George was born son of a barber who wanted nothing more than to have his son follow in his footsteps as a barber, or, barring that, to study law.  

But the boy showed musical aptitude and mastered several instruments and began to travel as a young man throughout his native Germany, Italy, and eventually winding up in England.  Throughout his life he enjoyed fame and even royal favor.  

Now, George was ill, depressed, and thought his career was over until he had a chance meeting with two men, one of whom wanted him to compose something for a benefit concert for the inmates of a jail, and the other who had written a booklet of various Old and New Testament writings.  The text of that libretto spoke to him, and within 21 days he composed an oratorio that was to become his most famous work.  

Eventually the composition was performed for the King of England.  The piece was quite long, and toward the end the King stood up.  Since no one sits while the King is standing, everyone in the audience stood as well.  At first it was thought that the King was merely stretching.  But later it was the King himself who said that no earthly monarch should sit in the presence of the King of Kings.  

And George, whom Beethoven himself called the greatest composer that ever lived? Did I mention that George was George Freidrich Handel who wrote the Messiah? Because now you know the rest of the story.  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.
                                               

Some stores put up their Christmas decorations right after Labor Day.  More went up after Halloween.  Many retail stores were bemoaning the fact that Thanksgiving was “late” this year, and there was not enough time for people to get their shopping done before Christmas.  The signs of the holiday season have been everywhere for months.  In contrast, our church appears stark in comparison.  No lights, no trees, no crèche, no Santa.  The image of the voice crying out in the desert is apt.  The only sign of the season is our Advent wreath, and the purple vestments the celebrants wear.  We will start to decorate after the last Mass on the fourth Sunday of Advent.  This is because liturgically the Christmas season begins with Christmas. As the rest of the secular world begins to move on to the next holiday (Valentine’s Day?) we will be celebrating the twelve days of Christmas, from December 25^th until January 6^th.  Today is Gaudete Sunday, and that is something to celebrate.  Gaudete-Rejoice!  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

Maranatha, as we sing in the acclamation before the gospel, is an interesting word.  The Aramaic word “MRA” means “Lord”, and maranatha means “Come, O Lord” or “The Lord is near.”  

The word comes to us from St. Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians, where he says, “If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha.”  Anathema, which comes from Greek meaning something placed on high, refers to something hated, something to be delivered to Satan, thus the phrase “Anathema maranatha” came to be used for the process of excommunicating an evil person.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated on December 9 this year, as the 8^th falls on Sunday, which is the second Sunday of Advent.  As such, the 9^th is not a holy day of obligation. By the way, the Immaculate Conception refers to Our Lady being conceived without original sin, not that Jesus was (although He was!).

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

  We begin the season of Advent this week. The Advent wreath is rich in the symbolism of the season.

WHAT DOES THE WREATH INDICATE?  The wreath is an evergreen circle, symbolizing the everlasting and eternal God

DO YOU KNOW WHY THERE ARE FOUR CANDLES?  To represent the four Weeks of Advent.

WHY ARE THERE FOUR WEEKS IN ADVENT?  To represent the four thousand years the Hebrews waited for the Messiah.

WHY ARE THREE OF THE CANDLES PURPLE?  Purple represents penance and purification in anticipation of the birth of the Savior.

WHY IS ONE OF THE CANDLES PINK?  This is for Gaudete Sunday, when the penitential tone of the season gives way to the anticipation of Christmas.

WHICH POPE GAVE US OUR CURRENT FOUR WEEK SEASON OF

ADVENT?  None other than St. Nicholas himself!

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

 Everyone knows how President Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a yearly observance, even during this country's civil war. The feast reminds us that we endure the crises of our lives with help from one another, and with help from a loving God. 

Over the 20^th century, Thanksgiving became associated with the Macy's parade, the Detroit Lions, and crowded airports, and overeating. A few of our senior parishioners may remember President Franklin Roosevelt's short-lived effort to move Thanksgiving up a week to extend the Christmas shopping season for the nation's retailers. 

The Greek word "evcharisto" means I give (thee) thanks", from which we get our word "eucharist". The eucharist is our weekly banquet, our weekly Thanksgiving at which we present bread and wine, the symbols of earthly bounty, to be consecrated into a heavenly bounty of communion with God through Christ.  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

 Anyone who has studied Latin will remember that the origin of our word "November" comes from "novem" meaning "nine" or the ninth month. How November became the eleventh month is interesting, but not relevant to this column.

 "Novem" is also the root word for "novena", which is a prayer with a specific intention offered nine days in a row, originating in the nine days of prayer by the disciples and Mary between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost. 

Many novenas have been endorsed and indulgenced by the Holy See over the centuries, including the Novena of the Dead in November. While we, pray for the dead in November, don't forget to sign the Book of Remembrance, which is located in the Sanctuary of the church, so we can pray for our beloved deceased. 

It will be there until the end of November. By the way, does anyone remember what “Requiescat in Pace” means?  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

  "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." Genesis 3:15 

This verse from Scripture is about more than the natural hostility between snakes and men. 

The serpent was regarded as the embodiment of the devil, whose defeat is prophesied, as this verse is seen as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humanity. The woman's offspring referred to is primarily Jesus Christ, and by extension, the woman is seen as Mary. 

This is why many statues of Mary show her stepping on a snake, as it is from her son that we are delivered from the power of the devil.  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

During the first three centuries of Christianity, the Church frequently had to operate "underground" due to the persecutions of the Roman state against her. During these periods, many martyrs died for their faith in Christ. The most renowned of these were honored locally by the preservation of the relics and by the celebration of the anniversary of their death. As time passed, neighboring dioceses would honor each other's martyrs and even exchange relics for veneration. At the end of the third century and the beginning of the fourth the most vicious of all persecutions occurred, that of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). The martyrs became so many that in some places it was impossible to commemorate even the most significant of them. The need for a common feast of all martyrs was becoming evident. Beginning with Gregory III (731-741) the celebration of a feast of All Saints was commemorated at St. Peters on November 1. Gregory IV (827-844) extended this feast to the entire Church.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

In the British Isles November 1st is called All Hallows (All Saints), thus the evening before is All Hallows Eve.  The ancient Celtic peoples who inhabited England celebrated their New Year's Day on November 1st. Before their conversion to Catholicism, these peoples practiced a pagan religion controlled by a priest class known as Druids. The Druids are most famous for the stone monument of Stonehenge. It was believed that on the last night of the year the souls of the dead returned to their homes. It was also thought that evil spirits, demons, ghosts, witches were also free to roam around this night and play tricks on unsuspecting people. You could prepare them a treat in exchange for your safety.  They would also leave you alone if you dressed like them and thus appeared to be one of them. Families would also extinguish their hearth fires on this evening to be re-lit from a common New Year's bonfire meant to symbolize the driving away of darkness and evil with the coming of the new year. The jack-o-lantern as a means of scaring away evil and providing is a vestige of this custom.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

1.A sacrament is an ___ instituted by ___ to give   
      ____.
2.What sacrament is the most essential for 
    salvation?
3.What three sacraments can only be received 
    once?
4.Which can be received more than once?
5.Who may perform the sacrament of Baptism?
6. Who performs the sacrament of Penance?
7. Who performs the sacrament of Confirmation?
8. Who performs the sacrament of Holy Matrimony?

Answers:
1. sign; Christ; grace.
2. Baptism
3. Baptism; Confirmation; Holy Orders
4. Penance; Holy Eucharist; Holy Matrimony; 
     Anointing of the Sick
5. Under extreme circumstances, anyone.
6. The priest and the penitent

7. The bishop, usually; the priest sometimes.
8. The couple being married.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

Ezekiel was one of the four great prophets of the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel being the other three).  Ezekiel lived during the Babylonian exile.  He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem from Babylon, setting him at odds with his fellow countrymen, who believed Jerusalem to be inviolable.  In 587 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophesy.

Ezechiel 40-44 describes the restoration of the temple at Jerusalem he saw in a dream. It is this new temple that is depicted in our window of the prophets.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

If you look up at the stained glass window of the prophets at the right side of the sanctuary, you will see the image of Isaiah the prophet holding a pair of tongs with a burning ember in its teeth. What's the deal with that? From the book of Isaiah, chapter 6, "Then I said, 'Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!' Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. 'See,' he said, 'now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."' Now you know.  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

There are several points of controversy between Catholics and Protestants. Is all revealed truth consigned to Holy Scripture? Or can we believe that Christ said things or gave truths to His Apostles to be transmitted to us His Church that are not recorded in the Bible? This is what we call our Apostolic Tradition. Christ instituted His Church as the official and authentic institution to transmit and explain the Revelation made to men? This is the Magisterium, the Church and her hierarchy. The Protestant principle is: The Bible and nothing but the Bible. The Bible, according to them, is the sole theological source; there are no revealed truths save the truths contained in the Bible. Catholics hold that there are, in fact, certain revealed truths apart from those contained in the Bible. We hold that Christ has established a living Church as much to transmit Scripture and written Revelation as to place revealed truth within reach of everyone for all time.  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

The concluding rite consists of the priest's blessing, which on certain occasions is expanded and expressed in prayer over the people and the dismissal of the assembly, which sends each member back to doing good works, while praising and blessing the Lord. The word “Mass” is derived, ironically, from the Latin word “dimitto” meaning I dismiss.  It means something different from “send away” as dismiss means.  It means, rather, to send forth, to go out into the world and live what we believe.  When the Mass is ended, we go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.  Has not there come to you the news of the overwhelming calamity? Many faces on that day shall be downcast, laboring, toiling, entering into burning fire, made to drink from a boiling spring.  They shall have no food but of thorns, which will neither fatten nor avail against hunger.  Other faces on that day shall be happy, well-pleased because of their deeds.” –The Koran

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger?  By what means shall we fortify against it?  Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!  All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio River, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years…If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher.  As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” –Abraham Lincoln

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

At the last supper Christ instituted the sacrifice and paschal meal that make the sacrifice of the cross to be continuously present in the Church, when the priest, representing Christ the Lord, carries out what the Lord did and handed over to His disciples to do in His memory. 

Accordingly, the Church celebrates the Eucharistic liturgy around the parts corresponding to the words and actions of Christ. In the preparation of the gifts, the bread and the wine with water are brought to the altar, that is, the same elements that Christ used. In the Eucharistic prayer thanks is given to God for the whole work of salvation and the gifts of bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. 

Through the breaking of the one bread, the unity of the faithful is expressed and through communion, they receive the Lord's body and blood in the same way the apostles received them from Christ's own hands.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

Readings from Scripture and the chants between the readings form the main part of the Liturgy of the Word. The homily, profession of faith, and general intercessions or prayer of the faithful expand and complete this part of the Mass.  In general, the first reading is from the Old Testament, the second reading from the letters or epistles, such as St. Paul or St. Peter, and the third reading, from one of the four gospels.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

  The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the l5th of August. 

Regarding the day, year, and manner of Our Lady's death, nothing certain is known. The dates assigned for it vary between three and fifteen years after Christ's Ascension. Two cities claim to be the place of her departure: Jerusalem and Ephesus. Common consent favors Jerusalem. 

The belief in the corporeal assumption of Mary is founded on an apocryphal treatise bearing the name of St. John, which belongs however to the fourth or fifth century. Regarding the origin of the feast, we are also uncertain. 

It is more probably the anniversary of the dedication of some church than the actual anniversary of Our Lady's death. Catholic faith, however, has always derived our knowledge of the mystery from Apostolic Tradition.  

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

The next few columns will address the parts of the Mass.  The Mass is divided into:

-The Introductory Rites
-The Liturgy of the Word
-The Liturgy of the Eucharist
-The Concluding Rite

The parts preceding the Liturgy of the Word, namely, the entrance song, greeting, penitential rite, Kyrie, Gloria, and opening prayer or collect, are called the introductory rites. The purpose of these rites is that the faithful coming together take on the form of a community and prepare themselves to listen to God's word and celebrate the Eucharist properly.

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

Why do we make the sign of the cross? The first certain evidence we have of the use of this sign is from the ecclesiastical writer Tertullian (230 AD) who tells us that candidates for baptism are marked with a sign of the cross on their foreheads during the course of their catechumenate (formation). 

Dipping the fingertips into holy water and making with them the sign of the Cross could be a reminder of one's own baptism and a prayer of gratitude to God for one's Christian calling. St. Ephrem of Syria (circa A.D. 373) wrote: "Mark all your actions with the sign of the life-giving Cross. 

Do not go out from the door of your house until you have signed yourself with the Cross. Do not neglect that sign whether in eating or drinking or going to sleep, or in the home or going on a journey.”

Michael G. Martin, M.D.

Has anyone asked you this lately?  What do you say in response?  What should you say?  Should you say anything?  If you do feel like answering, answer “Yes!”  We are all saved from original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve through the sacrament of Baptism.  We are saved from our own sins through the sacrament of Penance, and we become full participants in our faith through the sacrament of Confirmation, when we reaffirm our commitment to God through his son Jesus Christ.  We may not call it ‘being born again’, but that’s what it is.*

*Thanks to Fr. Bernard Munjalu Wakhungu for the inspiration for this column.

- Michael G. Martin, M.D.

Daniel  

 What do all of these sayings have in common?

Feet of clay.
The writing on the wall.
The lion’s den.

They are all from the book of Daniel, one of the four great prophets of the Old Testament, who is represented on the stained glass window in the apse (remember where that is?) of the church.  “Feet of clay” has come to represent a character flaw.  

The “handwriting on the wall” means an omen of one’s fate.  Perhaps best known is the “lion’s den” into which Daniel was thrown for not complying with the king’s idolatrous laws. 

It signifies a place of danger.

  - Michael G. Martin, M.D.