Catholic church Reading for Tuesday, August 15th, 2017

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Catholic church Reading for Tuesday, August 15th, 2017

First Reading, Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6, 10

¹⁹ Then the Sanctuaryof God in heaven opened, and theark of the convenant could be seen inside it. Then came flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and an earthquake and violent hail.

¹ Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

² She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.

³ Then a second sign appeared in the sky: there was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet.

⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them to the ground, and the dragon stopped in front of the women as she was at the point of giving birth, so that it could eat the child as soon as it was born.

⁵ The woman was delivered of a boy, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne,

⁶ while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had prepared a place for her to be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days.

¹⁰ Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, 'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 45:10, 11, 12, 16

¹⁰ Listen, my daughter, attend to my words and hear; forget your own nation and your ancestral home,

¹¹ then the king will fall in love with your beauty; he is your lord, bow down before him.

¹² The daughter of Tyre  will court your favour with gifts, and the richest of peoples

¹⁶ Instead of your ancestors you will have sons; you will make them rulers over the whole world.

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Gospel, Luke 1:39-56

³⁹ Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah.

⁴⁰ She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹ Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and  was filled with the Holy Spirit.

⁴² She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

⁴³ Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?

⁴⁴ Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.

⁴⁵ Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the LORD would be fulfilled.'

⁴⁶ And Mary said: My Soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

⁴⁷ and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;

⁴⁸ because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed,

⁴⁹ for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name,

⁵⁰ and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him.

⁵¹ He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart.

⁵² He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly.

⁵³ He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴ He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love

⁵⁵ -according to the promise he made to our ancestors -- of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for  ever   .

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with her some three months and then went home.

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2nd Reading, First Corinthians 15:20-26

²⁰ In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the First fruit of all who have fallen asleep.

²¹ As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead.

²² Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life;

²³ but all of them in their proper order: christ the first-fruits, and next, at his coming, those who belong to him.

²⁴ After that will come the end, when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished every principality, every ruling force and power.

²⁵ For he is to be king until he has made his enemies his footstool,

²⁶ and the last of the enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under his feet.

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15 CARDINALS NAMED BY POPE FRANCIS FROM 14 NATIONS OF EVERY CONTINENT

15 CARDINALS NAMED BY POPE FRANCIS FROM 14 NATIONS OF EVERY CONTINENT

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15 cardinal-electors “from 14 nations of every continent, showing the inseparable link between the Church of Rome and the particular churches present in the world”.

The Pope announced the names after praying the Angelus with a crowd in St Peter’s Square and said he would formally induct the men into the College of Cardinals on February 14.

In addition to 15 new electors, Pope Francis named five new cardinals who are over the age of 80 and, therefore, ineligible to vote in a conclave.

With the list, the Pope continues a movement he started with his first batch of appointments a year ago, giving gradually more representation at the highest levels of the Church to poorer countries in the global South.

According to the Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, the new cardinals will include the first in history from Cape Verde, Tonga and Myanmar.

The consistory in February will bring the total number of cardinals under the age of 80 to 125. Until they reach their 80th birthdays, cardinals are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.

Blessed Paul VI limited the number of electors to 120, but later popes have occasionally exceeded that limit.

Three of the new cardinal electors hail from Asia, three from Latin America, two from Africa and two from Oceania.

Of the five Europeans on the list, three lead dioceses in Italy and Spain that have not traditionally had cardinals as bishops — another sign of Francis’s willingness to break precedent.

While giving red hats to the archbishops of Ancona-Osimo and Agrigento, Italy, the Pope will once again pass over the leaders of Venice and Turin, both historically more prestigious dioceses.

None of the new cardinals hails from the United States or Canada. Fr Lombardi noted that the numbers of cardinals from those countries have remained stable since February 2014, when Pope Francis elevated the Archbishop of Quebec. The US currently has 11 cardinal electors and Canada three.

The continuing geographic shift is incremental in nature. With the new appointments, cardinals from Europe and North America will make up 56.8 per cent of those eligible to elect the next pope, down from 60 per cent on January 4.

The shift reflects the Pope’s emphasis on Africa and Asia, where the Church is growing fastest, and on his native region of Latin America, home to about 40 per cent of the world’s Catholics.

A number of the selections also reflect Pope Francis’s emphasis on social justice. The new Mexican cardinal leads a diocese that has been hard hit by the current wave of drug-related violence in his country.

And one of the Italian cardinals-designate, the Archbishop of Agrigento in Sicily, leads the Italian bishops’ commission on migration, an issue on which Pope Francis has placed particular importance. In July 2013, the Pope visited the southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, a major entry point for undocumented immigrants to Europe, and mourned the many who had died attempting to cross the sea.

Only one of the new cardinals, the head of the Vatican’s highest court, is a member of the church’s central administration, the Roman Curia, which currently accounts for about a quarter of all cardinal electors.

Announcing the appointments, Pope Francis noted that the ceremony to induct the new cardinals will follow a two-day meeting of the entire college, on February 12-13, “to reflect on guidelines and proposals for reform of the Roman Curia”.

The Pope’s nine-member Council of Cardinals is currently working on a major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, including a new apostolic constitution for the curia.

Pope Francis explained that he had chosen to honour five retired bishops “distinguished for their pastoral charity in service to the Holy See and the Church”, representing “so many bishops who, with the same pastoral solicitude, have given testimony of love for Christ and the people of God, whether in particular churches, the Roman Curia or the diplomatic service of the Holy See.”

The five new honorary cardinals hail from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Italy and Mozambique.
                                      full list of the new cardinals:

 French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, 62.
 Portuguese Patriarch Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, 66.
Ethiopian Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, 66.
 New Zealand Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington, 66.
 Italian Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo, 75.
Vietnamese Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Hanoi, 76.
 Mexican Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, 75.
 Myanmar Archbishop Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, 66.
Thai Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, 65.
 Italian Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento, 68.
 Uruguayan Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet of Montevideo, 55.
Spanish Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Valladolid, 72.
 Spanish-born Panamanian Bishop Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan of David, Panama, 70.
 Cape Verdean Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Santiago de Cabo Verde, 65.
 Tongan Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi, 53.
 Colombian Archbishop Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez, retired, of Manizales, 95.
 Italian Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, 88.
 German Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, 80.
 Argentine Archbishop Luis Hector Villalba, retired, of Tucuman, 80.
 Mozambican Bishop Julio Duarte Langa, retired, of Xai-Xai, 87

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Pope warns against putting one's trust in horoscopes and fortune telling rather than Christ, who is the only true security that gets us through times of trial and darkness.

Pope warns against putting one's trust in horoscopes and fortune telling rather than Christ, who is the only true security that gets us through times of trial and darkness.

  12:08    Catholic Channels

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On Sunday Pope Francis repeated a message he often has, warning against putting one's trust in horoscopes and fortune telling rather than Christ, who is the only true security that gets us through times of trial and darkness.

Pointing to how Peter begins to sink when walking toward Jesus on the water in the day's Gospel reading, Francis noted that the same thing can happen to us when we put our trust in false securities.

“When we do not cling to the Word of the Lord, but consult horoscopes and fortune tellers, we begin to sink,” the Pope said Aug. 13.

The episode, he said, serves as a reminder “that faith in the Lord and in his word does not open a path where everything is calm and easy; it does not take us away from the storms of life.”

Rather, “faith gives us the security of a presence that pushes us to overcome the existential storms, the certainty of a hand that grabs us in order to help us in difficulties, showing the way even when it's dark.”

“Faith, then, is not an escape from life's problems, but it supports on the journey and gives it meaning.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his weekly Angelus address, focusing on the day's Gospel reading from Matthew, in which Jesus walks on water in the midst of a storm, and beckons Peter to come to him. Peter initially begins to walk toward Jesus, but starts to sink out of fear when he sees the waves, and cries out for Jesus to rescue him.

This episode, Francis said, has a lot of symbolism for both individuals, and for the Church as a whole.

The boat can represent the life of each person, but also the life of the Church, he said, explaining that the wind signifies the “difficulties and trials” each will face.

Peter's cry of “Lord, command me to come to you,” and then his plea “Lord, save me!” represent both our desire feel close to the Lord, and “the fear and anguish which accompany us in the most difficult moments of our lives and our communities, marked by internal fragility and external difficulty,”  Francis said.

In the moment when he looked at the wind and the waves and began to fear, Peter wasn't founded on the Word of God, “which was like an outstretched rope to cling to in front of the hostile and turbulent waters.”

The same thing happens to us when we put our faith in trivial, worldly securities, rather than in the Lord, he said.

Pope Francis said the passage is “a stupendous image” of the reality of the Church throughout the ages: “a ship which, along the crossing, must counter winds and storms which threaten to overwhelm it.”

What saves the ship is not the courage and quality of it's men, he said, but rather, “the guarantee against a shipwreck is faith in Christ and in his word.”

“On this ship we are safe, despite our miseries and weaknesses, above all when we get on our knees and adore the Lord” as the disciples did, who, after Jesus calmed the storm, prostrated themselves and said “truly you are the Son of God!”

To drive the point home, Francis had the crowd repeat the phrase, listening as they shouted “truly you are the Son of God” three times.

Francis closed his address asking that the Virgin Mary intercede in helping all to “stay firm in the faith in order to resist the storms of life, to stay on the boat of the Church, eschewing the temptation to go on amusing, yet insecure boats of ideologies, fashions and slogans.”

He then led pilgrims in praying the traditional Marian prayer and greeted various groups of youth from around Italy before asking for prayer and giving his blessing.

 by ELISE Harris 

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Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs decried the desperate situation they face as shepherds of churches “whose existence is in real danger.”

Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs decried the desperate situation they face as shepherds of churches “whose existence is in real danger.”

  11:50    Catholic Channels

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Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs decried the desperate situation they face as shepherds of churches “whose existence is in real danger.”

They categorized the continued displacement of Christians from the Middle East as “a genocidal project, a humanitarian catastrophe and a plague of the earth’s civilization.”

“The time has come to make a prophetic cry” and to speak “the truth that frees us in the spirit of the Gospel,” the Council of the Eastern Patriarchs said in a statement Aug. 11, after an Aug. 9-10 meeting in Diman, Lebanon.

“We, the custodians of the ‘small flocks,’ are hurting because of the exodus of Christians from their native lands in the Middle East,” the patriarchs said.

They appealed to the United Nations and to “the states directly concerned with the war in Syria, Iraq and Palestine to stop the wars that have arisen, as are evident in the demolition, killing, displacement, revival of terrorist organizations and the fueling of intolerance and conflicts between religions and cultures.”

They categorized as a “stain on the forehead of the 21st century” the persistence of the situation, “the inability to bring about a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region” and “the neglect” of the return of refugees, displaced and uprooted people to their homelands and property “in dignity and justice.”

In a plea to Pope Francis, the prelates asked, “Who else but the Rock of Peter can we resort to?”

“We are ready to heed the call to holiness by following the path of the faithful,” they said, but “we represent churches … whose existence is in real danger.”

“Only you, Your Holiness, are left to call on the representatives of the people who control the destinies of peoples, to remind them and even to scold them that the continued displacement of Christians from the Middle East is certainly a genocidal project, a humanitarian catastrophe, but a plague of the earth’s civilization.”

The patriarchs expressed the belief that “the heavens must triumph.”

“Our call today is to become the yeast in the dough and a shining light in a world that is thirsty for the life-giving spirit,” they said.

Christians “will remain rooted in the land of our fathers and forefathers, looking forward with ‘hope beyond all hope’ to a future in which we see our ancient heritage characterize our societies as well as the church of the whole East and West.”

The statement included the Christian leaders’ assessments of the countries in the region.

Pointing to Iraq, they said they were pleased about the liberation of Mosul and towns in the Ninevah Plain from the Islamic State, but that they were concerned about the persistence of extremist groups’ “ideology, inflammatory rhetoric and the climate of conflict in this region.”

The patriarchs appealed to local and international leaders “to respect the rights of Christians and other national constituents to determine the future of their country, away from pressures, in order to achieve their fair share of participation in management, employment, political life” and to keep their “historical and geographical status.”

They encouraged the Iraqi faithful to remain in the country to preserve their civilization and help build a new civilian state.

As for “the bloody horrors” in Syria, the patriarchs said “these events must end, and Syria must emerge from it as a strong, prosperous and secure nation.”

“The future is not for violence and war, but for peace and common life … based on citizenship,” they said. “We will remain wedded to our land in order to build the homeland that we want, a homeland of freedom and dignity.”

The patriarchs said they were following “with great interest the suffering of the Palestinian people as they seek to determine their own destiny and regain their sovereignty over their land.”

They pointed to the “daily harassment” of those who live in Jerusalem and said “the lack of reunification, the continuity of settlement construction and the confiscation of land are the risks to which they are exposed.”

“We know that the economic and security situation has led to the exodus of many of our Christian children from Palestine, but the Holy Land needs to be present, even if some sacrifices are needed in order to reach a political solution in which Jerusalem would be the capital of two peoples and a holy city open to all,” the patriarchs said in their statement.

The delegation of patriarchs met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on August 9. They asked him to resolve the issue of displaced persons and refugees who have become “a heavy burden and a political, economic, security and social threat to Lebanon.” Between one-quarter and one-third of the population of Lebanon is refugees; more than a million are Syrians.

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POPE FRANCIS SPEND HIS SUMMER SEEKING TREATMENT FOR A SCIATICA CONDITION...TO GET SET TO DEPART FOR A FIVE-DAY OVERSEAS TRIP TO COLOMBIA

POPE FRANCIS SPEND HIS SUMMER SEEKING TREATMENT FOR A SCIATICA CONDITION...TO GET SET TO DEPART FOR A FIVE-DAY OVERSEAS TRIP TO COLOMBIA

  11:38    Catholic Channels

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Pope Francis is spending part of his reduced summer schedule in 2017 seeking treatment for a sciatica condition that continues to irritate him.

As part of that regime,  the 80-year-old pontiff is receiving both massages and injections twice a week in order to reduce pain in his leg. The account did not offer details of who’s delivering the treatments, or where they’re taking place.

So far the Vatican has not commented on the report, and traditionally takes the position that such matters pertain to the pope’s private life.

Pope Francis first revealed that he suffers from sciatica, a nerve condition usually resulting from the herniation of a spinal disk, in 2013, during an in-flight press conference on his return from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, following a World Youth Day celebration.

In response to a question about his health, Francis said, “The worst thing that happened - excuse me - was an attack of sciatica - really! - that I had the first month, because I was sitting in an armchair to do interviews and it hurt. Sciatica is very painful, very painful! I don’t wish it on anyone!”

Generally speaking, the pain caused by sciatica is confined to one side of the body and is felt in the back and leg, although under some circumstances it may occur on both sides. To be clear, the condition is not life-threatening, and there’s no indication it prevents the pontiff from carrying out the responsibilities of his office.

Pope Francis is legendary for not taking summer breaks, and, according to the Famiglia Cristiana report, that habit easily pre-dates his papacy. In fact, he’s said that he last took what most people would describe as a summer vacation, meaning going away somewhere, in 1975, well before he was even a bishop and shortly after he took his final vows as a member of the Jesuit order.

During a return flight from South Korea in 2014, he said: “The last time I took a vacation outside of Buenos Aires, with the Jesuit community, was in 1975. I do always take a vacation - really - but in my habitat; I change pace. I sleep more; I read the things I want; I listen to music; I spend more time praying…And this makes me relax.”

As part of that summer down time, the magazine reports, the pontiff has been taking treatments for his condition during each of the last two summers, in order to be better prepared to carry out his responsibilities during the coming year.

In 2007, journalist Massimo Franco reported for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires had visited a Roman physician named Valter Santilli for treatment of the disorder.

According to Franco’s report, Santilli said he had told Bergoglio that sciatica is a “prophetic disease.” When Bergoglio asked why, Santilli reportedly said:

“Because in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, in chapter 23, there’s the episode of Jacob’s struggle with the angel, who touched his sciatic nerve, on the hip joint, and that night, after his sciatic problem, the Lord changed his name to Israel.”

“You see,” Santilli continued to Bergoglio, “after your sciatic problem, the Lord will change your name too.”

According to Famiglia Cristiana, Santilli adds now that Pope Francis called him shortly after his election in March 2013, after the two hadn’t seen one another for some time.

“One morning, my cell phone went off and the caller presented him like this: ‘Professor Santilli?’” he said.

“I replied, ‘Yes, who’s this?’”

“The response was the following: ‘I used to be called Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but the Lord has changed my name and now I’m called Pope Francis!’”

Francis’s next scheduled public event will come on Sunday, when he delivers the traditional noontime Angelus address. He’s currently set to depart Sept. 6 for a five-day overseas trip to Colombia.

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WHO PAY CATHOLIC PRIESTS?

WHO PAY CATHOLIC PRIESTS?

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 Catholic priests are often met with relatively low salaries, especially when compared to other religious leaders. A large part of this has to do with doctrine. Catholic priest take a series of vows when entering this service. Chastity is one of the better known, but priests also take a vow of poverty; they’re expect to do more with less. And unlike rabbis or protestant ministers, priests do not have families to support, so the need for money isn't the same.

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IS PRAYING ANGELUS MORE THAN APPRECIATION FOR CATHOLICS?

IS PRAYING ANGELUS MORE THAN APPRECIATION FOR CATHOLICS?

  10:46    Catholic Channels

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THANKS GIVING. . .

In some sense, just as a little child must first feel assured that those pos­sessions he is fondest of will be duly appreciated, before he will agree to share them with an­other, so God often acts with us about revealing what is espe­cially precious to Him.

It might surprise us to know that one of these divine valuables is names, and even a short pe­rusal of Holy Scripture lends abundant proof of it. Time and again we come across sacred events whose participants bear names not merely of supernatu­ral meaning, but of direct celes­tial origin. Few concepts are more familiar or human to us than a name, and God often takes advantage of this by inserting “mystical” names into events as a simple yet effective means of awakening in souls a healthy fear of Him—or a fearless love of Him.

A Prophecy…

Behold a Virgin shall con­ceive and bear a son; and His name shall be called Emmanuel. (Isaias 7: 14)

Seven hundred years after its utterance, this prophecy of the holy Isaias came to pass. Emmanuel—God with us. Was any­thing ever revealed to fill our hearts with greater delight? Never has God so outdone Him­self in forming a name of such exquisite appropriateness; never was there a single word so per­fectly self-contained in meaning and implication. We yearned with a great yearning for the coming of our Emmanuel, for the time when God would be with us indeed, walking His earth. And, in ardent response on His part, God desired with desire to hasten the time of this prophecy’s fulfillment, the first sublime step being the accomplishment of this Divine conception so longed-for, in that moment we call the Incarnation—when God became Man.

A Meaning…

V. The Angel of the Lord de­clared unto Mary.

R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.

With disarming simplicity the very essence of the Annunciation is given to us by these opening lines of the Angelus. However, if we desire to understand both this event and the Angelus more fully, it is necessary to turn with equal simplicity and child­like trust to what is termed the “Deposit of Faith.” It contains all the beliefs of the Catholic Church, consisting, as it does, of Church tradition and Holy Scripture—in this particular in­stance the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke. To the Depositum Fidei, then, let us turn indeed, and now think back:

It is 3:00 on the afternoon of March twenty-fifth; it is a Fri­day. Taking on the appearance of a man, the Archangel Gabriel, whose name means Strength of God, leaves heaven for earth; he has a divine proposal to deliver—and a reply to receive. His destination? A certain little house on a quiet street in the tiny Galilean town of Nazareth, for there she lives, whose coming God has anticipated from all eternity. She has ravished the Heart of God with her love for Him and her humility before Him, and in her we find the only perfect source of consolation that God has reserved for Him­self on earth-the only perfect refuge of comfort He has allowed Himself. Having remained fault­less of any offence against God—never by one thought, word or deed did she fail to measure up to the supreme and consummate perfection of a creature con­formed to the Will of God—her purity and sinlessness is beyond utterance. Her vocation was so select and sublime and divine that He created her soul free from Original Sin, the sin of Adam. Thus at this moment her glorious title is that of the Immaculate Conception—but, kneeling in prayer, she is soon to be offered another…

“And the angel being come in, said unto her: ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women…Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a Son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.’ ”

The Virgin of virgins asks, “How shall this be done, because I know not man?”

“And the angel answering said to her: ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall over­shadow thee. And therefore the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’ ”

Having thus made known to her His desire-and only after receiving her sweet and meek consent:

“V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord:

R. Be it done to me according to thy word.”—did God effect an event greater than that of the creation of the universe and the dawn of time. For within the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary was con­ceived a God-Man—the Savior of the human race.

V. And the Word was made flesh,

R. And dwelt among us.

Lo! Eternity and time have met, the Word has been made flesh! The Lord has become Our Lord—Jesus Christ. This holiest of names, Jesus, means Savior, Christ means the Anointed One; and now indeed the Redemption of the world is at hand. Oh, can we not feel the very trembling of the angels? It is the Incarna­tion that has finally come to pass! Although 1981 years old, It is a Beauty ever new. Jesus said: “Abra­ham rejoiced that he might see My day;”—even the holy ones of the Old Law may now rest, satiated—”he saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56) Emman­uel—God—is with us, and He shall not be taken away.

Now may we say:

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

To restless human eyes, the significance of this Event of all events, revealed by God in such simplicity, can appear stripped of any great importance; thus in most hearts it endures a pain­ful lack of appreciation, espe­cially in these days. But our Holy Mother the Church, being a mother indeed, will not have us to be ungrateful children. Know­ing well our forgetful tendencies, in the Angelus she has provided a means of keeping alive within us that awe and wonder properly due to the mystery of the Incar­nation.

A Method . . .

The Angelus should be recited three times a day: as early in the morning as possible (at 6:00 a.m., or upon awakening), again at noon, and once more at 6:00 p.m. It may be said privately, of course, but whenever recited with others, one person leads it by saying aloud the verses and the first half of the Hail Mary—that is, until “blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” The others make the responses and say the second part of the Hail Mary;—then all join in to say the closing prayer. For the sake of uniform­ity, where the faithful may not be gathered together in one place, the traditional practice has the Angelus said to the stroke of a bell—three rings for each verse, response, and Hail Mary; then nine more through­out the final prayer—eighteen strokes in all.

A Legacy…

Numberless are the saints who were born or who died, by the providence of God, “as the Angelus was sounding” from the town bell or from local Church and monastery steeples. Thus was a holy future often prophe­sied, or a life of heroic sanctity confirmed, by Him who is pleased to reveal, as He sees fit, those souls whose lives further the ef­fect of that Incarnation so ad­mirably honored in the Angelus.

There is not a saint to be named, of recent centuries, who did not claim devotion to the Angelus. To name but one, Saint Germaine Cousin. The little shep­herdess of Pibrac in France, would drop to her knees in prayer upon hearing the Angelus ring—even while crossing a stream.

And the bells themselves are greatly reverenced. Many are preserved, even from before the Middle Ages, and the greater number bear inscriptions, usu­ally in Latin, that indicate their holy employment. Often in France they read Ave Maria, and many in England honor Saint Gabriel—for example: “I am sweet as honey, and am called Gabriel’s bell,” and “Gabriel the messenger bears joyous tidings to holy Mary.”

A Reason…

Through the Annunciation came the Incarnation; by the In­carnation is Christmas brought to us. From the beginning that is Christmas we arrive at the end that is our Redemption on Calvary. Through Calvary we are given the Resurrection, then the Ascension—through which, if we save our souls, we attain the bliss of heaven and the Vi­sion of God.

Let us pray.

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Through the Angelus we say “Thank you” to God and His Holy Mother. And, through the Angelus, we poor pilgrims also beg the grace of strength to faithfully persevere through our exile upon earth, unto a share of eternal life in our true and last­ing homeland.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ANGELUS

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ANGELUS

  10:28    Catholic Channels

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Before the year 1000, it was a pious cus­tom for the layfolk to recite three Hail Marys to honor Our Lady in her singularly exalted role as the Mother of God. This was done towards evening, usually as the bell rang when religious in local monasteries were chanting that part of the Divine Office called Compline. Through the years this practice was expanded to include a morning recitation, then an­other at noon. Later, holy details from the scene of the Annunci­ation—during which moment the Incarnation took place—were in­serted before and after the Hail Marys, and a closing prayer was attached. Named after the first word of its Latin form, this de­votion is the prayer we now call the Angelus. To say it is to replay the drama of the Annunciation once more, placing it vividly before our eyes and within our hearts.

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HOW BEST TO SAY THE ANGELUS TO OBTAIN THE FULL BENEFITS

HOW BEST TO SAY THE ANGELUS TO OBTAIN THE FULL BENEFITS

  10:15    Catholic Channels

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ANGELUS IS A POWERFUL PRAYER AND MUST BE ENCOURAGED 

HOW TO SAY THE ANGELUS

V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
    Hail Mary, full of grace,
    The Lord is with Thee;
    Blessed art thou among women,
    And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
    Holy Mary, Mother of God,
    Pray for us sinners,
    Now and at the hour of our death. Amen
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
    Hail Mary, etc.
V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
    Hail Mary, etc.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

This wonderful prayer evolved from a recitation of three Hail Mary’s following an evening bell around the 12th century to its present form (with morning and midday recitations) in the 16th century.

When prayed in a group setting a leader recites the verses and everyone recites both the responses and the Hail Mary’s in between each verse, as shown above.

Although the Angelus has been traditionally said three times daily, at 6 am, noon and 6 pm, you can pray it at anytime! It is still accompanied by the ringing of a bell (the Angelus bell) in some places such as Vatican City and parts of Germany and Ireland. The Regina Coeli prayer (which may also be sung as a hymn) replaces the Angelus during the Easter season. 

The Angelus reminds us of the Annunciation (shown in this famous rendition at left by Fra Angelico), when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with great, (if somewhat startling), news! As we read in Chapter One of Luke’s Gospel, (Luke 1:26-38) God wished Mary, truly a model of humility, to be the mother of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! 

His desire for her brings to mind the line from Matthew’s gospel: “Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt 23:12).

Mary was the perfect choice. She had been born without the stain of original sin, as defined by the Church’s dogma of the Immaculate Conception. (Note that the Immaculate Conception relates to Mary’s conception, not our Lord’s.)

When Mary calls herself the handmaid, the servant, of the Lord, in the Angelus (from Luke 1:38) it is with inspiring humility and sincerity. How many politicians do we see today who talk a good game about service but basically just want to set up their own little fiefdoms and raid the public cookie jar? Or how many other insincere displays of humility do we see on TV or in our daily lives?

Mary’s humility was genuine. As St. Alphonsus de Liquori notes in his classic work The Glories of Mary, “her only desire was that her Creator, the giver of every good thing, should be praised and blessed.”

She thought of herself first and foremost as God’s servant, seeking glory not for herself but rather for Him. In so doing, she became, as St. Augustine put it rather poetically, a “heavenly ladder, by which God came into the world,” descending from heaven to earth, to become flesh in her womb.

Mary was happy to have God work through her. As she expressed it most famously in the canticle the Magnificat, "My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1:46-47). St. Paul echoed this wonderful sentiment when he wrote that “he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord” (2 Cor 10:17).

The Angelus pays tribute to a crucial aspect of Mary’s role in the Incarnation, when it quotes from Luke’s Gospel “be it done to me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38). This wonderful event could not have happened without her consent, without what is known as her fiat. By saying “yes” to God in allowing herself to become His mother, she showed us the ultimate example of trust in our Creator!

Do you think that having that kind of faith is too daunting a task? Think about the ways in which God calls each of in our daily lives. Do we say “yes” when Christ wants to work through us in showing His love to others? Or when He asks us to be graceful in trying situations? Prayer and meditation on God’s Word in scripture can help us to do His will.

Speaking of God’s word, the Angelus completes its short summary of the Incarnation with the moving reference to our Lord from John’s Gospel: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). As we read in the letter to the Hebrews, Christ was like us in all things but without sin (Heb 4:15). St. Bernard noted that our Lord came to show us His love so that He might then experience ours.

The lines that follow about being made worthy of the promises of Christ are also found in the  and tie in well with what follows: an appeal for God’s grace to help us in our pilgrimage of faith.

Jesus loved us enough to die for us so that we might live with Him eternally! When we pray the Angelus with humility and love, we are emulating Mary’s faith in His goodness. We are blessed in that we can ask both God and His Blessed Mother for their assistance on our journey towards Eternal Life!

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VESTMENTS USED BY CATHOLIC CLERGY AND WHAT EACH STAND FOR Alb

VESTMENTS USED BY CATHOLIC CLERGY AND WHAT EACH STAND FOR Alb

  00:23    Catholic Channels

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  VESTMENTS USED BY CATHOLIC CLERGY AND WHAT EACH STAND FOR

 Alb
A long white garment which can be used by all liturgical ministers. It is a reminder of the baptismal garment worn when the new Christian "Put on Christ."

Cincture
A long cord used for fastening albs at the waist. It holds the loose-fitting type of alb in place and is used to adjust it to proper length. It is usually white, although the liturgical color of the day may be used.

Chasuble (CHAZ-uh-buhl)
The sleeveless outer garment, slipped over the head, hanging down from the shoulders covering the alb and stole of the priest. It is the proper Mass vestment for the main celebrant and its color varies according to the feast.

Dalmatic (dahl-MAT-ik)
A loose-fitting robe with open sides and wide sleeves worn by a deacon on more solemn feasts.

Deacon Stole
A long cloth "scarf." According to the manner in which it worn it is the mark of the Office of the priest or deacon. A deacon wears it over his left shoulder, fastening it at his right side.

 Priest Stole
A long cloth "scarf." According to the manner in which it worn it is the mark of the Office of the priest or deacon. A priest wears it around the neck, letting it hang down in front.

Cassock (KASS-uhk)
A long black garment worn by Altar Servers under the Surplice. Also worn by Diocesan Priests (Black), Monsignors (Rose), Bishops (Violet), Cardinals (Red), and the Pope (White).

Surplice (SIR-plis)
This is a wide-sleeved garment, slipped over the head, covering the shoulders, and coming down below the hips. It is worn over the cassock.

Cope (KOPE)
A cape-like garment which is put over the shoulders and hangs to the ankles, it is open in the front and worn by a priest or deacon in processions at Benediction and in other services.

Benediction Veil
Also called the humeral veil. This is a long narrow shawl-like vestment used at Benediction.

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