Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

A poetic text for this great liturgical memorial …

The Father’s light of glory has drawn in to itself
The holy Doctor Bernard,
Come, praise with him the Lord!

On earth he spoke of Jesus,
His birth in human flesh,
And found therein a meekness
Which turns our hearts to God.

The mysteries of the Virgin concealed in
Scripture’s word, He opened as a fountain
Of God’s abounding love.

His speech flowed deep with wisdom
As though a mountain lake
Containing saving waters ran down in streams of light.

We ask today assistance to truly
know ourselves, and in our hearts to savor
The presence of the Word.

To Father, Son and Spirit
All praise and honor be,
In truth and love coequal
For all eternity.

Blessed Guerric of Igny

I am reminded by my own heart that the the early morning is a particularly good time of the day to be clothed in a special silence, but there are time at dusk that the discipline of silence is helpful. This is an essential part of spiritual maturity, an adult faith in Divine Providence. Listening and speaking to the Trinity is done when the heart and mind are slowed, even word-less. Knowing and following God’s will is only possible if we give a certain amount of day to quiet, that is, silence. Not a punishing silence, not a hopeless silence, but a manner of being that helps us to see ourselves in action: the manifestation of the virtues of faith, hope, charity, justice, peace, perseverance, etc.

Blessed Guerric in his 28th sermon says,

“As the Christ-child in the womb advanced toward birth in a long, deep silence, so does the discipline of silence nourish, form and strengthen a person’s spirit, and produce growth which is the safer and more wholesome for being the more hidden.”

Silence, therefore, is a gift that allows us to enter more deeply into the revealed Word of God, the biblical narrative through the practice of lectio divina, the practice of prayerfully reading the sacred Scripture. It is, I am convinced, the new springtime of the Church as Benedict XVI said, proposing once again the ancient Christian practice. Most often we when we hear the words lectio divina we think of monastic reading where the person is immersed in God’s holy word with the distinct desire to seek the face of God, thus making a home for that Word in his heart.

The famous Cistercian father Blessed Guerric of Igny (c. 1070/80-1157) was influenced by Origen and whose formation was under Saint Bernard was quite insightful on many things when it came to liturgical theology and the monasteric life.

If you are inclined to read more about what this Cistercian father taught, you may want to pick up a copy of John Morson’s Christ the Way: the Christology of Guerric of Igny (Liturgical Press). But his liturgical sermons are worth every effort; they are published by Liturgical Press, too.

Blessed Guerric taught the following to his brothers lectio divina:

Search the Scripture.  For you are not mistaken in thinking that you find life in them, you who seek nothing else in them but Christ, to whom the Scriptures bear witness.  Blessed indeed are they who search his testimonies, seek them out with all their heart.  Therefore you who walk about in the gardens of the Scriptures do not pass by heedlessly and idly, but searching each and every word like busy bees gathering homey from flowers, reap the Spirit from the words. (Sermon 54)

Saint John Eudes

John Eudes (1601-80) who, as a child, made a vow of chastity.  He was educated by the Jesuits at the College of Caen, where it is said that he was conspicuous for piety; and, committed to the protection of the Virgin Mary. Eudes apparently would sign a covenant with the Blessed Mother in his own blood.

Following his education, Eudes joined the Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory de Bérulle, and was ordained priest at Paris. His natural capacities were perfected by grace: he had an intense love of neighbor and the education of the young for service in the priesthood Jesus Christ. In the 20 years of Oratorian life Eudes was elected Rector of the Oratorian house at Caen, but instead left the fraternity and set on his own drawing together priests under the inspiration of the holy names of Jesus and Mary for to do what his heart desire, a new seminary.

Formed by the Jesuits and Oratorians, John Eudes was zealous for the Kingdom. He promoted devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary which it seems he was singular in doing. Today’s devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is closely linked to Eudes.

Historians tells us that John Eudes courageously resisted the heretical doctrines of the Jansenists, he preserved unalterable obedience towards the Chair of Peter.

Pope Pius X beatified John Eudes and Pope Pius XI canonized him while making Saint John Eudes a saint to be honored on the universal calendar of the Church with an Office and Mass.

34th Rimini Meeting gathers, Pope sends message

The 34th Meeting for the Friendship Among the Peoples opened in Rimini, Italy on 18 August. The for this year is “The Human Person: a State of Emergency.”

The Holy Father through the Secretary of State to His Holiness, Tarcisio Card. Bertone, SDB, sent a letter to the bishop of Rimini, the Most Reverend Francesco Lambiasi.

The Meeting is a work of members of Communion and Liberation and it draws around 800K, from Italy and many countries beyond. In past years the Meeting has welcomed the brilliant contributions, among many, of Blessed John Paul II, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, the Servant of God Father Luigi Giussani, Benedict XVI (when he was the CDF Prefect), Ennio Morricone, David Rosen, Tony Blair and Carl A. Anderson.

The Program for this year…

Here’s Pope Francis’ message…

Most Reverend Excellency, I would like to address with joy the Holy Father Francis’ cordial greeting to Your Excellency, to the organizers and to all the participants in the Meeting for the Friendship Among the Peoples that is now being held for the 34th time. The theme chosen – The Human Person: a State of Emergency – captures the great urgency of evangelization, which the Holy Father following His predecessors, has underlined many times and which caused in Him deep considerations that now I refer here below.

In his first Encyclical, Redemptor hominis (cfr. n. 14), the beatified John Paul II wrote that “man is the way for the Church.”

This truth is still valid, especially in this period in which the Church is called to rediscover its own mission, focusing on the essential and searching for new paths for evangelization, in a more and more globalized and virtual world and in a society more and more deprived of stable reference points.

Man remains a mystery, irreducible to whatever image society creates and the power of the world tries to impose to him. The man is a mystery of freedom and grace, of poverty and grandness. But what does it mean: “Man is the way for the Church?” And especially, what does it mean for us today to walk through this way?

Man is the way for the Church because he is the road that God Himself walks on. From the dawn of humanity, after the Original Sin, God has begun to search for man. “Where are you?” He asks Adam, who is hiding in the garden (Gen 3, 9). This question, that appears at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, and that doesn’t stop resonating throughout the entire Bible and in every moment of the history that God, throughout the millennia, created with humanity, reaches its highest expression through the incarnation of the Son. In his commentary on John’s Gospel, Saint Augustine affirms that: “Remaining with the Father, [the Son] was truth and life; taking our flesh, He became the way” (I, 34, 9). Therefore Jesus Christ is “the chief way for the Church,” but since “He is also the way for each man”, man becomes “the prime and fundamental way for the Church.” (Redemptor hominis, 13-14)

Jesus affirms “I am the gate” (John 10,7): that means, I am the access portal for every man and everything. Without passing through Christ, without concentrating on Him the gaze of our heart and mind, we would not understand anything of the mystery of the human person. Therefore, almost inadvertently, we will be forced to acquire from the world our criteria of judgment and action, and every time we get closer to our brothers in humanity, we will be like those “thieves and robbers” that Jesus talks about in the Gospel (John 10,8). Even the world is in fact, in its own way, interested in man. The economic, political and social power needs man to maintain and inflate itself. And for this reason, the power frequently tries to manipulate the masses, it creates desires to eliminate the most precious thing man possesses: his relationship with God. The power fears those men that have a relationship with God because this relationship sets them free.

This is the state of emergency of the human person the Meeting for the Friendship Among the Peoples has chosen as its main theme this year: the urgency to give back man to himself, at his highest dignity, to his own uniqueness and preciousness of each human existence from his conception to the natural end of life.

It is necessary to take into consideration again the sacredness of man and, at the same time, to strongly state that only in the relationship with God, that is in the discovery and adhesion of one’s own vocation, that man can achieve his true stature.

The Church to which Christ entrusted His Word and Sacraments takes care of the greatest hopes, the most authentic possibility of fulfillment for man, in any place and any time. What a big responsibility we have! Do not keep just for us this precious treasure that everybody, aware or not, is looking for himself or herself.

Let’s meet with courage all the men and women of our time, children and old people, “wise” people and those without education, young and families. Let’s meet everybody and do not wait the others to look for us! Let’s imitate in this our Divine Master, who left His Heaven to become man and to be closed to everybody. Let’s bring the perfume of Christ’s love (2 Cor 2,15) not only in churches and parishes, but in every environment. In the schools, in the universities, in workplaces, in hospitals, in prisons; but also in the city squares, in the streets, in the sport centers, in places where people gather. Don’t be greedy in giving what we have gained without any merit! Let’s not be afraid to announce Christ in favorable or unfavorable occasions (2 Tm 4,2) with respect and frankness. This is the Church’s task, this is every Christian’s task: to serve men and look for them even in the social and the most inner spiritualist corners.

The condition of credibility of the Church in its mission of mother and teacher is its fidelity in Christ. The openness towards the world is accompanied and, in a certain sense, is possible thanks to the obedience to the truth of which the Church itself cannot dispose. “The Human Person: a State of Emergency” thus signifies the urgency to go back to Christ, to learn from Him the truth about ourselves and the world and with Him and in Him to go and meet every man, especially the poorest, for which Jesus has always manifested His predilection. And poverty is not only material. There is a spiritual poverty that grips every contemporary men. We are poor in love, thirsty for truth and justice, beggars of God, as wisely the servant of God Father Luigi Giussani has always underlined. The greatest poverty is in fact the lack of Christ, and until we do not bring Jesus to people, we would have done too little for them.

Your Excellency, I hope these brief thoughts may help those who are taking part in the Meeting. His Holiness Pope Francis assures everybody His closeness in prayer and His affection. He hopes that the meetings of these days may light in the hearts of all the participants a fire that nourishes and sustains their testimony of the Gospel in the world. And we send a particular Apostolic Benediction to You, to all the responsible people, the organizers of this manifestation, as well as those who are present.

Millennials becoming priests and nuns???

Good question. I hope so. We need people to help all people to see the face of Christ in a new and dynamic way. The radical nature of the vocation –following Jesus Christ and serving in the Church– requires of all people the total gift of self until death with eyes fixed on heaven.

Emma Green’s article, “Why Would a Millennial Become a Priest or a Nun?” published by The Atlantic online surfaces some good questions to consider about the current generation, the millennials, the 20-somethings, who are in discernment to serve the Lord as a priest, nun, or sister.

Ms Green’s articles doesn’t do any heavy lifting. Her approach is more of a sociological look at vocations to Catholic religious orders. Nevertheless, she helps frame other questions and concerns.

What Emma Green misses in the article is the fact a person becomes a member of a religious order or joins the secular priesthood because he or she is in love with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; that relationship with Christ reveals the desire of giving of oneself in a singular manner, forever. Social justice concerns, teaching, serving in a hospital, going on mission, etc., all good and necessary things, are but consequences of the relationship one has with Christ.

Early September I will publish my annual survey of random religious orders who accepted newcomers.

In praise of saints

I find saints to be helpful, provocative and needed. Christian living is difficult enough that I find myself in need of good witness to help me understand the horizons of Christian life, to invite me to live differently and to anchor me more squarely in the reality of what Scripture and tradition propose. Read the Roman Martyrology and you’ll notice through the centuries there are men and women lifted up by the Church as worthy of following. Recall that a saint’s purpose to is to point us not to himself, but to Jesus Christ. Saints are not self-referential.

Christianity can really be characterized as a genealogy beginning with the Trinity right down to our present age. In history we count the Mother of God, Mary, as the first disciple of God; in the coming months we’ll have two new disciples honored at the altar, John XXIII and John Paul II. These men for me, indicate a path to a right relationship with the Lord.

On one hand saints tell us not to be overly anxious, that following Christ is humanly possible and yet, work is needed to be a true follower of Christ. By work I mean a personal attention to the desires of the heart, knowing the person of Jesus, having a substantial freedom from a divided heart and tongue (sin) and a life worthy of being in the presence of God. A saint realizes he or she is a sinner and the only to be with God is to rely on His grace.

The other day Andy Crouch of the WSJ wrote a good piece titled, “Saints Be Praised–Officially or Otherwise: Catholics have the most rigorous process for naming them, but even Protestants have informal ones.” Here we have a broad approach among Christians in recognizing holy men and women.

In part Mr Crouch writes,

Saints, whether formally recognized by Catholicism or informally regarded as such by other denominations, are bracing reminders that the transformation of spirit promised by religion—so elusive for most of us—is possible in this life. Christians of any kind can appreciate the remarkable lives of the two men the Catholic Church will canonize later this year.

Saint Roch

Saint Roch (+1327) is a patron of the sick. He knew first hand the sufferings sick people face, and how the illness, though a cross, makes a bridge to something greater.

Saint Roch was a layman who followed the good example of Saint Francis of Assisi, and it is said that he was a member of the Secular Franciscans though there are no records attesting to this and yet the Franciscans observe his liturgical memorial on August 17.

Catholic healthcare was emboldened in the time following Roch’s death with various hospice works and groups gathering as a confraternity to assist the professionals and families. Many were healed of their diseases through Saint Roch’s intercession.

Blessings on my friend, Father Matthew Rocco Mauriello and his parish, Saint Roch, Greenwich, CT.

Letter of Father Pedro Arrupe on Humanae vitae

Today is the 45th anniversary of the Servant of God Father Pedro Arrupe’s letter to the Society of Jesus on the Servant of God Pope Paul VI’s teaching, Humanae vitae. This is the first time I’ve seen this letter and it portrays the Jesuit’s in a different light, one that is unexpected and consistent with what we know to be the mind of Saint Ignatius and the Church. Without a doubt, Father Arrupe wrote a beautiful letter, too bad it was buried for so long.

Epistula A.R.P.N. Generalis ad omnem Societatem occasione Litterarum Encyclicarum “Humanae vitae.” Acta Romana Societatis Iesu.  Vol. XV, Fasc. II, anno 1968

Dear Fathers and Brothers,  Pax Christi

We are all aware of the response given to the most recent encyclical of Pope Paul VI, Humanae vitae, about the problems raised by the question of contraception.  While manycompletely accept the teaching of the encyclical, a number of the clergy, religious and laity violently reject it in a way that no one in the Society can think of sharing.  Yet, because the opposition to the encyclical has become widespread in some places, I wish to delay no longer before calling to mind once more our duty as Jesuits. With regard to the successor of Peter, the only response for us is an attitude of obedience which is at once loving, firm, open and truly creative.  I do not say that this is necessarily painless and easy.

In fact, on various grounds and because of particular competence, some of us may experience certain reservations and difficulties.  A sincere desire to be truly loyal does not rule out problems, as the Pope himself says.  A teaching such as the one he presents merits assent not simply because of the reasons he offers, but also, and above all, because of the charism which enables him to present it.  Guided by the authentic word of the Pope- a word that need not be infallible to be highly respected – every Jesuit owes it to himself, by reason of his vocation, to do everything possible to penetrate, and to help others penetrate, into the thought which may not have been his own previously; however, as he goes beyond the evidence available to him personally, he finds or will find a solid foundation for it.

To obey, therefore, is not to stop thinking, to parrot the encyclical word for word in a servile manner.  On the contrary, it is to commit oneself to study it as profoundly as possible so as to discover for one self and to show others the meaning of an intervention judged necessary by the Holy Father.

Once we have correctly grasped the meaning of the encyclical, let us not remain passive.  Let us not be afraid to rectify our teaching, if need be, while at the same time explaining why we are doing so.  Let us develop our teaching as profoundly as possible rather than restrict it.  Let is strive for a better pastoral theology of the family and of the young people.  We must not forget that our present world, for all its amazing scientific conquests, is sadly lacking a true sense of God and is in danger of deceiving itself completely.  We must see what is demanded of us as Jesuits.  Let us collaborate with others in centers of the basic research on man, where the specific data of Christian revelation can be brought together with the genuine achievements of the human sciences and thus achieve the happy results that can be legitimately anticipated.  In all this work of sympathy, intelligence, and love, let us always be enlightened by the Gospel and by the living tradition of the Church.  Let us never abandon the papal teaching we have just received.  Rather, we must continually seek to integrate it into an ever-widening anthropology.  The present crisis makes clear this urgent need.

In so fulfilling our mission as Jesuits, which is to make the thought of the Church understood and loved, we can help the laity, who themselves have much to bring to the problems touched on in the encyclical, and who rely on us for a deep understanding of their points of view. [“atque nostram expectant cooperationem pro intimiore penetratione magisterii Pauli VI.”]

You understand well that it is the spirit of the Constitutions which inspires me as I write these words.  For, as the Constitutions tell us in substance, each member of the Society must remember that his personal manner of serving God is realized through a faithful obedience to the Roman pontiff.  That is why I am certain that today too, the Society is able to show itself worthy of four centuries of complete fidelity to the Holy See.

It certainly cannot be said that the Second Vatican Council has changed all this.  The Council itself speaks formally of “this religious submission of will and of mind,” which “must be shown in a special way to the authentic teaching authority of the Roman pontiff, even when he is not speaking ex cathedra.  That is, it must be shown in such a way that his supreme magisterium is acknowledged with reverence and the judgments made by him sincerely adhered to according to his manifest mind and will” (Lumen Gentium, n.25).

Nor can it be said that the Pope was speaking of matters that do not involve our faith, since the essence of his teaching directly concerns the human and divine dignity of man and of love.  In the enormous crisis of growth which envelops the whole world, the Pope himself has been what the entire Church must be, and Vatican II affirmed, “both a sign and a safeguard of the transcendence of the human person” (Gaudium et Spes, n.76).  For this reason the service we as Jesuits owe to the Holy Father and to the Church is at the same time a service we owe to humanity itself.

In my awareness of our obvious duty as Jesuits I could say much more, particularly at this time which seems to me crucial for the Church. Difficult times are times made for the Society, not to seek its own glory, but to show its fidelity.  This is why I am certain that all of you will understand my words.  As for those for whom the encyclical presents  personal problems of conscience, I wish to assure them that for that very reason I am keeping them in my affection and prayers.

May St. Ignatius help each of us to become, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, more Ignatian than ever.  May he obtain for us the understanding that our legitimate desire to be totally present to this world demands of us an ever-increasing fidelity in the service of the Church, the Spouse of Christ and the Mother of all mankind.

I commend myself to the prayers of all of you.

Rome, 15 August 1968.
Most devotedly in Christ,

Pedro Arrupe
Praep. Gen. Soc. Iesu.

[This English translation was transcribed by Fr. Joseph Carola, S.J., from the article “Father Arrupe: ‘Think with the church’,” which appeared in the National Catholic Reporter, September 18th, 1968, p. 7]

Paolo Dall’Oglio “reported killed” by Islamic rebels in Syria

The Reuters news agency, and several other agencies are reporting, though not the Holy See as yet, that Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria killed Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, 59, who was kidnapped on 29 July. But there is NO definitive evidence this news is certain.

What we do know is that Pope Francis mentioned his name at Mass on the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on 31 July.

For the past 30 thirty years Father Dall’Oglio has been leading a religious and cultural life at the Monastery of Saint Moses (Deir Mar Musa). The Monastery and its community was known to be an interfaith center devoted to Muslim-Christian friendship. Rebuilding this 6th century but abandoned monastery was Father’s and his small community’s attempt at preserving Syrian Christian establishments. One of the stunning pieces of Syrian religious patrimony Dall’Oglio preserved was an 11th century fresco of the Last Judgment.

Father Dall’Oglio was ordained as a Syrian Catholic priest; he spoke Arabic and studied Islamic theology and philosophy. His doctoral studies and writing at the Gregorian University concentrated on the virtue of hope in Islam.

Father was expelled from Syria in 2012, though he would sneak back into the country from time-to-time.

More recently his voice has been heard in calling for the deposition of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some Islamist rebel groups.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Inspired from on high by God’s Spirit,
the apostles convened from all over the world,
in honor of you, O Mother of light!

And all heaven’s powers stood by the Master,
filled with awe and love,
as they prepared to welcome you,
in whom the Word of God had dwelt.

With joyful voices they sang forth their hymns of praise:
Today, all creation rejoices,
for the Queen of all,
the very handmaid of the Lord, is nigh!

Open wide, all your portals on high:
Make way for the Mother of light to enter in,
for through her all the world received salvation,
from this Maid who exceeds all praise,
for her greatness is beyond all understanding.

So the, O fairest Lady,
we, too, celebrate your holy Dormition.
Now that you dwell in everlasting glory with your divine Son,
we give you thanks on this glorious day and we bless you,
for you never cease praying for us!

The above text from Vespers sung by Byzantine Church which celebrates a vigil of the Dormition, as they call the feast. They use the term for the vigil as the “foretaste” of the Dormition of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Hymn texts are very great communicators of what the Church believes to be beautiful, good and true. Like music, sacred art has an interesting way to move a believer to know a truth. In the image I placed with the text was painted by the Dominican Fra Angelico (Blessed John of Fiesole). You’ll notice the dormition (the falling asleep) of Mary and her Assumption, an act seemingly happening at the same moment. From a dogmatic point of view, the Catholic Church never definitively taught whether Mary experienced death, or not. Pope Pius XII left it an open question. Perhaps it is a both/and point.

Today is a day to Bless Herbs. This is the blessing used by the Byzantines. More info: the Blessing of Herbs AND another Blessing.