Fr. Nivard Friday after Ash Wed

Lent Mass
COMMENT:
Sr. Noreen attended the 21 Feb 2015 'Oasis' day of Retreat. She gave us the interesting account of the sharing. And below we see the illustration of the Levi (Matt) Carravaggio.

 Fw; Frid after Ash Wed

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Nivard ....
...

Sent: Saturday, 21 February 2015, 15:45
Subject: Frid after Ash Wed

www.dailyscripture.net, adapted Copyright author Don Schwager © 2015 Servants of the Word

Ash Frid 20 Feb 2015 Mt 9:14-1534 

Fasting for the kingdom of God.

   What kind of fasting is pleasing to God?

   Fasting can be done for a variety of reasons - to gain freedom from some bad habit, addiction, or vice, to share in the suffering of those who go without, or to grow in our hunger for God and for the things of heaven.   

   Basil the Great wrote: Take heed that you do not make fasting to consist only in abstinence from meats. True fasting is to refrain from vice.

   Pardon your neighbors. Forgive them their trespasses.

   Let us hunger to know God more, to grow in his holiness, and to live the abundant life of grace he offers us.

  

With St Augustine we pray,

   Father in heaven, work upon us, set us on fire and clasp us close.

   Be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness, let us love, let us run to you, through Christ our Lord.

21 February- 2015 Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Today's Theme ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' ...Lk 5:30 ScriptureReflectionStoryActionPrayerMeditation Scripture reading: Luke 5: 27-32 (The Call of Levi.....Carravaggio) Jesus he noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, 'Follow me'.  And leaving everything he got up and followed him. In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others.The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said,  'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?'  Jesus said to them in reply,   'It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.' *********************************** General CommentsIsaiah calls out for greater service of God and fellow human beings. Lent gives us the opportunity to jettison much that is unnecessary and unhelpful in our way of life. following of Christ implies a leaving behind of much that causes unhappiness. ***************************

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)  
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk |

domdonald.org.uk 

Fr Christopher Jamison to present breakfast show on Premier Radio - Independent Catholic News

Consecrated Life,

Inspirational Breakfast

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Monday 23rd February 2015 - 07:00 am

Guest presenter Fr Christopher Jamison will be joining John Pantry. He’s a Benedictine monk and former Abbot of Worth Abbey in West Sussex, whom you may well have seen on the BBC TV series The Monastery. He’ll be with us on the show every Monday throughout Lent. 

On the show we’ll be asking ‘Are there certain areas that Christians should not attempt to pray into without some foreknowledge?’. With the elections coming up, many of us are praying for our leaders and for parliament, which is good. Some Christians are planning on prayer marches to pull down spiritual strongholds in the country. However, are Christians making a mistake when they believe they have the authority to challenge the powers of darkness in the heavenly realms? You may have heard rhetoric about "taking back what the enemy stole" or "possessing the land" that the enemy currently inhabits, but do we have the authority to do this? We’ll be joined by church leader, author and broadcaster Gerald Coates who has some experience in this area.     

 http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Weekday/Inspirational-Breakfast/Episodes/Inspirational-Breakfast188 

Today’s readings: Psalm 10, John 5: 1 – 18
  Fr Christopher Jamison to present breakfast show on Premier Radio - Independent Catholic News 

Fr Christopher Jamison to present breakfast show on Premier Radio

Posted: Sunday, February 22, 2015 8:28 pm

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There will be a chance to hear Benedictine Fr Christopher Jamison every Monday morning throughout Lent, when he joins ‘Inspirational Breakfast’ on Premier Radio - beginning at 7am on Monday, 23 February. Fr Christopher, former Abbot of Worth Abbey in West Sussex, became a familiar figure following the BBC 2 documentary series ‘The Monastery’. He is also the author of two books: ‘Finding Sanctuary’ -Monastic Steps for Everyday Life, and ‘Finding Happiness’ – Monastic Steps for a Fulfilling Life.' The Australian-born monk will co-host Premier’s ‘Inspirational Breakfast’ show with resident presenter John Pantry, who said today: “Fr Christopher will be the first monk to present a programme on Premier and I look forward to sharing the show with him and our morning listeners.” As the director of the National Office for Vocation, an office of the Roman Catholic Church, since 2010, Fr  Christopher is responsible for creating a culture of vocation throughout the country. He said today: “I love radio, both to listen and to broadcast, but this will be my first experience of presenting on radio. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to engage with Premier’s listeners who are doing such a fantastic job sustaining this wonderful station.” Premier Christian Radio broadcasts on 1305, 1332, 1431, 1566 MW in London and nationally on DAB and Freeview 725. For more information and to listen online see: http://www.premier.org.uk/

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Coptic Church recognizes martyrdom of 21 Coptic Christians - Independent Catholic News - Polycarp Lent: February 23rd

    Coptic Church recognizes martyrdom of 21 Coptic Christians - Independent Catholic News   

Coptic Church recognizes martyrdom of 21 Coptic Christians

Posted: Sunday, February 22, 2015 10:30 pm

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The Coptic Orthodox Church has announced that the murder of the 21 Egyptian Christians killed by the so-called Islamic State in Libya will be commemorated in its Church calendar. Pope Tawadros II announced that the names of the martyrs will be inserted into the Coptic Synaxarium, the Oriental Church’s equivalent to the Roman Martyrology. This procedure is also equivalent to canonization in the Latin Church. According to terrasanta.net news service,  the martyrdom of the 21 Christians will be commemorated on the 8th Amshir of the Coptic calendar, or 15 February in the Gregorian calendar. The commemoration falls on the feast day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The names of the martyrs are: 1. Milad Makeen Zaky 2. Abanub Ayad Atiya 3 Maged Solaimen Shehata 4. Yusu Shukry Yunan 5. Kirollos Shokry Fawzy 6. Bishoy Astafanus Kamel 7. Somaily Astafanus Kamel 8. Malak Ibrahim Sinweet 9. Tawadrps Yusuf Tawadros 10. Girgis Milad Sinweet 11. Mina Fayez Aiziz 12. Hany Abdelmesih Salib 13. Bishoy Adel Khalaf 14. Asmeul Alham Wilson 15. Worker from Awr Village 16. Exat Bishri Naseej 17. Loqa Nagaty 18. Gaber Munir Adley 19. Esam Badir Samir​ 20. Malak Farqg Abram 21. Sareen Salah Farug See also: ICN 21 February 2015 - Brother of slain Egyptian Christians prays for their killers http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=26787 Source: Terra Santa/SAT   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Lent: February 23rd Memorial of St. Polycarp of Smyrna, bishop and martyr    Read the Golden Legend account of the life of St. Polycarp and this life of St. Polycarp from The Early Church Fathers website. Read an account of his martyrdom. Read St. Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians. The Station is in the basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, where the people would assemble towards evening, that they might be present at the ordination of the priests and sacred ministers. This day was called Twelve-Lesson-Saturday, because, formerly, twelve passages from the holy Scriptures were read, as upon Holy Saturday. Built by Constantine in 323, the basilica was erected over the place where St. Peter was buried.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-02-23

Wednesday Chapter Talk by Br. Barry

 Chapter Talk  

        

Barry Dougan

Feb 18 at 12:45 PM

Wednesday Chapter talk attached.

For good stuff on Evagrius, see ldysinger.com (website of Luke Dysinger O.S.B.).

Barry.

INTRODUCTION.

Chapter 67 of the Rule, ‘Brothers Sent On A Journey’, gives some indication of what ‘enclosure’ meant to Saint Benedict:

‘no-one should relate to anyone else what he saw or heard outside the monastery because that causes the greatest harm’ (v. 5).

Why does it cause the greatest harm?  St. Benedict has already provided the answer, in chapter 4 verse 20: ‘your way of acting should be different from the world’s way’.

That verse is expressed in the Constitutions of our Order thus: ‘those who prefer nothing to the love of Christ make themselves strangers to the actions of the world’. That is from the Constitution on ‘Separation From The World’. ‘Separation’ seems to be the preferred Cistercian expression for enclosure.

STRANGERS 1.

‘Strangers to the actions of the world’ – it was to make themselves such strangers that the Holy Founders of the Cistercians ‘headed for the desert place called Citeaux’ as the Exordium Parvum puts it. (The Exordium Parvum being the first account of the origins of Citeaux).

They understood that ‘the more despicable and unapproachable the place was for seculars, the more suited it was for monastic observance’. The description of Citeaux as a ‘desert’ was quite deliberate, a piece of medieval propaganda or spin. The Cistercians are of course only one example, out of many, of the monastic reform movements of the 11^th and 12^th centuries. Likewise, accounts of starvation diets among pioneer communities took a standard form. St. Stephen Murat, founder of the Grandmontines, more or less contemporary with the first Cistercians and located only about 150 miles from Citeaux, is said to have lived off nothing but nuts, berries and ‘floury dumplings’. As he lived to over 80 years of age, it would be interesting to know what exactly the ingredients of those floury dumplings were.

For the monastic reformers, strict enclosure or separation was a vital element because it represented to them the desert of the Desert Fathers. It was an integral part of their stated desire to return to the origins of monasticism – the inspiration of the Desert Fathers and/or the ‘purity’ of the Rule of Saint Benedict. However, the Cistercian historian Louis Lekai says about this, ‘changes rarely generated universal enthusiasm among monks; therefore those who prepared such moves were compelled to disguise their intentions as attempts to return to certain ancient and hallowed traditions’.

So, concerning the purity of the Rule, as Fr. Hugh pointed out the other week, it was never a question of a literal following of the Rule for the Founders of Citeaux. The Exordium Parvum refers to ‘the monastic observance they had already conceived in their mind’. In other words, their own particular interpretation of the Rule.

The Exordium lists many things which the Founders rejected because they were not found in the Rule; manors, tithes, serfs and so on but in their enthusiasm for introducing laybrothers they conveniently omit to say that St. Benedict makes no mention of laybrothers. Not such a pure interpretation of the Rule after all.

STRANGERS 2.

‘Strangers to the actions of the world’. There are resonances in that phrase with the Proper prayer for the Office of St. Anthony, Father of Monks, which speaks of his ‘strange and wonderful way of life’. It is very insightful of the liturgy to pick out ‘strangeness’ as a defining characteristic of the monastic way of life.

The monk, sad to say, will always be strange to society at large. Although enclosure today is under threat – the Internet, the all-pervasive media, increasing numbers of lay staff – still, the monk has separation thrust upon him whether he likes it or not.

Just by taking up monastic life, entering a monastery, wearing a monastic habit, he becomes a figure of fun or suspicion or even hostility. Let’s face it, he becomes like an alien from outer space to many people.

This can be hard to take, especially in the light of what is perhaps the ultimate purpose of monastic enclosure or separation. This purpose was given its classic expression by the great Desert Father, Evagrius of Pontus. He wrote: ‘the monk is separated from all in order to be united to all’.

In this experience, the monk shares in what happened to the Saviour when ‘he came unto his own and his own received him not’.

COMMENT: Interest of the Melrose interview by Br Barry. 

BBC not currently available.

Our Blogspot illustrations;

BBC 2 TV Melrose Abbey heart in the History Document

28 Apr 2014

Interview at Melrose Abbey. A monk from Nunraw Abbey was invited by historian Rory Stewart, to participate in the production. Br. Barry was warmly welcome by the staff. It can be difficult to open the BBC iPlayer - the pictures ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

Episode 1, Border Country: The Story of Britain's Lost ... - BBC

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Border Country: The Story of Britain's Lost Middleland Episode 1 of 2. For historian and MP Rory Stewart, the building of Hadrian's Wall was the single most   

historian and MP Rory Stewart

  ...

BBC Border Country The Story of Britains Lost Middleland-Episode 2

Sunday Gospel Reflection With Fr. Bill Grimm l Feb 22, 2015

Sunday Gospel Reflection With Fr. Bill Grimm

• International
• February 20, 2015

Published on 18 Feb 2015

The Lord calls us to a change of life, a change we exercise in some small way in Lent as a means of recommitting ourselves at Easter to the big reform we accepted in our baptismal commitment.

Stational Church     

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The Temptation of Christ

Sunday Readings   
The first reading is from the Book of Genesis 9:8-15 and is about the covenant between God and Noah not to destroy the world again by water.

The second reading is from the first letter of St. Peter 3:18-22. In this passage St. Peter is exhorting the newly converted Christians to live according to the Christian faith, no matter what trials they may have to endure because of it.

The Gospel is from St. Mark 1:12-15. The very thought of our divine Lord's suffering hunger, loneliness, and humiliation at the hands of his enemy—and that all this was for us—should make us feel ashamed at the little bits of suffering and humiliation we are willing to suffer for our own selves. He had no sin to atone for. He was making atonement for us and for our sins. He was the Son of God and his home was heaven, but he left it for a while to assume human nature, so that he could through his humiliations and sufferings bring us to share his eternal home with him. What is the thanks he gets from us? Ingratitude, forgetfulness, and even worse: insults and disobedience.

While the Church has eased the strict fastings and penances of Lent, we are still expected to do some private fasting and penance. It need not be fasting from food, but we can all do some daily penance which will help to keep our unruly minds and bodies in check while at the same time it will show that we are grateful to our loving Savior for all that he suffered for us. A few extra prayers each day, control of our temper in the home, less talk and especially less uncharitable talk among our neighbors, a little helping hand to a neighbor in need, a fervent prayer and where we can spare it (perhaps by doing without some luxury) a donation toward helping the starving millions in other lands. The sincere Christian will find a hundred such ways in which to thank and honor Christ during this holy season of Lent. We can all keep the last verse of today's reading before our minds with great profit. "Repent and believe in the gospel." This is the essence, the marrow, of Christ's teaching. Turn away from sin and come back to God. Anyone who believes in the gospel, who believes that there is an everlasting life after death prepared by God for all those who do his will while on earth, should not find it hard to give up offending that loving God who thinks so much of him. This life is only a passing shadow, every step we take, every breath we breathe is bringing us nearer to our earthly end and to the grave. But the believing Christian knows the grave is not the end. Rather, is it the beginning of the true life—provided we use this passing shadow, these few years, properly.

Now is the time to take these words of Christ to heart. He is asking each one of us today, to repent and to believe the gospel, that is, to act according to its teaching. Christ, in his mercy, will make this appeal to men again and again, but will we be here to hear it? If we answer his appeal now and start living our Christian faith in all sincerity, we need not care when death calls us. It will find us ready to pass over to the future, happy, unending life.

— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M

• Today's Gospel speaks of the temptation of Jesus after his forty days' fast in the desert. After you go to Mass, discuss this reading with your children, emphasizing that temptation itself is not a sin, but we must use the Word of God to combat it, as Christ did. Read the Catholic Encyclopedia's explanation of the Temptation of Christ.

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The Station today is at St. John Lateran. The Lateran is comprised of the Basilica, the Pontifical Palace and the Baptistry. The church is dedicated to the Christ the Savior. In the fifth century the titles of St. John Baptist and St. John the Evangelist were added. The Papal altar contains the wooden altar on which St. Peter is said to have celebrated Mass. This basilica is the mother of all churches and is the only church which has the title of Archbasilica.

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Saturday 21 February

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The station for today is at the church dedicated to St. Augustine of Hippo or S. Agostino in Campo Marzio. Michelangelo was one of the artists commissioned for the decoration of the church. The Renaissance façade, one of the first in this style, is built of travertine marble said to be from the ruins of the Colosseum.

Pope Francis: Homily for Ash Wednesday - Independent Catholic News

Read Pope Francis's 2014 Message for Lent. Stational churches are the churches that are appointed for special morning and evening services during Lent, Easter and some other important days. The tradition started in order to strengthen the sense of community within the Church in Rome, as this system meant that the Holy Father would visit each part of the city and celebrate Mass with the congregation. The first stational church during Lent is St. Sabina at the Aventine. It was built in the 5th century, presumably at the site of the original Titulus Sabinae, a church in the home of Sabina who had been martyred c. 114. The tituli were the first parish churches in Rome. St Dominic lived in the adjacent monastery for a period soon before his death in 1221. Among other residents of the monastery were St Thomas Aquinas. For more information, see Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches, a review of George Weigel's book by Jennifer Gregory Miller, The Pontifical North American College page, theVatican's Lenten Calendar, and "Station Churches", a Lenten Journey by Fr. Bill.    http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-02-18   St  Sabina on the Aventine Hilll  Pope Francis: Homily for Ash Wednesday

Posted: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 11:55 pm

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Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass in the Basilica of St  Sabina on the Aventine Hilll in Rome on Ash Wednesday afternoon. The official English translation of the text follows:  As God's people today we begin the journey of Lent, a time in which we try to unite ourselves more closely to the Lord Jesus Christ, to share the mystery of His passion and resurrection. The Ash Wednesday liturgy offers us, first of all, the passage from the prophet Joel, sent by God to call the people to repentance and conversion, due to a calamity (an invasion of locusts) that devastates Judea. Only the Lord can save from the scourge, and so there is need of supplication, with prayer and fasting, each confessing his sin. The prophet insists on inner conversion: “Return to me with all your heart” (2:12). To return to the Lord “with all [one’s] heart,” means taking the path of a conversion that is neither superficial nor transient, but is a spiritual journey that reaches the deepest place of our self. The heart, in fact, is the seat of our sentiments, the center in which our decisions and our attitudes mature. That, “Return to me with all your heart,” does not involve only individuals, but extends to the community, is a summons addressed to all: “Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. (2:16)” The prophet dwells particularly on the prayers of priests, noting that their prayer should be accompanied by tears. We will do well to ask, at the beginning of this Lent, for the gift of tears, so as to make our prayer and our journey of conversion ever more authentic and without hypocrisy. This is precisely the message of today’s Gospel. In the passage from Matthew, Jesus rereads the three works of mercy prescribed by the Mosaic law: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Over time, these prescriptions had been scored by the rust of external formalism, or even mutated into a sign of social superiority. Jesus highlights a common temptation in these three works, which can be described summarily as hypocrisy (He names it as such three times): “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them ... Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do ... And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men ... And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites. (Mt 6:1, 2, 5, 16)” When you do something good, almost instinctively born in us is the desire to be respected and admired for this good deed, to obtain a satisfaction. Jesus invites us to do these works without any ostentation, and to trust only in the reward of the Father "who sees in secret" (Mt 6,4.6.18). Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord never ceases to have mercy on us, and desires to offer us His forgiveness yet again, inviting us to return to Him with a new heart, purified from evil, to take part in His joy. How to accept this invitation? St. Paul makes a suggestion to us in the second reading today: “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20)” This work of conversion is not just a human endeavor. Reconciliation between us and God is possible thanks to the mercy of the Father who, out of love for us, did not hesitate to sacrifice his only Son. In fact, the Christ, who was righteous and without sin was made sin for us (v. 21) when on the cross He was burdened with our sins, and so redeemed us and justified before God. In Him we can become righteous, in him we can change, if we accept the grace of God and do not let the “acceptable time (6:2)” pass in vain. With this awareness, trusting and joyful, let us begin our Lenten journey. May Mary Immaculate sustain our spiritual battle against sin, accompany us in this acceptable time, so that we might come together to sing the exultation of victory in Easter. Soon we will make the gesture of the imposition of ashes on the head. The celebrant says these words: “You are dust and to dust you shall return, (cf. Gen 3:19)” or repeats Jesus’ exhortation: “Repent and believe the Gospel. (Mk 1:15)” Both formulae are a reminder of the truth of human existence: we are limited creatures, sinners ever in need of repentance and conversion. How important is it to listen and to welcome this reminder in our time! The call to conversion is then a push to return, as did the son of the parable, to the arms of God, tender and merciful Father, to trust Him and to entrust ourselves to Him.

Source: VIS Share: Bookmark and Share Tags: Ash Wednesday, Basilica of St Sabina, Pope Francis Pope Francis: Homily for Ash Wednesday - Independent Catholic News

San Damiano cross beside Blessed Sacrament

Story of St. Francis of Assisi

Saturday, 14 February 2015

San Damiano cross beside Blessed Sacrament

COMMENT Art Essay:
In the rear chapel of our church, on one side of the tabernacle of the Blessed Sacrament, is restored the San Damiano cross.
From our camera, the pictures illustrate the details  from the helpful Wikepedia. The painting was hand made in Assisi. 

San Damiano cross

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

to right ....

The San Damiano Cross

Copy now in the original position inside the Church of San Damiano

The San Damiano Cross is the large Romanesque rood cross that St. Francis of Assisi was praying before when he is said to have received the commission from the Lord to rebuild the Church. The original cross hangs in the Basilica of Saint Clare (Basilica di Santa Chiara) in Assisi,Italy. Franciscans cherish this cross as the symbol of their mission fromGod. The cross is of a type sometimes called an icon cross because besides the main figure it contains images of other saints and people related to the incident of Christ's crucifixion. The tradition of such crosses began in the Eastern Church and probably reached Italy viaMontenegro and Croatia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Damiano_cross#Description

Description[edit]

  

Jesus Christ is represented upright in full stature while the surrounding figures are smaller. The bright white of his body contrasts with the dark red and black around it and accentuates the prominence of Jesus. This representation contrasts with the regal Christ portrayed on the cross in earlier centuries and the suffering, dying, crucified Christ depicted generally throughout the Churchsince the beginning of the 14th century. Above the head of Christ is the inscription in Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.^[3]  

 

   The next largest figures are five witnesses of the crucifixion.^[3] On the left side are the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. On the right side are Mary Magdalene, Mary, Mother of James, and the centurion who in Matthew's Gospel account asks Christ to heal his servant, who is also depicted on the cross on the shoulder of the centurion (Matthew 8:5-13). Both Mary and Mary Magdalene have their hands placed on their cheeks to reflect extreme grief and anguish. The first four witnesses are saints and are therefore represented with halos. 

  

  Their names are written beneath their pictures.

Two smaller figures are located in the corners with the witnesses. On the lower left is Longinus the traditional name of the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance. He is represented here as holding the lance and looking up at Jesus. The blood running down the right arm of Jesus begins at the elbow and drips straight down and will land on the upturned face of Longinus. In the lower right is Stephaton, the traditional name for the soldier who offered Jesus the sponge soaked in vinegar wine.^[3] 

 

Peering over the left shoulder of the centurion is a small face. A close look reveals the tops of the heads of three others beside him. This represents the centurion's son who was healed by Jesus and the rest of his family to show that "he and his whole household believed" (John 4:45-54).

Six angels are represented as marvelling over the event of the crucifixion. They are positioned at both ends of the crossbar. Their hand gestures indicate they are discussing this wondrous event of the death and calling us to marvel with them.

At the foot of the cross there is a damaged picture of six figures, two of whom are represented with halos. In accordance with the traditions of the day, these six are the patrons of Umbria: St. Damian, St. Michael, St. Rufino, St. John the Baptist, St. Peter andSt. Paul.

On the top of the cross, one sees Jesus now fully clothed in his regal garments and carrying the cross as a triumphant sceptre. He is climbing out of the tomb and into the heavenly courts. Ten angels are crowded around, five of whom have their hands extended in a welcoming gesture to Jesus, who himself has his hand raised in the form of a greeting.  

 

    

At the very top of the cross is the Hand of God with two fingers extended. This is to be understood as the blessing of God the Father on the sacrifice of his Son.

On the right side of the picture next to the left calf of Jesus, there is a small figure of a fowl. Some art historians have interpreted it to be a rooster, representing the sign of Jesus' denial by Peter, mentioned in all four Gospel accounts. Other commentators see it as a peacock, a frequent symbol of immortality in Early Christian art. Along the lower right side of the shaft, there is a small animal, possibly a cat.  

Angel in the Oratory - gifted by Moyra G... RIP

San Damiano Cross  A Brief Explanation 

By: Fr. Michael Scanlon, T.O.R.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Province, USA

The San Damiano Cross is the one St. Francis was praying before when he received the commission from the Lord to rebuild the Church. The original cross presently hangs in Santa Chiarra (St.Clare) Church in Assisi, Italy. All Franciscans cherish his cross as the symbol of their mission from God. The cross is called an icon cross because it contains images of people who have a part in the meaning of the cross. The tradition of such crosses began in the eastern Church and was transported by Serbian monks to the Umbria district of Italy.