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   In her column this week, Sister Mary Lucy Astuto shares with us poignant, insightful and common sense gems imparted by the first Teresa - Saint Teresa of Avila, one of three women Doctors of the Church. The simplicity and logic of her offerings make it perfectly clear why she has been accorded such a high honor by Holy Mother Church for she lived and conveyed all that she preached. She would not compromise her faith even during a time when laxity ruled. She faced fierce opposition to reforming the rule of her Order to bring her fellow religious back in line with God's Will. These gems Sister Lucy shares with us give us an inkling of what kind of person St. Teresa was and remind us of two others who share that name - Saint Therese of Liseux and Mother Teresa For her column this weekend, Priceless Gems from St. Teresa of Avila, click on GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER

PRICELESS GEMS FROM ST. TERESA OF AVILA

    Next Friday, October 15th, we celebrate the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church. St. Teresa of Avila is also called St. Teresa of Jesus and is sometimes confused with St. Therese of Lisieux, the French saint.

    St. Teresa of Avila was born in Spain on March 28, 1515 and died October 14, 1582 at the age of 67. She was short of stature and therefore, used to refer to herself as "half of a friar." I want to tell more about her life, but shall do so in next week's column.

    For this week, I would like to share with you some of her famous maxims. I hope they will give you some food for thought before next week's column. So here are some of them ...

• Untilled ground, however rich, will bring forth thistles and thorns; so also, the mind of man.

• Let your words be few when in the midst of many.

• Be modest in all your words and works.

• In speaking to others be always calm and cheerful.

• Never rebuke any one but with discretion, and humility, and self-abasement.

• Bend yourself to the temper of whomever is speaking to you: be merry with the mirthful, sorrowful with the sad: in a word, make yourself all things to all, to gain all.

• Never say anything you have not well considered and earnestly commended to our Lord, that nothing may be spoken which shall be displeasing to Him.

• Never defend yourself unless there be very good reasons for it.

• Never mention anything concerning yourself which men may think is praiseworthy, such as learning, goodness, birth, unless it's done with a hope of going good thereby, and then let it be done with humility, remembering that these are gifts of God.

• Never exaggerate, but speak your mind in simplicity.

• In all talking and conversation let something be always said of spiritual things, and so shall all idle words and evil-speaking be avoided.

• Never assert anything without being first assured of it.

• Never come forward to give your own opinion about anything unless asked to do so, or charity requires it.

• When any one is speaking of spiritual things do you listen humbly and like a learner, and take to yourself the good that is spoken.

• Make known to your superior [for Religious] and confessor all your temptations, imperfections, and dislikes, that he may give you counsel and help you to overcome them.

• Never eat or drink except at the usual times, and then give earnest thanks to God.

• Do all you do as if you really did it for His Majesty: a soul makes great gains thereby.

• Never listen to, or say, evil of any one except of yourself, and when that gives you pleasure you are making great progress.

• Whatever you do, offer it up to God, and pray it may be for His honor and glory.

• In your mirth refrain from immoderate laughter, and let it be humble, modest, kindly, and edifying.

• Imagine yourself always to be the servant of all, and look upon all as if they were Christ our Lord in person; and so shall you do Him honor and reverence.

    I'll share more about this great saint next week! God bless you!

Mexico City's youthful Archbishop Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera has been a major influence in helping unite the Americas

    We continue with this special series introducing you to the Princes of the Church. Our one-hundred-eighth red-hat we feature, in alphabetical order, is 57 year-old Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico, the youthful Archbishop of Mexico City since 1985 who has been influential in spreading devotion of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Virgin of the Americas both north and south and uniting the western hemisphere for the Sanctity of Life. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II during the Pope's most recent Consistory of February 21, 1998. For more on Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, click on COLLEGE OF CARDINALS COLLECTION

108.   Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera

    Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera was born in La Purisima, Mexico on June 6, 1942. He entered the seminary at the age of 15, attending minor seminary and then major seminary in Mexico City and was ordained a priest on July 3, 1966 at the age of 24. After further studies and receiving his doctorate in Theology he was assigned to the facultuy of the Major Seminary in Mexico City teaching Dogmatic Theology and then transferred to the Pontifical University of Mexico in Mexico City where he taught Ecclesiology.

    On November 5, 1985 Pope John Paul II named him a bishop, assigning him as the Bishop of Tehuacan where he remained for ten years until the Holy Father elevated him to Archbishop of Mexico City on June 13, 1995. Three years later he was accorded the highest honor for a bishop, receiving the cardinalate in the Pope's most recent Consistory of February 21, 1998 and the titular church of St. Francis of Assisi at Ripa Grande. At 58 years-old he thus became one of the youngest red-hats with much promise. Through his influence, the Vicar of Christ chose Cardinal Rivera's diocese in which the Shrine of Our Lady of Gaudalupe is situated, to officially close the Synod of the Americas in the Shrine's Basilica this past. He has gained status throughout the Sacred Conclave and great things are expected of this prelate who also serves membership in the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Pontifical Council for the Family, and Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Events this weekend in Church History

    Saturday is the 41st anniversary of the death of the 260th successor of Peter Pope Pius XII whose pontificate lasted nineteen and a half years and the Pontiff who declared the Dogma of the Assumption in 1950. During his regime another faithful servant of the Church became a martyr during World War II at Auschwitz and it was this Polish saint who was canonized seventeen years ago this Sunday when Pope John Paul II elevated fellow Pole Saint Maximilian Kolbe to sanctity in 1982, the Holy Father's first canonization in which he has beatified and canonized more blesseds and saints than any Pontiff in the history of the Church. 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 October 8:

451 A.D.


The Fourth Ecumenical Council convenes in Chalcedon in which Monophysitism was condemned. The Council was convened by the great Pope Saint Leo I on this day and lasted until November 1, 451 with 17 sessions with nearly 600 bishops attending, tripling the amount who attended the previous Ecumenical Council at Ephesus twenty years earlier.

1085 A.D.


The Ministry of San Marcos (Saint Mark's) in Venice is established.

1094 A.D.


The remains of the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Mark are moved from Alexandria to the Dicastry of Venice and the new tomb of Saint Mark at St. Mark's Ministery where it exists today.

Historical Events in Church Annals for October 9:

258 A.D.


Death of Saint Denis or Dionysius, Bishop and his companions Saint Rusticus and Saint Eleutherius, all by beheading near Paris during the percution of Christians by the Roman emperor Decius. For more on this, see THIS WEEKEND'S LITURGY.

1045 A.D.


Death of Blessed Gunther, hermit and cousin of emperor Heinrich II. He died at the age of 50 in Bohemia in his hermitage.

1047 A.D.


Death of Pope Clement II, 149th successor of Peter, who was elected on Christmas day 1046. This Saxony-born pontiff ruled for less than a year. His great preoccupation was with the arrogance of the Count-Bishops, the cause of much bitter fighting among their vassals during this time known as the "Dark Ages." He succeeded in overcoming the resistance of Bishop Aribert of Milan as not was all harmony within the Holy See during this time.

1192 A.D.


Richard the Lionhearted escapes Jerusalem under disguise after the Saladin had issued a ransom for his capture.

1609 A.D.


Death of Saint John Leonardi, priest and religious founder. For more on this saint, see THIS WEEKEND'S LITURGY.

1958 A.D.


Death of Pope Pius XII, 260th successor of Peter. Born Eugenio Pacelli in Rome, he was elected on his birthday on March 2, 1939 just as World War II was about to break out. He strongly opposed Marxist persecutions. It was Pius who discovered the tomb of Saint Peter during the excavations under the great Basilica. He celebrated the 24th Jubilee in 1950 and proclaimed the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. His pontificate lasted nineteen and a half years.

Historical Events in Church Annals for October 10:

1572 A.D.


Death of Saint Francis Borgia, Duke of Gandia in Spain and Captain-General of Catalonia who became a Jesuit priest after the death of his wife. He was elected the Third General of the Society of Jesus and accompanied the great Saint Pius V on a crusade to recruit troops to fight the Turkish menace. A year after the great victory at Lepanto he died in Rome physically spent from his travels.

1982 A.D.


Pope John Paul II canonizes fellow Pole Father Maximilian Mary Kolbe who was born in 1894 and died at Auschwitz on August 14, 1941 after volunteering himself in place of a young Jewish father with a wife and children. This Conventual Franciscan founded the Militias of the Immaculate Mary, a monthly newsletter that spread rapidly as well as founding the cities of the Immaculate Conception twenty-five miles out of Warsaw in Poland.

1993 A.D.


Pope John Paul II beatifies Maria Francesca Rubatto and Maria Crucified Satellico.

   This weekend is mostly devoted to Ordinary Time shared on Saturday by the Feast of Saint Denis, bishop and his martyred companions and the Feast of Saint John Leonardi, priest and religious founder as well as the Observance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday. Sunday is not only the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time but also Vocation Awareness Sunday and Laity Sunday. For the liturgies, readings, meditations and vignettes on the Saturday feasts, click on LITURGY

Friday, October 8, 1999

Friday October 8:
Twenty-Seventh Friday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Joel 1: 13-15; 2: 1-2
Psalms: Psalm 9: 2-3, 6, 8-9, 16
Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 15-26

Saturday October 9:
Twenty-seventh Saturday in Ordinary Time
Feast of Saint Denis, Bishop and Marty
Feast of Saint John Leonardi, Priest and Religious Founder
Observance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday

Green, red or white vestments

First Reading: Joel 4: 12-21
Psalms: Psalm 97: 1-2, 5-6, 11-12
Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 27-28

Feast of Saint Denis, Bishop and Martyr and his Companions

      Considered the Patron Saint of France, Saint Denis or Saint Dionysius was the first Bishop of Paris who was slaughtered by the Romans in Gaul around 258. Though historians differ on whether this St. Denis was the one converted by Saint Paul as referred to in Acts 17: 34 because he was called Dionysius, it is commonly thought this St. Denis was born in Italy and, with six other bishops, sent to Gaul as missionaries about the year 250. So on fire with conversions was Denis that he became a threat under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Decius. Thus, in early October 258, the Romans captured Denis along with a fellow priest Saint Rusticus and a deacon Saint Eleutherius. After a short time of incarceration they were all beheaded on October 9 on the boundaries of Paris as a show of force against Christianity by the Roman pagans in Gaul. Their decapitated bodies were tossed into the River Seine and that night fished out by faithful followers who gave them a proper burial on the side of the river. Later a chapel was built over their tombs which subsequently became the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Denis. His feast was introduced into the Roman Calendar in 1568 by Pope Saint Pius V, though it had been celebrated since 800.

Feast of Saint John Leonardi, Priest and Religious Founder

      Born in Lucca, Italy in the year 1541, Saint John Leonardi sought the career of a pharmacist but at 25 was swayed by Heavenly inspiration to enter the seminary where at the age of 20 John became a priest. His vocation was to dedicate all he did to teaching the catechism to youth - childrens and teens. It was St. John Leonardi who founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in 1571, known the world over today as CCD and three years later he founded the Congregation of Clerks of the Mother of God to help preach the catechism and live all the Church taught. The Congregation was approved in 1595 by Pope Clement VIII St. John was persecuted greatly by those who doubted his sincerity and thought he had a personal agenda in his efforts to form the Congregation. Thus, unable to execute his duties without slander in his own town, John went to Rome where he met St. John Calasanz and his spiritual director and confessor, the great St. Philip Neri. There, under his influence, St. John Leonardi sent many members of his Congregation to foreign missions and, with the help of Spanish prelate Bishop G.B. Vives, founded the seminary City College for the Propagation of the Faith (Collegium Urbanum de Propaganda Fide) for the specific purpose of forming priests to send to the missions. All his life St. John Leonardi lived the Gospel, dedicating his life to evangelizing as Jesus asked in Mark 16: 15 to "Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature." In 1607 Pope Paul V merged the Clerks Regular of the Pious Schools with the Congregation St. John founded to make it stronger and encouraged by this event and the universal evangelization efforts of his Order, their founder died in Rome on October 9, 1609.

      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). 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 October 10:
TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
VOCATION AWARENESS SUNDAY and LAITY SUNDAY

Green vestments

First Reading: Isaiah 25: 6-10
Psalms: Psalm 23: 1-6
Second Reading: Philippians 4: 12-14, 19-20
Gospel Reading: Matthew 22: 1-14

Tuesday October 13:
Twenty-eighth Monday in Ordinary Time
Columbus Day

Green vestments

First Reading: Romans 1: 1-7
Psalms: Psalm 98: 1-4
Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 29-32

SIMPLY SHEEN: We can't afford to be smug!

    They say a picture is worth 1000 words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminarydid so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".

Click here to go to SECTION THREE or SECTION FOUR or return to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

October 8, 1999 volume 10, no. 192  DAILY CATHOLIC