Saint Andrew

The feast of one of the great apostles today reminds me of some great paintings dedicated to St Andrew in the parish dedicated to him at Luqa parish in Malta. These paintings were unveiled a year ago and were done by Paul Camilleri Cauchi. This painting shows an apotheosis of St Andrew as he is taken up into heaven. Various other paintings of apostles and St Andrew were also unveiled in the same church. He was actually the first apostle Jesus called at the Sea of Galilee. At first, the two brothers Peter and Andrew continued to carry on their fishing trade and family affairs, but later, the Lord called them to stay with Him all the time. He promised to make them fishers of men, and this time, they left their nets for good. It is believed that after Jesus ascended into Heaven, St Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel, as well as along the Black Sea. He is said to have been put to death on a cross, to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived two days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people who gathered around their beloved Apostle. Various countries have chosen St Andrew as their patron saint, among them Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Scotland. In fact, Scotland has incorporated his X-shaped cross in their flag, repeated again in the Union Jack, the British flag. Relics of the Apostle Andrew are kept at the Basilica of St Andrew in Patras, Greece; the Duomo di Sant'Andrea, Amalfi, Italy; St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland; and the Church of St Andrew and St Albert, Warsaw, Poland. There are also numerous smaller reliquaries throughout the world. Today we end another liturgical year and tomorrow we start a new year with the First Sunday of Advent.

Thanksgiving every day

I remember taking this photo as I was driving to one of my mission churches in Halfway, Oregon, and it reminds me how thankful we should all be all year round, not just one day in late November. As many people return to their normal daily routine, may they always remember to give thanks to God almighty for so many blessings they receive. This simple wooden cross on a hill reminded me of God’s beauty all around, and the presence of faith where we least expect it. May we continue to show gratitude every day of our lives.

 
    “O God, when I have food,  help me to remember the hungry;
    When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
    When I have a home, help me to remember those who have no home at all;
    When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer....

    And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency;
    Show more my compassion, and be concerned enough to help;
    By word and deed, those who cry out
    for what we take for granted. Amen.”

In Gratitude

We give thanks today for the many blessings God sends our way, sometimes without even noticing them.

Thank you for our parents, who through the love they showed to each other, we were born, and so far we’ve lived a long healthy life.

Thank you for the innocence of our children, for the enthusiasm of our youth, for the wisdom and experience of our seniors.

Thank you for the love we see in healthy marriages, and the couples who through sacrifice and commitment, they continue to cherish the sacrament that joined them together.

Thank you for our beautiful churches, for the faith we express through our Christian behavior, and for our participation in our Masses and liturgies and celebrations.

Thank you for our schools that form the future citizens of our country, for stores, companies, and offices, and for those who take care of our daily needs.

Thank you for the many volunteers who help whenever there is an accident, for the generosity that people show in emergencies and for humanitarian reasons.

Thank you for social media which we constantly use, but let us remember that we can still communicate with each other by talking face to face.

Thank you for the beauty of nature, sunrises and sunsets, mountains and rivers, the animals that keep us company and those who survive in the wild, for colorful birds and fish, and for the flowers that embellish our gardens.

Thank you for the health we enjoy, and all those who help us in our medical needs, doctors, nurses and carers, and family members who visit the elderly and always worry about them.

Thank you Lord for my priestly vocation, so that I could serve my people for 43 years, both in Malta and the USA.

Thank you Lord, for providing for us everything we need, and that You keep us alive.

Words from the Wise - part 2

America will never be destroyed from outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. – Abraham Lincoln. 

When Einstein met Charlie Chaplin. Einstein: ‘What I admire most about your art is its universality. You do not say a word, and yet, the world understands you!’ Charlie Chaplin responded: ‘It’s true, but your fame is even greater! The world adires you when nobody understands you!’
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers – Socrates.
Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called Whining – Teddy Roosevelt.
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts – Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
I noticed that the wicked people of this world usually hang out together, even when they hate each other – and this is their strength. Good people on the other hand, are scattered – and this is their weakness. (Yevgeny Yevtuschenko)
Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount (Gen. Omar Bradley)
The most gleaming trophy a great man can claim in his life is the discovery of a few truths, and the destruction of a few errors.

Words from the Wise – part 1

Albert Einstein, always with a wise quote.

No matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people ultimately shows the strength of your character.

If a man expects a woman to be an angel in his life, he must first create heaven for her. Angels don’t live in hell.

I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to the waiter. Because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position – Muhammed Ali.

A ship is always safe at shore, but that is not what it’s built for – Albert Einstein.

A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether to say it or not.

Many people think that patience is a sign of weakness. I think this is a mistake. It is anger that is a sign of weakness, whereas patience is a sign of strength.

A saint was asked ‘What is anger?’ He gave a beautiful answer, ‘It is a punishment we give to ourself, for somebody else’s mistake.’

I fear that day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots – Albert Einstein.

St Catherine of Alexandria

Martyrdom of St Catherine by Giuseppe Cali in Zurrieq church, Malta

Catherine was born of a noble family in Alexandria, her father being the pagan king Costus and her mother queen Sabinella, who both ruled over Alexandria. She was a very intelligent girl who studied the arts, the sciences and philosophy. She had decided at a very young age that she will remain a virgin, and would marry only if she found someone who was more intelligent than her, and was more handsome and was more wealthy than her. This was her way of saying she would be married to Christ because she said: “His beauty is better than the sun, His wisdom governs creation, and His riches are spread all around the universe.” She had converted to Christianity after she had a vision from heaven, at the same time when she started to criticize the emperor Maxentius who used to persecute the Christians. As a sort of revenge, the emperor chose 50 of her friends who had also converted and burned them alive. He even promised Catherine a royal wedding of she accepted to abandon Christianity, but of course, she refused him and ended up in prison.
While in prison, Catherine was able to convert the wife of Maxentius and 200 of his soldiers. They were martyred along with Catherine herself, who was tied to a large wheel. When the wheel broke, she was then beheaded. 1100 years after her death, St Joan of Arc recalls seeing her in a vision, who helped her and encouraged her in her own martyrdom. In sacred art, Catherine is shown as the bride of Christ, with the account of the mystical marriage of St Catherine. In paintings, she is always shown dressed as a princess, with the broken wheel and a palm in her hands, as well as the sword which eventually ended her life as a martyr.

Christ the King

'Christ the King' a painting by Maltese artist Manuel Farrugia at Paola church.

The Solemnity of Christ the King is celebrated on the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. It’s a day to honor our Savior as King, who leads us with love, kindness, and compassion, unlike many other ruthless Kings and Emperors who lead with tyranny, oppression, and cruelty, many of whom were deposed by their own people. The image of Christ the King has always been presented to us as if sitting on a glittering throne, with a scepter in hand and a golden crown on his head. In actual fact, his throne was the cross on which he was crucified, the scepter was the nails driven through his hands and feet, and the crown was made of sharp thorns that were pushed on his head. The feast of Christ the King as we know it now was introduced in 1925, to counteract the start of Communism in the world. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 had taken the presence of Christ from the hearts of people, and the Church wanted to bring Him back into the center of their lives. The feast was celebrated on the last Sunday in October until 1969, when Pope Paul VI shifted this feast to the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, usually towards the end of November.

Christ the King tomorrow

If you were to google ‘Christ the King,’ searching for images, you will come up with a large number of images of Jesus on a glittering throne, usually sitting with a soft embroidered cushion, surrounded with angels, wearing a sparkling jewel-embedded crown, with a shiny scepter in his hand. In reality, Jesus never aspired to present this image. His throne was the rugged cross, the scepter was the nails driven through his hands, his crown was made of sharp thorns, and his robe was a simple robe, for which the soldiers threw lots after he was crucified. Christ never spread a message of hatred and then taught us how to love. He never waged war and then preached peace and justice. He wasn’t rich and told us to be poor. He never escaped from anything or from anyone - except for once, when they wanted to give Him a promotion and make Him King.

St Cecilia

St. Cecilia is one of the few martyrs whose name we know, along with St. Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Sebastian, St. George, and St. Lucy, among others. She was martyred by Emperor Marcus Aurelius between the years 176 and 180 AD. Cecilia was arrested and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for one night and one day, as fires were heaped up and stoked to a terrifying heat - but Cecilia did not even sweat. When the Emperor heard this, he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the baths. The executioner struck her three times but was unable to decapitate her so he left her bleeding and she lived for three days. Crowds came to her and collected her blood while she preached to them or prayed. On the third day, she died and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons. St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand. Officials exhumed her body in 1599 and found her to be incorrupt, the first of all incorrupt saints. She was draped in a silk veil and wore a gold embroidered dress. That year, Cardinal Paolo Sfondrati built a church to honor her and ordered a marble statue in the catacombs to be crafted. A few musical compositions were written in her honor. Among them are the ‘Ode to St. Cecilia’ by Henry Purcell, a cantata by Georg Frederic Handel and ‘Hymn to St. Cecilia’ by Benjamin Britten. Paul Simon also wrote a song in her honor, entitled ‘Cecilia.’

In her honor I list here my 20 favorite pieces of music, what you might call my Desert Island Discs:

1. JS Bach - B Minor Mass, 

2. Hector Berlioz - Requiem Mass, 

3. Ludwig van Beethoven - 9 Symphonies, 

4. Gioacchino Rossini - Overtures, 

5. Antonio Vivaldi - Any Concerto for Flute, 

6. Miklos Rosza - Ben Hur soundtrack, 

7. Franz Joseph Haydn - The Creation, oratorio, 

8. WA Mozart - Symphonies 25-41, 

9. Philip Glass – Powaqaatsi - Anthem, 

10. Tomas Luis de Victoria - Responsories for Tenebrae, 

11. Mascagni – Cavalleria Rusticana, 

12. GF Handel – The Messiah, 

13. John Philip Sousa – Marches, 

14. Ludwig van Beethoven – ‘Emperor’ Concerto for piano, No. 5, 

15. JS Bach – Flute Sonatas, 

16. Franz Schubert – 9 Symphonies, 

17. PI Tchaikovsky – 1812 and Capriccio Italien, overtures, 

18. Antonio Vivaldi – Sacred Choral Music, 

19. Nicolo Paganini – Violin Concertos, 

20. Angelo Pullicino, Anthony Aquilina, Vincenzo Ciappara and Emanuel Bugeja - Maltese Marching Bands

Presentation of Mary

While the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was not generally celebrated in the West until the 11th century, it appears in most of the earliest calendars of the Eastern Churches. The feast seems first to have appeared in Syria, but later rose to prominence in Jerusalem. A basilica was built near the ruins of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Gospel of James and other apocryphal works (not included in the Bible) told the story of Mary's presentation at the Temple at the age of three. In gratitude for being granted a child after years of infertility, Mary's parents, Saints Joachim and St Anne had vowed to dedicate Mary to the service of God at the Temple. When they presented her at the Temple at the age of three, she stayed willingly, showing her dedication to God even at that young age, attending the temple regularly, similar to what children do attending their Religious Education classes. The Gospel or Protoevangelium of James is the source of many details of Mary's life that became universally accepted by the Church, including the names of her parents, the story of her birth, her age at her betrothal to Saint Joseph, and Saint Joseph's advanced age and his status as a widower with children by his first wife. It also played a large role among Christians, both Eastern and Western, in recognizing Mary as the new Temple, the true Holy of Holies. When Mary left the Temple at the age of 12 after her betrothal to Joseph, she remained pure and chaste, and at the Annunciation God came to dwell in her.

The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary first made its way to the West through monasteries in Southern Italy in the ninth century; by the 11th century, it had spread to other locales but was by no means universally celebrated. Under the influence of a French nobleman, Philippe de Mazières, Pope Gregory XI began celebrating the feast during the time the Pope was living in Avignon, France. Pope Sixtus IV first placed the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the universal calendar in 1472, but in the Tridentine reform of the calendar in 1568, Pope Pius V removed the feast. It was restored 17 years later by Pope Sixtus V, and remains in the Roman calendar today as a memorial. Today's Feast emphasizes our response to God's gifts. We remember the response of Mary's mother and father in their decision to present her in the temple for dedication to the Lord. All parents are called to imitate their response by presenting their children for Baptism. We reflect on the mystery of Mary's own continuing response from her very earliest days to the Lord's invitations of grace. Mary was called to continually give her "Yes" to God's invitations of love. In that continual "Yes" or “Fiat” she shows us the way we are all called to respond to the invitations of grace in our own lives as we grow in holiness. 

World Children’s Day

In honor of children on their special day dedicated to them today, I offer this prayer:

We pray for children who give us sticky kisses,

who hop on rocks and chase butterflies,

who go barefoot because their parents cannot afford to buy them shoes,

who have shoes, but can never find them.

And we pray for those who stare at photographs from behind barbed wire,

who never squeaked across the floor in new sneakers,

who never go to the circus, who live in an X-rated world

We pray for children who bring us fistfuls of dandelions and sing off key,

who have goldfish funerals, build card table forts, who slurp their cereal on purpose,

who put gum in their hair, put sugar in their milk, who spit toothpaste all over the sink,

who hug us for no reason, who bless us each night.

And we pray for those who never get dessert,

who watch their parents watch them die, who have no safe blanket to drag behind,

who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up,

whose pictures aren’t on anybody's dresser, whose monsters are real.

We pray for those who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,

who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,

who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,

who get pennies from the tooth fairy, who don't like to be kissed in front of their friends,

who squirm in church and scream when you're on the phone,

whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry. 

And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime,

who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist,

who aren't spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,

who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried, and for those who must.

For those we never give up on, and for those who don't have a chance.

For those we smother, and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

The Blessing of Rain

It’s a rainy day here in Malta. And it is the answer to my prayers. Since September I’ve been praying for rain. And my congregation actually laughs when they hear me pray “For adequate rain, especially in our fields and countryside, and please Lord, send it down on us softly, and preferably at night, we pray to the Lord....” I love the rain – there is nothing more soothing than hearing drip-drops on an umbrella when you’re walking in it. People panic here when they hear it fall. I’ve been through blizzards, driving through 6 inches of snow, hurricanes, pounding rain and icy conditions – so nothing is more pleasant to me than seeing rainfall on the Maltese Islands.  We don't have any mountains or rivers, but most houses have a well underneath their house, and the rainwater that falls on flat roofs, usually percolate into the well or cistern, which people then use for watering plants, washing,  and other uses. Here are some interesting facts about the rain.

- Rain can fall at the speed of 22 miles per hour.

- The people in Uganda experience a rainstorm and thunderstorms 250 times a year.

- The biggest amount of rain that fell in one day was 71.9 inches at La Reunion in France, during the tropical cyclone ‘Denise’ on January 8, 1966.

- The place in the world where it rains the most in Cherrapunji in India, where during the year they get an average of 1041.7 inches, or 26,460 millimeters.

- Cumulonimbus clouds and nimbostratus clouds are guaranteed to produce rain within  24 hours.

- Umbrellas were first invented to protect people from the sun. The word itself comes from the Latin ‘umbra’ meaning shadow, The first umbrellas appeared in China around the 11^th century BC.

- In the movie ‘Singing in the Rain,’ water was mixed with milk during the splashing in the rain scene with Gene Kelly, this way the water will be more visible.

- Every second, 16 million tons of water is evaporated from the surface of the earth. And every second, 16 million tons of rain falls on the earth.

- The game of Darts was invented because of rain. Once, during an archery competition, the competitors were caught in a rainstorm. While waiting at a pub, they started throwing smaller arrows towards a target on the wall. Hence the invention of darts.

The Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul

The majesty of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Today we commemorate the dedication of two major basilicas combined together, St Paul outside the walls and St Peter’s Basilica, known as the Vatican. These dedications are important because they symbolize in a way the birth and baptism of each edifice. When the early persecutions ended in 313 AD by King Constantine, he later built a basilica over the tomb where St Peter was buried. It lasted almost a thousand years, and the reconstruction of the original building started in the 14th century. The present Basilica, an ingenious structure built with the collaboration of Michelangelo, Bramante, Carlo Moderno, Giovanni Pannini and Bernini was officially consecrated on November 18, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII. It is by far the most imposing and impressive church in all of Christendom, where major celebrations, elections of Popes, funerals, Canonizations etc, are held.

Inside St Paul's Basilica

The Basilica of St Paul was started by Valentinian II on the Via Ostiense in 386, on the place where St Paul was buried. It was subsequently modified by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century. It has a graceful cloister that was built in the 13th century. Of all the churches of Rome, it had preserved its primitive character for 1435 years. However a negligent fire destroyed it in 1823 and the new and present Basilica was built in the 19th century and consecrated on December 10, 1854 by Pope Pius IX. The whole world contributed to its reconstruction. The Viceroy of Egypt sent pillars of alabaster, the Emperor of Russia the precious malachite and lapis lazuli for the tabernacle. The work on the principal facade, looking toward the Tiber, was completed by the Italian Government, which declared the church a national monument. Mosaic images of all the Popes encircle the entire church. Pope Pius IX ruled that both Basilicas will have their dedication celebration together, on November 18. Both churches are majestic in appearance, but also very imposing in their stature as two of the 4 major basilicas in Rome

Hospital-Ship Papa Francisco

Just as Jesus walked on water, so will this ship, named for Pope Francis,  bring solace and consolation to hundreds of Brazilians living along the Amazon River. All these natives can only be reached through the Amazon River and so this hospital-ship will be a big blessing for them. The Pope reminded the people in this region that the church is like a hospital that welcomes everyone without distinction. This initiative was taken by Bishop Bernardo Bahlmannn of Obidos Diocese in Brazil, together with the Franciscans of Providence. The hospital-ship will constantly move up and down the river and give medical assistance to all those who need it. The Brazilian Franciscans were inspired to create the floating hospital when Pope Francis visited their healthcare facility during World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013. During the visit, the Pope encouraged Friar Francisco Belotti to expand his religious order’s charitable works into the Amazon region. The boat, 32 meters in length, contains an operating room and analysis laboratory, and is able to provide a range of medical services, including X-rays, vaccinations, electrocardiograms, mammograms, and ultrasounds. The hospital began treating its first patients Aug. 18, 2019. It is staffed by 20 medical volunteers, 10 crew members, and a Franciscan boat director.

Poppy Day

Remembrance Day memorial in London known as Cenotaph

Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of the remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of First World War on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. ("At the 11th hour" refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.) The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. The tradition of Remembrance Day evolved out of Armistice Day. The initial Armistice Day was observed at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V hosting a "Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic” during the evening hours of 10 November 1919. The first official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the grounds of Buckingham Palace the following morning. During the Second World War, many countries changed the name of the holiday. Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted Remembrance Day, while the United States chose Veterans Day, celebrated on the same day.

The underestimated JS Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

The parishioners of St.Thomas church in Leipzig, Germany truly underestimated a genius they had among them, and never appreciated his works while working among them. They always complained about his strange music and innovative works he wrote for organ and choir. They had no idea the brilliant maestro they had in their midst. After  Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750, not many played his music anymore, until Felix Mendellsohn started playing his music and showed them the genius they had among them, and always was ignored and never appreciated. 

St.Thomas church in Leipzig, Germany

In St. Thomas’ church, Bach wrote a series of Cantatas, one for each Sunday and special celebrations. Each Cantata is usually scored for orchestra, chorus and one or two soloists, every one of them a masterpiece in itself. Who knows how many future geniuses we have among us, and which we are ignoring or underestimating.

On the Titanic

Fr Thomas Byles and the sinking Titanic

Among the 1500 souls who drowned in April 1912 on the Titanic was Fr Thomas Byles, an ex-Anglican priest who had become Catholic in 1902. Fr Byles was among the co-founders of the Catholic Missionary Society. He was on his way to the USA to marry his brother William in Brooklyn, NY. There were two other priests on the ship, Fr Joseph Peruschitz, a German Benedictine monk, and Fr. Jouzas Montvilla from Lithuania. The Titanic left shore on April 10, and on April 14, the Sunday after Easter, Fr Byles was prophetic in his homily during Mass on board: “In case of a spiritual shipwreck, we need to have close to us the lifeboat of religious consolation.” When the iceberg hit, he was praying the breviary and quickly went to help the woman and children get into the lifeboats. He refused to go in one of them to give a chance to others. In his book : ”The Maiden Voyage,” Geoffrey Marcus wrote that some people were praying on their knees, and on deck, there was Fr Byles praying the Rosary, hearing confession and giving absolution to people. With him was Fr Peruschitz. In the early hours of April 15, while the Titanic was slowly sinking, Fr Byles had around 100 people around him, saying the Rosary together, just before the raging waters devoured them. Fr Byles’ brother and his bride Katherine Russell celebrated a quiet wedding. They later had an audience with Pope Pius X at the Vatican, who described Fr Byles as a martyr.

St Francis Xavier Cabrini

Mother Cabrini (1850-1917)

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, was born in Lombardia, Italy in 1850, the youngest of thirteen children. Two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years. As a young girl, Francesca was taken care of by her older sister Rosa, because her mother was 52 when Maria Francesca was born.

At 13, she was sent to Arluno to study under the Daughters of the Sacred Heart at the Normal School, and in 1868, at 18 she was certified as a teacher. Four years later she contracted smallpox. When she tried to enter into the Daughters of the Sacred Heart, Mother Superior refused admission, even though she saw potential in her, because of her frail health. She helped her parents until their death, and then worked on a farm with her siblings.
One day a priest asked her to teach in a girls' school and she stayed for six years. At the request of her Bishop, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. Although her lifelong dream was to be a missionary in China, Pope Leo XIII sent her to New York City on March 31, 1889, with six other nuns. There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, NY today known as Saint Cabrini Home, the first of 67 institutions she founded in New York, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and in countries throughout South America and Europe, especially Italy, England, France, Spain. Filled with a deep trust in God and endowed with a wonderful administrative ability, this remarkable woman soon founded schools, hospitals, and orphanages in this strange land and saw them flourish in the aid of Italian immigrants and children. 

She died in Chicago, Illinois on December 22, 1917. In 1946, she became the first American citizen to be canonized by Pope Pius XII. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patroness of immigrants. Her beatification miracle involved the restoration of sight to a child who had been blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle involved the healing of a terminally ill nun. She is buried in Washington Heights where a shrine is also dedicated to her.

St. Josaphat

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych (1584-1623)

Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych was born in Vladimir, between Poland and Lithuania in the year 1584 of Christian parents of the Slavic rite. He was very devout even as a young boy, praying the Breviary which the priests recite daily. He joined the Basilians in the town of Vilna, being ordained priest after he finished his studies.

He attracted many people, especially those who had drifted away from the church. He built convents and monasteries and made other reforms in his order. He became bishop of Polotsk in 1617 when he was only 38, and continued with his reforms, helping the poor and selling some of his property from his Cathedral to help the poor people and those in need.
Some people were jealous of his work and in particular, a certain Smotritski made himself an Archbishop, even encouraging people to follow him instead, and oppose the reforms brought about by St Josaphat, a move that caused many conflicts. When the saintly bishop went to calm things down and restore order, they attacked him, killed him and threw his body in the river in Vitebsk. It was November 12, 1623, and he was only 44, and when they brought his body from the river 5 days later, there was a fragrance of lilies and roses around his body.
They placed his body in a sarcophagus and many people repented of their opposition to him, including Smotritski who had previously proclaimed himself Archbishop. But he too turned his life around, leading a life of penitence for the rest of his life. Many miracles were attributed to St. Josaphat, and when he was exhumed 5 years after his death, his body was perfectly preserved – only his clothes had decayed. His body was left for veneration, and many people traveled many miles to honor him. He was canonized in 1867 by Pope Pius IX, and his body was transferred to the Vatican Basilica in November 1963, where he rests in one of the side altars.
Incidentally, I remember as an altar boy serving Masses at the Vatican, serving a few Masses with a Slavic priest at his altar, where the Mass lasted an hour and a half, with the priest using a whole loaf of bread and a large pitcher of wine during the Mass, their custom in celebrating the liturgy.

Three things

Three things to defend: your honor, your nation, your home.

Three things to control: your character, your language, your conduct.

Three things to meditate on: your life, your death, your eternity.

Three things to avoid: pride, ignorance, ingratitude.

Three things to wish for: happiness, peace, serenity.

Three things for your spiritual life: the Eucharist, the Bible, confession.

Three words to say often: Thank You – I love you – I’m sorry!

The three most important words you can say to yourself: Yes, I can!

A Symbol of Life

A wood carving statue of a naked pregnant woman has been at the heart of brewing controversies since before the Vatican’s major summit on the Amazon region began. The small statue was stolen from the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, a Roman church, and tossed in the Tiber River. News of the incident, along with a video of it, was first reported by LifeSite News and Church Militant, traditionalist websites that have been frequently critical of the image. Critics of the statue have repeatedly characterized it as a graven pagan image, known as Pachamama in Peru, while other defenders of it initially characterized it as an indigenous statue of the Virgin Mary. A Vatican spokesperson has since repeatedly said that the image is “simple representation of life.” The statue has been retrieved from the river, undamaged. Following the incident, Paolo Ruffini, the head of Vatican communications, repeated that the image represents “life, fertility, mother earth.” The statue first appeared at a prayer ceremony in the Vatican Gardens on October 4, in the presence of Pope Francis and has created a social media frenzy. During the ceremony, the Pope planted a tree and was surrounded by other images known to the Amazonian community. Later on, the image was again present at the Via Crucis procession, which included the participation of several bishops from the Synod on the Amazon.

The Berlin Wall

Today is the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a historic day that was probably the highlight of the fall of Communism. The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Construction of the Wall was commenced by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) on August 13, 1961. The Wall cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany, including East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches and other defences. The  Eastern Bloc portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame", a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt in reference to the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement.

In 1989, a series of revolutions in nearby Eastern Bloc countries — Poland and Hungary in particular — caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Wall. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall. The Brandenburg Gate in the Berlin Wall was opened on 22 December 1989. The demolition of the Wall officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in November 1991.

Words to ponder - part 2

 - There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.

 - Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
 - May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.
 - Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.
 - The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
 - Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.
 - The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
  - When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Words to ponder - part 1

- Maybe God wanted us to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.
 - Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but oftentimes we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.
 - Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
 - Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.
 - It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Watch what you write

It sure is hot down here.....WHAT?

Our wonderful technology is amazing and we are now communicating with such ease and efficiency that makes typewriters, note-pads and even fountain pens and ink obsolete. But it’s wise to remember how easily this wonderful technology can be misused, sometimes unintentionally, with serious consequences. 

Consider the case of the Illinois man who left the snow-filled  streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida.  His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day.  When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail. Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory.   Unfortunately, he missed one letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly widow whose husband had passed away only the day before. When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint.  At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:
DEAREST WIFE: JUST GOT CHECKED IN.  EVERYTHING PREPARED FOR YOUR ARRIVAL TOMORROW. PS: SURE IS HOT DOWN HERE!