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Weekly Bulletin July 21, 2024
by Terrie Evans
Our parishioners convey their thanks and appreciation to all of our volunteers for the wonderful meal served on Sunday, July 14th for the annual Feast of San Francesco de Paola Mass and Breakfast. Our San Antonio Church Community looks forward to annual visit of the ladies and their families from La Societa Fuscaldese to celebrate their much-loved saint from the region of Italy that many of their members immigrated from. Thanks to everyone who came to church early to set up the Hall, help to prepare breakfast and graciously take care of all our guests for this memorable event. Our San Antonio Church Community sends condolences and prayer to the Nieman, Comarata, Weigand and Sammons Families on the sudden passing of George W. Nieman (1974-2024) who passed away on July 9, 2024, at the age of 49. He was the devoted son of the late William P. Nieman and Patricia (Bain) Nieman and the much-loved husband of Amy (Comarata) Nieman for 7 years. George was a loving father to Parker, Evan, Cooper, Jack, and Ben who will forever remember him for being a great dad and gifted coach while they were on teams at Our Lady of Lourdes. George was the son-in-law of Gloria and the late Anthony J. Comarata, dear brother of Andrew Nieman, and brother-in-law of Doug and Lisa (Comarata)Sammons, Tony Comarata, and Steve and Melissa Comarata. He also leaves many Nieces, Nephews, and good friends who he remained loyal to throughout his life. Please keep our parishioners, Gloria Comarata, Doug, and Lisa (Comarata) Sammons in your prayers. George W. Nieman’s funeral Mass was held on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at Our Lady of Visitation Church.
On Monday, July 22nd, we honor St. Mary Magdalene, known as the Apostle to the Apostles. She was born in the seaport town of Magdala on the Sea of Gailee, a Jewish woman living among Gentiles with a life story as one of redemption. Jesus is said to have cast out the demons that plagued her mind, appearance, healing her infirmities, who went on to become a legendary example of God’s mercy and grace. Originally a sinner, Mary Magdalene became a follower of Jesus as part of his ministry along with His Apostles and was present during His death and Resurrection. From a distance, she observed His Crucifixion and had planned to return the next day to perform the anointing ritual to prepare the body for burial. Mary Magdalene was the first to see and speak with the risen Christ when He tells her to tell the Apostles. In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus said to her: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? May Magdalene thought he was the groundskeeper when she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni” (Teacher). (john 20:15-16). He told her to go and tell these things to the disciples, and Mary Magdalene obeyed his wishes.
On Tuesday, July 23rd we celebrate the life of St. Bridget of Sweden, born into a royal family in 1304, she entered into a marriage arranged by her father who was a knight and Governor of Upland to Prince Ulf of Sweden. Bridget and Ulf had eight children before separating so both could live a more austere holy life. He entered the Cistercian Order where he died in 1344 at the Alvastra Abbey in Ostergotland with Bridget going on to establish the Order of St. Savior also called the Brigittines of Sweden. She had a deep devotion to the Passion of Christ and encouraged the nuns in her convent to practice the same devotion, forming joint communities for both man and women, living in separate cloisters and giving most of their incomes to the poor. In 1350, Bridget traveled to Rome with her daughter Catherine (later St. Catherine of Sweden 1331-1381) for the authorization of the Pope to establish a new order. Bridget also went with a small group of pilgrims to visit a few Italian Shrines near Naples as she spent time praying for guidance and the intercession of Mother Mary. She was hoping to meet with the Pope even though the plague was running rampant throughout Europe, hoping to confirm the Rule of the new Order. The Pope was in Avignon at the time, and it was not until 1370 when Pope Urban V finally gave his blessing and confirmed the Rule of the Order. While staying in Rome, Bridget sent precise instructions to Vadstena for the construction of the Monastery, with an Abbess elected to signify the Virgin Mary, to preside over both Nuns and Monks. Bridget counseled Kings and Popes saying, “The world would have peace if only men of politics would follow the Gospels.” She never returned to Sweden working on ecclesiastical reform and performing many charitable acts serving the poor throughout the city until her death on July 23, 1373. Bridget was buried at San Lorenzo in Panisperna with her remains later returning to the country of her birth, Sweden. The Vadstena Abbey, also known as the Blue Church, contains relics of St. Bridget, venerated in the Catholic and Lutheran Churches. For the next 18 years after her death, Queen Margaret of Scandinavia petitioned Pope Urban VI and his successor, Pope Boniface IX for the canonization of Bridget of Sweden. On October 7, 1391, Pope Boniface IX agreed, and it was confirmed by the Council of Constance in 1415. The Brigitta Chapel, erected in Vienna in 1651, and in 1930, on her family’s land, a memorial stone was erected adjacent to the Skederid Church built by her father, all in honor of St. Bridget of Sweden. In 1991, on the 600th Anniversary of St. Bridget’s Canonization, Pope John Paul II and two Lutheran Bishops met and prayed at the burial place of St. Peter the Apostle, the first time a joint prayer service was held by members of two religious communities. In 1999, Pope John Paul II named St. Bridget of Sweden a Patron Saint of Europe. St Bridget of Sweden said: “True wisdom, then, consists in works, not in great talents which the world admires; for the wise in the world’s estimation are the foolish who set at naught the will of God, and know not how to control their passions.”
On Wednesday July 24th we honor the feast of Saint Sharbel (Charbel) Makhluf, born Jousef Antoun Maklouf to peasant farmers on the highest mountain village in Lebanon. He was Baptized into the Maronite Eastern Catholic Church and after the death of his father, his mother married a priest from the Maronite Church. His stepfather became a big influence as did his two uncles who were hermits and inspired him to live a devout life. Jousef became devoted to the Blessed Mother, and he knew God was calling him to enter the priesthood. When he reached the age of 23, he entered the Monastery of Our Lady in Mayfouq in the Maronite Church becoming a professed Monk. Jousef took the name Sharbel, after St. Charbel the Martyr who was a 2nd Century Military Officer martyred during the persecutions in Antioch by the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelias. After living in the community with other monks, he transferred to the Monastery of St. Maroun professing his vows, and then sent to the Monastery of Saints Cyprian and Justina to study theology and philosophy. He was Ordained a Priest at the age of 31, returning to the Monastery of Saint Maroun where he remained for the next 16 years. He desired to live the rest of his life as a hermit, a vocation that was for those who proved capable of living with solitude and ascetism to deny oneself pleasures and to strive to follow Jesus perfectly. In 1875 at the age of 47, Father Sharbel was permitted to enter the Hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul to live as a hermit where he spent the next 23 years in solitude with a strict regime of daily prayer, manual work, controlling desires and doing penance for past sins. In 1898, Brother Sharbel suffered a stroke while offering Mass and died eight days later at the age of 70 on Christmas Eve. According to the custom of his order, he was buried in the ground without a coffin. After his burial, a bright light was seen shining from his resting place and for the next four months, many villagers visited his grave. Permission was then granted by the Church to exhume his body which was found to be completely incorrupt with his skin and joints soft and flexible. Father Sharbel was cleaned and placed in a coffin in the monastery chapel when blood and sweat began to pour from his skin, soaking his habit, which had to change two times a week. In 1927, his body was put in another coffin and sealed in a tomb in the monastery wall. For the next two decades, blood-like liquid seeped from the corner of the wall behind where Father Sharbel was buried and in 1965, his body was exhumed and found incorrupt exuding the same blood and sweat. In 1976, the year before his canonization, his body was exhumed and found to be decayed with only the bones remaining. The decay of his body coincided with the early days of the devasting Civil War in Lebanon in 1975 and the Damour massacre in 1976 that took the lives of many residents. Those who have visited his grave have attributed miracles to Father Sharbel’s intercession as monks compiled the list of 12,000 miracle cures. Word of the cures drew many to honor the saint and devotion to him and a new evangelization spread rapidly across Lebanon. St. Sharbel was Canonized by Pope Paul Vi on October 9, 1977, with him being named the Patron Saint of Lebanon. Prayer to Saint Sharbel: “Saint Sharbel, you were called into the solitary life of a monk and then a hermit, and you responded. You kept your eyes upon Christ, and He transformed your humble soul into a glorious beacon of light for the world to see. Please pray for me, that I will receive the grace I need to be faithful to the vocation God has given me and that I will respond with the same generosity and commitment that you manifested in your earthly life. Saint Sharbel, pray for me. Jesus, I trust In You.
On Thursday, July 25th we honor St. James, the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the Evangelist. He was one of Jesus’ 12 Apostles who was called James the Greater, chosen to be an Apostle before the other James. He would follow his brother John into life a life of devotion as a follower of Jesus who referred to them as “Fishers of Men” when he asked them to accompany Him. They threw their nets on the shore and left all their worldly possessions to follow our Lord. James attended the wedding feast at Cana and on the day of the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were there and followed Jesus into the Garden of Olives. Peter, his brother Andrew, James and brother John were the four Apostles closest to Jesus. James preached the Gospel in Samaria and Judea and also journeyed to Spain before he was martyred. He was the first of the Apostles to give his life for Christ, having been killed with the sword by King Herod Agrippa in the year 43. His burial site was lost for centuries and discovered in the 9th Century when a hermit named Pelagus saw a cluster of stars in the sky that led him to the site. With the discovery of his burial site, King Alfonso II ordered the construction of a Church over the grave of James the Apostle. The site in now referred to as Santiago (St. James) of Compostela (Field of Stars) as pilgrims’ journey on the 100–500-mile route on the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of Saint James which starts in the countries of France, Spain or Portugal all leading to his burial site. He was Canonized Pre-Congregation with St. James as the Patron Saint of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, hatmakers, veterinarians, and is invoked against arthritis and rheumatism. St. James the Greater Prayer; “Jesus called you a Son of Thunder because of your zeal and temper, God infused those natural qualities with temperance and courage so that you could give supreme witness to your Lord. Please pray that I will have your courage and zeal, laying down my life in witness to Jesus’ glory. St. James pray for me. Jesus, I trust You. AMEN.”
On Friday, July 26th we celebrate the feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne who were originally from Gailee,then lived in Nazareth where their daughter, the Blessed Mother was born and raised. As a married couple, they longed for a child, and both said many prayers to become parents. Joachim went into the desert fasting and praying when an angel appeared to Anne while she was praying under a laurel tree, telling her that God heard her prayers, and she would become a mother. Ann replied: “As my God lives, if I conceive either a boy or girl, the child shall be a gift to my God, serving him in holiness throughout the whole of its life.” The angel also appeared to Joachim giving him the news that his daughter, “would be honored by all the world” he then went to the Temple rejoicing and offered animals to God as a sacrifice. St Anne gave birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the age of 40 and named her Miriam (Mary) and offered her child to God in the service of the Temple when she was incredibly young. Anne’s name meaning Grace as the Patron of Houswives along with Joachim name meaning God prepares, is the Patron of Good Fathers both lived to see the birth of Mary’s child Jesus. In the 4th Century, a church was built by St. Helen on the site of the home of Joachim and Anne in Jerusalem, where they are buried. A Prayer to St. Joachim: “O God, of all Your saints You willed St. Joachim to be father to the Mother of Your Son. Grant that we who venerate him may evermore experience his patronage. AMEN.” A Prayer to St. Anne: “O God, You bestowed on St. Anne such grace that she was found worthy to become the mother of Mary, who brough forth Your Only begotten Son. Grant that we may be helped by her intercession. AMEN.”