Sunday, February 10, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog: Atonement, Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8, Psalms 138:1-8, Luke 5:1-11, Saint Scholastica, Monte Cassino, Nursia Italy, Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 2 Article 2:1 Jesus

Sunday, February 10, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:

Atonement, Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8, Psalms 138:1-8, Luke 5:1-11, Saint Scholastica, Monte Cassino, Nursia Italy, Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 2 Article 2:1 Jesus

Good Day Bloggers!  Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!

Heed the Solemnity of Lent! As the Psalm says: “The Lord is my Shepherd! I lack nothing. In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name. Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me. You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies.” (Ps 23, 1.3-5).

Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013

P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.

The world begins and ends everyday for someone.  We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will, make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...

"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012

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February 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:

"Dear children, love is bringing me to you - the love which I desire to teach you also - real love; the love which my Son showed you when He died on the Cross out of love for you; the love which is always ready to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. How great is your love? My motherly heart is sorrowful as it searches for love in your hearts. You are not ready to submit your will to God's will out of love. You cannot help me to have those who have not come to know God's love to come to know it, because you do not have real love. Consecrate your hearts to me and I will lead you. I will teach you to forgive, to love your enemies and to live according to my Son. Do not be afraid for yourselves. In afflictions my Son does not forget those who love. I will be beside you. I will implore the Heavenly Father for the light of eternal truth and love to illuminate you. Pray for your shepherds so that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank you."

January 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. May your prayer be as strong as a living stone, until with your lives you become witnesses. Witness the beauty of your faith. I am with you and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
 

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Today's Word:  atonement   a·tone·ment  [uh-tohn-muhnt]

Origin: 1505–15;  from phrase at one  in harmony + -ment, as translation of Medieval Latin adūnāmentum;  compare Middle English onement  unity
 

noun

1. satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

2. ( sometimes initial capital letter  ) Theology . the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.

3. Christian Science. the experience of humankind's unity with God exemplified by Jesus Christ.

4. Archaic. reconciliation; agreement. 

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Today's Old Testament Reading -  Psalms 138:1-8

¹ [Of David] I thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart, for you have listened to the cry I uttered. In the presence of angels I sing to you,

² I bow down before your holy Temple. I praise your name for your faithful love and your constancy; your promises surpass even your fame.

³ You heard me on the day when I called, and you gave new strength to my heart.

⁴ All the kings of the earth give thanks to you, Yahweh, when they hear the promises you make;

⁵ they sing of Yahweh's ways, 'Great is the glory of Yahweh!'

⁷ Though I live surrounded by trouble you give me life -- to my enemies' fury! You stretch out your right hand and save me,

⁸ Yahweh will do all things for me. Yahweh, your faithful love endures for ever, do not abandon what you have made.

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Today's Epistle - Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8

¹ In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne; his train filled the sanctuary.

² Above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying;

³ and they were shouting these words to each other: Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth. His glory fills the whole earth.

⁴ The door-posts shook at the sound of their shouting, and the Temple was full of smoke.

⁵ Then I said: 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh Sabaoth.'

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in its hand a live coal which it had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

⁷ With this it touched my mouth and said: 'Look, this has touched your lips, your guilt has been removed and your sin forgiven.'

⁸ I then heard the voice of the Lord saying: 'Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I, send me.'

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Today's Gospel Reading  -  Luke 5: 1-11

Faith in the word of Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish
The call of the first disciples
Luke 5: 1-11

1. Opening prayer
Father, now your Word has come! It has appeared like the sun after a dark night, empty and solitary. When your Word is not present, it is always thus, I know. Grant me the soft breeze from the sea of your Holy Spirit and may it gather me, walk with me towards Christ, your living Word to whom I wish to listen. I shall not move from this shore, where he teaches and speaks, but I shall stay here until such time as he takes me with him. Then I shall follow him wherever he takes me.

2. Reading

a) Placing the passage in its context:
This passage, full of great theological intensity, comes at the centre of a journey of faith and of meeting with the Lord Jesus, who leads us from deafness to being able to hear, from the most paralysing sickness to the saving healing that makes us capable of helping our brothers and sisters to be reborn with us. Jesus has begun his preaching in the synagogue of Nazareth, giving sense and light to the words in the scroll of the Torah (4: 16 ss.). He has defeated sin (4: 31-37) and sickness (4: 38-41), driving them away from the heart of human beings and he has announced the mysterious force that sent him to us and by which he moves, running like a giant who reaches every corner of the earth. It is a this point that we hear the answer that is the beginning of what follows, that is, the obedience of faith. It is at this point that the Church and a new people are born, those able to hear and respond with a yes.

b) To help us with the reading of the passage:
vv. 1-3: Jesus is on the shore of lake Genesareth and before him is a large crowd of people, eager to listen to the Word of God. He goes into a boat and pushes off a little. As teacher and guide, he sits on the waters and rules them, and from there he offers salvation to those who listen to and welcome the Word of God
vv. 4-6: Jesus invites some to go fishing and Peter trusts him, believes in the Word of the Master. In faith he launches into the deep and casts his nets. Because of his faith, the catch is over-abundant, it is miraculous.
v.7: Meeting Jesus is never a closed matter. The meeting always leads to communication, sharing. Indeed, the gift is too great and cannot be held by one person. Peter calls his mates in another boat and the gift is doubled and grows continually.

vv. 8-11: Peter kneels before Jesus, adores him and recognises his sinfulness, his nothingness, but Jesus calls him with the same authority that made so many seas obey him throughout Scripture: “Fear not!”. God reveals himself and becomes the companion of men and women. Peter accepts the mission of delivering men and women, his brothers and sisters, from the waters of the world and of sin, just as he was delivered. He leaves his boat, his nets, the fish and follows Jesus, he and his mates.

c) The Gospel Luke 5: 1-11:
1 While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesareth. 2 And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simons, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

During this time of silence and solitude accorded to me so that I can stay with Him, I go away from the shore a little way, take to the deep and, trusting in the Lord, I cast the net into the deep and I wait…

4. Some questions

a) “He sat down and taught the people from the boat”. Jesus comes down, sits and takes up his abode among us, he bends down even to touching our earth and from this smallness he offers us his teaching, his Word of salvation. Jesus offers me time, space, full availability to meet him and know him, but do I know how to pause, to stay, to take root in Him and before Him?

b) “He asked him to put out a little from the land”. The Lord’s request is gradual, in fact, after this first putting out from the land, He asks him to launch into the deep. “Put out into the deep!”: an invitation addressed to every man and woman. Do I have faith, trust and confidence in him to let go of my concerns? Do I look at myself sincerely and seriously? Where do the treasures of my life lie?

c) “I will let down the nets”. Peter gives us a brilliant example of faith in the Word of Jesus. In this passage, the verb “let down” occurs twice: the first time it refers to the nets and the second to the person of Peter. The significance is clear: before the Lord we can let down our whole being. We let down, but He gathers, always and with an absolute and infallible faithfulness. Do I feel like taking my life, today, just as it is, and letting it down at the feet of Jesus, in Him, so that He, once more, may gather me, heal and save me, making of me a new person?

d) “They beckoned to their partners in the other boat”. Again Peter becomes a guide on my journey and shows me how to be open to others, to share, because it is not possible to remain isolated and closed in the Church. We are all sent: “Go to my brethren and say to them” (Jn 20: 17). Am I able to bring my boat close to that of others? Am I able to share with my brothers and sisters the gifts and riches the Lord has given me to hold in trust?

5. A key to the reading

* The sea and the theme of the exodus:
Jesus is standing by the seashore. He stands above the dark, menacing and unknown tides of the sea and of life. He stands before this crowd of people gathered, ready to listen to him and ready for the journey, He who is the good shepherd with the staff of his Word. He wishes to take us across the seas and oceans of this world on a journey of salvation that brings us before Him, as had already happened at the Red Sea (Ex 14: 21-23) and on the banks of the Jordan (Jn 3: 14-17). Even the sea of sand in the desert is overcome by the power of his Word and opens up, becoming a garden, a level and passable road (Is 43: 16-21) for those who decide to go on the return journey to God and allow themselves to be guided by Him. In these few verses of the Gospel, the Lord once more prepares for us the great miracle of the exodus, of the coming out of the darkness of death through the saving crossing to the green pastures of friendship with Him and the listening to his voice. All is ready: our name has been called with infinite love by the good shepherd, who knows us from all eternity and who guides us for all eternity, never allowing us to fall from his hand.

* Listening in faith that leads to obedience:
This passage from Luke is the second concerning the glorious journey that the Lord Jesus presents to us. The crowd gathers closely around Jesus, urged by the intimate desire to “hear the Word of God”; this is the answer to the constant invitation of the Father, which we find throughout the Scriptures: “Hear, O Israel!” (Dt 6: 4) e “If only my people would hear me!” (Ps 80: 14). It is as if the crowd were saying: “Yes, I will hear what God proclaims, the Lord” (Ps 85: 9). But the kind of hearing that is mentioned and suggested is complete, not superficial; it is alive and life-giving, not dead; it is the hearing of faith, not of incredulity and of hardness of heart. It is the hearing that says: “Yes, Lord, at your word I will let down my nets”. The call addressed to us just now is the call to faith, to trust in him and in every word that comes from his lips, certain that whatever he says will come true. As God said to Abraham: “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” (Gen 18: 14) or to Jeremiah: “Is anything impossible to me?” (Jer 32: 27); cfr. also Zac 8: 6. Or as it was said to Mary: “Nothing is impossible for God” (Lk 1: 37) and she replied: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word”. That is the point we must reach; like Mary, like Peter. We cannot be just hearers, otherwise we would be deceiving ourselves, as James says (1: 19-25); we would continue to be deceived by forgetfulness and we would be lost. The Word must be realised, put into practice, fulfilled. Great is the ruin of the one who hears the Word but does not put it into practice; we must dig deep and lay foundations on the rock, that is, faith in practice (cfr. Lk 6: 46-49).

* Fishing as the mission of the Church:
Fidelity to hearing and the faith leads to mission, that is, to enter into that society that Jesus instituted for the spreading of the kingdom. It seems that Luke, in this passage, wishes to present the Church living the post-paschal experience of the encounter with the risen Jesus. We note, in fact, the many allusions to the passage in Jn 21:1-8. Jesus chooses a boat and chooses Peter and, from the boat, he calls men and women, sons and daughters, to carry on his mission. We note that the verb “put out into the deep” is in the singular, referring to Peter who is given the task of guide, but the act of fishing is in the plural: “let down your nets”, referring to all those who wish to adhere to and participate in the mission. This one mission and common task of all is beautiful and sparkling, it is joyful! It is the apostolic mission, which begins now, in obedience to the Word of the Lord and that will reach the deep, even to the ends of the earth (cfr. Mt 28: 19; Acts 1: 8; Mk 16: 15; 13: 10; Lk 24: 45-48).

It is interesting to note the word that Luke uses to point out the mission given by Jesus to Peter, and to all of us, when he says: “Do not be afraid, henceforth you shall catch men”. Here we do not come across the term found in Mt 4: 18 ff., and in Mk 1: 16 or even in this passage in v. 2, which is simply fishing; here we find a new word, which appears only twice in the whole of the New Testament and which derives from the verb “to capture”, in the sense of “taking alive and keeping alive”. Indeed, the fishing people of the Lord, let down their nets into the sea of the world to offer to people Life, to tear them from the abyss and make them come back to true life. Peter and the others, we and our sailing partners in this world, can continue, if we wish, wherever we are, his wonderful mission as sent by the Father “to save what was lost” (Lk 19: 10).

6. A time of prayer: Psalm 66

A hymn of praise to the Lord,
who has opened our hearts to faith.

Rit. My strength and my song is the Lord; he has saved me!

Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, "How terrible are your deeds!

All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.
Come and see what God has done:
he is terrible in his deeds among men.
He turned the sea into dry land;
men passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him.

Bless our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living,
and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us;
You have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us forth to a spacious place.

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
But truly God has listened;
he has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

7. Closing prayer

Lord, you opened the sea and came to me; you split the night and began a new day in my life! You spoke your Word to me and touched my heart; you made me go with you into the boat and brought me to the deep. Lord, you have done great things! I praise you, I bless you and thank you, in your Word, in your Son Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. Always take me into the deep with you, in you and you in me, so that I may let down many nets of love, friendship, sharing and seeking your face and your kingdom here on earth. Lord, I am a sinner, I know! But for this too I thank you, because you did not come to call the just but sinners and I hear your voice and follow you. Behold, Father, I leave everything and come with you…

Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.

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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Ipad Cases by LitanyLane

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Saint of the Day:  Saint Scholastica

Feast Day:  February 10

Patron Saint:  convulsive children; nuns; invoked against storms and rain; Le Mans

Attributes: nun with crozier and crucifix; nun with dove flying from her mouth

Scholastica (c. 480 – 10 February 547) is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Born in Italy, she was the twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia.^[2]

St. Gregory the Great, in his Dialogues, tells us that she was a nun and leader of a community for women at Plombariola, about five miles from Benedict's abbey at Monte Cassino. We do not know what rule this community followed, although it seems most likely it was the Rule of St. Benedict.

Scholastica was dedicated to God from a young age (some tellings of her story indicate that she preceded Benedict in godliness, and he came to holiness after she did). The most commonly told story about her is that she would, once a year, go and visit her brother at a place near his abbey, and they would spend the day worshiping together and discussing sacred texts and issues. She also is the founder of women's branch of Benedictine Monasticism like her brother Benedict of Nursia who found the Benedictine Missionary movement whose headquarter is in Monte Cassino.

The Christian Religious Orders commemorative coin

One year at the end of the day, they had supper and continued their conversation. When Benedict indicated it was time for him to leave, she protested, and begged him to stay with her for the evening so they could continue their discussions. He refused, insisting that he needed to return to his cell. At that point, Scholastica closed her hands in prayer, and after a moment, a wild storm started outside of the guest house in which they were housed. Benedict asked, "What have you done?", to which she replied, "I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery." Benedict was unable to return to his monastery, and they spent the night in discussion. According to Gregory's Dialogues, three days later, from his cell, he saw his sister's soul leaving the earth and ascending to heaven in the form of a shining white dove.

Her memorial is 10 February. Scholastica is the patron saint of nuns, convulsive children, and is invoked against storms and rain.

She was recently selected as the main motif for a high value commemorative coin: the Austria €50 'The Christian Religious Orders', issued 13 March 2002. On the obverse (heads) side of the coin Scholastica is depicted alongside Benedict.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Patron Saints Index: Saint Scholastica". Saints.sqpn.com. http://saints.sqpn.com/saints06.htm. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
2. ^ Foley O.F.M., Leonard, rev. McCloskey O.F.M., Pat "Saint Scholastica", Saint of the Day, American Catholic

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Featured Items Panel from Litany Lane

 

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Today's Snippet I:   Monte Cassino

Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about 130 kilometres (81 mi) southeast of Rome, Italy, c. 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the west of the town of Cassino (the Roman Casinum having been on the hill) and 520 m (1,706.04 ft) altitude. St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery, the source of the Benedictine Order, here around 529. It was the site of Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944. The site has been visited many times by the Popes and other senior clergy, including a visit by Pope Benedict XVI in May 2009. The monastery is one of the few remaining territorial abbeys within the Catholic Church.

According to Gregory the Great's biography of Benedict, Life of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the monastery was constructed on an older pagan site, a temple of Apollo that crowned the hill. The biography records that the area was still largely pagan at the time and Benedict's first act was to smash the sculpture of Apollo and destroy the altar. He then reused the temple, dedicating it to Saint Martin, and built another chapel on the site of the altar dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Archaeologist Neil Christie notes that it was common in such hagiographies for the protagonist to encounter areas of strong paganism.^[1] Once established at Monte Cassino, Benedict never left. There he wrote the Benedictine Rule that became the founding principle for western monasticism. There at Monte Cassino he received a visit from Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, perhaps in 543 (the only remotely secure historical date for Benedict), and there he died.

View across the valley.

Monte Cassino became a model for future developments. Unfortunately its prominent site has always made it an object of strategic importance. It was sacked or destroyed a number of times. In 581, during the abbacy of Bonitus, the Lombards sacked the abbey, and the surviving monks fled to Rome, where they remained for more than a century. During this time the body of St Benedict was transferred to Fleury, the modern Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire near Orleans, France.

A flourishing period of Monte Cassino followed its re-establishment in 718 by Abbot Petronax, when among the monks were Carloman, son of Charles Martel; Ratchis, predecessor of the great Lombard Duke and King Aistulf; and Paul the Deacon, the historian of the Lombards.

In 744, a donation of Gisulf II of Benevento created the Terra Sancti Benedicti, the secular lands of the abbacy, which were subject to the abbot and nobody else save the Pope. Thus, the monastery became the capital of a state comprising a compact and strategic region between the Lombard principality of Benevento and the Byzantine city-states of the coast (Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi).

In 884 Saracens sacked and then burned it down,^[2] and Abbot Bertharius was killed during the attack. Among the great historians who worked at the monastery, in this period there is Erchempert, whose Historia Langobardorum Beneventanorum is a fundamental chronicle of the ninth-century Mezzogiorno.

The façade of the church.

It was rebuilt and reached the apex of its fame in the 11th century under the abbot Desiderius (abbot 1058 - 1087), who later became Pope Victor III. The number of monks rose to over two hundred, and the library, the manuscripts produced in the scriptorium and the school of manuscript illuminators became famous throughout the West. The unique Beneventan script flourished there during Desiderius' abbacy.

The buildings of the monastery were reconstructed on a scale of great magnificence, artists being brought from Amalfi, Lombardy, and even Constantinople to supervise the various works. The abbey church, rebuilt and decorated with the utmost splendor, was consecrated in 1071 by Pope Alexander II. A detailed account of the abbey at this date exists in the Chronica monasterii Cassinensis by Leo of Ostia and Amatus of Monte Cassino gives us our best source on the early Normans in the south.

Abbot Desiderius sent envoys to Constantinople some time after 1066 to hire expert Byzantine mosaicists for the decoration of the rebuilt abbey church. According to chronicler Leo of Ostia the Greek artists decorated the apse, the arch and the vestibule of the basilica. Their work was admired by contemporaries but was totally destroyed in later centuries except two fragments depicting greyhounds (now in the Monte Cassino Museum). "The abbot in his wisdom decided that great number of young monks in the monastery should be thoroughly initiated in these arts" - says the chronicler about the role of the Greeks in the revival of mosaic art in medieval Italy.

Monte Cassino in ruins after Allied bombing in February 1944

An earthquake damaged the Abbey in 1349, and although the site was rebuilt it marked the beginning of a long period of decline. In 1321, Pope John XXII made the church of Monte Cassino a cathedral, and the carefully preserved independence of the monastery from episcopal interference was at an end. In 1505 the monastery was joined with that of St. Justina of Padua.

The site was sacked by Napoleon's troops in 1799 and from the dissolution of the Italian monasteries in 1866, Monte Cassino became a national monument.

During the Battle of Monte Cassino (January - May 1944) the Abbey made up one section of the 161 Kilometer (100 miles) Gustav line, which was a defensive German line designed to hold the Allied attackers from advancing any further into Italy during World War Two. It stretched from coast to coast and the monastery was one of the key strongholds overlooking highway 6 and blocking the path to Rome. On February 15, 1944 the abbey was almost completely destroyed in a series of heavy American led air-raids. Although it has been argued that the Abbey was being used as a refuge from the battle by the women and children and was occupied by German troops only after the bombing,^[3] many reports from troops on the ground suggest that in fact Germans were occupying the monastery, and it was considered a key observational post by all those who were fighting in the field.^[4] The bombing served only to aid the Germans, as it reduced the monastery to a pile of ruins which provided excellent defensive cover. The Germans held the position until withdrawing on May 17, 1944, having repulsed four main offensives by the New Zealanders, British Indian regiment and Polish troops. Allied forces broke the line between 11 and 17 May and were finally able to take command of the ruins on May 18. The Abbey was rebuilt after the war; Pope Paul VI reconsecrated it in 1964.

Treasures

In December 1942, some 1,400 irreplaceable manuscript codices, chiefly patristic and historical, in addition to a vast number of documents relating to the history of the abbey and the collections of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome, had been sent to the abbey archives for safekeeping. Fortunately, German officers Lt. Col. Julius Schlegel (a Roman Catholic) and Capt. Maximilian Becker (a Protestant), both from the Panzer-Division Hermann Göring, had had them transferred to the Vatican at the beginning of the battle.^[5]

Another account however, from Kurowski ("The History of the Fallschirmpanzerkorps Hermann Göring: Soldiers of the Reichsmarschall") notes that 120 trucks were loaded with monastic assets and art which had been stored there for safekeeping. Robert Edsel ("Rescuing DaVinci") is more to the point about German looting. The trucks were loaded and left in October, 1943 and only "strenuous" protests resulted in their delivery to the Vatican, minus the 15 cases which contained the property of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. Edsel goes on to note that these cases had been delivered to Goring in December, 1943, for "his birthday."

Burials

• Cardinal Domenico Bartolini (1813–87)
• Saint Apollinaris, abbot of Montecassino, feast day on November 27
• Saint Benedict
• Saint Bertharius, abbot of Montecassino
• Saint John Gradenigo
• Saint Scholastica
• Sigelgaita of Salerno

Bibliography

• Mary's House by Donald Carroll (April 20, 2000) Veritas, ISBN 0-9538188-0-2

References

1. ^ Frommer's Turkey by Lynn A. Levine 2010 ISBN 0-470-59366-0 pages 254-255
2. ^The Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption by Stephen J. Shoemaker 2006 ISBN 0-19-921074-8 page 76
3. ^  Vatican Biography
4. ^ The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIV, Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company, Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight [1]
5. ^ Home of the Assumption: Reconstructing Mary's Life in Ephesus by V. Antony John Alaharasan 2006 ISBN 1-929039-38-7 page 38
6. ^ Emmerich, Anna Catherine: The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ ISBN 978-0-89555-210-5 page viii
7. ^ Clemens Brentano by John F. Fetzer 1981 ISBN 0-8057-6457-7 page 146
8. ^ The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Anna Emmerich 2009 ISBN 0-89555-048-2 Chapter XVIII Section 2: Mary's House in Ephesus page 377
9. ^ Page DuBois, Trojan horses: Saving the Classics from Conservatives, 2001, page 134
10. ^ Chronicle of the living Christ: the life and ministry of Jesus Christ by Robert A. Powell 1996 ISBN 0-88010-407-4 page 12
11. ^ Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey, DC,
12. ^ Fusaro, L., "Mary's House and Sister Marie", 2009
13. ^ Zenit News
14. ^ Poulin, Eugene P., "The Holy Virgin's House: The True Story of Its Discovery", Istanbul: 1999
15. ^ The Blessed Virgin's House At Ephesus by Robert Larson (published as an endnote to Volume IV of The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations by Anne Catherine Emmerich (TAN Books, 2004)).
16. ^ The Life of Sr. Marie de Mandat-Grancey & Mary's House in Ephesus by Carl G. Schulte 2011, Saint Benedict Press ISBN 0-89555-870-X
17. ^ Euzet, J., "History of the House of the Blessed Virgin near Ephesus (1891-1961)", Vincentian Archives, 1961.
18. ^ Georges Henri Tavard. The Thousand Faces of the Virgin Mary. Liturgical Press, 1996. Pages 23-24.
19. ^ [2]
20. ^ "Apostolic Journey of Pope Benedict to Turkey". 2006-11-29. Retrieved 2008-02-22. "With firm trust let us sing, together with Mary, a magnificat of praise and thanksgiving to God who has looked with favour upon the lowliness of his servant (cf. Lk 1:48). Let us sing joyfully, even when we are tested by difficulties and dangers, as we have learned from the fine witness given by the Roman priest Don Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this celebration. Mary teaches us that the source of our joy and our one sure support is Christ, and she repeats his words: “Do not be afraid” (Mk 6:50), “I am with you” (Mt 28:20). Mary, Mother of the Church, accompany us always on our way! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us! Aziz Meryem Mesih’in Annesi bizim için Dua et. Amen"

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Today's Snippet II:  Nursia, Italy

Nursia, Italy

Norcia, traditionally known in English by its Latin name of Nursia, is a town and commune in the province of Perugia (Italy) in southeastern Umbria, located in a wide plain abutting the Monti Sibillini, a subrange of the Apennines with some of its highest peaks, near the Sordo River, a small stream that eventually flows into the Nera. The town is thus popularly associated with the Valnerina (the valley of that river).

The area is known for its air and scenery, and is a base for mountaineering and hiking. It is also widely known for hunting, especially of the wild boar, and for sausages and ham made from wild boar and pork, to the point that Norcia has given its name to such products: in Italian, norcineria.

History

Traces of human settlement in Norcia's area dates back to the Neolithic Age. The town's history begins with settlement by the Sabines in the 5th century BC. It became an ally of ancient Rome in 205 BC, during the Second Punic War, when it was known in Latin as Nursia, but the earliest extant Roman ruins date from around the 1st century.

St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine monastic system, and his twin sister St. Scholastica, were born here in 480. In the 8th century an oratory was built so pilgrims could pray at the place of St. Benedict’s birth. Monks came to Norcia in the 10th century, and now care for the Monastery of St. Benedict, built over the Roman ruins of the house of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica.

In the 6th century Norcia was conquered by the Lombards, becoming part of the Duchy of Spoleto. In the 9th century it suffered from Saracen attacks, which started a period of deep decadence. In the 11th century, it was part of the domain of St. Henry, Holy Roman Emperor.In the 12th century Norcia became an independent commune within the Papal territories, with an increasing political and economical prestige. The collaboration with the Benedictine abbey in Preci led to the creation of the Schola Chirurgica: the latter's studies allowed Norcia's to improve their swine breeding capacities. However, the vicinity of the powerful Spoleto and the 1324 earthquake thwarted the city's ambitions, and in 1354 it returned definitively under the Papal authority.

Main sights

The church of St. Benedict

The older core of Norcia is almost flat, which is relatively unusual among the towns of Umbria, and completely enclosed by a full circuit of walls that has survived intact from the 14th century, despite many earthquakes of which several were devastating (1763, 1859, 1979). After the earthquake of August 22, 1859, the Papal States, to which Norcia then belonged, imposed a stringent construction code forbidding structures of more than 3 stories and requiring the use of certain materials and building techniques.

Many other Roman vestiges are observable throughout the city, especially in the walls of San Lorenzo, its oldest extant church.  The main basilica is dedicated to St. Benedict, still attached to a functioning Benedictine monastery, the Monastery of St. Benedict. Though the present edifice was built in the 13th century, it stands on the remains of one or more small Roman buildings, sometimes considered to have been a Roman basilica, or alternately the actual house in which the twin saints were born. The façade, in Gothic style, is characterized by a central rose window and relief portraying the four Evangelists. Inside, the fresco of the Resurrection of Lazarus, (1560) was painted by Michelangelo Carducci. The altar in the left hand transept houses a St Benedict and Totila (1621) by Filippo Napoletano.

The Renaissance church of Santa Maria Argentea is the Duomo, or cathedral, and houses some works by Flemish masters, a richly decorated altar by Duquesnoy, a Madonna and Saints by Pomarancio, and a St. Vicenzo Ferrer and the Infirm (1756) by Giuseppe Paladini.

The Gothic church of Sant'Agostino (14th century) has many votive frescoes of St Roch and St Sebastian. San Francesco is from the same century: it has a notable portal, surmounted by a Gothic rose window, with pink and white stone decorations.

A fortress, the Castellina, was built in 1555-1563 as the residence of the Papal governors, under design by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. It now houses a small museum with Roman and medieval artifacts, and documents of the Middle Ages and later periods.
In the frazioni near the town proper, are

• The pieve of San Salvatore, at Campi, with two rose windows and two portals of different ages. Also in Campi is the parish church of St. Andrew, with an original triangular loggiato.
• The frazione of Savelli houses the ruins of Madonna della Neve, an elegant octagonal building designed by Bramante and destroyed by the 1979 earthquake.
• In San Pellegrino is the convent of Santa Maria di Montesanto (14th century), now in poor condition. It has a noteworthy cloister, a church with 17th-century canvasses and a 14th-century wooden statue portraying the Madonna with Child.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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Catechism of the Catholic Church

Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Ch 2 Art 2

CHAPTER TWO

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF GOD

ARTICLE 2

"AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD" 

I. Jesus

430 Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission.Lk 1:31 Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins".Mt 1:21; cf. ⇒ 2:7 in Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.

431 In the history of salvation God was not content to deliver Israel "out of the house of bondage"Dt 5:6 by bringing them out of Egypt. He also saves them from their sin. Because sin is always an offence against God, only he can forgive it.Ps 51:4, ⇒ 12 For this reason Israel, becoming more and more aware of the universality of sin, will no longer be able to seek salvation except by invoking the name of the Redeemer God.Ps 79:9

432 The name "Jesus" signifies that the very name of God is present in the person of his Son, made man for the universal and definitive redemption from sins. It is the divine name that alone brings salvation, and henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation^, Jn 3:18; ⇒ Acts 2:21; ⇒ 5:41; ⇒ 3 ⇒ Jn 7; ⇒ Rom 10:6-13 so that "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."Acts 4:12

433 The name of the Saviour God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood. the mercy seat was the place of God's presence.Ex 25:22 When St. Paul speaks of Jesus whom "God put forward as an expiation by his blood", he means that in Christ's humanity "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."Rom 3:25

434 Jesus' Resurrection glorifies the name of the Saviour God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the "name which is above every name".Phil 2:9-10 The evil spirits fear his name; in his name his disciples perform miracles, for the Father grants all they ask in this name.Acts 16:16-18

435 The name of Jesus is at the heart of Christian prayer. All liturgical prayers conclude with the words "through our Lord Jesus Christ". the Hail Mary reaches its high point in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." the Eastern prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer, says: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Many Christians, such as St. Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips.

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