Fairest Lord Jesus (Crusader's Hymn)

Crusader kneeling before leaving for First Crusade

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,

O Thou of God and man the Son,

Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,

Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,

Robed in the blooming garb of spring;

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,

Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,

And all the twinkling starry host;

Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer

Than all the angels heaven can boast.

All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,

Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;

None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,

Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor, praise, adoration,

Now and forever more be Thine.

O Magnum Mysterium!

O magnum mysterium,

et admirabile sacramentum,

ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,

jacentem in praesepio!

Beata Virgo, cujus viscera

meruerunt portare

Dominum Christum.

Alleluia.

We Are Made For God

Brothers and Sisters,

It's been nearly a year since my last posting. I hope you are well, active in the faith, and full of love for each other. I've been taking this past year to reflect my personal situation in life concerning my relationship with God, family, and others. I've also taken a self inventory of virtue versus vice. I've taken a beating in my faith over past year. Over this time I've come to doubt nearly all our Church teaches us to be true, good, and worth dying for. I've failed the Lord in so many ways, that as the prodigal son, I've realized no material good in this world can satisfy my hunger for joy and happiness. As the great scholars and saints have pointed out, it is man's desire to find the joy only God can provide. We are made for God. As St. Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, oh Lord". Friends, I've been restless. I've been a terrible sinner. I've been a terrible father, husband, friend, son, Christian, steward, and human. I have had my fill of wondering through the desert in search of the next pleasurable thing to feed a temporary need. Only God gives us what we need and it's ever-lasting.
My next step is to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I've longed for the Eucharist over the past year. It's now time to receive Him again.

Peace,
IB

The Evangelical Protestant Blind Eye - Part I

Protestants, especially the Fundamentalist Evangelical type, have this distinct notion of making like no Christians, particularly Catholic or Orthodox, exist in the Middle East. I say this because Catholics and Orthodox Christians have been in the Middle Eastern countries since the time of the first century, as the original Christians are Catholics. And certain Evangelical Prots who have a wide audience nationally, Joel Rosenberg in particular, let on in their blog postings the only "true" Christians in the Middle East are the Christians who follow their brand of Christianity, namely Evangelical Fundamentalism. All the others are, as Joel puts it, "Nominal Christian Background Believers (NCBBs)" which would be the Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Here's a quote from his recent blog posting on the Egyptian crisis: 


"My wife, Lynn, our four sons, Lynn's mom, and I had the joy of living in Egypt -- in a suburb of Cairo, actually -- for nearly three months in late 2005 and early 2006 when I was researching and writing a book. During that time, we had the opportunity to see the enormous surge of Christianity underway in the Middle East and North Africa firsthand. We met with Egyptian Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) and Nominal Christian Background Believers (NCBBs)." http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/what-does-mubaraks-downfall-mean-for-christians-in-egypt/


He goes on "We also made some dear friends and visited a variety of churches to better understand the challenges facing believers in that historic country. One of these was the famous “garbage church” in the caves above Cairo, located right next to the biggest “city” of trash and waste products I have ever seen in my life." --- Here's one for you Joel. The "garbage" church is actually the Orthodox church of St. Simeon. But, according to Joel's misleadings, one reading his post would never assume that because he completely skirts the issue.


And on: "But then you come through it to the other side, to a paved parking lot and a lovely little Christian chapel, nestled against huge cliffs. Carved into the cliffs are the most amazing scenes of Jesus walking on water, Jesus on the cross, Jesus ascending to heaven, and so forth, each with a Bible verse inscribed below it in Arabic and English, all done by a Polish artist. Inside the six caves are six chapels, the largest of which holds twenty thousand people." 
-- Yes Joel, it's called iconography and the art form has been around long before your particular brand of Christianity was created. It may be foreign to you, but to authentic Christians it's all part of the faith. He says a "Christian" chapel, not an Orthodox chapel. Yes, while it's true Orthodox are Christian, my so called "beef" is Joel makes an attempt to not make a distinction between true Christianity in Orthodoxy and his Fundamentalist brand called Evangelicalism. 


  Joel Rosenberg is a consultant to Fox News and other new agencies on the Middle East. It's amazing to me when they want an "expert", they consult a Fundamentalist Evangelical who's faith has no context or history in the Middle East.  

First-hand account of attack on Baghdad Catholic parish

IRAQ
I try to forget, but I will always see the blood stained church of Baghdad 
Giulia Mazza
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/I-try-to-forget,-but-I-will-always-see-the-blood-stained-church-of-Baghdad-20130.html#One of the survivors of the 31 October attack on Our Lady of Salvation church, speaks. The events of that day are still very much alive and impossible to wipe from his memory, and in that of those who lived through that tragic day. The man is one of the 26 injured being treated at Gemelli Hospital in Rome from November 12, along with their families.


Rome (AsiaNews)"I try to forget what happened," but "as soon as I'm alone I start to think and all of those images come to mind, of what I experienced there. It hurts, I'm still in shock, it is impossible to describe what happened”. These are the words of an Iraqi Catholic, one of the "lucky" survivors of the October 31 al Qaeda attack on the church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad. He has shrapnel in his back and legs. But for another 58 people it was even worse, they lost their lives: among them, 46 faithful who simply had gone to Mass and the two priests who were celebrating. More than 70 injured. Of these, approximately 37 (the most severe cases) were transferred to France last November 8, 26 others, along with their families, have been hospitalized in Rome, where they spoke with AsiaNews.
"It was a Sunday and evening mass had just begun. Shortly after the Gospel reading, about 17.15, we heard the sound of gunfire outside the church. Don Tha'er, who was celebrating the liturgy, tried to calm everyone down, telling us to pray together. The noise became louder, then we heard a loud explosion and the terrorists entered the Church – five or six in all - and started shooting everywhere".
He has asked to remain anonymous. "For safety reasons," he says. He will not speak about his life before the attack. He just says: "I have always taken part in the pastoral activities of the church, I was friends with both the priests, Don Tha'er and Don Wassim. The first 32, the second27, both mowed down by the terrorists. "I was sitting in the front pew, as usual, and as the gunfire broke out I threw myself on the ground. Don Tha'er called me and told me: 'Try to get everyone into the sacristy'. Those were difficult moments, because the attackers were firing everywhere. I was trying to get to the sacristy along with others , when not far away I saw a girl wounded in the neck. I did not know what to do, whether to help her or run for my life”.
It was supposed to have been an interview. But the first question: "Do you want to talk, to tell us what happened?" was answered with a deluge of words. Unstoppable. "I saw the injured girl. I decided to go and get her to try and bring her to safety. I took her on my shoulders, but one of the terrorists saw me and threw a grenade at us: the girl died and I was on the ground wounded. I pretended to be dead. While I was on the ground I saw Don Tha'er trying to defend the altar servers: he embraced them and covered them with his cassock, to protect them, as if he wanted to hide them. One of the men attacked him, trying to beat him to his knees, but he resisted and remained standing, in the end the terrorist killed him. I could hear the cries of the people in the church, terribly afraid, when at one point I heard a voice, I do not know who he was shouting to the terrorists: 'We die, we die, okay. But the cross lives. Whoever it was, was immediately killed. "
The events of that tragic day are still fresh and painful in his memory, and that of other survivors. Details, etched forever on their minds. Indelible. "The terrorists kept moving around and shooting everywhere. When one of them passed me by, I saw he was wearing an explosive belt. They obviously had a clear plan. Two snipers were placed at the sides of the Church, two others mid-aisle and one on the upper floor. They talked among themselves by radio, insisting that everything was going as planned. The church was chosen because of its structure: it is a single piece of reinforced concrete, with three main entrances, two at the sides and the altar at the back of the nave. Outside the entrance to the church, there is a cross 49 meters high, which reflects the depth of the church. I think they chose Our Lady of Salvation, because the windows are only up at the top. In this way all the explosions inside the church were magnified, with all possible vents for their destructive force only on the upper level. That's also why they kept throwing grenades at people. Those who came out alive are those who pretended to be dead, like me. "
"At one point, while I was wounded on the ground, I tried to crawl to the altar and hide behind a wall. When I made it I covered myself with a dead body to hide. Nevertheless, I could hear what was said. One terrorist was wounded, and kept saying to his leader: 'I'm hurt, I'll detonate the explosive belt so I can become a martyr, and go straight to heaven'. At first the man who must have been the commander told him to wait, that was not yet time. Then the wounded man said, 'No, I'm in too much pain, I was hit'. So the commander gave him permission, they bade each other farewell saying, 'Okay, see you in heaven'. Then he blew himself up. His companions then began to shout: 'You are unbelievers, you will go to hell while we are going to heaven, God is great'. "
The strain of those long moments of horror are clearly visible on his face. His dark eyes betray his incredulity. At times his voice still trembles. "During the five-hour siege, the terrorists transformed our church into a mosque. They shouted their Islamic prayers, and twice preformed their sunset prayer, in the evening and afternoon. After the man blew himself to pieces, his comrades went crazy: shooting everywhere.
At first they didn’t realize that almost 60 people were hiding in the sacristy [including the wounded 75 year old Episcopal Vicar]. But when they realised it, they tried to break through the wooden door, without success: in fact the people had locked themselves inside with the metal cabinets. Then the attackers began throwing grenades at the door, until they were able to create an opening. At that point, however, they had to go back towards the main entrance, because finally the Iraqi forces were trying to storm the building. I took advantage of that moment and I crawled to the door of the sacristy. I tried to identify myself, but the people inside would not let me in, for fear that I was a terrorist. Then a girl recognized my voice, they opened the door and pulled me inside. I stayed with the others, locked in the sacristy, and I saw that many were wounded in the last explosion and that a girl and two others were dead. "
"You should know that the vestry has another door, which leads the outside, made of iron and therefore very heavy and difficult to open. I managed to call an army chief I knew on my cell phone, asking him to open that door and let us escape. But the man told me that was impossible, because the door was locked and we would have to open it. At the end of the call, he told me that the armed forces were about to enter, and it would be a tough operation. A girl and a small child had listened to the conversation and were scared, because such an attack could destroy the church, with us inside So I took them in my arms, we were thrown to the ground and I did my best to shield them with my body. The next half hour was hell, a terrible attack with bombs and rockets: the terrorists detonated their belts when the military intervened. It was a massacre. When the soldiers finally freed us they made us walk out the front door. "
It sounds like the plot of a film, but it is not. A story that leaves room for questions that must have an answer: "The attitude of the government and armed forces, was a little strange. If you know the layout of the church, you know where the weak points are, the best points from where to launch a raid. Up where the windows are, there is a roof that surrounds the church one meter wide. Above this again is another roof, where commandos could position themselves, and then enter from there through the windows. They could have picked them off one by one [the terrorists]. But this is not the only thing that was unusual. When some people who were out there - family members, people working in the area - went to ask the soldiers if they needed a hand, we heard them say: 'Go away, this is none of your business'. The military then intervened only after five hours, when the terrorists had already emptied all of their weapons on us. "
"Don Tha'er, the priest who celebrated the Mass, died because he wanted to save the children. Don Wassim with, who at the time of the attack was in the confessional, tried to talk with the terrorists to convince them to let the people and children go, and take only the two of them as hostages. They offered their lives. Don Wassim, when he made to leave the altar and approach the terrorists he was shot by one of them. The last sentence of Don Tha'er, who died before the eyes of his mother [who survived and is now recovering in France], was: "Jesus, into thy hands I commend my spirit." I remember these words, which he always used to say to all those in difficult moments of their lives: "Smile because God loves you"”. "What we experienced in that church was hell. I try to forget what happened, I try joking and laughing with people. But when I'm alone I start to think, the images of what I went through come to mind. It hurts, I'm still in shock, it is impossible to describe those situations. Many boys and girls were killed in the church. A friend of mine with his wife, daughter and father were killed. He asked to be killed, but to let the child live. He was not heard. There was a baby boy or a girl I do not know, who cried, the terrorists told the mother to stop him crying. But she couldn’t, and the man said, 'OK, I'll do it'. And killed the baby".
He stops, to draw breath and remember: "Before this hell, I had a normal life. Our neighbours were Muslims, the relationship with them was normal, we greeted each other, we talked with them and so on. But once the question f religion came into play they would raise their voices, saying that we Christians do not believe in their prophet who is the 'last prophet'. " The future? "Being a Christian in Iraq means you are persecuted for your faith. We want the world to know. We can no longer bear this violence".

Print this page

Copyright © 2003 AsiaNews C.F. 00889190153 All rights reserved. Content on this site is made available for personal, non-commercial use only. You may not reproduce, republish, sell or otherwise distribute the content or any modified or altered versions of it without the express written permission of the editor. Photos on AsiaNews.it are largely taken from the internet and thus considered to be in the public domain. Anyone contrary to their publication need only contact the editorial office which will immediately proceed to remove the photos.

Explanation of the Nativity of Our Lord Icon

Stay tuned....

How did we get the Canon of Scripture?

Pope Damasus I convened the Council of Rome in 382AD which compiled an authoritative list of books for the Canon of Scripture. Later, the Council of Carthage (and also Hippo) in August 397AD would re-enforce the Council of Rome's list.  It's been said no actual documents exist from this Council other than information from a letter sent from Pope Damasus to a French/Gaulish bishop telling him of the books for the Sacred Canon. This Canon is the earliest list ever compiled and it is also the same as our modern day Catholic Bible. Here are the books:

-start-

The "Damasine list", issued by Pope Damasus I at the council of Rome 382AD, is as follows:

Old Testament

It is likewise decreed: Now, indeed, we must treat of the divine Scriptures: what the universal Catholic Church accepts and what she must shun. The list of the Old Testament begins: Genesis, one book;Exodus, one book: Leviticus, one book;Numbers, one book; Deuteronomy, one book; Jesus Nave (Joshua), one book; of Judges, one book; Ruth, one book; of Kings, four books [First and Second Books of Kings,Third and Fourth Books of Kings]; Paralipomenon (Chronicles), two books; One Hundred and Fifty Psalms, one book; of Solomon, three books: Proverbs, one book; Ecclesiastes, one book; Canticle of Canticles (Song of Songs), one book; likewise, Wisdom (of Solomon), one book; Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), one book;

Likewise, the list of the Prophets: Isaiah, one book; Jeremias (Jeremiah) (with Baruch), one book; along with Cinoth (Lamentations); Ezechiel, one book; Daniel, one book; Osee (Hosea), one book; Amos, one book; Micheas (Micah), one book; Joel, one book; Abdias (Obadiah), one book; Jonas, one book; Nahum, one book; Habacuc (Habakkuk), one book; Sophonias (Zephaniah), one book; Aggeus (Haggai), one book; Zacharias, one book; Malachias (Malachi), one book.

Likewise, the list of histories: Job, one book; Tobias (Tobit), one book; Esdras (Ezra), two books; Esther, one book; Judith, one book; ofMaccabees, two books.

New Testament

Likewise, the list of the Scriptures of the New and Eternal Testament, which the holy and Catholic Church receives: of the Gospels, one book according to Matthew, one book according to Mark, one bookaccording to Luke, one book according to John. The Epistles of the Apostle Paul, fourteen in number: one to the Romans, two to the Corinthians [First Epistle to the Corinthians and Second Epistle to the Corinthians], one to the Ephesians, two to the Thessalonians [First Epistle to the Thessalonians and Second Epistle to the Thessalonians], one to the Galatians, one to the Philippians, one to theColossians, two to Timothy [First Epistle to Timothy and Second Epistle to Timothy], one to Titus, one to Philemon, one to the Hebrews.

Likewise, one book of the Apocalypse of John. And the Acts of the Apostles, one book.

Likewise, the canonical Epistles, seven in number: of the Apostle Peter, two Epistles [First Epistle of Peter and Second Epistle of Peter]; of the Apostle James, one Epistle; of the Apostle John, oneEpistle; of the other John, a Presbyter, two Epistles [Second Epistle of John and Third Epistle of John]; of the Apostle Jude the Zealot, one Epistle. Thus concludes the canon of the New Testament.

Likewise it is decreed: After the announcement of all of these prophetic and evangelic or as well as apostolic writings which we have listed above as Scriptures, on which, by the grace of God, the Catholic Church is founded, we have considered that it ought to be announced that although all the Catholic Churches spread abroad through the world comprise but one bridal chamber of Christ, nevertheless, the holy Roman Church has been placed at the forefront not by the conciliar decisions of other Churches, but has received the primacy by the evangelic voice of our Lord and Savior, who says: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall have bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall have loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

-end-

I don't know how anyone can foster the strength necessary to perform the mental gymnastics required to argue around this evidence. See, the WHOLE Church, the Universal/Catholic Church headed by the Pope and NOT some random "church leaders of the time" convened in 3 sacred councils to determine the Canon of Scripture for ALL Christians to use. And 12 centuries after this fact, (15 centuries if you count before the councils because the 7 OT books in question were used as Scripture by Jesus and the Apostles in the Septuagint), comes along ONE solitary, fallible, anti-semitic, overly-scrupulous, deranged monk named Martin Luther (I am biased), who managed to delude all the Council's work with his fallible decree (God help him if he had his way on the NT books he wanted to remove too) on what the three Councils (Rome (382),Hippo (393), and Carthage (397)) infallibly decreed. All of the 7 Old Testament books are there in their entirety and they're listed in the Canon of all 3 Councils. I highlighted them in RED above to make them easier. Protestants call these 7 OT books the "Apocrypha" when since the Council of Trent in the 16th century, we've called them Deuterocanonical, meaning "secondarily canonical". The Universal Church had to re-enforce the previous 3 Councils and say "yes these books are still part of the Canon even though you Protestants reject them and have removed them." That's why Protestants love to falsely say that at Trent the terrible Roman Catholic Church "added" books to the Bible. That's incorrect and horribly inaccurate. Trent was a defense of doctrine council, just like when the Church defined Transubstantiation, Mary's Immaculate Conception and Assumption, Jesus' Divinity, etc. 

The book of Enoch is a apocryphal book. The Gospel of Peter is an apocryphal book. The 7 OT books Luther removed are called Scripture. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I think it's reasonable and safe to say the Bible is a Catholic book clearly given to the Church by God. The other buckets of water got it from the big bucket of water (elements of truth in the Protestant denominations). The Jewish canon was all over the place. The Sadducee's had a different canon than the Pharisees. One Jewish group only used the Torah while the other used the prophets and history books. Also, the Sadducee's didn't believe in the resurrection while the Pharisee's did. And plus, there were Jews who did use the Septuagint. Jesus and the Apostles being some of them. If you look at when Jesus quotes the OT, you'll notice if you try looking it up in the OT part of your Bible, it doesn't quite match word for word. That's because Jesus and the NT writers are quoting from the Septuagint. Also, the Essenes had in their collection now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, most, if not all, of the 7 OT "Apocryphal" books missing from Luther's fallible canon. Knowing this truth, it's IMPOSSIBLE to accept Luther's canon.   

Is a good Muslim a bad Muslim? Debate between Robert Spencer and Dr. Peter Kreeft

Five Anglican bishops plan to join Catholic Church :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Five Anglican bishops plan to join Catholic Church :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

There are some Protestants I know who believe they are indeed "catholic" Christians simply because they believe in Christ, read the Scriptures, and believe in the "branch theory" (Example: Methodism came from Anglicanism which came from Catholicism). Therefore, they have a right and legitimate claim to consider themselves to be "catholic" or universal Christians, right?

In the wake of the Pope's invitation to disgruntled traditional Anglicans, several high profile Anglicans among all ranks of their denomination have decided to leave the swamp land of liberal pluralism for the oasis of authentic Christianity founded on the Rock - St. Peter and his successors. I believe anyone claiming any sort of "universalness" in their Christianity, need to look beyond themselves and realize, as the bishops from the above article, that true Catholicism comes from "a unity, we believe, which is possible only in Eucharistic communion with the successor of St Peter."

Is a sin just a sin?

Many non-Catholic Christians like to say in God's eyes there is no distinction between one sin from another. They say "all sin is sin", meaning all sin is equal in offense to God. While it's true that all or any sin offends God, the Bible shows us that there is such a thing as mortal or deadly sin, and venial or not-deadly sin. Lets see what Scripture says on the matter:

NAB 1st John 5:16-17

16 If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.

17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

Praying for a person is not beneficent for their soul because they need to repent and turn to God in the Sacrament of Confession. How does one commit a mortal sin? Three conditions must be met. 

The conditions required are: 

1.) the sin must be grave matter. 

2.) Full consent of the will. 

3.) The sinner must know what he is doing is indeed a sin.

A sin that is mortal is made by the Christian with their full consent and knowledge. Since we believe in free-will and free-love, a decision to sin that is mortal removes us from God's friendship and thus from spending eternity with Him in the beatific vision in Heaven. 

You don't believe in mortal sin? 

Think of a relationship you have with a loved one. Say you deliberately did something to this person that was just plain awful. Pick any circumstance or situation that involves hurting another person, either physically, emotionally, spiritually. Would your relationship be the same with them after you did this action? Would the damage done just injure or would it sever the ties you had? We are in a similar relationship with God. We can either be a friend or an enemy, even if at one point we were in His friendship. Sacramental Confession for a Catholic and Orthodox Christian is the only way this tear can be repaired, bringing us back into God's good graces. Don't let this awesome opportunity to enter into God's fold escape you before your hour glass expires. Get to your priest and confess with a contrite heart!