Saint Bede, the Venerable

We honor the memory of a venerable Benedictine monk and Churchman, Saint Bede. He is the only English Doctor of the Church and a fine example of monastic learning and holiness. Most people relate to him as the historian of the English Church because of his famous work, Historia Ecclesiastica. 

Christ was his King. No other lord
Did Bede aspire to serve.
No other love could claim the heart
He gave without reserve.

From boyhood onward his delight
Was in the scriptures found,
Or singing praise to him who hung
Upon the Rood, thorn-crowned.

Like Easter night, Bede’s quiet cell
Saw Christ arising there;
And when Ascension dawned at last
The Son shone bright and fair.

To Christ the King of glory sing,
And God the Father praise,
Whose Spirit dwells in peaceful hearts
And guides them in his ways.

The text is an ancient monastic hymn. It was translated by Dame Catherine of Holy Trinity Monastery, Herefordshire, UK.

Raising Cardinal George’s galero

Francis George galeroSunday, May 17, 2015, marked the month anniversary of the death of Francis Eugene Cardinal George, OMI, the emeritus archbishop of Chicago. The traditional Mass known as the “month’s mind Mass” was celebrated in Holy Name Cathedral. It completes the Church’s funeral rites for the Cardinal.

He served Chicago for 17 years he as its archbishop. The Cardinal’s motto was Christo, Gloria in Ecclesia (To Christ be glory in the Church).

There is a red hat, once worn by cardinals but no longer used, called a galero; this wide-brimmed hat with elegantly woven tassles hanging from it (see picture).

George’s silk hat now hangs alongside those of previous Chicago Cardinals Joseph Bernardin, John Cody, Albert Meyer, Samuel Stritch and George Mundelein. The tradition of bestowing the wide-brimmed hat when a man entered the College of Cardinals. Pope Paul VI replaced it with a silk biretta following the Second Vatican Council.

In fact, Cardinal George had two galeros but never wore them: one was gift to him from the seminarians of Mundelein seminary and the second one was given to him by friends just months before his death.

Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified

St Mary of Jesus CrucifiedOn Sunday I posted a brief piece on Saint Mariam Baourady –in the Carmelite Order she is known as Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified (read this link for more info).

Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified has been known as “The Little Arab,” may she intercede for all those currently being religiously persecuted in the Middle East.

May Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified pray for us, for the people of the Middle East.

 

Cyprian Davis, OSB, dead at 84

Cyprian Davis OSBThe monastic community of Saint Meinrad announced the death of their confrere, Father Cyprian Davis yesterday. Those of us who are Oblates of Saint Meinrad will recall with great admiration the life and work of this monk and priest of Jesus Christ. Prayers for Dom Cyprian and those who survive him. The official obituary reads:

Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB, monk and priest of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, IN, died on May 18, 2015, at Memorial Hospital in Jasper. He was 84 and a jubilarian of both profession and ordination.

Surviving are a cousin and a niece.

Fr. Cyprian was born in Washington, D.C., on September 9, 1930, to Clarence W. and Evelyn (Jackson) Davis, who named him Clarence John.

He studied at Saint Meinrad Seminary from 1949 to 1956. Invested as a novice monk on July 31, 1950, he professed his simple vows August 1, 1951, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 3, 1956.

Fr. Cyprian received a licentiate in sacred theology from The Catholic University of America in 1957, and the license and the doctorate in historical sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, in 1963 and 1977, respectively.

He was professor emeritus of Church history at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, where he had begun teaching in 1963.

He also served as an archivist of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, of the Swiss-American Benedictine Congregation, and of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, of which in 1968 he was a founding member. He also belonged to the American Catholic Historical Association and the Society of American Archivists.

In addition to dozens of articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia and dictionary entries, Fr. Cyprian wrote six books. But it is his 1990 work for which he will be especially remembered. The History of Black Catholics in the United States is a 350-page study of the American Black Catholic experience from the early Spanish explorations to 1970, and it is regarded as the essential study of the American Black Catholic experience.

Among the honors he received for this book were the John Gilmary Shea Award in 1990, and the Brother Joseph Davis Award in 1991. Fr. Cyprian was preparing a revised edition of this work at the time of his death.

In addition, Fr. Cyprian contributed to the second draft of Brothers and Sisters to Us, the 1979 pastoral letter on racism published by the United States Catholic bishops, and he helped write the initial draft of What We Have Seen and Heard, the 1984 pastoral letter on evangelization from the black Catholic bishops.

Saint Mariam Baouardy (St Mary of Jesus Crucified)

St. Mariam BaouardyEarlier today in Rome, the Holy Father canonized some new saints. Among the 4 new saints is Saint Mariam Baouardy  (5 January 1846 – 26 August 1878), a Discalced Carmelite nun of the Melkite Catholic Church. She was born to Greek Catholic parents in Ibillin, Galilee. Saint Mariam had the distinguished reputation of being a mystic and a person gifted with the experience of the holy stigmata (the physical wounds in the hands and feet that Jesus suffered and which redeemed us).

The Pope said of Saint Mariam,

An essential aspect of witness to the risen Lord is unity among ourselves, his disciples, in the image of his own unity with the Father. Today too, in the Gospel, we heard Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his passion: “that they may be one, even as we are one” (Jn 17:11). From this eternal love between the Father and the Son, poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5), our mission and our fraternal communion draw strength; this love is the ever-flowing source of our joy in following the Lord along the path of his poverty, his virginity and his obedience; and this same love calls us to cultivate contemplative prayer. Sister Mariam Baouardy experienced this in an outstanding way. Poor and uneducated, she was able to counsel others and provide theological explanations with extreme clarity, the fruit of her constant converse with the Holy Spirit. Her docility to the Spirit also made her a means of encounter and fellowship with the Muslim world.

Saint Peregrine Laziosi

St PeregrineOn this feast of Saint Peregrine, the Church prays:

Eternal Father, I wish to honor St. Peregrine, and I give Thee thanks for all the graces Thou hast bestowed upon him. I ask Thee to please increase grace in my soul through the merits of this saint, and I commit the end of my life to him by this special prayer, so that by virtue of Thy goodness and promise, St. Peregrine might be my advocate and provide whatever is needed at that hour. Amen

A biography of the Saint that asks God to cure cancer:

Today, May 16, we celebrate the feast of Saint Peregrine Laziosi (1260-1345), priest, and patron saint of those suffering with cancer, AIDS, and other serious diseases. Saint Peregrine was miraculously cured during his lifetime of cancer, through his devotion to the suffering Jesus on the Cross. Saint Peregrine is a reminder of the gracious love and healing of a personal relationship with Jesus. He is invoked today to intercede in the healing and comfort of those struggling against disease.

Peregrine Laziosi was born into a wealthy family at Forli, Italy. He spent a worldly youth active in politics, and was originally a member of the anti-papal party —a strongly anti-Catholic movement in Italy. During one uprising, Peregrine struck Saint Philip Benizi, who had been dispatched by the Pope to bring peace, in the face. When Philip offered the other cheek to his young attacker, Peregrine was so overcome that he repented and converted immediately to Catholicism.

Shortly thereafter, Peregrine received a miraculous vision from Our Blessed Mother, in which she instructed him to journey to Siena, Italy, and join the Servite Order there. He left his wealth and status and did as Mary instructed, joining the Servites. Once a Servite, Peregrine imposed strict penances on himself as reparation for his earlier actions, including the observation of strict silence and solitude, and refusal to sit down. It is believed that Peregrine stood for approximately 30 years, which eventually led to illness.

After his training and ordination, he was assigned to his hometown, Forli, and there founded a new house of the Servite Order. He was a gifted preacher, and brought many to the faith. He was similarly a patient, gentle, and respected confessor, and many traveled a great distance to meet with him in the confessional. When not interacting with others or preaching, he maintained his vow of silence.

Saint Peregrine eventually developed difficulty with his circulation, likely due to his constant standing, which led to cancer of the foot. This aggressive cancer began spreading up his leg, and with no cure possible, his doctors scheduled an amputation of the limb. Saint Peregrine spent the night before his surgery in fervent prayer before the crucified Christ. As he drifted off to sleep while praying, he experienced a vision of Jesus, coming off the Cross, and touching the afflicted area. The next morning, when he awoke, his cancer had been completed cured. Saint Peregrine went on to live another 20 years, serving the Lord and his community.

Peregrine died at the age of 85, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII. He reminds us of the miraculous grace of conversion and healing that is possible through Our Lord. An adamant opponent to the Church, Saint Peregrine became a powerful preacher, leading many to the faith. He turned to the Lord, and was richly rewarded. How might we experience conversion today?

Saint Peregrine, thou hast given us an example to follow; as a Christian thou wert steadfast in love; as a Servite thou wert faithful in service; as a penitent thou humbly acknowledgedst thy sin; afflicted thou borest suffering with patience. Intercede for us, then, with our Heavenly Father so that we steadfast, humble and patient may receive from Christ Jesus the grace we ask.

Our hope comes through Mary

The Lord has placed in Mary the fullness of all good. So that if there is anything of hope in us, if anything of grace, if anything of salvation, we may rest assured it has overflowed into us from her. With every fiber of our being, every feeling of our hearts, with all affections of our minds, and with all the ardor of our souls let us honor Mary because this is the will of God, who would have us obtain everything through her hands.

–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon 6: For the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Lord’s going to heaven

Today’s solemn feast of the Ascension Lord requires us to meditate on its meaning and place in our spiritual life these days leading up to the Pentecost. Here is an excerpt of a homily by Saint Augustine:

As he was about to ascend, he spoke the last words he was to utter on earth. At the moment of going up to heaven, the head commended to our care the members he was leaving on earth, and so departed. No longer will you find Christ speaking on earth; in the future he will speak from heaven. Why will he speak from heaven? Because his members are being trampled underfoot on earth. He spoke to Saul the persecutor from above, saying: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? I have ascended to heaven, but I still remain on the earth. Here at the Father’s right hand I sit, but there I still hunger and thirst and am without shelter’.

The Ascension of the Lord

The AscensionChrist above all glory seated!
King triumphant, strong to save!
Dying you have death defeated,
Buried, You have spoiled the grave.

You have gone where now is given
What no mortal might could gain,
On the eternal throne of heaven
In Your Father’s power to reign.

There your kingdoms all adore You
Heaven above and earth below;
While the depths of hell before You
Trembling and defeated bow.

We, O Lord, with hearts adoring,
Follow You beyond the sky;
Hear our prayers Your grace imploring,
Lift our souls to You on high!

So when You again in glory
On the clouds of heaven shall shine,
We Your flock may stand before You,
Owned forevermore as Thine.

Hail, all hail! In You confiding,
Jesus, we shall all adore,
In Your Father’s might abiding
With One Spirit evermore.
Amen.

-Aeterne Rex altissime
(5th century) Translated

Coat of Arms of Abbess Lucia Kuppens

Mother Lucia Kuppens coat of armsToday (May 10, 2015), Mother Abbess Lucia received the Abbatial Blessing from the Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, S.T.D., Archbishop of Hartford. She was elected as the Third Abbess of the Abbey of Regina Laudis on February 1. She is one of two Benedictine abbesses in the USA.

Present for the Mass and the monastic rite were the new Abbess’ parents, siblings, many guests of the abbey including monks and nuns from other abbeys and monasteries from the area. For the first time in the history of the abbey, the abbess received the crosier (something the founding abbess and the second abbess requested but didn’t receive). The gesture has profound meaning in the life of this great Benedictine community of women.

This image iterates the Abbess’ coat of arms.

Archbishop Blair prayed:

Almighty God and Father, you sent your only Son into the world to minister to mankind, and, as the good shepherd, to give his life for his sheep. Suppliant, we beseech you to bless and strengthen your servant Lucia, chosen to be abbess of this monastery. Grant that through the shining example of her monastic way of life, she may show herself to be what she is called; and let her know that it is her duty rather to profit her sisters than to preside over them. Therefore, under your inspiration, let her exercise the greatest solicitude; and let her always temper and arrange all things so that all, continually advancing in the love of Christ and fraternal charity, may with enlarged hearts hasten along the way of your commandments. Deign to fill her with the gift of your Spirit, O Lord, that she may be inflamed with love for your glory and the service of the Church and unceasingly impel her sisters likewise. Let her prefer nothing whatever to Christ, that when He comes on the last day, she may merit to attain your kingdom together with her sisters. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen