A DOG'S LIFE!

 

                                WINNIE  AND BELLA  AT  THE MOVIES!

        

A PRAYER FOR POPE LEO'S HEALTH

          Loving Father, touch him now with Your healing hands. 

Cover him with the most precious blood of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. 

Cast anything that should not be in him. Root out any unhealthy and abnormal cells. Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild and replenish any damaged areas. 

Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection by the power of Jesus’ precious blood. 

Let the fire of Your healing love pass through his entire body to heal and make new any diseased areas so that his body will function the way you created it to function.

 Touch also his mind and his emotion, even the deepest recesses of his heart.

Saturate his entire being with Your presence, love, joy and peace and draw him ever closer to You every moment of his life. 

And Father, fill him with Your Holy Spirit and empower him to do Your works so that his life will bring glory and honor to Your holy name. We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

(paraphrased from prayer by St. Padre Pio ) 

Painting: Sheryl Moran, Minnesota- Pontifical North American College, Rome

PROMOTER OF THE EUCHARIST IN URUGUAY

  

SERVANT  of GOD WALTER ELIAS CHANGO RONDEAU has been called the Carlos Acutis of Uruguay because of his great devotion to the Eucharist and great desire to spread his love of Christ.

He was born in 1921, in the outskirts of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, to devout parents. Walter had a normal youth. He loved nature, enjoying camping, hiking, and playing ball with his friends. From childhood, he  understood that the Eucharist was Jesus nourishing the soul. Amazingly, children his own age listened to him talk about Jesus.

 On one occasion, a classmate boasted that it had been quite some time since his last confession or communion. Walter spoke to him about the importance of receiving the sacraments and the presence of Jesus in them. This led to his classmate returning to the sacraments.

 He became involved in the parish, first as a catechist, then in charitable associations, with a special care  of the poor: "What you give to a poor person, you give to Christ!" 

He promoted the 1938 Eucharistic Congress in his homeland of Uruguay, working tirelessly. He had personally reproduced the congress logo and distributed copies to his neighbors so they could display them on their doors, thus creating an atmosphere for the event. But Walter didn't stop at mere publicity; he lived this moment as an apostolate, an opportunity to meet others and share the faith. During the diocesan process, one of the witnesses testified that Walter spoke to people with such eloquence that he seemed like a priest. However, Walter deeply felt his lay vocation and lived it with great commitment and dedication.

At 17, having finished his studies, he found work in which he ws known to becconscientious, affable, generous, full of energy, vitality, and joy. A young man of initiative, he organized parties where, at the end, there was always a time for prayer: "We have no right to be mediocre." “It is not enough that I be good; I must work so that my companions may be good. It is not enough that I be honorable; I must also desire the honorability of my companions. Nothing good is done without sacrifice.” 

Shortly after, he was found to have intestinal tuberculosis. Treatments and operations were not a success. Despite the pain, he maintained his good humor, encouraging his family and friends. He remained serene: “We are not destined for this earth, but for God. It is to Him that we must go.” He had great fortitude in the face of suffering, a profound inner peace, with a joy which radiated to others.

With complete surrender to God's will, he said: “I am in God’s hands. May His will be done.”

“I die in peace.” These are his last words, passing away with a smile on his lips.

When Walter fell ill with tuberculosis, his parents moved with him from the city  to a more secluded, quiet, and wooded area, hoping the change of scenery would improve his health. The new house had a garden with a fountain. When Walter felt better and wasn't in bed, he would stroll through the garden or sit in the shade of a magnolia tree. One day, while in the garden with his mother, he said, "Mama, when I die, you must cover me with those roses." He said this while pointing to the rose bushes surrounding the old fountain.

When Walter died, his mother remembered his request for roses and went to the garden hoping to find at least one, but unfortunately, she found none. Later, people at the wake commented on the pleasant fragrance. The news quickly spread among those present: the magnolia and rose bushes were covered in blossoms. They cut the roses to place on the coffin, and they bloomed again.

 This miracle was repeated three times until Walter’s body was completely covered. The event was witnessed by various ecclesiastical authorities, among whom was the Coadjutor Bishop of Montevideo, Monsignor Barbieri, who later became Cardinal of that See.

His cause for beatification was introduced in 2001. After 60 years his remains were transfered to the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of La Aguada.

A GREAT CHIEF

 The previous Blog dealt with the granddaughter of Salish CHIEF PAUL (BIG FACE) TJOLZHIYSAY,   who between 1831 and 1839 sent four delegations to St. Louis requesting the Blackrobes  (Jesuits) as their teachers. How did he hear about these missionaries and their religion? 

 When Christian Iroquois accompanied the European fur traders into the interior of North America in the early 19th century, they met the Salish and other peaceful tribes and settled among them and of course  mentioned who taught them about the religion they would adopt.  Chief Tjolzhitsay and his people were moved by what they heard and decided to send for these missionaries that they too might learn of this God.

September 24, 1841, Belgian born Father Pierre Jean DeSmet together with his fellow Jesuit missionaries, Fathers Gregory Mengarini and Nicolas Point, and three Lay Brothers arrived in the Bitterroot valley in the southwestern part of Montana.

From Father DeSmet’s journal:

Eight days afterwards we arrived safely in the camp of the Flat-heads, and Ponderas, or Pends d'oreilles.' Immediately the whole village was in commotion ; men, women and children, all came to meet me, and shake hands, and I was conducted in triumph to the lodge of the great chief Tjolizhitzay, (the Big face.) He has the appearance of an old patriarch. Surrounded by the principal chiefs of the two tribes, and the most renowned warriors, he thus addressed me: 

"This day Kaikolinzosten (the Great Spirit) has accomplished our wishes, and our hearts are swelled with joy. Our desire to be instructed was so great, that three times had we deputed our people to the Great Black-gown in St. Louis, to obtain a father. Now, Father, speak, and we will comply with all you will tell us. Show us the road we have to follow, to come to the place where the Great Spirit resides."

Then he resigned his authority to me; but I replied that he mistook the object of my coming among them; that I had no other object in view, but their spiritual welfare; that with respect to temporal affairs, they should remain as they were, till circumstances should allow them to settle in a permanent spot.—Afterwards we deliberated on the hours proper for their  spiritual exercises and instructions. One of the chiefs brought me a bell, with which I might give the signal.

Chief Big Face, nearly 90 years old, greeted the Blackrobes with great joy and was one of the first to be baptized, along with 350 others at the three forks of the Missouri River.  He received then name of Paul. Only months later in 1841, after receiving his first Communion, he died.

When I first came to Our Lady of the Rock, nearly 40 years ago, we were reading at table A History of the Catholic Church in the Pacific Northwest 1743-1983 by Wilfred P. Schoenberg, S.J. of Gonzaga University.  That tome, which is almost 900 pages, won the Washington Governor's Book Award. It was a fascinating reading, at times stranger and more adventuresome than fiction. While it took us 2 years to get through, it was nevr boring.

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'TRANQUIL WATERS"- A HOLY NATIVE WOMAN

 

Why saints?  Venerable Thomas A Kempis (15th C. monk & mystic) wrote: saints of God are friends in this life, guides along the way, advisers in doubt.. guardians in dangers, attendants in battle, defenders against the enemy, intercessors for sin, assistants at the last hour, consolers during agony, advocates at judgment, patrons before God, and welcoming friends in heaven…

In August, we presented some mystics and in September martyrs. The next two months, before Advent, we will cosider a miscellaneous group of holy people. The first two to be to be presented I am not sure will be canonized, but they have roots in our Pacific Northwest and their contribution to the early Church here is fascinating and lasting.

The people who called themselves, now commonly known as the The Coeur d’Alene Tribe (known as Schitsu'Umsh by the natives), have a legend about the coming of white men. Tradition says that Chief Circling Raven climbed a mountain on a vision quest and came back with a prophecy that two black-robed angels with white skin would come to teach his people of the great spirit.

Chief Circling Raven’s granddaughter, SIUWHEEM, meaning “tranquil waters,” was among the first to be baptized by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet in 1842. The black-robed priest was setting up missions in the West, and he was then starting one near present-day St. Maries in northern Idaho. Yet, even before the Black Robes arrival she was living a virtuous life, practicing great charity among her people. Her father was Chief "Twisted Earth".  We know of her life because Father De Smet wrote of "the remarkable  young woman" in 1865.
 
The St. Joseph’s Mission was constructed on the banks of the St. Joe River. Frequent flooding at that site caused the missionaries to soon abandon it. They moved to a hill overlooking the Coeur d’Alene River near present day Cataldo in 1846. They built what would become the Mission of the Sacred Heart there between 1850 and 1853. It stands today as Idaho’s oldest building. On the way to visit family in Couer d’Alene I would pass this very Hispanic looking church, yet never stopped.

 As a teenager Siuwheem married a member of the Spokane Tribe called Polotkin. Upon their baptism Father De Smet gave her the name Louise, and her husband the name Adolph, not only baptizing both but uniting them in marriage. From that point on Siuwheem was known as Louise Siuwheem Polotkin.

Louise became a talented translator and a fervent believer in the new religion the missionaries brought with them. She had a special love for children, especially girls, and took in several when their parents couldn’t care for them.

Louise Siuwheem has her own tribal legends. Two stories praise her for stopping battles, first with Spokane Indians, and then with the Nez Perce. 

She died in 1853 and is buried in the small cemetery on the grounds of the Mission of the Sacred Heart, which was later renamed in honor of another priest. It became the Cataldo Mission of the Sacred Heart.

Her grave marker includes the words “She taught religion to the children, cared for the sick and the orphans, taught hymns and prayers and came to this cemetery every night to pray for those buried here.” 

(At left is the painting  on her grave marker)

SLOVAK MARTYR/MISSIONARY

 

This martyr should have been with others in September, so I am a bit tardy, but I am sure St. Therese would not mind on her feast day, and a new month.

BL. JANKO HAVLIK was born on April 12, 1927 in Vlékovany, near Skalica (present-day Dubovce), Slovakia, into the family of a poor laborer (Karol Havlik, and his wife Justina, née Pollékova). His handwritten curriculum vitae reads: “Since I wanted to continue my studies, I attended for two years the Civic School in Holic, where I walked 6 km a day. After two years I started going to the gym in Skalica, cycling every day, which was 36 km a day.” Janko grew up in times of great economic crisis, which increased during the time of World War II.

Then, in 1943, he moved to Banska Bystrica and entered the Apostolic School, (Minor Seminary) of the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul where he completed his baccalaureate studies. After the war, the political regime changed radically. The victory of February 1948, as it was called, meant the advent of communist totalitarianism and the beginning of an open struggle against the Church.

Janko Havlik was one of the young men on whom the totalitarian power was to exert the full force of its brutality. On October 29, 1951 he was arrested together with other seminarians of the Congregation  The terrifying state police interrogated and tortured him for 16 months, abandoning him to the elements. After the trial, which lasted from February 3 to 5, he was sentenced to ten years in prison. At the end of February 1953, Janko Havlik was escorted to the Jachymov camp where he was forced to labor as a miner in the uranium mine. In this environment of fatigue and suffering he discovered that, if he could not be a priest, he could be a missionary.

 He told his dear friend Anton Srholec: “I feel as though I am on a mission. No missionary could choose a better and more difficult mission place.”

 He underwent a second trial in 1959 and another year was added to his sentence. Even in prison he was interrogated, mistreated, tortured and left without food. He always behaved bravely. In August 1961, Janko collapsed at work. The diagnosis  required immediate hospitalization. When he was able to leave prison, he was sent home terminally ill. The young man who had once been as strong as a fir tree was now only a ruin. But until the Lord called him to Himself, he still managed to describe his spiritual experience, his thoughts and prayers, writing two small but dense notebooks: “The Way of the Cross of the Little Souls” and “Diary”. They are important because they allow us to see His deep relationship with the Lord.

In spite of everything, Janko had not drunk his cup of bitterness to the bottom. When the sound of the ambulance was spreading through the village, everyone knew that Janko was being transferred to the hospital in Skalica,  and the agents were constantly spying on him.

His last breath came on December 27, 1965. At the age of 37,  he died suddenly in the street on the feast day of his patron saint, St. John the Evangelist. He died in the morning hours … standing up. He was found in one of the streets of Skalica, leaning against the wall, next to the ash heap of a house.

BEATIFICATION OF AMERICAN ARCHBISHOP

On September 24, 2026, the Church will celebrate the beatification of ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN. The Beatification Mass will be celebrated at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri, a venue chosen to allow a large number of faithful to participate in the celebration.

The Mass will begin at 2:00 p.m. in St. Louis, corresponding to 9:00 p.m. in Rome, Italy.

EWTN will also offer special coverage of the day in English beginning at 3:00 p.m. Rome time, with live reports, analysis and commentary before and after the celebration.

The Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization and the papal legate for the celebration.

The miracle which paved the way for the beatification was the unexplained recovery of James Fulton Engstrom, born apparently stillborn in September 2010 to Bonnie and Travis Engstrom of the Peoria- area town of Goodfield. He showed no signs of life as medical professionals tried to revive him.

The child’s mother and father prayed to Archbishop Sheen to heal their son. A seven-member panel of medical experts advising the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints gave unanimous approval of the miracle attributed to the Archbishop in March 2014.

His feast  will be December  9.

(See Blogs: 3/22/2012, 9/9/18, 11/28/19 & 2/14/26)