House of prayer... for all time...

FEAST of the DEDICATION of

the LATERAN BASILICA

November 9

Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer

that is made in this place.  For now I have chosen 
and consecrated this house that my Name may be there for ever; 
my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.  - 2 Chron 7:15-16

 

Unlike the commemorations of other Roman churches (St. Mary Major, Aug 5; Sts. Peter and Paul, Nov 18), this anniversary is a FEAST. The dedication of a church is a feast for all its parishioners. St. John Lateran Basilica is, in a sense, the parish church of all Catholics, for it is the pope's parish, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome. On the façade of the basilica there is an inscription in Latin which reads, “the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world.” 

The Lateran’s towering façade is crowned with 15 colossal statues of: Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and 12 doctors of the Church. Beneath its high altar rest the remains of the small wooden table on which tradition holds St. Peter himself celebrated Mass.

  

"What was done here, as these walls
were rising, is reproduced when we bring
together those who believe in Christ. 

For, by believing, they are hewn out, as it were, from mountains and forests, like stones and timber; but by catechizing, baptism and instruction they are, as it were, shaped, squared and planed 

by the hands of the workers and artisans. 

Nevertheless, they do not make a house for the Lord until 
they are fitted together through love." ~  St. Augustine, Sermon 36

CELEBRATE Mass today and consider the UNITY and JOY that it bears  -

one baptism, one bread, one body, one heart.

It is indeed a FEAST- not to be missed!

“…in the Eucharistic liturgy…the community of baptized finds itself again united to listen to the Word of God and nourish itself on the Body and Blood of Christ.  Gathered around the twofold table, the Church of living stones builds herself up in truth and in love and is molded interiorly by the Holy Spirit, transforming herself into what she receives, conforming herself ever more to her Lord Jesus Christ.  She herself, if she lives in sincere and fraternal unity, thus becomes a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God.

Today’s Feast celebrates an ever current mystery:  that God desires to build Himself a spiritual temple in the world, a community that adores Him in spirit and truth (Jn 4: 23-24).  But this occasion reminds us also of the importance of the concrete buildings in which the community gathers together to celebrate God’s praises.  Every community therefore has the duty to guard carefully their holy structures, which constitute a precious religious and historical patrimony.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Thanking Mother Church... 

Click here: Thanks, Mom |Blogs | NCRegister.com

Enigmatic Yet Enduring - A Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome - Community in Mission

"They're just one thing... "

"If I am not in God's grace, may God put me there;
and if I am, may God so keep me there." - St Joan of Arc

"About Jesus Christ and the Church, 
I simply know 
they're just one thing, 
and we shouldn't complicate the matter."
- St Joan of Arc, as recorded at her trial

St Joan of Arc

France ~ 1412-1431

Mystic, Patriot, Martyr 
aka - "Maid of Orleans"

Patron of France, soldiers

Feast Day - May 30

"I am not afraid.  I was born to do this." - St Joan of Arc

"She chose a path and went down it like a thunderbolt."

- GK Chesterton in Orthodoxy

Click here: St. Joan of Arc - Warrior of God - YouTube (10 mins)

Click here: Joan of Arc - Maid of Heaven - Quotes (excellent!)
Click here: St. Joan of Arc - YouTube (2 mins)

 St Joan of Arc, pray for us!

In our midst: day and night...

"For a church is not a barber's shop or a chemist's or a market stall: 

it is the dwelling of angels and of archangels; 

it the kingdom of God; it is heaven itself." - St John Chrysostom

"On entering the church,

a man must leave behind

any authority he has over other men,

for before God no man has any authority. 

Again, the cares and anxieties which a man has

in regard to his home, family and business or work are good,

but they should be left at the door of the church,

except when he wants to speak to God about them."

St Louis of Granada

“What joy ought not we men to conceive, 

what hopes and what affections,

in knowing that in the midst of our land,

in our churches, near our houses, 
the Holy of holies,

the true God, dwells and lives

in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!

He who by His presence alone renders the saints in heaven blessed! 

He who is love itself."

St Alphonsus Ligouri

Art work:  Franklin Booth

Day and night: in our midst

"For a church is not a barber's shop or a chemist's or a market stall: 

it is the dwelling of angels and of archangels; it the kingdom of God;

it is heaven itself." - St John Chrysostom

"On entering the church, a man must leave behind any authority he has over other men, for before God no man has any authority. Again, the cares and anxieties which a man has in regard to his home, family and business or work are good, but they should be left at the door of the church, except when he wants to speak to God about them."

St Louis of Granada

“What joy ought not we men to conceive, what hopes and what affections, in knowing that in the midst of our land, in our churches, near our houses, the Holy of holies, the true God, dwells and lives in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar! He who by His presence alone renders the saints in heaven blessed! He who is love itself.”

St Alphonsus Ligouri

Sign and cause of UNITY

He is the Head to which the whole Church is joined,

so that the Church is His Body, the completion of Him

who everywhere and in all things is complete.  - Eph 1:22-23

 

 

 

“The Eucharist is equally sign and cause of the unity that binds together all members of the Lord’s Mystical Body.  And this unity achieves in every Mass its perfect expression, because Christ’s far-flung members, together with Mary, are conjoined with Him as offerer and offered alike.  Each time, then, that ‘we break this bread and drink this cup,’ the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory join hands and link hearts with us in worshipping the Eucharistic Lord.  And we have the privilege of co-worshipping with such distinguished company because we are members of that Church which is mothered by Our Lady of the Eucharist.”

Fr Richard Foley, S.J.

Mary and the Eucharist (pg. 115)

His presence wherever I go...

Excerpted from letters and diaries of Ven John Henry Cardinal Newman -

particularly reflecting on his experience in Milan and Rome as a new Catholic,

wandering the streets which were filled with many churches and oratories...

  

"Nothing moves there [on the high altar]

but the distant glimmering Lamp

which betokens the Presence of our Undying Life,

hidden but ever working."

Z

"Here are a score of Churches which are open to the passer by... and the Blessed Sacrament ready for the worshipper even before he enters. There is nothing which has brought home to me so much the Unity of the Church, as the presence of its Divine Founder and Life wherever I go--All places are, as it were, one..."

 Z

 

"It is really most wonderful to see the Divine Presence looking out

almost into the open streets from the various Churches...

I never knew what worship was,

as an objective fact, till I entered the Catholic Church."

Ven John Henry Cardinal Newman

The clinic is OPEN !

Dom Pius Parsch in The Church's Year of Grace invites us to look courageously into the Lord's Face and say: "Thou art my Physician. Cut away, cauterize, work Thy healing art on me . . . only make me well for everlasting life." He presents the Church as a sanatorium for sin-sick souls.

"Before leaving the world our Saviour established a clinic, the Church, whose main task was to heal sick souls. The Church is a great spiritual sanatorium. All the practices and ordinances of the Church have as their ultimate purpose to heal men and keep them healthy. Think of the sacraments: baptism, penance, extreme unction. Think in particular of the medicinal power of the Holy Eucharist. Yes, the twofold purpose of the Eucharist is to nourish and to heal. Nourishment to build divine life, medicine to overcome the diseases ravaging the soul.

To our great detriment we have practically forgotten the latter significance of the Eucharist. We keep believing that Communion is only for saints, a reward for virtue. The time of Mass is the heavenly Physician's normal office hours. . .

We have a Healer who wishes to heal our infirmities; we have a clinic providing all the means needed to restore our health; we have a medicine which infallibly produces its effect if we use it as prescribed."

Pope Francis: Bond btwn Eucharist/church

"Humans may be fallible but the Catholic Church as an institution remains sanctified through the Eucharist. ... As a sanctified institution, the Church always deserves defending, even if its individual members err. ....

The Eucharist is the source and at the same time the summit of all evangelization and a force that purifies and sanctifies the church ... the bond between the Eucharist and the church is one that cannot be broken."

Quote from then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio –

now Holy Father, Pope Francis

49^th International Eucharistic Congress (June 2010)

 

Pope Francis, you have the pledge of our prayers!