Sts Alphius, Philadelphus & Cyrinus (Brother Martyrs) (May 10)

Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus, who were early Christian martyrs (3rd century) Sicilian saints and may be have been brothers. They suffered under Emporer Decius' persecutions. (A.D. 251). They are great revered in Sicily and also among Greek Orthodox.

Our Lady of Pompeii/Our Lady of the Rosary (May 8th)

May 8 is the feastday of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Church reserves a special blessing for a prayer to be said at noon today. The devotion was started by Bl. Bartolomeo Longo, an ex-satanist/pagan who, sorry for his sins, converted to the Catholic Church. The Supplica Prayed at Midday on May 8th

O August Queen of Victories, O Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, at whose name the heavens rejoice and the abyss trembles, O glorious Queen of the Rosary, we your devoted children, assembled in your temple of Pompeii, (on this solemn day), pour out the affection of our heart and with filial confidence expressd our miseries to you. 

 From the throne of clemency, where you are seated as Queen, turn, O Mary, your merciful gaze on us, on our families, on Italy, on Europe, on the world. Have compassion on the sorrows and cares which embitter our lives. See, O Mother, how many dangers of body and soul, how many calamities and afflictions press upon us. 

 O Mother, implore for us the mercy of your divine Son and conquer with clemency the heart of sinners. They are our brothers and your children who cause the heart of our sweet Jesus to bleed and who sadden your most sensitive heart. Show all that you are the Queen of Peace and of Pardon.

(Say the Hail Mary)

It is true that although we are your children we are the first to crucify Jesus by our sins and to pierce anew your heart. 

We confess that we are deserving of severe punishment, but remember that, on Golgotha, you received with the divine blood, the testament of the dying Savior, who declared you to be our Mother, the Mother of sinners. 

 You then, as our Mother, are our Advocate, our Hope. And we raise our suppliant hands to you with sighs crying "Mercy!" O good Mother, have pity on us, on our souls, on our families, our relatives, our friends, our deceased, especially our enemies, and on so many who call themselves Christian and yet offend the heart of your loving Son. Today we implore pity for the misguided nations throughout all Europe, throughout the world, so that they may return repentant to your heart. 



(Say the Hail Mary) 



Kindly deign to hear us. O Mary! Jesus has placed in your hands all the treasures of his graces and mercies. You are seated crowned Queen at the right hand of your Son, resplendent with immortal glory above the choirs of angels. Your dominion extends throughout heaven and earth and all creatures are subject to you. 

 You are omnipotent by grace and therefore you can help us. Were you not willing to help us, since we are ungrateful children and undeserving of your protection, we would not know to whom to turn. Your motherly heart would not permit you see us, your children, lost. The Infant whom we see on your knees and the blessed rosary which we see in your hand, inspire confidence in us that we shall be heard. We confide fully in you, we abandon ourselves as helpless children into the arms of the most tender of mothers, and on this day, we expect from you the graces we so long for. 



(Say the Hail Mary)

One last favor we now ask of you, O Queen, which you cannot refuse us (on this most solemn day): Grant to all of us your steadfast love and in a special manner your maternal blessing. We shall not leave you until you have blessed us. Bless, O Mary, at this moment, our Holy Father. To the ancient splendors of your crown, to the triumphs of your Rosary, whence you are called the Queen of Victories, add this one also, O Mother: grant the triumph of religion and peace to human society. Bless our bishops, priests and particularly all those who are zealous for the honor of your sanctuary. Bless finally all those who are associated with your temple of Pompeii and all those who cultivate and promote devotion to your Holy Rosary. 

 O blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we shall never abandon you. You will be our comfort in the hour of agony: to you the last kiss of our dying life. And the last word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompeii, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted. Be blessed everywhere, today and always, on earth and in Heaven. Amen. 



Say the Hail, Holy Queen/Salve Regina.

April 25th - St Mark's Day!

Happy Feast day to all Marks and Notaries! Today is the day we celebrate the life of St Mark the Evangelist. Mark's Gospel was the first of the four canonical Gospels and there's very little in it that isn't also mentioned in the other synoptic Gospels or the Johanine Gospel. But this one passage is my favorite:

“This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

Most of what we know about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of Mark's mother.) Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident, from Paul's refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey despite Barnabas's insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Because Paul later asks Mark to visit him in prison, we may assume the trouble did not last long. The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus' rejection by humanity while being God's triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile converts in Rome—after the death of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60 and 70—Mark's Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a crucified Messiah. Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile). Like one other Gospel writer, Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally. Some scholars feel that the evangelist is speaking of himself when describing the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane: "Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked" (Mark 14:51-52). Others hold Mark to be the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Venice, famous for the Piazza San Marco, claims Mark as its patron saint; the large basilica there is believed to contain his remains. A winged lion is Mark's symbol. The lion derives from Mark's description of John the Baptist as a "voice of one crying out in the desert" (Mark 1:3), which artists compared to a roaring lion. The wings come from the application of Ezekiel's vision of four winged creatures (Ezekiel, chapter one) to the evangelists. (Derived from Saints of the Day)

It's Easter! - April 20, 2014

Finally! I think the cold has made Lent nearly unbearable this year! But it's wonderful to rejoice with the Christians of the world and with our Jewish brothers and sisters who celebrate Pesach contemporaneously. There are no two religions in the world history that are so intricately tied together than Christianity and Judaism. Jews were given the responsibility and honor of being God's Chosen People. And by this covenant, God promised to reveal to them the Messiah. It is from the moment of Christ's conception at the Annunciation, signaled by the Archangel Gabriel and spoken to a little Jewish girl named Miriam, more than 2000 years ago, that the Messiah came to live among us. This connection between the religions is extremely important. Christianity without Judaism is worthless. Without the great spiritual tradition of the Jews and their covenants with God, what use would Christianity be? How could we know from where we came? What great benefit would God have given the world if it hadn't been promised to humanity countless centuries ago? And with Christianity, Judaism has it's promised Messiah revealed in the form of a tiny, defenseless baby who was destined to be a great King as described in King David's Psalm:

Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young virgin who is pregnant will have a son and will name him 'Immanuel.' (Isa 7:14)