Category Archives: News

Cloistered life, Liturgical Year, News, Women's Communities

Top of the Charts

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The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, Missouri,  have recently released a new CD for Advent which is currently #4 on Billboard’s Classical Traditional Albums chart. According to Vatican Radio, “All of the music was conducted and arranged by the order’s prioress, Mother Cecilia, a professionally-trained musician who performed in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra of Ohio for three years before entering religious life. ”

According to Monica Fitzgibbons , co-founder of De Montfort Music along with her husband Kevin, the nuns “chose all the music, and in doing so they chose these beautiful pieces across the ages from different countries.” There are 16 songs on the album including an original piece composed by the sisters.

A good proportion of the proceeds go to the sisters themselves. It will allow them to pay down the debt of the guesthouse where they live and hopefully garner extra money to assist them on their way towards their goal – the building of a new, permanent monastery.

To order Advent at Ephesus, click here. The CD cost is $20.00 plus $2.00 shipping.

So many have even forgotten what Advent is! More importantly, however, we have seen the hand of God as using us, very poor instruments,
to make Him better known in this increasingly hostile and Godless culture. Please spread the word as best as you can, and better still, please pray for the success of this venture. The greatest benefit for our community will come through orders made directly through our website,
www.benedictinesofmary.org.

News, Women's Communities

Healing the Heart of Jesus

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On November 21, 2012, the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus will be celebrating 100 years in America. They came to this country from Germany in 1912 and settled in Milwaukee at the invitation of the Archbishop. In honor of this special event and to honor their foundress Bl. Maria Teresa of St. Joseph (Anna Maria Tauscher), the sisters in Wauwatosa, WI, will be hosting an open house, rosary and reception along with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Jerome Listecki.

The sisters are very happy that their Mother Foundress founded the Wauwatosa house personally. Sr. Immaculata says, “She walked the grounds, saw the staircase that was in her dream (still standing!), and because they had no money, the sisters all worked together to build a high cloister fence that surrounded the entire property.” Their Mother General from Europe will also be in attendance to share in the festivities.

The sisters now have homes throughout the US but in this particular province they have the provincial Motherhouse in Wauwatosa, homes for the elderly in Kenosha, WI, and Grand Rapids, MI, a Residential treatment center for boys in Wauwatosa, a Residential treatment center for girls in East Chicago, IN,  and Emergency shelter care for infants and small children in East Chicago, IN. The Order’s newest foundation is in Russia.

Their coat of arms beautifully symbolizes their spirit of humility and penance. The silver star in the center stands for the sisters who are striving to practice these virtues. The other stars represent the saints of Carmel of the old law, the saints of Carmel of the new law and the shining virtues of the Mother of God. The arm and hand is that of the prophet Elias, the “Father of all Carmelites.” The sword signifies his ardor: “With zeal, I am zealous for the Lord God of Hosts”. The wreath of thorns represents the sufferings that the Church must endure because of the sins of her members.

The Carmel of the Divine Heart of Jesus should be ignited with fervor and ready to offer itself as a victim in order to atone for all those who have been “torn from the Heart of Jesus.” A Carmelite Sister D.C.J. must engrave the Coat of Arms on her heart and become, through its meaning, a “heroic victim soul.” Our goal is to transform our “silver star” in this life into the golden star in heaven. There as saints, we may give praise to God for all eternity!

See the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s Catholic Herald for more information.

 

Cloistered life, News, Women's Communities

Visitation Musings

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Within the last year, the Sisters of the Visitation of Toledo, Ohio, have had many reasons to celebrate. In February, Sr. Josefa Maria made her Solemn Profession and Sister Marie was received into the Novitiate, and in March, Sister Susan pronounced first vows.

And the sisters were able to experience “Hollywood” firsthand! With the permission of their Bishop, Holy Trinity Apostolate came to film some scenes for the movie “Leonie!” The film is based on the life of Leonie Martin, one of the sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Leonie had a difficult childhood and after several attempts was professed a Visitandine at the monastery in Caen, France. The movie still needs a distributor but the sisters were able to see the finished product in July.

The Visitation community around the world encourages everyone to explore on foot or via the internet the Visitandine museum, Musée de la Visitation, in Moulins, France where  chalices, chasubles and silk liturgical items that have been produced and acquired by the Sisters of the Visitation are on display.  A new 5 minute video with music by Vivaldi and English text, gives people a glimpse into these liturgical treasures.

The theme is “Sacred Silk.” Unique in all of France, these artifacts illustrate the genius and creativity of the weavers in the production of silk, interwoven with gold and silver, from the late sixteenth century. Ten thousand objects have been assembled,many of them on loan from Visitation monasteries from 19 countries throughout the world.

On the occasion of the feast of St. Jane de Chantal in 2010, the museum lent His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI jewelry and vestments for the celebration of the Mass.

News, Women's Communities

Embraced by Our Mother, the Church

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This evening, Friday, November 6, 2012, six Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church, will pronounce perpetual vows at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane, Washington. The congregation will also witness the temporary profession of three sisters.

This was no ordinary journey for the sisters.

In 2007, 15 nuns from a schismatic convent in Washington State rejoined the Catholic Church by formally renouncing their state of schism and making a profession of the Catholic faith. Their former order holds to the position that popes elected since John XXIII are invalid and that Vatican II was a heretical council.

The new order’s title reflects its pilgrimage to full communion with Rome. “Mary is our guide. With a title so ancient and yet so popular today, ‘Mother of the Church’ she understands the need for unity in the Church,” explains Sister Mary Eucharista.

It all began in 2002 when a parish priest and his parishioners began a prayer campaign to bring the sisters back into the fold. They enlisted the help of the Missionaries of Charity who came to Spokane in 2006 in part to address the spiritual poverty of the sisters on “the Mount” (a former Jesuit scholasticate).

To a sister, they credit the witness of the Missionaries of Charity as their strongest motivation to return to Rome. They saw in the MC sisters “so much charity, so much love, so much goodness;” says Sister Kathryn Joseph. “They won us over with their prayer and charity.”

News

Our Source of Hope

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Fr. George Rutler in a recent homily quoted the late Edward Gibbon who wrote about the decline of once-great civilizations.

“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all — security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”

Fr. Rutler notes that the only people who have the selfless energy that builds noble societies are those like the saints in the picture (right). “The real leaders are not those who hypnotize naïve people into thinking that they are the source of hope. Those who can rescue nations from servility to selfishness are not on slick campaign posters, but in stark black and white photographs like that taken on Molokai in 1889.”

The picture (Father thinks it is the first ever taken of two saints together) is of St. Damien of Molokai and St. Marianne Cope.

Let us pray for holy vocations to the priesthood and religious life on this election day!

News, Saints

Mother Cabrini Shrine Reopens

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On September 30, 2012, the chapel that was once part of Columbus Hospital in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood was rededicated by Cardinal Francis George as the Mother Cabrini Shrine. Closed for 10 years, the shrine was once the chapel for the hospital which was torn down to make way for a luxury condominium tower. The shrine is located on the site where St. Frances Xavier Cabrini died in 1917.

Mother was the first American citizen to be declared a saint and the foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As an immigrant from Italy, she knew what it was like to arrive in a foreign country and be unwelcome.  But she carried out the Holy Father’s wishes and built hospitals, orphanages and schools in the New World – 67 foundations in her lifetime! Her motto came from Philippians 3:14: I can do all things in Him who strengthens me!”

Pope John Paul II said, “Her extraordinary activity drew its strength from prayer, especially from long periods before the tabernacle. Christ was everything to her.” In keeping with her spirit of prayer, the shrine is open for Eucharistic Adoration every Friday. If there are enough adorers, the hours will increase. When I was there, I was impressed by the steady stream of people who came and prayed.

The shrine itself is incredibly beautiful, a dazzling array of gold mosaics, carrera marble, frescoes and Florentine stained glass. In addition to the chapel, there is a small museum where you can see the bed where Mother died and other mementos of her life. There are also rooms available for meetings which the shrine staff will be using to introduce children along with their parents to the power of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

The shrine is nestled among high rise condos, vintage brownstones, brick apartments and busy Lincoln Park on Lake Michigan. As more people discover this oasis in the desert, perhaps it will become a center for spiritual renewal in the heart of the big city. As we pray for religious freedom in our country, Mother reminds us that “we make a serious mistake …if the foundation stone of our moral edifice be other than Christ and His Church.”

Men's communities, News

Plus bibo, plus sitio

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The more I drink, the more I thirst.

These are the words of Peter in the Dialogues as he thirsts for more miracle stories about St. Benedict. They are pertinent today too for the Benedictine Monks of Norcia who inaugurated a brewery this summer to help sustain the monastery, located on at the birthplace of St. Benedict of Nursia. The beer is called appropriately enough Birrra Nursia and has the motto: Ut Laetifect Cor (from Psalm 104 – how wine is a gift from God to gladden men’s hearts).

The Archbishop reminded those in attendance of the miracle of Cana where Christ performed a miracle which brought joy to the hearts of the wedding party.

Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B., the founder of the monastery, has been undergoing treatment for cancer which, thanks be to God, is now in remission. He joyfully celebrated with Bro. Evagrius as Brother professed solemn vows on August 11th. In July, four young men participated in a discernment program. May God bless them with holy vocations.

If you are interested in becoming a Benedictine oblate associated with the monastery at Norcia, contact Brother Anthony, the Oblate Director. It is necessary to come to Italy for an initial retreat and then begin the Oblate Novitiate which lasts one year.

Oblates are people who are attracted to Benedictine spirituality but those whose state in life obliges them to live in the world. The monks remember all of the oblates in prayer at the closing of the Divine Office: May the Divine assistance remain always with us, and with our absent brethren.

News, Saints

The Martyrs of North America

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Yesterday in Rome, St. Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized a saint of the Catholic Church. The faith was brought to her by men who left their countries for certain martyrdom in the New World. At her birthplace of Ossernenon (New York), three Jesuit missionaries lost their lives as they strove to bring the Good News to the natives of the land. Kateri herself was baptized and instructed by a Jesuit missionary and then fled to Canada due to religious persecution.

Pope Benedict XVI said of her:

“May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are. St. Kateri, protectress of Canada and the first American Indian saint, we entrust you to the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America.”

I did not realize that Kateri’s grave site is revered and known. In an article in the National Catholic Register (10/21/12),  it says that she was placed in a coffin made by sympathetic Frenchman and buried on Holy Thursday, 1680. Her remains were later placed in a marble tomb at St. Francis Xavier Mission in the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake, near Montreal, Quebec. (See photo right)

The National Shrine to St. Kateri is located near Fonda, New York, and has been under the guardianship of the Conventual Franciscans since 1938. The Founder, Fr. Thomas Grassman, OFM Conv., discovered the original Iroquois village in 1950, today the only fully excavated Iroquois Indian village in the country. Nearby is the spring whose water was used to baptize Kateri. The clear water drawn by pilgrims is credited yet today with many miraculous cures.

You can also visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs not far away in Auriesville, NY, commemorating the lives of the martyrs St. Isaac Jogues, St. Rene Goupil and St. John Lalande. It is also the birthplace of St. Kateri who was born there ten years after the martyrdom of St. Isaac Jogues.