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A CHURCH WATCHED
New Pope FrancisWhat 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...
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POPE FRANCIS' COAT of ARMS
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...
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MYSTERY FLOWER
SpikenardPeople 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...
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SAINTS IN THE KITCHEN
Clare Cresap VillaBased 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...
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FUN NUNS
(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...
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THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Egino Weinert- GermanThis 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...
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THE NEUROTIC MYSTIC
As a young girlAs 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...
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BLOG UPDATE
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...
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A BLESSED ROYAL
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...
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THE LAST EMPRESS
Zita 1911We 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...
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IN MEMORIAM- A GREAT GERMAN ARTIST
ResurrectionThe 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...
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GERMAN SCULPTURE
Barlach with my favorite pieceBefore 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...
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FAVORITE GERMAN ARTIST
Self-portraitLike 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...
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STAY WITH US LORD!
Rudolph Bostic- USAI 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...
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A LIFE GIVEN for RECONCILIATION
Self-portraitMost 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...
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PRIEST-ARTIST
TransfigurationFather KoderFATHER 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...
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COME HOLY SPIRIT
Egino Weinert- GermanyPENTECOST 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...
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GIFTS of the HOLY SPIRIT
Vincent de Beauvais 15th C -FrenchThe 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...
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ANOTHER TRIP TO PERU
Pervuvian thick-kneeWhite-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...
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ART IN PERU
Madonna of BelenAs 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...
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