What happens when my general manager doesn’t have enough to do.

Well, since the cat’s out of the bag I guess I’ll announce it here, too. Since I really didn’t have anything else to do, I invited a few other bloggers to work on a new blog with me. Introducing, Stuff Catholics Like, the blog that takes a light-hearted and hopefully educational look at, well, stuff Catholics like. If you are easily offended or hurt by humor and satire, this will be great site for you to build up your resistance to such deficiencies.

Last year I posted an open letter to the Catholic Book Publishers Association concerning their lifetime achievement award being given to a dissident who likes to promote other dissidents.

This year it’s the Episcopalian’s turn. Their speaker at the Religious Book and Trade Expo is Gene Robinson. You know, the homosexual man who ran out on his wife and kids to live in sin who then got elected as bishop? Yep, it seems that a whole lot of Christian groups have a real death wish for their various denominations. You can’t promote people and views antithetical to biblical truths and expect your church to last. You could pick any number of Catholic religious orders such as the Ursulines, the Sisters of Notre Dame or the Christian Brothers to prove that point. You could also note that the average age of the readership of the National “Catholic” Reporter is 68.

When will these people learn that it is the challenge of orthodoxy that draws people, not the ease of relativism.

Today, April 29, we observe the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena, great mystic and visionary, stigmatist, incorruptible saint, Dominican tertiary, and Doctor of the Church.

St. Catherine was born in 1347 into a very large family; she was the 24^th of 25 children, in Tuscany in the city of Siena. She experienced her first vision at the age of 6 while on an errand. While walking along a lane, commonly called Valle Piatta, she paused for a moment and saw a great vision of Heaven; Jesus, with Peter, Paul and John the evangelist, smiled on her and the Lord made the sign of the cross over her head. In the midst of the road, crowded with men and animals, she gazed up unblinking and motionless, until her brother disturbed her and urged her along. Of the effect this vision had on young Catherine, her spiritual advisor, Blessed Raymond of Capua, wrote:

“From that moment on it became clear from Catherine’s virtues, the gravity of her behavior, and her extraordinary wisdom, that under her girlish appearance there was hidden a fully formed woman. Her actions, indeed, had nothing childish, nothing girlish, about them, but showed all the signs of a most venerable maturity. From now onwards, the fire of Divine Love burned within her, enlightening her mind, kindling her will, strengthening her power of thought and enabling her external acts to conform to the will of God.”

- From The Life of Catherine of Siena by Blessed Raymond of Capua

St. Catherine of Siena - DVD

This vision, and others that followed, led Catherine to choose to devote herself to God as a virgin. She made her promise when she was very young - though it was no whim or fickle declaration - that she would never wed a mortal and corruptible man, but be devoted only to her eternal bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Her parents weren’t initially pleased with this and at one point planned to have her married off, as this would be beneficial to the family financially. Catherine responded by cutting off her hair, a suggestion from a friend of the family, one of the Order of Preaching Friars, who could see her true intention to serve the Lord. Catherine was punished for this by being put in charge of all the housework so she would be too busy to sit alone to pray.

This did not daunt Catherine, however, who made her heart an internal cell (since she could no longer shut herself in her room) and constantly thought about Our Lord as she worked, contentedly serving her family as though serving Him. Eventually her parents recognized the depths of her devotion to the Lord and stopped opposing her Holy intentions and at 16 she became a tertiary in the Dominican order. During this time she experienced a series of mystical visions, known as the ‘Spiritual Espousals,’ in which she experienced a mystical marriage with Christ.

Saint Catherine of Siena

At the age of 21, Catherine was moved by Our Lord to go out into the world to carry out God’s will. By this time, she was unable to eat much food and was sustained primarily by the Blessed Sacrament, but was always happy. Initially, much of her time was spent ministering to the sick, especially plague victims, and to criminals. She also became an ambassador, writing letters to princes and republics of Italy and was consulted by papal legates. In 1378, at the time of the Papal Schism, she went to Rome to help Pope Urban and prayed unceasingly for church unity and spent her days speaking to the Pope and to the cardinals. She also is well known for writing the locutions of the Lord to her - the Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, a collection of her petitions to God and His responses. She died in 1380 of a mysterious, painful illness that was never properly diagnosed. She was canonized in 1461 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1970.

Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit -

“Holy Spirit, come into my heart; draw it to Thee by Thy power, O my God, and grant me charity with filial fear. Preserve me, O ineffable Love, from every evil thought; warm me, inflame me with Thy dear love, and every pain will seem light to me. My Father, my sweet Lord, help me in all my actions. Jesus, love, Jesus, love.”

Amen.

This article has been adapted from The Patron Saint Index Entry on St. Catherine of Siena, the Treasury of Women Saints by Ronda De Sola Chervin  and The Life of Catherine of Siena by Blessed Raymond of Capua (sku 1316)

Today, April 28, is the feast day of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, most well known for his unceasing preaching of the glories of Mary and the rosary, and his greatest contribution to the Church, the doctrine of Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

Louis de Montfort was born in 1673, the second of 18 children, into a poor but deeply faithful family in France. At the age of 11, Louis became a student at the Jesuit College of Saint Thomas a Beckett, where teachers considered him to be intelligent, studious, deeply religious, and noted that he was somewhat shy, except when helping the poor. At the age of 19, he entered seminary in Paris. Along his way - he walked the entire stretch from the college in Rennes to the St. Sulpice Seminary - events occurred that lead Louis to take a vow of radical poverty:

“Much has been written about Louis’ hike to Paris. It took him 10 days. It wasn’t a hitch-hike such as the modern boy is accustomed to take when he wants to go somewhere. Louis walked. It rained most of the time, and he couldn’t always find a dry place when he needed it. And things kept happening. He saw beggars who needed his money more than he did. He met others who needed his clothes. Before he had gone very far, he had parted with all his money, given away all his clothes, and had put on some wretch’s rags. He reached Paris soaked, smeared, rumpled, unshaven. . .”

 -From Wisdom’s Fool by Eddie Doherty

A few years after being ordained in 1700, Louis founded, with Blessed Marie Louise Trichet in Poitier, the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, a religious institute of women devoted to caring for the poor and unceasingly preached on the rosary and authentic Marian devotion. His works, however, brought him in conflict with the Jansenists in the diocese, and he was made to leave Poitier. He then went to work at the large La Salpetriere Hospital in Paris helping to care for 5,000 destitute patients for a short time but was again asked to leave. Still, it didn’t dishearten Louis’ faith:

“His spiritual director gave up on him because of what was bandied about as “Father de Montfort’s strange ways.” Alone in the capital, considered a failure by his former seminary professors, he found lodging under a staircase in a dilapidated house not far from his alma mater, St. Suplice. He wrote to Marie Louise: “My only friend is God…those friends I once had in Paris have deserted me.” Yet it was from within this dark night that he wrote his brilliant foundational work, his first spiritual masterpiece, The Love of the Eternal Wisdom.”

 -From Wind, Light and Water by J. Patrick Gaffney, S.M.M.

God Alone - The Collected Writings of St. Louis de Montfort

Shortly after, and after being expelled from another diocese, he set out, walking from Western France to Rome, to seek advice from the Pope. Louis asked Pope Clement XI to be sent to Canada to work in the missions there, but instead, the Pope, recognizing Louis de Montfort’s extraordinary gifts from God, named him Apostolic Missionary, and told him to return to his native land. There, he was to continue to teach against Jansenism and to preach on total consecration to Jesus through Mary; true Marian devotion has always been key in Louis’ teachings:

“The chief of de Montfort’s life was, of course, the degree and the character of his devotion to Mary. Even among the saints - not one of whom was without an ardent love for Mary - his love processed a special fire. He had the gift of imparting this to those who listened to him, and through his writings he was to do the same for the generations who were to come after him.”

From The De Montfort Way by Frank Duff

And so from this point on and for the rest of his life, with the Pope’s blessing, St. Louis Marie de Montfort wandered, preaching in about 200 missions and retreats throughout Northwestern France. As always, Louis was obedient to the local bishops and if asked to leave the diocese - he often was asked to leave since many of the clergy were uncomfortable with his zealous preaching against the errors of Jansenism or disdainful of his impoverished lifestyle and appearance - he would move on to preach in a new community. Now, nearly 300 years from the time of his death, St. Louis de Montfort’s treatises on authentic Marian devotion and consecration to Jesus through Mary remain as relevant and vital today.

Jesus Living in Mary

St. Louis de Montfort, tireless laborer for souls in the fields of the Lord, champion of devotion to His mother, Our Blessed Lady, and example of simplicity and holiness for all Christians, please pray for us, that we may be drawn ever closer to Jesus, through Mary, and that we may never fear to profess the true Catholic faith in all our actions and all our words. Amen. 

 Continuing our series on family movies, there are many that relate to saints and Our Blessed Mother for the month of May.  We begin with Our Lady of Fatima on May 13.  Movies about this apparition include Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima,  which is an older classic film made in 1952 about that period in 1917 when Our Lady appeared to the three Portuguese shepherd children Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco.  Her message was prophetic then and is still relevant to us today.  The Apparitions at Fatima is a Portuguese production and was filmed in 1992 on site.  It goes more deeply into the visions of Hell seen by Jacinta and the penances the children took on for the sins of the world.  This film is considered historically accurate.   Fatima, Altar of the World is more of a documentary and it includes footage of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco by Pope John Paul II.   Who can resist any movie, whether in documentary style or dramatized, if the lead voice is that of Ricardo Montalban?  Fatima is such a production and is considered the best documentary on Fatima ever made.  It not only includes footage of World War I, but also commentary by Malcolm Muggeridge, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, James Hitchcock and Warren Carroll.  This is a look back at the events of Fatima and what followed.  The Day the Sun Danced, is an animated story for children about the events at Fatima.

There are a number of other movies about our Blessed Mother.  A recent production is Mary of Nazareth, With Jesus from Birth to Death.  Though the story does not follow exactly the Nativity story as we know it, it nevertheless, captures life and the essence of the story surrounding Christ’s birth.  The Story of the Nativity is related by noted Catholic scholars and uses a variety of media and locations to tell the true story of the birth of Christ.  A series of DVDs with the title “The Woman Clothed with the Sun…” relate the many apparitions of Our lady around the world.  They are:  The Woman Clothed with the Sun:  Rue de Bac, Beauraing and Banneux;   The Woman Clothed with the Sun:  Zaragosa, Guadalupe and Lourdes ;  and The Woman Clothed with the Sun: Lasalette & Pontmain 

On May 15, the Church honors Blessed Damien de Veuster, the Belgian peasant who heard the call to leave home and work as a missionary in Hawaii.  He was ordained after he arrived there in 1863 and chose to go work among the lepers of Molokai.  He brought hope to the outcasts of society by building houses, clinics, schools and places for the people to gather together for socializing and prayer.  He eventually died of leprosy and was buried in Hawaii.  His remains were transferred to Belgium in the 1930s.  Damien is a one-man monologue in which Terence Knapp as Damien relates the story of his life.  Molokai, The Story of Fr. Damien stars David Wenham as Damien, Peter O’Toole, Sam Neill, Leo McKern and others.  This story recounts the many struggles Fr. Damien faced, the temptations, the conflict, and the ugliness of the disease of leprosy.  Because of its realism, I would not recommend this movie for young children.  

An Uncommon Kindness is narrated by Robin Williams and beautifully tells the story of the sacrificial life of Fr. Damien.

On May 22 the Church honors St. Rita of Cascia.  Rita lived in the 1400s during a time of political and social strife in Italy.  She desired to be an Augustinian nun, but her parents arranged her marriage to a young man who turned out to be an abusive husband.  Nevertheless, she bore him two sons and was a devoted wife and mother for 18 years.  He was stabbed to death by political rivals and the norm of the day was to seek vengeance.  Rita’s sons vowed to avenge their father’s death, but through her prayers and example, they were dissuaded from doing so.  Rita was instrumental in reducing tensions between the warring factions and eventually entered the convent where she lived for 40 years.  She was devoted to the Passion of Christ and received a stigmata-like wound on her forehead which bled for 15 years.  Rita is invoked in desperate cases and unhappy marriages.  Rita portrays the life of Rita and her family in a moving drama.  Despite her suffering, she never lost hope, and her story is inspiring for others, especially those who think their own situation is hopeless.

Joan of Arc, honored by the Church on May 30, is another saint of the 1400s whose story has captured the imaginations and been the inspirations of people through many generations.  Burgundy, which was allied with England, was in control of most of France and the rightful heir to the throne had not been crowned.   Known as the “Maid of Orleans,” Joan had visions which led her to seek the restoration of Charles VII to his rightful place on the throne of France.  With approval from the Church, she led the soldiers in the siege of Orleans and Charles was crowned.  In a later battle, she was captured and sold to the English.  In an ecclesiastical court, she was tried for witchcraft and for wearing men’s clothing.  She confessed to the charges and her death sentence was commuted, only to be reinstated when she donned men’s clothing again.  She was burned at the stake.  Twenty-five years later, the Church revisited her case and found her innocent.  She was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.  There are a number of movies about St. Joan of Arc:  The 1948 version called Joan of Arc stars Ingrid Bergman and remains an all-time favorite.   The Passion of Joan of Arc was filmed in 1928 in French (English subtitles) and dramatizes her trial and martyrdom.  Joan of Arc:  Child of War, Soldier of God is a Hallmark docu-drama which recounts Joan’s story through her own eyes.  Joan of Arc is the latest dramatization of the story of the French warrior/martyr.  It has an all-star cast, with Leelee Sobieski  as the heroine, and supported by  Jacqueline Bisset, Olympia Dukakis, Robert Loggia, Maximilian Schell, Peter Strauss, and Peter O’Toole.  Being a modern movie, Joan has a bit of an attitude which would not have been typical of her time, but generally speaking, the movie portrays a good story.

These are just a few suggestions for a wholesome family night together with your family.  Make some popcorn and choose a movie which will inspire, educate and entertain all at the same time. 

 Today is the Feast of St. George

“Liberator of captives, and defender of the poor, physician of the sick, and champion of kings, O trophy-bearer, and Great Martyr George, intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.” - Hymn of Saint George

St. George Icon

All that is truly known of St. George is that he was martyred in the early 4^th century in Palestine. Yet this patron of chivalry has been popularly venerated since shortly after his death during the early centuries of the church. Multiple orders have existed throughout different periods of time and different places in history, having nothing in common but veneration of this popular saint, and the highly regarded Order of the Garter was founded in 14^th century with George as the patron. Over the centuries, George has become almost seamlessly associated with the ideas of knighthood, chivalry, and noble acts.

There are many fantastical stories attached to St. George, describing such events as the saint being chopped into pieces and burned before being resurrected by the power of God or milk, rather than blood, flowing from his head after his being decapitated. Though these stories, sometimes called the Acts of St. George, are ancient in date, they cannot be assumed to be an accurate description of the martyr’s life.

The most well known legend of St. George is the popular story of George and the dragon. The origin of the story is rather obscure; it is traced only to about the 12^th century, but was then further embellished over the next few centuries in the fashion of medieval romances. In the story, George comes upon a kingdom of pagans who must offer humans as sacrifice to appease a dragon that ravaged their countryside. George slays the dragon, saving the king’s own daughter from being the next person to be handed over to the dragon, and then converts the citizens to Christianity. The legend was especially popular during the time of the crusades.

The dragon-slaying legend should not be seen as reason to consider George mythical rather than historical, however, as the cultus of St. George is much older than the legend of the dragon and other notable historical persons have also been celebrated as dragon slayers. While little is known of this saint, the famous decree De Libris recipiendis, attributed to Pope Gelasius in 495, includes George among those saints “whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are only known to God.”

If you are interested in reading more about the life of St. George, the great Catholic convert, writer and apologist Ronald Knox has included the life of St. George in this wonderful book:

Captive Flames

St. George, hero, martyr and champion for Christ, pray for us!

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a blog up about the visit. Hopefully they will have some “inside” scoops on the visit.

I wonder if I can get the president to pick me up the next time I’m in DC.

Probably not.