Saint Junipero Serra

Pope Francis just canonized the man who founded the California missions, and Fr. Austin made this beautiful handout !

International Religious Stamps

Fr. Austin just sent me these: beautiful stamps from Macau, the Portuguese-speaking Chinese province, depicting the Jesuit saints! The Diocese of Macau was founded in 1576! The stamps were designed by an award winning Italian artist.

I looked and couldn't find a lot more about this international religious stamp award, but I did find three past winners. The Saints Cyril & Methodius stamp won by Slovakia in 2014 is gorgeous!

In looking for more information online I found this page with all of these gorgeous international stamps of St Ignatius Loyola, Number One's confirmation saint! Just look at  this Spanish one: 

Prayer Service for Erik Nielsen

Today we hosted and led a prayer service for Erik's soul, and also asking for the comfort of so many who mourn him. We did not take videos or photos, but I would like to share our service program. Thank You to old friend Fr. Brian Austin FSSP, who helped me compose it. Number Six did a beautiful job intoning/leading/soloing all of the chant. We had friends come from near and far and we were so thankful for the hope that prayer brings.

Lenten podcasts by Fr. Austin FSSP

Listening has become a habit... I can do it during so much of my daily work. There are many books, but then again there are...

Fr. Austin's podcasts! Available at his site here.

I also just posted the link on Facebook: 

I remember the days when, for meatier sermons, Husband and I leafed through the Homiletic and Pastoral Review monthly, what with the wonderful Sunday homilies inside each issue. We learned so much those early-marriage days. Now the internet brings us the voice of dear priests. God bless good priests. 

The Fatima Prayers

Today it is Husband's Birthday, and I've told the story before of how I reacted when he told me his Birthday was on Our Lady of Fatima Feastday!

Dear friend Fr. Austin just sent the text of the Fatima prayers, and I thank him. What a beautiful day to celebrate a birthday. The girls and I are making him a carrot cake--his favorite cake--and we will have a nice dinner and a gift for him tonight!

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You. (First apparition of the Angel of Portugal)

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. (Third apparition of the Angel of Portugal)

“Oh, Holy Trinity, we adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Blessed Sacrament.” (First apparition of Our Lady)

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. (Second and third apparitions of Our Lady)

Oh my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Third apparition of Our Lady)

On the 40th Anniversary of Roe Vs Wade

I just made this image for my Facebook cover. I used one of Number Five's beautiful winter photos and added the text in red. Red symbolizing life, warmth and the antithesis of the chilling Culture of Death. Add the violence of abortion to the symbolism that red conveys.

I read and posted quotes from this interview on PBS, and prayed at mass for the people marching in Washington DC tomorrow. It promises to be the largest March for Life yet with over a million people and the usual disdain from the media.

Some excellent quotes from the interview's transcript, by Charmaine Yoest of AUL.

" ... We regulate veterinary clinics better than we do abortion clinics in this country. And that is outrageous. 

(...) We stand with North Korea and China as the only -- only four countries in the entire world that don't regulate abortion after viability. 

We can do better as a civilized country of -- not only for babies, but also for women, for protecting women's health. " 
 

Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart!

Fr. B. Austin just sent me this beautiful image... I am adding the humble shrine I made for the Sacred Heart in this great feast... we have house painters inside and it was hard to find a quiet corner. But we have lots of pretty roses by the kitchen porch, ready to come in for any celebration!

Petition

Friend Fr. B. A. sent this. Important stuff! I posted it on Facebook also, after signing it. I think every citizen in America should be interested in signing this.


His Eminence, Cardinal-elect Dolan, President of the USCCB, together with his brother bishops, is asking that every Catholic take the time to join in the fight for religious liberty and freedom on conscience.

The following from the USCCB website:

"Never before has federal law forced citizens to purchase what violates their deeply held beliefs and ethical convictions. But now the Administration is forcing us to act as if pregnancy were a disease to be prevented at all costs. For many Americans that means choosing between violating our consciences and forgoing health care -- literally an unconscionable dilemma.

"Our country's longstanding laws protecting conscience rights must now apply fully to the implementation of health care reform. For that we need more than rule-making, we need a law.

"The bishops are urging Congress to support the "Respect for Rights of Conscience Act" in light of the new HHS rule and the "unprecedented threat to religious freedom" it poses.

"Please CLICK HERE to join your voice with theirs and with the many organizations -- Catholic and non-Catholic -- who are fighting for religious liberty and conscience rights."

Blessed words for the New Year

I got to know Blessed Charles de Foucauld this past year. His tumultuous early life, his search for the truly authentic Christian life, his writings... they enchanted me and brought me better understanding of a far away culture. Fr. Austin just sent this and what good thoughts for the new year.

It is good to empty your memory of all visible things, and to fill it again with the hope of heavenly things. Even here, how happy we are. There are many miseries, no doubt, our sins especially and the long procession of our imperfections and our weaknesses. But when one thinks that our beloved Jesus is always with us in the Tabernacle . . . that he is always in our souls, what can we say . . . but that life has lost its darkness . . . Dear brothers in Jesus, how lucky we are. 

Blessed Charles de Foucauld

From Fr. B. A.

Good friend Fr. B. A. just sent me this. Wonderful news indeed, especially for North America! I can't wait to see what will be the official portrait of the native American saint, to be unveiled at the canonization ceremony. She will be for now on another heavenly saint as I pray for each of my children.


KATERI TEKAKWITHA: FIRST NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN SAINT

VATICAN CITY, 20 DEC 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father yesterday signed decrees acknowledging miracles attributed to the intervention of seven blesseds (four women and three men) who will shortly be canonised. One of the new blesseds is Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars.

  Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, U.S.A.). Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother a Roman Catholic Algonquian who had been educated by French missionaries. At the age of four she lost her family in a smallpox epidemic which also left her disfigured and with poor eyesight. Adopted by a relative, the chief of neighbouring clan, she continued to nurture an interest in Christianity and was baptised at the age of 20.

  The members of her tribe did not understand her new religious affiliation and she was marginalised, practising physical mortification as a path of sanctity and praying for the conversion of her relatives. Having suffered persecutions which put her life at risk, she was forced to flee to a native American Christian community in Kahnawake, Quebec where she made a vow of chastity and lived a life dedicated to prayer, penance, and care for the sick and elderly. She died in 1680 at the age of 24. Her last words were: "Jesus, I love you". According to tradition, Kateri's scars disappeared after her death to reveal a woman of great beauty, and numerous sick people who participated in her funeral were miraculously healed.

  The process of canonisation began in 1884. She was declared venerable by Pius XII in 1943 and beatified by John Paul II in 1980. As the first native North American to be beatified she occupies a special place in the devotion of her people. Her feast day falls on 14 July.

I receive inspirational emails from my friend Fr. A. often, and I loved this recent one: 

"Virtues are formed by prayer.
Prayer preserves temperance.
Prayer suppresses anger.
Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy.
Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven."

-- St Ephraem the Syrian

Read more here. 

Text of Pope's speech in Assisi

Can be found here. Thanks to Fr. B. A.!

It is a great read! Here is a good excerpt:

The absence of God leads to the decline of man and of humanity. But where is God? Do we know him, and can we show him anew to humanity, in order to build true peace? Let us first briefly summarize our considerations thus far. I said that there is a way of understanding and using religion so that it becomes a source of violence, while the rightly lived relationship of man to God is a force for peace. In this context I referred to the need for dialogue and I spoke of the constant need for purification of lived religion. On the other hand I said that the denial of God corrupts man, robs him of his criteria and leads him to violence.
In addition to the two phenomena of religion and anti-religion, a further basic orientation is found in the growing world of agnosticism: people to whom the gift of faith has not been given, but who are nevertheless on the lookout for truth, searching for God. Such people do not simply assert: “There is no God”. They suffer from his absence and yet are inwardly making their way towards him, inasmuch as they seek truth and goodness. They are “pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”. They ask questions of both sides. They take away from militant atheists the false certainty by which these claim to know that there is no God and they invite them to leave polemics aside and to become seekers who do not give up hope in the existence of truth and in the possibility and necessity of living by it. But they also challenge the followers of religions not to consider God as their own property, as if he belonged to them, in such a way that they feel vindicated in using force against others. These people are seeking the truth, they are seeking the true God, whose image is frequently concealed in the religions because of the ways in which they are often practised. Their inability to find God is partly the responsibility of believers with a limited or even falsified image of God. So all their struggling and questioning is in part an appeal to believers to purify their faith, so that God, the true God, becomes accessible. Therefore I have consciously invited delegates of this third group to our meeting in Assisi, which does not simply bring together representatives of religious institutions. Rather it is a case of being together on a journey towards truth, a case of taking a decisive stand for human dignity and a case of common engagement for peace against every form of destructive force. Finally I would like to assure you that the Catholic Church will not let up in her fight against violence, in her commitment for peace in the world. We are animated by the common desire to be “pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”.

Anniversary Mass, II

Per popular request, here is a picture of the cake. The dinner was delicious and elegant, simple and homemade, all at the same time. A huge thank you to friends Sandy, Caitilin, Sarah and my wonderful mother-in-law for the kitchen help!

At the table with Husband and me are my mother-in-law and her husband "grandpa Tom", Schola directors Mr. and Mrs. Knutson, Mr. Pepino and Fr. B. A.!

Anniversary Mass

Dearest friend Fr. B. A. came to say a mass for us in the extraordinary form. Numbers Three and Four served, along with friends Austin (MC) and younger servers T.B. and R. P.

Number Seven distributed the mass booklets and programs with her friend H. S. and Numbers Five and Six played piano and organ respectively. Friends Mr. and Mrs. Knutson were schola directors. We are so thankful to all who participated!

It was a beautiful, meaningful, holy and wonderful Holy Mass. May God be praised.

Summer Books...

Even with nonstop outside activity, we have been reading... Here is a smattering of recent titles:

On audio, we have been enjoying some Wodehouse which never gets old, and also the third book of McCall Smith's series entitled Portuguese Irregular Verbs: The Villa of Reduced Circumstances. Just the name of the beloved professor's host in Colombia--Sr. Cinco Fermentaciones--has me smiling while driving.

Numbers Six and Seven have already filled their library summer reading program logs but continue to read. Number Six is currently enjoying Amos Fortune, a book I also loved. I recommended Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery for her next book, an unforgettable read.

Voracious-reader Husband is always reading, and around his nightstand there are several books. I will mention one because I too am reading it. We discuss it now and then when we both make another dent into it: Toward the Gleam is a new work of fiction and it is full of surprising nuggets. Ancient manuscripts, Oxford professors, some real characters woven into the plot, and a typical super bad guy make it a fun summer reading!

The one I am savoring and loving is a book recommended by priest friend Fr. B. A.: A Memory for Wonders: A True Story by Veronica Lamoyo de Goulart, with a preface by the wonderful Mother Mary Francis, the Poor Clare from Gallup, NM, playwright and author of the bestselling and marvelous book A Right to be Merry. It turns out she is directly responsible for the publication of this book and also worked as editor, as the author was a personal friend of hers. The book is an intimate autobiography, and I am still in her childhood as her parents move from city to city in French-dominated Morocco. This is a book I am slowly savoring as it brings a different world into mine, a new world both interior and exterior.

Holy Thursday

Nocturn II, Breviarium Romanum (1962)

From the Treatise of St Augustine, Bishop (of Hippo)

Upon the Psalms liv. 1.

Give ear to my prayer, O God, and despise not my supplication : attend unto me and hear me. These are the words of a man travailing, anxious, and troubled. He prayeth in the midst of much suffering, longing to be rid of his affliction. Our part is to see what that his affliction was, and when he hath told us, to acknowledge that we also suffer therefrom; that so, partaking in his trouble, we may take part also in his prayer. He saith : I mourn in my exercise, and am troubled. Wherein mourned he? Wherein was he troubled? He saith : In my exericise. In the next words he giveth us to know that his affliction was the oppression of the wicked, ( Because of the voice of the enemy, and because of the oppression of the wicked,) and this suffering which came upon him at the hands of wicked men, he hath called his exercise. Think not that wicked men are in this world for nothing, or that God doth no good with them. Every wicked man liveth, either to repent, or to exercise the righteous.

Would to God that they which now exercise us were converted and exercised with us! Yet, while they are as they are, and exercise us, we will not hate them : for we know not of any one of them whether he will endure to the end in his sin. Yea, oftentimes, when thou deemest that thou hatest thine enemy, he whom thou hatest is thy brother, and thou knowest it not. The Holy Scriptures show us that the devil and his angels are already damned unto everlasting fire, and therefore of their repentance it behoveth us to despair; but of theirs only. These are they against whom we wrestle within; to the which wrestling the Apostle stirreth us up where he saith : We wrestle not against flesh and blood, (that is, not against men whom we see,) but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world. Eph. vi. 12. He saith not the rulers of this world, lest perchance thou shouldest deem that devils are the lords of heaven and earth; what he doth say is, rulers of the darkness of this world, of that world which they love who love the world, of that world wherein the ungodly and unrighteous do prosper, of that world, in fine, of which the Gospel saith : And the world knew Him not.

We have seen iniquity and strife in A the city. v. 10. Behold, the glory of the Cross. That Cross which was the object of the insults of God's enemies, is established now above the brows of kings. The end hath shown the measure of its power : it hath conquered the world, not by the sword, but by its wood. The enemies of God thought the Cross a meet object of insult and ridicule, yea, they stood before it, wagging their heads and saying : If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross! Matth. xxvii. 39, 40. And He stretched forth His Hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Rom. x. 21. If he is just which liveth by faith, Rom. i. 17; Hab. ii. 4, he is unjust that hath not faith. Therefore where is written iniquity we may understand unbelief. The Lord therefore saith that He saw iniquity and strife in the city, and that He stretched forth His Hands unto that disobedient and gainsaying people, and, disobedient and gainsaying as they were, He was hungry for their salvation, and said : Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Luke xxiii. 34.

Our friend Fr. Austin on Chant Cafe

Fr. Brian Austin, FSSP, is interview by Jeffrey Tucker of the Chantcafe.com from Church Music Association of Amer on Vimeo.

A gem sent by Fr. B. A.

Whether one has received the Sacrament of Matrimony, or of Holy Orders, the path to holiness is essentially the same--"deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me."

Ave Maria!

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The Cross of Christ Custom for Marriage

In the town of Siroki-Brijeg in Herzegovina not one single divorce has been recorded among its 13,000 inhabitants. Not one single family has broken up in living memory. For centuries, because of the pressure of the Turks and then the Communists, the people suffered cruelly as their Christian faith was always threatened. They knew through experience that salvation comes through the cross of Christ. That is why they have indissolubly linked marriage to the Cross of Christ. they have founded marriage which brings forth human life, on the Cross, which brings forth divine life. The Croatian marriage tradition is so beautiful that it is beginning to take hold in Europe and America too.

When a couple is preparing for marriage, they are not told that they have found the ideal partner. No! What does the priest say? “You have found your cross. And it is a cross to be loved, to be carried, a cross not to be thrown away, but to be cherished.” I know if fiances were told this in my home country France, they would be struck dumb. But in Herzegovina, the Cross represents the greatest love and the crucifix is the treasure of the home.

When the bride and groom set off for the church, they bring a crucifix with them. The priest blesses the crucifix, which takes on a central role during the exchange of vows. The bride places her right hand on the crucifix and the groom places his hand over hers. Thus the two hands are bound together on the cross. The priest covers their hands with his stole as they proclaim their vows to be faithful according to the rites of the Church.

The bride and groom do not then kiss each other, they rather kiss the cross. They know that they are kissing the source of love. Anyone close enough to see their two hands joined over the cross understands clearly that if the husband abandons his wife or if the wife abandons her husband they let go of the cross. And if they abandon the cross they have nothing left. They have lost everything for they have abandoned Jesus. They have lost Jesus.

After the ceremony, the newly weds bring the crucifix back and give it a place of honour in their home. It becomes the focal point of family prayer, for the young couple believes deeply that the family is born of the Cross. When a trouble arises or if a conflict breaks out, it is before this cross that they will seek help. They will not go to a lawyer, they will not consult a fortune teller or an astrologer, they will not rely on a psychologist to solve the problem. No, they will go straight before their Jesus, before the cross. They’ll get on their knees there and in front of Jesus they will weep their tears and pour out their hearts, and above all exchange their forgiveness. They will not go to sleep with a heavy heart because they will have turned to Jesus, the only One who has the power to save.

They will teach their children to kiss the cross every day and not to go to sleep like pagans without having thanks Jesus first. As for the children, as far back as they can remember, Jesus has always been the friend of the family, respected and embraced. They say “nighty, night” to Jesus and kiss the cross. (As Fr Jozo says “They go to sleep with Jesus, not a teddy bear”) They know that Jesus is holding them in his arms and that there is nothing to be afraid of, and their fears melt away in their kiss to Jesus.