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WEDNESDAY
November 18, 1998
SECTION TWO vol 9, no. 226
To print out entire text of Today's issue, print this section as well as SECTION ONE
LITURGY OF THE DAY
Today is the Feast of the Dedication of two magnificent edifices - the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls of Rome. It is also the Feast of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, religious missionary to the United States, specifically the mid-section of the country. Tomorrow we return to Ordinary Time. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignettes on these feasts, click on LITURGY
Wednesday, November 18, 1998
Wednesday November 18:
Thirty-third Wednesday in Ordinary Time and
Feast of Dedication of Saints Peter and Paul Basilicas in Rome and
Feast of Saint Rose Phillippine Duchesne, Virgin, Missionary and Religious
Green or white vestments
First Reading: Revelation/Apocalpyse 4: 1-11
Psalms: Psalm 150: 1-6 and Revelation/Apocalypse 4: 8
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 11-28
Feast of the Dedication of Saints Peter and Paul Basilicas in Rome
Like St. John Lateran Basilica, the dedication of the Basilica of St. Peter's and the Basilica of St. Paul's dates back to the time of the Emperor Constantine. He had begun the construction of this Basilica after building the Lateran Basilica. After Constantine's death his son's completed the work as well as the work of St. Paul's Basilica which is today Saint Paul Outside the Walls St. Peter's was built over a pagan cemetery which had become a burial place for Christians including Saint Peter himself which was confirmed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII when he announced they had discovered the tomb of St. Peter. This had been surmised since the year 200 when Caius a priest had related in documents that Peter's relics were on Vatican Hill and the remains of Saint Paul could be found buried along the Ostian Way. Today the Tomb of St. Peter lies in a glass-encased vault deep below the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica and can be viewed by visitors. It is a symbol of the oneness, universality, and apostolic succession of the Church. The present basilica was begun by Pope Nicholas V forty years before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. The initial plan of the great basilica was a Greek cross, projected by master architect Donato Bramante but was finished in the configuration of a Latin cross by the great Italian artist Raphael Santi around the turn of the 16th Century. In 1568 Pope Saint Pius V decreed the dedication of both these basilicas be celebrated on November 9th throughout the universal Church. In the late 1580's Pope Sixtus V completed the magnificent dome of St. Peter's Basilica designed by the master of masters Michelangelo and installed in St. Peter's Square the Egyptian obelisk, originally brought to Rome from Africa by the Emperor Caligula.
The Basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls was consecrated in the year 390 by Pope Saint Siricus, the same pontiff who instituted the title "Pope" or "Papa" in Greek meaning "Father" which is also an anagram of the words "Petri Apostoli Potestatem Accipiens". Constantine had originally laid out the plans for the Basilica of St. Paul with a five-aisle scheme. St. Paul's fell into disrepair but was restored by Pope Saint Leo the Great around 450, resembling Constantine's basilica on Vatican Hill. The Benedictines were placed in charge of the Basilica in the 700's and have been there ever since. Over the years many frescoes, mosaics and marble masterpieces were added. In 1823 a violent fire damaged much of St. Paul's but it was restored by Pope Pius IX and reconsecrated in 1854, the same year he proclaimed the infallible dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Today the arcade consists of 146 white granite columns. The golden mosaics high on the exterior are by the Italian artist Vespignani and depict Christ giving His blessing flanked by St. Peter and St. Paul. Below that is the Lamb of God on the hill between Jerusalem and Bethlehem where four rivers pour forth and represent the Apostles, quenching the thirst of the flock which symbolizes mankind. Below that are the four standing figures of the Apostles. Like St. Peter's Basilica, the layout is configured to a Latin Cross with five aisles supported by 80 tall columns. Above the aisles are large mozaic portraits on medallions representing all 264 pontiffs from Peter to John Paul II.
Feast of Saint Rose Phillippine Duschesne , Virgin, Missionary and Religious
This saint, Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II. She was born on August 29, 1769 in Grenoble, France to a family whose father was a wealthy merchant. Educated by the Visitation nuns of Sainte Marie d'en Haut, a vocation was fostered to that order despite the protests of her parents who wanted her to marry. Rose had always had a desire to be a missionary, on fire with zeal for Jesus and wanting to share it with everyone. When the French Revolution broke out the Vistation nuns were forced to disperse and Rose was left alone. Her prayers to be reunited with a community of Visitation nuns were not answered, rather God chose a new order for Rose in 1804 - the Religious of the Sacred Heart which had been founded in 1800 by Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat. This was a missionary order of nuns which, through God's Providence, brought Sr. Rose to New Orleans in the southern United States in 1818. There, with four other nuns, Rose was sent up the Mississippi River by the bishop of New Orleans to St. Charles, Missouri where she founded the first American Sacred Heart house and began the first free school west of the Mississippi in a log cabin in Florissant just outside St. Louis. By 1828 there were six houses along the mighty Mississippi. It was here that she intervened with the Indians who had objected to the Jesuits and through her efforts and good will, preserved the Jesuit mission. At the age of 72, St. Rose resigned as head of the American branch of her Order to answer Jesuit missionary Father De Smet's call for her to pursue missionary work. With a handful of other hand-picked nuns she traveled farther west to Kansas where she opened a girls' school for the Cherokees and other Indian tribes in Sugar Creek, Kansas. Though she could not learn the Indians' dialect, she was able to communicate through her prayers and devout example. The Indians loved and admired this woman they called "The Woman Who Prays Always" that many conversions were manifested even though St. Rose was in Sugar Creek for only one year because ill health mandated that she return to the mother house in St. Charles where Rose died on October 18th, 1852. Her remains were enshrined at the mother house and her name is the first one listed on the Pioneer Roll of Fame in St. Louis' famed Jefferson Memorial Building. She played a major role in bringing the faith to the heartland of America where, in the gateway to the west, it has remained strong to this day. She was beatified in 1940 by Pope Pius XII before being canonized 48 years later.
Thursday, November 19, 1998
First Reading: Revelation/Apocalpyse 5: 1-10
Psalms: Psalm 149: 1-6, 9 and Revelation/Apocalypse 5: 10
Gospel Reading: Luke 19: 41-44
PRAYER & DEVOTIONS
Today's Prayer is taken from the Opening Prayer of the Mass honoring Saint Rose Phillippine Duchesne:
Gracious God, You filled the heart of Philippine Duchesne with charity and missionary zeal, and gave her the desire to make you known to all peoples. Fill us who honor her memory today with that same love and zeal to extend Your kingdom to the ends of the earth.
WORLDWIDE
NEWS & VIEWS
with a Catholic slant
HEADLINES:
Pope appoints first Swede as Bishop of Sweden since Protestant Revolt in sixteenth century
The Holy Father reacted postively and enthusiastically to the invitation to visit Vietnam in 1999 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of La Vang extended to him by Archbishop Etienne Nguyen Nhu The on behalf of the Vietnam bishops. The only holdup is approval from the Communist government in Vietnam who, though they have been notified by the bishops, deny any knowledge which is a typical ploy of their stalling tactics. But pressure from the people and world opinion should sway them enough that the Holy Father will be cleared to make the trek to Southeast Asia next year. For more, click on Sweden.
SWEDEN GAINS FIRST SWEDISH BISHOP IN CENTURIES
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II named a new bishop for
Sweden, the first Swede to lead Catholics in the country since the Reformation.
Bishop-elect Anders Arborelius will succeed German-born Bishop Hubertus
Brandenburg as leader of the diocese of Stockholm which covers the entire
country. The bishop-elect was born in Switzerland to Swedish parents and grew
up in the Swedish city of Lund.
After the Reformation in the 1500s and until 1860, no native Swedes were
allowed to be Catholic. Today, only about 165,000 people -- about 2 percent of
the population -- are Catholic and most priests are foreigners.
Persecutions intensify in Africa with killing of six priests in the Congo and another priest kidnapped in Sierra Leone
On the ninth anniversary of the killing of six Jesuit priests being shot to death for their faith by El Salvadoran rebels, six more priests died for their faith across the Atlantic in the Congo, along with 50 others in a massacre raid on a church where members of various faiths had met to pray for peace in the Congo. Meanwhile, a day after an Italian missionary priest was released by Muslim guerrillas in the Philippine mountains, another Italian missionary priest was taken hostage in Sierra Leone by rebels from that country in western Africa. The persecutions and tribulations have intensified alarmingly this year, especially in Africa where a shocking amount of priests and nuns have died for their faith due to the senseless killing by various rebel factions. For more, click on Africa
SIX PRIESTS AMONG DOZENS KILLED IN CONGO MASSACRE
WHILE ITALIAN PRIEST KIDNAPPED IN SIERRA LEONE
BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (CWNews.com) - Six priests were reported killed in a
massacre of more than 50 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday
as they gathered in a church to pray for peace.
Representatives of the country's various faiths had gathered in the church to
seek a peaceful resolution to violence that has plagued southern Congo, mainly
perpetrated by fighting between government soldiers and a rebel group called
the Ninjas. Three surviving priests said members of the Ninjas took the six
priests and about 45 other people, including women and children, out of the
church and shot them. An exact death toll has not been released.
The priests were members of an ecumenical committee formed two weeks ago to
mediate a resolution to violence in the region. Killings have escalated since
three police officers were killed by rebels on August 29. The Ninja rebels are
reportedly loyal to ousted Congo Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas. Survivors of
Saturday's massacre say the priests were killed because the rebels believed the
priests were associated with the government of Denis Sassou Nguesso.
Meanwhile, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, an Italian priest was kidnapped by a
rebel group in Sierra Leone, according to Catholic leaders in the country on
Tuesday.
Bishop George Biguzzi said that Father Mario Cuerro, 64, was abducted from his
mission house in northern Sierra Leone on Sunday. A boy abducted along with the
priest was then sent by the suspected rebels to a West African peacekeeping
force to say that Father Cuerro was in good condition and safe. Bishop Biguzzi
said the Church has not yet been contacted directly by the kidnappers.
"We are appealing to the people who abducted Father Mario Cuerro from the
Mission House in Kamalo on Sunday night to release him immediately," he told a
news conference. "We assume the people who abducted the father are the people
fighting the war in Sierra Leone."
Pope entreats Rome social studies students to "oppose all forms of injustice that threaten men's lives"
Taking advantage of the opportunity to stay in touch with the youth, the Holy Father made a short trip to the Free International University for Social Studies in Rome where he addressed most of the 5,000 students, entreating them to dedicate themselves to "authentic social renewal" and to encouraged all to serve society through their chosen professions in the business world. He urged them to set the example through intellectual charity for all by generously utilizing their God-given gifts and balance Faith and Reason as he referred to his most recent encyclical Fides et Ratio. For more, click on students
POPE URGES "INTELLECTUAL CHARITY" FOR STUDENTS
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II today visited the Free
International University for Social Studies (LUISS), and urged students
there to be "promoters of authentic social renewal."
LUISS was founded in 1996 by a group of religious and lay people,
specializing in business and finance. The school has 5,000 students,
served by 700 professors and administrators.
"Follow the path of intellectual charity with generosity," the Pope told
the students. He urged them to show the strength to "oppose the forms
of injustice which threaten men's lives."
By calling for "intellectual charity," the Pope explained, he meant to
imply "the knowledge and experience of scientific discovery, like
artistic inspiration, should be gifts which communicate energy" to the
surrounding society. That energy, he continued, gives each person the
ability to develop and express his own identity, and to serve society
through his professional work.
The Holy Father cautioned against a relationship between academic
and financial affairs which could be "formed by a purely pragmatic
vision which, in the end, can be seen as sterile." Economic and
professional needs should never obscure the goal of teaching, "which is
always to create masters of life," he concluded.
Lutherans balking at signing Justification pact after assuring Vatican they would
The World Lutheran Federation is becoming more like the World Wrestling Federation as barbs go back and forth and denials are bounced around the mat. Despite the President for the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity Cardinal Edward Cassidy's comments that both the Vatican and the WLF would sign a joint document, Lutheran Bishop Christian Krause, president of the WLF, is delaying the signing, citing confusion over the justification issue and whether Rome will lift sanctions on Lutheran doctrines that have been in effect since Martin Luther tacked up the 95 theses on the church door at Wittenburg, Germany in 1517 - an event that officially stamped the rebellion against Holy Mother Church and became known as the Protestant Reformation. For more, click on Lutherans.
LUTHERANS POSTPONE SIGNING JOINT DECLARATION
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- According to the Ecumenical News
International agency, the World Lutheran Federation (LWF) is not
prepared to sign a joint declaration with the Vatican on the question
of justification, and is seeking to supplement and clarify the
statement.
Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for
Christian Unity, had already-- in June-- announced the successful
completion of a statement which both parties could sign. But one
Lutheran source indicated that subsequent statements had cast doubt
on the Vatican's intentions to lift condemnations on Lutheran
doctrines. As a result, the source said, Lutheran leaders might require
clarifications in the joint statement, to ease their concerns.
In a press conference held in Geneva on November 14, Ismael Noko,
the secretary general of the LWF, announced a new set of
consultations with the Catholic Church. Lutheran Bishop Christian
Krause of Brunswick, German, the president of the LWF, reportedly
said that the signing of the statement should be delayed, so that both
parties can sure of their positions. "We are in the final phase of a 30-
year dialogue," Bishop Krause said; "What is another six months?"
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.
Click here to go to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.
November 18, 1998 volume 9, no. 226 DAILY CATHOLIC