Tuesday, February 12, Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Mardi Gras (Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)
ST. APOLLONIA (Egypt, d Alexandria 249), MARTYR
One of the early martyrs of the Church, she is thought to have been a deaconess quite advanced
in age at the time of her death. In the first wave of persecutions against Christians under
Emperor Philip, Christians fled Alexandria after some of them were stoned to death. Apollonia
was captured by a mob who beat her and knocked out all her teeth. They then built a fire and
threatened to burn her unless she denounced her God. Legend has it she asked them to give her
a minute to think about it, then jumped into the fire herself. She is considered the patron of
dentists, and her images generally show her with pincers holding teeth. In the Middle Ages, she
was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers who were saints invoked for help in specific diseases.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021213.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
No events announced for the Holy Father.
But a major change was announced for the Ash Wednesday rites:
Instead of going to the Aventine Hill for the traditional procession from the Church of Sant'Anselmo to the Basilica
of Santa Sabina, the first of Rome's 40 churches visited by pilgrims at Lent, Benedict XVI will celebrate the Mass of
Ash Wednesday and the imposition of ashes at St. Peter's Basilica. It will be his last liturgical celebration as Pope.
The Mass will begin at 5 pm. The Pope will hold his regular Wednesday audience tomorrow morning.
The Vatican has confirmed the remaining events on the Pope's schedule until he steps down on February 28:
Thursday, Feb. 14 - Annual Q&A with the Roman clergy
Friday, Feb. 15 - Audience with the President of Romania, Traian Basescu
Saturday, Feb. 16-Saturday, Feb. 23 - Lenten spiritual exercises with the Roman Curia
Sunday, Feb 24 - Angelus
Wednesday, Feb 27 - General
I did not factor in the weeklong Lenten retreat yesterday, so we really have only one more Angelus and 2 GAs left. But no definite word yet about the faith encyclical.
P.S. Apparently, there is also a scheduled meeting with the President of Guatemala and one more group of Italian bishops on ad-limina visit. (The rest will be making their ad-limina visits, scheduled over the rest of the year, to the new Pope.)
- Those of you who follow Vatican Insider have probably noticed that there are two stories about reactions in Germany to Benedict XVI's resignation - one completely negative, quoting most of the major German media; the other one, putting a positive gloss without even referring to the negatives.
- There is an interview with Peter Seewald in today's Corriere della Sera which I must translate. Sample question: "Whom did the Pope consult in making this decision?" Answer: "Jesus Christ"
- Paul Badde has a lengthy article in German with analysis and commentary - that will take longer to translate.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/02/2013 15:32]