INSTRUCTION ON THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
From Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays, and Festivals throughout the Ecclesiastical Year 36th edition, 1880

Quote:EXPLANATION. St. Paul in this epistle proves to the Galatians who were misled by false doctrines, and adhered too much to the Jewish Law, that they could be saved only through a lively faith in Christ, enriched by good works. Therefore he says that the great promises, made by God to Abraham, referred to Christ, through whom all nations of the earth, who would believe in Him, would be blessed and saved. (Gen. xii. 3., and xxii. 18.) The law, indeed, does not annul these promises, since it rather leads to their attainment, yet it must be placed after them because of their advantages, nay even cease to exist, because the promises are now fulfilled, Christ, the promised Messiah, has really appeared and liberated man, who could not be freed from their sins by the Jewish law. O, let us be grateful for this promise, yet more, however, for the Incarnation of Christ, whereby this promise has been fulfilled.

ASPIRATION. O God, who didst send the Promised One, and with Him hast given us all, grant that we, through a lively faith in Him, may become heirs of heaven.

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

Quote:Jane Frances Frémiot de Chantal was born at Dijon in Burgundy, of noble parents, and from her childhood gave clear signs of her future great sanctity. It was said that when only five years of age, she put to silence a Calvinist nobleman by substantial arguments, far beyond her age, and when he offered her a little present she immediately threw it into the fire, saying: “This is how heretics will burn in hell, because they do not believe Christ when he speaks.” When she lost her mother, she put herself under the care of the Virgin Mother of God, and dismissed a maid servant who was enticing her to love of the world. There was nothing childish in her manners; she shrank from worldly pleasures, and thirsting for martyrdom, she devoted herself entirely to religion and piety. She was given in marriage by her father to the Baron de Chantal, and in this new state of life she strove to cultivate every virtue, and busied herself in instructing in faith and morals her children, her servants and all under her authority. Her liberality in relieving the necessities of the poor was very great, and more than once God miraculously multiplied her stores of provisions; on this account she promised never to refuse any one who begged an alms in Christ’s name.

Her husband having been killed while hunting, she determined to embrace a more perfect life and bound herself by a vow of chastity. She not only bore her husband’s death resignedly, but overcame herself so far as to stand godmother to the child of the man who had killed him, in order to give a public proof that she pardoned him. She contented herself with a few servants and with plain food and dress, devoting her costly garments to pious usages. Whatever time remained from her domestic cares she employed in prayer, pious reading, and work. She could never be induced to accept offers of second marriage, even though honorable and advantageous. In order not to be shaken in her resolution of observing charity, she renewed her vow, and imprinted the most holy name of Jesus Christ upon her breast with a red-hot iron. Her love grew more ardent day by day. She had the poor, the abandoned, the sick, and those who were afflicted with the most terrible diseases brought to her, and not only sheltered, and comforted, and nursed them, but washed and mended their filthy garments, and did not shrink from putting her lips to their running sores.

Having learned the will of God from St. Francis de Sales her director, she founded the Institute of the Visitation of our Lady. For this purpose she quitted, with unfaltering courage, her father, her father-in-law, and even her son, over whose body she had to step in order to leave her home, so violently did he oppose her vocation. She observed her Rule with the utmost fidelity, and so great was her love of poverty, that she rejoiced to be in want of even the necessaries of life. She was a perfect model of Christian humility, obedience, and all other virtues. Wishing for still higher ascensions in her heart, she bound herself by a most difficult vow, always to do what she thought most perfect. At length when the Order of the Visitation had spread far and wide, chiefly through her endeavors, after encouraging her sisters to piety and charity by words and example, and also by writings full of divine wisdom; laden with merits, she passed to the Lord at Moulins, having duly received the Sacraments of the Church. She died on the 13th of December, in the year 1641. St. Vincent de Paul, who was at a great distance, saw her soul being carried to heaven, and St. Francis de Sales coming to meet her. Her body was afterwards translated to Annecy. Miracles having made her illustrious both before and after her death, Benedict XIV placed her among the Blessed, and Pope Clement XIII among the Saints. Pope Clement XIV commanded her feast to be celebrated by the universal Church on the 12 of the Calends of September.

Taken from here

Melbourne today, August 21st 2021

>One organiser of last month’s protests sentenced to 8 months jail earlier this week.

>Police set up road blocks and attempted to stop people from entering the city. Used rubber bullets on protesters, which is new for vicpol.

>Protesters had flares and broke police lines on at least one occasion.

>News helicopters refused to release arial footage of the protest.

>News media reporting “hundreds” of protestors. Footage shows at least 5,000.

>Government used cell tower triangulation to text "Disperse" messages to everyone in the city with a phone.

>Public transport and ride-sharing services were suspended in an effort to prevent more people from coming in.

Melbourne is going the way of Hong Kong.

Quote:The investigation, which involves the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is focusing on Canadian data that suggests the Moderna vaccine may carry a higher risk for young people than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, especially for males below the age of 30 or so. The authorities also are scrutinizing data from the United States to try to determine whether there is evidence of an increased risk from Moderna in the U.S. population.

The two people who described the investigation spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing review because they were not authorized to discuss it.

One of the people familiar with the review emphasized it is too early to reach a conclusion. The person said the agencies must do additional work before deciding whether to issue any kind of new or revised warning or recommendation about the situation. In June, the FDA added a warning label for the Pfizer and Moderna shots — both known as mRNA vaccines — about increased risk of myocarditis.

“We have not come to a conclusion on this,” one of the people familiar with the investigation said. “The data are not slam bang.”

Quote:The myocarditis side effect is extremely rare and even if it is more likely in people receiving the Moderna vaccine, it probably is still very uncommon. Officials want to be careful not to cause alarm among the public, especially when officials are trying to persuade more people to be vaccinated amid a surge of cases fueled by the fast-moving delta variant.

Quote:“There might be a 2.5 times higher incidence of myocarditis in those who get the Moderna vaccine compared with Pfizer's vaccine.” Any risk at all for young people under 17 is unacceptable https://t.co/vz1REfaaj8

— Sue Cook (@SueC00K) August 20, 2021

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

Quote:Bernard was born of a distinguished family at Fountains in Burgundy. As a youth, on account of his great beauty he was much sought after by women, but could never be shaken in his resolution of observing chastity. To escape these temptations of the devil, he at twenty-two years of age, determined to enter the monastery of Citeaux, the first house of the Cistercian Order, then famous for sanctity. When his brothers learned Bernard’s design, they did their best to deter him from it; but he, more eloquent and more successful, won them and many others to his opinion; so that together with him thirty young men embraced the Cistercian Rule. As a monk he was so given to fasting that whenever he had to take food he seemed to be undergoing torture. He applied himself in a wonderful manner to prayer and watching, and was a great lover of Christian poverty; thus he led a heavenly life on earth, free from all anxiety or desire of perishable goods.

The virtues of humility, mercy, and kindness shone conspicuously in his character. He devoted himself so earnestly to contemplation that he seemed hardly to use his senses except to do acts of charity, and in these he was remarkable for his prudence. While thus occupied he refused the bishoprics of Genoa, Milan, and others, which were offered to him, declaring that he was unworthy of so great an office. He afterwards became Abbot of Clairvaux, and built monasteries in many places, wherein the excellent rules and discipline of Bernard long flourished. When the monastery of Ss. Vincent and Anastasius at Rome was restored by Pope Innocent II, St. Bernard appointed as Abbot the future sovereign Pontiff, Eugenius III; to whom he also sent his book “De Consideratione.”

He wrote many other works which clearly show that his doctrine was more the gift of God than the result of his own labors. On account of his great reputation for virtue, the greatest princes begged him to act as arbiter in their disputes, and he went several times into Italy for this purpose, and for arranging ecclesiastical affairs. He was of great assistance to the Supreme Pontiff Innocent II in putting down the schism of Peter de Leone, both at the courts of the emperor and of king Henry of England, and at a Council held at Pisa. At length, being sixty-three years old, he fell asleep in the Lord. He was famous for miracles, and Pope Alexander III placed him among the Saints. Pope Pius VIII, with the advice of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, declared St. Bernard a Doctor of the universal Church and commanded all to recite the Mass and Office of a Doctor on his feast. He also granted a plenary indulgence yearly, for ever, to all who visit churches of the Cistercian Order on this day.

Now that COVID vaccines have established mRNA technology as the 'new frontier for vaccine development,' pharma giants have set their sights on an
mRNA vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — which they hope to add to an already overburdened childhood vaccine schedule.

• With no comparison group, Lederle Laboratories (later acquired by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, then Pfizer, and now known as New York Center for Innovation) tested a recombinant (genetically engineered) subunit vaccine on three dozen chronically ill institutionalized persons (mean age=87) in the mid-1990s, half of whom, at baseline, “required assistance with walking or used a wheelchair.” Five died within five months of injection, but investigators reported “All deaths were due to medical conditions unrelated to the study.”
  

• Wyeth administered an aluminum-adjuvanted subunit RSV vaccine or an aluminum phosphate adjuvant “control” to several hundred children ages 1-12 years with cystic fibrosis (late 1990s). Cystic fibrosis is a condition characterized by immune system defects, and aluminum adjuvants can make the immune system go haywire.
  

• In the early 2000s, in a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, Wyeth gave three dozen healthy women in their third trimester of pregnancy its aluminum-adjuvanted subunit RSV vaccine or a saline placebo, operating under the premise (contradicted by considerable evidence) that pregnant women “respond well to vaccines.” The manufacturer monitored local and systemic reactions in the mothers for just seven days. The researchers reported no noteworthy differences in outcomes for the two groups of infants during their first year of life, although two of the vaccinated babies developed RSV anyway.
  

• Between 2015 and 2018, Novavax gave more than 4600 healthy pregnant women (28-36 weeks gestation) a “fusion protein nanoparticle vaccine” or a buffer formulation (used to stabilize proteins and generally understudied for toxicity). Fifty-seven (1.2%) of the 18- to 40-year-old participants, more than half recruited in South Africa, did not progress to a live birth. Four in 10 women in the vaccine group, versus one in 10 in the placebo group, reported injection site reactions.
  

• In June 2020, Pfizer launched a phase 3 trial to vaccinate pregnant women with a subunit RSV vaccine (placebo unspecified). The study design involves monitoring serious adverse events in infants for 24 months, but for only six months in mothers. The trial is ongoing.