3 May. The Feast Day Of The Finding Of The Holy Cross By Saint Helena, Mother Of The Emperor Constantine.

Roman Text taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text taken from The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.

Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.

Volume Eight. Paschal Time. Book Two.

Illustrations and Captions taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Double of the Second-Class.

Red Vestments.

Orthodox Cross set for special veneration on the Feast Day of 

The Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross 

(September 14/27).

Christ the Saviour Orthodox Sobor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 2011.

Photo: 1 October 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: ΙΣΧΣΝΙΚΑ-888.

(Wikimedia Commons)

This Feast is called, in Greek, Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου καὶ Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ (Raising Aloft of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross), and, in Latin, Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis. In English, it is called The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in the official translation of the Roman Missal, while the 1973 translation called it The Triumph of the Cross. In some parts of the Anglican Communion, the Feast is called Holy Cross Day, a name also used by Lutherans. The Celebration is also sometimes called Feast of the Glorious Cross.

Basilica of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Rome, Italy.

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Rome) 

One of the masterpieces of the "barochetto romano", 

by Pietro Passalacqua and Domenico Gregorini, from 1743.

Photo: 18 February 2006.

Source: facade, s. croce in gerusalemme.

Author: Anthony M. from Rome, Italy.

(Wikimedia Commons)

After the victory gained by Emperor Constantine, by virtue of the Cross which appeared to him in the skies, and whose sign he reproduced in the "Labarum", Saint Helena, his mother, went to Jerusalem to try and find the true Cross.

At the beginning of the 2nd-Century, Emperor Hadrian had covered Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre under a terrace of 300 feet in length, on which had been erected a statue of Jupiter and a temple of Venus. The Empress razed them to the ground, and, in digging up the soil, they discovered the nails (Alleluia) and the glorious trophy to which we owe "life, salvation and a resurrection" (Introit). The miraculous cure of a woman authenticated the Sacred Tree (Collect).

Saint Helena divided into three the precious wood, which had been "worthy to bear the King of Heaven" (Alleluia), which had merely been figured by the cross on which the brazen serpent was raised. One part was deposited in Rome, in the Church which on this account was called Holy Cross in Jerusalem. The second part in Constantinople and the third part in Jerusalem.

Heraclius returns The True Cross to Jerusalem, 

anachronistically accompanied by Saint Helena. 15th-Century, Spain.

Saint Helena & Heraclius taking The Holy Cross to Jerusalem, 

Museo de Zaragoza, óleo sobre tabla (195 x 115 cm.) 

procedente del retablo de la Santa Cruz de Blesa, Teruel.

Date: 1481.

Source: http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/b/p-bernat1.htm.

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries 

with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

Author: Miguel Jiménez y Martín Bernat.

(Wikimedia Commons)

This last Relic, having been carried off by the Persians, and recovered by the Byzantine Emperor, Heraclius, was solemnly brought back to Jerusalem, by Heraclius, on 3 May, 628 A.D.

Covered with gold and precious stones, Emperor Heraclius suddenly felt himself held back by an invincible power. At this sight, Zacharias, Bishop of Jerusalem, told him to imitate the poverty and humility of Jesus bearing His Cross.

Heraclius, thereupon, covered his shoulders with a common cloak, and, without further hindrance, went his way. (Breviary, 14 September.)

Every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.

The "Labarum", of Emperor Constantine I, displaying the "Chi-Rho" symbol above.

Labarum of Constantine I (Vexilloid of the Roman Empire). 

Drawn after File:As-Constantine-XR RIC vII 019.jpg; the three dots shown here are presumably not meant to be actual dots (but appear as such due to the limited resolution on the coin face), but represent three heads or portraits, c.f.File:Konstantin den stores labarum, Nordisk familjebok.png

Date: 2011-04-01 23:52 (UTC).

Source: Labarum_of_Constantine_I.svg (reconstruction by Eugene Ipavec, 2006).

Vexilloid_of_the_Roman_Empire.svg.

Author: Labarum_of_Constantine_I.svg: TRAJAN 117.

This vector image was created with Inkscape.

This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: Labarum of Constantine the Great. The original can be viewed here: Vexilloid_of_the_Roman_Empire.svg. Modifications made by philly boy92.

It was most just that our Divine King should show Himself to us with the Sceptre of His power, to the end that nothing might be wanting to the majesty of His empire. This Sceptre is The Cross; and Paschal Time was to be the Season for its being offered to Him in glad homage.

A few weeks back, and The Cross was shown to us as the instrument of our Emmanuel's humiliation and as the bed of suffering, whereon He died; but, has He not since then conquered Death ? And what is His Cross, now, but a trophy of His victory ?

Exaltation of the Cross from the 

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry 

(Musée Condé, Chantilly, France).

This File: 14 April 2005.

User: Petrusbarbygere.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Let it, then, be brought forth to our gaze and let every knee bend before this Sacred Wood, whereby our Jesus won the honour and praise we now give Him !

On the day of His birth at Bethlehem, we sang these words of the Prophet Isaias: A Child is born unto us, and a Son is given to us, and His government is upon His shoulder. [Is. ix 6. - The Introit of The Third Mass for Christmas Day.]

We have seen Him carrying this Cross upon His shoulder; as Isaac carried the wood for his own immolation; but, now, it is no longer a heavy burthen. It is shining with a brightness that ravishes the eyes of the Angels; and, after having received the veneration of man as long as the world lasts, it will suddenly appear in the clouds of Heaven, near the Judge of the living and the dead - a consolation to them that have loved it, but a reproach to such as have treated it with contempt or forgetfulness.

Tertullian (Part Four).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless stated otherwise.

A woodcut illustration depicting Tertullian.

Quintus Florens Tertullian (Anglicised to Tertullian).

160 A.D. - 220 A.D.

Church Father and Theologian.

Source: http://www.higherpraise.com/preachers/tertullian.htm.

This File: August 2011.

User: Serge Lachinov.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Scriptures, the Rule of Faith, is, for him, fixed and authoritative (De corona, iii-iv). As opposed to the pagan writings, they are Divine (De testimonio animae, vi). They contain all truth (De praescriptione, vii, xiv) and from them the Church drinks (potat) her Faith (Adv. Praxeam, xiii). The Prophets were older than the Greek philosophers and their authority is accredited by the fulfilment of their predictions (Apol., xix-xx). 

The Scriptures and the teachings of philosophy are incompatible, insofar as the latter are the origins of sub-Christian heresies. "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" he exclaims, "or the Academy with the Church?" (De praescriptione, vii). Philosophy as pop-paganism is a work of demons (De anima, i); the Scriptures contain the Wisdom of Heaven. However, Tertullian was not averse to using the technical methods of Stoicism to discuss a problem (De anima). The Rule of Faith, however, seems to be also applied by Tertullian to some distinct formula of Doctrine, and he gives a succinct statement of the Christian Faith under this term (De praescriptione, xiii).

Tertullian was a defender of the necessity of Apostolicity. In his "Prescription Against Heretics", he explicitly challenges heretics to produce evidence of the Apostolic Succession of their communities. "Let them produce the original records of their Churches; let them unfold the Roll of their Bishops, running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [that first Bishop of theirs] Bishop shall be able to show for his Ordainer and predecessor some one of the Apostles or of Apostolic men, a man, moreover, who continued steadfast with the Apostles. For this is the manner in which the Apostolic Churches transmit their registers: as the Church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the Church of Rome, which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter. In exactly the same way, the other Churches likewise exhibit (their several worthies), whom, as having been appointed to their Episcopal places by Apostles, they regard as transmitters of the Apostolic seed."

Fornicators and Murderers should never be admitted into the Church under any circumstances. In De pudicitia, Tertullian condemns Pope Callixtus I for allowing such people in when they show repentance.

Ichthys (also Ichthus or Ikhthus /ˈɪkθəs/), from the Koine Greek word for fish: ἰχθύς, (capitalized ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥϹ) is a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, used by early Christians as a secret Christian symbol and now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish."

This Fish symbol was used in the early Church, when the Christians were being persecuted by the Romans. Christians then needed to be careful, when dealing with strangers, for fear of identification as a Christian and persecution. 

When you encountered someone, you would draw an arc on the ground. If the other person drew a reverse arc over yours, it would form the Fish symbol. 

Both people would then know that they could safely talk about being a Christian.

Español: Dibujada por Fibonacci, modificando un poco el 

código fuente de dominio público de Lupin.

English: Drawn by Fibonacci, modifying Lupin's PD source code a bit.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Tertullian was a determined advocate of strict discipline and an austere code of practice, and, like many of the African Fathers, one of the leading representatives of the Rigorist element in the Early Church. These views may have led him to adopt Montanism, with its ascetic Rigor, and its belief in chiliasm and the continuance of the prophetic gifts. In his writings on public amusements, the veiling of virgins, the conduct of women, and the like, he gives expression to these views.

On the principle that we should not look, at or listen to, what we have no right to practise, and that polluted things, seen and touched, pollute (De spectaculis, viii, xvii), he declared a Christian should abstain from the theatre and the amphitheatre. There, pagan religious rites were applied and the names of pagan divinities invoked; there, the precepts of modesty, purity, and humanity were ignored or set aside, and, there, no place was offered to the onlookers for the cultivation of the Christian Graces.

Women should put aside their gold and precious stones as ornaments (De cultu, v-vi), and virgins should conform to the law of Saint Paul for women and keep themselves strictly veiled (De virginibus velandis). He praised the unmarried state as the highest (De monogamia, xvii; Ad uxorem, i.3) and called upon Christians not to allow themselves to be excelled in the virtue of celibacy by Vestal Virgins and Egyptian priests. He even labelled second marriage a species of adultery (De exhortations castitatis, ix), but this directly contradicted the Epistles of the Apostle, Paul.

His moral vigour, and the service he provided, as an ingenious and intrepid defender of the Christian religion,  were, for him, down to his view of Christianity as first, and chiefly, an experience of the heart.

Because of his later affiliation with Montanism, he, like the influential Alexandrian theologian, Origen, has failed to receive the elevation of official Canonisation.

Tertullian is sometimes criticised for being misogynistic, on the basis of the contents of his 'De Cultu Feminarum,' section I.I, part 2 (trans. C.W. Marx): "Do you not know that you are Eve? The judgment of God upon this sex lives on in this age; therefore, necessarily the guilt should live on also. You are the gateway of the devil; you are the one who unseals the curse of that tree, and you are the first one to turn your back on the divine law; you are the one who persuaded him whom the devil was not capable of corrupting; you easily destroyed the image of God, Adam. Because of what you deserve, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die.”

Tertullian wrote in his book "On Patience" 5:15: "Having been made pregnant by the seed of the devil ... she brought forth a son." Or, in a different translation: "For straightway that impatience, conceived of the devil's seed, produced, in the fecundity of malice, anger as her son; and when brought forth, trained him in her own arts."

Tertullian's writings are edited in volumes 1–2 of the Patrologia Latina, and modern texts exist in the Corpus Christianorum Latinorum. English translations by Sidney Thelwall and Philip Holmes can be found in volumes III and IV of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, which are freely available online; more modern translations of some of the works have been made.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON TERTULLIAN.

Milan Cathedral (Part Five).

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

English: Milan Cathedral, Milan, Italy.

Italiano: Il Duomo of Milan Italy.

Available on YouTube at http://youtu.be/r6YUEEotp_Q

Poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, read literature inside the Duomo. Alfred, Lord Tennyson enjoyed the view of the Alps from the Duomo roof.

The American writer and journalist, Mark Twain, visited Milan in the summer of 1867. He dedicated Chapter 18 of Innocents Abroad to Milan Cathedral, including many physical and historical details, and a,  now, uncommon visit to the Roof. He describes the Duomo as follows:

"What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet, so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems . . . a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath ! . . The central one of its five great doors is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures - and the figures are so numerous and the design so complex, that one might study it a week without exhausting its interest . . . everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building, from summit to base, there is a marble statue, and every statue is a study in itself . . . Away above, on the lofty Roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted Spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery one sees the sky beyond . . . (Up on) the Roof . . . springing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of the Spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance . . . We could see, now, that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street . . . They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to Saint Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands".

Milan Cathedral at night.

Photo: 8 February 2011.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/luca_volpi/5427848020.

Author: Luca Volpi.

(Wikimedia Commons)

This image is not subject to Freedom Of Panorama restrictions. The subject of this image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years. NOTE: This image must also include a license tag to indicate Copyright restrictions on the image itself.

Oscar Wilde visited Milan in June 1875. In a letter to his mother, he wrote: "The Cathedral is an awful failure. Outside, the design is monstrous and inartistic. The over-elaborated details stuck high up where no one can see them; everything is vile in it; it is, however, imposing and gigantic as a failure, through its great size and elaborate execution."

In Italian Hours, Henry James describes “a certain exhibition that I privately enjoyed of the relics of Saint  Charles Borromeus (sic). This holy man lies at his eternal rest in a small, but gorgeous sepulchral Chapel . . .  and, for the modest sum of five francs, you may have his shrivelled mortality unveiled and gaze at it with whatever reserves occur to you. The Catholic Church never renounces a chance of the sublime for fear of a chance of the ridiculous . . . especially when the chance of the sublime may be the very excellent chance of five francs.

"The performance in question, of which the good San Carlo paid in the first instance the cost, was impressive certainly, but as a monstrous matter or a grim comedy may still be. The little Sacristan, having secured his audience, lighted a couple of extra candles and proceeded to remove from above the Altar, by means of a crank, a sort of sliding shutter, just as you may see a shop-boy do of a morning at his master's window. In this case, too, a large sheet of plate-glass was uncovered, and, to form an idea of the étalage, you must imagine that a jeweller, for reasons of his own, has struck an unnatural partnership with an undertaker.

English: Interior of Milan Cathedral.

Polski: Wnętrze Katedry Duomo (Mediolan - Włochy).

Photo: 25 August 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Spens03.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"The black mummified corpse of the Saint is stretched out in a glass coffin, clad in his mouldering Canonicals, Mitred, Crosiered and Gloved, glittering with votive jewels. It is an extraordinary mixture of death and life; the desiccated clay, the ashen rags, the hideous little black mask and skull, and the living, glowing, twinkling splendour of diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. 

"The collection is really fine, and many great historic names are attached to the different offerings. Whatever may be the better opinion as to the future of the Church, I can't help thinking she will make a figure in the world so long as she retains this great fund of precious "properties," this prodigious capital decoratively invested and scintillating throughout Christendom at effectively-scattered points.”

IN POPULAR CULTURE.

The 1934 song, "O mia bela Madunina", by Giovanni d'Anzi, about the golden Madonna statue on the Spire, can be considered today an unofficial "city anthem" of Milan.

Luchino Visconti's 1960 film, Rocco e i suoi fratelli, set in Milan, has a scene which takes place on the Roof of the Cathedral.

Polski: Mediolan - katedra.

English: Milan Cathedral.

Italiano: Milano - Duomo.

Photo: 31 August 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Andrzej Otrębski.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Many Milanese-dialect speakers, reminded by the centuries needed to complete the Duomo, use the "Fabbrica del Duomo" ("Fabrica del Dom" in the dialect) as an adjective (sometimes humorously, sometimes not) to describe an extremely long, too complex task, maybe even impossible to complete. The Italian phrase, "mangiare a ufo", stemming from the Milanese dialect, mangià a uf, meaning "being paid for a job not done", comes from the fact that the goods used to build the Duomo wore the inscription "A.U.F.", shorthand for Latin "Ad Usum Fabricae" (to be used for the construction) and were exempt from taxation.

A souvenir model of the Cathedral was thrown at the nose of Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, during an attack on 13 December, 2009.

In the song, "In Every Age", from the musical, Titanic, the building (Milan Cathedral) is compared with the Pyramids and the Titanic, as one of the greatest feats of architecture.

Several lavish shots of the Duomo are featured in the Italian film, I Am Love, (2009).

In the novel, "The Wary Transgressor", by James Hadley Chase, the main protagonist is seen working as an unofficial guide at the Duomo.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON MILAN CATHEDRAL.

Milan Cathedral (Part Four).

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

English: Milan Cathedral at night.

Italiano: Duomo di Milano.

Photo: April 2012.

Source: Flickr: Duomo.

Author: Fernando García.

Permission: This image, which was originally posted to Flickr.com, 

was uploaded to Commons using Flickr upload bot on 20:27, 12 May 2012 (UTC) by Friedrichstrasse (talk). On that date it was licensed under the licence below.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Duomo di Milano is the Cathedral Church of Milan, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is located on the main square (Piazza Duomo di Milano) in the centre of the city. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente (Saint Mary Nascent), it is the Seat of the Archbishop of Milan. The Gothic Cathedral took five centuries to complete. It is the largest Gothic Cathedral and the second largest Catholic Cathedral in the world.

Italiano: Il Duomo di Milano, monumento simbolo del capoluogo lombardo, è dedicato a Santa Maria Nascente ed è situato nell'omonima piazza nel centro della città.

עברית: קתדרלת מילאנו הידועה כדואומו היא קתדרלה גו

The Cathedral was built over several hundred years, in a number of contrasting styles, and the quality of the workmanship varies markedly. Reactions to it have ranged from admiration to disfavour. The Guida d’Italia: Milano 1998 (Touring Club Editore, p. 154) points out that the early Romantics tended to praise it in “the first intense enthusiasms for Gothic.” As the Gothic Revival brought in a purer taste, condemnation was often equally intense.

John Ruskin commented acidly that the Cathedral steals "from every style in the world: And every style spoiled. The Cathedral is a mixture of Perpendicular with Flamboyant, the latter being peculiarly barbarous and angular, owing to its being engrafted, not on a pure, but a very early penetrative, Gothic . . . The rest of the architecture, amongst which this curious Flamboyant is set, is Perpendicular with horizontal bars across: And with the most detestable crocketing, utterly vile. Not a ray of invention in a single form . . . Finally, the statues all over are of the worst possible, common stonemason's yard, species, and look pinned on for show. The only redeeming character, about the whole, being the frequent use of the sharp gable . . . which gives lightness, and the crowding of the spiry pinnacles into the sky.” (Notebooks[M.6L]). The plastered Ceiling, painted to imitate elaborate tracery carved in stone, particularly aroused his contempt as a “gross degradation”.

While appreciating the force of Ruskin’s criticisms, Henry James was more appreciative: “A structure, not supremely interesting, not logical, not . . . commandingly beautiful, but grandly curious and superbly rich . . . If it had no other distinction, it would still have that of impressive, immeasurable achievement . . . a supreme embodiment of vigorous effort.”

English: Milan Cathedral at night.

Italiano: Milano - Duomo.

Photo: March 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Geobia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The interior of the Cathedral includes numerous monuments and artworks. These include:

At the left of the Altar is located the most famous statue of all the Cathedral, the "San Bartolomeo Flayed" (1562), by Marco d'Agrate. The Saint shows the leather thrown over his shoulders like a stole;

The Archbishop Alberto da Intimiano's sarcophagus, which is overlooked by a Crucifix in copper laminae (a replica);

The sarcophagi of the Archbishops Ottone Visconti and Giovanni Visconti, created by a Campionese Master in the 14th-Century;

The sarcophagus of Marco Carelli, who donated 35,000 ducati to accelerate the construction of the Cathedral;

The three magnificent Altars, by Pellegrino Pellegrini, which include the notable Federico Zuccari's "Visit of Saint Peter to Saint Agatha jailed";

English: Plate, celebrating the laying of the first stone in 1386.

Italiano: Lapide dentro il Duomo che commemora l'inizio della costruzione, nel 1386.

This File: 13 May 2005.

Author: Author: Marco Bonavoglia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the Right Transept, the Monument to Gian Giacomo Medici di Marignano, called "Medeghino", by Leone Leoni, and the adjacent Renaissance marble Altar, decorated with gilt bronze statues;

The Presbytery is a Late-Renaissance masterpiece, composing a Choir, a Temple by Pellegrini, two Pulpits with giant atlantes covered in copper and bronze, and two large Organs. Around the Choir, the two Sacristies' Portals, some frescoes and a 15th-Century statue of Pope Martin V, by Jacopino da Tradate, can be seen;

A view at dusk of the facade (and part of the South side) 

of Milan Cathedral, Italy. (OM-4/HP5.)

Photo: November 2001.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ian Spackman.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Transepts house the Trivulzio Candelabrum, which is in two pieces. The Base (attributed to Nicolas of Verdun, 12th-Century), characterised by a fantastic ensemble of vines, vegetables and imaginary animals; and the Stem, of the Mid-16th-Century;

In the Left Aisle, the Arcimboldi Monument, by Alessi, and Romanesque figures, depicting the Apostles, in red marble, and the neo-Classic Baptistry, by Pellegrini;

English: Piazza Duomo, in Milan, during Christmas holidays 2008. 

On the left, a Christmas Tree in front of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

Italiano: Piazza Duomo a Milano durante le feste natalizie del 2008. 

Sulla sinistra l'albero.

Photo: 7 December 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Goldmund100.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A small red light bulb, in the Dome above the Apse, marks the spot where one of the Nails, reputedly from the Crucifixion of Christ, has been placed. The Holy Nail is retrieved and exposed to the public every year, during a celebration known as the Rite of the Nivola;

In November–December, in the days surrounding the birthdate of Saint Charles Borromeo, a series of large canvasses, the Quadroni, are exhibited along the Nave;

The Five-Manual, 225-Rank, Pipe-Organ, built jointly by the Tamburini and Mascioni Italian organbuilding firms, on Mussolini's command, is currently the largest Organ in all of Italy.

PART FIVE FOLLOWS.

The Greater Litanies (25 April). The Lesser Litanies. Rogation Days. 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 John Paul II

(start at 1min 45 sec).

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.

Chevetogne Abbey (Monastery Of The Holy Cross). Benedictine Monastery In Belgium. Dedicated To Christian Unity.

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

Français: Chevetogne (Belgique), l'abbaye bénedictine.

English: Chevetogne (Belgium), the Benedictine Abbey.

Deutsch: Chevetogne (Belgien), Benediktiner-Abtei.

Nederlands: Chevetogne (België), de benedictijner abdij.

Photo: 2012-05-28 16:54 (UTC).

Source: This file was derived from: 0_Chevetogne_-_Abbaye_(1).JPG.

Author: 0_Chevetogne_-_Abbaye_(1).JPG: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, 

derivative work: Rabanus Flavus.

This is a retouched picture, which means that it has been digitally altered from its original version. Modifications: shifted, cropped. The original can be viewed here:0_Chevetogne_-_Abbaye_(1).JPG. Modifications made by Rabanus Flavus.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Chevetogne Abbey, also known as the Monastery of the Holy Cross, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine Monastery, dedicated to Christian unity, located in the Belgian village of Chevetogne in the municipality of Ciney, Province of Namur, halfway between Brussels and Luxembourg. Currently, the Monastery has twenty-seven Monks.

In 1924, Pope Pius XI addressed the Apostolic Letter, "Equidem verba", to the Benedictine Order, encouraging them to work for the reunion of the Catholic and Eastern Churches, with particular emphasis on the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Monks of Chevetogne Abbey chant "The Beatitudes" from the Slavonic Liturgy.

Available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmqGNl2MH4

The following year, a Community was established by Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873 – 1960) at Amay, on the river Meuse. Because of Beauduin's close friendship with Cardinal Mercier and Pope John XXIII, as well as his relations with Eastern Christians, he became a pioneer of the Catholic Ecumenical movement. His initial focus was on unity with Orthodox and Anglicans, but was eventually extended to all those who bear the name of Christ.

In 1939, the Community of Amay Priory moved to its current location at Chevetogne, occupying a former Jesuit Novitiate. Since then, an Eastern Church was built in 1957 and painted with frescoes by Rhallis Kopsidis and Georges Chochlidakis, and a Western Church was completed with a Library in its Basement. The Library has, approximately, 100,000 volumes and subscribes to about 500 specialised Journals and Periodicals. Chevetogne Priory was raised to the status of an Abbey on 11 December 1990.

The Monks of Chevetogne Abbey chant the Good Friday Liturgy.

Available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TVLyTImz5A.

The Monks of Chevetogne Abbey chant the Grand Prokeimenon.

Available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjVlWovadU0

In order to live a life of Christian unity, the Monastery has both Western (Latin Rite) and Eastern (Byzantine Rite) Churches, which hold Services every day. While the Canonical Hours of the daily Monastic Office are served separately, the Monks share their meals together and are united under one Abbot.

Along with Prayer, the Monks engage in publishing a Journal, Irénikon, since 1926, making recordings of Church Music, and producing Incense, all of which can be bought in the Monastery shop.

The official Web-Site of the Abbey is http://www.monasterechevetogne.com/, where a full introduction to the Abbey can be found and, also, CDs of the Abbey Choir can be purchased.

Interior of the Eastern Church at the Monastery of Chevetogne. 

Photo taken before Compline, 16 August, 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Daniel Galadza.

Current File: 17 April 2007.

User: Danielgaladza.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Milan Cathedral (Part Three).

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

English: The famous "Madonnina" atop the main Spire of the Cathedral.

A Baroque Gilded-bronze Statue, it is 108 metres (340 feet) from the ground.

Italiano: La guglia principale del tiburio del Duomo di Milano (opera dell'architetto barocco Francesco Croce), sovrastata dalla celebre "Madonnina", 

statua barocca in rame dorato, modellata da Giuseppe Bini. 

Foto di Marco Bonavoglia.

Released to public domain by Eugenio45 in it.wikipedia.org (file "Madonnina.jpg").

This File: 10 December 2005.

User: Attilios.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the following years, most of the missing Arches and Spires were constructed. The Statues on the Southern Wall were also finished, while in 1829 - 1858, new Stained Glass Windows replaced the old ones, though with less aesthetically significant results. The last details of the Cathedral were finished only in the 20th-Century: The last Gate was inaugurated on 6 January, 1965.

This date is considered the very end of a process which had proceeded for generations, although, even now, some uncarved blocks remain to be completed as Statues. The Duomo's main façade went under renovation from 2003 to early 2009: As of February 2009, it has been completely uncovered, showing again the colours of the Candoglia marble.

Italiano: Interno del Duomo di Milano. 

Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 28-1-2007.

English: Inside the Cathedral in Milan, Italy. 

Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, 28 January 2007.

Current File: 31 January 2007.

User: G.dallorto.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In November 2012, officials announced a campaign to raise funds for the Cathedral's preservation by asking patrons to adopt the building's Gargoyles. The effects of pollution on the 14th-Century building entail regular maintenance, and recent austerity cuts to Italy's Culture Budget has left less money for upkeep of cultural institutions, including the Cathedral. 

To help make up funds, Duomo Management launched a campaign offering its one hundred and thirty-five Gargoyles for "adoption." Donors, who contribute €100,000 (about Canadian $128,000) or more, will have their name engraved under one of the grotesque figures perched on the Cathedral's rooftop. The figures serve as drainage pipes.

Italiano: Interno del Duomo di Milano. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto, 13-1-2007.

English: Interior view of the Cathedral in Milan, Italy. 

Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, January 13 2007.

This File: 20 January 2007.

User: G.dallorto.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Plan of the Cathedral consists of a Nave, with four Side-Aisles, crossed by a Transept, and then followed by Choir and Apse. The height of the Nave is about 45 metres (140 feet), the highest Gothic Vaults of a complete Church (less than the 48 metres of Beauvais Cathedral, which was never completed).

The Roof is open to tourists (for a fee), which allows a close-up view of some spectacular Sculpture that would otherwise be unappreciated. The Roof of the Cathedral is renowned for the forest of openwork Pinnacles and Spires, set upon delicate Flying Buttresses.

English: The Organ in Milan Cathedral.

Polski: Wnętrze Katedry Duomo (Mediolan - Włochy)

Photo: 25 August 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Spens03.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Cathedral's five broad Naves, divided by forty Pillars, are reflected in the hierarchic openings of the façade. Even the Transepts have Aisles. The Nave Columns are 24.5 metres (80 feet) high, and the Apsidal Windows are 20.7 x 8.5 metres (68 x 28 feet). 

The huge building is of brick construction, faced with marble from the quarries which Gian Galeazzo Visconti donated in perpetuity to the Cathedral Chapter. Its maintenance and repairs are very complicated.

Milan’s Cathedral has recently developed a new lighting system, based on LED lights.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

Tertullian (Part Three).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless stated otherwise.

A woodcut illustration depicting Tertullian.

Quintus Florens Tertullian 

(Anglicised to Tertullian).

160 A.D. - 220 A.D.

Church Father and Theologian.

Source: http://www.higherpraise.com/preachers/tertullian.htm.

This File: August 2011.

User: Serge Lachinov.

(Wikimedia Commons)

God, Who made the world out of nothing through His Son, the Word, has corporeity, though He is a spirit (De praescriptione, vii.; Adv. Praxeam, vii.). However, Tertullian used 'corporeal' only in the Stoic sense, to mean something with actual existence, rather than the later idea of flesh. 

In the statement of the Trinity, Tertullian was a forerunner of the Nicene doctrine, approaching the subject from the standpoint of the Logos doctrine, though he did not state the immanent Trinity. His use of Trinitas (Latin: 'Threeness'), emphasised the manifold character of God. In his treatise against Praxeas, who taught patripassianism in Rome, he used the words, " Trinity and economy, persons and substance." The Son is distinct from the Father, and the Spirit from both the Father and the Son (Adv. Praxeam, xxv). "These three are one substance, not one person; and it is said, 'I and my Father are one' in respect not of the singularity of number but the unity of the substance." 

The very names "Father" and "Son" indicate the distinction of personality. The Father is one, the Son is one, and the Spirit is one (Adv. Praxeam, ix). As regards the question whether the Son was co-eternal with the Father, many believe that Tertullian did not teach that. The Catholic Encyclopedia comments that, for Tertullian: "There was a time when there was no Son and no sin, when God was neither Father nor Judge".

Similarly,  J.N.D. Kelly has stated: "Tertullian followed the Apologists in dating his “perfect generation” from his extrapolation for the work of creation; prior to that moment, God could not strictly be said to have had a Son, while, after it, the term, “Father”, which, for earlier theologians, generally connoted God as author of reality, began to acquire the specialised meaning of Father and Son.".

Ichthys (also Ichthus or Ikhthus /ˈɪkθəs/), from the Koine Greek word for fish: ἰχθύς, (capitalized ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥϹ) is a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, used by early Christians as a secret Christian symbol and now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish."

This Fish symbol was used in the early Church, when the Christians were being persecuted by the Romans. Christians then needed to be careful, when dealing with strangers, for fear of identification as a Christian and persecution. 

When you encountered someone, you would draw an arc on the ground. If the other person drew a reverse arc over yours, it would form the Fish symbol. 

Both people would then know that they could safely talk about being a Christian.

Español: Dibujada por Fibonacci, modificando un poco el 

código fuente de dominio público de Lupin.

English: Drawn by Fibonacci, modifying Lupin's PD source code a bit.

(Wikimedia Commons)

As regards the subjects of subordination of the Son to the Father, the New Catholic Encyclopedia has commented: "In not a few areas of theology, Tertullian’s views are, of course, completely unacceptable. Thus, for example, his teaching on the Trinity reveals a subordination of Son to Father that, in the later crass form of Arianism, the Church rejected as heretical."

In soteriology, Tertullian does not dogmatise; he prefers to keep silence at the mystery of the Cross (De Patientia, iii). The sufferings of Christ's life, as well as of the Crucifixion, are efficacious to redemption. In the water of Baptism, which (upon a partial quotation of John 3:5) is made necessary (De baptismo, vi.), humans are born again; the Baptised does not receive the Holy Spirit in the water, but is prepared for the Holy Spirit. Humans are little fishes — after the example of the ichthys (fish), Jesus Christ — are born in water (De baptismo, i). In discussing whether sins committed subsequent to Baptism may be forgiven, Tertullian calls Baptism and Penance "two planks" on which the sinner may be saved from shipwreck — language which he gave to the Church (De penitentia, xii).

With reference to the 'Rule of Faith', it may be said that Tertullian is constantly using this expression, and, by it, means now the authoritative tradition handed down in the Church, now the Scriptures themselves, and, perhaps, a definite doctrinal formula. While he nowhere gives a list of the books of Scripture, he divides them into two parts and calls them the instrumentum and testamentum (Adv. Marcionem, iv.1). 

He distinguishes between the four Gospels and insists upon their Apostolic origin as accrediting their authority (De praescriptione, xxxvi; Adv. Marcionem, iv.1–5); in trying to account for Marcion's treatment of the Lucan Gospel and the Pauline writings, he sarcastically queries whether the "shipmaster from Pontus" (Marcion) had ever been guilty of taking on contraband goods or tampering with them after they were aboard (Adv. Marcionem, v.1).

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

After Flying Bishops, We Now Have Sailing Nuns From The Rooster Church, Da Nang, Vietnam.

This Article can be found on NAVY.mil, the official website of the United States Navy, 

at http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=147520

The purpose of the above website is to provide information and news about the United States Navy to the general public.

130424-N-YU572-003 DA NANG, Vietnam (April 23, 2013) Cmdr. Justin Orlich, commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), gives a tour of the ship to nuns from the Con Ga Church in Da Nang, Vietnam. 

Chung-Hoon is currently supporting a Naval Exchange Activity (NEA) in Da Nang. The NEA provides opportunities for U.S. and Vietnamese naval professionals to share best practices and exchange maritime skills. 

Maritime skill exchanges between the two navies are non-combatant events, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, medical training, fire-fighting and damage control, search and rescue, diving and salvage, sports and community service projects. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jay C. Pugh/Released).

Da Nang Cathedral, otherwise known as the "Chicken Church" 

(or "Rooster Church") (Nhà thờ Con Gà).

[Editor: See the Rooster atop the Spire.]

Photo: 30 January 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Dragfyre.

(Wikimedia Commons)

A view outside Da Nang Cathedral, Vietnam, during a Tet service.

[Editor: This is the Con Ga Church (Rooster Church), mentioned, above. 

Isn't it good to see a Church full to overflowing, 

with the congregation having to sit outside.]

Photo: 30 January 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Dragfyre.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The front of Da Nang Cathedral, Vietnam, during a pre-Tet service.

Photo: 30 January 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Dragfyre.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text can be found on the LONELY PLANET WEBSITE.

Known to locals as Con Ga Church (Rooster Church) because of the weathercock on top of the steeple, the candy-pink Da Nang Cathedral was built for the city’s French residents in 1923. Today, it serves a Catholic community of 4000 – it’s standing room only if you arrive late.

The following Text can be found on the VISIT-MEKONG.COM website.

Mass is held from Monday to Saturday at 05:00 and at 17:30, and on Sunday at 05:00, 06:15, 07:30, 15:30 and at 17:00.