Communio – Page 418 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Saint Albert Chmielowski

Come, blessed of my Father, for I was ill and you came to visit me. Amen, I say to you; as often as you did this for the least of my brothers, you did it to me.

O God, rich in mercy, You inspired Saint Brother Albert to see the wounded image of Your Son in the poor, the homeless and the destitute. Motivated by his example and prayers may we become true brothers and sisters to all who are in need.

Monthly St Gianna Mass at St Catherine of Siena Church, New York: June 17

On Thursday, June 17, there will be a St Gianna Mass celebrated for the intentions of couples dealing with infertility issues at St Catherine of Siena Church (411 East 68th Street, New York).

All are welcome!

The program for the evening is as follows:

6:00 pm: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions

6:25
pm: Litany and Prayers to Saint Gianna

6:35 pm: Mass

7:30 pm: Infertility
Support Group and talk by Dr. Anne Melnik on Napro – Technology

The celebrant of the Mass and devotions will be Dominican Father Bruno Shah.

The St Gianna Mass will be celebrated on the 3rd Thursday of each month. This Mass and program is a natural outgrowth of the spiritual activities held in May for the blessing and public inauguration of the Gianna healthcare ministry working infertility and women’s health.

Mark your calendar for the monthly St Gianna Mass:

July 15, August 19, September 16, October 21, November 18, December 16,

The St Gianna Mass is host by the Dominican Friars of St Catherine of Siena Church & Priory in close collaboration with the Dominican Friars Healthcare Ministry of NY and the Gianna Center.

Damien Anthony Daprai, OSB, RIP

Fr Damian Daprai.jpg Your prayers are kindly requested today for the peaceful repose of Father Damien Anthony Daprai, OSB, 47, who is being laid to rest today. He died suddenly Friday morning during his morning job around his abbey’s property. Father Damien was a monk of Marmion Abbey.

Ever since learning of Father Damien’s death mid-Friday morning I’ve been thinking of him and the loss experienced by many. He is the second friend to die this year of a heart attack at the same age!!!

Of the many reasons for sympathy for Damien’s death is his youthfulness and his faithful friendship. Many would give witness to this fact!!! He was committed to the monastic way of life according to the Rule Saint Benedict having made his solemn profession in 2007. When he entered Marmion Abbey he received the name Damien in honor of Blessed –now Saint– Damien de Veuster of Molokai. Likewise, he was a new priest of Jesus Christ having been ordained only two years ago. Father Damien’s death happened on one of the greatest solemnities the Church observes: the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There are only a few days which would be better to die than on the Sacred Heart’s feast, if one had the choice.

Last evening the monastic community and Damien’s family received his body at the Abbey for a visitation and to pray the Office of the Dead. This morning Abbot Vincent de Paul will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial for Damien in the Abbey Church of Saint Augustine of Canterbury. Burial is in the abbey cemetery.

Father Damian was a friend, though we haven’t seen each other in a few years and would keep in touch through a mutual friend, Brother Andre of the Marmion. THE eery thing is that when I spoke with Brother Andre on Thursday, the day before Damien’s death, we spoke of Damien. The last time I saw Damien we were planting trees in the Abbey Christmas tree field, he was then a seminary student and excited about service as a priest.

As a side note, Brother Andre mentioned to me that Father Damien was an organ donor. Thanks be to God his good health has assisted anywhere from 20-50 people. A blessing indeed!

Forgive, O Lord, the soul of Damien, your priest from the all the chains of his of his sins and by the aid to them of your grace may he deserve to avoid the judgment of revenge,

and enjoy the blessedness of everlasting light.

May your memory be eternal, dear friend, Father Damien!

No Islamic worship in former mosque, bishop says

Euronews reported today that the bishop of Córdoba, Bishop Demetrio Fernández González made a decision not allow Muslim worship in a former mosque in what is today a Roman Catholic Cathedral. I believe that Bishop Demetrio made a correct and prudent decision here.

But his reasoning seems to lack some precision: it is not the length of time (or how the building came to be Catholic), it’s legal title is held by the Church much like Hagia Sophia’s title is not held by the Church but by a museum. Christians accept this latter fact and are not arguing for its return. The Cathedral is a Catholic Church and no longer a mosque even though the two religions worship the transcendent God.

In Nostra Aetate and in other statements of the Holy See teach that Muslims worship the God of Abraham. They believe in only one and their intention is to worship that one, transcendent God and is the same God that Jews and Christians worship.

Without getting into theological specifics here, it has be noted that with the Muslim religion there is doubt among theologians and experts about nature of the divine inspiration of the Koran and the place of Muhammad as a true prophet; but the Muslims can’t be accused of not worshipping one God and the elements that are true in Islam come from Judaism and Christianity which were present in Muhammad’s time. Some would make the claim that the tenets of Islam are similar to a Christian heresy much like Arianism. Orthodox Christians accept that Arians believed in the God who revealed Himself in the Bible however Arianism is rejected because of its denial of the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity.

A friend raised a question about Jews and Christians viz. as what might be said of Muslims. The difference with Islam that can’t be applied to Judaism is that we believe Judaism to be true but incomplete without Jesus; the Torah and the books of the Old Testament is the inspired word of God.

So for these reasons Christians and Muslims cannot worship together or share places of worship because Islam does not have an orthodox faith.

Secular and pluralistic society won’t agree on what makes a religion true: talk about truth and heresy makes no sense to people who question the possibility of there being truth, claims of objective truth and revelation. Therefore, I think the matter needs to be addressed in terms of reason.

Catholic worship of God in a consecrated space has a special and essential distinction because the Church is a place of sacrifice and salvation with its focus on the person of Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life; no confusion should happen. The same line of thinking would apply to other religions and for Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Additionally, it’s not merely “opening the door” for the possible expulsion of Catholics again from their mother church but it is improper to allow a religion who does not accept even the basics of Christian faith to worship in a “Catholic space” –and so frequently at odds with Christianity as seen in the murder of Catholic clerics– and against reason.

Historically, Córdoba is a Roman city but was forcibly converted to Islam in 711 and recaptured by the Spanish King Ferdinand III in 1236. For much of the 525 years that Córdoba was Muslim it was also caliphate, the seat of authority. What is intellectually interesting is that The Great Mosque of Córdoba was the protector of the world’s largest library at that time estimated to have between 400,000 and 1 million volumes (I can’t account for a discrepancy but the numbers are impressive).

Having visited Córdoba a few years ago I can say that the Islamic influence of former times is still very recognizable and much of the artwork beautiful, even though I can’t read Arabic.

The article:

“Bishop Demetrio Fernández González of the southern
Spanish city of Córdoba, once the seat of Muslim power in Spain, said that he
will not permit Islamic worship at the city’s cathedral. The cathedral was
formerly a mosque, which in turn had been built on the site of a Catholic
church.

“Sharing the cathedral with Muslims, Bishop Fernández González said in
an interview, “is a euphemism which means: get Catholics out of here … The
answer to the question about sharing the Cathedral is that no, we’re not,
because this place has been a Catholic church 16 centuries, while Muslims have
been four and half centuries.”

“If I let in the Muslims pray in the
cathedral of Cordoba, it is equivalent to Catholics saying goodbye and good
night; it would be irresponsible,” he added. “There are things that are
shared and others that are not, and the cathedral of Cordoba is not shared with
Muslims (…)”

Flag Day

Flag Day is celebrated every June 14, in commemoration of the June 14, 1777 authorization by Congress making the “stars and stripes” a national symbol for the United States of America. Congress said: “Resolved that the flag of the thirteen United States be Thirteen stripes alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” The national observance of flag day came with President Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 proclamation establishing the day. In 1949, President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress naming June 14 as “National Flag Day.” More info can be found here.

My Knights of Columbus Council (Fr McGiveny Council 10705, New Haven, CT) and 4th Degree Assembly sold US flags over the weekend at Church. So, I am proud to say that a US flag is flying happily in front of my parents’ house. You may know that the 4th Degree of the KofC was the last of the four degrees instituted by the KofC, not known by Fr McGivney, but entirely consistent with the mission of the KofC. For more info on the 4th Degree, see this website.

There is a great human interest and patriotic story in today’s New Haven Register on a gesture of patriotism and empathy for our nation and for our soldiers serving abroad. I am happy that the context for this admiration for freedom and the flag which symbolizes our God-given freedom is Our Lady of Pompeii Church (East Haven, CT), my family’s parish church. Also, we have in the story an example of how young people can reach out to others. The Colombian Squires bring together faith and action in a fitting way.

Today is also a wonderful day to think of Father Michael Morris, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and professor of history at St Joseph’s Seminary who has a high love for flags, especially the US flag. He’s got a beautiful one flying in his office.

Blessing of Lilies on the Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua

The Spirit of God is upon me; he has anointed me. He sent me to bring good news to the poor, and to heal the broken hearted.

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.

O God, the Creator and Preserver of mankind, thou Who art the lover of holy purity, the giver of spiritual grace, the dispenser of eternal salvation, bless + these lilies we bring on this day in thanksgiving to thee and in honor of Saint Anthony, thy Confessor. Pour out on them heavenly dew by the saving + sign of the most holy cross, O God of love! Thou hast endowed these lilies with delicious fragrance to be a comfort and help to those on their sickbeds. Wherefore, imbue them with so great strength that whether they are used in a home, in a sickroom, or carried about one’s person, they may have power, through the intercession of Saint Anthony, to drive out evil spirits, to safeguard chastity, to turn away illness, and to bestow on thy servants peace and grace.

V. Pray for us, blessed Anthony.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

May the devout and constant intercession of Blessed Anthony, thy Confessor, come to our aid, we beseech thee, O Lord, that we may become of thy grace in this life, and merit everlasting joys in the next.

Saint Anthony of Padua

Loving God, upon this day
Sing we all in joyful praise:
Anthony, your faithful son,
On this day has heaven won.
He, the preacher of the Word,
Lived in deed the truth he heard;
Called by martyr’s death to be
Vowed to holy poverty.
Lord, accept the hymns we raise,
Singing Anthony’s holy praise!

Faithful friar, in Francis’ step
Bids us go where he has led,
Drawn by him, we offer laud
To Christ Jesus, Son of God.
Fearless teacher of the way,
Guiding us to work and pray,
Through his never-ceasing prayer
Leads us Christ-ward ev’rywhere.
Lord, accept the hymns we raise,
Singing Anthony’s holy praise!

To the Father and the Son
And the Spirit, Three-in-One,
Hymns of glory, songs of love
Sing we, echoing those above.
With the angels’ chorus high
Earth now makes this joyful cry;
With Saint Anthony we sing,
Praising God, our heav’nly King.
Lord, accept the hymns we raise,
Singing Anthony’s holy praise!

Pilgrimage to Chartres

Going from point A to point B whether it is a physical move or a spiritual one is a pilgrimage. Something happens to the person making the move between points. Traditionally speaking a pilgrimage is not a tourist event nor is a undertaken for frivolous reasons. Tourism is fine and necessary but I want to think about a different type physical and spiritual journey not often talked about in Catholic circles today. It is a journey; it’s a path walked; it is a time to review your life. A pilgrimage is time spent either alone or with others on a path to a change of heart, a conversion. Often we take on the burdens and the delights of a pilgrimage to gain a deeper insight into our lives as Christians asking questions about how the experience of Christ has changed me, or where I need to change based on what I discern the Lord to be asking.

Saints have made pilgrimages, sinners have made and continue to make pilgrimages. My own home parish priest just led a very beautiful pilgrimage to the Lourdes Shrine and other religious places in France this past April. Members of the lay movement Communion and Liberation makes an annual pilgrimage to the famous Marian shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa (also here) or to the Shrine of Our Lady of Loretto and the Conventual Franciscans (and the Capuchins, CFRs and Dominicans [to sights related to Saint Dominic] do the similarly) often lead pilgrims to Assisi in order to be faithful to the path set out by Saint Francis of Assisi. The Benedictines of Saint John’s Abbey sponsor a regular pilgrimage to religious shrines and monastic foundations in Europe related to Saint Benedict and the Benedictine patrimony. OK, the point is not to catalog the pilgrimage possibilities but to give examples of current types of pilgrimages and to say that making a pilgrimage is not a dead, outmoded pious gesture. Real, good stuff happens to people on pilgrimage!

One such pilgrimage taking place on annual basis is the Pilgrimage to Chartres by an international group of young people numbering in the neighborhood of 10-15k. Their form of prayer is Catholic: rosary, litany, mortification, acts of asceticism, confession of sins and the Mass according to the missal of Blessed John XXIII.

Watch a most fascinating video on the experience… and the 2009 photo album …and the report with pictures of the 2010 pilgrimage in 4 installments from The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny.

Blessed Florida Cevoli and Blessed Jolenta of Poland

Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, it is You who hold fast my lot. For me the measuring lines have fallen on pleasant sites; fair indeed is my inheritance.

God our Father, through contemplative prayer You ignited the flame of love deep in the heart and soul of blessed Florida; and taught blessed Jolenta to choose the lowly cross of Your Son in place of worldly honors and riches. Through their merits and prayers enable us to look rightly on perishable things and with sincere hearts to seek the things of heaven.

On Blessed Florida Cevoli

On Blessed Jolenta or here

Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever
listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore
your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and
compassion the petitions we place before you today, especially …(special
intention).

We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who
ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom
we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to
bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with
God forever. Amen.

Why is there a liturgical memorial of Mary Immaculate Heart? What does the Church teach?

Following the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the feast of the Lord’s all holy Mother, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The two are inseparable and with good reason. It is only with Mary that we meet the face of God in human form. Her yes, her beauty, her purity of heart and body makes it possible for God to be made flesh. As the Mother of God, so our our Mother.

In directing our prayer the Church tells us the feasts of the Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have an intimate connection especially known in the Liturgy as a sign of “the mysterium of the Heart of Jesus” because Mary is both Mother and disciple. “As the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart celebrates the salvific mysteries of Christ in a synthetic manner by reducing them to their fount –the Heart of Jesus, so too the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a celebration of the complex visceral relationship of Mary with her Son’s work of salvation: from the Incarnation, to his death and resurrection, to the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The tradition of the first Saturdays should be kept in tact and promoted because of the close connection with the Holy Eucharist. The first Saturdays teaches the faithful (clergy and laity alike) of the need to repair the break sin causes in both the Divine and human relationship through prayer, mortification and the giving of alms and charitable work. Why? Because “This pious practice should be seen as an opportunity to live intensely the paschal Mystery celebrated in the Holy Eucharist, as inspired by the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary” (DPPL, 174).

This feast is yet another example of the Church giving to her children the opportunity to attend to the affect, that is, to one’s humanity, in order to know and love more intimately the salvation given to us in Christ. It is not a one time experience but an on-going, incremental changing of mentality that draws us closer to Christ.