AOC - Smart Enough to be a Bishop

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 31, 2020 / 01:28 pm MT (CNA).- A Hawaiian Catholic catechist said that St. Damien of Molokai is a “hero” to the Hawaiian people, after a prominent congresswoman claimed the statue honoring him in the U.S. Capitol is part of colonialism and “patriarchy and white supremacist culture.”

St. Damien “gave his life” serving the isolated leper colony at Kalaupapa peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai, said Dallas Carter, a native Hawaiian and a catechist for the diocese of Honolulu, in an interview with CNA.

 We did not judge him by the color of his skin. We judged him by the love that he had for our people,” Carter told CNA.

If you want it gone because it is ugly, I get it

In an Instagram story on Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) asked why there were not more statues honoring women historical figures, at the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall Collection. The collection includes statues honoring historical figures from all 50 states.

“Even when we select figures to tell the stories of colonized places, it is the colonizers and settlers whose stories are told – and virtually no one else,” Ocasio-Cortez posted, with a picture of Fr. Damien’s U.S. Capitol statue in the background.

In 1969, Hawaii chose to honor St. Damien alongside Kamehameha I in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US capitol.

Ocasio-Cortez noted on Thursday that Hawaii’s statue was of Fr. Damien and not of “Queen Lili’uokalani of Hawaii, the only Queen Regnant of Hawaii,” implying that it was an example of “colonizers” being honored instead of historical figures who are native to states.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Please Go After "Singing is Praying Twice" Next

 Read the whole thing...

The Director of Community Engagements for Massachusetts Citizens for Life claims that Facebook has labeled a quote by St. Augustine as hate speech. In a blog post, Domenico Bettinelli wrote, "Facebook has repeatedly banned a quote from St. Augustine every time I’ve posted it. And it’s not some fire and brimstone 'Sinners are going to hell!' quote, but in fact, quite the opposite."

Pulled from one of St. Augustine's homilies included in the Roman Catholic Church's official liturgical books, the offending quote is this:

Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of others. They seek to criticize, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others.

Why in the world would Facebook ban that? With the quote, St. Augustine is calling us to focus on our own pursuit of holiness and stop worrying about the failings of others. If anything, the quote could be used by Facebook users to shout down others calling things like homosexuality and transgenderism sinful. To be clear, that's not what the quote is saying, but I can see scenarios where people take it out of context to condemn those who "judge" others. Be that as it may, Facebook has still banned the quote under the guise of it being hate speech, at least, according to Bettinelli and some of his friends who conducted an experiment.

His Expression Reminds me of Brave Sir Robin

Pamplona, Spain, Jun 28, 2018 / 10:32 am (CNA).- Outrage has been sparked in a town in northern Spain over the botched renovation of a 16th-century wooden sculpture of St. George, which was repainted by a local arts and crafts teacher.

The Church of St. Michael - located just south-west of Pamplona in the town of Estella - allegedly hired a local workshop to restore the 500-year old polychrome statue which was showing signs of age.

The workshop, called Karmacolor, specializes in arts and crafts for children and basic furniture repairs – not professional restoration, according to the town’s mayor Koldo Leoz.

However, the parish priest said the church only intended for the arts and crafts teacher to clean the sculpture and did not ask for a full renovation, according to the BBC. Since the attempted restoration, which started about a month ago, the once-faded St. George sculpture now bears a pink face with brightly colored red and gray armor.

Just to be clear. This is St. George:

This is Tintin:

San Francisco Residents are Disrespectful, Misleading, and Racist

San Francisco, Calif., Mar 7, 2018 / 10:41 am (ACI Prensa).- California missionary St. Junipero Serra will be among the figures removed from a prominent location near San Francisco City Hall after the city’s art commission unanimously voted to remove the statue March 5.

The bronze statue, titled “Early Days,” shows three figures: a Native American sitting at the feet of English seafarer Francis Drake and of Serra, the eighteenth-century Spanish missionary who founded the missions at the center of many Californian cities.
St. Junipero’s statue is shown bending down, looking at the Native American with his palm facing downward. The statue’s other arm is stretched skyward, with a finger pointing to the heavens. 

 According to the San Francisco Examiner an arts commission memo said people had called for the statue to be removed because “the allegorical sculpture’s depiction of the degradation and genocide of Native American peoples, utilizing visual stereotypes common at the turn of the twentieth century to depict all Native Americans which are now universally viewed as disrespectful, misleading, and racist.”

Meanwhile, at City Hall..... 

The Patron Saint of Hospitality

During the final few days before Christmas, everybody seems to be busy with last minute preparations for their Christmas parties. Whether the party is elaborate or simple; for family or friends, the goal is to be a hospitable host, facilitating an event that will be enjoyed by all present.
St. Meinrad is a perfect intercessor for such an occasion, known after death as the “martyr of hospitality.”

Born in Switzerland to a noble family in the 9th century, Meinrad felt called to dedicate his life to God. At first he joined the Benedictine order and was ordained a priest, later becoming a teacher. It is there that he learned the Rule of St. Benedict, who instructed his monks on the proper way to welcome guests.

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35). Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith (Gal 6:10) and to pilgrims. Once a guest has been announced, the superior and the brothers are to meet him with all the courtesy of love … All humility should be shown in addressing a guest on arrival or departure. By a bow of the head or by a complete prostration of the body, Christ is to be adored because he is indeed welcomed in them.

However, Meinrad felt called to a life of deeper contemplation and seclusion and became a hermit after the example of the Desert Fathers. He was a hermit in the Black Forest, but his holiness became widely known and visitors flocked to his little hovel in the woods.
Then on January 21, 861 Meinrad welcomed a pair of thieves. He received them with all dignity, sheltering and feeding them, even though their appearance was suspicious. When they realized Meinrad did not have anything worth stealing, they decided to kill him. His death was viewed by the local people as a “martyrdom,” even though he didn’t die directly for his belief in Christ.

Give the Guy a Hand!

Ottawa, Canada, Dec 5, 2017 / 07:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News). While he was alive, St. Francis Xavier never got to ride in an airplane. They would not be invented for 400 more years after his death.
But now, his severed arm will get to take a trip across Canada in its very own seat.
The relic of the Jesuit missionary, ordinarily kept in the Church of the Gesù in Rome, will be making a cross-country trip through Canada this winter, as part of an initiative from the university group Catholic Christian Outreach.

 Angèle Regnier, co-founder of Catholic Christian Outreach, told CBC radio that travelling with the saint’s arm will be "like doing a road trip with a friend."
"I mean, I know it's bones, but connected to that is a living friendship with St. Francis Xavier," she said.
In the Catholic Church, relics are physical objects that have a direct association with the saints or with Jesus. The arm of St. Francis Xavier is considered a first class relic, which is the body or fragments of the body of a saint. The practice of venerating relics has been a Scripture-based tradition in the Church for centuries.
Regnier will be accompanying the saint’s arm on its trip from Rome to Canada, where the relic will make a month-long tour through much of the country.
The fragility of the relic, which is encased in a gold and glass reliquary and has its own padded duffle bag, necessitated that it travel in its own seat on Air Canada.
"We can't put it underneath. We can't even put it in the overhead bins. Like, he has to have his own seat," she told CBC radio.
"You're trying to explain this to Air Canada. We need to book a seat. He is a person in a way, but it's not a person, it's an arm."

The Shakesperean Feast of St. Crispin and St. Crispinian, October 25

You didn't think I would forget, did you?

If You Are an Epileptic Bachelor with Rabies and a Shed Out Back, St. Guy is Your... Well, Guy

As a child Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. The love of prayer growing more and more, he left his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer union with God. He arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, and there showed such devotion before our Lady's shrine that the priest besought him to stay and serve the Church. Thenceforth, his great joy was to be always in the church, sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and cleansing the sacred vessels. By day he still found time and means to befriend the poor, so that his alms-giving became famous in all those parts. A merchant of Brussels, hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to Laeken, and offered him a share in his business. Guy could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed providential, and he at last closed with it. Their ship, however, was lost on the first voyage, and on returning to Laeken, Guy found his place filled. The rest of his life was one long penance for his inconstancy. About the year 1033, finding his end at hand, he returned to Anderlecht, in his own country. As he died, a light shone round him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward.

Patron of Anderlecht, Belgium; against mad dogs; against rabies; bachelors; epileptics; horned animals; laborers; protection of outbuildings, stables, and sheds; sacristans; work horses

Junipero Serra Was in the Confederate Army???

Los Angeles, Calif., Aug 22, 2017 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A statue of St. Junipero Serra in a Los Angeles public park appeared to have been vandalized last week in a time of national debate about historical statues.
The statue portrays the Franciscan friar in a favorable light, with his arm on the shoulder of an indigenous child. The park is across the street from the Mission San Fernando in Mission Hills community of Los Angeles. The mission was founded by Fr. Fermin Lasuen, another Franciscan, in 1797.
A picture of the statue was circulated on social media, showing it spray-painted red with the word “murder” written on the priest in white.

Relish the Relic

From the Catholic News Agency:

Is it weird that Catholics venerate relics? Here's why we do

Houston, Texas, Aug 11, 2017 / 03:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- “We are many parts, but we are all one body,” says the refrain of a popular '80s Church hymn, based on the words of 1 Cor. 12:12. 

While we are one body in Christ, if you happen to be a Catholic saint, the many parts of your own body might be spread out all over the world. 

Take, for example, St. Catherine of Siena.  

A young and renowned third-order Dominican during the Middle Ages, she led an intense life of prayer and penance and is said to have single-handedly ended the Avignon exile of the successors of Peter in the 14th century.

When she died in Rome, her hometown of Siena, Italy, wanted her body. Realizing they would probably get caught if they took her whole corpse, the Siena thieves decided that it would be safer if they just took her head. 

When they were stopped on their way out by guards outside of Rome, they said a quick prayer, asking for St. Catherine of Siena’s intercession. The guards opened the bag and did not find the dead head of St. Catherine, but a bag full of rose petals. Once the thieves were back in Siena, Catherine’s head re-materialized, one of the many miracles attributed to the saint. 

Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24

 
Who knew....
 
A horse rears in the crowd during the traditional San Juan (Saint John) festival in the town of Ciutadella, on the Balearic Island of Menorca, on the eve of Saint John's day.

 The reorganisation of the churches and parishes of Menorca by King Jaime II of Mallorca in the late XIII century included that of St John the Baptist, situated five kilometres south of Ciutadella. This parish had its name changed following the Christian conquest of Menorca from the parish of Artruix (a name designating the whole of the south of Ciutadella) to being known as the parish of St John the Baptist. Today, it is known as Sant Joan de Missa, the little parish church which lost its parochial rites on being linked to the parish of Ciutadella, the home of Menorca’s cathedral.

The fiesta’s Medieval origins are also apparent in the group of horsemen and their attire that lead the proceedings. The municipal council of Ciutadella would elect a committee from different social sectors to administer the religious buildings and charitable works. This was led by a nobleman and included a priest, two farmers and an artisan, and the committee members were known as ‘Caixers’. The committee also organised important festivities, the most important being the birth of St John the Baptist on 24 June, the eve of which a pilgrimage was arranged to the hermitage. After mass everyone returned to the town at sunset when bonfires were lit and people celebrated by dancing in the streets. The following morning mass was held in honour of the saint.

Brainless Thief Steals Brain

ROME (RNS) Police set up roadblocks in northern Italy after a thief posing as a pilgrim stole tiny fragments of the brain of John Bosco, one of the country’s most revered saints.

St. John Bosco

The thief entered the church, named after the 19th century saint in Castelnuovo, near Turin, last Friday (June 2), and left with a glass case containing the relic of the saint, who is also known as Don Bosco.

Devotees often visit the church to pray before the relic kept behind the altar. On Sunday, pilgrims gathered at the Don Bosco Basilica to pray for its return.

Great Saint...but his name reminds me of...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B2tmETjWsKo&feature=youtu.be

Dumb and Dumber...and Father James Martin

May 9, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- Faithful Catholics may be in for a “surprise” when they “get to heaven to be greeted by LGBT men and women,” said a controversial Catholic priest who was appointed by Pope Francis last month to the Vatican’s communications office.

Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin, editor-at-large of the Jesuit-run America magazine, made the comment on his Facebook page on May 5  after posting a link to a pro-homosexual event put on by New Ways Ministry and calling it “another sign of welcome and building bridges.”

When one Facebook commenter responded that “any canonized Saints would not be impressed” by the infiltration of homosexuality within the Catholic Church, Martin replied that some of the saints are “probably gay.”​

The article continues:

But Catholic saint and doctor of the Church St. Peter Damian called homosexuality a “vice” that “opens up hell and closes the door of paradise.”

“This vice [of same-sex activity] is the death of bodies, the destruction of souls, pollutes the flesh, extinguishes the light of the intellect, expels the Holy Spirit from the temple of the human heart, introduces the diabolical inciter of lust, throws into confusion, and removes the truth completely from the deceived mind,” he wrote in his 11th century Book of Gomorrah. 

“It prepares snares for the one who walks, and for him who falls into the pit, it obstructs the escape. It opens up hell and closes the door of paradise,” he added. 

Kidde Multipurpose Fire Extinguisher 1A10BC Feast of Saint Florian, May 4

St. Florian is the patron saint of firemen...er, firefighters...er, first responders. The Brookline Fire Fighters page says:

Florian was a Captain in the Roman army. He was a brave soldier and a tenacious fighter. Rome recognized the danger of fire and was the first to employ a fire department. This first fire department was made up of slaves. They had no real desire to risk their lives battling the flames of their captors. Rome desperately needed fire protection. They called on Captain Florian to organize and train an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires. Captain Florian indeed organized such a group. They were highly trained and very successful at protecting Rome from fires. A brigade of firefighters followed the army and provided fire protection at their encampments. These firefighters were highly respected and easily recognized. They wore the traditional Roman soldier uniform except the skirt was green. The most famous picture of Saint Florian depicts him with a young boy pouring water from a pitcher onto a fire. This picture if seen in color reveals this green skirt.

Ireland's First Beatification

I was a little confused about this article at first. I mean, Ireland has hundreds of saints...Patrick, Bridgit, Brendan...but then I realized they were talking of the location of the beautification. And as much as I hate to admit it, he was a Jesuit.

Dublin, Ireland, Apr 26, 2017 / 05:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Father John Sullivan was a prominent Irish Catholic convert who was known for his healing prayers, his consolation for the troubled, and his devotion to God.

Now he is set to be the first ever person to be beatified in Ireland.

The beatification will take place May 13 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Dublin, where the Jesuit priest's body was interred. Cardinal Angelo Amato of the Congregations for the Causes of Saints will be involved in the ceremony. Church of Ireland leaders will also attend.

Aflac Dental Insurance Feast of St. Apollonia, February 9

Paton Saint of Dentistry

Well, I guess that's her all over.

William S. Walsh noted that, though the major part of her relics were preserved in the former church of St. Apollonia at Rome, her head at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, her arms at the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, parts of her jaw in St. Basil's, and other relics are in the Jesuit church at Antwerp, in St. Augustine's at Brussels, in the Jesuit church at Mechlin, in St. Cross at Liege, in the treasury of the cathedral of Porto, and in several churches at Cologne.

North Carolina State University Feast of St. Blaise

From Word on Fire:

Today the Church remembers the life and witness of Saint Blaise, a 3rd century Armenian bishop who endured terrifying torments and surrendered his life rather than repudiate his profession of Faith.

Much of the life of Saint Blaise is history that has passed into legend, but even these legendary accounts offer spiritual insight.

It is said that Blaise was renowned as a wonderworker, effecting miraculous cures. This would have been enough to attract attention, but he was also not averse to calling out the Roman officials who ruled the region in which he lived, Cappadocia, for their tyranny and intolerance of Christian faith and practice. The combination of a reputation for supernatural power and the courage of his convictions was not welcomed by Rome and the governor ordered Bishop Blaise to be arrested.

There is an account of Saint Blaise that identifies not only his pastoral care for the Christian faithful, but also for the animals of the wilderness.

It seems that a woman had witnessed her piglet carried off by a wolf and spoke of her plight to the bishop. Saint Blaise called for the wolf, demanded her return the piglet to its rightful owner, and reminded the wolf of the grave penalty that awaited a thief. The wolf complied and returned the piglet to its owner- a credit to the bishop’s power of persuasion. The woman would later return the favor to Saint Blaise when he was finally captured and imprisoned. She brought to him candles to illuminate his dank and dreary cell.

Safe Guard Kevlar Vest Feast of St. Sebastian, January 20

From Butler's Lives if the Saints, a brief synopsis of why I would not cut it as a martyr:

The legend of Sebastian’s death is frightening. Romans, the story goes, tied him naked to a tree and used him as a target for archery practice. Many Renaissance paintings portray this incident. After he was left to die, a widow came to bury him, but she was astonished to discover that somehow breath was still in him. She took him home and tended to his wounds. After his recovery, she pleaded with him to escape the risks of living as a Christian in Rome. Instead, he went to Diocletian and demanded that he stop persecuting Christians. Shocked to discover that the young man had survived the target practice, Diocletian ordered the immediate execution of Sebastian. He was then clubbed to death.

It is also the Feast of St. Fabian. Not to be confused with Fabian, the "Turn Me Loose" guy.

Old Spice Feast St. Thorfinn, January 8

"Gentle Natured" St. Thorfinn

From Butler's Lives of the Saints:

The Norwegian Thorfinn died at a Cistercian monastery in Belgium. During his life he did not attract much attention, and after he was buried, most people all but forgot him. About fifty years later construction workers accidentally broke open his tomb. Instead of a disagreeable odor, there was a strong, pleasing scent. The abbot asked his monks about the man interred on the site and found one of them, the aged Walter de Muda, who remembered Thorfinn. Walter recalled that Thorfinn had impressed the community with his gentle, yet strong personality. De Muda had actually written a little poem praising Thorfinn that was entombed with him. Searchers found this poem on parchment, undeteriorated after five decades. The abbot took this as a sign that it was important to perpetuate the memory of Thorfinn, and asked Walter to write everything he could remember about him. All that we know about this saint today may be read in Walter’s sketchy recollections and the tribute he paid him with his poem. He remembered Thorfinn as a kind, patient, generous man, whose gentle nature was combined with a strong moral character.