- Isaiah 29:15 -
Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
"Who sees us? Who will know?"
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How strange that so many people think they can hide from God. In Psalm 139
we
learn that God has examined us and knows everything about us. Would you be
embarrassed if your best friends knew your personal thoughts? Remember
that
God
knows all of them. Take some time today, get alone with God and read Psalm
139
to him.
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November 18th - Dedication of The Basilicas of Sts Peter and Paul
The ancient basilica of Saint Peter stood, like the present one, on the
hill
of
Rome called in Latin Mons Vaticanus, at the northwestern extremity of the
city,
on the right bank of the Tiber. What we call the Vatican is a Roman
palace,
the
ordinary dwelling of the Pope. Near the Lateran palace where the early
Popes
dwelt, which was itself built by Constantine the Great or Saint Liberius,
Constantine built on the same hill, over the tomb of Saint Peter called
the
Confession, the Church of the first Vicar of Christ, where once a Roman
circus
had stood. This first Christian emperor placed there a plaque to honor
Saint
Peter, on which he had inscribed:
Because the world under your guidance has risen triumphant to the very
heavens,
Constantine, victorious, has built this temple to your glory.
The Divine Office for this day narrates its origins as follows:
"The Emperor Constantine the Great, on the eighth day after his baptism,
after
deposing the diadem and prostrating himself, shed a great many tears; then
taking up a pick and a shovel, he dug into the soil and drew out twelve
loads of
earth in honor of the twelve Apostles, thereby designating the site of the
basilica he desired to build to honor their Prince. This basilica was
dedicated
by Pope Saint Sylvester on the fourteenth day of the calendes of December,
just
as on the fifth of the ides of November he had consecrated the Church of
the
Lateran, but here he did so by raising a stone altar which he anointed
with
sacred chrism... When the old Vatican basilica became decrepit, it was
rebuilt,
through the piety of several Pontiffs, on the same foundations but larger
and
more magnificent. And in the year 1626, on this same day, Urban VII
solemnly
consecrated it."
As during the earliest centuries, still today from all corners of the
world
Christians go to venerate the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles.
----------------------------------------
The tomb of Saint Paul is on the Ostian Way, at the southern extremity of
the
city. The characters indicating the Apostle buried there, which clearly
date
from the epoch of Constantine, are engraved in the marble which closes the
sarcophagus: PAULO APOSTOLO ET MARTYRI.
"On the same day, Saint Sylvester dedicated the Basilica of Saint Paul the
Apostle which the emperor Constantine had also built with magnificence on
the
Ostian Way, enriching this one, too, with revenues, ornaments and valuable
gifts. In the year 1823, a violent fire totally consumed this Basilica,
but
it
was raised again, more beautiful than before, by the persevering zeal of
four
Pontiffs, who recovered it from its ruins. Pius IX chose for the time of
its
consecration the blessed occasion of the definition of the Immaculate
Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which he had just proclaimed, and which had
drawn to
Rome from the farthest places of the Catholic world, a number of Bishops
and
Cardinals. It was on the 10th day of December in 1854, that amid this
beautiful
crown of prelates and princes of the Church, he carried out the solemn
dedication, and fixed its annual commemoration for the present day."
(November
18)
Thus the city is laid out between the two pillars of the Church, the two
Apostles who from Rome made the Word of God resound throughout the entire
world.
Source: L'Année liturgique, by Dom Prosper Guéranger (Mame et Fils: Tours:
1919), "The Time after Pentecost, VI," Vol. 15. Translation O.D.M.
Quote:
Devotion to the Souls in Purgatory contains in itself all the works of
mercy,
which super-naturalized by a spirit of Faith, should merit us Heaven.
-St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote
7 For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the
law
at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts. (Malachias
2:7)
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Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire
Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of
shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your
thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony,
Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand
up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede
also for my other intentions. (Name them.)
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