Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:
Sacrament, Psalms 105:1-9, Acts 3:1-10, Luke 24:13-35, Pope Frances Daily Activity, St Agape Chionia and Irene, Thessaloniki Macedonia Greece, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Article 1:2:2 Sacrament of Baptism
Good Day Bloggers! 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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Prayers for Today: Wednesday in Easter
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Christian Solidarity for Autistic People and their Families
Vatican City, 3 April 2013 (VIS) – On the occasion of the celebration yesterday, 2 April, of the Sixth World Autism Awareness Day, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, published the following message:
“Dearest brothers and sisters, on the occasion of the Sixth World Autism Awareness Day, which this year takes place during the liturgical period of the Easter festivities, the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers intends to express the solicitude of the Church for autistic people and their families, inviting Christian communities and people of good will to express authentic solidarity towards them.”
“I would like to take as a point of departure for my reflections the approach of Jesus who drew near to, and walked with, the disciples on the way to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35). The look marked by loss, and even more by amazement, that shaped the steps of Cleopas and Simon could be a similar expression to—and equally similarly be found within—that which marks the faces and the hearts of parents who have a son or a daughter with autism.”
“Autism: this is a word that still generates fear today even though in very many cultures which traditionally excluded handicaps the ‘diversely able’ have begun to be accepted socially, and many of the prejudices that have surrounded people with disabilities and even their parents have begun to be dismantled. To define someone as autistic seems automatically to involve a negative judgement about those who are afflicted by it, and, implicitly, a sentence involving a definitive distancing from society. On the other hand, the person concerned seems to be unable to communicate in a productive way with other people, at times as though shut up in a ‘glass bell’, in his or her impenetrable, but for us wonderful, interior universe.”
“This is a ‘typical and stereotyped’ image of the autistic child which requires profound revision. Ever since her birth, as a guiding theme, the Church has always expressed her care for this aspect of medicine through practical testimonies at a universal level. Above all else, this is witness to Love beyond stigma, that social stigma that isolates a sick person and makes him or her feel an extraneous body. I am referring to that sense of loneliness that is often narrated within modern society but which becomes even more present in modern health care which is perfect in its ‘technical aspects’ but increasingly deprived of, and not attentive to, that affective dimension which should, instead, be the defining aspect of every therapeutic act or pathway.”
“Faced with the problems and the difficulties that these children and their parents encounter, the Church with humility proposes the way of service to the suffering brother, accompanying him with compassion and tenderness on his tortuous human and psycho-relational journey, and taking advantage of the help of parishes, of associations, of Church movements and of men and women of good will.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, setting oneself to listen must necessarily be accompanied by an authentic fraternal solidarity. There should never fail to be global care for the ‘frail’ person, as a person with autism can be: this takes concrete form with that sense of nearness that every worker, each according to his or her role, must know how to transmit to the sick person and his or her family, not making that person feel a number but making real the situation of a shared journey that is made up of deeds, of attitudes and of words—perhaps not dramatic ones but ones that suggest a daily life that is nearer to normality. This means listening to the imperious exhortation that we should not lose sight of the person in his or her totality: no procedure, however perfect it may be, can be ‘effective’ if it is deprived of the ‘salt’ of Love, of that Love that each one of these sick people, if looked at in their eyes, asks of you. Their smile, the serenity of a family that sees its loved one at the centre of the complex organisation that each one of us, by our specific tasks, is called to manage for his or her life, and perceived and achieved sharing: this is the best ‘outcome’ that will enrich us.”
“In practice, this is a matter of welcoming autistic children in the various sectors of social, educational, catechistic and liturgical activity in a way that corresponds and is proportionate to their capacity for relationships. Such solidarity, for those who have received the gift of Faith, becomes a loving presence and compassionate nearness for those who suffer, following the example and in imitation of Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan who by his passion, death and resurrection redeemed humanity.”
“The Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, during the Year of Faith, wishes to share with people who suffer because of autism the hope and certainty that adherence to Love enables us to recognise the Risen Christ every time that he makes himself our neighbour on the journey of life. Let what John Paul II, in whose intercession we trust and the eighth anniversary of whose return to the house of the Father we remember specifically today, be a reference point for us: ‘The quality of life in a community is measured largely by its commitment to assist the weaker and needier members with respect for their dignity as men and women. The world of rights cannot only be the prerogative of the healthy. People with disabilities must also be enabled to participate in social life as far as they can, and helped to fulfil all their physical, psychological and spiritual potential. Only by recognizing the rights of its weakest members can a society claim to be founded on law and justice’ (John Paul II, Message on the Occasion of the International Symposium on the Dignity and Rights of the Mentally Disabled Person, 7-9 January 2004, n. 3).”
“May what the Holy Father Francis observed during the first days of his papacy—expressing his nearness to the sick and the suffering—be constant light: ‘we must keep the thirst for the absolute alive in the world, not allowing a one-dimensional vision of the human person to prevail, according to which man is reduced to what he produces and to what he consumes: this is one of the most dangerous snares of our time’!”
“While I hope for the cooperation of everyone in a choral and compassionate answer to the numerous needs that come to us from our brothers and sisters with autism and their families, I entrust the sufferings, the joys and the hopes of these people to the mediation of Mary, Mother of Christ and ‘Health of the Sick’ who, at the foot of the Cross, taught us to pause beside all the crosses of contemporary Man (cf. “Salvifici Doloris”, n. 31).”
“To people with autism, to their families and to all those who are involved in their service, while confirming my nearness and prayer, I send my personal and affectionate best wishes for a serene and joyous Easter with the Risen Lord.”
“Dearest brothers and sisters, on the occasion of the Sixth World Autism Awareness Day, which this year takes place during the liturgical period of the Easter festivities, the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers intends to express the solicitude of the Church for autistic people and their families, inviting Christian communities and people of good will to express authentic solidarity towards them.”
“I would like to take as a point of departure for my reflections the approach of Jesus who drew near to, and walked with, the disciples on the way to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35). The look marked by loss, and even more by amazement, that shaped the steps of Cleopas and Simon could be a similar expression to—and equally similarly be found within—that which marks the faces and the hearts of parents who have a son or a daughter with autism.”
“Autism: this is a word that still generates fear today even though in very many cultures which traditionally excluded handicaps the ‘diversely able’ have begun to be accepted socially, and many of the prejudices that have surrounded people with disabilities and even their parents have begun to be dismantled. To define someone as autistic seems automatically to involve a negative judgement about those who are afflicted by it, and, implicitly, a sentence involving a definitive distancing from society. On the other hand, the person concerned seems to be unable to communicate in a productive way with other people, at times as though shut up in a ‘glass bell’, in his or her impenetrable, but for us wonderful, interior universe.”
“This is a ‘typical and stereotyped’ image of the autistic child which requires profound revision. Ever since her birth, as a guiding theme, the Church has always expressed her care for this aspect of medicine through practical testimonies at a universal level. Above all else, this is witness to Love beyond stigma, that social stigma that isolates a sick person and makes him or her feel an extraneous body. I am referring to that sense of loneliness that is often narrated within modern society but which becomes even more present in modern health care which is perfect in its ‘technical aspects’ but increasingly deprived of, and not attentive to, that affective dimension which should, instead, be the defining aspect of every therapeutic act or pathway.”
“Faced with the problems and the difficulties that these children and their parents encounter, the Church with humility proposes the way of service to the suffering brother, accompanying him with compassion and tenderness on his tortuous human and psycho-relational journey, and taking advantage of the help of parishes, of associations, of Church movements and of men and women of good will.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, setting oneself to listen must necessarily be accompanied by an authentic fraternal solidarity. There should never fail to be global care for the ‘frail’ person, as a person with autism can be: this takes concrete form with that sense of nearness that every worker, each according to his or her role, must know how to transmit to the sick person and his or her family, not making that person feel a number but making real the situation of a shared journey that is made up of deeds, of attitudes and of words—perhaps not dramatic ones but ones that suggest a daily life that is nearer to normality. This means listening to the imperious exhortation that we should not lose sight of the person in his or her totality: no procedure, however perfect it may be, can be ‘effective’ if it is deprived of the ‘salt’ of Love, of that Love that each one of these sick people, if looked at in their eyes, asks of you. Their smile, the serenity of a family that sees its loved one at the centre of the complex organisation that each one of us, by our specific tasks, is called to manage for his or her life, and perceived and achieved sharing: this is the best ‘outcome’ that will enrich us.”
“In practice, this is a matter of welcoming autistic children in the various sectors of social, educational, catechistic and liturgical activity in a way that corresponds and is proportionate to their capacity for relationships. Such solidarity, for those who have received the gift of Faith, becomes a loving presence and compassionate nearness for those who suffer, following the example and in imitation of Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan who by his passion, death and resurrection redeemed humanity.”
“The Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, during the Year of Faith, wishes to share with people who suffer because of autism the hope and certainty that adherence to Love enables us to recognise the Risen Christ every time that he makes himself our neighbour on the journey of life. Let what John Paul II, in whose intercession we trust and the eighth anniversary of whose return to the house of the Father we remember specifically today, be a reference point for us: ‘The quality of life in a community is measured largely by its commitment to assist the weaker and needier members with respect for their dignity as men and women. The world of rights cannot only be the prerogative of the healthy. People with disabilities must also be enabled to participate in social life as far as they can, and helped to fulfil all their physical, psychological and spiritual potential. Only by recognizing the rights of its weakest members can a society claim to be founded on law and justice’ (John Paul II, Message on the Occasion of the International Symposium on the Dignity and Rights of the Mentally Disabled Person, 7-9 January 2004, n. 3).”
“May what the Holy Father Francis observed during the first days of his papacy—expressing his nearness to the sick and the suffering—be constant light: ‘we must keep the thirst for the absolute alive in the world, not allowing a one-dimensional vision of the human person to prevail, according to which man is reduced to what he produces and to what he consumes: this is one of the most dangerous snares of our time’!”
“While I hope for the cooperation of everyone in a choral and compassionate answer to the numerous needs that come to us from our brothers and sisters with autism and their families, I entrust the sufferings, the joys and the hopes of these people to the mediation of Mary, Mother of Christ and ‘Health of the Sick’ who, at the foot of the Cross, taught us to pause beside all the crosses of contemporary Man (cf. “Salvifici Doloris”, n. 31).”
“To people with autism, to their families and to all those who are involved in their service, while confirming my nearness and prayer, I send my personal and affectionate best wishes for a serene and joyous Easter with the Risen Lord.”
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Pope Francis General Audience Address:
The fundamental role of women in the Church
(Vatican Radio) For the third time this week Pope Francis returned to
the topic of women in the Church in his general audience catechesis. On
Holy Saturday he had dedicated his Easter Vigil Homily to the women as
the first witnesses to the novelty of the Resurrection. On Tuesday
morning he had spoken of the tears of the Magdalene and how we should
follow her example of faith in our life’s journey. On Wednesday he
expanded his reflections to the women of the world, whom he said have a
special and fundamental role in the Church and the transmission of the
faith . Departing from his scripted text, as is now his very own
tradition, he appealed: “Mothers go forward with this witness to the
Risen Christ!”.
Looking out over the tens of thousands present, Pope Francis returned to the catechesis on teh Year of Fith and in particular the Creed. He spoke of how the in the professions of faith of the New Testament, only men are remembered as witnesses of the Resurrection, the Apostles, but not the women. “This is because, according to the Jewish Law of the time, women and children were not considered reliable, credible witnesses. In the Gospels, however, women have a primary, fundamental role. Here we can see an argument in favor of the historicity of the Resurrection: if it were a invented, in the context of that time it would not have been linked to the testimony of women. Instead, the evangelists simply narrate what happened: the women were the first witnesses. This tells us that God does not choose according to human criteria: the first witnesses of the birth of Jesus are the shepherds, simple and humble people, the first witnesses of the Resurrection are women. This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and women, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness! What matters to God is our heart, if we are open to Him, if we are like trusting children. But this also leads us to reflect on how in the Church and in the journey of faith, women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord, in following him and communicating his face, because the eyes of faith always need the simple and profound look of love. The Apostles and disciples find it harder to believe in the Risen Christ, not the women however! Peter runs to the tomb, but stops before the empty tomb; Thomas has to touch the wounds of the body of Jesus with his hands. In our journey of faith it is important to know and feel that God loves us, do not be afraid to love: faith is professed with the mouth and heart, with the word and love”.
The crowds had formed queues since early morning around the entrance to St Peter’s Square and spilled through the barricades under the eyes of the Pontifical Swiss Guard to guarantee their place closer to where the Pope would pass in his open topped jeep, hoping to be able to personally greet the Holy Father.
The audience began promptly at 10:30 and - as has become the norm with Pope Francis - was in Italian with speakers from the Secretariat of State translating summaries into the main languages.
This morning’s audience was also enlivened by the presence of Gospel choirs composed of young people from the US and Great Britain. Reflecting the Easter spirit, they sang the Alleluia, to the joy and appreciation of Pope Francis who applauded them from the raised dais in front of St Peter’s basilica.
And indeed, noting the large presence of young people at Wednesday’s audience, the Pope added an extra unscripted greeting for them at the end of his main catechesis: “I see that there are many young people in the Square! Young boys and girls, to you I say bring forth this certainty to the world: the Lord is Alive and walks beside us on our life’s journey! Bring forth this hope, be anchored in this hope, the hope that comes from heaven! Be anchored and bring forth the hope! You witnesses of Christ bring forth hope to this world that is aged by wars and sin! Go forward young people!”.
Below we publish a Vatican Radio transcript and translation of the full text of Pope Francis’ Wednesday General Audience:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we turn to the Catechism of the Year of Faith. In the Creed we repeat this phrase: "He rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures". This is the very event that we are celebrating: the Resurrection of Jesus, the center of the Christian message that has resounded since the beginning and has been handed down so that it may reach us today. Saint Paul writes to the Christians of Corinth: "For I handed on to you …what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve"(1 Cor 15:3-5). This brief confession of faith announces the Paschal Mystery, with the first appearances of the Risen Christ to Peter and the Twelve: the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is the heart of our hope. Without this faith in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus our hope would be weak, but it wouldn’0t even be hope, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus is the heart of our hope. The Apostle says: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins" (v. 17).
Unfortunately, there have often been attempts to obscure faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, and doubts have crept in even among believers themselves. A watered down faith, as we would say, not a strong faith. This is because of superficiality, sometimes because of indifference, occupied by a thousand things considered more important than the faith, or because of a purely horizontal vision of life. But it is the Resurrection that gives us the greatest hope, because it opens our lives and the life of the world to the eternal future of God, to full happiness, to the certainty that evil, sin, death can be defeated. And this leads us to live everyday realities with more confidence, to face them with courage and commitment. The Resurrection of Christ shines a new light on these daily realities. The Resurrection of Christ is our strength!
But how was the truth of faith in Christ’s Resurrection transmitted? There are two kinds of witness in the New Testament: some are in the form of the profession of the faith, namely, synthetic formulas that indicate the center of the faith. Instead, others are in the form of an account of the event of the Resurrection and the facts connected to it. The form of the profession of faith, for example, is what we have just heard, or that of the Letter to the Romans where Paul writes: " for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved "(10.9). From the earliest days of the Church, faith in the Mystery of Death and Resurrection of Jesus is steadfast and clear.
Today, however, I would like to dwell the second, on testimony in the form of the accounts that we find in the Gospels. First, we note that the first witnesses to this event were the women. At dawn, they go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, and find the first sign: the empty tomb (Mk 16:1). This is followed by an encounter with a Messenger of God who proclaims: Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, he is not here, he is risen (cf. vv. 5-6). The women are driven by love and know how to accept this proclamation with faith: they believe, and immediately transmit it, they do not keep it for themselves. They cannot contain the joy of knowing that Jesus is alive, the hope that fills their heart. This should also be the same in our lives. Let us feel the joy of being Christian! We believe in the Risen One who has conquered evil and death! Let us also have the courage to "go out" to bring this joy and light to all the places of our lives! The Resurrection of Christ is our greatest certainty, it is our most precious treasure! How can we not share this treasure, this beautiful certainty with others! It’s not just for us it’s to be transmitted, shared with others this is our testimony!
Another element. In the professions of faith of the New Testament, only men are remembered as witnesses of the Resurrection, the Apostles, but not the women. This is because, according to the Jewish Law of the time, women and children were not considered reliable, credible witnesses. In the Gospels, however, women have a primary, fundamental role. Here we can see an argument in favor of the historicity of the Resurrection: if it were a invented, in the context of that time it would not have been linked to the testimony of women. Instead, the evangelists simply narrate what happened: the women were the first witnesses. This tells us that God does not choose according to human criteria: the first witnesses of the birth of Jesus are the shepherds, simple and humble people, the first witnesses of the Resurrection are women. This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and women, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness! What matters to God is our heart, if we are open to Him, if we are like trusting children. But this also leads us to reflect on how in the Church and in the journey of faith, women have had and still have a special role in opening doors to the Lord, in following him and communicating his face, because the eyes of faith always need the simple and profound look of love. The Apostles and disciples find it harder to believe in the Risen Christ, not the women however! Peter runs to the tomb, but stops before the empty tomb; Thomas has to touch the wounds of the body of Jesus with his hands. In our journey of faith it is important to know and feel that God loves us, do not be afraid to love: faith is professed with the mouth and heart, with the word and love.
After the apparitions to women, there were others: Jesus becomes present in a new way: He is the Crucified One, but his body is glorious; He did not return to an earthly life, but a new condition. At first they did not recognize him, and only through his words and deeds were their eyes opened: the encounter with the Risen Lord transforms, it gives new strength to faith, an unshakable foundation. The Risen Christ also reveals Himself to us with many signs: Sacred Scripture, the Eucharist, the other Sacraments, charity, these gestures of love bring a ray of the Risen One.
Let us be enlightened by the Resurrection of Christ, let us be transformed by His power, so that through us the signs of death give way to signs of life in the world! I see that there are many young people in the Square! Young boys and girls, to you I say bring forth this certainty to the world: the Lord is Alive and walks beside us on our life’s journey! Bring forth this hope, be anchored in this hope, the hope that comes from heaven! Be anchored and bring forth the hope! You witnesses of Christ bring forth hope to this world that is aged by wars and sin! Go forward young people!
Below we publish the English summary of the Wednesday General Audience catechesis.
Taking up the series of Catechesis on the Creed, we now turn to the passage: “He rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures”. Our belief in Christ’s Resurrection is the very heart of our faith, the basis of our hope in God’s promises and our trust in his victory over sin and death. The first witnesses of the Resurrection were women: moved by love to go to the tomb, they accept with joy the message of the Resurrection and then tell the good news to the Apostles. So it must be with us; we need to share the joy born of our faith in the Resurrection! In Church’s history, women have had a special role in opening doors to faith in Christ, for faith is always a response to love. With the eyes of faith, we too encounter the risen Lord in the many signs of his presence: the Scriptures, the Eucharist and the other sacraments, and the acts of charity, goodness, forgiveness and mercy which bring a ray of his Resurrection into our world. May our faith in the risen Christ enable us to be living signs in our world of the triumph of life and hope over evil, sin and death.
I offer a warm welcome to all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States. In a special way I greet the newly-ordained deacons from the Pontifical Irish College and their families. My greeting also goes to the delegation from the United States Senate. I thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. With great affection I invoke upon all of you the joy and peace which are the abiding gifts of the risen Lord
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 04/03/2013.
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Message, 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."
Message, 25. March 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.”
March 18 2013 Message to the World via Annual Apparition to Mirjana:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."
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Today's Word: sacrament sac·ra·ment [sak-ruh-muh
nte]
Origin: 1150–1200; Middle English < Medieval Latin sacrāmentum obligation, oath, Late Latin: mystery, rite, equivalent to Latin sacrā ( re ) to devote + -mentum -ment
noun
1.Ecclesiastical . a visible sign of an inward grace, especially one of the solemn Christian rites considered to have been instituted by Jesus Christ to symbolize or confer grace: the sacraments of the Protestant churches are baptism and the Lord's Supper; the sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, matrimony, penance, holy orders, and extreme unction.
2.( often initial capital letter ) . Also called Holy Sacrament. the Eucharist or Lord's Supper.
3. the consecrated elements of the Eucharist, especially the bread.
4. something regarded as possessing a sacred character or mysterious significance.
5. a sign, token, or symbol.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 105:1-9
1 Alleluia! Give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name, proclaim his deeds to the peoples!
2 Sing to him, make music for him, recount all his wonders!
3 Glory in his holy name, let the hearts that seek Yahweh rejoice!
4 Seek Yahweh and his strength, tirelessly seek his presence!
6 Stock of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob whom he chose!
7 He is Yahweh our God, his judgements touch the whole world.
8 He remembers his covenant for ever, the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,
9 which he concluded with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
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Today's Epistle - Acts 3:1-10
1 Once, when Peter and John were going up to the Temple for the prayers at the ninth hour,
2 it happened that there was a man being carried along. He was a cripple from birth; and they used to put him down every day near the Temple entrance called the Beautiful Gate so that he could beg from the people going in.
3 When this man saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple he begged from them.
4 Peter, and John too, looked straight at him and said, 'Look at us.'
5 He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them,
6 but Peter said, 'I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!'
7 Then he took him by the right hand and helped him to stand up. Instantly his feet and ankles became firm,
8 he jumped up, stood, and began to walk, and he went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God.
9 Everyone could see him walking and praising God,
10 and they recognised him as the man
who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were
all astonished and perplexed at what had happened to him.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Luke 24: 13-35
That very same day, two of them were
on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and
they were talking together about all that had happened. And it
happened that as they were talking together and discussing it, Jesus
himself came up and walked by their side; but their eyes were prevented
from recognizing him. He said to them, 'What are all these things that
you are discussing as you walk along?' They stopped, their faces
downcast. Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, 'You must be
the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that
have been happening there these last few days.' He asked, 'What things?'
They answered, 'All about Jesus of Nazareth, who showed himself a
prophet powerful in action and speech before God and the whole people;
and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be
sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he
would be the one to set Israel free. And this is not all: two whole
days have now gone by since it all happened; and some women from our
group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and
when they could not find the body, they came back to tell us they had
seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends
went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported,
but of him they saw nothing.'
Then he said to them, 'You foolish men! So slow to believe all that the prophets have said! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into his glory?' Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them saying, 'It is nearly evening, and the day is almost over.' So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?' They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, 'The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon.' Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.
Reflection
• Today’s Gospel speaks to us of a
very well know episode, that of the apparition of Jesus to the Disciples
of Emmaus. Luke writes in the year 80 for the communities of Greece
which in their great majority were formed by converted pagans. The years
60’s and 70’s had been the most difficult ones. There had been the
great persecution of Nero in the year 64. Six years later, in the year
70, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Romans. In the year 72, in
Masada, in the desert of Judah, there was the massacre of the last
rebellious Jews. In those years, the Apostles, witnesses of the
Resurrection, disappeared gradually. People began to feel tired on the
journey. From where could they draw the courage so as not to get
discouraged? How to discover the presence of Jesus in such a difficult
situation? The story of the apparition of Jesus to the Disciples of
Emmaus tries to give a response to all these anguishing questions. Luke
wants to teach the communities how to interpret Scripture in order to be
able to rediscover the presence of Jesus in life.
• Luke 24, 13-24: 1st Step: to get away from reality. Jesus meets the two friends in a situation of fear and of lack of faith. The force of death, the cross, had killed in them their hope. This was the situation of many people at the time of Luke, and is also the situation of many persons today. Jesus gets close to them and walks by their side; he listens to their conversation and asks: “What are all these things that you are discussing as you walk along?” The dominating ideology, that is, the propaganda of the government and of the official religion of the time, prevent them from seeing. “Our hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free”. Which is today the conversation of people who suffer? The first step is this one: get close to the persons, listen to their reality, feel their problems: be capable to ask questions which will help the persons to look at reality with a more critical look.
• Luke 24, 25-27: 2nd step: use the Bible to enlighten life. Jesus uses the Bible and the history of people to enlighten the problem which made the two friends suffer, and to clarify the situation which they are living. He also uses it to place them in the whole project of God which came from Moses and the prophets. Thus, he indicates that history had not escaped from God’s hand. Jesus uses the Bible not as a doctor who knows everything, but rather like a companion who comes to help the friends and to remind them what they had forgotten. Jesus does not set off to the disciples the complex of ignorance, but tries to awaken their memory: “Foolish and slow to believe all that the prophets have said! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into his glory?”
This is the second step: With the Bible help persons to discover the wisdom which already exists in them, and transform the cross, a sign of death, into a sign of life and of hope. What prevented them from walking, now becomes for them force and light on the journey. How can we do this today?
Luke 24, 28-32: 3rd step: to share in community. The Bible, in itself, does not open the eyes. It only makes their heart burn, what opens the eyes and makes them see, is the breaking of the bread, the community gesture of sharing, and the celebration of the Supper. In the moment in which both recognize Jesus, they are born anew and Jesus disappears. Jesus does not take possession of the road of his friends. He is not paternalistic. Risen, the disciples are capable to walk alone.
The third step is the following: to know how to create a fraternal environment of faith, of celebration and of sharing, where the Holy Spirit can act. It is he who makes us discover and experience the Word of God in life and which leads us to understand the sense of the words of Jesus (Jn 14, 26; 16, 13).
• Luke 24, 33-35: 4th step: The result: To resurrect means to go back to Jerusalem. The two of them, courageously, get back on the road to go to Jerusalem, where the same forces of death, which had killed Jesus and, had killed their hope, continue to be active. But, now everything has changed. If Jesus is alive, then there is in him and with him a stronger power than that which killed him. This experience makes them resurrect! Truly, everything has changed. There is the return and not the flight! Faith and not unbelief! Hope and not despair! Critical conscience and not fatalism in the face of power! Liberty and not oppression! In one word: life and not death! Instead of the bad news of the death of Jesus, the Good News of his Resurrection! Both of them experience life and life in abundance! (Jn 10, 10). This is a sign that the Spirit of Jesus acts in them!
Personal questions
• Both of them say: “We were hoping,
but…!” Have you ever seen a situation of discouragement which has led
you to say: “I was hoping, but…!”?
• How do you read, use and interpret the Bible? Have you ever felt your heart burning when reading and meditating on the Word of Gold? Do you read the Bible alone or are you part of a Bible group?
• How do you read, use and interpret the Bible? Have you ever felt your heart burning when reading and meditating on the Word of Gold? Do you read the Bible alone or are you part of a Bible group?
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: Saints Agape, Chionia and Irene
Feast Day: April 3
Patron Saint:
Attributes: n/a
They were brought before Dulcitius, governor of Macedonia, on the charge of refusing to eat food which had been earlier offered in sacrifice to the gods. He asked Agape and Chionia where they had developed this objection to such food, and Chionia responded that she had learned it from her Lord Jesus Christ. She and Agape again refused to eat the sacrificed food, and were burned alive.
Meanwhile Dulcitius found that Irene had been continuing to keep Christian books, in violation of existing law. He examined her again, and she declared that when the decrees against Christians had been published, she and several others fled to the mountains. She would not name the others who had fled with her, and stated that only they knew where the books were being kept. Upon returning home from the mountains, they hid the books they had kept. Dulcitius then ordered Irene to be stripped and exposed in a brothel. This was done, and no one mistreated Irene at the brothel. The governor then gave Irene a second chance to abide by the laws, which she refused. Dulcitius then sentenced her to death. The books that had been found with her were burned as well.
Three other individuals were tried with the sisters. Of these, one woman was remanded as she was pregnant. The fates of the other two are unknown.
References
- Attwater, Donald & John, Catherine Rachel. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
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Today's Snippet I: Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece
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| Thessaloniki, Macedonia Greece |
Thessaloniki , also known as Thessalonica and Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. Its honorific title is Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévusa), literally "co-capital", and stands as a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa), "co-reigning" city of the Eastern Roman Empire, alongside Constantinople.
According to the preliminary results of the 2011 census, the municipality of Thessaloniki today has a population of 322,240, while the Thessaloniki Urban Area (the contiguous built up area forming the "City of Thessaloniki") has a population of 790,824; making it the fifth largest and most populated city in the Balkans and the second most populated city that is not a capital, after Istanbul. Furthermore, the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area extends over an area of 1,455.62 km2 (562.02 sq mi) and its population in 2011 reached a total of 1,006,730 inhabitants.
Thessaloniki is Greece's second major economic, industrial,
commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub for the
rest of southeastern Europe; its commercial port is also of great importance for Greece and the southeastern European hinterland. The city is renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life in general, and is considered to be Greece's cultural capital. Events such as the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are held annually, while the city also hosts the largest bi-annual meeting of the Greek diaspora. In 2014 Thessaloniki will be the European Youth Capital.
Founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon,
Thessaloniki's history spans some 2,300 years. An important metropolis
by the Roman period, Thessaloniki was the second largest and wealthiest
city of the Byzantine Empire. Thessaloniki is home to numerous notable Byzantine monuments, including the Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as several Roman, Ottoman and Sephardic Jewish structures. The city's main university, Aristotle University, is the largest in Greece and the Balkans.
The earliest known letter by Paul the Apostle was written to the early Christian church in Thessaloniki and is identified as First Thessalonians; it is among the books in the New Testament whose authorship by Paul is generally regarded by scholars as being undisputed. A later letter to the same church follows in the Christian Bible as Second Thessalonians.
In addition to its historic roots, Thessaloniki is also a very popular tourist destination in Greece. In 2010, Lonely Planet ranked Thessaloniki as the world's fifth-best party city worldwide, comparable to other cities such as Dubai and Montreal. For 2013 National Geographic Magazine included Thessaloniki in its top tourist destinations worldwide.
Etymology
All variations of the city's name derive from the original (and current) appellation in Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη (from Θεσσαλός, Thessalos, and Νίκη, Nike), literally translating to "Thessalian Victory" and in origin the name of a princess, Thessalonike of Macedon, who was named so because she was born on the day of the Macedonian victory at the Battle of Crocus Field.
The alternative name Salonica or Salonika, derived from the variant form Σαλονίκη (Saloníki)
in popular Greek speech, gives rise to several languages' form of the
city's name and is formerly the common name used in some western
European languages. Names in other languages prominent in the city's
history include Солоунь (Soloun) in Old Church Slavonic, Salonika in Ladino, Selanik (also Selânik) in Turkish (سلانیك in Ottoman Turkish), Solun (also written as Солун) in the local and neighboring South Slavic languages, Салоники (Saloníki) in Russian, and Sãrunã in Aromanian. In local speech, the city's name is typically pronounced with a dark and deep L characteristic of Macedonian Greek accent. The name is often written in the abbreviated form Θεσ/νίκη.
History
From antiquity to the Roman Empire
The city was founded around 315 BC by the King Cassander of Macedon, on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and 26 other local villages. He named it after his wife Thessalonike, a half-sister of Alexander the Great and princess of Macedon as daughter of Philip II. Under the kingdom of Macedon the city retained its own autonomy and parliament and evolved to become the most important city in Macedon.
After the fall of the kingdom of Macedon in 168 BC, Thessalonica became a free city of the Roman Republic under Mark Antony in 41 BC. It grew to be an important trade-hub located on the Via Egnatia, the road connecting Dyrrhachium with Byzantium, which facilitated trade between Thessaloniki and great centers of commerce such as Rome and Byzantium. Thessaloniki also lay at the southern end of the main north-south route through the Balkans along the valleys of the Morava and Axios river valleys, thereby linking the Balkans with the rest of Greece. The city later became the capital of one of the four Roman districts of Macedonia. Later it became the capital of all the Greek provinces of the Roman Empire due to the city's importance in the Balkan peninsula. When the Roman Empire was divided into the tetrarchy, Thessaloniki became the administrative capital of one of the four portions of the Empire under Galerius Maximianus Caesar, where Galerius commissioned an imperial palace, a new hippodrome, a triumphal arch and a mausoleum among others.
In 379 when the Roman Prefecture of Illyricum was divided between the East and West Roman Empires, Thessaloniki became the capital of the new Prefecture of Illyricum.
In 390 Gothic troops under the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, led a
massacre against the inhabitants of Thessalonica, who had risen in
revolt against the Germanic soldiers. With the Fall of Rome in 476, Thessaloniki became the second-largest city of the Eastern Roman Empire. Around the time of the Roman Empire Thessaloniki was also an important center for the spread of Christianity; the First Epistle to the Thessalonians written by Paul the Apostle is the first written book of the New Testament.
Byzantine era and Middle Ages
From the first years of the Byzantine Empire, Thessaloniki was considered the second city in the Empire after Constantinople, both in terms of wealth and size.
The city held this status until it was transferred to Venice in 1423.
In the 14th century the city's population exceeded 100,000,[ making it larger than London at the time.
During the 6th-7th centuries the area around Thessaloniki was invaded
by Avars and Slavs, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the city several
times. Traditional historiography stipulates that many Slavs settled in the hinterland of Thessaloniki, however, this migration was actually on a much smaller scale than previously thought. In the 9th century, the Byzantine Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius, both natives of the city, created the first literary language of the Slavs, the Glagolic alphabet, most likely based on the Slavic dialect allegedly used in the hinterland of their hometown.
An Arab invasion in 904 resulted in a short term capture.The economic expansion of the city continued through the 12th century as the rule of the Komnenoi emperors expanded Byzantine control to the north. Thessaloniki passed out of Byzantine hands in 1204, when Constantinople was captured by the forces of the Fourth Crusade and incorporated the city and its surrounding territories in the Kingdom of Thessalonica — which then became the largest vassal of the Latin Empire. In 1224, the Kingdom of Thessalonica was overrun by the Despotate of Epirus, a remnant of the former Byzantine Empire, under Theodore Komnenos Doukas who crowned himself Emperor, and the city became the Despotat's capital.[ This era of the Despotate of Epirus is also known as the Empire of Thessalonica. Following his defeat at Klokotnitsa however in 1230, the Empire of Thessalonica became a vassal state of the Second Bulgarian Empire until it was recovered again in 1246, this time by the Nicaean Empire. In 1342, the city saw the rise of the Commune of the Zealots, an anti-aristocratic party formed of sailors and the poor, which is nowadays described as social-revolutionary. The city was practically independent of the rest of the Empire, as it had its own government, a form of republic. The zealot movement was overthrown in 1350 and the city was reunited with the rest of the Empire.
In 1423, Despot Andronicus, who was in charge of the city, ceded it
to the Republic of Venice with the hope that it could be protected from
the Ottomans who were besieging the city
(there is no evidence to support the oft-repeated story that he sold
the city to them). The Venetians held Thessaloniki until it was captured
by the Ottoman Sultan Murad II on 29 March 1430.
Ottoman period
Murad II captured Thessaloniki and sacked it; contemporary reports estimated that about one-fifth of the city's population was enslaved. Upon the capture and plunder of Thessaloniki, many of its inhabitants escaped, including intellectuals such as Theodorus Gaza "Thessalonicensis" and Andronicus Callistus.
However, the change of sovereignty from the Byzantine Empire to the
Ottoman one did not affect the city's prestige as a major imperial city
and trading hub.Thessaloniki and Smyrna, although smaller in size than Constantinople, were the Ottoman Empire's most important trading hubs. Thessaloniki's importance was mostly in the field of shipping, but also in manufacturing, while most of the city's trade was controlled by ethnic Greeks.
During the Ottoman period, the city's Muslim and Jewish population
grew. By 1478 Selânik (سلانیك), as the city came to be known in Ottoman
Turkish, had a population of 4,320 Muslims, 6,094 Greek Orthodox and
some Catholics, but no Jews. Soon after the turn of the 15th to 16th
century, nearly 20,000 Sephardic Jews had immigrated to Greece from
Spain following their expulsion. By ca. 1500, the numbers had grown to 7,986 Greeks, 8,575 Muslims, and 3,770 Jews. By 1519, Sephardic Jews
numbered 15,715, 54% of the city's population. Some historians consider
the Ottoman regime's invitation to the Jews was a strategy to prevent
the ethnic Greek population (Eastern Orthodox Christians) from
dominating the city.
Thessaloniki was the capital of the Selanik sanjak within the Rumeli Eyalet (Balkans) until 1826, and subsequently the capital of Selanik Vilayet (between 1826 and 1864 Selanik Eyaleti). This consisted of the sanjaks of Selanik, Serres and Drama between 1826 and 1912. Thessaloniki was also a Janissary stronghold
where novice Janissaries were trained. In June 1826, regular Ottoman
soldiers attacked and destroyed the Janissary base in Thessaloniki while
also killing over 10,000 Janissary, an event known as The Auspicious Incident in Ottoman history. From 1870, driven by economic growth, the city's population expanded by 70%, reaching 135,000 in 1917.
The last few decades of Ottoman control over the city were an era of
revival, particularly in terms of the city's infrastructure. It was at
that time that the Ottoman administration of the city acquired an
"official" face with the creation of the Command Post while a number of new public buildings were built in the eclectic style in order to project the European face both of Thessaloniki and the Ottoman Empire. The city walls were torn down between 1869 and 1889, efforts for a planned expansion of the city are evident as early as 1879, the first tram service started in 1888 and the city streets were illuminated with electric lamp posts in 1908. In 1888 Thessaloniki was connected to Central Europe via rail through Belgrade, Monastir in 1893 and Constantinople in 1896.
20th century
In the early 20th century, Thessaloniki was in the center of radical activities by various groups; the Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, founded in 1897, and the Greek Macedonian Committee, founded in 1903. In 1903 an anarchist group known as the Boatmen of Thessaloniki planted bombs in several buildings in Thessaloniki, including the Ottoman Bank, with some assistance from the IMRO. The Greek consulate in Ottoman Thessaloniki (now the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle) served as the center of operations for the Greek guerillas. In 1908 the Young Turks movement broke out in the city, sparking the Young Turk Revolution.
As the First Balkan War broke out, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire and expanded its borders. When Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister at the time, was asked if the Greek army should move towards Thessaloniki or Monastir (now Bitola, Republic of Macedonia), Venizelos replied "Salonique à tout prix!" (Thessaloniki, at all costs!). As both Greece and Bulgaria wanted Thessaloniki, the Ottoman garrison of the city entered negotiations with both armies. On 8 November 1912 (26 October Old Style), the feast day of the city's patron saint, Saint Demetrius, the Greek Army accepted the surrender of the Ottoman garrison at Thessaloniki. The Bulgarian army arrived one day after the surrender of the city to Greece
and Tahsin Pasha, ruler of the city, told the Bulgarian officials that
"I have only one Thessaloniki, which I have surrendered". After the Second Balkan War, Thessaloniki and the rest of the Greek portion of Macedonia were officially annexed to Greece by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. On 18 March 1913 George I of Greece was assassinated in the city.
In 1915, during World War I, a large Allied expeditionary force established a base at Thessaloniki for operations against pro-German Bulgaria. This culminated in the establishment of the Macedonian Front, also known as the Salonika Front. In 1916, pro-Venizelist Greek army officers and civilians, with the support of the Allies, launched the Movement of National Defence, creating a pro-Allied temporary government by the name of the "State of Thessaloniki" that controlled "new lands" (lands that were gained by Greece in the Balkan Wars, most of Northern Greece including Greek Macedonia, the North Aegean as well as the island of Crete); the official government of the King in Athens, the "State of Athens", controlled the "old lands"
which were traditionally monarchist. The State of Thessaloniki was
disestablished with the unification of the two opposing Greek
governments under Venizelos, following the abdication of King Constantine in 1917.
Most of the old center of the city was destroyed by the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, which started accidentally by an unattended kitchen fire on 18 August 1917. The fire swept through the centre of the city, leaving 72,000 people homeless;
according to the Pallis Report, most of them were Jewish (50,000). Many
businesses were destroyed, as a result, 70% of the population were
unemployed.
Also a number of religious structures of the three major faiths were
lost. Nearly one-quarter of the total population of approximately
271,157 became homeless.
Following the fire the government prohibited quick rebuilding, so it
could implement the new redesign of the city according to the
European-style urban plan prepared by a group of architects, including the Briton Thomas Mawson, and headed by French architect Ernest Hébrard. The Jewish community's properties were reduced from a value of 6.5 million Greek drachmas to 750,000.
After the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War and during the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, a population exchange took place between Greece and Turkey. Over 160,000 ethnic Greeks deported from the former Ottoman Empire were resettled in the city, changing its demographics. Additionally many of the city's Muslims were deported to Turkey, ranging at about 20,000 people.
During World War II Thessaloniki was heavily bombarded by Fascist Italy (with 232 people dead, 871 wounded and over 800 buildings damaged or destroyed in November 1940 alone), and, the Italians having failed to succeed in their invasion of Greece, it fell to the forces of Nazi Germany on 8 April 1941 and remained under German occupation until 30 October 1944 when it was liberated by the Greek People's Liberation Army.
The Nazis soon forced the Jews into a ghetto near the railroads and on
15 March 1943 began the deportation process of the city's 56,000 Jews to
its concentration camps. They deported over 43,000 of the city's Jews in concentration camps, where most were killed in the gas chambers. The Germans also deported 11,000 Jews to forced labor camps, where most perished. Only 1,200 Jews live in the city today.
The importance of Thessaloniki to Nazi Germany can be demonstrated by the fact that, initially, Hitler had planned to incorporate it directly in the Third Reich (that is, make it a part of Germany) and not have it controlled by a puppet state such as the Hellenic State or an ally of Germany (Thessaloniki had been promised to Yugoslavia as a reward for joining the Axis on 25 March 1941).
Having been the first major city in Greece to fall to the occupying
forces just two days after the German invasion, it was in Thessaloniki
that the first Greek resistance group was formed (under the name «Ελευθερία», Eleftheria, "Freedom") as well as the first anti-Nazi newspaper in an occupied territory anywhere in Europe, also by the name Eleftheria.
Thessaloniki was also home to a military camp-converted-concentration
camp, known in German as "Konzentrationslager Pavlo Mela" (Pavlos Melas Concentration Camp), where members of the resistance and other non-favourable people towards the German occupation from all over Greece were held either to be killed or sent to concentration camps elsewhere in Europe. In the 1946 monarchy referendum, the majority of the locals voted against contrary to the rest of Greece.
After the war, Thessaloniki was rebuilt with large-scale development
of new infrastructure and industry throughout the 1950s, 1960s and
1970s. Many of its architectural treasures still remain, adding value to
the city as a tourist destination, while several early Christian and
Byzantine monuments of Thessaloniki were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988. In 1997, Thessaloniki was celebrated as the European Capital of Culture,
sponsoring events across the city and the region. Agency established to
oversee the cultural activities of that year 1997 was still in
existence by 2010. In 2004 the city hosted a number of the football events as part of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Today Thessaloniki has become one of the most important trade and business hubs in Southeastern Europe, with its port, the Port of Thessaloniki being one of the largest in the Aegean and facilitating trade throughout the Balkan hinterland. On 26 October 2012 the city celebrated its centennial since its incorporation into Greece.
The city also forms one of the largest student centres in Southeastern
Europe, is host to the largest student population in Greece and will be
the European Youth Capital in 2014.
Cityscape
Architecture
Architecture in Thessaloniki is the direct result of the city's
position at the centre of all historical developments in the Balkans.
Aside from its commercial importance, Thessaloniki was also for many
centuries the military and administrative hub of the region, and beyond
this the transportation link between Europe and the Levant
(Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel / Palestine). Merchants, traders
and refugees from all over Europe settled in the city. The need for
commercial and public buildings in this new era of prosperity led to the
construction of large edifices in the city center. During this time,
the city saw the building of banks, large hotels, theatres, warehouses,
and factories.
The city layout changed after 1870, when the seaside fortifications
gave way to extensive piers, and many of the oldest walls of the city
were demolished, including those surrounding the White Tower,
which today stands as the main landmark of the city. As parts of the
early Byzantine walls were demolished, this allowed the city to expand
east and west along the coast.
The expansion of Eleftherias Square
towards the sea completed the new commercial hub of the city and at the
time was considered one of the most vibrant squares of the city. As the
city grew, workers moved to the western districts, due to their
proximity to factories and industrial activities; while the middle and upper classes
gradually moved from the city-center to the eastern suburbs, leaving
mainly businesses. In 1917, a devastating fire swept through the city
and burned uncontrollably for 32 hours.
It destroyed the city's historic center and a large part of its
architectural heritage, but paved the way for modern development and
allowed Thessaloniki the development of a proper European city center,
featuring wider diagonal avenues and monumental squares; which the city
initially lacked - much of what was considered to be 'essential' in European architecture.
City Center
After the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, a team of architects and urban planners including Thomas Mawson and Ernest Hebrard, a French architect, chose the Byzantine
era as the basis of their (re)building designs for Thessaloniki's city
center. The new city plan included axes, diagonal streets and monumental
squares, with a street grid
that would channel traffic smoothly. The plan of 1917 included
provisions for future population expansions and a street and road
network that would be, and still is sufficient today. It contained sites for public buildings and provided for the restoration of Byzantine churches and Ottoman mosques.
Today the city center of Thessaloniki includes the features designed
as part of the plan and forms the point in the city where most of the
public buildings, historical sites, entertainment venues and stores are
located. The center is characterized by its many historical buildings,
arcades, laneways and distinct architectural styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which can be seen on many of its buildings.
The city center, or as its also called the historic center is divided into several districts, of which include Ladadika (where many entertainment venues and tavernas are located), Kapani (where the central city market is located), Diagonios, Nauarinou, Rotonta, Agia Sofia and Ippodromio (white tower), which are all located around Thessaloniki's most central point, Aristotelous Square.
The west point of the city center is home to Thessaloniki's law courts, its central international railway station and the port, while on its eastern side stands the city's two universities, the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, the city's main stadium, its archaeological and Byzantine museums, the new city hall and its central parklands and gardens, namely those of the Palios Zoologikos Kipos and Pedio tou Areos. The central road arteries that pass through the city center, designed in the Ernest Hebrard plan, include those of Tsimiski, Egnatia, Nikis, Mitropoleos, Venizelou and St. Demetrius avenues.
Ano Poli
Ano Poli (also called Old Town and literally the Upper Town) is the heritage listed district north of Thessaloniki's city center that was not engulfed by the great fire of 1917 and was declared a UNESCO heritage site by ministerial actions of Melina Merkouri,
during the 1980s. It consists of Thessaloniki's most traditional part
of the city, still featuring small stone paved streets, old squares and
homes featuring old Greek and Ottoman architecture.
Ano Poli also, is the highest point in Thessaloniki and as such, is the location of the city's acropolis, its Byzantine fort, the Heptapyrgion
and the city's remaining walls, with many of its additional Ottoman and
Byzantine structures still standing. The area provides access to the Seich Sou Forest National Park and features amphitheatric views of the whole city and the Thermaic Gulf. On clear days Mount Olympus, at about 100 km (62 mi) away across the gulf, can also be seen towering the horizon.
Southeastern Thessaloniki
Southeastern Thessaloniki up until the 1920s was home to the city's
most affluent residents and formed the outermost suburbs of the city at
the time, with the area close to the Thermaic Gulf coast called Exoches,
meaning 'the countryside'. Today southeastern Thessaloniki has in some
way become a natural extension of the city center, with the avenues of
Megalou Alexandrou, Georgiou Papandreou (Antheon), Vasilisis Olgas,
Delfon, Konstantinou Karamanli (Nea Egnatia) and Papanastasiou passing
through it; and the area extending to Kalamaria and Pylaia, about 9 km (5.59 mi) from the White Tower in the city centre.
Southeastern Thessaloniki is characterized by its modern architecture
and apartment buildings, home to the middle-class and more than half of
the municipality of Thessaloniki population. Today this area of the
city is also home to 3 of the city's main football stadiums, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, the Posidonio
aquatic and athletic complex and to many restored mansions of past
affluent residents of the city, which today serve as museums or cultural
centers. The municipality of Kalamaria
is also located in southeastern Thessaloniki and has become this part
of the city's most sought after areas, with many open spaces and home to
high end bars, cafés and entertainment venues, most notably on Plastira
street, along the coast.
Northwestern Thessaloniki
Northwestern Thessaloniki had always been associated with industry
and the working class because as the city grew during the 1920s, many
workers had moved there, due to its proximity near factories and
industrial activities. Today many factories and industries have been
moved further out west and the area is experiencing rapid growth as does
the southeast. Many factories in this area have been converted to
cultural centres, while past military grounds that are being surrounded
by densely built neighborhoods are awaiting transformation into
parklands.
Northwest Thessaloniki forms the main entry point into the city of
Thessaloniki with the avenues of Monastiriou, Lagkada and 26is Octovriou
passing through it, as well as the extension of the A1 motorway,
feeding into Thessaloniki's city center. The area is home to the
Macedonia InterCity Bus Terminal (KTEL), the Zeitenlik Allied memorial military cemetery and to large entertainment venues of the city, such as Milos, Fix, Vilka (which are housed in converted old factories). Northwestern Thessaloniki is also home to Moni Lazariston, located in Stavroupoli, which today forms one of the most important cultural centers for the city.
Paleochristian and Byzantine monuments (UNESCO)
Due to Thessaloniki's importance during the early Christian and Byzantine periods, the city is host to several paleochristian monuments that have significantly contributed to the development of Byzantine art and architecture throughout the Byzantine Empire as well as Serbia. The evolution of Imperial Byzantine architecture and the prosperity of Thessaloniki go hand in hand, especially during the first years of the Empire, when the city continued to flourish. It was at that time that the Complex of Roman emperor Galerius was built, as well as the first church of Hagios Demetrios.
By the 8th century, the city had become an important administrative center of the Byzantine Empire, and handled much of the Empire's Balkan affairs. During that time, the city saw the creation of more notable Christian churches that are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as Hagia Sophia of Thessaloniki, the Rotunda of Saint George, the Church of the Acheiropoietos, the Church of Panagia Chalkeon. When the Ottoman Empire took control of Thessaloniki in 1430, most of the city's churches were converted into mosques, but have survived to this day. Travelers such as Paul Lucas and Abdul Mecid document the city's wealth in Christian monuments during the years of the Ottoman control of the city.
The church of Hagios Demetrios was burnt down during the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, as did many other of the city's monuments, but it was rebuilt. During the Second World War,
the city was extensively bombed and as such many of Thessaloniki's
paleochristian and Byzantine monuments were heavily damaged. Some of the sites were not restored until the 1980s. Thessaloniki has more UNESCO World Heritage Sites listed than any other city in Greece, a total of 15 monuments. They have been listed since 1988.
Thessaloniki 2012 Program
In regards to the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Thessaloniki into Greece,
during 1912, the government announced a large-scale redevelopment
program for the city of Thessaloniki, which aims in addressing the
current environmental and spatial problems that the city faces. More specifically, the program will drastically change the physiognomy of the city by relocating the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center and grounds of the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair outside the city centre and turning the current location into a large metropolitan park, redeveloping the coastal front of the city,
relocating the city's numerous military camps and using the grounds and
facilities to create large parklands and cultural centers; and the complete redevelopment of the harbor and the Lachanokipoi and Dendropotamos districts (behind and near the Port of Thessaloniki) into a commercial business district, with possible highrise developments.
The plan also envisions the creation of new wide avenues in the outskirts of the city and the creation of pedestrian-only zones in the city center. Furthermore, the program includes plans to expand the jurisdiction of Seich Sou Forest National Park and the improvement of accessibility to and from the Old Town. The ministry has said that the project will take an estimated 15 years to be completed, in 2025.
Part of the plan has been implemented with the revitalization of half the eastern urban waterfront/promenade, Nea Paralia (Greek: Νέα Παραλία, literally new beach),
with a modern and vibrant design. The municipality of Thessaloniki's
budget for the reconstruction of important areas of the city and most
notably the rest of the waterfront, is estimated to be around €28.2 million (US$39.9 million) for the year 2011 alone.
As of August 2011 work on the rest of the plan for the revilatization
of the waterfront has began, stretching from the Thessaloniki yacht
club to the White Tower. It is estimated that the new parks will be completed within the next two years at a total cost of over 20 million euro. Once complete, the entire city's Nea Paralia
(waterfront) will feature a total of 12 thematic gardens/parks and an
uninterrupted promenade, spanning for 3 km (2 mi) along the coast.
Culture
Leisure and entertainment
Thessaloniki is not only regarded as the cultural and entertainment capital of northern Greece but also the cultural capital of the country. The city's main theaters, run by the National Theatre of Northern Greece (Greek: Κρατικό Θέατρο Βορείου Ελλάδος) which was established in 1961, include the Theater of the Society of Macedonian Studies, where the National Theater is based, the Royal Theater, the first base of the National Theater, Moni Lazariston, and the Earth Theater and Forest Theater, both amphitheatrical open-air theatres overlooking the city. The title of the European Capital of Culture in 1997 saw the birth of the city's first opera and today forms an independent section of the National Theatre of Northern Greece. The opera is based at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, one of the largest concert halls in Greece. Recently a second building was also constructed and designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Thessaloniki is also the seat of two symphony orchestras, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the Municipality of Thessaloniki. Olympion Theater, the site of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Plateia Assos Odeon multiplex are the two major cinemas in downtown Thessaloniki. The city also has a number of multiplex cinemas in major shopping malls in the suburbs, most notably in Mediterranean Cosmos, the largest retail and entertainment development in the Balkans.
Thessaloniki is renowned for its major shopping streets and lively laneways. Tsimiski Street and Proxenou Koromila avenue are the city's most famous shopping streets and are among Greece's most expensive and exclusive high streets. The city is also home to one of Greece's most famous and prestigious hotels, Makedonia Palace hotel, the Hyatt Regency Casino and hotel (the biggest casino in Greece and one of the biggest in Europe) and Waterland, the largest water park in southeastern Europe.
The city has always been known between Greeks for its vibrant city culture, including having the most cafe's and bars per-capita than any other city in Europe; and as having some of the best nightlife
and entertainment in the country, thanks to its large young population
and multicultural feel. Only recently has the city been exposing itself
to the world and becoming more known for what it is, with Lonely Planet listing Thessaloniki as the world's fifth-best "ultimate party city".
Parks and recreation
Although Thessaloniki is not renowned for its parks and greenery
throughout its urban area, where green spaces are few, it has several
large open spaces around its waterfront, namely the central city gardens
of ΧΑΝΘ/Palios Zoologikos Kipos (which is recently being redeveloped to also include rock climbing facilities, a new skatepark and paintball range), the park of Pedio tou Areos, pulling in crowds throughout the year, and the parks of the Nea Paralia (waterfront) that span for 3 km (2 mi) along the coast, from the White Tower to the concert hall.
The Nea Paralia parks are used throughout the year for a
variety of events, while they open up to the Thessaloniki waterfront,
which is lined up with several cafés and bars; and during summer is full
of Thessalonians enjoying their long evening walks (referred to as "the volta"
and is embedded into the culture of the city). Today half of the
waterfront has been revitalised, while works have already started for
the revitalisation of the rest, to include a further 8 thematic gardens
with the large modernisation overhaul.
Thessaloniki's proximity to places such as the national parks of Pieria and beaches of Chalkidiki often allow its residents to easily have access to some of the best outdoor recreation in Europe, however the city is also right next to the Seich Sou
forest national park, just 3.5 km (2 mi) away from Thessaloniki's city
center; and offers residents and visitors alike, quiet viewpoints
towards the city, mountain bike trails and landscaped hiking paths. The city's zoo, which is operated by the municipality of Thessaloniki, is also located nearby the national park.
Other recreation spaces throughout the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area include the Fragma Thermis, a landscaped parkland near Thermi and the Delta wetlands west of the city center; while urban beaches that have continuously been awarded the blue flags, are located along the 10 km (6 mi) coastline of Thessaloniki's southeastern suburbs of Thermaikos, about 20 km (12 mi) away from the city center.
Museums and galleries
Due to the city's rich and diverse history, Thessaloniki houses many
museums dealing with many different eras in history. Two of the city
center's most famous museums include the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Museum of Byzantine Culture.
The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki was established in 1962 and houses some of the most important ancient Macedonian artifacts, including an extensive collection of golden artwork from the royal palaces of Aigai and Pella. It also houses exhibits from Macedon's prehistoric past, dating from the Neolithic to the Bronze age. The Prehistoric Antiquities Museum of Thessaloniki has exhibits from those periods as well.
The Museum of Byzantine Culture is one of the city's most famous museums, showcasing the city's glorious Byzantine past. The museum was also awarded Council of Europe's museum prize in 2005. The museum of the White Tower of Thessaloniki houses a series of galleries relating to the city's past, from the creation of the White Tower until recent years.
One of the most modern museums in the city is the Thessaloniki Science Center and Technology Museum and is one of the most high-tech museums in Greece and southeastern Europe. It features the largest planetarium in Greece, a cosmotheater with the largest flat screen in Greece, an amphitheater, a motion simulator with 3D projection and 6-axis movement and exhibition spaces. Other industrial and technological museums in the city include the Railway Museum of Thessaloniki, which houses an original Orient Express train, the War Museum of Thessaloniki and others. The city also has a number of educational and sports museums, including the Thessaloniki Olympic Museum and the Sports Museum of Thessaloniki.
The Atatürk Museum in Thessaloniki is the historic house where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern-day Turkey, was born. The house is now part of the Turkish consulate complex, but admission to the museum is free. The museum contains historic information about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his life, especially while he was in Thessaloniki. Other ethnological museums of the sort include the Historical Museum of the Balkan Wars, the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki and the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, containing information about the freedom fighters in Macedonia and their struggle to liberate the region from the Ottoman yoke.
The city also has a number of important art galleries. Such include the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, housing exhibitions from a number of well-known Greek and foreign artists. The Teloglion Foundation of Art is part of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
and includes an extensive collection of works by important artists of
the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by prominent Greeks and native Thessalonians. The Thessaloniki Museum of Photography also houses a number of important exhibitions, and is located within the old port of Thessaloniki.
Archaeological sites
Thessaloniki is home to a number of prominent archaeological sites. Apart from its recognized UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Thessaloniki features a large two-terraced roman forum featuring two-storey stoas, dug up by accident in the 1960s. The forum complex also boasts two Roman baths, one of which has been excavated while the other is buried underneath the city. The forum also features a small theater, which was also used for gladiatorial games. Although the initial complex was not built in Roman times, it was largely refurbished in the 2nd century. It is believed that the forum and the theater continued to be used until at least the 6th century.
Another important archaeological site is the imperial palace complex which Roman emperor Galerius commissioned when he made Thessaloniki the capital of his portion of the Roman Empire.
The large octagonal portion of the complex, most of which survives to
this day, is believed to have been an imperial throne room. Various mosaics from the palatial complex have also survived. Some historians believe that the complex must have been in use as an imperial residence until the 11th century.
Not far from the palace itself is the Arch of Galerius, known colloquially as the Kamara. The arch was built to commemorate the emperor's campaigns against the Persians. The original structure featured three arches, however only two full arches and part of the third survive to this day. Many of the arches' marble parts survive as well, although it is mostly the brick interior that can be seen today.
Other monuments of the city's past, such as the Incantadas, a Caryatid
portico from the ancient forum, have been removed or destroyed over the
years. The Incantadas in particular are on display at the Louvre.
Thanks to a private donation of €180,000, it was announced on 6
December 2011 that a replica of the Incantadas would be commissioned and
later put on display in Thessaloniki.
Cuisine
Bougatsa (Turkish: Poğaça), a breakfast pastry invented in Thessaloniki, is very popular throughout the city, and has spread around other parts of Greece and the Balkans as well. A stereotypical Thessalonian coffee drink is Frappé coffee. Frappé was invented in the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair in 1957 and has since spread throughout Greece and Cyprus to become a hallmark of the Greek coffee culture.
Festivals
Thessaloniki is home of a number of festivals and events. The Thessaloniki International Trade Fair
is the most important event to be hosted in the city annually, by means
of economic development. It was first established in 1926 and takes place every year at the 180,000 m2 (1,937,503.88 sq ft) Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center. The event attracts major political attention and it is customary for the Prime Minister of Greece
to outline his administration's policies for the next year, during
event. Over 250,000 visitors attended the exposition in 2010.
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is established as one of the most important film festivals in Southern Europe, with a number of notable film makers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Faye Dunaway, Catherine Deneuve, Irene Papas and Fatih Akın taking part, and was established in 1960. The Documentary Festival,
founded in 1999, has focused on documentaries that explore global
social and cultural developments, with many of the films presented being
candidates for FIPRESCI and Audience Awards.
The Dimitria festival, founded in 1966 and named after the city's patron saint of St. Demetrius, has focused on a wide range of events including music, theatre, dance, local happenings, and exhibitions.The "DMC DJ Championship"
has been hosted at the International Trade Fair of Thessaloniki and has
become a worldwide event for aspiring DJs and turntablists. The
"International Festival of Photography" has taken place every February
to mid-April.Exhibitions for the event are sited in museums, heritage landmarks,
galleries, bookshops and cafés. Thessaloniki also holds an annual
International Book Fair.
Between 1962–1997 and 2005–2008 the city also hosted the Thessaloniki Song Festival, Greece's most important music festival, at Alexandreio Melathron.
References
- Apostolos Papagiannopoulos,Monuments of Thessaloniki, Rekos Ltd, date unknown.
- Apostolos P. Vacalopoulos, A History of Thessaloniki, Institute for Balkan Studies,1972.
- John R. Melville-Jones, 'Venice and Thessalonica 1423–1430 Vol I, The Venetian Accounts, Vol. II, the Greek Accounts, Unipress, Padova, 2002 and 2006 (the latter work contains English translations of accounts of the events of this period by St Symeon of Thessaloniki and John Anagnostes).
- Thessaloniki: Tourist guide and street map, A. Kessopoulos, Malliarēs-Paideia, 1988.
- Vilma Hastaoglou-Martinidis (ed.), Restructuring the City: International Urban Design Competitions for Thessaloniki, Andreas Papadakis, 1999.
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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
Article 1:2:2 Sacrament of Baptism
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
II. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation
Prefigurations
of Baptism in the Old Covenant
1217
In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water,
the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history that
already prefigured the mystery of Baptism:
Father, you give us grace
through sacramental signs which tell us of the wonders of your unseen power.
In Baptism we use your gift of
water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this
sacrament.Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of Water
1218
Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature,
has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as
"oveshadowed" by the Spirit of God:Gen 1:2
At the very dawn of creation
your Spirit breathed on the
waters,
making them the wellspring of
all holiness.Roman
Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of Water
1219
The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by
it "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through
water":1 Pet 3:20
The waters of the great flood
you made a sign of the waters
of Baptism,
that make an end of sin and a
new beginning of goodness.Roman
Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of Water
1220
If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a
symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this
symbolism Baptism signifies communion with Christ's death.
1221
But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel
from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism:
You freed the children of
Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh,
bringing them dry-shod through
the waters of the Red Sea,
to be an image of the people
set free in Baptism. Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 42: Blessing of Water: "Abrahae
filios per mare Rubrum sicco vestigio transire fecisti, ut plebs, a Pharaonis
servitute liberata, populum baptizatorum praefiguraret."
servitute liberata, populum baptizatorum praefiguraret."
1222
Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the
People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants,
an image of eternal life. the promise of this blessed inheritance is fulfilled
in the New Covenant.
Christ's
Baptism
1223
All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He
begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in
the Jordan.Mt 3:13 After his resurrection Christ gives this mission to his
apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you."Mt 28:19-20; cf.
⇒ Mk 16:15-16
1224
Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for
sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness."Mt 3:15 Jesus'
gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying.Phil 2:7 The Spirit who had
hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a
prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as his "beloved
Son."Mt 3:16-17
1225
In his Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had
already spoken of his Passion, which he was about to suffer in Jerusalem, as a
"Baptism" with which he had to be baptized.Mk 10:38; cf.
⇒ Lk 12:50 The blood and
water that flowed from the pierced side of the crucified Jesus are types of
Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments of new life. Jn 19:34;
⇒ 1 Jn 5:6-8 From then on,
it is possible "to be born of water and the Spirit"Jn 3:5 in
order to enter the Kingdom of God.
See where you are baptized,
see where Baptism comes from, if not from the cross of Christ, from his death.
There is the whole mystery: he died for you. In him you are redeemed, in him
you are saved.St. Ambrose, De sacr. 2, 2, 6: PL 16, 444; cf.
⇒ Jn 3:5
Baptism in
the Church
1226
From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy
Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching:
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit."Acts 2:38 The apostles and their collaborators offer Baptism to
anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing, pagans.Acts 2:41;
⇒ 8:12-13;
⇒ 10:48;
⇒ 16:15 Always,
Baptism is seen as connected with faith: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and
you will be saved, you and your household," St. Paul declared to his
jailer in Philippi. and the narrative continues, the jailer "was baptized
at once, with all his family." Acts 16:31-33
1227
According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into
communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him:
Do you not know that all of us
who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were
buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of
life.Rom 6:3-4; cf.
⇒ Col 2:12
The
baptized have "put on Christ."Gal 3:27 Through the Holy Spirit,
Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies. 1 Cor 6:11;
⇒ 12:13
1228
Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of
the Word of God produces its life-giving effect.1 Pet 1:23; cf. ⇒ Eph 5:26 St. Augustine says
of Baptism: "The word is brought to the material element, and it becomes a
sacrament."St. Augustine, In Jo. ev. 80, 3: PL 35, 1840
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