The Visitation

Emvin Cremona - Mary visits Elizabeth (Għaxaq church, Malta)

The month of May, dedicated to the Blessed Mother ends with another feast of Mary, precisely her visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. It was also the first encounter between Jesus and John the Baptist, even though they were still in their mothers’ respective wombs. As was customary, the younger woman would visit the older one and Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, helping her with chores, while chatting and praying over their upcoming blessed event. Who knows what they talked about....asking questions that any prospective mother would ask another mother....”What are you naming the baby? ......is he kicking yet?........is the crib ready?.....how many more weeks for the delivery?........”This feast also encourages us to focus on the spirit of visits. People visit each other frequently, as families vacation and go on holidays while stopping at homes and places where they know they would be welcome. How hospitable are we to guests who stop by to visit us? How gracious are we when we visit friends? Do we check to see if we are imposing on them? How about visiting elderly people, like grandparents, uncles and aunts who may be very lonely? Do we set a good example when friends visit us? Do we invite them to attend church with us on a weekend, or are we embarrassed to take them to Mass with us? You may be surprised how honored they would feel when you introduce them to the church and parish community? I can tell you that this is how most converts are made, when they visit a church and get ‘hooked’ by something special they see, a message in the homily, some music heard, or any other event that may seem insignificant for you, but not for your friends and guests.

St Joan of Arc

This young girl was quite a heroine in the 15th century, especially in a world dominated by men. Born in southern Paris in 1412 from an educated couple, she had visions at the age of 12, which were later revealed to be from St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Margaret of Antioch. They all told her to go to King Charles of France and pressure him to release France from the clutches of Great Britain. So the King, realising the pure intentions of Joan, sent her to take part in the war of Orleans. She arrived there in 1429 with her iconic banner to give a boost to the morale of the soldiers, who had just about given up a victory over the British. 9 days after her arrival, the British soldiers retreated. The French soldiers kept advancing, encouraged by Joan on their side until they arrived at Rheims. There the King was crowned with Joan of Arc next to him. The French victories raised their morale, which stayed with them during the One Hundred Years War. However Joan was arrested in Compiegne a year later and was accused of witchcraft and heresy. Her trial was the most cruel, and a classic 1928 black and white film called ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ shows with extreme close-ups the atrocity she suffered. It was a silent film but was set to music a few years ago, with a spectacular and haunting score. During her trial she was also condemned because she wore pants, trousers, something which every woman does today. Joan was burned at the stake in 1431 in Rouen, and her ashes were spread in the River Seine. The Catholic Church did another trial 25 years after her death, and her penalty was removed and was found innocent, but yet she lost her life. Her example was admired by the poor and wealthy alike, and her love of the sacraments as well as her contemplative life led her to be beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920.

Pope St Paul VI

Myself as a 14 year old with Pope St Paul VI

I’ve met in person three people who were canonized. The first one was St George Preca, the Maltese saint whom I heard speak in my hometown when I was 8 or 9 years old in 1960. The second one is St Teresa of Calcutta when she came to speak to the priests on Long Island, New York in 1985. And the third one is Pope St Paul VI, whom I met in 1966 when in August I was serving Masses at the Vatican with a group of 25 altar servers. During an audience we had, a photographer took my picture kissing his ring as the Maltese Archbishop Michael Gonzi was also attending the audience. Paul VI was born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897 in Brescia, and after becoming a priest he served at various administrative positions, especially as secretary of Pope Pius XII. In 1954, he was made Archbishop of Milan, the largest diocese in the world, with 1000 parishes, 2,500 priests and 3 million people. He succeeded Pope John XXIII in 1963 as Pope and finished the Second Vatican Council in 1965. He served the church for 15 years and died in 1978. He was canonized with Archbishop Oscar Romero on October 14, 2018. Today we celebrate the liturgical feast of Pope St Paul VI, May 29 being the date in 1920 when he as ordained a priest.

Marzipan babies

Obviously the first reaction when seeing these photos was undoubtedly was ‘How cute!’ Even though they really look very real, they are actually made from Marzipan, all created with love and care. Yet the same people who would probably say ‘how cute!’ would be the same people who would line up in an abortion clinic to abort a growing baby. Let us respect life in all its forms, from conception to natural death.

 

Click on each photo to enlarge

Newspapers and magazines

This photo is probably from 1984, 40 years ago, when newspaper posters were displayed, and when newspapers were read on paper, with many people lining up to buy a copy. The number of magazines available was pretty large at that time as you can see from the display of this photo. I’m sure as you travel, you stop by those magazine stores at the airport and you can find all kinds of titles and subjects. But as we all know the age of paper news is slowly coming to an end. I don’t have exact statistics, but the one that I recently read shows that only 7% of the population presently still read the news from a paper newspaper. Which means that 93% get their news online, through the Internet. Most of the magazines are also going online, although a limited number are still published on glossy paper. I personally write every 2 weeks in a Catholic newspaper here in Malta, something I’ve been doing since 1986, and the ‘Leħen is-Sewwa’ (the Voice of Truth) is approaching its centennial in 2028, as I’ve been praying it survives at least until that year. Unfortunately this newspaper, published on weekends is not online, and the newspaper is sent by mail, and available at certain newsagents. With our lifestyle changing dramatically every day, we have no idea what life is going to be like in about 10 years, 20 years from now. But at least I am happy that you can read my blog daily by a click of a mouse, or a slide of your finger on your cell-phone or IPad.

Holy Trinity

Celebrating the feast of the Holy Trinity today, it's worth visiting an icon that represents this theme. The Rublev Icon of the Trinity is one of the most descriptive Icons ever created. It was painted by a Russian monk Andrei Rublev in 1411 and is presently seen at the Tretyakov State Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Shaped to fit into a perfect circle, the three figures who look like angels represent the Trinitarian Godhead, without beginning or end. In Genesis chapter 18, the image of three mysterious angelic visitors is described as appearing to Abraham. Rublev created this Icon, giving the angels thin staffs to symbolize authority, and each wearing blue plus other colors, sitting around a table with a chalice like bowl in the center. It is named the “Old Testament Trinity.” The one of the left is the Father….”in my Father’s house there are many mansions” – notice the tower behind him. The center angel is Christ, with two fingers blessing the offerings, and also to symbolize the human and divine natures. The tree behind him foreshadows the tree of life and the tree on which he was crucified. The third angel on the right is the Holy Spirit, dressed in green and blue, symbolic of life. A mountain is behind him, where Moses received the 10 commandments, where Jesus was transfigured, Sinai and Tabor respectively. An open space in the center is an invitation for us to join this mystery draped in the theology of color and arranged in a geometry of grace. Pope John Paul II had special devotion to this Icon, and besides the image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, this is the only other image he had in his bedroom at the Vatican. He also dedicated the last three years of the last millennium to the Holy Trinity respectively, 1998 to Jesus, 1999 to the Holy Spirit and 2000 to God the Father.

Carlo Acutis to be canonized

Another young saint will soon be canonized, most probably in the Holy Year 2025. Blessed Carlo Acutis was born in 1991 in London and died in 2006, at the age of 15, meaning he would be the first millennial - a person born in the early 1980s to late 1990s - to be canonised. Pope Francis just approved a miracle attributed to him. It involved the healing of university student in Florence who had bleeding on the brain after suffering head trauma. Acutis was beatified in 2020, after he was attributed with his first miracle - healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease affecting his pancreas. Carlo Acutis died in Monza, in Italy, after being diagnosed with leukaemia, having spent much of his childhood in the country. His body was moved to Assisi a year after his death and it currently resides on full display alongside other relics linked to him. As well as designing websites for his parish and school, he became known for launching a website seeking to document every reported Eucharistic miracle, which was launched days before his death. His website has now been translated into several different languages, and used as the basis for an exhibition which has travelled around the world. Carlo called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven" and he did all in his power to make this presence known. His witness inspired his own parents to return to practicing the Catholic faith and his Hindu au pair to convert and be baptized. Many of Carlo’s classmates, friends, and family members have testified how he brought them closer to God. Carlo was a very open person and was not shy to speak with his classmates and anyone he met about the things that he loved: the Mass, the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and heaven. 

Carlo's mother next to his body at Assisi church

He is remembered for saying many meaningful phrases, including these 5: “People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints.” “Continuously ask your guardian angel for help. Your guardian angel has to become your best friend.”  “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies”  “Sadness is looking at ourselves, happiness is looking towards God.”  “I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute on those things which do not please God.”

Another Rockwell classic

Here’s another funny poster from Norman Rockwell as it depicts a typical scene in urban America of the 1940s. The Pepies truck seems to have been stuck in a narrow alley. But besides the narrowness of the alley, there seems to be another problem as everyone was screaming to the lorry driver to stop, because a tiny dog, possibly a Pug, stood in the middle of the road, obstructing the road. People hanging from the windows, perched from balconies, yelling at the driver or his assistant to calmly bring the dog to the side, or even tease him with a piece of dog-biscuit. Norman Rockwell lived between 1894 and 1978, born in New York City and dying in Massachusetts where he spent a big chunk of his life. I remember once visiting a museum with some of his paintings and posters in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Rockwell was a prolific artist, producing more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his surviving works are in public collections. Rockwell was also commissioned to illustrate more than 40 books, and to paint portraits of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.

A Norman Rockwell classic

                                   

One of my favorite artists is Norman Rockwell, who came out of Massachusetts, painting many posters for the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. The poster displayed today shows this sailor at a Tattoo Parlor, as the tattooist is working on the sailor’s shoulder, precisely  as the lower arm, since he ran out of room. It’s so funny to see this sailor with a smirk on his face, as he keeps changing girlfriends, and replacing them by yet another name. From Sadie to Rosietta, Ming Fu, Mimi, Olga, and now he’s dating Betty. He must have travelled quite a bit, as far as China and who knows where else.  Painted in 1944, this appeared as the cover of “The Saturday Evening Post”, and had alternative titles of ‘Only Skin Deep’ or ‘The Tattooist’. 

Click on each photo to enlarge

Rockwell’s humour shines through in this painting with the sailor getting his latest loves name tattooed on his arm.  Lucky Betty to be at the end of that long list, but it does beg a couple of questions, such as, what happened to the others? And how long poor Betty will last as the last flame?

Prayer to St Rita

Are you faced with a difficult problem? Does it seem insurmountable? The prayer to St. Rita of Cascia (1381-1457) shown below might help. After all, St. Rita is known as the “Saint of the Impossible,” and we honor her today, her liturgical feast day. Early in life, she had a strong desire to be a nun, but got married instead, following her parents’ wishes. By all accounts, her husband was Mr. Wrong, an abusive man with whom she bore two sons of similar temperament. Apparently she had the patience of a saint because she prayed for them all and tried to be a dutiful wife and mother! After 18 years of marriage, her husband was murdered and her sons died of natural causes the following year. After that, St. Rita finally got her wish and was admitted to the convent of Augustinian nuns at Cascia. Tradition has it that the nuns there initially refused to let St. Rita join because she was a widow. One night Saint John the Baptist, St. Augustine and St. Nicholas of Tolentino opened gates that had been bolted shut and left her in the chapel of the convent. When the nuns found St. Rita there the next morning they understood God’s designs for her and accepted her unanimously. Talk about prayer opening doors! Many other miracles were attributed to St. Rita, both during her life and after her death. As an example, her devotion to Jesus in His Passion was such that a thorn from the crucifix in her room pierced her forehead one day while she was praying! The prayer to St. Rita also touches on that miracle:

Oh glorious St. Rita, who did miraculously participate in the sorrowful Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, obtain for us the grace to suffer with resignation the troubles of this life, and protect us in all our needs. St. Rita, model wife and widow, you yourself suffered in a long illness showing patience out of love for God. Teach us to pray as you did. Many invoke you for help, full of confidence in your intercession. Come now to our aid for the relief and cure of (mention your request). To God all things are possible; may this healing give glory to the Lord. Through the prayers of St. Rita, may we learn to bear our crosses in life in the same spirit in which she bore hers. Amen.

Photographing deer

When I was in Oregon for 13 glorious years, I developed a system of photographing deer, especially as I drove to my mission churches every weekend, a stretch of 110 miles round-trip for 8 years, and many other miles as I drove to visit people and minister to them. Of course I always carried the camera with me, and as I used to say, the camera was the wife I could never have, always in my passenger seat, or hanging around my neck, or of course winking at her as I focus looking at the viewfinder to take the best shot. So my secret to shooting deer with my camera was pretty simple. I could not do this with the blue heron or bald eagles, or other birds as they would fly away at the sight of any human being. 

But deer would be grazing in a field, and as I slow down my car, trying be as inobtrusive as possible, I would prepare my camera, then roll down the car window slowly, then focus, beep the horn – at that exact second, they would all look up to me, and click, take the photo, which always comes out pretty good as you can see from these 3 samples. (click on each photo to enlarge)

Mary Mother of the Church

It's interesting to note that the Blessed Mother has more liturgical feasts dedicated to her than Jesus himself, and for the past 4 years, we have yet another celebration introduced recently by Pope Francis, honoring her as the Mother of the Church. Incidentally, a few days before this new feast was proclaimed, I was at the priests’ retirement home in Birkirkara, and I took a photo of this beautiful statue featuring Mary carrying a replica in miniature of a church with the Holy Spirit underneath. The feast is now celebrated annually the day after Pentecost. Yesterday we commemorated the birthday of the church, and as Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, she somehow gave birth to the church, which He represents. Even this impressive statue shows Mary holding close to her heart and womb the church and the Holy Spirit, as if she is offering them to us from her own body. This feast was actually introduced by Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1964, who had declared Mary as Mother of the Church, that is Mother of all Christians and of all priests. Then in 1975, the Year of Mercy, the church had also introduced a special Mass in honor of Mary as Mater Ecclesia, mother of the church. Above all, we must look at Mary as the one who gives us life, that spiritual oxygen which energizes us and nourishes us with her presence in our lives. May the Blessed Mother bless all of our families and may they be strengthened in their weakness through her continued motherly protection. We pray especially at this stage in history that she will bring peace in so many troubled areas, especially in the same territory where she herself lived with Her Son and husband.

Come Holy Spirit

There is a beautiful hymn from the 13th century, written by Pope Innocent III  or the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is often sung in Latin in Gregorian chant in the Mass of Pentecost – Veni Sancte Spiritus, Come Holy Spirit, also known as the Golden Sequence. I share this hymn with you today as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Spirit, the descent of the Spirit on the Apostles

Holy Spirit, Lord of light, From Thy clear celestial height Thy pure beaming radiance give.

It’s a sincere prayer meant to enlighten all our work, our projects even our dreams.

You, of all consolers best, You, the soul’s delightsome Guest, Dost refreshing peace bestow.

A prayer of consolation and comfort, as we invite him to strengthen our souls.

You in toil are comfort sweet, Pleasant coolness in the heat, Solace in the midst of woe.

A prayer in the midst of tiredness, and a request for calm when facing struggles.

Light immortal, Light divine, Visit please these hearts of Yours, And our inmost being fill.

A prayer imploring a healing in our hearts,  and filling us with his graces.

Heal our wounds; our strength renew; On our dryness pour Thy dew; Wash the stains of guilt away.

A prayer to clean our hurts and strengthen our resolve, while asking to remove all stain of sin.

Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray.

A prayer to create an atmosphere of welcome and acceptance, and to keep us focused on following the Lord.

You, on those who evermore, Thee confess and Thee adore, In Your sevenfold gifts descend:

A prayer for those who ask forgiveness, and are respectful, to receive the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit

Give them comfort when they die, Give them life with Thee on high; Give them joys that never end. Amen Hallelujah.

A final prayer invoking joy that will stay with us forever, giving us comfort when we die.

About Apparitions

Medjugorje, where the unconfirmed apparitions took place in 1981

The Vatican has just updated its guidelines for reviewing apparitions, visions and alleged revelations, and reaffirmed that only a pope could formally deem something to be "supernatural." The guidelines outline six potential conclusions that may be reached. The update comes at a time when social media has led to an explosion of new claims of supposed apparitions or visions — including Jesus appearing on food and weeping statues of the Virgin Mary.

The new norms outline six prudential conclusions that may eventually be granted to such phenomena. They go from the most believable to the very unreliable:

·         Nihil obstat: Without expressing certainty about the event itself, there may be an appreciation of the potential spiritual and pastoral value, where the diocesan bishop is encouraged to promote its spread, including through possible pilgrimages to a sacred site;

·         Prae oculis habeatur: A recognition of certain positive signs, but notes there are some aspects of the event that may need further discernment or may cause confusion;

·         Curatur: An event where there have been "verifiable spiritual fruits" and where an outright ban "could upset the People of God," but where the bishop is asked "not to encourage this phenomenon but to seek out alternative expressions of devotion and possibly reorient its spiritual and pastoral aspects";

·         Sub mandato: An occasion where a person, family or group is misusing an event or occurrence that could potentially lead to exploitation;

·         Prohibetur et obstruatur: An occurrence where some legitimate merits are found, but where there appear to be "very serious" risks. In order to prevent confusion or scandal, the bishop is asked to declare that adherence to the phenomenon is not allowed. The bishop is also asked to provide further instruction and catechesis "that can help the faithful understand the reasons for the decision and reorient the legitimate spiritual concerns of that part of the People of God;" or, 

·         Declaratio de non supernaturalitate: An authorization to declare that the phenomenon is found to be not supernatural.

Watch what you say !

I heard a quote once which may sound crude, but it so true when you think about it. ‘Some people have constipation of thought and diarrhoea of words.’ It is so true, because some people can talk, and talk, but no sense comes out of their mouths.  Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher once wrote that ‘those who know much, speak very little, and those who know very little, talk nonstop, usually nonsense.’ Yes, it is so true, he who speaks much, thinks very little. A Maltese proverbs says that when you meet a person, you’ll get to know half of him. When you speak to him, you’ll get to know all of him. I like to say to penitents who come for confession that we can do much good by what we don’t say in a heated argument, than by what we say in anger or in frustration. St Teresa of Calcutta used to say ‘Words which do not enlighten with the Light of Christ, usually add to the darkness. While sweet words are easy to say them, but their echo has no limits.’ It’s important to watch what we say. In my homilies I often mention the notion of using the THINK Method. If something is True, Helpful, Important, Necessary, and Kind, then say it. If it’s none of  these, then don’t say it!

Socrates said it...

You may think that this quote was said by a group of senior citizens complaining about the behavior of their grand-children. But in actual fact, it was written by Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, over 2000 years ago: ‘Children now love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for authority, and show disrespect towards elders. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannise their teachers.’ Not much seemed to have changed over all these centuries. Let’s hope our present-day parents instil in their children a sense of respect towards everyone around them.

Aurora Borealis

Four photos of Aurora Borealis at St. Mary's Lighthouse, UK.

The Aurora Borealis, also commonly known as the northern lights or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth’s sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and the Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of brilliant lights that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers covering the entire sky. A full understanding of the physical processes which lead to different types of auroras is still incomplete, but the basic cause involves the interaction of the solar wind with Earth’s magnetosphere. 

Aurora Borealis as seen in British Columbia, Canada

The aurora borealis is visible from areas around the Arctic such as Alaska, the Canadian Territories, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Scotland and Siberia. On rare occasions the aurora borealis can be seen as far south as the Mediterranean and the southern states of the US, as was the case this past week, with some spectacular sights as captured with these two photos in British Columbia, Canada and Edinburgh, Scotland, and the first set of four from St. Mary's Lighthouse, UK.

Aurora Borealis as seen from Edinburgh, Scotland.

Floral Display

Once a year, in a big square in Valletta, they create a veritable garden, usually with flowers that paint a special design to be admired for a couple of weeks. This year the highlight was on plants, outdoor plants, shrubs, trees that created quiet a lush forest which contrasts so much with the dryness and lack of moisture we experience here in Malta. The garden features an impressive 62 mature trees, 5,000 shrubs and bushes, 13,000 flowering potted plants, and two ponds. Some of the trees reach heights of up to three meters and consist of a diverse selection of Mediterranean varieties such as Carob, Cypress, Canfora, Oleander, and Olive trees, many of which are between 60 and 80 years old. Circling all the plants were a large number of petunias, pretty colorful as you can see from these photos.

Our Lady of Fatima

Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco

Along with Lourdes and Guadalupe, Fatima is the most visited country as far as Marian religious pilgrimages are concerned. And as if to further accentuate its importance in history, May 13, 1917 was replicated in 1981 for a moment of importance, although in a negative way. On that day Pope John Paul II was shot inside the Vatican Square and almost died. But he recovered enough to make a pilgrimage a year later on May 13, 1982, to thank the Blessed Mother for her intervention in saving his life. But very much like Lourdes and Guadalupe, the quietness of these small little villages was turned upside down when the Blessed Mother appeared to 3 young children, Francisco and his sister Jacinta Marto, and Lucia dos Santos. Nobody would believe them at first, and were almost imprisoned for fabricating lies. But eventually, religious leaders, priests and bishops in Fatima, Portugal investigated the whole story and found it to be true, with the Vatican officially proclaiming that the apparitions were believable. Francisco and Jacinta died shortly afterwards, but Lucia became a nun and lived into the third millennium in a monastery in Portugal, being visited by 2 Popes.  A huge basilica was built on the spot where the Blessed Mother appeared to the children, encouraging them to pray the Rosary, and pray for the conversion of souls. She even gave the children some well-kept secrets, which were only shown to the reigning Popes, but we know now that they spoke about the conversion of Russia and other tragic events that took place over the years, and other historic events which were predicted, like the end of World War I. Thousands of pilgrims visit Fatima every year, and the devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Rosary spread far and wide. The prayer that is said between each decade of the Rosary was devised after the Fatima apparition: O my Jesus forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of thy mercy.

Celebrating Mother’s Day

My mother Mary in 1985

To all our mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, mothers-to-be, foster mothers and step-mothers, our prayers are with you. On this special day, we pray that they will place their lives and their families’ well-being under the Blessed Mother’s protection. Let us also remember those mothers who are in heaven, waiting for us as patiently as they used to wait at midnight when we were late coming home from a party. A news item on TV showed that if a mother who stays home were to be paid according to the work she does, cleaning, cooking, teaching, counselling, fixing, decorating, driving, etc, she would be working an average 92 hours a week, and she will be earning a minimum of $138,000 a year. My own mother would have earned over $8 million in her lifetime! She was born on April 26, 1929 and died one day short of her birthday, on April 25, 2010, aged 81. We love them, and we thank them for all they do for us. May God bless them with eternal happiness in his bosom, until we eventually join them at our final destination. The idea to celebrate Mother’s Day came to Anna Jarvis, a Philadelphia school teacher, first expressed to a group of friends in 1907. She was originally from rural West Virginia, but her family had moved to Philadelphia at the turn of the 20th century. So persuasive was her concept, so diligent was her dedication, that by 1908 she marshalled the support to carry out the first observance of Mother’s Day in May 1908, back in her family surroundings of Grafton, Virginia. Two years later, Mother’s Day became a state holiday by a proclamation by the then-Governor William Glassman. And behold, three years later, Congress proclaimed that henceforth, Mother’s Day should be a national holiday, marked by a Presidential Proclamation issued in May 1914. Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated all over the world on the second Sunday in May.

Bloody Wine

A farmer had a vine and was watering it with water from a nearby well. A friend of his saw him and asked him why isn’t he using a different watering system. He suggested using blood instead of water, and in fact he offered to give him some blood from his farm. So this man came back with four buckets of blood. He told him ‘make sure you water it well, you have a bucket full of blood of a lamb, another one blood of a lion, another one blood of a monkey and the fourth one is blood of a pig.’ The farmer obeyed the instructions and the vine gave an abundance of large grapes. His neighbors heard about this discovery and asked him for a sampling of a branch, so that they can try it. Now when the wine was produced and people drank from it, they found out that they first appear as sweet as a harmless lamb. If they drank some more, they however became as terrible as a lion. If they persisted in drinking, they would end up acting crazy and mischievously like a monkey. And if they haven’t had enough, another gulp will make them look really like a gluttonous pig. This story has a clever message. If you drink a little, it will do you good, but if you drink too much, you will go bankrupt, your health will suffer terribly and people will certainly make a laughing stock out of you.

St Thomas More on fairness

When St. Thomas More was Chancellor of England, before he was martyred by Henry VIII, he was known for his fairness, and a movie about him was appropriately titled ‘A Man for all Seasons.’ One day when he was still a judge, a woman who had a case in court, came to speak to him and presented him with a gift, hoping he would favor her cause. He said to her: ‘Take what you brought with you. If you are right, I will give you the credit even without a gift. And if you are wrong, none of the gold this Empire possesses will be enough to even entice me to do an injustice.’ St.Thomas More was eventually killed for not allowing King Henry VIII to divorce his wife.

St George Preca Prayer

St George Preca delivering one of his many speeches.

Today being the feast of the Maltese saint, St. George Preca, I thought of sharing with you one of his most popular prayers, which is known as the Quotidie, a prayer to be said daily by members of the MUSEUM, the organization he founded. He was born in 1880 and died in July 1962, and was canonized on June 3, 2007.

Lord God, you are here and I am in you: I speak to you and you listen to me: I ask of you and you grant to me because you have shown us in Holy Scripture that it is your delight to be with us your children, and also that it is your wish that we should have recourse to you in all our needs. It is with total confidence, therefore, that we ask of you as children ask of their parents.

Lord God, glorify your name.

Lord God, reign over all people.

Lord God, defend your honour.

Lord God, make yourself known.

Lord God, do your own will.

Lord God, rejoice in your works.

Lord God, enjoy your own beauty.

Lord God, show the beauty of your law.

Lord God, enjoy your infinite treasures.

Lord God, convert sinners to you.

Lord God, give perseverance to the just.

Lord God, save the dying.

Lord God, grant rest to the faithful departed.

Lord God, console those who are sad.

Lord God, enlighten the ignorant.

Lord God, restore health to the sick.

Lord God, help those in need.

Lord God, help those experiencing worries to accept your will.

Lord God, purify my heart.

Lord God, give me the spirit of Christ.

Lord God, save me from all deceits.

Lord God, lead me in all my ways.

Lord God, make me rejoice in your peace.

Lord God, keep me always in your hands.

Lord God, fill me with the spirit of sacrifice.

Lord God, seek me to adore you.

Lord God, bless my soul at the hour of my death.

Jesus Christ the Nazarene, King of the Jews, the only Son of the living God, and of the Virgin Mother Mary, sole mediator between us and God, show your divine wounds to the Justice of God, and through your merits save the whole world. Amen.