SAINT MECHTILDIS OF EDELSTETTEN - MAY 31, 2022

 

 Saint Mechtildis

Died May 31, 1160

I have previously mentioned that I have no "close family" but this is not strictly true, because if I may include my relatives in heaven, I have a huge family that is the closest POSSIBLE.

Now, Saint Mechtildis, a wonderful mystic and miracle worker, is almost a "shirt tail relation, we are so distantly related in worldly terms, but her availability to me, by virtue of her presence in Heaven, is very near me, indeed.

In life, she was the grandaunt of the wife of my 2nd cousin, 24 times removed! That's a mouthful, isn't it? I can't even picture it, except I know that 24 times removed" means 24 generations separated. That's about right, because Saint Mechtildis died in 1150, which was 872 years ago.

The saints, in Catholic terms, are people who were so holy that The Church has confirmed that they are, without a doubt, in Heaven already and, because of this, Saint Mechtildis is right here in the room with me when I am speaking to her, thinking about her, and asking her to intercede for me.

She herself was closely mystically aligned with the saints in Heaven and was pious from an early age. In fact, she was only 5 years old when her parents set her up in a monastery on their property in Diessen, Bavaria. So, she was raised by nuns, which was no unheard of in those days, especially among the nobility, such as her parents, the Count and Countess of Andechs.

In time, she became a full fledged Benedictine nun, and when the Mother Superior of the convent died, the Bishop of Augsberg appointed her to the position, despite the fact that she was very young for that job, at 28 years old. She got some pushback to her efforts to reform the place, something that the bishop had instructed her to do, but it wasn't until the Bishop managed to eject a couple of the troublemakers who were prone to gossip, that she was able to do as she was told and bring the convent closer to the Benedictine standard.

Mechtildis was not a flat 2-dimensional character. In addition to her practical and managerial skills, she was often found in a mystical trance that lasted hours, during which she had ecstatic visions. She was widely reputed to have healed a number of people suffering from defects of sight or hearing.  This is a reminder to me and to all of us that we are not limited by our station in life or the number of mundane duties we are required to perform. We can still become saints, and we are encouraged to try. I find that meditation on her life is reassuring.

Then, there are days like I have had today, when my disabilities and defects have prevented me from doing much of anything at all, with the exception of replacing the computer virus software of my laptop and taking a parcel to the small local post office near my house that has limited hours. Half the time the postage meter is not working or something is "down" and we all have to jerry rig a solution. The parcel got mailed, though with slightly less postage than would have been required if the machine had been up and running. The clerk had to put something like 6 stamps on the dang thing!

When I got home, I was unable to do anything but have a little something to eat and collapse on the reclining chair! At least I was able to write this.

Anyone interested in contemplative life would do well to have a look at the life of Mechtildis and turn your mind to her during meditation and ask for her intercession. Tell her I sent you.

Silver Rose

SAINTS JOAN OF ARC AND FERDINAND III OF CASTILLE - MAY 30, 2022

 

Joan of Arc

1412 - 1431

I was conflicted about WHICH  saint to meditate on today: Joan of Arc, one of my favorite female saints, or King Ferdinand III of Castille, my 25th great grandfather. Complicating it is my relationship to King Charles VII of France, my 11th cousin, 15 times removed, for whom Joan of Arc went to war and whose monarchy she was instructed to save by saints and angels who appeared to her and spoke to her when she was a young teen.

Knowing my relationships to the saints has helped me tremendously in my spiritual life. It is always a good thing when history can be made to "come to life" for us.

Charles VII of France

Aided by Saint Joan of Arc

My 11th cousin, 15 times removed

Common ancestor: William the Conqueror

Anyway, I am devoting some time to each of these saints.

The thing that strikes me as being relevant to our time is that Joan of Arc was executed primarily because she wore men's clothing to save herself from being raped by her jailers. Previously, she had been tried for this and for heresy and witchcraft but had avoided execution with a life sentence instead. Then, after the first trial, she had to wear men's clothing again, to protect her modesty, but they decided to kill her for it.  That's the given reason, but we all know that women who wield power terrify men and they'll do anything they can to disrupt it. Who knows which reason was primary? People really DID believe in witchcraft in those days.

Joan, a French citizen, was put into the hands of the English by the government of Burgundy, who captured and sold her. That girl just could not catch a break.

Welcome to the era when the Church ruled the land and women were burnt alive by supposedly holy men because they wore pants. This is how crazy it can get when church and state coalesce.

Saint Joan is only one of thousands of women who were executed in horrific ways by The Catholic Church for ridiculous reasons, such as wearing pants, witchcraft, and the like. They were burned alive - usually after being tortured. 

Elevating supposedly moral flaws to the level of an offense worthy of execution is what happened when government control was was wielded by The Church in England, which is why the founders of our country were keen to keep religion out of politics. But here we are again - fighting off a hostile takeover of the government by a religion.

Don't get me wrong. I am Catholic and I love the faith. I am a believer, but I am not enthusiastic about repeating the errors of the past because I have "met" a lot of people on the internet who appear to be proponents of force and punishment whose language is so extreme that I could easily picture them putting people to death for voting for a Democrat.

Saint Joan of Arc

Listening to the voices of the angels

There is SO much written about Saint Joan of Arc, I am not going to reinvent the wheel. I just wanted to make that comment about how that very holy, very pure and very young girl was put to death by religious = authorities when she was only 19. She had been 13 when she started hearing the voices and seeing visions. She was about 17 when she went to war to help establish my cousin, Charles VII, on the French throne.

I also want to add that, in addition to all of that, she had to endure the humiliation of being poked and prodded in her nether regions by nuns tasked with determining if she was a virgin or not!

From the vantage point of a woman born and raised in the U.S., without ever having to answer to any government official about the condition of my hymen or whether or not I wear PANTS, I feel renewed gratitude for all my freedoms, but I DO remember what a big deal it was to be allowed to wear pants to school when I was in my teens....a vestige of the controls that government authorities have typically exerted over women throughout the ages.

 

Saint Ferdinand III

King of Castille, Leon, Galicia & Toledo

(various time frames)

5 August 1201 - 30 May 1252

My 25th great grandfather

Saint Ferdinand, my 25th great-grandfather, has a lot less dramatic a story than poor Joan of Arc. He was King of Castile and died a couple hundred years before she was burnt at the stake.

He was a devout monarch, and, in addition to grabbing some territory from the Muslims, he is credited with the establishment of  churches and religious institutions. He was a very successful leader who brought together disparate territories. He a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and was buried in its habit. I sense that he was a kind man. It is said that he was careful not to burden his subjects with too much tax or odious laws as he feared the curse of one poor woman more than an army of Saracens!

I am proud to include him in my family tree.

Today is Memorial Day, a day on which we honor men and women who died during their service in the U.S. Armed Forces, particularly those who died in battle or from wounds received in battle. It is said they made the "ultimate sacrifice" for their country, somewhat as Saint Joan of Arc did for hers. Not a great comparison, I admit...but it's the best I could come up with.  

Reading about the battles of Joan of Arc and Ferdinand III of Castile brings to mind the horrors of war and just how violent human beings can be. Even religious folk are violent - killing women for being witches or wearing men's pants, even after they have accomplished great things in battle, at the behest of God Himself.

Personally, I am a pacifist and abhor violence. I veer away from capital punishment and never even slapped my child in jest, much less spank him for some infraction. I just don't believe in hurting people, but I am out of step with human beings, as a whole. I hope those that believe in hurting other humans can catch up to the pacifists one day.

God bless you all!

Silver "Rose"

            

BLESSED MARGARET POLE - MAY 28 - MARTYRED AT THE CONFLUENCE OF CHURCH AND STATE

 

Blessed Margaret Plantagenet Pole,

Countess of Salisbury

Martyr

14 August 1473 - 28 May 1541

MY COUSIN, BLESSED MARGARET POLE

Blessed Margaret Plantagenet Pole is my 6th cousin, 17 times removed. We share a common ancestor, who is Edward I "Longshanks," King of England, my 24th great grandfather. She was put to death in the Tower of London on the order of Henry VIII because she was Catholic, essentially and because Henry VIII was a brutal, maniacal ruler who did not want to follow the rule of the Pope with regard to his multiple marriages and his moral failings.

Henry had made himself the ruler of The Church in England, breaking off from the Catholic hierarchy and creating a new organization. Anyone who did not express absolute loyalty to him and his new church was in danger of losing their heads. Even the accidents of birth and relationship were enough to convict someone,  absent any other proof whatsoever.  

SHE WAS DEVOTED TO THE WRONG RELIGION

Margaret was given no trial and did not even know that she was going to be executed until an hour beforehand.  It was done so quickly, with so little advance notice, that many people doubted it had happened at all. The executioner was a young man with very little experience and, instead of a clean and swift chop, Margaret was hacked to death with multiple blows of the axe to her head and shoulders.

She was 68 years old - the same age I will be in a few months.

ENGLISH FLEE TO THE NEW CONTINENT

About 100 years later, the English nobility have sent their "second sons" to the new continent to grab land and create wealth from the natural resources. Those who chafed under the tyranny of official state religion escaped here for religious freedom. When the yoke of the British had been thrown off in another few hundred years, the separation of church and state was a primary principle. No more would the citizens suffer under the religious declarations issued from the seat of government.

2022 - A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL BLACKMAILED BY A BISHOP

I did not become Catholic so I could spend time arguing about POLITICS. I was attracted to the faith because of the experience of the mystics, most of whom were monastics of one stripe or another. I was warned by a mother superior of a modern convent that I would not find that mystical life in the parishes, and she was right. 

This obsession with trying to make abortion illegal again has gotten on my ninth nerve. There is a huge movement in the Catholic Church at the moment and they call themselves "Pro-Life" but most of them that I encounter on social media only seem to be interested in one political method that supposedly addresses ONE issue (abortion) but that method never worked in the past. So it is neither logical nor inclusive of the myriad ways in which life needs to be supported from conception until natural death. I have friends who have a more global perspective so I am obviously not talking about everyone in that movement. It is the PUBLIC face of the movement that is the problem.

Anyway, I did not leave the Hindu convent to get furiously involved in political life, but today we are deluged with news items about Nancy Pelosi and how her Bishop has publicly shamed her by denying her communion in light of a position she has taken in her government job, and I find it hypocritical and upsetting on many levels.

I myself am Catholic and I LOVE the faith, but I am not in favor of forcing it on anyone else. It would be a LOT more comfortable if everyone around me was Catholic. That would be super! But you can't make someone behave as if they belong to your faith and believe as you do. It just doesn't work and it isn't what Jesus had in mind when he sent out the evangelists, I am sure of it. Nowhere did he say that Christians should dominate the government and force non-Catholics to adhere to its views. 

Criminalizing abortion did not stop them before, and Pelosi knows this. I remember 1973 when the result of Roe v. Wade was announced. It made NO impression on me or any of my contemporaries because abortions were already widely available. There were people who were relieved that abortions would thereafter be SAFER, since they could be done in a medical setting, but that was the only change that we talked about when we learned that abortion was legal.

In fact, I was pregnant at the time. I was only 18, newly married, and I was glad that I was too far into my pregnancy for my new husband to pressure me to get an abortion because we REALLY could not afford to have a child. We were Scientologists, living in the Sea Organization, and the Scientology hierarchy ended up refusing to pay the hospital bill (after promising that all medical bills would be paid if we joined.)  In fact, I only saw a doctor ONCE while I was in the Sea Org, and they never did pay that bill, as far as I know.

Prior to Roe v. Wade, I could have gotten an abortion but I personally did not want one, and the fact that it was illegal was another tool in my arsenal of defending myself against pressure to abort. I could say they were dangerous, which was true, and illegal, etc. But anyone who wanted an abortion could GET one. They are always available to anyone determined to have one. I just wasn't one of those people.

If the hard right has its way and abortion is criminalized again, I am assuming it will go back into the alley it came from and a lot of women will die, along with their babies, in botched back-alley abortions. So I am wondering what the "pro life" crowd is accomplishing by making it illegal instead of addressing the CAUSES behind the high numbers of abortions in our country.

THE HYPOCRISY OF UNEVEN APPLICATION

I don't see anyone getting publicly shamed and refused communion for supporting capital punishment executions. 

Nor is anyone being denied communion for advocating for the free sale of military style rifles in the wake of all these mass murders that are endemic to the U.S. and unknown elsewhere. 

Some types of contraceptives are considered abortifacient by The Church, but no one is being banned from communion for speaking out in favor of them.

In the Catechism, vasectomies are considered equally as evil as abortion, but there is no one trying to criminalize them and I do not see any bishop publicly naming every man who has ever had one and telling them they are banned from receiving communion until their vasectomy is surgically reversed!

THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS

First of all, Pelosi is not having abortions or encouraging people to have them. She has a job in a secular government that is founded on a first principle of separation of church and state.

She is also aware of the fact that abortions continue at a fair clip regardless of whether or not they are legal. Fewer women die in abortions when they are legal. That seems to be the only difference I can ascertain.

Criminalizing abortion will do little to stem the tide of abortions because abortions are not CAUSED by a law approving them. Most women cite financial reasons for having them. Some people will not be able to afford them, so we will have more poor women with fatherless children on our hands. Is THAT "pro life?"

On the other hand, if the causes of abortion were addressed, you could have an abortuary on every corner and every operating room would be silent and empty.

I DON'T HAVE A DOG IN THIS FIGHT

I am too old to have an abortion myself and I would do my best to discourage anyone I know from having one. But many years ago I realized that there is a very easy way to avoid having to deal with this issue at all, and that is to not have sex with anyone to whom I am not married. 

Now, I have very strong monastic leanings, so I am going to assume that avoiding sex outside of marriage may be harder for some other women to do, given the strength and power of hormones, etc. But STILL.... you have to admit that the choice to have sex IS, at least, the FIRST choice in matters having to do with this topic. So, if you are going to talk about "choice," I think it is disingenuous to ignore the opportunities for choice prior to finding oneself pregnant. There were a few choices made BEFORE the pregnancy that would have derailed getting pregnant to begin with. (Obviously I am not talking about rape, which is a violation of all a woman's choices.)

Even so - I would not legislate sex outside of marriage as a criminal act any more than i would criminalize contraceptives, etc.

The Tower of London

where Lady Margaret Pole lived

the last two years of her life

THE CARROT VERSUS THE STICK

There is a strong faction speaking loudly into the public space that is advocating for shame, force and punishment. This is a negative approach that does not work because it causes a lot of "unintended" consequences. Personally, I think that attracting someone to something POSITIVE is a lot more helpful to society than public shaming, forcing behavior to mimic moral belief systems and punishing people who don't get in line with them.

If we really want to be a society that is pro-life and pro-family, these positive measures would do more to limit abortions than the "shame, force and punishment" method:

1. Government provided maternity and paternity leave for the first year after a child is born.

2. Government provided childcare options through age 12 or 13.

3. A decent "living wage" that allows for the support of children. CEOs are actually taking vacations IN OUTER SPACE because they have more money than they know what to do with, while their employees can't afford proper food, housing and medical care. It is a sacrilege!

4. Universal health insurance for all Americans.

5.  Make the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. The degree to which one benefits by conducting business in the United States is the degree to which one should pay for the privilege.

6. Abolish capital punishment.

7. Outlaw military style assault weapons and enact other laws around ensuring the safety of all citizens against being murdered by guns.

8. Provide education through 4 years of college. An educated population is a healthier, more productive population - which is good for everyone.

I am sure there are more I would agree with, but you will notice that I am in favor of the carrot, rather than the stick. In my experience, force and punishment do NOTHING to convert anyone to a point of view.  

Besides which, I believe we need to stop acting like we hate one another and that we are all in competition with one another for limited resources so that only a small handful can arrive at the top of the survival pyramid. It is toxic and UNTRUE. We are the most wealthy nation in the world and we do not suffer from limited resources. OTHER countries with far less money manage to support their citizens with the benefits I have outlined, above, and there is no reason we cannot do it as well.

OTHER BISHOPS DISAGREE WITH CORDILEONE

Calling out a parishioner publicly and publicly announcing their sin and that you are banning them from receiving communion is hardly a positive pastoral approach! If my bishop doesn't talk to me but instead issues a public shaming, I would not take it well.

Here is a letter from the bishop of Dubuque, Iowa with his thoughts about this topic. You may have to fiddle with your zoom function to read it. Let me know if you have a problem and I will try to get you a copy.

SATAN IS THE FATHER OF ALL LIES, NO MATTER WHAT SIDE YOU ARE ON

It makes me sad to see each side lying about the other. "Pro-choice" people claim that the opposing side "just wants to control women," when the fact is that Catholics and other Christians believe that people must be open to the grace of God and be receptive to life which begins at conception and ends at natural death. 

On the other side, "Pro-life" people claim that "pro-choice" people are "pro-abortion." NO ONE is happy to have an abortion. Pro-choice people believe that a woman must be free to choose what happens to her body and what children she will have. They are not seeing MY point - that the choice was made when they chose to have sex - but I am regularly laughed out of conversations when I posit this solution. It isn't something that even Catholics are willing to take seriously.

Each side lies to make their side sound better and few people are trying to see the point that the other side is actually making. How can any progress be made under these circumstances?

You can fool yourself into thinking you have made progress by forcing people to do what you want with laws and punishments, but it isn't going to work because you have not evangelized.

Or you could fool yourself into thinking that all you have to do is keep abortion legal and then the "problem" is solved.

"The problem" is not that abortions are legal. "The problem" is that people want them or think they need them. A law that criminalizes abortions is not going to fix that. It did not work before. It won't work now.

Instead of continuing this fight into the next few decades, we need to change our approach.

But, like I said, I do not have a dog in this fight. I am going to go back to prayer and meditation, writing and painting, and hope that the movers and shakers in charge of the world will somehow get it right.....and I hope to God I don't have to talk about this topic any more because I am just sick of it.

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose"

FEAST OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE DE PAZZI - CATHOLIC MENTAL PRAYER AND MEDITATION

 

Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

(1566-1607)

Feast Day May 26

Patroness against bodily ills, sexual

temptation, sickness

Patroness of sick people

Mary Magdalene de Pazzi is one of my favorite mystics. In addition to her love of mental prayer, she is the patroness of sick people (among other things) and she was a Carmelite nun.

From a very early age, she was attracted to contemplative prayer, and it was so obvious to everyone who knew her that her mother requested of The Church that she be taught mental prayer that involves lengthy sessions of meditation when she was about 9 years old.

I know what it feels like to be attracted to contemplative life at a young age.  When I was 11, I was living in Carmel Valley, very near the Carmel mission, and I used to cycle over there on my little Schwinn Bicycle and wander through the grounds, visiting the book store and talking to the nice man behind the counter. Occasionally, he would give me little medals and holy cards. I wish I could thank him today, but he has most probably gone to his reward already.

Unlike Mary Margaret's household, there was NO religion in my family. My mother hated religion and particularly hated Catholics. I had a short series of correspondence with the Catholic nuns in Carmel, but my mother put a stop to it when it became obvious that I was very attracted to the life of silence and contemplative prayer, and her hatred for the Catholic Church resulted in her refusal to allow me near it.

"Trials are nothing else but the forge

that purifies the soul of all its

imperfections."

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

To this day, I still have a strong feeling for the Carmelites and enjoy the Catholic mental prayer that is the bailiwick of the Carmelite mystics and saints!

We have some writings of this remarkable saint that have endured to this day. Most interesting are the 12 letters in which she continually confirms that the words are not hers, but given to her by God while in an ecstatic state of union with Him.

Franciscan Media defines "mystical ecstasy" as "the elevation of the spirit to God in such a way that the person is aware of this union with God while both internal and external senses are detached from the sensible world." (See their page on Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi at THIS LINK)

I have become inspired to learn more about this saint and will be including her in my private studies. If you are at all interested in the lives of the saints, and especially those who practiced mental prayer with some miraculous results, I recommend you do the same!

CATHOLIC MENTAL PRAYER

"There is no greater sign of being dear

to God than suffering joyfully for love

of him."

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

SAME GOAL, DIFFERENT METHOD

I have many years of experience with Buddhist and Hindu (Vedanta style) meditation and, while the goal is substantially the same as the Catholics, the methods differ. Eastern religious traditions generally attempt a type of unitive prayer that quiets the discursive mental processes, while Catholic mental prayer activates it and makes use of our intellect in a targeted fashion. 

We all want to be closer to God, spend time with Him, and be as like Him as is possible. The mystics among us long for the unitive state of oneness with The Lord, whether they are Hindu, Buddhist or Catholic.

THE PROCESS

First, a subject of meditation is decided upon, then we examine ourselves in relation to it, resolving to do better and explore how we may do that, opening ourselves to the action of the Divine within us.

MEDITATION TOPICS

You could meditate on the exquisite glory of Heaven, or a particular holy trait, such as love of neighbor. The "practice of the presence of God" is probably my favorite.

The affections of our spirit are drawn into this process, and the degree of our love for God is made obvious at this point because honest self-examination can be difficult to do without a great deal of love for the Lord. A mature intellect is also essential, which would be unusual for a young girl, but Mary Magdalene de Pazzi was unique in this regard.

PETITIONS

This process naturally leads to prayers of petition for the sake of the world and individuals in particular, depending upon the subject of meditation and any insights that may have been gained during that session of mental prayer.

This type of prayer is the precursor to the unitive prayer and advanced mystical states. It is part of the work that one does to clean oneself up, in a sense, and grow in holiness.

Everyone has their own temperament and abilities when it comes to sitting still and working with the mind. I have always enjoyed it. When I was in the Vedanta convent, my yearly "vacation" was taken at a retreat center where I meditated 6 to 8 hours a day. I found it wonderfully inspiring and healing. Others might go mad.

HUMILITY

We can't approach the throne of God in a dirty, fallen state, unrepentant and lacking in virtue. Mental strength and stamina are necessary to endure the stress of comparing oneself to the Divine attributes. The holy characteristic of humility is one of the blessings of the spiritual practice of mental prayer.

SPENDING TIME WITH GOD

This is how I look at this topic:

When we go to visit a king, we do not appear in rags, unwashed, with our hair tangled and stinking of the world. Right? We clean ourselves up! We take a shower, wash our hair, put on clean clothes and usually bring a little present of some sort - something that shows our regard for the ruler of the land. Mental prayer is the way the soul scrubs itself up.

We cannot be perfect, but we can open ourselves to perfection so that when faced with the All Perfect Being, we are equipped to tolerate that experience without suffering shame. We will ourselves shy away from Him if we have not made any effort to present ourselves in the proper condition.

DO WE WANT GOD?

It seems to me that we decide how close we will be to God.  

Jesus said that if we love Him we will follow his commandments. It follows then that the degree to which we try to do that is the degree to which we love Him. 

But it's not a business arrangement. His arms are open to us all the time He isn't forcing us to come to Him. He gave us free will and is just waiting for us to walk into His open arms. It is up to us if we do it or not.

God doesn't "send" us to Hell either. I am tired of people complaining about the "Christian" God that "sends" people to Hell. Do we gravitate toward Heaven or Hell? That's the key.

Just think about this: It is you who decides where you put your mind. If you incline your mind to God, you will be with Him or at least you will be immersed in thoughts of Him, at first. Eventually, the thoughts move away, like clouds move from in front of the sun.

I have heard many people exclaim that Jesus spent all his time with "sinners" and that they can therefor sin as much as they want, after which they will go to Heaven - easy peasy -  a terribly obvious misrepresentation of his message. The "sinners" that He spent time with were repentant people who regretted their former habits and had resolved to do better, under the sheltering umbrella of Jesus's remarkable forgiveness in a milieu that was rather unforgiving. "Once a sinner, always a sinner" was the prevailing attitude in the culture of the time and place. 

Jesus reversed that by forgiving repentant sinners. But He clearly told the Apostles that if anyone did not entertain His message, they were to kick the sand of that place from their shoes and move on.

Prayer and meditation are steps toward Him.

THE MYSTICAL STATE

The end result of mental prayer and meditation can be spiritual ecstasy. Saints such as Teresa of Avila have written many hundreds of pages on this type of spiritual experience and I don't pretend to replace or emulate it with this simplified version of it, but I DO hope that you are inspired to take it up on a regular basis.

Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi enjoyed a special personal relationship with Jesus, enjoying divine conversation with Him as a result of her spiritual disciplines, and she is a wonderful inspiration to anyone interested in contemplative life.

As I mentioned before, a portion of her writings have been preserved and I intend to buy them as soon as I am able. Bob and Penny Lord, well known Catholic film makers, have produced an episode about her, and this is available on Amazon and, I assume, elsewhere.

There is such a wealth of spiritual guides available to us, it is really remarkable that we are not all saints by now. But it will not just hit us, like a lightning bolt, because of some wishful thinking or presumption. It is up to us to prepare ourselves to receive God's grace, to be in a ready state, and glance in His direction.

I hope you take some time to get to know Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi and the mental prayers that she practiced. Let me know how it goes and if you need any help locating these resources.

In the meantime, God bless us all.

Silver "Rose"

FEAST OF MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS: TUESDAY, MAY 24, 2022

 

Tuesday, May 25, is the feast day for Mary, "Help of Christians," and, while I was taking a much needed and rarely taken restaurant lunch with a friend, 19 CHILDREN and 2 teachers lay dead in Uvalde, Texas, victims of a shooter who had JUST turned 18, then immediately purchased two AR-15 rifles. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle that imitates the military M-16 and has a "high capacity" magazine. The M-16 is designed to kill as many people as possible within the shortest amount of time.

By the time the young shooter mowed down these children with a military style rifle, the gunman had also shot his grandmother but had not succeeded in killing her.  He chose the most vulnerable members of our society - the very young and the very old. The cynical cowardice of these choices is breathtaking in its evil cruelty.

The murderer was killed by officers who responded to the scene.

It is obvious to the rest of the world that the U.S. has a terrible gun problem that is consistently increasing in number of mass killing incidents and which often finds young and very young children murdered - cut down before they've even had a chance at life.  

It is time for radical change to our gun control philosophy and laws.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS NOT HOLY WRIT

Just because the founding fathers thought that owning guns was a right does not mean they anticipated THESE kind of guns or that they would not change their opinion in light of THESE facts with which we are faced.

The founding fathers also thought that women and people of color should not vote and, in fact, that people of color weren't even human beings.  

The founding fathers thought it was just dandy for Americans to own SLAVES. 

A number of the founding fathers thought that only land-owners should be able to vote.

The founding fathers were fallible human beings who created a system with some notable defects, including slavery, prejudice against women, and various other odious opinions. The second amendment is no more sacrosanct than slavery. 

The founding fathers were not psychic and could not have imagined the circumstances in which we find ourselves today. But, if they WERE here today, I am betting they would adjust and clarify their opinions about civilians owning military style rifles.

CHRISTIANS TAKE NOTE!

I would say to the "pro-life" community that if the availability of abortions is responsible for abortions, then availability of these rifles is responsible for our mass-murder statistics, and it is time for RADICAL CHANGE to our gun laws. 

Americans should stop shilling for the NRA and the companies that manufacture these weapons of mass murder.  Shake off the yoke of the merchant class that is making money off the deaths of your children!  Thoughts and prayers are not enough. It is time for action.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD

James 2:26

We need Federal laws and a plan of implementation. Military style weapons must be taken out of the hands of civilians.

Contact your representatives and don't vote for anyone that is happy with the status quo. The status quo is killing our children.

My prayer today:

Grant, O Mary, Help of Christians,

the graces of which we stand in need.

Change the hearts and minds of those

who fight to keep the weapons of mass

murder in the hands of civilians; also we

plead that you intercede for all the victims

before the throne of God and for the  

protection of innocents from gun deaths.

May we serve Jesus with fidelity and

love until death. Help us and our loved

ones to attain the boundless joy of

being forever with our Father in Heaven.

Amen.

Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us!

Silver Rose

FEAST OF ST. JULIA OF CORSICA, MONDAY - MAY 23, 2022

 

Saint Julia ( sometimes "Julie")

of Corsica, Carthage or Nonza

Died about 439 AD

Patroness of Corsica, Livorno,

torture victims, and illnesses

of the hand and feet.

Out of the 18 saints whose feast day is today, only one is female, which is rather typical of nearly all the days in the Catholic calendar of saints' feast days. It is mostly men. Something tells me that men are not more holy than women by nature, so I find it irritating that there are so many more male saints. This is probably the main reason I concentrate on the female saints in my writings. Men are routinely given preferential treatment and I want to balance things out a bit more.

Carthage

Historians place her birth in Carthage, sometime in the rule of my 45th Great Grandfather, Gaiseric of the Vandals. He would have been in his early 30s, probably, when she was born. That's my guess, according to my estimated birth for him in my family tree. Christians were getting quite a lot of persecution during  his time.

Anyway, my 45th grandfather captured her and sold her as a slave to a Syrian merchant by the name of Eusebius. 

Gaiseric of the Vandals sacking a city

(my 45th great grandfather)

Predictably, she is a virgin in the story and is automatically given lots of credit for that, whereas men are never mentioned in relation to virginity - another aggravating fact about the Catholic saints. She was also stereotypically long-suffering in her habit of never complaining, even when life was really tough, which typically means that men are keeping you prisoner, torturing you or raping you and forcing you to render them service.

Of course, there is something to be said for putting up with the travails of life and just getting on with it. I myself have had an extremely difficult life and, until recently, was not in the habit of revealing it. But now, if telling my stories somehow helps other people, such as other sick and poor people (who are beloved by Christ) then my policy is to talk it up in the hope that I may make a dent in unjust habits of my culture. Otherwise, I do keep it to myself.

As a senior woman with a lot of experience "under my belt," I will also occasionally dispense helpful information, but I try very hard not to meddle where I am not wanted and especially not to give unsolicited advice unless I have been given the "go ahead" by the recipient and I have also taken the time to ask enough questions to get me up to speed on the situation so that my advice is informed. I recommend this method. 

It is irritating and tiring to be the recipient of unsolicited advice, especially since it is often couched in a way that gives the impression that the giver of advice thinks you are an idiot and could not possibly have thought of it yourself. They assume that you've done nothing to solve whatever situation exists in your world.

Lately, I have been asking for prayers for my next door neighbor who suffers from Parkinson's for the last 29 years and things are getting particularly bad for her. I am intimately familiar with the avenues of help that are available for the woman and have followed through with all of it. The only thing left is to ask for prayers - unless someone else wants to actually DO something for the poor woman. But no. that's not the way this goes. Without bothering to even find out what I have done, a certain percentage of  people can be relied upon to shove advice at me. It's a "thing."

Don't get me wrong. I DO take advice from informed sources. I have a close handful of friends, some very holy women, who are familiar with all my life circumstances and have taken the time to get to know me and my various endeavors. From them, I take advice because they know what they're talking about. They're here - "on the ground," so to speak.

But when I ask acquaintances for prayers, that predictable percentage of people give me unsolicited advice instead....advice that isn't worth the time it took to write it because I am already doing everything that can be humanly done and I have specifically asked for prayers. Why substitute worldly advice for an action in the Divine realm?

I wonder if these people actually believe in the holy ways of God?

I can feel when someone is praying for me, just as I can sense when someone means me well or ill. There is a flow in the universe. I am sure that many of you could say the same. No matter what religion you profess, I would be willing to bet that this is true for you, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on your sensitivity.

This is one of the reasons that I enjoy reading about saints such as Julia because she really believes. Despite being enslaved and treated terribly, having all her freedom ripped from her and forced to live a life of perpetual labor and service, she remained a pious woman of undaunted faith. It is reported that when she was not slaving away in service to her master, she was praying and reading devotional texts.

Despite her youth, she had a mature religion. She wasn't moaning and ranting about how God has "done her wrong" by allowing this to happen to her, or complaining about how God has allowed evil to exist in the world. She did not abandon her faith because life did not go her way. She did not believe in the "shopkeeping" religion where you pray to get what you want and if the big shopkeeper in the sky doesn't give it to you, you go elsewhere. She maintained her connection with The Lord throughout her troubles.

Predictably, this impressed Eusebius but enraged OTHER powerful people of the day, such as Felix of Corsica, who first tried to buy her from Eusebius but then just took her by artifice, getting Eusebius drunk and then taking Julia and torturing her when she refused to renounce Christ. He did terrible things to her and she is celebrated as "virgin and martyr."

Julia's body was taken to the Isle of Gorgon, but later removed to Brescia, in Lombardy.

I wonder if the people who give advice instead of prayers would keep the faith if put into a situation such as Julia's slavery and torture, as they do not appear to believe in prayer very much.

Speaking of prayer, here is a prayer referencing Julia:

Your lamb, Julia, O Jesus,

did cry unto You with a loud voice,

saying, My Bridegroom, I long for you,

and in struggles seek you.

I am crucified and buried

with You in my Baptism,

and for You I do suffer until

I reign with You.

I die for you that I may live in You.

Then as a sacrifice without

blemish receive her who

for Your sake was slain.

Through her intercessions, therefore,

since You are merciful,

save our souls and let the example

 of St. Julia be a motivation

for us to stay by You forever.

Amen.

I am talking to Julia today, while I move around the house and attend to my duties. Keeping my eye on her, I remain inspired! I hope you are likewise.

Please don't forget that my doctors have prescribed certain foods, supplements and vitamins for my various illnesses, and I have a current wish list on Amazon for this purpose. They have my address and mail to me directly. I do share with neighbors less fortunate than I, when the occasion presents itself.

If you can help a little bit, I will be most grateful. I would like to retain as much of my vision as possible and to live a few more years, by the grace of God and the generosity of my neighbors and friends.

Just click on THIS LINK

In the meantime, I ask for your prayers, for myself and for that next-door neighbor I have mentioned who is suffering from Parkinson's disease. In addition, let's all remember our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. I also pray for you.

May God bless us all.

Silver "Rose"

(c) Copyright 2022

Silver S. Parnell

All rights reserved.

FEAST OF SAINT RITA OF CASCIA, SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022

 

SAINT RITA OF CASCIA

1381 - MAY 22, 1457

Patron of impossible causes,

abused wives, loneliness, the

sick, bodily illnesses, wounds,

and widows.

Saint Rita is one of those saints who had a remarkably difficult life, full of extreme circumstances. She wanted to be a nun from an early age but her parents forced her into an arranged marriage to an awful man when she was only age 12. She must have been very pretty or domestically talented because she had already been pursued hotly by at least one other man prior to her marriage.

Her husband was wealthy, which is probably why her parents forced him on her. He was also foul tempered, and immoral, cheating on her with various women and abusing her savagely.

She worked to convert him and made some progress with that. At the very least, she was able to raise their two sons in The Faith. She tried to convince him to put aside the vendetta and resentments he had against another family, with only partial success. Ultimately, he was murdered by one of that opposing family, even after his feelings of resentment had cooled.

After the death of her husband and then their sons (from dysentery), Saint Rita tried to enter the nearby Monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene in Cascia, but they refused her because of the violence of her husband's death and the fact that she was not virgin.

So, at this point in the story, I have to bring up a pet peeve. Men are not required to be virgin before joining a monastery, and this obsession with the virginity of women is highly objectionable. It still exists in modern times, along with many other inconsistencies and prejudices. I have told the story several times about how that nun pulled me out of the RCIA class 30 years ago, when I first tried to convert, and refused to let me get BAPTIZED because I'd been married and divorced in a secular fashion. She told me that non-sacramental marriages must be annulled by the church before one could become baptized, which is ridiculous and untrue. But she seemed to enjoy kicking me out of the class. What an awful and unjust humiliation. I had to get baptized by the Episcopalians down the street. "Those Catholics," they would exclaim and then roll their eyes at my predicament.

Expecting non-Christians to behave like Christians and then punishing them for NOT doing so is one of those things that deter people from converting and which saddens those who have converted. It is almost as if some Catholics prefer to keep the faith small and elite - like an exclusive country club. Converts are very often NOT welcome if their lives prior to seeking membership in the faith do not look like the life circumstances of lifelong Christians.

These prejudices are common with human beings and they remain even after converting, in some circumstances. Variations of lifestyle, such as people who remain single, are not well received. If you don't bring money or children to the faith, and you are not able to offer your labor, you can count on being discounted. If you were divorced prior to becoming Catholic, you have no chance of joining a convent either, no matter the circumstances. I am sure there are a tiny number of people for whom this is not true, but over the decades, I have found it so. Catholicism is still obsessed with virginity and related topics.

In the end, Saint Rita was allowed to enter the convent in her late thirties. The legend says that she was transported by levitation into the garden of the Monastery at night, but her acceptance into the convent alone is miracle enough for me! 

Stories of Saint Rita's mystical life while in the convent are very engaging. It is wonderful what mystical experiences can be had when leading a contemplative life. When she was about sixty, she was meditating on an image of Christ crucified when a wound suddenly appeared on her forehead and it came to be considered a partial stigmata. Some of the paintings of her depict her with Christ's crown of thorns.

Saint Rita is one of "the incorruptibles," as her body shows no sign of deterioration. It is kept in a glass-enclosed case.

I doubt I'll be buried in a special glass case. I can't even get my parish to mail the weekly bulletin to me. (It is hard for me to read it online, and when I have a hard copy, I feel connected to my community.)  Anyway, they do it for a few weeks, then it stops and I have to call and remind them. Then they do it for a few weeks, and it stops again. And I call them again. Finally, after 4 or 5 go-arounds like this, I have given up.

There are quite a few things about Saint Rita's life that remind me of my own. That is one of the wonderful advantages of having saints to whom one can point one's gaze. She had a thing for roses, evidently, and I have several potted roses in the garden of my apartment. She was also bedridden during the last years of her life, and I am nearly there myself. Once, in January, she asked a visitor to bring her a rose and although it was winter and roses are not expected at that time, the visitor found one beautiful rose in the garden and brought it back to Rita. So she is often depicted with roses.

In the 20 years that I have lived as a hermit in the city, I spent the first ten years trying to get a return phone call from the Bishop's office with regard to becoming a Diocesan Hermit, which is in the gift of the Bishop's discretion. First one bishop and then his replacement, with the same result. No matter how many people I called, I received no response - only broken promises of help. 

The parishes have not been welcoming, with the exception of a handful of parishioners.  In the particular case of the Byzantine Catholic Church, whose liturgy I enjoy much more than the standard Roman Rite, I was actually harassed by the young Ukrainian priest who made loud and bawdy jokes about the size of my posterior, in the company of half a dozen and more parishioners, male and female, complete with pantomimes and rude words.  He laughed at me, as did the other parishioners (mostly the men) who stood around enjoying the protracted joke made at my expense. Joining the Catholic CHURCH has been a universally disappointing experience, with regard to the organization.

There is a part of me that feels embarrassed and humiliated by reporting this story.  This is likely a result of PTSD to which this experience added a level of shame. It makes no sense that I should feel embarrassed by the obnoxious behavior of that callow young priest, but psychology is complicated. I have wrestled with including the story in my writings, but grit my teeth and bear the ignominy. Why should I feel shame for the reprehensible behavior of someone else?

After the first ten years, I realized I would have to live the solitary contemplative life without any corporate support whatsoever.  I am completely on my own EXCEPT, that is, from The Lord and from his messengers, the holy women who assist me and give me great encouragement in The Faith, because while the institution has abandoned me, God sees this and won't allow me to remain unsupported.  He is there for me ALWAYS, and I sometimes wonder if He has graced me with special favor because I have been abandoned by the institution.

There is a wonderful quote in Hosea about the woman who has previously lived a very indulgent life:

"Therefor I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into

the desert and speak tenderly to her."

The Lord goes on to promise that He will return to her the vineyards of her youth, and her lands, and that she will sing as in the days of her youth. Further, He says:

"You will call me 'my husband'; you will no longer call

me 'my master.'"

In response to the world's abandonment of the solitary contemplative, The Lord brings her closer to Himself, in a more intimate encounter with Him.

I used to carry around these quotes on a small piece of paper in my wallet, until I memorized them and completely internalized them. They represent to me the beautiful advantages of solitary contemplative life.

Abandoned by the world and even by the hierarchy of The Church, The Lord rushes in to uplift the person in their solitary life that has been dedicated to God.

There is a similar idea reflected in Psalm 27:10, with regard to someone whose family has thrown them away:

"For my father and my mother have left me; but

the Lord hath taken me up."

This theme is repeated throughout the Bible and gives me tremendous encouragement, as do the stories of the lives of the saint who ALSO are very often abandoned by family, by society, by husbands, and by the institution and hierarchy of The Church. Alone and abandoned, He speaks to us in our heart and if we open our arms to Him He "takes us up" unto Himself and the Heavenly realms.

I clearly see this in the lives of the saints, such as Rita of Cascia, who wanted from a young age to join herself with The Lord and yet everyone tried to get in her way of it. (I also became interested in the Catholic Church when I was 11 and was corresponding with a convent of Carmelite nuns - much to the horror of my mother, who hated religion, and Catholicism in particular.)

Rita's parents, knowing her devotion to God and her desire to join the convent, married her off to a rich man instead, likely hoping to gain some financial advantage thereby. 

NOTHING went her way, yet she persisted in her love of God and her desire for union with Him. It did not matter if the entire world refused to support her in this, she maintained her devotion and lived with The Lord in an intimate state.

Stories like hers help me to hang on and persist in keeping company with The Lord, who is here with me every day, accompanying me in my trials. I am able to talk to Him and ask Him for help and He unfailingly gives me encouragement.

Consequently, I have given up all effort to gain spiritual assistance from the institution of The Church. There is no point. Instead, I rely upon a wealth of spiritual and religious texts and historical documents, as well as the large number of movies and documentaries that are available on the internet.

There are a few very special holy women who assist me with great love and generosity, and I look upon them as messengers of God. Some days, I feel I am in bliss. The problems of life continue and I lament the constant trials, but do not lose my faith. Even on the more rare occasions when it seems that all my life circumstances look like absolute Hell, my faith continues unabated and serene because I have the company of The Lord in it. Always in the background, he speaks to my heart.

It no longer matters if a callow young priest characterizes me in a comical, disrespectful fashion and thereafter lies about it to his adoring fans who provide cover for his behavior. It does not matter if people who promise to help me fail to do so. If telephone calls are not returned, if people gossip and spread untrue rumors, if I'm discounted and disparaged at every turn - none of it matters any more. Nowadays, I can not imagine anything better than my quiet solitary life with The Lord. He has taken me up.

Of course, the Catholic Church in New Mexico has much bigger fish to fry than my pathetic case.  My experiences are NOTHING compared to the abuse that children have suffered at the hands of pedophile priests. The New Mexico Catholic Church is currently paying out millions of dollars for its sins of covering up crimes and giving shelter and protection to criminal perverts. It is no wonder that I have been unable to get support for my contemplative spiritual life. I am careful to remind myself that this rejection does not elevate me or make me special. I am beside the point - an unnecessary and unimportant person, in the scheme of things. 

Unfortunately, there are many people who see the contradictions of the behaviors of some of the humans in our institutions and they abandon the faith because of it, thereby losing "the pearl of great price." They do not understand that the  faith is holy, whereas not all of the people responsible for the management of its dissemination are similarly holy. It makes me sad and I pray for them to see the difference and stay with The Faith.  Let us pray for all these lost souls. 

Saint Rita was well known for miraculous results to her intercessory prayers on behalf of others. She is particularly known for resolutions to "impossible causes," such as the cured blindness of a child while the saint was still alive.

She died of tuberculosis and immediately eleven miracles were attributed to her as the result of the prayers of the faithful who asked for her intercession.

One of the prayers to Saint Rita goes like this:

"O holy Patroness of those in need, St. Rita, whose pleadings before thy 

Divine Lord are almost irresistible, who for thy lavishness in granting 

favors hast been called the Advocate of the Hopeless and even of the 

Impossible; St. Rita, so humble, so pure, so mortified, so patient and 

of such compassionate love for thy Crucified Jesus that thou couldst 

obtain from Him whatsoever thou asketh, on account of which all 

confidently have recourse to thee expecting, if not always relief, at least 

comfort; be propitious to our petition, showing thy power with God on 

behalf of thy supplicant; be lavish to us, as thou hast been in so many 

wonderful cases, for the greater glory of God, for the spreading of thine 

own devotion, and for the consolation of those who trust in thee. We 

promise, if our petition is granted, to glorify thee by making known thy 

favor, to bless and sing thy praises forever. Relying then upon thy merits 

and power before the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we pray thee grant that 

[mention your petition here.]  O pray for us, o holy St. Rita, that we may

be made worthy of the promises of Christ."

Also, I ask today for prayers for my neighbor who has Parkinson's for the last 29 years and is becoming seriously ill in her 69th year of life. I am doing what I can to make phone calls for some help to be given to her, but in the meantime, I appreciate very much the prayers of all of you.

God bless you, and have a wonderful week.

Silver "Rose"