Did You Know? Lord Byron reads Fantasmagoriana on June 16, 1816 to his four house guests at the Villa Diodati (where they had gone to shelter from the inclement weather of The Year Without A Summer), and delivered his challenge that each guest write a ghost story, which culminated in Mary Shelley writing the novel Frankenstein, John Polidori writing the short story The Vampyre, and Byron writing the poem Darkness. LEARN MORE.
Author: Jimmy Akin
The Church Year: June 15, 2012
Today is Friday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is white.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Pentecost.
We celebrate the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus today.
Saints & Celebrations:
On June 15, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentia, martyrs, who died in A.D. 303. It is a commemoration.
If you’d like to learn more about St.s Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentia, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
171. Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are numerous. Some have been explicitly approved and frequently recommended by the Apostolic See. Among these, mention should be made of the following:
- personal consecration, described by Pius XI as “undoubtedly the principal devotional practice used in relation to the Sacred Heart”;
- family consecration to the Sacred Heart, in which the family, by virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony already participating in the mystery of the unity and love of Christ for the Church, is dedicated to Christ so that he might reign in the hearts of all its members;
- the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, approved for the whole Church in 1891, which is evidently biblical in character and to which many indulgences have been attached;
- the act of reparation, a prayer with which the faithful, mindful of the infinite goodness of Christ, implore mercy for the offences committed in so many ways against his Sacred Heart;
- the pious practice of the first Fridays of the month which derives from the “great promises” made by Jesus to St. Margaret Mary. At a time when sacramental communion was very rare among the faithful, the first Friday devotion contributed significantly to a renewed use of the Sacraments of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist. In our own times, the devotion to the first Fridays, even if practised correctly, may not always lead to the desired spiritual fruits. Hence, the faithful require constant instruction so that any reduction of the practice to mere credulity, is avoided and an active faith encouraged so that the faithful may undertake their commitment to the Gospel correctly in their lives. They should also be reminded of the absolute preeminence of Sunday, the “primordial feast”, which should be marked by the full participation of the faithful at the celebration of the Holy Mass.
172. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a wonderful historical expression of the Church’s piety for Christ, her Spouse and Lord: it calls for a fundamental attitude of conversion and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic commitment and dedication to Christ and his saving work. For these reasons, the devotion is recommended and its renewal encouraged by the Holy See and by the Bishops. Such renewal touches on the devotion’s linguistic and iconographic expressions; on consciousness of its biblical origins and its connection with the great mysteries of the faith; on affirming the primacy of the love of God and neighbour as the essential content of the devotion itself.
173. Popular piety tends to associate a devotion with its iconographic expression. This is a normal and positive phenomenon. Inconveniences can sometimes arise: iconographic expressions that no longer respond to the artistic taste of the people can sometimes lead to a diminished appreciation of the devotion’s object, independently of its theological basis and its historico-salvific content.
This can sometimes arise with devotion to the Sacred Heart: perhaps certain over sentimental images which are incapable of giving expression to the devotion’s robust theological content or which do not encourage the faithful to approach the mystery of the Sacred Heart of our Savior.
Recent time have seen the development of images representing the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the moment of crucifixion which is the highest expression of the love of Christ. The Sacred Heart is Christ crucified, his side pierced by the lance, with blood and water flowing from it (cf, John 19, 34).
Pig War!
Did You Know? The Pig War was a war between the United States and the British Empire over the boundary between the US and British North America. The territory in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland. The Pig War, so called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig. On June 15, 1859, Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer who had moved onto the island claiming rights to live there under the Donation Land Claim Act, found a large black pig rooting in his garden. He had found the pig eating his tubers. This was not the first occurrence. Cutlar was so upset that he took aim and shot the pig, killing it. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, who was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company to run the sheep ranch. He also owned several pigs which he allowed to roam freely. The two had lived in peace until this incident. Cutlar offered $10 to Griffin to compensate for the pig, but Griffin was unsatisfied with this offer and demanded $100. Following this reply, Cutlar believed he should not have to pay for the pig because the pig had been trespassing on his land. (A possibly apocryphal story claims Cutlar said to Griffin, “It was eating my potatoes”. Griffin replied, “It is up to you to keep your potatoes out of my pig”). When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American settlers called for military protection. It escalated from there. Fortunately, the pig was the only casualty of the war, making the dispute otherwise bloodless. Oh, and after third party arbitration, the US claim to the islands was recognized, so we won. LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: June 14, 2012
Today is Thursday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is green.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Pentecost, and the liturgical color for today is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
On June 14, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Basil the Great, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church, who died in A.D. 379. It is a Class III day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Basil, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
Tomorrow is the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
169. Devotion to the Sacred Heart was particularly strong during the middle ages. Many renowned for the learning and holiness developed and encouraged the devotion, among them St. Bernard (+1153), St. Bonaventure (+ 1274), the mystic St. Lutgarda (+1246), St Mathilda of Marburg (+ 1282), the sainted sisters Mathilda (+ 1299) and Gertrude (+ 1302) of the monastery of Helfta, and Ludolf of Saxony (+1380). These perceived in the Sacred Heart a “refuge” in which to recover, the seat of mercy, the encounter with him who is the source of the Lord’s infinite love, the fount from which flows the Holy Spirit, the promised land, and true paradise.
170. In the modern period devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus underwent new developments. At a time when Jansenism proclaimed the rigors of divine justice, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus served as a useful antidote and aroused in the faithful a love for Our Lord and a trust in his infinite mercy symbolized by his Heart. St. Francis de Sales (+ 1622) adopted humility, gentleness (cf. Mt 11, 29) and tender loving mercy, all aspects of the Sacred Heart, as a model for his life and apostolate. The Lord frequently manifested the abundant mercy of his Heart to St. Margaret Mary (+ 1690); St. John Eudes (+ 1680) promoted the liturgical devotion of the Sacred Heart, while St. Claude de la Colombi+¿re (+ 1682) and St. John Bosco (+ 1888) and other saints were avid promoters of devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Viva le Difference Engine!
Viva le Difference Engine! On June 14, 1822, Charles Babbage proposed a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society entitled “Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables.” This was a milestone in the development of computer technology. Today Babbage is referred to as the “father of the computer.” LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: June 13, 2012
Today is Wednesday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is white.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Pentecost.
Saints & Celebrations:
On June 13, in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Anthony of Padua, OFM, confessor, priest, and doctor of the Church who died in A.D. 1231. In the Ordinary Form, it is a memorial, and in the Extraordinary Form, it is a Class III day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Anthony of Padua, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
This Friday is the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
167. The Roman Pontiffs have frequently averted to the scriptural basis of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Jesus, who is one with the Father (cf. John 10, 30), invites his disciples to live in close communion with him, to model their lives on him and on his teaching. He, in turn, reveals himself as “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11, 29). It can be said that, in a certain sense, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a [ritual] form of the prophetic and evangelic gaze of all Christians on him who was pierced (cf. John 19, 37; Zac 12, 10), the gaze of all Christians on the side of Christ, transfixed by a lance, and from which flowed blood and water (cf. John 19, 34), symbols of the “wondrous sacrament of the Church.”
The Gospel of St. John recounts the showing of the Lord’s hands and his side to the disciples (cf. John 20,20), and of his invitation to Thomas to put his hand into his side (cf. John 20, 27). This event has also had a notable influence on the origin and development of the Church’s devotion to the Sacred Heart.
168. These and other texts present Christ as the paschal Lamb, victorious and slain (cf. Apoc 5,6). They were objects of much reflection by the Fathers who unveiled their doctrinal richness. They invited the faithful to penetrate the mysteries of Christ by contemplating the wound opened in his side. Augustine writes: “Access is possible: Christ is the door. It was opened for you when his side was opened by the lance. Remember what flowed out from his side: thus, choose where you want to enter Christ. From the side of Christ as he hung dying upon the Cross there flowed out blood and water, when it was pierced by a lance. Your purification is in that water, your redemption is in that blood.”
Almost a Century Later and There’s Still Nothing Good On
Did You Know? Charles Francis Jenkins transmitted the silhouette image of a toy windmill in motion, over a distance of five miles, on June 13, 1925–an important milestone in the development of television. LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: June 12, 2012
Today is Tuesday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is green.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Pentecost, and the liturgical color for today is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
On June 12, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. John of San Facundo, Augustinian, confessor, who died in A.D. 1470. It is a Class III day.
In the Extraordinary Form, we also celebrate St.s Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, and Nazarius, martyrs, who died in A.D. 305. This celebration is a commemoration.
If you’d like to learn more about St. John of San Facundo, you can click here.
If you’d like to learn more about St.s Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, and Nazarius, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
This Friday is the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
166. The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost. In addition to the liturgical celebration, many devotional exercises are connected with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Of all devotions, devotion to the Sacred Heart was, and remains, one of the most widespread and popular in the Church.
Understood in the light of the Scriptures, the term “Sacred Heart of Jesus” denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation and sanctification of mankind. The “Sacred Heart” is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Savior, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers.
The Diary of a Young Girl
Did You Know? Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday, June 12, 1942. LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: June 11, 2012
Today is Monday of the 10th week of Ordinary Time. The liturgical color is red.
In the Extraordinary Form, this is the season after Pentecost.
In the Extraordinary Form, it is the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost.
Saints & Celebrations:
On June 11, in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Barnabas, apostle who died in A.D. 61. In the Ordinary Form, it is a memorial, and in the Extraordinary Form, it is a Class III day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Barnabas, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
165. In adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which can take different forms, several elements deriving from the Liturgy and from popular piety come together and it is not always easy to determine their limits:
- a simple visit to the Blessed Sacrament: a brief encounter with Christ inspired by faith in the real presence and characterized by silent prayer;
- adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed for a period of time in a monstrance or pyx in accordance with liturgical norm;
- perpetual adoration or the Quarantore, involving an entire religious community, or Eucharistic association, or parish, which is usually an occasion for various expressions of Eucharistic piety.
The faithful should be encouraged to read the Scriptures during these periods of adoration, since they afford an unrivalled source of prayer. Suitable hymns and canticles based on those of the Liturgy of the Hours and the liturgical seasons could also be encouraged, as well as periods of silent prayer and reflection. Gradually, the faithful should be encouraged not to do other devotional exercises during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Given the close relationship between Christ and Our Lady, the rosary can always be of assistance in giving prayer a Christological orientation, since it contains meditation of the Incarnation and the Redemption.