A blessed Pentecost to each and all!

PENTECOST in 2-minutes!

http://blip.tv/file/get/Captainbri-pentecost2minswm533.m4v

Happy Birthday to us all!

Who is the most incredible Christian ever?

 St. Francis of Assisi, the patron of ecology, the saint after whom Pope Francis has taken his name, captures the spirit of many Catholics because church history regards him as the pre-eminent figure passionate about imitating Christ's life.

Known also as a patron saint of Italy, the founder of the Franciscan order of the Friars Minor, an admirer of nature and a servant to poor and destitute...

Who doesn't know Francis of Assisi, who abandoned everything from wealth and prestige and who became poor himself...

St Francis of Assisi continues to inspire... to touch and bless lives...

St Francis of Assisi, pray for us and the entire created universe!

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/05/17/who-is-most-incredible-christian-ever/

Pope Francis Launches MISSIO as Church Goes Mobile

... and, the world we live in is becoming smaller as we welcome the 'good news' of the MISSIO app which signals a keen recognition by the Church of the changing ways that people, including the faithful, consume news and information.

Pope Francis Launches MISSIO as Church Goes Mobile

Sto. Niño de Cebu

Eucharistic celebrations, street-dancing festivals, colorful parades, fluvial processions, and other festive commemorative rites will be held in many parts of the country in celebration of the Feast of the Sto. Niño, traditionally observed every third Sunday of January, the month of the Holy Child.

Cebuanos will again witness the Sinulog Mardi Gras, a festival of all festivals that celebrates the Feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu, which usually kicks off with the fluvial procession and streets dancing passing through the major streets of the city.

The fluvial procession features a galleon that carries the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu in Mandaue City to the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in Cebu City via the Mactan Channel.

For the Cebuanos, the Christmas season is over until the Feast of the Santo Niño. Other festivities in honor of the Holy Child include Kalibo, Aklan’s “Ati-Atihan” Festival; “Romblon’s, “Biniray” Festival; Cagayan de Oro City’s, “Pachada Senor;” Butuan City’s, “Kahimunan” Festival; Antique’s “Binirayan” and “Handugan” Festivals; Iloilo City’s, “Dinagyang” Festival; and Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur’s, “Zambulawan” Festival.

The Catholic Church sets the Holy Child as “an example of humility and as a celebration of the Incarnation of Christ.” The Holy See has approved special liturgical texts for the Feast of the Child Jesus.

The image of the Holy Child was brought to the country by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan on April 14, 1521, as a gift to Queen Juana of Cebu who was reportedly moved to tears after she saw the 15-inch tall wooden statue of the Sto. Niño. She allowed herself to be baptized as a Christian, along with her husband Rajah Humabon and more than 800 natives.

After Magellan was killed by Lapu-Lapu in the Battle of Mactan, not much was heard about the image, except that the Cebuanos worshipped the Santo Niño as a rain god.

Forty years later, in 1565, when Spanish “conquistador” (conqueror) Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Cebu, a Spanish soldier, Juan Camus, found the image inside the house of a native. His house was razed by fire that miraculously spared the holy image. Legazpi named Cebu as the City of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

The image now known as Sto. Niño de Cebu is considered the oldest Christian relic in the country. It is enshrined and venerated at the oldest church in the country, the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño in Cebu City.