The period of four weeks before Christmas is called Advent. It is a period of anticipation and hope. In today’s culture it is a busy time, filled with shopping and socializing. However, in ages past, it was a quiet and sacred time of prayer and waiting… anticipating the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflecting on the birth of Jesus, we look with hope to our salvation. Jesus was born of Mary. He became man to redeem us. By the cross, we are saved from our sins and have the hope of eternal life. What a tremendous mystery! How can a little baby be both human and divine?
The omnipotence of God is shown by his humbling himself and becoming a man. His humble beginnings, being born in a manger, tells us of his connection to the poor and lowly. He was not the type of king the Jewish people were expecting. The kingdom of God is an important thing to reflect on during the Christmas Season. Are we trying to follow the teachings of Jesus…to love not only our neighbor but our enemies? Are we helping the poor and downtrodden?
God is love. When we look at a little baby it is easy to define love. However, we need to be loving our neighbor at all times. Celebrating the incarnation (God becoming Man) this year, let’s try not to lose sight of the spiritual nature of Christmas. Waiting helps us to slow down. Hopefully, we will be spending time in prayer… sharing with God our hopes, difficulties, fears and love.
A soul enkindled with love is a gentle, meek, humble, and patient soul.
The feast day of St. Catherine Laboure is celebrated on November 28. She is the visionary who began the devotion to the miraculous medal.
Catherine Laboure was born on May 2, 1806 in Paris, France. Her father was a successful farmer. She was the ninth of eleven children. Her mother died when she was only nine years old. After the funeral service, Catherine went to her room and gave a kiss to a statue of Mary, saying;
“Now, dear Lady, you are my mother.”
Catherine was called “Zoe” by those who knew her, because her birthday was on the feast day of St. Zoe.
After having a dream about St. Vincent de Paul, at a young age, she joined the Daughters of Charity founded by him. She is known as a Marian visionary because of the apparitions which she reported of Mary appearing to her.
On July 18, the first apparition occurred. Catherine saw a lady seated in the sanctuary. She approached her and was instructed how she was to act during times of trial, pointing to the altar for consolation. Mary told her,
“”Sorrows will come upon France; the throne will be overthrown.”
A week later the French revolution began in Paris.
On Nov. 27, the lady showed St. Catherine the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, now known as the “Miraculous Medal” She gave Catherine the mission of having the medal made and to spread devotion to it.
Catherine reported the visions to her spiritual director, Father Aladal. Forty five years later, she spoke fully to her supervisors about the apparitions.
The miraculous medal which Mary showed to Catherine was oval showing Mary standing on a globe crushing the head of the serpent. (the devil). Around the image of Mary were the words:
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Mary’s hands were showering a cascade of brilliant rays upon the world.
On the reverse side of the medal was a cross, the symbol of Christ’s redeeming Sacrifice on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the world. The cross was intertwined with the letter “M”.
The “M” stands for both Mary and for Mother and was to be surrounded by twelve stars. The two hearts are the Sacred Heart of Jesus encircled by a crown of thorns and the Immaculate of Mary, pierce by a sword. The Flames symbolize the burning love of Jesus and Mother Mary.
Mary told Catherine,
“All who wear them will receive great graces.”
After two years of investigation Father Aladal went to the archbishop with the request. The request was approved.
St. Catherine served humbly, not wishing to be known as a visionary. It was only after 46 years of service that she informed her Sister Superior that she was the Sister Mary had appeared to. At Catherine’s death, on December 31, 1876, at the age of 70, few people knew of her visions. She preferred a silent life, spending her time caring for the aged and sick.
Stories of many miracles and cures caused the devotion to spread rapidly.
In 1922 the body of St. Catherine was exhumed. It was found to be incorrupt. Her body is encased in glass in the chapel in Paris near where Our Lady appeared to her.
St. Catherine’s feast day is celebrated on Nov. 27, the day of the apparition.
St. Catherine Laboure
Lord, I am here. Tell me what you would have me do.
If He gives me some task I am content and I thank Him.
If he gives me nothing, I still thank Him
Since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that,
and then I tell God everything that is in my heart.
I tell him about my pains and my joys, and then I listen.
If you listen, God will also speak to you.
For with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen.
God always speaks to you when you approach him plainly and simply.
The feast day of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is celebrated on November 27.
The miraculous medal was the result of visions which occurred to St. Catherine Laboure’. She was born in 1806 in Paris, France. After having a dream about St. Vincent de Paul, she joined the Daughters of Charity which was founded by him. She is known as a Marian visionary because of the apparitions which she reported appearing to her.
On July 18, the first apparition occurred. Catherine saw a lady seated in the sanctuary. She approached her and was instructed how she was to act during times of trial, pointing to the altar for consolation. Mary told her,
“Sorrows will come upon France; the throne will be overthrown.”
A week later the French revolution began in Paris.
On Nov. 27, the lady showed St. Catherine the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, now known as the “Miraculous Medal” . She gave Catherine the mission of having the medal made and to spread devotion to it.
Catherine reported the visions to her spiritual director, Father Aladal. Forty five years later, she spoke fully to her supervisors about the apparitions.
The miraculous medal which Mary showed to Catherine was oval showing Mary standing on a globe crushing the head of the serpent. (the devil). Around the image of Mary were the words
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Mary’s hands were showering a cascade of brilliant rays upon the world.
On the reverse side of the medal was a cross, the symbol of Christ’s redeeming Sacrifice on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the world. The cross was intertwined with the letter “M”.
The “M” stands for both Mary and for Mother and was to be surrounded by twelve stars. The two hearts are the Sacred Heart of Jesus encircled by a crown of thorns and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by a sword. The Flames symbolize the burning love of Jesus and Mother Mary.
Mary told Catherine,
“All who wear them will receive great graces.”
After two years of investigation Father Aladal went to the archbishop with the request. The request was approved.
At Catherine’s death, on December 31, 1876, at the age of 70, few people knew of her visions. She preferred a silent life, spending her time caring for the aged and sick.
The first two-thousand medals were delivered on June 30, 1832. The spread of the Medal was almost like a miracle in itself. The first supply disappeared quickly. Pope Gregory XVI put one of them at the foot of the crucifix on his desk. By 1836 several million medals had been made. The stories of the cures and wonders of the medal helped to spread its use far and wide.
The Miraculous Medal is considered a sacramental. Sacramentals lead a person to prayer which opens the person to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Sacramentals can be material things such as blessed objects, such as scapulars, rosaries, crucifixes, medals, or Holy Water. It can also be actions such as the Sign of the Cross, genuflection, and prayer.
The following explanation of sacramentals is from the Catholic Catechism.
1667 “Holy Mother Church has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy.”17
1670 Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. “For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God.”176
Most Holy Virgin Mary…
Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit,
Lily of purity, Rose of patience,
Paradise of delight, Mirror of chastity,
Model of innocence…intercede
for this poor banished pilgrim.
Quote of St. Peter of Alcantara; Feast day October 19
The feast day of St. John Berchmans is celebrated on November 26. He is the patron saint of altar boys.
St. John Berchmans was born in 1599 at Diest, Belgium. His father was a shoemaker. At a very young age he wanted to become a priest. After his mother’s death, in 1615 he entered the JesuitCollege At Melines. He journeyed to Rome where he continued to study. He was known for his holiness and his desire for perfection in small things. In 1621, at the age of 22, he died after becoming ill, possibly from dysentery.
Many miracles were attributed to him after his death. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady. He composed a Chaplet in honor of her Immaculate Conception. He also composed a poem called ‘To an Altar Boy’.
“Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us.
What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.”
The feast day of St. Catherine Alexandria is celebrated on November 25. She is the patron saint of Christian philosophers, teachers and librarians. She is considered a virgin and martyr.
While there is no historical evidence regarding St. Catherine of Alexandria there is a strong tradition about her martyrdom. St. Catherine was born around 287 in Alexandria, Egypt. She was the daughter of a wealthy pagan couple. She had a love of learning and studied philosophy and religion. After studying Christianity, she converted.
Legend tells us that she was imprisoned and tortured by Emperero Maxentius after she refused to marry him. He forced her to debate the most learned pagan philosophers hoping she would commit apostasy, however the debates resulted in many conversions to the Christian faith.
St. Catherine was tortured by being placed on a wheel full of spikes in an attempt to kill her. The wheel broke into two pieces and fell apart. She was then beheaded.
“Strength for a person who desires to acquire virtues,
consists in not losing heart when one happens to fall,
The feast day of St. Andrew Dung and companions is celebrated on November 24. St. Andrew Dung was a priest and martyr of Vietnam.
St. Andrew Dung represents the 117 martyrs of Vietnam; 97 of the martyrs were Vietnamese and 21 were foreign missionaries. The missionaries included 11 Spaniards and, 10 French; 8 were bishops, 50 were priests and 59 were lay people. They were martyred during a period of persecution between 1625 and 1886.
St. Andrew was the born in 1795 to a poor pagan family in North Vietnam. He moved to Hanoi when he was twelve. He was educated by a Christian and after three years was baptized. He became a catechist and continued to study theology.
In 1823, he was ordained a priest. He was imprisoned under Emperor Minh Mang. His congregation made donations to free him. He changed his name to Andrew Lac to avoid persecution and changed locations. He was arrested a second time along with Father Peter Thi another Vietnamese Priest. Again his freedom was bought. They were soon arrested a third time and beheaded after being brutally tortured.
The 117 martyrs were beatified by Pope John Paul IIon May 27, 1900. The memorial celebrates all the Vietnamese Martyrs of the 17th, 18th and 9th centuries.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who,
in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
