More Saints, Blesseds and Venerables

Of special note are Blessed Gianna Molla, Venerable Alexandra of Portugal and Karl of Austria.





From Zenit News Agency - The World Seen From Rome:



Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the congregation, presented the decrees with which the Holy See recognizes four miracles attributed to the intercession of four people already beatified. This clears the way for their canonization. They are:



-- José Manyanet y Vives, founder of the Congregation of the Children of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, was born on Jan. 17, 1833, in Tremp, Spain, and died on Dec. 17, 1901, in San Andres de Palomar. He fostered family spirituality and promoted the construction of the church of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, of architect Antoni Gaudí, whose own cause of beatification is in progress.



-- Nimatullah Al-Hardini (Joseph Kassab), priest religious of the Maronite-rite Lebanese Order. Born in Harine, Lebanon, in 1808, he died on Dec. 14, 1858, in Kfifan. In the silence of the monastery, he was dedicated to prayer, the teaching of theology, and manual labor. Charbel Maklouf was one of his students.



-- Paola Elisabetta (Costanza) Cerioli, founder of the Institute of the Holy Family and of the Holy Family Congregation, was born on Jan. 28, 1816, in Soncino, Italy, and died on Dec. 24, 1865. A member of a wealthy and noble family, she became a widow when very young. Having lost her four children, she dedicated herself to looking after poor children and youths from the countryside. She founded two congregations, one for the education of men and one for that of women.



-- Gianna Beretta Molla. Doctor, wife and mother of a family, and member of Catholic Action, she was born on Oct. 4, 1922, in Magenta, Italy, and died on April 28, 1962. In her fourth pregnancy, she decided to give up her life to save that of her unborn child.



Cardinal Saraiva Martins then read the decrees recognizing miracles attributed to seven servants of God, clearing the way for their beatification. The seven are:



-- Auguste Czartoryski, priest of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco, who was received in the congregation by the founder himself, was born to a Polish family in Paris on Aug. 2, 1858, and died on April 9, 1858.



-- Maria Guadalupe (Anastasia Guadalupe) García Zavala, co-founder of the Congregation of Handmaids of St. Margaret Mary and the Poor, was born on April 27, 1878, in Zapopan, Mexico, and died on June 24, 1963, in Guadalajara. She was superior of her congregation at a difficult time for the Church in Mexico.



-- Nemesia (Julia) Valle, religious of the Institute of Charity, was born on June 26, 1747, in Aosta, Italy, and died on Dec. 18, 1916. She is known in her congregation as the "living rule."



-- Eusebia Palomino Yenes, religious of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary of Perpetual Help, was born on Dec. 15, 1899 in Cantalpino, Spain, and died on Feb. 10, 1935, in Valverde del Camino, Spain. "In 1931, foreseeing the Spanish Civil War, she offered herself as a victim to the Lord, who called her after a long illness," Cardinal Saraiva Martins explained during the ceremony.



-- Ludovica (Antonina) de Angelis, religious of the Congregation of Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy, was born on Oct. 24, 1880, in San Gregorio, Italy. In the exercise of her apostolate, she went to La Plata, Argentina, to work in a pediatric hospital. She spent the rest of her life in that city.



-- Karl of Austria, emperor and king, was born on Aug. 17, 1887, in Persenbeug, Austria, and died on April 1, 1922. "When he came to the throne, in 1916, he served his people with justice and charity," the prefect of the Congregation for Sainthood Causes said. "He sought peace, helped the poor, and diligently cultivated his spiritual life. Faith sustained him from his youth, especially in the period of the First World War, and during his exile on the Island of Madeira, where he died a holy death."



-- Alessandrina Maria da Costa, lay member of the Union of Salesian Co-workers, was born on March 30, 1904, in Balasar, Portugal, and died on Oct. 13, 1955. "She threw herself out of a window at 14 to preserve her virginity," the cardinal explained. As a result of the accident, she was gradually paralyzed. "From her bed she carried out a precious apostolate of prayer and advice in favor of the numerous persons who visited her, attracted by her extraordinary virtues and charisms."



Cardinal Saraiva Martins also announced seven decrees of recognition of heroic virtues, involving these servants of God:



-- Clemens August Graf von Galen, cardinal and bishop of Muenster, was born on March 16, 1878, in Dinklage, Germany, and died on March 22, 1946. "He fought openly against the errors of National Socialism and against the violations of the rights of man and of the Church," the cardinal said. He was known as "the Lion of Muenster" for his opposition.



-- Luigi Biraghi, diocesan priest and founder of the Institute of Sisters of St. Marcelina, born on Nov. 2, 1801, in Vignate, Italy, and died on Aug. 11, 1879.



-- Luigi Monza, diocesan priest and founder of the Secular Institute of the Little Apostles of Charity, born on June 22, 1898, in Cislago, Italy, and died on Sept. 29, 1954.



-- Benigno of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (Angelo Calvi), priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, born on July 23, 1909, in Inzago, Italy, and died on Oct. 25, 1937.



-- Maria Teresa of Jesus (Maria Scrilli), founder of the Congregation of Religious of Our Lady of Carmel, born on May 15, 1825, in Montevarchi, Italy, and died on Nov. 14, 1889.



-- Rita Amada of Jesus (Rita Lopes De Almeida), founder of the Institute of Religious of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, born on March 5, 1848, in Casalmendinho, Portugal, and died on Jan. 6, 1913.



-- Maria Nazarena (Maria Majone), co-founder of the Congregation of Religious Daughter of the Divine Zeal, born on June 21, 1869, in Graniti, Italy, and died on Jan. 25, 1939.

SI Jinx

If you've seen the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, then you know who lost the Colts-Broncos game last night. SI is the one magazine you don't want to be on the cover of--at least before the big game.

Church to Beatify Last Hapsburg Emperor

From VOANews.com:



"The Roman Catholic Church said Saturday that it will grant beatification to the emperor, who ruled the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1916 to 1918. Beatification is one confirmed miracle short of sainthood.



The Vatican did not disclose the details of Charles' miraculous act. The church simply said the emperor had 'served his people with justice and charity.'



But the Associated Press reports the last emperor's grandson, George Hapsburg, as saying that praying for Charles had cured a nun in Brazil of a deadly disease. Mr. Hapsburg said the woman's healing was unable to be explained by three medical experts. "

Always Interesting

Want to know what people are talking about (or at least searching for on Google)? I always find this really interesting:

Google Press Center: Zeitgeist



This week's top queries:



1. Saddam Hussein

2. survivor

3. jenniecam (?)

4. 50 cent

5. internet explorer vulnerability (?)

6. beyonce

7. earthquake

8. gift guides

9. santa clause

10. orlando bloom



#5 is the most surprising, since it involves three words.



You can also view, different countries searches, end of the year searches, etc.

The Pill from Hell

FromCatholic Citizens:



"Today, December 16, 2003, is an important day in the United States. After listening to numerous pro life doctors, bioethicists and leaders warn of the dangers of allowing the abortifacient pill 'Plan B' to be sold over the counter, the U.S. advisory panel to the FDA voted to recommend allowing the 'morning after' contraceptive pill to be sold without a prescription. The pill is intended for use by women within 72 hours after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy.



It's incredulous how these US advisors for the FDA could have made such an evil decision after having listened to the good Judie Brown, President of American Life League, testify that 'these high doses of artificial hormones can and do terminate the lives of human beings after their lives have begun at conception/fertilization; these pills are dangerous for women, particularly adolescent women, and the damage to family life would be severe. Emergency contraception is not contraception...the Food and Drug Administration has a moral and ethical responsibility to assure, to the best of its ability, the health and welfare of every member of the human family. '"

New Design for the World Trade Center Revealed

Hard for me to conceptualize the top part of the building, but the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's site has the best images. Check it out at LMDC

Some Feminists Want to Dump Mary

Here is the state of modern Catholic academia. Here is the corruption of the faith being taught at the highest levels. All of which is incredibly demonic in my mind.



First one might ask if you were a feminist and for "women", why would you desire the abolishment of the supreme woman in all of creation--the Mother of God? Could there be a more exalted creature? Could there be a greater model that all should look to follow?



What you have here is an exaltation of "ego", an "I will not serve", a manifestation of the "anti-Christ" as it has been written in every traditional treatise on the subject.



When all of this, the opposite of the Gospel message is proclaimed as the Gospel message, what you have is the confusion that one hears weekly from the pulpit. A watered down Gospel that somehow ends up being a projection of myself upon God, rather than the challenge that Jesus places upon myself.



Pope John Paul II attempted to get a handle on this problem by retaking Catholic institutions of higher learning. But for the most part with a few exceptions the Catholic leadership in this country has been reluctant to enact those reforms. This leaves us with pseudo Catholic scholars who have formally apostacized yet continue to teach as Catholics in Catholic institutions.



From Andrew Greeley:



" I think some feminists want to dump the mother of Jesus because creepy people have tried to make her look like a wimp, when the scripture suggests that she was a pushy Jewish mother: 'Son, they have no wine!'



Johnson and her allies are going to have to persuade Mexican Americans to give up Our Lady of Guadalupe -- quite a task. They are also going to have to persuade young adults (in this country and in Ireland, where the studies have been made) that devotion to Mary is not one of the top four criteria of their Catholic identity (concern for the poor, Jesus in the Eucharist, God in the sacraments are the other three).



A pushover? I don't like the battle imagery, but in his poem 'The Ballad of the White Horse,' G. K. Chesterton depicts the vision of King Alfred as he tries to rally his forces against the invading Danes. He sees Mary above his banners and says, 'Seven Swords were in her heart but one was in her hand.'"