Quote:Antoninus was born at Florence of respectable parents. He gave great promise, even when quite a child, of his after sanctity. Having at the age of sixteen, entered the Religious Order of Friars Preachers, he at once became an object of admiration, by the practice of the highest virtues. He declared ceaseless war against idleness. After taking a short sleep at night, he was the first at the Office of Matins; which over, he spent the remainder of the night in prayer, or reading, or writing. If at times, he felt himself oppressed with unwelcome sleep, owing to fatigue, he would lean his head, for a while, against the wall, and then, shaking off the drowsiness, he resumed his holy vigils with renewed earnestness.

Being a most rigid observer of Religious discipline, he never ate flesh-meat, save in the case of severe illness. His bed was the ground, or a naked board. He always wore a hair shirt, and sometimes an iron girdle next to his skin. He observed the strictest chastity during his whole life. Such was his prudence in giving counsel, that he went under the name of Antoninus the Counsellor. He so excelled in humility, that, even when Prior and Provincial, he used to fulfill, with the utmost self-abjection, the lowest duties of the Monastery. He was made Archbishop of Florence by Pope Eugenius the Fourth. Great was his reluctance to accept such a dignity; nor would he have consented, had it not been out of fear of incurring the spiritual penalties wherewith he was threatened by the Pope.

It would be difficult to describe the prudence, piety, charity, meekness and apostolic zeal, wherewith he discharged his episcopal office. He learned almost all the sciences to perfection, and, what is surprising, he accomplished this by his own extraordinary talent, without having any master to teach him. Finally, after many labors, and after having published several learned books, he fell sick. Having received the Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, embracing the Crucifix, he joyfully welcomed death, on the sixth of the Nones of May (May 10th), in the year 1459. He was illustrious for the miracles which he wrought during his life, as also for those which followed after his death. He was canonized by Adrian the Sixth, in the year of our Lord 1523.

Quote:Again it is the Apostle St. James the Less, who speaks to us in today’s Epistle; and could any words be more appropriate? One of the motives for the institution of the Rogation Days is the obtaining from God the blessing of weather favourable to the fruits of the earth; and St. James here adduces the example of Elias, to show us that prayer can stay or bring down the rain of heaven. Let us imitate the faith of this Prophet, and beg of our heavenly Father to give and preserve what we require for our nourishment. Another object of the Rogations is the obtaining the forgiveness of sin. If we pray with fervour for our brethren who are gone astray, we shall obtain for them the graces they stand in need of. We shall perhaps never know, during this life, them whom our prayer, united with the prayer of the Church, shall have converted from the horror of their way; but the Apostle assures us, that our charity will receive a rich reward,—the mercy of God upon ourselves.

Quote:Could anything show us the all-powerfulness of Prayer more clearly than do these words of our Gospel? By thus putting them before us, holy Church shows us the importance of the Rogation Days, since it is during them that she shows us the efficacy of supplication, which triumps over the refusal of God himself. The reader, who has followed us thus far in our Work, must have observed how the passages of Holy Writ, selected by the Liturgy, form a continued series of instruction appropriate to each day. During these three days, we are labouring to appease the anger of heaven; could there be a more fitting occasion for our being told that God cannot resist persevering prayer? The Litanies we have been chanting in Process are a model of this holy obstinancy, or, as our Gospel terms it, this importunity, of Prayer. How often did we not repeat the same words! Lord, have mercy on us!—Deliver us, O Lord!—We beseech thee, hear us! The divine Paschal Lamb, who is about to be offered on our Altar, will mediate for us; a few moments hence, and he will unite and join his ever efficacious intercession with our poor prayers. With such a pledge as this, we shall leave the holy place, feeling sure that these prayers have not been made in vain. Let us, therefore, make a resolution to keep aloof no longer from the holy practices of the Church; let us always prefer to pray with her, than to pray by ourselves; she is the Spouse of Jesus, she is our common Mother,—and she always wishes us to take part with her in the prayers she offers up. Besides, is it not for us that she makes these prayers?

Quote:Gregory, a Cappadocian nobleman, surnamed the Theologian, on account of his extraordinary learning in the sacred sciences, was born at Nazianzum in Cappadocia. He, together with St. Basil, went through a complete course of studies at Athens; after which, he applied himself to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. The two friends retired to a monastery, where they spent several years over the Scripture, interpreting it not according to their own views, but by the sense and authority of the earlier Fathers. Owing to their reputation for learning and virtue, they were called to the ministry of preaching the Gospel, and became the spiritual Fathers of many souls.

After Gregory had returned home, he was made Bishop of Sasima, and afterwards administered the Church of Nazianzum. Being called, later on, to govern the Church of Constantinople, which was infected with heresy, he converted it to the Catholic Faith. This success, far from gaining him everyone’s love, excited the envy of a great many. This caused a great division among the Bishops, which led the Saint to resign his See. He said to them those words of the Prophet: “If this tempest be stirred up on my account, cast me into the sea, that you may cease to be tossed.” Whereupon he returned to Nazianzum; and, having got Eulalius made Bishop of that Church, he devoted his whole time to the contemplation of divine things, and to the writing treatises upon them.

He wrote much, both in prose and verse; and in all, there is admirable piety and eloquence. In the opinion of learned and holy men, there is nothing to be found in his writings which is not conformable to true piety and Catholic truth, or which anyone could reasonably call in question. He was a most vigorous defender of the Consubstantiality of the Son of God. No one ever led a more saintly life than he; no one was to be compared to him for eloquence. He led the life of a monk, spending his whole time in solitude, occupied in writing and reading. Having reached a venerable old age, he died during the reign of the emperor Theodosius, and entered into the blessed life of heaven.

Quote:EXPLANATION. True piety, as St. James here says, consists not only in knowing and recognizing the word of God, but in living according to its precepts and teachings: in subduing the tongue, the most dangerous and injurious of all our members; in being charitable to the poor and destitute, and in contemning the world, its false principles, foolish customs and scandalous example, against which we should guard, that we may not become infected and polluted by them. Test thyself, whether thy life be of this kind.

ASPIRATION. O Jesus! Director of the soul! Give me the grace of true piety as defined by St. James.

Quote:ImmunaBand is a blue silicone bracelet that has two purposes — first, it has a built-in QR code that carries your COVID-19 vaccination card’s information that can be used as a back-up for people who lose or misplace their CDC vaccination card. ImmunaBand’s second function is to show an outward display that a person has been fully vaccinated, thus making them safe to be near.

So how does it work? Wearers have to upload their vaccination cards for review before they can receive the band. The documentation is stored on a server compliant with medical privacy laws and the process is end-to-end encrypted, the company said in a news release.

The company makes two bands — one with just the QR code, and another with the QR code plus the wearer’s name and type of vaccine they received. The bands are both priced at $19.99. That code can be scanned with a smartphone to prove vaccination, the company said.

Well dear friends, 

It seems we are moving into the next phase of global vaccination efforts and in order to differentiate between the 'saints' (vaccinated) and the 'sinners' (unvaccinated), it would appear that simultaneous efforts are underway globally to track the 'saints' and grant them privileges the 'sinners' won't have. At least that is what we are being told. And... we all know that tracking people is only done with the very best of intentions!

So to help organize articles and information relating to the planning and implementation of any and every type of COVID vaccine verification system, a sub-forum has been added to The Catacombs, simply entitled COVID Passports - HERE.

May God have mercy on us all!

Quote:Green insects

As well as being a nutritious food source, insects consume fewer resources than traditional livestock. There are, of course, many parts of the world where insects are already part of everyday diets. Industrializing their production and consumption could open up new routes to feeding the world’s growing population and alleviating some of the environmental pressures caused by conventional agriculture.

Ensuring access to safe, healthy sources of food is a key part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) drive. From zero hunger to climate action, from ending poverty to ensuring responsible use of resources, many of the 17 SDGs relate to the food people eat, how it is grown and how it is distributed.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Meat: The Future report, keeping up with the demand for animal-derived protein could put meeting the SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement targets in jeopardy.