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ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

4900 Rialto Road, West Chester, Ohio 45069 (513) 645-4212

parishoffice@sgg.org www.sgg.org www.SGGResources.org

TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS: Sundays 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM High, 11:30 AM, 5:45 PM

Most Reverend Daniel L. Dolan, Pastor Rev. Anthony Cekada

Rev. Charles McGuire Rev. Vili Lehtoranta Rev. Stephen McKenna

December 27, 2015

ST. JOHN, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST

¶ ST. JOHN’S DAY The blessing of wine and other bev-erages follows the High Mass today. Please place items to be blessed at St. John’s shrine. Afterwards, come back to Helfta Hall and plan to “drink the health of St. John,” some blessed wine or juice which carries his pow-erful protection. Catechism classes are recessed until January 10th. Ves-pers with Benediction will be at 4:45 PM.

¶ NEW YEAR’S DAY First Friday fills up New Year’s Day, a holy day of obligation. The Masses are at 7:30, 9:00, and 11:30 AM. At 11:20 AM we open our annual Infant of Prague Novena. First Friday Bene-diction follows the 11:30 AM Mass. Meat may be eaten today, due to the Holy Day of the Circumcision of Our Lord. There is no All Night Adoration, due to the holiday. There is no even-ing Mass.

God is loveable everywhere; but He ap-pears more so in the manger than else-

where; He is a little child; He is beauti-ful, winning, perfect; He is poor by

choice. Can I help loving Him? –Fr. Faber

¶ FIRST SATURDAY The Saturday schedule offers two Masses to honor Our Lady, at 7:30 and 8:20 AM, with Rosary at 7:10 AM, and Devotions at 8:15 AM. Why not make at least once, or repeat again, the Five First Saturdays?

Lumen Christi The Sanctuary Lamp will burn before the Blessed Sacrament during the next fort-

night for the following intention:

The health of Rosemarie Zuccaro (Mr. & Mrs. David Marko)

¶ NEXT SUNDAY: THE HOLY NAME The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. Next Sunday is also the first Sunday of the month. The Blessing of Reli-gious Articles will be available after all Masses. The second collection will be taken up for the support of our seminary. Catechism classes are recessed until January 10th. Bring the children to a Holy Innocents’ Party next Sunday after the 9:00 AM Mass. There is a blessing and a little gift for each child after Mass, and then a little party with a story and a poem or two. Vespers with Benediction will be at 4:45 PM. Set Your Missal: The Holy Name of Jesus (January 2). Nativity Pref-ace.

Collection Report Sunday, December 20th……………........$4,572.00 Bake Sale……………….............................$774.00 Thank you for your generosity! Remember St. Gertrude the Great in your will.

¶ 2016 CALENDARS ARE IN! The 2016 All Saints Calendar is available now in the bookstore for $10.00, illustrated with photographs of our liturgical year at St. Gertrude the Great.

Tho’ Almighty, far from me, Little Babe, You cannot be; If perchance You get away,

Back You come on Christmas Day, And we children hold You here

In our hearts a Prisoner. -J. Banister Tabb

¶ 2016 COLLECTION ENVELOPES There are still a few 2016 Collection Envelopes in the vestibule. If you haven’t yet gotten yours, please pick it up today. If you didn’t see your name, let us know and we will get an envelope made out for you.

Be sure to mark your cal-endar for Twelfth Night, Epiphany, Jan. 6. After the 5:30 Solemn Mass, you are invited to our parish Christmas party, which honors all of our Church workers and volunteers. So many hours presented this past year like precious myrrh or fragrant frankin-cense. God reward the gold of your devotion! Fr. Mar-dones will be celebrating his 25th ordination anniver-sary with us on Epiphany.

CHRISTMAS READING THE POETRY CORNER

ST. LIDWINA OF SCHIEDAM (Virgin †1433. Patroness of ice skat-

ing)

Lidwina was the only girl of the nine children born to poor la-borers of Schiedam, the Nether-lands. From her childhood she felt called to prayer; as a teen, she made a private act of consecration to God. Lidwina was fifteen when she fell while skating, breaking a rib. Serious complications soon set in, and Lidwina’s doctors gave her little hope of recovery. Her pastor, Father John Pot, urged her to turn her intense pain into pray-er through meditation on the Pas-sion.

Three years after the accident, Lidwina, now bedridden, began to offer her sufferings for others. Her maladies increased: heart attacks, episodes of paralysis, extreme sensitivity to light. At the same time, she began to receive divine consolations in the form of visions and ecstatic prayer.

For the last nineteen years of her life, Lidwina survived on Christ’s Body alone. During this time, Lidwina’s Guardian Angel was her frequent companion. A popular image shows the angel offering her a rosebush with the promise that when it bloomed her suffering would be at an end. It is said that, as death approached, Lidwina called out, “I see the rosebush in full bloom!” Venera-tion of Lidwina began soon after her death. Pope Leo XIII con-firmed her cult in 1890, but, since her cause did not go through the normal canonization process, she is listed as “Blessed” in some

source

s.

IN HIS NAME WE HOPE

The name of the Savior is a pledge of…confidence for us. Jesus saves us from our sins, just as He said He would, by remitting those we have committed, by helping us to avoid sin, and by leading us to the life in which we will never sin again.

It was by His own Blood that

He secured us an eternal redemp-tion (Heb 9:12). It was necessary that it cost Him some Blood to re-ceive the name of Jesus…. Receive, then, the name of Jesus: You are worthy of it, and You have begun its purchase by Your Blood. Re-ceive this Name at which every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Phil 2:10). The Lamb that sheds its blood deserved to receive all ado-ration, all worship, all praise, all thanksgiving (cf. Rv 5:12). I have heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth cry out with a great voice: “Salvation belongs to our God” (Rv 7:10).

Salvation comes from Him be-cause He sends us the Savior. Hail to the Lamb Who is the Savior Himself. Hail to us who participate in His Name. If He is the Savior, we are the saved, and we carry this glorious Name before which the whole universe bends its knee and the demons tremble. Let us not fear anything, for everything is at our feet. Let us think only about conquering ourselves: eve-rything must be conquered, be-cause we are already bearing the victor’s Name. Take heart, He says, for I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33).

-Bishop Jaques-Benigne Bos-suet

XXXV ADVENTUS II: STIRPS JESSE VIRGAM

PRODUXIT

O Flower, whiter than the envious snow,

That blooms like blindness open-ing to sight,

Or as the cripple’s legs unbend and go

And lepers rise untainted by their blight.

What country field unsown by hu-man hand

Produced the stalk that gave the virgin bough

That blew thee? Flower, tell, what untrod land

That never knew the blade of hu-man plough?

If but my soul upon that branch might rest

And draw therefrom unearthly sustenance,

As thou, fair Blossom, from perfec-tion’s breast

Drew milk unto thy tender counte-nance,

In me thy timeless beauty would increase

And flourish in thy endless sum-mer’s peace.

-Joseph McKenzie Feria IV Quattuor Temporum Adven-

tus Commemoratio: S. Eusebii Episcopi et Martyris Anno MMXV

Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation.

300 days’ indulgence

THE BISHOP’S CORNER

I write this Sunday note on the Tuesday before Christmas, feast of our first American saint, Frances Xavier Cabrini. We survived the Winter Solstice, which seems to have brought us Summer instead, like a confused St. Nick. I remember one very warm Christmas back in Sharonville before Global Warming had been infallibly defined. Some-one tried to come to Midnight Mass in shorts. Vigilant ushers saved the day. We are grateful for the good weather which makes it ever so much easier to be about our business—and God’s—these busy Christmas days. We are grateful for ushers, too!

I thank God in advance—as Fr. Solanus would do—for a wonderful Christmas, and each of you for the gifts you bring the Baby God for His birthday. Some of you, like gen-erous grandparents, have loaded up the tree with many of-ferings, others of you perhaps gave only your presence and a prayer. All are thanksworthy before God. May Our Lady reward you.

But what a wonderful and warming scene last Monday rewarded me! So many workers at the St. Thomas High Mass and Christmas Novena, a pizza lunch, and then the great work of transforming our church into a palace fit for our Infant King. Many hands make light work, and yesterday’s children, now pretty grown up, confidently undertook their customary jobs. Fr. Cekada and Joan Lotarski were serene-ly conducting the Christmas choir rehearsal in the midst of the whirlwind of work and chatter, and sounded every bit as professional as if music were being piped in.

Meanwhile in the sacristy, we were in a panic for a lost alb top for Midnight Mass. I suggested to Katie that we switch—not tops but saints. You pray to St. Anthony, I said, and I’ll pray to St. Joseph. That will get their attention! It did. Almost at that instant the missing vestment surfaced.

Darlene is recuperating over the holidays at Steve Weigand’s, but will need a place to go in early January. Fr. McKenna’s back went out in Milwaukee last Sunday. Fr. Lehtoranta is covering Christmas for us at St. Hugh, where this has become a custom. They call him “the Christmas priest,” and not only for this. This is his favorite time of the year, and he participates wholeheartedly in all the Christmas spirit, with cards and gifts and good cheer. The F sharp on our organ has been coaxed back in time for Midnight Mass. Caravaggio and Puccini think it’s Spring, and are wondering what happened to the baby bunnies. Brendan has both turned 19 and purchased his first car, even as he maintains a careful watch for reindeer—er, raccoons, on the roof.

Bishop Sanborn, who works hard enough all school year, is sacrificing his Christmas vacation for the good of souls. He is offering Mass in London (“Bergoglio-free” he says) having left on Christmas day itself

to make the connection. Early tomorrow he goes to Paris, and then on to Budapest for meetings, conferences, Confirmations, and more. God bless him. Pray for your clergy.

A quiet Sunday here in West Chester, no doubt. Only serious folk need return to church two days later! Consecrate the New Year with us to God this First Friday with Holy Mass: 7:30, 9:00 and 11:30 AM. No evening Mass or All Night Adoration due to the holiday.

“May your holidays be bright,” as they say. May your holy days be brighter!

Jesus fill you with His holy light.

-Bishop Dolan

ST. JOHN, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST

O glorious Apostle, Saint John, who for thy virginal purity wast so beloved by Jesus as to merit to rest thy head upon His di-vine bosom, and to be left, in His stead, as a son to His most holy Mother, I implore thee to set me on fire with a burning love for Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me, I pray, this grace from our Lord, that, even now, with my heart set free from earthly affec-tions, I may be made worthy to be ever united to Jesus as His faithful disciple and to Mary as her devoted child both here on earth and then forever in heaven. Amen. Indulgence of 300 days.

The Angel who proclaimed the birth of our infant Savior sang “Glory to God,” announc-ing that he pub-lished joy, peace, and happiness to men of good will. To receive this child all that is needed is to be of good will; even though as yet one

may have effected nothing of good; for Christ comes to bless all good wills; and little by little, He will render them fruit-ful, provided we allow Him to govern them.

– St. Francis de Sales

OUR HOLY FAITH

PRAYER TO OUR BLESSED LADY Composed by the Servant of God Raphael

Cardinal Merry del Val

O Mary, my Mother, how great-ly I love Thee! And yet how little is my love! Thou teachest me all that is necessary for me to know, be-cause Thou teachest me what Jesus is for me and what I ought to be for Jesus. Dear Mother, how near Thou must be to God, and how full of God! The more we know God, the more we think of Thee. Mother of God, make my heart to love my Jesus, make my heart to love Thee.

CHRISTMAS POINSETTIA

MEMORIALS

Father Martin Sisters of Our Lady of Reparation

Joseph & Maria Duff,

Barbara Schmelzer Mike Briggs Family

Special Intention

David & Bonnie Mott

Howard, Frances & Pam Mott David & Bonnie Mott

André LaMothe

His son David LaMothe

Bernadette Margaret LaMothe née Callaghan

Her son David LaMothe

Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that

appear not. (Heb. XI, I)

CATECHISM CORNER

The mercy and justice of God were admirably manifested in the Mystery of the Incarnation.

The Son of God, Who is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, was made man. He is both God and man, and is called Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Saviour and Redeemer of all men. He took a body and soul like ours in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His Mother, by the opera-tion of the Holy Ghost, and was born on Christmas day.

He became man to redeem us from eternal damnation, to which we were all doomed by the diso-bedience of our first father, Ad-am.

He has redeemed us from that damnation, by dying for us on the Cross; by suffering as man, and imparting as God, an infinite value to His sufferings. On the third day after His death, He raised Himself from the tomb, in which He had been laid. Forty days after His resurrection, He ascended into Heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God the Father. He sent down to His Church the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, in the visible form of fiery tongues, upon His Apos-tles, and the Disciples, who were assembled with them

FAITH FROM GOD

. Of course there is no absolute ne-cessity obliging God to speak to us and tell us all these wonders of Himself; but once we grant that God created us and made us what we are, because of His exceeding goodness, once we grant that, that same love and goodness prompted Him to raise us to a supernatural state, the end of which is nothing less than intimate union with Him-self, then revelation follows as a natural consequence, and is itself the proof of love. This is the rea-soning of Saint Thomas. “If the end of man,” he argues, “be the vision of God face to face, then must man do his best to tend to God, and cling to Him by knowledge and by love, and not by any sort of love or knowledge, but only by that which we call supernatural, because the means must be proportioned to the end…”

Babe in a manger, tender and sweet. Your beautiful hands,

Your soft little feet Were born for a cross, Oh, how could it be

That You’d give Your life To save one like me?

Dear precious Gift, Son of I Am, Thank you for being God’s chosen Lamb.

ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

ST. JOHN EVANGELIST December 27

No campaign has ever been waged to woo the sympathies of any single group with more relentless enthusiasm than the present day campaign to win the youth of the world to the forces of evil. But just as their inexperienced minds are the most fer-

tile soil for sowing false ideals, so also, their minds have the greatest potential for the permanent found-ing of good ideals. The good or evil purposes to which they are directed depend upon the ultimate goal which inspires them. If materialistic rewards are their goal, they will inevitably use materialistic means to achieve it; if spiritual rewards are their goal they will most certainly employ spiritual means.

Christ, it would seem, anticipated the needs of youth in a very special way. Knowing their need for a goal that is big enough and challenging enough to match their unparalleled reserve of energy, ambition, and determination, He offered them the world to be conquered. With a Divine Wisdom, which worldly leaders cannot possibly understand, Christ knew that youth do not want to be used, nor to be tolerated. They want to be assured that their efforts are of some real value. Flattery is no match for appreciation, and so Christ paid to youth the ultimate tribute of choosing a very young man to be numbered among His Apos-tles, and then singled out that youth to be acclaimed through all ages as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Christ, Himself, designated the Apostle of Youth—Saint John. He renewed that honor when He chose Saint John to be present at the Transfiguration and at the agony in the Garden. And it was John whom Christ selected to accompany Peter to prepare the Last Sup-per. John, we are told, was seated beside Christ at that final banquet and rested his head upon Christ’s breast. Frequently we are reminded of how Christ delighted in the sigh of John’s pure heart and mind. What could be more consoling to the youth of our day, to realize how pleasing sinlessness is to God, when they are re-quired to make so many sacrifices in order to preserve their own purity.

It is generally believed that John was the “other disciple” who was known to the high priest and who went with Jesus into the court of Caiphas, leaving Saint Peter at the outer gate. And it was John alone who had the courage to stand at the foot of the cross when all the other Apostles had fled. With that unlimited capac-ity for courage known only to youth, activated by his

tremendous love for Christ, John would not, could not, abandon his Divine Love. Willingly he shared all of the ignominious taunts hurled at Christ. It was then that youth, in the person of Saint John, was honored by Christ’s confidence in a way in which no other human being has ever been honored. He was chosen by Christ to care for Mary, not as a friend or companion, but as a son. It is true that in this Divine command, Christ also gave Mary to be the mother of the whole human race, but to John alone was given the privilege of being the first-born, to minister to her every need.

Though John seemed always to be closest to Christ, to be most favored by Him, it was Peter, the old-er and more experienced apostle, who was chosen to be the first head of the Church. This, in its own way, was Christ’s way of telling all young people that serving and obeying superior authority is holy and honorable. How it must have pleased Christ to see John faithfully and lovingly serving Peter. An incident of Easter morn-ing is perhaps the most beautiful example of how John respected the authority of Peter. When Mary Magda-lene came to the Apostles with the news that Christ’s tomb was open and the Body gone, Peter and John ran there immediately. John, being younger, ran faster and arrived first. However, in spite of his anxiety, John waited until Peter had arrived and followed him into the tomb.

After the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost, the Apostles separated and began the aposto-late of conversion. Peter and John remained together in Jerusalem and, we are told, were arrested and imprisoned there several times for their teaching and miracles. It was only after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, Saint Irenaeus says, that John went to the churches in Asia Minor, then badly in need of guid-ance. There is a tradition that John was arrested there and returned to Rome where he was miraculously delivered from an attempt to execute him. John was finally banished to the penal colony at Patmos, and it was during this exile that he received the revelations contained in the Apocalypse. After the death of the emperor, however, he returned to Ephe-sus. It is believed that he died there at about the age of ninety-four.

Christ had foretold that Saint John would not die a martyr’s death, and, indeed, he was the only Apostle who did die a natural death. Though this may seem a blessing to us, to John it may well have been a martyr-dom far more severe than any devised by man. For to one who loved God with an almost incomprehensible love, as John did, life was his martyrdom. (Con-tinued on back page)

CALENDAR

All Sunday Masses, school day Masses, Friday evening and Saturday morning Masses are webcast at SGGresources.org.

MON 12/28/15 THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MM

9:00 AM High Mass Novena IV

TUE 12/29/15 ST. THOMAS Á BECKET, BPM 8:00 AM High Mass Novena V 9:00 AM Low Mass Mary Omlor (Patrick Omlor)

5:00 PM Low Mass Barnabas Current (William Current)

WED 12/30/15 RESUMED MASS OF SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 8:00 AM High Mass Novena VI

9:00 AM Low Mass Mary Omlor (Patrick Omlor) 5:00 PM Low Mass In honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

for the repose of the soul of †Janice West

THU 12/31/15 ST. SYLVESTER I, PC WITHIN THE OCTAVE 8:00 AM High Mass Novena VII 4:00 PM Low Mass †Bob & †Mary Elliot (Patricia Elliot)

4:50 PM First Vespers of the Circumcision

FRI 1/1/16 THE CIRCUMCISION HOLY DAY NEW YEAR’S DAY – FIRST FRIDAY OCTAVE DAY OF CHRISTMAS

7:30 AM Low Mass For our priests – Merry Christmas (Joe &

Nathalie Andreotta) 9:00 AM High Mass Novena VIII

11:20 AM Opening of Infant of Prague Novena 11:30 AM Low Mass For the people of St. Gertrude the Great Perpetual Novena & Benediction

No evening Mass or All Night Adoration

SAT 1/2/16 FIRST SATURDAY OCTAVE DAY OF ST. STEPHEN INFANT OF PRAGUE

7:10 AM Rosary 7:30 AM High Mass Novena IX

8:15 AM First Saturday Devotions 8:30 AM Low Mass †Albert Kinnett (birthday remembrance)

(Margaret & Albert Daniel Kinnett)

SUN 1/3/16 THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS OCTAVE DAY OF ST. JOHN, APEV ST. GENEVIEVE, V

7:30 AM Low Mass †Iris Wilson (Mr. & Mrs. Victor Ritze)

9:00 AM High Mass For the people of St. Gertrude the Great

11:30 AM Low Mass Special Intention – Family (Dale Wilker

Family)

4:45 PM Vespers & Benediction 5:45 PM Low Mass For Mary & Pauline (Patrick Omlor)

ST. JOHN EVANGELIST (continued)

It seems as if Christ, through His beloved disciple, showed to all the world, and most particularly to the youth, that all things can be endured for the sake of Love. If youth today see their future in the light of sorrow, de-struction, hate and hopelessness, it is not because God has abandoned the world, but because the world has abandoned God. Christ still hangs upon the cross. In fear, the youth of today may run and hide or, like John, they may choose to face the slanders and derision of the God haters, and stand beneath the cross. For if youth has not the courage to do so, no one has!

AN EXILE FOR THE FAITH

An exile for the faith Of his incarnate Lord,

Beyond the stars, beyond all space, His soul in vision soared.

There saw in glory Him

Who liveth, and was dead,

There Judah’s Lion, and the Lamb

That for our ransom bled:

There of the kingdom learned

The mysteries sublime; How, sown in martyrs’ blood, the faith

Should spread from clime to clime.

Lord, give us grace, like him, In Thee to live and die;

To spurn the fleeting things of earth, And seek for joys of high.

Jesu, our risen Lord,

We praise Thee and adore, Who art with God the Father One

And Spirit evermore.

Servers FRI 1/1 7:30 AM LOW: Brueggemann Bros. 9:00 AM HIGH: CHAPLAINS: T. & J. Simpson TH: A. Richesson ACs: C. Richesson, M. Simpson TORCH: C. Arlinghaus, T. Lawrence, D. Simpson, Dima Holbrook MC: B. Lotarski 11:30 AM LOW: A.D. Kinnett, Nathan McClorey BENEDICTION: MC: Nicholas McClorey TH: Peter McClorey SUN 1/3 7:30 AM LOW: Brueggemann Bros. 9:00 AM HIGH: CHAPLAINS: 1. T. Simpson, 2. N. McClorey TH: L. Arlinghaus ACs: P. & N. McClorey TORCH: C. Arlinghaus, C. Richesson, D. Simpson, T. Lawrence CROSS: M. Simpson 11:30 AM LOW: B. Lotarski, A.D. Kinnett 4:45 PM VESPERS: G. Miller 5:45 PM LOW: G. Miller