Friday, October 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Holy Name of Mary (Thanks to Elena at the Fountain of Elias)
"Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, as terrible as an army set in array?" Canticle of Canticles 6:9
"And the virgin's name was Mary...." St. Luke 1:27
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Recently
I had been on vacation for awhile, and returned last week. Most of what's going on in my parish is the usual, end of summer, kind of thing.
The death of Sen. Kennedy is in the news. Thank goodness they're not making the funeral public! If I were preaching it, it would be difficult to come up with a eulogy.
Today is the feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine. She had to deal with a straying son. Her prayers were answered when he converted. What joy that would have been to a mother's heart! What graces the Church received through his later ministry!
The death of Sen. Kennedy is in the news. Thank goodness they're not making the funeral public! If I were preaching it, it would be difficult to come up with a eulogy.
Today is the feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine. She had to deal with a straying son. Her prayers were answered when he converted. What joy that would have been to a mother's heart! What graces the Church received through his later ministry!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Catholic Culture : Library : The Notion of a Right to a 'Good Death' Undermines Society
"Dying is the most important step a person takes, for it is a step towards the ultimate fulfilment of our innate spiritual nature, our capacity to know God, to know the fullness of the mystery of all things. We have been created with this capacity and our best guide for living is to do nothing to dent, pervert or deaden it. The poet Lucretius said that 'life is given to no one as freehold, we all hold it on leasehold'. Accepting that life is a gift is a good start. Sadly these centuries-old truths about the nature of humanity are no longer common currency. But we can surely all of us recognise, whether we approach our lives with or without a transcendental faith, the serious ethical and social dangers to which the doctrine of unfettered personal autonomy is leading us.
The Most Rev Vincent Nichols is Archbishop of Westminster"
The Most Rev Vincent Nichols is Archbishop of Westminster"
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The art of dying
There is much talk today about end-of-life issues such has assisted suicide, hospice care, etc. One thing that I find more disturbing than the modern hot-button issues is the real lack of understanding about death from the spiritual perspective. The concept of a "happy death" such as our ancestors in the faith would have known and prepared for is almost nonexistent today.O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not Thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, Thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death to fall from Thee."
It was just borne home to me this afternoon as I went to the bedside of a parishioner in the hospital. The local family (all non-practicing Catholics) never even told me he was in the hospital. (Actually, I found that he had been moved to ICU.) I had to hear about it from a brother who lives in another city. People are not prepared to die! They leave to the last minute those things for which a life-time of preparation is not long enough. Catholics mirror the rest of our society in being as clueless as everybody else. We are totally ignorant that at death, it is really a SPIRITUAL struggle that is taking place. Satan does not want us to die in a state of grace. That is why the Church fortifies us with the sacraments and prayer at the time of death. How often have I seen people dying to the noise of the television! Nothing like getting in another viewing of our favorit show!
In earlier times men took death seriously, not from a sentimental point of view, but in view of their souls:
"And therefore it is said in the seventh book of Ecclesiastes: MELIOR EST DIES MORTIS DIE NATIVITATIS. 'The day of man's death is better than the day of man's birth." And this is understood only of good men and the chosen people of God. For of evil men and reprovable, neither the day of their birth, neither the day of their death, may be called good. And therefore every good perfect Christian man, and also every other man though he be imperfect and late converted from sin, so he be verily contrite and believe in God, should not be sorry nor troubled, neither dread death of his body, in what manner wise or for what manner cause that he be put thereto; but gladly and wilfully, with reason of his mind that ruleth his sensuality, he should take his death and suffer it patiently, conforming and committing fully his will to God's will and to God's disposition alone, if he will go hence and die well and surely: witnessing the wise man that saith thus : BENE MORI, EST LIBENTER MORI. To die well is to die gladly and wilfully.
Therefore every sick man, and every other man that is in any peril, should be diligently induced and exhorted that he maketh himself, before all other things, peace with God; receiving spiritual medicines, that is to say the sacraments of Holy Church; ordaining and making his testament; and lawfully disposing for his household, and other needs, if he hath any to dispose for. And there should not be given first to no man too much hope of bodily heal. But the contrary thereof is now often times done of many men, into great peril of souls; and namely of them that actually and openly be drawing and in point hastily to die, for none of them will hear nothing of death.
The reason for this lack of concern for the "last things" is that people have simply put away the idea of sin. That the things we do can have eternal consequences is forgotten, or completely rejected, EVEN BY CATHOLICS! Every funeral that I do is a canonization. This has contributed to the lack of concern for having Masses offered for the repose of the souls of our beloved dead. We don't pray for the dead because we have lost the idea that there's any point to it!
Of course, the Prods will find this development quite gratifying. I mean, after all, they founded themselves on the idea that it was impossible to assist the souls of the faithful departed after death. But who cares what they think? Their "religion" is false anyway. What is really lamentable is that Catholics have bought into this completely. Get your purgatory done now, folks, you don't want to do it later, I can assure you!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Feast of Our Lady of Einsiedeln
The Roman Church celebrates today the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. However, we Swiss Benedictines, descended from the abbey of Maria Einsiedeln, celebrate today as the feast of Our Lady of Einsiedeln. I have posted materials from other sites that speak of the Abbey of Einsiedeln, St. Meinrad the Martyr, and related things.At St. Meinrad Archabbey, in Indiana, the abbey church is dedicated to Our Lady of Einsiedeln. At my own monastery, the choir of the abbey church is so dedicated. My prayer is for all of our monks, living and deceased, who looked to the All-holy Mother of God for protection and consolation. May Christ in his mercy answer their prayers, and prosper the work of the Order of St. Benedict until he come again!
Feast of Our Lady of Einsiedeln
Black Madonnas: Our Lady of Einsiedeln
Michael P. Duricy
The story of Our Lady of the Hermitage in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, begins in the days of Blessed Meinrad (d. 861). In 853, while living in seclusion near a small lake, the holy man:
had a small chapel built near his cell and therein placed a statue of the Blessed Virgin with the Infant resting on her arm. This statue had been given to him by the Abbess Hildegard, Superior of a convent in Zurich.
In 948, after a church had been built on the site of Meinrad's little cell and chapel, just before the ecclesial dedication ceremony for the building, Our Lord miraculously appeared and was seen to perform the Mass of Consecration. When Bishop Conrad of Constance arrived for the service an unknown voice was heard to say: "Stop brother, the church has been consecrated by God." Charles Broschart notes a resemblance between these miraculous events and those surrounding the church of Our Lady of Puy, France in the fifth century.
As if these events were not miraculous enough, note that the church and monastery have been damaged by fire several times over the course of centuries, but the statue has been unharmed. In fact:
in each of the five fires which reduced the church to ashes, only the holy chapel containing the miraculous image escaped injury.
In addition to these miraculous origins:
Throughout the centuries, miracles of every nature have been performed through the intercession of Our Lady of Einsiedeln; but the shrine claims as the most striking those graces which have invigorated faith and devotion.
It is no miracle then, that Einsiedeln is today, and has been for centuries, the home of one of the most famous Catholic shrines of the Blessed Virgin. However, in contrast to the shrine of Our Lady at Czestochowa, its popularity is limited mainly to Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
In Broschart's opinion, the present statue [at left] is not Meinrad's original. He writes:
It is thought that the present statue, known as the Black Madonna, was carved in 1466, after the third major fire, probably in Northern Switzerland or Southern Germany. It is a little under four feet in height.
Why Is She Black?
To the question: 'Why is the image black?', Broschart opines: "over the years the faces of the Virgin and Child have been darkened by the smoke and fumes of votive candles." Though this explanation is overused, in this case it seems correct. Ean Begg notes that the image was cleaned during its flight from iconoclasts inspired by the French revolution. It was intentionally darkened before public display was resumed, perhaps catering to nostalgic sentiment.
The image was returned to its shrine in 1803 and remains there to this day, still attracting pilgrims. Among these were a number of "royal and other illustrious personages," including three canonized Saints, Charles Borromeo, Benedict Joseph Labre; and, of course, the Patron Saint of Switzerland, Nicholas of Flue [also called 'Brother Klaus'].
For further information on Our Lady of Einsiedeln, refer to The Cult of the Black Virgin (1985) by Ean Begg; Miraculous Images of Our Lady (1993) by Joan Carroll Cruz; and Call Her Blessed (1961) by Charles B. Broschart.
Michael P. Duricy
The story of Our Lady of the Hermitage in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, begins in the days of Blessed Meinrad (d. 861). In 853, while living in seclusion near a small lake, the holy man:
had a small chapel built near his cell and therein placed a statue of the Blessed Virgin with the Infant resting on her arm. This statue had been given to him by the Abbess Hildegard, Superior of a convent in Zurich.
In 948, after a church had been built on the site of Meinrad's little cell and chapel, just before the ecclesial dedication ceremony for the building, Our Lord miraculously appeared and was seen to perform the Mass of Consecration. When Bishop Conrad of Constance arrived for the service an unknown voice was heard to say: "Stop brother, the church has been consecrated by God." Charles Broschart notes a resemblance between these miraculous events and those surrounding the church of Our Lady of Puy, France in the fifth century.
As if these events were not miraculous enough, note that the church and monastery have been damaged by fire several times over the course of centuries, but the statue has been unharmed. In fact:
in each of the five fires which reduced the church to ashes, only the holy chapel containing the miraculous image escaped injury.
In addition to these miraculous origins:
Throughout the centuries, miracles of every nature have been performed through the intercession of Our Lady of Einsiedeln; but the shrine claims as the most striking those graces which have invigorated faith and devotion.
It is no miracle then, that Einsiedeln is today, and has been for centuries, the home of one of the most famous Catholic shrines of the Blessed Virgin. However, in contrast to the shrine of Our Lady at Czestochowa, its popularity is limited mainly to Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
In Broschart's opinion, the present statue [at left] is not Meinrad's original. He writes:
It is thought that the present statue, known as the Black Madonna, was carved in 1466, after the third major fire, probably in Northern Switzerland or Southern Germany. It is a little under four feet in height.
Why Is She Black?
To the question: 'Why is the image black?', Broschart opines: "over the years the faces of the Virgin and Child have been darkened by the smoke and fumes of votive candles." Though this explanation is overused, in this case it seems correct. Ean Begg notes that the image was cleaned during its flight from iconoclasts inspired by the French revolution. It was intentionally darkened before public display was resumed, perhaps catering to nostalgic sentiment.
The image was returned to its shrine in 1803 and remains there to this day, still attracting pilgrims. Among these were a number of "royal and other illustrious personages," including three canonized Saints, Charles Borromeo, Benedict Joseph Labre; and, of course, the Patron Saint of Switzerland, Nicholas of Flue [also called 'Brother Klaus'].
For further information on Our Lady of Einsiedeln, refer to The Cult of the Black Virgin (1985) by Ean Begg; Miraculous Images of Our Lady (1993) by Joan Carroll Cruz; and Call Her Blessed (1961) by Charles B. Broschart.
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