Wednesday, Nov. 18
DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL IN ROME
The Church of Rome celebrates the dedication of its four papal basilicas -
Santa Maria Maggiore on August 5, San Giovanni in Laterano on Nov. 9,
and San Pietro and San Paolo fuori le Mura jointly on Nov, 19.
The basilicas dedicated to the Apostles of Rome were each built over
the sites where they were martyred and buried. The original Basilicas
on the sites were built by the Emperor Constantine.
St John Chrysostom's words on the Apostles' tombs:
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"The sepulchres of those who have served Christ crucified surpass the palaces of kings;
not so much in the greatness and beauty of the buildings (though in this also they go
beyond them) as in other things of more importance, such as the multitude of those who go
with devotion and joy repair to them. For the emperor himself, clothed in purple, goes
to the tombs of the saints and kisses them; humbly prostrate on the ground he beseeches
the same saints to pray to God for him ; and he who wears a royal crown looks on it as
a great privilege from God that a tentmaker and a fisherman, and these dead, should be
his protectors and defenders, and for this he begs with great earnestness."
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OR today.
No papal stories in this issue. A front-page editorial criticizes failure of FAO
summit leaders to set fixed commitments in the war against hunger; a story
on the joint news conference by President Obama and China's Hu Jintao, at
which the media were not allowed to ask any questions [the OR story, relying
on the news agencies, chooses to report only what Obama said]; the IAEA
wants to know if Iran has any more secret nuclear sites; and a teaser on four
articles inside to mark the 50th anniversary of William Wyler's film
'Ben Hur'.
THE POPE'S DAY
General Audience at the Aula Paolo VI - The Holy Father spoke about
Romanesque and Gothic art in the Middle Ages.
After the audience, he met with
- H.E. Madame Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and her delegation
- Bishops of Brazil (South Sector-1, Group 5) on ad-limina visit
In the afternoon, he met with
- H.E. Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/11/2009 01:06]