island life- in a monastery

When I was younger in religious life I had great admiration for ELIZABETH of the TRINITY, who is soon to be canonized. While she was a Carmelite, who closely followed in the footsteps of the great St. Therese of Lisieux, she is a good example for Contemplatives of any order, or anyone desiring to be holy.

Elizabeth Catez was born on July 18, 1880 in a military camp near Bourges in

France. She was the first of two children, both daughters, born to Joseph and Marie Catez. As a child Elizabeth was lively and beautiful, but had a ferocious temper and a strength of will that would tax her mother to the limit. Elizabeth"s dark eyes blazed when she flew into a rage. Marguerite, her younger sister later recalled that Elizabeth was quite terrible when she went into one of her rages; "she was a real devil".

With her younger sister "Guite"

At seven years of age, Elizabeth made her first Confession. The Sacrament affected her profoundly and she gradually learned to overcome her temper tantrums. Her father suffered a fatal heart attack in 1887, at the age of fifty-five. Marie Catez and her two daughters then moved to Dijon. "Sabeth" - as she was affectionately known - was a bright, intelligent girl, full of natural charm and spontaneity.

She made friends easily and fully entered into the social life of Dijon. She loved music, dancing and travel. Following the Paris fashions she made her own clothes and fantastic hats. An active member of her Parish, Elizabeth ran a youth club for working-class children and was loved by them. She also taught catechism.

She entered the Carmel of Dijon in 1901, receiving the name "Elizabeth of the Trinity." After a few years of apparently uneventful religious life she died of Addison"s disease in 1906, leaving behind her a spiritual message which has intensified with time.

The Presence of God filled Elizabeth’s life. Immersing herself in the Scriptures, especially St. John and St. Paul, she discovered her vocation: to be the "Praise of Glory" of the Trinity. She saw the total transformation of the Christian in Christ as the logical development of the grace of Baptism and she longed to communicate this truth to others. In her own words:.

"Let us live with God as with a Friend. Let us make our faith a living thing so as to remain in communion with Him through everything. That is how saints are made. We carry our heaven within us God is giving Himself to us in faith and mystery... It seems to me that I have found my heaven on earth since heaven is God and God is within my soul."

"I confide to you a secret which has made my life on earth an anticipated Heaven: the belief that a Being Whose name is Love is dwelling within us at every moment of the day and night, and that He asks us to live in His company."

We will soon have two new saints in our list of Americans both of whom lived and died in our lifetime. The first is BLESSED ELIZABETH HESSELBLAD (1870-1957), soon to be canonized. She was a Swedish immigrant who converted to Catholicism, re-founded the Bridgettine order in Europe, and saved Jews during World War II. Elizabeth was the fifth of thirteen children and due to economic hardships she came to New York at the age of 18 to help her family. She studied nursing and did home care for the sick and aged. Coming into contact with so many Catholics in the area, sparked her interest, which led eventually to her conversion. She was Baptized at the Convent of the Visitation in Washington D.C.

In 1902 she pilgrimed to Rome, where she was Confirmed. She briefly returned to NY, but then returned to Rome where she startd her religious life. In 1906 she received the habit of the Brigittines. She petitioned the Holy See to be able to make religious vows under the Rule of the Order which Brigid had founded, and had been a prominent presence in the Church in Sweden before the Protestant Reformation had taken hold there. She received special permission for this from Pope Pius X in 1906, at which time she assumed the Bridgettine religious habit, including its distinctive element of a silver crown. She worked diligently to restore the Order in Italy and Sweden.

Elizabeth attempted to revive interest in the Order and its founder in both Sweden and Rome. Her proposal to establish a monastery of the Order on the site where Bridget had lived received no volunteers from the few monasteries of the Order still in existence. Giving up on the intention of following the established way of life in the Order, she proposed one which included the care of the sick. To this end she was joined by three young women from England, whom she received in 1911. Their particular mission was to pray and work, especially for the unity of Scandinavian Christians with the Catholic Church.She worked at efforts at inter-religious dialogue and against racism, and became known as "the second Bridget".

She returned to her homeland of Sweden in 1923, where she was able to establish a community in Djursholm, while she worked nursing the sick poor. The new congregation was established in England in 1931. That same year, Elizabeth obtained the House of St. Bridget in Rome for her new congregation. A foundation was made in India in 1937 which drew many new members.

The hiding of dozens of people at the motherhouse was recounted by an Italian Jew, Piero Piperno, as part of his testimony on behalf of another Bridgettine, Brighton-born Mother Mary Richard Beauchamp Hambrough, whose Cause was opened five years ago.

According to Piero, “We were three families, 13 in all. We stayed in three rooms, all the men in one, except an uncle who slept in a dark, small room with no windows, and another two for the women. In the beginning we all ate in one room by ourselves.”

For six months, until the Allies liberated Rome, the Piperno family hid in the convent, at every moment fearing potential arrest. The nuns did not discriminate between the people they helped, he said, and took in Fascist refugees as well as Jews.

Piero said: “Something which bothered me back then, but which I now understand, was that the nuns that helped us also helped Fascist families. There was great solidarity because everybody was suffering and everybody finally realized we were all in the same boat. “

In addition to their profound humanity and courage, it was noted that the nuns never exerted any pressure on their Jewish guests to convert, allowing them to live their Jewish faith without any difficulty.

In 2004 she was recognized by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for this work. Elizabeth was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

The second of our new American saints is Venerable BROTHER WILLIAM GAGNON (1905-72), who was born in Dover, New Hampshire. He entered the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God in Quebec, and died in Saigon.

Brother William was born of French Canadian parents, living both in New England and Quebec, Canada. He was called from his youth to take care of others. He discovered the fulfillment of this call when he entered the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God.This order, which began under St. John of God in Grenada, Spain, is dedicated to practicing hospitality, especially in caring for the sick and needy. He took vows on 20 November 1932 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His dedication to those who were sick and suffering energized his life in following Christ.

His family- nun is his Sister Marie Eva

After having occupied various functions in his community, his dream of being a missionary became a reality when he arrived with two other Canadian Brothers at the Bui-Chu Mission, in the North of Vietnam, in 1952.

For 17 years, his apostolic action concentrated on the implementation of the Order in Vietnam and ministering to thousands of refugees. Hospitality as a way of being and acting toward those in need was empowered by a deep sense of reverence for life and a devotional life of prayer. He had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

While at the Bui-Chu Mission , he cared for sick and wounded refugees, many of whom were victims of the Vietnam War, and worked to further establish the Hospitaller Order in Southeast Asia.

Giving water to a patient at the mission in Viet Nam

“He gave of himself in Vietnam,” said Father Agapit Jean of the Parish of the Assumption in Dover. “The work that he did there was amazing. To be able to care for people in a foreign land, especially Vietnam at that time in history, is a wonderful thing. We are able to celebrate that someone from our community is being honored in such a beautiful way.”

He died of a heart attack, having given of himself totally to others. He would be only the second person born in the United States to be canonized, St. Katharine Drexel being the first.

The Blessed's grave in Viet Nam

I have recently read two books by (or about) a Jesuit. Having been trained by these amazing men in college I have a special affinity for them, though in many cases of late they have gotten a bad rap!

Several years ago we read the Prison Writings of Alfred Delp, SJ. and while it made a deep impression, I did nothing at the time to explore this man’s life.

The Jesuits are a religious order, officially founded in 1540 and currently numbering over 18,000 priests, brothers, and men in formation. While they are active in a wide variety of ministries throughout the world, they are perhaps best known for their spirituality and for their schools (there are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and 60 Jesuit high schools in the USA).

I am grateful for the significant part the Jesuits played in my own formation. At the top of all our papers we wrote UIOGD - “That in all things God may be glorified”. I am grateful for the witness they bore (and still bear) to a spirituality that is attentive to the deep movements of our hearts, the movements that draw us ever forward along our pilgrimage toward God. My academic and spiritual adviser in college (Alban J. Dachauer, S.J.) was a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart and wrote the definitive book on the encyclical “Haurietas Aquas”.

Recently we had a Jesuit novice here on his “journey” in formation. If he is any indication of the caliber of young men joining today, the order is in good shape!

ALFRED DELP, S.J. was a youth leader, intellectual, and a dedicated resister to the Nazi regime who was taken prisoner and eventually executed by the Nazis. In With Bound Hands, the author Mary Frances Coady covers his imprisonment and execution. Father Delp's smuggled writings and prayers to friends and family mark a man transformed by the crucible of suffering, and provide a sober view of the depths of human cruelty as well as the struggle to endure. This book assures us that the most unimaginable evil will not prevail, if we have faith.

Father Delp was born in 1907 to an unmarried Catholic mother and a Protestant father (they married shortly thereafter). He was raised as a Protestant, receiving Lutheran confirmation in 1921. After a quarrel with his Lutheran pastor, the headstrong teenager sought refuge with the local Catholic priest, who prepared him for first Communion and Confirmation in the Catholic Church. He entered the Society of Jesus, the year following at age eighteen.

Delp Family

Father Delp's fierce independence, his overdeveloped critical faculties, and his indifference to the opinions and feelings of others soon caused difficulties with peers and superiors that would accompany him throughout his short life. Following ordination to the priesthood in 1937, Father Delp received permission from his superiors to pursue a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Munich. When the Nazi authorities refused him admission, he was assigned to the editorial staff of the respected Jesuit monthly Stimmen der Zeit. In April, 1941, the Nazis suppressed the journal, and Father Delp moved to a suburban parish where, among his other activities, he became "an address" for Jews fleeing on the underground route to Switzerland.

In 1942 Father Delp was recruited into the "Kreisau Circle" organized by the Protestant Count Helmuth von Moltke. This was a group of German intellectuals who met secretly, mostly at von Moltke's estate in East Prussia, to discuss plans for a "better Germany" following Hitler's removal or defeat. Father Delp was valued for his expertise in the areas of labor and social justice. This activity was to prove his undoing.

In January, 1944, von Moltke was arrested and sent to a concentration camp. A week after the July 20, 1944, unsuccessful attempt on Hitler's life by the Catholic army officer Claus von Stauffenberg, Father Delp (who had met with Stauffenberg shortly before but knew nothing of the plot) was arrested at his parish near Munich. The reason was his supposed knowledge of Stauffenberg's plans. "The actual reason," he would write from prison following his death sentence, "was that I happened to be, and chose to remain, a Jesuit." This was a reference to the Nazis' offer to spare his life if he would renounce his Jesuit vows. Father Delp was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin on February 2, 1945.

Mary Frances Coady's account of Father Alfred Delp's life is clear and straightforward. It is enriched by many of the letters he wrote, with manacled hands, during his six months' imprisonment. These show him alternating between hope and despair, while clinging throughout to his unflinching faith. He was sustained by the Eucharist throughout his ordeal.

In addition to his difficulties from the Nazis, he suffered from his Jesuit provincial's refusal to permit him to take final vows. He was considered, "too independent, tending to act without proper permission," with "an extravagant manner" which gave "the impression of unseemly worldliness." He was overjoyed to receive on December 8, 1944, a visit from a Jesuit brother authorized to receive his final vows in prison.

One of his most poignant prison letters, written January 23, 1945, to the newborn son of close friends in Munich, contains the spiritual fruit of his terrible six-month ordeal: "Only in adoration, in love, in living according to God's order, is a person free and capable of life." Before his walk to the gallows, Father Delp told the Catholic prison chaplain: "In half an hour I'll know more than you do."

Wm. McNichols

EGIDE van BROECKHOVEN, was a Belgian Jesuit who died in 1967 at 34, crushed by a steel plate at the factory where he worked. Over a period of ten years he wrote down spiritual comments about his day.His diary has been published in several languages, and offers a wonderful example of what a Spirit-filled life can look like in the midst of a normal working class life. He worked along side the poor and the needy, convinced that was where God wanted him to be and where he found his true vocation as a priest. In that work he discovered that friendship was at the core of our life, starting with friendship with the Lord Jesus.

He felt that a deep friendship between two people would have God meeting them in the middle and that true friendship has an important sacramental value. For him friendship was an opportunity to find God, for as the relationship deepens it should become more sacred, mystical and intimate, a place where we find all we seek.

From this perspective, Egide shows us a good initial working definition of spirituality as the ability “to transform trivial things into an experience of depth.” ..the difference between a spirituality based on an ascetic flight from the world and one centerd on the world lies in our incapacity to comprehend God’s breadth and depth” (Journal I, 73).

Egide, a mysticin the true sense of the word, established strong relationships with fellow workers and neighbors, who were first suspicious of a young priest wanting to work and relate to them.

The God of above, the God of beyond, the God of immense spaces, loves all human beings; the efficacious sign of this love is the realization of his word: the Good News is announced to the poor people. The immense breadth of God’s love has incarnated itself in Christ and in his will to save us all; this love is expanded by the evangelization of the poor: a sine qua non condition for the Church to continue unfolding Christ’s life, in its breadth, length, and depth, as a space where the deep sea, more powerful than the divine Ocean, can move and give life to all creation with the living Life of God (Journal XXI, 51).

As far as I can find, nothing of his life has been translated into English.

Several more Jesuit saints to be remembered, who were in the seminary together.

FATHER WILLIE DOYLE, S.J.(1873-1917), was an Irish Jesuit priest who was killed in action during the First World War.

Born in Dalkey, Ireland, he was the youngest of seven children of Hugh and Christine Doyle. He was educated at Ratcliffe College, Leicester. After reading St. Alphonsus’ book Instructions and Consideration on the Religious State he was inspired to enter the priesthood and was an ordained Jesuit priest in 1907. He served for five years on the mission staff. From 1908 to 1915, he gave no less than 152 missions and retreats. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession. He maintained a fervent spiritual life of union with Christ offering himself as a victim for the salvation of souls.

Father Doyle served in the Army Chaplains' Department of the British Army during World War I, appointed as a chaplain to 48 Brigade of the 16th Irish Division. During the Battle of Loos he was caught in a German gas attack.General Hickie, the commander-in-chief described Father Doyle as "one of the bravest men who fought or served out here."

In Seminary- Back- middle- Fr. John Sullivan to his right (see next Blog)

Fr Doyle had a rather highly strung disposition by nature. While he was physically strong and good at sport, he always suffered ill health and so was not naturally constituted for a life of trench warfare. However, it was his steady practice of virtue over the years, and his cooperation with grace, that created the hero of the trenches who was willing to run across a battlefield battered with shells and bullets to bring help to his “poor brave boys”, as he called them.

A recommendation for a Military Cross was rejected as "he had not been long enough at the front". Father Doyle was presented with the parchment of merit of the 49th (Irish) Brigade instead. He was killed in the Battle of Langemarck, on 16 August 1917. Fr. Doyle's body was never recovered but he is commemorated at Tyne Cot Memorial. He was proposed for canonisation in 1938, but this was not followed through. His papers can be found in the Jesuit archives, Leeson Street, Dublin.

From a review of the 4th edition of the book in The Irish Monthly, 1931, published by the Irish Jesuit Province is O’Rahilly’s Life of Fr. William Doyle:

We cannot recommend this work too highly to our readers, for it is one of the best modern biographies we have seen, and has already done much to arouse an intelligent appreciation of Catholic asceticism both within the Church and without. Translations have been made into the German, Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch and Polish languages. Professor O’Rahilly has given us an unique story of one of the outstanding personalities of the Great War and at the same time a study in spirituality which is destined to rank among the classics of modern religious life.

Every once in a while a story comes across my screen that I feel is worth sharing- This priest reminds me of our good friend Venerable Father Walter Ciszek (see Blog Mar. 15, 2012).

FATHER HERMANN SCHEIPERS died June 2 at the venerable age of 102. He was the last Catholic priest imprisoned in the Dachauconcentration camp to die.

He was a young priest in 1940 when he was arrested by the Nazis. Dachau, near Munich, had a large population of priests: some 95% of the 2,720 clergymen imprisoned there were Catholic.

His work among young people, soon after his ordination, drew the attention of the Nazis. Because he was sympathetic to Polish forced laborers, celebrating Mass with them and hearing their confessions, he was arrested in 1940 and brought to Dachau five months later. His file stated the true reason for his arrest: “Scheipers is a fanatical proponent of the Catholic Church and thus likely to cause unrest among the population.”

Father Scheipers recalled the way the camp commander welcomed him and his fellow inmates: “You are without honor, without help and without rights. Here, you can either work or perish.”

Father wore the number 24255 on his prison uniform and worked along side the other prisoners as slave laborers. “The only thing one could do was escape or pray,” Father Scheipers recalled in his memoirs, Balancing Act – Priest Under Two Dictatorships. In an interview in 2009 with Greg Hayes, Father Scheipers described the horrors of living and working in this death camp. In spite of the hard life Father Scheipers was always aware of the closeness of God.

At one point he was in danger of being sent to the gas chamber, but was spared death when his twin sister, Anna, pleaded with officials in Berlin, warning them of a strong reaction among the Catholic population if the execution was carried out. The courageous Anna also helped save around 500 other priests from the gas chambers.

Fr. Hermann Scheipers in 2011, photographed in Dresden on the occasion of the beatification of Alojs Andritzki, who was killed in Dachau in 1943. Father Scheipers and Blessed Alojs were both in the camp’s sickbay with typhoid fever for some time.

A fellow priest was not as lucky, and years later, Father Scheipers would movingly recall how he gave him his ration of bread before he was taken to his death. “Every time when I celebrate Mass and break the bread, I think of that,” he said.

In April of 1945, Father Scheipers managed to escape from a death march towards Bad Tölz. It was in Bad Tölz that Amon Goeth, commandant of the Nazi concentration camp in Płaszów, in German-occupied Poland during World War II, was arrested and sent for trial in Poland.

After the war Father returned to his former place of work in the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen. There he resisted those in power in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). When Father Scheipers found his Stasi file after the fall of communism, he discovered that 15 spies had been on his case and that a trial against him for distributing subversive propaganda was to be convened. “I was in Dachau for the exact same reasons,” he said. Basically all for being a Catholic priest trying to spread the gospel of Christ!

Another Jesuit who knew our last saint to be, Father Willie Doyle, is VENERABLE FATHER JOHN SULLIVAN,SJ(1861-1933). He was an Irish Catholic priest widely known for his life of prayer and personal sacrifice. He is recognized for his dedicated work with the poor and afflicted, spending much of his time walking and cycling to visit those who were troubled, sick and dying in the villages in County Kildare, Ireland where he taught from 1907 until his death. From the 1920s onwards many people testified to the healing power of his prayers although he never claimed any credit for himself.

John Sullivan was born into a wealthy Dublin family. His father Edward, a Protestant, was a successful barrister who would later become the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. His mother, Elizabeth Bailey, was a Catholic from a prominent land-owning family in Passage West, County Cork. He was the youngest of five children and grew up in privilege in late 19th Century Dublin society, raised as a Protestant as was traditional in Ireland at the time for sons of Protestant fathers and Catholic mothers. Following in his father's footsteps, John read classics at Trinity College Dublin.

John was received into the Catholic Church on 21 December 1896 by Father Michael Gavin SJ at Farm St Church Mayfair, in central London. He began his Jesuit novitiate in 1900 at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg in County Offaly (we once had a land program young woman from this almost unknown county). On completion of his novitiate he was sent for two years of philosophical study to St. Mary's Hall Stonyhurst, the philosophical seminary of the English province of the Jesuit Order. In 1904 at the end of his philosophy he went to Milltown Park, Dublin for his theology studies and was ordained a Jesuit priest by Archbishop Walsh in the chapel at Milltown Park in 1907. He said his first mass at the convent of the Irish Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Anne's, Milltown.

Soon after he took up a teaching post at Clongowes Wood College the Jesuit secondary boarding school for boys near Clane, Co. Kildare. From 1919 until 1924 he was Rector of the Juniorate and Retreat House at Rathfarnham Castle on the outskirts of Dublin. He then returned to teaching at Clongowes Wood College.

In February 1933 after suffering severe abdominal pains he was transferred from Clongowes to St. Vincent's Nursing Home in Lower Leeson St. Dublin. He died on 19 February 1933, aged 71 with his brother Sir William Sullivan at his side. He was buried in Clongowes Wood Cemetery.

Father Sullivan’s priestly life was one of prayer, personal sacrifice, care for his students, and, most especially, concern for the ill and the poor. He spent hours in prayer on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament or in his room praying the Rosary. Many more hours were spent walking the roads of Ireland to pray for the sick, especially those with incurable illnesses. From the 1920s until his death in 1933, there were many instances of spiritual and physical healing through the mediation of his prayers.


Fr. John- back right- to his left is Fr. Willie Doyle

While his cause for beatification and canonization is under consideration, many who knew him already consider him a saint. Father Sullivan often blessed the sick using his vow crucifix; today the crucifix is kept in St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Gardiner Street, where it still used to bless the sick who seek Father Sullivan’s intercession.

I recently finished two excellent books I recommend to everyone.

Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor and Laughter are at the Heart of the Spiritual Lifeby James Martin, S.J. who is the cultural editor of Americamagazine. Someone called Father Martin one of the funniest, joyous, most light-hearted religious figures in America today.

He writes: Indeed, the more you know about the actual lives of the saints, the more it strikes you as bizarre that so many statues, paintings and mosaics of the saints show them as unsmiling men and women. These are surely misrepresentations of the holy men and women of Christian history, many of whom were not only joyful but had terrific senses of humor.

Father Martin recalls episodes in his own life where a Christian sense of humor has saved the day for him personally, as well as for others he was ministering to. Often times, the humor came from a friend, a brother Jesuit, or even a stranger, who was able to make an unbearable situation bearable.

As Christians, we should wear our joy on our sleeve, showing a very pessimistic world that we believe in the Resurrection. Joy shows our trust in God, and joy reveals our faith.

The second book, My Life with the Saints, also by Father Martin, deals with some of the saints who touched his own life as a Jesuit. (Among them are St. Therese, Mother Teresa, Pedro Arrupe (whom I love), and Pope John XXIII.

After reading this I thought it would be interesting to find some joyous saints on my own. The lives of the Saints give us concrete examples of living heroic Christian lives. In each of their lives, they manifest important characteristics of what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Some saints were known specifically for their rich sense of humor. ST. PHILIP NERI,a 16th-century Italian priest, for example, was called “The Humorous Saint.” Over his door he posted a small sign that read, “The House of Christian Mirth.” En route to a ceremony in his honor, he once shaved off half his beard, as a way of poking fun at himself. “Christian joy is a gift from God, flowing from a good conscience,” he said. And “A heart filled with joy is more easily made perfect than one that is sad.”

Much of St. Philip Neri’s humor was a way of keeping him humble, as he engaged in what could only be called acts of public silliness, like wearing a cushion on his head like a turban and wearing a foxtail coat in the middle of the summer.

"We are not saints yet, but we, too, should beware. Uprightness and virtue do have their rewards, in self-respect and in respect from others, and it is easy to find ourselves aiming for the result rather than the cause. Let us aim for joy, rather than respectability. Let us make fools of ourselves from time to time, and thus see ourselves, for a moment, as the all-wise God sees us."

St. Philip Neri

ST. FRANCIS de SALES, the 17th-century bishop of Genevaand renowned spiritual master, espoused what you might call a sensible, cheerful and gentle spirituality. “When you encounter difficulties and contradictions, do not try to break them, but bend them with gentleness and time,” he once wrote. His humane approach to spiritual matters stood in contrast to some of the rigidity of his day. So did his desire to help lay people live a life of deep spirituality- when “real” spirituality was thought to be the province of clerics. His classic text Introduction to the Devout Life was written specifically to help laypeople on their path to God.

ST. JOHN VIANNEY (Patron of the parish priest) learned how to appreciate a good laugh growing up in a happy home. When he would be out doing work on the farm with siblings and friends, he sought to make that time enjoyable and learned a peasant's sense of comic irony. During his time as a priest, he discovered that jocularity was often a very useful way to package some messages that, if stated directly, might wound others' sensibilities.

Much of his best humor was of the humbly self-deprecating kind. When asked once to describe himself at a gathering of clergy, many of whom were seeking positions of importance, he said, "I am like the zeros that have value only when they are next to other numbers." St. John Vianney had a truly Christian view of life and through his humor demonstrated that the Gospel was actually "good news of great joy for all the people."

In our own age we had POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II, who radiated a joy to the whole world. He once said God made us for joy! He loved people of all nationalities and religions, young and old, smiling and laughing with them, exuding joy wherever he went. In spite of much physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering he still radiated the joy of Christ, certainly and example to us all.

Other saints in our day and age present us with the idea that joy is what we should strive for in our spiritual life. St. Pio of Pietrelcina said, "Joy, with peace, is the sister of charity. Serve the Lord with laughter."

Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Everyone should see goodness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile. Joy shows from the eyes. It appears when we speak and walk. It cannot be kept closed inside us. It reacts outside. Joy is very infectious.”

The Holy Father is in ARMENIA, a place I know little about, but feel a distant “bond” through my Mother. She grew up in Fresno, California where many Armenians came after WWI to settle. From them she learned cooking and to this day I love their foods: Roasted lamb shanks with vegetables, pilaf, stuffed grape leaves, etc. She had this one great cookbook (this is in the late 1940s) which said if you wanted yogurt (rarely found in a supermarket) go to the phone book and find a name that ended in "ian". They would probably have homemade yogurt, essential for many dishes.

I felt the Holy Father's message one which can be said of many peoples over the centuries, but has resonating in this day and in this time. Pope Francis recalled “the sufferings that are among the most terrible that humanity records”-- a reference to the Armenian Genocide.

45 Martyrs at Nicopolis in Armenia

“I come as a pilgrim, in this Jubilee Year, to draw on the ancient wisdom of your people and to steep myself the sources of your faith, which is steadfast as your famous crosses carved in stone,” the Pope said. “Your history and the events of your beloved people stir in me admiration and sorrow: admiration, for you have found in Jesus’ Cross and in your own wits, the wherewithal ever to pick yourselves up and start anew.”

Nowitzki Tramonto- Philippines

One of the problems in our Church today, is that many who receive weekly RCIA learn the tenets of our faith, but since there is so little time to cram in 2000 years of rich history, there is little emphasis on the saints, who should be our intercessors and examples of how to live a holy life, no matter our station in life. Sometimes we read their lives and say, well that was all fine and good then, but what about here and now?

The Magnificat (which I highly recommend to all Catholics and Christians) does a wonderful job of introducing us to old and new heavenly friends, who can pray for us, offer us comfort and basically intercede for us in our daily life.

St Paul in Ephesians (1:15 & 18) tells us: wherefore I also, hearing of your faith that is the Lord Jesus, and of your love towards all the saints…. The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…

Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners: but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the domestics of God. (2:19)

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In the book of Revelation, we read: "[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God" (Rev. 8:3-4).

N. Tramonto

People can ask why we pray to the saints when we can ask the Lord directly for what we need? The intercession the saints in heaven does not interfere with Christ’s unique mediatorship .

Of course, we should pray directly to Christ with every pressing need we have. The prayers of the Mass, the central act of Catholic worship, are directed to God and Jesus, not the saints. But this does not mean that we should not also ask our fellow Christians, including those in heaven, to pray with us.

Since the practice of asking others to pray for us is so highly recommended in Scripture, it cannot be regarded as superfluous on the grounds that one can go directly to Jesus. The New Testament would not recommend it if there were not benefits coming from it. One such benefit is that the faith and devotion of the saints can support our own weaknesses and supply what is lacking in our own faith and devotion.

Personally, I could use all the help I can get in this life, so if I have friends in heaven who can intercede for me, all the better. And as to His Mother (mine also) I trust her intercession more than any. As a spouse of Christ, why should I not ask my “mother-in-law” to help me out in my relationship with her Son?

Wassily Kandinsky- Russia

In addition to our prayers directly to God and Jesus (which are absolutely essential to the Christian life), there are abundant reasons to ask our fellow Christians in heaven to pray for us. The Bible indicates that they are aware of our prayers, that they intercede for us, and that their prayers are effective (else they would not be offered). It is only narrow-mindedness that suggests we should refrain from asking our fellow Christians in heaven to do what we already know them to be anxious and capable of doing.

Communion of Saints- Elise Ritter- USA

O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

from “For All the Saints,” William W. How, 1864

Los Angeles Cathedral

MERCYtells us who God is. It is expressed most fully in the person of Jesus Christ, but also in the lives of the saints. The saints depended on God’s mercy and freely shared it with others. They knew that mercy is God’s loving forgiveness and that every person needs it to become who God calls them to be.

Our popes have reminded us again and again that Jesus calls us to be merciful. Pope St. John XXIII (feast Oct. 23) was convinced that in our present age what was needed more than anything was what he called “ the medicine of mercy”.

Pope St. John Paul II (feast Oct.22) can be called the “pope of mercy.” He lived a life of love and forgiveness in words and actions. As cardinal archbishop of Krakow, where St. Faustina (Oct. 5) lived and died, he promoted the message of Divine Mercy. As Holy Father, he canonized her and instituted Divine Mercy Sunday to instill in our hearts the assurance of God’s mercy to us all.

As we look to the saints in this Year of Mercy, we must first look to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother of Mercy (Sep. 24), for her example and intercession. She who stood at the foot of the cross, where the greatest act of mercy was accomplished, inspires and helps us to bring God’s mercy to a world so in need. Throughout the history of our Church, holy men and women have demonstrated the transforming power of mercy. We are inspired by looking at their lives

In past Blogs we have looked at the great saints of Molokaiwho gave their lives to the lepers: Damien, Marianne Cope and more recently Joseph Dutton.

Our own founder St. Benedict (July 11) was noted for his hospitality and gave us the mandate that all should be received as Christ. St. Vincent de Paul (Sept. 27) dedicated his life to the poor (we still know his name by the Society which ministers to the needy over 500 years after his death).

In our own day, soon to be canonized (Sept. 4) Mother Teresa of Calcuttaalso gave her life to the unwanted. St. Maximilian Kolbe (Aug. 14) gave his life that another might live. St. Giuseppe Moscati (Nov. 16), patron of physicians, gave his life for the poor.

I invite you in this year dedicated to Mercy to look up the lives of some of the above mentioned saints or find ones of your own. You can only be inspired by their love of Christ and humanity!

AnotherBenedictine will be added to the roster of saints. In a June 14 audience with the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis approved the publication of decrees that advance decrees on the heroic virtues of seven Servants of God, who may now be honored with the title “Venerable”, among them is BERNARDO of the ANNUNCIATION (Bernardo de Vasconcelos, 1902-32), a Portuguese Benedictine monk and mystic poet.

He was born in 1902 in in São Romão do Corgo, Braga, Portugal.

He studied at the University of Coimbra, Portugaland was a Member of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. He was very devoted to Adoration of the Holy Eucharist. He was alsoeditor of a journal devoted to democracy. In 1925, discerning a call to religious life, he entered the Monastery of St. Benedict of Singeverga, which was founded in 1892. Later he was sent to the Abbey of Mont-César in Belgium to study theology, but soon had to return home, having contracted tuberculosis.

He died before ordination, 4 July 1932 in Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal of spinal tuberculosisand is buried at the São Romão do Corgo parish church.

Although he died young, he left a large body of Catholic poetic work. He was responsible for many conversions, including the poet Teixera Pascoaes. His book Song of Love, was published on the day of his death.

The archbishop of Braga says he is a model and inspiration to youth today. He was a “young man in love with Christ.”

This month we had our local youth here to help with haying, building and praying. Some will be going to Poland at the end of the month for WYD and then on to other shrines in Europe such as Lourdes in Franceand Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We know from the past that the youth never return the same. The experience is life changing for them. We pray this year's youth have the same deepening of their faith. Having visited Kraków some years ago (and attending early morning Mass in the Cathedral of Pope St. John Paul II), I can say that this burial site of many saints is a wondrous place to visit and pray in.

WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016 (WYD 2016)is an international Catholic event focused on faith and youth, due to be celebrated from July 25–31, 2016 in Kraków, Poland, organized by the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis announced at the end of the closing Mass of the previous World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro that Kraków, Poland will be the venue for World Youth Day 2016. This will be the second World Youth Day hosted by Poland, the first being the World Youth Day 1991 held in Czestochowa. World Youth Day began with Pope St. John Paul II's invitation to young people in 1984 to come to Rome for Palm Sunday. More than 300,000 turned out for the celebration. The following year coincided with the United Nations International Year of Youth. Then on December 20, the Holy Father announced the first official WYD meeting for 1986. The 2016 World Youth Day in Kraków will mark 30-years since first official World Youth Day gathering.

Kraków

World Youth Day played a special role in Pope St. John Paul II's papacy, and both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have carried on the World Youth Days instituted by the saint – as a symbol of hope for young people. 2.5 million people are expected.

According to Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Metropolitan Bishop of the Diocese of Kraków, World Youth Day 2016 will be particularly significant as a tribute to Pope St. John Paul II, founder of the World Youth Day, as Kraków was his home. As he is such a popular saint in Poland, canonized on 27 April 2014, Cardinal Dziwisz said that the news of hosting another World Youth Day in Poland has been met with "enthusiasm", and all Catholic dioceses in Poland will be supporting the event.

Special activities will relate to the Saint's devotion to the Merciful Jesus (Divine Mercy) based on St. Mary Faustina Kowalska’s apparitions and message.

Wawel Cathedral

“God, merciful Father,
in your Son, Jesus Christ, you have revealed your love
and poured it out upon us in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
We entrust to you today the destiny of the world and of every man and woman”.
We entrust to you in a special way
young people of every language, people and nation:
guide and protect them as they walk the complex paths of the world today
and give them the grace to reap abundant fruits
from their experience of the Krakow World Youth Day.

Heavenly Father,
grant that we may bear witness to your mercy.
Teach us how to convey the faith to those in doubt,
hope to those who are discouraged,
love to those who feel indifferent,
forgiveness to those who have done wrong
and joy to those who are unhappy.
Allow the spark of merciful love
that you have enkindled within us
become a fire that can transform hearts
and renew the face of the earth.

Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.
Saint John Paul II, pray for us.
Saint Faustina, pray for us.

It is always a joy to find someone up for sainthood who lived in our lifetime and so close to home!

BISHOP ALPHONSE GALLEGOS (1931-1991), O.A.R., was a Roman Catholic bishop who was declared Venerable this week by Pope Francis. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico where his father was a carpenter, and his mother a homemaker caring for their 11 children. He had a twin brother, Eloy, grew up in Watts, California and attended Manual Arts High School was confirmed by then auxiliary bishop Timothy Manning.

Venerable Alphonse attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City, graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas College in California (where several of our interns went to college) and St. John's University in New York and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. While a seminarian in Suffern, New York, his superiors learned that Venerable Gallegos was born with a severe myopic condition. He had eye surgery prior to entering the seminary but wore "Coke bottle thick glasses and was nearly blind.

Venerable Alphonse was ordained for the Augustinian Recollects on May 24, 1958. From 1970 to 1979 he served as pastor of San Miguel and Cristo Rey parishes in the Los Angeles diocese. He was transferred to Sacramento where he served from 1979 to 1981 as the first director of the Division of Hispanic Affairs of the California Catholic Conference.

On August 24, 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Venerable Alphonses auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, California as the titular bishop of Sasabe. He was ordained bishop on November 4, 1981 by Bishop Francis Quinnof San Francisco, who confirmed me (he was the uncle of one of my classmates, thus came to Los Angeles to confirm us).

On Oct. 6, 1991, Venerable Alphonse died when he was struck by a car by the side of the road while returning to Sacramento from Gridley, California. Because he was known as "the bishop of the barrio" approximately 300 lowrider cars drove in a procession before the bishop’s funeral Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The bishop was considered as an unofficial chaplain to lowriders and migrant workers..

He was a Knight and supporter of the unborn and in 1997, the city of Sacramento erected a statue of the bishop and named the surrounding square area in his memory.

On March 25, 2010, his remains were transferred to the parish he resided in as an auxiliary bishop. This parish is the Sanctuary of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to whom he had a great devotion.

Dennis Marx, OSB- Mt Angel Abbey, OR

It is unfortunate that no contemporary biography was written of a man who has exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West. SAINT BENEDICT is well recognized in the later Dialogues of St. Gregory, but these are sketches to illustrate miraculous elements of his career.

St. Benedict was born into a distinguished family in central Italy, studied at Romeand early in life was drawn to the monastic life. At first he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world—pagan armies on the march, the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a low ebb (sounds like a world we know today).

He soon realized that he could not live a hidden life in a small town any better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the mountains for three years. Some monks chose him as their leader for a while, but found his strictness not to their taste. Still, the shift from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, permanent worship in one house. Finally he began to build what was to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world—Monte Cassino, commanding three narrow valleys running toward the mountains north of Naples.

The Rule that gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labor and living together in community under a common father (abbot). Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding countryside. In the course of the Middle Ages, all monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Rule of St. Benedict.

The Church has been blessed through Benedictine devotion to the liturgy, not only in its actual celebration with rich and proper ceremony in the great abbeys, but also through the scholarly studies of many of its members. Liturgy is sometimes confused with guitars or choirs, Latin or Bach. We should be grateful to those who both preserve and adapt the genuine tradition of worship in the Church.

“Rightly, then, the liturgy is considered as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy the sanctification of man is manifested by signs perceptible to the senses...; in the liturgy full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.

From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body the Church, is a sacred action, surpassing all others” (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 7).

Some interesting art for the feast of St. Benedict by a Benedictine Oblate, one who influenced Catholic art in the USA.

Born in 1920 in St. Paul, FRANK KACMARIKwon a scholarship to the MinneapolisSchoolof Art, where his painting and typography courses had a lifelong influence on him.

Frank entered St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesotain 1941. His mentor was an Austrian monk who inspired him to regard his artwork as an authentic ministry. When he left the monastery to serve in World War II, he was stationed in Western Europe, where he observed the magnificent cathedrals, monasteries, and museums.

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He eventually studied further both at MCAD and in Paris, returning in 1950 to teach at St. John's. While there, he worked with the great Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer on the design of the landmark Abbey church. He and Marcel became close friends, and Marcel designed a home and studio for Frank in St. Paul, refusing payment for the work.

Frank won over sixty national and international awards in book design and the graphic arts. He had a widespread influence in church design and communications after the liberalizations of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

His own collection of fine and rare books, manuscripts, fine art prints, and religious art objects, which he called Arca Atrium, "The Ark of the Arts"—was donated. to St. John's as a scholarly resource.prints

MCAD awarded Kacmarcik an Alumni Achievement Award in 1999. He died in 2004.

Continuing with the theme of great Jesuits I give you one of my favorites, a man of astute insight and humility
.

PEDRO ARRUPE, SJ,was the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus, leading the Society in the realities of serving the Church and people in the post-Vatican II world. Father Arrupe was a man of great spiritual depth who was committed to justice.

Father Arrupe was born in the Basque region of Spainin 1907. After some years of medical training, he entered the Jesuits in 1927. In 1932, the Republican government in Spain expelled the Jesuits from the country. Father Arrupe continued his studies in Belgium, Holland, and the United States. After being ordained, he was sent to Japanin 1938 where he hoped to work as a missionary for the rest of his life.

After the December 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese security forces arrested Father Arrupe on suspicion of espionage. He was kept in solitary confinement. He described the privation and uncertainty he suffered as he waited for the disposition of his case. He missed celebrating the Eucharist most of all. In the midst of his suffering, Father Arrupe experienced a special moment of grace. On Christmas night, 1941, he heard a group of people gathering outside his cell door. He could not see them and wondered if the time of his execution had come.

“Suddenly, above the murmur that was reaching me, there arose a soft, sweet, consoling Christmas carol, one of the songs which I had myself taught to my Christians. I was unable to contain myself. I burst into tears. They were my Christians who, heedless of the danger of being themselves imprisoned, had come to console me.” (Pedro Arrupe: Essential Writings, Kevin Burke, Maryknoll)

After the few minutes of song, Father Arrupe reflected in the presence of Jesus, who would soon descend onto the altar during the Christmas celebration: “I felt that he also descended into my heart, and that night I made the best spiritual communion of all my life.”

When the security forces came after 33 days to release him from captivity, he was convinced that they were coming to execute him. The experience of captivity filled him with a deep inner calm founded on a radical trust in God.

Father Arrupe moved to Nagatsuka, on the outskirts of Hiroshima, where he resumed his duties as the master of novices for the Japanese mission. On August 6, 1945, he heard the sirens wail as a single American B-29 bomber flew over the city. He did not think much of it and expected to hear the all-clear siren soon. Instead he heard an enormous explosion and felt the concussion that blew in the doors and windows of his residence.

Moving outside Father Arrupe and his colleagues saw the first of the 200,000 casualties of the atomic bomb. Walking up the hill they saw the city of Hiroshimaturning into a lake of fire.

Father Arrupe decided to use his medical training to help whomever he could. He and his colleagues were able to give aide to 150 victims. Knowing nothing of the dangers of atomic radiation, they were perplexed and distressed at the many deaths of people who seemed to have no external injuries. He and his fellow Jesuits had only the most basic food and medical supplies and had to care for people without anesthetics or modern drugs. Nevertheless, of the 150 people whom they were able to take in, only one boy died from the effects of his injuries.

When visiting a Jesuit province in Latin America, Pedro Arrupe celebrated the Mass in a suburban slum, the poorest in the region. He was moved by the attentiveness and respect with which the people celebrated the Mass. His hands trembled as he distributed communion and watched the tears fall from the faces of the communicants.

Afterwards, one man invited Father Arrupe to his home. The man’s home was a half-falling shack. The man seated him in a rickety chair and invited Father Arrupe to observe the setting sun with him. After the sun went down, the man explained that he was so grateful for what Father had brought to the community. The man wanted to share the only gift he had, the opportunity to share in the beautiful setting sun.

Father Arrupe reflected, “He gave me his hand. As I was leaving, I thought: ‘I have met very few hearts that are so kind.’”

Pedro Arrupe was serving as the Superior of the Jesuits’ JapaneseProvince when he was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus in 1965. He held the position until 1983.

As the 28th Superior, or “Father General,” it was his task to guide the community through the changes following Vatican II. He was most concerned that the Jesuits make a commitment to addressing the needs of the poor. His work resulted in the decree from the 32nd General Congregation, Our Mission Today: The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice, passed in 1975. This led the Jesuits, especially in Latin America, to work in practical ways with the poor. In spite of threats against their lives - threats that led to the murder of six priests in El Salvadorin 1989 - the Jesuits continued their justice work with the poor, with Father Arrupe’s support.

His belief in justice informed his understanding of the goal of Jesuit education. He said:

Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-and-women-for-others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ—for the God-human who lived and died for all the world; men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.

In 1981 Father Arrupe suffered a debilitating stroke. An appointee named by Pope John Paul II served as interim superior until 1983, when Father Arrupe was forced to resign. He was wheeled in to the opening session of the 33rd General Congregation, and his final prayer was read to the community.

"More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands."

Recently I did the Blog on. Alfred Delp, SJ. In the biography it mentionsBL. RUPERT MAYERone of Father Alfred’s mentors. He was born on 23 January 1876 in Stuttgart, Germany. On completing his secondary education he told his father he wanted to be a Jesuit. His father suggested he get ordained first and enter the Jesuits later, if that was still his wish. Rupert took this advice studying philosophy and theology before completing his final year at the seminary in Rottenburg. He was ordained on 2 May 1899 and celebrated his first Mass two days later.

He served for a year as a curate in Spaichingen before entering the Jesuit novitiate at Feldkirch in Austriaon 1 Oct 1900. Following his novitiate, he went to the Netherlands for further studies between 1906 and 1911. He then traveled through Germany, Switzerlandand the

Netherlands

, preaching missions in many parishes.

Bl. Rupert’s real apostolate began when he was transferred to Munich in 1912. There he devoted the rest of his 31 years to migrants who came to the city from farms and small towns looking for a job and a place to stay. He was totally committed to their needs- collecting food and clothing, looking for jobs and places for them to live. He also helped them preserve their Christian faith in a city which was rapidly becoming secular.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Bl. Rupert at first offered his services to a camp hospital. But later was made Field Captain and travelled together with his men to France, Poland and Romania which brought him to the front line of battle. His courage and solidarity with his men became legendary. He was with them in the trenches and stayed with the dying to the very end. His courage was infectious and gave hope to his men in appalling conditions. In Dec. 1915 he was awarded the Iron Cross for bravery, a rare honor for a chaplain. His army career ended abruptly in 1916 when a badly broken leg had to be amputated.

Military Chaplain

By the time he had fully recovered the war was over (1918) and he returned to Munich doing all he could to help people get back to a normal life. In November 1921 he became director of a Marian Congregation (Sodality of Our Lady) for men and within nine years its membership had grown to 7,000, coming from 53 different parishes. This meant that Bl. Rupert had to give up to 70 talks a month to reach all of them. For the convenience of travelers, he introduced Sunday Masses in 1925 at the main railway station. He himself would celebrate the earliest Masses, beginning at 3.10 a.m. In time, it could be said that the whole city of Munich had become his parish.

With huge social problems developing in Germanyafter World War I, Munichsaw the rise of Communist and other social movements. Bl. Rupert took a close interest in these. He attended their meetings and even addressed them. His aim was to highlight Christian principles and to point out the fallacies in other speakers’ ideas which could mislead people. He was one of the first to recognize the dangers of Hitler and Nazism challenging Nazi policy with Christian principles. It was inevitable that he would come in conflict with the Nazi movement.

When Hitler became chancellor of the Reich in 1933, he began to shut down church-affiliated schools and began a campaign to discredit the religious orders. Preaching in St Michael’s Church in downtown Munich, Bl. Rupert denounced these moves. As a very influential voice in the city, the Nazis could not allow him to continue his attacks on them. On 16 May 1937, the Gestapo ordered Bl. Rupert to stop speaking in public places. This he did but continued to preach in church. Two weeks later he was arrested and put in prison for six weeks. At his trial he was found guilty but given a suspended sentence. He then obeyed his superiors’ orders to remain silent but the Nazis took advantage of this to defame him in public. His superiors then allowed him to preach again in order to defend himself against the Nazis’ slanderous attacks. He was arrested six months later and served his formerly suspended sentence in Landsberg prison for five months. Then a general amnesty made it possible for him to return to Munich and work quietly in small discussion groups.

However, he was still seen as a threat and so was arrested again in November 1940 on the pretext that he had cooperated in a royalist movement. Now 63 years old, Rupert was sent to the notorious Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. After a few months, his health had deteriorated so badly that it was feared he might die in the camp and be seen as a martyr. So he was sent to stay in the beautiful Benedictine Abbey in Ettal, in the Bavarian Alps. Bl. Rupert spent his time there in prayer, leaving his future in the Lord’s hands. He remained in the abbey for almost six years until freed by American forces in May 1945.

He at once returned to Munich, where he received a hero’s welcome, and took up his pastoral work at St. Michael’s. However, the years in prison and the camp had undermined his health. On 1 Nov 1945 Bl. Rupert was celebrant at the 8 a.m. Mass on the feast of All Saints in St Michael’s. He had just read the Gospel and began preaching on the Christian’s duty to imitate the saints, when he had a stroke and collapsed. Facing the congregation,”The Lord… the Lord… the Lord…” were his last words. He died shortly afterwards. He was 69 years old. He was buried in the Jesuit cemetery in Pullach, outside Munich but his remains were later brought back to the city and interred in the crypt of the Burgersaal, the church next to St Michael’s, where the men’s sodality regularly met.

With St. Benedicta of the Cross

In 1956, Pope Pius XII, who had personally known Rupert Mayer during his time as papal nuncio in Munich, awarded him the title Servant of God. Rupert Mayer was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 May 1987 in Munich. His grave was visited by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, whose parents had venerated him. He is remembered for his staunch opposition to Nazi inhumanity and for his selfless dedication in helping the poor.

Another amazing and interesting Jesuit for consideration is BROTHER VICENTE CANAS (1939- 1987) a Spanish missionary and Jesuit brother, who is credited with making the first peaceful contact with the Enawene NaweIndian tribe in

Brazil

in 1974. He lived with them for over ten years, adopting their way of life and helping them with necessary medical supplies. Due to his help, this indigenous people rebounded from a low 97 individuals to a population of over 430. Similar to Chico Mendes and Wilson Pinheiro, he died at the hands of cattle ranchers who are destroying the Amazon Rainfores.

Brother Canas helped the Enawene Nawe secure lands they considered necessary for their survival. In spite of receiving death threats from land owners and cattle ranchers, he successfully lobbied the Brazilian government for the territory to be officially granted for use by the tribe.

The tribe was campaigning for the use of a tract of land known as the Rio Preto, an important fishing area, which was omitted from inclusion in their original territory. They received numerous death threats from the local cattle ranchers subsequent to their lobbying.

The cultural survival of the Enawene Nawe is under constant threat. Their most pressing problem is the location of 5 mini hydroelectric generators located in the JuruenaRiver, which is decreasing the native fish population. Because of this, the performing of the celebrated Yakwa festival may soon become impossible, putting at risk the heart of their rich religious tradition.

The Rio Preto (Adawina/Adowina) region has still not been demarcated, despite many years of work by the Enawene Nawe and a local indigenist NGO, OPAN (Operação Amazonia Nativa).

These threats are because of what Brother Vicente (Kiwxi) saw all those years ago - colonization of the state of Mato Grosso and Amazonia by soya mono-culturalists led by the Maggi family.

In 1987, a group of ranchers entered the home of Brother Vicente, near the village of the Enawene Nawe tribe, and stabbed him to death. Subsequently, the investigation into his murder was marred by corruption and incompetence and none of the 6 suspected murderers people were initially charged.

Nineteen years after his murder, the trial of those accused of killing him began in Cuiabá, capital of Mato Grosso state. The landmark trial began on the 24th of October 2006 and as of this date, the outcome has not been determined. Three men, which include the former police chief are finally on trial. Two of the other accused murderers have long since died and a third man has been deemed "too old" to stand trial.

Brother Vicente Canas Costa was born on October 22, 1939 in Alborea in Albacete, Spain. He entered the Jesuits on April 21, 1961 and quickly became the head of the Provincial Jesuit Brothers of Aragón, who were subsequently directed to travel to

Brazil

. He arrived in

Brazil

on January 19, 1966 and worked with both the Beiço-de-pau and the Miky indigenous tribes, watching as their populations were decimated due to contact with Europeans and the illnesses the Europeans brought. After taking his final vows on August 15, 1975, he first came into contact with the “Benedictines of the forest,” or the Enawenê-Nawê Indians. He began living with them in an attempt to protect their land and provide healthcare to them in 1977.

Brother Vicente was found dead on May 16, 1987 in his cabin next to the JuruemaRiver in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. He was stabbed to death by people who desired the land of the Enawenê-Nawê and realized that they would never obtain it while Brother Vicente was alive to defend it. His estimated date of death was April 6, 1987. His murderers, have still not been brought to justice.

NEW PATRONESS FOR CONTEMPLATIVES

NEW AMERICAN SAINT

NEW HAMPSHIRE'S FIRST SAINT?

JESUIT MARTYR WHO LOVED THE HEART OF JESUS

ANOTHER SAINT of MERCY - JESUIT WORKER

IRISH JESUIT- HERO OF THE TRENCHES

CHRIST AT DACHAU

IRISH JESUIT of the POOR

JOYFUL JESUIT

ARMENIA

OUR MERCIFUL FRIENDS

SAINTS OF MERCY

BENEDICTINE MODEL FOR TODAY'S YOUTH

TODAY'S YOUTH CELEBRATE

NEW CALIFORNIA SAINT

ST. BENEDICT AND THE LITURGY

OBLATE ARTIST

JESUIT LEADER FOR JUSTICE

ANOTHER JESUIT BLESSED

JESUIT AMONG THE NATIVES