Cardinal Newman to be Beatified

 PRESS RELEASE
16 MARCH 2010, 12 noon

BEATIFICATION OF CARDINAL NEWMAN
BY POPE BENEDICT XVI CONFIRMED

The Fathers and many friends of the English Oratories are delighted by the official announcement that our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will beatify our founder, the Venerable John Henry Newman, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham during his visit to Britain in September. Newman made his home in the Archdiocese for all his adult life, first in Oxford, where he lived as an Anglican and was received into the Catholic Church, and later in Birmingham itself where he founded and worked in the Birmingham Oratory for over forty years.

The Holy Father's life-long devotion to Newman has made a profound contribution to understanding the depth and significance of our founder's legacy. His decision to beatify Newman in person confers a unique blessing upon the English Oratories and all who have drawn inspiration from Newman's life and work.

We joyfully look forward to welcoming the Holy Father, as well as the many pilgrims and visitors who will come to the Beatification ceremony and visit Newman's shrine at the Birmingham Oratory.

We also look forward to the challenging work of preparing for the Beatification in conjunction with Church and civil authorities. We pray that the Beatification will fittingly reflect both Newman's significance for the Universal Church and the honour paid to our Archdiocese and our country by the Holy Father's presence among us.

Very Rev. Richard Duffield
Provost of the Birmingham Oratory
and Actor of the Cause of John Henry Newman

Steelers Basketball Team?

The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on a team of Saint Vincent College football players, coaches, faculty, and staff in a basketball game beginning at 8pm in the Carey Center.  Br. Gabriel Myriam, OSB and his seminary classmate Kevin Favio, of the Diocese of Pittsburgh will be playing for the SVC team.

Tickets can be ordered beginning March 2nd by calling the Saint Vincent athletic department at (724) 805-2045.  In addition, tickets can be purchased on campus beginning on March 8th, as they will be sold outside of the SVC Community Center and well as in the Carey Center lounge, outside the bookstore.

For more information, contact Lorrie in the SVC athletic department at (724) 805-2045.   

Vote for us!!!

svamonks.com has been nominated for three blogger's choice awards in the categories of 1) Best religion Blog, Best Blog Design, and Best Education Blog.   We are not expecting to win but it is quite an honor to be nominated and we ask that you take a moment to vote for svamonks.org so that we can better get the word out about the Catholic faith and Benedictine Monasticism at St. Vincent Archabbey.  Please click on the links below to vote!!! Thanks.

A Celebration of Easter

Help Wanted!!!

The monks of St. Vincent Archabbey are looking to restore many of our older vestments as well as other liturgical items so that they may both be used and preserved for future generations of monks and the faithful to enjoy and appreciate.  We are also asking for donations to help purchase a Ombrellino (Umbrella) and Papal Tintinnabulum (Bell) for our Archabbey Basilica.   Anyone willing to help donate to this worthy cause is asked to e-mail Br. Gabriel Myriam, OSB or contact him at (724) 532 -6749.  Thank you.

 One of our historic roman chasubles in need of repair

Historic cope matching the above chasuble

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The Ombrellino is a historic piece of the papal regalia and insignia, once used on a daily basis to provide shade for the pope. In modern usage, the Ombrellino is a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church and the authority of a pope over it and the Eastern Rite. It is found in the contemporary Church at all the basilicas throughout the world, placed prominently at the right of their main altars. Whenever a pope visits a basilica, its Ormbrellino is opened.

Translated from the Latin language into the Italian language, it is known as an ombrellino or in the English language as an umbrella. It is shaped as a canopy with broad alternating gold and red stripes, the traditional colors of the pontificate. It also featured a staff with small bells. It often chimed to announce the arrival of a pope travelling by horse and carriage. Pope Alexander VI was the first pope to use the ombrellino as a symbol of the temporal powers of the papacy; royalty during those days always walked outdoors under a canopy. A member of the Papal Gentlemen would often follow behind a pope with the ombrellino in hand.

The tintinnabulum is a bell which had the practical function of alerting the people to the approach of the Holy Father during papal processions through the streets of Rome.