7th Day of Christmas - Pope St. Sylvester

Sylvester was born in Rome toward the close of the third century. He was a young priest when the persecution of the Christians broke out under the tyrant Diocletian. Idols were erected at the corners of the streets, in the market-places, and over the public fountains, so that it was scarcely possible for a Christian to go abroad without being put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alternative of apostasy or death. During this fiery trial, Sylvester strengthened the confessors and martyrs, God preserving his life from many dangers In 312 a new era set in. - Constantine, having triumphed under the " standard of the Cross," declared himself the protector of the Christians, and built them splendid churches. At this juncture, Sylvester was elected to the chair of Peter, and was thus the first of the Roman Pontiffs to rule the flock of Christ in security and peace. He profited by these blessings to renew the discipline of the Church, and in two great Councils confirmed her sacred truths. In the Council of Arles he condemned the schism of the Donatists; and in that of Nicaya, the first General ' Council of the Church, he dealt Arianism its death-blow by declaring that Jesus Christ is the true and very God. Sylvester died A.D. 335.

When all things were in quiet silence,

and the night was in the midst of her course,

Thy almighty Word, O Lord,

came down from Thy royal throne

4th Day of Christmas: The Holy Innocents

Note to Me: Next Year for the Feast of St. John...

The story behind this unusual wine dates back to the time of the Crusades. The island of Cyprus was then a favourite resting ground for Crusades returning from battle and later became a centre for the Knights of the Order of St.John. It was the members of this order who discovered a wine that was been produced in the Troodos Mountains. This wine they named Commanderie after their headquarters, finding it to be not only an excellent drink but also to possess therapeutic properties. 

Estienne de Lusignan described Commandaria St.John in 1572 A.D., recording in his book “Descriptions of the island of Cyprus”: “There is a certain grapevine…which ripens at the end of July, whose grapes are not gathered until the end of September. They [the grapes] are put on the roofs the space of three days…then trodden and the pips and stalks removed before fermentation.” Commandaria St. John is then aged in large earthenware jars buried in the ground and fortified with grape brandy.

Christmas Day 3: Feast of St. John

St. John the Apostle, is the disciple "whom Jesus loved". It is a custom in the old countries to drink of "St. John's Love". The Church provided a special blessing of wine in honor of the Saint. According to legend St. John drank a glass of poisoned wine without suffering harm because he had blessed it before he drank. The wine is also a symbol of the great love of Christ that filled St. John's heart with loyalty, courage and enthusiasm for his Master; he alone of all the apostles was not afraid to stay close to Our Lord during the Passion and Crucifixion. 

St. John's wine, blessed by the priest or sprinkled with water by the father of the family, is served with the main meal. In Catholic sections of Europe, even the children receive a little sip of it after the main course of the dinner. The wine is poured in glasses and passed around to the family and guests. As each glass is given, say:

"I drink you the love of St. John."

Response will be "I thank you for the love of St. John."

The following prayer is said over the wine:

 

Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

 

All: Who has made heaven and earth.

 

Leader: The Lord be with you.

 

All: And also with you.

 

Leader: Let us pray. Be so kind as to bless and consecrate with Your right hand, Lord, this cup of wine, and every drink. Grant that by the merits of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist, all who believe in You and drink of this cup may be blessed and protected. Blessed John drank poison from the cup, and was in no way harmed. So, too, may all who this day drink from this cup in honor of Blessed John, by his merits, be freed from every sickness by poisoning and from any harms whatever. And, when they have offered themselves in both soul and body, may they be freed, too, from every fault, through Christ our Lord.

 

All: Amen.

 

Leader: Bless, Lord, this beverage which You have made. May it be a healthful refreshment to all who drink of it. And grant by the invocation of Your holy name that whoever tastes of it may, by Your generosity receive health of both soul and body, through Christ our Lord.

 

All: Amen

Commentary Source: CatholicCulture.org

Prayer Source: Feast Day Cookbook by Katherine Burton and Helmut Ripperger, David McKay Company, Inc., New York, 1951

Pictures from our celebration of the Feast of the Nativity

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends.  We regret that Christmas Cards never made it off of our list of things to do this December.  Even so, know that you are all in our thoughts and prayers.

A reading from the Gosepl of St. John - 'And the Word was made flesh'.

Thomas bears the Child Jesus this year

The Nativity account from the Gospel of St. Luke

I adore, I thank, I love!

Our special Christmas treat - Christollen, or more commonly known simply as Stollen

Baby's First Christmas

"Lord, if love is to slay me, the  
hour has now come."   
       -St. John of the Cross

The End of Advent and Christ's Mass Preparations

Mother Angelica - A Gift for Jesus

I believe that Mother Angelica played a vital role in my conversion.  With the Church infected by Modernism in so many corners, and soft-peddled heresy being taught in many R.C.I.A. classes for adults seeking to enter the Church, Mother Angelica was for me the one straight talkin' nun that kept my course straight and safe from pitfalls that would have caused me spiritual ruin.   It was she that likely planted the seed of Tradition that would sprout several years later.   It is sad to see what has happened to EWTN since she was forced to resign from the very network that she founded.  The very snakes and lizards that she worked so hard to squelch are now sadly present there.

 
I recommend you gather the children and watch this episode of Mother Angelica Live from 1998.  It is beautiful. We all can use a good reminder of what Christmas is all about. Enjoy!

Thanks, La Salette

An Illinois sports writer attended a La Salette basketball game recently and produced a glowing article of what he witnessed.  When, as a parent of one of the young men who attend that school, I read compliments like "If these are the next generation of leaders in our country, wow, I can't wait for the future to arrive", I am left choked up, silent and very thankful.

Link to the article: http://www.news-gazette.com/blogs/freds-blog/2011-12/thanks-la-salette.html

The basketball team is having a stellar year this year... undefeated. 

The Christmas Tree Hunt

And... Happy Birthday to my Baby Sister!   O Sapientia...

Some Goodies on St. Nicholas Day

Layman's Review of Rodelinda

Leslie and I had split opinions of this past weekend's Live at the Met opera Rodelinda.  I think we both agree that the costuming and sets were lavish and well done.  And, we are both fans of Renee Fleming whose performance, in my opinion, did not dissapoint. 

Handel's Rodelinda is a Baroque opera.  That means... repeats and lots of them.  This is where Leslie and I divurge. 

If I mischaracterize her opinion, I suspect she will contribute a comment to the post.  She is more of a narrative-focused person -- keep the story moving.  Baroque repetition means that you stay with one thought or theme and build on it musically for several minutes.  This does not make for a quick story. 

Basically as a story (and it is a good story), Rodelinda, the four hour opera, can be told in about thirty minutes.  But if you love Baroque music, which I do, listening to the layers of musical ornamentation added to the various thoughts and emotions of the actors is a joy.  Leslie did note that she could listen to this opera much easier than she could watch it. 

The storyline places a strong emphasis on virtue.  Virtue and good is also rewarded in the end.  Conversely, evil receives its just end.

Regardless of where one might stand on the form of Baroque opera in general, Rodelinda is a fine opera, and this MET's staging is quite successful from the layman's perspective.

St. Francis Xavier - The Missionary Church in the 16th Century

(Excerpts from Abbot Gueranger's The Liturgical Year)
In The Midst of Desolation, God Raises His Saints
The life and apostolate of this wonderful man were a great triumph for our mother the holy Catholic Church; for St. Francis came just at a period when heresy, encouraged by false learning, by political intrigues, by covetousness, and by all the wicked passions of the human heart, seemed on the eve of victory.  Emboldened by all these, this enemy of God spoke, with the deepest contempt, of that ancient Church which rested on the promises of Jesus Christ; it declared that she was unworthy of the confidence of men, and dared even to call her the harlot of Babylon, as though the vices of her children could taint the purity of the mother.  God's time came at last, and he showed Himself in His power: the garden of the Church suddenly appeared rich in the most admirable fruits of sanctity.  Heroes and heroines issues from that apparent barrenness; and whilst the pretended reformers showed themselves to be the most wicked men, two countries, Italy and Spain, gave to the world the most magnificent saints.

...

An Expansive Mission Accompanied by Miracles
It sometimes even happened, that whilst he was preaching in one language to the people of several nations, each heard him in their own tongue.  He travelled over innumerable provinces, always on foot, and not unfrequently bare-footed.  He carried the faith into Japan, and six other countries.   He converted to Christ many hundred thousands in the Indies, and baptized several princes and kings.  And yet, though he was doing such great things for God, he was so humble, that he never wrote to St. Ignatius, then General of the Society, but on his knees.

+Feast of St. Francis Xavier

In light of the last couple of posts

PRAYER FOR HOLY BISHOPS

Lord, according to Thy promise that the Gospel should be preached throughout the whole world, raise up men fit for such work. The Apostles were but soft and yielding clay till they were baked hard by the fire of the Holy Ghost. So, good Lord, do now in like manner with Thy Church militant. Change and make the soft and slippery earth into hard stones. Set in Thy Church strong and mighty pillars that may suffer and endure great labors -- watching, poverty, thirst, hunger, cold and heat -- which also shall not fear the threatenings of princes, persecution, neither death, but always persuade and think with themselves to suffer with a good will, slanders, shame, and all kinds of torments, for the glory and laud of Thy holy Name. By this manner, good Lord, the truth of Thy Gospel shall be preached throughout the world. Therefore, merciful Lord, exercise Thy mercy, show it indeed upon Thy Church.

This prayer was spoken by St. John Fisher in a sermon in 1508. Twenty-seven years later he underwent martyrdom on Tower Hill in London during the reign of Henry VIII.

Time to drop the milquetoast and start saving souls again

Incredible...

SSPX chapel attending kids probably are not invited because the bishop knows they'll whip the pants off of everyone else at the RC Challenge.

To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant

St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 A.D.)
Mass and Our Lord's True Presence in the Eucharist
"Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according to God: FOR THERE IS ONE FLESH OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, and one cup IN THE UNION OF HIS BLOOD; one ALTAR, as there is one bishop with the presbytery…" (Letter to the Philadelphians 4:1)

St. Ignatius of Antioch was a direct pupil of John, Our Lord's most beloved Apostle. Devoured by lions in the colliseum, St. Ignatius was also the first known to address Christ's Church as 'Catholic' (greek: katholikos) and, as a bishop, demonstrate Apostolic Succession in action in the early Church.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Antioch

St. Andrew's Day

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

Happy Name Day Andrew!

Advent 2011

As the Liturgical Year closes

and the new begins in just a few minutes with the First Sunday of Advent, a thought from today's entry in Fr. Gabriel's Divine Intimacy:

"A soul enters the way of divine intimacy the moment it resolutely determines to go forth from itself and from all created things, in order to set out with fervor in quest of God, living and present within it.  The road between the first step and profound intimacy, which will bind to God the soul that has reached complete union, is long and difficult.  Progressively the soul begins to walk toward that "sweet and delectable union" in the measure that, sustained by grace, it becomes detached from itself and creatures, delivered from its imperfections, despoiled of its own will so as to be clothed with the divine will alone, and permists the fire of love to be enkindled within it."

This is everything.  God for some incomprehensible reason chose me, so unlikely a choice, to be a member of His Holy Catholic Church almost fourteen years ago.  May this new Church year, by the Grace of God, deliver me to the second step of the journey -- one step closer to His Love; one step farther from self love.