It has just been several days after typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) battered the southern islands in the Philippines. The typhoon brought widespread devastation to the country’s southern regions and has left the people spending their Christmas in the dark.
The “Tower of the Virgin Mary” at the Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, an impressive work by the architect Antoni Gaudí, was inaugurated recently. The tower of Our Lady, the second tallest with 138 meters, was crowned with a huge twelve-pointed star. The ceremony took place on December 8th with a mass officiated by Cardinal Joan Josep Omella i Omella followed by the blessing of the tower and the lighting of the star. The event coincided with the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the end of the Year of St Joseph (December 8th).
Macha was arrested in 1941 only for helping those in wartime distress. His humility, faith and spiritual concern for them , were clear in his final letter to his family. “Stay with God! Forgive me for everything,” he said. “I am going before the Almighty Judge who will judge me now. I hope that He will accept me. My wish was to work for Him, but it was not given to me. Thank you for everything!”
She had a dream about suffering children in Vietnam as she wrote in her autobiography Nobody’s Children. She then decided to go there to help them, which she did. Despite her poor education and having no connections with sponsors, through hard work and inventiveness, she built up an impressive international charity, the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation. The Guardian article’s fitting title was “Christina Noble: the woman who transformed the lives of 700,000 children,” and, of course, many more since.
Pope Francis expressed his sympathy and assured the Filipinos affected by typhoon “Odette” (International name: Rai) of his prayers. “I express my closeness to the population of the Philippines, struck by a strong typhoon that has caused many deaths and destroyed so many homes,” the Pope wrote on Twitter Sunday night. “May the ‘Santo Niño’ bring consolation and hope to the families of those most affected,” he added.
The most terrible situation of these children are the homeless in the capital of Ulaanbataar (Ulan Bator) who live in sewage pipes to keep warm. In Mongolia, long winter temperatures can drop to -40C or -30C in the capital; there is nowhere else for the abandoned misfits to get near heat at night.
The Church in Germanophone regions has the tradition of celebrating Rorate Mass during Advent. Rorate means “Drop down” in Latin, and is the first word of the Introit for Votive Mass to Our Lady during Advent. The introit is “Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum.”
Contemporary Christian spirituality attempts at avoiding two extremes: “spiritualism” (the individualistic and escapist fuga mundi and contemptus mundi) on one hand, and “activism” (human and social promotion disconnected from prayer and contemplation) on the other.
The Simbang Gabi was not actually conceived in the Philippines. It traces its roots to the so-called Rorate Masses in Europe that date back to the 8th century, when there was a custom of celebrating Masses in honor of our Lady in the time of Advent. These Masses were called “Rorate Masses” because the entrance antiphon began with the words “Rorate caeli désuper et nubes pluant justum” (“Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just”).
Without any technical knowledge of engineering or architecture, just that acquired by reading art books, Justo Gallego managed to build a unique Cathedral that combines, in its large dimensions, the use in large part of recycled materials. His inspiration is the Romanesque style, which for him is timeless. The final result culminated in an impressive cathedral, almost completed, and built to “give testimony of his great faith,” his surrender and love for God, having said that he had already disconnected from the world for many years. He was always characterized by his humility and always wanted to remain hidden from fame. He worked tirelessly until he was 96 years old, putting stone upon stone, supported by his faith and his great health secret: a lot of fasting and avoiding eating meat.
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