St. Anthony Mary Claret

Bishop, Confessor (III Class)

Anthony Mary Claret founded the Missionary Sons of the Heart of Mary, the Teaching Sisters of Mary Immaculate, and other communities of nuns. For many years he labored in Catalonia, for six years in Cuba as Archbishop of Santiago, and finally in Madrid. He died in exile in France in 1870.

Happy Birthday, Anna!

After spending the whole night on the bus (16 hours!) we arrived around noon at La Sainte Baume (the holy cave) in which St. Mary Magdalene spent the last few decades of her life. It is not too far from Marseilles, where Mary's brother Lazarus was the first bishop. The cave is in the cliff face pictured below, just above the tree line. Mercifully, there was a little cafe where we were able to have some coffee before beginning the hour long uphill walk to the cave shrine. Inside are an altar and tabernacle, statues, and a large relic of the Magdalene. Although it is not made explicit in the Gospels themselves, the most ancient traditions of East and West hold that Mary Magdalene, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and the women from whom were cast seven demons are one and the same woman.

Because the bus drivers are bound by law to take a 9 hour break after driving for a period of 20 hours, we were obliged to remain in the area around the holy cave until 9:00pm. So, it was decided that we were use the three vans to shuttle everyone to the nearby seaside. The town of Cassis was chosen, and off we went (Lisa, Maria, and I in the first load). It turned out to take quite a bit longer to get there than was estimated, so much so that only those of us who left first actually made it there. It probably wasn't worth the hassle it turned out to be, but we were happy to get our feet wet in the Mediterranean for the first time.

We finally got back on the road around 10:00 pm and headed off to Carcassonne where accommodations had been arranged for us in a diocesan retreat center.

Lourdes

We'll be off this evening around 7:00 for our pilgrimage to Lourdes. This is, of course, the 150th anniversary of our Lady's apparitions there to St. Bernadette in 1858.

Highly recommended reading this year must include the 1854 Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of Blessed Pope Pius IX in which our Lady's Immaculate Conception is definitively defined. This provides the immediate context of our Lady's message to St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Then there is Pope St. Pius X's Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum in 1904 for the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma; Pope Pius XII's Fulgens Corona in 1953 for the centenary of the dogma; and the same Pope's Le Pelerinage de Lourdes in 1957 for the centenary of the apparitions at Lourdes. The last mentioned is quite short and readable - only about 8 printed pages. We're all reading this one in preparation for our trip, and we hope to read the others too over the remainder of the year.

Please pray for our trip! You'll hear from us again either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Commemoration of St. Hilarion

Abbot

St. Hilarion, a native of Palestine, was instructed by the first lawgiver of the anchorites, St. Anthony the Great, and became one of the founders of the eremetical life in the Holy Land, Syria, and Egypt. He died in 372.

Happy 20th Katie!

We celebrated today by having cake and ice-cream in the ITI common room with all the single students. Katie must be very popular, because the room was as crowded as I've ever seen it!

Also, I've added a bunch of pictures in a new photo Album which you can view here.

St. John Cantius

Confessor (III Class)
The holy priest St. John Cantius, a native of Kenty (Poland), was a professor at the University of Cracow. Famous for his heroic charity and zeal, he died in 1473.

First off, another cute picture of Maria. Here she is helping her mother cook lemon bars for a bake sale which is helping us and other ITI folk to make a pilgrimage to Lourdes. A moment ago, I wrote out a somewhat lengthly description of our itinerary, and then the internet shut down and I lost it all. The brief version is this: we leave Wednesday evening; we make stops in Toulon, Carcasonne, and Toulouse, and then are in Lourdes from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening. On the way back we stop only in Paray-le-Monial to see the shrine where our Lord revealed his Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque; then it's home again to Gaming sometime Tuesday evening.

Today also marks the completion of our little baby's sixth month of life inside his mother's womb. It seems that he is getting bigger. Maria is hoping for a little sister, but we'll have to wait and see.

23rd Sunday after Pentecost

St. Peter of Alcantara, Confessor (III Class)

St. Peter, a Spaniard of noble birth, entered the Order of St. Francis at the age of 16. He re-established the primitive Franciscan rule, and gave St. Teresa powerful support in her work of reformation. He died in 1562.

This coming Tuesday is Katie's birthday, but because she has class that evening, we made her a big birthday dinner today. She requested Mexican food. The only obstacle is that Mexico is slightly farther away now, and getting ingredients is a little difficult. However, she invited two friends who are great chefs, and it turned out pretty well by all accounts.

Here is Katie blowing out the one candle that we managed to dig up.

After dinner, Katie got out her violin and Max his flute. Maria had fun whirling in circles to the music with her Daddy.

St. Luke

Evangelist (II Class)
St. Luke was very probably born of pagan parents at Antioch. Converted, he became the missionary companion of St. Paul, who called him "the most dear physician" and "his fellow laborer." After the death of his teacher, according to reliable authority, he preached the Gospel in Achaia, where he died at a ripe old age. He wrote a Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.

To my dear parents, congratulations on the completion of your 28th year of marriage!

Today the weather was on the cooler side, but the sky was clear and the sun bright. After lunch Lisa took Maria to a park to play with one of her little friends. They are both adorable. The second picture is from a day or two ago. Maria decided that she wanted to have her juice in an appropriately sized coffee cup.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Virgin (III Class)

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was born at Verosvres (France) in 1647 and entered the Order of the Visitation at Paray-le-Monial in 1671. Jesus appeared to her in numerous visions, displaying to her His Sacred Heart, sometimes burning as a furnace, and sometimes torn and bleeding on account of the coldness and sins of men. In 1675 the great revelation was made to her that she, in union with Father de la Colombiére, S.J., was to be the chief instrument for instituting the Feast of the Sacred Heart and for spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart throughout the world. She died on October 17, 1690.

It was a couple of days ago now, and I forget the context of our conversation, but I asked Maria if she missed Uncle Tom and Uncle Vince, and she replied: "Yeah, I love them."

St. Hedwig

Widow (III Class)
St. Hedwig, duchess of Poland, of royal stock and the maternal aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, retired into a Cistercian convent after the death of her husband. She died in 1243.

We've had some requests lately for more pictures of Maria at home in Gaming. Truly you should get on Lisa's case about this. She, Maria, and the camera are almost always in the same vicinity. In the meantime, however, I hope that these will help. In the first, she is whirling about the room making it quite difficult to get a clear picture. Below, I managed to get her to stand still for a full three seconds.

Scripture Synod, Rome, 2008

One of my professors just passed on to me a summary in 19 questions of the proceedings thus far of the ongoing synod on Scripture in Rome (officially: Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church).

For good coverage of the synod you could take a look at Jeff Cavins's new website dedicated solely to it: ScriptureSynod.com.

What caught my attention was this line from Zenit.org: "The questions range from fundamental issues, such as 'what can be done to help the faithful better understand that the Word of God is Christ,' to concrete suggestions, such as, 'how to educate in the practice of lectio divina.'"

I can recall a handful of conversations in which a certain father-in-law of mine made the same point: the Word of God is firstly Christ, only secondarily the Bible.

St. Teresa of Avila

Virgin (III Class)
The seraphic St. Teresa, born at Avila (Spain) at the age of 18 entered the convent of St. Mary of Mount Carmel. As the Reformer of the Carmelites, she re-established the primitive observance of their ancient Rule. On account of her invaluable works on mystical Theology, she may be considered one of the greatest Doctors of the Church. She died in 1582.

We made another attempt this evening to recreate my favorite dish from Dino and Tony's in Rome. It's called Amatriciana and is a spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce and pancetta. Maria made a fine effort, but eating spaghetti takes years to master. Her efforts with jogurt later on were even more spectacular.

St. Callistus

Pope, Martyr (III Class)

St. Callistus I, successor of St. Zephyrinus, instituted the Ember Day Fasts, and provided for the honorable interment of the Martyrs. He himself suffered martyrdom under Alexander Severus in 223.

Lisa made another visit to the doctor in the morning. Apparently everything is still proceeding properly.

St. Edward

Confessor (III Class)

This King-Confessor was a grandson of St. Edward, king and martyr, and the last but one of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of England. He died in 1066.

We arrived back in our beloved Gaming this morning at 5:00. The weekend was busy and wonderful, and we're all rather exhausted (especially what with Greek class this morning at 8:00). At the moment I'm scrambling to catch back up on my work, but as soon as one of us finds a free moment we'll put up some pictures of our weekend in Norcia.

Update: It seems that Lisa found the necessary time! Please see below.