Communio – Page 267 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Michael J. Brescia to speak at October White Mass, New Haven

The 2012 White Mass of the Archdiocese of Hartford will host Dr Michael J. Brescia, Executive Medical Director of New York’s Calvary Hospital on Sunday, 28 October 2012, St Mary’s Church and Hall, (5 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT).

Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell will be the celebrant of the Mass at 10am.

Dr. Brescia is known for the development of the Brescia-Cimino Arterio-Venous Fistula, a critical treatment for kidney disease.

The White Mass prays in thanksgiving for the service of physicians, nurses, helathcare providers and administrators.

Questions and reservations: Heather Vaccola: 2012whitemass@gmail.com

More info: visit the website here.

The White Mass is co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Hartford, The St Luke Society, The Connecticut Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and the Pope John Paul II Bioethics Center. This is the second annual Mass and it moves around the state.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen

O Lord, you were generous with your gifts of grace to the virgin Hildegard. By following closely her example and teaching, may we pass from the darkness of this life into your marvelous light.

Saint Hildegard (1098-1179) was a Benedictine of great learning ( a true polymath), a holy woman who was known for her visions, prophesies, poetry and spiritual guidance. Some have likened her to Dante and William Blake. She was given the title of the Sibyl of the Rhine. Since the 15th century Hildegard’s name was in the Roman Martyrology but was not officially canonized. On May 10, 2012 Pope Benedict XVI gave the entire Church the liturgical memory of Saint Hildegard (the equivalent of canonizing her); the Pope stated that on October 7, 2012 he will name the Saint a Doctor of the Church.

We pray for the Benedictine Congress in Rome that begins today and goes until the 25th through the intercession of Saint Hildegard.

Rosh Hashanah 5773/2012-13

A blessed Rosh Hashanah (head of the year) to our Jewish brothers and sisters!!! The Jewish calendar marks 5773.

The feast of Rosh Hashanah is remembrance that we didn’t make ourselves. It is a fitting opportunity to make the biblical connections of God’s creation of the world. Some will call this feast a time to get your spiritual house in order. Thus, a time of prayer and reflection.

Rosh Hashanah is observed variously according to the Jewish which is followed.

The feast begins on Sunday, September 16 and ends Tuesday, September 18 (in the evening).

The Rosh Hashanah Survival Kit: 7 questions

Our Lady of Sorrows

The Virgin Mary, who believed in the word of the Lord,
did not lose her faith in God when she saw her Son rejected, abused and
crucified. Rather she remained beside Jesus, suffering and praying, until the
end. And she saw the radiant dawn of His Resurrection. Let us learn from her to
witness to our faith with a life of humble service, ready to personally pay the
price of staying faithful to the Gospel of love and truth, certain that nothing
that we do will be lost.

Pope Benedict XVI

Angelus – September 13, 2009

Dolan meet Colbert

One of the most clever, that is, funny men in show biz today is Stephen Colbert. He’s also practicing his Catholicsm and serves as a catechist.

Mr Colbert, with a friend, Jesuit Father James Martin of American Magazine will host a show with New York’s archbishop, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan. Get ready for a laugh!

Followup:

On the Cardinal’s blog there’s his article “Humor, Joy and the Spiritual Life.”

Laurie Goodstein from the NY Times wrote, “A Comedian and a Cardinal Open Up on Spirituality.”

On the AP is Rachel Zoll’s article: “Colbert to NY Fordham students: ‘I love my church.

Nuns… pray for vocations

I was reminded earlier today of a need to pray for vocations to the contemplative life. A former colleague of mine recently entered Dominican life as a cloistered nun at Saint Dominic’s Monastery in Linden, VA. It is a traditional monastery of nuns, a very young of women who make a sacrifice to pray for us and the needs of the world. The postulant, Sister Lauren (left) is seen with a veteran nun, Sister Mary Dominic.

Pray for vocations.

As an aside, the Huffington Post had this special article with pictures of those who “thought” they had a vocation. One actually did pursue a vocation as a Benedictine nun at Regina Laudis Abbey (Bethlehem, CT), Mother Dolores Hart.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today’s liturgical observance of the Holy Cross is a fitting day to ask what we understand it to mean. Because the Cross is the key that unlocks the door of our salvation, Christians ought to ask themselves what they believe the Cross to mean. When you encounter the Cross, what does it really mean for the Church, for you, for those who see the Cross on your person? With the proliferation of the image of the Cross in various places it’s power is not diminished as much as our recognition of the meaning of may have. The Cross in any media is not a decoration for a building, a body, a cake or a book, the Cross is not merely one symbol among others; the Cross is not a talisman that can be summoned upon demand. As Saint Paul says, the Cross is our glory. Catholics learn the meaning of things in the Faith by looking at what is prayed at the sacred Liturgy. Hence, taking time with the antiphons, the Collect and the Preface of a given Mass will indicate what we believe.

We believe….

We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. (antiphon)

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.

For you placed the salvation of the human race on the wood of the Cross, so that, where death arose, life might again spring forth and the evil one, who conquered on a tree, might likewise on a tree be conquered through Christ. (excerpted from the Preface)

We adore you Christ and we praise you, for by your holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Saint John Chrysostom

Those who are wise will shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars for ever.

O God, strength of those who hope in you, who willed that the Bishop Saint John Chrysostom should be illustrious by his experience of suffering, grant us, we pray, that, instructed by his teachings, we may be strengthened through example of his invincible patience.

The entrance antiphon and the Collect are enough to pray with today.

We pray for the Church in the East.

Prayer participates in Christ’s coming in glory

Prayer enables us to discern the events of history in
the light of God’s plan for the spread of his Kingdom. That plan is symbolized
by the book closed with seven seals which only the Lamb, the crucified and
risen Lord, can open. In prayer, we see that Christ’s final victory over sin
and death is the key to all history. While giving thanks for this victory, we
continue to beg God’s grace for our earthly journey. Amid life’s evils, the
Lord hears our prayers, strengthens our weakness, and enables us to trust in
his sovereign power. The Book of Revelation concludes with Jesus’ promise that
he will soon come, and the Church’s ardent prayer “Come, Lord
Jesus!”. In our own prayer, and especially in our celebration of the
Eucharist, may we grow in the hope of Christ’s coming in glory, experience the
transforming power of his grace, and learn to discern all things in the light
of faith.

Pope Benedict XVI

General Audience

12 September 2012

“For Greater Glory” now available on DVD

The movie, “For Greater Glory,” is now available on DVD on Amazon, but it is also available from Ignatius Press.

What price would
you pay for freedom? In the exhilarating action epic “For Greater Glory” an
impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for
family, faith and the very future of their country, as the film’s adventure
unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War the
daring people’s revolt that rocked 20th Century North America.

This movie is an excellent addition for your Catholic library of film and appropriate for a high school Catholic curricula, the RCIA and adult faith formation work of your parish. This forgotten part of our North American history needs to be better known.