Ruth was a Moabitess, who married into the Hebrew family of Elimelech and Naomi, whom she met when they left Bethlehem and relocated to Moab, due to a famine. Elimelech and his two sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law as widows.
When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, Ruth decided to go with her, despite the fact that Orpah, Naomi's other daughter-in-law, went back home.
Ruth famously vowed to follow Naomi in the following passage:
" Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. "
Ruth went to glean in the fields, where she met Boaz. At the instigation of Naomi, she forced Boaz to declare his intentions regarding Ruth by slipping into the threshing floor at night, uncovering his feet, and lying at his feet (Ruth 3:8), in the Mosaic tradition of having the nearest relative be the kinsman redeemer (Leviticus 25:25-55).
Boaz indicated his desire to marry her, and called Ruth a "woman of noble character". After overcoming the obstacle of having a relative with a stronger claim (per the Mosaic requirements in Deuteronomy 25:7-9), Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son, named Obed.
The genealogy, in the final Chapter of the Book, explains how Ruth became the great-grandmother of David: Boaz begot Obed, Obed begot Jesse and Jesse begot David (Ruth 4:17). She is also, thus, the ancestor of Joseph (husband of Mary and would-be-father of Jesus), and is one of the five women mentioned in the genealogy of Matthew (along with Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Mary).
Thomas Tallis (circa 1505 – 3 December 1585, by the Gregorian Calendar, and 23 November 1585, by the Julian Calendar,) was an English composer who occupies a primary place in anthologies of EnglishChurch Music, and is considered one of England's greatest composers.
He is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship. No contemporary portrait of Tallis survives: The earliest, painted by Gerard van der Gucht, dates from 150 years after Tallis died, and there is no certainty that it is a likeness. In a rare copy of his signature that exists [in block letters], the composer spelled his last name "Tallys."
In addition to the political defense of the Church, Liturgical changes, anti-Modernism, and the beginning of the codification of Canon Law, the Papacy of Pope Pius X saw the reorganisation of the Roman Curia. He also sought to update the education of Priests, Seminaries and their curricula were reformed.
In 1904, Pope Pius X granted permission for Diocesan Seminarians to attend the College of Saint Thomas. He raised the College to the status of Pontificium on 2 May, 1906, thus making its Degrees equivalent to those of the world's other Pontifical Universities.
Pope Pius X published sixteen Encyclicals; among them was Vehementer nos on 11 February 1906, which condemned the 1905 French law on the separation of the State and the Church. Pius X also confirmed, though not infallibly, the existence of Limbo, in Roman Catholic Theology, in his 1905 Catechism, saying that the unbaptised "do not have the joy of God, but neither do they suffer . . . they do not deserve Paradise, but neither do they deserve Hell or Purgatory." On 23 November 1903, Pius X issued a Papal Directive, a motu proprio, that banned women from singing in Church Choirs (i.e. the architectural Choir).
In the Prophecy of Saint Malachy, the collection of 112 Prophecies about the Popes, Pope Pius X appears as Ignis Ardens or "Burning Fire."
In 1913, Pius X suffered a heart attack, and subsequently lived in the shadow of poor health. In 1914, the Pope fell ill on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (15 August), an illness from which he would not recover. His condition was worsened by the events leading to the outbreak of World War I (1914–18), which reportedly sent the 79-year-old Pope into a state of melancholy. He died on 20 August 1914 of a heart attack, only a few hours after the death of Jesuit leader, Franz Xavier Wernz, and on the very day when German forces marched into Brussels.
Following his death, Pius X was buried in a simple and unadorned tomb in the Crypt below Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. Papal physicians had been in the habit of removing organs to aid the embalming process. Pius X expressly prohibited this in his burial and successive Popes have continued this tradition.
Photo of Pope Pius X on his death-bed, 20 August, 1914.
Although Pius X's Canonisation took place in 1954, the events leading up to it began immediately with his death. A letter of 24 September 1916 by Monsignor Leo, Bishop of Nicotera and Tropea, referred to Pope Pius X as "a great Saint and a great Pope." To accommodate the large number of pilgrims seeking access to his tomb, more than what the Crypt would hold, "a small metal Cross was set into the floor of the Basilica," which read Pius Papa X, "so that the Faithful might kneel down directly above the tomb". Masses were held near his tomb until 1930.
Devotion to Pius X between the two World Wars remained high. On 14 February 1923, in honour of the 20th anniversary of his accession to the Papacy, the first moves toward his Canonisation began with the formal appointment of those who would carry out his Cause. The event was marked by the erecting of a Monument in his memory in Saint Peter's Basilica. On 19 August 1939, Pope Pius XII (1939–58) delivered a tribute to Pope Pius X at Castel Gandolfo. On 12 February 1943, a further development of Pius X's Cause was achieved, when he was declared to have displayed Heroic Virtues, gaining therefore the Title "Venerable".
On 19 May 1944, Pius X's coffin was exhumed and was taken to the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix in Saint Peter's Basilica for the Canonical examination. Upon opening the coffin, the examiners found the body of Pius X remarkably well preserved, despite the fact that he had died 30 years before and had made wishes not to be embalmed. According to Jerome Dai-Gal, "all of the body" of Pius X "was in an excellent state of conservation".
After the examination and the end of the Apostolic Process towards Pius X's Cause, Pope Pius XII bestowed the Title of Venerable Servant of God upon Pius X. His body was exposed for 45 days (Rome was liberated by the Allies during this time), before being placed back in his tomb.
Copyright-expired-photo of Pope Pius X (standing on the left)
on 18 December, 1907, consecrating Giacomo della Chiesa
(sitting in front of the Altar with Mitre and Crosier;
Following this, the process towards Beatification began, and thus Investigations by the Sacred Congregation of Rites (S.C.R.), into Miracles performed by intercessory work of Pius X, subsequently took place. The S.C.R. would eventually recognise two Miracles.
The first Miracle involved Sister Marie-Françoise Deperras, a Nun, who had bone cancer, and was cured on 7 December, 1928, during a Novena, in which a Relic of Pius X was placed on her chest. The second Miracle involved Sister Benedetta De Maria, who had cancer, and in a Novena, started in 1938, she eventually touched a Relic statue of Pius X and was cured.
Author: Out of Copyright, due to age (19th-Century).
(Wikimedia Commons)
Pope Pius XII officially approved the two Miracles, on 11 February, 1951, and on 4 March, 1951, Pius XII, in his De Tuto, declared that the Church could continue in the Beatification of the Venerable Pope Pius X. His Beatification took place on 3 June, 1951, at Saint Peter's Basilica, before twenty-three Cardinals, hundreds of Bishops and Archbishops, and a crowd of 100,000 Faithful. During his Beatification Decree, Pope Pius XII referred to Pope Pius X as "Pope of the Eucharist", in honour of Pope Pius X's expansion of the Rite to children.
Following his Beatification, on 17 February, 1952, Pius X's body was transferred from its tomb to the Vatican Basilica and placed under the Altar of the Chapel of the Presentation. The Pontiff's body lies within a glass and bronze-work sarcophagus for the Faithful to see.
On 29 May, 1954, less than three years after his Beatification, Pius X was canonised, following the S.C.R.'s recognition of two more Miracles. The first Miracle involved Francesco Belsami, an attorney from Naples, who had a fatal pulmonaryabscess, who was cured upon placing a picture of Pope Pius X upon his chest. The second Miracle involved Sister Maria Ludovica Scorcia, a Nun, who was afflicted with a serious neurotropic virus, and who, upon several Novenas, was entirely cured.
The Canonisation Mass was presided over by Pope Pius XII at Saint Peter's Basilica before a crowd of about 800,000 of the Faithful and Church officials at Saint Peter's Basilica. Pope Pius X became the first Pope to be canonised since Pope Pius V was canonised in 1712.
His Canonisation Ceremony was taped and recorded by early television news broadcasters, including NBC.
Prayer Cards often depict the Sanctified Pontiff with instruments of Holy Communion. In addition to being celebrated as the "Pope of the Blessed Sacrament," Pope Saint Pius X is also the Patron Saint of emigrants from Treviso. He is honoured in numerous Parishes in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Canada, and the United States.
The number of Parishes, Schools, Seminaries and Retreat Houses named after him in Western countries is very large, partly because he was very-well-known, and his Beatification and Canonisation in the early-1950s was during a period following World War II, when there was a great deal of new construction in cities and population growth in the era of the baby boom, thus leading to Catholic institutional expansion that correlated with the growing society.
Pope Saint Pius X's Feast Day was assigned in 1955 to 3 September, to be celebrated as a Double Rite. It remained thus for fifteen years. In the 1960 Calendar (incorporated in the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII, whose continued use as an Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite is authorised under the conditions indicated in the motu proprioSummorum Pontificum) the Rank was changed to Third-Class Feast. The Rank in the General Roman Calendar, since 1969, is that of Memorial and the Feast Day is obligatorily celebrated on 21 August, closer to the day of his death (20 August, impeded by the Feast Day of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux).
The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine was a big supporter of his Canonisation, partly because he had ordained the need for its existence in every Diocese and because it had received a great deal of Episcopal criticism, and it was thought that by Canonising the Pope, who gave them their mandate, this would help inculcate against this criticism. They initiated a Prayer Crusade for his Canonisation that achieved the participation of over two million names.
After the Pope's Canonisation, another Miracle is said to have taken place when a Christian family activist, named Clem Lane, suffered a major heart attack and was placed in an oxygen tent, where he was given the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (Last Rites). A Relic of the Pope was placed over his oxygen tent, and he recovered, to the great surprise of his doctors. A Sister of Loretto, at Webster College, in St Louis, Missouri, claimed that her Priest brother had been cured through the Pope's intercession, as well.
Mark Davies, the Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury, has issued a Pastoral Letter, this weekend, in which he says that:
"We must bear true and faithful witness to marriage" and that:
"The redefinition of marriage by the Government’s recent legislation does not, and cannot, change Christian teaching on marriage, the family, or sexual morality".
Bishop Davies also says that, because marriage is:
"Ordained by God for the creation of the family and future generations", . . . "[i]t would be hard to over-estimate in these respects the importance of marriage for human well-being and our ultimate good."
John Smeaton, Society For The Protection Of Unborn Children (SPUC), says:
"On behalf of SPUC, I wish to express my gratitude to Bishop Davies for his strong leadership and clear vision for a Pro-Life and Pro-Family future".
Press Release from the Diocese of Shrewsbury
26 July 2013
For immediate release:
‘We must bear true and faithful witness to marriage’.
The redefinition of marriage by the Government’s recent legislation does not, and cannot, change Christian teaching on marriage, the family, or sexual morality, the Bishop of Shrewsbury will say in a Pastoral Letter, this weekend.
Interpreting the passage of the Marriage (Same-Sex) Couples Act on July 17 as a “seismic shift” away from Britain’s Christian foundations, the Rt Rev. Mark Davies will declare that the teaching of the Church is not a “human construct” but is a gift from God.
Bishop Davies will urge the faithful to be courageous in bearing “true and faithful witness” to marriage in the hope and expectation that eventually “the Christian foundations increasingly discarded by the leaders of our society will be discovered anew” by future generations.
In his Letter, which will be read out in all Parishes across the weekend of July 28, the Bishop will remind the Catholics of the Diocese of Shrewsbury of the “urgency” of engagement in a “new evangelisation”, in union with Pope Francis.
He will also quote widely from Through the Narrow Gate, a Reflection by the Archbishop of Westminster, a document on marriage published this week by the Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster and the President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
The document, expresses the view that the Act represents a move towards the deconstruction of marriage and it offers a Catholic response to the problems presented by the new law, primarily by encouraging Catholics to “live faithfully by the teaching we have received” from the Church.
Bishop Davies will say: “The Government’s legislation does not, and cannot, change our understanding of marriage.
“As Archbishop Nichols reminds us, In contrast to the new law, Christian teaching holds that marriage is a life-long faithful union of a man and a woman, ordained by God for the creation of the family and future generations. Marriage is the place where sexual relations find their proper place and God-given purpose. It would be hard to over-estimate in these respects the importance of marriage for human well-being and our ultimate good.”
He will say: “It is surely when foundations are shaken, the ground taken from beneath our feet that we give renewed attention to the basis on which our future must be built … Blessed John Paul II often reminded us that our witness to the truth of the Gospel has a value, not only for the present time, but for all generations to come … We look forward to the day when our society re-discovers its Christian roots and the authentic value of marriage as the foundation of the family … I have no doubt that through such witness … the Christian foundations increasingly discarded by the leaders of our society, will be discovered anew.”
The full text of the homily of Bishop Davies follows.
For further information:
Please contact Simon Caldwell, diocesan communications officer, on 07730 526847 or by email at simon.caldwell@dioceseofshrewsbury.org.
Website: www.dioceseofshrewsbury.org
Follow us on Twitter: @ShrewsRCnews
Pictures of Bishop Mark Davies are available upon request.
Text of Bishop Davies’s homily in full:
A Pastoral Letter to be read in all churches and chapels of the Diocese of Shrewsbury on the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, 28th July 2013
My dear brothers and sisters,
Since the first missionaries sent by Pope Gregory arrived on the coast of England in the year 597 AD we could say that Christianity has formed the foundation of our common life and laws.
This bedrock of Christian values has remained our nation’s mainstay, despite all the upheavals of the past millennium. However, in our life-times we have witnessed a seismic shift from these Christian foundations.
Parliament’s decision to change the legal definition of marriage is the latest sign of this shift.
We are facing together a completely new situation which invites us – with growing urgency - to engage in a “new evangelisation” and a courageous “lay apostolate,” always in the closest union with the Successor of the Apostle Peter, Francis our Pope, called to be “the rock” on which the Church is built.
These have been the themes of my Letters to you over this past year. It is surely when foundations are shaken, the ground taken from beneath our feet, that we need to give renewed attention to the sure basis on which our future can be built.
As we prayed in the Mass today: Without you, O God, “nothing has firm foundation” (Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time).
I am conscious that I write to you when Pope Francis has travelled to Brazil to join millions of young pilgrims for World Youth Day.
In recent debates we heard politicians express their hope that new generations might be so secularised in outlook that they will ask: Why was anyone concerned about this question?
Blessed John Paul II often reminded us that our witness to the truth of the Gospel has a value not only for the present time, but for all generations to come.
In his meeting with the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Francis spoke of the necessity of this Christian witness, “in a world which seems at times to call into question some of the foundations of society” the Holy Father said, “such as respect for the sacredness of human life or the importance of the institution of the family built on marriage” (14th June 2013).
Today I also wish to echo some important words of the Archbishop of Westminster in a message circulated to Catholics across the country. Archbishop Nichols declares that by this deconstruction of marriage, “our society has taken a significant step away from its Judeo-Christian foundations” (The Narrow Gate, A Reflection by the Archbishop of Westminster).
The Government’s legislation does not, and cannot, change our understanding of marriage. In contrast to the new law, Archbishop Nichols reminds us, Christian teaching holds that marriage is a life-long faithful union of a man and a woman, ordained by God for the creation of the family and future generations.
Marriage is the place where sexual relations find their proper place and God-given purpose. It would be hard to over-estimate in these respects the importance of marriage for human well-being and our ultimate good.
It might be easy to be carried along by the confusion in our country. “But this is not” the Archbishop of Westminster insists “the way of the Catholic as a follower of Christ.” We may be accused of an outmoded understanding of human relationships, or even of bigotry, when trying to live and present Catholic teaching as it has been given by God.
Archbishop Nichols reflects that being out of step with society for the sake of the Gospel should be no cause for discouragement. “This is our calling,” he writes, and we are called to “live faithfully by the teaching we have received and to present it robustly and intelligently”- for “this teaching is no human construct but God’s gift for our happiness.”
The re-definition of civil marriage certainly adds to a sense that people of faith are becoming, in Archbishop Nichols’s words, “strangers in their own land.” Nevertheless we must be ready, with genuine respect for every person, to give our witness as “energetic citizens and contributors to the common good of all.”
We look forward to the day when our society re-discovers its Christian roots and the authentic value of marriage as the foundation of the family.
The Youth Catechism notes that nothing in the early Church fascinated people more about the “New Way” of the Christians than their homes and families. “In an unbelieving world, islands of living faith were formed,” the Catechism explains, and the great cities of antiquity which certainly did not share the Christian vision of morality “were soon permeated with domestic churches” – the Church in miniature, within the home and family.
The Youth Catechism reflects that these “were like points of light. Even today families in which Christ is at home are the leaven that renews our society” (YouCat 271).
I have no doubt that it is through such witness - your own witness - that the Christian foundations increasingly discarded by the leaders of our society, will be discovered anew.
United with you in prayer today together with the nine hundred pilgrims from the Diocese in Lourdes may we give this true and faithful witness for all generations to come.
+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury
Notes to editors:
The Diocese of Shrewsbury covers the parts of Merseyside South of the River Mersey, the
Southern parts of Greater Manchester, parts of Derbyshire, almost all of the County of
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae: Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis, post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens: O pia: O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! Our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus; O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
This Marian Hymn (Salve Regina) is sung after Compline for most of the Liturgical Year. When it is not sung, another Marian Hymn, more in tune with the Liturgical Season, is sung, instead. The Church prizes devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary so highly, and deems it so necessary, that she requires it of all her Priests and Religious.
This Hymn is actually a very common Prayer: The Hail Holy Queen, recited at the end of the Holy Rosary. This is in the top five Catholic Prayers, as far as general familiarity and frequency of use are concerned.
There are two Chant versions of this Prayer: The Solemn Version, sung on Sundays and Feast Days, and the Simple Version. The Solemn Version is longer, but they are both beautiful.
The following Paragraph is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici), commonly known as The Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple (French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers) or simply as Templars, were among the most wealthy and powerful of the Western ChristianMilitary Orders and were among the most relevant actors of the Christian finance. The organisation existed for nearly two Centuries during the Middle Ages.
Salve Regina.
Chanted by the Choir of the Abbey of Notre-Dame, Fontgombault.
It is a beautiful version of this Anthem to our Blessed Mother.
Zdravo, Kraljice, majko milosrđa, živote, slasti i ufanje naše zdravo. K tebi vapijemo prognani sinovi Evini. K tebi uzdišemo tugujući i plačući u ovoj suznoj dolini. Svrni, dakle, odvjetnice naša, one svoje milostive oči na nas te nam poslije ovoga progona pokaži Isusa, blagoslovljeni plod utrobe svoje. O blaga, o mila, o slatka Djevice Marijo.
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae: Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis, post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens: O pia: O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Pope Pius X reversed the accommodating approach of Pope Leo XIII towards secular governments, appointing Rafael Merry del Val as Cardinal Secretary of State (Rafael Merry del Val would later have his own cause opened for Canonisation in 1953, but still has not been beatified). When the French President, Émile Loubet, visited the Italian Monarch, Victor Emmanuel III (1900–46), Pope Pius X, still refusing to accept the annexation of the Papal Territories by Italy, reproached the French President for this visit and refused to meet him. This led to a diplomatic break with France and, in 1905, France issued a Law of Separation, which separated Church and State, and which the Pope denounced. The effect of this separation was the Church’s loss of its government funding in France. Two French Bishops were removed by the Vatican for recognising the Third Republic. Eventually, France expelled the Jesuits and broke off diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
The Pope adopted a similar position toward secular governments in other parts of the world: In Portugal, Ireland, Poland, Ethiopia, and a number of other States with large Catholic populations. His actions and statements against international relations with Italy angered the secular powers of these countries, as well as a few others, like England and Russia. In Ulster, Protestants were increasingly worried that a proposed Home Rule Ireland, run by Catholics inspired by Pius X, would result in Rome Rule.
English: His Eminence, the Most Reverend Lord Rafael María José,
Cardinal Merry del Val y de Zulueta.
Appointed by Pope Pius X as Cardinal Secretary of State.
Français: Son Excellence Monseigneur Merry Del Val.
In 1908, the Papal Decree, Ne Temere, came into effect, which complicated mixed marriages. Marriages not performed by a Roman Catholic Priest were declared legal but Sacramentally invalid, worrying some Protestants that the Church would counsel separation for couples married in a Protestant Church or by civil service.
Priests were given discretion to refuse to perform mixed marriages or lay conditions upon them, commonly including a requirement that the children be raised Roman Catholic. The Decree proved particularly divisive in Ireland, which has a large Protestant minority, contributing indirectly to the subsequent political conflict there and requiring debates in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
As secular authority challenged that of the Papacy, Pope Pius X became more aggressive. He suspended the Opera dei Congressi, which co-ordinated the work of Catholic Associations in Italy, as well as condemning Le Sillon, a French Social Movement, that tried to reconcile the Church with liberal political views. He also opposed trades unions that were not exclusively Catholic.
Pope Pius X partially lifted Decrees prohibiting Italian Catholics from voting; however, he never recognised the Italian Government.
Issued a Decree promising religious freedom for the Catholic Church.
This File: 29 May 2013.
Source: File:Nicholas II in Spala.jpg
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Initially, Pope Pius X maintained his prisoner in the Vatican stance, but, with the rise of Socialism, he began to allow the Non Expedit to be relaxed. In 1905, in his Encyclical,Il Fermo Proposito, he allowed Catholics to vote, when they were "help[ing] the maintenance of Social order" by voting for Deputies who were not Socialist.
Under Pope Pius X, the traditionally difficult situation of Polish Catholics in Russia did not improve. Although Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issued a Decree, 22 February 1903, promising religious freedom for the Catholic Church, and, in 1905, promulgated a Constitution, which included religious freedom, the Russian Orthodox Church felt threatened and insisted on stiff interpretations. Papal Decrees were not permitted and contacts with the Vatican remained outlawed.
In 1908, Pope Pius X lifted the United States out of its Missionary status, in recognition of the growth of the American Church. Fifteen new Dioceses were created in the U.S. during his Pontificate, and he named two American Cardinals. He was very popular among American Catholics, partly due to his poor background, which made him be seen as an ordinary person who was on the Papal Throne.
Other than the stories of Miracles performed through the Pope's intercession after his death, there are also stories of Miracles performed by the Pope during his lifetime. On one occasion, during a Papal Audience, Pope Pius X was holding a paralyzed child, who wriggled free from his arms and then ran around the room. On another occasion, a couple (who had made Confession to him while he was Bishop of Mantua), with a two-year-old child with meningitis, wrote to the Pope and the Pope then wrote back to them to hope and Pray. Two days later, the child was cured.
Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini (later Archbishop of Palermo) had visited the Pope, after he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the Pope had told him to go back to the Seminary and that he would be fine. Ruffini gave this story to the investigators of the Pontiff's cause for canonisation.
Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia, unless otherwise stated.
Trinity Column and Church at Heiligenkreuz Abbey,
near Baden bei Wien, Austria.
Photo: 21 June 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Georges Jansoone.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Heiligenkreuz Abbey (Stift Heiligenkreuz, Closter Heiligen Kreuz or Santa Crux) is a Cistercian Monastery in the village of Heiligenkreuz in the Southern part of the Vienna Woods, 13 km North-West of Baden, in Lower Austria. It is the oldest continuously occupied Cistercian Monastery in the world.
Domine Iesu Christe, Rex gloriæ, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de pœnis inferni et de profundo lacu. Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michael repræsentet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahæ promisisti et semini eius.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory,
free the Souls of all the Faithful departed
from infernal punishment and the deep pit.
Free them from the mouth of the lion;
do not let Tartarus swallow them,
nor let them fall into darkness;
but may the standard-bearer Saint Michael,
lead them into the Holy Light,
which you once promised to Abraham and his seed.
Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia, unless otherwise stated. It is 97 years ago, this month, that the Battle of the Somme began. This Article is dedicated to every soldier who took part in the Battle of The Somme. Please say a Prayer for them all. May they Rest in Peace. Do Not Forget Them.
List of Commonwealth War Graves Commission World War I Memorials to the Missing in Belgium and France.
Some Memorials were organised by nation, rather than by battlefield. United Kingdom and South African forces are named on the Memorials designated for the areas where they fell. The South African national Memorial, at Delville Wood, has no names inscribed on it, as the names are listed on the battlefield Memorials, instead.
The other Commonwealth nations have national Memorials, dedicated to their missing, who fell on the Western Front: The Neuve-Chapelle Memorial to the forces of India; the Vimy Memorial to the forces of Canada and the Beaumont-Hamel Memorial to the forces of Newfoundland; the Villers–Bretonneux Memorial to the forces of Australia; and the Messines Ridge Memorial to the forces of New Zealand (the latter is one of seven Memorials on the Western Front dedicated to New Zealanders).
Royal Newfoundland Regiment Memorial in Beaumont-Hamel.
The Caribou Memorial is overlooking the ground across which
the Royal Newfoundland Regiment advanced on 1 July 1916.
The Battle of the Somme was the Royal Newfoundland Regiment's first-ever major engagement, and, during an assault that lasted approximately 30 minutes, the Regiment was all but wiped out.
800 men lined up to go "Over The Top".
Thirty minutes later, sixty-seven remained alive.
Purchased in 1921 by the people of Newfoundland, the Memorial site is the largest Battalion Memorial on the Western Front, and the largest area of the Somme battlefield that has been preserved. Along with preserved trench lines, there are a number of Memorials and cemeteries contained within the site.
The missing war dead of Ireland, at the time of the War still part of the United Kingdom, are numbered among the UK forces (as were English, Scottish and Welsh troops) and listed with them on the Memorials. The main Memorials to the Irish War Dead, both in Belgium, are the Ulster Tower and the Island of Ireland Peace Park, unveiled in 1921, and 1998, respectively.
"Ghosts of Vimy Ridge" depicts ghosts of the Canadian Corps
on Vimy Ridge, surrounding the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Date: 1931.
Source: Canadian House of Commons Collection, (AN: O-4714) [1].
The Battle of Pozières was a two-week struggle for the French village of Pozières and the ridge on which it stands, during the middle stages of the 1916 Battle of the Somme. Though BritishDivisions were involved in most phases of the fighting, Pozières is primarily remembered as an Australian battle.
The fighting ended with the Allied forces in possession of the plateau, North and East of the village, and in a position to menace the Germanbastion of Thiepval from the rear. However, the cost had been enormous, and in the words of Australian official historian, Charles Bean, the Pozières ridge "is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth."
Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord !
Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark iniquities,
Lord, who shall endureth ?
For with the Lord there is merciful forgiveness,
And by reason of Thy law I have waited upon Thee, O Lord.
My Soul doth rely on His word:
My Soul doth hope in the Lord.
From the Morning Watch, even unto night,
Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel,
From all his iniquities.
V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuae intendentes: In vocem deprecationis meae. Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine: Domine, quis sustinebit ? Quia apud te propitiatio est: Et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine. Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus: Speravit anima mea in Domino. A custodia matutina usque ad noctem: Speret Israel in Domino. Quia apud Dominum misericordia: Et copiosa apud eum redemptio. Et ipse redimet Israel, Ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.
V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. R. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
De Profundis
("Out of the depths").
The first words of Psalm 129. The author of this Psalm is unknown; it was composed probably during the Babylonian Exile, or perhaps for the Day of Penance prescribed by Esdras (Ezra 9:5-10).
The hard school of suffering, during the Exile, had brought the people to the confession of their guilt, and had kindled in their hearts Faith and Hope of the Redeemer and confidence in the Mercy of God.
The De Profundis is one of the fifteen Gradual Psalms, which were sung by the Jewishpilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, and which are still contained in the Roman Breviary. It is also one of the Seven Penitential Psalms, which, in the East and the West, were already used as such by the Early Christians.
In the Divine Office, the De Profundis is sung every Wednesday at Vespers, and also at Second Vespersof Christmas; the words "Apud Dominum misericordia et copiosa apud eum redemptio" reminding us of the mercy of the Father, Who sent His Son for the redemption of mankind.