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3. “The most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but that they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can profit by the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety and the duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church.” (Pope Eugene IV, the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.)

2. “We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)

1. “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved.” (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.)

Outside the Church there is no Salvation (Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus)


“Outside the Church there is no salvation” (extra ecclesiam nulla salus) is a doctrine of the Catholic Faith that was taught By Jesus Christ to His Apostles, preached by the Fathers, defined by popes and councils and piously believed by the faithful in every age of the Church. Here is how the Popes defined it:

Quote from: BolBuhol on August 23, 2011, 08:31:48 PM
what a lucky baby

Lucky lucky gid sang baby ! ehehe! Ilonggo gid.

Present: Kaliningrad , Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia)

Then : Konigsberg, East Prussia

The architecture is amazing.

The beautiful city of Munich...

hehehe, maayo kai naka labay ka, Fr. Roel. Ako, wa gayud ko kalabay, naka fly over ra ko.

gusto ko mo bisita diri pohon, kuyaw bitaw ning syudad'a.

Hail Mary full of grace, Virgin mother unwedded, the Lord is with thee....

Reference: Vesper for August 20; Eastern Catholic Rite Celebration of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God and Her Assumption

Male Choir "Accordance": Rejoice, o Virgin (6)

The Assumption of the Virgin - by Domenico PIOLA - Church of Saint John the Baptist, Chiavari (Genoa)

The Assumption of Holy Mother of God

IT was right for the eyewitnesses and serving men of the Word, and of his mother according to the flesh, to keep watch upon her Falling Asleep, being her final mystery, so that they might not only see the ascension of the Saviour from the earth, but also bear witness to the crossing-over of her that bare him.

Wherefore, carried across from every place by divine power, they light upon Sion, and send her forth who is above the Cherubim, urged on to heaven; whom we also venerate together with them, for she is an advocate for our souls’ sake.



At Vespers for August 22.

An icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
“Let eagerly perform, among the Bodiless powers,
the funeral offices of her that bore the Maker of the creation.”

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ΚαβαρνόÏ, ΠαναγιώÏ,,ηÏ, ~ Î'πόσÏ,,ολοι εκ περάÏ,,ων

By: St. John Cassian

What we gain from fasting does not compensate for what we lose through anger. Our profit from scriptural reading in no way equals the damage we cause ourselves by showing contempt for a brother. We must practice fasting, vigils, withdrawal, and the meditation of Scripture as activities which are subordinate to our main objective, purity of heart, that is to say, love, and we must never disturb this principal virtue for the sake of those others. If this virtue remains whole and unharmed within us nothing can injure us, not even if we are forced to omit any of those other subordinate virtues. Nor will it be of any use to have practiced all these latter if there is missing in us that principal objective for the sake of which all else is undertaken.



St. John Cassian (Conferences, Conf. One sect. 7; Paulist Press pg. 42)

On the other hand He cannot be understood, words cannot contain Him, and no name can lay hold of Him. He is not one of the things that are and He is no thing among things. He is known to all from all things and He is known to no one from anything… the most divine knowledge of God, that which comes through unknowing, is achieved in a union far beyond mind, when mind turns away from all things, even from itself, and when it is made one with the dazzling rays, being then and there enlightened by the inscrutable depth of Wisdom.




St. Dionysius (The Divine Names, Chapter Seven sect. 3, Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works; Paulist Press pgs. 108-109).

We therefore approach that which is beyond all as far as our capacities allow us and we pass by way of the denial and the transcendence of all things and by way of the cause of all things. God is therefore known in all things and as distinct from all things. He is known through knowledge and through unknowing. Of Him there is conception, reason, understanding, touch, perception, opinion, imagination, name, and many other things.

Mosaic of Christ , Ravenna (6th Century A.D.)



We cannot know God in His nature, since this is unknowable and beyond the reach of mind or of reason. But we know Him from the arrangement of everything, because everything is, in a sense, projected out from Him, and this order possesses certain images and semblances of His divine paradigms.

By: Fr. Thomas Merton



You cannot live for your own pleasure and your own convenience without inevitably hurting and injuring the feelings and the interests of practically everybody else you meet…most people more or less live for themselves and for their own interests and pleasures or for those of their own family or group, and therefore they are constantly interfering with one another’s aims, and hurting one another and injuring one another, whether they mean it or not.




Exerpt taken from the book- The Seven Storey Mountain, by: Fr. Thomas Merton

The wall that separates two worlds in an iconostasis. One might mean by the iconostasis the boards or the bricks or the stones. In actuality, the iconostasis is a boundary between the visible and invisible worlds, and it functions as a boundary by being an obstacle to our seeing the altar, thereby making it accessible to our consciousness by means of its unified row of saints (i.e., by its cloud of witnesses) that surround the altar where God is, the sphere where heavenly glory dwells, thus proclaiming the Mystery. Iconostasis is vision. Iconostasis is manifestation of saints and angels- angelophania- a manifest appearance of heavenly witnesses that includes, first of all, the Mother of God and Christ Himself in the flesh, witnesses who proclaim that which is from the other side of mortal flesh. Iconostasis is the saints themselves. If everyone praying in a temple were wholly spiritualized, if everyone praying were truly to see, then there would be no iconostasis other than standing before God Himself, witnessing to Him by their holy countenances and proclaiming His terrifying glory by their sacred words.

But because our sight is weak and our prayers are feeble, the Church, in Her care for us, gave us visual strength for our spiritual brokenness: the heavenly visions on the iconostasis, vivid, precise, and illumined, that articulate, materially cohere, an image into fixed colors. But this spiritual prop, this material iconostasis, does not conceal from the believer (as someone in ignorant self-absorption might imagine) some sharp mystery; on the contrary, the iconostasis points out to the half-blind the Mysteries of the altar, opens for them an entrance into a world closed to them by their own struckness, cries into their deaf ears the voice of the Heavenly Kingdom, a voice made deafening to them by their having failed to take in the speech of ordinary voices. This heavenly cry is therefore stripped, of course, of all the subtly rich expressiveness of ordinary speech: but who commits the act of such stripping when it is we who fail to appreciate the heavenly cry because we failed first to recognize it in ordinary speech: what can be left except a deafening cry? Destroy the material iconostasis and the altar itself will, as such, wholly vanish from our consciousness as if covered over by an essentially impenetrable wall. But the material iconostasis does not, in itself, take the place of the living witnesses, existing instead of them; rather, it points toward them, concentrating the attention of those who pray upon them- a concentration speak figuratively, then, a temple without a material iconostasis opens windows in this wall, through whose glass we see (those of us who can see) what is permanently occurring beyond: the living witnesses to God. To destroy icons thus means to block up the windows; it means smearing the glass and weakening the spiritual light for those of us who otherwise could see it directly, who could (we could figuratively say) behold it in a transparent space free of earthly air, a space where we could learn to breathe the pure ethereal air and to live in the light of God’s glory: and when this happens, the material iconostasis will self-destruct in that vast obliteration which will destroy the whole image of this world- and which will even destroy faith and hope- and then we contemplate, in pure love, the immortal glory of God.




Exerpt taken from the book:
Iconostasis, by: Pavel Florensky.

The Deisis


The word 'Deisis' comes from a Greek word meaning 'prayer' or 'intercession'. In iconographic language it represents a group of three persons: Christ, seated in majesty in the center, with his Mother to his right and John the Forerunner to his left. The persons are slightly bowed while raising their hands in a gesture of humbly asking.



Holy Mother Mary and St. John the Baptist bowing before the Seated Jesus Christ The Righteous King

The Iconostasis and the Deisis

The Iconostasis is the most prominent feature of an Orthodox Church. It separates the Sanctuary from the nave. The Sanctuary is where the Eucharist is celebrated, which symbolizes the Divine world. The nave is the part reserved for the believers and symbolizes the human world.



Iconostasis 11.20 x 12.88 m.
Made by Palekh, Russia.




Iconostasis 'Nikitniki'.
Made by Kinovar, Russia.

Many centuries elapsed before there was any approach towards making the solid partition which we find in the Greek churches of today. But gradually the demand for greater adornment grew, and to satisfy it pictures were placed over the entire iconostasis, and so it began to assume somewhat the present form. After the Council of Florence (1438) when the last conciliar attempt at reunion of the Churches failed, the Greek clergy took great pleasure in building and adorning their church as little like the Latin ones as possible, and from then on the iconostasis assumed the form of the wall-like barrier which it has at present. As its present form is merely a matter of development of Church architecture suitable and adapted to the Greek Rite , the iconostasis was continuously used by the Catholics as well as by the Orthodox.



Reference:

Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=6021

In the early Greek churches there was a slight barrier about waist high, or even lower, dividing the altar from the people. This was variously known as kigklis , grating, dryphakta , fence, diastyla , a barrier made of columns, according to the manner in which it was constructed. Very often pictures of the saints were affixed to the tops of the columns. When Justinian constructed the "great" church, St. Sophia, in Constantinople, he adorned it with twelve high columns (in memory of the twelve Apostles ) in order to make the barrier or chancel, and over the tops of these columns he placed an architrave which ran the entire width of the sanctuary. On this architrave or crossbeam large disks or shields were placed containing the pictures of the saints, and this arrangement was called templon (templum), either from its fancied resemblance to the front of the old temples or as expressing the Christian idea of the shrine where God was worshiped. Every church of the Byzantine Rite eventually imitated the "great" church and so this open templon form of iconostasis began to be adopted among the churches of the East, and the name itself was used to designate what is now the iconostasis.

The iconostasis is really an Oriental development in adorning the holy place about the Christian altar. Originally the altar stood out plain and severe in both the Oriental and Latin Rites. But in the Western European churches and cathedrals the Gothic church builders put a magnificent wall, the reredos, immediately behind the altar and heaped ornamentation, figures, and carvings upon it until it became resplendent with beauty. In the East, however, the Greeks turned their attention to the barrier or partition dividing the altar and sanctuary from the rest of the church and commenced to adorn and beautify that, and thus gradually made it higher and covered it with pictures of the Apostles, Prophets, and saints. Thus the Greek Church put its ornamentation of the holy place in front of the altar instead of behind it as in the Latin churches. In its present form in the churches of the Byzantine (and also the Coptic) Rite the iconostasis comparatively modern, not older than the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. It was never used in the Roman churches or any of the Latin churches of the West, and was unknown to the early Church. The modern chancel rail of the Latin Rite correctly represents the primitive barrier separating the altar from the people. In the great Gothic cathedrals the choir screen or rood screen may be said in a way to be the analogue of the iconostasis, but that is the nearest approach to it in the Western Church . None of the historians or liturgical writers of the early or middle Greek Church ever mention the iconostasis. Indeed the name today is chiefly in Russian usage, for the meaning of the Greek work is not restricted merely to the altar screen, but is applied to any object supporting a picture. The word is first mentioned in Russian annals in 1528 when one was built by Macarius, Metropolitan of Novgorod.

Where the iconostasis is very lofty, as among the Slavonic nationalities, whether Orthodox or Catholic, the pictures upon it are arranged in tiers or rows across its entire length. Those on the lower ground tier have already been described; the first tier above that is a row of pictures commemorating the chief feasts of the Church, such as the Nativity, Annunciation, Transfiguration, etc.; above them a tier containing the Prophets of the Old Law ; and lastly the very top of the iconostasis. These pictures are usually painted in the stiff Byzantine manner, although in many Russian churches they have begun to use modern art; the Temple of the Saviour in Moscow is a notable example. The iconostasis in the Greek (Hellenic) churches have never been so lofty and as full of paintings as those in Russian and other countries. A curious form of adornment of the icons or pictures has grown up in Russia and is also found in other parts of the East. Since the Orthodox Church would not admit sculptured figures on the inside of churches (although they often have numerous statues upon the outside) they imitated an effect of sculpture in the pictures placed upon the iconostasis which produces an incongruous effect upon the Western mind. The icon, which is generally painted upon wood, is covered except as to the face and hands with a relief of silver, gold, or seed pearls showing all the details and curves of the drapery, clothing and halo: thus giving a crude cameo-like effect around the flat painted face and hands of the icon.

Two pictures or icons must appear upon every iconostasis, no matter how humble, in the Greek church ; the picture of Our Lord on the right of the Royal door, and that of Our Lady upon the left. But in the finer churches of Russia, Greece, Turkey, and the East the iconostasis has a wealth of paintings lavished upon it. Besides the two absolutely necessary pictures, the whole screen is covered with them. On the royal door there is always the Annunciation and often the four Evangelists. On each of the other doors there are St. Michael and St. Gabriel. Beyond the deacon's door there is usually the saint to whom the church is dedicated, while at the opposite end there is either St. Nicholas of Myra or St. John the Baptist . Directly above the royal door is a picture of the Last Supper, and above that is often a large picture ( deisus ) of Our Lord sitting crowned upon a throne, clothed in priestly raiment, as King and High-priest. At the very top of the iconostasis is a large cross (often a crucifix in bas-relief ), the source of our salvation, and on either side of it are the pictures of Our Lady and of St. John.

Iconostasis

(Gr. eikonostasion, eidonostasis , picture screen, from eikon , image, picture, and histemi , place), the chief and most distinctive feature in all Greek churches, whether Catholic or Orthodox. It may be said to differentiate the Greek church completely from the Roman in its interior arrangement. It consists of a great screen or partition running from side to side of the apse or across the entire end of the church, which divides the sanctuary from the body of the church, and is built of solid materials such as stone, metal, or wood, and which reaches often (as in Russia ) to the very ceiling of the church, thus completely shutting off the altar and the sanctuary from the worshipper. It has three doors: the great royal door in the middle (so called because it leads directly to the altar upon which the King of kings is sacrificed ), the deacon's door to the right, and the door of the proskomide (preparation for Liturgy ) upon the left, when viewing the structure from the standpoint of a worshipper in the body of the church.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal



Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus Joseph Soueif



Melkite Patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem and West Bank Archbishop Joseph Jules Zerey











The Spleandor of Catholica Ecclesia. The One Holy Catholic And Apostolic Church.

Maronite Catholic Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir



Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Mar Emmanuel III Delly


Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham


Syriac Catholic Patriach Mar Ignace Yousef III Younan



Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nersеs Bеdros XIX Tarmouni



Coptic Catholic Patriarch Antonios Naguib

The spiritual heritage of the Byzantine Catholic Church is the same given to us by the Apostles and which matured in the Christian East, during the period of the Byzantine Empire. This heritage includes the doctrines, liturgical practices and underlying theology and spirituality which come to us from the Christian Church of the Byzantine Empire. This heritage is shared among all of the Christian peoples, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, who trace their spiritual roots to the Great Church of Constantinople, and the Byzantine religious culture which grew from that Church. From the First Millennium, Christians of the Byzantine tradition have referred to themselves as "Orthodox Christians". Byzantine Catholics are Orthodox Christians who embrace full communion with the Church of Rome and its primate, Pope Benedict XVI, the successor of St. Peter, the first among the Apostles. Sadly, however, the break in communion between the Orthodox East and the Catholic West of 1054 still affects us today, as our communion with Rome means we are not in full communion with our mother Orthodox Church. We pray for the day when the Churches will again be one.

Eastern Catholic Celebration of HOLY MASS


Priests facing the Iconostasis and directing prayer to Heaven.

Quote from: buwadsanga on August 22, 2011, 03:30:30 PM
Dong, I think Jesus second coming is near. The unification of the churches is a testament to it. These unification is a vain and impossible to achieve 30 to 40yrs ago. Pope John Paul II started it all. Evil cannot defeat nor destroy the church created by Jesus and entrusted to Simon for administration whon He called Peter "The Rock" it was last Sunday's gospel reading....St. Paul first problem during the early christians was also their division but the apostoles were able to unite them. It happen again 1000 yrs ago and in modern times....you really can see how the devil is working to mislead it's members and conquer the catholic church!!! 

Maayong trabahante bitaw to si Santo Papa John Paul II. Dili lang kai ning reach out siya sa Orthodox Church, pero ning reach out pood siya sa mga Hudeo sa Roma og didto sa Israel. Kadtong taw nag ni-try to assassinate niya, gi tagaan siya og pasaylo ni Santo Papa. In fact, the two eventually became good friends. Kuyaw no? Buutan og maayo gayud to siya nga tawhana. Mao na Blessed na siya, hapit na ma himo og Santo. Maayo siya kai gi RE-IGNITE niya ang evangelismo sa Simbahan Katoliko. 

Tinuod ka, bro, dili gayud ka guba ang mga satanas sa Simbahan Katoliko. Ngano man? Kai ning ingon good ang Ginoong Hesus Kristo ni Peter,

"Ikaw mao si Pedro, ug sa ibabaw niining bato pagatukoron ko ang akong iglesia, ug ang mga gahum sa kamatayon dili gayud makabuntog kaniya. Ug hatagan ko ikaw sa mga yawi sa gingharian sa langit, ug bisan unsay imong pagabugkoson dinhi sa yuta, didto sa langit pagailhon kini nga binugkos; ug bisan unsay imong pagaluagan dinhi sa yuta, didto sa langit pagailhon kini nga linuagan.
  -MATEO 16: 18-19

As we speak, there are more and more Christian Orthodox who are joining the Catholic Church; with that many Orthodox Churches that are reunifying with CATHOLICA ECCLESIA. Praise be to God and Holy Mother Church!

Quote from: buwadsanga on August 22, 2011, 03:30:30 PM
Dong, I think Jesus second coming is near. The unification of the churches is a testament to it. These unification is a vain and impossible to achieve 30 to 40yrs ago. Pope John Paul II started it all. Evil cannot defeat nor destroy the church created by Jesus and entrusted to Simon for administration whon He called Peter "The Rock" it was last Sunday's gospel reading....St. Paul first problem during the early christians was also their division but the apostoles were able to unite them. It happen again 1000 yrs ago and in modern times....you really can see how the devil is working to mislead it's members and conquer the catholic church!!! 

Hapit na bitaw mo balik ang Ginoong Hesus Kristo, bro. Mo huwat na lang ta pero mag buutan ta nga trabahante sa iyang hacienda. hehehe! Mo ingon ang Ginoo sa mga buutan nga trabahante:

Ug miingon kaniya ang iyang agalon, `Maayong pagkabuhat, maayo ug kasaligan nga ulipon; sa diyutay kasaligan ka diay, sa daghan pagapiyalan ko ikaw; dumuyog ka sa kalipay sa imong agalon.`
  -Mateo 25:23

Why does St. Francis de Sales say that? By definition spiritual aridity is a want of interest of feeling; insensibility; dryness of style or feeling; spiritual drought. So why is it that a single act done with aridity of spirit worth more than many done with feelings of devotion?

It is in spiritual aridity that we feel almost broken, feel difficult to pray, feel difficult to communicate with God because of the attacks of the enemy. But if we pray and give praise to God despite spiritual aridity, then all the more precious the prayer. It is liken to a man carrying a very heavy, painful, thorn-filled cross with our Lord Jesus Christ. If someone experiences spiritual aridity, and still glorifies the Lord despite the wicked tricks of the devil to make him feel worthless and hopeless and questioning of the faith, then the Lord sympathizes. This is an example of a person of the faith who fights not only by the word, by faith. Believing in the Faith and in the Savior Jesus Christ when everything seems lost or when things don't go according to plan. That, my friends, my family of Christian brothers and sisters, is an example of fighting and speaking and doing the Word of Jesus Christ who Is Lord.

This reminds me of the spiritual life of Blessed Mother Theresa. There were times where she could not pray, found it difficult to pray, and had a feeling of dryness. But she prayed and gave glory to God in Jesus Christ.

It is very common that those who are faithful to God may be attacked by the enemy. But pray and have faith we must...Jesus Calls us to it.

The world is fast and fading. The Eternal Kingdom in Heaven IS the glorious reward...




Pax Vobis In Nominae Dominae Iesus Christus .

[Peace Be With You In The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ]

To quote St. Francis de Sales, "One single act done with aridity of spirit is worth more than many done with feelings of devotion."

Quote from: hubag bohol on August 22, 2011, 04:44:52 PM
Saint Francis de Sales, Letter 764 to Saint Jane de Chantal: "It is the Height of Holy Disinterestedness to be Content with Naked, Dry, and Insensible Acts carried out in the Higher Will alone. You have told me well about your Suffering, and there is nothing to do to help it but what you are doing: Affirming to our Lord, sometimes out loud and sometimes in song, that you even Will to Live and to eat as the Dead do, without Taste, Feeling or Knowledge. In the End, the Savior wants us to be His so Perfectly that nothing else is left for us, and to abandon ourselves entirely to the Mercy of His Providence without Reservation".

Amen.

John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on Sunday Feb 12, 1984 said:

"Every liturgical action. . . is an
occasion of communion. . . and in a particular way with Mary. Because the
Liturgy is the action of Christ and of the Church. . . she is inseparable
from one and the other. . . . . Mary is present in the memorial - the
liturgical action - because she was present at the saving event, faithful
with her whole being to the Father's plan, at the historical salvific
occasion of Christ's death." Her will is still united with His, the flesh and
blood on the altar came from her."


http://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/ARIDITY.TXT

The reader will sense some give-and-take here on both sides, but the end result would truly be a cause for celebration all-around:
    The Pope and the Orthodox Primates could invite all the faithful under their jurisdiction to recognize each other’s Churches as ‘sister Churches’ that fully realize the Apostolic faith in doctrine, sacraments, and ecclesial life, despite the historically different forms in which our liturgy is celebrated, our doctrine taught, and our community life structured.

The fact that consultation members have reached the stage where they are concretely imagining it means that full communion between the Latin, Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches is closer than it has ever been before.

That is ample reason for us to join our hearts and voices to those around the world in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and throughout the year.

[Paulist Fr. Thomas Ryan directs the Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations in Washington.]

What is encouraging about the Consultation’s statement is that they have reached the stage where they are imagining in concrete terms what it would look like to be in full communion with one another. Some of their observations and imaginings:

    * The bishop of Rome’s “relationship to the Eastern Churches and their bishops would have to be substantially different from the relationship now accepted in the Latin Church…. The leadership of the pope would always be realized by way of a serious and practical commitment to synodality and collegiality.”
    * The bishop of Rome would be seen as a member as well as head of the college of bishops, the senior patriarch among the primates of the churches. His fundamental worldwide ministry would be to promote the communion of all the local churches.
    * There would also be some implications for the way the Roman curia presently functions. Its relationship to local bishops and episcopal conferences in the Latin Church “would become less centralized: bishops, for instance, would have more control over the agenda and the final documents of synods, and the selection of bishops would again normally become a local process.”

At the heart of our differences, they note, is the way each of our traditions understands the proper exercise of the primacy in the leadership of the Church, not only within Christianity as a whole but also within the various regions of the Christian world.

In the Christian East, “primacy” has a less supra-national character than it has acquired in the Latin Church. The underlying pattern among the Eastern churches was what is called “autocephaly” -- ecclesiastical independence correlative to the emerging nation-state, with the head of the church in a given nation (the patriarch) seen as exercising primacy.

After 950 years of division between us, the language is now that “it is urgent” to put an end to this. One might say that, thanks to prayer, local action, and the work of commissions like this, there’s been a sea change!

Consultation members do not shy from addressing the hard issues head-on and recognize that this cannot be achieved without “new, better harmonized structures of leadership on both sides: new conceptions of both synodality and primacy in the universal Church, new approaches to the way authority and primacy are exercised in both our communions.”

All of which pushes the commission members to state:
    It is urgent that Orthodox and Catholic Christians find an effective way to realize our common tradition of faith together, and to present the world with a unified testimony to the Lordship of Jesus. To be what we are called to be, we need each other…. To become what we are…we cannot stop short of re-establishing full Eucharistic communion among ourselves.

Their listing of what we share is substantive and long. In short: We believe our life as churches to be centered on the Divine Liturgy, the Word of God, and the sacraments from baptism to marriage.

Both churches recognize each other’s bishops as legitimately ordained into the apostolic succession. Both venerate Mary, the Mother of God, and a whole range of holy men and women from every age, many of them common to both our traditions. Both our churches cherish ancient practices that help the faithful grow in holiness, such as reverencing sacred images, fasting, the monastic life, and various forms of contemplative prayer.

One noteworthy sign of this was the statement by the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation last October.

For the past forty-five years they have been sifting through the pastoral and doctrinal issues that historically have prevented our churches from sharing a single life of faith, sacraments and witness before the world. But in this document, as indicated by its title, they are getting down to brass tacks: “Steps Towards A Reunited Church: A Sketch of an Orthodox-Catholic Vision for the Future.”

Catholic and Orthodox Unity: Close Enough to Imagine

Jan. 18, 2011
By Fr. Thomas Ryan


As we celebrate another Week of Prayer for Christianity, what is there to fuel our hope that this isn’t all just an exercise in futility? What’s to celebrate?

Signals are there that this movement called “ecumenical” does in fact move, that reflection as we go along on an increasing degree of “life together” is shaping our perception of the future in positive ways.

Thanks for posting this, Hubag.

This is a very wonderful message from EWTN:

http://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/ARIDITY.TXT

Quote from: Lorenzo on August 22, 2011, 02:29:39 PM
One saint who had aridity, but profited from it was St. Frances de Sales:


St. Francis de Sales, Letter 764 to St. Jane de Chantal:"It is the height
of holy disinterestedness to be content with naked, dry, and insensible acts
carried out in the higher will alone. You have told me well about your
suffering and there is nothing to do to help it but what you are doing:
affirming to our Lord, sometimes out loud and sometimes in song, that you
even will to live and to eat as the dead do, without taste, feeling or
knowledge. In the end, the Savior wants us to be His so perfectly that
nothing else is left for us, and to abandon ourselves entirely to the mercy
of His providence without reservation."


http://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/ARIDITY.TXT

Very poignant and very stark of St. Francis, but his message reminds us of the Jew who asked The Savior Jesus Christ how to become perfect. When Christ told him to sell all his belongings, and give up all pleasures of life to follow him....

Tinuod baya. The wisdom of St. Francis de Sales , through the workings of the Holy Spirit....

One saint who had aridity, but profited from it was St. Frances de Sales:


St. Francis de Sales, Letter 764 to St. Jane de Chantal:"It is the height
of holy disinterestedness to be content with naked, dry, and insensible acts
carried out in the higher will alone. You have told me well about your
suffering and there is nothing to do to help it but what you are doing:
affirming to our Lord, sometimes out loud and sometimes in song, that you
even will to live and to eat as the dead do, without taste, feeling or
knowledge. In the end, the Savior wants us to be His so perfectly that
nothing else is left for us, and to abandon ourselves entirely to the mercy
of His providence without reservation."


http://www.ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/ARIDITY.TXT

Eastern Rite Catholic Priest administering the Blood of Jesus Christ to a believer.

Eastern Catholic Rite

Iconostasis: The iconostasis is an altar screen or wall which, in an Orthodox church, separates the Sanctuary from the nave. The Sanctuary is where the Eucharist is celebrated, which symbolizes the Divine world. It is separated from the nave which is the part reserved for the believers and symbolizes the human world. The iconostasis is the most distinctive feature of an Orthodox church. It is richly decorated with icons, and usually consists of four or more rows or registers.

In the iconostasis, the row with the Deisis, usually the second row from below, is the most important. The word 'Deisis' comes from a Greek word meaning 'prayer' or 'intercession'. In iconographic language it represents a group of three persons: Christ, seated in majesty in the center, with his Mother to his right and John the Forerunner to his left. The persons are slightly bowed while raising their hands in a gesture of humbly asking.

The Deisis, and with it the iconostasis, played an important role in the development of iconography. As mentioned above, it was limited to the group of three persons, in its early form. In later years Theophanes the Greek profoundly changed this structure. He thereby replaced the figures, which were traditionally showing the upperbody only, with the entire person, on foot, with the total length of the persons over two meters tall. Furthermore, he increased the number of persons in the composition of the Deisis by adding Archangels, Apostles, Church Fathers and Martyrs. It can be easily understood that an iconostasis with this larger array of angels and saints is only seen in large churches.

http://www.iconsexplained.com/iec/iec_iconostasis.htm

Praise be To The Lord Jesus Christ! He who directs the fold , His sheep, into the pasture of His Kingdom through the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

The Primacy of Alexandria , a Coptic Orthodox Church, is now a Coptic Catholic Orthodox. Part of the Eastern Rite of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

By the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ Lord and Creator of All Things, He makes it known that the faith of the converts can lead His Church. Many of our fellow Filipino priests are serving the Eastern Catholic Rite. The Patriarch of Alexandria: HIS BEATITUDE CARDINAL ANTONIOS NAGUIB

As we speak, brother, naa na poy mga Greek Catholic Churches , naa na pod mga Orthodox Churches na ning merge na pood sa Catholica Ecclesia. Maluuy ang Ginoo, ma reunificate na pood ning duhang Churches.

Quote from: buwadsanga on August 22, 2011, 11:50:38 AM
This is a nice gesture from the two but one church of Jesus Christ where St. Peter was the first leader! Nice! Its almost 1000yrs of division. Hope magka hiusa ug usab ang east and west for the Glory of God...... lets conquer evil....

Hehehe yes  you're right Buwad! There is only One Church of Jesus Christ, and that Church was established by St. Peter the First Pope. And that Church is the One Holy Apostolic Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul II praying in Rizal Park, Manila during his visit on January 11 â€" January 21, 1995




John Paul with Filipino Political Leaders in the Philippines.

Pope John Paul receives the mano po by many Ilonggo leaders



Holy Father holding a baby boy during his visit to Iloilo City, Philippines.

19 Feb 1981, Cebu, Philippines --- Crowds gather in the streets of Cebu, amid very high temperatures, to see Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Philippines. --- Image by © Henri Bureau/CORBIS SYGMA

Pope John Paul II is dear to the hearts of Filipinos, especially Cebuanos, said Msgr. Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer of the Archdiocese of Cebu. “He came here for all of us,” Dakay said in reference to the pope’s visit to Cebu in 1981.

From the Mactan Cebu International Airport, Dakay recounted that the pope proceeded to the Sacred Heart School for Boys along Mango Avenue in Cebu City where he spoke to the local clergy, nuns, religious and seminarians.

Afterwards the pope went to the Archbishop’s Residence where he prayed for sometime before he took lunch. He rested for a while and joined the parade along Jones Avenue, stopping near the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño where the centuries-old image of the Holy Child Jesus is housed. Dakay said the pope was supposed to listen to children who prepared a song for him. However, there were rumors that a “sharp shooter” was going after Pope John Paul II so the parade went on towards the “templete” or the old Lahug Airport.

At 5 p.m., Dakay said the pope led the Mass along with then Cebu Archbishop Julio Cardinal Rosales. The chair where the pope sat during the Eucharistic celebration can be found beside the chapel of St. Joseph at the Archbishop's Residence. Some of the vestments used by the Pope during the Mass is placed at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Museum.

The pope's homily centered on the sanctity of human life, Dakay said. After the Mass, Dakay said the pope went back to the Archbishop's Residence and addressed a huge number of young people. The pope slept in one of the rooms at the Archbishop's Residence before he left for Davao in the morning of Feb. 20, 1981.



http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20110501-333982/Cebu-world-witness-JP-IIs-beatification-today

Luoy pood ang mga tawo nga namatay. May God have mercy on their souls, and may God comfort the afflicted families.

Amen.

Mighty To Save by Laura Story

Wow! This is, truly, a powerful worship song. Praise be to God!

Israel Houghton and New Breed - Mighty To Save ( Reggae Version )

Il Papa, Il Papa!

Pope John Paul visits the Great Wall in Jerusalem and prays before the Holy Place, the original structure and location of God's Temple in Israel.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI heads the Holy Roman Catholic Church , the Oldest Christian Church in all Christendom. And such, His Holiness is the Vicar of Jesus Christ in Earth.

Patriarch Kirill is the Patriarch of the Russian Primacy and functions as a Supreme Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI Greets Patriarch Kirill of The Russian Primacy.

His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All of Russia, celebrating Holy Mass at Christ The Savior Church.

And Jesus answering, said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him.

   -Mark 12:17

And have you not read this scripture, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner: By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.


   -Mark 12:11

Quote from: Lorenzo on August 22, 2011, 08:37:27 AM
Beati misericordes quia ipsi misericordiam consequentur.

  -Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Beati misericordes quia ipsi misericordiam consequentur.

  -Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   -Matthew 5:3

Beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum.

-Matthew 5:3

Cyndi Lauper - Time after Time 1984

Pat Benatar - We Belong

One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right
Hear the children crying (One love)
Hear the children crying (One heart)
Sayin', "Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right."
Sayin', "Let's get together and feel all right."
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One love)
There is one question I'd really love to ask (One heart)
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own?
Believe me

One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning (One love)
So shall it be in the end (One heart)
Alright, "Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right."
"Let's get together and feel all right."
One more thing

Let's get together to fight this Holy Armageddon (One love)
So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One song)
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation

Sayin', "One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right."
I'm pleading to mankind (One love)
Oh, Lord (One heart) Whoa.

"Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right."
Let's get together and feel all right.
(Repeat)

Bob Marley - One Love

Quote from: tohnichi007 on August 19, 2011, 06:20:19 AM
;-) wish wish wish....hehehe

Wish wish upon a star, diay? haha!

Requiem In Pacem, Ma'am...

Interesting.