A CATHOLIC QUEEN DOWNUNDER

 

I always said that if and when I visited Australia, I would also hit New Zealand.  What I did not know, till I got to Australia, is NZ is as far away from Australia as California is from New York.  Hence, I never got to NZ, but still news from there fascinates me. I recently found this- from the NZ Herald.

In a historic moment for New Zealand’s Māori, the 27-year-old and the youngest child of Kīngi Tūheitia, Ngā Wai hono I te pō, has been anointed as the new MAORI Queen and leader of the Kīngitanga movement.

 Ngā Wai hono i te pō becomes the eighth Māori monarch, continuing a direct lineage from the first Māori King.  She was annointed by Archbishop Don Tamihere.

The new queen’s grandmother, Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, requested before her death in 2006 that her granddaughter convert to Catholicism.

In a significant cultural and spiritual unity gesture, during the Tira Hoe Waka, the annual canoe journey down the Whanganui River, the Queen asked the bishop to baptise her granddaughter at Parakino (200 miles from Aukland).

The baptism was a symbolic act to “join the two Rivers” of Waikato and Whanganui, with hopefully the forging of a powerful bond between the Tainui Waka of Waikato and the Aotea and Takitimu Waka of Whanganui.  The baptism represented a unification of faiths, bridging the Kīngitanga movement and the Catholic Church.

 Pīhopa Mariu was of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, an important whakapapa to the Region. He followed up on the Māori Queen’s request and baptised Ngawai at Huntly. Hence, her name arose, ‘Ngāwai Hono ki Parikino’, the “Joining of the Rivers”.

 This act of spiritual diplomacy aimed to strengthen ties between two significant Māori communities, blending traditional Māori customs with Catholic practices.

 The late Queen’s initiative highlights the ongoing efforts of Māori leaders to foster unity and understanding across different iwi and religious traditions, continuing the legacy of cultural preservation and interfaith dialogue in New Zealand.

 NZ First MP Shane Jones commented on the appointment, saying “She will be the face of renewal” and suggesting she may “personify the aspirations” of Māori youth.

 As the only daughter and youngest child of Kīngi Tūheitia, she has been groomed for this role and is poised for what could be a long reign, carrying forward the legacy of the Kīngitanga movement.

 Te Tiriti o Waitangi lawyer Annette Sykes, who has spent her career fighting for the rights of Māori, said the new Queen represents the future she has been aiming for.

 “She’s inspiring, the revitalisation and reclamation of our language has been a 40 year journey for most of us and she epitomises that, it is her first language, she speaks it with ease. Political, economic and social wellbeing for our people is at the heart of what she wants and in many ways she is like her grandmother, who was adored by the nation.”

SAINTS OF MEXICO

 

 

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VENERABLE FELIX de JESUS ROUGIER was born in Meilhaud, France, in 1859. After completing his primary studies, Felix entered the school-seminary of Le Puy. At age 18, during a talk on the missions in Oceania, he felt God's call and decided to become a missionary and entered the novitiate of the Marist Fathers. 

He was ordained to the priesthood on September 24, 1887. After his Ordination, he was assigned to the Marist Scholasticate in Barcelona, Spain, where he taught Sacred Scripture for eight years. 

On July 12, 1895, Father Felix was sent to Colombia. There, he developed a fruitful ministry as a teacher, preacher, apostle of the poor, military chaplain, local superior of his community, and the interim Vicar General of the Diocese of Tolima. At that time, Colombia's civil war was escalating, so the Marist superiors decided to send their religious to Mexico. 

In 1901, Father Felix was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Mexico City. While serving the French community in the Mexican capital, he experienced a growing desire for a deeper spiritual life and asked the Holy Spirit to lead him. His first encounter with the mystic Venerable Concepción Cabrera occurred on February 4, 1903.  He heard her confession but in a turn of events, she wound up advising him. "She revealed to me all the nooks and crannies of my soul...that I needed to make a conscious effort to give myself to the service of God: that I should make a new start."

That first meeting with such a holy woman of God reinforced in him the desire to live a life of perfection.  At this time, Father Felix added Jesus to his name as a sign of his complete belonging to the Lord.

Feeling called to begin a new religious community, he started a long and serious discernment process, openly consulting with many ecclesiastical officials. He left for France on July 16, 1904, to ask his superior's permission to start the foundation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. 

His request was denied, and he was ordered to cut communications with Mexico. He obeyed his superiors, and for the following ten years, he lived what he described as his "exile" in Europe. In 1913 Pope St. Pius X gave permission for the foundation. Father Felix returned to Mexico, and the Congregation was founded on December 25, 1914.

Father Felix's apostolic zeal also led him to the foundation of three religious communities of women: the Daughters of the Holy Spirit on January 12, 1924, the Oblates of Jesus the Priest on February 9, 1924, and the Missionaries Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit on September 15, 1930. 

He had a special love for priests and the priesthood. In times of religious persecution in Mexico, he promoted an inter-diocesan seminary in the United States and founded a house for priests in Mexico City. 
On September 24, 1937, Father Felix celebrated his priesthood's golden jubilee, surrounded by the love of his spiritual daughters and sons. He had earned a reputation for his holiness of life, and people recognized him as a man of God.

 At the end of his life, he said, "In my life, Jesus has done it all" and, "With Mary everything, and without her, nothing."

Venerable Felix of Jesus  died on January 10, 1938. In June of 2000, Pope St. John Paul II acknowledged his Christian virtues to be those of a heroic degree and declared him Venerable.

A PRINCELY MAN

BL. LADUSLAUS BATTHYANY-STRATTMANN was born in 1870 in Dunakiliti, Hungary, into an ancient noble family. He was the sixth of 10 brothers. In 1876 the family moved to Austria. When Ladislaus was 12 years old his mother died. At a young age he knew what his path in life would be. He often said: "When I grow up, I will be a doctor and give free treatment to the sick and the poor".

When he was preparing for his university studies, Ladislaus's father wanted him to receive the education he would need to look after the family property. Ladislaus therefore enrolled in agriculture studies at the University of Vienna, where he also studied chemistry, physics, philosophy, literature and music. It was not until 1896 that he began to study medicine in which he obtained a degree in 1900. 

In 1898, he married Countess Maria Teresa Coreth, a deeply religious woman. Their marriage was a happy one  and produced 13 children. The family attended Mass daily, and  after Mass Ladislaus would give the children a catechism lesson and assign each one a concrete act of charity for that day. Every evening after they prayed the Rosary they would review the day and the assigned act of charity.

In 1902, Ladislaus opened a private hospital in Kittsee with beds for 25 patients. Here he began working as a general practitioner, later specializing as a surgeon and oculist. During the First World War, the hospital was enlarged to admit 120 wounded soldiers.

On the death of his uncle, Ödön Batthyány-Strattmann, in 1915, Ladislaus inherited the Castle of Körmend, in Hungary. He also inherited the title "Prince" and the name "Strattmann". In 1920 his family moved from Kittsee to Körmend. They turned one wing of the castle into a hospital that specialized in ophthalmology.

 Ladislaus became a well-known specialist in this field, both in Hungary and abroad. He was also known as a "doctor of the poor", and the poor flocked to him for assistance and advice. He treated them free of charge; as the "fee" for their medical treatment and hospital stay, he would ask them to pray an "Our Father" for him. The prescriptions for medicines were also free of charge and, in addition to providing them with medical treatment, he often gave them financial assistance.

 As well as the physical health of his patients, Ladislaus was also concerned with their spiritual health. Before operating he would ask God to bless the operation. He was convinced that as the medical surgery was his domain, he was still an instrument in God's hands, and that the healing itself was a gift of God. Before his patients were discharged from the hospital, he would present them with an image of Our Lord and a spiritual book entitled: "Open your eyes and see". He was considered a "saint" by his patients and even by his own family.

 When Ladislaus was 60 years old, he was diagnosed with a tumor of the bladder. He was admitted to the Löw Sanatorium in Vienna. This was to be the greatest trial of his life. His patience and charity were unfailing. From the sanatorium he wrote the following words to his daughter, Lilli: "I do not know how long the good Lord will make me suffer. He has given me so much joy in my life and now, at the age of 60, I must also accept the difficult moments with gratitude".

To his sister he said: "I am happy. I am suffering atrociously, but I love my sufferings and am consoled in knowing that I support them for Christ".

 Blessed Ladislaus died in Vienna on 22 January 1931 after 14 months of intense suffering. He was buried in the family tomb in Güssing. His lifelong motto had been: "In fidelity and charity".

NOT AN ORDINARY MAN

 

An example of an “ordinary” man, whose love of Christ was so great, he was willing to battle against the evils of his day.

BL. BENEDICT DASWA (his full name was Samuel Tshimangadzo, meaning miracle or wonder)  was born in 1946 the eldest of five children, four sons and one daughter, in the small village of Mbahe about 20 kms from Thohoyandou, the capital of the old Venda “Homeland” in the Province of Limpopo. Limpopo is a South African province bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It's known for bushveld and wildlife reserves, including part of Kruger National Park. West of the Kruger are the craggy Blouberg mountains and Makgabeng Plateau with ancient rock art. Near the provincial capital Polokwane are the fossil-rich caves of Makapansgat dating back to early hominids

 Venda is often referred to as “the land of a hundred streams” because of its fertile land and good rainfall. It is a scenically beautiful part of the country with its rolling hills and deep valleys, its lush vegetation and areas of raw, rugged landscape. It was one of the ten tribal areas called Homelands or Bantustans where Africans had limited self-government over areas such as education, health, courts, police, prisons and social services. The Homelands comprised less than fifteen percent of the country. They were one of the main pillars of the racist apartheid system which became government policy in 1948 when Benedict was only a two years old.

For the millions of people who were not part of the White race there was the daily humiliation and injustice of being victims of racial segregation and discrimination on a grand scale. One of the African Catholic Bishops from this country used to say, “I never feel I’m a free person until I step outside South Africa”. This is the South Africa into which Bl. Benedict was born and in which he lived his whole life.

His family belonged to the Jewish Lemba tribe in rural Limpopo, the northernmost province of South Africa. He grew up observing Jewish customs, then converted to Catholicism and was baptized in the Church at the age of 17. He took the name Benedict after the sixth century monk and after Benedict Risimati, his catechist who instructed him in his faith as a teen.  His birthday immediately brings to mind the uprising against the Apartheid government in 1976 in which many young people lost their lives. It is now kept as a public holiday called Youth Day.

At first glance, what strikes one most about Benedict Daswa is how ordinary he was. He came from a family that was poor but not destitute. Like many boys in rural South Africa at a young age he became a herd boy before going to school and eventually becoming a teacher and a school principal. He was the father of eight who helped build a parish.

 The reality is that for those who knew him well, while he was just an ordinary young man in so many ways, he was also an extraordinary man. He was an exceptional human being. He was a deeply committed Christian totally in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the human family.

He lived a saintly life and died a martyr’s death. Father Benoit Gueye MSC, the parish priest of Thohoyandou, calls Bl. Benedict a role model, “I am always saying to the people here ‘don’t forget that from among you God chose a role model for all Christianity. From this far place, that’s where God went and picked his role model. This was a simple man who was a witness to Jesus in the world and was willing to die for that.”

 The Church has now added Benedict Daswa to this growing list of modern Saints and Martyrs in Africa. Like the Martyrs of Uganda, Benedict has left us many good lessons for the moral formation of our members and especially the Catholic youth. He is also an inspiration to the wider society in which many people are struggling for inner liberation from the fear and suffering caused by the practice of witchcraft.

In January 1990, the Venda area of northern South Africa experienced unusually heavy rain and lightning. Lightning struck a number of huts in the area, prompting the headman of Mbahe village to convene his council to discuss their concerns, as many villagers did not regard this as a natural phenomenon. Benedict was secretary to this council, but was not involved in the discussion. The council concluded that someone had to be responsible for the erratic weather and that therefore, a traditional healer had to be consulted in order to identify the culprit. A financial contribution of five South African rands was required from all the villagers to pay the healer’s consultation fee. At the time, Benedict  was headmaster of a primary school, a position which in many rural settings in Africa commands great influence and respect. He spoke out against the witch-hunt and refused to pay the fee, immediately earning himself enemies.

On the evening of February 2, 1990 (the same day that South African President F.W. de Klerk announced the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela from prison), Benedict  was attacked by a mob of young men while trying to clear a road of fallen trees. The mob began stoning the car he was driving and injured him. The bleeding saint escaped on foot and found a house to hide him, but eventually the owner of the house, fearing for her safety, revealed his whereabouts to the mob. Having found Benedict, the violent crowd sang and chanted while taunting him, beat him up with clubs, poured boiling water on him, and left him dead. His final words, reportedly, echoed those of Christ on the Cross: “God, into your hands receive my spirit.”

About 30,000 people, including Blessed Daswa's eight children and his 91-year-old mother, attended the beatification at his shrine in his home village of Tshitanini, more than 100 miles northeast of Tzaneen. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, concelebrated the Mass with many bishops and priests.

Millions of Catholics in Africa are believed to have followed the ceremony on television. Daswa is the first South Africa-born Catholic to be beatified.

Bishop Joao Rodrigues of Tzaneen praised Dawsa (using his full name), saying that "by his courage and his fidelity to the Catholic faith, Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa is a model for all the people in Africa."

Pope Francis  declared February 1 as Blessed Benedict Daswa's feast day.

MOTHER OF OUR SORROWS

 

Today should be the feast of OUR LADY OF SORROWS but being Sunday, it is passed by this year. That does not mean we should not pray to our Mother who is aware of the sorrows in our own hearts.

         Jose Luis Castrillo-Spain

This feast of Our Lady of Sorrows dates back to the twelfth century. These seven sorrows were foretold by Simeon in the Temple when he encountered Mary and Joseph at the Presentation of Jesus. Many do not know what these seven sorrows are:

The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)

The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)

Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50) 

Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)

Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)

The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)

The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Mother of God, stand by us in our trials and care for us in our many needs.  Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.  Amen!

MISSIONARY IN SUFFERING

 

One example of a not so ordinary man, is the newly beatified JAN HAVLIK, a seminarian of the Congregation of the Mission.  During the Angelus on September 1, Pope Francis called for a round of applause highlighting the steadfastness in the faith of this young man.

Bl.Ján was born in 1928 in Vlékovany near Skalica (now Dubovce) Slovakia, into the family of  poor worker, Karol Havlík and his wife Justina née Pollékova. In his handwritten curriculum vitae, we read, “Because I wanted to continue my studies, for two years I attended the Civic School in Holic, to which I walked 16 kilometers (almost 10 miles) each day. After two years, I began to attend the Junior High School in Skalica, traveling 36 kilometers  (22 miles) every day by bicycle.”

 Ján grew up in times of great economic crisis and coming into adulthood in the atmosphere of World War II. In 1943 he went to Banska Bystrica and entered the Apostolic School (“minor seminary”) of the Congregation of the Missions of Saint Vincent de Paul, while at the same time completing his high school studies. After the war, the political regime was changing radically. “The victorious February 1948,” as it was called, actually meant the advent of communist totalitarianism and the beginning of an open struggle against the Church.

On 29 October 1951, he was arrested along with the other seminarians of the Congregation in Nitra. The terrifying State Police interrogated and tortured him for 16 months, leaving him hungry and cold. After his trial, which lasted from February 3-5, he was sentenced to ten years in prison.  After the trail he said to his mother: “Don’t cry, mother. We wanted to offer God the sacrifice of the altar, but now we will offer our suffering and our very lives instead of the Blessed Sacrament.”

At the end of February 1953, Ján Havlík was escorted to the Jachymov lager as a miner in the uranium mine. It is in this atmosphere of fatigue and suffering that he discovered that, if he cannot be a priest, he can be a missionary.

To his close friend Anton Srholec he said, “I feel like I am on a mission. No missionary could choose a better and more difficult mission site.”

 He underwent a second trial in 1959 and another year was added to his sentence. Even in prison, he was interrogated, mistreated, tortured, and left without food and in the cold, yet he always behaved valiantly.

 In August 1961, Ján fainted at his workplace. The diagnosis in the infirmary was, “The patient’s condition requires immediate hospitalization.” When he was released from prison, he was sent home as a terminally ill invalid.

Only a wreck remained of the young man who had once been as strong as a tree. However, until the Lord called him to Himself, he still made time to describe his spiritual experience, thoughts, and prayers on paper in two small  notebooks: “The Way of the Cross of Little Souls” and “Diary.” 

These writings are important because they allow us to discover his personal conversations with God.

In spite of everything, Ján had not drunk his cup of bitterness to the bottom. When the sound of the ambulance spread through the village, everyone knew that Ján was being rushed to the hospital in Skalica.

On his name day, the feast day of St. John the Evangelist, December 27, 1965,  Ján died on the streets of Skalica. He had not yet turned thirty-eight. In the last few weeks, he perceived ever more the value of his sacrifice, as is clear from his writings: “Today, the altar of sacrifice is my sickbed and my decaying body.”

Almost fifty-eight years later, the Church acknowledged his extraordinary stature as a martyr of the faith by declaring Ján Havlík blessed. This brave young man acknowledged and welcomed the missionary opportunity amid the circumstances in which he unwillingly found himself.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE- A SAINT!

 

 

 St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, felt for most people  life was chiefly about making ordinary everyday life something extraordinary.

 “God doesn’t pull you out of your environment, He doesn’t remove you from the world, nor from your state in life, nor from your noble human ambitions, nor from your professional work... but, there, He wants you to be holy!” 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops defines a saint as “the members of the Church who have arrived at perfect union with Christ, who join their wills to the will of God in praying for those in the Church.”

This past month the relic of the new saint, Carlos Acuti, was in Anacortes (the small mainland town where we catch the ferry). Many we know went to pay homage to this young man who had a great devotion to the Eucharist and was a very savvy user of the internet. Why we ask, would 70 year old people go to pray before a recognized saint, but one who was still a teenager when he died?

 When we look at many of the new saints, we see people of all walks, some who led a “strange” life, which we may question, “why them”?  But what sets all apart, is a great love of Christ and the willingness to share that love with others- often in hidden ways. 

What we tend to forget is, most saints were not extraordinary individuals, but ordinary people striving for holiness within their call in life, be it in a monastery, in a factory, in a family. They lived their lives not on a pedestal but down in the trenches of life, closely connected to God through prayer.

To be a saint is what we are all called to be, and while the Church has given us examples to imitate, there are thousands of people who live holy lives without being noticed by those around them. 

Remember, sanctity is not as uncommon as people think. All it takes is to be a lover of Jesus Christ.  Many new holy people have come to my attention this summer and I will be presenting some in the weeks ahead.

Tapestries:  Los Angeles Cathedral- John Nava

JESUS IN ECUADOR

 

This Sunday (Sept. 8 to Sept. 15), the 53rd INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS will gather thousands of faithful from around the world in Quito, Ecuador, to celebrate the Eucharistic presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

In July, the United States held its first National Eucharistic Congress in 83 years.

This is the first time an Andean country has hosted an international congress and coincides with the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus made in 1874.

The very first international Eucharistic congress was held in France in 1881, and since then, they have occurred every one to five years. The only time that pattern was broken was in the years following World War I and World War II, with a gap of eight years and 14 years.

The theme for this year’s international congress is “Fraternity to Heal the World”. This certainly is a fitting one to address the widespread hatred and strife that seems to grow in the world with each passing day. The aim is to strive for unity in Jesus Christ. 

The “Basic Text of the 53rd Congress” states, “Fraternity is a dream that the whole of humanity is experiencing. It is not a utopia, but rather, the opportunity to fulfill the vocation of each person: the call to meet with others. For this reason, in our historical time everyone has the task to explore the theme of fraternity: the depths of Christianity, religions, politics, philosophy and science must be plumbed. Apart from fraternity all can be lost”.

“The Eucharist offers healing to the world wounded in fraternity. Where sin has caused us to ignore each other as brothers and has placed us in a relationship of opposition and rivalry, the Eucharist calls us to sit at the same table of the Body and Blood of Christ as children of the same Father and, therefore, brothers and sisters of one another.”

 According to the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, “The first congresses were inspired by a lively faith in the Real Presence of the Person of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. As a consequence, Eucharistic worship was expressed particularly in solemn adoration and in grand processions intended to celebrate the triumph of the Eucharist.”

The first congress was amazingly enough, organized by a laywoman. Following the French Revolution in the late 18th century, the Church in France was on the decline due to the growing prevalence of secularism.  Marie-Marthe-Baptistine Tamisier, under the inspiration of Bishop Louis Gaston de Ségur and with the help of Pope Leo XIII, began to plan an event that would gather people to glorify the “source and summit” of the Christian life. (Marie’s first cousin, Jean Tamisier, would bring that love for the faith to America, settling in Missouri).

Marie’s idea to hold such a congress was spurred by her encouragement of the French people to make pilgrimages to sites where Eucharistic miracles were commemorated, such as Avignon, Ars, Douai, Paris and Paray-le-Monial. After witnessing 60 members of the French Parliament kneel before the Blessed Sacrament in St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s chapel at Paray-le-Monial and pledge to resist the secularist policies of the French government, Marie was convinced of the power of faith in the Eucharist and realized her dream in 1881. 

It seems not much has changed in 140 years as our world is still in turmoil, yet throughout the years, international Eucharistic congresses have served as key moments in the life of the Church, gathering together the mystical body of Christ as one in the Eucharist. They are characterized by large open-air Masses, Eucharistic processions through city streets,  catechetical sessions and public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We pray those who attend the events during this week, return to their countries, spreading a deeper love and reverence for our Eucharistic Lord.

The theme on Monday, Sept. 9, will be “A Wounded World.” Juan Manuel Cotelo, a Spanish Catholic filmmaker and journalist, will present his film “El Mayor Regalo” (“The Greatest Gift”), which talks about forgiveness as a way to heal the world’s wounds and achieve fraternity.

 On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Sister Daniela Cagnavina, secretary-general of the Latin American Confederation of Religious, will share testimonies of the lives of great witnesses of faith in the Americas.

 On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the topic “The Eucharist and the Transfiguration of the World” will be discussed with the participation of one of the foremost leaders of the National Eucharistic Congress initiative in the United States, Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota.    In the afternoon, Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of the Diocese of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain will speak about the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

 On Thursday, Sept. 12, the theme “For a Synodal Church” will be the focus with the presence of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and Mari Wu, adviser to the Council for the Lay Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Taipei. On this day there will also be Masses in several languages, highlighting fraternity in diversity.

On Friday, Sept. 13, the theme to be discussed will be “Eucharist: Psalm of Fraternity” followed by a concert with Argentine singer-songwriter Pablo Martínez along with Marco Antonio Espín, author of the hymn for the International Eucharistic Congress, as well as the group Solideo. This will be a time dedicated especially to young people.

 On Saturday, Sept. 14, at 4:30 p.m., a Mass will be celebrated outside St. Francis Church in the St. Francis Plaza, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978.

 After the Mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be carried in procession through the streets of the Colonial Quarter, which will be “decorated with carpets of roses, to the Basilica of the National Vow, where a special blessing will be given for Quito, Ecuador, Latin America, and the world.

 Finally, on Sunday, Sept. 15, on the day of the closing ceremony, also at 10 a.m. on the esplanade of the Bicentennial Park in Quito, the Statio Orbis or final Mass will be celebrated by the pontifical legate, Cardinal Baltazar Porras, archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela.

 In addition to the main events, there will also be an exhibition of relics of saints who loved the Eucharist, which will allow the faithful to venerate those who have lived their faith in an exemplary manner.

Top poster from Eucharistic Congress held in Amsterdam 100 years ago- Artist- Jan Toorop

Middle  photo- Cathedral in Quito Ecuador

CARE FOR CREATION

In 2015, Pope Francis established September 1 as the annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church.

In doing so, he acknowledged his debt to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which has observed September 1, the beginning of its liturgical year, as a similar day of prayer since 1989.

 “As Christians we wish to contribute to resolving the ecological crisis which humanity is presently experiencing. In doing so, we must first rediscover in our own rich spiritual patrimony the deepest motivations for our concern for the care of creation.”

 He added:

The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation will offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live. The celebration of this Day, on the same date as the Orthodox Church, will be a valuable opportunity to bear witness to our growing communion with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. 

Artist: Suzi Dennis, Watercolor painting- First Christian Church, Hot Springs, Arkansas