Ecumenical Delegation in Rome
As has been customary, an ecumenical delegation from Finland visited Rome close to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The delegation was headed by Bo-Göran Åstrand (Bishop of Porvoo, Evangelical Lutheran Church) and Metropolitan Arseni (Diocese of Kuopio and Karelia, Orthodox Church of Finland) together with Bishop Raimo Goyarrola. Fr. Martti Savijoki also participated in the trip. The delegation met with the Pope and celebrated the remembrance of St. Henry on the day of publication of this journal.
Pope Francis: ‘Peace is a Responsibility Incumbent on All of Us’
In his annual “State of the World” address to members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis reflects on the conflicts and divisions ravaging the world and highlights the responsibility of individuals and nations to foster peace.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-01/pope-discourse-diplomatic-corps-wars-human-rights-migration-educ.html (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)
Lenten Regulations on Fasting and Abstinence in the Diocese of Helsinki 2024
General Audience of Pope Francis on Jan. 17: Vices and Virtues: Lust
“Let us continue our journey concerning vices and virtues; and the ancient Fathers teach us that, after gluttony, the second ‘demon’ – that is, vice – that is always crouching at the door of the heart is that of lust, called porneia in Greek. While gluttony is voracity with regard to food, this second vice is a kind of ‘voracity’ with regard to another person, that is, the poisoned bond that human beings have with each other, especially in the sphere of sexuality.”
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2024/documents/20240117-udienza-generale.html (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)
The Pope’s Prayer Intentions for 2024
January
For the gift of diversity in the Church
We pray that the Holy Spirit may help us to recognize the gift of different charisms within the Christian community and to discover the richness of different traditions and rituals in the Catholic Church.
February
For the terminally ill
We pray that those with a terminal illness, and their families, receive the necessary physical and spiritual care and accompaniment.
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024 (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)
Homily of Pope Francis on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
The Bishop’ Statement on the Declaration Fiducia Supplicans
https://fides.katolinen.fi/the-bishop-of-helsinki-on-fiducia-supplicans/
“A lady spoke to me…” From the Office of Readings on Feb 11
From a letter from Saint Bernadette Soubirous, virgin
The apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes
I had gone down one day with two other girls to the bank of the river Gave when suddenly I heard a kind of rustling sound. I turned my head toward the field by the side of the river but the trees seemed quite still and the noise was evidently not from them. Then I looked up and caught sight of the cave where I saw a lady wearing a lovely white dress with a bright belt. On top of each of her feet was a pale yellow rose, the same color as her rosary beads.
At this I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things, and I put my hands into the fold of my dress where my rosary was. I wanted to make the sign of the cross but for the life of me I couldn’t manage it and my hand just fell down. Then the lady made the sign of the cross herself and at the second attempt I managed to do the same, though my hands were trembling. Then I began to say the rosary while the lady let her beads slip through her fingers, without moving her lips. When I stopped saying the Hail Mary, she immediately vanished.
I asked my two companions if they had noticed anything, but they said no. Of course they wanted to know what I was doing and I told them that I had seen a lady wearing a nice white dress, though I didn’t know who she was. I told them not to say anything about it, and they said I was silly to have anything to do with it. I said they were wrong and I came back next Sunday, feeling myself drawn to the place….
The third time I went the lady spoke to me and asked me to come every day for fifteen days. I said I would and then she said that she wanted me to tell the priests to build a chapel there. She also told me to drink from the stream. I went to the Gave, the only stream I could see. Then she made me realise she was not speaking of the Gave and she indicated a little trickle of water close by. When I got to it I could only find a few drops, mostly mud. I cupped my hands to catch some liquid without success and then I started to scrape the ground. I managed to find a few drops of water but only at the fourth attempt was there a sufficient amount for any kind of drink. The lady then vanished and I went back home.
I went back each day for two weeks and each time, except one Monday and one Friday, the lady appeared and told me to look for a stream and wash in it and to see that the priests build a chapel there. I must also pray, she said, for the conversion of sinners. I asked her many times what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally with outstretched arms and eyes looking up to heaven she told me she was the Immaculate Conception.
During the two weeks she told me three secrets but I was not to speak about them to anyone and so far I have not.
RESPONSORY Luke 1:46, 49, 48
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
- The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
From this day, all generations will call me blessed. - The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
COLLECT
Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness,
that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God,
may, with the help of her intercession,
rise up from our iniquities.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.