Real Catholic Blog

Yesterday was the Feast of two great saints. One, Saint John of the Cross (see DoctorsoftheCatholicChurch.com) is better known and it was his feast celebrated on the Latin Rite calendar. Also, yesterday, celebrated in the Eastern Rite, specifically, the Maronite Rite (see MaroniteMonks.org), was the feast of my ancestor, Saint Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini (Hardini.org), a Lebanese Maronite monk who was the mentor to the best known Lebanese Maronite Saint, Saint Charbel, whose Feast is celebrated in the Latin Rite in July (see Catholic Online).

Saint Nimatullah (1808-1858) was known for many things (see Eparchy of Saint Maron). He was an efficient administrator, a scholarly teacher and a devout priest. He was especially noted for his love of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Blessed Sacrament (see Vatican biography). He spent many hours in Eucharistic Adoration, often at the expense of sleep, kneeling in the chapel, arms raised cross-like and eyes trained on the tabernacle (see LebaneseSaints.com). Although there are photographs of him, the image below is the most famous one, and was used at his canonization, and honors his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

There is volumes of information on Saint Nimatullah and other Maronite Saints. He lived an extradordinary life as a monk and was widely regarded from the Middle East to Rome, and was given great responsibilities. However, when the opportunity came to move to safer quarters at the outset of war, he remained, to look after those in need.

I could go on, but who better than John Paul The Great to speak of him? Saint Nimatullah was one in the last group of saints canonized by John Paul, on May 16, 2004.

Said the His Holiness about Saint Nimatullah:

A man of prayer, in love with the Eucharist which he adored for long periods, Saint Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini is an example for the monks of the Order of Lebanese Maronites as he is for his Lebanese brothers and sisters and all Christians of the world. He gave himself completely to the Lord in a life full of great sacrifices, showing that God’s love is the only true source of joy and happiness for man. He committed himself to searching for and following Christ, his Master and Lord.

Welcoming his brothers, he reassured and healed many wounds in the hearts of his contemporaries, witnessing to God’s mercy. May his example enlighten our journey and bring forth, especially in young people, a true desire for God and for holiness to proclaim to our world the light of the Gospel!

Devout to the Blessed Sacrament, in his love for the Lord and for the Church, Saint Nimatullah is a role model in many respects.

Every Sunday at Mass, whether we realize it or not, we pray for the unity of the Church. It’s something we should all keep in mind to do on our own. That, for example, there is a split between the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox surely brings sadness to the Holy Trinity.

Today, however, brings great news! Although it won’t happen before Christmas, and maybe not for a long time still, a potential breakthrough was made in reunification efforts between Catholics and Orthodox.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said the presence of a Vatican delegation in Istanbul, “confirms the desire to eliminate the impediments accumulated in the course of a millennium to attain the fullness of communion.” (ZENIT via Catholic Online.)

Along with Pope Benedict’s recent overture to traditional Episcopal and Anglican churches and dioceses, there is hope that people of great faith, who perhaps because of human failings throughout the ages, manipulated by the circumstances of their day, were split apart, now have re-unification in one Holy Catholic Church within sight.

Just as Angels greeted the shepherds with news of great joy on the day of our Saviour’s birth, we have our own great news in our day. What a perfect and appropriate season to hear it.

The Vatican has been in the YouTube age for some time, but it has released a DVD for priests on how to celebrate the Latin Mass, excerpts of which can be found on YouTube. Some see this as a signal that it won’t be long before the option is a little less optional and the Vatican gets the Bishops in gear in ensuring each parish has at least one Mass per weekend in Latin.

After all, it is the Latin Rite isn’t? This comes via Telegraph UK (of all places) and PewSitter.com, a magnificent Catholic news resource and which we welcome to our media links as of today.

Forgot what the Latin Mass was like? So have many priests. Here’s a refresher. The Vatican may be about to ensure that each parish, where possible, offer one Latin Mass as an option for those who choose to worship that way.

There continues to be a lot of discussion on the acceptance of married Anglican priests into the Faith, as well as Anglican laity, who want to enter full communion with the Church. I have become fast friends with someone recently before she revealed to me she has left the Episcopal Church and now attends a traditional Catholic parish. She is in deep prayer and discernment over whether to make the complete commitment and transition. The Vatican’s recent announcement has plunged her into deeper thought about her current “orphan” status. She says she’s not the only one, either. So, here’s another video report on the issue, this one from Rome Reports.

Cardinal Levada speaks about the process for Anglicans/Episcopals, priests and laity, to enter the Church.

The announcement last week that the Holy See will set into motion a constitution for the acceptance of Anglican and Episcopal laity and clergy into the Church has been the buzz of church goers and secular media alike. There is some confusion, especially regarding the acceptance of marriage Anglican clergy as Catholic priests. Here is a video from the Vatican that offers some guidance into how the Vatican will proceed.

Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, during the Holy See’s Press Conference on Tuesday, October 20. Anglicans approached the Vatican; now the Vatican wants to unify this protestant denomination to the Church, as per Vatican II. 

The Vatican’s Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, wrote a beautiful, inspiring piece this week in L’Osservatore Romano warning priests of the dangers of self-interpretation and subjective views of the Gospel, stating, “No priest proclaims himself or his own ideas, nor his personal or subjective interpretations of the one and eternal Gospel”  (see CatholicNewsAgency.com) 

He emphasized the importance and seriousness of the priest’s role in proclaiming the Gospel. Because the Gospel is the undeniable Word of God, it must be preached with dignity and wisdom, with no room for personal interpretation, especially such that rationalizes passing societal fancies. Archbishop Piacenza explained that priests must find this dignity . . .

. . . from daily intimacy with Him, from lectio divina, as part of the great tradition of the fathers, from deep meditation that gradually transforms each priest into a “living Gospel.”

We know well that the “Gospel is not only words, Christ himself is the Gospel” and we are called to be conformed unto Him, through the exercise of the ministry of proclamation as well.

He also addressed preaching itself, reminding priests that the only absolute is God, and human opinion cannot be substituted for Him:

Wise preaching always considers first the real demands of those who receive it, never imposing arbitrary and insufficient interpretations, but rather always preferring the one true thing that is necessary: the real encounter with God of those entrusted to our care.

. . . always (be) aware of the work of God in each proclamation: it is He who prepares the hearts, it is He who encounters men, it is He who brings forth the flowers of conversion and ripens the fruit of charity.

Archbishop Piacenza did acknowledge one form of relativism that priests should undertake: To “be totally (related) to God.” The Lord, he wrote, ”loves those who give with joy and never leaves His servant alone.”

In this Year of the Priest, I’m sure His Excellency’s words were especially appreciated by his brother priests.