austraLasia #1983
In the interests of fairness.... and in a spirit of rejoicing over the Beatification of Ceferino Namancurá
(and just to say that there will be a pause for austraLasia this week - the coordinator is on retreat!)
ROME: 11th November 2007 -- I was interested, even intrigued, by the image of the old 'Gran Cacique' plucking a name out of the air, the zephyr breezes – we are in Patagonia after all; and the boy runs and rides like the wind... How poetic! The facts are much more prosaic.
Ceferino - the Spanish form of the Italian Zeffirino from the Latin original - was the name given at his baptism, probably at the suggestion of the Salesian missionary Fr Milanesio, at Christmas (actually 24 December) 1888 when he was just two years old. The name is that of the saint on whose feast he was born on 26 August 1886 - Pope Zephyrinus, the immediate predecessor of Pope St Callistus, and believed to be the first Pope buried in the catacombs of St Callistus on the Appian Way. Since 1930 these have been in the care of the Salesians by the way...
But apart from this, in fact there is an even better story - not a myth - in the making. As a student and aspirant of the Salesians under the care of Bishop Cagliero, in 1903 Ceferino spent some time at the College of St Francis of Sales in Viedma and there met a fellow aspirant Artemides Zatti (now Blessed) who was also suffering from tuberculosis.
In 1904, in an attempt to obtain better treatment for his poor health, he was taken by Bishop Cagliero to Italy where in August he met the successor of Don Bosco (a saint), Don Rua ( now Blessed), as well as the successor of Pope Zephyrinus, Pius X (another saint), and after spending some months as a student at Frascati-Villa Sora, he eventually died in Rome in the odour of sanctity on 11 May 1905. Now he is to be beatified on Sunday 11 November 2007. The ways of Providence are indeed remarkable. (BG)
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In reference to the Zatti incident, I came across the following on the Official site for the Beatification. Loosely translated...
Artemide Zatti was involved with looking after the young Mapuche (in Viedma when Ceferino was 17). He spoke during the early stages of the Cause for Ceferino’s Canonisation and described how each morning, following the instructions of Fr Garrone, he shared with him a piece of steak, a glass of wine and a slice of bread. In the afternoon, the second part of the prescription was a walk in the fresh air, collecting fresh eggs from the farm and enjoying an egg cocktail. Zatti, who was about 22 years old at the time, also suffered from TB. He remembers Ceferino saying 'Our superiors are wonderful people. We love them as if they were our parents. Let's pray the rosary for them.'
When I put the Spanish into the 'Google' translator the phrase I have given as 'Our superiors are wonderful people' came out as 'What good are our superiors?' - you have to use such instruments with care! (Fr Bernard Grogan).
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use BoscoWiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xml Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at at http://sdl.sdb.org
In the interests of fairness.... and in a spirit of rejoicing over the Beatification of Ceferino Namancurá
(and just to say that there will be a pause for austraLasia this week - the coordinator is on retreat!)
ROME: 11th November 2007 -- I was interested, even intrigued, by the image of the old 'Gran Cacique' plucking a name out of the air, the zephyr breezes – we are in Patagonia after all; and the boy runs and rides like the wind... How poetic! The facts are much more prosaic.
Ceferino - the Spanish form of the Italian Zeffirino from the Latin original - was the name given at his baptism, probably at the suggestion of the Salesian missionary Fr Milanesio, at Christmas (actually 24 December) 1888 when he was just two years old. The name is that of the saint on whose feast he was born on 26 August 1886 - Pope Zephyrinus, the immediate predecessor of Pope St Callistus, and believed to be the first Pope buried in the catacombs of St Callistus on the Appian Way. Since 1930 these have been in the care of the Salesians by the way...
But apart from this, in fact there is an even better story - not a myth - in the making. As a student and aspirant of the Salesians under the care of Bishop Cagliero, in 1903 Ceferino spent some time at the College of St Francis of Sales in Viedma and there met a fellow aspirant Artemides Zatti (now Blessed) who was also suffering from tuberculosis.
In 1904, in an attempt to obtain better treatment for his poor health, he was taken by Bishop Cagliero to Italy where in August he met the successor of Don Bosco (a saint), Don Rua ( now Blessed), as well as the successor of Pope Zephyrinus, Pius X (another saint), and after spending some months as a student at Frascati-Villa Sora, he eventually died in Rome in the odour of sanctity on 11 May 1905. Now he is to be beatified on Sunday 11 November 2007. The ways of Providence are indeed remarkable. (BG)
++++++++++++++
In reference to the Zatti incident, I came across the following on the Official site for the Beatification. Loosely translated...
Artemide Zatti was involved with looking after the young Mapuche (in Viedma when Ceferino was 17). He spoke during the early stages of the Cause for Ceferino’s Canonisation and described how each morning, following the instructions of Fr Garrone, he shared with him a piece of steak, a glass of wine and a slice of bread. In the afternoon, the second part of the prescription was a walk in the fresh air, collecting fresh eggs from the farm and enjoying an egg cocktail. Zatti, who was about 22 years old at the time, also suffered from TB. He remembers Ceferino saying 'Our superiors are wonderful people. We love them as if they were our parents. Let's pray the rosary for them.'
When I put the Spanish into the 'Google' translator the phrase I have given as 'Our superiors are wonderful people' came out as 'What good are our superiors?' - you have to use such instruments with care! (Fr Bernard Grogan).
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use BoscoWiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xml Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at at http://sdl.sdb.org
