It is with great sorrow that I send condolences to the family, friends, clergy, colleagues and flock of Bishop Daniel Lytle Dolan (28 May 1951-26 April 2022), long-time Pastor of Saint Gertrude the Great Church in West Chester, Ohio, who died suddenly on the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, 26 April. He was 70 years old. Réquiem aetérnam dona ei, Dómine, et lux perpétua lúceat ei. Requiéscat in pace. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen
“Soar up my Soul, unto thy rest Cast off this loathsome load. … The flowers of everlasting spring, do grow for thy repast.”
St Robert Southwell SJ (1561-1595) Martyr
Bishop Dolan was a follower and benefactor of Anastpaul.com for many years now. He was a Holy and learned man. A true follower of Christ, “meek and humble of heart.” I would like too, to mention Bishop Dolan’s extended flock, in particular, those in France, Nigeria and South Africa, I mention Marie and Pauline, who now, like myself feel bereft of a true Father.
“And I saw the river, over which every soul must pass to reach the Kingdom of Heaven and the name of that river, was suffering. And I saw a boat which carries souls across the river and the name of that boat, was love.”
Holy Father Calls on World to Pray the “Our Father” Together at 12 Noon and announces the Urbi et Orbi Blessing on Friday 27 March which will include a Plenary Indulgence
Pope Francis has called for all Christians throughout the world to join in praying the Our Father on Wednesday, 25 March 2020, at noon.
He made the appeal after praying the noonday Angelus on 22 March broadcast from Apostolic Library in the Vatican.
“In these days of trial, while humanity trembles because of the pandemic’s menace, I would like to propose to all Christians to unite their voices to Heaven,” the Pope said after Sunday’s Angelus. “I invite all the Heads of Churches and the leaders of all the Christian Communities, together with all the Christians of the various Confessions, to invoke the Most High, Almighty God, reciting contemporaneously the prayer that Jesus Our Lord taught us. I invite all, therefore, to do so several times a day, but, all together, to recite the Our Father .
On the day in which many Christians recall the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary of the Incarnation of the Word, may the Lord be able to hear the unanimous prayer of all His disciples that are preparing to celebrate the victory of the Risen Christ.
With this same intention, next Friday, 27 March at 6:00 pm, I will preside over a moment of prayer in the courtyard of St Peter’s Basilica, with the empty Square. From now on I invite all to take part spiritually through the means of communication. We will listen to the Word of God, we will elevate our prayer, we will adore the Most Blessed Sacrament, with which at the end I will give the Urbi et Orbi Blessing, to which will be annexed the possibility to receive a Plenary Indulgence.”
The Apostolic Penitentiary has issued a decree granting special indulgences to the faithful at this time of pandemic.
Signed on 19 March, the Feast of St Joseph, by Major Penitentiary Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the decree states that:
“The Plenary Indulgence is granted to the faithful suffering from the Coronavirus, subject to quarantine by order of the health authority in hospitals or in their own homes if, with a spirit detached from any sin, they unite themselves spiritually through the media to the celebration of Holy Mass, to the recitation of the Holy Rosary, to the pious practice of the Way of the Cross or other forms of devotion, or if at least they will recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and a pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and charity towards their brothers and sisters, with the will to fulfil the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the Holy Father’s intentions), as soon as possible.”
Cardinal Piacenza adds that the same gift of Plenary Indulgence will be given “under the same conditions” to:
“Health care workers, family members and all those who, following the example of the Good Samaritan, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion, care for the sick of Coronavirus according to the words of the divine Redeemer. “No man has greater love than this: to give his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).”
He adds that the decree also “willingly grants” the Plenary Indulgence under the same conditions to:
“Those faithful who offer a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharistic Adoration, or the reading of Sacred Scripture for at least half an hour, or the recitation of the Holy Rosary, or the pious exercise of the Way of the Cross, or the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, to implore from Almighty God the end of the epidemic, relief for those who are afflicted and the eternal salvation of those whom the Lord has called to Himself.”
Today, 13 December 2019, may we all wish Pope Francis Congratulations on the 50th Anniversary of his Ordination on 13 December 1969
On 13 December 1969, four days before his 33rd birthday, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was ordained a priest.
The now Pope Francis, received this Sacrament with the imposition of hands of the Archbishop of Cordoba, Monsignor Ramon Jose Castellano.
Young Jorge discovered his vocation on 21 September 1953, the Memorial of Saint Matthew, the tax collector who converted when Jesus invited him to follow Him. During a Confession, he had a profound experience of God’s mercy, a joy that led him to decide to be a priest, reported “Vatican News.”
Our Congratulations, Best wishes and Prayers are yours, dear Holy Father Francis on the wonderful occasion of the 50th Anniversary of your Ordination
Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) to Be Beatified on 21 December in Peoria, United States of America.
The Diocese of Peoria said, ‘It seems entirely fitting that the Beatification will take place at the end of this 100-year anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.’
The Diocese of Peoria announced on Monday that Venerable Fulton Sheen will be Beatified on 21 December at the city’s Cathedral of St Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
Archbishop Sheen had been Ordained a Priest of the Diocese in that Cathedral on 20 September 1919.
“It seems entirely fitting that the Beatification will take place at the end of this 100-year anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood,” a statement from the Peoria Diocese announced yesterday, 18 November.
Fulton Sheen was born in Illinois in 1895 and was 24 when he was Ordained a Priest.
He was appointed auxiliary Bishop of New York in 1951 and he remained there until his appointment as the Bishop of Rochester in 1966. He retired in 1969 and moved back to New York City until his death in 1979.
Venerable Sheen was a beloved television catechist during the 1950s and ’60s in the United States. His television show Life Is Worth Living reached an audience of millions.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree July 6 recognising a miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession, which allowed for his Beatification.
The miracle involves the unexplained recovery of James Fulton Engstrom, a boy born apparently stillborn in September 2010 to Bonnie and Travis Engstrom of the Peoria-area town of Goodfield. He showed no signs of life as medical professionals tried to revive him. The child’s mother and father prayed to Archbishop Sheen to heal their son.
The Peoria Diocese opened the cause for Sheen’s Canonisation in 2002, after Archdiocese of New York said it would not explore the case. In 2012, Benedict XVI recognised the heroic virtues of the archbishop.
The Beatification follows legal battles in civil courts over the location of Sheen’s body. His body was transferred to the Peoria cathedral June 27 after a protracted series of suits.
Sheen’s will had declared his wish to be buried in the Archdiocese of New York Calvary Cemetery. Soon after Sheen died, Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York asked Joan Sheen Cunningham, Sheen’s niece and closest living relative, if his remains could be placed in the crypt of St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and she consented.
In September 2014, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria suspended Sheen’s cause on the grounds that the Holy See expected Sheen’s remains to be in the Peoria diocese.
Cunningham has since said that Sheen would have wanted to have been interred in Peoria if he knew that he would be considered for sainthood. In 2016, she filed a legal complaint seeking to have her uncle’s remains moved to the Peoria cathedral.
On the occasion of World Mission Day, which this year celebrates its 93rd anniversary on Sunday 20 October within the context of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019, announced by Pope Francis to mark the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict XV’s Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud, Fides News Service offers some statistics chosen to give a panorama of the missionary Church all over the world. They are taken from the latest edition of the “Church’s Book of Statistics” published (updated to 31 December 2017) regarding members of the Church, church structures, healthcare, welfare and education. Please note that variations, increase or decrease, emerging from our own comparison with last year’s figures, are marked with “+” or “–” in brackets.
World population
On 31 December 2017, the world population was 7,408,374,000 with an increase of 56,085,000 compared to the previous year. Population growth, almost half compared to the previous year, was recorded on every continent, including Europe, in its third year of growth after the decrease in previous years – increases were recorded above all in Africa (+ 33.572.000) and in Asia (+ 11.975.000), followed by America (+ 8.738.000), Europe (+ 1.059.000) and Oceania (+ 741.000).
Catholics
On the same date, 31 December 2017, Catholics in the world numbered 1,313,278,000 with an overall increase of 14,219,000, almost the same as the previous year. The increase affects all continents, including Europe (+ 259.000), after a decrease for three consecutive years. Increases were recorded above all in Africa (+ 5,605,000) and in America (+ 6,083,000) followed by Asia (+ 2,080,000) and Oceania (+ 191,000).
The world percentage of Catholics increased by 0.06 %, settling at 17.73%. By continent: increases were recorded in America (+ 0.05) and Asia (+ 0,03), decrease in Africa (- 0,07), Europe (- 0,02) and Oceania (- 0,01).
Priests
The total number of priests in the world decreased this year, to 414,582 (- 387). The continents which recorded a decrease were again Europe (- 2.946) and Oceania (- 97). Increases were recorded in Africa (+ 1.192), America (+ 40) and Asia (+ 1.424) unvaried.
Diocesan priests decreased by 21, reaching a total of 281,810 with decreases again in Europe (- 2.048) and Oceania (- 36). Increases were recorded in Africa (+ 959), America (+ 404) and Asia (+ 700).
The number of religious priests decreased by 366 to a total of 132,772. Increases were recorded, as in recent years, in Africa (+ 233) and in Asia (+ 724), whereas numbers dropped in America (- 364), Europe (- 898) and Oceania (- 61).
Catholic schools and Education
In the field of education, the Catholic Church runs 71.305 kindergartens with 7,303,839 pupils.
101,527 primary schools with 34,558,527 pupils and 48,560 secondary schools with 20,320,592 pupils. The Church also cares for 2,345,799 high school pupils and 2,945,295 university students.
Catholic charity and healthcare centres
Charity and healthcare centres managed by the Church worldwide include: 5,269 hospitals, most of them in America (1,399) and Africa (1,367), 16,068 dispensaries, mainly in Africa (5,907), America (4.330) and Asia (2.919), 646 care homes for people with leprosy, mainly in Asia
(362) and Africa (229); 15,735 homes for the elderly, the chronically ill or the disabled, mainly in Europe (8,475) and America (3,596), 9,813 orphanages, mainly in Asia (3,473), 10,492 creches, mainly in America (3,153) and in Asia (2,900), 13,065 marriage counselling centres, mainly in Europe (5,676) and America (4,798), 3,169 social rehabilitation centres and 31,182 institutions of other types.
Thanksgiving Novena
and Preparation for the
Canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
The Journey to Sainthood
“I have a part in this great work, I am a link in a chain.”
I know there are some of you, “Newmanites” here with me. So let us join our prayerful hands, with those faithful, all over the world, who are preparing to celebrate the Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman on Sunday 13 October. This is a time of special grace for us to form links in a great chain of prayer, where we call upon the soon-to-be-Saint to crown our prayers with his intercession in heaven.
I encourage you to become part of this chain by joining in the Novena with Newman – nine days of prayerful preparation for the Canonisation, starting on tomorrow, Friday 4 October and finishing on Saturday 12 October on the eve of the Canonisation.
The novena highlights each day an aspect of Newman’s character – an example of humility, child of Mary, priest of God’s altar, man of prayer, guardian of conscience, counsellor of converts, educator of the laity, servant of the Church, and model of friendship. These meditations by the new saint will lead us to a more personal loving conversation with God. They can be a very good preparation for his Canonisation and ultimately for heaven, calling to mind that we are on a journey to God. We can also simply say – Saint Newman, help me from heaven to better follow and love our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each day of the Novena includes an intention, an extract from his writings, a decade of the rosary and the Novena prayer.
Let us Pray:
Saint John Henry Newman, Pray for Us!
20 July 2019 – The 50th anniversary of Cardinal Robert Sarah,
Prefect, Congregation of Divine Worship
Today we wish Cardinal Sarah
Congratulations!
as he celebrates the 50th Anniversary of his Priestly Ordination.
We offer our Prayers for your continued immense help to the Church of Christ.
May God shine His Face upon you!
CARD ROBERT SARAH Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship “When I was a little boy, I asked myself, ‘What are these men doing in silence, in the dark?’ T his is because there was no electricity in my village. I thought ‘surely they’re talking to someone they see and know.’” “And when one of them asked me, ‘Do you want to go to the seminary?’ I didn’t know what it was. I asked, ‘What do you do there?’ He said ‘There you go to become like us.’ I said yes. I wanted to meet that Person they saw in the silence and darkness of the chapel.”
The years have passed and he still remembers the generosity of these missionaries who came to his land to help the Africans.
CARD ROBERT SARAH Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship “They came not to gain anything but to serve us, to save us, just as Christ did. He did not come to gain but to give His life. They gave their life and some died very young.” “Therefore, for me, to be a priest is to imitate these missionaries who communicated their faith to me. I want to be like them.”
The cardinal has worked in the Vatican since 2001. He has collaborated with St John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis. For this reason, he is saddened he is presented as an opponent of the pope.
CARD ROBERT SARAH Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship “I’m calm because I’m loyal to the pope.” “They cannot quote a word, a phrase, a gesture with which I oppose the pope. It is ridiculous, it is ridiculous. I am at the service of the Church, the Holy Father and God. This is enough.” “There people write this kind of stuff to create opposition, against the Holy Father, between bishops or cardinals. It is ridiculous. We must not fall into this trap. We must continue to teach. I don’t care what they say.”
The cardinal has just published his third book. In it he deals with the consequences of the crisis of faith in the contemporary world. It is entitled “The Day Is Now Far Spent” and is dedicated to all the priests of the world, to Benedict XVI and to Pope Francis. The book, the last volume of three that he has written with the French author Nicolas Diat, will be “the most important” due to what he says is the “decadence of our time” that has “all the faces of mortal peril.”
The book’s French title is Le soir approche et déjà le jour baisse (Evening approaches and the day is now almost over) and is taken from the New Testament account of the disciples’ encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:28-30):
“As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So, he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.”
Quote/s of the Day – 20 July – The 50th anniversary of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect, Congregation of Divine Worship
“The most important moments in life are the hours of prayer and adoration. They give birth to a human being, fashion our true identity; they root our existence in mystery.”
“True charity is neither almsgiving nor humanistic solidarity nor a form of philanthropy – charity is the expression of God and an extension of Christ’s presence in our world.”
“The foundation of the liturgy must remain the search for God. We can only be dismayed by the fact that this intention of Saints Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, and of the Council Fathers as well, is often obscured and, worse yet, betrayed. . . .”
God or Nothing
“The Father waits for His children in their own hearts.”
16 July – SAINT Bartholomew of Braga OP ArchBishop of Braga also known as Bl Bartholomew of the Martyrs (Bartolomeu Fernandez dei Martiri Fernandes) (1514-1590)
On 8 July 2019, Pope Francis approved the favourable votes cast by the Eminent and Excellent members of the Congregation and extended to the Universal Church the liturgical worship in honour of Blessed Bartholomew of the Martyrs (born Bartolomeu Fernandes), of the Order of Preachers, archbishop of Braga, born in Lisbon, Portugal on 3 May 1514 and died in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, on 16 July 1590, inscribing him in the book of Saints (Equipollent Canonisation).
The Vatican announces the date of the Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890), along with four others on Sunday 13 October 2019, the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C.
“Praise to the Holiest in the height And in the the depth be praise. In all His words most wonderful, Most sure in all His ways!”
Blessed John Henry Newman
In February, the Pope signed a decree recognising a second miracle attributed to Blessed John Henry Newman, the inexplicable healing of a woman with a “life-threatening pregnancy”.
Ordained a Catholic priest in 1847, he was made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879, although he was not a bishop. Newman’s conversion to the Catholic faith was controversial in England and resulted in him losing many friends, including his own sister who never spoke to him again.
The British cardinal founded the Oratory of St Philip Neri in England and was particularly dedicated to education, founding two schools for boys. He died in Birmingham in 1890 at the age of 89.
In October, Cardinal Newman will become Britain’s first new saint since the Canonisation of St John Ogilvie (1579-1615) Martyr, Memorial 10 March, in 1976.
At Newman’s beatification Mass in Birmingham, England in September 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said that Newman’s “insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilised 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. “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…..”
As Blessed, John Henry’s Memorial is 9 October, the date he was received into the Catholic Church.
“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection 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, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him… If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him… He does nothing in vain… He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”
+++++++++++++++++++++
The Others to be Canonised on the same day are:
Sister Mariam Thresia of India is the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family.
Italian Sister Giuseppina Vannini is the founder of the Daughters of Saint Camillus.
Brazilian Sister Dulce Lopes Pontes of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God.
Marguerite Bays of Switzerland, of the Third Order of Saint Francis of Assisi.
29 JUNE 1951-2019
The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul
Congratulations, Prayers and Love
to our dearly beloved
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
on the occasion of the
68th Anniversary
of his Priestly Ordination
“Domineering over your faith is not my purpose. I prefer to work with you for your happiness”. It is what the Apostle Paul (II Cor 1,24) wrote and his quote was used 65 years ago on the celebration day of Peter and Paul Patron Saints – 29th June 1951 – during the priestly ordination of Joseph Ratzinger. It was held in the Cathedral of Freising and celebrated by Michael von Faulhaber, archbishop of Munich. Paul’s quote was written on the holy card in order to celebrate the event. This important anniversary will be marked by a solemn celebration in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on 28th June. Pope Francis and the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI will attend the celebration. Joseph Ratzinger will receive a book on priesthood as a present.
“We were more than forty candidates and we all answered Adsum – that is “Here I am” – Ratzinger wrote in his Autobiography . It was a beautiful and unforgettable summer day, the most important moment in my life.” I shouldn’t be superstitious but while the old archbishop was laying his hands on me, a little bird – maybe a lark – raised from the high altar of the Cathedral and sang a short joyful song – I thought it was a voice from above saying: you are in the right way.” Ratzinger said.
His elder brother Georg was ordained with him. “The day of the first Mass the church of Saint Oswald was in its splendour and people showed us their joy and involvement. We had been asked t o bring the blessing of the first Mass to the town and we were welcomed everywhere. Everybody showed friendliness, even the people we didn’t know at all. I became aware of the expectations men and women have with a priest – they trust in his blessing and the power of the sacrament. It was not because of me or my brother = what did we mean to the people we met? They saw us as the men to whom Christ had given a task, that was to show His presence.”
“Priesthood is not “a job, but a sacrament. God asks a poor man to be like Him, to be with all men and women and to act on their behalf” said Benedict XVI on 11th June 2010, during the homily at the end of the Year for Priests, that he established on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, Saint Patron of Priests.
Wishing our Holy Father Emeritus Papa Benedict XVI a Blessed 92nd Birthday!
16 April 2019
The day of Joseph Ratzinger’s birth has been seen by some as a sign of Divine Providence. It was certainly a sign of things to come. The future Pope Benedict XVI was born on Holy Saturday, 16 April 1927. His birthplace is Marktl-an-Inn, a tiny village less than an hour’s walk away from Altoetting, the most important Marian Shrine in Bavaria.
1927 was the year Charles Lindbergh completed the first ever solo flight across the Atlantic. The Pope in Rome was Pius XI – the successor to Pope Benedict XV.
As Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger celebrated his 85th birthday, his last as Pope, with a Mass in the Pauline Chapel in the Vatican. It was April 16th 2012. Reflecting on his long and eventful life, he claimed he was “facing the final stretch” of his life’s journey. “I do not know what awaits me”, he said. “But I do know that the light of God is there, that He is risen, that His light is stronger than all darkness, that the goodness of God is stronge,r than every evil in this world. And this helps me to proceed with confidence. This helps us to move forward”.
Six years ago, on 13 March 2013, the Pope “from the ends of the earth” stepped out onto the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica to the cheers of the tens thousands of people in St Peter’s Square.
On this the anniversary of the beginning of Pope Francis’ pontificate, the ad interim Director of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti looks back at those six years, saying that “love, mercy and courage are the key words to understanding this pontificate.”
Reflecting on election night, he says, “the first thing that comes to me was amazement, surprise. I think the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a complete surprise for all of us. I remember the expression of amazement when the Camerlengo announced the name of Bergoglio and Francis, surprise because [he is] the first Pope with the name of Francis, the first Jesuit, the first Latin American.”
Gisotti goes on to tell Vatican News, that with this pontificate “we are really witnessing God’s surprises”, in what the Pope says and in what he does.
In his job, the ad interim Director has seen at first-hand how Pope Francis interacts with the people he encounters. He gives an example of the Pope’s Papal Visit to Panama for World Youth Day, saying, “to see the emotion, people crying, people crying when encountering Pope Francis, his proximity, above all to the poor, to the ill persons, to the weakest, is a manifestation, truly the manifestation of the love, the mercy of Jesus, of God and the people feel it.”
The Press Office Director says that what strikes him is, that along with this witness of mercy and love is Pope Francis’ courage to confront the most difficult of issues.
He calls to mind the Pope’s commitment to dialogue for peace and above all, the Pope’s commitment “to fight this terrible scourge of the sexual abuse of minors. This commitment for me is an example for all of us to confront, without fear, the most difficult challenges.”
Pope Francis on Tuesday 12 February, authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, to promulgate 8 decrees including those of Bl Cardinal John Henry Newman and Blessed Sr Mariam Thresia and thus, cleared the way for their Canonisation.
The Pope received in audience Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints and authorised him to promulgated two decrees on miracles for sainthood, a decree on martyrdom and 5 on heroic virtues.
Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman
A miracle attributed to the intercession of Cardinal Newman has been recognised, clearing him for canonisation.
Born in London on 21 February 1801 and died in Edgbaston on 11 August 1890, the noted theologian and poet was first an Anglican priest and later a Catholic priest and cardinal, who was an important figure in the religious history of England of his time.
He was one of the leading figures of the Oxford Movement that originated at Oxford University in 1833, that sought to link the Anglican Church more closely to the Roman Catholic Church.
He is revered by both the Catholic as well as the Anglican Churches.
As a Catholic priest, he founded the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Edgbaston, England.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified Cardinal Newman on 19 September 2010, in Birmingham, England.
Perhaps the hymn and poem that Blessed John Henry is best known for is, “Lead kindly light.”
Blessed Sr Mariam Thresia
Pope Francis also recognised another miracle, clearing the way for the canonisation of Indian nun, Blessed Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan, the foundress of the Congregation of the Holy Family (CHF).
The nun belonging to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church was born in Puthenchira on 26 April 1876 and died in Kuzhikkattussery on 8 June 1926.
She is known for her extraordinary charity, especially a preferential love for the poorest of the poor.
She was declared venerable on 28 June 1999 and was beatified on 9 April 2000 by St Pope John Paul II in Rome.
The other decrees on the causes of saints are as follows:
– the martyrdom of the Ecuadoran Servant of God, Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas, a Jesuit priest. He was born in Cuenca (Ecuador) on 21 April 1846 and killed, in hatred of the Faith, in Riobamba (Ecuador) on 4 May 1897.
– the heroic virtues of the Hungarian Servant of God Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty, Archbishop of Esztergom and primate of Hungary. Born in Csehimindszent (Hungary) on 29 March 1892, he died in Vienna (Austria) on 6 May 1975.
– the heroic virtues of the Italian Servant of God John Baptist Zuaboni, a diocesan priest, founder of the Secular Institute Society of the Holy Family. He was born in Vestone on 24 January 1880 and died in Brescia (Italy) on 12 December 1939.
– the heroic virtues of Spanish Servant of God Emanuele García Nieto, a Jesuit priest. He was born in Macotera (Spain) on 5 April 1894 and died in Comillas (Spain) on 13 April 1974.
– the heroic virtues of Italian Servant of God Serafina Formai (born: Letizia), founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Good News. She was born in Casola Lunigiana (Italy) on 28 August 1876 and died in Pontremoli (Italy) on 1 June 1954.
– the heroic virtues of Colombian Servant of God Maria Berenice Duque Hencker (born: Ana Julia), foundress of the Little Sisters of the Annunciation. She was born in Salamis (Colombia) on 14 August 1898 and died in Medellín (Colombia) on 25 July, 1993.
I hope we don’t have indigestion with such a big cake!”
Pope Francis joked Sunday as he celebrated his 82nd birthday (December 17) with health care providers and families assisted at the Santa Marta Dispensary. The children presented the Holy Father with a huge cake.
In words of thanks to those gathered, the Holy Father said that if Our Lady had lived in Rome she would have surely taken Jesus to this dispensary.
He noted that “working with children is not easy but it teaches us a lot.”
“It teaches me, that in order to understand the reality of life, you have to lower yourself, as we lower ourselves to kiss a child. They teach us this. The proud, the proud cannot understand life, because they are not able to lower themselves.”
“All of us,” Pope Francis continued, “professionals, organisers, nuns, all – give many things to children but they give us this announcement, this teaching: to lower oneself. Lower yourself, be humble and in this way you will learn to understand life and people. And all of you have this ability to lower yourselves. Thank you so much for this, thank you so much!”
Blessed John Henry Newman could be Canonised as early as next year after a second miracle was approved, the Catholic Herald has learned.
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth said in an email newsletter last week that it “looks now as if Newman might be Canonised, all being well, later next year.”
Fr Ignatius Harrison, the Postulator of the Cause, confirmed to the Catholic Herald that there were now just “two more hoops” for the Cause to jump through before Newman is Canonised – approval from a commission of bishops, and a declaration by Pope Francis.
“I am praying for next year, but there’s no way of knowing,” he said.
Another source with knowledge of the Cause told the Herald that panels of both the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had judged the healing of a woman to be miraculous. The Canonisation is likely to take place after Easter 2019.
The Archdiocese of Chicago had investigated the inexplicable healing of a woman who prayed for Newman’s intercession after suffering with with a “life-threatening pregnancy”. Doctors who treated her reported that they had no explanation for her sudden recovery.
Blessed John Henry Newman was one of the most prominent converts to Catholicism from Anglicanism of the 19th century.
He was already an esteemed Anglican theologian when he founded the Oxford Movement to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots, before converting to the Catholic faith.
He was renowned as a brilliant thinker and was made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII.
He died in Birmingham in 1890, aged 89, after founding the Birmingham Oratory.
His prolific and original writings have led to many to call for him to be declared a Doctor of the Church.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified Newman in Birmingham in 2010 after the Vatican approved the first miracle, the inexplicable healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan, an American who recovered from a crippling spinal condition.
“He compasses me round and bears me in His arms. He takes me up and sets me down.”
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
PRAYER FOR CANONISATION of Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
God our Father, You granted to Your servant, Blessed John Henry Newman, wonderful gifts of nature and of grace, that he should be a spiritual light in the darkness of this world, an eloquent herald of the Gospel and a devoted servant of the one Church of Christ. With confidence in his heavenly intercession, we make the petition for his Canonisation. For his insight into the mysteries of the kingdom, his zealous defence of the teachings of the Church and his priestly love for each of your children, we pray that he may soon be numbered among the Saints. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
Nihil Obstat: Fr Pat McKinney S.T.L.
Imprimatur: + Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham
A LOOK AT SOME OF THE CHURCH’S 2018 STATS SHOWS US THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 1.2 BILLION CATHOLICS, 414K PRIESTS 116K MAJOR SEMINARIANS, 66 MILLION STUDENTS, 5,287 HOSPITALS (without including the dispensaries, leprosaria, homes for the elderly or chronically ill…making the Church the largest health care provider and charitable institution in the world). Lord, send us holy, faithful and apostolic laborers to your vineyard.
Below you have the complete report of the Information service of the Potifical Mission societies.
+++
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – As every year, in view of World Mission Day, which this year celebrates its 92nd anniversary on Sunday, October 21, 2018, Fides News Service offers some statistics chosen to give a panorama of the missionary Church all over the world. The tables are taken from the latest edition of the “Church’s Book of Statistics” published (updated to 31 December…
October – The Month of the Holy Rosary Message from Pope Francis
Below is the complete and entire Message issued by the Holy See Press Office on 29 September 2018.
Holy See Press Office Communiqué, 29.09.2018
The Holy Father has decided to invite all the faithful, of all the world, to pray the Holy Rosary every day, during the entire Marian month of October and thus to join in communion and in penitence, as the people of God, in asking the Holy Mother of God and Saint Michael Archangel to protect the Church from the devil, who always seeks to separate us from God and from each other.
In recent days, before his departure for the Baltic States, the Holy Father met with Fr Fréderic Fornos, S.J., international director of Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and asked him to spread this appeal to all the faithful throughout the world, inviting them to conclude the recitation of the Rosary with the ancient invocation “Sub tuum praesídium” and with the prayer to Saint Michael Archangel that he protect us and help us in the struggle against evil (cf. Revelation 12, 7-12).
The prayer – the Pontiff affirmed a few days ago, on 11 September, in a homily at Santa Marta, citing the first chapter of the Book of Job – is the weapon against the Great Accuser who “goes around the world seeking to accuse”. Only prayer can defeat him . The Russian mystics and the great saints of all the traditions advised, in moments of spiritual turbulence, to shelter beneath the mantle of the Holy Mother of God pronouncing the invocation “Sub tuum praesídium”.
The invocation “Sub tuum praesídium” is recited as follows:
“Sub tuum praesídium confúgimus,
sancta Dei Génetrix;
nostras deprecatiónes ne despícias in necessitátibus,
sed a perículis cunctis líbera nos semper,
Virgo gloriósa et benedícta”.
We fly to Thy protection, O Holy Mother of God. Do not despise our petitions in our necessities but deliver us always from all dangers, O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
With this request for intercession the Holy Father asks the faithful of all the world to pray that the Holy Mother of God place the Church beneath her protective mantle – to preserve her from the attacks by the devil, the great accuser and at the same time to make her more aware of the faults, the errors and the abuses committed in the present and in the past and committed to combating without any hesitation, so that evil may not prevail.
The Holy Father has also asked that the recitation of the Holy Rosary during the month of October conclude with the prayer written by Pope Leo XIII:
“Sancte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in próelio;
contra nequítiam et insídias diáboli esto praesídium.
Imperet illi Deus, súpplices deprecámur,
tuque, Prínceps milítiae caeléstis,
Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos,
qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in mundo,
divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde. Amen”.
Saint Michael Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil, may God rebuke him, we humbly pray and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
Note: In recent weeks the bishops of several dioceses, across the world, have encouraged the praying of the Saint Michael Prayer after Mass – as we used to do. And I would add, Alleluia!
The Vatican Pharmacy launched its first range of perfumes produced by the apothecaries of the order of Saint John of God (Fatebenefratelli), who provide the service. The new essences, inspired by the Bible, are called: gold, incense, myrrh and mystical rose, reported L’Osservatore Romano on August 22, 2018.
The four bottles are sold in a case that bears the inscription 2018 in Roman numerals (MMXVIII), as the Director Thomas Binish Mulackal explains, 2018 is a particularly important year for the Vatican Pharmacy, which has launched a great restructuring project in order to receive better the thousands of daily clients (between 2,000 and 2,500 a day).
The new perfumes aim to rediscover the role of fragrances in Christian life. The researchers discovered ancient perfumes mentioned in the Holy Scriptures (the Magi offered incense and myrrh to Jesus) and they go back to their plants of origin, in the Mediterranean tradition and that of the Holy Land: aloes, nard, galbanum, myrtle, saffron, roses, hyssop, sandalwood, aromatic reeds, cinnamon, geranium, bergamot.
It’s about “entrusting to perfume a message that refers to the meeting between the sacred and nature, between divinity and humanity, in order to transmit sensations that also invite to reflection”,incense, with its typical smell, refers to the presence of God, to purification <and> to the sense of sacrifice.” Myrrh was used “as aroma and to preserve the mortal remains of the dead.” Both were also used as healing remedies. Gold is also “an effective method to combat certain pathologies, to the point that one speaks of gold therapy.”
There is “a long tradition that links the mystics to perfumes,” underscores L’Osservatore Romano: “Beginning with the Virgin Mary, also called by the title “Mystical Rose,” to which the perfume of the same name makes reference. Suffice it to recall the ecstasies of dozens of women and men Saints, of whom the closest to us is Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. The intense perfume that one perceived on certain occasions, according to the witnesses, was a mixture of emanations of flowers such as roses, violets and jasmine, to the point that one speaks of osmogenesie as the charism proper to his holiness.”
Pope Francis announced this morning, 19 July 2018, during an Ordinary Public Consistory that he will canonise an additional person on October 14 along with Blessed Paul VI and Blessed Oscar Romero.
It is fitting that Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio, who died at the age of 19, be canonised during the Synod whose theme is Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. Now with the addition of Blessed Nunzio, the canonisation will include people from every walk of life: clerical, religious and lay.
Blessed Nunzio was born in Pescosansonesco in Italy in April of 1817. He lost both of his parents while still a child and was brought up by an uncle. His uncle exploited him, not allowing him to go to school and forced him to work in his blacksmith shop. Regardless of extreme cold or intense heat, he was forced to carry enormous weights over great distances.
He found refuge before the Tabernacle where he would keep Jesus company.
After contracting gangrene in one of his legs, he was sent to a hospital for people with incurable diseases in Naples. He suffered tremendously on account of the pain. Yet, he is known to have said such things as:
Jesus suffered so much for us and by His merits we await eternal life. If we suffer a little bit, we will taste the joy of paradise. Jesus suffered a lot for me. Why should I not suffer for Him? I would die in order to convert even one sinner. When asked who was taking care of him, he would respond: “God’s Providence”.
Once he got better, he dedicated himself to helping other patients. But his health took a sudden turn for the worse. He died from bone cancer in May of 1836 before he reached his 20th birthday.
Pope Paul VI said the following when he Beatified Nunzio on 1 December 1963:
Nunzio Sulprizio will tell you that the period of youth should not be considered the age of free passions, of inevitable falls, of invincible crises, of decadent pessimism, of harmful selfishness. Rather, he will rather tell you how being young is a grace… St Philip used to repeat: Blessed are you, young people, who have the time to do good.
It is a grace, it is a blessing to be innocent, to be pure, to be happy, to be strong, to be full of ardour and life – just like those who receive the gift of fresh and new existence should be, regenerated and sanctified by baptism. They receive a treasure that should not be foolishly wasted but should be known, guarded, educated, developed and used to produce fruit for their own benefit and that of others.
He will tell you that no other age than yours, young people, is as suitable for great ideals, for generous heroism, for the coherent demands of thought and action.
He will teach you how you young people can regenerate the world in which Providence has called you to live and how it is up to you first to consecrate yourselves for the salvation of a society that needs strong and fearless souls.
He will teach you that the supreme word of Christ is to be the sacrifice, the cross, for our own salvation and that of the world. Young people understand this supreme vocation. (vaticannews.va)
Marian thought for the Day – 21 May 2018 “Mary’s Month!” – The First Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church
“Mary Mother of the Church, Mater Ecclesiae
our new Universal Memorial today!
Blessed Pope Paul VI explicitly proclaimed Mary Mother of the Church and asked that she be honoured and invoked with this title by all the Christian people.
The title “Mother of the Church” thus reflects the deep conviction of the Christian faithful, who see in Mary not only the mother of the person of Christ but also of the faithful. She who is recognised as mother of salvation, life and grace, mother of the saved and mother of the living, is rightly proclaimed Mother of the Church.
Pope Paul VI would have liked the Second Vatican Council itself to have proclaimed “Mary Mother of the Church, that is, of the whole People of God, of the faithful and their Pastors”. He did so himself in his speech at the end of the Council’s third session (21 November 1964), also asking that “henceforth the Blessed Virgin be honoured and invoked with this title by all the Christian people” (AAS 1964, 37).
In this way, my venerable Predecessor explicitly enunciated the doctrine contained in chapter eight of Lumen gentium, hoping that the title of Mary, Mother of the Church, would have an ever more important place in the liturgy and piety of the Christian people.” – St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)
“We need to meditate frequently on the fact that the Church is a deep, great mystery, so that we never forget it. We cannot fully understand the Church on this earth. If men, using only their reason, were to analyse it, they would see only a group of people who abide by certain precepts and think in a similar way. But that would not be the Church.
In the Church we Catholics find our faith, our norms of conduct, our prayer, our sense of fraternity. Through it we are united with all our brothers and sisters who have already left this life and are being cleansed in Purgatory—the Church suffering—and with those who already enjoy the beatific vision and love forever the thrice holy God—the Church triumphant. The Church is in our midst and at the same time transcends history. It was born under the mantle of our Lady and continues to praise her on earth and in heaven as its Mother (“The Supernatural Aim of the Church,” 28 May 1972).
If we become identified with Mary and imitate her virtues, we will be able to bring Christ to life, through grace, in the souls of many who will in turn become identified with him through the action of the Holy Spirit. If we imitate Mary, we will share in some way in her spiritual motherhood. And all this silently, like Our Lady; without being noticed, almost without words, through the true and genuine witness of our lives as Christians, and the generosity of ceaselessly repeating her fiat, which we renew as an intimate link between ourselves and God.” – St Josemaria Escrivá (1902-1975) – Friends of God, 281-283
“….We have spoken about Mary, about Jesus. What about us? We who are the Church? What kind of love do we bring to others? Is it the love of Jesus that shares, that forgives, that accompanies, or is it a watered-down love, like wine so diluted that it seems like water? Is it a strong love, or a love so weak that it follows the emotions, that it seeks a return, an interested love? Another question: is self-interested love pleasing to Jesus? No, it is not because love should be freely given, like His is. What are the relationships like in our parishes, in our communities? Do we treat each other like brothers and sisters? Or do we judge one another, do we speak evil of one another, do we just tend our own vegetable patch? Or do we care for one another? These are the questions of charity!
And briefly, one last aspect: Mary as the model of union with Christ. The life of the Holy Virgin was the life of a woman of her people: Mary prayed, she worked, she went to the synagogue… But every action was carried out in perfect union with Jesus. This union finds its culmination on Calvary, here Mary is united to the Son in the martyrdom of her heart and in the offering of his life to the Father for the salvation of humanity. Our Lady shared in the pain of the Son and accepted with Him the will of the Father, in that obedience that bears fruit, that grants the true victory over evil and death.
The reality Mary teaches us, is very beautiful: to always be united with Jesus. We can ask ourselves: do we remember Jesus only when something goes wrong and we are in need, or is ours a constant relation, a deep friendship, even when it means following him on the way of the Cross?
Let us ask the Lord to grant us His grace, His strength, so that the model of Mary, Mother of the Church, may be reflected in our lives and in the life of every ecclesial community. So be it!”...Pope Francis 23 October 2013
On the Anniversary of the Birth of St John Paul, Karol Wojtyla, we send him our love and ask for his intercession.
Vatican Official Prayer to St John Paul II
Oh, St John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing! Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading it along the paths of the world, in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young, who were your great passion. Help them dream again, help them look up high again, to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth. May you bless families, bless each family! You warned of Satan’s assault against this precious and indispensable divine spark that God lit on earth. St John Paul, with your prayer, may you protect the family and every life that blossoms from the family. Pray for the whole world, which is still marked by tensions, wars and injustice. You tackled war by invoking dialogue and planting the seeds of love: pray for us so that we may be tireless sowers of peace. Oh St John Paul, from heaven’s window, where we see you next to Mary, send God’s blessing down upon us all. Amen
Wishing our Holy Father Emeritus Papa Benedict XVI a Blessed 91st Birthday! 16 April 2018
Greatly beloved Papa Benedict
We send you all our Love
and our Prayers
on your 91st Birthday
He plans to spend his birthday in private, in the Vatican Gardens, with his brother Georg, who is 94.
Just like last year, he will most likely celebrate the day in a Bavarian style, which will remind him of the tastes of his land.
Throughout this year, Benedict has found all the rumours about his delicate health quite humorous. He even wrote a letter to an Italian newspaper to thank them for paying so much attention to him.
Past recent birthdays have seen Benedict celebrate the day with a pint of beer.
His personal secretary, long-time aide and prelate of the Vatican Household, ArchBishop Georg Gaenswein, said “Certainly, his physical strength is lessening. It’s hard for him to walk. However, he uses a walker, which ensures autonomy in movement and safety,” the aide said.
The rhythm of Benedict’s retirement in a monastery on Vatican City grounds consists of “prayer, meditation, reading, study, correspondence,” Gaenswein said. “He has visitors, too. Music certainly still has its place, together with a daily walk.”
5 March 2018 – The Fifth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis
Congratulations on your Fifth Anniversary
Pope Francis! – 13 March 2018
Pope Francis: five years, five important gestures
The writings and homilies of a pope indicate much about his papacy. Also his international presence and work within the Vatican demonstrate a large part of his mission.
Thus, Pope Francis’ actions transmit a more direct message than any encyclical ever could. It is in this “encyclical of gestures” that the richness of his papacy lies.
1 – THE LEAST
From the first minute of his pontificate, he made it clear that the sick or poor have priority in every public meeting. As an example, he has eaten lunch with them several times and some of his hugs with the sick have gone viral.
2 – WOMEN
Pope Francis was the first pope to visit a female prison. He also washed the feet of several inmates on Holy Thursday and visited ex-prostitute victims of the mafia. He has firmly denounced labour abuse and sexual exploitation, especially facing women.
POPE FRANCIS “Today I apologize to all of you. For all the Christians, Catholics, who have abused you.”
POPE FRANCIS “None of us is a ‘thing.’ We are all people.”
To him, the sensibility of women and motherhood are two key elements that he asks both the Church and the world to rediscover. He says we must give women a greater role in the Church but this does not mean ordaining female priests or deacons.
3 – DESTROY WALLS, BUILD BRIDGES
This is one of his most political gestures but it sends a very Christian message.
During his visit to Bethlehem, the pope surprised the crowds by getting off the popemobile and praying before the wall built by Israel.
Something similar happened in Mexico when he prayed at the border that lines with the United States. These are two places with different problems but both symbolise the great lack of dialogue that the pontiff is constantly calling out.
4 – SIMPLICITY
Pope Francis impacted the world by his simplicity. He presented himself to the world without boasting, nor did he try to hide his weaknesses that have come with age. He wears orthopaedic shoes and had to buy new ones in 2016. To do so, he went to a normal business outside the Vatican. It was the same when buying his glasses, which he bought like any citizen from an optician in the centre of Rome.
5 – CLOSENESS
This is a gesture composed of hundreds of small actions, which are performed every week when he lets youngsters take a selfie with him, when he drinks mate or when he jokes with those he meets.
They are the small, but continuous daily gestures that crown him as one of the most-valued people in the world.
The latest poll conducted by Gallup International reveals that Pope Francis is the most-esteemed world leader, with 56 percent acceptance, seven points more than the second in the ranking: German Chancellor Angela Merkel… RomeReports
Let us pray:
Prayer for Pope Francis
O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, look favourably on Your servant Francis, whom You have set at the head of Your Church as her shepherd;
Grant, we pray, that by word and example he may be of service to those over whom he presides so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care, he may come to everlasting life.
Lord Jesus, shelter our Holy Father, Pope Francis under the protection of Your Sacred Heart. Be his light, his strength and his consolation.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Pope Francis institutes new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church
Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
DECREE
on the celebration
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of the Church
in the General Roman Calendar
The joyous veneration given to the Mother of God by the contemporary Church, in light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and on his nature, cannot ignore the figure of a woman (cf. Gal 4:4), the Virgin Mary, who is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.
In some ways this was already present in the mind of the Church from the premonitory words of Saint Augustine and Saint Leo the Great. In fact the former says that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she co-operated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while the latter says that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church. These considerations derive from the divine motherhood of Mary and from her intimate union in the work of the Redeemer, which culminated at the hour of the cross.
Indeed, the Mother standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. She thus became the tender Mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit. Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his Mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.
As a caring guide to the emerging Church, Mary had already begun her mission in the Upper Room, praying with the Apostles while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14). In this sense, in the course of the centuries, Christian piety has honoured Mary with various titles, in many ways equivalent, such as Mother of Disciples, of the Faithful, of Believers, of all those who are reborn in Christ and also as “Mother of the Church” as is used in the texts of spiritual authors as well as in the Magisterium of Popes Benedict XIV and Leo XIII.
Thus the foundation is clearly established by which Blessed Paul VI, on 21 November 1964, at the conclusion of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council, declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother” and established that “the Mother of God should be further honoured and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles”.
Therefore the Apostolic See on the occasion of the Holy Year of Reconciliation (1975), proposed a votive Mass in honour of Beata Maria Ecclesiæ Matre, which was subsequently inserted into the Roman Missal. The Holy See also granted the faculty to add the invocation of this title in the Litany of Loreto (1980) and published other formularies in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1986). Some countries, dioceses and religious families who petitioned the Holy See were allowed to add this celebration to their particular calendars.
Having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety, Pope Francis has decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be now celebrated every year.
This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.
The Memorial therefore is to appear in all Calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours. The relative liturgical texts are attached to this decree and their translations, prepared and approved by the Episcopal Conferences, will be published after confirmation by this Dicastery.
Where the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, is already celebrated on a day with a higher liturgical rank, approved according to the norm of particular law, in the future it may continue to be celebrated in the same way.
Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 11 February 2018, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes.
Yesterday 7 February 2018, the Vatican Congregation recognised the healing of an unborn child. Pope Francis’ final decision and announcement of canonisation day is the last step
Paul VI will be canonised soon. The meeting of the bishops and cardinals of the Congregation of Saints unanimously approved the recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of Giovanni Battista Montini. Now the only thing missing, is Pope Francis’ final signature of approval and the announcement of the date for the canonisation of the Pontiff from Brescia who died in Castel Gandolfo forty years ago.
The miracle needed for Paul VI’s aureole concerns the healing of an unborn child, in the fifth month of pregnancy. A case studied by the postulation in 2014. The mother, originally from the province of Verona, was carrying out a difficult pregnancy and was at risk of miscarriage for a disease that could have compromised the life of the fetus and mother. A few days after Pope Montini’s beatification, which took place in Rome on Sunday 19 October 2014, the woman went to Brescia to pray the new Blessed at the Santuario delle Grazie. The baby girl was born in good health and still is as is the mother.
The miracle had been studied by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The inexplicability of the healing had been decided upon last year by the Medical Council of the Department and then analysed and approved by theologians. The last step was today’s cardinal meeting, which took note of the doctors’ conclusions and theologians’ evaluations. Now the Cardinal Prefect, Angelo Amato, will bring the bishops’ and cardinals’ ballot to Pope Francis. He will have the final word on the matter. The Holy Father will announce -during a consistory- the date of Paul VI’ canonisation, which will probably be celebrated in Rome in October, during the Synod of young people.
Last December, the diocesan weekly magazine of Brescia speculated on potential dates, “At this point, we are more sure than hopeful. The month of October could be the right one. From 3 to 28 October in Rome the 15th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on young people will be celebrated and will converge in the Vatican prelates from all over the world. What better opportunity to canonise, in front of such a great number of Bishops, the other Pontiff – after Saint John XXIII – of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council? It will probably occur on one of the first three Sundays of October, though the most popular one today seems to be that of 21th”.
However, the 50th Anniversary of the Publication of Pope Paul VI’s Encyclical, Humanae Vitae, is on 25 July this year (25 July 1968) – this too could be a very appropriate date.
Pope Montini, born in 1897 and died in 1978, was the Pontiff who brought the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council to completion and succeeded in concluding it practically with the unanimous approval of the documents voted. He began the epoch of apostolic travels in the world, he went through the years of post-conciliar crisis. The day he was beatified, Francis, who often refers to Montini’s Magisterium, had said, “On this day of the beatification of Pope Paul VI, his words return to my mind, with which launched the Synod of Bishops, … By carefully surveying the signs of the times, we are making every effort to adapt ways and methods to the growing needs of our time and the changing conditions of society”.
Pope Francis had thanked Paul VI for his “humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his Church! “ and had recalled that “the great helmsman” of the Second Vatican Council and founder of the synod, after the closing of the Council meeting, wrote: “Perhaps the Lord has called me and preserved me for this service not because I am particularly fit for it, or so that I can govern and rescue the Church from her present difficulties, but so that I can suffer something for the Church and in that way it will be clear that He, and no other, is her guide and saviour”.In this humility – Francis concluded – “the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: before the advent of a secularised and hostile society, he could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom – and at times alone – to the helm of the barque of Peter, while never losing his joy and his trust in the Lord”.
I love you, nearly Saint Paul VI, please pray for the universal Church and for the whole world!
AnaStpaul 
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