ASIA: IRAQ: BOMB EXPLODES NEAR CHURCH- HEAVY DAMAGE
AMERICA: CANADA: ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES DUE TO DEATH OF BISHOP
AUSTRALIA: KEVIN RUDD'S MESSAGE TO 4,000 WYD YOUTH
AFRICA: NIGERIA: SERMONS MONITORED BY STATE AGENTS
EUROPE: 65 ORGANIZATIONS- WORK-FREE-SUNDAY ALLIANCE
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: ASSUMPTION OF MARY
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: BL. ISIDORE BAKANJA
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: ST. STANISLAUS KOSTKA
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: ST. TARSICIUS
TODAY'S MASS READINGS: AUG. 15: ASSUMPTION OF MARY: SOLEMNITY
After the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, Pope benedict greeted pilgrims in many languages, including English:
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady. May the example and prayers of Mary, Queen of Heaven, inspire and sustain us on our pilgrimage of faith, that we too may attain the glory of the Resurrection and the fulfilment of our hope in her Son’s promises. Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s richest blessings!
Before the traditional noonday Angelus, Celebrating Mass at 8 AM on the Feast of the Assumption in the Pontifical parish at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict reflected on Mary as the true Ark of the Covenant – as the New Testament tells us – for she carried the Son of God within her very self. The Pope went on to note that we, too, are recipients of the love of God, and must do as Mary did: accept Christ in faith, be enlightened and guided by His word, follow Him every day.
At the end of the Mass, Benedict XVI inaugurated a plaque in the Church commemorating the recently completed restoration work, including a new bronze doors, and a plaque on the town hall that bears an inscriprion of the Pope’s greeting to Castel Gandolfo on his arrival July 7.
ASIA: IRAQ: BOMB EXPLODES NEAR CHURCH- HEAVY DAMAGE
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Kirkuk (AsiaNews) – A bomb exploded last night near the St Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church in Kirkuk, which is just a few hundreds of metres from the Chaldean cathedral, in central part of the city. The device blew up at 1.30 am and there were no victims. The damages to the church were however huge (pictured).
Today’s incident is the latest in a string of attacks against Christians and their places of worship. On 2 August, a car bomb exploded in front of the Holy Family Syrian Catholic Church, wounding 15 people. The bomb had been placed inside a car, parked near the building.
On the same day, another bomb also placed in a car parked near a Presbyterian church was defused before it went off.
Islamic fundamentalists, who remain very active, as well as groups involved in local feuds, have targeted Iraqi Christians.
With a population of 900,000, Kirkuk is located in Iraq’s most important oil fields. For years, it has been embroiled in a political fight among various ethnic groups, most notably Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds. The latter would like to see Kirkuk’s region annexed to Kurdistan, whilst Arabs and Turkmen would like it to remain directly linked to Iraq’s central government.
AMERICA: CANADA: ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES DUE TO DEATH OF BISHOP
CCCB.CA REPORT: Due to the recent Episcopal nominations and the death of Bishop Paul Marchand, S.M.M., Bishop of Timmins, the dioceses affected have elected the following Diocesan Administrators:
Archbishop emeritus André Gaumond has been elected Administrator of the archdiocese of Sherbrooke, effective until September 29, 2011, the date on which the Most Reverend Luc Cyr is installed as Archbishop of Sherbrooke.
Bishop emeritus Raymond St-Gelais has been elected Administrator of the diocese of Nicolet, effective until September 11, 2011, the date on which the Most Reverend André Gazaille is installed as Bishop of Nicolet.
Bishop Luc Cyr has been elected Administrator of the diocese of Valleyfield, effective until his installation as Archbishop of Sherbrooke. (PICTURED)
The Reverend Patrick Lafleur has been elected Administrator of the diocese of Timmins, after the death of the Most Reverend Paul Marchand, S.M.M., Bishop of Timmins, on July 24, 2011 at the age of 74 years.
http://www.cccb.ca/site/eng/media-room/announcements/3137-diocesan-administrators-have-been-elected
EUROPE: 65 ORGANIZATIONS- WORK-FREE-SUNDAY ALLIANCE
COMECE/SUNDAY ALLIANCE REPORT: On 20 June, some 65 civil society organisations, trade unions and Churches launched the European Sunday Alliance at an event held in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels. In their Founding Statement “Together for decent working hours” the signatories commit to safeguard and promote work-free Sundays and decent working hours throughout Europe. The launch was part of an expert conference on the impact of Sunday work on the health, safety and social integration of workers.
Among the expert speakers were the psychologist Professor Friedhelm Nachreiner, who recently testified in the German Constitutional Court proceedings on Sunday work that resulted in a ban on shop openings on Sundays in that country. He presented the results of numerous studies, proving: “Whatever set of data you look at, whatever aspects you factor in or leave aside, the result is always the same: Any person working on Sundays is negatively affected both in terms of health and safety.” The social scientist Dr Jill Ebrey, who undertakes research on the social value of synchronised free time at weekends for workers, helped finding explanations for these findings: “Saturday and Sunday are not merely the end of the week, but form the weekend – a special time for almost anybody. Its demise causes great distress.” Other aspects covered were the impact of volunteer work and economic pressures on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.
The members of the Alliance demand that both European and national legislation needs to be more protective of workers’ private lives, including the right to shared free time for family, social and civic engagement, and culture. They stress that societies need a collective rhythm, because people are embedded in social structures that are necessary for their well-being and for social cohesion: “Apart from our scientific findings, the political decision comes down to what sort of society we want to live in: a participative society, or a society where more and more people withdraw from interaction – with the negative impacts on democracy this would have,” concludes Professor Nachreiner.
In asserting these rights, the Alliance refutes a purely economically-driven lifestyle, but argues for a better reconciliation of private and professional life. The Alliance urges the EU and Member States to take all legislative and political measures to promote these aims, including working time regulations that respect the right to limited working hours, to weekends and holidays, and collective agreements. It invites other actors to join the Alliance and promote the aims at all political levels.
http://www.europeansundayalliance.eu/site/home/article/74.html?SWS=e50802bed8828fefbf4630cdade488e8
AUSTRALIA: KEVIN RUDD'S MESSAGE TO 4,000 WYD YOUTH
Sydney Archdiocese REPORT:
15 Aug 2011
Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd has given his best wishes to Australia's 4000 young pilgrims who are currently headed for World Youth Day in Madrid which begins on Tuesday, 16 August.
In a special video posted on YouTube, the Foreign Minister not only remembers the excitement and joy of Sydney's own World Youth Day in July 2008 but gives travellers to this year's WYD important information and safety tips. Whether it's how to ensure your passport and belongings are safe or keeping someone informed of your movements and where you are staying, Mr Rudd gives some valuable advice. Whether you are lucky enough to be one of the pilgrims travelling to World Youth Day in Madrid or planning an overseas trip at a later time, his advice is timely.
The large contingent of young Australians will join up with an estimated 1.5 million other young people from nations across the globe for World Youth Day in Madrid. Pope Benedict XVI will also be there along with the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell and many other leaders of the Church in Australia as well as from across the world. Thousands of priests and seminarians will also be in Madrid for this life changing event.
AFRICA: NIGERIA: SERMONS MONITORED BY STATE AGENTS
According to a report in the Nigerian newspaper "The Vanguard" the Director of the Security Service in Kogi State, Mike Fubar, said that his organization will also monitor the outdoor preaching and other religious events.
Fubar added that preachers have to undergo a security check and obtain the authorization of the SSS to carry out their activities.
The head of the security service has also stressed that surveillance has been strengthened in hotels to prevent dangerous individuals to use such places as an operational base for criminal activity.
Even banks and companies operating in the State were invited to meetings with the leaders of law enforcement agencies to establish measures to reinforce security in their offices.
Thanks to these measures, according to the Director of the SSS, the presence of members of the sect Boko Haram in Kogi State has been avoided.
The sect Boko Haram is active in the State of Bauchi, where several attacks against churches, police stations and other civilian targets have been carried out. (L.M.)
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: ASSUMPTION OF MARY
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast: August 15
| The Assumption is the oldest feast day of Our Lady, but we don't know how it first came to be celebrated.
Its origin is lost in those days when Jerusalem was restored as a sacred city, at the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (c. 285-337). By then it had been a pagan city for two centuries, ever since Emperor Hadrian (76-138) had leveled it around the year 135 and rebuilt it as For 200 years, every memory of Jesus was obliterated from the city, and the sites made holy by His life, death and Resurrection became pagan temples.
After the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 336, the sacred sites began to be restored and memories of the life of Our Lord began to be celebrated by the people of Jerusalem. One of the memories about his mother centered around the "Tomb of Mary," close to Mount Zion, where the early Christian community had lived.
On the hill itself was the "Place of Dormition," the spot of Mary's "falling asleep," where she had died. The "Tomb of Mary" was where she was buried.
At this time, the "Memory of Mary" was being celebrated. Later it was to become our feast of the Assumption.
For a time, the "Memory of Mary" was marked only in Palestine, but then it was extended by the emperor to all the churches of the East. In the seventh century, it began to be celebrated in Rome under the title of the "Falling Asleep" ("Dormitio") of the Mother of God.
Soon the name was changed to the "Assumption of Mary," since there was more to the feast than her dying. It also proclaimed that she had been taken up, body and soul, into heaven.
That belief was ancient, dating back to the apostles themselves. What was clear from the beginning was that there were no relics of Mary to be venerated, and that an empty tomb stood on the edge of Jerusalem near the site of her death. That location also soon became a place of pilgrimage. (Today, the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on the spot.)
At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that "Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven." In the eighth century, St. John Damascene was known for giving sermons at the holy places in Jerusalem. At the Tomb of Mary, he expressed the belief of the Church on the meaning of the feast: "Although the body was duly buried, it did not remain in the state of death, neither was it dissolved by decay. . . . You were transferred to your heavenly home, O Lady, Queen and Mother of God in truth."
All the feast days of Mary mark the great mysteries of her life and her part in the work of redemption. The central mystery of her life and person is her divine motherhood, celebrated both at Christmas and a week later (Jan. 1) on the feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) marks the preparation for that motherhood, so that she had the fullness of grace from the first moment of her existence, completely untouched by sin. Her whole being throbbed with divine life from the very beginning, readying her for the exalted role of mother of the Savior.
The Assumption completes God's work in her since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is God's crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters eternity. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over.
The feast days of the Church are not just the commemoration of historical events; they do not look only to the past. They look to the present and to the future and give us an insight into our own relationship with God. The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended.
The prayer for the feast reads: "All-powerful and ever-living God: You raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul, to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory."
In 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution With that, an ancient belief became Catholic doctrine and the Assumption was declared a truth revealed by God. |
Read more:http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/A/assumptionoftheblessedvirginmary.asp#ixzz1V62lQAi1
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: BL. ISIDORE BAKANJA
Bl. Isidore Bakanja
MARTYR
Feast: August 15
| One of "the least brothers" of Jesus, was born in northeast Zaire (then, Belgian Congo) sometime between 1885 and 1890. His baptismal record is the first document about him, as he was attracted to Christ when he was about 18 years of age, working for white colonizers as an assistant mason. He never forgot the lessons taught him by the Trappist missionaries from Westmalle Abbey in Belgium: a follower of Jesus should be characterized by prayer and witness. He should be recognized by the rosary and scapular (Mary's habit, as it was rendered in Isidore's native tongue). Mild, honest, respectful by nature, Isidore worked conscientiously and prayed faithfully, as many non-Christian witnesses attested. Often with rosary in hand, he looked for opportunities to share his new-found faith with others, to the extent that many thought of him as a catechist. He definitively left his native village because there were no fellow followers of Christ there. In a larger settlement, he found employment with the agent of a Belgian company that controlled the rubber plantations in the region. He was hired as a domestic boy. Many of the agents were avowed atheists, who hated the missionaries because of the latter's defence of the natives' rights and their denouncing of injustices perpetrated against them. "Mon pere" was a pejorative name given to priests and to all that had to do with religion. Isidore soon experienced the hatred of the agents for Catholicism. He asked for leave to return home; permission was refused. He was told to stop teaching his fellow workers how to pray: "You'll have the whole village praying and no one will want to work", one agent shouted at him. Isidore was told to discard his scapular. When he did not, he was twice flogged. The second time, the agent flew into one of his rages. He jumped at Isidore, tore the scapular from around his neck and threw him to the ground. He had two servant boys hold Isidore by his hands and feet and a third domestic flogged him. The whip was made of elephant hide with nails protruding at the end. The writhing Isidore asked for mercy. "My God, I'm dying", he muttered. But the colonizer kept kicking Isidore in the neck and head, and ordered his domestic to scourge him harder still. After 100, those assisting lost count of the number of blows. Isidore's back was one open wound; some of his bones were exposed. After scourging he was thrown, legs chained, into a hut for processing rubber. He could not even move to relieve himself. Since an inspector was due, Isidore was banished to another village. But because he could not walk, he fell by the wayside and hid in the forest. He dragged himself before the inspector, who was horrified at the sight of this modern Job. The inspector himself left a written account of his impression: "I saw a man come from the forest with his back torn apart by deep, festering, malodorous wounds, covered with filth, assaulted by flies. He leaned on two sticks in order to get near me -he wasn't walking; he was dragging himself". The agent appeared on the scene and tried to kill "that animal of mon pere", but the inspector even physically prevented him. He took Isidore to his own settlement, hoping to help him heal. But Isidore felt death in his bones. He told someone who had pity on him: "if you see my mother, or if you go to the judge, or if you meet the priest, tell them that I am dying because I am a Christian". Two missionaries spent several days with him. He devoutly received the last sacraments. He told them the reason for his beating: "The white man did not like Christians.... He did not want me to wear the scapular.... He yelled at me when I said my prayers". The missionaries urged Isidore to forgive the agent; he assured them that he had already done so and that he nursed no hatred for him. This "animal of mon pere", this convert of two-and-a-half years proved that he knew what it meant to follow Jesus - even to the point of being flogged like him, even to the point of carrying the cross, even to the point of dying. The missionaries urged Isidore to pray for the agent. "Certainly I shall pray for him. When I am in heaven, I shall pray for him very much". His agony - more painful than the actual flogging - lasted six months. He died on either 8 or 15 august 1909, rosary in hand and the scapular of Our Lady of Mt Carmel around his neck. |
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsholy/saints/I/blisidorebakanja.asp#ixzz1V62byXbX
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: ST. STANISLAUS KOSTKA
St. Stanislaus Kostka
JESUIT AND MODEL OF INNOCENCE
Feast: August 15
| Born at Rostkovo near Prasnysz, Poland, about 28 October, 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus at Rome, 28 October, 1567, and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred. His father, John Kostka, was a senator of the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of Zakroczym; his mother was Margaret de Drobniy Kryska, the sister and niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated Chancellor of Poland, Felix Kryski. The marriage was blessed with seven children, of whom Stanislas was the second. His older brother Paul survived him long enough to be present at the celebration of the beatification of Stanislas in 1605. The two brothers were first taught at home, the main feature of this early education being the firmness, even severity, of their training; its results were the excellent habits of piety, modesty, temperance, and submission. After this they were sent to Vienna with their tutor to attend the Jesuit college that had been opened four years before, reaching Vienna, 25 July, 1564. Among the students of the college Stanislas was soon conspicuous not only for his amiability and cheerfulness of expression, but also for his religious fervour and angelic piety. This spirit of devotion continued to grow during the three years he remained in Vienna. His brother Paul said of him during the process of beatification: "He devoted himself so completely to spiritual thing that he frequently became unconscious, especially in the church of the Jesuit Fathers at Vienna. It is true," added the witness, "that this had happened at home to my brother at Easter when he was seated at table with our parents and other persons." Among other practices of devotion he joined while at Vienna the Congregation of St. Barbara, to which many students of the Jesuit college belonged. If the confidences he then made to his tutor and later to a fellow-member of the Society at Rome are to be believed, it was Saint Barbara who brought two angels to him during the course of a serious illness, in order to give him the Eucharist. So much piety, however, did not please the older brother Paul; his exasperation led him to treat with violence the innocent Stanislas. The latter finally lost patience, and one night after Stanislas had again suffered the harsh comments and blows of his brother he turned on Paul with the words: "Your rough treatment will end in my going away never to return, and you will have to explain my leaving to our father and mother." Paul's sole reply was to swear violently at him.
Meantime the thought of joining the Society of Jesus had already entered the mind of the saintly young man. It was six months, however, before he ventured to speak of this to the superiors of the Society. At Vienna they hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be raised by his father against the Society, which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other admissions to the Company. Stanislas quickly grasped the situation and formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome. The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without equipment, or guide, or any other resources but the precariouscharity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brotherPaul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, taking the first opportunity to exchange the dress of gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he might meet. By nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended that Stanislas had turned from them as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained twenty-four hours over them. They started to follow him, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go farther, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a different road from the one whichStanislas had taken. It is noticeable that in his testimony Paul gives no explanation of his ill-luck.
Stanislas stayed for a month at Dillingen, where the provincial of that time, the Blessed Peter Canisius, put the young aspirant's vocation to the test by employing him in the boarding-school. Subsequently he went on to Rome, where he arrived 25 October, 1567. As he was greatly exhausted by the journey, the general of the order, St. Francis Borgia, would not permit him to enter the novitiate of Saint Andrew until several days later. During the ten remaining months of his life, according the testimony of the master of novices, Father Giulio Fazio, he was a model and mirror of religious perfection. Notwithstanding his very delicate constitution he did not spare himself the slightest penance ("Monument hist. Societatis Jesu, Sanctus Franciscus Borgia", IV, 635). He had such a burning fever his chest that he was often obliged to apply cold compresses. On the eve of the feast of St. Lawrence, Stanislas felt a mortal weakness made worse by a high fever, and clearly saw that his last hour had come. He wrote a letter to the Blessed Virgin begging her to call him to the skies there to celebrate with her the glorious anniversary of her Assumption (ibid., 636). His confidence in the Blessed Virgin, which had already brought him many signal favours, was this time again rewarded; on 15 August, towards four in the morning, while he was wrapt in pious utterances to God, to the saints, and to the Virgin Mary, his beautiful soul passed to its Creator. His face shone with the most serene light. The entire city proclaimed him a saint and people hastened from all parts to venerate his remains and to obtain, if possible, some relics (ibid., 637). The Holy See ratified the popular verdict by his beatification in 1605; he was canonized on 31 December, 1726. St. Stanislas is one of the popular saints of Poland and many religious institutions have chosen him as the protector of their novitiates. The representations of him in art are very varied; he is sometimes depicted receiving Holy Communion from the hands of angels; sometimes receiving the Infant Jesus from the hands of the Virgin; or he is shown in the midst of a battle putting to flight the enemies of his country. At times he is depicted near a fountain putting a wet linen cloth on his breast. He isinvoked for palpitations of the heart and for dangerous cases of illness ( Cahier, "Caractéristiques des Saints"). This account has been drawn almost exclusively from the depositions of witnesses cited for the process of canonization of Stanislas (cf. Archivio della Postulazione generale d. C. d. G., Roma). The accompanying portrait is by Scipione Delfine and the oldest of St. Stanislas in existence. Having probably been painted at Rome the year of his death, perhaps after death, it may be regarded as the best likeness. The face is strikingly Slavonic, a fact that is not noticeable in his other portraits. |
Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsholy/saints/S/ststanislauskostka.asp#ixzz1V62BeBak
2011
TODAY'S SAINT: AUG. 15: ST. TARSICIUS
St. Tarsicius
MARTYR
Feast: August 15
| Martyr. The only positive information concerning this Roman martyr is found in the poem composed in his honour by Pope Damasus ("Damasi epigrammata", ed. Ihm, 14). In these lines Damasus compares Tarsicius to the protomartyr Stephen: just as the latter was stoned by the people of Judea so Tarsicius, carrying the Blessed Sacrament, was attacked by a heathen rabble, and he suffered death rather "than surrender the Sacred Body [of Christ] to the raging dogs". This tradition so positively asserted by Damasus is undoubtedly historical. Nothing definite is known concerning the personality of this martyr of the Eucharist. He may have been a deacon, as Damasus compares him to Stephen. An addition to the sixth-century legend of the martyrdom of Pope St. Stephen makes Tarsicius, for some unknown reason, an acolyte; this addition, however, is based on the poem of Damasus. It is evident that the death of this martyr occurred in one of the persecutions that took place between the middle of the third century and the beginning of the fourth. He was buried in the Catacomb of St. Callistus, and the inscription by Damasus was placed later on his tomb. In the seventh century his remains rested in the same grave as those of Pope Zephyrinus; according to Willpert they lay in the burial vault above ground (cella trichora) which was situated towards the west over the Catacomb of St. Callistus. The feast of the saint is observed on 15 August.
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Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsholy/saints/T/sttarsicius.asp#ixzz1V61oRwoH
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TODAY'S MASS READINGS: AUG. 15: ASSUMPTION OF MARY: SOLEMNITY
| Revelation 11: 19 | |
| 19 | Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. |
| 12: 1 - 6, 10 | |
| 1 | And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; |
| 2 | she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. |
| 3 | And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. |
| 4 | His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; |
| 5 | she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, |
| 6 | and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. |
| 10 | And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
|
| Psalms 45: 10 - 12, 16 | |
| 10 | Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house; |
| 11 | and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; |
| 12 | the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, the richest of the people |
| 16 | Instead of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.
|
| 1 Corinthians 15: 20 - 27 | |
| 20 | But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. |
| 21 | For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. |
| 22 | For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. |
| 23 | But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. |
| 24 | Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. |
| 25 | For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. |
| 26 | The last enemy to be destroyed is death. |
| 27 | "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection under him," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him.
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| Luke 1: 39 - 56 | |
| 39 | In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, |
| 40 | and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth. |
| 41 | And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit |
| 42 | and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! |
| 43 | And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? |
| 44 | For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. |
| 45 | And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." |
| 46 | And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, |
| 47 | and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, |
| 48 | for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; |
| 49 | for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. |
| 50 | And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. |
| 51 | He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, |
| 52 | he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; |
| 53 | he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. |
| 54 | He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, |
| 55 | as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever." |
| 56 | And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home. |
