Silverstream Revisited

Vindication for the whistleblower.

I became aware of a site claiming that four other 'victims' have come forward to tell their story about the sexual harassments within the fledgling Benedictine priory.  I believe it's a Public Association of the Faithful or a community of diocesan right and not federated with the Benedictine Order.  They follow the Rule of St. Benedict.  Thus far, canonically at least, they are not monks.*  I may be wrong, but the founder, in order to make this foundation was exclaustrated from the monastic order of his profession and made private vows to the bishop of the diocese.

Former supporters of the priory are coming to the defense of whistleblower Dom Benedict Anderson who has lived in exile from his community after his request for a visitation to investigate the religious life of the community, the formation of aspirants to their mode of monastic life, along with the eccentricities of the prior.  Without further comment, I will link to an important post which details some of the misconduct and boundary issues the prior perpetrated upon aspirants to the community, which corelate to the original  harassment claims the whistleblower publicly revealed. Sadly Fr. Benedict is in a sort of limbo, having done nothing wrong, he remains in exile from the priory and apparently is unable to exercise his priestly ministry - a grave injustice.

Be forewarned, the blog post I link to is very disturbing, yet I'm convinced it vindicates Fr. Benedict's original complaint.  Pray for him.

There Are At Least Four More Victims...

I have been given the names and details of four more men who say that Kirby sexually harassed them during their stay at Silvetstream.

I have been refused permission to name them on the Blog for now.

All 4, for different reasons, are afraid of reprisals of various kinds. - Read more here.

I reached out to Fr. Mark to ask if all this was true, reminding him of the cautions  I offered some years ago after he had told me of his plans for a monastic foundation.  He eventually cut off all ties to me, since I even questioned the publishing of his locutions on his blog at the time.  I pray for him that he will not be destroyed by all of this and find peace.  

It is very important however, that Fr. Benedict is vindicated and can continue his ministry.

Very seriously, if one feels called to monastic life, look at the established orders and abbeys.  Stay away from charismatic - be they traditional or progressive communities.  Authentic monastic life is not about novelties or the imitation of an outdated form, enhanced by ancient architectural forms and strict adherence to rubrics and observances.  A tonsure doesn't make one a monk.  Not a few 'new' communities seem to want to emulate the life style of cloistered nuns, which should be the first red flag something is off.

*According to some online commentary they are monks of diocesan right - like I said, I'm not versed in canonical terminology.  According to their Wiki site:  "In February 2017, the community reached a milestone with the formal approval of its constitutions by the Holy See, leading to the canonical establishment of the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration as a monastic institute of consecrated life in the diocese of Meath."  From NLM: "Bishop Michael Smith signed a Decree on 25 February ‘erecting the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar as a monastic Institute of Consecrated Life of diocesan right in the Diocese of Meath’."  Those who have complaints against the priory should contact the local ordinary, Papal Nuncio and perhaps the appropriate Vatican Congregation for Consecrated Life.

God is in all things, sustains all things, directs all things.

“Through the long years of isolation and suffering, God had led me to an understanding of life and his love that only those who have experienced it can fathom. He had stripped away from me many of the external consolations, physical and religious, that men rely on and had left me with a core of seemingly simple truths to guide me. And yet what a profound difference they had made in my life, what strength they gave me, what courage to go on!” - Walter J. Ciszek, He Leadeth Me

My painting of fr. Louis, ocso

'Trappist Monk'

acrylic on panel for antique frame

11"x14.5"

Terry Nelson

2022

I actually finished it yesterday, January 31, his birthday.

“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness… This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud… I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.” - Fr. Louis

 

Secrets

 

What I'm reading.

 

A Correction

Editing.

I removed the posts on the Cowboy Monks because of a Tweet from Fr. Ray Blake revealing Church Militant coercive tactics to elicit a condemnation of the Wyoming group and what was revealed by the whistleblower.  I posted the following on my FB page:

I was duped again. CM and Niles are underhanded and can't be trusted.

Evidently they contacted Fr. Ray Blake seeking commentary on the Cowboy Carmelites. I'm removing my links to the CM report.

fr. raymond blake

@raylblake

Church Militant has threatened me, or is this blackmail to stop any criticism.

"Are you ok with that? Your flock and bishop should know."

How else should that be interpreted?

Quote Tweet

Church Militant

@Church_Militant

· 6h

Replying to @raylblake

That's not an answer, Father. We asked you about what's taking place at the Wyoming monastery: a priest stripping down naked with novices under his care, and conducting spiritual direction in nothing but tight briefs.

Are you ok with that? Your flock and bishop should know.

3:16 PM · Jan 17, 2022·Twitter Web App

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue - deceives himself, his religion is worthless." - James 1:26

I was deeply disturbed by the Tweet to Fr. Blake - it was indeed coercive and inappropriate.  

Today I restored the posts simply because of the comments left by readers, which were so insightful and thoughtful, offering a more objective perspective than what the CM Report offered.  

I'll never link to CM again, because of this incident.  I have to be so careful regarding my online reading and news reports, so tainted by bias and vindictiveness, not to mention those who publish in the hopes of increasing their stats and generate buzz - or simply to defame others through gossip and detraction.

Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, especially in social or political matters.

Just about every site, every Catholic site; FB page, blog, Twitter, social media fringe news sites, apologetics sites, are at each others throats, digging up dirt, accusing one another, spreading propaganda and conspiracy theories and so on. Be they so-called liberal or conservative - all are busy with judging, condemning one another - especially those who dare criticize or refute their 'work' - for which they request donations!  All of this is done in the name of the Church, of Christ, defending the TRUTH, or to save the USA, to defend Life, or whatever their claim to orthodoxy may be.

"Nothing so tends to mask the face of God as religion; it can be a substitute for God himself." - Martin Buber

Oh My! Look at the time - it's 2022

New Year means nothing to me.

Just a new calendar.

Nothing new here.  So.  We're all caught up then?

I spend too much time on FB and monitoring Twitter.  Although most of my FB time is spent watching home improvement videos, along with arts and crafts videos.  Otherwise I come across Catholic posts which generate controversy over fake news and conspiracy theories, which annoy me and sometimes I comment or post on it here, only to have my POV ignored.  Sometimes I form an opinion without knowing the facts and when I do, I sometimes moderate my tone.  I should really just shut up.

It's kind of fascinating having been on social media for so many years.  I've learned a lot, especially about others, no doubt others have learned a lot about me as well.  Knowing aspects of one's private life and beliefs contradicts what many people thought they knew about you - that works both ways of course.  

Now that I'm old a lot of that no longer matters.  At least I hope it doesn't.  Friending and unfriending on social media is absolutely meaningless.  People I have never met or knew once upon a time in the workplace are not friends in the sort of flesh and blood sense - therefore when they unfriend me, it's fine.  Unfriending means they never knew me in the first place - they believed me to be someone they wanted me to be.  Hence they were never friends in the first place.  

I was looking for something I once wrote on friendship.  Especially as it applied to same sex friendship.  It is an issue that has been gravely exaggerated due to the fact that same sex couple may now legally marry, although the Church cannot recognize SS marriage.  It's also been a concern to some Catholics if two men or two women share a house - are they lovers?  I've wasted much time on that subject, but again, those who did not know me, never understood what I was saying.  To be sure, it never should have been an issue and now, in 2022 it no longer is.

That said, I came across an extraordinary statement made by a former Priory of a monastic community who had been accused of certain improprieties with a member of his community.  I don't want to get into details of the scandal - both men have distanced themselves from me because I have shared my reflections on their situation and considered both actors were sufficiently aware of the objective boundary violations within the relationship.  The former prior unfriended me simply because I questioned the authenticity of his vocation within a vocation, for various reasons.  That's another story.

I do have to conclude there probably is something to the whistleblower's accusations and the prior's behavior.  A little thing the prior wrote, which I copied and pasted for a post I did, thinking it just might help people understand a chaste, same-sex friendship between laymen, could be very telling.  The link to the author's 2012 blog post has since been deleted.  The quote:

"... one must have friendships in life. [ . . .] Let yourself love. There is no danger so long as the spirit of prayer exists in you. And young priests have hours of loneliness that are very hard. They need affection and tenderness. If you don't give it to them, they will go looking for it just anywhere.

Also, at certain hours we need someone to show us affection: a mother, a sister, a brother. Otherwise, if the heart is not anchored, it goes anywhere at all, and is lost." - One must have friendships in life.

I believe this is significant, and ought to be reassuring to the whistleblower that something inordinate was involved in their rather small, albeit intimate community.

A long post about nothing. 

Pray For Vocations

 I'm told the Trappists have very few vocations and many houses have small communities of mostly elderly monks.  I was reading the biographies of a few monks who were part of New Melleray Abbey.  One, Br. Conrad, I was able to meet before he died.  Such an edifying life.  Pray for us Br. Conrad.

Merry Christmas!

 

A Blessed Christmas Eve!

 

Francis the Festivus Pope

 Airing grievances.

Not really - at least I don't read him that way.  I happen to love his sober calls to conversion right before Christmas - for all of us - not just the Curia. Sadly, others think he's mean, I don't - but I'm a Seinfeld fan and my humor is a bit dark.

ROME — Pope Francis on Dec. 23 told members of the Vatican bureaucracy that their work should be guided by humility and service, not a "spiritual worldliness" masked by liturgy, doctrine and religious devotion.

In his annual pre-Christmas address to a room full of men often dubbed as "princes of the church," the pope told the cardinals and bishops who work in the Vatican that it was time to "discard the trappings of our roles, our social recognition and the glitter of this world" and to adopt humility. 

In past years, Francis has not hesitated to use his annual speech to lash out at Vatican officials for blocking his reform efforts and to criticize the spiritual "diseases" that he believes hamper their work. In this year's address, however, the pope took on a more pastoral tone, offering a reflection on the Old Testament figure of Naaman, an accomplished military commander who had leprosy. 

"His armor that had won him renown, in reality covered a frail, wounded and diseased humanity," said Francis. "Sometimes great gifts are the armor that covers great frailties. Naaman came to understand a fundamental truth: we cannot spend our lives hiding behind armor, a role we play, or social recognition." 

Christmas, Francis said during the 45-minute address, is a time to "find the courage to take off our armor." 

"Once we strip ourselves of our robes, prerogatives, positions and titles, all of us are lepers in need of healing," he said. - NCR

I love this Pope! 

So. Let's take a closer look.

Resisting the Pope to his face?

Two issues caught my attention, as readers know: The reactions by some contemplative nuns to the document Cor Orans and the implementation of its guidelines. And, the reactions of Traditionalists devoted to the TLM and their outright rejection of Traditionis Custodes and the implementation of the disciplines proposed.

First let me say I do have sympathy for those attached to the TLM and the rubrics and sacramental rite involved therein.  I respect their attachment to Latin and ceremony.  I personally love the Mass celebrated so elegantly and mysteriously, especially on Christmas and Easter, yet I also love very much the OF and the vernacular - which is always well celebrated in the parishes I attend.  Thus I don't see the problem between the two - it is the Mass.  Up until now, it was understood as one rite under two forms.  The only difference I felt was wanting is that the calendar was not updated for the TLM to include new saints and that the readings were not the same as in the OF.  

That said, I came across an article at Crisis which helped me understand better the affliction felt by ordinary Catholics who love the TLM.  The article by Sean McClinch, It's Time to Occupy the Churches is not something I would promote, but it helped me understand a bit better the passionate response traditionalists have.  His citation of occupying the churches relates to the events in France and can be linked to the history of the SSPX, when Parisian traditionalists did just that.  His position and proposals sound similar.  Which is an unfortunate position, to be sure,

On April 12, 1977, Parisian traditionalists got sick of worshipping in the community hall the petty New Church bureaucrats relegated to them for the celebration of their banned Mass. So they did what any decent, God-fearing Catholics should – they processed into the church of St. Nicholas with priests, occupied it, and stayed there. Every living Trad should know by heart the exchange that occurred between the parish clergyman of St. Nicholas du Chardonnet and one of the occupying priests. - Sean McClinch

The SSPX influence, especially the doctrine of Archbishop Lefebvre can't be obfuscated.  Many, perhaps most of the adherents to the TLM, be they SSPX or FSSP  tend to believe what Lefebvre taught about VII and the NO:

"Now it was during the Council that the enemies of the Church infiltrated Her, and their first objective was to demolish and destroy the Mass insofar as they could." - 50th Jubilee sermon.

Like I said, I have some sympathy for McClinch and those like him.  I lived through wreckovations of churches and experimentation in liturgical forms, changing readings and responses at Mass, and so on.  When JPII came along, the liturgical rubrics and orthodoxy was more or less restored.  My Archdiocese is especially blessed with good priests and bishops - the younger ones more traditional than their seniors, but very good nonetheless.  All the renovations after the Council were imposed - parishioners had no say in how the parish church was modernized.  All I'm trying to say is that I understand how traditionalists feel, yet I, along with many faithful older people, went through it.  We maybe had to ask a progressive priest to give us absolution in confession, and sometimes we could only be sure we were receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ because at least the Consecration, the words of institution were said properly.  Yet we persevered, said our penance after confession and spent a long time in thanksgiving after Communion.  That's all - I just want to acknowledge that I get it.

Father Ducaud-Bourget (center), accompanied by a thousand traditionalists,

 occupied the Church of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet in Paris back in 1977.

With few exceptions, it was never about the Liturgy.

I implied that in another post, writing:  "The rejection of the NO is directly linked to the rejection of the Council, and it leads to rejection of Papal/Magisterial authority and threatens the unity of the Church, which is in virtual schism at the moment because the propagandists have rejected Peter – like it or not, Pope Francis."  That is what this is all about.  I've already made too long of a post so I will just post a couple excerpts from articles I feel help me make my point.  The first from Larry Chap.  I admire him very much, I don't take as critical a stance of Pope Francis as does he, but I respect his POV and appreciate his gallantry in expressing his position so respectfully.

I am reminded of an excellent essay by Shaun Blanchard in Catholic Life Journal wherein he says something that I think is entirely correct: Traditionis Custodes was never about liturgy at all. What we are witnessing with regard to the recent “clarification” is not about the so-called “liturgy wars” but is instead about Vatican II and its interpretation. You can access Blanchard’s marvelous essay here. It is all worth reading, but for me here is the most salient thing he says:

“No single English word encapsulates the concept I am trying to convey, but thankfully the Germans have a word for everything. I believe Pope Francis’ motu proprio is the latest in a long series of papal assertions of Deutungshoheit over the legacy of Vatican II. Literally “interpretation-sovereignty,” to have Deutungshoheit means to have sovereignty over a narrative, which is the power to control meaning. Pope Francis’s many and virulent critics (my fellow Americans are especially numerous and sometimes vicious in this regard) typically see dangerous innovation and glaring discontinuities littered throughout his pontificate.”

In other words, Traditionis Custodes is about whose interpretation of the post-conciliar reforms will be ascendent in the Church going forward, and the Pope making it clear that he wants it to be his vision of the Council and not that of the traditionalists. - Read the rest here.

 

 

Pope Francis is not the destroyer.

There is a false prophecy attributed to Francis of Assisi that Pope Francis is the destroyer Pope.  I'm convinced many traditionalists and even contemplative monastics believe this.  Especially as it concerns "Cor Orans" IMPLEMENTING INSTRUCTIONOF THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION “VULTUM DEI QUAERERE” ON WOMEN’S CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE.

From Archbishop Vigano, to former members of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, and some Discalced Carmelite nuns, rumor and fears are promulgated that the Holy See - Pope Francis himself is out to destroy contemplative life in the Church.  The notion defies reason and is based upon rumor, lies, conspiracy theories concerning infiltration as well as apocalyptic paranoia.  There is so much misinformation circulating regarding contemplative communities of nuns. I can't help connect this to the recent outcry against the discipline imposed upon the TLM, which so many claim is spiritually abusive.  That said, I will link to a couple excerpts from Where Peter Is and the fifth article in a series defending contemplative life, Welcome the Light, by Sr. Gabriella Hicks, OCD.

Sr. Gabriella's series is surprisingly candid and direct, unusual in my experience for a Carmelite, but very welcome to better understand what has been going on and clearing away so much of the misinformation circulating on the subject.  I don't have a direct quote but even H.M. St. Teresa of Avila remarked that outsiders, lay people and even clerics do not understand the inner workings of religious communities - which may explain why clergy like Vigano have such a deranged view of things. 

"Spiritual abuse is especially rampant in communities with sectarian aberrations. As Dom Dysmas de Lassus wrote, “in the Culture of Lies, we are touching on an element that is omnipresent in communities with sectarian aberrations.”

I posted the Open Letter to Archbishop Vigano on our website on October 4, and on the same day LifeSiteNews posted an article about the chaplain at the Fairfield Carmel, Fr. Maximilian Mary Dean. The article presented an interview with Fr. Dean which had been made over a month before. As I read the article and watched the interview, I was shocked to read Fr. Dean’s report of the meeting we Carmelite Nuns had with our former Father General and members of the Definitory (the governing body) in St. Louis in April 2017. In the interview, Fr. Dean claimed that the Father General said “that the times have changed and that they, contemplative, cloistered nuns, need to adapt to the times… that they can’t live the way they were living before.”

This was totally incorrect. Immediately, some of us who were present went online to say so. Although Fr. Dean said, “I heard some reports from what took place at the meeting, he didn’t say where he got his information. Since both Mother Stella-Marie, the Prioress of Fairfield Carmel, and Mother Therese, the Sub-Prioress, were present at the meeting[i], as well as Mother Agnes, the Sub-Prioress of Valparaiso, they could have told him directly what was said. The full address of Father General is available online (you can read it here). In his address he did not say anything about needing to “adapt to the times,” but that we need to respond to “the challenges that the times we live in present to contemplative life.” Furthermore, he affirmed and upheld “the truth of our vocation, the truth of Carmel, of its message, of its extraordinary pertinence for modern times.” Moreover, all the conferences and question-and-answer periods were recorded on video, so it is easy to establish the truth. - Read more here.

Sorry for the long post - I just wanted to document these thoughts for my own reference and share them with you.  Beware 'sectarian aberrations'.  Avoid lies and concocted myths meant to destabilize the Church, parishes, religious communities and families.  Do not follow false apparitions and prophecies - remember, as with Fatima, it is the Church which is responsible for the interpretation and approval of all alleged prophecies, locutions, apparitions and heavenly messages. 

On Spiritual Abuse in 'Communities with Sectarian Deviations.'

Valparaiso Carmel, barricaded against Visitators.

The truth behind the fear mongering.

Archbishop Vigano has famously called contemplative nuns to resist 'Cor Orans' and the 'Bergoglian' assualt against traditional contemplative life.

"Behind this purging operation, like everything that distinguishes the work of the Bergoglian Church, there is a hatred and an iconoclastic fury towards the communities of contemplative life, and in a particular way against those tied to Tradition and the ancient rite. This hatred has become commonplace with the infamous instruction Cor Orans and its cruel and merciless application. What also stands out is an insane interest in the finances and donations that these communities receive, which the Vatican tries to grab for itself using any pretext it can." - Vigano Letter

The Archbishop and his supporters and followers, in their campaign against the Franciscan Papacy, fuel the fires of controversy with their lies, infiltrating even into the cloister.  One such influencer appears to be the Fairfield Carmel chaplain, Fr. Maximilian Mary Dean, a former Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate.  His congregation was the subject of a Visitation and reform by the Holy See.  Many traditionalists claimed persecution as a result.  I will reprint an excerpt from another excellent article from WPI by Sr. Gabriela Hicks, OCD which clears up much of the disinformation disseminated by LifeSite News, Fr. Dean and Archbishop Vigano.  (Be sure and follow the link and read the entire essay.)

Welcome the Light

I posted the Open Letter to Archbishop Vigano on our website on October 4, and on the same day LifeSiteNews posted an article about the chaplain at the Fairfield Carmel, Fr. Maximilian Mary Dean. The article presented an interview with Fr. Dean which had been made over a month before. As I read the article and watched the interview, I was shocked to read Fr. Dean’s report of the meeting we Carmelite Nuns had with our former Father General and members of the Definitory (the governing body) in St. Louis in April 2017. In the interview, Fr. Dean claimed that the Father General said “that the times have changed and that they, contemplative, cloistered nuns, need to adapt to the times… that they can’t live the way they were living before.”

This was totally incorrect. Immediately, some of us who were present went online to say so. Although Fr. Dean said, “I heard some reports from what took place at the meeting, he didn’t say where he got his information. Since both Mother Stella-Marie, the Prioress of Fairfield Carmel, and Mother Therese, the Sub-Prioress, were present at the meeting[i], as well as Mother Agnes, the Sub-Prioress of Valparaiso, they could have told him directly what was said. The full address of Father General is available online (you can read it here). In his address he did not say anything about needing to “adapt to the times,” but that we need to respond to “the challenges that the times we live in present to contemplative life.” Furthermore, he affirmed and upheld “the truth of our vocation, the truth of Carmel, of its message, of its extraordinary pertinence for modern times.” Moreover, all the conferences and question-and-answer periods were recorded on video, so it is easy to establish the truth.

Since Fr. Dean’s statements concerning the Carmelites were so far from reality, I had questions about the veracity of his other statements. Fr. Dean was previously a Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate, and he was obviously negatively affected by the Apostolic Visitation of that Institute. He seemed to imply that any apostolic visitation led directly to the suppression of an institute. He mentioned the Hanceville Poor Clares, and I looked into the matter and found that they were doing well and had recently elected a new Abbess.

For the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, I looked into reports of the Visitation, and even such conservative websites as Catholic Culture and Catholic World Report agreed that the apostolic visitation was justified. There was also a long and detailed report in La Stampa. These gave a very different view of an apostolic visitation from what one gets in watching Fr. Dean’s interview. In the end, far from being suppressed, the Hanceville Poor Clares and the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate seem to have come through their apostolic visitations diminished in numbers but invigorated and strengthened in spirit. - SISTER GABRIELA HICKS

 

Memorial day.

 

New paintings.

S. Martin de Porres

S. John Macias

in the style of Angelico.

T. Nelson

2021

Recent paintings after Fra Angelico.

The reason I began painting icons years ago was because I always want a real icon, or one I had seen in a museum.  So I decided to try and make my own, to copy the masters - which is how I learned to paint.  Icons were religiously fashionable in the early 1970's, considered more theologically correct, not to mention the preferred form of sacred art to the romantic art of the West - especially the Baroque style.  As time went on and the incredible snobbism associated with iconography left me discouraged, I turned my attention to Spanish Colonial and the Italian-Greco style of sacred art, perfected by Giotto and Fra Angelico, as well as the Sienese School - namely Duccio.  Having been self taught in iconography, I graduated to painting in the other styles - by imitating the other techniques.  Now, in my old age, I paint what I want.  Most recently, I've collected very antique frames and filled them with my reproductions, or original works painted in the style of the masters I admire.

S. Martin in Grand Tour Frame 24"x9"

S. Juan Macias in Grand Tour Frame 24"x9"

St. Francis after Angelico

Divine Mercy after Duccio

Something from St. Teresa of Avila

"A long time after the Lord had already granted me many of the favors I've mentioned and other very lofty ones, while I was in prayer one day, I suddenly found that, without knowing how, I had seemingly been put in hell. I understood that the Lord wanted me to see the place the devils had prepared there for me and which I merited because of my sins. This experience took place within the shortest space of time, but even were I to live for many years I think it would be impossible for me to forget it. The entrance it seems to me was similar to a very long and narrow alleyway, like an oven, low and dark and confined; the floor seemed to me to consist of dirty, muddy water emitting foul stench and swarming with putrid vermin. At the end of the alleyway a hole that looked like a small cupboard was hollowed out in the wall; there I found I was placed in a cramped condition. All of this was delightful to see in comparison with what I felt there. What I have described can hardly be exaggerated. 

"What I felt, it seems to me, cannot even begin to be exaggerated; nor can it be understood. I experienced a fire in the soul that I don't know how I could describe. The bodily pains were so unbearable that though I had suffered excruciating ones in this life and according to what doctors say, the worst that can be suffered on earth for all my nerves were shrunken when I was paralyzed, plus many other sufferings of many kinds that I endured and even some as I said, caused by the devil, these were all nothing in comparison with the ones I experienced there. I saw furthermore that they would go on without end and without ever ceasing. This, however, was nothing next to the soul's agonizing: a constriction, a suffocation, an affliction so keenly felt and with such a despairing and tormenting unhappiness that I don't know how to word it strongly enough. To say the experience is as though the soul were continually being wrested from the body would be insufficient, for it would make you think somebody else is taking away the life, whereas here it is the soul itself that tears itself in pieces. The fact is that I don't know how to give a sufficiently powerful description of that interior fire and that despair, coming in addition to such extreme torments and pains. I didn't see who inflicted them on me, but, as it seemed to me, I felt myself burning and crumbling; and I repeat the worst was that interior fire and despair.

 
"Being in such an unwholesome place, so unable to hope for any consolation, I found it impossible either to sit down or to lie down, nor was there any room, even though they put me in this kind of hole made in the wall. Those walls, which were terrifying to see, closed in on themselves and suffocated everything. There was no light, but all was enveloped in the blackest darkness. I don't understand how this could be, that everything painful to see was visible." (St. Teresa of Avila)

Something Prophetic About "La voie lactée " (The Milky Way).

Filmmaker Luis Buñuel

He, along with Fellini and others, were consider filmmakers hostile to the faith.  Yet they displayed a marvelous insight into the Church and its flawed clericalist ideals.  I often wonder if Pope Francis is a fan of the late 1950 through the 1970's foreign cinema - especially as it concerns the Church?  I know he loves La Strada, but I wonder about the films of Buñuel?

As a visual artist, the scenes of these films speak louder than plot or dialogue.  Especially the Buñuel cinematography.  "La voie lactée"  is especially surreal for its time, yet it makes so much sense today, in so many ways, especially since the Camino Santiago is so trendy these days.

For myself, I've gained some insights into popular rad-trad ecclesiology and politics, pondering some of the images in the film.  I may be way off base, but we live in really bizarre times.  Sensationalist conspirators like Vigano, Coffin, Taylor Marshall, Fr. Altman, Michael Voris and others have attained great influence over the devout and pious who fear Pope Francis.

One scene, of Jansenist nuns reminded me of the suppression of a couple Italian monasteries which from all reports was more or less because the nuns preferred the Tridentine rite over the NO.  (I can't find that story at this time.)  Yet it never occurred to me that their strict observance may have been tainted with Jansenist spirituality.  Perhaps Cor Orans and Traditionis Custodes were necessary safeguards against a growing rigorous backlash against the apostolate of mercy and accompaniment so encouraged by the Pope?  Not a few critics of the Pope wish him dead, hence the firing squad scene in the film seems to reflect that sentiment as well.

I may be way off on this, but for all those who follow QAnon crap, this just might explain their existence.  I don't mind being wrong about things I have no control over.

.

Religious studies for homeschoolers.

( La Voie lactée)

 

In memoriam

 

Friar Camillus Delude

✞ 2014
American. Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) in 1993 and given only a few years to live, Brother Camillus defied the odds and went on to live with this cross for more than two decades. He was always prayerful and never a complaint was heard, even as he slowly began to lose the ability to move. He was a dedicated member of the Militia Immaculata as a ‘Knight at the Foot of the Cross’, offering up his suffering and praying for the intentions of the MI, the Order, and the Church.

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I was fortunate to meet him and live with him while I stayed at Marytown in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Such a humble, simple friar, always joyful and kind.  

I discovered his story while searching for a priest I knew.  Br. Camillus did a lot of the menial work around the friary, but he was also active in the publishing of The Immaculata and books published by the Militia.  He was well treated, but considered rather simple by some of the friars and others who encountered him.  

I think he is a saint.

Franciscans of St. Bonaventure Province

The Stranger

The Fall

My lifelong existential crisis continues.  Kind of.  I'm simply perplexed these days.  It seems everything is in a state of collapse, or else threatened by it.  Some days I feel like the last Catholic who loves and supports the Holy Father - when I may not understand what he says or does sometimes, I usually don't try to either.  However, I do try to understand why so many dislike him or don't trust him.

To be honest, I think it is often because individuals and groups have formed themselves into 'clans' if you will - borrowing from Michael Matt's call to 'unite the clans'.  Maybe that's what I have done as well, yet I see the Pope as a sign of hope, pretty much a prophet, albeit his ways can be as abrasive as a Jeremiah.  Yet I try to maintain a 'supernatural' attitude regarding his authority and pastoral care - that is, recognizing that he is the one God has placed over our heads.  To dispute that he is Pope by God's will is to mistrust Divine Providence - even if one thinks his papacy was arranged by the St. Gallen Mafia - he's the Pope.

And that's where people get tripped up.  That's where the resistance originates.  

I can be as confused as the next person - in fact I'm often confused.  Remember that prayer, "Jesus I surrender myself to you, take care of everything."  I pray that a lot - along with 'Jesus, I trust in you.'  It helps.  Especially when I worry that some institutions, apostolates, religious communities and so on, may change or disappear.  All of us have seen it going on for decades, yet today, it appears to be accelerating, which entails not a little bit of suffering.

"My church will be different; my people will be different; difficulties and trials will come upon you."

Years ago a group of Franciscans in Boston befriended me because we shared a devotion to Charles de Foucauld and sought to emulate his contemplative life in an urban environment. The brothers were part of the Charismatic movement, which I was familiar with before entering the monastery. Long story short, they invited me to go with them to the Conference at Notre Dame. A donor gave them an extra ticket and we flew there from Boston. It was teeming with prophecy and great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament in and through adoration. It was quite a sight to see hundreds of people my age and younger sitting around the altar in prayer and adoration - I'll never forget the sight.  Anyway, long story short, but fresh from Rome was the Ralph Martin prophecy, which seems to me we are living through now. It's a good reminder for Catholics and Christians to get a grip and not be taken in by every wind of resistance, especially towards the Holy See.

PROPHECIES GIVEN AT ST. PETER’S BASILICA DURING THE CLOSING EUCHARIST ON PENTECOST MONDAY—MAY 1975

“Because I love you, I want to show you what I am doing in the world today. I want to prepare you for what is to come. Days of darkness are coming on the world, days of tribulation....Buildings that are now standing will not be standing. Supports that are there for my people now will not be there. I want you to be prepared, my people, to know only me and to cleave to me and to have me in a way deeper than ever before. I will lead you into the desert...I will strip you of everything that you are depending on now, so you depend just on me. A time of darkness is coming on the world, but a time of glory is coming for my church, a time of glory is coming for my people. I will pour out on you all the gifts of my spirit. I will prepare you for spiritual combat; I will prepare you for a time of evangelism that the world has never seen.... And when you have nothing but me, you will have everything: land, fields, homes, and brothers and sisters and love and joy and peace more than ever before. Be ready, my people, I want to prepare you...” (given by Ralph Martin)

“I speak to you of the dawn of a ‘new age’ for my church. I speak to you of a day that has not been seen before....Prepare yourselves for the action that I begin now, because things that you see around you will change; the combat that you must enter now is different; it is new. You need wisdom from me that you do not yet have.

You need the power of my Holy Spirit in a way that you nave not possessed it; you need an understanding of my will and of the ways that I work that you do not yet have. Open your eyes, open your hearts to prepare yourselves for me and for the day that I have now begun. My church will be different; my people will be different; difficulties and trials will come upon you. The comfort that you know now will be far from you, but the comfort that you will have is the comfort of my Holy Spirit. They will send for you, to take your life, but I will support you. Come to me. Band yourselves together, around me. Prepare, for I proclaim a new day, a day of victory and of triumph for your God. Behold, it is begun.” (given by Bruce Yocum)

"In time, one faith, one baptism, one Church, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic."

Our Lady to Sr. Lucia

“Come, Holy Spirit! You inspire new tongues and place words of life on our lips: keep us from becoming a ‘museum church,’ beautiful but mute, with much past and little future. Come among us, so that in this synodal experience we will not lose our enthusiasm, dilute the power of prophecy, or descend into useless and unproductive discussions.” - Pope Francis