Happy Birthday, Holy Father

(Easter Celebration Photos from Daylife.)

V. Let us pray for N, our Pope.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. [Ps 40:3]

Our Father. Hail Mary.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant N, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.



(From Thesaurus Precum Latinarum)

Georgetown students react to White House request to cover Jesus' name

Washington D.C., Apr 16, 2009 / 05:15 pm (CNA).- Georgetown University’s decision to comply with a White House request to cover up the “IHS” monogram representing Jesus' name at President Obama’s speech on Wednesday is drawing fire from the Cardinal Newman Society and Georgetown students, who are charging the university with “sacrificing” its “Catholic and Jesuit identity.”

Reports surfaced today from attendees at President Obama's speech on the economy that the White House asked Georgetown University to cover up several emblems, including an IHS monogram above the president's head during his speech at the Jesuit university.

Although President Obama focused his speech on his administration’s plans to spur economic growth, some in attendance noticed that the IHS monogram—an early 3rd century abbreviation for the name of Jesus—was covered up for the speech.

CNA attempted to confirm the report with Georgetown officials, but no one available for comment before press time.

However, Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at the university, told CNSNews.com that the covering up of Jesus' name was prompted by “logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event.” According to Bataille, “Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage.”

She said the “signage and symbols” were covered up because “the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross” and that it seemed more “respectful to have them covered” so that viewers wouldn’t see them “out of context.”

Patrick Reilly, the President of the Cardinal Newman Society, reacted to the report by telling CNA that Georgetown’s decision is another “outrageous example of a Catholic university sacrificing principle for prestige.”

He wondered what the White House will request next month at Notre Dame’s commencement and said, “Christians simply cannot hide our faith in a drawer to satisfy an American president who shows no respect for Catholic identity or values.”

Georgetown students were also outraged by the University’s actions.

Paul Courtney, a Catholic Georgetown student and President of the Georgetown College Republicans, was an attendee at the Wednesday speech. He called the move “disheartening” and “sad” that the University would sacrifice its “Catholic and Jesuit identity” by covering the monogram.

Courtney didn’t notice that the symbol was covered, and explained that “one of my professors pointed it out to me afterwards when we were discussing the event.”

Courtney hypothesized that the White House made the request because, “President Obama didn't want any symbols to appear in the photo that might suggest that there's any higher authority than him.”

Last year, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke at Georgetown and “none of the stage was shrouded,” added Courtney.

CNA attempted to reach Georgetown’s College Democrats for comment, but they were also not available in time for publication.

Another Catholic student, Dave Gregory, who heads the Knights of Columbus council at Georgetown, said the University has covered up religious imagery for “High Holy Days and non-Catholic religious services” on the “infrequent occasion” that the services are held in Gaston Hall, the site of Obama’s speech.

Gregory told CNA that President Obama's visit was “by no means contingent upon the covering of the IHS,” saying that he strongly doubted that “Obama's staff would have canceled the event.”

Georgetown’s decision to cover up the symbol did not surprise Gregory either, who said he thought it is “a bit shameful that they did so, as Georgetown has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”

Gregory said he believes that the White House and Georgetown’s administration are just trying to “produce excuses and rationalize their inappropriate decision,” and that he would not be surprised if there is more to the matter than is being shared with the media.

RESURREXIT!

The "Anastasis" Icon - A Window Into Easter

Easter Vigil at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Inside the Holy Sepulchre - the Empty Tomb


Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!

THE EASTER PROCLAMATION

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends,
standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
When Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night,
when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slav'ry,
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night,
when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin.

This is night,
when Christians ev'rywhere,
washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night,
when Jesus broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights,
chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed,
when heaven is wedded to earth
and we are reconciled to God!

Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Icon Acheiropoeta ("Not-made-by-hands")

Peter, Witness of the Resurrection

Easter Mass with the Resurrexit Rite,
Saint Peter's Square 2009


May the grace and joy of the Risen Christ be with you all.

Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay!

Knights Templar linked to gap in history of Shroud of Turin

April 06, 2009

A remarkable article in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has traced the Shroud of Turin to the Knights Templar. Historian Barbara Frale reports that the Knights kept the Shroud after the Crusades, and new members venerated (not "worshipped," as the Telegraph headline inaccurately says) the cloth as part of their initiation ceremonies. The Knights Templar-- one of the earliest and most powerful military orders in the Catholic world-- were suppressed in the early 14th century; their history remains riddled with legends and controversies. Among the rumors circulated against the Knights Templar by their enemies was the tale that they worshipped a bearded man. Although that story could be taken as a reference to the image on the Shroud, the image of a face on the cloth did not clearly appear until it was shown by a photographic negative several centuries after the Knights Templar were suppressed.

The history of the Shroud of Turin is also surrounded by both mystery and controversy. The

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Knights Templar worshipped the Turin Shroud (Daily Telegraph)
• Knights Templar hid the Shroud of Turin, says Vatican (Times)

(Source: Catholic Culture)

PCED on Cardinal Rosales' Guidelines for the Use of the 1962 Missal

An excerpt from the Tablet article via Fr. Z and with his emphasis and comments:

PHILIPPINES
Cardinal accused of disobeying Pope

Robert Mickens
In Rome

THE HEAD of the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission has reprimanded the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, for setting “unduly restrictive” conditions on use of the Tridentine Mass, [Again… update on the terms! No one really says "Tridentine" anymore.] saying they were “in direct contradiction” to the wishes of Pope Benedict XVI.

“Your ‘Archdiocesan Guidelines’ are simply not acceptable as they stand and I ask you to reconsider them,” said the Ecclesia Dei president, Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, in a letter dated 6 March and seen by The Tablet this week. It said “guidelines allowing only a monthly Mass in a chapel of [the] Metropolitan Cathedral” were in violation of the norms established in the motu proprio, “Summorum Pontificum”, issued by the Pope in 2007 for the widespread use of the Tridentine Mass. [Get this…] Cardinal Castrillón said the papal decree was “part of the universal law of the Church” and could not be limited by the “particular law” of a diocesan bishop. [This is the part that the Pope’s enemies in this matter will really hate!] The Archdiocese of Manila ministers to more than 2.8 million Catholics.

“There is simply no legitimate reason why this [Tridentine] Mass cannot and should not be celebrated in any church or chapel of your archdiocese,” Cardinal Castrillón said in his letter to the Archbishop of Manila.

[Read closely…] He insisted that Cardinal Rosales actively promote the implementation of the motu proprio by “helping priests who are desirous to learn how to celebrate” the old rite Mass, which he said only required that the priest be “reasonably competent in Latin”, [which, as WDTPRS has been saying all along, means that the priest can pronounce the words properly. We want more, of course, but that is the minimum. And what is required is sufficiency, the minimum, not expertise.] and that there were faithful [no number set… and the coetus mentioned in the Motu Proprio might be very small indeed.] who wished to assist at its celebration. The Archdiocese of Manila published the Tridentine Mass guidelines on its website last year. But they were quickly removed when supporters of the old rite protested to Rome.

...

Et incarnatus est.

And the WORD became flesh,
and dwelt among us.

12th century Icon of the Annunciation from Mount Sinai

Facade of the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth


Interior of the Basilica of Annunciation

Lower Church, Basilica of the Annunciation

"Kaire Maria"

Altar at the Grotto of the Annunciation

"Here the Word became Flesh"

Holy Land Cross

(Images from Franciscan Cyberspot: Christian Sancutaries: Nazareth )

In honor of the Incarnation of the Lord

A Prayer to Saint Joseph

O blessed Joseph, faithful guardian of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ,
protector of thy chaste spouse, the virgin Mother of God,
I choose thee this day to be my special patron and advocate
and I firmly resolve to honor thee all the days of my life.
Therefore I humbly beseech thee to receive me as thy client,
to instruct me in every doubt,
to comfort me in every affliction,
to obtain for me and for all the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus,
and finally to defend and protect me at the hour of my death. Amen.

"I know by experience," says St. Teresa of Avila, "that the glorious St. Joseph assists us generally in all necessities. I never asked him for anything which he did not obtain for me."

(EWTN - Prayers)

A tribute for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, March 19.