island life- in a monastery

New Pope Francis

What is it about the election of a new Pope that has the world watching? No other spiritual leader garners such attention. While Catholics seem to be reviled, criticized, and sometimes made fun of, the world, nevertheless, seems spellbound by the Church.

The smoke was white! As we watched, waiting, for the announcement of our new Pope, I gazed in awe at the TV in front of us, wondering how many thousands had managed to crowd into the square at St. Peter's, and how many, like my Community, were glued to their TVs. Every major TV network around the world was plugged into this event and when the Pope was announced the commentator had information on the man and his background already at hand.

When we later watched the Installation of the Holy Father and His first Mass, I was awe struck by how many different languages came into play. Interest in the papal election extends beyond the confines of the Catholic Church in the weeks leading to the conclave. For many people of faith who are not Catholic, the transition from Pope Benedict to a new leader is worth watching because many times what the leader of the Catholic Church says affects all Christians.

The direction the new pope takes his flock is of great importance for committed Catholics, but the papacy is also closely watched by other faiths. The pope wields vast influence as the world's most powerful moral leader. A few weeks after the installation of the Holy Father, "our" Mormons were here for their annual work on the land with us. Their bishop commented on how we share so much in terms of morality and ideals.

The leadership and voice of the Catholic Church in the person of the pope on issues of peace and economic justice is very important. For the Christian church as a whole, Catholic social teaching is one of the most coherent bodies of thought on the role of the church in the world," said Duane Shank, an Anabaptist who is senior policy adviser at Sojourners, a Washington-based Christian organization committed to faith in action for social justice.

The Catholic Church "is an unbroken link to the first-century Roman church for all Christians, no matter our denomination. ... No matter if we are Eastern or Western Christians, no matter how Protestant or Anabaptist some of us are, the church of Rome is still in some way our mother church...People are very hopeful about the future at these times of transitions", said Shank"

People are hopeful that Pope Francis will not only build on the legacy of Pope Benedict, of peace building around the world, but that certain divisions can be bridged between people of different races and religions, something certainly needed not only in other nations but especially our own.

The Rev. Miguel De La Torre, a Southern Baptist minister and professor of social ethics at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, watched events unfold after Pope Benedict's resignation from the perspective of a Cuban-American who was raised Catholic. He said the words of a pope are watched worldwide and influences the actions of bishops and priests as well.

"When you speak in the name of an entire people, the universal church, what you say has deep political ramifications that could either help people of all faiths or become a burden to people of all faiths," said Rev. De La Torre.

The first days of Pope Francis have given us tantalizing tidbits of anecdotes that whet our appetite for more. He took the bus back to the hotel with his fellow cardinals rather than going in an available limousine. He packed his own bags and paid his own hotel bill. We know of the stories of his refusal to live in the bishops' residence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as cardinal, and how he cooked his own meals and used public transportation. For the present he has chosen to live in simplicity rather than in the papal apartments. The very choice of Francis for the papal name illustrates a devotion to the poor and social justice. These are actions the world finds appealing. He is also a man of deep prayer, which we contemplatives find even more appealing.

Episcopal and papal coats of arms have a long history in the Church, dating back to the Middle Ages. From the Vatican’s website:

There is an at least 800-year-old tradition for Popes to have their own personal coat of arms, in addition to the symbols proper to the Apostolic See. Particularly during the Renaissance and the centuries that followed, it was customary to mark with the arms of the reigning Supreme Pontiff all his principal works. Indeed, Papal coats of arms appear on buildings and in various publications, decrees and documents.

Popes often used their family shield or composed their own with symbols indicating their ideal of life or referring to past events or experiences, or even elements connected with specific Pontifical programs. At times, they even added a variant to a shield that they had adopted on becoming a Bishop.

In his spirit of poverty and humility, our Holy Father Pope Francis has chosen to use the coat of arms which he used as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, with the addition of the papal symbols of a bishops' miter and gold and silver-crossed keys.

The shield has a bright blue background, at the center top of which is a yellow radiant sun with the IHS Christogram on it representing Jesus (IHS are the first three letters in Greek for the name of Jesus and also the Jesuit logo).

The IHS monogram, as well as a cross that pierces the H, are in red with three black nails directly under them. Under that, to the left, is a gold star representing the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and the Church. To the right of the star is a nard flower ( following blog on this) representing St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. With these symbols the Pope demonstrates his love for the Holy Family.

Below the seal is Pope Francis’s motto, the same motto he chose as a bishop: “Miserando atque eligendo.” Meaning “lowly but chosen,” the motto is translated from Latin as “because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him” and references the story of Jesus choosing the tax collector, Matthew, as one of his apostles.

St. Bede the Venerable first used this motto in his homily about the calling of St. Matthew by Jesus, focusing on divine mercy. Jesus saw the tax collector, Matthew, sitting at a customs post and said to him, “Follow me.” St. Bede explained, “Jesus saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with his merciful understanding of men.”

Jesus calls Matthew

This homily has taken on special significance in the Pope's life and spiritual journey.It was on the Feast of St. Matthew in 1953 that a young, seventeen-year-old Jorge Bergoglio was touched by the mercy of God and felt the call to religious life in the footsteps of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

He is now known as the humble pontiff with a practical approach to poverty. His coat of arms shows us this in its "reuse", simplicity and in his love for the Holy Family as well as dedication to all families!.

Spikenard

People are asking what is this flower on the Holy Father's Coat of Arms, called nardo? There seems to even be confusion as to which plant it actually is. Perhaps as time goes by someone will get it sorted out for us!

Supposedly it is true spikenard and the Italian name for spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi) also called nard, is nardo. It is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. It is used in the manufacture of an intensely aromatic amber-colored essential oil. The oil has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, as a medicine and in religious contexts, particularly in connection with historical Judaism.

The Scriptures contain several references to spikenard:
In the Old Testament we have in the Song of Songs:

While the king was at his table, my spikenard sent, its fragrance. (1:12)

Song of Songs- Marc Chagall

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard...
Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. (4:12-14)

In the New Testament we have the story we had on the Monday in Holy Week where Mary, sister of Lazarus, uses a pound of pure nard to anoint Jesus's feet. Judas Iscariot, the keeper of the money-bag, asked why the ointment was not sold for three hundred denarii instead.

St. Joseph, patron of Families

In the Hispanic iconographic tradition of the Catholic Church, the spikenard is used to represent Saint Joseph, which is why Pope Francis includes the spikenard on his coat of arms.
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St. Joseph always seems to be associated with lilies in a variety of different ways so what is it about spikenard?

It would really help to know a Spanish iconographer, but there is one solitary hint that there may actually be something to connecting St. Joseph to nard. In a book of Spanish poetry, A Woman in Her Garden: Selected Poems, by Cuban, Dulce Maria Loynaz, is found this verse:

"Planted in your spell-bound earth, dry twigs turn to spikenard, white flower of Saint Joseph, the wedding flower."

There actually is a flower called nardo (Polianthes tuberosa, our tuberose). Nardo or Vara de San Jose (Staff of St. Joseph) is its common name in Spanish. It is originally from Mexico. Some statues or pictures of St. Joseph depict him with a staff with a flower on top. Most of the time the ones toward the bottom are in bloom and those at the top are closed.

In my Consecration crown I had this flower and everything around me smelled heavenly throughout my ceremony. When I made perfumes at the Abbey, this scent was often used in my formulae.

Tuberose or nardo

Nardo is a night blooming plant and is fragrant. It is about 18 inches long that produce waxy white flowers that bloom from the bottom towards the top. What is interesting in the Pope's Coat of Arms is that the nardo is represented before the flower is in full bloom. So what we see are clusters of unopened flowers because that is how it looks during the day since it blooms at night.

We associate St. Joseph with a Lily because what we are familiar with is the flower in bloom and we call it a Lily. That's not necessarily wrong because nardo is from the Lily family.

Retable

Since the flower is white it is a symbol of purity. The Fathers of the Church use nardo as a symbol of humility. Purity and Humility are of course virtues that we find in St. Joseph. And the staff is a symbol of his authority, since he was given authority as Foster father of Jesus.

Clare Cresap Villa

Based on the course of their lives and the circumstances surrounding them, saints often serve as "patrons" of certain peoples, places, things, and occupations, as they intercede for us before God.

A few years ago, I did a collage of KITCHEN SAINTS, ie. saints who are patrons of cooks and chefs. After much digging I found over 30 patrons of cooks, bakers and chefs. I gave it to Mother Catarina for Christmas and it now hangs in our large preserving kitchen on the farm.

Among the many patrons are:

St. Martha who prepared the meal as her sister Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. In spite of her complaints, Martha is known for her humility in her service to her Lord.

St. Lawrence, one of seven deacons under Pope St. Sixtus, was condemned to death by the Prefect of Rome. The story goes that as he was being grilled, he called out to those torturing him saying, ” Turn me over, I’m done on this side!”. Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic Faith may spread all over the world. Just before he died, he said, “It’s cooked enough now.”

St. Elizabeth of Hungary is patroness of bakers because she gave food, especially bread, to the poor.

St. Francis Caracciolo is the patron of chefs. Founder of the Clerics Regular Minor, he is an example of Eucharistic devotion for the nourishment of our souls.

St. Hildegard von Bingen had many ideas on how to eat healthily. Today, there is a revivalist culture around her teachings on how to eat to stay healthy, especially information of her medicinal and herbal remedies. She is called Germany's "first foodie".

In the Orthodox Church, we have St. Euphrosynus the Cook, a simple man, but a man of God. He served as the cook in a monastery in Palestine in the ninth century. One night, the spiritual father of this monastery saw himself in Paradise, and saw Euphrosynus there as well. Euphrosynus picked and gave him three apples from Paradise. When the spiritual father awoke, he saw three unusually beautiful and fragrant apples by his pillow. He quickly found Euphrosynus and asked him: "Where were you last night, brother"? "I was where you were, father,'' he replied.

St. Euphrosynus

The spiritual father then revealed the entire incident to the monks, and all recognized the sanctity and godliness of Euphrosynus. But Euphrosynus, fearing the praise of men, immediately fled the monastery and hid in the wilderness, where he spent the remainder of his life."

Even Dorothy Day, is mentioned as patroness of cooks due to her life of feeding the poor in our own country.

Perhaps the most famous (at least in our culture) is SAN PASQUEL (St. Paschal Baylon). He was a 16th century Spanish shepherd who became a Franciscan lay brother. He served his fellow Franciscans in various capacities in the monastery as shepherd, gardener, porter, and cook. Since childhood he had developed a deep sense of the presence of God and was particularly devoted to the Eucharist. San Pascual was known for his administrations to the poor and for his many miraculous cures.

Arturo Olivas

Gustavo V. Goler

Today San Pascual is chiefly known as a patron of the kitchen due to his work as a cook. Often in religious art he is shown dressed in the brown robes of a Franciscan with a cat at his side ( my favorite by C.C. Villa he holds a lamb).

The lovely thing about St. Paschal is the grace of recollection which often absorbed him as he went about his duties. Deeply united to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, he was on occasion favored with the grace of seeing the Holy Eucharist when unable to be present in church.

I find it interesting that early paintings do not show him in the kitchen but rather kneeling in rapt contemplation of the Eucharistic host suspended mid-air in a monstrance.

19th Century

19th C. Mexican

In the USA his image has become an ubiquitous element of “Santa Fe-inspired” décor.
Many are rendered in the traditional New Mexico Santo or religious Saint style. Santos have been depicted in this folk art style since the late 18th century.

Ann Burt

Virginia M. Romero

Victoria de Almeida

Jan Oliver

(I used to cross country ski at our Abbey)

A few years ago, a friend gave me a box of cards of some nuns skating. I then found the artist, MARGARET LOXTON,and, that she had painted many scenes with nuns- all fun! She was born in London in 1938 but only began painting in 1981 after her family had grown up.

Winter at the Convent (the card that started my search)

Skiing

Within three years of putting brush to canvas, she won the prestigious painting prize at the 1984 City of London Festival. While English to the core she was inspired by France and began painting seriously.
In 1986, she was invited to exhibit at several French museums, including the Musée Fabre, Montpelier, where she attracted the attention of the French media. During this time, she travelled the French countryside and developed a deep affection and empathy for the way of life she found there.

Tobogganing

Her work has been praised for its sense of color, strength of composition and gentle humor, and can now been found in numerous private collections around the world. Her work is much sort by private collectors throughout the world.

Walk

Her nuns look like Benedictines but I have not been able to find where she got her inspiration. She also loved painting sheep. Enjoy!


Windbreak


Nuns at Large


Bike Ride

Egino Weinert- German

This Sunday is known as GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY because, in each year of the liturgical cycle on this 4th Sunday of Easter, the Gospel of John is read where Jesus speaks of Himself as the "Good Shepherd".

There is a wonderful story of a young Scottish clergyman who took the much-loved 23rd Psalm as the subject of a talk to a group of children. There was a lot they didn't know, he told them. In fact they were pretty much like sheep themselves and, of course, sheep need a shepherd. He then asked the children who they thought the shepherd was, and after thinking about it a little while, one lad piped up, "Jesus is the shepherd." The young minister looked taken aback. "Then who am I?", he asked the child. "Oh, you're the sheep-dog; there's only one shepherd."

Julia Stankova- Bulgarian

The Ancient Israelites were a pastoral people and there were many shepherds among them. Many Old Testament heroes were shepherds, among them the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, the twelve tribes, Moses, and King David. In the New Testament, angels announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds, not to any of the rulers, religious leaders or rich people.

Where did Jesus get this notion of Good Shepherd? 'Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it. As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd. Ezekiel 34:11-12 & 23

Anjolie Ela Menon- India

Ion V. Danu- Canadian

While sheep have many positive qualities, they also have a bad reputation for being rather stupid because of their tendency to follow each other in what seems like pointless wandering. Sheep actually have about the same intelligence as cows and just a little less smarter than pigs, who we know are smarter than most dogs. Sheep group together because they are social animals and they can protect themselves better when they stick together. They’re not really dumb, they just have a hard time protecting themselves without a shepherd.

Fr. Vladimir Lysak- Canadian

It often amazes me when I hear bishops and priests giving homilies about sheep and shepherds. Believe me, they are clueless about these beasties as is anyone who has not had the joy (and pains) of raising them. The good shepherd knows his sheep and they know him. I can be away for some days and the Community never hears the sheep, but when I step out of the car and call, they all bleat.

I have often thought it amazing that Jesus who called Himself our Good Shepherd became the Lamb of God. "The good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep."

Here are some wonderful modern images of the Good Shepherd from around the world.

Gloria Ssali- Uganda & UK

Zaki Baboun- Palestinian

Hanna Varghese- Malaysia

Fr. John Guliani- USA

Sieger Koder- German Priest

As a young girl

As I mentioned in an earlier blog many of us in the monastery grew up on CARYLL HOUSELANDER. She was an English laywoman, who had a very definite sense of her vocation to awaken others to the presence of Christ in the world. This conviction was implanted from her childhood by a series of mystical experiences that continued throughout her life. I remember reading a story of a Bavarian nun that the young school children would tease. One day Caryll found her weeping in the back of the cloak closet cleaning mud from the children's shoes. Caryll saw the nun’s head weighed down by a crown of thorns. From this vision, she came to understand that Christ was suffering in this nun.

Another time, while she stood on a crowded underground train in London, she looked at the people around her, “quite suddenly I saw with my mind, but as vividly as a wonderful picture, Christ in them all…living in them, dying in them, rejoicing in them, sorrowing in them.” When she left the train “it was the same here, on every side, in every passerby, everywhere - Christ.” This vision lasted intensely for several days and altered her life completely.

Caryll supported herself by woodcarving and decorating churches. Later she wrote poetry and children’s books. Her true mission, however, consisted in her relationships with others, not just friends, but strangers, neurotics, and friendless people whom others avoided.

As a teen, she suffered from various ”illnesses",and possibly had an eating disorder. She also had a fear of people: “Even in my own home I could not bring myself to enter a room in which there were other people, even people I knew well, until I had first gone to the door two or three times and failed to force myself to walk in.” From her descriptions, it seems likely that she suffered from panic attacks. For these and other oddities she was pronounced, in the jargon of the day, “neurotic.

Simply through attention and friendship, she sought to awaken others to a sense of their own divine self. During the Second World War she offered a message of consolation to those struggling with their faith, telling them that Christ was truly present in the sufferings of the world.

"The arms of Christ stretched on the cross are the widest reach there is, the only one that encircles the whole world.” She saw these children (and adults) of war as the infant Christ, for whom the only acceptable response was the gift of self. The infant Christ depended on each person to be as a mother, carrying Him into the world, and this is what she worked hard to do. One eminent psychiatrist who referred troubled patients to her, Dr. Eric Strauss, said she “loved them back to life.” She was, he said, a “divine eccentric.”

As with so many mystics, Caryll was paradox. She preached a social gospel, yet she was a virtual recluse. She felt overwhelming sympathy for the world, yet she had a razor-sharp tongue and biting sense of humor. She swore, told off-color jokes, liked gin, and chain-smoked. And by all accounts, she was a difficult person. She was not patient, kind or gentle. She did not suffer fools gladly or even tactfully. She did not expect “to find people good, but I expect to find Christ wounded in them, and of course that is what I do find.” And for human woundedness, she had an overwhelming, some would say pathological, empathy. Much of her spare time was devoted to occupational therapy for the benefit of child refugees from the Continent, whose nerves had been jarred, and shell-shocked soldiers, in the war.

"It’s always easier to see a finely carved Christ hanging on a gilded cross than it is to see him in our boss, our estranged sister or our enemy in war. But wounded and helpless people in war camps, prisons, workhouses and mental asylums were “obliged to offer themselves to God in the hands of other people, like the Host in the priest’s hands at the Mass.”

Her first book, This War is the Passion (1941), explored individual suffering in the body of Christ during war. The Reed of God (1944), the one she is most known for, was followed by The Flowering Tree (1945), The Passion of the Infant Christ (1949), and the posthumously published autobiography, A Rocking-Horse Catholic (1955). In spite of her solitude, she maintained a vast correspondence with people all over the world who sought her spiritual guidance.

She died of breast cancer in 1954 at the age of 52. Christ is a "needy Christ, one who needs the comfort and compassion of creatures, a Christ whose own divinity is insufficient without its reflection in humankind".

Her writings are very significant for our troubled world! Many would find consolation in her writings.

In NOV. 4, 2012 I did a blog on SERVANT of GOD FATHER EMIL KAPAUN. Recently he was given recognition for the care of his men by our government. In paying tribute to Father Emil Kapaun President Barack Obama told multiple stories of the “shepherd in combat boots” from Kansas who voluntarily stayed behind with the wounded to face certain capture, rather than evacuate when his division was overrun at Unsan, Korea, in November 1950.

“This is the valor we honor today – an American soldier who didn’t fire a gun, but who wielded the mightiest weapon of all, a love for his brothers so pure that he was willing to die so that they might live,” the president said.

A Catholic Korean War chaplain who selflessly pulled wounded men from enemy fire and helped his fellow prisoners of war keep a sense of hope was honored posthumously with the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military honor, in a White House ceremony.

Some of Father Kapaun’s fellow prisoners, who walked out of their prison camp carrying a crucifix they’d fashioned to honor their deceased chaplain, were in attendance at the ceremony. The medal, given to members of the armed forces for distinguished gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in active service, was presented to Ray Kapaun, a nephew of the priest, who never knew his uncle.

In attendance was Herb Miller, who, as a sergeant in 1951, was injured when a grenade exploded near him. As Obama told the story, a Chinese soldier was about to execute Miller, when Father Kapaun stepped in to stop him. The priest then carried Miller and assisted other wounded prisoners on a lengthy march to a prison camp at Pyoktong.

“He carried that injured American, for miles, as their captors forced them on a death march,” said Obama. “When Fr Kapaun grew tired, he’d help the wounded soldier hop on one leg. When other prisoners stumbled, he picked them up. When they wanted to quit, knowing that stragglers would be shot, he begged them to keep walking.”

Father Kapaun’s actions that day are what was being recognized with the Medal of Honor, Obama said, but he continued with stories of the priest’s selfless actions in the prison camp – helping smuggle in more food; giving away his clothes to freezing men; fashioning pots to boil water to battle dysentery; praying with the men in their huts; celebrating Easter Mass.

Father Kapaun received the Bronze Star before his capture and the Distinguished Service Cross after he died. Within the Catholic Church he has been recognized by the Vatican as a “Servant of God”, a first step in the investigation of someone who is being considered for sainthood.

The Movie

Suffering from an assortment of ailments, Father Kapaun died in that prison camp in Pyoktong on May 23, 1951.at age 35, after six months in captivity.

Royals seem to be much in the news these days, especially with a new king for the Netherlands, the first in four generations, to be "crowned on April 30. I find it fascinating that some modern royals are being considered for canonization. Remember Jesus' words that it is easier for a camel to fit thru the eye of a needle than a rich man to gain eternal life. Yet some have lived such exemplary lives that they deserve our consideration.

BLESSED KARL, was a model of holiness in his public, family and spiritual life. He was beatified on October 3, 2004.

He was, among other titles, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary, the last King of Bohemia and Croatia, and the last King of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the last monarch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine

Charles of Austria was born August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in the region of Lower Austria. His parents were the Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony, daughter of the last King of Saxony. Emperor Francis Joseph I was Charles' Great Uncle.

Charles was given a deeply Catholic education. A stigmatic nun prophesied that he would undergo great suffering and attacks would be made against him. A deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began to grow in Charles and he turned to prayer before making any important decisions.

Karl and Zita

On the 21st of October, 1911, he married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma. The couple had eight children during the ten years of their happy and exemplary married life. Charles declared to Zita on his deathbed: “I'll love you forever.”

Charles became heir to the throne of the Austro‑Hungarian Empire on June 28, 1914, following the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand. World War I was underway and with the death of the Emperor Francis Joseph, on November 21, 1916 Charles became Emperor of Austria. On December 30th he was crowned apostolic King of Hungary.

Charles envisaged this office also as a way to follow Christ: in the love and care of the peoples entrusted to him, and in dedicating his life to them. He placed the most sacred duty of a king -a commitment to peace- at the center of his duties during the course of the terrible war. He was the only one among political leaders to support Pope Benedict XV's peace efforts.

Bl. Karl with firstborn, Otto

As far as domestic politics were concerned and despite the extremely difficult times, he initiated wide and exemplary social legislation, inspired by social Christian teaching. Thanks to his conduct, the transition to a new order at the end of the conflict was made possible without a civil war. He was, however, banished from his country.

The Pope feared the rise of communist power in central Europe, and expressed the wish that Charles re‑establish the authority of his government in Hungary. But two attempts failed, since above all Charles wished to avoid the outbreak of a civil war.

Charles and his family were exiled to the island of Madeira. Since he considered his duty as a mandate from God, he could not abdicate his office. Reduced to poverty, he lived with his family in a very humid house. He then fell ill, accepting this as a sacrifice for the peace and unity of his peoples.

Karl & Zita & seven Children

Charles endured his suffering without complaining. He forgave all those who conspired against him and died April 1st 1922 with his eyes turned toward the Holy Sacrament. On his deathbed he repeated the motto of his life: “I strive always in all things to understand as clearly as possible and follow the will of God, and this in the most perfect way”.

The English writer, Herbert Vivian, wrote: "Karl was a great leader, a Prince of peace, who wanted to save the world from a year of war; a statesman with ideas to save his people from the complicated problems of his Empire; a King who loved his people, a fearless man, a noble soul, distinguished, a saint from whose grave blessings come."

The French novelist, Anatole Franc, stated: "Emperor Karl is the only decent man to come out of the war in a leadership position, yet he was a saint and no one listened to him. He sincerely wanted peace, and therefore was despised by the whole world. It was a wonderful chance that was lost."

One wonders what the world would be like today, specially the Eastern European countries, if leaders had listened to Bl.Karl. Peacemakers do not seem, even in our day and age, to stand a chance against political leaders who have so many agendas, which include greed, hatred, and bigotry.

Zita 1911

We have considered Bl. Karl of Austria, now we look at his wife Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma (Zita Maria delle Grazie Adelgonda Micaela Raffaela Gabriella Giuseppina Antonia Luisa Agnese). She was born in 1892, near Lucca, Italy. She was the seventeenth child of the dispossessed Robert I, Duke of Parma and his second wife, Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal.

In 1911, Princess Zita married Archduke Karl of Austria, the great-nephew of Emperor Franz-Joseph. This union satisfied dynastic demands but it also represented a marriage between two people bound together by a profound love and nourished by the same Catholic faith.

Engagement

In 1914, the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Heir to the Throne of Austria-Hungary, left Karl in the position of Heir Apparent to the Emperor. In 1916, when Franz-Joseph died, the young Archduke (he was 29 years old) became Emperor Karl I of Austria, and King Karl IV of Hungary.

During the two years of his reign, from 1916 to 1918, Empress Zita stood by her husband’s side, supporting all of his initiatives. At the same time, the couple led an exemplary life, marked by great piety and blessed by the birth of eight children.

Zita as Empress

After the end of World War I in 1918, the Habsburgs were deposed when the new countries of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs States were formed.

By the fall of the next year Austria-Hungary was coming apart forcing Charles and Zita and their family to flee the country to Switzerland. Zita was a great source of strength and comfort to her husband in these hard times and the strain on her had to be great. In 1920 she showed again what she was made of when she accompanied Charles in his effort to regain his throne in Hungary. After both attempts failed the family eventually settled on the Portuguese island of Madeira where Charles died not long after. After her husband's death, Zita and her son Otto served as the symbols of unity for the exiled dynasty.

Zita & Karl with first 4 children

A widow at the age of 29, expecting a child that would never know her father and lacking any resources, Empress Zita started a long exile moving to Spain and later to Belgium. When Engelbert Dollfuss became chancellor of Austria the possibility of a restoration seemed good but all hopes were ended when Dollfuss was assassinated and Austria was occupied by Germany. World War II and the invasion of Belgium forced the family to flee to the United States where two of her sons joined the American army. Empress Zita contributed by raising money in the US and Canada.

She never remarried and carried on with the same grace and dignity she always showed, raising her children in royal fashion and never giving up hope for a Hapsburg restoration. In 1982 she was finally allowed to return to Austria where she died, still loved and respected by all, in 1989 at the age of 96. Her funeral was attended by 6,000 people, over 200 Hapsburg and Bourbon-Parma royals and a personal representative of Pope John Paul II.

Zita

On October 3, 2004, Pope John Paul II beatified Emperor Karl. The Church assigned the celebration of the feast day of Blessed Karl of Austria to October 21, the day Zita and he were married. The edifying life of Empress Zita, her unshakeable faith, and her moral strength in adversity make her a model of an exemplary wife and Christian mother. Through her family ties that cross over international borders, Empress Zita is a symbol of peace among the nations. Her cause for canonization has been introduced.

Zita with her 8 children

Zita & Karl

Resurrection

The German artist EGINO WEINERT died September 4, 2012. He devoted his life to creating some of the most unique and distinct pieces of liturgical art for spaces of worship around the world including the chapel of the Pontifical Academy of Sacred Music in Rome (which Bl. Pope John Paul II said was among the most beautiful he had ever consecrated). Collectors everywhere value Weinert's strong biblical images. Egino Weinert created all of his pieces solely with his left hand after losing his dominant right hand as a young man.

I first encountered his work through Hildegard Letbetter at Creator Mundi in Denver. (Creator Mundi imports Religious Art from Germany, France, and Italy. It is the official US importer of art from the German Abbey of Maria-Laach.The Stations of the Cross in our Chapel come from ML.) I used his St. Hildegard for my 25th jubilee card. We all have medallions of his to put on the top of our coffins. I have 2: one of St. Hildegard for inside and one of the Good Shepherd for outside.

St. Hildegard

Born on March 3, 1920, in Berlin to devout Catholic parents the eldest of five children, the young Günter Przybylski heard Romano Guardini (considered one of the Catholic Churches greatest philosophers of the 20th C.) preach. It was to have a lasting effect on his deep faith.

While preparing to receive his first Communion he was greatly attracted to the priesthood and in 1934 entered the Benedictineabbey at Münsterschwarzach. There he received the name Egino (years later his father changed the family name to Weinert). Egino had wanted to be a painter and a missionary, and was gradually allowed to apprentice in sacred painting, passing his goldsmith’s examination with distinction in 1941.

Good Shepherd

Jailed for refusing to say “Heil Hitler,” Egino was later drafted into military service taking every opportunity to work with other artists during the difficult war years. While visiting his parents in Berlin in 1945, he lost his entire right hand when an electrical fuse proved to have explosives hidden in it. He then taught himself to write and paint with his left hand. He returned after the war to the monastery and was finally sent to attend art school in Cologne. In 1949 he was refused final vows, leaving the monastery with his faith still intact, but alone in the world.

In 1951 he married Anneliese Leopold and they had four children. Eventually he settled in Cologne near the cathedral, and built a house and studio where he did all of his art.

St. Francis

Commissions and honors gradually increased for the struggling artist. He was helped by the great popularity of the small crosses he made for children receiving Communion. His enamel designs proved to reproduce beautifully on cards and calendars. He delighted in crafting chalices for young priests and became popular with American visitors to his shop. Pope Paul VI admired a cup-shaped chalice that Egino told him the cathedral chapter in Cologne had considered unacceptable, but that the pope declared blessed through his own use.

"The continuity of Egino Weinert’s work, artistically and religiously, is remarkable. His simplified, sinuous forms recallErnst Barlach(a future blog) and seem of themselves to demand the bold colors, dramatic and yet tender, of his unblended palette. His unerring sense of scale, indebted to medieval stained glass and Netherlandish primitives, enables him clearly to distinguish principal figures and onlookers in settings that are detailed but never crowded.

Baptism of Christ

He has a miniaturist’s sense of intimacy and yet the elemental feeling of Georges Rouault, whom he has long admired. Perhaps the lovely miracle of his art has been possible because it has indeed been his mission. “I want to see the whole Bible with the eyes of our time and let it become plastic,” he says. “For me Christ is not an otherworldly figure floating over humanity in a long robe. He is in our midst as a simple farmhand or a cabinet-maker” - or as a good shepherd, as were generations of Egino Weinert’s ancestors." (Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J., is president emeritus of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.)

St. Joseph with Child

Barlach with my favorite piece

Before I entered the monastery, I lived in Germany, starting in Koln and moving to the Black Forest, where I studied wood carving. Living in Koln in the late 60s was exciting art-wise as there was so much being restored from the massive bombings of WW II. It seemed there was a church on every corner and one of my favorites to visit was the medieval Antoniterkirche.

Angel in Antoniter Kirche

The church served as a monastery of the Antoniter Order from the 14th century until 1802 when it was closed and remanded to the Evangelicals. The church became Cologne's first Protestant place of worship when it was again opened in 1805. In this famous church hangs an amazing sculpture by one of my favorite German artists ERNST BARLACH (1870-1938). He was a German expressionist sculptor, printmaker and writer.

A trip to Russia in 1906 was one of the greatest influences on him and his artistic style and is reflected in some of my favorite works. The powerful and folk-like design of his sculptures after reflect the impressions of rugged farm-life and Russian folk art.

Mother & Child (my favorite)

Begging Woman (another favorite)

In WW I he volunteered as a medic, then was drafted into infantry in December 1915. Only three months later he was discharged due to a heart problem. His participation in the war made him change his thinking and this changed his art. He created haunting monuments in wood and bronze, erected in churches across Germany, warning of the tragic consequences of war.

The essence of Ernst Barlach’s art lay in his ability to express his devotion to and love for his fellow human beings in drawings and sculptures. Marginal figures in society, the needy, the broken, the outcast, remained the focus of his art. In radical opposition to the fascist ideology of “community”, he addressed the existential loneliness of the individual.

While his favorite aspect of man was sufferings of humanity he also saw a lighter side as the singing man and laughing old woman.

Singing Man

Old Woman Laughing

Ernst Barlach’s work was an outcry of the oppressed yet his depictions also transported the spirituality and the humanness of everyday people. He used emphatic gestures and angular poses to convey strong emotion and movement. "I desire nothing more than to be an artist, after a fashion. It is my belief, that whatever cannot be expressed in words, can be passed on to another by means of forms.”

Obviously, such art created many conflicts during the rise of the Nazi Party, when most of his works were confiscated as degenerate art. You can be sure that anything banned by the Nazis, was real art!

In 1936, when Barlach's works were confiscated during an exhibition together with the works of KATHE KOLLWITZ (Blog to follow). Barlach himself was prohibited from working as a sculptor, and his membership in the art academies was canceled. This rejection is reflected in his final works before his death from heart failure in 1938 in Rostock, Mecklenburg.

Monks Reading

What drew me to him was his ability to show contrast between spirit and body, between heaviness and lightness, between attachment to the earth and spirituality.

The Holy Family

Monk Reading

Today, Ernst Barlach is known as one of the most important sculptors of Classical Modernism.

Self-portrait

Like Ernst Barlach, I first discovered the works of KATHE KOLLWITZwhen I was at the "Werkschule" in Koln, Germany, studying sculpture. I found her works moving, with simple lines that told passionate and often tragic stories. Amazingly enough, thirty years later I would wind up in Moritzburg, near Dresden, where I found the small museum that houses so much of her work.

Kathe (1867-1945) is regarded as one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, and as a remarkable woman who created timeless art works against the backdrop of a life of great sorrow, hardship and heartache.

Bread

Kathe was born in in Konigsberg, East Prussia (now Kalingrad in Russia). She studied art in Berlin and began producing etchings. In 1881 she married Dr. Karl Kollwitz and they settled in one of the poorest sections of the city. It was here that Kathe developed her strong social conscious which is so fiercely reflected in her work. In 1896 her second son, Peter, was born.

From 1898 to 1903 Kathe taught at the Berlin School of Women Artists, and in 1910 began to create sculpture.

In 1914 her son Peter was killed in Flanders. The loss of Peter contributed to her socialist and pacifist political sympathies. Kathe believed that art should reflect the social conditions of the time and during the 1920s she produced a series of works with the themes of war, poverty, working class life and the lives of ordinary women.

Death

In 1932 the war memorial to her son Peter - The Parents - was dedicated at Vladslo military cemetery in Flanders. Kathe became the first woman to be elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts, but in 1933, when Hitler came to power, she was expelled from the Academy . In 1936 along with Ernst Barlach, she was barred by the Nazis from exhibiting as her art was classified as 'degenerate' and her works were removed from galleries. Ernst Barlach was also an inspiration for her work. Alongside those of Barlach, her works number among the most moving artworks created during the 20th century. The kindred spirit demonstrated by the work of Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz is unmistakable.

Woman with Dead Child

In 1940 Karl Kollwitz died. In 1942 her grandson, Peter, was killed at the Russian front. In 1943 Kathe's home was destroyed by British bombing and she was evacuated from Berlin to Moritzburg, near Dresden, where she lived her final months as a guest of Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony.

The spirituality expressed in Kollwitz’s work was a result, as it was with many of her contemporaries, of the feelings of desperation aroused by the neediness and sorrowful state of the impoverished population.Yet she could also show the tender, loving side of motherhood.

Child's Head on Mother's Arms

Kathe made a total of 275 prints, in etching, woodcut and lithography. Virtually the only portraits she made during her life were images of herself, of which there are at least fifty. These self-portraits constitute a lifelong honest self-appraisal; "they are psychological milestones".

When I was at our Abbey in the east, I was befriended by the woman whose gallery (Galerie St. Etienne) was responsible for bringing Kathe's work to the USA. At one point I even considered using one of Kathe's drawings for my final profession card.

The drawing I almost used!

Of all the artists exhibited at the Galerie St. Etienne over the course of its seventy-year history, Käthe Kollwitz has been most closely associated with the gallery's co-director, Hildegard Bachert. Hildegard Bachert was with Galerie St. Etienne for 70 years. She is co-director with Jane Kallir (founder Otto Kallir's granddaughter). Hildegard came to New York in 1936 at the age of 15, fleeing Nazi Germany and went to work for Otto Killir right out of high school.

Hildegard and I not only share the name of a great German saint, but also the love of a great German artist. In 2010 to celebrate her 70th anniversary at the gallery, Hildegard selected a group of Kathe Kollwitz self portraits for an exhibition subtitled “ A Portrait of the Artist.”

The first book I bought of her life & works

Rudolph Bostic- USA

I have always associated the poem by John Donne (d.1631) with the ASCENSION of the LORD.

STAY, O sweet, and do not rise!
    The light that shines comes from thine eyes;
The day breaks not: it is my heart,
Because that You and I must part.
    Stay! or else my joys will die...

I wonder if this was how the Apostles and Disciples felt upon seeing Jesus leave their midst. Even though He explained (over and over again) why He was going, where He was going, and that they would one day join Him, I can imagine the human side which must have felt a twinge of loss.

Before Jesus was taken up, he gave instructions by the power of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. For forty days after his death He appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that He was alive. They saw Him, and He spoke to them about the Kingdom of God.

Peter Rogers - USA

Although the place of the Ascension is not distinctly stated, it would appear from the Acts that it was Mount Olivet. Since after the Ascension the disciples are described as returning to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey.

...And when they came together, He gave them this order: “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift I told you about, the gift my Father promised. John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for Me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After saying this, He was taken up to heaven as they watched him, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Doina Flesariu- Romania

They still had their eyes fixed on the sky as He went away, when two men dressed in white suddenly stood beside them and said, “Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven." (Acts 1:2-4,8-11)

Jesus the Son of God takes his rightful place as Lord of Lords at the Ascension, raising humanity to its full dignity by bringing us to the Father. Jesus forever intercedes for us as King of Kings.

Joan Bohlig- USA

The Ascension of Jesus is professed in the Nicene Creed and in the Apostles' Creed. It is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narratives of the life of Jesus: the others being Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, and Resurrection.

Peter Rogers-USA

Bl. John Paul II emphasized that Jesus had foretold of his Ascension several times in the Gospels, e.g. John 16:10 at the Last Supper: "I go to the Father, and you will see me no more" and John 20:17 after his resurrection he tells Mary Magdalene: "I have not yet ascended to the Father; go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God".

Jyoti Sahi -India

In the selection of art for this blog I decided to only use naive art, as I feel it expresses our humanity, which Christ shared in, but rose from in order that we too one day will share in His divinity!

Ethiopia

A wonderful poem (which I present here with first and last stanzas) by the British poet Jonathan Evens:

ASCENSION

Where is Jesus now?
Not here! Jesus has left the building.
The last we saw of him
was the soles of his feet
as he ascended to heaven.

Philome Obin- Haiti

Myrtice West

What does it mean
to be where Jesus is now?
Like children becoming adult
to grow up into him,
together becoming him.
Each playing our part
in the whole that is Jesus,
Emmanuel, God with us.

Self-portrait

Most of us know the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who gave his life at Auschwitz, so that a young man with children might live. In this country we know little of another saintly and courageous priest in the same war.

VENERABLE FRANZ STOCK (1904-1948, Paris) was a German Roman Catholic priest who ministered to prisoners in France during World War II, and to German prisoners of war in the years following.

In the spring of 1928, Franz went to Paris where he spent three semesters studying at the Institut Catholique. During this period, he became a member of the Companions of St. Francis, a fellowship committed to living a simple life and working for peace. He was the first German student of theology in France since the Middle Ages.

Franz was ordained to the priesthood in 1932 by the Archbishop of Paderborn, Kaspar Klein, and from 1932 to 1934 had his first appointment as priest in Effeln, near Lippstadt, and in Dortmund-Eving. In 1934, he was appointed as rector of the German national parish of St. Boniface in Paris.

A few days before the outbreak of World War II (September 1,1939), he returned to Germany. In 1940, he was named as priest for Germans residing in Paris during Nazi Germany's occupation of France. Often, because of his German nationality, he was the only priest who could freely visit the prisoners without being a part of the Nazi war apparatus. He met with more than 2,000 prisoners. He was called "the archangel of the prisons".

As part of his pastoral mission, and with great peril to his life, he passed messages from the prisoners to their families and back, sometimes memorizing them. Exploiting every possible avenue to help the prisoners, he delivered German information on them to their families, so as to prepare them when interrogated. The information thus delivered prevented many arrests. He did this under a double threat to his life: besides the obvious peril of arrest, incarceration and/or execution if discovered, Father Stock suffered severe heart disease (a fact he kept from others) and thus had been ordered to rest. Nevertheless, he went on in his work.

With Papal Nuncio Roncalli

In spite of his care for American prisoners during the war, when the Americans took command of Paris, Father Stock became a prisoner of war and was sent to the POW camp of Cherbourg. This he accepted willingly, for it enabled him to help those who now needed most his services - the defeated German POWs. With the support of some French bishops, in Chartres and Orleans he began a “barbed-wire seminary” for all German seminarians held captive in France. On several occasions, the papal Nuncio Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII, visited him and encouraged him in his work.

In 1947, Abbe Stock received notification of his appointment as honorary doctor of the University of Freiburg, in Freiburg im Breisgau, (the same University St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross taught at before her death at Auschwitz). Father died unnexpectedly in Paris. Since he was still considered a POW, very few people were made aware of his death at the time. His funeral was held four days later, at the Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas church in Paris, with Nuncio Roncalli. Only about 12 people accompanied his body to the cemetery of Thiais in Paris.

His Tomb at Chartres

In 1963 his body was transferred to the newly built Church
of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Chartres.

In 1981, in Fulda, during his visit to Germany, Pope John Paul II mentioned the name of Abbe Franz Stock along with the names of great saints in German history.

Transfiguration

Father Koder

FATHER SIEGER KODER was born in 1925 in Wasseralfingen, Germany, where he completed his studies. During the Second World War he was sent to France as a front line soldier where he was made a prisoner of war. Once back from captivity, Sieger attended the Academy School of Art in Stuttgart until 1951. He studied English philology at the University of Tubigen as part of his qualifications as a teacher.

After 12 years of teaching art and working as an artist, Sieger undertook theological studies for the priesthood and in 1971 he was ordained a Catholic priest. From 1975 to 1995, Fr. Köder exercised his ministry as a parish priest in Hohenberg and Rosenberg. In 2003 the Abbey of Benediktbeuren gave him an honorary doctorate in theology. Today he lives in retirement in Ellwangen, not far from Stuttgart. He still continues his art.

Mary Magdalene

Jesus Washing Feet of Peter

The years of his ministry as a priest are among the most prolific with inspiring works of art. There is complete synergy between Father Köder being a priest and an artist. He uses his paintings as Jesus used his parables. He reveals the depth of the Christian metaphors, shedding light and colour on life and human history.

Father Köder's art is heavily charged with his personal experience of war during the Nazi period and the time of the Holocaust as seen in some of his paintings, especially the one of Venerable Father Franz Stock, as he gives Communion to a fellow prisoner. In the lion, the lamb and the Child, one sees the prophet of old crying out, surrounded by what looks like barbed wire, hence the imprisonment which the Child has come to free us from..

Father Franz Stock

The Lion, the Lamb & Child

His folk paintings have Old and New Testament themes. One of the features of his work is the child-like simplicity of the characters and the way in which Jesus is often depicted by reflection rather than and actual full presence. This technique has both a hint of resurrection and a respect for the Old Testament notion of not being able to name or see the Lord.

He works are inspired by the artist Chagall which one can see by his use of bright colors and his style and themes.

Art can help us to meditate on the deep mysteries of our faith, and seeing his themes of the closeness and love of God, Father Köder's art helps us to do that.

Christmas

Crucifixion

Egino Weinert- Germany

PENTECOST is the feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ. Pentecost Sunday is one of the most ancient feasts of the Church. It is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Jews from all over were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast. On that Sunday, ten days after the Ascension of Our Lord, the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary were gathered in the upper room, where they had seen Jesus after His Resurrection.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language".
(Acts 2:1-6)

Mexican

Jesus had promised His Apostles that He would sent His Holy Spirit, and, on Pentecost, they were granted the gifts of the Spirit. The Apostles began to preach the Gospel in all of the languages that the Jews who were gathered there spoke, and about 3,000 people were converted and baptized that day.

Peter stated that this event was the beginning of a continual outpouring that would be available to all believers from that point on, Jews and Gentiles alike. (Acts 2:39)

This is why Pentecost is often called "the birthday of the Church." On this day, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, Christ's mission is completed, and the New Covenant is inaugurated. It's interesting to note that St. Peter, the first pope, was already the leader and spokesman for the Apostles on Pentecost Sunday (Acts 2:14).

Dr. He Qi

The liturgical celebrations of Pentecost in Western churches are rich and varied. The main sign of Pentecost in the West is the color red. It symbolizes joy and the fire of the Holy Spirit. It also symbolizes the renewal of life, the coming of the warmth of summer, and the growth of the Church at and from the first Pentecost.

We sing the glorious Veni Creator Spiritus ("Come Creator Spirit"), a hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. We sing the original Latin text in Gregorian Chant. As an invocation of the Holy Spirit it is sung during the liturgical celebration of the feast of Pentecost at both Terce and Vespers. Interestingly enough it is also sung at occasions such as the entrance of Cardinals to the Sistine Chapel, when electing a new pope, as well as at the consecration of bishops, the ordination of priests, when celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation, the dedication of churches, the celebration of synods or councils, the coronation of kings, the profession of members of religious communities and other similar solemn events.

Ferdnanda Baffa y Jorge Tarifa- Argentina

    Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
    and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
    come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
    To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

    O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
    Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
    Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
    and sweet anointing from above.

    O Finger of the hand divine,
    the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
    true promise of the Father thou,
    who dost the tongue with power endow.

    Thy light to every sense impart,
    and shed thy love in every heart;
    thine own unfailing might supply
    to strengthen our infirmity.

S. Watanabe

    Drive far away our ghostly foe,
    and thine abiding peace bestow;
    if thou be our preventing Guide,
    no evil can our steps betide.

    Praise we the Father and the Son
    and Holy Spirit with them One;
    and may the Son on us bestow
    the gifts that from the Spirit flow.

Sawai Chinnawong- Thailand

Jyoti Sahi- India

Solomon Raj- India

Vincent de Beauvais 15th C -French

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit given to us on Pentecost are enumerated in Isaiah 11:2-3. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, "They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them." Infused with His gifts, we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as if by instinct, the way Christ Himself would.

FORTITUDE (COURAGE)-we overcome our fear and are willing to take risks as a follower of Jesus Christ. The gift of courage allows people the firmness of mind that is required both in doing good and in enduring evil.
St. Thomas Aquinas (In the Summa Theologica) asserts fortitude corresponds to the virtue of courage. Fortitude is the virtue of the martyrs that allows them to suffer death rather than to renounce their Faith.

St. Thecla & Family- Koyto 1619

COUNSEL- we know the difference between right and wrong, and we choose to do what is right. A person with right judgment avoids sin and lives out the values taught by Jesus.
The gift of counsel corresponds to the virtue of prudence.

F. B. Jorge Tarifa- Argentina

KNOWLEDGE- we understand the meaning of God. The gift of knowledge is more than an accumulation of facts.

UNDERSTANDING- we comprehend how we need to live as followers of Christ.
The gifts of understanding and knowledge correspond to the virtue of faith.

WISDOM is the capacity to love spiritual things more than material ones.
      The gift of wisdom corresponds to the virtue of charity.

PITY (REVERENCE) - we have a deep sense of respect for God and the Church. We recognize our total reliance on God and come before God with humility, trust,and love. Piety is the   gift whereby we pay worship and duty to God. It is the most misunderstood of the gifts as we often use the word piety to denote someone who is overly scrupulous. In the Hebrew the word is HESED which is hard to translate. It is basically the covenant between God and His people.
      The gift of piety corresponds to the virtue of justice.

FEAR OF THE LORD (WONDER AND AWE) - With fear of the Lord we are aware of the glory and majesty of God. A person with wonder and awe knows that God is the perfection of all we desire: perfect knowledge, perfect goodness, perfect power, and perfect love.
       The gift of fear of the Lord corresponds to the virtue of hope.

Linda Schmidt- Quilt

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are essential for our sanctification and salvation. Blessed Pope John Paul II said, "With gifts and qualities such as these, we are equal to any task and capable of overcoming any difficulties."

Veronica Dimae- Australia

Pervuvian thick-knee

White-winged guan at Chaparri

Northern Peru, where I was four years ago, and will return to next week, is a land of stark contrasts, from the desolate coastal dunes of the Sechura Desert and dry Tumbesian forests, to the lush cloudforests of the slopes of the Andes. Peru has a varied geography and topography, and its wildernesses of so many different life zones, have endowed Peru with the greatest biodiversity and density of birds on earth. Unlike other top-ranking Neotropical birding destinations, such as Ecuador and Costa Rica, Peru has vast tracts of forest and wilderness untouched by civilization. There are areas which are completely unexplored.

Peru is a magical place for birders! It is the number one country in the world for birds. Its boasts more than 1,800 species, one-fifth of the world’s total, a staggering amount for a single country.
Yet, one needs a good guide to find the varied species, especially when in the jungles or mountains, as the birds tend to hide in the greenery. And after awhile they all look yellow!

Golden-Olive Woodpecker- Peru

When I was in Australia six years ago, I added over 300 species to my life list, and most I could have found myself, as they were everywhere. Imagine sitting in a friend's yard and seeing 2-3 species of parrots, cockatoos and rosellas. In Peru the going is much harder, and even though I was in Northern Peru the same amount of time as Australia, I found 100 less birds, and found many of these, thanks to my friend Jeremy.

No country has seen the discovery of as many birds new to science in the last few decades than Peru has, and in the late seventies and early eighties new species were described at an average rate of two per year. Since they were usually found in isolated mountain ranges and remote areas, the full scale expeditions that led to their discovery greatly increased the knowledge of South American birds in general, and more was learned about many birds that until then were only known from a few old specimens. Many of the country’s birds are still poorly known, and there are still species of which practically nothing is known.

Redmasked parakeet

My friend Jeremy Flanagan, who has lived in the area for over 25 years has devoted his life to conservation, not only of the land, but of the birds. Sometimes it is a battle, and in the remote areas (where most of the birds live) people are more concerned with where their next meal comes from, not how to conserve. Jeremy has been working closely with his friend, the famous Peruvian wildlife photographer, Heinz Plenge, the founder of the fabulous Chaparri preserve, where we had the privilege to stay for 3 nights. Among other birds we daily were treated to the rare white-winged guans, who would perch on the fences in front of the dining area.

Jeremy (middle) with friends

While conservation is his number one priority, Jeremy knows his birds and before we hit Chaparri, we searched for the Peruvian plantcutter one of the rarest birds in the world. It has been one of his missions to protect the plantcutter and its Peruvian habitat. Plantcutters are finicky about their diet and are among a handful of birds known to eat leaves. Along with finches, they form part of an even smaller group of birds that can move their serrated beaks from side to side, not just up and down.

Plantcutter

The plantcutter's precipitous decline is the result of a massive loss of its habitat which is sparse desert scrub similar to the mesquite forests of the SW United States. Jeremy and I trekked thru thorny scrub for over two hours going in circles before we found the one male. Was it worth it? Well, to add such a rare bird to a life-list is indeed worth scratches, thirst and exhaustion.

“What keeps me going is the hope that we can change things,” says Jeremy. “It's now or never for this land and this bird.”

Other than a good guide, the most important thing to have in Northern Peru, besides an appreciation for relative time and distance, is a great driver. Paved roads are a rarity, especially when in the cloudforests or traveling along the coast in the small villages.

Donkey trail to Ayabaca

When going to my favorite place, Ayabaca (almost 10,000') the “highway” we traveled on was a rough donkey track cut along the sides of mountains, sometimes overlooking great chasms, just inches from our car's tires, with no guard rails or warning signs of any kind, except for the crosses and flowers people had put up in places where friends or relatives had gone over the edge. Yet, one goes slow and when watching for birds, the danger seems remote!

Now, as I return to Northern Peru it is with a mission of conservation for birds and students. The University of Piura has invited me to give a presentation- that can be on-going- which may help save the campus as it exists today. Fifty years ago, when the University was established it sat on desert land.

According to Lonely Planet:

After several hours of crossing the vast emptiness of the Sechura Desert, Piura materializes like a mirage on the horizon, enveloped in quivering waves of heat. It’s hard to ignore the sense of physical isolation forced on you by this unforgiving environment; the self-sufficiency imposed upon early settlers may explain why they identify as Piuran rather than Peruvian. Being so far inland, the scorching summer months will have you honing your radar for air-conditioning as you seek out chilled venues in which to soothe your sweltering skin.

Desert before irrigation


Peruvian pygmy owl

Over the years many acres have been reclaimed and irrigated from the river, to make the campus the oasis it is today. It is unique in the area and is home to many species of birds, not usually seen in the area. They come down from the highlands to nest and live. The problem now, is the government wants to put a highway through the campus which would not only disrupt the birds, but also the lives of the students. Both Jeremy and I have already written articles (mine translated into Spanish) about the crises, but as in so many places the dollar (or sole) speaks louder than the birds! I certainly do not claim to know the politics of this foreign land, but do know there are hundreds of miles of desert where highways can be built, especially around the campus, not through it.

UDEP campus today

At present the campus is one of serenity and peace and always green. I look forward to seeing the iguanas that look like a huge dragons and love sunning on the roof of the dining hall.

We pray that a "miracle" happens in the minds and hearts of the city leaders and that students and birds alike don't lose this precious bit of green in a vast desert.

West Peruvian dove

Peruvian meadowlark

Madonna of Belen

As I prepare for my second trip to Northern Peru, I present some of the glorious art I will see in the lovely Churches there. This area does not have its own tradition of Church art, so most of what I will see is from another place to the south.

The Trinity with Saints

The most famous Catholic art in Peru period is from the Colonial period from the 16th to 18th Centuries. The Cuzco School is a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cuzco, Peru. The European influence in these paintings came from the Spanish who tried to convert the Incas to Catholicism.

Paintings are characterized by their exclusive use of religious images, lack of perspective, and the predominance of red, yellow, and earth colors. They also use a lot of gold leaf. The subjects are usually depicted in native flora and fauna as a backdrop, the most common is of the Virgin Mary, sometimes with the Child Jesus.

Madonna with Alpacas

My favorite is Madonna with Alpacas. She was painted by an unknown artist. Note the gold leaf highlighting. The Madonna has her eyes downcast, which suggests that she was painted by an Indian artist.

The Spanish painters who arrived at the Viceroyalty of Peru taught their techniques to the local artists, and they began to shape on linen cloths their own representations, creating a new iconographic interpretation of the Peruvian reality. Most of these paintings were created anonymously because of Pre-Columbian traditions that define art as communal.

Chapel- University Piura

The established school was commissioned to paint sacred art in churches and monasteries throughout the Peruvian city of Cuzco after the area was devastated by an earthquake in 1650. The collected efforts of numerous artists gradually evolved into a unique yet harmonious and consistent style, devoid of individualism. These paintings are usually not signed, but represent traditional depictions of the religious subjects most important to the local indigenous and Hispanic populations.

St. Joseph with Child Jesus

St Michael Archangel (A very popular figure)

A CHURCH WATCHED

POPE FRANCIS' COAT of ARMS

MYSTERY FLOWER

SAINTS IN THE KITCHEN

FUN NUNS

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

THE NEUROTIC MYSTIC

BLOG UPDATE

A BLESSED ROYAL

THE LAST EMPRESS

IN MEMORIAM- A GREAT GERMAN ARTIST

GERMAN SCULPTURE

FAVORITE GERMAN ARTIST

STAY WITH US LORD!

A LIFE GIVEN for RECONCILIATION

PRIEST-ARTIST

COME HOLY SPIRIT

GIFTS of the HOLY SPIRIT

ANOTHER TRIP TO PERU

ART IN PERU