My children, you must join hands in reverence at the Sacrifice of  My Son. It is an expression of love, gratitude, and respect . Reverence and respect and holiness must be returned to My Son’s houses, churches throughout  the world-reverence, holiness, and respect from the beginning to the end of the Sacred Service. “Women must keep their heads covered, My child. It is not because of fashion or modes; it is because the Eternal Father and the angels demand proper deportment during the Holy Sacrifice. It offends the heart of  My Son much to see that satan has taken away so much piety and holiness in His churches throughout the world.”

Our Lady of the Roses, September 6, 1975

Sacred Scripture presents several reasons for wearing the veil. St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians (11:1-16) that women must cover their heads because it is a Sacred Tradition commanded by Our Lord Himself and entrusted to Paul: ” The things I am writing to you are the Lord’s commandments ” (1 Cor. 14:37)

It is an honor to wear the veil. But by publicly repudiating it, a woman dishonors her feminine dignity, her sign of female subjection. The Roman Pontificial contains the imposing ceremonial of the consecration of the veils: “Receive the sacred veil, that thou mayst be known to have despised the world, and to be truly, humbly, and with all thy heart subject to Christ as His bride; and may he defend thee from all evil, and bring thee to life eternal.” (Pontificale Romanun, de benedictione)

St. Paul says an unveiled woman is a dishonor. ” But every woman praying and prophesying with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is the same as if she were shaven.” (1Cor:11:5)

“That is why women ought to have a veil  on her head, because of the angels.” wrote St. Paul (1 Cor. 11:10). The invicible hierarchy should be respected because the angels are present at Christian liturgical assemblies, offering with us the Holy Sacrifice with the honor due to Almighty God.

St. John the Apostle wrote :“And another angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; amd there was given to him much incense that he might offer it with the prayers of all before the throne.” (Rev. 8:3)

The custom of wearing the veil was maintained in the primitive churches of God (1 Cor. 11:16). We see this in the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians. The women of Corinth, beset by modern sensibilities, started coming to church without their heads covered. When St. Paul heard of their neglect, he wrote and urged them to keep the veil. According to St. Jeromes commentary Bible, he finally settled the matter by saying head covering was a custom of the primitive communities of Judea, “the churches of God” (1 Thess. 2:15, 3:6).

Even today, some people erroneously believe  that St. Paul based the tradition on his personal opinion. St. Paul reminds them, “for I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:12), referring to the authority of his ministry, and veracity of his words Our Lord warns us to obey his commandments. “He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19).

In summary, St. Paul advises women to cover their heads in church because : Our Lord commanded it, the angels at mass are offended if women don’t use it, it is a ceremonial vestment and lastly, it is our heritage.

The rainy season is really upon us and more colors can be seen blooming in my garden. Lush green and red foliages are all around me, giving me the impression that I’m in a tropical forest. Here are some of the beauties you can find in my garden at the moment :

Pink Crown of Thorns

Yellow Crown of Thorns

Orange Vanda

Violet Vanda

Lush Hanging Foliage

Red Adenium

Praise the Lord, my soul !

All my being , praise his holy name!

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and do not forget how kind he is.

He forgives all my sins

and heals all my diseases.

He keeps me from the grave

and blesses me with love and mercy.

He fills my life with good things,

so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.

The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed,

and gives them their rights.

He revealed his plans to Moses

and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds.

The Lord is merciful and loving,

slow to become angry and full of constant love.

He does not keep on rebuking;

he is not angry forever.

He does not punish us  as we deserve ,

or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.

As high is the sky above the earth,

so great is his love for those

who honor him.

As far is the east  from the west,

so far does he remove our sins from us.

As a father is kind to his children,

so the Lord is kind  to those who honor him.

He knows what we are made of;

he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:1-14

No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways.  Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Psalm 91:10-12

A Guardian Angel is a heavenly spirit assigned by God to watch over each of us during our lives. The doctrine of angels is part of the Catholic and other cultures religious traditions. The role of the guardian angel is both to guide us to good thoughts, works and words, and to preserve us from evil. Since the 17th century, the Catholic Church has celebrated a feast honoring the Guardian Angels in October.

JM, 9 yrs., after the Ascension Sunday morning mass.

Jesus said to his disciples: ” Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.

Luke :24:46-53

Eleventh of twelve children. His father died when he was quite young. When his mother would ask, ” Which one of you is going to become a saint ?” little Peter would answer, Me, Mama! I’ll become a saint.”

At 20, Peter became a hermit,  praying, working, and reading the Bible. He followed the Benedictine rule, and so many other hermits came to him for guidance., that he founded the Holy Spirit Community of Maiella (Benedictine Celestines).

Following a two year conclave . during which the cardinals  could not decide on a pope, Peter came to them with the message that God was not pleased with the long delay: the cardinals chose Peter as Pope.

The primary objective of his pontificate was to reform clergy, many of whom were using spiritual powers  to obtain worldly power. Celestine  sought away to bring the faithful to the original gospel spirit, and be settled  on “Pardon” - he called a year for forgiveness of sins and return to evangelical austerity and fidelity.

He reigned a mere five months, and the members of the vatical curia took advanatge of him. This led to much mismanagement, and great uproar in the Vatican. Knowing he was responsible, Celestine asked forgiveness for his mistakes, and abdicated on 13 December 1294, the only Pope to do so. His successor, Boniface III, kept Celestine  hidden  for the last ten months of his life in  a small room in a Roman palace. Celestine may have appreciated it - he never lost his love of the hermit’s life , and spent his last days in prayer.

Born : 1210 at Isneria, Abruzzi, Italy as Pietro del Morrone

Papal Ascension : July 5, 1294

Died : May 19, 1296, buried in the church of Saint Agatha, Ferentino , Italy; re-interred in the Church of Saint Maria di Collemaggio, Aquila, Italy

Canonized : 1313

Patronage : Aquila, Italy ; bookbinders

In relation to the school opening two days ago, I would like to share this prayer to the Virgin Mary written by Saint Thomas Aquinas, to all  Catholic students .

May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede to Her Son Jesus , a productive and peaceful school year ahead to all of you. 

Prayer to Our Lady of Studies

by Saint Thomas Aquinas

O Mary, Seat of Wisdom

so many persons of common intellect

have made through your intercession

admirable progress in their studies.

I hearby choose You as guardian and patron

of my studies.

I humbly ask You to obtain for me.

the grace of the Holy Spirit

so that from now on , I could

- understand more quickly,

-retain more readily,

and

-express myself more fluently.

May the example of my life serve

to honor You and your

Son, Jesus

Amen

I live in a society where the values of the people are different from mine. Ways of doing things, ideas, beliefs and religion are other things which I think contribute to my difficulty in surviving  in this society. A part of my life I  live in isolation, though I do not consider myself anti-social. It is in isolation  that I find  time and quiet to read, do my daily reflections and prayers. It’s this peace and quiet that gives me a complete perspective of what my life is about, of what I need to do to improve myself and how and what ways I can be of service to others. This trait of my mine is treated by people around me as being snobbish and anti-social . I could hear nasty words about me circulating  around  the neighborhood where I live that I’m some kind of a freak . This , just because I don’t join gossip clubs, or these weekly meetings of movie stars fan clubs which in my opinion are an absolute waste of time.  Actually , the  activities that my social life revolves around are aerobics, cooking classes, garden design and many others, not including my job as a graduate school lecturer. Another thing that I hate, really hate in this culture and society is the selfishness of the people around for parking space. I live in a townhouse, this means a habitat with space for one car only. Unfortunately, social status in this society is measured by the number of cars one has in his/her possession. One townhouse can have an average of four cars. Thus, a problem with parking. I have neighbors and friends . . .  turned mortal enemies because of parking problems. Extra cars would be parked in  neighbors gates. In case the car owner has some devilish thoughts in his head, he would lock the gear and disappear for days ! It would really strain your brain how in God’s name can we make the Word of God work in this society. Or integrating some Chinese rituals in the rites of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass ? Well, this is common here. Since, I need to be here , I have to be more patient and forgiving. Forgiving those people who circulates nasty words about me, just because I’m different. Forgiving even more those neighbors  who cursed me ,    every so often , because I won’t let them park their car in my driveway. Forgiving everyone who hates me because of my religion, my ideas and my beliefs.  Though, forgiving is easy to say, I must admit , easier said than done. It is very human to do so. Feeling revenge and hatred at the sight of our enemies does not constitute forgiveness.

When do we say that absolute forgiveness is given to those who have wronged  us ? How do we measure the extent of the forgiveness  we  give our enemies ? How do we rid our hearts of these evil thoughts toward others ?

A cleric would remind me of the word’s of Jesus, the greatest commandment, the commandment of Love. “Love God with all you heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

“Forgive your enemies and those who have wronged you and your sins will be forgiven.”

I lift my spirit in prayer, my God help me and grant me the grace to forgive those who wronged me. I abandon myself, my soul and my entire family to your protection. Amen.

Pope John I inherited the Arian heresy, which denied  the divinity of Christ. Italy had been ruled  for 30 years by an emperor who espoused the heresy, though he treated the empire’s Catholics with toleration. His policy changed at about the time the young John was elected Pope.

When the eastern emperor began imposing severe measures on the Arians of his area, the western emperor forced John to head a delegation to the East to soften the measures against the heretics. Little is known of the manner or outcome of the negotiations -  designed to secure continued  toleration of Catholics in the West.

When John returned to Rome, he found that the emperor had begun to suspect his friendship with his eastern rival.

On his way home, John was imprisoned when he reached Ravenna because the emperor suspected a conspiracy  against his throne. Shortly after his imprisonment, John died , apparently from the treatment he had received.