Recently in Connecticut Dioceses Category

Saints in Connecticut. Relics point to Jesus Christ.

Litchfield County Times' reporter Tom Breen published his "Catholic Retreat Near Mystic Features Severed Arm of Medieval Saint" on May 25, 2013. He writes on the first class relic of Saint Edmund of Canterbury, a renowned English archbishop, in a Mystic, CT, retreat house by the same name.

The infrastructure of holiness rests, in part, with the witness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Saints, for those who are Catholic, are men and women who know they are sinners, who have been forgiven, and who know what it means to live the sacred Scriptures. Specifically, they point to Christ as Messiah and say that it is in fact possible for all of us to be saints.

The Church has venerated, not worshiped saints and their relics. As reliable witnesses, the saints to this day point to Jesus. By the second century Christians would pray in the places where the martyrs were buried and/or where they were killed. A human contact is necessary for all of us.

The practice of offering Mass upon the tombs of the saints became normal; when the Christian community expanded, the practice of praying with the saints followed. Devotion ensued and Connecticut has a verifiable saint to honor.

Saint Edmund of Canterbury's feast day is November 16.

Today is the 10th anniversary of the beatification of Mother Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, the woman who re-established the Swedish branch of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget --Bridgettine Order after centuries of the charism's absence, in 1911. This is the order of nuns founded by Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden (1303-1373).

Saint Bridget of Sweden, not to be confused with the Irish saint, was named co-paroness of Europe on October 1, 1999.

Today the order numbers some 700 sisters in 50 houses around the world. In the USA, there is one house of Bridgettine nuns, in Darien, Connecticut, in the Diocese of Bridgeport. The order has about a 4% growth per annum with about 30 novices entering yearly. Info on Wiki can be read here.

There is a group of Bridgetine monks in Oregon, themselves re-founded in 1976.

Blessed Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad's liturgical memorial is June 4.

The picture one is getting in the press today of Pope Benedict is that of an out-of-touch old man in 3000 miles away. Somehow from what is commonly known and personally experienced of Benedict XVI, I don't quite think the editors of the NY Times and other press agencies have it right, much less some scheming lawyers trying to make as much money off the sexual abuse crisis. I sometimes wonder if the newspapers and legal profession comprehend reality as it is presented or if fiction is the only genre worth digesting in their diets.

Bishop William Lori offers another view of the Pope, and he outlines some interesting facts of the clergy sex abuse industry and what the Church actually did in an article titled, "The Holy Father I Know."

Behold the Lord the Ruler is come: and the Kingdom is in His Hand, and power, and dominion. Give to the king Thy judgment, O God: and to the king's Son Thy justice. (Epiphany entrance Antiphon)

Saint John Chrysostom teaches us that, "If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they would have neither adored nor offered gifts. But since they sought a heavenly King, though they found in Him no signs of royal pre-eminence, yet, content with the testimony of the star alone, they adored: for they saw a man, and they acknowledged a God."

The Feast of the Epiphany is a terrific day to manifest the Lord's entrance into our history with an ordination. The Diocese of Bridgeport, indeed the entire Church, rejoices today in calling another man to ordained service as a deacon. But what do deacons do in the Catholic Church? According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop (1596).

Today, Bishop Lori ordained to the Order of Deacon Jaime de Jesus Marin Cardona, 41, at Saint Charles Borromeo Church (Bridgeport, CT). Deacon Marin is a native of Columbia where he did his seminary training. Here in the US, Deacon Jaime did some studies at Saint John Fisher Seminary (Stamford, CT) and Holy Apostles Seminary (Cromwell, CT).

During the Rite of Ordination of a Deacon Bishop Lori prayed:

Almighty God . . . You make the Church, Christ's body, grow to its full stature as a new and greater temple. You enrich it with every kind of grace and perfect it with a diversity of members to serve the whole body in a wonderful pattern of unity. You established a threefold ministry of worship and service, for the glory of your name. As ministers of your tabernacle you chose the sons of Levi 
and gave them your blessing as their everlasting inheritance.

More than a dozen priests and deacons concelebrated Mass with the Bishop--in Spanish--with a packed Church. A fair number of the diocesan seminarians were also in attendance, many of whom acted altar servers for the Liturgy. It was wonderful to see all the gathered faithful. Jaime drew together his family and friends from across the area to celebrate with him. The occasion afforded the Msgr. Patrick McGivney Council, the local council of the Knights of Columbus to observe their 10th anniversary in Saint Charles. The State KofC officers were present as was the 4th degree honor guard.

Since he's finished with studies, Deacon Jaime will serve in a parish for the next six months. In the exercise of his ministry, Deacon Jaime now "strengthened by sacramental grace... [is] dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the service (diakonia) of the liturgy, of the Gospel, and of works of charity" (CCC 1588).

We also rejoice at the ordination of another man for the Bridgeport Diocese. On December 12th, Bishop Lori by the laying on of hand and prayer, ordained Jeff Couture to the Order of Deacon at Holy Family Church (Fairfield, CT), a native son of that parish. The ordination took place at the Vigil Mass for Gaudete Sunday with lots of Jeff's family and friends present. Deacon Couture is a student at Mount Saint Mary Seminary (Emmitsburg, MD). He's been serving Holy Family Church for Christmastide and will return to the Mount to finish up prior to ordination.

On June 5, 2010, four men will be ordained to the presbyterate for the Diocese of Bridgeport. In addition to Deacons Jaime and Jeff, the deacons ordained this past May, Deacons Michael Novajoski and Karol Ksiazek will be made priests. In comparison to 2009 when six were made priests of Jesus Christ, 2010 is also a good year for our diocese in terms of ordinations. As of this writing, there will only be one ordained to the priesthood in 2011.

May Saints Stephen, Nicanor, Lawrence, Ephrem, Francis and all holy deacons, pray for us and for these men ordained for service in the Diocese of Bridgeport!

The Catholic school system in the US has been in a very desperate shape for years: acute and chronic money problems, lack of good, solidly trained Catholic teachers and administrators, a coherent vision of Catholic education as it interfaces with the charism of the religious order/diocese operating the school, building & grounds in near of repair, low endowments, etc. Then there is the assessment of what is purported to constitute a Catholic school: poor formation in the faith, the arts & humanites and science suffer, good use of current technologies, and engagement with people who do things differently, engagement with the vulnerable and culture of life, etc. Many, many Catholic schools don't offer the Sacrifice of the Mass on a weekly basis for the students; and very few of them that I am familiar with offer reliable guidance and formation of the faculty and parents. In my book, if the bishop rarely shows up and the pastor visits the school only when there is crisis. then the problem is more acute.

Don't get me wrong: I am a product of a lot years Catholic education and wouldn't trade it for anything. I love my time in the Catholic schools I attended but I can see the gaping holes in education and experience. I also believe that the Church needs excellent schools and formation programs.

Five exceptions to this critical view may be the five schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport recently named "Blue Ribbon" by the US Dept of Ed. But for these success stories in Catholic Education there are thousands of others pointing to major problems.

Today, there is an article in Time that speaks to a corrective of what is noted above. The dynamic Mr. Ekicsen is asking the right questions and seeking reasonable solutions. The bishop of Patterson made an excellent choice in hiring Eriksen and I pray his project thrives. It will --the saints are behind him. Read about the Eriksen initiative...

I think of a few things that are contributing to a renewal of Catholic eduation in the US: 1) Luigi Giussani's The Risk of Education; 2) the Ed Conference; 3) UND's ACE program; and 4) Dwight Longenecker's booklet The Risk of Faith; 5) Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of reality because I know there are plenty of more good programs/schools out there so please forward the names to me.

Word has been received that the Church of Saint John (Stamford, CT) has been given the high honor of being named a minor basilica by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

Henceforth, the parish will be known as The Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist.

The Catholic community has been present in the Stamford sine the early 18th century but an official ecclesial community was founded in 1847. The current church was completed in 1886.

Saint John's is the second church in the State of Connecticut to receive this distinction. The first is the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Waterbury, CT. There are only 65 minor basilicas in the US.

UPDATE

The announcement from the Diocese of Bridgeport, October 17, 2009

The Stamford Advocate's article of October 17, 2009