Non Tasarmi, Fratello!

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!” Hillaire Belloc

Thursday, February 28, 2013

What if the Church Was a Car Company

The Curt Jester linked to this article from the Catholic Register with his photo of Mary's Fiat...


"With the Catholic Church so much in the news these days, we have a real opportunity to explain the Church to those unfamiliar.  Problem is, most people don't have a frame of reference for understanding the Church.  But I think I can solve that problem. I have developed this handy guide to explain Catholic terms to non-Catholics in with a frame of reference that everyone can understand.
Think of the Church as a Car Company.  Here is a glossary of common terms.
Confession: The repair department. For the measly price of a few 'Our Fathers', 'Haily Marys', and repentance you can have your car returned to factory condition.
Protestant: 500 years ago, mistaking the owners manual for the manufacturer, created their own breakaway companies convinced they could build a better car.  After years of trying and many other spinoff companies, they successfully created thousands of mopeds.  Shockingly, sales plummeted.

There's more!

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American cardinals say goodbye to Pope Benedict






From the Catholic News Service. The Cardinals are:

Cardinal Bishop Francis George - Archbishop of Chicago
Cardinal Roger Mahony - Retired Archbishop of Los Angeles
Cardinal Bishop Edward Egan - Retired Archbishop of New York
Cardinal Bishop Donald Wuerl - Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan - Archbishop of New York
Cardinal Edwin O'Brien - Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Cardinal Bishop Patrick O'Malley - Archbishop of Boston
Cardinal Bishop Daniel DiNardo - Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
Cardinal Bishop Justin Rigali - Archbishop of Philadelphia
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick - Retired Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
Cardianl William Levada - Retired Archbishop of Portland
Cardinal James Stafford - Retired Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
Cardinal Raymond Burke - Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Cardinal Bernard Law - Retired Archbishop of Boston
Cardinal James Harvey - Archpriest of St. Paul Outside the Walls

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A Tip of the Biretta to Bishop Richard Vassa!


Way to go, Bishop Vassa! The article itself is blatantly biased against him, but read between the lines. Here's how the article starts:

" The Santa Rosa Catholic Diocese is requiring its 200 schoolteachers to sign an agreement affirming that "modern errors" such as contraception, abortion, homosexual marriage and euthanasia are "matters that gravely offend human dignity."




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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

St. Stephen, Protomartyr, Pray For Us


From an article in Commentary:

In recent months, a new consensus has emerged: For the first time in millennia, Judaism has lost its title as the world’s most persecuted religion; today, that dubious honor goes to Christianity. “Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers,” wrote Rupert Shortt in a 54-page report for the London-based Civitas institute in December, which meticulously documented their persecution on a country-by-country basis.

The report focuses on Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Burma and China. 

In my last PSR class, I suggested that the next Pope should choose to become Pope Stephen XI for exactly this reason!

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A Public Service Announcement



In 1591, Pope Gregory XIV  issued a Papal Bull excommunicating anyone wagering on papal elections.

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Adopt a Cardinal




 Cardinal William Joseph Levada

From the website, Adopt a Cardinal":

  • Are you infinitely thankful to God for having given us such a wonderful, wise and benevolent pope in Benedict XVI.?
  • Do you sincerely hope that the Church will be granted a worthy successor: a rock of faith, a leader open to the Holy Spirit, a pope prayerful and holy?
  • Do you as an important part of the Body of Christ wish to contribute through the power of your prayers so that the Holy Spirit may guide, protect and enlighten our Cardinals when they determine the next successor of St. Peter?
You now have the opportunity to actively be part of this providential endeavour by having a Cardinal assigned to you, who you will support through your prayer and intercession during the coming weeks before and during the conclave and for three days following the election.
 





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Choose Your Pope!


Who would have ever thought that Lutherans could be funny? I loved the line, "Unless you want to be Bishop of Misogyny, don't interrupt me."

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Monday, February 25, 2013

A Gentle Lenten Reminder


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I Hope They Win the NCAA Basketball Tournament



Way to go, University of Dayton! They are actually acting like a Catholic college! From the website, Catholic Education Daily (Sponsored by the the Cardinal Newman Society):

"The University of Dayton has rejected the Society of Free Thinkers (SOFT) application for official recognition as a student organization...“By granting recognition to student organizations, we allow them to use the University of Dayton’s name, and we require that their activities be in alignment with the values of the institution,” wrote Lopez-Matthews. “We are a faith-based university with a mission of fostering formation in faith and respecting the dialogue between faith and reason. The University reserves the right not to endorse organizations that are contrary to our Catholic, Marianist principles.

 Responding to the committee’s decision, (atheist in chief) King described the committee – composed of the University’s provost, director of campus ministry, and rector as “bigots.”

What a sissypants. 

Meanwhile, over at the Jesuit-run Sandra Fluke University (formerly known as Georgetown University:


"Georgetown University’s student newspaper, The Hoya, reports that Georgetown may elect its first homosexual president to the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA). Nate Tisa is one of five candidates vying for the position."

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Friday, February 22, 2013

I Changed My Mind


Let's say the Cardinal Dean says to you,  "Acceptasne electionem de te canonice factam in Summum Pontificem? (Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?)".  You can respond "non accepto" (I don't accept). Or you could say, "Sure. Why not?"If you are already a Bishop, you're in! The Cardinal  Dean then asks, "Quo nomine vis vocari? (By what name do you wish to be called?)". The Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies writes a document recording the acceptance and the new name of the pope. You go then to"The Room of Tears" just off the Sistine Chapel and choose a cassock, rochet, and red .mozzetta.The Senior Cardinal Deacon takes you to the balcony of the Basilica and announces:

Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam!
Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum [forename],
Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem [surname],
qui sibi nomen imposuit [papal name].

 "I announce to you a great joy:
We have a Pope!
The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord,
Lord [forename],
Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church [surname],
who takes to himself the name [papal name]."

Then you say, "Urbi et Orbi ("to the City [Rome] and to the World")

Then it's party time, Jack!

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No, Thank You!




At the conclave, "The cardinal dean, or the cardinal who is 1st in order and seniority, in the name of the whole college of electors, then asks the consent   of the one elected in the following words :Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?"

Can he say, "No, thanks, I appreciate it but not at this time."? Yes, he can. But more likely, if a cardinal did not want to be Pope he would let it be known in advance of the vote.

Which brings us to Cardinal Giovanni Colombo. Archbishop of Milan. In the conclave of October 1978, Cardinal Colombo had garnered a number of votes as a compromise candidate (instead of  Cardinal Guiseppi Siri of Genoa and Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, Archbishop of Florence). Cardinal Colombo made it clear he would NOT accept the Papacy, paving the way for the election of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla.

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Padre Idiota




From Buzzfeed:


"Each Sunday, Father Humberto Alvarez dons a special chasuble, or outer robe, decorated with images of superheroes, grabs a plastic gun full of holy water and celebrates a special mass for the children of Ojo de Agua parish in Saltillo, Mexico.

The Catholic priest's robe bears images of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, superheroes who were chosen, Alvarez explains, because of their "struggle and effort to overcome fear and find peace and forgiveness." He began using a water gun to bless the congregation after a series of fatal shootings in Salitillo spooked the members of his parish last year."

HEY! Guess what? The Church has a BUNCH of superheroes....they're called SAINTS. The Bishop should send this guy on permanent retreat.

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Ember Days

Did you fast yesterday in observation of Ember Days? No? I guess you heard that Pope Paul VI decreed (in Paenitemin) that fasting was no longer required. What are Ember days?

Ember days are 4 sets of 3 days (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) in one week that were set aside for fasting and prayer. Thee sets are spread out pretty much equidistantly through the year. Thusly:

1) between the 3rd and 4th Sundays of Advent
2) between the 1st and 2nd Sunday of Advent
3) between Pentacost and Trinity Sunday
4) the week that begins the Sunday after Holy Cross Day (September 14)

Pope Gelasius I made Ember weeks the time for ordinations. The term ember is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ymbren, or circuit.



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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Bible in 5 Minutes

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Feast of St. Wulfric, February 20

Hermit, miracle worker, and priest, born in 1080 and died 1154. I loved this (from Wikipedia):

In the early thirteenth century the Cistercians of Ford Abbey and the Benedictine monks of Montacute fought over the body of Wulfric. The monks of Montacute forced their way into Ford intending to steal the body, but were locked inside the church by the Cistercians. The Benedictines then pushed the corpse through the window to several of their brethren who were waiting outside; the monks of Ford were quick to retaliate and the corpse was shoved back and forth through the window until the Cistercians eventually succeeded; Wulfric’s body was buried secretly in the western part of their church to prevent any future attempts at theft by the monks of Monatcute.

The Fightin' Cistercians!

The Battlin' Benedictines!

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Choosing the Next Pope



 Peggy Noonan writes in the Wall Street Journal, "There is an old saying, God has already chosen the next pope, it’s up to the cardinals to figure out who God’s choice is. The historian observes: “That doesn’t mean they’ll figure it out.”



 James Taranto reports:

One American who does have the necessary qualifications to become pope is Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. The New York Post reports Dolan is downplaying his prospects:
At St. Patrick's Cathedral [Sunday], Dolan was asked about rumors that he would be named the first American pope when the College of Cardinals convenes next month to select Pope Benedict's successor.
"I'd say those are only from people smoking marijuana," Dolan said.
By tradition, the cardinals announce the selection of a new pope with a puff of white smoke. If the smoke is especially pungent, we'll know who it is.

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Thanks, Mr. President!



The President says this  about the Pope's abdication:


“Michelle and I warmly remember our meeting with the Holy Father in 2009, and I have appreciated our work together over these last four years.”
 
As Ben Johnson at The Right's Writer points out....

That mutual work has consisted of:
  • Forcing Catholic non-profits and laity to violate their faith by financing abortifacients at home and abortion around the world;
  • Reducing the “freedom of religion” to a mere “freedom of worship”; and
  • Generally trying to shoehorn people of faith into a tiny, hermetically sealed box as far removed from the public square as possible.

 




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Churches of Southern Illiinois


ST. JOSEPH'S IN BENTON, ILLINOIS

From their website

It was a glorious and wonderful occasion in 1950 for St Joseph Parish; the parishioners and Pastor, Fr John Venogoni, recognized the need for a new and more worthy church to gather and celebrate the Eucharist and Sacraments. These sacred rites were previously celebrated in a basement church at 500 West Webster Street, and earlier in a church in West City, Illinois.

The corner stone was laid in 1950 to the glory of God and to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Joseph, a year which the Universal Catholics Church was observing a "Holy Year of Prayer." Bishop Albert Zuroweste, of the Catholic Diocese of Belleville, dedicated the church on Sunday, June 22, 1952.

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Churches of Southern Illinois

ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA, GRAND CHAIN

Grand Chain is named after a 6 mile long stretch of big rocks in the Ohio River called "The Grand Chain." There's not much left of Grand Chain, since the city basically moved  to "New" Grand Chain in the 1870's. I like the fact that the Church is named after and Egyptian saint. Catherine's feast day was removed form the General Roman Calendar in 1969, but restored in 2002 as an optional memorial. She appeared to Joan of Arc! Come on! Her patronages include unmarried girls, Aslsum, apologists, craftsmen who work with a wheel (potters, spinners) archivists,  dying people, educators, girls, jurists, knife sharpeners, lawyers, librarians, libraries, maidens, mechanics, millers, milliners, hat-makers, nurses, philosophers, preachers, scholars, schoolchildren, scribes, secretaries, spinsters, stenographers, students, tanners, theologians, the University of Paris, haberdashers, and wheelwrights.

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Monday, February 18, 2013

Churches of Southern Illinois


ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH, CAIRO


This is undocumented info from Waymarking:

The current church building is the Parish's third. St. Patrick's was founded in 1838 and was the first church of any type in Cairo. The first church building for the Parish was built on the Ohio River levee at 18th Street in 1838, this building was swept away in the flood of 1845. The second church was built at 9th and Washington, by 1891 this building had become too small for the growing congregation and the present building was built and completed in 1894.

The current St. Patrick's is built of stone. The building is of Gothic revival style with arched windows and a high tower. The church is a contributing building in the Cairo Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Numbers 28:15

Moreover, there will be one goat for a purification offering to the Lord, it will be offered in addition to the regular burnt offering and libation .

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Doctor Bishop

 From Catholic Light:

Canon 378 lists several official requirements for bishops, and one is that he "hold a doctorate or at least a licentiate in sacred Scripture, theology or canon law, from an institute of higher studies approved by the Apostolic See, or at least be well versed in these disciplines." (In case the word "licentiate" is unfamiliar: it's a graduate degree of lower rank than a doctorate, but it qualifies the holder to teach in a Catholic seminary awarding the bachelor's in sacred theology.).

 So I decided to make a little survey of the cardinal electors and see who studied what. For the sake of simplicity, I excluded about half the cardinals from my study population: those over 75 and those under 60 years of age, since I doubt that the cardinals will want to elect them.

 To summarize: of the 67 cardinals in this age range, 18 have doctorates in canon law; 21 in dogmatic theology; 3 in moral theology, 3 in Scripture.And 24 do not have that top-level degree in one of the sacred sciences required by the canon -- which really surprises me.

The winner: 

 
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez-Maradiaga of Honduras, with doctorates in theology, moral theology, and philosophy, plus a diploma in clinical psychology and conservatory studies in piano!






 

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Feast Day of Fra Angelico, February 18

Not a saint! Blessed, thanks to a decision by Pope John Paul II, but the term "Fra Angelico" means "Sainted Brother". His real name was Guido di Pietro, but his contemporaries called him "Fra Giovanni da Fiesole" (Brother John of Fiesole). Pope JPII also named Fra Angelico the patron of painters.

Coronation of the Virgin


The Annunciation 


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Friday, February 15, 2013

Pope Pius Clocks for Sale!


This is an exquisite clock featuring all of the Popes named Pius (I through XII). The face has a beautiful antique finish with a subtle Papal Insignia in the center.

From Me

Pius I - The 9th Pope, he might of been martyred. Excommunicated Marcion of Sinope, that filthy heretic.
Pius II - Pope from 1458 -1464. Wrote an autobiography as Pope, something no one else has done.
Pius III -Named himself Pius after his uncle, Pius II. Was Pope for 26 days in 1503 before he died of an ulcer in his leg - or was poisoned by the Governor of Sienna.
Pius IV - Pope from 1559 to 1565, he presided over the Council of Trent. Knew Michaelangelo. St. Charles Borromeo was his nephew.
Pope Saint Pius V - He was Pope right after Pius IV, and is known for his work at the Council of Trent and in the Counter-Reformation, for organizing the Holy League, and for excommunicating Queen Elizabeth I.
Pius VI - Papacy began in 1775. Witnessed the French Revolution, and was exiled by Napoleon in 1798 and died in exile the next year, the longest reigning Pope ever at the time (except for maybe St. Peter).
Pius VII - Followed Pius VI and spent most of his papacy dealing with the French. Said the United States war on the Barbary pirates "had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages"
Pius VIII - Became Pope in 1829, but only lasted 20 months. Gave the OK to mixed marriages and condemned secret Mason societies. 
Blessed Pius IX - Was Pope for 32 years beginning in 1846. Convened the first Vatican Council, declared Papal infallibility, and defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. First Pope to be photographed.
Pope Saint Pius X - The first sainted pope since Pius V. Published the first Code of Canon Law. Had a paralyzed child he was holding wiggle free and run around the room. 
Pius XI - Pope from 1922 - 1929, vehemently condemned communism  and nazism. While Pope, the Catholic Church was subjected to extreme persecutions in Mexico, which resulted in the death of over 5,000 priests, bishops and followers.
Venerable Pius XII - Did he do enough to undermine the Nazis? He had to walk a tight rope, that's for sure. Made  Karol Wojtyla a Bishop at age 35.

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Retired


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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Canon Law Made Easy

I just found this website, and it is fascinating and informative. Can we baptize a child against the parents wishes? What's with the annulment stuff? Can a Pope be removed from office?

I'm going add this site to the list of sites over there on the right!

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St. Stanislaus Kostka , Formerly a Church in St. Louis





Excommunicated, board-appointed pastor "Father" Marek Bozek


 From CatholicCulture.org:


"After years of conflict the St. Louis archdiocese has settled a legal dispute with a rebellious parish. The archdiocese has agreed to drop a lawsuit seeking to regain control of St. Stanislaus Kostka church, provided that the parish does not present itself as a Catholic church."

I went to their website, and it's weird. There "priest" was excommunicated and yet the site claims that "Despite that difficult situation his priestly ministry continues, valid Catholic sacraments are being offered" which can't be true. But it sounds like the congregation has a lot of experience being delusional, so there's that. 

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A Public Service Announcement


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I'm With Stupid






Just when you think they couldn't get more obnoxious, they sent out a press release about the Pope's abdication:

“It will be nothing short of a miracle if the next papal conclave produces a good leader,” said Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice. “Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II stacked the College of Cardinals with ultraconservatives. This means that it is highly likely that they will elect somebody very like them.

The blog, Acts of Apostasy translates:

Translation:  “I’m a jerk,” said Jon O’Brien, president of Catholycs for Choice.  “And I hated everything Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II ever did.  Unfortunately, the next pope is going to be Catholic.”


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Renovation Plan

St. Mary's Church in the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin is planning a renovation. I was struck by how much the "BEFORE" picture looks like our St. Joseph's:







And now, what it WILL look like:



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Conventiculum Viomingense

What a great idea! A summer Latin immersion program sponsored by Wyoming Catholic College. They have t-shirts on campus that say:


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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

My Thoughts on Gun Control

 

  Cum Catapultae Proscriptae Erunt Tum Soli Proscripti Catapultas Habebunt.

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Feast Day of St. Modomnoc O'Neil February 13


St. Modomnoc got along well with bees. I mean, he LOVED the bees, and the bees LOVED him. St. Modomnoc was a member of the powerful O.Neil family in Ireland but went off to Wales to study for the priesthood under St. David.



While at the monastery Monodmnoc was assigned the role of beekeeper (the priests liked their mead). The bees would follow him around and he would talk to them. When it was time to go back to Ireland, he bade farewell to the bees. The bees followed the boat. He returned to the monastery and tried to sneak away. No good - the bees followed. Finally, St. David told him to take the bees with him.

And that's how bees were introduced to Ireland (supposedly, but it's a good story). He settled in Bremore in County Dublin, a place that to this day is known as "The Church of the Beekeeper".

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Ash Wednesday 2013






I was checking the age requirements for fasting and abstinence, and came across this. I had no idea. Bad Catholic!

From Catholic Online:


On the Fridays outside of Lent the U.S. bishops conference obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the US to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing. They must do some penitential/charitable practice on these Fridays. For most people the easiest practice to consistently fulfill will be the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere.

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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Do You Think This Cathedral is Ugly?



Guardian Angel Cathedral, Las Vegas, Nevada

Wait until you get a load of the INSIDE!

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Feast Day of St. Julian, February 12





That dashing figure is St. Julian the Hospitaler, whose feast day we celebrate today. Interesting fellow, if the stories are to be believed. On the day he was born, his dad saw some pagan witches put a curse on the kid so he would eventually kill his parents. When Julian turned 10, he left so he wouldn't kill his parents. He walked for 50 days, settled down and eventually got married. One day while Julian was hunting, his parents showed up at his house. Julian's wife welcomed them and took them in. Meanwhile, "the enemy" told Julian his wife was cheating on him at that very moment. He raced home, saw a man and woman in his bed, and killed them both. Oops. Sorry, mom and dad.

So he went to Rome to ask forgiveness and ended up building seven hospitals and twenty-five houses for poor people.

.Julian is the patron saint of boatmen, carnival workers, childless people, circus workers, clowns, ferrymen, fiddlers, fiddle players, hospitallers, hotel-keepers, hunters, innkeepers, jugglers, knights, murderers, pilgrims, shepherds, to obtain lodging while traveling, travelers

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Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Celestine V

Pope Benedict XVI covers the relic of Pope Celestine V with a stole during his 2009 visit to L'Aquila



(CNN) -- On July 4, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI made his second trip to the earthquake-ravaged town of L'Aquila to venerate the relics of his long-ago predecessor, Pope and St. Celestine V, who died in 1296. Few predicted then that just a few years later, Benedict and Celestine would be locked together in history as the two popes who retired, theoretically voluntarily, because of their age.

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The Pope Who Quit




What a character! Let's let Sister Mary Martha tells us about it (she just finished reading the book):

"Peter Morrone, who became Celestine V had been a very charismatic and deeply holy monk who founded monasteries and oratorios and the Celestine order of monks and had many, many followers because he walked the walk.  He wore no shoes and a ragged robe. He lived in a cave by himself,up in the mountains. St. John the Baptist was his hero.
Back then there were only about 12 Cardinals around to elect a Pope.  They'd all go off to some really nice place and take their sweet time because the food and wine was terrific. That's why they finally got locked in a room that they couldn't leave until they elected someone, called a papal conclave.  
This time they dithered for two years,  and still couldn't come up with a good candidate.  How in the world did they come up with the idea of a man who lived far away in a cave? Peter Morrone had written them a letter about their foot dragging and said that their behavior would incur the wrath of God. It caused one of the Cardinals to exclaim that Peter was the best choice.
Then they all traveled over to the cave on the mountain where Peter lived. He refused the robes and the crown and the Vatican. He had his coronation procession on a donkey and lived in a castle of Charles II.  He was Pope for five months. During the five months he became more and more reclusive, eventually building a cell for himself in the basement where he signed anything anyone put in front of him. 
But ironically, two of his papal decrees are still with us. One is that the Pope will be elected by locking the cardinals in a room until they elect somebody. The other, that a Pope should be allowed to abdicate."

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The Last Non-Priest Elected Pope




Hello, Pope Leo X! Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici was a lowly Deacon when he was elected Pope on March 9, 1513. On March 15th he was ordained a priest, and became a Bishop 2 days later. Not only was he the last non-priest elected Pope, he had a white elephant named Hanno.


Pope Leo X sold indulgences to help pay for the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica. Martin Luther took exception to that and well, you know what happened next. I didn't realize that after Luther posted his 95 Theses, Pope Leo issued a Papal Bull requiring all Christians to believe in the pope's power to grant indulgences.

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I Guess I Must Address This Issue






What do you call that hat?  You can call it a capello romano (roman hat in Italian) or a saturno (because it looks like the planet). 

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Friday, February 08, 2013

The 14 Holy Helpers

Sister Martha is trying to come up with a modern list of helpers. What do you think?



The Holy Helpers were a list of saints that were invoked together starting in the 14th century in Germany.  The list of saints were asked for their collective intercession because of the Black Plague. Here is the list:

St. Agatha.......headaches
St. Barbara......against sudden death
St. Blaise.........against throat problems and for the protection of domestic animals
St. Catherine of Alexandria........against sudden death
St. Christopher....against the Black Plague and for safe travel
St. Cyriacus.........against temptation on the deathbed
St. Denis..............against headache (that's him holding his own head in the picture above)
St. Erasmus..........against intestinal maladies
St. George.............protection of domestic animals
St. Giles.................against the Plague and for a good confession, cripples, beggars and blacksmiths
St. Margaret of Antioch.....safe childbirth
St. Pantaleon........against cancer and TB and for doctors
St. Vitus...............against epilepsy and for the protection of domestic animals

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Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Humeral Veil versus the Vimpa

The Humeral Veil is " is the name given to a cloth of rectangular shape about 8 ft. long and 1 1/2 ft. wide" and is used " by the priest or bishop in processions of the Blessed Sacrament in giving Benediction, in carrying the Host to its repository on Holy Thursday, and bringing it back to the altar on Good Friday, and finally in taking the Viaticum to the sick."


The Vimpa, on the other hand....

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Tuesday, February 05, 2013

St. Cajetan, Pray for Us


St. Cajetan is the Patron Saint of gamblers. I have no idea why.


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Colombian Priests


I saw the headline,"2 Colombian priests killed in separate incidents" in the Catholic World News and it got me thinking about who the Patron Saint of Colombia might be. One is St. Peter Claver, who was born in Spain. Another is St. Louis Bertrand...also born in Spain. No native born Catholic saints.

Interesting.

Trivia - Peter Claver (Patron Saint of Slaves as well) lived and died in what is now Colombia, but was called New Spain when he was there! It was more specifically called the New Kingdom of Granada.


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Notre Dame University... Fakers

From the Eye of the Tiber:


Notre Dame Linebacker Duped Into Playing 

For Fake Catholic University


 

South Bend, IN––According to sources within the University of Notre Dame last week, star linebacker Manti Te’o was “duped” into attending and playing for what he believed to be a real Catholic university. The university told reporters that Te’o, who became the inspirational force behind the Fighting Irish’s Cinderella run to the BCS National Championship this season, was the target of an elaborate hoax perpetrated against him by Notre Dame officials. More here....

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Jesus and His Car


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Monday, February 04, 2013

Feast of St, Joan of Valois, February 4









What a strange story. The Catholic.org website says she was, " hunch-backed, lame and pock-marked." But the Wikipedia says that she wasn't all that bad.

Let's go back. St. Joan was betrothed to marry her father's second cousin when she was 2 months old and he was between 11-13 years old. Joan's father was King Louis XI. Joan and her husband (Louis, the Duke of Orleans) were eventually married. Meanwhile, Louis XI dies, and Joan's brother Charles became king. When Charles VIII dies, Joan's husband became Louis XII. Since he had the hots for her rbrther's wife (Anne of Brittany). His appeals for an annulment included accusations that Joan was...well, kinda ugly and weird. Pope Alexander VI gave it the OK (for political reasons). Joan became the Duchess of Berry - and was smokin' mad to boot. So she founded the Catholic Franciscan contemplative Order of the Annonciades in 1502.





Oh, and then the Huegenots desecrated her grave.


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