Did you know?

[Stella]

There used to be 8 deadly sins previously noted as 'evil thoughts'. First composed in the 4th century by a monk for the benefit of other monks, tinkered with and eventually defined as the 7 deadly sins by Thomas Aquinas. He eliminated the eighth sin "sadness".

https://www.history.com/news/seven-deadly-sins-origins

[Stella]

Did you know that Saint Denis preached an entire sermon after having his head chopped off !!!

Saint Denis was a bishop in 3rd century Paris, and along with two helpers he actively converted pagans to Christianity. Pagan leaders were not happy that the number of pagan followers was dropping, and alerted the Roman authorities. Denis and his fellow missionaries were imprisoned for a long period of time, before being beheaded on the hill that is now known as Montmartre.

After he was beheaded with a sword, it is said that his body picked up his head and walked for a few miles. While walking, the head preached a sermon the entire way before dropping dead at the site that developed into the present-day Basilica of Saint-Denis. His walk after death made him the most famous cephalophore in Christian legend and he became known as the patron saint of — you guessed it — headaches.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

There used to be 8 deadly sins previously noted as 'evil thoughts'. First composed in the 4th century by a monk for the benefit of other monks, tinkered with and eventually defined as the 7 deadly sins by Thomas Aquinas. He eliminated the eighth sin "sadness".

https://www.history.com/news/seven-deadly-sins-origins

Did you know that you should not believe anything on history.com, especially when it pertains to religion?

"The number seven, however, had been given by St. Gregory the Great (Lib. mor. in Job. XXXI, xvii), and it was retained by the foremost theologians of the Middle Ages."

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm

[Stella]

There used to be 8 deadly sins previously noted as 'evil thoughts'. First composed in the 4th century by a monk for the benefit of other monks, tinkered with and eventually defined as the 7 deadly sins by Thomas Aquinas. He eliminated the eighth sin "sadness".

https://www.history.com/news/seven-deadly-sins-origins

Did you know that you should not believe anything on history.com, especially when it pertains to religion?

"The number seven, however, had been given by St. Gregory the Great (Lib. mor. in Job. XXXI, xvii), and it was retained by the foremost theologians of the Middle Ages."

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm

Yes it's true that St Gregory 1 did call them seven but as in the seven sins of Pride. Pride not being included as part of the following seven. Aquinas tinkered with that list establishing what we consider the seven today. From THE BOOKS OF THE MORALS OF ST. GREGORY THE POPE, VOLUME III - THE SIXTH PART. BOOK XXXI.

http://www.lectionarycentral.com/gregor ... ook31.html

87. For the tempting vices, which fight against us in invisible contest in behalf of the pride which reigns over them, some of them go first, like captains, others follow, after the manner of an army. For all faults do not occupy the heart with equal access. But while the greater and the few surprise a neglected mind, the smaller and the numberless pour themselves upon it in a whole body. For when pride, the queen of sins, has fully possessed a conquered heart, she surrenders it immediately to seven principal sins, as if to some of her generals, to lay it waste. And an army in truth follows these generals, because, doubtless, there spring up from them importunate hosts of sins. Which we set forth the better, if we specially bring forward in enumeration, as we are able, the leaders themselves and their army. For pride is the root of all evil, of which it is said, as Scripture bears witness; Pride is the beginning of all sin. [Ecclus. 10, 1] But seven principal vices, as its first progeny, spring doubtless from this poisonous root, namely, vain glory, envy, anger, melancholy, avarice, gluttony, lust. For, because He grieved that we were held captive by these seven sins of pride, therefore our Redeemer came to the spiritual battle of our liberation, full of the spirit of sevenfold grace.

[gherkin]

I answer that, As stated above (A2,5, ad 1) pride may be considered in two ways; first in itself, as being a special sin; secondly, as having a general influence towards all sins. Now the capital vices are said to be certain special sins from which many kinds of sin arise. Wherefore some, considering pride in the light of a special sin, numbered it together with the other capital vices. But Gregory, taking into consideration its general influence towards all vices, as explained above (Article 2, Objection 3), did not place it among the capital vices, but held it to be the "queen and mother of all the vices." Hence he says (Moral. xxxi, 45): "Pride, the queen of vices, when it has vanquished and captured the heart, forthwith delivers it into the hands of its lieutenants the seven principal vices, that they may despoil it and produce vices of all kinds."

St. Thomas's own list of the 7 deadly sins is the same as St. Gregory's (or maybe differs btw 'melancholy' and sloth, though I'm not sure of how St. Gregory cashed out melancholy), and includes vainglory, not pride.
https://www.newadvent.org/summa/2084.htm#article4
https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3132.htm

[Stella]

I'm curious about how melancholy/sadness made the list at all. Perhaps it meant something different in the 4th century than today.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

If it's the same as "sloth" (note that I am not assuming that gherkin is right), then it would mean culpable failure to find joy in spiritual things. I think.

[Stella]

If it's the same as "sloth" (note that I am not assuming that gherkin is right), then it would mean culpable failure to find joy in spiritual things. I think.

Yes possibly like a 'mindset' that today in the absence of belief would be addressed by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

[Stella]

Did you know that St Philip Neri was a bit of a clown?

St. Philip Neri, an Italian priest from the 16th century, is commonly known as the “patron saint of joy,” and the “humorous saint.” He wasn’t exactly a comedian, but he did enjoy poking fun at himself, using humor to maintain his humility.

For example, according to author Shaun McAfee, “Neri was known to show up to important events with half his beard shaved, give incorrect walking directions to his disciples, read a book of jokes … When he did each of these things he caused a mix of emotions in others, but it always ended up producing the same end state: increased humility, and increased patience.”

Additionally, he needed light-hearted jokes to keep his mind focused on celebrating Mass. Mary O’Regan relates, “in order to concentrate before offering Mass, St. Philip would need to hear jokes or read humorous anecdotes which distracted him just a little from total absorption in the glory of God, so that he was able to concentrate on the task at hand, which was to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” In this case humor grounded him, bringing him back to earth so that his mystical union didn’t prevent him from fulfilling his duties.

Another story from EpicPew explains, “Once, when a scholarly Bishop who was used to the stoic seriousness of his office attended Philip’s mass, [t]o lighten the ambiance, Philip committed every possible error in pronunciation during that homily. The crowd wasn’t sure if they should laugh or remain silent. Philip himself likely laughed for days after the Mass, but maintained his mispronouncing character throughout the entire sermon.”

These humorous antics were done to remind himself of his own imperfections. St. Philip wasn’t trying to be disrespectful or uncharitable, but to keep his prideful nature in check.

St. Philip Neri also hung a sign on his door that said, “The House of Christian Mirth.” In all things Neri maintained a light-hearted view of the world, using humor to keep him from being too prideful or vain.

In a certain way, his life can be best summarized by an oft-cited quote of his, “A heart filled with joy is more easily made perfect than one that is sad.” This proved true in the life of St. Philip Neri and was also a reason why many were attracted to him. Others saw the joy he had and wanted to know the source of that joy.

https://aleteia.org/2018/05/26/why-st-p ... ous-saint/

[Stella]

Did you know that Pope Leo XIII is the first Pope to have his voiced recorded? It was 1903 when he was 93 years old and was singing Ave Maria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Pv-UuGUDM

[BobCatholic]

I'm curious about how melancholy/sadness made the list at all. Perhaps it meant something different in the 4th century than today.

If that's true, I'm doomed. I have a melancholy side (and a silly side)

[Kage_ar]

I'm curious about how melancholy/sadness made the list at all. Perhaps it meant something different in the 4th century than today.

If that's true, I'm doomed. I have a melancholy side (and a silly side)

I have the body of a melon and the face of a collie.

[Stella]

Did you know that in a modern literal translation Simon Peter bar Jonah would be 'the Rock' Johnson?

[Stella]

Did you know that the oldest loose parchment kept in the Vatican's legendary “Secret Archives” dates from 809 CE and is a receipt for a donation to a Church in Venice.

Founded in 1612 with documents dating back to the 8th century, the Secret Archives have always been the object of fascination. Napoleon absconded with the entire collection back to Paris after he conquered Rome, but it was returned after his defeat. In 1881, the first Catholic scholars were granted access to the reading room, and restrictions have been eased further over the last 10 years. Still, the interview process remains more stringent than the Vatican Library, because you have to specifically request documents—a difficult prospect, since only a fraction of the holdings have been catalogued, requiring constant guesswork, and no browsing is allowed.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2011/1 ... hives.html

[Stella]

Anyone else with an interesting 'did you know', please add them.

This is the oldest known Christmas carol “Jesus Refulsit Omnium” ("Jesus, Light of all Nations"). "The hymn was composed in Latin by St. Hilary of Poitiers sometime in the fourth century. It is believed that he may have created the song after the first recorded Christmas celebration took place in 336 AD."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMcOZuZmhJA

[Stella]

Pope St John Paul II referred to the day he canonised St Faustina, as "the best day of my life"... so deeply committed was he to getting the full awareness of Gods Divine Mercy out into the world after such a long effort of getting the Church to approve the dictations. The Apostolates challenge for todays Christians is that His Mercy is infinite, incomprehensible and unfathomable.

https://catholicnews.ie/canonisation-of ... -iis-life/

[Stella]

Pope St John Paul II began the tradition of raising a Christmas tree in St Peters Square in 1982, as he missed the traditions of his Polish culture.

[Stella]

The origin of "Silent Night".

On Dec. 23, 1818, Father Joseph Mohr, assistant pastor of Saint Nicholas Catholic Church in Oberndorf, Austria, watched a group of actors perform a Christmas play.

The play was supposed to take place at the church, but was moved to someone’s home because the church organ wasn’t working.

After the play, Father Mohr walked home contemplating the biblical account of the story of Jesus’ birth. He took an alternative route this time, coming upon a hilltop overlooking his village covered in snow.

The peaceful view of the village reminded him of a poem he wrote two years prior about baby Jesus. Legend says this inspired him to put his poem to music, thinking it might make a good song for his congregation on Christmas Eve.

He then went to his parish’s organist, Franz Xaver Gruber. Since the organ did not work, the poem had to be composed for guitar. Gruber came up with a melody within a few hours, and they sang it for the very first time on Dec. 24, 1818, at Saint Nicholas Catholic Church.

After fixing the organ a few weeks later, Karl Mauracher, a well-known organ builder, asked Gruber to test it. He played Silent Night, and Mauracher loved it so much that he brought it back to his village of Kapfing.

As a result, the Rainers and the Strassers, who were well-known family singers at the time, heard the song and also loved it. They added it to their Christmas performances, which spread it throughout Europe.

In 1834, the Strasser Sisters performed the song before King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He then asked his cathedral choir to play it every year on Christmas Eve.

The Rainer Singers brought the song to the United States twenty years later, singing it in German at the Alexander Hamilton Monument in New York City.

The song then spread throughout the world and is one of the most beloved Christmas carols in history.

https://www.churchpop.com/how-a-faulty- ... -all-time/

[BobCatholic]

Did you know that in a modern literal translation Simon Peter bar Jonah would be 'the Rock' Johnson?

Peter. The Rock that Rocks because the Rock Rocked his world.

[Stella]

The Catholic Church has an official position on Jesus' blood type. It is AB negative. The rarest blood type. Read about the science here...

https://sacredwindows.com/the-science-b ... lood-type/