text:
Mary Mother of GOD 15
Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Concéptio Immaculáta gloriósæ semper Vírginis Genitrícis Dei Maríæ, quam fuísse præservátam, singulári Dei privilégio, ab omni originális culpæ labe immúnem, Pius Nonus, Póntifex Máximus, hac ipsa recurrénte die, solémniter definívit.
The Immaculate Conception of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God. On this day, Pius IX solemnly declared her to have been by a singular privilege of God preserved from all stain of original sin.
Immaculate_Conception_Pius_IX.jpgTuesday Saints of this Day December 08 Sexto Idus Decémbris
Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum.
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас! (Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List
Acts of the Apostles
Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
How do I start the Five First Saturdays?
Mary Mother of GOD 15 Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
Pope Benedict XVI to The Catholic Church In China {whole article here }
The saints "a cloud of witnesses over our head", showing us life of Christian perfection is possible.
December 8 – Feast of the Immaculate Conception
"I am the Immaculate Conception"
In the Catholic tradition, since the dogma promulgated by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854, the Virgin Mary has been declared preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception. A dogma is a truth of faith solemnly proclaimed by the Pope to be accepted by the Church.The Mary of Nazareth Team www.eglise.catholique.fr
On December 8, 1854, in the bull Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX wrote: "We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first instant of her conception, by a grace and singular favor of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."
The apparitions at in Lourdes took place four years after the solemn proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. On March 25, 1858, in the damp and dark cave of Massabielle in southern France, Mary talked familiarly with Bernadette who asked her a few questions and she told her: "I am the Immaculate Conception."
The astrologers' expectancy
It now seems to be established scientifically that the astrologers from Babylon were also awaiting the birth of the "ruler of the world" from the year 7 B.C. Kepler, one of the fathers of modern astronomy, observed in December 1603 the very bright alignment of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces. With his calculations, he was able to establish that the same phenomenon (which produces an intense and dazzling light in the star-filled heavens) also must have occurred in the year 7 B.C. Then he discovered that an ancient commentary on the Scriptures by the Rabbi Abarbanel recalled that, according to Jewish belief, the Messiah was due to appear precisely at the time when the light from Jupiter and Saturn shone as a single beam in the constellation of Pisces.
Yet hardly any significance was attached to Kepler's discovery simply because it had not been established with certainty that Jesus had been born before the traditional date, following a mistake by Denys Petau. More than two centuries later, the Danish scholar Munter was to discover and decipher a mediaeval Hebraic commentary on the "seventy seven-day periods" in the Book of Daniel which alluded to the belief referred to by Kepler. In 1902, the Planetary Table was published that is today preserved in Berlin: an Egyptian papyrus that contains the exact movements of the planets between 17 B.C. and 10 A.D. This draws attention to the alignment between Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C., visible in its entire splendor across the Mediterranean region.
Lastly, in 1925, a description of Sippar's Stellar Calendar was published: a baked earth tablet with cuneiform inscriptions from the ancient settlement of Sippar, on the Euphrates, which was the center of an important school of astrology in Babylon. Remarkably, on this "calendar" are marked all of the heavenly movements and alignments of the year 7 B.C. Why was this? Because, according to the Babylonian astrologers, this alignment that can only be observed every 794 years occurred three times in 7 B.C. ? on May 29, October 1 and December 5. And they considered Jupiter to be the planet of the world's rulers, Saturn as the planet of those who protect Israel and the constellation of Pisces as the sign of the end of time, that is, the beginning of the Messianic era. (...)
Indeed, it is now certain, that between the Tigris and the Euphrates, not only was a Messiah expected that would emerge from Israel, but that amazingly he would be born in an age and at a time that had been predetermined.Source: Jesus Hypotheses by Vittorio Messori, Saint Paul Pubns. (1978)
December 8 - Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
A Newly Converted Saul is Confounded by the Greatness of Mary (1I)
It was then that a sad coldness spread over the faces of his guests. Barnabas said, "You have forgotten. Even God waited on her consent--this little maiden just past puberty--to bear His Son! She had been announced from the ages, this virgin child. She nurtured God at her breast; she taught Him to walk; she heard His first childish words. She made His clothing; she rocked Him in her arms; she babbled to Him as only mothers tenderly babble, as infants listen with delight and trust.
She cooked His meat and His fish; she made His bread. She milked the goats for Him, and gathered the fruit.
She attended to the needs of His human flesh. For thirty years
He was hers alone, and what wonders must have been revealed to her! And how she must have brooded and wept over His cradle, understanding that one day He must leave her and bring the holy tidings to mankind, and that he must die under frightful circumstances. The Apostles, and Lucanus, have told us of these things. The Lord performed His first miracle at her loving request. It was He who gave her as Mother to all men, as He hung dying on the infamous cross. She was present when the fire of Pentecost descended on His weeping Apostles and disciples. Did it carefully refrain from blazing upon the Mother?
"She was no 'mere woman,' Saul. She was the Mother of God. He loved her before He loved others in His human flesh. He ran beside her as a Child; He was helplessly dependent on her for nurture. We men love our mothers and reverence them. How much more, then, must God love and bless His mother! Nothing is impossible with God. If He chose to lift her uncorrupted body to Him, as the Messiah had been lifted, who shall dispute Him? (...) If the Lord could so honor and love His Mother, when then should men cavil? Had not she cried, "All generations shall call me blessed?"
Saul shook his head. "It is a mystery," he murmured, with uneasiness. "I must meditate upon it."
The Nazarenes (*Christians) received women among them with full equality and respect. They met in the houses of wives and mothers, to escape the exasperated wrath of their fellow Jews. They honored women because of the Mother of the Messiah.
Excerpt from Great Lion of God,a novel about the life of St Paul,
by Taylor Caldwell (1970, Doubleday, New York, p. 496-497)
|St Sosthenes one of
the 70 Apostles of the Saints Apollos, Cephas, Tychicus, Epaphroditus, Caesar,
Chosen and sent by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to preach. They were chosen some time after the selection of the Twelve Apostles (Luke 10:1-24).
St Sosthenes, before accepting Christianity, was head of the Jewish synagogue at Corinth. During a riot against the Apostle Paul, he too suffered a beating. He was converted by Paul to faith in Christ and afterwards became bishop at Caesarea.
All of these saints departed peacefully to the Lord (they are also commemorated on March 30). The Church also remembers St Onesiphorus (September 7) with them.
St Apollos (September 10) was a native of Alexandria and was a man of erudition. The chief place of his service was at Corinth. He toiled there for a long time and converted many to Christ. Towards the end of his life he preached on the island of Crete and was Bishop of Caesarea.
St Cephas was bishop at Colophon, Pamphylia.
St Tychicus native of Asia Minor disciple and companion of the holy Apostle Paul. During St Paul's first imprisonment, he delivered the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. He replaced St Sosthenes on the episcopal throne at Caesarea.
St Epaphroditus one of the Apostle Paul's closest assistants and companions; bishop of the Thracian city of Adriaca.
St Caesar preached at and was bishop of Dyrrhachium, a district of the Peloponnesos in Greece.
|Feast of the
Immaculate Conception arose in the Eastern Church in the 7th v. came to
the West in the 8th.
BY the bull Ineffabilis Deus of December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX, by an exercise of his supreme pontifical power of infallible teaching, pronounced and defined it to be
"a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful that the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception was, by an unique grace and privilege of Almighty God in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the human race, preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."
That is to say that her soul at the first moment of its creation and infusion into her body was clothed in sanctifying grace, which to every other child of Adam is only given in the first instance after birth and, since Christ, at baptism (though it is generally held that Jeremias and St John Baptist received it before birth, but not at conception). The stain of original sin was not removed but excluded from her soul.
For two hundred and fifty years before this solemn definition the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception had been universally believed in the Church (it was, of course, implicit in the deposit of faith from the beginning) and public teaching to the contrary was forbidden; but it was not "of faith" (it had somewhat the same position as the doctrine of the Assumption of our Lady held until 1950).
It is therefore found that Alban Butler writes on this day under the heading simply of the "Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary", and says, "It is the most generally received belief, though not defined as an article of faith, that in her very conception she was immaculate. Many prelates and a great number of Catholic universities have declared themselves in strong terms in favour of this doctrine; and several popes have severely forbidden any one to impugn or to dispute or write against it. Nevertheless, it is forbidden to rank it among articles of faith defined by the Church, or to censure those who 'privately hold the contrary' ". "But", he goes on; "it is sufficient for us, who desire as dutiful sons of the Church to follow her direction in all such points, that she manifestly favours this opinion". "The very respect which we owe to the Mother of God and the honour due to her divine Son incline us to believe this privilege most suitable to her state of spotless holiness." Since Pius IX spoke in 1854 the reservations mentioned by Butler have ceased to exist and every Catholic is bound to believe by divine faith that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is true.
A liturgical feast commemorating the conception of our Lady by the power of her father in the womb of her mother (without any reference to Mary's sinlessness) seems to have been originally celebrated in Palestine. There is much reason to believe that the idea of this conception feast for our Lady was suggested by the earlier existence of a conception feast for St John Baptist, which is found at the beginning of the seventh century. For a long time the expression Conception of Mary was taken to mean the conception of our incarnate Lord within her womb by the power of the Holy Ghost (which we celebrate on the feast of the Annunciation), and consequently the new feast referred to was called the Conception of (or by) St Anne.* {* It is a quite understandable error among non-Catholics not informed on the matter that the expression Immaculate Conception refers to the virginal conception of our Lord.}
In the ninth century it was imported to southern Italy and Sicily from Constantinople, still called the Conception of St Anne and with no idea of the immaculate conception. + {+ The feast has maintained this name in the East and even the Catholic Byzantines call it officially the "Child-begetting of the holy Anne, mother of the Mother of God", and keep it on December 9, the original Eastern date. But, of course, it is for them now the same feast as our Immaculate Conception. The dissident Eastern churches have no official teaching about the doctrine: some theologians have repudiated it, others have taught it. The people probably believe it, at least implicitly. The original Russian sect of Old Believers is said to have professed it formally. The calendar of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer still has the "Conception of the Virgin Mary" on December 8.}
The first clear evidences of a feast of the Conception of our Lady, and under that name, in the West come from England, at Winchester, Canterbury and Exeter just before the Norman Conquest. This was identified with December 8; *{* The date was fixed by the feast of the Birthday of our Lady, nine months before September 8. why this date was selected for the birthday is not known.} and when we remember that in Jerusalem and Constantinople, and also in Naples, December 9 was the day assigned for this observance it seems probable that the determining influence came from the East.
In England, again as in the East, the observance began in the monasteries, and its first two mentions are found in calendars of the abbey called the New Minster, at Winchester. It met with opposition as an innovation. But a disciple of St Anselm, the monk Eadmer, wrote an important treatise on our Lady's conception, and the archbishop's nephew, another Anselm, introduced the feast of the Conception into his own abbey at Bury St Edmunds. It was soon taken up by Saint Albans, Reading, Gloucester and others. Some monks of Westminster, where the prior, Osbert of Clare, favoured the feast, challenged its lawfulness, but it was approved by a synod in London in 1129.
At the same time the feast began to spread in Normandy, though whether it was first brought there from England or from southern Italy, then in Norman occupation, is not clear.
The adoption of the feast in the cathedral church of Lyons, about the year 1140, was the occasion of a protest by St Bernard which precipitated a theological controversy that was to last for three hundred years, the point at issue being the moment at which the sanctification of Mary took place. But however the controversy fluctuated from one to another of its several sides, the observance of the feast of the Conception of our Lady steadily progressed. In 1263 the whole Order of Friars Minor, who became the great defenders of the Immaculate Conception, whereas the Dominican theologians generally opposed it, adopted it.
In spite of its popularity in England, Canterbury did not adopt the feast until 1328, and it was not till 1476 that the Franciscan pope, Sixtus IV, officially adopted it for the Roman church. The feast was still of the Conception of the Immaculate One rather than of the Immaculate Conception as we understand it, though, as Butler pertinently notes, the sanctification of our Lady rather than her bare conception is the object of the Church's devotion. But in 1661 Pope Alexander VII declared that the feast celebrated the immunity of our Lady from original sin in the first moment of the creation of her soul and its infusion into her body, i.e. the moment of "passive conception" in the sense of the Catholic doctrine. In 1708 Pope Clement XI imposed the festival on the whole Western church as a feast of precept.
After the solemn definition of the dogma in 1854 the name of the feast was altered to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and nine years later a new Mass and Office in accordance therewith was prescribed. Since then, and indeed for some time before, the veneration of our Lady as immaculately conceived has become one of the most popular aspects of Marian devotion.
Of the eighteen dioceses of England and Wales, ten have our Lady as conceived sinless for their principal patron.
Saint Mary was declared patroness of the United States under this title by the first Council of Baltimore eight years before the definition. Hundreds of churches throughout the world are dedicated to God in honour of our Lady so regarded. There is, of course, an immense literature connected with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and with its liturgical celebration. Perhaps the fullest account is furnished in the article by Fathers Le Bachelet and Jugie in DTC., vol. vii, which runs to over three hundred and fifty columns. See also on the feast Fr Thurston in The Month, 1904, May, June, July and December, with E. Bishop's criticisms in the Bosworth Psalter, pp. 43—55, and Liturgica Historica, pp. 238—259; and on the entry in early Irish calendars, Fr Grosjean's very important "note " in Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lxi (1943), pp. 95—95, where he shows that these entries got into certain manuscripts "par une bévue de copiste". There are two valuable articles on the feast in the Byzantine church in Bessarione, September and December 1904. The first well-considered theological treatise arguing soberly that our Lady's conception was immaculate is that of Eadmer, the devoted adherent and biographer of St Anselm, though in this he departs from the view held by the saint himself. The text with other matter was critically edited in Slater and Thurston, Eadmeri Tractatus de Conceptione Sanctae Mariae (1904). It has been translated into French by H. del Marmot (1923). For many centuries after Eadmer's day the discussion went on, but for this see the bibliography of Fr Le Bachelet and the article of A. W. Burridge in the Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique vol. xxxii (1936), pp. 570—597, entitled "L'Immaculée Conception dans la théologie de l'Angleterre médiévale". There is a recent work by M. Jugie, L'Immaculée Conception dans l'Écriture sainte (1952). For the origin of the Western feast, see Fr. S. J. P. van Dijk in the Dublin Review, 3rd and 4th qrs., 1954; and for the devotion, Mgr H. F. Davis in the latter issue of the same.
A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the eleventh century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the eighteenth century it became a feast of the universal Church.
In 1854 Pius IX {(Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti b.1792, pope 1846-1878)} gave the infallible statement: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted Feast of the Immaculate Conceptionby almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin."
It took a long time for this doctrine to develop. While many Fathers and Doctors of the Church considered Mary the greatest and holiest of the saints, they often had difficulty in seeing Mary as sinless—either at her conception or throughout her life. This is one of the Church teachings that arose more from the piety of the faithful than from the insights of brilliant theologians. Even such champions of Mary as Bernard and Thomas Aquinas could not see theological justification for this teaching.
Two Franciscans, William of Ware and Blessed John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. They point out that Mary's Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus' redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth. In Mary, Jesus' work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset.
Comment: In Luke 1:28 the angel Gabriel, speaking on God's behalf, addresses Mary as "full of grace" (or "highly favored"). In that context this phrase means that Mary is receiving all the special divine help necessary for the task ahead. However, the Church grows in understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led the Church, especially non-theologians, to the insight that Mary had to be the most perfect work of God next to the Incarnation. Or rather, Mary's intimate association with the Incarnation called for the special involvement of God in Mary's whole life. The logic of piety helped God's people to believe that Mary was full of grace and free of sin from the first moment of her existence. Moreover, this great privilege of Mary is the highlight of all that God has done in Jesus. Rightly understood, the incomparable holiness of Mary shows forth the incomparable goodness of God.
Quote: "[Mary] gave to the world the Life that renews all things, and she was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.
"It is no wonder, then, that the usage prevailed among the holy Fathers whereby they called the mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin, fashioned by the Holy Spirit into a kind of new substance and new creature. Adorned from the first instant of her conception with the splendors of an entirely unique holiness, the Virgin of Nazareth is, on God's command, greeted by an angel messenger as 'full of grace' (cf. Luke 1:28). To the heavenly messenger she replies: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word' (Luke 1:38)" (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56).
|Tréviris sancti Euchárii, qui fuit
discípulus beáti Petri Apóstoli et primus ejúsdem
civitátis Epíscopus.
St. Eucharius, a disciple of blessed Peter the Apostle, At Treves, first bishop of that city.
283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283
Romæ beáti Eutychiáni Papæ, qui per divérsa loca trecéntos quadragínta duos Mártyres manu sua sepelívit; quibus et ipse deínde sociátus, sub Numeriáno Imperatóre, martyrio coronátus est, et in cœmetério Callísti sepúltus.
At Rome, blessed Eutychian, pope, who with his own hand buried three hundred and forty-two martyrs in various places. He himself was joined with them, crowned with martyrdom under Emperor Numerian, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus.
283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283 the last pope buried in the catacombs of St. Callixtus
He succeeded Pope Felix I a few days after the latter's death, and governed the Church from January, 275, until 7 December, 283. We know no details of his pontificate. The rite for blessing the produce of the fields, ascribed to him by the "Liber Pontificalis", undoubtedly belongs to a later period. The statement also that he promulgated rules for the burial of martyrs and buried many of them with his own hands, has but slight claim to acceptance, since after the death of Aurelian (275) the Church enjoyed a long respite from persecution. It is highly probable that Eutychianus died not die a martyr. The fourth-century Roman Calendar mentions him (8 December) in the "Depositio Episcoporum", but not in its list of martyrs. His remains were placed in the papal chapel in the Catacomb of Callistus. When this famous crypt was discovered the fragments of the epitaph of Eutychianus were found, i.e. his name (in Greek letters): EUTYCHIANOS EPIS(KOPOS). His feast is celebrated on 8 December.
|The Holy Martyr
Anthusa wife of a Roman official martyred for refusing Arianism.
baptized by St Ambrose of Milan (December 7). When the city prefect's wife Sunilda suggested that St Anthusa be baptized by an Arian, she refused. So she was committed to the fire, and received the crown of martyrdom.
|490 The Holy Martyrs
of Africa 62 Clergy 300 Laypeople By a miraculous Divine power they continued
to preach and to oppose the Arian heresy
They suffered in the time of the emperor Zeno (474-491). Guneric, the ruler of the Vandal kingdom in North Africa, came under the influence of heretical Arian bishops and began a fierce persecution against the Orthodox.
When believers had gathered at one of the churches and secretly celebrated the Divine Liturgy, barbarian soldiers burst into the church. Some of the worshippers fled, but 300 men voluntarily gave themselves over to torture and were beheaded. Of the clergy, two were burned, and sixty had their tongues cut out. By a miraculous Divine power they continued to preach and to oppose the Arian heresy.
They all endured horrible torments, but remained faithful to Christ and His holy Church.
St. Romaric monk Merovingian nobleman.
In monastério Luxoviénsi, in Gállia, sancti Romárici Abbátis, qui, cum in aula Theodobérti Regis primus esset, renuntiávit sæculo, et monásticæ étiam observántiæ laude céteris antecélluit.
In the monastery of Luxeuil in France, St. Romaricus, abbot, who left the highest station at the court of King Theodobert, renounced the world, and surpassed others in the observance of monastic discipline.
IN the account of St Amatus of Remiremont given herein under September 13 it is related how he brought about the conversion to God of a Merovingian nobleman named Romaric, who became a monk at Luxeuil; and how they afterwards went together to the estate of Romaric at Habendum in the Vosges, and established the monastery which was later known as Remiremont (Romarici Mons).
The father of Romaric had lost his life and his lands at the hands of Queen Brunehilda, and his young son became a homeless wanderer. At the time of his meeting St Amatus, Romaric was a person of distinction at the court of Clotaire II, with considerable property and a number of serfs. These he enfranchised, and it is said that when he was tonsured at Luxeuil several of these newly freed men presented themselves to the abbot for the same purpose
Remiremont was founded in 620 and St Amatus was its first abbot, but his duties soon devolved upon St Romaric, who at the time of his death had governed for thirty years. The size of the communities enabled the laus perennis to be established, the Divine Office being sung without intermission by seven alternating choirs, a practice which St Amatus had learned when he was at Agaunum.
Among the early recruits was the friend of Romaric, St Arnulfus of Metz, who about 629 came to end his days in a near-by hermitage. Shortly before his death St Romaric was disturbed by the news that Grimoald, the son of another old friend, Bd Pepin of Landen, was plotting to exclude the young prince Dagobert from the Austrasian throne. The aged abbot made his way to Metz, where he remonstrated with Grimoald and warned the nobles who supported him. They heard him quietly, treated him with courtesy, and sent him back to his monastery. Three days later St Romaric died.
There are two biographical texts, the first of which has been printed by Mabillon, and edited more critically in modern times by B. Krusch in MGH., Scriptores Merov., vol. iv, pp. 221—225; see also G. Kurth, Dissertations académiques, vol. i (1888).
|St. Macarius
Martyr of Alexandria, Egypt.
Alexandríæ sancti Macárii Mártyris, qui, témpore Décii, cum a Júdice multis verbis ad negándum Christum suaderétur, et eo majóri constántia suam profiterétur fidem, vivus ad últimum exúri jubétur.He is possibly the same Macarius commemorated on February 28 and October 30.
At Alexandria, St. Macarius, martyr, whose constancy in professing the faith increased with the efforts made by the judge to persuade him to deny Christ. He was finally condemned to be burned alive.
7th v. Saint Patapius was born at Thebes into a pious Christian family gift of healing, began to help all the needy holy relics are found incorrupt to the present day
Constantinópoli sancti Patápii Solitárii, virtútibus et miráculis clari.
At Constantinople, St. Patapius, solitary, renowned for virtues and miracles.
Reaching the age of maturity, he scorned the vanities of the world and so went into the Egyptian desert where he became known for his ascetic deeds. Though he wished to dwell in silence, people began to come to him for advice.
He went eventually to Constantinople, where he obtained a cell at the city wall, near the Blachernae church. But here, too, he quickly became known. The sick began to throng about, and he having been vouchsafed the gift of healing, began to help all the needy.
After a life adorned with virtue and miracles, St Patapius fell asleep in the Lord and was buried in the church of St John the Baptist.
Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Patapius, your soul rejoices with the angels.
Kontakion in the Third Tone
Having found thy Church to be a place of spiritual healing, all the people flock with haste thereto, O Saint, and they ask thee to bestow the ready healing of their diseases and forgiveness of the sins they wrought in their lifetime; O Patapius most righteous, in every need, thou art the protector of all.
This Saint was from the Thebaid of Egypt and struggled many years in the wilderness. He departed for Constantinople, and having performed many miracles and healings, he reposed in peace in a mountain cave on the Gulf of Corinth, where his holy relics are found incorrupt to the present day.
St. Patapius A seventh century Egyptian hermit He was originally from Egypt but journeyed to Constantinople lived as a hermit. Patapius especially revered in the Eastern Churches.
|Saint Cyril of Chelma
Hill Enlightener of the Chudian People luminous ascetic life and kindly
preaching moved many to accept holy Baptism
Born at the city of White Lake. He was tonsured at the monastery of St Anthony the Roman, where for six years he passed through various obediences. Then, after wandering through the wilderness for three years, he settled in a wild region of Kargopolsk. And here, by a command from on high, he chose Chelma Hill for his constant abode. Many of the afflicted from the Chud people came to see St Cyril, whose luminous ascetic life and kindly preaching moved many to accept holy Baptism.
Toward the end of his life, St Cyril established a monastery and church in honor of the Theophany of the Lord. The monk dwelt upon Chelma Hill for fifty-two years, and died at the advanced age of 82.
|In Cypro sancti Sophrónii Epíscopi,
qui pupíllórum, orphanórum ac viduárum defénsor
miríficus, et páuperum atque oppressórum ómnium
adjútor fuit.
St Sophronius In Cyprus, the holy bishop , who was a devoted protéctor of orphans and widows, and a helper of the poor and oppressed.
|Romæ Invéntio sanctórum Mártyrum
Nemésii Diáconi, ejúsque fíliæ Lucíllæ
Vírginis, Symphrónii, Olympii Tribúni, hujúsque
uxóris Exsupériæ et Theodúli fílii;
quorum memória octávo Kaléndas Septémbris recensétur.
St Nemesis, a deacon, his daughter Lucina At Rome, the finding of the holy martyrs Nemesis, a deacon, his daughter Lucina, a virgin, Symphronius, Olympius the tribune and his wife Exuperia and his son Theodulus, whose commemoration is made on the 25th of August.
On Death and Life
"Man Needs Eternity -- and Every Other Hope, for Him, Is All Too Brief"
Пресвятая Богородице спаси нас!
(Santíssima Mãe de Deus, salva-nos!)
Month by Month of Saintly Dedications
The Rosary html Mary Mother of GOD -- Her Rosary Here
Mary Mother of GOD Mary's Divine Motherhood: FEASTS OF OUR LADY
of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary
May 9 – Our Lady of the Wood (Italy, 1607)
Months of Dedication
January is the month of the Holy Name of Jesus since 1902;
March is the month of Saint Joseph since 1855;
May, the month of Mary, is the oldest and most well-known Marian month, officially since 1724;
June is the month of the Sacred Heart since 1873;
July is the month of the Precious Blood since 1850;
August is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary;
September is the month of Our Lady of Sorrows since 1857;
October is the month of the Rosary since 1868;
November is the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory since 1888;
December is the month of the Immaculate Conception.
In all, five months of the year are dedicated to Mary.
The idea of dedicating months came from Rome and promotion of the month of Mary owes much to the Jesuits. arras.catholique.fr
Pray that the witness of 40 Days for Life bears abundant fruit, and that we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until God welcomes us into the gates of heaven.
either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid.
Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten;
he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth.-- St. Thomas Aquinas
We begin our day by seeing Christ in the consecrated bread, and throughout the day we continue to see Him in the torn bodies of our poor. We pray, that is, through our work, performing it with Jesus, for Jesus and upon Jesus.-- Mother Teresa
The poor are our prayer. They carry God in them. Prayer means praying everything, praying the work.We meet the Lord who hungers and thirsts, in the poor.....and the poor could be you or I or any person kind enough to show us his or her love and to come to our place.
Because we cannot see Christ, we cannot express our love to Him in person.
But our neighbor we can see, and we can do for him or her what we would love to do for Jesus if He were visible.
God, I
I adore, I
trust and
I love Thee.
I beg
pardon for
those who do
not believe, do
not adore,
do not love Thee.
O most
Holy trinity,
Son and
Holy Spirit,
I adore
Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended,
and by the infite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
I beg the conversion of poor sinners, Amen Fatima Prayer, Angel of PeaceMary's Divine Motherhood
Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI { 2013 } Catholic Church In China { article here}
1648 to1930 St. Augustine Zhao Rong and 120 Companions Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria -- 600s.
Depending on China's relations with outside world,
Christianity for centuries was free to grow or forced to operate secretly.
Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart From the writings of St. Margaret Mary AlacoqueHow do I start the Five First Saturdays?
From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
"The Blessed Virgin was eternally predestined, in conjunction with the incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. By decree of divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving mother of the divine Redeemer, an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid. She conceived, brought forth, and nourished Christ."
of the Father
is heard,
the Son
enters the
water, and
the Holy Spirit
in the form
of a dove.
THE spirit and example of the world imperceptibly instil the error into the minds of many that there is a kind of middle way of going to Heaven; and so, because the world does not live up to the gospel, they bring the gospel down to the level of the world. It is not by this example that we are to measure the Christian rule, but words and life of Christ. All His followers are commanded to labour to become perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect, and to bear His image in our hearts that we may be His children. We are obliged by the gospel to die to ourselves by fighting self-love in our hearts, by the mastery of our passions, by taking on the spirit of our Lord.
These are the conditions under which Christ makes His promises and numbers us among His children, as is manifest from His words which the apostles have left us in their inspired writings. Here is no distinction made or foreseen between the apostles or clergy or religious and secular persons. The former, indeed, take upon themselves certain stricter obligations, as a means of accomplishing these ends more perfectly; but the law of holiness and of disengagement of the heart from the world is geeral and binds all the followers of Christ.
Feasts of Our Lady.html January to December ICONS
breviary.net/martyrology/mart12 08 stlukeorthodox.com/html/saints/ usccb.org ewtn.com St Patricks 08
domcentral.org/life/martyr Nov syriac oca.org glaubenszeugen.de/tage/kai/12 08
Serbian http://www.copticchurch.net Melkite
Monthly Saints with pics here http://www.stfrancisenid.com/memorials.htm antiochian.org/AW-WomenSaints--wonderful icons
Lutheran Saints One Saint per day stthomasirondequoit.com/SaintsAlive/index.htm stjohndc.org God's Humourous Saints
Join Mary of Nazareth
help us build
the International
of Nazareth
THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY TO BE BELIEVED POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATIONMorning Prayer and Hymn Meditation of the Day Prayer for Priests Our Bartholomew Family Prayer List Here
There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Miracles_BC Lay Saints
|We are
called upon with the whole
Church militant on earth
to join in
and thanking
God for
the grace
and glory
he has bestowed
on his
At the same
time we
Him to exert His
power and
mercy in
raising us from
our miseries
sins, healing
the disorders
of our souls
and leading
us by the path
of repentance
to the company
of His saints,
to which He has
called us.
They were once what we are now, travellers on earth they had the same weaknesses, which we have. We have difficulties to encounter so had the saints, and many of them far greater than we can meet with; obstacles from kings and whole nations, sometimes from the prisons, racks and swords of persecutors. Yet they surmounted these difficulties, which they made the very means of their virtue and victories. It was by the strength they received from above, not by their own, that they triumphed. But the blood of Christ was shed for us as it was for them and the grace of our Redeemer is not wanting to us; if we fail, the failure is in ourselves.
THE saints and just, from the beginning of time and throughout the world, who have been made perfect, everlasting monuments of God's infinite power and clemency, praise His goodness without ceasing; casting their crowns before His throne they give to Him all the glory of their triumphs: "His gifts alone in us He crowns."
"The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: 'But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....' Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory" Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
Called in the Gospel "the Mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the Mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495, quoting the Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251.
Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart ... From the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to me, His unworthy slave, if I mistake not:
"I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment."
Margaret Mary was inspired by Christ to establish the Holy Hour and to pray lying prostrate with her face to the ground from eleven till midnight on the eve of the first Friday of each month, to share in the mortal sadness.
He endured when abandoned by His Apostles in His Agony, and to receive holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the first great revelation, He made known to her His ardent desire to be loved by men and His design of manifesting His Heart with all Its treasures of love and mercy, of sanctification and salvation.
He appointed the Friday after the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart; He called her "the Beloved Disciple of the Sacred Heart", and the heiress of all Its treasures. The love of the Sacred Heart was the fire which consumed her, and devotion to the Sacred Heart is the refrain of all her writings. In her last illness she refused all alleviation, repeating frequently: "What have I in heaven and what do I desire on earth, but Thee alone, O my God", and died pronouncing the Holy Name of Jesus.
With regard to this promise it may be remarked: (1) that our Lord required Communion to be received on a particular day chosen by Him; (2) that the nine Fridays must be consecutive; (3) that they must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, which means that those who make the nine Fridays must practice the devotion and must have a great love for our Lord; (4) that our Lord does not say that those who make the nine Fridays will be dispensed from any of their obligations or from exercising the vigilance necessary to lead a good life and overcome temptation; rather He implicitly promises abundant graces to those who make the nine Fridays to help them to carry out these obligations and persevere to the end; (5) that perseverance in receiving Holy Communion for nine consecutive First Firdays helps the faithful to acquire the habit of frequent Communion, which our Lord eagerly desires; and (6) that the practice of the nine Fridays is very pleasing to our Lord He promises such great reward, and all Catholics should endeavor to make nine Fridays.
| How do I start the Five
Fr. Tom
On July 13,1917, Our Lady appeared for the third time to the three children of Fatima an showed them the vision of hell and made the now - famous thirteen prophecies. In this vision Our Lady said that 'GOD WISHES TO ESTABLISH IN THE WORLD DEVOTION to Her Immaculate Heart and that She would come TO ASK FOR THE COMMUNION OF REPARATION ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS...' Eight years later, on December 10, 1925, Our Lady did indeed come back. She appeared (with the Child Jesus) to Lucia in the convent of the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra.
The Child Jesus spoke first:
Our Lady then said: 'MY DAUGHTER LOOK AT MY HEART SURROUNDED WITH THORNS WITH WHICH UNGRATEFUL MEN PIERCE IT AT EVERY MOMENT BY THEIR BLASPHEMIES AND INGRATITUDE. YOU, AT LEAST, TRY TO CONSOLE ME, AND SAY THAT I PROMISE TO ASSIST AT THE HOUR OF DEATH WITH ALL THE GRACES NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, ALL THOSE WHO, ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS GO TO CONFESSION AND RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, RECITE FIVE DECADES OF THE ROSARY AND KEEP ME COMPANY FOR A QUARTER OF AN HOUR WHILE MEDITATING ON MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY, WITH THE INTENTION OF MAKING REPARATION TO ME.'
The Five Reasons
Lucia once asked this question of Our Lord and received as an answer: 'MY DAUGHTER, THE MOTIVE IS SIMPLE, THERE ARE FIVE KINDS OF OFFENCES AND BLASPHEMIES UTTERED AGAINST THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: (1) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: (2) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST HER VIRGINITY: (3) BLASPHEMIES AGAINST HER DIVINE MATERNITY: (4) BLASPHEMIES OF THOSE WHO OPENLY SEEK TO FOSTER IN THE HEARTS OF CHILDREN INDIFFERENCE OR EVEN HATRED FOR THIS IMMACULATE MOTHER: (5) THE OFFENCES OF THOSE WHO DIRECTLY OUTRAGE HER IN HOLY IMAGES.'
From the above, it is easy to see that each of the Five Saturdays can correspond to a specific offence. By offering the graces received during each First Saturday as reparation for the offence being prayed for, the participant can hope to help remove the thorns from Our Lady's Heart.
What Do I Have To Do?
The devotion of First Saturdays, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima, carries with it the assurance of salvation. However, to derive profit from such a great promise of Our Lady, the devotion must be properly understood and duly performed.
The requirements as stipulated by Our Lady are as follows:
(1) CONFESSION, (2) COMMUNION, (3) FIVE DECADES OF THE ROSARY, (4) MEDITATION ON ONE OR MORE OF THE ROSARY MYSTERIES FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, (5) TO DO ALL THESE THINGS IN THE SPIRIT OF REPARATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, and (6) TO OBSERVE ALL THESE PRACTICES ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS.
(1) CONFESSION: A reparative confession means that the confession should not only be good (valid and licit), but also be offered in the spirit of reparation, in this case, to Mary's Immaculate Heart. This confession may be made on the First Saturday itself or some days before or after the First Saturday within the preceding octave would suffice.
(2) COMMUNION: The communion of reparation must be sacramental duly received with the intention of making reparation. This offering, like the confession, is an interior act and so no external action to express the intention is needed.
(3) THE ROSARY: The Rosary mentioned here was indicated by the Portuguese word 'terco' which is commonly employed to denote a Rosary of five decades, since it forms a fourth of the full Rosary of 20 decades. This too must recited in a spirit of reparation.
(4) MEDITATION FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES: Here the meditation on one mystery or more is to be made without simultaneous recitation of the Rosary decade. As indicated, the meditation may be either on one mystery alone for 15 minutes, or on all 20 mysteries, spending about one minute on each mystery, or again, on two or more mysteries during the period. This can also be made before each decade spending three minutes or more in considering the mystery of the particular decade. This meditation has likewise to be made in the spirit of reparation to the Immaculate Heart.
(5) THE SPIRIT OF REPARATION: All these acts, as said above, have to be done with the intention of offering reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the offences committed against Her. Everyone who offends Her commits, so to speak, a two-fold offence, for these sins also offend her Divine Son, Christ, and so endanger our salvation. They give bad example to others and weaken the strength of society to withstand immoral onslaughts. Such devotions therefore make us consider not only the enormity of the offence against God, but also the effect of sins on human society as well as the need for undoing these social effects even when the offender repents and is converted. Further, this reparation emphasises our responsibility towards sinners who, themselves, will not pray and make reparation for their sins.
(6) FIVE CONSECUTIVE FIRST SATURDAYS: The idea of the Five First Saturdays is obviously to make us persevere in the devotional acts for these Saturdays and overcome initial difficulties. Once this is done, Our Lady knows that the person would become devoted to Her immaculate Heart and persist in practising such devotion on all First Saturdays, working thereby for personal self-reform and for the salvation of others.
Unless Russia is converted, the movement against God and for sin will continue to spread, promoting wars and persecutions, and making the attainment for peace and justice impossible for this world. One means of obtaining Russia's conversion is to practise the Fatima Message. The stakes are so great that to encourage Catholics to practise the devotion of the First Saturdays, Our Lady has assured us that She will obtain salvation for all those who observe the first Saturdays for five consecutive months in accordance with Her conditions.
At the supreme moment the departing person will be either in the state of grace or not. In either case Our Lady will be by his side. If in the state of grace, She will console and help him to resist whatever temptations the devil might put before him in his last attempt to take the person with him to hell. If not in the state of grace, Our Lady will help the person to repent in a manner agreeable to God and so benefit by the fruits of redemption and be saved.
Dear Lord, grant us a spirit that is not bound by our own ideas and preferences. Grant that we may be able to appreciate in others what we lack in ourselves. O Lord, grant that we may understand that every saint must be a unique praise of Your glory. Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven: only saints are allowed into heaven. The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR the benefit of others.
There are over 10,000 named saints beati from history
and Roman Martyology Orthodox sources
Patron_Saints.html Widowed_Saints html Indulgences The Catholic Church in China
LINKS: Marian Shrines India Marian Shrine Lourdes of the East Lourdes 1858 China Marian shrines 1995
Kenya national Marian shrine Loreto, Italy Marian Apparitions (over 2000) Quang Tri Vietnam La Vang 1798
Links to Related MarianWebsites Angels and Archangels Saints Visions of Heaven and Hell
Widowed Saints html
Doctors_of_the_Church Acts_Of_The_Apostles Roman Catholic Popes Purgatory Uniates Chalcedon
| Mary the
of Jesus
Miracles_BC Lay Saints
Miracles by Century 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Miracles 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 Lay Saints
The POPES HTML
Pius IX 1846--1878 • Leo XIII 1878-1903 • Pius X 1903-1914• Benedict XV 1914-1922 • Pius XI 1922-1939 • Pius XII 1939-1958 • John XXIII 1958-1963 • Paul VI 1963 to 1978 • John Paul • John Paul II 10/16/1975-4/2/2005 • Benedict XVI (2005 - 2013) • Francis (2013
Pope St. Clement (92-101): Since all things lie open to His eyes and ears, let us hold Him in awe and rid ourselves of impure desires to do works of evil, so that we may be protected by His mercy from the judgement that is to come."The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious." 1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
Which of us can escape His mighty hand?
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed NOT for the benefit of the recipients so much as FOR benefit of others.
Non est inventus similis illis
God calls each one of us to be a saint in order to get into heaven.
Pope Pius X -- Among those who have laboured most successfully in this great work is the illustrious St Francis Xavier, who was named by Pope Pius X the official patron of foreign missions and of all works for the spreading of the faith.Popes mentioned in articles of Saints today
Pope Paul III -- St Francis informed him of the brief of Pope Paul III by which he was appointed apostolic nuncio.
283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283
the last pope buried in the catacombs of St. Callixtus
Pope St Callistus (Calixtus) I 218 - 223
If we knew more of St. Callistus from Catholic sources,
he would probably appear as one of the greatest of the popes.
283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283
Romæ beáti Eutychiáni Papæ, qui per divérsa loca trecéntos quadragínta duos Mártyres manu sua sepelívit; quibus et ipse deínde sociátus, sub Numeriáno Imperatóre, martyrio coronátus est, et in cœmetério Callísti sepúltus.
At Rome, blessed Eutychian, pope, who with his own hand buried three hundred and forty-two martyrs in various places. He himself was joined with them, crowned with martyrdom under Emperor Numerian, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus.
Eugenio Pacelli Proclaims the Dogma of the Assumption (1950)
A divinely revealed dogma
"After we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare wilfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith."
After the Pope proclaimed this Dogma, a ray of sunlight shined forth on Saint Peter's Basilica.
Pius XII - Munificentissimus Deus - Defining the Dogma of the Assumption, 1 November 1950
Festívitas ómnium Sanctórum, quam in honórem beátæ Dei Genitrícis Vírginis Maríæ et sanctórum Mártyrum Bonifátius Papa Quartus, cum templum Pántheon tértio Idus Maji dedicásset, célebrem et generálem instítuit agi quotánnis in urbe Roma. Sed Gregórius item Quartus póstmodum decrévit, eándem festivitátem, quæ váriis modis jam in divérsis Ecclésiis celebrabátur, in honórem ómnium Sanctórum solémniter hac die ab univérsa Ecclésia perpétuo observári.
The Festival of All Saints, which Pope Boniface IV, after the dedication of the Pantheon, ordained to be kept generally and solemnly every year on the 13th of May, in the city of Rome, in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and of the holy martyrs. It was afterwards decreed by Gregory IV that this feast, which was then celebrated in many dioceses, but at different times, should be on this day kept by the whole Church in honour of all the saints.
The air which we breathe, the bread which we eat, the heart which throbs in our bosoms, are not more necessary for man that he may live as a human being, than is prayer for the Christian that he may live as a Christian.-- St. John Eudes
Solemnity of All Saints
"'Be holy as I am holy,' says the Lord. As Christians we are all called to holiness because we are His children. Every Christian should be a saint. Indeed, for a Christian to live in a state of sin is a monstrous contradiction". --Curé d'Ars.
It has recently been claimed that the decline in the cult of saints and in pilgrimages to holy places is spiritually beneficial for Christians, so that their attention will be turned exclusively towards Jesus. There is, however, a danger to the faith in attempting to become too intellectual and sophisticated, and thereby becoming too cold, methodical, and rational.
In the face of the divine mysteries and matters that are beyond human comprehension our minds should be kept open.
"The saints are like so many little mirrors in which Jesus Christ sees Himself. In His apostles He sees His zeal and love for the salvation of souls; in the martyrs He sees His constancy, suffering, and painful death; in the hermits He sees His obscure and hidden life; in the virgins He sees His spotless purity; and in all the saints He sees His unbounded charity.
And when we honor the virtues of the saints, we are but worshipping the virtues of Jesus Christ..."
-- John Baptiste Marie Vianney Curé d'Ars
We render God a worship of adoration and dependence with faith, hope, love, and a profound humbling of our souls before His supreme Majesty. We honor the saints with a feeling of respect and veneration for the favors God granted them, for the virtues they practiced, and for the glory with which God has crowned them in heaven. We commend ourselves to their prayers.
"It is a most precious grace that God should have destined the saints to be our protectors and our friends. Saint Bernard said that the honor we give them is less a glory for them than a help to us, and that we may call upon them with full confidence because they know how greatly we are exposed to dangers on earth, for they remember the perils that they themselves had to face during their lifetimes." -- Curé d'Ars.
The friendship that binds us to all the saints, and which is encouraged and commemorated by the feast-days of the Church, is not the invention of a handful of bigots or a commercial stunt manufactured by merchants of religious medallions. The communion of saints answers a definite need, and insofar as we neglect any one of the forms of spiritual life we are cutting ourselves off from a source of divine grace and making ourselves just a little blinder than we are already.
We too can be saints and we must all strive to become so.
"The saints were mortals like us, weak and subject to the passions, as we are. We have the same help, the same means of grace, the same sacraments, but we must be like them and renounce the pleasures of the world, shunning the evils of the world as much as we can and remaining faithful to grace. We must take the saints as our models or be damned, that we must live either for heaven or for hell. There is no middle way." --Saint John Vianney.
The Church has celebrated some feast in honor of the saints from the period of primitive Christianity. There is tentative evidence of the celebration to honor all the martyrs in the writings of Tertullian (died 223) and Gregory of Nyssa (died 395). It was definitely observed at the time of Saint Ephraem (died 373), who in the Nisibene Hymnus mentions a feast kept in honor of "the martyrs of all the earth" on May 13. It should be noted that on May 13, c. 609, Pope Saint Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon of Rome in honor of our Lady and all martyrs--another instance of something pagan baptized by Christianity for a new purpose dedicated to God.
The Venerable Bede (673-735) says that the pope designed that "the memory of all the saints might in future be honored in the place which had formerly been devoted to the worship, not of gods, but of demons."
By 411 as indicated in the Syriac Short Martyrology, throughout the Syrian Church the Friday in the Octave of Easter was celebrated as the feast of "all the martyrs."
Chaldean Catholics still maintain Easter Friday in honor of the martyrs.
Since at least the time of Saint John Chrysostom (died 407 - - one of the Three Holy Hierarchs), the Byzantine churches have kept a feast of all the martyrs on the Sunday after Pentecost (Chrysostom, A panegyric of all the martyrs that have suffered throughout the world)
Saint John Chrysostom.
We are not quite sure how November 1 came to be commemorated in honor of all the saints in the West. We do know that by AD 800, Blessed Alcuin of York was in the habit of keeping the solemnitas sanctissima of All Saints on November 1, preceded by a three-day fast. His friend Bishop Arno of Salzburg had presided over a synod in Bavaria (Germany) which included that day in its list of holy days (Walsh).Blessed Alcuin
Why has the Church included such a day in its calendar? To honor all the saints--known and unknown to us--reigning together in glory; to give thanks to God for the graces with which He crowns all the elect; to excite ourselves to humble imitation of their virtues; to implore the Divine Mercy through the help of these intercessors; and to repair any failures in not having properly honored God in His saints on their individual feast days.
Saint Bernard wrote:
"It is our interest to honor the memory of the saints, not theirs. Would you know how it is our interest? from the remembrance of them I feel, I confess, a triple vehement desire kindled in my breast--of their company, of their bliss, and of their intercession.
"First, of their company. To think of the saints is in some measure to see them. Thus we are in part, and this the better part of ourselves, in the land of the living, provided our affection goes along with our thoughts or remembrance: yet not as they are. The saints are there present, and in their persons; we are there only in affection and desires. Ah! when shall we join our fathers? when shall we be made the fellow-citizens of the blessed spirits, of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and virgins? when shall we be mixed in the choir of the saints?
"The remembrance of each one among the saints is, as it were, a new spark, or rather torch, which sets our souls more vehemently on fire, and makes us ardently sigh to behold and embrace them, so that we seem to ourselves even now to be amongst them. And from this distant place of banishment we dart our affections sometimes towards the whole assembly, sometimes towards this, and sometimes that happy spirit. What sloth is it that we do not launch our souls into the midst of those happy troops, and burst hence by continual sighs! The church of the first-born waits for us; yet we loiter. The saints earnestly long for our arrival; yet we despise them. Let us with all the ardor of our souls prevent those who are expecting us; let us hasten to those who are waiting for us."
Secondly, he mentions the desire of their bliss; and, lastly, the succor of their intercession, and adds:
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends. You know our danger, our frail mould, our ignorance, and the snares of our enemies; you know our weakness, and the fury of their assaults. For I speak to you who have been under the like temptation; who have overcome the like assaults; have escaped the like snares; and have learned compassion from what you yourselves have suffered.--We are members of the same Head.--Your glory is not to be consummated without us..."
Bernard of Clairvaux, Serm. 5 de fest. omnium sanct., n. 5, 6.
In his sermon on the Vigil of Saints Peter and Paul, Bernard also writes: "He who was powerful on earth is more powerful in heaven, where he stands before the face of his Lord. And if he had compassion on sinners, and prayed for them while he lived on earth, he now prays to the Father for us so much the more earnestly as he more truly knows our extreme necessities and miseries; his blessed country has not changed, but increased his charity. Though now impassible, he is not a stranger to compassion: by standing before the throne of mercy, he has put on the tender bowels of mercy..."
November 1st - All Saints Day - OUR LADY OF THE PALM (1755, Cadiz, Spain)
Mary and the Souls in Purgatory (I): What is Purgatory?The Church teaches two things about purgatory, truths that are clearly defined as dogmas of faith: first, that there is a purgatory; secondly, that the souls in purgatory can be helped by the petitions of the faithful, especially by the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
The Holy Church of God, considered in its totality, is composed of three parts: the Church militant, the Church triumphant, and the Church suffering, or purgatory. This triple Church constitutes the mystical body of Jesus Christ, and the souls in purgatory are no less her members than the faithful on earth and the elect in heaven.
In the Gospel, the Church is ordinarily called the Kingdom of God; purgatory, just like heaven and the Church on earth, is a province of that vast Kingdom. The three sister-Churches have between them an incessant exchange, a continual communication, called the Communion of Saints. These relationships have no other object than to lead souls to glory, the final term toward which all the elect tend.
The word purgatory means sometimes a place, sometimes a state half-way between hell and heaven. It is, properly speaking, the situation of the souls who, at the time of death, find themselves in a state of grace, but haven't completely expiated their faults or attained the degree of purity necessary to enjoy the vision of God.
Purgatory is therefore a temporary state, which ends in the beatific life.
Rev. Fr. François-Xavier Schouppe, s.j. The Dogma of Purgatory Illustrated by Facts and Private Revelations
God calls each one of us to be a saint.
The more "extravagant" graces are bestowed not for the benefit of the recipients so much as for the benefit of others.
November 1, 2006 Feast of All Saints
The earliest certain observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagonloads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons." (On the Calculation of Time).
But the rededication of the Pantheon, like the earlier commemoration of all the martyrs, occurred in May. Many Eastern Churches still honor all the saints in the spring, either during the Easter season or immediately after Pentecost.
How the Western Church came to celebrate this feast in November is a puzzle to historians. The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century.
Comment: This feast first honored martyrs. Later, when Christians were free to worship according to their conscience, the Church acknowledged other paths to sanctity. In the early centuries the only criterion was popular acclaim, even when the bishop's approval became the final step in placing a commemoration on the calendar. The first papal canonization occurred in 993; the lengthy process now required to prove extraordinary sanctity took form in the last 500 years. Today's feast honors the obscure as well as the famous—the saints each of us have known.
Quote: "After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.... [One of the elders] said to me, 'These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb'" (Revelation 7:9,14).
November 1 - Queen of All Saints (608)Our Lady of Folgoët
Salaün was such a simpleton that his contemporaries of the 15th century considered him a madman. He could only say two words: "Ave Maria" (Hail Mary) and he repeated those two words over and over.
One year on November 1, Salaün was found dead near a tree trunk, by the edge of the woods, at the far end of the parish of Guic-Elleau in France and the townspeople buried him immediately on the spot. Later, a beautifully smelling lily grew up from his grave, with this inscription on it written in gold letters, the only two words he had pronounced all his life: "Ave Maria."
In 1365, the first stone was laid for a church that is now the jewel of all the churches of Brittany: Notre-Dame de Folgoët (Our Lady of the Madman of the Woods). The statue of Our Lady was crowned by the Church in 1888?
November 1 - All Saints As the world returns to the love of Mary…The term 'Woman' indicated a wider relationship to all humanity than 'Mother.' It meant that she (Mary) was to be not only his mother, but that she was also to be the mother of all mankind, as he was the Savior of all mankind. She was now to have many children—not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Jesus was her firstborn in the flesh in joy; John was her second-born in the spirit of sorrow; and we are her millionth and millionth born.
Every objection against devotion to Mary grows in the soil of an imperfect belief in the Son. It is a historical fact that, as the world lost the Mother, it also lost the Son. It may be that, as the world returns to the love of Mary, it will also return to a belief in the divinity of Christ.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen American Bishop.
His cause for sainthood was opened in 2002
1913 Saint Barsanuphius of Optina
John Paul II -- October 16 - The Purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - John Paul II becomes Pope (1978)
"Christianity is not a moral code or a philosophy,
but an encounter with a person" -- Benedict XVI
1667-1669 Pope Clement IX; elected to the papacy by the unanimous Sacred College vote; idol of the Romans erudition application to business, his extreme charity, affability towards great and small; 2 days/week occupied confessional in St. Peter's church heard any one who wished to confess; frequently visited hospitals, lavish in alms to the poor; he did little or nothing to advance or enrich his family; aversion to notoriety, refused to permit his name to be placed on the buildings erected during his reign; declared blessed, Rose of Lima, first American saint, solemnly canonized S. Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi and St. Peter of Alcantara; death of the beloved pontiff was long lamented by Romans, who considered him, if not the greatest, at least the most amiable of the popes.
Pope Leo XIII
The best way to make our pleas heard
The Rosary, a kind of prayer that seems to contain, as it were, a final pledge of affection and to sum up in itself the honor due to Our Lady… There has seemed to be no better means of conducting sacred solemnities or of obtaining protection and favors. (Encyclical Octobri Mense).
There are, of course, more ways than one to win her protection by prayer, but as for Us, We think that the best and most effective way to her favor lies in the Rosary. (Encyclical Adjutricem populi, 1895).
So that our pleas have the greatest effect… let us has recourse to Mary… through the Rosary (1891).
Mrs Adjoubei's Rosary Bishop Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIIIAs he left Bulgaria in 1934, Bishop Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, stated,
"If a Slavic, catholic or not, knocks on my door, it will be opened and he will be greeted like a true friend." Later, a Slavic arrived one day at the airport of Fiumicino who asked to see Pope John XXIII. His reply was immediate, "Let him come!"The meeting was set for March 7th.
After the general audience, the Pope called for Mr. Adjoubei and his wife, Rada, a young woman from Khrushchev. He received them in his library and asked them to be seated." The Pope looked at her smiling, "I know the name of your sons... the third is called Yan, or John like me...
They spoke about many things including the Saints of Russia and the beauty of Orthodox liturgy.
Then John XXIII picked up a string of rosary beads that was laid on his table.
"Madam, this is for you. My entourage taught me that I should give currencies or stamps to a non-Catholic princess; but I still give you a Rosary because priests, in addition to the biblical prayer of the psalms, also have this popular form of prayer. For me, the Pope, it is like fifteen open windows - fifteen mysteries - through which I contemplate, in the light of the Lord, the events of the world. I say a rosary in the morning, another at the beginning of the afternoon, and another in the evening.Look, I made a great impression by telling the journalists that in the fifth joyful mystery - "he listened and questioned them" - I was really praying for... I made an impression on those people when I said that, in the third joyful mystery - the Birth of Jesus - I prayed for all the babies who are born in the past twenty-four hours, because, Catholics or not, they will find the wishes of the Pope upon their entry into life.
When I recite the third mystery, I will also remember your children, Madam."
Mrs Adjoubei, who held the Rosary in her hands, answered,
"Thank you, Holy Father, how grateful I am to you! I will tell my children what you said...
When you are back home, give him a special hug from me... " Rosary for the Church, #14 - 1973
Cross Not Optional, Says Benedict XVI
Reflects on Peter's "Immature" Faith CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Taking up one's cross isn't an option, it's a mission all Christians are called to, says Benedict XVI.
APOSTLES: COLLABORATORS IN TRUE JOYVATICAN CITY, 10 SEP 2008 (VIS) - At his general audience this morning, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dedicated his catechesis to St. Paul's view of the meaning of apostolate.
The Pauline concept of apostleship went "beyond that of the group of Twelve" explained the Holy Father. "It was characterised by three elements: the first was the fact of having seen the Lord, in other words of having encountered Him in a way that marked his life. ... Definitively then, it is the Lord Who confers the apostolate, not individual presumption. Apostles do not make themselves but are created so by the Lord".
The second characteristic is that of "having been sent. In fact, the Greek term 'apostolos' means envoy, ... the representative of a principal. ... Once again the idea emerges of an initiative arising from someone else, from God in Jesus Christ, to Whom one is duty-bound", of "a mission to be accomplished in His name, putting all personal interests aside".AG/ST. PAUL/...VIS 080910 (480)
"Announcing the Gospel and the consequent founding of Churches" is the third requisite. "The tile of apostle", said Pope Benedict, "is not and cannot be a merely honorary title. It truly, even dramatically, involves the entire existence of the person concerned".
St. Paul also defined apostles as "servants of God, Whose grace acts in them", said the Pope. "A typical element of the true apostle ... is a form of identification between the Gospel and the evangeliser, both share the same destiny. Indeed no-one so much as Paul highlighted how announcing the cross of Christ is a 'stumbling block and foolishness' to which many react with misunderstanding and refusal. That happened then and it should be no surprise that the same thing happens today".
"With the stoical philosophy of his time, Paul shared the idea of tenacious perseverance in all the difficulties he had to face; but he went beyond the merely human perspective by recalling ... God's love and Christ's. ... This is the certainty, the profound joy that guided the Apostle though all those events: nothing can separate us from the love of God, and this love is the real treasure of human life".
"As we may see, St. Paul gave himself to the Gospel with all his life", said the Holy Father in conclusion. "He undertook his ministry with faithfulness and joy that he 'might by all means save some'. And though aware of his own relationship of paternity - even, indeed, of maternity - towards the Churches, his attitude to them was one of complete service, declaring: "I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy'. This remains the mission of all the apostles of Christ in all times: to be collaborators of true joy".
JOHN PAUL I ANGELUS Sunday, 10 September 1978
At Camp David, in America, Presidents Carter and Sadat and Prime Minister Begin are working for peace in the Middle East. All men are hungry and thirsty for peace, especially the poor, who pay more and suffer more in troubled times and in wars; for this reason they look to the Camp David meeting with interest and great hope. The Pope, too, has prayed, had prayers said, and is praying the Lord may deign to help the efforts of these politicians.
I was very favourably impressed by the fact that the three Presidents wished to express their hope in the Lord publicly in prayer. President Sadat's brothers in religion are accustomed to say as follows:
"there is pitch darkness, a black stone and on the stone a little ant; but God sees it, and does not forget it".
President Carter, who is a fervent Christian, reads in the Gospel;
"Knock, and it will be opened to you; ask, and it will be given you. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered."
And Premier Begin recalls that the Jewish people once passed difficult moments and addressed the Lord complaining and saying:
"You have forsaken us, you have forgotten us!" "No!"—He replied through Isaiah the Prophet—"can a mother forget her own child? But even if it should happen, God will never forget his people".
Also we who are here have the same sentiments; we are the objects of undying love on the part of God. We know: he has always his eyes open on us, even when it seems to be dark. He is our father; even more he is our mother. He does not want to hurt us, He wants only to do good to us, to all of us. If children are ill, they have additional claim to be loved by their mother. And we too, if by chance we are sick with badness, on the wrong track, have yet another claim to be loved by the Lord.
With these sentiments I invite you to pray together with the Pope for each of us, for the Middle East, for Iran, and for the whole world. © Copyright 1978 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


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It's a deadly game of hide and seek. Liam Scott has joined Recce Platoon, and it looks like he will be heading for Somalia. His mission is to gather intelligence from behind enemy lines, carrying out top-secret surveillance and dead-letter drops. But he's new to the game and there's a lot to learn. Soon Liam is monitoring a den of Al Shabaab militants and hunting a key terrorist target. Can Recce Platoon find their man and get out undiscovered? If the militants find them first, it's game over...
©2014 Andy McNab (P)2015 Random House Audiobooks
"good series"
theres three books in this series there well wrote intresting of course good storyline some bits make you smile
"Another good book"
I love Andy McNab books and this one does not disappoint. Realistic and well worth a listen.
"Short but bloody good ,"
Another great listen , I want more ,
Great pace really getting into this but it's the last one , as yet available , I'll be looking out for the more ,
"McNab does it again"
Liam Scott great new character book 3 done looking forward to 4 keep em coming Mr McNab. S&B
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subset: commoncrawl


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Arturo is head of our service department. He is always there to help a customer out in need with repairs on their vehicle. He will always accommodate you into his schedule. Great individual!
I hereby consent to receive text messages from or on behalf of dealer at the mobile phone number I provided above. I understand that I am opting in to receive text messages from dealer or their employees. I include consent to receive phone calls at the mobile phone number I provided. I understand that message and data rates may apply.


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Hotel Paradise & Resorts
Call us 1800-300-2400-1 (Toll Free) and Get additional Discount upto 50% for this Hotel.
You are getting lowest possible rate for this hotel
- About Hotel
- Reviews
About Hotel Paradise & Resorts
Hotel Paradise Resorts, near the Manali Bus Depot (2 km), offers free Wi-Fi Internet and breakfast. This Manali hotel is at 3 km from the Hidimba Devi Temple (3 km). This 3-floor hotel accommodates 28 rooms. During winters, a room heater is provided in all the rooms. Each room is equipped with an LED TV and attached bathroom with hot and cold running water. This hotel in Manali features a multi-cuisine restaurant and operates a 24-hour front desk. It provides laundry dry cleaning, power backup, car rental, and room services. It provides pickup and drop services to-and-from the Kullu Manali Airport (53 km). It is at 146 km from the Joginder Nagar Railway Station (146 km). The guests can visit the Club House (1km), Tibetan Monastery (2 km), and Hidimba Devi Temple (3 km).
No of floors: 3 | No of rooms: 28
Checkin Time: 1200 pm
Checkout Time: 1200 pm
Hotel Amenities
- Check-Out Time Is 12 Noon
- Medical Services
- Travel Counter
- Parking
- Room Service
- Laundry Facilities
- Front Desk
- Currency Exchange
- Direct-dial Phone
- Toothbrush/Razor On Request
- Television-Room
- Attached Bathroom


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From finishes that are guaranteed to last a lifetime, to faucets that perfectly balance your water pressure, MOEN sets the standard for exceptional beauty and reliable, innovative design. This chrome extension kit was built to last by MOEN. Designed for use in your bath.
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Small/medium project Change Request Tracker.
Thank you for downloading Change Request Tracker from our download portal.
Current files are located on the following IPs: 18.104.22.168
Outer mirror site one (www.retisoft.com)
Note: We prefer to use WinZip, WinRar, WinAce, 7zip to extract zip, rar, 7z, ace files. For data iso files we recommend you use freeware Daemon Toos lite.
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Copies of this program may be freely distributed only in its complete, original installation package and with this notice preserved.
This product may not be directly sold by any distributor, either from a CD-ROM, web site download, or any other means. Only retiSoft, inc. is authorized to collect the registration fee for post-evaluation use of this product.
This product must be clearly identified as shareware and that its continued use is not free.


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LOCATION: Yeppoon, Central Queensland
This private village-style complex is set in lovely quiet surroundings of Pandanus Park and conveniently within walking distance to the shopping centre, school, shops and the Beach with the Yeppoon CBD and hospital just a short 5 minutes drive. These free-standing villas within each have generous lock-up storage for each resident.
The Managers Residence is a spacious 3 bedroom free standing villa with an office on title. With some of the most temperate weather on the Capricorn Coast, the large fenced yard and outdoor covered pat...


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Hong Kong to reap benefit from growth of neighbours
Hong Kong would benefit from and not be threatened by neighbouring economies' rising importance as destinations for foreign direct investment, InvestHK said.
Simon Galpin, the director-general of the public institute, which helps foreign companies set up offices in the city, said Hong Kong had ample room for growth as Chinese and global enterprises continued to use the city as a two-way conduit for investments into and out of the mainland.
"It's a good thing for Hong Kong [that mainland China increased its investments in Southeast Asia] because most mainland companies tend to channel their investments through Hong Kong," he said.
As major regions including North America, Europe and Asia all reported a fall in their FDI inflows last year, Southeast Asia saw a 2 per cent increase to US$111 billion, thanks to rising investments in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam also gained momentum as manufacturers targeted these low-income nations as alternatives to the traditional hub of China in light of rising costs and wages.
While China retained an investor's role, it is quickly narrowing the gap with the United States in terms of inflows, and Galpin said it could become the world's largest FDI recipient in time.
Although Hong Kong moved up one notch to rank as the world's third-largest FDI recipient last year, the amount actually fell 22 per cent to US$75 billion in dollar terms - a sharper fall than the global decline rate of 18 per cent.
According to an UNCTAD report released yesterday, a significant drop in both greenfield and merger and acquisition projects, coupled with divestments from major banks and firms in developed economies, contributed to the decline in FDI in Hong Kong last year, although there was a strong recovery in inflows by the end of the year.
But Wong Tak-jun, the dean of the faculty of business administration at the Chinese University, said he expected Hong Kong to see slow FDI growth this year as a real recovery would not come until 2014.
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The Guardians of the Galaxy return to theaters and to Kotobukiya's ARTFX Statue line.
- Now available for pre-order -
Release: August 2017
・Star Lord looks great in this highly detailed 1/6 scale sculpt
・Use alternate parts to display with or without Star Lord's helmet and headphones.
・Place baby Groot on Star Lords shoulder or have him stand on his own on the base.


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Definition Edit
A first-person shooter (FPS) is a videogame genre which centers the gameplay around gun- or projectile weapon-based combat through the first person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist.
Overview Edit
Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other shooter games, which in turn fall under the heading "action game." From the genre's inception, advanced 3D or pseudo-3D graphics elements have challenged hardware development, and multiplayer gaming has been integral.
See also Edit
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


text:
- Description
Astro Haven Base Hold Down Plates allow distribution of the dome load over fewer bolts when you are attaching it to your foundation. This option is only required if you are not able to bolt the dome at 24 inch intervals, which is almost never the case. If you are not sure, discuss these details with an observatory expert at OPT.
- Additional Information
Additional Information
SKU AHV-AA00068-002 Manufacturer Astro Haven Warranty Limited Warranty Known to FIt: Astro Haven 12' Dome, Astro Haven 16' Dome, Astro Haven 18" Dome, Astro Haven 20' Dome, Astro Haven 7' Dome
- Reviews
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Product QuestionsNo questions yet. Be the first to ask the question!
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Adapted from http://news.yahoo.com
Being the United States' top diplomat is an incredibly difficult job that requires one to be smooth, tough and cool in knowing that you're always one misstep away from starting an international incident.
But on the plus side, you sometimes get to give potatoes as gifts.
Secretary of State John Kerry, meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Paris, presented his Russian counterpart with two extremely large Idaho potatoes. Not exactly a PlayStation 4, but there was a good reason for the gift.
NBC News reports that Kerry said that Lavrov had mentioned Idaho potatoes during a previous meeting.
Via NBC News:
Russia's foreign minister seemed to appreciate the gesture, smiling and remarking that the gifts were "impressive."
The Russians, not the type to receive a gift without having one to give, presented State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki with a pink ushanka hat, for keeping warm during the Sochi Olympics.
In 2009, then- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented Lavrov with a red "reset button" intended to symbolize a desire to restart the two nations' relationship on a positive track after a split over Russia's invasion of Georgia.
Often, the United States is on the receiving end of unusual gifts. For example, in 2012, President Barack Obama received a saber with a 34-inch blade from Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj.
For a full list of gifts received from foreign sources by employees of the executive branch of the U.S. government, check out this long — but fascinating -list. A nice perk, but keep in mind that just because you get a gift doesn't always mean it's yours to keep.
Via State.gov:
Gifts received by the President, Vice President and the Secretary of State and spouses from foreign governments, are turned in to the Gift Unit in the Office of Protocol.


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I recently renewed my subscription for 6 months with a premium package. However, when I try to download new lessons, I am told that I need to subscribe to chinesepod.
The payments section of my profile has a clearly shows that I had recently renewed my subscription.
Who do I contact to handle this problem?
Not sure if your comment is appropriate? Check our Commenting Policy first.
New lesson idea? Please contact us.


text: Is it a shirt? Is it a jacket? Neither, good sir, it's a shacket — the superhero of sartorial springtime wins. Perfect for those in-between days when the tee is too little and a jacket too much, the shacket is a big earner. Wear it with a plain T-shirt and jeans for a simple but stylish everyday look, or dressed up with a pair of boss boots and trousers for some serious smart/casual vibes. We give you our top 10.


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This is just a reminder for anyone interested in attending Clinton CERT events to register now. You are being given the opportunity to register before the events are published state-wide online. All events are free to attend.
These events will be posted on the Maryland Emergency Management Agency website and on Eventbrite.
Registration links are below:
Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings – four hour class
December 17, 2016
8am – 1230pm
Clinton. MD
CERTEX 2016 Fall SAR Drill
November 19, 2016
8am – 12noon
Clinton. MD
The CERT Team of Clinton, in Southern Maryland, is looking for volunteer participants for a mock disaster search and rescue drill. This volunteer opportunity will be the second in the series of follow-up exercises from CERTEX PGC 2016 Function Exercise held in June.
CERT-trained responders and volunteer victims needed. Victim participants will be creatively disguised by our talented makeup artists with disaster makeup to simulate real-life injuries after a disaster. Volunteers posing as victims should wear old clothes they do not mind getting dirty or torn.
Following is the Eventbrite registration link for the CERTEX PGC 2016 Fall Drill. The location will be determined later in September.
Come join us and help us improve our response capabilities in wide area search for a mass casualty incident.
Feel free to share this information with your family, friends and coworkers.
Technician Ham Radio HamCram Class
October 8 & 9, 2016
9am – 4pm, both days
Clinton, MD
Are You Ready? Presentation
October 29th, 2016
9:00am – 12 noon
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Let's take these opportunities to meet some new people, make some new friends, renew acquaintances and learn something new ~~~ while having great fun. Teen CERTs are welcome to all events listed.
Any questions, please email Ms. Paula Hughes, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Toyota of Puyallup
Review for Toyota of Puyallup
David G. on 02/02/2016
"new customer"
did a very job changing and commended how good of shape the car was in
Vehicle: TOYOTA CAMRY
Category: Service
Service Date: 01/25/2016
Review Created: 02/02/2016 03:57 PM
Kerry S., President & General Manager at Toyota of Puyallup responded on 02/02/2016
Thank you for the 5 star rating, David. We're glad to hear your first appointment went well. We hope to see you again!
President & General Manager
Toyota of Puyallup


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Status: Open
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The quality of the wash is average. The reason I will never go back to this car wash is because it's not worth getting my car in an accident. Two of the past two times the customers were too...
I think it's funny that I'm writing a review of a car wash but this place really is the best for the money around the RO area. I usually hand-wash my car because I'm pretty particular about it but the…
Super Car Wash Systems is located at 31295 Woodward Ave, Royal Oak, MI. This business specializes in Car Accessories and Car Washes.
Super Car Wash provides quick and easy service, offering a variety of self-service products to assist customers. Post-wash towel-drying service is provided at a very competitive price, and outdoor vacuums remain accessible after business hours. In a very accessible location off Woodward, Super Car Wash provides your car-washing and -detailing needs.
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Avison Young's Data Centre Advisory Practice assists CIOs and CFOs with their data centre and IT strategy. The demands on IT are increasing, forcing organizations to rethink their data centre strategy. In addition, the continuously accelerating pace of business change is driving extreme demand for IT infrastructure agility, and most companies simply cannot keep pace. Making the right data centre decisions is crucial to your company's bottom line, and will impact how you strategically conduct business in the 21st century.
The members of Avison Young Data Centre Advisory Practice have true technology backgrounds, having run and managed data centres for leading data centre and telecommunications providers. Our pedigree, combined with a true data center consulting approach, allows us to provide our clients with extensive solution options that extend far beyond simple real estate transactions, including market assessments, data centre deployment strategies and financial analysis. Our knowledge of how occupancy costs, site location, fiber optics and technology trends impact individual businesses -- along with our understanding of provider offerings in the market -- allows us to provide a unique service approach.
The Avison Young team is able to handle requirements ranging from large free-standing data centres to "non-real estate" solutions such as managed hosting, cloud services, interconnect arrangements and simple rack deployments. We also are involved in emerging technology solutions such as containerized and modular data centres.
Our unique backgrounds and experience allow us to bridge the gap between "traditional" real estate decision making and the highly evolved complexities of IT real estate. We align data centre strategies with each client's goals and objectives.
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