Mass at the Vatican

Saint Nicholas of Myra

From: http://www.holyghost-byzantinecatholic.org

Americans today often have a twisted sense of giving. Because we are a nation of affluence, we are often exposed to countless pleas to give generously to every and all needy causes. And The approach so often used by various mediums of solicitation is to appeal to our sense of guilt at our having so much while others have so little. Obviously such a campaign works. But rather than giving of our heart to help someone in need, we so often give in order to appease our own guilt feelings. And once having satisfied our guilt, we can overlook the personal involvement of helping those whom we come in contact with on a day to day basis. But is this the true spirit of giving? Should we not give out of genuine love and concern for our fellow man rather than to satisfy our own needs and guilty conscience? And just as twisted is the notion that we should be “good Samaritans” because giving will make us “feel good” or give us reward and recognition. Is this why we should help others? Christ tells us to lend without expecting return (Lk 6:35). This does not mean that we shouldn’t give our time, talents and money. Christ tells us to lend, but our motivations is different. Either way, the cause will get its donation. But the difference between giving out of love for your fellow man or giving to satisfy personal motives is like the difference between doing something out of genuine love for your parents or out of fear of punishment for not doing it.

It’s the difference between being “Christ-like” or “self-centered.” Perhaps we know of no better example of the true spirit of Christian giving than our own St. Nicholas. Born around 275 AD in a town called Myra, St Nicholas “forsook the world” and entered the monastic life Because of his holiness and virtue, he was brought back to Myra and consecrated its bishop. While there, he was seized by the town magistrates, who were persecuting the Church, for zealously guiding and protecting his flock, and subjected to torture and imprisonment With the end of the persecutions brought about by the Emperor Constantine, St. Nicholas was released and once again took to the care of his flock. He is said to have taken part in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea. After his death at a very old age, his body remains uncorrupted to this day and a sweet smelling balm is said to flow from his bones Several miracles are attributed to his intercession and hence he is called “Wonderworker” But, above all in his saintly life, St Nicholas is most renowned for his example of Christian giving Countless legends of his holiness and unselfishness exist One such story concerns a man who was so poor that he decided to sell his three daughters into slavery St Nicholas, upon hearing of this and under the cover of night, left money m the house and thus averted the tragedy He did this twice more before his discovery by the wretched man, who immediately sought forgiveness from St Nicholas Other legends include his arranging for the release of 3 unjustly imprisoned men and his saving 3 innocent youths from execution.

There are other tales of his goodness, but the point of the matter is that St. Nicholas helped. others, not because he wanted to “feel good”, but because he truly loved his fellow man. In treating everyone as Christ would, he acted, not out of a desire to satisfy his needs, but out of concern for the needs of others He forgot any personal difficulties and hardships involved in order to try to alleviate the hardships of others This is the true spirit of Christian giving This is the true spirit of love of neighbor This is the spirit of St. Nicholas. His feast is celebrated on December 6.

PRAYER O Saint Nicholas, bountiful Father and special Patron of our Byzantine Catholic Church. You are a shepherd and teacher to all who invoke your protection, and who, by devout prayer, call upon you for aid. Hasten and save the flock of Christ from ravenous wolves; and by your holy prayers protect all Christians and save them from worldly disturbances, earthquakes, attacks from abroad, from internal strife, from famine, flood, fire, sword, and sudden death. As you had mercy on those three men in prison and saved them from the king's wrath, now also have mercy on me who by word, deed, and thought have sunk into the darkness of sin, Save me from the just anger of God, and from eternal punishment. Through your intercession and aid as well as through his own mercy and grace, may Christ our God allow me to lead a tranquil and sinless life, and save me from standing at "his left," but deem me worthy to stand at "his right" with all the saints. Amen.

New Blog

Our sister's at St. Emma Monastery have launched a new blog for women discerning the monastic way of life in the Benedictine tradition.  Check it out. (Click on pic)

2 monks installed acolytes

Twelve Saint Vincent seminarians, including Br. Maximilian Maxwell, OSB and Br. Jeremiah Lange, OSB from St. Vincent Archabbey and their classmates from six archdioceses and dioceses and one other monastery were installed in the Ministry of Acolyte on November 8 by Most Rev. Joseph P. McFadden, D.D., Bishop of Harrisburg, in the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica. They are from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, the dioceses of Covington, Erie, Harrisburg, Savannah and Wheeling-Charleston, Saint Vincent Archabbey and the Monastery of Christ in the Desert.

Saint Andrew

From EWTN.com

[The acts of this apostle's martyrdom, though rejected by Tillemont, &c., are maintained to be genuine by Nat. Alexander, Hist. t. i. and by Mr. Woog, professor of history and antiquities in Leipsic, in learned dissertations, published in 1748 and 1751. The authority of this piece being contested, little stress is laid upon it, and the following account is gathered from the sacred writings, and those of the fathers.] 

St Andrew was a native of Bethsaida, a town in Galilee, upon the banks of the lake of Genesareth. He was the son of Jonas, or John, a fisherman of that town, and brother to Simon Peter, but whether elder or younger the Holy Scriptures have not acquainted us. They had afterwards a house at Capharnaum, where Jesus lodged when he preached in that city. It is no small proof of the piety and good inclinations of St. Andrew, that when St. John Baptist began to preach penance in the desert, he was not content with going to hear him as others did, but became his disciple, passed much of his time in hearing his instructions, and studied punctually to practice all his lessons and copy his example; but he often returned home to his fishing trade. He was with his master when St. John Baptist, seeing Jesus pass by the day after he had been baptized by him, said, "Behold the Lamb of God."[1] Andrew, by the ardour and purity of his desires and his fidelity in every religious practice, deserved to be so far enlightened as to comprehend this mysterious saying, and without delay he and another disciple of the Baptist went after Jesus, who drew them secretly by the invisible bands of his grace, and saw them with the eyes of his spirit before he beheld them with his corporal eyes. Turning back as he walked and seeing them follow him, he said, "What seek ye?" They said they desired to know where he dwelt; and he bade them come and see. There remained but two hours of that day, which they spent with him, and, according to several fathers, the whole night following. "O how happy a day, how happy a night did they pass I " cries out St. Austin. "Who will tell us what things they then learned from the mouth of their Saviour!"

Andrew, who loved affectionately his brother Simon, called afterwards Peter, could not rest till he had imparted to him the infinite treasure which he had discovered, and brought him to Christ that he might also know him. Simon was no sooner come to Jesus than the Saviour of the world admitted him as a disciple and gave him the name of Peter. The brothers tarried one day with him to hear his divine doctrine, and the next day returned home again. From this time they became Jesus’ disciples, not constantly attending upon him, as they afterwards did, but hearing him frequently, as their business would permit, and returning to their trade and family affairs again. Jesus, in order to prove the truth of his divine doctrine by his works, wrought his first miracle at the marriage at Cana in Galilee, and was pleased that these two brothers should be present at it with his holy mother. Jesus, going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, stayed some days in Judea, and baptized in the Jordan. Peter and Andrew also baptized by his authority and in his name. Our Saviour being come back into Lower Galilee in autumn, and meeting one day Peter and Andrew fishing in the lake, before the end of the same year, he called them to a constant attendance upon the ministry of the gospel, saying that he would make them fishers of men. Whereupon they immediately left their nets to follow him, and never went from him again. The year following, the Son of God formed the college of his apostles, in which our two brothers are named by the evangelists at the head of the rest. Not long after Jesus went down to Capharnaum and lodged at the house of Peter and Andrew and, at the request of them both, cured Peter's wife's mother of a fever, by taking her by the hand and rebuking the fever, by which it left her When Christ would not send away the multitude of five thousand persons who had followed him into the desert till they were refreshed with some food, St. Philip said two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice. But Andrew seemed to express a stronger faith, saying there was a boy who had five barley loaves and two small fishes—which, indeed, were nothing among so many—but Christ could, if he pleased to exert his power, seeing he was greater than Eliseus who, with twenty loaves, fed a hundred men.[2] When Christ was at Bethania, at the house of Lazarus, a little before his Sacred Passion, certain Greeks who came to worship God at the festival, addressed themselves to Philip, begging him to introduce them to Jesus. Philip did not undertake to do it alone; but spoke to St. Andrew, and they both together spoke to their divine master and procured these strangers that happiness. This shows the great credit St. Andrew had with Christ; on which account St. Bede calls him the Introductor to Christ, and says he had this honour because he brought St. Peter to him. Christ having foretold the destruction of the temple, Peter, John, James, and Andrew asked him privately when that should come to pass, that they might forewarn their brethren to escape the danger.

After Christ's resurrection and the descent of the Holy Ghost, St. Andrew preached the gospel in Scythia, as Origen testifies. Sophronius, who wrote soon after St. Jerome and translated his catalogue of illustrious men and some other works into Greek, adds Sogdiana and Colchis. Theodoret tells us that he passed into Greece; St. Gregory Nazianzen mentions particularly Epirus and St. Jerom Achaia. St. Paulinus says this divine fisherman, preaching at Argos, put all the philosophers there to silence. St. Philastrius tells us, that he came out of Pontus into Greece, and that in his time people at Sinope were persuaded that they had his true picture, and the pulpit in which he had preached in that city. The Muscovites have long gloried that St. Andrew carried the gospel into their country as far as the mouth of the Borysthenes, and to the mountains where the city of Kiou now stands, and to the frontiers of Poland. If the ancients mean European Scythia, when they speak of the theatre of his labours, this authority is favourable to the pretensions of the Muscovites. The Greeks understand it of Scythia, beyond Sebastopolis in Colchis, and perhaps also of the European; for they say he planted the faith in Thrace, and particularly at Byzantium, afterwards called Constantinople. But of this we meet with no traces in antiquity. Several Calendars commemorate the feast of the chair of St. Andrew at Patrae, in Achaia It is agreed that he laid down his life there for Christ. St. Paulinus says, that having taken many people in the nets of Christ he confirmed the faith which he had preached by his blood at Patrae. St. Sophronius, St. Gaudentius, and St. Austin assure us that he was crucified; St. Peter Chrysologus says, on a tree; Pseudo-Hippolytus adds, on an olive-tree. In the hymn of Pope Damasus it is barely mentioned that he was crucified. When the apostle saw his cross at a distance, he is said to have cried out, "Hail, precious cross, that hast been consecrated by the body of my Lord, and adorned with his limbs as with rich jewels. I come to thee exulting and glad: receive me with joy into thy arms. O good cross, that hast received beauty from our Lord's limbs; I have ardently loved thee; long have I desired and sought thee: now thou art found by me, and art made ready for my longing soul; receive me into thy arms, taking me from among men, and present me to my master; that he who redeemed me on thee, may receive me by thee." The body of St. Andrew was translated from Patrae to Constantinople in 357, together with those of St. Luke and St. Timothy, and deposited in the Church of the Apostles, which Constantine the Great had built a little before. St. Paulinus and St. Jerome mention miracles wrought on that occasion. The churches of Milan, Nola, Brescia, and some other places, were at the same time enriched with small portions of these relics, as we are informed by St. Ambrose, St. Gaudentius, St. Paulinus, &c.

It is the common opinion that the cross of St. Andrew was in the form of the letter X, styled a cross decussate, composed of two pieces of timber crossing each other obliquely in the middle. That such crosses were sometimes used is certain; yet no clear proofs are produced as to the form of St. Andrew's cross. It is mentioned in the records of the duchy of Burgundy, that the cross of St. Andrew was brought out of Achaia and placed in the nunnery of Weaune, near Marseilles. It was thence removed into the abbey of St. Victor, in Marseilles, before the year 1250, and is still shown there. A part thereof, enclosed in a silver case gilt, was carried to Brussels by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and Brabant, who, in honour of it, instituted the Knights of the Golden Fleece, who for the badge of their Order, wear a figure of this cross, called St. Andrew's cross, or the cross of Burgundy. The Scots honour St. Andrew as principal patron of their country, and their historians tell us that a certain abbot, called Regulus, brought thither from Patrae in 369, or rather from Constantinople some years later, certain relics of this apostle, which he deposited in a church which he built in his honour with a monastery called Abernethy, where now the city of St. Andrews stands. Usher proves that many pilgrims resorted to this church from foreign countries, and that the Scottish monks of that place were the first who were called Culdees.[3] Hungus, King of the Picts, soon after the year 800, in thanksgiving for a great victory which he had gained over the Northumbrians, gave to this church the tenth part of all the land of his dominions. Kenneth II, King of the Scots, having overcome the Picts, and entirely extinguished their kingdom in North Britain, in 845, repaired and richly endowed the Church of St. Regulus, or Rueil, in which the arm of St. Andrew was reverently kept. The Muscovites say he preached the faith among them, and honour him as the principal titular saint of their empire. Peter the Great instituted under his name the first and most noble order of knighthood, or of the blue ribbon; leaving the project of a second Order of St. Alexander Newski, or of the red ribbon, to be carried into execution by his widow.

St. Andrew, by conversing with Christ, extinguished in his breast all earthly passions and desires, and attained to the happiness of his pure divine love. We often say to ourselves that we also desire to purchase holy love, the most valuable of all treasures, and the summit of dignity and happiness. But these desires are fruitless and mere mockery unless we earnestly set about the means. We must first, with the apostle, leave all things; that is to say, we must sincerely and in spirit forsake the world (though we live in it), and must also renounce and die to ourselves before we can be admitted to the familiar converse of our Redeemer and God, or before he opens to us the treasure of his choicest graces. In the same proportion that the world and self-love are banished from our hearts shall we advance in divine love. But this great virtue is learned, exercised, and improved by conversing much with God in holy meditation, reading, and assiduous prayer and recollection; also by its external acts, in all manner of good works, especially those of fraternal charity and spiritual mercy.

First Vespers of Advent from Rome

Pics from around the Abbey

Prayer of Thanksgiving

 

Thank you, Lord of the Universe,
      for all the gifts
      you always offer me.
Thank you for all I receive:
      for the water that washes me,
      for the clothes I wear,
      for the bread that sustains me.
For my dwelling and my parents,
      for my sisters and brothers,
      and for my friends.
For the knowledge gained from striving,
      and for the toils of each day.
For the good mornings that have dawned upon me,
      for the light that shines upon me,
      and for the handshakes that link me to others.
For the time you have allotted me,
      for the life you have offered me,
      and for the blessings of each new day.
Thanks you for being with me, Lord,
      for listening to me,
      and for taking me seriously.
Thank you even for receiving today’s thank you.
Thank you, Lord, thank you very much.

Amen.

Pittsburgh native and friend of St. Vincent Archabbey becomes Cardinal

Saint Gertrude

From: EWTN.com 

St Gertrude was of an illustrious family, born at Eisleben, or Islebe, in Upper Saxony, and sister to St. Mechtildes. At five years of age she was offered to God in the Benedictine nunnery of Rodalsdorf, and at thirty was chosen abbess of that house in 1251; and the year following was obliged to take upon her the government of the monastery of Heldelfs, to which she removed with her nuns. In her youth she studied Latin, as it was then customary for nuns to do; she wrote and composed in that language very well, and was versed in sacred literature. Divine contemplation and devout prayer she always looked upon as the principal duty and employment of her state, and consecrated to those exercises the greatest part of her time. The passion of our Redeemer was the favourite object of her devotions; and in meditating on it, or on the blessed Eucharist, frequently she was not able to contain the torrents of tears which flowed from her eyes. She spoke of Christ and of the mysteries of his adorable life with so much unction, and in such transports of holy love, as to ravish those who heard her. Ecstacies and raptures of the divine love, and the gifts of divine union in prayer, were familiar to her. She mentions that once hearing those words, "I have seen the Lord face to face," sung in the church, she saw, as it were, a divine face, most beautiful and charming, whose eyes pierced her heart and filled both her soul and body with inexpressible delight which no tongue could express.[1] The divine love, which burnt in her breast and consumed her soul, seemed the only spring of all her affections and actions. For this precious grace her pure soul was prepared by the crucifixion of her heats to the world and to inordinate self-love in all its shapes. Watching, fasting, abstinence, perfect obedience, and the constant denial of her own will were the means by which she tamed her flesh and extirpated or subdued whatever could oppose the reign of the most holy will of God in her affections. But profound humility and perfect meekness had the chief part in this work, and laid the foundation of the great virtues end graces to which the divine mercy raised her. Though she was possessed of the greatest natural talents and of most extraordinary gifts of divine grace, her mind was penetrated and entirely filled only with the deepest sentiments of her own nothingness, baseness, and imperfections. It was her sincere desire that all others should have the same contempt of her which she had of herself, and she used to say that it seemed to her one of the greatest of all the miracles of God's infinite goodness that his divine majesty was pleased to suffer the earth to bear her. Though she was the superior and mother of the rest, she behaved I towards them as if she had been the lowest servant and one that was unworthy ever to approach them: and such were the sincere sentiments of her heart. How much soever she gave herself up to the exercises of heavenly [contemplation, she, neglected not the duties of Martha, and was very solicitous in attending to all the necessities of everyone, and in providing all things for them, especially all spiritual helps. Her tender devotion to the mother of God sprang from the ardour of her love for the divine Son. The suffering souls in purgatory had a very great share in her compassion and charity.

We have a living portraiture of her pure and holy soul in her short book of "Divine Insinuations, or Communications and Sentiments of Love," perhaps the most useful production, next to the writings of St. Teresa, with which any female saint ever enriched the church, for nourishing piety in a contemplative state. The saint proposes exercises for the renovation of the baptismal vows, by which the soul entirely renounces the world and herself, consecrates herself to the pure love of God, and devotes herself to pursue in all things his holy will. The like exercises she prescribes for the conversion of a soul to God, and for the renovation of her holy spiritual espousals, and the consecration of herself to her Redeemer by a bond of indissoluble love, praying that she may totally die to herself, and be buried in him, so that he alone, who is her holy love, be acquainted with this her hidden state or sepulchre, and that she may have no other employment but that of love, or what his love directs. These sentiments she repeats with admirable variety throughout the work and, in the latter part, dwells chiefly on the most ardent desires of being speedily united to her love in everlasting glory, entreating her divine Redeemer, by all his sufferings and infinite mercies, to cleanse her perfectly from all earthly affections and spots, that she may be admitted to his divine presence. Her desires were at length fulfilled and, having been abbess forty years, she was called to the embraces of her heavenly spouse in 1292, her sister Mechtildes being dead some time before. The last sickness of St. Gertrude seemed rather a languishing of divine love than a natural fever; so abundantly did her soul enjoy in it the sweetest comforts and presence of the Holy Ghost. Miracles attested how precious her death was in the sight of God. She is honoured with an office in the Roman Breviary on this day. The Lypsanographia, or catalogue of relics kept in the electoral palace of Brunswick-Lunenbourg, printed at Hanover in 1713, in folio, mentions, amongst others, the relics of St. Gertrude in a rich shrine.

The exercises by which St. Gertrude made such sublime advances in the school of divine love all tended to the closest union of her heart to God by the most inflamed desires and purest affections: and were directed at the same time to remove all obstacles to this union by cleansing her soul and purifying her affections by tears of compunction, by the renunciation of sensual delights and the most perfect denial of herself. Hence she prayed continually that by the grace of the omnipotent divine love she might be strengthened to resign herself to holy love, so that nothing of self should remain in her, but should be totally consumed by the flame of holy love, like dust carried away by the wind, so as not to leave the least grain or trace behind.[2] For this exterior action, both of self-denial and of charity, zeal, and all other virtues are necessary; but interior exercises are far more essential, in which the soul must frequently in the day raise herself up to God by the most ardent desires of love, praise, and thanksgiving, and study to die to herself by sincere and repeated sentiments of humility, compunction, meekness, patience, and self-denial.

A Prayer for our Departed Veterans

 

O God, by whose mercy the faithful departed find rest, look kindly on your departed veterans who gave their lives in the service of their country. Grant that through the passion, death, and resurrection of your Son they may share in the joy of your heavenly kingdom and rejoice in you with your saints forever. We ask this through Christ  our Lord. 

Popular Catholic author and EWTN host speaks to our college students at weekly Tapping Theology Event

EWTN host and popular Catholic author Mike Aquilina traveled to Latrobe last week to speak to our college students on the topic of Exploring Ancient Christian Symbols.  Father Vincent Zidek, OSB, director of St. Vincent Campus Ministry and Fr. Jean-Luc Zadroga, OSB, assistant director, offer this program (Tapping Theology) to St. Vincent College students on a weekly basis to allow them an opportunity to explore their faith in a relaxed setting.  To learn more about our dynamic Campus Ministry program please see the following links: http://www.stvincent.edu/campus_ministry, http://www.facebook.com/SVCCampusMinistry#!/SVCCampusMinistry?v=wall.  To learn more about Mike Aquilina and his work check out his website: http://www.mikeaquilina.com/
 

Photos by Fr. Vincent Zidek, OSB

Lateran Basilica

The Church today needs a refuge and strength. There may not be earthquakes or volcanoes in the city of Rome, but there is ever-present danger for the Church, the Body of Christ. In celebrating the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the mother church of the Latin Rite, we honor all the dwelling places of the Most High. The Holy Spirit is the divine stream whose runlets gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. The LORD God is in the midst of his people who gather in all the churches throughout the world, east and west. He will help us at the break of every day. He is with us as our true dwelling place and lasting stronghold. At the summons of the God of Jacob, we stand here and behold how his mighty deeds are told and retold. Again and again, the things the LORD has wrought on earth astound us.

The prophet Ezekiel is caught up in a vision of the majesty of the LORD overflowing from his temple out into the whole world. The water flowing out from the beneath the threshold of the temple flows out as a blessing into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. This river floods the earth with life and not destruction. Abundant life is born from the refreshing waters of the Holy Spirit. All life upon the earth finds its origin and support from the abundance of the LORD's self-gift. Every living creature, abundant fish, and trees of every kind grow and bear fruit, a fruit that will last. Month after month, these trees bear fresh fruit because they are watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve as food for all God's people, and their leaves will bring healing. Such is the vision of Ezekiel; this prophet opens wide the eyes of all who hear the Lord's Word. Now, we can see what we never saw before. Now, we notice the living waters that spring up within Christ, the Living Temple of God. At last, we who are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb and refreshed with the Holy Spirit behold the glory that is ours, as we share in the very life of the Living God.

With eyes opened by the prophet Ezekiel, we can now share in the vision of Saint Paul in his letter to the beloved brothers and sisters in Corinth. The same Holy Spirit who gives refreshment and life in abundance has inspired Saint Paul to see the truth of our identity. We are God’s building; we are the true temple of God; we are the Body of Christ. By the grace of God, Saint Paul sees himself as a wise master builder who has laid the foundation upon which others now build by preaching and service. He goes on to warn all who build upon this foundation to never forget that Christ is the only sure foundation upon which the faith of God’s people can be built. This wise counsel is directed to the ministers of the Gospel who have inherited this divine building project from Saint Paul and all the Apostles. Never can their work be used to build up their own self-importance. Church is never about the personal projects of human ego. The ordained servants of the new temple must never get in God’s way. They must pray as did Mother Theresa of Calcutta, "Lord, help me stay out of your way." In the same way, Saint Paul warns all earthly powers, all human authorities, to take heed of the LORD's sovereign majesty when he writes, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy." This is the sure refuge in which we live and move and have our being; we have nothing to fear.

Early in the Gospel of Saint John, the Lord Jesus takes on the similar men of authority in the temple that Saint Paul took on in his letter to the Corinthians. A prophetic and zealous Christ cried out, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." He challenged the leaders of the Jews and drove out the merchants from the temple. Like the first disciples, we remember these words of the Lord Jesus, and we come to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. After the Lord has died and risen from the dead, his words inspire our own prophetic and zealous nature. We, too, must drive out of our Father's house all those who use religion for their own gain and seek profit from the faith of God's Holy Ones. Such a mandate does not make us reckless or violent, but it cannot be ignored. We must be vigilant and faithful, so that all people find in our churches a place of welcome and peace in the midst of this world's threats and subtle attempts to trivialize faith. Without this kind of zeal, we will have nothing to offer those who search for truth and love throughout the world. Indeed, we who gather here again and again reveal the Father's desire to gather all his children into the Body of Christ, the Living Temple.

The Third Nationwide Juried Catholic Arts Competition is being exhibited in a multimedia show of religious-themed art at the Saint Vincent Gallery.

A total of 44 works by artists from 12 states are included in the unique show in which artists worked in acrylic, oil, digital print, block print, embedded ink, pencil, silk, photography, plaster, egg tempera, resin, chalk, watercolor, drypoint etching, stained glass, flashed glass, and bronze.

The exhibition will be available for viewing in the gallery on the third floor of the Robert S. Carey Student Center until Friday, December 12. Gallery hours are 12 noon to 3 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 12 noon to 3 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The gallery is closed on Mondays. Admission is free and open to the public.

This is the third juried Catholic arts exhibition which seeks to foster the arts of the Western Christian tradition although other artistic traditions of Christian subject matter are also considered. 

World-acclaimed art historian Sister Wendy Beckett served as juror for the exhibition.

Blessed Priest who visted St. Vincent Archabbey on road to Sainthood

From the National Shrine of Blessed Seelos:

 

On September 25, 2010, the official Diocesan Inquiry into an alleged extraordinary healing through the intercession of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos was finalized. Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien convoked the Diocesan Inquiry Phase in May 2009. 

The fact-finding Inquiry Panel investigated the case and heard the testimony of Mary Ellen Heibel, her primary physician and nurse, and other key witnesses, concerning Heibel’s cure of metastasized esophageal cancer. Heibel, a devout Catholic and parishioner of St. Mary’s Church in Annapolis, MD, had  been cancer-free since January 2005, even though the disease had spread to her liver, lungs, back, and sternum, and medical treatment had failed. The cancer disappeared one week after she helped begin a weekly Seelos novena in her parish.

On October 11, 2010, the Redemptorist Postulator General, Rev. Antonio Marrazzo, submitted the results of this investigation to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican. With the Diocesan Phase of the canonization process now complete, Marrazzo’s formal petition for the Decree of Unsealing the Acts effectively begins the Roman Phase. 

At some point in the near future, the case will undergo proper scrutiny by Vatican authorities who will determine if the cure meets the criteria for the one miracle needed in Seelos’ canonization.

DE PROFUNDIS

Out of the depths I call to you, LORD; Lord, hear my cry! May your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, LORD, mark our sins, Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered. I wait with longing for the LORD, my soul waits for his word. My soul looks for the Lord more than sentinels for daybreak. More than sentinels for daybreak, let Israel look for the LORD, For with the LORD is kindness, with him is full redemption, And God will redeem Israel from all their sins.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Let us pray.
 

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen.

Saint Benedict Education Foundation Hosts Noted Liturgical Scholar: Bishop J. Peter Sartain

The Saint Benedict Education Foundation will host a lecture by Bishop J. Peter Sartain on Friday, October 29, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fred M. Rogers Center on the campus of Saint Vincent College.

The Most Reverend J. Peter Sartain is the bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illi. On September 16, 2010, he was named Metropolitan Archbishop of Seattle by Pope Benedict XVI. Sartain's lecture, which is free and open to the public, will discuss "The Sacred Liturgy and the New Evangelization."

Prior to the lecture, a reception and dinner will offer donors the opportunity to meet and mingle with the Archbishop-elect. For more information about the dinner and reception contact the Saint Benedict Education Foundation at 724-805-2890. All proceeds from the dinner will benefit the students and programs of Sant' Anselmo, the Benedictine College in Rome.

Bishop Sartain is an authority among the American Catholic Bishops on matters of liturgy and sacramental theology. He was born on June 6, 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee. On July 15, 1978 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Memphis. He was appointed as Bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock on January 4, 2000 and was ordained on March 6, 2000. He was named Bishop of Joliet on May 16, 2006, and was installed on June 27, 2006.

Bishop Sartain attended St. Meinrad College in Indiana, studied at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome, and earned a licentiate of sacred theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant Anselmo in Rome in 1979.

In addition to his pastoral experience as a parochial vicar and as a pastor, Bishop Sartain also has considerable administrative experience, having served as Director of Vocations, Chancellor, Moderator of the Curia, Vicar for Clergy, and Vicar General. He has also been a chaplain, academic dean for the permanent diaconate formation program, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Institute for Priestly Formation.

He currently is a member of the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Saint Benedict Education Foundation, located on the campus of Saint Vincent College, is charged with raising funds to assist Sant' Anselmo, the only Pontifical University in Rome operated by Benedictine monks. Established by Pope Leo XIII in 1887, it is the focal point for Benedictine education in Rome and offers degrees in theology, philosophy, and liturgy. Sant' Anselmo has contributed significantly to the life of the Universal Church through its continuing work on the Liturgy of the Church as well as the education of Church leaders.

The Saint Benedict Education Foundation was organized in May 2006 at the direction of the Abbot Primate of the worldwide Benedictine Confederation to expand and continue fundraising efforts to assist Sant' Anselmo. The Foundation has initiated the Abbot Anscar Vonier Chair in Eucharistic Theology, the Cardinal Mayer Chair in Sacramental Theology, and the Saint Scholastica Scholarship for Benedictine Women, and has raised funds to assist Sant' Anselmo and its students.

The lecture is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To make reservations for the lecture only, call 724-532-5030. For more information about the dinner or the Saint Benedict Education Foundation, contact the Foundation at 724-805-2890.

Saints Simon and Jude

However meagre in details is the history of these glorious apostles, we learn from their brief legend how amply they contributed to this great work of generating sons of God. Without any repose, and even to the shedding of their blood, they "edified the body of Christ"; and the grateful Church thus prays to our Lord today: "O God, through the work of the apostles you have spoken your Word of love, your Son, into our world's deafness. Open our ears to hear; open our hearts to heed; open our will to obey, that we may proclaim the good news with our lives."

St. Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. St. Jude's square points him out as an architect of the house of God. St. Paul called himself by this name; and St. Jude, by his Catholic Epistle, has also a special right to be reckoned among our Lord's principal workmen. But our apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: being nephew, by his father Cleophas or Alpheus, to St. Joseph, and legal cousin to the Man-God, Jude was one of those called by their compatriots the brethren of the carpenter's Son. We may gather from St. John's Gospel another precious detail concerning him. In the admirable discourse at the close of the last Supper, our Lord said: "He that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him." Then Jude asked Him: "Lord, how is it, that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us, and not to the world?" And he received from Jesus this reply: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My word. And the word which you have heard is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."

The churches of St. Peter in Rome and Saint-Sernin at Toulouse dispute the honor of possessing the greater part of their holy remains.

Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

Monk Art Show at St. Vincent

Artisans of the Monastery Exhibit October 21 to November 6 at Saint Vincent Gristmill

Saint Vincent Gristmill Museum, Beatty Road, Unity Township, will host an exhibit, “Artisans of the Monastery,” October 21 through November 6. The show will feature multimedia art by monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey. 

The exhibit will feature artwork including painting, stained glass, hand weaving, calligraphy and bookbinding. Among those participating are Father Sebastian Samay, O.S.B., Father Thomas More Sikora, O.S.B., Brother Mark Floreanini, O.S.B., Brother Michael Antonacci, O.S.B., Brother Albert Gahr, O.S.B., and Brother Isaac Hayweiser, O.S.B.

Their pieces, along with others by monks of Saint Vincent Monastery, will be on display. Some items will be for sale.

Father Sebastian A. Samay, O.S.B., a native of Pécöl, Hungary is the coordinator of Formation Programs at Saint Vincent Archabbey and professor emeritus at Saint Vincent College. Father Sebastian will be exhibiting weavings.

Father Thomas More Sikora, O.S.B., of Avonmore, is a weaver and the assistant director of the Saint Vincent Gristmill and Gristmill General Store. Father Thomas is also director of the Monastery Artisans.

Brother Mark Floreanini, O.S.B., of Alliance, Ohio, earned a master of fine arts degree from the Savannah College of Arts and Designs, and was appointed to the Saint Vincent College faculty in 2005. Brother Mark creates stained glass windows, paints, and does various other forms of art for Monastery Artisans, including spinning wool and crocheting.

Brother Michael Antonacci, O.S.B., of Jeanette, is assistant miller at the Saint Vincent Gristmill, and a teaching assistant for the Saint Vincent College Physics. Brother Michael works in a variety of mediums including weaving, calligraphy and bookbinding.

Brother Albert Gahr,O.S.B., of Kersey, is socius of novices and a teaching assistant in the Biology Department of Saint Vincent College. Brother Albert will be exhibiting weavings and bookbinding.

Brother Isaac Haywiser, O.S.B., of Bethel Park, is assistant to the manager, Gristmill General Store; assistant, summer retreat program; and assistant director, Archabbey guests and guest facilities. His work in stained glass will be shown.

"For Us God Is Not Some Abstract Hypothesis"

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 18, 2010 (Zenit.org).- This is the letter Benedict XVI wrote to seminarians on the occasion of the end of the Year for Priests, which ended in June. The letter is dated Oct. 18, the feast of Luke the Evangelist.


Dear Seminarians,

When in December 1944 I was drafted for military service, the company commander asked each of us what we planned to do in the future. I answered that I wanted to become a Catholic priest. The lieutenant replied: "Then you ought to look for something else. In the new Germany priests are no longer needed". I knew that this "new Germany" was already coming to an end, and that, after the enormous devastation which that madness had brought upon the country, priests would be needed more than ever. Today the situation is completely changed. In different ways, though, many people nowadays also think that the Catholic priesthood is not a "job" for the future, but one that belongs more to the past. You, dear friends, have decided to enter the seminary and to prepare for priestly ministry in the Catholic Church in spite of such opinions and objections. You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life’s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity. Where people no longer perceive God, life grows empty; nothing is ever enough. People then seek escape in euphoria and violence; these are the very things that increasingly threaten young people. God is alive. He has created every one of us and he knows us all. He is so great that he has time for the little things in our lives: "Every hair of your head is numbered". God is alive, and he needs people to serve him and bring him to others. It does makes sense to become a priest: the world needs priests, pastors, today, tomorrow and always, until the end of time.

The seminary is a community journeying towards priestly ministry. I have said something very important here: one does not become a priest on one’s own. The "community of disciples" is essential, the fellowship of those who desire to serve the greater Church. In this letter I would like to point out – thinking back to my own time in the seminary – several elements which I consider important for these years of your journeying.

1. Anyone who wishes to become a priest must be first and foremost a "man of God", to use the expression of Saint Paul (1 Tim 6:11). For us God is not some abstract hypothesis; he is not some stranger who left the scene after the "big bang". God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In the face of Jesus Christ we see the face of God. In his words we hear God himself speaking to us. It follows that the most important thing in our path towards priesthood and during the whole of our priestly lives is our personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The priest is not the leader of a sort of association whose membership he tries to maintain and expand. He is God’s messenger to his people. He wants to lead them to God and in this way to foster authentic communion between all men and women. That is why it is so important, dear friends, that you learn to live in constant intimacy with God. When the Lord tells us to "pray constantly", he is obviously not asking us to recite endless prayers, but urging us never to lose our inner closeness to God. Praying means growing in this intimacy. So it is important that our day should begin and end with prayer; that we listen to God as the Scriptures are read; that we share with him our desires and our hopes, our joys and our troubles, our failures and our thanks for all his blessings, and thus keep him ever before us as the point of reference for our lives. In this way we grow aware of our failings and learn to improve, but we also come to appreciate all the beauty and goodness which we daily take for granted and so we grow in gratitude. With gratitude comes joy for the fact that God is close to us and that we can serve him.

2. For us God is not simply Word. In the sacraments he gives himself to us in person, through physical realities. At the heart of our relationship with God and our way of life is the Eucharist. Celebrating it devoutly, and thus encountering Christ personally, should be the centre of all our days. In Saint Cyprian’s interpretation of the Gospel prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread", he says among other things that "our" bread – the bread which we receive as Christians in the Church – is the Eucharistic Lord himself. In this petition of the Our Father, then, we pray that he may daily give us "our" bread; and that it may always nourish our lives; that the Risen Christ, who gives himself to us in the Eucharist, may truly shape the whole of our lives by the radiance of his divine love. The proper celebration of the Eucharist involves knowing, understanding and loving the Church’s liturgy in its concrete form. In the liturgy we pray with the faithful of every age – the past, the present and the future are joined in one great chorus of prayer. As I can state from personal experience, it is inspiring to learn how it all developed, what a great experience of faith is reflected in the structure of the Mass, and how it has been shaped by the prayer of many generations.

3. The sacrament of Penance is also important. It teaches me to see myself as God sees me, and it forces me to be honest with myself. It leads me to humility. The Curé of Ars once said: "You think it makes no sense to be absolved today, because you know that tomorrow you will commit the same sins over again. Yet," he continues, "God instantly forgets tomorrow’s sins in order to give you his grace today." Even when we have to struggle continually with the same failings, it is important to resist the coarsening of our souls and the indifference which would simply accept that this is the way we are. It is important to keep pressing forward, without scrupulosity, in the grateful awareness that God forgives us ever anew – yet also without the indifference that might lead us to abandon altogether the struggle for holiness and self-improvement. Moreover, by letting myself be forgiven, I learn to forgive others. In recognizing my own weakness, I grow more tolerant and understanding of the failings of my neighbour.

4. I urge you to retain an appreciation for popular piety, which is different in every culture yet always remains very similar, for the human heart is ultimately one and the same. Certainly, popular piety tends towards the irrational, and can at times be somewhat superficial. Yet it would be quite wrong to dismiss it. Through that piety, the faith has entered human hearts and become part of the common patrimony of sentiments and customs, shaping the life and emotions of the community. Popular piety is thus one of the Church’s great treasures. The faith has taken on flesh and blood. Certainly popular piety always needs to be purified and refocused, yet it is worthy of our love and it truly makes us into the "People of God".

5. Above all, your time in the seminary is also a time of study. The Christian faith has an essentially rational and intellectual dimension. Were it to lack that dimension, it would not be itself. Paul speaks of a "standard of teaching" to which we were entrusted in Baptism (Rom 6:17). All of you know the words of Saint Peter which the medieval theologians saw as the justification for a rational and scientific theology: "Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an ‘accounting’ (logos) for the hope that is in you" (1 Pet 3:15). Learning how to make such a defence is one of the primary responsibilities of your years in the seminary. I can only plead with you: Be committed to your studies! Take advantage of your years of study! You will not regret it. Certainly, the subjects which you are studying can often seem far removed from the practice of the Christian life and the pastoral ministry. Yet it is completely mistaken to start questioning their practical value by asking: Will this be helpful to me in the future? Will it be practically or pastorally useful? The point is not simply to learn evidently useful things, but to understand and appreciate the internal structure of the faith as a whole, so that it can become a response to people’s questions, which on the surface change from one generation to another yet ultimately remain the same. For this reason it is important to move beyond the changing questions of the moment in order to grasp the real questions, and so to understand how the answers are real answers. It is important to have a thorough knowledge of sacred Scripture as a whole, in its unity as the Old and the New Testaments: the shaping of texts, their literary characteristics, the process by which they came to form the canon of sacred books, their dynamic inner unity, a unity which may not be immediately apparent but which in fact gives the individual texts their full meaning. It is important to be familiar with the Fathers and the great Councils in which the Church appropriated, through faith-filled reflection, the essential statements of Scripture. I could easily go on. What we call dogmatic theology is the understanding of the individual contents of the faith in their unity, indeed, in their ultimate simplicity: each single element is, in the end, only an unfolding of our faith in the one God who has revealed himself to us and continues to do so. I do not need to point out the importance of knowing the essential issues of moral theology and Catholic social teaching. The importance nowadays of ecumenical theology, and of a knowledge of the different Christian communities, is obvious; as is the need for a basic introduction to the great religions, to say nothing of philosophy: the understanding of that human process of questioning and searching to which faith seeks to respond. But you should also learn to understand and – dare I say it – to love canon law, appreciating how necessary it is and valuing its practical applications: a society without law would be a society without rights. Law is the condition of love. I will not go on with this list, but I simply say once more: love the study of theology and carry it out in the clear realization that theology is anchored in the living community of the Church, which, with her authority, is not the antithesis of theological science but its presupposition. Cut off from the believing Church, theology would cease to be itself and instead it would become a medley of different disciplines lacking inner unity.

6. Your years in the seminary should also be a time of growth towards human maturity. It is important for the priest, who is called to accompany others through the journey of life up to the threshold of death, to have the right balance of heart and mind, reason and feeling, body and soul, and to be humanly integrated. To the theological virtues the Christian tradition has always joined the cardinal virtues derived from human experience and philosophy, and, more generally, from the sound ethical tradition of humanity. Paul makes this point this very clearly to the Philippians: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (4:8). This also involves the integration of sexuality into the whole personality. Sexuality is a gift of the Creator yet it is also a task which relates to a person’s growth towards human maturity. When it is not integrated within the person, sexuality becomes banal and destructive. Today we can see many examples of this in our society. Recently we have seen with great dismay that some priests disfigured their ministry by sexually abusing children and young people. Instead of guiding people to greater human maturity and setting them an example, their abusive behaviour caused great damage for which we feel profound shame and regret. As a result of all this, many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life. Yet even the most reprehensible abuse cannot discredit the priestly mission, which remains great and pure. Thank God, all of us know exemplary priests, men shaped by their faith, who bear witness that one can attain to an authentic, pure and mature humanity in this state and specifically in the life of celibacy. Admittedly, what has happened should make us all the more watchful and attentive, precisely in order to examine ourselves earnestly, before God, as we make our way towards priesthood, so as to understand whether this is his will for me. It is the responsibility of your confessor and your superiors to accompany you and help you along this path of discernment. It is an essential part of your journey to practise the fundamental human virtues, with your gaze fixed on the God who has revealed himself in Christ, and to let yourselves be purified by him ever anew.

7. The origins of a priestly vocation are nowadays more varied and disparate than in the past. Today the decision to become a priest often takes shape after one has already entered upon a secular profession. Often it grows within the Communities, particularly within the Movements, which favour a communal encounter with Christ and his Church, spiritual experiences and joy in the service of the faith. It also matures in very personal encounters with the nobility and the wretchedness of human existence. As a result, candidates for the priesthood often live on very different spiritual continents. It can be difficult to recognize the common elements of one’s future mandate and its spiritual path. For this very reason, the seminary is important as a community which advances above and beyond differences of spirituality. The Movements are a magnificent thing. You know how much I esteem them and love them as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Yet they must be evaluated by their openness to what is truly Catholic, to the life of the whole Church of Christ, which for all her variety still remains one. The seminary is a time when you learn with one another and from one another. In community life, which can at times be difficult, you should learn generosity and tolerance, not only bearing with, but also enriching one another, so that each of you will be able to contribute his own gifts to the whole, even as all serve the same Church, the same Lord. This school of tolerance, indeed, of mutual acceptance and mutual understanding in the unity of Christ’s Body, is an important part of your years in the seminary.

Dear seminarians, with these few lines I have wanted to let you know how often I think of you, especially in these difficult times, and how close I am to you in prayer. Please pray for me, that I may exercise my ministry well, as long as the Lord may wish. I entrust your journey of preparation for priesthood to the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, whose home was a school of goodness and of grace. May Almighty God bless you all, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

From the Vatican, 18 October 2010, the Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist.

Yours devotedly in the Lord,

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Archbishop Wuerl named cardinal

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

By Timothy McNulty, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., well known as the former bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, has been selected by Pope Benedict XVI to join the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal-designate Wuerl, 69, will serve as an advisor to the Pope and will be eligible to vote in a Papal election until his 80th birthday. A consistory to formally elevate the new Cardinals will be held Nov. 20 at the Vatican. A Mass with the Pope will be held the following day.

"This truly is an honor for the Archdiocese of Washington, the Church in the nation's capital, and for all of the clergy, religious and parishioners of this local Church who every day live out their faith in commitment and deep love for Christ," Cardinal-designate Wuerl said. "I am humbled by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI's trust in me as shepherd of this flock and pledge to him my renewed fidelity, affection and loyalty."

Cardinal-designate Wuerl became the leader of the Archdiocese of Washington on June 22, 2006, after 18 years as the Bishop of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh native was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 17, 1966, and ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II on Jan. 6, 1986 in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

In Pittsburgh today, his successor, Bishop David Zubik, said "Cardinal-designate Wuerl remains dear to our hearts. Today as our Holy Father honors him, he honors also our priests, religious and laity."

Bishop Zubik said he spoke to Archbishop Wuerl and congratulated him shortly after 6 a.m. today. He will travel to Rome for the Nov. 20-21 ceremonies.

The bishop noted it was the third time a Pittsburgh-native priest was named a Cardinal, following Adam Maida and Daniel DiNardo. Other former Pittsburgh bishops elevated to the College of Cardinals included John Dearden, John Wright and Anthony Bevilacqua.

"Cardinal-designate Wuerl's incredible gifts are well known, far beyond the region of southwestern Pennsylvania," Bishop Zubik said. "Everywhere he has served, the Church has benefitted enormously by his presence," the bishop said.

The Rome festivities will begin with a simple prayer ceremony where the cardinals receive their red hats, the bishop said, and will be followed the next day with a Mass where the Pope places rings on the fingers of the new cardinals.

Though named a cardinal, he will continue serving as Archbishop of Washington. His new duties will require more trips to Rome and perhaps performing special projects for the Pope.

Though his name has long been mentioned as a cardinal candidate, his onetime mentor was still shocked, Bishop Zubik said.

"As much as people would speculate, this is a shock to know that it actually did happen. When you think about the importance of the position of being a cardinal in the church --- to be one of the closest advisors of the Pope, and then also because of what is recognized by the public as being the most important part of a cardinal's life, which is to elect a new Pope when a Pope dies -- that's really something, when you consider it's only a little more than 120 who are called to that important role in the Church."