Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul

Message of His Eminence, Archbishop Nicolae for the Fast of the Holy Apostles

Following the Feast of Pentecost which occurs fifty days after the Resurrection, the Church observes a fast which is longer this year than usual, the Fast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. On the first Sunday of this fast, the Sunday of the Romanian and American Saints, the Holy Gospel reminds us about the calling of the Apostles to their mission: first Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, then James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Each one was called to be a fisher of men. And they immediately left their nets and followed Christ. „And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matthew 4:23).

The Apostles were called by the Lord to proclaim the Gospel and to heal diseases. Christ Himself started the mission, preaching to all that the Kingdom of Heaven had come near, and healing people of their sicknesses. After the Lord’s Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Apostles fulfilled the same mission. In the Book of Acts we find an example of this mission, in the healing of the crippled man by St. Peter at the gate of the Temple: „Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). The healing became an occasion to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

This mission continues to be fulfilled in the Church through Word and Sacrament. In the Church we hear the Word of the Gospel and we receive the Holy Mysteries which bring us healing. Christ works in the Church through the Holy Spirit, calling some to be fishers of men and others to receive the fruits of the proclamation of the Word and the administration of the Holy Mysteries. Only in the Church can we have the blessing of the revelation of God through the Word, a revelation which works righteousness in us. And to the blessing of revelation through the Word we add the ministry of the Sacraments, such as our healing through the Mystery of Holy Anointing, the union of a man and a woman for a Christian life together through the Mystery of Marriage, and our being built into the Body of Christ through the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist.

This fasting period gives us a chance to enter into these realities of the Kingdom of Christ. As we fast, we pray more, and we strive to attain spiritual growth by letting go of earthly things for awhile. When we fast, hunger and thirst take on a spiritual aspect, and we understand the Savior’s words: „Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes out of the mouth of God”. When we fast, our body becomes transparent for the work of the Holy Spirit. The evidence is found in the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned by St. Paul the Apostle: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23).

My challenge during this Apostles’ Fast is that we strive to attain the fruits of the Spirit. God will add His grace to our efforts, and thus we will become co-laborers in our own sanctification.

† NICOLAE

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More on Liturgical Language

One thing I forgot to mention in my other entry on this topic was history. One of the reasons that the church of the east spread the way it did was that it did not force the faithful to learn a new language. At that point in history, the church of Rome functioned in Latin everywhere in the world but the Church of Byzantium used the vernacular. When Cyril & Methodius came to Kiev they did not force the people there to learn Greek. No, they learned the language of the people and in fact wrote it down for the first time.

So now fast forward to the new world. The Orthodox Church arrives and first is strictly an immigrant church so they stayed with the language of the faithful, Russian, Greek, Romanian, Arabic etc. But now, some two hundred years hence, and we still look upon ourselves as an immigrant church. If we want to remain that way fine keep praying in Greek, Russian, etc. However if we want to mainstream, and not loose the next generation, then a change must be made. I am not saying to throw out all of the language and switch directly to English, but there needs to be a balance between English and whatever other language you wish to use. I said it before language is culture and we need to hold on to that.

My family came to Nova Scotia from Scotland many years ago. They settled in Cape Breton and began their lives. After a fashion my grandfather came to America to find work. He spoke English. Rumor has it his mother spoke Scots Gaelic. No one in my family speaks Scots Gaelic anymore. In fact Gaelic is in decline in the world and is in danger of being lost forever. More than that, the area in Scotland where my family comes from they speak what is called Scots. But you would be hard pressed to find anyone who still speaks that language. So we need to hold on to language, and we Americans needs to learn more than just the bad English we speak now. But there needs to be a balance.

So there you have it another rant on Language. Maybe it's the heat!

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Reality TV

I guess you could say I am a TV junky. Sometimes the box is on and I am not even watching it and other times I do watch. There are many good programs on TV as well as trash so we have to pick and choose. There are some shows that I watch, like Law & Order (Only the original) Jericho, Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch, etc. However I am a fan of reality TV. It all started years a go with Survivor and has blossomed into many, many other shows. One of my favorites, other than Survivor is the Amazing Race. What a great program and you get to see the world.

However, some of my real favorites are the reality shows that have to do with food. For the past few seasons I have been watching The Next Food Network Star, Hell's Kitchen, and Top Chef. I love to cook and love to watch cooking shows so why not combine them into a great night of TV. As one can imagine from the name, the Next Food Network Star is just that. If you win you get a show on the Food Network. By the way who ever had the idea for a 24/7 TV channel about food was a genius. Hell's Kitchen features Gordon Ramsay and his ability to get you to do just about anything by screaming at you. If you win his show you get a restaurant in Vegas. Just like that. You survive his yelling and you get your own joint! Kinda cool I think. Sort of like Survivor with out the sand. Top Chef is a show on Bravo and it is just that. It is Tops in everything from the food they use to the quality of the competitions. If you win you get $100,000.00 and a feature in Food and Wine Magazine.

So tune in if you have a chance. Not much on during the summer anyway.

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Liturgical Language

I believe I have spoken of this before on this blog but maybe not. There is a very heated discussion going on on the Catholic Blogs about the possible use of the Tridentine Mass for the Catholic Church. Most of us might know this as the "old mass" or the "pre-Vatican II Mass" either way some people would like this restored and it seems the Pope is one of those people. So this has given me cause to think about liturgy and language.

The Orthodox Liturgy has not changed much in the last thousand years or so. Yes some of us priests like to cut parts out to shorten the liturgy so our parishioners don't complain. When I arrived here in the village almost three years ago, that does not seem possible and I will blog on that another time, the liturgy was short and sweet. As the new guy on the block with new vestments and a newly printed degree from seminary I was going to serve the Liturgy cover to cover. So I did. Boy did I hear about it. But now three years hence Liturgy runs about and hour and fifteen minutes to and hour and half depending on how much I have to say.

Here in the village we use English as the liturgical language. That switch was made years before I arrived. You see you are in the third generation, and the fourth generation is about to graduate from high school. The sad part is that most of the people only have a passing knowledge of the language of their ancestors. For me language is culture, and although we are in America we should be proud of where we have all come from and language is part of that. So we use English with a smattering of Romanian and this seems to work.

There is the argument that if the language is not English then converts wont come to the church. So I have been here almost three years, and the language has been English, and I have not seen any converts that were not already here. But the argument still goes on. I guess people could argue that the younger generation does not speak their native language so they feel left out. That could be, but Fr. Greg at St. Spyridon's in Worcester will tell you about the full church on Sunday and the language goes back and forth between Greek and English. While here I average 35 out of 75 members on Sunday and the language is English!

So will the Latin Mass bring more Catholics back to the fold? If I was to switch to Romanian in the Liturgy would people stop coming? Not sure. However, we do live in an English Language society and we need to get our people to speak the language of the people around them. No this applies to us Orthodox as we still have immigrants coming from some other place. Not many Latin immigrants coming to America, unless the Roman Legions are re-forming somewhere. So Latin for the Catholics is like Church Slavonic for the Russians. It is a liturgical language used in Church.

I think we have lost some of the mystery of liturgy. Liturgy is not entertainment it is worship. We as priests need to set an atmosphere of worship and prayer not a concert where people hold up lighters at the end. Although now I understand concert goers hold up their cell phones and not lighters.

This draws the point to preaching. I have written about this before and received lots of responses both here and in the email. Preaching is not about being PC or saying what people want to hear. As a Priest my job is to teach and correct. We are called father, and that is the roll of the father in a family to teach and correct his children. Sometimes the topic is uncomfortable but we need to discuss it none the less. Christianity is not a habit it is a life style. Not a piece of clothing we put on on Sunday and then take off on Monday. It is something we wear all the time.

So what are the thoughts on Liturgical Language? Let us try and stay away from name calling and such other things let us just have a discussion. I reserve the right to remove comments I find distasteful. If you want to write those comments get your own blog its free and easy. Also no anonymous comments. Put your name on them and take a stand.

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23 June ~ St. Mochaoi

Born in Ireland; died c. 493. Saint Moeliai was baptized by SaintPatrick, who appointed him abbot over Nendrum, where he had SaintsFinian and Colman among his disciples (Benedictines).________St Mochaoi has been anglicised as St Mahee pronounced Mah hee with thestress on the ee.

His monastic site is at Nendrum on Mahee Island. Mahee island is nowlinked to another island and to the mainland bycauseways that can take a single car. It is a lovely drive there, thehedgerows are in bloom with wild flowers and fuscias and the clear waterof Strangford lough was smooth and windless.The Nendrum monastic site has a small carpark for about 8 cars. Thefirst thing you realise is how high it is up the island which is itselfa submerged drumlin - the advancing iceflows rounded the landscape tomake this part of Ireland look like a basket of eggs - and this eggalong with others got flooded.The monastery is on the highest peak and is surrounded by an outer wallor cashel and an inner cashel. There is a causeway bridge up to thefirst level between the two cashels and it is believed that this wouldhave been a hive of activity. Although the monastery is quiet today, inthe 5th century the waterways of Ireland were the main roads so themonastery was likely tohave been a thriving community.To enter the inner cashel one has to walk in single file through a smallpassageway, probably this was some form of defence as was the roundtower of which only the stump remains. The remains of the church areclearly seen and face due east. At the South west corner the old sundialhas been reconstructed. There is a graveyard just beyond the west doorand if you go beyond the inner cashel wall again on the west side thereare the foundations of many round monastic cells.

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22 June ~ Fillan of Loch Earn

Fillan, son of Feriach and St. Kentigerna, was also known as Foelan. He became a monk in his youth and accompanied his mother from Ireland to Scotland where he lived as a hermit near St. Andrew's monastery for many years, and then was elected abbot. He later resigned and resumed his eremitical life at Glendochart, Pertchire, where he built a church and was reknowned for his miracles. Various legends attribute the most extravagant miracles to him, such as the one in which his prayers caused a wolf that had killed the ox he was using to drag materials to the church he was building, to take the ox's place. Fillan died on January 19.

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Back Home Safe

Well the trip home was uneventful thanks be to God. So now it is back to the regular schedule. Today I am off to the Western Massachusetts Highland Games in Greenfield, Massachusetts. If you are in that area stop on by. I will be at the St. Andrew's Society of Massachusetts tent.

Tomorrow is the annual picnic at St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church here in town so we are all going there for Liturgy. So I guess my vacation continues another day. It is nice to be able to participate in a liturgy and not worry about anything just pray.

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Severe Weather

Right now, in camping land, we are having quite the thunder storm. It comes and it goes, the wind is howling and pounding my poor little pop up trailer. This is the third thunder storm we have gone through since we have been here. With nothing else to do I thought I would blog. Thank goodness the wireless is still up so I can watch the weather report.

More on yesterdays trip letter on today or maybe tomorrow when I get back home. Vacation ends tomorrow and back home to the village. Six hour drive so pray for us as we head back home.

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Vacation Cont.

I like this camping with Internet, cable tv, and other sorts of things not like tent camping for sure. Right now we are in the midst of a thunder storm and it is raining. So far the old pop up is doing just fine. I also traded her in on a new one this week, but tried and true is the way to go. Off on a boat trip tomorrow and maybe more pictures.

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Firefighters Death

We were reminded again today just how dangerous the job of a firefighter is. Nine brave souls were lost this morning in Charleston, South Carolina. Let us remember them and their families in our prayers this evening.

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Sunset on Lake Ontario

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16 June ~ St. Cyrus

Celebrated martyrs of the Coptic Church, surnamed thaumatourgoi anargyroi because they healed the sick gratis (Nilles, Kallendarium utriusque Ecclesiæ, Innsbruck, 1896, I, 89). Their feast day is celebrated by the Copts on the sixth day of Emsir, corresponding to 31 January, the day also observed by the Greeks; on the same day they are commemorated in the Roman Martyrology, regarding which see the observation of Cardinal Baronio (Martyrologium Romanum, Venice, 1586). The Greeks celebrate also the finding and translation of the relics on 28 June (see "Menologium Basil." and "Menaia"). The principal source of information regarding the life, passion and miracles of Sts. John and Cyrus is the encomium written by Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 638). Of the birth, parents, and first years of the saints we know nothing. According to the Arabic "Synaxarium" (Forget, Synax. Alexandrinum, Beirut, 1906, II, 252), compiled by Michael, Bishop of Athrib and Malig, Cyrus and John were both Alexandrians; this, however, is contradicted by other documents in which it is said that Cyrus was a native of Alexandria and John of Edessa. Cyrus practised the art of medicine, and had a work-shop (ergasterium) which was afterwards transformed into a temple dedicated to the three boy-saints, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias. He ministered to the sick gratis and at the same time laboured with all the ardour of an apostle of the Faith, and won many from pagan superstition. This took place under the Emperor Diocletian. Denounced to the prefect of the city he fled to Arabia of Egypt where he took refuge in a town near the sea called Tzoten. There, having shaved his head and assumed the monastic habit, he abandoned medicine and began a life of asceticism.
John belonged to the army, in which he held a high rank; the "Synaxarium" cited above adds that he was one of the familiars of the emperor. Hearing of the virtues and wonders of Cyrus, he betook himself to Jerusalem in fulfillment of a vow, and thence passed into Egypt where he became the companion of St. Cyrus in the ascetic life. During the persecution of Diocletian three holy virgins, Theoctista (Theopista), fifteen years old, Theodota (Theodora), thirteen years old, and Theodossia (Theodoxia), eleven years old, together with their mother Athanasia, were arrested at Canopus and brought to Alexandria. Cyrus and John, fearing lest these girls, on account of their tender age, might, in the midst of torments, deny the Faith, resolved to go into the city to comfort them and encourage them in undergoing martyrdom. This fact becoming known they also were arrested and after dire torments they were all beheaded on the 31st of January. The bodies of the two martyrs were placed in the church of St. Mark the Evangelist where they remained up to the time of St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (412-444). At Menuthis (Menouthes or Menouthis) near Canopus there existed at that time a pagan temple reputed for its oracles and cures which attracted even some simple Christians of the vicinity. St. Cyril thought to extirpate this idolatrous cult by establishing in that town the cultus of Sts. Cyrus and John. For this purpose he transferred thither their relics (28 June, 414) and placed them in the church built by his predecessor, Theophilus, in honour of the Evangelists. Before the finding and transfer of the relics by St. Cyril it seems that the names of the two saints were unknown; certain it is that no written records of them existed (Migne, P.G., LXXXVII, 3508 sq.). In the fifth century, during the pontificate of Innocent I, their relics were brought to Rome by two monks, Grimaldus and Arnulfus—this according to a manuscript in the archives of the deaconry of Santa Maria in the Via Lata, cited by Antonio Bosio (Roma Sotterranea, Rome, 1634, p. 123). Mai, however, for historical reasons, justly assigns a later date, namely 634, under Pope Honorius and the Emperor Heraclius (Spicilegium Rom., III, V). The relics were placed in the suburban church of St. Passera (Abbas Cyrus) on the Via Portuense. In the time of Bosio the pictures of the two saints were still visible in this church (Bosio, op. cit., ib.) Upon the door of the hypogeum, which still remains, is the following inscription in marble:--
Corpora sancta Cyri renitent hic atque JoannisQuæ quondam Romæ dedit Alexandria magna
(Bosio, ib.; Mai, Spic. Rom., loc. cit.). At Rome three churches were dedicated to these martyrs, Abbas Cyrus de Militiis, Abbas Cyrus de Valeriis, and Abbas Cyrus ad Elephantum—all of which were transformed afterwards by the vulgar pronunciation into S. Passera, a corruption of Abbas Cyrus; in the Coptic Difnar, Apakiri, Apakyri, Apakyr; in Arabic, 'Abaqir, 'Abuqir (see Armellini, Le Chiese di Roma, Rome, 1891, 179 sq., 563 sq., 681, 945 sq.).

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Vacation Part II

Well we made it. The trailer I was following had a flat about 2 miles from the exit we were taking but other than that no problems at all. Took us about 5 hours and the place is unbelievable. Right out the front window I can see Lake Ontario what a wonderful thing to see I cannot wait until the sun sets they are supposed to be great. More tomorrow I am bushed and need a nap.

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Vacation

I am off in the morning on a little vacation. I am going camping near lake Ontario in New York. I have been planning this since January and the time is here. Please pray for me, and the other people going, that we get there okay. We have about a six hour drive and this is the first time I will be pulling the trailer.

I am bringing my webcam so maybe I can get it working and let you check out the place should be nice. We are supposed to have Internet access so I should be able to keep blogging and I hope to get a podcast up as well but if not that will explain the silence.

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Rudy and the Lightning

I find this very funny. At the last debate Rudy Giuliani was commenting on a letter that Bishop Tobin from Providence wrote about his stand, or lack there of, on abortion. Listen for the cracking in the background and then CNN's Wolfe Blitzer tells Rudy what it is.

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Controversy

So it would seem that my recent posts have caused a stirring in the masses. I think that discussion is good and can bear fruit and we can learn from each other. Questions of faith are not easy to answer, and it would be easy for me to just say that's what the church teaches and you should believe it or get out, but as a priest I cannot just say that. Priests are called to be teachers of the faith. I believe that what our people need is basic training in the faith and not some flowery Scripture exegesis on the Sunday passages. We are supposed to bring Scripture alive, but if we do not have a clear sense of what we believe and why we believe it then it will not make any sense. Sort of like this blog post right now.
I feel I must preach the truth! Not just my version of the truth but the truth of God's Church. I have begun to read the Psalms again and meditate on them as I used to do. Psalm 1 has stuck in my craw since Monday and I cannot seem to shake it.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But he delights in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

We need to know and understand what the Church believes and teaches on the issues. We need to be informed about what is going on in the world and how we Christians can influence what is going on. We need to step out in faith and tell society that sometimes they are wrong. We preachers need to start to talk about SIN again and stop trying to be PC about topics. We are called to live the Christian life and not be wishy washy.
Our positions are not always the popular ones, but they are the positions of Christ's Church. I believe that Christ calls us to a radical way of life and not one in which we just go along with whatever wave society happens to be riding. Perhaps I am wrong and am I popular, not always, but that is not why we are here. If we hold fast to our faith then all will be well, will it be easy, no!
I also feel that sometimes I can get a little snippy. However, good Christian discussion should not degrade into name calling. If we are to have a discussion we need to be able to respect the positions of others. However, if it does not agree with that of Christ's Church then I will respectfully disagree with you. You are entitled to your opinion but just know that, hopefully, with love I will try and correct you. I have gone on long enough. I welcome your thoughts and opinions even if they differ from mine. Let's have a thoughtful and prayerful discussion.

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Facing East Podcast

Episode #3 of the Podcast is now online. In this episode, Fr. Greg and I discuss the Unification of ROCOR and the Church of Russia and the affects on the Church in the United States.

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June 9th ~ St. Baithene

An Irish monk, specially selected by St. Columba as one of the band of missionaries who set sail for Britain in 563. Born in 536, the son of Brenaron, he was an ardent disciple of St. Columba, and was appointed Abbot of Tiree Island, a monastery founded by St. Comgall of Bangor. St. Adamnan, in recording the death of St. Columba, tells us that the dying words of the Apostle of Iona, as he was transcribing the fifty-third Psalm, were: "I must stop here, let Baithen write what follows". Baithen had been looked on as the most likely successor of St. Columba, and so it happened that on the death of that great apostle, in 596, the monks unanimously confirmed the choice of their founder. St. Baithen was in high esteem as a wise counsellor, and his advice was sought by many Irish saints, including St. Fintan Munnu of Taghmon.

St. Adamnan (Eunan), the biographer of St. Columba, tells many interesting incidents in the life of St. Baithen, but the mere fact of being the immediate successor of St. Columba, by the express wish of that apostle, is almost sufficient to attest his worth. The "Martyrology of Donegal" records the two following anecdotes. When St. Baithen partook of food, before each morsel in invariably recited "Deus in adjutorium meum intende". Also, "when he worked in the fields, gathering in the corn along with the monks, he used to hold up one hand towards Heaven, beseeching God, while with the other hand he gathered the corn". St. Baithen of Iona is generally known as Baithen Mor, to distinguish him from eight other saints of the same name -- the affix mor meaning "the Great". He wrote a life of his master, and some Irish poems, which are now lost, but which were seen by St. Adamnan. He only ruled Iona three years, as his death took place in the year 600, though the "Annals of Ulster" give the date as 598. Perhaps the true year may be 599. His feast is celebrated on October 6th. Some writers assert that St. Baithen of Iona is the patron of Ennisboyne, County Wicklow, but this is owing to a confusion with St. Baoithin, or Baithin mac Findech, whose feast is commemorated on 22 May. Another St. Baoithin, son of Cuana, whose feast is on 19 February, is patron of Tibohin, in Elphin.

From Catholic Encyclopedia

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Christian Persecution Follow-Up

As you can see from the comments this has sparked some debate. I mentioned same sex marriage but I have to say that was one example I used and it seems to have got some people mad. The Church teaches that sex outside of marriage, homosexual or heterosexual is a sin. The Church does not recognize same sex marriage ergo sin has taken place. As a priest it is my job to shine the light on sin. But that is not the point of this post. Do I think that same sex marriage is harmful to the institution of marriage no, because I do not recognize it as marriage because the church does not, what I think is harmful to the institution of marriage and families in general is Divorce. Now anonymous be for you get on your high horse and start calling me names again let me say that I do believe that divorce should be allowed, but it should be very rare. If we priests are doing our job and counseling people before marriage then maybe we could avoid this. As fallen people we make mistakes and we sin and we need to make allowance for that but it should be rare and used with great caution.

So I leave you with this thought.

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Comments

My post on Christian Persecution has stirred up some comments and I think that is good. However I reserve the right to delete any comment that I find insulting to me or others. If you don't like that then do not read my blog. Also, although anonymous comments are allowed on this blog, if you leave a comment please leave a name. If you have a point to make, make it and be proud to make it. I stand by everything I say, and my name is on the blog. Have the courage of your convictions and sign your name.

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Christian Persecution

I have been silent on this issue this past week but if you have been following the news, not the mainstream news mind you, you would have read about the priest and three deacons killed last Sunday in Iraq. They had just finished the Liturgy and all four were dragged out of their car and killed and then left on the street. We should be outraged by this! Gerald Augustinius over at the Cafeteria is Closed bog has a post about this issue today. He makes the point that when there was an accusation of guards at the jail in Cuba flushing pages of the Koran down the toilet it made the front page, but not this issue. No we cannot speak of Christianity on the news unless it is some scandal.

When will all this end? There was another story on the blogs today (forgive me I can not find it now) about a bishop in Australia who made the statement that if the Catholic legislatures voted for an abortion bill they should not receive communion. Now they are investigating him for making threats to elected officials! When will this end!

When will Christians rise up and say enough is enough? We get laughed at in the mainstream media when we hold to our beliefs. Bishop are told to shut up by priests and lay people when they try and teach what the church believes. What are we to do?

UPDATE: Here is a link to the story.

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New Podcast

Episode #3 of the Shepherd of Souls Podcast is now up. You can get informaiton at the Blog Site of the show.

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Blogging Light

Blogging will be light for a few days. I am in a seminar on Pastoral Crisis Intervention. A continuation of the Critical Incident Stress Management training. Today is the last day. Good class.

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June 1st ~ St. Ronan

There are twelve Irish saints bearing the name of Ronan commemorated in the "Martyrology of Donegal"; of these the most celebrated are: St. Ronan of Ulster, brother of St. Carnech, and grandson of Loarn, d. 11 January, 535; St. Ronan, son of Berach, a disciple of the great St. Fechin of Fore. He became first Abbot of Drumshallon, and d. 18 November, 665. St. Ronan Fionn is honoured as patron of Lan Ronan (Kelminiog) in Iveagh. His feast is celebrated on 22 May, both in Ireland and Scotland. St. Ronan of Iona is explicitly referred to by St. Bede as one of the protagonists of the Roman custom of celebrating Easter as against the Irish tradition, and he had a warm controversy on the subject with his countryman St. Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 660. This controversy was ended at the Synod of Whitby, in 664, when St. Ronan's views were upheld. St. Ronan of Lismore was a distinguished successor of St. Carthage, and several Munster churches were built in his honour. His feast is celebrated on 9 February 763. Another saint of this name is best known by the ruined church of Kilronan, Co. Roscommon, where Turlogh O'Carolan and Bishop O'Rourke are buried.

From The Catholic Encyclopedia

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Illegal immigrant invokes church sanctuary

Every church in America should be doing this!

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