Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: All
 
Stational Church: Friday in the First Week of Lent
Today's Stational Church is at the Church of the Twelve Apostles. I will post on each Stational Church for Lent.

Information is from the Canon Regulars of St. John Cantius:
Today we find ourselves at the Basilica dedicated to the Apostles and in particular to the Saints Philip and James the Minor, whose bodies are enclosed in a precious marble urn located under the main altar in the crypt.

Today, thirty-eight days before Easter, the Church reads to us the account of the cure of a man sick for thirty-eight years. This miracle occurred at the pool of Bethsaida. The merciful Jesus healed body and soul of this friendless sufferer. After the cure, Jesus said to him: "Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee."

This sick man is a picture of the world, especially of the pagan world—a world in a state of utter helplessness, laden with sin, steeped in despair, with no one to help it but Him who is "the expectation of all nations and their Savior." The Church entrusts us today to the Holy Apostles. In their company we will celebrate the healing mysteries. In their presence we will answer the question of the king of Apostles: "Will thou be made whole?" "I will, Lord. Save Thy servant, O my God that trusts in Thee. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer."

Let us pray: Be gracious, O Lord, unto Thy people, and even as thou make them devoted to Thee, so mercifully revive them with Thy kind assistance. Through Christ, Our Lord. Amen

33 posted on 02/26/2010 9:14:52 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies ]


To: combat_boots; Mercat; Condor51; mlizzy; Bigg Red; VOA
Santi Dodici Apostoli

Santi Dodici Apostoli. The Church of the Twelve Apostles
 

Day X. Friday, Week I.

"By my life, I do not wish the sinner to die, says the Lord, but to turn to me and live" (Communion Antiphon for today - Ez 33:11).

Santi Dodici Apostoli. The Church of the Twelve Apostles is my parish church, erected by Julius I (337-352) over the barracks of ancient Rome's firemen and entrusted since 1463 to the Conventual Franciscans (St. Maximilian Kolbe lived here). It is a good symbol for we, the Church, in that it has survived floods (esp. 1598), earthquakes (esp. 1348), fires (esp. 1872), plagues, famines, and wars. Traditionally, this is the place where the Romans choose their candidates for priesthood (Rite of Election). Restored several times, it is stunning. So much so, I couldn't get a good picture of it. Instead, I went down into the confessio, in the style of the catacombs, where, as the signs indicate, the earthly remains of Saints Philip and James the Less have been interred since 1 May 565. Note the depiction of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the earliest icon of our Lord. The sarcophagus depicts the Lord flanked by Philip and James and the miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves. Also in the confessio are remains of unnamed martyrs, which were moved here from the catacombs for their safety.


34 posted on 02/26/2010 9:17:04 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson