January 20, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
From left: Paintings by Mantegna, Bellini, El Greco; a statue in St. Peter's colonnade; altarpiece, Chapel of St. Sebastian (where John Paul II's tomb is) in St. Peter's Basilica, mosaic executed by Pierpaolo Cristofani in 1736 after a famous painting of St. Sebastian by Domenichino (1631); detail of altarpiece.
ST. SEBASTIAN (Italy, ?257-288), Martyr
Nothing is historically certain about St. Sebastian except that he was a Roman martyr who was venerated in Milan even in the time of St. Ambrose, and was buried on the Appian Way, near the Catacombs that bear his name. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned in martyrologies as early as 350 AD. The legend of St. Sebastian became a popular subject in art. The familiar image of the saint pierced by arrows comes from the story that under Diocletian, he was exposed as an impostor in the Roman army and sentenced to be shot to death by archers. He survived to continue denouncing persecution of Christians to the emperor himself. He was clubbed to death.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012013.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
Sunday Angelus -Reflecting on today's Gospel reading about the wedding in Cana, where Jesus
performed his first miracle in public, the Holy Father said it completed the trio of events
manifesting Jesus's epiphany to the world, following the celebration of his birth - namely, the visit
of the Magi, his baptism on the Jordan, and the first miracle in Cana. He also spoke of the current
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, saying the continuing division among Christians remains one of
the worst circumstances defacing the image of the Church. He asked the faithful to continue praying
for Christian unity as well as for peace in our day, that dialog and negotiations may take the place
of armed conflict.
@Pontifex 1/20/13
With the first tweet in Latin (same message in all languages). The Latin seems to be a more specific message than the 'original' English, if only because of a mire elegant way of saying "What does the Lord want of us as we work for Christian unity?", and the striking verbs used in the second sentence. I will wait until a Latinist translates it professionally...
- The full text of the letter of Mons. Di Noia to the FSSPX Superior-General has been posted online by the French Catholic portal,
which says the copy was furnished by Le Figaro's Jean Guenois who managed to get it somehow...It's lengthy but it deserves to be translated.
I just don't know how soon I will get around to it.
P.S. The supposedly original English text of the letter has been published in an Italian blog and has now been posted on Rorate caeli
rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/01/di-noias-letter-full-text-in-fre...
(Ignore the tag - the full English text is posted on that site)...
I will post it on this thread, anyway, for the record.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/01/2013 16:45]