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     This weekend we celebrate the first Observance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday since February 13th. Then on Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity before Monday's month-ending Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Mother to her cousin Elizabeth. For the liturgy, readings, meditation and vignettes on these feasts, click on LITURGY

Friday, May 28:
Eighth Friday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Sirach 44: 1, 9-13
Psalms: Psalm 149: 1-6, 9
Gospel Reading: Mark 11: 11-26

Saturday, May 29:
Eighth Saturday of Ordinary Time and
Observance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday

Green or White vestments

First Reading: Sirach 51: 12-20
Psalms: Psalm 19: 8-11
Gospel Reading: Mark 11: 27-33

      Honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary is a custom first promoted by the Benedictine Monk Saint Alcuin back in the days of Charlemagne (see archives December 23, no. 25 issue, volume 7). He composed different formulas for Votive Masses for each day of the week, with two set aside to honor Our Lady on Saturday. This practice caught on with great enthusiasm and eventually the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday became the Common of the Blessed Virgin. This Mass was a favorite with retired priests and those whose sight was failing for most had memorized this Mass and were able to say it by heart without having to read the Lectionary or Sacramentary. One reason Saturday was dedicated to Mary was that Saturday held a special meaning in Mariology. First of all, as Genesis accounts for, God rested on the seventh day. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was Saturday. Jesus, Son of God rested in the womb and then, when He became incarnate, in the loving arms of Mary from birth until she held His lifeless body at the foot of the Cross. Thus the God-head rested in Mary. It was also on Saturday after Good Friday that Jesus gave His Mother a special gift and reward for keeping her faith in His Divinity intact by making an exceptional appearance to her. Thus, because of these reasons, the devotion spread by St. Alcuin and other liturgies that evolved within the Church, Saturday took on a special Marian significance. Saturday took on even more significance in honoring Mary when Our Lady imparted to visionary Lucia in her third apparition at Fatima on July 13, 1917, "Our Lord wishes that devotion to my Immaculate Heart be established in the world. If what I tell you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace; the war will end...I ask the consecration of the world to my Immaculate Heart and Communion of reparation on the First Saturday of each month...If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace...In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph, and an era of peace will be conceded to humanity." As we draw nearer to that wonderful event, it is more important than ever to honor Mary's request on the First Saturday as well as each Saturday that her feast is commemorated in the Church calendar, not to mention responding to her call daily with the Rosary and attending Daily Mass, nourished by her Divine Son present body and blood, soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. It is in the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary where she remains in the background in the liturgy of the Word so that her Divine Son's words and His Presence take the spotlight as He should while Mary remains the chief intercessor before the Holy Trinity as she should and serves as the ideal for all Catholics to strive for, as we should. The Dictionary of Mary states quite succinctly, "Through these liturgical acts, (honoring Mary on Saturday) Christians exalt the person of Mary in the action that renews the sacrifice of Christ and in the action that prolongs His prayer."

SUNDAY, May 30:
TRINITY SUNDAY

White vestments

First Reading: Exodus 34: 4-6, 8-9
Psalms: Daniel 3: 52-56
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13
Gospel Reading: John 3: 16-18

      This feast, one week after the Feast of Pentecost and one week before the Feast of Corpus Christi celebrates the most august mystery of our faith - that God is Three Persons in One. Each Person is distinct from the other but identical in Divine Substance. It was Jesus who revealed the Father and the Holy Spirit and thus Christians have always clung to this essence of the Triune Divinity. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the greatest example of this relationship for she was the daughter of the Divine Father, Mother of the Divine Son, and Spouse of the Divine Spirit. In the Trinity we proclaim our "sonship" to the Father, our fellowship to the Son for we are Jesus brothers and sisters, and through these relationships and our life of grace we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Though the origins of Trinity Sunday go back to the time of the Arian heresy, the feast actually didn't become a reality until Saint Thomas Becket received from Rome permission for England to celebrate this special feast on the Sunday after Pentecost to honor the Trinity in the twelfth century. Two centuries later Pope John XXII extended this feast to the entire Church.

Monday May 31:
FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

White vestments

First Reading: Zephanaiah 3: 14-18 or Romans 12: 9-16
Psalms: Isaiah 12: 2-6
Gospel Reading: Luke 1: 39-56

      The Visitation of Mary, the Second Joyful Mystery, commemorates the account in Luke 1: 39-45, in which the Blessed Virgin Mary travels to meet and assist her pregnant cousin Elizabeth who is carrying her son John the Baptist in her womb. Both women, with child greet one another in a spirit of genuine love and caring. We get the significance of this union when we read that "the baby [John] leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!'" This last phrase means, in the Hebrew idiom: "More blessed art thou than any other woman on earth." Elizabeth's joyous greeting and faith in the Lord though she did not physically see the Christ child sets a precedence for Christ's words later in John 6: 40 and John 20: 29 - "Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed." The meeting of the two also prompted the renowned words in which Our Lady proclaims the glories of God while asserting her humble fiat before the Almighty One in the Magnificat.

Tuesday, June 1:
Feast of Saint Justin, Apologist and Martyr

Red vestments

First Reading: Tobit 2: 9-14
Psalms: Psalm 112: 1-2, 7-9
Gospel Reading: Mark 12:13-17

      Born of pagan parents in 103 AD in the village of Neapolis in Samaria (today Sichem in Palestine), Saint Justin was afforded a good education and devoted his life to the study of philosophy with a growing hunger to know of this God these upstart Christians preached. Unsatisfied with the contending schools of philosophy, he relentlessly continued his search until God Himself quenched that thirst for knowledge which was Divinely inspired through an old Christian man who explained in the simplest, but most profound terms what Christianity was about. Convinced he had found what he had long been looking for, Justin enthusiastically embraced Christianity, realizing that Sacred Scripture and the zeal of the martyrs led to faith and it was in faith that one could come to know God. Once he was converted he threw himself into spreading this faith with the same zeal he had during his search for this faith. Justin carried the Gospel to Egypt, Greece and Italy, distributing his writings far and wide, eventually arriving in Rome where he established a school of Christian philosophy. In his efforts to defend the Jews against the Romans, Justin wrote the Dialogue of Trypho and, armed with the strength of the Spirit wrote two special Apologies to the Roman Senate and Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The second Apology was more than Aurelius could stand. His pride and lack of control raging out of control, Aurelius ordered Justin be put to death. Brought before the Prefect of Rome to be sentenced, Justin and the disciples with him feared no earthly death. When the Prefect provoked Justin by mocking him with the question "Do you think that by dying you will enter this heaven you talk about and be rewarded by this God of yours?" Justin replied, "I do not think; I know!" As Justin was so certain, so also the faith he embraced is a certainty - that by striving to do God's Will through all that Jesus asks within the framework of His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church we can be assured of joining Justin someday in our everlasting reward.

Events this weekend in Church History

      On May 30, in 1431 during the 100-year war between England and France, God rose up a women warrior saint to lead His faithful ones through many trials and tribulations in bringing France through the gauntlet, strengthening the Faith of the people there. This saint Saint Joan of Arc, also known as the "Maid of Orleans," became a martyr for the cause and was canonized by the Church which realized those who ruled against her at the time were not speaking for Holy Mother Church but for political expediency and their own agendas, abusing their office within the Church. She was burned at the stake, accused of being a heretic because she received private revelation and would not deny it. For other events throughout the centuries that are memorable in Church history this weekend, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

Historical Events in Church Annals for May 28:

567 A.D.


Death of Saint Germanus of Paris, Priest and Abbot of St. Symphorian's in France, he was renowned for his great mysticism and prophecy. Named to be Bishop of Paris, his holiness changed the face of the city, even that of the King. He died at the age of 80 after a life of penance and sacrifice.

640 A.D.


Pope Severinus becomes the 71st successor of Peter. Though he would live less than three months, passing away on August 2, 640, he nobly fought the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius on the issue of monoteletic heresy. Heraclius retaliated by sacking the Lateran Palace and the Basilica of St. John Lateran

1081 A.D.


Death of Saint Bernard of Montjoux (or Menthon). He was an Augustinian canon, probably born in Italy, who founded Alpine hospices near the two passes named for him. He is the patron saint of mountaineers.

Historical Events in Church Annals for May 29:

757 A.D.


Pope Saint Paul I is elected as the 93rd successor of Peter. His pontificate was marked by encouraging a deeper union with the Greek Church. He discovered the remains of Saint Petronilla who, according to tradition, was the daughter of Saint Peter.

1176 A.D.


Pope Alexander III, the 170th successor of Peter, supports the Lombard League, which finally defeats Frederick I Barbarossa at Legano, forcing Frederick to negotiate with Alexander, whom Frederick then recognized as Pope.

1289 A.D.


Pope Nicholas IV, the 191st successor of Peter, crowns Charles II of Salerno as king of Naples and Sicily at Rieti, after making Charles first do homage to him as Pope.

1521 A.D.


Pope Leo X, 217th successor of Peter, allies himself with Charles V of Spain, in helping defeat King Francis I of France during the time of the fifth Lateran Council.

1607 A.D.


Death of Saint Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi, born in 1566 as Catherine. She became a Carmelite in the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence, May 17, 1584 and took the name Mary Magdalen with the motto, "To suffer or die". Her official liturgical feast dayin the Church is celebrated on May 25th.

1314 A.D.


Death of Blessed James Salomonio who sold everything he owned and gave all his money to the poor and entered the Dominican Order with nothing and gained everything!

Historical Events in Church Annals for May 30:

1135 A.D.


Pope Innocent II, 164th successor of Peter, opens the Council of Pisa which excommunicated Anacletusand Roger II of Sicily.

1252 A.D.


Death of Saint Ferdinand of Castile, born near Salamanca and became King of Castile at eighteen. Married to Beatrice in 1219, he fought the Moors, built churches, and monasteries. After Beatrice's death and the subsequent death of his second wife Joanne, Ferdinand was buried in the habit of a friar minor, being canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X.

1431 A.D.


Death of Saint Joan of Arc, youngest of five children, who was given mystical graces at a young age, and told that her mission was to defend the Dauphin of France. She led an expedition to relieve besieged Orleans. Captured in battle, Joan was sold to the British in 1430. She was burned at the stake for false charges of heresy on this day in 1431 and canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. She is known as the Maid of Orleans.

Historical Events in Church Annals for May 31:

1433 A.D.


Pope Eugene IV, 207th successor of Peter, crowns Sigismund of Germany as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in Rome.

1529 A.D.


Pope Clement VII, 219th successor of Peter, convenes the Papal Legates to discuss what action to take against King Henry VIII of England. However, as had become customary during his reign, he took no decisive action in the matter of the King's question of divorce and remarriage. The indecisiveness led, inevitably, to the excommunication of the king, and the schism between England and the Church in Rome, spawning the Anglican Church.

1575 A.D.


Archeologist Antonio Bosio discovers the ancient catacombs beneath Rome by accident. His discovery led to an investigation of these Christian burial sites, which provided much information on the early Christians, their martyrdom, and the relics of many saints.

Message to the Americas:
The Path to Communion is made clearer by promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life

   &bnsp; Following up a year after the Bishops of North, Central and South America, along with the Caribbean contingent, met for the month-long Synod of the Americas in Rome at the end of 1997, Pope John Paul II officially closed the Synod with his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico City in January 1999. Because of its significance for all Americans, we bring you this important document in several installments over the next few months. For those wanting to read the entire encyclical or check footnotes, go to Ecclesia in America For the fourteenth installment on Chapter Four: The Path to Communion - Promoting vocations, click on THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS.

Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America

From Pope John Paul II to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious, and all the Lay Faithful on the encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity in America

Promoting vocations

40. The indispensable role of the priest within the community must lead all the members of the Church in America to recognize the importance of promoting vocations. The American continent has many young people, who represent an immense spiritual resource. Therefore, it is necessary to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life where they first develop, and Christian families must be invited to support their children if they feel called to follow this path. (131) Vocations “are a gift of God” and “they are born in communities of faith, above all in the family, the parish, Catholic schools and other Church organizations. Bishops and priests are particularly responsible for encouraging vocations by personally presenting the call, and above all by their witness of a life of fidelity, joy, enthusiasm and holiness. The entire People of God is responsible for promoting vocations, and does so chiefly by persistent and humble prayer for vocations”. (132)

      As places which accept and train those called to the priesthood, seminaries must prepare the future ministers of the Church to live “a solid spirituality of communion with Christ the Shepherd and of openness to the workings of the Spirit, that will make them specially able to discern the needs of God's People and their various charisms, and to work together”. (133) Therefore, in seminaries “there should be special insistence upon specifically spiritual formation, so that through constant conversion, the spirit of prayer, the practice of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance, the candidates may learn to be close to the Lord and learn to commit themselves generously to pastoral work”. (134) Those responsible for formation should carefully supervise and guide the seminarians towards emotional maturity so that they may be fit to embrace priestly celibacy and be prepared to live in communion with their brother priests. They should also foster in seminarians the capacity for critical observation so that they can discern true and false values, since this is an essential requirement for establishing a constructive dialogue with the world of today.

      Special attention needs to be given to vocations among indigenous peoples: they need a formation which takes account of their culture. While receiving a proper theological and pastoral formation for their future ministry, these candidates for the priesthood should not be uprooted from their own culture. (135)

      The Synod Fathers wished to thank and bless all those who devote their lives to the formation of future priests in seminaries. They also invited the Bishops to assign the most suitable priests to this work, after preparing them with specific training for this delicate mission. (136)

Renewing parishes

41. The parish is a privileged place where the faithful concretely experience the Church. (137) Today in America as elsewhere in the world the parish is facing certain difficulties in fulfilling its mission. The parish needs to be constantly renewed on the basis of the principle that “the parish must continue to be above all a Eucharistic community”. (138) This principle implies that “parishes are called to be welcoming and fraternal, places of Christian initiation, of education in and celebration of the faith, open to the full range of charisms, services and ministries, organized in a communal and responsible way, capable of utilizing existing movements of the apostolate, attentive to the cultural diversity of the people, open to pastoral projects which go beyond the individual parish, and alert to the world in which they live”. (139)

      Because of the particular problems they present, special attention needs to be given to parishes in large urban areas, where the difficulties are such that normal parish structures are inadequate and the opportunities for the apostolate are significantly reduced. The institution of the parish, however, retains its importance and needs to be preserved. For this, there is a need “to keep looking for ways in which the parish and its pastoral structures can be more effective in urban areas”. (140) One way of renewing parishes, especially urgent for parishes in large cities, might be to consider the parish as a community of communities and movements. (141) It seems timely therefore to form ecclesial communities and groups of a size that allows for true human relationships. This will make it possible to live communion more intensely, ensuring that it is fostered not only “ad intra”, but also with the parish communities to which such groups belong, and with the entire diocesan and universal Church. In such a human context, it will be easier to gather to hear the word of God, to reflect on the range of human problems in the light of this word, and gradually to make responsible decisions inspired by the all-embracing love of Christ. (142) The institution of the parish, thus renewed, “can be the source of great hope. It can gather people in community, assist family life, overcome the sense of anonymity, welcome people and help them to be involved in their neighborhood and in society”. (143) In this way, every parish, and especially city parishes, can promote nowadays a more person-centered evangelization and better cooperate with other social, educational and community work. (144)

      Moreover, “this kind of renewed parish needs as its leader a pastor who has a deep experience of the living Christ, a missionary spirit, a father's heart, who is capable of fostering spiritual life, preaching the Gospel and promoting cooperation. A renewed parish needs the collaboration of lay people and therefore a director of pastoral activity and a pastor who is able to work with others. Parishes in America should be distinguished by their missionary spirit, which leads them to reach out to those who are faraway”. (145)

Permanent deacons

42. For serious pastoral and theological reasons, the Second Vatican Council decided to restore the diaconate as a permanent element of the hierarchy of the Latin Church, leaving to the Episcopal Conferences, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, the task of assessing whether and where to establish permanent deacons. (146) The experience has varied significantly, not only in the different parts of America but even between dioceses of the same area. “Some dioceses have trained and ordained a good number of deacons, and they are fully satisfied with their integration and their ministry”. (147) Here we see with joy how deacons “sustained by the grace of the Sacrament, in the ministry (diakonia) of the Liturgy, of the word and of charity are at the service of the People of God, in communion with the Bishop and his priests”. (148) Other dioceses have not followed this path, while elsewhere there have been difficulties in integrating permanent deacons into the hierarchical structure.

      With due respect for the freedom of the particular Churches to restore the permanent diaconate, with the approval of the Supreme Pontiff, it is clear that for such a move to be successful there has to be a careful selection process, solid formation and continuous attention to the suitability of the candidates, as well as constant concern for them once they are ordained, and — in the case of married deacons — concern as well for their families, wives and children. (149)

Consecrated life

43. The history of evangelization in America bears eloquent testimony to the missionary work accomplished by countless consecrated Religious who from the beginning proclaimed the Gospel, defended the rights of the indigenous peoples and, with heroic love for Christ, dedicated themselves to service of the People of God on the continent. (150) The contribution of Religious to the proclamation of the Gospel in America is still enormously important; it is a varied contribution shaped by the charisms of each group: “Institutes of contemplative life which witness to God as absolute; apostolic and missionary Institutes which make Christ present in all the many different areas of human life; Secular Institutes which help to resolve the tension between real openness to the values of the modern world and the profound offering of one's heart to God. New Institutes and new forms of consecrated life are also coming into being, and these require evangelical discernment”. (151)

      Since “the future of the new evangelization . . . is unthinkable without the renewed contribution of women, especially women Religious”, (152) it is urgent to promote their participation in the various areas of Church life, including decision-making processes, especially on issues which concern them directly. (153)

      “Today too the witness of a life consecrated completely to God is an eloquent proclamation of the fact that God suffices to give fulfillment to the life of each person”. (154) This consecration to the Lord must become generous service in the spreading of God's Kingdom. For this reason, on the threshold of the Third Millennium, it is necessary to ensure “that consecrated life be more highly esteemed and promoted by Bishops, priests, and Christian communities, and that, conscious of the joy and responsibility of their vocation, consecrated religious be fully integrated into the particular Church to which they belong, fostering communion and mutual cooperation”. (155)

NEXT MONDAY: Installment fifteen - Chapter Four: Lay faithful and the renewal of the Church

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May 28-30, 1999 volume 10, no. 104   DAILY CATHOLIC