I am posting the 'almanac' entries for April 25 and April 26 together:
Wednesday, April 25, Third Week of Easter
Third from left, a depiction of Mark's martyrdom; the statue is by Donatello.
ST. MARK, EVANGELIST & MARTYR
Little is known of Mark's early life, except that he was born in Judea. The Acts and Paul's letters tell us he was a friend of both Peter and Paul. Peter called him 'my son', and
Mark's house in Jerusalem appeared to have been a gathering place for the early Christians. He travelled with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey, but Paul did
Not want him along on the second one, though apparently they made up later as Paul asked him to visit him in prison. His Gospel is the oldest and shortest of the four Gospels,
and Eusebius says it is his account of what Peter preached. Ten to 20 years after Christ's Ascension, Mark came to Alexandria, in Egypt, where the Church he founded is now
the Coptic Orthodox Church. He is considered the first bishop of Alexandria and the founder of Christianity in Africa. He died a martyr under Nero's rule, when anti-Christian
feeling led the people of the city to drag him through the streets with a rope around his neck until he died. He is the patron saint of Venice, where in 825, two Venetian
merchants brought his relics from Alexandria. The Copts venerate his head at the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. [NB: In what seems like a strange oversight,
the Holy Father has not given a catechesis on St. Mark or St. Luke. Since neither of them was an Apostle, one might have expected their stories to follow the first catecheses
on St. Paul in the Apostles series, before the cycle on the early Christians which began with Timothy and Titus.!]
Readings for the day's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042512.cfm
4/25/12 AT THE VATICAN
General Audience - The Holy Father continued his catecheses on Christian prayer, focused lately on
the prayer activity of the Apostles and the first Christian community. Today, he pointed how the Apostles
acknowledged the importance of both prayer and works of charity, yet clearly gave priority to prayer and
the proclamation of the Gospel.
The Vatican released the program for the Holy Father's pastoral visit on May 11 to Arezzo in Tuscany and
the diocese's shrines in La Verna and Sansepolcro.
And the Secretariat of State released the following note:
Cardinals to investigate Vatileaks
April 25, 2012
In the wake of recent leaks of reserved and confidential documents on television, in newspapers and in other communications media, the Holy Father has ordered the creation of a Commission of Cardinals to undertake an authoritative investigation and throw light on these episodes.
His Holiness has determined that the said Commission of Cardinals, which will act at all levels on the strength of its pontifical mandate, shall be presided by Cardinal Julián Herranz, and shall have as its members Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi.
The Commission of Cardinals celebrated its first sitting on 24 April to establish the method and timetable for its activities.
Considering that the leaks occurred at the end of January and beginning of February. What does it say of the Secretariat of State that three months later, the Pope has to step in and name a commission of cardinals to investigate it? What does it say of the culture in SecState that they can't even seem to unravel an apparently simple case of rogue employees leaking out selected confidential files? What does it say of the Vatican police seeming not to have made any headway in what most of us in the general public would consider not a case that requires Sherlock Holmes or Fr. Brown?
Thursday, April 26, Third Week of Easter
Extreme right, John Paul II at San Pedro's Canonization Mass.
ST. PEDRO DE SAN JOSE BETANCUR (b Canary Islands 1626, d Guatemala 1667)
Lay Franciscan, founder of the Bethlehemite Fathers and Sisters
He is both the first saint from the Canary Islands (Spain) and of Guatemala. Hermano Pedro (Brother Pedro), as he is
familiarly called, lived as a poor shepherd on Tenerife, the main Canary island, until he was 27, when he left to join
a relative in Guatemala. He first landed in Cuba where he worked until he could earn enough to go on to Guatemala. He
enrolled in a Jesuit school but could not keep up academically. He joined the secular Franciscan order at age 29, and
managed somehow to open a hospital for the convalescent poor, a shelter for the homeless, and a school for poor children,
not hesitant to knock at the door of rich Guatemalans for their aid. It led him to set up the Order of the Bethlehemite
Fathers, whose rule was approved after his early death (he was only 41), along with an Order of Bethlehemite Sisters.
He is credited with originating the tradition of the Christmas Eve 'posadas' procession now observed in many Latin
American countries, during which the faithful commemorate Mary and Joseph's efforts to find lodgings in Bethlehem.
Hermano Pedro was beatified in 1980, and John Paul II canonized him during his visit to Guatemala in 2002.
Readings for the day's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042612.cfm
4/26/12 AT THE VATICAN
The Holy Father met with
- Mons. Salvatore Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promiting New Evangelization
- Mons. François Bacqué, Apostolic Nuncio (assignment not given)
- Six bishops from the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana, on ad limina visit.
The Vatican released a communique from the Papal Commission that Pope Benedict XVI formed to keep track
of the situation of the Catholic Church in China whic held its fifth annual plenary meeting this year
from April 23-25.
This time last year...
Preparations for the May 1 beatification of John Paul II made up the bulk of news from Rome and the Vatican.
Pope Benedict was in Castel Gandolfo for his traditional rest days after Holy Week and the Easter observances
and would return to the Vatican for the weekend celebrations devoted to his predecessor.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/04/2012 15:03]