BENEDICTINE ABBESS/ARTIST

 

In doing some monastic study research, I came across another Benedictine artist- this one in England.

After training as a mural painter in the Glasgow School of Art, MOTHER JOANNA JAMIESON, OSB  joined Stanbrook Abbey in 1956. After more than 60 years in the monastery, which included two 12-year terms as abbess, she emerged from the cloister  to undertake a one-year refresher course at the Royal Drawing School in London, where she studied, well into her 70s. (Having gone back to school myself after 15 years in the enclosure to pursue a PhD, I can’t imagine what it must have been for her after such a long period).

Mural of Mother Magdalen- Photo by Patrick Comerford-2018

She has made two very large murals, one of which, in the Kairos Centre in London, depicts  Mother Magdalen (Frances) Taylor, who founded the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. Pope Francis declared her venerable, a step toward sainthood, in June 2014.

Presenting the mural, 7 feet by 4 feet, Mother Joanna joked about a “swoosh effect” of curves that connect a series of vignettes of the corporal works of mercy and other aspects of the piece. The intricacy of her creation, was a technique pioneered by Lyonel Feininger, the 20th century German-American expressionist who used overlapping triangular planes of light to convey depth, space and movement.

 Mother Joanna favors this technique and used it in both commissions, because she believes it helps to create the sense that her subjects are alive. “The large interlocking curved shapes attempt to depict the dynamic flow of the sap of the Spirit through the branches to produce the fruit.”

 “The flow of movement embracing the vine, Mother Magdalen and sisters endeavors to convey the interpenetration of past, present and future,” she explained.

The painting, created over three years using acrylic on linen, is going to be Mother Joanna’s last public commission. She now will paint only for pleasure.

 

The second mural shows the rebuilding of Buckfast Abbey in southwest England and, when it was unveiled in April 2014, was acclaimed as “accomplished” and a “stupendous work” by the editor of the British Art Journal.

This mural alone involved the design, drawing and painting of 20 panels to create an assembled work that spans 26 feet by 18 feet.  Mother Joanna labored on the project six days a week, stopping only for bouts of hip surgery.

Mother Joanna used photos from the Abbey's archives which show the monks in their habits, hammering, chiselling and hauling loads of masonry.

The mural depicts the reconstruction of its Abbey Church that took place between 1907 and 1939, the team of workers being led by four monks. and was commissioned in preparation for the Abbey’s millennium year of 2018. It is situated in the 360-seat Grange Restaurant at Buckfast Abbey. 

                          Photo- Michael Luke Davies- Buckfast Abbey Media Studios

“I am very grateful to Buckfast for asking me to do it because it has been a tremendous responsibility. It has pushed me to the limit both physically and mentally but there has been a lot of enjoyment in it as well … it really has got to be the project of my life,” said Mother Jamieson. (Catholicherald.co.uk)

UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE- ONCE AGAIN WE PRAY

 

Tomorrow is INDEPENDENCE DAY in the UKRAINE. It is the most significant state holiday, which commemorates the “Declaration of Sovereignty” of Ukraine. Before the Russian invasion  one and a half years ago, Ukrainians gathered in their city squares or went to Kyiv. There were special patriotic concerts, events, and meetings all over the country. It is also the feast of the apostle, St. Bartholomew.

Last year, celebration of the holiday was restricted within war-torn Ukraine under martial law, but large scale celebration of Ukraine's Independence was held internationally in support of the country. 

Within the United Kingdom, Independence Day saw a significant celebration from the estimated 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in the kingdom, and parades in support of Ukraine and protests condemning Russia were both held.

In Germany, a parade was held in Berlin, where a candlelight vigil was set up in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured support, stating that Germany "stands firmly by the side of the threatened Ukraine today and for as long as Ukraine needs our support," and rebuked the Kremlin for its 

In Poland, thousands of Polish citizens and Ukrainian refugees gathered in the city centers of Warsaw and Kraków in celebration and support. The Palace of Culture and Science was illuminated in Ukrainian blue and yellow.

In our own country  and Canada, there many celebrations and prayers, especially in areas with a great population of Ukrainians.

Due to the on-going war, celebrations once again will be only in nations who support Ukraine's fight for freedom.

                                                Maria Prymachenko

This year, Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, proclaimed August 24, 2023, as Ukrainian Independence Day and urges all citizens to join in commemorating this important anniversary. “On this day, let us recommit ourselves to helping the Ukrainian nation reclaim full sovereignty over its international borders and remember the heroes who sacrificed their lives to ensure freedom and happiness for future generations.”

In spite of attempts by Russia to subordinate and strip Ukraine of any form of its national identity and culture, the country remains standing and a glowing example for the democratic world to follow.

QUEEN OF HEAVEN - FIRST USA APPARITION APPROVED

 

Today we celebrate the feast of the QUEENSHIP  of MARY and I am reminded that one of our local priests made a pilgrimage this summer and brought back the information on a woman I had never heard of and the first apparition in the United States- which has been approved by the bishops of the USA.

The story begins with a young ADELE BRISE who was born in Belgium to Lambert and Catherine Brise in 1831. Adele suffered an accident at a young age that left her blind in her right eye.  Those who knew her best described her  as cheerful and pius.

When she received her first Holy Communion, Adele and a few close friends promised the Blessed Mother that they would devote their lives as religious teaching sisters in Belgium. However, when her parents decided to move to America with other Belgium settlers, she was at a loss what to do. Seeking advice from her confessor, she was told to be obedient to her parents, assuring her that if the Lord willed her to become a teacher and a sister, she would serve in that vocation in America.

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

One day while walking along a trail in the woods, Adele saw a lady dressed in white, standing between two trees. When Adele told her family, they believed her but thought perhaps it was a soul in purgatory asking for prayers. A few days later, on what is believed to be Sunday, October 9, 1859,  Adele walked to Mass with her sister and a friend. The church was 10 miles away from home, but Adele made the journey every Sunday, no matter the weather. Along the same path, Adele saw the mysterious lady standing in the same spot between the two trees. However, Adele being the only one to see her, she and her companions continued their journey to Mass.

After Mass, Adele spoke to her parish priest, and he told her that if the lady appeared to her again to ask the question, “In God’s name, who are you and what do you want of me?”

On her journey home, Adele saw the lady for the third time. As she and her companions approached the spot, Adele could see the beautiful lady, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. Her dress fell to her feet in graceful folds. She had a crown of stars around her head, and her long golden  hair fell loosely over her shoulders. The lady had such a heavenly light around her that Adele could hardly look at her face. Overcome by the light, Adele fell to her knees and said, “In God’s name, who are you, and what do you want of me?”

The lady replied, “I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning and that is well. But you must do more. You must make a general confession and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them.”

Adele’s companions, unable to see Our Lady asked, “Adele, who is it? Why can’t we see her as you do?”

“Kneel,” said Adele, “the Lady says she is the Queen of Heaven.”

The Blessed Lady gazed kindly upon them, saying, “Blessed are they that believe without seeing.” Then, looking toward Adele, the Queen of Heaven asked, “What are you doing here in idleness while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?”

“What more can I do, dear Lady?” asked Adele, weeping.

“Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.”

“But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?” Adele said.

“Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing, I will help you.”

Then Our Lady lifted her hands as though she were beseeching a blessing for those at her feet. Slowly, she vanished from sight, leaving Adele overwhelmed and prostrated on the ground.

This was the beginning of Adele’s mission to become a teacher for the Lord and His Mother.  Adele would travel as far as fifty miles to teach the children. Undeterred by weather, fatigue, or ridicule, she would go from home-to-home offering to do household chores in exchange for the privilege of teaching the children their catechism. Adele’s father built a small family chapel soon after the apparitions.

After several years of teaching alone, Adele gathered around her other women who would assist her teaching mission. They were blessed with much support, not only financially, but by the men and women who stepped forward to build a convent, school, and a larger wooden chapel on the grounds to accommodate the faithful in 1861. The words “Notre Dame De Bon Secours, Priez Pour Nous” was inscribed over the chapel’s entrance, translated as “Our Lady of Good Help, Pray for Us.”

Adele’s mission was found to be very difficult at times. Adele and her sisters often did not know from where their next meal would come. Adele would gather them in the chapel and ask for Mary’s help. Before morning, a bag of flour or a supply of meat would arrive at the door.

On October 8th, 1871, almost twelve years to the date of Mary’s last appearance to Adele, the Great Peshtigo Fire broke out. It is still considered to this day the most devastating fire in United States history, killing between 1,200-2,400 people and burning 1.2 million acres. Due to the high winds and dry grounds, the fire quickly became a storm of fire and roared like a tornado right toward the Shrine’s grounds.

 Desperate for help, people from the surrounding countryside fled to the Chapel where Adele and her companions were praying for Mary’s protection. Lifting the statue of Mary, those there that night processed around the sanctuary, praying the rosary and singing hymns to Jesus and  His Mother. When the wind and fire threatened suffocation, they would turn in another direction to pray. Early the next morning, it is believed that a steady rain came and extinguished the flames of the fire.

Although the fire charred the outside of the Shrine’s fence, it had not harmed the grounds, while the area surrounding the grounds was destroyed, and the only livestock to survive were the cattle the farmers led to the chapel. While many deeper wells in the area went dry, the chapel’s shallow well gave the cattle enough water to survive the heat.

 To this day, many descendants of those whose lives were spared during the October 8, 1871 fire come to celebrate the miracle on its anniversary. October 8 continues to draw thousands of people from around the country to visit the Shrine and join in all-night prayer into October 9 – the date historians believe marks the anniversary of Mary’s last appearance to Adele.

 Adele and her Sisters continued to teach and catechize the children long after the devastating fire.  Adele Brise was not a nun, but she adopted attire similar to a nun’s habit.

Their presence had a lasting effect on the people of the community. She lived out her ministry with zeal and love of God and Mary. Adele died on July 5, 1896, and is buried in the cemetery located near The Apparition Chapel on the grounds of the National Shrine.

Today people from all over the world come to Champion to pray at the shrine, which is 16 miles northeast of  Green Bay. On August 15, 2016, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the shrine as a National Shrine. In recognition of this, the shrine's name was changed to The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help.

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

UKRAINIAN ICONS IN FRANCE

 

Like all major events in the world- good  or evil- we tend to loose interest when they drag on and on- Is this the case for  the peoples of the Ukraine, as the invasion of their homeland seems to have no end?  I know for us in the monastery we daily pray for them, as I know others do.  But as the news is less and less, we wonder how the people are really doing?  What of the millions, especially women and children, who are refugees in foreign countries?

What has happened to some of Ukraine’s treasured art? We know a lot of it has been stored in cities in the western part of the country, but last year the Louvre in Paris began a plan to secretly remove 16 artworks from that country, far from the war raging in eastern Europe and out of reach of Russian bombs. 

The art works traveled via Poland and Germany and five are now being displayed in the Louvre, which is the world’s most visited museum. “ The Origins of the Sacred Image"will be on view through November of this year and then will be stored till they can be safely returned to their country of origin..

The artworks, from museums in Kyiv and Varvara, while hidden, were too close to becoming lost due to Russian missile attacks, so it was decided to remove what could safely be transported in specially made air-conditioned boxes under military escort.

Of the other 11 works, 9 are currently at the Louvre Conservation Center in Liévin, a city about 100 miles north of Paris, and the 2 others are in storage awaiting scientific analysis. Following the exhibition, the Louvre plans to perform an in-depth analysis of the works. 

The five pieces on view are all sacred Byzantine icons: Four are encaustic paintings, which is a form of painting where the paint is mixed with hot liquid wax. They are painted on wood from Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai and date to the sixth and seventh centuries. The fifth icon is a micro-mosaic (where tiny multi-colored stones are used to create image) of Saint Nicholas in a stunning gold frame from Constantinople that dates to the late 13th or early 14th century. 

These art pieces are  extremely rare as they survived the destruction of icons that took place in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries. There  may be only a dozen left in the world today, including the four that are now at the Louvre. So they are not just treasure of the Ukrainians  but to all the art world heritage.

This operation, unprecedented in character and scope, demonstrated France’s unwavering support for Ukrainian culture professionals, who demonstrate extraordinary energy and creativity on a daily basis in coping with the consequences of the war.

Icons: Top-  Sts Sergius and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints.  The close friendship between the two is strongly emphasized in their hagiographies and traditions, making them one of the most famous examples of paired saints.

Right- St. Nicholas

ASHES OF FAITH

 

Hawaii’s bishop, Larry Silva, visited Lahaina yesterday and was overwhelmed by what he saw.  His bishopric encompasses the entire state of Hawaii, including Maui, which is the second-largest of the Hawaiian islands and the third-most populated.  So while he is based in Honolulu, the people of Maui are his people.

 The bishop commented  on the “miracle” of the local Catholic church, Maria Lanakila (Our Lady of Victory) which escaped any damage while everything surrounding it was destroyed including the school.

 Maria Lanakila Catholic Church serves 700 to 800 families, celebrating six Sunday Masses every weekend.  The parish was founded in 1846 by Father Aubert Bouillon of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (the order of St. Damien of Molokai). Its stone church was finished in 1873 and most probably why it still stands, as most of the town was built of wood.

 The historic Congregational church founded by Hawaiian royalty  burned to the ground. Waiola Church celebrated its 200th anniversary in May. It stood on the site of Wainee Church, established in 1823 by Queen Keopuolani, the first Hawaiian baptized as a Protestant Christian. Hawaii’s kings and queens are buried in the church graveyard, the first Christian cemetery in Hawaii. Many missionaries’ children are also buried there.

 We pray to the saints of Hawaii as well as our Lady of Victory, that the people of Maui have courage and faith as they sift through the ashes of their lives.

HOLY MARTYRS UNITE US

 

In May of this year, Pope Francis  announced that the  21 COPTIC ORTHODOX MARTYRS killed by ISIS in  February 2015 on a beach in Libya, will be added to the Catholic Church’s official list of saints as a sign of unity between the two churches. He also received a relic of the martyrs’ blood as a gift.

Meeting with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Pope Tawadros II and other Coptic Orthodox representatives at the Vatican May 11, the Holy Father said:  “I am glad to announce today that, with the consent of Your Holiness, these 21 martyrs will be inserted into the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion uniting our two Churches.”

"They were killed simply for the fact they were Christians. The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard.  It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.”

“May the prayer of the Coptic martyrs, united with that of the Theotokos, continue to grow the friendship between our Churches, until the blessed day when we can celebrate together at the same altar and commune in the same Body and Blood of the Savior, ‘that the world may believe,’”  Pope Francis said.

The sacred icon here I have used before, by my friend by Nikola Sarić . He has an incredible gift of making current events so piercing to the soul- things we would rather not see. (See Blog  May 2016 on his work)

A SAINTS TEARS

August is the month to watch the night skies for meteor showers.  I remember years ago, our Mother Frances of Rome (deceased)  lying on the lawn at night watching the heavens. In any given year, when the dark heavens cooperate, the Perseids could peak at 50 to 100 shooting stars an hour. This year, the International Meteor Organization thinks that number may increase to about 150 meteors an hour. Other astronomers are calling for up to 200 meteors an hour.

The meteors are called the Perseids because the point from which they appear to hail (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus. (In Greek mythology, Perseus  is the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles). The Perseid Shower, are given this name because the fireballs seem to emanate from the constellation Perseus,

Many people called these meteors “ shooting stars”, but they are not stars, rather they are fragments falling off comets. They light up when the friction of entering earth’s atmosphere at a high speed ignites them. Most burn off by the time they reach the earth, though there have been, of course, some well known meteor strikes.

These showers are also known as the TEARS of ST. LAWRENCE because the event takes place on and around the August 10 feast day of the third-century deacon and martyr.  

St. Lawrence was in charge of Church goods and distributing alms to the poor. The Roman emperor Valerian had many bishops, priests and deacons put to death under his rule. Other Christians were forced to hand over their “riches” and sent into exile. When Lawrence was asked turn over the money in his care, he presented the poor, suffering people of his town, proclaiming them as the true treasures of the Church. He was executed in AD 258 by being roasted alive over an open fire. (He is said to have quipped, “I’m done on this side, turn me over.”)

As his mourners were carrying the body of Lawrence away, they gazed into the night and saw fiery streaks across the sky. As if the heavens were crying over his body, the Perseid meteor shower is sometimes referred to as “The Tears of St. Lawrence”. 

You can go out to watch any night beginning August 9-10, if it’s not cloudy, but the peak night should be August 11-12. Get away from artificial lights as much as possible and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Sit facing Perseus in the north-east), but let your eyes wander around the heavens. You’ll see comets darting through the sky from every direction. The best view of a meteor shower comes from the unaided eye – no telescope or binoculars required. While the action starts after 9 PM , they increase after 11:00 pm. You can be sure I will be on our deck-not lying on the lawn- watching for the tears of this great saint!

LISTEN TO HIS VOICE

Catholics need to recover a sense of awe and adoration before the Eucharist, knowing that it is "the real and loving presence of the Lord," Pope Francis told members of the committees organizing the National Eucharistic Revival and the National Eucharistic Congress in the United States in June  of 2023. 

To Bishops gathered for World Youth Day in Lisbon this week, he once again reflected on the urgency of taking up again “the prayer of adoration” before the tabernacle to recover “the taste and passion for evangelization".

"Only in adoration, only before the Lord can the taste and passion for evangelization be recovered,” the pontiff said during his Aug. 2 homily for vespers at the Jerónimos Monastery.

“Curiously, the prayer of adoration - we have lost it. We have lost it, and everyone - priests, bishops, consecrated men and women, laypeople - have to recover it. It’s to be in silence, before the Lord.”

The Holy Father gave the example of St. Teresa of Calcutta who was “involved in so many things in life, never gave up adoration even at times when her faith wavered and she wondered if it was all true or not.”

More and more I am hearing of young priests setting up chapels to the Blessed Sacrament where people can come to pray and just be quiet in the presence of the Lord, even through the night.