Thursday, February 7, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:
Sacred, Hebrews 12:18-24, 11-15, Psalms 48:2-11, Mark 6:7-13, Blessed Pius IX, Senigallia Italy, Apostolic Palace, Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 1:1:6 Man
Good Day Bloggers! Happy Mardi Gras!
Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
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."
"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: sacred sa·cred [sey-krid]
Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English, orig. past participle of sacren to consecrate < Latin sacrāre to devote, derivative of sacer holy; see -ed2
adjective
1. devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated.
2. entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy.
3. pertaining to or connected with religion ( opposed to secular or profane ): sacred music; sacred books.
4. reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object: a morning hour sacred to study.
5. regarded with reverence: the sacred memory of a dead hero.
6. secured against violation, infringement, etc., as by reverence or sense of right: sacred oaths; sacred rights.
7. properly immune from violence, interference, etc., as a person or office.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 48:2-11
2 towering in beauty, the joy of the whole world: Mount Zion in the heart of the north, the settlement of the great king;
3 God himself among its palaces has proved himself its bulwark.
4 For look, kings made alliance, together they advanced;
9 We reflect on your faithful love, God, in your temple!
10 Both your name and your praise, God, are over the whole wide world. Your right hand is full of saving justice,
11 Mount Zion rejoices, the daughters of Judah delight because of your saving justice.
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Today's Epistle - Hebrews 12:18-24
18 What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or gloom or total darkness, or a storm;
19 or trumpet-blast or the sound of a voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them.
21 The whole scene was so terrible that Moses said, 'I am afraid and trembling.'
22 But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival,
23 with the whole Church of first-born sons, enrolled as citizens of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and to the spirits of the upright who have been made perfect;
24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to purifying blood which pleads more insistently than Abel's.
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Today's Gospel Reading Mark 6:7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, 'Don't take a spare tunic.' And he said to them, 'If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as evidence to them.' So they set off to proclaim repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.
Reflection
•
Today’s Gospel continues what we have already seen in the Gospel
yesterday. The passage through Nazareth was painful for Jesus. He was
rejected by his own people (Mk 6, 1-5). The community which before had
been his community, now, it is no longer such. Something has changed.
Beginning at that moment, as today’s Gospel says, Jesus began to go
round the villages of Galilee to announce the Good News (Mk 6, 6) and to
send the Twelve on mission. In the years 70’s, the time when Mark wrote
his Gospel, the Christian communities lived in a difficult situation,
without any horizon. Humanly speaking, here was no future for them. In
the year 64, Nero began to persecute the Christians. In the year 65, the
revolt or uprising of the Jews in Palestine against Rome broke out. In
the year 70, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Romans. This is
why the description of the sending out of the disciples, after the
conflict in Nazareth, was a source of light and of courage for the
Christians.
• Mark 6, 7. The objective of the Mission. The conflict grew and closely affected Jesus. How does he react? In two ways: 1) Before the mental obstinacy of the people of his community, Jesus leaves Nazareth and began to go round the neighbouring villages (Mk 6, 6). 2) He extends the mission and intensifies the announcement of the Good News calling other persons to involve them in the mission. “He summoned the Twelve, and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits”. The objective of the mission is simple and profound. The disciples participate in the mission of Jesus. They cannot go alone, they have to go in pairs, two by two, because two persons represent the community better than one alone and they can mutually help one another. They receive authority over unclean spirits, that is, they have to be a help for others in suffering and, through purification, and they have to open the door for direct access to God.
• Mark 6, 8-11. The attitudes which they should have in the Mission. The recommendations are simple: “And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff; no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses; they were to wear sandals and not to take a spare tunic. And he told them: If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away, shake off the dust under your feet, as evidence to them”. So they set off. It is the beginning of a new stage. Now, not only Jesus, but the whole group will announce the Good News of God to the people. If the preaching of Jesus caused conflict, much more now, there will be conflict with the preaching of the whole group. If the mystery was already great, now it will be greater since the mission has been intensified.
• Mark 6, 12-13. The result of the mission. “So they set off to proclaim repentance, and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.” To announce the Good News, produces conversion or a change in persons, it alleviates persons in their suffering; it cures illnesses and casts out devils.
• The sending out of the disciples on Mission. At the time of Jesus there were several other movements of renewal. For example, the Essens and the Pharisees. They also sought a new way of living in community and they had their own missionaries (cf. Mt 23, 15). But these, when they went on mission, they had prejudices. They took with them a haversack and money to take care of their own meals, because they did not trust the food that people would give them, which was not always ritually “pure”. On the contrary to other missionaries, the disciples of Jesus received diverse recommendations which helped to understand the fundamental points of the mission of announcing the Good News, which they received from Jesus and which is also our mission:
a) They should go without taking anything. They should take nothing, no haversack, no money, no staff, no bread, no sandals, not two tunics. That meant that Jesus obliged them to trust in hospitality. Because one who goes without taking anything, goes because he trusts people and thinks that he will be well received. With this attitude they criticized the laws of exclusion, taught by the official religion, and showed, by means of the new practice, that they in the community had other criteria.
b) They should eat what people ate or what the people gave them. They could not live separated providing their own food, but they should accept to sit at the same table (Lk 10, 8). This means that in contact with the people, they should not be afraid of losing the purity as it was taught at that time. With this attitude they criticized the laws of purity which were in force and showed, by means of the new practice, that they had another type of access to purity, that is, intimacy with God.
c) They should remain in the first house that welcomed them. They should live together in a stable way and not go from house to house. They should work like everybody else and live from what they received in exchange, “because the labourer deserves his wages” (Lk 10, 7). In other words, they should participate in the life and in the work of the people, and the people would have accepted them in the community and would have shared the food with them. This means that they had to have trust in sharing.
d) They should take care of the sick, cure the lepers and cast out devils (Lk 10, 9; Mc 6, 7.13; Mt 10, 8). They had to carry out the function of “Defender” (goêl) and accept within the clan, in the community, those who were excluded. With this attitude they criticized the situation of disintegration of the community life of the clan and they aimed at concrete ways of getting out. These were the four fundamental points which had to give impulse to the attitude of the missionaries who announced the Good News of God, in the name of Jesus: hospitality, communion, sharing and acceptance of the excluded (defender, goêl). If these four requirements were respected, they could and should cry out to the four ends of the world: “The Kingdom of God has come!” (cf. Lk 10, 1-12; 9, 1-6; Mk 6, 7-13; Mt 10, 6-16). Because the Kingdom of God revealed by Jesus is not a doctrine, nor a catechism, nor a law. The Kingdom of God comes and becomes present when persons, motivated by their faith in Jesus, decide to live in community to give witness and to manifest to all that God is Father and Mother and that, therefore, we human beings are brothers and sisters among us. Jesus wanted that the local community would again be an expression of the Covenant, of the Kingdom, of the love of God the Father, who makes all of us brothers and sisters.
Personal questions
• Do you participate in the mission as a disciple of Jesus?
• Which point of the mission of the apostles is more important for us today? Why?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
• Which point of the mission of the apostles is more important for us today? Why?
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: Blessed Pope Pius IX
Feast Day: February 7
Patron Saint: n/a
Europe, including the Italian peninsula, was in the midst of considerable political ferment when the bishop of Spoleto, Giovanni Maria Cardinal Mastai-Ferretti, was elected pope. He took the name Pius, after his generous patron and the long-suffering prisoner of Napoleon Bonaparte, Pius VII. He had been elected by the faction of cardinals sympathetic to the political liberalization coursing across Europe, and his initial governance of the Papal States gives evidence of his own liberal sympathies: Under his direction various sorts of political prisoners in the Papal States were released and the city of Rome was granted a constitutional framework under guidance of his friend, philosopher-prince Antonio Rosmini-Serbati. A series of terrorist acts sponsored by Italian liberals and nationalists, which included the assassination of his Minister of the Interior, Pellegrino Rossi among others and which forced him briefly to flee Rome in 1848 led to his growing skepticism towards the liberal, nationalist agenda. Through the 1850s and 1860s, Italian nationalists made military gains against the Papal States, which culminated in the seizure of the city of Rome in 1870. Pius IX refused to accept the Law of Guarantees from the nationalists, which would have made the Vatican dependent on Italian financiers for years to come. His Church policies towards other countries, such as Russia, Germany and France, were not always successful, due in part, to changing secular institutions and internal developments within these countries. However, concordats were concluded with numerous states such as Austria-Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Canada, Tuscany, Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti.
Many contemporary Church historians and journalists question his approaches. His appeal for public worldwide support of the Holy See – Peter's Pence – after he became "The prisoner of the Vatican" is now the main source of income for the Holy See. The money, still collected each year, is today used by the Pope for support of the Roman Curia, the Vatican City State and philanthropic purposes. In his Syllabus of Errors, still highly controversial, Pius IX condemned the heresies of secular society, especially modernism.
He was a Marian Pope, who in his encyclical Ubi Primum described Mary as a Mediatrix of salvation. In 1854, he promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, articulating a long-held Catholic belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. In 1862, he convened 300 bishops to the Vatican for the canonization of Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan. His most important legacy is the First Vatican Council, which convened in 1869. This Council discussed many issues, especially the dogma of papal infallibility, which Pius was eager to have officially defined by the council; but the council was interrupted as Italian nationalist troops threatened Rome. The council is considered to have contributed to a centralization of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican. Pius IX, who suffered from epilepsy, was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 September 2000. His Feast Day is 7 February.
Early life and ministry
The Pope originally insisted that another priest should assist Mastai during Holy Mass, a stipulation that was later rescinded, after the seizure attacks became less frequent. Mastai was ordained priest in April 1819. He initially worked as the rector of the Tata Giovanni Institute in Rome. Shortly before his death, Pius VII sent him as Auditor to Chile and Peru in 1823 and 1825 to assist the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignore Giovanni Muzi and Monsignore Bradley Kane, in the first mission to post-revolutionary South America. The mission had the objective to map out the role of the Catholic Church in the newly independent South American republics. He was thus the first pope ever to have been in America. When he returned to Rome, the successor of Pius VII, Pope Leo XII appointed him head of the hospital of San Michele in Rome (1825–1827) and canon of Santa Maria in Via Lata.
Pope Leo XII appointed Father Mastai-Ferretti Archbishop of Spoleto, his own hometown, in 1827 at the age of 35. In 1831, the abortive revolution that had begun in Parma and Modena spread to Spoleto; the Archbishop obtained a general pardon after it was suppressed, gaining him a reputation for being liberal. During an earthquake, he made a reputation as an efficient organizer of relief and great charity. The following year he was moved to the more prestigious diocese of Imola, was made a cardinal in pectore in 1839, and in 1840 was publicly announced as Cardinal-Priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro. As in Spoleto, his episcopal priorities were the formation of priests through improved education and charities. He became known for visiting prisoners in jail, and for programs for street children. According to historians, Cardinal Mastai-Ferretti was considered a liberal during his episcopate in Spoleto and Imola because he supported administrative changes in the Papal States and sympathized with the nationalist movement in Italy. Some have suggested that while he was a bishop Mastai-Ferretti joined a group called Freemasonry.
Papal election
Moreover, the conclave of 1846 was steeped in a factional division between conservatives and liberals. The conservatives supported Luigi Lambruschini, Gregory XVI's Cardinal Secretary of State. Liberals supported two candidates: Pasquale Tommaso Gizzi and the then 54-year-old Mastai-Ferretti. During the first ballot, Mastai-Ferretti received 15 votes, the rest going to Cardinal Lambruschini and Cardinal Gizzi.
Faced with deadlock, liberals and moderates decided to cast their votes for Mastai-Ferretti in a move that contradicted the general mood throughout Europe. By the second day of the conclave, on 16 June 1846, during an evening ballot, Mastai-Ferretti was elected Pope. "He was a glamorous candidate, ardent, emotional with a gift for friendship and a track-record of generosity even towards anti-Clericals and Carbonari. He was a patriot, known to be critical of Gregory XVI " Because it was night, no formal announcement was given, just the signal of white smoke. Many Catholics had assumed that Gizzi had been elected successor of St. Peter. In fact, celebrations began to take place in his hometown, and his personal staff, following a long-standing tradition, burned his cardinalitial vestments.
On the following morning, the senior Cardinal-Deacon, Tommaso Riario Sforza, announced the election of Mastai-Ferretti before a crowd of faithful Catholics. When Mastai-Ferretti appeared on the balcony, the mood became joyous. Mastai-Ferretti chose the name Pius IX in honor of Pope Pius VII (1800–23), who had encouraged his vocation to the priesthood despite his childhood epilepsy.
However, Mastai-Ferretti, now Pope Pius IX, had little diplomatic and no curial experience, which did cause some controversy. The government of the Empire of Austria as represented by Prince Metternich in its foreign affairs objected to even the possible election of Mastai-Ferretti. Thus, Cardinal Gaisruck, Archbishop of Milan, was sent to present the Austrian official veto against Mastai-Ferretti. However, Gaisruck arrived too late; the new Pope was already elected. Pius IX was crowned on 21 June 1846.
Plans to leave Rome
Pius IX confided his fears to Lord Odo Russell, the British Minister in Rome, and asked whether he would be granted political asylum in England after the Italian troops had marched in. Odo Russell assured him that he would be granted asylum if the need arose, but said that he was sure that the Pope's fears were unfounded.Two other instances occurred after the Capture of Rome and the suspension of the First Vatican Council. Otto von Bismarck confided these to Moritz Busch:
As a matter of fact, he [Pius IX] has already asked whether we could grant him asylum. I have no objection to it—Cologne or Fulda. It would be passing strange, but after all not so inexplicable, and it would be very useful to us to be recognised by Catholics as what we really are, that is to say, the sole power now existing that is capable of protecting the head of their Church. [...] But the King [William I] will not consent. He is terribly afraid. He thinks all Prussia would be perverted and he himself would be obliged to become a Catholic. I told him, however, that if the Pope begged for asylum he could not refuse it. He would have to grant it as ruler of ten million Catholic subjects who would desire to see the head of their Church protected.
Rumours have already been circulated on various occasions to the effect that the Pope intends to leave Rome. According to the latest of these the Council, which was adjourned in the summer, will be reopened at another place, some persons mentioning Malta and others Trient. [... ] Doubtless the main object of this gathering will be to elicit from the assembled fathers a strong declaration in favour of the necessity of the Temporal Power. Obviously a secondary object of this Parliament of Bishops, convoked away from Rome, would be to demonstrate to Europe that the Vatican does not enjoy the necessary liberty, although the Act of Guarantee proves that the Italian Government, in its desire for reconciliation and its readiness to meet the wishes of the Curia, has actually done everything that lies in its power.
Theology
Mariology
Pius shared a strong devotion to the Virgin Mary with many of his contemporaries, who contributed to Roman Catholic Mariology. Marian doctrines featured prominently in 19th century theology, especially the issue of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. During his pontificate, petitions increased requesting the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception. In 1848 Pius appointed a theological commission to analyze the possibility for a Marian dogma.Thirty-eight Encyclicals
Pius issued a record 38 encyclicals. They include: Qui Pluribus (1846) dealt with faith and religion; Praedecessores Nostros (1847) with aid for Ireland; Ubi Primum 1848 with The Immaculate Conception; Nostis Et Nobiscum 1849 with the Church in the Papal States; Neminem Vestrum 1854 with the bloody Persecution of Armenians; Cum Nuper 1858 with the care for Clerics; Amantissimus 1862 with the Care of the Churches; Meridionali Americae 1865 with the Seminary for the Native Clergy; Omnem Sollicitudinem 1874 |about the Greek-Ruthenian Rite; Quod Nunquam 1875 the Church in Prussia. On 7 February 1862 he issued the papal constitution Ad Universalis Ecclesiae, dealing with the conditions for admission to religious orders of men in which solemn vows are prescribed. Unlike popes in the 20th century, Pius IX did not use encyclicals to explain the faith, but to condemn what he considered errors. Pius IX was the first pope to popularize encyclicals on a large scale to foster his views.First Vatican Council
Influence
Pius IX approved 74 new religious congregations for women alone. In France, Pius created over 200 new dioceses and created new hierarchies in several countries.Last years and death
Since 1868, the Pope was plagued first by facial erysipelas and then by open sores on his legs. Nevertheless, he insisted on celebrating daily Mass. The extraordinary heat of the summer of 1877 worsened the sores to the effect that he had to be carried. He underwent several painful medical procedures, which he undertook with remarkable patience. He spent most of his last few weeks in his library, where he received cardinals and held audiences. On 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, his situation improved markedly to the point that he could walk again. By February, he could say Mass again on his own in standing position, enjoying the popular celebration of the 75th anniversary of his first communion. Bronchitis, a fall to the floor, and rising temperature worsened his situation after 4 February 1878. He continued joking about himself, when the Cardinal Vicar of Rome ordered bell-ringing and non-stop prayers for his recuperation. "Why do you want to stop me from going to heaven?" he asked with a smile. He told his doctor that his time had come. Pope Pius IX died on 7 February 1878, aged 85, concluding the longest pontificate in papal history, after that of St Peter whom tradition holds had reigned for 37 years. His last words were "Guard the church I loved so well and sacredly," as recorded by the Cardinals kneeling beside his bedside. His body was originally buried in St. Peter's grotto, but was moved in a night procession on 13 July 1881 to the Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls. When the cortege approached the Tiber River, a gang of anticlerical Romans threatened to throw the coffin into the river but a contingent of militia arrived.
Beatification
The beatification of Pius was controversial, and was criticized by Jews and Christians because of what was perceived as his authoritarian, reactionary politics; the accusation of abuse of episcopal powers; and antisemitism (specifically the case of Edgardo Mortara). Critics contend that his beatification placed "an unbearable burden on relations between Jews and Catholics," especially given Pope John Paul II's conciliatory gestures toward Judaism. The process coincided with the canonization of Edith Stein, likewise controversial. Hans Küng saw the beatification of Pius IX as evidence of the degeneration of canonizations to "gestures of church politics."
Legacy
Having started as a liberal, Pius IX turned conservative after being thrown out of Rome. Thereafter, he was considered politically conservative, but a restless and radical reformer and innovator of Church life and structures. Church life, religious vocations, new foundations and religious enthusiasm all flourished at the end of his pontificate. Politically, his pontificate ended with the isolation of the papacy from most major powers of the world: "The prisoner of the Vatican" had poor relations with Russia, Germany, and the United States, poor relations with France and open hostility with Italy. Yet he was most popular with the faithful in all these countries, in many of which Pope Pius associations were formed in his support. He made lasting Church history with his 1854 infallible decision of the Immaculate Conception, which was the basis for the later dogma on the Assumption. His other lasting contribution is the invocation of the ecumenical council Vatican One, which promulgated the definition of Papal infallibility. With his advice he helped Saint John Bosco found the Salesian Society, for which reason he is also called „don Bosco's Pope”.
The Prophecy of the Popes, attributed to Saint Malachy, is a list of 112 short phrases in Latin. They purport to describe each of the Roman Catholic popes. It describes Pius IX as Crux de Cruce, Cross of the cross.
References
- About, Edmund (1859). The Roman Question. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
- Acta et decreta Pii IX, Pontificis Maximi, VolI-VII, Romae 1854 ff
- Acta et decreta Leonis XIII, P.M. Vol I-XXII, Romae, 1881, ff
- Actae Sanctae Sedis, (ASS), Romae, Vaticano 1865
- Barwig, Regis N. (1978). More Than a Prophet: Day By Day With Pius IX. Altadena: Benziger Sisters.
- L. Boudou, Le S. Siege et la Russie, Paris, 1890
- Burkle-Young, Francis A. (2000), Papal Elections in the Age of Transition, 1878-1922, Lexington Books, retrieved 2012-07-15.
- Chiron, Yves, Pope Pius IX: The Man and The Myth, Angelus Press, Kansas City-MI, 2005 ISBN 1-892331-31-4
- Corcoran, James A. "Pius IX and His Pontificate," The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. III, 1878.
- De Cesare, Raffaele (1909). The Last Days of Papal Rome. London: Archibald Constable & Co.
- Duffy, Eamon, Saints and Sinners, a History of the Popes Yale University Press, 1997
- Franzen, August, Papstgeschichte, Herder, Freiburg, 1988 (cit.Franzen)
- Franzen, August, Kleine Kirchengeschichte Herder, Freiburg, 1991 (cit.Franzen, Kirchengeschichte)
- Hasler, August Bernhard (1981). How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion. Doubleday.
- Hasler, August Bernhard (1979). Wie der Papst unfelhlbar wurde: Macht und Ohnmacht eines Dogmas. R. Piper & Co. Verlag.
- Kertzer, David I. (2004). Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes' Secret Plot to Capture Rome from the New Italian State. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-22442-4.
- Martina, S.J. Pio IX (1846–1850) Roma: Editrice Pontificia Universita Gregoriana, Vol I-III, 1974–1991
- Mooney, John A. "Pius IX and the Revolution, 1846-1848," The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. XVII, 1892.
- Pougeois, Histoire de Pie IX, son pontificat et son siecle, Vol I-VI, Paris, 1877
- Schmidlin, Josef, Papstgeschichte, Vol I-IV, Köstel-Pusztet München, 1922–1939
- John Gilmary Shea, The Life of Pope Pius IX, New York, 1877
- Sylvain, Histoire de Pie IX le Grand et de son pontificat, Vol I,II, Paris, 1878
- Franz Spirago, Példatár (Examples from life; from 6. German edition translated Bezerédj László), Szent István-Társulat Budapest, 1927
- Woodward, Kenneth L. (1996). "Pius IX and the Posthumous Politics of Canonization". Making saints: how the Catholic Church determines who becomes a saint, who doesn't, and why. Simon and Schuster. pp. 309–35. ISBN 978-0-684-81530-5. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
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Today's Snippet I: Senigallia, Italy
History
Senigallia, spread out along the coast at the mouth of the river Misa, was founded in the 4th century B.C. by the Gallic tribe of the Senones and became the first Roman colony on the Adriatic shore. A colony was founded there by the Romans after their victory over the Senones, rather before 280 BC: the name is probably a later Roman corruption of Senones; the addition Gallica distinguishes it from Saena (Siena) in Etruria. The place is also mentioned in connection with Hasdrubal's defeat at the Metaurus in 207 BC. It was destroyed by Pompey in 82 BC, and is not often mentioned afterwards.Ravaged by Alaric, Senigallia was fortified by the Byzantines, and again laid waste by the Lombards in the 8th century and by the Saracens in the 9th.
It was the second easternmost of the five cities of the medieval Adriatic duchy of Pentapolis, east of Fano and west of Ancona.
Senigallia used to hold one of the largest fairs in Italy, which dated originally from 1200, when Sergius, count of Senigallia, received from the count of Marseilles, to whose daughter he was affianced, certain relics of Mary Magdalene; this fair used to be visited by merchants from France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and especially the Levant.
Senigallia was at length brought so low by the Guelph and Ghibelline wars, and especially by the severities of Guido I da Montefeltro, that it was chosen by Dante as the typical instance of a ruined city. In the 15th century it was captured and recaptured again and again by the Malatesta and their opponents. Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta of Rimini erected strong fortifications round the town in 1450-1455. The lordship of Senigallia was bestowed by Pius II on his nephew Antonio Piccolomini, but the people of the town in 1464 placed themselves anew under Pope Paul II, and Giacomo Piccolomini in 1472 failed in his attempt to seize the place. In 1503, Cesare Borgia carried out a bloody coup at Senigallia, against some of his disloyal supporters. Sixtus IV assigned the lordship to the Della Rovere family, from whom it was transferred to Lorenzo de Medici in 1516. After 1624 it formed part of the Papal State's legation (province) of Urbino.
Main sights
Despite its ancient origin the city presents a modern appearance, with wide streets. Attractions include:- Palazzo Comunale, from the 17th century.
- The Castle (Rocca Roveresca), of Gothic origin, was restored by Baccio Pontelli in 1492. It has a square plan with four large round tower.
- The Cathedral, erected after 1787.
- The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, outside the town, is one of the only two churches which he is known to have executed (the other is at Orciano near Mondavio, about 20 km to the west by road). It housed the painting of Madonna di Senigallia by Piero della Francesca.
- The Rotonda a mare.
References
- Sinigaglia" — article on the Catholic diocese, from the New Advent Catholic Encyclopædia
- "The Senigaglia Family" — A very old Italian Jewish family that lived in Senigallia during the 1400s (branches now live in Europe and America).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Senigallia In a Nutshell: An Illustrated Guidebook to Senigallia
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Today's Snippet II: Apostolic Palace, Vatican, Rome Italy
The palace is more accurately a series of self-contained buildings within the well-recognised outer structure which is arranged around the Courtyard of Sixtus V (Cortile di Sisto V). It is located North-East of St Peter's Basilica and adjacent to the Bastion of Nicholas V and Palace of Gregory XIII.
Rather than a traditional palace (a residential building surrounded by support buildings) the Apostolic Palace houses both residential and support offices of various functions as well as administrative offices not focused on the life and functions of the Pope himself.
The building contains the Papal Apartments, various government offices of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy See, private and public chapels, Vatican Museums and the Vatican library, including the Borgia Apartment now used to house artworks.
History
The ancient Vatican Palace had fallen into disrepair during the period of the Avignon Papacy, when the popes did not reside in Rome. In 1436 the Spanish traveller Pedro Tafur found it still in poor condition: "The Pope's dwelling is a mediocre place and when I was there it was ill-kept."Construction of the current version of the palace began on 30 April 1589 under Pope Sixtus V and its various intrinsic parts completed by later successors, Pope Urban VII, Pope Innocent XI and Pope Clement VIII.
In the 15th century, the Apostolic palace was placed under the authority of the prefect of the Apostolic palace. This position of Apostolic prefect lasted from the 15th century till the 1800s, when the Papal States fell into economic difficulties. In 1884, when this post was reviewed to save money, Leo XIII created a committee to administer the palace.
Other uses
The term Apostolic Palace has been used in other contexts not directly related to the actual Palace of Sixtus V. It has been used, for example, as a metonym for the papacy itself in the same way the term "White House" is used to describe the United States Presidential administration generally, rather than the physical building itself.The term was also referenced in the video game Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, where a player could establish an Apostolic Palace as the symbolic "home" of a civilization's state religion. While the game's developers did represent the Apostolic Palace function with an image of St. Peter's Square (adjacent to the Apostolic Palace), the image, somewhat ironically, does not actually include a view of the Palace itself. Regardless, the in-game function of the Apostolic Palace is not religion-specific and the use of the term is representative of religious administration generally, rather than a specific reference to the Vatican.
References
- Levillain, Philippe (2002), Dictionnaire historique de la papauté, The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, II (Illustrated ed.), Routledge, ISBN 0-415-92230-5, retrieved 20 December 2009
- Morton, H.V. (2002), A Traveller in Rome (Reprint ed.), Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-81131-6, retrieved 20 December 2009
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Chapter 1:1:6
CHAPTER ONE
I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER
198
Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the
Last,Cf. Is 44:6 The beginning and the end of everything. the Credo begins with
God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy
Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation
is the beginning and the foundation of all God's works.
Article 1
"I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"
"I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"
Paragraph 6. MAN
355
"God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them."Gen 1:27 Man occupies a unique place
in creation: (I) he is "in the image of God"; (II) in his own nature
he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created "male and
female"; (IV) God established him in his friendship.
I. "IN
THE IMAGE OF GOD"
356
of all visible creatures only man is "able to know and love his
creator".GS 12 #
3 He is "the only creature on earth that God has
willed for its own sake",GS 24 # 3and he alone is called to share, by
knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created,
and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity: What
made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love
by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love
for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being
capable of tasting your eternal Good. St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue IV, 13 "On Divine
Providence": LH,
Sunday, week 19, OR.
Sunday, week 19, OR.
357
Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a
person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of
self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering
into communion with other persons. and he is called by grace to a covenant with
his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature
can give in his stead.
358
God created everything for man,GS 12 # 1; 24 # 3; 39 # 1 but man in turn was created to serve
and love God and to offer all creation back to him: What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man that
great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all
other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of
creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did
not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work,
trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him
sit at his right hand. St. John Chrysostom, In Gen. sermo 2, 1: PG 54, 587D-588A
359
"In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the
mystery of man truly becomes clear."GS 22 # 1
St. Paul tells us that the
human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ. . . the first man, Adam,
he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. the first
Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give
him life... the second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created
him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in
order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. the first Adam,
the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. the last Adam
is indeed the first; as he himself says: "I am the first and the
last."St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 117: PL 52, 520-521
360
Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for "from one
ancestor (God) made all nations to inhabit the whole earth":Acts 17:26; cf.
⇒ Tob 8:6
O wondrous vision, which makes
us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God. . . in the
unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a
spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world;
in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of
nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural
end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for
attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for
all.Pius XII. Enc.
Summi pontificatus 3; cf. NA 1
361
"This law of human solidarity and charity",Pius XII Summi pontificatus 3 without
excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that
all men are truly brethren.
II.
"BODY AND SOUL BUT TRULY ONE"
362
The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and
spiritual. the biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language
when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
being."Gen 2:7 Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.
363
In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the
entire human person.f. Mt 16:25-26;
⇒ Jn 15:13; ⇒ Acts
2:41 But "soul" also refers to the
innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him,Mt 10:28;
⇒ 26:38; ⇒ Jn
12:27; ⇒ 2 Macc 6 30
that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies
the spiritual principle in man.
364
The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a
human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the
whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple
of the Spirit:I Cor 6:19-20;
⇒ 15:44-45
Man, though made of body and
soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the
elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their
highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the
Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is
obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honour since God has
created it and will raise it up on the last day GS 14 # 1; cf. ⇒ Dan 3:57-80
365
The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to
be the "form" of the body: Council of Vienne (1312): DS 902 i.e., it is because of its
spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body;
spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union
forms a single nature.
366
The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it
is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it
does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be
reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.Cf. Pius XII, Humani generis: DS 3896; Paul VI, CPC # 8; Lateran
Council V (1513): DS 1440
Council V (1513): DS 1440
367
Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit: St. Paul for instance
prays that God may sanctify his people "wholly", with "spirit
and soul and body" kept sound and blameless at the Lord's
coming.Th 5:23 The Church teaches that this distinction does not introduce
a duality into the soul.Council of Constantinople IV (870): DS 657 "Spirit" signifies that from
creation man is ordered to a supernatural end and that his soul can gratuitously
be raised beyond all it deserves to communion with God.Vatican Council I, Dei Filius: DS 3005; GS 22 # 5; Humani
generis:
DS 3891
DS 3891
368
The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the
biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or
against God.Jer 31:33; Dt 6:5; 29:3;
⇒ Is 29:13; ⇒ Ezek
36:26; ⇒ Mt 6:21;
⇒ Lk 8:15; ⇒ Rom 5:5.
III.
"MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM"
Equality
and difference willed by God
369
Man
and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand,
in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings
as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality
which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity
which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.Gen 2:7,
⇒ 22 Man and
woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the image of God".
In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the
Creator's wisdom and goodness.
370
In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure
spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the
respective "perfections" of man and woman reflect something of the
infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and
husband.Is 49:14-15;
⇒ 66: 13; ⇒ Ps
131:2-3; ]⇒ Hos 11:1-4;
⇒ Jer 3:4- 19
"Each
for the other" - "A unity in two"
371
God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. the Word of
God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text.
"It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit
for him."Gen 2:18 None of the animals can be man's partner.Gen 2:19-20
The woman God "fashions" from the man's rib and brings to him elicits
on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion:
"This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."Gen 2:23
Man discovers woman as another "I", sharing the same humanity.
372
Man and woman were made "for each other" - not that God left them
half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in
which each can be "helpmate" to the other, for they are equal as
persons ("bone of my bones. . .") and complementary as masculine and
feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that, by forming "one
flesh",Gen 2:24 they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth."Gen 1:28 By transmitting human life to their
descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents co-operate in a unique way in
the Creator's work. GS 50 # 1
373
In God's plan man and woman have the vocation of "subduing" the
earth Gen 1:28 as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary
and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the
Creator "who loves everything that exists",Wis 11:24 to share in
his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for the world
God has entrusted to them.
IV. MAN IN
PARADISE
374
The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship
with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation around him,
in a state that would be surpassed only by the glory of the new creation in
Christ.
375
The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic
way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our first
parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original "state of holiness
and justice".Council of Trent (1546): DS 1511 This grace of original holiness was "to
share in. . .divine life".LG 2
376
By the radiance of this grace all dimensions of man's life were confirmed. As
long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or
die.Gen 2:17;
⇒ 3:16,
⇒ 19 The inner harmony of the human person, the harmony between man
and woman,Gen 2:25 and finally the harmony between the first couple and all
creation, comprised the state called "original justice".
377
The "mastery" over the world that God offered man from the beginning
was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. the first man was
unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple
concupiscenceJn 2:16 that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses,
covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of
reason.
378
The sign of man's familiarity with God is that God places him in the
garden. Gen 2:8 There he lives "to till it and keep it". Work is
not yet a burden,Gen 2:15; cf. ⇒ 3:17-19 but rather the collaboration of man and woman with
God in perfecting the visible creation.
379
This entire harmony of original justice, foreseen for man in God's plan, will
be lost by the sin of our first parents.
IN BRIEF
380 "Father,. . . you formed
man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his
creator, and to rule over all creatures" (Roman Missal, EP IV, 118).
381 Man is predestined to
reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the "image of the invisible
God" (⇒ Col 1:15), so that Christ shall be the
first-born of a multitude of brothers and sisters (cf
⇒ Eph 1:3-6; ⇒ Rom
8:29).
382 "Man, though made of
body and soul, is a unity" (GS 14 # 1). the doctrine of the faith affirms
that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immediately by God.
383 "God did not create
man a solitary being. From the beginning, "male and female he created
them" (⇒ Gen 1:27). This partnership of man and
woman constitutes the first form of communion between persons" (GS 12 #
4).
384 Revelation makes known to
us the state of original holiness and justice of man and woman before sin: from
their friendship with God flowed the happiness of their existence in paradise.
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