Bishop Fulton Sheen

Bishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

The Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation has issued a press release announcing that the medical commission advising on his cause for beatification and canonization has approved the alleged miracle he performed on a still-born baby. The 7-member board of medical experts who advise the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican unanimously approved a reported miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen. In September 2010 the parents of a still born baby sought the intercession of Fulton Sheen after over an hour passed without the child showing any signs of life. Doctors attempted every possible life saving procedure but with no luck. After 61 minutes the baby was restored to full life and made a full recovery. The child, now three years old, continues in good health.
The team of medical experts advising the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints have found no “natural explanation” for the child’s recovery. The case will now be reviewed by a board of theologians and if approved by them, the case could move on to the cardinals and bishops who advise the Pope on such matters. “Finally, the miracle would be presented to Pope Francis who would then officially affirm that God performed a miracle through the intercession of Fulton Sheen.  There is no timeline as to when these next steps might  move forward, the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation press release informs. “Should Pope Francis validate this proposed miracle, Sheen could then be declared "Blessed" in a ceremony that could be celebrated in Peoria, Illinois, Sheen's hometown.  Upon the Holy Father signing the decree for the beatification, an additional miracle would lead to the Canonization of Archbishop Sheen, in which he would be declared a “Saint.”

Bishop Fulton Sheen delivering one of his sermons

Fulton Sheen was born in El Paso in 1895; a priest since 1919, he was sent to study Philosophy at Leuven University. A great apologist, he was given his own radio show in 1930 which he carried on for twenty years, with audience numbers going up week by week. When he became Auxiliary Bishop of New York in 1951, television network DuMont offered him a show that was to go on air every Tuesday at eight in the evening. 'Life is Worth Living' proved so successful that he received an Emmy Award for the show in 1952. When he collected it, Bishop Sheen expressed his gratitude to the authors: “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” The program was broadcast until 1957, reaching audiences of thirty million people. In 1966 he was nominated Bishop of Rochester in the State of New York. He died in 1979 just a few months after John Paul II praised him for his commitment to the announcement of the Gospel.

Malta churches - the outside

St Publius church at twilight

Maltese baroque churches are as spectacular on the outside as they are on the inside. Especially in the summer festa season, when their facade is decorated with hundreds of colored light bulbs, and the result is just fascinating, as these two photos can testify. They are of the same church seen yesterday, that of St Publius in Floriana. The facade is usually lit for an entire week, as celebrations, Masses, vespers, marches, fireworks and other attractions are held in just about every parish throughout the summer season. St Publius's feast incidentally is one of the earliest, in mid-spring, close to the last Sunday of April.

The same church a little later in the evening

Malta's rich churches

The main altar at St Publius church, Floriana

Over the next few weeks, in anticipation of Holy Week, I will be sharing with you various photos I took 4 years ago, including many of the celebrations, festivities and decorations used during Holy Week and Easter. Buy in anticipation of that, I share with you today some photos of our Maltese heritage in sacred architecture and liturgical ornamentation that embellishes churches, homes, museums and streets all over the Maltese islands. 

The main body of the same church

This particular church is in Floriana, dedicated to Saint Publius, the first Bishop of Malta, who was the leader of the island when St Paul was shipwrecked there in 60 AD. The church was dressed up for its annual feast in late April, and one can see the richness of the main altar, the silver candle-sticks and the red velvet altar-piece with golden embroidery of its finest quality. More to come....

The Crucifixion

Ivory depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ (British Museum 420 AD)

This is one of the earliest known depictions of the Crucifixion in Christian art. It was made in Rome about AD 420-30, at a time when the Roman empire in Western Europe was fragmenting. The panel is one of four, originally mounted on the sides of a small ivory casket, each carved with a scene from Christ’s Passion. This panel is exhibited at the British Museum in London. In this image the Crucifixion is combined with another scene of death: the suicide of the disciple Judas after he has betrayed Jesus. The stiff, clothed body of Judas pulls down the branch of a tree, and a spilled sack of coins lies at his feet. In contrast the exposed limbs of Christ still appear vigorous, and he gazes at the viewer, triumphant in death. A plaque over Christ’s head is inscribed REX IUD (King of the Jews). The Virgin Mary and John the Baptist stand to the left of the cross, while on the right Longinus steps from beneath the arm of the cross, just before he pierces Jesus’ side with a lance.

Signs of Spring

The very first sign of spring is usually seeing the crocus appear

The first sign of spring appeared yesterday in Bend, Central Oregon in the form of buds of the crocus and the blue violet. The weather has warmed up recently, as much as 60 degrees and with a fairly good supply of rain that fell over the last few days, nature has woken up from its winter slumber, and soon the buds will appear on our trees too. It is a sign of new life, and just as Ash Wednesday heralded the Lenten season, it’s now 45 days away from the Easter celebration. You will certainly see more photos of nature’s miracle over the next few weeks, as color reappears finally on a dry and dormant landscape, soon to change into a vibrant and colorful display of beauty.

Blue violet are appearing everywhere in Bend, Oregon

Prayer in front of Christ Crucified

All you who are crying, come to Him, because He is crying too.
All you who are suffering, come to Him, because he can heal you.
All you who are afraid, come to Him, because He always has a smile waiting for you.
All you who are hungry, come to Him, because He’ll feed you the Living Bread.
All you who are in darkness, come to Him, because He will guide you with His Light.
All you who are lost, search for His guiding hand, and you will never get lost from now on.
All you who feel persecuted, come to Him because He had his share of persecution too.
All you who are lonely, come close to Him, because He too was very lonely on the Cross.
All you who feel being punished unfairly, just look at Him. He died for you, unfairly.
All you who are dying, come to Him, and you will live forever.

Repent and Believe

The Lenten season starts today with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. As people gather in churches, they will hear two different phrases as they receive their ashes.
"Repent and Believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
"Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
This is time of penance and repentance, a time to get closer to our ideals as Christians, to get closer to our God who will soon suffer and die for us. Let us utilize this special spiritual time of the year to show that we are truly remorseful of our sinfulness and are ready to change our lives.

We adore you o Christ and we praise you

Spectacular aerial views

Niagara Falls, New York

Just one day before we start the season of Lent, where most of the posts will be related to this holy penitential season, I like to share with you some spectacular shots of various countries, taken from the air. I always had a soft spot for aerial views, and whenever I travel, I'm always with my camera ready to take aerial views of whatever is appealing, especially when I'm landing or taking off from Malta. However these photos reprinted here are not mine, but I thought you would enjoy them, especially if you click on them once and enlarge them.

Cape Town, South Africa

Venice, Italy

Dubai

Egypt, North Africa

Chicago, USA

Alarm Clocks

Alarm-clock, version 2000 BC

People have different times when they decide to wake up. And thanks to alarm clocks, they make it easy for us to rise and shine on time. However in some countries, roosters are a natural alarm clocks, as is the case in my native Malta. They have served as a natural alarm-clocks for thousands of years, and will continue to do so for thousands more. Screeching birds are also an annoyance to those who want to sleep a little extra. Roosters especially have a way of waking an entire neighborhood, especially if they alternate their cock-a-doodles in the early hour of the morning.

A Western Meadowlark screaming and screeching

More Carnival photos

Some more scenes from Malta's Carnival celebrations, which actually cover 5 days, until Tuesday of this week. You will see many unknown characters and many strange-looking animals and monsters, some of which are non-existent, except for the imaginary mind of their creators.

Carnival weekend - part 1

These are some vintage photos from Carnival in Malta. They are not my photos, but at least show some of the color and celebration that goes on during this weekend. Unfortunately the forecast is for rain over the next few days, which will be terribly detrimental to the floats, which are made of paper-mache, and the rain would destroy them. They may keep the floats in warehouses and bring them out when the rain stops. 

There is a lot of dancing and colorful costumes, similar to the way children dress up for Halloween in the United States. As you can see the bright colors dominate every float and decorated costume.

A vintage photo of  a Carnival float from 1956

Clowning around

Back in 2006, during one of my former parish's picnic in Baker City, I volunteered to dress up as a clown, to entertain the children. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, as children were fascinated by this strange character handing balloons and cheering them on, but who didn't say a word to them. It was a unique experience for me as one of our young people, Mayce Collard painted my face, and made sure no one could recognize me. 

Unfortunately Mayce died in a tragic car accident a year later, but I will always remember her smiling face when she was painting my face, giggling all along as she fine-tuned her masterpiece. A handful of children recognized me during the picnic, but the majority of them still think that this clown came down from heaven.

Funny License Plates

What you might get from the Pope, a bishop or a priest or nun

As we approach Carnival weekend, before we start the penitential season of Lent, let's have some fun this weekend with the strange, unusual and peculiar. Today you have three bumper-stickers with an unusual message, which are short and sweet but meaningful nonetheless.

Moms work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, non-stop!

Latin for Peace be with you! (Pax Vobiscum)

God's Wings

A little something to put things in perspective. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.
When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast......because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. 

Isn’t this the way God treats us, and protects us daily, every minute of our lives?
'He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge.'
(Psalm 91:4)

Flashback from the 1970s

Reminiscing through my teenage years, mainly as a seminarian, where I spent 7 glorious years at the Major Seminary in Floriana, while attending the Royal University of Malta from 1970 to 1977. You can see in these photos the changing face of a young Julian Cassar, with the last one even hinting at a receding hair line, which would be full blown by 1977, and gone forever since then. 

They were good years as I formed a great relationship with my classmates and other seminarians, who are presently all priests serving various parishes in Malta. I also enjoyed various hobbies back then, including indoor sports, especially billiards, snooker and table-tennis, as well as photography and classical music. 

Studies included philosophy, church history, scripture, moral and dogmatic theology, liturgy, patrology, canon law, and later on homiletics, psychology and pastoral theology. My home for 7 years, the Major Seminary eventually became the Chancery of the Archdiocese, while the Seminary moved to Tal-Virtu in Rabat a year after I was ordained.

Prayer for those who live alone

I live alone, dear Lord.
Stay by my side, in all my daily needs.
Be my guide every day of my life.
Grant me good health, for that indeed I pray.
To carry on my work, from day to day.
Keep pure my mind, my thoughts, my every deed.
Let me be kind, unselfish in my neighbor’s need.

Spare me from fire, from flood, malicious tongues.
From thieves, from fears, and evil ones.
If sickness or accident befall, then humbly, Lord, I pray,
Hear my call when I’m feeling low, or in despair,
lift up my heart and help me in my prayer,
I live alone, dear Lord, yet have no fear,
because I feel your presence ever near. AMEN.

12 things to remember

 12 things to remember
The value of time.
The success of perseverance.
The pleasure of working.
The dignity of simplicity.
The worth of character.
The power of example.
The influence of life.
The obligation of duty.
The virtue of patience.
The improvement of talent.
The wisdom of economy.
The joy of originating.

St. Peter and the Pope

Today the church celebrates the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, representing the primacy and leadership of the Pope as the Vicar of Christ and successor of St Peter, the first Pope. This leadership is symbolized by the symbolic chair which is situated behind the main altar at the St Peter’s Basilica, a work of art by Bernini. Each Cathedral in the world also has a cathedra, or chair of the Bishop, Archbishop or Cardinal that serves in that particular Diocese. 

The last photo here is a mosaic of the moment when Jesus empowered Peter to become the first Pope, also symbolized by the keys he is receiving from Jesus. This mosaic is on the outside, at the entrance to the steps that lead to the top of the cupola of St. Peter’s.

Rome anecdotes

As you can imagine, I constantly reminisce about my trip to Rome in May 2012, and since I took so many photos, I would like to share a few more in this blog. Today I have two anecdotes that I experienced through photos. The first one shows a scene in Piazza Venezia, where the monument to Vittorio Emmauele II is located, affectionately known as the "Wedding Cake", and which the Italians call "l'Altare della Patria" (The Altar of Patriotism.) Close by there are two domed churches, which you can see in the background. But since this is Rome, one expects to see many priests, including what may have been a group of seminarians or students enjoying a little lunch break. Yes, domes and priests are a very common sight in the Eternal City.

Then I encountered a Roman soldier, obviously just for show. When I tried to take his photo, he came quickly towards me and demanded money. I quickly concluded that he was there for business, and kept an eye on me for a while, until I finally got him distracted and took his photo from behind. I realized afterwards that he was probably more interested in checking out the sun-bathing girls on the steps of the fountain, instead of worrying about this annoying photographer.

Domes in Rome

Piazza del Popolo domes with the Vatican in the background

Yesterday I showed you a Rome skyline, which was distracted by two pigeons in love. So today, I share with you two great photos with plenty of domes and steeples which dominate every skyline in the Eternal City. The St Peter’s dome designed by Michelangelo is seen in the distance in the first photo, while the two nearby domes are from the two churches that are found in Piazza del Popolo. The other photo shows other domes, belfries and steeples that are so popular and common, especially in the heart of Rome.

Love affair in Rome

When I visited Rome in May 2012, I came back with over 3000 photos. I have shared a few of them on this blog, but there are others which I plan to show you in the future. As one can imagine, the Roman skyline is always dominated by domes and steeples. One day I was above Piazza del Popolo (The People’s Square) and was focusing on a typical dome-dotted skyline, when all of a sudden a pigeon appeared in my viewfinder. Lo and behold, another pigeon landed next to the first one, and it was obvious that they were a male and female. I followed their love affair by taking one photo after another, getting also a bird’s eye view of Rome. 

Unfortunately, the last two photos are not fit for publication, although you can only imagine what happened at the end of this public display of avian affection.

Icicles

Icicles as tall as 7 feet (click once to enlarge)

Ever since I saw my first icicle in the winter of 1981, I have always been fascinated by icicles. They form independently of anything else going on in the world. They are formed by the thawing of the melting snow and ice as the drip drip of the melted snow keeps accumulating while the temperatures turn colder once again. 

This happens usually overnight when the temperature drops. Then in the morning as daylight appears, these huge icicles appear, some of them as tall as six to seven feet. I took these photos a week ago when we had 2 feet of snow between Friday and Saturday. By Sunday morning, these icicles were everywhere around our school and church building. Some of our custodians and sacristans were asking me if they should break them off. Of course my response was ”Not before I take a few good photos...” As you can see, it was worth every one of them.