Feast Of Saint Andrew The Apostle - 30 November

The paragraphs quoted in part below without hyperlinks are from overviewbible.com [1]:

The Apostle Andrew was one of the twelve main disciples of Jesus Christ and the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew was the first apostle Jesus called and the first apostle to claim Jesus was the Messiah.

Despite his seemingly important role as an early follower of Christ, Andrew is only mentioned 12 times in the entire New Testament—and four of those times are simply lists of the 12 apostles. He comes onto the scene early in the gospels, but only plays a minor role.... 

...

Perhaps Andrew’s most distinguishing feature is that he’s Simon Peter’s brother. Each of the gospels refer to him as Peter’s brother—but Peter is never referred to as Andrew’s brother. This, plus the fact that Peter is always  listed before him indicates that Andrew was either younger or just less important....[Emphasis  original.]

Quoted without references and hyperlinks from Wikipedia [2]:

Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Patræ) in Achaea, in AD 60. Early texts, such as the Acts of Andrew known to Gregory of Tours, describe Andrew as bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Jesus is said to have been crucified; yet a tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form called crux decussata (X-shaped cross, or "saltire"), now commonly known as a "Saint Andrew's Cross" — supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been. The iconography of the martyrdom of Andrew — showing him bound to an X-shaped cross — does not appear to have been standardized until the later Middle Ages. 

...

Andrew is the patron saint of several countries and cities including: Barbados, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, Sarzana, Pienza and Amalfi in Italy, Esgueira in Portugal, Luqa in Malta, Parañaque in the Philippines and Patras in Greece. He was also the patron saint of Prussia and of the Order of the Golden Fleece. He is considered the founder and the first bishop of the Church of Byzantium and is consequently the patron saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

[1] https://overviewbible.com/andrew-the-apostle/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_the_Apostle

Selected Feast Days In December (Excluding Christmas Eve & Christmas Day)

1. Feast Of The Immaculate Conception Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 8 December

2. Feast Of San Juan Diego - 9 December

3. Feast Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe - 12 December

4. Feast Of Saint Thomas, Apostle - 21 December (per the Tridentine calendar)

5. Feast Of Saint John, Apostle & Evangelist - 27 December

Historical Fasting During Advent

"Advent 2020 starts on Sunday, November 29, 2020...and ends on Thursday, December 24th 2020 ...." [1]

Quoted below, in part, without emphasis in bold, is from a blog post entitled What Ever Became of Advent Fasting and Penance?  written by Msgr. Charles Pope, in 2016 [2]:

...Advent, like Lent, is considered a penitential season. During these times we are to give special attention to our sins and our need for salvation. Traditionally, Advent was a time when would take part in penitential practices such as fasting and abstinence, just as is done during Lent.

In recent times, though, Advent has become almost devoid of any real penitential practices. Neither fasting nor abstinence is required; they are not really even mentioned. There is nothing in the Missal or other liturgical sources that refers to Advent as a penitential season....

During the Middle Ages, Advent observances were every bit as strict as those of Lent....

...

Today’s token fast (required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) isn’t much of a burden: one full meal and two smaller meals. Is that really a fast at all? And we are only obligated to abstain from meat on the Fridays of Lent rather than the entire forty days.

Frankly, I doubt that we moderns could pull off the fast of the ancients, or even the elders of more recent centuries....

Perhaps this is a good illustration of how enslaved we are by our abundance. The more we have, the more we want; and the more we want, the more we think we can’t survive without. We are so easily owned by what we claim to own, enslaved by our abundance.

Some religious orders still adhere to some kind of fasting during Advent.  For example, those who belong to the Missionaries Of The Poor ("MOP") [3] abstain from meat and fish, expect for the Solemnity Of The Immaculate Conception Of The Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 December.  During this time their diet includes vegetables, eggs, beans and peas.  This information was given by a brother at the MOP monastery in Monroe, North Carolina, USA.

[1] https://www.calendarpedia.com/when-is/advent.html; emphasis in bold removed.

[2] https://blog.adw.org/2016/12/what-ever-became-of-advent-fasting/

More Random Thoughts - November 2020

1. Root of all conflicts: Pride & Greed.

2. Three words to resolve all conflicts: "Love thy neighbor."

3. Two words to save one's soul: "Love God."

4. Source of mistrust: Being lied to.

5. Return to innocence: Live every moment with hope.

6. Denial of truth: A form of self-torture.

7. Betraying the good: Unjustifiable and indefensible.

8. Hell: For those who want to replace God and be glorified.

9. Purgatory: A contrite heart is necessary for entry.

10. Heaven: For those who put others first.

11. Decisions: The best come from the heart, not the mind.

12. Sin: A reminder of one's weakness to keep one humble.

13. Acceptance of sufferings: Key to understanding Christ.

14. What a mirror should reflect: Christ within oneself.

15. Reflection in the mirror: What one wants others to see.

16. Looking at oneself with honesty: Courage is required.

17. An ideal childhood: A life of carefree abandonment.

18. A life in captivity: Living with obsession & addiction.

19. Create an expectation: Don't if it won't be fulfilled.

20. Avoid disappointments: Expect nothing and be surprised.

The Presentation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary Feast Day - 21 November

Quoted without emphasis and hyperlinks from Britannica [1]:

Presentation of the Virgin Mary, also called Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, feast [is] celebrated in the Roman Catholic and Eastern churches on November 21. It was held in the Eastern church in the 6th century but did not become widely accepted in the West until the 15th century. The pope St. Pius V (1566–72) suppressed it, but in 1585 Pope Sixtus V reestablished the feast. Generally considered a feast of popular piety, it signifies Mary’s total and lifelong devotion to God, as anticipated by her Immaculate Conception, and heralds her future vocation as the sacred vessel for the Incarnation.

The feast is based on a legend contained in the Protevangelium of James, a 2nd-century work not included in the Bible. It commemorates a visit by the three-year-old Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem, where she was dedicated to the service of God and left to be raised as a consecrated virgin. This act was done in fulfillment of a sacred promise made by her parents, Saints Anne and Joachim, during their long struggle with childlessness.

An essay written by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, provides more information on the consecration of children [2].

With regard to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger had this to say, in part [3]:

Her consecration differed greatly from that of all other children. Many were brought to the temple only because their parents desired it, and without their own knowledge of the reasons for which it was done. Others wept bitterly at parting with their parents. No other at that tender age, had understood the ceremony, and none had made the consecration with such entire devotion to the Lord.

[1] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Presentation-of-the-Virgin-Mary

[2] http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Presentation%20of%20Mary%2002.html

[3] Ibid.

Mozart's Opera COSÌ FAN TUTTE Renamed COVID FAN TUTTE By Finnish National Opera And Ballet

(Taking a break from Catholic feast days and matters Catholic.)

Quoted from OperaVision's YouTube  channel [1]:

On stage, singers are rehearsing Die Walküre, when they are suddenly interrupted. As management has been laid off and the news of a global virus spreads rapidly, the Wagnerians are suddenly instructed to perform a modern satire on the situation.

Covid fan tutte satirically revisits Mozart's classic opera by adapting its storyline to reflect Finland's experience during the coronavirus crisis. Starring Karita Mattila and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, the production lightheartedly follows ordinary Finns’ lives amid press conferences by the government and pandemic experts. The libretto for Covid times is by Minna Lindgren; the music is (almost) 100% Mozart's.

Streamed on OperaVision on 16 October 2020 at 19:00 CET and available for 6 months...[now on YouTube].

The opera, Covid Fan Tutte, was sung in Finnish (click on CC for English subtitles).  The link at [1] goes to the performance.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwNz8C33JOc

Saint Elizabeth Of Hungary Feast Day - 17 November

Quoted from itmonline.org [1]:

St. Elizabeth is remembered for her charitable works, especially for the establishment of hospitals. ...Elizabeth lived at a time when the combined disasters of climate, war, pestilence, and poverty caused great suffering, and she became devoted to helping those who had nowhere to turn.

Elizabeth was born in Hungary in 1207. Her short but fruitful life lasted 24 years; she passed away in Marburg, Germany on November 17, 1231....

She began life as part of the Hungarian nobility, daughter of King Andrew II. At age 14, she married the 21-year-old Ludwig IV, of Thuringia (Germany). He was appointed regent of Meissen and the East Mark and who soon became employed by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II as a soldier and diplomat.

Elizabeth was religious since her early years, and Ludwig supported her in this, including her acts of charity. While he was away for missions under Frederick II, Elizabeth took charge of local affairs and distributed alms in all parts of her husband's territory....

...

Ludwig died on one of his military campaigns, succumbing to illness not war wounds....

Quoted from Franciscan Media [2]:

In 1228, Elizabeth joined the Secular Franciscan Order, spending the remaining few years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital which she founded in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Elizabeth’s health declined, and she died before her 24th birthday in 1231.

Quoted from  itmonline.org [3]: 

Soon after the death of Elizabeth, miracles were reported to occur at her grave in the church associated with the hospital, especially miracles of healing....

Quoted without hyperlink from Wikipedia [4]:

From her support of the [Franciscan] friars sent to Thuringia, [Elizabeth of Hungary] was made known to the founder, St Francis of Assisi, who sent her a personal message of blessing shortly before his death in 1226.

Canonization of Elizabeth of Hungary, quoted from departments.kings.edu [5]:

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, or Thuringia, is the first royal Franciscan tertiary to be canonized. At only twenty-four years old, Elizabeth of Hungary died and the world lost of one of the most pious women to ever live. Within only four years, Pope Gregory IX named her a Saint (in May of 1235).

Below is a photograph obtained online, entitled Marburg Photo: The remains of the St Elizabeth Hospital  from Tripadvisor [6]:

(finding only one photograph on the subject matter after numerous searches, whether this ruin was in fact the hospital Saint Elizabeth of Hungary founded is uncertain)

[1] http://www.itmonline.org/bodytheology/stelizabeth.htm

[2] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-elizabeth-of-hungary

[3] http://www.itmonline.org/bodytheology/stelizabeth.htm

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Hungary, under the Association with the Franciscans section.

[5] https://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/elizabethsth.html

[6] https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g187343-i20948474-Marburg_Hesse.html

Feast Of Saint Gertrude The Great - 16 November

Quoted below is from Catholic Saints [1]:

... Gertrude was born in the year 1263, of a noble Saxon family, and placed at the age of five for education in the Benedictine abbey of Rodelsdorf. Her strong mind was carefully cultivated, and she wrote Latin with unusual elegance and force; above all, she was perfect in humility and mortification, in obedience, and in all monastic observances. Her life was crowded with wonders. She has in obedience recorded some of her visions, in which she traces in words of indescribable beauty the intimate converse of her soul with Jesus and Mary. She was gentle to all, most gentle to sinners; filled with devotion to the Saints of God, to the souls in purgatory, and above all to the Passion of Our Lord and to His Sacred Heart. She ruled her abbey with perfect wisdom and love for forty years. Her life was one of great and almost continual suffering, and her longing to be with Jesus was not granted till 1334, when she had reached her seventy-second year.

An essay, using words that appear to be somewhat disturbing, depending on one's viewpoint, in describing Saint Gertrude, was published by Harvard Magazine  in 2012, quoted in part without the defunct "Page Not Found" hyperlink [2]:

... To early twentieth-century students of the psychology of religion, Gertrude’s “absurd and puerile” visions were an example of what William James called “theopathic saintliness.” Protestant historians and some recent feminists have either condemned her for the implausibility of such visionary experiences as her alleged exchange of hearts with Jesus, or lauded her for an individualism that claimed direct access to divine grace, bypassing the clergy....

None of this bears much relation to the historical figure of the Helfta nun. The Gertrude we know from the important work associated with her, the Herald of Divine Love, was not a lone individual, languishing in sickly and sexually sublimated ecstasy. Indeed, as the scholar Anna Harrison has recently emphasized, Gertrude was not so much an individual as a community.

...

The fact that an entire community “authored” Gertrude’s works undercuts the picture of her as a lone, childishly needy mystic and forms the basis for a necessary reinterpretation of the spiritual teaching of Helfta....

No one is perfect nor are saints for none of them was immaculately conceived, unlike the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Saints have done more for God, directly and/or indirectly by their influence, to bring God to people and people to God, than the average person.  They ought to be respected.

[1] http://www.catholic-saints.info/roman-catholic-saints-a-g/saint-gertrude.htm

[2] https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2012/05/vita-gertrude-of-helfta

Saint Albert The Great ("Albertus Magnus") Feast Day - 15 November

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  introduces Albert the Great as a universal thinker.  The introductory paragraph is quoted below [1]:

Albertus Magnus, also known as Albert the Great, was one of the most universal thinkers to appear during the Middle Ages. Even more so than his most famous student, St. Thomas of Aquinas, Albert’s interests ranged from natural science all the way to theology. He made contributions to logic, psychology, metaphysics, meteorology, mineralogy, and zoology. He was an avid commentator on nearly all the great authorities read during the 13th Century. He was deeply involved in an attempt to understand the import of the thought of Aristotle in some orderly fashion that was distinct from the Arab commentators who had incorporated their own ideas into the study of Aristotle. Yet he was not averse to using some of the outstanding Arab philosophers in developing his own ideas in philosophy. His superior understanding of a diversity of philosophical texts allowed him to construct one of the most remarkable syntheses in medieval culture.

Quoted from America Needs Fatima [2]:

Albert Bollstadt was born at the German castle of Lauinger on the River Danube in 1206. Nothing is known of his youth, but he studied at the University of Padua and in 1222, became a Dominican, much to the anger of his family.

He taught at Cologne in 1228, and later, at a University in Paris, where he received his doctorate in 1245. He returned to Cologne in 1248 upon the request of his Dominican superiors to establish a school of advanced learning. He became regent of the school there, and during that time taught St. Thomas Aquinas.

...

He died in Cologne on November 15, 1280 and is buried in the Church of St. Andrea. He was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.

For his great knowledge and scientific writings, he is considered the patron of scientists.

From etwn.com [3]: 

Thought for the Day: St. Albert the Great was convinced that all creation spoke of God and that the tiniest piece of scientific knowledge told us something about Him....In creation, Albert saw the hand of God.

 

[1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/albert-great/

[2] https://www.americaneedsfatima.org/Saints-Heroes/st-albert-the-great.html

[3] https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/saints/albert-the-great-458

Random Thoughts - November 2020

1. The acceptance of suffering with patience and humility draws one close to God.

2. Freedom of expression does not obviate the need to be respectful of others regardless of their beliefs.

3. A time will come when one has to face the truth and bear the consequences of lies and denials.

4. The path toward ultimate vengeance ends in death that never dies.

5. One who has been hurt can only heal with mercy and forgiveness.

6. Love resides in the heart.

7. God speaks through the heart.

8. Hate enters the mind as a cancerous tumor that spreads to the heart.

9. A heart consumed by hate no longer hears God.

10. Greed's appetite is insatiable.

11. Pride's twin is self-aggrandizement.

12. Compromise is the opposite of selflessness.

13. Those who lead a hedonistic lives pay no attention to their descendants' future.

14. Environmental hypocrites keep pampering themselves.

15. Man's ability to overpower nature dwarfs in comparison to nature's power over man.

16. Human cruelties are driven by ignorance and/or fear.

17. Those who are working to escape this planet should first work on escaping their own deaths.

18. Fur farming is sustained by vanity.

19. Mercy awaits those who act with compassion.

20. Cooperation advances civilization; division ends it.

21. Euthanasia is not an act of mercy.

22. End abortions by sexual abstinence.

23. Those who are self-righteous will gladly kill.

24. Innocence is seen as weakness by one who is evil.

25. Time exists within timelessness.

French Muslims Protect Catholic Church In Southern France

Quoted from AP News [1]:

A self-described man of peace and pragmatism, ["a French-born Muslim, Elyazid"] Benferhat and a friend gathered a group of young Muslim men to stand guard outside their town’s cathedral for the All Saints’ holiday weekend, to symbolically protect it and show solidarity with Catholic churchgoers [after hearing "about a deadly Islamic extremist attack on a church in Nice"].

[They stood in front of] the 13th-century church in the southern town of Lodeve[.]

...

His group is considering how to take the idea forward, and would like to do it again for Christmas, and for other towns to follow Lodeve’s lead. But for now all religious services in France are banned at least until Dec. 1 to try to slow fast-rising virus infections.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/france-muslims-protest-church-5e4384d209c9d0ae3fc181c86010ff34 

A Reading From The Gospel Of John On All Souls' Day - 2 November

Based on the Gospel of John, All Souls' Day ought not to be for only the souls in Purgatory and the souls faithful to God but also for all the souls "that have done good things". [1]

John 5:25-29 is the Gospel reading for the first of three Masses on All Souls' Day in the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal.  The passage quoted below is from Biblegateway - Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA) [Emphasis  added] [2]:

25 Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also to have life in himself:

27 And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man.

28 Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all  that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.

29 And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+5%3A25-29&version=DRA

[2] Ibid.

All Souls' Day - 2 November

Quoted in part from Learn Religions [1]:

All Souls['] Day is a solemn celebration in the Roman Catholic Church commemorating all of those who have died and are now in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and the temporal punishments for the mortal sins that they had confessed, and being made pure before entering into the presence of God in Heaven.

From worldometer.com [2]:

1,204,883 people have died so far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as of November 01, 2020, 23:20 GMT. 

A prayer for the deceased, from Divinum Officium [3]:

Fidélium ánimæ per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace. Amen. (Latin)

May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. (English)

 

From 2 Maccabees 12:44 [4]:

for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.

[1] https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-all-souls-day-542460

[2] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-death-toll/ (this link does not always work)

[3] https://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl,Tertia.

[4] https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2maccabees/12, at 44.