island life- in a monastery

John Nava Tapestry- Our Lady of the Angeles

Speaking of the seven saints recently canonized, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles said young people should look to the “saints of our times,” as models of holiness.

“In looking to saints, of which there are examples from every continent, young people will be inspired to live their vocation as “everyday saints” in their own unique way,

Speaking at the Synod of Bishops in Rome he added: “We need to show young people what holiness looks like, by living the Gospel we preach, proclaiming Jesus Christ by the way we live. We need to call young people to be saints - and we need to be saints ourselves.”

Archbishop Gomez with Youth (Victor Aleman photo)

The Archbishop emphasized that calling young people to “conversion and new life in Christ” should be a priority in the synod’s final conclusions, and that the Church is called to serve and accompany young people on that journey.

This involves, he said, setting an example of how to pray, helping young people meet the Lord in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, encouraging them to perform works of mercy for the poor, and cultivating a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Sadly, young people today do not know how to live authentic human lives because the adults of our secular society have not shown them the way.”

“The vision for life offered to young people in Western societies does not call them to goodness or beauty or truth. Instead, what is offered are various life ‘styles’ and alternatives for self-creation rooted in the restless consumption of material comforts, virtual entertainments, and passing pleasures,” he said.

The archbishop said that in his conversations with young people in his own diocese he came to see that the Church did offer the answers they were seeking.

"In the Incarnation of the Son of God and in his Passion and Resurrection, we see revealed the dignity and destiny of the human person, created in God’s image and called to live by his Spirit as a child of God and to be saints - to be holy as our Father in heaven is holy,” he said.

Last Sunday Pope Francis canonized Nazania Mesa who was a nurse. As I have written in past Blogs, one of my favorite saints is St. Marianne of Molokai(Cope) (see Blog 10/21/12), who was also a trained nurse. This prompted me to find other saints who were nurses in modern times. From what I can find there are many, from various countries, who are unknown outside their area.

A few of the saints who were nurses we wrote of in past Blogs: Bl. Maria Troncatti (Blog 11/23/12) "Mammacita of the Andes", Ven. Leonella Sgorbati(Blog 11/11/17) murdered in Somalia, and the Polish Benedictine Oblate, Bl. Hanna Chrzonauska (Blog 4/6/18).

Two who were martyred by the Nazis are:

BL. CECILIA ( ZDENKA) SCHELINGOVA

One of ten children born in Slovakiain 1916 she studied nursing and radiology. Known as a pious child, she early felt a call to religious life. At age 15 she requested entry to the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Holy Cross, and made her first vows on 30 January 1937.

While she was assigned to Bratislava, the Communists seized power and began a systematic persecution of the Church and its members. Many were arrested and tortured for their faith, and some of these were brought to Bl. Cecilia’s hospital for treatment. In early 1952 she helped a condemned priest escape from certain death in Siberia. Later she tried to help three priests and three seminarians escape, but she failed, and was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to twelve years in prison and ten years of loss of civil rights.

For the next three years she was shipped from prison to prison, regularly beaten and tortured; some of her wounds were never permitted to heal. She was released from prison in 1955, nine years early, so that she would not die on the government’s hands. Due to police harassment, she was turned away from her congregation’s motherhouse, and from the hospital where she used to work. She died a few months later, her health broken by the abuse, but never losing her faith.

Considered a martyr, she was beatified in 2003 by St. John Paul II. Her feast is November 23.

BL. MARY RESTITUTA KAFKA was thesixth daughter of a shoemaker. Born in Brno, Czechoslovakiashe grew up in Vienna, and was a trained surgical nurse. She joined the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in 1914, taking the name Restituta after an early Church martyr. She was known as a protector of the poor and oppressed and was a vocal opponent of the Nazis after Anschluss, the German take over of Austria. Sister was tough and people called her “Sr. Resolute” because of her stubbornness. Mostly, however, she was easy-going and funny.

Sister Restituta hung a crucifix in every room of a new hospital wing. The Nazis ordered them removed. Refusing this, she was arrested by the Gestapo in 1942. She was sentenced to death on 28 October 1942 for “aiding and abetting the enemy in the betrayal of the fatherland and for plotting high treason”.

She spent her time in prison caring for other prisoners. Even the Communist prisoners spoke well of her. She was offered her freedom if she would abandon her religious community, which she declined and was beheaded. her last words were, “I have lived for Christ; I want to die for Christ.”

She was beatified by St. John Paul II June 1998. Her feast is March 30.

Beatified this past Saturday in Spain, was another holy Jesuit (and you know how I love the Jesuits).

BLESSED TIBURCIO ARNAIZ MUNOZ, SJ., one of Spain's most beloved religious figures of the 20th Century, was born in Calle de Panaderos, Valladolid, Spain. Padre Arnáiz was noted to be a tireless apostle for the Misión Popular and as a zealous worker among the poor.

Entering seminary at an early age, he was ordained to the priesthood on April 20, 1890. Appointed parish priest of Villanueva de Duero in 1893, he earned a doctorate in theology from the Primatial See of Toledo in 1896.

A parish priest of Poyales del Hoyo, following the death of his mother, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1902, doing the novitiate in Granada. His sister at this time joined the Dominican nuns at the convent where he had once served as their sacristan.

He soon became concerned with those living in farms and in other rural locations, though he also spent some time in Loyola. He was in Cádiz from 1916 to 1917 before returning to Málaga to continue his work.

Maria Isabel

In 1922 he co-founded the Missionaries of the Rural Parishes, alongside Servant of God María Isabel González del Valle Sarandeses, whom he had come to know. This organization would be of use to the priest in his unwavering commitment to the moral and cultural well-being of the poor with an added emphasis on those who lived in remote and rural areas.

Bl. Tiburcio also knew the Bishop of Málaga Saint Manuel González García who had praised him for his work and encouraged him to continue it on a grand scale.

Contracting a bronchial pneumonia, he passed away in Málaga on July 18, 1926, aged 60. After obtaining a special permission, his Jesuit brethren buried him inside the church of the Corazón de Jesús of Málaga.

Monument in Malaga

The miracle required for his beatification was investigated in Málaga, concerning the mid-1990s cure of a man who had been in a coma for a week and was on the verge of death; he likewise suffered from a cardiorespiratory arrest.

BL. GERTRUDE PROSPERI Born to a wealthy, pious family, in 1799 in Fogliano di Cascia, Perugia, Italy.

In 1820 she joined the Benedictines at the monastery of Sante Lucia di Trevi, taking the name Sister Maria Luisa Angelica. She served as a nurse as well as a novice mistress. She was elected abbess in 1837, an office she held till her death.

She was well known among her peers for strict observance to the Rule of Saint Benedict (reviving many traditions),for her ardent devotion to both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In her duties she was always joyful and full of the love and care of Jesus for her charges.

For a period of five years the spiritual director and Bishop of Spoleto (and future cardinal) Ignazio Giovanni Cadolini guided her in discerning the truth of her visions and the ability to differentiate between visions and the work of Satan.

Bl. Gertrude died on 13 September 1847 after a painful illness. Her writings were left preserved and were copied when her Jesuit confessor Father Paterniani wrote the first chronicle of her life in 1870.

The process for her beatification began by the bishop of Spoleto, Pietra Pacificia, in 1914 but was interrupted during the First and Second World Wars, only to be resumed in December 1987.

She was beatified 12 November 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. The miracle needed for her beatification was the curing of a woman from Umbria of a brain-related illness. Her feast is September 13.

VENERABLE NOEME CINQUE - White Angel of the Trans-Amazonian Highway-

(Sister Serafina) was born in 1913 in the Amazons in Brazil. She was the second oldest of thirteen children. She felt called to be a nun early in her life, but she needed to work to help her family financially.

She decided to become a teacher and nurse. She would often visit the sick and elderly people in their homes. She also taught catechism locally and was a member of Catholic Action at her parish. Finally, in 1948 she joined an American congregation of nuns – the Adorers of the Blood of Christ – who were working in Brazilmissions. It was then she took the name Sister Serafina.

She came to the United Statesfor a few years to do her novitiate and studies and then was assigned to an area in the Amazons that had no doctors. She was the principal of a school there, but was also the medical professional for the entire region, teaching nutrition and hygiene as well as caring for the sick. Her dedication and unselfish attitude was great.

In 1969 she fell ill with tuberculosis, but recovered. In 1971, she was assigned to another area in Brazil, which had a growing population due to the construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway. With the growth of population, there was a lack of medical professionals and space in hospitals.

Sister Serafina helped establish the Divine Providence Home for pregnant women and infants who could not be admitted to hospitals. The house could take in up to 40 women a day. There she was able to offer special care for those who were homeless. In 1985 she built another home called the Refuge for the sick and abandoned.

She died of cancer in 1988 when she was 75 years old. She is remembered as the “Angel of the Amazons” by the local people. Pope Francis declared her venerable in 2014 because of her heroic virtues.

VENERABLE MARY JANE WILSON (SISTER MARY of ST. FRANCIS) was born on October 3^rd 1840 in Hurryhur, Mysore, Karnataka, Indiaif English parents.

She was orphaned in childhood and handed over to her aunt who gave her a proper education. Raised an Anglican she converted to Catholicism, joining the Church in France in 1873.

In 1881 she arrived in Madeira, Portugalwhere she worked as a nurse taking care of an Englishwoman. At the same time, she taught catechism to the local children, looked after the sick and supported education to the young by teaching youngsters across the island.

In 1884, she founded the Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Victory who dedicated their lives to caring for children and the sick. During the destructive epidemic of 1907, the Franciscan Sisters worked by her side looking after the victims of smallpox. For this act of bravery she was awarded the"Torre e Espada" (Tower & Sword) by King D. Carlos.

In October 1910, with the republican revolution, the Congregation was extinguished and as a result, Sister Mary Jane Wilson was expelled to England. After a year of exile she was able to return to Madeirawhere she gave new life to the congregation she had founded.

She died on October 18^th 1916 in Câmara de Lobos due to natural causes at the age of 76.

She was also dubbed "Good Mother" due to her deep faith and caring of the poor and the young. Enlightened by her example, the Congregation she founded now has sisters, not only in Madeira, but also in mainland Portugal and the Azores, Mozambique, England, Italy, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Philippines, Angola, India, Congo, Timor and Tanzania.

She was venerated on 9 October 9^th 2013 by Pope Francis. There is a lovely sculpture of Venerable Mary Jane by Luís Paixão in the Santa CruzMunicipalGarden, in Madeira.

BL. MARIA EUTHYMIA UFFING, one of eleven children, was born in Halverde Germany in 1914. At 18 months, she developed a form of rickets that stunted her growth and left her in poor health the rest of her life. Emma worked on her parents‘ farm as a child, and by her early teens began to feel a call to religious life.

She worked as an apprentice in house keeping management at the hospital in Hopsten, Germany, completing her studies in May 1933. In 1933 she entered the Sister of the Congregation of Compassion taking the name Euthymia. At the time of her vows she wrote her mother: "I found Him who my heart loves; I want to hold Him and never let Him go" (cf. Song 3,4).

She was assigned to work at Saint Vincent’s Hospital in Dinslaken. She graduated with distinction from the nursing program in 1939 and worked as nurse through World War II.

In 1943 she was assigned to nurse prisoners of war and foreign workers with infectious diseases. She worked tirelessly for her charges, caring for them, praying for them, and insuring they received the sacraments. She knew that the sick prisoners did not have to contend with physical sufferings alone. Through her warm sympathy and nearness, she instilled in them a feeling of being safe and at home.

After the war she was given supervision of the huge laundry rooms of the Dinslaken hospital, her order’s mother-house, and the Saint Raphael Clinic in Münster, Germany; what little spare time she had was spent in prayer before the Eucharist. Many who knew her, asked her to intercede for them in her prayers. A serious form of cancer brought Bl. Euthymia to an untimely death after long weeks of illness. She died on the morning of 9 September 1955.

Her feast is September 9.

ST. MARIA BERTILLA BOSCARDIN was born to a poor peasant family headed by Angelo Boscardin who, by his own account, was a violently abusive drunk. Anna had little education, was simple and innocent, and was considered mentally slow; referred to as the goose (as in, “silly as a….”). She worked as a house servant in her youth, joining the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Heart at Vincenza, Italy in 1904, taking the name Bertilla. After working in the convent‘s kitchen and laundry, she trained as a nurse in 1907.

She began working in a hospital with children suffering from diphtheria. There the young nun seemed to find her true vocation: nursing very ill and disturbed children. She was a great favorite for her simple, gentle way with the young patients.

Later, when the hospital was taken over by the military in World War I, Sister Maria Bertilla fearlessly cared for patients amidst the threat of constant air raids and bombings. A supervisor, angry at Bertilla’s growing reputation, reassigned her to the hospital laundry. Her congregation’s Mother-general heard of this vindictive treatment, and transferred Sister Bertilla back to nursing, making her the supervisor of the children‘s ward in 1919.

Shedied in October 1922 of cancer after suffering for many years from a painful tumor. She wascanonized by Pope John XXIIIin 1961. Among the many gathered included family members and an unknown number of her patients.

There have been many healing miracles reported at her tomb. Her feast is celebrated October 20.

BL. ESTHER PANIAGUA ALONSO, born in 1949 in Leon, Spain, was the daughter of Dolores Alonso and Nicasio Paniagua. Esther joined the Augustinian Missionary Congregation at age 18, making her perpetual vows in August 1970. Trained as a nurse, she was assigned to a hospital in the Bab El Oued neighborhood of Algiers, Algeria where she was especially drawn to handicapped children, and where she came to love the Arab people and culture. Shot three times in the head, she was murdered by members of the Armed Islamic Group while walking to Mass. on Sunday 23 October 1994 with Sister Caridad Álvarez Martín .

In 1994, faced with the country's civil war situation, when asked if she was afraid of the situation she replied, "No one can take our life because we have already given it. Nothing will happen to us since we are in the hands of God ... and if something happens to us, we are still in his hands. "

In spite of the requests of her hierarchy and the Spanish ambassador in Algeria, she refused to leave the country, saying, "At this moment, for me, the perfect model is Jesus: He suffered, He had to overcome difficulties and resulted in the failure of the cross, from which springs the source of life.”

She will be beatified with other Algerian martyrs, including the monks of Tibhirine, December 8, 2018. (Next Blog) Her feast day will be October 23.

News that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in Algeriabetween 1994 and 1996, will be Dec. 8, at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Cross in Oran.

The new blesseds “have been given to us as intercessors and models of the Christian life, of friendship and fraternity, of encounter and dialogue. May their example aid us in our life today,” the Algerian bishops wrote.

“From Algeria, their beatification will be for the Church and for the world, an impetus and a call to build together a world of peace and fraternity.”

Bishop Claverie was a French Algerian, and the Bishop of Oran from 1981 until his Aug. 1, 1996 martyrdom. He and his companions were killed during the Algerian Civil War by Islamists.

In addition to Claverie, those being beatified are: Brother Henri Vergès, Sister Paul-Hélène Saint-Raymond, Sister Esther Paniagua Alonso, Sister Caridad Álvarez Martín, Fr. Jean Chevillard, Fr. Alain Dieulangard, Fr. Charles Deckers, Fr. Christian Chessel, Sister Angèle-Marie Littlejohn, Sister Bibiane Leclercq, Sister Odette Prévost, Brother Luc Dochier, Brother Christian de Chergé, Brother Christophe Lebreton, Brother Michel Fleury, Brother Bruno Lemarchand, Brother Célestin Ringeard, and Brother Paul Favre-Miville.

The Monastery

The best known of Bishop Claverie's companions are theSEVEN MONKS of TIBHIRINE , who were kidnapped from their Trappist priory in March 1996. They were kept as a bartering chip to procure the release of several imprisoned members of the Armed Islamic Group of

Algeria

, and were killed in May. Their story was dramatized in the 2010 French film Of Gods and Men, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. I encourage everyone to see this amazingly well done movie. This beautiful film portrays the life of faith, the religious life, liturgical prayer and the Holy Mass which all contribute to the strength these men would need in the end.

The prior, Christian de Chergé, sought peaceful dialogue with the Muslim population of the area and provided employment, medical attention, and education to the locals. Dom Christian accepted that the current political tensions and violent militias were a threat to his life. According to the Trappist order, he wrote a letter to his community and family, citing the peace felt giving his life to God.

“If it should happen one day – and it could be today – that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to engulf all the foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church and my family to remember that my life was given to God and to this country,” he wrote.

The seven Cistercian monks of Tibhirine had been abducted in March 1996 in their monastery of Our Lady of the Atlas, 80 km south of Algiers. Their death was announced on May 23 by a statement from the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). The heads of the Trappist monks were found on May 30, 1996, without the mystery of their death being fully clarified.

After the death of the monks of Tibhirine, Bishop Claverie knew his life was in serious danger. A bomb exploded at the entrance of his chancery Aug. 1, 1996, killing him and an aide, Mohamed Bouchikhi.

On Nov. 8 Pope Francis approved the beatification (sometime in 2019) of American Br. James Miller, who was martyred in 1982 in Guatemala.

American born BROTHER JAMES (SANTIAGO) MILLER, FSC,was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1944. He first met the Christian Brothers when he attended PacelliHigh School there, and he entered the juniorate in Glencoe, Missouri, in September 1959. He began his year of novitiate in 1962, and following his formation years he started teaching.

He coached football, and taught Spanish, English, and religion in a high school in St. Paul, Minn.There his construction and maintenance abilities gained him the nickname "Brother Fix-It."

After professing his perpetual vows in 1969, he was sent to Bluefields, Nicaragua until 1974 when he was sent to Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua.

In July 1979 his superiors directed him to leave the country because the Sandinista revolution was in progress, and they feared he might be at risk.

In January 1981 he was allowed to return to Central America, this time to Guatemala. He taught at the secondary school in Huehuetenango and worked at the IndianCenterwhere young indigenous Mayans from rural areas studied and trained in agriculture.

The relations between the Brothers at the IndianCenterand the Guatemalan military were often strained. To meet its quota of army conscripts, the government often rounded up Indian boys from the streets. Although students were exempt from military service, the boys from the Center were often conscripted into the army. When that happened, a Brother would present proof to the authorities that the boy in questions was a student. The military would then reluctantly release him.

Two days before Brother James was killed, a Mayan pupil was forced into the army. A Brother tried to obtain his release from the authorities, but his petition was refused. By his adamant demands the Brother infuriated these authorities. In the afternoon of February 13, 1982, while he was repairing a wall at the IndianCenterwhere his boarders lived, three hooded men shot Brother James point blank. He died instantly.

Some saw his death as a warning to the Brothers to cease interfering in government affairs. Attempts to identify his assassins were unsuccessful. Brother James’ cause of martyrdom was undertaken by the Diocese of Huehuetenango in 2009.

Brother James’s killing was one in a string of assassinations of priests and religious in the country, including that of Bl. Stanley Rother five months later.

Aware of the danger present to him in

Guatemala

, in one of his last letters before he died, Brother James wrote: “I am personally weary of violence, but I continue to feel a strong commitment to the suffering poor of Central America. …the Church is being persecuted because of its option for the poor.”

The Brother James Miller icon at the top was painted by Nicholas Markell. The gold circular surrounding the head of Brother James Miller is called a “nimbus.” As with most sacred art, the nimbus is symbolic. Unlike the halo in Western spirituality that represents a canonized saint, the nimbus in Eastern spirituality represents the indwelling of Christ in the person. I love this image as he hold the lamb, representing Christ

SISTER THEA BOWMAN was the first African American woman to address the U.S.bishops' conference. Now, nearly 30 years after her death, Sr. Thea will once again feature at the U.S bishops' conference - but this time, they will be voting to approve the opening of her cause for canonization. (see Blog 10/4/2016)

As a novice- Franciscans of Perpetual Adoration

When she spoke to the

U.S.

bishops in 1989 she told them:.

“We as Church walk together. Don’t let nobody separate you, that’s one thing black folks can teach you, don’t let folks divide you. The Church teaches us that the Church is a family, a family of families, and a family that can stay together. And we know that if we do stay together...if we walk and talk and work and play and stand together in Jesus’ name we’ll be who we say we are, truly Catholic. And we shall overcome - overcome the poverty, overcome the loneliness, overcome the alienation, and build together a holy city, a new Jerusalem, a city set apart where...we love one another.”

Her words are as true to day as they were in her lifetime!

This is the week of Thanksgiving, and we have much to be thankful for, especially in light of people homeless due to the devastating wild fires in California.

Koko & Bella

It has been a sad week for us in the monastery as we had to put down our beloved PWD BELLA Sunday after Mass.- this coming less than 2 months after the death ofKOKO (see Blog on monastery PWDs 1/27/13).

In my grief I pondered the meaning of loss in our lives, and how often I have heard people say: well, if there is no heaven for my beloved pet, I want no part of it! To my mind this totally negates the gift of Christ in our lives- it is saying that in the end Jesus is not enough for us!

As we give thanks tomorrow for all we daily receive, let us especially be mindful of the greatest gift of all- the Eucharist, which nourishes us beyond comprehension!

On November 3 MOTHER CLELIA MERLONIwas beatified in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. Her most difficult life is a testimony to us all that in spite of life’s trials, one can attain sanctity.

The new blessed was born in 1861 in Forlì, Italy. Her mother died in 1864 and her maternal grandmother became her guardian. Her father remarried in 1866 and both her grandmother and stepmother did their best to instill religious values and a love of God in her. Her father became so engrossed in his work and his rising socio-economic status, that his faith became nonexistent, leading him to become an anti-clerical Freemason.

Despite her frail health her father sought to provide her with the best education possible in order to prepare her for following him in his business. She attended a private school in her town where she learned basic skills such as reading and mathematics, while also learning sewing and piano skills.

Clelia began to demonstrate signs that her father's business ambitions were not intended for her. Due to this her father began to grow suspicious of the grandmother and forced her from the home. The situation became aggravated when marriage struggles saw Clelia's stepmother leave the household to live with other relatives. Clelia often fled to her room to do penance for her father's misdeeds and wore a pebble in her shoe to offer her sufferings for her father's withdrawal from the faith.

The death of her father in 1865 – who reconciled to the faith before his death – saw his estate left to Bl. Clelia.

She then joined the Figlie di Santa Maria della Divina Provvidenza – the order that St Luigi Guanella founded , but while there realized a call to form an order that would be devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She founded that order in 1894 with three friends.

In 1896 a financial disaster, due to her dishonest financial administrator, bought about great humiliation on the order which in turn led to public opinion turning against them. Bl. Clelia was soon told that her life was in danger and was advised to leave Viareggio. She sought refuge with the order based in Broni.

It was to her benefit that she later met the Bishop of Piacenza Bl Giovanni Battista Scalabrini in 1900. He not only approved the rule for her order, but also accepted the profession of the future blessed and ten other religious. Bl. Clelia desired that the congregation be extended to the foreign missions and on 10 August 1900 six of the religious departed for Brazil.

Bl. Giovanni Battista

In 1902 six sailed on the British ship "The Vancouver" for Boston to aid the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo, the order founded by Bl. Giovanni. By 1903 there were 30 houses with 200 sisters.

The death of Bishop Scalabrini 1905 saw the decline of Bl. Clelia's good standing among the congregation and in 1911 the Vatican removed her from the leadership. She withdrew from the public due to this and in 1916 both requested and received a dispensation that would release her from her religious vows.

During her exile Pope Benedict XV granted the decree of praise of the order in 1921. In 1928 she requested permission to renter the congregation and was welcomed at the motherhouse in Rome where the order was now based.

The present Superior General, Marcellina Vigano issued a circular letter that read: "Our most ardent desires have finally been fulfilled! ... Our beloved Mother Foundress is once again with us all of the seventh of this month. The Sacred Heart has restored her health so that she may now enjoy here in the motherhouse, surrounded by the love of her daughters, that peace and quiet which she needs so much, after so many trials and sorrows".

Bronze by Michael Alfono- Hamden CT

Bl. Clelia Merloni died on 21 November 1930 and she was buried at Campo Verano but was later exhumed and found intact in 1945. Her remains were then transferred to the motherhouse of the order. The order itself now has 1200 members in nations such as Taiwan and Switzerland .

In the last Blog, we mention that Bl. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was the mentor of Bl. Clilia Merloni.

BL. GIOVANNI BATTISTA SCALABRINI was the Bishop of Piacenza from 1876 until his death He was the founder of both the Missionaries of Saint Charles and the Mission Sisters of Saint Charles. His rise to the episcopate came at a rapid pace after giving a series of lectures on the First Vatican Council in 1872 and his staunch dedication to catechism which led Pope Pius IX to dub him as the "Apostle of the Catechism". Successive popes Leo XIII and (St.) Pius X held him in incredible esteem and both failed to convince him accept archdioceses or the cardinalate.

Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was born in Fino Mornasco the third of eight children. Two brothers emigrated to the Americas. In his adolescence he wrote a poem in praise of the life of St Aloysius Gonzaga and had a devotion to St Joseph and St Francis de Sales as well as St Charles Borromeo which extended for the remainder of his life.

He first attended the local state high school where he demonstrated a remarkable intelligence that made him a top student held in high esteem and then entered the Liceo Volta college in Como where he often received prizes for his academic excellence; he had interests in both science and foreign languages.

Bl. Giovanni did his philosophy and theology studies in Como and was ordained in 1863.

After ordaination he expressed a strong desire to join the missions in the Indies but Bishop Marzorati had other ideas for him and said to him: "Your Indies are in Italy". The bishop instead appointed him as a professor and rector of seminarians, where he taught Greek and history. In 1870 he was appointed as the pastor of the San Bartolomeo church where he remained until 1876. He distinguished himself during a cholera epidemic in 1867 through his tireless efforts to alleviate the suffering of the victims.

In 1876 he was appointed Bishop of Piacenza by Pope Pius IX. It was St John Boscowho advised Pius IX to appoint Bl. Giovannii as a bishop.

He made five pastoral visits across his diocese which proved to be an exhaustive but effective mission of evangelization and his efforts at reforming seminaries and pastoral initiatives earned him praise even from the secular detractors who criticized him for his strict obedience to the pope.

The bishop's episcopal tenure resulted in the establishment of the "Saint Raphael Association" dedicated to the care of Italian migrants which proved to be a cause he held close to his heart. This solidified through the actions of his twin religious congregations and his visits to both Brazil and the

USA

where he went to meet Italian immigrants. Bishop Scalabrini also held three important episcopal gatherings in his diocese that revitalized parish and diocesan practices and made his diocese the ground for the first-ever National Catechetical Congress in 1899.

His holiness was well-renowned across the Italian peninsula and there were countless who attested to his saintliness in an ensuring canonization process. St.John Paul II beatified Bishop Scalabrini in Saint Peter's Square on 9 November 1997. His feast is celebrated June 1.

Today we begin preparation for the Nativity of the Lord by the lighting of the first candle on the Advent wreath in our Chapel. For me it is a special remembrance of a time when I visited the newly "freed" East Germany. My friends took me to a very famous artist's home, primitive but lovely, hidden in a deep woods. He did pottery among other arts. I chose a ceramic advent wreath which would hold the 4 candles as well as some greens. It was a lovely blue-green and made from local clay, Sad to say the artist died soon after my visit.

The Advent wreath is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the first candle is lit. Monasteries traditionally do this on the Saturday before just before the first Vespers of Sunday. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit.

The Advent wreath originated a few hundred years ago among the Lutherans of eastern Germany. It probably was suggested by one of the many light symbols which were used in folklore at the end of November and beginning of December. The Christians in medieval times kept many of these lights and fire symbols alive as popular traditions and ancient folklore.

In the sixteenth century the custom started of using such lights as a religious symbol of Advent in the houses of the faithful. This practice quickly spread among the Protestants of eastern Germany and was soon accepted by Protestants and Catholics in other parts of the country. In modern times the tradition is found in all catholic countries.

The traditional symbolism of the Advent wreath reminds the faithful of the Old Testament, when humanity was “sitting in the darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 2:79); when the prophets, illumined by God, announced the Redeemer; and when the hearts of men glowed with the desire for the Messiah. The wreath — an ancient symbol of victory and glory — symbolizes the “fulfillment of time” in the coming of Christ and the glory of His birth.

In our monastery Mother Prioress lights the first candle and the following Saturday the next nun in rank. Because we immediately pray Vespers, no specific prayers are said, but in many Churches and homes there are special prayers.

On the First Sunday of Advent, the father of the family blesses the wreath, praying: O God, by whose word all things are sanctified, pour forth Your blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from You abundant graces. Who lives and reigns forever. Amen”. The youngest child then lights one purple candle.

During the second week of Advent, the father prays: O Lord, stir up our hearts that we may prepare for Your only begotten Son, that through His coming we may be made worthy to serve You with pure minds. Who lives and reigns forever. Amen.” Another child then lights the purple candle from the first week plus one more purple candle.

During the third week of Advent, the father prays: O Lord, we beg Thee, incline Your ear to our prayers and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of Your visitation. Who lives and reigns forever. Amen.” The mother then lights the two previously lit purple candles plus the rose candle.

Finally, the father prays during the fourth week of Advent, O Lord, stir up Your power, we pray You, and come; and with great might help us, that with the help of Your grace, Your merciful forgiveness may hasten what our sins impede. Who lives and reigns forever. Amen.” The father then lights all of the candles of the wreath.

Since Advent is a time to stir-up our faith in the Lord, the wreath and its prayers provide us a way to augment this special preparation for Christmas. This tradition helps us to remain vigilant in our homes and not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas.

The message from Pope Benedict XVI is very clear as to why we have these four weeks of preparation- beyond the hustle and bustle of material concerns.

"Advent is a time of openness to God’s future, a time of preparation for Christmas, when He, the Lord, who is the absolute novelty, came to dwell in the midst of this fallen humanity to renew it from within. In the Advent liturgy there resounds a message full of hope, which invites us to lift up our gaze to the ultimate horizon, but at the same time to recognize the signs of God-with-us in the present. The Lord wants to do in Advent: to speak to the heart of His people and, through them, to the whole of humanity, to proclaim salvation."

One really good way of preparing our hearts for Christ’s coming during Advent and welcoming Him at Christmas is through daily reading. There are many good books by modern authors as well as ancient.

Our favorite book to read in Advent is Father Alfred Delp’s Advent of the Heart(see Blog 6/3/2016 for more on this Jesuit martyr)

The publisher writes,

His approach to Advent, the season that prepares us for Christmas, is what Fr. Delp called an “Advent of the heart.” More than just preparing us for Christmas, it is a spiritual program, a way of life. He proclaimed that our personal, social and historical circumstances, even suffering, offer us entry into the true Advent, our personal journey toward a meeting and dialogue with God. Indeed, his own life, and great sufferings, illustrated the true Advent he preached and wrote about.

From his very prison cell he presented a timeless spiritual message, and in an extreme situation, his deep faith gave him the courage to draw closer to God, and to witness to the truth even at the cost of his own life. These meditations will challenge and inspire all Christians to embark upon that same spiritual journey toward union with God, a journey that will transform our lives.

Another good book isAdvent with St Teresa of Calcutta, meditations which call us to consider how we might love more deeply, surrender more completely, and let go of all the things not necessary in our busy lives, so there is more room to receive the Lord into our hearts.

Waiting for Christ: Meditations for Advent and Christmasby Bl. John Henry Newman. (The

Vatican just announced

his canonization will take place in 2019)

These beautiful meditations give us reflections on preparing for the Lord's coming at Christmas and the end of time, Our Lady’s role in salvation history, as well as God's call for each and every one of us to holiness.

It is not too late to start. Go to Amazon.com (you can even get books used for less than regular price) and you will have in a few days! Blessed Advent!

In a pastoral letter marking the first Sunday of Advent, Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury dedicated 2019 as the diocesan YEAR OF HOLINESS, calling attention to the Second Vatican Council's emphasis on the universal call to holiness.

“It is this universal call to holiness which I wish all of us, clergy and people, to focus upon anew. It is striking that, amid all the crises of the 20th Century, the central message of the Second Vatican Council was that every one of us, in every state of life, is called to the fullness of the Christian life and the perfection of love: that is, called to become nothing less than a saint,” Bishop Davies wrote.

“Advent is a time of renewed hope leading us to the light of Christmas,” he said. “It is a journey we make in the darkest days of our year. Such days evoke the dark shadows in the world around us, and those failures in the lives and witness of Christians which have at times cast dark shadows over the face of the Church, obscuring for many, the clear light of Christ shining from her.”

He said that “our renewal in holiness” is “the only renewal of the Church which will ever matter … It is why only saintsresolved the crises the Church has faced throughout history and why they have proved to be the great evangelisers.”

“It is also why, today, amid the dark shadows of scandal and the challenge of a new evangelisation of western societies, it is urgent to recall this one goal of every Christian life for it is in the saints that the true face of the Church shines out. For, though they can have their place, no pastoral programme; no discussions amongst us; no re-organisation or re-structuring can ever accomplish this; only our striving for holiness to become the saints we have been called by God to be.”

Both “our Christian calling and the ultimate goal of every human life” is “to become, in the end, a saint,” said Bishop Davies, recalling that Christ told us “that this is the one thing which alone matters.”

The bishop noted that Pope Francis wrote in a recent letter that “the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”

Andrea di Bonaiuto

“A saint is someone who reaches the complete and everlasting happiness of Heaven. We might say that holiness is happiness … it is only by being holy that we can be truly happy.”

Bishop Davies said: “The Holy Father writes, 'Do not be afraid to set your sights higher, to allow yourself to be loved and liberated by God'. For holiness, he writes, is 'the extent that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we model our life on Christ’s'. We can never reach this goal by our own unaided efforts. By the grace of God we can!”

He encouraged everyone in the Diocese of Shrewbury to recall in the coming year that there is found in the Church, holy though composed of sinners, everything needed to grow in holiness.

“In daily prayer, frequent Confession and, above all, in the Holy Eucharist, we are given the Divine means, the grace to reach this goal,” wrote Bishop Davies.

“This is our purpose as we enter anew into Advent,” the bishop concluded. “Let us ask Our Lady, she who is 'full of grace', to accompany us along the path to the holiness, the true happiness to which we are called. In the beautiful words of the Second Vatican Council, we know that in the most Blessed Virgin Mary the Church has already reached perfection and in our struggle she shines out for us as a sign of certain hope and consolation until the day of the Lord shall come in splendor.”

OLR Chapel in Winter

To those who are not used to it, life in the Pacific NW can get a bit gloomy in December, especially when it rains day after day. I think it is no coincidence that the Church chooses to celebrate the coming of the Light at this time when all things appear to be “dead”. It is in the silence that He chose to come to us- not in the garish summer’s heat. Advent reminds us to wait, to hope, just as we await the signs of spring after a cold, dark winter. It is the time of longing, of anticipation that we will be freed of the darkness in our lives.

St Maximus Bishop of Turin (5^thCentury) an outstanding Biblical scholar and preacher revered for his writings wrote: “ The depressing shortness of the days itself testifies to the imminence of some event which will bring about the betterment of a world urgently longing for a brighter sun to dispel its darkness. In spite of fearing that its course may be terminated within a few brief hours, the world still shows signs of hope that its yearly cycle will once more be renewed. And if creation feels this hope, it persuades us also to hope that Christ will come like a new sunrise to shed light on the darkness of our sins, and that the Sun of Justice, in the vigor of his new birth, will dispel the long night of guilt from our hearts.”

Sunrise from Monastery

(Immaculate Conception- Peter Paul Rubens, 1628)

There are very few saints we celebrate in December, but those we do celebrate seem to be connected to light.

Foremost in our minds and hearts in Advent, as we prepare for the coming of her Son, is the Mother of our Savior. As Pope Benedict once wrote: “For Mary, as for Abraham, faith is trust in, and obedience to, God, even when He leads her through darkness. It is a letting go, a releasing, a handing over of oneself to the truth, to God. Faith, in the luminous darkness of God’s inscrutable ways, is thus a conformation to Him.”

Two Marian feasts fall during Advent. The first of which is:OUR LADY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, patroness of the

USA

., on December 8.

According to St. (Pope) Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, “The Church asks Mary’s intercession for those who have closed their eyes to the light of this world and appeared before Christ, the eternal Light”. Mary, far from detracting from the light of Christ, actually acts as a mirror shining in the darkest times to point us toward the source of true Light-God.

Venerable Fulton Sheen spoke of Mary as the reflection of the light of Jesus.

“God who made the sun, also made the moon. The moon does not take away from the brilliance of the sun. All its light is reflected from the sun. The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son; without Him, she is nothing. with Him, she is the Mother of men”. (The World's First Love: Mary, Mother of God)

A longtime friend of our Abbey in CT (and close to our Mother Ruth who died in August) is Br. Victor-Antoine D’Avila-Latourrette OSB who lives in the Hudson Valley of NY.. He has written many books- from cook books (The Monastic Kitchen), to blessings at meals to understanding monastic life (A Rhythm of Life- The Monastic Way). He has much to say abut Advent in his book Monastery Journey to Christmas. Great insights for meditation during this holy season of preparation for the Lord's coming. Slow down and read a page a day!

“ We wait and wait for the Lord. We become very conscious of the waiting. It is an eager waiting, full of anticipation and wonder, for as with the prophets of old, our companions on the road, we long to see his face.

The Lord, of course, is very much aware of this patient waiting, of this deep yearning for him, and he is ever ready to come into our lives and fulfill our deepest desires. Advent waiting is always twofold. On our part, we await prayerfully, consciously, and anticipate his coming. On God’s part, he is eager to arrive and find a warm dwelling place in our hearts. The greater our desire and patience in waiting for him, the fuller we shall be filled with his presence.

If we learn to cultivate this inner attitude of waiting for him steadily, faithfully, not only during the Blessed Advent days, but throughout the whole of our lives, we shall likewise be rewarded with the grace, joy, and warmth of his real presence in the innermost of our hearts."

We just finish celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, when we celebrate another great feast of our Lady. On December 12, we honor OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE, patroness of all the

Americas.

December 9th is the feast of Aztec ST. JUAN DIEGO who was given the extraordinary grace of a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Juan was walking on Tepeyac hill, now part of Mexico City, on December 9, 1531, when he heard music and saw a beautiful woman in a striking garb, surrounded by golden rays, with garments as brilliant as the sun. .

The image of Guadalupe relates to Immaculate Conception imagery, which drew aspects of its symbolism from the Book of Revelation which describes the Woman of the Apocalypse as “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” In the Guadalupe image, twelve golden rays frame her face and head, a direct reference to the crown of stars.

The moon for the Meso-Americans was the god of the night. By standing on the moon, Mary shows that she is more powerful than the god of darkness. The crescent moon under the Madonna’s feet is usually a symbol of her perpetual virginity, and refers to her Immaculate Conception.

The aureole or luminous light surrounding our Lady is a sign of the power of God who has sanctified and blessed the one who appears. The rays of the sun would also be recognized by the native people as a symbol of their highest god, Huitzilopochtli. Thus, the woman comes forth hiding but not extinguishing the power of the sun. She is now going to announce the God who is greater than their sun god.

The stars on the Lady’s mantle shows that she comes from heaven. The stars also are a sign of the supernatural character of the image. The research of Fr. Mario Rojas Sánchez and Dr. Juan Homero Hernández Illescas of Mexico (published in 1983) shows that the stars on the Lady’s mantle in the image are exactly as the stars of the winter solstice appeared before dawn on the morning of December 12, 1531.

No small wonder that this miraculous mantle, which still exists intact after 500 years, defies scientific

scrutiny.

In today’s feast iwe celebrate one of the great martyrs of the early Church, ST. LUCIA(Lucy). Because her torture reportedly included the gouging out of her eyes, Lucy, whose name means light, is associated in a special way with Christmas and the biblical image of Jesus as the light of the world. Her feast day is a major holy-day in Scandinaviaand usually marks the beginning of the Christmas. Often her feast day is celebrated by candlelight processions, usually involving girls holding candles or wearing a wreath of candles.

It may be no accident that ST. JOHN of the CROSS’feast day is celebrated during the Advent season (December 14), for it is he who is best known for his moving account of the “dark night of the soul” that all Christians must experience on their way to God. This darkness may be terrifying, but it is no cause for despair. As one Carmelite nun has written: “The darkness of that Bethlehem night held the glory of God’s greatest gift to humanity. The Carmelite friar’s description of going to God through the night is not a sad dirge at all. He tells us that the night he describes is really God coming to us with the intensity of a light so dazzlingit overwhelms our capacity to see. We walk through the nights of our lives with the assurance that we will see a new dawn, more glorious than any we have looked at before.”

Like the shepherds waiting in the darkness of that night in Bethlehem, so too are we standing vigil for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

If St. John of the Cross teaches us about the darkness that precedes our encounter with God, St. Lucy reminds us to look forward to the heavenly light that will follow.

SAINTS OF THE FUTURE

SAINTS WHO WERE NURSES

ANOTHER BLESSED JESUIT

NURSES AS EXAMPLES

OTHER HOLY NURSES

MORE HOLY NURSES

BLESSED MONKS of TIBHIRINE

NEW AMERICAN SAINT

UPDATE ON FUTURE AMERICAN SAINT

THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS

A SAINT WHO SAW LIFE'S TRIALS

APOSTLE of the CATECHISM

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

ADVENT READING

CALL TO HOLINESS IN A NEW YEAR

WINTER LIGHT

MARY, THE SOURCE OF ADVENT LIGHT

SECOND SUNDAY of ADVENT

PATRONESS OF THE AMERICAS- LIGHT TO THE PEOPLE

SAINTS OF THE LIGHT