Quote/s of the Day – 9 November – Feast Dedication of The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour in the Lateran – Gospel: John 2:13-22
“Zeal for your house will consume me.”
John 2:17
“Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?”
Matthew 13:27
“We … are under an obligation to be the light of the world by the modesty of our behaviour, the fervour of our charity, the innocence of our lives and the example of our virtues. Thus shall we be able to raise the lowered prestige of the Catholic Church and, to build up again, the ruins that others by their vices have caused. Others, by their wickedness, have branded the Catholic Faith with a mark of shame, we must strive, with all our strength, to cleanse it from its ignominy and to restore it to its pristine glory!”
St Robert Southwell SJ (1561-1595) Priest and Martyr
“…The great movement of apostasy being organised in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, neither discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions and which, under the pretext of freedom and human dignity, would bring back to the world (if such a Church could overcome) the reign of legalised cunning and force and the oppression of the weak and of all those who toil and suffer. […] Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators – they are traditionalists.”
“Truly we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our own, the lamentation of the Prophet: “There is no truth,and there is no mercy and there is no knowledge of God in the land” (Hosea 4:1). Yet in the midst of this tide of evil, the Virgin Most Merciful rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace between God and man.”
One Minute Reflection – 9 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” –Feast Dedication of The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour in the Lateran and the Memorial of Blessed Gabriel Ferretti OFM (1385-1456) – Gospel: John 2:13-22
“He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area… ” – John 2:15
REFLECTION – “The Apostle Paul says: “The Temple of God, which you are, is holy” (1 Cor 3:17), that is to say – all you who believe in Christ, believing even to loving. … All who thus believe are the living stones of which God’s temple is built (1 Pt 2:5), they are like the imperishable wood of which the Ark was built that the flood could not overwhelm (Gn 6:14). This temple – the people of God, human persons themselves – is the place where God answers those who pray. People who pray to God outside this temple cannot have their prayers, for the peace of the Jerusalem above answered, even though they are answered regarding particular material things that God grants, even to pagans. … But it is an altogether different thing to have one’s prayers answered in the matter of eternal life. This is only granted to those who pray inside God’s temple.
For someone who prays within God’s Temple prays within the peace of the Church, in the unity of Christ’s Body, since the Body of Christ is built up of the multitude of believers spread over all the world. … And someone who prays in the peace of the Church, prays “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:23) of which the former Temple was only a symbol.
In fact, it was for our instruction that our Lord cast out of the temple those men who were only seeking their own interest and who only went there to buy and sell. If that first temple had to undergo this purification, then it is clear, that the Body of Christ too, the true Temple, also contains buyers and sellers among those who pray there, that is to say, people only seeking “their own interests and not those of Jesus Christ” (Phil 2,21). … But the time will come when the Lord will cast out all those sinners.” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, North Africa, Father and Doctor of Grace of the Church (Sermon on Psalm 130, # 1-2)
PRAYER – Almighty God, as we recall with joy, the Dedication of this house of Yours on each recurring anniversary, listen to Your people’s prayer and grant that our worship here may be a sincere and holy service, honouring Your Name and bringing us the fullness of redemption. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
Dedication of The Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran (Feast):
The oldest and first in rank of the four Basilicas of Rome. The name is derived from the Laterani family, on the site of whose Palace the Basilica stands. King Constantine presented this Palace to the Church. Its annual celebration throughout the Latin Church is a sign of love and unity with the Papacy and Pope. The original Church building, probably adapted from the hall of the palace, was dedicated to the Saviour and from its splendour was known as the Basilica Aurea. Though several times destroyed and rebuilt, the Basilica retained its ancient form, being divided by rows of columns into aisles and having an atrium with colonnades. The restoration of the 17th century changed its appearance. A Monastery was formerly between the Basilica and the City wall of which the cloister still remains. The original apse survived until 1878, when it was destroyed and a deeper apse built. The ancient mosaics have been preserved The high Altar, which is of wood and is believed to have been used by Saint Peter, is now encased in marble. In the upper part of the baldachinum are the heads of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. The Baptistery is an octagonal edifice with porphyry columns. The font is of green basalt. This Basilica has been the Cathedral of Rome since the 4th century.
Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena / Our Lady of Almudena, Madrid, Spain (712) – 9 Novemnber:
The Virgin of Almudena is a medieval icon of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The image is the advocation of the Virgin that serves as a Patroness of Madrid, Spain. Intriguingly, however, its name derives from the Arabic term of Al Mudayna, or the citadel. There are various legends regarding the Statue. One of the historical legends is that in 712, prior to the capture of the Town by the advancing Muslim forces, the inhabitants of the Town secreted the image of the Virgin, for its own protection, inside the walls surrounding the town. In the 11th century, when Madrid was reconquered by the King Alfonso VI of Castile, the Christian soldiers endeavoured to find the Statue. After days of prayer, the spot on the wall hiding the icon crumbled, revealing the Statue. Another legend is that as Christian soldiers approached the Town, they had a vision of Mary imploring them to allow her to lead them into the City. Again the miraculous crumbling of the wall occurred, with the Statue showing an entry route through the walls. The Cathedral of Madrid is dedicated to this advocation of the Virgin and her feast day, 9 November, is a major holiday in Madrid. Below is this beautiful Cathedral.
St Agrippinus of Naples St Alexander of Salonica St Aurelius of Riditio St Benignus of Armagh St Eustolia St Francisco José Marín López de Arroyave Blessed Gabriel Ferretti OFM (1385-1456) Priest Bl George Napper Bl Gratia of Cattaro Bl Helen of Hungary Bl Henryk Hlebowicz St Jane of Segna
St Justo Juanes Santos St Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi St Luis Morbioli St María de la Salud Baldoví Trull Bl María del Carmen of the Child Jesus St Pabo St Sopatra St Theodore Stratelates St Ursinus of Bourges St Valentín Gil Arribas St Vitonus of Verdun — Martyrs of Constantinople – 3 saints: A group of ten Catholic Christians who tried to defend an image of Jesus over the Brazen Gate of Constantinople from an attack by Iconoclasts during the persecutions of emperor Leo the Isaurian. The group of was seized by soldiers, condemned by judges for opposing the emperor, and martyred. The only details that have survived are three of their names – Julian, Marcian and Maria. They were martyred in 730 at Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Anastasio Garzón González • Blessed Francisco José Marín López de Arroyave • Blessed Justo Juanes Santos • Blessed María de la Salud Baldoví Trull • Blessed Valentín Gil Arribas
Thought for the Day – 9 November – Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
We have All been made Temples of God through Baptism
Saint Caesarius of Arles (470-543)
An excerpt from Sermon 229
My fellow Christians, today is the birthday of this church, an occasion for celebration and rejoicing. We, however, ought to be the true and living temple of God. Nevertheless, Christians rightly commemorate this Feast of the Church, their mother, for they know that through her, they were reborn in the spirit. At our first birth, we were vessels of God’s wrath, reborn, we became vessels of His mercy. Our first birth brought death to us but our second restored us to life.
Indeed, before our Baptism we were sanctuaries of the devil but after our Baptism we merited the privilege of being temples of Christ. And if we think more carefully about the meaning of our salvation, we shall realise that we are, indeed, living and true temples of God. God does not dwell only in structures fashioned by human hands, in homes of wood and stone but rather He dwells principally, in the soul made according to His own image and fashioned by His own hand. Therefore, the apostle Paul says: The temple of God is holy and you are that temple.
When Christ came, He banished the devil from our hearts, in order to build in them a temple for Himself. Let us, therefore, do what we can with His help, so that our evil deeds will not deface that temple. For whoever does evil, does injury to Christ. As I said earlier, before Christ redeemed us, we were the house of the devil but afterward, we merited the privilege of being the house of God. God Himself in His loving mercy, saw fit, to make of us, His own home.
My fellow Christians, do we wish to celebrate joyfully the birth of this temple? Then let us not destroy the living temples of God in ourselves by works of evil . I shall speak clearly, so that all can understand. Whenever we come to Church, we must prepare our hearts to be as beautiful as we expect this Church to be. Do you wish to find this Basilica immaculately clean? Then do not soil your soul with the filth of sins. Do you wish this Basilica to be full of light? God too, wishes that your soul be not in darkness but that the light of good works shine in us, so that He, who dwells in the heavens, will be glorified. Just as you enter this Church building, so God wishes to enter into your soul, for He promised – I shall live in them and I shall walk the corridors of their hearts.
Quote/s of the Day – 9 November – Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran
“O God, who out of living and chosen stones, builds up an everlasting dwelling-place for Your Majesty – help Your people, who humbly pray to You and whatever material room Your Church may set apart for Your worship, let it bring also spiritual increase.”
Post Communion prayer
“Stability and permanence are, perhaps, the especial ideas which a church brings before the mind … It represents to us, it’s eternity. It is the witness of Him Who is the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, it is the token and emblem of “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”
St John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Cardinal
“God’s desire to build a spiritual temple in the world, a community that worships him in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23-24). But this observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate the praises of God. Every community, therefore, has the duty to take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she help us to become, like her, the “house of God,” living temple of His love.”
One Minute Reflection – 9 November – The Feast of the Dedication of St John Lateran – Gospel: John 2:13–22
“Zeal for your house will consume me.” ... John 2:18
REFLECTION – “Is a cathedral the offspring of a random thought, a thing to will and to accomplish at our pleasure?… Surely the churches which we inherit are not the purchase of wealth nor the creation of genius, they are the fruits of martyrdom. They come of high deeds and sufferings, as long before their very building as we are after it. Their foundations are laid very deep, even in the preaching of apostles and the confession of saints and the first victories of the gospel in our land. All that is so noble in their architecture, all that captivates the eye and makes its way to the heart, is not a human imagination but a divine gift, a moral result, a spiritual work.
The Cross is ever planted in hazard and suffering and is watered with tears and blood. No where does it take root and bear fruit, except its preaching be with self-denial. It is easy, indeed, for the ruling powers to make a decree and set religion on high and extend its range,and herald its name but they cannot plant it, they can but impose it. The Church alone can plant the Church. The Church alone can found her sees and inclose herself within walls. None but saintly men, mortified men, preachers of righteousness, and confessors for the truth, can create a home for the truth in any land.
Thus the Temples of God are withal the monuments of His saints… Their simplicity, grandeur, solidity, elevation, grace and exuberance of ornament, do but bring to remembrance the patience and purity, the courage, meekness and great charity, the heavenly affections, the activity in well-doing, the faith and resignation, of men who themselves did but worship in mountains and in deserts,and in caves and dens of the earth. They laboured but not in vain, for other men entered into their labours (cf. Jn 4:38) and, as if by natural consequence, at length their word prospered after them and made itself a home, even these sacred palaces in which it has so long dwelt… O happy they who, in a sorrowful time, avail themselves of this bond of communion with the saints of old and with the universal Church!… Happy they, who when they enter within their holy limits, enter in heart into the court of Heaven!” … St John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Cardinal, Founder of the Oratory in England, Theologian – PPS vol. 6, 19
PRAYER – Almighty God, as we recall with joy, the Dedication of this house of Yours on each recurring anniversary, listen to Your people’s prayer and grant that our worship here may be a sincere and holy service, honouring Your Name and bringing us the fullness of redemption. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran (Feast): The oldest and first in rank of the four basilicas of Rome, Italy. The name is derived from the Laterani family, on the site of whose palace the basilica stands. King Constantine presented this palace to the Church. Its annual celebration throughout the Latin Church is a sign of love and unity with the Papacy and Pope.
The original church building, probably adapted from the hall of the palace, was dedicated to the Saviour and from its splendour was known as the Basilica Aurea. Though several times destroyed and rebuilt, the basilica retained its ancient form, being divided by rows of columns into aisles and having an atrium with colonnades. The tasteless restoration of the 17th century changed its appearance. A monastery was formerly between the basilica and the city wall of which the cloister still remains. The original apse survived until 1878, when it was destroyed and a deeper apse built. The ancient mosaics have been preserved The high altar, which is of wood and is believed to have been used by Saint Peter, is now encased in marble. In the upper part of the baldachinum are the heads of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. The baptistery is an octagonal edifice with porphyry columns. The font is of green basalt. This basilica has been the cathedral of Rome since the 4th century.
Our Lady of Almudena: The Virgin of Almudena (Virgen de la Almudena) is a medieval icon of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The image is the advocation of the Virgin that serves as a patroness of Madrid, Spain.
Intriguingly, however, its name derives from the Arabic term of Al Mudayna, or the citadel. There are various legends regarding the icon. One story is that in 712, prior to the capture of the town by the advancing Muslim forces, the inhabitants of the town secreted the image of the virgin, for its own protection, inside the walls surrounding the town. In the 11th century, when Madrid was reconquered by the King Alfonso VI of Castile, the Christian soldiers endeavoured to find the statue. After days of prayer, the spot on the wall hiding the icon crumbled, revealing the statue. Another legend is that as Christian soldiers approached the town, they had a vision of Mary imploring them to allow her to lead them into the city. Again the miraculous crumbling of the wall occurred, with the icon showing an entry route through the walls.
The Cathedral of Madrid is dedicated to this advocation of the Virgin and her feast day, 9 November, is a major holiday in Madrid.
St Agrippinus of Naples
St Alexander of Salonica
St Aurelius of Riditio
St Benignus of Armagh
St Eustolia
St Francisco José Marín López de Arroyave
St Gabriel Ferretti
Bl George Napper
Bl Gratia of Cattaro
Bl Helen of Hungary
Bl Henryk Hlebowicz
St Jane of Segna Bl Ludovico Morbioli (1433-1485)
St Justo Juanes Santos
St Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi
St Luis Morbioli
St María de la Salud Baldoví Trull
Bl María del Carmen of the Child Jesus
St Pabo
St Sopatra
St Theodore Stratelates
St Ursinus of Bourges
St Valentín Gil Arribas
St Vitonus of Verdun
—
Martyrs of Constantinople – 3 saints: A group of ten Catholic Christians who tried to defend an image of Jesus over the Brazen Gate of Constantinople from an attack by Iconoclasts during the persecutions of emperor Leo the Isaurian. The group of was seized by soldiers, condemned by judges for opposing the emperor, and martyred. The only details that have survived are three of their names – Julian, Marcian and Maria. They were martyred in 730 at Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Anastasio Garzón González
• Blessed Francisco José Marín López de Arroyave
• Blessed Justo Juanes Santos
• Blessed María de la Salud Baldoví Trull
• Blessed Valentín Gil Arribas
Thought for the Day – 9 November – Pope Benedict on the Feast of the Dedication of St John Lateran
In a sense, St John Lateran is the parish church of all Catholics, because it is the pope’s cathedral. This church, is the spiritual home, of the people who are the Church.
Excerpt of Pope Benedict’s
Angelus Address 9 November 2008
“The Word of God during this Solemnity recalls an essential truth – the stone temple is the symbol of the living Church, the Christian community, that the Apostles Peter and Paul had, in their Letters, already understood as a “spiritual building”, constructed by God with the “living stones” that are the Christians, upon the one foundation that is Jesus Christ, who is in turn compared to the “cornerstone” cf. 1 Cor 3: 9-11, 16-17; 1 Pt 2: 4-8; Eph 2: 20-22). “Brethren,… you are God’s building”, St Paul writes and he adds, “God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Cor 3: 9c, 17).
The beauty and the harmony of churches, destined to render praise to God, invites us human beings too, though limited and sinful, to convert ourselves to form a “cosmos”, a well-ordered construction, in close communion with Jesus, who is the true Holy of Holies. This reaches its culmination in the Eucharistic liturgy, in which the “ecclesia” that is, the community of baptised finds itself again united to listen to the Word of God and nourish itself on the Body and Blood of Christ. Gathered around this twofold table, the Church of living stones builds herself up in truth and in love and is moulded interiorly by the Holy Spirit, transforming herself into what she receives, conforming herself ever more to her Lord Jesus Christ. She herself, if she lives in sincere and fraternal unity, thus becomes a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God.
Dear friends, today’s feast celebrates an ever current mystery – that God desires to build himself a spiritual temple in the world, a community that adores Him in spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4: 23-24).
But this occasion reminds us also of the importance of the concrete buildings in which the community gathers together to celebrate God’s praises. Every communit,y therefore, has the duty to carefully guard their holy structures, which constitute a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we invoke the intercession of Mary Most Holy, so that she might help us to become, like her, a “house of God”, living temple of his love.”
Quote/s of the Day – 9 November – The Feast of the Dedication of St John Lateran
“What was done here, as these walls were rising, is reproduced when we bring together those who believe in Christ. For, by believing they are hewn out, as it were, from mountains and forests, like stones and timber but by catechising, baptism and instruction they are, as it were, shaped, squared and planed by the hands of the workers and artisans. Nevertheless, they do not make a house for the Lord, until they are fitted together through love”.
St Augustine (354-430) Doctor of the Church – Sermon 36
“Today’s feast, brothers, ought to be all the more devout as it is more personal. For other celebrations we have in common with other ecclesiastical communities but this one is proper to us, so that if we do not celebrate it, nobody will. It is ours because it concerns our church, ours because we ourselves are its theme. You are surprised and even embarrassed, perhaps, at celebrating a feast for yourselves. But do not be like horses and mules that have no understanding. Your souls are holy because of the Spirit of God dwelling in you, your bodies are holy because of your souls and this building is holy because of your bodies.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church
“Is not this an image of today’s event? The ancient generations came up to this place, generations of Romans, generations of bishops of Rome, successors of St Peter and they sang this hymn of joy, which I repeat today with you. I join these generations, I, the new Bishop of Rome, John Paul II, Polish by origin. I stop on the threshold of this temple and I ask you to welcome me in the Lord’s name. I beg you to welcome me, as you welcomed my Predecessors throughout the centuries, as you welcomed, only a few weeks ago, John Paul I, so beloved by the whole world! I beg you to welcome me too. The Lord says: “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16). This is the only appeal I can make – I am not here by my own will. The Lord has elected me. In the Lord’s name I beg you therefore – welcome me!”
St Pope John Paul (1920-2005) RITE OF POSSESSION OF THE CHAIR OF THE BISHOP OF ROME HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II Basilica of St John Lateran Sunday, 12 November 1978
One Minute Reflection – 9 November – The Feast of the Dedication of St John Lateran – Today’s Gospel: John 2:13–22
But he spoke of the temple of his body...John 2:20
REFLECTION – “Because Solomon was a prophet he built a temple of stone and wood… for the living God, who made heaven and earth and whose dwelling is in the skies… Why did God ask that a temple be built? Was he lacking somewhere to live? Listen to Stephen’s speech at the time of his passion: “Solomon,’ he said, “built a house but the most High does not live in man-made temples” (Acts 7:48). Why, then, did he build, or cause to be built, a temple? To prefigure Christ’s body. The first temple was only a shadow (Col 2:17), when light comes, shadows flee away. Are you now looking for the temple Solomon built? You will find a ruin. Why is this temple only a ruin? Because the reality it announced has been fulfilled. The true temple, the Lord’s body, also fell but has been raised up again and raised up in such a way it will fall no more…
What about our own bodies? They are members of Christ . Listen to Saint Paul: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1Cor 6:15). When he says: “Your bodies are members of Christ”, what does this mean but that our bodies, joined to Christ our head (Col 1:18), together form a single temple, God’s temple. Together with Christ’s body, our bodies are this temple… Let yourselves be built up in unity that you may not fall in ruins by remaining separate.”…St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Almighty God, as we recall with joy, the Dedication of this house of Yours on each recurring anniversary, listen to Your people’s prayer and grant that our worship here may be a sincere and holy service, honouring Your Name and bringing us the fullness of redemption. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
Feast of the Dedication of The Cathedral of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran – 9 November
The residence of the Popes which was named the Lateran Palace was built by Lateranus Palutius, whom Nero put to death to seize his goods. It was given in the year 313 by Constantine the Great to Saint Miltiades, Pope and was inhabited by his successors until 1308, when they moved to Avignon. The Lateran Basilica built by Constantine near the palace of the same name, is the first Basilica of the West. Twelve councils, four of which were ecumenical, have assembled there, the first in 649, the last in 1512.
If for several centuries the Popes have no longer dwelt in the Palace, the primacy of the Basilica is not thereby altered, it remains the head of all churches. Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church, wrote that just as the Saviour is the Head of the elect, the church which bears His name is the head of all the churches. Those of Saints Peter and Paul, to its left and its right, are the two arms by which this sovereign and universal Church embraces the entire earth, saving all who desire salvation, warming them, protecting them in its maternal womb.
The Divine Office narrates the dedication of the Church by the Pope of Peace, Saint Sylvester:
“It was the Blessed Pope Sylvester who established the rites observed by the Roman Church for the consecration of churches and altars. From the time of the Apostles there had been certain places dedicated to God, which some called oratories and others, churches. There, on the first day of the week, the assembly was held and there the Christian people were accustomed to pray, to hear the Word of God and to receive the Eucharist. But never had these places been consecrated so solemnly, nor had a fixed altar been placed there which, anointed with sacred chrism, was the symbol of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who for us is altar, victim and Pontiff.
But when the Emperor Constantine through the sacrament of Baptism had obtained health of body and salvation of soul, a law was issued by him which for the first time permitted that everywhere in the world Christians might build churches. Not satisfied to establish this edict, the prince wanted to give an example and inaugurate the holy labours. Thus in his own Lateran palace, he dedicated a church to the Saviour,and founded the attached baptistry under the name of Saint John the Baptist, in the place where he himself, baptised by Saint Sylvester, had been cured of leprosy. It is this church which the Pontiff consecrated in the fifth of the ides of November and we celebrate the commemoration on that day, when for the first time in Rome a church was thus publicly consecrated and where a painting of the Saviour was visible on the wall before the eyes of the Roman people.”
When the Lateran Church was partially ruined by fires, enemy invasions and earthquakes, it was always rebuilt with great zeal by the Sovereign Pontiffs. In 1726, after one such restoration, Pope Benedict XIII consecrated it anew and assigned the commemoration of that event to the present day. The church was afterwards enlarged and beautified by Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII.
Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran (Feast): The oldest and first in rank of the four basilicas of Rome, Italy. The name is derived from the Laterani family, on the site of whose palace the basilica stands. King Constantine presented this palace to the Church. Its annual celebration throughout the Latin Church is a sign of love and unity with the Papacy and Pope.
The original church building, probably adapted from the hall of the palace, was dedicated to the Saviour and from its splendour was known as the Basilica Aurea. Though several times destroyed and rebuilt, the basilica retained its ancient form, being divided by rows of columns into aisles and having an atrium with colonnades. The tasteless restoration of the 17th century changed its appearance. A monastery was formerly between the basilica and the city wall of which the cloister still remains. The original apse survived until 1878, when it was destroyed and a deeper apse built. The ancient mosaics have been preserved. The high altar, which is of wood and is believed to have been used by Saint Peter, is now encased in marble. In the upper part of the baldachinum are the heads of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. The baptistery is an octagonal edifice with porphyry columns. The font is of green basalt. This basilica has been the cathedral of Rome since the 4th century.
Our Lady of Almudena: The Virgin of Almudena (Virgen de la Almudena) is a medieval icon of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The image is the advocation of the Virgin that serves as a patroness of Madrid, Spain.
Intriguingly, however, its name derives from the Arabic term of Al Mudayna, or the citadel. There are various legends regarding the ico. One story is that in 712, prior to the capture of the town by the advancing Muslim forces, the inhabitants of the town secreted the image of the virgin, for its own protection, inside the walls surrounding the town. In the 11th century, when Madrid was reconquered by the King Alfonso VI of Castile, the Christian soldiers endeavoured to find the statue. After days of prayer, the spot on the wall hiding the icon crumbled, revealing the statue. Another legend is that as Christian soldiers approached the town, they had a vision of Mary imploring them to allow her to lead them into the city. Again the miraculous crumbling of the wall occurred, with the icon showing an entry route through the walls.
The Cathedral of Madrid is dedicated to this advocation of the Virgin and her feast day, 9 November, is a major holiday in Madrid.
—
St Agrippinus of Naples
St Alexander of Salonica
St Aurelius of Riditio
St Benignus of Armagh
St Eustolia
St Francisco José Marín López de Arroyave
St Gabriel Ferretti
Bl George Napper
Bl Gratia of Cattaro
Bl Helen of Hungary
Bl Henryk Hlebowicz
St Jane of Segna
Bl Ludovico Morbioli (1433-1485)
St Justo Juanes Santos
St Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi
St Luis Morbioli
St María de la Salud Baldoví Trull
Bl María del Carmen of the Child Jesus
St Pabo
St Sopatra
St Theodore Stratelates
St Ursinus of Bourges
St Valentín Gil Arribas
St Vitonus of Verdun
—
Martyrs of Constantinople – 3 saints: A group of ten Catholic Christians who tried to defend an image of Jesus over the Brazen Gate of Constantinople from an attack by Iconoclasts during the persecutions of emperor Leo the Isaurian. The group of was seized by soldiers, condemned by judges for opposing the emperor, and martyred. The only details that have survived are three of their names – Julian, Marcian and Maria. They were martyred in 730 at Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey).
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Anastasio Garzón González
• Blessed Francisco José Marín López de Arroyave
• Blessed Justo Juanes Santos
• Blessed María de la Salud Baldoví Trull
• Blessed Valentín Gil Arribas
One last word on the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, today, 9 November.
One of the best things about the Lateran is the 8-sided Baptistery, which I really love, though it is a beautiful church in general. There one reads:
Here is born a people of noble race, destined for Heaven, whom the Spirit brings forth in the waters he has made fruitful. Mother Church conceives her offspring by the breath of God and bears them virginally in this water. Hope for the Kingdom of Heaven, you who are reborn in this font. Eternal life does not await those who are only born once. This is the spring of life that waters the whole world, taking its origin from the Wounds of Christ. Sinner, to be purified, go down into the holy water. It receives the unregenerate and brings him forth a new man. If you wish to be made innocent, be cleansed in this pool, whether you are weighed down by original sin or your own. There is no barrier between those who are reborn and made one by the one font, the one Spirit and the one faith. Let neither the number nor the kind of their sins terrify anyone – once reborn in this water, they will be holy.
Thought for the Day – 9 November – Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran – “omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput…the Mother and head of all the Churches of the City and the World.”
Saint Augustine gives us a few a ideas to meditate on: “‘Jerusalem that is being built as a city.’ When David was uttering these words, that city had been finished, it was not being built. It is some city he speaks of, therefore, which is now being built, unto which living stones run in faith, of whom Peter says, ‘You also, as living stones, are built up into a spiritual house, that is, the holy temple of God’. What does it mean, you are built up as living stones? You live, if you believe, but if you believe, you are made a temple of God; for the Apostle Paul says, ‘For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple’.”
Unlike the commemorations of other Roman churches, this anniversary is a Feast. The dedication of a church is a Feast for all its parishioners. In a sense, St John Lateran is the parish church of all Catholics because it is the Pope’s Cathedral. This church is the spiritual home of the people who are the Church.
We celebrate the dedication of this Church as the seat of the Bishop of Rome from which all other pastoral authority is derived. We honour the anniversary of a church’s dedication because a church gives full voice to the sacred Liturgy. The feast of the dedication gives full acceptance and capacity to live the ancient theological principle, legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi (the law of belief given through the law of prayer, or even more of short-hand, the law of prayer is the law of belief).
O God, who out of living and chosen stones, builds up an everlasting dwelling-place for Your Majesty – help Your people, who humbly pray to You and whatever material room Your Church may set apart for Your worship, let it bring also spiritual increase.
(Post-Communion prayer)
Quote/s of the Day – 9 November – Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran
“What was done here, as these walls were rising, is reproduced when we bring together those who believe in Christ. For, by believing they are hewn out, as it were, from mountains and forests, like stones and timber; but by catechising, baptism and instruction they are, as it were, shaped, squared and planed by the hands of the workers and artisans. Nevertheless, they do not make a house for the Lord until they are fitted together through love”.
St Augustine (354-430) Doctor of the Church – Sermon 36
“God’s desire to build a spiritual temple in the world, a community that worships him in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23-24). But this observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate the praises of God. Every community, therefore, has the duty to take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she help us to become, like her, the “house of God,” living temple of his love.”
One Minute Reflection – 9 November – Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran
He has strengthened the bars of your gates, he has blessed the children within you.…Psalm 147
REFLECTION – “Today’s feast, brothers, ought to be all the more devout as it is more personal. For other celebrations we have in common with other ecclesiastical communities, but this one is proper to us, so that if we do not celebrate it nobody will. It is ours because it concerns our church; ours because we ourselves are its theme. You are surprised and even embarrassed, perhaps, at celebrating a feast for yourselves. But do not be like horses and mules that have no understanding. Your souls are holy because of the Spirit of God dwelling in you; your bodies are holy because of your souls and this building is holy because of your bodies.”…St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
PRAYER – Almighty God, as we recall with joy, the Dedication of this house of Yours on each recurring anniversary, listen to Your people’s prayer and grant that our worship here may be a sincere and holy service, honouring Your Name and bringing us the fullness of redemption. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 9 November – Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran
O God,
who from living and chosen stones
prepare an eternal dwelling for Your Majesty,
increase in Your Church the spirit of grace
You have bestowed, so that by new growth,
Your faithful people may build up
the heavenly Jerusalem.
We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ,
in union with the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Feast of the Dedication of The Cathedral of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran- 9 November
The Papal Archbasilica of St John in Lateran (Italian: Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano), commonly known as St John Lateran Archbasilica, St John Lateran Basilica, St John Lateran, or simply the Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of Rome, Italy and therefore houses the cathedra, or ecclesiastical seat, of the Roman Pontiff.
It is the oldest of and has precedence among the four papal major basilicas, all of which are in Rome, because it is the oldest church in the West and houses the cathedra of the Roman Pontiff. It has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Roman Catholic faithful.
The current archpriest is Angelo De Donatis, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome. The President of the French Republic, currently Emmanuel Macron, is ex officio the “first and only honorary canon” of the archbasilica, a title that the heads of state of France have possessed since King Henry IV.
The large Latin inscription on the façade reads: Clemens XII Pont Max Anno V Christo Salvatori In Hon SS Ioan Bapt et Evang; which is a highly abbreviated inscription which translates to: “Pope Clement XII, in the fifth year [of his Pontificate], dedicated this building to Christ the Saviour, in honour of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist”. The inscription indicates, that the archbasilica was originally dedicated to Christ the Saviour and, centuries later, co-dedicated to St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist. As the Cathedral of the Pope qua Bishop of Rome, it ranks superior to all other churches of the Roman Catholic Church, including St Peter’s Basilica and therefore it alone is titled “Archbasilica” among all other basilicas.
The archbasilica is sited in the City of Rome, outside and distanced from Vatican City proper, which is approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) to its northwest, although the archbasilica and its adjoining edifices have extraterritorial status from Italy as one of the properties of the Holy See, subject to the sovereignty of the latter, pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 with Italy under Benito Mussolini.
This feast commemorates the Dedication of the Basilica of St John Lateran which, by a tradition dating to the 12th century, is said to have taken place on this day. It was dedicated as the first Catholic basilica in Rome, by Pope Sylvester in 324. Until the 15th century, the Lateran was the residence of the popes. It is the episcopal seat of the bishop of Rome, the pope and until the 15th century, it was also his residence. At first, the feast was kept only in the City of Rome but the, in honour of the Basilica, which is called the “Mother and Head of all Churches of the City and the World” (omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput) it was extended to the whole of the Roman Rite as a sign of unity and respect towards the Holy See of Peter, the Holy Father and the Magisterium, which, as St Ignatius of Antioch wrote, presides over the whole assembly of charity.
Ceiling
In the year 313 the Roman Emperor Constantine declared the Edict of Milan, granting religious freedom to Christians. Constantine himself donated the palace of the Lateran, a portion of his wife’s dowry, to the Church for its basilica. The Lateran is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the pope, and, as such, it ranks as the “mother and head of all the churches in the city and the world.”
Main body of the basilica, after the radical transformation by Francesco Borromini.
The pope celebrates the Holy Thursday liturgy at Saint John Lateran, surrounded by towering statues of the twelve Apostles bearing the instrument of their martyrdom. Above its towering 18th century façade can be seen the image of Christ Triumphant, surrounded by saints and doctors.
We are all members of our own local church, work for he universal kingdom of Christ, are also members of this “mother-church” in Rome.
The dedication of churches can be traced back to the Jewish practice of dedicating the Temple in Jerusalem to God. Once the Temple had been dedicated, there was a feast each year to celebrate the anniversary of the dedication. This feast was celebrated not only in Jerusalem but in every synagogue as well. Similarly, every Western Catholic church observes the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.
This feast helps us move beyond our narrow geographical confines to a sense of the universal Church.
The high altar and the 14th-century Gothic ciborium. The relic of the original wooden altar used by St Peter comprises the high altar. Above the ciborium are Sts Peter and Paul.
“Every place set aside for divine worship is a sign of that spiritual temple, which is the Church, made up of living stones: of the faithful united by the one faith, of the participation in the sacraments and of the bond of charity. The Saints, in particular, are precious stones of that spiritual temple”… Saint Pope John Paul II.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.
AnaStpaul 
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