Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 08-11-12, M, St. Clare, Virgin

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 05-11-12 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

August 11, 2012

 

Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin

 

Reading 1 Hab 1:12-2:4

Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?

I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 9:8-9, 10-11, 12-13

R. (11b) You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
The LORD sits enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of distress.
They trust in you who cherish your name,
for you forsake not those who seek you, O LORD.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.
Sing praise to the LORD enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations his deeds;
For the avenger of blood has remembered;
he has not forgotten the cry of the poor.
R. You forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.

Gospel Mt 17:14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
"Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him."
Jesus said in reply,
"O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you?
Bring the boy here to me."
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
"Why could we not drive it out?"
He said to them, "Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
"Move from here to there," and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you."

[markomalley]

Aug 11, Evening Prayer for Saturday of the 18th week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 632
Proper of Seasons: 88
Psalter: Sunday, Week III, 937

Christian Prayer:
Ordinary: 694
Proper of Seasons: 623
Psalter: Sunday, Week III, 851

Evening Prayer I for Sunday in Ordinary Time

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

“Now thank we all our God” performed by Gloucester Cathedral Choir; Words: Martin Rinkart, circa 1636 (Nun danket alle Gott); translated from German to English by Catherine Winkworth, 1856.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised.

Psalm 113
Praise the name of the Lord
He has cast down the mighty and has lifted up the lowly (Luke 1:52).

Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!

Ant. From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised.

High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?

Ant. From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised.

From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from his misery he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
To the childless wife he gives a home
and gladdens her heart with children.

Ant. From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Lord Jesus, Word of God, surrendering the brightness of your glory you became man so that we may be raised from the dust to share your very being. May there be innumerable children of the Church to offer homage to your name from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Ant. From the rising of the sun to its setting, may the name of the Lord be praised.

Ant. 2 I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

Psalm 116
Thanksgiving in the Temple
Through Christ let us offer God a continual sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).

I trusted, even when I said:
“I am sorely afflicted,”
and when I said in my alarm:
“No man can be trusted.”

Ant. I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.

Ant. I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.

Ant. I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make:
I will call on the Lord’s name.

Ant. I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Ant. I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Father, precious in your sight is the death of the saints, but precious above all is the love with which Christ suffered to redeem us. In this life we will fill up in our own flesh what it is still lacking in the sufferings of Christ; accept this as our sacrifice of praise, and we shall even now taste the joy of the new Jerusalem.

Ant. I shall take into my hand the saving chalice and invoke the name of the Lord.

Ant. 3 The Lord Jesus humbled himself, and God exalted him for ever.

Canticle – Philippians 2:6-11
Christ, God’s holy servant

Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.

Ant. The Lord Jesus humbled himself, and God exalted him for ever.

Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.

Ant. The Lord Jesus humbled himself, and God exalted him for ever.

He was known to be of human estate,
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!

Ant. The Lord Jesus humbled himself, and God exalted him for ever.

Because of this,
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,
So that at Jesus’ name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!

Ant. The Lord Jesus humbled himself, and God exalted him for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. The Lord Jesus humbled himself, and God exalted him for ever.

READING Hebrews 13:20-21

May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, furnish you with all that is good, that you may do his will. Through Jesus Christ may he carry out in you all that is pleasing to him. To Christ be glory forever! Amen.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

RESPONSORY

Our hearts are filled with wonder as we contemplate your works, O Lord.
– Our hearts are filled with wonder as we contemplate your works, O Lord.

We praise the wisdom which wrought them all,
– as we contemplate your works, O Lord.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– Our hearts are filled with wonder as we contemplate your works, O Lord.

CANTICLE OF MARY

Ant. Lord, bid me walk across the waters. Jesus reached out to take hold of Peter, and said: O man of little faith, why did you falter?

Luke 1:46-55
The soul rejoices in the Lord

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Lord, bid me walk across the waters. Jesus reached out to take hold of Peter, and said: O man of little faith, why did you falter?

INTERCESSIONS

Christ had compassion on the hungry and performed a miracle of love for them. Mindful of this, let us pray:
– Show us your love, Lord.

Lord, we recognize that all the favors we have received today come through your generosity,
do not let them return to you empty, but let them bear fruit.
– Show us your love, Lord.

Light and salvation of all nations, protect the missionaries you have sent into the world,
enkindle in them the fire of your Spirit.
– Show us your love, Lord.

Grant that man may shape the world in keeping with human dignity,
and respond generously to the needs of our time.
– Show us your love, Lord.

Healer of body and spirit, comfort the sick and be present to the dying,
in your mercy visit and refresh us.
– Show us your love, Lord.

May the faithful departed be numbered among the saints,
whose names are in the Book of Life.
– Show us your love, Lord.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Concluding Prayer

Almighty ever-living God,
whom, taught by the Holy Spirit,
we dare to call our Father,
bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts
the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters,
that we may merit to enter into the inheritance
which you have promised.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen.

[markomalley]

Aug 11, Night Prayer for Saturday of the 18th week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours:
Vol I, Page 1169
Vol II, Page 1619
Vol III, Page 1264
Vol IV, Page 1233

Christian Prayer:
Page 1034

Night Prayer after Evening Prayer I

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Examination of conscience:

We are called to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men, in our hearts and in our minds, in our actions and inactions. To do so, it is vital that we examine our conscience daily and to ask for God’s mercy as we fall short and to ask for His strength to do better.

Lord, Jesus you healed the sick:
Lord, have mercy
– Lord have mercy

Lord Jesus, you forgave sinners:
Christ, have mercy.
– Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you give us yourself to heal us and bring us strength:
Lord, have mercy
– Lord have mercy

HYMN

O Christ, Who art the Light and Day,
Thou drivest darksome night away!
We know Thee as the Light of light
Illuminating mortal sight.

All holy Lord, we pray to Thee,
Keep us tonight from danger free;
Grant us, dear Lord, in Thee to rest,
So be our sleep in quiet blest.

Let not the tempter round us creep
With thoughts of evil while we sleep,
Nor with his wiles the flesh allure
And make us in Thy sight impure.

And while the eyes soft slumber take,
Still be the heart to Thee awake,
Be Thy right hand upheld above
Thy servants resting in Thy love.

Yea, our defender, be Thou nigh,
To bid the powers of darkness fly;
Keep us from sin, and guide for good
Thy servants purchased by Thy blood.

Remember us, dear Lord, we pray,
While in this mortal flesh we stay:
’Tis Thou who dost the soul defend -
Be present with us to the end.

All praise to God the Father be.
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee
Whom with the Spirit we adore
Forever and forevermore.

Amen.

Words: Latin, before 800.; Translated by: William J. Copeland and others, 1906; Alfreton, Saint Bartholomew, Christe qui lux
O Christ Who Art The Light And Day by Cambridge Singers is available from Amazon.com.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Have mercy, Lord, and hear my prayer.

Psalm 4
Thanksgiving
The resurrection of Christ was God’s supreme and wholly marvelous work (Saint Augustine).

When I call, answer me, O God of justice;
from anguish you released me, have mercy and hear me!

O men, how long will your hearts be closed,
will you love what is futile and seek what is false?

It is the Lord who grants favors to those whom he loves;
the Lord hears me whenever I call him.

Fear him; do not sin: ponder on your bed and be still
Make justice your sacrifice, and trust in the Lord.

“What can bring us happiness?” many say.
Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord.

You have put into my heart a greater joy
than they have from abundance of corn and new wine.

I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at once
for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Have mercy, Lord, and hear my prayer.

Ant. 2 In the silent hours of night, bless the Lord.

Psalm 134
Evening prayer in the temple
Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great (Revelation 19:5).

O come, bless the Lord,
all you who serve the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.

Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord through the night.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made both heaven and earth.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. In the silent hours of night, bless the Lord.

READING Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.

RESPONSORY

Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth.
– I commend my spirit.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

Gospel Canticle

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

Luke 2:29-32
Christ is the light of the nations and the glory of Israel

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

Concluding Prayer

Lord,
be with us throughout this night.
When day comes may we rise from sleep
to rejoice in the resurrection of your Christ,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Blessing

May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death.
– Amen.

Antiphon or song in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

[Salvation]

Saint Clare, Virgin

Saint Clare, Virgin
Memorial
August 11th

Giuseppe Cesari,
St Clare with the Scene of the Siege of Assisi
Oil on panel, 37 x 45 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

In 1234, the army of Frederick II was devastating the valley of Spoleto, the soldiers, preparatory to an assault upon Assisi, scaled the walls of San Damiano by night, spreading terror among the community. Clare, calmly rising from her sick bed, and taking the ciborium from the little chapel adjoining her cell, proceeded to face the invaders at an open window against which they had already placed a ladder. It is related that, as she raised the Blessed Sacrament on high, the soldiers who were about to enter the monastery fell backward as if dazzled, and the others who were ready to follow them took flight. It is with reference to this incident that St. Clare is generally represented in art bearing a ciborium.

(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition )

---

History:
Co-foundress of the Order of Poor Ladies, or Clares, and first Abbess of San Damiano; born at Assisi, July 16, 1194; died there August 11, 1253.

As a child she was most devoted to prayer and to practices of mortification, and as she passed into girlhood her distaste for the world and her yearning for a more spiritual life increased. She was eighteen years of age when St. Francis came to preach the Lenten course in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi. Inspired by his words, she sought him out secretly and begged him to help her that she too might live "after the manner of the holy Gospel". St. Francis, who at once recognized in Clare one of those chosen souls destined by God for great things, and who also, doubtless, foresaw that many would follow her example, promised to assist her. On Palm Sunday night Clare secretly left her father's house, by St. Francis's advice and, accompanied by her aunt Bianca and another companion, proceeded to the humble chapel of the Porziuncula, where St. Francis and his disciples met her with lights in their hands. Clare then laid aside her rich dress, and St. Francis, having cut off her hair, clothed her in a rough tunic and a thick veil, and in this way the young heroine vowed herself to the service of Jesus Christ. This was March 20, 1212.

Clare was joined by her younger sister Agnes, whom she was instrumental in delivering from the persecution of their infuriated relatives. St. Francis rebuilt the poor chapel of San Damiano and established it as a place for the first community of the Order of Poor Ladies, or of Poor Clares, as this second order of St. Francis came to be called.

St. Clare and her companions had no written rule to follow beyond a very short formula vitae given them by St. Francis, and which may be found among his works. Some years later, apparently in 1219, during St. Francis's absence in the East, Cardinal Ugolino, then protector of the order, afterwards Gregory IX, drew up a written rule for the Clares at Monticelli, taking as a basis the Rule of St. Benedict, retaining the fundamental points of the latter and adding some special constitutions. This new rule, which, in effect if not in intention, took away from the Clares the Franciscan character of absolute poverty so dear to the heart of St. Francis and made them for all practical purposes a congregation of Benedictines, was approved by Honorius III (Bull, "Sacrosancta", December 9, 1219). When Clare found that the new rule, though strict enough in other respects, allowed the holding of property in common, she courageously and successfully resisted the innovations of Ugolino as being entirely opposed to the intentions of St. Francis. The latter had forbidden the Poor Ladies, just as he had forbidden his friars to possess any worldly goods even in common. Owning nothing, they were to depend entirety upon what the Friars Minor could beg for them. This complete renunciation of all property was however regarded by Ugolino as unpractical for cloistered women. When, therefore, in 1228, he came to Assisi for the canonization of St. Francis (having meanwhile ascended the pontifical throne as Gregory IX), he visited St. Clare at San Damiano and pressed her to so far deviate from the practice of poverty which had up to this time obtained at San Damiano, as to accept some provision for the unforeseen wants of the community. But Clare firmly refused. Gregory, thinking that her refusal might be due to fear of violating the vow of strict poverty she had taken, offered to absolve her from it. "Holy Father, I crave for absolution from my sins", replied Clare, "but I desire not to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ".

The heroic unworldliness of Clare filled the pope with admiration, as his letters to her, still extant, bear eloquent witness, and he so far gave way to her views as to grant her on September 17, 1228, the celebrated Privilegium Paupertatis which some regard in the light of a corrective of the Rule of 1219. The original autograph copy of this unique "privilege"-- the first one of its kind ever sought for, or ever issued by the Holy See -- is preserved in the archive at Santa Chiara in Assisi. The text is as follows: "Gregory Bishop Servant of the Servants of God. To our beloved daughters in Christ Clare and the other handmaids of Christ dwelling together at the Church of San Damiano in the Diocese of Assisi. Health and Apostolic benediction. It is evident that the desire of consecrating yourselves to God alone has led you to abandon every wish for temporal things. Wherefore, after having sold all your goods and having distributed them among the poor, you propose to have absolutely no possessions, in order to follow in all things the example of Him Who became poor and Who is the way, the truth, and the life. Neither does the want of necessary things deter you from such a proposal, for the left arm of your Celestial Spouse is beneath your head to sustain the infirmity of your body, which, according to the order of charity, you have subjected to the law of the spirit. Finally, He who feeds the birds of the air and who gives the lilies of the field their raiment and their nourishment, will not leave you in want of clothing or of food until He shall come Himself to minister to you in eternity when, namely, the right hand of His consolations shall embrace you in the plenitude of the Beatific Vision. Since, therefore, you have asked for it, we confirm by Apostolic favor your resolution of the loftiest poverty and by the authority of these present letters grant that you may not be constrained by anyone to receive possessions. To no one, therefore, be it allowed to infringe upon this page of our concession or to oppose it with rash temerity. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he shall incur the wrath of Almighty God and his Blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul. Given at Perugia on the fifteenth of the Kalends of October in the second year of our Pontificate."

That St. Clare may have solicited a "privilege" similar to the foregoing at an earlier date and obtained it vivâ voce, is not improbable. Certain it is that after the death of Gregory IX Clare had once more to contend for the principle of absolute poverty prescribed by St. Francis, for Innocent IV would fain have given the Clares a new and mitigated rule, and the firmness with which she held to her way won over the pope. Finally, two days before her death, Innocent, no doubt at the reiterated request of the dying abbess, solemnly confirmed the definitive Rule of the Clares (Bull, "Solet Annuere", August 9, 1253), and thus secured to them the precious treasure of poverty which Clare, in imitation of St. Francis, had taken for her portion from the beginning of her conversion. The author of this latter rule, which is largely an adaptation mutatis mutandis, of the rule which St. Francis composed for the Friars Minor in 1223, seems to have been Cardinal Rainaldo, Bishop of Ostia, and protector of the order, afterwards Alexander IV, though it is most likely that St. Clare herself had a hand in its compilation. Be this as it may, it can no longer be maintained that St. Francis was in any sense the author of this formal Rule of the Clares; he only gave to St. Clare and her companions at the outset of their religious life the brief formula vivendi already mentioned.

St. Clare, who in 1215 had, much against her will been made superior at San Damiano by St. Francis, continued to rule there as abbess until her death, in 1253, nearly forty years later.

We know that she became a living copy of the poverty, the humility, and the mortification of St. Francis; that she had a special devotion to the Holy Eucharist, and that in order to increase her love for Christ crucified she learned by heart the Office of the Passion composed by St. Francis, and that during the time that remained to her after her devotional exercises she engaged in manual labor.

After St. Francis's death the procession which accompanied his remains from the Porziuncula to the town stopped on the way at San Damiano in order that Clare and her daughters might venerate the pierced hands and feet of him who had formed them to the love of Christ crucified -- a pathetic scene which Giotto has commemorated in one of his loveliest frescoes.

On August 11, 1253, the holy foundress of the Poor Ladies passed peacefully away amid scenes which her contemporary biographer has recorded with touching simplicity. The pope, with his court, came to San Damiano for the saint's funeral, which partook rather of the nature of a triumphal procession.

The Clares desired to retain the body of their foundress among them at San Damiano, but the magistrates of Assisi interfered and took measures to secure for the town the venerated remains of her whose prayers, as they all believed, had on two occasions saved it from destruction. Clare's miracles too were talked of far and wide. It was not safe, the Assisians urged, to leave Clare's body in a lonely spot without the walls; it was only right, too, that Clare, "the chief rival of the Blessed Francis in the observance of Gospel perfection", should also have a church in Assisi built in her honor. Meanwhile, Clare's remains were placed in the chapel of San Giorgio, where St. Francis's preaching had first touched her young heart, and where his own body had likewise been interred pending the erection of the Basilica of San Francesco. Two years later, September 26, 1255, Clare was solemnly canonized by Alexander IV, and not long afterwards the building of the church of Santa Chiara, in honor of Assisi's second great saint, was begun under the direction of Filippo Campello, one of the foremost architects of the time. On October 3, 1260, Clare's remains were transferred from the chapel of San Giorgio and buried deep down in the earth, under the high altar in the new church, far out of sight and reach. After having remained hidden for six centuries -- like the remains of St. Francis -- and after much search had been made, Clare's tomb was found in 1850, to the great joy of the Assisians. On September 23 in that year the coffin was unearthed and opened, the flesh and clothing of the saint had been reduced to dust, but the skeleton was in a perfect state of preservation. Finally, on the September 29, 1872, the saint's bones were transferred, with much pomp, by Archbishop Pecci, afterwards Leo XIII, to the shrine, in the crypt at Santa Chiara, erected to receive them, and where they may now be seen.

(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition )

---

Collect:
O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty,
grant, through her intercession,
that, following Christ in poverty of spirit,
we may merit to contemplate you
one day in the heavenly Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

First Reading: Philippians 3:8-14
Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it My own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 19:27-29
Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

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Recipe:
St. Clare Turnovers -- Pasteis de Santa Clara

A recipe from a monastery in Coimbra, Portugal, this has been preserved for generations.

Pastry Ingredients
1/2 cup (100g) butter, chilled
1 3/4 cups (200g) flour
1 egg, slightly beaten

Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup (125g) sugar
1/2 cup (50g) almonds, ground
4 egg yolks

Rub butter into the flour and add a bit of very cold water until a pliable dough is obtained. Cover and refrigerate until filling is finished.

Melt the sugar in a little water and boil until thick. Add the ground almonds and yolks. Mix and simmer while stirring until very thick.

Roll out the dough to 1/8 - inch (3mm) thickness, cut into 3 - inch (8cm) diameter circles. Divide the filling among them, placing it in the middle of each circle. Wet the edges and fold over, forming a half - moon shape. Seal and brush with the beaten egg and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400°F (200°C) until golden, about 20 minutes. When baked, dredge in sugar.

Makes about 24 turnovers.

from Cooking with the Saints, Ignatius Press.

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Saint Clare of Assisi: Our Guide in the Garden of Prayer

Prayer is like a secret garden, made up of silence and rest and inwardness. -- Jean Vanier

Pilgrims to San Damiano, the first monastery of the Poor Clares in Assisi, are shown a picturesque spot that tradition has christened "the garden of St. Clare." It is not difficult to imagine the Seraphic Mother working there, tending her flowers, praising God, perhaps even humming softly St. Francis' "Canticle of the Creatures."

There is another garden where St. Clare of Assisi can be found, - the garden of prayer. Here, too, she meets us as an accomplished gardener, a proficient guide who is willing to assist us in cultivating the soil in order to enjoy the flowers and savor the fruits of prayer.

Gathering the Heart - Day One

First of all, St. Clare teaches us the need for Recollection. This "gathering of the heart" is like a wall around the garden of prayer. When you pray, go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father in secret. Wherever our sacred, secret place may be, it is there we discover that the heart needs both silence and a certain separation from the ordinary events of daily life in order to encounter THE Reality of life which is God. This vital work of the heart requires effort, aided by grace: Place your mind before the mirror of eternity, place your soul in the brightness of glory... (3rd Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague)

The Master of Prayer - Day Two

The Lady Clare does not delay long in introducing us to the Master in the Gardens of Prayer - the Holy Spirit. Like St. Francis, she urges her friends and followers to study closely that which they ought above all to desire: to have the Spirit of the Lord and His holy way of working. (Rule of St. Clare, X) Why? Because if we pray to Him with a pure heart, we experience that He is the Artisan of the living tradition of prayer and that it is in the communion of the Holy Spirit that Christian prayer is prayer in the Church. (CATECHISM 2672)

Trusted Tools - Day 3

It is tempting to imagine that in the garden of prayer, the saints and mystics moved from ecstasy to ecstasy. Actually, they used the same sturdy Tools for Prayer available to us. They understood that even the simplest vocal prayer can lead to deep contemplative prayer. We know some of St. Clare's favorite vocal prayers: The Office of the Passion composed by St. Francis and a prayer to the Five Wounds of Christ. But her most favored vocal prayer was the Holy Name of JESUS, the prayer that is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus. (CATECHISM 2668)

With and In the Word - Day Four

Our Lord declared: The Seed is the Word.  Thus St. Clare invites us to fill our garden of prayer with the Good Seed of the Word of God. Her own prayer was deeply Scriptural. She immersed herself in the PSALMS, the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament (CATECHISM 2595) and prayed with depth and devotion the OUR FATHER, the summary of the whole Gospel (Tertullian) Welcoming the Word in the good soil of a recollected heart, praying WITH the Word and IN the Word, St. Clare's garden of prayer flourished.

Ask...and Receive! - Day Five

Prayers of Petition are like the annuals in the garden of prayer. They are the "needs of the day" set before our heavenly Father. Jesus said, ASK and you will receive, St. Clare took Him at His word. She asked for bread for her community, healing for her sick Sisters, guidance in making decisions. But we also know that the horizons of the Lady Clare's prayer broadened into the wide vistas of Intercession. There was no concern, suffering, anguish or discouragement of others which did not find an echo in the heart of (this) prayerful woman. (Pope John Paul II) And she invites everyone who enters the garden of prayer to become a co-worker of God Himself and a support to the weak and wavering members of His glorious Body. (3rd Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague)

To Give Him Thanks and Praise - Day Six

If prayers of petition and intercession are the annuals in our garden of prayer, then Praise and Thanksgiving are its perennials, The Seraphic Mother summarized the need for continual praise and thanksgiving when she told her Sisters: ALWAYS and in ALL THINGS, God must be praised! (Process of Canonization) So well did she live her own advice that she died with one last act of thankful praise on her lips: May You be blessed, O Lord, for having created me!

Weeds in the Garden - Day Seven

The CATECHISM states succinctly that prayer is a battle. (2725-2728) Any seasoned cultivator of prayer has battled the Weeds of distraction. St. Clare offers us the example of her own generous efforts to eliminate the spiritual weeds that kept her from a deep and loving communion with the Lord. Aware that the Evil One is always ready to place obstacles on our path to prayer, the Seraphic Mother counsels us to face the spiritual combat with courage and faith: Pray and watch at all times! Carry out the work you have so well begun, and fulfill in true humility the service of God you have undertaken (Letter to Ermentrude)

The Prayer of Love and Silence - Day Eight

In the shade of His tree I sat and His fruit was sweet to my taste. So sang the Bride in the Song of Songs. To every worker in the garden of prayer there come those "cool-of-the-evening" experiences, when the adoring Prayer of Love and Silence is the only response to God's hidden yet manifested presence. The Seraphic Mother had but one shining word to express the joy and wonder of these gifted times of prayer: Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ; to cleave with all one's heart to Him whose love inflames our love, whose contemplation is our refreshment.... (4th Letter of St. Clare to St. Agnes of Prague)

The Garden's Fountain - Day Nine

What was The Foundation that watered St. Clare's garden of prayer? It was the Eucharist, the source and summit of Christian worship, life and mission. In the Eucharistic Liturgy is found every form of prayer. Here we "gather up" the heart, recollecting our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit. (CATECHISM 2711) Here we unite ourselves to Christ as He offers perfect praise and thanksgiving to the Father. Here the Good Seed of the Word is lavishly sown. The Eucharist is the food of faith which strengthens us for the spiritual combat. In the Eucharist, communion with God becomes a reality cherished in adoring silence. Is it any wonder that the Seraphic Mother did all she could to foster devotion to the Eucharistic mystery?

Even more, Clare's whole life became a Eucharist (Pope John Paul II), spent near this Fountain of living water. To all who enter the garden of prayer, she issues the same invitation: Come to the water! Learn here that if we thirst for God, it is because He has first thirsted for us. The garden of prayer is the garden of God where prayer is a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God (CATECHISM 2561)

The Poor Clare Nuns
Belleville, Illinois
2007

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Benedict XVI, General Audience: Saint Clare of Assisi, September 15, 2010

Saint Clare of Assisi
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our catechesis today deals with Saint Clare of Assisi, the great mystic, friend of Saint Francis and foundress of the Poor Clare Nuns. Born to a family of means, Clare chose to embrace a life of radical poverty, chastity and trust in God’s providence; received by Francis, she consecrated herself completely to Christ and, together with her companions, embraced the common life in the Church of San Damiano in Assisi. The spiritual friendship between Clare and Francis reminds us of how the great saints have found in such friendships a powerful impetus to greater love of Christ and renewed strength in the pursuit of the way of perfection. Clare’s Rule, the first written by a woman, sought to preserve and foster the Franciscan charism in the growing number of women’s communities which followed the example of Francis and her own. Her spirituality, nourished by the Eucharist, was based on the loving contemplation of Christ as the source and perfection of every virtue. Saint Clare shows us the value of consecrated virginity as an image of the Church’s love for her divine Spouse, and the decisive role played by courageous and faith-filled women to the Church’s renewal in every age.

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The Poor Clares Colettine: An Explanation -- A father describes his daughter's vocation -- PENTECOST 2003 ISSUE

[Salvation]

St. Francis of Assisi (and) St. Clare of Assisi [Catholic Caucus]
SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN, FOUNDRESS OF THE POOR CLARES 1193-1253
Permission has been granted... [Poor Clares in San Antonio] (Catholic/Orthodox Caucus)
St. Clare's Advice Defended Assisi Against An Attack By the Mohammedans (My Title)
Boomer Contemplating Faith: touching story as only an encounter with Poor Clares could inspire
St Clare of Assisi (1193-1253)
Saint Clare of Assisi

[Salvation]

Blessed John Henry Newman, Cardinal

Blessed John Henry Newman

Photo of John Henry Newman 1887

Cor ad cor loquitur (Heart speaks to heart)

John Henry Cardinal Newman (February 21, 1801- Augst 11,1890) was an Anglican clergyman and a leader of the Tractarian or Oxford Movement to reform and "re-catholicize" the Church of England before he entered the Catholic Church in 1845.

He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood May 30, 1847, at the time he established the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England.

His many published works -- notably his spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), The Idea of the University (1852), and The Grammar of Assent (1870) -- have inspired Catholics for more than a century with their deep insights and eloquent style. His famous hymn "Lead Kindly Light" is one of the treasures of English-language hymnody. His poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865) is the source of another of his inspiring hymns, “Praise to the Holiest in the Height”. Both before and after he entered the Catholic Church, Newman’s gift of preaching and oratory were as widely admired as his many published writings.

Father Newman was named Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. He died at the Oratory in Birmingham on August 11, 1890. He was declared “venerable” by Pope John Paul II in 1991, and his beatification was formally proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010, during the official papal visit to the United Kingdom.

His feast day is October 9, the date of his being received into the Catholic Church in 1845.

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MASS WITH THE BEATIFICATION
OF VENERABLE CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Cofton Park of Rednal - Birmingham
Sunday, September 19, 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This day that has brought us together here in Birmingham is a most auspicious one. In the first place, it is the Lord’s day, Sunday, the day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and changed the course of human history for ever, offering new life and hope to all who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. That is why Christians all over the world come together on this day to give praise and thanks to God for the great marvels he has worked for us. This particular Sunday also marks a significant moment in the life of the British nation, as it is the day chosen to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain. For me as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you on this occasion, and to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil ideology. My thoughts go in particular to nearby Coventry, which suffered such heavy bombardment and massive loss of life in November 1940. Seventy years later, we recall with shame and horror the dreadful toll of death and destruction that war brings in its wake, and we renew our resolve to work for peace and reconciliation wherever the threat of conflict looms. Yet there is another, more joyful reason why this is an auspicious day for Great Britain, for the Midlands, for Birmingham. It is the day that sees Cardinal John Henry Newman formally raised to the altars and declared Blessed.

I thank Archbishop Bernard Longley for his gracious welcome at the start of Mass this morning. I pay tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to promote the cause of Cardinal Newman, including the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory and the members of the Spiritual Family Das Werk. And I greet everyone here from Great Britain, Ireland, and further afield; I thank you for your presence at this celebration, in which we give glory and praise to God for the heroic virtue of a saintly Englishman.

England has a long tradition of martyr saints, whose courageous witness has sustained and inspired the Catholic community here for centuries. Yet it is right and fitting that we should recognize today the holiness of a confessor, a son of this nation who, while not called to shed his blood for the Lord, nevertheless bore eloquent witness to him in the course of a long life devoted to the priestly ministry, and especially to preaching, teaching, and writing. He is worthy to take his place in a long line of saints and scholars from these islands, Saint Bede, Saint Hilda, Saint Aelred, Blessed Duns Scotus, to name but a few. In Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has borne rich fruit, as a sign of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit deep within the heart of God’s people, bringing forth abundant gifts of holiness.

Cardinal Newman’s motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, or “Heart speaks unto heart”, gives us an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, experienced as the profound desire of the human heart to enter into intimate communion with the Heart of God. He reminds us that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms us into the divine likeness. As he wrote in one of his many fine sermons, “a habit of prayer, the practice of turning to God and the unseen world in every season, in every place, in every emergency – prayer, I say, has what may be called a natural effect in spiritualizing and elevating the soul. A man is no longer what he was before; gradually … he has imbibed a new set of ideas, and become imbued with fresh principles” (Parochial and Plain Sermons, iv, 230-231). Today’s Gospel tells us that no one can be the servant of two masters (cf. Lk 16:13), and Blessed John Henry’s teaching on prayer explains how the faithful Christian is definitively taken into the service of the one true Master, who alone has a claim to our unconditional devotion (cf. Mt 23:10). Newman helps us to understand what this means for our daily lives: he tells us that our divine Master has assigned a specific task to each one of us, a “definite service”, committed uniquely to every single person: “I have my mission”, he wrote, “I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place … if I do but keep his commandments and serve him in my calling” (Meditations and Devotions, 301-2).

The definite service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing “subjects of the day”. His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world. I would like to pay particular tribute to his vision for education, which has done so much to shape the ethos that is the driving force behind Catholic schools and colleges today. Firmly opposed to any reductive or utilitarian approach, he sought to achieve an educational environment in which intellectual training, moral discipline and religious commitment would come together. The project to found a Catholic University in Ireland provided him with an opportunity to develop his ideas on the subject, and the collection of discourses that he published as The Idea of a University holds up an ideal from which all those engaged in academic formation can continue to learn. And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set themselves than Blessed John Henry’s famous appeal for an intelligent, well-instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The Present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.

While it is John Henry Newman’s intellectual legacy that has understandably received most attention in the vast literature devoted to his life and work, I prefer on this occasion to conclude with a brief reflection on his life as a priest, a pastor of souls. The warmth and humanity underlying his appreciation of the pastoral ministry is beautifully expressed in another of his famous sermons: “Had Angels been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you, sympathized with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you, and made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and guides, and have led you on from your old selves into a new life, as they can who come from the midst of you” (“Men, not Angels: the Priests of the Gospel”, Discourses to Mixed Congregations, 3). He lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken to its place of burial not half a mile from here. One hundred and twenty years later, great crowds have assembled once again to rejoice in the Church’s solemn recognition of the outstanding holiness of this much-loved father of souls. What better way to express the joy of this moment than by turning to our heavenly Father in heartfelt thanksgiving, praying in the words that Blessed John Henry Newman placed on the lips of the choirs of angels in heaven:

Praise to the Holiest in the height
And in the depth be praise;
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways!
(The Dream of Gerontius).

© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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Pope Benedict XVI's Visit to Britain Is Making History- Beatification of Cardinal Newman a highlight of the events -- by Mary Ellen Bork

John Henry Newman's Hymns

John Henry Newman and Music by Susan Treacy, on the Adoremus website

Cardinal Newman On the Mass, on the Adoremus website

Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom on the occasion of the Beatification of Card. John Henry Newman, (16-19 September 2010) on the Vatican Website

Blessed John Henry Newman, Cardinal

Blessed John Henry Newman

Photo of John Henry Newman 1887

Cor ad cor loquitur (Heart speaks to heart)

John Henry Cardinal Newman (February 21, 1801- Augst 11,1890) was an Anglican clergyman and a leader of the Tractarian or Oxford Movement to reform and "re-catholicize" the Church of England before he entered the Catholic Church in 1845.

He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood May 30, 1847, at the time he established the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England.

His many published works -- notably his spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), The Idea of the University (1852), and The Grammar of Assent (1870) -- have inspired Catholics for more than a century with their deep insights and eloquent style. His famous hymn "Lead Kindly Light" is one of the treasures of English-language hymnody. His poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865) is the source of another of his inspiring hymns, “Praise to the Holiest in the Height”. Both before and after he entered the Catholic Church, Newman’s gift of preaching and oratory were as widely admired as his many published writings.

Father Newman was named Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. He died at the Oratory in Birmingham on August 11, 1890. He was declared “venerable” by Pope John Paul II in 1991, and his beatification was formally proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010, during the official papal visit to the United Kingdom.

His feast day is October 9, the date of his being received into the Catholic Church in 1845.

[Salvation]

[Blessed] John Henry Newman and Music
Newman’s Faith
Cardinal Newman: Doctor of the Church? [Catholic Caucus]
Happiness in the Church of Rome
Said, as it is among us. [Blessed John Henry Newman]

The `father' of the Catholic -- Blessed John Henry Newman
Three Lessons from Newman
Blessed Cardinal Newman and the Jews
Beatification of Cardinal Newman: Pope's homily [Full Text]
Beatification of John Henry Newman, Cofton Park, Birmingham Homily of the Holy Father
The Birmingham Oratory [founded by John Henry Cardinal Newman]
Cardinal Newman and Oscott College
Newman spoke this evening in Hyde Park
Catholic officials to investigate claims of second Newman miracle
Cardinal Newman: The Victorian Celebrity Intellectual Who Brought Benedict to Britain

Beyond the Beatification of Cardinal Newman
Newman and the Miraculous Medal
Liberal Jesuits Found Newman Institute in Uppsala, Sweden
Commemorative Stamps Celebrate Pope's UK Visit And Newman Beatification [Catholic Caucus]
Why John Henry Newman converted to Catholicism
[CATHOLIC/ANGLICAN CAUCUS] Sun newspaper falsely alleges Cardinal Newman was a homosexual
Sorry, Professor Milbank, Newman was no ecumenist [Cardinal John Henry Newman]
Newman calls us to leave behind stale arguments
Newman & Preaching in the Byzantine Tradition
Pope's beatification of Cardinal Newman 'to take place at disused Longbridge plant'

Fighting For The Real Cardinal Newman
Saint Philip Neri: A Humble Priest {Sermon Excerpt from Ven. John Henry Newman [Catholic Caucus]
Pope Benedict "sanitising Newman"?
Newman's Biographer on His Subject's Orthodoxy and Sexuality
Why Cardinal Newman is No Saint
Pope to visit Queen, beatify Cardinal Newman during England visit
(Cardinal) Newman on Rites and Ceremonies
Deacon Cured Through Intervention of Cardinal Newman Preaches at Westminster Cathedral
John Henry Newman on "What Is a Gentleman?"
With His Daring Scheme for Anglicans, Benedict XVI Fulfills the Hopes of Cardinal Newman

Deacon discusses miracle healings in beatification cause of John Henry Newman [Catholic Caucus]
Pope Benedict Clears Way For Cardinal John Newman To Become First English Saint In 40 Years
Pope Benedict clears way for Cardinal John Newman to become first English saint in 40 years
Newman Beatification Expected
Biographer challenges Newman revisionists
Cardinal John Newman poised for beatification after ruling
Mystery of cardinal's missing bones Cardinal John Henry Newman Faithfully Celibate
No body (found) in exhumed (Cardinal John Henry) Newman's grave
Cardinal Newman Exhumation Fails to Produce Body
Mainstream Media Slammed for Libelling John Henry Newman as Homosexual

Catholic Officials Seek Permission to Exhume Cardinal Newman's Body
John Henry Cardinal Newman to be beatified
Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 2
Happy Birthday Cardinal Newman, part 1
Newman on Conversion
Cardinal Newman 'to become saint very soon'
Cardinal Newman: sainted after US 'miracle'
Searching For Authority (A Methodist minister, Christopher Dixon finds himself surprised by Truth!) - from Cardinal Newman's writings
The Belief of Catholics concerning the Blessed Virgin: the Second Eve [Newman Reader]
Beatification soon for Cardinal Newman?

[Salvation]

Information: St. Clare of Assisi

Feast Day:	August 11
Born:	July 16, 1194, Assisi, Italy
Died:	August 11, 1253, Assisi, Italy
Canonized:	September 26, 1255, Rome by Pope Alexander IV
Major Shrine:	Basilica of Saint Clare, Assisi
Patron of:	clairvoyance, eye disease, goldsmiths, laundry, embrodiers, gilders, good weather, needleworkers, telephones, telegraphs, television

[Salvation]

Information: St. Philomena

Feast Day:	August 11
Major Shrine:	Church of Our Lady of Grace in Mugnano del Cardinale
Patron of:	Children, youth, babies, infants, lost causes, sterility, virgins, Children of Mary, The Universal Living Rosary Association

[Salvation]

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Clare

Feast Day: August 11
Born: 1193 :: Died: 1253

St. Clare was born in a little town called Assisi, in Italy. She was a beautiful girl who lived at the time of St. Francis of Assisi.

Before she was born, when her mother was praying one day for the baby that was soon to be born, she heard a voice saying "Woman, do not worry, you shall have a daughter and by her life, she will bring God's light to the world."

Clare had so much pity for the poor, that quite often she would secretly give her food to them and go hungry herself.

She spent time praying faithfully to Jesus everyday. If she did anything wrong when she was with her friends she would immediately do penance so that Jesus would be happy with her again.

When Clare was eighteen, she heard St. Francis preach. Her heart burned with a great desire to imitate him. She also wanted to live a poor, humble life for Jesus.

So one evening, she ran away from home and went to the church where St. Francis and his Friars (disciples) lived. In a little chapel outside Assisi, she gave herself to God.

St. Francis cut off her beautiful hair and offered her a rough brown habit (long dress that nuns normally wear) and left her in the abbey to stay with the Benedictine nuns.

Her friends hated this work she was doing for God and her parents tried in every way to make her return home, but Clare would not. Soon her fifteen-year-old sister Agnes also joined her. Other young women wanted to be brides of Jesus, too. Before long there was a small religious community.

Under the guidance of St. Francis, Clare started an order of nuns called the "Poor Clares." St. Clare and her nuns wore no shoes. They never ate meat. They lived in a poor house and kept silent most of the time. Yet they were very happy because they felt that Jesus was close to them.

Once an army of cruel soldiers came to attack Assisi. They planned to raid the convent first. Although very sick, St. Clare asked to be carried to the window. She had the Blessed Sacrament placed right where the soldiers could see it.

Then she knelt and begged God to save the nuns. "O Lord, protect these sisters whom I cannot protect now," she prayed. And a voice within her seemed to say: "I will keep them always in my care." Suddenly, a great fear came over the attackers and they ran away as fast as they could.

St. Clare was sick for twenty-nine years before she died on August 11, 1253. But she was always joyful because she was serving the Lord.

Some people worried that the nuns were suffering because they were so poor. "They say that we are too poor, but how can a heart which holds the infinite God be poor?"

[annalex]

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 17
14.	And when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water.	Et cum venisset ad turbam, accessit ad eum homo genibus provolutus ante eum, dicens : Domine, miserere filio meo, quia lunaticus est, et male patitur : nam sæpe cadit in ignem, et crebro in aquam.	και ελθοντων αυτων προς τον οχλον προσηλθεν αυτω ανθρωπος γονυπετων αυτον
15.	17:14 And when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water.	17:14 Et cum venisset ad turbam, accessit ad eum homo genibus provolutus ante eum, dicens : Domine, miserere filio meo, quia lunaticus est, et male patitur : nam sæpe cadit in ignem, et crebro in aquam.	και λεγων κυριε ελεησον μου τον υιον οτι σεληνιαζεται και κακως πασχει πολλακις γαρ πιπτει εις το πυρ και πολλακις εις το υδωρ
16.	17:15 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.	17:15 Et obtuli eum discipulis tuis, et non potuerunt curare eum.	και προσηνεγκα αυτον τοις μαθηταις σου και ουκ ηδυνηθησαν αυτον θεραπευσαι
17.	17:16 Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.	17:16 Respondens autem Jesus, ait : O generatio incredula, et perversa, quousque ero vobiscum ? usquequo patiar vos ? Afferte huc illum ad me.	αποκριθεις δε ο ιησους ειπεν ω γενεα απιστος και διεστραμμενη εως ποτε εσομαι μεθ υμων εως ποτε ανεξομαι υμων φερετε μοι αυτον ωδε
18.	17:17 And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour.	17:17 Et increpavit illum Jesus, et exiit ab eo dæmonium, et curatus est puer ex illa hora.	και επετιμησεν αυτω ο ιησους και εξηλθεν απ αυτου το δαιμονιον και εθεραπευθη ο παις απο της ωρας εκεινης
19.	17:18 Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out?	17:18 Tunc accesserunt discipuli ad Jesum secreto, et dixerunt : Quare nos non potuimus ejicere illum ?	τοτε προσελθοντες οι μαθηται τω ιησου κατ ιδιαν ειπον δια τι ημεις ουκ ηδυνηθημεν εκβαλειν αυτο
20.	17:19 Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.	17:19 Dixit illis Jesus : Propter incredulitatem vestram. Amen quippe dico vobis, si habueritis fidem sicut granum sinapis, dicetis monti huic : Transi hinc illuc, et transibit, et nihil impossibile erit vobis.	ο δε ιησους ειπεν αυτοις δια την απιστιαν υμων αμην γαρ λεγω υμιν εαν εχητε πιστιν ως κοκκον σιναπεως ερειτε τω ορει τουτω μεταβηθι εντευθεν εκει και μεταβησεται και ουδεν αδυνατησει υμιν
21.	17:20 But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.	17:20 Hoc autem genus non ejicitur nisi per orationem et jejunium.	τουτο δε το γενος ουκ εκπορευεται ει μη εν προσευχη και νηστεια

(*) Verses 14-15 breakdown differs.

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14. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15. Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.
16. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.
17. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

ORIGEN; Peter, anxious for such desirable life, and preferring his own benefit to that of many, had said, It is good for us to be here. But since charity seeks not her own, Jesus did not this which seemed good to Peter, but descended to the multitude, as it were from the high mount of His divinity, that He might be of use to such as could not ascend because of the weakness of their souls; whence it is said, And when he was come to the multitude; for if He had not gone to the multitude with His elect disciples, there would not have come near to Him the man of whom it is added, There came to him a man kneeling down, and, saying, Lord, have mercy on my son.

Consider here, that sometimes those that are themselves the sufferers believe and entreat for their own healing, sometimes others for them, as he who kneels before Him praying for his son, and sometimes the Savior heals of Himself unasked by any. First, let us see what this means that follows, For he is lunatic, and sorely vexed. Let the physicians talk as they wish; for they think it no unclean spirit, but some bodily disorder, and say, that the humors in the head are governed in their motions by sympathy with the phases of the moon, whose light is of the nature of humors. But we who believe the Gospel say that it is an unclean spirit that works such disorders in men. The spirit observes the moon's changes, that it may cheat men into the belief that the moon is the cause of their sufferings, and so prove God's creation to be evil; as other demons lay wait for men following the times and courses of the stars, that they may speak wickedness in high places, calling some stars malignant, others benign; whereas no star was made by God that it should produce evil. In this that is added, For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water,

CHRYS; is to be noted, that were not man fortified here by Providence, he would long since have perished; for the demon who cast him into the fire, and into the water, would have killed him outright, had God not restrained him.

JEROME; In saying, And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him, he covertly accuses the Apostles, whereas that a cure is impossible is sometimes the effect not of want of power in those that undertake it, but of want of faith in those that are to be healed.

CHRYS; See herein also his folly, in that before the multitude he appeals to Jesus against His disciples. But He clears them from shame, imputing their failure to the patient himself; for many things show that he was weak in faith. But He addresses His reproof not to the man singly, that He may not trouble him, but to the Jews in general. For many of those present, it is likely, had improper thoughts concerning the disciples, and therefore it follows, Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, how long shall I suffer you? His How long shall I be with you? shows that death was desired by Him, and that He longed for His withdrawal.

REMIG; It may be known also, that not now for the first time, but of a long time, the Lord had borne the Jews' stubbornness, whence He says, How long shall I suffer you? because I have now a long while endured your iniquities, and you are unworthy of My presence.

ORIGEN; Or; Because the disciples could not heal him as being weak in faith, He said to them, O faithless generation, adding perverse, to show that their perverseness had introduced evil beyond their nature. But I suppose, that because of the perverseness of the whole human race, as it were oppressed with their evil nature, He said, How long shall I be with you?

JEROME; Not that we must think that He was overcome by weariness of them, and that The meek and gentle broke out into words of wrath, but as a physician who might see the sick man acting against his injunctions, would say, How long shall I frequent your chamber? How long throw away the exercise of my skill, while I prescribe one thing, and you do another? That it is the sin, and not the man with whom He is angry, and that in the person of this one man He convicts the Jews of unbelief, is clear from what He adds, Bring him to me.

CHRYS; When He had vindicated His disciples, He leads the boy's father to a cheering hope of believing that he shall be delivered out of this evil; and that the father might be led to believe the miracle that was coming, seeing the demon was disturbed even when the child was only called;

JEROME; He rebuked him, that is, not the sufferer, but the demon.

REMIG; In which deed He left an example to preachers to attack sins, but to assist men.

JEROME; Or, His reproof was to the child, because for his sins he had been seized on by the demon.

RABAN; The lunatic is figuratively one who is hurried into fresh vices every hour, one while is cast into the fire, with which the hearts of the adulterers burn; or again into the waters of pleasures or lusts, which yet have not strength to quench love.

AUG. Or the fire pertains to anger, which aims upwards, water to the lusts of the flesh.

ORIGEN; Of the changefulness of the sinner it is said, The fool changes as the moon. We may see sometimes that an impulse towards good works comes over such, when, lo! again as by a sudden seizure of a spirit they are laid hold of by their passions, and fall from that good state in which they were supposed to stand. Perhaps his father stands for the Angel to whom was allotted the care of this lunatic, praying the Physician of souls, that He would set free his son, who could not be delivered from his suffering by the simple word of Christ's disciples, because as a deaf person he cannot receive their instruction, and therefore he needs Christ's word, that henceforth he may not act without reason.

19. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20. And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief: for I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
21. This kind goes not out except by prayer and fasting.

CHRYS; The disciples had received from the Lord the power over unclean spirits, and when they could not heal the demoniac thus brought to them, they seem to have had misgivings lest they had forfeited the grace once given to them; hence their question. And they ask it apart, not out of shame, but because of the unspeakable matter of which they were to ask.

Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief.

HILARY; The Apostles had believed, yet their faith was imperfect; while the Lord tarried in the mount, and they abode below with the multitude, their faith had become stagnant.

CHRYS; Whence it is plain that the disciples' faith was grown weak, yet not all, for those pillars were there, Peter, and James, and John.

JEROME; This is what the Lord says in another place, Whatever you shall ask in my name believing, you shall receive. Therefore when we receive not, it is not the weakness of Him that gives, but the fault of them that ask.

CHRYS; But it is to be known, that, as often the faith of him that draws near to receive supplies the miraculous virtue, so often the power of those that work the miracle is sufficient even without the faith of those who sought to receive. Cornelius and his house hold, by their faith, attracted to them the grace of the Holy Spirit; but the dead man who was cast into the sepulcher of Elisha, was revived solely by virtue of the holy body. It happened that the disciples were then weak in faith; for indeed they were but in an imperfect condition before the cross; wherefore He here tells them, that faith is the mean of miracles, I say to you, if you shall have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove hence, and it shall remove.

JEROME; Some think that the faith that is compared to a grain of mustard-seed is a little faith, whereas the Apostle says, If I shall have such faith that I could remove mountains. The faith therefore which is compared to a grain of mustard-seed is a great faith.

GREG; The mustard-seed, unless it be bruised, does not give out its qualities, so if persecution fall upon a holy man, straightway what had seemed weak and contemptible in him is roused into the heat and fervor of virtue.

ORIGEN; Or, all faith is likened to a grain of mustard-seed, because faith is looked on with contempt by men, and shows as something poor and mean; but when a seed of this kind lights upon a good heart as its soil, it becomes a great tree. The weakness of this lunatic's faith is yet so great, and Christ is so strong to head him amidst all his evils, that He likens it to a mountain which cannot be cast out but by the whole faith of him who desires to heal afflictions of this sort.

CHRYS; So He not only promises the removal of mountains, but goes beyond, saying, And nothing shall be impossible to you.

RABAN; For faith gives our minds such a capacity for the heavenly gifts, that whatsoever we will we may easily obtain from a faithful Master.

CHRYS; If you shall ask, Where did the Apostles remove mountains? I answer, that they did greater things, bringing many dead to life. It is told also of some saints, who came after the Apostles, that they have in urgent necessity removed mountains . But if mountains were not removed in the Apostles' time, this was not because they could not, but because they would not, there being no pressing occasion. And the Lord said not that they should do this thing, but that they should have power to do it. Yet it is likely that they did do this, but that it is not written, for indeed not all the miracles that they wrought are written.

JEROME; Or; the mountain is not said of that which we see with the eyes of the body, but signified that spirit which was removed by the Lord out of the lunatic, who is said by the Prophet to be the corrupter of the whole earth.

GLOSS; So that the sense then is, you shall say to this mountain, that is to the proud devil, Remove hence, that is from the possessed body into the sea, that is into the depths of hell, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you, that is, no sickness shall be incurable.

AUG; Otherwise; That the disciples in working their miracles should not be lifted up with pride, they are warned rather by the humbleness of their faith, as by a grain of mustard-seed, to take care that they remove all pride of earth, which is signified by the mountain in this place.

RABAN; But while He teaches the Apostles flow the demon ought to be cast out, He instructs all in regulation of life; that we may all know that all the heavier infliction, whether of unclean spirits, or temptations of men, may be removed by fasts and prayers; and that the wrath also of the Lord may be appeased by this remedy alone; whence he adds, This kind is not cast out except by prayer and fasting.

CHRYS; And this He says not of lunatics in particular, but of the whole class of demons. For fast endues with great wisdom, makes a man as an Angel from heaven, and beats down the unseen powers of evil. But there is need of prayer as even still more important. And who prays as he ought, and fasts, had need of little more, and so is not covetous, but ready to almsgiving. For he who fasts, is light and active, and prays wakefully, and quenches his evil lusts, makes God propitious, and humbles his proud stomach. And he who prays with his fasting, has two wings, lighter than the winds themselves. For he is not heavy and wandering in his prayers, (as is the case with many,) but his zeal is as the warmth of fire, and his constancy as the firmness of the earth. Such an one is most able to contend with demons, for there is nothing more powerful than a man who prays properly. But if your health be too weak for strict fast, yet is it not for prayer, and if you cannot fast, you can abstain from indulgences. And this is not a little, and not very different from fast.

ORIGEN; If then we shall ever be required to be employed in the healing of those who are suffering any thing of this sort, we shall not adjure them, nor ask them questions, nor even speak, as though the unclean spirit could hear us, but by our fasting and our prayers drive away the evil spirits.

GLOSS; Or; This class of demons, that is the variety of carnal pleasures, is not overcome unless the spirit be strengthened by prayer, and the flesh enfeebled by fast.

REMIG; Or, fasting is here understood generally as abstinence not from food only, but from all carnal allurements, and sinful passions. In like manner prayer is to be understood in general as consisting in pious and good acts, concerning which the Apostle speaks, Pray without ceasing.

Catena Aurea Matthew 17

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Exorcism of demons whose name is Legion

Gospel of the Healing
AD 1353
Armenia

[Salvation]

 

Catholic

Almanac:

Saturday, August 11

Liturgical Color: White

Today is the Memorial of St. Clare of Assisi. She loved the Mass and an image of the Mass appeared each day on the wall by her bedside when she was too sick to attend. Because of this, she is the patron of television workers.

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: August 11, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty, grant, through her intercession, that, following Christ in poverty of spirit, we may merit to contemplate you one day in the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Asparagus and Scrambled Eggs with Bacon

ACTIVITIES

• Namedays
• Religion in the Home for Elementary School: August
• Religion in the Home for Preschool: August
• What is a Nameday?

PRAYERS

• The Immaculate Heart
• St. Clare's Litany of the Sacred Wounds

Ordinary Time: August 11th

Memorial of St. Clare, virgin

Old Calendar: Saints Tiburtius and Susanna; St. Philomena, virgin & martry (Hist)

St. Clare of Assisi was the first woman to practice the life of entire poverty as taught by St. Francis. Placed by him at the head of a few companions in the small convent of San Damiano, she governed her community for forty-two years thus founding at the gates of Assisi the Order of Poor Clares. Their Rule included austerities hitherto unknown in monasteries of women. They went barefoot, slept on the ground, kept perpetual abstinence and made poverty the basis of their lives. St. Clare died on August 11, 1253, and was canonized two years after her death.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Sts. Tiburtius and Susanna. St. Tiburtius is a Roman martyr of unknown date who is buried on the Via Laviacana in the cemetery known nowadays as the catacomb of Sts. Peter and Marcellinus. St. Susanna, a Roman virgin, was also martyred at an unknown date. There are two churches in Rome which bear her name.

Historically today is the feast of St. Philomena, a young virgin and martyr of the fourth century.

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St. Clare
The Breviary says of her: "Following the example of St. Francis, she distributed all her possessions among the poor. She fled from the noise of the world and betook herself to a country chapel, where St. Francis himself sheared off her hair and clothed her with a penitential garb (on March 18, 1212, at the age of eighteen). Then she resided at the Church of St. Damian, where the Lord provided for her a goodly number of companions. So she established a community of nuns and acted as their superior at the wish of St Francis. For forty-two years she directed the nunnery with zeal and prudence, her own life serving as a constant sermon for her sisters to emulate. Of Pope Innocent IV she requested the privilege that she and her community live in absolute poverty. She was a most perfect follower of St. Francis of Assisi.

"When the Saracens were besieging Assisi and were preparing to attack the convent, St. Clare asked to be assisted as far as the entrance, for she was ill. In her hand she carried a vessel containing the blessed Eucharist as she prayed: O Lord, do not deliver over to beasts the souls that praise You! (Ps. 73). Protect Your servants, for You have redeemed them by Your precious Blood. And in the midst of that prayer a voice was heard, saying: Always will I protect you ! The Saracens took to flight."

Heroic in suffering (she was sick for twenty-seven years), she was canonized only two years after her death. Thomas of Celano coined the saying: Clara nomine, vita clarior, clarissima moribus.

Clare was the first flower in the garden of the Poor Man of Assisi. Poor in earthly goods, but rich in her utter poverty, she was a replica of Jesus, poor in the crib and on the Cross. At her time the Church generally and many Church men were enmeshed in financial matters and political maneuvering. Through the renewal of the ideal of poverty, St. Francis effected a "reform of Christian life in head and members."

In our twentieth century there still remain large areas with millions suffering under extreme poverty. Poverty in itself is no virtue; but it should be made into a virtue. Let us recall a few of the examples and texts from holy Scripture which show how precious poverty is and what deep reverence we should have toward it. Christ was poor. His entrance into the world and His departure from it took place in circumstances of greatest need. He had no house wherein to be born, no crib; no house wherein to die, no deathbed. Poverty stood watch at birth and remained to see His death. "The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" (Matt. 3:20).

At least we can be moderate and frugal, and thereby find the way to the spirit of Christian poverty. St. Clare, help us.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Embroiderers; eye disease; eyes; gilders; goldsmiths; gold workers; good weather; laundry workers; needle workers; Santa Clara Indian Pueblo; telegraphs; telephones; television; television writers.

Symbols: Chalice and host; tall cross; Monstrance; lily; ciborium.
Often Portrayed as: Woman with a monstrance in her hand; Nun holding a vessel containing the holy Eucharist.

Things to Do:

From A Treasure Chest of Traditions For Catholic Families by Monica McConkey:

While St. Clare is the patroness of sore eyes, she has also become the patroness of television. She miraculously saw and heard Mass, even when she was too sick to attend!

Make a resolution to prevent sore eyes caused by too much television! Pick shows selectively. Some families create a token system, rationing viewing by requiring viewers to "PAY-PER-VIEW". Buttons, poker chips or other sets of small game pieces can be used as tokens (handed out weekly), or a TIME SHEET can be used to log in or out TV programs to keep track.

Help children to choose programs carefully. Help children to recognize how programs which may be cute or funny, do not necessarily reflect family values. Keep the dialogue going and talk about the differences!

Used with permission. Write to ArmaDei@aol.com or see Arma Dei for more information about this great book. Treasure Chest is filled with unique ideas for activities, crafts and recipes to help families celebrate the various Seasons and Feast Days of the year.

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Sts. Tiburtius and Susanna
A sense of reverential awe and deep respect fills us whenever we meet the martyrs of the ancient Church. Yet it is often very difficult to give a strictly historical account of their lives. Nevertheless, even though we do not know all the biographical details, they are for us representatives of that "army of light," the martyrs, witnesses to Christ. And we want to be inspired by their example. Today the Martyrology tells this: "At Rome, between the two laurel trees, the death of the holy martyr Tiburtius. During the persecution of Diocletian the magistrate Fabian forced him to tread barefoot upon burning coals. As it only served to make him profess the faith more boldly, he was ordered to be led outside the city until the third milestone and there beheaded. . . . At Rome, the holy virgin Susanna. She came from an illustrious family, and was the niece of the saintly Pope Cams. At the time of Diocletian she won the palm of martyrdom by being beheaded."

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Symbols: Susanna Crown at her feet; sword.

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St. Philomena
On May 25, 1802, excavators in the ancient Catacomb of St. Priscilla in Rome came upon a well-preserved shelf tomb sealed with terra-cotta slabs in the manner usually reserved for nobility or great martyrs. The tomb was marked with three tiles, inscribed with the following confusing words: LUMENA / PAXTE / CUMFI. However, if one places the first tile last and separates the words properly, the very intelligible sentence emerges: "Pax tecum, Filumena", which is, "Peace be with you, Philomena" Also inscribed on the tiles were symbols: a lily, arrows, an anchor and a lance, which would appear to indicate virginity and martyrdom. Inside the coffin there were discovered the remains of a girl of about twelve or thirteen years of age, along with a vial or ampulla of her dried blood.

Transferred to the Treasury of the Rare Collection of Christian Antiquity in the Vatican, the remains were soon forgotten by the public, especially since no record existed of a virgin martyr named Philomena. But in 1805, a Neapolitan priest, Don Francesco di Lucia, traveling to Rome with his newly appointed bishop, requested and, after a brief delay, received the relics of this martyr "Philomena" to enshrine in his village church at Mugnano, near Naples.

Immediately upon the official donation of St. Philomena’s sacred remains, signal favors began to be granted through her intercession and unusual events to occur. The favors, graces and even miracles started to increase, even before her enshrinement at Mugnano, and they steadily grew in number thereafter-such that this virgin martyr soon earned the title, "Philomena, Powerful with God." In 1837, only 35 years after her exhumation, Pope Gregory XVI elevated this "Wonder-Worker of the Nineteenth Century" to sainthood. In an act unprecedented in the history of Catholicism, she became the only person recognized by the Church as a Saint solely on the basis of her powerful intercession, since nothing historical was known of her except her name and the evidence of her martyrdom.

But truly, as her devotees have discovered, no case, of whatever matter is too trivial or too unimportant to concern her. Among her most devoted clients was St. John Vianney (the Cure D'Ars) whose childlike devotion to this virgin Saint played an intimate part in his daily life. Other Saints who were always devoted to her, prayed to her and sang her praises were : St. Peter Julian Eymard, St.Peter Chanel, St. Anthony Mary Claret, St. Madelaine Sophie Barat, St. Euphrasia Pelletier, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, St. John Nepomucene Neumann, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi and Ven. Pauline Jaricot.

A number of Popes have also shown remarkable devotion to Philomena as well: Pope Leo XII (1823-1829) expressed the great admiration for this unknown child-saint and gladly gave his permission for the erection of altars and churches in her honor. Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846), who authorized her public veneration showed his esteem and devotion to the Saint by giving her the title of "Patroness of the Living Rosary." A Mass and proper Office in her honor were approved by him in 1834 or 1835. This is extraordinary privilege granted to comparatively few Saints. Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) proclaimed her "Patroness of the Children of Mary." Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) made two pilgrimages to her shrine before his election to the papacy. After he had become the Vicar of Christ, he gave a valuable cross to the sanctuary He approved the Confraternity of St. Philomena and later raised it to an Arch-confraternity (which is still headquartered at her shrine at Mugnano, Italy). Pope St. Pius X (1903-1914) spoke warmly of her and manifested his devotion to her in various ways. Costly gifts were given by him to her shrine.

Excerpted from TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.

Patron: against barrenness, against bodily ills, against infertility, against mental illness, against sickness, against sterility, babies, children, Children of Mary, desperate causes, forgotten causes, impossible causes, infants, lost causes, Living Rosary, newborns, orphans, poor people, priests, prisoners, sick people, students, test takers, toddlers, young people, youth

Symbols: anchor (an image of one was inscribed on her tomb); arrows; crown; lily

Things to Do:

• For more information on St. Philomena visit the following sites: Story of St. Philomena, Roman Catholic Sacramentals, the National Shrine of St. Philomena and Cleveland Catholics.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 17:14-20

 “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…” (Matthew 17:20)

It’s a familiar story: a neigh­bor saw a little girl trapped under a car, and amazingly was able to lift the car off her. The mother praised him as “Superman,” but he said he hardly thought about what he was doing. He just responded as fast as he could.

This man had a mountain to move and he moved it! Of course, in his case it wasn’t an issue of faith. It was more an adrenaline-powered response to a crisis. Nonetheless, this story can be a moving analogy to teach us about living by faith.

We tend to think of faith as something that’s in our heads. But there is also a spontaneous, heroic side to faith. Sometimes, our faith will move us to take quick action. We won’t have time to survey the situation or pray for hours to mus­ter up our courage. Sometimes, a situation crops up that demands a swift response—a response that arises more from our hearts than from our brains.

You don’t need to be particu­larly strong to practice this kind of faith. You don’t need to be espe­cially smart, either. You just need to be open to inspiration—when you feel moved to share your faith. When a neighbor is suffering, and you are compelled to offer a word of comfort or a shoulder to cry on. When a potentially sinful situation presents itself, and you know you need to intervene to keep things from getting worse. At times like these, our spiritual “Superman” wants to take charge, but it can be so easy to stay as Clark Kent. It’s in these situations that we can learn to trust the promptings of the Spirit and act swiftly.

Keep your eyes open today. Most likely, something will hap­pen that will call for an immediate response of faith. Don’t think too much about it, or you may lose the opportunity. Just move forward and follow your gut instinct. And if you end up being wrong, you can take comfort in knowing that at least you tried—and God will reward your effort.

“Lord, give me simple faith! May I not be held back by counting the cost. I want to hear your voice and obey.”

Habakkuk 1:12–2:4; Psalm 9:8-13

[Salvation]

A Christian Pilgrim

THE MIRROR OF ST. CLARE OF ASSISI

FEAST DAY: AUGUST 11

FRANCIS met the Lord when he embraced the leper and when he begged for stones and food; and he would never be detoured from that way, because he had found the Lord there. Saint Clare finds God in the poverty of contemplation, and she in turn never swerves from her way to the end of her life. For Clare poverty and contemplation are so intimately intertwined that contemplation presupposes poverty, because the Lord promises and gives the Kingdom of Heaven only to the poor. 

As she writes in one of her letters, What a praiseworthy exchange: to leave temporal things for those that are eternal, to choose heavenly things for earthly goods, to receive a hundredfold instead of one, and to possess a life, blessed and eternal. 

As with Francis, Clare’s poverty is not for its own sake but because it makes present the Kingdom and because of an ardent desire for the Poor Crucified. 

Since the great and good Lord, on entering the Virgin’s womb, chose to look despised, needy, and poor in this world, so that people in dire poverty and deprivation and in absolute need of heavenly nourishment might become rich in Him by possessing the Kingdom of Heaven, then you who have chosen poverty should rejoice and be glad! 

Always it is the Poor Christ whom Clare is determined to gaze upon, consider and contemplate, because He is the image of God, the Mirror we are to contemplate.

This image of the mirror is central to Saint Clare’s spirituality. As Francis was the mirror of Christ and Christ of the Father, so the life of the contemplative is to look into the mirror that is Christ and see there oneself, thereby learning who you are. By looking into the mirror who is Christ and recognizing yourself, you become a mirror of Him whom you contemplate, and you in turn mirror, through Christ to the Father, all the creation. You see yourself both in a mirror and as a mirror.

Saint Clare writes to her sisters: For the Lord Himself has not only placed us as example and mirror for others, but also for our own sisters whom the Lord has called to our way of life, so that they in their turn will be mirror and example to those living in the world. 

This complex imagery shows Saint Clare’s profound acquaintance with Sacred Scripture, with the literature of the Fathers of the Church, and with the lyrics of the troubadours, all of which are replete with mirror imagery.

There is, for example, a famous twelfth-century version of Ovid’s tale of Narcissus in which the troubadour has his Narcissus recognize that he is different from his image in the water, thereby discovering his own separate identity. For a contemplative like Saint Clare, however, the birth of self-consciousness through recognition is not enough. She finds her true identity by looking upon Christ and seeing there herself as an image of the Divine; and the more perfectly she mirrors the image of Christ, the more real she becomes. She says in a letter to Blessed Agnes of Prague: Because the vision of Christ is the splendor of eternal glory, the radiance of eternal light and the mirror without stain, look upon that mirror each day, O queen and spouse of Jesus Christ, and continually study your countenance within it, so that you may clothe yourself inside and out with beautiful robes and cover yourself with the flowers and garments of all the virtues, as becomes the daughter and most chaste bride of the Most High King. Indeed blessed poverty, holy humility, and ineffable charity are reflected in that mirror, and, with the grace of God, you can contemplate them throughout the entire mirror. 

She then expands her imagery to include the whole mirror. Look at the edges of this mirror, and see the poverty of Him who was placed in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then looking at the surface of the mirror, dwell on the holy humility, the blessed poverty, the untold labors and burdens which He endured for the redemption of all humankind. Then, in the deep center of the mirror, contemplate the ineffable charity which led Him to suffer on the wood of the Cross, dying on it the most shameful kind of death. Therefore, that mirror hanging on the wood of the Cross urged those who passed by to consider, saying: “All you who pass by the way, look and see if there is any suffering like My suffering!” 

The most striking reality that this imagery confronts us with is the poverty of God. The Poor Christ is the image of the Godhead! God is poor, God is self-emptying; and in our poverty, our resemblance to the poor, crucified Christ, we become mirrors of God Himself. Poverty, then, is not an end in itself, but a way of becoming transformed into an image of the Trinity by contemplating the Mirror of the Trinity, Jesus Christ Himself. As a mirror is material, yet holds an immaterial image, so the Poor Christ is human and visible, yet is an image of the invisible God, who is poor in Triune self-emptying that is simultaneously a filling up.

It is no wonder then that Saint Clare holds so tenaciously to contemplation and poverty as a way of life: The two are one: the contemplation of poverty becoming the poverty of contemplation.

[Salvation]

A Christian Pilgrim

SAINT CLARE OF ASSISI [1195-1253] – FEAST DAY: AUGUST 11

GAZE UPON HIM …

    CONSIDER HIM …

         CONTEMPLATE HIM …

               IMITATE HIM !!!

Source: Second letter [1235] of St. Clare of Assisi to St. Agnes of Prague.

[Salvation]

 

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for August 11, 2012:

Spouses make a choice to marry. Children don’t have a choice to be born. Give your children choices whenever practical. It helps them develop decision making skills. Just make sure you only give your child a choice that you’re willing to live with as a parent.  

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

Priests at Every Moment

By

Father Mark

 on August 11, 2012 7:52 PM |

I live on in the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist,
but few understand
that this Sacrament is the fulfillment of My promise
on the night before I suffered:
'You can see Me because I live on,
and you too will have life.
When that day comes you will learn for yourselves
that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you' (Jn 14:20-21).

You have only to raise your eyes to the Sacred Host to see Me.
There, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, I live on.
There I am present to you and present before My Father
in the glory of the heavenly sanctuary.
Lift up your eyes to Me.
Seek My Eucharistic Face
and you will understand
that My priesthood is one of ceaseless offering
in heaven and on earth.

It is through My silent life
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar
that I teach My priests how to be priests at every moment
and not only when,
vested in the insignia of their sacerdotal dignity,
they stand before the altar to celebrate the Holy Mysteries.
The life of the priest IS My life in heaven:
ceaseless attention to the Father
and uninterrupted intercession, thanksgiving, reparation,
and praise on behalf of all men.

There is not a moment
when the priest cannot be united to Me
in praising My Father for his great glory,
in mediating the praises of the saints and of the angels,
in carrying forward every offering to the Father made on earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
The life of the priest is not only his Mass;
it is every Mass that is being offered on earth,
that has been or will be offered,
and all of this in union with Me
who stand in the presence of My Father
as Eternal Priest, as perpetual Victim,
and as Altar covered with the outpouring of My own Blood.

The service of My priests
in the sanctuaries of My Church on earth is but a part of their day:
a passing moment in time.
My desire is that each priest should unite himself
to My eternal service of the Father
in the sanctuary not made by human hands
that is in heaven.

'When that day comes
you will learn for yourselves
that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you' (Jn 14:20).

Oh, that every priest of Mine would say with Me
at the beginning of his day:
'The world must know that I love the Father
and act only as the Father has commanded Me to act.
Rise up, we must be on our way' (Jn 14:31).

From In Sinu Iesu, The Journal of a Priest

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

Turn to Jesus

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin

Matthew 17: 14-20

A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, "Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him." Jesus said in reply, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me." Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ´Move from here to there,´ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you want me to have faith in you, faith that hearkens to your words without any second guessing. I hope in your words, not relying solely on my own strength or reasoning. I love you. You continue to astonish me by showing me that your ways are not my ways.

Petition: Lord, give me the grace to trust you.

1. Never a Dull Moment: Just before this event, the apostles were with Christ at the Transfiguration. Have you ever come out of a retreat on fire to change the world, and then the unexpected cross comes your way – a negative comment, a temptation you have not had before, a tragedy in the family? You were in the clouds surrounded by God’s glory, and then you came crashing down to the reality of this world. Let the moments of glory be your strength to face and persevere through all the challenges that lie ahead. We have to be strong. We have to keep moving ahead even though we seem to have bullets flying by our heads, as do soldiers in war. We have to have faith.

2. Genuine Faith: The apostles go out and think they can cure people, but they forget the secret ingredient – faith. It is not the apostles who are doing the work; it is God working through them. Could it be that they had forgotten this fact and fell into presumption? How often do we have a great time at prayer, only to walk out the door and return to our self-centeredness? We have no power aside from Christ. Put your faith into action. Make sure your actions are done with Christ and through Christ.

3. Looking Back: Let’s move forward to the time when Peter looked back on all these occurrences and realized how patient our Lord had been with him. He also saw Christ’s merciful love to all people. Do I find daily nourishment in seeing how patient and merciful our Lord is? Do I often lose my cool and get anxious simply because I do not know how to deal with others’ faults or with people who clash with me? Is it tough for me when people do not see the obvious? Am I short tempered with others, not dealing well with their shortcomings and failures? Turn to Christ. Look at him, see his simple smile and recall how long he waited for you to look him in the eyes and change your ways.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you always had your hand stretched out to me, but often I used my hands for my own endeavors. Take me by the hand now, and lead me where you want me to go.

Resolution: Today when I go to prayer, I will look back on the road traveled thus far and be grateful.