BIG C CATHOLICS

Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas On Sunday, [January 12th] the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes. In the Eastern Church this feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan God appeared in three persons. The baptism of John was a sort of sacramental preparatory for the Baptism of Christ. It moved men to sentiments of repentance and induced them to confess their sins. Christ did not need the baptism of John. Although He appeared in the "substance of our flesh" and was recognized "outwardly like unto ourselves," He was absolutely sinless and impec

Msgr. Rudolph G. Bandas Today [January 8th] the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord's second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons of God. The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes. In the Eastern Church this feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan God appeared in three persons. The baptism of John was a sort of sacramental preparatory for the Baptism of Christ. It moved men to sentiments of repentance and induced them to confess their sins. Christ did not need the baptism of John. Although He appeared in the "substance of our flesh" and was recognized "outwardly like unto ourselves," He was absolutely sinless and impeccable.

The feast of Saint Sabbas (or Savvas) the Sanctified of Jerusalem is celebrated on December 5th in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. He was born in Cappadocia during the reign of Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. The son of devout parents, from a young age he excelled in the spiritual life, prayer and asceticism. At sixteen, he traveled to Jerusalem, to the Monastery of Euthymius the Great, who sent him to the Monastery of the venerable Theoctistus. Here, he advanced in holiness becoming a mentor and shepherd of many desert monks. He was later blessed to seclude himself in a cave. On Saturdays, he would leave his hermitage and come to the monastery, where he participated in the divine services and broke bread with the brethren. In due course, Sabbas received permission not to leave his hermitage at all, and he endured in the cave for five years. After several years, disciples began to gather around him desiring the monastic life. As the number of monks increased, a lav