Our Lady of Guadalupe

On December 12 we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra Senora de Gduadalupe). This day is a remembrance of the day that Mary appeared to Juan Diego whose feast day we celebrated early this week on December 9th. This happened in Mexico.

Mary left a picture of herself on his cloak and is shown shining with the light of the sun, moon and stars. Mary has a cinto, or sash worn by pregnant women, wrapped around her. This honors her pregnancy with Jesus.

On this day in Mexico, which always falls during Advent, the people are called from their homes early in the morning (around 4:30AM)and they gather in the darkness of this December morning outside the churches. They offer up a morning serenade (mananitas) to Mary. Then the church doors are opened and everyone enters to celebrate Mass.

After Mass there is an elaborate breakfast. Pastries, sweet Mexican chocolate, hot bread and menudo, (a hot tripe soup, that has garlic added and is thickened with hominy; it also has ancho and pasilla peppers which gives it a spicy dimension. The menudo is topped with sliced radishes, cilantro, oregano, chopped onion and lime juice. What a breakfast that is!

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of all peoples of the Western Hemisphere. On this day honoring Mary offer up a prayer to her. And you could toast her with a cup of hot chocolate with maybe a touch of cinnamon added.

August 29th - The Passion of St. John the Baptist

As summer winds down, we hear the crickets chirping and will soon hear the honking of geese as they fly south for the winter. And, yes we have less than one month of summer left as September 23 will be the first day of autumn, and you will hear some meteorologists telling you that meteorological autumn begins September 1st. I like the September 23rd date better myself!

Remember back in June when we celebrated the beginning of summer and on June 24th the birth of St. John the Baptist? And remember he grew up to announce the arrival of Jesus as the Messiah. Well in August at the end of the summer we recognize the death of St. John the Baptist. He was thrown into prison by King Herod and then murdered under King Herod’s orders. This story is told to us in the Gospel of John, chapter 6.

For us his death is a tragedy and we observe the day as one of sorrow. The saddest part of this story is that for King Herod and his court the beheading of John the Baptist was nothing more than a lark, one that gave great entertainment to the partiers but in the end was a loss for all of those that John touched. Since we remember this anniversary of John’s death as a day of sorrow we can observe it by eating simply, maybe not eating between meals or skipping a dessert. We could also take a break from technology for the day. There are lots of ways we can show our respect for the cousin of Jesus who went before him proclaiming him as the Messiah.

Often, people who are sad do not feel like eating. By fasting as suggested in the previous paragraph we can be in union with those who may be feeling sad about something in their lives right now. What do you do when you are feeling sad? Can you think of ways that you could help someone you know who is feeling sad? Sometimes all it takes to lift someone spirits is a phone call or a visit. And there may be times when just sitting with the person in silence will be enough, they know you are there and that you care about them.

Remember, Jesus tells us, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” You could be the one who is doing the comforting today and tommorrow someone may comfort you.

November 22 - St. Cecilia

    Cultivated young patrician woman whose ancestors loomed large in Rome’s history. She vowed her virginity to God, but her parents married her to Valerian of Trastevere. Cecilia told her new husband that she was accompanied by an angel, but in order to see it, he must be purified. He agreed to the purification, and was baptised; returning from the ceremony, he found her in prayer accompanied by a praying angel. The angel placed a crown on each of their heads, and offered Valerian a favor; the new convert asked that his brother be baptised.
    The two brothers developed a ministry of giving proper burial to martyred Christians. In their turn they were arrested and martyred for their faith. Cecilia buried them at her villa on the Apprian Way, and was arrested for the action. She was ordered to sacrifice to false gods; when she refused, she was martyred in her turn.
    The Acta of Cecilia includes the following: “While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.     http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-cecilia/

St. Jerome

Today is the feast day of St. Jerome, a priest and Doctor of the Church.  St. Jerome is the most famous biblical scholar in the history of the Church.  He is the patron saint scholars and libratians.