Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Tuesday, 9 March 2021

Tuesday Of The Third Week In Lent. The Lenten Stations Are At The Basilica Of Saint Pudentiana And The Basilica Of Saint Agatha.




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

Tuesday of The Third Week in Lent.

Stations at Saint Pudentiana's and Saint Agatha's.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.


Basilica of Santa Pudentiana, Rome.
Photo: May 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Welleschik
(Wikimedia Commons)



By Apostolic Letters, dated 5 March 1934, and published on 15 October 1935, the Churches of Santa Agatha and Santa Maria Nova (also called Santa Francisca Romana) were raised to the Title of Stational Churches.

The same Ceremonies are performed, and the same Indulgences may be gained there, respectively, as Santa Pudentiana on The Third Tuesday in Lent and San Apollinare on Passion Thursday. These two Churches are not on the published Map of Stational Churches in The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.


English: Basilica of Saint Agatha, Rome.
Deutsch: Innenraum von Sant' Agata dei Goti.
Photo: September 2006.
Source: Photo taken by Th1979
Author: Th1979
(Wikimedia Commons)


Stational Indulgences.

Indulgences are mentioned in The Missal at some Stational Days. These Indulgences may be gained in Rome by taking part in The Stational Procession and Mass or by visiting The Stational Church on that day.

All Regulars [Editor: Regular Clergy, as opposed to Secular Clergy] may gain the same by attending Conventual Mass and Praying for the Pope's intentions in their own Convent Church (Pope Paul V, 23 May 1606).

This Privilege may have been extended to some Confraternities affiliated to these Orders.


The same Interior of Sant'Agata dei Goti (Saint Agatha of The Goths), Rome,
as the previous photo, above. But the photo, here, was taken circa 1899.
Taken from the Web-site of University College, Cork, Ireland



The Station is at the very ancient Sanctuary of Saint Pudentiana, erected on the site of the house of her father, the Senator Pudens, mentioned by Saint Paul in his Epistles. Saint Pudentiana lived here with her sister, Saint Praxedes. Here, Saint Peter received hospitality and the first Christians often assembled.

In the 2nd-Century A.D., this house seems to have been the Residence of The Roman Pontiffs. For such reasons, it became one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century A.D. It was quite fitting to read there the Gospel in which Saint Peter asks Our Lord about the use of the Power of The Keys.


Basilica of Santa Pudentiana, Rome.
Photo: August 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Luc
(Wikimedia Commons)



English: Basilica of Saint Agatha, Rome.
Deutsch: Roma, Sant'Agata dei Goti (rione Monti).
Photo: 25 May 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Pippo-b
(Wikimedia Commons)



The clemency of the Jews was content to forgive three times. Jesus, in the Gospel, says we are to forgive "seventy times seven times", that is to say, always. Mercy, with the sacrifices which accompany it, forms part of The Lenten Penance.

Wherefore, the Epistle shows us, in the miraculous increase of a small quantity of oil at the word of Eliseus (by the sale of which a poor widow was enabled to pay a pitiless creditor), a figure of The Mercy of The Saviour, whose infinite merits supply the ransom for our sins.


One-time Cardinal Priest of Santa Pudenziana, Rome.
Artist: Eduardo Cano de la Peña (1823–1897).
Date: 1865.
Current location: University of Seville, Spain.
Source/Photographer: [2]
(Wikimedia Commons)

The following paragraph is from THE FAR SIGHT

The first Archbishop of Westminster, and also the first Cardinal resident in England since The Reformation, was Blessed Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman.


In order to participate in the effects of this Charity of Christ, we should, in our turn, exercise the same Virtue. Then will The Church, in The Name of Jesus, make use in our favour of the Power of Remission which she holds from her Head.

Let us atone for our sins and forgive our neighbour his sins against us. And then let us implore The God of Mercy to grant us, by His Almighty Power, the pardon for our sins (Postcommunion).

Mass: Ego clamávi.
Preface: Of Lent.



"Saint Pudentiana being received into Heaven".
Artist: Bernardino Nocchi.
Painting (1803) behind The High Altar of Santa Pudentiana, Rome.
Photo: April 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Georges Jansoone (JoJan).
(Wikimedia Commons)



The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

The Church of Santa Pudenziana (Pudentiana) is recognised as the oldest place of Christian worship in Rome. It was built over a 2nd-Century A.D. house (probably during the Pontificate of Pope Pius I (140 A.D. – 155 A.D.)) and re-uses part of a Baths facility, still visible in the structure of the Apse.

This Church was the Residence of the Pope until, in 313 A.D., Emperor Constantine offered them The Lateran Palace.

In the 4th-Century A.D., during the Pontificate of Pope Siricius, the building was transformed into a Three-Naved Church. In The Acts of The Synod of 499 A. D., the Church bears the Titulus “Pudentis", indicating that the administration of The Sacraments was allowed.


"Christ Delivering The Keys Of Heaven To Saint Peter",
by the architect Giacomo della Porta.
Date: 1594.
The Saint Peter Chapel
Church of Santa Pudenziana, Rome.
Photo: April 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Georges Jansoone (JoJan).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Saint Peter Chapel, on the Left-Side of the Apse, contains a part of the table at which Saint Peter would have held the Celebration of The Eucharist in the house of Saint Pudens. The rest of the table is embedded in the Papal Altar of Saint John Lateran.

In the same Chapel, there are two bronze slabs in the wall, explaining that here Saint Peter was given hospitality and that he offered, for the first time in Rome, Bread and Wine as a Consecration of The Eucharist. The Pavement is ancient. A door opens into a Cortile (Courtyard) with a small Chapel that contains frescoes from the 11th-Century.


Main entrance to Saint Pudentiana's, Rome.
Photo: November 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Panairjdde
(Wikimedia Commons)



Cætani Chapel: This Chapel for The Cætani family (family of Pope Boniface VIII) was designed by Capriano da Volterra, in 1588, and, after his death in 1601, was completed by Carlo Maderno. The mosaics on the floor are notable. The Columns are of Lumachella Marble. The Relief (1599), above the Altar, is by Pier Paolo Olivieri and depicts The Adoration of The Magi. Giovanni Paolo Rossetti painted Saint Praxedes and Saint Pudentiana collecting The Blood of The Martyrs, in 1621. He also painted the fresco of The Evangelist, in the Ceiling, to a design by Federico Zuccari.


Saints Praxedes and Pudentiana
collecting The Blood of The Martyrs.
Date: 1621.
Artist: Giovanni Paolo Rossetti.
Current location: The Caetani Chapel,
Church of Santa Pudentiana, Rome.
Photo: April 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Georges Jansoone (JoJan).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The statue of Saint Pudentiana, in a Niche, is by Claude Adam, dating from, circa, 1650. The Sisters’ Well stands just outside The Caetani Chapel, in the Left-Aisle, and is said to contain the Relics of 3,000 Early Martyrs, many of which were brought here and hidden by Saints Pudentiana and Praxedes. This is marked by a square porphyry slab in the floor.

The Cardinal Priest, of the Titulus S. Pudentianæ, was Joachim Meisner. From the death on 5 July 2017 of Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the Titulus S. Pudentianæ was vacant until 28 June 2018, when Pope Francis assigned the Title to Cardinal Thomas Aquino Manyo Mæda.

One of the former Cardinal-Priests of this Basilica was Cardinal Luciano Bonaparte, great-nephew of Emperor Napoleon I.



The following three paragraphs are from THE CATHOLIC TRAVELER

The Station Churches of Rome.

Pilgrims who travel to Rome, during Lent, can participate in a beautiful custom that dates back to the 4th-Century A.D. It’s a custom that began as a way to strengthen the sense of community in the City, while honouring The Holy Martyrs of Rome.

The Faithful would journey through the streets to visit various Churches. As they walked, they would Pray The Litany of The Saints. The Bishop of Rome, that is The Holy Father (The Pope), would join them, lead them in Prayer and Celebrate Mass at the Church.

Though this practice was around for years, Pope Saint Gregory the Great established the order of the Churches to be visited, the Prayers to be recited, and designated this as a Lenten Practice. The Tradition continued until 1309, when the Papacy moved to Avignon, France. Pope Leo XIII revived the Tradition and it was fully restored by Pope Saint John XXIII in 1959.

Monday, 8 March 2021

Saint John Of God. Confessor. Feast Day 8 March.


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

Saint John Of God.
   Confessor.
   Feast Day 8 March.

Double.

White Vestments.


English: Saint John of God.
Español: La obra representa a San Juan de Dios (1495-1550), de orígen portugués y fundador de la Orden Hospitalaria de San Juan de Dios. En la obra, el santo cae a tierra por llevar a un enfermo, y el Arcángel Gabriel aparece milagrosamente para ayudarle.
Artist: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682).
Date: Circa 1672.
This File: 30 March 2016.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint John of God was born in Portugal in 1495. After a stormy youth, at the age of forty he was one day listening to The Word of God, when he felt himself so inflamed with Divine Charity towards his neighbour, that he distributed all he possessed to The Poor and Consecrated his life to their service.

The Love of God  is one with that of our neighbour, says the Gospel, for men bear in themselves the image of The Heavenly Father, Whose sons they are, in virtue of their union with God and Jesus by Grace.

Through his disinterestedness, and thanks to alms (Epistle), which Saint John obtained for the erection of two large hospitals at Granada, “he enriched The Church with a new family” (Collect), which took the name of Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, and which, imitating Christ in His Apostolic Life, devotes itself to the healing of bodies and of Souls.

A great fire having broken out in a hospital, he fearlessly rushed into the flames and saved all the sick, because the fire burning in his heart was greater than that which raged around (Collect).

Saint John, whose Divine Love caused his name to be joined to the name of God, was continually absorbed in the contemplation of Heavenly things (Introit). Struck down by a severe illness, after receiving The Last Sacraments, he fell on his knees and died, pressing to his heart the Crucifix. This happened at Granada in 1550.

Pope Leo XIII declared him Patron of Hospitallers and of The Sick, and commanded his name to be placed in The Litanies of The Dying.

Following the example of Saint John of God, let us fill our hearts with the fire of Divine Charity, which will purify us of our vices, and let us have recourse to the protection of this Saint, that we may always be provided with the remedies which conduce to Eternal Life (Collect).

Mass: Os justi.
Commemoration: In Lent. Of The Feria.
Last Gospel: In Lent. Of The Feria.

Unapologetically. Unashamedly. Anti-Abortion.




Reclaiming “Anti-Abortion”:
Is It Time To Ditch The Pro-Life Label ?
A Personal Perspective.

By: Grace Browne.

“You’re not Pro-Life, you’re just Anti-Abortion” is the accusation normally spat out by Pro-Abortion advocates when they come across anyone who doesn’t agree with cutting up kids.

And, for once, I agree with them.

They are right, I am not Pro-Life.

 I am unashamedly Anti-Abortion,
and what’s wrong with that ?

Pro-Abortion advocates and the mainstream media
captured the phrase “Anti-Abortion”.

 They weaponised it into a slur to be slapped across any person who identified as “Pro-Life”.

And it came with baggage.

Extremist.
Misogynist.
Christian Fundamentalist.
Fanatic.

These are just some of the terms chained to the phrase
“Anti-Abortion” and any person who was stamped with it.

It is a phrase loaded with ammunition, which is exactly why
it must be re-claimed and unashamedly used by the growing
Anti-Abortion Movement.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF UNBORN CHILDREN


The Monday Of The Third Week In Lent. The Lenten Station Is At The Basilica Of Saint Mark’s, Rome.




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

Monday of The Third Week in Lent.

Station at Saint Mark's, Rome.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.



English: Façade of the Basilica of Saint Mark's, Rome.
To the Right, is the Palazzo Venezia, the former See of
The Embassy of The Republic of Venicewhose Protector was Saint Mark.
Italiano: Facciata della basilica di San Marco a Roma.
Photo: January 2006.
Author: Panairjdde.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Station is at Saint Mark’s, an ancient Parish Church of Rome, built in the 4th-Century A.D. by Pope Saint Mark in honour of his Patron, The Evangelist. Under the Altar lie the Remains of this Pope, with the bodies of The Holy Martyrs, Abdon and Sennen.

One cannot choose a better spot wherein to read this account of The Syrian, Naaman, than in this Sanctuary, so clearly Oriental, since Saint Mark is the Founder of The Patriarchal Seat of Alexandria, and Abdon and Sennen are Persians. This account of Naaman seems to make allusion to the Egyptians of Alexandria, whom Saint Mark healed from the leprosy of unbelief by Baptism.


Saint Ursula and her Companions,
with Pope Ciriacus and Saint Catherine of Alexandria.
Artist: Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (1590–1625).
Date: 1608.
Current location: Basilica di San Marco, Rome.
(Basilica of Saint Mark, Rome).
Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Epistle and the Gospel speak to us of Naaman, the valiant General of the King of Syria’s Army. He was cured by bathing in The Jordan, although he did not belong to the Race of Israel. Later on, Jesus was to plunge Himself into the same River and to communicate a Sanctifying Virtue to its waters.


The Nave, San Marco, Rome.
Photo: July 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: SteO153
(Wikimedia Commons)



Naaman, therefore, is a figure of the heathen whom The Church, by Baptism, cures of the leprosy of sin. Peter, says Tertullian, has Baptised in The Tiber, and those that he has cleansed, from the leprosy of sin, have abandoned the waters of Damascus, by which is meant their sensual life.

Let us renew ourselves, in the spirit of our Baptism, by purifying our hearts in the salutary bath of Penitence. This will cure them of the leprosy of the Soul called sin.

Mass: In Deo.
Preface: Of Lent.



The High Altar,
Basilica of Saint Mark's, Rome.
Photo: July 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: SteO153
Permission: CC-BY-SA-2.5.
(Wikimedia Commons)



English: The Organ of the Basilica of Saint Mark's, Rome.
Italiano: Roma, basilica di san Marco, Roma, controfacciata e organo.
Photo: October 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa
(Wikimedia Commons)



The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

In 336 A.D., Pope Saint Mark built a Church devoted to one of The Evangelists, his name-bearer Saint Mark, in a place called “Ad Pallacinas”. The Church is recorded as “Titulus Marci” in The 499 A.D. Synod of Pope Symmachus. [At that time, it became one of The Stational Churches of The City (Monday of The Third Week in Lent)].

After Restoration, 792 A.D., by Pope Adrian I, the Church was rebuilt by Pope Gregory IV, 833 A.D.

Besides the addition of a Romanesque Bell-Tower in 1154, the major change in the architecture of the Church was ordered by Pope Paul II in 1465-1470, when the Interior and Exterior were re-styled according to the Renaissance taste. On that occasion, the Church was assigned to the Venetian people living in Rome, Pope Paul II being a Venetian by birth.


Pope Paul II (1464 - 1471)
ordered the re-styling of the Basilica of Saint Mark's, Rome.
Artist: Cristofano dell'Altissimo (1525–1605).
Picture title: Pietrobarbo.
Source/Photographer: Originally from en.wikipedia;
description page is/was HERE.
Original uploader was Savidan at en.wikipedia,
2007-06-29 (original upload date).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The last major re-working of the Basilica was started in 1654-1657 and completed by Cardinal Angelo Maria Quirini in 1735-1750. With these Restorations, the Church received its current Baroque decoration.

The façade (1466) was built with Marble taken from The Colosseum and the Theatre of Marcellus, and is attributed to Leon Battista Alberti.


English: The Theatre of Marcellus, Rome,
from which Marble was taken to build the façade of the Basilica di San Marco a Roma.
Italiano: Il teatro di Marcello accanto al tempio di Apollo Sosiano (in Circo) a Roma, ripreso dai piedi del Campidoglio, oltre la moderna via del Teatro di Marcello.
Photo: 2005.
Author: MM, uploaded to Italian Wikipedia 09.05.2005.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Interior is clearly Baroque. However, the Basilica shows noteworthy elements of all its history.

The Apse mosaics, dating back to Pope Gregory IV, show the Pope, with the squared halo of a living person, offering a model of the Church to Christ, in the presence of Saint Mark The Evangelist, Pope Saint Mark and other Saints.

The wooden Ceiling, with the emblem of Pope Paul II, is one of only two original 15th-Century wooden Ceilings in Rome, together with the one at Santa Maria Maggiore.

Sunday, 7 March 2021

Saint Thomas Aquinas. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church. Feast Day 7 March.


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

Saint Thomas Aquinas.
   Confessor.
   Doctor Of The Church.
   Feast Day 7 March.

Double.

White Vestments.


English: An Altarpiece, depicting Saint Thomas Aquinas,
from Ascoli Piceno, Italy.
Deutsch: Altar von San Domenico in Ascoli, Polyptychon,
linke äußere Aufsatztafel: Hl. Thomas von Aquin.
Artist: Carlo Crivelli (circa 1435 – circa 1495).
Date: 1476.
Current location: National Gallery, London.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project (2002)
10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM),
distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)


His intelligence, aided by a supernatural light, henceforth sounded the depths of Divine Mysteries (Introit). Wherefore, The Church, comparing him to The Spirits of The Blessed, as much for his innocence as for his genius, awarded him the Title of “Angelic Doctor”.

“A light of the World” (Gospel), his teaching is such a faithful echo of the “Words of True Doctrine” of Christ (Epistle), that The Council of Trent placed “The Theological Summa” next to the Bible in The Hall of Session.

He died in The Cistercian Monastery of Fossa Nuova, Campania, Italy, on his way to The Council of Lyon, 7 March 1274.

Pope Leo XIII, by Letters Apostolic, declared him The Patron of all Catholic Schools. At this Season, when The Liturgy recalls the Public Ministry of Jesus, let us ask Saint Thomas so to penetrate us with the Spirit of Penance that we may have a clear vision of The Teachings of The Master, and put them into practice (Collect), as he did.

Mass: In médio.
Commemoration: In Lent. Of The Feria.
Last Gospel: In Lent. Of The Feria.


“Summa Theologica”.
By: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Available on YouTube at

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

Thomas Aquinas (Italian: Tommaso d'Aquino, literally “Thomas of Aquino”; 1225 – March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Friar, Philosopher, Catholic Priest, and is a Doctor of The Church.

An immensely influential Philosopher, Theologian, and Jurist in the Tradition of Scholasticism, he is also known within the latter as The Doctor Angelicus and The Doctor Communis.

The name “Aquinas” identifies his ancestral origins in the County of Aquino, in present-day Lazio, Italy. He was the foremost Classical proponent of Natural Theology and the father of Thomism; of which he argued that Reason is found in God.

His influence on Western Thought is considerable, and much of Modern Philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of Ethics, Natural Law, Metaphysics, and Political Theory.


“Adore Te Devote”.
Composed by: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Available on YouTube at

Unlike many currents in The Church of the time, Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle — whom he called “The Philosopher” — and attempted to synthesise Aristotelian Philosophy with the principles of Christianity.

His best-known works are the “Disputed Questions on Truth” (1256–1259), the “Summa Contra Gentiles” (1259–1265), and the unfinished, but massively influential, “Summa Theologica”, also known as “Summa Theologiæ” (1265–1274).

His commentaries on Scripture, and on Aristotle, also form an important part of his Body of Work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his Eucharistic Hymns, which form a part of The Church's Liturgy.

The Catholic Church honours Thomas Aquinas as a Saint, and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the Priesthood, and, indeed, the highest expression of both Natural Reason and Speculative Theology.

In modern times, under Papal Directives, the study of his Works was long used as a core of the required programme of study for those seeking Ordination as Priests or Deacons, as well as for those in Religious Formation and for other students of The Sacred Disciplines (Philosophy, Catholic Theology, Church History, Liturgy, and Canon Law).


“Adore Te Devote”.
Composed by: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Available on YouTube at

Thomas Aquinas is considered one of The Catholic Church's greatest Theologians and Philosophers.

Pope Benedict XV declared: “This (Dominican) Order . . . acquired new lustre when The Church declared The Teaching of Thomas to be her own, and that Doctor, honoured with the special praises of the Pontiffs, The Master and Patron of Catholic Schools.”

The English Philosopher, Anthony Kenny, considers Thomas to be “one of the dozen greatest Philosophers of The Western World”.

“Adoremus in Aeternum” - Catholic Renaissance Hymn Of Benediction For The Blessed Sacrament.




“Adoremus in Aeternum”.
Catholic Renaissance Hymn Of Benediction
For The Blessed Sacrament.
Available on YouTube at


Adoremus in æternum,
Sanctissimum Sacramentum.

Laudate Dominum Omnes Gentes,
Laudate Eum Omnes Populi.
Quoniam confirmata est
super nos misericordia eius,
Et veritas Domini manet in æternum.

Gloria Patri Et Filio,
et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in Principio et Nunc et Semper,
et in sæcula sæculorum.

Amen.

Adoremus in æternum,
Sanctissimum Sacramentum.


“We will adore for Eternity
The Most Holy Sacrament.

Praise The Lord, all ye Nations:
Praise Him all ye peoples.
Because His Mercy is confirmed upon us:
And the truth of The Lord remains forever.

Glory be to The Father,
and to The Son,
and to The Holy Ghost:
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
World without End.

Amen.

We will adore for Eternity
The Most Holy Sacrament.

Praise The Lord, all ye Nations:
Praise Him all ye peoples”.

Welsh Rugby Choir, In Dublin, Sing “The Fields Of Athenry”.



Welsh Rugby Choir,
in Dublin,
sing “The Fields Of Athenry”.
Available on YouTube at
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