Blessed Jordan of Pisa Memorial Day: March 6th

At a time when scholars believed that no colloquial tongue could ever replace Latin as a gentleman’s language, Jordan worked to make Italian the beautiful tongue that it is today. That’s not the reason he was beatified by the Church but it’s interesting and sometimes overlooked.

Jordan attended the University of Paris where he first encountered the Dominican friars in 1276. Four years later, probably after obtaining his degrees, he returned to Italy and took the habit. He began a long teaching career there as soon as he was qualified to do so.

Because of the excellence of his preaching in Florence, Jordan was appointed first lector there in 1305. He seems to have been fascinated with the whole question of preaching as an apostolic tool, and to have been one of the first to make a scientific study of it. He pointed out that the Greek church was “invaded by a multitude of errors,” because the Greeks had no preachers; he could never say enough in praise of Saint Dominic’s farsightedness in establishing an order specifically for preaching.

Jordan studied methods of making sermons more effective, both by using examples that would reach the people, and by the use of the vernacular. This latter was a much-disputed subject in his day (they had Dan Amon’s then, too); Jordan was considered a daring innovator. Because it was controversial, he strove to make Italian a beautiful instrument on which he could play the melodies of the Lord.

Blessed with an extraordinary memory, Jordan is supposed to have known the breviary by heart, as well as the missal, most of the Bible (with its marginal commentary), plus the second part of the Summa. This faculty of memory he used in his sermons, but he was quick to point out to young preachers that learning alone can never make a preacher. By the holiness of his own life he made this plain, and continually preached it to those he was training to preach.

Jordan of Pisa had two great devotions–to Our Blessed Mother and to Saint Dominic. Once he was favored with a vision of Our Lady; she came into the fathers’ refectory and served at table. Jordan, who was the only one who could see her, could barely eat for excitement. He spoke often of her in his sermons, and also of Saint Dominic. He founded a number of confraternities in Pisa, one of which has lasted until now.

Jordan died on his way to Paris to teach at Saint Jacques. His body was returned from Piacenza, where death overtook him, to rest in the church at Pisa (Benedictines, Dorcy).

Born:1255 at Pisa, Italy

Died: August 19, 1311 at Piacenza of natural causes while on his way to teach in Paris; relics venerated at the church of Saint Catalina at Pisa, Italy

Beatified: August 23, 1833 (cultus confirmed) by Pope Gregory XVI; 1838 (beatification)

Guilty as Sin~ by Fr. Bryan Wolf

Luke 13:1-9
13:1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  13:2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?  13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.  13:4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them–do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?  13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”  13:6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.  13:7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’  13:8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.  13:9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'”

“Guilty as sin”. An old American colloquialism. It is an expression I heard often when I worked in law enforcement for almost thirty years. Bantered about by cops, attorneys, witnesses and I think, on even an occasion or two- from the bench itself. The defendant is no doubt, “guilty as sin”.

What image does such a condemnation conjure up? An egregious act worthy of the strongest penalty. No doubt a person so referred, has commited an act which violates the moral sensibility and fiber of the community. Beyond any chance of rehabilitation, this defendant is for certain- going a way for a long time.

But this phrase more then likely can bring to mind someone who, is due for confession. For admittedly there are those certain churches that seem to make this guilt, a prerequiste for membership- if not for their every existence.

In his book, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Bishop John Shelby Spong; Bishop Emeritus of The Episcopal Church, tells us: “When we examine the history of the church, it appears that guilt- not forgiveness, has been at the center of ecclesiastical control. Guilt has alsoo been the source of the churches power. Faith in life after death has been predicated on that guilt being alleviated, purged or punished eternally.” In earlier times, and staking a strong foothold until now, the church makes herself indispensable. Bishop Spong continues: “Religious leaders throughout the ages learned that controlling peoples behavior rested upon exacerbating these human feelings of guilt and weakness.”

In fact the Roman Catholic Church today finds herself at a wall she cannot get over or around. Originally termed “Reconciliation”- to express the forgiveness of the church, this sacrament was branded early on by church fathers as “Confession”. Defined by Webster’s dictionary, confession “is an admission of guilt or sin”. Complicated by the Papal practice of “special dispensations”, where wealthy people could by their absolution and freedom from condeming guilt, the Church mired in a situation it had created. Though the Second Vatican Council tried to heal this scar by shifting away from the “confession itself” to focus on penance and forgiveness, most Catholics today consider the act a true confession equal to criminal guilt.

I know personally many Catholics who refuse to enter a church or have expressed sadness at not having participated in the beautiful mystery of the Holy Eucharist for so long- because they have not been to “Confession”. There are many of those out there, thirsting for God- longing for that spiritual connection to God, only to believe they are not deserving because an imposed requirement, roadblock if you will, has not been overcome.

What then is the ultimate message being sent by the Church? Does Christ offer unconditional forgiveness, or is it something the Church can only approve once there is an acknowledgement or an embarrassment of guilt? Some churches move so far as to temper their own frustration that this constraint of Confession causes, as misguided faithful evaporate from the pews, by proclaiming- condemn the sin, but not the sinner!

Clerics and religious people are tasked today to reexamine, and perhaps even redefine if necessary, what is “sin”. Our interpretations of such must be made with contemporary understanding and sensitivty, and not first century ignorance. Saint Paul himself rationalized that “all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God” [Romans 3:23] How then could anyone, hope to be above the grasp and grave of sin at all? Bishop Spong throws out a life preserver: “To be human, we are by definition fallen from grace and in need of rescue. But Jesus forgives anyone- everyone. There is no limit to the forgiveness of God.”

In her book Rites of Justice, Dr. Megan McKenna a Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, challenges churches today to “revisit reconciliation not so much as something that was done or needs to be undone, but to call us to a change of heart, mind- to move from apathy and ignorance to political and social justice.”

We must be ready and willing to accept and embrace everyone. The church must be prepared to forgive and receive everyone- as Jesus did. Without the predispositions and ambiguities that all can be forgiven as long as you read the “fine print” first. A church trap set to ensnare and rebuke the searching soul.
No one is to be denied the forgiveness and acceptance of God’s love.

Even the Holy Eucharist is to be offered freely to anyone who approaches God’s table. For the love of God is so great and God’s mercy limitless, that even those who would participate in the Holy Eucharist to seek God’s grace without such requirements of “Confession”, do so at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit within them. There is no deception, deceit or ulterior motive- for the Holy Spirit will replace that in the beautiful connection of the soul to God. Christ tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” [2 Corinthians 12:9]

Bishop Spong warns us that: “the very future of the Christian faith rests not on reasserting traditions of antiquity, but in our abilities to reeaxmine and refashion how Christianity will be understood in our time.”

Almighty and most merciful God. You know what is truly in my heart. Help me to clarify and purify my intentions, as there are so many contradictory desires within me and I get preoccupied with things that don’t really matter or last. I know that if I give to you my heart- I will follow my heart.

In all that I am today and all that I try to do- in all my encounters and reflections- even in all my frustrations and failings- and most especially at this time of prayer- I place my heart and soul into your hands and at the foot of your Cross. I am your child, my Lord. Forgive me and raise me up for your glory. Amen, and Amen.

Blessed Henry of Suso Servant of the Eternal Wisdom Memorial day: March 2nd

His father belonged to the noble family of Berg; his mother, a holy woman from whom he took his name, to a family of Sus (or Süs). When thirteen years of age he entered the Dominican convent at Constance, where he made his preparatory, philosophical, and theological studies.

From 1324 to 1327 he took a supplementary course in theology in the Dominican studium generale at Cologne, where he sat at the feet of Johann Eckhart, “the Master”, and probably at the side of Tauler, both celebrated mystics. Returning to Constance, he was appointed to the office of lector, from which he seems to have been removed some time between 1329 and 1334. In the latter year he began his apostolic career. About 1343 he was elected prior of a convent, probably at Diessenhofen. Five years later he was sent from Constance to Ulrn where he remained until his death.

Suso’s life as a mystic began in his eighteenth year, when giving up his careless habits of the five preceding years, he made himself “the Servant of the Eternal Wisdom”, which he identified with the Divine essence and, in a concrete form, with the personal Eternal Wisdom made man. Henceforth a burning love for the Eternal Wisdom dominated his thoughts and controlled his actions. He had frequent visions and ecstasies, practised severe austerities (which he prudently moderated in maturer years), and bore with rare patience corporal afflictions, bitter persecutions and grievous calumnies.

He became foremost among the Friends of God in the work of restoring religious observance in the cloisters. His influence was especially strong in many convents of women, particularly in the Dominican convent of Katherinenthal, a famous nursery of mysticism in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and in that of Toss, where lived the mystic Elsbeth Stagel, who turned some of his Latin into German, collected and preserved most of his extant letters, and drew from him the history of his life which he himself afterwards developed and published.

In the world he was esteemed as a preacher, and was heard in the cities and towns of Swabia, Switzerland, Alsace, and the Netherlands. His apostolate, however, was not with the masses, but rather with individuals of all classes who were drawn to him by his singularly attractive personality, and to whom he became a personal director in the spiritual life.

It has often been incorrectly said that he established among the Friends of God a society which he called the Brotherhood of the Eternal Wisdom. The so-called Rule of the Brotherhood of the Eternal Wisdom is but a free translation of a chapter of his “Horologium Sapientiae”, and did not make its appearance until the fifteenth century.

HIS WRITINGS

The first writing from the pen of Suso was the “Büchlein der Wahrheit”, which he issued while a student at Cologne. Its doctrine was unfavourably criticized in some circles — very probably on account of its author’s close relations with Eckhart, who had just been called upon to explain or to reject certain propositions — but it was found to be entirely orthodox.

As in this, so in his other writings Suso, while betraying Eckhart’s influence, always avoided the errors of “the Master”. The book was really written in part against the pantheistic teachings of the Beghards, and against the libertine teachings of the Brethren of the Free Spirit. Father Denifle considers it the most difficult “little book” among the writings of the German mystics.

Whereas in this book Suso speaks as a contemplative and to the intellect, in his next, “Das Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit”, published early in 1328, he is eminently practical and speaks out of the fullness of his heart to “simple men who still have imperfections to be put off”. Bihlmeyer accepts Denifle’s judgment that it is the “most beautiful fruit of German mysticism”, and places it next to the “Homilies” of St. Bernard, and the “Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis. In the second half of the fourteenth and in the fifteenth century there was no more widely read meditation book m the German language.

In 1334 Suso translated this work into Latin, but in doing so added considerably to its contents, and made of it an almost entirely new book, to which he gave the name “Horologium Sapientiae”. Even more elevating than the original, finished in language, rich in figure, rhythmic in movement, it became a favourite book in the cloisters at the close of the Middle Ages, not only in Germany, but also in the Netherlands, France, Italy, and England.

To the same period of Suso’s literary activity may belong “Das Minnebüchlein” but its authenticity is doubtful.

After retiring to Ulm Suso wrote the story of his inner life (“Vita” or “Leben Seuses”), revised the “Büchlein der Wahrheit”, and the “Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit”, all of which, together with eleven of his letters (the “Briefbüchlein”), and a prologue, he formed into one book known as the “Exemplar Seuses”.

Suso is called by Wackernagel and others a “Minnesinger in prose and in the spiritual order.” The mutual love of God and man which is his principal theme gives warmth and colour to his style. He used the full and flexible Alamannian idiom with rare skill, and contributed much to the formation of good German prose, especially by giving new shades of meaning to words employed to describe inner sensations. His intellectual equipment was characteristic of the schoolmen of his age. In his doctrine there was never the least trace of an unorthodox tendency.

For centuries he exercised an influence upon spiritual writers. Among his readers and admirers were Thomas à Kempis and Bl. Peter Canisius.

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII
Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910, Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of Ne

Born: March 21, 1295 at Uberlingen, Germany as Heinrich von Berg

Died: January 25, 1361 at Ulm, Germany

Beatified: 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI

Representation: Dominican with the Holy Name on his chest

Works: Book of the Eternal Wisdom, The Thirst of God

 

Blessed Christopher of Milan

Nothing is known of the early years of Blessed Christopher. He received the Dominican habit in the convent of San Eustorgio in Milan, Italy, in the early 15th century. He is recorded as being “holy and abstemious, humble and studious”–the ordinary virtues that we have come to take for granted among the beati; there is nothing to indicate the type of person Christopher was, or what peculiar circumstances might have led him to the Dominicans. He is noted especially for his preaching and for his gift of prophecy.

The age in which Christopher lived was a rough and dangerous one, and a time for prophets and penitents to thrive. He was himself an apostolic preacher throughout Liguria and the Milanese, famous for the impact of his sermons on sinners. He had a vivid power of description and this, coupled with his gift of prophecy, made his sermons unforgettable.

Christopher worked in many parts of Italy, but his name is particularly venerated in Taggia, where he spent many years. As a result of his preaching, the people of Taggia built a monastery and church dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy and Christopher became its first abbot. A great wave of spiritual revival was felt in Taggia during his tenure, but he was not optimistic about the future.

In a vision he saw that most of the population would be carried off by plague. Twenty years before anyone was paying any attention to the Turks, he told the people of Taggia that Turks would invade the city, and they did, as he had prophesied. A disastrous flood swept the area, fulfilling another of his prophesies. He wrote four volumes of sermon aids, containing scriptural examples and quotations from the Fathers of the Church.

In 1484, when he was absent from Taggia preaching a mission, Christopher fell ill and knew that he was about to die. He insisted on returning to his own monastery at Taggia. There he received the last sacraments and immediately died (Benedictines, Dorcy).

Born: In the early part of the 15th century

Died: 1484 at Our Lady of Mercy convent, Taggia, Italy of natural causes

Beatified: 1875 by Pope Pius IX

Blessed Villana, Matron, O.P.

Blessed Villana was the daughter of Andrew de’Botti, a Florentine merchant, and was born in 1332. When she was thirteen she ran away from home to enter a convent but her attempts were unsuccessful and she was forced to return. To prevent any repetition of her flight, her father shortly afterwards gave her in marriage to Rosso di Piero. After her marriage she appeared completely changed; she gave herself up to pleasure and dissipation and lived a wholly idle and worldly life. One day, as she was about to start for an entertainment clad in a gorgeous dress adorned with pearls and precious stones, she looked at herself in a mirror. To her dismay, the reflection that met her eyes was that of a hideous demon. A second and a third mirror showed the same ugly form.

Thoroughly alarmed and recognizing in the reflection the image of herself sin-stained soul, she tore off her fine attire and, clad in the simplest clothes she could find, she betook herself weeping to the Dominican Fathers at Santa Maria Novella to make a full confession and to ask absolution and help. This proved the turning point of her life, and she never again fell away. Before long Villana was admitted to the Third Order of St. Dominic, and after this she advanced rapidly in the spiritual life. Fulfilling all her duties as a married woman, she spent all her available time in prayer and reading. She particularly loved to read St. Paul’s Epistles and the lives of the saints. At one time, in a self-abasement and in her love for the poor, she would have gone begging for them from door to door had not her husband and parents interposed. So completely did she give herself up to God that she was often rapt in ecstacy, particularly during Mass or at spiritual conferences; but she had to pass through a period of persecution when she was cruelly calumniated and her honor was assailed.

Her soul was also purified by strong pains and by great bodily weakness. However, she passed unscathed through all these trials and was rewarded by wonderful visions and olloquies with our Lady and other saints. Occasionally the room in which she dwelt was filled with supernatural light, and she was also endowed with the gift of prophecy. As she lay on her deathbed, she asked that the Passion should be read to her, and at the words “He bowed His head and gave up the ghost”, she crossed her hands on her breast and passed away. Her body was taken to Santa Maria Novella, where it became such an object of veneration that for over a month it was impossible to proceed with the funeral.

People struggled to obtain shreds of her clothing, and she was honored as a saint from the day of her death. Her bereaved husband use to say that, when he felt discouraged and depressed, he found strength by visiting the room in which his beloved wife had died.

Born: 1332 in Florence, Italy

Died: December of 1360 of natural causes; body taken to Santa Maria Novella; the Fathers were unable to bury her for a month due to the constant crowd of mourners

Beatified: March 27 1824 (cultus confirmed) by Pope Leo XII

 

An Invitation to Fast and Feast ~ The Rt. Rev. Edmund N. Cass

Lent is upon us and throughout these forty days we are called by the Church to do penance, to make atonement for our sins, and to amend our lives. While atonement is important, this has been accomplished by Christ for us, and we have only to accept the saving death he endured on the Cross and our atonement is accomplished. As for amendment of life, this is asked of all Christians. So what then of our focus for Lent?

I invite each of you to spend time these sacred days in fasting and feasting…yes, feasting! Before you think your Bishop has lost his mind, or slipped into a horrible heresy, consider these words…and may you find yourselves empowered during this Lenten Season!

William Arthur Ward, American author, teacher and pastor, 1921-1994 offers these powerful words for our consideration:

  • Fast from judging others; Feast on the Christ dwelling in them.
  • Fast from emphasis on differences; Feast on the unity of life.
  • Fast from apparent darkness; Feast on the reality of light.
  • Fast from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.
  • Fast from words that pollute; Feast on phrases that purify.
  • Fast from discontent; Feast on gratitude.
  • Fast from anger; Feast on patience.
  • Fast from pessimism; Feast on optimism.
  • Fast from worry; Feast on divine order.
  • Fast from complaining; Feast on appreciation.
  • Fast from negatives; Feast on affirmatives.
  • Fast from unrelenting pressures; Feast on unceasing prayer.
  • Fast from hostility; Feast on non-resistance.
  • Fast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.
  • Fast from self-concern; Feast on compassion for others.
  • Fast from personal anxiety; Feast on eternal truth.
  • Fast from discouragements; Feast on hope.
  • Fast from facts that depress; Feast on verities that uplift.
  • Fast from lethargy; Feast on enthusiasm.
  • Fast from thoughts that weaken; Feast on promises that inspire.
  • Fast from shadows of sorrow; Feast on the sunlight of serenity.
  • Fast from idle gossip; Feast on purposeful silence.
  • Fast from problems that overwhelm; Feast on prayer that strengthens.

I’d ask you all to meditation on and practice each of the suggestions above for a day during Lent. I know you will be empowered and I know you will learn that fasting must always be accompanied by feasting!

God Bless you!

Blessed Constantius, C.O.P.

Constantius Bernocchi is as close to a ‘sad saint’ as it’s possible for a Dominican to get; he is said to have had the gift of tears. However, that is not his only claim to fame. Constantius had an remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious piety, but also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy. Constantius had a sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life. One day, the little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them pray with him. The little girl rose up, cured, and she remained well for a long and happy life. Naturally, the parents were amazed, and they were quite sure it had not been their prayers that effected the cure, but those of their little son.

Constantius entered the Dominicans at age 15, and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His special forte was Scripture, and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart, and he himself became closely identified with the movement.

Several miracles and prophecies are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one day told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if he did. The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One day, Constantius came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The man had been thrown by his horse and was badly injured; he had a broken leg and a broken arm. All he asked was to be taken to some place where care could be given him, but Constantius did better than that–he cured the man and left him, healed and astonished.

Constantius was made prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was recounted in the canonization process.

Blessed Constantius is said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150 Psalms, which he knew by heart, and used for examples on every occasion. He also said that he had never been refused any favor for which he had recited the whole psalter. He wrote a number of books; these, for the most part, were sermon material, and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order.

On the day of Constantius’s death, little children of the town ran through the streets crying out, “The holy prior is dead! The holy prior is dead!” On hearing of his death, the city council met and stated that it was a public calamity.

The relics of Blessed Constantius have suffered from war and invasion. After the Dominicans were driven from the convent where he was buried, his tomb was all but forgotten for a long time. Then one of the fathers put the relics in the keeping of Camaldolese monks in a nearby monastery, where they still remain (Benedictines, Dorcy, Encyclopedia).

Born: Born in the early part of the 15th century in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy

Died: 1481 of natural causes; the local senate and council assembled at the news of his death, proclaimed it a “public calamity”, and voted to pay for the funeral

Beatified: 1821 (cultus confirmed) by Pope Pius VII

Time for a change! by Fr. Bryan Wolf

Today is the Second Sunday of Lent.  Traditionally,  it has been known as ” Transfiguration Sunday “.  Our Lectionary even provides us with an example of this in today’s Gospel.   Jesus went with Peter, John and James up to a high mountain top.  There before their own eyes, the three disciples witness Jesus being met by Moses and Elijah and then being transfigured in radiant brilliance. [ Luke 9:28-36 ].

Though the Feast of the Transfiguration is celebrated in August, we pause to consider why it is always mentioned at this time of year during Lent.  Perhaps it is meant to be inspirational.  Christ knew of the coming dark days of His sorrowful Passion.  Perhaps Jesus wanted to provide some evidence to his closest disciples, so they could take comfort and not be despaired or discouraged, but know of His true nature.  Perhaps it is meant to be motivational-  for us!

For Lent is not only a season of prayer and penitence, but it is a season of preparation.  We are preparing for Easter. We are preparing for the glorious Resurrection, and the fulfillment of our Lord’s promise of everlasting life.  We are also preparing to make ourselves better Christians.  More caring and concerned, more dedicated to others.  Preparing to make ourselves more  ” Christ-like “, so that we can be more focused on Christ.

Our Lectionary accompanies this concept with a passage from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians;  “ Their destiny is destruction. Their mind is set on earthly things. ” [ Philippians 3:19 ]  We become so preoccupied with our ‘day to day’ lives that we loose focus on Christ, His message and His desire that we care for others.  Our minds and energies are set on ” earthly things “.

We are given this time, this ” Transfiguration Sunday,”  to indeed make a dramatic change in ourselves.  We all know, I easily admit that I do, that there are things we can do better- do differently, to do more ” Christ-like,” in our interactions with family and friends,  even with strangers.  Would it not be a compliment worthy of the disciples themselves,  to see our family and friends staring at us strangely with smiles on their faces?  Our own inward smile, knowing we just eased a burden or made someone’s Cross lighter to carry?  The smile of our Savior, when God sees that we ourselves have been transfigured?  That is after all, why we are truly here.  So that Christ could be here, and ease the burdens of our family and friends- of strangers- of everyone.

So, it is time for a change!  A transfiguration.  As is the tradition to give up and forsake something for Lent, as a sacrifice- let us sacrifice a change- to change!  Let us take those traits and bad habits, that even we ourselves know in our hearts need to be broken and done away with-  and transfigure ourselves into the good and caring Christians that Christ calls our for us to be!  After all, look at the sacrifice he made for us- so that we could.  It is indeed then- time for a  change!

Almighty God.  Create within me a new heart- a new spirit- a new resolve.  Help me to see the potential that you see within me.  I know I can be better than I have been.  I know I can do more- help more- love more.  Toward my family- toward my friends- toward my neighbors, even for those that I do not know.  But most especially, for you!  Oh my loving God-  strengthen me.  Restore me.  Renew me.  Refresh me.  Rebuild me.  Transfigure me!  Amen!

Stations of the Cross- Contemporary Reflections~ by Fr. Bryan Wolf

May we read, pray and be inspired as we continue our spiritual Lenten journey toward that glorious Easter morning!

The First Station- Jesus is Condemned.  Even now, my beloved Lord Jesus- the world still has you on trial.  Why have you not corrected the injustice in the world?  Wars, oppression, famine, bigotry and hatred still abound.  The weak and the poor continue to turn their eyes and prayers toward heaven.  Where are you?  Why are you so silent?  I admit, in the silence of my soul and in the fear of my faith- I ask this question too.

But in your silence you stood before Pilate.  Your surrendered to God your understanding.  God knows.  God understands our fears, our needs and God knows the true nature of man- the soul and heart that beats within him.  In my silence I pray to you to give me faith- to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Give to me the faith- to be still and know that you are God.

The Second Station- Jesus carries His Cross.  With each movement of the heavy cross, splinters and pain dug deeper into your already broken and bleeding flesh.  How, my beloved Jesus- could you keep anger, hate and contempt for those who imposed this burden upon you?  I see injustice in the world and I am angered. I am frustrated at what I believe are unfair considerations against me.  Then I am ashamed, when I realize the burdens and inequalities others endure.

Strength me, my Lord Jesus- to take up my cross. To have faith in you. Enable me to have the courage to help others carry their own cross.  That I can be an instrument of change- to ease the burden of others.

The Third Station- Jesus Falls.  It would seem to me, as God- you would have carried the cross without falling- but you did not.  You fell beneath its crushing weight- and you are God!  How than, my beloved Jesus- am I to carry my own cross, let alone try and ease the burdens of others?  How can I not, disappoint my family and friends?

But you, my beloved Jesus- were not afraid to fall. You got up, and continued to carry your cross.  Is this your lesson to me?  Do not be afraid to fall?  Rise up. Draw my faith, trust  and strength from God and like you- carry on.

The Fourth Station- Jesus meets His Mother.  There must have been great anguish, pain and sorrow when Blessed Mary saw you.  She must have recalled those times when you fell as a child or were frightened- and ran to her for comfort.  Now she is held at a distance- helpless and filled with despair. It is a painful cross any mother bears in the suffering of her children.

Strengthen the heart and spirits of all parents, merciful God. The courage to help when the can and, more importantly, the resolve when they cannot.  Remove the scars and hurt that separate the bonds of blood between families- as we are bound to you by the sacrifice of your precious blood shed for us.

The Fifth Station- Simon helps Jesus.  How fearful and reluctant was Simon, when he was chosen to help you carry your cross?  Was he too jeered by the crowd? Did he too feel shame?

My beloved Jesus, make me not afraid to face those challenges that will come before me.  Give me strength and faith to walk with you, no matter what struggles lay before me.  Help me to realize that when others are burdened with injustice, I may bravely move beyond the indifferent crowd and help.

The Sixth Station- Veronica wipes Jesus’ brow.  Here, too, another example of someone who dares the condemnation of the crowd to help.  Strengthen me as well, my beloved Jesus, to have the same courage.  To think not of my own comfort and safety, but to react with compassion toward the suffering of others.

The Seventh Station- Jesus falls a Second time.  I am anxious my Lord Jesus, you fall yet again. The crowd, gazing upon you,  must now doubt that you are indeed the Son of God.  What they perceive as weakness and resignation is in reality, unparalleled strength and resolve.

I too, judge others too quickly, sometimes making judgments on appearances alone.  Like the crowd beside you, I too hastily decide my scorn and superiority; looking down upon others. We are too quick to judge the disabled, the poor, the homeless, the destitute and dispossessed, the aged and infirm and those of different color and complexion, or of strange language or ethnicity, or of affectional or sexual orientation.  Help my my beloved Jesus, to overcome my own shortsightedness and shortcoming to understand that we are all children of God; that everyone is worthy of my time, my prayers and my love.

The Eighth Station- Jesus Speaks.  Even in your time of greatest humiliation and suffering, you spoke words of compassion, comfort and absolution.  I am ashamed to think that when I suffer, I think only of myself.  I forget those who suffer much more than I could truly endure.

Give to me Lord Jesus, your grace of humility and holiness.  Help me to take the weight and pains of my own cross and make it a sacrifice to you.  That I may be proud to place my cross beside yours and be judged.

The Ninth Station- Jesus falls a third time.  Even though you are helped by Simon, you fall again.  Is the lesson that there will be times in my life- though helped by others, even with my love and devotion to God- I will still fall?  I cry out to you from the depths of my despair-  “Merciful God, this is more then I can bear!”

“Yes, my dearest child- I know and understand. I am with you always.”  When I fall beloved Jesus, you will catch me. You will raise me up!

My beloved Jesus, there are so many of us crushed by the weight of our crosses. Weighed down and overwhelmed by age, addiction, abuse, oppression and sin.  Lift us up! Remind us there you are there with us. That we are never truly alone. That you walk with us.  For surely, we will stumble and fall again.

The Tenth Station- Jesus is stripped.  Yet another humiliation and suffering.  Even as you walked the bitter path to desolate Calvary, shivering and chilled with pain- you looked down upon the world with compassion.  Make me as ‘Christ-like,’ beloved Jesus, that I too may endure my trials with dignity and devotion.

Almighty God,  for the sake of your sorrowful passion- have mercy on us and on the whole world. Forgive our sins and teach us to forgive others.

The Eleventh Station- Jesus is nailed to the Cross.  I cannot imagine the pain.  It is even difficult for me to comprehend. Even as your tormentors pounded those heavy iron nails into your flesh, you forgave them.  A love so powerful, so incredible, so overwhelming- that God allows Himself to be nailed to a cross.

Was the nail hammered into your left hand, payment for those who harbor hate in their heart?  The nail driven into your right hand, for those ignorant to the suffering of others?  The nails driven into your feet of blistered and broken flesh, payment for those who walk away from the begging outcries of others?  The spear that pierced your side, does it release your overflowing mercy?  Such great love.  Such a great sacrifice.  How can I ever expect to repay it, or be worthy of your love?

Nailed to the Cross, your arms outstretched- you call out to us- “Here I am, dear child.  Come to me.  I go nowhere without you.  I am held to the cross.  I love you.”

The Twelfth Station- Jesus dies.  The sky has turned dark and thunder rumbles. Blessed Mary and beloved John stand nearby. I fall to my knees before your cross in shame.  Scripture tells me you came into the world to give light and though you made the world, the world did not know you.  By your death we are plunged into darkness.

Forgive us Lord Jesus, for not seeing the light. We are blinded by our own ambitions and desires. We choose not to see the suffering and injustice.  We do not even see the beauty of your creation.  The light of truth has left the world, and I pray for it to return.

The Thirteenth Station- Jesus is taken down.  Once again in painful sorrow, Blessed Mary holds you in her arms again. Mother and child.  When I am overwhelmed with loneliness and failure, let me think of this moment. The embrace.  Of being  embraced- by my heavenly Father. God’s embrace of His children. Where there is suffering and pain- there will be mercy and compassion.

The Fourteenth Station- Jesus is laid in the tomb.  On the night you were born, beloved Jesus- men slept.  Angels sang your glory, animals greeted you and a small handful of shepherds noticed.  Now in your burial, again- only a small handful gather.

Like you- most of us are born, and will die, in obscurity. Most of us will not have the mention of media or historians. Is this then your greatest lesson to us?  Be content to be who you are- as you are- where you are. You are children of God.

God knows who you are- for even before you were- God knew you.  Live your life that is the gift from God. Loves those that God has given you to love. Provide for those, that God calls for you help.  For we are renewed and refreshed by the glorious resurrection of Easter morning!  The tomb is empty! We will not be weighed down or overwhelmed by our cross. In fact, it is The Cross that will raise us up- if we are willing accept to follow The Cross and carry it.

For the tomb is empty!  Christ is Risen!

Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, C.O.P.

Blessed Alvarez is claimed by both Spain and Portugal. He received the habit in the convent of Saint Paul in Cordova in 1368, and had been preaching there for some time in Castile and Andalusia when Saint Vincent Ferrer began preaching in Catalonia. Having gone to Italy and the Holy Land on a pilgrimage, Alvarez returned to Castile and preached the crusade against the infidels. He was spiritual advisor to the queen-mother of Spain, Catherine daughter of John of Gaunt, and tutor to her son John II. Alvarez had the work of preparing the people spiritually for the desperate effort to banish the Moors from Spain. He also opposed the Avignon pope Peter de Luna.

Blessed Alvarez is probably best remembered as a builder of churches and convents, an activity which was symbolic of the work he did in the souls of those among whom he preached. He founded, in one place, a convent to shelter a famous image of Our Lady, which had been discovered in a miraculous manner. Near Cordova he built the famous convent of Scala Coeli, a haven of regular observance. It had great influence for many years. His building enterprises were often aided by the angels, who, during the night, carried wood and stones to spots convenient for the workmen.

The austerities of Alvarez were all the more remarkable in that they were not performed by a hermit, but by a man of action. He spent the night in prayer, as Saint Dominic had done; he wore a hairshirt and a penitential chain; and he begged alms in the streets of Cordova for the building of his churches, despite the fact that he had great favor at court and could have obtained all the money he needed from the queen. He had a deep devotion to the Passion, and had scenes of the Lord’s sufferings made into small oratories in the garden of Scala Coeli.

On one occasion, when there was no food for the community but one head of lettuce left from the night before, Blessed Alvarez called the community together in the refectory, said the customary prayers, and sent the porter to the gate. There the astonished brother found a stranger, leading a mule; the mule was loaded with bread, fish, wine, and all things needed for a good meal. The porter turned to thank the benefactor and found that he had disappeared.

At another time, Blessed Alvarez was overcome with pity at a dying man who lay untended in the street. Wrapping the man in his mantle, he started home with the sufferer, and one of the brothers asked what he was carrying. “A poor sick man,” replied Alvarez. But when they opened the mantle, there was only a large crucifix in his arms. This crucifix is still preserved at Scala Coeli.

Blessed Alvarez died and was buried at Scala Coeli. An attempt wads made later to remove the relics to Cordova, but it could not be done, because violent storms began each time the journey was resumed, and stopped when the body was returned to its original resting place.

Founded Escalaceli (Ladder of Heaven), a Dominican house of strict observance in the mountains around Cordova; it became a well known center of piety and learning. Alvarez spent his days there preaching, teaching, begging alms in the street, and spending his nights in prayer. In the gardens of the house he set up a series of oratories with images of the Holy Lands and Passion, similar to modern Stations of the Cross.

A bell in the chapel of Blessed Alvarez, in the convent of Cordova, rings of itself when anyone in the convent, or of special not in the order, is about to die (Benedictines, Dorcy).

There are many wonderful stories attached to Alvarez, which include:

Angels are reported to have helped built Escalaceli, moving stone and wooden building materials to the site during the night, placing them where workmen could easily get them during the day.

 
Once when the entire food stocks for the house consisted of a single head of lettuce, he gathered all the brothers at table, gave thanks for the meal, and sent the porter to the door; the porter found a stranger leading a mule loaded with food. After unloading the mule, the stranger and the animal disappeared.

 
Alvarez once found a beggar dying alone in the street. He wrapped the poor man in his own cloak, and carried him back to Escalaceli. When he arrived at the house and unwrapped the cloak, instead of man, he found a crucifix. It still hangs in Escalaceli.

 
A bell in the chapel with Alvarez’s relics rings by itself just before the death of anyone in the house.

 
Attempts were made to move Alvarez’s relics to Cordova, but each try led to violent storms that kept the travelers bottled up until they gave up their task, leave the bones where they are.

 

Born: Born about the middle of the 14th century in Cordova, Spain

Died: 1420

Beatified: Cultus confirmed September 22 by Benedict XIV in 1741