Category Archives: General interest

“Souls in the Game” – Seminary Life through the Lens of Fraternity and Sportsmanship

A very enjoyable and moving 30-minute documentary showing a group of seminarians, some without any real basketball experience, joining together to form a team in the truest sense of the word. From the Press Release and website:

Souls in the Game, a co-production of Saint John’s Seminary and the Archdiocese of Boston, is a heartwarming new 30-minute documentary that tells the story of seminary formation beyond theology and philosophy classes.  Released in time for National Vocation Awareness Week, the documentary offers a glimpse into seminary life through the lens of fraternity and sportsmanship, showing brothers supporting each other– on and off the court– as they grow to understand their own vocations.

Deacon Marcelo Ferrari, who is currently studying at Saint John’s Seminary, added, “We are excited to show a youthful church on fire with faith. By coming to the basketball tournament, you get to see this bright future of the Church. There’s a lot of young men living the joy of the Gospel and following Christ.”

Souls in the Game is available for free viewing at soulsinthegame.com or YouTube. Discussion questions
are also available making it appropriate for religious education curriculum or vocation awareness initiatives.

For more information and a complete press kit, visit https://www.soulsinthegame.com/press.

The Experience of Beauty: Reflections From Rome by Fr. Eusebius Schwald, ORC

Rome, November 8, 2022

Greetings from Rome!

As I have been granted the special grace to deepen spirituality studies in Rome, permit me to share some new insights. In these days, one of our professors mentioned a conference that Cardinal Ratzinger gave once about the experience of beauty[1]. Let me share some thoughts about it and add some reflections.

The experience of beauty always draws us out from the routine of daily life and sets us in a state of amazement: the greatness of the ocean with the rhythmic breaking of the waves, the breathtaking view from the top of mountains, the power that lies in a waterfall, the variety of colors and smells of flowers, the beautiful melodies and combination of tones in music, the millions of stars that speckle the night sky, the harmony of proportion, the play of light and combination of colors of different elements in sacred architecture, sculptures and paintings. There is so much beauty in the world! Just recently, I had several such experiences: the Coronation Mass of Mozart in Assumption Grotto parish in Detroit, and many beautiful churches here in Rome, especially St. Peter’s Basilica. Daily, thousands of tourists, many of them not even Catholics, flock these churches to admire their beauty.

Why does beauty attract us? We come from our brokenness, from the routine of daily life, we experience ugliness, corruption and sin, including our own weakness and failures. The encounter with beauty is, as Cardinal Ratzinger describes the view of Plato, “the salutary emotional shock that makes us leave our shell” and sparks our “enthusiasm” by attracting us to what is other than ourselves[2]. We have lost our original harmony, beauty and perfection, and by encountering beauty in different ways, we experience a longing in us for something that is beyond us, a longing and desire for harmony, peace, beauty and eternity, which experience is somehow “painful.” We are “wounded” by beauty.

On Friday, Divine Providence had a special visit for me in store. On the way to the University – my daily journey takes around one hour from our house to the University –  the bus stopped maybe 1 km away, and the bus driver told all passengers to get off the bus. It seems there was some road closure. I decided to walk and visit some churches on the way. The first one was Our Lady of Victory Church. It seems it is run by the Carmelites. On the side altar, I saw the famous beautiful sculpture of Santa Teresa while experiencing the mystical piercing of the heart” by an angel. St. Teresa was wounded by the beauty of God’s love. She describes it in her autobiography.

Our Lord was pleased that I should have at times a vision of this kind: I saw an angel close by me, on my left side, in bodily form. This I am not accustomed to see, unless very rarely. Though I have visions of angels frequently, yet I see them only by an intellectual vision, such as I have spoken of before. It was our Lord’s will that in this vision I should see the angel in this wise. He was not large, but small of stature, and most beautiful—his face burning, as if he were one of the highest angels, who seem to be all of fire: they must be those whom we call cherubim. Their names they never tell me; but I see very well that there is in heaven so great a difference between one angel and another, and between these and the others, that I cannot explain it.

I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it, even a large one. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying. During the days that this lasted, I went about as if beside myself. I wished to see, or speak with, no one, but only to cherish my pain, which was to me a greater bliss than all created things could give me.”

The encounter with the beauty of God’s love “wounds” the soul. It’s nice and inspiring to read this account.

Actually, there are two ways of knowing God’s love[3]: through instruction (reading, study, listening to talks etc.), this is a second hand knowledge: we read the explanation of others who had an experience of the love of God, or explain it.

The second way is: the personal experience of GOD’S love, a direct relationship with reality. This is what happened to St. Teresa. Note, that this experience is not reserved to the saints. This is actually what we are asking the Archangel Raphael, the “arrow and medicine of Divine love”, when we pray in the Supplication to the holy Angels of the Opus Angelorum: “wound our hearts, we implore you, with the burning love of GOD and let this wound never heal, so that even in daily life we might always remain upon the path of love and overcome all things through love!” We are asking the holy Archangel to help us experience GOD’S love “first hand”; we are asking for a life-changing encounter, an encounter with the beauty of GOD’S love, that leaves a “wound” in us, a longing, a desire, a happiness that pulls us out of our habitual sins of daily life, that does not allow us to fall into a routine of daily life but stirs us up again and again to lift our eyes to heaven, give us hope and joy in midst of trials and dryness.

We have to ask for this grace and be open to receive it and expose ourselves to God’s love, especially in prayer. The beauty of the sea, the mountains, the stars, the flowers, the music give witness of this love!

We discover Christ’s beauty in different ways when contemplating the beauty of creation. Do we not sing:

  1. Beautiful Saviour, King of Creation, Son of God and Son of Man! Truly I’d love Thee, truly I’d serve Thee, Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.
  1. Fair are the meadows, Fair are the woodlands,Robed in the flowers of blooming spring; Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.
  1. Fair is the sunshine, Fair is the moonlight, Bright the sparkling stars on high;Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer Than all the angels in the sky.

Jesus is beautiful, especially because in Him appears the beauty of Truth, “the beauty of God himself who draws us to himself and, at the same time captures us with the wound of Love, the holy passion (eros), that enables us to go forth together, with and in the Church his Bride, to meet the Love who calls us”[4].

But there is still another aspect which we tend to forget easily in a world that is focused on worldly pleasures.

In St. Peter’s Basilica, we can see the Pieta of Michelangelo. Every day, thousands of people admire the beauty and harmony of this masterpiece of art. But why is this beautiful: a mother holding the lifeless body of her son in her arms, full of pain and sorrow? Is it not rather something that we tend to avoid? It is so attractive because it is the TRUTH, and because you can see LOVE. BEAUTY and SUFFERING do not contradict each other; in the suffering Christ we learn “that the beauty of truth also embraces offense, pain, and even the dark mystery of death, and that this can only be found in accepting suffering, not in ignoring it.”[5]

“It is precisely on the Cross that the One who in death appears to human eyes as disfigured and without beauty, so much so that the bystanders cover their faces (cf. Is 53:2-3), fully reveals the beauty and power of God’s love.”[6]

In the meditation – and not only meditation, but by exposing ourselves to it, reliving it –the Passio Domini, the Passion of Our Lord, we encounter in a very particular way the truth of the beauty of God’s love, revealed to us in the beauty of the suffering face of Jesus, so amazing, so attractive, because His love is true. Let us be wounded in this encounter with Christ’s beautiful, Crucified love, by experiencing that it is very personal! This love is especially present in the Eucharist and is poured out upon us anew every day!

Can we, then, not say: “How much He loves me, in spite of everything, how great is His love that created me, redeemed me and sanctifies me!”

With a blessing, I wish you this living encounter with God’s love, and ask your prayers,

Fr. Eusebius ORC

Website for the Canons regular of the Holy Cross: Cruzios.org

[1] CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, “The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty”, MESSAGE OF HIS EMINENCE CARD. JOSEPH RATZINGER TO THE COMMUNION AND LIBERATION (CL) MEETING AT RIMINI (24-30 AUGUST 2002)
[2] ibd.
[3] ibd.
[4] ibd.
[5] ibd.
[6] VITA CONSECRATA, JOHN PAUL II, 25 March 1996, n. 24

The Divine Liturgy by Brother Daniel Sokol, 0SB

We may be surprised to learn that our earthly worship is an anticipation of, and a participation in, the heavenly worship. In heaven, the angels and saints perpetually proclaim the glory of God. They proclaim His glory, His honor, His beneficence, His virtues, His mercy, His Justice, etc., etc.

The “Opus Dei” (Divine Liturgy) refers to “the work of and for God” because He is working within us in order to make us more worthy of being in His presence. “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.  Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.”

Christ serves forever as the Mediator, the Great High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle of God.  The more worthy we participate in the divine liturgy, the closer we become to Christ.  We are blessed to have a beautiful Church which helps us to have a more worthy focus as we sing and pray the Divine Liturgy.

Even the liturgical furnishings of the Church provide their own significance for the overall worthiness of a proper liturgy.  The ambo is the place where the scriptures and their commentaries are pronounced with great reverence.  The candles are a reflection of Christ who is “the light of the world.”  The silver and gold chalice(s) are made of the finest materials. The presider’s chair is a carryover from the Jewish people as the rabbi usually sat while giving instructions.  Holy water and incense have particular rites for blessings and reverencing persons, altars, houses vessels, medals, bibles, cars, etc.

In order to proclaim a worthy liturgy, it is necessary that a lot of preparation goes on beforehand.  The main celebrant, the readers, acolytes, musicians and singers, etc. all have their sacred part in the most sacred of sacrifices.  Even the congregation, according to Vatican Council II, are urged to take an active part in the divine worship, singing and praying their parts.  St. Augustine writes, “Whoever sings, prays twice.”  The priest needs to deliver a well-prepared homily that edifies and helps to explain the readings and often can be applied to the current state of world and Church affairs.

Even processions are important.  The entrance procession with incense (which represents the prayers of the faithful) is reminiscent of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The altar of sacrifice is reverenced and incensed because it refers to Christ and His sacrifice. The procession of bringing gifts represents ourselves, our gifts, our family, our offerings, our life, etc.  At the end of Mass, the recession out of Church challenges us with great conviction to “Go out to all the world and share the good news!”

We are not to sit by and merely watch the whole ceremony of any given liturgy; we need to participate with enthusiasm for our salvation through the God-given gift of faith.

 (CNS photo/Paul Haring) (Jan. 6, 2014)

Gestures are to be done with great respect.  Entering into the Lord’s Earthly Temple, we sign ourselves with the sign of the cross using holy water, then bow to the altar and genuflect to the tabernacle.  When the gospel is announced we mark our forehead, lips and heart saying “May the Lord be in our mind, on our lips and in our heart.”  We make a profound bow of the head on the feasts of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin at the mention of their names, which represent their persons.  There is a myriad of preparations, carefully learned and practiced that go into the overall presentation of a very fine liturgy, especially in a church that radiates dignity and holiness.

Let us revise some of these faith enhancing practices so that our whole life can become a worthy gift to God for all that He has done for us.  Let us listen attentively to the prayers we pray and foster an awareness of God’s manifold gifts given in our lives through the sacraments, through each other.

Let us remember to be thankful to God for every grace or favor we receive, even the unfavorable ones.  That way we can be sure we are still advancing on the road to holiness!

Br. Daniel Sokol is a Benedictine monk at Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside, California.

www.princeofpeaceabbey.org

“Taking the ‘Sin’ Out of Sincerity: Overcoming Scrupulosity in Religious Life” by Trent Beattie

If there is one thing aspirants to religious life are today, it is sincere. Gone are the days of “automatic vocations” that every large Catholic family was expected to provide. Now we have young people who want to live totally for Christ and give up things commonly seen as necessities, oftentimes despite confusion or even derision from family.

This desire for Christian perfection is obviously a good thing. If only more people had it, the world would be a much better place. Yet this desire, in itself very laudable, can be turned into something it was not intended to be.

Martin Luther did just that with his Augustinian Rule, seeing in it traps where others saw supports. He piled up imaginary obligations that left him agitatedly wondering whether he had offended God. This is scrupulosity, or the overestimation of evil and the underestimation of grace. Put another way, it is seeing sin where there is no sin, and where there may in fact be virtue.

Satan’s best-known temptations are to make evil appear good in order to entice souls to commit acts (sins) for the sake of the apparent good. A lesser-known temptation is to frame good as evil, or something to be avoided.

This temptation is especially acute for souls striving for perfection. Instead of trying to convince them directly that they should do what is actually wrong, Satan attempts to convince them that they have already done wrong or that the good they plan on doing is wrong. Discouragement can ensue, and, if not remedied, wholesale abandonment of the hunt for holiness might take happen.

Luther became so distraught that he left his community and the Church. He went from scrupulosity to Lutherosity, making his own quirks and anxieties the foundation of a novel code of conduct that even he lamented later because of its destructive effect on cultural cohesion.

This underscores the importance of not inventing obligations or holding oneself to an impossible standard. Doing so will cause distress, resentment, and even despair. Instead of giving up on holiness due to unmet imaginary claims on behavior, the better route is that of humble adherence to Church teachings, the (real) rule of one’s community, and the decision of superiors and directors.

Access or Excess?

Without even realizing it, personal obligations that are found nowhere in Scripture, Tradition, or even the rule of an order, can be held onto as being highly important. Even though this can be done in a sincere effort to please God, it actually pushes the soul from the path of holiness and happiness. In order to gain greater access to God, unreasonable expectations must be released.

Benedictine Father Hubert van Zeller wrote this simple and profound reflection in How to Find God: “Although the desire for God can never be excessive, the desire for the realization of this desire, can be.” On a theoretical level, the soul can never get enough of God, but on a practical level, there must be n acceptance of the soul’s capacity for God.

A peaceful and even amused dissatisfaction with what we’ve done for God, all the while trusting in His constant help for us to do better, is a good thing. However, an agitated dissatisfaction with what we’ve done, based on the implicit demand of being immediately free from any faults, is a bad thing.

This is what Saint Alphonsus Liguori taught in his masterpiece, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ. He first states that “An ardent desire of perfection is the first means that a religious should adopt in order to acquire sanctity and to consecrate her whole being to God.” The founder of the Redemptorists then adds that “in the way of God, a Christian must either go forward and advance in virtue, or go backward and rush headlong into vice.”

To those intimidated by such a challenge, Saint Alphonsus later states the following: “To be discouraged by the imperfections which you desire to correct, would be to yield to a great illusion of the devil.” He then asserts that “though, on our part, we ought to aspire to the highest sanctity that we can attain, we should be content with that degree of perfection which God gives us.”

It’s a matter of balance. Diligently striving for perfection is the mainstay of religious life, but inevitable challenges and setbacks should not be the occasion of discouragement. In fact, Saint Therese of Lisieux even said that the closer the soul gets to perfection, the further away it seems to be.

This might seem strange, but it makes sense. A proud man, because of his distance from God, thinks he has no need of improvement, while a humble man, because of his nearness to God, sees how imperfect he is compared to Absolute Perfection.

Booking a Flight to Clarity

Maintaining reasonable expectations of self is key to overcoming scrupulosity. Despite grand designs and goals that might be entertained, there is only so much that one can actually do. Theoretically, life’s possibilities are endless, but in reality, every person has limitations.

Limited people with limited resources and limited opportunities should be able to take their own active sincerity and be at peace with it. Achieving Peace of Heart by Father Narciso Irala, S.J., is a great help for making this happen. Other helpful books include The True Spouse of Jesus Christ by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Story of a Soul by Saint Therese, Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, and volume 2 of Ven. Louis of Granada’s Summa of the Christian Life.

While these books include sections directed toward the scrupulous, there are not many entire books on the topic. My own Scruples and Sainthood is a more recent installment meant to fill this void.

Like people’s achievements in life, there is only so much a book can do, but this limited good should not be overlooked for the sake of impossible perfection. Real perfection in a soul is comprised of continual efforts for perfection, despite glitches and miscues that take place.

The biggest aid to real perfection is the guidance, not of a book, but of a director. Following the advice of another is prescribed as the great remedy for overcoming nagging doubts about one’s soul. An outside assessment of the situation by someone familiar with scrupulosity should yield a more accurate, purposeful, and joyful state of mind.

It is even possible that one’s director will assign the enjoyment of life as a penance. Along those lines, here’s a short list that can be preceded by the words “You might be scrupulous if…”

You’ve been told the “sins” you confessed were actually virtues.

You’ve uttered these words: “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It’s been twenty minutes since my last confession.”

You’ve been so concerned about taking the Lord’s name in vain that all the references to God in your prayer books have been scratched out and “Gosh” has been written in.

Humor is a great aid to holiness, and can even be an indication of it. Someone who has a sense of humor is not caught up in unreasonable expectations, but is able to see how things really are. He recognizes the contrast between how things ought to be and how they have actually played out.

Let us, by all means, be sincere, but not so sincere that we see sin in our sincerity. Simple sincerity is brought about by obedience to Church teaching, the rule and one’s director, while “sinful sincerity” is brought about by overestimating the negatives, underestimating the positives, and trying to improve the situation alone.
________________________________________________________________________

Trent Beattie is the author of Scruples and Sainthood: Accepting and Overcoming Scrupulosity with the Help of the Saints, from Loreto Publications (LoretoPubs.org).

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Comes to the People of Japan

Recently, on a recent IRL Facebook Live interview, Br. Didacus Gottsacker, fbp, of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, mentioned an apostolate that he is involved in—the Maria Kannon Mission of Japan.  Brother speaks Japanese and also studied there before becoming a Franciscan friar. (You can read vocation story and love for the Japanese people here)

Following the zealous example of St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Francis Xavier, who brought the Catholic Faith to Japan, the Maria Kannon Mission seeks to evangelize the Japanese people by first introducing them to Our Lady, the first missionary of Christ and the Mediatrix of All Graces through her Miraculous Medal, to win souls for Jesus Christ.

On a pilgrimage to Japan, the initiators of Maria Kannon began handing out Miraculous Medals to the Japanese people, whom, they realized, were eager to accept them. When they got home, they had the medals struck in Japanese and created printed materials to go along with them, so that the recipients would know the graces they could receive when the prayers were recited in faith.

The name Maria Kannon is derived from the time of the Great Persecution of Christians in Japan. Christians created statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary with child, disguised as the Buddhist deity Kannon (Goddess of Mercy).  Many statues had a Christian icon hidden inside the body or camouflaged in the artwork.

The fields are ripe for the harvest in Japan. Here is what it says on the Maria Kannon website:

Just as with the United States and the rest of the world, the Japanese people suffer from a great spiritual poverty, the greatest of all forms of poverty. While the Word of God suffers in developed countries in the West, it has virtually been stamped out in Japan, despite being a land that was once fertile and receptive to becoming overwhelmingly Catholic. With the decline of religions like Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan, people are searching for answers to the meaning of their lives…

Interestingly, one of the Miraculous Medal miraculous stories on the website involved Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, SJ, founder of the IRL. At the time of the story, he had no particular devotion to the Medal when called to the bedside of a boy in a coma, incurred from a sledding accident. Father placed the Medal around the boy’s neck and initiated him into the Confraternity of the Miraculous Medal. All concerned were amazed and joy-filled to see the boy open his eyes and ask for ice cream!

“At times I have failed to place an image of Our Savior’s Mother beside His cross. At such times, I have always found the people rebellious to the Gospel.”                                       — St. Francis Xavier

The website has a beautiful description of the origins of the Miraculous Medal, including the most famous conversion story— that of Rev. Alphonse Ratisbonne,  a nominal Jew who scoffed at religion and subsequently became a Catholic priest.

If you would like to support Our Lady’s mission to Japan, please visit the Maria Kannon website.

Feminism: An Obstacle to Religious Life

—By Sister Catherine Marie, O.P.

Compare for a moment these two lines spoken by women:

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it be done to me according to Thy word” (Lk 1:38).

Rise and Roar.”

The first is, of course, our Blessed Mother, and the second is a phrase chanted at the 2020 Women’s March.  The first is the model for women in religious life. The second, we are told, is what will bring women freedom and empowerment.  How can these two views of womanhood be reconciled?  How can women who chant the second phrase, live the first?  In short, they cannot.

There are many reasons why Catholicism, let alone religious life, and feminism cannot coexist.  But first, let us make clear, by this I do not mean that men and women are not both of equal value in the dignity of being created by God.  Instead, feminism means trying to make women something they were not created to be, and thus, makes them less than who they really are.

One of the most fundamental reasons feminism and Catholicism are opposed is that its roots stem from Communism.  The proponents of modern feminism are open (sometimes) about this truth.  Ellie Mae O’Hagan, freelance journalist, insists that only changes such as socialism or Communism can bring about gender equality.  She quotes the Bolshevik revolutionary Inessa Armand, “If women’s liberation is unthinkable without Communism, then Communism is unthinkable without women’s liberation.”1

Another major reason that feminism and Catholicism cannot coexist is that it denies the virtues that are inherent to women.  Alice von Hildebrand, an expert on the Catholic perspective of womanhood, gives us some clues in this matter.  “They [women] let themselves become convinced that femininity meant weakness.  They started to look down upon virtues —such as patience, selflessness, self-giving, tenderness—and aimed at becoming like men in all things.”2 Catholic femininity does not equal weakness.  Virtue is not a weakness, but a power.  We have only to look at the many Catholic female saints and to our Blessed Mother to see this truth.

St. Catherine of Siena in her early days remained humble and hidden in the small room of her parent’s home, in prayer and in service of her family.  Yet, she was one of the strongest female saints that the Church has ever seen.  One day she was drawn out of her little room by a tumult outside.  She saw a man had been taken into custody for a crime.  He was sentenced to death.  It is through her hiddenness in prayer and service that she was able to hear the voice of God, to respond in feminine compassion, and go to this man.  She spent the night talking with him and praying with him.  By the morrow, this hardened sinner was completely converted, wanting his “Mama,” Saint Catherine, with him at the scaffold. As his head was lopped off, she received it into her lap.  Hardly a weak woman!

Look also at how Our Lady stands at the foot of the cross of her Son.  Her strength is unmatched by the men who fled from Christ in His hour of need, but it is still a woman’s strength. Her suffering with her Son does not end in despair or the sorrows of Good Friday, but turn into the hymn Regina Caeli on Easter Sunday.  Our Lady is receptive, humble, thoughtful, full of grace, and yet, “as terrible as an army with banners” (Sg 6:10), and “crowned with twelve stars and with the moon beneath her feet” (Rev 12:1). She is the most glorious of all creatures, and the fruit of her womb is the Son of God.

With feminism, there is a strength seen in their fighting for certain issues, but one that in its suffering and sacrificing for a cause often ends, not in glory, but in loneliness.  This is seen in the feminist Simone de Beauvoir who says, “I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself.”3 There is a grasping for power and independence, unlike the obedience of faith seen in Mary.  This grasping is very reminiscent of the grasping of Eve in the garden.  And that fruit of success and independence that feminists reach for ends similarly.  In trying to find the goddess within, they find inside what we all do: our own brokenness, but without the God who can heal it.

As we know, grace builds on nature.  If young women have been raised with feminist values, even if they are still able to hear the call to religious life, they most likely will not have the building blocks necessary to make vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  Regarding the vows, a brief look at each, shows how the evangelical counsels cannot be reconciled with the goals of feminism.

In chastity, “the bridal relationship of each soul to God, the feminine aspect of the whole people of God before His gaze in all salvation history, is strikingly imaged in the virginally consecrated religious woman.”4 A woman gives all of herself to the Church, and herself becomes an image of the Church, which is the Bride of Christ.  “The virgin who consecrates herself to God in total donation is not and cannot remain barren.  She, too, is called to be called mother, but her motherhood is of a spiritual nature.”5 Contrast this with a statement by feminist Ti-Grace Atkinson: “The struggle between the liberation of women and the Catholic Church is a struggle to the death.”6 Feminists see the Church as a patriarchal structure that must be defeated.  With this mindset one could never be an image of the Bride of Christ, the Church.

In poverty, we rely on the providence of God to supply for our needs, and freely divest ourselves of those things we do not need, reflecting that Christ received all from the Father and returns all to His Father Who loves Him infinitely. The goal of feminism is to gain, not to give.  Keisha Blair, an author on the topic of wholistic health, stated that financial empowerment is the new feminism.7

The surrender of ones will in the vow of obedience, is self-evidently opposed to the goals of feminism, as it thrives on disobedience.  Obedience is of course the most difficult of the vows because it is the greatest gift of self. It is the paradox of faith that one must lose one’s life to save it.  When young women contact vocation directors or novice mistresses of religious orders, often they ask if there is some guarantee that their studies or profession will be used in their vocation.  The answer to that is to look to Mary: how much more gifted she was than any of us, yet she gently bowed her head to God’s will, not asking for any guarantees that her gifts and talents would be used as she liked.  She saw many trials and sorrows, but, because of her obedience, was exalted by God above the angels and crowned as Queen of Heaven and earth.

Fortunately, with the rise of militant feminism, there is also a new generation of young Catholic women who are sharing the Gospel message of a return to authentic Catholic femininity.  Yet, young women need to grow in self-knowledge, that having been reared in a culture where the errors of feminism are sounded like a bull horn at us from nearly every angle, some of these ideas have taken hold in us unawares.  Catholic women, to find their vocation, must, like Mary, ponder all these things in their hearts, and grow in feminine virtues. Mary is the antidote, because “she surrendered every piece of herself to God the Father as a beloved daughter.”8

To say, “just imitate Mary,” can seem like a mountain impossible to climb.  But in the spiritual life, one does not grow in virtue by dispelling all vice at once.  No, “you drive out darkness by filling the room with light.  If you wish to fill a glass with water, you do not first expel the air; you expel the air by pouring in water.  In the moral life, there is no intermediate state of vacuum possible in which, having driven out evil, you begin to bring in good. As the good enters, it expels the evil.”9   So, to imitate Mary’s virtues, we start in little ways, especially by spending time with her in prayer, and slowly our Mother will help to increase her virtues within us.

With God, we know all things are possible, and we know that He has a more beautiful plan for our femininity if we heed Him.  We cannot improve upon His plan for us!  And in living that plan, a woman who gives herself freely to religious life, becomes an eschatological sign of the kingdom of God.  Our world needs, maybe now more than ever, this beautiful witness.  So, “Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come” (Song of Songs 2:10).

  1. Ellie Mae O’Hagan, The Guardian March 2019; “Feminism Without Socialism Will Never Cure Our Unequal Society,”
  2. Alice von Hildebrand, The Privilege of Being a Woman
  3. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
  4. Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience: Recovering the Vision for the Renewal of Religious Life
  5. Alice von Hildebrand, The Privilege of Being a Woman
  6. Jane Stannus, “There is no Catholic Feminism,” Jan. 29, 2020, Crisis Magazine
  7. Keisha Blair, “Financial Empowerment is the New Feminism – Here’s Why,” Jan.18, 2020, Observer Daily Newsletter
  8. Carrie Gress, Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Feminity
  9. Basil W. Maturin, Christian Self-Mastery

Sr. Catherine Marie Kauth, OP, is the Vocation Director for the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne.

“The True Spouse of Jesus Christ”: A Classic Book Reissued!

The Ideal Book for Every Religious Community Is Back

A review by Trent Beattie

I keep an old, dilapidated copy of a Catholic literary classic that has helped me tremendously over the years. So impressive was this work that, despite having been written most especially for nuns, I used it in 2010 as one of the sources for a little book of short meditations called Saint Alphonsus Liguori for Every Day.

It was certainly a step in the right direction to get some of the tremendous wisdom of the Redemptorists’ founder out to the general public in a compact format. However, I was disappointed that the entirety of the old source book—The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, also known as The Nun Sanctified—was not currently in print. Despite its title, not only can women religious profit from the book, so can men religious, priests, and single or married laypeople. Because of its far-reaching value, I lamented for a long time how the only copy I knew of was falling apart.

Last year, though, my “book of lamentations” transformed into a “book of consolations” as I learned that Refuge of Sinners Publishing, located in southern Indiana, was currently printing it!

There appears to be no better way for anyone—but especially a religious sister or brother—to delve more deeply into the ascetical teachings of Saint Alphonsus than through The True Spouse of Jesus Christ. This 700-plus page masterpiece contains sound doctrine on, among other topics:

  • the desire for perfection;
  • the value of obedience to the rule and superiors;
  • charity in thoughts, words, and deeds;
  • humility of the intellect and of the will;
  • the immense benefits of Marian intercession;
  • the joy found in penance and resignation to God’s will;
  • the necessity of mental prayer;
  • patience in sickness and in spiritual desolation,
  • and dealing with scruples.

The wisdom in The True Spouse of Jesus Christ comes, not only from Saint Alphonsus directly, but also from other Western saints and Eastern ones, both men and women. From hermits to bishops, hundreds of years’ worth of thoroughly Catholic teaching is being passed along to readers again. Saints Basil, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, and Francis de Sales are among the many whose advice rings true for the one who desires to do what is most pleasing to God.

Saint Alphonsus arranges the vast array of holy advice amid his own. Here is one such example, where the “Most Zealous Doctor of the Church” assures those uncertain about the dispositions of divine providence:

It is certain that all [God’s] arrangements are intended for our good. Our Lord said one day to Saint Gertrude: ‘With the same love with which I created man, I ordain for his good all the prosperity or adversity which I send him.’

It is easy to forget that God does not judge us on the outward results of our actions, but on the good will behind them. Saint Alphonsus says the first mark of determining whether our actions are truly done for God is to meet material failure with equanimity of soul. When we have done the right thing but do not obtain the desired result, we should not be upset. He says:

…when your undertaking has not been successful, you are not disturbed, but remain as tranquil as if you had attained your object. This will certainly be the case when you have acted only for God, because when you see that He has not wished to crown your efforts with success, neither will you wish it—for you know that He demands an account, not of the success or failure of your undertaking, but of the purity of your intention.

Founder Statue at St. Peter’s in Vatican City

Purity of intention will determine not only our final destination, but, assuming we cooperate with grace in at least the most basic way, the precise part of Heaven we inhabit. This is one of the great advantages of religious life, according to Saint Alphonsus, who thought that getting to Heaven was incomparably easier to do in a convent or monastery than in the world, saying:

I hold as certain that the greater number of the seraphic thrones vacated by the unhappy associates of Lucifer will be filled by religious. Out of the sixty during the last century [the 1600s] who were enrolled in the catalog of saints or honored with the appellation “Blessed,” all, with the exception of five or six, belonged to the religious orders.

Saint Alphonsus also taught that a foretaste of Heaven is possible in this life…

To be a good religious and to be content are one and the same thing; for the happiness of a religious consists in a constant and perfect union of her will with the adorable will of God. Whoever is not united with Him cannot be happy, for God cannot infuse His consolations into a soul that resists His divine will.

If a religious finds it difficult to actualize resignation to God’s will, possibly the missing link is mental prayer. Merely reciting the divine office or other vocal prayers will not bring all the graces necessary for one’s own circumstances. Familiar conversation with God is foundational, according to Saint Alphonsus:

If you see a tepid religious, say that she does not make mental prayer and you will say the truth. The devil labors hard to make religious lose the love for mediation, and should he conquer them in this, he will gain all. St. Philip Neri used to say, ‘A religious without mental prayer is a religious without reason.’ I add: She is not a religious, but the corpse of a religious.

Even for active orders, mental prayer is a staple, and this can be seen more extensively in The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, which is one reason I would assert that it, too, is also a staple. It does not matter whether a community specializes in education, healthcare, or contemplation, nor does it matter whether the community is Byzantine Catholic, Roman Catholic, or any other rite.

Saint Alphonsus said that “A single bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a monastery.” The opposite is also true: A single good book is sufficient to make a monastery thrive—and The True Spouse of Jesus Christ is probably the one most likely to make this happen. Thanks God for such a blessing being available once again!

Trent Beattie is a freelance writer whose articles have appearing in periodicals such as the National Catholic Register, Catholic Digest, and The Latin Mass. He has authored two books: Fit for Heaven (Dynamic Catholic) and Scruples and Sainthood: Accepting and Overcoming Scrupulosity with the Help of the Saints (Loreto Publications) and edited three others: Saint Alphonsus Liguori for Every Day (Paulist Press), Finding True Happiness (Dynamic Catholic) and Apostolic Athletes (Marian Press).

How to get a copy of The True Spouse of Jesus Christ

Rose Michna, the general manager of Refuge of Sinners Publishing, has put into effect a ten percent discount for any religious community ordering The True Spouse of Jesus Christ—and any other books from Refuge of Sinners for the first time— before May 1, 2020. The code— 10%WELCOME2020 —can be entered in online orders, written in mail orders to Refuge of Sinners Publishing 5271 E Mann Road  New Pekin, IN 47165, or mentioned on phone orders at 812-967-253.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Amazing Life and Death of Bl. James Kern, O.Praem.

Many of you know that our National Director, Fr. Thomas Nelson, O.Praem., prayed to Bl. James Kern during his recent battle and miraculous recovery from mouth cancer. Here is the story behind this beloved Norbertine.

The amazing life and death of Blessed James Kern

“Throw yourself into the breach!”

By Sr. Joanna Marie, L.M.

          “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13). This verse describes the beautiful life of Bl. James Kern, a priest, soldier, and true hero of the Church. Here is his little-known story:

A baby boy, Francis Alexander (Blessed James Kern), was born on April 11, 1897, in Vienna, Austria, to Francis and Anna Kern. When Anna was pregnant with her son, she visited a Marian Shrine and prayed that if her child was a boy he would be called to become a priest. She promised Our Lady that she would do all she could to teach her child how to be holy and to love and revere the priestly calling.

When Francis was four or five years old, he received some ordinary toys for Christmas. His mother asked if he liked them and was shocked when he sadly answered: “No,” explaining that he had hoped to receive “an altar with candlesticks and candles and flowers.” His parents soon found a play altar for him.

Francis entered the minor seminary at age eleven. His life was built upon prayer and he received Holy Communion daily. He was intensely devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. His classmates appreciated his joyful and childlike spirit and noticed that he was one of the happiest young men in their peer group. He enjoyed a good joke and had a quick sense of humor! Caring for the sacristy was his favorite assignment during his time in the minor seminary, as he loved deeply the Sacred Liturgy. He loved to use his strong clear voice to sing, praising the Lord with his brothers in their times of communal prayer.

Francis was studying diligently with his eyes fixed on the goal of the priesthood when World War I broke out. On October 15, 1915, at age 18, Francis reported to fight for his country with the 50th infantry in Salzburg. A devoted patriot, Francis was proud to be a soldier of the emperor. But he was a soldier for God before all else and was unashamed to openly practice his faith, serving at Holy Mass (while wearing his military uniform under the cassock) despite the ridicule of some of his fellow soldiers.

On New Year’s Day, 1916, Francis knelt adoring Jesus Christ exposed in the monstrance in Saint Blase’s Church in Salzburg, Austria. The soldier made a request of His Lord that would soon be granted. He prayed… to be showered with suffering. His deepest wish was to be like Jesus, Who suffered for the sake of others.

Francis’ life changed forever on September 10, 1916 when his platoon was attacked by Italian forces. During the attack, he witnessed one of his comrades fall mortally wounded. Francis was deeply saddened and said the prayers for the dying with the man. The attack continued, and Francis bravely fought on. The following day, he was struck with a bullet, sustaining severe wounds to his lungs and liver.

When Francis finally arrived at a hospital two days later, his wounds were infected, and he had a high fever. To the amazement of the doctors and nurses, the suffering seminarian-soldier was heard singing: “Trust my soul, confidently trust in the Lord. He helps those who trust in Him. In trial and distress our faithful God will protect you.” For nine months, his life hung in the balance. He battled the infection and endured intense pain and a surgery to remove a piece of one of his ribs. He was awarded the silver medal and promoted to second Lieutenant for his bravery.

When he was strong enough, Francis returned to the seminary. For a time, he was excused from military service due to his weakened health. However, he was called to fight again and returned to the battlefield.

The war ended in 1918, leaving political chaos in its stead. This confusion and revolutionary spirit did not leave the Catholic Church untouched. In the newly established “Czechoslovakia,” a dissident Czech “national church” was being founded by a group of misguided priests and religious. This “national church” was not in union with the Pope. One of the leaders of this movement was a priest named Isidore Bogdan Zahradnik, a member of the religious community called the Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Norbertines. The press found out about this scandal and spread the story like wildfire.

Abbey of Geras in Austria

Francis was profoundly affected when the news reached him. He felt deeply the pain that the fall from grace of this priest was causing the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Recalling the experience of seeing his comrade fall mortally wounded on the battlefield, Francis realized this was far worse. A priest—one of God’s soldiers in the battle for souls—had fallen. He heard an interior voice from deep in his soul saying: “Throw yourself into the breach! Take the place of the deserter!” He knew what he had to do. He would enter the Norbertine Order and take the place of this fallen priest. In this way he would make direct atonement to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a sacrificial soul. His spiritual director recognized this as a unique inspiration and wanted to test that it was truly from God. He advised Francis to wait for one year before joining the Norbertines. At the end of the year, Francis’ desire was stronger than ever. On October 18, 1920, he entered the Norbertine Abbey of Geras and received the religious name “James.”

During his seminary days and time of religious formation, James often prayed, “Dear God, let me live to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at least once.” His deep and persistent longing would soon be fulfilled. On July 23, 1922, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood. The prayer of his mother Anna was answered! On August 1, 1922, James had the joy of offering his first Holy Mass. He did so at the convent of a group of sisters who had provided hospitality to him during his time as a soldier-seminarian. The sisters, and indeed all the people from the surrounding village, were overjoyed. Dressed in traditional folk costumes, the villagers gathered in church to celebrate and pray with the new priest. James recounted in his writings: “My first Mass was filled with jubilation. It was like Palm Sunday and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Now I am entering my Holy Week.”

As a young priest, Father James poured himself out tirelessly for the people of the small villages in which he ministered. His sermons drew more and more of the faithful. People were struck by his strong faith and could tell that he spoke from his heart. Many sinners were inspired to be reconciled with God through the Sacrament of Penance. Father James rejoiced every time he was able to bring one of God’s prodigal children back to Him by absolving their sins in the confessional.

The sick and suffering were very dear to him. It never mattered to him if he was called at an inconvenient hour or had to travel a far distance to minister to them. He would travel quickly, praying as he went and encouraging those accompanying him to do so as well. He showed the same compassion for children and young people by teaching them religion and organizing groups and associations to help them grow strong in their faith. He often prayed: “Lord, You may take everything else from me, but give me souls.” As Our Lord thirsted while hanging on the cross, Blessed James was consumed—body and soul—by this thirst after souls. His already fragile health was rapidly declining.

Things came to a crisis on August 10, 1923. Father James had to be taken to the hospital due to hemorrhaging blood and a recurrence of the infection in his chest wound. Because his heart was so weak, he had to undergo surgery without anesthesia. The pain he endured is unimaginable. Initially the surgeon removed three ribs, but soon discovered removing a fourth rib was necessary. Father James made a joke about it, saying he was sorry to be so much trouble! It is reported that he bit through a towel as he silently suffered through horrendous surgery.

During his time in the hospital, Father James edified everyone around him, especially the doctors and nurses who cared for him. He was constantly cheerful, never complained, and showed deep gratitude, despite his intense suffering. His room was next-door to the chapel and he wrote in a letter at that time that having “the Savior for a neighbor is the crowning of all that is good and beautiful. It is a glorious compensation for the little suffering that I bear.” It took months, but he finally recovered enough to return to the Abbey of Geras.

Only a few months of life remained for the faithful priest of God. He gave his final sermon on July 20, 1924. He preached on the importance of loyalty to the Bishops and the Church—the very thing he had given his entire life for. He had only to crown this glorious witness by his death. That day would soon arrive. In September, his health collapsed. He underwent another surgery in which four more ribs were removed. Yet another surgery would be required after he built up his strength. This was not to be, however, and the 27-year-old priest knew it. He foretold that he would not live through this final surgery.

October 20, 1924 was the date scheduled for the operation. Amazingly, this was also the day the young Norbertine was supposed to make his final profession of vows in his religious Order. The evening before the surgery, a Sister caring for Father James was preparing a small altar from which he would receive Holy Communion before the operation. He asked her to please prepare everything as beautifully as possible because “the last Communion should be celebrated as solemnly as the first.” He also said: “Tomorrow I will receive my last Communion and celebrate my solemn profession in heaven.” And that is indeed what happened. The priest of the atonement died on the operating table as the Angelus bells chimed at noon.

James Kern was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 21, 1998. In his homily the Pope said of Blessed James: “Out of love for Christ he did not selfishly cling to life, but consciously offered it for the good of others.” May we all follow his example of sacrifice. Let us confidently ask his intercession in our needs. He is just one step away from canonization. His prayers must bring about miracles in order for him to be canonized a Saint. God wants us to ask the Saints for their prayers. Blessed James Kern, pray for us!

New IRL Affiliate Alert: Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa!

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too… It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s Faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”  ​
​- Pope Benedict XVI, concerning the venerable liturgical rites of the Church

We at the IRL are happy to announce a new community added to our roster: Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa!

The Superiors of the Marian Sisters previously belonged to another religious Traditional order, however at the gracious invitation of Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa, California, they founded a new community “to make visible the invisible reality of God’s love in the Diocese of Santa Rosa.”

As Marian Sisters, they live and love at the heart of the Church.  Their spirituality can be described as Ecclesial, Eucharistic, and Marian.  This is, in part, lived out through their charism of living the fullness of the liturgical life of the Roman Catholic Church – they participate in both the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo) and also the Extraordinary Form (traditional Latin) in their chapel several times a week and provide the choir for the Extraordinary Form High Mass at the Cathedral each Sunday.

Since their founding, the community has grown and its active apostolates have expanded.  Committed to the spread of the faith in the Diocese, every Sister teaches the Faith in some manner.  While some are formal classroom teachers, most of the Sisters exercise the charism more broadly through children’s catechesis, faith formation groups, retreats and camps, and any other way in which God’s will is made manifest.

Called to a life of total consecration to Christ and His Church, the Sisters take the Blessed Virgin Mary as their inspiration and model and dedicate their time and talents completely to the service of God and neighbor.

The Constitutions of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa  were approved and canonically erected the community on January 4, 2012.

 

 

New Website Alert: Poor Clare Colettine Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery in Rockford, IL

In the Fall of 2017, a seminarian for the Diocese of Rockford, Jack Reichardt began exchanging letters with Poor Clares Mother Abbess, Mother Maria Dominica, PCC, in order to obtain permission and discuss building a new website for the local monastery, home to twenty professed nuns.

Finally meeting at the Monastery in January, Reichardt and Mother Dominica decided that the site should serve two purposes:

  1. To appear to an audience of those women who may be discerning a call to the consecrated life as a Poor Clare nun, and
  2.  To appeal to the faithful who would like to visit with the Poor Clares in prayer.

Having taken a web design course while in high school, Reichardt wanted to put his hobby to use and build something worthy of the Poor Clares that reflected their “beautiful life, that is chaste and pure and prayerful” where people could find out more about their history, life, and vocation.

Click here: Poor Clare Colettine Nuns of Rockford, Illinois | JMJ+FCC

In gratitude for his hard work, one of the sisters offered the following remarks:

[Jack’s] deliberation and prayerfulness impressed us very much, and his competence to create a site that is simple but beautiful and which effectively reflects our way of life has been crowned with success. We are grateful to him and to all those who contributed!