Posted on 01/03/2016 8:19:13 PM PST by Salvation
"On those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen"
The joy of those who seek its day
is like the sun:
even so my joy is in the Lord
since he is the sun to me.
His rays have raised me up,
his light has dispersed all shadows from my countenance.
Thanks to him I was given eyes
and saw his holy day;
I had ears
and heard his truth;
I had thoughts of knowledge
and with its aid I rejoiced.
I have forsaken the way of error;
I turned to him
and from him received abundantly of salvation.
He bestowed it on me according to his kindness
and his beauty has fashioned me.
In his name I have put on incorruptibility,
by his grace I have forsaken corruption.
Mortality has vanished from before my face,
the dwelling-place of the dead has been annihilated by my word,
immortal life has arisen in the land of the Lord.
It has been revealed to believers
and granted without reserve
to all those who put their trust in him.
Alleluia!
St. Padre Pio
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) "Blessed are you among women, |
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
Memorial
January 4th
[in the diocese of the US]
Foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, born in New York City, August 28, 1774, of non-Catholic parents of high position; died at Emmitsburg, Maryland, January 4, 1821.
Her father was the first professor of anatomy at Columbia College and eminent for his work as health officer of the Port of New York. Her mother was the daughter of an Anglican minister of Staten Island, N.Y. Her mother died when Elizabeth was three yeas old, leaving two other young daughters. The father married again, and among the children of this second marriage was Guy Charleton Bayley, whose convert son, James Roosevelt Bayley, became Archbishop of Baltimore. Elizabeth always showed great affection for her stepmother, who was a devout Anglican, and for her stepbrothers and sisters. Her education was chiefly conducted by her father, a brilliant man of great natural virtue, who trained her to self-restraint as well as in intellectual pursuits. She read industriously, her notebooks indicating a special interest in religious and historical subjects. She was very religious, wore a small crucifix around her neck, and took great delight in reading the Scriptures, especially the Psalms, a practice she retained until her death.
She was married William Magee Seton, on January 25, 1794. In her sister-in-law, Rebecca Seton, she found the "friend of her soul", and as they went about on missions of mercy they were called the "Protestant Sisters of Charity". In 1803 Mr. Seton's health required a sea voyage; he started with his wife and eldest daughter for Leghorn, where the Filicchi brothers, business friends of the Seton firm, resided. The other children, William, Richard, Rebecca, and Catherine, were left to the care of Rebecca Seton.
From a journal which Mrs. Seton kept during her travels we learn of her heroic effort to sustain the drooping spirits of her husband during the voyage, followed by a long detention in quarantine, and until his death at Pisa ( December 27, 1803). She and her daughter remained for some time with the Filicchi families. While with these Catholic families and in the churches of Italy Mrs. Seton first began to see the beauty of the Catholic Faith. She reached home June 3, 1804, accompanied by Antonio Filicchi. Her sister-in-law, Rebecca, died in July. A time of great spiritual perplexity began for Mrs. Seton, whose prayer was, "If I am right Thy grace impart still in the right to say. If I am wrong Oh, teach my heart to find the better way." Mr. Hobart (afterwards an Anglican bishop), who had great influence over her, used every effort to dissuade her from joining the Catholic Church, while Mr. Filicchi presented the claims of the true religion and arranged a correspondence between Elizabeth and Bishop Cheverus. Through Mr. Filicchi she also wrote to Bishop Carroll. Elizabeth meanwhile added fasting to her prayers for light. The result was that on Ash Wednesday, March 14, 1805, she was received into the Church by Father Matthew O'Brien in St. Peter's Church, Barclay St., New York. On March 25 she made her first Communion with extraordinary fervor. She well understood the storm that her conversion would raise among her Protestant relatives and friends at the time she most needed their help. Little of her husband's fortune was left, but numerous relatives would have provided amply for her and her children had not this barrier been raised.
Mr. Cooper, a Virginian convert and seminarian, offered $10,000 to found an institution for teaching poor children. A farm was bought half a mile from the village of Emmitsburg and two miles from Mt. St. Mary's College. Meanwhile Cecilia Seton and her sister Harriet came to Mrs. Seton in Baltimore. As a preliminary to the formation of the new community, Mrs. Seton took vows privately before Archbishop Carroll and her daughter Anna. In June, 1808, the community was transferred to Emmitsburg to take charge of the new institution. In December, 1809, Harriet Seton, who was received into the Church at Emmitsburg, died there, and Cecilia in April, 1810. Bishop Flaget was commissioned in 1810 by the community to obtain in France the rules of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Three of these sisters were to be sent to train the young community in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, but Napoleon forbade them to leave France. The rule, with some modifications, was approved by Archbishop Carroll in January, 1812, and adopted. Against her will, and despite the fact that she had also to care for her children, Mrs. Seton was elected superior. Many joined the community; Mother Seton's daughter, Anna, died during her novitiate ( March 12, 1812), but had been permitted to pronounce her vows on her death-bed. Mother Seton and the eighteen sisters made their vows on July 19, 1813. The fathers superior of the community were the Sulpicians, Fathers Dubourg, David, and Dubois. Father Dubois held the post for fifteen yeas and laboured to impress on the community the spirit of St. Vincent's Sisters of Charity, forty of whom he had had under his care in France. The fervour of the community won admiration everywhere. The school for the daughters of the well-to-do prospered, as it continues to do (1912), and enabled the sisters to do much work among the poor. In 1814 the sisters were given charge of an orphan asylum in Philadelphia; in 1817 they were sent to New York. The previous year (1816) Mother Seton's daughter, Rebecca, after long suffering, died at Emmitsburg; her son Richard, who was placed with the Filicchi firm in Italy, died a few years after his mother. William, the eldest, joined the United States Navy and died in 1868. The most distinguished of his children are Most. Rev. Robert Seton, Archbishop of Heliopolis (author of a memoir of his grandmother, "Roman Essays", and many contributions to the "American Catholic Quarterly" and other reviews), and William Seton (q.v.).In 1880 Cardinal Gibbons (then Archbishop) urged the steps be taken toward her canonization. The result of the official inquiries in the cause of Mother Seton, held in Baltimore during several years, were brought to Rome by special messenger, and placed in the hands of the postulator of the cause on June 7, 1911.
Elizabeth Ann Seton was beatified in 1963 and canonized on September 14, 1975.
(Principal source - Catholic Encyclopedia - 1913 edition )
CANONIZATION OF ELISABETH ANN SETON
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER PAUL VI
14 September 1975Yes, Venerable Brothers and beloved sons and daughters! Elizabeth Ann Seton is a Saint! We rejoice and we are deeply moved that our apostolic ministry authorizes us to make this solemn declaration before all of you here present, before the holy Catholic Church, before our other Christian brethren in the world, before the entire American people, and before all humanity. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a Saint! She is the first daughter of the United States of America to be glorified with this incomparable attribute! But what do we mean when we say: «She is a Saint»? We all have some idea of the meaning of this highest title; but it is still difficult for us to make an exact analysis of it. Being a Saint means being perfect, with a perfection that attains the highest level that a human being can reach. A Saint is a human creature fully conformed to the will of God. A Saint is a person in whom all sin-the principle of death-is cancelled out and replaced by the living splendor of divine grace. The analysis of the concept of sanctity brings us to recognize in a soul the mingling of two elements that are entirely different but which come together to produce a single effect: sanctity. One of these elements is the human and moral element, raised to the degree of heroism: heroic virtues are always required by the Church for the recognition of a person's sanctity. The second element is the mystical element, which express the measure and form of divine action in the person chosen by God to realize in herself-always in an original way-the image of Christ (Cfr. Rom. 8, 29).
The science of sanctity is therefore the most interesting, the most varied, the most surprising and the most fascinating of all the studies of that ever mysterious being which is man. The Church has made this study of the life, that is, the interior and exterior history, of Elizabeth Ann Seton. And the Church has exulted with admiration and joy, and has today heard her own charism of truth poured out in the exclamation that we send up to God and announce to the world: She is a Saint! We shall not now give a panegyric, that is, the narrative which glorifies the new Saint. You already know her life and you will certainly study it further. This will be one of the most valuable fruits of the Canonization of the new Saint: to know her, in order to admire in her an outstanding human figure; in order to praise God who is wonderful in his saints; to imitate her example which this ceremony places in a light that will give perennial edification; to invoke her protection, now that we have the certitude of her participation in the exchange of heavenly life in the Mystical Body of Christ, which we call the Communion of Saints and in which we also share, although still belonging to life on earth. We shall not therefore speak of the life of our Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. This is neither the time nor the place for a fitting commemoration of her.
But at least let us mention the chapters in which such a commemoration should be woven. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American. All of us say this with spiritual joy, and with the intention of honoring the land and the nation from which she marvellously sprang forth as the first flower in the calendar of the saints. This is the title which, in his original foreword to the excellent work of Father Dirvin, the late Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, attributed to her as primary and characteristic: «Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American»! Rejoice, we say to the great nation of the United States of America. Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage. This most beautiful figure of a holy woman presents to the world and to history the affirmation of new and authentic riches that are yours: that religious spirituality which your temporal prosperity seemed to obscure and almost make impossible. Your land too, America, is indeed worthy of receiving into its fertile ground the seed of evangelical holiness. And here is a splendid proof-among many others-of this fact.
May you always be able to cultivate the genuine fruitfulness of evangelical holiness, and ever experience how-far from stunting the flourishing development of your economic, cultural and civic vitality -it will be in its own way the unfailing safeguard of that vitality. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was born, brought up and educated in New York in the Episcopalian Communion. To this Church goes the merit of having awakened and fostered the religious sense and Christian sentiment which in the young Elizabeth were naturally predisposed to the most spontaneous and lively manifestations. We willingly recognize this merit, and, knowing well how much it cost Elizabeth to pass over to the Catholic Church, we admire her courage for adhering to the religious truth and divine reality which were manifested to her therein. And we are likewise pleased to see that from this same adherence to the Catholic Church she experienced great peace and security, and found it natural to preserve all the good things which her membership in the fervent Episcopalian community had taught her, in so many beautiful expressions, especially of religious piety, and that she was always faithful in her esteem and affection for those from whom her Catholic profession had sadly separated her.
For us it is a motive of hope and a presage of ever better ecumenical relations to note the presence at this ceremony of distinguished Episcopalian dignitaries, to whom-interpreting as it were the heartfelt sentiments of the new Saint-we extend our greeting of devotion and good wishes. And then we must note that Elizabeth Seton was the mother of a family and at the same time the foundress of the first Religious Congregation of women in the United States. Although this social and ecclesial condition of hers is not unique or new (we may recall, for example, Saint Birgitta, Saint Frances of Rome, Saint Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantal, Saint Louise de Marillac), in a particular way it distinguishes Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton for her complete femininity, so that as we proclaim the supreme exaltation of a woman by the Catholic Church, we are pleased to note that this event coincides with an initiative of the United Nations: International Women's Year. This program aims at promoting an awareness of the obligation incumbent on all to recognize the true role of women in the world and to contribute to their authentic advancement in society. And we rejoice at the bond that is established between this program and today's Canonization, as the Church renders the greatest honor possible to Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton and extols her personal and extraordinary contribution as a woman -a wife, a mother, a widow, and a religious.
May the dynamism and authenticity of her life be an example in our day-and for generations to come-of what women can and must accomplish, in the fulfillment of their role, for the good of humanity. And finally we must recall that the most notable characteristic of our Saint is the fact that she was, as we said, the foundress of the first Religious Congregation of women in the United States. It was an offspring of the religious family of Saint Vincent de Paul, which later divided into various autonomous branches-five principal ones-now spread throughout the world. And yet all of them recognize their origin in the first group, that of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's, personally established by Saint Elizabeth Seton at Emmitsburg in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The apostolate of helping the poor and the running of parochial schools in America had this humble, poor, courageous and glorious beginning. This account, which constitutes the central nucleus of the earthly history and vorldwide fame of the work of Mother Seton, would merit a more extended treatment. But we know that her spiritual daughters will take care to portray the work itself as it deserves.
And therefore to these chosen daughters of the Saint we direct our special and cordial greeting, with the hope that they may be enabled to be faithful to their providential and holy institution, that their fervor and their numbers may increase, in the constant conviction that they have chosen and followed a sublime vocation that is worthy of being served with the total gift of their heart, the total gift of their lives. And may they always be mindful of the final exhortation of their Foundress Saint those words that she pronounced on her deathbed, like a heavenly testament, on January 2, 1821: «Be children of the Church». And we would add: for ever! And to all our beloved sons and daughters in the United States and throughout the entire Church of God we offer, in the name of Christ, the glorious heritage of Elizabeth Ann Seton. It is above all an ecclesial heritage of strong faith and pure love for God and for others-faith and love that are nourished on the Eucharist and on the Word of God. Yes, brethren, and sons and daughters: the Lord is indeed wonderful in his saints. Blessed be God for ever!
Source: Vatican Website
Collect:
O God, who crowned with the gifts of true faith
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's burning zeal to find you,
grant by her intercession and example
that we may always seek you with diligent love
and find you in daily service with sincere faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +AmenReadings from the Common of Holy Men & Women: For Religious.
Feast Day: January 4
Born: 28 August 1774 in New York City, New York, USA
Died: 4 January 1821 in Emmitsburg, Maryland
Canonized: 14 September 1975 by Pope Paul VI
Patron of: Catholic Schools; State of Maryland
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Matthew | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Matthew 4 |
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12. | And when Jesus had heard that John was delivered up, he retired into Galilee: | Cum autem audisset Jesus quod Joannes traditus esset, secessit in Galilæam : | ακουσας δε ο ιησους οτι ιωαννης παρεδοθη ανεχωρησεν εις την γαλιλαιαν |
13. | And leaving the city Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim; | et, relicta civitate Nazareth, venit, et habitavit in Capharnaum maritima, in finibus Zabulon et Nephthalim : | και καταλιπων την ναζαρετ ελθων κατωκησεν εις καπερναουμ την παραθαλασσιαν εν οριοις ζαβουλων και νεφθαλειμ |
14. | That it might be fulfilled which was said by Isaias the prophet: | ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam : | ινα πληρωθη το ρηθεν δια ησαιου του προφητου λεγοντος |
15. | Land of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: | Terra Zabulon, et terra Nephthalim, via maris trans Jordanem, Galilæa gentium : | γη ζαβουλων και γη νεφθαλειμ οδον θαλασσης περαν του ιορδανου γαλιλαια των εθνων |
16. | The people that sat in darkness, hath seen great light: and to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up. | populus, qui sedebat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam : et sedentibus in regione umbræ mortis, lux orta est eis. | ο λαος ο καθημενος εν σκοτει ειδεν φως μεγα και τοις καθημενοις εν χωρα και σκια θανατου φως ανετειλεν αυτοις |
17. | From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | Exinde cœpit Jesus prædicare, et dicere : Pœnitentiam agite : appropinquavit enim regnum cælorum. | απο τοτε ηρξατο ο ιησους κηρυσσειν και λεγειν μετανοειτε ηγγικεν γαρ η βασιλεια των ουρανων |
[...] | |||
23. | And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom: and healing all manner of sickness and every infirmity, among the people. | Et circuibat Jesus totam Galilæam, docens in synagogis eorum, et prædicans Evangelium regni : et sanans omnem languorem, et omnem infirmitatem in populo. | και περιηγεν ολην την γαλιλαιαν ο ιησους διδασκων εν ταις συναγωγαις αυτων και κηρυσσων το ευαγγελιον της βασιλειας και θεραπευων πασαν νοσον και πασαν μαλακιαν εν τω λαω |
24. | And his fame went throughout all Syria, and they presented to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and such as were possessed by devils, and lunatics, and those that had palsy, and he cured them: | Et abiit opinio ejus in totam Syriam, et obtulerunt ei omnes male habentes, variis languoribus, et tormentis comprehensos, et qui dæmonia habebant, et lunaticos, et paralyticos, et curavit eos : | και απηλθεν η ακοη αυτου εις ολην την συριαν και προσηνεγκαν αυτω παντας τους κακως εχοντας ποικιλαις νοσοις και βασανοις συνεχομενους και δαιμονιζομενους και σεληνιαζομενους και παραλυτικους και εθεραπευσεν αυτους |
25. | And much people followed him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. | et secutæ sunt eum turbæ multæ de Galilæa, et Decapoli, et de Jerosolymis, et de Judæa, et de trans Jordanem. | και ηκολουθησαν αυτω οχλοι πολλοι απο της γαλιλαιας και δεκαπολεως και ιεροσολυμων και ιουδαιας και περαν του ιορδανου |
Monday
January 4, 2016
To Be As One
â In this Year of Mercy, it is important during January for us to consider, contemplate, and act on Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue.
Jesus said, âHoly Father, keep them in your name that you
have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.â
âChiara Lubich is the founder of Focolare, a movement that promotes unity, reconciliation and the spirit of love. In one of her writings she points out: ‘In this world we are all brothers and sisters and yet we pass each other as if we were strangers.’ Too true. Even in our Sunday gatherings we often do not know the people around us. We come and we go. We cling to our own paths too frequently, and seldom know the richness of the people around us; seldom are able to share and celebrate their triumphs; seldom able to share and grieve their losses. And yet, Jesus calls us to be one as he and the Father are one; to be one in knowing each other and loving one another.â ~ An excerpt from a Paulist blog post by Fr. John Geaney, CSP, May 2015
If you desire to learn more ways to foster healing and reconciliation in and among Godâs people, visit the Paulist website. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Year of Mercy Calendar for today: Pray for Christian Unity this week.
Monday, January 4
Liturgical Color: White
Today is the Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton, a widow with 5 children, and foundress
of the Sisters of Charity. In 1808 the
Archbishop of Baltimore asked her to open an
all-girl's school which became the first Catholic
school in America.
Born in New York, Elizabeth Seton married and became a mother of five children. After her husband's death, she converted to Catholicism and founded the American Sisters of Charity, a community of teaching sisters which began Catholic schools throughout the United States, especially helping with the education of underprivileged children. Mother Seton laid the foundation of the American parochial school system and was the first native-born American to be canonized.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
This wife, mother and foundress of a religious congregation was born Elizabeth Ann Bayley on August 28, 1774 in New York City, the daughter of an eminent physician and professor at what is now Columbia University. Brought up as an Episcopalian, she received an excellent education, and from her early years she manifested an unusual concern for the poor.
In 1794 Elizabeth married William Seton, with whom she had five children. The loss of their fortune so affected William's health that in 1803 Elizabeth and William went to stay with Catholic friends at Livorno, Italy. William died six weeks after their arrival, and when Elizabeth returned to New York City some six months later, she was already a convinced Catholic. She met with stern opposition from her Episcopalian friends but was received into full communion with the Catholic Church on March 4, 1805.
Abandoned by her friends and relatives, Elizabeth was invited by the superior of the Sulpicians in Baltimore to found a school for girls in that city. The school prospered, and eventually the Sulpician superior, with the approval of Bishop Carroll, gave Elizabeth and her assistants a rule of life. They were also permitted to make religious profession and to wear a religious habit.
In 1809 Elizabeth moved her young community to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she adopted as a rule of life an adaptation of the rule observed by the Sisters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul. Although she did not neglect the ministry to the poor, and especially to Negroes, she actually laid the foundation for what became the American parochial school system. She trained teachers and prepared textbooks for use in the schools; she also opened orphanages in Philadelphia and New York City.
She died at Emmitsburg on January 4, 1821, was beatified by Pope John XXIII in 1963, and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
Excerpted from Saints of the Roman Calendar by Enzo Lodi
Patron: Death of children; in-law problems; loss of parents; opposition of Church authorities; people ridiculed for their piety; Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana; widows.
Things to Do:
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious (Memorial)
Teaching … proclaiming … curing … (Matthew 4:23)
Are you a basketball fan? If so, you have probably heard of the “triple threat.” This is when the offensive player has three choices of what to do with the ball: dribble, pass, or shoot. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus’ fame is spreading like wildfire, and he, too, has a triple threat. But instead of making a choice, he does all three: he teaches, proclaims, and cures. Perhaps his approach holds some insights for us.
By using a three-pronged approach, Jesus made sure that he reached as many people as possible. While teaching, he explained passages, answered questions, and challenged the traditional ways of thinking. By proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, he encouraged, blessed, comforted, and restored people, telling them about the freedom that could be theirs. By curing diseases, he made the kingdom of God a tangible reality that could meet the needs of the people he encountered.
You might be thinking: “Okay, this is true for Jesus, but I can’t do these things.” Well, maybe you can, and maybe you already have. Have you ever answered a question about your faith? Or maybe a comment from a friend challenged you to dig deeper and understand something. You are learning how to teach! Have you ever shared about anything that God has done for you? You have proclaimed the gospel! Have you ever reached out to someone in need or prayed for someone who is sick? You are a healing presence in a hurting world!
The rapid spread of the gospel that Matthew describes here is not limited to Jesus’ day and age. He wants to work through each of us to reach as many people as possible. He wants to use you.
So the next time someone asks you a question, answer it with kindness and love. The Lord will help you if you stay close to him. When someone needs an encouraging word, ask Jesus to bless the words you speak. You may not realize how comforting your witness can be. If someone is in need, look for ways you can help. It may be small, but it can make all the difference. It may not seem like much, but you can spread the gospel everywhere you go!
“Lord, use me to share the good news of your kingdom with everyone I meet today.”
1 John 3:22–4:6
Psalm 2:7-8, 10-12
Daily Marriage Tip for January 4, 2016:
January is poverty awareness month. How can you as a family help the poor, especially those in your own community? At the least, remember in your prayers today those who are struggling to meet their basic needs.
The Passing of the Torch | ||
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