Holy Mass Online - Readings and Video : Saturday, October 17, 2020 - Your Virtual Church

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Lectionary: 472

Reading 1

EPH 1:15-23

Brothers and sisters:

Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus

and of your love for all the holy ones,

I do not cease giving thanks for you,

remembering you in my prayers,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation

resulting in knowledge of him.

May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,

what are the riches of glory

in his inheritance among the holy ones,

and what is the surpassing greatness of his power

for us who believe,

in accord with the exercise of his great might,

which he worked in Christ,

raising him from the dead

and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,

far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,

and every name that is named

not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things beneath his feet

and gave him as head over all things to the Church,

which is his Body,

the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 8:2-3AB, 4-5, 6-7

R. (7) You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.

O LORD, our LORD,

how glorious is your name over all the earth!

You have exalted your majesty above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings

you have fashioned praise because of your foes.

R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.

When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars which you set in place—

What is man that you should be mindful of him,

or the son of man that you should care for him?

R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.

You have made him little less than the angels,

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him rule over the works of your hands,

 putting all things under his feet.

R. You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.

 

Alleluia

JN 15:26B, 27A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord,

and you also will testify.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

LK 12:8-12

Jesus said to his disciples: 

 “I tell you,

everyone who acknowledges me before others

the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.

But whoever denies me before others

will be denied before the angels of God.

“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,

but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit

will not be forgiven.

When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,

do not worry about how or what your defense will be

or about what you are to say. 

For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.”

Prayer to Make a Spiritual Communion-
People who cannot communicate now make spiritual communion.
At your feet, O my Jesus I bow down and offer you the repentance of my contrite heart, which abysses itself into its nothingness and Your holy presence. I adore you in the Sacrament of Your love, the ineffable Eucharist. I wish to receive you in the poor home that my heart offers you. In anticipation of the happiness of sacramental communion, I want to possess you in spirit. Come to me, oh my Jesus, that I may come to you. May Your love inflame my whole being, for life and death. I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you. So be it. Amen

Saint October 17 : St. Ignatius of Antioch - a Bishop and Martyr who is the Patron of Throat diseases

St. Ignatius of Antioch

BISHOP, MARTYR

Born:

50 in Syria

Died:

between 98-117, Rome

Major Shrine:

Relics are in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

Patron of:

against throat diseases, Church in eastern Mediterranean; Church in North Africa

Also called Theophorus (ho Theophoros); born in Syria, around the year 50; died at Rome between 98 and 117.

More than one of the earliest ecclesiastical writers have given credence, though apparently without good reason, to the legend that Ignatius was the child whom the Savior took up in His arms, as described in Mark, ix, 35. It is also believed, and with great probability, that, with his friend Polycarp, he was among the auditors of the Apostle St. John. If we include St. Peter, Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch and the immediate successor of Evodius (Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", II, iii, 22). Theodoret ("Dial. Immutab.", I, iv, 33a, Paris, 1642) is the authority for the statement that St. Peter appointed Ignatius to the See of Antioch. St. John Chrysostom lays special emphasis on the honor conferred upon the martyr in receiving his episcopal consecration at the hands of the Apostles themselves ("Hom. in St. Ig.", IV. 587). Natalis Alexander quotes Theodoret to the same effect (III, xii, art. xvi, p. 53).

All the sterling qualities of ideal pastor and a true soldier of Christ were possessed by the Bishop of Antioch in a preeminent degree. Accordingly, when the storm of the persecution of Domitian broke in its full fury upon the Christians of Syria, it found their faithful leader prepared and watchful. He was unremitting in his vigilance and tireless in his efforts to inspire hope and to strengthen the weaklings of his flock against the terrors of the persecution. The restoration of peace, though it was short-lived, greatly comforted him. But it was not for himself that he rejoiced, as the one great and ever-present wish of his chivalrous soul was that he might receive the fullness of Christian discipleship through the medium of martyrdom. His desire was not to remain long unsatisfied. Associated with the writings of St. Ignatius is a work called "Martyrium Ignatii ", which purports to be an account by eyewitnesses of the martyrdom of St. Ignatius and the acts leading up to it. In this work, which such competent Protestant critics as Pearson and Ussher regard as genuine, the full history of that eventful journey from Syria to Rome is faithfully recorded for the edification of the Church of Antioch. It is certainly very ancient and is reputed to have been written by Philo, deacon of Tarsus, and Rheus Agathopus, a Syrian, who accompanied Ignatius to Rome. It is generally admitted, even by those who regarded it as authentic, that this work has been greatly interpolated. Its most reliable form is that found in the "Martyrium Colbertinum" which closes the mixed recension and is so called because its oldest witness is the tenth-century Codex Colbertinus (Paris).

According to these Acts, in the ninth year of his reign, Trajan, flushed with victory over the Scythians and Dacians, sought to perfect the universality of his dominion by a species of religious conquest. He decreed, therefore, that the Christians should unite with their pagan neighbors in the worship of the gods. A general persecution was threatened, and death was named as the penalty for all who refused to offer the prescribed sacrifice. Instantly alert to the danger that threatened, Ignatius availed himself of all the means within his reach to thwart the purpose of the emperor. The success of his zealous efforts did not long remain hidden from the Church's persecutors. He was soon arrested and led before Trajan, who was then sojourning in Antioch. Accused by the emperor himself of violating the imperial edict, and of inciting others to like transgressions, Ignatius valiantly bore witness to the faith of Christ. If we may believe the account given in the "Martyrium", his bearing before Trajan was characterized by inspired eloquence, sublime courage, and even a spirit of exultation. Incapable of appreciating the motives that animated him, the emperor ordered him to be put in chains and taken to Rome, there to become the food of wild beasts and a spectacle for the people.

That the trials of this journey to Rome were great we gather from his letter to the Romans (par. 5): "From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated." Despite all this, his journey was a kind of triumph. News of his fate, his destination, and his probable itinerary had gone swiftly before. At several places along the road his fellow-Christians greeted him with words of comfort and reverential homage. It is probable that he embarked on his way to Rome at Seleucia, in Syria, the nearest port to Antioch, for either Tarsus in Cilicia, or Attalia in Pamphylia, and thence, as we gather from his letters, he journeyed overland through Asia Minor. At Laodicea, on the River Lycus, where a choice of routes presented itself, his guards selected the more northerly, which brought the prospective martyr through Philadelphia and Sardis, and finally to Smyrna, where Polycarp, his fellow-disciple in the school of St. John, was bishop. The stay at Smyrna, which was a protracted one, gave the representatives of the various Christian communities in Asia Minor an opportunity of greeting the illustrious prisoner, and offering him the homage of the Churches they represented. From the congregations of Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, deputations came to comfort him. To each of these Christian communities he addressed letters from Smyrna, exhorting them to obedience to their respective bishops, and warning them to avoid the contamination of heresy. These, letters are redolent with the spirit of Christian charity, apostolic zeal, and pastoral solicitude. While still there he wrote also to the Christians of Rome, begging them to do nothing to deprive him of the opportunity of martyrdom.

From Smyrna his captors took him to Troas, from which place he dispatched letters to the Christians of Philadelphia and Smyrna, and to Polycarp. Besides these letters, Ignatius had intended to address others to the Christian communities of Asia Minor, inviting them to give public expression to their sympathy with the brethren in Antioch, but the altered plans of his guards, necessitating a hurried departure, from Troas, defeated his purpose, and he was obliged to content himself with delegating this office to his friend Polycarp. At Troas they took ship for Neapolis. From this place their journey led them overland through Macedonia and Illyria. The next port of embarkation was probably Dyrrhachium (Durazzo). Whether having arrived at the shores of the Adriatic, he completed his journey by land or sea, it is impossible to determine. Not long after his arrival in Rome he won his long-coveted crown of martyrdom in the Flavian amphitheater. The relics of the holy martyr were borne back to Antioch by the deacon Philo of Cilicia, and Rheus Agathopus, a Syrian, and were interred outside the gates not far from the beautiful suburb of Daphne. They were afterwards removed by the Emperor Theodosius II to the Tychaeum, or Temple of Fortune which was then converted into a Christian church under the patronage of the martyr whose relics it sheltered. In 637 they were translated to St. Clement's at Rome, where they now rest. The Church celebrates the feast of St. Ignatius on 1 February.

The character of St. Ignatius, as deduced from his own and the extant writings of his contemporaries, is that of a true athlete of Christ. The triple honor of apostle, bishop, and martyr was well merited by this energetic soldier of the Faith. An enthusiastic devotion to duty, a passionate love of sacrifice, and an utter fearlessness in the defense of Christian truth, were his chief characteristics. Zeal for the spiritual well-being of those under his charge breathes from every line of his writings. Ever vigilant lest they be infected by the rampant heresies of those early days; praying for them, that their faith and courage may not be wanting in the hour of persecution; constantly exhorting them to unfailing obedience to their bishops; teaching them all Catholic truth ; eagerly sighing for the crown of martyrdom, that his own blood may fructify in added graces in the souls of his flock, he proves himself in every sense a true, pastor of souls, the good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep.

The Catholic Encyclopedia

Free Movie - "Resting Place" Lifetime Movies Based on a True Story - 1986 - HD - with Morgan Freeman

The mysterious death of an army officer comes under investigation by Major Kendall Laird as the young soldier's parents seek an honorable burial place, out of respect for their son. The parents are assisted by their neighbor, Mrs. McAlister, in their patriotic and racially divided community. Director: John Korty Writer: Walter Halsey Davis Stars: John Lithgow, Richard Bradford, Morgan Freeman 

Beautiful Hymn written by Saint John Henry Newman "Lead Kindly Light" sung by Choir - Watch Video

John Henry Newman was 33 years old when he found himself on a boat from the Sicilian city of Palermo to Marseille, France. Newman, who was recovering after being dangerously ill with a fever, was on the boat to return to his native England when he penned the lyrics to

 “Lead, Kindly Light.”
 The context that Newman was recovering from a frightening illness in the middle of the sea gives insight to the lyrics: 

Refrain:
Lead, kindly Light, amid the gloom of evening.
Lord, lead me on! Lord, lead me on!
On through the night! On to your radiance!
Lead, kindly Light!
Lead, kindly Light, kindly Light!

 

1 The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Direct my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
So lead me onward, Lord, and hear my plea. [Refrain]

 

2 Not always thus, I seldom looked for you,
I loved to choose and seek my path alone.
In spite of fear, my pride controlled my will,
Remember not my past, but lead me still. [Refrain]

 

3 So long your pow'r has blest me on the way,
And still it leads, past hill and storm and night!
And with the morn, those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost a while. [Refrain] 

Tune BENIGNA (Dykes) or SANDON (Purday)

Source:  https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org
Score: https://hymnary.org/text/lead_kindly_light_amid_the_encircling_gl#authority_media_flexscores

RIP - Fr. Adriano Da Silva Barros - Young Catholic Priest Found Dead - His Body Set on Fire after Suspected Armed Robbery in Brazil

 AMERICA/BRAZIL - A young priest ordained five months ago found dead

Friday, 16 October 2020

Caratinga (Agenzia Fides) - "The Diocese of Caratinga informs with great regret the death of Fr. Adriano da Silva Barros, parish vicar of São Simão parish, in Simonésia, MG. Fr. Adriano had disappeared in the early afternoon of 13 October, when he was last seen in Reduto-MG. On the night of 14 his lifeless body was found in the vicinity of the city of Manhumirim. The initial hypothesis, still under investigation by the police authorities, is that he was the victim of an armed robbery": with these words the diocese of Caratinga, in Brazil, announced to the faithful the violent death of the priest.

"In the firm hope of the resurrection, we bless God for his fruitful priestly ministry, lived with zeal and fervor, in these five months, since his ordination on May 3", reads the statement sent to Fides.

Father Adriano da Silva Barros was 36 years old. A first police report indicates that he was killed with a knife, but the body was then set on fire. A farmer in the rural area of Manhumirin, seeing the fire from afar, gave the alarm.

The priest's funeral was celebrated on Thursday 15 October, in the parish of the municipality of Martins Soares, his native land, presided over by Mgr. Emanuel Messias de Oliveira, Bishop of Caratinga, and concelebrated by the priests of the diocese. (CE) (FULL TEXT Release: Agenzia Fides, 16/10/2020)

Pope Francis' World Food Day Message "...feeding the hungry and safeguarding natural resources, so that we can all live in dignity, with respect and with love." FULL TEXT

 

VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

ON THE OCCASION OF THE WORLD FOOD DAY 2020

[FAO, 16 October 2020]

 

To His Excellency
Mr. QU DONGUY
FAO Director-General

On the day Fao celebrates the 75th anniversary of its creation, I wish to greet you and all the members who make it up. Its mission is beautiful and important, because you work with the aim of defeating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

The theme proposed this year for World Food Day is significant: «Cultivating, feeding, preserving», and this «Together. Our actions are our future ». This theme underlines the need to act jointly and with firm will in order to generate initiatives that improve the environment around us and promote the hope of many people and many peoples.

Over these 75 years, FAO has learned that it is not enough to produce food, but that it is also important to ensure that food systems are sustainable and offer healthy and accessible diets for all. It is about adopting innovative solutions that can transform the way we produce and consume food for the well-being of our communities and our planet, thus strengthening resilience and long-term sustainability.

Therefore, in this period of great difficulty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is even more important to support the initiatives implemented by organizations such as FAO, the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). aim to promote sustainable and diversified agriculture, support small agricultural communities and cooperate in rural development in the poorest countries.

We are aware that we must respond to this challenge in an age that is full of contradictions: on the one hand we are witnessing unprecedented progress in the various fields of science; on the other hand, the world faces multiple humanitarian crises. Unfortunately, we see that, according to the most recent FAO statistics, despite the efforts made in recent decades, the number of people fighting hunger and food insecurity is growing, and the current pandemic will aggravate these figures even further.

For humanity, hunger is not only a tragedy but also a shame. It is caused, in large part, by an uneven distribution of the fruits of the earth, to which must be added the lack of investment in the agricultural sector, the consequences of climate change and the increase in conflicts in different areas of the planet. On the other hand, tons of food are discarded. Faced with this reality, we cannot remain numb or remain paralyzed. We are all responsible.

The current crisis shows us that concrete policies and actions are needed to eradicate hunger in the world. Sometimes dialectical or ideological discussions take us away from achieving this goal and allow our brothers and sisters to continue to die from lack of food. A courageous decision would be to set up a "World Fund" with the money used in weapons and other military spending in order to definitively eliminate hunger and contribute to the development of the poorest countries. In this way many wars would be avoided and the emigration of many of our brothers and their families who are forced to leave their home and country to seek a more dignified life (cf. Brothers all , n. 189 and 262 ). .

Mr. Director General, in expressing my wish that FAO's activity will be ever more incisive and more fruitful, I invoke God's Blessing on you and on those who cooperate in this fundamental mission of cultivating the land, feeding the hungry and safeguarding natural resources, so that we can all live in dignity, with respect and with love. Thank you.
 

---

* from: L'Osservatore Romano , ed. daily, Year CLX, n. 246, 17/10/2020

Source: FULL TEXT Release from Vatican.va - Unofficial Translation

Novena to St. Hedwig - Short Prayer to Patron of those with Money Problems, Brides, and Death of Children

 

NOVENA TO ST HEDWIG, PROTECTOR OF THE POOR AND THOSE IN DEBT – FEAST DAY: OCTOBER 16th (A novena – a prayer recited every day for nine days – may be made any time of the year.)
Say 1 Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be each day:
 O St Hedwig, in this world you rejected the honours of the Court, its pomp, luxury and pleasures, and went to be with the poor to help them in the destitution and misery of life. There in Heaven, cast a kind look on us poor mortals, and obtain for us the grace (mention your request) and that of living in the peace and friendship of God. Amen.
 V. Pray for us, St Hedwig!
R. So that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray: O God, You taught Blessed Hedwig to prefer, with all her heart, the humble road of Your Cross to the pomp of the world. Through her merits and example, grant that we may learn to reject the ephemeral delights of the world, and, embracing Your Cross, may we overcome the adversities to come. You who live and reign, One God, forever and ever.  “…if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.” (Ps 62:10b)
Source: http://www.sthedwigfloralpark.org/ - Image Source: Google Images

Quote to SHARE by St. Teresa of Avila "Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes...

Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, 

All things are passing away: God never changes. 

Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks 

nothing; God alone suffices.

  St. Teresa of Avila

Saint October 16 : St. Marguerite d'Youville the Patron of difficult Marriages, Widows and Victims of Adultery

St. Marguerite d'Youville

FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS OF CHARITY

Feast: October 16 (Canada)

Information:

Feast Day:

October 16

Born:

15 October 1701, Varennes, Quebec

Died:

23 December 1771, Montreal, Canada

Canonized:

9 December 1990, by Pope John Paul II

Major Shrine:

Chapel of St. Marie Marguerite d'Youville, near Montreal

Patron of:

Against death of children, difficult marriages, in-law problems, loss of parents, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for piety, victims of adultery, victims of unfaithfulness, widows

MARGUERITE d'YOUVILLE, Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais was born in Varennes, Quebec, on October 15, 1701. Her father had come from Brittany, France in 1687. Her mother was the daughter of a military officer from Carignan, Quebec, who had been governor of the settlement at Trois-Rivières. Marguerite’s mother’s brother was the explorer Pierre de la Vérendrye. The eldest of six children, Marguerite was only seven years old when her father died. There were hard times for the family because her mother had to wait six years before she began receiving the officers’ widows’ pension. Thanks to the help of her great-grandfather, Pierre Boucher, Marguerite was able to study at the Ursuline boarding school for girls in Quebec City for two years. At 12, she returned to her family to help teach her brothers and sisters. On August 12, 1722, she married François d’Youville. A fur and alcohol trader, he was unreliable and rather selfish. He died in 1730, leaving Marguerite, who was pregnant for the sixth time, with two living children and a lot of debt. In 1737, she rented a house in Montreal where she gave hospitality to women in need. She and three companions made private religious vows. Because they broke social barriers by taking in the needy, the women were scorned, slandered and persecuted. Marguerite was accused of trafficking in alcohol with the First Nations people as her husband had done, with, it was said, the collaboration of the Sulpicians. She was accused of drunkenness and even prostitution. In 1747, Marguerite was put in charge of the administration of the Charon Brothers Hospital. When her term was up in 1750, she wrote to France for help and offered to pay the hospital’s debts. The King, Louis XV, confirmed her as director of the hospital on June 3, 1753, and authorized her to form a religious community which was approved by the Most Rev. Henri-Marie de Pontbriand, Bishop of Quebec, in 1755. To meet the financial needs of the hospital, Marguerite used her administrative talents and started up various activities such as needlework, dressmaking and tailoring, and the manufacture of military flags, clothing for Native people, hosts and candles. She also ran a tavern, sold tobacco, lime, building materials, and sand. The hospital welcomed a wide variety of people, including the poor, epileptics, lepers, battered women, and sick priests. During the wars leading up to the Conquest of 1760, her door was open to prisoners, the sick and the wounded of both sides. Beginning in 1754, Mother d’Youville also took in abandoned children. In 1765, the General Hospital burned down. It took four years, but she got it rebuilt. On December 9 and 13, 1771, she had attacks of paralysis and she died on December 23. She was canonized on December 9, 1990 by Pope (now Saint) John Paul II. Her Spirituality With the Ursulines, Marguerite grew in the practice of the apostolic prayer of Marie of the Incarnation who had founded the girls’ school in Quebec City a century earlier. Marguerite wrote: “It is by the Heart of my Jesus, my Way, my Truth, and my Life, that I approach you, O eternal Father.” She was intelligent and she had good judgment and a well-developed sense of responsibility. She was convinced that the “the cross was the sign of love by which the Father of Mercy brought his elect into conformity with his Son.” She was strong and hard-working and she was a teacher who “knew how to be respected and how to be loved.” When she was 27, her heart broken by the scandalous life of her husband, she was struck by the revelation of God’s personal love for her. Her spiritual life became one of trust in, and abandon to, divine Providence. After his death, she had to provide for her family while his estate was settled. At the same time, she visited the poor, the prisoners and the sick, and begged for funds to provide a proper burial for criminals who had died. In 1737, still looking after her children, she formed with three companions an association of “young women, secular in habits, but religious in their hearts” who consecrated themselves “in perpetuity to the service of the poor.” In the memoir that she wrote in 1752, she said, “Providence and our hard work are the resources we count on to carry on the work.” She took in “found” children in order “to preserve them body and soul, to offer them a Christian education and help them prepare to earn an honest living.” After a fire, which destroyed her building in 1765, she and her Sisters prayed the Te Deum and said, “The Lord gave us everything, the Lord has taken everything away, may his Name be praised forever.” At the end of her life, she said, “We have always been on the verge of losing everything, but we have always had what we needed.” The Rule of the Institute recommends “seeing Christ in the person of the poor who have the honour of being incorporated in Him.” Poverty, humility and submission did not erase awareness of understanding the humaneness. Marguerite asked each of her Sisters “to make known her needs, without hiding her infirmities, and not to undertake anything that would damage her health.” Within the community, she wanted “perfect union, with one heart and one soul, always considerate and supportive of each other in our weakness, knowing that we need a greater love to bear our own.” To obtain that, the Sisters should “draw from the Divine Paternity the feelings of love, tender solicitude, and compassion that will sustain them in helping the poor, the sick and the orphan.” Marguerite d’Youville’s spirituality can be summed up in three words: “Father, Providence, Poor”. Her love was universal and adapted itself so well to every kind of distress, that it was common for people to say, “Go to the Grey Nuns. They will never refuse to help you.” 

Pope John XXIII beatified Marguerite on May 3, 1959 and called her "Mother of Universal Charity." She was canonized by Pope John Paul II, December 9, 1990.

SOURCE CCCB