Sunday, December 22, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:
Hope, Psalms 24:1-6, Isaiah 7:10-14, Matthew 1:18-24, Pope Francis Daily - The Grace to Love Silence, Saint Nicholas, Basilica of Saint Nicholas, Virtue of Faith and How Most Holy Mary Practiced It, Catholic Catechism Part Three: Life in Christ Section Two: The Ten Commandments Chapter One: First Commandment Article 1:3-4 "You Shall Have
No Other Gods Before Me - You Shall Not
Make For Yourself a Graven Image " - In Brief
From Our Family to Yours, We Wish you a Merry Christmas
From Our Family to Yours, We Wish you a Merry Christmas
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.
"I have the will, with God, I will find the Way" ~ Zarya Parx 2013
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, reason and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. The Seven Gifts of
the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the
Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun
the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and
gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2012
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2011
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Prayers for Today: Sunday in Advent
Rosary - Glorious Mysteries
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis December 22 Daily:
The Grace to Love the Silence
(2013-12-22 Vatican Radio)
Only silence guards the mystery of the journey that a person walks with God, said Pope Francis in his homily at Mass on Friday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. May the Lord, the Pope added, give us “the grace to love the silence”, which needs to be guarded from all publicity.
In the history of salvation, neither in the clamour nor in the blatant, but the shadows and the silence are the places in which God chose to reveal himself to humankind.
The imperceptible reality from which his mystery, from time to time, took visible form, took flesh. The Pope’s reflections were inspired by the Annunciation, which was today’s Gospel reading, in particular the passage in which the angel tells Mary that the power of the Most High would “overshadow” her. The shadow, which has almost the same quality as the cloud, with which God protected the Jews in the desert, the Pope said.
“The Lord always took care of the mystery and hid the mystery. He did not publicize the mystery. A mystery that publicizes itself is not Christian; it is not the mystery of God: it is a fake mystery! And this is what happened to Our Lady, when she received her Son: the mystery of her virginal motherhood is hidden. It is hidden her whole life! And she knew it. This shadow of God in our lives helps us to discover our own mystery: the mystery of our encounter with the Lord, our mystery of our life’s journey with the Lord.”
“Each of us,” affirmed the Pope, “knows how mysteriously the Lord works in our hearts, in our souls.” And what is “the cloud, the power, the way the Holy Spirit covers our mystery?”
“This cloud in us, in our lives is called silence: the silence is exactly the cloud that covers the mystery of our relationship with the Lord, of our holiness and of our sins. This mystery that we cannot explain. But when there is no silence in our lives, the mystery is lost, it goes away. Guarding the mystery with silence! That is the cloud, that is the power of God for us, that is the strength of the Holy Spirit.”
The Mother of Jesus was the perfect icon of silence. From the proclamation of her exceptional maternity at Calvary. The Pope said he thinks about “how many times she remained quiet and how many times she did not say that which she felt in order to guard the mystery of her relationship with her Son,” up until the most raw silence “at the foot of the cross”.
“The Gospel does not tell us anything: if she spoke a word or not… She was silent, but in her heart, how many things told the Lord! ‘You, that day, this and the other that we read, you had told me that he would be great, you had told me that you would have given him the throne of David, his forefather, that he would have reigned forever and now I see him there!’ Our Lady was human! And perhaps she even had the desire to say: ‘Lies! I was deceived!’ John Paul II would say this, speaking about Our Lady in that moment. But she, with her silence, hid the mystery that she did not understand and with this silence allowed for this mystery to grow and blossom in hope.”
“Silence is that which guards the mystery,” for which the mystery “of our relationship with God, of our journey, of our salvation cannot be… publicized,” the Pope repeated.
“May the Lord give all of us the grace to love the silence, to seek him and to have a heart that is guarded by the cloud of silence,” he said.
Only silence guards the mystery of the journey that a person walks with God, said Pope Francis in his homily at Mass on Friday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. May the Lord, the Pope added, give us “the grace to love the silence”, which needs to be guarded from all publicity.
In the history of salvation, neither in the clamour nor in the blatant, but the shadows and the silence are the places in which God chose to reveal himself to humankind.
The imperceptible reality from which his mystery, from time to time, took visible form, took flesh. The Pope’s reflections were inspired by the Annunciation, which was today’s Gospel reading, in particular the passage in which the angel tells Mary that the power of the Most High would “overshadow” her. The shadow, which has almost the same quality as the cloud, with which God protected the Jews in the desert, the Pope said.
“The Lord always took care of the mystery and hid the mystery. He did not publicize the mystery. A mystery that publicizes itself is not Christian; it is not the mystery of God: it is a fake mystery! And this is what happened to Our Lady, when she received her Son: the mystery of her virginal motherhood is hidden. It is hidden her whole life! And she knew it. This shadow of God in our lives helps us to discover our own mystery: the mystery of our encounter with the Lord, our mystery of our life’s journey with the Lord.”
“Each of us,” affirmed the Pope, “knows how mysteriously the Lord works in our hearts, in our souls.” And what is “the cloud, the power, the way the Holy Spirit covers our mystery?”
“This cloud in us, in our lives is called silence: the silence is exactly the cloud that covers the mystery of our relationship with the Lord, of our holiness and of our sins. This mystery that we cannot explain. But when there is no silence in our lives, the mystery is lost, it goes away. Guarding the mystery with silence! That is the cloud, that is the power of God for us, that is the strength of the Holy Spirit.”
The Mother of Jesus was the perfect icon of silence. From the proclamation of her exceptional maternity at Calvary. The Pope said he thinks about “how many times she remained quiet and how many times she did not say that which she felt in order to guard the mystery of her relationship with her Son,” up until the most raw silence “at the foot of the cross”.
“The Gospel does not tell us anything: if she spoke a word or not… She was silent, but in her heart, how many things told the Lord! ‘You, that day, this and the other that we read, you had told me that he would be great, you had told me that you would have given him the throne of David, his forefather, that he would have reigned forever and now I see him there!’ Our Lady was human! And perhaps she even had the desire to say: ‘Lies! I was deceived!’ John Paul II would say this, speaking about Our Lady in that moment. But she, with her silence, hid the mystery that she did not understand and with this silence allowed for this mystery to grow and blossom in hope.”
“Silence is that which guards the mystery,” for which the mystery “of our relationship with God, of our journey, of our salvation cannot be… publicized,” the Pope repeated.
“May the Lord give all of us the grace to love the silence, to seek him and to have a heart that is guarded by the cloud of silence,” he said.
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Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: Winter
Vatican City, Winter 2013 (VIS)
Victimized Children. That children who are victims of abandonment or violence may find the love and protection they need.
Prepare the Savior's Coming. That Christians, enlightened by the Word incarnate, may prepare humanity for the Savior's coming.
Vatican liturgical celebrations presided by the Holy Father thru January 2014
DECEMBER
Sunday 1 December, first Sunday of Advent: pastoral visit to the Roman parish of “San Cirillo Alessandrino”; Mass at 6 p.m.
Sunday
8 December, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary: Homage to Mary Immaculate, at 4 p.m. at Piazza di Spagna.
Tuesday
24 December, Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord: Midnight Mass at
21.30 p.m. in the Papal Chapel of the Vatican Basilica.
Wednesday 25
December, Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord: “Urbi et Orbi” blessing
at 12 p.m. from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica.
Tuesday
31 December: celebration of the first Vespers and Te Deum for the
Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, thanksgiving for the past year, 5 p.m.
in the Vatican Basilica.
JANUARY
Wednesday 1 January, Solemnity of Mary Mother of God: and 47th World Day of Peace, Mass in the Vatican Basilica at 10 a.m.
Monday 6 January, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord: Mass in the Vatican Basilica at 10 a.m.
Sunday
12 January, First Sunday after the Epiphany, Feast of the Baptism of
the Lord: Mass and baptism of newborns in the Sistine Chapel at 9.45
a.m.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 12/22/2013.
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November 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you to love; to
continually pray for the gift of love; to love the Heavenly Father above
everything. When you love Him you will love yourself and your neighbor.
This cannot be separated. The Heavenly Father is in each person. He
loves each person and calls each person by his name. Therefore, my
children, through prayer hearken to the will of the Heavenly Father.
Converse with Him. Have a personal relationship with the Father which
will deepen even more your relationship as a community of my children –
of my apostles. As a mother I desire that, through the love for the
Heavenly Father, you may be raised above earthly vanities and may help
others to gradually come to know and come closer to the Heavenly Father.
My children, pray, pray, pray for the gift of love because 'love' is my
Son. Pray for your shepherds that they may always have love for you as
my Son had and showed by giving His life for your salvation. Thank you."
October 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: “Dear children! Today I call you to open yourselves to prayer. Prayer works miracles in you and through you. Therefore, little children, in the simplicity of heart seek of the Most High to give you the strength to be God’s children and for Satan not to shake you like the wind shakes the branches. Little children, decide for God anew and seek only His will – and then you will find joy and peace in Him. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
October 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, I love you with a motherly love and with a motherly patience I wait for your love and unity. I pray that you may be a community of God’s children, of my children. I pray that as a community you may joyfully come back to life in the faith and in the love of my Son. My children, I am gathering you as my apostles and am teaching you how to bring others to come to know the love of my Son; how to bring to them the Good News, which is my Son. Give me your open, purified hearts and I will fill them with the love for my Son. His love will give meaning to your life and I will walk with you. I will be with you until the meeting with the Heavenly Father. My children, it is those who walk towards the Heavenly Father with love and faith who will be saved. Do not be afraid, I am with you. Put your trust in your shepherds as my Son trusted when he chose them, and pray that they may have the strength and the love to lead you. Thank you." - See more at: http://litanylane.blogspot.com/2013/11/tuesday-november-12-2013-litany-lane.html#sthash.1QAVruYo.bk3E9rXR.dpuf
October 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: “Dear children! Today I call you to open yourselves to prayer. Prayer works miracles in you and through you. Therefore, little children, in the simplicity of heart seek of the Most High to give you the strength to be God’s children and for Satan not to shake you like the wind shakes the branches. Little children, decide for God anew and seek only His will – and then you will find joy and peace in Him. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
October 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World: "Dear children, I love you with a motherly love and with a motherly patience I wait for your love and unity. I pray that you may be a community of God’s children, of my children. I pray that as a community you may joyfully come back to life in the faith and in the love of my Son. My children, I am gathering you as my apostles and am teaching you how to bring others to come to know the love of my Son; how to bring to them the Good News, which is my Son. Give me your open, purified hearts and I will fill them with the love for my Son. His love will give meaning to your life and I will walk with you. I will be with you until the meeting with the Heavenly Father. My children, it is those who walk towards the Heavenly Father with love and faith who will be saved. Do not be afraid, I am with you. Put your trust in your shepherds as my Son trusted when he chose them, and pray that they may have the strength and the love to lead you. Thank you." - See more at: http://litanylane.blogspot.com/2013/11/tuesday-november-12-2013-litany-lane.html#sthash.1QAVruYo.bk3E9rXR.dpuf
Today's Word: hope hope [hohp]
Origin: before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English hopa; cognate with Dutch hoop, German Hoffe; (v.) Middle English hopen, Old English hopian
noun
1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.
2. a particular instance of this feeling: the hope of winning.
3. grounds for this feeling in a particular instance: There is little or no hope of his recovery.
4. a person or thing in which expectations are centered: The medicine was her last hope.
5. something that is hoped for: Her forgiveness is my constant hope.
verb (used with object), hoped, hop·ing.
6. to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.
7. to believe, desire, or trust: I hope that my work will be satisfactory.
verb (used without object), hoped, hop·ing.
8. to feel that something desired may happen: We hope for an early spring.
9. Archaic. to place trust; rely (usually followed by in ).
Idioms
10. hope against hope, to continue to hope, although the outlook does not warrant it: We are hoping against hope for a change in her condition.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 24:1-6
1 [Psalm Of David] To Yahweh belong the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live there;2 it is he who laid its foundations on the seas, on the flowing waters fixed it firm.
3 Who shall go up to the mountain of Yahweh? Who shall take a stand in his holy place?
4 The clean of hands and pure of heart, whose heart is not set on vanities, who does not swear an oath in order to deceive.
5 Such a one will receive blessing from Yahweh, saving justice from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the people that seeks him, that seeks your presence, God of Jacob
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Today's Epistle - Isaiah 7:10-14
10 Yahweh spoke to Ahaz again and said:
11 Ask Yahweh your God for a sign, either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above.
12 But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test.'
13 He then said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying human patience that you should try my God's patience too?
14 The Lord will give you a sign in any case: It is this: the young woman is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Matthew 1: 18-24
The justice of Joseph saved Mary’s life
Matthew 1, 18-24
Matthew 1, 18-24
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us
to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them
to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the
Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the
presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death.
Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for
them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.
2. Reading
a) Key for reading:
The majority of the members of the
Christian Communities in Palestine and in Syria, for whom
Matthew wrote his Gospel, were converted Jews. They accepted
Jesus as Messiah and believed in Him. They were persecuted
because of their faith. Their brother Jews said to them: “You
Christians are deceived! Jesus is not, nor can he be the Messiah!”
In the text which we are meditating on this Sunday, the concern
of Matthew is evident, he wants to confirm the faith of the
communities. It is as if he wished to tell us: “You do not
live deceived! Jesus is truly the Messiah! “The intention of
Matthew in chapters one and two of his Gospel is to inform
the readers concerning Jesus, whose activity will be
described beginning in chapter three. In the first two chapters,
Matthew presents the credentials of Jesus, the new Legislator, the
new Moses. In the genealogy (Mt 1, 1-17), he had already
shown that Jesus belongs to the race of David and of Abraham
(Mt 1, 1). In these verses (Mt 1, 18-25) Matthew continues to
present Jesus to us describing his birth. He says how Joseph
received the news that Mary was with child and, the
prophecies which will be realized with the birth of Jesus,
showing that he is the expected Messiah. During the reading, it is well
to pay attention to what the text tells us on the person of
Jesus, especially in what concerns the significance of the
two names that he receives.
b) A division of the text to help the reading:
Matthew 1, 18: A legal irregularity in Mary
Matthew 1, 19: The justice of Joseph
Matthew 1, 20-21: The explanation or elucidation by the Angel
Matthew 1, 21-23: The melody in Matthew’s Gospel
Matthew 1, 24-25: The obedience of Joseph.
Matthew 1, 19: The justice of Joseph
Matthew 1, 20-21: The explanation or elucidation by the Angel
Matthew 1, 21-23: The melody in Matthew’s Gospel
Matthew 1, 24-25: The obedience of Joseph.
c) The Gospel:
18 This is
how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed
to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be
with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph,
being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace,
decided to divorce her informally. 20 He had made up his mind
to do this when suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has
conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth
to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who
is to save his people from their sins.' 22 Now all this
took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the
prophet: 23 Look! the virgin is with child and will give birth to
a son whom they will call Immanuel, a name which means
'God-is-with-us'. 24 When Joseph woke up he did what the
angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his
home; 25 he had not had intercourse with her when she gave
birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.
3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
4. Some questions
to help us in our personal reflection.
i) Which point of this text struck you the most? Why?
ii) According to the words of the Angel, who is the Son who will be born of Mary?
iii) According to the words of Matthew, which prophecy of the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus?
iv) Which are the two names which the Child receives and which is God’s project hidden in these names?
v) How is Joseph’s attitude to be understood? What does this attitude teach us?
vi) In what exactly does Joseph’s “justice” consist?
vii) Which is our justice, compared with that of Joseph?
i) Which point of this text struck you the most? Why?
ii) According to the words of the Angel, who is the Son who will be born of Mary?
iii) According to the words of Matthew, which prophecy of the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus?
iv) Which are the two names which the Child receives and which is God’s project hidden in these names?
v) How is Joseph’s attitude to be understood? What does this attitude teach us?
vi) In what exactly does Joseph’s “justice” consist?
vii) Which is our justice, compared with that of Joseph?
5. For those who desire to go deeper into the theme:
Context of the evangelic text:
The genealogy of Jesus (Mt 1, 1-17)
leaves us with a question. Next to the names of the forty-two
paternal ancestors of Jesus (Mt 1, 17), Matthew gives the
names of four maternal ancestors only: Tamar (Mt 1, 3),
Rahab, Ruth (Mt 1, 4) and the wife of Uriah (Mt 1, 6). The
four women conceived their sons outside the parameters of
purity or of the legal justice of that time. Therefore, the state of
these four women is irregular before the Law. The irregularity
of these four ancestors is evident. It is sufficient to read
the texts of the Old Testament where their story is
described. And thus, at the end of the genealogy arises a
question: “And Mary, the spouse of Joseph, from whom Jesus is
born (Mt 1, 16), does she also incur in some irregularity of
a legal type? The text on which we are meditating this Sunday speaks
about this.
Commentary on the text:
Matthew 1, 18: A legal irregularity in Mary
Mary is with child before going to live with Joseph, her promised spouse. The one who looks at things from outside is aware of an irregularity and will say: “Mary, how horrible!” According to the law of Moses, these errors merited a death penalty (Dt 22, 20). To avoid this mistaken interpretation of facts, Matthew helps the reader to see the other aspect of Mary’s pregnancy: “She conceived by the Holy Spirit”. To human eyes this may seem a transgression of the Law, but in God’s eyes this was exactly the contrary!
Mary is with child before going to live with Joseph, her promised spouse. The one who looks at things from outside is aware of an irregularity and will say: “Mary, how horrible!” According to the law of Moses, these errors merited a death penalty (Dt 22, 20). To avoid this mistaken interpretation of facts, Matthew helps the reader to see the other aspect of Mary’s pregnancy: “She conceived by the Holy Spirit”. To human eyes this may seem a transgression of the Law, but in God’s eyes this was exactly the contrary!
Matthew 1, 19: The justice of Joseph
The pregnancy of Mary takes place before she went to live with Joseph, not because of a human deviation, but because of the divine will. God himself made fun of the law of legal purity in such a way as to make the Messiah be born among us! If Joseph had acted according to the requirements of the law of that time, he would have had to denounce Mary and possibly she would have been stoned. Pregnancy before marriage is irregular and according to the law of legal purity, she should be punished with the death penalty (Dt 22, 20). But Joseph, because he is just, does not obey the requirements of the law of purity. His justice is greater. Instead of denouncing, he prefers to respect the mystery which he does not understand and decides to abandon Mary in secret. The greatest justice of Joseph saves both the life of Mary and that of Jesus. Thus, Matthew sends an important message to the communities of Palestine and Syria. It is as if said: “Behold, what would happen if the rigorous observance would be followed, which certain Pharisees demand from you! They would put the Messiah to death!” Later Jesus will say: “If your justice is not greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5, 20).
The pregnancy of Mary takes place before she went to live with Joseph, not because of a human deviation, but because of the divine will. God himself made fun of the law of legal purity in such a way as to make the Messiah be born among us! If Joseph had acted according to the requirements of the law of that time, he would have had to denounce Mary and possibly she would have been stoned. Pregnancy before marriage is irregular and according to the law of legal purity, she should be punished with the death penalty (Dt 22, 20). But Joseph, because he is just, does not obey the requirements of the law of purity. His justice is greater. Instead of denouncing, he prefers to respect the mystery which he does not understand and decides to abandon Mary in secret. The greatest justice of Joseph saves both the life of Mary and that of Jesus. Thus, Matthew sends an important message to the communities of Palestine and Syria. It is as if said: “Behold, what would happen if the rigorous observance would be followed, which certain Pharisees demand from you! They would put the Messiah to death!” Later Jesus will say: “If your justice is not greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5, 20).
Matthew 1, 20-21: The explanation or elucidation of the Angel and the two names of the Son of Mary: Jesus and Immanuel.
“The Angel of the Lord” helps to discover the deepest dimension of life and of events. He helps to make an X-Ray of events and to perceive God’s call which with our human eyes alone we cannot perceive. The Angel makes Joseph understand that Mary’s pregnancy is the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit. God himself, the day of creation, blew over the waters and filled with force the creating Word of God (Gen 1, 2). The new creation takes place in Mary. It is the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth, announced by Isaiah (Is 65, 17). The Son of Mary receives two names: Jesus and Immanuel. Jesus means “Yahweh saves”. Salvation does not come from what we do but from God, rather from what God does for us. Immanuel means “God with us”. In the Exodus, when getting out of Egypt, God goes down to be with the oppressed people (Ex 3, 8) and tells Moses: “I will be with you” (Ex 3, 12) and from that moment on he never abandons his people. The two names, Jesus and Immanuel, render concrete, and even go beyond the hope of the people.
“The Angel of the Lord” helps to discover the deepest dimension of life and of events. He helps to make an X-Ray of events and to perceive God’s call which with our human eyes alone we cannot perceive. The Angel makes Joseph understand that Mary’s pregnancy is the fruit of the action of the Holy Spirit. God himself, the day of creation, blew over the waters and filled with force the creating Word of God (Gen 1, 2). The new creation takes place in Mary. It is the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth, announced by Isaiah (Is 65, 17). The Son of Mary receives two names: Jesus and Immanuel. Jesus means “Yahweh saves”. Salvation does not come from what we do but from God, rather from what God does for us. Immanuel means “God with us”. In the Exodus, when getting out of Egypt, God goes down to be with the oppressed people (Ex 3, 8) and tells Moses: “I will be with you” (Ex 3, 12) and from that moment on he never abandons his people. The two names, Jesus and Immanuel, render concrete, and even go beyond the hope of the people.
Matthew 1, 22-23: The melody of Matthew’s Gospel
“All this took place in order that what had been said of the Lord by the prophet could be fulfilled”. This phrase or other similar ones are like a melody, words which are repeated many times in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 1, 23; 2, 5.15.17.23; 4, 14; 8, 17; 12, 17; 13, 14.35; etc.). This reveals the purpose which the author had in mind: to confirm for his readers of Jewish origin the fact that Jesus is truly the promised Messiah. In him the promises of the prophets are fulfilled.
“All this took place in order that what had been said of the Lord by the prophet could be fulfilled”. This phrase or other similar ones are like a melody, words which are repeated many times in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 1, 23; 2, 5.15.17.23; 4, 14; 8, 17; 12, 17; 13, 14.35; etc.). This reveals the purpose which the author had in mind: to confirm for his readers of Jewish origin the fact that Jesus is truly the promised Messiah. In him the promises of the prophets are fulfilled.
Here Matthew quotes the text of Isaiah: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, whom she will call Immanuel” (Is 7, 14). The title Immanuel more than a name reveals the meaning of Jesus for us. Jesus is the proof that God continues to be with us. The name itself of the Child is Jesus (Mt 1,25).
Matthew 1, 24-25: The obedience of Joseph
Waking up from sleep, Joseph does what the Angel told him and took Mary to his house. And he continues to say that he had no relation with Mary, to confirm that Jesus is born from the Holy Spirit.
Waking up from sleep, Joseph does what the Angel told him and took Mary to his house. And he continues to say that he had no relation with Mary, to confirm that Jesus is born from the Holy Spirit.
Extending the information:
A key for the Gospel of Matthew - The
Gospel of Matthew is addressed to a community of converted
Jews, who live a deep crisis of identity in relation to their
Jewish past. When in the year 65 AC the revolt broke out
against Rome, the Jewish-Christians did not participate and
they abandoned Jerusalem. The Pharisees did the same thing.
After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, the
Pharisees reorganized the people who had remained and they lined up,
always in a more decisive way, against the Christians, who at
the end were excommunicated. This excommunication made the
problem of identity even worse. Now, officially
excommunicated, they could no longer go to their Synagogue,
to their rabbi. And the question arose among them: To whom do
the promises belong: to the Synagogue or to the Church? Who
is the true People of God, they or we? Is Jesus truly the Messiah?
Matthew writes his Gospel for this community. The Gospel of
Matthew can be defined by the three following words:
i) The Gospel of consolation for those excommunicated and persecuted by their brother Jews who do not accept Jesus as the Messiah (Christ); it helps to overcome the trauma or shock of the breaking.
ii) The Gospel of revelation: It shows Jesus as the true Messiah, the new Messiah, in whom is the summit of all the history of the Old Testament with its promises.
iii) The Gospel of the new practice: which describes the practice of Jesus, and shows how to attain a new justice, greater than that of the Pharisees.
This happened in order that it could be realized - by
means of this phrase repeated many times in his Gospel, Matthew
touches on the point of greatest tension between Christians and
Jews. Starting from the Bible, they said: “Jesus is not and
cannot be the Messiah!” Starting from the Bible itself,
Matthew responds and affirms: “Jesus is truly the Messiah!”
The pregnancy of Mary - Matthew
as well as Luke quote the text of Isaiah “A virgin will
conceive and give birth to a son, whom she will call
Immanuel” (Is 7, 14). But there is a difference. Luke places
Mary in the centre and gives more importance to the sign of
virginity (Lk 1, 31). Matthew places Joseph in the centre and gives
more importance to the significance of the name Immanuel.
Joseph’s dream - the
Angel appeared to Joseph in his sleep and helps him to
understand. With the help of the Angel, Joseph succeeded in
discovering God’s action in this event, which according to
the opinion of the time, seemed to be only the fruit of deviation
and of sin. Angel means messenger. He brings a message and a help
to perceive God’s action in life. Today there are many Angels
who guide us in life. Some times they act while we sleep, in
our dreams, other times in our meetings, in conversations
and in Biblical encounters, in facts, etc. So many Angels, so
many Angels!.
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Nicholas
Feast Day: December 6
Patron Saint : Children, coopers, sailors, fishermen, merchants, broadcasters, the falsely accused, repentant thieves, pharmacists, archers
Patron Saint : Children, coopers, sailors, fishermen, merchants, broadcasters, the falsely accused, repentant thieves, pharmacists, archers
Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker (Νικόλαος ὁ Θαυματουργός, Nikolaos ho Thaumaturgos). He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos". His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints.[6]
In 1087, part of the relics (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in Apulia, Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. The remaining bones were taken to Venice in 1100. His feast day is the 6th of December.
The historical Saint Nicholas is commemorated and revered among Anglican,[7] Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians. In addition, some Baptist,[8] Methodist,[9] Presbyterian,[10] and Reformed churches have been named in honor of Saint Nicholas.[11] Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, children, pawnbrokers and students in various cities and countries around Europe. He was also a patron of the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors, who protected his relics in Bari.
Nicholas was born a Greek[12][13][14] in Asia Minor during the third century in the city of Patara (Lycia et Pamphylia),[15][16] which was a port on the Mediterranean Sea,[16] and lived in Myra, Lycia[17] (part of modern-day Demre, Turkey), at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage,[16] culture, and outlook and politically part of the Roman diocese of Asia.[16] He was the only son of wealthy Christian parents named Epiphanius (Ἐπιφάνιος) and Johanna (Ἰωάννα) according to some accounts[18] and Theophanes (Θεοφάνης) and Nonna (Νόννα) according to others.[16] He was very religious from an early age[14] and according to legend, Nicholas was said to have rigorously observed the canonical fasts of Wednesdays and Fridays. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young and he was raised by his uncle—also named Nicholas—who was the bishop of Patara. He tonsured the young Nicholas as a reader and later ordained him a presbyter (priest).
In 325, he was one of many bishops to answer the request of Constantine and appear at the First Council of Nicaea. There, Nicolas was a staunch anti-Arian and defender of the Orthodox Christian position,[19] and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed.[20]
Translation of the relics
Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy where most of the relics of St. Nicholas are kept today.
Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the first crusade and brought to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two cities belong to the same skeleton.[21][22]
It is said that in Myra the relics of Saint Nicholas each year exuded a clear watery liquid which smells like rose water, called manna (or myrrh), which is believed by the faithful to possess miraculous powers. After the relics were brought to Bari, they continued to do so, much to the joy of the new owners. Vials of myrrh from his relics have been taken all over the world for centuries, and can still be obtained from his church in Bari. Even up to the present day, a flask of manna is extracted from the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year on 6 December (the Saint's feast day) by the clergy of the basilica. The myrrh is collected from a sarcophagus which is located in the basilica vault and could be obtained in the shop nearby. The liquid gradually seeps out of the tomb, but it is unclear whether it originates from the body within the tomb, or from the marble itself; since the town of Bari is a harbor, and the tomb is below sea level, there are several natural explanations for the manna fluid, including the transfer of seawater to the tomb by capillary action.[23]
In 1993, a grave was found on the small Turkish island of Gemile, east of Rhodes, which historians believe is the original tomb of Saint Nicholas.[24] On 28 December 2009, the Turkish Government announced that it would be formally requesting the return of St. Nicholas's skeletal remains to Turkey from the Italian government.[25][26] Turkish authorities have asserted that St. Nicholas himself desired to be buried at his episcopal town, and that his remains were illegally removed from his homeland.
Legends and folklore
The dowry for the three virgins (Gentile da Fabriano, c. 1425, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome).
In his most famous exploit,[28] a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house.
One version has him throwing one purse for three consecutive nights. Another has him throwing the purses over a period of three years, each time the night before one of the daughters comes of age. Invariably, the third time the father lies in wait, trying to discover the identity of their benefactor. In one version the father confronts the saint, only to have Saint Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone. In another version, Nicholas learns of the poor man's plan and drops the third bag down the chimney instead; a variant holds that the daughter had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking.
The legends with the most likely historical basis are the stories of Nicholas helping three girls and stories of Nicholas helping sailors. Others, especially the legend of the three murdered children, are much later additions to Nicholas lore, historian Dr. Adam English concludes[29] in a new biography of Nicholas for Baylor University Press based on a four-year study of current historical research into Nicholas of Myra.
Miracle of wheat multiplication
A key ring with the image of Nikolaos of Myra as patron of the sailors
Only when Nicholas promised them that they would not suffer any loss for their consideration, the sailors agreed. When they arrived later in the capital, they made a surprising find: the weight of the load had not changed, although the wheat removed in Myra was enough for two full years and could even be used for sowing.[30]
Face of the historical saint
Saint Nicholas, Russian icon from first quarter of the eighteenth century (Kizhi monastery, Karelia).
In the summer of 2005, the report of these measurements was sent to a forensic laboratory in England. The review of the data revealed that the historical St. Nicholas was barely five feet in height and had a broken nose. Additional facial reconstruction was performed in 2008 by Dr. Caroline Wilkinson at the University of Dundee.[32]
Among the Greeks and Italians he is a favorite of sailors, fishermen, ships and sailing. As such he has become over time the patron saint of several cities maintaining harbors. In centuries of Greek folklore, Nicholas was seen as "The Lord of the Sea", often described by modern Greek scholars as a kind of Christianized version of Poseidon. In modern Greece, he is still easily among the most recognizable saints and 6 December finds many cities celebrating their patron saint. He is also the patron saint of all of Greece and particularly of the Hellenic Navy.[33]
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Nicholas' memory is celebrated on almost every Thursday of the year (together with the Apostles) with special hymns to him which are found in the liturgical book known as the Octoechos. Soon after the transfer of Saint Nicholas' relics from Myra to Bari, a Russian version of his Life and an account of the transfer of his relics were written by a contemporary to this event.[34] Devotional akathists and canons have been composed in his honour, and are frequently chanted by the faithful as they ask for his intercession. He is mentioned in the Liturgy of Preparation during the Divine Liturgy (Eastern Orthodox Eucharist) and during the All-Night Vigil. Many Orthodox churches will have his icon, even if they are not named after him.
In Oriental Orthodoxy, the Coptic Church observes the Departure of St. Nicholas on Kiahk 10, or December 19.[35][36]
In late medieval England, on Saint Nicholas' Day parishes held Yuletide "boy bishop" celebrations. As part of this celebration, youths performed the functions of priests and bishops, and exercised rule over their elders. Today, Saint Nicholas is still celebrated as a great gift-giver in several Western European countries. According to one source, in medieval times nuns used the night of 6 December to deposit baskets of food and clothes anonymously at the doorsteps of the needy. According to another source, on 6 December every sailor or ex-sailor of the Low Countries (which at that time was virtually all of the male population) would descend to the harbour towns to participate in a church celebration for their patron saint. On the way back they would stop at one of the various Nicholas fairs to buy some hard-to-come-by goods, gifts for their loved ones and invariably some little presents for their children. While the real gifts would only be presented at Christmas, the little presents for the children were given right away, courtesy of Saint Nicholas. This and his miracle of him resurrecting the three butchered children made Saint Nicholas a patron saint of children and later students as well.
Among Albanians, Saint Nicholas is known as Shen'Kollë and is venerated by most Catholic families, even those from villages that are devoted to other saints. The Feast of Saint Nicholas is celebrated on the evening before 6 December, known as Shen'Kolli i Dimnit (Saint Nicholas of Winter), as well as on the commemoration of the interring of his bones in Bari, the evening before 9 May, known as Shen'Kolli i Majit (Saint Nicholas of May). Albanian Catholics often swear by Saint Nicholas, saying "Pasha Shejnti Shen'Kollin!" ("May I see Holy Saint Nicholas!"), indicating the importance of this saint in Albanian culture, especially among the Albanians of Malësia. On the eve of his feast day, Albanians will light a candle and abstain from meat, preparing a feast of roasted lamb and pork, to be served to guests after midnight. Guests will greet each other, saying, "Nata e Shen'Kollit ju nihmoftë!" ("May the Night of Saint Nicholas help you!") and other such blessings. The bones of Albania's greatest hero, George Kastrioti, were also interred in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Lezha, Albania, upon his death.
Iconography
St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Russian merchants. Fresco by Dionisius from the Ferapontov Monastery.
In Roman Catholic iconography, Saint Nicholas is depicted as a bishop, wearing the insignia of this dignity: a bishop's vestments, a mitre and a crozier. The episode with the three dowries is commemorated by showing him holding in his hand either three purses, three coins or three balls of gold. Depending on whether he is depicted as patron saint of children or sailors, his images will be completed by a background showing ships, children or three figures climbing out of a wooden barrel (the three slaughtered children he resurrected).[citation needed] In medieval paintings, Saint Nicholas is depicted as a dark-skinned man, as in Pietro di Giovanni d'Ambrogio's Saint Nicholas of Bari, a 1430s painting held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or Francesco di Giorgio e di Lorenzo's 1461 Altarpiece with the Annunciation made for the church of Spedaletta.[37]
In a strange twist, the three gold balls referring to the dowry affair are sometimes metaphorically interpreted as being oranges or other fruits. As in the Low Countries in medieval times oranges most frequently came from Spain, this led to the belief that the Saint lives in Spain and comes to visit every winter bringing them oranges, other 'wintry' fruits and tales of magical creatures.
In music[edit]
- San Nicola di Bari, an oratorio composed by Giovanni Bononcini (1693).
- St. Nicolas, a choral song for male choir by Edward Purcell (1730).
- Saint Nicolas, a Christmas cantata by Benjamin Britten (1948).
Operetta St. Nicholas arrives
Salesian priest Jerko Gržinčič wrote a Christmas operetta in three acts entitled Miklavž prihaja (St. Nicholas arrives). The premiere took place before World War II in the Union Hostel in Ljubljana (now in Slovenia) with great success.[38]Demre
Russian Orthodox statue of Saint Nicolas, now in a corner near the church in Demre.
A solemn bronze statue of the saint by Russian sculptor Gregory Pototsky was donated by the Russian government in 2000, and was given a prominent place in the square fronting the medieval Church of St. Nicholas. In 2005, mayor Süleyman Topçu had the statue replaced by a red-suited plastic Santa Claus statue, because he wanted an image more recognisable to foreign visitors. Protests from the Russian government against this were successful, and the bronze statue was returned (albeit without its original high pedestal) to a corner nearer the church.
References
- ^ Book of Martyrs. Catholic Book Publishing. 1948.
- ^ "Serbia". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ a b "Who is St. Nicholas?". St. Nicholas Center. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ "St. Nicholas". Orthodox America. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ Cunningham, Lawrence (2005). A brief history of saints. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4051-1402-8. "The fourth-century Saint Nikolaos of Myra (in present-day Turkey) spread to Europe through the port city of Bari in southern Italy… Devotion to the saint in the Low countries became blended with Nordic folktales, transforming this early Greek bishop into that Christmas icon, Santa Claus’."
- ^ Jones, Charles W. (1978). Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-40700-5.
- ^ "The Calendar [page ix]". Prayerbook.ca. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ "St. Nicholas Bethel Bethel Baptist Church". Stnicholasbethelbaptist.com. 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ "St. Nicholas United Methodist Church - Church Gazetteer". Stnicholascenter.org. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ "St Nicholas' Cardonald Parish Church - Church Gazetteer". Stnicholascenter.org. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ "New York’s Dutch Cathedral: The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, Fifth Avenue". Andrewcusack.com. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ Domenico, Roy Palmer (2002). The regions of Italy: a reference guide to history and culture. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 21. ISBN 0-313-30733-4. "Saint Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) replaced Sabino as the patron saint of the city… A Greek from what is now Turkey, he lived in the early fourth century."
- ^ Burman, Edward (1991). Emperor to emperor: Italy before the Renaissance. Constable. p. 126. ISBN 0-09-469490-7. "For although he is the patron saint of Russia, and the model for a northern invention such as Santa Claus, Nicholas of Myra was a Greek."
- ^ a b Ingram, W. Scott; Ingram, Asher, Scott; Robert (2004). Greek Immigrants. Infobase Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 9780816056897. "The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, was a Greek born in Asia Minor (now modern Turkey) in the fourth century. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life to Christianity."
- ^ Lanzi, Gioia (2004). Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images. Liturgical Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-8146-2970-9. "Nicholas was born around 270 in Patara on the coast of what is now western Turkey."
- ^ a b c d e Collins, Ace (2009). Stories Behind Men of Faith. Zondervan. p. 121. ISBN 9780310564560. "Nicholas was born in the Greek city of Patara around 270 AD. The son of a businessman named Theophanes and his wife, Nonna, the child’s earliest years were spent in Myra… As a port on the Mediterranean Sea, in the middle of the sea lanes that linked Egypt, Greece and Rome, Myra was a destination for traders, fishermen, and merchant sailors. Spawned by the spirit of both the city’s Greek heritage and the ruling Roman government, cultural endeavours such as art, drama, and music were mainstays of everyday life."
- ^ Faber, Paul (2006). Sinterklaas overseas: the adventures of a globetrotting saint. KIT Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 9789068324372. "The historical figure that served as model for the Dutch Sinterklaas was born around 270 CE in the port of Patara in the Greek province of Lycia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). His Greek name Nikolaos means something along the lines of “victor of the people”."
- ^ Lanzi, Gioia (2004). Saints and their symbols: recognizing saints in art and in popular images. Liturgical Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-8146-2970-9. "Nicholas was born around 270 in Patara on the coast of what is now western Turkey; his parents were Epiphanius and Joanna."
- ^ Federer, William J. (2002). There Really Is a Santa Claus - History of St. Nicholas & Christmas Holiday Traditions. Amerisearch, Inc. p. 26. ISBN 978-0965355742.
- ^ Davis, Leo Donald (1990). The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787) Their History and Theology. Liturgical Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-8146-5616-1.
- ^ Ci sono ossa di san Nicola anche a Venezia? (in Italian)
- ^ Are all the bones in Bari? (in Italian)
- ^ Girling, Richard, 2004-12-12, Talking Point: Now do you believe in Santa Claus?, The Times
- ^ Santa's tomb is found off Turkey The Independent, 17 Dec 1993. Retrieved 10 Jun 2012.
- ^ "Turks want Santa's bones returned". BBC News. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ "‘Santa Claus’s bones must be brought back to Turkey from Italy’". Todayszaman.com. 2009-12-28. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=409 (Dutch)
- ^ Bennett, William J. (2009). The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas. Howard Books. pp. 14–17. ISBN 978-1-4165-6746-2.
- ^ English, Adam, and Crumm, David (2 December 2012). "Adam English digging back into the real St. Nicholas". ReadTheSpirit online magazine.
- ^ Le Saux, Françoise Hazel Marie (2005). A companion to Wace. D.S.Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-043-5.
- ^ "Anatomical Examination of the Bari Relics". Saint Nicholas Center. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Putting a Face to the Past". BBC News. 1 September 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Greece". St. Nicholas Center. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
- ^ "Feasts and Saints, Commemorated on May 9". Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
- ^ "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker". Synaxarium (Lives of Saints). Coptic Orthodox Church Network. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ "Commemorations for Kiahk 10". Coptic Orthodox Church Network. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ "People of Color in European Art History". Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- ^ This operetta is translated in Croatian as: "Sveti Nikola dolazi" and partly in Hungarian: "Jön a Mikulás".
Further reading
- Jones, Charles W. "Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan: Biography of a Legend" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press) 1978.
- ASANO, Kazuo ed., The Island of St. Nicholas. Excavation and Research of Gemiler Island Area, Lycia, Turkey (Osaka University Press) 2010.
- English, Adam C., "The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus: The True Life and Trials of Nicholas of Myra" (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press) 2012.
- St. Nicholas Center: Who is Saint Nicholas?
- Biography of St. Nicholas
- The History of Santa Claus and Father Christmas
- Saint Nicholas at the Open Directory Project
- Translation of Grimm's Saga No. 134 about St. Nicholas
- Comprehensive St. Nicholas-related information and resources.
- 130 pictures of the church in Myra
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Today's Snippet I: Basilica di San Nicola
Architecture
The church has a rather square appearance, seemingly more suited to a castle than to a church. This impression is strengthened by the presence of two low massive towers framing the façade. It was indeed used several times as castle during its history.
The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by granite columns and pilasters. The presbytery is separated from the rest of the edifice by mean of three arches supported by columns of Byzantine influence.
Above the aisles is the matronaeum, a tribune gallery for women, opening into the nave. The basilica was the first church of this design, setting a precedent which was later imitated in numerous other constructions in the region.
Treasures
In the church is the Renaissance tomb of Bona Sforza, (sixteenth century), in marble. The museum of the Basilica has precious works of art, including a collection of twelfth-century candlesticks donated by King Charles I of Anjou.
The church was restored in the late thirteenth century, in 1456 and in the seventeenth century. In the twentieth-century restoration, most of the Baroque additions were removed, leaving only the giled wooden ceiling, enframing canvases by Carlo De Rosa.
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Today's Snippet II: Virtue of Faith
Book 2, Chapter 3The Mystical City of God,
The Divine History and Life of The Virgin Mother of God
OF THE VIRTUE OF FAITH AND HOW MOST HOLY MARY PRACTICED IT.
On account of this beauty and harmony regarding the habits of virtue, the soul of the most holy Mary was so enlightened, ennobled and entirely bent on the highest Good and last End of all creation; so alert, prompt, efficient and joyful in the practice of virtue, that, if it were possible for our weak insight to penetrate into the interior of her sacred soul, we would there find a more wonderful beauty than that of all creatures combined and inferior only to that of God himself. All the perfection of creatures were in purest Mary as if in their own sphere and center, and all virtues reached in Her the highest perfection, so that in no manner could it ever be said of Her this or that is wanting in order to make Her altogether beautiful and perfect. Besides the infused virtues, She possessed all the acquired ones, which She augmented by practice and exercise. In other souls, one single act cannot be called virtue, because many repeated acts are necessary to constitute virtue; but in the most holy Mary each act was so efficacious, intense and consummate, that each one was superior to the virtues of all the other creatures. Accordingly, as her acts of virtue were so frequent and did not fall short in the least point of the highest degree of perfection, how incomparably excellent were not the habits of virtue, which the heavenly Mistress attained by her personal exertion? The end for which something is done is that which makes an act virtuous as being well done. In Mary, our Mistress, this end was God himself, highest possible end of all activity; for She did nothing through which She was not certain to advance the greater glory and pleasure of the Lord and She looked upon this as the motive and ultimate end of all her actions.
The infused virtues are divided into two classes. To the
first belong only those, that have God himself for their immediate object;
therefore they are called theological virtues, being faith, hope, and charity.
To the second class belong all those other virtues, which have as their
proximate object some means or some honorable good, which advances the soul
toward its last end, namely God. These are called the moral virtues, because
they are intimately connected with established customs, and, although they are
many in number, they can be reduced to four, which are called the cardinal
virtues: prudence justice, fortitude and temperance. Of all these virtues and
their different species I will say farther on as much as I can in order that I
may make clear, how all of them and each one in particular adorned the faculties
of the most holy Mary. At present I only mention in general, that none of them
was wanting in Her and that she possessed all in the most perfect manner;
moreover they were supplemented by the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the fruits of
the Spirit, and the Beatitudes. God did not fail to infuse into Her from the
first moment of her Conception, all of the graces and gifts conducive to the
highest beauty of the human soul and faculties; and this was true of the will as
well as of the understanding, so that She had as well the knowledge as the habit
of the sciences. In order to say it all in one word all the good, which the Most
High could give Her as the Mother of his Son and as a mere creature, He
conferred upon Her in the most exalted degree. In addition to all this her
virtues continually augmented: the infused virtues, because She added to them by
her own merits, and the acquired virtues, because She nurtured and multiplied
them by the intensity of her meritorious acts.
In few words the holy Elizabeth described the greatness of
the faith of most holy Mary, when, as reported to us by the evangelist Luke, She
exclaimed: "Blessed art thou for having believed, because the words and
promises of the Lord shall be fulfilled in Thee" (Luke 1, 45). The faith of
this great Lady must be estimated from the greatness of her good fortune and
beatitude, and from her ineffable dignity.
The faith of the most holy Mary was an image of the whole
creation and an open prodigy of the divine power, for in Her the virtue of faith
existed in the highest and the most perfect degree possible; in a certain manner
and to a great extent, it made up for the want of faith in men. The Most High
has given this excellent virtue to mortals so that, in spite of the carnal and
mortal nature, they might have the knowledge of the Divinity and of his
mysteries and admirable works: a knowledge so certain and infallibly secure,
that it is like seeing Him face to face, and like the vision of the blessed
angels in heaven. The same object and the same truth, which they see openly, we
perceive obscured under the veil of faith.
One glance at the world will make us understand, how many
nations, reigns and provinces, since the beginning of the world, have lost their
claims to this great blessing of the faith, so little understood by the
thankless mortals: how many have unhappily flung it aside, after the Lord had
conferred it on them in his generous mercy, and how many of the faithful, having
without their merit received the gift of faith, neglect and despise it, letting
it lie idle and unproductive for the last end to which it is to direct
and guide them. It was befitting therefore, that the divine equity should have
some recompense for such lamentable loss, and that such an incomparable benefit
should find an adequate and proportionate return, as far as is possible from
creatures; it was befitting that there should be found at least one Creature, in
whom the virtue of faith should come to its fullest perfection, as an example
and rule for the rest.
All this was found in the great faith of the most holy Mary
and on account of Her and for Her alone, if there had been no other creature in
the world, it would have been most proper, that God should contrive and create
the excellent virtue of faith; for according to our way of understanding, Mary
by Herself was a sufficient pledge to the divine Providence, that He would find
a proper return on the part of man, and that the object of this faith would not
be frustrated by the want of correspondence among mortals. The faith of this
sovereign Queen was to make recompense for their default and She was to copy the
divine prototype of this virtue in its highest perfection. All the other
faithful can measure and gauge themselves by the faith of this Mistress; for
they will be more or less faithful, the more or less they approach the
perfection of her incomparable faith. Therefore She was set as Teacher and
example of all the believing, including the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and
Martyrs and all that have believed or will believe in the Christian doctrines to
the end of the world.
The intelligent love, with which She explicitly believed all
the divine truths, cannot be expressed in words, without misrepresenting its
intensity. The most holy Mary knew all that She believed and believed all that
She knew; for the infused theological knowledge of the credibility of faith's
mysteries, and the understanding of this credibility, existed in the wisest
Virgin Mother in the highest degree possible in a mere creature. Her knowledge
was kept in a constant actuality, and by means of her memory, like that of an
angel, She never forgot, that which once She had learnt. This gift and faculty
of the understanding She kept in constant operation in order to exercise her
deep faith; only at times, as already said, God suspended faith by other acts of
the mind. Except that She was not yet a comprehensor, nothing was wanting in
regard to her intelligence of the matters of faith and in regard to the clear
knowledge of the Divinity. In this regard She held a position far above that of
all the wayfarers and She by Herself constituted a class of such high degrees,
as cannot be attained by any other wayfarer to heaven.
And if the most holy Mary, while She exercised the acts of
faith and hope was in what might be called her most ordinary and therefore the
lowest degree of activity, and if in that state She excelled all the angels and
saints in merits by her faith and love, what must we say of the excellence of
her acts, her merits and her affections, during the time in which She was
exalted by the divine power to the blessed state of highest intuitive vision and
clear knowledge of the Divinity? If this is beyond the comprehension of the
angelic mind, how can an earthly creature ever hope to find words to describe
it? I therefore can only express the mere wish, that all mortals might come to a
knowledge of the precious value of faith, by leaving it from this heavenly
Original, in whom faith attained its ultimate perfection and where it completely
fulfilled the end for which it was created. Let the infidels, the heretics, the
pagans and idolaters approach this Mistress of faith, most holy Mary, in order
to be enlightened in their falsehoods and darksome errors and in Order to find
the sure way toward the last end of their being. Let also Catholics approach and
learn to understand the copious rewards of this virtue; let them ask the Lord
with the Apostles to, increase their faith (Luke 7, 5). Not that they ever can
reach the faith of most holy Mary, but let them ask for the desire to imitate
Her and follow Her, for by her faith She teaches us, and by her merits She helps
us to obtain this virtue.
Saint Paul calls the patriarch Abraham the father of all the
faithful (Rom. 6, 11), because he first received the promise, hoping against
hope (Rom. 4, 18); He wishes to extol the excellence of the Patriarch's faith
because he believed the promise of the Lord, that Sarah, his wife, would bear
him a son though she was sterile, and, according to the laws of nature,
incapable of conception; moreover, in offering his son as a sacrifice at God's
command, he relinquished at the same time the prospect of the countless
offspring, which the Lord had promised to him. This all, and many other sayings
and promises of the Lord were made impossible of fulfillment according to the
laws of nature, yet Abraham believed, that the divine power could execute them
in a supernatural manner. Therefore he merited to be called the Father of all
the believers and to receive the seal of his faith which justified him, namely
circumcision.
But our supereminent Lady, Mary, possesses much greater
rights and titles to be called the Mother of faith and of all the faithful. In
her hand is hoisted the standard and ensign of faith for all the believers in
the law of grace. First indeed, according to the order of time, was the
Patriarch and consequently he was ordained to be the father and head of the
Hebrew people: great was his belief in the promises concerning Christ our Lord
and in the works of the Most High. Nevertheless incomparably more admirable was
the faith of Mary in all these regards and She excels him in dignity. Greater
difficulty and incongruity was there that a virgin should Conceive and bring
forth, than that an aged and sterile woman should bear fruit; and the patriarch
Abraham was not so certain of the sacrifice of Isaac, as Mary was of the
inevitable sacrifice of her most holy Son. She is the One, who perfectly
believed and hoped in all the mysteries, and She shows to the whole Church, how
it must believe in the Most High and in the works of his Redemption. Having thus
understood the faith of Mary our Queen, we must admit Her to be the Mother of
the faithful and the prototype of the Catholic faith and of holy hope. And in
order to conclude this chapter, I will add, that Christ, our Redeemer and
Teacher, as He was a comprehensor and as his most holy soul enjoyed the highest
glory and the beatific vision, had no necessity or occasion for faith, nor could
He in his own actions give us an example of this virtue. But what the Lord could
not do in his own Person, He did in the person of his most holy Mother,
constituting Her as the Foundress, the Mother and the example of faith in his
evangelical Church. And thus on the day of universal accounting this
sovereign Mistress and Queen shall in an especial manner assist her most holy
Son in the judgment of those, who, in spite of such an example, have not
believed during their stay on earth.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN. (The
Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain.)
My daughter, the inestimable treasure of the virtue of divine
faith is hidden to those mortals who have only carnal and earthly eyes; for they
do not know how to appreciate and esteem a gift and blessing of such
incomparable value. Consider, my dearest, what the world was without faith and
what it would be today if my Son and Lord would not preserve faith. How many men
whom the world has celebrated as great, powerful and wise have precipitated
themselves, on account of the want of light of faith, from the darkness of their
unbelief into most abominable sins, and thence into the eternal darkness of
hell! How many kingdoms and provinces, being blind themselves, follow these
still more blind leaders until they together fall into the abyss of eternal
pains! And they are followed by the bad Christians, who having received the
grace and blessing of faith, live as if they had it not in their hearts.
Do not forget, my dear friend, to be thankful for this
precious jewel which the Lord has given thee as a dower and a wedding gift of
thy espousal with Him, in order to draw thee to the bridal chamber of his holy
Church and afterwards in loving companionship with Him in the eternal beatitude.
Continually exercise this virtue of faith, for it places thee near to thy last
end, after which thou strivest, and brings thee near to the object of thy
desires and thy love. Faith teaches the sure way of eternal salvation, faith is
the light that shines in the darkness of this mortal life and pilgrimage; it
leads men securely to the possession of the fatherland to which they are
wayfaring, if they do not allow it to die out by infidelity and sinfulness.
Faith enlivens the other virtues and serves as a nourishment of the just man and
a support in his labors. Faith confounds and fills with fear the infidels and
the lax Christians in their negligence; for it convinces them in this world of
their sin and threatens punishment in the life to come. Faith is powerful to do
all things, for nothing is impossible to the believer; faith makes all things
attainable and possible. Faith illumines and ennobles the understanding of man,
since it directs him in the darkness of his natural ignorance, not to stray from
the way, and it elevates him above himself so that he sees and understands with
infallible certainty what is far above his powers and assures him of it no less
than if he saw it clearly before him. He is thus freed from the gross and vile
narrow-mindedness of those who will believe only what they can experience by
their own limited natural powers, not considering that the soul, as long as it
lives in the prison of this corruptible body, is very much circumscribed and
limited in its sphere of action by the knowledge drawn from the coarse activity
of the senses. Appreciate, therefore, my daughter, this priceless treasure of
the Catholic faith given thee by God, watch over it and practice it in great
esteem and reverence.
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Catholic Catechism
Part Three: Life in Christ
Section Two: The Ten Commandments
Chapter One: First Commandment
Article 1:3 "You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me"
Article 1:4 "You Shall Not Make For Yourself a Graven Image"
III. "You Shall Have
No Other Gods Before Me"
2110
The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has
revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion.
Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion; irreligion
is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion.
Superstition
2111
Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this
feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g.,
when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices
otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of
sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior
dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.Mt 23:16-22
Idolatry
2112
The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe
in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture
constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, (of) silver and gold, the
work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not
see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty: "Those who make
them are like them; so are all who trust in them."Ps 115:4-5,
8; cf. ⇒ Isa
44:9-20; ⇒ Jer 10:1-16;
⇒ Dan 14:1-30;
⇒ Bar 6; ⇒ Wis 13:
1- ⇒ 15:19.
God, however, is the "living God"Josh 3:10; ⇒ Ps 42:3 who gives life and intervenes in history.
God, however, is the "living God"Josh 3:10; ⇒ Ps 42:3 who gives life and intervenes in history.
2113
Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant
temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man
commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God,
whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race,
ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and
mammon."Mt 6:24 Many martyrs died for not adoring "the
Beast"Rev
13- refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects
the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with
God.Gal 5:20
2114
Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. the commandment to
worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless
disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An
idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible notion of God to
anything other than God."Origen, Contra
Celsum 2, 40: PG 11, 861
Divination
and magic
2115
God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound
Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of
Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy
curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of
responsibility.
2116
All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons,
conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil"
the future.Deut 18:10 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading,
interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse
to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last
analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers.
They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.
2117
All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers,
so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others
- even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely
contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be
condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they
have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also
reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the
Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called
traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the
exploitation of another's credulity.
Irreligion
2118
God's first commandment condemns the main sins of irreligion: tempting God, in
words or deeds, sacrilege, and simony.
2119
Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by
word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the
Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act.Lk
4:9 Jesus opposed Satan
with the word of God: "You shall not put the LORD your God to the
test." Deut 6:16 The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds
the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt
about his love, his providence, and his power. Cor 10:9
2120
Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other
liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God.
Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for
in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for
us.CIC, cann. 1367
2121
Simony is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things.Acts 8:9-24 To
Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the
apostles, St. Peter responded: "Your silver perish with you, because you
thought you could obtain God's gift with money!"Acts 8:20 Peter thus held
to the words of Jesus: "You received without pay, give without
pay."Mt 10:8 It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods
and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in
God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.
2122
The
minister should ask nothing for the administration of the sacraments beyond the
offerings defined by the competent authority, always being careful that the
needy are not deprived of the help of the sacraments because of their
poverty."CIC, can. 848 The competent authority determines these
"offerings" in accordance with the principle that the Christian
people ought to contribute to the support of the Church's ministers. "The
laborer deserves his food."Mt 10:10
Atheism
2123
"Many . . . of our contemporaries either do not at all perceive, or
explicitly reject, this intimate and vital bond of man to God. Atheism must
therefore be regarded as one of the most serious problems of our
time."GS 19 # 1
2124
The name "atheism" covers many very different phenomena. One common
form is the practical materialism which restricts its needs and aspirations to
space and time. Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be "an end to
himself, and the sole maker, with supreme control, of his own
history."GS 20 # 2 Another form of contemporary atheism looks for the
liberation of man through economic and social liberation. "It holds that
religion, of its very nature, thwarts such emancipation by raising man's hopes
in a future life, thus both deceiving him and discouraging him from working for
a better form of life on earth."GS 20 # 2
2125
Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the
virtue of religion.Rom 1:18 The imputability of this offense can be
significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances.
"Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To
the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or
present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social
life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God
and of religion."GS 19 # 3
2126
Atheism is often based on a false conception of human autonomy, exaggerated to
the point of refusing any dependence on God.Cf. GS 20 # 1 Yet, "to acknowledge
God is in no way to oppose the dignity of man, since such dignity is grounded
and brought to perfection in God...."GS 21 # 3 "For the Church knows
full well that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the
human heart."GS 21 # 7
Agnosticism
2127
Agnosticism assumes a number of forms. In certain cases the agnostic refrains
from denying God; instead he postulates the existence of a transcendent being
which is incapable of revealing itself, and about which nothing can be said. In
other cases, the agnostic makes no judgment about God's existence, declaring it
impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny.
2128
Agnosticism can sometimes include a certain search for God, but it can equally
express indifferentism, a flight from the ultimate question of existence, and a
sluggish moral conscience. Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to practical
atheism.
IV. "You Shall Not
Make For Yourself a Graven Image . . ."
2129
The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God
by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the
day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware
lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of
any figure...."66Deut 4:15-16 It is the absolutely transcendent God who
revealed himself to Israel. "He is the all," but at the same time
"he is greater than all his works."67Sir 43:27-28 He is "the author
of beauty."68Wis 13:3
2130
Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the
making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate
Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the
cherubim.69Num 21:4-9
2131
Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh ecumenical
council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the veneration of
icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels, and all the
saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new
"economy" of images.
2132
The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment
which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to
its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person
portrayed in it."70St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto 18, 45: PG 32, 149C; Council of
Nicaea II:
DS 601; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1821-1825; Vatican Council II: SC 126; LG 67
The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone:
DS 601; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1821-1825; Vatican Council II: SC 126; LG 67
The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone:
Religious worship is not
directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their
distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. the movement
toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose
image it is.71St. Thomas Aquinas, STh II-II, 81, 3 ad 3
IN BRIEF
2133 "You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your
strength" (⇒ Deut 6:5).
2134 The first commandment summons
man to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him above all else.
2135 "You shall worship
the Lord your God" (⇒ Mt 4:10). Adoring
God, praying to him, offering him the worship that belongs to him, fulfilling
the promises and vows made to him are acts of the virtue of religion which fall
under obedience to the first commandment.
2136 The duty to offer God
authentic worship concerns man both as an individual and as a social being.
2137 "Men of the present
day want to profess their religion freely in private and in public" (DH
15).
2138 Superstition is a
departure from the worship that we give to the true God. It is manifested in
idolatry, as well as in various forms of divination and magic.
2139 Tempting God in words or
deeds, sacrilege, and simony are sins of irreligion forbidden by the first
commandment.
2140 Since it rejects or
denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the first commandment.
2141 The veneration of sacred
images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. It is not
contrary to the first commandment
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