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Saturday, July 16, 2011

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: SAT. JULY 16, 2011







  • VATICAN: POPE: APPOINTMENTS OF BISHOPS

    EUROPE: AUSTRIA: 10,000 AT FUNERAL OF OTTO HABSBURG

    TODAY'S SAINT: JULY 16: OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL


    VATICAN: POPE: APPOINTMENTS OF BISHOPS

    Vatican.va report: The Holy Father Benedict XVI appointed Bishop of Cúcuta (Colombia), Julio César Vidal Ortiz Archbishop, now Bishop of Montería. (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)

    Julio Cesar Vidal Ortiz Archbishop

    Julio Cesar Vidal Ortiz Archbishop was born June 19, 1944 in Tierralta, Diocese of Montelíbano. He attended high school in the Minor Seminary and continued his studies Montería philosophical - theological seminary in Barranquilla.

    It 'was ordained April 7, 1973 in the diocese of Montería. He completed his postgraduate studies in Barcelona (Spain) where he obtained a licentiate in theology.

    During his priestly ministry was parochial vicar in several parishes, then was named pastor of Chinua, Sotavento and "Our Lady of Fatima" in Montería. At the same time the parish ministry has held various positions at the diocesan level as a delegate for clergy and member of the diocesan vocations, spiritual director of the Minor Seminary of Montería and Vicar General of the diocese.

    On 16 December 1993 he was appointed Prelate of Alto Sinu, and received episcopal consecration February 18, 1994. On 29 December 1998, the Prelature has been built with the title of the diocese and Bishop Vidal Montelíbano he became its first bishop.

    On 31 October 2001 he was appointed Bishop of Montería.

    [01097-01.01]

  • APPOINTMENT OF BISHOP Ihosy (MADAGASCAR)

    The Pope has appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Ihosy (Madagascar) the Rev.do P. Fulgence Razakarivony, MS, Vice-Secretary of the Administrative Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar.

    Rev.do P. Fulgence Razakarivony, MS

    The Rev.do P. Fulgence Razakarivony, MS, was born August 16, 1963 at Betsiholany. He completed his primary studies at Betafo, and secondary diocesan minor seminary in Antsirabe.Salettiani entered between, he studied philosophy and theology at the Catholic Institute of Madagascar (ICM), and has made his final vows in 1990. He was ordained a priest on August 8, 1993.

    After ordination, he held the following positions: 1993-1996: assistant priest of the Missionary District of Ankazomiriotra, 1996-1999: pastor of the same district, 1999-2002: parish vicar and curate of Ambararatabe District, in the Diocese of

    Tsiroanomandidy, 2002-2004: Training course for trainers of Religious Catholic Institute of Paris, 2004-2006: Director of the Scholasticate Salettiani Foyer of La Salette in Antananarivo, 2006-2007: Director of the School of apostolic Antsirabé, 2006-2009: Assistant Provincial, from 2009: Deputy Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Conference Malagasy.

    [01098-01.01]

  • APPOINTMENT OF BISHOP Matamoros (Mexico)

    The Holy Father has appointed Bishop of Matamoros (Mexico) Ruy Rendón Leal Archbishop, now Bishop Prelate of El Salto.

    Ruy Rendón Leal Archbishop

    Ruy Rendón Leal Archbishop was born in Ciudad de Cadereyta de Jimenez, in the State of Nuevo Leon, October 27, 1953. He studied philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary of Monterrey. Then in 1995 he obtained a Licentiate in Biblical Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

    He was ordained priest on September 8, 1979, with incardination Archdiocese of Monterrey.

    On 28 September 2005 he was appointed Bishop Prelate of El Salto, receiving episcopal ordination on 30 November.

    He is currently a member of the Commission for the University of Mexico.

    [01099-01.01]

  • APPOINTMENT OF AUXILIARY Krakow (Poland)

    The Pope has named Auxiliary Bishops of the Archdiocese of Krakow (Poland):

    - The Rev. Grzegorz Rys Rev.do, the clergy of the archdiocese itself, now Rector of the Major Seminary of Krakow, assigning him the titular see of ARCave;

    - The Father Damian Rev.do Andrzej Muskus, OFM, Provincial Secretary for Education to date, assigning him the titular see of Amaia.

    Monsignor Grzegorz Rys Rev.do

    The Monsignor Grzegorz Rys Rev.do was born February 9, 1964 in Kraków. In 1982 he entered the major seminary of Krakow. On 22 May 1988 he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Krakow.

    After a year as assistant priest at K ê ty, at the Pontifical Theological Academy in Krakow, he received a Doctorate in History.

    Since 1994 he is Professor of Church History and in 2000 he achieved the qualification at the Academy.

    In the years 2004-2007 was Director of the Chapter of Wawel in Krakow.

    In 2007 he was rector of the seminary of the Archdiocese of Krakow.

    In 2010 he was Chairman of the Conference of Rectors of Major Seminaries in Poland.

    He is currently Rector of the Seminary, Professor of Church History and a member of the Council of Priests and the Pastoral Council.

    Rev.do P. Andrzej Damian Muskus, OFM

    The Father Damian Rev.do Andrzej Muskus, OFM, was born September 6, 1967 in Nowa Sarzyna.

    On October 4, 1991 he made his perpetual vows in the Order of Friars Minor, and June 12, 1993 he was ordained a priest.

    In the years 1994-1998 he studied at the Catholic University of Lublin, where he received a Doctorate in Theology with specialization in Catechetics.

    From 1999 to 2002 he was professor and prefect of discipline of the Major Seminary in the years 2002-2005, then rector of the seminary at the same inscribed.

    In the years 2005-2011 is the custodian of the shrine is inscribed.

    Recently in 2011 he was appointed Provincial Secretary for Education.

    [01100-01.01]

  • EUROPE: AUSTRIA: 10,000 AT FUNERAL OF OTTO HABSBURG

    More than 10,000 people at the funeral of Otto von Habsburg in Vienna (IMAGE: 2SPACE.NET) - On Saturday there was a Requiem at St. Stephen and a long funeral processionof the famous Anklopfzeremonie in the Capuchin church. Several thousand people watched onthree large video screens in the streets of Vienna. Cardinal Christoph Schonborn was the main celebrant and celebrated Requiem for Otto von Habsburg.At the beginning of the service leaving theApostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Peter Stephan Zurbriggen read the published letter of condolence.Pope Benedict XVI honors Habsburg as a "great European" who had "used peace, for the coexistence of people and a just order on the continent".
    The first reading was reading Karl Habsburg-Lorraine, the second reading ofhis eldest sonFerdinand Zvonimir. The intercessions were read by the seven children of the deceased, sonsCharles and George and their daughters: Andrea, Monika, Michaela, Gabriela and Walburga.Concelebrants were thearchbishops Dominik Duka (Prague), Robert Bezak (Trnava), thediocesanbishops Vojtech Cikrle (Brno) and Franjo Komarica (Banja Luka), Auxiliary BishopAnton Jamnik (Ljubljana), Altabt Gregor Henckel-Donnersmarck (HolyCross), GermanOrder's Grand Master Bruno Platter, Superior Father KarlSchauer (Mariazell), Capuchinprovincial Lech Siebert, P. Paolo Habsburg (Rome) and the related family priest. 100 otherpriests were in the front, including the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Michael Staikos and the bishops Klaus Küng (St. Pölten) and Ludwig Schwarz (Linz).

    AMERICA: USA: 35,000 ROSARIES PRAYED WHILE RUNNING ACROSS USA

    CATHOLIC HERALD REPORT: Catholic who prayed the rosary 35,000 times while running across America, dodging wild animals on the way

    By ED WEST on Monday, 20 June 2011

    ‘Sometimes God works in funny ways’

    Jeff Grabosky pauses at the Brooklyn Bridge near the end of his gruelling 3,700-mile run from the West Coast to the East Coast

    America is a country of open expanses, limitless prairie fields, mountain ranges and desert, and extreme cold and heat. But most of all America is vast, the distances between its oceans almost incomprehensible to the European mind.

    One man who certainly knows all this is Jeff Grabosky, who on May 20 arrived on the shore of the Atlantic on Long Island, New York, having run from southern California’s Pacific coast, a 3,700-mile journey which he undertook to encourage Americans to pray. Along the way he prayed the rosary 35,000 times.

    It was the end of a journey that began long before he set off. Grabosky, 28, grew up in a Catholic family in New Jersey, graduating from the prestigious University of Notre Dame in 2005, after which he landed a well-paid job in the insurance industry, married his college sweetheart and bought a house.

    But in October 2006 he suffered a double blow. His mother lost her battle with cancer and less than a week later his wife walked out.

    Devastated, Grabosky sold up and moved to Washington DC to be closer to his brother and sister, and a few days later went for a six-mile run. Although painful to his out-of-shape body, it made him decide he would dedicate his life to running.

    His love of athletics, like his Catholicism, came from his mother, and the two things were intimately connected. She ran every day, and prayed while she did so. “She always brought me and my brother and sister to the track or the park,” he says. “I would always watch her run and pray together at the same time. So I put the two together at an early age.”

    Catholicism was central to this Polish-American family. “Mass was a big part of our daily lives, praying every day and every night. It was never forced, it was up to us if we wanted to or not.”

    It was after running a marathon in 2008 that the idea first entered his mind: he would run across the entire continent of America to encourage people to pray.

    “The idea just grew on me. I really felt pulled in that direction, that I was supposed to do that. When everything came together in 2010 that’s when I decided to go ahead.”

    The immediate question one has to ask is: what did his friends and colleagues think about it? As it turns out he worked at a specialist running shop, and so they more or less understood. “They know me and weren’t that surprised. The store owners even sent me running shoes along my route.” He got through 12 pairs.

    He moved in with family and trained for five months, building up his strength for the ordeal ahead. He would run 200 miles a week, acclimatising to running at high altitude, planning the route and what supplies he would need.

    “There was a lot of logistics that went into it,” he says. “I didn’t take a route that anyone else has taken, I just planned it myself. So it was hard to find roads to run on. In some parts of the country there were roads that not many people have ever run on.”

    America is 3,000 miles coast to coast, but Jeff decided to take an eccentric route in order to visit “family and old codger mates” along the way, making it over 3,700 miles in total. He used Google Maps, and also wrote out index cards for each day with directions.
    Only 43 people have run from ocean to ocean, although 200 have run “somewhere near across the country”, he says, “but I’m the 43rd person to run and it was definitely a long route in total.” It took him 121 days, running the equivalent of 141 marathons.

    American history stretches east to west, from the first English settlements in Virginia to the modern dominance of California in the age of entertainment and computers (and road movies always move in the direction of the Golden State). But logistics made it necessary to go the other way. “Towards the end I was definitely hurting and I didn’t want to go over any mountain ranges or anything that big,” he says. “Besides, I also knew a lot of people on the East Coast so I would use that as motivation.”
    He began in southern California, just north of San Diego, on January 20, and was soon in the state’s vast interior desert. It was an experience that stretched him physically and spiritually.
    “The desert was tough. It was close to 90 miles from town to town, so I brought a tent and camped out a couple of nights in between. That was difficult: to not see too many people and to be running through in those hot conditions, with the problem of supplies, it was very mentally challenging”.

    “I felt reflective, just being so far away, thinking Jesus had to go through with this, I felt a connection with that. I felt like I emerged out of the desert a different person to the one when I entered. It’s hard to describe. It’s definitely a very spiritual experience.”

    And then there were the hills. Although he trained at high altitude, breathing was still difficult. “I was a little bit south of the Rockies, but it still reached 8,000ft in elevation and it got cold up there. It was 11 degree Fahrenheit [-12 degrees centigrade]. It was also very windy.”

    In Texas, he says, “it got really, really difficult. The winds were sustained over 60 mph and because of the drought the dirt and dust blew around. The wind was strong enough to knock me over, and there was limited visibility because there was sand everywhere. And there were cars still on the road so I was trying to avoid them.

    “The dust didn’t hurt but it did get everywhere. I had a bandana around my mouth but it still got around my mouth, my nose, my eyes. There were tumbleweeds like you see in movies, and they were actually thorny and were being tossed very fast and I got hit in the legs with them and that actually hurt.”

    There is often a great overlap between endurance sports and religion, and many athletes have faith. It is perhaps because of the mental strength that faith gives an athlete, perhaps because the physical torment helps one to understand the human suffering that religion helps to make sense of.

    “It was very difficult but just through prayer I was given the strength to complete. There’s no way I could do it on my own and I knew it was going to be very challenging but I had faith that God would carry me through. Every time I thought I was out of energy or running into a tough place mentality He helped to pull me through. Prayer was really how it was done; it’s a physical feat but to me it’s more about spiritual accomplishment.”

    In Oklahoma he had to stop for a medical, fearing a stress fracture, before heading north to Notre Dame in Indiana to see old roommates and colleagues.

    “That was very important in my spiritual development,” he says. “It was great to be back, they were very welcoming. I had a prayer service. I prayed the rosary. I gave a talk about why I was doing it. It was a great point for reflection.”

    There was a half marathon that morning and he talked to the runners, to encourage them on their journey, and “hopefully provide them with a little inspiration”.

    He reflects: “If I had gone straight from that point in Texas I would have saved myself 500 miles, I basically took a 500-mile detour but it was that important to me.”

    So why run for prayer? It’s an unusual idea, I suggest. “I was initially considering doing something for charity, perhaps for cancer, which is important to me because of my mum, what she dealt with. But I wanted to include as many people as possible, not just any single disease. And I thought the best way to help as many people as possible was to pray for what they needed.”

    In all he received some 3,500 prayer requests, an experience he found emotional. “The further I went in the less it became about me and more about the people I was praying for. Because of the prayer requests that were sent in I felt really privileged to have an insight into how everyone is struggling. Being able to pray for them was such an honour. I started up praying for all these people and they ended up praying for me as well. I felt the powers of those prayers, the protection and the graces I received. When I was struggling, in physical pain or mentally exhausted, I would look at the requests and see children suffering with terrible illnesses. People in a lot more painful, difficult situations. That gave me inspiration.

    “People continued to email me from around the world, they would post on my website or on my Facebook site. Even on the road people would stop me and ask me what the heck I was doing and I would tell them and pretty much every time they gave me one or two requests to pray for. That was really encouraging. It showed me that the world really does need God and does need prayer.”

    Along the way he estimates that around 300 dogs chased him, 10 together at one point, and he even ran into a mountain lion, but his experience with people increased his appreciation of human generosity.

    “It’s not something I expected to encounter but it’s been constant throughout the run how much people were willing to give of themselves and what they have, even if it’s very little. That really encouraged me to be more generous with the blessings I’ve been give. That’s not something I expected to find but God works in funny ways sometimes.

    “Construction workers would on a couple of occasions stop me and give me a few dollars. They didn’t even ask, they just figured I was someone who could do with some help. It was a humbling experience, but one that has increased my faith in people.”

    The final stretch took him to Washington, where his brother and sister live with their spouses.

    “I had a niece who was born three days after my run so I was really looking forward to that. I ran my most miles in a week at that point” – a staggering 350 miles.

    From there, his journey took him through his home town in New Jersey, where he visited his mother’s grave, through New York City, “right through Times Square”, and across the Brooklyn Bridge, where on Long Island he jumped into the Atlantic Ocean.

    Now resting in New York Grabosky describes himself as “just a bit sore, a bit tired”. When we speak he’s about to do a five-kilometre fun run, which he does every year (it must be like a walk to the fridge for him).

    The good wishes and support of strangers has been the most important aspect of the journey. He spent 18 nights enjoying the hospitality of people he never met and says “there are friends who will be friends with for a lifetime. I have people I know all over the country.” Most of all he cherishes the prayers and help of people, in this great, vast nation built on prayer and Christian hope.

    “Starting out I thought it was going to be the scenery I’ll remember most,” he says. “But it was actually the people who were the highlight of my trip.”

    Visit Jeffrunsamerica.com

    http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2011/06/20/%E2%80%98sometimes-god-works-in-funny-ways%E2%80%99/

    ASIA: INDIA: NUNS PRAY FOR PEACE AND HARMONY

    ASIA NEWS REPORT: The feast of Our Lady of Mount Caramel celebrated in the monastery of Andheri East, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The sisters pray for the city humiliated by bombs, for the wounded, the families of those killed. But mostly because they pray that in Mumbai and in India peace, harmony, mutual tolerance may grow. The testimony of Sr. Mary Joseph, 40 years converted from Hinduism.

    Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The feast of Our Lady of Mount Caramel, celebrated today in the Carmelite monastery in Andheri East, was an opportunity to ask God and Our Lady for peace for the city, which on July 13 was again targeted by terrorism.

    Since early morning, friends and relatives of the sisters have moved to prepare the feast, talking softly and moving tables and chairs quietly not to spoil the silence of the cloister.

    The monastery of the Carmelites in Andheri East, on the outskirts of Mumbai is an oasis of silence and peace, even more appreciated in this period of instability and insecurity that afflicts Mumbai after three bombs exploded in downtown, in busy areas.

    The bombings targeted Dadar, Zaveri Bazaar and the Opera House, home to the gold market and that of gems and diamonds. The frustration of the people over the carnage that killed 21 people and wounded more than 100, is added to that of the police, who are unable to find any leads, given that all traces have been washed away by monsoon rains.

    The city knows no rest, but here at the monastery, all speak of peace. The sisters are a community of contemplative life, but this does not mean they are separated from the world. On the contrary, they are very aware of the pains and problems. These days, they are relentlessly praying for the city humiliated by bombs, for the wounded, the families of those killed. But mostly because they in Mumbai and in India peace, harmony, mutual tolerance may grow..

    For the Mass of Our Lady of Mount Caramel, chief concelebrant, Msgr. Agnelo Gracias, asked all present to pray for peace in "this house of prayer and peace" which is the monastery.

    "The Carmelite life - said Msgr. Gracias - is a life hidden from the world, but it is a life for God, for the Church and the world. We who constantly run around, weighed down by a lot of unnecessary things, bombarded by noise and violence, we tend to forget the deeper meaning of life that instead we see here testified. "

    The bishop compared the tradition of Mount Caramel, the place where Elijah was looking for a relationship with Yahweh, with the Hindu tradition of the Himalayas and Mount Kailash, considered to be a place where divinity dwells.

    And returning to the pain that still envelops the city, he said that "Mary also went through dark times in which she did not understand ... Hence the value of silence, of contemplation, of prayer to make room for God."

    Among those living in the Carmelite monastery is Sister Mary Joseph, baptized 40 years ago just by Msgr. Gracias (then a simple priest). Sister Mary Joseph (named Radha Krishnan a convert from Hinduism), told AsiaNews of her joy for the faith in Christ: "I want to shout to the world how wonderful it is to belong to Jesus ... At the same time I wonder: who am I to have been chosen and to be filled with this grace? There are millions of girls and boys better than me, who have grown up in the Catholic faith since childhood. How I wish that everyone, young and old, could understand the enormous treasure of happiness and peace that the Church, our mother, can offer her children. "

    AUSTRALIA: CATHOLIC WOMENS' LEAGUE MAKE BLANKETS FOR POOR IN ASIA

    ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY REPORT: Thanks to the dedicated energies and talents of members of the Sydney Archdiocese's Catholic Women's League (CWL), disadvantaged youngsters in Sri Lanka not only have a new pre-school but a range of vivid, hand-knitted blankets to keep them warm.

    For the past 12 months members of Sydney's CWL have devoted their time and talents to raising money to help build and equip a Lasallian Foundation pre-school in Sri Lanka where the children are disadvantaged and come from some of the country's poorest families.

    Not only did the group of CWL members raise $31,000 over the past year towards the school but they have spent many hours creating a wonderful series of beautiful brightly-coloured blankets for the school's young children.

    The official 2010-2011 project for the CWL was set to end this month, but although members are already embarking on their project for 2011-2012, President of the Sydney CWL, Moya Potts says no one is putting down their knitting needles just yet.

    "Children are using the blankets for their naps during school hours as well as a way to keep warm and also for any child who becomes ill. They need as many as we can supply," she says.

    But while the knitting will continue, Sydney's CWL has begun fundraising plans for its newest project which will see them working closely with the Marist Youth Care to help at risk young people in Western Sydney.

    Sri Lankan Preschoolers wearing Blankets
    Knitted by Sydney's CWL

    For the next 12 months, Moya says members will concentrate on raising funds and giving practical help and support to Marist Youth Care's "Affordable Housing for Life" initiative which is helping to provide permanent housing for youth at risk as well as training and the chance at a more positive and productive life.

    "It is a wonderful initiative and we will do all we can to help," Moya says explaining that in western Sydney the key issues for young people are high unemployment and homelessness.

    "Marist Youth Care's Affordable Housing for Life will not only provide a bed for these young people but the tools and training for a brighter happier future," she says.

    With a membership of all ages, from all walks of life, linked by their Catholic faith, desire to help others and a good strong Aussie sense of humour, in addition to its volunteer and fund raising efforts to help projects such as the Lasallian pre school and youth at risk via Marist Youth Care, CWL is instrumental in making many key submissions to the Federal and State Governments.

    In recent years CWL has been a strong voice in Government submissions on a wide range of important contemporary issues including taking a stand against euthanasia as well as the legalisation of RU486, popularly dubbed the 'morning after' or 'abortion pill.'

    In addition CWL organises an annual forum of some of the leading minds in Australia which attracts a strong and interested audience of women from across the city.

    Preschool Sydney's CWL helped to Build in Sri Lanka

    This year's forum, Journeys to Justice, will take place next week on Saturday afternoon, 23 July at the Australian Museum Theatrette. The impressive line up of guest panellists will include leading Magistrate with the Local Courts NSW, Jacqueline M. Milledge; the Honorable John Hannaford, former Examiner with the Australian Crime Commission and Ms Sandie Cornish, Manager of Research and Social Policy for the Rosemount Good Shepherd Youth and Family Services.

    The panellists will discuss the relevance of justice in today's society after which there will be an open forum of questions and answers with Marita Winters, Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre acting as Facilitator.

    Founded to provide support in faith and day to day life for Catholic women and to address social and moral issues affecting family life, particularly in relation to women and children, CWL champions equality for all in areas of health, education and economic and social welfare as well working closely with church leaders and organisations, with a strong emphasis on social justice.

    But for most people, it is the selfless energy and time members of the CWL put in to help others that is so impressive.

    "What is most heart warming for all of us was hearing from the Lasallian Foundation who sent us photographs of the children as a thank you for our efforts," says Moya. "Seeing the children with their big smiles holding up our blankets was a lovely surprise."

    To join in the upcoming CWL forum on justice in today's society and its relevance, and also to find out details of becoming a member and helping make a difference to children and youth both here and abroad, log on tohttp://cwlsydney.org.au/our_work.html

    http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/news/latest_news/2011/2011715_1079.shtml

    AFRICA: KENYA: LARGEST REFUGEE CAMP WITH 272, 000 AND GROWING

    Agenzia Fides REPORT - The largest agglomeration in the world for the displaced is in Dadaab, inhabited by about 270 000 refugees from Somalia. The camp, created in 1991 in Dadaab is located 500 km north of Nairobi and 80 from the border with Somalia. The refugees have lived here for over 20 years and most of them were born there. Living conditions are very difficult and the weather is very bad. In 2009 the Association of Volunteers for the International Service (AVIS), at the request of the Italian Cooperation, developed an educational intervention aimed at the rehabilitation of school facilities and teacher training in collaboration with Mount Kenya University, which has issued to teachers academic recognition. The AVIS project, even with a thousand difficulties, also seeks to ensure safety, water supplies, food distribution and medical care.

    TODAY'S SAINT: JULY 16: OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL

    Our Lady of Mount Carmel

    Feast: July 16



    Information:

    Feast Day:July 16

    This feast was instituted by the Carmelites between 1376 and 1386 under the title "Commemoratio B. Marif Virg. duplex" to celebrate the victory of their order over its enemies on obtaining the approbation of its name and constitution from Honorius III on 30 Jan., 1226 (see Colvenerius, "Kal. Mar.", 30 Jan. "Summa Aurea", III, 737). The feast was assigned to 16 July, because on that date in 1251, according to Carmelite traditions, the scapular was given by the Blessed Virgin to St. Simon Stock; it was first approved by Sixtus V in 1587. After Cardinal Bellarmine had examined the Carmelite traditions in 1609, it was declared the patronal feast of the order, and is now celebrated in the Carmelite calendar as a major double of the first class with a vigil and a privileged octave (like the octave of Epiphany, admitting only a double of the first class) under the title "Commemoratio solemnis B.V.M. de Monte Carmelo". By a privilege given by Clement X in 1672, some Carmelite monasteries keep the feast on the Sunday after 16 July, or on some other Sunday in July. In the seventeenth century the feast was adopted by several dioceses in the south of Italy, although its celebration, outside of Carmelite churches, was prohibited in 1628 by a decree contra abusus. On 21 Nov., 1674, however, it was first granted by Clement X to Spain and its colonies, in 1675 to Austria, in 1679 to Portugal and its colonies, and in 1725 to the Papal States of the Church, on 24 Sept., 1726, it was extended to the entire Latin Church by Benedict XIII. The lessons contain the legend of the scapular; the promise of the Sabbatine privilege was inserted into the lessons by Paul V about 1614. The Greeks of southern Italy and the Catholic Chaldeans have adopted this feast of the "Vestment of the Blessed Virgin Mary". The object of the feast is the special predilection of Mary for those who profess themselves her servants by wearing her scapular.



    SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/O/ourladyofmountcarmel.asp#ixzz1SHWhSka7

    TODAY'S GOSPEL: JULY 16: Matthew 12: 14- 21

    Matthew 12: 14 - 21
    14But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him, how to destroy him.
    15Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all,
    16and ordered them not to make him known.
    17This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
    18"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
    19He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any one hear his voice in the streets;
    20he will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till he brings justice to victory;
    21and in his name will the Gentiles hope."