2013
RADIO VATICANA REPORT: Pope Francis said on Friday the proof of whether we are true Christians is shown by our ability to endure humiliations with joy and patience. Speaking at his morning mass in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, the Pope stressed this need for sacrifice in the Christian’s life of faith.
In his homily at the mass, the Pope began with the Gospel account from St. Luke where Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was to illustrate his reflections on what is demanded of a Christian who follows the Lord. It was after this question and Peter’s correct answer, the Pope continued, that Jesus revealed to the disciples his Passion, his death and his resurrection and he recalled Peter’s horrified reaction to this news in the gospel account from St. Matthew. He said “Peter was frightened and scandalized just like many Christians” who declare “this will never happen to you, I will follow you up to this point.”
Pope Francis said “this is the temptation of a spiritual wellbeing.” Like the young rich man in the gospel “who wanted to follow Jesus but only up to a certain point.” He said “the scandal of the Cross continues to block many Christians” who rather than following this path of the Cross complain about the wrongs and insults they’ve had to ensure.
The Pope said “the proof if somebody is a true Christian is his or her ability to endure humiliations with joy and patience.” This, he concluded, is our choice, “whether to be a Christian of wellbeing or a Christian close to Jesus” who walks along the path of the Cross.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
In his homily at the mass, the Pope began with the Gospel account from St. Luke where Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was to illustrate his reflections on what is demanded of a Christian who follows the Lord. It was after this question and Peter’s correct answer, the Pope continued, that Jesus revealed to the disciples his Passion, his death and his resurrection and he recalled Peter’s horrified reaction to this news in the gospel account from St. Matthew. He said “Peter was frightened and scandalized just like many Christians” who declare “this will never happen to you, I will follow you up to this point.”
Pope Francis said “this is the temptation of a spiritual wellbeing.” Like the young rich man in the gospel “who wanted to follow Jesus but only up to a certain point.” He said “the scandal of the Cross continues to block many Christians” who rather than following this path of the Cross complain about the wrongs and insults they’ve had to ensure.
The Pope said “the proof if somebody is a true Christian is his or her ability to endure humiliations with joy and patience.” This, he concluded, is our choice, “whether to be a Christian of wellbeing or a Christian close to Jesus” who walks along the path of the Cross.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
POPE FRANCIS MEETS 2000 CATECHISTS : "GO WITH CHRIST..."
Over 2000 catechists from the world, saw Pope Francis in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. Vatican Radio REPORT: Pope Francis on Friday evening met with participants of the International Conference on Catechesis, organized for the Year of Faith, which is meeting under the theme “Catechist: A Witness of Faith”. Speaking to two thousand catechists, Pope Francis them for their service to the Church, called them a “pillar” for education in the faith. The Holy Father reminded them that he, too, is a catechist, and being a catechist “begins with Christ.”“The first thing, for a disciple, is to be with the Master: to listen to and learn from Him,” said Pope Francis. "This is always the case, and it is a way that lasts a lifetime!"
Pope Francis said such moments can be difficult to find, especially for those who are married and have children, but emphasized there are a variety of forms of spirituality, and the important thing is to find a suitable way to be with the Lord.
Pope Francis also said catechists must imitate Christ in reaching out to others.
“This is a beautiful experience, and a bit paradoxical,” he said. “Why? Because the person who puts Christ at the centre of his life is off-centre. The more you unite with Jesus and make Him the centre of your life, the more He makes you abandon yourself, decentralize yourself, and open yourself to others.”
He said this was the life in Christ.
“In the heart of the catechist, there always lives this ‘systolic- diastolic’ movement: union with Jesus; encounter with the other,” the Pope said. “If at one of these two movements is no longer beating, then you do not live.”
Pope Francis also told the catechists to not be afraid to “go with Christ to the peripheries.”
“Jesus does not say: go, make do. No! Jesus said : Go, I am with you!,” emphasized Pope Francis.
“This is our beauty and our strength: If we go, if we go out to bring his Gospel with love, with true apostolic spirit , with frankness , He walks with us , before us always [preceding] us.”
He said this is crucial to remember.
“ When we think of going to a faraway place, an extreme periphery, and maybe we are a little afraid, in reality He is already there: Jesus awaits us in the heart of that brother, in his wounded flesh, in his oppressed life, in his soul without faith...[Jesus] always goes there before us ,” he said.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
VICTIMS IN MALL ATTACKED WERE SEVERELY TORTURED - DOCTOR TESTIFIES
A doctor who has been working at the Westgate Mall has claimed that terrorists tortured their victims before killing them.
ALL AFRICA RELEASE: They removed balls, eyes, ears, nose. They get your hand and sharpen it like a pencil then they tell you to write your name with the blood. They drive knives inside a child's body. Actually if you look at all the bodies, unless those ones that were escaping, fingers are cut by pliers, the noses are ripped by pliers."
The doctor who wished to remain anonymous said what he saw was worse that the deaths from the Sachangwan oil tanker explosion that claimed 139 lives in Jaunaury 2009 and the Sinai fire tragedy that killed 101 people in September 2011.
"Sachangwan and Sinai is 50 percent of this. Sachangwan and Sinai you are sure of one thing...it is fire. And those people before they died they fell unconscious. Here it was pain. You find people with hooks hanging from the roof," he said.
The doctor was deployed to the scene yesterday morning.
"The bomb squad determines a lot because they have to move toe after toe, leg after leg (to ensure there are no bombs left behind)," he said.
"Chances of them finishing by 4am (this morning) as is being said is nil. They haven't covered half of basement. By the time I was leaving that place they had only checked 14 vehicles. They are in three groups. The first group goes in and clears, the second group comes in and clears, the third group comes in and clears. Sometimes the doctors get tired, you have to give them a break. And where the bodies were stacked up it is very tricky, so you have to be very smart," he said.
Bomb experts were deployed to the building yesterday, together with forensic experts. After an area was declared free from bombs, the forensic experts would sweep the room before doctors and other medical staff were called to remove bodies of people killed by the terrorists.
A witness at the scene counted 10 bodies being removed in body bags. Engineers will then advise on the structural soundness of the building after half of the overhead parking area collapsed into the floors below.
SHARED FROM ALLAFRICA COM
WINEMAKER WINS AWARD AND THANKS GOD IN AUSTRALIA
ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY RELEASE
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
27 Sep 2013
Award winning wine maker Tim Kirk
Apart from a good location and good grapes award-winning winemaker says he is blessed by God.
Named Winemaker of the Year for 2013 by Gourmet Traveller Magazine this week is just the latest in a series of impressive awards for theology graduate and former religious education teacher turned winemaker, Tim Kirk and his outstanding Clonakilla Wines.
A second generation wine maker at the family's Clonakilla Vineyards at Murrumbateman, about half an hour's drive from Canberra, Tim's wines are frequently named Wine of the Year by the nation's top wine judges.
One of Australia's leading wine authorities, James Halliday describes Clonakilla's Shiraz Viognier as having "icon status" and "one of the best" of Australians wines, while Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine at Langton's, Australia's premier wine auctioneers, believes Clonakilla's Shiraz Viognier "represents the most important advances in the development of Australian Shiraz since the release of 1952 Penfolds Grange Hermitage."
One of Australia's leading wine authorities, James Halliday describes Clonakilla's Shiraz Viognier as having "icon status" and "one of the best" of Australians wines, while Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine at Langton's, Australia's premier wine auctioneers, believes Clonakilla's Shiraz Viognier "represents the most important advances in the development of Australian Shiraz since the release of 1952 Penfolds Grange Hermitage."
Tim, however, did not set out to become a wine maker and despite his father John Kirk producing the Canberra district's first commercial vintage in 1976 with the release of a Clonakilla cabernet-shiraz and a Clonakilla Reisling-Savignon Blanc, believed his vocation was serving God as a theologian and educator.
Tim Kirk and his father John Kirk who named Clonakilla Vineyards after his Irish grandfather's farm
Instilled with his Irish-born father's deep Catholic faith at 18 he met Father Ken Barker, founder of the Missionaries of God's Love and the Young Men of God Movement. Although he says he never felt called to be a missionary, he embraced the emerging charismatic movements in the Church and joined the Disciples of Jesus, and spent the following year studying Catholic doctrine and Catholic Scripture.
"I have always loved the Scriptures and still do," he says.
Enrolling at Canberra's St Mark's Theological College Tim studied for a degree in theology and also spent four years there learning Ancient Greek so he could read the Scriptures in their original language. After graduation he moved to Melbourne where he taught Religious Education and Biblical Studies at Victoria's well-known Jesuit school, St Xavier College.
"At the two-week College break each Easter I would return home to help Dad at the vineyard," he says admitting that growing up at Clonakilla he hadn't been particularly interested in wine growing or wine making.
"I enjoyed wine we always had with our meals and started to be able to tell a good wine from a bad one. But that was pretty much where my interest in wine stopped," he says. However he does recall when he left home and was living with a bunch of blokes, he continued the Kirk family tradition and made sure there was always wine with dinner.
Tim Kirk says he is very blessed with his vineyard, his family and his faith
After Tim began teaching and spending his time off at Clonakilla, change was in the air and Tim found his thoughts turning more and more to wine making and lying awake at night to weigh up the best methods of fermenting the new season's shiraz.
By now he was in his late 20s and had just married the love of his life, Lara whom he first met when he was in Year 10 at Daramalan College and she was in Year 9 St Clare's College, Canberra, and was set settling into life in Melbourne as a teacher and husband.
Then the direction of his life changed completely.
"It was 1990 and I was on a retreat. But every time I started to pray I'd become distracted and instead of reflecting on the Scriptures I'd find myself thinking about shiraz and fermentation. I told the old Jesuit priest who was director of the retreat about how I kept being distracted and thinking about wine making instead of reflection and prayer.
'Why do you assume it's a distraction?' he asked and with those seven words, he changed my life."
Tim says it was in that moment he realised this was God's way of telling him something and that instead of pushing the idea away, he should embrace it and follow his heart.
Tim says it was in that moment he realised this was God's way of telling him something and that instead of pushing the idea away, he should embrace it and follow his heart.
Within six months, he and Lara had left Melbourne and moved on to the family vineyards at Murrumbateman where Tim, following his passion, his heart and his vocation, was appointed General Manager of Clonakilla Wines.
Tim and Lara Kirk were high school sweethearts
That was 20 years ago and during this time, Tim has not only expanded the family vineyards his father founded in 1976 asa weekend hobby, but continues to produce and create some of Australia's most highly prized and outstanding wines from his shiraz, viognier and riesling grapes. riesling wines.
Despite his awards as Clonakilla's chief winemaker, he admits that for him much of winemaking remains a mystery.
Despite his awards as Clonakilla's chief winemaker, he admits that for him much of winemaking remains a mystery.
"Which is probably just a fancy way of saying I am not really sure exactly what makes a great wine," he says.
"But there are certain straight forward principles and these include having a good site, which is the starting point of all good wine, and which my Dad did almost by accident.
Even though we have the same climate as Canberra, we have volcanic soil. Something about the way the slopes roll and the winds move through them and the way temperatures drop down at night and get warm during the day are also factors," he says and explains that the French have the view that the role of the vineyard is to give the landscape a voice.
"And finding the right variety of grape allows the site to express itself," he says.
His father grew up in Ireland and developed an interest and "palate" for wine as a 14-year-old entrusted with looking after the bar and stocking the cellars of the family's hotel in Lisdoonvarna.
His father grew up in Ireland and developed an interest and "palate" for wine as a 14-year-old entrusted with looking after the bar and stocking the cellars of the family's hotel in Lisdoonvarna.
Clonakilla means Meadow of the Church in Gaelic
Smitten with the idea of wine from then on, he learned more and more during his years of study at Cambridge University and during his post doctoral work at Oxford. Then in 1971 three years after he came to Australia with wife and six sons to take up a research position with the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, he bought a 44 acre farm and founded Clonakilla Vineyards, named after his grandfather's farm in County Clare and meaning "meadow of the church."
The name is particularly appropriate for Tim who describes his life as a winemaker and viticulturalist as "blessed."
"That is the word that keeps coming up whenever I reflect on my life. I am blessed to have a vineyard and to be able to work with creation hand in hand with the Creator," he says.
Tim also feels immensely blessed as a husband and father of two sons and three daughters who range in age from 18 down to 10.
Faith he insists has been his rock and the greatest blessing of all. His strong ongoing engagement with the Church remains and he is an active member of the charismatic lay community and is currently co-ordinator for the International Council of Disciples of Jesus.
Filled with a great love of life and living Catholicism in a rich and life-giving way, he talks about the soil and the seasons, the sun and the wind through the slopes, the smell of the ground after rain and and the first small clusters of buds on the vines.
"Wine making is the process of trying to capture something wonderful from such a wonderful landscape for the world to enjoy," he says.
To find out more about Clonakilla Wines log on to www.clonakilla.com.au
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY RELEASE
RIP FR. VICTOR CRENNAN PE - FINE EXAMPLE TO COMMUNITY
ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE RELEASE:
Communications Office, Wednesday 25 September 2013
FATHER Victor Paul Matthew Crennan PE, affectionately known as 'Fr Vic,' died peacefully on Monday 23 September at Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew.
"Father Vic served the Church in a very positive and pastorally enriching manner, giving fine example to both his brother priests and the community for over 59 years," Archbishop Denis Hart said in a statement issued this morning.
"The Archdiocese is most grateful for his untiring service to the Church of Melbourne."
After serving as Assistant Priest at the parishes of Heidelberg, East Brighton, Bacchus Marsh, Mitcham, Brunswick and Bennettswood, Fr Vic was made Administrator of Hampton and East Hampton parishes. He was then appointed Parish Priest of East Hampton.
Upon retirement in 2005, Fr Vic was appointed Pastor Emeritus.
Vigil Mass - celebrated by Bishop Peter Elliott
Monday, 30 September at 7:30pm
Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Bluff Road, East Hampton
Pontifical Funeral Mass
Tuesday 1 October, 11am
Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Bluff Road, East Hampton
Vale Fr Victor Crennan
Communications Office, Wednesday 25 September 2013FATHER Victor Paul Matthew Crennan PE, affectionately known as 'Fr Vic,' died peacefully on Monday 23 September at Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew.
"Father Vic served the Church in a very positive and pastorally enriching manner, giving fine example to both his brother priests and the community for over 59 years," Archbishop Denis Hart said in a statement issued this morning.
"The Archdiocese is most grateful for his untiring service to the Church of Melbourne."
After serving as Assistant Priest at the parishes of Heidelberg, East Brighton, Bacchus Marsh, Mitcham, Brunswick and Bennettswood, Fr Vic was made Administrator of Hampton and East Hampton parishes. He was then appointed Parish Priest of East Hampton.
Upon retirement in 2005, Fr Vic was appointed Pastor Emeritus.
Vigil Mass - celebrated by Bishop Peter Elliott
Monday, 30 September at 7:30pm
Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Bluff Road, East Hampton
Pontifical Funeral Mass
Tuesday 1 October, 11am
Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Bluff Road, East Hampton
TODAY'S SAINT: SEPT. 27: ST. VINCENT DE PAUL: DIED 1660
St. Vincent de Paul
FOUNDER OF THE VINCENTIANS
Feast: September 27
Information:
Feast Day:
September 27
Born:
April 24, 1581, Pouy, Gascony, France
Died:
September 27, 1660, Paris, France
Canonized:
16 June 1737, Rome by Pope Clement XII
Major Shrine:
St Vincent de Paul chapel, Rue de Sèvres, Paris, France
Patron of:
charities; horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; prisoners; spiritual help; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Vincentian Service Corps; volunteers
Like his fellow saint, Francis de Sales, who was his friend and contemporary, Vincent de Paul performed an invaluable service to the Catholic Church in a period of confusion and laxness. But unlike the aristocratic bishop of Geneva, Vincent was born in poverty, of peasant stock. His birthplace was Pouy, near Dax in Gascony, in southwest France; the year was 1576. Jean de Paul and Bertrande de Moras, his parents, were sturdy farming people who reared a family of four sons and two daughters. Observing young Vincent's quick intelligence, his father sent him to be educated by the Cordelier Brothers at Dax. When the boy had been at school for four years, a lawyer of the town engaged him as tutor to his children, thus enabling Vincent to go on with his studies without further expense to his parents. Vincent continued his education at the Spanish University of Saragossa, and then returned to France to attend the University of Toulouse. At the age of twenty-four he was ordained priest by' the bishop of Perigueux, but remained at Toulouse for another four years to take the degree of Doctor of Theology.
Beyond an aptitude for study and a certain persistence in achieving his ends, there is nothing in Vincent's life up to this time to suggest his future fame and sanctity. He now went on a short journey which was to change his whole life. The scholarly young priest was to be captured at sea by pirates and sold as a slave in Africa! This extraordinary happening came about in the following way. Vincent, having returned home after receiving his degree, went back to Toulouse to recover by process of law a small legacy which had been left him by an old woman of that city. Homeward bound, he made the trip from Marseilles to Narbonne by water, on board a small coastwise vessel. The ship was set upon by three brigantines manned by Barbary pirates, who were at this time a menace to all Mediterranean shipping. When the Christians refused to strike their flag, the infidels attacked them with arrows. Three were killed and several, including Vincent, were wounded. Those who remained alive were put in chains, and the pirates straightway sailed to Africa with their human cargo. Landing at Tunis, the pirates led their prisoners through the streets of the city, after which they were brought back to the vessel and sold to the highest bidder, like cattle. Vincent, bought by a fisherman, was sold again to an aged Moslem, a humane man, who had spent fifty years in search of the "philosopher's stone." He grew fond of his slave, to whom he gave long lectures on alchemy and Mohammedanism; he even promised to make Vincent his heir and also to communicate to him all the secrets of his science if he adopted the religion of Islam. The young priest, terrified that his faith would be corrupted in this alien environment, prayed for divine protection, particularly for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
Vincent continued firm in his faith and lived on with the old man until his death, when he became the property of his master's nephew, who soon sold him to a renegade Christian, a native of Nice. This man, a convert to Mohammedanism, had three wives, one of whom was a Turkish woman. She often wandered into the field where the new Christian slave was at work, and out of idle curiosity would ask him to sing songs in praise of his God. With tears running down his cheeks Vincent would obediently sing certain Psalms, among which was Psalm cxxxvii, "By the waters of Babylon," in which the Jews bewailed their captivity. The Turkish woman now began to reproach her husband for abandoning his religion, and kept on until, without herself accepting the faith, she made him return to it. He repented of his apostasy, and he and Vincent made their escape from Africa together. They crossed the Mediterranean safely in a small boat, landed near Marseilles, in June, 1607, then traveled up to Avignon. There the apostate confessed, and abjured Mohammedanism before the papal vice-legate. The following year, accompanied by Vincent, he went to Rome, where he entered the order of the Brothers of St. John of God, who serve in hospitals.
Vincent now returned to France and chanced to be brought to the attention of Queen Marguerite of Valois, who appointed him her almoner. This office gave him the income from a small abbey. For a time he lodged in the same house as a lawyer, who was one day robbed of a considerable sum. He openly charged Vincent with the theft and spoke against him to all his friends. Vincent did nothing save quietly deny the charge, adding, "God knows the truth." For six years he bore the slander, making no further denial, and at last the real thief confessed. Speaking as though the victim had been someone else, Vincent once told this story at a conference with his priests, in order to show that patience, silence, and resignation are generally the best defense of innocence.
Vincent soon came to know a famous priest of Paris, Monsieur de Berulle, afterwards a cardinal. Father Berulle, who at that time was founding a branch of the Congregation of the Oratory in France, recognized Vincent's worth. He found for him a curacy at Clichy, in the outskirts of Paris, and later through his influence Vincent became tutor to the children of Philip de Gondi, Count of Joigny and general of the galleys of France. The countess, a serious-minded woman, was so impressed by Vincent that she eventually chose him as her spiritual director.
In 1617, while the family was at its country seat at Folleville, in the diocese of Amiens, Vincent was sent for to hear the confession of a peasant who lay dangerously ill. In the course of his questioning, Vincent learned that every one of the peasant's previous confessions had been sacrilegious. On his recovery the man declared, in the presence of the countess, that he would have been eternally lost if he had not spoken with Vincent. Unlike the majority of noble women of this period, who felt no responsibility for their dependents, this good lady was concerned about the spiritual welfare of her tenantry. She persuaded Vincent to preach in the parish church of Folleville and instruct the people. Such crowds came to confess that he called the Jesuits of Amiens to his aid. The Congregation of the Mission had its inception at this time.
Vincent left the household of the count that same year to become pastor of the parish of Chatillon-les-Dombes, which had long been neglected, its church virtually abandoned to the elements. By restoring the church, by instituting the habit of regular worship, he created a new spirit which helped to regenerate the whole district. He converted the notorious count of Rougemont and many other aristocrats from their dissolute lives. Seeing how effective Vincent's labors were, the countess now offered him a large sum of money to found a perpetual mission in whatever place and manner he thought fit. Nothing at first came of the idea, for Vincent seemed reluctant to undertake so important an enterprise. Meanwhile the countess secured her husband's help in organizing a company of zealous missionaries to work among their own vassals and the peasants of the countryside. They also discussed the plan for a perpetual mission with the count's brother, Jean Francois de Gondi, archbishop of Paris, who gave them the College des Bons Enfants as a reception house for the proposed new community.
The countess had obtained from Vincent a promise to continue as her spiritual director while she lived and to assist her at the end. She was in failing health and died in the summer of 1625, whereupon Vincent went to Paris to establish himself at the College des Bons Enfants. Now, at the age of forty-nine, he was free to assume the position of director. He drew up rules and constitutions for the house, and these were approved by Pope Urban VIII in 1632. In that year they were given the priory of St. Lazare, henceforth the chief house of the congregation. The Fathers of the Mission thus came to be called Lazarists, although they are more generally known as Vincentians. The Congregation consisted then, as it still does, of priests and laymen who, after a period of probation, take four simple vows, poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability. They live from a common fund and devote themselves to sanctifying their own spirits and to converting sinners. They are employed in missions, especially to country people, teaching the Catechism, preaching, reconciling differences, and performing charitable deeds. Some of them conduct seminaries. Their institutions now flourish in all parts of the world. Vincent lived to see twenty-five more communities founded in France, northern Italy, Poland, and elsewhere.
Extensive and rewarding as this work was, it did not satisfy Vincent's passion for helping suffering people. He started con fraternities to seek out and care for the sick in every parish. From these groups, under the leadership of Louise de Marillac, sprang the Sisters of Charity, "whose chapel is the parish church, whose cloister the streets of the city and wards of the hospitals." Vincent persuaded a number of noble and wealthy Parisian women, who had hitherto never given a thought to the misery of others, to band together as Ladies of Charity, to collect funds and assist in many practical ways. He made plans for the founding of several hospitals to serve the needy sick, foundlings, and the aged. At Marseilles a home was opened for exhausted galley-slaves. It was the custom at this time in France to punish criminals by condemning them to service in the war galleys of the state. Under the lash and chained to their benches, they performed the cruelly hard labor of rowing these cumbersome vessels with their many-tiered banks of oars. After a few years the prisoners were broken and useless; now for the first time they had a hospital and various other forms of aid.
For men about to take Holy Orders, Vincent devised a set of spiritual exercises, and special exercises also for those desiring to make general Confession, or to settle on a vocation. He conferred frequently with the clergy on the correction of the shocking slackness, ignorance, and abuses that were all around them. To the Biblical injunction, "Thou art thy brother's keeper," he gave new practical meaning, by laying down patterns of philanthropy that have been followed ever since. To the worldly society of seventeenth-century Paris he presented a much-needed example of selfless charity.
The great political and religious conflict known as the Thirty Years War was now raging. Vincent, on hearing of the wretchedness of the people of Lorraine, collected alms for them in Paris. He sent missionaries to other countries affected by the war. Recalling his own sorrows as a slave in Tunisia, he raised enough money to ransom some twelve hundred Christian slaves in Africa. He had influence with the powerful Cardinals Richelieu and De Retz, directors of French foreign policy; and was sent for by King Louis XIII, to minister to him as he lay dying. The king's widow, Anne of Austria, now Queen Regent, had him made a member of the Council of Conscience of the five-year-old prince, the future Louis XIV. Vincent continued to be in favor at court, and during the civil war of the Fronde, tried to persuade the Queen Regent to give up her unpopular minister, Cardinal Mazarin, to help pacify and unify the people.
Thus, although he had no advantages of birth, fortune, or handsome appearance, or any showy gifts at all, Vincent de Paul's later years became one long record of accomplishment. In the midst of great affairs, his soul never strayed from God; always when he heard the clock strike, he made the sign of the cross as an act of divine love. Under setbacks, calumnies, and frustrations, and there were many, he preserved his serenity of mind. He looked on all events as manifestations of the Divine will, to which he was perfectly resigned. Yet by nature, he once wrote of himself, he was "of a bilious temperament and very subject to anger." Without divine grace, he declared, he would have been "in temper hard and repellent, rough and crabbed." With grace, he became tenderhearted to the point of looking on the troubles of all mankind as his own. His tranquillity seemed to lift him above petty disturbances. Self-denial, humility, and an earnest spirit of prayer were the means by which he attained to this degree of perfection. Once when two men of exceptional learning and ability asked to be admitted to his congregation, Vincent courteously refused them, saying: "Your abilities raise you above our low state. Your talents may be of good service in some other place. As for us, our highest ambition is to instruct the ignorant, to bring sinners to a spirit of penitence, and to plant the Gospel spirit of charity, humility, and simplicity in the hearts of all Christians." One of his rules was that, so far as possible, a man ought not to speak of himself or his own concerns, since such discourse usually proceeds from and strengthens pride and self-love.
Vincent was deeply concerned at the rise and spread of the Jansenist heresy. He protested hotly against a view of God that seemed to limit His mercy, and no priest teaching that error could remain in his congregation. "I have made the doctrine of grace the subject of my prayer for three months," he said, "and every day God has confirmed my faith that our Lord died for us all and that He desires to save the whole world."
As the end of his long life drew near, Vincent endured much suffering. On September 27, 1660, he received the Last Sacraments, and died calmly in his chair, being then eighty-five years old. He was buried in the church of St. Lazare, Paris. In 1729 he was beatified by Benedict XIII, and canonized by Clement XII in 1737. Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him patron of all charitable societies. His emblem is, most appropriately, children.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/stvincentdepaul.asp
FOUNDER OF THE VINCENTIANS
Feast: September 27
Information:
Feast Day:
September 27
Born:
April 24, 1581, Pouy, Gascony, France
Died:
September 27, 1660, Paris, France
Canonized:
16 June 1737, Rome by Pope Clement XII
Major Shrine:
St Vincent de Paul chapel, Rue de Sèvres, Paris, France
Patron of:
charities; horses; hospitals; leprosy; lost articles; prisoners; spiritual help; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Vincentian Service Corps; volunteers
Like his fellow saint, Francis de Sales, who was his friend and contemporary, Vincent de Paul performed an invaluable service to the Catholic Church in a period of confusion and laxness. But unlike the aristocratic bishop of Geneva, Vincent was born in poverty, of peasant stock. His birthplace was Pouy, near Dax in Gascony, in southwest France; the year was 1576. Jean de Paul and Bertrande de Moras, his parents, were sturdy farming people who reared a family of four sons and two daughters. Observing young Vincent's quick intelligence, his father sent him to be educated by the Cordelier Brothers at Dax. When the boy had been at school for four years, a lawyer of the town engaged him as tutor to his children, thus enabling Vincent to go on with his studies without further expense to his parents. Vincent continued his education at the Spanish University of Saragossa, and then returned to France to attend the University of Toulouse. At the age of twenty-four he was ordained priest by' the bishop of Perigueux, but remained at Toulouse for another four years to take the degree of Doctor of Theology.
Beyond an aptitude for study and a certain persistence in achieving his ends, there is nothing in Vincent's life up to this time to suggest his future fame and sanctity. He now went on a short journey which was to change his whole life. The scholarly young priest was to be captured at sea by pirates and sold as a slave in Africa! This extraordinary happening came about in the following way. Vincent, having returned home after receiving his degree, went back to Toulouse to recover by process of law a small legacy which had been left him by an old woman of that city. Homeward bound, he made the trip from Marseilles to Narbonne by water, on board a small coastwise vessel. The ship was set upon by three brigantines manned by Barbary pirates, who were at this time a menace to all Mediterranean shipping. When the Christians refused to strike their flag, the infidels attacked them with arrows. Three were killed and several, including Vincent, were wounded. Those who remained alive were put in chains, and the pirates straightway sailed to Africa with their human cargo. Landing at Tunis, the pirates led their prisoners through the streets of the city, after which they were brought back to the vessel and sold to the highest bidder, like cattle. Vincent, bought by a fisherman, was sold again to an aged Moslem, a humane man, who had spent fifty years in search of the "philosopher's stone." He grew fond of his slave, to whom he gave long lectures on alchemy and Mohammedanism; he even promised to make Vincent his heir and also to communicate to him all the secrets of his science if he adopted the religion of Islam. The young priest, terrified that his faith would be corrupted in this alien environment, prayed for divine protection, particularly for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
Vincent continued firm in his faith and lived on with the old man until his death, when he became the property of his master's nephew, who soon sold him to a renegade Christian, a native of Nice. This man, a convert to Mohammedanism, had three wives, one of whom was a Turkish woman. She often wandered into the field where the new Christian slave was at work, and out of idle curiosity would ask him to sing songs in praise of his God. With tears running down his cheeks Vincent would obediently sing certain Psalms, among which was Psalm cxxxvii, "By the waters of Babylon," in which the Jews bewailed their captivity. The Turkish woman now began to reproach her husband for abandoning his religion, and kept on until, without herself accepting the faith, she made him return to it. He repented of his apostasy, and he and Vincent made their escape from Africa together. They crossed the Mediterranean safely in a small boat, landed near Marseilles, in June, 1607, then traveled up to Avignon. There the apostate confessed, and abjured Mohammedanism before the papal vice-legate. The following year, accompanied by Vincent, he went to Rome, where he entered the order of the Brothers of St. John of God, who serve in hospitals.
Vincent now returned to France and chanced to be brought to the attention of Queen Marguerite of Valois, who appointed him her almoner. This office gave him the income from a small abbey. For a time he lodged in the same house as a lawyer, who was one day robbed of a considerable sum. He openly charged Vincent with the theft and spoke against him to all his friends. Vincent did nothing save quietly deny the charge, adding, "God knows the truth." For six years he bore the slander, making no further denial, and at last the real thief confessed. Speaking as though the victim had been someone else, Vincent once told this story at a conference with his priests, in order to show that patience, silence, and resignation are generally the best defense of innocence.
Vincent soon came to know a famous priest of Paris, Monsieur de Berulle, afterwards a cardinal. Father Berulle, who at that time was founding a branch of the Congregation of the Oratory in France, recognized Vincent's worth. He found for him a curacy at Clichy, in the outskirts of Paris, and later through his influence Vincent became tutor to the children of Philip de Gondi, Count of Joigny and general of the galleys of France. The countess, a serious-minded woman, was so impressed by Vincent that she eventually chose him as her spiritual director.
In 1617, while the family was at its country seat at Folleville, in the diocese of Amiens, Vincent was sent for to hear the confession of a peasant who lay dangerously ill. In the course of his questioning, Vincent learned that every one of the peasant's previous confessions had been sacrilegious. On his recovery the man declared, in the presence of the countess, that he would have been eternally lost if he had not spoken with Vincent. Unlike the majority of noble women of this period, who felt no responsibility for their dependents, this good lady was concerned about the spiritual welfare of her tenantry. She persuaded Vincent to preach in the parish church of Folleville and instruct the people. Such crowds came to confess that he called the Jesuits of Amiens to his aid. The Congregation of the Mission had its inception at this time.
Vincent left the household of the count that same year to become pastor of the parish of Chatillon-les-Dombes, which had long been neglected, its church virtually abandoned to the elements. By restoring the church, by instituting the habit of regular worship, he created a new spirit which helped to regenerate the whole district. He converted the notorious count of Rougemont and many other aristocrats from their dissolute lives. Seeing how effective Vincent's labors were, the countess now offered him a large sum of money to found a perpetual mission in whatever place and manner he thought fit. Nothing at first came of the idea, for Vincent seemed reluctant to undertake so important an enterprise. Meanwhile the countess secured her husband's help in organizing a company of zealous missionaries to work among their own vassals and the peasants of the countryside. They also discussed the plan for a perpetual mission with the count's brother, Jean Francois de Gondi, archbishop of Paris, who gave them the College des Bons Enfants as a reception house for the proposed new community.
The countess had obtained from Vincent a promise to continue as her spiritual director while she lived and to assist her at the end. She was in failing health and died in the summer of 1625, whereupon Vincent went to Paris to establish himself at the College des Bons Enfants. Now, at the age of forty-nine, he was free to assume the position of director. He drew up rules and constitutions for the house, and these were approved by Pope Urban VIII in 1632. In that year they were given the priory of St. Lazare, henceforth the chief house of the congregation. The Fathers of the Mission thus came to be called Lazarists, although they are more generally known as Vincentians. The Congregation consisted then, as it still does, of priests and laymen who, after a period of probation, take four simple vows, poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability. They live from a common fund and devote themselves to sanctifying their own spirits and to converting sinners. They are employed in missions, especially to country people, teaching the Catechism, preaching, reconciling differences, and performing charitable deeds. Some of them conduct seminaries. Their institutions now flourish in all parts of the world. Vincent lived to see twenty-five more communities founded in France, northern Italy, Poland, and elsewhere.
Extensive and rewarding as this work was, it did not satisfy Vincent's passion for helping suffering people. He started con fraternities to seek out and care for the sick in every parish. From these groups, under the leadership of Louise de Marillac, sprang the Sisters of Charity, "whose chapel is the parish church, whose cloister the streets of the city and wards of the hospitals." Vincent persuaded a number of noble and wealthy Parisian women, who had hitherto never given a thought to the misery of others, to band together as Ladies of Charity, to collect funds and assist in many practical ways. He made plans for the founding of several hospitals to serve the needy sick, foundlings, and the aged. At Marseilles a home was opened for exhausted galley-slaves. It was the custom at this time in France to punish criminals by condemning them to service in the war galleys of the state. Under the lash and chained to their benches, they performed the cruelly hard labor of rowing these cumbersome vessels with their many-tiered banks of oars. After a few years the prisoners were broken and useless; now for the first time they had a hospital and various other forms of aid.
For men about to take Holy Orders, Vincent devised a set of spiritual exercises, and special exercises also for those desiring to make general Confession, or to settle on a vocation. He conferred frequently with the clergy on the correction of the shocking slackness, ignorance, and abuses that were all around them. To the Biblical injunction, "Thou art thy brother's keeper," he gave new practical meaning, by laying down patterns of philanthropy that have been followed ever since. To the worldly society of seventeenth-century Paris he presented a much-needed example of selfless charity.
The great political and religious conflict known as the Thirty Years War was now raging. Vincent, on hearing of the wretchedness of the people of Lorraine, collected alms for them in Paris. He sent missionaries to other countries affected by the war. Recalling his own sorrows as a slave in Tunisia, he raised enough money to ransom some twelve hundred Christian slaves in Africa. He had influence with the powerful Cardinals Richelieu and De Retz, directors of French foreign policy; and was sent for by King Louis XIII, to minister to him as he lay dying. The king's widow, Anne of Austria, now Queen Regent, had him made a member of the Council of Conscience of the five-year-old prince, the future Louis XIV. Vincent continued to be in favor at court, and during the civil war of the Fronde, tried to persuade the Queen Regent to give up her unpopular minister, Cardinal Mazarin, to help pacify and unify the people.
Thus, although he had no advantages of birth, fortune, or handsome appearance, or any showy gifts at all, Vincent de Paul's later years became one long record of accomplishment. In the midst of great affairs, his soul never strayed from God; always when he heard the clock strike, he made the sign of the cross as an act of divine love. Under setbacks, calumnies, and frustrations, and there were many, he preserved his serenity of mind. He looked on all events as manifestations of the Divine will, to which he was perfectly resigned. Yet by nature, he once wrote of himself, he was "of a bilious temperament and very subject to anger." Without divine grace, he declared, he would have been "in temper hard and repellent, rough and crabbed." With grace, he became tenderhearted to the point of looking on the troubles of all mankind as his own. His tranquillity seemed to lift him above petty disturbances. Self-denial, humility, and an earnest spirit of prayer were the means by which he attained to this degree of perfection. Once when two men of exceptional learning and ability asked to be admitted to his congregation, Vincent courteously refused them, saying: "Your abilities raise you above our low state. Your talents may be of good service in some other place. As for us, our highest ambition is to instruct the ignorant, to bring sinners to a spirit of penitence, and to plant the Gospel spirit of charity, humility, and simplicity in the hearts of all Christians." One of his rules was that, so far as possible, a man ought not to speak of himself or his own concerns, since such discourse usually proceeds from and strengthens pride and self-love.
Vincent was deeply concerned at the rise and spread of the Jansenist heresy. He protested hotly against a view of God that seemed to limit His mercy, and no priest teaching that error could remain in his congregation. "I have made the doctrine of grace the subject of my prayer for three months," he said, "and every day God has confirmed my faith that our Lord died for us all and that He desires to save the whole world."
As the end of his long life drew near, Vincent endured much suffering. On September 27, 1660, he received the Last Sacraments, and died calmly in his chair, being then eighty-five years old. He was buried in the church of St. Lazare, Paris. In 1729 he was beatified by Benedict XIII, and canonized by Clement XII in 1737. Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him patron of all charitable societies. His emblem is, most appropriately, children.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/stvincentdepaul.asp
NOVENA : FEAST OF THE ANGELS - ST. MICHAEL - GABRIEL - RAPHAEL - DAY 7
September 29th is the Feast of the Archangels. Here are three novenas to the archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and ST. Raphael.Novena to St. Michael the Archangel
Novena Dates September 21 - 29, Feast Day September 29
St. Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His people, I turn to you with confidence and seek your powerful intercession. For the love of God, Who made you so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer. You know the value on my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate your loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and your great love for God and people. And since you are God's messenger for the care of his people, I entrust to you this special request: (Mention your request).
St. Michael, since you are, by the Will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in your prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God's holy Will, my petition will be granted.
Pray for me, St. Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs. Through your powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death, and reach heaven where we may praise and love God with you forever. Amen.
Novena to St. Gabriel the Archangel
Novena Dates September 21 - 29, Feast Day September 29
St. Gabriel the Archangel, I venerate you as the "Angel of the Incarnation," because God has specially appointed you to bear the messages concerning the God-Man to Daniel, Zechariah, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Give me a tender and devoted Mother, more like your own.
I venerate you also as the "strength from God," because you are the giver of God's strength, consoler and comforter chosen to strengthen God's faithful and to teach them important truths. I ask for the grace of a special power of the will to strive for holiness of life. Steady my resolutions, renew my courage, comfort and console me in the problems, trials, and sufferings of daily living, as you consoled our Savior in His agony and Mary in her sorrows and Joseph in his trials. I put my confidence in you.
St. Gabriel, I ask you especially for this favor: (Mention your request). Through your earnest love for the Son of God-Made-Man and for His blessed Mother, I beg of you, intercede for me that my request may be granted, if it be God's holy Will.
Pray for us, St. Gabriel the Archangel. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us Pray. Almighty and ever-living God, since You chose the Archangel Gabriel from among all the Angels to announce the mystery of Your Son's Incarnation, mercifully grant that we who honor him on earth may feel the benefit of his patronage in heaven. You live and reign for ever. Amen.
Novena to St. Raphael the Archangel
Novena Dates September 21 - 29, Feast Day September 29
Holy Archangel Raphael, standing so close to the throne of God and offering Him our prayers, I venerate you as God's special Friend and Messenger. I choose you as my Patron and wish to love and obey you as young Tobiah did. I consecrate to you my body and soul,all my work, and my whole life. I want you to be my Guide and Counselor in all the dangerous and difficult problems and decisions of my life.
Remember, dearest, St. Raphael, that the grace of God preserved you with the good Angels in heaven when the proud ones were cast into hell. I entreat you, therefore, to help me in my struggle against the world, the spirit of impurity, and the devil. Defend me from all dangers and every occasion of sin. Direct me always in the way of peace, safety, and salvation. Offer my prayers to God as you offered those of Tobiah, so that through your intercession I may obtain the graces necessary for the salvation of my soul. I ask you to pray that God grant me this favor if it be His holy Will: (Mention your request).
St. Raphael, help me to love and serve my God faithfully, to die in His grace, and finally to merit to join you in seeing and praising God forever in heaven. Amen.
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : FRI. SEPT. 27, 2013
Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
Lectionary: 453
Reading 1 HG 2:1-9
In the second year of King Darius,
on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,
the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
Tell this to the governor of Judah,
Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,
and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak,
and to the remnant of the people:
Who is left among you
that saw this house in its former glory?
And how do you see it now?
Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes?
But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD,
and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak,
And take courage, all you people of the land,
says the LORD, and work!
For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts.
This is the pact that I made with you
when you came out of Egypt,
And my spirit continues in your midst;
do not fear!
For thus says the LORD of hosts:
One moment yet, a little while,
and I will shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land.
I will shake all the nations,
and the treasures of all the nations will come in,
And I will fill this house with glory,
says the LORD of hosts.
Mine is the silver and mine the gold,
says the LORD of hosts.
Greater will be the future glory of this house
than the former, says the LORD of hosts;
And in this place I will give you peace,
says the LORD of hosts!
on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,
the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:
Tell this to the governor of Judah,
Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,
and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak,
and to the remnant of the people:
Who is left among you
that saw this house in its former glory?
And how do you see it now?
Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes?
But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD,
and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak,
And take courage, all you people of the land,
says the LORD, and work!
For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts.
This is the pact that I made with you
when you came out of Egypt,
And my spirit continues in your midst;
do not fear!
For thus says the LORD of hosts:
One moment yet, a little while,
and I will shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land.
I will shake all the nations,
and the treasures of all the nations will come in,
And I will fill this house with glory,
says the LORD of hosts.
Mine is the silver and mine the gold,
says the LORD of hosts.
Greater will be the future glory of this house
than the former, says the LORD of hosts;
And in this place I will give you peace,
says the LORD of hosts!
Responsorial Psalm PS 43:1, 2, 3, 4
R. (5) Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight
against a faithless people;
from the deceitful and impious man rescue me.
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
For you, O God, are my strength.
Why do you keep me so far away?
Why must I go about in mourning,
with the enemy oppressing me?
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight
against a faithless people;
from the deceitful and impious man rescue me.
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
For you, O God, are my strength.
Why do you keep me so far away?
Why must I go about in mourning,
with the enemy oppressing me?
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.
Gospel LK 9:18-22
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment