Quasimodo’s Hope and Mercy
This last day in the Octave of Easter marks the twentieth anniversary of the proclamation of this Sunday as dedicated to the Divine Mercy by Pope Saint John Paul II – and a blessed one to all our readers – formerly, and still, the Second Sunday of Easter, and, in the usus antiquior, Quasimodo Sunday, named so after the first verse of the entrance antiphon taken from the first letter of Saint Peter, 2:2: Quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite (Like newborn babes, seeking pure spiritual milk).
‘Quasimodo’ was also, of course, the name of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo’s fictional bell ringer, so named for as an abandoned foundling, he was found on this Sunday outside the great Gothic cathedral, inside of which he spent the rest of his life, until his fateful meeting with Esmerelda.
The ‘pure spiritual milk’ may be seen as that very mercy of God, sought for by our own repentance, our contrition, our hope. For even God cannot forgive an unforgiving heart, and we must seek and be open to forgiveness and mercy in order to find them.
Today is the also the fifteenth anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI to the papacy, which seems in on sense like aeons ago, a different era. I recall watching the election, a group of us, students and teachers, in the rectory, and the palpable joy when Josef Ratzinger’s name was announced. His own octave of years in the papacy did much good, shoring up any number of things which will stand us in good stead, regardless of what winds have blown, and will perhaps blow even stronger.
At some point, read over his 2008 encyclical Spe Salvi, whose central message asks where our hope really resides: In the things of this world (hyparchonton), as befits secular pagans, or in the things beyond this world, in the hope that goes beyond earthly hope (hyparxis), in the promise of Christ, eternal life, beatitude, life with God forever, all that transcends the vicissitudes of this life. The paradox of Christianity is that the less we have to hope for in this life, the more we are prompted to hope in the next. The poor shall indeed inherit the kingdom of God.
So fret not. The victory is won. All we must do is trust in the divine mercy, and, as Blessed Julian of Norwich prayed, all manner of things shall be well.
Carney’s Amoral Majority
After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
A Tale of Two Benedicts
A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully
Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→
The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus
As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
Saint Gemma Galgani
On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→
An Ideological and Improper Translation
I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→
Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers
Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→