#hes canonically an ordained minister

[localcoffeeshop]

sisyphus of the corn

[homeb0ys]

i keep forgetting homelander is canonically an ordained minister. need S5 of the boys to end with him loosing his powers but he keeps the costume and ends up doing weddings in Las Vegas cause no one else will hire his dumb ass.

[theofficialpresidentofmars]

rereading hamlet act five and thinking about Hamlet’s religious attribution and use of Christianity as a moral lens for his actions and how it develops throughout the play, specifically the transition from god-fearing inactionist to heaven-ordained murderer.

Throughout the earlier acts, Hamlet cites a general fear of hell/damnation as preventing him from taking any extreme actions- the two most notable being killing himself (Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon ’gainst self-slaughter!) and killing Claudius (The spirit that I have seen May be a devil, and the devil hath power T’ assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me), despite believing to some extent that he is on some mission from heaven and/or hell (Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell and O all you host of heaven! O Earth! What else? And shall I couple hell?). In both cases, he looks to the heavens for guidance on how to proceed and seems to believe that if one path is correct above the other, it shall reveal itself to him if it is fated to be by those above.

And then in Act 3 Scene 3, we have the scene which displays the most infamous example of Hamlet’s religious standings- where he is presented with an opportunity to kill Claudius and turns it down on the basis that his father’s death won’t be avenged unless Claudius goes to hell, and as Claudius seems to be praying, he can’t take that chance. In this moment, Hamlet is sealing his own tragic ending by attempting to act as the heavenly judge, jury, and executioner in Claudius’ eternal fate, which isn’t very faithful of him. The dramatic irony of this whole scene is that Claudius isn’t even praying, and would by Hamlet’s logic go to hell if he were to be slain then and there. If we were to operate under the assumption that Hamlet’s mission is, in fact, a canonically holy one to begin with, this would be probably the closest thing in the play we could claim as divine intervention: Claudius is unarmed, unguarded, and by killing him right now, Hamlet would avoid the deaths of many more to come and given its immediate occurrence after the play, quite possibly even be able to present a reasonable claim about Claudius’ guilt and get away with it. It is a perfectly sanctioned opportunity for vengeance, but Hamlet’s own wrath and pride cause him to turn it down. As such, we can conclude that even if Hamlet’s quest for vengeance were a Godly one, his own personal opinions of what is just and not in the eyes of heaven are more guiding in his cause than what actually is.

What’s interesting about this is that Hamlet never seems to consider himself to be in the wrong for his actions in that scene, and continues not only to act as if his behaviour is Godly, but readjusts his own personal view of what is sinful and what is religiously appropriate in reaction to and as a result of his behaviour.

In the very next scene, Hamlet kills Polonius, an innocent bystander. By his own logic in Act 2, the murder of an innocent person is a damnable action, and was enough to keep him from killing Claudius for two months despite having reason to believe his guilt. But his own reaction in this scene is not to look at his own actions with disgust or fear, but rather to justify it as simply being a vessel for God’s intent (I do repent; but heaven hath pleased it so To punish me with this and this with me, That I must be their scourge and minister.) Notably, in interpretations of the play that see Hamlet as having slipped into actual madness rather than a simply feigned one, this scene is often considered the beginning of the full extent of it, and Polonius’s death as an important turning point. Regardless of whether or not Hamlet is mad, it is interesting that his religious views in terms of his moral compass have gone from a strict future-tense fear to lenient past-tense fated events, and it is a direct result of the choice he is initially presented with when discovering Polonius’ corpse: to realise his mistake and pray for forgiveness, or to not admit it as mistake at all and justify it as moral. And if it is moral, then it is God’s will, as for him, the two can’t exist separately. To a man who fears judgement, who fears eternal damnation perhaps above all else, denial will forever be easier than that sort of cognitive dissonance and fear. There’s possibly something relevant to even the modern day popularised takes on Christianity in there, but that’s an essay for another day.

And this line of thinking continues and worsens in Act 5 Scene 2, as Hamlet recounts the events leading up to the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Horatio. He describes an uneasiness that kept him up and led to him checking the letter, likely paranoia of some kind, but he casually attributes it to divine intervention (There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will—), and expands on this point by giving the same view to being able to re-seal it convincingly (Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. I had my father’s signet in my purse). When Horatio expresses distress, he confirms that ‘They are not near my conscience’, which makes a lot of sense in this context. As the scene progresses, as Hamlet is presented with the proposed fencing match, and Horatio again expresses unease at the idea, Hamlet turns down his rightfully-based fears for the same reasons (Not a whit. We defy augury. There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow.) He’s basically a complete fatalist by now, believing in the predetermined path set ahead as just even if it involves the loss of his own life.

Overall, I just think it’s interesting, tbh. Strangely I don’t seem to see a lot of discussion about the religious themes in Hamlet, despite the fact that they’re quite intertwined with his own mental health.

[angelpaperclip]

Prediction for Tubbo Lore Tomorrow:

Federation workers come to ask Tubbo for help. It's a puzzle room. He solves it easily. Cucurucho is like "omg pls join the federation you are so smart and sexy."

They kiss. (my own delusion) Etoiles is in the background and gives them a thumbs up.

Tubbo finally changes out of his purgatory clothes into a white suit. It's his Federation uniform but also his wedding suit. Etoiles reveals he's canonically an ordained minister.

Tubbo starts marrying Cucurucho but then Tommyinnit himself bursts into the room. Tommy accuses Tubbo & Cucurucho of marriage fraud.

A green screen falls behind Tubbo and it's revealed that all along Tubbo wasn't in his room, but in a courtroom. The stream transitions seamlessly into the court case for Tubbo & Tommy's divorce.

Tubbo wins. Cucurucho cheers. All the Federation Workers Cheer. Etoiles is still there. He also Cheers.

Happy End.

[princess-of-the-corner]

crack fic idea: OP Izuku, except he’s in gen ed and just wants to be a househusband. (BakuDeku is already canon at this point)

Ha!

On one hand I can't really imagine Izuku going full house husband he's gotta be doing /something/ whether it's Heroics, Support, or even just base Analysis.

On the other hand.

This is the funniest outcome.

Most powerful motherfucker somehow. And he just. Doesn't really bother or care. It drives everyone a little bit insane when they find out. But ya know what he's happy with his choices!

There's never a bkdk falling out for some reason (maybe without Izuku interested in Heroics it doesn't get bad? Maybe their parents intervene early?). So they're just like "when we were six we got married on the playground our rings were made of woven flowers(which we still have tucked in a scrapbook) and our friend Tsubasa was the ordained minister so we call each other 'husband' and the literal second we're both legally able to do so we're getting for real married on paper'.

No one knows what the fuck's going on with those two because you still have Katsuki 'Great Explosion Murder God: Dynamight' Bakugo yelling at you meanwhile you just have Izuku next to him like :) just literally like

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (December 1)

Edmund Campion was born in London on 25 January 1540.

He was raised as a Catholic. He had such a powerful and flamboyant intellect that at the age of only 17, he was made a junior fellow at Saint John’s College of Oxford University.

On visiting the university, Queen Elizabeth I was so taken by Edmund’s brilliance, as were a few of her dignitaries, that she bid him to ask for anything that he wished.

The exaltation and praise of so many fed his vanity and eventually led him away from his Catholic faith.

He took the Oath of Supremacy and acknowledged the Queen as head of the church. He also became an Anglican deacon.

However, his brilliant intellect and his conscience would not allow him to be reconciled to the idea of Anglicanism for too long.

After staying a period of time in Dublin, he turned back to his Catholic faith and returned to England. 

At this point, he was suspected of being too Catholic and was shaken when he witnessed the trial of a soon to be martyr.

It carried him to the conviction that his vocation was to minister to the Catholic faithful in England who were being persecuted.

He also felt the call to convert Protestants.

He set off to Rome barefoot, and in 1573, he entered the Society of Jesus.

He was ordained in 1578 and had a vision in which the Virgin Mary foretold him of his martyrdom.

When he returned to England, he made an immediate impression, winning many converts.

On 17 July 1581, he was betrayed by one of the faithful who knew his whereabouts and was thrown into prison.

The queen offered him all manner of riches if he would forsake his loyalty to the Pope, but he refused.

After spending some time in the Tower of London, he was sentenced to death by hanging, drawing and quartering.

His martyrom in Tyburn on 1 December 1581 sparked off a wave of conversions to Catholicism.

He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 29 December 1886. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970.

The actual ropes used in his execution are now kept in glass display tubes at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire.

Each year, they are placed on the altar of St Peter's Church for Mass to celebrate Campion's feast day, which is always a holiday for the school.

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT PETER CANISIUS The Jesuit Priest and Holy Apostle of the Catholic Press Feast Day: December 21

"Better that only a few Catholics should be left, staunch and sincere in their religion, than that they should, remaining many, desire as it were, to be in collusion with the Church’s enemies and in conformity with the open foes of our faith."

Peter Canisius, who is one of the major figures during the Protestant Reformation, called the 'Apostle of the Catholic Press' and known as the Second Apostle of Germany, was born in Nijmegen (located in Gelderland province), Holland (The Netherlands), on May 8, 1521, his mother died shortly after he was born.

In order to please his father Jacob, who is a burgomaster, he studied law for a few months at the University of Louvain. Realizing however, that he was not called to this career, he took a vow of celibacy and went to study theology in Cologne, Germany, where he earned a master's degree at the age of 19. There, while attending a retreat preached by St. Peter Faber, one of the first disciples of Ignatius of Loyola, he decided to enter the Society of Jesus.

After his ordination to the priesthood, he became famous for his talent in preaching. Ignatius considered him a model religious, prepared to go anywhere and to do anything. From Rome, Peter was sent to Germany, where he counteracted the Protestant doctrines and effected a religious revival among the people.

In 1552, Peter was called to Vienna, Austria, where 90% of the people had abandoned the Catholic faith. Many monasteries lay desolate, and not a single priest had been ordained for 20 years. Peter won the heart of the people by his works of charity. He ministered to the sick, visited the prisoners, and cared for the poor.

Realizing the great importance of mass media, he promoted the Catholic press to the best of his ability. During his lifetime, his catechism was reprinted over 200 times and translated into 15 languages.

Despite his success and popularity, Peter remained humble and submissive. He refused to be consecrated bishop of Vienna and Provincial of his order. He died at the age of 76 due to a stroke in Fribourg, Switzerland on December 21, 1597.

Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and declared a Doctor of the Church the same year, his major shrine can be found in Fribourg.

[alargehunkofdebris]

A Theory: Aziraphale in the Fandom of Love

So here’s my newest out-there theory on my absolute favourite character to analyze, Aziraphale, whomst I relate to on so many levels, good and bad. And that theory is, to Aziraphale, the concept of love is what Good Omens is to us.

Here me out. It’s a bit out-there, but I have my reasonings. 

So, in the scene where Beelzebub and Gabriel take hands, we all zoomeyesed on that arm touch that Aziraphale gave Crowley. And then, afterwards, that absolutely melting look he also gives Crowley. And I, like everyone else, immediately thought yep, that is The Look. The “let’s be them” look. The “I’m ready for what they have” look. The “Yep, I am nowhere near in denial any longer, the moment everyone’s out of here it’s confessing time” look.

And yet…and yet…

In The Scene that follows, it’s almost as though Aziraphale is absolutely, one hundred percent, in-one-ear-out-the-other not getting it. Even when Crowley is literally saying, verbatim, the words a person says when they’re proposing marriage (he doesn’t get the whole sentence out, but my God, Aziraphale gets licences for fun, I’d bet money he’s an ordained minister, along with having likely read every romance novel in existence.) Aziraphale is either just not listening…or he’s still completely, utterly oblivious to the direction Crowley is heading.

And then, when the kiss happens, it seems like that, too, is absolutely a shock to him. I’ve written a whole analysis on what he feels here already, but this is a slightly different theory. This is the “Aziraphale is absolutely clueless” theory. In this theory, Aziraphale did not know, at all, that Crowley was feeling like this towards him, and didn’t even consider it an option. It might be repressed, subconscious, whatever, but here, we’re arguing that consciously, Aziraphale is blind, totally, to the possibility of a relationship with Crowley, and that kiss came from absolutely nowhere.

This is somewhat of a stretch, I know. But in this theory, Aziraphale has just never considered himself as a being who can be in a relationship—or, perhaps, that Crowley would ever want a relationship with him—and so his mind simply never goes there. When Shax mentions he and Crowley as an item, he hears it as “Ah yes, an item, as in friends!” He’s so used to this idea that he and Crowley are partners in the business sense, and so used to repressing any inkling of something further, he just does not compute when someone mentions anything else. His brain autocorrects any innuendo to “friends! :D” because for 6000 years, being friends was scandalous enough.

So then, what about the arm touch? What about that happy look he gives Crowley? What about the joy at the ball? What the heck was all that?

Because—and this is a really funny thought to me—I’m mooting (heh) that Aziraphale, in his repressed, I’m-a-being-of-love-but-only-from-the-sidelines way, is simply a fan of love.

Actually, let me go further. He and Crowley, in his mind, are both the biggest members of the Love Fandom. They watch, as fans might watch a TV show, as love happens to other people.

That’s what the whole ball was. That’s what the whole Nina and Maggie thing was. Aziraphale was so happy because he and his best friend were actively engaging in their favourite fandom. They’d been doing it for eons – ever since Adam and Eve.

So when Gabriel and Beelzebub held hands, Aziraphale grabbed Crowley’s arm, not in a omg it could be us way, but in a omg I can’t believe this rarepair is actually canon way. When he gazed with adoration at Crowley, his dumb brain is simply thrilled that his friend is as obsessed with this moment as he is. Because in his mind, he’s the bigger fan (being of love, remember?) and Crowley is the person he’d dragged along with much protest. Who hasn’t felt that thrill when a friend, who’d sworn up and down they wouldn’t like it, actually ended up loving the show or game or movie you recommended?

This theory might not work with other scenes, I don’t know. But the more I think about it, the more I can see it actually being a possibility. And it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings for Crowley—he’s just so unaware of them that he attributes every single one as just “ah yes, the normal feelings one would feel when consuming their favourite content.” It’s the “I love this show/movie/whatever deeply, but only because it’s the one me and my beloved watch together” effect. It’s made even more complicated, of course, because he’d attribute any huge bursts of love he feels for Crowley in these moments as love by proxy from the people they’re watching.

That’s the meta in this meta. Aziraphale, bless his idiotic, misguided heart, is also watching Good Omens. He’s also shipping his favourite characters, and being stunned when the most unexpected couple becomes canon. He’s excitedly throwing a Love Con (the ball) and writing fanfiction (“today me and Crowley met these two friends and they loved each other, but one died in the others arms and it was terribly sad…”) and drawing fanart (sure, he had a reason for drawing Gabriel, but he knows how to use a phone and drive a car – he’d know how to use a camera. This is of course before he knew Gabriel and Beelzebub was a thing, but man it’s a funny thought.)

Yes, I’m going a bit far, but the main point is sound; Aziraphale has always loved human love, and he loves that Crowley does too. He’s just never realized that the love he feels for his favourite show is 98% due to the person he’s watching it with, and that the love he loves is not – as he’s always assumed – out of his reach, beyond that proverbial screen. He’s allowed to have a story of his own.

[monards]

hi snuggle muffin

so you said Alicia is mysterious right now but like..how?? i played the game and this bitch is just kinda open. like,, dead gf, mean, somehow has gray hair. everything kinda checks out so like maybe explain a little more???? also,, what is she to bureaucracy?? bc she seems to not like him very much. oh and, what happened with beargrass and his family? since they were like. rude gazillionares or whatever

hiiii electtra; ilysm fooor this ask because i love the chance to be a little annoyying about my favorite mean women (even though you just made me go through hell with your other one.)

youre absolutely right about her being open, but the thing is that it feels more like the false-openness. Like, realistically,, the player really only knows most this stuff from context clues!! Techincally, she never techincally admitted to having a dead gf, but beaford literally just made a wlw and dried lilys joke and alicia freezed up like a fish out of water. So. You sorta realize.

Also, we really only know tidbits of her motives and stuff, but thats it. theyre only small bits. She has a board in the office about a hotel incident from three years ago; is it just a random story? Is it something she was apart of? Did dried lily girl die in it? What about it ??? ALICIIA PLEASE!!!!!! Plus, her motives to bringing Beaford back on the surface ARE what she says it is. Repay for making Alicia go through that shit because he got possessed by some demon. But also; he's probably one of the first examples of the supernatural ACTUALLY being the supernatural in her experince. And what do we know she is?? Skepticle of the super natural. So seeing a whole ass demon possess this really pathetic college drop out is defiently something Alicia finds horribly important considering shes searching for some proof to the super natural. Because really guys.. do you think Alicia Wilkershire went to her highschool guidance counselor sayng she wanted to be an ordained minister and excorist? Yeah, no. That is NOT how it works!!!!!

Alsoooo, i think her and beaford have both a really complicated and a really simple relationship simultaneously. Because on one hand; they are what they are on the surface. Beaford works for Alicia to pay back for the shit he pulled with that demon possession thing. On the other hand; there's WAY more than that.

Alicia is not a very warm and kind person, by like, any means. She's over six feet tall, spicaze herself described her as mean, and she literally repeteadly kicks at beaford WHILE HES DOWN even after the demon stopped possessing him actively. But shes seen being at least a lot kinder with beaford. She watched that one anime with him not even a month into knowing him (even if she bemoans it, actively) and even went far enough to find a reedeeming quality in it (I.E the fashion) !!!!! She lets him poke fun at him (even though, to be fair, she absolutely decks him everytime he does.) And to be frank; this is not stuff that Alicia do with just any person. We can tell shes awkward with most clients; but even when first meeting beaford, she was way more casual and comofortably speaking then she does with Naomi (who she has to lean back on Beaford to talk to !!!!)

Obviously this doesnt take away fromt he fact Alicia IS still a bit (very) mean to beaford. But it's just. Way different from how she treats others. Which is why I'm very convinced its because Beaford reminds her of dried lily girl; especially consdering the aspect of how they have VERY similar speech traits and personailities in regards to Alicia (Poking fun at her, seeing her differently than others do, etc..) especially consdering the conversation we see in the knife ending where Alicia is (presumably) speaking to dried lily in the after life.

Also. I'm pretty sure its canon that Beaford just up and left without saying anything. His family is obviously very rigid in the fact that theyre all doctors and expect the same from Beaford. Plus considering his shock at seeing the photo of him and sister still in his sisters room-- I can really only presume his home life wasn't really the best. So him just up and leaving isnt too shocking/unwarranted

Anyways I really lvoe these two and i'll probably make a post later about them. Thank you Electra. Your sins have been forgiven.

[lboogie1906]

Priest Augustine “Augustus” Tolton (April 1, 1854 - July 9, 1897) born enslaved was one of the country’s first African American Roman Catholic priests. He shares early Black Catholic history with three brothers of Irish-African American ancestry: James, Sherwood, and Patrick Healy.

He was born to Martha Jane Chisley and Peter Paul Tolton. Both parents were raised and baptized as Catholics. In 1851 Martha and Peter were allowed to marry but remained under their original slave ownerships. The couple had three children.

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Peter enlisted in the Union Army and died in a St. Louis hospital. When he was nine, Martha escaped slavery and the family crossed the Mississippi River into Quincy, Illinois. He met an Irish immigrant priest who provided him with the opportunity to attend a parochial school.

He expressed his interest in the priesthood and was tutored privately by local priests at a time when the vast majority of Catholic colleges in the US would not admit him. In 1878 he entered the Franciscans at Saint Francis College and helped found Saint Joseph School for Black children.

He was accepted into the College of the Propagation of the Faith seminary in Rome where he became fluent in Italian, Latin, and Greek. He was ordained in Rome. While he made plans to pursue missionary work in Africa he attempted to organize a parish in the Italian capital. He was assigned to his home diocese in Illinois as pastor of the Negro Church of Saint Joseph in Quincy. The church grew to capacity and included white parishioners. This angered a Quincy clergy leader, who urged him to minister only to Black members or leave.

He became pastor of an all-Black parish of 30 that had been meeting in temporary facilities. He renamed it Saint Monica’s Chapel. The parish had received a large donation from a benefactor and constructed a church on the corner of 36th and Dearborn Streets. It grew to serve 600 black and white parishioners.

In 2010 the Archdiocese of Chicago announced that it was introducing Fr. Augustus Tolton for canonization into sainthood. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[epprbcu-shipping]

Yeah sel is an ordained minister irl (bc he said “fuck it its funny” at some point and just Did It) so now he is canonically too

Oke

[thejonkler]

i remember when i was trying to explain canon vs fanon to my father who is an ordained minister and he immediately said "oh i know what that is. its like the bible." anyway i cannot take my intro to biblical faith class seriously.

[marvelandponder]

Did Solstice have another job before the one at Canterlot High? A doctorate's only takes around eight years (assuming that Solstice went to a good undergrad college where he got to do a lot of research), so was he a psychologist at another school, or was he a research psychologist trying to learn about magic or something?

That's a really interesting question. Solstice is canonically in his 40s (just like Celestia and Luna), he hasn't been a student for a while. I think he leaned into research at the University of Marechester in Great Griffin. He liked having an ocean between him and his father, and after a while, he made the decision to stay, conduct research into developmental psychology. He's a pretty bookish guy who had plenty of reasons to stick to himself, especially after his first serious relationship ended while he was still figuring out his own... situation.

And okay, sure, maybe he was conducting his own kind of research on the side, but a guy's gotta get paid somehow and not a lot of faculty members were jumping at the chance to pay him to research vampires in any real sense, so psychology it was.

He also would've had a practicum as part of his PsyD degree, and the experience there working with real life people probably built his confidence again. He traveled when he could, and although a solo traveller, he learned meditation and other (at the time) less traditional (Western) coping mechanisms that helped him go longer and longer between blackouts until he seemed to conquer it.

Once his father passed away, he even moved back to North Amareica. That was a big turning point.

He made leaps of progress. He figured out it wasn't vampirism, it was magic, and had managed to track down a magical artefact carelessly leftover from the Sirens, and a brief run-in gave him more information than he could have found on his own (I'm talking pre-Rainbow Rocks. Very pre. Those three have been around a while, if we go by the fact that Starswirl was locked away for a long time). Solstice did have a period of time doing more odd jobs to make ends meet as he explored specific mythical phenomena to see if there was any truth to it. There's a number of weird jobs he's done; ask him why he's an ordained minister! But as he searched for the source of the magic, he came closer towards Canterlot City, first on the outskirts then in the city proper; ended up taking a few more psych related jobs (some admin, some clinical; paid internships), and I think right before CHS, which he cites as a dream job (especially since by then, he'd collected enough information to know what was going on), he was around Canterlot City cleaning houses and looking for his opportunity by day, and searching for magical phenomena by night.

Exactly how many years of direct counselling experience he has, I think enough that the guy knows what he's doing, has worked with kids and teens before, but he's also had other emotional stuff and priorities throughout his professional life. And remember: Almost nobody's career is a straight line. Least of all when you think you're a vampire for a while

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS NOVEMBER 17

Martyrs of Paraguay, Roman Catholic Jesuit Priests and Martyrs. Three Spanish Jesuits - Roch Gonzalez, Aiphonsus Rodriguez, Juan de Castilo - who were slain in missions called “reductions,” including the main site on the Jiuhi River in Paraguay. They were at All Saints Mission there when they were murdered Feastday: November 17

Bl. Josaphat Kocylovskyj, Roman Catholic Priest and Martyr. He was sent to the Capaivca labor camps (Kiev region), where he underwent continuous pressure to move to the Russian Orthodox Church. He died in the same camp as a result of cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 71 years, Feastday: Nov. 17

St. Hugh of Lincoln. Hugh of Lincoln was the son of William, Lord of Avalon. He was born at Avalon Castle in Burgundy and was raised and educated at a convent at Villard-Benoit after his mother died when he was eight. He was professed at fifteen, ordained a deacon at nineteen, and was made prior of a monastery at Saint-Maxim. While visiting the Grande Chartreuse with his prior in 1160 A, D, It was then he decided to become a Carthusian there and was ordained. After ten years, he was named procurator and in 1175 A.D. became Abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England. This had been built by King Henry II as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket. His reputation for holiness and sanctity spread all over England and attracted many to the monastery. He admonished Henry for keeping Sees vacant to enrich the royal coffers. Income from the vacant Sees went to the royal treasury. He was then named bishop of the eighteen year old vacant See of Lincoln in 1186 A.D. - a post he accepted only when ordered to do so by the prior of the Grande Chartreuse. Hugh quickly restored clerical discipline, labored to restore religion to the diocese, and became known for his wisdom and justice.

He was one of the leaders in denouncing the persecution of the Jews that swept England, 1190-91A.D., repeatedly facing down armed mobs and making them release their victims. He went on a diplomatic mission to France for King John in 1199 A.D., visiting the Grande Chartreuse, Cluny, and Citeaux, and returned from the trip in poor health. A few months later, while attending a national council in London, he was stricken and died two months later at the Old Temple in London on November 16. He was canonized twenty years later, in 1220 A.D., the first Carthusian to be so honored.

St. Hilda, 614-680 A.D. Benedictine abbess, baptized by St. Paulinus. She was the daughter of a king of Northumbria, England, and is considered one of England’s greatest women. At age thirty three Hilda entered Chelles Monastery in France, where her sister was a nun. At the request of St. Aidan, she returned to Northumbria and became abbess of Hartlepool. In time she became the head of the double monastery of Streaneschalch, at Whitby. She trained five bishops, convened the Council of Whitby, and encouraged the poet Caedmon.

Bl. Salomea of Poland, Roman Catholic Nun and Poor Clare abbess. The daughter of a Polish prince, she was betrothed at the age of three to Prince Coloman of Hungary, son of King Andrew II. She became a widow in 1241 when Coloman was killed in battle. She then entered the Poor Clares, founding a convent at Zawichost (later moved to Skala). She later became the abbess of the convent and died there Feastday: Nov. 17

ST. ELISABETH OF HUNGARY, FRANCISCAN TERTIARY, Nov. 17 When she died at the early age of 24, Elizabeth of Hungary was already considered a saint by many. Widowed at a young age, Elizabeth became a Third Order Franciscan. Despite her noble birth, she embraced Franciscan poverty, assisted the poor, and ministered to the sick. Nov 17

ST. GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, BISHOP OF NEOCESAREA Born in 213, the young pagan Gregory (originally Theodore) became a Christian and a bishop so renowned for his preaching and for the miracles worked by his hands that people called him “Thaumaturgus,” “wonder-worker.” His feast day is celebrated on November 17. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/11/17/st--gregory--thaumaturgus--bishop-of--neocesarea.html

[pashterlengkap]

Catholic bishop blesses newly out trans man who serves as a church “hermit”

A Catholic hermit has come out as trans, in what he believes may be a first in the church. What’s more, 39-year-old Brother Christian Matson of Kentucky is coming out with the blessing of his bishop, John Stowe of the Diocese of Lexington. As he explained to Religious New Service (RNS), Matson transitioned in college, four years before converting to Catholicism, having grown up Presbyterian. He felt called to minister to people working in the arts, and sought the advice of a canon lawyer in light of a 2000 declaration from the Vatican that people who have undergone “sex-change” are ineligible “to marry, be ordained to the priesthood or enter religious life.” The lawyer suggested Matson explore the role of a diocesan hermit, a lay person, regardless of gender, who makes vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity directly to a diocesan bishop and lives a largely solitary life of prayer. Related How a trans sex worker from Paraguay became friends with the Pope The pontiff has been welcoming transwomen to the Vatican. Matson was told that taking on the role shouldn’t be a problem “as long as there’s a bishop who will accept you, because there’s no distinction by sex and you’re not in a community — you’re by yourself,” he recalled. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Still, it took Matson years to find a bishop who would accept him. Then, in 2020, a friend suggested he contact Stowe who, according to RNS, had emerged as a leading advocate for LGBTQ+ tolerance in the church.   Stowe responded immediately to Matson’s 2020 letter in which he identified as a trans man. “It was an enormous relief,” Matson said. “I was in tears. I felt my hope revive.” “My willingness to be open to him is because it’s a sincere person seeking a way to serve the church,” Stowe told RNS. “Hermits are a rarely used form of religious life … but they can be either male or female. Because there’s no pursuit of priesthood or engagement in sacramental ministry, and because the hermit is a relatively quiet and secluded type of vocation, I didn’t see any harm in letting him live this vocation.” Matson moved to Kentucky and took his first vows in 2022, renewing them the following year, but keeping what he describes as his “medical history” to himself.   In that time, however, he became increasingly alarmed both by efforts to demonize trans people and curtail their rights in state houses across the U.S., and by the Catholic Church’s public statements on trans people. “It was suddenly becoming a lot more difficult in the church to be trans,” Matson said. “Vatican-level documents that have come out on the subject have not engaged with the science at all,” he added. An encounter with a young trans and nonbinary Catholic who told Mason that they felt they didn’t have a place in the church spurred him to start thinking seriously about coming out publicly. Ultimately, he decided he would make his “disclosure” on Pentecost, the same holiday on which he was baptized years ago, which fell this year on Sunday, May 19. “I can’t stand by and let this false and, at times, culpably ignorant understanding of what it means to be transgender continue to hurt people,” he said of anti-trans rhetoric coming from the church. “If I don’t say anything and allow the church to continue to make decisions based on incorrect information, then I’m not serving the church.” While he supported Matson’s “disclosure,” Stowe acknowledged that there may be some in the church who will want to see Matson removed. “If I’m told to by higher authorities, then I will have to deal with that at the time.” “I don’t have a hidden agenda, I just want to serve the church,” Matson said. “People can believe that or not.” Catholics, he said, need to “deal with” trans people within the church, “because God has called us into this church.” “It’s not your… http://dlvr.it/T7Qf7w

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (January 31)

On January 31, the Roman Catholic Church honors St. John Bosco (or “Don Bosco”), a 19th-century Italian priest who reached out to young people to remedy their lack of education, opportunities, and faith.

John Bosco was born on 16 August 1815 to a family of peasant farmers in Castelnuovo d'Asti — a place which would one day be renamed in the saint's honor as “Castelnuovo Don Bosco.”

John's father died when he was two years old, but he drew strength from his mother Margherita's deep faith in God.

Margherita also taught her son the importance of charity, using portions of her own modest means to support those in even greater need.

John desired to pass on to his own young friends the example of Christian discipleship that he learned from his mother.

At age nine, he had a prophetic dream in which a number of unruly young boys were uttering words of blasphemy.

Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary appeared to John in the dream, saying he would bring such youths to God through the virtues of humility and charity.

Later on, this dream would help John to discern his calling as a priest.

But he also sought to follow the advice of Jesus and Mary while still a boy:

He would entertain his peers with juggling, acrobatics and magic tricks, before explaining a sermon he had heard, or leading them in praying the Rosary.

John's older brother Anthony opposed his plan to be a priest and antagonized him so much that he left home to become a farm worker at age 12.

After moving back home three years later, John worked in various trades and finished school in order to attend seminary.

In 1841, John Bosco was ordained a priest.

In the city of Turin, he began ministering to boys and young men who lived on the streets, many of whom were without work or education.

The industrial revolution had drawn large numbers of people into the city to look for work that was frequently grueling and sometimes scarce.

Don Bosco was shocked to see how many boys ended up in prison before the age of 18, left to starve spiritually and sometimes physically.

The priest was determined to save as many young people as he could from a life of degradation.

He established a group known as the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales and became a kindly spiritual father to boys in need.

His aging mother helped support the project in its early years.

John's boyhood dream came to pass:

He became a spiritual guide and provider along with his fellow Salesian priests and brothers, giving boys religious instruction, lodging, education, and work opportunities.

He also helped Saint Mary Dominic Mazzarello form a similar group for girls.

This success did not come easily, as the priest struggled to find reliable accommodations and support for his ambitious apostolate.

Italy's nationalist movement made life difficult for religious orders, and its anti-clerical attitudes even led to assassination attempts against Don Bosco.

But such hostility did not stop the Salesians from expanding in Europe and beyond.

They were helping 130,000 children in 250 houses by the end of Don Bosco's life.

“I have done nothing by myself,” he stated, saying "it was Our Lady who has done everything through her intercession with God."

John Bosco died in the early hours of 31 January 1888, after conveying a message:

“Tell the boys that I shall be waiting for them all in Paradise.”

Pius XI beatified him on 2 June 1929 and canonized on 1 April 1934.

He is a patron saint of young people, apprentices, and Catholic publishers and editors.