When the doctors don’t know what to do next

Posted on June 30, 2012 by catherine

The mystery of suffering is one that stumps us all. It is very easy to know objectively that suffering has great merit in God’s eyes, and that it is an essential part of the process of purifying our souls. However when acute pain strikes our first impulse is to panic. When chronic pain strikes our first response tends to be ‘Why me?’. Often dealing with suffering is harder when we have to watch someone we love go through it.

Back on 20 Jun 2012 I told you about our friend K. On 22 June she came though the lengthy neurological operation to place a further stent in her brain. Coming through it is one thing – and a rather big thing – but signs that the operation has benefited her condition are hard to find. Horrible new pains have begun, and CT scans are unable to reveal the cause of the pains in this case. The doctors don’t know what to do next, and any further medical interventions would definitely call into the category of ‘extraordinary’ and ‘disproportionate’.

This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says (2278): ‘ Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate, it is the refusal of ‘over zealous’ treatment. Here one does not wish to cause death ; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.’

Most of us, thankfully, are not experiencing acute stabbing pains in the head that come and go, as K is. Knowing that the doctors have said that any further treatment would it itself be invasive and extensive (a shunt, perhaps even removal of part of the frontal part of the skull), and that even these measures may not give her relief, puts K and her family into looking at the ramifications of discontinuing further surgical attempts to help her. It is a very hard road to be on. Choosing to let nature take its course, and not knowing how long, nor how painful and distressing that course will be, is a very hard thing to do. The accounts the doctors have given of people dying this way are heart wrenching.

Others must be facing similar difficult life and death decisions. They need our prayers. Those who face an extraordinarily difficult road to eternity need our prayers. The parents, siblings and loved ones who accompany them on this journey need our prayers, too. One day, we ourselves might be in a similar situation.

At times like these, renewing our trust in the Mercy of Jesus that He won’t permit anything that He won’t give us the grace to handle, is the only way to peace. Before us He has placed a loved one whose sufferings mirror His own sufferings on the Cross. He knows that we need visible reminders of what he has undergone for us, and that we should receive them as an immense gift when they come along. May He give us the grace to stay close like Mary and John did, offering the sufferings of our loved one to the Father to obtain Mercy for many. May He give our suffering loved ones the grace to unite their sufferings with His and to trust that He will call ‘enough’ at the most perfect time. And should He grant a miracle, – like he did for the long-suffering woman with the haemorrhage, or for the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5) – may He grant us the grace to appreciate it fully and to give Him all the thanks, honour and glory that are His due.

These two Prayers of Resignation come from Fr Lawrence G. Lovasick’s magnificent book, ‘Jesus Joy of the Suffering’ c.1964. May they be of help to those suffering and for those looking after them :

‘O my God, I accept from Your hands whatever You wish to send me, health or sickness, joy or sorrow, comfort or suffering. I know that You, my infinitely loving Father, will allow nothing that is not for Your glory and for my good. I offer all things for Your good pleasure. I take all things in obedience to Your divine Will. Do with me what You wish, in this short life, O Father of infinite goodness, but bring me safely by Your mercy and protection to the happiness of Your home in Heaven. Amen.’

‘My God, lover of the sick and the afflicted, since I am cast down on my bed of pain, I cannot pray as much as I desire. Accept each pain, each heartbeat, each tear, each sigh, as an act of love, of submission to Your holy Will, and of sorrow for my sins. My heart shall supply what my lips cannot do. Accept my good will for the deed, and let my sufferings be blessed in Your sight. Mary, Mother of Sorrows, help me to bear sickness and infirmity, and all the pains that accompany them, patiently and humbly and resignedly, after the wonderful model of patience that you, my Mother, have given me, Amen.’

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

A Ukrainian martyr for Christ

Posted on June 29, 2012 by catherine

Today, 29 Jun 2012, is the anniversary of death of Blessed Yakym Senkivsky (a.k.a. Joachim Senkivskyi, Ivan Pedro Senkivsky, Jakym Senkivskyj), who died during Stalin’s persecution of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1941. This persecution was particularly brutal attempt to stamp out belief in God and to remove all Church run institutions and media from daily life. Blessed Yakym is one of the 25 martyrs beatified by Blessed Pope John Paul the Great in 2001, all of whom were members of the Greek Catholic Church in the Ukraine.

Information online about Blessed Yakym Senkivsky is sketchy, but it does give us a portrait of a priest and monk totally dedicated to God. Reading between the lines, Yakym/Joachim was probably the name taken at religious profession and Ivan Pedro was probably his baptismal name.

Blessed Yakym was born in 1896 in the western region of the Ukraine known as Ternopil Oblast. When WW1 began in 1914, Yakym would have been 18, and at that age unless his health was poor he must have been involved in it. Perhaps it witnessing the untold sufferings WW1 caused which inspired Yakym to dedicate his life to God as a priest. His ordination took place on 4 Dec 1921. Yakym must have been a clever chap, because he obtained a doctorate in theology from Innsbruck in Austria. Sending a young priest off to do post-graduate learning in a different country is something a diocese only does when they recognise special intellectual talent.

After only a few short years of diocesan priesthood, Yakym felt a calling from God to an even deeper commitment to Him through the religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Responding to that call he entered the Order of St Basil the Great at Krehiv, a monastery that is a popular place to go on pilgrimage to in order to seek the intercession of Our Lady and St Nicholas. Once Yakym had undergone his formation in the religious life and had professed his vows, he was sent to minister in rural areas – perhaps his first true taste of pastoral work given his years in academic study.

In 1931 he was sent to the Order’s monastery in Lviv, in far western Ukraine, and was given increasing responsibilities within the monastery. By 1939 Yakym had been appointed abbot (or prior) of the monastery of St Peter and St Paul at Drohobych. The official term was ‘proto hegumenos’ which is actually a bit more than that, implying leadership over all monasteries in a certain territory. Maybe we would translate it better as Provinicial? Again reading between the lines, responsibilities like abbot, prior and provincial are only given to people of deep spiritual wisdom, practical sense and recognisable holiness of life according to the Rule. Occupying a position like this, Yakym would have been a spiritual leader not only to his fellow monks but also to the whole area.

If he wasn’t an effective spiritual leader from whom the people and monks were drawing strength during the difficult days of WW2 and the persecution, Yakym would not have been a worthwhile person for the Soviet’s to arrest on 26 Jun 1941. Arrest him they did. We can only assume that his days between his arrest and death were full of suffering. His end came, rather fittingly given his monastic responsibilities, on the feast of St Peter and St Paul, 29 Jun 1941. Within Drohobych prison a big cauldron was found, Yakym was placed in it and tortured with boiling water until he died. Thus the holiness of his life was given the martyr’s crown.

Blessed Yakym Senkivsky, pray for us.

One month into the Year of Grace

Posted on June 28, 2012 by catherine

Today, 28 Jun 2012, we will do something a little different and reflect upon the first month of the Year of Grace, an initiative of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and approved by Rome for the Church in Australia. Yesterday (27 Jun) marked one calendar month since we celebrated the feast day of Pentecost (27 May) and the beginning of the Year of Grace. It is a little hard to believe that a whole month has gone by already.

As with most initiatives like this, it has had a very slow start. A bookmark with an inspiring prayer was distributed to Australian parishes, although some parishes seem to have received far fewer copies than the numbers of those who attend weekend Masses. Most Australian dioceses have set up extra webpages on their diocesan websites. Some contain little information as yet, others are rapidly providing all sorts of resources and links. The more interesting diocesan websites are for Brisbane, Sydney Archdiocese, Parramatta, and Perth.

I’ve been following the developments rather closely because I’ve been trying to find bloggers writing about the Year of Grace. Even though they exist, they are very hard to find because the search engines return the big diocesan websites first. If you plug in ‘Year of Grace blog’ and go through the first few pages, you’ll see what I mean. Most of the articles early on the search lists are months old. As yet none of the diocesan websites have any regular blogging going on about the Year of Grace.

If you have been browsing through the Resources page on Society of Saints, you may have noticed some PDFs for the ‘Of Grace and Faith’ study group our parish is running for the Year of Grace and for the Year of Faith (which starts later on in the year, in October). Being a part of the study group team for the last 5 weeks has certainly been an exciting way to take hold of some of the Graces flowing past us this year.

For the best part of 2012, we are contemplating the face of Christ in the Gospel of St Mark, which is the Gospel for the majority of Ordinary Time Sundays in 2012. I’ve learned more about Jesus in the last few weeks than I have done in years, and reading Scripture has become an adventure of Grace again. Once we’ve shared about the surprising things we’ve discovered about Jesus then we move into talking about how God’s Grace has been active in our lives – in the past and in the present. Listening to what God has done in the lives of these holy men and women I admire and recalling all that God has done in my life has really added a spring to my steps all week. To conclude, our resident artist shows us two pictures inspired by the Gospel chapter we have been discussing, and then three short stories are shared from the Lives of the Saints which show those Gospel passages in action.

Summaries of these discussions are being posted each week at www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com and at the www.xt3.com group ‘Years of Grace and Faith’ (group id 2204). In addition a weekly series is being done about some largely forgotten Sources of Grace. So far posts have been on the Sign of the Cross, Visiting the Blessed Sacrament, the Promise of the Sacred Heart to those homes who have an image in a place of honour and Spiritual Communion.

What you wouldn’t believe is just how difficult it is to find effective avenues to help people find these online summaries. The majority of people walk past a parish noticeboard without a sideways glance. A notice in the parish bulletin registered a minuscule interest. Placing a notice on the NoticeBoard page of Sydney’s Catholic Weekly produced similar minuscule interest. I freely admit that I often pass over that page without ever reading it myself. I’ve had to come around to thinking that the best way to tell anyone about something new online, is to do it online. How else will we ever manage to contact the people who rarely fill the pews on Sunday, but who are yet thirsting for an experience of God’s Grace? For me, the funniest thing at the moment is that non-Australian readers of www.ofgraceandfaith.blogspot.com are outnumbering Australian readers by about 2 to 1. God bless them all. It is a reminder that God’s Grace likes to flow wherever it is welcomed.

Funny stuff aside, I strongly suspect that the difficulties faced in getting the word out about any of the local, diocesan and national initiatives for the Year of Grace are not just of human origin. The levels of resistance and non co-operation are not just products of apathy but of a spiritual battle to prevent souls from receiving the overflowing abundance of Graces the Lord Jesus has for them in this Year. May I beg your prayers that these barriers of resistance and non co-operation go away?

Where ever you happen to live, please pray that the Year of Grace proves to be a time of profound spiritual renewal for Australia, and please start praying that the soon to begin Year of Faith will be taken seriously by as many individuals and communities as possible.

Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us.

All holy Apostles of Jesus, pray for us.

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, pray for us.

God raised him up to bring healing to many

Posted on June 27, 2012 by catherine

Today, 27 Jun 2012, is the memorial of St Samson of Constantinople (a.k.a. Sampson the Hospitable, Samson Xenodochius). He lived in the 6th century and is still revered because he dedicated his whole life to tending to the needs of the sick and destitute. Many miracles of healing occurred in his lifetime and after his death around the year 530.

St Samson started out in life as the son of a wealthy and noble Roman family of Christians. Having received a thorough classical education, Samson developed an interest in the growing science of medicine. He found that he was not only interested in learning how to alleviate the sufferings of the sick, but that he also had a special aptitude for it. Probably taking inspiration from the lives of the 3rd century Saints Cosmas and Damian who ministered to the sick without charge, Samson began to do the same.

When his parents died, they left Samson a very large inheritance. Wanting to respond to God’s call to follow Him in poverty, Samson set about divesting his wealth in favour of the poor and freeing all the slaves on his family’s estates. At that time if you wanted to live radically for God, you went off to the East and joined the Desert Fathers in their lives of prayer and penance. So divested of possessions Samson set off for the East, depending upon God’s providence to get him to the place where God wanted him. As he journeyed, Samson ministered to the sick and dying that he met along the way. Surprisingly the pull of God’s grace led him in the direction of the imperial city of Constantinople and not to Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

In a poor part of the big city Samson found a place to dwell, and started ministering to anyone who came to him. Some needed medicine, some needed money, some needed food and clothing, some needed encouragement and hope, they all came to Samson and found help. Word soon spread about this new physician and his free clinic, who was ministering more and more frequently with prayer and miracles rather than with medicine. In order for Samson to be able to minister to the whole person, spirit, soul and body, when the Patriarch learned of Samson’s work and holy life, he came and ordained him into the priesthood.

The good Lord, seeing His servant Samson penniless and in need of bigger premises to look after the sick and indigent, now started His plan to spectacularly answer those needs. The Emperor Justinian was taken ill, and many physicians tried to cure him without success. Being someone of faith, Justinian prayed to God for a cure. In a dream God answered his prayers and showed him the doctor who would cure him: not an elderly prosperous medic but a doctor who was young, humble and badly dressed. Justinian set about trying to find this doctor, and indeed when Samson came in and made the Sign of the Cross over the Emperor, all of the terrible pains dissipated away.

Justinian naturally wanted to reward Samson generously, but Samson would have none of it. He had already given away one fortune to embrace the poverty of Jesus, and he didn’t want those hassles again. However, if Justinian was serious about doing something, then he could build a large hospital for the poor. Justinian happily agreed and a large hospital was duly built between the Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sofia) and the church of Peace in Constantinople. Now Samson had just the facility he needed to help great numbers of the poor, the sick, the injured and travellers.

For the rest of his days Samson used his gifts and talents in serving the sick and others in need at this first free clinic and hospital at Constantinople. Samson lived well into old age and after a brief illness received a happy and holy death around the year 530. For at least 600 years this hospital and free clinic kept going following Samson’s death. Numerous are the Miracles that continued to occur at Samson’s grave. At times apparitions of Simon were necessary to help those caring of the sick to start doing an exemplary job. Through his generous response to God’s gifts and His promptings, Samson was able to bring healing and comfort to an immense number of people in God’s name.

St Samson of Constantinople, pray for us.

Instrumental in God’s plan for much good.

Posted on June 26, 2012 by catherine

Today, 26 Jun 2012, is the memorial and anniversary of Blessed Bartholomew de Vir (a.k.a Bartholomew of Laon, Bartholomew de Joux), a French bishop who lived in the 12th century. Without him it is unlikely that St Norbert would have founded the Premonstratensian Order.

How good God is! This particular Saint I had never heard about before. Because St Bartholomew the Apostle is my patron for 2012, I am trying to learn about Saints named after him in order to build up a character picture of the Apostle. Today we have struck gold in learning about Blessed Bartholomew de Vir, and I am very grateful for this opportunity to get to know and honour him.

Blessed Bartholomew de Vir was born into a noble and powerful family. He counted King Alphonse of Aragon and Pope Callixtus (or Calistus) II as cousins. Given that he served as Bishop of Laon for 37-38 years, and ten spent a further 6-8 years as a monk, Bartholomew must have been appointed as bishop at a younger age than usual.

He was certainly thrown into the deep end at the beginning of his episcopate. During the previous year the cathedral had been burnt by fire, and it was Bartholomew’s job to rebuild it. The previous short lived incumbent had already begun fund raising by sending out the cathedral’s relics on tours of France and England. Impressively, Bartholomew had the new cathedral ready for dedication in 1114.

In 1119, newly elected Pope Callixtus desired to hold a Church council at Rheims prior to taking up residence in Rome. This new Pope had some clout, because the major powerbrokers of the day all came to Rheims. Desirous of getting papal blessing and approval for his plans for a religious order, St Norbert also made his way to Rheims. Because the place was buzzing with dignitaries and preparations for the Council, Norbert’s requests for an audience with the Pope fell upon deaf ears.

Thoroughly disappointed, Norbert and his companions left Rheims and started on their return journey home. As they sat dejectedly at the road side, along came Bishop Bartholomew and his entourage. It would have been quite easy for the bishop to ride by, but he stopped and enquired what was going on. Speaking with Norbert, Bartholomew quickly recognised his holiness and promised them an audience with the Pope if they would travel back to Rheims with him. Thus was the longed for audience arranged. Although very interested, the Pope was pressed for time and promised to visit Norbert at Laon when the Council was over.

While waiting, Bartholomew gave Norbert a task ; asking him to go to a small, but troublesome, religious house and do his best to reform it. Reforming wasn’t Norbert’s gift, founding was and preaching was. So Norbert returned to the bishop. When the Pope came by, he gave his blessing to Norbert’s enterprises and entrusted Bartholomew with the task of steering them straight.

What Norbert needed now was a remote place where his followers could live out their austere calling of prayer and penance. Bartholomew happily dedicated time out of his busy schedule to help Norbert search. He knew the value of keeping a man of holiness in the diocese because they have the capacity to bring deep, lasting and wide-spread renewal to the whole diocese. After rejecting at least two prior sites, Bartholomew and Norbert came across the valley of Premontre, some 10-12 kms to the west of Laon. It was an undesirable, remote, wild, marshy woodland. Somewhere near the middle was a little chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist. As Bartholomew started his journey back to Laon, Norbert asked permission to spend the night in prayer. Bartholomew not only agreed, but also sent someone back with food for Norbert. Sure enough, the good Lord favoured Norbert with a vision, confirming that this indeed was the place for the new Order to put down roots.

For his part, Bartholomew lost no time in doing the necessary deals and paperwork to set aside the valley land for the new order. Around 1120, Bartholomew had the happiness of investing Norbert and several companions with the white habit suggested by Our Lady to Norbert n a vision. The white habit was to continually remind the monks that they were striving for purity.

The Norbertines or Premonstratensians grew rapidly in numbers, and all too soon a much bigger building than the chapel with huts encircling it was needed. Bartholomew was instrumental in getting the funds for the project, and then had the happiness of blessing the foundations in 1122 and seeing Norbert’s prophetic vision of a chanting throng of white robed men carrying crosses, candles and thuribles come to pass.

About the same time, Bartholomew was financially assisting the Cistercians in the building of the monastery at Foigny.

In the end, Bartholomew didn’t keep Norbert himself in his diocese for long because God’s people were awaiting his preaching talents and Norbert was chosen as Archbishop of Magdeburg. St Norbert died in 1133. However the diocese was well and truly blessed through the holy lives of the monks. No matter how busy Bishop Bartholomew was, he would always make time to visit the Norbertines and the Cistercians and to encourage them.

After much good and faithful service, Bartholomew resigned as Bishop of Laon in 1150-1151 and entered the Cistercian monastery at Foigny to live out the rest of his days as a simple monk. On 26 June 1157 or 1158, the Lord Jesus whom he had served so well called Bartholomew to his eternal reward.

At each step of the way Blessed Bartholomew was there, using his time, talent and influence to provide for the spiritual welfare of his diocese. The help he gave to St Norbert resulted in many centuries worth of zealous missionary-minded monks, who are still out there spreading the good news about Jesus today. www.premontre.org

Blessed Bartholomew de Vir, pray for us.

A day to give thanks

Posted on June 25, 2012 by catherine

Today, 25 Jun 2012, marks the 31st anniversary of the reported apparitions of Our Lady to six youngsters in Medjugorje. While we wait for the Church to give its definitive judgment, it is only right that we give thanks to God for all of the blessings and graces received by us and by many others that have the events at Medjugorje at their source.

After reading so many glowing things about Medjugorje, we were able to visit for the first – and so far only – time in the year 2000. We went out of season when the crowds were low and had a few challenges to deal with which made the visit less than ideal. (Moral of the story : avoid going with high expectations, as soon as a pilgrimage there becomes likely stop reading anything written about the place.) Nevertheless, those few moments each evening when a church packed with people goes totally silent and each heart places all of their deepest longings and desires into the safe hands of the Mother of Jesus, and through her to God, are precious and treasured. It was good, because of the numbers of generous priests there, to be able to make a confession at a greater depth and length than usual.

Without Medjugorje would the ancient tradition of fasting on bread and water on Fridays have been lost to modern generations? Most probably. It has only been the continuous gentle encouragement to give fasting a go, coming from Medjugorje, that has enabled many to take up the challenge – and to keep at it regularly.

The many graces that come from the ancient tradition of picking out a patron Saint at the start of each new year can trace their renewal back to Medjuorje and Sr Emmanuel.

Would we have been inspired to think about holy Mass as ‘the gift of the day’, and have been challenged by ‘long for it to begin’ without the Messages coming through Medjugorje? I think not.

“Dear Children! I want Holy Mass to be the gift of the day for you. Go to it; long for it to begin, because Jesus gives Himself to you in the Holy Mass. So, live for this moment when you are purified. Pray much that the Holy Spirit will renew your parish. If the people attend Holy Mass in a half-hearted fashion, they return home with cold, empty hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Our Lady at Medjugorje 30^th March 1984

At regular intervals the reported Messages request that we make reading Sacred Scripture a part of our lives. Would we have actually done something about it if we hadn’t been reminded so often? Probably not. So we owe many of the graces we receive each night as we read a chapter of Scripture to Our Lady’s encouragement.

Rare indeed is the Message coming out of Medjugorje which doesn’t mention prayer, and prayer that comes from the heart and not from superficial places. Prayer is the key ingredient our spiritual lives need in order to find the path that leads us to eternal life with God – and not apart from him. Just like a good Mother, Our Lady doesn’t shy away from nagging about the things that are essential for life, health and happiness. If you still haven’t made a place for prayer in your life, give her daily recommendation of an Apostles Creed, 7 Our Fathers, 7 Hail Marys and 7 Glory Bes a go.

Where would we be without the encouragement of Our Lady’s presence, and her reminders that she is with us, praying with us and interceding for us constantly? How many good things would we not have attempted if we didn’t have that loving encouragement in the background?

We give thanks, too, for all of the magazines and websites which promote Our Lady’s messages. How many regular religious publications are going strong today because they took on the challenge of transmitting the Messages? I know I depend on them for regular doses of inspiring stories and news about the what is going on in the world of private revelation.

How many people are sitting with us at daily Mass and Sunday Mass because of a conversion initiated through Medjugorje? At least half of them, and probably far more.

So we give thanks for all of these wonderful blessings and graces flowing from Medjugorje, knowing that there are far many more that we have barely touched upon.

Our Lady, Queen of Peace, thank you. Please continue to pray for us.

Happiness is … being where God wants you to be

Posted on June 24, 2012 by catherine

Today, 24 Jun 2012, is the feast day of St Bartholomew of Farne, a rather unusual Saint who lived most of his life in 12th century England as a hermit. How did he come to live on an island exposed to the North Sea for 40+ years praising God in song as he went about his austere life? Read on.

It was a big tussle today between learning more about St Bartholomew of Farne, as part of my quest this year to learn about all Saints with devotion to St Bartholomew the Apostle (my patron saint for 2012) and between honouring St John the Baptist, the beloved patron of our parish. This was the way I was guided, so hopefully in times to come I will be able to honour St John the Baptist as he deserves.

No one is quite sure when St Bartholomew of Farne was born, although it seems safe to conclude that he was probably at least 70 years old when he died. He grew up at Whitby on the Northumbrian coast of England, living with the name ‘Tostig’ given to him by his parents which he disliked. With a name like Tostig, his parents may have been of Scandanavian origin or rather impressed by Tostig Godwinson (d. 1066) brother of King Harold Godwinson. He tried the Norman name William instead. Whether due to his name, or his heritage, or both, our friend came in for a bit of bullying from his peers. To escape that, or to escape an unwanted marriage, he took off to Norway for a while. There his spiritual life must have taken off, because on his return to England a few years later, he had become a priest.

Perhaps one of the reasons he returned to England was to follow a religious vocation, knowing that the monks at Durham had a reputation for holiness. Having joined the monastery he took the name Bartholomew in religion. After growing for a while in monastic life and discipline, St Cuthbert took an interest in Bartholomew’s life, and in a vision invited the monk to become a hermit on the Island of Farne which he himself had made holy through prayer and penance.

Now Bartholomew knew precisely where God wanted him to be, and lost no time in getting the necessary permissions to begin life as a hermit on the the island of inner Farne where St Cuthbert had lived. It was by no means an easy life ; apart from the occasional shipment of provisions from the monastery Bartholomew had to work hard cultivating corn to become bread and a cow for milk. Already on the island was another hermit, and the two men didn’t get on together. From time to time the hermits had to deal with the occupants of boats seeking shelter and hospitality and with pirates who raided their stored foodstuffs. After about ten years, the first hermit gave up. Mind you, if you were seeking total silence for prayer and the other hermit was wandering about praying and singing at the top of his voice, things would get testy.

Bartholomew never used a bed, and often slept propped up against a rock. He also had no time for fastidiousness, and very rarely took off his clothes, preferring to have a dirty body and a clean soul. Needless to say he was rather smelly to be around. To pray constantly was his aim. Because he was where the Lord wanted him to be, living the kind of life the Lord wanted him to live, Bartholomew was continually cheerful. The next hermit to join him, a former prior, found this a sad trial because he was a creature who loved cleanliness. These two didn’t get on either, and this time it was Bartholomew who gave in and left the island. After about a year, the local bishop persuaded Bartholomew to return and sort out the differences between them. This they did, and Bartholomew assisted the former prior during his last illness and death.

Every so often the rich and powerful came to the island to obtain wisdom and prayers from Bartholomew. He paid no attention to rank and exhorted them to repentance and to full conversion of live and behaviour.

Some of Bartholomew’s early manual labour was spent enlarging the inside of a stone sarcophagus in which his bones were to be placed after his death. His last illness was 9 days long, during which the monks came across the water to give him the last rites. Following Bartholomew’s holy death in 1193, miracles were reported at his tomb. He desired that his remains stay on the island, in order to maintain an ascetic presence for future generations of hermits.

St Bartholomew of Farne, dedicated servant of God, pray for us.

An angel of mercy in the sick room and on the battle field.

Posted on June 23, 2012 by catherine

Today, 23 Jun 2012, is the memorial and anniversary of death of Blessed Maria Raffaella Cimatti, (a.k.a. Mary Raphael, or Maria Raffaella.), Italian religious of the Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy. She is a 20th century Saint who showed great heroism well after she turned 80 years of age – after a lifetime growing in holiness through ministering to the sick.

Blessed Maria Raffaella Cimatti was born in 1861 near Ravenna, Italy, into a working class family. Prior to reaching adulthood, sadness was a part of her life, with all but 2 of her brothers dying and her father’s death in 1882. Those two surviving brothers entered the seminary and became priests. Her parish priest recognised early on that Maria was fertile soil for God’s graces and permitted her to receive the sacraments at a younger age than usual. Encouraged by the good example of her family, Maria became an active member of her parish and a catechist.

Although it was obvious to many that Maria had a vocation to the religious life, she saw it as her duty to care for her brothers and her widowed mother first. As soon as the brothers were in seminary and her mother found a position in the local rectory, Maria was free to follow that calling of God. In 1889, at the age of 28, she entered the Hospitaller Sisters of Mercy. Here she was trained as a nurse and as a pharmacist’s assistant. ‘Maria Raffaela’ is actually the name she chose at her religious clothing (her baptismal name being Santina), showing a devotion to Our Lady and to the Archangel Raphael. According to the Book of Tobit in the Bible, St Raphael was an instrument of God’s healing for Tobit and for his daughter-in-law Sarah. In 1891 Maria made her first religious profession, taking an additional vow of hospitality. From this evidence it seems that God was giving Maria a generous heart towards all those suffering illness and towards all those who needed to be welcomed and loved.

Maria lived the majority of her religious life at Alatri and Frosinone, both around 75kms east-south-east of Rome. For many of her years in religious life she lived an ordinary hidden life ministering to the sick and keeping the Rule. Seeing gifts of wisdom and administration in Maria, the Order made her superior at Forsinone in 1921, and superior at Alatri in 1928. She must have served well in these positions of responsibility and authority because only when she approached the age of 80 did she ask to be relieved of these duties so as to return to the life of an ordinary religious and have increased time for prayer in order to prepare for when she would be called into eternity.

Perhaps Maria might have been granted her desires if WW2 didn’t change everything. Now there were increasing numbers of wounded soldiers to be taken care of in the Order’s hospitals, and caring for war wounds is more physically demanding than normal hospital work. Maria volunteered to take care of the soldiers, putting all of her nursing experience and loving heart at their service. As she worked, she prayed. Whenever a spare moment came, she went to pray for her patients in the chapel. Whenever she had a free hand, it was guiding the rosary beads through her fingers. In return the soldiers soon gave her a nickname, ‘the angel of the sick’.

In 1944 Maria learned the news that military decisions were being made that included bombing Alatri for the purpose of slowing down the Allied troops. With concern for the numbers of wounded being cared for at the hospital, and the inability to move them swiftly to a safer zone, Maria bravely went to confront Field Marshall Kesselring. She begged that Alatri and her patients be spared the bombings, and thus spared their lives. The General was impressed by her courage and her concerns, and the area was freed from this threat.

Not too long after this, on 23 June 1945, Maria was called to her eternal reward and welcomed into the hospitality of Heaven. Blessed Pope John Paul II said of Maria at her beatification Mass on 12 May 1996, ‘She lived in a spirit of sacrifice and ready availability in humble daily tasks, listening to and welcoming all those who came to her for advice and comfort, shouldering the tasks of responsibility to which she was repeatedly called.’

May Blessed Maria Raffaela Cimatti soon be declared a Saint by the Universal Church.

Blessed Maria Raffaela Cimatti, pray for us.

Even kings crumble before Saints

Posted on June 22, 2012 by catherine

Today, 22 Jun 2012, is the memorial of St Consortia, a French virgin Saint of the 9th century. Throughout the Benedictine monasteries of the Cluniac reform, St Consortia is venerated as a patron Saint, so the early members of this famous monastery must have known far more about her holy life than we do now. As has been said before, a Saint doesn’t get venerated for over a millennium unless he or she is a most powerful intercessor. St Consortia is also one of the principal saints of the Diocese of Lyons in France.

At the Cluniac chapel of Berze-la-Ville part of the painted decoration of the apse shows St Consortia escorting the five wise virgins from the parable of Jesus (the ones who took extra oil for their lamps while waiting for the bridegroom). All of them are depicted richly dressed and read for the wedding feast. It is this parable which is read out at Cluny on St Consortia’s feast day, presumably as the Gospel for her feast day.

The following story, assuming that it is the same St Consortia we are speaking of, dovetails well with this portrait of St Consortia. Apparently in the days of her youth Consortia attracted the attentions of the son of a very powerful family. She wasn’t interested. Dedicating herself completely to Jesus was far more attractive. Some wisdom was called for, since no one likes the consequences of denying powerful families what they want. When matters came to a head, she asked her suitor for a week to ponder her answer. During that week Consortia prayed with all her heart for God to reveal His will. At the end of the week the suitor returned and Consortia explained that she needed to know God’s will and asked him to pray with her. She proposed that they both went to Mass to pray for guidance and then place the book of the gospels on the altar, praying that God would show them the way through His Word. Only a cur could refuse such a request, so her suitor went along with it. The book of the gospels was then opened at random and the first lines read out. They said, ‘Whosoever loves father or mother better than Me is not worthy of Me’. With this Consortia’s suitor gave in to the Creator’s higher claim.

Consortia was now free to follow God’s call in some form of religious life. Already formidable as a young adult, Consortia grew steadily in holiness. For the next bit of her story to work, we can only guess that her reputation for sanctity had reached the king’s ears. King Clotaire’s daughter was dying. When Consortia prayed with her, or over her, the Princess was miraculously healed. Reading between the lines, perhaps the King had sent his men out to find the best intercessors in the kingdom, and Consortia was one of those they brought back. Then again, perhaps the Holy Spirit inspired Consortia with sufficient boldness to go and ask the king to be permitted to pray over his daughter. The whys and wherefores might be unknown but the outcome is. To the convent where Consortia resided, the grateful King sent large amounts of money and probably spiritual treasures as well (relics? artworks?). Getting any kind of grant from any King or Parliamentary representative is hard work, so this is impressive. Thus the King of heaven provided for the needs of His consecrated daughters.

The suitor gave in, the king opened up his treasury and even God could not refuse the prayers of this spouse of His Son Jesus. Having St Consortia on our side as an intercessor is obviously a smart move. St Consortia died somewhere around 570-578, and the first abbey of Cluny was founded in 910.

St Consortia, woman of God to be reckoned with, pray for us.

It takes courage to go where God sends us

Posted on June 21, 2012 by catherine

Today, 21 Jun 2012, is the memorial of St Alban of Mainz, (a.k.a. Albinus of Mainz, Albano di Magonza), a priest, missionary and martyr who lived most of his life in the 5th century. Even though the information about this Saint is rather sketchy, it still shows that he was an individual of great courage.

Some sources say that St Alban came from Greece, or from Albania. If Greek, probably from the tiny island of Naxos in Greece. One story goes that he left the Greek speaking world to escape from Arian persecution. Should that be so, the middle of the Arian troubles were around 350, making a late first quarter / early 2nd quarter of the 4th century birth year for Alban likely.

From Greece it seems clear that Alban, and any clerics he was accompanying, headed for Milan where St Ambrose was bishop and well-known defender against the Arian heresy. Did they go to consult St Ambrose about theological defences against Arianism or to seek protection and guidance as to what to do next in life? Did they receive supernatural communications from God inviting them to this very long journey to the north of Italy? In all likelihood Alban and companions called in at Rome on the way in order to venerate the relics of the Apostles. At least, at that time, if your Latin was good you could make yourself understood everywhere within the Roman Empire.

Upon reaching Milan, St Ambrose welcomed them. It seems reasonable to assume that St Ambrose saw great missionary fervour in Alban and those who travelled with him, because he encouraged them to undertake the dangerous journey into Gaul – what is now modern day France. For a Mediterranean person to face a route that probably included going over the Alps would have required a lot of courage. From there Alban set out to help the missionary effort at Mainz, which in our times is located in central west Germany. Mainz then became a base from which the surrounding pagan tribes could be evangelised. To preach to them would have required both courage and zeal.

After the epic journey to Mainz, Alban proved to be an effective preacher and defender against heresy, converting many tribal pagans to the faith. Alban’s part in the mission came to an end when Mainz was raided by Vandals around the year 406. He was captured, killed and beheaded. At the place where Alban’s remains came to rest, a Benedictine monastery bearing his name was built in latter centuries.

Over the centuries believers have noticed that St Albert of Mainz is a particularly good intercessor for those suffering from epilepsy, kidney stones and hernias.

St Alban of Mainz please pray for us, and for all of those whom God is calling into missionary vocations at this time.

Society of Saints

Saints in the making, Saints in waiting and Saints in action

Monthly Archives: June 2012