St. Martin of Tours Churchand St. Paul's ChurchOur Statues |
Devotion to the Sacred Heart, as we know it, began about the year 1672. On repeated occasions, Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun, in France, and during these apparitions He explained to her the devotion to His Sacred Heart as He wanted people to practice it. He asked to be honored in the symbol of His Heart of flesh; he asked for acts of reparation, for frequent Communion, Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the keeping of the Holy Hour.
When the Catholic Church approved the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she did not base her action only on the visions of Saint Margaret Mary. The Church approved the devotion on its own merits. There is only one Person in Jesus, and that Person was at the same time God and Man. His Heart, too, is Divine -- it is the Heart of God.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived 13 a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:26-38
Devotion to St. Joseph appears to have originated in the east sometime around the 4th century, particularly with the Copts in Egypt. Eventually the devotion spread to the west sometime later, though when is not clear. The first Church in the west dedicated to St. Joseph was one in Bologna in 1129. Sts. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, Gertrude, and Bridget of Sweden all promoted devotion to him. A real flowering of devotion to St. Joseph began in the 15th century culminating with his declaration as patron of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1870. His feast day is March 19 and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker is celebrated on May 1. St. Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church, Carpenters, Doubters, Travelers, House Hunters, and of a Happy Death.
In the back of the church building, in the northeast corner, is the shrine containing the three statues. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, with St. Joseph to the left and St. Martin of Tours on the right. The front of the shrine is the fromt of the mensa from the high altar of the original church.
St. Peregrine was born in Italy in 1265. By God's grace, with the help of St. Philip Peregrine began to place his energies into good works and joined the Servants of Mary. While working with the poor and the sick he imposed on himself a penance, Peregrine would stand whenever possible, rather than sit. This led to varicose veins, which caused the leg to deteriorate into an open running sore. This was diagnosed as cancer. The wound became so obvious, odorous and painful that the local surgeon scheduled surgery to amputate the leg. The night before the operation he prayed before the image of the crucified Christ in the priory chapter room. His prayer led him into a deep trance-like sleep during which he envisioned the crucified Christ leaving the cross and touching his cancerous leg. When Peregrine awakened from the trance of prayer, he discovered the wound healed and the leg saved.
"With me prayer is a lifting up of the heart, a look towards Heaven, a cry of gratitude and love uttered equally in sorrow and in joy; in a word, something noble, supernatural, which enlarges my soul and unites it to God.... Except for the Divine Office, which in spite of my unworthiness is a daily joy, I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers . . .. I do as a child who has not learned to read, I just tell our Lord all that I want and he understands." - St. Thérèse in her autobiography History of a Soul.
Martin was born around 330 of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at the age of fifteen. One winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. (Paintings of the scene, such as that by El Greco, show Martin, even without the cloak, more warmly clad than the beggar, which rather misses the point.) In a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. He had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. At the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying: "Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ." He was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed.
The devotion to the Holy Child Jesus has long been a tradition of the Catholic Church for a very long time. This devotion is a veneration of our Lord's sacred Infancy. These begin with Biblical references to the devotion of his parents and the Magi to the Infant Jesus. Since then, many saints had a very strong devotion to the Divine Child, notably St. Therese of the Child Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Teresa of Avila.
It is unknown to this date which of those early sculptures that got to Prague was the exact origin of the Infant Jesus of Prague. There is speculation that the statue came from a monastery in Bohemia and from there it was obtained by Dona Isabella Manrique who gave it as a wedding gift to her daughter Marie Manrique who married a noble of the Czech kingdom. Subsequently, the Holy Infant statue was again given to Marie's daughter Polyxena as a wedding gift in 1587. In 1628, Lady Polyxena presented the statue to the Carmelites at the Church of the Virgin Mary the Victorious in Mala Strana saying, "I am giving you what I most esteem of my possessions. Keep the sculpture in reference and you will be well off" This statue then became known as the Infant Jesus of Prague. It stands 47 cm high (includes a 2cm base) and has a long gown around the wax body.
This is a replica of the original statue located in the Church of our Lady Victorious in Prague. Our statue resides just inside the main entrance to your left as you enter. As is customary, the outfit of the child is changed throughout the year, often with the church calendar. The statue is adorned with a crown and the Infant Jesus holds a globe of the world in his left hand.
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and
sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the
dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged
according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up
the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were
in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then
death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the
second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire!
(Revelation 20:11-14)
Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming
on the clouds of heaven."
(Matt 26:64)
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly
realms in Christ Jesus, ...
(Ephesians 2:6)
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne,
just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
(Revelation 3:21)
Legend has it that almost immediately after the crucifixion of Jesus, his followers began to retrace his steps to Calvary. The term Via Dolorosa (The Way of Sorrows) was popularized in the 16th century and its fourteen stations were standardized by the Franciscans during the 19th century. This route, followed by the world's orthodox Christians, led from the Antonia Fortress, where Jesus appeared before Pilate and was condemned, out to Calvary (called Golgotha in Greek), which was outside the city walls at that time.
St. Michael, the Archangel - Feast day - September 29th The name Michael signifies "Who is like to God?" and was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against satan and his followers. Holy Scripture describes St. Michael as "one of the chief princes," and leader of the forces of heaven in their triumph over the powers of hell.
Memorial to the Innocent Little Ones
"At such a time, Christians must act. This is a fundamental demand not only of discipleship but also of democracy, which flourishes when "people of conviction struggle vigorously to advance their beliefs by every ethical and legal means at their disposal" (NCCB, Living the Gospel of Life, 24). This is not easy in a situation where there is at times deliberate falsification of the Church's teaching and scorn for those who promote it. Yet none of this can be allowed to blur your vision or diminish your energies". -Pope John Paul II's Letter to Cardinal Keeler (February 20, 1999)
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Blessed Virgin Mary |
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