Real Hdad Ntro Padre Jesús Nazareno y Ntra de la Soledad Setenil

18/12/2025

11/12/2025

RIP Dº. Sebastián Gutierrez Domínguez

En estos momentos duros y difíciles queremos elevar nuestras oraciones para que Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno , Ntra. Sra. De la Amargura y Nuestra Señora de la Soledad ya la tengan en su Gloria, y nos den fuerza a todos para sobrellevar esta lamentable pérdida.

06/12/2025

05/12/2025

Normas para las elecciones de hoy.

05/12/2025

“SANTORAL DEL DÍA:”

Buenos días mis honorables Fratres in Christo, “Milites Dei”, así como amigos y simpatizantes de nuestro cristiano “Priorato Templario San Bernardo de Claraval”.

“Feliz y bendecido viernes de nuestro Señor”.

“El Santo del día es una reseña diaria de los santos guardados en la memoria de la Iglesia. Historias de maestros de vida cristiana de todas las épocas que, como faros luminosos, orientan nuestro camino”.

Hoy, “5 de diciembre”, atendiendo a las fuentes vaticanas y de nuestra Archidiócesis, celebramos el día de:

✠ SAN SABÁS, ABAD.
Cerca de Jerusalén, san Sabas, abad, que, nacido en Capadocia, se retiró al desierto de Judea, donde fundó un nuevo estilo de vida eremítica en siete monasterios que se llamaron «lauras», reuniendo a los solitarios bajo un superior. Vivió durante muchos años en la Gran Laura, que posteriormente llevó su nombre, brillando con el ejemplo de santidad y luchando esforzadamente por la fe de Calcedonia († 532 ).
"Breve Biografía"
Sabas es el fundador de la llamada Grande Laura al lado del valle de Cedrón, a las puertas de Jerusalén. Había nacido en Mutalasca, cerca de Cesarea de Capadocia, en el 439, y después de pasar algún tiempo en el monasterio de su pueblo, en el 457 se trasladó al de Jerusalén fundado por Pasarión, pero éste no satisfizo sus aspiraciones. Y al contrario de muchos monjes que abandonaban su convento para correr a las grandes ciudades a llevar una vida poco edificante, Sabas, deseoso de soledad, durante una permanencia en Alejandría pidió y obtuvo el permiso para retirarse a una gruta, con el compromiso de regresar todos los sábados y domingos a hacer vida común en el monasterio.
Cinco años después, de regreso en Jerusalén, fijó su domicilio en el valle de Cedrón en una gruta solitaria, a donde entraba por una pequeña escalera hecha con lazos. Por lo visto, esa escalera reveló su escondite a otros monjes deseosos como él de soledad, y en poco tiempo, como en un gran panal, esas grutas inhóspitas en la pared rocosa se poblaron de solitarios pero no ociosos habitantes.
Así nació la Grande Laura, esto es, uno de los más originales monasterios de la antigüedad cristiana. Sabas, con mucha paciencia y al mismo tiempo con indiscutible autoridad, gobernó ese creciente ejército de ermitaños organizándolos según las reglas de vida eremítica ya establecidas un siglo antes por San Pacomio. Para que la guía del santo abad tuviera un punto de referencia en la autoridad del obispo, el patriarca de Jerusalén lo ordenó sacerdote en el 491.
Sabas, a pesar de su predilección por el total aislamiento del mundo, no rehuyó sus compromisos sacerdotales. Fundó otros monasterios, entre ellos uno en Emaús, y tomó parte activa en la lucha contra la herejía de los monofisitas, llegando al punto de movilizar a todos sus monjes en una expedición para oponerse a la toma de posesión de un obispo hereje, enviado a Jerusalén por el emperador Anastasio.
IMAGEN I.- SAN SABÁS, ABAD.

"Hoy también celebramos a":
Santos: Anastasio, Consolata, Cristina, Galgano, confesores; Crispina, Dalmacio, Julio, Potamia, Félix, Grato, Aureliano, Sempronio, Anastasio, mártires; Gerardo, Gereboldo, Niceto, Juan, obispos; Baso, Dalmacio, Pelino, obispos y mártires; Colmán, Sigirano, abades; Sola, eremita; Luano, monje.

“Felicidades a quienes celebren estos santos nombres"

“Deus, Dominus noster, benedicat vobis, fratres, hodie et Semper”.

Alba militum Xristos, ad perpetuam milites Xristos, ad maiorem Dei Gloriam.

Laudetur Iesus Christos.

✠✠✠ 𝔑𝔬𝔫 𝔫𝔬𝔟𝔦𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔢, 𝔫𝔬𝔫 𝔫𝔬𝔟𝔦𝔰, 𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔑𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔦 𝔗𝔲𝔬 𝔡𝔞 𝔤𝔩𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔞𝔪 ✠✠✠

05/12/2025

Saint John of Damascus,
Engraving by André Thevet (1504–1590),
Issued circa 1590,
Engraving on paper
© Christian Art

Saint John Damascene, Priest, Doctor

Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Scroll down to read the Gospel & Art Reflection or click this link to read on the Christian.art website

🔗 https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-7-21-24-27-2025/

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.’

Reflection on the engraving

Saint John of Damascus (c. 676–749), priest, monk, and Doctor of the Church, stands as one of the earliest and most courageous defenders of sacred images — a towering figure in the history of Christian art. It is no surprise that he is among my favourite saints.

Also known as John Damascene, he was a distinguished theologian whose principal contribution to Christian thought was his passionate defence of the veneration of sacred images. This defence is most famously articulated in his seminal work, On the Divine Images (or Apologia Against Those Who Decry Holy Images), written during the height of the iconoclastic controversies in the Byzantine Empire. In this treatise, Saint John argued eloquently against the destruction of religious images, asserting their role as tools to facilitate contemplation and devotion, rather than being objects of worship in themselves. His theological reasoning was rooted in the incarnation: since God became visible in the person of Jesus Christ, it is both permissible and beneficial to depict Christ and other sacred figures in visual form. As God created us in his image,... God himself used images,... and therefore we can do the same,... thus participating in God's joyful creative spirit when we create images.

Saint John’s writings laid the intellectual foundation for the Church’s affirmation of sacred art at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, where the veneration of icons was formally upheld. His defence of sacred imagery not only preserved a tradition of visual devotion but also paved the way for the flourishing of Christian art in subsequent centuries. It is not an overstatement to say that without Saint John of Damascus, we might never have seen the grandeur of Gothic cathedrals, the masterpieces of Michelangelo, or the countless works of sacred art that have inspired generations.

Our engraving is by André Thevet (1504–1590), a French priest, explorer, cosmographer, and engraver best known for his work in documenting the peoples and places of the New World and other regions through travel accounts and illustrations. While primarily recognised as a travel writer, Thevet’s engravings are closely based on the places he visited. For our engraving he probably used the face of a real person wearing traditional that he may have encountered whilst visiting Syria. For this particular image, he likely sketched the face of an actual person, complete with traditional headdress, whom he encountered during his travels in Syria.

04/12/2025

Es viernes, viernes del Señor de Setenil.

Nuestro Padre Jesús, que conoce nuestros pasos y nuestras dudas, entra en nuestro corazón con la suavidad de quien ama sin condiciones. En cada amanecer nos recuerda que no caminamos solos, que su mano sostiene la nuestra incluso cuando el cansancio pesa.

A Él ofrecemos nuestras alegrías y preocupaciones, seguros de que escucha cada suspiro y transforma cada herida en fuerza. Que su luz nos inspire a vivir con humildad, con bondad y con un amor que abrace a todos.

Jesús, Padre y Amigo, permanece con nosotros hoy y siempre. Haz de nuestro camino un lugar de paz, y de nuestro corazón un hogar para tu gracia.

04/12/2025

04/12/2025

Virgin Mary with Infant Jesus and Her Fifteen Mysteries, flanked by Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier,
Painted by Unknown Japanese artist (School of Giovanni Nicolao),
Early 17th century (Azuchi-Momoyama period)
Gouache and oils on paper
© Kyoto University Museum, Japan

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Mark 16:15-20

Scroll down to read the Gospel & Art Reflection or click this link to read on the Christian.art website

🔗 https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-16-15-20-2025/

At that time: Jesus appeared to the Eleven and he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

Reflection on the painting

Saint Francis Xavier stands as one of the great missionary saints of the Church. Born in Navarre in 1506 and one of the first companions of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Francis took to heart Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations.” After years of ministry in Europe, he set sail in 1541 on a journey that would take him far beyond the familiar world of the West. For thirteen months he battled storms and sickness before finally arriving in Goa, India, where he threw himself into preaching, baptising, and gathering communities of new believers. But his missionary zeal kept pushing him farther; wherever he sensed the Gospel had not yet been heard, he longed to go.

Off he went on further travels, to India, Malaysia, Japan, and his longing to enter China. In Japan, he walked from village to village, preaching in the simplest of ways, learning the language, respecting the culture, and winning hearts through humility and gentleness. He spoke of Christ not as a foreign idea, but as the fulfilment of every longing in the human soul. His close, personal friendship with Christ meant he could speak about Him with authenticity — and people believed him. In just ten short years, he travelled more than 60,000 kilometres (an astonishing feat for the sixteenth century!) and laid the foundations of Christian communities that still endure today. He died in 1552 on the island of Shangchuan, gazing toward the coastline of China, the land he never reached.

Our painting today is a good example of Namban art, the artistic style that emerged in Japan in the late 16th and early 17th centuries when Portuguese and Spanish missionaries (the “southern barbarians” or "nanban" as they were called locally) brought Christian imagery to Japanese shores. These works often appear slightly naïve or unfamiliar in proportion and perspective because Japanese artists were interpreting entirely new subjects with their own visual traditions. Without the conventions of European realism, they translated Christian figures, iconography, and narratives into a uniquely Japanese aesthetic: bright colours, simplified forms, flattened space, and expressive gestures. The result is a gentle, almost childlike visual language that reflects both the wonder of first contact and the sincere attempt to understand and depict a faith that was, for them, wondrously new.

Saint Francis Xavier - Pray for us.

02/12/2025

Trust in Jesus,
Painting by Yongsung Kim,
Painted in 2019,
Oil on canvas
© Yongsung Kim, all rights reserved

Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

Luke 10:21-24

Scroll down to read the Gospel & Art Reflection or click this link to read on the Christian.art website

🔗 https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-10-21-24-2025/

In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’

Reflection on the painting

When we hear the word 'Beatitudes', our thoughts often turn to the ten Beatitudes at the start of the Sermon on the Mount, which are very familiar to us. However, these are not the only beatitudes found in the gospels. Today's Gospel reading includes another, directed to all of us: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see”. He is revealing the extraordinary privilege given to His disciples: they are witnessing the fulfilment of all that Israel had long hoped for. Prophets, kings, and generations before them had yearned to see God’s Messiah, to hear His voice, to witness the works of His Kingdom breaking into the world, but they had only glimpses and promises.

The disciples, however, stood before the living Christ Himself; they saw with their own eyes what generations before them could only imagine in faith. Prophets and kings had longed for the Messiah, yearning for a glimpse of the One who was to come. But the disciples saw Him face to face. And now we are the blessed ones too, for we too continue to encounter Jesus: through the Gospels that reveal His voice, through the sacraments that make Him present, and through His Church where His living Body still draws us close.

And that is what our faith is: a personal encounter, where we try to get to know Jesus as well as we can. The more we get to know Him, the more close we are drawn. A beautiful visual representation of personal encounter and closeness to Christ is our panting by South-Korean artist Yongsung Kim. It depicts a young girl, leaning on Jesus, looking out of a window, whilst a lit lantern is illuminating the scene. Snow is falling outside. Her relaxed pose shows she is fully trusting in Jesus and has a close, intimate, personal relationship with Him. She has seen Jesus and has embraced Him fully.