Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1)

December 12

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

“Am I Not Your Mother”

In 1531 on December 12 near Tepayac Hill in central Mexico the Mother of Jesus appeared to Juan Diego giving him a beautiful sign of her imprint on his tilma. Mary appeared to Juan as an Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language.

“My dear little son, I love you. I desire you to know who I am. I am the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God who gives life and maintains its existence. He created all things. He is in all places. He is Lord of Heaven and Earth. I desire a church in this place where your people may experience my compassion. All those who sincerely ask my help in their work and in their sorrows will know my Mother’s Heart in this place. Here I will see their tears; I will console them and they will be at peace. So run now to Tenochtitlan and tell the Bishop all that you have seen and heard.”

Juan, immediately responded to Mary’s request. The Bishop told Juan he would consider his request. Juan returned to Our Lady disappointed that he was not able to convince the Bishop immediately. He felt that he did not have the ability because he was a poor peasant. Our Lady responded, “My little son, there are many I could send. But you are the one I have chosen.” And asked him to return to the Bishop again with her request.

This time the Bishop asked Juan for a sign from Our Lady to which Juan dutifully returned to the hill and told her of the Bishop’s request to which Our Lady responded.

“My little son, am I not your Mother? Do not fear. The Bishop shall have his sign.” Our Lady asked Juan to go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers that were grown there and bring them to her. Though the middle of winter, Juan obeyed Our Lady’s request and found beautiful Castilian roses in full bloom. Juan cut the roses and placed them in his tilma and returned to Our Lady.

"My little son, this is the sign I am sending to the Bishop. Tell him that with this sign I request his greatest efforts to complete the church I desire in this place. Show these flowers to no one else but the Bishop. You are my trusted ambassador. This time the Bishop will believe all you tell him."

Juan again went to the bishop and opened his tilma. letting the flowers fall out. But it wasn't the beautiful roses that caused the bishop to fall to his knees, it was the picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary imprinted upon his tilma, just as Juan had described her. This native tilma, a poor quality cloth that should have decayed after two decades still defies all scientific explanation 478 years later, as it shows no sign of decomposition and men still drop to their knees in its presence.

The Aztec people of Mesoamerica in the 1500’s were considered an advanced civilization. To this the Spanish conquistadors entered their history. If current history books and contemporary news articles are to be believed, Catholic Spain had anything but high motives in their conqest of Mexico. Revisionist historians hold that the native Americans would have been better off left alone. Regardless of Spain’s motive or of current historical opinion, the Aztec people of this time participated in cannibalism and offered human sacrifice to their voracious gods. Though no one will know how many they scarificed; the law of the Aztec empire required a thousand sacrifices in every town with a temple, every year. I pray that most would find human sacrifice and cannibalism contrary to the natural law, written on the hearts of all men, at all times, everywhere in the world.

It is into this time that Our Lady appeared to Juan, an Aztec convert. Within six years of this apparition, six million Aztecs had converted to Catholicism. What happened that produced such an incredible and historically unprecedented conversion? As far as modern science can discern, it was Our Blessed Mother Herself who “painted” an icon on Juan Diego’s tilma.

She came to the Aztecs as one of their own. They saw her as a beautiful Lady, enveloped by the rays of the sun and standing on the moon, with stars adorning her mantle and clouds dispersing at her approach. Her hands folded in prayer acknowledging One greater than herself. This image spoke to the Aztec Indians, no longer did they have to be servants to the sun and the moon god feeding their inexhaustible appetites, Our Lady pointed then to the True God. Standing on a crescent moon, her long flowing garments held up by the arms of an angel; her eyes looking down with compassion and humility, she stood in front of the sun which glowed around her. A black tassel over her stomach signifies she is pregnant. She came to the Aztec people as the God-bearer, pregnant with her Divine Son, pointing to Him who is greater, and they believed and converted.

Since the time the tilma was first impressed with a picture of the Mother of God, it has been subject to a variety of environmental hazards including smoke from fires and candles, water from floods and torrential downpours and, in 1921, a bomb exploded near the tima. Next to the tilma was an iron Crucifix, when the bomb exploded the Crucifix was twisted out of shape and bent over protecting the tilma from harm. A beautiful gesture of Our Lord Jesus as he cradled His Mother in protection as She had cradled Him as a Child.

Today Our Lady of Guadalupe still points us to Her Son, and still intercedes for us to Her Son as miracles abound.

For devotional gifts related to the Catholic Church please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures and Gifts 
_____
Last picture - The Guadalupe Miracle of the twisted brass Crucifix

Hanukkah Begins at Sundown

The Feast of Dedication
Hanukkah in Hebrew
Begins at sundown

Hanukkah commemorates two events. First, the battle in which the Maccabees were victorious over Antiochus Epiphanes. And second the miracle of the holy oil, enough to light a candle for one day, lasting eight.

This story can be found in the first and second book of Maccabees in the Catholic Bible or in the Protestant Apocrypha, which narrate the struggle led by Judas Maccabeus and his brothers against the Seleucid kings.

For forty years the Maccabees struggled against the invasion of paganism and Hellenization into Jewish Palestine. In BC 167 Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria brought the cult of Zeus into the sacred area of the Jewish Temple resulting in its desecration with pagan statues and those refusing to eat pork were tortured. A revolt was ignited. Due to the heroic resistance of Mattathias Maccabeus, and continued by his sons Judas, Jonathan and Simon a Jewish victory resulted in the recapture of Jerusalem and the Temple. At the rededication of the Temple in BC 164 it was necessary to relight the menorah. Only one jar of holy oil remained, enough to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, though, the flame remained for eight days.

The Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah or the Feast of Lights celebrates the rededication of the Temple and is observed for eight days commemorating the eight days of the miracle of the oil. So in Jewish homes all around the world for the next eight days a special Hanukkah candelabra or menorah will be lit in remembrance of this miracle. Though I am a Gentile, this miracle and feast is not lost on me, nor should it be on other Christians. Hanukkah commemorates an event that should be remembered by anyone who honors God and believes in religious freedom.

_______
Art 
Schnorr & Gustave
Sources
Bible 1 & 2 Maccabees
Hahn, Catholic Bible Dictionary
D'Ambrosio Hanukkah Why it is not just for Jews
Schoen, What I Wish my Christian Friends Knew about Judaism

Saint Juan Diego

Today we celebrate optional feast day for Saint Juan Diego who was canonized by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002. The Holy Father called the new saint a simple, humble Indian who accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian.

The following video is by Father Kubicki, S.J.
Visit Father Kubicki on his web site http://apostleshipofprayer.org/index.html

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

December 8

The first instant of human creation, or the moment that a person is conceived is when the soul created by God is infused into the body. The Immaculate Conception is Catholic doctrine stating that from the first instant of its creation, the soul of the Virgin Mary was free from original sin; this doctrine is not to be confused with that of the Virgin Birth, which states that Jesus was born of a virgin mother.

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution, Ineffabilis Deus, issued by Piux IX December 8, 1854, which pronounced and defined that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”

For a more detailed Catholic explanation
of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
please visit

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/immaculate-conception-and-assumption

 

Video and text by Steve Silvia

For items related to Our Blessed Mother Mary please visit

Lynn's Timeless Treasures Catholic Goods

------
Sources


New Advent, Catholic Encyclopedia, Immaculate Conception
Ineffabilis Deus, Apostolic Constitution issued by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854
found online at http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm

Saint Ambrose Pastoral Doctor of the Church

Saint Ambrose

Pastoral Doctor

340-397

Feast Day December 7th

Proclaimed Doctor by Pope Boniface XIII 1295

Saint Ambrose, born around 339, the son of the Roman prefect of Gaul, is the first Doctor of the Catholic Church. Saint Ambrose did not grow up in the church, or in any organized religion. As an adult he began his career much like his father, in law and politics and by 370 he had become the Imperial governor of Northern Italy. He possessed a powerful presence by his words and actions and though not religious, Saint Ambrose was known for his exemplary virtues. God however, called St. Ambrose through the voice of the people of Milan. The Episcopal see of Milan became vacant in 374 and the people demanded that Saint Ambrose become their bishop. After some convincing, Saint Ambrose accepted this call as the will of God and became catechumen Ambrose, was baptized, ordained deacon, priest and finally bishop all in one week. Saint Ambrose immediately immersed himself in prayer and scripture study.

Saint Ambrose of Milan died on Holy Saturday 397 AD. His deep love of scripture coupled with the oratorical skill he practiced to perfection during his early career in law and politics, made him one of the greatest pastoral preachers of the early church.

-------

The following quotes, excerpts regarding the mystery of the Consecrated Host as being the Body and Blood of Jesus, are taken from On the Mysteries, originally spoken to newly baptized Christians around 370 AD by St. Ambrose.

 "Fresh from the [baptismal] waters and resplendent in these garments, God’s holy people hasten to the altar of Christ, saying: I will go in to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth. They have sloughed off the old skin of error, their youth renewed like an eagle’s, and they make haste to approach that heavenly banquet [Eucharist]. They come and, seeing the sacred altar prepared, cry out: You have prepared a table in my sight."

"It is wonderful that God rained manna on our fathers and they were fed with daily food from heaven. And so it is written: Man ate the bread of angels. Yet those who ate that bread all died in the desert. But the food that you receive [Eucharist], that living bread which came down from heaven, supplies the very substance of eternal life, and whoever will eat it will never die, for it is the body of Christ."

"Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption. For our fathers, water flowed from the rock; for you, blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied their thirst for a time; blood cleanses you forever. The Jew drinks and still thirsts, but when you drink you will be incapable of thirst. What happened in symbol is now fulfilled in reality."

For devotional Catholic gifts 

please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures 

Catholic Traitors

Catholic Traitors

How many collages were your children asked to make in high school and college? This video from Real Catholic TV is an in-depth examination of the failings of some Catholic schools when it comes to the education of our children and their Catholic faith. It may have been said best by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, “If you want your kids to defend their Faith send them to a public school, if you want them to lose their Faith send them to a Catholic School.”

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas
December 6

The story of Santa Claus comes from the historical person of Saint Nicholas of Myra, born sometime between A.D. 260 and 280, in the village of Patara, a Greek area, now the southern coast of Turkey. His parents, whose names were said to be Theophanes and Nonna were Christians of comfortable means with one hope that after many years of marriage had been left unanswered. Theophanes and Nonna were childless. But like Hannah in the Bible, Nonna prayed to God to bless her with a child and her prayers were answered.

Saint Nicholas was born into an era of great persecution against Christians. In an age when most children were raised to “fend for themselves or die,” and knowing the discrimination that might confront him, Saint Nicholas’ parents raised him as a good Christian. Following the example of his parents and the teaching of Jesus, he spent his time helping others and growing in faith.

This faith was tested when both Theophanes and Nonna died from a plague. Saint Nicholas asked God for guidance and was lead to give away his possessions and train for the priesthood. His uncle, the Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him a priest, and appointed him abbot of a monastery. Upon his uncle’s death, Saint Nicholas took the Archbishop position. Throughout his life he retained the kindness of his youth and his deep love of God by protecting and defending the innocent and poor. He died in 342. In 1807 the relics of Saint Nicholas were moved to Bari, Italy, where after many centuries, “the manna of Saint Nicholas” still flows from his bones and heals the sick.

The story that most links Saint Nicholas with Santa Claus is of a once wealthy man that had fallen on hard times and was not able to offer a dowry for his three daughters. At the time, a dowry was needed to attract a suitable marriage partner, without one the man’s daughters would remain unmarried with no money to care for themselves. Hearing that this man had no choice but to sell his daughters into a life of servitude to ensure their survival, Saint Nicholas went at night and dropped gold coins down their chimney or possibly through their window as is depicted in art. All three daughters were subsequently married with a suitable dowry. The man discovered the identity of this “gift-giver” after waiting up late one night catching Saint Nicholas as he dropped the third bag of gold for the man's youngest daughter.

Saint Nicholas is known around the world by different names, even looking different from place to place. This Christmas, with the grace of God, I hope to renew the tradition of the real Saint Nicholas, alert to the needs of others, giving in secret, expecting nothing in return.

For items related to Saint Nicholas please visit
Lynn's Timeless Treasures
Blessed Advent

 
--------
Sources
New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
Lives of the Saints, Fr. Alban Butler
The True Story of Saint Nicholas and Why it Matters, Bennett
http://www.saintnicholascenter.org/

Second Sunday of Advent - Luke 3:1-6

December 6, 2009

December 9, 2012
December 5, 2015

In today’s gospel we read of John the Baptist, his voice crying out from the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, repent and be baptized for the remission of sin. This is a good time to rededicate ourselves to the most important task that any of us will ever undertake – the gaining of God’s salvation and the joy of living forever with Him in heaven. It is a good time to prepare the internal dwelling of the house of God in our hearts.  

Here is Fr. James Kubicki's refection on today's readings.         https://youtu.be/XF57TcAl4eo

Light the second candle in your Advent Wreath