SAINT BARNABAS Apostle. Icon from original

 

 

Thursday, 11 June 2015 St. Barnabas, Apostle SAINT BARNABAS Apostle         We read that in the first days of the Church, "the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul; neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed was his own." Of this fervent company, one only is singled out by name, Joseph, a rich Levite, from Cyprus. "He having land sold it, and brought the price and laid it at the feet of the apostles." They now gave him a new name, Barnabas, the son of consolation.         He was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and was soon chosen for an important mission to the rapidly-growing Church of Antioch. Here he perceived the great work which was to be done among the Greeks, so he hastened to fetch St. Paul from his retirement at Tarsus.         It was at Antioch that the two Saints were called to the apostolate of the Gentiles, and hence they set out together to Cyprus and the cities of Asia Minor. Their preaching struck men with amazement, and some cried out, "The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men," calling Paul Mercury, and Barnabas Jupiter.         The Saints travelled together to the Council of Jerusalem, but shortly after this they parted. When Agabus prophesied a great famine, Barnabas, no longer rich, was chosen by the faithful at Antioch as most fit to bear, with St. Paul, their generous offerings to the Church of Jerusalem. The gentle Barnabas, keeping with him John, surnamed Mark, whom St. Paul distrusted, betook himself to Cyprus, where the sacred history leaves him; and here, at a later period, he won his martyr's crown.    ©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015   Below see Facebook  (click)

St Barnabas Society 18 hrs ·  A Very Happy Feast of St Barnabas to you all. Holy Mass will be offered for the intentions of all who work with and for the Society this evening at Wolvercote. Thank you for following the example of the son of encouragement. Your interest and support and prayers make all the difference. Like · Comment · Share

  The St Barnabas Society, a registered charity, operates in Great Britain and Ireland and exists to provide pastoral and financial help on behalf of the whole Catholic community to former clergy ministers and religious from other churches, who live in Great Britain and Ireland, and who have been led by faith and conscience to come into full communion with the Catholic Church.

The icon of St Barnabas is reproduced from an original by Sr Petra Clare, The Benedictine Skete, Marydale, Cannich, Beauly, Inverness IV4 7LT.

Saint Agnes TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2014

Saint of the day: 21st January   

Saint Agnes

St. Agnes Morelli Colonnade
The saint's statue is among those
on the colonnade
in St. Peter 's Square

 

 

  Saint Quote of the Day:

 Saint Ambrose of Milan

Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve.

-- Saint Ambrose of Milan

- See more at: http://faithofthefatherssaintquote.blogspot.co.uk/#sthash.QJJ1S18A.dpuf

Virgin, martyr of Rome. St Agnes is one of the most famous of early Christian saints. Her death in 305 was recorded in the Deposito Martyrum just forty years later. Around that time a basilica was built over her grave in the Via Nomentana. Many early writers, including Ambrose, Jerome, Damasus and Prudentias praised her.

It seems she was a young girl who was killed because she refused to marry, having dedicated herself to Christ.

Because her name is similar to agnus, or lamb, her principal emblem is a lamb. Today in Rome, a special blessing ceremony is held for lambs that produce the wool from which the pallia for archbishops, are woven by the sisters of St Agnes.

There are hundreds of paintings, stained glass windows and church dedications to her across Europe. In England five ancient churches are named after her. The best surviving cycle of paintings is on a gold and enamel cup which once belonged to the Duke of Berry, then the Duke of Bedford and King Henry VI. It can be seen now in the British Museum.

http://catholicism.about.com/od/martyrs/p/Saint-Agnes-Of-Rome.htm

---

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Four: Together... we affirm that God is faithful

The eternal unity of Father, Son and Spirit draws us closer into the love of God, and calls us to participate in God’s work in the world which is love, mercy and justice. Mercy and justice are not divided in God, but rather are joined together in the steadfast love manifested in God’s covenant with us and with all of creation.

The new father Zechariah testifies to God’s manifestation of mercy in keeping his promises to Abraham and his descendents. God is faithful to his holy covenant.

As we continue to pray for the unity of the church, we must not neglect to meet together and encourage one another, spurring each other on towards love and good deeds, saying: "God is faithful."

Vatican Resources

Saint John the Beloved

COMMENT:  

John the Beloved prompted by Peter,
and to left James nudged Pater

 

Sacristy: Tapestry of the Last Supper 

 John son of Zebedee, Disciple, Apostle. Evangelist, John the Beloved, John the Divine.

The Feast of Saint John in Christmas Octave is especially identified as John the Beloved.
In the college of the 12 Apostle, the name of John is multiplied, (Main Document; Word found 76 items matching the criteria).
Three texts give the best indications centreing on John the Beloved.

1. Only John and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the Last Supper (Luke 22:8). 

2. At the Supper itself his place was next to Christ on Whose breast he leaned (John 13:23, 25). 

3. After the Resurrection John with Peter was the first of the disciples to hasten to the grave and he was the first to believe that Christ had truly risen (John 20:2-10).

James the Less nudged to Peter -
to prompt John - to ask Jesus

Print from Il Cenacolo, Milano

  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata, illumination from the Life of Saint Francis by Saint Bonaventure

O humilitas sublimis!
O sublimitas humilis!

 

In 1224, Saint Francis of Assisi († 1226) becomes the first man to be marked with the stigmata of Christ’s Passion: “While contemplating the sufferings of the Savior, he suddenly saw descending from heaven one of the seraphim in the form of a crucified man. This celestial spirit was endowed with six wings of flame. Five rays of light flashed forth from the five wounds of the crucified, striking the saint’s side, two hands, and two feet, and inscribing there forever the wounds of the Lord.”

This month’s cover of Magnificat illustrates this event. It features a miniature, possibly painted by a Poor Clare nun from Fribourg, from a fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript of the Life of Saint Francis by Saint Bonaventure. This work reveals a childlike simplicity of soul. It perfectly translates the deliciously naïve vision of Brother Leo, the sole witness of this prodigy, whom Francis praised as “innocent as a dove.” The faces of all three figures here are beaming with beatitude, as if they have come down again from heaven to reenact the scene. Brother Leo himself appears seated in the background, holding his crammed notebook. The only tragic touch in this painting lies behind him: a grotto amid the crags of Mount La Verna recalls Christ’s tomb and foreshadows the baptism of death that Francis will undergo two years later. Nevertheless, Brother Leo wears a long, rough robe tinged with rose, the color of the dawn that also casts a halo over the mountain, as it adorns the liturgical ornaments on Laetare Sunday. While Francis, clothed in jet blue, enters into the night of the Passion, Brother Leo, at rest among the flowers, already hints at the light of Easter morning and the great joy that the Passion has prepared. We admire the liberty and beautiful spontaneity that our unknown artist infuses within her design. Free from any signs of retouching, her brush strokes—sepia for living beings, black for the mineral—flow forth like the extension of a joyous and peaceful mystical thought.

In canto 11 of the Paradiso, dedicated to the life of Saint Francis, Dante († 1231) sings in a completely different key about the Poverello’s stigmata:

On a harsh rock between the Tiber and the Arno

he received from Christ his final seal,

which his limbs bore for two years.

A fervent proponent of a humble and spiritual Church founded upon evangelical poverty and bold proclamation of the faith, Dante presents a Francis of Assisi who radically embraces humility as the only “means” of attaining the sublimity of being an alter Christi, the most authentic proof of which is “his final seal.” His Francis is not only “peace and joy.” “In order to live according to the holy Gospel,” he can be exceedingly determined and courageous, resolute and uncompromising, indeed inflexible.

Seven centuries after Dante, the Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin writes: “I consider the feast day of the stigmata of Saint Francis* one of the most perfect revelations of this universal and transformative Christ who showed himself to Saint Paul, and for whom our generation feels such an irresistible need.” And later he adds: “I dream about a new Saint Francis or a new Saint Ignatius, who would come and show us the kind of Christian life we need.” In March 2013, all of a sudden a son of Saint Ignatius becomes Pope Francis! It is not clear whether the media is yet aware of just who they are dealing with…** 

 

Pierre-Marie Dumont

 

* In order to foster greater love for Jesus crucified, Pope Paul V († 1621) extended the liturgical memorial of the stigmata of Saint Francis (September 17) to the universal Church. In 1960, this memorial was reduced to a simple commemoration.

** His book of spiritual exercises, In Him Alone Is Our Hope (Magnificat), reveals a Pope Francis who is astonishingly close to the Francis of Assisi of the Divine Comedy. Addressing his brother bishops, for example, he lets fly with the following remark: “The Antichrists are right here inour midst: some of us have grown weary of the humility of Christ.”

 

 

Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata, illumination from the Life of Saint Francis by Saint Bonaventure, before 1478, Add. 15710, f. 164v., The British Library, London, England. © British Library Board / Robanna / Leemage.

 

With thanks from MAGNIFICAT com

www.magnificat.com/english/popup_couv.asp

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW Apostle Feast - a best Blogspot

Saturday, 24 August 2013

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW

Apostle

Feast
This morning I asked for the best blog of Bartolomew, "Bartholomew colour in the Leonardo Last Supper, the best Blogspot Saturday, 24 August 2013".

In our the Leonardo Tapestry, Batrolomew is BLUE.

And to joy, the first Blogspot to come up, Bella Maria Mom . .: Catholic Art Saturday/The Last Supper.
And many thanks to her.

SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2011

Catholic Art Saturday/The Last Supper

“The Last Supper” is a 15th century mural painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci began work on The Last Supper in 1495 and completed it in 1498.

Copied from Catholic Icing: "This painting is supposed to be the instant that Jesus says to the disciples "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me" (Matthew 26:21). Ask your children what they think of the apostle's reactions. Then go over these things:

The apostles are all reacting, but Christ is the calm in the midst of the storm.
There are many symbols of the trinity in the painting- 3 windows behind Jesus, Jesus' arms make him the shape of a triangle, and the apostles are all seated in groups of 3.
In the first group of 3, the apostles all seem surprised- Andrew to the point that his hands are in a "stop" gesture. Bartholomew has stood up so quickly his legs are still crossed.
Peter is holding a knife, foreshadowing his upcoming violence at the garden of Gethsemane.
Judas is holding a bag- symbolizing the bag of silver he will betray Jesus for. His face is utter shock at Jesus' knowledge of his plan.
John seems to be "swooning". The most asked picture about this painting is "Why does John look that way?"
Doubting Thomas, with his finger in the air, indeed looks doubtful!
James the greater seems stunned with his arms in the air, while Philip seems to request an explanation.
Matthew and Jude both look to Simon for an explanation, while he seems unable to provide one."
 
The Last Supper was originally created for Da Vinci’s patron, Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este. The Last Supper can be found at the wall of the dining hall at Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy, where it covers the entire back wall. Right below Jesus' feet is the doorway to another room.
Read more details here.

Our Sacristy Tapestry of Leonardo's  Last Supper

St.Thérèse – The Artist and poet

Carmenlites Birkenhead
http://www.carmelitesbirkenhead.org.uk/wordpress/2012/09/24/st-therese-the-artist/

The TNT Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, translator by Canon Thomas T. Taylor of Carfin, familiarised whole generations in the Story of a Soul.
Not so many have learned much about St. Therese  the POET and the ARTIST.
An early encounter with the poems raises the interest, and raises more questions.
Follows the compulsion to learn about the artist.
There could be no greater revelation than in the Website of the Carmelites of Birkenhead.
Our appreciation and thanks to the Sisters. We look forward to searhing the unfathomed depths of St. Therese, Doctor of the Church.

St.Thérèse – The Artist

Posted on September 24, 2012

Therese at recreation holding her paint palette and brushes.

In 1892 Thérèse, although she still had the responsibility of the Novices, was given the

Saint Therese as St. Joan of Arc. Therese is wearing a black wig over her toque (the white linen cloth Carmelites wear on their heads) and paper fleurs-de-lys sewn on her habit

duty of painting, which was to replace her work in the sacristy.From June of this year right up until her death in 1897, Thérèse’s creativity blossomed,as she began to express herself more and more in her community life, not only through her painting but also through her poetry and the writing of plays, her most famous being the production of ‘Joan of Arc’,

which she performed on January 21, 1895. We thought as a tribute to Saint Thérèse on her Feast day, we would ‘open’ a Gallery to exhibit just a small portion of her work.

A painting Therese finished in 1892 and gave to Celine. It was modelled on a similar painting in her cell.

A pall made by St Therese for Father Roulland’s Ordination

An oil painting done by Therese which she gave to Mother Agnes for her Feast Day 1894

Detail of a picture by Therese a few months after her entrance into Carmel 1888

Drawing by Therese of the farmhouse at Saint-Ouen

drawing from Therese’s sketchbook

In 1893 Therese painted a fresco on the wall of an Oratory.

Oyster shell painted by Saint Therese

Pages of a Missal illuminated by Therese

Painted Chasuble. Made from a dress that belonged to Madame Martin.

Painted stole

Picture and detail of a card painted by St. Therese in Carmel

Picture Therese illumined of St John of the Cross

Taken from Therese’s sketchbook

The Church at Ouilly-le-Vicomte sketched by Therese on April 12, 1887

All the images we have used come from the book ‘Therese and Lisieux’

by Pierre Descouvemont and Helmuth Nils Loose  www. Veritas.ie

St. Andrew The Art Essay of the MAGNIFICAT Month of November

The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew-Caravaggio (1607) 

Illustration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio_Crucifixion_santandrew.jpg

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. 

The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (c. 1606),
Caravaggio (1571 -1610),

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Light and dark faith and disbelief, tenderness and cruelty - Caravaggio masterfully depicts all of these in this painting. This great masterpiece was commissioned by the viceroy of Naples and painted in 1607 but lay in storage for years and was hidden from the public eye. It wasn't until 1954 that authorities agreed that it was indeed a Caravaggio. It now resides in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Now that it has come to light, it can continue to draw viewers into the drama of this great saint's martyrdom.

At first, Saint Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. One day Jesus passed John and his disciples. John exclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God," and Andrew followed Christ from that day forward Jn 1: 35-42). For this reason he is known as the "first-called" of Jesus' twelve apostles. He was certain of Jesus' identity, had the desire to follow Christ, and sought to bring others with him. He was responsible for leading his brother, Simon Peter, to meet the Messiah. Together Andrew and Peter would become "fishers of men" (Mt 4: 19).

Later on in the Gospels, Andrew questioned Christ about the end of the world. Jesus warned them that they would be handed over to the governors and leaders for his sake. They were not to worry about what to say, however. Christ reminded them, "It will not be you who is speaking but the holy Spirit" (Mk 13: 9-1 n. Saint Andrew must have taken these words deeply to heart. He lived his life preaching and bringing others to Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit even up to the moment of his death at the hands of the local government.

According to tradition, Andrew, like Peter, Philip, and Bartholomew,

was martyred by being crucified. He was put to death in Patras, Greece, by the local Roman proconsul, perhaps for having converted the proconsul's own wife to Christianity. In order to make his death longer and more agonising, the proconsul ordered that Andrew be tied to the cross, instead of nailed. However, if the proconsul thought that Andrew would be daunted, his plan failed. The saint managed to live on the cross for three days. While hanging on the cross, Andrew continued preaching, and succeeded in converting many of the twenty thousand people who were drawn to his words. The proconsul finally yielded to the crowd and ordered that he be taken down. Andrew, however, begged God to let him die on the cross like his Son. When the executioner tried to remove the bonds that tied Andrew to the cross, he found himself suddenly paralysed. A blinding heavenly light flashed upon the saint, and when it faded, Andrew had died a martyr.