Here’s John Burger’s tribute to Chris Slattery.
We gathered earlier this evening at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick (NYC) for Solemn Vespers for the feast of All Saints of the Order of Malta. The feast day is actually on November 19 but since the 19th was a Sunday this year, the observance was transferred to Monday. We also had the privilege of venerating the relic of the founder of the Order of Malta, Blessed Gerard.
May the saints and blesseds of the Order of Malta intercede for us before the Throne of Grace.
The month of November brings us to devote time in prayer and community praying for the faithful departed, visiting the cemetery, offering Holy Mass, and remembering. In short, November is devoted to the souls in purgatory.
This prayer from the Byzantine Church speaks in complement to psalms 50 and 130 orients our hearts and minds:
By Thy resurrection from the dead, O Christ, death no longer hath dominion over those who die in holiness. So, we beseech Thee, give rest to Thy servants in Thy sanctuary and in Abraham’s bosom. Grant it to those, who from Adam until now have adored Thee with purity, to our fathers and brothers, to our kinsmen and friends, to all men who have lived by faith and passed on their road to Thee, by a thousand ways, and in all conditions, and make them worthy of the heavenly kingdom.
Today, the Order of Malta-Eastern CT Area gathered for Mass.
May the souls of the faith departed rest in peace.
Today, members of Connecticut’s Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem met at the historic Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Waterbury, CT) for Sunday Mass and then for a festive dinner given by Msgr. John Bevins. It was a beautiful time to gather and share friendship. (more were able to make to dinner than to Mass due to other commitments.)
Today is a solemn feast for those of us who are members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Today is a perfect day to pray for peace in the Holy Land through Mary’s intercession. Prayers for the ministry of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre throughout the world.
Because we follow the Lex Orandi tradition, the following prayer is the opening collect for the Mass.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
we humbly ask you, through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine, to help us overcome all the difficulties
which face us in this Holy Land,
the land which your Son has made Holy;
for it is in this land where our Savior took flesh
and brought the entire world to Redemption.
We beseech you Father,
strengthen us in faith, service, and perseverance so that we may be witnesses
to that unending act of love,
you who live and reign forever and ever.
The red that a cardinal wears is supposed to point to a willingness to shed their blood. The ritual used to create new cardinals of the Roman Church refers to the wearing of the color red as a sign of the blood of the martyrs.
Pope Saint John Paul II taught; “Red is a sign of the dignity of the office of a cardinal, signifying that you are ready to act with fortitude, even to the point of spilling your blood for the increase of the Christian faith” (1998).
Cardinal Pizzaballa’s words of availability are impactful. Read the article.
St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.
This deeply moves me.
Queen of peace, Chosen daughter of a land still devastated by wars, hatred and violence.
We confidently address our plea to you: Do not allow Jesus to cry at the sight of the Holy City which did not understand the gift of peace may, once again, fall into indifference and political calculation. Look at the afflictions of so many mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, victims of destructive energies that are blind and without a future. Inspire ways of dialogue, a vigorous will in solving problems and a collaboration of certain hope. Don’t let us ever to get used to oppression, to consider the struggles as inevitable and the victims they produce as collateral.
Make sure that the logic of aggression does not prevail over good will and that the solution of many problems is not considered impossible. Just like with Your prayer in the midst of the Disciples on Pentecost, obtain from the Almighty that situations, even if apparently insurmountable in the Holy Land, find ways of happy solution.
AMEN.
Fernando Cardinal Filoni
Grand Master of the Holv Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Today is the feast of Our Lady of Champion, the first and only approved apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the United States.
In October 1859, Mary appeared to a Belgian immigrant, Adele Brise three times. In the first, Mary stayed silent, leaving Adele’s family to believe it was a holy soul in need of payers. On October 9th, Adele saw the Lady again and told her priest who instructed her to ask the mysterious lady, should she appear to her again, “In God’s Name, who are you and what do you want of me?” On her journey home from Mass, Adele saw the Lady and repeated the words she had been instructed to by her priest.
The Lady then said, ” I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them. Blessed are they that believe without seeing. What are you doing here while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son? Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation. Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross, and how to approach the Sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you”.
With everything going on today in our country with the loss of innocence in the young, we must truly heed Our Lady’s message to us, to pray for the conversion of sinners, offer Holy Communion, and to teach and catechize the children and youth the faith they need for salvation and in the Sacraments, and know that Mary will help us.
The vision, originally titled Our Lady of Good Help, was formally approved in 2010 by Bishop David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops raised the pilgramige site of the apparition to a National Shrine. In 2023, Bishop Ricken announced that the devotional name had been changed to Our Lady of Champion, both in conjunction with other approved Marian apparitions and to avoid confusion about the name, with the liturgical Solemnity being granted by the Dicastery for Divine Worship to be celebrated on October 9th.
Let us pray:
Lord our God, you chose the Mother of your beloved Son to be the Mother and help of Christians; grant that we may live under her protection and that your Church may enjoy unbroken peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
text curated by Josh Mansfield
Memory of Bartolo Longo is liturgically honored today. Blessed Bartolo Longo (1841-1926) has been so far the only lay person of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem to be lifted to the altar. He quite dear to the Knights and Dames of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and to me both as a devotee to the Rosary and to the Order.
Longo is an example for our members of constant prayer, active charity, and love for the most needy. From Pompeii, a city that he helped regenerate thanks to the grace of recitation of the Rosary, the Blessed continues to inspire initiatives of prayer and charity worldwide.
Since my baptismal parish is named for Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, Blessed Bartolo’s relic hangs in a stairwell (not an ideal place) but at least we remember him.
Prayer to Blessed Bartolo Longo
Blessed Bartolo Longo, you who dedicated your life to Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us and intercede for our needs. You who have known despair and suffering, help us to find hope and peace in difficult times.
You who have spread the devotion to the Rosary around the world, teach us to love this prayer and meditate on the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary. You who founded the city of Pompeii as a center of Marian devotion, protect and bless it always.
Blessed Bartolo Longo, you who lived your life in the service of others, help us imitate your example of charity and dedication. You who have been raised to the honours of the altars, pray for us and obtain the grace we need. Amen.
If you have not seen this exhibit curated by Blessed Carlo Acutis, I recommend that you avail yourself.
