Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Catholic News World : Wednesday May 25, 2016 - SHARE

2016

#PopeFrancis "... one who prays aspires first of all to union with Him, merciful Love" #Audience FULL TEXT - Video

#BreakingNews New Video from ISIS shows Children training with AK-47s - Please PRAY

Today's Mass Readings and Video : Wed. May 25, 2016

Saint May 25 : St. Madeline Sophie Barat : #Foundress of Society of the Sacred Heart

Saint May 25 : St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi : Discalced #Carmelite and #Healer

Saint May 25: St. Bede : Patron of #Lectors , #Writers and #Historians : Died 735

#Novena to Our Lady Help of Christians of St. John Bosco - SHARE #Miracle Prayer

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

The Gospel parable we just heard (cf. Luke 18:1-8) contains an important teaching: “The need to pray always and not lose heart” (v. 1). Therefore, it is not about praying sometimes, when I feel like it. No, Jesus says that we must “pray always, and not lose heart,” and He gives the example of the widow and the judge.

The judge is a powerful character, called to hand down sentences on the basis of the Law of Moses. Therefore, the biblical tradition recommended that judges be persons fearful of God, worthy of faith, impartial and incorruptible (cf. Exodus 18:21). This judge, however, “neither feared God nor regarded man” (v. 2). He was an iniquitous judge, without scruples, who did not take the Law into account but did what he wished, according to his interest. A widow comes to him to have justice. Widows, together with orphans and foreigners, were the weakest categories of the society. The rights ensured to them by the Law could be easily trampled because, being persons alone and without defense, they could hardly make themselves heard.: a poor widow, there, alone, no one defended her; they could ignore her, also not give her justice. The same with the orphan, so also the foreigner, the migrant; at that time this problem was very strong. In face of the judge’s indifference, the widow takes recourse to her only weapon: to continue insistently to importune him, presenting him her request for justice. And, precisely with this perseverance, she accomplishes her purpose. At a certain point, in fact, at a certain point the judge listens to her, not because he is moved by mercy, or because his conscience imposed it on him; he simply admits: ”because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming” (v. 5).

Jesus draws a twofold conclusion from this parable: if the widow succeeded in bending the dishonest judge with her insistent requests, how much more God, who is a good and just Father, “will vindicate His elect, who cry to Him day and night?.” And, moreover, “He will vindicate them speedily” (vv. 7-8).

Therefore, Jesus exhorts to pray “without losing heart.” We all experience moments of tiredness and discouragement, especially when our prayer seems ineffective. But Jesus assures us: as opposed to the dishonest judge, God speedily listens to His children even if He does not do so in the times and ways that we wish. Prayer is not a magic wand. It helps to keep faith in God and to entrust ourselves to Him, even when we do not understand His will.

In this Jesus Himself – who prayed so much! – is our example. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that “In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard for His godly fear (5:7). At first sight this affirmation seems unlikely, because Jesus died on the cross. Yet the Letter to the Hebrews is not mistaken: God truly saved Jesus from death giving Him complete victory over it, but the way followed to obtain it passed through death itself! The reference to the supplication that God heard refers to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane. Assailed by imminent anguish, Jesus prays to the Father to let the bitter chalice of the Passion pass from Him, but His prayer is pervaded by trust in the Father and He entrusts Himself to His will without reservations: “Nevertheless – says Jesus – not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). The object of the prayer passes to the second plane; what matters first of all is His relation with the Father. See what prayer does: it transforms the desire and moulds it according to God’s will, whatever it is, because one who prays aspires first of all to union with Him, merciful Love.

The parable ends with a question: “Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (v. 8). And, with this question, we are all put on guard: we must not desist from prayer even if it is not requited. It is prayer that preserves faith; without it, faith vacillates! Let us ask the Lord for a faith that makes itself incessant, perseverant prayer, as that of the widow of the parable, a faith that is nourished by the desire of His coming. And, in prayer, we experience God’s compassion that, as a Father, comes to meet His children full of merciful love.

[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]

GREETING IN ITALIAN

Dear Italian-speaking pilgrims: welcome!

I greet the Sisters of Our Lady of the Cenacle, on the occasion of their General Chapter; the “Small Charity Work” Foundation with the Bishop of Teramo-Atri, Monsignor Michele Seccia. I greet the Sisters of the Mater Ecclesiae Missionary College of Castel Gandolfo, leaving for their countries; the parish groups, particularly the faithful of Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII and the guests of the Sanatrix rehabilitation center of Eboli. I invite you to live the Jubilee of Mercy with faith: may the crossing of the Holy Door increase in all the sense of belonging to the Church and the necessity of works of mercy towards brothers.

A special thought goes to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Today we celebrate the memory of Pope Saint Gregory VII. May his love for the Lord indicate to you, dear young people the importance of the relationship with God in your life; may it encourage you, dear sick, to face with faith the moments of suffering; may it stimulate you, dear newlyweds, to educate in a Christian way the children the Lord might wish to give you.

[Original text: Italian} [Translation by ZENIT]

THE HOLY FATHER’S APPEALS

Observed today is International Missing Children’s Day. It is a duty of all to protect children, especially those exposed to a high risk of exploitation, trafficking and devious conduct. I hope that the civil and religious Authorities are able to shake and sensitize consciences, to avoid indifference in face of the hardship of children who are alone, exploited and removed from their families and their social context; children who cannot grow serenely and look to the future with hope. I invite all to prayer so that each one of them is restored to the affection of his dear ones.

Tomorrow, at Rome, we will live the traditional procession of Corpus Domini. I will celebrate Mass at 7:00 pm in Saint John Lateran and then we will adore the Most Blessed Sacrament, walking to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I invite Romans and pilgrims to take part in this solemn public ceremony of faith and of love for Jesus truly present in the Eucharist.

[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]

Last Monday some terrorist attacks happened in Syria, which caused the death of some hundred defenseless civilians. I exhort all to pray to the merciful Father and to Our Lady that eternal rest be granted to the victims, consolation to their families and conversion of heart to all those that sow death and destruction.

[Hail Mary …]

[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]

#BreakingNews New Video from ISIS shows Children training with AK-47s - Please PRAY

Isis video shows children training with Ak-47s

Matthias Hariyadi

According to experts the video is authentic and was shot in Syria. It shows 23 boys between 8 and 12 years old, also from Malaysia and the Philippines. Their trainer is Faiz Abu Indunesy, a sniper sought at home. Intelligence expert: "The government should be concerned that so many children have managed to enter Syria."

ihadJakarta (AsiaNews) - A video posted by the Islamic State shows some Indonesian children practicing shooting hand guns and AK-47 rifles, before setting fire to their passports. The boys, all aged 8 to 12 years, are being trained by Abu Faiz al Indunesy: the militiaman is sought by Jakarta and operates as a sniper in Syria for terrorists.

The video lasts about 20 minutes. It shows 23 children (called "Caliphate puppies"), some of whom are from Malaysia and the Philippines. The film also contains phrases that are direct threats to States in Southeast Asia, which "will not be able to defeat" IS.

According Ridlwan Habib, intelligence and terrorism expert at the University of Indonesia, the good quality of the images and the sound indicates that the video is original. The presence of children of different nationalities proves that it was shot in Syria. "The Tourist Office - he said - should make a serious assessment of why so many Indonesian children have managed to enter Syria."

The authorities are concerned that the video is trending on the internet and the influence it may have on the younger generation: "It is a serious matter and we are sorry," said Brig Amar Joey Boy, head of police public relations. "Now everything can be shared, and anyone can make propaganda online." Jakarta is planning to close the border to arrivals from Syria, in order to block the return of trained militiamen.

IS has been already operating in the country for some time. An IS terrorist who wants to prevail over other South-east Asian terrorist groups, has been blamed for the attacks on 14 January in Jakarta.

Indonesian authorities estimate that IS has about a thousand active supporters, a very small number considering that the country it is the most populous Islamic nation in the world with 250 million people (87 per cent Muslim). So far, some 600 Indonesians have reportedly gone to Syria to join the caliphate. Fifty are said to have died. Instead the BNPT anti-terrorism agency says at least 149 have returned from the Middle East.

Text Shared from AsiaNewsIT

Today's Mass Readings and Video : Wed. May 25, 2016

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 349

Reading 11 PT 1:18-25

Beloved:
Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious Blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished Lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.

Since you have purified yourselves
by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love,
love one another intensely from a pure heart.
You have been born anew,
not from perishable but from imperishable seed,
through the living and abiding word of God, for:

“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field;
the grass withers,
and the flower wilts;
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.

Responsorial PsalmPS 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20

R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.

AlleluiaMK 10:45

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMK 10:32-45

The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Saint May 25 : St. Madeline Sophie Barat : #Foundress of Society of the Sacred Heart

St. Madeline Sophie Barat

FOUNDRESS

Feast: May 25

Information:

Feast Day:	May 25
Born:	12 December 1779, Joigny, France
Died:	25 May 1865, Paris, France
Canonized:	24 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI

Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, born at Joigny, Burgundy, 12 December, 1779; died in Paris, 24 May, 1865. She was the youngest child of Jacques Barat, a vine-dresser and cooper, and his wife, Madeleine Foufé, and received baptism the morning after her birth, her brother Louis, aged eleven, being chosen godfather. It was to this brother that she owed the exceptional education which fitted her for her life-work. Whilst her mother found her an apt pupil in practical matters, Louis saw her singular endowments of mind and heart; and when, at the age of twenty-two, he returned as professor to the seminary at Joigny, he taught his sister Latin, Greek, history, natural science, Spanish, and Italian. Soon she took delight in reading the classics in the original, and surpassed her brother's pupils at the seminary.

After the Reign of Terror, Louis called Sophie to Paris, to train her for the religious life, for which she longed. When he had joined the Fathers of the Faith, a band of fervent priests, united in the hope of becoming members of the Society of Jesus on its restoration, he one day spoke of his sister to Father Varin, to whom had been bequeathed by the saintly Léonor de Tournély the plan of founding a society of women wholly devoted to the worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to prayer and sacrifice, and destined to do for girls what the restored Society of Jesus would do for boys. Father Varin had vainly sought a fitting instrument to begin this work; he now found one in this modest, retiring girl of twenty. He unfolded the project, which seemed to satisfy all her aspirations, and she bowed before his authoritative declaration that this was for her the will of God. With three companions she made her first consecration, 21 November, 1800, the date which marks the foundation of the Society of the Sacred Heart. In September, 1801, the first convent was opened at Amiens, and thither Sophie went to help in the work of teaching. It was impossible yet to assume the name "Society of the Sacred Heart", lest a political significance be attached to it; its members were known as Dames de la Foi or de l'Instruction Chrétienne. Father Varin allowed Sophie to make her vows, 7 June, 1802, with Genevieve Deshayes.

The community and school were increasing, and a poor school had just been added, when it became evident to Father Varin that Mademoiselle Loquet, who had hitherto acted as superior, lacked the qualities requisite for the office, and Sophie, although the youngest, was named superior (1802). Her first act was to kneel and kiss the feet of each of her sisters. Such was ever the spirit of her government, November, 1804, found her at Sainte-Marie-d'en-Haut, near Grenoble, receiving a community of Visitation nuns into her institute, One of them, Philippine Duchesne, was later to introduce the society into America. Grenoble was the first of some eighty foundations which Mother Barat was to make, not only in France but in North America (1818), Italy (1828), Switzerland (1830), Belgium (1834), Algiers (1841). England (1842), Ireland(1842), Spain (1846), Holland (1848), Germany (1851), South America (1853) Austria (1853), Poland (1857).

Mother Barat was elected superior-general in January, 1806, but a majority of one vote only, for the influence of an ambitious priest, chaplain at Amiens, wellnigh wrecked the nascent institute. Prolonged prayer, silent suffering, tact, respect, charity, were only means she used to oppose his designs. With Father Varin, now a Jesuit, she elaborated constitutions and rules grafted on the stock of the Institute of St. Ignatius. These rules were received with joy in all the houses, Amiens alone excepted; but Mother Barat's wisdom and humility soon won submission even here. In 1818 she sent Mother Duchesne, with four companions, to the New World; her strong and holy hand was ever ready to support and guide this first missioner of the Society. She called all the superiors together in council at Paris in 1820, to provide a uniform course of studies for their schools. these studies were to be solid and serious, to fit the pupils to become intelligent wives and devoted mother; to give that cultivation of mind. that formation of character, which go to make up a true women; all was to stamped and sealed with strong religious principles and devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Foundations multiplied, and Mother Barat, seeing the necessity of a stronger guarantee of unity, sought it in union with Rome. The solemn approbation was obtained much sooner than usual, owing to a memoir drawn up by the foundress and presented to Leo XII in May, 1826. The decree of approbation was promulgated in December. The society being now fully organized and sealed by Rome's approval, for forty years Mother Barat journeyed from convent to convent, wrote many thousand letters, and assembled general congregations, so as to preserve its original spirit. The Paris school gained European repute; Rome counted three establishments, asked for and blessed by three successive pontiffs. At Lyons Mother Barat founded the Congregation of the Children of Mary for former pupils and other ladies. in he same year (1832), she began at Turin the work of retreats for ladies of the world, an apostleship since widely and profitably imitated. Numerous foundations brought Mother Bart onto personal contact with all classes. We find her crossing and recrossing France, Switzerland, Italy, often on the eve of revolutions; now the centre of a society of émigrés whose intellectual gifts, high social position, and moral worth are seldom found united; now sought out by cardinals and Roman princesses during her vicits to her Roman houses; at another time, speaking on matters educational with Madame de Genlis; or again, exercising that supernatural ascendency which aroused the admiration of such men as Bishop Fraysinous, Doctor Récamier, and Duc de Rohan.
These exterior labours were far from absorbing all Mother Barat's time or energies; they coexisted with a life of ever-increasing holiness and continual prayer; for the real secret of her influence lay in her habitual seclusion from the outside world, in the strong religious formation of her daughters which this seclusion made possible, and in the enlightened, profound, ans supernatural views on education which she communicated to the religious engaged in her schools. She worked by and through them all, and thus reached out to the ends of the earth. In spite of herself she attracted and charmed all who approached her. New foundations she always entrusted to other hands; for, like all great rulers, she had the twofold gift of intuition in the choice of persons fitted for office, and trust of those in responsible posts. Allowing them much freedom of action in details, guiding them only by her counsels and usually form afar. Prelates who now and them ventured to attribute to her the successes of the society, saw that instead of pleasing, they distressed her exceedingly.

Beloved by her daughters, venerated by princes and pontiffs, yet ever lowly of heart, Mother Barat died at the mother-house in Paris, on Ascension Day, 1865, as she had foretold, after four days' illness. She was buried at Conflans, the house of novitiate, where her body was found intact in 1893. In 1879 she was declared Venerable, and the process of beatification introduced. [Note: Mother Barat was canonized in 1925.]

(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)

Saint May 25 : St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi : Discalced #Carmelite and #Healer

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

DISCALCED CARMELITE MYSTIC AND HEALER

Feast: May 25

Information:

Feast Day:	May 25
Born:	April 2, 1566, Florence, Italy
Died:	May 25, 1607, Florence, Italy
Canonized:	April 28, 1669, Rome by Pope Clement X
Patron of:	Naples (co-patron)

Carmelite Virgin, born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in the saint's life. She came of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri de' Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptized, and named Caterina, in the great baptistery. Her childhood much resembled that of some other women saints who have become great mystics, in an early love of prayer and penance, great charity to the poor, an apostolic spirit of teaching religious truths, and a charm and sweetness of nature that made her a general favourite. But above all other spiritual characteristics was Caterina's intense attraction towards the Blessed Sacrament, her longing to receive It, and her delight in touching and being near those who were speaking of It, or who had just been to Communion. She made her own First Communion at the age of ten, and shortly afterwards vowed her virginity to God. At fourteen she was sent to school at the convent of Cavalaresse, where she lived in so mortified and fervent a manner as to make the sisters prophesy that she would become a great saint; and, on leaving it, she told her parents of her resolve to enter the religious state. They were truly spiritual people; and, after a little difficulty in persuading them to relinquish their only daughter, she finally entered in December, 1582, the Carmelite convent of Santa Maria degl' Angeli, founded by four Florentine ladies in 1450 and renowned for its strict observance. Her chief reason for choosing this convent was the rule there followed of daily Communion.

Caterina was clothed in 1583, when she took the name of Maria Maddalena; and on 29 May, 1584, being then so ill that they feared she would not recover, she was professed. After her profession, she was subject to an extraordinary daily ecstasy for forty consecutive days, at the end of which time she appeared at the point of death. She recovered, however, miraculously; and henceforth, in spite of constant bad health, was able to fill with energy the various offices to which she was appointed. She became, in turn, mistress ofexterns--i.e. of girls coming to the convent on trial--teacher and mistress of the juniors, novice mistress (which post she held for six years), and finally, in 1604, superior. For five years (1585-90) God allowed her to be tried by terrible inward desolation and temptations, and by external diabolic attacks; but the courageous severity and deep humility of the means that she took for overcoming these only served to make her virtues shine more brilliantly in the eyes of her community.

From the time of her clothing with the religious habit till her death the saint's life was one series of raptures and ecstasies, of which only the most notable characteristics can be named in a short notice.

* First, these raptures sometimes seized upon her whole being with such force as to compel her to rapid motion (e.g. towards some sacred object).

* Secondly, she was frequently able, whilst in ecstasy, to carry on work belonging to her office--e.g., embroidery, painting, etc.--with perfect composure and efficiency.

* Thirdly--and this is the point of chief importance--it was whilst in her states of rapture that St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi gave utterance to those wonderful maxims of Divine Love, and those counsels of perfection for souls, especially in the religious state, which a modern editor of a selection of them declares to be "more frequently quoted by spiritual writers than those even of St. Teresa". These utterances have been preserved to us by the saint's companions, who (unknown to her) took them down from her lips as she poured them forth. She spoke sometimes as of herself, and sometimes as themouthpiece of one or other of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity. These maxims of the saint are sometimes described as her "Works", although she wrote down none of them herself.

This ecstatic life in no wise interfered with the saint's usefulness in her community. She was noted for her strong common-sense, as well as for the high standard and strictness of her government, and was most dearly loved to the end of her life by all for the spirit of intense charity that accompanied her somewhat severe code of discipline. As novice-mistress she was renowned for a miraculous gift of reading her subjects' hearts--which gift, indeed, was not entirely confined to her community. Many miracles, both of this and of other kinds, she performed for the benefit either of her own convent or of outsiders. She often saw things far off, and is said once to have supernaturally beheld St. Catherine de' Ricci in her convent at Prato, reading a letter that she had sent her and writing the answer; but the two saints never met in a natural manner. To St. Mary Magdalen's numerous penances, and to the ardent love of suffering that made her genuinely wish to live long in order to suffer with Christ, we can here merely refer; but it must not be forgotten that she was one of the strongest upholders of the value of suffering for the love of God and the salvation of our fellow-creatures, that ever lived. Her death was fully in accordance with her life in this respect, for she died after an illness of nearly threeyears' duration and of indescribable painfulness, borne with heroic joy to the end. Innumerable miracles followed the saint's death, and the process for her beatification was begun in 1610 under Paul V, and finished under Urban VIII in 1626. She was not, however, canonized till sixty-two years after her death, when Clement IX raised her to the altars in 28 April, 1669. Her feast is kept on 27 May.

(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)

Saint May 25: St. Bede : Patron of #Lectors , #Writers and #Historians : Died 735

St. Bede

DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, HISTORIAN

Feast: May 25

Information:

Feast Day:	May 25
Born:	672 at Wearmouth, England
Died:	25 May 735
Canonized:	1899 by Pope Leo XIII
Major Shrine:	Durham Cathedral
Patron of:	lectors ;english writers and historians; Jarrow

Historian and Doctor of the Church, born 672 or 673; died 735. In the last chapter of his great work on the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" Bede has told us something of his own life, and it is, practically speaking, all that we know. His words, written in 731, when death was not far off, not only show a simplicity and piety characteristic of the man, but they throw a light on the composition of the work through which he is best remembered by the world at large. He writes:

Thus much concerning the ecclesiastical history of Britain, and especially of the race of the English, I, Baeda, a servant of Christ and a priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, which is at Wearmouth and at Jarrow (in Northumberland), have with the Lord's help composed so far as I could gather it either from ancient documents or from the traditions of the elders, or from my own knowledge. I was born in the territory of the said monastery, and at the age of seven I was, by the care of my relations, given to the most reverend Abbot Benedict [St. Benedict Biscop], and afterwards to Ceolfrid, to be educated. From that time I have spent the whole of my life within that monastery, devoting all my pains to the study of the Scriptures, and amid the observance of monastic discipline and the daily charge of singing in the Church, it has been ever my delight to learn or teach or write. In my nineteenth year I was admitted to the diaconate, in my thirtieth to the priesthood, both by the hands of the most reverend Bishop John [St. John of Beverley], and at the bidding of Abbot Ceolfrid. From the time of my admission to the priesthood to my present fifty-ninth year, I have endeavored for my own use and that of my brethren, to make brief notes upon the holy Scripture, either out of the works of the venerable Fathers or in conformity with their meaning and interpretation.

After this Bede inserts a list or Indiculus, of his previous writings and finally concludes his great work with the following words:

And I pray thee, loving Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom and to appear forever before Thy face.

It is plain from Bede's letter to Bishop Egbert that the historian occasionally visited his friends for a few days, away from his own monastery of Jarrow, but with such rare exceptions his life seems to have been one peaceful round of study and prayer passed in the midst of his own community. How much he was beloved by them is made manifest by the touching account of the saint's last sickness and death left us by Cuthbert, one of his disciples. Their studious pursuits were not given up on account of his illness and they read aloud by his bedside, but constantly the reading was interrupted by their tears. "I can with truth declare", writes Cuthbert of his beloved master, "that I never saw with my eyes or heard with my ears anyone return thanks so unceasingly to the living God." Even on the day of his death (the vigil of the Ascension, 735) the saint was still busy dictating a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the evening the boy Wilbert, who was writing it, said to him: "There is still one sentence, dear master, which is not written down." And when this had been supplied, and the boy had told him it was finished, "Thou hast spoken truth", Bede answered, "it is finished. Take my head in thy hands for it much delights me to sit opposite any holy place where I used to pray, that so sitting I may call upon my Father." And thus upon the floor of his cell singing, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and the rest, he peacefully breathed his last breath.

The title Venerabilis seems to have been associated with the name of Bede within two generations after his death. There is of course no early authority for the legend repeated by Fuller of the "dunce-monk" who in composing an epitaph on Bede was at a loss to complete the line: Hac sunt in fossa Bedae . . . . ossa and who next morning found that the angels had filled the gap with the word venerabilis. The title is used by Alcuin, Amalarius and seemingly Paul the Deacon, and the important Council of Aachen in 835 describes him as venerabilis et modernis temporibus doctor admirabilis Beda. This decree was specially referred to in the petition which Cardinal Wiseman and the English bishops addressed to the Holy See in 1859 praying that Bede might be declared a Doctor of the Church. The question had already been debated even before the time of Benedict XIV, but it was only on 13 November, 1899, that Leo XIII decreed that the feast of Venerable Bede with the title of Doctor Ecclesiae should be celebrated throughout the Church each year on 27 May. A local cultus of St. Bede had been maintained at York and in the North of England throughout the Middle Ages, but his feast was not so generally observed in the South, where the Sarum Rite was followed.

Bede's influence both upon English and foreign scholarship was very great, and it would probably have been greater still but for the devastation inflicted upon the Northern monasteries by the inroads of the Danes less than a century after his death. In numberless ways, but especially in his moderation, gentleness, and breadth of view, Bede stands out from his contemporaries. In point of scholarship he was undoubtedly the most learned man of his time. A very remarkable trait, noticed by Plummer (I, p. xxiii), is his sense of literary property, an extraordinary thing in that age. He himself scrupulously noted in his writings the passages he had borrowed from others and he even begs the copyists of his works to preserve the references, a recommendation to which they, alas, have paid but little attention. High, however, as was the general level of Bede's culture, he repeatedly makes it clear that all his studies were subordinated to the interpretation of Scripture. In his "De Schematibus" he says in so many words: "Holy Scripture is above all other books not only by its authority because it is Divine, or by its utility because it leads to eternal life, but also by its antiquity and its literary form" (positione dicendi). It is perhaps the highest tribute to Bede's genius that with so uncompromising and evidently sincere a conviction of the inferiority of human learning, he should have acquired so much real culture. Though Latin was to him a still living tongue, and though he does not seem to have consciously looked back to the Augustan Age of Roman Literature as preserving purer models of literary style than the time of Fortunatus or St. Augustine, still whether through native genius or through contact with the classics, he is remarkable for the relative purity of his language, as also for his lucidity and sobriety, more especially in matters of historical criticism. In all these respects he presents a marked contrast to St. Aldhelm who approaches more nearly to the Celtic type.

(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)

#Novena to Our Lady Help of Christians of St. John Bosco - SHARE #Miracle Prayer

Everyday of the Novena:

Our Father...
Hail Mary, full of grace…

Glory Be...
V. Pray for us, O Immaculate, Help of Christians
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray
Heavenly Father, place deep in our hearts the love of Mary, our help and the help of all Christians. May we
fight vigorously for the faith here on earth, and may
we one day praise your victories in heaven. Grant this
in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.

First Day

O Mary, you readily agreed to the Angel’s request when you were asked to be the mother of God’s Son, and throughout your life your one desire was to do the will of your Father in heaven. Help me always to be obedient and humble. May I, like you, always have the generosity to follow Jesus, wherever he calls.