Guardian Angels

What does your Angel look like?

Wouldn't it be wonderful to see and converse with him? St. Gemma Galgani did. So did Frances of Rome. Didn't Padre Pio do so as well? St. Catherine Labore had her angel appear as a little child to wake her and escort her to visit with Our Lady in the chapel at Rue de Bac.

Perhaps, if we were able to see him, we would try to hold onto him, maybe make "three tents" - well one or two - like Peter at the Transfiguration. We would want to simply "be" with him while neglecting our duties and responsibilities. We might fail in our exercise of charity, seeking our consolation in a friendship that we cannot penetrate or adequately embrace...such a thing is for the soul and God alone.

We must be content with the invisible.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." - Saint-Exupery, "The Little Prince"

(Check out "The Penitent Blogger" for a fine commentary from St. Bernard on today's memorial.)

Transitus...

Shortly after 7PM little Therese died this very same evening in 1897. I was working tonight and forgot.

She died much like Our Lord, suffocating in great agony; the weeks and days leading up to her death, St. Therese suffered an ineffable darkness, "the trial of Faith". Neither her own words, nor those of any other living person, can describe what it was like to share so intimately her Beloved's death. Not even her sisters could comprehend it.

Therese is little, and yet great. Nevertheless she is always little...very, very little. I sometimes lament she has been declared a Doctor of the Church, resulting in many academics, intellectuals, and masters of theology and spirituality making a science of her "little way." Many times they miss. They miss her "littleness" - her insignificance...

The only great theologian or mystic that I know of who best writes of her life is St. John of the Cross, the writer whose works Therese's spirituality most perfectly embodies. John of the Cross was a little soul as well.

And the person who most closely lived Little Therese's "little way" was even more little and insignificant that herself - Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Happy feast day little God-Mother!

In Memoriam

September 28

Albino Luciani 1912-1978

The Servant of God, Pope John Paul I



Holy Father, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death. Amen

St's Cosmas and Damien

The Holy Helpers.

The two physician saints are depicted here in one of their most famous posthumous miracles. They replaced the diseased leg of a man with the leg of another man who had died. It was obviously from a man of color. Hence, the worlds first leg transplant...probably not so astonishing for self-sufficient moderns, who have become accustomed to transplant surgeries. If you are going in for a transplant, I think I would pray to these two saints if I were you. If you're waiting for a transplant, all the more reason to invoke their assistance.

Go to Don Marco's site, "Vultus Christi" for everything you want to know about these two saints.

The blessed Pope, John Paul I

I read with joy that the Holy Father's cause is progressing well. He was like a shooting star, having reigned for only a month. He humbly combined his predecessor's names to become the first pope in history with a double name. By this act he demonstrated to the world and the Church that the Vatican Council was indeed an authentic council and the papacy would continue the reforms initiated there. John Paul II proved likewise.

Such a short reign, marked by extraordinary humility and charity - you see this in his face. Pray for us John Paul I as we prepare for the anniversary of your death, pray for unity within the Church. (JPI's anniversary of death is September 28 - he died in 1978.)

Here is the article:

"Rome, Sep. 25 (CWNews.com) - The diocesan investigation into the cause for beatification of Pope John Paul I is nearing its conclusion, 28 years after the death of "the smiling Pope."

Thursday, September 28 will mark the anniversary of the sudden death of Pope John Paul I, who had succeeded Pope Paul VI just 33 days earlier. According to an official responsible for the cause, the diocesan inquiry will come to an end within a few more weeks.

Ordinarily, the local investigation of a cause for beatification begins in the diocese where the candidate died. But in this case, for a variety of reasons-- including the fact that Pope John Paul I had spent so little time as Bishop of Rome-- the inquiry was begun in the Belluno diocese, where Albino Luciani was born in 1912. According to Msgr. Giorgio Lise, a vice-postulator for the cause, the diocesan inquiry is likely to conclude by the feast of St. Martin, the patron of the Belluno diocese, on November 11." [snip] continued

St. Sergius of Radonezh

Monk and mystic - friend of animals.


My favorite saint from the Russian calendar. He founded, if my memory serves me, the famous Monastery of the Holy Trinity near Moscow, along with a couple of others as well. He had frequent apparitions of the Mother of God, lived the ascetic life most perfectly, and had the animals of the forest, including bears, eating out of his hands. He is like the St. Francis of the Russian Orthodox Church. September 25 is his feast day. He died in 1392.


Viit here for details on his life.

Dr. Seuss

He invented the word 'nerd'. I never knew that. I didn't like Dr. Seuss as a kid because I early on developed a taste for fine art, therefore cartoons held no fascination for me. I always read the stories of saints and rarely anything else - well maybe Greek mythology and Grimm's Fairy Tales - but that is about it.

Now as an adult I like Dr. Seuss and the Simpson's.

So he invented 'nerd'. What is the origin of the word 'dork'? I'll look that up. What if it says, 'Terry Nelson'?

Our Lady of Ransom

Or, Our Lady of Mercy.

Today's feast of Our Lady is primarily celebrated in South American countries and in Spain. It is the titular feast of the order of friars known as the Mercedarians, founded by St. Peter Nolasco. St. Raymond Nonnatus was also a member of this order, founded to ransom Catholic slaves held captive by Muslims.

Unlike today, when there is no bargaining with terrorists, in those days ransom would be paid to free those held captive. St. Raymond exchanged himself for such and was enslaved for a time. The Saracens pierced his lips with a padlock to prevent him from speaking about the Catholic faith. He himself was later ransomed by his fellow Mercedarians.

Things do not seem to have changed much with Muslim-Christian relations have they? The Holy Father meets with Muslim leaders tomorrow. Let's pray Our Lady to guide this meeting.

During the English persecutions under the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, devotion to Our Lady of Ransom took on greater fervor in the hopes of bringing the Church of England back into "Our Lady's Dowry".

In our day, aside from the continued threats of terrorism, our culture is faced with many other moral afflictions, such as addictions to vice and various obsessive-compulsive disorders. Our Lady of Ransom would seem to be the title one could implore Our Lady to obtain freedom from those sins that ensnare us.

St. Pio

The priest with the stigmata.

I painted this icon of Padre Pio several years ago, before he had been beatified. It now resides in the exquisite "Winter Chapel" attached to the Church of St. Louis, King of France in St. Paul, Minnesota. It hangs across from the confessional. It is a chapel filled with fine art and architectural detail, so I am honored that it was chosen for the space.

I painted it one day after a vivid dream the night before, a dream that seemed more like a vision. In the dream, I was in Moscow's Red Square and entered the cathedral of St. Basil. When I looked up, the dome exploded off, and there was Padre, in the sky in this pose, blessing the world, the sky behind him all aflame, red and golden.

I never expected him to be canonized in my lifetime. It seemed only very traditional and pious Catholics continued to pay any attention to him after his death. I more or less hid my devotion lest I be considered one of these people. Priests and monks I knew were suspicious of Padre Pio, his charismata, his seemingly pre-Vatican II spirituality, as well as his chapel veiled followers. I never told anyone when I went to his tomb to venerate his relics, which was a great grace for me. Since my early childhood I had always hoped to visit him, but it was only after his death that I was able.

Then John Paul II declared this man a saint, the man other popes were suspicious of and who preferred silenced and out of the way, which his bishop and superiors did for a time. As a saint, held forth for the entire Church to venerate, he has become a figure open for all Christians to revere, with the example and witness of his life to instruct and guide the faithful in the way of holiness. He was something of a prophet, holding on to the solid traditions of the Roman Catholic faith, the very same sacred traditions being renewed in our day.

Pray for us St. Pio, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

[Prints of the icon may be obtained from Bridge Building Images.]

Andrew Warhola

Photo edited/censored
for nudity.

Did anyone but me watch the PBS documentary by Ken Burns on Andy? What a trip...down memory lane.

I have always liked his art. From the illustrations of shoes for ads, to the silk screened images of celebrities, to the films. Once in a conversation, Fr. Welzbacher told me he felt Picasso was diabolical. I never asked him about Warhol.

Watching the piece on PBS I was struck how diabolical Andy's life was. The decadence of the factory, his odd, voyeuristic sexuality, and the strange assortment of low-life personalities he gathered around him. To think I invited him to one of my parties - what does that say about me? (He told me on the phone that he couldn't make it, but would send someone if I paid their expenses.)

So what did I like about him? In the late '60's and early '70's he was iconic. He influenced marketing, art, and the 'revolution'. I have always appreciated his innovation. I also often thought he was putting everyone on - playing with society and watching everyone make a fool of themselves. He was an observer. He was a documentarian. While seeming to be the antithesis of culture and high society, he craved to be a part of it, the superstar of it all - and of course he achieved that. In fact, he invented the term superstar.

Although he never did drugs, and remained pretty much asexual, the pop star sub-culture he created was steeped in it. He documented that - hence the attraction and strange validation his admirers and fans experienced. Looking back with this documentary I was impressed with how very sad and decadent the life of Andy was. I felt 'dirty' watching it.

Yet his work (and he was a hard and prodigious worker) holds a legitimate place in the history of art. He created - and through his creations, changed a culture - or at least, contributed to it's change. He broke through barriers with an anarchist's fervor. He documented our decline into depravity and amoral behavior. He reflected the narcissism and consumerism of the culture in his art. His art did nothing to elevate the human spirit, rather it denigrated it, or more precisely, brought the superficiality and decay of our society to our attention. In the end, he achieved what he set out to do, he became famous - not for 5 or 15 minutes, but forever - or as long as art exists. His work, in my opinion, is and remains art. I still like him for what was authentic in him and his work.

Did you realize he kept his mother in a house next door to his and attended Mass on an almost daily basis? He was very complex - a trait he exploited in himself and others.

Roger of Taize

Convert?

Brother Roger of Taize was murdered by an insane woman not long after Pope John Paul II's death. A mild controversy arose at the Pope's funeral when Brother Roger received Holy Communion at the funeral Mass from none other than Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI. Though a public action, I assumed there must have been some understanding or dispensation to allow a Protestant monk to communicate. It later turned out, after Roger's death, that he had, quite awhile back, come into union with the Roman Catholic Church.

That news was not surprising to me since the religious of Taize, though Protestant, seem to be very close to the Catholic Church, which is apparent by their embrace of monastic life. Brother Roger was undoubtedly a man of deep prayer and spirituality. After his death Pope Benedict spoke of him as being in heaven.

Catholic News has an article clarifying the nature of his entering into communion with the Catholic Church. His confreres at Taize insist it was not a conversion, but an entering into union with the Church, therefore he had no need of repudiating his Protestant heritage. Here is a portion of that article:

"The ecumenical Community of Taize issued a statement last week denying its founder, the late Brother Roger Schutz, underwent a “conversion” to the Catholic faith, saying instead he entered “progressively into a full communion with the faith of the Catholic Church without a ‘conversion’ that would imply a break with his origins.”

The statement denies a story in the French newspaper “Le Monde,” which the Taize Community said was based on a rumor spread “by Catholic traditionalist circles” and that “misrepresents his true intentions and defames his memory.”

The Taize leaders point out that the Bishop Emeritus of Autun, Raymond Seguy, has clarified his statements to Le Monde, telling France Presse: "I did not say that Brother Roger abjured Protestantism, but he showed that he subscribed fully to the Catholic faith."

“From a Protestant background, Brother Roger undertook a step that was without precedent since the Reformation: entering progressively into a full communion with the faith of the Catholic Church without a ‘conversion’ that would imply a break with his origins,” the statement notes.

It goes on to explain that in 1972, “the bishop of Autun at the time, Armand Le Bourgeois, simply gave him Communion for the first time, without requiring any other profession of faith from him besides the creed recited during the Eucharist, which is held in common by all Christians. Several witnesses were present and can attest to this.” [snip] "Taize leaders deny “conversion” of Brother Roger to Catholic faith" CNA

This news in itself will renew the controversy surrounding Roger, yet it explains why the monk of Taize was able to receive Communion at the Holy Father's funeral. His union with Rome may have been kept quiet for pastoral reasons, known only to those involved. It is my understanding that dispensations and special circumstances allow for many things in the Church, hence the union of Br. Roger of Taize with Rome may have been considered private. Despite the fact one's profession of faith is a public witness. It's another difficulty to understand, isn't it? Then again, it could be his brothers at Taize were not pleased with Roger's choice and seek to downplay the union with Rome thing. Perhaps it is better left to heaven to figure out.

Also on September 19 - The Feast of Our Lady of La Salette

An approved apparition with spurious secrets...

There are supposedly secrets from this apparition that foretell incredible and apocalyptic scenarios of doom - that many conspiracy theorists believe to be true and currently developing in our times. None of these can be authenticated. Conspiracy theorists and apocalypse enthusiasts promulgate the unauthenticated secrets. The seers themselves have a morbid atmosphere surrounding their lives. There is little to attract me to these strange events.

Websites such as Michael Brown's "Spirit Daily" often quote from the unofficial secrets. The entire event is obscured nowadays by unsubstantiated purported revelations concerning the original apparitions. The apparitions seemed to concern France in a particular manner, with an extension to the entire world.

Nevertheless the events at La Salette have been surrounded by controversy since, especially because of questions concerning the veracity and stability of one of the seers, Melanie. (It should be noted that a secret was given to Pius IX but it was never revealed to the public, although a secret has been retrieved from the Vatican archives in the past decade. That said, the older sensational version of the secret, reported as being the same one given to the Pope, carries no verifiable credence. Go here for an excerpt from that secret, it has been around for so many decades, many think it is official.)

Church approval of the apparitions has nonetheless been granted, as well as devotion to the Virgin of La Salette.

Go here and here for a factual account of the apparitions. Then go here for what seem to be official statements refuting the veracity of the later secret. Finally, go here for the text of the secret released by the Vatican archives and published by Rene Laurentin, once again it differs from the others in circulation. It is all very confusing to say the least.

18 September; St. Joseph of Cupertino

Today is the feast day of one of my favorite saints, Joseph of Cupertino, Franciscan priest and mystic.

When I lived in Assisi I was permitted to make an 8 day retreat in the solitude of his newly renovated apartments at the Sacred Convent. It was in these apartments that St. Joseph had been 'imprisoned' because of the extraordinary mystical phenomena that surrounded him. He was kept in solitude to keep him away from the curious who flocked to him because of the gift of levitation, for which he is best known. I had a friar who acted as my 'Martha" in the solitude of my retreat, bringing me food and drink and celebrating Mass for me in the saint's oratory. It was a memorable experience for my life. Immediately afterwards, on the feast of the Stigmata, I was professed in the third order of St. Francis at the tomb of our Holy Father in the crypt of the Basilica.

Presented is a brief biography of St. Joseph:

"St. Joseph of Cupertino in prayer, he was called "the Flying Friar" because of his frequent levitations St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1668) was an Italian mystic whose life is a wonderful combination of a complete lack of natural capacity and an extraordinary supernatural efficiency.

He lacked every natural gift. He was incapable of passing a test, maintaining a conversation, taking care of a house, or even touching a dish without breaking it. He was called Brother Ass by his companions in the monastery.

He was born on June 17, 1603 into a family of poor artisans. Because of his father?s debts, he was born in a shed behind the house, which was in the hands of bailiffs. He was sickly and often at death?s door during his childhood, and at age seven he developed a gangrenous ulcer which was later cured by a religious man. He was always despised by his companions who called him a fool. Even his mother wearied of him and repudiated him for his lack of any human value. Later, when he entered the religious life, he faced worse difficulties. The Capuchins received him as a lay brother but his ineptitude and abstraction made him unbearable for the other religious. Often he was taken in ecstasy and, oblivious of what he was doing, he would drop the food or break the dishes and trays. As a penance, bits of broken plates were fastened to his habit as a humiliation and reminder not to do the same again. But he could not change. He could not even be trusted with serving the bread because he would forget the difference between the white and brown breads. Finally, considering that he was good for nothing, the religious took his habit and expelled him from the monastery.

Later, he declared that having the habit taken from him was the greatest suffering of his life and that it was as if his skin had been torn from his body. When he left the monastery he had lost part of his lay clothes. He was without a hat, boots, or stockings, and his coat was moth-eaten and worn. He presented such a sorry sight that when he passed a stable down the lane, dogs rushed out on him and tore his apparel to worse tatters. He escaped and continued along the road, but soon came upon some shepherds, who thought he was a miscreant and were about to give him a beating, when one of their number had pity on him and persuaded them to let him go free." [snip] Read the conclusion here.

St. Joseph of Cupertino pray for me for the grace of conversion; and pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Tolerating racism - on Oprah.

That would be reverse racism.

(Photograph of Paul Robeson as Othello and Peggy Ashcroft as Desdemona from the 1930 London production of Shakespeare's Othello.)

The gospel according to Oprah evidently tolerates reverse racism. Coming in from doing yard work I smoked a cigarette and turned on TV to watch the news. I was too early and caught a bit from the Oprah show with the stars of some new movie dealing with interracial couples. Instead of turning the channel, I watched as she had a group of black men discussing the growing trend of black women dating white men. (It's okay with them for the black men to date outside of their race, but not so much for the women.) They made statements such as , "They're just after money or status." when they date white men. And in response to black women stating that they can't find good black men, they respond, "here we are". All of that is fine with me - I don't care about interracial dating, but I started to think about what had been said. If these were white guys talking about the same subject, stating the same opinions, there would be outrage expressed over obvious racist statements. And it would not end on the Oprah show. Maybe I missed something, but it sure sounded like reverse racism to me.

Funny conspiracy theories.

Now new ones...

Even involving Sr. Lucia of the Immaculate Heart, the visionary of Fatima, shown here at her funeral. (But this isn't the first time they have involved her.)

Conspiracy theories can be entertaining on some level, just the sheer nonsense of many along with the intriguing thought, "what if it's true?" thrill. Not a few believe the bogus "Protocols of Zion" are true. There are Catholics who think that there is more to the third secret of Fatima than what the Vatican revealed, while Sr. Lucia as well as Cardinal Ratzinger, including his new Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone insisted the entire secret has been revealed. Cardinal Bertone recently stated so in an interview, when answering this question;

"Q: You closely followed the publication of the secret of Fatima: are there [further] catastrophic revelations regarding the future or has everything been revealed and accomplished?

A: I met sister Lucia many times and had in my hands the declaration written by her on the matter. There are no further revelations of Fatima and the so-called Third Secret has been completely revealed. As for the catastrophisms, some said that sister Lucia did not close her eyes at night since she was so terrified of the imminent disasters. She answered me, "But if I did not sleep at night, how would I be able to pray all day long?" Sister Lucia recommended that credit should not be given to these announcements of misfortunes." [snip] Rorate Coeli.

How much more do people have to have to be convinced of the fact that the Fatima secrets have been revealed? Maybe they have not come to pass entirely and the message of prayer and penance is still imperative for us today, but we have the full message. We have what we need to know. We need to trust the Pope when he says so. Before all the secrets were revealed, we already had the essential aspects of the message to amend our lives by, what more needs to be done? Some Fatima devotees think that the consecration of Russia was never performed correctly and therefore must be done in accord with what Our Lady requested. This, despite the fact that Sr. Lucia has said "Heaven has accepted" the consecration of John Paul II in 1984, soon after which, the Berlin wall came miraculously tumbling down and Communism seemed to be dying out. (Not that the world is any more secure or better for it.)

Today I received in the mail a copy of the notorious "Fatima Crusader" magazine, operated by Fr. Nicholas Gruener. Fr. Gruener's group are the chief architects of this conspiracy theory against the Vatican as well as the post Vatican II Church. In one of their books on the subject by John Vennari entitled "The Devil's Final Battle" which insults many in the hierarchy and claims a conspiracy to hide the true contents of the third secret, the author is convinced the secret dealt with the ongoing crises in the Church. He indicates the prohibition of the Latin Mass and the loss of vocations, etc. was initiated by Masons and Communists (some of whom were Cardinals) bent on the destruction of the Church. (A local priest, said to be silenced, has also talked about these things as being true, although he is not as extreme as this bunch; however, such views can get someone silenced. Gruener is supposed to have been.) At times the tone and tenor of Vennari's book is downright hateful, and does it's best to sow seeds of doubt and discord in the most casual reader.

In an article in the current "Crusader" Venarri continues to reach - claiming a new book with heretofore unpublished writings of Sr. Lucia, issued with permission from the Vatican as well as her Carmel in Coimbra, cannot be the authentic writings of Sr. Lucia. He writes, "It is the rhetoric of post-conciliar ecumenism, not that of Sr. Lucia's own words." He is writing regarding Sr. Lucia's words about World War II and the persecution of the Jews, while going on to claim the Jewish religion of today is not the same religion of Jesus' time. (Something a few others say as well.) He cites passages from the Talmud to support that claim. This may or may not be true, I have never read the Talmud, but it simply does not accord with what the Church currently understands when the Jews are referred to as "our elder brother in the faith."

The silliest part of the article is where Venarri addresses the ultimate conspiracy theory that Sr. Lucia may have either died or was killed in the late 1950's, only to be replaced by an impostor. (In the '70's there was a similar conspiracy theory by "out there" Marian devotees saying Paul VI was also put "out of the way" and replaced by an impostor.) Gratefully, he finds it hard to believe but states, "My own opinion is that I would prefer the case to be studied by reputable forensic experts." Thus leaving open the absurd possibility of it all.

He ends the article with this statement; "Hence, Catholics would do well to treat any posthumous writings of Sr. Lucia with extreme caution, especially when they contradict her previous lifelong testimony, and contradict bedrock truths of the Catholic Faith."

I think Catholics would do well to avoid any writings endorsed by "The Fatima Crusader". No wonder people think Fatima is for the crazies and ignore its message and relevance to our own times, when people like this incite such division and mistrust in the authentic teaching Magisterium of the Church.

How we may know chastisement is coming.

Burning Man (Painting by Andre Durand. I did not use the real title.)

We can know that a chastisement is being prepared for us without divine revelations or apparitions of the Virgin Mary. (Although we must be grateful to so good a Mother that she would help us discern the will of God.) Her apparitions have been occurring since the 1830's beginning with St. Catherine Labore, with warnings of chastisements. Since we seem to have recovered from every war and revolution we become more and more skeptical that any real chastisement could befall us. We become ever more complacent, permissive, as well as licentious. It seems to me there has been established a new world religion - not so much the "liberalism" Ann Coulter writes about - that is it's cult, or praxis - instead it is relativism that is the idol of this religion. Materialism, pleasure, leisure and convenience seem to be its "graces".

John of the Cross writes, [Chastisements] "can also be known in their causes, since the divine providence responds most certainly and justly to what the good or bad causes arising from the sons of men demand. One can know naturally that a particular person or city, or some other factor, will reach such a point that God in His providence and justice must respond in conformity with the punishment or reward that cause warrants." (Ascent II, 21;9)

What is so wrong in the world that it should merit a general chastisement? I don't know? Maybe read the news and not watch the censored and sanitized version of it on television. One simply has to just look around. Not just the wars and the rumors of wars - those are chastisements.

Abortion. I know everyone gets tired of hearing about it, and soon they won't be with the not-so-new "morning after pill", that guarantees even more promiscuity. Everyone takes contraception so for granted they fail to realize just how much of an affront it is to God. By it we attempt to make ourselves masters of our own creation, while misusing the gift of sexuality for our own pleasure. It cannot be a coincidence that homosexuality has gained such acceptance in a contraceptive culture. Sex without consequence legitimizes just about every other sexual expression. Just as abortion, legitimizes every other type of life choice, such as infanticide or euthanasia.

In our very well educated minds we convince ourselves there is no such thing as revealed truth that governs our lives. Everyone claims we worship the same God and that there is no religion any better than another, pagan goddess worship included. Everyone is equal. Hence, even the Catholic church may host pan-religious prayer meetings at Assisi praying for peace. We now believe every person can decide for himself what is moral or immoral. Thus man falls for the original lie and thinks himself equal to God, and this essentially is idolatry.


This is what happened in ancient Israel, when the people turned from idolatry and corrupted the temple worship. Turning to other gods is never pleasing to the One True God. It is never pleasing for him to see us engage in abominable behavior, such as infanticide, sacrificing children to idols for a life of convenience, whether by a pill, or a knife. We may not mock his creation by abusing his gift of sexuality through masturbation, homosexuality or transgender operations. It seems to me we have lost our sense of sin because we have forsaken true worship of God and authentic spirituality - thereby abandoning even the natural law.

So you see, we can know by natural reason a chastisement is coming. The question is, when?

Some people think he is a saint...

Pictured; The Execution of Savonarola.










Indeed, his cause for cannonization is currently under study. From Zenit archives, an interview with the Postulator of the cause:

"But is he a Saint? To get more information on the figure of Savonarola, ZENIT interviewed Fr. Innocenzo Venchi, O.P., who is in charge of studying and promoting the cause his beatification.

Fr. Venchi: Savonarola returns to view because we feel the need for precision in historical reality. He was the victim of calumny and was poorly understood. We must illuminate the truth so that the spiritual figure, the virtuous man, the saint emerges. The questions on which we must clearly respond are his obedience to the Pope (Savonarola never disobeyed him), the excommunication and its validity (This is a very controversial question), and his political influence (which was probably the cause of his condemnation to death). On the basis of all the proofs and counterproofs that I have seen, I can affirm that the previous questions can be resolved in a more than sufficient manner.

ZENIT: In the collective imagination, Savonarola is remembered as a fanatic preacher against feminine vanity, a severe moralist who burned Botticelli's paintings simply because nude women appeared in them.

Fr. Venchi: Savonarola was a morally integral person. He was honest and coherent, and his life corresponded to what he preached. He was severe, but we must also consider the reality of the times in which he lived. Faced with rising neopaganism, the decadency of customs in Rome and Florence, it was enough to ask that people follow the Gospel to be branded as severe censors. Savonarola, nonetheless, loved Florence -- you can see this in his preaching; he felt a great tenderness for that city. If you can make the comparison, Savonarola wept over Florence just as Christ wept over Jerusalem. He was rigorous, but at the same time balanced, not fanatic. This is evident in a few of the questions in which he took action. He intervened before the Republic of Lucca to find a reasonable solution on behalf of the Jews. As for women, Savonarola held them in great consideration. In a period when prostitution reigned and women had no self-esteem, he proposed to allow them to participate in the guidance of civil life in the city. He even wrote a book on the life of widows. He showed maternal tenderness for children.

ZENIT: And how do you explain the "House of Vanities" that he organized?
Fr. Venchi: A great deal of uproar has been caused and many falsehoods written about the "House of Vanities" where they burned jewelry and paintings disrespectful of morality, but this had already been put into practice by St. Bernardine of Siena and Blessed Bernardine of Feltre. They were not Savonarola's invention. They say that he didn't like painting because he had Botticelli's paintings with nude women burned, but very few know that Bartholomeo della Porta, Raphael's master, was a disciple and follower of Savonarola. After meeting Savonarola, Br. Bartolomeo began to paint religious themes. It is well known that Michaelangelo admired Savonarola, and it appears that Raphael did as well, since the great painter put him in the "Dispute of the Blessed Sacrament." Another follower of Savonarola was the painter Paolino Detti, better known as Paolino del Signoraccio. So, he had many artists among his followers.

ZENIT: It seems clear that an injustice was committed against Savonarola, but was he really a saint?

Fr. Venchi: The cause was born from the fact that despite the calumnies and condemnations, the cult and veneration of Savonarola has continued across the centuries into our time. Among his admirers we find dozens of saints, such as St. Philip Neri, St. Catherine of Ricci, St. John Fisher, St. Pius V, and St. Pius X. Even in modern times, we find great admirers of Savonarola, such as Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Blessed Don Orione, and the Servant of God Giorgio La Pira. In addition, as the investigation has progressed, the more we came to know his writings and historical successes, the more we esteemed Savonarola, even if he will always be a sign of contradiction due to his strongly held positions.

ZENIT: Can someone who criticized the life of the clergy so be beatified?

Fr. Venchi: Important historical studies prove that not only was Savonarola not disobedient, he was neither excommunicated nor insane. Some hold that if Savonarola had been listened to, perhaps there would not have been a Reformation. While at that time no one would raise his voice against the reigning corruption, Savonarola made himself heard, preached against the bad customs, denounced the dissolution of his times, had the courage to speak to the end, was coherent, never gave up, never bent even before the threat of death, and paid with his own life.

ZENIT: Then for you, Savonarola is a saint, with all that that would imply?

Fr. Venchi: The sanctity of Savonarola is shown in the moment of his condemnation, when as a prisoner, he was tortured, humiliated, and made fun of for forty-five days, and then killed and burned. In that difficult moment, he had the strength to write a commentary on the Miserere [Psalm 51], which is one of the most beautiful in the history of the Church. This is the comportment of a saint. In a certain sense, he walked the Passion of Jesus Christ again: he was betrayed, imprisoned, tried, abandoned by all, and stripped of his habit. He suffered all these humiliations without bitterness toward anyone, and never disobeyed the Pope." [snip]

It makes you really wonder about Fr. Altier doesn't it? What if...

I mean, he has preached against the evils of rock music, the vanities of our times, the immorality of television. He says Harry Potter is wicked. He talks about the end of the age, the corruption in the Church. He spoke out against the "VIRTUS" sex-ed program for Catholic schools. He is no fan of contemporary immodest fashions. He has said a lot of things that kinda, sorta sound like Savonarola. I know some people who are devoted to him who even have had book burnings - I don't know if Father condoned that however - I'm sure he would see no harm in it. Oh well, at least we don't imprison or burn people at the stake any longer.

(I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd post this as a follow up to my other post on Savonarola - after rumaging around the net looking for his meditations on the Miserere.)

Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola (Born at Ferrara in 1452 – Died at Florence, 1498.) An Italian Dominican priest and, briefly, ruler of Florence. Known for his religious reformation, anti-Renaissance preaching, book burning, and destruction of art. He was not at all fond of fashion, and held great "bonfires of the vanities."


He was burned at the stake for heresy. Although his so-called heresy has been disputed and many believe he ought to be canonized a saint. My friend Pier Giorgio Frassati took his name for himself in the Third Order of St. Dominic.


Some priests have met with great obstacles in their efforts towards reform.

Madonna at the Basilica

Fund raising for Church restoration.

At least the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis is not the only Catholic church criticized for their controversial fund raising projects. (The Basilica holds an annual "Block Party" in front of the Church with rock bands, along with food and alcohol for sale. It started when raising funds to renovate the church and has been criticized by conservative Catholics every year since.)

In Milano, as seen in this photo, Madonna's image graces the scaffolding surrounding the Duomo which is being rennovated. A common practice is to sell, or rent the exterior space provided by the scaffold to advertisers. In this case it is a fashion house using Madonna's image to sell their product. It's creating quite a rucous in view of Madonna's latest blasphemous concert in Rome near the Vatican. When you need money, you need money I suppose. Here is the story:

"MILAN (Reuters) - Is it appropriate for one of the Roman Catholic church's best known cathedrals to be draped with the giant picture of a pop artist who has made millions from hit songs about sex?

Yes, according to the most senior priest at Milan's landmark Duomo who has rebuffed requests to remove a picture of Madonna as part of an advertisement for Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Maritz." [snip] Read more:

Medjugorje

"Miraculous" photos and vague messages.

The photo here is over St. James Church in the hamlet of Medjugorje. It is called "Our Lady's Eyes" a supposed miraculous photo showing Our Lady's eyes in the clouds. It's a stretch if you ask me. As an artist I can see faces in any pattern, from wood to marble to ceiling tile in a Dr.'s office, and especially clouds. I used to do a lot of "smoking" when I was younger - I could make out entire tableaux in clouds.

Medjugorje is a phenomenon I have a lot of trouble with. For how many years did Our Lady visit every day? Now I think she only appears once a month to one seer with pretty much the same message. This visionary will stop receiving apparitions after she receives the tenth secret. Here is the latest message from July's apparition:

"Mirjana reported that Our Lady gave the following message: 'Dear children! In these peaceless times I am coming to you to show you the way to peace. I love you with an immeasurable love and I desire for you to love each other and to see in everyone my Son – the immeasurable love. The way to peace leads solely and only through love. Give your hand to me, your mother, and permit me to lead you. I am the Queen of peace. Thank you.' "

If the communication is from Our Lady, it is a nice message, yet remains enigmatic. At Fatima the Holy Virgin also repeated herself saying, "Pray the rosary everyday." Nevertheless there was much more to it. In addition, Fatima is an approved apparition, verified with a miracle, as well as prophetic fulfillment. Even Pope Benedict has purportedly expressed incredulity at the apparitions going on for so long with very little content to the messages. However both Popes, JPII and Benedict, have expressed themselves favorably in regard to those who have had their faith revitalized as a result of the influence of the Catholic Church and her ministers at Medjugorje. Regardless, that unofficial approbation would only be in regard to people returning to the sacraments and prayer with no tacit approval of the events at Medjugorje.

Devotees of Medjugorje have returned to their homes and some have had their own locutions and apparitions. We have a woman in the suburbs of Minneapolis, actually a few of them, who claim supernatural revelations. Many people attend the prayer meetings of these mystics and look forward to the messages. In the spring, on Rome-ing Catholics, I did a post on some of the imminent things that were to happen. For one, the "warning" was supposed to occur this year by May. It did not. That whole warning thing emanates from the Garabandal apparitions in Northern Spain from the late '60's; it is expected to be some sign that will illuminate the consciences of all mankind, revealing their sins and causing mass conversions, followed by a chastisement within the year of the warning. It could happen. Many saints and mystics have foretold the same event. When prophecies do not happen, devotees of the apparitions and locutions claim the events were mitigated by prayer and penance. I worked with one fellow who every year said that would be the year for the warning and chastisement - for years he said this.

As a pilgrim in Europe I visited my share of sites where apparitions were said to have taken place. The approved ones, Fatima and Lourdes certainly are authenticated. Garabandal seemed reasonable and I experienced only peace there. I went to San Damiano in Italy and actually met the seer, Mama Rosa. She and the entire place seemed false, there was a disturbing lack of peace I felt there. People claimed to see the miracle of the sun there, I looked, I could look straight at the sun. It is in the Po valley where mists sometimes allow one to do so, while the sun appears as a silver disk. No one said it danced, they were just impressed that they could look directly at the sun.

When I met Mama Rosa, she was being wheeled to the apparition site for her appointment with the Madonna of the Roses. I asked her to pray for me and she waved me away rudely saying "I pray for the whole world." I wasn't impressed.

People simply cannot base their spiritual life upon revelations and apparitions, nor mystics with spurious communications. (And watch out for dates and times with complicated details. "No one knows the date or the hour.") Founding one's spiritual life upon extraordinary phenomena is like building one's house upon sand. I do not believe God is ever pleased with curiosity, nor is He pleased with extraordinary communications needed to warn people to repent - "We have the law and the prophets" - the Gospel, Jesus and the Church. I love the story of John of the Cross on an outing with the novices who were excited to visit a local stigmatist. St. John gave them permission to go see the mystic saying he would rather stay away and read scripture. This anecdote is very much like something from the wisdom of the Desert Fathers.

I am not saying that we should ignore possible mystical revelations or purported apparitions or locutions, rather we ought to be careful and discerning, guided by the Church. God does speak to us, to each soul, while common sense enables us to read the signs of the times. The Church is our ark of salvation, we ought to listen to Her and wait for approval of purported apparitions and miracles, in obedience, humility and charity. We must be obedient to our Bishops, our pastors, without argument or defiance. Some of these modern 'seers' and 'hearers' and their followers seem to want to circumvent the cautions expressed by their local Bishops.

"Obedience is better than sacrifice."

The rise of anti-semitism in the "New Age"

Curious painting, I'm sorry I do not know the artist. For me it represents Judaisim's history since the death of Christ. Well not really from then; the first Christians were Jews. Later on in history it all began, ebbing and flowing, until it embedded in the gentile unconscious - the determination to kill the so-called "Christ killers" - if not kill, then to marginalize and persecute.

Mel Gibson's outburst pretty much betrayed the perennial prejuduice laying dormant in many Christians, especially the very traditionalist, fundamentalist, Eastern European descendant element in Catholicism. (Although it's alive and flourishing amongst Hispanic and and Irish cultures as well.) When Dukakis was running for President of the U.S. I was talking to a Dominican nun, answering her question, "Who will you vote for?" I said I was thinking about Dukakis and she said, "You know his wife is a Jewess, don't you?" She was an older Irish immigrant and out of respect I never said what I was thinking, which would have been, "What difference does that make?"

Why are Jews so mistrusted? They possess a culture, a "sticking together" not unlike Italians, Mexicans, or the clannish Irish. What's the deal? They are not all rich, does anyone think for a minute Gibson's arresting officer was rich - on a policeman's salary yet? (It turned out he was Jewish.)

In our Store I have been told we are "Jews" because our prices are high, which they are not! (I'm going to write about "spiritual gluttony" in one of my upcoming posts - just because a person over-spends doesn't mean we are too expensive.) However there has to be a mark-up in retail; it pays for shipping fees, import fees, employee's salaries and benefits, not to mention electricity and equipment and the insurance needed to run a business.

Amongst conservative, traditionalist Catholics, let me tell you, there is an anti-semitic vein. A comment I received on another post said that this person did not "hate the Jewish people" but she said she hated the Jewish religion - how she made that distinction I'll never know, it contradicts the teaching of the Catholic Church. (See "Dominus Jesu".) I might better accept hating the secular nation of Israel for inflicting such damge upon innocent civilians in Lebanon, but never hating the Jewish people or their religion, especially since Christ came to fulfill the tenets of their faith and create the new Israel in the Church. As a Christian, the only thing one may hate is sin.

Disturbed when a contemplative nun began telling me about the Jewish conspiracy to take over the world, (those Jewish Masonic bankers, rooted in the myth traced back to the bogus "Protocols of Zion") she also told me that the Jews themselves were responsible for the Holocaust. Scandalized, I asked a very knowledgeable priest about it and he said she was correct - in part, because the Jews controlled the entertainment industry and the good Germans were scandalized at the perversion and decadent culture they were feeding them. In that sense, he felt they brought it upon themselves. I was taken aback.

Because there has been a disproportionate number of people of Jewish extraction calling the shots in media today does that warrant mass extermination? It just does not make sense to me. Everyone blames the Jews.

I think because of the war between Israel and Hezbollah there is a new , re-cycled ant-semitism emerging, that I am branding, "New Age Anti-Semitism". It's more prevalent than you think. In Rome neo-Fascists have been spray painting swastikas on Jewish businesses - that stuff spreads.

Gerald, from The Cafeteria is Closed has some good stuff related to this topic - thank you Gerald for your excellent blog.

I don't really think it's about Mel anymore.

(An autobiographical note: Before my conversion I investigated Judaism, convinced it was the true faith. In my studies I became aware of how Christianity was the actual fullfilment of the law and the prophets - which I understood in Jesus Christ. It has been said by some relatives that we have Jewish blood, I thrilled to that thought. I left my pursuit of Judaism,which helped me value my Christian roots, peripheral as my Judaic studies may have been, I eventually came home to the Roman Catholic Church. I can never understand how Christians cannot understand that they are grafted onto the family tree of Judaism, co-heirs with Christ. Do they never read the epistles of St. Paul?)

St. Martha, patron saint of worriers...

Feast day for the very, very nervous.

"Jeepers Richard! I'm nervous!" Madelaine Kahn's character, Victoria Brisbane, from "High Anxiety."

Everyone always likes to use Mary and Martha as examples for the so-called active and contemplative life. I cannot dispute the Fathers and all the other saints, if time allowed I would write how Teresa of Avila praised the so-called active life and called attention to its own unique contemplative qualities. Teresa of Calcutta and her sisters are marvelous examples of this. Enough said on that.

When it comes to Martha complaining about Mary not helping out when the Lord was at her house, I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't incited to do so by the men in Our Lord's company who may have thought it unseemly for Mary to be sitting at the Teacher's feet - after all, it was the men Jesus was speaking to, a woman's place was indeed servile. Martha's exasperation may have been with this attitude, plus having to leave her work to call Mary. Of course we don't know that.

What we do know is that Martha was agitated, a bit anxious and nervous. Don't we all get like that? Today I am. Everything seems overwhelming for me today, I'm worried about many things, I need St. Martha's intercession to help me realize that "Only one thing is necessary." (Hard to understand sometimes when you're in the throes of anxiety.) Nevertheless, I think I should get some medication for panic attacks, while asking Martha for her help.

Neo-Nazi influences in radical Islam

Did you realize there is a connection?

Things are getting more serious by the day in the Middle East.

The Roman Summit failed yesterday, much to the Vatican's dissapointment.

Israel and Hezbollah continue duking it out.

Al Qaeda has thrown their hat in the ring calling for world wide holy war. (I thought that's what they have been doing however.) "It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahri said. "We will attack everywhere."

The neo Nazi President Mohamoud Ahmadinejad of Iran keeps up his threaats, while students in Iran are volunteering to go fight in Lebanon. " Iran is a sworn enemy of Israel and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map". -While Israel accuses Iran of arming Hizbollah"

No wonder polls are saying that Americans are by and large pessimistic about the future. Over 50% of those polled feel The war in the Middle East will escalate to full scale war involving other nations.

It is an incredibly unstable time all around. I can't help but take it all very seriously. A person in my office commented how unusual it is for our country to be at war and yet nothing has changed in our daily lives. So much so, that if one does not watch the news and has no one they know in the armed forces, one's lifestyle is not at all affected. We are in big denial I think.

Naturally I have been pondering the Arab-Israeli hostilities and wondered what it all means. Did you ever read Roy Schoeman's "Salvation Is From The Jews"? It's a couple of years old now but still available and relevant of course. Mr. Schoeman is a convert to Catholicism from Judaism, although he sees his conversion more as coming into the fullness of faith, as do I.

He traces the history of Judaism very simply and intelligently, as well as it's fullfillment in the Roman Catholic Church. I misplaced my copy but I recalled many points of his connecting the current virulent anti-semitism of the Arab world and radical Islam to Nazi Germany. The above picture is from Roy's website of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem meeting with Hitler. They were in each other's back pockets, as it were, when it came to anti-semitism. An irony of course because Arabs are also non-Aryan semites. Isn't it curious however that Islam and Naziism could find a common ground. Hitler wanted to use Islam to help exterminate the Jewish people. Schoeman believes that today, radical Islam has continued the Nazi legacy. He's not alone in this thought.

Chuck Morse has a splendid article on the connection of Islamic terrorism to Nazi Germany, covering much of the data written about in "Salvation Is From The Jews".

From David Greenberg I have this concise history which corresponds succinctly the association of Nazi influence and fascist Arab anti-semitism we are seeing today:

"Then came the Holocaust, which not only marked the pinnacle of European anti-Semitism but encouraged it in the Arab world as well. Because Arab leaders shared the Germans’ hostility to Britain and France—the dominant colonial powers in the Middle East—they were eager to make common cause with Hitler, despite Nazi belief that they, like the Jews, were inferior to Aryans. The mufti of Jerusalem, among others, actively spread propaganda about “Anglo-Saxon Jewish greed” while praising the Nazi war effort. Even years later, sympathy for Nazism could be easily found in Arab culture. When Israel apprehended Adolf Eichmann in 1960, a Saudi newspaper headline read, “Capture of Eichmann, Who Had the Honor of Killing Five Million Jews.”

If the Holocaust nurtured Arab anti-Semitism, it also helped to discredit such bigotry in the West. Indeed, it helped mobilize support for a Jewish state internationally. In 1948, Israel was finally granted independence. As if to welcome their new neighbor into the region, the Arab countries promptly invaded. Israel repulsed the attacks, and in the three Arab-Israeli wars that followed (1956, 1967, 1973), the Jewish state managed to survive and even to expand its territory. Most controversially, it took over the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan, which were home to large numbers of Palestinian Arabs." [snip]

Our Lady and Islam, the better connection.

I always go back to Our Lady of Fatima and her call for prayer, penance, and fidelity to the Commandments, as the means to acquire peace, that peace God has entrusted to her. I just can't help but think there is a connection of her apparitions in 1917 to the times we are now living, even if only by inference. We must pray, pray the prayers of the rosary for peace.

Secularism and the denial of the Truth

You have got to read this from Don Marco, my priest-monk friend from the Abbey of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome. (I'm not posting tomorrow so this is it! He is absolutely brilliant and ought to have either his own blog or write more books!)

"We live in the company of the saints. We are in communion with them, and communion implies communication. There is, at every moment, a mysterious exchange taking place between us and the saints who surround us. The Letter to the Hebrews says that we are "watched from above by such acloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1).

I was shocked and saddened to read that a group of citizens are planning to bring a lawsuit against the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico to have the three crosses removed from the city's official seal. (The city is named after the three crosses of Mount Calvary.) Similar objections have been made against the symbolism associated with Sacramento, California and Corpus Christi, Texas, both named for the mystery of the Eucharist. California is dotted with cities and towns named after the patron saints of the missions around which they grew up, San Francisco being the most famous of these. Ignorance of the saints, or even indifference to them, is one thing: an ideology that seeks to erase their memory from the collective consciousness is quite another.

The names of saints are more and more rarely being given to Catholic babies. While there is a part of ignorance here, today's parents were the victims of the disastrous lack of catechesis that followed the Second Vatican Council, there is something more. The pressure to secularize every area of life is picking up momentum. Change what people say, and you will change what they think. The modification of vocabulary, and in this case the suppression of the glorious heritage of Catholic saints' names, will lead to a modification of values and, ultimately, of morality.

Monasteries have the splendid custom of attributing a saint's name or a biblical name to every room and place, from the cells to the workrooms to the storage rooms. The significance of this age­ old custom is as beautiful as it is profound: the monastery is inhabited not only by the visible people who live within its walls, but also by its invisible residents, the angels and the saints. The naming of a room for a saint is a confession of faith; it flies in the face of secularist ideologies that would have us believe that reality stops with what is visible.

The movement to secularize every thing and every place is as pernicious as it is aggressive. It is part of the "smoke of Satan" that Pope Paul VI saw penetrating the Church to foment confusion. It is important that we respond to the crisis with courage and with conviction. The invasion of the secular must be countered by a renewed acceptance of the sacred, and by re­claiming all things for Christ under the patronage of his saints and his mysteries: our cities, our towns, our homes, our institutions, our rooms, and, yes, our children.

The feast of Saints Joachim and Anna invites us to consider these things. Joachim and Anna arrived in North America with the first colonizers from France and Spain, those who named every new place for the saints of Christ. By this, they made it clear that the Kingdom of Heaven was also expanding and that all places and peoples were invited to live in communion and in communication with the saints.

In seventeenth century France devotion to the Holy Family became a mark of the renewal that, following the Council of Trent, blew through the Church like a refreshing breeze, a mystical invasion. The Holy Family was understood, at that time, to refer to the entire extended family of Jesus, including his grandparents, Joachim and Anne.

From France, Jesuit missionaries, Ursuline and Hospitaller nuns,and devout layfolk carried the devotion to the Holy Family to New France. A sanctuary dedicated to Saint Anne was built in 1658 between the Saint Laurence River and the Beaupré coast in Québec. Other smaller shrines to Saint Anne mark the "Catholic geography" of New England.

After the French Revolution, the Church knew an extraordinary burst of energy characterized by the foundations of hundreds of new religious communities of women; many of these nineteenth century foundations were dedicated to the Holy Family and, again, the grandparents of the Lord were not excluded. Some of these French communities came, in turn, to America where they taught generations of Catholics to reverence the human family of Christ and to live in communion with the saints.

Saint Anne and Saint Joachim have a special message for the grandparents among us. Grandmothers and grandfathers have a particular vocation in the order of grace. Grandparents are called to foster the supernatural life of their grandchildren, to pray for them, to pray with them, and to model holiness for them. Grandparents can reach places in a child's heart that no one else can reach. Grandparents can introduce their grandchildren to the joy of living with the saints.

We are the spiritual descendents of the saints. We profess our faith in the communion of the saints and acknowledge their presence in our homes and in our lives. We renounce the evil ideologies of secularization that, by suppressing the things that call to mind the saints, aim at erasingthe supernatural from daily life.

In the Eucharist, heaven descends to earth and earth is assumed into heaven. In the Eucharist there is infinitely more than what meets the eye. Saints Joachim and Anne are present to us; their most holy Daughter, the Virgin Mary, is present to us. Let us ask them to join their intercession to ours, imploring peace for the Middle East. This too is the communion of the saints: the Holy Sacrifice offered here can bring peace there. Live then, as if you were seeing the invisible! There is nothing more real than that."

The Holy Father and peace...

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Benedict XV had a peace plan in 1917, in accord with Emperor Charles' support (now Blessed Charles of Austria) which was subsequently ignored by other world leaders who were capable of preventing the 'Great War', World War I. Popes have often gone ignored in history, or defamed and lied about, such is the case with Pius XII, and more recently, Paul VI in his encyclical "Humanae Vitae". Now perhaps Benedict XVI is being ignored as one of the lone voices speaking out against the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

It is reported today that the Holy Father emerged from a chapel dedicated to the Holy Virgin saying, " 'It seems to me that in this moment, something is moving,' Benedict told reporters on his return from a visit to the Our Lady of Healing shrine where he prayed for peace." [snip - Guardian] He must believe something is happening that may lead to a peaceful settlement. He asked prayers for the meeting in Rome today of leaders seeking a peaceful solution to the war betwen Hezbollah and Israel. (Although it appears there has not been any firm resolution forthcoming from the Roman meeting as of this post.)

"Pray the prayers of the rosary for peace." Our Lady of Fatima from her peace plan of 1917.

The low spark of low rise pants...

(Title adapted from Steve Winwood and Traffic - "The low spark of high heeled boys." very cool '70's song.)

Guys and Chastity.

So, "how does a young man remain sinless" (Psalm 119) in the summertime? First of all he should pull his pants up and probably not shop at Abercrombie & Fitch - although they have the coolest clothes - that sometimes look like they came out of the dumpster - but they are cool.

This post is obviously only for guys interested in, or striving for chastity. A lot of young guys think it is impossible to remain chaste. Some think that they are chaste and celibate if they simply refrain from vaginal intercourse. We learned from the Clinton-Lewinski affair that many young people do not consider oral sex or masturbation "sex". These kids can't be Catholics however, can they? Yeah, I think there are Catholic kids with a messed up understanding of what sex is, and they probably do not see the need for confession either.

I could talk here about 'urban wear' and 'beach wear' or "club wear", and all sorts of suggestive and immodest fashions, but that's pretty obvious to everyone, right? Well, even if it isn't, I'm not going there. We all should know that minimal clothing is seductive. We know movies and TV and MTV is sexualized beyond belief. Music as well. Some of the rap and pop music pretty much glorify certain sex acts as well as promiscuous and lesbian behavior. (The homo stuff just isn't cool for guys - thank God.) Watch the Music Awards shows - it's pretty graphic choreography. So kids are surrounded by sex - you hear it in their language, and the age level is getting younger all of the time.

So how does any guy remain sinless? Especially in the age of Viagra? Confession, confession, confession - the Sacrament of Reconciliation - as often as needed. Frequenting the Sacrament with contrition - and a firm purpose of amendment of course - even if it seems like you 'can't' amend, or do not 'feel' like you can - try and understand that you 'will' it. Holiness is in the will.

Daily prayer, especially the rosary, and daily Mass when possible. Mental prayer or meditation is essential - where the daily examination of conscience is an obligatory component. Another good form of prayer is Lectio Divina - which is meditation/mental prayer and reading scripture all rolled into one. The other means is the practice of recollection outside the time of prayer; keeping one's self in the presence of God through short little prayers or aspirations, using the name of Jesus, and most especially, by frequent spiritual communions. Spiritual communion renews our awareness of Christ's presence in the Eucharist and renews our communion with him in "His silent loving action in the Eucharist" - at work in us through our explicit desire - thus His presence in us is "at work to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever ask or imagine." Then, try to spend some time each week or more in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in adoration or simply enjoying to be in His presence. Cultivate devotion, confidence and love. Check out John Paul's book, "Theology of the Body" or other good commentaries on it, the book clears up many things concerning sex.

Some guys get themselves habituated to certain sins. All men, especially young men, have to be aware of their own bodies - not just to pump up, or how they are dressing themselves - but their biology and psychology. Our sexuality is a good thing and has one purpose, that of procreation. So many young people have problems with "delaying gratification" in a culture where everything is immediate. Men have built in release valves as it were. The temptation to masturbate goes away if you occupy yourself with something else - anything to take the focus off "it" - if you know what I mean. (Although, I don't see how that is possible with some kids who walk around the streets pulling at themselves all of the time - what a disgusting habit picked up from rap artists and other street trash. Don't ever do that!) Men's bodies have a natural release, it's politely referred to as 'nocturnal emissions'. Men do not have to masturbate. It won't 'fall off' or 'wither up' if you don't use it, as some proponents suggest in a round about way by saying it could lead to prostate cancer. Nonsense! The devil likes to suggest these things as well, it's ludicrous. (In the way of perfection, even natural responses from one's body ought not to be sought and one must remain detached from the pleasure, yet unperturbed when it occurs. And do not let your mind or the devil try to trick you into thinking the experience is a sin because you experienced pleasure - that is often a trick to keep you in that sexually charged moment and an invitation to commit a sin auto-erotically. )

As for other types of acting out sexually, these may have a compulsive dimension as well. One has to work at it. But never focus or dwell on the temptation or the act - it takes hold that way. Let impure thoughts go in one ear and out the other, don't focus. Sometimes they stick in the mind - don't focus on them, go on as if they are not there. (Don't get all uptight and try to repress them however, it makes them worse, be calm and let them blow away like "leaves on a windy day".) And if you feel like you've sinned by entertaining the thoughts - don't let your body or the devil convince you that you have already sinned gravely so you may as well go all the way. That is so much his best trick. The other really bad trick of his is, if you do fall, he suggests doing it again, since you've already sinned anyway. Every consent to his wicked suggestions forges another link in his chain - break it immediately through an act of contrition and go to confession as soon as you can. These acts of humility and repentance are your arms in battle, with trust in the Divine Mercy of course. That reminds me, pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy, even if you are steeped in sin, Jesus promised He would not fail to grant His grace and mercy to "even the most hardened sinner, even if he were to recite the chaplet only once." It is a very powerful prayer.

Maybe you've never heard of it, but there is a mortification referred to as custody of the eyes. It's when you keep from indulging your curiosity about things, the practice trains you to control your "wandering eyes". It can be exercized by not watching TV, or not listening to certain music at times, or not checking some one out on the street or at the beach. As you drive, ride or walk, or are just sitting there, you're going to see someone with a great body and perhaps little on it. You saw it, maybe you looked twice, it's not a sin - even though your body may have reacted. Take that reaction as a warning, divert your attention, move on, jump in the pool - do something. But do it without anxiety and without over reaction. Gradually one learns to not objectify and sexualize everybody and everything, especially if you do not make your body and other peoples body "an idol". There is a certain amount of idolotry in our culture that is directed toward the body. We live in a time wherein the most obvious sign of outward devotion may be properly called, "the cult of the body". We've got to stop our "sacrificing to idols" - a pagan custom revived in our day not unlike that which prospered in ancient Rome and Greece.

One more thing - never ever indulge in pornography - do not even have it near you. No magazines, no videos or DVDs, no nothing. The imprint upon the memory and imagination is powerful and diabolical. If you come across it you can't help the fact that you saw it, but do not let yourself get into it. Move along. Mortal sin is committed only when you willingly and deliberately entertain yourself with it, look at it or watch it indulgently, or act upon it. To see it accidently or even look with some curiosity, yet then to reject it - even though your body may have reacted - is not grave sin, don't get tricked into going further. But never have it around or buy it.

Be patient - but not too patient with yourself, remain calm, ask for help in prayer, keep going to confession and never give up. Chastity is possible - even in the summertime - and maybe even in Los Angeles.

Compunction

"When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes"

"When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate..."
-Shakespeare, Sonnet 29


Yesterday's post brought me a great grace, it is called compunction. Compunction is not a word used very much anymore these days. My understanding of it is that it is like contrition, but it remains after the confession of one's sins. It's not depression nor is it "the sadness that leads to death" as St. Paul writes. It's a spiritually healthy condition, so desirable and consoling I wish I could be steeped in it every waking hour. It's very much linked to humility. One may imagine a saint, such as Bernard, pictured here, overtaken with compunction - "stung to his heart" by the sight of Jesus crucified and what Love has suffered in atonement for men's sins, and Bernard takes up Christ's cross and follows him. Still, feeling the sting in his heart, he understands his own sins have been the cause of so much grief, of so many wounds inflicted upon the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "Deep calls unto deep."


Papa John Paul I

I have searched my office at home, my art cabinets, and every book, as well as my office at work, for a marvelous quote I had from John Paul I - not JPII - but his predecessor. The Holy Father was speaking at the Wednesday audience, I have no documentation on hand, but it is authentic. The Holy Father said something to this effect, "Excuse me for saying this, others may fault me, but I think the Lord loves humility so much that He sometimes allows very good souls to fall into sin, even mortal sin. In fact He may permit them to fall repeatedly into a very grave sin, in order that the soul may become humble. Yes God so loves humility that He will allow Himself to be offended so that the sinner may come to repentance and become humble." I know I didn't do his statement justice but it is very close to what the Holy Father said.

In 1972 I had a profound conversion experience, my life changed completely. I entered monastic life because I was convinced I could not be saved in the world. It wasn't enough, so with Charles de Foucauld and Benedict Joseph Labre I left the enclosure to live a penitential life as a 'pilgrim'. But that was way too difficult - I believed I had to return to enclosed monastic life.
Returning from Europe I asked to be receivd once again, only to find out that my novice master had left, the Abbott had resigned and all the novices left as well, and they were not accepting anyone at the time. My superficial spiritual edifice suddenly and dramatically collapsed.

Living in Boston at the time, I was in the North End one Saturday, walking amidst the stalls at the market while a car had stopped at the intersection I was at, the stereo was blarring and it was Dianna Ross' song, "Love Hangover". (It was the height of disco and I was still pretty young - obviously.) I thought it was the coolest song ever. I walked back downtown, bought some hip clothes and went out to the bars that night - actually, just about every night for a few months. I returned to my old way of life, out of desperation, loneliness, isolation, (I was supposedly a hermit) and what is called 'acedia' - something many people today think is the 'dark night' - it's not.

Did you ever see "Looking For Mr. Goodbar", the movie with Dianne Keaton about a promiscuous school teacher who had a double life going out to all the clubs at night while teaching at a school by day? That was kind of me - the male version of course! I worked at a Church in Back Bay at the time and everyone thought I was a monk, but I went to all the clubs by night. My fall from grace was sudden, and my recovery was just about as sudden. This sinful period was only a matter of a few months. I left Boston to come home to the Twin Cities, realizing I was ruining my life in Boston. It was the most mortifying experience of my life, I hated it here. Gradaually I adjusted, regained my old job with better pay and a higher position. I returned to the practice of prayer and daily communion, balanced with a 'love of the world' - in this, to a lesser degree, I found some affinity with Teresa of Avila. Nevertheless, it was a knock down drag out fight to cut every tie with my sinful past. A series of fallings and risings at every step.

Through it all, I remained close to our Carmel and my 'spiritual sister' who is still there. Once in a letter she reassured me by writing, "Even if you have to go to confession every day, even twice a day, never fail to do so. Remember, a saint is a sinner who keeps trying." (I got to know a lot of priests in those days.) Only much later did I read the statement of John Paul I, about sin and the acquisition of humility. Only then did I really understand temptation and sin and God's inscrutable mercy.

I find comfort in this quote from St. Teresa Benedicta a'Cruce, "In aridity and emptiness the soul becomes humble. Former pride disappears when a man no longer finds in himself anything that might cause him to look down on others." - Science of the Cross . In my aridity and emptiness I fell back into sin, but never worry, it returns, only this time the soul understands God is with it, that faith and hope support it, that love sustains it. Edith Stein wrote elsewhere, "The soul ought to consider aridity and darkness as fortunate omens; as signs that God is beside it, freeing it from itself, taking the initiative out of its hand." My dreamsicle spiritual life, coddled by God in it's first fervor was too immature, too superficial, too unguided, too idiosynchratic for me to be on my own. It had to collapse, God had to take the initiative out of my hands, I had to become humble - God it is who inspires and perfects our faith. That is how I learned the meaning of these words, "I have more understanding than all who teach me because I do your will." Ps 119. Not that I go it alone now without counsel, but there is a freedom of spirit the Holy Spirit bestows in addition.

In the market, after Mass this morning, I heard the same music I listened to in Boston years ago, and all of these memories came flooding back vividly and poignantly, increasing the compunction I experienced at Mass. I did not have the same sins that Fr. Erickson had, but I have sinned too, all of us have. As I said yesterday, God's mercy is so inscrutable. We must have hope - confidence and love, as little Therese taught. And we must have humility and mercy in our hearts.

May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon them.

Islam and the Blessed Virgin Mary

Loreto and Islam.

The Translation of the Holy House of Loreto.

I happened upon an interesting note on the web of a Muslim man stating he believed that peace between Islam and Christianity could very well come about through Our Lady. He said Muslims and Christians have devotion to her. Here is the article:

ROME - 3 July 2006
Mary can bring religions together says Muslim writer. An Egyptian Muslim and deputy director of a prominent Italian newspaper has suggested that Mary could be the figure to bring Christians and Muslims together.

Mr Magdi Allam of Il Corriere della Sera has launched an appeal in the pages of the national daily newspaper to Muslims in Italy to visit Marian shrines. The journalist said that he is convinced that the Virgin Mary is a meeting point between Christians and Muslims. "Mary is a figure present in the Koran, which dedicates an entire chapter to her and mentions her some thirty times. In Muslim countries there are Marian shrines that are the object of veneration and pilgrimage by Christian and Muslim faithful," he said. "Therefore, I believe that if this happens in Muslim countries, why can't it happen in a Christian country, especially in this historical phase in which we need to define symbols, values and figures that unite religions, spiritualities and cultures?" he asked.

In Allam's opinion, "the Marian pilgrimage of Loreto - Italy's National Shrine - could represent a moment of meeting and spiritual gathering between Muslims and Catholics, around Mary, a religious figure that is venerated by both religions." -ICS

Interestingly enough, he may be correct. I have always considered Our Lady's apparitions at Fatima to have at least some inferrence to Islam, since the name Fatima was the name of Mohamed's favorite daughter. Bishop Sheen also had said some things in this regard.

Along with the miraculous image of Our Lady of Good Counsel, the Holy House was once in Croatia and miraculously transported by angels to Italy. Many saints and popes have made the pilgrimage to Loreto, Bl. John XXIII went as a pilgrim to ask the Blessed Virgin's intercession for the Second Vatican Council. John Paul II had been there many times as well. It is a scientific marvel - the house, now enclosed in an edicule within the basilica, rests without foundations on the bare ground. (For further reading on the image of OL Good Counsel, see an earlier post on my other blog, Rome-ing Catholics.)

Both The Holy House and the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel were transported by angels away from Muslim invaders. The Sacred Image was carried from their onslaught of the Balkans. The Holy House was transported, first from the Holy Land to Croatia, and what seems now providential, to Italy. Some people dispute these stories as mere legends. I do not. I spent nearly a week at Loreto and never left the Holy House except when they closed the Basilica at night. I had been enraptured by it, literally.

Photo of the Cairo apparition.


Finally, Our Lady appeared above a Coptic Church in Cairo, Egypt in the 1970's. Her apparitions were witnessed by thousands of people while the apparitions were even photographed. Our Lady said nothing however. Muslims and Christians both were witnesses to the Cairo apparitions that the Coptic Church later confirmed as being authentic. Our Lady promised at Fatima that in the end her Immaculate Heart would triumph, that Our Lord had entrusted the peace of the world to Her.

We need to pray our rosary I think.

Devil in the details...

The title doesn't quite tell it.

"C'mon, it's just a fun movie!" That's what I tell people when they act surprised that I actually left the house to see a movie in a theatre and tell me my choice is wierd - for a guy. When I was just a boy I started out retail in fashion and went onto management for a large department store. A friend from all those years back stayed on and got a corporate position as Senior Designer. We sort of 'grew up' in a segment of the fashion business and had to know our stuff. I read Vogue, Women's Wear; I went to the markets, I knew who every designer was and who was wearing them, I also knew who all the top models were - by name. (Do you know who the first real super model was? Suzie Parker, a 1950's cover girl who did a stint in the movies.) Yeah, I knew too much, it was my job!

My friend and I both worked for a vice-president who was not unlike Meryl Streep's character in the film. He was a bitch too. Immensely talented and successful as well. Lucky for us, he liked us and we both learned a lot from him. His name was Andrew Markopolous, now deceased, yet his legacy lives on, with industry awards named after him, and people like my friend and I who will never forget him. Anyway, I digress, it's a fun film however, and it's entertaining for those who may have worked in fashion or retail, or for fashion magazines, or just anyone who follows fashion. It's a multi-billion dollar industry that employs a large segment of the population, so the film should do well. Having said that, I'll get to the point of this post.

Of course the devil doesn't wear Prada, he's a spirit and doesn't wear clothes, I think he just inspires their designs. Since the '6o's ready to wear designers have increasingly looked to the street for inspiration in their designs. Couture has followed suit. It's pretty obvious when most of the top designers feature barely clad models that look like hookers.


A Versace 'dress'.


Get back to the street, the supermarket, the office. The look is tight, and low. Even for men. Remember last year's Dolce and Gabbana's ad for men's jeans? It was hot, as the industry would say. Scandalously low rise jeans. Where'd they get that idea? The streets. Kids;
boyz and girlz wear their stuff so low you can almost see their stuff. It looks really bad on the fat ones. I don't know what they are supposed to wear, but don't dress like that, fat or anorexic. Little Blessed Jacinta of Fatima in 1918 repeated something Our Lady told her, "Many fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much - do not follow fashion." That was in 1918!

Years ago, early '70's to be exact, Carlo Carretto, a Little Brother of Jesus wrote a simple book titled, "The God Who Comes". It influenced me a great deal in the first stages of my conversion. In a chapter, "You'll all come to the same end unless you repent" where he discusses the need for repentance in our culture so steeped in hedonism - the pursuit of pleasure - not happiness. That was then! This is now! It was back then when you only saw women dressed as prostitutes who really were prostitutes. Or men dressed with revealing jeans that were usually always gay - but now the so-called "metrosexual" has evolved - non-gay men obsessed with fashion. In the chapter Caretto writes: "To begin with, we must go against the ideas of the day, for these are always opposed to the Gospel. We must resist 'the latest fashions and the spirit of the times,' which are almost always influenced by the evil one." That would be the devil.


Dolce and Gabbana ad.

Fashion is a clever manipulative game that makes tons of money for the purveyors. The cosmetic industry alone is a phenomenal money maker. If women really understood the mark up for the product and services they purchase - well, I think they do and it doesn't faze them. Age defying makeup, cosmetic surgeries. Shoes! Women love shoes. At major high-end retailers the mark-up on shoes is around 300%. A jacket from Christian LaCroix in the '90's was $20,000.00 - that was more than a modest car. I do not shop or read the trades any longer but I know for certain couture costs equally as much today. Why do women fall for this? And now men are doing likewise. Makeup for men? Manicures? Hair highlighting? I'd be embarrassed. It's a racket.

Fashion changes year to year, season to season, it takes people's money away, and distracts them from the essentials in life, it encourages people to become more vacuous and superficial, not to mention provocative and sensual - even an occasion of sin for others. The devil may not wear Prada, but he's in the details.