July 4 William of Hirsau d. 1091

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you


When we find ourselves in postion to lead, our saintly abbots, especially our namesakes give us plenty of advice....

e.g. William of Hirsau; wilhelm von Hirsau....
Wiliam of Hirsau became a benedictine monk - in the 11th c. they were the creme de la creme of monastic order monks... and the source of the Clunic reforms. this educated man joined the monastery following his own vocation...
try not to think of our blesseds, our monks, our abbots stereotypically. what do we know about William the man; the boy billy? from his adult accomplishments, we might guess - i suggest it's worth your checking into, if only for fun and the breaking of a stereotype or two....

in 1069, William was sent to the monastery at Hirsau to become their abbot. the man who had been the abbot had been deposed unjustly - my easily reached sources do not elaborate; maybe by herny IV's henchmen, maybe by a coup - altho a monastery with fifteen benedictine priests might not seem worth the effort of a coup - - except that any monastery has great wealth, many reaources, and the potential beyond imagination. whatever was happening at Hirsau was not working, for the abbot, for the community, and, thus very likely for the benedictines or the church. William was sent to Hirsau to fix things....
so many times i have been sent to a hospital to fix things. as ceo. as vp. as consultant [with operations responsiblity]. and the reformist abbots, especially of namesake abbots, provide some guidance and inspiration and a resource for the mucho help i need to deliver on the charge of my assignment.
When William arrived at Hirsau, he took the reins of leadership but not the title of abbot - in deference to the man who was deposed but still there. to have been chosen abbot, that man must have been a dedicated benedictine, a faithful catholic, a man once admired among his peers. william would not add to the disgrace of his being removed as leader.... that alone is lesson enough for us to recall ...

William of Hirsau became abbot in 1071. he brought strict reforms from cluny and lived as the model monk amongst his freres. Reform. strict adherence to the rule of Benedict. William of Hirsau led the elimination of clerical corruption - there were men running amuck within the monastery and they frothed over into the communinty with their corruption and scandals. William of Hirsau also rejected any secular control over the Church's property, people, or practices. this of course set him against his own king henry IV [germany] and in the camp of the reforming pope gregory VII. an apparently risky if not untenable proposition.

William of Hirsau's efforts resulted, in one grand measure of his impact, in the increase of priests at Hirsau from 15 to 150! [not unlike the flourishing of the Dominican Sisters in nashville! and for many of the same reasons.]

fundamentals fundamentally lived, taught, implemented with fervor and faith.

and, oh by the by, William, remember was an educated man, William of Hirsau also fulfilled the talents and resources and blessings given to him in other ways. his vocation was more that the title 'abbot' suggests to the stereotyping eye....
William of Hirsau was unsurpassed in his time in the knowledge of quadrivials. In medieval education, the four advanced liberal arts (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music), which were studied after mastery of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic). He constructed various astronomical instruments, made a sun-dial which showed the variations of the heavenly bodies, the solstices, equinoxes, and other sidereal phenomena (The sidereal period is the time that it takes the object to make one full orbit around the Sun, relative to the stars. This is considered to be an object's true orbital period.)
William of HIrsau was also a skilled musician and made various improvements on the flute. So many ways to fulfill our vocation - to know love and serve God.... with all of our talents... in pursuit of perfection....

how do you fulfill your vocation? your talents?

i love you
dad

July 4 William Andleby, Thomas Warcop, et al d. 1597 beat 1927

Thommy and John


good morning
i love you


what was happening in 1927 when the pope beatified so many english martyrs? in addition to the worthy cause of the 16th c. martyrs, there must have been another story - - paul harvey where are you with this story? or might you [or i?] hunt the background down....

William Andleby, an educated man, this one at Cambridge, where he converted to Catholicism. imagine that decision? at that time, in that place. in the midst of the ramp up to the act of 1585.... that is hearing a vocation through the cacophony of anticatholicism at its most shrill - - hearing it and responding to it.... how do you discern your vocation in the midst of your anti catholic environs?

William Andleby went to Douai to study for the priesthood. we each have to find the right place to nurture our faith and vocation. and it may include self exile from our home kingdom - though, living in the kingdom of God is our proper home location. William Andleby was ordained in 1577.

William Andleby was sent to, probably had every intention to return to, the English Mission - i am sure the men who made the round trip from england to douai and back again musta had other things to call this roulette wheel to martyrdom.... you know that when you choose to live your faith, the anti catholic kingdom will be opposed to you and strive to reach out and squash your lights out. find in yourself the fortitude of the spirit both you and William Andleby received at confirmation....

twenty years william Andleby labored in the english mission.... until he was captured. twenty years was much longer than most. too bad that some where along that time line england did not wake up and 'live and let live' with some accommodation to religious choice. it was impossible, tho. the catholic faith, the catholic church, by their very existence admonished the guilt of the henry VIII modus vivandi vis a vis marriage, faith, and church. and if the mighty english crown could not crush or eradicate the faithful, what powers do you think your royalty has over your? check out William Andleby and his companions and the multitude of english martyrs - learn their secret [of faith and church].... then live your faith in your church with courage and confidence - - letting the chips fall where they may. the catholic church persisted, even thrived below the radar screen in england; your royalty, even when you live your faith, will also survive in its own way....

Thomas Warcop, a worchester gentleman, had the graciousnes of his faith to give shelter to William Andleby. and for that, for being a good Christian, a good samaritan so to speak, the english deemed him treasonous and martyred him. and Thomas Warcop thus inherited the kingdom of heaven and the perpetual remembrance of his friends, family, church - both then and through the ages.... even to this very day... be like Thomas Warcop, even if your royalty will not only reject you but seek to martyr you because your faith, your faithfulness somehow threatens [elicits guilt? admonishes wrongful living? reminds of a better way and thus creates an opportunity for return to redemption?].... whetever... try Thomas Warcop's Catholic approach to right and good and follow your faith to its fruition....

i love you
dad

July 4 John Cornelius, sj; John Carey; Thomas Bosgrave; Patrick Salmon d. 1594 beat 1929

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you


back to July 4th.

Johns and a Thomas, martyred [in England, of course, noting the date and the anglicized names] as a group, it's easy to identify the reaason we have recognized their martyrdom - for, shall we, connected to our own independence day, say for freedom of religion? a freedom not allowed to Catholics in Merry England, since Henry VIII - and a suppression and persecution that was exported to our country, lingering still today in the home of the Klan, in the house of all anti-Catholicims.... thus, we are given saints, namesakes, even, to remind us of our duty to God and country - our responsiblity to faith, God, family, community, self ... even unto martyrdom - maybe not the martyrdom of sixteenth century england, but our personal martyrdom by our personal 'courntry' and 'countrymen'....

John Cornelius, of Irish descent educated at oxford. imagine what kind of family from which this irish bloke came. musta been smarter than the average bear and a bit more ambitious - to not only pursue the university education but to do so in the midst of the english oppressors of his homeland...

to become a priest, of course, he had to exile himself, go to Rheims and, in his case, on to Rome, to be trained and ordained. he must have known about other english martyrs - so such a route was an almost gurarenteed path to his own suffering and martyrdom. he knew from the beginning that to follow his vocation, to live fully and honestly his faith, meant martyrdom. as, you too know, it means a martyrdom for you to live your faith in your home 'country'. a martyrdom from which you scamper away.... because?!


after his ordination in 1583, John Cornelius returned to england. back into the teeth of the lion! soon after his getting back to the english island he became a jesuit. how much of that was his calling to ignatius spirituality and community? how much was it a sense of strength with others - one reason we have church/community is because we do need the strength of others to live our own faith, to be faithful to our own catholicism. with whom do you join to strengthen your faith [of your anti faith? we are known by those with whom we keep company....]


John Cornelius was discovered, found out to be a Catholic priest, in 1594. a pretty good run of bein an undercover priest. maybe that's your ploy - are you being an undercover Catholic? so you are not discovered by the royal crown(s) in your lives? not a bad strategy. but such a strategy includes being known within the Catholic community, contributing to the catholic community, being nurtured in your faith by the community as well as your own efforts to be closer to God. How else might John Cornelius be so dedicated to faith and community were it not for his own relationsip with Jesus and his immersion in his Jesuit and broader Catholic community?


Thomas Bosgrave, a gentleman, nephew of a lord. John Cornelius, sj, was kept underground within the family circle of Thomas Bosgrave. The act of 1585 made it high treason to be a roman catholic priest; merely treason to be of service to such a priest. the penalty for helping a priest at that time varied by local custom.... what penalty do you face to live Catholicly? for your properly serving your parish, supporting our priests? in the late 16th c., dealing with an "outlawed priest" could receive a light penalty but, simply buying a priest a tankard of ale could get you hung. which penalty do you fear that is so frightening that you hide from priest, parish, church, even your faith?

Thomas Bosgrave - well get this.... John Cornelius, sj, was condemned for being a priest. Thomas Bosgrave had taken off his hat and put it on the head of father cornelius when the jesuit was being carried away. "the honor i owe your function may not suffer me to see you go barehead." ... for which Thomas Bosgrave was instantly arrested led away and hanged. ... what are you so afraid of? how might Thomas Bosgrave help you use the courage of grace, the gift of the confirming holy spirit, already in your heart and soul?

but maybe Thomas Bosgrave's story of faith and service is not sufficient motivator; not enough of an eye opener for you... how about John Carey [not the comedian, tho he must have had the Spirit's sense of houmor....

John Carey was Thomas Bosgrave's servant. the servant of the servant got hauled away too. so, just being in the presence of the Catholics, being near the priest, can get you hauled away to martyrdom. is that why you run so far from your faith? are you afraid that the royalty in your life will haul you away and martyr you just because you appear to be near a person of faith?

John Carey served Thomas Bosgrave. Thomas Bosgrave doffed his hat to the captured priest. John Cornelius, sj, the priest servant was taken away. and with all three of them, our faith, our church was strengthened. look into yourselves and see the same grace, the same strength, the same Spirit, the same church at your side.... and do what is right and good, regardless of how the royalty will respond to your Catholicism - a Catholicism that by its existence, by the few who live it truly, admonish the Henry VIII approach to faith and marriage....

i love you
dad

July 7, Maolruain d. 792


Thommy and John

Good morning
I love you

7/7/7 -> if you’re a numbers person, then today’s a lucky day. Lots of people put their marriage plans (hopes?) on this day. As a colleague said last night, luck has nothing to do with marriage. Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn’t bet on luck. I had a wedding on May Day, the feast of St Joseph the Worker – and worked, I thought very hard at what I believed [wrongly] was a marriage. Not lucky? Insufficient work? Didn’t happen from before the beginning? Whatever. I am very sorry for your and our loss…. Losses!

Also first Saturday. The chapel was full for mass today. A usually well attended Saturday liturgy had almost every seat occupied. Mostly, by far, grey hairs. Not one person under 20, looked like the youngest was about 26ish. That struck me. Not even a youth altar server. Maybe 0830 is still to early for children at mass. [and I brought you to the premass time cursillo meeting – well I went to cursillo, you two to play nearby on your own. Or to Saturday Mass at OLG when there was usually one other high-school aged son with his father at mass. I wonder if it is the time? Do we, church, schedule our masses for the convenience of the priest? The elderly? The adults? A daily mass for youth, what time would be a good time? The 0615 just about never has a youth there - and it’s a great time ‘on the way to work’ [if not for on the way to school?] of course, if a catholic school, embedding Mass into the schedule – with or without ‘choice’ of attending, is doable. But what time would eliminate “bad time” excuse? After school has activities. After activities has dinner ‘with family’. After dinner has homework. Is there no other than preschool as a good time. Reverting to our preschool selves may be the answer to a lot of things….

The sermon today, springing from Jacob’s taking Essau’s patrimony, God is for the underdog --- so many times the eldest is passed over: Jacob, Joseph, David are easy examples to remember. And Vatican II tells us to give preferential treatment to the poor – definitely underdogs. And in a chapel filled with very rich people, such a gently preached message is received. With what impact? You are very rich? What preferential impact do you give to the poor? [who are the poor in your lives to whom to give preferential treatment?]

On this first Saturday, remember Mary. Remember Mary when you consider receiving a wife. Mary is the model, the template, the type of woman for you to seek until you find – until your Mary is presented to you….



July 7, Maolruain….
[reflecting/commenting on Saints O’the Day from St Patrick’s website – with Butler’s et al assimilated….]

"Labor in piety is the most excellent work of all. The kingdom of heaven in granted to him who directs study, him who studies, and him who supports the student." --Saint Maolruain.
Piety. Remember what Piety is? A gift of the holy spirit: from baptism and confirmation. From family (domestic church) and Church (community). A gift – from God to you; as with any gift, to be gratefully received and honored by its being given back; fully used, like the talents, tenfold profit…..
To labor in piety – as in the prayer to the Sacred Heart: help me do everything for you. Ignatius’s prayer of total dedication. So many of our prayers identifying that our fully giving all that we do as a return gift to God - - your modus vivandi? Not mine, yet. Tho it is a daily prayer and much of my doing – help me do everything for you, a mantra reminder…
The irish monks, our irish people, learning and learned – pass it forward. The gateway for the irish immigrants - - education. [so much more goes into the disappointments and hurts created by your mother’s facilitating your academic failures…. No pater materque, I know, my fault, my failing. I am sorry.] without receiving direction, without accepting the support, studying is harder, less likely to succeed [see today’s article in the DDN about not accepting help – wrong, bad decision.] in your studies – QED.
Saint Maolruain was the founder and abbot of the monastery of Tallaght in County Wicklow, Ireland, on land donated by King Cellach mac Dunchada of Leinster in 774. Tallaght Abbey became the mother house of the Culdee movement, which Maolruain co-founded with Saint Oengus.
How do we know our Ireland geography? When I took a job in Columbus ohio I found it strange that people referred to counties rather than cities as reference points. It took me a little bit to recognize this as so irish. County Wicklow – do you know it? Check the map? Near Mayo? Or Galway? [from whence our Nolans and Gavins]
Cellach – irish for Kenneth! So, an early firstnamesake was a king. Every clan had a king. Every hill had a king. Maybe we irish believe we are each a king for a reason? But the king of Leinster, a mucky muck if there ever was one!
And being an abbot – sorta kinda like a hospital ceo.  founder and abbot – be yourself a founder of the monastery [a word I often misspell, reversing the a and e] of your vocation. To lead, to found, requires faith and passion and grace and the maximizing of gifts - - and having followers. It is impossible to lead without followers. It is about People – colleagues, friends, family, forever about people given to us by God….


The Culdee movement, intended to regularize the rules of Irish monasticism according to traditional ascetical practices, was codified in several of the saint's writings: The teaching of Mael-ruain, Rule of the Celi-Dé, and The monastery of Tallaght. These promoted both for both the ascetic and the intellectual life, promoted community prayer with repetitions of the Psalter and genuflections, insisted upon stability and enclosure, and called for clerical and monastic celibacy.
A movement? Think composer – not bowels. In your vocation, what movements currently exist? How will you go with the flow of those movements. Of, to be true to God and Self, what movement will you begin. Knowing that any movement against the flow, going against the tide, is a task doable only with grace - and it is in the making of the Godwith movement that you make good and right, regardless of the effect on others - - knowing such movements on God’s way [the way the truth the light, aka, Jesus, who is one with the Father and the Spirit] will necessarily, assuredly, create counter actions to put you back into the flow that swirls around you. Persist….
An effort to regularize the rules of Irish monasticism, to align the monks and their diverse communities, not only with one another but more importantly with God and Church. To be aligned – chiropractic religiosity? Aligning our spine!?  returning to the source. In our faith it is always renewing to return to the source documents - - sure, the Bible, and in our tradition, the church fathers and councils and encyclicals…. Return to the source documents. And so too in your chosen vocation – what are the source documents - - the foundation from which the new blood rises? Know the foundation solidly - - one of the priorities of college, maybe a last opportunity to immerse yourselves in the history as it reaches into the current.
It is important for each of us to be ascetic. How do you connect with the asceticism of our faith? The essence of our living? Try some of Maelruain’s writings; or any of the other irish ascetics…. Know what asceticism is and how to achieve it in your lives.
An intellectual life? Unfortunately you have been shrouded in an anti-intellectual cave since 1994. and you have not found your way out even yet it seems. Being anti-perfection [be perfect even as my father is perfect. Not only a fear of the admonition but your rejecting it with your mother puts you on quicksand as the foundation of an intellectual life. Not seek your best but seek the best. Do what you must to be the best at what you do. Without the pursuit of an intellectual life, the intellectual life, you bring mush into the arena of combat – combat with yourself, combat with the devil, combat with the forces against you and your life with God and family. [for what purpose was her persisting in her efforts to have you be mushbrained]
Community prayer. Family prayer – morning and night [why with one parent and not the other? I am so sorry you do not have pater materque.] Sunday mass. Daily mass. The liturgies of communal worship – so much a part of my childhood, ingrained so deeply that I miss having even the opportunities – e.g., benediction, rosary, the hours…. Together is important. Repetition is important. And being with community in prayer regularly, frequently makes doing/being good and right more often so much more likely.



In typical Irish fashion, the Culdee movement was marked by extremism. Women were discussed as "men's guardian devils." Ascetic practices included total abstinence from alcohol. Sundays were observed like the Jewish sabbath. Vigils in cold water or with the arms extended in cruciform and self-flagellation were recommended. Fortunately or not, the movement failed because it lacked all constitutional means of making the reform permanent, although it called for tithes from the laity to support it.
The irish are extremists! Might that explain your father just a little? Unfortunately, I mistakenly fell for someone not irish and not even sympathetic to the irish. And you pay the cost of my failure daily; we pay that cost expodentially. Not only not irish catholic, anti irish catholic, anti irish and anti catholic. I am sorry.
Extreme is who we are.
And our practices, serving a purpose for self [given the extremism of our temptations as well] as well as for our community. Seeking the greatest – the ultimate – the Kingdom seems to logically call for extremism in the service of God, family, community, self….
Maybe women are ‘men’s guardian devils’ – tho that would not be the way to talk outloud. I’ve been told that I don’t respect women. I got out of my element – my environs of the irish catholic world [there was no such in Tuscaloosa or even Nashville]. So, my craziness, my ‘disrespect’ in context would have been, would be, understood and trumped by the irish princess warrior who rules the clan, dominates the Ri.
Abstinence from alcohol for an Irishman is extremism to the extreme. Prudent alcohol extremism is recommended. A way to enjoy the spirits. And beyond. And to give it up altogether – maybe that is the best way to dominate the temptations…. I’ve not done that, yet. Maybe worth a try? Alcohol as a medium for a message? Many media for many messages. And who but another irish, or a wise and learned/learning woman would understand?
Strict observance of the Sabbath? Surely mass. Better to join the adult education after the parish coffee. A family tradition – like dinner and a walk around the block….
I never was one for a cold shower. Very anti-cold shower, actually. Much prefer the water heater that provides perpetual hot water in the shower. Many long and luxurious showers that way.
Prayer/vigils with arm outstretched. Have done that a few times for some fairly short periods. The month at St Mary’s in Bridgeport – the latin parishoners’ praying the rosary with arms outstretched - - my introduction to cursillo. Do enter cursillo and persist with it. Alone and together; infusing everything with prayer/service.
A failed movement? Mother teresa says it is not the outcome but the effort for which we are responsible. And the effort cannot fail if we are doing God’s will…


Like other Irish reformers, Maolruain emphasized spiritual direction and confession of sins by establishing rules for both. Tallaght's devotional life was marked by special veneration of both its patrons: the Blessed Virgin and Saint Michael the Archangel.
Spiritual direction. This starts with the first commandments. Is picked up in the fourth. And until you have given yourself to these, how will you find and accept spiritual direction from the next person? [do not quibble. If it is not Catholic, you are receiving spiritual misdirection – regardless of who the director is.]
Confession of sins. ‘bless me father for I have sinned. It has been 4 weeks since my last confession. These are my sins…. For these and all my sins I am sorry…. Oh my God, I am heartedly sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most of all because the offend you my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life….” … I used to go to confession every week. In the novitiate twice a week. Now it’s about once a month - and it’s way not enough. No so much because my sins are so many and so egregious [tho sins such as mine are, of course], it is because of my increasing need for the booster shot of grace for perseverance and improvement and my pursuit of perfection. To be less than perfect is the trigger for the necessity of confession to be all that I can be….
A special veneration of the saints. Each day, my trip through the litany of saints’ feasts and their bio…. Who are my favorite saints? Joseph. Patrick. Ignatius. Stanislaus Koska. William the Abbot. Thomas [the apostle and More, even Aquinas], Monica, Rose,…
Have your own patron saints as you become friends with each of them daily.
BVM. She has a unique place in our Catholic hearts, our Catholic faith, our Catholic community. As our advocate. As our mother. As the woman who shows us what motherhood should be; what being a wife should be; what being a woman should be. To teach us all the should bes of loving Jesus; and being loved by Him, including the seven swords piercing her heart…. Her agonies from His love….\
St Michael the Archangel. Defend us in battle! [to know we are in battle! And that we need a defender – or an infinite number of defenders – to hold our own, to win the battle.]



Intellectual and manual work were integral to life at Tallaght. There are, Maolruain wrote, "three profitable things in the day: prayer, labor, and study, or it may be teaching or writing or sewing clothes or any profitable work that a monk may do, so that none may be idle."
Intellectual and manual work, together, integrated, assimilated, sine qua non of our living our faith. Truly a Jesuit mantra as well. Deeply Catholic. Genuinely irish. And you have been not only denied that immersion but have, from behind the shroud, taught the anit-versions…. Ora pro nobis….
Three things necessary in every day.
PRAYER. How do you pray? With whom? Daily.
LABOR. What do you do with your hands each day? To not only make a better ‘world’ but to make a better self?
STUDY. Study! Learn! First your faith. And then everything else. Always. Daily.


Maolruain, with Oengus, was also the compiler of the martyrology named after that place. The movement led to the production of the Stowe Missal, formerly enshrined, which is a unique record of early Irish liturgical practices. A church was built in 1829 on the medieval remains of Maolruain's abbey. The locals maintained a long-standing custom of processing house-to-house, dancing jigs and drinking, on his feast, until it was suppressed by the Dominicans in 1856 (Benedictines, Farmer, Montague).
We do have a responsibility to compile and pass on our history. OUR history. Personal experiences – pass it forward. What we learn from father and grandparents and aunts and uncles - - the richness of our clan - - our own martyrology…..
I wonder why this version of Maolruain saves the best part to last. July 7th we should be in Wicklow to join in the long standing custom of processing house to house, dancing jigs, and drinking [drinking to and for and in thanksgiving of an abbot who not only eschewed alcohol himself but forbade it in his monasteries…. Of course the irish would drink to such a holy man!] [and, of course, it would be the dominicans who'd move to suppress such joy and celebration! the jesuits, on the other hand, would find a way, like Patrick did, to assimilate the natve exuberance into our faith practices....


I love you
dad

July 6 Maria Goretti

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you


Maria Goretti, VM (AC)

Born at Corinaldo, near Ancona, Italy, October 16, 1890; died near Nettuno, Italy, July 6, 1902; beatified 1947 by Pope Pius XII; canonized in 1950; feast day formerly July 5.
Maria was 22 when she died. My brother Jimmy was five. Grandma was 77. grandpa is already almost 82. Who knows when, how, why, where, we’ll die. … we know as much about that as when, why, … we were born. Created! To know, love and serve God…. As I drove in to work this morning and remembered it’s first Friday [fortunately we have noon mass nearby] and said our prayer to the Sacred Heart. Oh Sacred Hear of Jesus, I offer you this day, all my thoughts, words, and actions. Help me do everything for you. Simple enough.


Maria was the daughter of a farm laborer, Luigi Goretti, and his wife, Assunta Carlini. She showed marked signs of youthful holiness. There were five other children. The family moved in 1896 to Ferriere di Conca, near Nettuno and Anzio in the Roman Campagna. Soon after, Luigi died of malaria. His wife struggled to support the family, receiving much help and encouragement from Maria. She was well known to her neighbors for her cheerful unselfishness and religious disposition.
We don’t get to pick our parentage or our station in life. Maria got a typical family for her time and place. As did you. As did I. I got the second generation irish catholic family from nyc. You got, unfortunately not a patermaterque. But what has so far wound up being an awfully divorced two parents. I am sorry for your losses and challenges and hurts because of that. With better choices and leveraging of your talents and graces you will do better with this reality than you have so far. And when I [and/or your mother] make better us of our graces, you’ll benefit too…. I am sorry.]
Each of you showed signs of holiness. Unfortunately you were separated, it seems, for a significant source/channel of your holy choosings. Unfortunately, a divorce when there is no pater materque especially, creates mutually exclusive choices. It would be called splitting were there a pater materque. When the mother and father have already split themselves and have patently different lives, faith, values, etc. then the choices become personified. So far, you’ve made too many wrong choices….
Your parents moved apart. Your father did not die – is not dead. And yet, within the shroud of 308 and 2502, you have been a source of encouragement/help for your mother – too often in a way detrimental to your well being and goodness; your original holiness that continues to be infused into your soul but suppressed too much…. I am sorry.
How well are you known among your neighbors. Mine might recognize the car. A few would know that I lived around here somewhere. None would know my name or what I do. And yours? How well do your neighbors know you? Do they receive your cheerfulness? Your unselfishness? Your faith? Give and give again….

In 1902, as Maria sat on the front step mending a shirt, an 18-year-old neighbor, Alexander Serenelli, the son of her father's partner, who lived in the same house with the Gorettis, beckoned Maria into a bedroom, but she refused to go. He grabbed her and pulled her in. She struggled and tried to scream, but he choked her. She cried that she would rather be killed than submit. Alexander began to pull her clothes off and struck her with a dagger. She cried out that she was being killed, and he repeatedly stabbed her in the back and ran away.
Imagine this scene. Be a gestaltist. Take each role unto yourself. Be the girl, the cheerful, holy, unselfish girl, sitting on the stoop [that’s what we cityfolk call the front steps to the apt bldg.]. see the world, see the scene, from her eyes. [kitty Genovese, nyc, years ago. Be her. Be her attacker. Be the people who heard and heard again and heard some more and not one called out, not one called the police.]
we know that abuse is likely to come from someone you know. The son of Maria’s father’s partner! Sharing the same roof. Yes, under the same room can live the source of evil and trials – the challenges for your holiness to shine through….
See the scene, feel the world, from Alexander’s soul. An 18 y.o. boy, raging hormones. Converted to a belief of ‘love’? transformed to a believe of ownership? I want therefore she’s mine? Therefore she must? Of course those are feelings many boys have.
Remember, no means no. period. [and without all the nuances of well maybe she does not mean no, maybe it’s really not yet or not now or not here. No means no. simple. It does not mean ‘don’t ask again’ – key word, ask! It does mean no.]
Who was there to help Maria? Of course, say it outloud, how could God allow this to happen? Greeley would answer, how could God allow holiness and beauty to happen? How do we help Maria. Or your cousin Kelly? Or the girls in your class? Your girl friend? Any girlfriend, ever? “I do it because I love you” – see the Evan movie – some God in that pic.
Go back to the scene. Be inside Alexander’s skin. Feel the power of his lovelust. The rage of his anger. The panic of his being rejected once he had exposed his love and desire. When you feel similar experiences, and you will, how will you respond better? How will you draw on your goodness and your graces and your talents and the resources God has given you [note, there was only Maria there to help Alexander and he was nuclear against her presence and “help” to be good and do right.]

She was taken to the hospital, but it was clear she would not live. In her last hours she forgave her murderer, whom it was revealed she had feared for a long time but did not want to cause trouble by naming. She died within a day of the attack.
We each experience attackers, even murderers. Daily. Possibly, like Alexander, living under the same roof as us – not uncommonly under the same roof. How often do you forgive. [seven times seventy…. Forgive even as Our Father has forgiven.] so did God give Maria so that she would learn to forgive? That she might give grace to Alexander and thus receive the key to the kingdom from him?
(Another version of the story says that Alexander attacked her when they were working together in the fields.)
There are many versions to each story. Be gestalt. Be each person in the story. Be each component of the story. E.g., be the knife. Be the sewing…. Many versions, maybe only one theme: grace comes from many sources….

Alexander was sentenced to 30 years of penal servitude and for eight years was unrepentant. One night he had a dream in which Maria gathered flowers and offered them to him, and he experienced a change of heart. He served 27 years, and his first act as a free man was to beg forgiveness from Maria's mother. On Christmas Day 1937, Alexander and Maria's widowed mother received Communion side-by-side. He has been cited as an example by those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.
Reconciliation. Will it require years in the prison of separation – behind the Tower’s walls? There is reconciliation. That is at the source of the secret of a father’s, The Father’s love.
In 1947, Maria was declared blessed by Pope Pius XII, who appeared on the balcony of Saint Peter's with Maria's mother and three of her sisters and brothers. In 1950, she was canonized for her purity in front of the largest crowd ever gathered for a canonization. Alexander was still alive. At the time of her canonization, some 30-40 miracles were recorded as a result of her intercession (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).

Maria Goretti is the patron saint of teenagers, particularly girls, and of the Children of Mary (White).
Another way for you to know teenage girls is via Maria Goretti. Another way for you to know young adult girls is via Maria Goretti. Look for Maria in the girl you think [and feel] you want to be close to. If she is not a Maria, if she is not a Mary, then she is not the right person, yet….

I love you,
Dad.

July 3 Bernardino Realino, SJ b. 1530 d. 1616 c. 1947

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

after a high school of Jesuit focus; two years in the novititate, a lifetime since doing the daily saint thing, Bernardino Realino did not ring a bell when i discovered him this evening. we are always meeting new people.

Bernardino led an active early life. now what do you think that alludes to? sometimes with get the salacious details, this time not. if you're interested, look him up in another source. as with any jesuit [i wonder how much of my bio is preserved in some jesuit library?], you can be sure that we have extensive documented history on Bernardino Realino, sj. mayor of Felizzano, Italy, a judge, mayor of Cassine, mayor of Castelleone, superintendent of fiefs in Naples. the kind of big wig the Jesuits would appeal to in their nascent order.

Bernardino Realino was lawyer before joining the jesuits at age 34. Frank Parker, a classmate of mine at shadowbrook, was a lawyer, professor at BC, and definitely at least thirty four when he became a novice. he played pretty good ping pong and wicked bridge. definitely smarter than the average bear!

Bernardino Realino was accepted into the Society in 1564 by one of Ignatius's original companions... pedigree does matter, yes? someone who knew Ignatius could certainly find in a 34 y.o. lawyer who'd lived an active life, a vocation for the jesuits.... he was ordained n 1567 [not the usual thirteen years of formation.... the order was still evolving ...]

He was novice master and Bernardino Realino worked ten years in parish work in Naples - holy. a fiery speaker/preacher. helping the sick and the poor.

and at the peak, or so it might seem, of his service, he was sent to Lecci, in southern Italy to teach and later be the rector at a college. obedience.... he quickly became the most loved man in Lecci - charitable, serving the poor.... a miracle among the galley slaves was that his wine sack would not be empty until all had their fill.... :) how do we give and give and give until those who need us have enough? we have infinite resources, the grace in our souls. are we giving the way we should. [i'm not. ora pro me.]

on his death bed, the city fathers asked him to be the city's patron saint. he agreed....

some of our saints lead a remarkable life - yet an ordinary life of dedication - to Jesus, to Church, to the poor, in service to whomever comes to us with a need.... thus, we too become saints when we pour out our wine, knowing that our sack will never be empty until all have had enough....

i love you
dad

July 3 Cillene of Iona d. 752

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

Cilene of Iona - so many saints are new to me and there is so little in the bio blurb that i find in butlers or online...

Iona is a college to me. one that uncle walter went to. working full time, raising a family, and going to college.
[i suggest that you maximize your academic potential now - enjoy your student-dom (get the grades your talents promise, too) and then come on into the world of work and family raising....]

Cilene, an irishman who migrated to Iona - so many irish saints and saintlies, and plain ole good people attracted by the monestaries at Iona migrated there [an, immigrents, ya think?]....

Cilene became abbot in 726.... thus, 26 years in that servant role, in the same place, bringing those there closer to God and one another - - and building a place to which other pilgrims came....

i love you
dad

July 3 Germanus of the Isle of Man d. 474

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

not likely an irishman by birth - but an irish saint nonetheless

Germanus, we believe is a nephew of St Patrick -
lineage matters, yes?

He too was a missionary to ireland - a missionary monk.
He went on to Wales and Brittany and ultimately the
bishop of the isle of man

i suggest that you take a walk in his shoes -
if not personally, via a map....
no easy travel - and in the 5th c. contemporaty with Patrick, he was bringing a new God to the Celts...

wherever you go, bring with you the spirit of Patrick and Germanus....

i love you
dad

July 3 Guthagon 8th c.

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

you might have been named Guthagon? ya think? i do have a thing for irish saints....
but am much more traditional - picking a person, connected with our family and our history and our saints....
like Grandpa [and John Ed] for John and jr for Thommy, like my father's second son is a junior, none of my grandfather's sons were a junior so as the second grandson, i got his name - as the first born to my parents, i wonder why they chose to honor me with his name, or honor him with me? [and none of my father's sons got the name of his mother's father. why is that you think?]

Guthagon was a nobleman who became a monk and a missionary - so very irish!
i still have time to become a monk tho i do not see myself so much in a missionary position?
and you?

Guthagon became a recluse in a monestary in Oostkerk near Flanders.
[Flanders always reminds me of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - i recommend the movie to you.]
a saintly monk; his sanctity was known near and far.
through his intercession, after his death, many miracles were performed.

i wish i better understood how a recluse can be known for anything?
the word of mouth from his silent brethern?
to be saintly, sounds like an invitation to me.
to be a recluse is even more attractive.
maybe soon - June 2008?

i love you
dad

July 3 Maelmiuie d. 1167

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

a menology. menologium.
i had to look it up. and a few online dictionaries did not have the words.
menologion, greek - month, thus, a book of months, a book of the saints arranged in the months....

Maelmuire wrote a menology of irish saints in irish verse
12th c. well before the Venerable bede, and of course, a bit before butler.
an irish monk, just doing his thing, preserving civilization, and passing on to us what is important to know
the lives of saints....
an abbot of knock, serving his community - and the community is his church, then and down through even our ages....

pass it forward....

i love you
bill

July 3 Maelmiure d. 1167

Thommy and John

July 3 Thomas the Apostle

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

Happy Fourth!
from my spot on the hillside, the fireworks are extraodinary - sites and sounds of celebration
rockets red glare!
we do all right in this country, as grandpa says!
Deo Gratias!
ADMG

Thomas the Apostle

a patron saint for Thommy and me - maybe one for the doubter among us, too....
but he did not doubt, he sought truth! and understanding. and gave his faith.

Thomas; Dydimas; Juneau....TWIN
so he, too, was a brother.
he knows what we know to be a brother - and maybe moreso, to be twins, born minutes apart rather than two or four years... a closeness to his twin preparing him for his closeness to Jesus? our being brothers preparing us to be brothers with Jesus? our being sons preparing us to be sons of God? like Jesus?

Thomas was probably born in Galilee, of humble family, tho probably not a fisherman...
I was born in NYC and baptized there - of humble family, one generation from the boat, a few years from hell's kitchen and the depression...
you were born in Nashville, baptized in the same font as your father. your parents' station was a little less humble, a bit higher up the middle class ladder, professionals both, still on our upward trajectory - - not unlike the fireworks there before me as i type ....

we don't know how he found out about Jesus. we don't know how they met. we don't know how he was called to follow him. we don't know how he decided to follow him; how he declared his friendship, his disciplship.... we were born to ours. irish catholic boy from nyc i am [and you irish catholic boys from nashville]... baptized at St Elizabeth's of Hungary on the upper east side. came to know Jesus not so much through water and spirit as much as through family and faith, sealed by water and spirit; anointed by oil, twice. called and answered for us by our parents [at least one of your parents knows how to keep a promise]. verified at a young age, confirmation age - i still have copy of your letters professing your faith and request to be confirmed. faith and discipleship renewed so many times, so many places, so many ways - in part because renewal was necessary; in part because renewal in renewing.

Jesus said "I will go to prepare a place for you....where I am, there you may also be. And you know the way I am going." he said that to his apostles. [he says that to us, too.] what is he talking about? what is he saying? of course they understood. [fersure you know what he means, right?] well, Thomas spoke up, as we tell our classes, if you have a question, please ask it because you know if you have the question others do too. well, Thomas asked. you can be confident the others has the same question [as later I bet they had the same "doubt" - - as they has the same kinds of wishing to be free of him, to deny him, like Peter did, during his ordeal before the sanhedrin. ya think?] Thomas asked, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?" Jesus knew each day better and more clearly who he was. surely several steps ahead of his friends' understanding of who he was. How CAN we know the way? How CAN we know where we are going. more importantly, first, where we are suppose to be going?.... Jesus answered the question Thomas asked for all of us.... "I am the way, the truth, the life.... if you know me, you know the father." [thanks for asking, Thomas!]

When Jesus told them he was going to his friend Lazarus' house - his friend who had died (?) - his disciples reminded him that "the jews want to stone you" [what, are you nuts?! he's dead. let the dead bury their dead, didn't you say that? why would you risk your life for a man who is already dead. and, oh by the way, our lives too, you know!] Thomas rallied the troops - "Let us go too, that we may die with him!" a fatalist? a loyalist? if he's going to die, what good is our continuing to live? let us witness to his ministry, maybe they won't stone him if we're with him. but we've come this far, how can we stop now. we've seen him do miraculous things, and he's still vertical. whatever happens, we are with you, lord. let's go guys, we're with Jesus, no matter what.... no matter what.... 'til death do us part.... no matter how horrible the prospects appear to be for him or for us being with him, our faith, our love, our position as disciples require us to do what's right and good. besides, who are we to say we know better than what Jesus is telling us? if it's to go raise Lazarus from the dead, we're with HIM. [not unlike the place of wife with husband or son with father or brother with brother.... no matter what, Let us go too, that we may die with him - and to die with him is to live with him, forever....

We always immediately remember Thomas because of the "fingers in the holes in his hands; my hand into his side" Thomas wanted to know, Thomas wanted assurance; Thomas wanted to see/touch for himself. Thomas played ther role of verifier for all of us - Jesus is risen in Body AND spirit. who shook his hand before this? hugged him, kissed him? the guys on the road to emmaus broke bread with him before he disappeared again. the apostles had seen him appear miraculously in the locked upper room. Thomas was the vehicle though whom Jesus assured us, proved to all of us, that He IS RISEN body and soul. how are you a vessle for Jesus?
Thomas proclaimed once again "My Lord and My God" - man and God. how do you come to your declaration of love, of faith, of your relationship with Jesus?

Thomas is also listed among those at the miracle of fishes at lake tiberius. how many miracles have you been present for? i was at the miracle of your births. yes a miracle, each of you - a gift, a miracle, four fives! John's popping up out of the uterine belly looking like Yoda [and avoiding the genital herpes]; then VBAC Thommy diving through the birth canal into the biggest hands i've seen since i shook bob cousey's hand. miracles of faith. miracles of love. miracles that our druid ancestors would proclaim in song and story. that i have experienced such gifts is miraculous...

TheActa Thomae [the acts of thomas :) ] give us an account of his Pentacostal mission that took him to India. that's some walk! i know we believe in the speaking of tongues that the spirit gave the disciples - - so that the world would hear and understand. how Thomas communicated as he prosletyzed his way with the Parthians, Medes, and Persians - - settling at the Malabar coast, which still has many "Christians of St Thomas". as you pass through the Parthians, Medes, et al. in your life, how are people coming to call themselves 'Christians of John' or 'Christians of Thommy'? a few people have told me that i have influenced that faith's strengthening, their faith's expression, even a fewer, their faith's conversion. maybe it had something to do with me. it had everything to do with the Spirit through me. being a blessing for others is our raison d'etre. yes?

in addition to being the patron saint of india, Thomas is the patron saint of architects. something like a set designer or a mechanical engineer, ya think?

i love you
dad