Quote
“(In the Chinese new year) there is an expectation for new things to happen, for better things to happen, for good things to happen. In that sense … that’s what our celebrations of Christmas and Easter are about. We celebrate the new life in God.”
| Father Francis Li, pastor of St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church in Chicago. The church for the past two decades has combined elements of Chinese New Year with elements of Catholicism during the first Sunday Mass after the new year begins. (Catholic News Service)
In the news
Papal relic recovered
VATICAN CITY — Less than a week after a relic of Blessed John Paul II disappeared from a country chapel east of Rome, Italian police recovered the venerated piece of fabric stained with the late pope’s blood.
Auxiliary Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole of L’Aquila told reporters Jan. 31 that one of three men arrested for the theft the previous day had led police to the relic, which they found inside his garage.
The bishop said the postage-stamp-sized piece of fabric — cut from the clothing Blessed John Paul was wearing when he was shot May 13, 1981 — was almost intact, missing only a few gold threads. (CNS)
Saints under 35
Committed convert
St. Alexander Briant was not born into the Catholic faith, but he died just 25 years later as a Jesuit priest who endured torture while defending other religious.
Alexander was born in 1556 in Somerset, England. As a student at Oxford University — which he entered at an early age — he was known for his good looks and for his holiness. He converted to Catholicism at the university where he had become the student of a priest and befriended a man named Richard Holtby. Alexander later followed Holtby to a seminary college in Reims, France, and was ordained in 1578.
Back in England, authorities captured Alexander in 1581 and tortured him in the hopes of eliciting information about other priests; however, Alexander refused to yield. The priest later wrote to the Jesuit Fathers requesting permission to join the order, which accepted him. Shortly after, however, Alexander was condemned to death by an English court. He endured still more torture before dying in December 1581. (catholic.org, newadvent.org)