Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista Della Chiesa). Papacy From 1914-1922. (Part Four.)

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

English: Pope Benedict XV, circa 1915.

Français: Photo de Benoît XV prise vers 1915.

Photo: Circa 1915.

Source: Library of Congress.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Vatican also rejected the dissolution of Austria–Hungary, seeing in this step an inevitable and eventual strengthening of Germany. The Vatican also had great reservations about the creation of small successor States, which, in the view of Gasparri, were not viable economically and, therefore, condemned to economic misery.

Pope Benedict XV rejected the League of Nations as a secular organisation that was not built on Christian values. On the other hand, he also condemned European nationalism that was rampant in the 1920s and asked for "European Unification" in his 1920 Encyclical Pacem Dei Munus.

English: Arms of pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa). Party per bend azure and or,

a Church, the Tower at Sinister, argent, essorée gules, the Tower-Cross of the second,

in Chief or, a demi-eagle displayed issuant sable, langued gules. This blazoning, given in 1915,

differs from the image shown here: (a) the eagle's tongue should be red, (b) the Church Tower

should have a gold Cross, instead of a black flag.

Français: Armoiries du pape Benoît XV : Tranché d'azur et d'or à l'église d'argent couverte de gueules brochant sur le tout, au chef d'or à l'aigle issant de sable.

Source du blasonnement : http://www.araldicavaticana.com/pbenedetto15.htm

Date: 11 August 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Odejea.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Pope was also disturbed by the Communist Revolution in Russia. The Pope reacted with horror to the strongly-anti-religious policies adopted by Vladimir Lenin's government, along with the bloodshed and widespread famine which occurred during the subsequent Russian Civil War. He undertook the greatest efforts trying to help the victims of the Russian famine. Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, concerns were raised in the Vatican about the safety and future of Catholics in the Holy Land.

In the Post-War period, Pope Benedict XV was involved in developing the Church administration to deal with the new international system that had emerged. The Papacy was faced with the emergence of numerous new States, such as Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, and others.

Germany, France, Italy and Austria were impoverished from the war. In addition, the traditional social and cultural European Order was threatened by Right-Wing Nationalism and Fascism, as well as Left-Wing Socialism and Communism, all of which potentially threatened the existence and freedom of the Church. To deal with these and related issues, Benedict engaged in what he knew best, a large-scale Diplomatic Offensive to secure the Rights of the Faithful in all countries.

English: Pope Benedict XV,

as Cardinal Della Chiesa.

Deutsch: Papst Benedikt XV. als Kardinal.

Date: 1914.

Source: Benedikt XV.

Author: Anton de Waal, 1915.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Leo XIII had already agreed to the participation of Catholics in Local, but not National, Politics. Relations with Italy improved under Pope Benedict XV, who, de facto, reversed the stiff anti-Italian policy of his predecessors by allowing Catholics to participate in national elections. This led to growth of the Partito Popolare Italiano, under Luigi Sturzo.

Anti-Catholic politicians were gradually replaced by persons who were neutral, or even sympathetic, to the Catholic Church. The King of Italy gave signals of his desire for better relations, when, for example, he sent personal condolences to the Pontiff on the death of his brother. The working conditions for Vatican Staff greatly improved and feelers were extended on both sides to solve the Roman Question. Pope Benedict XV strongly supported a solution and seemed to have had a fairly pragmatic view of the political and social situation in Italy at this time. Thus, while numerous traditional Catholics opposed voting rights for women, the Pope was in favour, arguing that, unlike the feminist protagonists, most women would vote conservative and thus support traditional Catholic positions.

English: Joan of Arc enters Orléans (painting by J.J. Sherer, 1887).

Joan was Canonised by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.

Français: Entree de Jeanne d'Arc à Orléans,

1887, Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts.

Source: http://www.dhm.de/ausstellungen/mythen/english/f12.html

Author: Jean-Jacques Scherrer.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Benedict XV attempted to improve relations with the anti-clerical Republican government of France. He Canonised the French national heroine, Saint Joan of Arc. In the mission territories of the Third World, he emphasised the necessity of training native Priests to quickly replace the European missionaries, and founded the Pontifical Oriental Institute and the Coptic College in the Vatican. France re-established diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1921.

The end of the war caused the revolutionary development, which Benedict XV had foreseen in his first Encyclical. With the Russian Revolution, the Vatican was faced with a new, so far unknown, situation.

Relations with Russia changed drastically for a second reason. The Baltic States and Poland gained their independence from Russia after World War I, thus enabling a relatively free Church life in those former Russian countries. Estonia was the first country to look for Vatican ties. On 11 April 1919, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri informed the Estonian authorities that the Vatican would agree to have diplomatic relations. A Concordat was agreed upon in principle a year later in June 1920. It was signed on 30 May 1922. It guaranteed freedom for the Catholic Church, established Archdioceses, liberated Clergy from military service, allowed the creation of Seminaries and Catholic schools and enshrined Church property rights and immunity.

Copyright-expired-photo of Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII),

in 1917, delivering Papal gifts, from Pope Benedict XV, to Italian Prisoners-of-War.

Source: Pascalina Lehnert.

Author: Feuerreiter.

(Wikipedia)

Relations with Catholic Lithuania were slightly more complicated because of the Polish occupation of Vilnius, a City and Arch-Episcopal Seat, which Lithuania claimed as its own. Polish forces had occupied Vilnius and committed acts of brutality in its Catholic Seminary. This generated several protests by Lithuania to the Holy See. Relations with the Holy See were defined during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI (1922–1939).

Before all other Heads of State, Pope Benedict XV, in October 1918, congratulated the Polish people on their independence. In a Public Letter to Archbishop Kakowski of Warsaw, he remembered their loyalty and the many efforts of the Holy See to assist them. He expressed his hopes that Poland would again take its place in the Family of Nations and continue its history as an educated Christian nation.

In March 1919, he nominated ten new Bishops and, soon after, Achille Ratti as Papal Nuncio, who was already in Warsaw as his representative. He repeatedly cautioned Polish authorities against persecuting Lithuanian and Ruthenian Clergy.

Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Gasparri,

who helped Pope Benedict XV with creating the

new Code of Canon Law in 1917.

Summary: Foto mdel Cardinal Gasparri da nl.wiki

(Wikimedia Commons)

During the Bolshevik advance against Warsaw, he asked for world-wide public Prayers for Poland. Nuncio Ratti was the only foreign diplomat to stay in the Polish Capital. On 11 June 1921, Pope Pius XV wrote to the Polish Episcopate, warning against political mis-uses of spiritual power, urging them again for peaceful co-existence with neighbouring peoples, stating that “love of Country has its limits in justice and obligations.” He sent Nuncio Ratti to Silesia, to act against potential political agitations of the Catholic Clergy.

PART FIVE FOLLOWS.

Pope Saint Pius I. Martyr. Feast Day 11 July.

Text taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states the Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal
(unless otherwise stated) with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

Pope Saint Pius I.
Martyr.
Feast Day 11 July.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Pope Saint Pius I.

Source: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/pope0010.htm

This File: 18 August 2012.

User: File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske).

Comment: Transfered from en.wikipedia by

User:Gikü using CommonsHelper.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Cycle makes us honour, today, a Saint whom "God anointed with His Holy Oil" (Gradual) and whom He invested with the fulness of His Priesthood (Introit, Alleluia) by raising him to the Pontifical Throne after Saint Hyginus in 142 A.D., (others say in 167 A.D.).

He prescribed that the Feast of the Resurrection should only be kept on a Sunday, which, thenceforth, became the Chief of all Sundays.

Pope Saint Pius I established a Baptistry in the house which Saint Pudentiana and Saint Praxedes had placed at his disposal, and where their father, the Senator Pudens, had already received Saint Peter.

Saint Pius I transformed into a Titular Church the adjoining Baths of Novatus, where is held the Station on the Tuesday in the third week of Lent. On account of the stay of the First Sovereign Pontiff, he dedicated it under the Title of Pastor,

To fulfil his Office of Good Shepherd, he feared not to renounce his own life (Gospel), and endured many hardships, which hastened his end, for his Sheep and for Christ, the Supreme Pastor [Third Lesson at Matins]. 

He received, at the same time as the Crown of Martyrdom, the Crown of Life that God has promised to those who love Him (Epistle), and was buried in 150 A.D., on the Vatican.

Mass of a Martyr: Statuit.

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

Pope Saint Pius I (died circa 154 A.D.,) was the Bishop of Rome from circa 140 A.D., to his death circa 154 A.D., according to the Annuario Pontificio.

Pope Saint Pius I is believed to have been born at Aquileia, in Northern Italy, during the Late-1st-Century. His father was called "Rufinus", who was also said to be of Aquileia, according to the Liber Pontificalis.

It is stated in the 2nd-Century Muratorian Canon, as well as in the Liberian Catalogue, that he was the brother of Hermas, author of the text known as The Shepherd of Hermas. The writer of that text identifies himself as a former slave. This has led to speculation that both Hermas and Pius were freedmen.

Saint Pius I governed the Church in the middle of the 2nd-Century, during the reigns of the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He was the ninth successor of Saint Peter. He decreed that Easter should only be kept on a Sunday. Although being credited with ordering the publication of the Liber Pontificalis, compilation of that document was not started before the beginning of the 6th-Century. He is said to have built one of the oldest Churches in Rome, Santa Pudenziana.

Saint Pius I endured many hardships during his reign. The fact that Saint Justin taught Christian Doctrine in Rome, during the Pontificate of Saint Pius I, and that the Heretics Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion visited Rome at the same time, is an argument for the Primacy of the Roman See during the 2nd-Century. Pope Saint Pius I opposed the Valentinians and Gnostics, under Marcion, whom he excommunicated.

The Seven Martyred Brothers And Saint Rufina And Saint Secunda, Virgins And Martyrs. Feast Day 10 July.

Text taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states the Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal
(unless otherwise stated) with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

The Seven Martyred Brothers
      And Saint Rufina And Saint Secunda,
      Virgins And Martyrs.
Feast Day 10 July.

Semi-Double.

Red Vestments.

The Seven Brothers (Seven Sons of Saint Felicitas of Rome).

Date: 14th-Century.

Source: http://saints.bestlatin.net/gallery/7brothers_bnfms.htm

Author: Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church, celebrating today the triumph of The Seven Sons of Saint Felicitas (Feast Day 23 November), who were Martyred under their mother's eyes, praises this courageous woman (Epistle, who, by exhorting them to die, "was herself victorious in all of them" [Sixth Lesson at Matins: Sermon of Saint Augustine].

She extended her maternity to the Souls of her children by making them accomplish the will of God (Gospel, Communion). They died in 150 A.D., under the Emperor Antoninus.

A Century later, Rufina and Secunda, sisters by birth, became doubly so by mixing their blood at the same execution, rather than lose the Virginity they had Consecrated to Jesus, their Spouse. They were Martyred at Rome, under the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in 257 A.D.

Mass: Laudate, pueri.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclpaedia.

Saint Felicitas (also known as Felicity) is said to have been a rich and pious Christian widow, who had seven sons. She devoted herself to charitable work and converted many to the Christian Faith by her example.

This aroused the wrath of pagan priests, who lodged a complaint against her with Emperor Marcus Aurelius. These priests asserted the fire of the gods and demanded sacrifice from Felicitas and her children. The Emperor acquiesced to their demand and Felicitas was brought before Publius, the Prefect of Rome. Taking Felicitas aside, he used various pleas and threats in an unsuccessful attempt to get her to worship the pagan gods. He was equally unsuccessful with her seven sons, who followed their mother's example.

Before the Prefect Publius, they adhered firmly to their religion, and were delivered over to four judges, who condemned them to various modes of death. The division of the Martyrs among four judges corresponds to the four places of their burial. She implored God only that she be not killed before her sons, so that she might be able to encourage them during their torture and death, in order that they would not deny Christ.

According to God's Providence, it so happened. With joy, this wonderful mother accompanied her sons, one by one, until she had witnessed the death of all seven sons. We are not entirely sure as to how each of them died, but it is said that Januarius, the eldest, was scourged to death; Felix and Philip were beaten with clubs until they expired; Silvanus was thrown headlong down a precipice; and the three youngest, Alexander, Vitalis and Martialis were beheaded.

After each execution, she was given the chance to denounce her Faith. She refused to act against her conscience and so she, too, suffered Martyrdom. Certain communities around the United States still celebrate San Marziale (Saint Martialis/Saint Marshall) with a San Marziale Festival, typically held on 10 July or near that date. Celebrations have been held in Philadelphia and Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

She was buried in the Catacomb of Maximus, on the Via Salaria, beside Saint Silvanus. It is said that she died eight times. Once with each of her sons, and finally her own.

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Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista Della Chiesa). Papacy From 1914-1922. (Part Three.)

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

English: Pope Benedict XV, circa 1915.

Français: Photo de Benoît XV prise vers 1915.

Photo: Circa 1915.

Source: Library of Congress.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Benedict XV's Pontificate was dominated by World War I, which he termed, along with its turbulent aftermath, "the suicide of Europe." Benedict's first Encyclical extended a heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities. His early call for a Christmas Truce, in 1914, was ignored.

The war and its consequences were Benedict's main focus during the early years of his Pontificate. He declared the neutrality of the Holy See and attempted, from that perspective, to mediate peace in 1916 and 1917. Both sides rejected his initiatives.

The national antagonisms between the warring parties were accentuated by religious differences before the war, with France, Italy and Belgium being largely Catholic. Vatican relations with Great Britain were good, while neither Prussia nor Imperial Germany had any official relations with the Vatican. In Protestant circles of Germany, the notion was popular that the Roman Catholic Pope was neutral on paper only, strongly favouring the Allies, instead.

Pope Benedict XV appointed Eugenio Pacelli (future Pope Pius XII) as Papal Nuncio to Bavaria on 23 April 1917, Consecrating him as Titular Bishop of Sardis, and immediately Elevating him to Archbishop in the Sistine Chapel, on 13 May 1917, the very day Our Lady of Fatima is believed to have first appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/gs4LwJHRjco.

Pope Benedict XV was said to have prompted Austria–Hungary to go to war in order to weaken the German war machine. Allegedly, however, the Papal Nuncio in Paris explained in a meeting of the Institut Catholique, "to fight against France is to fight against God," and the Pope was said to have exclaimed that he was sorry not to be a Frenchman. The Belgian Cardinal, Désiré-Joseph Mercier, known as a brave patriot during German occupation, but also famous for his anti-German propaganda, was said to have been favoured by Benedict XV for his enmity to the German cause. (After the war, Benedict also allegedly praised the Treaty of Versailles, which humiliated the Germans.)

These allegations were rejected by the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Gasparri, who wrote on 4 March 1916 that the Holy See is completely impartial and does not favour the allied side. This was even more important, so Gasparri noted, after the diplomatic representatives of Germany and Austria–Hungary to the Vatican were expelled from Rome by Italian authorities. However, considering all this, German Protestants rejected any "Papal Peace", stating it as insulting. French politician Georges Clemenceau, a fierce anti-Clerical, claimed to regard the Vatican initiative as anti-French. Benedict made many unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace, but these pleas for a negotiated peace made him unpopular, even in Catholic countries like Italy, among many supporters of the war who were determined to accept nothing less than total victory.

On 1 August 1917, Benedict issued a Seven Point Peace Plan stating that (1) "the moral force of right . . . be substituted for the material force of arms," (2) there must be "simultaneous and reciprocal diminution of armaments," (3) a mechanism for "international arbitration" must be established," (4) "true liberty and common rights over the sea" should exist, (5) there should be a "renunciation of war indemnities," (6) occupied territories should be evacuated, and (7) there should be "an examination . . . of rival claims."

The Call to Fatima:

Request of Pope Benedict XV to Our Lady.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/EQ9CaYU3suM.

Great Britain reacted favourably, but United States President, Woodrow Wilson, rejected the Plan. Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary were also favourable, but Germany replied ambiguously. Pope Benedict XV also called for outlawing Conscription, a call he repeated in 1921. Some of the proposals eventually were included in Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points Call For Peace, in January 1918.

In Europe, each side saw him as biased in favour of the other and was unwilling to accept the terms he proposed. Still, although unsuccessful, his diplomatic efforts during the war are attributed to an increase of Papal prestige and served as a model in the 20th-Century to the peace efforts of Pope Pius XII before, and during, World War II, the policies of Pope Paul VI during the Vietnam War, and the position of Pope Saint John Paul II before, and during, the War in Iraq.

Almost from the beginning of the war, November 1914, Pope Benedict negotiated with the warring parties about an exchange of wounded, and other Prisoners of War, who were unable to continue fighting. Tens of thousands of such prisoners were exchanged through the intervention of Pope Benedict XV. On 15 January 1915, the Pope proposed an Exchange of Civilians from the Occupied Zones, which resulted in 20,000 persons being sent to unoccupied Southern France in one month.

 

Saint Joan of Arc Church,

Mobile, Alabama,

United States of America.

Image: MAID OF HEAVEN

In 1916, the Pope managed to hammer out an agreement between both sides, by which 29,000 prisoners, with lung disease from the gas attacks, could be sent into Switzerland. In May 1918, he also reached agreement that prisoners on both sides, with at least 18 months of captivity and four children at home, would also be sent to neutral Switzerland.

He succeeded, in 1915, in reaching an agreement by which the warring parties promised not to let Prisoners of War (POWs) work on Sundays and holidays. Several individuals on both sides were spared the death penalty after his intervention. Hostages were exchanged and corpses repatriated. The Pope founded the Opera dei Prigionieri to assist in distributing information on prisoners. By the end of the war, some 600,000 items of correspondence were processed. Almost a third of it concerned Missing Persons. Some 40,000 people had asked for help in the repatriation of sick POWs and 50,000 letters were sent from families to their loved ones who were POWs.

Both during and after the war, Benedict was primarily concerned about the fate of the children, about which he even issued an Encyclical. In 1916, he appealed to the people and Clergy of the United States to help him feed the starving children in German-occupied Belgium. His aid to children was not limited to Belgium, but extended to children in Lithuania, Poland, Lebanon, Montenegro, Syria and Russia. Pope Benedict was particularly appalled at the new military invention of aerial warfare and protested several times against it, to no avail.

Photo of Joan of Arc's Beatification Ceremony

Saint Peter's Basilica,

The Vatican, 1909.

Image: MAID OF HEAVEN

In May 1915 and June 1915, the Ottoman Empire waged a campaign against the Armenian Christian minorities, which, by some contemporary accounts, looked like genocide, or even a holocaust, in Anatolia. The Vatican attempted to get Germany and Austria–Hungary involved in protesting to its Turkish ally. The Pope sent a personal letter to the Sultan, who was also Caliph of Islam. It had no success, “as over a million Armenians died, either killed outright by the Turks, or as a result of maltreatment or from starvation."

At the time, however, the anti-Vatican resentment, combined with Italian diplomatic moves to isolate the Vatican, in light of the unresolved Roman Question, contributed to the exclusion of the Vatican from the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (although it was also part of a historical pattern of political and diplomatic marginalisation of the Papacy, after the loss of the Papal States). Despite this, he wrote an Encyclical pleading for international reconciliation, Pacem, Dei Munus Pulcherrimum. There is a statue, in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, of the Pontiff absorbed in Prayer, kneeling on a tomb which commemorates a fallen soldier of the war, which he described as a "useless massacre."

After the war, Benedict focused the Vatican's activities on overcoming famine and misery in Europe and establishing contacts and relations with the many new States, which were created because of the demise of Imperial Russia, Austria–Hungary and Germany. Large food shipments and information about, as well as contacts with, Prisoners of War were to be the first steps for a better understanding of the Papacy in Europe.

Archbishop della Chiesa

on a Pastoral visit in 1910.

Date: 7 September 2008 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia.

(Original text : Pro Familia).

Author: Pro Familia Milano. Original uploader

was 

Ambrosius007 at en.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

Regarding the Versailles Peace Conference, the Vatican believed that the economic conditions imposed on Germany were too harsh and threatened the European economic stability, as a whole. Cardinal Gasparri believed that the peace conditions and the humiliation of the Germans would likely result in another war, as soon as Germany would be militarily in a position to start one.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

Saint Elizabeth. Queen Of Portugal. Widow. (1271 - 1336). Feast Day 8 July.

Text taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states the Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal
(unless otherwise stated) with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

Saint Elizabeth.
Queen of Portugal.
Widow.
Feast Day 8 July.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal

(Santa Isabel de Portugal),

by Francisco de Zurbarán,

Circa 1635.

Current location: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Source: http://www.museodelprado.es/uploads/tx_gbobras/P01239.jpg

Author: Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church exhorts us, today, to praise God for the Holy Works of Blessed Elizabeth [Invitatory of Matins]. A daughter of Peter II, King of Aragon, she inherited the name and virtues of her Great-Aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.

Her father, seeing her Holiness, used to say that she would surpass all other women of Royal race (Epistle, Communion). She married Denis I, King of Portugal.

She had received the prerogative of re-establishing peace, where there had been divisions, and of mitigating the fury of war (Collect). When she became a widow, she Took the Habit of the Third Order of Saint Francis, distributed her riches and acquired, at this price, the precious pearl and the hidden treasure of Life Everlasting (Gospel).

She died at Estremos, Portugal, in 1336, and her body has remained incorrupt.

Mass: Cognovi.

Stained-Glass Window depicting

Saint Maria Cervelló, Saint Eulália and Saint Elizabeth of Portugal,

the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.

Photo: 10 February 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jbribeiro1.

Attribution: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro / CC-BY-SA-3.0.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Elizabeth of Aragon, more commonly known as Elizabeth of Portugal, (Third Order of Saint Francis, T.O.S.F.) (1271 – 1336); "Elisabet" in Catalan, "Isabel" in Aragonese, Portuguese and Spanish), was Queen Consort of Portugal, a Tertiary of the Franciscan Order and is Venerated as a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

Elizabeth showed an early enthusiasm for her Faith. She said the full Divine Office, daily, Fasted, and did other Penance, as well as attended twice-daily Choral Masses. Religious fervour was common in her family, as she could count several members of her family who were already Venerated as Saints. The most notable example is her Great-Aunt, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, (Third Order of Saint Francis, T.O.S.F.), after whom she was named.

Grace After Meals. Benedictiones Mensae. Post Prandium.

Minnesota State photograph,
"Grace".

Date: 1918.

Source: Photograph by Eric Enstrom,

published in the United States in 1918

(and therefore public domain).

Author: Eric Enstrom.

(Wikimedia Commons)

BENEDICTIONES MENSAE

(PRAYERS AT THE TABLE).

POST PRANDIUM.

(GRACE AFTER MEALS).

Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus,

pro universis beneficiis tuis:

Qui vivis et regnas in secula seculorum.

Amen.

We give Thee thanks, Almighty God,

for all Thy benefits, Who livest and reignest,

World without end.

Amen.

English: Grace before the Meal,

Deutsch: Das Tischgebet.

Source: Alte Nationalgalerie,

Berlin, Germany.

Author: Fritz von Uhde (1848–1911).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Cyril And Saint Methodius. Bishops And Confessors. Feast Day 7 July.

Text taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
which states that Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
1952 Edition, with the kind permission of St. Bonaventure Press.

Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius.
Bishops and Confessors.
Feast Day 7 July.

Double.

White Vestments.

Deutsch: Die beiden Hl. Kyrill und Method.

English: Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Artist: Zahari Zograf (1810–1853)

Date: 1848.

Current location: Deutsch: Kloster Trojan; English: Troyan Monastery, Bulgaria.

Source/Photographer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cyril-methodius-small.jpg

(Wikimedia Commons)

Still filled with a Holy Love for her Apostles, whose Octave she has concluded, the Church celebrates today the Feast of Saint Cyril and of Saint Methodius, "who both promised, under oath, to persevere in the Faith of Blessed Peter and of the Roman Pontiffs," [Fifth Lesson at Matins] and brought innumerable recruits, to Peter, from among the Bulgarians, Moravians and Bohemians [Hymn at First Vespers].

Brothers by blood,, they were born, in the 9th-Century, at Salonica, Greece, and distinguished themselves by their progress in the sciences at Constantinople.

Anointed Bishops, by Pope Adrian II (Introit, Epistle, Alleluia), they converted the Slavonic nations (Collect). To them is attributed the Slav alphabet; into which tongue they translated the Scriptures and celebrated the Sacred Rites.

Saint Cyril died in 869 A.D., and was buried at Rome, near the Relics of Saint Clement, which he had brought from Chersonesus, Crimea.

Saint Methodius died in 885 A.D.

Mass: Sacerdotes tui.

Čeština: Bazilika Nanebevzetí Panny Marie a svatého Cyrila a Metoděje na Velehradě.

English: The Basilica of Assumption of Mary and Saint Cyrillus and Saint Methodius

in Velehrad, Czech Republic.

Date: 20 December 2005.

Source: Originally from cs.wikipedia; description page is/was here.

Author: Original uploader was Cibtom at cs.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

Grace Before Meals. Benedictiones Mensae. Ante Prandium.

Minnesota State photograph,

"Grace".

Date: 1918.

Source: Photograph by Eric Enstrom,

published in the United States in 1918

(and therefore public domain).

Author: Eric Enstrom.

(Wikimedia Commons)

BENEDICTIONES MENSAE

(PRAYERS AT THE TABLE).

ANTE PRANDIUM.

(GRACE BEFORE MEALS).

Benedic, Domine, nos et haec tua dona,

quae de tua largitate summus sumpturi.

Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

Amen.

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts,

which we are about to receive through Thy bounty.

Through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

English: Grace before the Meal,

Deutsch: Das Tischgebet.

Source: Alte Nationalgalerie,

Berlin, Germany.

Author: Fritz von Uhde (1848–1911).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista Della Chiesa). Papacy From 1914-1922. (Part Two.)

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

English: Pope Benedict XV, circa 1915.

Français: Photo de Benoît XV prise vers 1915.

Photo: Circa 1915.

Source: Library of Congress.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

His ambitious mother, Marchesa della Chiesa, is said to have been discontented with the career of her son, cornering Rampolla with the words that, in her opinion, Giacomo was not properly recognised in the Vatican. Rampolla allegedly replied, Signora, your son will take only a few steps, but they will be gigantic ones.

Just after Leo XIII's death in 1903, Rampolla tried to make della Chiesa the Secretary of the Conclave, but the Holy College elected Rafael Merry del Val, a conservative young Prelate, the first sign that Rampolla would not be the next Pope. When Cardinal Rampolla had to leave his post, with the Election of his opponent, Pope Saint Pius X, and was succeeded by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, della Chiesa was retained in his post.

Copyright-expired-photo of Pope Saint Pius X (standing on the left),

on 18 December 1907, Consecrating Giacomo della Chiesa

(sitting in front of the Altar with Mitre and Crosier),

later Pope Benedict XV, in the Vatican.

Source: Vat Photo.

Author: "G. Felici, fotografo papale";

Original uploader was Ambrosius007 at en.wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

However, della Chiesa's association with Rampolla, the architect of Pope Leo XIII's (1878–1903) foreign policy, made his position in the Secretariat of State, under the new Pontificate, somewhat uncomfortable. Italian papers announced that on 15 April 1907, the Papal Nuncio, Aristide Rinaldini, in Madrid, would be replaced by della Chiesa, who had worked there before. Pope Saint Pius X, chuckling over the journalist’s knowledge, commented:  "Unfortunately, the paper forgot to mention whom I nominated as the next Archbishop of Bologna."

On 18 December 1907, in the presence of his family, the Diplomatic Corps, numerous Bishops and Cardinals, and his friend, Rampolla, he received the Episcopal Consecration from Pope Saint Pius X. The Pope donated his own Episcopal Ring and Crosier to the new Bishop and spent much time with the della Chiesa family on the following day.

On 23 February 1908, della Chiesa took possession of his new Dioceses, which included 700,000 persons, 750 Priests, as well as nineteen male and seventy-eight female Religious Institutes. In the Episcopal Seminary, some twenty-five teachers educated 120 students preparing for the Priesthood.

English: Piazza della Madonna with façade of the Basilica at Loreto, Italy.

[Editor: As Archbishop, Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa

organised Pilgrimages to Loreto.]

Italiano: Basilica del Santuario di Loreto.

Photo: 25 July 2006.

Source: http://massimo.roselli.info.

Author: Massimo Roselli.

(Wikimedia Commons)

As Bishop, he visited all Parishes, making a special effort to see the smaller ones in the mountains, which could only be accessed by horse. Della Chiesa always saw Preaching as the main obligation of a Bishop. He usually gave two or more Sermons a day during his visitations. His emphasis was on cleanliness, inside all Churches and Chapels, and on saving money wherever possible, for he said: "Let us save to give to the poor."

A meeting of all Priests in a Synod had to be postponed at the wish of the Vatican considering ongoing changes in Canon Law. Numerous Churches were built or restored. Della Chiesa personally originated a major reform of the educational orientation of the Seminary, adding more science courses and classic education to the curriculum. He organised Pilgrimages to Marian Shrines in Loreto and Lourdes at the 50th anniversary of the apparition in 1908. The unexpected death of his friend, supporter and mentor, Rampolla, on 16 December 1913, was a major blow to Giacomo della Chiesa, who was one of the beneficiaries of his Will.

It was custom that the Archbishop of Bologna would be created Cardinal in one of the coming Consistories. In Bologna, this was surely expected of della Chiesa, as well, since, in previous years, either Cardinals were named as Archbishops, or Archbishops as Cardinals, soon thereafter.

Copyright-expired-photo of Pope Benedict XV in 1914 at his Coronation.

Date: 1914 (7 September 2008 (original upload date)).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia. (Original text : Vatican Cavaliere during coronation).

Author: Cavaliere G. (Original uploader was Ambrosius007 at en.wikipedia).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Saint Pius X did not follow this tradition and left della Chiesa waiting for almost seven years. When a delegation from Bologna visited him, to ask for della Chiesa's promotion to the College of Cardinals, he jokingly replied by making fun of his own family name, Sarto (meaning "tailor"), for he said: "Sorry, but a Sarto has not been found yet to make the Cardinal's Robe." Some suspected that Pope Saint Pius X, or persons close to him, did not want to have two Rampollas in the College of Cardinals. As aforementioned, his friend, Cardinal Rampolla, died 16 December 1913.

On 25 May 1914, della Chiesa was created a Cardinal, becoming Cardinal-Priest of the Titulus Santi Quattro Coronati, which before him was occupied by Pietro Respighi. When the new Cardinal tried to return to Bologna, after the Consistory in Rome, an unrelated Socialist, anti-Monarchic and anti-Catholic uprising began to take place in Central Italy; this was accompanied by a General Strike, the looting and destruction of Churches, telephone connections and railway buildings, and a proclamation of a Secular Republic. In Bologna, itself, citizens and the Catholic Church opposed such developments successfully. The Socialists overwhelmingly won the following Regional Elections with great majorities.

Copyright-expired-photo of Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII),

in 1917, in front of the Imperial German Headquarters

after an audience with Emperor William II.

Source: Pascalina Lehnert.

Author: Feuerreiter.

(Wikimedia Commons)

As World War I approached, the question was hotly discussed in Italy as to which side to be on. Officially, Italy was still in an alliance with Germany and Austria–Hungary. However, in the Tyrol, an integral part of Austria, which was mostly German-speaking, the Southern part, the Province of Trento, was exclusively Italian-speaking. The Clergy of Bologna was not totally free from nationalistic fervour, either. Therefore, in his capacity as Archbishop, on the outbreak of World War I, della Chiesa made a speech on the Church's position and duties, emphasising the need for neutrality, promoting peace and the easing of suffering.

Following the death of Pope Saint Pius X, the resulting Conclave opened at the end of August 1914. The war would clearly be the dominant issue of the new Pontificate, so the Cardinals' priority was to choose a man with great diplomatic experience. Thus, on 3 September 1914, della Chiesa, despite having been a Cardinal only three months, was elected Pope, taking the name of Benedict XV.

He chose the name in honour of Pope Benedict XIV (Papacy 1740-1758), who was from Bologna and was also its Archbishop. Upon being elected Pope, he was also formally the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office and Prefect of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation. There was, however, a Cardinal-Secretary to run these Bodies on a day-to-day basis.

This is a rare photo of the "Salus Populi Romani", Crowned by Pope Pius XII in 1953.

After the renovation, the Crown was deleted and is now in the Museum of the Sacristy of Saint Peter. The picture, today, in Rome, exists therefore only without the Crown.

[Pope Benedict XV supported the Theology of Co-Redemptrix of the Virgin Mary.]

Date: 1960.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ambrosius007.

(Wikipedia)

Due to the enduring Roman Question, after the announcement of his Election to the Papacy by the Cardinal Proto-Deacon, Benedict XV, following in the footsteps of his two most recent predecessors, did not appear at the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica to grant the urbi et orbi Blessing. Pope Benedict XV was Crowned at the Sistine Chapel on 6 September 1914, and, also as a form of protest due to the Roman Question, there was no Ceremony for the formal possession of the Cathedral of Saint John Lateran.

PART THREE FOLLOWS.