Liturgical: 1 Jn 3:7-10; Ps 98:1, 7-8, 9; HEB 1:1-2; Jn 1:35-42
"Andrea incontrò suo fratello Simone e gli disse:
«Abbiamo trovato il Messia, il Cristo».
E lo condusse da Gesù." (Cf. Gv 1,41-42)
Sanctoral: Mother Seton, U.S.A. 1841 (46 years old)
Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious (USA and CAN); Thursday of Christmas Time - January 04, 2024 - Liturgical Calendar | Catholic CultureElizabeth Ann Seton - Wikipedia
Happy Name Day to me! My parents gave me the middle name "Seton" after Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, who became the first American-born saint the year I was born. She was truly a remarkable woman, and I am proud to bear her name.
Human: Birthday of Jacob Grimm 1785; Death day of T.S. Eliot 1965; Capture of Seoul by Chinese Communists and North Koreans 1951
Natural: A Spring-like 63 degrees in Rome today!
Quotes by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton:
*Cheerfulness prepares a glorious mind for all the noblest acts.
*When so rich a harvest is before us, why do we not gather it? All is in our hands if we will but use it.
*God is everywhere, in the very air I breathe, yes everywhere, but in His Sacrament of the Altar He is as present actually and really as my soul within my body; in His Sacrifice daily offered as really as once offered on the Cross.
*The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.
*We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.
*Cheerfulness prepares a glorious mind for all the noblest acts.
*We must often draw the comparison between time and eternity. This is the remedy of all our troubles. How small will the present moment appear when we enter that great ocean.
*The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.
A Carpe Diem Snapshot: The sky was at last clear today and so I was off the Piazza Garibaldi, nearly perfectly designed for viewing the sun rising in the east (as you can see in my IG reel today). As usual, I had the piazza almost entirely to myself. I then wandered down to the nearest church, San Pietro in Montorio, which, as luck would have it, also happens to be rich in history and art.
The Franciscan Spanish priest there, Fr. Gomez, is ailing. He has recently been late to begin Mass and walks with a cane. When I wandered in at 8 am the church was empty and so I planned to pray briefly then make my way home. To my surprise, the priest then emerged from the sacristy with his Philippine sacristan and began to say Mass only for me. As the only parishioner, I certainly could not leave. Fortunately, Fr. Gomez did not call upon me to do the readings or the prayers of the faithful as I still have not fully regained my voice, and am not fluent enough in Italian for reading the Gospel! He and the sacristan did seem grateful for my presence, however. I presume that most days Fr. Gomez offers Mass in an empty church.
It was the first time in my life I have ever been the only person in the pews during a Mass, and perhaps it was a providential occurrence. Following my reception of communion, as I was kneeling with my eyes tightly closed, all of a sudden I heard Fr. Gomez say my name from the altar. My eyelids flying open, I was then relieved to see he was just reciting the communion antiphon, which happened to begin with the name "Andrea", referring of course to St. Andrew, whose finding of Jesus was recounted in today's Gospel reading.
Nevertheless, I was pleased to think that perhaps this Mass was just for me and gave a thankful glance to the portrait of one of my favorite saints there, just below the rose window, St. Teresa of Avila.
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