To impel the beauty of the new evangelization – this is the charism of the Heralds of the Gospel; Its founder, Monsignor João Dias explains."The Heralds of the Gospel is a private association of faithful with a very special charism based essentially on three points: the Eucharist, Mary and the Pope."
The Heralds of the Gospel are an International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right, the first to be established by the Holy See in the third millennium, during a ceremony which occurred during the feast of the Chair of St. Peter (February 22) in 2001.
The Heralds of the Gospel strive to be instruments of holiness in the Church by encouraging close unity between faith and life, and working to evangelize particularly through art and culture. Their apostolate, which differs depending upon the environments in which they work, gives pride of place to parish animation, evangelizing families, providing catechetical and cultural formation to young people, and disseminating religious Iiterature.
On 25 June, Brother Arthur and Brother Luis Miguel of the Heralds of the Gospel, attended a very interesting presentation on the life of Saint John Southworth given by Fr Michael Archer at Westminster Cathedral. They were photographed next to the Saint's coffin.
St John Southworth was one of the forty English Martyrs canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Born in Lancashire in 1592, he was martyred at Tyburn, 28 June, 1654. He was ordained a priest at the English College, Douai, and was sent on the mission to England in October 1619. He was arrested and condemned to death in Lancashire in 1627, and imprisoned first in Lancaster Castle, and afterwards in London, from where he and fifteen other priests were, on 11 April, 1630, delivered to the French Ambassador for transportation abroad.
He returned to England and in 1636 he was living at Clerkenwell, but frequently visiting the plague-stricken dwellings of Westminster to convert the dying. In 1637 he was arrested and again imprisoned. Once again he was liberated, but refused to cease ministering to English Catholics who were struggling to retain their faith under persecution.
Recaptured soon after, he was tried at the Old Bailey where he pleaded guilty to exercising the priesthood and was executed at Tyburn.
The Spanish ambassador returned his corpse to The English College at Douai for burial. However, during the French Revolution his body had to be buried in a leaden coffin, in an unmarked grave, for security, and later the site was forgotten.
In 1927, the grave was discovered during road works, and the Saint’s body was very well preserved in the lead coffin. Finally he was brought back to his Parish in Westminster where he rests in glory.
The Blessed Mother should always be placed at the height of our thoughts and affection, says Benedict XVI, as she watches over our families and points the way to Heaven.
The Pope spoke on 24 June 2010 during his visit to the Don Orione Center in Rome's Monte Mario district, where he blessed a 29-foot-tall restored statue of the Virgin Mary.
The gilded copper statue, known as "Protector of the Roman People“, fell from its 62-foot pedestal in a storm last Oct. 12, but has been recently restored.
The Pontiff noted how the "Madonnina -- as the Romans like to call her" -- is once again placed on the Monte Mario hilltop where it stood since 1953 to "watch over our city."
"May Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, be always at the summit of your thoughts and affection," as the "kind consolation of your souls, sure guide of your desires and support of your steps, persuasive inspirer of the imitation of Jesus Christ."
Addressing the Orionine congregation, founded by St. Luigi Orione in 1893, the Pope stated, "St. Luigi Orione's program -- charity alone will save the world -- had a significant realization here and became a sign of hope for Rome, in union with the Madonnina placed on the top of the hill."
"Don Orione lived in a lucid and passionate way the Church's task to live love in order to make the light of God enter the world." And these "works of charity, both as personal acts or as services to frail persons offered in great institutions, can never be reduced to a philanthropic gesture, but must always be a tangible expression of the provident love of God."
"I bless the objective and the decisions that have been adopted to re-launch the spiritual and apostolic dynamism that must always distinguish you."
St. John Fisher was born in Beverly, Yorkshire, in 1459. He was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day. He was confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, and became closely associated in her endowments to Cambridge university. He was a friend to Erasmus, and brought him to England as professor of Divinity and Greek at Cambridge.
In 1504, he became Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge, and he also tutored Prince Henry who was to become Henry VIII, However, from 1527, like St Thomas More he actively opposed the King's divorce proceedings against his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and similarly he steadfastly resisted the encroachment of Henry on the Church.
Unlike the other Bishops, St. John refused to take the oath of succession which acknowledged the child of Henry and Anne Boleyn (the future Queen Elizabeth I) as the legitimate heir to the throne, and he was imprisoned in the tower in April 1534. He was condemned to death by torture, but this penalty was changed to beheading because the 66-year-old Cardinal was ill and too weak to endure torture.
While in prison, he was made a Cardinal by Paul III and Henry retaliated by having him beheaded within a month.
A half hour before his execution, St John opened his New Testament and saw the following words from St. John's Gospel: "Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Him Whom You have sent, Jesus Christ. I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave me to do. Do You now, Father, give me glory at Your side". Closing the book, he observed: "There is enough learning in that to last me the rest of my life."
He was taken out for the public execution, and walked resolutely to the scaffold. Raising his emaciated body erect, he asked in an audible voice for the onlookers to pray for him:
“Until now I have not feared death. I am, however, made of flesh, and because of the flesh, St. Peter denied Our Lord three times. I ask you to assist me with your prayers so that at the very point and instant of the death stroke, I may in that very moment stand steadfast without forsaking any one point of the Catholic Faith.”
On the scaffold, he was offered pardon repeatedly if he would renounce his position, but he refused.
After he was beheaded, his head was set on a lance and placed on London Bridge. Fifteen days after his martyrdom, his head still appeared alive and fresh and when the people started to declare that this was a miracle, it was thrown into the Thames.
"I condemn no other man’s conscience: their conscience may save them, and mine must save me. We should remember, in all the controversies in which we engage, to treat our opponents as if they were acting in good faith, even if they seem to us to be acting out of spite or self-interest." ~ Saint John Fisher
John Fisher and Thomas More were beatified in 1886 and canonized in 1935. Their feast is commemorated jointly.
For more information about this picture see:http://www.thomasmorestudies.org/featured_art.html
Pope John Paul II's tribute to Saint Thomas More, in his Apostolic Letter, issued Motu Proprio , proclaiming St Thomas More (already Patron of Lawyers) Patron of Statesmen and Politicians.
“The life and martyrdom of Saint Thomas More have been the source of a message which spans the centuries and which speaks to people everywhere of the inalienable dignity of the human conscience, which, as the Second Vatican Council reminds us, is "the most intimate centre and sanctuary of a person, in which he or she is alone with God, whose voice echoes within them" (Gaudium et Spes, 16). Whenever men or women heed the call of truth, their conscience then guides their actions reliably towards good. Precisely because of the witness which he bore, even at the price of his life, to the primacy of truth over power, Saint Thomas More is venerated as an imperishable example of moral integrity. And even outside the Church, particularly among those with responsibility for the destinies of peoples, he is acknowledged as a source of inspiration for a political system which has as its supreme goal the service of the human person. ………..
His sincere religious sentiment led him to pursue virtue through the assiduous practice of asceticism: he cultivated friendly relations with the Observant Franciscans of the Friary at Greenwich, and for a time he lived at the London Charterhouse, these being two of the main centres of religious fervour in the Kingdom. Feeling himself called to marriage, family life and dedication as a layman, in 1505 he married Jane Colt, who bore him four children. Jane died in 1511 and Thomas then married Alice Middleton, a widow with one daughter. Throughout his life he was an affectionate and faithful husband and father, deeply involved in his children’s religious, moral and intellectual education. His house offered a welcome to his children’s spouses and his grandchildren, and was always open to his many young friends in search of the truth or of their own calling in life. Family life also gave him ample opportunity for prayer in common and lectio divina, as well as for happy and wholesome relaxation. Thomas attended daily Mass in the parish church, but the austere penances which he practised were known only to his immediate family.
Henry VIII made him … a member of the King’s Council, presiding judge of an important tribunal, deputy treasurer and a knight, (and) in 1523 he became Speaker of the House of Commons.
Highly esteemed by everyone for his unfailing moral integrity, sharpness of mind, his open and humorous character, and his extraordinary learning, in 1529 at a time of political and economic crisis in the country he was appointed by the King to the post of Lord Chancellor. The first layman to occupy this position, Thomas faced an extremely difficult period, as he sought to serve King and country. In fidelity to his principles, he concentrated on promoting justice and restraining the harmful influence of those who advanced their own interests at the expense of the weak. In 1532, not wishing to support Henry VIII’s intention to take control of the Church in England, he resigned. He withdrew from public life, resigning himself to suffering poverty with his family and being deserted by many people who, in the moment of trial, proved to be false friends.
Given his inflexible firmness in rejecting any compromise with his own conscience, in 1534 the King had him imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was subjected to various kinds of psychological pressure. Thomas More did not allow himself to waver, and he refused to take the oath requested of him, since this would have involved accepting a political and ecclesiastical arrangement that prepared the way for uncontrolled despotism. At his trial, he made an impassioned defence of his own convictions on the indissolubility of marriage, the respect due to the juridical patrimony of Christian civilization, and the freedom of the Church in her relations with the State. Condemned by the Court, he was beheaded. With the passing of the centuries discrimination against the Church diminished. In 1850 the English Catholic Hierarchy was re-established. This made it possible to initiate the causes of many martyrs. Thomas More, together with 53 other martyrs, including Bishop John Fisher, was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1886. And with John Fisher, he was canonized by Pius XI in 1935, on the fourth centenary of his martyrdom.
There are many reasons for proclaiming Thomas More Patron of statesmen and people in public life. Among these is the need felt by the world of politics and public administration for credible role models able to indicate the path of truth at a time in history when difficult challenges and crucial responsibilities are increasing. Today in fact strongly innovative economic forces are reshaping social structures; on the other hand, scientific achievements in the area of biotechnology underline the need to defend human life at all its different stages, while the promises of a new society — successfully presented to a bewildered public opinion — urgently demand clear political decisions in favour of the family, young people, the elderly and the marginalized.
In this context, it is helpful to turn to the example of Saint Thomas More, who distinguished himself by his constant fidelity to legitimate authority and institutions precisely in his intention to serve not power but the supreme ideal of justice. His life teaches us that government is above all an exercise of virtue. Unwavering in this rigorous moral stance, this English statesman placed his own public activity at the service of the person, especially if that person was weak or poor; he dealt with social controversies with a superb sense of fairness; he was vigorously committed to favouring and defending the family; he supported the all-round education of the young. His profound detachment from honours and wealth, his serene and joyful humility, his balanced knowledge of human nature and of the vanity of success, his certainty of judgement rooted in faith: these all gave him that confident inner strength that sustained him in adversity and in the face of death. His sanctity shone forth in his martyrdom, but it had been prepared by an entire life of work devoted to God and neighbor.….
This harmony between the natural and the supernatural is perhaps the element which more than any other defines the personality of this great English statesman: he lived his intense public life with a simple humility marked by good humor, even at the moment of his execution.
This was the height to which he was led by his passion for the truth. What enlightened his conscience was the sense that man cannot be sundered from God, nor politics from morality. As I have already had occasion to say, "man is created by God, and therefore human rights have their origin in God, are based upon the design of creation and form part of the plan of redemption. One might even dare to say that the rights of man are also the rights of God" (Speech, 7 April 1998).
And it was precisely in defence of the rights of conscience that the example of Thomas More shone brightly. It can be said that he demonstrated in a singular way the value of a moral conscience which is "the witness of God himself, whose voice and judgment penetrate the depths of man’s soul" …
The life of Saint Thomas More clearly illustrates a fundamental truth of political ethics. The defence of the Church’s freedom from unwarranted interference by the State is at the same time a defence, in the name of the primacy of conscience, of the individual’s freedom vis-à-vis political power. Here we find the basic principle of every civil order consonant with human nature.
--------------------------------------------------------- The Trial of St Thomas More
Below is a clip from Robert Bolt's excellent film on the life of St Thomas More: "A Man for all Seasons"
Blessed Francisco Marto of Fatima one of the child visionaries from Fatima, is a great role model for children today, particularly in five of his outstanding virtues, according to an expert on his life.
Sister Irma Angela Coelho, a professor and doctor, offered the visionary as a model for children when she was interviewed during a conference in 2009, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Francisco.
Sister Coelho said that the young shepherd offers youth a model of obedience, purity, humility, devotion to the Eucharist, and love for sinners.
She said that Francisco was "an absolutely normal boy," but, that he "experienced something that brought him to develop certain virtues and characteristics that to me, seem fundamental for children today."
Among these, she emphasised his obedience. "[Our Lady] asked him to prayer many prayers to be able to go to heaven and Francisco didn't question this; he didn't grumble or put up resistance. He just prayed." His obedience to Our Lady was mirrored in his obedience to the to his parents, Sister Coelho said.
In speaking about his purity, she pointed out that Francisco "saw things the way that God sees them." This made him avoid certain groups of friends because he did not want to hear or learn bad words, because he said "Jesus gets sad."
Children of today "have a lot to learn from him, for example, in the use of the Internet, which is a marvelous thing, but which also has dangers, concretely in the realm of purity."
Regarding Francisco's humility she said: "During the apparitions, Lucía saw, heard and spoke; Jacinta saw and heard; but Francisco only saw."
Lucía later said in her memoirs that Francisco tried to understand what she explained to him but that "he never complained and bore with his limits."
"In our times, in which every child has to be better than the other, in a world marked by competition, […] in a society that demands being the most intelligent, the most beautiful, the most powerful, Francisco's example of humility teaches much to the children of today," Sister Coelho stated.
She continued: "the shepherd visionaries were able to intensely and profoundly live the mystery of the Eucharist," and Francisco's "love for sinners was especially notable, [people] with whom he identified, uniting himself to them and making sacrifices for them."
"Because of all this, I think that Francisco, who was an absolutely normal boy, became a special boy who all the normal children of today can perfectly imitate."
On Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Father concelebrated Mass in St Peter's Square with more than 15,000 priests, bishops and cardinals, to mark the close of the Year for Priests.
The day also marked the 150th anniversary of the death of St John Mary Vianney and to mark the occasion the Holy Father consecrated the wine in the same chalice as that used by the Cure d'Ars.
In his homily the Pope said that the purpose of the Year for Priests was to ensure "a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry. The priest is not a mere office-holder. ... Rather, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ's name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life. Over the offerings of bread and wine he speaks Christ's words of thanksgiving, ... which open the world to God and unite it to Him. The priesthood, then, is not simply 'office' but Sacrament".
"This audacity of God Who entrusts Himself to human beings (Who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead) this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'. ...This is what we wanted to reflect upon and appreciate anew over the course of the past year. We wanted to reawaken our joy at how close God is to us, ... we also wanted to demonstrate once again to young people that this vocation, this fellowship of service for God and with God, does exist".
"It was to be expected that this new radiance of the priesthood would not be pleasing to the 'enemy'; he would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the Sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light - particularly the abuse of the little ones. ... We too insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; and that in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation we will do everything we can to weigh the authenticity of their vocation and make every effort to accompany priests along their journey".
"Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God's gift, a gift concealed in 'earthen vessels' which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes His love concretely present in this world. So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, His gift becomes a commitment to respond to God's courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility".
……."We should strive to 'know' men and women as God does and for God's sake; we should strive to walk with them along the path of friendship with God. ... The shepherd points out the right path to those entrusted to him. He goes before them and leads them. Let us put it differently: the Lord shows us the right way to be human. He teaches us the art of being a person. What must I do in order not to fall, not to squander my life in meaninglessness? This is precisely the question which every man and woman must ask, and one which remains valid at every moment of one's life. How much darkness surrounds this question in our own day! We are constantly reminded of the words of Jesus, Who felt compassion for the crowds because they were like a flock without a shepherd".
Speaking of the 23rd Psalm, and its reference to the "darkest valley", Benedict XVI said that "when speaking of the darkest valley, we can also think of the dark valleys of temptation, discouragement and trial through which everyone has to pass. Even in these dark valleys of life He is there. ... Help us priests, so that we can remain beside the persons entrusted to us in these dark nights. So that we can show them your own light", he said.
"'Your rod and your staff - they comfort me': the shepherd needs the rod as protection against savage beasts ready to pounce on the flock; against robbers looking for prey. Along with the rod there is the staff which gives support and helps to make difficult crossings. ... The Church too must use the shepherd's rod, the rod with which she protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray. The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated. Nor is it love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented. As if it were no longer God's gift, the precious pearl which we cannot let be taken from us. Even so, the rod must always become once again the shepherd's staff - a staff which helps men and women to tread difficult paths and to follow the Lord".
The Psalm closes with a reference to the "table set", to "dwelling in the house of the Lord". In these words, said the Holy Father, "we see a kind of prophetic foreshadowing of the mystery of the Eucharist, in which God Himself makes us His guests and offers Himself to us as food - as that bread and fine wine which alone can definitively sate man's hunger and thirst. How can we not rejoice that one day we will be guests at the very table of God?
... How can we not rejoice that He has enabled us to set God's table for men and women, to give them His Body and His Blood, to offer them the precious gift of His very presence".
Finally, the Pope spoke about the two communion antiphons which recount the lance thrust in Jesus' side which caused blood and water to come out. This, the Pope explained, recalls "the two fundamental Sacraments by which the Church lives: Baptism and the Eucharist. From the Lord's pierced side, from His open heart, there springs the living fountain which continues to well up over the centuries and which makes the Church. The open heart is the source of a new stream of life".
"Every Christian and every priest should become, starting from Christ, a wellspring which gives life to others. We ought to be offering life-giving water to a parched and thirsty world. Lord", the Holy Father concluded, "we thank you because for our sake you opened your heart; because in your death and in your resurrection you became the source of life. Give us life, make us live from you as our source, and grant that we too may be sources, wellsprings capable of bestowing the water of life in our time. We thank you for the grace of the priestly ministry. Lord bless us, and bless all those who in our time are thirsty and continue to seek".
On June 3 the Church celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi. More than the Incarnation and death on the Cross, the love of God to men manifested in the Eucharist goes beyond our comprehension.
Listen to the "Pange Lingua" - written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, this hymn is considered the most beautiful of Aquinas' hymns and one of the great seven hymns of the Church.
Pange Lingua
Sing my tongue, the Savior's glory, of His flesh the mystery sing; of the Blood, all price exceeding, shed by our immortal King, destined, for the world's redemption, from a noble womb to spring. Of a pure and spotless Virgin born for us on earth below, He, as Man, with man conversing, stayed, the seeds of truth to sow; then He closed in solemn order wondrously His life of woe.
On the night of that Last Supper, seated with His chosen band, He the Pascal victim eating, first fulfills the Law's command; then as Food to His Apostles gives Himself with His own hand
Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature by His word to Flesh He turns; wine into His Blood He changes;- what though sense no change discerns? Only be the heart in earnest, faith her lesson quickly learns.
Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail; Lo! o'er ancient forms departing, newer rites of grace prevail; faith for all defects supplying, where the feeble sense fail.
To the everlasting Father, and the Son who reigns on high, with the Holy Ghost proceeding forth from Each eternally, be salvation, honor, blessing, might and endless majesty.
NICOSIA, Cyprus, JUNE 5, 2010 (Zenit.org).- While the cross is an instrument of torture and suffering, it also represents the triumph of God's love over evil, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today during a homily at the Latin parish Church of the Holy Cross, attended by priests, religious, deacons, catechists and representatives of Cyprian ecclesial movements, in which he addressed the question of "why we Christians celebrate an instrument of torture, a sign of suffering, defeat and failure."
"It is true," he answered, "that the Cross expresses all these things. And yet, because of him who was lifted up on the Cross for our salvation, it also represents the definitive triumph of God's love over all the evil in the world."
The Pontiff said the cross is "something far greater and more mysterious than it at first appears." It's not just an instrument of torture, suffering and defeat," he explained, because it also " expresses the complete transformation, the definitive reversal of these evils."
"That is what makes it the most eloquent symbol of hope that the world has ever seen," he affirmed. "It speaks to all who suffer -- the oppressed, the sick, the poor, the outcast, the victims of violence -- and it offers them hope that God can transform their suffering into joy, their isolation into communion, their death into life.
"It offers unlimited hope to our fallen world."
Benedict XVI affirmed that "the world needs the cross":
"The Cross is not just a private symbol of devotion, it is not just a badge of membership of a certain group within society, and in its deepest meaning it has nothing to do with the imposition of a creed or a philosophy by force.
"It speaks of hope, it speaks of love, it speaks of the victory of non-violence over oppression, it speaks of God raising up the lowly, empowering the weak, conquering division, and overcoming hatred with love."
"A world without the Cross would be a world without hope," he continued, "a world in which torture and brutality would go unchecked, the weak would be exploited and greed would have the final word. Man’s inhumanity to man would be manifested in ever more horrific ways, and there would be no end to the vicious cycle of violence.
"Only the Cross puts an end to it. While no earthly power can save us from the consequences of our sins, and no earthly power can defeat injustice at its source, nevertheless the saving intervention of our loving God has transformed the reality of sin and death into its opposite."
Article from ZENIT's Web page:
Full text: www.zenit.org/article-29488?l=english ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday 6 June:
NICOSIA, Cyprus, JUNE 6, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today before praying the midday Angelus with the faithful gathered at the Eleftheria Sports Centre in Nicosia.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
At the midday hour it is the Church's tradition to turn in prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, joyfully recalling her ready acceptance of the Lord's invitation to become the mother of God. It was an invitation that filled her with trepidation, one which she could scarcely even comprehend. It was a sign that God had chosen her, his lowly handmaid, to cooperate with him in his saving work. How we rejoice at the generosity of her response! Through her "yes", the hope of the ages became a reality, the One whom Israel had long awaited came into the world, into our history. Of him the angel promised that his kingdom would have no end (cf. Lk 1:33).
Some thirty years later, as Mary stood weeping at the foot of the cross, it must have been hard to keep that hope alive.
The forces of darkness seemed to have gained the upper hand. And yet, deep down, she would have remembered the angel's words. Even amid the desolation of Holy Saturday the certitude of hope carried her forward into the joy of Easter morning. And so we, her children, live in the same confident hope that the Word made flesh in Mary's womb will never abandon us. He, the Son of God and Son of Mary, strengthens the communion that binds us together, so that we can bear witness to him and to the power of his healing and reconciling love.
I would now like to say a few words in Polish on the happy occasion of the beatification today of Jerzy Popiełuszko, priest and martyr.
I send cordial greetings to the Church in Poland which today rejoices at the elevation to the altars of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko. His zealous service and his martyrdom are a special sign of the victory of good over evil. May his example and his intercession nourish the zeal of priests and enkindle the faithful with love.
Let us now implore Mary our Mother to intercede for all of us, for the people of Cyprus, and for the Church throughout the Middle East with Christ, her Son, the Prince of Peace.
