Memorial of Blesseds Denis & Redemptus

"Blessed Denis and Blessed Redemptus died for their faith on November 29th, 1638. Both of these two men are interesting as they were late vocations, having both had successful careers before becoming Carmelite friars. And both earned the title of the first martyrs of the Carmelite Reform.

Blessed Denis of the Nativity was born Denis Berthelot at Honfleur, France on December 12, 1600. As a young man he sailed abroad to Spain, England and America, becoming a skilled pilot, and a cartographer. Because of his valor and genius, he became first pilot of the kings of France and Portugal. Some of his cartography, the Maritime Tables, is still preserved in the British Museum.

In 1635, he joined the Carmelite community in Goa where he was an example of virtue to all. He was graced with the gift of contemplation.

Blessed Redemptus of the Cross was born Thomas Rodrigues da Cunha in Portugal in 1598. His early career before becoming a Carmelite included military service in India at Goa where he too joined the Carmelites and became a lay brother.

Shortly after the Ordination to the priesthood of Blessed Denis, the Portuguese ambassador to the sultan of Achen wanted Bl. Denis to join him as a spiritual guide, as well as a Maritime expert, and someone versed in the Malayan language. Father Denis, in turn, took as companion, Brother Redemptus.

However, the sultan of Achen imprisoned them. They were tormented and their persecutors tried mightily to convince them to renounce their Catholic faith and become Muslims. This they steadfastly refused to do and they suffered a cruel death for their Christian faith on November 29, 1638. Their last words were: “Jesus, Mary.” Blessed Denis is commemorated today particularly in the diocese of Bayeux-Lisieux."

-- Biography from The Carmel of St Joseph
 
Blesseds Denis & Redemptus, pray for us!

First Sunday in Advent

"Today as we begin the holy season of Advent, we have to reflect upon the fact that Advent, for all practical purposes, is the forgotten season in the Church. It is rarely celebrated by anyone anymore because what happens is that people begin celebrating Christmas a month, a month and a half, even two months before Christmas begins. Advent is a season of penance, not a season of celebration. There is no place during Advent for Christmas parties. There is no place during Advent for all the festivities. That is to take place after Christmas Day – not beforehand. It would be like celebrating the birth of your baby a month before the baby is born; it does not make any sense. In that month prior to the birth of the child, the parents are preparing the home and getting themselves ready. They do not send out birth announcements and have parties a month beforehand, but rather it is a time when they draw into themselves and prepare themselves. That is what this season is about.

It is a time of penance, which is why we wear purple during Advent, but not a penance like the penance that is done in Lent. That is a penance which is done in reparation for our sins; this is a penance which is done in preparation for the coming of the Lord so that we will be spiritually prepared to be able to celebrate Christmas. Of course, as we look to the first coming of Christ two thousand years ago, we also look forward to the Second Coming of Christ. It is to prepare our hearts so we will be able to be ready when the Lord comes, because He tells us very clearly in the Gospel reading today that we do not know either the day or the hour and we have to be prepared. Most Americans, quite frankly, are not prepared.

Two thousand years ago, when Our Lord came into the world, the Jewish people knew the time of His coming. But at the time when Jesus came into this world there was chaos. A census had been called by Quirinius, the governor, and Mary and Joseph had to go down to Bethlehem. If we think of what would have been happening in Bethlehem at that time, it would have been a very busy place. All the shopkeepers would have been busy about selling their goods to all of the visitors who needed to eat and have provisions. They would have been doing quite well business-wise at that time. The inn was full and there was no room. There would have been hustle and bustle with people jockeying for position and trying to get ahead of somebody else and seeing what they could get away with. Sounds sort of like America, doesn’t it? Chaos, shopping, money, looking out for one’s self. Because of all the chaos and all the external things that were going on, the people totally missed the birth of Christ.

The angels did not come down, of course, to tell the shepherds about Our Lord’s birth until after He had been born. The star for the magi did not appear telling them to come to Bethlehem until after Our Lord had been born. This being the case, we need to consider our own situation. I am always saddened at this time of the year when I drive down the street to see houses lit up with lights already. And Americans, with their penchant for competition, have actually determined now to get into a competition to see who can have the largest electric bill and who can have the most lights in their front yard – by the thousands these days – trying to impress other people. When Christmas is over the show is gone, and what is there other than electric bills to pay? This is not the season for lights. The Light of the world has not come yet. We are preparing for His coming, not celebrating it as yet. And so in a Christian place there is no room at this time for all the lights and all the festivities and all the parties and all the chaos.

As the Church begins Her new year today, we can look at the secular practice and perhaps learn something from it. When we begin a new calendar year, people always make resolutions. Now that the Church is beginning a new year today, I would recommend that we too should make some resolutions. Saint Paul in the second reading today tells us that we need to put aside all the things that are of the flesh: the drunkenness, the lust, the promiscuity, the rivalry, the jealousy, all these things. He tells us we need to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what this season is about: becoming more Christ-like, preparing ourselves like our Blessed Lady and Saint Joseph did for the coming of the Christ child into this world.

So if I might make a few suggestions on how to prepare yourselves, start with the secular and work to the spiritual. First of all, turn off the TV and turn off the radio. Allow some silence to enter into your homes and into your hearts. Do not put up any lights or any decorations for Christmas for at least three more weeks. This is not the Christmas season yet. Let Advent be Advent and celebrate Christmas during Christmas. Simplify the way you celebrate Christmas and prepare it that way so you do not have to spend days and weeks in malls and department stores in the midst of the chaos, but rather prepare spiritually for Christmas. Imagine the amount of time you would have to spend in prayer if you did not watch TV and listen to the radio and go shopping as much.

And so pray at least one half hour a day, preferably in front of the Blessed Sacrament. There are fifty adoration chapels in the Twin Cities where the Lord is exposed 24 hours a day on the altar for your adoration. There is a chapel somewhere near you. If you can get there, that is the best. Of course, a church with the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle works perfectly fine as well. If that does not work, at least have a place set aside in your home where it is designed for prayer. And I am talking about the silent prayer of the heart. This is not the time to pray your Rosary or read a spiritual book or do anything else, it is to talk to God in your heart in silence, a half hour at least. Then pray your Rosary and read the spiritual books. If you can make it to daily Mass, what a blessing that will be for you. What better way is there to be able to receive Jesus into your heart on Christmas than to prepare by receiving Him in the Eucharist everyday? It is the greatest way to be like Our Lady, who carried Jesus in her womb for those nine months. The closest we can come is to carry Him in our hearts for a half hour at a time when we receive Him in the Blessed Sacrament.

Get to Confession. If you have not been to Confession since last Easter, do not wait until two days before Christmas. Get there this week and then go again right before Christmas. If you can put aside the time to pray and you can get to Confession, you will be astounded at the changes that will happen in your life. If you set aside some place and time for silence, the things that you will recognize and see within yourself will be quite wonderful. In the midst of the chaos, we cannot think clearly, we cannot see clearly, we cannot hear. God, remember, speaks in the silence. If we fill our hearts and our minds and our lives with noise and chaos, there is no place for God; and it does not matter how loudly He speaks, we will not be able to hear.

In the first reading, we hear about the mountain of the Lord’s house and how instruction is going to come forth from there and people of every nation are going to stream toward it. The mountain of the Lord’s house is the Church; it is Jesus Christ. Instruction has come forth; the question is whether or not we want it. The instruction of the Church is to make this a holy season of penance and preparation. It is to have a subdued attitude during this time, because if Our Lord were to come into the world today with all of the chaos, the same thing that happened two thousand years ago would happen again. We would miss Him. We would not be prepared and we would not recognize Him. But if we are taking the time to pray, if we are frequenting the Sacraments, if we are trying to develop the spiritual life and grow in virtue, then our hearts are going to be focused on Christ – not on gifts, not on lights, not even on the electric bill that we have run up because of having ten thousand lights in our front yard. Our focus will be on Jesus, the real Light. And when Christmas comes and all of these other people who are celebrating Christmas for the wrong reason unplug their lights and put them away and the darkness fills their houses and their yards – and in so many cases, tragically, their hearts as well – it will be light that will fill your hearts because Jesus is the Light that came into the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome that Light. The Light of Jesus Christ and the true light and the true joy and the true spirit of Christmas will continue to shine in your hearts long after Christmas Day has come and gone because you will have prepared yourself to receive the Light and you will be able to shine with a light that is far brighter than ten thousand lights in your front yard because you will be radiant with the love of Jesus Christ. You will bring His light into the darkness of this pagan society, into the darkness of this secular world. The real Light will shine within you if you prepare yourself properly.

So as we begin this new year, climb that mountain of the Lord. Look for the instruction of Jesus and seek Him with your whole heart and soul and strength. Spend this time as a spiritual preparation for the coming of the Lord. Keep your heart fixed on Him so that when He speaks you will hear Him, when He appears you will recognize Him, and you will be prepared in the most perfect way by a heart filled with love to receive the true coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas."

-- From a homily by Fr Robert Altier, ocds (28 November 2004)

Surrender to Love

"Seeing that God was not loved, she, Thérèse, would 'make reparation' too. The Love of God, Merciful Love, was not known. So seldom did people have recourse to Mercy; everyone appealed to Justice. They kept accounts with God, while he wished to give himself according to his own exigencies. Thérèse said to herself. "God has so much Love to give, and he can't do it; people present only their own merits, and these are so paltry." She therefore presented herself before God, saying: "Give me this love; I accept to be a victim of Love that is, to receive all the Love which others do not receive because they will not let you Love them as you wish. Such was her confidence in the Mercy which exceeds justice."

She then dreamt of making her offering to Merciful Love. But it was not directly in order to receive Love, it was 'to please God"-, it was so that God might have the opportunity to give himself as intensely as he desired. She would be a victim of Love, she accepted to be consumed by Love, if only God could have his way. Her object was to please him, no to be a saint; it was not even directly to give him to others, but only to please him. Her offering was God-centered. Thérèse looked only at God and she lived by this Love. She wanted to delight God, to give him joy, to let him Love. 

In the Gospels she also pondered the scene with the children. To enter God's kingdom, one must be a child. True, one must also be a saint. But who is greater? The smaller, because it is the weaker. Not by reason of any merits, but because the child, in its weakness and poverty, offers God the widest vessel, capable of holding all. Here we have the essence of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus' mystical theology. 

She also found in St. John of the Cross the most distant horizons of Love, In the Living Flame and the Spiritual Canticle he describes in a rich and comprehensive way the working of God's Love in the soul. These descriptions correspond clearly to Thérèse's experience"

-- God is Love by Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, ocd

God is Love: certitude in times of darkness

"A little later her sister, Mother Agnes, now Prioress, gave her to Mother Marie de Gonzague as an assistant in the formation of the novices, 28 among whom in 1894 was her sister Celine. Assigned to the novitiate, Thérèse found an opportunity to explain her teaching, which otherwise she would never have formulated. Obliged to speak to her sisters, she told them what she felt and experienced. When they questioned her, she quoted by heart passages from St. John of the Cross - as she often did at recreation - for that was her life. 

Thérèse thus explained a little of her doctrine, but always in the midst of distress, because of the opposition of her surroundings and the sermons she had to listen to. Her teaching was quite different from all this. In her obscure contemplation she had made the discovery of the God who is Love, an obscure discovery but one which she grasped almost by second nature and which created certitude in the depths of her soul. God is Love. She could say: "I contemplate and adore the other divine perfections ... through Mercy. All of these perfections appear to be resplendent with Love." There was nothing but this in God. 

The searching went on in darkness. Thérèse only explained what she had to explain, either for the novices or when asked to write the story of her life later. Habitually she lived in the dark. We might say that she found herself bogged down in what is often called the purification of the spirit. This consists far less in keen sufferings marked by distinct stages - some of these there were indeed - than in a muddled fog or kind of quicksand in which one becomes enmired and unable to move." This trial continued in anguish, but with upward thrusts toward God and convictions that she had found him. There was an apparent contradiction between her progressive discovery of sin and of sinful tendencies in herself and others, and her discovery of God. 

The God whom Thérèse discovered was the God of Love. At the same time she saw that around her, and even in her Carmel, God was not known. The God who is Love was not known! They knew the God of justice, quid pro quo, and they tried to acquire merits. But, thought Thérèse, this was not the way to win him. God is Love, God is Mercy. But what is Mercy? It is the Love of God which gives itself beyond all demands and rights. 

The Council of Trent declared that God bestows his gifts in two ways: out of justice, that is, as a reward for merits, and out of Mercy, that is, surpassing all merit. Thus he is true to his own nature, for he is Love, Goodness which pours itself out. He has a need to give. Therein ties his joy. 

Thérèse read the Gospels. What did she find there? Mary Magdalen: God had forgiven her much, and therefore she loved much." Thérèse also contemplated the prodigal son and the fathers joy in receiving him back: joy, for this was his opportunity to give himself. There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine upright people who have no need of repentance. What glorifies God and "delights him' is to be able to give himself, and give himself freely. This was Thérèse's discovery: what gives God joy is the power to give more than what is required by strict justice, freely, based on our needs and the exegencies of his nature which is Love, and not on our merits. 

Thérèse felt acutely the tension of her surroundings, the opposition between her light, her needs, and what she saw being practiced around her . People kept score with God. When you stood before the eternal Father who was to judge you, he would look at your list of merits. You would have obtained so many indulgences, you would have so many merits, and your place would be assigned. For her part Thérèse said: I shall take care not to present any merits of mine, but only those of our Lord. As for me, I shall have nothing, I do not want to present anything, I prefer to let God love me as much as he wants." Then she added, "It is because of this that I shall get such a good reception." Here we have the heart of her teaching."

-- God is Love by Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, ocd

Memorial of St Catherine of Alexandria

"Catherine was a noble maiden of Alexandria, who from her earliest years joined the study of the liberal arts with fervent faith, and in a short while came to such an height of holiness and learning, that when she was eighteen years of age she prevailed over the chiefest wits.  When she saw many diversely tormented and haled to death by command of Maximinus, because they professed the Christian religion, she went boldly unto him and rebuked him for his savage cruelty, bringing forward likewise most sage reasons why the faith of Christ should be needful for salvation.

Maximinus marvelled at her wisdom, and bade keep her, while he gathered together the most learned men from all quarters and offered them great rewards if they would confute Catherine and bring her from believing in Christ to worship idols.  But the event fell contrariwise, for many of the philosophers who had come to dispute with her were overcome by the force and skill of her reasoning, so that the love of Christ Jesus was kindled in them, and they were content even to die for his sake.  Then did Maximinus strive to beguile Catherine with fair words and promises, and when he found it was lost pains, he caused her to be hided, and bruised with lead-laden whips, and so cast into prison, and neither meat nor drink given to her for the space of eleven days.

At that time Maximinus' wife and Porphyry the Captain of his host, went to the prison to see the damsel, and at her preaching believed in Jesus Christ, and were afterwards crowned with martyrdom.  Then was Catherine brought out of ward, and a wheel was set, wherein were fastened many and sharp blades, so that her virgin body might thereby be most direfully cut and torn in pieces, but in a little while, as Catherine prayed, this machine was broken in pieces, at the which marvel many believed in Christ.  But Maximinus was hardened in his godlessness and cruelty, and commanded to behead Catherine.  She bravely offered her neck to the stroke and passed away hence to receive the twain crowns of maidenhood and martyrdom, upon the 25th day of November.  Her body was marvellously laid by Angels upon Mount Sinai in Arabia."

-- From the Breviary of St Pius X (1955 ed)

** Painting by Tiziano Vecellio

May the history of the Lord's great marvels continue

"When the gift of religious consecration is accepted and takes root in hearts you have chosen and set aside-like the "three" you took up to Mount Tabor, O Jesus-this gift becomes a hymn of praise and thanksgiving, an ardent supplication "to be with you"! This is because you are our only Love and our only Lord, you who are-both the only Son of the Father, in whom he was well pleased, and "the fairest among the sons of men".

With these sentiments we open ourselves to the grace offered us on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the foundation of our Teresian Carmelite community**. Accepting this grace is a way of "being with him"; indeed, if we are to live this gift, this "being" is indispensable. The reason is simple, for it means entering, to the extent granted to us, into a "sacred" history, whose principal agent is the Lord himself.

This history of salvation passes through humble, frail creatures marked with his seal; a history that unfolds in the human flow of the most varied and complex events, those of a little community belonging to the society of its time and which therefore-as Jesus said- must "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's"!

Drawn more and more by the "beauty of God and the love of Christ, the Beloved", we would like "not only to recall and recount a glorious history", but -humbly aware that everything comes from God-to entrust ourselves to the Spirit, so that the history of the Lord's great marvels may continue in our poverty."

-- Written by a discalced carmelite nun of the Monastero di San Giuseppe a Roma and published in L'Osservatore Romano on 19 February 1997

** Carmel of St Joseph in Rome

Memorial of Bl Miguel Agustín Pro

"Today we honor a remarkable man, Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest executed in Mexico 72 years ago. His life was more interesting and exciting than any James Bond movie. Even as a toddler Miguel was anything but ordinary. Soon after learning how to crawl, little Miguel escaped everyone’s notice and crawled out onto a third-story window ledge high above a busy street. His mother rescued her little boy before it was too late. The end of Miguel Pro’s life was just as extraordinary: when he was only 36 years old he was executed by a firing squad.

Miguel Pro was born January 13, 1891 in Guadalupe, Mexico to the mining family of Miguel and Josefa Pro. As a boy he was an outgoing, fun-loving, practical joker. At family gatherings he was the musician who played the guitar or mandolin. He wasn’t especially religious as a young man. For a while he was rather cool to his religion. But he felt called to the priesthood and when he was 20 years old, entered the Jesuit seminary.

1910 was the start of a revolution in Mexico that was especially hostile to the Catholic Church. By 1914 the fighting came close to the Jesuit seminary. Its rector decided to hide anything of value, provide all the Jesuits with street clothes, and evacuate the premises. On August 15th Miguel and his companions left town and eventually wound up in Laredo, Texas. From there they journeyed to Jesuit houses in California, Nicaragua, Spain and Belgium where he was finally ordained a priest in 1925. Miguel returned to Mexico in 1926. Within weeks the government prohibited all public church services and ordered the arrest of all priests. Father Miguel started to work undercover as a priest and secretly brought people communion.

Two of Father Miguel’s brothers were active in the resistance and belonged to the Religious Defense League. A few times Miguel was thrown into jail with his brothers but was able to be released. Finally the police issued a warrant for his arrest. Fr. Pro responded by going about in disguise. Once he dressed as a mechanic in order to preach to a group of taxi drivers. Another time, when the police were chasing him down a busy street, he ran up to a young woman, locked arms with her and whispered, "Help me, I’m a priest." The young woman obliged and the "couple" walked away unnoticed.

The way Father Pro usually travelled around town was by bicycle. He would stop and give communion to parishioners in one place, then go off to another to hear confessions, perform marriages or visit the sick. He also distributed food and clothing to the poor.

On November 13, 1927 a car drove up alongside the car of the Mexican President General Calles and tossed a bomb at him. The General escaped without injury but was determined to punish his attackers. Police discovered that the rebels’ car at one time belonged to Miguel’s brother Humberto Pro. Though all the Pro brothers had solid alibis, they were all marked men. A couple of days after the bombing Father Pro was celebrating Mass for a group of sisters. After Mass he told the Mother Superior: "Some time ago, Sister, I offered my life to God as a sacrifice for Mexico. This morning at Mass I felt that he had accepted it." The police soon captured the three brothers and without a trial they were sentenced to death by firing squad. In jail Father Pro counseled his brothers, the other prisoners and even the jailer.

General Calles wanted to make an example of Father Pro and his brothers. He invited the press, photographers and others to attend the execution. He hoped to portray Mexican Catholics as cowards.

Father Pro was the first prisoner led out to execution. One of the policemen who had arrested him turned, and with tears in his eyes, begged Father Pro to forgive him for what he had done. Father Pro put his arm around the policeman’s shoulders and said, "You not only have my forgiveness, you also have my thanks." The priest also asked God’s pardon for all the police assigned to the firing squad.

Meanwhile, Father Pro’s sister and an attorney were rushing to the jail with a stay of execution. The Argentine Ambassador even telephoned the jail and was able to stop the execution of Roberto Pro, the youngest of the Pro brothers. Roberto would later emigrate to the United States.

Inside the prison courtyard, General Cruz granted Father Miguel Pro’s final request to have a few moments for prayer. Father Pro knelt silently for two minutes then stood up. He was offfered a blindfold but refused. Instead he stretched out his arms in the form of a cross and said in a loud voice, "Viva, Cristo Rey" ("Long live Christ the King!") Shots rang out from the firing squad and Father Pro fell to the ground. He was still breathing, so General Cruz walked over and fired a final rifle shot to the priest’s head.

We have an excellent photographic record of Father Pro’s martyrdom thanks to General Calles’ desire to make a public spectacle of the humble priest. The newspaper reports and photos of the event, instead of making a mockery of the Church, only highlighted the heroism of this dedicated man. As a result, possession of the execution photos became a crime.

That night the bodies of Miguel and Humberto Pro were taken to their father’s house where mourners streamed past the caskets all night long. One of Father Pro’s sisters was weeping bitterly as she stood by his casket. Her father comforted her by saying, "Is this how you behave in the presence of a saint?"

The next morning over five hundred cars joined in the funeral procession and thousands of people lined the streets with flowers. Although the General had outlawed any public display of emotion, the people came out in open defiance knowing that there were not enough jails in all of Mexico to hold the crowd of mourners.

Sometime before his death, Father Pro told a friend, "If I ever get arrested and wind up in Heaven, get ready to ask me for favors." He also joked that if he came upon any somber-looking saints in heaven, he would do a Mexican hat dance to cheer them up. At his funeral an old blind woman in the crowd who came to touch his body left with her sight restored. Others testified to his miraculous help within a week of his death.

Father Miguel was a man of faith, courage and ingenuity. His great trust in Christ the King enabled him to be fearless in the face of intolerance, violence and even death. The life of Miguel Pro is proof that we can find great strength and courage, great love and lasting hope in Christ the King. Long live Christ the King!"

-- From a homily by Fr Peter Grace, CP, from St Anne's Basilica, Scranton, PA
(23 November 1999)
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