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Post by Séamus on Nov 7, 2019 8:31:27 GMT
I only became aware last week that, in July, Francis granted equipollent canonization to Bartholomew of the Martyrs OP (of Lisbon). I'd imagine that stories of the archbishop giving his own mattress to a homeless man should strike a chord with the pontiff,and rightly so,but his involvement with Trent and personal connection with Charles Borromeo would also make him a Newman-like figure for his time (even granted St John didn't take part in a council or necessarily support new definitions). St Charles had scepticism about such traditional devotions as St Veronica and Our Lady's Presentation for his Milanese flock,so, whether we'd agree with that, we have(like John Henry)thinking men and theologians. I first became aware of his existence through cards my mother received many years ago,sent from the Dominican Sisters of Pius XII monastery in Fatima,mostly Irish women - at that time anyway - including a late 1970s vocation from the parish my mother grew up in. Although need for the last miracle was waivered, Bartholomew has an unofficial reputation of efficacy in cancer cases. "Lord Jesus Christ Good Shepherd who made Bartholomew of the Martyrs so heroic in his zeal for the salvation of souls and his charity towards the poor obtain for us...which we beg of Thee and graciously deliver us from the evils of cancer...Who livest,etc"
Seeing that he's known for his writings,perhaps Francis will follow Benedict's lead with Hildegarde and add him to the list of Doctors ?
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Post by cato on Nov 27, 2019 13:01:17 GMT
Archbishop Fulton Sheen is set to be beatified on December 21st after a long legal battle with the diocese of New York over his remains. Cardinal Timothy Dolan did not cover himself in glory with his petulant behaviour in the legal struggle but rows over saints relics are arguably a venerable part of Catholic tradition.
Sheen was a famous popular writer, TV evangelist ( in many ways the Catholic Billy Graham) and missionary. He had a showy side but in many ways was a confident positive ambassador for the church and the priesthood in a more confident innocent age.
Sheen was often undermined by the now notorious Cardinal Spellman who envied his media popularity. Incredible as it may seem Spellman once told Rome he was too busy to pray his breviary and applied for and was granted permission to stop using it! Lest we think all was light and holiness before Vatican II this was during the reign of pope Pius XII.
Sheen was less successful as a diocesan bishop and alienated many clergy by actively promoting an option for the poor in his diocese. He was pro civil rights and strangely for a strong anti-communist was one of the first catholic leaders to oppose the Vietnam war much to the fury of Cardinal Spellman who had been head chaplain to the US army.
Sheen was a great example of the traditional , the evangelical and the radical. I suspect the future church will need to be all three.
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Post by Tomas on Nov 27, 2019 16:57:11 GMT
Archbishop Fulton Sheen is set to be beatified on December 21st after a long legal battle with the diocese of New York over his remains. Cardinal Timothy Dolan did not cover himself in glory with his petulant behaviour in the legal struggle but rows over saints relics are arguably a venerable part of Catholic tradition. Sheen was a famous popular writer, TV evangelist ( in many ways the Catholic Billy Graham) and missionary. He had a showy side but in many ways was a confident positive ambassador for the church and the priesthood in a more confident innocent age. Sheen was often undermined by the now notorious Cardinal Spellman who envied his media popularity. Incredible as it may seem Spellman once told Rome he was too busy to pray his breviary and applied for and was granted permission to stop using it! Lest we think all was light and holiness before Vatican II this was during the reign of pope Pius XII. Sheen was less successful as a diocesan bishop and alienated many clergy by actively promoting an option for the poor in his diocese. He was pro civil rights and strangely for a strong anti-communist was one of the first catholic leaders to oppose the Vietnam war much to the fury of Cardinal Spellman who had been head chaplain to the US army. Sheen was a great example of the traditional , the evangelical and the radical. I suspect the future church will need to be all three. Came across an interview in the renowned Firing Line series last week with Archbishop Sheen interviewed by William F. Buckley Jr.! The latter, always choosing his words and not only versatile but highly accurate, made remarks that has stood the test of time splendidly while the Ven. Archbishop came across as slightly vague for a few minutes towards the end where the comments were touching upon the 60s community spirit etc. Soon Blessed Sheen, at the time in the ripe age of 75, were much more at home when trying to explain his stance on the Vietnam question. The argument involved the differences of strength between the US and Vietnam (not really counting in Russia as the obvious enemy there).
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Post by Séamus on Dec 10, 2019 1:44:03 GMT
Pope Francis has reportedly added today's feast of Our Lady of Loreto (so-called in common language- preVaticanII missals often have the mass in the appendix,titled 'Translation of The Holy House of Loreto') to the universal calendar. I wonder had the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 anything to do with this?,Neil Armstrong once presented the Loreto shrine with a 'moon rock' acknowledging Mary under this title as patroness of air-travel,as did the Queen of the World chapel at Dublin Airport which sported a replica of the stylised Loreto Madonna(I wonder how rare this is outside of Italy or chapels influenced by Italian diaspora?) A couple of considerations: Francis has never hidden his Marian devotion such as it is,but is highlighting the patronage of airplanes uncharacteristically out of step with Greta's dreams? And what of the fact that the House itself was said to be miraculously transported by angels to save it from Islam? As much as Muslims respect Mary in some aspects(and occasionally,when told about him,Joseph [see Blixen's talk to Muslim girls in Out of Africa])this isn't an interfaith feast. Some embellishments at the Loreto grotto are known to have been 'spoils' belonging to an ottoman vizier,taken by Polish soldiers at the Battle of Vienna. Like Catherine of Alexandria,re-added to the last edition English missal,the history of the main shrine displays much symbolism concerning Christianity's survival in difficult times. Perhaps even symbolised by being dwarfed by hangers. Of course,being optional,there's a question of whether it'll ever be widely celebrated at all.
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Post by Séamus on Dec 19, 2019 8:18:20 GMT
Archbishop Fulton Sheen is set to be beatified on December 21st after a long legal battle with the diocese of New York over his remains. Cardinal Timothy Dolan did not cover himself in glory with his petulant behaviour in the legal struggle but rows over saints relics are arguably a venerable part of Catholic tradition. Sheen was a famous popular writer, TV evangelist ( in many ways the Catholic Billy Graham) and missionary. He had a showy side but in many ways was a confident positive ambassador for the church and the priesthood in a more confident innocent age. Sheen was often undermined by the now notorious Cardinal Spellman who envied his media...etc.... The American Bishops Conference seems to have persuaded Rome to suspend the beatification for now. For all the controversy surrounding some beatifications I only remember Damian of Molokai being delayed so close to the date- and that was because John Paul fell and broke his arm. On that note it might be uplifting to remark that one of the 'oldies' is making a comeback- and mostly in secular environments. Western Australian mining town Kalgoorlie has been marking St Barbara's day in recent years and I just read today that she's now being remembered as patron of tunnelling also: "located in her own niche amongst the heavy machinery and rubble of Sydney's m4_m5 tunnel construction site sits a small statue of saint Barbara who intercedes for the protection of her workers. Bishop Terry Brady blessed the statue and the tunnel on the saint's 4 December feast day. Saint Barbara is the much-loved patron of tunnellers and engineers. She has been watching over the workers since the beginning of the project in February 2019. They placed her statue there in honour of a long tradition in the industry to ask the saint to intercede for all the workers and their families as well as the future users of tunnel" cf Catholic weekly Ties in with what Sheen himself, commenting on Godspell and Superstar at a time when Christ was coming second to activism with some American clergy, remarked- the Church throws out something and the world often picks it up. And he didn't even live long enough to see angels sold at markets or Gregorian chants and Hildegarde compositions top the charts
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Post by cato on Dec 19, 2019 18:12:39 GMT
Archbishop Fulton Sheen is set to be beatified on December 21st after a long legal battle with the diocese of New York over his remains. Cardinal Timothy Dolan did not cover himself in glory with his petulant behaviour in the legal struggle but rows over saints relics are arguably a venerable part of Catholic tradition. Sheen was a famous popular writer, TV evangelist ( in many ways the Catholic Billy Graham) and missionary. He had a showy side but in many ways was a confident positive ambassador for the church and the priesthood in a more confident innocent age. Sheen was often undermined by the now notorious Cardinal Spellman who envied his media popularity. Incredible as it may seem Spellman once told Rome he was too busy to pray his breviary and applied for and was granted permission to stop using it! Lest we think all was light and holiness before Vatican II this was during the reign of pope Pius XII. Sheen was less successful as a diocesan bishop and alienated many clergy by actively promoting an option for the poor in his diocese. He was pro civil rights and strangely for a strong anti-communist was one of the first catholic leaders to oppose the Vietnam war much to the fury of Cardinal Spellman who had been head chaplain to the US army. Sheen was a great example of the traditional , the evangelical and the radical. I suspect the future church will need to be all three. Came across an interview in the renowned Firing Line series last week with Archbishop Sheen interviewed by William F. Buckley Jr.! The latter, always choosing his words and not only versatile but highly accurate, made remarks that has stood the test of time splendidly while the Ven. Archbishop came across as slightly vague for a few minutes towards the end where the comments were touching upon the 60s community spirit etc. Soon Blessed Sheen, at the time in the ripe age of 75, were much more at home when trying to explain his stance on the Vietnam question. The argument involved the differences of strength between the US and Vietnam (not really counting in Russia as the obvious enemy there). That interview is well worth watching. As you say Buckley comes off well but Sheen at times sounds like he is parroting a line he doesn't really have the heart for.I liked Buckley s query as to why Sheen didn't highlight poverty in the 1950s. The archbishop does come across as a man who has suffered but has an air of calm serenity too. A good video to watch.
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Post by Tomas on Jan 9, 2020 15:51:30 GMT
Archbishop Fulton Sheen is set to be beatified on December 21st after a long legal battle with the diocese of New York over his remains. Cardinal Timothy Dolan did not cover himself in glory with his petulant behaviour in the legal struggle but rows over saints relics are arguably a venerable part of Catholic tradition. Sheen was a famous popular writer, TV evangelist ( in many ways the Catholic Billy Graham) and missionary. He had a showy side but in many ways was a confident positive ambassador for the church and the priesthood in a more confident innocent age. Sheen was often undermined by the now notorious Cardinal Spellman who envied his media...etc.... The American Bishops Conference seems to have persuaded Rome to suspend the beatification for now. For all the controversy surrounding some beatifications I only remember Damian of Molokai being delayed so close to the date- and that was because John Paul fell and broke his arm. On that note it might be uplifting to remark that one of the 'oldies' is making a comeback- and mostly in secular environments. Western Australian mining town Kalgoorlie has been marking St Barbara's day in recent years and I just read today that she's now being remembered as patron of tunnelling also: "located in her own niche amongst the heavy machinery and rubble of Sydney's m4_m5 tunnel construction site sits a small statue of saint Barbara who intercedes for the protection of her workers. Bishop Terry Brady blessed the statue and the tunnel on the saint's 4 December feast day. Saint Barbara is the much-loved patron of tunnellers and engineers. She has been watching over the workers since the beginning of the project in February 2019. They placed her statue there in honour of a long tradition in the industry to ask the saint to intercede for all the workers and their families as well as the future users of tunnel" cf Catholic weekly Ties in with what Sheen himself, commenting on Godspell and Superstar at a time when Christ was coming second to activism with some American clergy, remarked- the Church throws out something and the world often picks it up. And he didn't even live long enough to see angels sold at markets or Gregorian chants and Hildegarde compositions top the charts Recall from a memorable visit down into the famous Salt mines outside Krakow, the same St. Barbara being mentioned in a venerate way by the guide (she also happened to be named after her) and there was among the many artistic wonders of the caves at least one finely carved statue, like everything else made by some of the ex-miners themselves out of pure salt stone. The amateur artists making the chapels and inventaries are worth a lot of praise. There may be countless interesting stories about St. Barbara too, bearing in mind she was the patroness of the whole enterprise probably from the very start nearly a thousand year back or so. For a little while the medieval Catholic kingdom of Poland felt imaginary close in the tunnels near such special places of worship. Salt was said to be at one time more valuable than even silver or gold!
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Post by cato on Jan 27, 2020 18:12:21 GMT
An Irish Oratory in the tradition of St Philip Neri is to be set up in St Kevin's Harrington St on February 2nd next . The Current PP Fr Deighin and his assistant Fr Nevin will be joined by two seminarians as they transform the current parish into an Oratorian foundation.
St John Henry Newman who lived a few streets away during his Dublin stay had hoped to set up an Irish branch of the Oratory but it was not to be for almost 150 years. May the Lord and St JHN bless the the work that has finally begun.
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Post by Séamus on Mar 20, 2020 5:56:29 GMT
The donation of currently unexportable tulips to nursing homes in Netherlands and discovery of a prehistoric bird fossil on a Belgian beach are among the optimists' distractions during the current European- and world-lockdown. I personally found it more interesting that archeologists and historians, mostly connected with Queens University Belfast, believed that they have now authenticated the remains, initially discovered over a century ago, of an obscure Kentish saint named Eanswythe, granddaughter of the first Anglo-Saxon king baptised by Augustine. Obviously hidden during the reformation, carbon dating of the body which confirms a date that ties in with her mid-6th century death,it also debunks much of the falsified histories that portray all pre-reformation English relics as monastic fraud (such as the ridiculous, anachronistic Shardlake books).
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Post by cato on Mar 20, 2020 20:19:26 GMT
We often complain about negative aspects of Irish economic policy but it has suprised Many to learn Ireland manufactures 50% of ventilators globally. Or at least US multinationals based here do. Mind you the vast majority are exported.
Whether this will lead to a Chinese or a US fleet occupying Ireland is so far unlikely but it may have increased our strategic value. Perhaps someone is already writing a book "How the Irish saved Civilisation Vol ii" !
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Post by Séamus on Mar 31, 2020 9:28:00 GMT
The worldwide push,mostly by indigenous activists and left-wingers, for the abolition of 'colonial inspired' holidays such as the January Australia Day, which commemorates the arrival of the first British fleet,is probably far from welcomed by conservatives,but I noticed in one Catholic paper that the state of Colorado's abolition of Columbus Day was followed by the uplifting side-effect of an annual state bank holiday proclaimed in memory of St Frances Xavier Cabrini,said to be the first to honour a woman in USA. Do they know that the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart founded two hospitals named after Columbus during the saint's lifetime? (The one in Chicago had a 'world celebrated surgeon' named J.Murphy as president of committee of doctors,chosen by Mother Frances herself.)
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Post by Séamus on Apr 6, 2020 11:52:04 GMT
An unusual image,reproduced by newsprint last week, of a skirmish between a red squirrel and a colourful pheasant taken in Scotland(and the photographer was a Malcom and a McBeath to boot)was a welcome distraction...as is the general observation of birds going about their business above the world of human trauma,whichever area one is in- in my case it was honeyeaters yesterday taking necter from proteas with gusto,despite it not being a native flower. It reminds me a bit of one of Tolkien's striking passages,when one of his hobbits(can't recall whether it's Frodo himself) finds joy midst desolation from looking at a star and taking consolation that there was somewhere up there that existed above and untouched by the awful power of Mordor. I've often wondered whether the May It Be(an evening star....) number from Jackson's production was inspired by this paragraph,assuming they'd read the book. It's always worth looking back at what an earlier generation or decade thought and felt and feared and the issues of their day -as my mother has had time to sort hords of papers lately,a card emerged from a drawer that had come with a St Brigid Cross produced as a fundraiser by Sean MacBride and a group called Action from Ireland founded in the final years of the Cold War to give an awareness of the £800,000 (80s Irish pounds)that they claimed was spent on the arms race every minute. The hq was in Dublin,but it's actually quite vague where the £800,000 they planned to raise finally went to, except mention of justice, peace, development in Ireland and also the Third World and obviously the target amount was a pointed statement about the amount First and Second World countries were budgeting for arms. Third World leaders were also far from clean,even from misappropriating aid,but that was,no doubt, a different issue. But seeing the explanation alongside a quote from Isaiah and a paragraph on St Brigid as peace-maker,but not the 90s new-age interpretation of the saint, does reveal an era where religious roots weren't excluded from social activity. And,although the effects of that particular arms race are still felt,with reports that a forest fire yesterday near Chernobyl was hard to control due to still-present radiation,there's always the uplifting thought that we are all still here and (despite whistling tunes as we kiss the baboons in the jungle) so is the Ukranian forest.
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Post by cato on Apr 6, 2020 22:33:36 GMT
I saw the first bumble bee of 2020 yesterday. I have always had a soft spot for the leisurely bumble. I hope he will make a comeback this year.
Seamus remarks on Birdsong. Due to the quiet they are much more obvious. Things generally are quieter. I like that too. The air is getting cleaner too.
I am well aware of the gigantic economic cost of this all but there are little silver linings.
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Post by Séamus on May 4, 2020 11:33:44 GMT
I'm not sure whether anyone was expecting the British PM's son to be given an historical English name but it's probably a positive, despite being after the Saint who caused a deathblow to Celtic traditions via the Synod of Whitby. Meanwhile,on the same coast that Wilfrid first studied under Celtic custom,an Englishwoman this week launches legal action after her abortion, claiming that women are entitled to be informed of the possibility of a fetus feeling pain. Unlikely to do more to the establishment than put a shoulder to the wheel, like Dickens' BleakHouse lawyer,but hopefully not as hopeless a cause for some future generation.
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Post by assisi on May 4, 2020 12:21:08 GMT
I'm not sure whether anyone was expecting the British PM's son to be given an historical English name but it's probably a positive, despite being after the Saint who caused a deathblow to Celtic traditions via the Synod of Whitby. Meanwhile,on the same coast that Wilfrid first studied under Celtic custom,an Englishwoman this week launches legal action after her abortion, claiming that women are entitled to be informed of the possibility of a fetus feeling pain. Unlikely to do more to the establishment than put a shoulder to the wheel, like Dickens' BleakHouse lawyer,but hopefully not as hopeless a cause for some future generation. There may be more power behind the appeal about the pain of the child in abortion in that it resonates with emotions rather than in the black and white scenario of 'choice'. It's a bit of a paradox that many progressives would probably feel some sympathy for pain endured by the baby, while blithely supporting the death of the baby via abortion as a 'right'. Mind you, the whole thing is strange, posing the question after the abortion. I assume that something happened or was said during the procedure that shocked her. Even if the baby didn't feel pain because of a not yet developed nervous system or some other purely biological reason, then surely the poor thing must experience some devastating trauma relative to its stage of life as it is being killed. Babies respond to stimuli in the womb.
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