Venite Prandete

  ST MARK FEAST DAY 25th APRIL St Mark’s Gospel was written between 60 and 70 AD. He was the first bishop of Alexandria and founded the Church in Egypt, at Alexandria. His relics are preserved at St Mark’s in Venice, an exquisitely beautiful cathedral dedicated to the saint. Manuscript evidence of the Gospel of St Mark is present in the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus, both of the 4th century AD. The Codex Vaticanus, found on Mt Sinai, begins with the words, (in Greek), “The Gospel according to Mark”. (1) Dr Pitre tells us about St Mark: "Mark was a well known figure in the first century church, in Jerusalem and Rome, a companion of both St Peter and St Paul. The letters of Paul identify Mark as “a man of circumcision’ (meaning he was Jewish) and a cousin of Barnabas, Paul’s fellow missionary (Colossians 4:10-11). These letters also tell us that Paul stayed with Mark during one of his periods of imprisonment, probably in Rome (Philemon 23-24;2 Timothy 4;11). Along similar...

  THE CONVERSION OF ST PAUL 25th JANUARY                          Carravaggio, "The Conversion of St Paul", Santa Maria del Popolo, (1600). The commentary in the Missal for the feast of St Paul provides: Saul of Tarsus was full of hatred for Jesus and His disciples. From a bitter persecutor he became an ardent apostle and the irresistible preacher of the Gospel. The Lesson for this Feast day, (a second class feast day), is from the Acts of the Apostles ,9:1-22: In those days, Saul, as yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues; that if he found any men his way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he went on his journey it came to pass that he grew nigh to Damascus; and suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him: Sa...

THE FEAST OF ST JOHN THE APOSTLE; BLESSING OF WINE - 27th DECEMBER Painting of St John blessing the wine, by Alonso Cano, for the Altarpiece of a convent in Seville. St John is described in the preface to the Mass of this day, in the Roman Missal, as follows: St John is the virgin Apostle, crowned with the halo of those who knew how to conquer their flesh; for this reason, he became ‘the Disciple whom Jesus loved’. Thanks to his angelic purity, he imbibed that wholesome wisdom of which the Epistle of the Mass speaks and which has given him the halo of the Doctors. It is to St John, who wrote a Gospel, three Epistles and the Apocalypse, that we owe the most beautiful pages of the Divinity of the Word made flesh, and it is for this reason that the virgin Apostle is symbolized by the eagle. BLESSING OF WINE St John is associated with wine, a derivation from a legend in which a pagan high priest of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus was alleged to have said to him: “If you want me to believe i...

  ST THOMAS; FEAST DAY 22nd DECEMBER Carravaggio, St Thomas touching Christ's wounds. Doubting Thomas is famed for his refusal to believe in the Resurrection of Our Lord until he had seen His wounds. His refusal to believe in the absence of concrete evidence is something we all can relate to: We are called to have faith in the Risen Christ, the Son of Man, who is God and whom we cannot see. The Gospel tells us, John 20:19-31: At that time, when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came, and stood in the midst of them and said to them: Peace be to you. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them: Receive Ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shal...