In the Shadow of His Wings

Sponsa Christi March 7th, 2013

Last week brought us the largest Nun Run we have ever welcomed to the monastery. About 40 high school gals came all the way from St. Mary of the Woods parish in Whitesville, KY – about 3 minutes from our monastery. They arrived in a large charter bus!  I should have gotten a picture of that.

It was a joy to share with them the riches and treasure of Passionist life, of being a bride of Christ and living as love in the Heart of the Church.

Here we are with the chaperones. Fr. Ken Geraci, CPM, spearheaded this group. Way to go Fr. Geraci!  I have to take this opportunity to put in a good word for our dear Fathers of Mercy. Fr. Geraci was just ordained a priest with this community last summer. He is currently assigned as Associate Pastor at St. Mary of the Woods. After leaving our monastery the group headed off to visit the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, TN – about 2 hour drive from here.

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Another newsworthy item of last week was of course the resignation of our beloved Papa Pope Benedict XVI. As the Nun Run was departing it was 8 p.m. Rome time and official moment of resignation. We joined with the Universal Church in praying for our beloved Pontiff Emeritus and are praying for the Cardinals as they gather for the conclave.

Pope Benedict giving his blessing to our newly elected Superior General Fr. Joachim Rego, CP, October 5, 2012

We came across the following article last week on EWTN News.  We are looking forward to receiving this letter!

Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, has written to the world’s nuns and monks to ask for their prayers for the conclave to elect Pope Benedict’s successor

“The Holy Father is certain that you, in your monasteries and convents throughout the world, will provide the precious resource of that prayerful faith which down the centuries has accompanied and sustained the Church along her pilgrim path,” Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s Feb. 21 letter says.

“The coming conclave,” Cardinal Bertone emphasizes, “will thus depend in a special way on the transparent purity of your prayer and worship.”

…

He noted that Pope Benedict “has asked all the faithful to accompany him with their prayers … and to await with trust the arrival of the new Pope.”

“In a particularly urgent way,” he added, “this appeal is addressed to those chosen members of the Church who are contemplatives.” And Cardinal Bertone advised contemplatives to look to the Pope’s example of devoting “himself above all to prayer, contemplation and reflection.”

The Secretary of State finished his letter by saying that Pope Benedict, “with whom I shared the contents of this letter, was deeply appreciative, and asked me to thank you and to assure you of his immense love and esteem.”

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• Catholic Vocations for Women , Nun Run , Passionist Life , Passionist Vocations for Women
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Sponsa Christi November 2nd, 2012

This Tuesday will bring the final evening of prayer for our national elections. These monthly evenings of worship and intercession before our Eucharistic King have been a wonderful time of grace.

We will certainly be heading to the polls on Tuesday to cast our vote. We recently watched a Voters Roundtable on EWTN which I found to be excellent! Even though it is an hour-long I highly recommend it, especially for those of you who want to vote but are struggling to decide because there isn’t a “perfect” candidate. This roundtable discusses this issue and many more. Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ is one of the guests and I have great esteem for him and his ability to speak truth with clarity – which is so needed today!

Also, The World Over of EWTN has had very informative interviews regarding the upcoming elections.

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This Tuesday, along with voting, we will have Eucharistic adoration all day, culminating in the prayer service that evening. Please join us in prayer!

The evening will consist of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Scripture Readings, Sermon by a Father of Mercy, Renewal of Consecration of our Nation to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and close with Solemn Benediction

Tuesday, November 6, 6:30 – 8 p.m. with Sermon by Fr. Ken Geraci, CPM

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Thanks to Larena Lawson, the following photos were taken during an evening of prayer held this past spring, with Fr. Tony Stephens, Vocations Director for the Fathers of Mercy, along with several of the novices.

So much is at stake. Please vote and vote with an informed conscience!

A Prayer for Our National Elections

O God, we acknowledge You today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.

We thank You for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to You.

We thank You for Your law,
Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged
And recognized as higher than any human law.
We thank You for the opportunity that this election year
puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,
But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.

Lord, we pray that Your people may be awakened.
Let them realize that while politics is not their
salvation,
Their response to You requires that they be politically
active.

Awaken Your people to know that they are not called to be
a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.

Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to You in prayer
Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read Your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that they do not cease to be Christians
When they enter the voting booth.

Awaken Your people to a commitment to justice,
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when Human Lives
Begin,
And not one moment later.

Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of Your kingdom.

May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

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• Catholic Vocations for Women , Voting Principles
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Sponsa Christi August 23rd, 2012

Be a Passionist Nun!

That’s the name of our 60 second vocation commercial that airs occasionally on EWTN.

Following the brilliant inspiration of our Mother Catherine Marie (and the inspiration of benefactors!) we had this commercial filmed a few years back.

You can check it out here at our website.

Do you know a young woman discerning a religious vocation? Please send her this link!

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• Catholic Vocations for Women , Cloistered Life , Passionist Life , Passionist Spirituality , Passionist Vocations for Women , Vocation Discernment
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Sponsa Christi July 9th, 2012

Did you hear those church bells ringing at noon on the Fourth of July – the Birthday of the Independence of our Nation? Our monastery bells rang loud and clear. This was just one of the points suggested to follow during the Fortnight for Freedom.

We are so grateful for those days…almost a week now since the Fortnight ended! We were able to take advantage of time for further reflection, education, prayer and penance for the intention of Religious Freedom for our nation.We delighted in talks from Archbishop Naumann at the Topeka, Kansas Rally and the homily given by Archbishop Chaput at the closing Mass for the Fortnight for Freedom. THANK GOD for EWTN and the continuous coverage of these events and other news of our nation and abroad.

Our Sr. Cecilia Maria treated us each evening of the Fortnight with a reading from a summary of the sobering history of our “baby” congregation during the harrowing days of the Napoleonic suppression during the early 19th century.

I will share with you a bit of that which pertains directly to our nuns. Read Sister Cecilia Maria’s full summary or go to the source for the entire story see History of the Passionists Volume II/2 by Fr. Fabiano Giorgini, C.P., translated into English in 2004.

Learning from Our Passionist Forebears
Religious Freedom and the Napoleonic Suppression

notes from History of the Passionists Volume II/2 ”
by Fr. Fabiano Giorgini, CP

 NAPOLEON’S MOTIVES

“As an absolute arbiter, Napoleon did not accept anyone escaping his control and, perhaps, feared … that religious would foment the maxims of Rome in the people, that is, fidelity to the Church’s doctrine and to the directives of the Pope.”

Napoleon was also interested in taking over “the goods of religious in order to pay for the great economic debt caused by the war, lodging soldiers, the increase of bureaucrats and for completing public works.”

The Passionist Situation

The Passionist Congregation had been in existence for ninety years…. When the suppression began in Tuscany in 1808, there were seventeen Passionist communities. At the end of 1810, all the communities were disbanded and the retreats became state property. When the monasteries were put up for sale or for rent, some houses were rented to friends who sublet them to the Passionists as ordinary citizens…. This solution, where possible, allowed at least one Passionist as custodian. Thus he was able to see that the house did not fall into greater ruin, but he was not able to prevent the emptying of its contents.

The Passionist Nuns had been in existence for only 39 years and only had the one monastery at Corneto (later the town was renamed Tarquinia). When they had to leave the monastery in June 1810, there were twenty-seven nuns: nineteen choir nuns, seven lay nuns, and one novice.

The Nuns’ Way of the Cross

On June 6, 1810, the nuns’ confessor Fr. Angelo Galassi read the imperial decree of suppression to all twenty-seven religious, gathered in the sacristy. On hearing that they would have to leave by June 15, the Sister chronicler records:

The good religious, after calming down, accepted the fact and prayed to God, truly from their hearts, that he would not permit them to return to the world, since they had abandoned it for love of him. But this time, for his own just ends, he did not answer their prayer.

On Friday, June 15, the day the Passionist nuns dedicate to spending time with Jesus in his Passion, they had to drink from his own bitter chalice as they were unjustly forced from their monastery.

• Eight nuns were natives of Corneto and could remain in the city, along with four foreigners who were also allowed to remain in Corneto because of ill health. These nuns sustained their religious life by meeting in groups of four in the houses of families who had taken them in.
• The other fifteen foreigners dispersed to their native cities.
• On January 14, 1811, the monastery was auctioned off for 35 francs.
• The monastery was assigned to the Maestre Pie, to be used as a school, an orphanage, and a clinic for sick women.

Although allowed to reunite by the papal rescript of June 30, 1814, the nuns faced significant practical and canonical obstacles to resuming their religious observance. The monastery had to be cleaned and disinfected, and a new place to be found for the Maestre Pie. Sustaining funds for the monastery and the nuns’ life had been discontinued by the French government, so new funding had to be found before the monastery could be canonically re-erected. Furthermore, a number of the nuns who wished to return were no longer able to live the observance because of infirmity.

Nevertheless, on December 23, 1814, fifteen nuns and the novice who had all returned resumed wearing their Passionist habit and renewed their religious profession in the hands of the Vicar General of the Diocese, Bishop Garrigos. Soon, five more nuns rejoined the group. Four religious had died during the suppression, one had disappeared, and one had requested exclaustration to care for her aged mother.

“The Suppression had been very hard on them, but the nuns had survived well.” The chronicler writes that, when they returned, “all took up the regular observance with readiness of spirit, as if it had never been interrupted.” In 1815, two novices were vested with the habit, and in 1816, eight novices were vested – a beautiful sign of the Resurrection for the community after their profound sharing in Our Lord’s Passion. The Divine Bridegroom is ever faithful to His faithful brides!

Advice from a letter of Sr. Magdalene Calzelli, CP:

Pray constantly to the Lord to free the entire State from our enemies. New evils have come upon us, but God can liberate us, if he wishes…. Trust in Mary Most Holy.

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• Catholic Vocations for Women , Cloistered Life , Passionist History , Passionist Life , Religious Freedom
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Sponsa Christi August 25th, 2010

    I’m sure many of you are familiar with the great conversion of Cardinal John Henry Newman to Catholicism but did you know that God used a Passionist priest as the instrument of that conversion?  Yes, with Newman’s beatification just around the corner (September 19, 2010) I thought it high time to introduce you to a little-known Passionist saint – Blessed Dominic Barberi, C.P. - whose feast day is tomorrow!

   Dominic of the Mother of God, was born of devout farming people in 1792 at Viterbo, Italy. At twenty-two years of age, he experienced the call of God to the apostolate. Leaving his farm work, he entered the Passionists where he manifested extraordinary gifts of mind and heart. After he was ordained to the Priesthood in 1818, he spent himself diligently in teaching, in the ministry of the Word, in the spiritual direction and in writing many philosophical, theological and homiletic works. 

    Filled with the spirit of Saint Paul of the Cross, he left Italy and went first to Belgium. There he established the Passionists in 1840,  and went on to England in 1842. He was now responding to a Divine call that had always been with him – to work for unity among God’s people in England. In the space of eight years he had founded four Passionist Communities and exercised an extensive apostolate by preaching missions and retreats throughout the country.

    His writings and personal holiness brought many to the faith; most prominent among those he received into the Church was John Henry Newman. Broken finally by his labours, he died at Reading on 17th August 1849, at the age of 57. He was enrolled among the Blessed by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council, on 23rd October 1963.

    The above biography is from New Advent.

    Recently Marcus Grodi interviewed Kevin O’Brien as our Blessed Dominic, CP on “The Journey Home” of EWTN. David O’Brien is the founder of “Theatre of the Word Incorporated“.  This is an EXCELLENT interview – don’t miss it!

    As I write this post our latest community newsletter “At the Foot of the Cross” is at the press. In it you will find an inspiring article about Newman and Dominic’s friendship. I’ll make sure to link to that article soon.

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Sponsa Christi July 20th, 2010

    Yea! We just heard that our vocation commercial, filmed last November 2009, has been seen on EWTN!  Please pray that Passionist Nuns will become more known and that our Lord would send us holy and healthy vocations.

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Sponsa Christi May 5th, 2010

     Things have been kind a quiet around here with half of the Sisters making their 8-day retreat. The other half of us are the “Marthas” and are keeping things running smoothly – or at least that is our aim! 

     Last fall we had a vocation commercial made in hopes that it would be aired on EWTN. Well, it takes a lot of time to get something aired on there but I thought YOU might enjoy it and would pass it on to some young women who are discerning a vocation to religious life.  We think Sister Rose Marie did a fantastic job!  

    I have some photos which I didn’t have time to post during Lent.  I’ll be sharing them in upcoming posts.  These photos were taken on the gaudeamus day of our Vicar Sr. Mary Agnes (3rd from right). 

 Sampling Sr. Rose Marie’s chocolate chip cookies. Is there anyone who doesn’t enjoy a chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven!?  Certainly a treat on a gaudeamus day!

Here Ane Kirstine gets into action making whole wheat bread. She told me the caption under this photo should be “beware of the leaven of the postulant!”  As you can tell, nuns do have a sense of humor.

     Don’t forget to check out the commercial!

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Sponsa Christi May 1st, 2010

…to stand up for Truth and to follow God’s call.

    Our community is currently watching this week’s The World Over (a Catholic news program on EWTN). Raymond Arroyo is interviewing Newt and Callista Gingrich about their new movie Nine Days that Changed the World which examines Pope John Paul II’s 1979 trip to Poland and his role in the fall of communism. WOW - many of us were brought to tears. We pray this movie will touch many hearts and open the minds of all our citizens to see where the American elite are leading our beloved nation – to be a nation of people who are not free to practice our faith.

    Speaking of Pope John Paul II, I came across the following quote in some reading I did during our annual 8-day retreat and have been looking for an opportunity to share it with you. I think I just found that opportunity. This is an excerpt from a talk given by Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B. during the Eucharistic Congress in Washington, DC last September.

     With the on-going purification the Church is going through right now and the need to keep focused on the necesity and importance of ministry and consecrated life in the Church today, I thought you would appreciate these stirring words of Pope John Paul the Great at the concluding Mass of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.

    Even a tiny flame lifts the heavy lid of night. How much more light will you make, all together, if you bond as one in the communion of the Church! If you love Jesus, love the Church! Do not be discouraged by the sins and failings of some of her members. The harm done by some priests and religious to the young and vulnerable fills us with a deep sense of sadness and shame.

    But think of the vast majority of dedicated and generous priests and religious whose only wish is to serve and do good! There are many priests, seminarians and consecrated persons here today; be close to them and support them! And if, in the depths of your hearts, you feel the same call to the priesthood or consecrated life, do not be afraid to follow Christ on the royal road of the Cross! At difficult moments in the Church’s life, the pursuit of holiness becomes even more urgent. And holiness is not a question of age; it is a matter of living in the Holy Spirit, just as Kateri Tekakwitha did here in America and so many other young people have done.

    …Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weakneses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

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Sponsa Christi September 21st, 2009

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

    This is certainly the praise to God that continues to flow from Sr. Rose Marie’s and my heart after our pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and EWTN in Alabama. Yes, this is Sr. John Mary writing and I am finally getting around to giving you all (or “y’all” as they say in Alabama) some of the “inside scoop” of our experience September 1 – 4, 2009. 

    Thanks again to all of you who spread the word about our show and who prayed for us, for without your prayers, including our family and friends and Mother Catherine Marie and our Sisters here it certainly would not have been so anointed.

    Talking about prayer, the eve before Sister and I left all the Sisters extended their hands in prayer over us and Mother led us in a wonderful prayer with various Sisters chiming in. I prayed that this appearance on “Life on the Rock” would not only bring vocations and potential benefactors to our community but also to our other 4 monasteries here in the States – do you know we have heard from our other monasteries that they are getting vocation inquiries?! That’s fantastic.

Mother anointed the van with exorcised oil before we took off

    Sister and I left mid-morning on Tuesday, September 1st. Spending the time in prayer, listening to talks by Fr. Corapi and eating and sharing among ourselves we had a wonderful drive to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL (an hour north of EWTN). This is the monastery where Mother and Angelica and the community now reside.

    As we drove into the monastery grounds and drove past the long white picket fence that first evening I felt overwhelmed at the magnitude of what one woman’s “yes” to God has accomplished. And this grand work is infinitesimal compared to Mary’s “yes”! Wow. This is truly holy ground. Of course, that is what everyone says when they enter our property. Truly, all over our nation, there are spaces set apart for the praise of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament and monastery grounds are one such place.

Does anyone know the story behind this cross?
It is just in the middle of the fields as one is driving in.
It is lit up at night.

    Hardly anyone was at the Shrine that evening and the next morning. We had lots of time to just sit inside the beautiful ”Temple” in prayer. The Lord drew us into His Presence here and prepared us for the show which would take place two nights later.

    Wednesday, September 2, began the day with Holy Mass at the Shrine. I was blessed to meet and speak briefly with Sr. Isabella Marie – one of the extern nuns. That was a delight! After more time spent in prayer Sister and I drove on into Birmingham. We timed it so as to arrive in time for the 2:45 p.m. EWTN studio tour. We also met Brother Pio Mary, MFVA for the first time. He is from our diocese and his parents are benefactors of our community. He seems to be a wonderful friar, very friendly and happy as are all the friars. They are the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word and were founded by Mother Angelica. We have made a new friend!

    We then met the wonderful producer of “Life on the Rock” – Jill Sanders – she had been setting our minds at ease for the last 2 months with her words of encouragement and overall helpfulness. God reward you Jill! After this we set off to get settled in our house before supper…or so we thought!

    We drove around back of the studio and arrived at our guest house, which we were told would be “Immaculata House”. We were through the front door with suitcases in our hands, up the stairs and ready to put our things in our rooms when I noticed that the name signs on the doors were all names of men – “Brother Simon Mary”, “Fr. Daniel Mary”. Then we noticed the sound of a man’s voice behind one of the doors. After standing for a moment in surprise and confusion Sr. Rose Marie gave the profound statement of the day: Perhaps we should go back outside and think about this. (meaning, lets get out of here and quick!) Once we were back outside someone drove up and help us figure out we had been switched to “Madonna House” next door.

    About 20 minutes later we were eating our supper when in walked two Carmelite monks. They introduced themselves as Brother Simon Mary and Fr. Daniel Mary – oops! We all had a good laugh about what happened. This certainly “broke the ice” and, after we were joined by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, provided for light banter and serious sharing the rest of the meal. These two monks of the new Carmelite monastery in Wyoming were to be the guests on Fr. Mitch’s “EWTN Live” show that evening. The three of them encouraged Sr. Rose Marie and I to attend the show and be contemplative support to these contemplative monks. I also asked a question on the live show about contemplative life in the world today. It seemed to go over well – a little practice for the show the next evening.

    Sister’s family and friends arrived at EWTN in the afternoon of Thursday, September 3 and it was a delight to greet them a couple hours before the show. We also met with Fr. Mark Mary, MFVA and Doug Barry. We all hit it off well which helped Sr. Rose Marie and I to feel at ease. Due to the grace and mercy of God I did not feel real nervous, especially after about 5 minutes of the show. Sr. Rose Marie did a great job answering their questions. She was certainly more nervous. Her mind had gone completely blank…this is when one has to totally rely on the Holy Spirit! If you are interested you can listen to the show here: Life on the Rock #626.

On stage after the show with hosts Fr. Mark Mary and Doug Barry. Thanks Fr. Mark for giving so generously
of your time that day!

New friends Brother Pio Mary and Brother Tarcisius. Brother Tarcisius is from Argentina and knows the
Passionist Nuns there.

The brothers with their “big sister”!

 It was great meeting Sr. Rose Marie’s “Aggie” friends Kimmy and Charlotte who drove in from Houston

    The next day we were blessed to attend Mass at EWTN again and Sr. Rose Marie’s family and friends joined us. After that we all drove to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and were able to spend a bit more time on these blessed grounds. 

One of the main inspirations for building this great Temple in the South happened through an inspiration from the Divino Nino Jesus to Mother Angelica.

    Sister Rose Marie and I left the Shrine around 11:30 a.m. and got home by 6:45 p.m. that evening. We were practically crawling through Nashville as it was Friday of Labor Day weekend and everyone was getting on or off of I-65!

Sr. John Mary and Sr. Rose Marie
(sort of) with Mother Angelica

    It was such a wonderful and holy experience. First of all, to proclaim and make known our Passionist life and charism – making Jesus Crucified more known and loved! Secondly, it was truly an experience of “Holy Friendship” with other persons totally consecrated to God’s glory and the redemption of the world through the proclamation, re-presentation and living of the Paschal Mystery.

    Thank you so much for your prayers and continued interest in Passionist life. If you would like to obtain a copy of the show we will soon be offering the DVD from our on-line gift shop.

    Whew! This was one loooong story…making up for no blog post last week!

Special thanks to Mark Schoppe and Charlotte McNabb for sharing their photos…some of which are used in this post.

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Sponsa Christi September 9th, 2009

    Greetings to all of you! Many of you have been trying to view the Life on the Rock show from last week and they still had the previous week’s show archived. They now have Sr. John Mary and Sr. Rose Marie’s interview archived. I don’t know how long it will be available - maybe a week, maybe 5 days???

    You will be able to obtain copies from us if you are interested. We have ordered a small amount. If you want to obtain some from us let me know and I’ll increase our order if need be. I don’t know the “suggested donation” just yet. Certainly it won’t be over $15.00 per DVD. I’ll post that info soon.

    Let us stay united in the mercy flowing from the Pierced Heart of Christ!

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