Buona Epifania a tutti!

Befana never showed up last night.

I'm thinking she's pissed Epiphany has been moved to Sunday.  Oh well.

Buona Epifania a tutti!

Christian legend had it that Befana was approached by the magi, also known as the Three Wise Men (or the three kings) a few days before the birth of the Infant Jesus. They asked for directions to where the Son of God was, as they had seen his star in the sky, but she did not know. She provided them with shelter for a night, as she was considered the best housekeeper in the village, with the most pleasant home. The magi invited her to join them on the journey to find the baby Jesus, but she declined, stating she was too busy with her housework. Later, La Befana had a change of heart, and tried to search out the astrologers and Jesus. That night she was not able to find them, so to this day, La Befana is searching for the little baby. She leaves all the good children toys and candy ("caramelle") or fruit, while the bad children get coal ("carbone"), onions or garlic.

Another Christian legend takes a slightly darker tone as La Befana was an ordinary woman with a child whom she greatly loved. However, her child died, and her resulting grief maddened her. Upon hearing news of Jesus being born, she set out to see him, delusional that he was her son. She eventually met Jesus and presented him with gifts to make him happy. The infant Jesus was delighted, and he gave La Befana a gift in return; she would be the mother of every child in Italy. - Source

Please help my dear friend Fr. Z

Some people blocked him on Twitter.

A priest and some one else.

Father posted the following:

Meanwhile, please do me a kindness and follow me on Twitter. @fatherz 

Please share!

That's exactly what I'm doing.  Because if someone blocks you, that means he no longer follows you, I think.  So you need to keep the numbers up.  I'm not sure why, but I know people like a high count for Followers.

The Seven Holy Monks of Tibhirine of Our Lady of the Atlas to be Beatified.

When the Trappists of Atlas were martyred, I rejoiced.

I never thought martyrdom would be offered to our generation.  This was before it became large scale, widespread in Africa and the Middle East.  The monks of Tibhirine seem to me now to be proto-martyrs of the Jihadi terror.  I left this comment on Fr. Martin's Facebook page with the story:

When this happened - before martyrdom seemed commonplace again, I was thrilled to know one could actually die a martyr in our age. How naive I was - so many in Latin America had already died as martyrs - and now everything that was hidden is being revealed. Praise God!

I have sand from their grave, a dear Trappist Father sent it to me several years ago.  It was from their first grave.

Here is the story, (translating from the French):

The decree of beatification of 19 “martyrs” killed in Algeria in the 1990s – including the seven monks of Tibhirine and the former Bishop of Oran Pierre Claverie – could be signed by the end of January. 

“Honoring the 19 Christian martyrs means paying homage to the memory of all those who gave their lives in Algeria in the 90s,” commented the French Trappist monk Thomas Georgeon, “postulator” (lawyer) of the cause, in a interview to the online monthly Mondo e missionne, from the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions.
“Each one of them has been a genuine witness of the love of Christ, of dialogue, of openness to others, of friendship and loyalty to the Algerian people,” he says, estimating that the file opened in 2006 had advanced rapidly. “The Algerian bishops hope that the beatification can be celebrated in Algeria, in Oran, diocese of Bishop Claverie,” said Thomas Georgeon, who was received in September by the Pope at the Vatican with the Archbishop of Algiers and the Bishop of Oran. […] - Aleteia

The vow of stability.

How can we understand the profundity of this vow in the life of a monk? Perhaps the letter which Father Christian had thought to send on December 28th, 1993, to Sayah Attiya, head of the GIA and of the group of armed men who came to the door of the monastery on Christmas Eve, can reveal to us the meaning of this vow: «My Brother, allow me to address you in this way; man to man, believer to believer, (...) In the present conflict in which the country is living, it is impossible for us to take sides. As foreigners we are forbidden to do so. Being monks (ruhban) we are bound to the choice God has made for us, that of prayer and a simple life, of manual work, of welcoming and sharing with everyone above all with the poor (...) These principles of life are freely accepted by each of us. They bind us until death. I do not think God wills that this death should come through you (...) If, one day, the Algerians see that we are too many, then we will respect their desire to see us leave. With deep regret. I know that we will continue to love them, ALL of them, including you. When and how this message will reach you? It is of little importance! But today I need to write to you. Forgive me for doing so in my mother tongue. You will understand. And may the Only One of all life, lead us! Amin». - More here.

This is one of the most evil things I have ever read.

Paul VI and the Church's Paradigm Shift on Homosexuality.  I won't link to it.

Randy Engel and Louie Verrecchio do more damage to the Church than so-called Freemasons and Soviet Communist propaganda could ever do.  They recycle false information, rumor, gossip and innuendo as if it was fact.  They are like the Fatima cult and those who follow spurious apparitions and unverified revelations such as OL of Quito and others.  They repeat the same falsehoods which become embedded in traditionalist circles.  It's evil.

The Holy Name of Jesus

The Devotion of The Little Sachet, or the Little Gospel.

The Holy Name is a powerful prayer. The Holy Name Jesus is a prayer in and of itself and contains the entire Gospel. JESUS.

The Little Gospel of the Holy Name

The Little Sachet, or the Gospel of the Holy Name of Jesus, is a Roman Catholic devotion based on a sacramental that, according to tradition, was mystically revealed by Jesus Christ to a Discalced Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St Peter and of the Holy Family, in 1847, in a monastery in Tours, France.

It consists of a tiny leaflet on which are printed the short Gospel of the Circumcision, which mentions the giving of the name “Jesus”; a picture of Christ; the initials IHS representing the Holy Name of Jesus; and some invocation together with the lines, “When Jesus was named — Satan was disarmed.” This leaflet is folded into a small square, enclosed in a small pouch, and distributed to the faithful, who are encouraged to frequently say: “Blessed be the Most Holy Name of Jesus without end” while wearing it. - Raccolta

“The demon uses all possible means to snatch from our Lord Jesus Christ the inheritance purchased by the cross, and he is ever seeking to rob this Good Shepherd of the lambs obtained at so great a price. To put this ravishing wolf to flight Jesus has made known to me that he wishes his sheep marked with his Holy Name, by bearing on their person the Gospel which announces to all nations that the Incarnate Word was named Jesus. This amiable Savior has acquainted me with the virtue of his Sacred Name—that it would drive away the demon, and that all those placing themselves under its special protection would receive great graces.” - Sister Marie of St Peter

I use this sacramental, always carrying it, and I pray the Holy Name whenever I'm able.  I love it attached to 'Jesus I trust in you' and 'Jesus I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.'  In my experience, repeating the Holy Name is a means of spiritual communion.

So 'they' say the Holy Family weren't refugees?

Antonio Gaudi

What?  So then the Holy Family just vacationed in Egypt?

Tiepolo

Nativity in a boat?  Remember when folks objected to that one?

The Mother of God, Octave Day of the Nativity

Theotokos Unburnt Bush

Prayer for the Pope

O God, who in your providential design willed that your Church be built upon blessed Peter, whom you set over the other apostles, look with favor, we pray, on Francis our Pope, and grant that he, whom you have made Peter’s successor, may be for your people a visible source and foundation of unity in faith and of communion. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring.

O Mary,

You are beautiful in every way,

there is no stain in you!

+

A garden enclosed, my Queen, my Mother,

a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed!

Moses before the Burning Bush.

In the Bush seen by Moses

as burning yet unconsumed,

we recognize the preservation

of your glorious virginity,

O holy Mother of God,

intercede for us.

"Never be afraid of loving Mary too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did." - St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Pope Bl. Paul VI tells us that we can never venerate Mary at the level she merits, precisely because of the mystery that unites her to Christ.

Therefore our Blessed [St. Maximilian Kolbe] is not to be reproved, nor the Church with him, because of their enthusiasm for the formal religious veneration of the Mother of God. This veneration with its rites and practices will never fully achieve the level it merits, nor the benefits it can bring, precisely because of the mystery that unites her to Christ, and which finds fascinating documentation in the New Testament. The result will never be “Mariolatry,” just as the sun will never be darkened by the moon; nor will the mission of salvation specifically entrusted to the ministry of the Church ever be distorted if the latter honors in Mary an exceptional Daughter and Spiritual Mother. The characteristic aspect, if you like, and the original quality of Blessed Kolbe’s devotion, of his “hyperdulia” to Mary, is the importance he attributes to it with regard to the present needs of the Church, the efficacy of her prophecy about the glory of the Lord and the vindication of the humble, the power of her intercession, the splendor of her exemplariness, the presence of her maternal charity. The [Second Vatican] Council confirmed us in these certainties, and now from heaven Father Kolbe is teaching us and helping us to meditate upon them and live them. This Marian profile of our new Blessed places him among the great saints and seers who have understood, venerated and sung the mystery of Mary. - Source

Protection of the Theotokos.

Mother of the Church, pray for us.

“Devotion to Mary is not spiritual etiquette, it is a requirement of the Christian life.  If our faith is not to be reduced merely to an idea or a doctrine, all of us need a mother’s heart.  May the Mother, God’s finest human creation, guard and keep this year, and bring the peace of her Son to our hearts, and to the world.” - Pope Francis

Angels

Guariento di Arpo

Looking like clouds.

I was looking at clouds thinking of 40,000 Headmen - I love that song. I look at clouds and like to wonder about angels. Sometimes they look like thousands of cherubs. Although 40,000 Headmen sound like a lot, 40,000 angels would hardly be a large number. Imagine how many angels there are - so many we can't count them. There is a hierarchy of angels - nine choirs - and silly people want to name their angel guardian.

We know relatively nothing about angels - and of course, many people pay no attention to their guardian angel or even know they have one. I know the catechism and theologians tell us what they are - but I'm not talking about studies here.  I want to simply 'wonder' about angels, the angelic life. 

Corrado Giaquinto

Imagine an angel - imagine a cloud. Try to imagine that when you look at clouds on a cloudy day - or when you catch a glimpse of a few wisps of vapor, in an otherwise cloudless sky. There could be 40,000 angels in that little wisp.  "I know just where my feet should go and that's enough for me..."


We don't know what angels are - what are they?  Yes, they are spirits, but what is that?  What do they do?  What did they do before the test?   What is their name - does God know each by name?  Of course he does. Who is God and what is an angel?  What am I? "And soaring high above the clouds I found a golden shrine..."

And soaring high above the clouds ... don't look back.

Like a prayer.