To Commemorate the Victory which arrested, near Belgrade, in 1456, the invading tide of Islam, and which was announced at Rome on 6 August, Pope Callistus III extended The Feast to the whole Church.
It is The Feast of many Churches under The Title of Saint Saviour. This is why Pope Saint Pius X raised it to the Rank of Double of The Second-Class, for it is the old Title of the Cathedral of Rome, Saint John Lateran, formerly called the Basilica of Saint Saviour (Feast Day 9 November).
Mass: Illuxérunt. Commemoration: (In Low Masses). The Holy Martyrs, Pope Saint Sixtus II, Saint Felicissimus, and Saint Agapitus. Creed: Is said. Preface: Of The Nativity.
“Our Lady of The Snows” is an old name for Saint Mary Major, a Church that is a Major Papal Basilica in Rome and the biggest Marian Shrine of ancient Christianity, being originally constructed by Pope Liberius around 360 A.D.
It was embellished with beautiful mosaics of Mary and Christ in commemoration of The Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. There, in the presence of The Papal Legate, Catholic Orthodoxy triumphed over heresy in the great cry of dogmatic Faith, “Holy Mary Mother of God” – Theotokos.
Thus, the second part of The Hail Mary, wherein we say: “Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for us sinners”, is a sign of universal Catholic Unity of The East and The West, sanctioned and affirmed by Papal authority. The Vicar of Christ is truly Mary’s son.
But, in The Liturgical Rite of a Marian Feast that celebrates the building of a great Church in Mary’s honour, we are also given a sign of Catholic Orthodoxy and authenticity.
Firstly, the whole meaning of Mary is to bring mankind, Soul and body to Christ, and to mould mankind anew in Christ’s image. This continuation and repetition of The Incarnation has its place, its instruments, and its doctrine, in every Catholic Church.
Secondly, nearly every Marian Apparition is culminated by a Church, so that, under the impulse of Marian Devotion, the work of The Incarnation may continue in the most perfect Catholic Sacramental and Doctrinal Orthodoxy. Thus, Guadalupe, Lourdes, La Salette, Pontmain, and Fatima, have Marian Churches explicitly requested by Our Lady to continue Her vital function of bringing mankind, Soul and body to Christ. Wherever Mary appears, there appears Christ in all His Glory, Sacramental Presence and Teaching.
Thus, we see two important qualities of Marian Devotion: It is Doctrinal, and it is Priestly.
Doctrinal, because to know Mary is to know Christ; but, to know Christ, is to acknowledge and affirm His Divinity.
Priestly, because to know and love Christ is to join oneself whole and entire to His Sacrifice, continued and applied in The Seven Sacraments. Thus, The Catholic Church, in Priest and people, Worship The Triune God in a Divine Liturgy which takes place in the Sacred space of a Consecrated Church under the guidance and patronage of The Mother of God.
This ethos of a Consecrated Church requires the concourse of The Catholic Hierarchy through the Bishop as the head of The Catholic Clergy. And, with this concourse of Clergy, the Teaching of authentic Catholic Doctrine, in solid Orthodoxy and Unity in time and space with Rome and the Tradition of The Apostles, is guaranteed. This Theology is most clear in Saint Mary Major.
It is impossible to restore all things in Christ without recourse to Mary. And this recourse to Mary, in the latter times, will have its power by the Marian movement nourished by the Marian Shrines.
Doesn't the special promise of Our Blessed Mother concerning Portugal, and assuring that “the Dogma of The Faith will be preserved there”, mean that Marian Devotion, which introduces to the perfect knowledge of Christ, will survive all storms ?
It is a sign of hope that one day God will restore through it the glory of His Son and His Mother, especially in Russia, and to Saint Mary Major in Rome.
This Church was built at Rome, on Mount Esquiline, in the 4th-Century A.D., during the Pontificate of Pope Liberius. In The Middle Ages, a graceful and popular Tradition ascribed its Foundation to a noble Patrician, who, having been favoured with a vision of Our Lady, caused the Church to be built on a spot covered by a miraculous fall of snow.
This Sanctuary was rebuilt in the following Century and Dedicated, by Pope Sixtus III, in 432 A.D., to Mary, whom The Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.), had just proclaimed The Mother of God. The mosaics of The Triumphal Arch glorify this Divine Maternity, and the representations of the two Cities, of Bethlehem and Jerusalem, recall The Birth of Christ in The City of David, and that of The Church in The Cenacle of The Last Supper. These mosaics were restored in 1931-1934. The Basilica is also called Saint Mary of The Crib, because portions of The Crib are preserved here.
Saint Mary's, called "Major" because it is the largest and most important of the Churches Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin, is a Patriarchal Basilica. The great Nave is formed by two rows of forty-four Columns of White Marble and the Ceiling is covered with the first Gold brought from America.
In this Church, whose Dedication is Solemnised on this day, takes place many Celebrations, including: The inauguration of The Liturgical Year on The First Sunday in Advent; the Stations at Christmas; the Feast of Saint John; at Easter; on Rogation Monday; and on all Wednesdays in Ember Weeks.
Mass: Salve Sancta Parens. The Creed: Is said. Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin: “Et te in Festivitáte”.
"The Miracle of The Snow",
by Masolino da Panicale.
Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary observe Pope Liberius,
who marks in the legendary snowfall the outline of the Basilica.
Artist: Masolino da Panicale (1383-1440).
Date: 15th-Century.
Current location: Galleria Nazionale d9i Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Source: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Dedication Of The Basilica Of Our Lady Of The Snow.
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.
The Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, previously known as Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of The Church of Our Lady of The Snow) is a Liturgical Feast Celebrated on 5 August in The Latin Form of The Catholic Church.
In The Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, it has the Rank of Optional Memorial, and, in The General Roman Calendar of 1962, it is a Third-Class Feast. It Commemorates the Dedication of the restored Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, by Pope Sixtus III, just after The First Council of Ephesus.
This Major Basilica, located on the summit of The Esquiline Hill, in Rome, Italy, is called the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Latin: Sancta Mariae Majoris) because it is the largest Church in Rome that is Dedicated to The Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Church was built during the Pontificate of Pope Liberius and is sometimes known as the "Basilica Liberii" or "Liberian Basilica".
Pope Pius V inserted this Feast into The General Roman Calendar in 1568, when, in response to the request of The Council of Trent, he reformed The Roman Breviary. Before that, it had been Celebrated at first only in the Church, itself, and, beginning in the 14th-Century, in all the Churches of the City of Rome.
Thus, it appears in The Tridentine Calendar for Celebration as a Double. In Pope Clement VIII's Missal of 1604, it was given the newly-invented Rank of Greater-Double. In Pope Saint John XXIII's Classification, it became a Third-Class Feast. This 1960 Calendar, included in the 1962 Edition of The Roman Missal, is the Calendar whose private and continued use, under certain conditions publicly, is authorised by the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum". Nine years later, The Celebration became an Optional Memorial.
Until 1969, The Feast was known as Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae ad Nives (Dedication of The Church of Our Lady of The Snow), a name that had become popular for the Basilica in the 14th-Century, in connection with a legend about its origin. That The Catholic Encyclopedia summarises: "During the Pontificate of Liberius, the Roman Patrician, John, and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to The Virgin Mary.
They Prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman Summer, snow fell during the night on the summit of The Esquiline Hill.
In obedience to a vision of The Virgin Mary, which they had the same night, the couple built a Basilica in honour of Mary, on the very spot which was covered by snow.
English: Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Rome.
Deutsch: Rom. Basilika Santa Mario Maggiore, Innenansicht.
No Catholic Church can be honoured with the Title of Basilica unless by Apostolic Grant, or from Immemorial Custom. Saint Mary Major is one of only four Basilicas that, today, hold the Title of Major Basilica.
The other three Basilicas are Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter's and Saint Paul-outside-the-Walls. All other Catholic Churches that, either by Grant of the Pope or by Immemorial Custom, hold the Title of Basilica, are Minor Basilicas.
Until 2006, the four Major Basilicas, together with the Basilica of Saint Lawrence-outside-the-Walls, were referred to as the five "Patriarchal Basilicas" of Rome, associated with the five ancient Patriarchal Sees of Christendom (see Pentarchy). Saint Mary Major was associated with the Patriarchate of Antioch. In the same year (2006), the Title of "Patriarchal" was also removed from the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi.
The former five Patriarchal Basilicas, with the Basilica of The Holy Cross in Jerusalem and San Sebastian-outside-the-Walls, formed the Traditional Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, which are visited by Pilgrims to Rome and who are following the twenty kilometres (twelve miles) itinerary, established by Saint Philip Blacks on 25 February 1552, especially when seeking The Plenary Indulgence in Holy Years. For The Great Jubilee of 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II replaced Saint Sebastian's Church with The Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love.
The Church of France was ravaged by the heresy of The Albigenses, who, not satisfied with teaching false Doctrine, pillaged the Churches and massacred the Priests. In 1215, Pope Innocent III saw in a dream the tottering walls of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome, held up by the powerful shoulders of a Friar. This Friar was Saint Dominic, whose Preaching defended Catholic Doctrine against the new heresies (Epistle).
Before his birth, his mother saw in a vision, her child in the shape of a little dog, holding a lighted beacon in its mouth, which was "To Set The World On Fire".
Called "Dominic", because his parents attributed his birth to the Prayers of the Holy Benedictine Abbot, Dominic of Silos, he truly belonged to The Lord, as his name suggests.
Born in Spain, of the noble family of Gusman, he distinguished himself by his purity, as is signified by the Lily That he holds (Alleluia) and his White Habit.
Having witnessed many evils caused by the heretics in the South of France, he Founded, opposed to them, The Order of The Friars Preachers (Communion), whom he armed with The Shield of Truth, to teach Doctrine, and The Sword of The Word, to Preach it.
The Dominicans number many Saints of both sexes, who, like their Founder, ardently studied The Word of God in the Gospel, which, as Saint Dominic says, is The Book of Truth and The Book of Charity.
[The Order of The Friars Preachers (O.P.) has given to The Church, as at 1945: Four Popes (Blessed Innocent V, Saint Pius V, Benedict XI, Benedict XIII); Numerous Cardinals, Bishops, Doctors, Preachers and illustrious writers. It numbers eleven Saints and four female Saints, Beatified 268 men and twenty-four Beatified women and 300 Martyrs. The Census of The Order, in 1935, showed there were 6,000 Friars. The Dominican Nuns in The Second Order, and in The Third Order Regular, amount to 40,000.]
This Saint loved Our Lady in a special manner and Preached The Devotion to The Rosary. He died on 6 August 1221.
“Your Prayers would naturally be very much appreciated. As a Priest, I am well familiar with The Truths of our Faith concerning the last things of Death, Judgement, Hell, and Heaven, but the end of life here below is a trial for which none may presume on being fully prepared to face.
“I will offer up my sufferings; for you, my dear family and friends, in reparation for my sins, and in union with our dear Saviour’s redeeming Sacrifice on The Cross.
“My apologies if I do not get to say “Goodbye” personally, but, as Saint Thomas More said: “Pray for me, as I will for thee,
The Church Solemnises on 26 December The Feast of Saint Stephen, and, on 2 January, The Octave of this Saint. She holds The Station on Passion Friday in the Church Dedicated to Saint Stephen, on Mount Coelius, at Rome.
On 10 August, she will Celebrate The Feast of Saint Laurence, whose "Remains, more precious," say the writers of The First Centuries A.D., "than Gold and Precious Stones", are with those of The Deacon Stephen, which had been Translated from Palestine to the Capital of The Christian World.
Today's Mass Commemorates the miraculous finding by a Priest of these Relics at Kapher-Gamala, Israel, on 5 December 415 A.D. (Collect).
Except The Collect, it is the same as that on 26 December, the date of the Translation of these remains from Kapher-Gamala to Jerusalem. For Gamaliel, the teacher of Saint Paul, so much esteemed among the Doctors of Israel, that, at his death, it was declared that "the glory of Israel had disappeared", had buried twenty miles from that Town, at his Country House, the Holy Martyr Stephen, Nicodemus, and his own son, Abibas. He, himself, was buried there. These precious Relics, long ignored, were miraculously discovered and wrought numerous cures.
The Introit and the Epistle recall how Stephen, filled with The Holy Ghost, convicted the Jews of error, and how they, hating Christ as their father hated Him (Gospel), seized Stephen and stoned him to death.
Let us honour Saint Stephen, and, imitating his Prayers for his Persecutors (Epistle, Communion), let us learn by his example to love our enemies (Collect).
Mass: As on The Feast of Saint Stephen, 26 December, except one word in The Collect; "inventionem", instead of "natalitia". We Celebrate "the finding of his body" instead of "his birthday to immortality".
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, unless stated otherwise.
Saint Stephen I. Pope and Martyr. Feast Day 2 August.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
Pope Saint Stephen I.
Date: 3rd-Century A.D.
Source: http://cckswong.tripod.com/
pope1_50.htm ("Pope's Photo Gallery").
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Of Roman birth, Saint Stephen I governed The Church under The Emperors Valerian and Gallienus. In spite of the most violent Persecutions, he regularly Celebrated The Holy Mysteries and held Councils in The Crypts of The Martyrs.
He forbade the re-Christening of Christians who had been Baptised by Heretics. In 257 A.D., towards the end of Mass that he was saying, he was surprised by the Persecutors and beheaded while he sat on his Pontifical Chair.
Mass: Sacerdótes ejus.
The following Text is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopædia.
Pope Stephen I (Latin: Stephanus I; died 2 August 257 A.D.) was The Bishop of Rome from 12 May 254 A.D. to his death in 257 A.D. Of Roman birth, but of Greek ancestry, he became Bishop after serving as Arch-Deacon of Pope Lucius I, who appointed Stephen his successor.
The controversy arose in the context of a broad Pastoral problem. During The Decian Persecution, some Christians had purchased certificates attesting that they had made the requisite sacrifices to the Roman gods. Others had denied they were Christians, while yet others had, in fact, taken part in pagan sacrifices. These people were called "lapsi". The question arose that, if they later repented, could they be re-admitted to communion with The Church, and, if so, under what conditions.
Stephen held that Converts, who had been Baptised by splinter groups, did not need re-Baptism, while Cyprian, and certain Bishops of The Roman province of Africa, held re-Baptism necessary for admission to The Eucharist. Stephen's view eventually won broad acceptance in The Latin Church. However, in The Eastern Churches, this issue is still debated.
He is also mentioned as having insisted on the restoration of The Bishops of León and Astorga, who had been deposed for unfaithfulness during The Persecution, but afterwards had repented.
The Depositio Episcoporum, of 354 A.D., does not speak of Pope Stephen I as a Martyr and he is not Celebrated as such by The Catholic Church, in spite of the account in The Golden Legend, that, in 257 A.D., Emperor Valerian resumed the Persecution of Christians, and Stephen was sitting on his Pontifical Throne, Celebrating Mass for his Congregation, when The Emperor's men came and beheaded him on 2 August 257 A.D. As late as the 18th-Century, what was said to be the Chair, that Stephen was sitting on when executed, was preserved, still stained with blood.
The Revision of The Calendar in 1969 removed the mention of Saint Stephen I from The General Roman Calendar, but, according to The General Instruction of The Roman Missal, the 2 August Mass may now everywhere be that of Saint Stephen I, unless in some locality an Obligatory Celebration is assigned to that day, and some continue to use pre-1969 Calendars that mention a Commemoration of Saint Stephen I on that day.
Yesterday, we admired, in Peter and The Machabees, the substructure of the Palace built by Wisdom in time to endure for Eternity. Today, in conformity with The Divine Ways of that Wisdom, who in her playing reaches from end to end, we are suffered to contemplate the progress of the glorious building, to behold the summit of the work, the last row of stones actually laid.
Now, summit and foundation, the work is all one; the materials are all priceless: Witness the diamond of fine water which displays its lustre today.
To this great Saint, great both in works and doctrine, are directly applied these words of The Holy Ghost: “They that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all Eternity”. At the time he appeared, an odious sect was denying The Mercy and The Sweetness of our Heavenly Father; it triumphed in the practical conduct of even those who were shocked by its Calvinistic theories.
Under pretext of a reaction against an imaginary school of laxity, and denouncing with much ado some erroneous propositions made by obscure persons, the new Pharisees had set themselves up as zealous for the Law.
Stretching The Commandments, and exaggerating the sanction, they loaded the conscience with the same unbearable burdens which The Man-God reproached the ancient Pharisees with laying on the shoulders of men; but the cry of alarm they had raised in the name of endangered morals had, none-the-less, deceived the simple, and ended by misleading even the best. Thanks to the show of austerity, displayed by its adherents,Jansenism, so clever in veiling its teachings, had too well succeeded in its designs of forcing itself upon The Church in spite of The Church.
Unsuspecting allies within The Holy City gave up to its mercy the sources of Salvation. Soon, in too many places, The Sacred Keys were used to open Hell; The Holy Table, spread for the preservation and increase of life in all, became accessible only to the perfect; and these latter were esteemed such, according as, by a strange reversion of The Apostle's words, they subjected The Spirit of Adoption of Sons to The Spirit of Servitude and Fear.
As to The Faithful, who did not rise to the height of this new asceticism, “finding in the tribunal of Penance, instead of fathers and physicians, only exactors and executioners,” they had but to choose between despair and indifference.
Everywhere, legislatures and parliaments lent a hand to the so-called reformers, without heeding the flood of odious unbelief that was rising around them, without seeing the gathering storm-clouds.
In 1696, God raised up Saint Alphonsus. This Neapolitan nobleman, well-known as a barrister, soon renounced his prospects of a brilliant career, to devote himself exclusively to The Service of God, with the sole desire of pleasing Him (Epistle, Offertory).
"The Spirit of The Lord is upon him, Consecrating him, and sending him to preach the Gospel to the Poor" (Introit). "He has been sent from above, to bring the people to Penance" (Alleluia). With that object in view, he Founded The Congregation of The Most Holy Redeemer (Collect), whose Members he sent, following The Saviour's example, into the country, to the towns and villages, to announce The Kingdom of God (Gospel).
[As stated in the 1945 Saint Andrew Daily Missal, The Redemptorists, Founded in 1732 and Approved in 1749, numbered, in 1933, 6,318 Religious. They have three Canonised Saints: Saint Alphonsus, their Founder; Saint Clement-Mary Hofbauer; Saint Gerard Majella, who is justly called "The Wonder Worker", for his Miracles were innumerable.
English: Stained-Glass Windows. Abbey of Saint Stephen, Alsace, France,
depicting Saint Alphonsus Liguori (Left), Saint Joseph (Middle),
The Redemptorists number eight Venerables and twelve Servants of God, whose "Cause" has been introduced at Rome. They have given to The Church several Cardinals and Bishops, and a host of men illustrious by their Preaching and Writings.]
Saint Alphonsus vowed to never to lose a moment of his time and never, in the whole of his life, did he commit a Mortal Sin.
He wrote Religious Works filled with profound learning and piety and is, therefore, honoured by The Church as a Doctor. Emphasising the importance of Prayer in The Divine Plan, he condenses all his Treatise on Grace in one sentence: "He who Prays is saved, he who does not Pray is damned."
Saint Alphonsus was forced to accept the Bishopric of "Saint Agatha of The Goths", near Naples, Italy, He died at the age of 91 in 1787. The Benedictine Pope, Pius VII, commanded three fingers of his Right-Hand to be sent to Rome. "Let them come to Rome," he said, "those Holy Fingers which have written so well for The Glory of God, of The Virgin Mary, and of Religion."
Mass: Spíritus Dómini. Commemoration: Saint Stephen. Pope and Martyr.
