Candlemas, The Purification of Mary and Saint Stephens Guild

[HSMOM lets HSDAD post for the first (and probably only) time this year.]

What a beautiful day it was. 

It was the first time in ten years that the feast of the Presentation of Christ/Purification of Mary and Candlemas fell on a Sunday, and added to the beauty of these Liturgies, both of our sons, along with some of their classmates and friends, advanced from junior acolyte to senior acolyte in the Saint Stephens Guild in our Parish.  My wife and I took stock today on the way home from Mass this morning on how blessed we are with this wonderful Catholic Faith and her beauty that we have come to fully appreciate in her ancient ways and Traditions.

The Purification of Mary.  The Churching of Women ... our Pastor presented us with the thought on Mary, having gone through the birthing of the Christ Child, being welcomed back after her recovery from childbirth, which came to be known traditionally as the churching of women.  My wife recalled our old Pastor in an earlier Parish we’d belonged to calling us aside after Mass wanting to give her a special pregnancy blessing, as she was pregnant with our second child.  How beautiful this prayer for her, but how much more complete had she been offered the prayers of the churching of women after giving birth.  Do we see the churching of women in our Parishes today?  I don’t think we do; in fact, I would bet that most Ordinary Mass-goers have never heard of or understood this.  

Saint Stephens Guild, once a part of many parishes before the Vatican II reforms, has fallen out of use, and that is unfortunate because the Guild encourages and instills the highest standards of young boys and young men serving the Church at Her Liturgy.  It provides Altar boys a more meaningful and complete understanding of their duties so that they may offer themselves in service at Mass with greater reverence with prayerful hopes to be led into a deeper clarity of their vocation in life.  Saint Stephens Guild helps to form these young boys and to provide sure-footed stepping stones into the priesthood. 

These are the things that foster vocations among young men, whether these vocations are to the religious life or the married state, it prepares them because of a deeper understanding and relationship with Christ and His Mother through service at the Altar.  It starts with solid Catechesis, good formation among holy priests and educators, working in collaboration with parents that give these boys solid foundations to combat the world, save their souls and lead others to Christ.  May our Blessed Mother continue to guide us and may the prayers of Saint Stephen strengthen our young men.

From the Canticle of Simeon for the Feast of the Purification, sung by the choir during the blessing and procession of candles: "Lumen ad revelationem gentium et gloriam plebis tuae Israel."

HSDAD

Rest In Peace

Dear Readers,

In your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of Patty, a lovely and faithful Catholic woman who died this morning just after 5:00 a.m. Please also pray for her dear son, Patrick. Patty and Patrick had only recently buried Patty's mother.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord;

and let perpetual light shine upon her. 

May she rest in peace. Amen.

* * *

God bless you.

Help Save Fisher More College!

Fisher More College is a small traditional Catholic Liberal Arts college in Texas. The school is in desperate need of funds--immediately--in order to keep its doors open. As such the students have, themselves, organized an appeal for funds. Please read about it here and be generous, as you are able.

God bless you!

Hear Ye!

  JESUS CHRIST,

THE SON OF GOD,

IS BORN IN BETHLEHEM

OF JUDAH!

* * *
 Merry Christmas!

Saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli and Martyr

On this 3rd Monday of Advent we honor Saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, and given the title Martyr, not for having shed his blood, but for the great sufferings he had to endure for the a Divinity of Jesus, and this in the fourth century when the Catholic faith was violently attacked by the Arian heresy.

According to Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year:

"St. Eusebius' place is Advent; and divine Providence has thus chosen him as one of the patrons of the faithful during this mystic season. His powerful prayers will help us to come devoutly to Bethlehem, and see in the Child, that is lying there, the Eternal Word of God."

And, St. Eusebius was one of four bishops:

"...of whom it may be said that the defence of the  dogma of the Consubstantiality of the Son of God was what they lived for, and that to say anathema to them was to say anathema to Christ Himself; all four most powerful in word and work, lights of the Churches of the world, objects of people's love, and dauntless witnesses of Jesus."

What struck me most in reading Dom Guéranger's meditation on St. Eusebius was a prayer for this holy bishop's intercession, particularly for our bishops:

"Obtain for the bishops of our holy mother the Church such vigilance, that no false doctrines may surprise them, and such courage that no persecution may make them yield. May they be faithful imitators of the divine Pastor, who gives His life for His sheep; and may they ever feed the flock entrusted to them in the unity and charity of Jesus Christ."

Certainly a saint for our times. We must pray for our Holy Father Pope Francis, and for our cardinals and bishops.

God bless you!

St. Mary's Academy & College

Celebrating 35 years of Catholic Education, St. Mary's Academy and College, schools of the Society of St. Pius X in St. Mary's, Kansas, provides a very beautiful video which gives a glimpse of what they are all about. Catholic Education as it is supposed to be:

UPDATE: Hmmm, I am unable to see the video on my iPad, so in case it is not working on your mobile device, here is a direct link to the video on YouTube. You can also view it at the St. Mary's Academy and College link above.


God bless you!

Happy New Year!

Grab the noisemakers! Break out the pots and pans! Let's watch the ball drop in Times Square! Happy New Y..... Wait. Not so fast....

The fridge is burgeoning with Thanksgiving leftovers, the biggest pre-Christmas shopping day of the year is in full swing, and I'm posting a "Happy New Year" to my readers?!

Well...... Yes!

This week our family is invited to a New Years Eve party scheduled for Saturday evening. But with December 31st still some 4-5 weeks away we will be welcoming another New Year, indeed, a more significant New Year than that which the world over will acknowledge as the calendar switches from 2013 to 2014.

Saturday, November 30, 2013, is New Years Eve for the Church! Last Sunday we celebrated the Last Sunday after Pentecost, and this Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, "New Years Day"--liturgically speaking--for the Church. With that in mind, dear friends of ours are opening their home for a liturgical New Years Eve party.

We are definitely in for the celebration!

It likely won't be the raucous time the December 31 parties tend toward, and I don't anticipate any noisemakers at midnight; in fact, most of us will likely be back home with our kids in bed and asleep by then. But we will have a wonderful time as we consider and anticipate the Church New Year, beginning with our families gathering together for the Rosary, followed by, what else, lots of good eats! Pots of chili, hot dogs, drinks and snacks; good times spent with good friends.

And so, leaving those pots and pans in the cupboard for another few weeks we'll set our sights on Advent, and the coming of the Christ-Child, the beginning of the 2014 liturgical year.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

.... and Happy New Year!