The 1st church of the Heralds of the Gospel is now a Basilica
The first church of Heralds of the Gospel (in the International Seminary of the Heralds’ priestly branch, the Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right Virgo Flos Carmeli) has been made a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI. The Basilica is named Our Lady of the Rosary. If you look at the pictures, the exterior is not even completed and yet the Holy Father bestows this honor. Inside it some improvements are also in the works. Here follows an translated excerpt of the news reported by Gaudium Press:
“With the Supreme Apostolic power, perpetually, we elevate the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary to the rank and dignity of Minor Basilica”
These words read yesterday from Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Brief brought joy and hope for the institution of the Heralds of the Gospel.
The feast of Our Lady Help of Christians was doubly celebrated by the Heralds of the Gospel. In addition to the normal celebrations in praise and honor of the Holy Mother of God, Help of Christians, there was something very special to be celebrated: The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, in the Diocese of Bragança Paulista was elevated to the rank of Minor Basilica, just that day .
This church is part of a group of buildings which include the seminary of the Clerical Society Virgo Flos Carmeli and the House of Formation of the Heralds of the Gospel.
The ceremony of the presentation of the Apostolic Brief that raised the church to the status of Minor Basilica proceeded with great solemnity during the Mass celebrated by Bishop Sergio Aparecido Colombo , Bishop of Bragança Paulista, in São Paulo.
The Brief of His Holiness was presented to Msgr. João Clá Dias, founder and general president of the Heralds of the Gospel. Then the proclamation of the Holy Father’s words followed.
At the end of ceremony the unveiling of the symbols that identify a Minor Basilica, the Papal Coat of Arms, the Coat of Arms of the Bishop and the Papal Keys.
The Apostolic Brief
“Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the seal of the Fisherman, on April 21st in the year 2012, the eighth of Our Pontificate.”
Thus ends the Papal decree that was made known by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State of the Holy See.
In it “His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI — Ad perpetuam rei memoriam –” affirms “among the sacred temples of the Diocese of Bragança Paulista in Brazil, stands out, deservedly, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, erected in the city of Caieiras, to which the faithful of the region tend to go to implore the powerful help of She who is Full of Grace, to guide their existence according the precepts of the Gospel.
For this reason, since the Venerable Brother Sergio Aparecido Colombo, bishop of that See, with the letter of the 1st of March of this year, in the name of the clergy and also the people, requested that we should honor this temple with the diginity of Minor Basilica, We, wishing to give proof of our special benevolence, with supreme satisfaction of those ferverent prayers, judge that it should be granted.”
Thus it is that the Holy Father says still “fully met the requirements that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, with the powers granted by Us, established for this subject,With the Supreme Apostolic power, perpetually, we elevate the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary to the rank and dignity of Minor Basilica, conferred all the rights and liturgical concessions that properly belong to the sacred edifices honored with this title, observing what is determined by the Decree De titulo Basilicae Minoris, promulgated on the 9th of November, 1989.”
And the Supreme Pontiff continues: “We are confident that the honor given shall prompt the hearts of the faithful to venerate even more the Holy Mother of God and the Church. We desire that this letter take effect from now and for posterity, being revoked any provisions to contrary.”
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Our Lady of the Resurrection
Image of Our Lady of the Ressurection, the invocation of the original name of the House of Formation, Hermitage of Our Lady of the Resurrection
A detail of the living room lights
A community living room in the seminary of the Heralds
Thabor – Elevation and Discipline II
…continued from previous post
Man is both body and soul. The angels shine contemplating God and singing His praises in pure spirit, but man with his body as well. His actions, every beat of his heart should give glory to God.
Man in Paradise had a perfect nature. All he did was orderly and pleasant to God. But with original sin, the situation changed …with labor and toil shall you eat thereof all the days of your life… (Genesis 3:17)
No longer are all things in man subject to God’s will. Man is burdened by disorderly passions. He must fight against inclinations towards evil, as he was cursed to a fallen nature.
“For you are dust, And to dust you shall return. …”
Oh how we are subject to that just sentence! At every instant our flesh calls us despise the law written in the bronze of our souls! Even worst, not only the flesh, but the Devil and the World conspire against our salvation, against our union with God! How can we maintain our minds in Heaven when our feet are dragging?
Of course, for man that is impossible. Only with God’s grace can man stably practice the 10 commandments. St. Thomas teaches us that while a man is capable of doing some ethical or moral good, supernatural good is only with His Grace.
But graces come in many forms. To simplify, we’ll use an example used a lot demonstrate the difference between sufficient grace (gratia mere sufficiens) and efficacious grace (gratia efficax).
Sufficient graces are those that give the person the possibility to do good.
A man who wants to cross a river needs a boat, oars and the strength to do so.
It is analogous to a man who wants to practice good. He needs grace. God gives it.
But when the current is stronger than normal? When the task at hand is so much more difficult than the common situation? More help is needed.
There God not only gives you oars, but He shall push the boat towards the goal.
Of course, man always has free will, but isn’t it hard to row against a hurricane of graces?
When God sends His winds, at most you need to open the sails to reach the goal. Sometimes not even that. How many wonderful stories about mystics could we tell? They saw the most sublime things, as if ascended into Heaven. But not only they, but every person, at one point in their lives, was subject such a grace, in a greater or lesser degree.
But the journeys of a Catholic are not always full of winds that push towards the Heavens. How many times have we found ourselves in a dark night, and the boat slipping from our control?
Does God abandon us? No, absolutely not! Does the mother abandon the child when she puts the child down from her arms and gives it her hand as it may walk on its own feet? No, God helps us in the same way, as we may be strengthened. He shall always be there. Even St. Paul begged God to take Him in His arms as the mother takes child the child and carries it where she wishes and protect it. But the Lord told him, as we read in 2 Corinthians 12: My grace is sufficient for you: for power is made perfect in infirmity.
This is where discipline comes in. Our small contribution to the action of grace. A man must put order into his life in so that he may triumph over his worst enemy: himself. To defeat all his evil inclinations he needs both grace and a bit of effort (Or sometimes a lot!) . “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” – St. Augustine.
He needs to make efforts to strengthen his will. Waking up early and having schedules to follow make a Herald use his time wisely and efficiently. Practicing ceremonials, be it for mass or the muster of the Credo before classes or even the cortege from dinner to Complines, helps the body discipline its movements to make them dignified movements yet leaving the mind open to reach the highest contemplations that grace proportions when we are properly disposed for them. If angels had bodies… imagine it…we want to imitate them!
Discipline is not only work! Everything helps a young herald be always with enthusiasm to love, know and serve Our Blessed Mother and Her Divine Son!
Washing dishes, cleaning, exercise, silence, early wake-up, lights out, drills, music practice, Marian missions (will be the subject of future posts), parish duties, community admonishments, chapters of faults, studies, strong reading habits and being expected to always do everything with a love for perfection creates habits that end up forming ideas, that then forms mentalities and finally forms saints. All this next to an intense spiritual life make a seminarian ready for anything and willing to go and do anything that Holy Church needs of him. At a young age, obedience already becomes way of life, making him capable of things others aren’t. Living in community, having to follow an Ordo of Customs (again, we hope to write on it later) and constantly having to dominate their will and put it the hands of another make a seminarian be ready for those times that God hands us “just an oar” to give us merits. These habits end up being connatural to the person, allowing him to fly when life weights down. Without discipline, when aridness begins to ail a soul, it succumbs and is incapable of elevating the minds to God. When God sends His winds to push us towards great things and great horizons to “Put out into deep water” (Luke 5:4 ) it is easy to elevate your mind towards Him. But when He wants us to suffer the apparent abandonment as He Himself suffered to make us grow, we need to be ready for it. An athlete who wants to win a race can’t rely on having a “good day” . He has to train for it. The path towards sanctity is not always full of bright skies and and soothing winds. Sometimes it goes through dark knights and heavy storms. With discipline, overcoming those trials, always with God’s grace, becomes possible, being able to always keep the celestial objective in sight and on the path towards it.
Let us all discipline ourselves, above all in our prayer life, so we can one day with great joy say: I have fought a good fight: I have finished my course: I have kept the faith!
Working
Making pizza on Sundays!
Working with wood with our Master Carpenter!
Always seeking Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, be it with the greatest consolations or the most challenging aridity
Reception of habits – Jan. 24, 2010
Some pictures of a ceremony of reception of habit in Our Lady of the Rosary church.
And the phrase of the day…
Our founder, Msgr. João S. Clá Dias, has the custom of, after signing the registry of the masses, to write in a phrase that synthesizes the homily and leave a lasting impression above all in the younger heralds. So we hope to transmit them often!
“Quem vive em virtude, transborda em alegria!”
“Who lives in virtue, overflows in joy!
16-01-10
Waiting for the phrase after the Mass
“O amor move o universo enquanto a Fé, as montanhas”
“Love moves the universe while Faith, the mountains.
Mons. João S. Clá Dias, 12-01-2010
A quick video of Thabor during Christmas
It is a really nice video of scenes around the seminary.
It is in Portuguese, but the spoken part is minimal as it is mainly scenes.
Enjoy!
Thabor – The Heralds of the Gospel’s International Seminary
Tabor at an angle
The classrooms and the courtyard during Christmas
Tabor (Thabor in Portuguese) is the name of the international seminary of the Heralds of the Gospel (The Society of Apostolic life of Pontifical Right Virgo Flos Carmeli). It comprises the Major Seminary, Minor Seminary, Church and TV studios of the Heralds of the Gospel.
It is the main place where our future priests and consecrated receive their formation. In here they will not only study theology, philosophy and other ecclesiastical disciplines, but will formed into holy men. In a life full of prayer and study, guided by discipline and love of perfection they learn to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)”
At the Major Seminary, St. Thomas Aquinas, the young Heralds study the Church disciplines, always with a particular love for the via pulchritudinis. At the minor seminary, young aspirants begin their steps in the religious life with joy, starting from middle school to high school.
The Heralds of the Gospel always strive for the elevation of man to God through beauty and splendour. That is a keynote to Tabor. Everywhere and at all times is the young seminarian/novice surrounded by a an ambiance that elevates him towards contemplation. In a life full of ceremonials, the young Herald already begins to participate in the joys of the angels and saints in Heaven, feeling the peace God gives when we are in search of Him.
From dinner to Complines
We wanted show you this wonder to let you participate in our joy. If you ever find yourself in São Paulo, Brazil, come visit us!
This is a first post on Tabor and we hope to post more. We’ ll be putting things on the daily life and activities of the Heralds of the Gospel in Thabor and Our Lady of the Rosary Church.
The pictures are all thanks to our seminarians there who run a blog on the seminary. Please visit them! thabor.blog.arautos.org