Serendipity

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“The wind* blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (1)

Serendipity

The winds of March always have been infamous. Some days you might be lucky enough to fly a kite along the beach, or above an open field where the grass is beginning to show a bit of green. Other days you might cower inside, with a hot cup of tea, while a raging blizzard or northeaster demolishes the emerging shoots of spring bulbs.

Whether you are experiencing the lamb or the lion as you read this, on our first March Saturday of 2024, I want to introduce you to some new friends in faith I’ve been blessed to encounter through the wind of the Holy Spirit this Lent.

Even though I’ve written and edited for small literary publications for most of my adult life, I grew up in the era of print. The role of managing editor for an online literary journal is relatively new for me. So, with a good intention towards “continuing education” — but little real hope — I ran a Google search.

And behold! An organization called Catholic Literary Arts (3) popped up in the search results, with a class entitled “How to Run a Literary Journal: The How, Why, and Wherewith” (4).

Founded by multi-faceted literary artist and president, Sarah Cortez (5), in 2020 –the year of their first Sacred Poetry Contest (6) — Catholic Literary Arts is based in the state of Texas. Already it is blessed by, and welcomes, writers from a variety of different cultural backgrounds.

The organization received assistance with its establishment, Sarah told me, from Catholic Writers Guild’s own beloved founder, supporter, and former vice president, Deacon Arthur Powers, who also served as one of CLA’s first instructors for online classes (7).

Two additional seminars on the 2024 CLA website looked so appealing that I signed up for those, as well.

Dr. J. Larry Allums’ seminar, now concluded, “The Short Story’s Brilliance and Clarity in Revealing Spiritual Truth,” focused on classical writers Nathaniel Hawthorne, Gustav Flaubert, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and James Joyce (8).

I was amazed and delighted by the openness of sharing about spiritual insights among participants. I appreciated the opportunity to recollect how important it is to study the classical spiritual writers.

Ryan Wilson, Editor-in-Chief for Literary Matters (9), based at the Catholic University of America, and the CLA instructor for “How to Run a Literary Journal …” already in our first session offered an in-depth history of literary journals; and updated participants with the latest news about an extensive list of contemporary journals. He highlighted those that are most open to submissions from writers with a spiritual focus, especially for poets (10).

I’m looking forward to “Image, Tone, and Pacing …” with popular poet Tamara Nicholl-Smith, whose work appears in some astonishing venues around the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico; as well as in the prestigious Guttenberg Bible display at the University of St. Thomas (11), in her class that will be coming up next.

Although CLA discussions thus far have taken a slightly more “academic” and classical approach to Catholic writing than the sessions I enjoyed so much at our Catholic Writers Guild live meeting with the Catholic Publishers Association meeting in Chicago last May 30-June 1, 2023 — I’ve found the warm hospitality in Catholic Literary Arts sessions equally welcoming.

With taglines like “Write with Spirit” and “Fearless Catholic Writing” (12), CLA shares with CWG a common call, and we stand together on the same home ground. Their mission statement reveals how congruent they are with our own commitment to work in the world with our God-given talents, and to help bring about the creative vision of Saint Pope John Paul II.

“Catholic Literary Arts encourages ongoing growth in literary, artistic, and spiritual development of artists and writers so that the Cultural Patrimony and rich treasures of the Catholic Church may be more perfectly explored and used to draw all peoples to God.” (13)

If you’re a published or aspiring author of Catholic children’s books, and would like to connect with influential editors from Our Sunday Visitor, Word on Fire’s new children’s imprint Spark, and Pauline Books & Media, there’s still time to register for CLA’s Meet-the-Editor Panel: Children’s Edition, on March 6 at 7:00 PM CST (14).

This might be a worthwhile option to help sustain your motivation from CWCO last month, stay on task, and relieve some of the letdown that can follow periods of deep fellowship with our spiritual colleagues at conferences.

Whatever life you are living as a Catholic writer and wherever you must go this month, may you dance in the winds of March with the Holy Spirit, who leads us all through crucifixion to resurrection.

The author, out for a walk after the March 2, 2023 snowstorm in Tucson, Arizona.
Author’s personal photo, used with permission.
Margaret King Zacharias

© 2024 by Margaret King Zacharias

Feature photo: Snowstorm rolling into Tucson, Arizona on March 2, 2023. Author’s personal photo, used with permission.

Notes:

  1. 1. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3#51003008-f
  2. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3#51003008-f
  3. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org
  4. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/classes
  5. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/our-board#cortezs
  6. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/2020-contests
  7. Sarah Cortez, personal communication.
  8. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/classes
  9. https://www.literarymatters.org
  10. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/classes
  11. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/classes
  12. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org
  13. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/our-mission
  14. https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/classes

“Get Outta My Tribe!”

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“Get Outta My Tribe!”

The first two readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which we will hear next week, remind me of a joke I heard the other day. “I’m trying to convince my dad to get a new hearing aid. He just won’t listen.”

We love to be bad. We refuse to listen to anyone. It’s what we do. What’s more, today, the more someone points out how bad we’ve been, the more we “double down” and become even worse! But why? Why do we constantly make the choice to do the wrong thing?

It’s nothing new. The Old Testament reading from 2 Chronicles 36 starts with, “In those days… the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord’s temple…” Then St. Paul tells the Ephesians in chapter 2 that they, meaning humanity before Christ, “were dead in [their] transgressions.”

In a word, I blame tribalism. Tribalism is more than just being organized into a tribe. It’s a way of life and thought. You naturally hang with people who look like you, who act like you, who speak like you. You feel more comfortable with them, and there is a natural shorthand of thought. You know what your friends and neighbors are going to think, say, or do before they do it. It’s comfortable. It’s lazy.

The point is, the more we act blindly as a member of the tribe, the less we listen to that deep inner voice. The voice God put inside us. The more I turn off my conscience and listen to people inside my bubble, the deeper I dig my trench.

A Little Story

Many years ago, I was in Dresden, Germany, singing as the US invaded Afghanistan after 9/11. There was quite a bit of political tension in northern Germany, as it had the largest ex-pat population of Middle Easterners in Europe. They would work menial and manual labor jobs for pennies on the dollar. They were (and are) hard-working and caring people, very loyal to Germany, but they also still held a love and admiration for their homelands.

One warm afternoon, I was walking down to the river near the opera house and happened onto a family of four: mother, father, and their son and daughter of about 12 and 14, respectively. There was no question they were Americans. The man wore shorts and a tee shirt that read, “America! Love her or leave her!” The wife’s shirt was emblazoned with a picture of a rifle and the words “America First, Last, and Always.” The children’s shirts were just as pro-American as the parents.

Typically, these tee shirts would not cause a second look in Chicago, Kansas City, or Houston. But this is Dresden, Germany, with a very high Middle Eastern population. They stuck out. As I continued to the river, I noticed the start of a large anti-American protest forming. There were at least 500 worked-up people carrying placards and chanting something that ended with the word “America!” and did not sound very friendly. After seeing the protest form, I knew that the American family I’d just passed was about to stroll right into the middle of it. I quickly went back to them.

When I reached the family, I told them of the protest and suggested they continue on a different path. That’s when the unexpected happened. Tribalism at its finest. The father said, “What kind of an American are you? We don’t run and hide. We live in the best country in the world, and we’re damned proud of it.” I tried to reason with them, but it was no use.

Not wanting to be in the middle of a protest, I went and had a cup of coffee in an outdoor café and watched the protest go by. It was loud and raucous. I waited to see if the American family would be foolish enough to wade into the middle of it. Luckily, they were nowhere to be seen.

The next day, I ran into them again, bags in hand and headed for the train station, and as full of as much bravado as the day before. This time it was the mother who said, “If these people don’t see that America is the greatest country in the world, then we don’t want to be here. We’re leaving!” And with that, they hopped on the train to the airport.

Tribalism closes ears. It blinds people’s sight to what God’s will is for them. It makes gods of countries and “influencers.” Tribalism has a bad habit of turning people’s gaze inward, to themselves and their own group, instead of toward people outside and in need. “The Others” almost automatically become “the enemy.” “If they’re not one of us, they must be wrong, bad, evil.”

So, how do we stop tribalism from destroying us? The princes of Judah in 2 Chronicles didn’t manage. They were soon overrun and sent into exile. We do it by listening to that inner voice more than the talking heads and biased chatter. By taking the famous conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, “For God so loved the worlds that He sent His only Son…” from John 3 to heart. By believing that we are all in this together. That we all need to believe God sent His Son to act as not just a go-between but as someone who reunited us with God’s original will for us. Then, we need to act accordingly. We need to stop beating the drum of our own tribe and start helping those who no one claims. Or better yet, become a people without tribal borders.

Copyright 2024 Ben Bongers

Image: Pixabay

Stumble onto a Forgotten Priest’s Homilies, and Wind Up in a Successfully Reflective Lent

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Ever feel like you’ve failed Lent? You enter the season ambitiously on Ash Wednesday, receiving the smudged cross on your forehead, determined to read through the New Testament or Exodus at a measured pace, only to get stuck on a confusing passage and give up … for now.

A local parish offers an evening Bible study, but when the day comes, you’re too exhausted from work. Maybe next week, you think, but then the six weeks go by and you’ve missed the whole thing. You try online reflections, but you just breeze through them over morning coffee. You chastise yourself for being undisciplined or for refusing to take your spiritual life seriously. But maybe you’re putting too much pressure on yourself. A more relaxed approach, such as leisurely readings by a forgotten, but once beloved priest could deepen your faith, self-reflection, and ultimately your relationship with God.

Fr. Ronald Knox is little known to 21st Century Americans in favor of other popular English converts such as St. John Henry Newman and GK Chesterton, but in his time, Fr. Knox was regarded as one of the most influential and prolific Catholics of the past century. He is a contemporary of Chesterton and an Oxford neighbor of CS Lewis, and February 17 marks the 136th anniversary of his birth. Raised in the Anglican tradition, even becoming an Anglican minister, the good father followed in his country’s stead, not because he believed it was the perfect way, but because he wanted to bring the Church of England back to Rome. When he realized his ambition was futile, he converted to Catholicism at the still tender age of 29.

Fr. Knox was much sought after as a speaker, preacher, and retreat facilitator for his way of bringing depth to simple concepts and simplicity to the profound. His self-deprecating humor, orthodox theology, and insight into the human condition found its way into countless published homilies, broadcasts on the BBC, and even detective novels. He is also highly respected for his English translation of the Bible, known as the Knox Bible.

One collection of his homilies that might elude a mainstream audience is his title, The Priestly Life. Originally published in 1958 and re-released in 2023 by Cluny Media, this compilation of 16 retreat talks addressed to priests could just as easily be called The Saintly Life because it speaks to the saintliness we are all called to live. With the wisdom of a compassionate confessor, Fr. Knox, who seems to know what’s inside the flawed heart that yearns to be whole, begins with the Alpha and Omega framed in Biblical history, then gently leads the reader (or listener, originally) to realize his sinful nature, bringing him to humility and repentance. Catholic theologian and author John Janaro quotes Evelyn Waugh’s in a 2021 essay, calling the priest and his ministry an “apostolate of laughter and the love of friends” (Janaro).

His chapters in The Priestly Life address so many of the “No, not me” sins: sloth, apathy, grumbling and complaining, blaming. In “Murmuring,” he engages the reader with a compelling story of the Israelites venting and complaining about Moses and God. You read along, nodding and chuckling, amazed how much they sound like your co-workers. He goes on to explain why the grumbling, a “very difficult sin to avoid,” is a three-fold sin against God, neighbor, and self and realize, “That’s me!” and feel an urgency to go to Confession.

“Part of the reason why God put you into the world was to exercise the patience of others by your defects; think of that sometimes when you are going to bed” (pg. 81).

He speaks to his brother priests in “Accidie” about a “tepidity” of spiritual life. “What I mind about is not so much that I seem to get so little out of my religion, but that I seem to put so little into it. Or perhaps I should put it this way: what I mind about is that I should mind so little” (pg. 90). He also addresses a type of malaise, of going through the motions. The scenarios sound much like ruts that most everyone, at some point and in honest moments, experiences in marriage, work, and life in general. “All of the savour has gone out of his priesthood; he sometimes thinks, even out of his religion. Was he, perhaps, not meant to be a priest … is it possible that he has made a mistake?” (pg. 89).

Fr. Knox, in other chapters, addresses perseverance, death and obedience. In his piece on the Blessed Mother, he eschews “Mariology” and sounds more like a loyal knight honoring his heroine queen. While each chapter serves as retreat on its own, they also impart an appreciation into a priest’s very human life by which we might gain more compassion and understanding of a demanding and sacrificial choice, Wouldn’t that help make a successful Lent?

Copyright 2024 Mary McWilliams

Knox, Ronald. The Priestly Life. 2023. Cluny Media. Providence, Rhode Island.
Janaro, John. Monsignor Ronald Knox. 2021. Magnificat. Catholic Education Resource Center.
Photo Credits: Keegan Houser and Eduardo Braga

Roses and Ashes

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Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

 Robert Herrick, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” 1648

In a rare, but not unprecedented, synchronicity this month, St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday will fall on the same day. These two dates last came together in 2018, and they will do it again in 2029. According to the Fayetteville Observer, this convergence seems to happen approximately three times in every one-hundred-years. The Twentieth Century also recorded three occurrences, in 1923, 1934, and 1945. (1)

The origins of our contemporary St. Valentine’s Day celebration are hidden in history. Even Roman Catholic sources record an astounding variety, of what can perhaps best be regarded as legends. He may have been a priest, a bishop, and/or a physician. It’s unclear whether the stories that have been combined under this saint’s name include the life one man, or the lives of two.

There is some evidence that, on an actual occasion, a prisoner named Valentine left a letter for his jailer’s daughter signed, “from your Valentine.” He’s said to have healed the child of her blindness; we all prefer to believe he did. He may well have converted her to Christianity. He might have converted her father, too. Plausible evidence does exist that a man named Valentine was imprisoned and martyred for his Christian faith. Other tales suggest that the little girl, and possibly her father, died with him. (2)

One fact is clear, that the official liturgical calendar of the United States makes no reference to a saint’s feast on February 14. On the USCCB website, it’s marked only with a purple dot indicating a day of Lent. There is no alternate reading for a saint’s feast day. (3)

Another mystery is how a saint, whom most legends report died as a martyr for his Faith, came to be a symbol of chocolate, flowers, and every other sort of indulgent romantic concupiscence.

Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, is a reminder of the death we all will experience. The Latin counsel memento mori, “remember you will die,” dates back to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, from sometime before his death in 399 B.C. (4).

The use of ashes as a symbol of penance and anointing for death by the Hebrews is documented in the Old Testament books of Esther 4:1, 484-465 B.C.; Job 42:6, 700-500 B.C.; Daniel 9:3, circa 550 B.C.; and Jonah 3:5-6, circa 500 B.C. (5)

Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Illustration from The Book of Old English Songs and Ballads, Circa 1920; Public
domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A solemn recognition of Ash Wednesday has been practiced since the earliest days of Christianity. The words, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” from Genesis 3:19 (6), have been spoken through millennia in both the Eastern and Roman Catholic churches. They are still used for Ash Wednesday services in many Protestant churches today, as well. 

But the question remains. What meaning can we discern from this mysterious union of love with death, that seems to appear as a trinity in multiple centuries?

For one answer, we might turn again to scripture, and discover that Song of Songs is the only one of three writings classified by biblical scholars as ‘Wisdom books’ that appears in Protestant bibles. Our Catholic Bibles contain all three, with the Book of Wisdom and the Book of Sirach included (7). Here is another trinity.

The Song, also called Canticle of Canticles, is a romantic poem that evokes all the sensual joys of earthly lovers, as metaphors that describe God’s desirous love for us. In Christian churches it is read as allegory (8). The determination of the bride to reach her lover, and the strength of their bond, represent the Sacrament of Matrimony on earth and Christ’s love for His Bride, the Church, in eternity.

When the cross of ashes, death, and dust is marked on our foreheads again this year — and the day wavers from joy, to penance, and grief — may we remember the powerful lover who awaits us, and continue to sing the Canticle:

“… Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm;

For Love is strong as Death …

Deep waters cannot quench love,

nor rivers sweep it away …

 … You who dwell in the gardens,

my companions are listening for your voice–

let me hear it!

Swiftly, my lover,

be like a gazelle or a young stag

upon the mountain of spices.”

Song (Cant.) 8:6-7, 13-14 (9)

John William Waterhouse, Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May; 1909, Public domain, via Wikimedia
Commons.

© Copyright 2024 by Margaret King Zacharias

Featured Photo: John William Waterhouse, Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May,1908, Public domain, via
Wikimedia Commons.
Footnotes for Roses and Ashes and Sources for Further Reading
  1. https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/live-wire/2018/02/06/live-wire-when-was-last-time-ash-wednesday-and-valentines-day-were-same-date/15307391007/#
  1. For a few different perspectives, see:
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/will-the-real-st-valentine-please-stand-up
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Valentine
https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/history-of-st-valentine.html
  1. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021424.cfm
  2. https://dailystoic.com/what-is-memento-mori/#:~:text=Memento%20Mori%20—%20(Latin%3A%20remember,but%20dying%20and%20being%20dead.”
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates
  1. https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-are-the-origins-of-ash-wednesday-and-the-use-of-ashes/
  1. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3
  1. https://www.artesianministries.org/bible-study/why-are-catholic-and-protestant-bibles-different/
  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Songs
9. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/songofsongs/8

Preparing Snacks in Secret

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A little story

I ran the summer youth program at the YMCA and had two particular students, Jimmy and Larry. Jimmy was a good kid with a single mother and little sister. He could be a real pill at times, but he always meant well. Some of the other teachers couldn’t stand having Jimmy in their classes because he would interrupt and question their authority. Jimmy spent a lot of time with me in the office because he got kicked out of the classroom more than any other kid I’d ever seen.

Larry had the same background as Jimmy. He was smart and had a single mother and little sister. But Larry was the angel of every class. Every teacher would comment on his behavior and how smart he was and would let him do things that typically would not be allowed. By acting the way he did, many opportunities opened for Larry, and he took full advantage of it.

After a year of seeing both boys in action, I began to see things that showed who they really were—not what others tried to imprint on them. One day, when Jimmy was alone and no one was watching, he spirited off to the kitchen. I quietly watched from a far corner to see what he would do. Jimmy opened the fridge, pulled out the big box of cheese slices and the box of crackers from the cupboard, and began to prepare them for a snack for the 120 kids in the program. I had heard from the other teachers that someone had been prepping the snacks for them, but they had no idea who had been doing it. Now I knew. This… was the real Jimmy.

I then saw Larry sneak off from his group when he had the chance. It was science day, and there were a lot of tweezers, magnifying glasses, and pH balance paper on the back fields. I saw Larry from a distance with a large magnifying glass in his hand. Instead of looking through it, he was concentrating the sunlight onto the ground. As I got closer, I saw he was scorching and burning worms that had come to the ground surface. He was delighted to see them scorch and then burn. It was a little disconcerting, really.

Fast forward

A few years ago, I ran into both Jimmy’s and Larry’s younger sisters while shopping. I asked how they were and then about their brothers. Jimmy’s sister blurted out, “You’d never believe it! He’s a priest in Madison, Wisconsin! We never saw it coming!” The reaction was quite different from Larry’s sister. She looked at the floor and said, just above a whisper, “Larry got high one night and murdered the entire family he was staying with. He’s on death row right now in Texas.”

In the readings, we hear about being physically “clean” and “unclean” (Leviticus 13). We hear what safeguards society took to ensure everyone’s safety from being physically unclean and how to prove a change of state—from being physically unclean to clean. But the Old Testament deals only with the physical. Paul, in 1 Corinthians (10 and 11), points out that being clean has little to do with what we eat or drink. He asks if what we are doing is pleasing to God. Notice, it’s not about what others think or see, but what we are actually doing that matters to God. By example, Jesus was “moved with pity” when the leper knelt at his feet and begged, “If you wish, you can make me clean” (Mark 1:40). Jesus wasn’t looking at the outside. He was reading the desire through the man’s actions.

As we move into Lent, we have the opportunity to be “moved with pity” for those around us. To do so, we need to read the actions and not the words of others. So, what is the one thing you can do for someone that will make a change in their life? Or better put, what snacks can we secretly prepare for our neighbor?

Copyright 2024 Ben Bongers

Hope and Resilience

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Hope and Resilience

Only Divine Providence could have woven such a tale. I can just offer you a sketchy map, and a few further clues. But we’re all a part of it. You’ll find your way.

This story opens in the mid-1800’s, with an English nobleman who collected American tree specimens to forest his Irish estate across the Atlantic Ocean. It encounters White Russians fleeing persecution following the communist revolution in 1917. It continues into the 1920’s, with an ambitious Irish diplomatic attaché in Paris; and a devastating family tragedy in Ireland.

Our tale emerged again in a small Swiss town in 1957, when a Protestant housewife received an indelible message in prayer from an Eastern Orthodox Catholic Saint.

But perhaps the most interesting plot twist occurred in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s, when a group of Irish schoolboys discovered dusty 15th-century religious icons while searching for treasure in a 19th-century reproduction-Gothic castle.

For me, it began on a recent March morning when a massive herd of glossy cattle crossed the road in front of our tour bus for more than fifteen minutes on their way to pasture. These cows dwell at Glenstal Abbey near Murroe, County Limerick, in the ancient Munster region of Ireland. (1)

Assisted by their dedicated local lay-oblate community, the Benedictine monks at Glenstal administer a substantial farm; a nationally-accredited Roman Catholic boarding school; and a conference center that offers retreats, spiritual consultations, and pilgrimages to individuals and groups of different faiths from around the world. A major inspiration for many pilgrimages to Glenstal Abbey is its unique collection of rare Eastern Orthodox prayer icons. These icons are displayed in a custom-built underground chapel beneath the main church.

In the Eastern Orthodox faith tradition, iconography is regarded as a particular kind of worship and a specific religious vocation. Although drawing and painting are involved, icons are always referred to as “written,” not made. The most important stages in their writing are the trained religious artists’ disciplines, fasting and prayer. Orthodox believers do not “look at” their icons; they present themselves before them, so that the saints can communicate with human beings on earth through the windows of their eyes.

The White Russians eventually found their way to Paris, France. Many families at that time were trapped in an economic depression that gripped continental Europe as well as North America. Too often, they were forced to part with their most precious possessions in order to support their families. For the Russian émigrés, that meant selling their family icons.

It seems that a diplomatic attaché for the Irish government, stationed in Paris, was happy to assist with the disposition of religious art works. The monks at Glenstal Abbey believe that this is how their Russian Orthodox icons were transferred to Roman Catholic Ireland.

At some point the icons landed at the castle forested with North American trees, once owned by the Barrington family. When their daughter was killed by Irish freedom fighters in 1921, the family returned to England. A local priest, Monsignor James Ryan, purchased Glenstal Castle in 1926 and donated it to the Benedictine Order, to found an abbey and school in the Archdiocese of Cashel. Glenstal Priory was inaugurated in January of 1928; the abbey boys’ school was established four years later in 1932. (2)

But following the turmoil of World War II, by the early 1950’s the Orthodox icons’ presence at Glenstal Abbey had been almost forgotten. Inquisitive schoolboys, digging through nooks and crannies, apparently came upon them stored somewhere in the castle. The Russian Orthodox saints traveled across a Roman Catholic campus in children’s hands, to decorate dorm room walls or to lie hidden under beds as secret prayer talismans.

Back on the continent, in 1957 the small-town wife of a Reformed Church pastor began to see saints and angels, including Mother Mary, beckoning to her from Roman Catholic churches in central Switzerland. Eventually, Joa Bolendas entered these churches to pray.

According to one of Bolendas’ accounts, St. Nicholas appeared to her and said, “This is the testimony of an early Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.” In their encounters, St. Nicholas showed her images of icons that he said were “missing.” He told her that these icons were important for the future of the world and must be found. St. Nicholas thought that the icons he sought were somewhere in Ireland.

Bolendas’ nephew by marriage, John Hill, a graduate of Glenstal Abbey School, was in residence at that time in the C. G. Jung Institute of Zurich. Acting as a family member and not in his professional capacity, John began to accompany his wife’s aunt to church. He observed her in ecstatic prayer (3).

Joa Bolendas was described by all who knew her as “a strong woman,” and “a thoroughly practical person.” John himself watched her come out of prayer visions and briskly proceed to a nearby shop. There she would haggle with the butcher for his best cut of meat at the lowest price, to cook for her family’s dinner. John Hill deemed her fully grounded in reality.

He had a vague recollection of “those icons we used to play with at Glenstal as boys.” The matter seemed worthy of investigation. John called his old friend Mark Patrick Hederman, a monk, writer, teacher and administrator for the same abbey school where they both grew up.

In 1976, John and his wife Anne-Marie, with a photographer selected by Joa Bolendas, traveled back to Glenstal Abbey to examine whatever icons they might be able to find there.

Photographs of the icons they located in a thorough search of abbey and school were shown to Joa after they returned to Switzerland. She confirmed them as the same images St. Nicholas had revealed to her in visions. The saint then requested through Joa that the Benedictine brothers at Glenstal “build a chapel at their abbey to preserve them.”

All of the saints and angels who spoke with Joa over many years conveyed the same essential message. Whether explicitly or implicitly, the thrust of these revelations was always the importance of unity among mankind. If the chapel was built at Glenstal, St. Nicholas told her, “Unity will follow for Germany and Ireland.”

When Brother Patrick first presented a multi-million-dollar bid he’d received from a local contractor, the proposal to build a free-standing icon chapel on the abbey grounds was firmly rejected by the Glenstal monastic community.

Over time, however, the Benedictine brothers eventually developed a consensus. If Brother Patrick could find a way to build this chapel in the unused dirt cellar under the abbey church, they might be willing to help support it.

A third Glenstal Abbey School classmate, Jeremy Williams, had grown up to become one of Ireland’s leading architects. Patrick called Jeremy to the abbey for a consult. The aesthetic they both envisioned was a smaller version of the chapel at St. Sophia Church in Istanbul.

Their design was ultimately built in Glenstal Abbey’s church cellar to house the Russian icons, as well as an equally-precious donated collection of Greek Orthodox icons.

Their cement contractor in Cologne, Germany, who ground real stone for use in the colored-concrete chapel floor, provided the abbey with hefty discounts. In return the monastic community granted permission for the contractor to use an image of the finished chapel in promotional materials.

Before construction even began, while the abbey team was still examining the underground structure, a man no one had ever seen before walked in.

He said, “I know what you’re doing here! I know how to do it! No one else must touch it!”

With the monks’ permission, he spent the night alone, “inside the black box,” for inspiration. That ‘stranger’ turned out to be a local man, the brilliant and idiosyncratic Irish artist James Scanlon, who created luminous stained-glass medallions to anchor and illuminate a portion of the chapel ceiling vault.

Even the cows offered up their own fair share of the chapel costs, in cream and butter. Dairy sales from the farm help to support all of the spiritual and educational programs offered at Glenstal Abbey.

The finished icon chapel opened on April 10, 1988, with ancient musical tones and choral chants. These were researched as well as performed by Irish composer Michael O’Sullivan, with Rev. Nóirín Ní Riain, Ph.D. as liturgical cantor. (4)

Just nineteen months later, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin wall that had divided Germany for more than five decades fell to the ground. On 10 April, 1998, the tenth anniversary of the chapel’s consecration, Good Friday Agreements brought peace to Northern Ireland, putting an end to physical interreligious violence there.

This evidence is anecdotal, of course. Private devotions are treated as optional, not obligatory, in our Roman Catholic church. Still, the discerning monks of Glenstal Abbey visit their icon chapel every day, at the same time, to pray for healing in our world. This devotion is performed in addition to their traditional Benedictine charism, ora et labora, a daily rhythm of work and prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours.

If nothing else, the length and breadth of this history illustrate that dark times of many different kinds have always besieged humanity. The haunting eyes of early saints in the Glenstal Abbey chapel continue to regard contemporary pilgrims with eternal compassion.

Glenstal Abbey will celebrate the icon chapel’s 35th anniversary on April 10, 2023.

Should you, yourself, feel called to reflect on how a group of 1950’s Irish schoolboys ‘just happened’ to be in the right places, at the right times, prepared with the exact adult skills to provide every resource required to incarnate this chapel … Please join in prayers for unity and peace on Easter Monday.

 “Drive away the darkness that surrounds us,

Shed onto us the mantle of your light.

Help us to know your will,

And give us the courage to do it.” (5)

 Amen.

Original Russian Icon “The Healing Christ” in the Glenstal Abbey Icon Chapel Photo by Margaret Zacharias, taken with permission from Don Mark Patrick Hederman

 

Featured Image: Collection of Original Eastern Orthodox Icons in the Glenstal Abbey Chapel Photo by Margaret Zacharias, taken with permission from Don Mark Patrick Hederman The “Angel of Silence” can be seen at lower right.

Notes:

  1. https://glenstal.com/abbey/
  2. A more detailed history of Glenstal Abbey, and exposition about the educational philosophy of the secondary-level boy’s school, may be found in former Headmaster Mark Patrick Hederman’s book:

 The Boy in the Bubble: Education as Personal Relationship

 https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Bubble-Education-Personal-Relationship/dp/1847304052/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1680133263&sr=8-1

  1. The full story of Joa Bolendas’ visionary prayer experiences may be found in her books:

So That You May Be One

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Joa+Bolendas+That+You+Be+One&crid=1RFFTDTLMZBLJ&sprefix=joa+bolendas+that+you+be+one%2Caps%2C155&ref=nb_sb_noss

Alive in God’s World

https://www.amazon.com/Alive-Gods-World-Described-Bolendas/dp/097010975X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Q8W6BZWU4KAG&keywords=Joa+Bolendas+Alive+In+God%27s+World&qid=1679641031&sprefix=joa+bolendas+alive+in+god%27s+world%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1.

  1. Recordings of the early Christian music that accompanied the consecration of Glenstal Abbey’s icon chapel may be found here:

 Vox De Nube

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09S3F6YQ1/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3RR326YJQLC6A&keywords=vox+di+nube&qid=1679728636&sprefix=vox+de+nube%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-2

  1. One prayer given in a dream to Don Mark Patrick Hederman, now Abbot emeritus of Glenstal Abbey.

This article was prepared with help and permission from Don Mark Patrick Hederman and John Hill.

Any errors of fact or interpretation are the sole responsibility of the author. 

© Copyright 2023 by Margaret King Zacharias, Ph.D.

 

An unexpected Evangelization Moment—Distributing Ashes on Ash Wednesday in Walmart

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The USCCB states that evangelizing means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation. So how can we everyday Catholics always be prepared to evangelize?

Our behavior and our actions and the words we use are tools for evangelizing. They show that we are Christian. Saying grace before meals while in a restaurant with family or friends, or simply having an “I Love Jesus” bumper sticker on your car, gives a powerful message. You get the idea.

Many times things happen that are “in our face,” and we have only a moment or so to decide what to do: Should we stay and help or keep on walking? It is very easy to ignore a situation, but that is not what the Good Samaritan did, is it? What follows is an example of one of those unexpected moments.

I am an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion (EMHC), and on Ash Wednesday, on my way home after distributing ashes and Holy Communion, I decided to make an unplanned stop at Walmart. I did not have to go there; there was nothing specific I needed, but there was the store and the next thing I knew, the car was parked. As I walked toward the entrance I decided I needed double-A batteries. I did not truly need them, but I guess I had to validate my being there.

As I walked into the store, the express lanes were ahead and to the right. Ahead and to my left was McDonald’s. Outside McDonald’s was a bench, and sitting in it was Rachel, an elderly lady I knew from church. We have been friends for a long time. I walked over to her to say “hi,” and she looked at my forehead and said, “Oh, Larry, it’s you. We forgot today was Ash Wednesday. We didn’t get ashes.”

Let the unplanned evangelizing begin.

Rachel weighs about 70 pounds soaking wet and she is in her late eighties. Her husband, Jim, has Parkinson’s disease and is about the same age. They had both been widowed, met in church, and have been married for about fifteen years. I was still in my shirt and tie and wearing my EMHC cross. Next thing you know I was sitting next to Rachel, praying with her and placing ashes on her forehead. When I finished, I asked her, “Where is Jim?”

Jim was on the line in McDonald’s. The entrance was about fifty feet from where we were sitting. As I got up to find Jim, I noticed there were about a half-dozen people standing there watching us. It dawned on me that there were some people wondering why I was smearing dirt on an old lady’s forehead. I simply looked at them all and said, “Hi folks, today is Ash Wednesday. You can Google it.”

I turned and headed into the restaurant. There stood Jim, about eighth in line with about ten more people behind him. The place was packed and the poor guy was standing there with his left forearm and hand trembling unmercifully. I walked up to him and he was stunned to see me. I said as quietly as I could, “Jim, I just gave Rachel ashes. Would you like to have them too?”

As I stood praying softly with Jim, our audience began to grow. By the time I placed ashes on his forehead more people were coming over to see what was going on. I did hear some people mention, “Ash Wednesday.”

That was my impromptu cue. I turned and faced the gathering crowd and raised my hands in the air. “Hey everyone, today is Ash Wednesday. I am Catholic, as are my friends here, whom I just happened to bump into. They were unable to get to Mass today so they are receiving ashes which remind us to ‘remember that we are dust and into dust we shall return’.”

I actually gave several more people ashes, but then I had none left. I know a lot of people, religious and non-religious alike, watched the unscripted distribution of the ashes. It was an evangelization moment for sure, and it all happened in less than fifteen minutes. I also know it had to be my guardian angel who helped me pull that steering wheel to the right, leading me into Walmart.

I never did get the batteries.

 

Copyright 2019 Larry Peterson 

Lent: Highlighting Forgiveness & Redemption for All; Even “Dutch” Schultz

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We are now into the third week of Lent and the road to redemption has been halfway traveled. Throughout the world Catechumens have almost reached their goal of full inclusion into the Catholic Church, which takes place during the Easter Vigil. It is a beautiful thing. In addition, this past December 8, Pope Francis started us on our journey into the Holy Year of Mercy.  The slogan for The Holy Year of Mercy is, “A Time to Heal, to Help, to Forgive.”  Yes, forgiveness is everywhere.

To give an example of how God’s mercy is ALWAYS available to those who seek it I would like to briefly mention a man by the name of Arthur Flegenheimer. Arthur was born in New York City in 1901, of German-Jewish ancestry. By the time he was 27 he was known as Dutch Schultz and was quickly becoming one of the most feared mob bosses in New York. The “Dutchman” was a bootlegger (running illegal whiskey), a numbers boss operating in Harlem and a “shakedown artist” within the NYC restaurant industry, offering protection while using the restaurant unions as cover.

His main enforcer was the infamous, Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll, a brutal killer who did Schultz’s bidding without hesitation. Eventually the “Dutchman” got tired of Coll’s wanting more money. As “Mad Dog” sat in a telephone booth talking on the phone he was machine-gunned to death by Schultz’s henchmen. Dutch actually proved to be a more brutal killer than “Mad Dog” Coll. So how does my brain tie together Dutch Schultz and the Holy Year of Mercy combined with Forgiveness? Actually, it is not that hard to do. This is the phenomenal redemption available to all through the Church and her Sacraments.

Dutch Schultz wanted to kill U. S. Attorney Thomas E. Dewey (later to be Governor of NY and the presidential candidate losing to Harry Truman in the 1948 election). The Mafia Commission told Schultz,  “NO, it would cause us too much trouble.” Schultz refused to listen and decided to  kill Dewey anyway. The mob, under Lucky Luciano, sent “Murder Inc.” after Schultz. On October 23, 1935, they gunned him down in a restaurant in Newark, N.J. Enter the sacrament of Penance and Forgiveness. Enter Mercy.

Earlier, Dutch Schultz had been acquitted on tax evasion charges, and at that time he converted to Catholicism. He believed that Jesus had saved him. When he was shot he did not die right away. He was taken to the hospital for surgery and he immediately asked for a priest. He was 34 years  old and his last thought while he was dying was to  ask Jesus for forgiveness and mercy. The “Dutchman” went to confession, received absolution and was administered the Last Rites of the Church by a priest. Then he died. Did Dutch Schultz go right to heaven? Did he get to the “pearly gates” and have St. Peter say, “Sorry, Dutch, that priest made a mistake. What you did was uunforgivable. You are not welcome here.” I think not.

In a few weeks it will be Good Friday. Catholic/Christian people all over the world will mourn and honor the bloodied, tortured and crucified Son of God, Jesus Christ: Jesus, the God-man who embraced forgiveness for all people and extended love to everyone. This is also what He wanted us to do. This is why he suffered and died for us. He offered Himself to His Father for us. Then we celebrate His Father’s gift back to us, the Risen Christ. We all have been saved and we all  have the choice of whether or not we want to share eternal life with the Blessed Trinity. All we need to do is seek forgiveness. Because of God’s Mercy, even a Dutch Schultz can join in the Redemption Celebration. It is a beauty beyond description.

©Larry Peterson 2016.  All Rights Reserved

Strengthen Your Lenten Journey With Fasting

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When you hear the word “fasting,” do you automatically cringe? Do you dread Ash Wednesday or Good Friday? Or do you embrace the self-denial of fasting on those days? If you’re like most people, you might not look forward to Ash Wednesday or Good Friday, the Church’s compulsory days of fasting. However, when you become accustomed to the regular practice of fasting throughout the year, these “compulsory” days are opportunities for abundant graces and spiritual growth.

Many people mistakenly believe that fasting belongs only in the Penitential Season of Lent. However, the regular self-denial of fasting is a positive and generous act that we can do all year round. After all, Jesus fasted — and He fasted before every major event in His life — and His apostles fasted. In Scripture, fasting is mentioned numerous times in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Matthew 6:16-18

“But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it (demon) out?’ He replied, ‘This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.’” Mark 9:27-29

Peter said to Jesus, “You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68

Eternal life…isn’t that our goal? How do we get there? A virtuous life, one that is sacrificial, one that is obedient to God’s laws, this is the way to eternal life. Lent is an ideal time to embrace the practice of fasting. And not just on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday! Fasting can happen on every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year. The regular self-denial of fasting is definitely one of the ways to get to heaven and eternal life. Why?

Fasting opens our hearts to conversion, gives weight to our prayer intentions. Fasting strengthens us in resisting temptations, promotes peace in our hearts and peace with one another. Fasting teaches us the difference between wanting and needing. Fasting reminds us of the plight of the poor and those who are perpetually hungry. Fasting and prayer can free us from addictive behavior. Fasting invites the Holy Spirit in to heal our hearts, our relationship with God and our relationship with others. Fr. Slavko Barbaric said, “Fasting will lead us to a new freedom of heart and mind.”

St. Jean Vianney once said, “The devil is not greatly afraid of the discipline and other instruments of penance. That which beats him is the curtailment of one’s food, drink and sleep. There is nothing the devil fears more, consequently, nothing is more pleasing to God.”

There are so many great reasons to fast and Lent is an ideal time to begin this regular practice of self-denial. For the elderly and those who cannot fast from food, they can fast from TV, social networking, treats or coffee on Wednesday and Friday.

Lent is a time for change and sacrifice. If you can do penitential acts during Lent, you can do them all year round! To get started with fasting, please check out the graphic below. And always check with your physician before beginning any fasting routine.

For testimonies, prayers and more information about fasting, the Live the Fast website at www.livethefast.org or contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Live the Fast is a Roman Catholic Apostolate that is focused on bringing more awareness to the discipline of fasting by offering educational resources on prayer and fasting, a prayer community that will inspire one to live the fast and providing nutritious fasting breads. (Priests and religious receive fasting breads and resources free of charge.)

LTF graphic sm

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