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Each country has its patron saint: in this article, you will discover all the patron saints of Europe! Each unto its own, even for saints and countries. Knowing the history of Europe and the countries that make it up, one realises that many of the…
Contents1 The History of the Saint2 Patron Saint of Students3 Other young saints Saint Louis Gonzaga is one of those young people who, in the history of the Church, have dedicated their short lives to cultivating the virtues and caring for others. Young saints who…
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The month of May is one of the months dedicated to Our Lady. It is also the month of roses, which in this period witness their most luxuriant flowering, and the association is certainly not accidental. Once there was the tradition of adorning the statues of the Virgin with garlands of flowers, especially roses, and this is where the devotional form that we all know: the Rosary comes from. Always from the close bond between Mary and the rose, and flowers in general, the practice of Fioretti is born.
But there are other flowers that for different reasons have been associated over time with Our Lady and the saints. For this reason, it does not seem improper to talk about the perfume of the saints, on the contrary, we want to analyse in this article which flowers are associated with the different saints because very often we see statues of saints adorned with specific flowers.
The Madonna del Roseto represented by various artists
Here are the most famous works depicting the Madonna del Roseto and the meaning….
May is therefore the month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. The tradition that associates Our Lady with May has no basis in the Holy Scriptures. It has taken hold and developed over the centuries. Throughout the month some special prayers and devotions can be addressed to her every day, to obtain grace or just to embark on a path of personal spiritual growth. The reasons that make May the Marian month par excellence is rooted in pre-Christian traditions, in ancient pagan cults dedicated to gods linked to fertility, fertility and the return to life. In fact, since ancient times it was at this time of the year that the rebirth of nature was celebrated after the long winter.
The association of Mary with roses comes from the Middle Ages when Mary began to be celebrated as: “Rose of roses, flower of flowers, woman among women, only lady, the light of the saints and the heavens away.”Also in the Middle Ages, the tradition of the Rosary was born, as a devotional object par excellence dedicated to Mary. The origin of the Rosary is to be found in the custom of adorning the statues of Our Lady with garlands of flowers, especially roses, in May. As for the Fioretti, instead, we have to wait for the sixteenth century, when St. Philip Neri invited the children placed in his custody to decorate with flowers the image of Mary and sing his praises, and later to Don Bosco, who asked his boys to replace the flowers for Our Lady with good deeds, small sacrifices, commitments also linked to daily life. The Fioretto alla Madonna as a flower to offer.
The Madonna is also considered the mystical rose, the most beautiful flower, which symbolises the grace of God, the queen of all flowers and yet “mystical”, hidden, as hidden for us is his body, ascended to Heaven at his death.
Another flower often associated with the Madonna is the white lily, a symbol of purity.
In the traditional iconography of Saint Catherine of Siena, Patroness of Italy and Patroness of Europe, a book, a symbol of the doctrine, the ring, which symbolises the mystical wedding between her and Jesus, and a lily, a symbol of purity, are represented. In other representations, white flowers gush from his stigmata, while on his head is placed a crown of thorns.
We have already explored in a previous article the reasons why the spikenard flower is associated with St. Joseph, the putative father of Jesus. It also appears in the coat of arms of Pope Francis. The association of Saint Joseph with the spikenard is typical of Hispanic San Giuseppe countries, where the saint is often depicted with a twig of spikenard in hand. A fragrant oil considered of great value since ancient times is obtained from the spikenard used as incense: spikenard oil. St. Joseph is also often depicted with a stick from which lilies bloom, a symbol of the Virgin’s purity.
Saint Anthony of Padua is also often depicted with white lilies, which, according to his Sermones, represented penitents: “Consider that in the lily there are three properties: medicine, whiteness and perfume. The drug is found in its root, the whiteness and scent of the flower. And these three properties represent the penitents, poor in spirit, who crucify the members with their vices and their lusts, who guard humility in the heart to suffocate the impudence of pride, the candour of chastity in the body and the perfume of good fame.” (Sermons, Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 12)
Hypericum, or St. John‘s wort, is a herbaceous plant widespread throughout Italy. Since it blooms mainly between June and August it has been associated with the feast dedicated to St. John, which falls on 24 June. If the yellow flowers of the Hypericum are harvested tonight, they will have miraculous power both to fight disease and to drive away evil spirits. Today, hypericum is used in herbal medicine to treat depression, anxiety and fatigue.
Sieboldii Sedum is known as St. Teresa’s Grass or “Teresina”. It blooms in October, the month dedicated to Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus (Teresa of Lisieux) and Saint Teresa of Avila. Native to Japan, it is a fatty plant that does not require great care.
But Saint Teresa of Lisieux is also associated with roses and pratinas. Particularly in these last, humble and delicate flowers, she recognized herself very much, as we read in her memoirs: “As the sun illuminates at the same time the cedars and every flower as if this were only on earth, so Our Lord cares individually for each soul… so that the humblest pratine blossoms in the established time” (History of a Soul).
On the point of death, St. Teresa announced: “You will see at the moment of my death that cascade of roses I will rain on the earth.” For this reason, in iconography the Saint is often represented with hands full of roses, which symbolise the graces she dispensed during her life and even after her death. From this story also comes the novena of roses inspired by her. A Jesuit named Father Putigan began to recite a novena to invoke an important grace and asked God as a sign of benevolence and guarantee, a rose. For every day and every grace he kept asking for roses and got them.
Saint Rita of Cascia is also known as the Saint of the “Rose”. Like St. Catherine, she is often depicted with a ring and a rose. The rose in particular is one of its symbols par excellence. Now on the verge of death and bedridden, the Saint asked that two figs and a rose be brought to her from the garden of the house where she had grown up, although it was late winter. The cousin who also tried to support her went to the garden and in the middle of the snow, she found a rose and two figs. The rose also symbolises the life of Saint Rita, who grew up among the thorns without losing her perfume, her good heart and her faith.
Santa Rosalia, patron saint of Palermo, is often depicted adorned with crowns of lilies and roses, flowers that represent respectively virginity and union with God. Sometimes it is the Child Jesus who places the wreath of flowers on the head of the Holy Virgin, in a sort of mystical marriage. Its name includes the name of both flowers. Legend has it that before her birth, a mysterious figure appeared to her parents who told them that the child she would be born with would be “a rose without thorns.” Hence the name was chosen for her, Rosalia, which combines the Latin terms rosa and Lilium, “pink” and “lily”.
Saint Joseph, symbol of all the fathers. Pope Francis dedicated 2021 to him. But today we talk about an unusual aspect that concerns him: the flower of Saint Joseph Many words have been spent in order to express the importance of Saint Joseph, the putative…
Here are some gift ideas for Father’s Day. Special thoughts for those who have a very difficult ‘job’… “Dear dads, best wishes on your day! Be for your children like Saint Joseph: guardians of their growth in age, wisdom and grace.” This message was tweeted…
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This year, Pentecost falls on 31 May. It is a movable feast, the date of which depends on when Easter was celebrated. Tradition has it that Pentecost falls exactly fifty days after Easter.
Pentecost is one of the most important celebrations for the Catholic Church. It derives from an ancient Jewish holiday, the Shavuot, which was celebrated seven weeks after Passover and imposed a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was precisely to celebrate the Shavuot that the disciples and apostles gathered in Jerusalem, and it was on that occasion that the Holy Spirit descended from heaven.
Pentecost: the day when we celebrate the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church
Pentecost is perhaps, after Easter, one of the most important festivities…
Pentecost is also one of the religious anniversaries on which it is advisable to recite a Novena, a particular prayer that is usually addressed to Our Lady or to a saint to ask for her intercession to resolve a particularly difficult issue. To be effective, prayer must be recited for nine consecutive days. This year, in light of recent events, it seems right to us to propose a Novena dedicated to Mary who unties the knots, the one who offers her help to untangle the many knots of life, especially the most tangled ones.
We mentioned how Pentecost originally coincided with Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. The term Pentecost comes from ancient Greek and means the fiftieth day. This feast fell 50 days after Passover, the Jewish Passover. It was one of the three feasts (the other two were Pesach and Sukkóth) on which it was necessary to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem bringing two loaves of bread as an offering to the Temple. The Shavuot was a feast linked to the land and the harvest. In fact, it is also called the “Harvest Festival” or “Feast of First Fruits”, and it was a moment of great joy.
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But the Shavuot also celebrates the joy of the gift of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Jewish people’s choice to follow and obey them.
The apostles and disciples of Jesus also celebrated this feast.
In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-11) we read that on the day of Pentecost, they all met together in the same place. According to the Acts, the Ascension into heaven of Jesus had taken place only a few days before, 40 days after the Resurrection, while according to the Gospel of Luke, it had taken place on the very day of the Resurrection. After Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, Our Lady and the Apostles found themselves praying together. At some point, the stillness of the day was shaken by a clap of deafening thunder, and tongues of fire came down from the sky to lick the heads of all those present, who suddenly began to speak in all the languages of the world, so that those who had come to hear the noise recognized each one their own. To that crowd, disturbed and amazed by that miracle, Peter said that it was Jesus, “Lord and Messiah”, risen from the kingdom of the dead and ascended to heaven, performed that miracle. Many converted instantly and asked to be baptised. Matthias, the apostle who had replaced Judas Iscariot among the Twelve, was also present and the Holy Spirit also descended on him, investing him with the ability to carry the Word of God everywhere.
That crowd gathered around the Apostles who told of the life of Jesus, of his miracles, of his greatness, of his death and resurrection, was the first nucleus of the Catholic Church, sprung up by the work of the Holy Spirit descended in the form of fire to give eloquence to the disciples of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is a person and is the third person of the Trinity. The divine substance, which is one, manifests itself in three different emanations, which nevertheless are all assimilable to the same substance. This process is called hypostasis, from the Greek hypostasis, “being subsistent”, or “substance”.
The Trinitarian Mystery is therefore composed of God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit God, as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed says: ” I believe in the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and gives life, and proceeds from the Father (and the Son), and with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified and has spoken through the prophets.”
This formula of faith was formulated during the First Council of Nicaea (325) and then elaborated in the parts relating to the Holy Spirit at the First Council of Constantinople.
Holy Trinity: meaning and iconographic representation
The concept of Trinity summarises the fundamental doctrine of the Catholic Church…
In the Bible the Holy Spirit appears in several forms:
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Genesis as a creative element in the context of Creation. The Spirit is also generative and thus is defined as the vital breath with which God infuses life into creation, renewing and changing it in time. Later the Holy Spirit will also be invested with a leading function because it will become the guide and the spur for kings, prophets and entire peoples who will move driven by it in the name of God.
In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is fully revealed. It accompanies Jesus from His conception: “Then Mary said to the angel, «How is this possible? I am a virgin». The angel said to her, «The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. And so the child will be holy and will be called the Son of God». (Luke 1:34-35)
He will then appear during His Baptism, in the form of a dove that comes down from heaven and speaks with the voice of God: “As soon as He was baptised, Jesus came out of the water: and behold, the heavens opened and He saw the Spirit of God come down like a dove and come upon Him. Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, «This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased»”. (Matthew 3:16-17)
The Holy Spirit will accompany many of Jesus’ miracles, especially those related to miraculous healings and the liberation of possessed men and women.
“But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come on you“. (Matthew 12:28)
“But Jesus, a wise man, went away from there. Many followed him, and he healed them all, and commanded them not to divulge him, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: «Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased. I will put my spirit on him and he will proclaim justice to the nations.»” (Matthew 12:15-18)
The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, «He has Beelzebul, and, by the prince of the demons he casts out the demons». He called them to him, and said to them in parables, «How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided in itself, that kingdom cannot stand; if a house is divided in itself, that house cannot stand. If Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he can’t stand but has an end. But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder unless he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven the children of men, and also all blasphemies which they shall utter: but he that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost shall have no forgiveness forever: he shall be guilty of everlasting guilt. Because they said, «He has an unclean spirit». (Mark 3:22-30)
At the moment of death, according to all the Gospels: “Jesus, uttering a great cry, gave up the spirit.” (Mark 15:37)
After the death and Ascension into heaven of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will return precisely at Pentecost, coming down from heaven in the form of tongues of fire that divided and settled on the disciples and Mary, giving them the faculty to preach the Gospel in languages previously unknown.
We must remember that Jesus himself had encouraged his disciples to pray after his death that the Holy Spirit would descend upon them:
“At that time Jesus said to his disciples: «26 When the Paraclete (the term by which the Holy Spirit is indicated in the Gospel according to John) comes, that I will send you to the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness of me; 27 and you also bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.
12 I have yet many things to say to you, but ye are not able to bear [them] now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.»” (Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15)
According to Christian doctrine, the Holy Spirit brings seven gifts to those who receive him in themselves and are in a state of grace. Whoever possesses the virtue of Charity is already in possession of all 7 gifts. These gifts are not necessarily connected with Holiness but are necessary for salvation.
Here they are:
Saint Paul instead listed nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, ready to sprout in those who were willing to receive it in themselves: “The fruit of the Spirit is instead: love, joy, peace, patience, benevolence, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22)
Pentecost is therefore the ideal occasion to recite the Novena to Mary that unties the knots.
After Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, Our Lady and the Apostles prayed together for nine days, until Pentecost, when finally the Holy Spirit descended on them. This probably gives rise to the custom of the Novena, particularly valuable for those who are in a situation of distress and suffering for themselves or for someone they love.
The Novena to Mary that loosens the knots
The Novena is a Christian devotional form that is usually practiced on a religious recurrence or a particularly important holiday…
The purpose for which this Novena is recited is to obtain help from Our Lady to dissolve a particular “knot” that generates distress and suffering. It is necessary to recite it for nine consecutive days, praying with humility and with absolute trust, and “always pray without tiring” (Lk 18:1), as Jesus said.
The devotion to Mary that unties the knots were to a large extent spread by Cardinal Bergoglio, today Pope Francis. The first Novena to Mary that unties the knots was written in 1998 by a priest from Buenos Aires Juan Ramón Celeiro. In 2008, this devotion was imprimatur from the Archbishopric of Paris, or the consent of the ecclesiastical authority required to validate works pertaining to religion.
Today, the Novena is recited all over the world and there are many versions of it. Here is one of them.
Virgin Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love,
The mother who has never abandoned a son who cries for help,
The mother whose hands work ceaselessly for her beloved children,
because they are driven by divine love and infinite mercy
that comes out of your heart, turn your gaze to me full of compassion.
Look at the pile of “knots” in my life.
You know my despair and my pain.
You know how paralysing these knots are to me, Maria,
Mother commissioned by God to untie the “knots” of your children’s lives,
I place the ribbon of my life in your hands.
In your hands, there is not a knot that is not loose.
Virgin mother, with your grace and your power of intercession before your Son Jesus,
my Savior, receive this “knot” today (name it if possible…).
For the glory of God, I ask you to dissolve it and untie it forever.
I hope for you. You are the only comforter God has given me.
You are the strength of my weak forces, the wealth of my miseries,
deliverance from all that prevents me from being with Christ.
Take my call.
Preserve me, guide me, protect me, be my refuge.
Amen
The “knots” for which we invoke Mary can be all those problems that afflict us, sometimes even for years, and that we cannot solve. Misunderstandings and violence within the family, problematic children, sick, marriage crises, but also dangerous addictions, such as alcoholism and drug addiction, or a gambling vice.
And then incurable diseases, depression, unemployment, but also resentment, without guilt, negative feelings that poison the soul.
This gentle Madonna, depicted with a ribbon in her hands full of knots that her fingers untie, accepts the knots of those who turn to her with a sincere spirit and hope, with the promise of ending the pain.
Contents1 The story of Joan of Arc2 Trial and death at the stake3 Review of the judgment4 Saint Joan of Arc like Saint Catherine of Siena Joan of Arc, also known as the Flea of Orléans is a French national heroine. Her figure inspired the…
Contents1 Life before becoming a Pontiff2 Pope from 1963 to 19783 When St. Paul VI is celebrated4 The Papal Encyclicals Pope Paul VI was a reserved and courteous man, with a refined intellect and great spiritual depth. He led the Catholic Church in a period…
Contents
As we know, the month of May is consecrated to the Virgin Mary. Never as at this time of the year are festivals and special devotions dedicated to Our Lady. Even Mother’s Day falls on the second Sunday of May, and this celebration is also linked to Mary, to her role as Mother of Jesus. Today in particular we want to dwell on the Supplication to Our Lady of Pompeii, a devotional practice composed by Bartolo Longo, which is recited on the occasion of 8 May 8 and the first Sunday of October. In particular, the choice of the date of 8 May is linked to a very specific event: it was the day of the beginning of the works for the construction of the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Holy Rosary, in Pompeii, later elevated to a major papal basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1901.
The supplication’s recitation on these dates takes place before the image of the Madonna of Pompeii, a painting dating back to the seventeenth century that represents the Madonna and Child Jesus: the first offers a holy Rosary to Saint Catherine of Siena, patroness of Italy, while the Child offers one to the founder of the Dominican order Domenico di Guzmán, the saint in love with Christ, who lived his life dividing between preaching and prayer and received from the Virgin Mary the Rosary as a weapon of prayer and preaching.
The image of Our Lady of Pompeii and the Shrine that guards it attracts more than 4 million pilgrims from all over the world every year.
Bartolo Longo, an Apulian lawyer who lived in the second half of the 19th century, was the apostle of devotion to Our Lady of Pompeii. A proud anticlerical and passionate about spiritualism man, at some point in his life he embraced the faith, joining the Third Order of St. Dominic. He took a vow of chastity, quit his job and dedicated himself to works of mercy and help for the neediest. Following this new vocation, he went to Naples where he met the future saints Ludovico da Casoria and Caterina Volpicelli, also engaged in charitable works, and the Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco, a very rich widow of whom Longo became administrator of the assets and tutor for her children. United in their love for one another and their willingness to help one another, the two married but continued to live as good friends, in brotherly love and chastity.
The Countess had rich possessions near Pompeii, and there Longo went, realising the miserable state where the Parish of SS. Salvatore was witnessing, and the terrible living conditions of the local inhabitants. On that occasion the man was urged by a mysterious voice that told him to spread the Rosary, to obtain Salvation. Inspired by that warning Bartolo Longo began to preach devotion to the Holy Rosary of Our Lady of Pompeii. It was always he who recovered the painting of Our Lady of the Rosary, which after many restorations became the symbol of his preaching and was from the first exhibition the protagonist of many extraordinary events and miraculous healings. At the suggestion of the Bishop of Nola, Bartolo Longo and the Countess began to raise funds by signing “a penny a month” to erect a new church. Precisely the fame of the painting and the miracles linked to it allowed them to collect all the necessary money in a very short time and on 8 May 1876 began the construction and the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii was inaugurated on 5 May 1901.
It was Bartolo Longo who wrote the plea to Our Lady of Pompeii, the prayer to Our Lady of Pompeii that was recited for the first time on 14 October 1883 in front of twenty thousand pilgrims. But Longo did more, improving the living conditions of all the local inhabitants where the new church was rising, with the construction of useful services and houses and providing aid to orphans and in particular to the children of prisoners. In a short time, he managed to transform a desolate and hostile region into a modern city, beautiful and equipped with all the comforts, for the well-being of its inhabitants and the tourists and pilgrims who would soon arrive.
Bartolo Longo died in 1926 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 26 October 1980.
As preached by Longo, the Rosary of Our Lady of Pompeii is considered a secular remedy, effective against diseases and evil in all its forms. Here is his plea:
O Augusta Queen of Victories, O Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, in whose name the heavens rejoice and the abysses tremble, O glorious Queen of the Rosary, we your devout children, gathered in your Temple of Pompeii, on this solemn day, pour out the affections of our hearts and with the confidence of children we express to you our miseries. From the Throne of clemency, where the Queen sits, turn, O Mary, your pitiful gaze upon us, upon our families, upon Italy, upon Europe, upon the world. May you take pity on the anxieties and travails that embitter our lives? See, O Mother, how many dangers in soul and body, how many calamities and afflictions compel us. O Mother, implore mercy for us from Your divine Son and win the hearts of sinners with clemency. They are our brothers and your children who cost the sweet Jesus’ blood and grieve your most sensitive Heart. Show yourself to all who you are, Queen of peace and forgiveness.
Hail Mary
It is true that we, first, although your children, with sins we return to crucify Jesus in our hearts and pierce your heart again.
We confess it: we are deserving of the harshest punishments, but you remember that on Golgotha, you collected, with divine Blood, the testament of the dying Redeemer, who declared you Our Mother, Mother of sinners. Therefore, you as our Mother, are our Advocate, our hope. And we, groaning, extend our pleading hands to you, crying out: Mercy! O good Mother, have mercy on us, on our souls, on our families, on our relatives, on our friends, on our deceased, especially on our enemies and on so many who call themselves Christians and yet offend the loving Heart of your Son. Today we implore mercy for the misguided nations, for all of Europe, for the whole world, so that you may repent and return to your heart. Mercy to all, O Mother of Mercy!
Hail Mary, be gracious
O Mary, hear us! Jesus has placed in your hands all the treasures of His graces and His mercies.
You sit, crowned Queen, at the right hand of your Son, shining with immortal glory on all the Hearts of the Angels. You spread out your dominion as far as the heavens are spread out, and to you the earth and all creatures are subject. You are the Almighty by grace, so you can help us. If you did not want to help us, because we are ungrateful and undeserving children in your protection, we would not know whom to turn to. Your Mother’s heart will not allow you to see us, your children, lost, the Child we see on your knees and the mystical Crown that we aim in your hand, inspire us confidence that we will be heard. And we trust you fully, abandon ourselves as weak children in the arms of the most tender of mothers, and, today, we await your sighing graces.
Hail Mary
We ask for Mary’s blessing.
One last grace we now ask of you, O Queen, that you cannot deny us on this most solemn day. Grant us all your constant love and in a special way your motherly blessing. We will not leave you until you bless us. Bless, O Mary, at this moment, the Supreme Pontiff. To the ancient splendours of your Crown, to the triumphs of your Rosary, where you are called Queen of Victories, add this further, O Mother: grant triumph to Religion and peace to human Society. Bless our Bishops, Priests and especially all those who are zealous for the honour of your Shrine. Finally, bless all those associated with your Temple of Pompeii and those who cultivate and promote devotion to the Holy Rosary. O blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain that binds us to God, the bond of love that unites us to the Angels, tower of salvation in the assaults of hell, safe port in the common shipwreck, we will never leave you again. You will be our comfort in the hour of agony, to you the last kiss of life that goes out. And the last accent of our lips will be your gentle name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompeii, O dear Mother of ours, O Refuge of sinners, O Sovereign Comforter of the Mesties. May you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven. Amen.
Hail the Queen
We have recounted in another article the profound devotion of Padre Pio to Our Lady of Pompeii. The Saint of Pietrelcina was very close to Our Lady and an authentic apostle of the Rosary. During his life he went on pilgrimage several times to the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii and, at the point of death, he wanted a red rose, a gift from one of his devotees, to be brought there as an offering to the image of the Virgin. That rose miraculously did not wither and even today it is possible to admire the bud in a reliquary where it was placed after the death of the Saint.
Padre Pio’s devotion to Our Lady of Pompeii and the gift of the rose
May 5 is the feast day of the Saint of Pietrelcina..
As we have already mentioned, the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii was built at the behest of Bartolo Longo and his wife using the conspicuous offerings sent by the faithful from all over the world. The Shrine, dedicated to Universal Peace, has received over the years the visits of three popes, from John Paul II, who visited it twice, to Benedict XVI, to Pope Francis.
Large and majestic, with a bell tower 88 metres high, it has undergone expansion work, as the flow of pilgrims increased, over the years. It survived the eruption of Vesuvius in 1944 and the Nazis who wanted to raze it to the ground.
Since 1962 in the square in front of the Sanctuary the monument to Bartolo Longo has been erected.
The Shrine is visited every year by more than four million pilgrims, in particular on the occasion of the celebrations of 8 May and the first Sunday of October, when the Supplication to Our Lady of Pompeii is recited with a plenary indulgence.
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The painting of Our Lady of the Rosary deserves a separate article. Found in a miserable state, corroded by moths and worn down by time in the Conservatory of the Rosary of Portamedina, he arrived in Pompeii on a cart used for the transport of manure. Displayed in the parish of Santissimo Salvatore it was restored several times and moved to the chapel of Santa Caterina inside the Sanctuary under construction. The visiting faithful began to adorn the image with precious stones as a sign of devotion and as thanksgiving. The stones were removed with the last restoration, in 1965. Since then the painting has been placed in the Basilica of the Sanctuary of Pompeii, although it has been exhibited in St. Peter’s Square and in the Cathedral of Naples, to welcome the veneration of thousands of faithful.
Contents1 Padre Pio and the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii2 The correlation between the Madonna and the rose3 The Scent of rose of Padre Pio May 5 is the feast day of the Saint of Pietrelcina. Discover the…
Contents1 The roses: symbol of Mary2 The Madonna del Roseto: the most famous works3 Other representations of Madonna del Roseto The theme of the rose symbol of Mary is recurrent in art. Here are the most famous works depicting the Madonna del Roseto and the…
Simon, called Peter, was the head of the twelve apostles by the will of Jesus himself, designated by him as the head and founder of the Church. The preaching of the Word led him through many lands, to Rome, where he experienced martyrdom under Emperor Nero and where he was buried. The tomb of Saint Peter was from the beginning the heart of a passionate cult by the first Christians. The presence of the remains of such an important apostle in Rome has always been a source of great pride and fervour on the part of the faithful. In the same way, it was for the remains of Saint Paul, who was immediately associated with Saint Peter, and who even shares the same feast with him on 29 June. It is always fascinating to dwell on how two men so different in history and vocation are associated in the heart and spirituality of Christians, as bastions of faith and symbols of the Catholic Church itself.
As for the tomb of Saint Peter, it has over time become a spiritual point of reference for Christians all over the world, comparable to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus died and was buried. Today those who visit the Vatican Basilica can admire the imposing Canopy of Saint Peter, one of the most surprising monuments of Baroque art, which rises above the tomb of the Saint and the high altar erected by Clement VIII, above which stands the majestic dome of Michelangelo. But it wasn’t always like that.
History of Saint Peter’s Baldachin
Saint Peter’s Baldachin is one of the most spectacular monuments we can admire inside Saint Peter’s Basilica. What is it? Who made it?
Originally the remains of the Saint were placed in a tomb dug into the earth, not far from the place of his martyrdom: the circus of Nero, the sumptuous gardens where the Emperor inflicted unmentionable torments on Christians. If originally the tomb of the Saint was marked by a simple votive shrine, the so-called Trophy of Gaius, soon it was given the right honours, first with the construction around it of a monument by the will of Emperor Constantine, a parallelepiped three meters high in marble and porphyry; then, in 320, an imposing basilica intended to enclose as a casket the precious remains, designed so that the tomb of Saint Peter coincided with the high altar.
Over the centuries and the succession of Emperors and Popes, the tomb of Saint Peter has been incorporated into increasingly sumptuous altars, which only the archaeological excavations in the middle of 1900 have revealed, layer by layer. After the monument wanted by Constantine, came that of Gregory the Great, in turn, enclosed in the altar wanted by Callisto II. What we see today under the dome of Michelangelo dates back to 1594, and was built by the will of Clement VIII, but in the meantime, the entire basilica had been demolished and rebuilt by the will of Pope Julius II. This is how St Peter’s Basilica was born, which we all know and admire. The most interesting aspect for Christians is the centrality that the tomb of Saint Peter has maintained in all these architectural upheavals.
Speaking of the archaeological excavations that led to the discovery of the various evolutions of the tomb of Saint Peter, they began in 1939, following an accidental collapse that revealed under the floor of the caves next to the altar of Saint Peter an ancient Roman mortuary. The then Pope Pius XII was aware of the fact that an ancient document kept in the Vatican Library, the Book of the Popes, described the burial place of Saint Peter, and had the excavations carried out in great secrecy. They brought to light many pagan tombs, statues and finally a tomb decorated with Christian images. Continuing to discover the past, archaeologists found the aforementioned altars and finally a red-painted wall against which the funeral aedicule, the Trophy of Gaius, had been erected.
Saint Peter and Paul, why are they celebrated together?
On June 29, Saint Peter and Paul are celebrated. Two apostles, two very different men, both fundamental to the history of the Church.
At first, the researchers had no certainty that this was the tomb of Saint Peter. His name didn’t appear, and no remains were found.
Then Margherita Guarducci, epigrapher and archaeologist, managed to decipher the graffiti apparently incomprehensible on the wall that was supported by the primitive shrine erected as a funeral monument. So he discovered that the name of Saint Peter constantly recurred in those writings, and recognized in particular two inscriptions: “Near Peter” and “Peter is here“. Investigating, he learned that the workers had previously found a burial site dug into the wall and lined with marble, from which human bones had been removed. It was, as confirmed by subsequent analysis, the very relics of Saint Peter, transferred by the will of Constantine from the tomb dug into the ground to this more appropriate location.
Although in 1965 the Vatican had published the results of Guarducci’s investigations, bitter controversies continued to divide religious and scholars about the remains of Saint Peter, so much so that the bones were at some point removed from the locus in the Graffiti Wall. Only on December 5, 2013, Pope Francis made them put back in their rightful place after the careful revision wanted by Pope Benedict XVI, which confirmed what was discovered by Margherita Guarducci. That really was Saint Peter’s grave.
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Perhaps not everyone knows that Easter lasts eight days – if you want to find out more about the dates of Easter and how it is calculated, we have an article about that – but everyone knows what Easter Monday is. In Italy, it is a public holiday both in the liturgical calendar and civil and often it is celebrated with barbecues, trips out of town and not only: read this article to discover many interesting facts about the Easter Monday celebrations.
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The Monday following Easter Sunday is a feast day. Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection of the Lord and is the most important feast of the liturgical calendar. The following Monday is dedicated to the remembrance of the episode of the Gospel in which women, after the events of the death of Christ, go to the tomb of Jesus. When they arrive, they do not find the body of the Master – who has risen – but an angel of the Lord, who awaits them in that place. From the angel, they receive the great news: “Do not be afraid, you! I know you are looking for Jesus crucified. He is not here! He has risen as he said; come and see the place where he was placed”. This episode contains the very important message of the Resurrection and the joy that comes with it. That is why it is remembered on a specific day. The name “Angel Monday” comes from this passage of the Gospel.
Sometimes we also hear about “Easter Monday“: the reason for this expression is that the feast of Easter lasts eight days – the Octave of Easter. Easter Monday is also the Monday of the Octave of Easter and every day of the Octave is an extension of Easter itself.
The term “Little Easter” instead is of popular tradition. The word Little Easter is a term of the word Easter: Little Easter is a small Easter, another day to celebrate, not as important as Easter Sunday, but extending the joy of the previous Sunday. Little Easter also entered the civil tradition as a public holiday and recreation.
Is Easter Monday compulsory to go to Mass according to ecclesiastical law? The answer is no. In fact, Easter Monday is not one of the Catholic holidays of obligation, that is, those festivities or solemnities in which the Church obliges the faithful to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist and refrain from activities that do not allow to worship God and glorify him with the feast and rest. According to the Code of Canon Law, the feasts of obligation are:
The Ascension and Corpus Christi are mobile holidays, that is, they vary from year to year, while the others are fixed holidays and always fall on the same date.
Although it is not a festival of obligation, Easter Monday is celebrated in several ways. Among the various traditions is to dedicate the day to a trip out of town, with family or friends. Some say that this tradition was also inspired by the Gospel, in particular by the episode of Jesus’ apparition to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus.
In several Italian municipalities Easter Monday is celebrated with celebrations and religious parades. At Mongiuffi Melia (ME) the meeting between the Risen Jesus and the Virgin Mary is celebrated. The statue of Jesus Risen starts from the church of San Sebastiano, that of Mary from the church of San Nicolò di Bari, covered by a black veil. The two statues meet at the “Piano degli Angeli”, the veil of Mary is replaced with a white veil and the Virgin is crowned with flowers. The meeting between the two statues is accompanied by the songs of children between 5 and 10 years, nicknamed “angels of Mary”. Parete (CE) celebrates the patron saint feast of Maria SS. della Rotonda. For the occasion of staging the “flight of angels”: statues of angels are raised with cables and precede the procession of the Virgin. In Santa Venerina (CT) are opened only for the occasion three chapels where the Eucharistic celebrations are held: Santa Venera, Madonna delle Grazie, Maria Santissima del Carmelo.
Often this day comes alive with popular traditions and games, not necessarily related to religious significance. In Tredozio (FC) the Festival and the Palio of the egg are celebrated, and Easter Monday is dedicated to the boiled egg eaters. At Fiorenzula d’Ardua (PC) a traditional game is that of Pont al’ov, in which two challengers hold an egg in their hands and must try to break the opponent’s egg with the tip of their own. In Figline Valdarno (FI) the Palio is held, not the one famous among the districts – which takes place on Easter Sunday – but that of children!
Also abroad, Easter Monday is celebrated: in Poland, the tradition wants men to chase women trying to bathe them with water; in the United States is famous the egg hunt in the garden of the White House.
In 2021 Easter Monday may not be the day of group trips and crowded barbecues, but it will still be a day of celebration that prolongs the joy of Easter!
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Telling the story of Jesus may seem, at first glance, easy, even banal. Anyone born and raised in a Catholic family has been accustomed since childhood to the tradition of the Nativity scene, at Christmas, depiction of the Nativity of Jesus. If we then had the opportunity to attend the Catechism, we soon learned about the history of this man who was not only a man, and who took into His hands the salvation of all. We listened as if they were fairy tales to His parables, the miracles of which He was the protagonist and creator. His words of love and wisdom have accompanied us all our lives.
But regardless of our religious profession, the history of Jesus is closely linked to the history of humanity and deserves to be known and understood in its many, precious facets. To reconstruct His life it is not enough to follow the facts narrated in the four Canonical Gospels, written by the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Although they represent the only recognized ancient textual sources, they leave too many gaps. There are only rare references to what has been defined as the lost years of the life of Jesus, the years between his birth and the beginning of his preaching. In the same stories it is then difficult to separate the historical component from the mythical one, inevitably connected to the real facts. They also have significant differences: if in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the so-called Synoptic Gospels, are narrated more or less the same episodes, albeit with variations, In the Gospel of John there are ‘unpublished’ stories and several events reported by the other three evangelists are missing.
The Easter Nativity scene, an ancient tradition to be rediscovered
Easter Nativity? Of course!
The apocryphal Gospels, subsequently written and not recognized by scholars, contain other valuable information, but difficult to verify, as well as the numerous medieval documents and devotional works, for which it is often impossible to trace back to a documented and plausible historical source.
Easter is approaching and with it the occasion to set up the Easter Crib, a tradition that prepares us for His death, and offers us an opportunity for reflection on His life and His work. What are the most important events in the life of Jesus? What is really significant from the moment of the Annunciation to the Nativity, until death and Resurrection?
Both the Gospel of Matthew and that of Luke begin with an Annunciation. In fact, first in both Gospels is listed the Genealogy of Jesus, which starts from Abraham in Matthew and from Adam in Luke, and where Joseph is presented as an adoptive father. The Annunciation narrated in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:18-25) is the one that sees as the protagonist Joseph, who in the process of repudiating Mary, after discovering her interesting state, was visited in a dream by an angel who informed him of the true identity of the Child who was to be born and of Mary’s role in God’s plan. The Annunciation of Luke (Luke 1,26-38) tells how the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the conception of the Son of God.
As for the birth of Jesus, it is still Matthew and Luke who mention their Gospels. The first (Matthew 1,25) is limited to mentioning the news: “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, at the time of King Herod”, while the second (Luke 2,1-20) tells the whole episode in great detail, by the enactment of the decree of Caesar Augustus by which Joseph had to return from Nazareth and Bethlehem for the census, at the birth of Jesus in a stable, because there was no room in the hotel, at the adoration of the shepherds, invited by an angelic multitude to reach the place of the Nativity.
Matthew also mentions the visit of the Magi from the East (Matthew 2,1), and is the only one among the evangelists to do so. All the other traditions related to these three figures, their names, and the gifts they bore, derive from the subsequent Christian tradition.
Likewise, only the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2,13-23) recounts the episode of the flight to Egypt and the slaughter of the innocent, when an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph warning him of King Herod’s intention to kill Jesus, and he took Mary and the newborn Child and set out, while Herod’s soldiers slaughtered all the children of Bethlehem. The Holy Family would remain in Egypt until Herod’s death.
As we have mentioned, little is known about the lost years of Jesus, but the Gospel of Luke mentions the episode of the visit to the Temple (Luke 2,41-50), when Jesus was twelve years old and Mary and Joseph took him with them to Jerusalem for the feast of Easter. Departing for Nazareth, they discovered that Jesus was not in the caravan and returned, desperately searching for him for three days, only to find him in the temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them and questioning them.
Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of the baptism received by Jesus, now a man, by John the Baptist. In the Gospel according to Mark (Mark 1,9-13) and in the Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 3,13-4,11) it is told how Jesus, who came from Nazareth to the banks of the Jordan, met John the Baptist and was baptized by him. As he came out of the river the heavens opened wide, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended upon Him and a deputy said, “You are my beloved Son, I am pleased in you.”
Matthew also makes John the Baptist speak who, at first, refuses to baptize Jesus, as he should be the one to be baptized.
In the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 3,21-22;4,1-13), Jesus is baptized together with all the people, and the dove and the voice from heaven reach Him while he is gathered in prayer.
Matthew and Luke also dwell on the next forty days, which Jesus will spend in the desert tormented by the temptations of the Devil, while Mark barely mentions them.
John does not speak of the baptism of Jesus, but only of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
All the evangelists speak of the public life of Jesus, or rather of his Ministry, the period of three years from Baptism on the banks of the Jordan to death in Jerusalem. At that time Jesus was about thirty years old, and after forty days in the desert, He began His wanderings in Galilee, where He gathered around Himself the first disciples. This is the so-called First Ministry, which also includes the call of the apostles to the Lake of Tiberias, as recounted in the Synoptic Gospels, while in the Gospel of John Jesus’ first encounter with Andrew, Peter and John took place in Bethany shortly after Baptism.
Jesus then set out on a journey through Judea and into Jerusalem, where he began his final ministry, the Week of Passion, the last week of his life.
In the course of His ministry, Jesus also performs many miracles, ranging from prodigious healings to exorcisms, to the resurrection from the dead.
All the Canonical Gospels recount Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, greeted by a festive crowd who acclaim him and wave the branches of Palma. Hence the tradition of Palm Sunday, which marks the beginning of Easter Holy Week.
The four Gospels also tell of the Last Supper of Jesus and His disciples, gathered in the Upper Room to celebrate the Jewish Passover, when the institution of the Eucharist took place. On that occasion, Jesus also washed the feet of his apostles, although this episode is recounted only in the Gospel according to John (John 13,1-15), and revealed that one of the apostles would betray him.
The four Canonical Gospels recount the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, outside Jerusalem, of his interrogation and trial first before the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish council in Roman times, then by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. The arrest traditionally takes place on Thursday evening, Pilate’s sentence is issued on Friday. In the Gospel according to Luke, Pilate sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, who sends him back without pronouncing himself. Although during a first private conversation with Jesus, Pilate came to the conclusion that he was mentally ill and had judged him innocent, he is later forced to condemn him. For the accusations of blasphemy, sedition and offence of treason, Pontius Pilate sentenced him to death by crucifixion. In the process, Barabbas is freed, and chosen by the people to be pardoned instead of Jesus.
The Passion of Christ includes the last terrible moments of His life, after the process, when He is led to Mount Golgotha and crucified. The trial ends at noon, and Jesus’ death takes place around three o’clock in the afternoon (ninth hour) on Good Friday. The Passion is remembered by Christians in Holy Week followed by Easter, which celebrates the Resurrection of Christ three days after his death.
Sadly famous episodes of the Passion are the Flagellation of Christ, reported in all the Gospels, the coronation with the crown of thorns, the ascent to Calvary, where according to Matthew, Mark and Luke Jesus was helped by Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross. On Golgotha Jesus is crucified between two thieves. According to Matthew and Mark at His death, the veil of the temple in Jerusalem is torn by a supernatural wind. The Deposition of the body of Jesus in the tomb follows.
The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is told with some differences in the various Gospels. In Matthew after the Sabbath at dawn Mary Magdalene and Mary of Cleophas go to the tomb and find it empty. In Mark are Mary Magdalene, Mary of James and Mary Salome, in Luke Mary Magdalene, Joan the Mirofore and Mary of Cleophas and resurrects others, while John the Evangelist mentions only Mary Magdalene and other unnamed women and moves the action to the “first day of the week when it was still dark”. The story continues, with the stone of the tomb being removed, by an angel or two angels, or by an earthquake, depending on the stories, and the fear of the soldiers on guard or the women. The angel announces to the women the Resurrection of Jesus and orders them to report the news to the disciples. To the women who flee from the tomb Jesus appears (for Mark only to Mary Magdalene) and depending on the versions they go to give the announcement or silence.
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (Luke 24,51 and Acts 1,9-11) also recount the Ascension of Jesus, the last episode of His earthly parable. Jesus goes up to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, and from there he will return only to the End Times to judge the living and the dead.
