Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Saturday, April 27, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog: Piety, Psalms 98:1-4, Acts 13:44-52, John 14:7-14, Pope Francis Daily Homily - Faith is a Path of Beauty and Truth, St Zita,Basilica of San Frediano, Lucca Italy, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Chapter 2 Sacraments of Healing Penance and Reconciliation Article 4:3 Conversion of the Baptized

Saturday,  April 27, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:

Piety, Psalms 98:1-4, Acts 13:44-52, John 14:7-14, Pope Francis Daily Homily - Faith is a Path of Beauty and Truth, St Zita,Basilica of San Frediano, Lucca Italy, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Chapter 2 Sacraments of Healing Penance and Reconciliation Article 4:3 Conversion of the Baptized

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. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and 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 the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013


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



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Prayers for Today: Saturday in Easter



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 Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)


Pope Francis April 27 General Audience Address :

Faith is a Path of Beauty and Truth


(2013-04-27 Vatican Radio)
Faith is not alienation or a crooked deal, but a path of beauty and truth marked out by Jesus to prepare our eyes to gaze without glasses at “the marvellous face of God”, in the definitive dwelling place prepared for each one of us. It is an invitation not to let ourselves be gripped by fear and to live life as a preparation for seeing better, hearing better and loving more, as Pope Francis said in his homily at the Mass he celebrated on Friday morning, 26 April, in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Concelebrating with the Pope were Bishop Giorgio Corbellini, President of the Labour Office of the Apostolic See and of the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia, and Fr Sergio Pellini, SDB, director of the Tipografia Vaticana Editrice L’Osservatore Romano. Among those present were the Supervisory  and Auditing Council of the Vatican Press, a group of officers of the Gendarmes Corps and staff of the Vatican Labour Office and  of L’Osservatore Romano.

Pope Francis based his homily on the Gospel passage of St John (14:1-6). “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself...”.

Jesus’ words, the Pope commented, are very beautiful. At a time of leave taking, Jesus speaks to his disciples from his heart. He knows they are sad, for they realize that things are not going well”. So now Jesus encourages them, cheers them, reassures them and unfolds before them a horizon of hope. “Let your hearts not be troubled”. And he begins talking to them as a friend.

“I am going to prepare a place for you”. What is this preparation?”, Pope Francis asked himself.  “How is it done? What is this place like? What does preparing the place mean? Renting a room in heaven?” Preparing a place means preparing “our capacities for enjoying, for seeing, for hearing and for understanding the beauty of what awaits us, of that homeland for which we are bound”.

The Pope ended his homily asking “that the Lord give us this strong hope”. and also the courage to greet the homeland from afar”. And lastly, “may he give us the humility to let ourselves be prepared, that is, to let the Lord prepare the definitive dwelling place in our heart, in our sight and in our hearing.



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Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: April–May


Vatican City, 3 April 2013 (VIS)
Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father in the months of April and May, 2013:


APRIL

28 April, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass and confirmations in St. Peter's Square.


MAY
4 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Recitation of the Rosary in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

5 May, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass for Confraternities in St. Peter's Square.

12 May, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and canonizations of Blesseds Antonio Primaldo and Companions; Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui; and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala.

18 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.

19 May, Pentecost Sunday: 10:00am, Mass in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.


Reference: 

  • Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 04/27/2013.


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April 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:: "Dear children! Pray, pray, keep praying until your heart opens in faith as a flower opens to the warm rays of the sun. This is a time of grace which God gives you through my presence but you are far from my heart, therefore, I call you to personal conversion and to family prayer. May Sacred Scripture always be an incentive for you. I bless you all with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call."

April 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbour to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you." 

March 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:
“Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”




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Today's Word:  Piety  pi·e·ty  [pahy-i-tee]  


Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English piete  < Middle French  < Latin pietās,  equivalent to pi ( us ) + -etās,  variant (after i ) of -itās;  see pious, -ity

noun, plural pi·e·ties.
1. reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations: a prayer full of piety.
2. the quality or state of being pious: saintly piety.
3. dutiful respect or regard for parents, homeland, etc.: filial piety.
4. a pious act, remark, belief, or the like: the pieties and sacrifices of an austere life.


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Today's Old Testament Reading -   Psalms 98:1-4


1 [Psalm] Sing a new song to Yahweh, for he has performed wonders, his saving power is in his right hand and his holy arm.
2 Yahweh has made known his saving power, revealed his saving justice for the nations to see,
3 mindful of his faithful love and his constancy to the House of Israel. The whole wide world has seen the saving power of our God.
4 Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth, burst into shouts of joy!


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Today's Epistle -  Acts 13:44-52


44 The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God.
45 When they saw the crowds, the Jews, filled with jealousy, used blasphemies to contradict everything Paul said.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. 'We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, here and now we turn to the gentiles.
47 For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach the remotest parts of the earth.'
48 It made the gentiles very happy to hear this and they gave thanks to the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers.
49 Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
50 But the Jews worked on some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city; they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their territory.
51 So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went off to Iconium; but the converts were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.




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Today's Gospel Reading -  John 14:7-14


7 If you know me, you will know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.
8 Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.' Jesus said to him,
9 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, "Show us the Father"?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works.
11 You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works.
12 In all truth I tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works, because I am going to the Father.
13 Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.


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



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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane





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Saint of the Day:  Saint  Zita


Feast DayApril  27

Patron Saint:  Domestic servants, homemakers, lost keys, people ridiculed for their piety, rape victims, single laywomen, waiters, waitresses
Attributes:  bag of keys


A Mediaeval wall painting Saint Zita (Horley, Oxfordshire)
Saint Zita (c. 1212 – 27 April 1272; also known as Sitha or Citha) is an Italian saint, the patron saint of maids and domestic servants. She is often appealed to in order to help find lost keys.
 
Saint Zita was born in Tuscany in the village of Monsagrati, not far from Lucca where, at the age of 12, she became a servant in the Fatinelli household. For a long time, she was unjustly despised, overburdened, reviled, and often beaten by her employers and fellow servants for her hard work and obvious goodness. The incessant ill-usage, however, was powerless to deprive her of her inward peace, her love of those who wronged her, and her respect for her employers. By this meek and humble self-restraint, Zita at last succeeded in overcoming the malice of her fellow-servants and her employers, so much so that she was placed in charge of all the affairs of the house. Her faith had enabled her to persevere against their abuse, and her constant piety gradually moved the family to a religious awakening.

Zita often said to others that devotion is false if slothful. She considered her work as an employment assigned to her by God, and as part of her penance, and obeyed her master and mistress in all things as being placed over her by God. She always rose several hours before the rest of the family and employed in prayer a considerable part of the time which others gave to sleep. She took care to hear mass every morning with great devotion before she was called upon by the duties of her station, in which she employed the whole day, with such diligence and fidelity that she seemed to be carried to them on wings, and studied when possible to anticipate them.

One anecdote relates a story of Zita giving her own food or that of her master to the poor. On one morning, Zita left her chore of baking bread to tend to someone in need. Some of the other servants ensured the Fatinelli family was aware of what happened; when they went to investigate, they claimed to have found angels in the Fatinelli kitchen, baking the bread for her.

Death and canonization

The body of Saint Zita, found to be incorrupt by the Catholic Church
St. Betina Zita died peacefully in the Fatinelli house on April 27, 1272. It is said that a star appeared above the attic where she slept at the moment of her death. She was 60 years old,[2] and had served and edified the family for 48 years. By her death, she was practically venerated by the family. After one hundred and fifty miracles wrought in the behalf of such as had recourse to her intercession were juridically proven, she was canonized in 1696.

Her body was exhumed in 1580, discovered to be incorrupt, but has since become mummified. St. Zita's body is currently on display for public veneration in the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca.

Her feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is April 27. To this day, families bake a loaf of bread in celebration of St. Zita's feast day.

Veneration

Soon after Zita's death a popular cult grew up around her, centring on the church of St Frigidian in Lucca. This was also joined by prominent members of the city. Pope Leo X sanctioned a liturgical cult within the church in the early 16th century, and was confirmed Immemorial[disambiguation needed] upon her canonization. In 1748, Pope Benedict XIV added her name to the Roman Martyrology.[3]

During the late medieval era, her popular cult had grown throughout Europe. In England she was known under the name Sitha, and was popularly invoked by maidservants and housewives, particularly in event of having lost one's keys, on when crossing rivers of bridges. Images of St. Zita may be seen in churches across the south of England. The church of St Benet Sherehog in London had a chapel dedicated to her, and was locally known as St. Sithes. However, despite her popularity at this time, the cult was not an official one.[3]

References

  • Butler, Rev. Alban (1864). "Life of Zita". The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, Volume IV. D. & J. Sadlier, & Company. Retrieved 2006-04-27. (Online edition hosted by Eternal Word Television Network [1].) This is a straightforward piece of nineteenth-century popular hagiography. It cites its sources thus: “See her life, compiled by a contemporary writer, and published by Papebroke, the Bollandist, on the 27th of April, p. 497, and Benedict XIV De Canoniz. lib. ii. c. 24, p. 245.”
  • "St. Zita". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. It states as sources: "The earliest biography of the saint is preserved in an anonymous manuscript belonging to the Fatinelli family which was published at Ferrara in 1688 by Monsignor Fatinelli, ‘Vita beatf[sic] Zitf[sic] virginis Lucensis ex vetustissimo codice manuscripto fideliter transumpta’. For his fuller ‘Vita e miracoli di S. Zita vergine lucchese’ (Lucca, 1752) Bartolomeo Fiorito has used this and other notices, especially those taken from the process drawn up to prove the immemorial cult."

  1. ^ Jones, Terry. "Zita". Patron Saints Index. Retrieved 2007-03-11.
  2. ^ Butler states that: "she happily expired on the 27th of April, in 1272, being sixty years old." If he is correct, her date of birth becomes 1212 or 1211. The Catholic Encyclopedia prefers 1271 as the year of her death but is silent on her age at that point and on when she was born.
  3. ^ a b Farmer, David Hugh (1997). The Oxford dictionary of saints (4. ed. ed.). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 9780192800589.
 

Further reading

  • Recipe for St. Zita's Bread from Cook's Blessings, The by Demetria Taylor, Random House, New York, 1965. (Actually a perfectly modern recipe: it makes no claims to resemble loaves made in thirteenth-century Lucca.)
  • St. Zita is a short account of Zita’s life published by St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Picayune, MS, USA. It gives no sources.
  • Life of St. Zita - Butler Life of St. Zita - Taken from Vol. IV of "The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints" by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company)
  • Shea, John Gilmary (1894). "SAINT ZITA". Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints. New York: Benziger Brothers. Retrieved 2006-04-27. (Online edition hosted by The Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God from the Monastery of the Apostles, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.) This book for children is a “compilation based on Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources.”
  • Guerra, Almerico (1875) Istoria della vita di Santa Zita, ... narrata secondo i documenti contemporanei. Lucca


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        Featured Items Panel from Litany Lane





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        Today's Snippet I:   Basilica of San Frediano



        Basilica of San Frediano.
         
        Monumental golden mosaic on the façade
        The Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque church in Lucca, Italy, situated on the Piazza San Frediano.
         
        Fridianus (Frediano) was an Irish bishop of Lucca in the first half of the 6th century. He had a church built on this spot, dedicated to St. Vincent, a martyr from Zaragoza, Spain. When Fridianus was buried in this church, the church was renamed Ss. Frediano and Vincenzo. Soon afterwards, a community of Augustinian canons was growing around this church. In the Longobard era, the church and the canon house were enlarged. In 1104, this order was recognized by Pope Paschal II. The prior of St. Frediano was later accorded a rank equal in dignity to that of a bishop.

        The church acquired its present appearance of a typical Roman basilica during the period 1112-1147. In the 13th-14th centuries the striking façade was decorated with a huge golden 13th century mosaic representing The Ascension of Christ the Saviour with the apostles below. Berlinghiero Berlinghieri designed it in a Byzantine/medieval style.

        Several chapels of the nobility were added in the 14th-16th centuries. These are lavishly decorated with paintings.

        The architecture of the Basilica of San Frediano well represents the characteristics of Romanesque Lucca before the influences of the near Pisa, in particular of the Cathedral of Buscheto, and workers from northern Italy change its traditional character. The church still has a simple type of early Christian basilica plan, with curtain walls smooth, without projections or complex joints of the arches, and architectural elements are all of Roman tradition, such as architraves and columns of the facade and the apse, the windows niche, the specially carved composite capitals. These same features are found - in a stadium even purer - in the nearby church of St. Alexander, which includes the remains of an older building in which every element, from the paths proportional to the quality of the walls, the arrangement of unusual materials to bare corinzieggianti capitals, is all ancient roman traditions.

        Inside, the basilica is built in richly carved white marble. It consists of a nave and two aisles with arches supported by columns with Roman and Romanesque capitals. The Roman capitals were recycled from the nearby Roman amphitheatre.

        The highlight at the entrance is the huge 12th century Romanesque baptismal font (the Fonte Lustrale). It is composed of a bowl, covered with a tempietto, resting on pillars, inside a circular basin. It is the craftmanship of master Roberto (his signature is on the basin) and two unknown masters. The basin is decorated with The Story of Moses by a Lombard sculptor. Master Roberto did the last two panels The Good Shepherd and the Six Prophets. The tempietto was sculpted by a Tuscan master, representing the months of the year and the apostles.

        12th century baptismal font.
        Behind this font, higher on the wall, are two 15th century glazed terracotta lunettes : The Annunciation and St. Bartholomew, both attributed to the school of Andrea della Robbia.  There is another baptismal font, still in use, carved and adapted from a sacramental altar by Matteo Civitali in 1489. The counterfaçade houses the 16th century organ in the exquisitely carved, gold-plated choir from the 17th century.

        On the right hand is the side chapel of St. Zita (1218-1278), a popular saint in Lucca. Her intact mummified body, lying on a bed of brocade, is on display in a glass shrine. On the walls of the chapel are several canvasses from the 16th and 17th centuries depicting episodes from her life.

        The remains of St. Frediano lie underneath the main altar from the 16th century. A massive stone monolith stands left of the main altar. This was probably pilfered from the amphiteatre of Lucca. But local tradition has it that it was miraculously transported to Lucca by San Frediano and used as a predella (step of an altar) for the first altar.


        Chapels

        The Trenta chapel in the left aisle houses the polyptych of the Virgin and the Child, a 15th century masterpiece by Jacopo della Quercia, carved with the help of his assistant Giovanni da Imola. Below the altar is a Roman sarcophagus with the body of St. Richard, an English “king” (of Wessex), who died in Lucca in 722 while on pilgrimage to Rome. He was the supposed father of Saints Willibald, Winiblad and Walpurga. On the marble floor lies a tombstone of Lorenzo Trenta and his wife, equally from the hand of Jacopo della Quercia.

        Among the many chapels, the Chapel of the Cross certainly stands out. It contains frescoes, recently restored, by Amico Aspertini (1508-1509). The blue vault shows us God surrounded by angels, prophets and sibyls. Above the altar is an anonymous 17th century painting representing Volto Santo, St. Augustine and St. Ubaldo. On the right wall is the fresco of St. Frediano displacing the course of the river Serchio, while trying to stop the flooding. Next to it is a column which is, at closer sight, actually flat. The sgraffiti are drawn in the art technique of trompe l’oeil, giving a false perspective and the illusion of a column. On the left wall is the fresco of the Transportation of the Volto Santo from the port of Luni to Lucca by the Blessed Giovanni, bishop of Lucca. In the front the stooping old lady in red robe certainly steals the show. The mortal remains of this bishop are preserved in this chapel.

        The Chapel of St. Anne was constructed in the 16th century, but the paintings date from the 19th century. On the left side of the altar is the Death of St. Anna by B. Rocchi. In the middle, above the altar, St. Anna Adores the Child by Stefano Tofanelli. On the right side of the altar is the Birth of Mary by A. Cecchi.

         

        References

        • Butler, Rev. Alban (1864). "Life of Zita". The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, Volume IV. D. & J. Sadlier, & Company. Retrieved 2006-04-27. (Online edition hosted by Eternal Word Television Network [1].) This is a straightforward piece of nineteenth-century popular hagiography. It cites its sources thus: “See her life, compiled by a contemporary writer, and published by Papebroke, the Bollandist, on the 27th of April, p. 497, and Benedict XIV De Canoniz. lib. ii. c. 24, p. 245.”
        • "St. Zita". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. It states as sources: "The earliest biography of the saint is preserved in an anonymous manuscript belonging to the Fatinelli family which was published at Ferrara in 1688 by Monsignor Fatinelli, ‘Vita beatf[sic] Zitf[sic] virginis Lucensis ex vetustissimo codice manuscripto fideliter transumpta’. For his fuller ‘Vita e miracoli di S. Zita vergine lucchese’ (Lucca, 1752) Bartolomeo Fiorito has used this and other notices, especially those taken from the process drawn up to prove the immemorial cult."
         
         
         
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        Today's Snippet II:   Lucca Italy




        Piazza Anfiteatro and the Basilica di San Frediano.
        Lucca  is a city and comune in Tuscany, Central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. Among other reasons, it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls.[1][2]

        Ancient and medieval city

        Lucca was founded by the Etruscans (there are traces of a pre-existing Ligurian settlement) and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre can still be seen in the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro.

        At the Lucca Conference, in 56 BC, Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus reaffirmed their political alliance known as the First Triumvirate.[3]

        Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the early 6th century.[4] At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy. Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the 6th century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins. The Holy Face of Lucca (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742. During the 8th - 10th centuries it was a center of Jewish life, led by the Kalonymos family (who at some point during this period migrated to Germany and became a major component of proto-Ashkenazic Jewry). It became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the 11th century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the 10–11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

        First republic

        After the death of Matilda of Tuscany, the city began to constitute itself an independent commune, with a charter in 1160. For almost 500 years, Lucca remained an independent republic. There were many minor provinces in the region between southern Liguria and northern Tuscany dominated by the Malaspina; Tuscany in this time was a part of feudal Europe. Dante’s Divine Comedy includes many references to the great feudal families who had huge jurisdictions with administrative and judicial rights. Dante spent some of his exile in Lucca.

        In 1273 and again in 1277, Lucca was ruled by a Guelph capitano del popolo (captain of the people) named Luchetto Gattilusio. In 1314, internal discord allowed Uguccione della Faggiuola of Pisa to make himself lord of Lucca. The Lucchesi expelled him two years later, and handed over the city to another condottiere Castruccio Castracani, under whose rule it became a leading state in central Italy. Lucca rivalled Florence until Castracani's death in 1328. On 22 and 23 September 1325, in the battle of Altopascio, Castracani defeated Florence's Guelphs. For this he was nominated by Louis IV the Bavarian to become duke of Lucca. Castracani's tomb is in the church of San Francesco. His biography is Machiavelli's third famous book on political rule. In 1408, Lucca hosted the convocation intended to end the schism in the papacy. Occupied by the troops of Louis of Bavaria, the city was sold to a rich Genoese, Gherardino Spinola, then seized by John, king of Bohemia. Pawned to the Rossi of Parma, by them it was ceded to Martino della Scala of Verona, sold to the Florentines, surrendered to the Pisans, and then nominally liberated by the emperor Charles IV and governed by his vicar. Lucca managed, at first as a democracy, and after 1628 as an oligarchy, to maintain its independence alongside of Venice and Genoa, and painted the word Libertas on its banner until the French Revolution in 1789.[5]

        Napoleonic conquest

        Palazzo Pfanner, garden view.
        Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state (after Venice) with a republican constitution ("comune") to remain independent over the centuries.

        In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as "Queen of Etruria".

        After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy, then part of Tuscany in 1847 and finally part of the Italian State.


        Main sights

        Autumn in Lucca.
        The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species.

        The Academy of Sciences (1584) is the most famous of several academies and libraries.

        The Casa di Puccini will re-open to the public on 14 September 2011.[6] At the nearby town of Torre del Lago, there is a Puccini opera festival every year in July/August. Puccini had a house there as well.

        Church of San Michele of Antraccoli.
        There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded façades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century.
        • Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
        • Piazzale Verdi
        • Piazza Napoleone
        • Piazza San Michele
        • Duomo di San Martino (St Martin's Cathedral)
        • The Ducal Palace, built on the location of Castruccio Castracani's fortress. The original project was begun by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1577–1582, and continued by Filippo Juvarra in the 18th century.
        • The ancient Roman amphitheatre
        • Church of San Michele in Foro
        • Romanesque church of San Giusto.
        • Basilica di San Frediano
        • Church of Sant'Alessandro,[7] an example of medieval classicism
        • Torre delle ore ("The Clock Tower")
        • Casa and Torre Guinigi - The Guinigi Tower with oak trees on top
        • Museo Nazionale Guinigi
        • Museo e Pinacoteca Nazionale
        • Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca, a botanical garden dating from 1820
        • Palazzo Pfanner
        • Villa Garzoni, noted for its water gardens.
        • Church of San Giorgio in the locality of Brancoli, built in the late 12th century. It has a nave and two aisles with a single apse, and a bell tower in Lombard-Romanesque style ranked among the most beautiful in northern Italy. The interior houses a massive ambo (1194) with four columns mounted on notable sculptures of lions. Also having notable medieval decoration is the octagonal baptismal fount. The altar is supported by six small columns with human figures
        • Church of San Michele, at Antraccoli. Founded in 777, it was enlarged in the 12th century and modified again in the 16th century with the introduction of a portico.
        • Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane, a street all over the city on the bastions. It passes from these balconies: Santa Croce, San Frediano, San Martino, San Pietro/Battisti, San Salvatore, La Libertà/Cairoli, San Regolo, San Colombano, Santa Maria, San Paolino/Catalani, and San Donato; also pass over these gates: Porta San Donato, Porta Santa Maria, Porta San Jocopo, Porta Elisa, Porta San Pietro, and Porta Sant'Anna.
        • Church of Santa Giulia, of Lombard origins, but remade in the 13th century.
        • The fortified city is surrounded by the streets of: Piazzale Boccherini, Viale Lazzaro Papi, Viale Carlo Del Prete, Piazzale Martiri della Libertà, Via Batoni, Viale Agostino Marti, Viale G. Marconi (vide Guglielmo Marconi), Piazza Don A. Mei, Viale Pacini (vide Pacini), Viale Giusti, Piazza Curtatone, Piazzale Ricasoli, Viale Ricasoli, Piazza Risorgimento (vide Risorgimento) and Viale Giosuè Carducci (vide Giosuè Carducci).
         

        Culture

        Lucca is the birthplace of composers Giacomo Puccini (La Bohème and Madama Butterfly), Nicalao Dorati, Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, and Alfredo Catalani. It is also the birthplace of Bruno Menconi and artist Benedetto Brandimarte.


        References

        1. ^ Magrini, Graziano. "The Walls of Lucca". Scientific Itineraries of Tuscany. Museo Galileo. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
        2. ^ DONADIO, Rachel. "A Walled City in Tuscany Clings to Its Ancient Menu". March 12, 2009 (New York Times). Retrieved 25 April 2013.
        3. ^ Boatwright, Mary et al. The Romans: From Village to Empire, pg 229.
        4. ^ See article on the Basilica di San Frediano.
        5. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)
        6. ^ "Puccini Museum - Casa natale". Retrieved 2012-06-29. 
        7. ^ "Church of Sant'Alessandro Maggiore | Lucca". Tuscanypass.com. 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2013-04-26.



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        Catechism of the Catholic Church


        Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, 

        Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church 

        CHAPTER TWO : THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

        Article 4:3  THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION



        SECTION TWO
        THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH 

        CHAPTER TWO
        THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

        Article 4
        THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION


        III. The Conversion of the Baptized
        1427 Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel."Mk 1:15 In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Also, Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by faith in the Gospel and by Baptism Acts 2:38 that one renounces evil and gains salvation, that is, the forgiveness of all sins and the gift of new life.

        1428 Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, "clasping sinners to her bosom, (is) at once holy and always in need of purification, (and) follows constantly the path of penance and renewal."LG 8 # 3 This endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the movement of a "contrite heart," drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first. Ps 51:17

        1429 St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of repentance from Peter and, after the Lord's resurrection, a threefold affirmation of love for him.Lk 22:61 The second conversion also has a communitarian dimension, as is clear in the Lord's call to a whole Church: "Repent!" Rev 2:5, 16

        St. Ambrose says of the two conversions that, in the Church, "there are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of repentance." St. Ambrose, ep. 41, 12: PL 16, 1116



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        Monday, April 29, 2013

        Friday, April 26, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog: Hermitage, Psalms 98:1-4, Acts 13:42-52 , John 14:1-6 , Pope Francis Daily Homily - Our journey of faith is not one of alienation, but prepares our hearts to see the beautiful face of God, St Trudpert, St Trudperts Abbey, Grand Duchy of Baden, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Chapter 2 Sacraments of Healing Penance and Reconciliation Article 4:2 Why Sacrament of Penance after Baptism

        Friday,  April 26, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:

        Hermitage, Psalms 98:1-4, Acts 13:42-52 , John 14:1-6 , Pope Francis Daily Homily - Our journey of faith is not one of alienation, but prepares our hearts to see the beautiful face of God, St Trudpert, St Trudperts Abbey, Grand Duchy of Baden, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Chapter 2 Sacraments of Healing Penance and Reconciliation Article 4:2 Why Sacrament of Penance after Baptism

        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. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and 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 the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013


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



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        Prayers for Today: Friday in Easter



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         Papam Franciscus
        (Pope Francis)


        Pope Francis April 26 General Audience Address :

        Our journey of faith is not one of alienation, 

        but prepares our hearts to see the beautiful face of God


        (2013-04-26 Vatican Radio)
        (Vatican Radio) "Our journey of faith is not one of alienation, but prepares our hearts to see the beautiful face of God": this was Pope Francis’ message during Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. On Friday Mass was attended by Staff from the Vatican Typography, the Vatican Labor Office and Vatican State Police. 

        The Gospel of the day recounts Jesus saying to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled”.

        "These words of Jesus are really beautiful words. In a moment of farewell, Jesus speaks to his disciples, really from the heart. He knows that his disciples are sad, because they realize that things are not going well. He says: Do not let your hearts be troubled. And he starts to talk like that, just like a friend, even with the attitude of a pastor. I say, the music in the words of Jesus is how the pastor should behave, like a shepherd with his sheep, right? ... Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God, in me '. And what does he start to talk about? About Heaven, about the definitive homeland. 'Have faith in me': I remain faithful, it is as if he said that, right? ... Like an engineer, like an architect He tells them what He will do: 'I am going to prepare a place, in my Father’s house is my dwelling'. And Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. "

        Pope Francis asked: "What is that place like? What does 'prepare a place' mean? Does it mean renting a room up there? ‘Prepare a place’, means preparing our ability to enjoy the chance - our chance - to see, to feel, to understand the beauty of what lies ahead, of that homeland towards which we walk ".

        "And all of Christian life is the work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit to prepare a place, prepare our eyes to be able to see ... 'But, Father, I see fine! I don’t need glasses! ': But that's another type of vision .... Think of those who are suffering from cataracts and have to undergo an operation to remove them: they can still see, but after surgery what do they all say? 'I never thought you could see so well without glasses!'. Our eyes, the eyes of our soul they need, they have to be prepared to contemplate the beautiful face of Jesus. Our hearing must be prepared in order to hear the beautiful things, the beautiful words. Above all our hearts must be prepared: prepared for love, to love more".

        In our life’s journey – said Pope Francis- the Lord prepares our hearts "with trials, with consolations, with tribulations, with good things":

        "The whole journey of life is a journey of preparation. Sometimes the Lord has to do it quickly, as he did with the good thief: he only had a few minutes to prepare him and he did it. But the normal run of things goes this way, no?: in preparing our heart, eyes, hearing to arrive in this homeland. Because that is our homeland. 'But, Father, I went to a philosopher and he told me that all these thoughts are an alienation, that we are alienated, that life is this, the concrete, and no-one knows what’s beyond ...'. Some think this is so ... but Jesus tells us that it is not so and says, 'Have faith in me'. This I tell you is the truth: I do not cheat, I do not deceive. "

        "Preparing for heaven - said the Pope – means beginning to greet him from afar. This is not alienation: this is the truth, this is allowing Jesus to prepare our hearts, our eyes for the beauty that is so great. It is the path of beauty and" the path to the homeland. "

        Pope Francis concluded with a prayer that the Lord will give us " this strong hope," the courage and the humility to allow the Lord to prepare “our eyes, our hearts, our hearing” for the heavenly homeland, "the definitive dwelling. So be it. "



        ************************************************


        Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: April–May


        Vatican City, 3 April 2013 (VIS)
        Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father in the months of April and May, 2013:


        APRIL

        28 April, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass and confirmations in St. Peter's Square.


        MAY
        4 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Recitation of the Rosary in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

        5 May, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass for Confraternities in St. Peter's Square.

        12 May, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and canonizations of Blesseds Antonio Primaldo and Companions; Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui; and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala.

        18 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.

        19 May, Pentecost Sunday: 10:00am, Mass in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.


        Reference: 

        • Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 04/26/2013.


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        April 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:: "Dear children! Pray, pray, keep praying until your heart opens in faith as a flower opens to the warm rays of the sun. This is a time of grace which God gives you through my presence but you are far from my heart, therefore, I call you to personal conversion and to family prayer. May Sacred Scripture always be an incentive for you. I bless you all with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call."

        April 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbour to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you." 

        March 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:
        “Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”




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        Today's Word:  hermitage  her·mit·age  [hur-mi-tij]  


        Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English  < Old French.  See hermit, -age

        noun
        1.  the habitation of a hermit.
        2.  any secluded place of residence or habitation; retreat; hideaway.
        3. ( initial capital letter  ) a palace in Leningrad built by Catherine II and now used as an art museum.


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        Today's Old Testament Reading -   Psalms 98:1-4


        1 [Psalm] Sing a new song to Yahweh, for he has performed wonders, his saving power is in his right hand and his holy arm.
        2 Yahweh has made known his saving power, revealed his saving justice for the nations to see,
        3 mindful of his faithful love and his constancy to the House of Israel. The whole wide world has seen the saving power of our God.
        4 Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth, burst into shouts of joy!


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        Today's Epistle -  Acts 13:44-52


        44 The next Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God.
        45 When they saw the crowds, the Jews, filled with jealousy, used blasphemies to contradict everything Paul said.
        46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out fearlessly. 'We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, here and now we turn to the gentiles.
        47 For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach the remotest parts of the earth.'
        48 It made the gentiles very happy to hear this and they gave thanks to the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers.
        49 Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
        50 But the Jews worked on some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city; they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their territory.
        51 So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went off to Iconium; but the converts were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.



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        Today's Gospel Reading  - John 14:1-6


        Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?'Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.


        Reflection
        • These five chapters (Jn 13-17) are a beautiful example of how the communities of the Beloved Disciple of the end of the first century in Asia Minor, which today is Turkey, carried on the catechesis. For example, in chapter 14, the questions of the three disciples, Thomas (Jn 14, 5), Philip (Jn 14, 8) and Judas Thaddeus (Jn 14, 22) were also the questions and problems of the communities. Thus, the answers of Jesus to the three of them are like a mirror in which the communities found a response to their doubts and difficulties. To understand better the environment in which the catechesis was carried out, it is possible to do what follows. During and after the reading of the text, it is good to close the eyes and pretend that we are in the room in the midst of the disciples, participating in the encounter with Jesus. While we listen, it is necessary to pay attention to the way in which Jesus prepares his friends to separate themselves and reveals to them his friendship, communicating to them security and support.

        • John 14, 1-2: Do not let your hearts be troubled. The text begins with an exhortation: “Do not let your hearts be troubled!” And immediately he adds: “In my Father’s house there are many places to live in!” The insistence in continuing to use encouraging words which help to overcome the trouble and the divergence is a sign that there was much polemic and divergence among the communities. One would say to the other: “Our way of living the faith is better than yours. We are saved! You live in error: If you want to go to heaven, you have to convert yourselves and live like we do!” Jesus says: “In my Father’s house there are many places!” It is not necessary that everybody thinks in the same way. The important thing is that all accept Jesus, the revelation of the Father and that out of love for him, they have attitudes of understanding, of service and of love. Love and service are the basis which unite the bricks and help the diverse communities to become a Church of brothers and sisters.

        • John 14, 3-4: The farewell of Jesus. Jesus says that he is going to prepare a place and that afterwards he will return to take us with him to the Father’s house. He wants us to be with him forever. The return which Jesus speaks about is the coming of the Spirit that he sends and who acts in us, in such a way that we can live as he lived (Jn 14, 16-17.26; 16, 13-14). Jesus ends by saying: “You know the way to the place where I am going!” Anyone who knows Jesus knows the way, because the way is the life that he lived and which led him through death together to the Father.

        • John 14, 5-6: Thomas asks which is the way. Thomas says: “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answers: “I am the Way, I am Truth and Life! No one can come to the Father except through me”. Three important words. Without the way we cannot go. Without the truth one cannot make a good choice. Without life, there is only death! Jesus explains the sense. He is the Way, because “No one can come to the Father except through me”. And he is the gate through which the sheep enter and go out (Jn 10, 9). Jesus is the truth, because looking at him, we see the image of the Father. “Anyone who knows me knows the Father!” Jesus is the life, because walking like Jesus we will be united to the Father and we will have life in us!


        Personal questions
        • What beautiful encounter of the past do you remember, encounters which give you the strength to continue ahead?
        • Jesus says: “In my Father’s house there are many places”. What does this affirmation mean for us today?


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



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        Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane





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        Saint of the Day:  Saint Trudpert


        Feast DayApril  26

        Patron Saint:  n/a
        Attributes: axe, palm of martyrdom


        Saint Trudpert (d. ca. 607 or 644) was a missionary in Germany in the seventh century. He is generally called a Celtic monk from Ireland, but some consider him a German.

        According to legend, he went first to Rome in order to receive from the pope authority for his mission. Returning from Italy he travelled along the Rhine to the country of the Alamanni in the Breisgau. A person of rank named Otbert gave him land for his mission about 25 km (16 mi) south of Freiburg in Baden, today a part of the village Münstertal, Black Forest.

        Trudpert cleared off the tr—ees and built a cell and a little church which later Bishop Martinus of Constance dedicated to Sts. Peter and Paul. Here Trudpert led an ascetic and laborious life.

        According to a now discounted tradition, one day when he was asleep he was murdered under a pine by one of the serfs whom Otbert had given him, in revenge for severe tasks imposed. Otbert gave Trudpert an honourable burial. The Benedictine Abbey of St. Trudpert (de:St. Trudpert) was built in the next century on the spot where Trudpert was buried. The story of his life is so full of legendary details that no correct judgment can be formed of Trudpert's era, the kind of work he did, or of its success. The period when he lived in the Breisgau was formerly given as 640-643; Baur gives 607 as the year of his death. The day of his death is 26 April.

        Veneration

        In 815 his bones were translated and the first biography of him was written; this biography was revised in the tenth and thirteenth centuries. His reliquary came finally to the abbey church of St. Trudpert and parts are held in the Ettenheimmünster monastery.[1][2]


        References

        1. ^ Andreas Merkt (1997). "Trudpert, hl.". In Bautz, Traugott. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German) 12. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 632–634. ISBN 3-88309-068-9.
        2. ^ A. Baur: Der Todestag des hl. Trudpert. In: Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv (FDA), Band XI (1877), Seite 247-252.
          • Gustav Wilhelm Körber: Die Ausbreitung des Christenthums im südlichen Baden. Heidelberg: Winter, 1878.


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              Featured Items Panel from Litany Lane





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              Today's Snippet I:  St. Trudpert's Abbey



               St. Trudpert's Abbey (Kloster St. Trudpert) is a former Benedictine monastery in Münstertal in the southern Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, now the principal house of the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Trudpert.

              According to tradition, St. Trudpert's Abbey originated with Saint Trudpert, an Irish missionary and martyr in the southern Black Forest in the first half of the 7th century. He established a hermitage in Münstertal which became a monastery in the 9th century, and which by, at the latest, 900 had expanded to a monastic community supported by the influential noble family of the Liutfride. It is recorded that relics of Trudpert were translated to the abbey in 901 and shortly after 965.

              The abbey's development during the next few centuries seems to have been peaceful: no involvement either in ecclesiastical reform or in the Investiture Controversy is recorded. The community's estates lay principally in the Münstertal, the Breisgau, the Ortenau and in Alsace. It also acquired the lordship of Tunsel and the parishes of Münstertal, Grunern, Krozingen, Tunsel, Laufen, Biengen and others.

              The abbey was also able to capitalise on the silver-mining industry that developed in the region in the later Middle Ages, on the basis of which the small town of Münster grew up below the abbey. In 1346, together with the castle of Burg Scharfenstein, a property of the Staufer, it was destroyed by armed men from Freiburg, and shortly afterwards flooded, from which disasters it never recovered, and was abandoned. The monastery in turn suffered an economic decline in the latter half of the 14th century, apparently during the time of abbot Paul I (1435-1455). In 1525 St. Trudpert's was plundered during the German Peasants' War. In 1632 it was destroyed by the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War.

              Around 1200 the lords of Staufen, ministeriales of the dukes of Zähringen, acquired Vogtrechte (rights of advocacy or stewardship) over St. Trudpert's. The monastery reacted by the production of forged documents purporting to establish a higher Vogtei of the Counts, later Dukes, of Habsburg, with the consequence that until their extinction in 1601 the Staufer functioned as under-Vögte of the Habsburgs. The Habsburg over-Vogtei also meant that the abbey became part of the lordship of Vorderösterreich and thus a Habsburg monastery. As such it was secularised in 1806 and became part of the Grand Duchy of Baden.

              Several medieval church and monastery buildings are evidenced, for example a rebuilding of the monastery in 902, and again (possibly after an attack by the Hungarians at the beginning of the 10th century) at some time before 962.

              Buildings

              The basilica, with three aisles, was extended by the addition of a westwork in about 1100; in the 15th century new monastic buildings were constructed, as well as a Gothic long choir (Langchor). After the destruction of the claustral buildings by the Swedes in 1632 there followed an interim rebuild, which made way for the Baroque new build between 1712 and 1716. The unparalleled stucco work on the high altar was created by Johann Joseph Christian when his son Karl Anton Christian (1731–1810) became abbot here.
              Two crosses in niello work from the 13th century have been preserved. From the monastery library comes a manuscript of the second half of the 14th century containing the "St. Trudperter Hohelied", the "first book of German mysticism", as it is sometimes known, a Lower Alemannic German text from the 12th century.


              Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Trudpert

              The Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Trudpert took over the premises in 1919-1920 after their expulsion from Alsace and have undertaken major construction work not only on the monastic buildings themselves but also on hospital and other medical building projects.


              References

              • Buhlmann, Michael, 2004. Benediktinisches Mönchtum im mittelalterlichen Schwarzwald. Ein Lexikon. Vortrag beim Schwarzwaldverein St. Georgen e. V., St. Georgen im Schwarzwald, 10. November 2004, Tl. 1: A-M, Tl. 2: N-Z (= Vertex Alemanniae, H.10/1-2), pp. 84f. St. Georgen.
              • Mangold, Klaus, 2003. Das Kreuz aus St. Trudpert in Münstertal, Schwarzwald, in der Staatlichen Ermitage St. Petersburg. Munich: Hirmer. ISBN 3-7774-9910-2.
              • Quarthal, Franz (ed.), 1976. Die Benediktinerklöster in Baden-Württemberg (= Germania Benedictina, vol. 5), pp. 606-613. Ottobeuren.
              • Sebert, Werner, 1962. Die Benediktinerabtei St. Trudpert im Münstertal. Karlsruhe, Technische Hochschule: dissertation.
              •  

               

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              Today's Snippet II:  Grand Duchy of Baden


              The Grand Duchy of Baden (German: Großherzogtum Baden) was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.

              It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subsequently split into different lines, which were unified in 1771. It became the much-enlarged Grand Duchy of Baden through the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1803–06 and was a sovereign country until it joined the German Empire in 1871, remaining a Grand Duchy until 1918 when it became part of the Weimar Republic as the Republic of Baden. Baden was bordered to the north by the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt; to the west and practically throughout its whole length by the River Rhine, which separated it from the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate and Alsace in modern France; to the south by Switzerland, and to the east by the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and partly by Bavaria.

              After World War II in 1945, the French military government created the state of Baden (originally known as "South Baden") out of the southern half of the former Baden, with Freiburg as capital. This southern half of Baden was declared in its 1947 constitution to be the true successor of the old Baden. The northern half of the old Baden was combined with northern Württemberg as part of the American military zone and formed the state of Württemberg-Baden. Both states became states of West Germany upon its formation in 1949.

              In 1952 Baden merged with Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (southern Württemberg and the former Prussian exclave of Hohenzollern) to form Baden-Württemberg. This is the only merger of states that has taken place in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

              The anthem of Baden is called "Badnerlied" (Song of the people of Baden) and consists of four or five traditional verses. However, over the years, many more verses have been added — there are collections with up to 591 verses of the anthem.


              History

              Baden came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subsequently split various smaller territories, which were unified in 1771. In 1803 Baden was raised to Electoral dignity within the Holy Roman Empire. Baden became the much-enlarged Grand Duchy of Baden through the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. In 1815 it joined the German Confederation. During the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, Baden was a center of revolutionist activities. In 1849 it was the only German state that became a republic for a short while, under the leadership of Lorenzo Brentano. The revolution in Baden was suppressed mainly by Prussian troops.

              The Grand Duchy of Baden remained a sovereign country until it joined the German Empire in 1871. After the revolution of 1918 Baden became part of the Weimar Republic as the Republic of Baden.


              Constitution and Government

              Monument to the Constitution of Baden (and the Grand Duke for granting it), in Rondellplatz, Karlsruhe, Germany

              The Grand Duchy of Baden was a hereditary monarchy with executive power vested in the Grand Duke, while the legislative authority was shared by him with a representative assembly (Landtag) consisting of two chambers.

              The upper chamber included all the princes of the ruling family of full age, the heads of all the mediatized families, the Archbishop of Freiburg, the president of the Protestant Evangelical Church, a deputy from each of the universities and the technical high school, eight members elected by the territorial nobility for four years, three representatives elected by the chamber of commerce, two by that of agriculture, one by the trades, two mayors of municipalities, and eight members (two of them legal functionaries) nominated by the Grand Duke.

              The lower chamber consisted of 73 popular representatives, of whom 24 were elected by the burgesses of certain communities, and 49 by rural communities. Every citizen of 25 years of age, who had not been convicted and was not a pauper, had a vote. The elections were, however, indirect. The citizens selected the Wahlmänner (deputy electors), the latter selecting the representatives. The chambers met at least every two years. The lower chambers were elected for four years, half the members retiring every two years.

              The executive consisted of four departments: The interior, foreign and grand-ducal affairs, finance, and justice, and ecclesiastical affairs and education.

              The chief sources of revenue were direct and indirect taxes, the railways and domains. The railways were operated by the state, and formed the only source of major public debt, about 22 million pounds sterling.

              The supreme courts lay in Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Offenburg, Heidelberg, Mosbach, Waldshut, Konstanz, and Mannheim, whence appeals passed to the Reichsgericht (the supreme tribunal) in Leipzig.


              Population

              At the beginning of the 19th century, Baden was a margraviate, with an area of barely 1300 sq mi (3,400 km²) and a population of 210,000. Subsequently the grand duchy acquired more territory so that, by 1905, it had 5823 sq mi (15,082 km²) and a population of 2,010,728, of whom 61% were Roman Catholics, 37% Protestants, 1.5% Jews, and the remainder of other religions. Of the population about half at that time were rural, living in communities of less than 2,000, while the density of the rest was about 330 /sq mi (130 /km2).

              The country was divided into the following districts:
              • Mannheim district had the towns Mannheim, and Heidelberg
              • Karlsruhe district included Karlsruhe and Pforzheim
              • Freiburg im Breisgau district included Freiburg
              • Konstanz district had Konstanz
              The capital of the duchy was Karlsruhe, and among important towns other than the above, there were Rastatt, Baden-Baden, Bruchsal, Lahr and Offenburg. The population was most thickly clustered in the north and near the Swiss city of Basel. The inhabitants of Baden are of various origins, those to the south of Murg being descended from the Alemanni and those to the north from the Franks, while the Swabian Plateau derives its name from the adjacent German tribe (Schwaben) living in Württemberg.


              Geography


              Baden as it stood from 1806 to 1945

              The Grand Duchy had an area of 15,081 km2 (5,823 sq mi) and consisted of a considerable portion of the eastern half of the fertile valley of the Rhine and of the mountains which form its boundary.

              The mountainous part was by far the most extensive, forming nearly 80% of the whole area. From Lake Constance in the south to the River Neckar in the north is a portion of the Black Forest (German: Schwarzwald), which is divided by the valley of the Kinzig into two districts of different elevation. To the south of the Kinzig the mean height is 945 m (3,100 ft)), and the highest summit, the Feldberg, reaches about 1,493 m (4,898 ft), while to the north the mean height is only 640 metres (2,100 ft), and the Hornisgrinde, the culminating point of the whole, does not exceed 1,164 metres (3,819 ft). To the north of the Neckar is the Odenwald Range, with a mean of 439 metres (1,440 ft), and in the Katzenbuckel, an extreme of 603 metres (1,978 ft). Lying between the Rhine and the Dreisam is the Kaiserstuhl, an independent volcanic group, nearly 16 km in length and 8 in breadth, the highest point of which is 536 metres (1,759 ft).

              The greater part of Baden belongs to the basin of the Rhine, which receives upwards of twenty tributaries from the highlands; the north-eastern portion of the territory is also watered by the Main and the Neckar. A part, however, of the eastern slope of the Black Forest belongs to the basin of the Danube, which there takes its rise in a number of mountain streams. Among the numerous lakes which belonged to the duchy are the Mummelsee, Wildersee, Eichenersee and Schluchsee, but none of them is of any size. Lake Constance (Bodensee) belongs partly to the German federal states (Länder) of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, furthermore to Austria and Switzerland.

              Owing to its physical configuration Baden presents great extremes of heat and cold. The Rhine valley is the warmest district in Germany, but the higher elevations of the Black Forest record the greatest degrees of cold experienced in the South. The mean temperature of the Rhine valley is approximately 10°C and that of the high table-land 6°C. July is the hottest and January the coldest month.

              The mineral wealth of Baden was not great, but iron, coal, lead and zinc of excellent quality were produced, and silver, copper, gold, cobalt, vitriol and sulfur were obtained in small quantities. Peat was found in abundance, as well as gypsum, china clay, potter's earth and salt. The mineral springs of Baden are still very numerous and have acquired great celebrity, those of Baden-Baden, Badenweiler, Antogast, Griesbach, Friersbach and Peterthal being the most frequented.

              In the valleys the soil is particularly fertile, yielding luxuriant crops of wheat, maize, barley, spelt, rye, beans, potatoes, flax, hemp, hops, beetroot and tobacco; and even in the more mountainous part, rye, wheat and oats are extensively cultivated. There is a considerable extent of pasture-land, and the rearing of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats is extensively practised. Of game, deer, boar, snipe and wild partridges are fairly abundant, while the mountain streams yield trout of excellent quality. Viticulture is increasing, and the wines continue to sell well. The Baden wine region is Germany's third largest in terms of vineyard surface. The gardens and the orchards supply an abundance of fruit, especially sweet cherrys, plums, apples and walnuts, and bee-keeping is practised throughout the country. A greater proportion of Baden than any other south German state is occupied by forests. In these the predominant trees are European Beech and Silver Fir, but many others, such as Sweet Chestnut, Scots Pine, Norway Spruce and the exotic Coast Douglas-fir, are well represented. A third, at least, of the annual timber production is exported.


              Industries

              Around 1910, 56.8% of the region's land mass was cultivated and 38% was forested. Before 1870, the agricultural sector was responsible for the bulk of the region's wealth, but this was superseded by industrial production. The chief products were machinery, woollen and cotton goods, silk ribbons, paper, tobacco, china, leather, glass, clocks, jewellery, and chemicals. Beet sugar was also manufactured on a large scale, as were wooden ornaments and toys, music boxes and organs.

              The exports of Baden consisted mostly of the above goods, and were considerable, but the bulk of its trade consisted of transit. The country had many railways and roads, as well as the Rhine for transporting goods by ship. Railways were run by the state as the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen). A rail-line ran mostly parallel with the Rhine, with oblique branches from East to West.

              Mannheim was the great market centre for exports down the Rhine and had much river traffic. It was also the chief manufacturing town for the duchy, and an important administrative centre for the northern part of the country.

              Education and religion

              There are numerous educational institutions in Baden. All public education is state controlled.There are five universities, one traditionally Protestant in Heidelberg, one traditionally Roman Catholic in Freiburg im Breisgau, one each in Konstanz and Mannheim, and a well-known technical university in Karlsruhe.

              The grand-duke was a Protestant; under him, the Evangelical Church was governed by a nominated council and a synod consisting of a "prelate", 48 elected and 7 nominated lay and clerical members. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Freiburg is Metropolitan of the Upper Rhine


              References

              1. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
              2. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
              •  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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              Today's Snippet III:  The Black Forest



              Topography of the Black Forest
              The Black Forest (German: Schwarzwald, pronounced [ˈʃvaʁt͡svalt]) is a woodedmountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft). The region is almost rectangular with a length of 160 km (99 mi) and breadth of up to 60 km (37 mi). 
              The name Schwarzwald (German for "Black Forest") derives from the Romans who referred to the thickly forested mountains there as Silva Nigra or Silva Carbonara (Latin for "Black Forest") because the dense growth of conifers in the forest blocked out most of the light inside the forest.
              The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being trees with just a few being shrubs. Typical examples of conifers include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. The division contains approximately eight families, 68 genera, and 630 living species. Although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are of immense ecological importance. They are the dominant plants over huge areas of land, most notably the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, but also in similar cool climates in mountains further south. Boreal conifers have many wintertime adaptations. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs help them shed snow. Many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing, called "hardening". While tropical rainforests have more biodiversity and turnover, the immense conifer forests of the world represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink, i.e. where carbon is bound as organic compounds. They are also of great economic value, primarily for timber and paper production; the wood of conifers is known as softwood.

              Geology

              The Black Forest consists of a cover of sandstone on top of a core of gneiss and granites. Formerly it shared tectonic evolution with the nearby Vosges Mountains.

              Later during the Middle Eocene a rifting period affected the area and caused formation of the Rhine graben. During the last glacial period of the Würm glaciation, the Black Forest was covered by glaciers; several tarns (or lakes) such as the Mummelsee are remains of this period.

              Rivers in the Black Forest include the Danube (which originates in the Black Forest as the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers), the Enz, the Kinzig, the Murg, the Nagold, the Neckar, the Rench, and the Wiese. The Black Forest occupies part of the continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin (drained by the Rhine) and the Black Sea drainage basin (drained by the Danube)

              Würm glaciation, the Alps

              The term Würm is derived from a river in the Alpine foreland, approximately marking the maximum glacier advance of this particular glacial period. The Alps have been the area where first systematic scientific research on ice ages has been conducted by Louis Agassiz in the beginning of the 19th century. Here the Würm glaciation of the last glacial period was intensively studied. Pollen analysis, the statistical analyses of microfossilized plant pollens found in geological deposits, has chronicled the dramatic changes in the European environment during the Würm glaciation. During the height of Würm glaciation, ca 24,000–10,000 ybp, most of western and central Europe and Eurasia was open steppe-tundra, while the Alps presented solid ice fields and montane glaciers. Scandinavia and much of Britain were under ice.

              During the Würm, the Rhône Glacier covered the whole western Swiss plateau, reaching today's regions of Solothurn and Aarau. In the region of Bern it merged with the Aar glacier. The Rhine Glacier is currently the subject of the most detailed studies. Glaciers of the Reuss and the Limmat advanced sometimes as far as the Jura. Montane and piedmont glaciers formed the land by grinding away virtually all traces of the older Günz and Mindel glaciation, by depositing base moraines and terminal moraines of different retraction phases and loess deposits, and by the pro-glacial rivers' shifting and redepositing gravels. Beneath the surface, they had profound and lasting influence on geothermal heat and the patterns of deep groundwater flow.


              Ecology and economy

              The forest mostly consists of pines and firs, some of which are grown in commercial monoculture. Similar to other forested regions, the Black Forest has had areas that were annihilated by mass logging. Due to logging and land use changes the forest proper is only a fraction of its original size. The cyclone Lothar downed trees on hundreds of acres of mountaintops in 1999. This left some of the high peaks and scenic hills bare, with only primary growth shrubs and young fir trees.

              The main industry is tourism. In addition to the towns and monuments noted below, the Black Forest is crossed by numerous long distance footpaths, including some of the first to be established. The European long-distance path E1 crosses the Black Forest following the routes of some of the local long-distance paths. There are numerous shorter paths suitable for day walks, as well as mountain biking and cross-country skiing trails. The total network of tracks amounts to around 23,000 kilometres (14,000 mi), and is maintained and overseen by a voluntary body, the Schwarzwaldverein (Black Forest Society), which has around 90,000 members (figures from Bremke, 1999, p. 9).

              Black Forest clockmakers are renowned for their precision clocks. Most of the mechanical clocks are now sold as antiquities as many factories were shut down after the First World War and the Second World War. A few factories survived the structural change.

              Points of interest


              Winter on Schauinsland: famous "Windbuchen" Beeches bent by the wind
              There are many historic towns in the Black Forest. Popular tourist destinations include Freiburg, Calw (the birth town of Hermann Hesse), Gengenbach, Staufen, Schiltach, Haslach and Altensteig. Other popular destinations include such mountains as the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel, and the Schauinsland; the Titisee and Schluchsee lakes; the All Saints Waterfalls; the Triberg Waterfalls, not the highest, but the most famous waterfalls in Germany; and the gorge of the River Wutach.

              The Black Forest Open Air Museum is an open-air museum that shows the life of sixteenth or seventeenth century farmers in the region, featuring a number of reconstructed Black Forest farms. The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen portrays the history of the clock industry and of watchmakers.

              For drivers, the main route through the region is the fast A 5 (E35) motorway, but a variety of signposted scenic routes such as the Schwarzwaldhochstraße (60 km (37 mi), Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt), Schwarzwald Tälerstraße (100 km (62 mi), the Murg and Kinzig valleys) or Badische Weinstraße (Baden Wine Street, 160 km (99 mi), a wine route from Baden-Baden to Weil am Rhein) offers calmer driving along high roads. The last is a picturesque trip starting in the south of the Black Forest going north and includes numerous old wineries and tiny villages. Another, more specialized route is the German Clock Route (Deutsche Uhrenstraße), a circular route which traces the horological history of the region.

              Due to the rich mining history dating from medieval times (the Black Forest was one of the most important mining regions of Europe circa 1100) there are many mines re-opened to the public. Such mines may be visited in the Kinzig valley, the Suggental, the Muenster valley, and around Todtmoos.

              The Black Forest was visited on several occasions by Count Otto von Bismarck during his rule 1873-1890. Allegedly, he especially was interested in the Triberg Waterfalls. There is now a monument in Triberg dedicated to Bismarck, who apparently enjoyed the tranquility of the region, which was lacking at his residence in Berlin.

              Fauna

              In addition to the expected kinds of wildlife to be found in a European forest area, the following types of animals may be observed in the Black Forest. Some of these animals include
              • Cattle: The Black Forest cattle belong to the rare breed of Hinterwald cattle.
              • The giant earthworm Lumbricus badensis is found only in the Black Forest region.
              • Black Forest Horses are a breed of horse, previously indispensable for heavy field work.
              • In some regions of the Black Forest, the Western Capercaillie can be found.

               

              Culture


              A cuckoo clock, symbol of the Black Forest and Germany.
              Dialects spoken in the Black Forest area are Alemannic and Swabian.


              Fasnet

              The German holiday of Fastnacht, or Fasnet, as it is known in the Black Forest region, occurs in the time leading up to Lent. On Fasnetmendig, or the Monday before Ash Wednesday, crowds of people line the streets, wearing wooden, mostly hand-carved masks. One prominent style of mask is called the Black Forest Style, originating from the Black Forest Region.


              Crafts

              Wood-carving is a traditional cottage industry in the region and carved ornaments now are produced in substantial numbers as souvenirs for tourists. Cuckoo clocks are a popular example; they have been made in the region since the early eighteenth century and much of their development occurred there. In the past singing bird boxes were produced as well.


              Culinary

              Black Forest ham originated from this region, and so, by name and reputation at least, did the Black Forest Cake. It also is known as the "Black Forest Cherry Cake" or "Black Forest Gateau" and is made with chocolate cake, cream, sour cherries and Kirsch. The Black Forest variety of Flammkuchen is a Badisch specialty made with ham, cheese and cream. Pfannkuchen, a crêpe or crêpe-like (Eierkuchen or Palatschinken) pastry, is also common. The Black Forest is also known for its long tradition in gourmet cuisine. No fewer than 17 Michelin starred restaurants are located in the region, among them two restaurants with 3 stars (Restaurants Bareiss and Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn) as well as the only restaurant in Germany that has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 1966. At Schwarzwald Hotel Adler in Häusern, three generations of chefs from the same family have defended the award from the first year the Michelin guide selected restaurants in Germany until today.


              References

              • Bremke, N. (1999). Schwarzwald quer. Karlsruhe: Braun. ISBN 3-7650-8228-7
              • Lamparski, F. (1985). Der Einfluß der Regenwurmart Lumbricus badensis auf Waldböden im Südschwarzwald. Schriftenreihe des Institut für Bodenkunde und Waldernährungslehre der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br., 15. ISSN 0344-2691. English summary
              • German Wikipedia "Pfannkuchen" disambiguation
              • Barnes, K. J. (2007). A Rough Passage: Memories of an Empire



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              Catechism of the Catholic Church


              Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, 

              Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church 

              CHAPTER TWO : THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

              Article 4:2  THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION



              SECTION TWO
              THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH 

              CHAPTER TWO
              THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

              Article 4
              THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION


              II. Why a Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?
              1425 "YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."1 Cor 6:11 One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has "put on Christ."Gal 3:27 But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."1 Jn 1:8 and the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses,"Lk 11:4 linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us.

              1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish."Eph 1:4 Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life.Cf. Council of Trent (1546) DS 1515 This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1545; LG 40



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