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An Augustinian prioress, a hermitess and an archdeacon, all living at Liege in the thirteenth century, are the people mainly responsible for the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi. Although the institution of the Holy Eucharist has been commemorated on Maundy Thursday since Apostolic times, the Church is concerned at this period with the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ which overshadows remembrance of the events of the Last Supper. The first petition Some of the faithful felt that a further day to honour the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar should be established. Notable among these was...

  Feast of the Holy Innocents December 28 Giotto di Bondone No. 21 Scenes from the Life of Christ Massacre of the Innocents 1304-06 -- Fresco Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua   Collect for the Feast of the Holy Innocents O God, whose praise the martyred innocents did this day proclaim, not by speaking, but by dying: Destroy in us all the malice of sinfulness, that our lives may also proclaim thy faith, which our tongues profess. Through our Lord. Amen.From the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy The Feast of the Holy Innocents113. Since the sixth century,...

The Day of Atonement: Removal of Sin's Cause and Reconciliation to God We have already seen-through the symbolism involved in the Passover-that Christ's shed blood atones for our past sins. In fact, atonement means reconciliation. The Day of Atonement symbolizes the reconciliation of God and all humanity. If we are reconciled to God through Christ's sacrifice, why do we need another Holy Day to teach us about reconciliation? If we are already reconciled, why do we need to fast, as commanded on the Day of Atonement? (Leviticus 23:27; Acts 27:9). What is this day's specific significance in God's master...

Feast and famine in Europe as global warming scorches farms By Robert Uhlig, Farming Correspondent (Filed: 21/08/2003) Prophetic warnings of how global warming will play havoc with the world's agriculture appear to be coming true, according to evidence from this year's harvests in Europe and America. The long weeks of sunshine might please holidaymakers and promise a vintage year for vineyards, but the persistent drought has reduced yields by up to a quarter in many parts of Europe for major crops such as wheat, sunflower and potato. With many of the crops used as livestock feed, the shortfall is thought...

Both love and duty today fashion my homily for your charity. It is not only that I wish, because of my love for you, and because I am obliged by the sacred canons, to bring to your God-loving ears a saving word and thus to nourish your souls, but if there be any among those things that bind by obligation and love and can be narrated with praise for the Church, it is the great deed of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God. The desire is double, not single, since it induces me, entreats and persuades me, whereas the inexorable duty...

While the U.S.-led coalition forces were tightening their lasso around Baghdad, a committee of Ba'athist dignitaries was putting final touches to what it hoped would be "the mother of all feasts." Scheduled to start on 23 April for 10 days, the feast was to mark Saddam Hussein's 66th birthday. Uday, Saddam's eldest son and commander-in-chief of his Fedayeen, headed the committee. The festivities were to include a football tournament, the first round of which was held in Baghdad on 8 March, for the coveted Saddam Cup. Professional and amateur artists were due to produce tens of thousands of paintings depicting...

February 22, 2003Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle Psalm: Saturday Week 10 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I 1 Pt 5:1-4 Beloved:I exhort the presbyters among you,as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christand one who has a share in the glory to be revealed.Tend the flock of God in your midst,overseeing not by constraint but willingly,as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly.Do not lord it over those assigned to you,but be examples to the flock.And when the chief Shepherd is revealed,you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Responsorial...

<p>So far, California's politicians have reacted to the deepening state budget crisis with the same expedient attitude that created the mess in the first place.</p> <p>The state fell into this seemingly bottomless pit because Gov. Gray Davis and lawmakers of both parties made long-term spending and tax-cut commitments based on a short-term spike in revenues, largely income taxes on stock options and capital gains in the highly volatile high-tech sector of the economy.</p>

Fired Zookeeper Gets Paid Despite Animal Feast Fri Nov 8, 9:54 AM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - A German zookeeper, fired last month for eating animals in a town zoo, was awarded six-months severance pay after reaching a settlement in a labor court on Thursday. The town of Recklinghausen, north of Cologne, fired the zookeeper after he was caught barbecuing five Tibetan mountain chickens and two Cameroonian sheep at the zoo, popular with children who were allowed to stroke the animals. The man, employed at the zoo since 1997, challenged the dismissal saying he had not been given the six-months notice...