Saint Raymonds Maronite Cathedral, Saint Louis Missouri: February 2014

Monday, February 17, 2014

Feb 8 bulletin

Today the Maronite Church begins a series of three Sundays dedicated to prayer for the dead. This first Sunday is set aside as a commemoration of all the deceased priests of the Church.

Christ has established the priesthood for his Church and entrusted it with great responsibilities. The priest is given the task of caring for the spiritual needs of the people of his parish. The bishop, however, is responsible for not only all the people of the diocese, but also for his priests and other ministers.

The more the Lord gives to the Church, the more he asks from it. The gift of the priesthood called the people of God, the Church, to pray for those who were entrusted with the divine mysteries and carried on the salvific work of Christ. The bishop and priest are called to be the salt of the earth and the light and presence of Christ among us. All these responsibilities have been given to men who possess human weakness and frailty.

The gospel for the eucharist today speaks of the “faithful servant” which is, of course, the role of the priest and bishop. They are to be like the wise virgins always ready to serve the Lord, and like the faithful servant, eager to multiply the talents God has given them.

Because the priest and bishop have been given so much responsibility over the Church of God, they must know, not only God’s will, but must also constantly strive to be examples of fidelity and prudent action. The Church’s ministers always must seek to be strong in virtue, preserving in willingness and humble and constant in action. If not, they may delay the Master’s coming.

Because of the dangers and temptations that assail the bishop and priest, we must pray for them. This is our Christian duty and it arises out of our gratitude for the service they have rendered God in his Church. We pray that all God’s priests and bishops may enter into the house of the Lord and reap the rewards of the faithful servant. May the Lord entrust them with even greater things!

Farewell Father Swift

Dear friends at St. Raymond’s. I want to let you know that I’ve accepted an assignment in Dallas, to be in charge of a college-level seminary there. Holy Trinity Seminary has seminarians from some 13 dioceses, mostly Texas dioceses, and prepares men for entering the last 4 years of formation leading to ordination as priests. I wasn’t looking for this assignment. I was pretty happy here in St. Louis where I’ve spent 32 of the last 36 years, including 15 very happy years helping out at St. Raymond’s. But after prayer and consultation, I’m sure the Lord is asking me to head south. I won’t be moving until sometime in the spring. Before then, probably sometime in April, at the gracious invitation of Msgr. Moussa, I’ll say the Masses at St. Raymond’s some weekend, and so we’ll have a chance to visit. I hope you can understand that my schedule just doesn’t allow me to accept personal invitations. Instead, we can do something as a family – all together – some weekend in April. In the meanwhile, please say a prayer for me as I wrap up things back here and start learning about the new challenges facing me. And know that you are and will always be in my prayers. You are and will always be my home! God bless you.
Fr. Jim Swift, C.M.

New Daily Liturgy Time

As of Ash Monday, March 3rd, our daily Liturgy at St. Raymond’s will be celebrated at 8 am instead of 9 am Monday—Friday.

Hope this new timing will help some of you to start your day with a Liturgy on your way to work or before getting involved in your busy day!

SAVE THE DATE!

VOCATION DISCERNMENT WEEKEND

On April 5-6, 2014 Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary in Washington, DC will be hosting its annual Discernment Weekend for men, 18 and over, interested in finding God's will in their life. This weekend will be a chance to meet current seminarians, Father Geoffrey Abdallah, Rector of the seminary, the Vocation Directors, and the opportunity to sight see one of the greatest cities in the world. This weekend is open for men who feel the call to priesthood, or are interested in finding out how to discern God's will. More details to come soon.

SAVE THE DATE

SUNDAY, March 9th 2014 is the St. Raymond’s Ladies Fashion Show. This event includes lunch, a fashion show and shopping. We are in need of girls and women models ages 6 and up. We also need vendors for the show. If anyone has any suggestions, please contact Gina Fanetti at gfanetti5@gmail.com or 314-704-1149

Feb 1

Please update our church records if you have moved or have a new phone number or email address! Call the rectory at 314-621-0056 or send an email to

straymondscathedral@hotmail.com

Please send in your RSVP for Deacon Wissam’s ordination on February 27, 2014 if you haven’t done so already. Deadline is February 17^th!

New Daily Liturgy Time

As of Ash Monday, March 3rd, our daily Liturgy at St. Raymond’s will be celebrated at 8 am instead of 9 am Monday—Friday.

Hope this new timing will help some of you to start your day with a Liturgy on your way to work or before getting involved in your busy day!

ST. MARON

All that is known about Maron, the spiritual father and protector of the Maronites comes from Theodoret, the bishop of Cyr. In approximately 444, Theodoret undertook the project of writing a religious history about his region. Theodoret never knew Maron personally, but only through the disciples of this holy man. He described Maron as “the one who has planted for God the garden which flourishes now in the region of Cyr.” Little is known of the birth or youth of Maron because Theodoret was unconcerned about that aspect of his life. He felt that Maron was a man born not for this world, but for heaven. In his description of the beginning of Maron’s life, Theodoret asserts that Maron had “already increased the number of saints in heaven.”

According to history, Maron was never satisfied with the ordinary practices of asceticism, but was “always seeking for new ways to accumulate all the treasures of wisdom.”

Maron was the spiritual leader not only of the hermits who lived near him, but indeed of all of the Christian faithful in the area. He used to counsel them, heal their bodily and spiritual ills. All of these apostolic endeavors manifested the wisdom and holiness of the hermit Maron.

Some hold the opinion that Maron and John Chrysostom studied together at Antioch before 398 and that the famous letter sent by John Chrysostom was indeed sent to this hermit Maron and not to some other an anchorite with the same name. If the monk referred to in this letter if from the region of Cyr, it is indeed our spiritual father, Maron.

The date of Maron’s death is placed somewhere between 407 and 423. Because of his great popularity among the people, riots broke out at the time of his death because everyone wanted to save his remains in their village.

The Maronite Church formerly celebrated the feast of this great saint on January 5th. (This is the day in which the Church of Kfarhai was consecrated in his honor.) However, in the seventeenth century, the feast was transferred to February 9th. Lebanon has proclaimed Maron as its patron saint and Pope Benedict XIV granted a plenary indulgence to everyone who visited a Maronite church on February 9th.

The gospel tells us that a tree is known by its fruits and we know from Theodoret that the garden of Maron flourished after his death. One is able to number approximately twenty saints among Maron’s disciples, three of whom are women. Theodoret describes these disciples of Maron with these words: “These anchorites were virtuous and heroic, totally dedicated to a life of contemplative prayer. They were strangers to any other consideration in the world. They were obedient to Church authority and tried to imitate their predecessor in their exercises of austerity. At times, their acts of penance and mortification were excessive, but they were always obedient to ecclesiastical authority.”

After the Council of Chalcedon, Bishop Theodoret worked to construct the famous Monastery of St. Maron. In addition to being a stronghold for the defense of the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon, this monastery was for a long time the center of the cultural and theological heritage of Antioch.