SUNRISE OVER BAY

 

SUNRISE OVER  SHAW ISAND

WITH MONASTERY SHEEP

 

Photo by Sarah Hui

'LONG BEARD" FUTURE SAINT OF MINNESOTA?

 

In 1971, Sisters Bernard Coleman and Verona La Bud from St. Scholastica's Benedictine Abbey in Duluth,  published a comprehensive 368-page biography of the missionary titled Masinaigans, meaning “little book.” This nickname, given by the Chippewa, referred to the priest’s constant companion, his diary. They also called him Meshidong, meaning “Long Beard.” Who is this pioneer missionary?

 MONSIGNOR JOSEPH BUH (pronounced Boo) was a pioneering missionary whose remarkable life and enduring legacy continues to inspire many. He was born on the feast of St. Patrick in 1833, in present-day Slovenia. He dedicated his life to serving Native American communities and immigrant populations in Minnesota, leaving a mark on the region’s spiritual and cultural landscape. Even the secular paper calls him a “patriarch of the Diocese of Duluth.

Coming to the United States in 1864, his extraordinary ministry was characterized by a profound commitment to the spiritual and physical well-being of those he served. He was instrumental in establishing 57 parishes and played a pivotal role as the vicar general of the Diocese of Duluth.     

Msgr. Buh’s life showed great humility, zeal, and unwavering faith. His dedication to the sacraments of the Church was profound, but equally inspiring was his dedication to the communities he served. In the 1880s, the iron ore mining boom brought a flood of new immigrants to the area.

In addition to being familiar with various Native dialects, Msgr. Buh could preach fluently in German, Polish, French and English, making him a very effective missionary to the various European immigrants settling in northern Minnesota mining towns.

He also became an advocate for the immigrant workers, who were often being subjected to unfair wages and dangerous working conditions. He tirelessly worked to meet their spiritual needs as well as advocate for better working conditions and just treatment.

In 1891, he established what would become the first Slovenian newspaper in the United States. From 1892 to 1898, he served as the editor and publisher of Amerikanski Slovenec. Initially, he managed everything for the paper, from creating layout copy to overseeing typesetting and printing. He put in long hours to ensure the newspaper’s success, driven by his goal to “better the Slovenians in America.”

His efforts in founding the American Slovene Catholic Union and his work among the Native American tribes underscore his commitment to fostering communities and supporting those in need.

During Msgr. Buh’s funeral Mass, the second bishop of Duluth, Timothy McNicholas, said that Msgr. Buh’s “love for souls was beyond our power to measure...

The casual observer would not even direct his attention to the extraordinary zeal of this gentle apostle. It is only when one realizes the great harvest that he has reaped that one is forced to take into account the many and deep furrows that he plowed in the harvest fields of Christ.

His zeal for souls was ever a burning fire. No journey on foot, no distance by horseback was too long or too trying provided a soul was to be helped at the journey’s end. He would set out with a trust in God realizing that God’s love of souls was infinite and that he was but the dispenser of the riches of God’s sacramental graces. He was ever willing to make every sacrifice in the performance of duty for the salvation of souls.”

The bishop had instructed the funeral director to make the casket metal-lined, as he considered his vicar general ‘a saint’. Even though he died over 100 years ago, many still come to the Duluth cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, laying flowers at his tomb and asking intercession for various needs.  We pray we will soon have another American saint..

PIANIST FOR UKRAINE

 

Another Ukrainian musician who has caught my attention lives in the USA. While I can’t say her music is my favorite, being very modern, I am impressed by her work and dedication to her country. Being from Kharkiv, Ukraine, pianist NADIA SHPACHENKO was shocked to see the destruction of her home and the massacre of her people. Nadia came to the US as a teenager when she received an invitation and a full scholarship to study piano with Victor Rosenbaum at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge in 1994.

 

But she still has many friends in Ukraine, so when invasion took place on her birthday in February 2022, she began  coloring her hair purple with gold streaks, the colors of her country’s flag. Her city was close to Russia hence she grew up speaking Russian.  Only now is she learning Ukrainian.  Her father still lives in the Ukraine, refusing to leave.  He is helping her daily, via internet, to learn the language and she watches Ukrainian TV as well.

Nadia completed her DMA and MM degrees at the University of Southern California, where she was awarded the title of Outstanding Graduate. Her principal teachers included John Perry, Victor Rosenbaum, and Victor Derevianko. She is a Steinway Artist and professor of music at Cal Poly Pomona University. 

Her specialty is premiering, performing, recording, and promoting music by living composers. Much of it was written specifically for her. She has mainly worked with composers in the US, but since the war she is focusing as well on Ukrainian composers. 

“I love sharing my imagination and ideas with composers and hearing their feedback as I learn their pieces, and then bringing their works to life for the first time and sharing them with audiences. I strongly believe that this is a very important task for performers—to promote newly-written music. This helps keep classical music alive, exciting, and relevant, and will leave repertoire for future generations to play.”

In a way to express her feelings of despair and anger, she decided to put together a new album to support Ukraine humanitarian aid with 100% of the proceeds benefitting Ukrainian people affected by the war. She also has been performing fundraising concerts featuring music by Ukrainian composers, which is good for us in the West as so much of this music in unknown here.

On my birthday in February 2022, the war started, Lewis Spratlan began writing Invasion, and the character of our plan for a CD of his works shifted. Positivity, defiance, perseverance, peace, nostalgia, recollections, and hope – all are displayed by the people in Ukraine, and all are reflected in the pieces on this disk. Even as all of us are comforted by timeless beauty, we are periodically reminded of the tragedy of the present. I commissioned Ukrainian artists to create paintings/artworks to use in this booklet and in the accompanying music videos, as their responses to the music. Also featured are drawings/artworks made by children in Kharkiv, as their responses to the war. Proceeds from this album will be donated to Ukraine humanitarian aid organizations. –Nadia Shpachenko

When asked how people can help support those in Ukraine, Nadia said “to promote Ukrainian culture through the arts.”  I certainly have tried through this Blog since the war started, as well as the prayers of all in the monastery on our small Salish Sea island.

A CATHOLIC QUEEN DOWNUNDER

 

I always said that if and when I visited Australia, I would also hit New Zealand.  What I did not know, till I got to Australia, is NZ is as far away from Australia as California is from New York.  Hence, I never got to NZ, but still news from there fascinates me. I recently found this- from the NZ Herald.

In a historic moment for New Zealand’s Māori, the 27-year-old and the youngest child of Kīngi Tūheitia, Ngā Wai hono I te pō, has been anointed as the new MAORI Queen and leader of the Kīngitanga movement.

 Ngā Wai hono i te pō becomes the eighth Māori monarch, continuing a direct lineage from the first Māori King.  She was annointed by Archbishop Don Tamihere.

The new queen’s grandmother, Māori Queen, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, requested before her death in 2006 that her granddaughter convert to Catholicism.

In a significant cultural and spiritual unity gesture, during the Tira Hoe Waka, the annual canoe journey down the Whanganui River, the Queen asked the bishop to baptise her granddaughter at Parakino (200 miles from Aukland).

The baptism was a symbolic act to “join the two Rivers” of Waikato and Whanganui, with hopefully the forging of a powerful bond between the Tainui Waka of Waikato and the Aotea and Takitimu Waka of Whanganui.  The baptism represented a unification of faiths, bridging the Kīngitanga movement and the Catholic Church.

 Pīhopa Mariu was of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, an important whakapapa to the Region. He followed up on the Māori Queen’s request and baptised Ngawai at Huntly. Hence, her name arose, ‘Ngāwai Hono ki Parikino’, the “Joining of the Rivers”.

 This act of spiritual diplomacy aimed to strengthen ties between two significant Māori communities, blending traditional Māori customs with Catholic practices.

 The late Queen’s initiative highlights the ongoing efforts of Māori leaders to foster unity and understanding across different iwi and religious traditions, continuing the legacy of cultural preservation and interfaith dialogue in New Zealand.

 NZ First MP Shane Jones commented on the appointment, saying “She will be the face of renewal” and suggesting she may “personify the aspirations” of Māori youth.

 As the only daughter and youngest child of Kīngi Tūheitia, she has been groomed for this role and is poised for what could be a long reign, carrying forward the legacy of the Kīngitanga movement.

 Te Tiriti o Waitangi lawyer Annette Sykes, who has spent her career fighting for the rights of Māori, said the new Queen represents the future she has been aiming for.

 “She’s inspiring, the revitalisation and reclamation of our language has been a 40 year journey for most of us and she epitomises that, it is her first language, she speaks it with ease. Political, economic and social wellbeing for our people is at the heart of what she wants and in many ways she is like her grandmother, who was adored by the nation.”

SAINTS OF MEXICO

 

 

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VENERABLE FELIX de JESUS ROUGIER was born in Meilhaud, France, in 1859. After completing his primary studies, Felix entered the school-seminary of Le Puy. At age 18, during a talk on the missions in Oceania, he felt God's call and decided to become a missionary and entered the novitiate of the Marist Fathers. 

He was ordained to the priesthood on September 24, 1887. After his Ordination, he was assigned to the Marist Scholasticate in Barcelona, Spain, where he taught Sacred Scripture for eight years. 

On July 12, 1895, Father Felix was sent to Colombia. There, he developed a fruitful ministry as a teacher, preacher, apostle of the poor, military chaplain, local superior of his community, and the interim Vicar General of the Diocese of Tolima. At that time, Colombia's civil war was escalating, so the Marist superiors decided to send their religious to Mexico. 

In 1901, Father Felix was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Mexico City. While serving the French community in the Mexican capital, he experienced a growing desire for a deeper spiritual life and asked the Holy Spirit to lead him. His first encounter with the mystic Venerable Concepción Cabrera occurred on February 4, 1903.  He heard her confession but in a turn of events, she wound up advising him. "She revealed to me all the nooks and crannies of my soul...that I needed to make a conscious effort to give myself to the service of God: that I should make a new start."

That first meeting with such a holy woman of God reinforced in him the desire to live a life of perfection.  At this time, Father Felix added Jesus to his name as a sign of his complete belonging to the Lord.

Feeling called to begin a new religious community, he started a long and serious discernment process, openly consulting with many ecclesiastical officials. He left for France on July 16, 1904, to ask his superior's permission to start the foundation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. 

His request was denied, and he was ordered to cut communications with Mexico. He obeyed his superiors, and for the following ten years, he lived what he described as his "exile" in Europe. In 1913 Pope St. Pius X gave permission for the foundation. Father Felix returned to Mexico, and the Congregation was founded on December 25, 1914.

Father Felix's apostolic zeal also led him to the foundation of three religious communities of women: the Daughters of the Holy Spirit on January 12, 1924, the Oblates of Jesus the Priest on February 9, 1924, and the Missionaries Guadalupanas of the Holy Spirit on September 15, 1930. 

He had a special love for priests and the priesthood. In times of religious persecution in Mexico, he promoted an inter-diocesan seminary in the United States and founded a house for priests in Mexico City. 
On September 24, 1937, Father Felix celebrated his priesthood's golden jubilee, surrounded by the love of his spiritual daughters and sons. He had earned a reputation for his holiness of life, and people recognized him as a man of God.

 At the end of his life, he said, "In my life, Jesus has done it all" and, "With Mary everything, and without her, nothing."

Venerable Felix of Jesus  died on January 10, 1938. In June of 2000, Pope St. John Paul II acknowledged his Christian virtues to be those of a heroic degree and declared him Venerable.

A PRINCELY MAN

BL. LADUSLAUS BATTHYANY-STRATTMANN was born in 1870 in Dunakiliti, Hungary, into an ancient noble family. He was the sixth of 10 brothers. In 1876 the family moved to Austria. When Ladislaus was 12 years old his mother died. At a young age he knew what his path in life would be. He often said: "When I grow up, I will be a doctor and give free treatment to the sick and the poor".

When he was preparing for his university studies, Ladislaus's father wanted him to receive the education he would need to look after the family property. Ladislaus therefore enrolled in agriculture studies at the University of Vienna, where he also studied chemistry, physics, philosophy, literature and music. It was not until 1896 that he began to study medicine in which he obtained a degree in 1900. 

In 1898, he married Countess Maria Teresa Coreth, a deeply religious woman. Their marriage was a happy one  and produced 13 children. The family attended Mass daily, and  after Mass Ladislaus would give the children a catechism lesson and assign each one a concrete act of charity for that day. Every evening after they prayed the Rosary they would review the day and the assigned act of charity.

In 1902, Ladislaus opened a private hospital in Kittsee with beds for 25 patients. Here he began working as a general practitioner, later specializing as a surgeon and oculist. During the First World War, the hospital was enlarged to admit 120 wounded soldiers.

On the death of his uncle, Ödön Batthyány-Strattmann, in 1915, Ladislaus inherited the Castle of Körmend, in Hungary. He also inherited the title "Prince" and the name "Strattmann". In 1920 his family moved from Kittsee to Körmend. They turned one wing of the castle into a hospital that specialized in ophthalmology.

 Ladislaus became a well-known specialist in this field, both in Hungary and abroad. He was also known as a "doctor of the poor", and the poor flocked to him for assistance and advice. He treated them free of charge; as the "fee" for their medical treatment and hospital stay, he would ask them to pray an "Our Father" for him. The prescriptions for medicines were also free of charge and, in addition to providing them with medical treatment, he often gave them financial assistance.

 As well as the physical health of his patients, Ladislaus was also concerned with their spiritual health. Before operating he would ask God to bless the operation. He was convinced that as the medical surgery was his domain, he was still an instrument in God's hands, and that the healing itself was a gift of God. Before his patients were discharged from the hospital, he would present them with an image of Our Lord and a spiritual book entitled: "Open your eyes and see". He was considered a "saint" by his patients and even by his own family.

 When Ladislaus was 60 years old, he was diagnosed with a tumor of the bladder. He was admitted to the Löw Sanatorium in Vienna. This was to be the greatest trial of his life. His patience and charity were unfailing. From the sanatorium he wrote the following words to his daughter, Lilli: "I do not know how long the good Lord will make me suffer. He has given me so much joy in my life and now, at the age of 60, I must also accept the difficult moments with gratitude".

To his sister he said: "I am happy. I am suffering atrociously, but I love my sufferings and am consoled in knowing that I support them for Christ".

 Blessed Ladislaus died in Vienna on 22 January 1931 after 14 months of intense suffering. He was buried in the family tomb in Güssing. His lifelong motto had been: "In fidelity and charity".

NOT AN ORDINARY MAN

 

An example of an “ordinary” man, whose love of Christ was so great, he was willing to battle against the evils of his day.

BL. BENEDICT DASWA (his full name was Samuel Tshimangadzo, meaning miracle or wonder)  was born in 1946 the eldest of five children, four sons and one daughter, in the small village of Mbahe about 20 kms from Thohoyandou, the capital of the old Venda “Homeland” in the Province of Limpopo. Limpopo is a South African province bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It's known for bushveld and wildlife reserves, including part of Kruger National Park. West of the Kruger are the craggy Blouberg mountains and Makgabeng Plateau with ancient rock art. Near the provincial capital Polokwane are the fossil-rich caves of Makapansgat dating back to early hominids

 Venda is often referred to as “the land of a hundred streams” because of its fertile land and good rainfall. It is a scenically beautiful part of the country with its rolling hills and deep valleys, its lush vegetation and areas of raw, rugged landscape. It was one of the ten tribal areas called Homelands or Bantustans where Africans had limited self-government over areas such as education, health, courts, police, prisons and social services. The Homelands comprised less than fifteen percent of the country. They were one of the main pillars of the racist apartheid system which became government policy in 1948 when Benedict was only a two years old.

For the millions of people who were not part of the White race there was the daily humiliation and injustice of being victims of racial segregation and discrimination on a grand scale. One of the African Catholic Bishops from this country used to say, “I never feel I’m a free person until I step outside South Africa”. This is the South Africa into which Bl. Benedict was born and in which he lived his whole life.

His family belonged to the Jewish Lemba tribe in rural Limpopo, the northernmost province of South Africa. He grew up observing Jewish customs, then converted to Catholicism and was baptized in the Church at the age of 17. He took the name Benedict after the sixth century monk and after Benedict Risimati, his catechist who instructed him in his faith as a teen.  His birthday immediately brings to mind the uprising against the Apartheid government in 1976 in which many young people lost their lives. It is now kept as a public holiday called Youth Day.

At first glance, what strikes one most about Benedict Daswa is how ordinary he was. He came from a family that was poor but not destitute. Like many boys in rural South Africa at a young age he became a herd boy before going to school and eventually becoming a teacher and a school principal. He was the father of eight who helped build a parish.

 The reality is that for those who knew him well, while he was just an ordinary young man in so many ways, he was also an extraordinary man. He was an exceptional human being. He was a deeply committed Christian totally in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and with the human family.

He lived a saintly life and died a martyr’s death. Father Benoit Gueye MSC, the parish priest of Thohoyandou, calls Bl. Benedict a role model, “I am always saying to the people here ‘don’t forget that from among you God chose a role model for all Christianity. From this far place, that’s where God went and picked his role model. This was a simple man who was a witness to Jesus in the world and was willing to die for that.”

 The Church has now added Benedict Daswa to this growing list of modern Saints and Martyrs in Africa. Like the Martyrs of Uganda, Benedict has left us many good lessons for the moral formation of our members and especially the Catholic youth. He is also an inspiration to the wider society in which many people are struggling for inner liberation from the fear and suffering caused by the practice of witchcraft.

In January 1990, the Venda area of northern South Africa experienced unusually heavy rain and lightning. Lightning struck a number of huts in the area, prompting the headman of Mbahe village to convene his council to discuss their concerns, as many villagers did not regard this as a natural phenomenon. Benedict was secretary to this council, but was not involved in the discussion. The council concluded that someone had to be responsible for the erratic weather and that therefore, a traditional healer had to be consulted in order to identify the culprit. A financial contribution of five South African rands was required from all the villagers to pay the healer’s consultation fee. At the time, Benedict  was headmaster of a primary school, a position which in many rural settings in Africa commands great influence and respect. He spoke out against the witch-hunt and refused to pay the fee, immediately earning himself enemies.

On the evening of February 2, 1990 (the same day that South African President F.W. de Klerk announced the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela from prison), Benedict  was attacked by a mob of young men while trying to clear a road of fallen trees. The mob began stoning the car he was driving and injured him. The bleeding saint escaped on foot and found a house to hide him, but eventually the owner of the house, fearing for her safety, revealed his whereabouts to the mob. Having found Benedict, the violent crowd sang and chanted while taunting him, beat him up with clubs, poured boiling water on him, and left him dead. His final words, reportedly, echoed those of Christ on the Cross: “God, into your hands receive my spirit.”

About 30,000 people, including Blessed Daswa's eight children and his 91-year-old mother, attended the beatification at his shrine in his home village of Tshitanini, more than 100 miles northeast of Tzaneen. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, concelebrated the Mass with many bishops and priests.

Millions of Catholics in Africa are believed to have followed the ceremony on television. Daswa is the first South Africa-born Catholic to be beatified.

Bishop Joao Rodrigues of Tzaneen praised Dawsa (using his full name), saying that "by his courage and his fidelity to the Catholic faith, Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa is a model for all the people in Africa."

Pope Francis  declared February 1 as Blessed Benedict Daswa's feast day.