St Anne, the True Cross and St Raphael

Carrying on from last week's beautiful discovery: St Anne's home was by the Pool of Bethesda, which means the "House of Mercy" - here Our Lady was born and the Church of St Anne stands today in commemoration of this long held Christian tradition.

There is another special tradition/legend connected to the Pool of Bethesda, one that attributes the gift of healing to the waters in this pool. While the Bible tells us that the angel would come down a 'stir the waters' and that the first into those waters would be healed, it would seem that there was also a deeper, hidden reason for this healing - literally. An ancient tradition tells us that the wood of the cross lay deep in this pool, only emerging to the top for the Roman's to retrieve for the crucifixion around the time of Our Lord.

The ancient legend of the True Cross:

Adam on his deathbed, remembering the God had said that to eat from the Tree of Life would mean to live forever, commanded that his son Seth go to the Gate of Paradise where the Tree of Life was barred to them and ask St Michael to give to him the seed from this tree in order to save his life.

Seth obeyed and was given the seed but on his return he was sorrowful, for he found his father dead. Seth then placed the seeds with Adam in his grave, from which grew a tree of magnificent beauty and size. This tree flourished until the days of King Solomon.

As Solomon built the Temple, the wisest men of the land ordered that this tree from Adam's grave be cut down and used for the altar. When the builders tried to use the wood it miraculously changed size and length so as to make it unsuitable in this construction. It was then cast out to be used to build a bridge over the river Siloe.

When the Queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem and went to cross the bridge, she beheld a vision
wherein she knelt down and prophecised:

"This board will, when the time comes, be honored above all pieces of wood
in the world and adorned with precious gems from the treasures of princes. And
He who will destroy the law of the Jews will die on the wood of this plank."

This omen of the old covenant being replaced by this wood in some way, gave fear to the Jewish people and King Solomon who then ordered the wood to be buried deep in the earth on the spot whence afterwards arose the Pool of Bethesda, whose healing powers proceeded as much from the tree below it as from the angel who descended to agitate the waters. When the time of our Saviour’s Passion drew near, the tree rose and floated on the surface, and the Jews seized upon it to make the Cross.

The angel who descended from heaven to stir the waters of Bethesda, has been popularly believed to be the Archangel Raphael, the angel of healing.

I have always love this legend. I have always loved this archangel. Now I discover there is a weaving of these two legends into the traditional site of St Anne's home and Our Lady's birthplace - my heart is full.

Thank you St Anne, for bringing Ignatius Anthony safely into this world and for the good health and wellbeing of my dear friend, Kerri.

Herbs for life!

HT: Wayne Pratt Photo

There is a famous herb saying that I'm always quoting badly, due to having a very sketchy memory. I can never remember who said it and of course, I never do justice to the eloquence of any fabulous quote and I reckon if you can't quote it well, you might as well not quote it at all! I can never remember where I read them either...very frustrating.

I was floating around in a bath of stinging nettle and horsetail this evening, reading from my favourite herb book, How Can I Use Herbs In My Daily Life? I was enjoying reading about Gotu Kola and towards the end I found my favourite herb quote again. Not only that, it was quoted by a famous Catholic priest who was also a herbalist, Father Johann Sebastian Kneipp!

"For every illness on earth, there is a herb. Many people died, while the herbs that could have saved them, grew on their graves."

~ Johann Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897)

Our Lady of the Pilar continued

Our Lady of the Pilar (note the turquoise background with gold stars..reminiscent of Our Lady of Guadalupe's mantle.)

This is part two to a post I wrote late last year about Our Lady of the Pilar. Specifically, I had shared an amazing story of a well verified and proven miracle that had taken place at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pilar, Spain in the 1600's.

A young man who had an amputated leg and rubbed the holy oil from this Shrine onto the stump of his leg everyday. Then one evening his original leg (buried in a hospital cemetary, 100's of miles away) was restored to him. This was a throughly investigated and documented event, if you did not read the pages I uploaded on this story, click over and enjoy it as a lenten read-aloud with the family.

The story had come from a Catholic magazine called, Love One Another. I highly recommend a subscription to this family magazine, one of the best I've ever seen.

In their lastest edition they have published part two to this historical story with a modern verification. Here it is below. You can click it open to full screen to read online or to print up and share as a read-aloud.

Just briefly though, a bit of a synopsis. This historical event is further supported by a modern day doctor who specializes in limb attachment. He states that the testimonies shared by those who witnessed the miracle in the 1600's spoke of things they saw, that describe accurately the science of limb attachment. Descriptions that could not have been fabricated since re-attaching limbs is only been made possible in the last 50 years or so. So a must read!

Page one (click open to read online or print)

Page two (click open to read online or print)

Page three (click open to read online or print)


Page four (click open to read online or print)

Page five (click open to read online or print)

Two Women..

HT: American Papist

The Woman. And the Scarlet Woman.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, carrying the Divine Child within the womb. Heavenly Mother to all people, born and unborn. Loving mother to the helpless and defenceless unborn. Merciful mother to the sorrowful, post-abortive woman.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 100% NARAL pro-choice voting record. Only hours after visiting the shrine, Hillary became the recipient of the highest award Planned Parenthood has to bestow, the Margaret Sanger Award. Click here to read.

"I am and always have been pro-choice, and that is not a right any of should take for granted. There are a number of forces at work in our society that would try to turn back the clock and undermine a woman’s right to chose, and [we] must remain vigilant."

New York Times, Jan 22, 2000

When you read this, please offer an Ave for Hillary Clinton's heart to change and recognise the rights of the unborn.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.

Inspired by Kimberlee's Stations

I was inspired by Kimberlee's recent post, Stations of the Cross Grottos. So we thought we'd get going with a set for our home as well. I couldn't get hold of pebbles so I've bought little tiles.

I'm using Kathryn's pictures and I made my own header, that has a little red rose and the number and name of the station. I laminated the pictures and the headers, this should make them very durable year after year.

I've ordered some cheap and little wooden crucifixes for the top of each station, hopefully next week I'll post our completed 14!

Edited to add:

We worked faster than anticipated and finished them except for the crosses to go on top, they should be added early next week.

Annunciation Swallows

HT

Over at Family in Feast and Feria, I was fortunate to have read Jenn's lovely posting for the feast of the Annunciation in time for our day down under, since we are ahead in time. Jenn quoted from Father Weiser, relating the old European connection of swallows to the feast of the Annunciation.

Father Weiser explains the origin of the Solemnity and some of the traditions related to this day.
Nine months before Christmas Day, December 25, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of our Lord.

This is another Solemnity that ordinarily falls during Lent. The Gloria and Nicene Creed are prayed during the Liturgy of the Mass. During the creed at the words "By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man" we kneel. This day celebrates the actual Incarnation of Christ, the day the Son of God became man when Mary spoke her Fiat, or "yes" to God. St. Luke records the events:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."

And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?"

And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)


HT

In central Europe the popular name for this feast is the "Feast of Swallows" since the swallows return on or around this day from their migration. In Austria the ancient saying refers to this:

When Gabriel does the message bring Return the swallows, comes the spring.

Perhaps because of this Europeans in the Middle Ages viewed swallows as holy birds, calling them "God's birds" in Hungary, "Mary's birds" in Austria and Germany. No one would destroy the swallows or their nests.

Father Francis Weiser explains more traditions on this feast day:

It was an ancient custom of the papal Curia (executive office) to start the year on March 25 in all their communications and documents, thus calling it the "Year of the Incarnation." This practice was also adopted by most civil governments for the legal dating of documents.

In fact, the Feast of the Annunciation, called "Lady Day," marked the beginning of the legal year in England even after the Reformation, up to 1752.... In Russia priests would bless large wafers of wheat flour and present them to the faithful after the service. Returning home, the father would hand a small piece of the wafer to each member of his family and to the servants. They received it with a deep bow and ate it in silence.

Later on in the day they took the remaining crumbs of the "Annunciation bread" out into the fields and buried them in the ground as a protection against blight, hail, frost, and drought.

In central Europe the farmers put a picture representing the Annunciation in the barrel that holds the seed grain. While doing so they pronounce some ancient prayer rhyme like this one from upper Austria:

O Mary, Mother, we pray to you; Your life today with fruit was blessed: Give us the happy promise, too, That our harvest will be of the best. If you protect and bless the field, A hundredfold each grain must yield.

Having thus implored the help of Mary, they start sowing their summer grains on the following day, assured that no inclement weather will threaten their crops, for, as the ancient saying goes,

Saint Gabriel to Mary flies: This is the end of snow and ice.

Activity Source: Holyday Book, The by Francis X. Weiser, S.J., Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., New York, 1956

Often I think how sad it is for us living in the Southern Hemisphere, that we cannot appreciate the fullness of these customs, tied into the very movements and seasons of the earth. We are entering autumn at present. Nevertheless, we still enjoy the symbols of God's creation in celebrating His feasts and do not put them aside, for we would be putting away far too much including the spring symbols connected to the great feast of Easter, the cold night of a stable in Bethlehem.

I found a beautiful, little picture of a swallow for the children to colour in. I put the image into paintshop and flipped it in order for the two mirror sides to be coloured in, put together and fed through the laminator. Once we had seven swallows with their matching backs, we hole punched their wings, thread light wire through and connected them to cardboard cross that was attached to our lounge fan.

Turning the fan on it's slowest setting, the birds that have been hung at different heights, give the impression of flying around in tight circles as these beautiful birds are apt to do. Here's a photo below, it's a shame I had to take the shot in the evening, but at least the photo captures the birds that look as though they are darting about!

I felt inspired to make these swallows into a mobile that moves because many years ago, on a major feast of Our Lady, we stood outside of Church, early in the morning after Mass and watched hundreds of these swallows diving and darting around the front of the Church in a perfect and rythmic manner. This nature-filled spectacle went on for a long time and we were captivated. Without knowing anything of this tradition, we thought there is something very marian about what we were witnessing, as if they were dancing for joy...

We enjoyed a lovely roast tonight and a white cheesecake for the feast a nice finish to the day. It is a special day for all three of our girls and while I share only their confirmation names here, their real names are all in someway connected to this blessed feast.

Happy Feast Day!

Wow...

Statue in the Church of St Anne near the Pool of Bethseda

Yesterday on a Tuesday (St Anne's special day in the week) by chance I was searching for information on St Anne and came by a site that mentioned St Anne's home was next to the Pool of Bethseda. It was just wonderful to discover this connection and it's meaning. So I added it to my Tuesdays with St Anne.

Last night I was visiting a homeschooling friend and I was sharing this story with her. This lady had been to Mass that morning and said to me, "Why, the healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethseda was in this morning's gospel!" Then when I got home Enbrethiliel had kindly left a similar comment.......wow......don't you just love these sort of God-incidents??

St Anne's Home: Pool of Bethesda, "House of Mercy"

The Lion's Gate, entrance to St Anne's Church near the Pool of Bethesda.

I have been marvelling over this new revealation. St Anne's home and the birthplace of Mary was in a home next to the Pool of Bethesada.

"Jerusalem residents utilized a number of rain-water reservoirs during the Second Temple period, including the double pool called Bethesda. People with a variety of disabilities would linger by the Bethesda pool, for its waters were believed to have magical powers of restoration. Indeed, it is said that an angel flew over the pools once every 24 hours; whoever happened to be inside the water at that time would be miraculously healed.

According to one Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary was born in a cave near the Bethesda pool where her son Jesus would one day perform miracles of faith. The Crusaders believed that a grotto they discovered next to the reservoir ruins was Mary's birthplace, the home of her parents Anne and Joachim. They incorporated the cave into a powerfully impressive church named for Jesus' grandmother and Mary's mother, Anne."

Jesus heals the Lame Man

The Pool of Bethesada is mentioned in scripture John 5:1-16, the site of one of Christ's miracles:

"Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people - blind, lame, or paralyzed - lay on the porches.

One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, He asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can not, sir,” the sick man said, “For I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me.

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. So the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can not work on the Sabbath! It is illegal to carry that sleeping mat!”

He replied, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Pick up your sleeping mat and walk’”.

“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded.

The man did not know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him."

When we read this biblical account we immediately think of Jesus' mercy, that He approached this poor man who could not find his own way to the edge of the pool in order to be healed precisely due to the nature of his disability.

Little wonder that the name Bethseda means, "House of Mercy". These titles are not accidental, it is reminiscent of the meaning of Bethlehem, "House of Bread" Jesus who is the Bread of Life.

Today I am full of new wonders in regard to St Anne, due to this marvellous connection. That she lived in the "House of Mercy" and that Our Lady was born there. So fitting for this merciful grandmother of the Divine Saviour. I feel this is a reminder to all that know of this connection that St Anne has been given special gifts and graces betstowed on her by her Grandson. The gift of mercy, would have to surely be one of her greatest.

I am also pondering deeply, the words spoken by Christ at this site:

"Do you want to get well?"

St Anne's Church

Here is some more information on the church of St Anne:

"The Church of St. Anne is a beautiful 12th-century Crusader church, erected over the traditional site of the birthplace of Anne (Hannah), the mother of Mary. It is an excellent example of Romanesque architecture.

St. Anne's Church was built between 1131 and 1138 to replace a previous Byzantine church. Shortly after its construction, it was enlarged by moving the facade forward by several meters.

In 1192, Saladin turned the church into a Muslim theological school, which is commemorated in an inscription above the church's entrance. Eventually abandoned, the church fell into ruin until the Ottomans donated it to France in 1856. It was subsequently restored, but most of what remains today is original.

The church of St Anne is just a few hundred feet east of the Sanctuaries of the Flagellation and the Condemnation, at the beginning of the Via Dolorosa.

Saint Anne's acoustics, designed for Gregorian chant, are so perfect that the church is virtually a musical instrument to be played by the human voice. Pilgrim groups come to sing in the church throughout the day, and you, too, are welcome to prepare a song of any religion--only religious songs are permitted. The church's acoustics are most amazing when used by a soprano or a tenor solo voice.

St. Anne's Church is located in the Muslim Quarter, near the Lion's Gate. Enter through a wooden doorway leading to a hidden garden enclave.

St Anne's Garden Enclave

Unlike other Crusader churches, St. Anne's was not destroyed by the Mamelukes who captured the Holy Land in the twelfth century. Instead, Mameluke commander Saladin converted St. Anne's Church into an Islamic seminary and left it whole. If you read Arabic you will find the name Salahiya (of Saladin) in an inscription above the entrance.

Today St. Anne's belongs to the French government and is run by the White Fathers, an order of the Catholic church named for the color of their robes.What first strikes the visitor to St Anne's Church is its simplicity, both within the unadorned interior and on the clear clean lines of its facade.

Yet there is also a sense of majesty, perhaps lent by the church's stark cross-vaulted ceilings and giant pillars. You may note that the building leans slightly to the side. Although I have never observed this architectural quirk, tour guides who have noticed it claim the tilt is symbolic of Jesus on the cross. Stone steps descend to the crypt below the church, where an altar is dedicated to Mary and the ancient rock has been beautifully incorporated into the shrine.

The beautiful interior of St Anne's

During the Moslem occupation of Israel, Christian pilgrims were permitted inside the grotto - for a price - and it is here that the Franciscans celebrated mass from the mid-sixteenth century on.

Probably the finest example of Crusader architecture in the Land of Israel, St. Anne's Church possesses amazing acoustics which make even a solitary melodic prayer pervade your being. And when a choir sings in the church the very heavens seem to ring!"

Greek inscription on a stone tablet at the Pool of Bethesda amongst the ruins at the foot of St. Anne's Catholic Church, located just inside the gate variously called Lions', St. Stephen's, and St Mary's, in Old City, Jerusalem.

Part Two next week: The connection of this site to the Legend of the True Cross and St Raphael, the angel of healing.

New Aussie Catholic Endeavours..

Two Australian ladies are sharing their inspiration and wisdom that I'd like to give a big Oi! to. (oi is Aussie slang for 'hey!' or 'over here!')

Firstly, Erin from Seven Little Australians Plus One has generously given her time to creating a site where liturgical living ideas have been catalogued for each day and month of the year. Sort of your one stop, shop for those last minute ideas! (or not so late minute..)

This new site is called Faith Filled Days and if you would like to have the widget for this site on your blog, email me and I'll send you the code.

Secondly, another lovely Catholic homeschooling mum in Australia has started a beautiful blog, Chrerished Hearts at Home. Gae's blog is already full of many beautiful posts on mothering, homeschooling and much more. Gae is very creative and as a mum of eleven I'm sure we'll see alot of tried and true ideas and suggestions. Pop on over and say hello and enjoy what she has shared already.