with him from the East many precious relics of St. John Baptist and of the Apostles, and especially of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, relics of whom he had received at Caesarea in Cappadocia from nieces of St. Basil. These and other relics from Milan and elsewhere he deposited in a basilica which he named Concilium Sanctorum. His sermon on its dedication is extant. From a letter of St. Chrysostom (Ep. clxxxiv) to Gaudentius it may be gathered that the two saints had met at Antioch. When St. Chrysostom had been condemned to exile and had appealed to Pope Innocent and the West in 405, Gaudentius warmly took his part. An embassy to the Eastern Emperor Arcadius from his brother Honorius and from the pope, bearing letters frorn both and from Italian bishops, consisted of Gaudentius and two other bishops. The envoys were seized at Athens and sent to Constantinople, being three days on a ship without food. They were not admitted into the city, but were shut up in a fortress called Athyra, on the coast of Thrace. Their credentials were seized by force, so that the thumb of one of the bishops was broken, and they were offered a large sum of money if they would communicate with Atticus, who had supplanted St. Chrysostom. They were consoled by God, and St. Paul appeared to a deacon amongst them. They were eventually put on board an unseaworthy vessel, and it was said that the captain had orders to wreck them. However, they arrived safe at Lampsacus, where they took ship for Italy, and arrived in twenty days at Otranto. Their own account of their four months' adventures has been preserved to us by Palladius (Dialogus, 4). St. Chrysostom wrote them several grateful letters.
We possess twenty-one genuine tractates by Gaudentius. The first ten are a series of Easter sermons, written down after delivery at the request of Benivolus, the chief of the Brescian nobility, who had been prevented by ill health from hearing them delivered. In the preface Gaudentius takes occasion to disown all unauthorized copies of his sermons published by shorthand writers. These pirated editions seem to have been known to Rufinus, who, in the dedication to St. Gaudentius of his translation of the pseudo-Clementine "Recognitions", praises the intellectual gifts of thne Bishop of Brescia, saying that even his extempore speaking is worthy of publication and of preservation by posterity. The style of Gaudentius is simple, and his matter is good. His body lies at Brescia in the Church of St. John Baptist, on the site of the Concilium Sanctorum. His figure is frequently seen in the altar-pieces of the great Brescian painters, Moretto, Savoldo, and Romanino. The best edition of his works is by Galeardi (Padua, 1720, and in P.L., XX). SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/G/stgaudentius.asp
TODAY'S GOSPEL : OCT. 25: LUKE 13: 18 - 21
| Luke 13: 18 - 21 | |
| 18 | He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? |
| 19 | It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." |
| 20 | And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? |
| 21 | It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." |
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