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BARCELONA'S CHURCH AS A CATECHESIS ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST: SAYS BENEDICT XVI

BARCELONA, Spain: Barcelona's Church of the Holy Family is not only the masterpiece of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), it's also a catechesis on the life of Christ, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope praised the work of Gaudí today before praying the midday Angelus together with those gathered at the church, and after he presided at the Holy Family's dedication Mass, during which he declared the church a minor basilica.

He noted how "the genius" of Gaudí, "filled with devotion to the Holy Family of Nazareth," and "inspired by the ardour of his Christian faith, succeeded in raising this sanctuary as a hymn of praise to God carved in stone."

"A praise of God," the Pontiff added, "which, as with the birth of Christ, has had as its protagonists the most humble and simple of people."

Benedict XVI said that through Gaudí used his craft to "bring the Gospel to everyone."

"For this reason," the Pope explained, "he conceived of the three porticos of the exterior of the church as a catechesis on the life of Jesus Christ, as a great rosary, which is the prayer of ordinary people, a prayer in which are contemplated the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of our Lord."

The Holy Father also noted the charitable works of the architect, who "designed and financed from his own savings the creation of a school for the children of the workers and of the poorest families of the neighborhood, which was at that time a outlying suburb of Barcelona."

Reflecting on the family, the Pontiff called it the "hope of humanity."

He noted that Christ, "under the watchful care of Joseph and Mary, in the silence of the home of Nazareth, taught us without words of the dignity and the primordial value of marriage and the family."

Benedict XVI said that it is in the family where "life finds its welcome from conception to natural death."

"[Christ] has taught us also that the entire Church, by hearing and putting his word into practice, becomes his family," the Pope added. "And he has exhorted us to be a seed of fraternity which, sown in every heart, nourishes hope."

HAPPY FEAST... ST. CHARLES, PRAY FOR US

St. Charles Borromeo

Born: 2 October 1538

Died: 4 November 1584

Canonized: 1610

Feast Day: November 4

Patron Saint of: catechists, seminarians

Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy, on 2 October 1538. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.

In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Milan (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of Protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.

He died at Milan on the night of 3-4 November 1584, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times.

Prayer to St. Charles Borromeo

HOLY CHILDHOOD ANIMATORS MEETING

SEMINAR ON SACRAMENTS FOR PRIESTS

Mar Raphael Thattil inaugurates the seminar on Sacraments at DBCLC

TABORE FEST 2010 - LOURDES CATHEDRAL FORANE

BASIC CTC COURSE

Mar Raphael Thattil takes class for the catechism teachers of CTC course.

POPE CANONISED SIX NEW SAINTS

VATICAN CITY: If one does not believe in God's goodness, he cannot truly pray, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope made this reflection today at a Mass in St. Peter's in which he canonized six newly recognized saints: Stanislaw Soltys, André Bessette, Cándida María de Jesús Cipitria y Barriola, Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Giulia Salzano and Battista Camilla Varano.

The group included the first male Canadian-born saint (André Bessette) and the first Australian saint (Mary of the Cross MacKillop).

The Holy Father began his homily reflecting on a lesson he said is fundamental in today's liturgy: "the necessity to pray always, without tiring."

"Sometimes we grow tired of prayer, we have the impression that prayer is not very useful for life, that it is not very effective," he said. "Thus, we are tempted to dedicate ourselves to activity, to employ every human method to accomplish our goals, and we do not approach God. But Jesus says that we must pray always, and he does this through a specific parable."

The Pontiff went on to reflect about the parable of the persistent widow and dishonest judge.

After recounting the story, he noted: "Jesus reflects, using an 'a fortiori' argument: If a dishonest judge in the end allows himself to be convinced by the entreaties of a widow, how much more will God, who is good, listen to those who pray. God in fact is generosity in person, he is merciful, and so he is always disposed to listen to prayers.

"For this reason, we must not give up hope, but always insist in prayer."

Basis

The Gospel concludes, Benedict XVI said, with an invitation to grow in faith.

"[P]rayer must be the expression of faith, otherwise it is not true prayer," he said. "If one does not believe in the goodness of God, he cannot pray in a truly adequate way. Faith is essential as the basis of the attitude of prayer."

And in this context, the Holy Father went on to offer a brief reflection on each of the newly recognized saints, speaking in several of the saints' native languages.

At the end, he called the faithful to "give thanks to the Lord for the gift of holiness, which shines in the Church and today illumines the faces of these brothers and sisters of ours."

"Jesus also invites each of us to follow him to inherit eternal life," the Pope said. "Let us be drawn by the luminous examples, let us be guided by their teachings, so that our existence be a canticle of praise to God."

HOREB & TABORE FEST 2010

Horeb & Tabore Fest begin on 17th October. For more details click on TABORE & HOREB FEST DEATILS

"I STARTED SCHOOL 77 YEARS AGO," POPE TELLS CHILDREN

Encourages Friendship; Reminds Them Jesus Is Greatest Friend

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 26, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI told a group of children this week that making friends is a wonderful thing, but that their first friend is Jesus.

The Pope said this in an audience Thursday with some 400 students, parents and teachers from a primary school of Castel Gandolfo, run by the religious sisters of the Maestre Pie Filippini.

He reflected with the students from the Paul VI Pontifical Primary School about his own beginnings at school.

"[I]t has been 77 years since I started going to school," the Holy Father remembered. "It was in a small town of 300 souls, a little bit of a 'backwater' [town] one would say. Nevertheless, we learned the essential."

He recounted how he and the other children learned to read and write, and he reflected, "I think that it is a great thing to be able to write and read, because this way we can know the thought of others, read newspapers, books; we can know what was written 2,000 years ago or a longer time ago."

"[A]bove all, there is something extraordinary," the Pontiff continued, "God wrote a book, that is, he spoke to us men and found people who wrote with the Word of God, so that, reading it, we can also read what God says to us."

It's very important, Benedict XVI told the children, to learn in school everything that is necessary for life, "and also to learn to know God, to know Jesus and thus to know how to live well."

"You make many friends in school and it is beautiful; in this way a great family is formed," he said. "But among the great friends, the first that we make, whom we know, must be Jesus, who is everyone’s friend and really gives us the path of life."

VINCENT DE PAUL SEEN AS A PAGE FROM THE GOSPEL

Spiritual Family Marks Anniversaries of Founders' Deaths

ROME, SEPT. 27, 2010: The saint celebrated in today's liturgy and his spiritual counterpart were "pages of the Gospel lived with intensity," according to the retired prefect of the Vatican's congregation for saints' causes.

This was the description used Friday by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins when he spoke of St. Vincent de Paul and his principal collaborator, St. Louise de Marillac.

The cardinal was opening a three-day conference in Rome, which closed the jubilee celebrations marking the 350th anniversary of the deaths of St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) and St. Louise de Marillac (1591-1660).

"They were two great teachers of charity because they were in the first place two great teachers of the spiritual life," the cardinal reflected.

He pointed out that "charisms are a gift of the Holy Spirit granted to the Christian community so that it will have the courage to evangelize, teach and heal, but above all to witness and love."