St. Agatha

St. Agatha

Feastday: February 5


Although we have evidence that Agatha was venerated at least as far back as the sixth century, the only facts we have about her are that she was born in Sicily and died there a martyr.

In the legend of her life, we are told that she belonged to a rich, important family. When she was young, she dedicated her life to God and resisted any men who wanted to marry her or have sex with her. One of these men, Quintian, was of a high enough rank that he felt he could force her to acquiesce. Knowing she was a Christian in a time of persecution, he had her arrested and brought before the judge - - himself. He expected her to give in to when faced with torture and possible death, but she simply affirmed her belief in God by praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil."

Legend tells us that Quintian imprisoned her in a brothel in order to get her to change her mind. Quintian brought her back before him after she had suffered a month of assault and humiliation in the brothel, but Agatha had never wavered, proclaiming that her freedom came from Jesus. Quintian sent her to prison, instead of back to the brothel -- a move intended to make her more afraid, but which probably was a great relief to her. When she continued to profess her faith in Jesus, Quintian had her tortured. He refused her any medical care but God gave her all the care she needed in the form of a vision of St. Peter. When she was tortured again, she died after saying a final prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Receive my soul."

Because one of the tortures she supposedly suffered was to have her breasts cut off, she was often depicted carrying her breasts on a plate. It is thought that blessing of the bread that takes place on her feast may have come from the mistaken notion that she was carrying loaves of bread.

Because she was asked for help during the eruption of Mount Etna she is considered a protector against the outbreak of fire. She is also considered the patroness of bellmakers for an unknown reason -- though some speculate it may have something to do with the fact that bells were used as fire alarms.

Prayer:
Saint Agatha, you suffered sexual assault and indignity because of your faith. Help heal all those who are survivors of sexual assault and protect those women who are in danger. Amen

Super Bowl Prediction at my house: Saints win again!! Wait til last year

This Sunday most of the nation if not the free world will be fixated on the Super Bowl. Some tell me the game features the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. The Steelers are winners of 6 previous Super Bowl's and the Packers have 3 titles to claim. Here is my prediction for the Super Bowl I'll be watching this Sunday: the Saints win again, blowing away the Colts!!! Who Dat baby!

No, I've not been sampling the sacramental wine. I have decided that when all my wonderful responsibilities at church are concluded the wife and I will settle into our easy chairs, fire up the DVR and re-live the most exciting Super Bowl ever. We will watch every bit of the 2010 game as the Saints win. And I'll remember every play and reminisce every emotion.

And my chant all weekend will be: Wait til Last Year.

Maybe, just maybe I'll peek in and check out the Steelers vs. Packers. But there will never be another Super Bowl Sunday like last Super Bowl Sunday. Of course there will be one exception: the next time the Saints take the Lombardi.

And just one more thing; and this we can all take to the bank. Whether Steelers or Packers I can assure you that neither Pittsburgh or Green Bay will see the likes of a Super Bowl parade and party like the world watched from New Orleans.

Hey Saints fans, and all people of great tatse, re-live the Super Saints and cheer for the real boys of black & gold. I confidently predict: Saints win again; Who Dat.

Wait til Last Year!

Benediction at Most Holy Trinity

Tonight I was privileged to conclude our day long Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction. Not long after arriving at my new parish I was contacted about my interest in helping extend Adoration and concluding the day with Benediction. I was quick to respond in the affirmative. I have really treasured the many opportunities to lead Benediction at St. Jane's and over the past year have alternated months with a brother Deacon. Arriving at MHT I found out that Adoration on First Friday's was a 3 hour morning event with no Benediction. Being able to help change that is another of the many blessings of my new parish.

So tonight I arrived at church around 6, spent some quiet time in Adoration and then prepared to lead Benediction. I was excited that we had more than a handful of people as we prayed together in front of the Blessed Sacrament, recited the Litany of the Sacred Heart and sang Tantum Ergo(in english). After Benediction we recited the Divine Praises and concluded with Holy God We Praise Thy Name.

I am sure a new tradition now exists at MHT and I'm confident that with God's help and His will we will grow Benediction to include more parishioners and perhaps more devotions to the last hour of each First Friday.

Please take advantage of all the many opportunities that we have to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. If your parish conducts Adoration and Benediction then make every effort to attend. How about stopping by church any time and praying in front of the tabernacle. Perhaps your church has an Adoration chapel; if not I bet there is one somewhere nearby.

To spend time with the Eucharistic Lord Jesus is truly intimate and deeply spiritual. Make an effort in the weeks and months ahead to attend Adoration & Benediction.

First Friday February

>>>Today we arrive at another First Friday which is a day many Catholic Churches hold adoration and benediction and we pray the litany of the Sacred Heart. Today I help extend the hours of adoration for my new parish, Most Holy Trinity, and will preside at Benediction tonight. It is my prayer that this will be just the beginning of a new tradition at MHT. As I awoke this morning I found this beautiful First Friday prayer on the website A Concord Pastor Comments. Please enjoy and pray this beautiful prayer:


February finds the stores overflowing with cards, gifts and boxes of chocolates all heart-shaped. The Heart we celebrate here on the First Friday of February is deeper than the heart of romance, stronger than the heart of courage, truer than any heart we might offer one another: this is the Heart of Wisdom who offers and gives us his Heart every minute of every hour of every day...

As Valentines' Day approaches, whose heart do you hold in your heart of prayer? For the healing, strengthening, easing of whose heart do you pray? What do you pray for your own heart?

Let us pray...

Litany of the Sacred Heart

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

So loving
So humble
So gentle
So compassionate
So faithful
So wise
So patient
So steadfast
So tender
So spacious

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

God’s joy
God’s shalom
Harp of the Trinity
Wingbeat of the Spirit
Breath of God
Five-petaled rose

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Womb of justice
Birthplace of peace
Our dearest hope
Longing of our lives

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Freely flowing fountain
Spring of grace
Freshet of forgiveness
Merciful river
Mystical dew

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Warmth of our hearts
Transforming fire
Cosmic furnace
Enflamer of hearts

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Heart of evolution
Beginning and ending
Center of all

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Garden of virtues
Mystical dew
Table and food

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Our refuge
Our shelter
Our comfort
Our rest
Our welcoming breast

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Wounded by love
Pierced by our cruelty
Broken by our hardness
Mystic winepress
Poured out as gift

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Have mercy, gracious heart,
Give us gratefulness
Teach us tenderness
Let us learn to love.

Hear our prayer!

- Wendy Wright

Let us pray...

Lord of all our hearts,
open wide your Heart of mercy
and refresh us with the peace that flows
from the font of your love.
Gracious Lord,
hear and answer our prayer.
Amen.

St Blaise and throat blessing

St. Blaise
Feastday: February 3
Patron of Throat Illnesses


Many Catholics might remember Saint Blaise's feast day because of the Blessing of the Throats that took place on this day. Two candles are blessed, held slightly open, and pressed against the throat as the blessing is said. Saint Blaise's protection of those with throat troubles apparently comes from a legend that a boy was brought to him who had a fishbone stuck in his throat. The boy was about to die when Saint Blaise healed him.

Very few facts are known about Saint Blaise. We believe he was a bishop of Sebastea in Armenia who was martyred under the reign of Licinius in the early fourth century.

The legend of his life that sprang up in the eighth century tell us that he was born in to a rich and noble family who raised him as a Christian. After becoming a bishop, a new persecution of Christians began. He received a message from God to go into the hills to escape persecution. Men hunting in the mountains discovered a cave surrounded by wild animals who were sick. Among them Blaise walked unafraid, curing them of their illnesses. Recognizing Blaise as a bishop, they captured him to take him back for trial. On the way back, he talked a wolf into releasing a pig that belonged to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman, in gratitude, sneaked into the prison with food and candles. Finally Blaise was killed by the governor.

Blaise is the patron saint of wild animals because of his care for them and of those with throat maladies.

Prayer:
Saint Blaise, pray for us that we may not suffer from illnesses of the throat and pray that all who are suffering be healed by God's love. Amen

Canticle of Simeon

>>>On this night of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord the Canticle of Simeon which is prominent in today's Gospel:


Canticle Nunc Dimittis

Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace.


Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace.
You have fulfilled your promise.
My own eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples.
A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness;
the glory of your people Israel.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.


Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace.

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Presentation of the Lord, circumsion and infant baptism

"Why does the Church baptize infants? First, all are born with original sin and infants, as well as others, need to be freed from that sin. Remember earlier I stated that Baptism is an unmerited gift, not earned and freely given by God. The sheer gratuitousness of this gift of grace is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church. Scripture sights the baptism of whole households. See Acts 16:15, 33, 18:8 and 1 Corinthians 1:16. Also, evidence from written sources as early as the year 150 A.D. confirms the tradition. The early Church father, St. Irenaeus affirmed infant Baptism at this time as did Hippolytus who documented infant Baptism in 235 A.D."

This quote is from a much earlier post on this blog. I got to thinking about infant baptism today as we arrived at the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Bringing Jesus to the temple for his presentation was the dutiful act of good Jewish parents and Jesus was presented as part of the covenant. Having now initiated the new covenant we see the long standing Catholic tradition of parents bringing their babies to the church for baptism; presented if you will for the new covenant.

In the above quote I cited several Scriptural passages as well as ancient church history supporting infant baptism. Being an ordained minister of the Catholic Church who has among his responsibilities that of baptizing infants (and children up to the age of 7) I take seriously that this is God's will and the sacred teaching of His church that all should receive baptism. There are multiple references to infant baptism, some not so obvious like St. Paul's link to circumsion in Romans and Colossians. And what I believe is greater evidence is the opposing theologies that work so hard to dismiss this link.

As I stood in the sanctuary last weekend baptizing Isabella, and as I'm now preparing little Briana and Camila for their baptisms, I thank God for this gift of new life, reborn in water and spirit and defeating original sin, I know we are doing God's will. And I'm thankful for the reminder of this beautiful reality today on the feast of the Presentation.

Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas and Ground Hog's Day

Candlemas (Presentation of the Lord)

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, commonly called Candlemas, commemorates the presentation of Christ in the temple and the ritual purification of the Virgin Mary. The feast falls on February 2nd. Prayers: Candlemas Prayers

Basic Facts About Candlemas
Liturgical Color(s): White
Type of Holiday: Feast
Time of Year: February 2
Duration: One Day
Celebrates/Symbolizes: The presentation of Jesus in the temple and the ritual purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Alternate Names: Candlemas, Feast of the presentation of Christ in the Temple, Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Hypapante tou kyriou ("meeting of the Lord").
Scriptural References: Leviticus 12:1-4; Luke 2:22-39

Introduction
The Feast of the Presentation, often called Candlemas, commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the temple, which took place 40 days after his birth as Jewish law required. According to Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a boy was considered unclean for seven days. Also, she was to remain 33 days "in the blood of her purification." Luke tells us, quoting Exodus 13:2,12, that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also went to sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons, showing that Mary and Joseph were poor. Once in the temple, Jesus was purified by the prayer of Simeon, in the presence of Anna the prophetess. Simeon, upon seeing the Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord, singing a hymn now called the Nunc Dimittis:

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace,
your word has been fulfilled:
My own eyes have seen the salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Simeon told Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." Simeon thus foreshadowed the crucifixion and the sorrows of Mary at seeing the death of her Son.

The name Candlemas comes from the activities associated with the feast. It came to be known as the Candle Mass. In the Western Church, a procession with lighted candles is the distinctive rite. According to post Vatican-II discipline, (if possible) the beeswax candles are to be blessed somewhere other than where the Mass is held. Often your local parish will hand out candles, or you may bring your own, to be blessed before the procession. These may be saved for later use in your home. After an antiphon, during which the candles held by the people are lighted, there is a procession into the church. During the procession to the church, the Nunc Dimittis is sung, with the antiphon "Lumen ad revelationem" (Luke 2:32). This procession into the church for Mass commemorates Christ's entrance into the temple. Since Vatican II, the feast is reckoned a feast of the Lord (as opposed to a feast of Mary), and officially designated "The presentation of the Lord."

History
Egeria, writing around AD 380, attests to a feast of the Presentation in the Jerusalem Church. It was kept on February 14th. The day was kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, with a homily on Luke 2:22-39. However, the feast had no proper name at this point; it was simply called the 40th day after Epiphany. This shows that the Jerusalem church celebrated Jesus' birth on the Epiphany Feast (as is common in some Eastern Churches today).

In regions where Christ's birth was celebrated on December 25th, the feast began to be celebrated on February 2nd, where it is kept in the West today. In 542, the Emperor Justinian introduced the feast to the entire Eastern Roman empire in thanksgiving for the end to a great pestilence afflicting the city of Constantinople. Perhaps this is when Pope Gregory I brought the feast to Rome. Either way, by the 7th century, it is contained in the Gelasianum Sacramentary. Pope Sergius (687-701) introduced the procession to the Candlemas service. The blessing of candles did not come into common use until the 11th century.

While some scholars have asserted that the Candlemas feast was developed in the Middle Ages to counteract the pagan feasts of Imbolc and Lupercalia, many scholars reject this, based on Medieval documents. While the feast does coincide with these two pagan holidays, the origins of the feast are based in Scriptural chronology. Some superstitions developed about Candlemas, including the belief that if one does not take down Christmas decorations by Candlemas, traces of the holly and berries will bring about the death of the person involved. In past times, Candlemas was seen as the end of the Christmas season.

Candlemas Day was also the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. Farmers believed that the remainder of winter would be the opposite of whatever the weather was like on Candlemas Day. An old English song goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind "Groundhog's Day," which falls on Candlemas Day.

Today, the feast is still celebrated on February 14th in some Eastern Churches, including the Armenian Church, where the feast is called, "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple." Most churches celebrate it on February 2nd.

Archdiocese of New Orleans releases sacramental records of slaves, free peopleof color; over 200 years old

Catholic records of slave baptisms in colonial New Orleans go online

By Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune

On Sunday, the 6th of May, 1798, an enslaved New Orleans woman named only Manon, owned by Mr. LeBlanc, presented her 2-year-old child, Antoine Joseph, at St. Louis Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas to be baptized at the hands of Father Luis Quintanilla, a Capuchin friar there.

Manon was probably accompanied by her owner, as was the custom of the day, according to Emilie Leumas, an expert on the era and the keeper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ sacramental records.

In racially complex, laissez-faire New Orleans, where categories of race were faithfully noted then sometimes dismissed, Quintanilla noted the pertinent details. Manon was a mulatto, or mixed-race woman, and the baby’s father was officially unrecognized but apparently white, as the baby is described with the Spanish term “quarteroon,” which means three-fourths white.

The record of that event has always been preserved in the rich archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. But it has never been easily accessible.

But Tuesday, the 1798 baptism of Antoine Joseph, with thousands of similar baptismal records from colonial New Orleans, were posted on the Internet as a new tool for genealogists everywhere.

“Now people can sit in their slippers at 11 o’clock at night and read away,” said Leumas, the archdiocese’s archivist.

Significantly, the first batch of five registers to go online are the baptismal records of slaves and free persons of color. Almost all of them are bereft of family names, and before now, were largely beyond the reach of most genealogical researchers, church officials said.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond said the online registers, launched on the first day of Black History Month, demonstrate to New Orleanians “that we very much appreciate (African-Americans’) integral part in our history. This is a way of giving thanks for their presence, their faith and the many ways they have built up our community.”

Aymond acknowledged the records will also draw renewed attention to the uncomfortable fact that in colonial New Orleans the church and its religious orders were often slave-holders. The publication is offered with an apology, he said.

“I apologize in the name of the church because we allowed some of these things to continue,” Aymond said. “This is sinful. Racism is sinful.”

The first batch in the database records baptisms beginning in 1777 at the cathedral, Leumas said.

Rendered in Spanish, sometimes in iron gall ink that has deteriorated badly, they often take a practiced and patient eye and a knowledge of local conventions to fully decode, Leumas said. By themselves, they are not sufficient to find a target individual.

But paired with civil data like real estate or census records, they can help a researcher close in on a distant relative, Leumas said.

Where slave owners or free people of color have surnames, a single page in the 212-year-old index from 1798 reads like a modern New Orleans directory. The names are Fortier, Montreuil, LeBlanc and Trudeau.

The original records, once housed in the Old Ursuline Convent, now are stored in environment-controlled vaults at archdiocesan headquarters on Walmsley Avenue, said Leumas, who took over as archivist in 2005.

In her five-year tenure, Leumas has made the archives increasingly open to amateur genealogists, but the online database represents a major leap.

Although scanning material to the Internet is common with high-speed, sheet-fed technologies that have been available for years, Leumas said those techniques are not applicable when dealing with fragile antique documents.


She said transferring the records online was expensive and labor-intensive. The project entailed disassembling the old registers, delicately scanning each page, resealing each leaf in Mylar and reassembling the books.

“It’s a question of resources. This is expensive work,” she said.

Future postings will be done with a techonology that transfers images from pages that have already been microfilmed, Leumas said.

She said the indexed records online now mostly contain only people who, because of their enslavement or low social status as free persons of color, were known only by first names.

Similar records of French and Spanish families with surnames were indexed, and the pertinent data on their births, marriages and deaths were summarized years ago in widely available genealogy references.

As a state-sponsored church, the Catholic church enjoyed special status in New Orleans in 1798, the year of Antoine Joseph’s baptism, Leumas said.

Colonial law required that he be baptized along with the thousands of other slaves, thus producing a rich layer of documentation describing the social, sexual and cultural mores of the time.

Similarly, church records at the time also recorded slave funerals and permitted slave marriages, providing documentary evidence of human lives often overlooked in other American communities, Leumas said.

Aymond suggested the database finally affords a measure of public dignity for lives lived in crushing anonymity. Bringing the name of a long lost person into public view “is a way of getting in touch with that person’s spirit,” he said.

In Antoine Joseph’s case, the godparents were there: Marie Joseph and Antonio, neither with a family name. Still attentive to the complex categories of race and color, Quintanilla noted that the baby’s godfather was “metis” -- another mixed-race classification, perhaps suggesting American Indian blood, according to Leumas.

By the end of 2012, the archdiocese hopes to go both forward and backward in time, posting all of its sacramental records -- baptisms, marriages, funerals and other life cycle events -- from the founding of the city in 1718 to the date of Louisiana’s admittance to the union in 1812, Leumas said.

“None of it is easy. It’s painstaking. But for a researcher who knows how to do it, and who continues to do it, this is a gold mine for them,” she said.