Solemnity of All Saints

JOHN PAUL II

ANGELUS

Solemnity of All Saints
Saturday, 1 November 2003

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. It invites us to turn our gaze to the immense multitude of those who have already reached the blessed Homeland, pointing us to the road which leads to that destination.

The Saints and Blesseds of Paradise remind us, as pilgrims on Earth, that prayer, above all, is our sustenance for each day so that we never lose sight of our eternal destiny. For many of them the Rosary - the prayer to which the year just ended was dedicated - was the privileged instrument for their daily discourse with the Lord. The Rosary led them to an ever more profound intimacy with Christ and with the Blessed Virgin.

2. The Rosary can truly be a simple and accessible way for all to holiness, which is the vocation of each baptized person, as today's feast highlights.

In the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, I reminded all the faithful that holiness is the primary requirement of the Christian life (cf. nn. 30-31).

May Mary, Queen of all the Saints, already totally immersed in divine glory, help us to proceed with haste on the demanding road of Christian perfection. May she help us to understand and to appreciate ever more the recitation of the Rosary as an evangelical work of contemplation of the mystery of Christ and of faithful acceptance of his will.

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Following the Angelus, the Holy Father said the following: 

According to pious custom, it is customary in these days for the faithful to visit the tombs of their loved ones and to pray for them.

I, too, am making a spiritual pilgrimage to the cemeteries of the various parts of the world, where rest the remains of those who have preceded us in the sign of faith.

In particular, I raise my prayer of support for those whom no one remembers as well as for the many victims of violence. I entrust all to the Divine Mercy.

Pittsburgh Bishop addresses the Election!!!!

Bishop Urges Catholics To Examine Elections Issues

 

Reporting: Andy Sheehan

KDKA.com

 
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik says he isn't telling anyone who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election but at the same time he says the teachings of the Church are clear and that Catholics should be guided by one over-arching concern – the sanctity of human life. 

These are complex and tumultuous times and with the wars raging overseas and the economic collapse threatening the home front, Bishop Zubik is urging Catholics to turn to their God and their church to help them sort it all out.


"Take a look at the issues. Take a look where the church is on them. Pray about it, and make your vote," Zubik said. 


Most of us are concerned with the economy. But while we fret over a looming recession and our tanking investments, the bishop wants Catholics to refocus on other issues.


"The Pope has said you know we're so concerned about financial bankruptcy but maybe the question that we're missing is that perhaps we're becoming spiritually bankrupt."


And in considering the issues, the bishop says one should take precedence over all others.


"The one issue that can't be minimized is the issue about being pro-life."


For Zubik, pro-life does not simply mean anti-abortion. It can also encompass a candidate's position on war, poverty and the death penalty.


But he says they are not on par with the Church's belief that life begins at conception and that together with euthanasia, Catholics must first and foremost consider a candidate's stance on abortion.


"The Catholic Church teaches these are intrinsic evils because they go absolutely, directly against the mind of God," Zubik explains.  "And when you take a look at those two issues, you're looking at two issues where the absolute end result of each of them is snuffing out a life."


But about a candidate or even a Catholic who consider themselves pro-choice?


"I can't speak for those persons but I don't know how that individual would be to weigh that and to say well that they're being faithful to the truth."


And still, while McCain is pro-life and Obama is pro-choice, Zubik will not endorse a candidate nor tell his flock how to vote.


Nor has he followed suit with Bishop Martino of Scranton who has said he would deny communion to pro-choice VP candidate and Catholic Joe Biden.


Sheehan: "Would you deny a Catholic politician who identifies him or herself as pro-choice -- would you deny?"


Zubik: "The role that I see that I have is to be a teacher and to help everybody understand what in fact is the truth," he says, "and then what a person has to do is make decisions based on that truth as they're standing before God."


God is the judge and the bishop says he is but a teacher.


Bishop Zubik also says he will open up all the churches on Monday – some around the clock – so people can come pray about how they should vote on Tuesday.


Also, please check out the interview with the Bishop by clicking here

Catholic Art Exhibit

SAINT VINCENT GALLERY TO PRESENT CATHOLIC ART

LATROBE, PA - The Saint Vincent Gallery will present a multimedia show of religious-themed art when it opens a Nationwide Juried Catholic Arts Exhibition on Sunday, October 26 from 1 to 4 p.m.

A total of 41 works by artists from seven states are included in the unique show of stained glass, egg tempera and gold leaf, oil, acrylic, pencil and watercolor chalk, ink on vellum, and limestone sculpture.

The exhibition will be available for viewing in the gallery on the third floor of the Robert S. Carey Student Center from Tuesday, October 28 to Sunday, December 7. 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 and during Thanksgiving holiday break (November 26 to 30). Admission is free and open to the public.

This is the second 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.

According to Br. Nathan Cochran, O.S.B., director of The Saint Vincent Gallery, submitted artworks had to be iconographically recognizable and appropriate for liturgical use, public devotion or private devotion. “Subjects that were sought included scenes from the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, other biblical scenes, stories and characters, depictions of saints and their lives, current and historical events in the life of the Church, depictions of the seven sacraments, and personifications of the corporal works of mercy, virtues and vices,” he explained.

Artists represented in the exhibition include Matthew G. Alderman of New York, New York; Neilson Carlin of Kennett Square; Robert Connell of Sewickley; John Del Monte of Bethel Park; Fred del Guidice of Shreve, Ohio; Amy Dimichele of McKees Rocks; Nathaniel Hauser, O.S.B. of Collegeville, Minnesota; Beverly Klucher of State College; Thomas Kohlmann of Philadelphia; James Langley of Savannah, Georgia; Patrick Lee of Pittsburgh; Janet McKenzie of Island Pond, Vermont; David and Susan Miriello of Pittsburgh; Carol Ann Molchen of Ambridge; and Harry Molchen of Ambridge.

Prize-winners ($1,000 first prize, $750 second prize, $500 third prize and four $250 honorable mention prizes) will be announced at the opening reception on Sunday, October 26.

Duncan Stroik served as juror for the exhibition. Mr. Stroik is an architect who studied at the University of Virginia and Yale University. His architectural practice, which is committed to the principles of classical architecture and urbanism, helped implement a curriculum in classical architecture at the University of Notre Dame. His involvement in sacred architecture led to the formation of the Society for Catholic Liturgy and the journal, Sacred Architecture, of which he is editor. He is widely published and a frequent lecturer throughout the United States.

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For information:

Don Orlando, Director, Public Relations

Saint Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA 15650-2690

Phone 724 805-2010, FAX 724 805-2019, pr@stvincent.edu, www.stvincent.edu

Awesome Homily on St. Luke!!!

Please take a moment each day to check out the monastic homiles witten by St. Vincent monks: Click here for a wonderful reflection on St. Luke.

Meet the Novices

From: stvincentmonks.com

Br. Isidore, n.O.S.B.

The 2008-09 St. Vincent Archabbey Novitiate Class

The choice to enter a Benedictine monastery is not the result of an intellectual proposition which could be neatly expressed in a syllogism. Instead, it can be "unpacked" only as a fundamental act of conversion, involving the entire person dedicated to the pursuit of God in a specific way at a specific monastery. Sacred Scripture asserts that God "knit us together in our mother's womb" and "dedicated us before our very birth". Therefore, our whole being must be, from its first moment, permeated with a sense of our calling, whatever that calling may be. When asked to elaborate on this sense, I feel somewhat like Chesterton's description of a man who was asked to justify human civilization. Nevertheless, the reader is asked to bear with me for a few minutes as I consider several major themes in my life which drew me to Saint Vincent Archabbey.Br. Isidore and our spending time with our deceased brothers

My first experiences of the Faith were not accompanied by lightning, levitation, or other extraordinary phenomena. Although baptized Catholic, I was generally raised to have more interest in material success and liberal culture. Nevertheless, Grace preserved me by giving me a sense of wonder and that there must be more to reality than the material. In spite of my intellectual disposition, my early years were permeated with a deep yearning for silent contemplation of the unseen grandeur hidden in the material phenomena of the world. Blessed with an active imagination, I was able to transform my bedroom into the fantastic worlds of Super Mario Brothers or The Legend of Zelda with my friend. As late as students of Junior High, we bestowed names from J.R.R. Tolkien s mythology upon the places that we hiked on the outskirts of my hometown. Of course, this was still a far cry from a true vocation, given that the blight of materialism was still in my mind, always threatening to divert my attention. Although there were various preliminaries, my explicit encounter with faith came during my sophomore year of High School. In dating a young lady of active Christian faith for two years in High School, I felt a pull toward her Protestantism because of the apparent depth of her sanctity. In short,"I wanted to be as loving as her!"Br. Isidore and his classmates receive the Holy Rule at Investiture

During this time, I began to delve into the Church's teachings in a critical frame of mind but could not shake the suspicion that I was being intellectually dishonest. Motivated by this sense of a haunting attachment, I continued to delve into the Faith and eventually had to admit that I was dishonest in my rejection of the Church. Instead of feeling shame at this, I was blessed with the feeling of being a small man in a huge world, filled with wonders beyond my imagination. The Church herself was a Cathedral upon the world. From the depths of the crypts of darkness to the vaulted heavens, I now found myself profoundly at home. Eventually, I asked my girlfriend what I should do if a sense of calling to the priesthood would persist. Bless her forever! She smiled and said that I should do what God is calling me to do. Unfortunately, I wrote off this sense of calling as the pious aspirations of naïve excitement. However, this wasn't the last time that the call rested upon my heart with great force. I always had an affinity for things traditional from my youth through my last days working as a Software Engineer in Virginia before entering the novitiate. I had a certain sense that contemporary culture was analogous to a rather stagnant pool in comparison to the refreshing depths of things more ancient. However, like Tolkien I had a profound desire for dragons as well as many other things which had something of a mythical or ancient sense. In spite of my love of technology, I often imagined what the world would be like if it we could be more concerned with fundamental matters than with mere technical prowess. In a sense, I felt more at home with those who were much older than me, for they always seemed to have deeper, more ancient wisdom than my peers.

In retrospect, it is of little surprise that I fell in love with praying the Psalter when I came to Saint Vincent College, for in the Divine Office, the Church prays in her most ancient mode, united with millennia of God-fearing humanity. As a student at Saint Vincent College, my praise of God found profound fulfillment as I joined the monks in praying the Divine Office. In place of a frequent sense of abandonment in my prayer, my whole person was taken into the rhythm of millennia of praise of the God for whom my heart yearned. I felt a potential vocation to the monastic life. However, this incipient urge was choked by the thorns of my prideful desire for worldly success. Moreover, there was something else deficient in my character for which I sought amelioration. Although, I profoundly desired to love, I was paralyzed with fear of the vulnerability of being loved. It was during a happy period of dating another young lady in college that I truly began to open my heart to the perilous but beautiful dialogue of love. With this groundwork in place, I finally understood the Johannine summation that "God is Love".

During the last days of this relationship, I struggled with the vacillating sense of a vocation. In due time, it finally erupted into a realization that I was lying to myself by running away from the abbey's doors. Though I hesitated once more in the application process, I finally assessed the various signposts erected by God in the fabric of my life and admitted that they all seemed to be pointing to Saint Vincent Archabbey. Of course, one can misread signs and make incorrect judgments, but this remains true for all choices. Why did I come here? In short: to seek God and configure myself to Christ according to the vocation which appears to be "written upon" my soul. When one truly senses the potential of running toward the Heavenly Jerusalem, one should not delay another moment. Therefore, I came and knocked upon the door of the Novitiate at Saint Vincent Archabbey. So here I am.