Q: How does one get excommunicated?
A: In Roman Catholic canon law, excommunication is a censure and thus a medicinal penalty which is supposed to cause the person to a change heart - repentance. It can either be automatic - incurred at the moment of committing an offense (this is called latae sententiae) or when imposed by a legitimate superior or an ecclesiastical court as a sentence (this is called ferendae sententiae). Excommunicated Catholics are still Catholics and remain bound to attend Mass, even though they may not receive Holy communion or sacramental absolution or perform a function at the liturgy (reading, bringing the offerings, etc.) until the excommunication has been lifted. The goal is always to bring souls to conversion and grace.
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White Maman Cochet
White Maman Cochet is a "sport" of the Tea rose Maman Cochet. A sport is a naturally occurring, stable variant of an existing variety of rose. Some varieties of rose seem to produce many sports, and Maman Cochet would be high on the list - having produced two or three such sports over the years. White Maman Cochet was discovered first in Australia by A. Marshall sometime before 1896, and thence by John W. Cook in the United States in 1896. Like all of the Cochets, it forms a very large shrub over time and should be given plenty of real estate to occupy when it is planted. A small little plant in a gallon container planted in the garden might initially look insignificant, but will probably grow to be 6 to 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide at maturity. Plan accordingly. The flowers of White Maman Cochet are a complex blend of opalescent white with pink and cream highlights. It is a magnificent rose.
St. Michael's Abbey has over
100 varieties of roses and over 300 bushes on site. Come and see.
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 STS. ADRIAN AND JAMES,
MARTYRS OF GORCUM
Middelburg (Holland)
On July 9, 1572, the Calvinists stripped, hanged, and then mutilated the bodies of nineteen priests and religious in Gorcum on account of their loyalty to the Catholic faith. Among these were two Norbertine priests, Sts. Adrian and James. Adrian Jansen (sometimes called Becan after his place of birth) was born at Hilvarenbeek in 1529 and entered the abbey of Middelburg at the age of 15. After a stint as master of novices and chaplain, he was appointed pastor of Agterkerke in 1560 and of Munster in 1572. Adrian was an exemplary priest and a true apostle, laboring in a parish which already counted several Calvinists among its population.
 James Lacop, also a canon of Middelburg, was born at Oudenaarde in 1542. He was an intelligent and charming young man, and is success made him conceited, his fervor waned and his religious life became mediocre. When the iconoclastic Calvinists infiltrated the abbey in 1566, the 24-year-old James renounced his faith together with two of his confreres. His father and his brother, who was also a Norbertine, were horrified at his action, and they eventually brought him to reconsider his apostasy. Touched by grace, he returned to the abbey and was kindly received by the community when he asked forgiveness for his sin. Among other things, he had gone so far as to write a pamphlet attacking the Church, and had become a preacher of the Calvinist beliefs. His abbot sent him to the abbey of Marieweerd for a prolonged period of penance. At the end of five years, the abbot appointed him curate in Munster where his brother was currently pastor. After the death of his brother in 1572, Father Adrian Jansen was appointed pastor. Adrian had only been there three months when revolutionary soldiers attacked the rectory and captured both priests in July of 1572. Together with seventeen other priests and religious, they were marched through the streets while beaten and insulted, accompanied by a screaming mob. Along the way the soldiers offered some local fishermen to set the priests free in exchange for a cask of beer, an offer which the highly Calvinistic locals refused. The nineteen priests and religious were thrown into prison and subjected to a trial during which they defended the doctrine of the Eucharist and the authority of the Successor of Peter. Although Adrian was more experienced in refuting the arguments of the heretics, it was now James, with his gift for speaking, who took the lead in arguing with their captors. They were mistreated, tortured, and denied food. On July 9, 1572, both Adrian and James, together with the other seventeen priests and religious, were hanged from the rafters of a barn at Gorcum and received the crown of martyrdom. Adrian was 43 and James 30. They were beatified by Pope Clement X on November 24, 1675 and canonized by Blessed Pius IX on June 29, 1877. |
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