Men's communities

Restoring the Sacred

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Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. John of Kanty, a 15th-century professor and priest in Krakow. He was known not only as an orthodox teacher of the faith, but also for his piety and kindness.

He is also known as St. John Cantius, perhaps even more so now with the establishment in 1998 of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, a thriving religious community of men under his patronage.

The members of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius seek personal sanctity by imitating Christ in radical opposition to the values of this world. They wish to “Restore the Sacred” in the Church, in the world, and in their own lives in pursuit not only of their own sanctification, but also the salvation and sanctification of all.

The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius’ mission, in the context of parish ministry, is to help Catholics rediscover a profound sense of the sacred through solemn liturgies, devotions, sacred art, sacred music, as well as instruction in Church heritage, catechetics, and Catholic culture. Continue reading Restoring the Sacred →

News

Vocation of Hope

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Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Latin America and the Caribbean to renew their “vocation of hope” in his homily at a Mass celebrating the independence of Latin American countries earlier this month in the Vatican Basilica. In his homily, the Pope also announced that he would make an apostolic trip to Mexico and Cuba before next Easter.

“Currently,” the Holy Father said, “while the bicentenary of their independence is being celebrated in various places in Latin America, the journey towards integration on this beloved continent is proceeding hand in hand with its emerging importance on the world stage.”

In such a circumstance, the Pope continued, “It is important for its various peoples to safeguard their rich store of faith and their historical and cultural dynamism, always defending human life from conception to natural end, and promoting peace. Likewise, they must protect the authentic nature and mission of the family, and at the same time intensify their widespread educational efforts which will rightly prepare people and make them aware of their abilities so that they may meet their destiny in a worthy and responsible way.”

The Pope asked the people of Latin America to devise and promote, “ever more adequate initiatives and concrete programs aimed at reconciliation and fraternity, increasing solidarity and protecting the environment, increasing efforts to overcome poverty, illiteracy and corruption and eradicating all injustice, violence, criminality, civil unrest, drug trafficking and extortion.”

Also participating at the Mass were representatives of the local episcopate, the Bishops’ Conference of Latin-America (CELAM) and the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, as well as exponents from various governments and the cultural and academic world.

Courtesy of L’Osservatore Romano.

News

Signs of Encouragement for U.S. Vocations

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Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis, the head of the U.S. bishops’ committee on vocations, believes Catholics should be encouraged by great signs of hope for the future of the priesthood in America.

In a December 15th story by Catholic News Agency, Archbishop Carlson noted that while there remains a “great need for more seminarians” in the United States, several recent “positive trends” in seminary enrollment should “give us hope as a people of faith.”

The archbishop said that Apostolic Visitations in 2005 revealed that the vast majority of diocesan seminaries throughout the country are “healthy houses of discernment and formation,” filled with seminarians of a “very high caliber,” who bring with them “a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and talents.”

For the rest of the story, click here.

Cloistered life

Lafayette Carmelites

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Young Brittlyn (Sr. Teresa), at left and Kalyn (Sr. Faustina) are here seen rejoicing in the gift of Our Lady’s habit.  It didn’t come easily for either of these Lafayette Carmelites.

“Daddy, Go back”

Kalyn Meche met the Sisters when she was about ten years old. Her family was driving by their monastery when she saw one of them in the yard.

“Daddy, go back. I’d like to talk to that Sister!” From then on, there was a desire and love for Carmel that never left her. She kept in contact with the community, made days of recollection at the monastery, and received encouragement and advice from her spiritual director. After going through many trials and difficulties, Kalyn entered the monastery on October 1, 2010, at the age of 18.

Her first months were not easy but she remained firm in her determination to be a Carmelite. On September 30, 2011, Kalyn received the Habit of Our Lady and became Sister Maria Faustina of Merciful Love.

The date was significant for her in that it is the date of St. Therese’s death and the birthday of Mother Theresa Margaret, their Foundress. Sister has always had a great devotion to St. Faustina and St. Therese. She loves their spirit of total abandonment and trust and endeavors to incorporate these childlike virtues in her own life. Her desire of many, many years has been fulfilled.

“All I want now is to be a true Carmelite and a loving Bride of Jesus.”

Dying Mother’s Blessing

Brittlyn Sonnier, likewise 18 when she entered, came to know of the Lafayette Carmelites through one of the weekend Veritas Retreats. She had struggled against a vocation for a few months, but after the retreat and coming to see the community, she knew that Jesus was calling her to Carmel.

When asked what she expected to find in Carmel, her reply was: “I really don’t know. All I know is that Jesus wants me there.” The date of her entrance was set for October 15, 2010.

Brittlyn’s mother was dying of cancer, and she wondered whether she should enter as planned or stay and help her father care for the other four younger children. Being a family of deep faith, they encouraged her to go to Carmel if she felt God calling her.

She then asked her Mother, whom she was caring for in the hospital. True to her conviction of Brittlyn’s vocation, Monique gave her eldest daughter her blessing and encouraged her in her desire to give herself entirely to Our Lord.

This is indeed the niche God has chosen for her. She has imbibed the spirit of the community from the start and has a deep spirit of prayer and generosity. On October 15, 2011 Brittlyn received the habit and became Sister Teresa of Jesus.

For more information on the Lafayette Carmelites, click here.

Men's communities

On Fire with the Love of God

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The following is an article by Anne Tschanz on Venerable Pio Bruno Lantieri, the founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, which first appeared in the September-October 2011 issue of Religious Life, the official magazine of the Institute on Religious Life.

Two hundred years ago, Western Europe was beset by secularism, heresy, and revolution resulting in a loss of faith among the people and a lack of respect for the Holy Father. It seemed overwhelmingly impossible to stem the tide. Yet, into this void stepped Venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri, a man who, armed only with the word of God which is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12), even thwarted Napoleon.

Comforted by a Good Mother

Pio Bruno Lanteri was born in 1759 in Cuneo, which was then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. When he was only 4 years old, his mother died. Looking back on this sad event in his life, he said, “I have had scarcely any mother but the Blessed Virgin Mary and I never received anything but comfort from such a good Mother.”

The young Bruno enjoyed a special relationship with his father, Pietro, who gave his inquisitive son the best education possible. Bruno recalled that he “studied with my father even at the table.” The well-respected Pietro was a doctor known as the “father of the poor” for his Christian charity. Guided by his father in faith and intellect, Bruno was interested in only three things: family, school, and church.

Attracted to the monastic life, Bruno applied to join the Carthusians, founded by Saint Bruno, when he was 17 years old, but he left soon after, his frail constitution and weak health not suited to the harsh way of life of the monks. Thus, he decided to become a diocesan priest and was accepted because of his “purity of morals and pious desire to sanctify (himself) in the clerical state.” Continue reading On Fire with the Love of God →

News

O Canada!

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Seminary enrollment is up 50% at St. Joseph  Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta. Seminary rector Fr. Shayne Craig attributes the sharp increase to a greater emphasis on faith formation and vocations throughout the region.

With 42 seminarians registered in-house this fall and another five on internships, registration is at an all-time high, says Fr. Craig.

Last year, the seminary had 28 in-house seminarians and another six on internships. The maximum residency at the new seminary is 60 seminarians.

Eleven of this year’s seminarians are from the Edmonton Archdiocese; the others come from elsewhere across Western Canada.

For the rest of the story, check out this article from the B.C. Catholic.

Men's communities

Safe Haven

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portico at the rear of the enclosed forecourt at Camaldolese monastery

During World War II, the Camaldolese monastery of San Gregorio Magno al Celio in Rome hid Jews, anti-Fascist political figures, and “after Mussolini’s capitulation, even a few trembling, formerly influential, figures of the Fascist regime,” according to L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

The monastery’s chronicler wrote at the time:

“Jews–who were being sought to be locked up in those death camps known as concentration camps and who were divested of all their possessions–asked to be hidden, as did politicians who did not wish to collaborate with the reborn Republican Fascism; men who had escaped from the prisons and jails that had been opened for them as political offenders on 26 July; officers who were loath to belong to an army that was betraying national and popular principles; soldiers who sought refuge to avoid being deported to distant places; soldiers of the Anglo-American forces, prisoners of war who had managed to flee in the moment of confusion, and there were even a few Austrian and Polish soldiers who belonged to the German army.”

The Camaldolese are a joint order of hermits and cenobites, founded by St. Romuald at the beginning of the eleventh century.

Courtesy of Catholic Culture.

Men's communities

Discalced Carmelite Friars

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Today the universal Church celebrates the feast of the great Carmelite doctor of the Church, St. John of the Cross.

In a particular way, we want to send feast day greetings to the Discalced Carmelite Friars, St. Joseph Province, one of our IRL affiliates.

The friars are disciples of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and they live as brothers in community. With Mary as their patroness, they serve Christ and His Church through ministries of prayer, presence, evangelization, and pastoral care.

As with all Carmelites, their primary ministry is prayer.  All of their other ministries in the Church are but an outpouring of that relationship with God. They serve in parishes, retreat houses, spirituality centers, hospital pastoral care, spiritual direction and prison ministry with a special emphasis on their service to Carmelite nuns and seculars.

The St. Joseph Province encompasses most of the western United States, with most of their houses in California and Arizona.

For more information on discerning a possible vocation with this community, click here.

General interest

Religion and the Civil War

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The Catholic News Agency (CNA) recently published an interesting piece on the role of religion in the U.S. Civil War. CNA interviewed Dr. George G. Rable of the University of Alabama on this subject, since this year marks the 150th anniversary of the war.

Dr. Rable is the author of God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War. He provides some interesting commentary on the complex role of the Catholic Church in both the North and the South, especially as it related to discussion of the moral issue of slavery.

Of particular interest to our readers is the role played by consecrated religious in the war. Perhaps most noteworthy were the Sisters of Charity, who worked in the military hospitals and cared for everyone regardless of their political affiliation.

“They were there to serve as nurses. Soldiers on both sides were impressed with the Sisters of Charity,” added Rable, whose book recounts the story of one soldier so impressed by a sister that he converted to Catholicism.

For more on the role of Catholic religious in the Civil War, check out “Catholic Sisters and the American Civil War” by Dr. Pat McNamara.

General interest

Archbishop Dolan on “Culture of Vocations”

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As part of the celebration of National Vocation Awareness Week, January 9-14, 2012, The Catholic Answer magazine interviewed Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York on how to build a “culture of vocations.”

Before becoming the Archbishop of New York and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Dolan served as rector of the North American College, the seminary for Americans in Rome, from 1994 to 2001.

The entire interview is important reading, but I thought our readers would be especially interested in Archbishop Dolan’s insights as to what a “culture of vocations” looks like:

“What I mean by a culture of vocations is that when our young people grow up in a culture that encourages you to do God’s will and that affirms one in his desire to be a priest, you are going to get priests. I grew up in such a culture. I said to my teachers in grade school, ‘I think I want to be a priest,’ and they beamed and did everything possible to encourage me. My parish priest would. My folks would. My neighbors would. The parish would. I can remember as a kid–I must have been 9 or 10 years old–getting a haircut, and the barber said, ‘Hey shrimp, what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I said, ‘I want to be a priest.’ And he wasn’t even a Catholic, but he said, ‘Hey, isn’t that great?’

“Now that is the culture of vocations that we need in the Church.”

Readers are also invited to check out Archbishop Dolan’s blog, “The Gospel in the Digital Age.”