For Catholics and Non Catholics: Pista karun ni . . .

[s.n.m.p.]

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[img width=183 height=245]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a193/cheesecake100/IMMACULATE_CONCEPTION.jpg[/img]

[b]Inay[/b]

Listen: Stream audio

Sa mahinahong paalam ng araw
Sa pag-ihip ng hanging kahapunan
Balabal ko'y init ng 'yong pag-ibig
Sa dapit-hapong kay lamig

Mga bituin kay agang magsigising
Umaandap, mapaglaro man din
Iyong ngiti hatid nila sa akin
Sa diwa ko't panalangin

Puso ko'y pahimlayin Inay
Upang yaring hamog
Ng gabing tiwasay
Ay madama ko bilang damping
Halik ng 'yong Anak
Ay! Irog kong inay

Sa palad niyo itago aking palad
Aking bakas sa inyong bakas ilapat
At iuwi sa tahanan kong dapat
Sa piling ng inyong Anak

Puso ko'y pahimlayin Inay
Upang yaring hamog
Ng gabing tiwasay
Ay madama ko bilang damping
Halik ng 'yong anak
Ay! Irog ko, O Ina kong mahal
Ay! Irog kong Inay

[s.n.m.p.]

November 9, 2005


Dedication of St. John Lateran





Most Catholics think of St. Peter’s as the pope’s main church, but they are wrong. St. John Lateran is the pope’s church, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome where the Bishop of Rome presides.

The first basilica on the site was built in the fourth century when Constantine donated land he had received from the wealthy Lateran family. That structure and its successors suffered fire, earthquake and the ravages of war, but the Lateran remained the church where popes were consecrated until the popes returned from Avignon in the 14th century to find the church and the adjoining palace in ruins.

Pope Innocent X commissioned the present structure in 1646. One of Rome’s most imposing churches, the Lateran’s towering facade is crowned with 15 colossal statues of Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and 12 doctors of the Church. Beneath its high altar rest the remains of the small wooden table on which tradition holds St. Peter himself celebrated Mass.

Comment:

Unlike the commemorations of other Roman churches (St. Mary Major, Sts. Peter and Paul), this anniversary is a feast. The dedication of a church is a feast for all its parishioners. St. John Lateran is, in a sense, the parish church of all Catholics, for it is the pope's parish, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome. This church is the spiritual home of the people who are the Church.

Quote:
"What was done here, as these walls were rising, is reproduced when we bring together those who believe in Christ. For, by believing they are hewn out, as it were, from mountains and forests, like stones and timber; but by catechizing, baptism and instruction they are, as it were, shaped, squared and planed by the hands of the workers and artisans. Nevertheless, they do not make a house for the Lord until they are fitted together through love" (St. Augustine, Sermon 36>).