Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis

Deus, qui beátam Mariam semper Virginem Spiritus Sancti habitáculum, holdiérna die in templo præsentári voluísti: præsta, quæsumus; ut, ejus intercessióne, in templo glóriæ tuæ præsentári mereámur. Per Dóminum…in unitate ejusdem.

November 21st is the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple. In fulfillment of a vow, San Gioacchino and Sant’Anna brought Our Lady as a child to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate their daughter to God and unknowingly begin her preparation to be the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Byzantine Church the celebration is regarded as one of the twelve great feasts of the liturgical year, called the Dodecaorton. 

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer for the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Latin and English. The accompanying photo of a young Blessed Virgin Mary is a detail of my old beat-up statue of Sant’Anna. Evviva Maria!

Prayer

O God, Who wast pleased that on this day the Blessed Virgin, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, should be presented in the Temple, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by her intercession, we may deserve to be presented in the temple of Thy glory. Through…in the unity of the same.

Novena to Sant’Andrea Apostolo

Sant'Andrea Apostolo, ora pro nobis

Pray novena for nine consecutive days, November 21st to 29th, in preparation for the feast on November 30th. Evviva Sant'Andrea!

Day 1 — November 21st

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his openness to Your call in our own lives, that we may be as ready to serve You as he was. St. Andrew, you were one of the first people to be called personally by Our Lord. He called you and your brother St. Peter to leave behind your lives as fishermen and to follow Him as Apostles. You followed His call to become “fishers of men.” And you remained faithful to that call, staying with Him throughout His ministry and spreading the Gospel after His death. You probably never would have guessed that you would be invited to be one of the closest friends of the Son of God, but you left everything behind in order to follow Him. Pray for me, that I may be as ready to serve Christ as you were. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 2 — November 22nd

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his virtue in our daily lives, throughout the work we do each day. St. Andrew, you were no stranger to hard work. You spent much of your life performing the physical labor involved in the life of a professional fisherman. You did not move away from the demands of this work. Instead, you embraced it and attempted to do it well. When Jesus called you to leave your work behind and become a “fisher of men,” you immediately left your old life and dived into a new kind of work for the glory of God. Pray for me, as I strive for holiness amidst my daily work. Pray that, like you, my life may revolve around devotion to Christ. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Day 3 — November 23rd

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his faith in our own lives, that we may follow You as unreservedly as he did. St. Andrew, you left behind your old life as a fisherman when Our Lord called you to be His apostle. You did not know what this new life might entail, but you chose to follow Him readily in faith. Throughout Christ’s public ministry, you remained close with Him and did not desert Him. After His death and resurrection, you carried out the mission of preaching the Gospel despite persecution. You had faith that God would reward you in Heaven. Pray for me, that I may remain faithful to God in my life, despite fears of the unknown or of suffering. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 4 — November 24th

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his devotion and his close friendship with You, that we too may have a deep friendship with You. St. Andrew, you were one of the people who was closest to Jesus during His time on earth. Along with the other Apostles, you saw Him perform miracles and heard Him teach. You were with Him at the Last Supper when He gave us Himself in the Eucharist. You saw Him after He had risen from the dead. During the time you spent with Him, you developed a deep friendship with Him. Pray for me, that I may have a deep friendship with Christ. Pray that I may grow to love Him and serve Him as faithfully as you did. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 5 — November 25th

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his zeal for Your glory and his deep desire to win souls for You. St. Andrew, you became a missionary for Christ after His death. He once called you to become a “fisher of men,” and you carried out this call by preaching the Gospel to others in the area near the Black Sea. Though Christians were persecuted and you knew that preaching about Christ could cause you to be killed, you did not waver in your mission. You continued trying to bring souls to God, until you were martyred for your missionary work. Pray for me, that I may be as zealous for souls as you were. Pray that I may never waiver in preaching the Gospel, even if I must suffer because of it. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 6 — November 26th

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his love for You, especially for the Eucharist that he encountered for the first time at the Last Supper. St. Andrew, you were one of Our Lord’s closest friends while He was on earth. With the other Apostles, you spent much time with Christ. You were one of the privileged men who shared the Last Supper with Him. You were there when He gave us His own Body and Blood in the Eucharist. You received from Him the immense gift of Himself that He continues to give us at each Mass. Pray for me, that I may always show the Eucharist the reverence It is due. Pray that I may always recognize what a gift Christ has given us in His Body and Blood. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 7 — November 27th

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his courage in preaching the Gospel, that we may always be firm in our faith, no matter what it may cost us. St. Andrew, you readily accepted the mission from Jesus to become a “fisher of men,” and you carried out that mission until the end of your life. After Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, Christians were often persecuted and killed. But despite this, you carried on courageously in your mission to preach the Gospel. You continued trying to win souls for Christ until your martyrdom, and you did not let the threat of suffering or death stop you. Pray for me, that I may have the courage to preach the Gospel against all obstacles as you did. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 8 — November 28th

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his courage amidst suffering, that we may be ready to even give our lives for our faith if necessary. St. Andrew, you knew that being a Christian and spreading the Gospel would not be easy. You knew that Our Lord’s words about the need to suffer for Him would be true in your own life. But even though remaining faithful to Him would mean your death, you did not waver in your faith. You willingly suffered for Christ and ultimately died for Him, knowing that your reward would be great in Heaven. Pray for me and for all who face the threat of suffering or death over their faith in Christ. Pray that we may have the strength to stand strong in our faith, even to the point of death if necessary. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Day 9 — November 29th

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Andrew the Apostle as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate his humility, that we may be as humble as he was when he thought himself unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ. St. Andrew, you worked with great bravery for the sake of the Gospel throughout your life, even continuing on courageously to the point of death. But like your brother St. Peter, you did not feel worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus did. When you were sentenced to death by crucifixion, you requested your cross to be different from Our Lord’s, feeling that your death as a sinful man should not look outwardly identical to the death of Jesus. Pray for me, that I may have a true, humble understanding of my own sinfulness. Please also pray for (mention your intentions here). St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* Photo of reliquary bust of Sant’Andrea Apostolo was taken inside the Duomo di Amalfi by Andrew Giordano

Remembering Emperor-King Franz Josef

In memory of Emperor-King Franz Josef of Austria (18 Aug. 1830–21 Nov. 1916), we pray for the happy repose of his soul. 

Eternal rest grant unto His Imperial Majesty, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Pictured is an antique postcard depicting the Emperor in prayer with the poem Unser Kaiser im Gebet by Harry Sheff. Reprinted below in the original German, we also offer translations in English and Neapolitan by Cav. Charles Sant'Elia.

Unser Kaiser im Gebet 

Vater im Himmel, Lenker der Sonnen, 

Zeuge für mich, der in Demut Dir nacht! 

Ich nicht habe den Kampf begonnen, 

Ich nicht streute die blutige Saat ! 

Doch von Feinden und Neidern umgeben 

Rief ich mein Volk zu eiserner Wehr, 

Laß Deinen Geist uns're Waffen umschweben, 

Uns sei der Sieg – und Dir sei die Ehr'. 

Our Emperor in Prayer

Heavenly Father, ruler of the suns,

Witness for me, who is humble in the night!

I didn't start the fight

I did not strew the bloody seeds!

But surrounded by enemies and envious people

I called my people to an iron defense,

Let Your Spirit float around our weapons

Victory be to us - and honor to you.

'O Mperatore Nuosto Mprejaría

Pate ca staje ncielo, Re d''o sole,
Addeventasse testimmonio pe me, ummele dint''a notte!
Nun aggio accommenciato 'a battaglia
Nun n'aggio jettato 'e semmenze 'e sango!
Ma attornejato 'a nemmice e gente mmeriosa,
Aggio chiammato 'a' gente mia a na defesa 'e fierro,
Fa' ca volasse 'o Spireto Tujo attuorno a ll'arme noste,
'A vittoria a nuje- e annore a Te.

Annual Angel Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

November 26, 2024 – January 6, 2025

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York, New York

Exhibition Overview

On view in the majestic Medieval Sculpture Hall, this beloved holiday tradition features a 20-foot blue spruce adorned with 19 cherubs, 59 angels, and an additional 71 figures that evoke 18th-century Naples Nativity scenes.

The installation is set in front of the eighteenth-century Spanish choir screen from the Cathedral of Valladolid in Gallery 305.

For more info visit www.metmuseum.org

Feast of San Felice di Valois

San Felice di Valois, ora pro nobis

November 20th is the Feast of St. Felix of Valois (1127-1212), Cistercian hermit, Mystic and co-founder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives (Trinitarians). An illustrious scion of the royal House of Valois, St. Felix (born Hugh) renounced his considerable wealth, was ordained a priest and withdrew to the forest of Meaux (near Paris) to live as an anchorite. His reputation for holiness attracted many followers, including his friend St. John of Matha.

According to tradition, during a walk in the forest with St. John, a magnificent stag briefly appeared before them with a shining red and azure cross between its antlers. The incident led St. John to recount a vision he had many years earlier of an angel wearing the same distinctive cross. Over the next three nights Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the holy men and revealed His desire for them to establish a new religious order for the redemption of Christian slaves being held captive by the Moslems.

Red and azure Cross of the Order

Traveling to Rome for Papal permission to found a new congregation, they appealed to Pope Innocent III for his sanction. Witnessing the same celestial vision of an angel as St. John, the Holy Father consented to their request. Officially approved on December 17, 1198 the Trinitarians immediately began ransoming abducted Christians from the slave markets of Asia and Africa, sometimes offering themselves in exchange. They are believed to have saved as many as 140,000 slaves.

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer for St. Felix of Valois. The accompanying photo, courtesy of Anthony Scillia, was taken at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Evviva San Felice di Valois!

Prayer to St. Felix of Valois

O God, You inspired blessed Felix, Your confessor, to leave his hermitage to devote himself to the work of ransoming prisoners; grant we pray You that, by his intercession, through Your grace we may be freed from the bondage of sin and may be safely led to our heavenly home. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who being God, lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen

A Mass for Peace

www.musicatransalpina.org

In a rapidly modernizing world marked by conflict, Jacobus de Kerle masterfully weaves the ethereal votive antiphon Da pacem, Domine into a magnificent cantus firmus mass as a cry for peace. Possibly written as a commemoration of the epic sea victory at Lepanto in 1570, this work was lavishly published in 1583 by the legendary press of Christophe Plantin, the most prestigious publishing house in history.

We are proud to present the first complete performance of this glorious Mass setting in modern times, performed for the first time in America. We hope that you will find its soaring melodies & noble harmonic language a moving call to peace in your own heart.

Concert performance
Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 7 PM
The parish church of S. Andrew
311 North Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91103.

Free liturgical performance
Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 9 AM
The parish church of Ss. Peter & Paul
515 West Opp Street
Wilmington, CA 90744.

Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Santa Elisabetta d'Ungheria, ora pro nobis

November 19th is the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, patron saint of nurses, the poor, the homeless, bakers, young brides and the falsely accused. Pious and charitable, she is best remembered for the Miracle of the Roses. According to tradition, Elizabeth would regularly sneak food to the poor against her husbands wishes. One day the King caught her in the act and demanded to see what she was carrying under her mantle. Instead of food they only found a bouquet of roses, allowing Elizabeth to leave and complete her merciful task.

In celebration, I'm posting a Prayer to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. The accompanying photo was taken at Most Precious Blood Church (113 Baxter Street), the national shrine of San Gennaro, located in New York City's historic Little Italy. Evviva Santa Elisabetta d'Ungheria!

Prayer to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

O God, by whose gift Saint Elizabeth of Hungary recognized and revered Christ in the poor, grant, through her intercession, that we may serve with unfailing charity the needy and those afflicted. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Remembering Giacinto de' Sivo

b. Maddaloni, Kingdom of Naples, 29 November
1814—d. Rome, Papal States, 19 November 1867

In memory of Giacinto de' Sivo, Neapolitan legitimist, historian and politician, we pray for the happy repose of his soul.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

The Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of the Apostles Peter and Paul

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican

Terribilis est locus iste: hic Domus Dei est, et porta cœli: et vocábitur aula Dei. (T. P. Allelúja, allelúja.) Ps. 83, 2, 3. Quam dilécta tabernácula tua, Dómine virtútum! Concupíscit et déficit ánima mea in átria Dómini. V. Glória Patri.

Terrible is this place: it is the house of God, and the gate to heaven; and shall be called the court of God. (P. T. Alleluia, alleluia.) Ps. 83, 2, 3. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. V. Glory.

November 18th is the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of the Apostles Peter and Paul, two of the Seven Great Pilgrim Churches of Rome.* 

St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican was originally built c. 320 by Constantine the Great on the site of St. Peter’s tomb. Standing for nearly 1,200 years, the old dilapidated church was unable to be saved and by order of Pope Julius II was demolished in 1506 to make room for a new church. Rebuilt and enlarged, it was finally completed on November 18, 1626. 

In 324 Emperor Constantine also built the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on the spot where St. Paul was beheaded. Nearly destroyed in a fire in 1823, the ancient church was restored and reconsecrated in 1854. 

In celebration, I’m posting the Introit and Prayer from the Mass, Terribilis, of the Dedication of a church in Latin and English. The accompanying photo of St. Peter’s Basilica was taken during my 2007 pilgrimage to the Vatican.

Prayer

Deus, qui nobis per singulos annos hujus sancti templi tui consecratiónis réparas diem, et sacris semper mystériis repræséntas incólumes: exáudi preces populi tui, et præsta; ut, quisquis hoc templum beneficia petitúrus ingréditur, cuncta se impetrásse lætétur. Per Dóminum.

O God, Who year by year dost renew the of the consecration of this Thy holy temple, and dost ever bring us again in safety to the holy mysteries, hear the prayers of Thy people, and grant that whosoever entereth this temple to seek blessings may rejoice to obtain all that he seeketh. Through our Lord.

* The Seven Great Pilgrim Churches of Rome are St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, the Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love.

Feast of the Seven Visitation Martyrs of Madrid

Seven Visitation Martyrs, orate pro nobis

I will not hide it that I am a religious, because I want to die like my sisters. ~ Sister Maria Cecilia Cendoya

November 18th is the Feast of the Visitation Martyrs of Madrid, seven Visitation nuns who were killed for their faith in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War (1836-1939). Captured and interrogated by an anarchist militia in Madrid, the sisters were dragged from their convent and summarily executed. They were among almost 8,000 clergy and religious killed by anticlerical revolutionaries during the Red Terror.(1) The Blessed Martyrs are Sisters Gabriela de Hinojosa, Teresa Cavestany, Josefa Barrera, Ines Zudaire, Engracia Lecuona, Angela Olaizola and Cecilia Cendoya. They were beatified on May 10, 1998 by Pope St. John Paul II.

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer by Fr. Seán O’Mannion to Blessed Maria Gabriela and Her Companions. Pictured is the book And They Gave Their Lives… by Sister Martina Lopez, R.A., an inspiring account of the martyred Visitation Sisters. Viva Cristo Rey!

Prayer to Blessed Maria Gabriela and Her Companions

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, You crowned with the palm of martyrdom Blessed Maria Gabriela and her companions. We ask You to grant us the grace to imitate their life of generous surrender and loving fidelity, and the favor we now ask through their intercession (state intention), if it be for Your greater glory and the good of our souls. Amen

(Recite three times) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in You!

(1) During the Spanish Civil War the total number of Martyrs were 13 bishops, 5,255 priests, and 2,669 religious (nuns, etc.). Source: And They Gave Their Lives… by Sister Martina Lopez, R.A., p.ix, 1997, Lesher Printers, Inc. 

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Rockaway, New Jersey

Feast of San Gregorio Taumaturgo

San Gregorio Taumaturgo, ora pro nobis

November 17th is the Feast of San Gregorio Taumaturgo (St. Gregory the wonderworker), Confessor and Bishop of Neocaesarea. Invoked against earthquakes, floods and desperate causes, he is the patron saint of Laureana di Borrello (RC), San Gregorio (RC), and Stalettì (CZ) in Calabria. According to tradition, during the Iconoclastic Controversy of the eighth century the body of San Gregorio was cast into the Black Sea at Pontus in Asia Minor. Instead of sinking, the casket containing the saint’s relics miraculously crossed the sea, pushed by the hands of angels, to the sacred Grotta di San Gregorio on the shores of the Gulf of Squillace, an inlet of the Ionian Sea along the coast of Catanzaro. Renowned for his many miracles, the great Saint is venerated in both the Eastern and Western churches. 

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to St. Gregory the wonderworker. The accompanying photo of the 12th century Byzantine Icon, possibly from Constantinople, comes courtesy of the State Hermitage Museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Evviva San Gregorio Taumaturgo!

Prayer to St. Gregory the wonderworker

O holy Saint Gregory, confessor and priest of the Lord, I pray thee that thou wouldst intercede with our Lord God for me, that, being purified from all vice, I may please Him in all things, and that He will grant me the peace possessed by all His servants. Amen

Photo of the Week: Male Figure, Restored as Augustas, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli

Male figure, restored as Augustas, 2nd century AD
Photo by New York Scugnizzo

149° anniversario della morte di S.A.I.R. Francesco V Duca di Modena, Reggio, Mirandola, Massa, Carrara, Guastalla, ecc.

 In Modena

Feast of Santa Geltrude la Grande

Santa Geltrude la Grande, ora pro nobis

November 16th is the Feast of Santa Geltrude la Grande (1256–c. 1302), Virgin, Mystic and Benedictine nun. One of many co-patrons of Naples, she was an early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and is often invoked for the poor and forgotten Souls in Purgatory. In celebration, I’m posting The Prayer of St. Gertrude. Given to her in a vision by Our Lord Jesus Christ, it is believed every time this powerful prayer is prayed with heartfelt devotion souls are released from Purgatory. Pictured is my makeshift shrine. Evviva Santa Geltrude!

The Prayer of St. Gertrude 

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

Feast of San Giuseppe Moscati

San Giuseppe Moscati, ora pro nobis

November 16th is the Feast of San Giuseppe Moscati, the "Holy Physician of Naples." Born on July 25th, 1880 in Benevento, Giuseppe was the seventh of nine children of Rosa (née de Luca, Marchesi dei Roseto) and Francesco Moscati, a magistrate from Santa Lucia di Serino. He studied medicine and surgery at the University of Naples, graduating summa cum laude in 1903. In 1906, during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, he risked life and limb evacuating patients from the crumbling Riuniti Hospital in Torre del Greco.

With the outbreak of WWI, Dr. Moscati volunteered his services and treated thousands of wounded soldiers. After the war, he returned to his practice in Naples caring for the poor at the Hospital for the Incurables. Not only did he refuse payment from his impoverished patients, Dr. Moscati would often give them money for their prescriptions. He tragically died on April 12th, 1927 at the age of 46. Beatified on November 16th, 1975 by Pope Paul VI, he was canonized just sixty years after his death on October 25th, 1987 by Pope John Paul II. He is the patron saint of physicians and bachelors. In celebration, I'm posting a prayer to St. Giuseppe Moscati. The accompanying photo is from a friends private shrine. Evviva San Giuseppe Moscati! 

Prayer to St. Giuseppe Moscati

Dear St. Joseph Moscati, true model of Christian doctors, in the exercise of your medical profession, you always took care of both the body and soul of every patient. Look on us, who have recourse to your heavenly intercession, and obtain for us both physical and spiritual health, and a share in the dispensation of heavenly favors. Soothe the pains of our suffering people; give comfort to the sick, consolation to the afflicted and hope to the despondent. May our young people find in you an ideal, our workers an example, the aging a comfort, the dying the hope of eternal salvation. To all of us be a pattern of industriousness, honesty and charity; so we may comply with our Christian duties and glorify God our Father. Amen.

Novena to Santa Caterina d’Alessandria

Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, ora pro nobis

Prayers by Rev. Bonaventure, O.F.M. to be recited for nine consecutive days, November 16th — 24th (Feast on November 25th)

Preparatory Prayer

Almighty and eternal God! With lively faith and reverently worshiping Thy divine Majesty, I prostrate myself before Thee and invoke with filial trust Thy supreme bounty and mercy. Illumine the darkness of my intellect with a ray of Thy heavenly light and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love, that I may contemplate the great virtues and merits of the saint in whose honor I make this novena, and following his example imitate, like him, the life of Thy divine Son.

Moreover, I beseech Thee to grant graciously, through the merits and intercession of this powerful Helper, the petition which through him I humbly place before Thee, devoutly saying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Vouchsafe graciously to hear it, if it redounds to Thy greater glory and to the salvation of my soul. Amen.

Prayer in Honor of St. Catherine

O God, who didst distinguish Thy holy virgin and martyr Catherine by the gift of great wisdom and virtue, and a victorious combat with the enemies of the Faith; grant us, we beseech Thee, through her intercession, constancy in the Faith and the wisdom of the saints, that we may devote all the powers of our mind and heart to Thy service. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Invocation of St. Catherine

St. Catherine, glorious virgin and martyr, resplendent in the luster of wisdom and purity; thy wisdom refuted the adversaries of divine truth and covered them with confusion; thy immaculate purity made thee a spouse of Christ, so that after thy glorious martyrdom angels carried thy body to Mount Sinai. Implore for me progress in the science of the saints and the virtue of holy purity, that vanquishing the enemies of my soul, I may be victorious in my last combat and after death be conducted by the angels into the eternal beatitude of heaven. Amen.

Prayer

My Lord and my God! I offer up to Thee my petition in union with the bitter passion and death of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, together with the merits of His immaculate and blessed Mother, Mary ever virgin, and of all the saints, particularly with those of the holy Helper in whose honor I make this novena.

Look down upon me, merciful Lord! Grant me Thy grace and Thy love, and graciously hear my prayer. Amen.

* For more on Santa Caterina d’Alessandria and the Fourteen Holy Helpers, I highly recommend Project Gutenberg's free ebook, Mary, Help of Christians and the Fourteen Saints Invoked as Holy Helpers, compiled by Rev. Bonaventure, O.F.M. It has instructions, legends, novenas and prayers, with thoughts of the saints for every day of the year. The accompanying photo was taken at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague for the Nine Days Preceding the 25th of Each Month (16th–24th)

1. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and for the salvation of the whole world, the mystery of the birth of our Divine Redeemer. Glory be to the Father, etc.

2. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the sufferings of the most holy Virgin and St. Joseph on that long and weary journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I offer Thee the sorrows of their hearts at not finding a place wherein to shelter themselves when the Saviour of the world was about to be born. Glory be to the Father, etc.

3. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the sufferings of Jesus in the manger where He was born, the cold He suffered, the swaddling clothes which bound Him, the tears He shed, and His tender infant cries. Glory be to the Father, etc.

4. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the pain which the Holy Child Jesus felt in His tender body when He submitted to the rite of circumcision. I offer Thee that Precious Blood which then for the first time He shed for the salvation of all mankind. Glory be to the Father, etc.

5. Eternal Father, I offer to Your honor and glory, for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world, the humility, mortification, patience, charity and all the virtues of the Child Jesus; and I thank Thee, and I love Thee, and I bless Thee without end for this ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. Glory be to the Father, etc.

V. The Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.

Let us Pray

O God, whose only-begotten Son was made manifest to us in the substance of our flesh, grant, we beseech Thee, that through Him, whom we acknowledge to have been outwardly like us, we may deserve to be renewed in our inward selves. Who lives and reigns with Thee forever and ever. Amen.

Source: Devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague, TAN Books, 1990

Against Self-Expression

(L) Portrait of a man in a red cap, ca. 1510, Titian (Tiziano Vecellio).
(R) Portrait of woman in d'hermine pass (Olga), 1923, Pablo Picasso 

Recently, at the beginning of the new academic year, I took the opportunity to conduct an informal discussion with the young minds in my charge about the definition of art. I posed a question to the class: “What is art?”

Before we commenced with the semester’s proceedings, I figured we should at least attempt to define the word “art.” Students were made to write a paragraph answering the question before sharing their definitions with the class.

Much to my chagrin, yet not to my surprise, one particular and unfortunate aspect of art made itself present in almost each and every student response: Art is a mode of self-expression.

Why did each student mention self-expression in their definition of art as a matter of course? How did this concept become such an idée fixe in the collective mind?

There is no doubt that self-expression in art exists. That is fact. But why has self-expression become practically synonymous with art itself in the present day? From whence did self-expression originate? Was it always present in art?

In order to gain some clarity, let’s attempt to answer some of these questions. In the following paragraphs, I will as closely as possible follow the form and sequence of the discussion I led with my students in the lecture hall that day after they attempted to answer the question posed to them.

First, we must address the origins of self-expression in art. When asked, my students immediately proclaimed, without so much as giving it a thought, that self-expression dated back to the beginnings of art itself.

It does not.

The earliest examples of art, i.e. Venus figurines, cave paintings, images carved into pre-historic temples and the like simply cannot be described as results of self-expression. The collective efforts involved, directed by an overarching spiritual impulse, immediately negates any semblance at all of prehistoric art to modern self-expression. That our modern idea of self-expression has been grafted upon these early works of art is preposterous.

How can we ascribe our modern concept of individuality to prehistoric peoples who relied so heavily upon the collective for their very survival, both physically and spiritually?

We cannot.

So what of the ancient world, then? Surely this self-expression we speak of must have existed in the ancient world? 

No, it did not.

An artist of antiquity simply performed the task he was assigned. Pharaoh, emperor, and high priest all dictated what to carve and paint. Even those ancient Greek sculptors and painters of renown, of highly developed skill and a sensitivity to form were more akin to what we would deem artisans by today’s standards.

(L) Idealized Portrait of a Lady (Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci
as Nymph), 1480, Sandro Botticelli. (R) Portrait of a
Young Woman, ca. 1918, Amedeo Modigliani

The same goes for the Middle Ages. Pope and King directed the bulk of the course of visual output. Again, you painted and sculpted what you were directed to and you performed that task anonymously in service of the greater spiritual communion.

In the Renaissance, we begin to see a cult of personality emerge, names of individual artists recorded for posterity, and their life stories recounted time and again. Most importantly, art becomes replete with the discernible styles of individual artists.

Does this constitute self-expression?

No, it doesn’t.

Art of the Renaissance does not embody self-expression in the present sense of the term. Artists were still beholden to God, Church, and patron in that order. At least for the time being.

However, the seeds of destruction of the eternal impulse of art itself were being sowed during this time. The flowers, though growing a little more poisonous each generation, were breathtaking, at least for a few centuries.

It was only in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that these flowers, once tender with the promise of spring, withered and died before our very eyes in the cold winter of a new world. But not before imparting their poison, blinding their beholders. In short order, the artist was finally “liberated” once and for all from the confines of the spiritual, the hierarchical, and the conventional. Here marks the birth of our modern, ubiquitous concept of self-expression.

So what exactly happened? 

Secularly speaking, the visual arts suffered due to several contributing factors of modernism. For example, the mechanization afforded by the Industrial Revolution allowed for the French painter and physicist Charles Daguerre (1787-1851) to invent the Daguerreotype in 1817, thus ushering in the age of photography. Though we take this modern amenity for granted, photography was revolutionary - and deadly to the time-honored naturalistic painting processes already established nearly six hundred years previously. No longer was painting the most effective way to fix a three-dimensional image upon a two-dimensional surface.

Photography laid waste to representational painting, and in a few generations, the requisite skill necessary for painting was inevitably replaced by abstraction. Following in the wake of the widespread acceptance of abstraction came the artist’s reliance on his “unique and individual view” of the world. All in lieu of the well-established representational tradition, a tradition artists were no longer beholden to follow.

As a result, the art academies with their “elitist” mentalities and their “high standards” in regards to accepting and educating students were no longer considered to be the bastions of culture and learning they once were. Instead, they were seen as “rear guard;” effete and ineffectual, the stuffy and stodgy domain of old academicians, out of step with the times.

Another invention worth mentioning that was detrimental to representational art was that of the collapsable paint tube, patented in 1841 by American painter and inventor John Goffe Rand (1801-1873). The paint tube allowed artists portability and freed them from their studios, enabling them to paint out of doors, albeit in an increasingly flat, impetuous and superficial manner. Gone were the months of thoughtful and studious labor necessary to craft a painting. Instead, the artist traded nuanced skill for rapidity, and subtle application of delicate glazes for the matter-of-fact flatness of the alla prima technique. Sadly, over time the erosion of the artist’s skill became accepted fact.

(L) Portrait of Isabel Rawsthorne, 1966, Francis Bacon.
(R) Girl with a Pearl Earring, ca. 1665, Johannes Vermeer

The modernist avant-garde, with its reliance on the shock of abstraction and headline-making scandalization quickly moved to the fore, replacing the traditional, rendering it as dry as dust irrelevancy.

Self-expression now took the place of tradition and became an ideal entrenched in the minds of artist and viewer alike. At its best, self-expression became a term which in most instances could be considered interchangeable with the word narcissism. At its worst, self-expression existed as a shameful display of the workings of a largely disordered inner state.

On the spiritual side, the story grew existentially more grim with the passage of time. The rejection of the spiritual brought about by the Age of Enlightenment resulted in the beginnings of a major shift in patronage away from the Church and towards secular institutions. This hierarchical shift was detrimental to the religious artist who had been practicing his craft since time immemorial. As religious art waned, the popularity of secular art increased, and a good portion of it became self-referential to a fault. Artists generally no longer aspired to spiritual ideals. Instead, they unceasingly worshipped at the altar of the self, no matter how profoundly deranged that self was.

Philosophically, art after the Age of Enlightenment devolved in a most dangerous fashion. Over the last century and a half, the eternal ideals which were once the given philosophic domain of art were replaced with du jour relativistic uncertainty. Gathering momentum, this uncertainty culminated in Postmodernism.

With its resistance to hierarchies and its insistence that there exists no overarching meta-narrative, the Postmodernist ideology is perturbing to any sane mind to say the least. Postmodernism has enabled and elevated the idea of self-expression to an ultimate, banal and meaningless terminus. Under the aegis of Postmodernism, self-expression continues to be a deliberate affront hiding in plain sight; a purposeful contradistinction to the ideal of self-sacrifice for the greater good, which is the embodiment and vivifying essence of the Christianized Western World.

Thus, the aforementioned has lead us to an impasse. Fortunately, however, the present situation is neither inexorable nor inextricable. A critical mind is indeed necessary when considering the dangers of self-expression; the singular, crucial facility that can lead our world towards a sane ideation of what art always was and what it should again be: selfless-expression.

Art is the visible result of the search for and attainment of greater meaning, reflective of beauty, ideal and truth.

Once a meaning-oriented selfless-expression in art becomes imperative in the mind of viewer and artist alike, it is then incumbent upon the artist to orient himself towards this greater meaning and create accordingly.

By Prof. Pico Retrocelli

Remembering Maria Clementina of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies

24 April 1777 — 15 November 1801

In memory of Maria Clementina of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies, we pray for the happy repose of her soul. Viva ‘a Reggina!

Eternal rest grant unto Her Majesty, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Vespers for the Dead at St. Ann's Church in Hampton, New Jersey

Brief Excerpt from "The Demon of Progress in the Arts" by Wyndam Lewis

Portrait of the Artist as the Painter Raphael,
Wyndam Lewis (1882-1957)

"We seem to be running down, everywhere in life, to a final end to all good things. Compared to fifty years ago, when the supreme and ultimate rot began, our food-our milk, our cheese, our bread, our concocted foods, everything, in short, is inferior, and there is every reason to suppose that it will get more so, decade by decade. The cloth our clothes are made of has declined in quality, not only in beauty but in durability, to such an extent that no tailor would have the face to deny it. The furniture at present manufactured, the materials with which our houses are built, the bricks, the mortar, the wood, the fittings, are notoriously inferior to what they were a short century ago. Paper is not what it was, in our newspapers, our books, our writing materials and so on; steel products, such as scissors, pins, etc., become less and less reliable; the gut used in surgical stitching is no longer graded; but it is not necessary to enumerate this decline in detail. Everything that is sold in the shops is necessarily inferior to what it was so short a time ago as twelve months. Why? For the very good reason that the word business may be defined as buying cheap and selling dear. Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt insisted that The business man is a crook.' He is, by definition, dishonest. The board meetings and conferences in every business establishment concern themselves always with some essentially dishonest device for putting more money in their pockets; in the case of the manufacturers, the subject discussed is how, in manufacturing their speciality, they may cheat the public-to make the public pay the same price (or more) for an article composed of less valuable ingredients. This must involve a progressive deterioration of everything we buy, from the gas in our meters to the socks on our feet.

"Meanwhile, the great suspense is a factor of daily, unrelenting ruin. The enormous cost entailed by the fabulous armaments imposed on both sides in the preparation for the next war is alone sufficient to bleed us white, to maintain a dangerous fever in all our blood; and, since the arms we are now manufacturing are potentially so destructive that when at length they are used they may entirely alter our lives, they are responsible for the great suspense.

"Well. Unless human beings are going to experience the same deterioration in the very tissues of which their bodies are composed, unless their skins are to lose their resilience, their warmth, and all the other qualities which make them so high class a covering for a man to have; unless nature is to begin to take less trouble over our nails, our hair (that may disappear altogether), our wonderful shining eyes, which may become dull and myopic, so that spectacles must be provided for all from the cradle onwards unless all this is to come about there will have to be some great revolution. That is why talking about the alarming outlook for the fine arts appears so trivial a matter when one has finished writing about it. It is infected with the triviality of everything else."

Reprinted from The Demon of Progress in the Arts by Wyndam Lewis, Henry Regency Company, 1955, pp.96-97