.::Firmum Est::. - - My Heart is Steadfast

Every day we pray that the “master of the harvest” will send us more laborers.  During Vocation Awareness Week, April 29 – May 4, 2007, the Archdiocese of Washington will hold Holy Hours for Vocations in 50 churches and schools.

It is hoped that we can offer a Holy Hour for the intention of vocations during Vocation Awareness Week. If you need a list of the churches and times, please contact Maris Moriarty

This is organized by the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Vocation Society, a group whose members commit to prayer in a “little way” each day, especially for vocations. Maris can also be contacted if you have an interest in joining.

Each year, we invite our benefactors from the US and Italy to join us for an evening at the college. It is a night of true service; we help park cars, we wait tables - and some of us participate in the entertainment of the evening. This year, I was honored to take part in the Folk Band, Rusty Red and the Dirty River Hillbillies. Yes, our group leader has rusty red hair. Yes, we like on a hill over looking the Tiber. And yes, the Tiber is a ‘dirty’ river.

We sang four songs: Rocky Top, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Man of Constant Sorrows and You are my Sunshine. Just think of the movie of “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” Even the flannel shirts came out under the clerics.

Yesterday, a group of American Benefactors were given a private Papal Audience in the Sala Clementina of the Papal Household. I was honored to be among them and to meet His Holiness, Benedict XVI. It was an exciting experience shared with Deacon Joe Rogers, Charlie Cortinovis and Anthony Lieckteg - all seminarians of Washington, DC.

After Mass at the Church of Santa Susanna, the official church for the American community in Rome, we boarded some buses to Vatican City. The Pope had a meeting with the President of Sri Lanka just prior to our audience. After being ushered through the palace and into the Sala, we waited a few moments for his entrance. He greeted us with a message I will share below.

It was a joy to visit St Peter’s Basilica directly from the Audience. We continued to pray for the Holy Father, that his shepherding of the flock of God will be done out of love and that any burdens that he may bear will always be with our Lord Jesus Christ. We visited the tomb of St Peter - and prayed the Apostle’s Creed. Also, we visited the tomb of Servant of God, John Paul II.

In sum, it was a day so fully of goodness that it could have only been imagined by the Father.
Pictures will follow soon - but those taken by the official photographers may be viewed here.

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The Holy Fathers Address:

Dear Friends in Christ,

In this joyful season as we offer thanks and praise to God for Christ’s victory over sin and death, I am pleased to greet you, the members of the Papal Foundation, on your annual pilgrimage to Rome. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:2).

Our Easter faith gives us hope that the risen Lord will truly transform the world. In his Resurrection we recognize the fulfillment of God’s promise to the exiled people of Israel: “I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel” (Ez 37:12). Truly, the risen Christ gives renewed hope and strength to many in our world today who suffer injustice or deprivation and who long to be able to live with the freedom and dignity of the children of God.

Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to enkindle the hearts of believers, moving them to love their brothers and sisters as Christ loved them, and to witness through their charitable activity to the Father’s love for all humanity (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 19). The fruit of that gift of the Spirit can be clearly seen in the assistance that the Papal Foundation gives in Christ’s name to developing countries, in the form of aid projects, grants and scholarships. I am most grateful for your support and for the help you give me in carrying out my mission to care for Christ’s flock in every corner of the world.

I assure you that your love of the Church and your dedication to the practice of Christian charity is deeply appreciated. As we prepare to celebrate the great outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, I encourage you to continue in your generous commitment, so that the flame of divine love may continue burning brightly in the hearts of believers everywhere. Commending you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing to you and to your families as a pledge of joy and peace in the Risen Savior.

Our main reason for traveling to Ukraine was to experience the Triduum in the Eastern Rite. As Americans, we primarily celebrate the Latin Rite. This is proper to the US, South America, Western Europe and much of Africa. There is, however, a very rich liturgical tradition in Eastern Europe, Russia, Greece, Palestine, Syria and Egypt. Many of these churches (orthodox) are not in union with the Holy Father following the schism of 1054. The reason for this schism was unfortunately mostly political, however it was not helped by the forth crusade losing its purpose and sacking Constantinople. The Ukrainian Catholic, Greek Catholic, Marionite and Coptic churches accept the primacy of Peter in the Bishop of Rome. These churches have diverse liturgies rich and full of beauty. As a Roman Catholic studying in Rome soon to be a priest in the Roman/Latin Rite, I thought it right to branch out and experience the broad heritage of our Faith.

This past weekend, the whole church celebrated the height of the Christian Faith - the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Assuming that most readers know the Triduum of the Latin Rite, I will just briefly point out big differences in the traditions:

1)They do not seem to have Passion Sunday - where the whole Passion account is proclaimed. Instead, on Holy Thursday, they have a liturgy called the “Liturgy of Twelve Gospels.” It is solely the Liturgy of the Word with twelve parts of the four gospels being read which pertain to the Passion.

2)They do not have the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the Triduum - the humility of the Lord in washing our feet and His invitation for us to wash other’s feet.

3)There is no veneration of the Cross on Good Friday. Instead they process around the outside of the church with an icon of Jesus being placed into the arms of His Mother. This is then adored throughout the the night and up to the Easter Vigil - the Super Bowl of Catholic Liturgies.

4)There isn’t a unity of the different celebrations like in the Latin Rite. The Triduum for us begins with Thursday but officially continues through the Easter Vigil - one big liturgy with three parts as we cannot separate the Last Supper from the Passion or the Death from the Resurrection.

These are just some of my observations that I though good to share. May each of you continue to encounter the Risen Lord through this celebration of the Easter Mystery.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He has Risen!
Or as they say in Ukraine - Kristos Vostres! Voestend Vostres!

We have just returned to Krakow from five days in Ukraine - my first trip into Eastern Europe and a former Soviet (Communist) Country. It opened my mind and heart in many ways.

We stayed in the western part - the city of L’viv. Our most gracious hosts were the religious family Miles Jesu. They were founded in 1964 by Fr Duran after he introduced the Cursillo movement in the Diocese of Phoenix. Since then, they have spread as missionaries to very needy areas all over the world - India, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, etc. Their specific charism is to build up the spirituality of the laity. They first entered Ukraine after the fall of the ‘Iron Curtain.’ Since then, they have opened a mission parish for the Greek/Ukrainian Catholic Church, a ‘Boy’s Town’ and a ‘Girl’s Town.’ The Soviet Countries were ravished during communism by a number of things - but one main result is what they refer to as ‘Orphans of Alcoholism’. There was very little hope for many years - food was hard to come by, but alcohol was cheap and easy to find. Many of these children were taken to state institutions at first but then brought to Miles Jesu. We celebrated the Feast of Easter with these children in L’viv and then traveled to their house for soccer and water fights the Monday after Easter. A tradition in these countries is to throw water on people the first few days after Easter. Theologically, it may be connected to the waters of Baptism that are renewed at Easter.

Our time with Miles Jesus was very good. They are always welcoming support - most especially prayers. See their website for info on donations.

These past few days have been very inspiring. The faith of the people here is Poland and Krakow is strong and omnipresent. The presence of John Paul is just a strong as it is in Rome. Walking into any church, there is likely to be Mass, Confession, Adoration, Rosary, Divine Mercy - people kneeling, standing, sitting, singing, praying - the churches are full of life. Confessions are around the clock - the lines can be 20 - 30 people deep.

The first day here, I visited the Shrine of Jasna Gora in Częstochowa. The monastery has been a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of years, and it contains the most important icon of the Virgin Mary in this part of Europe. The icon, depicting the Mother of God with the Christ Child, is known as The Black Madonna of Częstochowa or Our Lady of Częstochowa. It is Poland’s most important holy site. The Communists tried to create industry here to destroy the faith of the people, therefore these two lifestyles are juxtaposed throughout the city - manifested in an industrial tower as you look down one end of main street and the bell tower of the Shrine at the other.

For Palm/Passion Sunday, we traveled to Kalwaria (Calvary) - a Franciscian Monastery in the mountains south of Krakow. It was built centuries ago to provide pilgrims with a substitute of Jerusalem lost to the Muslim Turks and thus unavailable. With its 42 churches and chapels of all shapes and sizes in addition to the central basilica and the monastery, the vast complex of buildings scattered among woods grew to be the biggest such compound in Europe. It is also Poland’s second most important historic destination for pilgrims. We saw the beginning of the Passion play that will last all week - Jesus’ entrance into the Holy City on the colt and the Cleansing of the Temple. After the money was scattered and the pottery broken, the young children rushed up to take a piece home with them.

I will write more soon about the time in and around Krakow including the events celebrating the life of John Paul II (Monday was the second anniversary of his death) and the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration/extermination camp of the Nazi’s during World War II.