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Thursday, July 09, 2020

JULY 9 - Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions - MARTYRS




http://www.catholicnewsworld.com/2019/07/saint-july-9-st-augustine-zhao-rong-and.html



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HOMILY in Maltese from the Archbishop of Malta, Charles J. Scicluna. July 9th, 2020
 

OMELIJA - 9 ta' Lulju - San Wistin Zhao Rong u l-120 sħabu MARTRI. Ev: Mt 10:7-15 - Quddiesa u Rużarju



Quddiesa u Rużarju mmexxija mill-Arċisqof Charles J. Scicluna - 9 ta' Lulju, 2020, 9:30am --- https://youtu.be/OWku7GVkRW8 JULY 9th - St Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions, MARTYRS Xhieda ta’ Ġesù sal-aħħar qatra demm – L-Arċisqof Quddiesa offruta sabiex nilqgħu lill-barrani għaliex b'hekk inkunu qed nilqgħu lil Ġesù https://knisja.mt/xhieda-ta-gesu-sal-ahhar-qatra-demm-l-arcisqof/

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https://voiceofthesouthwest.org/saints-for-today-augustine-zhao-rong-companions-martyrs-17th-20th-c/

Feast Day: July 09.
Christianity arrived in China by way of Syria in the 600’s. Depending on China’s relations with the outside world. Christianity over the centuries was free to grow or was forced to operate secretly.
120 martyrs remembered on this day were killed during various periods of persecution in China between the beginning of the Manchu (Qing) dynasty in the mid-17th century and 1930. Most of them (87) were born in China and were children, parents, catechists or laborers, ranging from nine years of age to 72. This group includes four Chinese diocesan priests. The 33 foreign-born martyrs were mostly priests or women religious, especially from the Order of Preachers, the Paris Foreign Mission Society, the Friars Minor, Jesuits, Salesians, and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.
The Christian persecutions before the Boxer Rebellion (an inti-imperialist uprising which took place in China) were largely the result of imperial edicts, which normally granted clemency if the accused apostatized, but few agreed to do so. Some were simply ferocious attacks on Christians during recurrent periods of Sino-Western tension.
Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who accompanied Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse (Parish Foreign Mission Society) on the way to his martyrdom in Beijing. Augustine became so impressed by the bishop’s saintliness that he asked to be baptized. He went on to continue missionary work, but was arrested in Chengdu in central China, and starved to death in prison in 1815. Beatified in groups at various times, these 120 martyrs were canonized by Pope Saint John Paul II in Rome on October 1, 2000.
The People’s Republic of China and the Roman Catholic Church each have well over a billion members. There are over 12 million Catholics in China. The reason why there are not more are better explained by historical conflicts than by a wholesale rejection of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Chinese-born martyrs honored by today’s feast were regarded by their persecutors as dangerous because they were considered allies of enemy Catholic countries. The martyrs born outside China often tried to distance themselves from European political struggles relating to China, but their persecutors saw them as Westerners and therefore, by definition, anti-Chinese. The Good News of Jesus Christ is intended to benefit all peoples; these martyrs knew that. 21st-century Christians try to live in such a way that Chinese women and men will be attracted to hear that Good News and embrace it.








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Monday, June 29, 2020

JUNE 25, 2020 - Vatican publishes new guidelines for teaching catechism --- Conferenza Stampa di presentazione del Direttorio per la Catechesi



New Directory for Catechesis is “a joyful event in the life of the Church"
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2020-06/archbishop-fisichella-new-directory-for-catechesis-is-a-joyful.html


The Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization presents the new Directory for Catechesis during a press conference held in the Vatican on Thursday.

By Vatican News
“The publication of a Directory for Catechesis is a joyful event in the life of the Church.” These were the opening words of Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization, during a press conference in the Vatican organized on the occasion of the release of a new Directory for Catechesis on Thursday.
Presenting the Directory, Archbishop Fisichella said the new edition, the third since the Second Vatican Council, is the result of a wide international consultation. 
The new Directory for Catechesis was released in Italian on Thursday. It will be also published in other major languages.
Other speakers at the press conference included Archbishop Octavio Ruiz Arenas and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, Delegate for Catechesis and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of the New Evangelization respectively.

Background

Archbishop Fisichella notes that “the need for a new Directory was born of the process of inculturation which characterizes catechesis in a particular way and which, especially today, demands a special focus.”
He cites the example of the global phenomenon of the digital culture, pointing out that the instruments created in the last decade manifest a “radical transformation of behaviors” that influence “the formation of personal identity and interpersonal relations.” This new model of communication and formation “also affects the Church in the complex world of education.”
Theological and ecclesial reasons have also contributed to the preparation of the new Directory. Fisichella recalls that several recent synods have consistently treated the theme of evangelization and catechesis. Pope Francis also picked up the theme in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“Catechesis, therefore, must be united intimately with the work of evangelization and cannot be separated from it,” Fisichella affirms. This is because “Evangelization is the task that the Risen Lord has entrusted His Church in order to be, in the time of every age, the faithful announcement of his Gospel.”

“Kerygmatic Catechesis”

“The heart of catechesis is the proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ,” Fisichella said. Jesus “surpasses the limits of space and time to present Himself to each generation as the good news offered to reach the meaning of life,” he added.
Fisichella points out that in light of Evangelii gaudium, the Directory supports a “kerygmatic catechesis” because “primacy belongs to evangelization, not to catechesis.” 
Therefore, the proclamation of the person of Jesus (the kerygma) is also an proclamation of the mercy of God directed at the sinner, who is no longer excluded, but rather a privileged guest at the banquet of salvation.

Varying themes

Fisichella explains that the Directory unfolds by touching on various themes.
The first — mystagogy­ — is presented through two elements: a renewed appraisal of the liturgical signs of Christian initiation, and the progressive maturation of the formation process, which involves the whole community. 
Another theme is the link between evangelization and the catechumenate. This highlights the urgency of a “pastoral conversion” to free catechesis from elements that prevent its effectiveness. 
Reiterating Pope Francis’s words in Evangelii gaudium, when he encouraged formation using in the “way of beauty” (via pulchritudinis), Fisichella points out that the Directory “has placed the way of beauty as one of the ‘sources’ of catechesis.”
The Archbishop also highlights that the Directory strives to “insert us progressively into the mystery of the faith.” He points out that this characteristic cannot be limited to a single dimension; rather catechesis can guide us to accept and live the mystery “completely in our daily existence.”
In his intervention, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst said that the Directory is attentive to the signs of the times and interprets them in the light of the Gospel. He pointed out that it gives courage to the content of faith and underlines the importance of catechesis in the wider process of evangelization. He also hopes that many local churches would be inspired to develop their own diocesan directories based on this new Directory.
Concluding, Archbishop Fisichella said he hopes the new Directory will be of assistance for the “renewal of catechesis in the process of evangelization that the Church has not tired of carrying out.”



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Vatican publishes new guidelines for teaching catechism






Giovedì 25 giugno 2020, alle ore 11.30 Conferenza Stampa di presentazione del Direttorio per la Catechesi redatto dal Pontificio Consiglio per la Promozione della Nuova Evangelizzazione


Conferenza Stampa di presentazione del Direttorio per la Catechesi





ALSO:
New Directory for Catechesis released
http://www.pcpne.va/content/pcpne/en/news/2020-06-25.html









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Monday, June 22, 2020

20th June 2020 - Pope Francis adds three new invocations to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary --- 20 ta' Ġunju 2020 - Il-Papa Franġisku jżid tliet invokazzjonijiet ġodda fil-Litanija



20 ta' Ġunju 2020 - Il-Papa Franġisku jżid tliet invokazzjonijiet ġodda fil-Litanija

“Mater misericordiæ”, il-Latin għal “Omm tal-ħniena”; “Mater spei”, jew “Omm it-tama”; u “Solacium migrantium”, jew “Faraġ tal-migranti” huma l-invokazzjonijiet ġodda lill-Verġni Mqaddsa Marija fil-Litanija Lawretana, li spiss tingħad fi tmiem ir-Rużarju. 

Skont id-direttivi, l-invokazzjoni “Omm tal-ħniena” għandha tiddaħħal wara “Omm il-Knisja”, “Omm it-tama” wara “Omm tal-grazzja ta’ Alla”, u “Faraġ tal-migranti” wara “Kenn tal-midinbin”.



 
Iż-żieda li l-Papa Franġisku għadu kemm għamel lil-Litanija Lawretana ġiet ippromulgata mill-Kongregazzjoni għall-Kult Divin u d-Dixxiplina tas-Sagramenti nhar is-Sibt 20 ta’ Ġunju 2020, fl-istess jum tal-Festa tal-Qalb bla Tebgħa ta’ Marija.

F’ittra lill-Presidenti tal-Konferenzi tal-Isqfijiet mad-dinja kollha, il-Kardinal Robert Sarah, il-Prefett tal-Kongregazzjoni, u s-Segretarju tagħha, l-Arċisqof Arthur Roche, jgħidu li mal-medda tas-sekli, l-Insara ilhom jużaw għadd bla tarf ta’ invokazzjonijiet u titli biex bihom isejħu lill-Verġni Marija, “bħala t-triq ipprivileġġjata u żgura għal-laqgħa ma’ Kristu”.

Tweġiba għall-ħtiġijiet ta’ żmienna

Huma jgħidu li “f’rabta ma’ żminijietna, immarkati minn sentimenti ta’ inċertezza u biża’, il-Poplu ta’ Alla jirrikorri b’qima għandha, kollu mħabba u fiduċja”.

“Wara li għarbel dan is-sentimenti u laqa’ x-xewqat espressi”, spjegat il-Kongregazzjoni, “il-Qdusija Tiegħu l-Papa Franġisku jixtieq jipprovdi li fil-formularju tal-Litanija tal-Verġni Mqaddsa Marija, imsejħa l-‘Litanija Lawretana’, jiddaħħlu l-invokazzjonijiet ‘Mater misericordiæ’, ‘Mater spei’ u ‘Solacium migrantium’”.

Skont id-direttivi, l-invokazzjoni “Omm tal-ħniena” għandha tiddaħħal wara “Omm il-Knisja”, “Omm it-tama” wara “Omm tal-grazzja ta’ Alla”, u “Faraġ tal-migranti” wara “Kenn tal-midinbin”.

F’intervista, l-Arċisqof Roche spjega li dawn l-invokazzjonijiet “iwieġbu għar-realtajiet taż-żminijiet li qed ngħixu fihom”. Ħafna nies mad-dinja kollha jħossuhom imġarrba b’ħafna modi, mhux biss minħabba l-pandemija tal-Covid-19, imma anki għax imġiegħla jħallu djarhom minħabba faqar, ġlied u raġunijiet oħra, u għalhekk jersqu jitolbu f’riġlejn il-Verġni Mbierka.

L-invokazzjonijiet mhumiex ġodda

L-Arċisqof Roche qal li l-Papa ried iwieġeb għal dan il-mument billi jinkludi dawn l-invokazzjonijiet. L-Arċisqof innota li dawn l-invokazzjonijiet mhumiex ġodda għax huma parti mit-tradizzjoni tal-Knisja li tmur lura sekli sħaħ, bħalma hi t-talba-innu, “Sliem għalik, Sultana, Omm tal-ħniena, tama tagħna…”.

“Dawn l-invokazzjonijiet kollha”, qal, “tqiegħdu fil-Litanija Lawretana, li hi għal qalb tant nies mad-dinja kollha. Issa din qed twieġeb għal bżonn veru li d-dinja tagħna llum għandha tal-għajnuna tal-Verġni Mbierka”.

X’inhi l-Litanija Lawretana?

Il-Litanija Lawretana tieħu isimha mis-Santwarju Marjan ta’ Loreto fl-Italja, fejn jingħad li kienet ilha tintuża sa mill-1531. Ġiet approvata uffiċjalment fl-1587 mill-Papa Sistu V, li neħħa l-litaniji Marjani l-oħra kollha li kienu jintużaw pubblikament. Il-Litanija Lawretana hi l-unika Litanija Marjana approvata. Imma, ħafna litaniji Marjani oħra kienu u għadhom jintużaw, imma huma mmirati għad-devozzjoni privata, kif jidher, ngħidu aħna, fl-hekk imsejħa Officia Mariana.

Mal-medda tas-sekli, tal-inqas ġew miżjuda 7 invokazzjonijiet ġodda. San Ġwanni Pawlu II żied “Omm il-Knisja” fl-1980, u “Sultana tal-familji” fl-1995. Il-Papa Franġisku issa żied tlieta oħra.

Jeżistu wkoll litaniji oħra, bħal tal-Qaddisin, tal-Ismijiet ta’ Ġesù, tal-Qalb Imqaddsa ta’ Ġesù, ta’ San Ġużepp (1909), tad-Demm Imqaddes u anki tal-Ħniena Divina.

Rapport għal Laikos minn Francesco Pio Attard

                                       
                                            http://laikos.org/litanija.htm


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 20th June 2020 - Pope adds three new invocations to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

“Mater misericordiae”, the Latin for “Mother of mercy”; "Mater spei", or “Mother of hope”; and “Solacium migrantium", or “Solace of migrants” are the new invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Litany of Loreto, which is often recited at the end of the Rosary. 

According to directions, the invocation, “Mother of mercy” is to be inserted after “Mother of the Church”, "Mother of hope” after “Mother of Divine Grace” and “Solace of migrants” after “Refuge of sinners”. 


The Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei, Italy.



By Vatican News
The addition that Pope Francis has made to the Litany of Loreto, was made public by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, on Saturday.  It was timed for the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, June 20.
In a letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences worldwide, Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Prefect of the Congregation, and its Secretary, Archbishop Arthur Roche, note that through the course of centuries, Christians have been using innumerable invocations and titles to call upon the Virgin Mary, “as the privileged and sure way to an encounter with Christ”.

Responding to the needs of our time

“Referring to the present times, marked by feelings of uncertainty and trepidation, the People of God,” they say, “devoutly recourse to her, full of affection and trust.”
“Discerning this sentiment and welcoming the desires expressed,” the Congregation explains, “the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis, wishes to provide that in the formulary of the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, called ‘The Litany of Loreto’, the invocations ‘Mater misericordiæ’, ‘Mater spei’ and ‘Solacium migrantium’ should be inserted.”
According to directions, the invocation, “Mother of mercy” is to be inserted after “Mother of the Church”, "Mother of hope” after “Mother of Divine Grace” and “Solace of migrants” after “Refuge of sinners”. 
In an interview, Archbishop Roche explained that these invocations “respond to the realities of the time that we are living”.  Speaking to Vatican News, he said that many people across the world who are afflicted in many ways, not only by the Covid-19 pandemic, but also forced from their homes because of poverty, conflict and other reasons, are invoking Our Lady. 

Invocations not new

Archbishop Roche said that the Holy Father wanted to respond to this moment by including these invocations.  The archbishop pointed out that these invocations are not new because they are part of the tradition of the Church that go back many centuries, such as the prayer and hymn, “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, Hail our hope…”. 
“All these invocations,” he said, “have been put into the Litany of Loreto, which is beloved by people throughout the world.”  “It is now responding to a real need that there is in our world today for the assistance of Our Blessed Lady.”

What is the Litany of Loreto?

The Litany of Loreto takes its name from the Marian shrine of Loreto in Italy, where it is believed to have been used as far back as 1531.  It was officially approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V, who suppressed all other Marian litanies used publicly.  The Litany of Loreto is the only approved Marian litany.  However, many more Marian litanies were and are in use, but are designated for private devotion, as is evident, for example, in the so-called Officia Mariana
Through the centuries at least 7 new invocations to Mary were added.  Saint Pope John Paul II added “Mother of the Church” in 1980, and “Queen of families” in 1995.  Pope Francis has now added three more.
There are also other litanies such as of Saints, of the Names of Jesus, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of Saint Joseph (1909), of the Precious Blood and also of Divine Mercy.






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Friday, June 12, 2020

“Chaire kecharitomene, ho Kyrios meta sou“, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28).