Saint Francis of Assisi


St Francis of Assisi Andrea diVanni d'Andrea.jpgFrancis, the man of God, left his home behind, abandoned his inheritance and became poor and penniless, but the Lord raised him up.


O God, by whose gift Saint Francis was conformed to Christ in poverty and humility, grant that, by walking in Francis’ footsteps, we may follow your Son, and, through joyful charity, come to be united with you.

The mystery of the Cross is likely never made more evident in Christianity than through the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. The above prayer, in fact, the new collect for the Roman Missal brings this to bear on us. Francis’ life of charity and apostolic zeal effected God’s love for all.

The Pope offers a glimpse into the Poor Man of Assisi:

Continue reading Saint Francis of Assisi

Yousef Nadarkhani sentenced to death for being Christian in Iran, the Church silent

Yousef Nadarkhani.jpgYousef Nadarkhani, 33, is a Christian; he’s never practiced Islam, the faith of his family. He converted Christianity at the age of 19. A court ruled that he’s guilty of apostasy but he’s also being accused of security charges, running a brothel, being a rapist and being a Zionist. And now he faces death. 

BUT it seems that the charge of apostasy is being minimized or completely discounted now; information conflict. Nadarkhani was arrested October 13, 2009.

“I am resolute in my faith and Christianity and have no wish to recant,” Yousef Nadarkhani said.
Benjamin Weinthal’s article in The Jerusalem Post gives some more detail.

Continue reading Yousef Nadarkhani sentenced to death for being Christian in Iran, the Church silent

“Magdalene’s Song”: a film of beauty and grace

Madgalene's Song ad.jpg“Magdalene’s Song,” is a film by Mauro Campiotti about Blessed Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation (Caterina Sordini) foundress of the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, an order of contemplative nuns who had an extraordinary relationship with the Lord and devotion to the Church in a time of great difficulty.


This film was the third in a series of four films on “Interesting Lives for Our Times” sponsored by the Siena Forum for Faith & Culture and Crossroads Cultural Center.

The Director, Mauro Campiotti, and 4 nuns from the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament were present to answer questions at the end of the film.


Thanks to Rita Simmonds and Tom Sullivan for the pictures.

I loved this film and I look forward to having a copy of it.  I recommend seeing “Magdalene’s Song.”

A great treat was meeting the nuns who are a part of the order founded by Blessed Mary Magdalene. These two sisters are also blood sisters and there’s a third sister who’s a sister.

Here’s a blog post on the Blessed Mary Magdalene and here order.

PAZ with Sr Rose Alma & Sr Alba Ruth Oct 1 2011.jpg

Guardian Angels

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The 27th Sunday through the year trumps the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. BUT I can’t resist thinking about angels. Today in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd I spoke to the children about the angels, though I centered my thoughts on the Archangels but the Guardian Angels factored in, too. Remember to say a prayer to your Guardian Angel intercession before God the Father.
Our belief in the existence of the guardian angels is not a pious idea that we teach to children; angels are biblical; Jesus speaks of the angels and the Church continues to give witness to the existence of angels in our lives.
So, what can we conclude? We conclude that God has concern for every human being by the protection of the Guardian Angels. Pope Benedict encourages us not to forget our angels in weekly audience (read about it here).
The Church prays….
O God, who in Your unfathomable providence are pleased to send Your holy Angels to guard us, hear our supplication as we cry to You, that we may always be defended by their protection and rejoice eternally in their company.
Angels are spirits. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “The existence of spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls “angels” is a truth of faith (329).
What do these spirits do? What is the nature of spirits?
They angel. Again, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church we hear of the Saint Augustine of Hippo who taught “‘Angel is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit’, from what they do , ‘angel'” (329).
What does the word “angel” mean?
Messenger.
What does the Church teach about angels?
Angels “are servants and messengers of God. Because they ‘always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven’ (Mt 18:10) they are ‘the mighty ones who do his word’ (Ps 103:20).
The Jewish people are familiar with angels –there are plenty of angels in the Old Testament (see Genesis 28-29; Exodus 12-13 and 32:34; Psalm 90:11; Job 38:7 among many sources). The Prophet Daniel (c. 550BC) speaks of Michael as “the great prince which stands for the children of His people.” And Our Lord speaks of the 12 legions of angels as being at his side.
Do angels exist? I think so. The witnesses are hard to beat.

Angels of God The Bible the Church.jpeg

Mike Aquilina’s 2009 book, Angels of God, is an excellent resource.
I recommend all of Mike’s writings, so purchase everything!!!
AND send an angel postcard given here…
Pray for the monks of the American-Cassinese Congregation who have the Holy Guardian Angels as their heavenly patrons. Monasteries in this congregation places like St Vincent’s (Latrobe, PA), St Anselm’s (Manchester, NH), St Martin’s (Lacey, WA), St Mary’s (Morristown, NJ), Newark Abbey (Newark, NJ) and a few more.

A frustrating week…

The week was a bear on many levels. The agony started when I arrived at the office and found out that the office laptop was stolen from my desk. Of course, not only was I angry at the un-named person who stole the computer, but at myself because nothing was backed up. Not having a virtual copy of the documents on an external hard drive was a big mistake. And the rest of the week was down hill because I began thinking about all the things I’ve worked on that are now gone plus all the personal information with it.

AND, the person who took the computer also took the pennies being collected for the poor. Well, at least that’s the assumption. The children in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd are collecting their spare change –or their parent’s pocket change– for the “Pennies for the Good Shepherd.”

I’ve got to find room in my heart to let go of anger toward the thief and pray for his conversion and my own. So pray with me and for me and for the other person. Saint Dismas and Saint Nicholas, pray for me and the other.
Hence, not a lot of posting this past week. 

Saint Michael the Archangel and the archangels

Tadolini's Michael.jpgNo better day than today to recall the work of the archangels: Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

Raphael is least known, but he’s remembered because of his ability to heal in God’s name and then there’s the famous Gabriel who announces to a young Jewish girl, Mary, that she’s to bring into history God, the Incarnate Word of God known to us as Jesus and then we know Michael because he’s best known for throwing Lucifer to hell (he was the 4th archangel turned Satan or known as the devil). Michael means “who is like unto God.”
Catholics know Saint Michael for 4 things:
1. he provides aid for the spiritual struggle fought by all people;
2. he is present at every deathbed, giving hope for one’s redemption;
3. weighs the merits of a person’s soul following death: you are judged worthy of heaven, purgatory or hell;
4. he guarantees Jesus Christ’s promise to that the gates of hell won’t prevail upon the Church and that the Church will last to the end of time.
Since the time of Pope Leo XIII in the 19th century, we’ve prayed …
Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, Oh Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Saint Vincent de Paul

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Among the Scripture passages that Saint Vincent de Paul (1580-1660) most identified with and recalled for his followers was Matthew 25. He was convinced by the revealed word that God was close to the poor, to those who live on the margins of society, civil or ecclesial. The charism of Saint Vincent, understood most clearly in the Congregation of the Mission, was to make known God’s mercy to all people but most especially to the poor. In this way he was akin to the Prophets and to the life of Jesus. Saint Vincent de Paul once said, “The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of mercy.”
Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us.

Speed of light changes


I don’t know about you, but I was
thrilled to hear that the speed of light is no longer considered an absolute limit on the
speed of particles. I am even more delighted that comedy has already coped with
and internalized the new revolution:


“We don’t allow faster-than-light neutrinos
in here,” said the bartender. A neutrino walks into a bar.