Tag: Christianity

Catholic churches, schools, and cemeteries throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are being targeted by pro-abortion vandalism ahead of the statewide Issue 1 abortion referendum vote, according to an archdiocesan statement.

One church was defaced with pro-abortion messages spray-painted on a window and more than a dozen other church properties had their pro-life campaign signs stolen or destroyed. In one instance, pro-abortion activists replaced a church’s pro-life signs with pro-abortion signs.

“I am grateful to all our priests and other parish and school leaders who have maintained steadfast opposition to Issue 1 despite the many challenges presented, including theft and vandalism,” Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr said in a statement provided to CNA.

“We remain committed to the protection of and care for women, children, and families regardless of the outcome of this election,” the archbishop added.

In Centerville, Ohio, pro-abortion vandals spray-painted the front-door window at Incarnation Catholic Church on Oct. 18, according to the archdiocese. The parish had displayed a sign that encouraged Ohioans to vote no on the abortion referendum.

The vandals spray-painted over the window where the sign was displayed and painted the message “Vote yes,” encouraging voters to support the abortion referendum. They also wrote “Issue 1: Enshrine abortion into the Ohio Constitution” and “Parents have the right to choose.”

Between the evening of Oct. 29 and the morning of Oct. 30, pro-abortion activists removed between six and eight “vote no” signs displayed at St. Bartholomew Church in Cincinnati and replaced them with “vote yes” signs, according to the archdiocese. The parish quickly removed the “vote yes” campaign signs and put new “vote no” signs on the property.

In Oxford, the archdiocese noted that an 8-foot-by-8-foot display sign was cut in half and another sign half that size was vandalized at St. Mary’s Church. Every week, there have been multiple reports of pro-life yard signs being stolen.

Other incidents included a large “vote no” sign pulled up out of the ground and thrown in a trash dumpster at St. Monica-St. George Church in Clifton. The sign was found and put back up on the property but later stolen. Several yard signs were stolen from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains in Cincinnati and a display on its fence was vandalized.

The referendum vote, which takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 7, is less than one week away, but early voting has already begun. Voting yes on Issue 1 would amend the Ohio Constitution to add a new right to “reproductive freedom,” which includes “abortion” and “contraception,” among other things. Voting no on Issue 1 would prevent this language from being added to the constitution.

Although the language allows for some restrictions on abortion after “viability,” which normally occurs at 24 weeks of pregnancy, many pro-life organizations have warned that the ambiguous language of the measure could allow abortion up until birth and remove parental consent and notification rules for minors getting abortions.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been encouraging Ohioans to vote no on the referendum and set up a website that breaks down the language and expresses its concerns about the proposal called WhereDoesItSayThat.com.

In late August, Archbishop Schnurr urged “Catholics and all people of goodwill to oppose this very harmful amendment.”

“This amendment could harm women by eliminating safety regulations on abortion clinics in Ohio, harm families by removing the rights of parents to consent to abortion or other reproductive decisions of their minor children, and enable the abortion of preborn children in the womb up to nine months,” the archbishop said.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has announced the “difficult and painful decision” to consolidate 11 parish communities, permanently close seven churches, and consolidate three territories in the coming months to ensure sustainability and vitality.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond made the announcement in an Oct. 29 letter that was read at every Mass at all parishes in the archdiocese last weekend.

This consolidation plan will close 10% of the archdiocese’s 111 parishes and is its largest restructuring plan since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the archdiocese merged 40 parishes and closed 27 of its churches.

The New Orleans Archdiocese began an official pastoral planning process more than a year ago to evaluate the challenges the archdiocese was facing due to declining enrollment numbers and many factors out of its control — natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes over the past decade, the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges of Hurricane Ida recovery, inflation, and skyrocketing property insurance rates.

Aymond said the consolidation followed an intense period of discernment using data on the sacramental, pastoral programming and the realities of each parish’s unique situation. Pastors, lay parish leadership, and parishioners were invited into dialogue to determine how to address the challenges facing them.

“These are difficult and painful decisions for everyone involved,” Aymond said in his letter to the faithful. “When I returned home to New Orleans in 2009, I never imagined I would be in the situation of having to merge parishes. This is something we must do for the good of the local Church, and something that is being done in Catholic dioceses around the country.”

“I have prayed about this a great deal and have spoken with many trusted advisers and truly believe the Holy Spirit is leading us for the good of the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” he added.

Two parishes, Our Lady of Divine Providence in Metairie and Christ the King in Terrytown, have made significant progress in addressing and planning for their challenges over the past year and will remain open, the archdiocese announced.

There are four instances where two parishes are merging into one, and one instance where three parishes are merging into one:

• Our Lady of the Angels Church in Waggaman will merge with St. Bonaventure Church in Avondale to become one new parish with a new name.
• St. Gertrude the Great Church in Des Allemands and St. John the Baptist Church in Paradis will merge to become one new parish with a new name.
• St. John Bosco Church and St. Rosalie Church, both in Harvey, will become one parish with a new name.
• St. Mary of the Angels Church and Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, both in New Orleans, will come together as one new parish with a new name.
• Transfiguration of the Lord Church, St. James Major Church, and St. Gabriel Church in New Orleans will merge as one new parish with a new name.

In two instances, the parish territory will be merged into neighboring parishes:

• St. Theresa of Avila Church in New Orleans will close. It will have its territory divided and merged into St. Patrick Church on Camp Street in the Warehouse District and St. Alphonsus Church on Constance Street in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. St. Theresa of Avila Church celebrated its 175th anniversary this year.
• St. Hubert Church in Garyville, which will be merged into St. Peter Church in Reserve. St. Hubert Church will remain open for one Mass each weekend.

All of the mergers will be effective beginning July 1, 2024.

Understandably, reactions to the news of the closures and consolidations have been marked by many emotions.

Former Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, a longtime lector at St. James Major Church in Gentilly, attended the vigil Mass on Oct. 28. In a report by Nola.com, he said parishioners were saddened by the announcement, as the church has been in existence for over 100 years.

“It was not good news,” he said. “It was not a joyous day.”

Chad Sherman, a parish council member of St. John Bosco Church, said in the Nola.com report that that he attended two weekend Masses at his parish and another at St. Rosalie Parish last weekend to see the reaction of parishioners upon the announcement of the merger.

He said he is disappointed, as both parishes have known for months that their finances were under scrutiny and have been trying to come up with a plan. He wishes they had been given more time.

“But in some ways, I think this is a new beginning and how we deal with it will be up to the people,” Sherman said.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans, which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2020 in the wake of the clergy abuse scandal, faces the settlement of 500 sex abuse claims with the potential to cost the archdiocese more than $100 million. In a Sept. 8 letter, Aymond wrote that “parishes, schools, and ministries” will be asked for monetary contributions to protect their assets during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Aymond concluded by asking for prayer for these communities as they move through this time of transition. “Let us pray, too, for all of us as a local Church, may the Holy Spirit continue to guide each of us as we strive for holiness, seek a deeper encounter with Christ each day and witness with joy in our parish life.”

Pope Francis prayed for peace, hope, and mercy at a Mass to mark All Souls’ Day on a rainy morning at the Rome War Cemetery.

“Today, thinking of the dead, cherishing the memory of the dead and cherishing hope, we ask the Lord for peace, so that people will no longer kill each other in wars,” the pope said in an improvised homily on Nov. 2.

Pope Francis presided at a Mass at the war cemetery amid scattered rain showers on a breezy, cool morning.

He lamented the loss of the lives of so many people, especially the young, in war, and said there can never be a real victory because of the price that is paid to reach it.

“We pray to the Lord for our dead, for all, for all: that the Lord will receive them all,” Francis said. “And we pray also that the Lord will have mercy on us and give us hope: hope that we can go forward and that we can find them all together with him when he calls us. So be it.”

The cemetery Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the papal master of ceremonies.

The small cemetery, which contains the graves of 426 soldiers from Commonwealth countries who died in World War II, is located near the Pyramid of Cestius, a Roman-era pyramid in the Ostiense neighborhood south of the historic center of Rome.

In his homily, Pope Francis said the day’s commemoration of the faithful departed made him think of memory and hope.

“Memory,” he explained, “of those who have gone before us, who have spent their lives, who have concluded this life” — both those who have done good and those who have failed in doing good, “but were received into the memory of God.”

The pope said All Souls’ Day is also a good moment to dwell on the theological virtue of hope, which he called an “everyday” virtue.

“I will call it the theological virtue of ‘the kitchen,’ because it is at hand and always comes to our aid,” he said. “We live in this tension between memory and hope.”

Before the Mass, Pope Francis passed through the cemetery in prayer, pushed in a wheelchair. He also placed white roses on some of the graves, including before the headstone of 28-year-old W. Perkins.

After Mass and before returning to the Vatican, the pope also stopped for a brief moment of prayer in front of Rome’s historic Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners, also known as the Protestant Cemetery.

Pope Francis has made it a recent custom to hold a Mass at a cemetery on Nov. 2 to pray for the dead.

From 2016 to 2021, he celebrated Mass at five different cemeteries in or near Rome. For All Souls’ Day in 2019, he celebrated Mass at the Catacombs of Priscilla, while in 2022 he did not visit a cemetery but offered Mass for deceased bishops and cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica — another papal custom during the week of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

On October 21, 2016, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Chosen By God: Life of Abbess Arsenia of Ust-MedveditsThe amazing purity of heart that God gave Anna from birth was preserved in her until the end of her life, and therefore the path of her life was clear and straight.

“>St. Arsenia of Ust-Medvedits as a locally venerated saint of the Volgograd Metropolis.

Abbess Arsenia (1833-1905) came from a notable family of the Don region. At the age of seventeen, Anna Mikhailova entered the Ust-Medvedits Monastery of her own accord. The monastery reached its highest peak in the forty years of her abbacy, from 1864 until her repose on August 3, 1905.

Besides her educational and charitable activities, the main fruits of Venerable Arsenia’s labors were the Kazan Cathedral, which was erected from 1785 to 1885, and the famous caves, dug in the image of the Kiev Caves. Today the monastery’s main shrine is there—the miraculous stone slab with hand and knee imprints of people kneeling in prayer, where the faithful come to beseech St. Arsenia for healings, the good arrangement of worldly affairs, and prosperous family lives.

In addition to her holy life, St. Arsenia left us valuable writings on the spiritual life, which we present in honor of the anniversary of her canonization.

What Does it Mean to Believe in God?In addition to her holy life, St. Arsenia left us valuable writings on the spiritual life, which we present in honor of the anniversary of her canonization.

” class=”tooltip”>Part 1
The State of the Human Soul and the Asceticism of RepentanceThe Lord doesn’t leave a man’s labors without recompense.” class=”tooltip”>Part 2
The Way of Christ’s CommandmentsThe dignity and nobility of man is not so much in the privileges he received from his ancestors as in those good qualities of the soul that he acquired by working on himself.” class=”tooltip”>Part 3
The Path of Becoming HumanWithout God, without His help and grace, man can’t even approach the concept of spiritual goodness.”>Part 4

Photo: foto-ram.ru     

If you don’t give any rest to your body, and in spite of of fatigue you force yourself to pray, to collect your thoughts, or search for a repentant feeling in your heart, then you’ll never have peace of mind; on the contrary, you’ll always be confused in your thoughts and burdened in spirit. St. Basil the Great says, “If rest harms a young and healthy body, then excessive work brings incomparably more harm to a sick and weak body.” There is no need to be embarrassed to give ourselves a little more rest, to have a few hours or at least minutes of a lively spirit, fresh feelings, and clear thoughts. Otherwise, you may reach a state of confusion. The Lord needs so little from us: only a humble spirit, and He gives us everything by His grace. When the Lord gives the soul the joy of His salvation, it will understand that it found Him where it lost itself; and it sensed a feeling of salvation there where it tasted the bitterness of death; it glorified the Lord Who was saving it there when all its tricks to save itself turned out to be false… Lord, You are the salvation of my soul!

The soul has no power at any time to overcome either passions or thoughts about the passions; the Lord overcomes them by the power of His grace.

The only correct activity of the soul living By the Rivers of Babylon: Commentary on Psalm 136From its very first verses, the hymn “By the Rivers of Babylon” reveals the whole meaning of Great Lent. We are in captivity to sin—“by the rivers of Babylon.” Like the Jews, we have to lay mirth aside and reflect upon our sins and remember Zion—the Heavenly Kingdom, or the Heavenly Jerusalem.

“>by the rivers of Babylon is to sit and weep (cf. Ps. 136:1).

The soil of my heart will constantly give birth to the weeds of the How to Be Delivered From PassionsThe Christian life is man’s return to his true health, which is a joy for him, which he perceives as the fullness of life, because Christ is poured out into this man to live in him.

“>passions. They are uprooted with difficulty, with constant vigilance over the heart; the will resolves, seeing them with the mind, acting on them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our infirmities won’t destroy us, but unbelief can destroy us—may the Lord deliver us from this by His mercy.

We have to know our measure; we have to stick to the word that is proper to our measure—the measure of unregenerate man. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread (Gen. 3:19). And is it fitting for us to dream of spiritual visions when we haven’t even begun to sweat from working to acquire our daily bread, when the soil of our heart constantly gives forth weeds and thorns? Lord! Have mercy on us by Your great mercy!

Egotism Kills Us, But Humility Gives Us LifeFrom my humble spiritual experience I have learned that it is much easier to lead a spiritual life with humility, and that grace is given to the humble.

“>Egotism seizes everything for itself everywhere, not wanting to give anything up to its neighbor. And how can the soul love its neighbor when it senses that he has seized everything from it, as if having the same rights to everything? So it sees him as its enemy and hates him. You have to take everything away from yourself to give up everything to your neighbor, and then, the soul–along with its neighbor–will find the Lord.

The soul is given love that bears all after it’s cleansed not only from attachments, but also from passions. Our work is to recognize them within ourselves and to labor to cut them off. But we wouldn’t be able to see them within ourselves if the Lord didn’t reveal them to us, out of His love for mankind sending such circumstances that uncover them within us. Passion is known in the soul when a tormenting, oppressing burden is felt in the heart, disturbing spiritual thoughts and causing despondency. Until the soul has felt freedom, until it has tasted of peace and love, don’t think or say that your attachment has been destroyed. It’s only been embittered and has taken on a different form—and in this form it’s become possible to recognize it. When it’s sweet, it’s difficult to recognize, but when it’s bitter, then it’s easy.

We must be patient in our labors, and be patient some more, then some more; so that the purpose of patience is labor, so the purpose of labor is endurance in patience. Labor should not go beyond this and patience should not stop short of this. But without the Lord, the soul won’t achieve either of these, and again, it labors and endures with weakness and self-reproach.

We have to work lawfully and with all our might so that not only the spirit works, restraining the impulses of the mind with patience and all the impulses of the heart with humility, but so that the soul might always know the One Lord in all things.

There is a Instructions to Nuns. On RepentanceRepentance, according to the teaching of the Holy Church, is the restoration of Baptism, the second grace, cleansing of the consience, the promise to God of a new life, making peace with God by means of good works that are the opposite of sinful falls. Of him who does not approach the saving Sacrament of [confession] do we hear the terrible words of God: Except ye repent, ye shall all … perish (Lk. 13:3).

“>path of repentance, and therefore there are different degrees, transitions, improvements on this path. We mustn’t arbitrarily jump higher while still on the lowest step, seeking what’s on the highest.

The ego acts in everything; it tries to fix all difficult circumstances by itself, it , justifies itself, tries to rectify itself, and wrenches the soul in an untimely manner from the state where it circumstances permitted by the Lord has placed it, where it could have learned self-reproach, humility, and self-denial if only it would have endured and waited as it should.

Nothing can be more useful for a man than to know his own limitations. Then he will relate to everything correctly and won’t be on the wrong path. And for this, it’s invaluable to have a guide who can accurately indicate the state and limitations of the one he’s leading.

As long as we walk in the flesh, we will see our neighbor as our debtor: We demand from him both lawful justice and the holiness of grace as mankind’s common inheritance. We judge and hate him, persecute and torment him when he doesn’t give us our due. But when we’re led by the Spirit, when the Spirit of God pours out all the riches of His grace into our spirit, then we look for nothing from our neighbor; we forgive his debt, and even cease to see him as our debtor.

Let’s Begin with SilenceThe second part of this conversation with Fr. Pimen is dedicated to the miraculous help of the Mother of God and non-condemnation of your neighbor.

“>Silence cleanses the mind of thoughts. The awareness of our sinfulness, of our irrationality, our impotence, our insufficiency in everything leads the soul to the faith of reason. The rejection of our desires in everything leads to an active faith expressed in great simplicity and humility. The first leads to purity of mind, and the second to purity of heart.

The soul has a natural desire for good. I call this aspiration the calling of God, which it works so strongly in some souls that nothing earthly can satisfy it.

The frequent remembrance of death leads to the fear of God; it’s a frequent reminder that you’re living perhaps your last day, your last minute. And the grace of God plants it in the heart. “Plant Thy fear, O Lord, in the heart of Thy servants,” the holy Church prays.

The path of salvation is harsh, and sometimes the words spoken about it are harsh—they’re a double-edged sword cutting off our passions, our sensuality, causing pain in the very heart from which they’re excised. And will there be time for this sword to do everything it needs to in our heart? No, it will always have more work; there is no end to spiritual purification, and in every heart will be found that particle of impurity that needs to be cleansed.

The power of truth is a living force; communicating with souls, it forms them into one image. May the Lord strengthen us all, and may He help us abide in the Truth, which is Him Himself; and the path to Him is in us through our weakness, through the fullness of our sinfulness. Yes, this is not a false path, not invented, not concocted; the Lord Himself said not to look for Him anywhere, not in any states—for He Himself would appear. And He truly appears, bringing peace, strength, light to the perishing, weak, darkened soul. When we chase after states, we’ll catch only an illusion.

When infirmity reaches its extreme limits in our soul, so that there’s no hope left for any work, any reasoning, then at that moment, and only at that moment, the special help of God is spiritually felt, or rather, the knowledge of Him and the power of His actions in the soul.

The Lord sends us sorrows on earth, and these sorrows tear us away from the earth, or rather, from excessive attachment to all things earthly. That means sorrows are also a gift from God.

With a true understanding of himself, man will inevitably come to the Lord. But if he seeks Him within himself, that is, in his virtues, labors, and the like, he won’t find Him—the only One Who saves—but he will find himself. And this happens not only generally, but even in individual deviations in the work of the ego.

All the gifts of God—salvation and mercy for the soul—we receive through the Lord Jesus, the one Mediator between God and man, and therefore we call upon Him with faith, without comprehending Him, without reasoning. Rejecting the self and having faith lead the soul into simplicity and establish in the soul the unshakeable understanding of its insignificance, which remains constant, irrespective of God’s grace manifested to the soul in the realm of thoughts during attentive and fervent prayer, or when the soul is cold, scattered, inattentive, or even distracted. It’s strange that in this or that state, the thought, once established in the soul, remains the same and unshaken, even though the state of the soul changes. And this steadfastness creates, as it were, a sense of constancy in the spirit, not becoming exalted during good states and not becoming downcast during bad ones. In either state, man is the same—a sinner in need of the Lord’s mercy. Excessive attention to one’s states can turn activity to the realm of the senses and not the spirit, since variability occurs more in them, which is inherent in them. Hence, one should not pay much attention either to the thoughts or the feelings. One thing you need to know is that they are sinful and impure and cannot be otherwise, because they come from an unclean mind and heart, and nothing better can be expected within ourselves; our purity,salvation, purification, and illumination are the one Lord. He is unchangeable, unshakeable, immutable. From this twofold faith—in our sinfulness and in the immutability of God—a believer’s spirit also becomes unshakable.

When the spirit is properly aligned, prayer becomes its breath, essential and rightly performed. And quietness of thoughts and peace of the senses are given by the Lord to the soul that adhered to Him by faith and prayer; no one can take or establish this in his own soul, and there’s no need to make great efforts to obtain it.

The desire and striving for salvation is the sole activity of the human spirit that is necessary in the work of salvation. It doesn’t save a man, but it is a necessary condition for salvation. It is preceded by the calling of God and confirmed by the power of God, but still this desire, feeble though it may be (as all things human), comes from man.

In their spiritual instructions, the Holy Fathers often exhort us to ask the Lord for wisdom if we don’t have it; for strength when we’re weak; for patience if we’re exhausted in sorrows; and in general, to ask Him for all good things.

The Divine Teacher said to His disciples: Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you (Jn. 15:3). And every true concept that has His Divine word as its foundation has the same power in part. The truth, accepted by faith, cleanses from the delusions the soul was in and lived by. It’s very dangerous to enter intensely into any kind of spiritual work. It’s impossible to enter into the understanding of some spiritual concept by strenuous effort. In order to fully, or even somewhat correctly understand the spirit of a man, you have to see him and speak with him—it’s impossible to make an accurate determination based on what someone else says.

If there’s something good, it’s impossible not to see it, not to recognize it as a good, but it can and should be attributed to the Lord, which will reveal a new reason for the soul to be humbled and to have reverence before the One Holy One and Savior. Praise, at times merely pleasant on a human level and indulgent to the self, can be useful as a means to rouse the despondent soul.

On preserving purity

To preserve bodily purity, we must preserve purity of the heart and mind. So we need prayer, we need attention to our heart, we need to work on ourselves. If we can’t always preserve warmth, since it’s a gift from God, then we can always strengthen within ourselves the determination of will to labor against the passions; we can kindle in ourselves the desire for perfection; we can force ourselves to struggle to keep God’s commandments, which were not given to us to arbitrarily fulfill whether we want to or not; no, we’re obliged to fulfill them, otherwise we will perish eternally. I urge you: For God, for the fulfillment of His most holy will, force yourself to bear the shortcomings of your neighbors; but be strict and demanding with yourself, with your shortcomings. It would be good for you to sometimes read the lives of the saints and have at least a small but constant prayer rule.

Brussels, November 2, 2023

Photo: voiceofeurope.com     

“Ukraine violates the rule of law and human rights. Ukraine should never become member of the EU,” believes Marcel de Graaff, a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands.

Together with Joachim Kuhs, de Graaff appealed to the European Commission, drawing attention to Ukrainian Parliament votes for bill to ban UOC in first reading, second reading still to comeMany local administrations have declared bans on the Church, though at the same time, the Church’s activities have continued in those localities.

“>Ukraine’s intention to ban the Orthodox Church.

“In their appeal, they noted that the Ukrainian government has been exerting increasing pressure on the Orthodox Church, which has historically played a central role in the spiritual life of Ukrainian society,” reports Voice of Europe.

The deputies wrote of how the Ukrainian parliament is seriously considering a complete ban on the Church and “coercing preachers and clergy to unite with other denominations.”

Thus, de Graaff and Kuhs posed several important questions to the European Commission, including whether the Commission will call on the Ukrainian government to lift the ban, and whether it constitutes an obstacle to negotiations on Ukraine’s EU membership.

“Members of the European Parliament hope that the European Commission will carefully consider this situation and take necessary measures to protect freedom of religion and the rights of denominations in Ukraine,” Voice of Europe concludes.

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It’s November, and so we’re thinking about the saints. My own thoughts turn to St. Jerome.

Born in the fourth century, Jerome was a contemporary of so many great saints: Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom. … And he managed to tangle with all of them. He had faults, which he tried to remedy but refused to hide. He could be curmudgeonly and critical. He had a temper. He had attacks of disordered pride — but, to be fair, he had real accomplishments that would tempt a man to be proud.

Jerome translated the Bible — not once, but several times. First, he “only” made a unified edition out of the grab bag of translations that the churches were using. Then he decided to go back and render everything fresh from the Greek. Then he decided to learn Hebrew to do a fresher translation. And all the while he produced commentaries, works of apologetics, handbooks of spiritual counsel, and kept up voluminous correspondence.

He was a one-man industry of biblical theology, and I can’t help but admire him. Yes, he had his faults and foibles — such that sensitive students are sometimes scandalized by him. But even that I find encouraging! If Jerome could stumble and hobble his way to heaven, maybe I can too!

Jerome had a profound appreciation for sacred Scripture, but also for the liturgy — and he understood that the two were fundamentally inseparable. We may distinguish one from the other, but only to highlight their interdependence. Jerome’s devotion to Scripture is demonstrable from his résumé (above), but it is also evident in his delight that the Eastern Christians brought the sacred texts into church in a solemn procession, accompanied by firelight.

Jerome’s devotion to the liturgy comes through in his letters to the pope, begging him to train his clergy to treat the sacred vessels of the Mass with care and refinement. The chalices and patens are holy, he said, because they bear the body and blood of the Lord.

Few historical figures have exemplified the ideals of the St. Paul Center as St. Jerome does. He understood the importance of biblical typology — the canonical unity of the Old Testament and the New. He promoted a mystagogical approach to the sacraments, seeing them as the fulfillment of the most ancient patterns of divine revelation.

St. Jerome, I dare say, would feel at home with me and my colleagues at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. In fact, in 2001 — the year we launched our apostolate — we briefly considered naming it for him. We didn’t follow through on that, but I suspect he would even approve of our final selection of a name.

So join me, please, in celebrating him — and all the saints this month.

    

On August 20, 2023, we, the authors and creators of documentary films on Elder Gabriel (Urgebadze): His Life, Miracles, and Service after his DeathComing to the starets at his grave every day, I noticed that you could feel a special grace and tranquility. You don’t think about anything, nothing comes to your mind, you don’t worry about anything. There is extraordinary peace in your soul.

“>St. Gabriel (Urgebadze), came to Moscow to show a film about the saint and to hold an evening in memory of St. Gabriel on his birth anniversary—August 26. We had planned to stay for two weeks, but we stayed instead for two months. I will tell our readers in our next article about all the miracles that have occurred and are still occurring before of the wonderworking icon of Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim of Sarov and at the shrine with the elder’s relics. Now I would like to share with you some wonderful testimonies that once again confirm that the saints are with us and never abandon us.

A woman named Anna told us that she had accidentally passed near the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, hurrying by on business. She was not going to enter the church, but she suddenly heard a high-pitched voice, calling out, “Where are you going?! Come into the church! Come in, I’m here!” She got scared and obeyed the order to enter the church:

“I went inside the church and saw the icon and the relics associated with Elder Gabriel, whom I venerate greatly. I had dreamed of traveling to him in Samtavro and venerating the relics, but because of certain problems I couldn’t. But it appeared that he came himself and even called me, a sinner. He invited me in, to bless me and give me great joy, with which my heart is filled even now. Thank God!”

When Anna told me about this, I was happy for her, but I thought it was not worth writing about it. However, there were many similar stories. Here is another one below.

One Sunday I gave a talk on the venerable father at the Sunday school at the Church of the Iveron Icon. Not many people were present. I began to tell them briefly about the saint’s life, and later about the miracles that occur at his relics every day. After I had finished, we continued the talk in a question-and-answer format. At some point a woman named Olga stood up and said that she was amazed by the stories I had related about the elder.

“Constantine, I’m here with my elderly mother. We were standing at the bus stop beside the church and waiting for the bus, hoping to get home soon, when suddenly an old woman in a black robe came up to us and said, ‘It’s not the right time to wait for the bus now! A wonderworking icon and other relics from Georgia are here in the church! Batiushka is calling you!’ And she walked into the church. My mother and I looked at each other in surprise and decided to go into the church quickly and see what icon from Georgia it was, what priest had noticed us and called us, and what relics were there! When we entered the church, we saw a long queue for some large icon and heard beautiful Georgian singing. We decided to stay there for some time. We approached the icon and recognized St. Seraphim of Sarov

“>St. Seraphim of Sarov, but did not immediately recognize the second saint. It was explained to us that the saint in question was the Venerable Gabriel (Urgebadze). We had heard about him before, but we hadn’t known much about his life and activity. So we stood in line, venerated the elder’s cap and other holy objects, and then we were invited to a talk. And now we are here and very happy about it. Curiously enough, we didn’t see that old woman, and the church rector hadn’t called us either. When you said that Elder Gabriel was born on August 26, it was a kind of sign for me—my birthday is on August 26 too. It was Elder Gabriel who called my mother and me! From today on, he will become one of our favorite saints. After we had venerated the relics in the church, my severe headache and my mother’s pain in her legs stopped instantly. How could we not know about such a great saint of our times?… But he invited us and got acquainted with us so warmly. Great art Thou, O Lord…”

As I listen to such stories, I involuntarily remember how our beloved Elder Gabriel smiled in his lifetime, and raising his hands towards Heaven, said: “Great art Thou, O Lord, and wonderful are Thy works. The human mind cannot comprehend Thy miracles!”

I try to remember every moment of our stay in the church, but I can’t describe in words the love that we experienced over those two months. We don’t know what other miracles the prayers of our beloved Mama Gabrieli will perform—only the Lord knows about it. We have seen with our own eyes how the elder loves the Lord and teaches us all this love at every step, how he supports and strengthens us all in such difficult times!

Appeal to readers

Dear brothers and sisters! During our stay in Moscow we did a lot of work for the shooting of the third documentary about St. Gabriel. There is a lot of important work ahead of us. We appeal to you with a request to offer your mite to the creation of the film—even a tiny amount often turns out to be decisive in a great cause.

Sberbank of Russia card number: 4276 6900 1646 4429

Recipient: David Kobayevich Chikadze (Давид Кобаевич Чикадзе)

Paypal: diademas@yahoo.com

When transferring funds, you are invited to indicate your names in Holy Baptism along with the names of your reposed relatives. All donors will be remembered at the prayer service in front of the relics of St. Gabriel (Urgebadze) at Samtavro Monastery and in front of the relics and the wonderworking icon of Sts. Gabriel and Seraphim of Sarov. You can indicate the names either in the comments on your money transfers or via email: diademas@yahoo.com

Following the feast of All Saints, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Souls on November 2. This celebration remembers all the souls who have died and have not yet attained Heaven, who are still atoning for the sins in their lives. The faithful still living can help these souls reach heaven through prayers, especially with the offering of a Mass. 

The Catholic Church has always prayed for the dead, but the feast of All Souls is an annual recognition of this tradition. As early as the sixth century, Benedictine monasteries held commemoration ceremonies for their deceased members. In the 11th century, St. Odilo of Cluny chose the day after All Saints’ Day in his decree that Masses should be offered for the dead, and alms given to the poor. This custom spread to other monasteries and eventually to the Church around the world.

A group of alleged victims of Father Marko Rupnik said Monday that Pope Francis’ decision to lift the statute of limitations on the case and order the opening of a new process against the priest accused of sexual abuse “is an appropriate step for the truth to be recognized.”

Gloria Branciani, Mirjam Kovač, Vida Bernard, Mira Stare, and Jožica Zupančič are the authors of a news release shared with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, commenting that they were “very surprised” by the statement from the Holy See.

The five women, former sisters of the Loyola Community, were referring to the Oct. 27 statement by the Holy See Press Office that reported that Pope Francis had decided to lift the statute of limitations on the Rupnik case, allowing a canonical process to take place. The priest is accused of having sexually abused women for decades.

According to the Holy See, “in September the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors brought to the pope’s attention that there were serious problems in the handling of the Father Marko Rupnik case and lack of outreach to victims.”

“Consequently, the Holy Father asked the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to review the case and decided to lift the statute of limitations to allow a process to take place.”

The alleged victims hope “that this is an appropriate step for the truth to be recognized. We are waiting for new developments.”

The former sisters, with the exception of Zupančič, were the same women who wrote an open letter in September stating they were left “speechless” by the final positive report on the Diocese of Rome’s canonical investigation of the Aletti Center, which Rupnik founded.

They also pointed out that the pope’s Sept. 15 meeting with Maria Campatelli, current director of the Aletti Center and close collaborator of Rupnik, caused them even more pain, because the pontiff had never responded to the letters sent to him by members and former members of the Loyola Community.

The Aletti Center is an art and theology school in Rome that Rupnik ran from 1995–2020 and where he allegedly abused some of its members as well as members of the Loyola Community in Slovenia.