Blurbs for May on 5-3-09

Thommy and John

Good morning
I love you

Happy Sunday. A cloudy day with bursts of sunshine - and even a few tiny bursts of exercise by me. 0730 Mass on this the Sunday of the Good Shepherd [today’s readings are a separate missive/reflection/pontification….]. Tex and Shirley’s for breakfast and the GSO paper. Return to spx for ‘coffee talk’ - a touch of Sunday school, today about Mary - - being May, Mary’s Month, more than apropos. … Friday first Friday, Saturday first Saturday and Mary’s day of the week more special with this being her month. Msgr. Inserted a hail Mary into the post-supplication prayers. A month to say the rosary daily - our dvd presenter today admonished us to not rush through the rosary but to treat this prayer like the meditation on the gospel that it is. [memories of high speed rosaries at Molloy J ] ….

After coffee talk, I did laundry and exercised [one pretty good day in a row] then enjoyed the paper and iced coffee and some sun and another short walk before heading home to a while with an abridged version of Butler’s lives of the saints [one per day, brief entries] - I read thru May and half of June with our criteria before coming to a stop and this impulse to write instead of read.




May 1 is Feast of St Joseph the Worker - but Butler gives us Richard Pampuri. May 1, 1982 was a Saturday: the day of your parents’ wedding at Beth/Al Vreeland’s home in Tuscaloosa. Lots of feeloughts about that day and its blessed and tragic consequences. I apologize for short circuiting the rites and rituals of family and Church - thus contributing to the much later discovered unsacramentality of the occasion….. More on that some other time, maybe. …. This year the day was a Friday and feeloughts of the event were more fleeting than any of the previous 26. ….




May 3. St.s Philip and James, apostles

The stories we have of our apostles are both biblical and tradition. Our canons were solidified many years after they were written - and how do we cipher the will of the Spirit in both what was written and what was ultimately selected? Especially about the other characters? It’s hard enough to cipher why a character makes it past the final edit in a book or a play - maybe it was more important to the story what was left out? But to connect to Jesus through the people and events brought to us via the Bible takes some serious consideration of the zeitgeist, ya think? Then’s and now’s…

Philip responded without hesitation to the call he received…. So many stories of vocation throughout the OT and the New; as well as in the bios of our saints and holy people - including the saints among us in family and friends…. Philip responded without hesitation. We baptized and you were confirmed without hesitation. So you have much more in common with Philip than you might think; including periods, along with other apostles and saints, of consternation, doubt, ups and downs….

Philip’s response to his “Yes” is to go immediately to his friend Nathaniel - We have found him of whom Moses … wrote!” When we find a source of vocation, of love, of salvation, we instinctually go to our family and friends to bring them along with us. [and, like Monica, e.g., persist….] When Nathaniel replied “can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip answered “come and see.” Come, let me show you Him. Come and see the goodness of the Lord. As seen in his disciples. As found in Him directly. Come and See.

Philip, like most of us, had his limits of faith…. When Jesus asked him what could they do for the five thousand, Philip didn’t quite get it: ‘two thousand pennyworth of bread is not sufficient.’ …. and in the trek into Jerusalem, when Gentiles plead to Philip ‘Sir, we would like to see Jesus’, Philip didn’t know how to answer or didn’t have the confidence yet to speak on Jesus’ behalf, maybe not yet clued in to Jesus’ universality. But, Philip knew that ‘no’ was not his answer to give either. He consulted Andrew and Jesus, getting the message to bring even the Gentiles to Him, of course. …. It’s hard to imagine how often we are asked, Sir, we would like to see Jesus. How often others need us to bring them to our Brother - in our own word and deeds as well as to bring others to Him directly…. We have family and friends, angels and saints to help us pave the way; we can bring others to Jesus by who we are and what we do; we have to do a little of both to fulfill our vocation….

We have many examples of the apostles’ not quite getting the salvific message - and they had Jesus with them, everything He said and did. An example to us that our faith is a constantly evolving closeness with Jesus in heart, soul, and mind. On the evening before the Passion Jesus said ‘No man cometh to the Father but by me….” to which Philip tried “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus, probably in his most patiently frustrated tone, helped them all along: “have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also….” By our own struggles with faith, we give Jesus and the Church opportunities to educate our friends as well as us…. So we also learn about Jesus in our lives as we discover how he has been revealed to and lived by/with others.

This day’s St. James is the Lesser/Younger, the son of Alpheus and cousin of Jesus. We don’t get much from the Gospels about this James: more from Paul and our early historians. James was favored with a special appearance of Jesus before the Ascension.

Paul probably tells us a bit more about James because it was James who broke the ice for the new convert Paul. Three years after his conversion, Christians were still leery of the former prosecutor of Christians. Paul went up to Jerusalem and James received him cordially. At the Council of Jerusalem, it was James, by then ’bishop of Jerusalem’, who voiced the conclusion of the assembly: ‘it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us….’ that the Gentile converts need not be circumcised.

James the Lesser is the author of the Letter of James in our NT.

In about 62 AD, James was stoned to death….




May 7.… John of Beverly d. 721

At a young age, John of Beverly was a distinguished student under the holy abbot Adrian at the St. Theodore school in Kent. He returned to his home town, Yorkshire, to the double monastery under the Abbess Hilda where his exceptional abilities marked him for preferment. At the death of St. Eata, John of Beverly was elected Bishop of Hexham [where he ordained the Venerable Bede] ….meteoric rise and a half. Blessings of talent which John of Beverly fulfilled.

John of Beverly fulfilled the duties of his office to the great satisfaction and admiration of his flock. And, maybe more importantly as a lesson reminder for us, John of Beverly routinely retired from his duties to contemplate in a cell. Balance. Fulfill our vocation including returning regularly to our devotion to the source of our blessings….

John of Beverly succeeded St. Bosa as bishop of York. Yes, our lineage counts - family, Church, school, friends, mentors, colleagues…. At York, John of Beverly continued his periodic retreat from the world for spiritual refreshment - and you? How do you keep your spiritual foundation solid and growing along with the rest of you? Bede attests to John of Beverly’s sanctity.

In 717, worn out by age and fatigue, John of Beverly retired to the monastery at Beverly where he spent his last four years in his monastic duties. I gotta admit, as I am approaching ‘age’ and ‘fatigue’, a fourth quarter in a monastery is increasingly appealing.




May 11.… Francis Di Girolama, S.J. bl 1642, d. 1716, c. 1839

Here’s a Jesuit saint I don’t remember from my ‘Jesuit days’.

Francis Di Girolama was the oldest of eleven - a good Italian Catholic family; imagine how many died in child birth or in infancy…. He was twelve when he made first communion and was received into the house of some secular priests who lived in community. …. I wanted to head off to a junior seminary when I was in junior high. I was dissuaded from ‘running away’ and taking my time to be more sure of my vocation. [advice I wish I had listened to in 1982 as well as 1962.…]

Francis Di Girolama was no ordinary boy - he was soon assigned to the teaching of the catechism and received tonsure at age sixteen. [though, maybe, if I had started with junior seminary, I might have grown stronger roots of vocation and obedience and become a priest…. ??? Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…. ] From this priestly community, Francis Di Girolama went to Naples to study canon and civil law. In 1666, he was ordained a priest. For the next five years he taught at his university: the Jesuit Collegio dei Nobili.

At the age of 24, having overcome the opposition of his parents, Francis Di Girolama entered the Society of Jesus. …. The role of parents in our choice of vocation and the best way to discern and fulfill that vocation….? As applicable in 1966 as it is in 2007.… how do you discern your decisions? How do you assimilate and accommodate all of the resources with which God has blessed you?

The Jesuits tested this extraordinary priest. Francis Di Girolama so satisfied his superiors, he was sent on mission work with a renowned Jesuit preacher - harvesting great success from 1671-1674with the peasants in Otranto. [The Jesuits are renowned for keeping exceptional records of all of their members. I sometimes wonder what my record looks like from a mere two years of novitiate….]

From there, Francis Di Girolama completed his theological studies and took final vows. The training and vetting process for Jesuits is extensive and patient - a discernment process of 10 to 13 years for both the man and the Order…. Francis Di Girolama, S.J., was appointed preacher and from the outset attracted huge congregations. And, in typical Jesuit fashion [not atypical for many exceptional organizations], Francis Di Girolama was made trainer for other missionaries. …. Many converts. Many returned to confession [a place I need to go soon and more often….]. Francis Di Girolama visited the prisons, the hospitals, and the galleys - - often he would preach in the streets, spontaneously even….

In addition to his exceptional preaching, Francis Di Girolama was a wonder worker - he attributed his numerous cures to the intercession of St Cyrus for whom he had a special veneration. Go figure. St Cyrus. For whom do you have special veneration? How do you bring that saint/angel into your ministrations?….




May 13.… John the Silent b. 454 d. 558

John the Silent was born into an aristocratic Armenian family: a source of generals and governors. At 18, after his parents died, John the Silent built a monastery where he and ten companions led a life of devotion and hard work…. We don’t have to be go off to a monastery to live a life of devotion and hard work. Our fulfilling our vocation, with friends and family, is to live a life of devotion and hard work. Devotion itself is hard work. Devotion to God, family, and church; to our loved ones and our friends; to our community of faith and values - this is hard work and requires our drawing on, as John Beverly did, contemplation, and, as John the Silent did, our companions….

John the Silent acquired a reputation for sanctity and leadership - please God, that we too will be known similarly…. John the Silent, at 28, was consecrated bishop, called upon to bring his blessings to the community of Colonia…. John the Silent exercised his duties, his response to the call of his Church, with zeal - would that people will say the same of us in our fulfillment of our vocation…. And while fulfilling the duties of office, John the Silent continued his practice of austerities - not incompatible traits in our fulfillment of our purpose in life…. John the Silent returned to seclusion after nine years as bishop, in part because he found himself insufficiently effective in overcoming the evils confronted by his diocese but driven by his desire to live a secluded life.

Uncertain as to his future vocation, John the Silent went anonymously to a monastery near Jerusalem under the direction of St. Sabas. At 38 years old, John the Silent joined the 150+ monks and fulfilled his assignments with humility and grace - without letting on his ecclesiastical standing as priest and bishop. [We have more than a few stories about priests and clerical potentates who have spent their sunset years in anonymity in a monastery - try Shoes of the Fisherman as one example in fiction….] St. Sabas realized that John the Silent was on his way to perfection and permitted him a separate hermitage to pursue his vocation. John the Silent spent five days in his hermitage and the weekends serving the community at large

Seven years into this, St. Sabas thought John the Silent worthy of ordination to the priesthood. J John the Silent revealed himself to St Sabas but Sabas did not reveal John the Silent’s consecration. Imagine what many monks thought about John the Silent’s former life when he was not ordained….

John the Silent lived in his cell for almost 70 years - - cherishing his obscurity with humility. However, word of his sanctity would not be kept within the monastery - many came to him for confession, for advice, for catechesis. And John the Silent would not refuse them - another way t live our life of obedience to our vocation, God’s will…. As Jesus prayed at Gethsemane, not my will but yours. You can imagine how John the Silent prayed for the contemplative life….

John the Silent, by example and precept, emulated an uninterrupted exercise of love and praise…. Would that we too will be remembered by one or some or all in a similar way.




May 16.… Brnedan d. ~577

One of the Apostles of Ireland. A west of Ireland man [like us, from both Nolans and Gavins].

As a young child, he was in the care of St. Ita. Yes, it does matter who takes care of us. Better to be family and Catholic, probably Irish Catholic being the best…. After St Ita, Erc, a nearby bishop, took Brendan into his care. It was Erc who baptized and later ordained Brendan…. St jar lath of Tuam was another from whom Brendan sought edification and counsel. Pedigree and caregivers and mentors do matter…. Who are the pillars of your foundation? How do you ensure your familial and Catholic essence? From whom do you seek edification? Yep, edification! And counsel. The source does matter….

Soon after his ordination, Brendan became a monk and formed a community at Clonfert…. From this base, Brendan set out with sixty followers, in coracles to discover the Isles of the Blessed. And the stories of this journey are the makings of our Irish Catholicism…. So too is Clonfert, a monastery of over 3,000 monks.




May 21.… Andrew Bobola, S.J. b. 1591 d. 1657

I got to know this saint in the novitiate because we had a classmate from Lithuania…. Also, briefly but not as meaningfully, when I wrote a paper in the eighth grade on [95%] Catholic Poland - the history of the country includes many saints….

Andrew Bobola, from an aristocratic Polish family, entered the Jesuit novitiate in Vilna in Lithuania at age 18. I was not quite 18 on July 1, 1967.…

When Andrew Bobola was ordained priest, he was appointed the preacher at St. Casimir in Vilna. His apostolic zeal made a great impression on the people…. Dip a moment into Polish/Lithuanian history. In the seventeenth century, Poland annexed Lithuania, a not by nature a Catholic country but by some missionary work and annexation, Catholicism was taking roots in spots. Andrew Bobola’s mission was to serve and expand the Catholic community in Lithuania….

In part based on his success in Vilna, Andrew Bobola was named superior of the Jesuits in Bobrinsk - where he was known for his service to the sick an dying in the midst of an epidemic….

After his service to the Jesuit house in and the people of Bobrinsk, Andrew Bobola returned to his missionary career for the remaining 20 years of his life. Andrew Bobola’s success as a missionary, not unlike anyone today’s successful living a Christian life, brought upon him hatred and opposition. [We live an a non-Catholic community, pocketed by anti-Catholic enclaves; including friends and family of yours. So, you know the opposition to living a Catholic life; even the hatred engendered by any effort of proselytizing, if even only by unabashed living the rites and rituals of our one true religion.]

In seventeenth century Poland, they had the Cossacks. The Jesuit missionaries were driven from their churches and colleges - their home - because of their faith. They fled to the residence in the swamps to which they were invited by Prince Radziwell…. How many analogous situations have you already experienced? And they will not stop so long as you live your faith truly…. Andrew Bobola accepted his invitation in 1652, fully anticipating his fate…. How well have you anticipated the anti-Catholicness in the ‘refuges’ you’ve been offered? Andrew Bobola can be a saint of solace and assistance….

In May 1657, Cossacks attacked Pinsk and seized Andrew Bobola. He was invited to abjure Catholicism…. How many people have come into your life and in their subtle and direct ways invited you to abjure [an eloquent word and concept] your Catholicism? …. Upon his refusal to give up any of his faith and religion, Andrew Bobola was beaten mercilessly. The Cossacks in your life are equally merciless though their threats and actions may not appear to be beatings of the kind meted out by Cossacks…. After the beatings, Andrew Bobola was interrogated. Do you recognize the interrogations you have gotten from your Cossacks? Andrew Bobola offers you the strength to remain faithful…. Andrew Bobola’s firm profession of faith infuriated the Cossacks - as does your keeping to your faith in the face of those non/anti Catholics in your life. …. The Cossacks slashed him with swords, nearly severing his hand; Andrew Bobola was put to a slow death [not nearly the perniciousness of a slow death of abjuration] - in a public slaughterhouse, he was stripped of his clothes, scorched all over like a dead pig, half flayed, his nose and lips cut off, and his tongue torn out through his neck…. And how do your Cossacks rip at your faith? How do you address your tormentors? With abjuration? Of with the power of faith, prayers to Jesus and Mary? Which, of course, only further increases the savagery of our Cossacks.

The Cossacks lopped off Andrew Bobola’s head and threw his mutilated body on a dung heap…. From which he rose to his throne in heaven….

And you? How are you holding out? What examples of Philip, James, John of Beverly, Francis Di Girolama, John the Silent, Brendan, and Andrew Bobola have you adopted to strengthen your resiliency…?




May 22 Rita of Cascia b. 1381 d. 1457

St. Rita of Cascia does not meet any of the usual criteria. She is a saint of lost causes just like St. Jude. And she’s in this abridged version of Butler’s. So, here….

From her earliest years, Rita of Cascia showed extraordinary piety and love of prayer. You’re still in your early years. How is your piety? Your love of prayer? Seek extraordinariness in each….

Rita of Cascia had set her heart on dedicating herself to God with the Augustinian nuns at Cascia…. But, her parents decided she should marry…. Again, an example of how the path of discernment leads us to and with and through our parents - otherwise it is incomplete and we are not properly using the gifts God has given us…. Rita of Cascia deemed that obedience to her parents was fulfilling God’s will. That’s a premise worthy of meditation - frequent meditation.

The husband her parents picked was brutal and unfaithful. Her two sons emulated him. …. For eighteen years Rita of Cascia bore these tragedies with patience and gentleness. [Think, too, St. Monica. There is no knowing what God has in store for us just over the next peak of pain and suffering as we stay faithful to His love, demonstrated in our fulfilling the commandments, living the sacraments….]… Rita of Cascia shed many tears in secret and prayed for them without ceasing. Eventually her husband’s conscience was touched and he begged forgiveness. Soon after, he was carried home having been killed in a fight….

Rita of Cascia’s sons sought to revenge their father’s death. In an agony of sorrow, Rita of Cascia prayed that they might die rather than commit murder. [There are times in our lives when we do pray that a loved one might die for some greater good - ‘if that is His will!’ We humans have such limited and solipsistic views of God’s will, especially vis a vis the place of sorrow and suffering within love. May God have mercy on our souls in such circumstances of helplessness and hubris.]

Rita of Cascia’s prayers was answered. Her sons contracted an illness before they carried out their threats. She nursed them, bringing them to a Christian mind before they died forgiving and forgiven….

Alone now, Rita of Cascia’s desire to join the convent in Cascia returned. She discovered that the religious community only admitted virgins. Rita of Cascia persisted and after three tries, the nuns changed their rules and admitted her.

In the convent, Rita of Cascia displayed the same subservience to authority: submission to obedience. We should ponder how such a place in obedience befits our vocation, every expression of love. Rita of Cascia observed their rule without fault.

From childhood, Rita of Cascia had a devotion to the sufferings of Jesus…. What is your devotion? To a particular saint? To a particular aspect of Jesus’ being or life? To a particular article of our faith or tradition? Devotion is the material of the foundation upon which we stand…. To be devoted, e.g., to your spouse, is a personification of some aspect of the grace given to us by God. And it takes recognition of and full use of that grace to live out any form of devotion….

Rita of Cascia lived a life subservient to the rule and to the degree permitted she was pitiless to herself vis a vis austerities. She expressed her love of neighbor in service to the sick religious in her community. [one of the most powerful experiences of my novitiate was in service to the Jesuits in our infirmary…. And later a similar connection with Aunt Monica in her retirement. Maybe as preparation for service to my father? My grandparents were gone or died before I was in the fifth grade so I did not see how family takes care of our aged and infirm. I see how my cousin Ken is doing so with his father, my Godfather - I make such a miniscule contribution, never enough, I know. Other than that, I don’t see a familial effort. Ken and I made some contribution to our mother’s waning years - her dying long before we expected short circuited our efforts. Our father’s health and independence keeps that effort at arms length so far and in the future. Videbimus.]

Rita Cascia also made great contributions to the re-conversion of negligent Catholics. Her experience with her husband and sons I am sure helped shape that - as mine with my sons and their mother? Videbimus. Oro pro vobis. Ora pro me….




May 22 John Baptist Rossi b. 1698 d. 1764 bl. 1781 c. 1881

Eighteenth century living was so very different [and maybe notsomuch worser]. John Baptist Rossi went to live with and be educated by family friends when he was ten after three years or exceptional accomplishments, he was discovered by visiting Capuchins who reported back to his uncle, then the Capuchin provincial. Voila! John Baptist Rosse, at 13, was off to the Roman College under the mentorship of his cousin, a canon of Santa Maria church…. In a simpler way, more personal, how do you respond to the educational opportunities given to you [by your parents] and how do you discern (within family and church) how to exercise your talents, use your gifts/resources, and fulfill your vocation? Process does matter. …. Who participates does matter. ….

At the Roman College, John Baptist, under the influence of his ascetical readings, embarked on his own mortifications. How are you led to your mortifications? …. He also began his habit of visiting the sick in hospitals - not the pristine sterile elegant environs of today….

At 23, John Baptist Rossi was ordained. He brought the gifts of his priesthood to the hospitals and hospices - serving especially paupers - a service he continued for forty years. [I suggest you explore the range of services that currently call you and immerse yourself in the giving, persist, make it a life long gift, passing it forward as well as giving something back….]

John Baptist Rossi spent his day, from beginning to end, from waking to sleep, in living his love of God, returning God’s Love for him. So too should you, regardless of your vocation…. John Baptist Rossi brought his priestly vocation, the sacraments and Catechism, as well as his talents to teach, care, vocational training and opportunities….

As a parish priest, John Baptist Rossi filled his church with his preaching, his sanctity, and they stood in long lines to go to confession…. Find yourself a confessor…. It is more than worth the search, the distance, the long lines….

John Baptist Rossi also served the men and women religious as preacher and confessor. He was in great demand on missions…. To those to whom much is given, much is expected. …. The 80/20 rule applies to us - we are expected to do 80% of the work…. The blessings of giving, perpetual giving, are immeasurable: whatever you are good at, those talents that you enjoy the most, keep on giving from the moment you wake up until you drift into dreamland….




May 29 William Arnaud, O.P., of Toulouse and companions, martyrs d. 1242 c. 1886

The Pope, in 1228, selected Dominicans to go to Toulouse to combat the errors of the Albigensians…. And to deliver heretics over to the secular arm….. OK, the Inquisition wasn’t our Church’s best effort….

The Dominicans encountered great hostility - ya think!?! Not only because of the natural furor of clashing faiths but each used the ‘secular arm’ as enforcers…. The Dominicans in Toulouse drew upon themselves the hatred of the Albigensians and were driven out of Toulouse. …. On the way out, the Dominicans chanted the Salve Regina and the Apostles Creed - - a little in your face exit….

At Avignonet, a bit southwest of Toulouse, the Dominicans conducted a mission. They were offered hospitality in the local castle…. Dum dee dum dum….

As the priests were retiring for the night, they were set upon and butchered by a band of soldiers; The Dominicans went out to the tune of the Te Deum, praising God to the end…. [you will be offered hospitality in many castles where you will be set upon by the soldiers of antiCatholics…. Know your Salve Regina, the Apostles Creed, the Te Deum et al. be resilient.

This little company of a dozen priests included William Arnaud, O.P. Many cures were reported at the priests’ grave - the cult that grew up was confirmed in their canonization six hundred years later. Deo Gratias….





May 30 Joan of Arc b. 1412 d. 1431 c. 1920

Jeanne La Pucelle, aka, Joan of Arc is Kelly’s confirmation name…. along with yours: John and Uriel. And mine, Joseph. ….

Joan of Arc was born on the Feast of the Epiphany - 12th Night…. How do you assimilate the ‘chance’ of the date on which you were born? I wonder how Joan of Arc did?….

A history lesson for the first half of fifteenth century England, France, and Church….

A girl. Patriot. Visions - St Michael, St Catherine, St Margaret, et al…. Which saints do you see in your life? How do you live Patriotic Catholicism? Try the Knights of Columbus - Fourth Degree is Patriotism….

How do you respond to people who claim to have visions? Not only faith but visions?! Those who are certain that ‘it is God who commands it’?

I wonder if the girls with visions - e.g., Bernadette and Joan - got more searing ecclesiastical interrogatories than boys did/do?

Traitorous French turned Joan of Arc over to the English. The English could [?] not condemn her to death for defeating them in battle but they could have her sentenced as a sorceress and a heretic. [Henry VIII learned a lot from Henry V] The kangaroo court submitted their findings to the University of Paris which denounced Joan of Arc in even more violent terms. …. Retract of be turned over to the secular arm as a heretic. [does that sound oxymoronic to you too?]

Burned at the stake on May 29, 1431.

Twenty three years later, her family finally got the case reopened by the Church. On July 7, 1456, a papal commission quashed the original trial and verdict. 450 years later, May 16, 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized.




And that’s a quick drive through May. 5-3-09 2102

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