Communio – Page 382 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Pope met Iraqi Catholics receiving medical treatment

The Catholic News Service reported tonight that…

Pope
Benedict XVI met privately Dec. 1 with two dozen Iraqis who were injured when
their cathedral in Baghdad was attacked Oct. 31. In early November, the Italian
foreign ministry arranged for 26 injured Iraqis — including three children —
and 21 accompanying family members to fly to Rome. The injured were treated at
the Gemelli Hospital and their family members were housed in apartments
belonging to the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, which operates the
hospital. Nicola Cerbino, hospital spokesman, said Dec. 1 that only two of the
injured were still hospitalized, but they were well enough to travel with their
family members to the Vatican for the brief audience with the pope. The entire
Iraqi group — close to 50 people — will remain guests of the university until
mid-December, Cerbino said. After that, the Italian foreign minister will help
them return home or settle elsewhere, he said. Fifty-eight people died in the
attack on the Syrian Catholic church in Baghdad Oct. 31 after military
officials tried to end a terrorist siege of the church.

Happy Hanukkah 2010

A blessed and happy Hanukkah!

Tarcisio Bertone’s homily for the feast of St Andrew at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption of Astana, Kazakhstan

I am happy to be in Astana, capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, this noble and vast country located in the heart of the Eurasian territory. I wish to express my profound joy at being able to visit your Cathedral of the Assumption, recently opened for worship. I greet everyone with affection, beginning with His Eminence Metropolitan Alexander and, while I thank him for his fraternal reception, I bring to him and to all of you the cordial greeting of the Holy Father Benedict XVI, praying that it be transmitted to His Holiness Kirill, patriarch of Moscow and All Russias. I then greet the other religious (and civil) authorities, the priests, deacons and faithful of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. May this fraternal meeting of ours inspire a renewed impetus to join forces, so that in a not distant future we, the disciples of Christ, can proclaim with one voice and one heart the Gospel, message of hope for the whole of humanity.

The occasion of this agreeable visit to Astana is the summit of heads of state and government of countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which will take place in the next few days. This circumstance suggested to the highest authorities of Kazakhstan to address to me a cordial invitation to visit your land. In willingly receiving this deferent and appreciated gesture, I immediately thought of the joy of being able to go to a country in which there are ample possibilities for a peaceful and profitable religious coexistence. In this context, for us Christians the duty of reciprocal love is all the more urgent: we are called, in fact, to give witness to all, with words and works, that God is Love. In this connection, my presence also intends to be an encouragement to continue on the way of great respect and affection, which I know exists between the Orthodox and Catholic communities of Astana, as well as of other cities. Propitious occasions are not lacking, dear friends, of mutual support and of deepening of friendship.

Today, in this welcome meeting with you, I have the special joy of fulfilling the lofty task entrusted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, of handing you a fragment of the distinguished relics of the Apostle St. Andrew, which are venerated in Italy, in the city of Amalfi. This assignment, which I am honored to effect in the hands of His Eminence Metropolitan Alexander, comes in response to the devout request that his predecessor, Metropolitan Mefodji, and Archbishop Tomash Peta, Catholic Metropolitan, jointly addressed to Pope Benedict XVI. The Pontiff, gladly desiring to meet the ardent request, decided to send to the two respective Churches two fragments of the precious relics. This choice has a profound significance, in as much as is underlines the common veneration of the Apostles.

I am happy to stress that today’s event of handing the relic of St. Andrew, who you venerate, coincides in fact with the day in which, according to the calendar of the Latin Church, his liturgical feast is celebrated. Andrew was born in Bethsaida, at first he was a disciple of John the Baptist and then he followed the Lord Jesus, to whom he also led his brother Peter. Together with Philip he presented Christ himself to the Gentiles and pointed out the boy who carried the fish and the loaves. According to tradition, after Pentecost, he preached in different areas and was crucified in Achaia, Greece. The Gospel narrates that Jesus, “passing along by the Sea of Galilee, saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men'” (Mark 1:16-17). Andrew, hence, was the first of the Apostles to be called to follow Jesus. Precisely on the basis of this fact, the Byzantine liturgy honors him with the name of Protoklitos, which means precisely, the first called.

The evangelical account continues specifying that “immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:18). It is this quick adherence that allowed the Apostles to spread the Word, the “good news” of salvation. Faith comes from listening, and what is heard is the Word of Christ, which still today the Church spreads to the ends of the earth. This Word is the indispensable food of the soul. It is said in the book of the prophet Amos that God will put hunger in the world, not hunger for bread, but to hear his word (cf. Amos 8:11). This is a healthy hunger, because it makes us seek constantly and receive the Word of God, knowing that it must nourish us for the whole of life. Nothing in life can have consistency, nothing can really satisfy us if it is not nourished, penetrated, illumined, guided by the Word of the Lord. Moreover, an ever more profound commitment of radical adherence to this Word, together with the support of the Holy Spirit, constitute the strength to realize the aspiration of every Christian community and of every individual faithful to unity (cf. Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, No. 46).

From the Gospel of St. John, we gather another important particular regarding the Apostle Andrew: “He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ. He brought him to Jesus” (John 1:41-43), demonstrating immediately an unmistakable apostolic spirit. To this end, St. John Chrysostom comments: “Andrew’s word is the word of one who anxiously awaited the coming of the Messiah, whose descent from heaven he awaited, who trembled with joy when he saw him arrive, and who hurried to communicate the great news to the others. See in what way he notifies what he had appreciated in a short time? Andrew, after having stayed with Jesus and having learned everything that Jesus taught him, did not keep the treasure to himself, but hurried to his brother to communicate to him the richness he had received. Look also at Peter’s spirit, from the beginning docile and quick in faith: he runs immediately without being concerned about anything else” (Homily 19, 1; PG 59, 120).

In the beautiful icon donated by Patriarch Athenagoras I to Pope Paul VI on Jan. 5, 1964, the two Holy Apostles, Peter the Coryphaeus and Andrew the Protoklitos, embrace, in an eloquent language of love, beneath the glorious Christ. Andrew was the first to follow the Lord, Peter was called to confirm his brothers in the faith. Their embrace under the gaze of Christ is an invitation to continue the path undertaken, toward that goal of unity that we intend to reach together. Nothing must discourage us, but we must go forward with hope, supported by the intercession of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, as well as by the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, Mother of Christ and our Mother. Let us ask God with particular intensity for the precious gift of unity among all Christians, making our own the invocation that Jesus raised to the Father for his disciples: “that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21).

Pope remembers Manuela Camagni: a witness to a relationship that’s stronger than death

What follows is Pope Benedict XVI’s message sent on
the occasion of the Mass of Christian Burial for Manuela Camagni, 56, a member
of the association of Memores Domini (the consecrated lay group of Communion
& Liberation) who with 3 other Memores worked for the Pope in his personal apartments
at the Vatican. As mentioned in a blog post last week, Manuela was killed
Tuesday/Wednesday after being struck by a car. The Reverend Monsignor Georg
Ganswein, the Pope’s personal secretary, read the message at the funeral, Monday
in Bagno di Romagna, Emilia-Romagna (northern Italian city). The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at La Chiesa di San Piero in Bagno di Romagna.

I would willingly
have presided over the funeral of dear Manuela Camagni, but –as you can
imagine– it was not possible for me. However, communion in Christ allows us
Christians a real spiritual closeness, in which we share the prayer and
affection of the heart. In this profound bond I greet all of you, in particular
Manuela’s family, the diocesan bishop, the priests, the Memores Domini, and her
friends.

I would like to give here very briefly my testimony of our sister, who
has gone to heaven. Many of you knew Manuela for a long time. I was able to
benefit from her presence and her service in the papal apartment, in the last
five years, in a family dimension. Because of this I wish to thank the Lord for
the gift of Manuela’s life, for her faith, for her generous response to her
vocation. Divine Providence led her to a discreet but precious service in the
Pope’s house. She was happy about this and took part joyfully in family
moments: at Holy Mass in the morning, at vespers, at meals in common and in the
various and significant happenings of the house.

Her departure, so sudden, and
also the way in which she was taken, have given us great grief, which only
faith can console. I find much support in thinking of the words that form the
name of her community: Memores Domini. Meditating on these words, on the
meaning, I find a sense of peace, because they call to a profound relationship
that is stronger than death. Memores Domini means: “those who remember the
Lord,” namely, persons who live in the memory of God and Jesus, and in
this daily remembrance, full of faith and love, they find the meaning of
everything, from small actions to great choices, of work, study and fraternity.
The memory of the Lord fills the heart with profound joy, as an ancient hymn of
the Church says: “Jesu dulcis memoria, dans vera cordis gaudia”
[Jesus sweet memory, that gives true joy to the heart].

Hence, because of this
it gives me peace to think that Manuela is a “memor Domini,” a person
who lived in the memory of the Lord. This relationship with him is more
profound than the abyss of death. It is a bond that nothing and no one can
break, as St. Paul says: “[Nothing] can separate us from the love of God,
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). Yes, if we remember the Lord, it
is because he first remembers us. We are “memores Domini” because he
is “memor nostri,” he remembers us with love of a parent, a brother,
a friend, also at the moment of death. If at times it seems that at that moment
he is absent, that he forgets us, in reality we are always present to him, we
are in his heart. Wherever we fall, we fall into his hands. Precisely there,
where no one can accompany us, God awaits us: He is our Life.

Dear brothers and
sisters, in this faith full of hope, which is Mary’s faith near the cross of
Jesus, I celebrated the Mass for Manuela’s soul the very morning of her death.
And while I accompany with prayer the Christian rite of her burial, I impart
with affection to her family, her fellow sisters and all of you my blessing.

Pope Benedict XVI’s monthly prayer intentions for December 2010

Pope Benedict’s invitation to prayer for the month of December, these last days of the calendar year for our unity with him before the Throne of Grace. Ask the Sacred Heart of Jesus to hear and answer our prayers:

The general intention

That our experience of suffering may help us better understand the pain of the many people who are alone, sick, or aged, and stir us to generous help.

The mission intention

That the peoples of the earth may open their doors to Christ and to his gospel of peace, brotherhood, and justice.

Saint Edmund Campion

Keep us attuned to the truth of the Catholic Faith!

Saint Edmund Campion, pray for us!

Autumn days at the Abbey of Regina Laudis

The Abbey of Regina Laudis is a special place in Connecticut; and one of the special Benedictine monasteries in the USA. I’ve been spending more time there in recent months either attending the Divine Office and/or Mass or spending a few days in St Joseph’s Guest House (for men, there are guests for women, married folks, & clergy).

One thing I learn going to monasteries or other types of religious houses is the wide variety of people who come for a brief visit to the gift shop and chapel to those visiting for professional reasons and those who are there to spend a few days making a retreat, bugging out of the “world” for a respite or those like me who just love monasteries, nuns and the culture. This past weekend we had Jesuit seminarians and a man from North Carolina connecting with distant family who happens to be a nun.

Being among the guests you see the monastic life unfold in profound and simple ways. The profound is exemplified in thinking about contours of the nuns and a couple of laymen considering making a monastic foundation of brothers and priests at the abbey. And there were the simple ways of spending time with one of the Oblate brothers who was Holy Apostles Seminary, or another Oblate brother preparing for his diaconate ordination on Saturday. And your own learning discerning a new of living what the Lord has given. So much at Regina Laudis is rooted in the prayer and work of the land. Being a land preserve, the nuns care for the land in extraordinary ways like farming, caring for the natural way supplies, raising much of their own food, etc.

Want to know more about the Abbey of Regina Laudis and the monastic culture found there? Come for a visit, spend a few days at the abbey and/or read Antoinette Bosco’s Mother Benedict (and read Bosco’s essay on the book).

Antoinette Bosco, a resident of Connecticut, journalist and friend of the nuns, wrote an accessible and inspiring account of the abbey’s founder, Mother Benedict Duss, OSB (+October 5, 2005). Mother Benedict was forward thinking and a pioneering nun who founded an abbey of nuns who take seriously prayer, work, culture and humanity. Bosco’s narrative tells the story of a woman who risked everything, was obedient to the Church, and trusted profoundly in God.

The abbey is home to a nun who bears a tired clichè –but all clichès are shopworn– of “the cheese nun,” who went back to school at a later age for further education which landed her a stellar PhD in microbiology that has enabled her to make brilliant contributions in the field of making cheese and promoting culture the world over. A Fullbright scholar, Mother Noella never thought that entering a monastery would lead to studying science, milking a cow, making artisanal cheese, travel extensively. Except that in all these things she followed the aphorism, that in all things God is gloried.

So, watch the 2006 PBS presentation “The Cheese Nun” telling the story of Mother Noella Marcellino learning the ways of God and humanity through the exacting study of science, cheese-making and prayer all in an effort to know the grace of creation given by God: biodiversity reveals the ever beautiful face of the Creator.

Other Communio blog posts on Regina Laudis: the Crèche, various pics, the Benedictine approach to holiness, on a visit in August, and a story on Mother Dolores Hart.

Saint Andrew: the Ecumenical agenda

Saint Andrew is the first of the 12 Apostles called by Jesus to follow Him. Today is his feast day, the day traditionally remembered as the day of his death.

Official delegations of prayer and fraternal exchange happen for the June feast of Saints Peter and Paul (in Rome) and for today’s feast of Saint Andrew (in Constantinople). The protocol followed is that Patriarch Bartholomew I sends a message and a group to Rome in June and the Pope does the same on November 30 for today’s feast. Often there’s a series of meetings, discussions, academic exchanges, and a festive meal. Kurt Cardinal Koch and Bishop Brian Farrell, LC, (president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity) represented the Holy Father today.

The meeting was covered by Vatican Radio. Visit here.

The Catholic News Agency reports that the Pope is urging greater efforts to realize unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

The Pope’s message to the Patriarch: Benedict XVI to Bartholomew I Nov 30 2010.pdf

Saint Andrew, the First Called, martyr

Saint Andrew, pray for us.

Ask Saint Andrew to ask the Lord for the grace to carry the cross in humility, dignity and in the face of great opposition, opposition found within ourselves and from others. May he ask the Lord to bless the Bishop of Rome, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Scotland, Russia, the Archdiocese of Amalfi and for fish mongers, old maids and singers.