Thursday, Sept. 9, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
ST. PEDRO CLAVER (b Spain 1581, d Colombia 1654), Jesuit, Missionary, 'Apostle to the Slaves'
Born to prosperous and pious parents in a village near Barcelona, Pedro studied at the University of Barcelona and at the Jesuit College in Palma de Mallorca, where he volunteered after 2 years to be a missionary in South America. He was 19 when he left for the New World in 1610, landing in Cartagena, Colombia, a rich port city that was a center of the slave trade that had been flourishing between the Americas and Africa for nearly 100 years. Claver, who was ordained a Jesuit in 1615, took on the mission of his predecessor, Fr. Alfonso de Sandoval, who had devoted himself to serving the sales for 40 years. Pedro assumed care for the slaves as soon as a new slave ship came in, ministering to the sick and exhausted passengers with basic necessities as well as their first instructions in the faith, During the 40 years of his ministry, it is estimated that he instructed and baptized at least 300,000 slaves. At the same time, he became a moral force in the city, preaching in the city square and spreading the Word in the countryside, where he stayed in slave quarters rather than take the hospitality of their masters. Illness kept him inactive in the last four years of his life, but when he died, the city officials ordered a big funeral for him at public expense. He was canonized in 1888, and Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among slaves.
Readings for today's Mass;
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/090910.shtml
OR today.
The OR provides no information on the horse picture!
At the General Audience dedicated to Hildegarde of Bingen,
a message to the people the Pope will be visiting next week:
In the United Kingdom to trace the footsteps of Cardinal Newman
Besides the Pope's message to the UK and his concluding catechesis on Hildegarde von Bingen, other papal stories in this issue are his address to officials of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; his meeting with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde; and his remarks after the performance of the Mozart Requiem in his honor Tuesday evening in Castel Gandolfo. Other page 1 stories: The statement of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialog on the Koran-burning proposed by a tiny fringe Christian group in Florida; a look at the current summit of European finance ministers who are deciding the economic future of Europe; and UN concerns over new instability in global food and agricultural prices.
THE POPE'S DAY
The Holy Father met today with
-Bishops of Brazil (Northeast Sector III, Group 3) on ad-limina visit.
PERSONAL GREETING FROM THE POPE
FOR THE JEWISH HIGH HOLIDAYS
Translated from
Sept. 9, 2010
The Vatican today released the text of Benedict XVI's telegram to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, expressing his best wishes for the Jewish high holidays which began at sundown yesterday with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
MOST DISTINGUISHED DOTT. RICCARDO DI SEGNI
CHIEF RABBI OF ROME
JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ROME
GREAT TEMPLE
LUNGOTEVERE CENCI, 00186 ROME
ON THE OCCASION OF ROSH HA-SHANAH 5771, YOM KIPPUR AND SUKKOT, I EXTEND MY MOST HEARTFELT AND SINCERE WISHES TO YOU AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ROME, ALONG WITH THE HOPE THAT THESE HOLIDAYS MAY BRING ABUNDANT BLESSINGS FROM THE ETERNAL AND BE A SOURCE OF INTIMATE JOY.
MAY THE WILL TO PROMOTE JUSTICE AND PEACE, SO NEEDED IN TODAY'S WORLD, CONTINUE TO GROW IN ALL OF US.
WITH GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION, I REMEMBER MY VISIT TO THE GREAT TEMPLE [last January]. MAY GOD IN HIS GOODNESS PROTECT THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AND GRANT THAT TOGETHER, IN ROME AND IN THE WORLD, WE MAY GROW IN RECIPROCAL FRIENDSHIP.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
Rosh Hashanah is the first of ten days of atonement culminating with the most important Jwish holiday, Yom Kippur, the feast of Atonement, starting sundown of Sept. 17. A third great feast, Sukkot, or the feast of tabernacles, which commemorates the dwellings used by the Israelites in the desert during the Exodus, begins on sundown of Sept. 22.
Sorry for another very late start today.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/09/2010 19:47]