BIRDS WITH HUMOR

 

It seems to be the time for birds. Everyday I see a large calendar over my desk featuring the fun art of CHARLEY HARPER, who was a Cincinnati-based American Modernist artist, best known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters, and book illustrations. I love his work because of his great sense of humor and his sometimes play on words. For example, his  pileated woodpecker pecking for ants he titled “Antypasto". 

Charley was born in Frenchton, West Virginia, in 1922 into a farming family. On his family farm, he developed an early appreciation and love of animals as well as design  which influenced his work to his last days. 

He attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and graduated from the Cincinnati Art Academy, where he also taught for many years

Supposedly on the first day, Charley met fellow artist Edie McKee*, whom he married shortly after graduation in 1947. 

After a WWII tour of duty with the 104th Infantry in Europe, aided by an art scholarship,  he went on a four-months' painting tour of the country with his bride. He worked in a Cincinnati studio as a commercial artist by day and in his home as a fine artist by night."

Charley returned to the Art Academy of Cincinnati as a teacher and also worked for a commercial firm before working on his own. He and his wife worked out of their Roselawn and Finneytown homes, and later, with their only child, Brett Harper, formed Harper Studios.

Charley Harper died of pneumonia in Cincinnati on Sunday, June 10, 2007, at age 84.

During his career, Charley Harper illustrated numerous books, notably The Golden Book of Biology, magazines such as Ford Times, as well as many prints, posters, and other works. As his subjects are mainly natural, with birds prominently featured, Charley often created works for many nature-based organizations, among them the National Park Service, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Nature Center, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Hamilton County (Ohio) Park District, and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania. He also designed interpretive displays for Everglades National Park.

In a style he called "minimal realism", Charley Harper captured the essence of his subjects with the fewest possible visual elements. When asked to describe his unique visual style, Charley responded: 

When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don't see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior, and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures. I regard the picture as an ecosystem in which all the elements are interrelated, interdependent, perfectly balanced, without trimming or unutilized parts; and herein lies the lure of painting; in a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe.”

He began his career by creating very realistic pictures but began to lose his interest in this approach. This skill wasn't wasted, however, for as he said “You’ve got to know how to put everything in before you will know what you can leave out successfully.”

"I felt shackled by the laws of perspective and shading and decided that the constant attempt to create the illusion of three dimensions on the two-dimensional plane of the picture was limiting me as an artist. Realistic painting persuades the viewer that he is looking into space rather than at a flat surface. It denies the picture plane, which I affirm and use as an element of design. Wildlife art has been dominated by realism, but I have chosen to do it differently because I think flat, hard-edge and simple."

Charlie said it was the difference between painting the thing itself or painting a picture of the thing. "I didn’t start out to paint a bird – the bird already existed. I started out to paint a picture of a bird, a picture which didn’t exist before I came along, a picture which gives me a chance to share with you my thoughts about the bird.

Once you accept this seemingly simplistic but really quite profound premise, you will appreciate the many varied approaches to the making of pictures, all of which start where realism leaves off, but all of which require an understanding of realism for their successful execution.”

He contrasted his nature-oriented artwork with the realism of John James Audubon, drawing influence from Cubism, Minimalism, Einsteinian physics and countless other developments in Modern art and science. His style distilled and simplified complex organisms and natural subjects, yet they are often arranged in a complex fashion.

His serigraphs were large expanses of rich color, which gave the viewer a very different perspective on the animal kingdom. He was a conservationist as well as an artist, revealing the unique aspects of  wildlife subjects through highly stylized geometric reduction. 

 He said he was "the only wildlife artist who has never been compared to Audubon," yet his wildlife art was just as instructive - the only difference was that he laced his lessons with humor.Charlie believed that humor made it easier to encourage changes in our attitudes and awareness of environmental concerns.

On the subject of his simplified forms, Charley noted:

"I don't think there was much resistance to the way I simplified things. I think everybody understood that. Some people liked it and others didn't care for it. There's some who want to count all the feathers in the wings and then others who never think about counting the feathers, like me.”

The results are bold, colorful, and often whimsical. The designer Todd Oldham wrote of him, "Charley's inspired yet the accurate color sense is undeniable, and when combined with the precision he exacts on rendering only the most important details, one is always left with a sense of awe." Charley, on numerous examples, also went outside the medium of graphic art and included short prose poems for the artwork he made.    

In his art work Charlie  imaginatively investigated the similarities between human and wild animal behaviors, but completely without anthropomorphism. "I learn as much as I can about the creatures that interest me, and they all do. I observe them and find out how they interact with each other and their environments and ask myself, 'What if?'"

In 2002 his artwork was selected for the International Migratory Bird Day conservation theme- Exploring Habitats.

*EDIE McKee HARPER was an American photographer, artis and wildlife conservationist, working in many mediums, including sculptures, paintings, textiles, jewelry and lithographs for 60 years. She died 3 years after Charlie.

Birds: top- Pileated woodpecker

 Left-  Clair de Loon

Right- Barn swallow

Left- Goldfinch

Right- "His eyes are on the sparrows"

Left- Scissortail flycatcher

Rigt- Rosebreasted  Grosebeak

A LIFE OF DARKNESS

As we begin a new month, it is time to get back to some new saints.  The following was meant to be last month with others, who in suffering, offered themselves to God.

BL. ELZBIETA ROZA CZACKA was born in Bila Tserkva in Kiev Governorate (today Ukraine)) as the sixth of seven children to Count Feliks Czacki and Countess Zofia Ledóchowska. Her great-grandfather was Tadeusz Czacki and her uncle was Cardinal Włodzimierz Czacki. The Czacki family of the Świnka coat of arms came from Silesia and were part of the Polish nobility. Many outstanding ancestors contributed to its importance, including Cardinal Włodzimierz Czacki, the secretary to and friend of Pope Pius IX and later advisor to Pope Leo XIII. Róża's father was the grandson of Tadeusz Czacki, the founder of Krzemieniec Lyceum, member of the Commission of National Education, co-author of the May 3rd Constitution and co-founder of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning. Through her mother, Zofia, she was related to Cardinal Mieczysław Ledóchowski. In her childhood she learnt how to play on the piano and also learnt how to ride horses. She also became proficient in English and also mastered German and French and also studied ecclesial and medieval Latin.

Gifted with a very good ear for music, Róża took singing, dancing and piano lessons. She also went horse riding. The Czacki family was wealthy, which allowed for the selection of appropriate teaching staff and educational activities. The parents required from their children considerable independence and self-discipline, and paid particular attention to virtues such as modesty and respect for the dignity of others, including those who were of lower social status. Róża's mother had a strict approach towards her children and tried to avoid expressing warm feelings. (Photo right is the palace where Roza was born.)

Since childhood, Róża experienced health problems.  A hereditary eye disease plagued her, yet her family refused to accept her progressive blindness, even though the disease was making it increasingly more difficult for Roza to function.

 The turning point came in 1898, when as a result of falling off a horse, the retinas of both of Róża's eyes became detached. At the age of 22, she became completely blind.

Roża's parents spared no efforts to restore her daughter's sight. It was hoped this would be achieved thought trips abroad to the most renowned ophthalmologists. These, however, proved fruitless. The breakthrough finally came when Róża turned to the ophthalmologist Bolesław Ryszard Gepner, who told her: ‘Don’t allow yourself to be carted from one foreign fame to another. There is nothing here that can be done, the state of your eyesight is quite hopeless. You’d be better off taking care of the blind, as they are not looked after by anyone in Poland’. 

 Róża decided to start her mission to help the blind through charitable work. She visited the patients of ophthalmic clinics, contacted doctors who could treat them and organized fundraising at Holy Coss Churchin Warsaw. In this charity work, she was supported by her mother, whose approach to her daughter had now warmed. Róża came to the conclusion that her aid to those in need should not be limited to sporadic actions. She traveled to the West to learn how to organize institutional care for the blind. Braille was not yet used in Poland, so she found inspiration in the outstanding French promoter of braille, Maurice de la Sizeranne.

After returning to Warsaw in 1910, Roza opened a shelter for young blind women, where she taught them to read braille. These lessons started also being attended by blind males. The small center soon expanded its activities, and in 1911 it became the Society for the Care of the Blind, whose official status was confirmed that same year by the tsarist authorities.

 The Society ran care and educational facilities for the blind, including: a primary school with Polish as the language of instruction, a basket-weaving workshop for boys and male adults, a nursery for the youngest children and a nursing home for elderly women. In 1912 she also established open care of the blind and she instigated the transcribing of books into Braille. In 1913, she founded the first library for the blind in Poland.

Róża drew attention to the fact that the blind suffer not only on account of their disability, but also due to ingrained social perceptions of their supposed mental and psycho-physical debilities. She considered it a mistake to exclude blind people from everyday activities or to keep them in isolation. Roza tried to combat prevailing stereotypes though education and the example of her own active life. By writing studies, various appeals and memoranda to representatives of the authorities she popularized knowledge about the blind. Her goal as an organizer of aid for people without sight was to provide them with maximal independence, enabling them to find their place in society with a sense of being useful and having their own dignity.

The work she had begun was halted by the outbreak of the First World War. Her Society struggled with serious shortages of food and other items essential for everyday existence. Initially, she lived in the home of the habitless sisters of the Third Order of St Francis. She planned to found a new congregation whose major mission would be to serve the blind. Róża took her vows and adopted the religious name of Elżbieta (Elisabeth). After the ban on wearing religious garments was officially lifted, she donned the Franciscan habit. Her work received approval from the apostolic nuncio Achille Ratti (the future Pope Pius XI) who lauded her efforts as an exceptional apostolate.

Shortly before the Second World War, Sr. Elzbieta's work was in full bloom. By its outbreak she had turned Laski into a modern center. There, her pupils received a basic and vocational education allowing them to live on their own, financially independent, included in society and often having their dignity restored. The number of blind students as well as teachers and carers grew. There were 41 blind students in 1928. By the school year of 1938/39, there were 230 blind children, youths and adults in the boarding schools of Laski, and 437 at the Society's open centers in Warsaw and other cities.

During the war, students had to be evacuated, and Sr. Elzbieta herself was wounded during the siege of Warsaw, when a bomb fell on the building where she was staying. She lost an eye, which had to be removed, without anaesthesia. 

After the end of the war, Sr. Elzbieta had much help, even from groups in New York. In 1950 she retired her role as the Superior General for her order, having held the post since around 1923, due to her declining health. She died in Laski on 15 May 1961. She was beatified in September 2021 along with Cardinal Stefan Wysznski (The Primate of Poland who led the Church’s resistance to communism). 

She lived her life in darkness, yet spread the Light of Christ to all whom she touched. Her feast day is May 19.

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THE POPE'S FIRST

 

Sunday is Pentecost, but many do not know of the feast that follows, which is dedicated to MARY MOTHER of the CHURCH. On this day the Vatican releases Pope Leo’s first encyclical, “MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS: (Magnificent Humanity): On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”  

This year marks the publication of the social encyclical “Rerum Novarum  by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. Rerum Novarum, discussed the needs of the working class amid the industrial revolution. The text by-passed both socialism and unrestrained market power, opting for cooperation between competing interests that is centered on the dignity of the human person.

Pope Leo XIV indicated at the beginning of his pontificate that he intended to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Leo XIII by responding to todayʼs industrial revolution: “developments in the field of artificial intelligence.”

“In our own day,” he continued, “the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”

Time Magazine included Pope Leo XIV in its 2025 list of the “World’s Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence” , praising the pontiff’s focus on the ethical concerns related to the emerging technology.

The magazine listed the top 100 fluential people in artificial intelligence (AI) in four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers, and Thinkers. Leo XIV is among the 25 most influential thinkers in the field, according to Time.

In a profile included in the magazine, Time technology correspondent Andrew Chow noted that Leo XIV chose his papal name, in part, based on the need for the Church to address ethical matters related to AI and wrote that the Holy Father is “already making good on his vow.”

 

 

THE WEEK OF BIRDS

 

My God-daughter, Amie Hood Garabaldi, took these amazing photos of a rufus hummingbird last week when she visited Shaw.  She has always loved wildlife and has the giftedness to show us beauty which we often may not see up close.

I am lucky to also have a God-son, who  does wonderful wildlife photography, especially birds. He studed under an internationally noted wildlfe photographer, who recognized James' talent. 

Amie also captured this flock of whimbrels in migration flying over Shaw as the sun was setting.

GEESE ON THE ROOF

 

Canada geese are known to nest on flat rooftops, especially in urban or suburban areas. They choose these high, open spaces to protect their eggs from ground predators and to gain a clear view of their surroundings. They are often attracted to "green roofs," planters, and quiet, elevated spaces.

It is a first for us, and we have daily been fascinated by this mother goose who chose the roof of our llama/sheep fold. We were all concerned as the days went by. How could those goslings get off that roof.  There are some birds, such as the marbled murrelets who actually push their babies out of trees, when they know they are old enough to fly. But for geese it is a problem as the goslings cannot fly down, creating a challenge for them to reach food and water. At times parents will drop the goslings down to the ground, where they can survive the fall by landing on soft surfaces or because of their light weight. A rather hit and miss prospect.

Once the female starts sitting on the eggs, they will hatch in about 25 days. Baby geese can walk within hours of hatching, and the parents will try to lead their new family away from the nest area.

 Because the goslings cannot fly until they are three months old, they may be unable to jump safely from the roof to follow their parents. Generally newly hatched goslings can fall about 2 storeys without hurting themselves, because they are so small and fluffy.

If the nest is more than two storeys high, or there is a barrier more than 4 inches tall preventing the goslings from jumping off, it is rcommended to call the local wildlife rehabilation center. 

Then today at dinner, we watched two raptors, either juvie bald eagles and or a pair of red wings (they were going too fast to identify) fly by the windows.  Hours later at Vespers I spied a raptor out of the corner of my eye swooping very near if not from that goose rooftop. Looking closer I noted movement and could see yellow goslings. 

What to do? Where is that camera when you need it? One of the nuns bravely climbed up and got the babes into the pasture near the pond, with the hope they could hide in the grass and maybe soon get to the pond and the rushes which would protect them. 

 Time will tell, but we hope to see some of these babes survive- as much as we dislike the adults at times.  Perhaps my greatest complaint -not the poopy mess they make- is that they drive away smaller ducks, such as the colorful wood duck, which no longer come to make its nest near the pond’s edge.

UPDATE:  So far all three goslings have made it and are daily swimming with both parents. Our shepherdess carefully passes them, with eyes averted, as she tends to her wooly flock.

POPE LEO AND A NEW MOTH

 

My Arizona friend, Jeff, will be happy to know a new moth has been found in the White Mountains of Crete. Jeff loves moths (as well as birds).  I am happy that it has been named after our Holy Father,  Pope Leo.

 

Its name  reflects its "noble appearance," explain the scientists who identified this unique insect, but it is also "a message of hope for the environment." Researchers from the Tyrolean State Museum, the Finnish Museum of Natural History, and the Bavarian State Zoological Collection describe the discovery in the open-access journal "Nota Lepidopterologica," detailing the "technical" name adopted: PYRALIS PAPALEONEI, derived from Pope Leo. This discovery, they emphasize, demonstrates how, even among such eye-catching European moths, little-known species remain to be discovered.  

The so-called Pope Lion moth has a wingspan of approximately 0.79 inches, placing it among the medium-sized species in its group. Its most distinctive features are its purple forewings with an orange-golden spot and conspicuous white bands. The moths have been observed near artificial light sources and appear to be primarily active in June. Little is known about the biology and lifestyle of the new species so far. It was distinguished from related species based on classical morphological characteristics, such as wing pattern, coloration, and genital morphology, as well as through genetic analysis. Molecular analyses revealed a divergence of approximately 6% from the most closely related species, clearly indicating that it is a distinct species. 

Butterflies and moths are often named based on physical characteristics, geographic origins, or in honor of illustrious figures. Within the Pyralis genus, however, a unique tradition can be observed: as early as 1775, Austrian naturalists Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller described the first species in the group as Pyralis regalis ('royal'), inspired by its splendid coloration.

 Other high-sounding names followed, such as Pyralis princeps and Pyralis cardinalis, which also referred to its extraordinary beauty. All these species belong to the diverse superfamily Pyraloidea, which includes approximately 16 described species worldwide and represents one of the largest groups of micromoths. 

The naming of living organisms has a historical-cultural dimension. In the bok of Genesis, Adam is first entrusted with the task of naming all animals. In this sense, taxonomy (the science of classifying, naming, and organizing organisms) can be considered one of humanity's first endeavors, experts argue. 

For Peter Huemer, the study leader (former head at the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum), naming a species is therefore more than just a formal scientific act: it also serves as a symbolic appeal to the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, to underscore humanity's central responsibility for safeguarding creation (something Benedictines have done for 1500 years). This is particularly fitting, he says, since butterflies and moths are considered in Christianity to be symbols of resurrection, transformation (metamorphosis), and the immortal soul. 

"We are facing a global biodiversity crisis, yet only a fraction of the world's species have been scientifically documented. Effective biodiversity conservation requires that species are first recognized, and then named. Around 700 new  moth species are described each year, primarily in tropical regions. However, basic research in Europe is far from complete: in the Alps alone, around 200 previously unknown species have been identified in recent decades", observes Peter Huemer.

The discovery of the Pope Lion's moth, Pyralis papaleonei, highlights "how much remains to be discovered," even in already extensively studied European regions, and underscores "the urgent need to protect sensitive habitats," experts comment. 

NEW FOR USA

 

 Another American woman has been put forth for canonization.  Although she was not born in the United States, she spent the  majority of her life  here.

SERVANT OF GOD ADELE BRICE was born in Belgium in 1831. Although she suffered an accident at a young age that left her blind in her right eye, those who knew her best describe her cheerfulness, fervent piety, and simple religious ways. 

Upon receiving her first Holy Communion, Adele and a few close friends promised the Blessed Virgin Mary that they would devote their lives to becoming religious teaching sisters in Belgium. However, this promise grew difficult to keep when her parents decided to move to America alongside other Belgium settlers. After seeking advice from her confessor, she was told to be obedient to her parents. He assured her that if the Lord willed her to become a teacher and a sister, she would serve in that vocation in America.

After the six-week voyage to America, the Brice family joined the largest Belgian settlement – near present-day Champion, Wisconsin. Belgian pioneers’ and settlers’ lives were difficult, and many died in the harsh Wisconsin winters. Adele served her family’s needs by often taking grain to the grist mill.

 In early October 1859, Adele reported seeing a woman clothed in dazzling white, a yellow sash around her waist, and a crown of stars on her flowing blonde locks. The lady was surrounded by a bright light, and stood between two trees, a hemlock and a maple. Adele was frightened by the vision and prayed until it disappeared. When she told her parents what she had seen, they suggested that a poor soul might be in need of prayers.

The following Sunday, October 8, 1859, Adele saw the apparition a second time while walking to Mass in the community of Bay Settlement. Her sister and another woman, Marie Theresa VanderMissen ( d.1898), were with her at the time, but neither saw anything. She asked the parish priest for advice and he told her if she saw the apparition again, she should ask it, "In the Name of God, who are you and what do you wish of me?"

 Returning from the Mass, she saw the apparition a third time, and this time posed the question the priest had told her to ask. The apparition replied, "I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same." Adele was also given a mission to "gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation."

Adele, who was aged 28 at the time of the apparitions, devoted the rest of her life to teaching children. She began going door-to-door, up to 25 miles a day, offering to teach the children about the faith. She would even offer to do household chores during the daytime so the children could have time to learn in the evening. By extension, the parents of these children would often listen to Adele’s lessons and grow in their love of the Lord as well.

Later opened a small school. Other women joined her in her work and formed a community of sisters according to the rule of the Third Order Franciscans, although she never took public vows as a nun.

Their presence and influence had a lasting effect on the people of Northeast Wisconsin, especially within the Belgian community of the Door County Penninsula.

This influence even was helpful when the town where Adele lived and did her ministry work decided to change its name. It is recalled that when the community asked Adele what the new town’s name should be, she requested “Champion.” A nod to her promise given to the Blessed Mother to serve in Champion, Belgium. Although Adele was no longer in Belgium, she was able to fufill her promise in Champion, Wisconsin. The name of the town to this day is Champion.

Adele Brice died on July 5th, 1896, and is buried in the cemetery located near the Apparition Chapel of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion. On her headstone is inscribed the disposition of her life: “Sacred Cross Under thy Shadow I Rest and Hope.”

The original chapel built on the site of the apparitions was a 10x12 foot wooden structure built by Lambert Brise, Adele's father, at the site of the Marian apparition. 

Isabella Doyen donated the 5 acres around the spot, and a larger (24x40 foot) wooden church was built in 1861. This chapel bore the inscription  "Notre Dame de bon Secours, priez pour nous"  (“Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us”), giving the shrine its original name.)

The site became a popular pilgrimage site, and the chapel was soon too small to accommodate the growing number of devotees. A larger brick chapel was built in 1880 and dedicated by Francis Xavier Krautbauer, the second Bishop of Green Bay. A school and convent were also built on the site in the 1880s.

On October 8th, 1871, almost twelve years to the date of Mary’s last appearance to Adele, the Great Peshtigo Fire broke out. Lumber companies and sawmills had been harvesting the woods of northeastern Wisconsin for decades, leaving immense piles of sawdust and branches as they produced lumber and other wood products. 

Unable to outrun the flames, nearly 2,000 people in the area died in the inferno. Some people assume that, driven by strong winds the conflagration leaped across Green Bay of Lake Michigan and began burning huge sections of the Door Peninsula.

When the firestorm threatened the chapel, Adele refused to leave and instead organized a procession to petition the Virgin Mary for her protection. The surrounding land was destroyed by the fire, but the chapel and its grounds, together with all who had taken refuge there, remained unharmed. The conflagration engulfed about 1,200,000 acres and is the deadliest wildfire in recorded history.

The current shrine was constructed with support from Bishop Paul Peter Rhode, who dedicated the new building in July 1942. The Apparition Oratory contains a collection of crutches left behind in thanksgiving  by those who came to pray at the shrine.

The largest annual gatherings at the chapel are on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, where Mass is celebrated with an outdoors and a procession is held around the shrine precincts, and the Walk to Mary pilgrimage, which takes place on the first Saturday of May, where pilgrims walk 7, 14, or 22 miles to the Shrine from other locations. Both events attract thousands of people.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Champion gained national recognition when the apparitions were approved after a two-year investigation by Bishop David Ricken on December 8, 2010. This makes it the first and only apparition approved by the Catholic Church in the United States. Bishop Ricken noted his predecessors had implicitly endorsed the shrine in holding services there over the years.

On August 15, 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the church as a national shrine. To reflect this, the shrine's name was changed to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help.

On April 20, 2023, the shrine was again renamed to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.