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     Today is the Thirty-third Monday in Ordinary Time as well as the feasts of two women saints - Saint Gertrude the Great, virgin, religious and mystic, and Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife, mother and ruler. Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of another wife and mother who also became a religious - Saint Elizabeth of Hungary For the readings, liturgy, meditations and vignettes on these feasts, click on LITURGY FOR THE DAY.

Monday November 16:
Thirty-third Monday in Ordinary Time and
Feast of Saint Gertrude the Great, Virgin, Religious and Mystic and
Feast of Saint Margaret of Scotland, Wife, Mother and Queen

Green or white vestments

First Reading: Revelation/Apocalpyse 1: 1-4; 2: 1-5
Psalms: Psalm 1: 1-4, 6 and Revelation/Apocalypse 2: 7
Gospel Reading: Luke 18: 35-43

      In 1256, while St. Albert was the Dominican Provincial of Germany, a young girl was born in Germany who would go on to become a great Benedictine. She was Saint Gertrude, also sometimes called "the Great" as Albert was. In 1261 Gertrude, an orphan, was placed under the direct care of abbess Gertrude of Hackebornthe sister of Saint Mechtilde. Here the younger Gertrude was nourished and became a professed Benedictine nun. In 1282, two years after the death of St. Albert, Sister Gertrude received the first of many revelations of Christ Himself in visions. Through inspiration messages she became a scholar of Sacred Scripture and the writings of great saints and recorded her mystical experiences in her work the "Book of Extraordinary Grace - Revelation of St. Gertrude". Devoutly devoted to the mystery of the Incarnation and the the Holy Eucharist, she received countless messages from Jesus on His Most Sacred Heart which she spread throughout Europe two centuries before Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. St. Gertrude received a very special prayer that, for some reason, has not been promulgated as it should. It is a very short, but powerful prayer which Jesus imparted to her that would release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it was said devoutly. This SPECIAL PRAYER FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY was also extended by Pope Clement X to include those sinners who are living today by which the person praying this prayer could alleviate the indebtedness accrued during their lives. St. Gertrude also wrote many other books, some of which were not discovered until 1536. In addition she penned the mystical experiences of St. Mechtilde called "Liber Specialis Gratiae". St. Gertrude died at the Benedictine monastery of Helfta in Germany on November 17, 1302 at only 46. Though she was never formally canonized, in 1676 Pope Clement X decreed that her feast be celebrated in the universal Church on November 16th.

      The saint who would become Queen of Scotland Saint Margaret of Scotland was born in Hungary in 1045 while her family was in exile. There in the court of King Saint Stephen her father Prince Edward d'Outremer (the Exile) and her mother, a German princess named Agatha reared the young girl. At the age of 12, the Danish King Knute who had been on the English throne was deposed and King Edward the Confessor became ruler in England. The family returned to England but Margaret had to flee with her mother and siblings after the fierce Battle of Hastings in 1066. King Malcolm III of Scotland gave them refuge there in northern Britain and at the age of 25 she was married to Malcolm at Dunfermline Castle. Though Malcolm had been a ruthless king, her pious manner and example converted him to a man of great virtue. They sired eight children, two of which became saints: Saint David and Saint Edith who became Queen of England as Matilda. As Queen of Scotland, Margaret showed a great affinity to the poor and homeless by providing hospices as well as constructing churches and monasteries throughout Scotland. She also changed protocol within the court by eliminating many ecclesiastical irregularities which had seeped into the liturgy. In addition she reinstated important Latin customs that had been neglected, specifically the observance of Ash Wednesday to signify the beginning of Lent, as well as keeping Easter duty and maintaining the Sabbath as a day of rest. Margaret died on November 16, 1093 at Edinburgh Castle which was under attack after learning that Malcolm and one of her sons had been killed by rebels who had assaulted Alnwick Castle. Almost immediately following her death her followers venerated Margaret as a saint and she was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1250. In 1673 Pope Clement X proclaimed St. Margaret "Patroness of Scotland."

Tuesday November 17:
Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Wife, Mother and Religious

White vestments

First Reading: Revelation/Apocalpyse 3: 1-6, 14-22
Psalms: Psalm 15: 2-5 and Revelation/Apocalypse 3: 21
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 1-10

      The daughter of Saint Hedwig and King Andrew II, Catholic ruler of Hungary, Saint Elizabeth was born in 1207. At the age of four she was promised in marriage to Louis IV from Thuringia. Ten years later she was married to him in an elaborate royal ceremony. Early in their marriage her husband, who had become King, rebuked her because she was always serving people. "That's no work for a queen" he reprimanded her, demanding to know what she was carrying in her cloak. He pulled open her cloak and instead of finding provisions for the poor as he expected, out cascaded lovely red and white roses. He knew then that she was indeed a holy woman and from that point on he dedicated his life to sharing in her ministry. They lived their vows above reproach, conceiving three children. While in labor with her third child, word reached her that her husband Louis had been killed in battle during the Cursade led by Holy Roman Emperor King Frederick II. At twenty years of age Elizabeth, now Queen and widow, went into mourning. Rather than accepting the offers of several suitors, she opted to remain a widow and turned her attention to the poor and ill, vacating the luxurious castle at Wartburg to dedicate the rest of her life to helping others. She founded a hospital at Marburg, dedicating it to Saint Francis who had just been canonized and took up the gray habit of the Francican tertiaries to work in the hospital she had established. Her charitable works became well-known and the fruits of that love and charity spread far and wide after her death at the tender age of 24. Falling ill from the plague that had claimed many of the hospital patients, Elizabeth herself, not one to rest, contracted the disease and died in the hospital on November 16, 1231. Almost immediately miracles were attributed to her by those who touched her tomb. Four years later the clamor and evidence was so solid that Pope Gregory IX canonized her, three years after making Francis a saint. Since the thirteenth century she, along with Saint Louis IX have been the patron saints of Franciscan tertiaries. She is also patron saint of bakers.

      Today's Prayer is taken from the Opening Prayer for the Masses honoring Saint Gertrude and then Saint Margaret of Scotland:

Father, You filled the heart of St. Gertrude with the presence of Your love. Bring light into our darkness and let us experience the joy of Your presence and the power of Your grace.

Lord, You gave St. Margaret of Scotland a special love for the poor. Let her example and prayers help us to become a living sign of Your goodness.

On behalf of Iraq's one million Christians, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch pleads for mercy

     On the brink of all-out bombing on Iraq, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, in an interview with the Fides News Agency - a division of the Vatican Congregation for Evangelization, made an impassioned plea to Bill Clinton to show mercy towards the Iraqi people, especially the one million Christians, 800,000 of which are Catholics. Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid appealed to the United States, through his interview, that the genocide from the embargo has been horrendous and another air-strike will bring devastating results to the innocent Iraqi people. For more, click on Plea for mercy

      BAGHDAD (CWNews.com/FIDES) - "How can you agree to this genocide, have you no conscience? No reason can warrant a similar attack on the life of whole nation." That appeal cry, addressed to US President Bill Clinton, was the dramatic highlight of an interview granted to the Roman news agency Fides by the Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid, the Chaldean Catholic leader of Baghdad. The Patriarch's emotional appeal was in response to new threats of an American military strike against Iraq.

      Most of Iraq's 20 million people are Muslims, but there are also about 1 million Christians living in the country. Of these, 80 percent are Catholics. The majority of Iraq's Catholics are members of the Chaldean Church, which uses Aramaic-- the language of Jesus-- in the liturgy. A smaller number of Iraqi Catholics follow the Latin Rite.

      "We were horrified to hear there will be another war, another bombing," the Patriarch told Fides. He told the Roman agency, which is affiliated with the Vatican Congregation for Evangelization, that the people of Iraq have been suffering under and international embargo, and hoping that it would soon be lifted. "The embargo has crippled the population," he said; "most people live in miserable, unhealthy conditions from which there is no escape."

      The Patriarch also reminded Fides of Pope John Paul II's desire to visit Iraq. Sources at the Vatican have indicated that a papal trip to the land of Abraham's birthplace is being considered for November 1999.

      Patriarch Raphael II Bidawid is the spiritual leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern-rite Catholic community of some 600,000 believers-- most of them living in Iraq and Iran. From his residence in Baghdad, the Patriarch issued the emotional plea for peace, in response to American threats of a military strike against Iraq.

      The following is a direct translation of an interview offered by the Patriarch to the Vatican news agency Fides. It is reproduced here with permission.

Fides: Your Beatitude, what has been your reaction to this new threat of war?

Patriarch: We were horrified to hear there will be another war, another bombing attack, although limited to striking certain "strategic points" in Iraq. These points could turn out to be in fact some of the country's essential infrastructures, as it happened in 1990. We firmly protest with all our strength against this threat.

      Among the people there is great fear and disappointment: we were expecting a lifting, even partial, of the embargo which has punished the nation for eight long years.

Fides: What would you say to President Clinton?

Patriarch: I would ask him how he can do this. How can you agree to this genocide? Have you no conscience? No reason can warrant a similar attack on the life of whole nation."

Fides: What have been the consequences of the embargo?

Patriarch: The embargo has crippled the population; most people live in miserable, unhealthy conditions from which there is no escape. It is estimated that the lack of basic food and essential medicines has caused the death of over 1 million Iraqi children. Because of the embargo some 20,000 children continue to die every month, either at home or in the hospitals. This is a tragedy, if not a genocide, inadmissible in these "civilized" times of ours. If this is the New World Order of which so much is said, then we reject it.

Fides: The Holy Father would like to visit Iraq. Is this possible?

Patriarch: When I visited Rome last October, the Pope re-confirmed to me his desire-- not to say his determination-- to undertake a pilgrimage following the steps of Father Abraham, beginning at Ur of the Chaldeans. The Holy See's Secretariat of State is examining the possibility of a visit in November 1999. For our part, we are working to convince the government to extend an official invitation to the Pope to visit Iraq.

A wolf in sheep's clothing: Catholic Campaign for Human Development is not true to Catholic doctrines




      Next weekend if you are asked to contribute to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development charity, don't be so quick to write that check; for this organization is Catholic in name only. That is the finding of a philantropy group out of the nation's capitol who discovered that CCHD provided grants for pro-abortion groups and homosexual sympathizers. In addition, CCHD has been a provider of monies for liberation theology and other modernist agendas. The sad thing is that this group is under the oversight of the US Bishops' Conference and, evidently, not being closely overseen as the report verifies. Therefore, give your money to more worthwhile Catholic charities that uphold the teachings, doctrines and dogmas of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. For more, click on Catholic in name only.

      WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - A philanthropy watchdog group reported that a national Catholic charity continues to support pro-abortion and other groups opposed to Catholic teaching despite recent changes in policy.

      The Capital Research Center said in an October report that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which is designed to reduce to poverty in the US, provided grants in 1997 to organizations aligned with such pro-abortion groups as the National Organization for Women and advocacy groups that sponsored the 1996 "Fight for the Right March" in San Francisco, whose stated goal was to support "abortion rights and reproductive freedom ... [and] lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights."

      The campaign's annual fundraising drive in Catholic parishes through the country is scheduled for November 21-22. Although the group's guidelines forbid direct funding of projects or organizations contrary to Catholic teaching, the grants often allow the shifting of funds toward that purpose, the Center reported.

      The report also accused the campaign, founded in 1972 and under the oversight of the committee of the US bishops' conference, of supporting policies and groups that advance the principles of liberation theology, which states that political empowerment is necessary for salvation and has been condemned by the Magisterium.

      The campaign has proposed new guidelines, to be approved by the bishops' oversight committee, that forbid funding of organizations that violate the Church's teachings on human life and dignity, and not just projects that directly violate that teaching. But the Capital Research Center, in its report, asked: "... If it is now inappropriate for CCHD to fund groups engaged in abortion advocacy, why weren’t such grants forbidden in the past?"

Father Ken Roberts suspended because of unproven accusations as assault on conservative clergy continues

      A priest who has been one of the most loyal to the Holy Father and all the Blessed Mother has asked, is under extreme attack by liberal factions who have been able to convince Bishop Charles V. Grahmann, Bishop of Dallas to suspend Father Ken Roberts after 33 years as a priest because of accusations, and accusations only, of sexual abuse. Fr. Ken has had his faculties in Dallas since 1966 when he was ordained in Rome on the Feast of the Annunciation. No proof has been forthcoming of these accusations and the Diocese claims Fr. Ken has been disobedient, which is hard to believe since "obedience" is one of the virtues he has always stressed. No doubt the fact that the Dallas Diocese is under the magnifying glass after the media cisrcus last summer over the pedophile case of Rudy Kos caused the Diocese to act immediately before having the necessary confirmation. Without proof a man's reputation can be badly damaged, not to mention his ministry which was above reproach. Needless to say, the media is having a field day with this, quoting his earlier English days before he found God and became a priest and which Fr. Ken chronicled in his best-selling "From Playboy to Priest". Tuesday we will have a full editorial on these latest accusations and the attack on Mary's faithful ones in these times of chastisement and persecustion. For more, click on From Playboy to Priest to Persecuted.

      DALLAS (CWNews.com) - The Diocese of Dallas has initiated proceedings to remove the preaching faculties from a priest accused of sexually abusing children, The Dallas Morning News newspaper reported on Friday and confirmed on Saturday that Bishop Charles V. Grahmann suspended Father Kenneth Roberts, who had been ordered in 1995 to end all public ministry, including the public celebration of Mass, after a settlement was made in a similar case in St. Louis. But the priest is now suspected of using the Internet, radio, and television to practice ministry, and was ordered by Bishop Grahmann to cease immediately.

      Father Roberts said through a spokesman that he denies the accusations made against him in St. Louis and, before that, in Peoria, Illinois. He added that he could not comment on the Dallas allegations because he said he suffered from blackouts and amnesia related to illness during that time. He has not been charged in criminal or civil courts.

Cardinal asserts missionary efforts vital in quest for more souls

      Even though there are one billion Catholics in the world, missionary efforts need to be intensified to keep up with the world population as Cardinal Jozef Tomko, head of the Vatican's Congregation for Evangelization asserts. He cited the fact that despite world evangelization of the faith, only one third truly know Jesus and His Church, deducting that much work is necessary in the missionary endeavors of all - lay and religious, especially in light of the fact that the world's Catholic population has dropped a percentage. He listed many third-world countries where Catholicism is just making a dent and deduced that we have only just begun in missionary terms as we near the next millennium. For more, click on Worldwide evangelization.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Cardinal Jozef Tomko, the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Evangelization, today lamented that the growth in the number of Catholics is not keeping pace with the overall growth of the world's population. In recent years, he said, the Catholic proportion of the world's population has dropped from 18 to 17 percent.

      The figures submitted by the Congregation for Evangelization indicate that there are 2 billion Christians among the world's 5.8 billion people. Of these, roughly 1 billion are Catholics.

      "The missionary field is immense," said Cardinal Tomko. "One could say that two-thirds of humanity does not know Jesus Christ, in terms of faith." Citing the encyclical Redemptoris Missio, he added: "The mission of Christ the Redeemer, confided to the Church, is far from being accomplished. At the end of the second millennium since his coming, that mission is still at its beginnings stages"

      Nevertheless, the cardinal continued, the Church's missionary work shows many "tangible signs of belief." He pointed to Africa, in particular, as a rich field for missionary work, despite the "interior and exterior" challenges. He cited Asia as the continent where the missionary challenge is greatest, since Catholics comprise only a tiny faction of the population.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site. CWN is not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

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November 16, 1998 volume 9, no. 224   DAILY CATHOLIC