March 2013 – Page 3

Who Was the Early Visionary St. Perpetua?

PerpetuaFelicityResizedB — St.s Perpetua and Felicity are commemorated in Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon) itself. But who were they, and what is their dramatic story?

Thursday is the feast of St.s Perpetua and Felicity.

Many have heard their names. They’re early saints mentioned in Eucharistic Prayer #1 (the Roman Canon).

But often we don’t know much more than that, which is a pity.

They have a dramatic story, which St. Perpetua recorded herself in the days before her martyrdom. It also records the visions she received during this time.

Here are 10 things you need to know.

1. Who was St. Perpetua?

She was a young Christian woman and martyr, who died just after the year 200 in North Africa. When she was still a catechumen, she and several acquaintances were taken into custody.

According to the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity:

And among them also was Vivia Perpetua, respectably born, liberally educated, a married matron, having a father and mother and two brothers, one of whom, like herself, was a catechumen, and a son an infant at the breast. She herself was about twenty-two years of age.

No mention is made of her husband, who may have already been dead.

After being baptized, Perpetua received several visions and was eventually martyred. We also learn about her companions and other members of her family, including her father and her younger brother, who had died previously of cancer.

2. What is the “Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity”?

It is a document describing what happened to Perpetua and her companions. It is also called “The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity.”

The document is composed of a preface followed by six chapters.

What is particularly special is that about half of the document was written by the martyr herself:

Chapters 1-3 were penned by St. Perpetua while she was awaiting execution.
Chapter 4 was written by one of her companions and fellow-martyrs, Saturus.
Chapter 5-6 (and the preface) were written by the anonymous editor, who was apparently an eyewitness of the martyrdoms.

3. What does Perpetua’s writing reveal about her father?

KEEP READING.

How Long Will We Have to Wait for Our New Pope?

As we look forward to the coming conclave, it’s natural to ask, “How long will it last?”

Nobody knows at this point, but it’s possible to get a sense by looking at history.

Here are some surprising things you may not have known.

Birth of the Conclave

In the history of the papacy there have been periods in which the chair of St. Peter was vacant for startlingly long periods of time, at least by modern standards.

The longest of these occurred after the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268.

After he died on November 29th of that year, there was no new pope until September 1 of 1271, when Gregory X became pope.

That’s a gap of almost three years (and just over 1,000 days).

This happened because the cardinals were deadlocked and could not agree on a new pope.

To pressure them into coming to a conclusion, the magistrates of Viterbo (where they were meeting) locked them up, reduced their rations to bread and water, and tore the roof off the palazzo where they were housed, to expose them to the elements.

Even so, it took a year after that!

When it was all over, Gregory X introduced a new law, based on what had happened, which essentially called for the modern conclave system, where the cardinals are sequestered until they get the job done.

It took a while for the conclave to stick, but this is where it started.

The Last 500 Years

Here’s a chart of how many days all of the papal elections have taken since October 1503–more than 500 years!

As you can see, the length is all over the place before we get to a certain point.

The very first entry (at the far left) is the election of Julius II in October 1503, which was the shortest papal election on record, taking only a few hours.

Then it spikes up and down, reaching the highest peak in 1740, with the election of Benedict XIV, which took a whopping 183 days!

And then, after the election of Gregory XVI in 1831, something changes.

The length of conclaves becomes much shorter and consistently falls within a narrow range.

The cardinals now have their act together.

Let’s take a closer look at that . . .

KEEP READING.

9 things you need to know about “Maria Divine Mercy”

bot2 — The visionary "Maria Divine Mercy" claims that Pope Benedict was the last pope and the next one will be the False Prophet. What should we think of this? Here are 9 things you should know.

Many people have been talking about a woman who calls herself “Maria Divine Mercy.” She has made dramatic claims in the form of alleged private revelations.

She claims to have predicted Pope Benedict’s resignation in advance.

She also claims that he will be the last pope on earth, that the next pope to be elected will be the false prophet, and that the Second Coming is about to occur.

What should we make of these claims?

Here are 9 things you need to know.

1. Who is “Maria Divine Mercy”?

We don’t know.

According to her web site, she is “a Roman Catholic married mother of a young family living in Europe [and] says she has been receiving from the Holy Trinity as well as by the Virgin Mary.”

She writes anonymous, stating, “The woman wishes to be known by the name Maria Divine Mercy and says that it is the wish of Jesus that she remains anonymous to protect her family and to avoid any distraction from the messages.”

“The messages have been received by her since November 2010 and are still ongoing. Over 650 have been received.”

In a YouTube interview, she claims to have been a business woman and speaks with what appears to be an Irish accent.

2. What does she say about her own role in God’s plan?

She claims a rather startling role:

Maria says the messages are also being given to help prepare the world for the Second Coming of Christ which will follow The Warning. . . .

Maria was told by Jesus that she is the 7th Messenger, the 7th Angel sent to reveal to the world the contents of the Seals in the Book of Revelation which can only be opened by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He will open the Seals and reveal, in advance, the contents. Maria has to publish them as each Seal is opened. He has told her she is the end time prophet.

3. How Popular is Maria Divine Mercy?

Her FaceBook page–Jesus to Mankind–presently has more than 17,000 “Likes,” which is quite a substantial number.

She also promotes her message through a web site–www.TheWarningSecondComing.com–and she sells copies of her revelations in the form of books titled The Book of Truth (vol.s I & II).

She is apparently popular enough that there are knockoff web sites also repeating her messages. Her own web site contains a warning against the knockoffs.

4. What has Maria Divine Mercy said about Pope Benedict?

KEEP READING.