pdf - Aid to the Church in Need

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God Never Stops Speaking to Us ........................................................................................3
A Note on The Dead Theologians Society .........................................................................5
The World Needs Saints........................................................................................................6
Some Saints for our time
Blessed Theresa of Calcutta..................................................................................................8
Saint Josemaria Escrivá ....................................................................................................... 12
Venerable Solanus Casey ...................................................................................................... 18
Saint Josephine Bakhita .......................................................................................................24
Blessed Miguel Pro .............................................................................................................. 27
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati............................................................................................... 31
Blessed Charles De Foucauld............................................................................................... 36
Saint Mary Mac Killop.................................................................................................... 39
Saint Maria Goretti ..........................................................................................................44
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux ......................................................................................................48
Blessed Peter Adrian Toulorge ........................................................................................... 58
Saint Alexius .......................................................................................................................... 62
Some Places where Christians suffer and are being persecuted
“Go, live in the Camps” - Father Michael Shields, Magadan Siberia ............................... 65
“Christian Suffering is Not in Vain” - Sister Meena Barwa, Orissa ............................. 68
“Not a Time to Hide our Faith or Identity” - Archbishop Bashar Warda, Erbil, Iraq..... 71
“Why are you still Here” - Cardinal Seán Brady, Armagh, Ireland ................................... 76
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God Never Stops Speaking to Us
Dublin, June 10th 2012
Dear Friends,
God never stops speaking to us.
God knows me and calls me by my
name…
God has created me to do Him some
definite service;
He has committed some work to me
which He has not committed to
another.
I have my mission I never may know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
Somehow I am necessary for His
purposes…
I have a part in this great work;
I am a link in a chain, a bond of
connection between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good,
I shall do His work;
I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher
of truth in my own place, while not
intending it,
if I do but keep His commandments
and serve Him in my calling.
Therefore I will trust Him.
Whatever, wherever I am,
I can never be thrown away.
If I am in sickness,
my sickness may serve Him;
In perplexity,
my perplexity may serve Him;
If I am in sorrow,
my sorrow may serve Him.
My sickness, or perplexity,
or sorrow may be necessary causes
of some great end,
which is quite beyond us.
He does nothing in vain;
He may prolong my life,
He may shorten it;
He knows what He is about.
He may take away my friends,
He may throw me among strangers,
He may make me feel desolate,
make my spirits sink,
hide the future from me still He knows what He is about…
Let me be Thy blind instrument.
I ask not to see I ask not to know I ask simply to be used.
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He speaks to us through the Sacred Scriptures.
He speaks to us through the sacraments.
He speaks to us through His “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”.
He speaks to us when we examine our consciences and
He speaks to us when we pray “with all our hearts and all our souls and
all our minds”.
God has made each of us in his “own image and likeness” and through His
Son Jesus Christ invites us all into communion with Him and with one another.
All of us are therefore called to eternal happiness and to this end He sent His
only Son Jesus Christ to show us the way and the truth and the life. Each one
of us is invited to become saints. Each one of us is invited to actively respond
to this “universal call to Holiness”, this universal call to happiness.
Each one of us has also a God-given task to undertake. As Blessed John
Henry Newman expresses it God has created each of us “to do Him some
definite service”. Finding out what that “definite service” is requires a healthy
on-going prayer life, for it is only through prayer, only through an on-going
conversation with God, only through “talking to God as a friend” are we able
to discern what it is He is specifically asking you and me to do, to do today, to
do tomorrow, to do with our lives.
All Saints, those known and those unknown, are God’s friends and have
been His chosen instruments to undertake some “definite service” when on
earth. Moreover, with the exception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, every saint
before becoming a saint was first a sinner, a truth that is well-captured in the
saying that “every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” Now this is
a truth which can be read in the lives of the saints contained herein and as
indeed in the lives of all the saints, both those known and unknown. In no
small sense, God speaks to us through the lives of His Saints.
God Never Stops Speaking to Us
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Dead Theologians Society
In Christ,
J F Declan Quinn
Director,
Aid to the Church in Need (Ireland)
“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will,
and being just what God wants us to be.”
Saint Thérèse de Lisieux
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So it is that I hope that you find within this little booklet some help and
encouragement as every day you “take up your cross” and “living life to the
full” become more what you have been created to be, God’s friend, that is
someone who lives life in “Communion with Christ and with one another”.
DTS members meet at their parishes or
schools to pray and learn the lives of the
Saints, the challenges they all faced, and the
heroic virtue they lived for the love of Christ
and His Church. Through the examples of
the Saints young people are catechised and
develop positive role models. In addition,
members make use of time-honored Catholic prayers and devotions such as the Holy
Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration.
DTS began in 1997 at St. Francis de
Sales Church in Newark, Ohio as a parish
program for high school teens. In a prayerful atmosphere of Gregorian chant, teens
regularly packed the old church’s undercroft chapel to discover the treasures of
the Catholic Faith. As news of this effective
teen program spread, representatives from
surrounding parishes visited St. Francis de
Sales Church and then began their own DTS
chapters to serve the needs of their own
young parishioners. In addition, exposure
to
“The way of the Cross” however is the way to salvation.
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• All over the world, in the first, in the second and in the third world,
Christians are being challenged to bear visible and personal witness to
the Risen Christ.
• All over the world, culturally, socially, economically, legally and politically
it has never been easier to vociferously disparage and aggressively despise
“the Catholic Thing”.
• All over the world from India to Ireland, from Sudan to Siberia increasingly
it takes “courage to be Catholic”.
he Dead Theologians Society (DTS)
is a Catholic apostolate for high
school-age teens and college- age
young adults. Through the Saints of yesterday, the Dead Theologians Society inspires
the youth of today to become the saints of
tomorrow. A special charism of the Dead
Theologians Society is to pray for the release
of the Souls in Purgatory. The DTS motto is,
“Dead to the World – Alive in Christ!” This is
inspired by Romans 6:11 where St. Paul tells
us to be dead to sin but alive in Christ Jesus.
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Also in no small sense, God speaks to us through the individual, communal
and cultural experience of persecuted Christians, God speaks to us through
our suffering. At no time in history have there ever been more martyrs for the
faith than in the present and in the last century. Around the world every year
an estimated 150,000 Christians are being martyred for their faith.
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in various forms of local, national and international media catapulted the popularity
of DTS and highlighted it as a faithful and
fruitful response to Pope John Paul II’s call
for a “new evangelisation for the third millennium.”
Currently, membership in the Dead
Theologians Society is in the thousands
and there are hundreds of DTS chapters
spread throughout the U.S., Canada, Africa,
and Ireland. In addition, there are now DTS
chapters for college-age young adults, and
many priests, religious, and seminarians
are numbered among the DTS membership.
DTS members are commonly recognised by
their distinctive black sweatshirt with its
embroidered logo.
DTS is endorsed by Cardinals, Bishops,
Priests, Religious, Lay Church Leaders,
Young People and their Families throughout
the world and commonly reported fruits of
the DTS apostolate are:
• Increased attendance at Mass among
teens and young adults.
• Increased participation in the Sacramental life of the Church.
• Increased interest in vocations to the
priesthood and religious life.
• Increased participation in parish life
among teens and young adults.
For more information please visit our website at www.DeadTheologiansSociety.com
The World Needs Saints
50 years after Blessed John XXIII declared
that “The world awaits saints”, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that “the whole Church…
has a greater need than ever for workers of the Gospel, credible witnesses who
promote sanctity with their own lives.” So
it was that during his 26 year pontificate,
John Paul II named more saints (482) Saints
and Blesseds (1,338) than all his predecessors combined. That he was able to do so
resulted from him having established a dedicated Vatican bureau, the Congregation for
the Causes of Saints, a bureau which he
called “the most beautiful of all because it is
responsible for the most exciting and important part of the Church, which is holiness.”
The process of naming saints is briefly outlined hereunder.
The road to sainthood begins at the
grass-roots. Ordinary Christians, perhaps in
a parish or a religious community, recognise
that someone of extraordinary holiness has
lived among them. The memory of that person inspires them. The story of his or her
life is told, perhaps in a book. People pray
to the person, asking intercession for some
favour, and their prayers may be answered.
Extraordinary signs, perhaps a cure from
sickness, occur. A local group may be
formed which seeks to make this person’s
life and gifts more widely known.
After a long period of time, sometimes
many years, the bishop of the diocese
where that person lived may be asked to
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begin the local process for declaring a saint.
If he sees merit in the request, he sets up a
board of experts to investigate the person’s
life, soundness of faith and reputation for
holiness. Those who knew the person are
interviewed. If miracles are attributed to
that person’s intercession, they must verified by medical experts. Finally the bishop
must ascertain from the other bishops of
the region if this person is known and venerated more widely than in one local area.
Then, if there is reason to proceed further, the bishop may petition Rome to begin
the process of beatification.
Beatification begins when the local
bishop provides the materials he has accumulated to the Vatican’s Congregation for
the Causes of Saints. Using the materials,
officials of the congregation create an historical-critical account of the candidate’s
life and spirituality. One important criterion
sought at this stage is the historical importance of the candidate: Did he or she meet
a particular challenge of their time and
place? Did the candidate offer a new example of holiness to the world in which he or
she lived? Or was he or she truly a martyr,
one who died for faith in Jesus Christ?
If the candidate was martyred, a miracle
need not be sought. If the candidate did
not die as a martyr, then one miracle after
death must be proven, through the scrutiny
of a body of medical experts. Once they
find it acceptable, and the candidate’s life
is judged truly heroic by a group of theological experts and cardinals, then the pope
can declare that beatification may proceed.
After the beatification takes place, the candidate can be called blessed and veneration
may be offered by the local church.
Canonisation is the final step involved
in declaring someone a saint. It means
that the candidate, already called blessed,
is entered into the worldwide list of saints
recognised by the Roman Catholic Church.
First, however, in the case of a candidate
who is not a martyr, the church looks for
another authentic miracle attributed to the
candidate’s intercession, as a sign from God
of the candidate’s heroic holiness. Then, if
the candidate’s reputation for holiness continues to grow worldwide, the pope may
decide to canonise.
In all of this of course the church does not
claim that its own list of saints is exhaustive.
In fact, in its celebration of the Feast of All
Saints on November 1st it points to a “huge
crowd which no one could count from every
nation, race, people, and tongue.” (Revelations 7) Essentially then the church’s list of
canonised saints is only meant to witness to
God’s grace at work through every time and
place, from the first centuries until now.
If there is any trend in the process of canonisation it is the effort to recognise more
“lay” saints: mothers and fathers, men and
women who were active in the world of
family, business and politics and showed
themselves to be holy in a secular world.
All the time the church is looking for original saints, saints who in responding to the
unique needs of their times, can open the
way of holiness to others.
The World Needs Saints
In all of this the saints are examples of how
to follow Jesus Christ in every circumstance.
“In the lives of those who shared in our
humanity and yet were transformed
into especially successful images of
Christ, God vividly manifests to men
his presence and his face. He speaks
to us in them, and gives us a sign of
his Kingdom, to which we are powerfully drawn, surrounded as we are by
so many witnesses ( cf. Hebrews 12,1),
and having such an argument for the
truth of the gospel.” (Lumen Gentium
50, Vatican II)
The selection of saints for inclusion in
this publication arose from discussion and
agreement between a group of exhibitors
at the International Eucharistic Congress
2012 in Dublin. In making the selection emphasis was placed upon selecting
twelve saints whose lives and witness
speaks most clearly to our day and circumstances. Of course other saints could have
been chosen and may well be featured in
future publications.
The twelve profiles of Saints and Blesseds contained herein are presented
according to the year in which they died,
commencing with Blessed Mother Theresa
who passed away in 1997 AD and concluding with Saint Alexis who died in 404 AD
having lived before and around the time of
St. Patrick. With the exception of St. Alexis
all the selected Holy Ones lived after the
French Revolution, indeed the vast majority
of them died in the 20th Century.
Mother Teresa
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3:16). This was one of her favourite and
often repeated Gospel verses. She thus
points out to us our responsibility to be
God’s extended heart and hands in a world
thirsting to love and to be loved.
Born:
26th of August, 1910.
Died:
5th of September, 1997.
Beatified: 19th of October, 2003.
“By blood and origin I am all Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my
calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my
heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
hroughout history, God has never
ceased to raise up shining witnesses
who eloquently convey the message
of His love appropriate for that particular
time and circumstance. In our own time,
filled with the stark contrast between
extreme affluence on the one hand and
destitution on the other, material wealth
and spiritual poverty, exterior glitter (often
only a cloak over much inner darkness)
and interior emptiness, God has given us
Mother Teresa as a beacon of His light and
love. She points to the values of love and
compassion expressed in acts of caring and
sharing: “love in living action”* that allows
the giver to know “the joy of loving” even
amid the sufferings of daily life. Her life,
lived in the radical simplicity and humility of
the Gospel, proclaims that even when many
frantically run after happiness (or even after
the chance to just kill some of the inner
pain) in varied yet futile ways, the primacy
of love – God’s love for us and ours for Him
- is still the only path that leads to personal
fulfilment and ultimate happiness.
Love Alone
John Paul II asserted that
“Man cannot live without love. He
remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if
love is not revealed to him, if he does
not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does
not participate intimately in it” (John
Paul II).
The greatest revelation of love is Jesus
Christ. By His life, suffering, death and resurrection Jesus enabled us to encounter
love, find meaning and happiness now on
this earth - suffering notwithstanding - and
fully in the new heaven and new earth to
come. Mother Teresa, the foundress of the
Missionaries of Charity, is a compelling
witness to this love revealed in God made
man. “And today God keeps on loving the
world. He keeps on sending you and me”
she was known to add after quoting John’s
startling declaration, “For God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son” (John
“Come, be My light”
The path that led Mother Teresa to be
considered a symbol of God’s love and
compassion for the downtrodden was both
extraordinary and simple. On 10 September 1946, as she was travelling by train
from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual
retreat, she began to receive supernatural
communications. These interior locutions
were calling her out of her settled life as a
teaching nun in the Bengali section of the
influential St. Mary’s Loreto School, where
she had been serving for about 20 years, to
dedicate her life to the most marginalised
members of society.
Jesus revealed to her His Heart’s desire,
His “thirst,” His infinite longing to love and
to be loved by the most forgotten, abandoned and rejected among His children, the
poorest of the poor. He spoke to her with
great clarity and urgency about her new
mission:
“Come, be My light. I cannot go alone.
They [the poor] don’t know Me so they
don’t want Me. You come, go amongst
them. Carry Me with you into them.
How I long to enter their hovels, their
dark, unhappy homes.”
“Be My Fire of Love”
Mother Teresa heeded the divine call to
leave the Loreto order, and after a time of
discernment that lasted about two years,
she gained the archbishop of Calcutta’s permission to plunge herself into the apostolate
Mother Teresa
for the poorest in the slums of Calcutta.
Jesus had asked her to start a new congregation whose members, as He told her,
“Would be My fire of love amongst the
very poor - the sick, the dying, the little
street children. The poor I want you to
bring to Me and the sisters that would
offer their lives as victims of My love
would bring these souls to Me.”
That is what Mother Teresa endeavoured
to do with every ounce of her energy. Once
followers began joining her, she strove to
imbibe in them the same zeal and love that
moved her. She insisted that they become
“so united to God so as to radiate Him” even
in the midst of the greatest darkness. Her
message of love and peace is welcome now
Mother Teresa
not just in the slums of developing countries but also in the wealthy surroundings
of affluent countries where human beings
are equally in need of love and peace.
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“The Eucharist commits us to the poor.
To receive in truth the Body and the
Blood of Christ given up for us, we must
recognise Christ in the poorest, His
brethren.”
Mother Teresa’s service to the poorest of the poor was directly related to her
faith in the presence of Jesus in them, for
He had spoken of service to the least ones
as being expressions of love directly to Him:
“You did it to Me” (Mt 25:40). Over and over
she referred to Jesus’ identification with the
poor and connected it with His presence in
the Eucharist.
“Keep the joy of loving Jesus in the poor
and in the Eucharist and share this joy
with all you meet.” “Never separate
Jesus in the Eucharist and Jesus in the
poor.”
Jesus in the Eucharist and the Poor
A deeply Eucharistic spirituality proved
to be the indispensable strength of Mother
Teresa and her followers throughout the
years of labour among the poorest. Frequently asked by curious journalists where
she found the strength to do all she did, she
would inevitably point to the tabernacle.
She herself testified that from the time the
community had decided to have a daily
hour of Eucharistic adoration,
“Our love for Jesus is much more intimate, our love for each other more
understanding, our love for the poor
[filled] with greater compassion; and
also our vocations are twice, much
more.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
asserts that:-
Jesus is present in the Eucharist under
the appearance of bread and wine and He is
present in the “distressing disguise” of the
poorest of the poor. Though the presence
of Christ in the Eucharist differs substantially from His presence in the poor, Mother
Teresa connected the two, for in both Christ
is present in “disguise.” The dynamic of her
life was that from Jesus in the Eucharist she
moved to Jesus in the poor.
“I Cannot Go Alone”
God’s love is usually revealed, encountered and experienced through other human
beings. Just as God sent Mother Teresa,
He sends each one of us: “You come, go
amongst them.” We too are to be carriers of
His light, love and compassion to others. In
our love of neighbour, people will be able to
recognise Jesus, welcome Him into their lives
and enjoy His love, joy and peace.
Mother Teresa was a “Good Samaritan”
who, while ignoring her own wounds, bent
down to bind the wounds of broken and
suffering humanity. Her particular mission
was not focused on resolving the issue of
poverty and destitution on a global level
however; (this she was convinced was the
call of others, not hers). Nor was her work
merely a symbolic help to a few individuals. She offered immediate, concrete and
effective help in the situations of human
need in the here and now. In this way, she
made God’s love a tangible reality, and
“mobilised” not just the members of her
congregation but innumerable people of
good will throughout the world to do the
same.
Spread the Charity of His Heart
Mother Teresa’s words encourage us even
today:
“Give Jesus your heart to love and your
hands to serve. Be His light, His fire of
love amongst the poor.”
This love begins with those closest to us,
in our own homes, for “the poor are in our
own families.” The means with which we
can express our love can be simple and are
within the reach of everyone.
“Give them always a happy smile; give
them not only your ears but also your
heart. Kindness has converted more
people than zeal, science or eloquence.
We will never know how much good just
a simple smile can do. We tell people
how kind, forgiving and understanding
God is. Are we the living proof? Can they
really see this kindness, this forgiveness,
this understanding alive in us?”
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa untiringly repeated,
“God still loves the world through you and
through me today.” May she accompany us
now from Heaven and help us to be God’s
light, love and compassion in the world.
* Unless indicated otherwise, words in quotations marks are
those of Mother Teresa.
People are often unreasonable,
illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false
friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Josemaria Escrivá
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neighbour, can’t I offer him something” the
teenager asked himself. This acted as a catalyst
in his vocational search; he renounced his plans
for a secular career and decided to enter the
seminary of Logrono in 1918.
The years in the seminary were not without their trials – “axe-blows” he called them
– for him; among them the vulgarities of some
uncouth colleagues in response to his refinement of behaviour; his good looks meanwhile
attracted another kind of interest: the unwanted
interest of a band of local girls whom he had
shake off by making his disinterest in them as
plain to them as possible.
Born:
9th of January, 1902.
Died:
26th of June, 1975.
Canonised: 6th of October, 1992.
Holy purity is granted by God when it asked for
with humility.
n October 6, 2002, before a multitude
of men and women, young and old,
from very diverse walks of life and
nationalities, Blessed John Paul II canonised
Josemaria Escrivá and in a moment of particular inspiration dubbed him “the saint of ordinary
life”. This unusual title appears almost oxymoronic, joining as it does two realities which for
centuries had largely been considered to be
contraries, if not contradictories: holiness and
everyday life. This was the great contribution
of the saint from Aragon in northern Spain: to
preach by work and example the pressing need
of mankind to rediscover that divine something,
the quid divinum, hidden in the most ordinary
days of the most ordinary lives. Furthermore,
under divine inspiration, St Josemaría founded
an organisation dedicated to incarnating and
spreading this message through the entire
world: Opus Dei. The very composition of the
vast crowd of 300,000 faithful which thronged
St Peter’s Square on that bright Sunday morning
testified to the success of St Josemaría’s tireless
teaching that the “divine paths of the earth”
were open to all the ordinary folk of the world.
Early Years
Josemaría Escrivá was born in the Aragonese
town of Barbastro on January 9, 1902, of relatively well-off and pious parents who carefully
educated their children in the faith, but also
schooled them in human virtues. As a young
boy he stood out for his academic gifts, his
piety and his strong will: three qualities which
would turn out to be indispensable to the mission God would entrust him with. In his early
teens he developed a keen interest in architecture and was planning on pursuing this as a
career on leaving school… but God had other
plans. Up till the age of sixteen he felt no calling
to the priestly life; if anything he had a disinclination towards such a life. But then he began
to have “intimations of Love” to realise that his
own heart “was asking for something great,
and that it was love”. This “divine restlessness”
was accentuated one snowy December morning in 1917 when, as he walked the streets
during the holidays and came across footprints
in the snow – the prints of the bare feet of one
of the monks who lived in the monastery of the
Discalced Carmelites in the town of Barbastro.
“If others can make such sacrifices for God and
Founding Opus Dei
Though the handsome, elegant and joyful
seminarian was finally ordained on March 28,
1925, this did not mark the end of his vocational
search for he was convinced that God was calling
him to be a priest not simply for its own sake,
but for the sake of a further mission. God would
leave the young schoolboy, seminarian and then
priest searching for a decade before making
known to him what that further mission was. At
midday on October 2, 1928, as the bells of the
nearby Madrid church of Our Lady of the Angels
were ringing out, the 26 year old priest who
was attending an annual retreat, was allowed to
“see” the institution which God wanted him to
found in order to remind Christians throughout
the entire world that sanctity was not the preserve of a few extraordinary individuals, but was
God’s will for all.
With this he was given the task of challenging
head-on a mistaken view which presents “the
Christian way of life as something exclusively
“spiritual”, proper to pure, extraordinary people,
who remain aloof from the contemptible things
of this world or at most, tolerate them as something necessarily attached to the spirit, while we
Josemaria Escrivá
live on this earth.” (Homily Passionately Loving
the World, #51).
Fr Josemaría, “with nothing but his youth
and good humour” set about assiduously trying
to make Opus Dei a reality: speaking to workers
and university students about the prospect of
seeking holiness in and through their ordinary
work. Despite his strenuous prayer, mortification and action to win vocations and spread that
message, it was years before he would need
more than the fingers of two hands to count the
number of members of Opus Dei. Almost immediately the fledgling organisation was the subject
of misunderstandings and opposition, not least
from within clerical circles. For many (some?)
the notion that ordinary men and women could
become saints in and through their ordinary
work seemed to be nothing short of heretical;
sanctity for them was synonymous with a life
of radical dedication to God to one degree or
another, outside worldly affairs. Holiness and
ordinary life were antithetical. With admirable
charity, Fr Josemaría termed this persecution
“the opposition of the good”.
Furthermore, Spain of the 1930s entered a
period of growing political instability, Marxist
propaganda, and violent anti-clericalism which
culminated in the terrible bloodbath of the
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and a ferocious
persecution of the Catholic Church which resulted
in the killing of 13 bishops, 4,172 diocesan priests
and seminarians, 2,364 monks and friars and 283
nuns as well as countless laymen and women who
died on account of their Catholic faith. This was a
time of intense suffering for the young founder,
witnessing as he did the diabolical hatred that
was unleashed on the Church at this time. Several of the first members of Opus Dei died in the
conflict, others were dispersed throughout Spain
or at the front, while St Josemaría and several of
the young men who had joined him took refuge in
Josemaria Escrivá
a miserable little room in the Honduran Legation
in Madrid for months. Given the danger of their
eventual discovery, capture and probable execution, after much soul-searching, he decided that
they must attempt an escape from the Communist occupied zone of Spain and so in November
1937 they made a grueling escape over the Pyrenees into France and from there back into the
non-Communist zone of Spain. The privations of
these days had left him so emaciated that when
he was finally reunited with his mother she was
only able to recognise him from the sound of his
voice. This period of St. Josemaría’s life has been
admirably portrayed in Roland Joffé’s recent film,
There Be Dragons.
Guiding the Growth of Opus Dei
The tranquillity of the post-Civil War period
was a time of expansion of Opus Dei within Spain,
an expansion whose next logical step was to
neighbouring European countries such as France
and Italy. The outbreak of a new and this time
international conflagration in the form of World
War II put paid to those plans for the moment.
St Josemaría focussed on apostolic work within
Spain, where Opus Dei was now spreading to
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cities other than Madrid: Valencia, Barcelona,
Burgos… At this time too Opus Dei embarked
on its “juridical path” – the incredibly complex
journey towards a correct juridical configuration
of Opus Dei within the Catholic Church, a journey the conclusion of which the founder would
not witness in his lifetime. The correct juridical
“clothing” for the entity God had inspired St
Josemaría to found, simply did not exist within
the Church at this time. Given the nonexistence
of a legal framework which would adequately
accommodate the vocation to Opus Dei, allied
with a widespread inability of many ecclesiastics
to accept the universal call to holiness of lay-persons lead to on-going attempts to treat Opus Dei
as if it were a religious order. Only in 1982 with
the establishment of Opus Dei as the Church’s
first personal prelature did this juridical odyssey
come to a close.
With the restoration of peace in Europe
in May 1945 the way was once again open to
begin the expansion of the apostolic work of
Opus Dei outside of Spain. St Josemaria also
wished to establish the headquarters of Opus
Dei in Rome, as befitted an organisation which
Josemaria Escrivá
he knew to be universal in scope and so in 1946
he decided he had to move to Rome along with
a handful of his spiritual sons and daughters.
The founder was keenly aware that his presence in Rome was needed for the subsequent
stage in the development of Opus Dei and so,
entrusting the journey to the protection of Our
Lady of Ransom, embarked on the journey. He
had in the preceding years contracted a severe
form of diabetes and his doctor strongly advised
against such a sea-journey, considering that it
could even be fatal. St Josemaria went nonetheless. The journey to war-ravaged Italy involved
a boat journey from Barcelona to Genoa, and in
the course of the journey a terrible storm broke
out almost sinking the little steamer. “The devil
dipped his tail in the Gulf of Genoa” was how St
Josemaria later described it.
On arriving in Rome, much weakened from
the long arduous sea journey and subsequent
car journey from Genoa to Rome, St Josemaria nonetheless wished to spend his entire first
night on the balcony of their small apartment
from which the Papal apartments could be seen,
praying for the Pope, such was his great love and
devotion for the successor of Peter. This love
was a constant feature of his faith. His love for
the Pope grew more theological throughout the
course of his life, something he recommended
for all Catholics: “Every day you must grow in
loyalty towards the Church, the Pope and the
Holy See ... with a love that should be always
more theological.” (The Way, 353).
The Daily Work of Government
The post-war years were years of a great
expansion of Opus Dei; young members, men
and women, went to begin the apostolic work
of the organisation, often equipped with little
more than a blessing from the founder and the
gift of a picture of Our Lady. In 1946 members of
Opus Dei began to work in Great Britain, Ireland
and France, and then in most of the countries
of Western Europe in following years. In 1948 it
began its work in Mexico and the United States
and, soon afterwards, in a large number of
Latin American countries. From Rome, assisted
by two governing bodies, one for the men and
one for the women, St Josemaría oversaw the
development of this rapidly expanding apostolate. Soon young men were being ordained
from amongst the members, to provide pastoral care to the their fellow members of Opus
Dei and the much larger number of people
worldwide who received spiritual formation
from Opus Dei. These were years of intense
paper-work for the founder, and in many ways
he suffered, being so naturally gregarious and
sociable, from the enforced isolation. At the
same time he strove to “see souls” behind the
papers and never to become a pen-pushing
bureaucrat. He also strove to implement his
Josemaria Escrivá
own teaching about the importance of attention to detail for the love of God and to teach
those around him likewise; he tried to inculcate
in them the conviction that love of God is to be
found in the little things: “Do you really want
to be a saint? Carry out the little duty of each
moment: do what you ought and concentrate
on what you are doing” (The Way, 815). He
personally showed his sons and daughters how
this was applicable to the opening of a door,
the closing of a window, genuflecting before a
tabernacle or making a small repair. From these
“small trifles” holiness is to be constructed:
“Everything in which we poor men have a
part – even holiness – is a fabric of small trifles which, depending upon one’s intention, can
form a magnificent tapestry of heroism or of
degradation, of virtues or of sins. The epic legends always relate extraordinary adventures,
but never fail to mix them with homely details
about the hero. – May you always attach great
importance to the little things. This is the way!”
(The Way, 826).
The Persecuted Church
In the aftermath of World War II and the
Yalta Conference, Eastern Europe was aban-
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doned into the hands of Marxist regimes, for
the most part puppets of Stalin’s USSR. The
inevitable persecution of Christians under atheistic Marxism caused the founder of Opus Dei
to suffer greatly. He sought to remind Catholics in the West of the suffering of the brothers
behind the Iron Curtain, and to pray for them.
He prayed especially fervently for Hungary during the uprising of 1956 which left thousands
dead. He specifically praised Cardinals Stepinac,
Mindszenty, and Beran, who suffered grievously
under Marxist regimes. Again he trembled with
grief on hearing the news of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. His
deeply spiritual vision of history lead him to
the conviction that there would be a wonderful
reflowering of the faith in these countries when
finally and inevitably freedom was restored. He
spoke even of Russia as “that nation, now so
arid, which in time will yield enormous crops of
wheat” (The Way 826).
liturgy. And ecclesiastics from around the world
often confided to him the chaos which a socalled “spirit of the Council” had unleashed on
their dioceses, sharing their sorrow with a most
faithful son of the Church, but compounding his
suffering even more in doing so.
The Second Vatican Council
St Josemaría was, in the words of Blessed
John Paul II, one of the great precursors of the
Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The doctrine
that he had tirelessly taught for the previous
three decades became the official teaching of
the universal Church: “…in the Church, everyone
whether belonging to the hierarchy, or being
cared for by it, is called to holiness, according to the saying of the Apostle: ‘For this is the
will of God, your sanctification’ (l Thess. 4.3;
cf. Eph.1:4)…” (Lumen Gentium, ch. 5). This of
course was a source of great joy to the priest who
had found works of his publicly burnt in Spain of
the 1940s for propounding the exact same doctrine. But the joy was compounded with great
bitterness for very soon St Josemaría realised
that another element was making its presence
felt at the Council, and especially in the highly
tendentious post-conciliar implementation of
the Council decrees, not least in the realm of the
Death and Legacy
In May 1970, St Josemaria went on pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in
Mexico to whom he was deeply devoted. Over
the course of several days he visited the shrine,
spent hours in rapt prayer, and spoke aloud to
the patron of Mexico. Before leaving to return
to Rome he came across a picture of Our Lady of
Guadalupe giving a flower to Juan Diego, before
which he remarked: “That’s how I’d like to die:
looking at the Blessed Virgin, and with her giving me a flower…” And after a little silence, he
repeated: “Yes, I’d like to die in front of this pic-
This spurred him on, in the last three years
of his life, to undertake journeys throughout
the Spanish speaking world, and also to Brazil,
to personally preach the authentic faith which
had seen itself so undermined. Many of these
speaking engagements, often before audiences
of thousands, have happily been recorded on
film, allowing St Josemaria to speak to contemporary viewers across the intervening decades.
What stands out in these wonderful records
of the saint is his spell-binding joy; a joy which
restored hope to many whose hope had been
robbed by the infidelities of many in the Church
during those post-conciliar years.
Josemaria Escrivá
ture, with our Lady giving me a rose.” Five years
later, on the morning of June 26, 1975, as he
entered his office in the central headquarters
in Rome, he glanced at a picture of the Blessed
Virgin as was his custom – a painting of our Lady
of Guadalupe – and collapsed and died receiving the Last Rites from his most faithful son and
eventual successor, Alvaro del Portillo.
At the time of his death the organisation
he had been tasked by God with founding had
60,000 members worldwide. Probably no other
founder in the history of the Church, Pope
Paul VI later remarked to Fr Alvaro del Portillo, has seen his work so blessed in numerical
terms. Through the work of the organisation he
founded, through the example of his sanctity,
and through the luminosity of his writings, the
saint of ordinary life continues to summons all
Christians to the heights of sanctity: “… you must
realise now, more clearly than ever, that God is
calling you to serve him in and from the ordinary, secular and civil activities of human life. He
waits for us everyday, in the laboratory, in the
operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the
university chair, in the factory, in the workshop,
in the fields, in the home and in all the immense
panorama of work. Understand this well: there is
something holy, something divine hidden in the
most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one
of you to discover it” (Homily Passionately Loving
the World, #52).
“Don’t let your life be sterile.
Be useful. Blaze a trail.
Shine forth the light of your faith and of your love.”
Saint Josemaria Escrivá
Solanus Casey
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sity for the large family as travelling to Church
for the Caseys was a long trip by horse and
buggy. Those who stayed behind would learn
the Faith from their Dad as he read the Sunday
readings and taught from his Bible. The Caseys
loved sports. They had their own baseball team
called “The Casey Nine”. Barney played catcher
and never wore a facemask. For his protection
he simply made the sign of the cross in front of
his face.
Born:
18th of November, 1870.
Died:
31st of July, 1957.
Declared
Venerable: 1995.
“What does it matter where we go? Wherever
we go, won’t we be serving God there? And
wherever we go, won’t we have Our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament there? Isn’t that enough to
make us happy?”
The Casey Family
ernard Francis Casey - today known
as Venerable Solanus Casey - was the
sixth of sixteen children born to Irish
immigrant parents in rural western Wisconsin.
“Barney”, as he was affectionately called, came
from a strong tradition of faith. The phrase “Keep
the Faith” had specific meaning to him and his
family and a look at his family tree in Ireland
will provide some insights as to why. Barney’s
grandfather, James Casey, died from wounds
he received defending the Blessed Sacrament,
when a group of thugs broke into the Church
during Eucharistic Adoration. His granddad on
his mother’s side was an early victim the Famine. Barney’s father, Bernard Casey, also known
as “Barney”, left Ireland for Boston in search of a
better life when he was just seventeen years old.
As he left, his mother’s final words were, “Barney boy, keep the Faith”. He came to America
and married another Irish emigrant named Ellen
Murphy. He made shoes during the American
Civil War. When the war was over the Caseys
went to Wisconsin where good farmland was
available. They purchased eighty acres in Oak
Grove, Wisconsin near Prescott and it was here
that young Barney was born.
Barney Junior
Barney Junior was baptised in the town of
Prescott, Wisconsin, at St. Joseph’s which at
the time was a mission parish near the Mississippi River. Three years later the Caseys moved
to a larger one hundred and sixty acre farm
nearby at a place called Big River in the Trimbelle, Wisconsin area. Here they would spend
the next ten years in what young Barney always
described as the most beautiful place he would
ever see. His fondest memories were there and
he always considered it home. The young Casey
family experienced their fair share of hardships,
being subjected to prairie fires, uncertain harvests, and disease. A diphtheria epidemic swept
through the area when Barney was a very young
child. Two of his sisters, Mary Ann and Martha
died from it and young Barney caught it as well.
Though he didn’t die from the disease it left his
voice high pitched and wispy all of his life. During
his young childhood the family members took
turns getting to Church. Alternating was a neces-
As a Young Man
The Caseys loved their Irish heritage and kept
it alive in the home. Barney loved the fiddle and
often played at dances. He especially loved to
play Irish tunes. However, as much as he loved it,
he was not blessed with the greatest of musical
ability, but this did not deter him from playing.
As a young man he worked as a logger in Stillwater, Minnesota on the St. Croix River. Once
while working a young man fell into a large pit
filled with water. The man was drowning and
Barney jumped in to save him. He felt himself
being pulled down by the drowning man when
suddenly he felt himself mysteriously being
pulled to the surface by the Brown Scapular
he wore. He credited the Scapular as saving his
life. For a short time he lived in Stillwater, Minnesota with his Uncle Pat Murphy who worked
as a prison guard. Barney too worked part-time
as a prison guard in Stillwater. During that time
he quickly earned a reputation as a very kind
guard. A notorious outlaw named Cole Younger
of the infamous Jesse James gang gave Barney a
wooden clothes chest that he made as a thank
you for the kindness Barney showed him. Barney
fell in love with a girl from the neighbouring farm
named Rebecca Tobin. He even proposed marriage but Rebecca’s parents would not allow it.
She was still a teen and her parents felt she was
too young. In fact they moved her to an all girls’
boarding school in St. Paul to put an end to the
relationship. Barney was heartbroken. He then
Solanus Casey
took a job as one of the first streetcar conductors
in the Midwest. This was in Superior, Wisconsin,
which was booming much like Milwaukee at the
time. Shortly the entire Casey family moved to
Superior.
The Call
Called Through Tragedy
While in Superior a big event happened that
would have a profound impact on Barney. One
evening as he was working his streetcar job, he
saw a great commotion on the tracks ahead. The
streetcar came to a halt and there on the tracks
laid a young woman who had just been stabbed.
Standing over her was a sailor who was drunk,
holding a knife dripping with blood. Barney witnessed two young lives that would forever be
changed by that one dark event. He knew then
that he wanted to devote his life to God in a way
that would help as many people as he could.
Called Through Failure
Barney left his streetcar job, said goodbye to
his family and entered St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Classes at the
seminary were taught in German and Latin. Barney was in his early twenties and was in classes
with guys much younger than him. He did well
for a while but then started to just barely pass
in his subjects. There was a handful of Irishmen
in the seminary at that time and all had trouble
grasping difficult subject matter taught in a language they did not know. He left the seminary
and went back home to his family. Barney began
praying a Novena that would end on December 8. On that date immediately after receiving
Holy Communion, he heard Our Lady’s voice tell
him, “Go to Detroit.” He knew exactly what that
meant. Detroit was the U.S. home of the Capuchins, a branch of the Franciscan Order. Barney
had a chance to see some Capuchins when he
was in the seminary. At the time they kind of
Solanus Casey
freaked him out with their long unkempt beards,
sandals and austere lifestyle. Nevertheless, he
obeyed the voice and once again said goodbye
to his family and took the train in a snowy cold
December to Detroit. He arrived there, late on
Christmas Eve, was shown to his room (called a
cell) and quickly fell asleep. He was awakened by
the sounds of the Capuchins singing Christmas
carols. A tremendous peace overcame Barney
and he knew he was home. When Barney officially joined the order he was given the religious
name Solanus.
Fr. Solanus Casey
Once again he struggled with his studies in
German and Latin. No one doubted his holiness but several of his Superiors doubted his
academic abilities. However, one of his Superiors intervened on his behalf and said, “He will
be another John Vianney. Ordain him.” After
twelve years of perseverance, Barney Casey
was ordained a priest at the age of 33. He was
ordained a “simplex priest,” which meant that
though he was a priest, he was not permitted
to hear confessions or to preach a public sermon. Years later a friar who Fr. Solanus had to
call upon to hear the confessions of those who
requested them was indignant for Fr. Solanus,
but his indignation passed as he came to realise that Fr. Solanus didn’t seem to mind, but
accepted his limited station as he did all things
- as God’s Will. His ordination Mass was in Appleton, Wisconsin. The entire Casey family attended
the joyous occasion. It was the first time he saw
his mother in eight years. During the Mass his
proud father wept for joy.
Mission NYC
Immediately following his ordination Mass,
the new Fr. Solanus had to once again say goodbye to his family and board a train for his first
assignment, which was in Yonkers, New York. His
first parish was a predominantly Italian parish.
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His mission was simple and had a deep impact on
the parish. Fr. Solanus worked extensively with
the youth. He trained altar servers and would
treat them to ice cream. One young, dynamic,
Italian girl acted often as his chauffeur and his
interpreter. She would later become a nun. Fr.
Solanus loved visiting people’s homes, though
he couldn’t speak Italian. The Italian’s referred
to Fr. Solanus as, “The Holy Priest.”
Miracle Worker
Fr. Solanus went to work in Harlem and continued to be a beloved priest of the people. Many
requested his prayers and he would enrol them
in the Seraphic Mass Association, which helped
support the Capuchin Missionaries and entitled those who signed up to the benefits of the
prayers of all members and Masses prayed for
them by the Capuchin community. He would sit
and listen with a loving and attentive ear to the
troubles of those who signed up. People loved
to be with him and were drawn to his kind and
Solanus Casey
approachable nature. He was good humoured
and quick to smile. He loved his Irish heritage
and the Irish fiddle. He loved the Detroit Tigers
baseball team and hot dogs with onions and
mustard. Becoming a saint doesn’t make one
less human; it makes one more human. Word
quickly started to spread about “miracles” being
associated with Fr. Solanus after people would
come to him. Fr. Solanus always pointed out
that it was the Holy Mass that was truly the big
miracle and was the reason for these amazing
results. So many miracles were happening that
Fr. Solanus was told by his superiors to keep a
notebook with people’s prayer requests and
the follow up. He was to keep a journal record
of “the special favours” granted as Fr. Solanus
called them.
within hours of total collapse. Another time,
there was a fellow Capuchin who was on the way
to have some emergency dental work done for a
badly abscessed tooth. Fr. Solanus told him he
would be just fine. A short time later the excited
Priest came back with ice cream cones saying he
was totally cured! He gave the ice cream cones
to Fr. Solanus to show his appreciation, and to
help him keep cool. It was a very hot time in
the summer and there was no air conditioning.
Fr. Solanus had a long line of people waiting to
speak with him in the entry way at St. Bonaventure and had already been visiting with people
for several hours. Fr. Solanus, being so busy,
simply placed the ice cream cones in his desk
drawer and went about visiting with people
again for the next several hours.
Holy Porter
Fr. Solanus was reassigned to St. Bonaventure
Church in Detroit. There, his humble job was to
be a “Porter” - the one who answers the door.
Word quickly spread to “Go see Fr. Solanus”
when anyone had something important to pray
for. People lined for hours just to get a chance
to speak with this gentle holy man. Fr. Solanus
never rushed anyone and gave them his full
attention when it was their turn.
There was in line there a young boy sitting
on his parent’s lap. Fr. Solanus called him over,
to which the parent abruptly responded that
their child was crippled and could not walk. Fr.
Solanus smiled and once again invited the child
over to sit with him. The child got up and walked
over to Fr. Solanus to the astonishment of those
who witnessed this. Fr. Solanus then opened his
desk drawer and gave the child one of the ice
cream cones that had sat in the hot desk drawer
for hours! The ice cream was totally un-melted
and the child and Fr. Solanus each had an ice
cream cone together.
Miracle After Miracle
One time a distraught parent came to Fr.
Solanus saying that her child was not supposed
to survive the night. Fr. Solanus told her to be
sure to give the child a good breakfast the next
morning. Sure enough the next morning the
child was totally cured. On the evening before
the anticipated collapse of the automobile
industry in Detroit, which would have destroyed
the entire city, a worker, John McKenna, who
feared losing his job enrolled Chevrolet in the
Seraphic Mass Association. Within two days
an amazing and unpredicted amount of orders
came in for cars and the city was literally saved
The Capuchins ran a soup kitchen in Detroit
during the Great Depression. Every day, hundreds of men searching for work came to the
soup kitchen for a bowl of hot soup and about a
half loaf of bread. One day with a crowded hall,
the Capuchins ran out of bread. Fr. Solanus simply asked that an Our Father be said. Right away
a bread truck mysteriously pulled up and asked
if the soup kitchen needed bread! As they continued to unload bread the driver remarked that
they had already unloaded much more bread
Solanus Casey
than the truck could hold! One man, Arthur
Rutledge, came to Fr. Solanus and told him he
had a stomach tumour. Fr. Solanus told Arthur
to go have the doctor check it again and then to
come back and start helping at the soup kitchen.
The doctors found nothing. Needless to say,
the soup kitchen had a devoted new volunteer!
Many alcoholics were totally cured, never to
take another drink after visiting with Fr. Solanus.
Others reported a return to the Sacraments after
visiting with Fr. Solanus. There were reports of
cures from diabetes, marriage problems, emotional illnesses, and the list goes on and on. Fr.
Solanus was always quick to point out to others
that we live constantly in the presence of God.
He was keenly aware that God was the worker
of miracles. He repeatedly wrote, “God condescends to use our powers if we don’t spoil his
plans by ours.”
Gratitude
Along with the great confidence in God that
sprang from Fr. Solanus’ heart and accompanied
his every prayer request, he had a great spirit
of gratitude…whether his prayer requests were
answered as he wanted them to be or not. Fr.
Solanus’ St. Francis-like “poverty of spirit” made
him aware that we are entitled to nothing - yet
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we have God Himself, and so, we should always
be grateful!. Fr. Solanus saw this spirit of gratitude at the very foundation of our relationships
with God and others. He once said, “Gratitude
is as necessary for social order and harmony as
are the laws of gravity for the physical world.”
and, “Be grateful first to God for your friends,
then to your friends themselves.” Gratitude is
so foundational that these relationships unwind
without it. Again, he said of gratitude, “Be sure,
if the enemy of our souls is pleased at anything
in us it is ingratitude – of whatever kind. Why?
Ingratitude leads to so many breaks with God
and neighbour.” Fr. Solanus spent over twenty
years answering the door at St. Bonaventure,
loving those who came to him, and praying for
them with a grateful heart. Thousands continued to flock to him for advice, his Christ-like
undivided attention and love, and the miracles
he worked.
Suffering Servant
In the mid 1940’s he was sent to work in
Brooklyn. After that he was sent to Huntington,
Indiana to rest. Fr. Solanus was aging and was
suffering from a terrible and painful skin condition called erysipelas. This condition covered
his entire body and he was allergic to the only
known treatment at that time. Fr. Solanus was
quoted as saying he wishes it was 10,000 times
worse so he could offer that suffering to Jesus for
the conversion of sinners. Wherever Fr. Solanus
went, word would spread and people would find
a way to see him. While in Indiana he received
about 200 letters per day. Despite his disease
and his arthritis, he always tried to answer every
letter, and was never short or rude to someone
who came to see him, no matter how tired or ill
he was.
His simple spirit of gratitude was constant to
his last day. He once said,
Solanus Casey
“What does it matter where we go? Wherever
we go, won’t we be serving God there? And
wherever we go, won’t we have Our Lord in the
Blessed Sacrament there? Isn’t that enough to
make us happy?”
During his final year, which was full of sickness
and pain, on Christmas evening, Fr. Solanus was
heard playing his violin and singing Christmas
carols in his squeaky voice alone in the chapel,
serenading the baby Jesus. It was enough to
make him happy. In 1956 he was sent back to
Detroit to finish out his life. He still tried to see
as many people as possible. In 1957 he ended up
in hospital as his illness became terminal. On the
morning of July 31 in the presence of hospital
staff who were tending to him, Fr. Solanus suddenly sat up in bed and proclaimed, “I give my
soul to Jesus Christ!” Those were his final words.
Fr. Solanus died 53 years to the hour of saying
his first Mass. All he left behind were sandals,
some religious pictures, a crucifix, a statue of
St. Anthony, a crucifix, socks, and a 40-year-old
picture of his family, several books full of prayer
requests reporting around 700 granted prayers
and miracles, and most importantly, an example
of holy humility to inspire the world until its end.
His Life Goes On
Reports of special favours through his intercession continued to be reported following Fr.
Solanus’ death. After 30 years the process of
investigating his life for canonisation began. His
body was exhumed and it was 95% intact with
no odor of decomposition. There were no traces
of the skin condition. His body was dressed in a
new habit and he was given a new burial spot
inside St. Bonaventure Church in Detroit. Pictures and items that belonged to Fr. Solanus can
be seen at St. Bonaventure’s. People can actually sit at the same old oak desk where he met
with so many and enrolled them in the Seraphic
Mass Association. Clare Ryan of Detroit started
the Solanus Casey Guild following his death.
Clare had been cured by Fr. Solanus when he was
near the end of his life. She was told by doctors
that she would spend her life in a wheelchair.
Fr. Solanus slapped her legs and said, “Stand up
and do your job.” Her legs obeyed. Within a few
years members of the guild were in the thousands. Solanus Casey was declared “Venerable”
by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
“God, who loves tiny beginnings,
will know as He always does know,
how and when to provide development.”
Venerable Solanus Casey
Josephine Bakhita
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Bakhita explains another horrific act of
violence against her: “One day I unwittingly
made a mistake that incensed the master’s son. He became furious, snatched me
violently from my hiding place, and began
to strike me ferociously with the lash and
his feet. Finally he left me half dead, completely unconscious. Some slaves carried me
away and laid me on a straw mat, where I
remained for over a month.”
Born:
1869.
Died:
8th of February, 1947.
Canonised: 1st of October, 2000.
“I have given everything to my Master: He will
take care of me…The best thing for us is not
what we consider best, but what the Lord wants
of us!”
The “Fortunate One” Kidnapped
he little girl, born in 1869 in what
is now southern Sudan, East Africa,
happened to walk outside the village boundaries, where she lived and was
kidnapped by slave traders. The trade in
black slaves had been done away with, for
the most part by African law in 1875. Nevertheless, there were those who continued in
to kidnap and enslave the most vulnerable.
The experience of being kidnapped was so
horrifying and traumatic that the little sixyear old girl forgot her name. “Bakhita” was
the name given the little girl by her captures. In Arabic, the name “Bakhita” means
“fortunate one.” It would be many years
before this little girl, now enslaved, would
feel as if she were indeed “fortunate” as she
would come to know the love and compassion of her heavenly Father.
Bakhita was sold from one owner to
another in the markets of El Obeid and
Khartoum. She would experience untold
sufferings and humiliations, both physical and moral at the hands of her mostly
Muslim owners. One of her owners was a
general in the Turkish army, who had her
“branded” like his other slaves. Bakhita
would later describe some of her miseries
during her time as a slave, including what
took place at her “branding.”
A Dish of White Flour,
A Dish of Salt and a Razor
“A woman skilled in the cruel art (tattooing) came to the general’s house…our
mistress stood behind us, whip in hand. The
woman had a dish of white flour, a dish of
salt and a razor…When she made her patterns; the woman took the razor and made
incisions along the lines. Flour and salt were
poured into each of the wounds, so that
they healed in a permanent seal of ownership. My face was spared, but 6 patterns
were designed on my breasts, and 60 more
on my belly and arms. I thought I would die,
especially when salt was poured into the
wounds…it was by a miracle of God I didn’t
die. He had destined me for better things.”
Bakhita was only 13 years old when she was
“branded.”
Life in Italy
During the early years of her life, this
young pagan girl demonstrated a natural
goodness and gentility that protected her
virtue. Although she was among the most
voiceless of slaves, she possessed what some
referred to as a “naturally Christian” soul.
The family that now owned Bakhita moved
to Venice, Italy and placed her as “nanny”
over their little daughter. They enrolled their
daughter into the catechism classes offered
by the Canossian Sisters As “nanny,” Bakhita
would accompany the little girl to each catechism class. Bakhita, the pagan slave from
the Sudan encountered Catholicism for the
first time. She was deeply moved by the
teachings as well as by the nuns providing
the instruction. Her owners allowed her to
become a catechumen.
As if Bakhita had not endured enough in
her young life already, a new crisis began
to emerge. Her owners decided to return
to the Sudan. Bakhita found herself in a
very difficult position. If she returned to
the Sudan with her master and mistress,
she would be guaranteed some sort of
economic stability as the nanny of their
daughter. The other advantage revolved
around the possibility of finding her family.
Yet, she was most desirous of baptism and
had forged a loving relationship with the
Josephine Bakhita
Canossian Sisters and moving would surely
end their relationship. During this time of
turmoil, her status as a slave also came up
before an Italian tribunal. A judge from the
tribunal, having studied the case carefully,
decided that since a law forbidding slavery
had been enacted in the Sudan, prior to her
birth, legally, Bakhita should never have
been a slave.
Freedom and Peace
Bakhita finally made a decision to remain
in Italy where she was eventually baptised a
Catholic and left everything else in the hands
of God. The Canossian Sisters, whom Bakhita
had grown to love, helped her with her studies and on January 9, 1890, she was baptised
“Giuseppina” (Josephine). Because of her
love for the Sisters, it only seemed logical
that she sought admission into their order.
She was received as a postulant in 1893 and
then later as a novice of the Canossian Sisters. On December 8, 1896, at the age of
twenty-seven, Josephine took her final vows
as a member of the Canossian Sisters. Sister
Josephine would later say of her captures,
“If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me,
I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that
did not happen, I would not be a Christian
and a Religious today.”
Sister Josephine
The humble Sister Josephine would prove
over the next fifty years to be a model religious and a vivid reminder of God’s love for
everyone. She lived out her life as a cook,
seamstress, and porter, that is, opening
the door and greeting visitors who would
come to the convent. The little children
who came through the convent door every
morning to attend school loved Sister Josephine. Her voice was gentle and rhythmic as
Josephine Bakhita
28
the music of her country. Each morning as
they entered Sister Josephine would gently
lay her hands on their heads as a blessing.
She was also a tremendous source of comfort to the poor and suffering, encouraging
those who knocked at the door seeking
help. After Sister Josephine’s biography was
published in 1930, she became a noted and
sought after speaker. Any money that she
received, as well as the proceeds of her
biography, went for the support of foreign
missions.
Her Final Pain and Agony
As now Mother Josephine grew older,
she experienced long, painful years of sickness and suffering. During her final days,
she relived the terrible period in her life of
slavery and on more than one occasion, she
begged the nurse who assisted her: “Please,
loosen the chains…they are heavy!” It was
Mary, Most Holy who freed her from all
pain. Her last words were: “Our Lady! Our
Lady!” And her final smile testified to her
encounter with Mary. On February 8, 1947,
Mother Josephine died at the Canossian
Convent in Schio where she had entered
some fifty-four years earlier, surrounded by
the sisters. Mother Josephine Bakhita (“the
fortunate one” in Arabic) was canonised
a saint by Pope John Paul II on October 1,
2000. It is believed that Saint Josephine is
the only canonised saint originally from the
Sudan, a mostly Muslim country.
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Words of Pope John Paul II
At her canonisation, the Holy Father
stated the following: “In our time, in which
the unbridled race for power, money, and
pleasure is the cause of so much distrust,
violence, and loneliness, Sister Bakhita has
been given to us once more by the Lord as
a universal Sister, so that she can reveal
to us the secret of true happiness: the
Beatitudes…Here is a message of heroic
goodness modelled on the goodness of the
Heavenly Father. Rejoice, all of Africa! Bakhita has come back to you: the daughter of
the Sudan, sold into slavery as a living piece
of merchandise, yet still free: free with the
freedom of the saints.”
The Holy Father also stated: “We find a
shining advocate of genuine emancipation.
The history of her life inspires not passive
acceptance but the firm resolve to work
effectively to free girls and women from
oppression and violence, and to return
them to their dignity in the full exercise of
their rights.”
Assorted Quotes of Saint Josephine Bakhita
“Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars,
I said to myself, ‘Who could be the Master of
these beautiful things?’ I felt a great desire
to see him, to know him and to pay him
homage.”
“If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who
tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen,
I would not be a Christian and Religious today…The Lord has loved me so
much: we must love everyone… we must be compassionate.”
Saint Josephine Bahkita
Miguel Agustin Pro
Born:
13th of January, 1891.
Died:
23rd of November, 1927.
Beatified: 26th of September, 1988.
n July 31, 1926, the President
of Mexico, Plutarco Elias Calles
promulgated, rabidly anti-Catholic,
anti-clerical laws of persecution, hoping,
in vain, to erase all traces of the Church
and her priests/religious from the country. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 had
already essentially legalised persecution of
the Catholic Church. By late October of the
same year, Calles strengthened the venom in
these so-called laws by taking away the right
of the institutional Church to hold any sort
of worship services and denying the right of
the individual to free exercise of faith. Thus
continued one of the most bloody and heinous persecutions of the Catholic Church
in modern time. Many hundreds of priests
and religious were murdered, along with
thousands of lay faithful, for the crime loving
Jesus Christ and His Church more than their
own lives. One priest, in particular, stands
out among the many courageous Mexican
martyrs… Jesuit Father Miguel Agustin Pro.
eleven children in a devout Catholic home.
His father worked as a mining engineer and
Miguel spent considerable time as a youth
with the miners. The lessons learned in the
mines were to serve the future Fr. Miguel
well. He saw the hardness of life first hand,
but learned that a hard life was not necessarily a bitter life. The dignity of the person,
compassion for suffering souls and glimpsing
the face of Jesus in the least of his brothers
were invaluable revelations of his youth.
Miguel was born January 13, 1891 in
Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico; the third of
The doors of the Jesuit novitiate opened
to a wide-eyed and joy-filled Miguel Pro
Young Miguel was a typical boy in most
ways; a mischievous streak was almost his
undoing after one particularly ill-conceived
stunt rendered him unconscious. But it
was his budding spiritual intensity and
awareness of God’s presence in his life that
gradually began to dominate Miguel’s spirit.
The day his oldest sister entered cloistered
religious life was all the catalyst necessary
to propel “Cocol” (his nickname and favourite sweet treat) toward the priesthood.
Miguel Agustin Pro
on 15 August, 1911. But his joy would be
tempered by the evil winds of revolution
swirling in the secular world. The ouster
of President Porfirio Diaz in 1911 and the
rapid rise to power of evil and God-less
men unleashed waves of government
sponsored, anti-Catholic terrorism. By
1914, it was no longer safe to be a seminarian in Mexico. Miguel and his fellow
novices were sent initially to California in
the United States for protection. Subsequently, he studied in Granada, Spain from
1915-1919; taught school in Nicaragua
from 1919-1922; finally reaching Belgium
to study with equally persecuted French
Jesuits until the happy day of his ordination on 31 August, 1925. But the day was
bitter-sweet. Miguel later wrote, “How can
I explain to you the sweet grace of the Holy
Spirit that invades my poor miner’s soul
with such heavenly joys. I could not keep
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back tears on the day of my ordination…
but when the others were giving their first
blessings to parents and family, I returned
to my room, laid out pictures of my family
on the bed and blessed them from the bottom of my heart.”
Now, as Father Miguel, he received as his
first assignment a familiar flock. He was sent
to work with miners in Charleroi, Belgium.
Fr. Pro’s reception from the mostly socialist
or communist miners was less than enthusiastic, but his passionate and compassionate
spirit eventually won many conversions to
the Faith.
Poor health was actually Fr. Miguel’s
greatest challenge during these early
days. European food disagreed with him.
Stomach ulcers, causing chronic pain and
bleeding, were unrelieved by multiple operations. Fearing he would die in Belgium, Fr.
Pro begged his superiors for permission
to return to Mexico. Equally fearing the
death of Fr. Miguel in Mexico, his superiors
initially refused. But as his physical condition deteriorated further, the decision was
finally made to send Fr. Pro back to his
home under heavy disguise.
A trip to Lourdes in the summer of 1926
preceded the journey back to Mexico.
After celebrating Holy Mass in the grotto,
Fr. Miguel felt his strength and vitality
returning; a welcome consolation from
Our Lady. Once back in Mexico, he slipped
into Mexico City under cover of darkness and proceeded to Veracruz, arriving
on July 8, 1926. The unjust “Calles Laws”
were in full effect throughout the country.
Entire Mexican states were “purged” of all
priests and religious. Churches were either
closed or used for secular purposes. Death
Miguel Agustin Pro
squads roamed freely in search of priests
serving the “underground” church.
guage to communicate with his flock that
was never deciphered by the government.
Undaunted by the persecution around
him, Fr. Pro immediately began celebrating Holy Mass and offering the Sacraments
clandestinely to small groups of Catholic faithful. His ministry nearly came to
an abrupt close after being arrested in
October, 1926 for launching 600 balloons
containing biblical messages. He was eventually released from custody, but constant
surveillance followed.
President Calles was outraged by the
inability of his agents to control the “folk
hero” priest, Miguel Pro. The government
spared nothing in the effort to silence him.
An informant pretending to be a faithful
Catholic eventually betrayed Fr. Pro to the
authorities. On the day prior to his arrest,
witnesses assisting at Holy Mass reported
seeing a bright light surrounding Fr. Miguel
during the Consecration; a light so bright
that one could not look directly at the holy
priest.
Writing to family, the true disposition of
Fr. Miguel’s heart was clear: “The revolution is worsening, reprisals will be terrible…
The first to be arrested will be those who
have had a hand in religious matters; and
I…I have had mine up to the elbow! Ah, to
be among the first or the last; in any case,
to be among their number. If this happens,
send your petitions to Heaven. There, I will
be your best provider!”
Fr. Pro was briefly ordered into hiding
by his superiors for fear of possible capture by the government thugs. He obeyed,
but begged daily to return to his hurting
flock. Upon being released from hiding, Fr.
Miguel poured himself out tirelessly into
the work of “undercover priesthood”. A
master of disguise, he would ingeniously
celebrate the Sacraments in unpredictable
and ever-changing locations, often in direct
view of the authorities. A beggar or street
sweeper one day, a chauffeur or businessman the next; no one was ever sure how
Fr. Pro would turn up to celebrate Holy
Mass. His boldness knew no limit; once
even dressing as a policeman and walking
straight into the local jail to minister to the
prisoners. He created a clever coded lan-
A bomb blast assassination attempt
against former Mexican President Alvaro
Obregon was the pretence for the arrest of
Fr. Miguel and his brothers, Humberto and
Roberto. The Pro brothers had nothing to
do with the bombing. One of the real conspirators testified to their innocence, but
to no avail. The government had the man it
really wanted.
Fr. Pro and his brothers were imprisoned in a basement cell of the Detective
Inspector’s office in Mexico City. They were
never actually tried for any crime. President
Calles directly ordered the execution of Fr.
Miguel and Humberto. Roberto Pro was
eventually freed. President Calles sought to
quell the entire Cristero Movement (Catholic rebels fighting against the evil Calles
regime) by making an “example” of Fr.
Pro. His execution was to be meticulously
photographed and every detail recorded,
including any “cowardly words” uttered as
death approached. Top generals from the
regime visited Fr. Miguel and Humberto
late in the evening on November 22, 1927.
Photographs of the prisoners were taken,
Miguel Agustin Pro
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33
Pier Giorgio Frassati
but curiously, not a word was spoken by the
authorities.
The next morning, Fr. Miguel was taken
from his cell and paraded down a street
lined with military and government onlookers to the place of execution. He walked
silently and confidently down the street,
directly up to the killing spot and turned to
face his executioners. As the Captain of the
Guard approached him with a blindfold and
ropes to bind him to the backstop, Fr. Pro
motioned him away. He then turned toward
the wall behind him, took a rosary in one
hand, a crucifix in the other and knelt in
prayer for several moments. Standing once
more, he directed his gaze directly at his
killers, saying in a calm sure voice, “May
God have mercy on you…You know that I
am innocent, Lord…With all my heart, I forgive my enemies.”
The members of the firing squad were
visibly moved and somewhat unnerved by
the courageous and calm manner of this
priest whom President Calles predicted
would cry and beg for mercy. But they were
totally unprepared for the next moment.
Just as rifle triggers were being pressed, Fr.
Miguel stood tall, stretched out his arms
in the shape of a cross and boldly, clearly
proclaimed, “VIVA CRISTO REY!” (Long live
Christ the King!). A hail of poorly aimed
bullets from a cadre of nervous, distracted
assassins wounded the saintly priest, but
Born:
6th of April, 1901.
Died:
4th of July, 1925.
Beatified: 1990.
“Christ comes daily to visit me in the Holy
Eucharist. I return the visit by going to find Him
in the poor.”
he gave up his spirit only after a final, pointblank shot to the head. Every moment of
the martyrdom of Fr. Miguel Pro was photographed; exposing the criminal acts of
the Calles regime and forever documenting the final moments of a future saint
whose Christ-like sacrifice helped to rescue
an entire nation from the wickedness and
snares of the devil.
Fifty two years later, September 25, 1988,
Blessed Pope John Paul II celebrated an open
air Mass in Mexico City, technically still an
illegal act at the time that included the Beatification of Father Miguel Agustin Pro.
“Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more
replete with sufferings? Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so.
If life be harder, love makes it also stronger, and only this love, grounded on
suffering, can carry the Cross of my Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Blessed Miguel Pro
ier Giorgio Frassati lived an amazing
life of contrasts. Although his family
was financially wealthy, he chose to
live close to the poor. He could have lived
a life of privilege, yet he chose a career in
which to better the life of the working class.
He was deeply pious and prayerful, while
his parents gave little attention to the practice of their faith. Along with his love for the
Mass, the rosary and Eucharistic Adoration,
Pier Giorgio climbed mountains, skied, got
into fights and smoked a pipe. Pope John
Paul II called Pier Giorgio Frassati the “man
of the eight beatitudes” at his beatification in 1990. Pier Giorgio Frassati has been
declared the patron of youth as he has a
great deal to teach the young people of
today how to live a live of service for God
in their everyday life. Together, let us meet
this young man of prayer and adventure.
A Mixed Bag of Wealth
On April 6, 1901, Adelaide Frassati, an
accomplished artist and wife of a prominent publisher of the La Stampa newspaper
in Turin, Italy, Alfredo, gave birth to the
first of her two children, Pier Giorgio. The
Frassati family was wealthy, financially,
yet relatively poor in the realms of faith.
Although Alfredo was an agnostic and his
mother was a nominal Catholic at best, Pier
Giorgio was baptised at home as he was in
danger of death from the time of his birth.
Adelaide would give birth to Pier Giorgio’s
younger sister, Luciana, seventeen months
later. The two Frassati children grew to
become close, life-long companions.
Alfredo and Adelaide provided their children with the best of everything life had to
offer, and did strive to include some religious influence. Even though Alfredo and
Adelaide were not the least bit concerned
about living their faith, they did provide
that their children would attend Sunday
Mass, learn their catechism, as well as say
their morning and evening prayers. Pier
Giorgio’s father travelled quite a bit due
to his work and political involvement. His
parents’ marriage was anything but solid
and there was always a fear with the Frassati children that their parents’ marriage
would break up, a constant pressure the
Pier Giorgio Frassati
34
35
ease the plight of the poor. Pier Giorgio also
became interested in the plight of the working poor, especially those who worked in
the mines. During the period that his father
served as Ambassador to Berlin (1920 –
21), Pier Giorgio used to visit the miners
in Germany as well as study the Catholic
organisations which supported and aided
them. Pier Giorgio’s love for the Eucharist also translated in his love for the poor.
When asked about his daily attendance at
Mass, he would say; “Jesus comes every day
to visit me sacramentally in the Eucharist; I
return the visit by going to find him among
the poor.”
two children lived under. Pier Giorgio
loved his parents and would do anything
to keep them together. In a letter to his
father, five year old Pier Giorgio wrote; “I
will pray to the Child Jesus for you, and so
that you are happy, I promise that I won’t
hit Luciana anymore.” Pier Giorgio made
his First Holy Communion on June 19, 1911
at the Chapel of the Sister Helpers of the
Souls in Purgatory.
Love for the Mass and the Rosary
Pier Giorgio started his education in
a public school and was held back to
repeat his second grade year in grammar
school. He eventually left the public school
and began to attend the Social Institute
directed by the Jesuit Fathers. It was the
Jesuit Fathers who influenced Pier Giorgio the most in terms of the spiritual life.
While at the Social Institute, he began
to attend Mass and Holy Communion
on a daily basis, much to the dismay of
his mother, who was fearful of her son
becoming “fanatical.” Pier Giorgio used to
view morning Mass as his “early-morning
appointment with the Lord” by which he
was strengthened throughout the remainder of the day. He later began to serve
daily Mass so that he could even be closer
to the priest and Jesus on the altar. During his early teen years, Pier Giorgio began
his daily practice of praying the Rosary,
never letting a day go by without saying
the Rosary, even if he had to pray publicly
while riding the train. Later in his youth,
Pier Giorgio became very devoted to
Eucharistic Adoration and was very faithful about making holy hours before Jesus
in the Blessed Sacrament. Throughout his
entire life, Pier Giorgio was wholly devoted
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Attracted to the Poor
Prior to his enrolment in college, Pier
Giorgio began to enter more deeply into a
life of prayer and service to the poor. He
joined the Apostleship of Prayer as well as
the Marian Society. His life of prayer, which
was disciplined and rich eventually led Pier
Giorgio into action, most notably through
his activity in the Saint Vincent de Paul Society in Turin, where he would bring food to
the poor, many times at his own expense.
His parents and his sister paid little attention to his work with the poor, hoping that it
was a passing thing and that soon Pier Giorgio would take his place on the social ladder
prepared for him. Pier Giorgio always preferred to work more in secret as he never
wanted to bring undue attention to himself
or what he was doing for the poor. Later in
his life, it was not uncommon for Pier Giorgio to use his own financial resources to
A Deliberate Life Lived
In 1918, Pier Giorgio entered the Polytechnic University, Turin in order to study
Mining Engineering so that he could better
serve the needs of miners. Not only was
Pier Giorgio concerned about the needs of
the working class, he was just as interested
in the politics of the day, which meant a
head on confrontation with Fascism which
plagued Italy at that time. On several occasions during various student marches and
protests, Pier Giorgio was not afraid to use
his fists, when needed. He was anything but
a pushover. His faith drove him to stand for
the truth, especially in the ways of politics
and social involvement. To Pier Giorgio,
standing up against Fascism and Communism was an essential component of living
his faith as a Catholic. It is safe to say that
Pier Giorgio understood the constant threat
Fascism and Communism imposed upon the
Catholic Church; a church he felt called to
defend and promote. In 1921, Pier Giorgio,
along with 50,000 other students attended
a youth congress in order to defend the
faith against the onslaught of the social
and political ills of his time. As the students
Pier Giorgio Frassati
marched through the streets of Rome, Pier
Giorgio carried the flag of the youth movement. Fights broke out in the streets and
Pier Giorgio not only fought with his fists,
he also used the flag pole to defend the flag
as well as some of the priests who were
being attacked by thugs. He, along with
many others, was eventually arrested. Yet,
when the police discovered that Pier Giorgio was the son of an ambassador, he was
released immediately, however, not without his cohorts. The newspapers plastered
over the front page the events that had
taken place and Pier Giorgio was the centre piece of the reports. He responded to
the publicity; “I have done a little thing well,
simply my duty.”
A Man of the Mountains
Pier Giorgio would, by today’s standards, be considered a “man’s man.” He was
athletic, strong and willing to fight for his
beliefs. He loved the outdoors and was an
avid skier and mountain climber. Mountain
climbing expeditions were always in the
works, as Pier Giorgio would gather other
youth with him. Many times, he was able
to secure a priest to join on the expeditions
or ski trips in order to have Mass celebrated
on the top of the mountain they were hiking or climbing. This was also true of the
many ski trips he put together. In Pier Giorgio’s day, the Eucharistic fast went from
midnight, until after the Mass the following
day. Pier Giorgio would often climb mountains with no food or water until after they
had assisted at Mass on the mountain top.
If a priest was not available to join them,
they would make sure that they attended
Mass before their expedition. Pier Giorgio
also loved to smoke a pipe, especially while
in the mountains. There is a wonderful picture of him on the top of a mountain with
Pier Giorgio Frassati
his pipe clinched between his teeth. Unfortunately, there have been those, who for
whatever reasons are fearful of presenting
the entire picture of Pier Giorgio have had
the pipe air-brushed out of the picture!
An Unexpected Death
At the end of June, 1925, Pier Giorgio’s
maternal grandmother was dying and thus
the focus of his family when he became ill
with poliomyelitis, which is a serious infectious virus disease, caused by inflammation
of the gray matter of the spinal cord and
characterised by fever and motor paralysis. His parents, who placed the care of Pier
Giorgio in the hands of the family’s maid,
did not believe her report of how seriously
sick their son was. Even from his sick bed,
Pier Giorgio continued to provide for those
most in need. Within a week’s time, on July
4th, Pier Giorgio had died, at the age of
twenty-four. Thousands of people came to
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the funeral, many of whom were the poor
of Italy who had been assisted by Pier Giorgio. It was only then did his family come to
realise the impact of his life over the poor
of Italy as well as his deep piety. Ironically, it
was only through the death of Pier Giorgio
that his parents began to seriously examine
their relationship and heal their marriage.
Father Karl Rahner, S.J., the great Jesuit
theologian whose family was close to the
Frassati family had this to say of Pier Giorgio; “Frassati represented the young, pure
Christian youth: cheerful, devoted to prayer,
open to all that is free and beautiful, attentive to the social problems, a young man
who bore the Church in his heart and destiny. His was a life so rich, so serene, almost
care-freely happy (despite regular family
problems) as he rode his horse, went skiing,
hiked in the mountains, was in the company of his friends, sang songs, engaged in
political discussion, was involved in brawls
with the police and so many other beautiful things. And even in his golden youth,
he acquired a depth and seriousness which
derives from the absoluteness of the Christian faith in God, in eternal life.” On one
of the photos taken at the occasion of
his last mountain climb on June 7, 1925,
Pier Giorgio wrote “Verso l’alto” (toward
the heights). It was toward the heights of
heaven that Pier Giorgio set the course of
his life.
knew how to give at the same time a courageous testimony of generosity in the faith
and in the exercise of charity toward his
neighbour, especially toward the poorest
and those who suffered. The Lord called him
to Himself at only twenty-four years of age,
but he is still living well in our midst with
his smile and his goodness to invite his contemporaries to the love of Christ and to the
virtuous life.” ( April 12, 1984)
“When the heart is full of God the faith
is translated in generous service to our
brothers, especially to the neediest. In Frassati the Gospel became firm and welcome,
he made an attempt in the search of truth
Pier Giorgio Frassati
as well as the demanding commitment to
justice. Prayer and the practice of the sacraments gave substance and tone to his
manifold apostolate and to his whole existence. Enlivened by the Spirit of God, he was
transformed in a marvellous adventure.
Everything became an offering and a gift,
even in his illness, even in his death. This is
the message as he continues to speak to all
and particularly to the youth of our time.”
(May 20, 1990)
“Christ comes daily to visit me in the Holy Eucharist.
I return the visit by going to find Him in the poor.”
“All around the sick and all around the poor,
I see a special light which we do not have.”
“True happiness, dear friends, does not consist in the pleasures
of the world or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience,
which we only have if we are pure in heart and mind.”
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
Readings
Readings from Pope John Paul II on the
life of Pier Giorgio Frassati:
“Have models from whom you are
inspired. I think for instance of Pier Giorgio
Frassati, who was a modern young man,
open to the values of athletics (he was a
valiant mountain climber and skier), but he
“The primary contribution that the Church offers to the development
of mankind and peoples does not consist merely in material means or technical solutions.
Rather, it involves the proclamation of the truth of Christ.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Charles de Foucauld
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Born:
15th of September, 1856.
Died:
1st December, 1916.
Beatified: 13th of November, 2005.
“As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood I could do nothing else but live for him,
my religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith: God is so great. There is such
a difference between God and everything that
is not.”
harles de Foucauld lived a remarkable life of adventure, deprivation and
devotion. He was a man of extremes,
an aristocratic bon vivant whose conversion
to Christianity led him to embrace a life of
solitude and prayer. Charles de Foucauld
was baptised into the Catholic Church as
an infant and received his First Holy Communion at the age of fourteen, but he was
hardly saintly. Described by one biographer
as “one of the most perverse foot-stompers
and blue-murder screamers” Strasbourg,
France had ever known. Charles and his
sister, Marie, were orphaned when Charles
was only six. It appears that Charles’ father
fell into a deep depression and left home
to go to Paris and live with his sister. He
abandoned his family and remained in Paris
until his death. His mother died after falling ill from worry about her husband. The
children were adopted by their maternal grandparents. The kindly grandfather
spoiled Charles, and saw his temper tantrums as signs of character.
At the age of fourteen, Charles began
studies at Nancy Lycee, where he received
above average grades in history and geography, and low grades in Latin and religion.
He managed to graduate at the age of sixteen and was sent to Paris where the Jesuits
were to prepare him for his entrance exams
into Saint-Cyr, the West Point of France.
Charles admired the Jesuits, but he was
bored with his life and no longer believed
in God. Charles wrote, “At seventeen I was
all selfishness, all vanity, and all irreverence, consumed by desire for evil. I was
completely disorientated.” He begged his
grandfather to let him leave Saint-Cyr. As
a proud Foucauld, his grandfather would
have none of that. Finally, with the help of
a tutor, Charles graduated from Saint-Cyr
near the bottom of his class, ranking 333
out of a class of 338. He sought entrance
into the military academy, but was rejected
because he was too fat. Again his grandfather had to help.
As a young military man Charles continued
to follow an empty life. He was very popular
with his classmates since he had the money
to entertain them all. He graduated from
Calvary School, but again finished near the
bottom of his class and number 87 out of 88.
All this time, Charles had a mistress, Mimi,
whom he would not give up. He enjoyed
her company so much that he brought her
to Africa when his unit was assigned there,
much to the displeasure of the Army. When
he refused to legalise his situation, the army
discharged him and he returned to France.
Gradually the social life began to bore him
and he regretted giving up his military career.
He was able to get reinstated and rejoined
his old regiment in Africa. He became a
disciplined military leader and became
impressed with the religious zeal of some
of the Muslims who would risk their lives
to stop fighting when it came time to pray.
Once again, Charles left the military to work
for the French Geographical Society. He had
a very keen interest in Northern Africa and
devoted his time to exploring and mapping
the region of Morocco.
In 1886 he returned to Paris to finish his
book on Morocco. He led an active social life
and during this time, at a dinner party in the
home of his cousin a devout Roman Catholic, he had occasion to meet Fr. Huvelin, the
pastor of Saint Augustine’s Church. It was
during this time that the question of faith
was constantly on his mind. He would visit
the churches of Paris and pray, “God, if you
exist, let me come to know you.” One morning Charles walked into Fr. Huvelin’s church
and said he wanted to talk about faith. The
priest suggested he make a good confession
and from that moment, at age 28, Charles
converted to faith in Jesus Christ. Regarding
his conversion, Charles said, “The moment
I realised that God existed, I knew I could
not do otherwise than to live for Him alone.”
Within months, he had decided to love and
imitate Jesus totally. The Lord’s humility
Charles de Foucauld
and abandonment to the will of the Father,
especially as exhibited in Jesus’ hidden
life at Nazareth deeply impressed him. He
wanted to own nothing, be unimportant
and spend his time in prayer.
He entered a Cistercian Trappist abbey in
France in 1890. After a few years he moved
to a monastery in Syria, but wanted more
solitude so he left and went to a convent
in Nazareth where for three years he happily worked as a gardener. While working
for the Poor Clare nuns, he met Mother
Elisabeth, the Superior and a woman of
uncommon wisdom. She helped Charles
come to accept his vocation to the priesthood so that he could better serve God.
Africa was calling and he wanted to bring
the sacraments to “the most rejected.”
On June 9, 1901, at the age of 43 Charles
de Foucauld was ordained a priest and went
to the Sahara near Morocco to live as a “hermit missionary” among non-Christians. He
built a small hermitage which he used for
Adoration and hospitality. In 1902 he developed a program of buying slaves in order to
free them. He dreamed of being joined by a
small community that would live with him
in the desert. He revised his rule demanding three things of his followers: that they
are ready to have their heads cut off, to die
of starvation and to obey him “in spite of his
worthlessness.” For the next fifteen years
he lived as a missionary hermit finally settling in a Tuareg village. He divided his time
between prayer, intellectual work and visits
from the Tuareg people, extensively learning their language and culture. The people
respected Charles for his life of poverty,
prayer and hospitality. Charles hoped to
convert them only by example and kindness of his life, and this would draw them to
Charles de Foucauld
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Brothers of Jesus, Little Sisters of the Sacred
Heart and Little Sisters of Jesus live in small
groups all over the world preaching by the
lives they live. This holy man who was a
monk, priest, explorer, linguist, and scholar
left his wild selfish years behind and became
selflessly in love with Jesus Christ who longed
for Him intensely and sought only to do His
will. The grain of wheat, consumed by Love,
continues to bear fruit abundantly.
Christ. In 1916, Fr. Charles de Foucauld was
shot by a band of marauders during an antiFrench uprising. He died alone in his desert
dwelling at the age of 58.
Charles de Foucauld’s life was the seed in
the Gospel that had to die to bring forth fruit.
At the time of his death neither his missionary contacts nor his design for a new religious
order had born fruit. Within twenty years of
his death at least three congregations were
founded that derived their inspiration and
Rules from Charles de Foucauld. These Little
Meditations from
Blessed Charles de Foucauld
“Father, I abandon myself into Your
hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You do I thank You. I am ready for all, I
accept all. Let only Your will be done in me,
as in all Your creatures, I ask no more than
this, my Lord. Into Your hands I commend
my soul; I offer it to You, O Lord, with all the
love of my heart, for I love You, my God, and
so need to give myself – to surrender myself
into Your hands, without reserve and with
total confidence, for You are my Father.” –
Blessed Charles’s Prayer of Abandonment
“I wish to be buried in the place where I die
and to remain there until the Resurrection.
I forbid that my body be transported elsewhere, that I be taken from the spot where
the Good Lord has had me finish my pilgrimage.” - from the will of Blessed Charles
In order to save us, God came to us and lived among us, from the Annunciation to the
Ascension, in a close and familiar way. God continues to come to us and to live with us
in a close and familiar way, each day and at every hour, in the holy Eucharist. So we too
must go and live among our brothers and sisters in a close and familiar way.”
Blessed Charles de Foucauld
Mary MacKillop
Born:
15th of January, 1842.
Died:
8th August, 1909.
Canonised: 17th of October, 2010.
“Whatever troubles may be before you, accept
them cheerfully, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another,
bear with one another, and let charity guide you
in all your life”.
ary Helen MacKillop was the first
of eight children born to Alexander MacKillop, a Scotsman who
sailed to Australia in 1838 after failing to
complete studies for the priesthood, and
Flora MacDonald, who arrived in Australia
from Scotland in 1840 with her mother and
brother. The couple married three months
after they met and little Mary Helen was
born January 15, 1842.
Mary and her siblings lived an unsettled
childhood. Alexander MacKillop was an
attentive father and husband, but he failed
miserably at every attempted business
venture; leaving the family on the brink
of poverty and without a stable home life.
His inability to adequately provide support
for the family pushed the children into odd
jobs, yielding a meagre income at best.
Alexander’s only real gift to his children
was a solid home-school education in both
regular academics and catechetics. Mary
increasingly bore the burden of working
to support the family. She found work as
a clerk at age 14; earning a steady income
for the next four years. Even in the bleakest
periods, the family managed to scrape by
through Mary’s hard work and optimistic
perseverance. “God will provide” was her
oft- repeated mantra and it would serve
her very well in future dark days.
At age 18, in 1860, Mary sought to
improve her lot by accepting a position
as governess for the children of her relatives: Alexander and Margaret Cameron.
She moved from the relatively crowded
city of Melbourne to the outback village
of Penola, South Australia; finding great
refreshment in the open space and tranquillity of the region. Teaching suited Mary
extremely well and she demonstrated
a high degree of aptitude in regular academics and in religious education. Other
children were soon coming to the sprawling Cameron estate for instruction. Our
Blessed Lord was also working on Mary’s
heart during her formative two years with
the Cameron family. She began to wonder
if God might not be asking her to make a
greater commitment to serving the poor
Mary MacKillop
and isolated souls of frontier Australia. In
response to her prayer, Fr. Julian Woods,
a local Catholic priest, entered her life;
establishing a spiritual partnership that
would prove to be both fruitful and sorrowful. They both shared a deep desire to
bring Catholic education to the expanding population of poor and working class.
Fr. Woods became young Mary’s spiritual
director; helping her to better discern
God’s persistent call.
While still maintaining contact with Fr.
Woods in Penola, Mary strengthened her
teaching credential by accepting positions
in Portland, Victoria during the years 18621865. Her improved financial condition
allowed the MacKillop family to reunite in
1864. Back in South Australia, Fr. Woods
was called to Adelaide to assume the position of Secretary to the Bishop; a job that
included becoming Director of Education
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for the diocese. The stage was now set for
a return to Penola and the fulfilment of
God’s evolving plans for Mary MacKillop.
Fr. Woods invited Mary and her sisters,
Annie and Lexie, to establish a Catholic
school open to all children and free from
the scourge of segregation; all too commonplace throughout Australia at the
time. The first children were welcomed to
a small cottage in January, 1866. Mary’s
brother, John MacKillop, converted an old
stable into a proper school house, able to
accommodate a growing number of students. John MacKillop also replaced Mary
as the primary source of income for the
family; allowing Mary to positively respond
to an ever more urgent movement of the
Holy Spirit in her soul.
On the Feast of St. Joseph, 19 March,
1866, Mary appeared to her family and
students wearing a simple black dress and
signed her name in the school register as
Mary, a Sister of Saint Joseph. With Fr.
Woods as her mentor and spiritual guide,
Mary MacKillop set about the task of consecrating her life to Christ and to realising
her vision of a community of women dedicated to serving the poor and needy within
the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mary and her
sister Lexie took the habit of religious postulants in November, 1866; becoming the
first two members of The Sisters of Saint
Joseph of the Sacred Heart, a.k.a. the Josephites. Fr. Woods helped the women write
a simple rule emphasising poverty and
freedom from all possessions, dependence
upon Divine Providence and the willingness to serve wherever needed. Bishop
Sheil of Adelaide approved their request
to live in community and allowed Mary
MacKillop to profess vows to him on 15
August, 1867. She took the religious name
of Mary of the Cross and was then named
Mother Superior of the fledgling order.
Teaching and service to the poor was to be
their primary charism.
By the end of 1867, ten additional
women were added. By 1871, there were
over 120 members with an average age of
23 years. The brown habited sisters (affectionately known as the Brown Joeys) were
the first religious order to be founded in
Australia and the first to serve the poor
and working class from the rural/outback
areas. By necessity, the Josephite sisters
were an amalgam of toughness and resilience to meet the challenges of frontier
life and humble docility to respond to the
promptings of the Holy Spirit as Brides of
Christ. The growing community was soon
scrutinised for its non-traditional approach
to consecrated life, including: begging
in the streets for the material needs of
the sisters, sending two or three sisters
out to live with the people rather than a
convent and generally “failing” to behave
like “proper nuns”. The first invitation to
serve outside of South Australia came
from Bishop James Quinn of Queensland.
Sister Mary and a small band of nuns left
for Brisbane in December, 1869. Bishop
Quinn was happy to have the dynamic sisters serving in his diocese, but efforts to
modify the Rules and redirect their activities, put him at odds with Mary’s vision for
the Order. The year Mary spent in Brisbane
was only a foretaste of the challenges she
would later face to protect and defend The
Sisters of Saint Joseph.
Any movement or individual seeking to
bring Glory to God and to respond in true
virtue to the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
at some point, will stir the ire of enemies,
Mary MacKillop
both spiritual and carnal. Mary of the Cross
would forever bear the weight of her prophetic name. Her zeal and commitment to
living out the revealed plan of God, against
the ill-designs of others, tested Sister
Mary in faith, obedience and charity. Upon
returning home to Adelaide from Brisbane
in 1871, Sister Mary was greeted by troubled, disheartened sisters and a confused,
depressed Fr. Woods. While she was away,
Fr. Woods was wholly unprepared to handle swelling (baseless) rumours, including:
financial mismanagement, “possessed”
sisters of the Order, alcohol abuse by the
foundress; naming only a few. Bishop Sheil
was greatly displeased and set up a commission to investigate the allegations in
response to calls by local clergy for the
reform or dissolution of the Josephites.
The commission recommended sweeping
changes, including revision of the Rule,
converting some members to “lay” sisters
and placing each convent under the direct
authority of a local priest. An alarmed
Sister Mary immediately responded to
Bishop Sheil with her concerns, offering
possible alternative actions. Unmoved,
Bishop Sheil hastily (and unlawfully)
responded to the presumed impasse with
Sister Mary by excommunicating her on
22 September, 1871. Humbly accepting
her fate, Sister Mary transferred the governance of the Order and quietly retired.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph, by the grace of
God, remained mostly intact. Bishop Sheil,
nearing death, had a change of heart; lifting the excommunication after 5 months
and restoring Mary MacKillop to her position.
Sister Mary was now convinced that
formal approval of the Order from Rome
was the only way to insure security. She
Mary MacKillop
departed for Rome in March, 1873 and
would not return until December, 1874.
She wrote eloquently to Church authorities on the necessity of establishing an
institute under central authority. She petitioned influential prelates, seeking support
for her cause. Monsignor Kirby, Rector
of the Irish College, took up her banner
enthusiastically. Pope Pius IX, calling Sister
Mary the Excommunicated One, endorsed
the Order. Mary endured significant physical and emotional hardship while waiting
for approval of the Constitution, but her
perseverance was finally rewarded with a
letter from Rome formally establishing the
Institute and granting central governing
authority to Mother Mary MacKillop and
a council of elected sisters of the Institute.
The first General Chapter of the newly
recognised congregation was opened on
March 19, 1875. The Constitution was
unanimously adopted and Mother Mary
MacKillop was elected the first Superior
General. But among Australia’s Bishops,
old animosities were not easily set aside
by a Vatican endorsement.
Bishop James Quinn of Queensland
refused to recognise the authority of
Mother Mary and her council. Face-to-face
negotiations were fruitless. Mother Mary
sadly removed all Josephite sisters from
Queensland by the end of 1880. Bishop
Matthew Quinn of New South Wales took a
similar stance. Mother Mary was forced to
withdraw her nuns from here, as well. But
some of her sisters chose to disobey the
Superior General and remain under diocesan control (so-called Black Joeys). Bishop
Reynolds of South Australia, a lukewarm
supporter initially, ordered Mother Mary
out of his diocese. Weathering the storm,
Mother Mary went to Sydney and found
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conditional support from new Archbishop
Moran, who later gave his full support
after receiving a highly favourable review
of the Institute. Most of Australia’s Bishops
voted, in 1885, to subject the Sisters of St.
Joseph to the rule of the local Ordinary.
Rome set aside this decree in April, 1887
and Pope Leo XIII raised the Institute to a
Canonical Congregation on July 15, 1888.
But to partially appease the ire of the Bishops, a new Mother General was appointed
(Mother Bernard) to replace the “contentious” Mother Mary MacKillop. As always,
Mother Mary graciously accepted the decision as God’s will and counted it as part of
the cost of faithful discipleship.
The invigorated Congregation expanded
rapidly between 1880 and 1900. By 1891,
there were 300 sisters in 9 dioceses of
Australia and New Zealand. Mother Mary
MacKillop wrote to her sisters on the Feast
of St. Joseph that year: “25 years ago we
kept up St. Joseph’s day as a special feast
of our proposed Institute and little did any
of us then dream of what was to spring
from such a small beginning”.
Mother Bernard died in 1898. The General Chapter unanimously called Mother
Mary MacKillop back to lead the Congregation. Sensing her time on earth was
limited, Mother Mary worked with intensity to complete a few remaining tasks.
Two new novitiates were erected and a
“training school” for teachers was opened
in 1900. Reconciliation with the Diocese of
Queensland allowed for the joyful return
of the Congregation in 1900. The “Black
Joeys” from New South Wales returned
to the fold. Mother Mary’s health deteriorated rapidly after 1900. She suffered
a stroke in 1901, curtailing her ability to
Mary MacKillop
travel, but she continued to write to her
sisters regularly. The General Chapter reelected Mother Mary as Superior General
in 1905, as a gesture of love and respect, in
full knowledge that most of the daily governance was being handled by Mother’s
assistant, Sister LaMerci. Just prior to her
death, Mother Mary completed a letter to
her sisters with the following postscript:
“Whatever troubles may be before you,
accept them cheerfully, remembering
Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be
afraid. Love one another, bear with one
another, and let charity guide you in all
your life”.
Mother Mary Helen MacKillop went to
be with her Spouse and Lord on August 8,
1909. Cardinal Moran of Sydney declared,
“Today, I believe that I have assisted at the
death bed of a saint”. At her death, the
Congregation reported 750 sisters in 106
houses, serving 12,500 students in 117
schools. Her life and teachings continued
to resonate throughout all of Australia.
Her cause for Canonisation was opened
in 1926. Mother Mary was beatified by
Blessed Pope John Paul II on January 19,
1995. With the cure of Kathleen Evans in
the 1990’s from advanced lung and brain
cancer; Mother Mary MacKillop was Canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on October
17, 2010. Her relics rest in the MacKillop
Memorial Chapel in North Sydney.
“Never see a need without doing something about it”
“We must teach more by example than by word.”
“Do all you can with the means at your disposal and
calmly leave the rest to God.”
Saint Mary MacKillop
Maria Goretti
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On July 5, 1902, Maria was alone, ironically
mending one of Alessandro’s shirts when he
stormed up the stairs to the Goretti dwelling, ordering Maria to a bedroom. Maria
refused to go with him, at which time, Alessandro grabbed hold of her and forced her
into a room, slammed the door shut and
attempted to rape her. Maria pleaded with
Alessandro; “No, No, No, don’t touch me,
Alessandro! It’s a sin! You will go to hell for
this!” At this rejection, Alessandro in a rage
began striking her small body with a large
knife, stabbing her fourteen times. Maria
cried out that she was being killed, while
Alessandro drove the knife one last time
into her back and then ran away.
Born:
16th of October 16, 1890.
Died:
6th of July, 1902.
Canonised: 1950.
Early Life of Maria Goretti
aria Goretti was born on October
16, 1890, at Corinaldo in the province of Ancona, Italy to Luigi and
Assunta Goretti. Maria was the second eldest of six children. Her family was very
poor, yet prayerful and always hopeful. As
the family moved around always in search
of a better living, Maria was not able to
attend school on a consistent basis. When
Maria was ten years old her family moved
to a farm not far from Nettuno, a seaside
town thirty miles west of Rome. The Goretti family moved into a barn converted into
two smaller apartments; Giovanni Serenelli
and his teenage son, Alessandro were the
other tenants, with whom the Goretti’s
shared living quarters.
A Difficult Life Became Even Harder
Not long after the Goretti’s moved to
Nettuno, Maria’s father, Luigi contracted
malaria and died, leaving his wife practically
penniless and alone to care for their six children. The death of her father caused great
pain and sorrow for the young Maria. Any
hope Maria had of furthering her education was now ended as she was needed to
help her mother work the farm and care for
her younger siblings. Through it all, Maria
strived to remain as cheerful and as helpful
as possible. One bright moment for Maria
during this difficult period was her reception of her First Holy Communion in 1901.
Maria loved the instructions she and the
other children of her parish received from
the parish priest as she longed to receive
Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
Maria Protects her Purity
When Maria was not quite twelve years
of age, she was already a strikingly beautiful
young girl. Alessandro Serenelli, the son of
the other tenant was twenty years of age
and had made it a habit of reading impure
stories, which would have certainly been
considered pornographic. Twice he made
advances of a sexual nature towards Maria,
yet she was able to remove herself from
Alessandro and his unwanted overtures.
Maria kept quiet about what Alessandro
was up to, as he had threatened to kill her.
Death of Maria
After the bloody body of Maria had been
found, a horse drawn ambulance was called
upon and carried Maria to the hospital,
where it was determined that little could
be done to save her life. Her last remaining
twenty-four hours were extremely painful
for Maria, yet through it all, she seemed
more concerned for the welfare of her
mother. Maria also made it very clear that
she forgave Alessandro for his crimes. She
was able to receive Jesus, whom she loved
in the Eucharist one last time before slipping into eternity.
Arrest of Alessandro
Alessandro was eventually arrested and
sentenced to thirty years of hard labour
for the crimes of attempted rape and murder. For the first few years of his sentence,
Alessandro remained unrepentant and was
generally a trouble maker while in prison.
He had also lost his appetite and became
a nervous wreck, almost on the brink of
despair. All of that changed in almost an
instant in 1910. One night, Alessandro had
Maria Goretti
a vision of Maria, in which she presented
him with fourteen lilies (one for each time
that he had stabbed her) and told him that
she had forgiven him and prayed that God
would have mercy on him as well. Alessandro immediately repented of his sins and
became, literally overnight, a model prisoner. Not long after his change of heart,
Alessandro was able to meet the bishop of
Noto explaining the vision to him, at which
the bishop assured him of God’s desire to
forgive him. Later, Alessandro wrote a letter
to the bishop, in which he wrote; “I regret
doubly the evil I have done, because I realise
that I have taken the life of a poor, innocent
girl. Up to the last moment she wanted to
protect her honour, sacrificing herself rather
than give in to my wishes. I detest the evil
that I have done. And I ask God’s forgiveness and that of the poor, desolate family
for the great wrong I committed. I hope that
I too, like so many others in this world, may
obtain pardon.”
A Free Alessandro
After serving nearly twenty-seven years
of his thirty year sentence, Alessandro was
freed early for good behaviour. He was fortyseven years old. The first thing he did was
visit Maria’s mother, Assunta on Christmas
Eve of 1936 to seek her forgiveness for what
he had done to her daughter. Assunta did
indeed forgive her daughter’s assailant and
together, they attended Midnight Mass at
the church where Maria was buried. Alessandro entered a Franciscan monastery and
spent the remainder of his life as a Third
Order Penitent, living a simple, prayerful life.
Canonisation of Maria Goretti
The life story and memory of Maria
Goretti had spread quickly and her cause
for canonisation began in earnest. On April
Maria Goretti
27, 1947, Pope Pius XII beatified Maria
Goretti in Rome. Her eighty-two year old
mother, Assunta was present, along with
two of Maria’s sisters and a brother. Three
years later, on June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII
canonised Maria Goretti a saint in one of
the largest gatherings in the history of Saint
Peter’s Square. Once again, Maria’s eightyfive year old mother was present at the
canonisation and is the only mother known
to be present for a child’s canonisation. It
has been held that Maria’s assailant, Alessandro was also present at the canonisation.
Although he was still alive, he was in fact,
not in attendance, still residing at the Franciscan monastery. Alessandro Serenelli died
on May 6, 1970 at the age of eighty-nine.
Reading I
A reading from the homily at the canonisation of Saint Maria Goretti by Pope Pius XII:
“It is well known how this young girl
had to face a bitter struggle with no way to
defend herself. Without warning a vicious
stranger burst upon her, bent on raping her
and destroying her childlike purity. In that
moment of crisis she could have spoken to
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her Redeemer in the words of that classic,
The Imitation of Christ: “Though tested and
plagued by a host of misfortunes, I have no
fear so long as your grace is with me. It is
my strength, stronger than any adversary;
it helps me and gives me guidance.” With
splendid courage she surrendered herself to
God and his grace and so gave her life to
protect her virginity. The life of a simple girl
– I shall concern myself only with highlights
– we can see as worthy of heaven. Even
today people can look upon it with admiration and respect. Parents can learn from her
story how to raise their God-given children
in virtue, courage and holiness; they can
learn to train them in the Catholic faith so
that, when put to the test, God’s grace will
support them and they will come through
undefeated, unscathed and untarnished.
From Maria’s story carefree children
and young people with their zest for life
can learn not to be led astray by attractive
pleasures which are not only ephemeral
and empty but also sinful. Instead we can
fix their sights on achieving Christian moral
perfection, however difficult that course
may prove. With determination and God’s
help all of us can attain that goal by persistent effort and prayer. Not all of us are
expected to die a martyr’s death, but we
are all called to the pursuit of Christian virtue. So let us all, with God’s grace, strive to
reach the goal that the example of the virgin martyr, Saint Maria Goretti, sets before
us. Through her prayers to the Redeemer
may all of us, each in his own way, joyfully
try to follow the inspiring example of Maria
Goretti who now enjoys eternal happiness
in Heaven.”
Reading II
From a testimony of
Alessandro Serenelli, T.O.S.
“I’m nearly eighty years old. I’m about to
depart. Looking back at my past, I can see
that in my early youth, I chose a bad path
which led me to ruin myself. My behaviour was influenced by print, mass-media
and bad examples which are followed by
the majority of young people without even
thinking. And I did the same. I was not
worried. There were a lot of generous and
devoted people who surrounded me, but I
paid no attention to them because a violent
force blinded me and pushed me toward a
wrong way of life.
When I was twenty years old, I committed a crime of passion. Now that memory
represents something horrible for me.
Maria Goretti, now a Saint, was my good
Angel, sent to me through Providence to
Maria Goretti
guide and save me. I still have impressed
upon my heart her words of rebuke and
pardon. She prayed for me, she interceded
for her murderer. Thirty years of prison followed. If I had been of age, I would have
spent all my life in prison. I accepted to be
condemned because it was my own fault.
Little Maria was really my light, my
protectress; with her help, I behaved well
during the twenty-seven years of prison
and tried to live honestly when I was again
accepted among the members of society.
The Brothers of Saint Francis, Capuchins
from Marche, welcomed me with angelic
charity into their monastery as a brother,
not a servant. Ivve been living with their
community for twenty-four years, and now
I am serenely waiting to witness the vision
of God, to hug my loved ones again, and to
be next to my Guardian Angel and her dear
mother, Assunta.
I hope this letter that I wrote can teach
others the happy lesson of avoiding evil
and of always following the right path, like
little children. I feel that religion with its
precepts is not something we can live without, but rather it is the real comfort, the
real strength in life and the only safe way in
every circumstance, even the most painful
ones in life.”
“The essence of Christianity...is an ever-new encounter with...
the God who speaks to us, who approaches us and who befriends us!”
Pope Benedict XVI
Thérèse of Lisieux
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their five surviving daughters; Marie, 12,
Pauline, 11, Leonie 9, Celine, 3, and their
new-born. Louis and Zelie named their newborn; Marie-Francoise-Thérèse Martin. A
century later people would know her as St.
Thérèse, and call her the “Little Flower.”
Born:
2nd of January, 1873.
Died:
30th of September, 1897.
Canonised: 17th of May, 1925.
stand such language. My children were not
lost forever; life is short and full of miseries, and we shall find our little ones again
up above.” The Martins’ last child was born
January 2, 1873. She was weak and frail,
and doctors feared for the infant’s life. The
family, so used to death, was preparing for
yet another blow. Zelie wrote of her three
month old girl: “I have no hope of saving
her. The poor little thing suffers horribly....
It breaks your heart to see her.” But the
baby girl proved to be much tougher than
anyone realised. She survived the illness. A
year later she was a “big baby, browned by
the sun.” “The baby,” Zelie noted, “is full of
life, giggles a lot and is sheer joy to everyone.” Death seemed to grant a reprieve to
the Martin household. Although suffering
had left its mark on mother and father, it
was not the scar of bitterness. Louis and
Zelie had already found relief and support
in their faith.
The Baby of the Family
Marie-Francoise-Thérèse Martin was
born on January 2, 1873, and baptised two
days later on January 4th. “All my life God
surrounded me with love. My first memories
are imprinted with the most tender smiles
and caresses... Those were the sunny years
of my childhood.” Thus Thérèse, twentyone years later, described her home life in
Alencon, France. “My happy disposition,”
she added with characteristic candor, “contributed to making my life pleasing.” The
Martin household was a lively place. Thérèse’s father, Louis, had a nickname for each
of his daughters. Her mother, Zelie, wrote
her relatives constantly about the joys
each child gave her. Thérèse was the baby
and everyone’s favourite, especially her
mother’s. Due to Thérèse’s weak and frail
condition at birth, she was taken care of by
a nurse for her first year and a half. Because
of this care, she became a lively, mischievous and self-confident child. But Zelie was
not blind to her baby’s faults. Thérèse was,
she wrote, “incredibly stubborn. When she
has said ‘no’, nothing will make her change
her mind. One could put her in the cellar for
the whole day.” Thérèse’s candor appeared
early and was unusual. The little one would
run to her mother and confess: “Mama, I
hit Celine (her sister) once-but I won’t do it
again.”
The series of tragedies had intensified
the love of Louis and Zelie Martin for each
other. They poured out their affection on
Little Thérèse was blond, blue-eyed,
affectionate, stubborn, and alarmingly
precocious. She could throw a giant-sised
“A word of a smile is often enough to put fresh
life in a despondent soul.”
The Martins
ouis Martin and Zelie Guerin eventually met in Alencon and on July 13,
1858, Louis, 34, and Zelie, 26, married and began their remarkable voyage
through life. Within the next fifteen years,
Zelie bore nine children, seven girls and two
boys. “We lived only for them”, Zelie wrote;
“they were all our happiness”. The Martins’
delight in their children turned to shock and
sorrow as tragedy relentlessly and mercilessly stalked their little ones. Within three
years, Zelie’s two baby boys, a five year old
girl and a six-and-a-half week old infant girl
all died.
Zelie was left numb with sadness. “I
haven’t a penny’s worth of courage,” she
lamented. But her faith sustained her
through these terrible ordeals. In a letter
to her sister-in-law who had lost an infant
son, Zelie remembered: “When I closed the
eyes of my dear little children and buried
them, I felt sorrow through and through....
People said to me, ‘It would have been
better never to have had them.’ I couldn’t
Thérèse of Lisieux
tantrum. Her bubbling laughter could make
a gargoyle smile. In a note, Zelie advised her
daughter Pauline: “She (Thérèse) flies into
frightful tantrums; when things don’t go
just right and according to her way of thinking, she rolls on the floor in desperation
like one without any hope. There are times
when it gets too much for her and she literally chokes. She’s a nervous child, but she is
very good, very intelligent and remembers
everything.” Through it all however, Thérèse thrived on the love which surrounded
her in this Christian home. It was here,
where prayer, the liturgy and practical good
works formed the basis of her own ardent
love of Jesus - her desire to please him and
the Virgin Mary.
“I Choose All”
At the age of twelve, Thérèse’s sister
Leonie felt she had no further use for her
doll dressmaking kit, and stuffed a basket
full of materials for making new dresses.
Leonie then offered it to her six year old
sister, Celine, and her two year old sister,
Thérèse. “Choose what you wish, little sis-
Thérèse of Lisieux
52
53
ters,” invited Leonie. Celine took a little ball
of wool that pleased her. Thérèse simply
said, “I choose all.” She accepted the basket and all its goods without ceremony. This
incident revealed Thérèse’s attitude toward
life. She never did anything by halves; for
her it was always all or nothing.
On Sundays, Louis and Zelie Martin
would take their daughters on walks. Thérèse loved the wide open spaces and the
beauty of the countryside about Alencon.
Frequently the walks tired little Thérèse.
This would result in “Papa” Martin carrying
his daughter home in his arms. Unfortunately, the pleasant family times would
soon come to an end. The shadow of
death that had previously occupied the
Martin household, once more relentlessly
returned. Thérèse’s mother, Zelie (after an
illness of twelve years), died of breast cancer in August, 1877. Thérèse was only four
years old at the time.
The Winter of Great Trial
Shortly after his wife’s death, Louis Martin moved his family of five girls (ranging
in ages from four to seventeen) to Lisieux.
He rented a home and named it “Les Buissonnets” (“The Hedges”). Thérèse then
entered what she termed “the second” and
“most painful” period of her life. Because
of the shock of her mother’s death, “my
happy disposition completely changed,”
she remembered. “I became timid and
retiring, sensitive to an excessive degree...”
Louis Martin and his daughters did all they
could to help little Thérèse who missed her
mother so much. They lavished affection
and attention upon the motherless child. At
Les Buissonnets, under the tutelage of her
sisters Marie and Pauline, Thérèse began
her first schooling. Each day after classes
because they must end. It was on a Sunday evening this youngster felt the pang of
exile of this earth. “I longed,” she explained,
“for the everlasting repose of heaven - that
never ending Sunday of the fatherland...”
were over she joined her father in his study.
Louis called Thérèse his “little queen”. Eventually the two would go for a walk. They
would visit a different church each day and
pray before the Blessed Sacrament. The
bond between father and daughter grew
stronger and stronger. “How could I possibly
express the tenderness which Papa showered upon his queen?” she later exclaimed.
Her sister Celine, nearly four years older,
became her favourite playmate.
The passage is all the more remarkable because it revealed the theme of exile
which dominated her whole life. Thérèse
maintained the first word she learned to
read was “heaven”. From her childhood she
interpreted all her world as only the beginning, only a glimpse of a glorious future.
Sundays had tremendous significance. They
were days of rest tinged with melancholy
Thérèse, given the proper occasion,
continued to produce extreme temper tantrums. The following is her own account
of one of the more sparkling scenes that
took place between herself and her poor
nurse, Victoire. “I wanted an inkstand
which was on the shelf of the fireplace in
the kitchen; being too little to take it down,
I very nicely asked Victoire to give it to me.
But she refused, telling me to get up on a
chair. I took a chair without saying a word,
but thinking she wasn’t too nice; wanting
to make her feel it, I searched out in my little head what offended me the most. She
often called me a ‘little brat’ when she was
annoyed at me and humbled me very much.
So before jumping off my chair, I turned
around with dignity and said, ‘Victoire, you
are a brat!’ Then I made my escape leaving
Victoire to meditate on the profound statement I had just made... I thought, if Victoire
didn’t want to stretch her big arm to do me
a little service, she merited the title ‘brat.’”
Off to School
In October, 1881, Louis enrolled his
youngest daughter (Thérèse) as a day
boarder at Lisieux’s Benedictine Abbey
school of Notre-Dame du Pre. Thérèse hated
the place and stated “the five years (1881 1886) I spent there were the saddest of my
life.” Classes bored her. She worked hard
and loved catechism, history and science,
but had trouble with spelling and mathematics. Because of her overall intelligence,
the good nuns advanced the eight-year-old
to classes for fourteen-year-olds. She was
Thérèse of Lisieux
still bored. Her keenness aroused the envy
of many fellow pupils, and Thérèse paid
dearly for her academic successes. Genius
has its price, and the youngest Martin girl
was paying it. The ordinary games and
dances of other children held little interest
for her. She was uncomfortable with most
children and seemed to be at ease only with
her sisters and very few others. Of all the
Martin girls, Pauline was closest to Thérèse.
Thérèse thought of her as her second
mother. Pauline was the little one’s first
teacher and ideal. Then one day Thérèse’s
second mother told her she was leaving to
enter the convent at the Carmelite Monastery in Lisieux. Nine-year-old Thérèse
was stunned. Again employing the exile
theme, she described her sorrow: “...I was
about to lose my second mother. Ah, how
can I express the anguish of my heart! In
one instant I understood what life was;
until then I had never seen it so sad, but it
appeared to me in all its reality and I saw it
was nothing but a continual suffering and
separation. I shed bitter tears...”
“Our Lady of the Smile”
During the winter following Pauline’s
entrance into the Carmelite monastery,
Thérèse fell seriously ill. Experts have diagnosed her sickness as everything from a
nervous breakdown to a kidney infection.
She blamed it on the devil. Whatever it was,
doctors of her time were unable to either
diagnose or treat it. She suffered intensely
during this time from constant headaches
and insomnia. As the illness pursued its
vile course, it racked poor little Thérèse’s
body. She took fits of fever and trembling
and suffered cruel hallucinations. Writing
of one bout of delirium, she explained: “I
was absolutely terrified by everything: my
bed seemed to be surrounded by fright-
Thérèse of Lisieux
ful precipices; some nails in the wall of the
room took on the appearance of big black
charred fingers, making me cry out in fear.
One day, while Papa was looking at me and
smiling, the hat in his hand was suddenly
transformed into some indescribable dreadful shape and I showed such great fear that
poor Papa left the room sobbing.” None of
the treatments helped. Then, on May 13,
1883, Thérèse turned her head to a statue
of the Virgin near her bed, and prayed for a
cure. “Suddenly” Thérèse writes, “...Mary’s
face radiated kindness and love.” Thérèse
was cured. The statue has since been called
“Our Lady of the Smile”. It was shortly after
Pauline’s departure that Thérèse decided to
join her at Lisieux’s Carmelite Convent. She
approached the prioress of the monastery
and sought entrance. Carefully little Thérèse explained she wished to enter, not for
Pauline’s sake, but for Jesus’ sake. The prioress advised her to return when she grew
up. Thérèse was only nine years old at the
time.
During her long illness, her resolve to
join the Carmelites grew even stronger.
“I am convinced that the thought of one
day becoming a Carmelite made me live,”
she later declared. After her illness, Thérèse was more than ever determined to
do something great for God and for others. She thought of herself as a new Joan
of Arc, dedicated to the rescue not only of
France but of the whole world. With unbelievable boldness the ten-year-old stated,
“I was born for glory.” And thus another
great theme of Thérèse’s life manifested
itself. She perceived her life’s mission as
one of salvation for all people. She was to
accomplish this by becoming a saint. She
understood that her glory would be hidden
from the eyes of others until God wished to
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55
reveal it. At ten years of age, then, she reaffirmed and clarified her life’s goals. She was
intelligent enough to realise she could not
accomplish them without suffering. What
was hidden from her eyes was just how
much she would have to endure to win her
glory.
The Price
“Spiritual torment” was to be her lot for
years to come, slackening only when she
started preparing for her long-awaited First
Communion. At the age of eleven, on May
8, 1884, Thérèse received her first “kiss of
love”, a sense of being “united” with Jesus,
of His giving Himself to her, as she gave herself to Him. Her Eucharistic hunger made
her long for daily communion. Confirmation, “the sacrament of Love”, which she
received on June 14, 1884, filled Thérèse
with ecstasy. Shortly thereafter though,
the young Martin girl experienced a peculiarly vicious attack of scruples. This lasted
seventeen months. She lived in constant
fear of sinning; the most abhorrent and
absurd thoughts disturbed her peace. She
wept often. “You cry so much during your
childhood,” intimates told her, “you will no
longer have tears to shed later on!” Headaches plagued her once more. Her father
finally removed her from the Abbey school
and provided private tutoring for her. During this time her sister, Marie, became very
close with Thérèse, and helped her to overcome these fears. But Marie in turn, also
entered the Lisieux Carmel (on October
15, 1886). This was very hard on Thérèse,
who at the age of thirteen had now lost her
‘third’ mother.
The Christmas Conversion
After midnight Mass, Christmas, 1886,
the shadow of self-doubt, depression, and
uncertainty suddenly lifted from Thérèse,
leaving her in possession of a new calm
and inner conviction. Grace had intervened
to change her life as she was going up the
stairs at her home. Something her father
said provoked a sudden inner change. The
Holy Child’s strength supplanted her weakness. The strong character she had at the
age of four and a half was suddenly restored
to her. A ten year struggle had ended. Her
tears had dried up. The third and last period
of her life was about to begin. She called it
her life’s “most beautiful” period. Freed
from herself, she embarked on her “Giant’s
Race”. She was consumed like Jesus with a
thirst for souls. “My heart was filled with
charity. I forgot myself to please others and,
in doing so, became happy myself”.
Now, she could fulfil her dream of entering the Carmel as soon as possible to love
Jesus and pray for sinners. Grace received
at Mass in the summer of 1887 left her
with a vision of standing at the foot of the
Cross, collecting the blood of Jesus and giving it to souls. Convinced that her prayers
and sufferings could bring people to Christ,
she boldly asked Jesus to give her some sign
that she was right. He did. In the early summer of 1887, a criminal, Henri Pranzini, was
convicted of the murder of two women and
a child. He was sentenced to the guillotine.
The convicted man, according to police
reports, showed no inclination to repent.
Thérèse immediately stormed heaven for
Pranzini’s conversion. She prayed for weeks
and had Mass offered for him. There was
still no change in the attitude of the condemned man. The newspaper La Croix,
in describing Pranzini’s execution, noted
the man had refused to go to confession.
Then on September 1, 1887, as the executioner was about to put his head onto the
Thérèse of Lisieux
guillotine block, the unfortunate criminal
seised the crucifix a priest offered him and,
the newspaper noted, “kissed the Sacred
Wounds three times.” Thérèse wept for joy;
her “first child” had obtained God’s mercy.
Thérèse hoped that many others would follow once she was in the Carmel.
Her Life at Lisieux Carmel
Marie Martin, the oldest daughter of
the family, joined her sister Pauline at
the Lisieux Carmel in 1886. Leonie Martin
entered the Visitation Convent at Caen the
following year. Thérèse then sought permission from her father to join Marie and
Pauline at the Lisieux Convent. Louis was
probably expecting the request, but it saddened him nevertheless. Three of his girls
had already entered religious life. But, characteristically generous, he not only granted
Thérèse’s request, but worked zealously
to help her realise it. She was not yet fifteen when she approached the Carmelite
authorities again for permission to enter.
Again she was refused. The priest-director
advised her to return when she was twentyone. “Of course,” he added, “you can always
see the bishop. I am only his delegate.” The
priest did not realise what kind of girl he
was dealing with.
To his dying day, Bishop Hugonin of
Bayeux never forgot her. She came to his
office with her father one rainy day and
put her surprising request before him. “You
are not yet fifteen and you wish this?” the
bishop questioned. “I wished it since the
dawn of reason,” young Thérèse declared.
Louis’ support of her request amazed the
bishop. His Excellency had never seen this
type of support before. “A father as eager
to give his child to God,” he remarked, “as
this child was eager to offer herself to him.”
Thérèse of Lisieux
Just before the interview, Thérèse had put
up her hair, thinking this would make her
look older. This amused the bishop, and he
never spoke about Thérèse in later years
without recounting her ploy. Although
charmed by her, Bishop Hugonin did not
immediately grant Thérèse’s request. He
wanted time to consider it, and advised
Thérèse and her father that he would write
them regarding his decision.
Thérèse had planned that, should the
Bayeux trip fail, she would go to the Pope
himself. Thus in November, 1887, Louis
took his daughters, Thérèse and Celine, to
Italy with a group of French pilgrims. Catholics from all over the world were journeying
to the Eternal City, to celebrate Leo XIII’s
Golden Jubilee as a priest. In her autobiography, Thérèse sketched a charming picture
of her travels through Southern Europe. In
Rome she was enamoured of the Coliseum.
Its history of Christian martyrdom stirred
the very roots of her being. Once inside the
Coliseum, the two sisters ignored regulations prohibiting visitors from descending
through the ruined structure to the arena
floor, sneaked away from the tour group,
climbed across barriers and down the ruins
to kneel and pray on the Coliseum floor.
Gathering up a few stones as relics, they
slipped back to the tour. No one, except
their father, noted their absence.
The great day of the audience with Pope
Leo XIII came at the end of their week in
Rome. On Sunday, November 20, 1887,
“they told us on the Pope’s behalf that
it was forbidden to speak as this would
prolong the audience too much. I turned
toward my dear Celine for advice: ‘Speak!’
she said. A moment later I was at the Holy
Father’s feet....Lifting tear-filled eyes to his
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57
Thérèse of Lisieux
face I cried out: ‘Most Holy Father, I have
a great favour to ask you!....Holy Father, in
honour of your jubilee, permit me to enter
Carmel at the age of fifteen.’”
next fourteen years. Now, with her father
paralysed, the meaning of Thérèse’s vision
in the garden so long ago had become
apparent at last.
Father Reverony, the leader of the
French pilgrimage, stared stonily at this
bold little girl, in surprise and displeasure.
“Most Holy Father,” the priest said coldly,
“this is a child who wants to enter Carmel at
the age of fifteen. The superiors are considering the matter at the moment.” “Well, my
child,” the Holy Father replied, “do what the
superiors tell you.” “Resting my hands on his
knees,” Thérèse continued, “I made a final
effort, saying, ‘Oh, Holy Father, if you say
yes, everybody will agree!’ He gazed at me
speaking these words and stressing each
syllable: ‘Go - go - you will enter if God wills
it.’” Thérèse did not want to leave the Holy
Father’s presence, so the papal guards had
to lift her up and carry the tearful young girl
to the door. There they gave her a medal
of Leo XIII. Her old nurse, Victoire, probably could have told the Pope he should not
have been surprised. Victoire had seen Thérèse in some rare displays of determination.
Louis however, rallied his strength, and
managed to attend the ceremonies of Thérèse’s clothing in the Carmelite habit on
January 10, 1889. Shortly thereafter, on
February 12th, Louis was taken to the hospital after an attack of dementia. Seeing her
father’s humiliation hurt Thérèse deeply.
“Oh, I do not think I could have suffered
more than I did on that Day!!!” With that,
Thérèse began to understand the sufferings
of the mocked Christ, the Suffering Servant
foretold by Isaiah. Thérèse’s father made
one last visit to the Carmel in May, 1892.
He died peacefully two years later, in 1894,
with Celine at his side. Celine then joined
her three sisters at Carmel in September of
1894. Thérèse spent the last nine years of
her life at the Lisieux Carmel. Her fellow Sisters recognised her as a good nun, nothing
more. She was conscientious and capable. Sister Thérèse worked in the sacristy,
cleaned the dining room, painted pictures,
composed short pious plays for the Sisters,
wrote poems, and lived the intense community prayer life of the cloister. Superiors
appointed her to instruct the novices of the
community. Externally, there was nothing
remarkable about this Carmelite nun.
On New Year’s Day, 1888, the prioress
of the Lisieux Carmel advised Thérèse she
would be received into the monastery, but
that she had to be patient and wait a little
bit longer. On April 9, 1888, an emotional
and tearful, but determined Thérèse Martin
said good-bye to her home and her family.
She was going to live “for ever and ever”
in the desert with Jesus and twenty-four
enclosed companions: she was fifteen years
and three months old. The only cloud on
her horison was the worsening condition
of her father, Louis, who had developed
cerebral arteriosclerosis. Celine remained
at home to care for their father during his
long and final illness. The good father was
growing senile. Once in June of 1888, he
wandered from his home at Lisieux and
was lost for three days, eventually turning
up at Le Havre. In August, after a series of
strokes, Louis became paralysed. Many
years earlier, when Thérèse was a little girl,
she would peer out of an attic window. Thérèse loved revelling in the glory of the day.
One day however, while her father was in
Alencon on business, she suddenly saw in
the garden below the stooped and twisted
figure of a man. She froze in terror. “Papa,
Papa” she cried out. Her sister Marie, who
was nearby heard the unmistakable note of
panic in Thérèse’s cry and ran to her. The
figure in the garden disappeared. Marie
assured her it was nothing and told her to
forget everything that had happened. But
the vision continued to cling like a sad portent in the corner of Thérèse’s mind for the
Thérèse was affected by the spiritual
atmosphere in the community, which was
still tainted by Jansenism and the vision of
an avenging God. Some of the sisters feared
divine justice and suffered badly from scruples. Even after her general confession in
May 1888 to Father Pichon, her Jesuit spiritual director, Thérèse was still uneasy. But a
great peace came over her when she made
Thérèse of Lisieux
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59
oress in succession to Mother Marie de
Gonzague in February of 1893. Pauline
asked Thérèse to write verses and theatrical
entertainment for liturgical and community
festivals. Included were two plays about
Saint Joan of Arc, “her beloved sister”,
which she performed herself with great
feeling and conviction. When Celine joined
Thérèse at Lisieux Carmel in September of
1894, she brought her camera. Through
this, they were able to enliven their recreation periods, and leave Thérèse’s picture to
posterity.
her profession on September 8, 1890. It
was the reading of St. John of the Cross, an
unusual choice at the time, which brought
her relief. In the “Spiritual Canticle” and
the “Living Flame of Love”, she discovered
“the true Saint of Love.” This, she felt, was
the path she was meant to follow. During a
community retreat in October, 1891, a Franciscan, Father Alexis Prou, launched her on
those “waves of confidence and love”, on
which she had previously been afraid to
venture.
The harsh winter of 1890-1891 and a
severe influenza epidemic killed three of
the sisters, as well as Mother Geneviere,
the Lisieux Carmel’s founder and “Saint”.
Thérèse was spared, and her true energy
and strength began to show themselves.
Thérèse was delighted when her sister,
Agnes of Jesus (Pauline) was elected pri-
Thérèse Develops Her “Little Way”
Thérèse was aware of her littleness. “It is
impossible for me to grow up, so I must bear
with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of
going to heaven by a little way, a way that
is very straight, very short and totally new.”
Thérèse went on to describe the elevator in the home of a rich person. And she
continued: “I wanted to find an elevator
which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too
small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched then in the Scriptures for
some sign of this elevator, the object of my
desires and I read these words coming from
the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: ‘Whoever is
a little one let him come to me.’ The elevator which must raise me to heaven is your
arms, O Jesus, and for this I have no need to
grow up, but rather I have to remain little
and become this more and more,” And so
she abandoned herself to Jesus and her life
became a continual acceptance of the will
of the Lord.
The Lord, it seems, did not demand great
things of her. But Thérèse felt incapable of
the tiniest charity, the smallest expression
of concern and patience and understand-
ing. So she surrendered her life to Christ
with the hope that he would act through
her. She again mirrored perfectly the words
of St. Paul, “I can do all things in him who
strengthens me.” “All things” consisted of
almost everything she was called upon to
do in the daily grind of life. Life in the Carmel had its problems too: the clashes of
communal life, the cold, the new diet and
the difficulties of prayer (two hours’ prayer
and four and a half hours of liturgy). One
day, she leaned over the wash pool with a
group of Sisters, laundering handkerchiefs.
One of the Sisters splashed the hot, dirty
water into Thérèse’s face, not once, not
twice, but continually. Remember the terrible temper that Thérèse had? She was near
to throwing one of her best tantrums, but
said nothing! Christ helped her to accept
this lack of consideration on the part of her
fellow Sister, and she found a certain peace.
Again, in the daily grind of convent life, she
was moved by her youthful idealism to help
Sister St. Pierre, a crotchety, older nun who
refused to let old age keep her from convent
activities. Thérèse tried to help her along
the corridors. “You move too fast,” the old
nun complained. Thérèse slowed down.
“Well, come on,” Sister urged. “I don’t feel
your hand. You have let go of me and I am
going to fall.” And as a final judgment, old
Thérèse of Lisieux
Sister St. Pierre declared: “I was right when
I said you were too young to help me.” Thérèse took it all and managed to smile. This
was her “little way.”
Another nun made strange, clacking
noises in chapel. Thérèse did not say, but
the good lady was probably either toying
with her rosary or was afflicted by ill-fitting
dentures. The clacking sound really got to
Thérèse. It ground into her brain. Terribletempered Thérèse was pouring sweat in
frustration. She tried to shut her ears, but
was unsuccessful. Then, as an example of
her ‘little ways’, she made a concert out of
the clacking and offered it as a prayer to
Jesus. “I assure you,” she dryly remarked,
“that was no prayer of Quiet.”
Thérèse, the great mystic, fell asleep
frequently at prayer. She was embarrassed
by her inability to remain awake during her
hours in chapel with the religious community. Finally, in perhaps her most charming
and accurate characterisation of the “little way,” she noted that, just as parents
love their children as much while asleep as
awake, so God loved her even though she
often slept during the time for prayers.
“May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and
allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.”
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Peter Adrian Toulorge
60
61
Born:
4th of May, 1757.
Died:
13th of October, 1793.
Beatified: 29th of April, 2012.
“My God, I place my life in Your hands! I pray for
the restoration and preservation of Your Holy
Church. Forgive my enemies.”
eter-Adrian Toulorge was born on May
4, 1757 at Muneville-le-Bingard in
Normandy, France. The same day he
also received his Baptism. He was the third
child of Julien Toulorge and Julienne Hamel,
who had a small family farm. Peter-Adrian
grew up and received his early education in the diocese of Coutances, an area
filled with faithful Catholics who regularly
participated in the sacramental life of the
church. The diocese produced many vocations including Peter-Adrian who entered
the diocesan seminary in Coutances at the
age of 19 after being tutored in Latin by one
of the assistant priests and after completing general studies and philosophy. In 1782
at the age of 25 he was ordained a priest
and assigned as assistant curate in Doville, a
parish of about 600 whose parish priest was
a 44 year old, methodical and zealous Norbertine canon named Father James-Francis
Le Canuthe. The parish had many members
whose maritime profession had suffered
much from the effects of the American
Revolutionary War. The majority of parishioners lived in poverty. Peter-Adrian and
his parish priest dedicated much of their
efforts to helping them.
Peter frequently visited the nearby Norbertine abbey in Blanchelande that was
founded in the twelfth century by St. Norbert himself. The Premonstratensian Order
(or Norbertines) focuses on pastoral ministry and communal celebration of the Divine
Office. Peter-Adrian asked the Prior of the
abbey to receive him into the Order to which
he was admitted and given the white habit
of the Norbertines. Since the abbey had no
novitiate of its own, Peter-Adrian was sent
to the abbey in Beauport, Brittany. In 1788
at the age of 31 Canon Toulorge returned
to the abbey in Blanchelande and made his
religious profession. He ministered to surrounding parishes and gained a reputation
as a fine preacher.
In January of 1789, King Louis XVI convened a general assembly in Versailles.
Soon, the events took a revolutionary
turn and in a daring coup, the Constituent
Assembly seised power. Having Voltairian
tendencies the Assembly enacted several
anti-Church acts. They abolished monastic orders and seised their properties and
assets, putting them up for sale. In 1790,
the National Assembly promulgated the
Civil Constitution of the Clergy. This unjust
act placed the Church in France under the
civil authority. Bishops and pastors were to
be elected by the people; the Holy See was
stripped of all authority. Bishops, priests,
and curates were required to swear an oath
of allegiance and fidelity to the Civil Constitution. Refusal could mean being stripped of
their offices and being faced with criminal
prosecution. A year later, Pope Pius VI condemned this Civil Constitution and forbade
the clergy from taking this ridiculous oath.
Unfortunately many priests had taken the
oath out of fear, ambition and ignorance of
the Pope’s condemnation. However, when
many of the clergy learned of the Pope’s
stand, they courageously retracted their
oath to the Civil Constitution.
In 1792, the anti-Church revolutionary
government passed a law that called for the
deportation of public service priests who
had not taken the oath. Hatred of religion
and the clergy was reaching an all-time
high. Clergy who had remained in France or
who returned from exile could be subject
to a death sentence. Hundreds of priests
left en masse to go into exile, and Fr. Toulorge was among them. He spent five weeks
with 500 of his confreres from the diocese
of Coutances as a penniless exile on the
nearby Anglo-Norman island of Jersey.
While there, a fellow priest pointed out that
Fr. Toulorge had mistakenly misinterpreted
the scope of the banishment law and that
technically the law had not applied to him,
however, since he had left, returning at this
stager would indeed put him at odds with
Peter Adrian Toulorge
the law. Fr. Toulorge, knowing the extreme
shortage of priests now in France, decided
to secretly return, hoping the authorities
would not have even noticed his departure.
Fr. Toulorge returned to France and for
almost a year, went underground, moving
from place to place and house to house,
saying Masses, administering the sacraments and encouraging the people in their
faith. Often he went from village to village
in disguise, evading the notice of the civil
authorities. Fr. Toulorge celebrated Mass in
makeshift vestments and he read prayers
from hand made copies from the Missal. He did this in great danger as the civil
authorities offered rewards to anyone who
reported the whereabouts of priests like
Fr. Toulorge. Revolutionary clubs were constantly on the man-hunt for “illegal” clergy.
One September evening, a woman saw a
wet and muddy vagabond appear suddenly
from the thicket. The woman, in charity,
invited the vagabond to her home and lit
the fire to warm the tired beggar-man. As
they talked and a mutual trust was won, the
vagabond revealed his true identity; it was
Fr. Toulorge himself. The woman also then
revealed that she was in fact a Benedictine
nun named Sr. Saint-Paul who’d been driven
into exile from the Revolution. The next day
Sr. Saint-Paul, who’d again donned her disguise, led Fr. Toulorge, now disguised also
as a woman, to a neighbour’s house hoping
he’d be safer there. As they walked by, some
workers noticed Fr. Toulorge’s men’s shoes
and stockings and notified the Revolutionary Guards, in hopes to claim a reward. Fr.
Toulorge was hiding in the upstairs attic
when the Guards pounded open the door.
They searched the house from top to bottom. Fr. Toulorge had hidden himself under
Peter Adrian Toulorge
piles of flax. The Guards even stabbed at the
piles with their bayonets but missed hitting
the hiding priest. As they left the house,
one of the Guards doubled back and there
discovered Fr. Toulorge as he was emerging
from his hiding place. He was immediately
arrested.
Two days later, Fr. Toulorge was taken
to the district director to be put on trial. In
order to save his life, Fr. Toulorge denied the
fact that he had in fact been out of France
in exile and had returned to serve his people. The district judges, confused on what
to do with him, then sent him to another
court in Coutances. While in prison awaiting his appearance before the new court,
Fr. Toulorge was bothered by his earlier
denial that he’d left and returned to France.
He felt remorse for not stating the truth.
He contemplated the words of Jesus who
said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be
no” – (Mt. 5:37) On September 8, the Feast
of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Fr. Toulorge confessed to the court that he
had indeed been in Jersey and had secretly
returned to France. He was immediately
put back in prison.
Two weeks later, Fr. Toulorge faced a
hearing before a commission to determine
if the priest should be declared an exile.
Some in the commission hoped to save
the priest’s life and even advised him to
remain silent or to retract his confession,
as this could indeed save him from the guillotine. After being declared an exile, Fr.
Toulorge was then sent to a criminal court
for sentencing. Again, sympathetic officials
in the criminal court hoped to save Fr. Toulorge’s life and advised him to remain silent.
When questioned in the criminal court, Fr.
Toulorge did not remain silent and whole-
62
63
heartedly confessed to having spent time
after leaving France, on the English island
of Jersey. His Catholic witness to the truth,
and the whole truth, gave the court no
choice but to sentence the honest priest to
death.
After the verdict was read, silence filled
the court room. Fr. Toulorge broke the
silence by exclaiming “Deo Gratias! Thanks
be to God! May God’s will – not mine be
done!” Adieu Messieurs, until Eternity, if
you make yourselves worthy of it”!
The night before his death he went to
confession and, while all the other inmates
slept, he wrote three deeply touching letters – to his brother, to a friend, and to an
unknown woman – to which he added, “I
wish you God’s blessing. October 12, 1793,
the evening before my marytrdom.”
On Sunday morning, October 13th, Fr.
Toulorge rose in good spirits, ate breakfast as usual, prayed his breviary, before he
asked one of his fellow prisoners to fix his
hair and cut his beard. In the end he asked
his confreres to sing Vespers with him. At
the beginning of Compline, during the second to the last verse of the hymn “GRATES
PERACTO JAM DIE” he closed his breviary
and cried out full of joy,
“My dear friends let us stop here, for
I will soon be gratefully singing the
end of this hymn in heaven… My dear
brothers, I will not forget you; I ask
God to watch over you. I am praying
for all my benefactors, friends, and
even my enemies.”
His confreres knelt down and asked for
his blessing during which a heavenly joy
shone from his face. According to an eyewitness, the guillotine was placed in front of the
house of the mayor of Coutances. The crowd
was speechless with emotion as they beheld
this young priest who went to his death filled
with such inner peace. Just before the execution Fr. Peter-Adrian said: “My God, I place
my life in Your hands! I pray for the restoration and preservation of Your Holy Church.
Forgive my enemies.” After the execution the
hangman grabbed the bloody head by the
Peter Adrian Toulorge
hair and held it up to show the people. It was
4:30. His body was taken to the cemetery of
St. Peter in a cart.
Fr. Peter Adrian Toulorge was beatified
on April 29th, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Fr. Tourlorge’s people of Cotentin have
named him the Martyr for Truth.
Father Peter Adrian Toulourge’s farewell letter:
12th October 1793.
My dear brother Jean-Baptiste,
Rejoice, for tomorrow you will have another friend in Heaven watching over you – I hope – if God preserves me, as he has until now.
Rejoice that God has deemed me fit to suffer not only prison, but
even death for Our Lord Jesus Christ; it is the greatest grace He could
possibly give me; I will pray that He might give you a similar crown.
We should not attach ourselves to perishable things. Turn therefore
your gaze towards Heaven; live life as an honest man, and most importantly, as a good Christian; raise your children in the Holy, Catholic,
Apostolic and Roman faith, outside of which there is no salvation.
Always consider it the greatest honour to have had a brother in the
family who has been called to suffer for God. Far from being sorrowful
about my fate, rejoice instead and say with me: “Blessed be God!” I wish
you a holy life and paradise at the end of your days, not only to you but
also to my sister, to my nephew and niece, and to all my family.
I remain always, in perfect friendship.
Your brother,
Peter Adrian.
Alexius
64
65
He is also a patron of nurses, belt makers and
travelers. In Christian art St. Alexius is represented as wearing ragged clothing and/
or as a man lying underneath stairs. Under
the date of July 17, in the Roman Martyrology, it is said of St. Alexius,”At Rome, in a
church on the Aventine Hill, a man of God
is celebrated under the name of Alexius,
who, as reported by tradition, abandoned
his wealthy home, for the sake of becoming
poor and to beg for alms unrecognised.”
Born:
5th Century.
Died:
5th Century.
Canonised: Pre-Congregation.
he life of St. Alexius parallels the biblical story of the Prodigal Son found
in the gospel of Luke. Some of what
we know about this man is fact – and some
of what we know is legend. Much of the legend could very well be true though as the
story and veneration of St. Alexius has been
brought to us via the oral tradition primarily
in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The Story of St. Alexius
St. Alexius was the son of a wealthy
Roman who was of the senatorial class.
There is a church dedicated to St. Alexius
in Rome that was built on the site of his
father’s mansion. The parents of Alexius
arranged a marriage for him – but on day
of the wedding ceremony, Alexius fled
this arranged marriage and left everyone in his wealthy home, including bride,
family, household and all in attendance to
follow God.
He went as a pilgrim to an area near
Edessa in Syria where he ministered to the
poor and the sick. He lived in poverty as a
Alexius
beggar near a church dedicated to Our Lady.
After many long years he returned to his
father’s house in Rome and due to the time
of his absence and total change of appearance, his own father did not recognise him.
Since his father was a Christian man, he
accepted this beggar man into his house
out of pity and provided him shelter. For
seventeen years Alexius lived as a beggar
under the stairs in a darkened corner of his
father’s house. He would venture out only
to pray in church and to teach catechism to
children. He always shared his alms with his
fellow poor. Legend has it that a vision or
image of Our Lady revealed to some townspeople that this beggar was indeed very
holy and that he was a “Man of God.”
Upon his death from hunger and neglect,
his family found a note on his body that
revealed his true identity. It also told how
since the day of his arranged marriage, he
lived for God and God alone.
Since he traveled to Syria and died a beggar, he is a patron for pilgrims and beggars.
The Catholic Encyclopedia article regarding St. Alexius states: “Perhaps the only
basis for the story is the fact that a certain
pious ascetic at Edessa lived the life of a
beggar and was later venerated as a saint.”
The early History of the Congregation
of the Alexian Brothers
The Alexian Brothers ministry began in
the Middle Ages, as Europe slowly emerged
from centuries of ignorance and superstition. In the Low Countries and along the
Rhine, small groups of men and women
banded together to carry out Christ’s commands. They would tend the sick, feed the
hungry and bury the dead. In the 12th Century these were dangerously unorthodox
activities. Most people, out of fear, shunned
the sick and dying, forcing them outside the
city gates, to subsist on the leavings of the
more fortunate.
The first written account of the Brothers is dated 1259 in a document referring
to the Beguines and Beghards. The name
of these communities evolved from the
word “Algignese” which means “heretics.”
These communes of celibate men and
women were looked upon as unorthodox
or heretical because of the type of life they
lived. Gradually, these communes became
more organised. By the middle of the 13th
century, many received support from the
Franciscan order. But some among them
maintained their independence. It was
from these handful of dedicated laymen
along the Rhine that the Congregation of
the Alexian Brothers grew.
In 1346, the Black Death struck Europe.
Between 30% and 60% of the continent’s
population is estimated to have been killed
by the Plague and the very foundations of
European society were under-minded. Family ties became worthless as the healthy fled
in terror from their stricken kin. The Brothers however remained, risking their lives, to
nurse the victims of the plague, to care for
them and bury them when they died.
When the Plague passed, the men chose
St. Alexius, a fifth century saint who was
devoted to the poor and sick, as the patron
of their first chapel. With the passing of
time, the people they served began to refer
to them as “Alexian Brothers”.
The crest of the Alexian Brothers reflects
their history, the shield of which is divided
into three fields with each field symbolically
Alexius
66
representing one facet of the work of the
Institute.
• The upper half shows on a red background the Pelican nourishing its young
with her heart’s blood - a symbol of the
self-consuming sacrifice of Christian
Charity.
• The two spades on the black background,
in the lower half, is a remembrance of a
former activity of the Alexian Brothers in
burying the dead in time of calamity.
• The flying raven on a silver-gray background represents the feeding of the
destitute, a virtue the Congregation has
practiced for centuries.
A cross, signifying the cross of salvation
projects from behind the shield and around
it is suspended a band with the words of St
Paul and the motto of the congregation:
“The Love of Christ Compels Us”
67
Fr. Michael Shields
The charism of the Alexian Brothers
reflects the life of St Alexius and entails
providing a ‘daring response of a faith community to the gospel of Jesus’.
It is a charism which is rooted in prayer
and simple life style. In discipleship with
Jesus, the Alexian response involves reaching out to the poor, sick and dying, especially
the marginalised and the powerless.
It is a charism which calls every Alexian
to daily conversion and total self-giving in
continuing the healing and reconciling mission of Jesus in collaboration with others.
The world and the work of the Alexian
Brothers like the saint from whom they have
taken their name is focused upon providing
joyful service of healing, hospitality and
witness “in communion with Christ and with
one another” to a broken world, a world in
need of God’s love, “Caritas Christi.”
In 1992 American priest Fr. Michael
Shields left the cold clime of Alaska for
the equally freezing temperatures of the
town of Magadan in the Kolyma region
of Siberia. In prayer, Fr. Michael, of the
Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, felt
he was being called “Go, live in the camps”
– the former Gulags where ‘enemies of the
state’ were sent under communism. He
was determined that this suffering would
never be forgotten and that yesterday’s
culture of death along with today’s culture
of abortion would give way to an authentic
culture of life.
The road that leads to the Gulags is
a symbol of the prisoners’ suffering –
the road itself is a mass grave. Those
incarcerated in the labour camps died in
their thousands. Whether they starved to
death, died from over-work, or were shot,
they died in the camps and a road was
built over their bones. No memorial marks
their final resting place, but there remains
a vast forgotten cemetery underneath the
asphalt. No one knows exactly how many
died in the Kolyma Gulags, but estimates
reckon upwards of a million lost their lives
there.
No matter how many people died in
that terrible episode of Russian history, Fr.
Michael was intent on ensuring that the
stories of the survivors would be passed
on and that accounts of life in the Gulags
would not be lost to history. He knew that it
would be a race against time to record their
recollections as they were very elderly.
Many of those who were released from the
camps had already died. He said: “When
they die so does the story. The stories
must be told for all to see the truth of the
repression of Stalin especially against the
Church and believers. They are the living
witness to what really happened”.
At first, those who had lived through
the camps were reluctant to recount their
experiences. “The people who suffered
in the camps rarely told anyone of
their suffering and their story. Even the
family members knew little of their life
in the camps”. But Fr. Michael invited
the survivors to meet together and, to
his surprise, not only did a number of
them come but they decided to meet
again. Since then, the meetings have taken
place regularly on the last Saturday of
each month, with as many as 80 former
prisoners attending.
According to Fr. Michael, the
meetings helped to initiate the “cultural
Fr. Michael Shields
Magadan, Russia
68
The now-finished Church of the Nativity
not only continues to serve former
prisoners but also reaches out to others in
the local community, including alcoholics
and the vast numbers of unemployed in
the local area.
Church of the Nativity,
Magadan, Russia.
The parish priest feels a special call
to helping women who have undergone
abortions. Often this means not just one
or two – some of these women have had
up to 20 abortions.
transformation” of Magadan. It has
changed the lives of those who endured
the camps and former “enemies of the
state” are now hailed as “heroes of the
time of oppression”. While people were
initially sceptical about the meetings, now
the whole of Magadan is involved: the
town choir has sung at meetings, the
orchestra has performed at them and
government officials have offered to speak
to them. Magadan’s terrible past is being
transformed and healed.
Yet Fr. Michael’s work has not been
universally appreciated and in 2001 the
Ministry of Justice tried to expel the
priest as a foreign national. The Catholic
community had spent several years finding
a site, securing the funding and obtaining
government authorisation to build a
new church. They were worried that the
building work would stop if Fr. Michael
was deported. But the Magadan Provincial
Court judge took 10 minutes to decide
that Fr. Michael could stay in the country
even though he is not a Russian citizen.
Fr. Michael Shields
69
During Soviet times abortion was
widely used as a means of birth control
and the situation is little different today.
On one occasion five women took part in
a group meeting organised by Fr. Michael.
Between them they had 47 abortions.
He stressed how important it is for these
women to be healed. “We are helping
women to speak about their abortions so
the next generation can learn from their
pain. Many of the women subsequently
became involved in pro-life work,
explaining to younger women the suffering
that abortion can bring and telling how
God has healed them”.
His pro-life work continued to expand
and in 2008 he opened the Nativity Inn in
Ola, a small village about 20 miles outside
Magadan. The inn provides short-term
accommodation for mothers thrown out
of their college dormitories when they
become pregnant. Fr. Michael said: “What
has surprised us is how much the Nativity
Inn project and our centre at the Church
in Magadan have grown through word
of mouth. We find again and again that
women come along having heard about us
from other women in the same situation”.
In June 2009 he opened a pro-life
centre at the state-run Magadan Women’s
is for the victims of the prison camp – who
are also commemorated in the Stations
of the Cross, which depict victims of the
camp in the scenes of Our Lord’s Passion –
and the other is for the aborted children.
Fr. Michael believes neither group should
ever be forgotten.
His presence in Magadan has allowed
the shadows of these tragic deaths to be
transformed by the by the glorious light of
the Resurrection.
Consultation Centre where pregnancy
tests take place. This means the priest and
his volunteers can offer a real alternative
to abortion to women who have just
discovered they are pregnant and may
think that the only option is to have the
pregnancy terminated.
The Mask of Sorrow and
Remembrance
Fr. Michael went on to say: “What
is amazing is that the state doctor who
works at the Women’s Consultation Centre
in Magadan approached us to see if we
would be willing to develop a project
there. It has been wonderful because
Russia is really turning a corner and wants
to see more births”.
They died and they were quietly
buried. No one had a burial service for
them, no family or friends paid their
last respects.
Worried by the falling birth rate, the
Russian government has encouraged Fr.
Michael in his work with pregnant mothers:
“We have been invited by the head
gynaecologist in a small village to meet
with her and begin work there. So the Lord
is blessing our work and opening doors that
have been closed for a long time”.
In the Church of the Nativity there are
two sets of commemorative plaques. One
“People died by the tens, hundreds and
thousands. In their place always came
new silent slaves, who laboured for
some food, a piece of bread.
They did not even dig graves for them,
but rather dug a communal trench and
tossed the naked bodies in the snow
and when spring came, wild animals
tore apart their bones.
We, who managed to survive,
mourned them. We believe that the
Lord accepted the martyrs into the
heavenly kingdom.”
May their souls and the souls of the
faithful departed rest in peace,
Amen.
Sister Meena Barwa
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The Archbishop of Cuttack Bhubaneshwar,
Msgr. John Barwa is the uncle of Sr. Meena
Barwa, the nun who was raped during the
anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal in 2008
and was interviewed shortly before assuming
his Archepiscopal office in early 2011.
“I am sure the Christians in Orissa have
not suffered in vain. Our suffering has
borne fruit: we grow in faith and the love
for God”, says Sister Meena Barwa, the Religious Sister raped during the anti-Christian
massacres in Kandhamal district in Orissa in
August 2008.
While there are still cases of Christian
leaders murdered and while many of the
faithful await justice, Sr. Meena said “Priests,
religious and lay people have suffered and
fought together. The Lord knows our ordeal,
but there is no hatred in our hearts. We
believe that unspeakable pain inflicted on us
has not been useless”. In fact, Sister Meena
continues, “we know that in suffering we
experience God’s blessing and the pain has
borne fruit: today we have become stronger
in faith and the love for God”.
Provincial
Map of India
With regards to her experience in Orissa,
Sister Meena says: “I feel part of the community in Kandhamal and I have never
thought of leaving this place. We have come
a long way and we have a long way to go
together. In this path, God is our strength
and our stronghold”.
“Today”, Sr Meena continues in her witness, “we survive thanks to faith. God is
our protection and He is with us always.
We cannot stop to look back because there
are significant challenges ahead of us:
the Lord has kept us alive and now we are
called to face these challenges with hope,
confidence and conviction”. She concludes
with a thank you: “I am deeply grateful to
all those who did not lack in giving us, in
the past and until now, support, encouragement and prayers”.
“Unworthy though I am, it is He who
has manifested his Great Love through the
journey of my life, from my humble tribal
origins to the call to serve as a priest, then
a provincial Bishop and Archbishop. It is
through the Loving Mercy of God and the
accompaniment of his Blessed Mother, who
has accompanied me on my journey in Faith
and Service to the Church and my People”.
The Archbishop pointed out that the
announcement of his appointment as Archbishop was made on the Feast of Our Lady
of Lourdes and that the Blessed Mother
has been his constant companion in the Via
Crucis of his life, his family and his people.
Just before the announcement, he was
in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, praying to the Father and the Blessed
Mother, “to guide me, in this new responsibility to lead my people”. Through his
prayers he “felt empowered by the Holy
Spirit” and that the Holy Spirit would guide
him in leading his people.
Referring to Sr. Meena the Archbishop
remarked “Sr. Meena was one of the first
who greeted me and she was bubbling with
Archbishop John Barwa
joy , “Uncle” she joyfully said, “God is so kind
to our family. My heart sings of the Greatness of God , Uncle, you will lead our people
in truth, justice and peace. All my sufferings,
pain and humiliation I offer for you and your
mission as archbishop. God will lead you and
Mary will protect you. I will continuously pray
for you. This is for our people and our Church
a sign of God’s continued blessings.” Thus
the Archbishop added that “the sufferings of
Meena are bearing fruit for the Church, for
the people of Orissa and for my family.”
The Archbishop is well aware of the difficulties inherent in the situation: “My motto
is: ‘Thy Kingdom Come’. The Kingdom of
God is peace, justice, love as opposed to
hatred and injustice, and it is the love of
Christ that prompts us to works of justice
and truth.”
The Archbishop said “I know the pain,
anguish and sufferings of my people. I
understand humiliation and suffering and
I have practical experience of the resurrection and the victory of life over death. This
knowledge, this understanding and this
experience will help me better serve the
Church in Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar and console its faithful.”
Archbishop Bashar Warda
72
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love,
Where there is injury let me sow pardon,
Where there is doubt let me sow faith,
Where there is despair let me give hope,
Where there is darkness let me give light,
Where there is sadness let me give joy.
O Divine Master, grant that
I may not try to be comforted but to comfort,
Not try to be understood but to understand,
Not try to be loved but to love.
Because it is in giving that we receive,
It is in forgiving that we are forgiven,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
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Archbishop Bashar Warda
The Church in Iraq by
Archbishop Bashar Warda of
Erbil in Northern Iraq.
In many countries, like Iraq, the situation for Christians seems to be worsening,
sometimes to the point where we wonder
if we will survive as a people in our own
country.
But this is not a time to hide our faith or
our identity over such struggles. In Iraq, 40
years of war and oppression have strengthened our endurance and our resolve to
stand strong and to claim our legal and
historical right as a Church and as a people
in Iraq. We have not come this far to give
up. Through international support and solidarity, I believe we can be stronger in our
unity and more strategic in our search for
sustainable solutions.
What we Iraqis are suffering is a crisis in
cultural change. We are living in a region
which cannot decide if it is for democracy or for Islamic law. It cannot decide
if it is for the rights of human beings to
live in freedom in all its exciting and challenging forms, or if it is for the control
of the spirit and the minds of its people.
This is the kind of control that welcomes
the terrorist methods of intimidation, kidnapping and killing of religious minorities.
The Middle East, now, is a crescent, fertile
for terror and domination. A region founded upon a cultural and social environment
that has depended on violence to keep
its societies divided. History and a tribal
mentality have been used to maintain that
violence and those divisions. The Crusades,
the aggressive West, Israel and American
Christians are pointed to as the enemies.
Yet, in reality, the enemy is within. What
Iraqis are left with is a weak constitution
that tries to please two masters: on the
one hand the premise of human rights
supposedly for all its citizens, yet on the
other hand, Islamic law for its majority of
Muslims. Islamists are not the only ones
at fault. Secularists with an eye for profit
are also responsible. Neighbouring governments in the region feeding the insurgents
with money and weapons to destabilise the
government are also responsible.
The rest of world’s governments have
turned their backs on us, as if the human
rights abuses and near genocide conditions Iraqi Christians experience, are temporary. Yet for nearly 50 years, Christians in
Archbishop Bashar Warda
Provincial
Map of Iraq
Iraq have suffered displacement and negligence. Here is a picture of the 233 Christian
villages in northern Iraq in 1961. Dozens of
those villages were destroyed in the 1950s
and 60’s as Iraq evolved from a kingdom
to a republic and this displacement continued into the years of Saddam Hussein.
Moreover, Christian history is noticeably
absent from the Iraqi history books used
in our public schools. Our place as one of
the original inhabitants of the region, has
been wiped from collective memory. We
are merely one of the non-Muslim, minority inhabitants of Iraq, lacking all the rights
and rewards that full citizenship in a real
democracy should bring us.
During the Gulf War years, the Christian
population in Iraq was estimated between
1.2 and 1.4 million. By 2003, it had dropped
by over half a million. Iraq’s Christian population now numbers less that 500,000
and this figure is highly optimistic. Iraqi
Christians live primarily in Baghdad, Basra,
Kirkuk, Erbil and Mosul and in small towns
in the Nineveh plains of the north. Close
to two-thirds of Iraqi Christians belong to
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75
the Chaldean Catholic Church, and roughly
one-fifth belong to the Assyrian Church
of the East. The rest belong to the Syriac
Orthodox Church, Syriac Catholic Church,
and various Protestant denominations.
The main Iraqi Christian population centres are located along disputed boundaries
between Iraq and Kurdistan and in areas
with strong extremist militia presence.
These kidnappings and murders have
left their mark on the minds and bodies
of the Iraqi churches. Not only have our
religious leaders been murdered, but also
simple families, shop keepers, children,
teachers, the elderly, mothers and their
babies, and members of all elements of
Christian society. Intimidation is constant
and widespread:
Christians tend to be persecuted by
majority populations for two reasons:
• Direct threats using intimidating letters
with bullets placed inside.
• Text messages directly sent to families.
• Face-to-face in the streets
• Threatening language from police and
army representatives.
• Breaking into houses, stealing possessions or making extortion threats.
• Threatening graffiti with Koranic text.
• Armed men standing in front of Christian
homes or sitting in cars.
• Text messages about kidnapping children from their schools.
• Also, our college students are severely
intimidated. Thousands of college students have delayed their studies or
transferred to Erbil for their course work.
• Their Christian faith, which is not accepted in Iraq by Islamic fundamentalists and
• For political purposes to control land
and resource allocation in the disputed
areas.
Violence Against Christians
Amidst Political Turmoil
Since the occupation of Iraq in 2003 over
500 Christians have been killed in religious
and politically motivated conflicts. Forty percent of the killings took place in northern
Iraq, 58% in the Baghdad region and 2%
in the south. Killings of Christians began in
earnest in 2003 when the first translator
was killed in Baghdad. In 2006, targeted killings of Christian leaders escalated when an
Orthodox Christian priest, Boulos Iskander,
was kidnapped, beheaded and dismembered despite payment of a ransom.
Between 2006 and 2010, 17 Iraqi priests
and 2 Iraqi Bishops were kidnapped in
Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk. Many were
held for days; some for weeks. All were
beaten or tortured by their kidnappers.
Most were released, but one bishop, four
priests and three sub-deacons were killed. In
most cases, those responsible for the crimes
stated they wanted Christians out of Iraq.
Iraqi Church Bombings
Now I would like to talk to you about
the systematic bombing campaign of Iraqi
churches. The first Iraqi church was bombed
in June, 2004 in Mosul. Following that event,
successive campaigns have occurred and
a total of 66 churches have been attacked
or bombed; 41 in Baghdad, 19 in Mosul,
5 in Kirkuk and 1 in Ramadi. In addition, 2
convents, 1 monastery and a church orphanage was bombed. The first Campaign of
bombed churches took place on August
1 2004 at the Church of Saint Peter and
Paul in Al Dora. That day, 6 churches were
bombed across Iraq. As I am sure most of
Archbishop Bashar Warda
you know from the news, on 31 October
2010, 58 people, including 51 hostages and
2 priests, were killed after an attack on Our
Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic church in
Baghdad. A group affiliated to Al-Qaida,
Islamic State for Iraq, stated that Christians
were a “legitimate target.” Among the thousands of examples of overwhelming suffering among Iraqi Christians, two come to my
mind here that I would like to tell you about.
One is the story of the father of a
teacher in our kindergarten in Ankawa.
Last year Mr. Dahan was the first of at
least eight Iraqi Christians killed in Mosul
prior to the elections. The abduction that
ended in his death was the second time
he had been kidnapped. Two years before,
he had been abducted, beaten and stuffed
in the trunk of a car until the family could
collect the $5,000 ransom. The family says
that after he returned the first time, they
didn’t leave Mosul because their father
would not move. “Our father said, ‘if all of
us Christians leave, who is going to stay in
the land of the prophets and pray in our
churches?’ “ “He said, ‘we were all born in
Mosul and we will die in Mosul.’ “
A second story is about my friend Father
Mazen from Qaraqosh. Father Mazen
was kidnapped 4 days after he had been
ordained a priest. He was released but a
year later armed men entered his home
and killed his father and two brothers
in front of his mother and sister in law.
Despite this tragedy, Father Mazen serves
the displaced families in his congregation in
Qaraqosh with unfaltering faith.
As I mentioned, there are thousands
of examples of such senseless injury and
killing. The grief and sorrow in our congregations is palpable, where not one person
Archbishop Bashar Warda
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Over the past 8 years our Erbil Diocese
Immigration Committee has registered over
3,000 families displaced by conflict. Not
all families register so we know this is an
under-estimate of the sise of those who
have moved. Most of the families we have
registered come from Baghdad and Mosul.
It is difficult to know exactly how many Iraqi
Christians live outside Iraq, but estimates
suggest that over half the population has
fled the country with hundreds of thousands in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.
At least a million more Iraqis live in the US,
the United Kingdom, the European Union,
Australia, and many other countries.
has been uneffected by tragedy since 2003.
Moreover, each family has suffered decades of losses from the Saddam regime,
the sanctions prior to the occupation, the
devastation of the Gulf War as well as the
Iran/Iraq War. Iraqis are a people who have
experienced immense suffering but who
are also strong, resilient and prepared to
claim their right to existence.
Christian Internal Displacement,
Migration and the Diaspora
The Kurdistan region, overall, has been
a relocation site for over 55,000 internally
displaced persons (IDPs) from other cities
in Iraq in the past 7 years. The population
has grown significantly since the military
events of 2003.
More recently, following the systematic
intimidation and violence prior to the elections in 2010 and after the church bombing,
about 4,000 Christian families fled Iraq’s cities to Erbil. Probably twice this have move
from both Baghdad and Mosul City into the
Nineveh Valley, an area to the north where
life is relatively safer and more affordable.
Current Situation of
Need for Christians in Iraq
In Erbil, once our Church leaders are
assured that our families are safely relocated, we have three main goals to assist them.
• First of all we want to provide stability
via employment and affordable housing,
• Secondly we want to be sure that families have access to good education and
medical care and thirdly,
• And most importantly, we want a vibrant
living Church to support the social and
spiritual needs of our families.
We are working hard to make these
things happen, but the resources of Erbil
and its neighbouring Dioceses have been
stressed because of the high influx of people over a short period of time.
• Erbil Diocese has grown by over 30%
with churches, schools, health care facilities, housing and basic infrastructures
feeling the burden.
• Schools average 35-45 children per class,
operate in two shifts a day.
• Moreover, housing costs have skyrocketed as local homeowners have raised
rents 200-300% to take advantage of the
housing demand.
At this time, diocese leaders are raising
funds from inside the communities and
donor organisations such Aid to Church
in Need to build new churches and to
restore old and damaged ones. Classrooms
are being built and restored in all our
churches to be used for Catechism classes
and community education. A new Catholic
primary school building has recently
been funded to ease the burden of public education in the area. Church leaders
are looking to construct low cost housing for displaced families as a long-term
investment against rising land values.
Diocese leaders also continue to search
for development investments to stimulate
the job economy and to employ displaced
family members. With many problems facing Iraqi Christians, the greatest concern of
Diocese leaders is that there are enough
strong parishes prepared to assist families as they continue to readjust to their
lives: displaced from their jobs, homes, and
extended networks. There is a real concern
that if families are not assisted effectively
and not embraced by the community, that
we will lose them from the Church and to
immigration outside of Iraq.
Archbishop Bashar Warda
Lastly we want the presence of the
Christians Church to be apparent by a
vibrant and active parish life symbolised
by physical church buildings and obvious
public spaces. We do not want to hide our
faith or identity out of fear for our lives.
We want to be seen and remembered by all
Iraqis; those who threaten us, but moreover those willing to stand in solidarity with
us. We thank Aid to the Church in Need for
your solidarity with us. We thank your generous and kind hearted donors and those
who have prayed with us and for us these
past years of our struggles. I would like to
finish with a prayer:
Father, pour out your Spirit
upon your people,
and grant us a new vision
of your glory,
a new experience of your power,
a new faithfulness to your word,
and a new consecration
to your service,
that your love may grow among us,
and your kingdom come:
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
“The proclamation and witness of the Gospel are the first service that
Christians can offer every person and the whole human race, as they are called
to communicate to all the love of God, who manifested himself fully in the only
Redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ.”
Pope Benedict XVI
Cardinal Seán Brady
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A Reflection on the Persecution
of Christians in Iraq and the
World by Cardinal Seán Brady of
Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate
of all Ireland.
On the 3 June 2007, Fr Ragheed Ganni,
a former student of the Irish College, Rome
(whose studies were funded by Aid to the
Church in Need), and three sub-deacons
were assassinated by militant Muslims as
they left Sunday Mass in Mosul, Northern
Iraq. Before killing Fr Ganni, one of his
attackers was overheard to scream “I told
you to close the Church. Why didn’t you do
it? Why are you still here?” The question:
“Why are you still here?” immediately calls
to mind St Peter’s great injunction that
Christians should be ever ready to give
account for the Faith that is within them.
By simply professing their Faith in public,
Iraqi Christians are being persecuted
physically, socially and economically; their
lives and livelihoods are under continuous
threat. The overt and aggressive private
and public anti-Christian sentiment so
evident in Iraq however is not limited to
Iraq. It is to be found throughout the lesser
and greater Middle East, throughout Asia. It
is to be found also in Africa and increasingly
it is being found within the once-Christian
lands of Western Europe.
The evidence is clear and it is persuasive,
Christianity is being aggressively uprooted
from the Middle-East, the very lands from
which it first sprang. The evidence may
be less clear and the aggression may be
less blood-stained but the reality remains
that Christianity is under threat in Western
Europe and throughout the Western World
by an aggressive Atheism. Not the old
style heavy-handed militant Atheism and
tyranny such as was evident in the former
Soviet Union but by a more recentlyfashioned Nihilism which insistently denies
the existence of any God-given Truth.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
“roots” of European culture are profoundly
Christian, an element of the culture of
contemporary secularised Europe not
only denies this reality but seeks to have
Christianity eliminated, or failing that,
“ghettoised”. Christian culture, Christian
values and the Christian faith are under
sustained attack in many quarters.
Cardinal Seán Brady
Throughout Europe, and throughout the
Western World, Christians are being asked
“Why are you still here?”
Some time ago, there was a cultural
moment when it was commonplace to
accept that,
This fundamental question, screamed
at the about-to-be murdered Fr Ganni, is
the same one which challenges each and
every Christian at all times and in all places:
Christians are required to “apologise” (in
the true sense of the word), to give an
account for what they believe.
• tomorrow’s world would be better than
today,
• technological and scientific advances
would solve humanity’s most intractable
problems,
• humankind’s reason would triumph and
subdue its baser instincts and by dint of
it
• a city would be built on a hill where
people would happily live in well-fed
peace and harmony.
Self-evidently professing one’s faith
and giving an account of it is more “lifethreatening”, at least from a physical
perspective, in present-day Iraq as
compared to present-day Ireland. But
does the same hold true from a spiritual
perspective? Could it possibly be the case
that it is more difficult to be a Christian
believer in Ireland than in Iraq?
However we answer this question, I
suggest that we should at least recognise
that there is a culture war being fought in
the West just as much as there is one being
fought in the Middle East. It may be largely
bloodless and there may be different “rules
of engagement” but the stakes are the
same, namely, the rights of all Christians to
gather in public and profess their faith in
word and deed.
And here let us be clear, Christians have
every right to be “here”,
• to gather in the public square,
• to hand on their faith to their children
and
• to proclaim to the world the Christian
truth concerning the dignity of every
human being and the infinite love of
our merciful God.
Genuine, well-intentioned efforts to
create such “New Harmonies” in both the
new and old world did not succeed. Such
efforts to radically reshape and “improve”
society now seem to have been almost
Fr. Ragheed Ganni greets
Fr. Werenfried in Rome.
Cardinal Seán Brady
pre-destined to founder upon the flawed
nature of the human condition.
One hundred years ago, Europe was
the cultural, economic, social and scientific
powerhouse of the world. Today, Europe has
become eclipsed as a global “superpower”.
Indeed Europe is, in the opinion of many,
rapidly becoming a socio-economic “hasbeen”. I think the case is clear; any healthy
sustainable vision for a “New Europe” must
embrace, not deny its Christian roots and in
this what applies to Europe also applies to
Ireland.
In a nutshell, my central proposition is
that
• Europe is floundering because of its
failure to warmly embrace its Christian
heritage,
• it is declining because of its failure to
respect the God-given dignity of every
person and the revealed truths of
Christian faith.
Furthermore I would suggest that when
one takes the Christian leaven out of any
society, that society’s development is
greatly impaired. Indeed I would go so far
as to argue that society’s development will
regress.
In which regard we should not forget
that
• It was a Christian ethic which strove for
and succeeded in eliminating slavery.
• Freedom of conscience was formulated
from the Christian mindset.
• Forgiveness for human failings is a
supreme Christian imperative.
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Simply consider what type of world
would we have where people are not
free and where transgressions are never
mercifully forgiven?
In all of this we should remember
that the Christian view of the world is
founded on the understanding of both the
greatness and brokenness of the human
person; a greatness and brokenness which
is reflected in every individual life and
in every human community -- from the
smallest to the largest.
It is also founded upon the central belief
that there is a God, a loving God, a God
of infinite mercy who wants what is best
for every human being. For the Christian,
every life is worth living from the moment
of conception to natural death because
every life is a gift from God.
2,000 years ago, Christ’s healing mission
on earth was to reconcile man to God. His
Church’s enduring mandate is to continue
this mission, this process of reconciliation
and healing of broken spirits and broken
societies. The earthly mission of Christ’s
Church is to heal the world, to bring
people and peoples into the light of God’s
kingdom.
That’s why the Church is still here in
Ireland. That is why the Church is still in
Iraq. That is why Father Ganni and countless
others offer up their lives as martyrs, to
bring the beauty of Truth, to shed the
light of Faith into the dark recesses of the
human heart.
What you hold, may you always hold
What you hold, may you always hold.
What you do, may you do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step,
unswerving feet,
so that even your steps stir no dust,
go forward
securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
believing nothing
agreeing with nothing
which would dissuade you from this resolution
or which would place a stumbling block for you on the way,
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
Saint Clare of Assisi
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance!
And transform your whole being into the image of the
Godhead Itself
through contemplation!
So that you too may feel what His friends feel
as they taste the hidden sweetness
which God Himself has reserved
from the beginning
for those who love Him.
Saint Clare of Assisi
800 Years of Communion with Christ and with one Another
82
“Christianity is being tested. Where Christians are still persecuted, or
emerging from oppression but deprived of all financial means, they
are being tested in their faith. We, however, are being tested in our
love. We must prove that we possess love ̶ a helping and consoling
love; a love that, like a flame, lights up the night of faith for our
suffering brothers and sisters and rekindles their hope so that they
do not despair”
Werenfried Van Straaten O.PRAEM.
(1913 - 2003), Founder of ACN.
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