Columbus and the Meeting of the Two WorldsIn honor of the Angels of God

Gaspar Fernandes (1566/70-1629) was a Portuguese composer who left his native Alentejo for a life as an organist and composer in the New World. For many years, he worked in the Cathedral of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (La Antigua Guatemala, diocesan see at the time), and then in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, in Puebla de los Ángeles, New Spain (pictured below, as completed by Blessed Juan de Palafox not long after Fernandes' death). 

In Xicochi conentzintle, in the tradition of the Spanish villancicos, Fernandes recalls in Nahuatl (already with ecclesiastical words of Greek and Hebrew origin) the presence of the guardian Angels - who watch over children, and a Child in particular.

Xicochi, xicochi, conentzintle, (Sleep, sleep, little child)
Caumiz hui hui joco in angelos me, (while the Angels play music)
Alleluia, alleluia.

What we look for in a Pope

The good Prelate, when prevented from walking down the street in the service of the Lord, should try to walk down a new path, and never stop. If he is prevented from implementing reforms with the aid of law and religion, he should do so with his voice. If he cannot preach, let him write; if he cannot write, let him pray; if he is not able to pray, let him weep. He must always keep watch and work in the service of God, for the good of the souls under his charge, for splendor in Divine Worship, and for his Church, up to the moment of his last breath.

Blessed Juan de Palafox

Spiritual Sayings

1638

¡Viva Cristo Rey! ¡Viva el Santísimo Sacramento!

From Spanish daily ABC:

The Catholic Church back in the streets

For the first time since the Revolution, a mass  - of Corpus - and a procession will be celebrated in the very center of the capital

The Catholic Church will regain the streets of Mexico City next Thursday ... . Coinciding with the festivity of Corpus [Christi], the Cardinal-Primate Norberto Rivera will celebrate a mass in Tlaxcoaque Square and head a procession to the capital Zócalo, the main public space of the country.

Congratulations to Catholic Mexicans who, for decades, sacrificed so much for it. Today, more than ever, Mexico, besieged by violence - and particularly its capital (with abortion on demand and the destruction of marriage) -, needs public prayers. 

From Benedict XIII to Benedict XVI, the complex cause of a complex life

From the English edition of L'Osservatore Romano:

Beatification of the Venerable Palafox

Bishop and governor

On Sunday, June 5th, in El Burgo de Osma, Soria, Spain, Juan de Palafox will be proclaimed Blessed. It will be a day of joy, after a long process of one of the most complex Causes in the history of the Church.

Juan de Palafox y Mendoza was born in 1600 in Fitero, Navarra, Spain where he spent his childhood. He attended university at Huesca, Alcala’ and Salamanca and in 1626 entered into the service of the Monarchy. In 1629 he became a priest and in 1639 a bishop. Nominated Bishop of Puebla de los Angeles in Mexico (New Spain), Palafox had important responsibilities as viceroy and apostolic visitor.Both in Mexico and later in Soria, he distinguished himself as a zealous pastor. He died in Osma, Spain, in 1659.