From www.rte.ie/news
The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that there are eight Irish nationals involved with the flotilla, which was travelling to Gaza.
Five were onboard the Irish-owned vessel, the Rachel Corrie, and all are safe. Three arrived at the port of Ashdod and are being processed by the Israeli authorities.
In addition, there are potentially another five people who hold dual citizenship.
There has been widespread condemnation of Israel's decision to storm one of the six ships trying to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
At least nine people were killed when Israeli commandos opened fire, although some reports put that figure as high as 19.
The Israelis maintain that their commandos were attacked when they boarded the Mavi Marmara vessel and that several of their commandos were wounded, two of them seriously.
Israel's Deputy Prime Minister also claimed that weapons had been found on the Turkish ship.
A spokesperson for Irish participants in the flotilla categorically denied the claim.
Israel's ambassador to Ireland Dr Zion Evrony met Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin his evening.
Dr Evrony said he would convey Minster Martin's view to the Israeli government and that he clarified Israel's position to Minister Martin during the meeting.
He expressed regret for the loss of life and said it was not Israeli's intention. It had hoped the incident would end peacefully.
Dr Evrony said the relationship with Ireland is strong and will continue to be so. He said he was neither ashamed nor embarrassed by what happened.
Sweden, Greece and Spain also summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their capitals.
Dr Evrony has also agreed to appear before a special meeting of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday; the Palestinian representative in Ireland is also expected to attend.
EU ambassadors are to meet later today in Brussels to discuss the crisis.
Blockade
Israel said it was absolutely determined to maintain its blockade of the Palestinian territory of 1.5m people, citing fears that arms supplies could reach Hamas by sea.
It has previously halted activist ships, although some others have reached Gaza before.
The convoy set off in international waters off Cyprus yesterday in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade of Gaza and warnings that it would be intercepted.
The flotilla was organised, among others, by a Turkish human rights organisation.
Turkey had urged Israel to allow it safe passage and said the 10,000 tonnes of aid the convoy was carrying was humanitarian.
France24 television aired video of a woman in a Muslim headdress holding a stretcher with a large bloodstain on it. Below her lay a man, apparently injured, in a blanket.
CNN showed pictures of a commando apparently rappelling down a rope and clashing with a man wielding a stick.
Other television images showed what appeared to be rubber boarding launches.
Protests
The Ireland Palestine Campaign is organising a solidarity demonstration in Dublin this evening at 6pm.
Several hundred people have taken part in an anti-Israel demonstration in Belfast this evening.
Among those taking part in the protest were Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams and trade union representatives.
Elsewhere, several hundred people protested outside the British prime minister's Downing Street residence in London.
Chanting 'Free Palestine' and brandishing the Palestinian flag and banners condemning Israeli 'war crimes', activists blocked a major route through the capital as they staged an angry but peaceful demonstration.
In Baghdad, thousands of followers of an anti-US cleric took to the streets to protest the deaths.
The demonstrators, waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags and holding pictures of their leader Moqtada al-Sadr, chanted against Israel and its ally, the US.
Earlier, about 300 people rallied outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul.
'Down with Zionist, Israeli imperialism,' protesters shouted as police backed by armoured vehicles and water cannon barred them from moving towards the building.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Holy Face nun beatified, remembered by Pope Benedict XVI
Vatican City, May 30, 2010 (Catholic News Agency/EWTN News).
Mother Maria Pierina De Micheli was beatified in Rome on Sunday. Although the Pope was not present at the rite, after the Angelus he commended her for her "extraordinary devotion" to the Holy Face of Christ.
The beatification ceremony, presided over by the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato, took place on Trinity Sunday at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. According to Vatican Radio, many of those present at the rite were from Argentina and other parts of South America, a sign of the love for her in her adopted home of Buenos Aires.
Archbishop Amato reportedly said that the trinitarian stamp that marks each of us as children of the Father, brothers of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit has even greater visibility in the saints.
Blessed Pierina, he stated, was "a trinitarian creature, shaped by the mercy of the Father, redeemed by the Crucified son and enriched by the grace of the Spirit of holiness."
The Holy Father spoke briefly of the life of the nun from the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception order in the Argentinean capital after the Angelus on Sunday.
Born in 1890 in Milan, Italy, she followed other siblings into the religious life, dedicating herself to education in Argentina and Italy from the age of 23 until her death in 1945. She had an "extraordinary devotion" to the Holy Face, he said, which saw her through trials and sicknesses.
During Sunday's Mass at St. Mary Major, the prefect of saint's causes listed this devotion along with her Marian piety and her offering of prayer and suffering for the sanctification of priests as the three characteristics of holiness defined by Pope Benedict XVI in the Apostolic Letter concerning her beatification.
The archbishop explained that Mother Pierina's devotion to the Holy Face originated in visions she had of Immaculate Mary holding a scapular with the face of Jesus on one side and a radiant host on the other. She was told by the Virgin of the images' value as an armor of defense and a token of Jesus' mercy and love.
She later produced the Holy Face from the visions in the form of a medal that was distributed around the world.
Concluding, Archbishop Amato remembered her for the "concrete sign" she left in history of the Triune God and how she still "invites all people to see the attraction of divine beauty."
The remains of Blessed Pierina reside at the Holy Spirit Institute in Rome.
Mother Maria Pierina De Micheli was beatified in Rome on Sunday. Although the Pope was not present at the rite, after the Angelus he commended her for her "extraordinary devotion" to the Holy Face of Christ.
The beatification ceremony, presided over by the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato, took place on Trinity Sunday at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. According to Vatican Radio, many of those present at the rite were from Argentina and other parts of South America, a sign of the love for her in her adopted home of Buenos Aires.
Archbishop Amato reportedly said that the trinitarian stamp that marks each of us as children of the Father, brothers of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit has even greater visibility in the saints.
Blessed Pierina, he stated, was "a trinitarian creature, shaped by the mercy of the Father, redeemed by the Crucified son and enriched by the grace of the Spirit of holiness."
The Holy Father spoke briefly of the life of the nun from the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception order in the Argentinean capital after the Angelus on Sunday.
Born in 1890 in Milan, Italy, she followed other siblings into the religious life, dedicating herself to education in Argentina and Italy from the age of 23 until her death in 1945. She had an "extraordinary devotion" to the Holy Face, he said, which saw her through trials and sicknesses.
During Sunday's Mass at St. Mary Major, the prefect of saint's causes listed this devotion along with her Marian piety and her offering of prayer and suffering for the sanctification of priests as the three characteristics of holiness defined by Pope Benedict XVI in the Apostolic Letter concerning her beatification.
The archbishop explained that Mother Pierina's devotion to the Holy Face originated in visions she had of Immaculate Mary holding a scapular with the face of Jesus on one side and a radiant host on the other. She was told by the Virgin of the images' value as an armor of defense and a token of Jesus' mercy and love.
She later produced the Holy Face from the visions in the form of a medal that was distributed around the world.
Concluding, Archbishop Amato remembered her for the "concrete sign" she left in history of the Triune God and how she still "invites all people to see the attraction of divine beauty."
The remains of Blessed Pierina reside at the Holy Spirit Institute in Rome.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Morality of Tattoos and Body Piercing
From http://www.latinmassmagazine.com/articles/articles_2002_SU_Joseph.html
by Father Peter Joseph – Summer 2002
Many upright people are repelled by modern fads and fashions, such as tattooing, multiple earrings and other body piercing, but feel unequipped to give a clear judgment on the morality of such practices, or to rebut the charge that they are elevating their personal preferences into a moral code. In this article, I will set out some criteria that are relevant to making a moral judgment on these things.
In the Old Testament, the Chosen People were specifically commanded: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh…or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28). Inspired by God, St. Paul admonishes us: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” (1 Cor 6:19). Being a temple of the Holy Spirit, we owe our body due care and protection and decorum. In some cultures, a special bodily mark or design – on the forehead, for example – signifies a certain attainment or marital status, or whatever, and is socially acceptable. Ethiopian Christians, to name one group, wear tattoo crosses on their foreheads. In Samoa, it was once a widespread custom to tattoo the eldest son or daughter of the local ruling family. In Western societies, earrings and makeup are acceptable as a part of feminine fashions and public presentability. But certain types of body piercing and decorations in our society are extreme and unjustified, and some of them are motivated by anti-Christian sentiments.
It would be impossible to give black-and-white judgments on all bodily decorations. But we can point to a few negative aspects that should be of concern to a Christian. Unless otherwise stated, this article will refer to Western societies only. I will treat the more serious concerns first and then the less serious.
1. Diabolical images. Tattoos of demons are quite common, yet no Christian should ever sport an image of a devil or a Satanic symbol.
2. Exultation in the ugly. This is a mark of the Satanic, which hates the beauty of God’s creation and tries to destroy it and to ruin others’ appreciation of it. More than just being ugly, some body piercing is the expression of delight in being ugly.
We recognize bad taste in tattoos, rings and studs, by looking at their nature, size, extent and place on the body. Ironically, even florid and colorful tattoos fade over time and end up looking dark and dreary. When one considers how, in concentration camps, prisoners were treated like animals and branded on their arm with a number, it is amazing to think that people today adopt similar markings as if they were fashionable or smart. This is truly the sign of a return to barbarity, the behavior of people who do not have any sense of the dignity of the human person.
3. Self-mutilation and self-disfigurement. This is a sin against the body and against the Fifth Commandment. Some body piercing verges on self-mutilation. At best, multiple body piercing is self-inflicted abuse. A form of self-hatred or self-rejection motivates some to pierce themselves or decorate themselves in a hideous and harmful fashion. The human body was not made by God to be a pin cushion or a mural.
4. Harm to health. Doctors have spoken publicly on this health issue. In 2001, researchers at both the University of Texas and the Australian National University reported on harm to health caused by tattoos and body piercing. Some earrings (on the navel, tongue or upper ear) are unhealthy and cause infections or lasting harm such as deformities of the skin. They can also poison the blood for some time (septicaemia). Certain piercings (e.g., on the nose, eyebrows, lip, tongue) do not close over even when the object is removed. Such body piercing, therefore, is immoral, since we should not endanger health without a reasonable motive. When done unhygienically, tattoos and piercing cause infection. A used instrument, if not properly sterilized, can transmit hepatitis or HIV.
Some have hoped to avoid health dangers by getting “henna” tattoos, which are painted on rather than done with needles. Henna staining is an ancient Hindu wedding custom of painting floral designs on the feet and hands. A German Medical Association report this year found that tourists returning home with hennas done in Bali and Bangkok, among other places, were going to the doctor because of severe skin infections and sometimes lifelong allergies. In some cases also, the coloring agent used meant that the tattoo faded away, but after several weeks of skin irritation, the design reappeared in the form of a reddish tattoo, often very painful for the patient. Allergies developed from 12 hours to a week after the application of the henna, causing intense itching, redness, blistering and scaling.
5. A desire to shock and repel. It can be appropriate to shock people, as for example, when one recounts the plight of poor and hungry people, or protests against crimes or terrible exploitation. This can be a healthy thing, when done properly and with due care, to arouse people out of complacency, so that they realize something must be done. But to shock people for the thrill of shocking people, with no intention to promote truth and goodness, is not a virtue, but a sign of a perverted sense of values.
In evaluating tattoos under this heading of repulsiveness, we look at the nature of the images, the size and number of the tattoos, and their place on the body. In evaluating piercings, we consider similarly their extent and location on the body.
6. Indecency and irreverence. It is always immoral to get or exhibit tattoos of indecent images or phrases, or derisive figures of Our Lord or His Mother or holy things.
7. Signs of a sexual disorientation. Pirates used to be the only males who wore earrings (for whatever reason!) while sailors and side-show freaks were just about the only people with tattoos. What was once so restricted has now spread to wider sections of the community. In the 1970s, an earring worn by a man in the left ear, or the right, or both, was a code-sign of his personal orientation and thus a form of picking up partners. As such, it was blatantly immoral, and generally an advertisement of one’s immorality. Earrings in boys and men are so common now that they have lost that significance, but they are never positively demanded by social requirements, as a suit and tie are socially required on certain formal occasions. Even admitting the lack of clear symbolism now, I would expect any seminary to tell any inquirer that he would have to remove any earring or stud before entering, and question him as to when he started wearing it and why. A seminarian or priest sporting an earring is not socially acceptable in the Catholic Church. A good number of parishioners would wonder about the deeper reasons or motivation. No one in such a public position starts to wear an earring without making a deliberate decision. As a wise old Jesuit priest said to me once, “No one changes externals without having changed internals.” It is regarded as what people call “making a statement.” The same code of expected conduct applies to men in other professions, such as policemen or teachers.
Employers and principals should make rules outlawing any such jewelry for male staff and students. Especially for the young, such rules protect them both from themselves and from peer pressure. The fact is that, still today, earrings are prevalent among females, and in minority use among males.
8. Unsuitability. Sometimes people tattoo themselves with a big image of a crucifix or other holy pictures. The human body is a most unsuitable place for such an image, even if it be a beautiful one. Whenever these people go swimming, for example, they are exhibiting this image in an inappropriate fashion. No priest would ever go down to a shopping center in Mass vestments, not because there is something wrong with vestments, but because there is a time and a place for donning special religious symbols.
9. Vanity. Some men in particular tattoo their upper and lower arms in order to be ostentatious and impressive. It is a means of drawing attention to themselves. No one who meets them can fail to notice the tattoos – to the point at which it is in fact a constant distraction. It detracts from the person, and focuses attention too much on the body’s external appearance. The same can be said for a stud on the tongue, a ring in the nose, or earrings all over one’s ears and eyebrows. These are not part of our culture; at most, they are part of a certain subculture, a minority affectation, devoid of religious or positive social significance. No one is saying it is wrong to dress up, but here it is a question of moderation and discretion. Sacred Scripture implicitly recognizes that it is good for a bride to be adorned for her husband when the heavenly Jerusalem is compared to such a woman (Apoc. 21:2). It is good for a lady to be well dressed and to use makeup when the occasion calls for it, but everyone recognizes when the embellishment has gone over the top and makes her look seductive or cheap.
10. Immaturity and imprudence. An action acceptable or indifferent in itself can become wrong if the intention or motive is wrong. Some young people adopt outrageous fashions out of an immature desire to rebel against society or against their parents. Such disobedience against parents is sinful. Some do it out of an immature desire to conform to their friends, and others out of an equally immature desire to stick out from everyone around them. Some do it out of boredom, because it is something different, because it gives them a thrill, because it is something for their friends to admire and comment on. Mindless following of fads is always the mark of immaturity. For young people who live at home under their parents’ authority, it is enough if their parents express their disapproval of such fashions to know that they should not go ahead. Some young people go to further extremes and vie with each other as to who can pierce whatever part of the body the most. Parents must forbid such behavior absolutely.
Young people can hardly justify the big expenditure (not to mention the pain) involved in getting a tattoo. It is also unjustified and just plain silly to mark your body for life with images of no great worth or with the name of one’s current lover. A recent example I heard of gives an idea of the time and expense: a young girl had one arm tattooed up and down. It required two four-hour sessions and cost $1,000 (American).
Tattoos are more serious than other adornments since they are more or less permanent marks on the body. Many a man or woman have been tattooed gladly in youth, but regretted it not so many years later when they came to regard it as an embarrassing disfigurement. Once they mature, they pay dearly for the luxury of getting rid of it. The removal of tattoos is expensive and difficult – and can leave scars. The removal of big tattoos requires surgery under a general anaesthetic, with all the potential risks, plus the significant medical and hospital costs. The removal of large tattoos can leave big segments of the skin permanently disfigured or blotched, like skin that has been burnt. Many adults find themselves ineligible for some jobs, because businesses will not employ them with their hands covered in tattoos, impossible to conceal years after their youthful folly.
Universal Criteria
In any culture, things can arise, become acceptable, and become part of the culture – but this does not necessarily make them right. Here are some examples from foreign cultures that I regard as equally wrong. In one tribe of Africa, women wear gigantic and heavy earrings that change the shape of the earlobes. In another place, women put coils around their necks and elongate them unnaturally, or put plates in their mouths to make the lips protrude some inches. In China, there was once the practice of binding girls’ feet tightly to stop them from growing, because small, dainty feet were admired. These and other drastic alterations to the natural growth of the human body must be judged immoral, as forms of abuse springing from vanity.
It is not always possible to draw an exact line and say where the bounds of moderation have been exceeded. But this does not mean that there is no line. No one can define at what exact temperature a day passes from being cool to cold, but everyone knows that when the temperature is near zero, it is cold beyond dispute. Let us never fall for the ploy that tries to argue from borderline or difficult cases that there are no guidelines or principles, and that there is no such thing as a just mean or moderation, just because they are hard to define.
The human body is meant to be treated with care, not maltreated or disfigured. Its dignity and beauty must be kept and cultivated, in order that it be an expression of the deeper beauty of the soul.
Father Peter Joseph is vice-rector and lecturer in dogma at Vianney College, the diocesan seminary of Wagga Wagga, Australia.
© 1999 – 2007 Keep the Faith, Inc. All Rights reserved.
by Father Peter Joseph – Summer 2002
Many upright people are repelled by modern fads and fashions, such as tattooing, multiple earrings and other body piercing, but feel unequipped to give a clear judgment on the morality of such practices, or to rebut the charge that they are elevating their personal preferences into a moral code. In this article, I will set out some criteria that are relevant to making a moral judgment on these things.
In the Old Testament, the Chosen People were specifically commanded: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh…or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28). Inspired by God, St. Paul admonishes us: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” (1 Cor 6:19). Being a temple of the Holy Spirit, we owe our body due care and protection and decorum. In some cultures, a special bodily mark or design – on the forehead, for example – signifies a certain attainment or marital status, or whatever, and is socially acceptable. Ethiopian Christians, to name one group, wear tattoo crosses on their foreheads. In Samoa, it was once a widespread custom to tattoo the eldest son or daughter of the local ruling family. In Western societies, earrings and makeup are acceptable as a part of feminine fashions and public presentability. But certain types of body piercing and decorations in our society are extreme and unjustified, and some of them are motivated by anti-Christian sentiments.
It would be impossible to give black-and-white judgments on all bodily decorations. But we can point to a few negative aspects that should be of concern to a Christian. Unless otherwise stated, this article will refer to Western societies only. I will treat the more serious concerns first and then the less serious.
1. Diabolical images. Tattoos of demons are quite common, yet no Christian should ever sport an image of a devil or a Satanic symbol.
2. Exultation in the ugly. This is a mark of the Satanic, which hates the beauty of God’s creation and tries to destroy it and to ruin others’ appreciation of it. More than just being ugly, some body piercing is the expression of delight in being ugly.
We recognize bad taste in tattoos, rings and studs, by looking at their nature, size, extent and place on the body. Ironically, even florid and colorful tattoos fade over time and end up looking dark and dreary. When one considers how, in concentration camps, prisoners were treated like animals and branded on their arm with a number, it is amazing to think that people today adopt similar markings as if they were fashionable or smart. This is truly the sign of a return to barbarity, the behavior of people who do not have any sense of the dignity of the human person.
3. Self-mutilation and self-disfigurement. This is a sin against the body and against the Fifth Commandment. Some body piercing verges on self-mutilation. At best, multiple body piercing is self-inflicted abuse. A form of self-hatred or self-rejection motivates some to pierce themselves or decorate themselves in a hideous and harmful fashion. The human body was not made by God to be a pin cushion or a mural.
4. Harm to health. Doctors have spoken publicly on this health issue. In 2001, researchers at both the University of Texas and the Australian National University reported on harm to health caused by tattoos and body piercing. Some earrings (on the navel, tongue or upper ear) are unhealthy and cause infections or lasting harm such as deformities of the skin. They can also poison the blood for some time (septicaemia). Certain piercings (e.g., on the nose, eyebrows, lip, tongue) do not close over even when the object is removed. Such body piercing, therefore, is immoral, since we should not endanger health without a reasonable motive. When done unhygienically, tattoos and piercing cause infection. A used instrument, if not properly sterilized, can transmit hepatitis or HIV.
Some have hoped to avoid health dangers by getting “henna” tattoos, which are painted on rather than done with needles. Henna staining is an ancient Hindu wedding custom of painting floral designs on the feet and hands. A German Medical Association report this year found that tourists returning home with hennas done in Bali and Bangkok, among other places, were going to the doctor because of severe skin infections and sometimes lifelong allergies. In some cases also, the coloring agent used meant that the tattoo faded away, but after several weeks of skin irritation, the design reappeared in the form of a reddish tattoo, often very painful for the patient. Allergies developed from 12 hours to a week after the application of the henna, causing intense itching, redness, blistering and scaling.
5. A desire to shock and repel. It can be appropriate to shock people, as for example, when one recounts the plight of poor and hungry people, or protests against crimes or terrible exploitation. This can be a healthy thing, when done properly and with due care, to arouse people out of complacency, so that they realize something must be done. But to shock people for the thrill of shocking people, with no intention to promote truth and goodness, is not a virtue, but a sign of a perverted sense of values.
In evaluating tattoos under this heading of repulsiveness, we look at the nature of the images, the size and number of the tattoos, and their place on the body. In evaluating piercings, we consider similarly their extent and location on the body.
6. Indecency and irreverence. It is always immoral to get or exhibit tattoos of indecent images or phrases, or derisive figures of Our Lord or His Mother or holy things.
7. Signs of a sexual disorientation. Pirates used to be the only males who wore earrings (for whatever reason!) while sailors and side-show freaks were just about the only people with tattoos. What was once so restricted has now spread to wider sections of the community. In the 1970s, an earring worn by a man in the left ear, or the right, or both, was a code-sign of his personal orientation and thus a form of picking up partners. As such, it was blatantly immoral, and generally an advertisement of one’s immorality. Earrings in boys and men are so common now that they have lost that significance, but they are never positively demanded by social requirements, as a suit and tie are socially required on certain formal occasions. Even admitting the lack of clear symbolism now, I would expect any seminary to tell any inquirer that he would have to remove any earring or stud before entering, and question him as to when he started wearing it and why. A seminarian or priest sporting an earring is not socially acceptable in the Catholic Church. A good number of parishioners would wonder about the deeper reasons or motivation. No one in such a public position starts to wear an earring without making a deliberate decision. As a wise old Jesuit priest said to me once, “No one changes externals without having changed internals.” It is regarded as what people call “making a statement.” The same code of expected conduct applies to men in other professions, such as policemen or teachers.
Employers and principals should make rules outlawing any such jewelry for male staff and students. Especially for the young, such rules protect them both from themselves and from peer pressure. The fact is that, still today, earrings are prevalent among females, and in minority use among males.
8. Unsuitability. Sometimes people tattoo themselves with a big image of a crucifix or other holy pictures. The human body is a most unsuitable place for such an image, even if it be a beautiful one. Whenever these people go swimming, for example, they are exhibiting this image in an inappropriate fashion. No priest would ever go down to a shopping center in Mass vestments, not because there is something wrong with vestments, but because there is a time and a place for donning special religious symbols.
9. Vanity. Some men in particular tattoo their upper and lower arms in order to be ostentatious and impressive. It is a means of drawing attention to themselves. No one who meets them can fail to notice the tattoos – to the point at which it is in fact a constant distraction. It detracts from the person, and focuses attention too much on the body’s external appearance. The same can be said for a stud on the tongue, a ring in the nose, or earrings all over one’s ears and eyebrows. These are not part of our culture; at most, they are part of a certain subculture, a minority affectation, devoid of religious or positive social significance. No one is saying it is wrong to dress up, but here it is a question of moderation and discretion. Sacred Scripture implicitly recognizes that it is good for a bride to be adorned for her husband when the heavenly Jerusalem is compared to such a woman (Apoc. 21:2). It is good for a lady to be well dressed and to use makeup when the occasion calls for it, but everyone recognizes when the embellishment has gone over the top and makes her look seductive or cheap.
10. Immaturity and imprudence. An action acceptable or indifferent in itself can become wrong if the intention or motive is wrong. Some young people adopt outrageous fashions out of an immature desire to rebel against society or against their parents. Such disobedience against parents is sinful. Some do it out of an immature desire to conform to their friends, and others out of an equally immature desire to stick out from everyone around them. Some do it out of boredom, because it is something different, because it gives them a thrill, because it is something for their friends to admire and comment on. Mindless following of fads is always the mark of immaturity. For young people who live at home under their parents’ authority, it is enough if their parents express their disapproval of such fashions to know that they should not go ahead. Some young people go to further extremes and vie with each other as to who can pierce whatever part of the body the most. Parents must forbid such behavior absolutely.
Young people can hardly justify the big expenditure (not to mention the pain) involved in getting a tattoo. It is also unjustified and just plain silly to mark your body for life with images of no great worth or with the name of one’s current lover. A recent example I heard of gives an idea of the time and expense: a young girl had one arm tattooed up and down. It required two four-hour sessions and cost $1,000 (American).
Tattoos are more serious than other adornments since they are more or less permanent marks on the body. Many a man or woman have been tattooed gladly in youth, but regretted it not so many years later when they came to regard it as an embarrassing disfigurement. Once they mature, they pay dearly for the luxury of getting rid of it. The removal of tattoos is expensive and difficult – and can leave scars. The removal of big tattoos requires surgery under a general anaesthetic, with all the potential risks, plus the significant medical and hospital costs. The removal of large tattoos can leave big segments of the skin permanently disfigured or blotched, like skin that has been burnt. Many adults find themselves ineligible for some jobs, because businesses will not employ them with their hands covered in tattoos, impossible to conceal years after their youthful folly.
Universal Criteria
In any culture, things can arise, become acceptable, and become part of the culture – but this does not necessarily make them right. Here are some examples from foreign cultures that I regard as equally wrong. In one tribe of Africa, women wear gigantic and heavy earrings that change the shape of the earlobes. In another place, women put coils around their necks and elongate them unnaturally, or put plates in their mouths to make the lips protrude some inches. In China, there was once the practice of binding girls’ feet tightly to stop them from growing, because small, dainty feet were admired. These and other drastic alterations to the natural growth of the human body must be judged immoral, as forms of abuse springing from vanity.
It is not always possible to draw an exact line and say where the bounds of moderation have been exceeded. But this does not mean that there is no line. No one can define at what exact temperature a day passes from being cool to cold, but everyone knows that when the temperature is near zero, it is cold beyond dispute. Let us never fall for the ploy that tries to argue from borderline or difficult cases that there are no guidelines or principles, and that there is no such thing as a just mean or moderation, just because they are hard to define.
The human body is meant to be treated with care, not maltreated or disfigured. Its dignity and beauty must be kept and cultivated, in order that it be an expression of the deeper beauty of the soul.
Father Peter Joseph is vice-rector and lecturer in dogma at Vianney College, the diocesan seminary of Wagga Wagga, Australia.
© 1999 – 2007 Keep the Faith, Inc. All Rights reserved.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Martyred monks film nabs second prize at Cannes festival
Cannes, France, May 25, 2010 (Catholic News Agency).
At the end the prestigious 12-day Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, a film on a group of French monks who were martyred in Africa during the 1990s won the event's second highest honor.
“Of Gods and Men,” a film by the French director Xavier Beauvois, centers around the true story of seven Cistercian monks who were taken hostage and murdered by Islamic fundamentalists in 1996. Though the monks were told to return to their native France, the group refused and chose to remain in the conflict-torn region of the Algerian mountains, knowing that they would be martyred.
On Sunday, the movie was awarded the “Grand Prix” honor, which is the festival's second highest prize.
Kate Muir, a film critic for the London-based Times Online, called the film the “most intensely passionate” one of the Cannes event, and according to her, during the movie's premier the “audience wept.”
In her May 19 review, Muir discussed Beauvois' depiction of the monks, who lived contemplative lives in the service of the poor in the Atlas Mountains. In the film, the seven men build strong friendships with their surrounding community and live in relative peace until conflict arises between the local government and extremist groups. Though the monks are advised by everyone involved to leave, each one decides to stay and is eventually held hostage and murdered by the fundamentalists.
“The deep humanity of the monks, their respect for Islam and their generosity towards their village neighbors make (up) the reason for our choice,” stated the festival jury who issued the award. “This movie of great artistic value benefits from a remarkable group of actors and follows the daily rhythm of work and liturgy.”
At the end the prestigious 12-day Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, a film on a group of French monks who were martyred in Africa during the 1990s won the event's second highest honor.
“Of Gods and Men,” a film by the French director Xavier Beauvois, centers around the true story of seven Cistercian monks who were taken hostage and murdered by Islamic fundamentalists in 1996. Though the monks were told to return to their native France, the group refused and chose to remain in the conflict-torn region of the Algerian mountains, knowing that they would be martyred.
On Sunday, the movie was awarded the “Grand Prix” honor, which is the festival's second highest prize.
Kate Muir, a film critic for the London-based Times Online, called the film the “most intensely passionate” one of the Cannes event, and according to her, during the movie's premier the “audience wept.”
In her May 19 review, Muir discussed Beauvois' depiction of the monks, who lived contemplative lives in the service of the poor in the Atlas Mountains. In the film, the seven men build strong friendships with their surrounding community and live in relative peace until conflict arises between the local government and extremist groups. Though the monks are advised by everyone involved to leave, each one decides to stay and is eventually held hostage and murdered by the fundamentalists.
“The deep humanity of the monks, their respect for Islam and their generosity towards their village neighbors make (up) the reason for our choice,” stated the festival jury who issued the award. “This movie of great artistic value benefits from a remarkable group of actors and follows the daily rhythm of work and liturgy.”
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Whitsuntide, Sermon By Pope St. Leo the Great (d. A.D. 461)
I.
The giving of the Law by Moses prepared the way for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. The hearts of all Catholics, beloved, realize that today's solemnity is to be honoured as one of the chief feasts, nor is there any doubt that great respect is due to this day, which the Holy Spirit has hallowed by the miracle of His most excellent gift. For from the day on which the Lord ascended up above all heavenly heights to sit down at God the Father's right hand, this is the tenth which has shone, and the fiftieth from His Resurrection, being the very day on which it began, and containing in itself great revelations of mysteries both new and old, by which it is most manifestly revealed that Grace was fore-announced through the Law and the Law fulfilled through Grace. For as of old, when the Hebrew nation were released from the Egyptians, on the fiftieth day after the sacrificing of the lamb the Law was given on Mount Sinai, so after the suffering of Christ, wherein the true Lamb of God was slain on the fiftieth day from His Resurrection, the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles and the multitude of believers, so that the earnest Christian may easily perceive that the beginnings of the Old Testament were preparatory to the beginnings of the Gospel, and that the second covenant was rounded by the same Spirit that had instituted the first.
II.
How marvellous was the gift of "various tongues." For as the Apostles' story testifies: "while the days of Pentecost were fulfilled and all the disciples were together in the same place, there occurred suddenly from heaven a sound as of a violent wind coming, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance." Oh ! how swift are the words of wisdom. and where God is the Master, how quickly is what is taught, learnt. No interpretation is required for understanding, no practice for using, no time for studying, but the Spirit of Truth blowing where He wills, the languages peculiar to each nation become common property in the mouth of the Church.
And therefore from that day the trumpet of the Gospel-preaching has sounded loud: from that day the showers of gracious gifts, the rivers of blessings, have watered every desert and all the dry land, since to renew the face of the earth the Spirit of God "moved over the waters," and to drive away the old darkness flashes of new light shone forth, when by the blaze of those busy tongues was kindled the Lord's bright Word and fervent eloquence, in which to arouse the understanding, and to consume sin there lay both a capacity of enlightenment and a power of burning.
III.
The three Persons in the Trinity are perfectly equal in all things. But although, dearly-beloved, the actual form of the thing done was exceeding wonderful, and undoubtedly in that exultant chorus of all human languages the Majesty of the Holy Spirit was present, yet no one must think that His Divine substance appeared in what was seen with bodily eyes. For His Nature, which is invisible and shared in common with the Father and the Son, showed the character of His gift and work by the outward sign that pleased Him, but kept His essential property within His own Godhead: because human sight can no more perceive the Holy Ghost than it can the Father or the Son. For in the Divine Trinity nothing is unlike or unequal, and all that can be thought concerning Its substance admits of no diversity either in power or glory or eternity. And while in the property of each Person the Father is one, the Son is another, and the Holy Ghost is another, yet the Godhead is not distinct and different; for whilst the Son is the Only begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, not in the way that every creature is the creature of the Father and the Son, but as living and having power with Both, and eternally subsisting of That Which is the Father and the Son.
And hence when the Lord before the day of His Passion promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to His disciples, He said, "I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth shall have come, He shall guide you into all the Truth. For He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall have heard, He shall speak and shall announce things to come unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I that He shall take of Mine, and shall announce it to you." Accordingly, there are not some things that are the Father's, and other the Son's, and other the Holy Spirit's: but all things whatsoever the Father has, the Son also has, and the Holy Spirit also has: nor was there ever a time when this communion did not exist, because with Them to have all things is to always exist. In them let no times, no grades, no differences be imagined, and, if no one can explain that which is true concerning God, let no one dare to assert what is not true. For it is more excusable not to make a full statement concerning His ineffable Nature than to frame an actually wrong definition.
And so whatever loyal hearts can conceive of the Father's eternal and unchangeable Glory, let them at the same time understand it of the Son and of the Holy Ghost without any separation or difference. For we confess this blessed Trinity to be One God for this reason, because in these three Persons there is no diversity either of substance, or of power, or of will, or of operation.
IV.
The Macedonian heresy is as blasphemous as the Arian. As therefore we abhor the Arians, who maintain a difference between the Father and the Son, so also we abhor the Macedonians, who, although they ascribe equality to the Father and the Son, yet think the Holy Ghost to be of a lower nature, not considering that they thus fall into that blasphemy, which is not to be forgiven either in the present age or in the judgment to come, as the Lord says: "whosoever shall have spoken a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that shall have spoken against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come." And so to persist in this impiety is unpardonable, because it cuts him off from Him, by Whom he could confess: nor will he ever attain to healing pardon, who has no Advocate to plead for him. For from Him comes the invocation of the Father, from Him come the tears of penitents, from Him come the groans of suppliants, and "no one can call Jesus the Lord save in the Holy Ghost," Whose Omnipotence as equal and Whose Godhead as one, with the Father and the Son, the Apostle most clearly proclaims, saying, "there are divisions of graces but the same Spirit; and the divisions of ministrations but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations but the same God, Who worketh all things in all."
V.
The Spirit's work is still continued in the Church. By these and other numberless proofs, dearly-beloved, with which the authority of the Divine utterances is ablaze, let us with one mind be incited to pay reverence to Whitsuntide, exulting in honour of the Holy Ghost, through Whom the whole catholic Church is sanctified, and every rational soul quickened; Who is the Inspirer of the Faith, the Teacher of Knowledge, the Fount of Love, the Seal of Chastity, and the Cause of all Power. Let the minds of the faithful rejoice, that throughout the world One God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is praised by the confession of all tongues, and that that sign of His Presence, which appeared in the likeness of fire, is still perpetuated in His work and gift. For the Spirit of Truth Himself makes the house of His glory shine with the brightness of His light, and will have nothing dark nor lukewarm in His temple.
And it is through His aid and teaching also that the purification of fasts and alms has been established among us. For this venerable day is followed by a most wholesome practice, which all the saints have ever found most profitable to them, and to the diligent observance of which we exhort you with a shepherd's care, to the end that if any blemish has been contracted in the days just passed through heedless negligence, it may be atoned for by the discipline of fasting and corrected by pious devotion.
On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday for this very purpose keep vigil with accustomed devotion, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Reminder: Today is the day you wipe away the chalk
from the blessing of your home on the Feast of the Epiphany.
The giving of the Law by Moses prepared the way for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. The hearts of all Catholics, beloved, realize that today's solemnity is to be honoured as one of the chief feasts, nor is there any doubt that great respect is due to this day, which the Holy Spirit has hallowed by the miracle of His most excellent gift. For from the day on which the Lord ascended up above all heavenly heights to sit down at God the Father's right hand, this is the tenth which has shone, and the fiftieth from His Resurrection, being the very day on which it began, and containing in itself great revelations of mysteries both new and old, by which it is most manifestly revealed that Grace was fore-announced through the Law and the Law fulfilled through Grace. For as of old, when the Hebrew nation were released from the Egyptians, on the fiftieth day after the sacrificing of the lamb the Law was given on Mount Sinai, so after the suffering of Christ, wherein the true Lamb of God was slain on the fiftieth day from His Resurrection, the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles and the multitude of believers, so that the earnest Christian may easily perceive that the beginnings of the Old Testament were preparatory to the beginnings of the Gospel, and that the second covenant was rounded by the same Spirit that had instituted the first.
II.
How marvellous was the gift of "various tongues." For as the Apostles' story testifies: "while the days of Pentecost were fulfilled and all the disciples were together in the same place, there occurred suddenly from heaven a sound as of a violent wind coming, and filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance." Oh ! how swift are the words of wisdom. and where God is the Master, how quickly is what is taught, learnt. No interpretation is required for understanding, no practice for using, no time for studying, but the Spirit of Truth blowing where He wills, the languages peculiar to each nation become common property in the mouth of the Church.
And therefore from that day the trumpet of the Gospel-preaching has sounded loud: from that day the showers of gracious gifts, the rivers of blessings, have watered every desert and all the dry land, since to renew the face of the earth the Spirit of God "moved over the waters," and to drive away the old darkness flashes of new light shone forth, when by the blaze of those busy tongues was kindled the Lord's bright Word and fervent eloquence, in which to arouse the understanding, and to consume sin there lay both a capacity of enlightenment and a power of burning.
III.
The three Persons in the Trinity are perfectly equal in all things. But although, dearly-beloved, the actual form of the thing done was exceeding wonderful, and undoubtedly in that exultant chorus of all human languages the Majesty of the Holy Spirit was present, yet no one must think that His Divine substance appeared in what was seen with bodily eyes. For His Nature, which is invisible and shared in common with the Father and the Son, showed the character of His gift and work by the outward sign that pleased Him, but kept His essential property within His own Godhead: because human sight can no more perceive the Holy Ghost than it can the Father or the Son. For in the Divine Trinity nothing is unlike or unequal, and all that can be thought concerning Its substance admits of no diversity either in power or glory or eternity. And while in the property of each Person the Father is one, the Son is another, and the Holy Ghost is another, yet the Godhead is not distinct and different; for whilst the Son is the Only begotten of the Father, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, not in the way that every creature is the creature of the Father and the Son, but as living and having power with Both, and eternally subsisting of That Which is the Father and the Son.
And hence when the Lord before the day of His Passion promised the coming of the Holy Spirit to His disciples, He said, "I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth shall have come, He shall guide you into all the Truth. For He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall have heard, He shall speak and shall announce things to come unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I that He shall take of Mine, and shall announce it to you." Accordingly, there are not some things that are the Father's, and other the Son's, and other the Holy Spirit's: but all things whatsoever the Father has, the Son also has, and the Holy Spirit also has: nor was there ever a time when this communion did not exist, because with Them to have all things is to always exist. In them let no times, no grades, no differences be imagined, and, if no one can explain that which is true concerning God, let no one dare to assert what is not true. For it is more excusable not to make a full statement concerning His ineffable Nature than to frame an actually wrong definition.
And so whatever loyal hearts can conceive of the Father's eternal and unchangeable Glory, let them at the same time understand it of the Son and of the Holy Ghost without any separation or difference. For we confess this blessed Trinity to be One God for this reason, because in these three Persons there is no diversity either of substance, or of power, or of will, or of operation.
IV.
The Macedonian heresy is as blasphemous as the Arian. As therefore we abhor the Arians, who maintain a difference between the Father and the Son, so also we abhor the Macedonians, who, although they ascribe equality to the Father and the Son, yet think the Holy Ghost to be of a lower nature, not considering that they thus fall into that blasphemy, which is not to be forgiven either in the present age or in the judgment to come, as the Lord says: "whosoever shall have spoken a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that shall have spoken against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come." And so to persist in this impiety is unpardonable, because it cuts him off from Him, by Whom he could confess: nor will he ever attain to healing pardon, who has no Advocate to plead for him. For from Him comes the invocation of the Father, from Him come the tears of penitents, from Him come the groans of suppliants, and "no one can call Jesus the Lord save in the Holy Ghost," Whose Omnipotence as equal and Whose Godhead as one, with the Father and the Son, the Apostle most clearly proclaims, saying, "there are divisions of graces but the same Spirit; and the divisions of ministrations but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations but the same God, Who worketh all things in all."
V.
The Spirit's work is still continued in the Church. By these and other numberless proofs, dearly-beloved, with which the authority of the Divine utterances is ablaze, let us with one mind be incited to pay reverence to Whitsuntide, exulting in honour of the Holy Ghost, through Whom the whole catholic Church is sanctified, and every rational soul quickened; Who is the Inspirer of the Faith, the Teacher of Knowledge, the Fount of Love, the Seal of Chastity, and the Cause of all Power. Let the minds of the faithful rejoice, that throughout the world One God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is praised by the confession of all tongues, and that that sign of His Presence, which appeared in the likeness of fire, is still perpetuated in His work and gift. For the Spirit of Truth Himself makes the house of His glory shine with the brightness of His light, and will have nothing dark nor lukewarm in His temple.
And it is through His aid and teaching also that the purification of fasts and alms has been established among us. For this venerable day is followed by a most wholesome practice, which all the saints have ever found most profitable to them, and to the diligent observance of which we exhort you with a shepherd's care, to the end that if any blemish has been contracted in the days just passed through heedless negligence, it may be atoned for by the discipline of fasting and corrected by pious devotion.
On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday for this very purpose keep vigil with accustomed devotion, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Reminder: Today is the day you wipe away the chalk
from the blessing of your home on the Feast of the Epiphany.
From Lesbian Atheist to Stay-at-Home Mother of Six
By Georges Buscemi
May 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
“I was an atheist for as long as I could remember” recalled Brigitte Bedard, a young-looking 41-year-old journalist and stay at home mother of six with cropped tousled brown hair and stylish thick-framed glasses. She was addressing a crowd of 200 participants at the Quebec Life Coalition pro-life conference on May 15 in Quebec City.
While Bedard is less well known than the conference’s keynote speaker – Cardinal Marc Ouellet – whose staunchly pro-life statements made later that afternoon were seized on by the anti-life Quebec media, she might be the speaker who most touched hearts that Saturday afternoon.
Ms. Bedard grew up at a time when Quebec society was undergoing what historians call the “Quiet Revolution,” a period of time from the early-sixties to the mid seventies when Quebec society shed its Christian heritage and adopted secular values. “I was born in 1968 — talk about bad luck” she joked.
Bedard had a typical childhood in a non-religious household, and went to the notoriously leftist Université du Québec à Montréal, where she studied literature, eventually graduating with an MA. “I filled my mind with all the radical feminist literature — I drank it all up” she said.
She began a series of heterosexual relationships, which all ended badly. “Prodded along by what I was reading, I began thinking that since all my heterosexual relationships were failures, that I might be a lesbian.” And in fact she dove into the lesbian lifestyle, and admitted that she revelled in it for quite some time. “It was actually a very good time, in a way, being with a big gang of girls, tearing up the town, chain-smoking like there was no tomorrow. I was also very sexually active.”
Despite the fun and the excitement of the lifestyle, she felt broken, she recalls. “I was a mental wreck. I just felt that I was spinning out of control, that I was keeping appearances but I was miserable inside.” Things came to a head when, inexplicably, she broke into tears one night at 3 am and began shouting in her empty apartment in a trendy district of Montreal, imploring God to “take her away.” “Here I was, a militant feminist lesbian atheist lying on my apartment floor crying my head off imploring God. I wasn’t in my right mind, but I was desperate for help.”
She began seeking help, meandering in and out of countless 12-step type programs, in the hopes of finding some kind of solution for her anxiety and “messed-up life.” To make matters worse, she had just quit smoking: “I was suddenly forced to face life in the raw, without any protection or buffer.”
At wit’s end, she recounted how someone she knew talked about visiting “the monks” at the famous Saint-Benoît Abbey in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec. The idea, as bizarre as it seemed to her, intrigued her, and she went, but not without reservations. “I went to the monastery armed with all the contempt and hatred for the patriarchal Church that I had stored up from years of radical feminist studies. For radical feminists the Church is basically enemy #1.”
She entered the convent and was assigned a room and a monk with whom she could converse twice a day. “For three days in a row, two hours a day, I badgered, screamed at, practically foamed at the mouth in the face of this monk, dredging up basically every insult, cliché, dirty thing that I could think of, or invent about Christianity. I was so mad, so hurt and angry, and I was dishing it all out to this monk, who never said a word the whole time, but instead just looked at me, nodding his head.”
Then, at the end of those three days, something happened that changed her life forever. “It was the third day, the sixth hour of screaming. We were about to wrap up yet again. I was basically done screaming, there was a pause, and then the monk looked up and said to me “you have no idea, absolutely no idea how much God loves you; He made you out of nothing, he knows you, you have no idea how much he loves you, His daughter. So don’t feel ashamed, let it all go. Give it up, give it all up, give your life up to Him … He loves you so much.”
Those simple words at that crucial time “absolutely floored her” she recalled. From that moment on, her life had utterly changed. “I am His daughter, there are no two ways about it, and I can’t explain it.” She admits she is at pains to explain exactly what it was that caused her conversion: “I just say that God floored me, staggered me; I didn’t convert myself, he brought me to Him.”
She now works as an independent journalist and happily married stay-at-home mother of six. Life for her now is not all peaches and cream, however. “When I need quiet, there’s nothing I can do except for one thing: get up at 4 am. Which I do, pretty often, just to get some peace.” Remarking on the differences between her life now and in her lesbian days, she quipped: “Living with a man is definitely a pain, but living with a woman all the time was a living hell.”
Brigitte Bedard, who writes for the Nouvel Informateur Catholique, was one of four conference participants (plus keynote speaker Cardinal Marc Ouellet) at the annual Quebec Life Coalition conference at Quebec City on May 15. Video recordings of the talks (in original French, or dubbed in English) are available through Quebec Life Coalition.
May 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
“I was an atheist for as long as I could remember” recalled Brigitte Bedard, a young-looking 41-year-old journalist and stay at home mother of six with cropped tousled brown hair and stylish thick-framed glasses. She was addressing a crowd of 200 participants at the Quebec Life Coalition pro-life conference on May 15 in Quebec City.
While Bedard is less well known than the conference’s keynote speaker – Cardinal Marc Ouellet – whose staunchly pro-life statements made later that afternoon were seized on by the anti-life Quebec media, she might be the speaker who most touched hearts that Saturday afternoon.
Ms. Bedard grew up at a time when Quebec society was undergoing what historians call the “Quiet Revolution,” a period of time from the early-sixties to the mid seventies when Quebec society shed its Christian heritage and adopted secular values. “I was born in 1968 — talk about bad luck” she joked.
Bedard had a typical childhood in a non-religious household, and went to the notoriously leftist Université du Québec à Montréal, where she studied literature, eventually graduating with an MA. “I filled my mind with all the radical feminist literature — I drank it all up” she said.
She began a series of heterosexual relationships, which all ended badly. “Prodded along by what I was reading, I began thinking that since all my heterosexual relationships were failures, that I might be a lesbian.” And in fact she dove into the lesbian lifestyle, and admitted that she revelled in it for quite some time. “It was actually a very good time, in a way, being with a big gang of girls, tearing up the town, chain-smoking like there was no tomorrow. I was also very sexually active.”
Despite the fun and the excitement of the lifestyle, she felt broken, she recalls. “I was a mental wreck. I just felt that I was spinning out of control, that I was keeping appearances but I was miserable inside.” Things came to a head when, inexplicably, she broke into tears one night at 3 am and began shouting in her empty apartment in a trendy district of Montreal, imploring God to “take her away.” “Here I was, a militant feminist lesbian atheist lying on my apartment floor crying my head off imploring God. I wasn’t in my right mind, but I was desperate for help.”
She began seeking help, meandering in and out of countless 12-step type programs, in the hopes of finding some kind of solution for her anxiety and “messed-up life.” To make matters worse, she had just quit smoking: “I was suddenly forced to face life in the raw, without any protection or buffer.”
At wit’s end, she recounted how someone she knew talked about visiting “the monks” at the famous Saint-Benoît Abbey in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec. The idea, as bizarre as it seemed to her, intrigued her, and she went, but not without reservations. “I went to the monastery armed with all the contempt and hatred for the patriarchal Church that I had stored up from years of radical feminist studies. For radical feminists the Church is basically enemy #1.”
She entered the convent and was assigned a room and a monk with whom she could converse twice a day. “For three days in a row, two hours a day, I badgered, screamed at, practically foamed at the mouth in the face of this monk, dredging up basically every insult, cliché, dirty thing that I could think of, or invent about Christianity. I was so mad, so hurt and angry, and I was dishing it all out to this monk, who never said a word the whole time, but instead just looked at me, nodding his head.”
Then, at the end of those three days, something happened that changed her life forever. “It was the third day, the sixth hour of screaming. We were about to wrap up yet again. I was basically done screaming, there was a pause, and then the monk looked up and said to me “you have no idea, absolutely no idea how much God loves you; He made you out of nothing, he knows you, you have no idea how much he loves you, His daughter. So don’t feel ashamed, let it all go. Give it up, give it all up, give your life up to Him … He loves you so much.”
Those simple words at that crucial time “absolutely floored her” she recalled. From that moment on, her life had utterly changed. “I am His daughter, there are no two ways about it, and I can’t explain it.” She admits she is at pains to explain exactly what it was that caused her conversion: “I just say that God floored me, staggered me; I didn’t convert myself, he brought me to Him.”
She now works as an independent journalist and happily married stay-at-home mother of six. Life for her now is not all peaches and cream, however. “When I need quiet, there’s nothing I can do except for one thing: get up at 4 am. Which I do, pretty often, just to get some peace.” Remarking on the differences between her life now and in her lesbian days, she quipped: “Living with a man is definitely a pain, but living with a woman all the time was a living hell.”
Brigitte Bedard, who writes for the Nouvel Informateur Catholique, was one of four conference participants (plus keynote speaker Cardinal Marc Ouellet) at the annual Quebec Life Coalition conference at Quebec City on May 15. Video recordings of the talks (in original French, or dubbed in English) are available through Quebec Life Coalition.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Playing God: Scientists create artificial life form
From www.rte.ie/news
Friday, 21 May 2010
US scientists, led by controversial biologist Craig Venter, have succeeded in generating an artificial life form in the laboratory for the first time.
Reports say the development of the synthetic organism has significant implications for genomics. The breakthrough is expected to lead to the manufacture of artificial organisms designed for specific tasks such as making vaccines or cleaning up pollution.
However, experts recognise that there are also potential dangers.
Speaking from Washington last night, Dr Venter dismissed suggestions that he was 'playing God'. Dr Venter has said he would like to try to make bacteria to produce fuel or to use in making better vaccines or to design algae that can vacuum up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
'This becomes a very powerful tool for trying to design what we want biology to do,' Dr Venter said at a news conference.
US President Barack Obama has asked his bioethics advisers to study and report on the research findings.
The US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee has also scheduled a hearing for next week to discuss the implications of the development.
Psychiatry Professor and medical ethics spokesman at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr Paul Wolpe, said caution was needed.
Friday, 21 May 2010
US scientists, led by controversial biologist Craig Venter, have succeeded in generating an artificial life form in the laboratory for the first time.
Reports say the development of the synthetic organism has significant implications for genomics. The breakthrough is expected to lead to the manufacture of artificial organisms designed for specific tasks such as making vaccines or cleaning up pollution.
However, experts recognise that there are also potential dangers.
Speaking from Washington last night, Dr Venter dismissed suggestions that he was 'playing God'. Dr Venter has said he would like to try to make bacteria to produce fuel or to use in making better vaccines or to design algae that can vacuum up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
'This becomes a very powerful tool for trying to design what we want biology to do,' Dr Venter said at a news conference.
US President Barack Obama has asked his bioethics advisers to study and report on the research findings.
The US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee has also scheduled a hearing for next week to discuss the implications of the development.
Psychiatry Professor and medical ethics spokesman at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr Paul Wolpe, said caution was needed.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
For Pentecost: Litany of the Holy Spirit
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Father all powerful,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, Eternal Son of the Father, Redeemer of the world, Save us.
Spirit of the Father and the Son, boundless Life of both, Sanctify us.
Holy Trinity, Hear us.
Holy Spirit, Who proceedest from the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Holy Spirit, Who art equal to the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Promise of God the Father, have mercy on us.
Ray of heavenly light, have mercy on us.
Author of all good, etc.
Source of heavenly water,
Consuming Fire,
Ardent Charity,
Spiritual Unction,
Spirit of love and truth,
Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
Spirit of counsel and fortitude,
Spirit of knowledge and piety,
Spirit of the fear of the Lord,
Spirit of grace and prayer,
Spirit of peace and meekness,
Spirit of modesty and innocence,
Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier,
Holy Spirit, Who governest the Church, Gift of God the Most High,
Spirit Who fillest the universe,
Spirit of the adoption of the children of God,
Holy Spirit, inspire us with horror of sin.
Holy Spirit, come and renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, shed Thy light into our souls.
Holy Spirit, engrave Thy law in our hearts.
Holy Spirit, inflame us with the flame of Thy love.
Holy Spirit, open to us the treasures of Thy graces.
Holy Spirit, teach us to pray well.
Holy Spirit, enlighten us with Thy heavenly inspirations.
Holy Spirit, lead us in the way of salvation.
Holy Spirit, grant us the only necessary knowledge.
Holy Spirit, inspire in us the practice of good.
Holy Spirit, grant us the merits of all virtues.
Holy Spirit, make us persevere injustice.
Holy Spirit, be our everlasting reward.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Send us Thy Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Pour down into our souls the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Grant us the Spirit of wisdom and piety.
V. Come, Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
R. And enkindle in them the fire of Thy love
Let Us Pray
Grant, O merciful Father, that Thy Divine Spirit may enlighten, inflame and purify us, that He may penetrate us with His heavenly dew and make us fruitful in good works, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who with Thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, liveth and reigneth forever and ever. R. Amen.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Father all powerful,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, Eternal Son of the Father, Redeemer of the world, Save us.
Spirit of the Father and the Son, boundless Life of both, Sanctify us.
Holy Trinity, Hear us.
Holy Spirit, Who proceedest from the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Holy Spirit, Who art equal to the Father and the Son, enter our hearts.
Promise of God the Father, have mercy on us.
Ray of heavenly light, have mercy on us.
Author of all good, etc.
Source of heavenly water,
Consuming Fire,
Ardent Charity,
Spiritual Unction,
Spirit of love and truth,
Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
Spirit of counsel and fortitude,
Spirit of knowledge and piety,
Spirit of the fear of the Lord,
Spirit of grace and prayer,
Spirit of peace and meekness,
Spirit of modesty and innocence,
Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier,
Holy Spirit, Who governest the Church, Gift of God the Most High,
Spirit Who fillest the universe,
Spirit of the adoption of the children of God,
Holy Spirit, inspire us with horror of sin.
Holy Spirit, come and renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, shed Thy light into our souls.
Holy Spirit, engrave Thy law in our hearts.
Holy Spirit, inflame us with the flame of Thy love.
Holy Spirit, open to us the treasures of Thy graces.
Holy Spirit, teach us to pray well.
Holy Spirit, enlighten us with Thy heavenly inspirations.
Holy Spirit, lead us in the way of salvation.
Holy Spirit, grant us the only necessary knowledge.
Holy Spirit, inspire in us the practice of good.
Holy Spirit, grant us the merits of all virtues.
Holy Spirit, make us persevere injustice.
Holy Spirit, be our everlasting reward.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Send us Thy Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Pour down into our souls the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Grant us the Spirit of wisdom and piety.
V. Come, Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of Thy faithful,
R. And enkindle in them the fire of Thy love
Let Us Pray
Grant, O merciful Father, that Thy Divine Spirit may enlighten, inflame and purify us, that He may penetrate us with His heavenly dew and make us fruitful in good works, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who with Thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, liveth and reigneth forever and ever. R. Amen.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Solemn High Mass in Navan
There will be a Solemn High Mass celebrated by priests from the Institute of Christ the King in St Mary's Church in Navan tomorrow afternoon (May 16th) at 5pm. The chief celebrant will be Rev Father Wulfran Lebocq, ICRSS and he will be assisted by two priests in the roles of deacon and subdeacon.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Pope visits Fatima
From http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/world-news/pilgrims-flock-to-portuguese-shrine-2177878.html?start=3
Thursday May 13 2010
Tens of thousands of pilgrims have flooded the Portuguese shrine town of Fatima for the pope's mass celebrating the anniversary of the day when three shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary.
The pope was driven into the square in his popemobile amid cheers from a crowd that observers said could reach a record 500,000. As the mass got under way, the downpour that had soaked pilgrims who had walked for days to reach Fatima broke and the sun emerged from behind dark clouds.
The outdoor mass marked the centrepiece of the Pope's four-day visit to Portugal. It followed an evening, candlelit prayer service in which the pontiff said he was bringing the suffering "of a wounded humanity, of the problems of the world" to Fatima.
The pope has spoken repeatedly about the sufferings of the world and even the church during the trip, saying the "sins of the church" were responsible for the clerical sex abuse scandal.
Today marked the 93rd anniversary of the day - May 13, 1917 - when three Portuguese shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary over an oak tree in Fatima. It also marked the 10th anniversary of the beatifications of two of the shepherds and the fifth anniversary of the death of the third.
Pope John Paul II was also shot in St Peter's Square on May 13 1981 - a coincidence that led him to believe that the Virgin's "unseen hand" had "rescued him from death," the pope said.
He said John Paul gave the bullet that was extracted from his abdomen to the shrine as a measure of his gratitude, and today it forms part of the crown of the statue of the Virgin in a chapel where the pope prayed upon his arrival.
"It is a profound consolation to know that you are crowned not only with the silver and gold of our joys and hopes but also with the 'bullet' of our anxieties and sufferings," the pope said.
The pope told the crowd: "I have come to Fatima to pray, in union with Mary and so many pilgrims, for our human family, afflicted as it is by various ills and sufferings."
Urging the infirm to take heart, he told them they can "overcome the feeling of uselessness, of suffering which wears people down and makes them feel like they are a weight around the neck of others, when in fact suffering, lived through Jesus, leads to salvation."
Press Association
Thursday May 13 2010
Tens of thousands of pilgrims have flooded the Portuguese shrine town of Fatima for the pope's mass celebrating the anniversary of the day when three shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary.
The pope was driven into the square in his popemobile amid cheers from a crowd that observers said could reach a record 500,000. As the mass got under way, the downpour that had soaked pilgrims who had walked for days to reach Fatima broke and the sun emerged from behind dark clouds.
The outdoor mass marked the centrepiece of the Pope's four-day visit to Portugal. It followed an evening, candlelit prayer service in which the pontiff said he was bringing the suffering "of a wounded humanity, of the problems of the world" to Fatima.
The pope has spoken repeatedly about the sufferings of the world and even the church during the trip, saying the "sins of the church" were responsible for the clerical sex abuse scandal.
Today marked the 93rd anniversary of the day - May 13, 1917 - when three Portuguese shepherd children reported having visions of the Virgin Mary over an oak tree in Fatima. It also marked the 10th anniversary of the beatifications of two of the shepherds and the fifth anniversary of the death of the third.
Pope John Paul II was also shot in St Peter's Square on May 13 1981 - a coincidence that led him to believe that the Virgin's "unseen hand" had "rescued him from death," the pope said.
He said John Paul gave the bullet that was extracted from his abdomen to the shrine as a measure of his gratitude, and today it forms part of the crown of the statue of the Virgin in a chapel where the pope prayed upon his arrival.
"It is a profound consolation to know that you are crowned not only with the silver and gold of our joys and hopes but also with the 'bullet' of our anxieties and sufferings," the pope said.
The pope told the crowd: "I have come to Fatima to pray, in union with Mary and so many pilgrims, for our human family, afflicted as it is by various ills and sufferings."
Urging the infirm to take heart, he told them they can "overcome the feeling of uselessness, of suffering which wears people down and makes them feel like they are a weight around the neck of others, when in fact suffering, lived through Jesus, leads to salvation."
Press Association
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Trilateral Commission This Weekend Dublin
From http://www.sovereignindependent.com/?p=3001
The Trilateral Commission, which will gather at the Four Seasons Resort in Dublin, Ireland May 6-10. Leaders of Bilderberg also attend the Trilateralists’ meeting to map their common agenda. About 300 attend Trilateral Commission meetings, which are conducted behind sealed-off, guarded floors of their hotel. About 100 will attend Bilderberg, which seals off the entire resort behind platoons of uniformed police and private security. Bilderberg hopes to keep the global recession going for at least a year, according to an international financial consultant who deals personally with many of them. This is because, among several reasons, Bilderberg still hopes to create a global “treasury department” under the United Nations. Bilderberg first undertook this mission at its meeting last spring in Greece, but the effort was blocked by nationalists in Europe and the United States. “Nationalists” (a dirty word in Bilderberg) objected to surrendering sovereignty to the UN. AFP’s source pointed to the words of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a March 29 speech at notoriously left-wing Columbia University, where he said, “We should invent a new global monetary order.” He was clearly referring to the recently proposed world “treasury department.” Bilderberg’s ultimate goal remains unchanged: Turn the UN into a world government with “nation-states” becoming merely geographic references. The European Union is to become a single political entity, followed by the “American Union” and, finally, the “Asian-Pacific Union.” The “American Union” is to include the entire Western Hemisphere, including Cuba and other offshore islands. Like the EU, the “AU” will have a legislature, executive commission and head of state which can impose laws on member nations. There is to be an EU-like common currency, removing each member state’s symbol of sovereignty. The “Asian-Pacific Union,” or “APU,” is to follow a similar path. But growing public awareness of the evil agenda of Bilderberg and the Trilateralists has emerged as a significant barrier. For decades, until 1975 when The Spotlight emerged, the blackout was 100 percent complete worldwide. (The Spotlight is AFP’s lineal ancestor.) Today, in Europe, major metropolitan newspapers and broadcast outlets give both groups heavy, front-page attention. In the United States, independent newspapers and broadcast stations give Bilderberg extensive coverage. But the major newspapers and network broadcasters maintain a complete blackout in the United States. That’s because their executives have attended these meetings on lifetime promises of secrecy. The hypocritical owners of The Washington Post have attended since 1954. The Post’s chairman, Donald Graham, and associate editor, Jimmy Lee Hoagland, have attended each meeting for years. But as public awareness grows, so does patriotic resistance. There is strong resistance throughout Europe to increasing the powers of the EU at the cost of national sovereignty. In the United States, there is growing resistance to the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement, which would eliminate borders between the United States, Mexico and Canada. NAFTA is to expand, under Bilderberg-Trilateral plans, to include the entire hemisphere and evolve into the “American Union.” In the 1990s, Bilderberg was confident that the “American Union” would be established by the year 2000. A decade later, they are still fighting—and losing— the battle. AFP correspondent James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent many years as a member of the “elite” media in Washington. Since 1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group. Subscribe to American Free Press. Online subscriptions: One year of weekly editions—$15 plus you get a BONUS ELECTRONIC BOOK – HIGH PRIESTS OF WAR – By Michael Piper. 20 miles from Barcelona) behind a wall of armed guards who will seal off the resort in a futile attempt to keep the event secret. Bilderberg’s meeting will follow that of its brother group, the Trilateral Commission, which will gather at the Four Seasons Resort in Dublin, Ireland May 6-10. Leaders of Bilderberg also attend the Trilateralists’ meeting to map their common agenda. About 300 attend Trilateral Commission meetings, which are conducted behind sealed-off, guarded floors of their hotel. About 100 will attend Bilderberg, which seals off the entire resort behind platoons of uniformed police and private security. Bilderberg hopes to keep the global recession going for at least a year, according to an international financial consultant who deals personally with many of them. This is because, among several reasons, Bilderberg still hopes to create a global “treasury department” under the United Nations. Bilderberg first undertook this mission at its meeting last spring in Greece, but the effort was blocked by nationalists in Europe and the United States. “Nationalists” (a dirty word in Bilderberg) objected to surrendering sovereignty to the UN. AFP’s source pointed to the words of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a March 29 speech at notoriously left-wing Columbia University, where he said, “We should invent a new global monetary order.” He was clearly referring to the recently proposed world “treasury department.” Bilderberg’s ultimate goal remains unchanged: Turn the UN into a world government with “nation-states” becoming merely geographic references. The European Union is to become a single political entity, followed by the “American Union” and, finally, the “Asian-Pacific Union.” The “American Union” is to include the entire Western Hemisphere, including Cuba and other offshore islands. Like the EU, the “AU” will have a legislature, executive commission and head of state which can impose laws on member nations. There is to be an EU-like common currency, removing each member state’s symbol of sovereignty. The “Asian-Pacific Union,” or “APU,” is to follow a similar path. But growing public awareness of the evil agenda of Bilderberg and the Trilateralists has emerged as a significant barrier. For decades, until 1975 when The Spotlight emerged, the blackout was 100 percent complete worldwide. (The Spotlight is AFP’s lineal ancestor.) Today, in Europe, major metropolitan newspapers and broadcast outlets give both groups heavy, front-page attention. In the United States, independent newspapers and broadcast stations give Bilderberg extensive coverage. But the major newspapers and network broadcasters maintain a complete blackout in the United States. That’s because their executives have attended these meetings on lifetime promises of secrecy. The hypocritical owners of The Washington Post have attended since 1954. The Post’s chairman, Donald Graham, and associate editor, Jimmy Lee Hoagland, have attended each meeting for years. But as public awareness grows, so does patriotic resistance. There is strong resistance throughout Europe to increasing the powers of the EU at the cost of national sovereignty. In the United States, there is growing resistance to the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement, which would eliminate borders between the United States, Mexico and Canada. NAFTA is to expand, under Bilderberg-Trilateral plans, to include the entire hemisphere and evolve into the “American Union.” In the 1990s, Bilderberg was confident that the “American Union” would be established by the year 2000. A decade later, they are still fighting—and losing— the battle. AFP correspondent James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent many years as a member of the “elite” media in Washington. Since 1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bilderberg_found_217.html
The Trilateral Commission, which will gather at the Four Seasons Resort in Dublin, Ireland May 6-10. Leaders of Bilderberg also attend the Trilateralists’ meeting to map their common agenda. About 300 attend Trilateral Commission meetings, which are conducted behind sealed-off, guarded floors of their hotel. About 100 will attend Bilderberg, which seals off the entire resort behind platoons of uniformed police and private security. Bilderberg hopes to keep the global recession going for at least a year, according to an international financial consultant who deals personally with many of them. This is because, among several reasons, Bilderberg still hopes to create a global “treasury department” under the United Nations. Bilderberg first undertook this mission at its meeting last spring in Greece, but the effort was blocked by nationalists in Europe and the United States. “Nationalists” (a dirty word in Bilderberg) objected to surrendering sovereignty to the UN. AFP’s source pointed to the words of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a March 29 speech at notoriously left-wing Columbia University, where he said, “We should invent a new global monetary order.” He was clearly referring to the recently proposed world “treasury department.” Bilderberg’s ultimate goal remains unchanged: Turn the UN into a world government with “nation-states” becoming merely geographic references. The European Union is to become a single political entity, followed by the “American Union” and, finally, the “Asian-Pacific Union.” The “American Union” is to include the entire Western Hemisphere, including Cuba and other offshore islands. Like the EU, the “AU” will have a legislature, executive commission and head of state which can impose laws on member nations. There is to be an EU-like common currency, removing each member state’s symbol of sovereignty. The “Asian-Pacific Union,” or “APU,” is to follow a similar path. But growing public awareness of the evil agenda of Bilderberg and the Trilateralists has emerged as a significant barrier. For decades, until 1975 when The Spotlight emerged, the blackout was 100 percent complete worldwide. (The Spotlight is AFP’s lineal ancestor.) Today, in Europe, major metropolitan newspapers and broadcast outlets give both groups heavy, front-page attention. In the United States, independent newspapers and broadcast stations give Bilderberg extensive coverage. But the major newspapers and network broadcasters maintain a complete blackout in the United States. That’s because their executives have attended these meetings on lifetime promises of secrecy. The hypocritical owners of The Washington Post have attended since 1954. The Post’s chairman, Donald Graham, and associate editor, Jimmy Lee Hoagland, have attended each meeting for years. But as public awareness grows, so does patriotic resistance. There is strong resistance throughout Europe to increasing the powers of the EU at the cost of national sovereignty. In the United States, there is growing resistance to the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement, which would eliminate borders between the United States, Mexico and Canada. NAFTA is to expand, under Bilderberg-Trilateral plans, to include the entire hemisphere and evolve into the “American Union.” In the 1990s, Bilderberg was confident that the “American Union” would be established by the year 2000. A decade later, they are still fighting—and losing— the battle. AFP correspondent James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent many years as a member of the “elite” media in Washington. Since 1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group. Subscribe to American Free Press. Online subscriptions: One year of weekly editions—$15 plus you get a BONUS ELECTRONIC BOOK – HIGH PRIESTS OF WAR – By Michael Piper. 20 miles from Barcelona) behind a wall of armed guards who will seal off the resort in a futile attempt to keep the event secret. Bilderberg’s meeting will follow that of its brother group, the Trilateral Commission, which will gather at the Four Seasons Resort in Dublin, Ireland May 6-10. Leaders of Bilderberg also attend the Trilateralists’ meeting to map their common agenda. About 300 attend Trilateral Commission meetings, which are conducted behind sealed-off, guarded floors of their hotel. About 100 will attend Bilderberg, which seals off the entire resort behind platoons of uniformed police and private security. Bilderberg hopes to keep the global recession going for at least a year, according to an international financial consultant who deals personally with many of them. This is because, among several reasons, Bilderberg still hopes to create a global “treasury department” under the United Nations. Bilderberg first undertook this mission at its meeting last spring in Greece, but the effort was blocked by nationalists in Europe and the United States. “Nationalists” (a dirty word in Bilderberg) objected to surrendering sovereignty to the UN. AFP’s source pointed to the words of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a March 29 speech at notoriously left-wing Columbia University, where he said, “We should invent a new global monetary order.” He was clearly referring to the recently proposed world “treasury department.” Bilderberg’s ultimate goal remains unchanged: Turn the UN into a world government with “nation-states” becoming merely geographic references. The European Union is to become a single political entity, followed by the “American Union” and, finally, the “Asian-Pacific Union.” The “American Union” is to include the entire Western Hemisphere, including Cuba and other offshore islands. Like the EU, the “AU” will have a legislature, executive commission and head of state which can impose laws on member nations. There is to be an EU-like common currency, removing each member state’s symbol of sovereignty. The “Asian-Pacific Union,” or “APU,” is to follow a similar path. But growing public awareness of the evil agenda of Bilderberg and the Trilateralists has emerged as a significant barrier. For decades, until 1975 when The Spotlight emerged, the blackout was 100 percent complete worldwide. (The Spotlight is AFP’s lineal ancestor.) Today, in Europe, major metropolitan newspapers and broadcast outlets give both groups heavy, front-page attention. In the United States, independent newspapers and broadcast stations give Bilderberg extensive coverage. But the major newspapers and network broadcasters maintain a complete blackout in the United States. That’s because their executives have attended these meetings on lifetime promises of secrecy. The hypocritical owners of The Washington Post have attended since 1954. The Post’s chairman, Donald Graham, and associate editor, Jimmy Lee Hoagland, have attended each meeting for years. But as public awareness grows, so does patriotic resistance. There is strong resistance throughout Europe to increasing the powers of the EU at the cost of national sovereignty. In the United States, there is growing resistance to the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement, which would eliminate borders between the United States, Mexico and Canada. NAFTA is to expand, under Bilderberg-Trilateral plans, to include the entire hemisphere and evolve into the “American Union.” In the 1990s, Bilderberg was confident that the “American Union” would be established by the year 2000. A decade later, they are still fighting—and losing— the battle. AFP correspondent James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent many years as a member of the “elite” media in Washington. Since 1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bilderberg_found_217.html
Holy Father speaks of Mary, mother and model of the Church
Vatican City, May 9, 2010 (Catholic News Agency/EWTN News).
After noting the arrival of spring, the Holy Father remarked before Sunday's Regina Coeli that May is the Month of Mary. He spoke of her as the Mother and model of the Church, "the perfect disciple of Jesus."
The Pope was joined by thousands in St. Peter's Square for the recitation of the Marian prayer on a sunny and clear spring day.
Explaining that for the Liturgy, May always falls within the Easter season, he said, it is "the time of 'alleluia,' of the waking of the mystery of Christ in the light of the Resurrection and of the Paschal faith. It is the time of waiting for the Holy Spirit, that came down powerfully on the nascent Church at Pentecost."
Thus, continued the Pope, the natural and liturgical contexts go together well with the Church's tradition of dedicating the month of May to Mary, the "most beautiful flower" of creation, a "rose" through whom God, in sending his Son, donated "a new spring" to the world.
"And at the same time," he added, "she is the humble and discreet protagonist of the first steps of the Christian community. Mary is its spiritual core, because her very presence in the midst of the disciples is the living memory of the Lord Jesus and a guarantee of the gift of his Spirit."
Mary, said Pope Benedict XVI, was the "perfect disciple of Jesus" and loved her Son as a mother, but also as a "humble and obedient servant."
Referring to Jesus' words described by St. John in Sunday's Gospel that the disciples would be assisted in remembering and understanding his teachings profoundly, the Pope asked, "how could we not think that Mary, that in her heart, a temple of the Spirit, meditated and interpreted faithfully everything that her Son did and said?
"In this way, already before and especially after Easter, the Mother of Jesus became also Mother and model of the Church."
Pope Benedict closed by expressing joy for his upcoming visit to Portugal which falls in "the heart of this Marian month" and invited participation from the faithful through prayer.
After noting the arrival of spring, the Holy Father remarked before Sunday's Regina Coeli that May is the Month of Mary. He spoke of her as the Mother and model of the Church, "the perfect disciple of Jesus."
The Pope was joined by thousands in St. Peter's Square for the recitation of the Marian prayer on a sunny and clear spring day.
Explaining that for the Liturgy, May always falls within the Easter season, he said, it is "the time of 'alleluia,' of the waking of the mystery of Christ in the light of the Resurrection and of the Paschal faith. It is the time of waiting for the Holy Spirit, that came down powerfully on the nascent Church at Pentecost."
Thus, continued the Pope, the natural and liturgical contexts go together well with the Church's tradition of dedicating the month of May to Mary, the "most beautiful flower" of creation, a "rose" through whom God, in sending his Son, donated "a new spring" to the world.
"And at the same time," he added, "she is the humble and discreet protagonist of the first steps of the Christian community. Mary is its spiritual core, because her very presence in the midst of the disciples is the living memory of the Lord Jesus and a guarantee of the gift of his Spirit."
Mary, said Pope Benedict XVI, was the "perfect disciple of Jesus" and loved her Son as a mother, but also as a "humble and obedient servant."
Referring to Jesus' words described by St. John in Sunday's Gospel that the disciples would be assisted in remembering and understanding his teachings profoundly, the Pope asked, "how could we not think that Mary, that in her heart, a temple of the Spirit, meditated and interpreted faithfully everything that her Son did and said?
"In this way, already before and especially after Easter, the Mother of Jesus became also Mother and model of the Church."
Pope Benedict closed by expressing joy for his upcoming visit to Portugal which falls in "the heart of this Marian month" and invited participation from the faithful through prayer.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
GM Food... Feeding the Hungry or Population Control?
From http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april262010/gm-food-as.php
April Scott www.Salem-News.com
Around 75% percent of our processed foods contain some form of genetically modified ingredients.
(SALEM, Ore.) - Today Salem-News reports that a joint experiment by Russia’s National Association for Gene Security and the Institute of Ecological and Evolutional Problems has revealed that hamsters fed genetically modified (GM) foods produce grandchildren that are unable to produce fourth generation offspring.
Scientist Alexei Surov described the experiment, in which they monitored the behavior, weight gain and birthrate of several groups of hamsters. Upon birth of the second generation they noted slower rates of growth and sexual maturity. The next generation was unable to produce[1].
Genetically modified foods will feed the hungry. I guess that’s one way of putting it.
You could also call it population control. Technically, the final result would be an end to world hunger. They didn’t lie. Who are they? Please refer to my Salem-News story “While We Were Sleeping...GM Food and the Brink of No Return”.[2]
Russian scientists are not the only ones that have warned of noted health effects caused by genetically modified foods. Let us not forget that the scientists that were fired after they discovered serious health effects in animals after feeding them GM food products.
Believing in the potential of GM foods, UC Berkeley's Ignacio Chapela and Arpad Pusztai, a plant genetic modification expert from Scotland Rowett Research Institute, were commissioned to conduct the first independent study on animals fed GM foods.
Studies showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially pre-cancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well[3].
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its first arguments regarding genetically modified alfalfa. This decision will set precedents for future laws and regulations with regard to growing all GM foodstuff..
The world is watching as Monsanto and the U.S Government promote the growth and continued expansion of their genetic modification program. They have patented the pig, the salmon and other species and genetically engineered their genes to produce offspring with more meat.
An estimated seventy-five percent of our processed foods contain some form of genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Are we willing as a nation to risk the lives of our future children and grandchildren to discover that these effects are only observed in animals? How likely is it that we will be experiencing these same effects on a personal level as we consume more genetically modified organisms against our will?
I’ll say it again, are they attempting to feed the world or is it population control? I guarantee that Monsanto and the FDA can answer that. I also guarantee that we will all know the result of this experiment very soon.
Here is the Voice of Russia report from Moscow:
Russia has started the annual Days of Defense against Environmental Hazards from the 15th of April to the 5th of June with the announcement of sensational results of an independent work of research.
Scientists have proven that Genetically Modified Organisms are harmful for mammals. The researchers discovered that animals that eat GM foodstuffs lose their ability to reproduce.
Campbell hamsters that have a fast reproduction rate were fed for two years with ordinary soya beans, which are widely used in agriculture and contain different percentages of GM organisms. Another group of hamsters, the control group, was fed with pure soya, which was found with great difficulty in Serbia because 95 percent of soya in the world is transgenic.
Concerning the experiment carried out jointly by the National Association for Gene Security and the Institute of Ecological and Evolutional Problems, Dr. Alexei Surov had this to say.
“We selected several groups of hamsters, kept them in pairs in cells and gave them ordinary food as always,” says Alexei Surov.
“We did not add anything for one group but the other was fed with soya that contained no GM components, while the third group with some content of Genetically Modified Organisms and the fourth one with increased amount of GMO. We monitored their behavior and how they gain weight and when they give birth to their cubs. Originally, everything went smoothly. However, we noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as before. These pairs’ growth rate was slower and they reached their sexual maturity more slowly. When we got some of their cubs we formed the new pairs of the third generation. We failed to get cubs from these pairs, which were fed with GM foodstuffs. It was proved that these pairs lost their ability to give birth to their cubs,” Dr. Alexei Surov said.
Another surprise was discovered by scientists in hamsters of the third generation. Hair grew in the mouth of the animals that took part in the experiment. It’s unclear why this happened.
The researchers cannot understand why a programme of destruction is launched when animals take GMO foodstuffs. They say that this can be neutralized only by ceasing to use these foods.
Consequently, scientists suggest imposing a ban on the use of GM foods until they are tested for their bio-security. The results of Russian scientists coincide with those of their colleagues from France and Austria. For one, when scientist proved that GM maize was harmful to mammals, France immediately banned its production and sale.
The scientists who carried out the experiment say that it’s too early to make far-reaching conclusions about the health hazards of GMO. They insist that there is a need to carry out comprehensive research.
They suggest implementing the project, “Safety Gene Technology” at the innovation centre, “Skolkovo” which is being set up near Moscow.
[1] Russia Says Genetically Modified Foods are Harmful - Salem-News.com
[2] While We Were Sleeping... GM Food and the Brink of No Return - April Scott Salem-News.com
[3] "Seeds of Destruction, The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation" Review of F. William Engdahl's Book
April Scott www.Salem-News.com
Around 75% percent of our processed foods contain some form of genetically modified ingredients.
(SALEM, Ore.) - Today Salem-News reports that a joint experiment by Russia’s National Association for Gene Security and the Institute of Ecological and Evolutional Problems has revealed that hamsters fed genetically modified (GM) foods produce grandchildren that are unable to produce fourth generation offspring.
Scientist Alexei Surov described the experiment, in which they monitored the behavior, weight gain and birthrate of several groups of hamsters. Upon birth of the second generation they noted slower rates of growth and sexual maturity. The next generation was unable to produce[1].
Genetically modified foods will feed the hungry. I guess that’s one way of putting it.
You could also call it population control. Technically, the final result would be an end to world hunger. They didn’t lie. Who are they? Please refer to my Salem-News story “While We Were Sleeping...GM Food and the Brink of No Return”.[2]
Russian scientists are not the only ones that have warned of noted health effects caused by genetically modified foods. Let us not forget that the scientists that were fired after they discovered serious health effects in animals after feeding them GM food products.
Believing in the potential of GM foods, UC Berkeley's Ignacio Chapela and Arpad Pusztai, a plant genetic modification expert from Scotland Rowett Research Institute, were commissioned to conduct the first independent study on animals fed GM foods.
Studies showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially pre-cancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well[3].
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its first arguments regarding genetically modified alfalfa. This decision will set precedents for future laws and regulations with regard to growing all GM foodstuff..
The world is watching as Monsanto and the U.S Government promote the growth and continued expansion of their genetic modification program. They have patented the pig, the salmon and other species and genetically engineered their genes to produce offspring with more meat.
An estimated seventy-five percent of our processed foods contain some form of genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Are we willing as a nation to risk the lives of our future children and grandchildren to discover that these effects are only observed in animals? How likely is it that we will be experiencing these same effects on a personal level as we consume more genetically modified organisms against our will?
I’ll say it again, are they attempting to feed the world or is it population control? I guarantee that Monsanto and the FDA can answer that. I also guarantee that we will all know the result of this experiment very soon.
Here is the Voice of Russia report from Moscow:
Russia has started the annual Days of Defense against Environmental Hazards from the 15th of April to the 5th of June with the announcement of sensational results of an independent work of research.
Scientists have proven that Genetically Modified Organisms are harmful for mammals. The researchers discovered that animals that eat GM foodstuffs lose their ability to reproduce.
Campbell hamsters that have a fast reproduction rate were fed for two years with ordinary soya beans, which are widely used in agriculture and contain different percentages of GM organisms. Another group of hamsters, the control group, was fed with pure soya, which was found with great difficulty in Serbia because 95 percent of soya in the world is transgenic.
Concerning the experiment carried out jointly by the National Association for Gene Security and the Institute of Ecological and Evolutional Problems, Dr. Alexei Surov had this to say.
“We selected several groups of hamsters, kept them in pairs in cells and gave them ordinary food as always,” says Alexei Surov.
“We did not add anything for one group but the other was fed with soya that contained no GM components, while the third group with some content of Genetically Modified Organisms and the fourth one with increased amount of GMO. We monitored their behavior and how they gain weight and when they give birth to their cubs. Originally, everything went smoothly. However, we noticed quite a serious effect when we selected new pairs from their cubs and continued to feed them as before. These pairs’ growth rate was slower and they reached their sexual maturity more slowly. When we got some of their cubs we formed the new pairs of the third generation. We failed to get cubs from these pairs, which were fed with GM foodstuffs. It was proved that these pairs lost their ability to give birth to their cubs,” Dr. Alexei Surov said.
Another surprise was discovered by scientists in hamsters of the third generation. Hair grew in the mouth of the animals that took part in the experiment. It’s unclear why this happened.
The researchers cannot understand why a programme of destruction is launched when animals take GMO foodstuffs. They say that this can be neutralized only by ceasing to use these foods.
Consequently, scientists suggest imposing a ban on the use of GM foods until they are tested for their bio-security. The results of Russian scientists coincide with those of their colleagues from France and Austria. For one, when scientist proved that GM maize was harmful to mammals, France immediately banned its production and sale.
The scientists who carried out the experiment say that it’s too early to make far-reaching conclusions about the health hazards of GMO. They insist that there is a need to carry out comprehensive research.
They suggest implementing the project, “Safety Gene Technology” at the innovation centre, “Skolkovo” which is being set up near Moscow.
[1] Russia Says Genetically Modified Foods are Harmful - Salem-News.com
[2] While We Were Sleeping... GM Food and the Brink of No Return - April Scott Salem-News.com
[3] "Seeds of Destruction, The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation" Review of F. William Engdahl's Book
Friday, May 7, 2010
Marian Devotion:The Crown of Twelve Stars
St. John, the beloved disciple of Jesus and Mary, was privileged to behold a wonderful sign in Heaven: "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." This gave rise to the Crown of Twelve Stars devotion which Heaven has blessed with countless favors. St. John Berchmans made it his daily favorite.
This chaplet is prayed to honor each of those twelve stars as they symbolize her motherhood and queenship over all Israel, the twelve stars representing the 12 Tribes and the 12 Apostles. This devotion consists of 12 Aves — one for each star — broken up into 3 groups, each group representing an aspect of Mary's virtues: excellence, power, and goodness.
Each group begins with an Our Father, and ends with a Glory Be. The entire Crown, then, is the praying of the following arrangement of prayers three times:
1 Our Father
4 Hail Marys
1 Glory Be
Let us offer praise and thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity, Who hath shown us the Virgin Mary, clothed with the sun, the moon between her feet, and on her head a mystic crown of twelve stars.
R. For ever and ever. Amen.
On the first large bead:
Let us praise and thank the Divine Father, Who elected her for His daughter.
R. Amen. Say Our Father.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who predestined her to be the Mother of His Divine Son.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who preserved her from all stain in her conception.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who adorned her at birth with His most excellent gifts.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who gave her Saint Joseph to be her companion and most pure spouse.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary and Gloria.
On the next large bead:
Let us praise and thank the Divine Son, Who chose her for His mother.
R. Amen. Say Our Father.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who became incarnate in her bosom and there abode for nine months.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who was born of her and was nourished at her breast.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who in His childhood willed to be taught by her.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who revealed to her the mystery of the Redemption of the world.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary and Gloria.
On the next large bead:
Let us praise and thank the Holy Spirit, Who took her for His spouse.
R. Amen. Say Our Father.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, Who, revealed first to her His Name of Holy Spirit.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, by Whose operation she was at once Virgin and Mother.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, by Whose power she was the living-temple of the ever-blessed Trinity.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, by Whom she was exalted in Heaven above every living creature.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary and Gloria.
An indulgence of 3 years. A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions, if this devotion is repeated daily for a month.
This chaplet is prayed to honor each of those twelve stars as they symbolize her motherhood and queenship over all Israel, the twelve stars representing the 12 Tribes and the 12 Apostles. This devotion consists of 12 Aves — one for each star — broken up into 3 groups, each group representing an aspect of Mary's virtues: excellence, power, and goodness.
Each group begins with an Our Father, and ends with a Glory Be. The entire Crown, then, is the praying of the following arrangement of prayers three times:
1 Our Father
4 Hail Marys
1 Glory Be
Let us offer praise and thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity, Who hath shown us the Virgin Mary, clothed with the sun, the moon between her feet, and on her head a mystic crown of twelve stars.
R. For ever and ever. Amen.
On the first large bead:
Let us praise and thank the Divine Father, Who elected her for His daughter.
R. Amen. Say Our Father.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who predestined her to be the Mother of His Divine Son.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who preserved her from all stain in her conception.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who adorned her at birth with His most excellent gifts.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Father, Who gave her Saint Joseph to be her companion and most pure spouse.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary and Gloria.
On the next large bead:
Let us praise and thank the Divine Son, Who chose her for His mother.
R. Amen. Say Our Father.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who became incarnate in her bosom and there abode for nine months.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who was born of her and was nourished at her breast.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who in His childhood willed to be taught by her.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Divine Son, Who revealed to her the mystery of the Redemption of the world.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary and Gloria.
On the next large bead:
Let us praise and thank the Holy Spirit, Who took her for His spouse.
R. Amen. Say Our Father.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, Who, revealed first to her His Name of Holy Spirit.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, by Whose operation she was at once Virgin and Mother.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, by Whose power she was the living-temple of the ever-blessed Trinity.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary.
On the small bead:
Praised be the Holy Spirit, by Whom she was exalted in Heaven above every living creature.
R. Amen. Say Hail Mary and Gloria.
An indulgence of 3 years. A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions, if this devotion is repeated daily for a month.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
St. John Roberts: Priest and Martyr
From the Catholic Encyclopedia on www.newadvent.org
First Prior of St. Gregory's, Douai (now Downside Abbey), b. 1575-6; martyred 10 December, 1610. He was the son of John and Anna Roberts of Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, N. Wales. He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford, in February, 1595-6, but left after two years without taking a degree and entered as a law student at one of the Inns of Court. In 1598 he travelled on the continent and in Paris, through the influence of a Catholic fellow- countryman, was converted. By the advice of John Cecil, an English priest who afterwards became a Government spy, he decided to enter the English College at Valladolid, where he was admitted 18 October, 1598. The following year, however, he left the college for the Abbey of St. Benedict, Valladolid; whence, after some months, he was sent to make his novitiate in the great Abbey of St. Martin at Compostella where he made his profession towards the end of 1600. His studies completed he was ordained, and set out for England 26 December, 1602. Although observed by a Government spy, Roberts and his companions succeeded in entering the country in April, 1603; but, his arrival being known, he was arrested and banished on 13 May following. He reached Douai on 24 May and soon managed to return to England where he laboured zealously among the plague-stricken people in London. In 1604, while embarking for Spain with four postulants, he was again arrested, but not being recognized as a priest was soon released and banished, but returned again at once. On 5 November, 1605, while Justice Grange was searching the house of Mrs. Percy, first wife of Thomas Percy, who was involved in the Gunpowder Plot, he found Roberts there and arrested him. Though acquitted of any complicity in the plot itself, Roberts was imprisoned in the Gatehouse at Westminster for seven months and then exiled anew in July, 1606.
This time he was absent for some fourteen months, nearly all of which he spent at Douai where he founded a house for the English Benedictine monks who had entered various Spanish monasteries. This was the beginning of the monastery of St. Gregory at Douai which still exists as Downside Abbey, near Bath, England. In October, 1607, Roberts returned to England, was again arrested in December and placed in the Gatehouse, from which he contrived to escape after some months. He now lived for about a year in London and was again taken some time before May, 1609, in which month he was taken to Newgate and would have been executed but for the intercession of de la Broderie, the French ambassador, whose petition reduced the sentence to banishment. Roberts again visited Spain and Douai, but returned to England within a year, knowing that his death was certain if he were again captured. This event took place on 2 December, 1610; the pursuivants arriving just as he was concluding Mass, took him to Newgate in his vestments. On 5 December he was tried and found guilty under the Act forbidding priests to minister in England, and on 10 December was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. The body of Roberts was recovered and taken to St. Gregory's, Douai, but disappeared during the French Revolution. Two fingers are still preserved at Downside and Erdington Abbeys respectively and a few minor relics exist. At Erdington also is a unique contemporary engraving of the martyrdom which has been reproduced in the "Downside Review" (XXIV, 286). The introduction of the cause of beatification was approved by Leo XIII in his Decree of 4 December, 1886.
[Note: In 1970, John Roberts was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, whose joint feastday is kept on 25 October.]
First Prior of St. Gregory's, Douai (now Downside Abbey), b. 1575-6; martyred 10 December, 1610. He was the son of John and Anna Roberts of Trawsfynydd, Merionethshire, N. Wales. He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford, in February, 1595-6, but left after two years without taking a degree and entered as a law student at one of the Inns of Court. In 1598 he travelled on the continent and in Paris, through the influence of a Catholic fellow- countryman, was converted. By the advice of John Cecil, an English priest who afterwards became a Government spy, he decided to enter the English College at Valladolid, where he was admitted 18 October, 1598. The following year, however, he left the college for the Abbey of St. Benedict, Valladolid; whence, after some months, he was sent to make his novitiate in the great Abbey of St. Martin at Compostella where he made his profession towards the end of 1600. His studies completed he was ordained, and set out for England 26 December, 1602. Although observed by a Government spy, Roberts and his companions succeeded in entering the country in April, 1603; but, his arrival being known, he was arrested and banished on 13 May following. He reached Douai on 24 May and soon managed to return to England where he laboured zealously among the plague-stricken people in London. In 1604, while embarking for Spain with four postulants, he was again arrested, but not being recognized as a priest was soon released and banished, but returned again at once. On 5 November, 1605, while Justice Grange was searching the house of Mrs. Percy, first wife of Thomas Percy, who was involved in the Gunpowder Plot, he found Roberts there and arrested him. Though acquitted of any complicity in the plot itself, Roberts was imprisoned in the Gatehouse at Westminster for seven months and then exiled anew in July, 1606.
This time he was absent for some fourteen months, nearly all of which he spent at Douai where he founded a house for the English Benedictine monks who had entered various Spanish monasteries. This was the beginning of the monastery of St. Gregory at Douai which still exists as Downside Abbey, near Bath, England. In October, 1607, Roberts returned to England, was again arrested in December and placed in the Gatehouse, from which he contrived to escape after some months. He now lived for about a year in London and was again taken some time before May, 1609, in which month he was taken to Newgate and would have been executed but for the intercession of de la Broderie, the French ambassador, whose petition reduced the sentence to banishment. Roberts again visited Spain and Douai, but returned to England within a year, knowing that his death was certain if he were again captured. This event took place on 2 December, 1610; the pursuivants arriving just as he was concluding Mass, took him to Newgate in his vestments. On 5 December he was tried and found guilty under the Act forbidding priests to minister in England, and on 10 December was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. The body of Roberts was recovered and taken to St. Gregory's, Douai, but disappeared during the French Revolution. Two fingers are still preserved at Downside and Erdington Abbeys respectively and a few minor relics exist. At Erdington also is a unique contemporary engraving of the martyrdom which has been reproduced in the "Downside Review" (XXIV, 286). The introduction of the cause of beatification was approved by Leo XIII in his Decree of 4 December, 1886.
[Note: In 1970, John Roberts was canonized by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, whose joint feastday is kept on 25 October.]
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