News, Saints, Women's Communities

Parish Visitors Foundress Canonization Underway!

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Mother Mary Teresa Tallon, foundress of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate, is on her way to sainthood we hope! Cardinal Timothy Dolan has approved the process opening the way for her canonization. Sr. Maria Catherine, PVMI, Vice-Postulator for the cause, said that she hopes that the process which is now very public will allow “others to know her as we know her.”

Holiness of life is “heroic virtue practiced consistently” in words and by example. Mother had two goals: 1) the holiness of the sisters and herself and 2) leading all souls to that holiness of life which is characterized by love for God and zeal for souls.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said that she was “way ahead of her time” when it came to evangelization. It was not a program to be administered. It was personal, one-on-one.  The Parish Visitors apostolate is to go door-to-door in search of the lost sheep. They lead children and adults to faith in Jesus Christ. They are “missionaries who walk with Mary in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd.”

A typical conversation begins, “Has anyone in this household ever been baptized Catholic?” This simple question has begun the process of re-evangelizing hundreds of thousands of those who have strayed from Jesus. The Sisters strive to draw each person into closer union with Him.

One sister who knew Mother Tallon personally said: “Kindness! Mother had such love of souls and compassion….’You are spiritual mothers….Make every soul count.'”

The Parish Visitors, said Mother Tallon, “speak to the people face to face and heart to heart.”

Cloistered life, Women's Communities

A Technology Leap of Faith

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Not much has changed for the Carmelites over the past 900 years. Their priorities remain unchanged – prayer, solitude and work to support the community. But for the Carmelites of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a new era has dawned – they have a website! www.carmelofsantafe.org

This IRL Affiliate community of 8 nuns was established in 1945 by Mother Mary Teresa who was forced to flee Mexico in the face of the terrible persecution suffered by Catholics in that country. She died in 1997 in Jefferson City, MO, at another Carmel that she also had founded.

The Santa Fe Carmelites are situated in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains, on the high desert of northern New Mexico.  They are a part of the Spanish Catholic legacy that has been present in Santa Fe for more than 400 years. Santa Fe means Holy Faith!

The charism of the sisters is guided by their foundress, St. Teresa of Avila, and by St. John of the Cross, another Carmelite. They live in the presence of God, in imitation of Mary and the prophet Elijah, who awaited God in his hermitage on Mount Carmel, 900 years before Christ.

See a story about the Santa Fe Carmelites in the Santa Fe New Mexican

News

St. Benedict & the New Evangelization

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The Benedictines have always been in the forefront of evangelization, most notably in Europe where “with the cross, the book and the plow,” they carried Christianity to scattered people (Pope Paul VI).  When the Holy Father declared Saint Benedict the Patron of Europe, he called him the man who “dispelled the darkness by the light of Christian civilization and radiated Christian peace.”

There are shining examples as to the rebirth of Benedictine life. Just look at the growing community at the birthplace of St. Benedict in Nursia, Italy, founded by an American. Then there are the Benedictines of Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma, and the Benedictines of Mary in Gower, MO.

There is also a group of Anglican nuns in England who have crossed the Tiber. Their community, the Community of St. Mary the Virgin in Wantage, Oxfordshire, was founded in 1848 and has always been “at the heart of the Church of England’s religious life” since it was founded.

The current community comprises 40 or so members, of which 10 have left to join the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, organized to allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while retaining their beloved forms of liturgy and prayers. They sisters plan to follow the Rule of St. Benedict.

One of those joining the Church is the Mother Superior while another sister was a “priest” in the Anglican Church. They will be leaving their monastery, fellow sisters and all means of support behind. Three of the sisters are in their 80’s. They are courageous women. Mother Winsome says, “We are doing this because we truly believe this is God’s call. The Bible is full of people called to step out in faith not knowing where they were going or how they will be provided for and that truly is the situation we are following.”

Mother Winsome adds: “We believe that the Holy Father’s offer is a prophetic gesture which brings to a happy conclusion the prayers of generations of Anglicans and Catholics who have sought a way forward for Christian unity.”

May Saint Benedict’s intercession bring more monastic communities under the Vicar of Christ.

See the full story in the Catholic Herald.co.uk.

Men's communities, Resources

Year of Faith Saint for the Month

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For years, I been receiving a monthly newsletter from Abbaye Saint-Joseph de Clairval in France which usually features a saint or blessed of the Church. These newsletters are 4 dense pages of meaty information liberally laced with quotes from the Holy Father commenting on the relevance for the saint for today. These newsletters are free (sign up here) but donations are welcome. Their goal is to spread the Faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In 2012, the Abbey celebrated the 40th anniversary of their founding. They are a community of monks living according to the Rule of Saint Benedict in obedience to the Catholic hierarchy. They were founded in Switzerland in 1972 but came to France in 1976. A Benedictine monastery was in the town from the 7th century until the French Revolution but the monks of today, who number about 50, now reside in the former minor seminary.

The Abbey has beautiful gifts for sale, including a new CD of Gregorian chant in honor of St. Joseph (available in March). The Liturgy of the Hours is sung in Latin with Gregorian chant. They also conduct retreats both at the abbey and in other countries following the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

“I will ask for an intimate knowledge of Our Lord who has become man for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.”
Spiritual Exercises, no. 104

News

Notre Dame Our Mother

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As a graduate of St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, Class of ’74, I can be forgiven for a Notre Dame entry on the eve (almost) of the National Championship game on Monday night against Alabama. There is a fascinating article in the National Catholic Register about the traditions surrounding Notre Dame football game days that are most likely unique in the sports world today.

First, the whole team attends Mass together at Sacred Heart  Basilica, including coaches. At the conclusion of Mass, they recite the Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary and a relic of the True Cross is venerated. Then blessed medals of saints are distributed and the relevance of the saint for the day is expounded. In the locker room before a game, an Our Father is prayed and Our Lady of Victory is invoked. The whole team is then blessed.

Fr. Paul Doyle, CSC, says that he tries not to give repeat medals to a player during their 4 year stay at Notre Dame. He says that while the team is less than 50% Catholic, the players tend to cherish the medals. In this Year of Faith,

Also, look for an ad during the game produced by Catholics Come Home that features Lou Holtz, ND head coach from 1986-1996.

May all the players play to the best of their abilities on 1/7/13. And may they be protected from harm. But Go Irish.

Men's communities, News

The Contemplative Life Today

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In an article in Religious Life magazine, Very Rev. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B. was asked about the resurgence of men entering contemplative Benedictine life. What is drawing them, specifically, to his monastery San Benedetto? It is, he said, the experience of a radical faith in God lived out among like-minded brothers.

Father Cassian views monastic life as the perfect instrument for the New Evangelization. It is the best medicine for the God-lessness that pervades society for it is a life imbued with God at every turn, a life filled with His presence and beauty.

Over and over again, people have come into San Benedetto “by chance” and have emerged changed by their experience of the liturgy, reverently celebrated. The Benedictine’s witness of prayer and awe-inspiring liturgy is the contribution the monks can make to the New Evangelization.

Father also mentions the eight vices that are part of the pre-Benedictine tradition: gluttony, lust, avarice, acedia, vainglory, anger, pride and sadness. It is interesting that sadness is mentioned because there is a lot of sadness and aimlessness in the world today. It seems to me that this is the age-old sadness with the age-old answer: Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.

 

Men's communities, News

Little Brothers of St. Francis

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When a community of faithful religious disbands, it is like a death in the family.

Br. James Curran, L.B.S.F. has been guiding the Little Brothers of Saint Francis for 42 years. A past recipient of the IRL’s Pro Fidelitate et Virtute award, Brother James has been a beacon of light to the poor in Boston. The Good News, he says, that he left “the multitude, the down and out, the people in the streets whom we have embraced in our works of mercy is the good news of God’s Divine Mercy.” Brother strove and succeeded in living the “Gospel without compromise.”

In his letter to his faithful supporters, Brother James says he is “still convinced that God gave us our charism as a simple response to the Gospel and will continue to call others to that forma vita (way of life) so dear to St. Francis: contemplative presence among the poorest of the poor.” May others follow in his footsteps, albeit big ones to fill.

Brother James can be reached at  Don Orione Nursing Home in East Boston, MA.

May God bless him and all those who knelt in profound adoration before the Eucharistic Lord in his little chapel before going out to serve those whom the world has forgotten.

 

News

Merry Christmas

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(Jesus) was sent by God the Father to save us above all from the evil deeply rooted in man and in history: the evil of separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is good and evil, to be the master of life and death (Genesis 3:1-7). This is the great evil, the great sin, from which we human beings cannot save ourselves unless we rely on God’s help, unless we cry out to him: “Veni ad salvandum nos! Come to save us!”

News, Women's Communities

Little Sisters of the Poor Shutting Down?

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This is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Little Sisters of the Poor who care for the poor and elderly are concerned that Obamacare could drive them out of business. And that business is not to make money but to provide the aged poor with a loving home for the remainder of their days on earth, free of charge. The sisters rely on donations to  care for their residents.

To be forced to provide a health plan  that includes things like sterilization and contraception coverage to their 300 sisters serving in 30 US cities goes against Catholic moral teaching and a well-formed conscience. The fines for not providing coverage would force the sisters out of business. Is this religious liberty?

The Little Sisters are also in the forefront of the anti-euthanasia fight. As George Weigel said in a column: The Little Sisters of the Poor and their residents are living reminders that there are no disposable human beings; that everyone is a someone for whom the Son of God entered the world, suffered and died; and that we read others out of the human family at our moral and political peril.

Prayer is the best answer to combat evil. Help us, O Lord, to be able to care for your littlest ones in our nursing homes, hospitals, schools.