"It is like a birthday because baptism makes us reborn in Christian life," he aid to parents. "That is why I advise you to teach your children the date of their baptism as a new birthday: that every year they will remember and thank God for this grace of becoming a Christian.“
I decided to dig out my Baptismal record. I found it, as well as my Confirmation certificate.
I looked up what is celebrated in Church history on those dates.
I was Baptized on July 17, and was pleased to discover is the feast of Saint Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic monk.
I had first become aware of Saint Charbel at the Fatima Shrine in Lewiston, N.Y. They have a statue of him there, and I was impressed by his beard!
And a couple of years ago, some local Lebanese Catholics donated a statue of him and some prayers to him to the Saint Padre Pio Chapel where I volunteer and where my Secular Franciscan Fraternity meets. I took information about a Novena to Saint Charbel, and I have been saying it every day since as part of my night prayers.
My Confirmation date was October 13. That date jumped out at me immediately.
On October 13, 1917, thousands of people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima.
The Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima has been declared worthy of belief by the Church. On the anniversary of that Marian day I chose as my Confirmation name Joseph. How appropriate.
So now I have added reasons to mark the dates of my Baptism and my Confirmation.
Thank you Pope Francis!
Pax et bonum
I looked up what is celebrated in Church history on those dates.
I was Baptized on July 17, and was pleased to discover is the feast of Saint Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic monk.
I had first become aware of Saint Charbel at the Fatima Shrine in Lewiston, N.Y. They have a statue of him there, and I was impressed by his beard!
And a couple of years ago, some local Lebanese Catholics donated a statue of him and some prayers to him to the Saint Padre Pio Chapel where I volunteer and where my Secular Franciscan Fraternity meets. I took information about a Novena to Saint Charbel, and I have been saying it every day since as part of my night prayers.
My Confirmation date was October 13. That date jumped out at me immediately.
On October 13, 1917, thousands of people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima.
The Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima has been declared worthy of belief by the Church. On the anniversary of that Marian day I chose as my Confirmation name Joseph. How appropriate.
So now I have added reasons to mark the dates of my Baptism and my Confirmation.
Thank you Pope Francis!
Pax et bonum
No comments:
Post a Comment