St. Martin de Porres

An aunt of mine has always had a great devotion to St. Martin de Porres. whose feast day we observe today.

As a young woman, she  married into a family in which there were three priestly vocations: one diocesan priest and two missionary priests.The family made great sacrifices to assist the three brothers on the road to priesthood, including financial sacrifices which involved selling off part of their farming land, and accepting the consequent reduction in income.
The marriage was blessed by the gift of six children, all now married and living close by. However, pregnancy and childbirth were not without difficulties for her family owing to the Rhesus status of her blood type, and my aunt suffered greatly over the loss of four babies during pregnancy or shortly before birth. More details about Rhesus factor here , but just to briefly explain:

Everyone's blood either has the Rhesus factor (RH+) or does not have the Rhesus factor(RH-).the majority of people are RH+.
A  RH- wife, with a RH+ husband, and carrying a RH+ baby, without medical intervention, may experience major problems during second and subsequent pregnancies and the life of the baby may be at risk.This is because childbirth can leave traces of the baby's (RH+) blood in the mother's (RH-) system. RH- blood attacks RH+ blood as if it is 'foreign', First pregnancies are not  usually directly affected, but can trigger the 'attack' reaction for subsequent pregnancies.
Rhesus factor problems are now almost entirely preventable thanks to the introduction of  an antibody,Anti D immunoglobulin, which rapidly destroys any RH+ cells present in the mother's body, thereby preventing any 'attack'.

During my aunt's childbearing years, there was no antibody to  help protect the life of her unborn children.Of her family,I believe two babies were stillborn at term, and two died in her womb before term, owing to the Rhesus problem.The  medical advice seemed to be to not have any more children.
When  she became pregnant for the last time, my aunt prayed incessantly to St. Martin de Porres, the Saint to whom she had a special devotion. She asked him to intercede before God, that her baby would be born safe and sound. She begged for St. Martin's help and she trusted that God would hear.

The pregnancy was uneventful, no in utero blood transfusions were needed, and a daughter was delivered at term, who was given the name of:

Martina,

in honour of  the Saint, to whose intercession my aunt attributes the great favour of the preservation of her infant daughter's life.

Beatification of the late Pope John Paul II expected soon?

The late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, could be beatified within a few months, possibly in April of next year, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

The real target is Catholicism

I suppose it must be fashionable in some media circles, to set up Christians in general, and the Catholic Church in particular, as something which  'enlightened'  folk snigger at. As a kind of standing joke about those little people who still cling to medieval, superstitious beliefs, despite modern advances in reason and science.
Marina Hyde, writing in the Guardian, would apparently like all religions (which she describes as being 'full of tall tales') to be forced to justify what she thinks of as their "doctrinal lunacies".

And later  comes  the real point of her article:

" Imagine for a moment a Bashir-type interviewing some senior cardinal. "So," he might inquire, "you're saying that by some magic the communion wafer actually becomes the flesh of a man who died 2,000 years ago, a man who – and I don't want to put words into your mouth here – we might categorise as an imaginary friend who can hear the things you're thinking in your head? And when you've done that, do you mind going over the birth control stuff?"
What a shame that we see rather fewer of these exchanges, however amusing and useful a sideshow Scientology may be."

Imaginary friends?
Magic?
The birth control stuff?

Are some journalists too lazy to be bothered, or what?

The Knights of St. Columba honour John Smeaton

Congratulations to John Smeaton on receiving an award from the Knights of St. Columba in recognition of twenty-five years of service.

John has posted more detail and background here.

Catholic conversion story

Fr. Mark was ordained to the priesthood one year following the production of this youtube video

Fr. Mark tells his story of how Jesus Christ loved him and brought him out of his life of sin to the Catholic Church. Fr. Mark speaks from the heart and from his own experience.

Apostolic Constitution: some clarification of the celibacy issue

(31 Oct 09 - RV) Vatican Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi has issued the following clarification of the announced Apostolic Constitution regarding personal ordinariates for Anglican entering into full communion with the Catholic Church:

"There has been widespread speculation, based on supposedly knowledgeable remarks by an

Italian correspondent Andrea Tornielli, that the delay in publication of the Apostolic Constitution

regarding Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic

Church, announced on October 20, 2009, by Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is due to more than “technical” reasons. According

to this speculation, there is a serious substantial issue at the basis of the delay, namely,

disagreement about whether celibacy will be the norm for the future clergy of the Provision.

Cardinal Levada offered the following comments on this speculation: “Had I been asked I

would happily have clarified any doubt about my remarks at the press conference. There is no

substance to such speculation. No one at the Vatican has mentioned any such issue to me. The

delay is purely technical in the sense of ensuring consistency in canonical language and

references. The translation issues are secondary; the decision not to delay publication in order

to wait for the ‘official’ Latin text to be published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis was made some time

ago.

The drafts prepared by the working group, and submitted for study and approval through the

usual process followed by the Congregation, have all included the following statement, currently

Article VI of the Constitution:

§1 Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites

established by canon law and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments may be

accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of

married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis

coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement “In June” are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must

submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.

§2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as

a rule (pro regula) will admit only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition

the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the

order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy

See.

This article is to be understood as consistent with the current practice of the Church, in

which married former Anglican ministers may be admitted to priestly ministry in the Catholic

Church on a case by case basis. With regard to future seminarians, it was considered purely

speculative whether there might be some cases in which a dispensation from the celibacy rule

might be petitioned. For this reason, objective criteria about any such possibilities (e.g. married

seminarians already in preparation) are to be developed jointly by the Personal Ordinariate and

the Episcopal Conference, and submitted for approval of the Holy See.”

Cardinal Levada said he anticipates the technical work on the Constitution and Norms will

be completed by the end of the first week of November".

With thanks to De Cura Animarum

Anglican bishop ready to convert

                                                    The Rt. Rev. Bishop John Hind

From Standing on my head :

"This amazing bit of news just breaking is truly momentous. A sitting Church of England Diocesan bishop has announced that he is ready to convert to Rome and be re-ordained."

Thanks to Fr Longenecker