All posts by Anne Tschanz

Men's communities

Franciscan Family Photo

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I have a soft spot in my heart for the friars at the St. Francis of Assisi Novitiate in Mishawaka, Indiana, so I am happy to post this photo of the novices and friars and Friar Thomas’ parents who came for a visit.  I am also happy to report that the number of novices in their new “class” will be almost double that of the prior class. The Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of young men!

The Conventual Franciscans of the St. Bonaventure Province are an IRL Affiliate Community. We are fortunate that the IRL’s HQ (modest though it is) is located on the grounds of Marytown, a beautiful perpetual adoration  shrine and retreat house run by the Conventuals in Libertyville, Illinois. It is also the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Come for a quiet holy hour or come for a stay at this most beautiful oasis of serenity and prayer!

Women's Communities

The Fruit of Silence

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The latest issue (6/17/12) of Our Sunday Visitor cites a study whose findings indicate that nearly a quarter of millennial Catholics will leave the Church by age 24. The study also states that a majority of them believe in abortion rights and same-sex “marriage.”

In the midst of these gloomy findings, however, are the stories of 6 young, committed Catholics evangelists, each doing it in his or her own way. I highlight here the story of one of them: Sr. Evangeline Suprenant, OP, from the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist, because she is the daughter of one of our Advisory Board members, Leon Suprenant.  Sr. Evangeline (now age 24) entered religious life immediately after high school. Why wait, she said, when the call was so clear?

Here is her beautiful advice to young women discerning a vocation. “I recommend cultivating a spirit of silence. Go to daily Mass as often as possible and sit in the presence of the Eucharist. Get to know Christ. Develop a friendship with him. Also make sure you know your Faith, who you are, and the truth about the world around you. In the end, it comes down to what Blessed John Paul II said: ‘Be not afraid.’ When you’re looking in a perfectly open way, with no fear, to fall in love with God and enter whatever vocation he calls you to, he’ll lead you to it. He’s already placed the call on your heart. You just have to listen for it. It really is that simple.”

News

Fortnight For Freedom

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The US Bishops suggest that the fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country.

Maybe at a minimum we can join the bishops in saying this urgent prayer for religious liberty.

Almighty God, Father of all nations,
For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1).
We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty,
the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good.
Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties;
By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness,
and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Click here for the full document on religious liberty and the threats against it in our country.

Women's Communities

The Hidden Life of Ephesus

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On April 15, 2012, 4 novices of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, professed for the first time their vows of stability, obedience and conversion of life. Sr. Assumpta of Jesus Christ the King, Sr. Jean-Marie of the Merciful Love of God, Sr. Columba of Jesus Crucified and Sr. Philomena of the Sacred Wounds of Our Lord form part of this young community that was founded under the aegis of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in 1995. In March 2006, they moved to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri.

Their Priory of Our Lady of Ephesus takes it name from the city of Ephesus where, according to Tradition, Our Lady lived and perhaps died (though some believe that may have happened in Jerusalem).  Having received a call to emulate Our Lady in her final, hidden years, they offer their lives in prayer and sacrifice for priests. The entire 150 psalms with their hymns are chanted throughout the week and they use the 1962 Monastic Office, with its traditional Gregorian Chant, in Latin.

In addition to recording some beautiful CD’s of sacred music, the sisters also sell altar cloths, vestments, and sacred linens.

Men's communities, Women's Communities

Work of Angels

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This year commemorates the 850th anniversary of the death of St. Theotonius (1082-1162), co-founder of the Order of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross, a new IRL Affiliate Community. The Order was founded in 1131 and violently suppressed in 1934 by the government of Portugal. The restoration of the Order was undertaken in 1977 by members of the spiritual movement called Opus Sanctorum Angelorum (Work of the Holy Angels). They were granted the privilege to introduce into the Order a “special devotion to the holy angels according to the tradition of the Church.”

In 1958, Pope Pius XII said that our lives are surrounded by the holy angels: “Each one of us, even the poorest of the poor, has angels watching over him. The angels are glorious, pure and splendid, but they have been given to us as companions along the way of life. They have the task of watching over you all, so that you do not stray away from Christ, your Lord.”

Archbishop Allen Vigneron has appointed the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (Grotto) and the Adoration chapel of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, both in Detroit, as places where a plenary indulgence may be gained to mark this special year honoring the saint (February 18, 2012 to February 18, 2013).  The church of Mary, Mother of Mercy in Carrollton, Ohio, will be an additional location where the indulgence may be gained. The relics of the Saint from the original monastery of Coimbra, Portugal, will be on a tour of all the houses of the Order throughout the world. They will be in Detroit from September 10 to 22, 2012.

 

Women's Communities

You Are Forever a Spouse of Christ

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May 31, 2012, was the solemn profession day for two Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of St. Walburga. St. Benedict says in his rule, “Let him who is to be received make in the oratory, in the presence of all, a promise of stability, conversion of manners and obedience before God and his saints. This petition is to be written in his own hand.” The two sisters, Sr. Lioba and Sr. Maria-Gertrude,  followed their spiritual father, Saint Benedict, by doing just that.

Mother had an interesting insight into what it means for a Bride of Christ to die to self.  She said, “You have embraced the very heart of what John the Baptist has said, ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’ If a nun’s deaths do not make her more alive to God, she is still living in the Old Testament, she will not be very good news to the world; but you are good news to the world. You have embraced the Paschal Mystery.”

The Abbey is the newest IRL Affiliate Community. Located in the Archdiocese of Denver, they were founded in 1935 from the Abbey of St. Erentrud in Austria. In addition to participation in the daily Eucharist, spiritual reading and liturgical prayer, they also run a gift shop and retreat house.

 

News, Women's Communities

The Alma Sisters: A Vision of the Religious Woman

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Excerpt from the Alma Sisters website. Well worth reading the complete article!

We, the physicians and future physicians of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan, met on June 2, 2012, to articulate the vision of the call and contribution of religious women in the redemptive healing ministry of the Church. We also addressed statements issued by the Leadership Conference of Woman Religious (LCWR),various news agencies, and other organizations which have created confusion, polarization, and false representations about the beliefs, activities, and priorities of a significant number of women religious in the United States.

As religious women, our whole life is based in faith. Apart from faith, religious life has no meaning. The doctrinal assessment from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) regarding the LCWR is in the language of faith. The responses of opposition are being expressed using the language of politics. There is no basis for authentic dialogue between these two languages. The language of faith is rooted in Jesus Christ, His life and His mission, as well as the magisterial teaching of the Church. In addition, the language of faith does not contradict reason, but elevates it and secures its integrity. The language of politics arises from the social marketplace. The Sisters who use political language in their responses to the magisterial Church reflect the poverty of their education and formation in the faith.

…We praise the generosity and service of religious women who have gone before us. We see great hope for the future of religious life within the Church and for a continuation of its health care mission in the service of all people. This hope lies in remaining within the deposit of faith and the hierarchical structure of the Church. We cannot separate ourselves from sacred Tradition or claim to advance beyond the Church. There will be new expressions of the faith to meet the needs of this present day, but these will be contained within and directed by the Magisterium of the Church. As Saint Augustine exclaims, “O Beauty, ever ancient, ever new!”

Women's Communities

IHM Sisters of Wichita are Growing!

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In the mail today, we received a brief note saying that the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Wichita have obtained 80 acres of land on which to build a house of formation for their novitiate and for those discerning a vocation to religious life. The sisters ask that we join them in renewing our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and place ourselves, our families, our friends and all our works under her protection. How about doing that today, when we honor the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary? Here is a Solemn Act of Consecration from the EWTN website.

The community, an IRL Affiliate, was founded in 1848 by Fr. Joachim Masmitjá for the purpose of rebuilding society through the education of young women.  In 1979, the community in Wichita became autonomous, a new community with a long history. How wonderful to hear of a community that is growing and planning for the future with the eyes of Faith. Check out their video on YouTube for a glimpse of their life.

Liturgical Year

Prayers for Priests on the Feast of the Sacred Heart

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The Congregation for Clergy has released this prayer in preparation for the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of the Clergy, held on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (this year, June 15).

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY CHURCH AND FOR PRIESTS

O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of  the whole Church:

Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit,

and give power to the words of Priests

so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy Priests;

You yourself maintain them in holiness.

O Divine and Great High Priest,

may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere

and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares

which are continually being set for the soul of Priests.

May the power of Your mercy,

O Lord, shatter and bring to naught

all that might tarnish the sanctity of Priests,

for You can do all things.

My beloved Jesus,

I pray to you for the triumph of the Church,

that you may bless the Holy Father and all the clergy;

I beg you to grant the grace of conversion

to sinners whose hearts have been hardened by sin,

and a special blessing and light to priests,

to whom I shall confess for all of my life.

(Saint Faustina Kowalska)

Liturgical Year

The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Eucharist

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The IRL is consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our founder, Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, wrote that it is a remarkable fact that “all of Christ’s appearances to St. Margaret Mary were when she knelt before the Eucharist. He would literally replace the Sacrament on the altar when He showed His physical heart to this devoted mystic, as much to say, ‘When you see the Eucharist, you see Me; and when you see Me, you behold My Sacred Heart.'”

Devotion to the Sacred Heart has waned in recent times eclipsed by devotion to Divine Mercy. However, Divine Mercy flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus as evidenced by the picture commissioned by St. Faustina. In any event, June which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a good time to pray a novena to the Sacred Heart for some special intention. Click here for the novena that Padre Pio prayed every day for those who requested for his prayers.

Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee.