Pope Saint Pius V (1504 - 1572). Confessor. Feast Day 5 May.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Italic Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Saint Pius V.

Pope and Confessor.

Feast Day 5 May.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Pope Saint Pius V.

Deutsch: Porträt des Papst Pius V.

Artist: El Greco (1541–1614).

Date: Circa 1600 - 1610.

Current location: Private collection, Paris.

Source: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by

DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pius, born at Bosco, in Lombardy, Italy, entered at the age of fourteen into The Order of Preachers (The Dominicans).

As Bishop, Cardinal and Pope (Introit, Epistle, Communion), he put to profit the talents entrusted to him by God (Gospel).

His Pontificate, although short, was one of the most glorious of the 16th-Century. Protestantism had proclaimed The Reformation and Islam threatened The West. To remedy the ills, under which Christendom groaned, Pope Saint Pius V enforced obedience to The Decrees of The Council of Trent, published a new edition of The Missal and Breviary, and obtained, by the Prayers he asked for, the glorious victory won by the Christian forces at Lepanto in 1571.

He instituted, on that occasion, The Feast of Our Lady of Victories, which became, later on, The Feast of The Most Holy Rosary.

He died on 5 May 1572, reciting The Hymn of Paschaltide.

Mass: Státuit.

The following Text is from Wikipedia.

Pope Saint Pius V (17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was Pope from 8 January 1566 to his death in 1572. He is Venerated as a Saint of The Roman Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in The Council of Trent, The Counter-Reformation, and the standardisation of The Roman Rite within The Latin Church.

Pius V declared Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of The Church and patronised prominent Sacred Music composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

As a Cardinal, Ghislieri gained a reputation for putting Orthodoxy before personalities, prosecuting eight French Bishops for Heresy. He also stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor, Pope Pius IV, to his face, when he wanted to make a thirteen-year-old member of his family a Cardinal and subsidise a nephew from The Papal Treasury.

In Affairs of State, Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England for schism and persecution of English Catholics during her reign. He also arranged the formation of The Holy League, an alliance of Catholic States. Although outnumbered, The Holy League famously defeated The Ottoman Empire, which had threatened to over-run Europe, at The Battle of Lepanto. Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of The Blessed Virgin Mary and instituted The Feast of Our Lady of Victories.

Beautiful Illustrations By Chinese Convert To Catholicism, Artist Yan Zu.

Illustrations: NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

The Article can be read in full at NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

Notre-Dame De Paris By Moonlight.

English: Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, France.

Français: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.

Saved from totalyoutdoors.blogspot.ca

Illustration: PINTEREST

Railway Wonders Of The World. First Issue, February 1935.

The London Midland and Scottish Locomotive "Princess Royal" is shown at speed on

Part One of Railway Wonders Of The World, published on Friday, 1 February 1935, price 7d.

All Illustrations: RAILWAY WONDERS OF THE WORLD

MODERN ARCHITECTURE is seen at its best in these pictures of The Cincinnati Union Railway Terminus at Cincinnati, USA. The mighty arch of the exterior is admirably set off by the terraces with their tall columns and the fountains playing in the foreground.

The magnificent entrance hall, with its range of shops and splendid mural frescoes depicting railway development is shown, below Right. This great Station is used by all the Railroads which serve the City of Cincinnati.

567 FEET IN HEIGHT, the mammoth New York Central Building houses the Administration Offices of The New York Central Railroad. This mighty structure, straddling Park Avenue, lies to the rear of The Grand Central Terminus, and traffic goes directly through the building. The Trains, all electrically hauled, run beneath the railed-in lawns shown in the foreground. This skyscraper, though not the highest, is one of the most imposing in New York, and comprises thirty-four stories, dwarfing the great buildings to its Right and Left.

Saint Monica. Widow. Feast Day 4 May.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Monica.
Widow.
Feast Day 4 May.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: The Angel appears to 

Saint Monica.

Italiano: Apparizione dell'angelo a Santa Monica (madre di Sant'Agostino) [1714]. Dipinto nella "Cappella di sant'Agostino" nel transetto destro della chiesa di san Marco a Milano.

Artist: 

Pietro Maggi,

Date: 1714.

Current location: 

Saint Augustine Chapel,

San Marco Church, Milan, Italy.

Source: Own work.

Author: G.dallorto.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Born in Africa, Saint Monica married a pagan, whom she converted by her virtues. Having become a Widow, she devoted herself to her son, Augustine, whose mind was corrupted by the errors of Manicheism and his Soul by the dissolute manners of Rome.

"Night and day she Prayed" (Epistle) and "she shed for him more tears than other mothers shed over a coffin."

For, above all else, she was penetrated by The Fear of God (Introit), and she knew that, in order to obtain the resurrection of the Soul of her son, she had to sacrifice herself (Gospel). She atoned for the sins of Augustine.

"Could you, O Lord", so writes Augustine, "despise the contrite and humble heart of a chaste and mortified Widow ? Could you reject the tears of one who asked not for money, nor for any temporal thing, but only the Salvation of her son's Soul ?"

"God, in His Mercy, accepted the tears of Charity of Blessed Monica" (Collect), and these two Souls now share in the Joy (Communion) of Jesus, Risen Again.

Saint Monica died at Ostia in 387 A.D.

Mass: Cognovi.

My Lord And My God.

Illustration: POPULUS SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM

" Who Said Mint Sauce ? "

Illustration: PINTEREST

May Is The Month Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is Crowned in  Heaven by her Beloved Son.

Illustration: AD MOIOREM DEI GLORIAM

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The month of May Devotions to The Blessed Virgin Mary refer to special Marian Devotions held in The Catholic Church, during the month of May, honouring The Virgin Mary as "The Queen of May". These Services may take place inside or outside of a Church. A "May Crowning" is a Traditional Roman Catholic ritual that occurs in the month of May.

A number of Traditions link the month of May to The Blessed Virggin Mary. King Alfonso X of Castile, in the 13th-Century, wrote in his Cantigas de Santa Maria about the special honouring of The Blessed Virgin Mary during specific dates in May. Eventually, the entire month was filled with Special Observances and Devotions to The Blessed Virgin Mary.

"Queen Of The Angels, Queen Of The May".

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/XOH8awmOj4c

The origin of the conventional May Devotion is still relatively unknown. Herbert Thurston identifies the 17th-Century as the earliest instance of the adoption of the custom of Consecrating the month of May to The Blessed Virgin by Special Observances. It is certain that this form of Marian Devotion began in Italy. Around 1739, witnesses speak of a particular form of Marian Devotion in May in Grezzano, near Verona. In 1747, the Archbishop of Genoa recommended the May Devotion as a Devotion for the home. Specific Prayers for them were promulgated in Rome in 1838.

According to Frederick Holweck, the May Devotion, in its present form, originated at Rome, where Father Latomia of The Roman College of The Society of Jesus, to counteract infidelity and immorality among the students, made a Vow at the end of the 18th-Century to devote the month of May to Our Blessed Virgin Mary.

From Rome, the practice spread to the other Jesuit Colleges and thence to nearly every Catholic Church of The Latin Rite. In Rome, by 1813, May Devotions were held in as many as twenty Churches. From Italy, May Devotions soon spread to France. In Belgium, the May Devotions, at least as a Private Devotion, were already known by 1803. The Tradition of honouring The Blessed Virgin Mary, in a month-long May Devotion, spread eventually around The Roman Catholic World in the 19th-Century, together with a month-long Devotion to Jesus in June and The Rosary in October.

"As I Kneel Before You".

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/MSl4IIZJEJg

   

English: The Crowning of The Virgin Mary in Heaven

by The Holy Trinity.

Español: Coronación de la Virgen.

Deutsch: Die Krönung Marias.

Artist: Diego Velázquez (1599–1660).

Date: Circa 1645.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/

online-gallery/on-line-gallery/obra/the-coronation-of-the-virgin/

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Litany of Loreto.

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/jxIVh5SCn50

The following Text is from PRECES-LATINAE.ORG

Litaniae Lauretanae.
Litany of Loreto.

The Litany of Loreto is used to honour Mary, The Mother of God. The Litany recalls Mary's unique role in our salvation history as The Mother of Our Saviour and invokes various Titles for her as a way of honouring her and reminding us of the role she has played.

The Litany owes many of its Praises to The Greek Akathist Hymn, which was first translated into Latin in Venice around 800 A.D. The other Titles and Praises addressed to Mary are found extensively in the writings of The Early-Church Fathers of the first six Centuries A.D.

Over time, a number of Titles for Our Lady were removed and added to The Litany. Originally, The Litany had fifteen additional Titles, such as Our Lady of Humility, Mother of Mercy, Temple of The Spirit, Gate of Redemption, and Queen of Disciples. Recent history has seen the addition of five Titles. The last four Titles of The Litany, which refer to The Immaculate Conception, The Assumption, The Rosary, and Mary as The Queen of Peace, are of recent origin. The latest addition, Mother of The Church, was added by Pope Saint John Paul II.

Most likely, The Litany was composed in or around Paris between the years 1150 and 1200. It gets its name from the Italian shrine (Loreto) where it was adopted in 1558. Pope Sixtus V approved its use in public Worship in 1587. The Litany is used especially during May Services, the month Traditionally Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary. It is also used at Benediction, and some Congregations use it in The Divine Office. The Litany is approved for public use and carries a Partial Indulgence.

Saint Catherine Of Siena (1347 - 1380). Virgin. Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day 30 April.

Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Catherine of Siena.
Doctor of The Church.
Virgin.
Feast Day 30 April.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Catherine of Siena.

From the Church of Santa Maria del Rosario in Prati,

Rome, Italy.

Date: 19th-Century.

Source: http://www.tanogabo.it/religione/santa_caterina_siena.htm

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"The Holy Order of Preachers", which yesterday offered a Red Rose to Jesus Risen Again

[Editor: The Feast Day of Saint Peter of Verona, Martyr], offers Him, today, a Lily of Dazzling Whiteness". [The Liturgical Year, by Dom Guéranger: The Paschal Season. Vol. II. 30 April.]

Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was the last but one of twenty-four children. In her childhood, she chose Jesus for her Spouse (Epistle). Subjecting her delicate body to frightful mortifications, her only support during her prolonged Fasts was Holy Communion (Postcommunion).

She received, from The Crucified Lord, The Stigmata and Inspired Knowledge concerning the most profound Mysteries of Religion. It was by her persuasion that Pope Gregory XI left Avignon, France, to return to Rome, Italy.

When, like Christ, she had reached her thirty-third year, she entered Heaven with her Divine Spouse to take part in The Nuptial Banquet (Gospel) in The Holy Joys of The Eternal Passover (Introit, Alleluia).

"Let us offer to God, on this day, The Sacred Host embalmed with the Virginal Perfume of Blessed Catherine" (Secret), so that He may grant us, in return, Life Eternal (Postcommunion).

Mass: Dilexisti.

The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Saint Catherine of Siena, Third Order of Saint Dominic, T.O.S.D. (25 March 1347 in Siena – 29 April 1380 in Rome), was a Tertiary of The Dominican Order and Scholastic Philosopher and Theologian. She also worked to bring the Papacy of Pope Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France (Avignon) and to establish peace among the Italian City-States.

Since 18 June 1866, she is one of the two Patron Saints of Italy, together with Saint Francis of Assisi. On 3 October 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of The Church, by Pope Paul VI, and, on 1 October 1999, Pope Saint John Paul II named her as one of the six Patron Saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden and Edith Stein.

Saint Peter Of Verona. Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 29 April.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Peter of Verona.
Martyr.
Feast Day 29 April.

Double.

Red Vestments.

English: Saint Peter the Martyr.

Espanol: San Pedro Mártir.

Artist: Pedro Berruguete (1450–1504).

Date: Circa 1493.

Current location: Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.

Source/Photographer: Galería online

(Wikimedia Commons)

Born at Verona, Italy, towards 1205, from Manichean parents, Saint Peter, as a child, opposed the heretics. He entered The Order of Saint Dominic. He preserved such purity of body and Soul that he never committed a Mortal Sin.

We read in The Bull of his Canonisation: "A chosen cluster from the Vine of The Church has filled with its generous juice The Royal Chalice: The Branch, from which it has been cut by the sword, was of those which most strongly adhered to The Divine Stem" (Gospel).

The ardour of his Faith so enflamed him that he wished to die for it and his Prayer was heard. "As he lived piously in Christ, it was necessary that he should be persecuted" (Epistle) and an impious assassin, sent by the Manichees, murdered him on the road from Como to Milan in 1252.

Let us ask God to grant us, through the merits of Saint Peter, a Faith so strong (Collect) that it may obtain for us, after all the adversities of this life (Postcommunion), the joys of The Resurrection (Epistle, Communion).

Mass: Protexisti.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Saint Peter of Verona O.P. (1206 – 6 April 1252), also known as Saint Peter Martyr, was a 13th-Century Italian Catholic Priest. He was a Dominican Friar and a celebrated Preacher. He served as Inquisitor in Lombardy, was killed by an assassin, and was Canonised as a Catholic Saint eleven months after his death, making this the fastest Canonisation in history.

Saint Vitalis. Martyr. Feast Day 28 April.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Vitalis.
Martyr.
Feast Day 28 April.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

The Martyrdom of Saint Vitalis.

Artist: Federico Barocci (1535–1612).

Date: 16th-Century.

Source/Photographer: http://santiebeati.it/immagini/?mode=view&album=91129&pic=91129A.JPG&dispsize=Original&start=0

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Vitalis, father of Saint Gervase and Saint Protase, was put to death at Ravenna, Italy, under Emperor Nero about 62 A.D. Having been tortured on The Rack, he was thrown into a deep hole and stoned to death. A Church was Consecrated to him in Rome: The Station is held there on the Friday in The Second Week in Lent.

Mass: Protexisti.

Saint Paul Of The Cross. Confessor. Feast Day, Today, 28 April.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Paul of The Cross.
Confessor.
Feast Day 28 April.

Double.

White Vestments.

Portrait of Saint Paul of The Cross.

Date: May 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Plet Philippe.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Paul of The Cross was born at Ovada, in the State of Genoa, in 1694. As his name indicates, he had during all his life a burning love for Jesus Crucified. "Nailed to The Cross with Christ" (Gospel), he devoted himself to Preaching everywhere with singular Charity, The Mystery of The Cross (Collect, Epistle).

To carry out this great work in The Church (Gospel), he instituted The Passionists, who make a Vow to propagate The Blessed Memory of The Saviour's Passion.

Consumed by the love which he drew from The Holy Sacrifice of The Mass, "which is The Perpetual Memorial [Editor: It IS NOT a "Shared Meal".] of the boundless Charity of Christ" (Postcommunion), he offered himself to God with Jesus "as an oblation of agreeable odour" (Offertory) and died in 1775.

Let us, like Saint Paul of The Cross, suffer with The Crucified Saviour, so that we may rejoice with Jesus Risen Again (Alleluia, Communion).

Mass: Christo confixus.

Saint Peter Canisius. Doctor Of The Church. Confessor. Feast Day 27 April.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Peter Canisius.
Doctor of The Church and Confessor.
Feast Day 27 April.

Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Peter Canisius.

Date: 1699.

Source: geheugenvannederland.nl

Author: Anonymous.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Peter Canisius was born in Nimegen, Holland, on 8 May 1521; he died at Fribourg, Switzerland, on 21 December 1597. He was Beatified by Pope Pius IX and Canonised and proclaimed Doctor of The Church by Pope Pius XI.

His Feast Day was extended to the Universal Church on 24 November 1926. It is fitting that this Dutch Saint should be called The Apostle of Germany, The Hammer of Heretics, The Jerome  and Augustine of his Century, The Defender of The Church against The Gates of Hell.

By his eloquent Preaching, controversy, and Books of Piety, by the Foundation of several Colleges, by the Missions entrusted to him by four Sovereign Pontiffs, he stopped the progress of Protestantism and caused Catholic Life to flourish.

Saint Peter Canisius.

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/Hu0593CmEzc

He assisted as a Theologian at The Council of Trent, and maintained the interests of The Church at The Diet of Augsburg and at The Conference of Worms.

Profoundly humble, he refused the Bishoprics of Vienna and Cologne. We owe to him the first Catechism of Christian Doctrine, which suffices to entitle him to the gratitude of Catholics. He ended his days at The College of Saint Michael, Fribourg, Switzerland, where Pilgrims visit his room and Pray at this tomb.

Mass: In médio (from The Common of Doctors).

Saint Cletus And Saint Marcellinus. Popes And Martyrs. Feast Day 26 April.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saints Cletus and Marcellinus.
Popes and Martyrs.
Feast Day 26 April.

Semi-Double.

Red Vestments.

Pope Saint Cletus.

Two Popes of The Early Church sit on opposite corners of the Portico Ceiling of

Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Today, we Celebrate their Feast Day. The two men served

as Popes two 

Centuries apart. What they share is that their Pontificates occurred during

times of great torture 

and persecution for professing Christians under Roman rule. Reflecting

on the lives of Pope Saint Cletus (above) and Pope Saint Marcellinus I (below) puts

into perspective the trials that The Faithful now are facing.

Illustrations (above and below) and Captions: THE BRIGHTON ORATORY

Pope Saint Marcellinus I.

Saint Cletus was the third Pope. Born at Rome, he was converted by Saint Peter and succeeded Saint Linus on the Pontifical Throne. He received the Crown of Martyrdom in 91 A.D., under the Emperor Domitian and was buried near The Prince of The Apostles.

Saint Marcellinus was also a Roman. He governed The Church from 293 A.D. to 304 A.D., during the terrible persecution of Diocletian, who caused him to be beheaded. The name of Saint Cletus is in The Canon of The Mass (First List).

Their Mass is that of Martyrs in Paschaltide. It shows how Faith in the Virtue of The Resurrection of Christ sustains Souls in the midst of the sufferings they have to undergo on Earth after Christ (Epistle) before sharing in His Triumph in Heaven (Introit, Epistle, Gospel, Offertory, Communion).

Let us glorify Jesus, whose members we are, by producing many fruits of patience, as did these Holy Martyrs (Gospel).

Mass: Sancti tui.

"I Declare Before You All That My Whole Life, Whether It Be Long Or Short, Shall Be Devoted To Your Service And The Service Of Our Imperial Family To Which We All Belong."

This Article can be read in full at TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

Illustration: TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

The Sons of The Most Holy Redeemer wish Her Majesty

a very happy ninetieth birthday,

and a happy ninety-first year !

21 April 2016 was the 90th birthday of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. In celebration of this wonderful occasion, over 1000 Beacons were lit across The United Kingdom, starting at 7.00 p.m., with The Queen lighting the first.

Not wanting to be left out in giving honour to our earthly Sovereign, Papa Stronsay officially registered with The Pageant Master to host a Beacon. The Beacon was lighted atop one of the Papa Stronsay Pier Towers. The time assigned by The Pageant Master for the lighting of the Papa Stronsay Beacon was 8.30 p.m.

Br Peter Mary, F.SS.R. was nominated to light the Beacon,

as The Community sung the National Anthem:

God Save the Queen !

Illustration: TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

The Beacon is alight.

"A Very Happy Birthday, Your Majesty."

Illustration: TRANSALPINE REDEMPTORISTS

Sweetheart Abbey. The Cistercian Abbey of Dulce Cor. Dumfries And Galloway, Scotland.

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Sweetheart Abbey 

(Dulce Cor).

Founded by Lady Devorgilla in 1273.

Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Saved from: dimitricara.tumblr.com

Illustration: PINTEREST

Looking Eastwards, the impressive Nave of Sweetheart Abbey Church,

leading (under the dramatic Bell Tower) to the Chancel,

with its richly-carved and Traceried Windows. 

Above the rows of Pillars, the Triforia can just be seen.

Date: 2 September 2006 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons

by Kurpfalzbilder.de, 

using CommonsHelper.

Photo taken by Ron Waller, August 2006.

Author: ISeneca at English Wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"Cor Dulce Cor."

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/c-TBrV7iqek

The Abbey of Dulce Cor (Latin for "Sweet Heart"), better known as Sweetheart Abbey (Gaelic: An Abaid Ur), or New Abbey Pow, was a Cistercian Monastery, Dedicated to Saint Mary The Virgin, and was Founded in 1275 in what is now the Town of New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, eight miles (thirteen km) South of Dumfries, near to The River Nith, in South-West Scotland. It was Suppressed in 1624. The Mother House was Dundrennan Abbey.

The Abbey, located on the banks of The River Pow, was founded by Dervorguilla of Galloway, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, in memory of her husband, Baron John de Balliol. After his death, she kept his embalmed heart, contained in a Casket of Ivory and Silver, with her for the rest of her life, and it was buried alongside her when she died. In line with this devotion to her Late-Husband, she named the Abbey "Dulce Cor" (Latin for "Sweet Heart"). Their son, also John, became King of Scotland, but his reign was tragic and short.

Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland.

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/Ky7TMiaMQFo

Under the first Abbot, Henry, the Abbey was built in deep-red, local sandstone in The Early-English Style. It was Founded as a Daughter House to the nearby Dundrennan Abbey; thus, this novum monasterium (new Monastery) became known as the "New Abbey Pow".

The immediate Abbey precincts extended to thirty acres (120,000 m2) and sections of the surrounding wall can still be seen. The Abbey Church, Dedicated to Saint Mary The Virgin,, measures 203 feet (sixty-two m), and the Central Tower rose to a height of ninety-two feet (twenty-eight m).

The entrance to Sweetheart Abbey,

through the much-altered Archway in the Abbey precincts, which extended to thirty acres.

Date: 5 September 2006 (original upload date). Photo taken by Ron Waller August 2006.

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.

Author: ISeneca at English Wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Abbot of Sweetheart was a member of The First Estate and sat ex officio in The Parliament. The Cistercian Order — whose members were commonly known as The White Monks because of the White Cowl which they wore over their Religious Habit — built many great Abbeys after their establishment around 1100. Like many of their Abbeys, the New Abbey's interests lay not only in Prayer and Contemplation, but in the farming and commercial activity of the area, making it the centre of local life.

During The First War of Scottish Independence, King Edward I of England resided at the Abbey in 1300, while campaigning in Galloway. After fifty years of warfare in the region, however, the Abbey was left in a dilapidated state. The Bishop of Galloway bemoaned Sweetheart’s "outstanding and notorious poverty". Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas (1328-1400), often referred to as Archibald the Grim, became a major benefactor of the Abbey and financed wholesale repairs and the rebuilding of the Abbey complex. The depredations suffered by the Abbey in subsequent periods, however, caused the graves of the Foundress and her husband to be lost. The Abbey continued in quiet obscurity until it was eventually suppressed in The Scottish Reformation.

Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland.

Illustration: HISTORY FISH.NET

Starting in 1565, the Scottish Crown placed the Aabbey under a series of Commendatory Abbots. The last Cistercian Abbot was Gilbert Broun, S.O.Cist. (+ 1612), who continued to uphold The Catholic Faith long after The Reformation. He was charged several times with enticing to "papistrie", from 1578 to 1605, until finally he was arrested in 1605, in spite of the resistance of the whole countryside, and transported to Edinburgh, where he was tried and sentenced to exile. In 1624, the last of the Monks died and the Abbey buildings and land passed into the hands of Sir Robert Spottiswoode, son of The Archbishop of Saint Andrews, who assumed the Title of Lord of New Abbey.

When, in 1633, King Charles I established The Diocese of Edinburgh, he pleaded with Spottiswoode to relinquish the lands of New Abbey, which he wanted to grant to the new Diocese. Though Spottiswoode agreed, he was not paid for the lands, and when the Royal Grant to the Diocese was cancelled, the King restored the Estate back to Spottiswoode in 1641. He was soon forced into exile, however, so the Estate continued in possession of The Crown.

Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland.

Illustration: BRITAIN EXPRESS

The village, which stands next to the Ruins, today, is now known as New Abbey. At the other end of the Main Street is Monksmill, a Corn Mill. Although the present buildings date from the Late-18th-Century, there was an earlier Mill built by, and for, the Monks of the Abbey which serviced the surrounding farms.

The Abbey Ruins dominate the skyline, today, and one can only imagine how it, and the Monks, would have dominated Early-Mediaeval Life, as farmers, agriculturalists, horse and cattle breeders. Surrounded by rich and fertile grazing and arable land, they became increasingly expert and systematic in their farming and breeding methods. Like all Cistercian Abbeys, they made their mark, not only on the Religious Life of the district, but on the ways of local farmers, and influenced agriculture in the surrounding areas.

Sweetheart Abbey (Dulce Cor Abbey),

Dumfries, Scotland.

Photo: 23 September 2004.

Source: From geograph.org.uk

Author: Paul Jenkins

(Wikimedia Commons)

Neo-Natal Infanticide. The Truth Revealed At The European Parliament.

This Article can be read in full at EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE

Neo-Natal Infanticide.

Available on YouTube at

https://youtu.be/e6Q19ESaBmU

Chapters of the video:

Introductory remarks, Grégor Puppinck.

2:'41 Facts on Neo-Natal Infanticide, Claire de La Hougue.

14:02 1st Testimony of a Physician.

17:59 2nd Testimony of a Midwife

21:28 3rd Testimony of a Midwife.

23:24 4th Testimony of a Physician.

31:20 Ethics and International Law, Grégor Puppinck.

The video is in French.

English Sub-Titles are available

on the Lower Left of the Screen.

For more information:

Read the full report of the ECLJ (June 2015)

Neonatal Infanticide: The Truth Revealed

At The European Parliament.

On Wednesday, 13 April 2016, The European Centre For Law And Justice (ECLJ) was invited by the EPP Working Group on Bioethics and Human Dignity to expose the reality of Neo-Natal Infanticide in France and in Europe.

We are proud to present you today THE VIDEO OF THIS CONFERENCE, which includes four Testimonies of Physicians and Midwives, telling their shocking stories about Infanticide.

This video may have a significant impact on people by revealing Criminal Practices all over Europe.

We encourage you to share this video as broadly as possible to your family, friends and others.

The European Centre For Law And Justice will keep fighting to bring light on this Dark Reality, and we hope to make another video soon as we investigate further.

We call again upon Medical Staff, and families who witnessed these practices, to testify by answering this E-Mail or sending an E-Mail to: c.foltzenlogel@eclj.org.

May the courage of these people, that we thank again for their precious help, arouse the courage of others, so that we may denounce and put an end to these Evil Practices.

From Left to Right:

Miroslav Mikolášik, MEP,

(Co-President of The Inter-Group on Bioethics of The European Parliament (PPE, Slovakia)),

Claire de La Hougue,

Grégor Puppinck.

The European Centre For Law And Justice is an International, Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to The Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Europe and World-Wide. The European Centre For Law And Justice holds Special Consultative Status before The United Nations/ECOSOC, since 2007.

The European Centre For Law And Justice engages legal, legislative, and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education, and litigation. The European Centre

For Law And Justice advocates, in particular, the protection of Religious Freedoms and the dignity

of the person with The European Court of Human Rights and the other mechanisms afforded by

The United Nations, The Council of Europe, The European Parliament, The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and others.

The European Centre For Law And Justice bases its Action on “The Spiritual and Moral Values which are the common heritage of European peoples and the true source of individual freedom, Political Liberty and The Rule of Law, principles which form the basis of all genuine democracy” (Preamble of The Statute of The Council of Europe).

Copyright © 2016 European Centre For Law And Justice, All Rights Reserved.

Saint Mark The Evangelist. Feast Day 25 April.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Mark the Evangelist.
Feast Day 25 April.

Double of The Second-Class.

Red Vestments.

Saint Mark The Evangelist.

Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY

Artist: Rene de Cramer.

"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".

Used with Permission.

English: Saint Mark the Evangelist.

Español: San Marcos.

Artist: Jusepe Leonardo (1601–1653).

Date: Circa 1630.

Current location: Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, England.

This File: 7 June 2010.

User: Enrique Cordero.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Mark, the Disciple of Saint Peter, is one of The Four Evangelists (Collect) who wrote, under the inspiration of The Holy Ghost, an abridgement of The Life of Jesus. His narration begins by the mission of Saint John the Baptist, whose "voice was heard in the desert"; he is represented with a Lion lying at his feet, because the Lion, one of  the four symbolical animals in the vision of Ezechiel (Epistle), makes the desert re-echo with its roaring.

He was one of the seventy-two Disciples (Gospel). He went to Egypt, where he was the first to announce Christ at Alexandria. The Preaching of the Gospel, which his Martyrdom confirmed, made him to enter into Glory (Secret), where Saint John shows him to us as one of the four symbolical animals who attend The Triumph of The Immolated Lamb.

Statue of Saint Mark the Evangelist (Copy).

Artist: Donatello.

Location: Orsanmichele, Florence, Italy.

This File: 22 August 2005.

User: Cnelson~commonswiki.

(Wikimedia Commons)

His body was taken to Venice, whose Patron he is since the 9th-Century A.D. Rome possesses a Church Dedicated to Saint Mark, where a Station is held on the Monday of The Third Week in Lent.

Let us profit by the teaching of Saint Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Christ and Preached it, and let us have recourse to his Prayers (Collect).

English: Venetian merchants, with the help of two Greek Monks,

take Mark the Evangelist's body to Venice.

Deutsch: Bergung des Leichnams des Hl. Markus (vor der Restaurierung).

Artist: Tintoretto.

Date: 1562-1566.

Current location: Accademia of Venice, Italy.

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Greater Litanies. 25 April. The Lesser Litanies. Rogation Days. Chestnut Sunday. Litany Of The Saints.

Roman Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Station is at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Violet Vestments.

The Ancient Custom of Blessing the Fields, Rogation Sunday, Hever, Kent , England.

Photo: 9 February 1967.

Source: From geograph.org.uk.

Author: Ray Trevena.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church celebrated, yesterday (25 April), two Solemnities, which have nothing in common: The Greater Litanies, so called on account of their Roman origin, and the Feast of Saint Mark, which is of later date. The word "Litany" means "Supplication".

In ancient Rome, on 25 April, used to be celebrated the pagan feast of Robigalia. It consisted, principally, of a Procession, which, leaving the City by the Flaminian Gate, went to the Milvian Bridge and ended in a suburban Sanctuary situated on the Claudian Way.

There, a ewe was sacrificed in honour of a god or goddess of the name Robigo (god or goddess of frost). The Greater Litany was the substitution of a Christian, for a pagan, ceremony. Its itinerary is known to us by a convocation of Saint Gregory the Great. It is, approximately, the same as that of the pagan Procession.

All the Faithful in Rome betook themselves to the Church of Saint Laurence-in-Lucina, the nearest to the Flaminian Gate. Leaving by this Gate, the Procession made a Station at Saint Valentine's, crossed the Milvian Bridge, and branched off to the Left towards the Vatican.

After halting at a Cross, it entered the Basilica of Saint Peter for the celebration of the Holy Mysteries.

This Litany is recited throughout the Church to keep away calamities, and to draw down the Blessing of God on the harvest. "Vouchsafe to grant us to preserve the fruits of the earth, we pray Thee, hear us," is sung by the Procession through the countryside.

The whole Mass shows what assiduous Prayer may obtain, when in the midst of our adversities (Collects, Offertory) we have recourse with confidence to Our Father in Heaven (Epistle, Gospel, Communion).

If the Feast of Saint Mark is transferred, the Litanies are not transferred, unless they fall on Easter Sunday. In which case, they are transferred to the following Tuesday.

Litany of The Saints.

Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/KiM9uJIN64g

LITANY OF THE SAINTS.

The Litany of the Saints is used in connection with:

Holy Mass on The Greater Litanies (25 April);

The Lesser Litanies (Rogation Days);

Holy Saturday;

The Vigil of Pentecost;

Masses of Ordination , before the conferring of Major Orders.

On Saint Mark's and Rogation Days, if the Procession is held, the Litany is preceded by the Antiphon, "Exurge, Domine," (Psalm XLIII. 26), and all invocations are sung by the Cantors and repeated in full by the Choir [i.e., "Doubled"]. 

If the Procession cannot be held, the invocations are not repeated.

On the Vigils of Easter and Pentecost, the invocations marked with an asterisk (*) in the Missal are omitted; all the remaining invocations are repeated, either there be a Font and a Procession from the Baptistry or not.

At Masses of Ordination, only the first five invocations are repeated.

Litany of The Saints

at the Funeral of Pope Saint John Paul II

Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/SZ0Cw5LmkDI?t=1m45s

Rogation Days are, in the Calendar of the Western Church, observed on 25 April (the Major Rogation) and the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday immediately preceding Ascension Thursday (the Minor Rogations).

The first Rogation, the Greater Litanies, has been compared to the ancient Roman religious festival of the Robigalia, a ritual involving prayer and sacrifice for crops held on 25 April. The first Rogation is also observed on 25 April, and a direct connection has sometimes been asserted, with the "Christian substitute" following the same processional route in Rome. If Easter falls on 24 April or on this day (the latest possible date for Easter), the Rogations are transferred to the following Tuesday.

The second set of Rogation Days, the Lesser Litanies or Rogations, introduced about 470 A.D. by Bishop Mamertus of Vienne and eventually adopted elsewhere, are the three days (Rogation Monday, Rogation Tuesday and Rogation Wednesday) immediately before Ascension Thursday in the Christian Liturgical Calendar.

The word "Rogation" comes from the Latin verb "rogare", meaning "to ask," and was applied to this time of the Liturgical Year because the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday included the passage, "Ask and ye shall receive" (Gospel of John 16:24). The Sunday itself was often called Rogation Sunday, as a result, and marked the start of a three-week period (ending on Trinity Sunday), when Roman Catholic and Anglican Clergy did not solemnise marriages (two other such periods of marital prohibition also formerly existed, one beginning on the first Sunday in Advent and continuing through the Octave of Epiphany, or 13 January, and the other running from Septuagesima until the Octave of Easter, the Sunday after Easter). In England, Rogation Sunday is called "Chestnut Sunday".

The Faithful typically observed the Rogation Days by Fasting in preparation to celebrate the Ascension, and farmers often had their crops blessed by a Priest at this time. Violet Vestments are worn at the Rogation Litany and its associated Mass, regardless of what colour was worn at the ordinary Liturgies of the day.

A common feature of Rogation Days, in former times, was the ceremony of "Beating the Bounds", in which a Procession of Parishioners, led by the Minister, Churchwarden, and Choirboys, would proceed around the boundary of their Parish and pray for its protection in the forthcoming year. This was also known as 'Gang-Day'.

The reform of the Liturgical Calendar for Latin Roman Catholics, in 1969, delegated the establishment of Rogation Days, along with Ember Days, to the Episcopal Conferences.Their observance in the Latin Church subsequently declined, but the observance has revived somewhat, since 1988, (when Pope John Paul II issued his decree Ecclesia Dei Adflicta) and especially since 2007 (when Pope Benedict XVI issued his Motu Proprio, called "Summorum Pontificum"), when the use of older Rites was encouraged. Churches of the Anglican Communion reformed their Liturgical Calendar in 1976, but continue to recognise the three days before Ascension as an optional observance.