tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68211537216469154452024-03-18T11:58:32.067-07:00island life- in a monasterymother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.comBlogger1480125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-23422209805203824102024-03-18T10:07:00.000-07:002024-03-18T10:11:41.959-07:00SAINT OF DACHAU<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iEmKBL5UfZ5D-1hjuaqvcddtcOCefocYAYP6W-7ujq8HD5AWNnGR2elPTOhovzgIn7jWE-x94k3Sr72wMAdNcYPsYs7I_NDakP6_dCwa11Pt6sjCBmavc2HK_eRUm7twAU9vzoTYS1c9R7M6w34EpC9ckgNahpE8vg8NKEDUlIsYmq7dUixcfYerw-A/s1682/62ead7dd37974.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1682" data-original-width="1232" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iEmKBL5UfZ5D-1hjuaqvcddtcOCefocYAYP6W-7ujq8HD5AWNnGR2elPTOhovzgIn7jWE-x94k3Sr72wMAdNcYPsYs7I_NDakP6_dCwa11Pt6sjCBmavc2HK_eRUm7twAU9vzoTYS1c9R7M6w34EpC9ckgNahpE8vg8NKEDUlIsYmq7dUixcfYerw-A/s320/62ead7dd37974.webp" width="234" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">Unlike our previous saints for Lent, <span style="color: red;"><b>ST. TITUS BRANDSMA </b></span>was not Polish. He was born Anno Sjoerd
Brandsma to Titus Brandsma and his wife Tjitsje Postma at Oegeklooster, near </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration-line: none;">Hartwerd</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">, in the Province of </span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration-line: none;">Friesland</span><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> in 1881</span><span style="font-size: 11.1111px;">.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> His parents, who ran a small dairy farm,
were devout and committed Catholics, a minority in a predominantly </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration-line: none;">Calvinist</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt;"> region. With the exception of one daughter, all of
their children (three daughters and two sons) entered </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; font-size: 10pt; text-decoration-line: none;">religious orders</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">From
age 11, the future saint was educated at a preparatory school for boys who were
studying for the priesthood. He joined the Carmelite novitiate in 1898, taking
the name Titus in honor of his father.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
the years following his 1905 ordination, he received a doctorate in philosophy
and initiated a project to translate the works of St Teresa of Avila into
Dutch. One of the founders of the Catholic University of Nijmegen, he served as
a professor of philosophy and the history of mysticism at the school. While
there he was known more for his availability to faculty and students than for
his academic achievements. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">He later served as rector magnificus</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;"> (1932–33).</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">In 1935 he traveled for
a lecture tour of the United States and Canada, speaking at various
institutions of his order.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> On the occasion of his visit to a Carmelite
seminary in <span style="background: white;">Niagara
Falls, Ontario</span><span style="background: white;">, he wrote of the </span><span style="background: white;">falls</span><span style="background: white;"> that
"I not only see the riches of the nature of the water, its immeasurable
potentiality; I see God working in the work of his hands and the manifestation
of his love.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegJqReykDsKUvjyVtZvr2Q0_VojUuxz7JDNK0PfSTBHxddcUkp9pqw8-D76TG-vNtAify6KDNsX-r6rNxZXCcAl43_MMBVa9JHFXgiucqtxzKFsH6-uN2gYrgpdjQ1kXWrzayFfZqMijYzoP36GW7cEiLPIXdMOSN7fq9iTwwj8w8LfI-UM7D_VcMZik/s2414/20220304T0730-POPE-SAINTHOOD-CAUSES-1522574.JPG.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1719" data-original-width="2414" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegJqReykDsKUvjyVtZvr2Q0_VojUuxz7JDNK0PfSTBHxddcUkp9pqw8-D76TG-vNtAify6KDNsX-r6rNxZXCcAl43_MMBVa9JHFXgiucqtxzKFsH6-uN2gYrgpdjQ1kXWrzayFfZqMijYzoP36GW7cEiLPIXdMOSN7fq9iTwwj8w8LfI-UM7D_VcMZik/s320/20220304T0730-POPE-SAINTHOOD-CAUSES-1522574.JPG.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Working
as a journalist, Father Brandsma served as ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic
journalists. His long-standing opposition to Nazi ideology came to the
attention of the Nazis when they invaded the Netherlands in 1940. In direct
opposition to the Third Reich, the Conference of Dutch Bishops sent a letter
ordering Catholic newspaper editors not to print Nazi propaganda. Father
Brandsma was arrested while hand delivering the letter in January 1942. After
being imprisoned in several other facilities, in June he was taken to the
Dachau camp in Germany.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">During
his brief time at Dachau Father Brandsma was well-known for his kindness and
spiritual support of other prisoners. His death on July 26, 1942 was a result
of the Reich’s program of medical experimentation on prisoners. He gave a
wooden rosary to the nurse who administered the fatal injection. She later
became Catholic and testified to his holiness. In recent years St. Titus has
been honored by both the cities of Nijmegen and Dachau. He was beatified in
1985, and canonized in 2022.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
2005, St. Titus was chosen by the inhabitants of <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Nijmegen</span> as
the greatest citizen to have lived there. A memorial church dedicated to him
now stands in the city.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The
saint’s studies on mysticism was the basis for the establishment in 1968 of the
Titus Brandsma Institute in Nijmegen, dedicated to the study of </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">spirituality</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">. It is a collaboration
between the Dutch Carmelite friars and </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Radboud
University Nijmegen</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
his biography of St. Titus, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Man behind the Myth</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, Dutch
journalist Ton Crijnen claims that the saint's character consisted of some
vanity, a short temper, extreme energy, political innocence, true charity,
unpretentious piety, thorough decisiveness, and great personal courage.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rjKIwIq186r6c95UyR4lkilCFsv-FT4VxwF06O7HdYQiX7qB4UZoCmwkWtVVIrCTa7Ss7Jkdz82NZjQh-3WAgLQLqR_JLq7C3yzl78iO538KAkeeNni60hhvlC8OpfJIlw_wA40zeyGMCFWe2Btb1KTeUq305dr_EDtAfKFgy015P_NaiQhgh7KiV0E/s346/220px-TitusBrandsma.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rjKIwIq186r6c95UyR4lkilCFsv-FT4VxwF06O7HdYQiX7qB4UZoCmwkWtVVIrCTa7Ss7Jkdz82NZjQh-3WAgLQLqR_JLq7C3yzl78iO538KAkeeNni60hhvlC8OpfJIlw_wA40zeyGMCFWe2Btb1KTeUq305dr_EDtAfKFgy015P_NaiQhgh7KiV0E/s320/220px-TitusBrandsma.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">His
ideas were very much those of his own age and modern as well. He offset
contemporary Catholicism's negative theological opinion about Judaism with a
strong disaffection for any kind of </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 10pt; text-underline: none;">antisemitism</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> in Hitler's Germany.</span></p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-83174625009426360072024-03-17T11:50:00.000-07:002024-03-17T11:52:40.334-07:00A CHURCH OF MERCY IN WAR<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrRF3QzlroxGOdKhvaCzoNQQ0cnkPmg8wDMH25YEYIWTNN62x_9Gy3gHu_AxQnCdwRMjnxPs8FwAqTjlSBOQ823g3yHlY8xjNW0qrlXuk2QjSKrpbtYJ4bvdnrdFf7R41n3JY9aNPHZ-_XqcnfB4lE-MWQhMzaXrwz3fl8bgcgu1FHhGeoydN0vTAKyTA/s2048/shutterstock_286595099-2048x1367.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrRF3QzlroxGOdKhvaCzoNQQ0cnkPmg8wDMH25YEYIWTNN62x_9Gy3gHu_AxQnCdwRMjnxPs8FwAqTjlSBOQ823g3yHlY8xjNW0qrlXuk2QjSKrpbtYJ4bvdnrdFf7R41n3JY9aNPHZ-_XqcnfB4lE-MWQhMzaXrwz3fl8bgcgu1FHhGeoydN0vTAKyTA/w400-h268/shutterstock_286595099-2048x1367.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></p>During
Lent I have presented martyrs who died at the hands of the Nazis in WWII, many were
priests who refused to abandon their flocks. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Today we see the same situation in Ukraine,
with priests who have stayed behind to care for the spiritual- and in many
cases physical- needs of their people. The Church has become a symbol of
concrete mercy. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Due
to the war in Ukraine, almost 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced from
their homes. Almost 4 million have become internally displaced persons (IDPs),
and another six million persons have taken refuge in another country, with Poland
and Germany taking the lion’s share of those refugees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Men
between 18-60 had to remain in the country for possible deployment in the
military, which means most of the refugees have been women, children and
elderly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The
Church and many Catholic orders of religious men and women are still aiding
refugees, physically and emotionally, as well as spiritually. Many feel the
West has forgotten their plight as the war drags on and other tragedies take precedence
in the news.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">Ukrainian Father
Oleksandr Zelinskyi of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and director</span> of <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background: white;">EWTN Ukraine</span><span style="background: white;"> since 2017, says that</span> “hope is something
that helps us carry on, to work, to live, believing that God can change even
the worst for the good. And there are many people bearing witness that faith
and trust in God helps them in these difficult times.”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Father
Zelinskyi said the people are very grateful to all those in the world who
continue to pray for Ukraine. He feels that</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> the </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">act of
consecration of Russia and Ukraine</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> to the Immaculate Heart of
Mary carried out by Pope Francis in March 2022, “did some good,
because after this consecration the Russians had to leave the Kiev region. And
I believe it was possible thanks to the providence of God.”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">We
know from local friends that the Knights of Columbas are still supplying goods to families in need through their Charity Convoy. Over a million
pounds of food has been delivered to Ukrainian families through this charitable
mission.<i> In </i><em>Solidarity with Ukraine<span style="font-style: normal;">, </span></em>an inspiring new
film from the Knights of Columbus, gives a vivid example of what it means to be
a Christian disciple in the midst of war, and how the light of the Gospel
continues to shine in the darkness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">While we are unable to physically be present to the people of this war-torn country, who continue to amaze us by their strength and courage, we can pray, and daily we do!</span></p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"></span><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-48623386802651949952024-03-16T07:43:00.000-07:002024-03-16T09:14:08.997-07:00BROTHER MARTYRS<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwMvRm2bLhlI4KxFohjO_NGAPGuPEayXcrkMF3BHzaDWCOxZ8Ck5kiNReGO7qLYgynVCMZyF9fPOuGBV1HwKSREEy66G6QyO8RuXdFP5ZmecMEIdnyHbCji3sFaV4DuTSWq_d2hNUTi4E6sTCYbF8zOCdzEkKkQTm5P3TDJ60GIzsW_iGTsE_YmF8M8M/s624/1622548155.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="624" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwMvRm2bLhlI4KxFohjO_NGAPGuPEayXcrkMF3BHzaDWCOxZ8Ck5kiNReGO7qLYgynVCMZyF9fPOuGBV1HwKSREEy66G6QyO8RuXdFP5ZmecMEIdnyHbCji3sFaV4DuTSWq_d2hNUTi4E6sTCYbF8zOCdzEkKkQTm5P3TDJ60GIzsW_iGTsE_YmF8M8M/w400-h256/1622548155.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">BLESSED
STEFAN GRELEWSKI</span> </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">born
in 1899 in </span><span face=""Open Sans",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Dwikozy, Swietokrzyskie, Poland </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">was the older brother of Blessed
Kazimierz Grelewski. He studied at the Progimnazjum in Sandomierz and Lubartów in
Poland. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Ordained
in October 1921 as a priest in the archdiocese of Radom, Poland, he graduated with
a doctorate in canon law in Strasbourg, France in 1924. He then was general secretary of
the Christian Workers Union in Radom in 1925.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Writer
and journalist, he published in “Kurier Warszawski”, “Nation’s Word”, “Catholic
Guide” and “Priestly Athenaeum.” He founded the magazine Catholic Truth. He is
the author of the book “Confessions and Religious Sects in Contemporary
Poland”.and translated works from French and German to Polish.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHpdXBJUMz7aC7FtDWv7QUlxtCHF7RB7wqpCuwg2Qe8w5JHlodOE8Ajoo4RmdhNHOzGr5qiEJ4PLJJMrg_WGmc6IXkjGyQ8Fm9FdowFkmvkYSKwktsvlLPnEGTV2w6TToBc0uBSUdNdkKH3f0KUC5cpr0PE7ABrEnVmTz-6gJqZTGhB95uyI1vaNHZrg/s150/552848_sa46s05_ks_grelewski_65.jpg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="150" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHpdXBJUMz7aC7FtDWv7QUlxtCHF7RB7wqpCuwg2Qe8w5JHlodOE8Ajoo4RmdhNHOzGr5qiEJ4PLJJMrg_WGmc6IXkjGyQ8Fm9FdowFkmvkYSKwktsvlLPnEGTV2w6TToBc0uBSUdNdkKH3f0KUC5cpr0PE7ABrEnVmTz-6gJqZTGhB95uyI1vaNHZrg/w320-h320/552848_sa46s05_ks_grelewski_65.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">He was prefect
of a boy‘s elementary school from 1928 through 1931 and of the Jan
Kochanowski state boy‘s grammar school from 1932 until the outbreak of World
War II in 1939.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p>He w</o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">orked
with the people of Catholic Action and the Association of Polish Intelligence, and helped organize the first diocesan Eucharistic Congress in Radom in 1933.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">During
World War II, together with his brother <b>Blessed Kazimierz</b> (nine years younger) he
taught religion in secret. Both were arrested in 1941as part of the Nazi
persecutions and sent to concentration camps in Auschwitz and Dachau.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">He died of starvation on 9 May 1941 in the camp hospital of Dachau. He
was beatified with his brother in the group of 108 martyrs of World War II
in 1999.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">BLESSED
KAZIMIERZ GRELEWSKI</span></span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">
</span>was the younger brother of Bl. Stefan. He was born 1907 in Dwikozy near
Sandomierz. His parents were Michał and Eufrozyna née Jarzyna.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">He
graduated from primary school in the Wysokie Mountains and received his
secondary school certificate after graduating from high school in
Sandomierz. In 1923 he entered the Sandomierz Theological Seminary, and in
August 1929 he was ordained a priest by Bishop Paweł Kubicki.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">He
was head of the primary school, devoting thirteen years to this work, until his
arrest in January 1941. During the war, he taught secret classes and conducted
religion classes in public schools as well as devoting himself to charity
work. He took care of an orphanage established for children - war
victims. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD11-LkslLnE-lCG0rHQ9fFRpUfeerNHwMX90MsXX6wI8MhMYI0blDghmwVEQ_Wf9CpdOAtQlEp7m2GBLYqFBoCdU8O73uQ9IHHTGOcHdGnPdMd9sVzflQFQ7gyWXsm9ZyLcQaRteV7PMoNGdCwvIOgDnnmuaKoxR0e-ILyM5c2X1hwQZTB-zFakZCdIc/s350/194012786_a7b82e4e-bf65-42d9-8d25-6f4d484fc3a0.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="231" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD11-LkslLnE-lCG0rHQ9fFRpUfeerNHwMX90MsXX6wI8MhMYI0blDghmwVEQ_Wf9CpdOAtQlEp7m2GBLYqFBoCdU8O73uQ9IHHTGOcHdGnPdMd9sVzflQFQ7gyWXsm9ZyLcQaRteV7PMoNGdCwvIOgDnnmuaKoxR0e-ILyM5c2X1hwQZTB-zFakZCdIc/s320/194012786_a7b82e4e-bf65-42d9-8d25-6f4d484fc3a0.jpeg" width="211" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
January 1941, he was arrested by the Gestapo along with his brother,
Father Stefan. He was taken to the prison on Kościuszki Street, where he
was tortured, transported to the prison in Skarżysko-Kamienna, and
then by rail to the concentration camp in Oświęcim, where he received the
number 10443.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
April 1941, he was transported to the Dachau camp (no. 25280), where he lost
his brother. He then wrote to the family that Stefan died in his arms.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Witnesses
of his anguish reported that one day in the Dachau camp "a kapo struck him
and knocked him down to earth." Father Kazimierz rose, made a sign of the
cross from the attacker and said: "God forgive you." After these
words, the kapo attacked him, again and shouted: "I
will send you to your God in a moment." He died on January 9, 1942 by
hanging on the camp gallows, and at the last moment he called to the
executioners: "Love God!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: 1.2rem; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; line-height: 1.8rem; margin: 1.8rem 0rem 1.4rem; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-41994061267608613042024-03-11T10:40:00.000-07:002024-03-11T10:40:37.567-07:00MORE CONNECTIONS- IN LENT<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">In doing research in our
previous blog about<b> Bl. Nikolaus Gross</b>, I discovered <span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>SERVANT OF GOD EUGEN
BOLZ</b>.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span>Interestingly enough he was
the uncle of one of our dear friends in the Vatican, Cardinal Augustin Mayer,
OSB (Abbey at Metten) and his sister, who once stayed at our Abbey in CT.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcpvfGoinz1oyCxrtbNDKfqXHQpc2_GYZ-bxBjwCM5-sAf8lzYg2SIwM5KMWO54lninRXOA6Skpmw-3RgIdarpDfgE00hUo16ZfW0BpOiFXSDmqN-4UBcQrQnyJM4L-L0Cslngo84AZFN4TRbXH_E3SwsYDKaCoiqdqCuZ-dW9LJOCfHCXxwe_NE36S4/s420/Bolz_stamp.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="420" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcpvfGoinz1oyCxrtbNDKfqXHQpc2_GYZ-bxBjwCM5-sAf8lzYg2SIwM5KMWO54lninRXOA6Skpmw-3RgIdarpDfgE00hUo16ZfW0BpOiFXSDmqN-4UBcQrQnyJM4L-L0Cslngo84AZFN4TRbXH_E3SwsYDKaCoiqdqCuZ-dW9LJOCfHCXxwe_NE36S4/s320/Bolz_stamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Born
in <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Rottenburg am
Neckar</span> in1881 of a Catholic family, Eugen was his parents' twelfth
child. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father Joseph Bolz was a
salesman, his mother was Maria Theresia Bolz (née Huber). He <span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">joined the
Windhorstbund, the youth organization of the Center Party, at an early age. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p>He studied law in Tubingon and i</o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">n 1919 became Württemberg's minister of justice, and a few years later was
appointed minister of the interior. He was married to Maria Hoeness, with whom
he had a daughter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">In 1928, the center-right coalition elected him president of
Württemberg. Eugen supported the policies of Reich Chancellor Heinrich Brüning<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">*</span></b>, but he
underestimated the NSDAP's political goals in late 1932 and only clearly spoke
out against Hitler in early 1933.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">On March 11, 1933 the
National Socialists dissolved his government. In June 1933 Eugen himself was
taken into "Schutzhaft" ("protective custody") for several
weeks. In spite of this, he maintained contact with his political friends from
the disbanded Center Party, the outlawed Social Democratic Party, and the
earlier liberal German State Party.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3Bm9hlo6Czq35GzPzzvPeYUex30N2oPv28iKKl-JLErMk3W35ko1bhAr5sqJ9ZsjhBvEPsDoehzUoJeWbHr5qJVjKNuC2MOlu3b8N6n2welcmDoiasGXdbRF_3LwZlKWMOSjltaGWtTrAdQEMsy3vLSkZ7pr9065pQCdAvnZY4k9pMFHVaBKiuDvWSQ/s945/Eugen-Bolz-wurde-im-August-1944-verhaftet-und-am-21-677030og.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="945" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3Bm9hlo6Czq35GzPzzvPeYUex30N2oPv28iKKl-JLErMk3W35ko1bhAr5sqJ9ZsjhBvEPsDoehzUoJeWbHr5qJVjKNuC2MOlu3b8N6n2welcmDoiasGXdbRF_3LwZlKWMOSjltaGWtTrAdQEMsy3vLSkZ7pr9065pQCdAvnZY4k9pMFHVaBKiuDvWSQ/s320/Eugen-Bolz-wurde-im-August-1944-verhaftet-und-am-21-677030og.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Later he also
volunteered to work with Carl Goerdeler and was to be given the office of a
minister following the coup attempt of July 20, 1944. Eugen Bolz was arrested
on August 12, 1944. He was sentenced to death by the People's Court on December
21, 1944, (Photo to right) and murdered in Berlin-Plötzensee on January 23, 1945.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> One wonders if he knew Bl. Nikalaus Gross and how many other "holy" people in prison?</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">*</span></b>(Another connection- When the mother one of our nuns at Regina Laudis died I went with her to her family home in Vermont. Her father annd I got along very well and before I left to return to the Abbey, he told me I could have anything in the house I wanted. I chose a very small metal placque on the wall, not knowing the value to the family. It was given to them by ex-Chancellor Bruning when he stayed with them after fleeing Nazi Germany. I hade the medal for years turning it over to a younger nun when I came west to OLR.)</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DL88sehR9uMW4zQs71arnbugLFg_tdTdMVCQGtU3PiLpdJ27F7ANQJKhFSPdxC26f5uq83B0M0xosO2AX2TwPLZgRmJaVd6qqDbS8oAytheg4DLPoNZt9cWZhJ_cVk4wH5KxckTxQ3ueoApp6jguMLM1p-aaetlIS10gaPfkTp6XB5xNqulYDVDgXwg/s360/56609.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DL88sehR9uMW4zQs71arnbugLFg_tdTdMVCQGtU3PiLpdJ27F7ANQJKhFSPdxC26f5uq83B0M0xosO2AX2TwPLZgRmJaVd6qqDbS8oAytheg4DLPoNZt9cWZhJ_cVk4wH5KxckTxQ3ueoApp6jguMLM1p-aaetlIS10gaPfkTp6XB5xNqulYDVDgXwg/s320/56609.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">(Photo of monument in Stuttgart)</span><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-30672868237950256702024-03-09T09:48:00.000-08:002024-03-09T09:48:10.509-08:00DOMINICAN BLESSED-WWII<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;">BLESSED
MARIA JULIA</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">(nee Stanislawa) <b><span style="color: #741b47;">RODZINSKA</span></b>,
<b>OP </b>was born on 16 March 1899 in <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Nawojowa</span>,
Poland. She was one of five children of Michał and Marianna (Sekuła). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: black;">Michal was an organist for the parish church, a talented
composer and man-of-all-trades who took on various jobs to make ends meet. His
wife Marianna helped where she could, but a long-term illness took her life
when Stanislawa was only 8 years old. Times must have been tough for the whole
family(two boys and two girl), as Michal battled rheumatism in
his fight to provide for his children. Two years later, Michal died, leaving
Stanislawa and her 3 siblings orphans.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByM_I99Ubp3_BAjdRiDrrCVuTlXomLbBBj8dmOJf1ynquaIALejq73R_49o4Pmu9JPNjDfU9UnrBUhbdl5KVyqcSN_QTha09C_6HlTpWWGRUoi7otZU1P_UCxily-NMetdb3tT4Hams73PIyYMWLXEEPr6kOOy1v4IPXnFvg04bY4KTPBk7xBhRjQtk4/s700/60d5f29937fcb045542df061_Blessed%20Julia%20with%20children.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="482" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjByM_I99Ubp3_BAjdRiDrrCVuTlXomLbBBj8dmOJf1ynquaIALejq73R_49o4Pmu9JPNjDfU9UnrBUhbdl5KVyqcSN_QTha09C_6HlTpWWGRUoi7otZU1P_UCxily-NMetdb3tT4Hams73PIyYMWLXEEPr6kOOy1v4IPXnFvg04bY4KTPBk7xBhRjQtk4/w275-h400/60d5f29937fcb045542df061_Blessed%20Julia%20with%20children.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">At
the age of ten the future blessed and her four year old sister became wards of
the Dominican Sisters in Nawojowa</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 11.1111px;">.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> The two boys were taken in by relatives.</span><o:p style="font-size: 10pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> After finishing school there, she</o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> started studies in the Teachers' Seminar
in </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Nowy Sącz,</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> but
didn't complete them because she began her religious formation in Wielowieś,
entering the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dominika in
Tarnobrzeg-Wielowieś. After her vows in 1924 she completed her interrupted education.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">As
a qualified teacher, she carried out her ministry in Mielżyn, </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Rawa Ruska</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> and
Vilnius (now Lithuania) for 22 years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">From
1934, she was the superior of the house in Vilnius, also running an orphanage. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.3333px;">As a teacher, she knew how to motivate her class and strengthen her weaker students. To her, it was particularly important to impart to them a love for the Rosary and the Eucharist. </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">After
the outbreak of World War II, she secretly taught Polish language, history
and religion, and conducted humanitarian activities.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">She also assisted the archbishop in saving Jews
from capture by the Gestapo and provided for retired priests who otherwise
would have been left impoverished.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><sup><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></sup><span style="font-size: 10pt;">On
12 July 1943, Sister Julia was jailed by the </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 10pt; text-underline: none;">Gestapo</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> in </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 10pt; text-underline: none;">Łukiszki prison</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> in Vilnius. In a
year, she was sent to the German concentration camp </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 10pt; text-underline: none;">Stutthof</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">, registered as number 40992. There
she was subjected to torture, isolation and humiliation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">Sr. Julia was assigned to the Jewish part of the
Stutthof, where conditions were particularly cruel. Although such
activities were forbidden, she led prayer groups and even arranged for a priest
prisoner to come on a “work assignment” to hear Confessions.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH80pF_gHqMlAk16Pcs_m6wXFz9PPPGyGc3ZoJoO5GH0wi_YnWtdOiVNaDamYxKYtob4spnleNF3iHqEZnBHlBP9-ODg6HNQEBsXNc07FNEcJwI1GNkwY5JE-5-5jRbAYqisG8MOWu2WobZuwYlpO0E-W96Qc8mItLjEdxi6CdoQUm6QibZ8guzN3BA-I/s510/5fad413afd31e064d5fe2469_Bl-Julia-rozinska.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="510" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH80pF_gHqMlAk16Pcs_m6wXFz9PPPGyGc3ZoJoO5GH0wi_YnWtdOiVNaDamYxKYtob4spnleNF3iHqEZnBHlBP9-ODg6HNQEBsXNc07FNEcJwI1GNkwY5JE-5-5jRbAYqisG8MOWu2WobZuwYlpO0E-W96Qc8mItLjEdxi6CdoQUm6QibZ8guzN3BA-I/s320/5fad413afd31e064d5fe2469_Bl-Julia-rozinska.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt;"> Due to the inhumane conditions of
concentration camps, prisoners often lost their sense of morality for the sake
of their own survival. However, Sr. Julia jeopardized her own life to
show mercy to her fellow prisoners in the dark and tormenting cruelty of
Stutthof. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">When the typhus epidemic came to Stuthoff in
November of 1944, Sr. Julia would go to the bedside of the sick and give what
comfort and treatment she could. Fellow prisoners testify that she
was a source of strength for them by her example of piety and charity. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Sister
Julia died of exhaustion and disease on 20 February 1945 in Stutthof, two
months before the concentration camp was liberated by the </span><span color="windowtext" style="font-size: 10pt; text-underline: none;">Red Army</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">.</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 10pt;"> Her naked body was discarded on a pile of
corpses, but someone honored her by placing a little cloth over her body. The
words of those who survived Bl. Julia perhaps tell it best: “Not only Catholic
compatriots mourned her death, but also Russians, Latvians, and others.” The
Jewish women did not hesitate to call Sr. Julia a martyr and a saint. “She gave
her life for others, died sacrificing herself; she was the Angel of goodness.”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
1999, she was proclaimed blessed by </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Pope St. John
Paul II</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> in the group of 108 Blessed Martyrs. Her feast is February 20.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-23990192384626682462024-03-08T10:05:00.000-08:002024-03-08T11:28:06.678-08:00WOMEN OF THE CHURCH<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Today
is <b>INTERNATIONAL WOMAN’S DAY</b> and yesterday the Holy Father met with a
group in the international conference of <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>“WOMEN IN THE CHURCH: BUILDERS OF
HUMANITY”</b></span>. Here are some of his words, with emphasis on modern saints, as
an example to all women of the Church, striving for holiness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSGtV_xFYXjcVD_gyDpbt2Td856fM-bSBVP4pFs8REVdCtf_j1cokaRT7Dh7qskIY53P9ET8KUvtUy2U55fGBAEKcESHB9xlo4tLcFXE2HLjaKz4IdAPYy6Wo7N0uLL8t6MbjsJn6CZGcLekKN1d1VqC_elRwlnwGduqxvv8bFG5QmklGdRPLlH0riYd4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSGtV_xFYXjcVD_gyDpbt2Td856fM-bSBVP4pFs8REVdCtf_j1cokaRT7Dh7qskIY53P9ET8KUvtUy2U55fGBAEKcESHB9xlo4tLcFXE2HLjaKz4IdAPYy6Wo7N0uLL8t6MbjsJn6CZGcLekKN1d1VqC_elRwlnwGduqxvv8bFG5QmklGdRPLlH0riYd4=w455-h255" width="455" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">“Your
Conference highlights in particular the witness of holiness of ten women. I
would like to mention them by name: Josephine Bakhita, Magdeleine de Jesus,
Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mary MacKillop, Laura Montoya, Kateri Tekakwitha, Teresa
of Calcutta, Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi and
Daphrose Mukasanga.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">All these
women, at different times and in different cultures, each in her own distinct
way, gave proof through initiatives of charity, education and prayer, of how
the “feminine genius” can uniquely reflect God’s holiness in the midst of our
world. Indeed, precisely at times in history when women were largely excluded
from social and ecclesial life, the “Holy Spirit raised up saints whose
attractiveness produced new spiritual vigor and important reforms in the
Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Here too, "I think of all those unknown or
forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families
and communities by the power of their witness” (</span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #663300;">Gaudete et Exsultate</span></i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, 12). The Church
needs to keep this in mind, because the Church is herself a woman: a daughter,
a bride and a mother. And who better than women can reveal her face? Let us
help one another, putting aside any aggressive and divisive attitudes, and
exercising careful discernment, to discover, in docility to the voice of the
Spirit and in faithful communion, fitting ways for the grandeur and the place
of women to be increasingly valued in the People of God."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-67454992968854239472024-03-07T06:01:00.000-08:002024-03-07T06:01:32.240-08:00A FAMILY MAN- MARTYR<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Another
lay martyr of WWII was<b> <span style="color: #b45f06;">BL. NIKOLAUS GROSS</span></b>, who was born near Essen, Germany. He
first worked in crafts requiring skilled labor before becoming a coal miner like
his father while joining a range of trade union and political movements. But
he finally settled on becoming a journalist.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidZfyyyb8d964xzy_rfA4qoIV1jg7kRxzA1KMvTDf141akh0RQDGnVovew-MInyw09imWvwResyqo3sEAVLZ_tg1ZHgyI1uM8qfr7zP9Uly2chYqcKFACby7lfPNOnFJZw18oXpxtkzxB6VXAWu8Nf0gzt3_Jw_WcP-vd9A6RtPLFZJCs1XpkaOSfeLJ0/s1570/Nikolaus_Gro%C3%9F_Ikone_sel.gesprochen_2001.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1570" data-original-width="1343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidZfyyyb8d964xzy_rfA4qoIV1jg7kRxzA1KMvTDf141akh0RQDGnVovew-MInyw09imWvwResyqo3sEAVLZ_tg1ZHgyI1uM8qfr7zP9Uly2chYqcKFACby7lfPNOnFJZw18oXpxtkzxB6VXAWu8Nf0gzt3_Jw_WcP-vd9A6RtPLFZJCs1XpkaOSfeLJ0/s320/Nikolaus_Gro%C3%9F_Ikone_sel.gesprochen_2001.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">His
work with the unions took him throughout Germany and he eventually settled in
the Ruhr Valley. There, he married his wife, Elizabeth, and the couple had
seven children. He was a devoted father who tried to raise his children to be
good Catholics and faithful citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Bl.
Nikolaus became aware of the political movements within Germany, including the
rise of Adolf Hitler. As the Nazis came to power, he served as the editor of a
German workers’ newspaper and was able to give voice to his Catholic faith as
he tried to address the complicated political realities of his day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">In
1930 he wrote, “As Catholic workers, we reject Nazism not only for political
and economic reasons, but decisively also, resolutely and clearly, on account
of our religious and cultural attitude.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Because of his strong stance, he was marked as
an “enemy of the state” and became a target of the Nazis.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
1940 he endured interrogations and house searches since he was being monitored
at the time. On 12 August 1944 he was arrested sometime towards noon in
connection with the failed plot to
kill Hitler at the Wolf's
Lair in East Prussia. He was first taken to Ravensbrück and
then to Berlin at
the Tegel prison
(from September 1944) where his wife visited him twice and reported the torture
done to a hand and both his arms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">His
letters from prison testify to his spirit of prayer and dedication to his
family.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1GdFch1ZT1m-lazkDesV403u3mRKf36sixNuSWRakz-4bwR7B42ouTuLZOP8p_I0ImGUxIw6NYF29ed93jblHXgbbKFKZp10Qc-zDgB4m3WfooMQEOUL3MjhskNqzQ0Tb4aKQFOpTM9j0PvAJPe7atWpByY1m64phP0HnZKjglZru0sn8hN0_juEe9-E/s700/P1090G.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1GdFch1ZT1m-lazkDesV403u3mRKf36sixNuSWRakz-4bwR7B42ouTuLZOP8p_I0ImGUxIw6NYF29ed93jblHXgbbKFKZp10Qc-zDgB4m3WfooMQEOUL3MjhskNqzQ0Tb4aKQFOpTM9j0PvAJPe7atWpByY1m64phP0HnZKjglZru0sn8hN0_juEe9-E/s320/P1090G.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">He
was executed on January 23, 1945. The priest who was with him at the time of
his death testified, “Gross bowed his head silently during the blessing. His
face already seemed illuminated by the glory into which he was getting ready to
enter.” His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered at a sewage
plant. He died soon after the <b>Servant
of God Eugen Bolz</b> who was imprisoned in the same prison.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">He
was beatified in 2001 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast is January 15.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">“If
we do not risk our life today, how then do we want to justify ourselves one day
before God and our people.”</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Blessed
Nikolaus Gross</span></p><br /><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-12648507433976519832024-03-04T10:07:00.000-08:002024-03-04T10:07:13.528-08:00FILLING IN THE GAP- ANOTHER HOLY MARTYR<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">BL. NATALIA TULASIEWICZ</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">was another lay woman beatified as part
of the 108 Martyrs of WWII.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> She
was born in Rzeszów, Poland in 1906. She moved with her family
to Poznań in 1921. <span style="background: white;">She studied Polish philology at the University of Pozńan and
music at the Conservatory. She was a very devout Catholic, and wrote that she
wished to strengthen her faith by good deeds and studying. Reflecting on the
fact that men and women are made in the image of God, she wrote: “It is
precisely our reason that makes us creatures similar to God.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Yb7I8sHa2UGAsmSGAUERBOdK0uGAN2kGBT5x03vWMctv3pKnCR9LJyDffmWnaVy7twiy5kk-ZoDkWqKIvdYlNoFdl_Mc3Dww_LkA2kzPO2cOch80hHPU2laD0MigPUv45v33An7uQ1K-JH7JMBYD3dkLw4UdVIiQCCyDWY4n1fkB6Nk4cH81RC6DzrI/s320/bl%20nat%20with%20cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="181" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Yb7I8sHa2UGAsmSGAUERBOdK0uGAN2kGBT5x03vWMctv3pKnCR9LJyDffmWnaVy7twiy5kk-ZoDkWqKIvdYlNoFdl_Mc3Dww_LkA2kzPO2cOch80hHPU2laD0MigPUv45v33An7uQ1K-JH7JMBYD3dkLw4UdVIiQCCyDWY4n1fkB6Nk4cH81RC6DzrI/s1600/bl%20nat%20with%20cat.jpg" width="181" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Unfortunately,
her musical training was interrupted because she contracted tuberculosis,
necessatating an operation on her throat. She finished university in 1931 and
had meanwhile begun her teaching career<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.Despite
her great love of God, Blessed Natalia did not feel at all called to become a
religious sister. It was very important to her that she remain and work for God
in the world as a laywoman. And at first she thought she would do this as a
married woman. In 1927, when she was 21, she became engaged and remained
engaged for seven years. Unfortunately, her fiancé was an atheist and a
communist, and so Blessed Natalia ended their relationship in 1934. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> During
the occupation of Poland, her family was among the many Polish families
who were dispossessed by the Germans after annexation of Poznań; thrown out of
their homes with only a few hours' notice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But
rather than being brokenhearted, she felt that love had tied her even more to
earthly life in the world. The love of God, she wrote, had made her heart so
powerful that nothing could break it.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> “It seems to me that I am on the path to
a new era in my life, a path that is difficult but worthwhile. Now I love life
more than ever before. I have always loved it in God, today I desire in the
fullest sense to live in God!”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="PL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: PL;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Natalia thus gave herself totally to
God but in such a way that she could find and achieve holiness in the everyday,
modern world. She wrote, “I have the courage to become a saint. Only holiness
is the fullest form of love, and so I don’t just want but must become a saint,
a modern saint, a theocentric humanist.” </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">She wrote as well as taught: poetry, novels and
newspaper articles. She received much attention for her travels with the
famous ship “Batory” in 1937. In 1938, she went to Rome for the canonization of
St.. Andrziej Bobola and travelled all over Italy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="PL" style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: PL; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6JFpaLur8gGxk9LFzJIa7ShjLcDfJigbhfiCZRE9YunPhkFDc-RbEmRy82uuA9NqpUHsJ3SpofdJQw5zdpa7W4T2sY376FNM0LfhP9hMxS4rp-ppluK40j6LvBuSJ4NQ6URd5cm3LVXyd6ZnTgWcXYWYsPNLHdqAxp80wqnd68zDZNMG7dU3qm6s2kk/s363/beata-natalia-tulasiewicz-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6JFpaLur8gGxk9LFzJIa7ShjLcDfJigbhfiCZRE9YunPhkFDc-RbEmRy82uuA9NqpUHsJ3SpofdJQw5zdpa7W4T2sY376FNM0LfhP9hMxS4rp-ppluK40j6LvBuSJ4NQ6URd5cm3LVXyd6ZnTgWcXYWYsPNLHdqAxp80wqnd68zDZNMG7dU3qm6s2kk/s320/beata-natalia-tulasiewicz-.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">She
was involved in the underground education in Kraków and was
a member of the Polish Underground State. In 1943, she volunteered to
leave for Germany together with other women who were forced to perform
heavy work, to give them spiritual comfort.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> She worked in a
factory and secretly taught religion and
German to her fellow workers. She organized prayers and singing. As she wrote
to her sister: “Only here do I fully realize how valuable is my life of
solitude and my secular apostolate. And I realize how important it is to go
outside and fill in <b>the gap between a saint in a monastery and a layperson
outside</b>. I would simply say: let us leave with the holiness in our souls</span> to streets! <span lang="PL" style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> When
the Germans found out about her secret mission, she was arrested, tortured, and
condemned to death in the Ravensbrück concentration
camp. On Good Friday 1945, she climbed a stool in the barracks
and spoke to the prisoners on the passion and resurrection of Jesus. Two days
later, on Easter Sunday, 31 March, she was murdered in a gas
chamber. The concentration camp was liberated two days later.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Natalia
is one of the only two lay women among the 108 Martyrs of World War II,
beatified on 13 June 1999 by Pope (St.) John Paul II. <span style="background: white; color: #212529;">On 30 March 2022, Blessed Natalia was
announced patron saint of Polish teachers.</span><b><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFMAtLwkcORQOF60Ba3M1hzL1O52wctP_48Y_eWdjEdmk2QzcV0lr_HMAHUf8Bn_TlAdeO_spjRNcKreMCAgwm3pjl3U3Q5fUhUPL97z6YOeTGlLiJbI3W3iRKW8-lt1Ha0u6oXOqHOhz-gmmUPHxHMkfaRvHKUwkMJK60KiK6GLtwEVX2vvC20Xebdc/s247/Tulasiewicz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="220" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFMAtLwkcORQOF60Ba3M1hzL1O52wctP_48Y_eWdjEdmk2QzcV0lr_HMAHUf8Bn_TlAdeO_spjRNcKreMCAgwm3pjl3U3Q5fUhUPL97z6YOeTGlLiJbI3W3iRKW8-lt1Ha0u6oXOqHOhz-gmmUPHxHMkfaRvHKUwkMJK60KiK6GLtwEVX2vvC20Xebdc/s1600/Tulasiewicz.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(Some
information from Dorothy Cummings McLean, "Catholic Women of the 20th
Century" (paper presented at the Dzielne Niewiasty ["Brave
Women"] Majówka dla Kobiet [May Retreat for Women] Krakow,
Poland 2-4 May, 2014).</span><p></p><br /><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-42114106281760049412024-03-02T09:33:00.000-08:002024-03-02T09:33:11.472-08:00TWO MARTYRS OF BELARUS<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Why
am I emphasizing martyrs of WWII during this Lent?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Because the heroic witnesses of these saints
and blesseds can be an inspiration for us all, especially in the troubling
times of our world today. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">May we in our
small Lenten practices strive to imitate the witness of these martyrs, and die
to ourselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Our
next blesseds of WWII martyred by the Nazi, were Marians of the Immaculate
Conception in Belarus. They are <span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>ANTHONY LESZCZEWICZ</b> and <b>GEORGE
KASZYRA</b>.</span><b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In
Rosica, in Belarus, where the Marians had a mission parish, the Bolsheviks occupied the town in 1939, with the Germans taking occupation in 1941. The
Nazi regime was coming over the Latvian border, and the residents of little
town knew that danger was imminent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">One
of the religious sisters on mission in the town survived the persecution and
gives an account of the two blessed priests and their heroic witness at that
time.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNlq43BSJYgx3bMpPG302jtHq9i_3fDiU5jm1idH1IutD1k1yttrEfyH47payB4Ki4qOe5ktdj-hCf5dtxEAjC7-VkLeMZkgEjt4b616j9QtklFD4rIp7oi_wQwMXVeJf_we1lM77M2H3InLGjJqlUzs9FAuzsgIBPfGWm0wePEMkmD8RUhv07FpIy04/s600/icon_of_blesseds_blessed_Antoniya_Leschevicha_and_Yuri-Kashira.md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNlq43BSJYgx3bMpPG302jtHq9i_3fDiU5jm1idH1IutD1k1yttrEfyH47payB4Ki4qOe5ktdj-hCf5dtxEAjC7-VkLeMZkgEjt4b616j9QtklFD4rIp7oi_wQwMXVeJf_we1lM77M2H3InLGjJqlUzs9FAuzsgIBPfGWm0wePEMkmD8RUhv07FpIy04/s320/icon_of_blesseds_blessed_Antoniya_Leschevicha_and_Yuri-Kashira.md.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">“On
Tuesday, February 16, bells began to ring. The Germans rounded up the first
groups of people and held them in the church in Rosica: Mothers with babies,
children, youngsters, and old people. They also herded us Sisters inside. In
the church there was shouting, crying, and despair. At the request of Father
Leszczewicz, a German read out our names and ordered the Sisters to leave the
church and go to the rectory. The priests stayed in the church during all of
Tuesday and all night. They celebrated Holy Masses, listened to confessions,
and administered other sacraments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On
Wednesday, February 17, Father Kaszyra came to the rectory, heard our
confessions, and gave us Holy Communion. During the day, the priests persevered
in their priestly ministry in the church. We kept bringing bread, milk, and
whatever we had to the church, especially for the children.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">In
the afternoon of February 17, about 4 p.m., Father Leszczewicz appeared. He
said farewell to us. He was full of joy. He said with a smile: "Bear up
and pray. I am going to show them the warehouse." And he never came back.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">When
we tried to return to the church, the officer stopped us and didn't let us in.
He said that Father Kaszyra would come right back. Late in the evening, Father
Kaszyra actually returned and said to us: "Father Leszczewicz is already
dead and tomorrow I will be dead, too."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">At
night, from Wednesday to Thursday, February 17-18, the Sisters were continually
praying in a bedroom. In the dining room, Father Kaszyra kept vigil all night
long. He was praying, walking around, kneeling, and prostrating himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On
Thursday, February 18, he brought the Blessed Sacrament from the church and
distributed it among us. At 10 a.m., Father George Kaszyra was taken away. In
front of the church, he was ordered to mount the sledge. He was taken away
among many other sledges. He bade farewell to us, turned toward Druja, and then
said: "Pray and ask forgiveness from God for my sins, because I will face
God's judgment in a few minutes."</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszdTbjcZ_wkNtHdS2DaOZB86dbeOLONapRgg19Ix4h3VAsIXt9CPj2uG5fS7ssOpHx4pkpk1060-nCuLz2Lh6pgp9dwdq9tyXjNgEzyJjpAKRX-IfAOLuHR3lyHry_ffLT2QJzJ1f3YE4icouROiUPae1mWqYkgcy7HJhtuB6nCd1GNfac5BOGd8kvig/s600/Marian-Martyrs_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="600" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszdTbjcZ_wkNtHdS2DaOZB86dbeOLONapRgg19Ix4h3VAsIXt9CPj2uG5fS7ssOpHx4pkpk1060-nCuLz2Lh6pgp9dwdq9tyXjNgEzyJjpAKRX-IfAOLuHR3lyHry_ffLT2QJzJ1f3YE4icouROiUPae1mWqYkgcy7HJhtuB6nCd1GNfac5BOGd8kvig/s320/Marian-Martyrs_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Together with Sister Rozalia Marcilonek, we went back to the rectory and we
looked through the window at the entire convoy. Father George Kaszyra was in
the first sledge. They went uphill and turned right. A moment later, the entire
hut erupted in flames. Rosica and the neighboring villages were being burned.
The whole sky was on fire; and when the fires burned out, partially burned
bodies, piled together, could be seen.”<o:p></o:p><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The two Marian Martyrs were among more than 1,500 laypeople and dozens
of religious in Belarus, killed by the Nazis in February of 1943. The Germans
were rounding up all who resisted their occupation of the land formerly held by
the Soviet Union. Many others were sent to Nazi work camps in Poland.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="color: #e1e1e1; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.marian.org/"><span style="color: white;">Marian.org</span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.thedivinemercy.org/"><span style="color: white;">TheDivineMercy.org</span></a></span>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-40650120864220231422024-02-28T10:22:00.000-08:002024-02-28T10:22:21.737-08:00GRANDMOTHER MARTYR<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Our next martyr for Lent, is a laywoman, mother and widow.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">MARIANNA BIERNACKA </span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">(nee Czokała) was born in<b> </b>1888 in Lipsk, Poland. She
is also one of the <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">beatified</span> <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">108 Martyrs of World War II</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbwY5htajpHGc5xqIKqFp_1eoMUy5GuMgOXtYJoy8dV8uxZtGAQD3l8ko4wCiY0hJax4AWecuxTYVLioGwHITOMzlYmd9s3cAcGFKlN4qhYqrrdc7aIlrbr7fj5qKGCC6kAViTUNLhOrUg95DroG9T984H9ygn6z06GNEyLDco47aWw75Z4zeZR3Rs7Y/s909/Bl.-Marianna-Biernacka-1-768x909.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbwY5htajpHGc5xqIKqFp_1eoMUy5GuMgOXtYJoy8dV8uxZtGAQD3l8ko4wCiY0hJax4AWecuxTYVLioGwHITOMzlYmd9s3cAcGFKlN4qhYqrrdc7aIlrbr7fj5qKGCC6kAViTUNLhOrUg95DroG9T984H9ygn6z06GNEyLDco47aWw75Z4zeZR3Rs7Y/s320/Bl.-Marianna-Biernacka-1-768x909.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Marianna
married a farmer named Louis and they had six children, only two of them surviving infancy.
In 1943, during the Second World War, her son Stanisław and his pregnant wife Anna were
arrested by </span><span color="windowtext" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">German soldiers</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">. In retaliation for the death of other German
soldiers that had been killed in a nearby village, the husband and wife were singled out to be shot, though they were innocent of any wrong-doing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Marianna
offered to take the place of her pregnant daughter in-law (the couple already
had a two-year-old daughter named Genia), and the soldiers agreed. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Nazis took Marianna and her son to the prison in Grodno. </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">While in the prison, she only requested a pillow and a rosary. After two weeks in prison in which she spent much of her time praying, Marianna was shot and killed on 13 July 1943 in Naumowicze (Belarus) along with her son. Their bodies were thrown into a common grave.</span><span face="Lato, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #777777; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Around that time, Anna gave birth to a son, naming him Stanislaw after his father. Anna lived to age 98 and descendents still live in the area. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><em><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bishop
Jerzy Mazur, Bishop of Elk, said on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the
death of Bl Marianna Biernacka that </span><em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-style: normal;">“Staring
at her ordinary life, we see that it was imbued with faith, love, prayer, work
and suffering. Each day began with prayer and common singing Hours.
Everyday life was filled with a difficult job in summer in a field and in
winter, spun flax and hemp and weaving on a loom. Recitation of the
Rosary prayer and devotional singing songs allowed the dignity to endure the
pain of bereavement, hard work and daily poverty.”</span></em></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br /><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-71509659634086247862024-02-25T13:33:00.000-08:002024-02-25T13:33:01.550-08:00BLOOD SISTERS - 2ND SUNDAY OF LENT<p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="css-5k3t7p"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="css-5k3t7p"></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Our
next saints for Lent, <b><span style="color: #b45f06;">BL. MARIA MARTA & MARIA EVA </span></b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">WOLOWSKA</span> </b></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">were blood sisters, and part of the 108
Martyrs of WWII.</span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvos4M17QutexxQbgWZWacWY1QaAvAcZY5H8DNjkJLGqKDSS8QbfQVeoLAK8joCIR8CxCI_tcr5PMY0lf8pIjtdl6ZrRlOdU0Zv1X0hieqp73uJx80Nbz5IpsROE775YLPLwrb2_xEwM1kWPmq4KOD2vLso-VcDyVW6U6OG-nxABH9z19oO2i8kSNREU/s320/blessed-maria-ewa-noiszewska-dec-19.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="214" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvos4M17QutexxQbgWZWacWY1QaAvAcZY5H8DNjkJLGqKDSS8QbfQVeoLAK8joCIR8CxCI_tcr5PMY0lf8pIjtdl6ZrRlOdU0Zv1X0hieqp73uJx80Nbz5IpsROE775YLPLwrb2_xEwM1kWPmq4KOD2vLso-VcDyVW6U6OG-nxABH9z19oO2i8kSNREU/s1600/blessed-maria-ewa-noiszewska-dec-19.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="css-5k3t7p"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">Kazimiera was born in
Lublin, Poland, in 1879, and Bogumiła was born in Osaniszki,
Lithuania, in 1885. As young women, they entered the Congregation of the
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Kazimiera became
known as Sister Maria Marta of Jesus and Bogumiła received the religious name
Sister Maria Eva of Providence.</span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="css-5k3t7p"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Together with other sisters from their congregation, they
dedicated their lives to caring for children in shelters, orphanages, and
schools organized by their community.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><span class="css-5k3t7p"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">In 1939 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>both sisters were serving
in the parish in Słonim, Belarus. With the help of their pastor, Father Adam
Sztark, S.J., they began sheltering Jewish children in the convent, helping
them escape certain death at the hands of the Nazis.</span></span></span></span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><span style="max-width: 100%;"><span class="css-5k3t7p"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">On December 19, 1942, these two sisters, along with Father Sztark,
were arrested by the Gestapo and immediately executed. Sisters Maria Marta and
Maria Eva were beatified in 1999 with 106 other Polish martyrs of the Second
World War. Their feast is December 19.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OJyG2lofLJk4mFjXa-kWuIfYFeQ7DDkXOp-VR8ih-DduwRwJvR1dftdkaaMlLOphXb_gqzY_o8W6FCmk2U3h0AsDXEPtga29PFC9JFw0BU-D2jWloFphYil1ECdWRibwcoVjniUZryUxu5Q3yll6BWKmKca2E9QdTBIZLFuN1suG2y-QGdztarqG9T8/s250/1MARTA15fdeae456.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="250" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OJyG2lofLJk4mFjXa-kWuIfYFeQ7DDkXOp-VR8ih-DduwRwJvR1dftdkaaMlLOphXb_gqzY_o8W6FCmk2U3h0AsDXEPtga29PFC9JFw0BU-D2jWloFphYil1ECdWRibwcoVjniUZryUxu5Q3yll6BWKmKca2E9QdTBIZLFuN1suG2y-QGdztarqG9T8/s1600/1MARTA15fdeae456.jpeg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="ES" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: ES;">Photos: Left- Bl. Maria Eva<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="ES" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: ES;"> Right:
Bl. Maria Marta<o:p></o:p></span></p><br />mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-52145575991540977622024-02-23T13:43:00.000-08:002024-02-23T13:43:23.149-08:00NEW UKRAINIAN MUSIC BROUGHT TO LIGHT<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">While
I have never done much about music on my Blog, concentrating more on visual
artists, I have a passion for music. My mother sang opera, and since
my father’s idea of great music was Tennessee Ernie Ford, my mother started
taking me to concerts at the age of four. And as a Benedictine nun I
guess you could say I am adicted to Chant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">But
this on-going story of Kyiv-born conductor <b><span style="color: #7f6000;">DALIA
STASEVSKA</span></b><span style="color: #7f6000;"> </span>fascinates me and
gives me hope that much is being done to preserve Ukraine identity and culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhWaknBOUJQMfPl1vyWTCgKf9f05YbKS172IoLQaTsx3BZDTAbClRUgfWoTAITH7BWc_6sKJBJdjnwU0Iz9gf-1rZDjM5S1ZWosmSDmiGdG3Fij1dYIx6dWVGtxJIrP7_sq_iDaufLmRtjXa52LYqP2krTLktYU3aktnaYyvs8QV5Y5xfKCEi7HGHW14/s1080/our-music-cannot-be-destroyed-the-duo-reviving-a-macabre-v0-1RdWiUs44PaLciL85V9R4WWXAdm0k7lfPJkown03HpA.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1080" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhWaknBOUJQMfPl1vyWTCgKf9f05YbKS172IoLQaTsx3BZDTAbClRUgfWoTAITH7BWc_6sKJBJdjnwU0Iz9gf-1rZDjM5S1ZWosmSDmiGdG3Fij1dYIx6dWVGtxJIrP7_sq_iDaufLmRtjXa52LYqP2krTLktYU3aktnaYyvs8QV5Y5xfKCEi7HGHW14/w400-h210/our-music-cannot-be-destroyed-the-duo-reviving-a-macabre-v0-1RdWiUs44PaLciL85V9R4WWXAdm0k7lfPJkown03HpA.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Russia
has fought a long war against Ukraine’s composers. Now Dalia and US
violinist <b><span style="color: #783f04;">JOSHUA BELL</span></b><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span>(who Mother Felicitas and I heard in Seattle
some years ago- sitting in the president’s box) are resurrecting a war-scarred
concerto – with an orchestra whose horn-player is missing in action.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There were Ukrainian
composers who were sent to the gulag and those whose scores were never
published, or whose music was destroyed or lost.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For example, Vasyl
Barvinsky spent a decade in the gulag from 1948. His scores “were burned in the
backyard of the Lviv Philharmonic Hall”. On his release, he spent the remaining
five years of his life trying to reconstruct his lost music. Dalia sid in an
interview: “As long as we keep playing Ukrainian music, then it cannot now be
destroyed.’”</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">In
January 2024 in Warsaw, Joshua Bell and Dalia did a fund-raising concert for
the war in Ukraine, with the Liv Symphony Orchestra. One of the pieces
which thrilled Joshua to be "resurrected", was <b>Thomas de
Hartmann</b>’s Violin Concerto. The young Ukrainian orchestra, who brought a
disciplined passion to their work, even after spending nine hours in line to
cross the Polish border the day before ( never mind all the grim realities of
full-scale war for the past two years) played beautifully. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
recording done of this piece, was the first commercial recording since the
work’s premiere in 1943. The timing of this wartime resurrection has its
own irony, since de Hartmann’s klezmer-inflected score was deeply influenced by
his distress at the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, and especially by the fate of
its Jewish citizens<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">( </span><span style="background: rgb(247, 248, 249); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Klezmer music is </span><span style="background: rgb(224, 233, 255); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">often composed using folk scales common to the Roma</span><span style="background: rgb(247, 248, 249); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. These include harmonic minor, harmonic major,
and Phrygian dominant. An aim of klezmer music is to make the
instruments take on human characteristics, such as </span><span style="background: rgb(224, 233, 255); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">the sounds of laughing or crying</span><span style="background: rgb(247, 248, 249); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">.)</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Joshua
says “This is one of the great 20th-century works,” and he would love to
perform it at the New York Philharmonic with Dalia. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Joshua says he loves the way the piece is proportioned, with its thrillingly demonic,
concise finale preceded by an unusual, vignette-like movement that recalls “a
violinist wandering through the war-devastated Ukrainian steppes, playing his
macabre and sorrowful songs”, as de Hartmann’s wife Olga once wrote. The work,
with its vivid, almost visual sensibility and habit of “cutting” between
musical scenes, is “cinematic”, he says<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRx32NYF4KgUoZMD2IdubVQ5o9RBwHjAw4BDR7crfl2xqobj7AGXLFAcu9Ys3FOcIzEKR_Bc4x0fCaK1y8Uv-6zY7uxiqlnasW6u41Kn48GxvsSO-olPAhJDwNtLlMwSN0rGxi3MXSn78KX_bxTOCtgx90DywFq-4aBbGdZ_72jTeghg3a4UyQD9OMfRE/s840/22nyphil-1-zbtw-superJumbo-StasevksaResized.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRx32NYF4KgUoZMD2IdubVQ5o9RBwHjAw4BDR7crfl2xqobj7AGXLFAcu9Ys3FOcIzEKR_Bc4x0fCaK1y8Uv-6zY7uxiqlnasW6u41Kn48GxvsSO-olPAhJDwNtLlMwSN0rGxi3MXSn78KX_bxTOCtgx90DywFq-4aBbGdZ_72jTeghg3a4UyQD9OMfRE/w400-h225/22nyphil-1-zbtw-superJumbo-StasevksaResized.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Thomas de Hartmann</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">(1884-1956)<span style="background: white;"> was widely acclaimed in Russia at the turn
of the 20th century, enjoying a successful career in France during the
1930s and 1940s. His unique voice brought together many styles to produce a
colorful and vibrant catalog. However, since his death his music has fallen
into obscurity.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As Dalia says: "</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">As the war casts its
grim shadow ever more deeply, there’s such a contrast between light and dark in
Ukraine. Music is to me the light. It makes me believe in good – and in
humanity.”</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> Together these two great musicians are helping the world to see
this!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> Top photo: Kasia Strek</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-73094146682120159942024-02-20T20:41:00.000-08:002024-02-20T20:41:15.295-08:00MUSIC OF THE HEART<p> </p><p class="css-at9mc1" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #121212;">Recently, I came across an interesting story in BBC Music
Magazine (given to us by a neighbor when he finishes with his issue). It caught my
attention as the woman in the article is a conductor born in Kyiv, Ukraine,
though her family moved to Estonia when she was a toddler. When she was five, </span><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">DALIA
STASEVSKA</span></b><span style="color: #121212;"> and her family fled the Soviet Union to Finland (where her mother is from) with little more
than the clothes they wore. Her artist father and grandmother a made sure the
Ukrainian culture was carried on with stories and folk songs, and Ukrainian was
spoken at home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #121212; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="css-at9mc1" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YztkgO6tEHrL_XLTwSc8uFyPUZhGZqF5Z9-v6sQIy9SG4yGX-MFQQiowIS0BUmfK9cLaQPDKa784Cskdwg0bHaarsGembRiD0PjZbhMKGfB9b2u1uPvsMfIQV6cAAZ9MS9E00sVVqOo-42ZeMNuELgQA51Yj90lsUuIDv3DoI4EHsX4PhksvAQZJHpM/s1080/64137c75e6da2f2013b881bf_Dalia%20Stasevska%20Promo%20Photos,%20credit%20Veikko%20Ka%CC%88hko%CC%88nen%203-p-1080.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="1080" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YztkgO6tEHrL_XLTwSc8uFyPUZhGZqF5Z9-v6sQIy9SG4yGX-MFQQiowIS0BUmfK9cLaQPDKa784Cskdwg0bHaarsGembRiD0PjZbhMKGfB9b2u1uPvsMfIQV6cAAZ9MS9E00sVVqOo-42ZeMNuELgQA51Yj90lsUuIDv3DoI4EHsX4PhksvAQZJHpM/w400-h251/64137c75e6da2f2013b881bf_Dalia%20Stasevska%20Promo%20Photos,%20credit%20Veikko%20Ka%CC%88hko%CC%88nen%203-p-1080.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;">Last year she had her
first child, at the age of 39. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2e2c2f; font-size: 10pt;">The little girl is a direct descendant, on
her father’s side, of Jean Sibelius.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"> Her career is flourishing and in the UK she is known as the charismatic
principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In the USA, she was
named a 2023 New York Times “breakout star”. At home in Finland, she is chief
conductor of Lahti Symphony Orchestra.</span><p></p><p class="css-at9mc1" style="margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #121212; font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">When
Dalia was 8, her parents gave her a violin, telling her she could make a
profession out of playing an instrument. But she didn’t feel emotional about
music until she was 12, when a school librarian lent her a recording of
Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” She had never </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">heard an orchestra before, and was
amazed by the power and drama of the score.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> As a teenager in her bedroom, she played along
as she blasted Beethoven symphony recordings by giants like the conductor
Herbert von Karajan. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;">Then,
when she was 20, she began to see another path. She was inspired after she saw
a concert led by the conductor </span>Eva Ollikainen<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;">; she had never seen a woman conduct before.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13.3333px;">Suddenly I was thinking: ‘Wait a minute, I’m interested in scores, I love orchestra music. Why can’t I try this?’”</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">One day in an elevator, she cornered the eminent Finnish conducting teacher Jorma Panula, asking if she could study with him. Panula mentored Esa-Pekka Salonen and Susanna Mälkki. He pulled a receipt from
his pocket, and wrote a phone number for her to contact the organizer of an
upcoming master class.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">After
graduating in 2012 from the Sibelius Academy, the storied conservatory in
Helsinki, Stasevska began a steady rise, starting </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">as
an assistant to Paavo Järvi at the Orchestre de Paris. In 2019, she was
appointed to her post at the BBC Symphony, and in 2020, she was selected to
lead the Lahti Symphony.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">She
made a memorable debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2021, in which in The New York Times, described her
conducting as “powerful but never overly brash.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVZB5P-n7viqOWQwSMn196n2DAlwa_mVSjl_dwbUsbRhdCttg0SyGyHq9cXBr8G5bf7TkhGh1PBSoQXKvVbI0Dxx1UnAhvvzPZ38M_40_BoQPqD1QIw6kkM8ssTxsdrFJeys1Ap80AGXUUKFy6h5xvnO1cMVVEK-PhSAn1a5pCmLW3Y_Vcq0n4Svf9Io/s360/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_b341b2f0-f97d-11e9-a4b4-b816768ca711.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="360" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigVZB5P-n7viqOWQwSMn196n2DAlwa_mVSjl_dwbUsbRhdCttg0SyGyHq9cXBr8G5bf7TkhGh1PBSoQXKvVbI0Dxx1UnAhvvzPZ38M_40_BoQPqD1QIw6kkM8ssTxsdrFJeys1Ap80AGXUUKFy6h5xvnO1cMVVEK-PhSAn1a5pCmLW3Y_Vcq0n4Svf9Io/s320/_methode_times_prod_web_bin_b341b2f0-f97d-11e9-a4b4-b816768ca711.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">When
the invasion began, Dalia was devastated, concerned for the safety of her
friends and family. Her brother was living in Kyiv and studying to be a movie
director. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">She struggled to focus on music and resolved to cancel an appearance
in March with the Seattle Symphony and take a break from conducting. But her husband and manager helped her change her mind. She then decided she could use her platform to oppose the
war.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Working
with her two brothers, as well as the Ukrainian Association in Finland, she
began soliciting donations to buy supplies. They have gathered contributions
from thousands of people and have purchased generators, stoves, clothes,
sleeping bags, vehicles and other items. They purchase van and load them with much needed items.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
the fall, eager to bring a “moment of normality to a country where nothing is
normal,” she traveled to Lviv to deliver supplies and to lead a concert of
Ukrainian music. She said it was important for Ukraine to promote its culture
as a way of opposing Russia, citing the example of Sibelius whose works around 1900
were often interpreted as yearnings for liberation from Czar Nicholas II. (She
is married to the Finnish bass guitarist Lauri Porra, a great-grandson of
Sibelius.)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">“I
really have hope; I know that Ukraine will win one way or the other. We just
have to be human in this moment and do the right thing.” She has said that while Finland is her country, Ukraine has her soul!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">(TO BE CONTINUED)</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.25rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.875rem; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-42402394899951545362024-02-17T15:50:00.000-08:002024-02-17T15:52:13.145-08:00LENTEN MARTYRS OF WWII<p> </p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">It
has been said that the Catholic Church has had more martyrs in the past 120
years, than in the previous 1800 years combined- and the martyrdom is on-going. We all
know of Sts. Maximillion Kolbe, Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), Franz Jagerstatter,
and the recently canonized Ulma Family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But there are many more martyrs that have come out of World War II than
most of us in the USA know about. </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">This Lent I would like to consider a few,
since we are facing wars (Ukraine and Middle East) and it never hurts to keep
before us those who bravely gave of their lives for Christ Jesus. Of those we
will briefly present, nine were canonized together and known as the 108
Martyrs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDThCEEQn4l2RQhaWO-EsqMwBC4i5cHA4K3rArFC5KIrlbOSDYb1zbB-MawBUJdg3SLR_5_yNb_tigzJtIUsy8DDV9Lp1d2SrCjQZAXcc8P3J5J-qUj8srqK1mEX1wHYPI9QJt8wJudcc72oxtVM6iMy_3PMGA6znHj5aY3hOK-mHOUwrbnlyYSm2dCvk/s640/108-Polish-Martyrs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="640" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDThCEEQn4l2RQhaWO-EsqMwBC4i5cHA4K3rArFC5KIrlbOSDYb1zbB-MawBUJdg3SLR_5_yNb_tigzJtIUsy8DDV9Lp1d2SrCjQZAXcc8P3J5J-qUj8srqK1mEX1wHYPI9QJt8wJudcc72oxtVM6iMy_3PMGA6znHj5aY3hOK-mHOUwrbnlyYSm2dCvk/w400-h210/108-Polish-Martyrs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #4d5156;">The </span><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">108 Martyrs of World War II</span></b><span style="color: #4d5156;">, known
also as the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs, were Roman Catholics from Poland killed
by Nazi Germany. Their liturgical feast day is 12 June. They were beatified on
13 June 1999 by St. Pope John Paul II in Warsaw, Poland.</span></span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"> The group comprises 3 bishops, 52 priests, 26 members of
male religious orders, 3 seminarians, 8 religious sisters and 9 lay people.
There are two parishes named for the 108 Martyrs of World War II in Powiercie
and in Malbork, Poland</span>.<span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">The first woman from this groups i</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #333333;">s</span><span style="color: #783f04; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span><b style="color: #b45f06;">BL. ALICE MARIA JADWIGA KOTOWSKA</b>. B</span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">orn in Warsaw in 1889, she was the third of seven children. Her
family was very devout and her father was an organist. She grew up during Poland’s
struggle for freedom, and throughout her life said her two great loves were God
and Country.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">After the outbreak of WWI, in 1918, she became a
member of the Polish Organized Army and also began her studies in medicine at
the University of Warsaw. She was very dedicated in her care of wounded
soldiers and was awarded a medal of “Poland Restored”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">In 1922 before completing her medical studies,
she entered the Sisters of the Resurrection.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">In her request for acceptance she wrote: “I desire to live and die for
Christ, for He is the Greatest Love, Lord, and my All”.</span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCRZT7vESl31aMj7EW6vtBKkm2RGnh6waFXiAf4pIoBf36VYoQSCYFcwNeXtHAxZC2jVN8ZVbmt9BAUvR396oAEyc2koosSQngGffpIIgipggWSGqUTlbpPv52EsnKH3je7ryktym98mFL2f7Wpe1nKWVvF5JiYyftn2ILWKU_iqKfOfhzfEN9-LTvrc/s640/sddefault.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCRZT7vESl31aMj7EW6vtBKkm2RGnh6waFXiAf4pIoBf36VYoQSCYFcwNeXtHAxZC2jVN8ZVbmt9BAUvR396oAEyc2koosSQngGffpIIgipggWSGqUTlbpPv52EsnKH3je7ryktym98mFL2f7Wpe1nKWVvF5JiYyftn2ILWKU_iqKfOfhzfEN9-LTvrc/w400-h300/sddefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background: white; mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 100%;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 99.36%;" width="99%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">After
professing her vows she was directed to work in the school conducted by the Congregation in Warsaw, while at the same time she was to
complete her studies in the area of chemistry. She first taught in Warsaw, then was the Directress in Wejherowo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">On October 24, 1939, two
Gestapo soldiers came to the convent of the Sisters in Wejherowo with orders to
arrest Sister Alice. She had been warned a few days previously about the
possibility of arrest. She could have escaped but did not do so because
she would not save herself at the cost of being an instrument of suffering for
others. She did not want to leave the Sisters in the community of
which she was the superior. </span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">As soon as she was arrested, she knew that
she had been betrayed by the school custodian. The last words which
the Sisters heard at the time of her arrest, were the evangelical words of
forgiveness: "I forgive Francis for everything."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">On
the day on which she was put to death, an eyewitness related how Sister Alice
performed still another heroic act of love, of concern for others. This
regarded a group of Jewish children who were destined like her to be put to
death in the forest of Piasnica. As she left the prison, she saw the
group of frightened, terrified children. She ran to them, took them by
the hand and walked with them into the waiting truck.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk85YxRPBCx1wmxUnX5emIVgu0yU434MbSd0nW5NAcOiAjDY_CfAJThAy-MVX_35B3Us_6CR8xxsileeuIBh7O-4mtk2YiWyMeGyx_MjOmfvpeM_EZZ9KO6Z8pcwkXJK4DdstQNvohwZEwxKCWkp8SZknRbek5JTEtrOolq-W13AfOvpizyYaYqFtvMTA/s988/BlAlice2b.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk85YxRPBCx1wmxUnX5emIVgu0yU434MbSd0nW5NAcOiAjDY_CfAJThAy-MVX_35B3Us_6CR8xxsileeuIBh7O-4mtk2YiWyMeGyx_MjOmfvpeM_EZZ9KO6Z8pcwkXJK4DdstQNvohwZEwxKCWkp8SZknRbek5JTEtrOolq-W13AfOvpizyYaYqFtvMTA/s320/BlAlice2b.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">She
was shot on November 11, 1939 on the anniversary of Armistice
Day. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Blessed
Alice’s beatification came 100 years after her birth and sixty
years after her martyrdom. For her country is was“a day of tremendous
Resurrection hope.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-56528387134643177102024-02-09T11:49:00.000-08:002024-02-09T11:49:07.171-08:00MAMA ANTULA- FIRST WOMAN OF ARGENTINA<p> </p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">On Sunday, February 11, Pope Francis will canonize another of his countrymen, its first woman.</span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTE2q19HBf51GR_tM_iO0vSPmdL5ZZlCwy1EImP0-QLu98ojkkzQfyvXLWAdHz_57Bn8SdziYbR3LhyphenhyphenjD6cu-dDM_hltcugmc8bLeYcoS92TSXVjifAjzI3K9YMGqk7tc_HhauSCFNKGfxfwS4w-mG67E1asez0dkpffmJ51Zpl4_NY0w2eUu7YA0gXQ/s400/Mar%C3%ADa_Antonia_de_Paz_y_Figueroa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTE2q19HBf51GR_tM_iO0vSPmdL5ZZlCwy1EImP0-QLu98ojkkzQfyvXLWAdHz_57Bn8SdziYbR3LhyphenhyphenjD6cu-dDM_hltcugmc8bLeYcoS92TSXVjifAjzI3K9YMGqk7tc_HhauSCFNKGfxfwS4w-mG67E1asez0dkpffmJ51Zpl4_NY0w2eUu7YA0gXQ/s320/Mar%C3%ADa_Antonia_de_Paz_y_Figueroa.png" width="266" /></a></div><p></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">MARIA ANTONIA de PAZ y FIGUEROA </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">(MAMMA ANTULA)</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> born in 1730 in Argentina, was descended
from an illustrious family of rulers and conquerors. Her childhood was spent in
the home where she led a devout life. At the age of fifteen she decided to
devote herself entirely to God. N</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">uns in the 18th century were cloistered and the
young woman, after meeting Jesuit priests, decided to dedicate her life to
working with them and spreading the Word.</span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Guided by the <span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Jesuit priest</span> Gaspar Juarez, she devoted her time to
assisting parents in the instruction of their children and also ministering to
the sick and to the poor. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">When the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and
its colonies in the Americas in 1767, by Charles III of Spain,</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mama Antula kept the
Jesuits' work going, spending long years walking throughout Argentina and
teaching about the church in Quechua, the language from her home province of
Santiago de Estero in the north of the country, and Spanish, Argentina’s
official language.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">She is believed to have walked over 3,000 miles
throughout Argentina before ending up barefoot in Buenos Aires, the capital, where she
founded a spiritual center and charity programs for women and children.</span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">In 1780 the retreats in Buenos Aires
began with incredible success and the <span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Archbishop of Buenos Aires</span> Sebastián Malvar y Pinto gave
his support to her. Her work became well known not only in Argentina, but also in <span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">France</span> at the convent of <span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Saint-Denis</span> in <span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Paris</span>, where the prioress was the aunt of <span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">King Louis XVI</span>.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZ0HqS_leI40MIePoXZ8VqnE9uy8sGnqx1NFMK1VkAyMcIpw_m3oYjV1of98wzMB3XfVyPw7iJjwqH_ifJ7-H10nq3e79nlOLGwIrVzlbma7-GKsvHtXNUsEbwo9sfdRCfY2z00O81juiHzibPGAcIHKPuhWHLpugViD3int9Ec01_blxF3VHfULCYc4/s1110/6537efe9e7a6c.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="820" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUZ0HqS_leI40MIePoXZ8VqnE9uy8sGnqx1NFMK1VkAyMcIpw_m3oYjV1of98wzMB3XfVyPw7iJjwqH_ifJ7-H10nq3e79nlOLGwIrVzlbma7-GKsvHtXNUsEbwo9sfdRCfY2z00O81juiHzibPGAcIHKPuhWHLpugViD3int9Ec01_blxF3VHfULCYc4/s320/6537efe9e7a6c.webp" width="236" /></a></div><p></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Letters she penned during this period
were translated into English and German, and were sent to various other countries
for inspiration.<sup id="cite_ref-Life_and_Work_2-3" style="unicode-bidi: isolate;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Antonia_de_Paz_y_Figueroa#cite_note-Life_and_Work-2" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"></a></sup> She established the Daughters
of the Divine Savior.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">On 6 March 1799 she died at the age of 69
and was buried in Buenos Aires. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She will be the fifth saint
associated with Argentina of whom four were elevated to sainthood by Pope
Francis but is the first female of Argentina to be canonized.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mama Antula is
considered the mother of the nation. She was a strong, brave woman who believed
in Argentina. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This amazing woman started a spiritual movement at a time when religious intellectualism
was strictly the domain the men.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Careful not to offend the Spanish viceroys, she nevertheless promoted the idea of an independent Argentina, which would not happen until 1816, more than a decade after her death.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> "She was committed to the country and that knowing Christ would
transform society," said Bishop Santiago Olivera</span>. <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Her t</span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">ireless
proclamation of the gospel</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> left its mark on the religious
and cultural identity of the Argentines. </span></p><div style="border-bottom: solid #DDDDDD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 6.0pt 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #DDDDDD .75pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 6.0pt 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfqFkvo6_RiJ3386LBIM0hlsvJ9lhKugtzEae24biRf-cdx-g1xdg0YqyxSgWkKiwbuwCYSpVSITPigbHfD6TgQ5zosHnggjp7IzY6CKqAE6UwwAuMpmLv1xFc0XErxuQXJ40AdOh3dDaDUufmAGzRhdMur5g4CTq8APkel6wL6d2IsBHGrhUPdyvR7I/s370/Maria_Antonia_de_Paz_y_Figueroa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="370" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfqFkvo6_RiJ3386LBIM0hlsvJ9lhKugtzEae24biRf-cdx-g1xdg0YqyxSgWkKiwbuwCYSpVSITPigbHfD6TgQ5zosHnggjp7IzY6CKqAE6UwwAuMpmLv1xFc0XErxuQXJ40AdOh3dDaDUufmAGzRhdMur5g4CTq8APkel6wL6d2IsBHGrhUPdyvR7I/s320/Maria_Antonia_de_Paz_y_Figueroa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazingly, she will be
canonized by a Jesuit, Pope Francis.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "PT Serif",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mama Antula will become the country's second
saint to be born and die in Argentina. The first, José Gabriel Brochero, was
canonized in 2016 by Pope Francis. Her feast is celebrated March 7.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-57076105334524425692024-02-05T13:43:00.000-08:002024-02-05T13:43:48.134-08:00DAY OF ATONEMENT<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwAjhLq7_-STaVijXOfbsnWl2EqC6EY8KoiSvBrzsI_qWNZi3yOeFsp0WT9_7VMuzU5uw3ceMjrG4OISzUOk4Oj7bm2NM-YrIIj_KSOOHvo0hZoSaPNdUziEUNPhysRBLwAeh2L6GCf-pYO7KrqiuiQ1sUNKUnT5_mqIPzpMQkOoKrFpac7PosdvU_38/s922/e791cb18d9cb9ca29ba27636dc2c2171,922,0,0,0.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="922" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNwAjhLq7_-STaVijXOfbsnWl2EqC6EY8KoiSvBrzsI_qWNZi3yOeFsp0WT9_7VMuzU5uw3ceMjrG4OISzUOk4Oj7bm2NM-YrIIj_KSOOHvo0hZoSaPNdUziEUNPhysRBLwAeh2L6GCf-pYO7KrqiuiQ1sUNKUnT5_mqIPzpMQkOoKrFpac7PosdvU_38/w400-h266/e791cb18d9cb9ca29ba27636dc2c2171,922,0,0,0.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f222a; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">“</span><b><span style="background: white; color: #741b47; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Journeying
in Dignity: Listen, Dream, Act”</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #2f222a; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> is
the theme of the International </span><b><span style="background: white; color: #741b47; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Day of
Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #2f222a; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> to be held on Feb. 8, a date established by Pope
Francis on the feast of St. Bakhita. She is the patron saint of those suffering
even today from slavery. She was born in the Sudan in Africa and was herself
enslaved before becoming a nun.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f222a; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">A press release from the organizers
explained that “human trafficking is the process by which people are coerced or
lured by false prospects, recruited, relocated, and forced to work and live in
exploitative or abusive conditions. It is a phenomenon, as recent United
Nations reports warn, in continuous and dramatic evolution.”</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: white; color: #474747; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In Rome</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">, 50 young
representatives from partner organizations of the Day are are
participating in training and awareness sessions on trafficking. They are
students, volunteers, researchers, creatives, communicators, activists, and
operators against trafficking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: white; color: #474747; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">“</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Trafficking is around us,
in our cities, but is often invisible to our eyes. With this Day, we want to
increase awareness of trafficking, reflect on the situation of violence and
injustice suffered by the victims of this global phenomenon, and propose concrete
solutions. We invite everyone to listen and observe attentively, to dream
together with the young people of a better world and to act for change,
starting from personal, community, and institutional commitment to effectively
counter the causes of trafficking and exploitation,” said Sister Abby
Avelino, MM, coordinator of the Day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: #F6F5F3; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">May St. Josephine intercede for an end
to violence and human trafficking and all forms of exploitation. May all come
to see we are all children of God, worthy of dignity. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Father, we beg for the
liberation of people who are being trafficked. Please bring freedom to the 40
million people who are being oppressed through human trafficking.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-48308870459297457512024-01-31T11:20:00.000-08:002024-01-31T11:25:12.604-08:00CONGRATULATIONS FLICKA<p>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5ESiyxtN8i55H3k24qyoJ-Gf9c_i89rqf4uv7_plMdK2i6hQppV8uq9WLxC66k2y0wbkqr4ked5zw7o0We7dyaGzDbsCR2riObSGKq0JpvVeatpU5CsMEhByxt_uuB4ARgk5zLns8OU9fLf1s75EI0WN3BHGLfAIOw7re8lSZv9QY5s0PhxjVzxMBjs/s900/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODEyMTc1OS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwid2VicCI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0Ijoid2VicCJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0NjAzOD.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5ESiyxtN8i55H3k24qyoJ-Gf9c_i89rqf4uv7_plMdK2i6hQppV8uq9WLxC66k2y0wbkqr4ked5zw7o0We7dyaGzDbsCR2riObSGKq0JpvVeatpU5CsMEhByxt_uuB4ARgk5zLns8OU9fLf1s75EI0WN3BHGLfAIOw7re8lSZv9QY5s0PhxjVzxMBjs/s320/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODEyMTc1OS4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwid2VicCI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0Ijoid2VicCJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE0NjAzOD.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Known as the "non-diva", our friend </span><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #073763;">FREDERICA
von STADE</span></span></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">, was just inducted into the Opera Hall of Fame. Her ex- agent
is a nun in our Mother Abbey. (I have done a Blog in the past on her, but at
present have no way to access past Blogs, due to a mess on new computer.)</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">We
have been most fortunate to hear "Flicka" twice in our area: once years ago when
she appeared at the famed. Mt Baker theater in Bellingham and more recently on
Orcas Island at the Orcas Island Chamber Festival.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10pt;">Best known for her work in
opera, this mezzo-soprano, was also a recitalist and concert artist, having recorded
more than a hundred albums and videos. She was especially associated with
operas by Mozart and Rossini, and with music by French and American composers.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #202122; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">She is a practicing </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Catholic</span>, who has given herself to<span style="background: white; color: #202122;"> extensive charitable work, especially with education, health
issues and the homeless. </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #3c4747; font-size: 10pt;">She retired from the
operatic and concert stage in 2010 and now is furthering efforts to bring
classical music to disadvantaged youth.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background: white; color: #202122;">The main beneficiary of her philanthropy has been (for 20 years) the
Young Musicians Choral Orchestra, an East Bay (CA) organization that provides
children from low income families with musical tuition, academic reinforcement
and assistance in their personal development in order to help them to win a
place at university. </span><o:p></o:p></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">It's an
after-school free program from ages 10 to 18, with everything from opera to jazz. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0_DiIhemTtAlR5Sfosel2vOu65ffXQy6HFNiQRRCjV0gUOyO_gLiGz0sLHKePx-ii-iRERTCmhlim7B6QdsoS1hcztUOjTXvqteCBXkuWOzp1NUa9_Yj6vJqTxTLBYnwGRxRqSToITMi0u_TqaYq-6Hy9gK6DL19iOgfEeU7ZN6outcq_97uGJXTnmU/s600/frederica-von-stade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="600" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0_DiIhemTtAlR5Sfosel2vOu65ffXQy6HFNiQRRCjV0gUOyO_gLiGz0sLHKePx-ii-iRERTCmhlim7B6QdsoS1hcztUOjTXvqteCBXkuWOzp1NUa9_Yj6vJqTxTLBYnwGRxRqSToITMi0u_TqaYq-6Hy9gK6DL19iOgfEeU7ZN6outcq_97uGJXTnmU/s320/frederica-von-stade.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">Frederica holds honorary
doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, San Francisco Conservatory
of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice),
Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes School
of Music. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 10pt;">In 1998 she was awarded
France’s highest honor, an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 1983
President Reagan honored her with an award at the White House in recognition of
her contributions to the arts.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">If you want to hear her, I recommend going to Youtube, and listening to Dvorak, “Song to the Moon” from </span><u style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Rusalka</u><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">. Heavenly!</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-36364442099383758912024-01-26T11:52:00.000-08:002024-01-26T11:52:00.003-08:00SOLITUDE<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6ZE2a-rkBgHNfEnERblm7fWCga_-1zkDTPeH9qEiF8aWo5kw8JsfQyiiM6PL9KIeVnIHSE-wTF2KsA2sLjf2CUY0P_5zwEipxYdh0veAeiQWvu6gcGYXA8OHM9893qpM8hc3EvUcvvPjdzMrMzd4dLDGlXNU0B5G02g-MxWMRKtg2GEOI2yKFA2_la8/s640/The_Sacred_Heart_of_Paris-1457892485m.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="640" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6ZE2a-rkBgHNfEnERblm7fWCga_-1zkDTPeH9qEiF8aWo5kw8JsfQyiiM6PL9KIeVnIHSE-wTF2KsA2sLjf2CUY0P_5zwEipxYdh0veAeiQWvu6gcGYXA8OHM9893qpM8hc3EvUcvvPjdzMrMzd4dLDGlXNU0B5G02g-MxWMRKtg2GEOI2yKFA2_la8/w400-h316/The_Sacred_Heart_of_Paris-1457892485m.webp" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> This week we celebrated the feast of St. Francis de Sales. Here is one of my favorite quotes from him:</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">"Always remember to retire at various times
into the solitude of your own heart even while outwardly engaged in discussions
of transactions with others. This mental solitude cannot be violated by the
many people who surround you since they are not standing around your heart but
only around your body. Your heart remains alone in the presence of God...
Indeed our tasks are seldom so important as to keep us from withdrawing our
hearts from them from time to time in order to retire into this divine solitude."</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Art: Sacred Heart of Paris- Jerry Di Falco</span></span></span></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-74209964894898920522024-01-23T09:35:00.000-08:002024-01-23T09:35:11.677-08:00HE TAUGHT CUBANS TO THINK<p></p><p style="background: white; margin-top: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayrnSqL3bAioXQfOWmYgNl0vzND55GUNl_GI78fn6ywXncJs3bSoVrpW2OskvCqkwNb0_RrVNPTFpQbibnHzxG2VGwJe98N5cxTLr0s0eKnHCOQE06aBl_PQNoF-C0Kgmd5_k_10ipcOSDbOfGFqvKl6LwOljYlCUj-RFr26J3CjlTuM1Jk5T2d1XMTY/s1000/2701Z+Padre+Felix+Varela.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayrnSqL3bAioXQfOWmYgNl0vzND55GUNl_GI78fn6ywXncJs3bSoVrpW2OskvCqkwNb0_RrVNPTFpQbibnHzxG2VGwJe98N5cxTLr0s0eKnHCOQE06aBl_PQNoF-C0Kgmd5_k_10ipcOSDbOfGFqvKl6LwOljYlCUj-RFr26J3CjlTuM1Jk5T2d1XMTY/w400-h225/2701Z+Padre+Felix+Varela.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #262626; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I
recently c<span style="color: #351c75;">ame across a priest who found asylum in
the United States. </span><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">VENERABLE FELIX
VARELA y MORALES</span></b>, born in Havana in, 1788, was a priest, teacher,
writer, philosopher, and politician who played a significant role in Cuba’s
intellectual, political, and religious life during the first half of the 19th
century.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin-block: 0px 0.9rem; margin-bottom: 1rem;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Persecuted and
condemned to death by the absolutist authorities, Father Varela went into exile
in the United States at the age of 35, where he spent the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Félix
Varela y Morales spent his childhood in St. Augustine, Florida. His father
was Spanish, the captain of a military regiment in Havana, which was then a
Spanish colony. His mother, Josefa Morales, was from Santiago de Cuba.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Felix
was the third and last son of the couple, preceded by his sisters María de
Jesus and Cristina. He was baptized a week after birth by the chaplain of the
regiment, the Dominican priest Fr. Miguel Hernandez.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">However,
when he was 3 years old, his mother died and the three children were left in
the care of their grandmother and aunts, since their father was in the active
military and had to travel continuously.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">His
grandfather was also in the military and when he was assigned that same year to
St. Augustine, in the Florida peninsula (which was then still a Spanish
colony), he took Felix with him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This
made it possible for the little boy to attend primary school with Fr. O’Reilly,
who taught him Latin, grammar, and the violin, which was not common at that
time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; margin-top: 0in;">
<o:p>
<o:p>
</o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">His grandfather wanted him to have a successful military career,
but Felix felt called to the priesthood. He returned to Cuba and began his
studies at the San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary in Havana. At the age
of 23, he was ordained a priest at the cathedral of Havana by Bishop Diaz
de Espada. Because of his young age, he had to ask the Pope for a dispensation.<u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VenWzwciHr1JRv5vXiadKW3HJWtmJrSCO9bZTiOx8z23WUtMvi0reOIdGA-9srix4M2Dswmk76VbEvjnyEEbVECjxm261WfE-W98PORrOEVhRg2d2AYeJCnB-OlVLOOytPBZ4ub9fBD2_4v-q4IVP6tZwMHzZJZy1JKJEeJRymtWwQw_L9Y1dHnNhfs/s768/Felix-varela-768x650-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="768" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VenWzwciHr1JRv5vXiadKW3HJWtmJrSCO9bZTiOx8z23WUtMvi0reOIdGA-9srix4M2Dswmk76VbEvjnyEEbVECjxm261WfE-W98PORrOEVhRg2d2AYeJCnB-OlVLOOytPBZ4ub9fBD2_4v-q4IVP6tZwMHzZJZy1JKJEeJRymtWwQw_L9Y1dHnNhfs/s320/Felix-varela-768x650-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">After
several years Father Varela was chosen as the Vicar General of the Diocese of
New York. He continued to work for immigrants and was a friend of the Irish.
During this time he was also chosen as a theological advisor to the Baltimore
Catechism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> In
1812 he was appointed professor of Philosophy, Physics and Ethics at the
seminary. There he would prepare what was to be the first physics and chemistry
laboratory in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">After
teaching at the seminary for several years he was chosen to represent Cuba in
the General Courts in Spain. During his time there, he was active in a Foreign
Affairs committee and introduced projects to give independence to Cuba, Puerto
Rico, the Philippines and other territories under the Spanish crown.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Father
Varela also advocated for the abolition of slavery, <span style="color: #333333;">writing</span>, “Constitutional Liberty and equality are
synonyms and these words repel slavery and inequality of rights.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> After
the French invasion of Spain in 1823, his political views were under scrutiny
and the new government sentenced him to death. He fled the country and
eventually settled in New York City. There is founded the nation's first
Spanish language Catholic newspaper.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">While
there, Father Varela was appointed pastor of an Irish parish in the city. He
continued his political activism by publishing articles about human rights,
alcoholism and religious tolerance. He also defended the rights of immigrants
and supported those who were struggling to make it in their new country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLznXe8Bjcy5jL-Vc2EC6sLwpwHQdmsecqEL3phHhC7Q1gbtFjfDHtk0_Z-HfdHVALjFtD04Yfa8M3cEGQ2KDUMfU7uL18KE2CVjduP1fzn9j_bSZoY20JZ88P2sAVxI_aXf8CZA1Qo-0Umy4yNlf4XIDDk61Lwn9cEx83Z3L1O0iGIN7sPb5nqNT5WM/s1131/varela.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="1131" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLznXe8Bjcy5jL-Vc2EC6sLwpwHQdmsecqEL3phHhC7Q1gbtFjfDHtk0_Z-HfdHVALjFtD04Yfa8M3cEGQ2KDUMfU7uL18KE2CVjduP1fzn9j_bSZoY20JZ88P2sAVxI_aXf8CZA1Qo-0Umy4yNlf4XIDDk61Lwn9cEx83Z3L1O0iGIN7sPb5nqNT5WM/s320/varela.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">After
several years Father Varela was chosen as the Vicar General of the Diocese of
New York. He continued to work for immigrants and was a friend of the Irish.
During this time he was also chosen as a theological advisor to the Baltimore
Catechism.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Due
to health issues, Father Varela was forced to retire, returning to St.
Augustine, Florida, where he died five years after arriving<span style="color: #262626;"> in 1853</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">His
life was an inspiration to many and after his death the cause for his
canonization was opened.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The renowned scholar’s remains lie at the Main Lecture hall of
Havana University, a fitting fate for the man defined by the Cubans as “the one
who taught us to think.”</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pope St. John Paul II praised him as "the best synthesis of
Christian faith and Cuban culture." </span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Not only is he recognized for his
greatness by the Church, but In 1981, the government of the Republic of Cuba
created the Order of Félix Varela, the highest distinction granted to Cubans
and foreigners, as well as to cultural collectives, in recognition of
extraordinary contributions made in favor of culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Pope
Benedict XVI declared Father Félix Varela as Venerable in 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-top: 0in;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #262626; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-block: 0px 0.9rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-15600481433838770232024-01-18T11:13:00.000-08:002024-01-18T11:13:07.318-08:00SAINTS FOR THE YEAR<p> </p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #282828; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Sometimes
even Catholics ask, why pray to the saints? Unfortunately, in our Church today
so few saints are known, especially the ones who have lived in our lifetime.
RCIA programs, unlike in my day when we had catechism daily, one or two hours a
week gives little time for anything but doctrine. As Joe Friday would say: just
the facts, ma’am.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #282828; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">And
when we pray why not just go to the source of our prayers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why this need for intercessors?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #282828; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #282828; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Because
the saints help us develop a deeper relationship with Jesus and life as we know
it today is hard. The saints are examples of those who lived the Christian life
well. They had their struggles and faults like we all do</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #282828; font-size: 10pt; padding: 0in;">, but they continually said </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit;">yes</span><span data-mce-fragment="1" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit;"> to God, allowing His love to transform them. </span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #282828; font-size: 13.3333px;">One of the beauties of knowing about the modern saints is, due to modern technology & communication, we know more about their lives (through the written word and photography) then saints of past centuries.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #282828; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit;">I
personally feel I can’t have enough heavenly friends who can intercede for me.
So I am stacking them up, one by one, getting to know them, confident that they
are cheering me on in my own journey with the Lord.</span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"><span data-mce-fragment="1" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit;">This year for our patron saint of the year, we considered only saints who somehow related to the Ukraine or the Holy Land. We drew for the Community St.</span></span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #202124; font-size: 10pt;">. Mariam Baouardy and drew for our Abbey St. Marie Alphonsine Ghattas,
both Palestinian saints of modern times, who were canonized together in May 2015. (I am sure I did a Blog on the former, but at present have no access to my files- due to a new computer glitz).</span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #202124; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #a64d79; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">ST. MARIE-ALPHONSINE</span></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> founded the Dominican Sisters of the Holy
Rosary of Jerusalem, and<span style="color: #a64d79;"> </span><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">ST. MARIAM</span> </b>(Mary of Jesus Crucified) was a Discalced
Carmelite and mystic. They are the modern first saints to hail from the
territory that made up historic Palestine. </span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">For my saint I drew the Ukrainian martyr, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>BL</b>.</span><b><span style="color: #741b47;"> LAURENTIA HARASYMIV</span>, </b></span><em style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%;">who
was born on 31 September 1911 in the village of Rudnyky, Lviv District. In 1931
she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph, and in 1933 she made her first vows.</span></em></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></em></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent;"></em></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrHxmTnG9G3Drbb4Ek9wrduEy9Oh-ycRCccNUlA9UnMDR6JEt-HYvMOu64aMgKkYIsjpNNUMH2dD9frU6-w9XXNcaDRoPQWCN2elewDYnPjzmCQfWoW4FXuG32l_lUWy-4jI-5GM0_zhmxp5vAzVqDaC8i2RhTCOCkaoe3iP9KbCgG6n9l_-yqFGwHK4/s600/blazhenna-lavrentiya.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="420" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTrHxmTnG9G3Drbb4Ek9wrduEy9Oh-ycRCccNUlA9UnMDR6JEt-HYvMOu64aMgKkYIsjpNNUMH2dD9frU6-w9XXNcaDRoPQWCN2elewDYnPjzmCQfWoW4FXuG32l_lUWy-4jI-5GM0_zhmxp5vAzVqDaC8i2RhTCOCkaoe3iP9KbCgG6n9l_-yqFGwHK4/s320/blazhenna-lavrentiya.jpg" width="224" /></a></em></div><p></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%;">In
1951, she was arrested by the agents of the NKVD along with Sister Olympia and sent to Borislav. She was then exiled to Tomsk, Siberia, being</span></em><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> sick with
tuberculosis when she arrived at her designated place of exile. Only one
family would agree to give her a roof over her head, in a room where a
paralyzed man lay behind a partition. </span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 107%;">In spite of her own state she was made to do heavy manual labor, all the while enduring sub-human conditions and praying. .She finally died on 28 August 1952 in the village of Kharsk in the
Tomsk Region of Siberia. Her feast is December 28. (Photo to left is Bl. Laurentia)</span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="hgkelc"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span class="hgkelc"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #741b47;">BL.
OLYMPIA OLHA BIDA</span></span></b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> was
born in 1903 in the village of Tsebliv, Lviv District. At a young age she
entered the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. In 1938 she was assigned
to the town of Khyriv where she became superior of the house. After the
establishment of the Soviet regime, she and the other sisters suffered a number
of attacks on the convent. She, nevertheless, continued to care for children,
to catechize and organize underground religious services, often without a
priest.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">In
1950 she was arrested by soldiers of the NKVD and taken to a hard labor camp in
Boryslav. Eventually she was sentenced to lifelong exile along with Bl.
Larentia in the Tomsk region of Siberia for “anti-Soviet activities.” Even in
exile, Sister Olympia tried to perform her duties as superior. She provided
support for her fellow sisters. She patiently endured inhuman living
conditions. She died a martyr’s death on January 23, 1952.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-gADXsnoQHZMg4MXTDrzDtr1-hSf4EadmdsL6x1eyCZXwBvZbjK6I_W08oP-WToMRSmymauXQMPrkVJyE2eLXNpLIX8qvJA6Oj-c7uVIewGDGo5y3nmKG6fGktHqpjtuItoAXBaTK-f0hetFHJK1aL1BQ_qo8BqXeLDza9ulcak2KCfl0LTGBtDE57U/s300/Icon-of-Venerable-Nun-Martyrs-Olympia-Laurentia-232x300.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="232" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-gADXsnoQHZMg4MXTDrzDtr1-hSf4EadmdsL6x1eyCZXwBvZbjK6I_W08oP-WToMRSmymauXQMPrkVJyE2eLXNpLIX8qvJA6Oj-c7uVIewGDGo5y3nmKG6fGktHqpjtuItoAXBaTK-f0hetFHJK1aL1BQ_qo8BqXeLDza9ulcak2KCfl0LTGBtDE57U/s1600/Icon-of-Venerable-Nun-Martyrs-Olympia-Laurentia-232x300.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #2b2b2b; font-size: 10pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">“God Almighty, God’s Providence will not allow His little children
to perish in a foreign land. For He is with us here, in the midst of these
forests and waters. He doesn’t forget about us Because of our faith, because of
a divine matter, we suffer, and what could be better than this? Let’s follow
Him bravely. Not only when all is well, but even when times are bitter, let us
say: Glory to God in all matters.”</span></i><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"> – From Sister Olympia’s letter to her
provincial superior, Sister Neonylia.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">May these two holy women intercede for all Ukrainian women and children who have been displaced from their homeland due to the on-going war, and may their people know an everlasting peace!</span></p>
mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-29060461640215344712024-01-14T15:13:00.000-08:002024-01-14T23:22:03.241-08:00HAVE WE FORGOTTEN?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG7rxK2bEqHJX6G5eoeuBQ_gBdwdnz4AZ7UcpDUFQURqwcD3q1an3WljCyNUiabGR1EKfyR2nor98sGyYYLE8dRqQuAh-PHdBOtHIsCXI_8Is7qbOcGpkv4L3qwxWRvTSFsWvy44yK-4H28emgLkniybPaG3DcDWa0gRobbHVmBBMOLgn9LZJO7so0hY/s960/kazanivska-solomia-UKRAININ_mother-of-god.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG7rxK2bEqHJX6G5eoeuBQ_gBdwdnz4AZ7UcpDUFQURqwcD3q1an3WljCyNUiabGR1EKfyR2nor98sGyYYLE8dRqQuAh-PHdBOtHIsCXI_8Is7qbOcGpkv4L3qwxWRvTSFsWvy44yK-4H28emgLkniybPaG3DcDWa0gRobbHVmBBMOLgn9LZJO7so0hY/w512-h640/kazanivska-solomia-UKRAININ_mother-of-god.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #073763;"><i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> Mother of God -</span></i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"> Solomia
Kazanivska -Ukraine,2019</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #073763;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Has the world already forgotten the
plight of the Ukrainians, who not long ago were forefront in the headlines?
Have we forgotten how close that country sits next to other European free
countries, like Poland and Romania? Have we forgotten how the world sat
by, while Hitler invaded Poland, thinking it was “none of our
business”? Having lived in Europe, I can tell you countries are not
that far apart! The world, it seems, is tired of Ukraine and perhaps
worse, it is bored. Ukraine and its fight for freedom are no longer newsworthy. How
easy it is for the human mind to forget, and yet we cannot, must not, forget
prayer.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Ukrainian economy has been shattered. So have the hopes
and dreams of its people, especially the children.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="p1" style="background: white;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: #404040; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Last week in a letter to the head of
the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Pope Francis said he was sorry that
"in an increasingly tragic international situation, the war in Ukraine
risks becoming a forgotten one." </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Holy Father emphasized
the strikes on civilians and vital infrastructure were "vile, unacceptable
and cannot be justified in any way", and urged the international community
and all involved in the conflict to seek peaceful solutions.</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">We can only pray that history
does not repeat itself where we once again find a blood bath that covers much
of Europe! </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="p1" style="background: white;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="background: white;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="p1" style="background: white;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-48108204450488755452024-01-12T11:17:00.000-08:002024-01-12T11:17:02.838-08:00CONNECTIONS<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;"> Once again we find a connection between saints.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;">VENERABLE ANDREA BELTRAMI</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #45818e;"> </span>was born in Omegna, in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">province</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Novara</st1:placename></st1:place> in 1870. In his family, he
received a lasting education in Christian values. Andrew, with his lively
character, was tempted in his virtue during adolescence by a bad companion, but
his frequent reception of the sacraments, together with his firm will, made him
held in high esteem with any people.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6cchfCBvCaKinezSiCM0gy3HTsSTdCPRJRO4uk9RsEBb5LkSMRoNtEWSHLo6C19phyphenhyphenGt8NumKUioXU_0xK2ubXjSVqsJuJ77bUxAhXGWCDZEBU0ZL9rcpIu7rhCI4oqsN4nX4h9j-JKimW8JAft_LdSrQsFYzD13EuD1j_JQUjntelEiZzvOMzBffM0/s1024/ANDREA%20BELTRAMI.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6cchfCBvCaKinezSiCM0gy3HTsSTdCPRJRO4uk9RsEBb5LkSMRoNtEWSHLo6C19phyphenhyphenGt8NumKUioXU_0xK2ubXjSVqsJuJ77bUxAhXGWCDZEBU0ZL9rcpIu7rhCI4oqsN4nX4h9j-JKimW8JAft_LdSrQsFYzD13EuD1j_JQUjntelEiZzvOMzBffM0/w200-h200/ANDREA%20BELTRAMI.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">His parents
wanted to enroll him at the </span><st1:place style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Salesian</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> at Lanzo, where
he entered in October 1883. He distinguished himself in his studies and his
vocation matured during this time. Later he would say: “The Lord set an
intimate conviction in my heart, that the only way forward for me was to be a
Salesian.”</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">His mother,
entrusting him to the Novice Master, said: “Make him a saint.” In 1886, he
received the clerical habit at Foglizzo from (</span><st1:place style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on">St.</st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">)
Don Bosco, who said of him: “There is only one Beltrami.” In the two years
(1888-1889) he spent in Turin-Valsalice, he completed two three-year subjects.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">During this
time, he came to know the Polish</span><b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="color: #45818e;">(Bl.) Prince Augustus Czartoryski</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">, who had
recently entered the Congregation, but soon became ill with tuberculosis. It
would be Fr. Beltrami, who quickly became his spiritual friend, who would be
his guardian angel at Valsalice and in those places where he was in
convalescence. He wrote: “I am aware that I have been looking after a saint, an
angel.” Later, Fr. Andrew himself took ill.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sRzOBdl1n8X6OCjJzmCaeq6FbGzK5N5lGZ8XTVeH14gLivtGp6GDUIeTc5JtejrOwYjN5qQ_N39oF_Pvuml8qvmp4H1ybLBtpCinQ4qXlhylmzDAgHtcpPQepxJ3iuhsZoXXzqcXWEZQCNlnrDgKfHpa2Ty3reVNUf7Duy-vUKWf2XChoJmTGwwHbpA/s650/-beltrami-don-andr.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="650" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sRzOBdl1n8X6OCjJzmCaeq6FbGzK5N5lGZ8XTVeH14gLivtGp6GDUIeTc5JtejrOwYjN5qQ_N39oF_Pvuml8qvmp4H1ybLBtpCinQ4qXlhylmzDAgHtcpPQepxJ3iuhsZoXXzqcXWEZQCNlnrDgKfHpa2Ty3reVNUf7Duy-vUKWf2XChoJmTGwwHbpA/w200-h194/-beltrami-don-andr.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">He offered
himself as a victim of love for the conversion of sinners and for the
consolation of those who suffered, living out his motto: “Neither recovery nor
death, but live to suffer.” Fr. Beltrami fully accepted the sacrificial
dimension of the Salesian charisma, as desired by its founder, Don Bosco.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Ordained
priest by Bishop Cagliero, he gave himself to contemplation and the apostolate
of the pen. His very strong desire for holiness took over his whole existence
including the pain and ceaseless work. He was exact in his observance of the
Rule, and had a burning love for Don Bosco and the Congregation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the four
years of life that were his after his ordination, he continued praying and
writing</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> ascetic books, devoting himself to hagiography, biographies of saints
and volumes of pleasant and educational readings. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> When he died on December 30, 1897, he was 27 years of age. He was
declared Venerable on December 5, 1966.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmNIFZy1pheyhzg8cBTnNvMhLFbF91GOwB1PmFiEKm0cU9MWOjowqfcywMiPWMioi9RGKih_p_1NZTB4NWqHCXMUQhZBCAv2Xb9pGCqmOyBhv08FiR-ThlPsdfNeLoM_i2rj0casWdHMMo8K3f21kE-FKSIuyod-Y_ZwvgR6QUmD2YUrC9bytN8lxw5w/s532/VENERABILE-ANDREA-BELTRAMI1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmNIFZy1pheyhzg8cBTnNvMhLFbF91GOwB1PmFiEKm0cU9MWOjowqfcywMiPWMioi9RGKih_p_1NZTB4NWqHCXMUQhZBCAv2Xb9pGCqmOyBhv08FiR-ThlPsdfNeLoM_i2rj0casWdHMMo8K3f21kE-FKSIuyod-Y_ZwvgR6QUmD2YUrC9bytN8lxw5w/s320/VENERABILE-ANDREA-BELTRAMI1.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p>
mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-58595686815392567202024-01-09T05:42:00.000-08:002024-01-09T06:21:10.553-08:00HOLY NOBLE<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_KKBv7YnHs0P6tbPdEjjqxN08OzKfReQ6ogCarfZyXIfST1m-udy1c8pL309M4whuGsqDRhF6K97IgjOSL3Obg_cZJHWbMhOJp6GtWKjQjrVasLFsvcrs_mKjzGpyJOTWYBocSns_X1z2tjLvcn7roWZplXwQEpVp64Y8T4_CuZ8PQH_xra3pgy4VrA/s397/0802_august-czartoryski.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_KKBv7YnHs0P6tbPdEjjqxN08OzKfReQ6ogCarfZyXIfST1m-udy1c8pL309M4whuGsqDRhF6K97IgjOSL3Obg_cZJHWbMhOJp6GtWKjQjrVasLFsvcrs_mKjzGpyJOTWYBocSns_X1z2tjLvcn7roWZplXwQEpVp64Y8T4_CuZ8PQH_xra3pgy4VrA/s320/0802_august-czartoryski.webp" width="242" /></a></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">BL. AUGUST FRANCISZEK MARIA ANNA
JOZEF KAJETAN CZARTORYSKI</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span>was a Polish professed member of the <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Salesians of Don Bosco</span> and
a noble prince. He was born in <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Paris</span> during
his house's exile.His constant frail health saw much of his childhood being
shuttled to various health spas. <span style="color: #b45f06;"><b>(St.) <span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Raphael Kalinowski</span> </b></span>
(Previous Blog) tutored him. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Bl. Augustus
was born in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:city> in 1858, in exile, to the Polish Prince Ladislaw and Princess
Mary Amparo, daughter of the Queen of Spain. Thirty years before, this noble
family, tied to Polish nobility, had emigrated to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">From his
place of exile Prince Ladislaw had sought to restore unity to his country which
had fallen apart in 1795.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When he was
six, Augustus lost his mother. H</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">e inherited his mother's title upon her death in 1864 a title he held until 1876 when it was made a duke. Taking his mother's place was</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> Margaret d’Orléans. She was the
daughter of the Count of Paris, pretender to the French throne. From his
earliest years, Augustus showed himself to be a good, thoughtful boy. Although
much attached to his beloved </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Poland</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">,
he was never attracted to courtly life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCJSqHVVVkGVxetFBe4VPpIuK30QYyXUlW8ANcOsS5tTeXkaJqrHU6Rmd1K9nGALJ1_iSLU5FK0-RmEWZssi3Gm2ncXI-AUibN94SH2KOrptolRD0ANef_PN1dluibHIA5DC8rftK5P_Uaeb5OJWPaQcgf4kM4jzXxLWsMHljFffXrHcbEXNM_io2tsw/s400/Bl-Ksiadz-August-Czartoryski-Obrazek-z-modlitwa%20(1).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCJSqHVVVkGVxetFBe4VPpIuK30QYyXUlW8ANcOsS5tTeXkaJqrHU6Rmd1K9nGALJ1_iSLU5FK0-RmEWZssi3Gm2ncXI-AUibN94SH2KOrptolRD0ANef_PN1dluibHIA5DC8rftK5P_Uaeb5OJWPaQcgf4kM4jzXxLWsMHljFffXrHcbEXNM_io2tsw/s320/Bl-Ksiadz-August-Czartoryski-Obrazek-z-modlitwa%20(1).jpg" width="227" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Between the
ages of 10 and 17 he studied in </span><st1:city style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on">Paris</st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> and Krakow,
but his health forced him to interrupt his studies and go to the south of </span><st1:place style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on">Europe</st1:place><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> frequently in search of a better climate. Here he began his relationship with <b><span style="color: #b45f06;">(St.) </span></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #b45f06;">Joseph Kalinowski</span></b>, who prudently guided him not only in his
studies, but especially in the spiritual life. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The tutor
described his pupil as a lad with a stable character, a good soul, perfectly
courteous, sincere, intelligent and very religious, but with a simple heart. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In
May 1883 (St.) Don Bosco was in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
He was invited to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Lambert</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Palace</st1:placetype></st1:place> by Princess
Margaret d’Orléans. Augustus served his Mass, and the saint said to him: “I
have wanted to meet you for quite some time!”. The prince was struck by his
encounter. Following this he went several times to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turin</st1:place></st1:city> to meet Don Bosco. He insisted with him
that he be allowed to enter the Salesians, but the Founder was not convinced due to the young man's poor health. Augustus spoke with Pope Leo XIII, who convinced Don Bosco to accept him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnCgW3Ay5DC-_N1aT0YGVzWGqVMTuAasE51Nv196WE-FtVqfSrKYqVCRByItctuNvVrHzfe-xcM5wvhag600ASd8gGPdeAN8vo6iR6DrJ42KEjOJgwvmvqAstyInziLZ6Ts8xCvmNR8ttA3-VjozLDhpsNh9mxxaJuWrMskfTGEqSehbWDXsPAfsMhUA/s800/august-czartoryski-b24bdf91-cf58-4031-b0e7-6af4243a66a-resize-750.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="578" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnCgW3Ay5DC-_N1aT0YGVzWGqVMTuAasE51Nv196WE-FtVqfSrKYqVCRByItctuNvVrHzfe-xcM5wvhag600ASd8gGPdeAN8vo6iR6DrJ42KEjOJgwvmvqAstyInziLZ6Ts8xCvmNR8ttA3-VjozLDhpsNh9mxxaJuWrMskfTGEqSehbWDXsPAfsMhUA/s320/august-czartoryski-b24bdf91-cf58-4031-b0e7-6af4243a66a-resize-750.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In July
1887, after having renounced his earthly goods and all possibility of the
throne, he entered the novitiate against his family’s wishes. He was 29 years
of age. In his efforts to adapt himself to the Oratory and its lifestyle, he
became the humblest of novices. Don Bosco, almost on his deathbed, blessed his
religious habit. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">He began his philosophy studies, but soon took ill with
tuberculosis. In the house at Valsalice, </span><st1:city style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Turin</st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">,
he met </span><b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">Venerable Andrea Beltrami</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06;">.</span> The two developed a deep spiritual
friendship, while Andrea looked after Augustus during his illness.</span></p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When he was
ordained priest at Saint Remo, on the 2ndApril 1892, his family chose to be
absent, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">having made many efforts to get him to leave the Congregation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Augustus
fully took on Salesian spirituality, especially its element of sacrifice and
offered his life and sufferings for the good of the young and the Congregation
just as Don Bosco did. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Bl. Augustus died at Alassio on the 8th April 1893, on
the Saturday of the Octave of Easter: “What a wonderful Easter!”, he had said.
He was 35 years old. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv3H1Ftsmb0MC0IkfjR_6WDi8w6AWdO7BGSyban6PjkABI_PvaBzbN1tuk9wPiIuARNpk-nRoZlZGk7Dp1rNaGpJIK2QoQA9w7Ie2d7pn_OVEH9rP63WMfQIfHSlNP3UV0H3YgKUGCmmTAWy_wTs97xdGW1A6A02nBwhQE8LsfPdXm1RdGcAwOR4NGsw/s1500/bl-ksiadz-august-czartoryski-obrazek-jednostron.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv3H1Ftsmb0MC0IkfjR_6WDi8w6AWdO7BGSyban6PjkABI_PvaBzbN1tuk9wPiIuARNpk-nRoZlZGk7Dp1rNaGpJIK2QoQA9w7Ie2d7pn_OVEH9rP63WMfQIfHSlNP3UV0H3YgKUGCmmTAWy_wTs97xdGW1A6A02nBwhQE8LsfPdXm1RdGcAwOR4NGsw/s320/bl-ksiadz-august-czartoryski-obrazek-jednostron.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">(St.) John Paul II declared him Blessed on the 25th April 2004.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-44295863001629583772024-01-07T10:08:00.000-08:002024-01-07T10:08:27.405-08:00ADORATION<p> </p><p style="line-height: 19.2pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCpslBSKfRI8JtYceeUtg4sUiJREgfIrqv_bbM2PNHV6mRn0DU5ubLHexI5hZfBAr2EbJuGJzgYv-Ab4HY6aKm4F4yvHXgb3rvpeJdFWvEBGJbIhZI6nnaNox0ms7IXhA6UclcsUCKZDZR1-cg1OTPByuO9V7fIPDS0G2SikWA0iOaQXr22yso6j03BA/s600/ew-carousel-2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="600" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCpslBSKfRI8JtYceeUtg4sUiJREgfIrqv_bbM2PNHV6mRn0DU5ubLHexI5hZfBAr2EbJuGJzgYv-Ab4HY6aKm4F4yvHXgb3rvpeJdFWvEBGJbIhZI6nnaNox0ms7IXhA6UclcsUCKZDZR1-cg1OTPByuO9V7fIPDS0G2SikWA0iOaQXr22yso6j03BA/w400-h334/ew-carousel-2.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 19.2pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black;">We have lost the habit of adoration, we have lost the ability that
gives us adoration. Let us rediscover our taste for the prayer of adoration.
Let us acknowledge Jesus as our God and Lord, and worship him... Nowadays there
is a lack of adoration among us.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 19.2pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Brothers and sisters, like the Magi, let us raise our eyes
to the heavens, let us set out to seek the Lord, let us bow our hearts in
adoration. Looking to the heavens, setting out on a journey and adoring. And
let us ask for the grace never to lose courage: the courage to be seekers of
God, men and women of hope, intrepid dreamers gazing at the heavens, the
courage of perseverance in journeying along the roads of this world with the
fatigue of a real journey, and the courage to adore, the courage to gaze upon
the Lord who enlightens every man and woman. May the Lord grant us this grace,
above all the grace to know how to adore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pope Francis, Feast of Epiphany<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2024<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="line-height: 19.2pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><p style="line-height: 19.2pt;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Painting: Kateryna Shadrina- Ukraine - University of Dayton Collection</span></p>mother hildegardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08442610007153022685noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6821153721646915445.post-37569792798629510972024-01-06T10:55:00.000-08:002024-01-06T10:55:59.178-08:00THE JOURNEY<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfodrR_2bg8ql4IyYHUsywqfn-NfAWZMwCjSazk_eNL1SQ4_5SP4aA9XH1-VgMzD2KIi4wj25vaUd7zoypLMolquIHT740ANpXsSnU2tjW4u-rCXxSpUrAVaM7roMCzv_hUgDVN1wWLQGhROGBFG3TRaQG5wPOUY5zJzP28AejrsAU0z7S4zbXfndO2GU/s525/the-adoration-of-the-magi-1988_u-L-Q1R4ZM90.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="525" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfodrR_2bg8ql4IyYHUsywqfn-NfAWZMwCjSazk_eNL1SQ4_5SP4aA9XH1-VgMzD2KIi4wj25vaUd7zoypLMolquIHT740ANpXsSnU2tjW4u-rCXxSpUrAVaM7roMCzv_hUgDVN1wWLQGhROGBFG3TRaQG5wPOUY5zJzP28AejrsAU0z7S4zbXfndO2GU/w400-h266/the-adoration-of-the-magi-1988_u-L-Q1R4ZM90.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"> JOURNEY OF THE MAGI </span></b></span><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 13.3333px;">(T.S. Eliot)</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></b></span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">A cold
coming we had of it,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Just the worst time of the year</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">For a journey, and such a long journey:</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">The ways deep and the weather sharp,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">The very dead of winter.”</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Lying down in the melting snow.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">There were times we regretted</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And the silken girls bringing sherbet.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Then the camel men cursing and grumbling</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And the villages dirty and charging high prices:</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">A hard time we had of it.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><br /></span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">At the end we preferred to travel all night,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Sleeping in snatches,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">With the voices singing in our ears, saying</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">That this was all folly.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And three trees on the low sky,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIaKq-V-0OLrRv3IjT9rWpGYtDYO0rm5hu_B7HvVstKAdP0u1DrmszWjuVS5hk7NJ1RItSTGXJay0yT1uvPFfvdsdZDO4UGuNEfZxajFx93hIdy_5KbF9bZrn9icePwVj297j9Oxjf9iZgF65cCEdkyoBKYS3GO45s2IjPk8VJdPMqxQ2GeJXny9GpBY/s1000/H20259-L290823311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1000" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIaKq-V-0OLrRv3IjT9rWpGYtDYO0rm5hu_B7HvVstKAdP0u1DrmszWjuVS5hk7NJ1RItSTGXJay0yT1uvPFfvdsdZDO4UGuNEfZxajFx93hIdy_5KbF9bZrn9icePwVj297j9Oxjf9iZgF65cCEdkyoBKYS3GO45s2IjPk8VJdPMqxQ2GeJXny9GpBY/w400-h331/H20259-L290823311.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">But there was no information, and so we continued</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><br /></span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">All this was a long time ago, I remember,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">And I would do it again, but set down</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">This set down</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">This: were we led all that way for</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">But had thought they were different; this Birth was</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -12pt;">With an alien people clutching their gods.</span></div></span><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I should be glad of another death.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Both paintings: </span><span style="background: white; color: #404040; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: center;">Tamás Galambos (Hungarian,
1939–), </span><b><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Adoration of
the Magi</span></span></em>, </b>1988.</div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-align: start;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div>
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