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Holy Fire in Jerusalem

The Holy Fire has been descending on the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on the eve of Orthodox Easter for more than 1,500 years. The first accounts of this miracle, which symbolises the resurrection of Christ, date back to the 4th century A.D.

On 14th April, the Holy Fire ignited after the prayer delivered by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem. Israeli policemen made sure there is no fraud and the patriarch has no “earthly” sources of fire.

It is believed that the year in which the Holy Fire does not descend will become the last year in the history of mankind.

The fire miraculously ignites during the prayer delivered by the patriarch of Jerusalem and All Palestine at the Sepulchre. The patriarch then passes the fire over to believers who use it to light 33 candles tied together, one candle for each year of Christ's life. The pilgrims wash their faces and heads with the holy fire, for it does not burn in the first few minutes after the descent. The believers also light lampions and oil lamps in order to take the holy fire, which has been miraculously appearing for 990 years at the Sepulchre on the eve of Orthodox Easter, to their homes.

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The Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, is celebrating his 85th birthday. Pope's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, said the pontiff did not want to hold a big celebration on his birthday and that it would be more of a family holiday. He said that Monday will be a normal working day for the head of the Vatican.

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atican City, Apr 15, 2012 / 04:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Holy Mass is more than a historical re-enactment, Pope Benedict XVI said on April 15, Divine Mercy Sunday.

“Christian worship is not just a commemoration of past events, or even a particular mystical, interior experience, but essentially an encounter with the Risen Lord,” he told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square prior to the midday recitation of the Regina Coeli prayer.

For while Christ now “lives in the dimension of God, beyond space and time” he is still truly present in the midst of his creation as “he speaks to us in Scripture and breaks for us the bread of eternal life.”

Pope Benedict reflected upon Sunday’s Gospel reading in which Christ appears twice to his disciples after the Resurrection. In the Mass, the Pope said, we live what the same experience as the disciples did in “seeing Jesus at the same time as not recognizing him – touching his body, a real body, yet free from earthly ties.”

He noted that Christ first appears on the Jewish Sabbath and then again eight days later.

The fact that this second encounter took place on a Sunday, he explained, is “very strong proof of the Resurrection of Christ” because only an “extraordinary and disturbing event” could induce the early Christians to start worshipping on a day other than the Jewish Sabbath.

The Pope also noted how Christ repeatedly greeted the disciplines with the words “Peace be with you.” This renders a traditional Jewish greeting into “the gift of peace that only Jesus can give, because it is the fruit of his radical victory over evil.”

This “peace” that Jesus offers to his friends is “the fruit of the love of God that led him to die on the cross, to pour out all of his blood in payment, as the meek and humble Lamb, ‘full of grace and truth’,” he said.

Pope Benedict explained this was why Blessed John Paul II declared the Sunday after Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday in 2003. John Paul II had in mind an icon of “the pierced side of Christ, from which flows blood and water,” Pope Benedict explained, referring to the eyewitness testimony of the Apostle John.
This icon was also the vision of the Divine Mercy of Christ revealed to the young Polish nun Sister Faustina Kowalska, on February 22, 1931.

“But now Christ is risen,” said the Pope, “and from the Living Christ spring the Easter Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. Those who approach them with faith receive the gift of eternal life.”

“Dear brothers and sisters,” he concluded, “let us welcome the gift of peace that the risen Jesus offers us, let us fill our hearts with His mercy!”

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from CNA Daily News
Vienna, Austria, Apr 17, 2012 / 08:52 am (CNA).- Fr. Jacob Strampickal, S.J., a major Catholic communications leader in India, died April 14 at the age of 62.


“He was truly a missionary of communications in India,” said Fr. William Nellikkal of Vatican Radio’s Malayalam section. “He succeeded in convincing the Catholic bishops of India that media is a powerful tool for evangelization.”


Fr. Nellikkal, a former student of Fr. Strampickal, said he united Catholics across India despite their differences in culture and liturgical rites.


Fr. Strampickal had a stroke in September 2011 in India but recovered in what he said was a miracle. He was on a visit to Austria 10 days ago when he became critically ill and was hospitalized.


The Indian bishops’ conference recently appointed him as head of the National Institute for Social Communications, Research and Training, which he helped to found in the state of Uttar Pradesh.


He headed both the Indian and Asian offices of Signis, the international association for Catholic communications. He also taught at the Gregorian University in Rome and in 18 theological seminaries of India, where he discussed the importance of communications for priests and for the Catholic Church, UCA News reports.


His projects included the New Delhi Video Festival for NGOs, national seminars on Church and media, online media training for students from poor countries, and a weekly radio program for migrants.


He has served as a consultant for the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications and he worked closely with Vatican Radio’s Indian program.

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Vatican’ seems to have changed stance on American Roman Catholic nuns. Vatican rhad eprimanded US Catholic nuns’ group, Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), founded in 1956, last month for reportedly raising the subject of ordination of women and other issues. But on May 18, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI praised the American nuns.

Meeting with the final group of US Bishops on their ad limina Vatican visits, Pope reportedly said: “I wish to reaffirm my deep gratitude for the example of fidelity and self-sacrifice given by many consecrated women in your country, and to join them in praying that this moment of discernment will bear abundant spiritual fruit for the revitalization and strengthening of their communities…”

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Hindu deities have been reportedly referred to as "false idols" on the opening day of the General Assembly of Church of Scotland on May 19 in Edinburgh in United Kingdom.

Church website says: “The landscape of our country is no longer solely dominated with the steeples and crosses of Christians Churches, but is peppered by the arches and domes of temples, synagogues, gurdwaras and mosques...we are having to adopt practical ways of encountering people from other faith backgrounds, whether neighbours, shop keepers, co-workers, relatives or friends.”

This “false idols” reference was reportedly made while discussing allowing of use of hall of Queen's Cross Parish (QCP) Church in Aberdeen, a Church of Scotland parish, by Hindu community. General Assembly continues till May 25.

A registered charity, Aberdeen Hindu Association (AHA), whose objectives include “promotion of religious harmony", conducts three-hour pooja first and third Sunday of the month besides discourses and satsangs at QCP Church where Reverend Scott M. Rennie is the Minister and whose website says that its facilities are available for hire. Dr. Balasubramaniam Vijayan, Dr. Pradeep Kumar and Dr. Senthil Ragupathy are President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively of AHA; which was launched in 2010 and whose “ultimate goal” is “to have a place of worship (temple) for ourselves in the Northeast of Scotland”.

As is apparent from pictures posted on AHA website, during fortnightly pooja, statues and pictures of Hindu deities are placed inside the hall; with fruits, flowers, leaves, incense sticks and other pooja material placed before the images of deities, giving it the appearance of a sanctuary. Many of the devotees attend the pooja in traditional Indian dresses and scriptures are also brought in. Central to the Church of Scotland, majority church in Scotland, is “worship of God through following the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ”.

Hindu temples in Scotland include Edinburgh Hindu Mandir & Cultural Centre (EHMCC) in Leith, Hindu Temple of Scotland (HTOS) in Rutherglen, ISKCON Karuna Bhavan in Lesmahagow, Tayside Hindu Cultural and Community Centre in Dundee and Hindu Mandir Glasgow. EHMCC was reportedly a Presbyterian Church before it was acquired in 1986. Former Wardlawhill Church in Rutherglen, affiliated to Church of Scotland, was reportedly renovated and refurbished and converted into what is HTOS now.

Around 400 CE, St Ninian began the first large-scale Christian mission to Scotland, and now Church of Scotland, which calls itself “Reformed and Presbyterian”, has over 500,000 members and around 1,200 ministers. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Right Reverend Albert Bogle is the new Moderator, while Reverend John Chalmers is the Principal Clerk. Moksh (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.