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.
Dear Friends I thought you would like to know this famous story of one of the most popular saints of Europe. May God bless you
Deacon Arthur, EP Heralds of the Gospel
Feast of St. Martin of Tours
(316?-397) On a bitterly cold day, Martin met a poor man, almost naked, trembling in the cold and begging from passersby at the city gate. Martin had nothing but his weapons and his clothes. He drew his sword, cut his cloak into two pieces, gave one to the beggar and wrapped himself in the other half. Some of the bystanders laughed at his now odd appearance; others were ashamed at not having relieved the man's misery.
That night in his sleep Martin saw Christ dressed in the half of the garment he had given away, and heard him say, "Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his garment."
Today is the day in which we ask through all the saints known and unknown to intercede for us. I will remember you all at Mass today. Through them we honour Christ, true God and true man, the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind, who through His Holy Mother Mary gave them all the graces they needed for them to be today in Heaven.
The earliest certain observance of a feast in honour of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagonloads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honoured in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons".
The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century
On Sunday 17 October Pope Benedict XVI presided at the canonization Mass of six newly recognized saints: Stanislaw Soltys, André Bessette, Cándida María de Jesús Cipitria y Barriola, Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Giulia Salzano and Battista Camilla Varano.
He pointed out that the canonizations were a "a little special. Two of the new saints in particular generated a special interest in their countries."
The two saints were the first male Canadian-born saint (André Bessette) and the first Australian saint (Mary MacKillop). "The other saints were Italians, a Spaniard, and a Pole, ... so -- although very great -- were not an absolute novelty," he said. "But Australia has never had a saint before, and Canada too has had little familiarity with canonizations."
Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican's press office, speaking on a recent episode of the weekly Vatican Television program "Octava Dies" said: "The Church solemnly proposes models of Christian life with the saints, but it does so while recognizing that the people, above all, have already understood this, that certain persons incarnate the Gospel with extraordinary exemplarity, and thus become the spiritual friends of those who encounter them, fascinating guides in the love of God, in faith, in hope.
"Canonizations are the recognition that God's Spirit breathes in ordinary people such as Mary and Brother André, and bears fruits of virtue that are a source of comfort and light for so many others..... Some saints are solemnly recognized; the great majority do not become universally famous, but equally spread faith, hope and love about themselves ... This is the most beautiful side of the Church."
"In the Church, everything is at the service of men and women of every country and condition, to enable them to meet God journeying along the paths of sanctity..." Fr Lombardi urged, "Let us learn to see the Church in this perspective and continually renew her, beginning with ourselves."
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.
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 the feast of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated a “Year for Priests” under the patronage of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. Let us pray for our Priests!
The Cure of Ars had the gift of prophecy. On May 14th, 1854, the bishop of Ullathorne called the saint and asked him to pray for England. The bishop of Birmingham narrates that the holy man said with extraordinary conviction: “ Monseigneur, I believe the Church in England will be restored to its full splendor.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cure of Ars preached constantly about the importance of prayer:
1. “Prayer is the elevation of our heart to God, a sweet conversation between creature and Creator”. (Sermon on prayer)
2. “Through prayer you can do everything, you possess, as it were, the Mountain of God”. (Sermon on perseverance)
3. “Prayer opens the eyes of the soul; it makes us feel the extent of our miseries, the need to have recourse to God, and to be fearful of our own weakness”. (Sermon on prayer)
4. “All the miseries that befall us on earth come from the fact that either we do not pray, or we do not pray properly”. (Sermon on prayer)
5. “All the saints began their conversion through prayer, and with it they persevered; all those who were damned, were damned because they neglected prayer. I affirm therefore, that prayer is absolutely necessary for our perseverance”. (Sermon on perseverance)
6. “How often we come to Church without knowing why we come, or what we want to ask for. But when we go to somebody's house we know exactly why we are going. Some seem to say to God ‘I just came to fulfil an obligation.’ Often, I think that when we come to adore our Lord, we could obtain everything we desire if we would ask for it with a strong faith and a pure heart”.
7. “Our prayers ought to be made with trust, and with the firm hope that God can, and wants to, give us what we ask for if we ask for it properly”. (Sermon on prayer)
8. “We have to pray frequently, but we must double our prayers in time of trial, and in moments when we are assailed by temptation”. (Sermon on prayer)
9. “Great though our sufferings may be, if we pray, we will have the joy of enduring them entirely submitted to God’s Will; however strong our temptations may be, if we turn to prayer we will overcome them”. (Sermon on prayer)
10. “The third condition that a prayer should fulfil, in order to be agreeable to God, is that we persevere in it. Many times God does not give us what we ask. He does this so that we may desire it more intensely, or so that we may appreciate it better. This delay is not a refusal, but a trial which prepares us better to receive what we have asked”. (Sermon on prayer)
Today we celebrate the feastday of Padre Pio. He was born in 1887 in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina. He joined the Capuchin Friars at the age of sixteen and was ordained a Priest seven years later. For fifty years at the monastry of San Giovanni Rotundo, he was a much sought after as a spiritual advisor and confessor, whose life was devoted to the Eucharist and prayer. In 1918 he became the first Priest to receive the stigmata. In 1956 he founded the House for the Relief of Suffering, a hospital that serves 60,000 people a year. In one of the largest such ceremonies in history, Pope John Paul II canonized Padre Pio on June 16, 2002. The Holy Father stressed Padre Pio's witness to the power of suffering. If accepted with love, the Holy Father stressed, such suffering can lead to "a privileged path of sanctity."
