21!

I have reached that great American milestone and marked it by attending Mass on the Feast of the Holy Innocents (and a Benedict's Bock beer at Granite City Brewery). I used to hate the fact that my birthday coincided with the memorial of Herod's slaughter of Jesus' generation but I've come to cherish it; they are the patron saints of choir boys and great intercessors for the current holocaust. Hopefully they will help me keep and cultivate a childlike innocence as I head further out into the world, to be in it but not of it.

I would also like to share what will be consuming future entries of this journal and increase readership I expect!

On 5 February 2010 I will be leaving to study abroad at the Angelicum in Rome, Italy through the Catholic Studies Rome Program at the University of Saint Thomas. While there, I will study bioethics, poetry, art and architecture, Latin, and conversational Italian as well as soak up all of Italian culture, living each day as a Roman, and absorbing all kinds of Catholicism in the Eternal City. Pray for me. I will pray for you throughout the various pilgrimage sites. Stay tuned for various updates and pictures coming from around Italy and Europe through June 2010.

Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Today is a special day here at the University of Saint Thomas. We're celebrating the feast of our patron saint, Thomas Aquinas.

For information him, go to EWTN's biography page filled with an article and other media resources on this spiritual giant of our Faith.



SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS









Prayer of Saint Thomas Aquinas

THANKSGIVING AFTER MASS


Lord, Father all-powerful and ever-living God, I thank You, for
even though I am a sinner, your unprofitable servant, not
because of my worth but in the kindness of your mercy,
You have fed me with the Precious Body & Blood of Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this Holy Communion may not bring me
condemnation and punishment but forgiveness and salvation.
May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will.
May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions.
May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience,
and growth in the power to do good.
May it be my strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses,
bodily and spiritual.
May it unite me more closely to you, the One true God, and lead me
safely through death to everlasting happiness with You.
And I pray that You will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where you,
with Your Son and holy Spirit, are true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect
happiness to your saints. grant this through Christ our Lord,
AMEN.

Source: http://www.ewtn.com/