Juan Diego

9 DECEMBER 2009. Today the Church celebrates the feast day (optional memorial) of Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an indigenous Mexican to whom the Virgin Mary appeared as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Saint Juan Diego was canonized by Servant of God Pope John Paul II on 31 July 2002. However, the Church has recognized Juan Diego since the apparition of Our Lady in 1531.

Saint Juan Diego was a farmer, landowner, and weaver of mats.In 1521, Juan Diego was witness to the Spanish conquest of Mexico, which introduced the first Franciscan missionaries to the country. Among the first to welcome the Franciscan missionaries, Juan Diego and his wife were baptized shortly after the missionaries arrived. As their faith grew, Juan Diego and his wife made the decision to live chaste lives, while still married. In 1529, Juan Diego's wife grew sick and died.

As a widower, Juan Diego walked to mass every Saturday and Sunday. On 9 December 1531, while walking to mass, Juan Diego heard birds singing on Tepeyac Hill and someone calling his name. Juan Diego ran up the hill and saw a girl, about 14 years of age, that looked like an Aztec princess who was surrounded by light. Recognizing Our Lady, Juan Diego conversed with Her, then went off and did as Our Lady requested, including notifying the Spanish bishop of Our Lady's appearance. However, the bishop refused to believe Saint Juan Diego until a sign was given to him of the accuracy of Juan Diego's report.Returning to Our Lady, Juan Diego told her of the bishop's refusal to believe, and begged that she send someone else as a messenger.

Our Lady said it was important that Juan Diego be the messenger, and that she would give him the sign the bishop wanted. Later, Juan Diego tried to evade seeing Our Lady out of concern for his dying uncle, as he was going to find a priest to administer his uncle the sacraments. But, Our Lady intercepted Juan Diego and assured him that his uncle would not die. Then, Our Lady asked Juan Diego to go up Tepeyac Hill and pick the roses he found there. Although it was winter, Juan Diego found roses which he picked and Our Lady carefully arranged them in his folded tilma (a course cotton cloak worn by upper class Aztec peoples). Our Lady instructed Juan Diego to not show the roses to anyone, but the bishop.

When Saint Juan Diego opened his tilma for the bishop, he saw not only the roses (which were a variety of rose that grew in the bishop's home area of Spain), but an image of Our Lady impressed on Juan Diego's tilma that brought the bishop to his knees.

Immediately, it was ordered that a shrine to Our Lady be built at the site of Her apparition. And, the bishop entrusted the miraculous image to Juan Diego who lived the remainder of his life in a small hermitage near the site of the apparitions where he cared for the first chapel there and the pilgrims who began arriving.

What happened after the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe was that large numbers of indigenous people converted to the faith, reconciling the Spaniards and the indigenious people and leading to intercultural marriages. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Herself in fact, appeared as a woman of mixed Spanish and indigenous racial heritage--often referred to as "the little brown one."

Saint Juan Diego died on 30 May 1548, at about the age of 73.

A close scientific examination of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has revealed that there is a reflected image of Saint Juan Diego, the Spanish bishop and an interpreter in the left eye of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Saint Juan Diego, pray for us!

IMAGE: Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

8 DECEMBER 2009. Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and, for us here in the United States, our country's patronal feast.

The Immaculate Conception was promulgated as dogma for the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1854, with these words:

We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.

However, long before the declaration of Pope Pius IX, the feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary had been celebrated by the Church in the East since the Seventh Century (prior to the great schism in 1054) and had been celebrated in the Western Church since the Eighth Century. By the Eleventh Century, the feast had taken on its current title: the Immaculate Conception.

For the faithful, today we recognize the special place that Mary holds in salvation history. As the Mother of God, Mary was conceived without original sin and remained sinless during her life. While not God, being only human in constitution, Mary was especially chosen by Our Lord to be the vessel for the Messiah's birth and His mother on earth.

Pray to Mary, the Immaculate Conception, that being preserved from all stain of sin She will pray for us that we may persevere against sin on our earthly pilgrimage, for the glory of, and in service to, Jesus Christ her son.

Prayer
(Saint Ephram (306-373))

O pure and immaculate
and likewise blessed Virgin,
who art the sinless Mother of thy Son,
the mighty Lord of the universe,
thou who art inviolate and altogether holy,
the hope of the hopeless and sinful,
we sing thy praises.
We bless thee, as full of every grace,
thou who didst bear the God-Man:
we bow low before thee;
we invoke thee and implore thine aid.
Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin,
from every necessity that presses upon us
and from all the temptations of the devil.

Be our intercessor and advocate
at the hour of death and judgment;
deliver us from the fire
that is not extinguished
and from the outer darkness;
make us worthy of the glory of thy Son,
O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother.
Thou indeed art our only hope most sure
and sacred in God's sight,
to Whom be honor and glory and majesty and dominion
for ever and ever world without end.

Amen.

IMAGE: Inmaculada Concepción, by Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664).

Ambrose, Doctor and Bishop

7 DECEMBER 2009. Today the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Ambrose, a Fourth Century bishop and one of the original four doctors of the Church.

Saint Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between 337 and 340 and raised in Trier, Gernany on the banks of the Moselle River.

As a child, legend tells that a swarm of bees covered Ambrose's face, flying in and out of his mouth. However, when the bees left he had not been stung and only a drop of honey had been left on his tongue. This reportedly caused his father to remark that Ambrose was destined for greatness.

Ambrose's father was the praetorian prefect of Gaul, and Ambrose was educated in Rome to follow in his father's political footsteps. However, Ambrose's father died early on, and afterwards, in about 372, Ambrose was named as governor of Liguria and Emilia, a position he held until being named Bishop of Milan.

In the time of Saint Ambrose, Milan was the second most important city in Italy, after Rome itself. And, the diocese there was in embroiled in a deep conflict between the Catholics and Arians. When the sitting Bishop of Milan, an Arian, died, Saint Ambrose went to the church were the new bishop was to be elected to prevent a physical conflict. During his address to those gathered, he was continually interrupted with shouts of "Ambrose, Bishop!" Ambrose was known to be Catholic in belief, but he was also known to be acceptable to the Arians because of the charity he had shown to their beliefs.

At first, Ambrose rejected calls for him to be Bishop of Milan, even going into hiding at a friend's home. After all, Ambrose was not baptized and had no formal theological training. However, when the Emperor presented a letter praising his selection as Bishop, Ambrose came out of hiding and was baptized, ordained, and installed as bishop within a week.

Arian belief was that God the Father, unbegotten and always existing, beget Jesus his Son, who is separate and lesser to God the Father, and God the Father through Jesus beget the Holy Spirit who is subservient to Jesus, as Jesus is to the Father. The First Council of Nicea was called in response to the Arian heresy, and is the source of what today we call the Nicean Creed.

Prior to becoming bishop, Saint Ambrose had never married. After becoming bishop, Ambrose adopted an ascetic lifestyle and distributed his wealth to the needy, keeping only enough to provide for his sister, who later became a nun.

As Bishop of Milan, Saint Ambrose set out to forcefully stop Arianism in his diocese. Arian followers caused great disputes and raised their calls against Ambrose to the highest levels of the Roman Empire. After much effort was made to persuade Ambrose to turn over some of his churches to the Arians, tradition tells that he said:

If you demand my person, I am ready to submit: carry me to prison or to death, I will not resist; but I will never betray the church of Christ. I will not call upon the people to succour me; I will die at the foot of the altar rather than desert it. The tumult of the people I will not encourage: but God alone can appease it.

Ambrose was also zealous in his attempt to combat the refusal of pagan adherents to the old state religion from enacting the decrees of Christian emperors. Among other well known traits, Ambrose was also known for his great generosity to the poor.

Ambrose is known as one of the four original doctors of the Church with Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great. Augustine, himself, was converted to the faith by Saint Ambrose, who baptized Saint Augustine in 387.

Of Ambrose's many gifts to the Church, his mariology has influenced many, including several popes, including Pope Leo the Great. Central for Ambrose was the virginity of Mary and her role as the Mother of God.

Ambrose taught that the virgin birth was worthy of God, because the Immaculate Son of God came forth as a human while maintaining the purity of His immaculate origin. Of course, to confess the virgin birth, one must reject the natural order of things, but that is appropriate because Jesus was conceived not by man, but by the Holy Spirit. And, while we worship Christ as the Son of God, that worship does not extend to Mary. Mary was the temple of God, but not God within the temple. Indeed, Mary rectified the error of Zechariah's doubt, in her fiat: giving herself to God. So, Ambrose taught, no wonder the Lord chose to begin his redemption of humanity from with Mary. She, through whom salvation was being prepared for all people, was the first to receive the promised fruit of salvation.

Ambrose died on 4 April 397. His body may still be viewed today at the Church of St. Ambrogio in Milan, where it has been continuously venerated.

Prayer

God, by Your grace Saint Ambrose,
Your Bishop, became a great teacher
of the Catholic Faith and
an example of apostolic fortitude.
Raise up bishops in Your Church today
who will give strong and wise leadership.

Amen.

IMAGE: Saint Ambrose, by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1626-1627.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

6 DECEMBER 2009. Today the Church celebrates the second Sunday of advent that still, like the first Sunday of Advent, is focused on the end of days: the second coming of Christ at the end of time.

Today's readings tell us that now is the time for spiritual renewal. The Gospel reading from Saint Luke begins with a "who's who" of Palestine at the time: Ceasar the Emperor, Pilate the governor, Herod the tetrarch, Annas and Caiphas the high priests--the whole power structure of the area. However, the Word does not come to any of them. The Word of God, instead, comes to John the Baptist. He was nobody in the political or social heirarchy of the time, but we know that he is indeed somebody that is great--a man devoted to prayer, a man with a genuine desire for the spiritual rebirth of the people. So, Saint John the Baptist calls to us:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
 
(Lk 3, 4-6). So too, let us join our prayer with the Prayer of Saint Paul, recounted for us today, in the second reading, in the Letter to the Philippians:

That [our] love may increase ever more and more
in knowledge and every kind of perception,
to discern what is of value,
so that [we] may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.

Amen.

Reparation for Insults to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Crowned Madonna, Rokitno, Poland, 1671

5 DECEMBER 2009. Today is Saturday, the day that Church custom dedicates to the veneration and honor of the Blessed Virgin. In reparation for all the insults the Blessed Virgin Mary suffers throughout the world, we the Church offer our prayer:

O blessed Virgin, Mother of God, look down in mercy from Heaven, where thou art enthroned as Queen, upon me, a miserable sinner, thine unworthy servant. Although I know full well my own unworthiness, yet in order to atone for the offenses that are done to thee by impious and blasphemous tongues, from the depths of my heart I praise and extol thee as the purest, the fairest, the holiest creature of all God's handiwork. I bless thy holy Name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race. I bless the Eternal Father who chose thee in an especial way for His daughter; I bless the Word Incarnate who took upon Himself our nature in thy bosom and so made thee His Mother; I bless the Holy Spirit who took thee as His bride. All honor, praise and thanksgiving to the ever-blessed Trinity who predestined thee and loved thee so exceedingly from all eternity as to exalt thee above all creatures to the most sublime heights. O Virgin, holy and merciful, obtain for all who offend thee the grace of repentance, and graciously accept this poor act of homage from me thy servant, obtaining likewise for me from thy Divine Son the pardon and remission of all my sins. Amen.

SOURCE: The Raccolta, 1950

John of Damascus, Priest and Doctor

4 DECEMBER 2009. Today the Church celebrates the feast day (optional memorial) of Saint John of Damascus an Eighth Century Arab Christian monk.

Saint John was born into a prominent Arab Christian family in Damascus in about the year 676. Famous for his encyclopedic knowledge and his theological method, Saint John was later a source of inspiration for Saint Thomas Aquinas.

At an early age, Saint John excelled at his studies. Some sources say that Saint John received a secular hellenistic education, and other sources say he was tutored by a monk that had been brought to Damascus from Sicily.

In the Eighth Century, iconoclasm--a movement seeking to prohibit the veneration of holy images--gained popularity. Saint John opposed iconoclasm and initiated a defense of holy images in three publications. The earliest of these three works, Apologetic Treatises against those Decrying Holy Images, gained Saint John a noted reputation as a defender of holy images.

In his writings, Saint John of Damascus directly conflicted with the Emperor of Constantinople, who was himself a promoter of iconoclasm. And, not only did he conflict with the Emporer, but Saint John also wrote in a simpler style that made his works available to the common people, which incited a revolt against iconoclasm by the Christian faithful. Saint John's writings also played an important role in the Second Council of Nicea, which was held to resolve the iconoclasm dispute.

Called to account for his writings, Saint John resigned his secular position and retired to Mar Saba near Jerusalem. There, he studied, wrote, and preached until being ordained a priest in 735. Tradition provides that before retiring to Mar Saba, Saint John's right had was cut off as a punishment, but that it was miraculously restored after John's fervent prayer before an icon of the Virgin Mary (called, in English, the Three-Handed Theotokos).

Saint John of Damascus died on 4 December 749. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1883, during the Pontificate of Leo XIII. When the feast day of Saint John of Damascus was originally placed on the General Roman Calendar, it was celebrated on 27 March. In 1969, the date of Saint John's feast day was moved to the anniversary of his death, 4 December.

Prayer

Grant, O Lord,
that we may be aided by the prayers
of Saint John, Your Priest.
May the true faith
that he taught with excellence
be our constant light and strength.

Amen.

FIRST IMAGE: 19th Century icon of Saint John (iconographer Ne'meh Naser Homsi).
SECOND IMAGE: the Three-Handed Theotokos.

Recognizing a Saint: Part 5 of 5

1 December 2009. This is the last installment of this series, as we have arrived at the pinnacle of the Church's recognition of sainthood: canonization. It is in canonization that the Church comes to bestow the title "Saint" on a person.

Once a person has been beatified, the final step to sainthood requires a proven miracle that has come about because of the Blessed's intercession. For a Blessed who is a confessor, this means a second miracle is needed. As in beatification, the proven miracle is taken as God's sign that the miracle has been performed by Him, because of the intercession of the Blessed, who is truly in heaven enjoying the beatific vision.

Upon the recognition of the miracle necessary for sainthood, the Pope can celebrate the canonization--adding the Saint's name to the list, or canon, of saints.

The formal declaration of canonization usually occurs during a special mass of the Pope outside of Saint Peter's Basilica before a large crowd. (However, the canonization mass may also be held in the saint's home country.) During the mass the saint's life history is read aloud, and the Pope chants the following in Latin:

In honor of the Blessed Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and the growth of Christian life, with the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and Our Own, after lengthy reflection, having assiduously invoked God's assistance and taken into account the opinion of many brothers of ours in the episcopate, we declare and define [name] to be a saint [or "to be blessed"], and we enroll him [or her] in the Catalogue of the saints, and we establish that in the whole Church he [or she] should be devoutly honored among the saints. In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Then, a large tapestry with an image of the saint is unfurled before the faithful to admire and venerate. Shown above is the tapestry of Saint Francisco Coll y Guitart, canonized earlier this year by Pope Benedict XVI.

With canonization, the Saint's feast day is assigned and may be celebrated anywhere in the Church. However, not every Saint's feast day appears on the General Roman Calendar or is celebrated as an obligatory feast in the Church. (In fact, only about half of the days of the year ( 149 if I have counted correctly) are recognized on the General Roman Calendar as obligatory or optional memorials of a Saint.)

Churches may be named in the honor of a saint and the faithful are free, without restriction, to celebrate and honor the saint. And, the masses may be celebrated in the saint's memory.

In the history of the Church, however, the process for sainthood that we have examined in this series--Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint--is a relatively new development. In the case of persons that have commonly been called saints from "time immemorial" (in practice, since before 1500 or so), the Church may carry out a confirmation of cultus whereby the Church affirms that it is acceptable to venerate the person and the person is given the title of Blessed. Profiled on this blog, Blessed Simon Ballacchi, is an example of one who has received the title "Blessed" in this manner.

This short series of posts has not, in any way, been a thorough or complete treatment of the process of the Church in recognizing a saint. However, I offer it to all readers as a brief explanation of how we the Church has come to venerate and pray to the saints for their intercession.

So, the end of the story is this: Pray to the saints! By the power of their intercession, we can each one be a better instrument of God's love here on earth.

IMAGE: The tapestry of Saint Francisco Coll y Guitart, canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 11 October 2009.