Selected Lenten Reflections: The Blessing of Beer

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent: Selected Lenten Reflections: Getting Ready to Celebrate St Patrick's Day - The Blessing of Beer

The period of Lent in the Catholic faith is a time for sacrifice and reflection. it is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry


The Catechism of the Catholic Church, (2290) teaches that "The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the air. That is, drunkenness is a form of gluttony, and a grave sin. Excessive eating is also gluttony, but we can still eat and enjoy good food. Catholics are taught to be temperate in the consumption of both food and drink. In Day 299 of his CIY podcast titled Respect for Health, Father Mike Schmitz cover four brief paragraphs 2288-2291 on respect for health


While Christian views on alcohol are varied, throughout the first 1,800 years of Church history, Christians generally consumed alcoholic beverages as a common part of everyday life. They held that both the Bible and Christian tradition taught that alcohol is a gift from God that makes life more joyous, they mostly agree on the temperance principle.


Pope Francis famously declared wine a necessity in 2016, and former Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his 90th birthday with a beer and bretzels in August, 2017.


The Benedictio Cerevisiae is included in the 17th-century Roman Ritual. Chapter VIII of the Rituale Romanum, a liturgical manual dated 1614, includes special blessings for almost anything you might use on a daily basis, literally — the chapter is titled “Blessings of things designated for ordinary use.” In it, you will findblessings for cheese or butter, for seeds, for salt or oats for animals, fishing boats, tools used by mountain climbers and, naturally, for beer.

Beer BlessingThe Benedictio Cerevisiae - Blessing of Beer

V. Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R. Qui fecit caelum et terram.
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.
Bene+dic, Domine, creaturam istam cerevisiae, quam ex adipe frumenti producere dignatus es: ut sit remedium salutare humano generi, et praesta per invocationem nominis tui sancti; ut, quicumque ex ea biberint, sanitatem corpus et animae tutelam percipiant. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
R. Amen.

Et aspergatur aqua benedicta.

English translation
V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.
Bless, + O Lord, this creature beer, which thou hast deigned to produce from the fat of grain: that it may be a salutary remedy to the human race, and grant through the invocation of thy holy name; that, whoever shall drink it, may gain health in body and peace in soul. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

And it is sprinkled with holy water

Beer, the English Coffeehouse and the Enlightment

Steven Johnson in his Ted Talk Where Ideas Come From argues that the English coffeehouse was crucial to the development and spread of one of the great intellectual flowering of the last 500 years known as the Enlightment. One of the things that made the coffeehouse important was the architecture: a place where people would get together from different backgrounds, different fields of expertise and share. An agora of ideas the focal point of all the day-to-day activity, creating a marketplace of ideas where vigorous debate was encouraged and the best ideas emerged victorious.
In ancient Greece, the agora (/ˈæɡərə/; romanized: agorá, meaning "market" was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states, the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of the polis. Antithetical to today's Big Tech's social media and AI tools like Google's Gemini: In 2003 GW Bush proposed to stop the suppression of free speech, hate and division in the Muslim World. Big Tech followed through promising to democratize the world by offering free Internet access. But it quickly carved out silos, monetized hate and division and is developing close-architcture AI tools with predictable results: Pope Francis Laudate Deum is Spot on "29. The ethical decadence of real power is disguised thanks to marketing and false information, useful tools in the hands of those with greater resources to employ them to shape public opinion. .. Artificial intelligence and the latest technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously feeds upon itself."

Johnson also argued that "an astonishing number of innovations from this period have a coffeehouse in their story." Johnson also attributed the popularity of the coffeehouse :..in part because of what people drank before coffee and tea through British culture: alcohol because water wasn't safe to drink."


Others agree with Johnson that water in the Middle Ages was polluted, full of bacteria and, and not a healthy choice for hydration forcIng everyone, from commoners to royalty to turn to beer.

Yet others like Tim O'Neill say that "contrary to what is found all over the Internet on the subject, the most common drink was water, for the obvious reason: It’s free. Medieval villages and towns were built around sources of fresh water. This could be fresh running water, a spring or, in many cases, wells. All of these could easily provide fresh, disease- and impurity-free water "

Whether beer was a suitable replacement for water, or not, in is generally agreed it was a more nutritious alternative than water. Even though it was weakly brewed from barley, at the time beer was the energy drink of choice - a calorie-laden beverage popular with workers and farmers who were thirsty and in need of energy. In the end, it would still have been more costly to drink than water. Unless home-brewed, beer had to be purchased, and like wine, there often were taxes and transportation fees involved

Beer as the Energy Drink of the Middle Ages

According to HowStuffWorks, the beer of Medieval Europe was weaker than that of today, with the ABV speculated to have been around three percent. People didn't drink it to get drunk — instead, they drank it as a source of carbs and calories.



Three pints of stout will give you roughly the equivalent of a single yolk egg and contain 3% of an adult's recommended daily dose of iron, which can help boost your energy levels if you're feeling a bit sluggish. For centuries alcohol has always played an important, and sometimes decisive, role in warfare. As it brought the troups moral and courage in many armies the intake of booze was allowed or even stimulated. Other commanders believed it was best to keep their troops as sober as possible, so they wouldn’t go out of control. But no matter if we’re talking wine for the Roman legions, gin and rum for the British soldiers in the colonies, whisky during the American Civil War or vodka for the Red Army during World War II, alcohol has always been an important issue in combat.


The proverb “an army marches on its stomach” is widely attributed to Napoleon, and on campaign it seems that he did make the most of the local resources, despite his abstemiousness his general predilection was for “whatever the boys were drinking”


Beer and the Holy Happy HourIn his book Drinking wth the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Holy Happy Hour, Michael Foley begins by explaining the joy of drinking in moderation. He shows that, in fact, many of the saints we know and love today relished a good happy hour—which is why Foley wrote a book with different cocktail recipes to honor our favorite saints.


Foley explains that the purpose of his book is to promote the type of drinking which the saints embraced. He writes: "Drinking with the Saints has as one of its aims the promotion of the refined and temperate art of drinking, an art which involves a discerning palate, a sense of moderation, and a generous dose of self-knowledge. The art also calls for a certain mindfulness or contemplative presence…You can be sure that when Our Lord made wine so good that it impressed even the seasoned steward at the Wedding of Cana, He was endorsing only the best forms of imbibing."

Beer is one of the oldest human-produced drinks. The first chemically confirmed barley-beer, from modern-day Iraq, dates back to the 5th millennium BCE. And in China, beer was brewed using barley and other grains, from around 5,000 years ago.

Beer produced before the Industrial Revolution continued to be made and sold on a domestic scale, although by the 7th century CE beer was also being produced and sold by European monasteries. Occasionally a batch of beer would go bad and people would blame the devil for the problem. To keep the demons away, brewers would place religious statues in their brew house, and ask a local priest to bless a new batch.

"St. Arnold of Metz, the patron saint of brewers, once blessed the kettle used to brew beer to convince the people of the city to drink beer instead of water during a plague, which saved many lives, It became clear that if you drank the monk’s beer you lived and if you drank the water you died"

Blessed Serendipity

 It was the Paulaner monks, who were moving from Southern Italy to the Cloister Neudeck ob der Au in Bavaria in the early 1600s, observed a strict 40-day fast for Lent. The fast meant that they could not consume solid food. Needing nutrition during their fast, the Paulaner monks designed a strong beer that was dubbed sankt-vater-bier or “Holy Father Beer.” The name eventually evolved into Salvator, which is Latin for “savior.” The monks liked the beer so much that they felt it might not be appropriate for Lent. At about 1629 they sought the opinion of the pope. The beer supposedly spoiled during the trek from Munich to Rome. Upon tasting it, the pope thought it was so horrendous that anyone who would dare to drink it for sustenance would be humbled by the experience. Thus, Salvator became a papal approved beer. Maffeo Barberini reigned as Pope Urban VIII from 1623 until his death in 1644.


During the Industrial Revolution, the production of beer moved from artisanal manufacture to industrial manufacture, and domestic manufacture ceased to be significant by the end of the 19th century

Patron Saints of Beer 

Brewing has always been honored as a noble and honorable art, and through the centuries, many brew masters have called upon saintly patrons to aid them in their craft.
The catholic church has a number of saints whose patronage has something to with beer, brewers, brewing ingredients or related occupations. Perhaps the most famous of brewing patrons is St. Arnulf of Metz. St. Arnulf was a bishop and advisor to king Theudebert II of Austrasia. After his death at Remiremont Abbey, parishioners from his former diocese of Metz, who already venerated him as a saint, went to recover his body. The journey was during a particularly hot part of the year, and the travelers were ready to faint of thirst. One of the parishioners, by the name of Duc Notto, cried out, “By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack.” Miraculously, their supply of beer was replenished and lasted until they returned home.

St. Gambrinus, Technically not a saint, but treated as one, especially in Belgium

St. Augustine of Hippo: Patron saint of brewers


St. Luke the Evangelist – Patron saint of brewers.

St. Wenceslaus – Known for his heroic almsgiving and compassion for outcasts, St. Wenceslaus was venerated immediately upon his martyrdom in 935 A.D.

Conclusion

Whether you are using alcohol to help you live in the moment, grow in friendship, replicate the English coffeehouse, create an agora  or  simply enjoy life more, drinking  too much distorts the goodness of alcohol. The Bible always condemns drunkenness, and in the video above

Fr. Mike points out why. In doing so, he also shows how to really enjoy a drink with friends or family, and enjoying a drink the right way is much better than getting drunk and getting drunk is a sin. If you enjoy beer, drink responsibly.

More Selected Lenten Reflections

Selected Lenten Reflections: Mother St. Joseph , Noblewoman sold it all



Selected Lent Reflections: 40 Hours of Devotion

March 8, 2024 Friday Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Meet/Salute The Seven Women Saints Named In The Eucharistic Prayer At Mass



March 7, 2024 Thursday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 40 Hours Devotion

March 5, 2024 Tuesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis will open the 11th edition of the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative this Friday, March 8, at the Roman parish of San Pio V.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Eucharistic Miracle

Eucharistic Miracle findings presented March 4 1971: Dr. Linoli concluded the "miraculous flesh and blood," were of human origin. He presented his findings on March 4, 1971 and published in "Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori" the same year.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third week of Lent - Selected Reflections: See a need, fill a need, Myrtilla Miner

"If God allows me to live, I will devote my entire life to teaching slaves" - Myrtilla Miner

March 2, 2024, Third Saturday of Lent - Selected Reflections: The Power of Prayer, Padre Pio

February 29, 2024, Thursday, the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Leap for Joy!

The only Leap Year Pope is Pope Paul III, born on Italy on February 29, 1468

February 28, 2024, Wednesday the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican


When my neighbor fails to kill my family, then calls me to visit him in prison. What do I do?


February 26, 2024, Monday of the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections

"The only time our Lord asked the apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an hour of companionship." - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

February 23 2024 Friday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Servant of God Julia Greely


February 22 2024 Thursday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Blessed Carlo Acutis Highway to Heaven
RELATED


Eucharistic Miracles of the World by Servant of God Carlo Acuti

Lenten Reflection: Meet/Salute The Seven Women Saints Named In The Eucharistic Prayer At Mass

March 8, 2024 Friday Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Meet/Salute The Seven Women Saints Named In The Eucharistic Prayer At Mass

The early Christians were persecuted, throughout the Roman Empire. Seven Women Saints stand out and are often venerated during Mass.

"One day, however, I realized something incredible: In this long Eucharistic Prayer, several women are mentioned. Stunned, my thoughts crowded together. This prayer has been around since th" early days of the Church. For CENTURIES, in societies where women were looked down upon, Catholic priests have been mentioning specific women right after the Consecration!"' AnneMarie Miller. The Women of the Canon (and why they’re awesome)









In Day 187 of Father Mike Schmitz's CIY podcast titled Sacrificial Unity, he covers paragraphs 1369 to 1372 of the Catholic Catechism. The Catholic Catechism Part Two, paragraphs 1322 - 1419 covers the Celebration of the Christian Mystery


Originally the Roman Empire was polytheistic and emperors were deified. As Christianity spread through the empire, it came into ideological conflict with the imperial cult of ancient Rome. Pagan practices such as making sacrifices to the deified emperors or other gods were abhorrent to Christians as their beliefs prohibited idolatry. The state, the elites and other members of civic society punished Christians for treason, rumored crimes, illegal assembly, and for introducing an alien cult that led to Roman apostasy. The first, localized Neronian persecution occurred under Emperor Nero (r. 54–68
According to Tacitus, Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome in 64,  which destroyed portions of the city and economically devastated the Roman population.

During this period, anti-Christian activities were accusatory and not inquisitive. Christians were accused and prosecuted through a process termed cognitio extra ordinem. Trials and punishments varied greatly, and sentences ranged from acquittal to death. Many early Christians were jailed or exiled and some, refusing to renounce their faith, were tortured and killed in public stadiums for all to see.

The names of some of these saints, and specifically seven women are mentioned as part of the First Eucharistic Prayer of the
Mass known as the Roman Canon. The Canon of the Mass is the first of four general eucharistic prayers in the Roman Missal from which the priest may select. More commonly called Eucharistic Prayer 1, it is also known by its former title, “the Roman Canon,” and it served as the only eucharistic prayer in the Roman rite for more than a thousand years. Regarding mentioning the saints, the final seven names listed in the Roman Canon, each Eucharistic Prayer has its own characteristics. Before Pope John XXIII added St. Joseph, the Roman Canon traditionally listed 24 saints (12 apostles and 12 martyrs) in two separate groups.

The full list is:

First: Peter and Paul, Andrew, (James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude [apostles], Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, [5 Popes] Cyprian [bishop of Carthage], Lawrence [deacon], Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian [5 laymen]).

Second: John the Baptist, Stephen [deacon protomartyr], Matthias, Barnabas [apostles], (Ignatius [bishop of Antioch], Alexander [Pope], Marcellinus [priest, Peter [exorcist], Felicity, Perpetua [2 married laywomen of Carthage], Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia [4 virgins], Anastasia [laywoman of Sirmium]).


The final seven names listed in the Roman Canon (the “First Eucharistic Prayer” or “Eucharistic Prayer I”) are women saints of the Church. Sts. Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia are all saints of the Roman Empire in the early Church. Of course, the Blessed Virgin Mary is also mentioned by name in the Roman Canon;

Sts. Felicity and Perpetua

St. Felicity was the pregnant servant girl of St. Perpetua. They were both thrown to the lions in the Roman province of Carthage in Africa in the very early third century. A high-born noblewoman, Perpetua cared for her young infant while in prison. She was 22 years old at the time.

St. Felicity gave birth just days before her martyrdom. Despite the torrent of suffering at the end of their young lives, these women exuded the care of a mother’s heart. St. Perpetua and her servant St. Felicity were martyred by beheading for refusing to denounce Christ.

St. Agatha was a third-century Sicilian woman who was accused of being Christian and imprisoned. As a young girl, she was said to have chosen Jesus as her spouse. A martyr, St. Agatha finally gave up her spirit in prayer while being horrendously tortured.


St. Lucy, like St. Agatha, was a Sicilian noblewoman. She was blinded, and was also pulled by oxen, covered in pitch, resin, and hot oil, and then died by having her throat cut. She died along many other Christian martyrs under the persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

St. Agnes was the daughter of a wealthy Roman in the fourth century. She was a twelve-year-old girl whose name means “Lamb” in Latin. St. Jerome writes of her: “Agnes is praised in the literature and speech of all peoples, especially in the Churches, she who overcame both her age and the tyrant, and consecrated by her martyrdom to chastity.”

St. Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, married a pagan man named Valerian. Seeing her love of the Lord, her husband and his brother converted to Christianity. The pagan prefect of the city learned this and ordered that she be killed in her own home. She survived and was stabbed in the neck; according to legend, she lived for three more days building others up in the faith and asking that her home be converted into a church. Her husband and his brother also met the death of a martyr.

Anastasia, which in Greek means “to rise again” or “resurrection” was from Rome and was martyred in modern-day Serbia in 304 A.D. along with 270 other men and women. She was known to be a miraculous healer and an exorcist.






In Catholic Mom, AnneMarie Miller in her piece
"The Women of the Canon (and why they’re awesome)," writes:


"One day, however, I realized something incredible: In this long Eucharistic Prayer, several women are mentioned. Stunned, my thoughts crowded together. This prayer has been around since the early days of the Church. For CENTURIES, in societies where women were looked down upon, Catholic priests have been mentioning specific women right after the Consecration! As I think about these women of the early Church, I’m touched by what I can learn from them. First off, there’s the Blessed Virgin Mary. Next, there’s Felicity and Perpetua. Then, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, and Cecilia. Finally, there’s Anastasia. All of these women gave their lives completely to God. Mary said “yes” to becoming the mother of our Savior, and she continued offering this “yes” all throughout her life. The other women followed Mary’s example in their own lives of service to others and dedication to God. For example, before she was tortured and killed, St. Anastasia would visit and feed imprisoned Christians. Perpetua, while being imprisoned, cared for her young baby, and Felicity gave birth just before she was killed. Lucy, Agnes, Agatha, and Cecilia were all very young when they were martyred. All of these women were bold, courageous, and loving. Mothers and virgins, married and unmarried, they embodied sacrificial love in their lives. The eight women of the Roman Canon remind me that we all may have different lifestyles and vocations, but all of us are called to be holy in a radical way. St. Perpetua wrote an account of her imprisonment in 203 A.D., and after recounting a vision she had, makes a declaration that throbs with hope:

And I awoke; and I understood that I should fight, not with beasts but against the devil; but I knew that mine was the victory. (The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity)

As AnneMarie so aptly puts it: Let’s ask them to help us as we pursue God, and as we struggle to accept His will in an increasingly secular culture. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us! Sts. Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia, pray for us!

More Selected Lenten Reflections

Selected Lenten Reflections: Mother St. Joseph , Noblewoman sold it all



Selected Lent Reflections: 40 Hours of Devotion

March 7, 2024 Thursday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 40 Hours Devotion

March 5, 2024 Tuesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis will open the 11th edition of the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative this Friday, March 8, at the Roman parish of San Pio V.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Eucharistic Miracle

Eucharistic Miracle findings presented March 4 1971: Dr. Linoli concluded the "miraculous flesh and blood," were of human origin. He presented his findings on March 4, 1971 and published in "Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori" the same year.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third week of Lent - Selected Reflections: See a need, fill a need, Myrtilla Miner

"If God allows me to live, I will devote my entire life to teaching slaves" - Myrtilla Miner

March 2, 2024, Third Saturday of Lent - Selected Reflections: The Power of Prayer, Padre Pio

February 29, 2024, Thursday, the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Leap for Joy!

The only Leap Year Pope is Pope Paul III, born on Italy on February 29, 1468

February 28, 2024, Wednesday the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican


When my neighbor fails to kill my family, then calls me to visit him in prison. What do I do?


February 26, 2024, Monday of the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections

"The only time our Lord asked the apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an hour of companionship." - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

February 23 2024 Friday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Servant of God Julia Greely


February 22 2024 Thursday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Blessed Carlo Acutis Highway to Heaven
RELATED


Eucharistic Miracles of the World by Servant of God Carlo Acuti

Selected Lenten Reflections: Mother St. Joseph , Noblewoman sold it all

Mother St. Joseph, SNDdeN, also known as Marie Louise Françoise Blin de Bourdon was born 8 March 1756, Gézaincourt. Françoise Blin de Bourdon, a wealthy French noblewoman and a close friend of St. Julie Billiart, together co-founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.





Françoise grew up with a doting grandmother, a home on a luxurious estate, and access to the upper echelons of 18th-century French society. As a member of the nobility, she was taught by the Bernardine Sisters and later the Ursuline Sisters.

Françoise, whose family belonged to the French aristocracy and nobility, had been presented at the court of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in Versailles. French revolutionists imprisoned and guillotined the king and queen. Then they began executing members of the aristocracy and clergy. Françoise herself was imprisoned, while awaiting execution. Just one day before her date with the guillotine, Maximilian Robespierre, the mastermind of the French Revolution, fell from power, and Françoise was freed.


When her mother died in 1784, it was a life-changing experience: she attended daily Mass and spent her time on charitable works.



She returned to visiting the sick and the poor and that led her to St. Julie Billiart who, paralyzed and bedridden, was a guest in the home of Françoise’s brother in Amiens.

At first, Françoise found visiting the sick woman distasteful. Gradually a strong friendship grew between them. With St. Julie’s guidance, she spent her whole life letting go of anything that could come between her and God. Eventually Francoise told St. Julie of her dream to join the Carmelites.
Francoise never become a Carmelite, instead she and St. Julie co-founded the Sisters of Notre Damede Namur, a religious community that educated poor, young girls and trained teachers.


Francoise wrote the “Memoirs” that tell us so much about St. Julie and the early history of the Congregation. Françoise also provided a spiritual foundation by writing the first “Rule,” which described the spirit of the religious congregation and the way of life for the Sisters. She was the Congregation’s first “donor,” providing the financial support from her family inheritance which enabled the Sisters to expand during the early years. She succeeded St. Julie as the superior general (worldwide leader) of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.



Saint Mathew tells us: " 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. 22 When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions" Chapter 19

Before her death, Mother St. Joseph had given away all her material goods.

Mother St. Joseph, pray that we may learn to store treasure in heave.

More Selected Lenten Reflections

Selected Lent Reflections: 40 Hours of Devotion

March 7, 2024 Thursday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 40 Hours Devotion

March 5, 2024 Tuesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis will open the 11th edition of the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative this Friday, March 8, at the Roman parish of San Pio V.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Eucharistic Miracle

Eucharistic Miracle findings presented March 4 1971: Dr. Linoli concluded the "miraculous flesh and blood," were of human origin. He presented his findings on March 4, 1971 and published in "Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori" the same year.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third week of Lent - Selected Reflections: See a need, fill a need, Myrtilla Miner

"If God allows me to live, I will devote my entire life to teaching slaves" - Myrtilla Miner

March 2, 2024, Third Saturday of Lent - Selected Reflections: The Power of Prayer, Padre Pio

February 29, 2024, Thursday, the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Leap for Joy!

The only Leap Year Pope is Pope Paul III, born on Italy on February 29, 1468

February 28, 2024, Wednesday the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican


When my neighbor fails to kill my family, then calls me to visit him in prison. What do I do?


February 26, 2024, Monday of the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections

"The only time our Lord asked the apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an hour of companionship." - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

February 23 2024 Friday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Servant of God Julia Greely


February 22 2024 Thursday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Blessed Carlo Acutis Highway to Heaven
RELATED


Eucharistic Miracles of the World by Servant of God Carlo Acuti

Selected Lent Reflections: 40 Hours of Devotion

March 7, 2024 Thursday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 40 Hours Devotion 

The Catholic Catechism (1360) teaches that  The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all "thanksgiving."

St. John Neumann, fourth bishop of Philadelphia, introduced the first Forty Hours Devotion at the Church of St. Philip Neri on May 26, 1853, the Feast of Corpus Christi, in honor of the church's patron.

In 40 Hours Devotion, the consecrated Eucharist is exposed on the altar in a monstrance for adoration for 40 hours. The tradition is tied to repentance, and usually observed during Lent or Advent




Saint John Neumann started the 40 Hours of Devotion in a time of strong anti-Catholic sentiment, and despite the hostility of the Know Nothing party. Not unlike the persecution the Church is not only seeing today but throughout its history.


Between 1894 and 1924, Muslims decimated the Christian Community in Asia Minor: the number of Christiansfell from 3-4 million to just tens of thousand: from 20% of the area’s population to under 2%. The descendants of Turkey’s Christians, many of them dispersed around the world since the 1920s, maintain that the Turks murdered about half of their forebears and expelled the rest: Turkey’s Armenian, Greek and Assyrian (or Syriac) communities disappeared as a result of a staggered campaign of genocide beginning in 1894, perpetrated against them by their Muslim neighbors. By 1924, the Christian communities of Turkey and its adjacent territories had been destroyed.

The practice of 40 Hours Devotion dates back to 1527, introduced by St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria in Milan and Vicenza, and spread by St. Ignatius and the Jesuits. St. Anthony was an early leader of the Counter Reformation, the founder of religious the Barnabites and a promoter of the devotion to the Passion of Christ, the Eucharist and the renewal of the religious life among the laity.

When the Archdiocese of Milan asked for an indulgence for 40 Hours Devotion in 1539, where Spanish commanding officer Francisco de Sarmiento and his captain refused to surrender. During the siege, the Muslim army suffered heavy losses due to the stubborn resistance of Sarmiento's men. However, Castelnuovo eventually fell and almost all the Spanish defenders, including Sarmiento, were killed. In this environment, Pope Paul III wrote:

“Since our beloved son the Vicar General of the Archbishop of Milan, at the prayer of the inhabitants of the said city, in order to appease the anger of God provoked by the offenses of Christians, and in order to bring to nought the efforts and machinations of the Turks who are pressing forward to the destruction of Christendom, amongst other pious practices, has established a round of prayers and supplications to be offered by day and night by all the qaqqq of Christ, before our Lord’s Most Sacred Body, in all the churches of the said city, in such a manner that these prayers and supplication are made by the faithful themselves relieving each other in relays for forty hours continuously in each church in succession, according to the order determined by the Vicar… We approving in our Lord so pious an institution, grant and remit.”



Fifty years later Pope Clement VIII in his 1592 letter “Graves et diuturnae,” wrote

"To Our Venerable Brothers the Bishops, to the Clergy, and to the Swiss People who enjoy Grace and Communion with the ApostolicP ope Clement V

Venerable Brothers, Greetings and Apostolic Blessing.

The serious and long-lasting plots and efforts which the new heretics who call themselves Old Catholics use daily in your country to deceive the faithful and to tear them away from their ancient faith, urge Us, as a duty of Our supreme apostolate, to zealously devote Our paternal care and attention to protecting the spiritual welfare of our children. We are aware, and We sorrowfully deplore the fact, that these schismatics and heretics who enjoy the favor of the civil authority exercise the ministry of their wicked sect in the region of the diocese of Basel as in other regions of your country while the religious freedom of Catholics remains publicly oppressed by schismatic laws."


Pope Clement further declared:
“We have determined to establish publicly in this Mother City of Rome an uninterrupted course of prayer in such ways that in the different churches, on appointed days, there be observed the pious and salutary devotion of the Forty Hours, with such an arrangement of churches and times that, at every hour of the day and night, the whole year round the incense of prayer shall ascend without intermission before the face of the Lord.”


While the Forty Hours Devotion nurtures the love of the faithful for our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, three special dimensions havIe also surrounded this devotion: the protection from evil and temptation; reparation for our own sins and for the Poor Souls in Purgatory; and deliverance from political, material, or spiritual calamities. Here the faithful implore our Lord to pour forth His abundant graces for themselves, and for their neighbors. For their own personal needs, and for those of the world.

More Selected Lenten Reflections

March 5, 2024 Tuesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis will open the 11th edition of the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative this Friday, March 8, at the Roman parish of San Pio V.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Eucharistic Miracle

Eucharistic Miracle findings presented March 4 1971: Dr. Linoli concluded the "miraculous flesh and blood," were of human origin. He presented his findings on March 4, 1971 and published in "Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori" the same year.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third week of Lent - Selected Reflections: See a need, fill a need, Myrtilla Miner

"If God allows me to live, I will devote my entire life to teaching slaves" - Myrtilla Miner

March 2, 2024, Third Saturday of Lent - Selected Reflections: The Power of Prayer, Padre Pio

February 29, 2024, Thursday, the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Leap for Joy!

The only Leap Year Pope is Pope Paul III, born on Italy on February 29, 1468

February 28, 2024, Wednesday the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican


When my neighbor fails to kill my family, then calls me to visit him in prison. What do I do?


February 26, 2024, Monday of the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections

"The only time our Lord asked the apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an hour of companionship." - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen


February 23 2024 Friday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Servant of God Julia Greely


February 22 2024 Thursday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Blessed Carlo Acutis Highway to Heaven
RELATED


Eucharistic Miracles of the World by Servant of God Carlo Acuti

March 6, 2024 Wednesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Saint Casimir, Parents and Teachers Matter.

Casimir Jagiellon was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The second son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon.   As children born into royalty, Casimir and his siblings were well educated, heavily influenced by his family and his tutor.

Compare to what happened in the United States when the Warren Court found that teaching children about wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety,  fear of the Lord., charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control and  chastity was too radical, all hell broke lose. The Warren Court is often considered the most liberal court in U.S. history. The Warren Court expanded civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power in Orwellian form, led by the liberal bloc, createing a major "Constitutional Revolution" with massive unintended consequences.

Saint Matthew in Chapter 19 has a warning:  "23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24k Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Yet Saint Casimir became a king and a saint.

Saint Casimir is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania. An image from the main cathedral of Lithuania depicts Casimir with two right hands as a sign of his great generosity to the poor. He holds a rosary, a sign of his life of prayer and devotion to Mary, and a lily, which signifies his purity and innocence.






Saint Casimir was born a prince. on October 3, 1458, the second son and third child in the Polish royal family. King Casimir IV’s father had converted to Catholicism from paganism and introduced Christianity to Lithuania. King Casimir IV was, therefore, raised in a good Catholic home which he also provided to his children. A faithful Catholic herself, Queen Elizabeth was the loving mother of her thirteen children.

Even as a young child, Casimir was known for his piety and devotion, which was encouraged and strengthened by a holy man who tutored him and other children of the court. Even though he lived in the royal household, Casimir refused to let luxuries obscure his loyalty to God. He dressed very plainly and slept on the bare ground. He prayed often and used fasting to sharpen his will and faithfulness. He had a great devotion to Mary and gave away what he could to the poor.


Casimir had no desire for power, war, riches, or nobility, influenced by Father Długosz. Casimir had fallen in love with his God and the Blessed Virgin. He prayed frequently, often slept on the floor, engaged in other penitential practices, spent entire nights meditating on the Passion of our Lord, dressed simply, and desired to live a life of chastity. He was charitable to the poor, manifested the virtues, and edified all who encountered him. He especially had a deep devotion to our Blessed Mother and each day sang an ancient hymn called, “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary.”

From the age of nine until sixteen, Casimir and his older brother were tutored by a Polish priest named Father Jan Długosz. This priest taught the boys Latin, German, law, history, rhetoric, and classical literature.


Father Jan Długosz, known in Latin as Johannes Longinus was
a Polish chronicler and diplomat. Father Jan Długosz is best known for his Annals or Chronicles of the Famous Kingdom of Poland  in 12 volumes and originally written in Latin, covering events in southeastern Europe, but also in Western Europe, from 965 to 1480, the year he died

Długosz was a canon at Kraków, educated at the University of Krakow. He was sent by King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland on diplomatic missions to the Papal and Imperial courts, and was involved in the King's negotiations with the Teutonic Knights during the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) and at the peace negotiations. In 1434, Długosz's uncle, the first pastor at Kłobuck, appointed him to take over his position as canon of St. Martin church there. Długosz stayed until 1452 and while there, founded the canonical monastery.

In 1461 a Polish delegation which included Długosz met with emissaries of George of Podebrady in Bytom, Silesia. After six days of talks, they concluded an alliance between the two factions. In 1466 Długosz was sent to the legate of Wrocław, in order to attempt to obtain assurance that the legate was not biased in favor of the Teutonic Knights. He was successful, and was in 1467 entrusted with tutoring the king's son




When King Casimir IV decided to name his son Casimir to the Hungarian throne by force, Casimir was sent to lead the Polish army in battle against the Hungarians and take the throne. Casimir agreed out of obedience to his father, but his heart was not in it. He opposed the war, and in time the effort failed and Casimir returned to Poland. His opposition grew even stronger when he heard that Pope Sixtus IV had asked his father not to go to war. Upon Casimir’s arrival home, his father was furious and imprisoned him in a tower for three months. Those three months, however, were just what Casimir longed for.


In the solitude of imprisonment, Casimir was able to return to his life of prayer and deepen his union with God. Afterward, he continued his studies and life of devotion, vowing to remain celibate for the Kingdom of God.


When Casimir was twenty, his father had to be absent from Poland tending to matters in Lithuania. During those years. St. Casimir briefly sat on the throne of Poland as vice-regent at the bidding of his father. which he did with thoughtfulness, justice, and charity. When Casimir was twenty-five, he became ill with a lung disease and on March 4, 1484, at the age of twenty-five, Casimir died. His remains were taken to the capital, Vilnius, and buried there.

After his death, devotion to Casimir grew. Many people prayed to him, and many attributed a number of miracles to his intercession: Blind people who venerated his body were restored to sight, and many sick people returned to good health.




One notable miracle took place in 1519 when the Lithuanian army was engaged in battle with the Russians. It is said that Saint Casimir appeared to the Lithuanian soldiers in a vision and directed them to a place where they could best defend their city, which they successfully did.

More Selected Lenten Reflections

March 5, 2024 Tuesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis will open the 11th edition of the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative this Friday, March 8, at the Roman parish of San Pio V.




March 4, 2024 Monday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Eucharistic Miracle


Eucharistic Miracle findings presented March 4 1971: Dr. Linoli concluded the "miraculous flesh and blood," were of human origin. He presented his findings on March 4, 1971 and published in "Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori" the same year.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third week of Lent - Selected Reflections: See a need, fill a need, Myrtilla Miner

"If God allows me to live, I will devote my entire life to teaching slaves" - Myrtilla Miner

March 2, 2024, Third Saturday of Lent - Selected Reflections: The Power of Prayer, Padre Pio



February 29, 2024, Thursday, the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Leap for Joy!

The only Leap Year Pope is Pope Paul III, born on Italy on February 29, 1468

February 28, 2024, Wednesday the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican


When my neighbor fails to kill my family, then calls me to visit him in prison. What do I do?


February 26, 2024, Monday of the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections

"The only time our Lord asked the apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an hour of companionship." - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen


February 23 2024 Friday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Servant of God Julia Greely


February 22 2024 Thursday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Blessed Carlo Acutis Highway to Heaven
RELATED


Eucharistic Miracles of the World by Servant of God Carlo Acuti

March 5, 2024 Tuesday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: 24 Hours for the Lord

Pope Francis will open the 11th edition of the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative this Friday, March 8, at the Roman parish of San Pio V.

St. ThéRèse of Lisieux said "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." Manuscrits autobiographiques






In paragraph (2559) the CatholicCatechism teaches "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God."2 But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart?3 He who humbles himself will be exalted;4 humility is the foundation of prayer, Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought,"5 are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God." -

Father Mike Schmitz in Day 245 of his CIY podcast covering Catechism paragraphs 2691-2699, says: "We know we can pray anywhere at any time, yet certain places are more favorable for prayer. There are also certain rhythms of prayer in the life of the Church that foster regular attention to the Lord. As Fr. Mike emphasizes with the Catechism, we can’t pray always “if we don’t pray at specific times.” Today Fr. Mike encourages us to find our place and time for prayer.

Observed annually in dioceses worldwide on the eve of the fourth Sunday of Lent, the "24 Hours For The Lord" Lenten initiative, dedicated to prayer and reconciliation, was inaugurated by Pope Francis at the start of his pontificate. Pope Francis has asked for every parish to open its doors for 24 hours so that the faithful might encounter Jesus Christ anew in the Sacrament of Penance and Eucharistic Adoration.

"Prayer is the best weapon we possess, the key that opens the heart of God" - St. Padre Pio. 

New York Times - Prayer is over-rated: Study

The theme for this year's event is "Walking in a New Life," taken from Romans chapter 6: "4 We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. 5 For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection."

More Selected Lenten Reflections

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third Week of Lent Selected Reflections: Eucharistic Miracle

Eucharistic Miracle findings presented March 4 1971: Dr. Linoli concluded the "miraculous flesh and blood," were of human origin. He presented his findings on March 4, 1971 and published in "Quaderni Sclavo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori" the same year.

March 4, 2024 Monday of Third week of Lent - Selected Reflections: See a need, fill a need, Myrtilla Miner

"If God allows me to live, I will devote my entire life to teaching slaves" - Myrtilla Miner

March 2, 2024, Third Saturday of Lent - Selected Reflections: The Power of Prayer, Padre Pio 

February 29, 2024, Thursday, the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Leap for Joy!

The only Leap Year Pope is Pope Paul III, born on Italy on February 29, 1468

February 28, 2024, Wednesday the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections: Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican


When my neighbor fails to kill my family, then calls me to visit him in prison. What do I do?


February 26, 2024, Monday of the Second Week in Lent - Selected Reflections

"The only time our Lord asked the apostles for anything was the night He went into agony. Not for activity did he plead but for an hour of companionship." - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen


February 23 2024 Friday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Servant of God Julia Greely


February 22 2024 Thursday, First Week of Lent, Selected Lenten Reflections: Blessed Carlo Acutis Highway to Heaven

RELATED

Eucharistic Miracles of the World by Servant of God Carlo Acuti