Croatian marriage rite and the Cross

 TAKING UP OF THE CROSS IN MARRIAGE

According to Croatian tradition, when a couple gets married, the priest doesn’t tell them that they have found the perfect person. On the contrary! Instead, he says to them: "You have found your cross. It is a cross to love, to carry it with you, a cross that is not to throw away but to treasure."

In Herzegovina, the Cross represents the greatest love and the crucifix is the treasure of the house.

When the bride and groom enter the church on their wedding day, they carry a crucifix with them. The priest blesses the crucifix. When the time comes to exchange their vows, the bride puts her right hand on the crucifix and the groom puts his hand on hers, so that both hands are joined together on the crucifix.

The priest covers their hands with his stole as they exchange their vows, according to the rite of the Church, to be faithful to each other, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, till death do them part.

Then, instead of kissing each other, the bride and groom kiss the crucifix. Those who witness the ceremony understand from it that if one of them leaves the other, he or she leaves Christ on the Cross.

After the ceremony, the newlyweds bring the crucifix to their home and put it in a place of honor. It will forever be the point of reference and the place of family prayer. In times of difficulty, the family do not go to the lawyer or the psychiatrist, but kneel down together before the crucifix in search of help from Jesus Christ.

They kneel down and maybe even cry and open their hearts asking the Lord and each other for forgiveness. They go to sleep with peace in their hearts because they have received forgiveness from the only one who has the power to save.

Husband and wife will teach their children to kiss the crucifix every day and not to go to sleep like pagans, without first giving thanks to Jesus. They know that Jesus is holding them in His arms and there is nothing to fear.

(Source: Even Demons Fear Mary)

St. Pius X founded sporting tradition in the Vatican

//In 1905 a major international gymnastics event was hosted at the Vatican, during which the pope gave a speech that is considered the first Vatican manifesto on sport.

“I admire and bless from my heart all your games and pastimes, gymnastics, cycling, mountaineering, boating, running, walks, competitions, contests and academies, to which you devote yourselves,” the pope told participants. “Because the material exercises of the body will admirably influence the exercises of the spirit; because these entertainments, while requiring work, will remove you from idleness, which is the father of vices; and because finally the same friendly competitions will be in you an image of emulation in the exercise of virtue.”//

Read more: https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/08/st-pius-x-founded-sporting-tradition-in-the-vatican/

Push to victory

Kenyan runner Abel Mutai was only a few meters from the finish line, but got confused with the signs and stopped, thinking he had finished the race. A Spanish man, Ivan Fernandez, was right behind him and, realizing what was going on, started shouting to the Kenyan to keep running. Mutai did not know Spanish and did not understand.

Realizing what was going on, Fernandez pushed Mutai to victory. A reporter asked Ivan, "Why did you do this?" Ivan replied, "My dream is that one day we can have some sort of community life where we push ourselves and help each other win." The reporter insisted "But why did you let the Kenyan win?" Ivan replied, "I didn't let him win, he was going to win. The race was his."

The reporter insisted and asked again, "But you could have won!" Ivan looked at him and replied: "But what would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honor of this medal? What would my Mother think of it?" The values are transmitted from generation to generation. What values do we teach our children and how much do you inspire others to earn? Most of us take advantage of people's weaknesses instead of helping to strengthen them.

Post by Kimdancer Clark, 9 Jan 2021, in Facebook

Padre Pio's humility and obedience

Padre Pio spent ten years, from 1923 to 1933, completely isolated from the exterior world within the walls of his cell.   During these years, he not only suffered the pains of the Passion of the Lord in his body, but he also felt in his soul the pain of isolation and the weight of suspition.  His humility, obedience, and charity never denied the accusations.

On June 9, 1931, the Feast of Corpus Christi, Padre Pio was ordered by the Holy See to desist from all activities except the celebration of the Mass, which was to be in private. By early 1933, Pope Pius XI ordered the Holy See to reverse its ban on Padre Pio’s public celebration of Mass, saying, "I have not been badly disposed toward Padre Pio, but I have been badly informed."

Five rules for spiritual growth: weekly confession, daily Communion, spiritual reading, meditation and examination of conscience.

Praying for discernment

"Well, you know, as I told you, I'm a very devout Catholic and all my life, I always just ask the Lord to give me the discernment to do what He wants me to do, and so every day, I pray for discernment, I get it in my prayer time. I see it in the events that unfold about me. That's where it's all up to God." (Even while in detention, she filed 7 bills, 6 of which became laws.) －Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

iPads and Modesty

A girl bought an iPad. When her father saw it, He asked her "What was the 1st thing you did when you bought it?

"I put an anti-scratch sticker on the screen and bought a cover for the iPad" she replied.

"Did someone force you to do so?"

- "No"

"Don't you think it's an insult to the manufacturer?"

- "No dad! In fact they even recommend using a cover for the iPad"

"Did you cover it because it was cheap & ugly?"

- "Actually, I covered it because I didn't want it to get damage and decrease in value."

"When you put the cover on, didn't it reduce the iPad's beauty?"

- "I think it looks better and it is worth it for the protection it gives my iPad."

The father looked lovingly at his daughter and said,

"Yet if I had asked you to cover your body which is much more precious than the iPad, would you have readily agreed???"

--https://www.facebook.com/secretkeepergirl/

What a meal meant for Mother Teresa

"There was also the time Mother Teresa went to a bakery to beg for bread for the children in her orphanage. She held out a hand and asked for bread as a gift, but the baker scornfully spat on it. Instead of anger or leaving for another bakery, she responded to the man’s rudeness by saying: “I will keep it for me, but give me bread for my children.” It’s difficult to know what went through the baker’s mind in that moment, whether he had regrets about spitting at a woman or if his heart was pried open by Mother Teresa’s response to him, but we do know that after that day, the baker became the main donor of bread to the orphanage." For Mother Teresa, "Eating with another person means spending time with that person and sharing an experience together." -http://forher.aleteia.org/articles/mother-teresa-sainthood-sharing-food-with-poor/?utm_campaign=NL_en&utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=NL_en-Apr+24%2C+2016+02%3A00+pm