October Prayer Intentions of Pope Francis

Pope Francis' intentions for October:


Universal Intention:

That journalists, in carrying out their work, may always be motivated by respect for truth and a strong sense of ethics.


Mission Intention: T

hat World Mission Day may renew within all Christian communities the joy of the Gospel and the responsibility to announce it.

Praying for peace in Georgia

Pope’s Prayer for Peace at Assyrian-Chaldean Church

The final official stop on Pope Francis’ first day in Georgia was a visit to the Church of St. Shemon Bar Sabbae to meet with the Assyrian-Chaldean community. He was welcomed by the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Raphael Louis Sako, and the […]

September 30, 2016ZENIT StaffPapal Trips

The final official stop on Pope Francis’ first day in Georgia was a visit to the Church of St. Shemon Bar Sabbae to meet with the Assyrian-Chaldean community. He was welcomed by the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Raphael Louis Sako, and the parish priest Father Benny Beth Yadegar.
The Holy Father proceeded in procession to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament among the faithful of the Assyrian-Chaldean diaspora. After a song and a prayer in Aramaic, the Pope recited a Prayer for Peace. Here is a Vatican translation of his prayer:

Lord Jesus,
we adore your cross
which frees us from sin, the origin of every division and evil;
we proclaim your resurrection,
which ransoms man from the slavery of failure and death;
we await your coming in glory,
which will bring to fulfilment your kingdom of justice, joy and peace.
Lord Jesus,
by your glorious passion,
conquer the hardness of our hearts, imprisoned by hatred and selfishness;
by the power of your resurrection,
save the victims of injustice and maltreatment from their suffering;
by the fidelity of your coming,
confound the culture of death and make the triumph of life shine forth.
Lord Jesus,
unite to your cross the sufferings of the many innocent victims:
the children, the elderly, and the persecuted Christians;
envelop in paschal light those who are deeply wounded:
abused persons, deprived of freedom and dignity;
let those who live in uncertainty experience the enduring constancy of your kingdom:
the exiles, refugees, and those who have lost the joy of living.
Lord Jesus,
cast forth the shadow of your cross over peoples at war;
may they learn the way of reconciliation, dialogue and forgiveness;
let the peoples so wearied by bombing experience the joy of your resurrection:
raise up Iraq and Syria from devastation;
reunite your dispersed children under your gentle kingship:
sustain Christians in the Diaspora and grant them the unity of faith and love.
O Virgin Mary, Queen of peace,
you who stood at the foot of the cross,
obtain from your Son pardon for our sins;
you who never doubted the victory of his resurrection,
sustain our faith and our hope;
you who are enthroned as Queen in glory,
teach us the royal road of service and the glory of love.
Amen.

Pope Francis begins his visit to Georgia; the country not the state

Differences Can’t Give Rise to Violence, Pope Says in Georgia

Begins 3-day trip with address to leaders of society, culture

September 30, 2016ZENIT StaffPapal Trips

Pope Francis arrived shortly after 3 p.m. local time in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, for the first stage of his trip to the Caucasus on the theme “Pax vobis”, an invocation of peace for the region.
In the airport, after a four-hour flight, the Pope was welcomed by the president of the Republic Giorgi Margvelashvili and his wife, accompanied by the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II. Two children in traditional costume offered him a basket of grapes in the presence of state authorities and representatives of civil society.
The capital of Georgia has the highest concentration of Catholics, along with the southern area where entirely Catholic villages exist. The Catholics of the country are predominantly of Latin and Armenian rite, with a small community of Assyrian Chaldean rite as well as a group of immigrants, predominantly American, European and Indian. In Tbilisi there are two Catholic churches of Latin rite: the Cathedral of the Assumption in the historic centre and the parish church of Sts. Peter and Paul, where a mission of the Neocatechumenal Way made up of priests, missionary families and laypeople has been present since 1991.
Georgia is mainly Orthodox Christian (official) 83.9%, but has a significant Muslim minority, 9.9%.
After a brief discussion with President Margvelashvili, his wife and the Patriarch in a small room at the airport, the Holy Father transferred by car to the presidential palace in Tbilisi where he pronounced his first discourse of his visit to Georgia, before the country’s political and religious leaders, the members of the diplomatic corps and representatives from the world of culture.
“I thank Almighty God for granting me the opportunity to visit this blessed land, a place of encounter and vital exchange among cultures and civilisations, which, since the preaching of St. Nino at the beginning of the fourth century, discovered in Christianity its deepest identity and the solid foundation of its values”, began the Pope. “As St. John Paul II observed when visiting your country: ‘Christianity became the seed of successive flowerings of Georgian culture’, and this seed continues to bear fruit. Recalling with gratitude our meeting in the Vatican last year and the good relations which Georgia has always maintained with the Holy See, I sincerely thank you, Mr President, for your gracious invitation and for your cordial words of welcome in the name of the Authorities of the State and all the Georgian people”.
“The centuries-old history of your country shows that it is rooted in the values expressed in its culture, language and traditions. This places your country fully and in a particular way within the bedrock of European civilisation; at the same time, as is evident from your geographical location, Georgia is to a great extent a natural bridge between Europe and Asia, a link that facilitates communication and relations between peoples. Through the centuries this has facilitated commercial ties as well as dialogue and the exchange of ideas and experiences between diverse cultures. As your national anthem proudly proclaims: ‘My icon is my homeland… bright mountains and valleys are shared with God’. The country is an icon expressing its identity and tracing its features and history; its mountains, rising freely towards heaven, far from being insurmountable walls, give splendour to the valleys; they distinguish them, connect them, make each one unique yet all open to the one sky, which covers them and offers them protection”.
He went on to address the president, noting that 25 years have passed since Georgia’s independence was proclaimed. “During this period when Georgia regained its full liberty, it built and strengthened its democratic institutions and sought ways to guarantee the most inclusive and authentic development possible. All of this was not without great sacrifice, which the people faced courageously in order to ensure their longed-for freedom. I hope that the path of peace and development will advance with the consolidated commitment of all sectors of society, so as to create conditions for stability, justice and respect for the rule of law, hence promoting growth and greater opportunities for all”.
“The peaceful coexistence among all peoples and states in the region is the indispensable and prior condition for such authentic and enduring progress”, he emphasised. “This requires increasing mutual esteem and consideration, which can never lay aside respect for the sovereign rights of every country within the framework of international law. So as to forge paths leading to lasting peace and true cooperation, we must recall that the relevant principles for a just and stable relationship between states are at the service of a practical, ordered and peaceful coexistence among nations. Indeed, in far too many areas of the world, there seems to be a dominant way of thinking which hinders keeping legitimate differences and disagreements – which can always arise – within a climate of civilised dialogue where reason, moderation and responsibility can prevail. This is all the more necessary in the present historical moment, with no shortage of violent extremism that manipulates and distorts civic and religious principles, and subjugates them to the dark designs of domination and death”.
Therefore, he added, “We should wholeheartedly give priority to human beings in their actual circumstances and pursue every attempt to prevent differences from giving rise to violence that can cause ruinous calamity for people and for society. Far from being exploited as grounds for turning discord into conflict and conflict into interminable tragedy, distinctions along ethnic, linguistic, political or religious lines can and must be for everyone a source of mutual enrichment in favour of the common good. This requires that everyone make full use of their particular identity, having the possibility, above all else, to coexist peacefully in their homeland, or freely to return to that land, if for some reason they have been forced to leave it. I hope that civil authorities will continue to show concern for the situation of these persons, and that they will fully commit themselves to seeking tangible solutions, in spite of any unresolved political questions. It takes far-sightedness and courage to recognise the authentic good of peoples, and to pursue this good with determination and prudence. In this regard, it is essential to keep before our eyes the suffering of others, in order to proceed with conviction along the path which, though slow and laborious, is also captivating and freeing, and leads us towards peace”.
“The Catholic Church, which has been present for centuries in this country and has distinguished itself in a particular way for its commitment to human promotion and to charitable works, shares the joys and concerns of the Georgian people, and is resolved to offer its contribution for the well-being and peace of the nation, by actively cooperating with the authorities and civil society. It is my ardent desire that the Catholic Church may continue to make its own authentic contribution to the growth of Georgian society, thanks to the common witness to the Christian tradition which unites us, its commitment to those most in need, and the renewed and strengthened dialogue with the ancient Georgian Orthodox Church and the other religious communities of the country. May God bless Georgia and give her peace and prosperity!”
This afternoon in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Georgia, the Pope met with the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, and then had an encounter with the Assyrian-Chaldean community in the church of St. Shemon Bar Sabbae.
The logo for the apostolic trip in Georgian territory is the cross typical of the country, with curved arms, framed on one side in red, the colour of the Georgian flag, and on the other in yellow, that of the Vatican flag.

A powerful Saint; he gave us the authentic Latin translation of the Bible

St Jerome

Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ!

Facts

Feastday: September 30
Patron of Librarians
Birth: 331
Death: 420

---

St. Jerome, who was born Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius, was the most learned of the Fathers of the Western Church. He was born about the year 342 at Stridonius, a small town at the head of the Adriatic, near the episcopal city of Aquileia. His father, a Christian, took care that his son was well instructed at home, then sent him to Rome, where the young man's teachers were the famous pagan grammarian Donatus and Victorinus, a Christian rhetorician. Jerome's native tongue was the Illyrian dialect, but at Rome he became fluent in Latin and Greek, and read the literatures of those languages with great pleasure. His aptitude for oratory was such that he may have considered law as a career. He acquired many worldly ideas, made little effort to check his pleasure-loving instincts, and lost much of the piety that had been instilled in him at home. Yet in spite of the pagan and hedonistic influences around him, Jerome was baptized by Pope Liberius in 360. He tells us that "it was my custom on Sundays to visit, with friends of my own age and tastes, the tombs of the martyrs and Apostles, going down into those subterranean galleries whose walls on both sides preserve the relics of the dead." Here he enjoyed deciphering the inscriptions.

After three years at Rome, Jerome's intellectual curiosity led him to explore other parts of the world. He visited his home and then, accompanied by his boyhood friend Bonosus, went to Aquileia, where he made friends among the monks of the monastery there, notably Rufinus. Then, still accompanied by Bonosus, he traveled to Treves, in Gaul. He now renounced all secular pursuits to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to God. Eager to build up a religious library, the young scholar copied out St. Hilary's books on and his Commentaries on the Psalms, and got together other literary and religious treasures. He returned to Stridonius, and later settled in Aquileia. The bishop had cleared the church there of the plague of Arianism and had drawn to it many eminent men. Among those with whom Jerome formed friendships were Chromatius (later canonized), to whom Jerome dedicated several of his works, Heliodorus (also to become a saint), and his nephew Nepotian. The famous theologian Rufinus, at first his close friend, afterward became his bitter opponent. By nature an irascible man with a sharp tongue, Jerome made enemies as well as friends. He spent some years in scholarly studies in Aquileia, then, in search of more perfect solitude, he turned towards the East. With his friends, Innocent, Heliodorus, and Hylas, a freed slave, he started overland for Syria. On the way they visited Athens, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia, and Cilicia.

The party arrived at Antioch about the year 373. There Jerome at first attended the lectures of the famous Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea, who had not yet put forward his heresy1 With his companions he left the city for the desert of Chalcis, about fifty miles southeast of Antioch. Innocent and Hylas soon died there, and Heliodorus left to return to the West, but Jerome stayed for four years, which were passed in study and in the practice of austerity. He had many attacks of illness but suffered still more from temptation. "In the remotest part of a wild and stony desert," he wrote years afterwards to his friend Eustochium, "burnt up with the heat of the sun, so scorching that it frightens even the monks who live there, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and crowds of Rome.... In this exile and prison to which through fear of Hell I had voluntarily condemned myself, with no other company but scorpions and wild beasts, I many times imagined myself watching the dancing of Roman maidens as if I had been in the midst of them. My face was pallid with fasting, yet my will felt the assaults of desire. In my cold body and my parched flesh, which seemed dead before its death, passion was still able to live. Alone with the enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering them with my tears, and tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not ashamed to disclose my temptations, though I grieve that I am not now what I then was."

Jerome added to these trials the study of Hebrew, a discipline which he hoped would help him in winning a victory over himself. "When my soul was on fire with wicked thoughts," he wrote in 411, "as a last resort, I became a pupil to a monk who had been a Jew, in order to learn the Hebrew alphabet. From the judicious precepts of Quintilian, the rich and fluent eloquence of Cicero, the graver style of Fronto, and the smoothness of Pliny, I turned to this language of hissing and broken-winded words. What labor it cost me, what difficulties I went through, how often I despaired and abandoned it and began again to learn, both I, who felt the burden, and they who lived with me, can bear witness. I thank our Lord that I now gather such sweet fruit from the bitter sowing of those studies." He continued to read the pagan classics for pleasure until a vivid dream turned him from them, at least for a time. In a letter he describes how, during an illness, he dreamed he was standing before the tribunal of Christ. "Thou a Christian?" said the judge skeptically. "Thou art a Ciceronian. Where thy treasure is, there thy heart is also."

The church at Antioch was greatly disturbed at this time by party and doctrinal disputes. The anchorites in the desert took sides, and called on Jerome, the most learned of them, to give his opinions on the subjects at issue. He wrote for guidance to Pope Damasus at Rome. Failing to receive an answer, he wrote again. "On one side, the Arian fury rages, supported by the secular power; on the other side, the Church (at Antioch) is being divided into three parts, and each would draw me to itself." No reply from Damasus is extant; but we know that Jerome acknowledged Paulinus, leader of one party, as bishop of Antioch, and that when he left the desert of Chalcis, he received from Paulinus' hands his ordination as priest. Jerome consented to ordination only on condition that he should not be obliged to serve in any church, knowing that his true vocation was to be a monk and recluse.

About 380 Jerome went to Constantinople to study the Scriptures under the Greek, Gregory of Nazianzus, then bishop of that city. Two years later he went back to Rome with Paulinus of Antioch to attend a council which Pope Damasus was holding to deal with the Antioch schism. Appointed secretary of the council, Jerome acquitted himself so well that, when it was over, Damasus kept him there as his own secretary. At the Pope's request he prepared a revised text, based on the Greek, of the Latin New Testament, the current version of which had been disfigured by "wrong copying, clumsy correction, and careless interpolations." He also revised the Latin psalter. That the prestige of Rome and its power to arbitrate between disputants, East as well as West, was recognized as never before at this time, was due in some measure at least to Jerome's diligence and ability. Along with his official duties he was fostering a new movement of Christian asceticism among a group of noble Roman ladies. Several of them were to be canonized, including Albina and her daughters Marcella and Asella, Melania the Elder, who was the first of them to go to the Holy Land, and Paula, with her daughters, Blesilla and Eustochium. The tie between Jerome and the three last-mentioned women was especially close, and to them he addressed many of his famous letters.

When Pope Damasus died in 384, he was succeeded by Siricius, who was less friendly to Jerome. While serving Damasus, Jerome had impressed all by his personal holiness, learning, and integrity. But he had also managed to get himself widely disliked by pagans and evil-doers whom he had condemned, and also by people of taste and tolerance, many of them Christians, who were offended by his biting sarcasm and a certain ruthlessness in attack. An example of his style is the harsh diatribe against the artifices of worldly women, who "paint their cheeks with rouge and their eyelids with antimony, whose plastered faces, too white for human beings, look like idols; and if in a moment of forgetfulness they shed a tear it makes a furrow where it rolls down the painted cheek; women to whom years do not bring the gravity of age, who load their heads with other people's hair, enamel a lost youth upon the wrinkles of age, and affect a maidenly timidity in the midst of a troop of grand children." In a letter to Eustochium he writes with scorn of certain members of the Roman clergy. "All their anxiety is about their clothes.... You would take them for bridegrooms rather than for clerics; all they think about is knowing the names and houses and doings of rich ladies."

Although Jerome's indignation was usually justified, his manner of expressing it-both verbally and in letters-aroused resentment. His own reputation was attacked; his bluntness, his walk, and even his smile were criticized. And neither the virtue of the ladies under his direction nor his own scrupulous behavior towards them was any protection from scandalous gossip. Affronted at the calumnies that were circulated, Jerome decided to return to the East. Taking with him his brother Paulinian and some others, he embarked in August, 385. At Cyprus, on the way, he was received with joy by Bishop Epiphanius, and at Antioch also he conferred with leading churchmen. It was here, probably, that he was joined by the widow Paula and some other ladies who had left Rome with the aim of settling in the Holy Land.

With what remained of Jerome's own patrimony and with financial help from Paula, a monastery for men was built near the basilica of the Nativity at Bethlehem, and also houses for three communities of women. Paula became head of one of these, and after her death was succeeded by her daughter Eustochium. Jerome himself lived and worked in a large cave near the Saviour's birthplace. He opened a free school there and also a hospice for pilgrims, "so that," as Paula said, "should Mary and Joseph visit Bethlehem again, they would have a place to stay." Now at last Jerome began to enjoy some years of peaceful activity. He gives us a wonderful description of this fruitful, harmonious, Palestinian life, and its attraction for all manner of men. "Illustrious Gauls congregate here, and no sooner has the Briton, so remote from our world, arrived at religion than he leaves his early-setting sun to seek a land which he knows only by reputation and from the Scriptures. Then the Armenians, the Persians, the peoples of India and Ethiopia, of Egypt, and of Pontus, Cappadocia, Syria, and Mesopotamia!... They come in throngs and set us examples of every virtue. The languages differ but the religion is the same; as many different choirs chant the psalms as there are nations.... Here bread and herbs, planted with our own hands, and milk, all country fare, furnish us plain and healthy food. In summer the trees give us shade. In autumn the air is cool and the falling leaves restful. In spring our psalmody is sweeter for the singing of the birds. We have plenty of wood when winter snow and cold are upon us. Let Rome keep its crowds, let its arenas run with blood, its circuses go mad, its theaters wallow in sensuality...."

But when the Christian faith was threatened Jerome could not be silent. While at Rome in the time of Pope Damasus, he had composed a book on the perpetual virginity of the Virgin Mary against one Helvidius, who had maintained that Mary had not remained always a virgin but had had other children by St. Joseph, after the birth of Christ. This and similar ideas were now again put forward by a certain Jovinian, who had been a monk. Paula's son-in-law, Pammachius, sent some of this heretical writing to Jerome, and he, in 393, wrote two books against Jovinian. In the first he described the excellence of virginity. The books were written in Jerome's vehement style and there were expressions in them which seemed lacking in respect for honorable matrimony. Pammachius informed Jerome of the offense which he and many others at Rome had taken at them. Thereupon Jerome composed his , sometimes called his third book against Jovinian, in which he showed by quoting from his own earlier works that he regarded marriage as a good and honorable state and did not condemn even a second or a third marriage.

A few years later he turned his attention to one Vigilantius, a Gallic priest, who was denouncing both celibacy and the veneration of saints' relics, calling those who revered them idolaters and worshipers of ashes. In defending celibacy Jerome said that a monk should purchase security by flying from temptations and dangers when he distrusted his own strength. As to the veneration of relics, he declared: "We do not worship the relics of the martyrs, but honor them in our worship of Him whose martyrs they are. We honor the servants in order that the respect paid to them may be reflected back to the Lord." Honoring them, he said, was not idolatry because no Christian had ever adored the martyrs as gods; on the other hand, they pray for us. "If the Apostles and martyrs, while still living on earth, could pray for other men, how much more may they do it after their victories? Have they less power now that they are with Jesus Christ?" He told Paula, after the death of her daughter Blesilla, "She now prays to the Lord for you, and obtains for me the pardon of my sins." Jerome was never moderate whether in virtue or against evil. Though swift to anger, he was also swift to feel remorse and was even more severe on his own failings than on those of others.

From 395 to 400 Jerome was engaged in a war against Origenism2, which unhappily created a breach in his long friendship with Rufinus. Finding that some Eastern monks had been led into error by the authority of Rufinus' name and learning, Jerome attacked him. Rufinus, then living in a monastery at Jerusalem, had translated many of Origen's works into Latin and was an enthusiastic upholder of his scholarship, though it does not appear that he meant to defend the heresies in Origen's writings. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, was one of the churchmen greatly distressed by the quarrel between Jerome and Rufinus, and became unwillingly involved in a controversy with Jerome.

Jerome's passionate controversies were the least important part of his activities. What has made his name so famous was his critical labor on the text of the Scriptures. The Church regards him as the greatest of all the doctors in clarifying the Divine Word. He had the best available aids for such an undertaking, living where the remains of Biblical places, names, and customs all combined to give him a more vivid view than he could have had at a greater distance. To continue his study of Hebrew he hired a famous Jewish scholar, Bar Ananias, who came to teach him by night, lest other Jews should learn of it. As a man of prayer and purity of heart whose life had been mainly spent in study, penance, and contemplation, Jerome was prepared to be a sensitive interpreter of spiritual things.

We have seen that already while at Rome he had made a revision of the current Latin New Testament, and of the Psalms. Now he undertook to translate most of the books of the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew. The friends and scholars who urged him to this task realized the superiority of a version made directly from the original to any second-hand version, however venerable. It was needed too for argument with the Jews, who recognized no other text as authentic but their own. He began with the Books of Kings, and went on with the rest at different times. When he found that the Book of Tobias and part of Daniel had been composed in Chaldaic, he set himself to learn that difficult language also. More than once he was tempted to give up the whole wearisome task, but a certain scholarly tenacity of purpose kept him at it. The only parts of the Latin Bible, now known as the Vulgate, which were not either translated or worked over by him are the Books of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, and the two Books of the Maccabees.3 He revised the Psalms once again, with the aid of Origen's ,4 and the Hebrew text. This last is the version included now in the Vulgate and used generally in the Divine Office; his first revision, known as the Roman Psalter, is still used for the opening psalm at Matins and throughout the Missal, and for the Divine Office in the cathedrals of St. Peter at Rome and St. Mark at Venice, and in the Milanese rite.

In the sixteenth century the great Council of Trent pronounced Jerome's Vulgate the authentic and authoritative Latin text of the Catholic Church, without, however, thereby implying a preference for it above the original text or above versions in other languages. In 1907 Pope Pius X entrusted to the Benedictine Order the office of restoring as far as possible the correct text of St. Jerome's Vulgate, which during fifteen centuries of use had naturally become altered in many places. The Bible now ordinarily used by English-speaking Catholics is a translation of the Vulgate, made at Rheims and Douay towards the end of the sixteenth century, and revised by Bishop Challoner in the eighteenth. The Confraternity Edition of the New Testament appearing in 1950 represents a complete revision.

A heavy blow came to Jerome in 404 when his staunch friend, the saintly Paula, died. Six years later he was stunned by news of the sacking of Rome by Alaric the Goth. Of the refugees who fled from Rome to the East at this time he wrote: "Who would have believed that the daughters of that mighty city would one day be wandering as servants and slaves on the shores of Egypt and Africa, or that Bethlehem would daily receive noble Romans, distinguished ladies, brought up in wealth and now reduced to beggary? I cannot help them all, but I grieve and weep with them, and am completely absorbed in the duties which charity imposes on me. I have put aside my commentary on Ezekiel and almost all study. For today we must translate the precepts of the Scriptures into deeds; instead of speaking saintly words, we must act them." A few years later his work was again interrupted by raids of barbarians pushing north through Egypt into Palestine, and later still by a violent onset of Pelagian heretics, who, relying on the protection of Bishop John of Jerusalem, sent a troop of ruffians to Bethlehem to disperse the monks and nuns living there under the direction of Jerome, who had been opposing Pelagianism5 with his customary truculence. Some of the monks were beaten, a deacon was killed, and monasteries were set on fire. Jerome had to go into hiding for a time.

The following year Paula's daughter Eustochium died. The aged Jerome soon fell ill, and after lingering for two years succumbed. Worn with penance and excessive labor, his sight and voice almost gone, his body like a shadow, he died peacefully on September 30, 420, and was buried under the church of the Nativity at Bethlehem. In the thirteenth century his body was translated and now lies somewhere in the Sistine Chapel of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome. The Church owes much to St. Jerome. While his great work was the Vulgate, his achievements in other fields are valuable; to him we owe the distinction between canonical and apocryphal writings; he was a pioneer in the field of Biblical archeology, his commentaries are important; his letters, published in three volumes, are one of our best sources of knowledge of the times.

St. Jerome has been a popular subject with artists, who have pictured him in the desert, as a scholar in his study, and sometimes in the robes of a cardinal, because of his services for Pope Damasus; often too he is shown with a lion, from whose paw, according to legend, he once drew a thorn. Actually this story was transferred to him from the tradition of St. Gerasimus, but a lion is not an inappropriate symbol for so fearless a champion of the faith.

Pope Francis will not attend funeral for Shimon Peres; scheduled trip to Georgia stands

Vatican: Georgia visit prevents Pope Francis from attending funeral of Shimon Peres

by Staff Reporter

posted Wednesday, 28 Sep 2016

Pope Francis and Israeli President Shimon Peres pictured in Jerusalem in 2014 (AP)

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had announced the Pope was expected to attend Friday's funeral in Israel

Pope Francis will not travel to Israel on Friday to attend the funeral of Shimon Peres, despite an announcement to the contrary by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
A spokesman for the ministry said Francis was expected to attend the funeral, along with US President Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Prince Charles and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
However, the Vatican has announced the Pope’s scheduled visit to Georgia will go ahead as planned on Friday.

Theft of the Holy Eucharist; a desecration of the Body & Blood of Jesus

Holy Eucharist Stolen From Manhattan Church

By CHRISTIE CHICOINE

Maria R. Bastone The tabernacle at Holy Trinity Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The Holy Eucharist was stolen early last week.

The Holy Eucharist was stolen early last week from Holy Trinity Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
The tabernacle door was reportedly vandalized and forced open and the Eucharist was removed what is believed to be sometime early Monday morning, Sept. 19, according to Msgr. Thomas Sandi, the pastor.
Msgr. Sandi made the discovery when opening the church for 9 a.m. daily Mass that same day. He reported the incident to police, and at press time was awaiting results of their investigation. The tabernacle door is currently being repaired.
On behalf of Cardinal Dolan, Auxiliary Bishop John O’Hara, episcopal vicar of Staten Island and South, East and West Manhattan, presided at Sunday morning Masses at Holy Trinity on Sept. 25.
After introducing the bishop to his parishioners before the 9:30 a.m. liturgy, Msgr. Sandi explained the purpose of the bishop’s visit to the church.
“He’s come to comfort us and to support us,” Msgr. Sandi said.
Desecration of the Eucharist is a serious matter, the pastor said. (The Church teaches that the Blessed Sacrament is the Body and Blood of Christ.)
“We don’t want to scare anybody,” Msgr. Sandi said. “We believe that this robbery was just that.”
The pastor encouraged the people to pray about the incident. “We ask you to be calm, and trust in God.”
Bishop O’Hara blessed the tabernacle, sanctuary and church nave with holy water.
Cardinal Dolan “knows of your suffering,” Bishop O’Hara said in his remarks to the congregation. He noted that the cardinal’s prayers and greetings to them accompanied him on his visit.
Among the parishioners who were taken aback by the news was Mark Pilla, 42, who attended the 9:30 a.m. Mass with his wife Megan and their two young daughters and son.
“I’m very saddened,” Pilla said, “but very grateful that, obviously, it’s recognized by the church and the archdiocese, and that the bishop would come and be here for the community.”
Pilla, who spoke with CNY outside the church after the Mass, said he anticipated their children will have questions for them.
“It’s going to be definitely something to reflect on and teach them,” he said, and “pray that it doesn’t happen again.”
The Eucharist, Pilla said, “means everything.”
“It’s the foundation of our faith,” he added, “the cornerstone.”
That such a violation of the Blessed Sacrament would occur is “obviously disgraceful,” Pilla said, but at the same time “we have to pray for that person or persons as well.”
Bishop O’Hara prayed, “Good and gracious God, we have come together once again to celebrate the Paschal Mystery, and your Son’s triumph over sin and death. But on this the Lord’s day we grieve, as your sanctuary and the Most Blessed Sacrament have been violated.”
“In the midst of this sadness,” the bishop continued, “we come together and ask you to bless and make holy this sacred space, where the mystery of the redemption is renewed daily.”
“Surround this place of worship, adoration and celebration with your protective presence. Deepen our love of your Son’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Transform our hearts and lives, that we may be radiant tabernacles of His Presence.”
The bishop also prayed for continued blessings upon “the apostolic ministries of this wonderful parish,” particularly those that reach out to the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the neglected, the abandoned and the unwanted, “those whom life has left behind.”
“We pray in a special way for the person or persons responsible for this act of desecration,” the bishop said, “that the wideness of your mercy might enter the deep recesses of their hearts, embracing them with love and bringing them to true conversion and change.”
He prayed as well for abundant blessings upon “the entire Holy Trinity family, each and every one, and all the members of this Upper West Side community.”
Msgr. Sandi, in concluding remarks, suggested to the numerous parents present in the pews with their children, of the opportune time to remind their children of “how very much we value Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
A news release from the archdiocese said the desecration at Holy Trinity was the latest in a series of bias incidents targeting Catholic churches in the archdiocese recently. Among them, it cited pro-Islamist writings spray painted on St. Catherine of Genoa Church in Manhattan, and Sacred Heart Church in Suffern experienced smashed stained glass windows, broken candle stands and other damage, as well as an assault on a church employee.

A nice defense of the Sacrament of Reconciliation

Why Do Catholics Confess Their Sins to a Priest instead of Directly to God?

God knows I'm sorry, isn't that enough?

John Martignoni

April 27, 2015

Fr-Lawrence-Lew-OP-CC

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Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest, rather than going directly to God?

 

Well, the quick answer is because that’s the way God wants us to do it. In James 5:16, God, through Sacred Scripture, commands us to "confess our sins to one another." Notice, Scripture does not say confess your sins straight to God and only to God — it says confess your sins to one another.
In Matthew, chapter 9, verse 6, Jesus tells us that He was given authority on earth to forgive sins. And then Scripture proceeds to tell us, in verse 8, that this authority was given to "men"…plural.
In John 20, verses 21-23, what is the first thing Jesus says to the gathered disciples on the night of His resurrection? "Jesus said to them, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’" How did the Father send Jesus? Well, we just saw in Matthew 9 that the Father sent Jesus with the authority on earth to forgive sins. Now, Jesus sends out His disciples as the Father has sent Him…so, what authority must Jesus be sending His disciples out with? The authority on earth to forgive sins. And, just in case they didn’t get it, verses 22-23 say this, "And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’"
Why would Jesus give the Apostles the power to forgive or to retain sins if He wasn’t expecting folks to confess their sins to them? And how could they forgive or retain sins if no one was confessing their sins to them?
The Bible tells us to confess our sins to one another. It also tells us that God gave men the authority on Earth to forgive sins. Jesus sends out His disciples with the authority on earth to forgive sins. When Catholics confess our sins to a priest, we are simply following the plan laid down by Jesus Christ. He forgives sins through the priest…it is God’s power, but He exercises that power through the ministry of the priest.

John Martignoni is a nationally-known Catholic apologist and Bible scholar. He is the Founder and President of the Bible Christian Society, where you can find lots of free apologetics materials — CD’s, mp3 downloads, e-newsletters, and more, and host of EWTN’s “Open Line” airing on Mondays at 3 p.m. EST. He is also Director of the Office of the New Evangelization in the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama.

Huge honor for the Knights of Columbus

Knights of Columbus to Receive Award for Helping Persecuted Christians

Recognizes work done on report that brought US government to declare the persecution in the Mideast a genocide

September 29, 2016ZENIT StaffCharities and Volunteering

KofC -

The Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl Anderson, and the Knights will receive the Path to Peace Award this October.

The Path to Peace Foundation was founded in 1991 to support the work of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.
The President of the Foundation, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, will be presenting the 2016 Path to Peace Award to the Knights of Columbus and Anderson, for their life-saving work on behalf of Christians and other persecuted minorities in the Middle East and for their humanitarian work throughout the world.
“Through the Supreme Knight’s vigorous leadership, the Knights of Columbus not only has been responding to the cries for help coming from the Middle East and elsewhere but used their resources to put together a compelling 300-page report on the violence against Christians in the Middle East that compelled U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to declare what was happening to Christians, Yezidis and other religious minorities in the region a genocide,” said Archbishop Auza.
“Mr. Anderson also brought that message to the United Nations at a Holy See sponsored conference in April, urging the international community to exercise its Responsibility to Protect and stop the genocide and other violent attacks against defenseless people taking place there,” Archbishop Auza added.
“The Path to Peace Board of Directors wanted to acknowledge the Knights’ powerful leadership in seeking to help restore peace in the region ravaged by ISIS, assist the victims to get their lives back to together and to create the necessary conditions for peace.”
Since this year’s Gala Dinner coincides with the 25^th Anniversary of the incorporation of the Path to Peace Foundation, there will also be special recognition given to His Eminence Cardinal Renato Martino, whose work as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN from 1986-2002 led to the creation of the Foundation to support and advance the Mission’s efforts.

Along with Michael, Gabriel and Raphael help give us a Feast Day for these archangels

Feast Day: The Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Messengers of God

 

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By F. K. Bartels

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Who are the archangels?

  

Pope St. Gregory the Great distinguishes between angels and archangels: "Those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels." The Catechism explains: "From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. 'Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.' Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God" (No. 336).

St. Michael the Archangel battles Satan.

Highlights

By F. K. Bartels
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
9/29/2010 (5 years ago)
Published in Living Faith
Keywords: angels, catholic, feast, faith, archangels, st. Michael the Archangel

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GLADE PARK, CO (Catholic Online) - "The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 328).

Today we celebrate the Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael: Archangels. Though we cannot know of all the many times these magnificent spirits and powerful allies have entered into history to accomplish God's will, protecting us, driving away demons, and bearing forth messages of God's providential plan of salvation, some of their specific actions are recorded in Sacred Scripture, and, in each case, we obtain a glimpse into their ardent love for God, intently focused wills and formidable intellects.

"Who Is Like God"
In the Office of Readings -- from The Liturgy Of The Hours, which is a part of the official, liturgical and public prayer of the Church --  antiphon we read: "The sea grew turbulent and the earth trembled when Michael the archangel came down from heaven."

As we read in Scripture, it was St. Michael who long ago led the battle against Satan: "Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. Although the dragon and his angels fought back, they were overpowered and lost their place in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent known as the devil or Satan, the seducer of the whole world, was driven out; he was hurled down to earth and his minions with him" (Rev 12:7-9).

The name Michael means "who is like God." St. Michael's will is focused, immovable, and entirely driven toward accomplishing goodness: he is a protector of souls, and wields his unrelenting sword of righteous justice against the poisonous and vindictive aspirations of the one who is known as a liar from the beginning. During a visit to the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, the Venerable John Paul II said, "The battle against the devil . . . is the principal task of Saint Michael the archangel."

When St. Michael the Archangel appeared to the three children at Fatima in 1916, preparing the way for the apparition of our Blessed Mother which was soon to follow, he said to them, "Fear not. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me." Then, prostrating himself, he repeated three times: "My God; I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee! I beg Thee forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love Thee!" In this simple yet wonderful prayer of profound meaning, St. Michael clearly reveals his burning adoration and love for God, as well as the fact that, deep within the center of his being, he also bears great love and concern for men. How serious and committed this warrior is! St. Michael offers us a model of unwavering dedication, focus, fearlessness, and trust in God's sovereign goodness and power.

"God Is My Strength"
Gabriel means "God is my strength." As we read in the second antiphon of the Office of Readings, the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and said, "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John" (see Lk 1:13). Thus St. Gabriel announced the coming of John the Baptist, the greatest prophet of the Most High, who would go before the Lord to prepare his way.

It was St. Gabriel who was sent from God to Nazareth, "to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, . . . and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, 'Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you'" (Lk 1:27-28).

St. Gabriel's message announced a pivotal moment in humankind's history: the Savior was, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Archangel who draws his strength from God brought us the message of strength in which we draw our hope: God Incarnate was soon to enter history for love of man.

Pope St. Gregory the Great wrote: "He [Gabriel] came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God's strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle" (excerpt from Hom. 34, 8-9).

"God Is My Health"
Raphael means "God is my health." St. Raphael is one of seven angels "who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord" (Tob 12:15). The meaning of Raphael's name reflects the fact that he touched Tobit's eyes in order to heal them of blindness.

In the third antiphon of the Office of Readings, we are reminded that Raphael stands before God: "I am the angel Raphael, I stand in the presence of the Lord; as for you, bless the Lord, and proclaim his wonderful deeds."

When Tobit and his son Tobiah were discussing how they should repay St. Raphael for all that he had done for them, "Raphael called the two men aside privately and said to them: 'Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory. Before all the living, acknowledge the many good things he has done for you, by blessing and extolling his name in song. Before all men, honor and proclaim God's deeds, and do not be slack in praising him'" (Tobit 12:6).

There is a great deal we can learn from the Archangels, who are powerful messengers, allies and friends of men.

What Is An Angel?
St. Augustine says: "'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit,' from what they do, 'angel.'" As incorporeal beings, creatures made of spirit and without a material body, angels are not in themselves perceptible by the senses.

Pope St. Gregory the Great distinguishes between angles and archangels: "Those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that with their whole being the angels are servants God. Because they "always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" they are the "mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word" (CCC No. 329; Mt 18:10).

As we reflect upon the beauty, power and strength of the angels, we are drawn toward a deeper and clearer understanding of God's love for man; for billions of angels, to be sure, are given personal charge over their own child of God. Every moment of each day, day after day, year after year, our faithful guardian angels stand at our sides, focused on our well-being with far greater power than even we ourselves can summon.

The Catechism explains: "From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. 'Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.' Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God" (No. 336).

More On The Angels
In the Catechism we read that "As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness" (CCC No. 330; Dan 10:9-12).

Michael Schmaus writes: "The angels' free and powerful will corresponds to their comprehensive knowledge. It is on account of this penetrating understanding and great power of will that they make decisions without vacillating, without deliberation and with concentrated intellectual assertion, and hence never revoke them." Schmaus also notes that the angelic intellect possesses an "extraordinary power of penetration," and that the angels enjoy an intensity of intellectual life which "corresponds to their close association with God" (Dogma, New York: Sheed and Ward).

God created the angels, like man, with an intellect and will, yet these shared attributes cannot be exactly compared, for they differ greatly in strength and power. For instance, we might compare the intellect and will of a child to that of an adult: the former is not nearly so strong as the latter. The angels' intellect is far advanced over that of man, and, as for their will, they do not struggle with doubt, weakness, and the tendency to fall into sin. On the contrary, the angels' will is of unwavering force, unceasingly directed toward and powerfully focused on the Ultimate Good, which is, of course, God.

As for how the angels move, we are all familiar with pictures of winged cherubs. Yet, as wonderful as wings might be, they do no justice as a description of the angels' movement. The angels are able to travel from our bedside to the sun's corona, from there to the most distant star and back again in less than an instant. In fact, it is actually irrelevant to include the element of time in a discussion of angels' movement. The speed of light is really no speed at all for our powerful guardians; for they are not constrained by the laws of time and space as are men. Their movement is as quick and effortless as a thought. It is best to think of the angels' movement as one of entering in and out of time, rather than a movement of direction from one point to another, as we experience it in the material world.

Though the angels surpass in perfection all visible creatures, we should be mindful of the close relationship we share with them. While there are significant differences between us, both men and angels were created in and through Christ; therefore we are truly brothers, if you will, who exist for Christ, each drawing our light and life from Christ. We share with the angels our beginning and end in God, the Origin of life and the Source of all that is visible and invisible.

St. Gabriel announced the most wonderful and sublime event ever to occur in the universe, the coming of the Incarnate God into the world through the womb of our precious Virgin Mary. Though we now look back twenty centuries to that moment of his wondrous announcement, we can still feel the joy in his words, and, this moment, we continually share in that joy. We belong to that Savior of which Gabriel spoke; along with Gabriel we pledge our allegiance to Christ, our Master and King.

On this Feast day, let us thank our Lord for the Archangels who have often entered into history as messengers in God's providential plan of salvation. Let us also remember our close connection with them in Christ, and frequently turn to them for their intercessory protection and assistance in times of trouble.