BIG C CATHOLICS

Memorial - November 22nd  When Saint Augustine famously said, "One who sings prays twice," he may have been thinking of the early Church martyr most often associated with music. Saint Cecilia has often been depicted in art with either an organ or a viola since at least the time of the Renaissance. She is the patron saint of music and musicians, and especially those engaged in the composition and performance of sacred hymns. Much of her story is actually legend, and authentic material related to her life is scarce. We know that she was a Christian woman of high rank who was martyred in either the 2nd or 3rd century. The daughter of patrician Roman Christians, she was given in marriage to a rich young nobleman, Valerian of Trastevere, despite desiring to remain a virgin. By the designs of Providence, her innocence was preserved. There was a feast in her honor celebrated in the Church as early as 545, and at least one church was dedicated in her name in the late 4th cen

Do you think Satan is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the Truth? He scoffs at morals, and at every institution which reveres them. He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He shows you how to rise and become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his. — Blessed John Henry Newman ______________________________________ Prayer for the Canonization of Bl. John Henry Newman Eternal Father, You led John Henry Newman to follow the kindly light of Truth, and he obediently responded to your heavenly calls at any cost. As writer, preacher, counsellor and educator, as pastor, Oratorian, and servant of the poor he labored to build up your Kingdom. Grant that through your Vicar on Earth we may hear the words, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the company

November 21, 2017 Today, let us continue pray that God will reign in our minds and hearts, and that we will love Him above all things. Lord we ask for the grace to place you above the powers of this world in all things, to obey you before any civic authority and to fervently bring about your Kingdom in my family, community and the world. Christ the King Novena Prayer - Day 5 Christ, our Savior and our King, renew in me allegiance to Your Kingship. I pray that You will reign in my heart. O Prince of Peace, may Your reign be complete in my life and in the life of the world. Christ, my King, please answer these petitions if they be in accordance with Your Holy Will… [Mention your intentions here] As I reflect on Your second, glorious coming and the judgment of all mankind, I beg You to show me mercy and give me the grace to become a great saint. I pray that not only will I spend eternity with You but that You may use me – a sinner – to bring others into Your Kingdo

November 21st is the memorial of the presentation of the Blessed Virgin. Sacred Scripture contains no text concerning the event commemorated in today's liturgy. For something of a historical background, one may consult the apocryphal works, particularly the Protoevangelium of St. James (ch. 4:1ff). After an angel had revealed her pregnancy, Anna is said to have vowed her child Mary to the Lord. Soon after birth the infant was brought to the sacred precincts at which only the best of Israel's daughters were admitted. At the age of three the Theotokos, was transferred to the temple proper (7:2). According to legend, here she was reared like a dove and received her nourishment from the hand of an angel (8:1). In the East, where the feast, celebrated since the 8th century, is kept as a public holiday, it bears the name, 'The Entrance of the Mother of God (Theotokos) into the Temple'. It was introduced at Rome by a Cypriotic legate to the papal court of Avignon in 137

November 20, 2017 "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). Today let us pray that God alone will reign in our minds, and that we will accept the Church's teachings with total obedience and firm belief. Christ the King Novena Prayer - Day 4 Christ, our Savior and our King, renew in me allegiance to Your Kingship. I pray that You will reign in my mind. O Prince of Peace, may Your reign be complete in my life and in the life of the world. Christ, my King, please answer these petitions if they be in accordance with Your Holy Will… [Mention your intentions here] As I reflect on Your second, glorious coming and the judgment of all mankind, I beg You to show me mercy and give me the grace to become a great saint. I pray that not only will I spend eternity with You but that You may use me – a sinner – to bring others into Yo

According to the 1962 Missal of Saint John XXIII, November 20th is the feast of St. Felix of Valois, the companion of St. John of Matha in founding the Trinitarian Order for the redemption of Muslim captives. St. Felix died in 1212, in Cerfroid. The Trinitarian Order's motto inscribed in the heart of Trinitarians is, "Gloria Tibi Trinitas et captivis libertas." (Glory to you O Trinity and liberty to the captives.) ____________________________________ St. Felix of Valois was born in 1127. Together with St. John of Matha, he founded the Order of Trinitarians for liberating captured Christians from Saracen (Muslim) slavery. He belonged to the royal family of Valois. The breviary recounts several marvelous events from his life. As a boy he frequently gave away his clothes to clothe the naked. He pleaded for the life of a murderer condemned to death and foretold that he would reform and lead a highly edifying life-which proved true. With St. John of Matha he journeye

By Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America (Ezekiel 34:11-17; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Matthew 25:31-46) Hungry, thirsty, naked, stranger, sick, in prison. That’s the checklist Jesus uses in the famous judgment scene in Matthew’s gospel. There is another list, in today’s reading from Ezekiel, where the Lord catalogues all the things he will do for his sheep which, as we find in the preceding verses (not included), the official shepherds have failed to do. But, as with other lists in the Scriptures, these are not exhaustive. They point us in a certain direction and allow us to see beyond the list, to draw up “new, improved” lists according to the world we live in. This is exactly how many Religious Orders came into existence. Some literally feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Some meet other, equally urgent, needs. Interestingly, though hunger and sickness are specifically mentioned in the message of La Salette, the perspec