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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : TUES. JAN. 3, 2012


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VATICAN : POPE : OVER 2.5 MILLION MET POPE IN 2011
AMERICA : CANADA : GROUP OF ANGLICANS RECEIVED TO CHURCH
AUSTRALIA : NEW INSTITUTE OF SISTERS OF MERCY
AFRICA : NIGERIA : SECT ASKS CHRISTIANS TO LEAVE
ASIA : ISRAEL - LEBANON : BORDER ON CEASEFIRE LINE
EUROPE : POLAND : STAR SINGERS COLLECT DONATIONS
TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS ONLINE : TUES. JAN. 3, 2012
TODAY'S SAINT : JAN. 3 : ST. GENEVIEVE
 
VATICAN : POPE : OVER 2.5 MILLION MET POPE IN 2011
VIS REPORT: MORE THAN 2.5 MILLION FAITHFUL MEET THE POPE IN 2011 (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)

VATICAN CITY, 3 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household has published a communique announcing that, during the course of 2011, 2,553,800 faithful participated in various meetings with Benedict XVI including general audiences (400,000), private audiences (101,800), liturgical celebrations (846,000), Angelus and Regina Coeli (1,206,000). These statistics, which show an increase with respect to the last three years, refer only to meetings that took place in the Vatican or Castelgandolfo, and do not include the many thousands of faithful who came to see the Holy Father on his journeys in Italy or abroad.

The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household explains that the numbers are approximate, calculated on the basis of requests to participate in meetings with the Pope and on the tickets distributed, as well as on estimations of people present at events such as the Angelus or large celebrations in St. Peter's Square. The single event which brought together the largest number of faithful was the beatification of John Paul II on 1 May.
PROGRAMME OF THE POPE'S APOSTOLIC TRIP TO MEXICO AND CUBA

VATICAN CITY, 3 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday the episcopal conferences of Mexico and Cuba published separate press communiques announcing details of Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to those countries, due to take place from 23 to 28 March. The Holy Father had expressed his intention to make an apostolic trip to Mexico and Cuba during a Mass celebrated in the Vatican Basilica on 12 December, Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron of Latin America.

The note issued by the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate explains that the Pope will arrive at the airport of Leon in the State of Guanajuato on the afternoon of Friday 23 March. He will be greeted there by Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, president of Mexico, by members of the episcopal conference and by Archbishop Jose Guadalupe Martin of Leon. During his stay, the Holy Father will lodge in the residence of the Miraflores College in Leon.

On Saturday 24 March, he will travel to the Casa del Conde Rul in the city of Guanajuato, the headquarters of the State Government, where he will hold an official meeting with President Calderon Hinojosa. After the meeting the Pope will greet and bless children and faithful gathered in the city's Plaza de la Paz.

On the morning of Sunday 25 March Benedict XVI will preside at Mass in the Parque Bicentenario in the municipality of Silao, at the foot of hill known as the Cerro del Cubilete at the top of which is a statue of Christ the King. Following the ceremony he is due to meet with representatives from the ninety-one dioceses of Mexico. That evening the Holy Father will preside at Vespers in the cathedral of Leon with Mexican bishops and representatives of other Latin American episcopates, to whom he will address a message.

On the morning of Monday 26 March, the Pope will take his official leave of the civil and religious authorities of Mexico at the airport of Leon, before flying to Cuba.

The note published by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba explains that the Pope is due to arrive in Santiago de Cuba in the early afternoon of 26 March. He will be welcomed by Raul Castro, president of Cuba, by members of the episcopal conference and by Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago. The Holy Father will then travel by open-top car to the Plaza de la Revolucion where he will celebrate Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation. After the ceremony, the Pope will move on to the nearby mining town of El Cobre where he will lodge in a residence for priests.

On the morning of Tuesday 27 March the Holy Father will make a private visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity where he will pray before the image of the patron of Cuba. He will then go to the airport of Santiago to fly to the capital city Havana, where he is due to arrive at midday. He will be welcomed there by Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of Havana and by other religious and civil authorities. That afternoon the Pope will hold an official meeting with President Castro, then meet with Cuban bishops in the apostolic nunciature.

On the morning of Wednesday 28 March, the Pope will preside at Mass in the Plaza de la Revolucion "Jose Marti". In the early afternoon he will be taken by open-top car to the airport of Havana were, following the departure ceremony, he will board his return flight for Rome.
PV-MEXICO:CUBA/ VIS 20120103 (600)

AMERICA : CANADA : GROUP OF ANGLICANS RECEIVED TO CHURCH

Anglicans received into the Catholic Church
ARCHDIOCESE OF HAMILTON RELEASE: This past Sunday, the 1st of January, 2012, during a special celebration on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, received a group of Anglicans from the Kitchener-Waterloo area into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church. The Mass, within which they were received, was celebrated in accordance with the ‘Anglican Use Rite’ at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hamilton, OntarioA letter from Bishop Crosby concerning Kitchener-Waterloo Anglicans received into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church

LETTER FROM BISHOP CROSBY: “For many years, groups of Anglicans repeatedly asked the Pope if it would be possible for them to become Catholics, while at the same time being allowed to keep their liturgical, musical, spiritual, and pastoral traditions, which had developed over the 500-year history of Anglicanism, and which they greatly valued. In November of 2009, in response to these requests, the Holy See, through the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus (“Groups of Anglicans”) and its accompanying norms, established a new structure within the Catholic Church to allow Anglicans who become Catholics to do just that.” (Archbishop Thomas Collins, Toronto)
Within our Diocese of Hamilton, a small group of Anglicans has been meeting in the Kitchener-Waterloo area since 1996 in a community know as St. Edmund’s Anglican Catholic Church. This group of Anglicans has indicated their desire to be received into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church under the terms of Anglicanorum Coetibus. For several months they have been preparing for this by prayer and a period of instruction based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
On January 1st, 2012, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, in the Cathedral of Christ the King, I, as Bishop of Hamilton, will receive these men and women into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church by the Profession of Faith and the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist. The Mass will be celebrated according to the Anglican Use – a fully-authorized Catholic liturgy that maintains distinctive elements of the Anglican heritage of language, music, tradition and spirituality.
From January 1st, these newly-received will be known as the Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, and will continue as an Anglican Use community within the Diocese of Hamilton. They will, in due time, become part of the Personal Ordinariate that is being erected in the United States. Until then, they will be served by Fr. William Foote as Chaplain.
As Catholics, the members of the Sodality of St. Edmund will be subject to the Code of Canon Law and will fully embrace the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We welcome them into the Roman Catholic Church, pray for them, and invite them to pray for us.
Sincerely in Christ and Mary Immaculate,
(Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI

AUSTRALIA : NEW INSTITUTE OF SISTERS OF MERCY

BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF AUSTRALIA RELEASE:
Institutional leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy
MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday December 20, 2011

About 1,500 Sisters of Mercy, their friends, families and ministry colleagues gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday, December 18, for the foundation Eucharist of the newly established Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).
This historic occasion, also attended by members of other religious congregations and many bishops and priests from dioceses throughout Australia and PNG, heralded the beginning of a new era for the Sisters of Mercy.
Just six days earlier on December 12, the 180th anniversary of the founding of the Order of Mercy in Ireland by Venerable Catherine McAuley, 14 of the 17 Australian Mercy congregations, along with their sisters from the Autonomous Region of PNG, came together as one new institute for their first chapter.
During this inaugural chapter, held at Baulkham Hills in Sydney, 60 representatives of the 930-strong group of sisters elected a new leadership group, comprising Sisters Berneice Loch (Institute Leader), Annette Schneider (Vicar), Theresia Tina (Councillor), Barbara Bolster (Councillor) and Sally Bradley (Councillor).
Speaking to those gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral, newly elected leader, Sister Berneice Loch said there was a “deep concern” among sisters gathered at the chapter about the “vast extent of displacement in our world: displacement within individuals who have suffered various forms of trauma; the far more obvious ways of displaced people – economic and political refugees among them; displacement experienced in environmental devastation and change”.
Sister Berneice added: “Making a response calls for local action and always will, but to make a difference we need also to work for change at national and international levels.
“Sisters of Mercy internationally have a presence in United Nations circles and we hope our renewed capacity will help us all to be a more effective part of those networks,” she said.
In his words of welcome at the Eucharist, principal celebrant, Cardinal George Pell acknowledged the contribution of the Sisters of Mercy to many individuals and communities.
“It’s wonderful to see so many sisters and friends and I think the number of bishops is indicative of the debt – [for] some of us a lifelong debt – that we owe to the Sisters of Mercy,” he said.
For Archbishop Philip Wilson, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Gospel reading of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) was “very appropriate” for the foundation Eucharist of the new Institute.
“The Gospel of today reminds us that we live in a Church that began at a moment when Mary, a woman, was able to be open to God and provide a space for Jesus to take flesh within her womb and for the work of God’s redemption and re-creation… to take place. This moment when Mary, the Holy Spirit and Jesus were together, was a moment of re-birth, of re-creation,” he explained in his homily.
“And today,” he continued, “we commemorate one of those moments where a group of women re-dedicate themselves to the life of the Church and the Gospel of the Lord within the specific charism that was established by Catherine McAuley. And this is a moment of re-generation, of re-birth and opportunity, a moment for new and wonderful things to happen – not without its challenges and I’m sure not without its difficulties.”
For many years, but particularly since 2005, the 17 Australian congregations and the Autonomous Region of PNG, who were federated in the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia in 1981, have been searching for the best way to nurture their unity and to strengthen their capacity for engaging in God’s mission of mercy in this twenty-first century.
On July 20 this year, the Holy See approved the petition for the new Institute to take effect at the commencement of its first chapter on December 12. On that day, each of the 15 groups ceased to be a separate canonical and legal entity and its sisters became members of the new Institute.
The 15 uniting groups, comprising some 930 sisters, are Adelaide, Ballarat East, Bathurst, Cairns, Goulburn, Grafton, Gunnedah, Melbourne, Papua New Guinea, Perth, Rockhampton, Singleton, Townsville, West Perth and Wilcannia-Forbes.
While three of the existing 17 congregations – Brisbane, North Sydney and Parramatta – will remain independent, they and the sisters in the Institute are anticipating ways of continuing to collaborate and share their common mercy heritage and their love of their founder Catherine McAuley.
Photos:
High resolution photos taken at Sunday’s foundation Eucharist can be downloaded at this link (All photos courtesy of Beth Doherty).
For more information about the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea visit http://institute.mercy.org.au

Media inquiries: Sister Caroline Ryan RSM Mobile: 0409 988 750

AFRICA : NIGERIA : SECT ASKS CHRISTIANS TO LEAVE

ALL AFRICA.COM REPORT; Yemi Akinsuyi
The police have described the threat by the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, asking Southerners and Christians to leave the North within three days as baseless and designed just to create panic.
A spokesman for Boko Haram had on Sunday issued the ultimatum and threatened to confront troops after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in hard-hit areas.
Abdul Qaqa, who spoke on behalf of the group blamed for terrorist attacks, said he was giving Southerners living in the North a three-day ultimatum to leave.
"We find it pertinent to state that soldiers will only kill innocent Muslims in the local government areas where the state of emergency was declared. We would confront them squarely to protect our brothers. We also wish to call on our fellow Muslims to come back to the North because we have evidence that they would be attacked. We are also giving a three-day ultimatum to the Southerners living in the Northern part of Nigeria to move away," he said.
President Jonathan declared a state of emergency on Saturday in parts of four states hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram.
The declaration came in response to scores of attacks attributed to Boko Haram, particularly the bombings on Christmas day that killed 49 people, most of them in a gruesome blast at Saint Theresa's Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State.
Qaqa also criticised Jonathan over his visit to the Catholic church outside Abuja on Saturday. The church was the site of the bloodiest Christmas day attack.
"The President had never visited any of the theatres where Muslims were massacred," he said, naming areas where scores of Muslims were killed in post-election riots in April.
The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer (DFPRO), Mr. Yemi Ajayi, while describing the threat as "empty and calculated efforts to create fears into the people", said police and other security operatives are on hand to protect the lives and properties of all Nigerians, Northerners inclusive.
In his words: "Federal Government has done enough to protect the lives and properties of the people in this part of the country regardless of their tribe and religion. The threat by the said Boko Haram spokesperson, Abul Qaqa, is baseless, empty, and just to create confusion and fear into the hearts of the people. As I am talking to you now, police officers and men, and other security operatives are on hand in all these areas to fight the criminals. I want to implore the people to go about their lawful businesses without any fear or intimidation from any quarter."
Asked why there had been attacks on Christians and other Southerners in the North despite the security presence in the area, the police deputy spokesperson said more security operatives had been drafted to the areas and that they are poised to fight the criminals to the end.

He enjoined Christians and Southerners living in the North to remain as the government had provided enough security for their lives and property.
State of emergency was declared in parts of the states of Borno, where Boko Haram traditionally has as its base, Niger, Plateau and Yobe.
In Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, residents reported increased patrols yesterday. Soldiers had been entering homes in search of weapons and bombs, they said.
After the searches, soldiers told residents to report any unusual behaviour or abandoned vehicles which might contain planted bombs.

ASIA : ISRAEL - LEBANON : BORDER ON CEASEFIRE LINE

ASIA NEWS REPORT: The five-metre barrier will be equipped with alarms. Construction begins in the next few days. Prime Minister Netanyahu announces that once a fence is completed on Israel-Egypt border, another will be built along the border with Jordan.

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Israel has begun preparations for the construction of a five-metre-high wall on the country’s northern ceasefire line with Lebanon. The initial one -kilometre long section will be equipped with alarms and separate Israeli kibbutz al-Matala from the Lebanese village Kafr Kala, which lie near each other.

The wall is the first of its kind along the frontier with Lebanon. The border between Israel and Lebanon is disputed by both sides and the UN-drawn "Blue Line" separating the two sides only covers part of the stretch established in 2000 to determine whether Israel had withdrawn from Lebanon after its 1982 invasion.

The government of Israel is planning to construct a wall, which would separate its northernmost town from a Lebanese village in a bid to reduce tensions in the area.

Border tensions have been high in the past. In November 2011, a series of four Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Western Galilee area of northern Israel. No one was injured. The Sheikh Abdullah Azzam Brigades later claimed responsibility for the attack.

"The situation is very sensitive and has a potential to easily inflame the northern border," a senior officer in the Israeli army’s Northern Command is quoted as saying.

"The wall will be the first of its kind on that border, and will raise the level of security in the area, as well as the confidence of Metulla's residents,” he explained. Still, “the Lebanese side will most likely raise objections to the wall, but the current reality necessitates its construction”.

The Lebanon wall is not the only structure planned. In a related development, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced that Israel plans to build a barrier along its eastern border with Jordan, similar to the one currently under construction along its border with Egypt.

The government is investing some US$ 360 million in a five-metre steel fence along its 240-km-long western border, which is scheduled for completion by September of this year.

"When the security barrier along the Egyptian border is finished, one will be built along the border with Jordan," Netanyahu said.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Israel-to-build-wall-on-Lebanon-border,-fence-on-Jordan-border-23599.html

EUROPE : POLAND : STAR SINGERS COLLECT DONATIONS

Agenzia Fides REPORT - Children and young people of Holy Childhood of the Archdiocese of Czestochowa, in the days between 26 December 2011 and January 6, 2012, are giving birth to their now usual Christmas activities of mission solidarity. According to the information sent to Fides, these days, like thousands of their peers in other nations, the "Star Singers" knock at the doors of family homes of Czestochowa, collecting donations for children of their same age who are suffering around the world. In particular, the Christmas campaign during the Christmas season is dedicated to helping, materially and spiritually, the children of Sudan. In the churches of the Archdiocese of Czestochowa, children and boys and girls also participate in "missionary catechesis" and pray for missions. The initiative of the "Star Singers" (Sternsinger), founded over 50 years ago in Germany as a charity initiative of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood, has now spread to several other nations, especially in Central Europe. (MF/SL) (Agenzia Fides 03/01/2012)
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=30689&lan=eng

TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS ONLINE : TUES. JAN. 3, 2012


Matthew 1: 18 - 23
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit;
19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit;
21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).

TODAY'S SAINT : JAN. 3 : ST. GENEVIEVE

St. Genevieve
VIRGIN, CHIEF PATRONESS OF THE CITY OF PARIS
Feast: January 3


Information:
Feast Day: January 3
Born:
422 at Nanterre near Paris, France
Died: 500 at Paris, France
Patron of: Paris
Her father's name was Severus, and her mother's Gerontia: she was born about the year 422, at Nanterre, a small village four miles from Paris, near the famous modern stations, or Calvary, adorned with excellent sculptures, representing our Lord's Passion, on Mount Valerien. When St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, went with St. Lupus into Britain to oppose the Pelagian heresy, he lay at Nanterre in his way. The inhabitants flocked about them to receive their blessing, and St. Germanus made them an exhortation, during which he took particular notice of Genevieve, though only seven years of age. After his discourse he inquired for her parents, and addressing himself to them, foretold their daughter's future sanctity, and said that she would perfectly accomplish the resolution she had taken of serving God, and that others would imitate her example. He then asked Genevieve whether it was not her desire to serve God in a state of perpetual virginity, and to bear no other title than that of a spouse of Jesus Christ. The virgin answered that this was what she had long desired, and begged that by his blessing she might be from that moment consecrated to God. The holy prelate went to the church of the place, followed by the people, and, during long singing of psalms and prayers, says Constantius,[1] that is, during the recital of None and Vespers, as the author of the life of St. Genevieve expresses it,[2] he held his hand upon the virgin's head. After he had supped, he dismissed her, giving her a strict charge to her parents to bring her again to him very early the next morning. The father complied with the commission, and St. Germanus asked Genevieve whether she remembered the promise she had made to God. She said she did, and declared she would, by the divine assistance, faithfully perform it. The bishop gave her a brass medal, on which a cross was engraved, to wear always about her neck, to put her in mind of the consecration she had made of herself to God; and at the same time, he charged her never to wear bracelets, or necklaces of pearls, gold or silver, or any other ornaments of vanity. All this she most religiously observed, and considering herself as the spouse of Christ, gave herself up to the most fervent practices of devotion and penance. From the words of St. Germanus, in his exhortation to St. Genevieve never to wear jewels, Baillet and some others infer that she must have been a person of quality and fortune: but the ancient Breviary and constant tradition of the place assure us that her father was a poor shepherd.

About fifteen years of age, she was presented to the Bishop of Paris to receive the religious veil at his hand, together with two other persons of the same sex. Though she was the youngest of the three, the bishop placed her first, saying that heaven had already sanctified her; by which he seems to have alluded to the promise she had already made, in the presence of SS. Germanus and Lupus, of consecrating herself to God. From that time she frequently ate only twice in the week, on Sundays and Thursdays. Her food was barley bread with a few beans. At the age of fifty, by the command of certain bishops, she mitigated this austerity so far as to allow herself a moderate use of fish and milk. Her prayer was almost continual, and generally attended with a large flow of tears. After the death of her parents she left Nanterre, and settled with her grandmother at Paris, but sometimes undertook journeys upon motives of charity, and illustrated the cities of Meaux, Laon, Tours, Orleans, and all other places wherever she went, with miracles and remarkable predictions. God permitted her to meet with some severe trials; for at a certain time all persons indiscriminately seemed TO be in a combination against her, and persecuted her under the opprobrious names of visionary, hypocrite, and the like imputations, all tending to asperse her innocency. The arrival of St. Germanus at Paris, probably on his second journey to Britain, for some time silenced her calumniators; but it was not long ere the storm broke out anew. Her enemies were fully determined to drown her, when the Archdeacon of Auxerre arrived with , or blessed bread, sent her by St. Germanus, as a testimony of his particular esteem for her virtues, and a token of communion. This seems to have happened whilst St. Germanus was absent in Italy in 449, a little before his death. This circumstance, so providentially opportune, converted the prejudices of her calumniators into a singular veneration for her during the remainder of her life. The Franks or French had then possessed themselves of the better part of Gaul, and Childeric, their king, took Paris. During the long blockade of that city, the citizens being extremely distressed by famine, St. Genevieve, as the author of her life relates, went out at the head of a company who were sent to procure provisions, and brought back from Arcis-sur-Aube and Troyes several boats laden with corn. Nevertheless, Childeric, when he had made himself master of Paris, though always a pagan, respected St. Genevieve, and, upon her intercession, spared the lives of many prisoners, and did several other acts of clemency and bounty. Our saint, out of her singular devotion to St. Dionysius and his companions, the apostles of the country, frequently visited their tombs at the borough of Catulliacum, which many think the borough since called St. Denys. She also excited the zeal of many pious persons to build there a church in honour of St. Dionysius, which King Dagobert I afterwards rebuilt with a stately monastery in 629. St. Genevieve likewise performed several pilgrimages, in company with other holy virgins, to the shrine of St. Martin at Tours. These journeys of devotion she sanctified by the exercises of holy recollection and austere penance.

King Clovis, who embraced the faith in 496, listened often with deference to the advice of St. Genevieve, and granted liberty to several captives at her request. Upon the report of the march of Attila with his army of Huns, the Parisians were preparing to abandon their city, but St. Genevieve persuaded them, in imitation of Judith and Hester, to endeavour to avert the scourge, by fasting, watching, and prayer. Many devout persons of her sex passed many days with her in prayer in the baptistry; from whence the particular devotion to St. Genevieve, which is practiced at St. John-le-rond, the ancient public baptistry of the church of Paris, seems to have taken rise. She assured the people of the protection of heaven, and their deliverance; and though she was long treated by many as an impostor, the event verified the prediction, that barbarian suddenly changing the course of his march, probably by directing it towards Orleans.

Our authority attributes to St. Genevieve the first design of the magnificent church which Clovis began to build in honour of SS. Peter and Paul, by the pious counsel of his wife Saint Clotilda, by whom it was finished several years after; for he only laid the foundation a little before his death, which happened in 511 . St. Genevieve died about the same year, probably five weeks after that prince, on the 3rd of January, 512, being eighty-nine years old. Some think she died before King Clovis. The tombs of St. Genevieve and King Clovis were near together. Immediately after the saint was buried, the people raised an oratory of wood over her tomb, as her historian assures us, and this was soon changed into the stately church built under the invocation of SS. Peter and Paul. From this circumstance, we gather that her tomb was situated in a part of this church, which was only built after her death. Her tomb, though empty, is still shown in the subterraneous church, or vault, betwixt those of Prudentius, and St. Ceraunus, Bishop of Paris. But her relics were enclosed by St. Eligius in a costly shrine, adorned with gold and silver, which he made with his own hands about the year 630, as St. Owen relates in his life. The author of the original life of St. Genevieve concludes it by a description of the basilic which Clovis and St. Clotilda erected, adorned with a triple portico, in which were painted the histories of the patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, and confessors. This church was several times plundered, and at length burnt, by the Normans. When it was rebuilt, soon after the year 856, the relics of St. Genevieve were brought back. The miracles which were performed there from the time of her burial rendered this church famous all over France, so that at length it began to be known only by her name. The city of Paris has frequently received sensible proofs of the divine protection through her intercession. The most famous instance is that called the miracle of Des Ardens, or of the burning fever. In 1129, in the reign of Louis VI, a pestilential fever, with a violent inward heat, and pains in the bowels, swept off, in a short time, fourteen thousand persons, nor could the art of physicians afford any relief. Stephen, Bishop of Paris, with the clergy and people, implored the divine mercy, by fasting and supplications. Yet the distemper began not to abate till the shrine of St. Genevieve was carried in a solemn procession to the cathedral. During that ceremony many sick persons were cured by touching the shrine, and of all that then lay ill of that distemper in the whole town, only three died, the rest recovered, and no others fell ill. Pope Innocent II coming to Paris the year following, after having passed a careful scrutiny on the miracle, ordered an annual festival in commemoration of it on the 26th of November, which is still kept at Paris. A chapel near the cathedral, called anciently St. Genevieve's the Little, erected near the house in which she died, afterwards from this miracle, though it was wrought not at this chapel, but chiefly at the cathedral, as Le Beuf demonstrates, was called St. Genevieve Des Ardens, which was demolished in 1747 to make place for the Foundling Hospital.[3] Both before and since that time, it is the custom in extraordinary public calamities to carry the shrine of St. Genevieve, accompanied by those of St. Marcel, St. Aurea, St. Lucan martyr, St. Landry, St. Merry, St. Paxentius, St. Magloire, and others, in a solemn procession to the cathedral; on which occasion the regular canons of St. Genevieve walk barefoot, and at the right hand of the chapter of the cathedral, and the abbot walks on the right hand of the archbishop. The present rich shrine of St. Genevieve was made by the abbot, and the relics enclosed in it in 1242. See the " Ancient Life of St. Genevieve," written by an anonymous author, eighteen years after her death, of which the best edition is given by F. Charpentier, a Genevevan regular canon, in octavo, in 1697. It is interpolated in several editions.

SOURCE: EWTN.COM