Sunday, December 20
IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT
ST. DOMINGO DE SILOS (Dominic of Silos) (Spain, 1000-1073),Benedictine abbot
Son of a peasant, he became a Benedictine monk, and soon prior of a monastery in Navarre,
northeast Spain, but he left the kingdom for neighboring Castile when the King of Navarre
seized church property. He and his monks were given a rundown monastery in Silos which they
built up into one of the great monasteries of the day - a center of monastic reform, liturgy
(Mozarabic rite) and learning, which was also reputed for many miracles. Legend has it that
almost a century later, he appeared in a vision to Blessed Juana of Aza and told her she would
bear a son - whom she named after the saint of Silos and the boy, Domingo de Guzman, grew up
to found the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The monastery at Silos gained worldwide fame in
the 1980s through the recordings of its monks singing medieval chants, the first in a succession
of worldwide best-selling musical monks. Silos is now part of the great Benedictine abbey in
Solesmes, France.
OR today.
This issue has coverage of the Pope's audience yesterday with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with a beautiful address on sainthood, which is the subject of a Page 1 editorial; and his traditional pre-Christmas audience for the children's arm of Italian Catholic Action. Also on Page 1 is yet another editorial commentary contrasting the Pope's message on the environment with the sense of the just-ended Copenhagen conference on climate change. The main international news story is about the increasing flight of Somalis and Ethiopians towards Yemen - the UN refugee commission says some 75,000 made the boat trip this year, up from 50,000 the year before.
THE POPE'S DAY
Sunday Angelus - On the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Holy Father's mini-homily was drawn from the reading
from Micah with his prophecy about the special destiny of Bethlehem; but his English message drew from
the Gospel about Mary's visit to Elizabeth.