What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

It took guts to be a Catholic and saint back in the day, let me tell you.  Today we have the feast of a couple fellows who lived in pretty tough times.  Today we celebrate Sts. Boris and Gleb, martyrs.  Here is their entry in the Martyrologium Romanum:

8. In Russia, sanctorum Boris et Gleb, martyrum, qui, principes Rutheni et filii sancti Vladimiri, mortem excipere maluerunt quam vi fratri Svatopolco resistere.  Boris ad Altam flumen prope Pereislaviam palmam martyrii nactus est, Gleb vero post prope Smolenscum.

"But Father, but Father!", you shout, "Just how tough were those times you are talking about.  Well, consider this.  As we read that Boris and Gleb were the children of Vladimir, their grandfather on their mother’s side was Basil II, "the Bulgar Killer".   What sort of fellow was Basil?  Well, when grandad got tired of incursions and constant annoyances from the Bulgars, he beat the stuffing out of them and then blinded all the men, while leaving each 100th man with one eye so that he could lead his group of defeated Bulgars home.  The Bulgars were quiescent after that for quite a while.

Any way, Boris and Gleb, also called Roman and David, were Russia’s first saints. Both were martyred during the internecine wars of 1015-1019 and glorified by the Russian Orthodox church in 1071. Numerous churches are dedicated to them.

Apparently, Svyatopolk the Accursed had them killed. Boris and his manservant were stabbed to death when sleeping in a tent. The prince was discovered still breathing when his body was being transported in a bag to Kiev, but the Varangians put him from his misery with a thrust of a lance.  Gleb was assassinated on his way to see the dying father by his own cook who cut his throat with a kitchen knife and concealed his body in a brushwood.

There is an interesting piece on Medjugorje over at Te Deum Laudamus to which I owe a biretta tip. o{]:¬)

It would be nice for someone who knows Croatian to verify the following translation:

15.07.2006 18:15

SURPRISE FROM THE VATICAN
Holy See takes Medjugorje Phenomenon into its own hands
Author: Žarko IVKOVIĆ

The Catholic Church is establishing new commission which will review Medjugorje events. This given by Cardinal Vinko Puljic, president of the Bosnia and Hercegovina Bishops Conference and Archbishop of Sarajevo, to reporters at the end of the Bishops conference held July12-14, 2006 in Banja Luka. This announcement surprised many, because Medjugorje was not even one of the topics discussed at the meeting. Aside from that, it is well known that the Church will not take a definite position about the Medjugorje phenomenon while it is still going on, and even more well known is the position of the bishop of Mostar, who time and again has claimed that there are no apparitions of the Mother of God in his diocese.

Why, nevertheless, establish a new commission which would review the stand declared in 1991 by the bishops by which “it cannot be determined that anything supernatural is happening there”? From our information, the request for the establishment of a new commission comes from the Vatican, which can manifestly no longer close its eyes to what is happening in Medjugorje

Here is the original Croatian:

15.07.2006 18:15

IZNENAĐENJE IZ VATIKANA
Sveta Stolica preuzima međugorski fenomen u svoje ruke
Autor Žarko IVKOVIĆ

Katolička crkva osniva novu komisiju koja će ispitati međugorska zbivanja. Dao je to naslutiti kardinal Vinko Puljić, predsjednik Biskupske konferencije BiH, obraćajući se novinarima nakon završetka zasjedanja BKBiH održanog od 12. do 14. srpnja u Banjoj Luci. Izazvao je time i veliko iznenađenje jer Međugorja na dnevnom redu nije bilo. Osim toga, dobro je poznat stav Crkve da se o međugorskom fenomenu neće izjašnjavati dok on traje, a još je poznatiji stav mostarskoga biskupa, koji decidirano tvrdi da u njegovoj biskupiji nema nikakvih ukazanja Majke Božje.

Zašto se unatoč tomu osniva nova komisija koja bi trebala preispitati stav biskupa izrečen 1991., prema kojemu se "ne može ustvrditi da je riječ o nadnaravnim ukazanjima"? Prema našim informacijama, zahtjev za osnivanje komisije dolazi iz Vatikana, koji očito više ne može zatvarati oči pred onim što se događa u Međugorju.

If this is accurate, I think this will inevitably result in a negative judgment from the Holy See.