Saint Gemma, scourge of the crypto-modernists

Today, 11 April is the feast of Saint Gemma Galgani generally - the Passionists celebrate her feast on 16 May. I just reminded myself in time yesterday when I was looking up various calendars for feasts that are usually missed, such as that of Saint Philomena on 11 August - or indeed that of Saint John Nepomuk on 16 May. He could be important for Margate since we have such a large number of Czech and Slovak people in the parish.

Saint Gemma was one of those saints of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who excited the rabid opposition of those I am increasingly inclined to think were crypto-modernists. If you want another example, consider the scorn with which the process for the canonisation of Saint Bernadette was regarded by Fr Herbert Thurston SJ. And don't get me started on the liberal sceptic attack on Saint Philomena in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

The "problem" with Saint Gemma (and I suppose Saint Bernadette) was that she was favoured by Almighty God with extraordinary manifestations. I think that she was an extraordinarily great saint and that we do well so seek her intercession.

For further information and links, see my previous posts Saint Gemma Galgani, Saint Gemma prayers, and Not just the stigmata .... There is also the Saint Gemma Galgani website and you can read the Letters of St Gemma Galgani online.

Saint Gemma Galgani, pray for us.

"He placed his hand on his breast and would bless none of them"

Saint Charles Borromeo is one of my favourite saints. A great reformer in the true sense, he was austere in his personal life, but generous in his use of all the outward signs which would emphasise the sacredness of his office. He was a stickler for the proper observance of liturgical ceremonial, but kindly towards those who made unintentional mistakes. He was much loved by the poor, not least because of his heroic ministration of the sacraments during the plague, but also because of his generosity.

Ecclesiastical censures were a part of his daily ministry, used by him for their salutary purpose, regardless of the dangers with which he was sometimes threatened by the powerful who resented his integrity. He was also adamantine in using them to draw people to genuine conversion, without succumbing to the weakness of a false mercy that would leave them in their sin. One episode, which the biographer describes as remarkable, occurred when Saint Charles was making a visitation of the Diocese of Brescia and travelled through the valley of Camonica which was influenced by the Calvinists. In Plano, the people were under interdict for failing to pay their tithes, but they were enthusiastic to see the Saint:

"As the cardinal passed through, they all ran out to see him, wishing to get his blessing; but he placed his hand on his breast and would bless none of them. Deeming they were deprived of a great treasure, they ran after him, weeping and crying for pity, begging him not to leave them without granting the boon. As he wished them to acknowledge their fault, he paid no attention to them, telling them to obey their Bishop and pay their tithes."

He later sent a trusted colleague to preach to them, and promise the blessing of the Cardinal if they would do their duty. They accordingly repented, received absolution (from the sin and the censure) and were able to welcome Saint Charles on his return, when he said Mass for them, and gave them his blessing.

I have just finished Giussano's monumental Life of St Charles, which is available free at the Internet Archive. I paid 99p on Amazon for a nicely made-up copy for my kindle. It was one of those books I felt sad to reach the end of, so yesterday I was looking around for something good to read. For the sum of £0.00 I found Pius IX and His Time by Æneas MacDonell Dawson. Enjoying it so far.

Putting Becket's name out of all the bokes

Father Daren J. Zehnle, KHS, a priest of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, studying Canon Law at the Greg, was pleased to have just had approval to submit his thesis on the order and age of Confirmation in the Latin Church with only minor amendments (Congratulations, Father!), and so found himself with some extra time after visiting Scotland recently. He travelled South to make a pilgrimage to the grave of JRR Tolkien. He also made a last-minute decision to visit Canterbury and the site of the shrine of St Thomas.

You can read his post The hooly blisful martir for to seke and enjoy some great photographs. Here is my own photo of the place of the shrine:

It was reckoned to be one of the most richly adorned shrines in Christendom, thanks to the generosity and devotion of the pilgrims who donated to it. I find it heartbreaking to look over the empty space resulting from the callous and spiteful destruction of Henry VIII which also involved the alienation of a large amount of valuable property. Apparently 26 wagons were needed to carry off the valuables after the attentions of the Commission for the Destruction of Shrines. What could be melted down ended up at the Royal Mint at the Tower of London.

St Thomas excited Henry's particular hatred because he stood up for the rights of the Church against the usurpations of the crown. The story of St Thomas being put on trial for treason and being sentenced to having his bones burnt seems to be reckoned as apocryphal, but there was a determined effort at rubbishing his memory by blaming his death on his own behavour.

"And he not only callyd the one of them bawde, but also toke Tracy by the bosome, and violently shoke and plucked hym in suche maner, that he had almoste overthrowen hym to the pavement of the Churche; so that upon this fray one of their company, perceivynge the same, strake hym, and so in the thronge Becket was slayne."(Quoted in: Constitutions of Clarendon "Henry VIII's Proclamation, 1538: The Unsainting of Thomas Becket")

I suppose with all that taking by the bosome, shaking and plucking, and calling people bawdy he was just asking to have his skull cleaved in half and his brains poured out all over the flagstones.

In a damnatio memoriae, his images were ordered to be destroyed and his name to be erased:

"Therefore his Grace strayghtly chargeth and commandeth that from henseforth the sayde Thomas Becket shall not be estemed, named, reputed, nor called a sayncte, but bysshop Becket; and that his ymages and pictures, through the hole realme, shall be putte downe, and avoyded out of all churches, chapelles, and other places; and that from henseforthe, the dayes used to be festivall in his name shall not be observed, nor the service, office, antiphoners, colletes, and prayers, in his name redde, but rased and put out of all the bokes.”

Some of those "bokes" can be found in the British Library whose Medieval Manuscripts blog has a fascinating page on Erasing Becket.

Adoring Jesus the embryo

When the Magi found the child Jesus, we are told by St Matthew that "falling down, they adored him", thus offering the worship of latria to a new born infant. Rightly so, because in the divine and human natures of Christ are united in one divine person. This is true from the very beginning of his human life and therefore it is fitting for the worship of latria or adoration strictly reserved for God, to be given to Our Lord even as an embryo.

Today's celebration of the Annunciation reminded me of this important truth. After the text read at today's Mass, the gospel continues: "And Mary rising up in those days (ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις - in diebus illis), went into the hill country with haste (μετὰ σπουδῆς - cum festinatione) into a city of Juda." (Lk 1.39) The narrative of the Visitation follows.

We may assume that the child Jesus was conceived in the womb of Our Lady at the moment she gave her consent with the words "Be it done to me according to thy word" in verse 38. In a different context, "in those days" could mean generally within a space of time, perhaps a few weeks or months, but the addition of the qualifying "with haste" indicates that the journey was undertaken immediately. Ein Karem, the probable site of the Visitation, is about 95 miles from Nazareth, making for a journey of five or six days if undertaken in haste by someone who was fit and used to walking.

So Saint Elizabeth's greeting "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? " (Lk 1.42-43) was made in the presence of the 5-6 day embryo (or blastocyst) who was Lord. And Saint John the Baptist leapt in the womb in recognition of the divine embryo.

In the time of Our Lady and Saint Elizabeth, nobody knew about embryos: the development of life in the womb was not well understood. Now that we do know, it seems to me particularly important to recognise the divine person of Christ from the first moment of His conception. In the UK, it is legal to experiment on embryos up to 14 days old. After that, the experimental subjects have to be destroyed since they are deemed to be "of no moral value".

The Church used by Queen Bertha and Saint Augustine

A short walk outside the Roman walls of Canterbury is St Martin's, the oldest Church in the English speaking world. St Bede says that it was in use in late Roman times but had fallen out of use until it was restored by Queen Bertha, the Christian wife of King Ethelbert, in about 580. When St Augustine arrived in 597, his community of monks enlarged the Church to make use of it for the choir offices and it was here that Ethelbert was baptised.

Since the Reformation, the Church has been in use as an Anglican Church and continues to be a parish Church today. The visitor is welcomed by one of a team of volunteers who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable. In the photo above, you can see the red, flat Roman bricks that were re-used in the walls, and the saxon buttress which was part of St Augustine's extension.

Among the many features of interest is the Squint, an angled hole in the western wall of the Church which was provided for lepers to be able to see the Mass being celebrated. I suppose this was a medieval effort at providing disabled access.

When time permits, I am reading up on the mission of St Augustine and other matters of historical interest related to East Kent. Canterbury is half an hour on the train and I hope soon to visit the Abbey which St Augustine founded once the community was more settled. As with many things in this part of the world, it is closed during the week from November until late March, so the improved weather also brings the possibility of more interesting day trips.

A visit to the Shrine of Saint Jude

Faversham, a market town in Kent, ten miles from Canterbury, is home to the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, under the care of the Carmelites, and its annex, the National Shrine of St Jude. The Shrine is the attraction for large numbers of visitors from all over the world, thanks to the work of Fr Elias Lynch and his fellow Carmelites. Fr Elias was one of three brothers who were all Carmelite priests and leading figures in the revival of Carmelite life in England, a major part of which was the restoration of Aylesford Priory 400 years after its dissolution by Henry VIII.

The website of the British Province of Carmelite Friars has a page on the development of the shrine which is fascinating. The following quotation from the reflections of Fr Elias gives an idea of his spirit and energy:

Once you start producing religious pictures, people get the idea that you are unlimited in your range. They think that you can supply any religious picture they like to name. Our great trouble was St. Jude; the Apostle and Martyr; patron of hopeless cases. People used to write to us and say, "Have you got a picture of St. Jude?" Now, that poses a difficulty. He, or she, is a well meaning religious person. If you haven't got a picture of St. Jude, you have to write back and say "No". That means a personal letter and costs 3d. It involves personal correspondence. In the end, we decided that the only way out was to print a large number of pictures of St. Jude and send them out to everybody. I found an old German picture of St. Jude with a club big enough to murder anyone, and I reproduced a quarter of a million pictures of St. Jude and his club, with prayers in honour of St. Jude, and sent them out broadcast to all who called on us.

Roughly: "Well people were asking for pictures of St Jude so I just ran off a quarter of a million of them!"

Part of my heart-protecting discipline is trying to take a proper day off each week, so I took the train from Margate Station earlier this week. The journey takes 32 minutes, (compared with Google's estimate of 37 minutes by car) and the train stops at Westgate-on-Sea, Birchington-on-Sea, Herne Bay, Chestfield and Swalecliffe, and Whitstable on the way, with the sea visible for much of the time. Even at this time of the year, there was a constant trickle of pilgrims. Like Aylesford, the shrine at Faversham could be described as "the other modern." It is impressive to read that the shrine was constructed in two years.

The Church itself is also attractive with its beautiful mural behind the High Altar. I particularly liked the panel on the left, of Our Lady ascending the Temple steps at her Presentation.

An overdue health update

Easter Sunday will be almost exactly twelve weeks after my bypass operation and that is a significant milestone when various things are supposed to be healed up a bit more. My sternum knitted up on schedule after six weeks, but after twelve weeks, it is apparently ready to take the strain of lifting slightly heavier weights.

The cardiac nurse is supervising the titration of various medications with blood tests in between any dose changes. I'm not feeling any ill effects, so that all seems to be going OK, but it will be a while before all the chemicals are stable, I expect.

In my last post I joked about the old Mass being easier on the heart and that caused some amusement as well as some scandal for those with a suboptimal sense of humour. Of course I am now celebrating Mass in both forms in the parish. Generally I am building up to normal duties but receiving great support from my brother clergy, particularly the priest who is assisting me in the parish and my two excellent deacons.

Oh, and the impressive scars are a lovely shade of purple. I'm wondering if they will turn white during the Easter Vigil. I should be all right as long as they don't go green after Trinity Sunday.

Thank you all very much for your prayers and kind wishes.

A brief update on my physical state

The surgery went well - I woke up from it etc.

Leg & chest hurt intermittently. Coughing not pleasant. Sneezing - aaaargh!

Getting both rest and exercise as instructed. (If you really want to annoy me, send a message telling me "You must reeeest.")

Follow-up appointment with surgeon's team on 18 February. Until then, basically off-duty.

Only saying the old Mass at the moment - less strain on the heart, dontcha know?

Trying to learn how this whole medication/prescription thing works. Delighted when local pharmacist welcomed me and said he had been praying for me at Mass at his nearby parish.

Profoundly grateful for all your kind prayers, Masses, Twitter Angeluses... You will be remembered at the altar. God bless you.

A good day to arrive at St Thomas's hospital

Above is a good "My View for a While" photo, to use an expression coined by Fr Z. I'm on the 7th floor of St Thomas's hospital, opposite the Palace of Westminster. I arrived here yesterday on the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury, after whom the hospital is named: it goes back to within living memory of the holy Bishop and Martyr.

Today the consultant surgeon brought me the very welcome news that the waiting is over and tomorrow morning, I am to go under the surgeon's knife. Do remember me in your prayers - indeed thank you for all the prayers you have offered already. Several priests have very kindly offered their Mass intentions for me over the past couple of weeks and I am most grateful for that. If you have scheduled Mass intentions, a memento would be much appreciated.

On a practical note, general visits are not encouraged. If all goes well and there are no complications, I'll be in the intensive recovery unit for a bit, then gradually clearing out my lungs and staggering around until I reach the exit criterion which is walking up some stairs, apparently. The normal estimate for that is 5-7 days. Thanks be to God, I have sisters and a deputed logistics team to look after necessary supplies - spare pyjamas, newspapers, good coffee, Puligny Montrachet, you know the sort of thing.

Once I'm back and resting, and fit enough to sing the Preface, I'll sit back and direct arrangements for a solemn High Mass in thanksgiving to the Lord if He decides to give me some more years to make reparation for my sins and help a few people get to heaven. The subject of meditation today in the book that I am using (from St Alphonsus, of course) is "The Shortness of Life", beginning with the verse "All flesh is grass." That was most comforting.

A uninterrupted sleep and then "all systems go"

Last evening I was moved to a side room in another ward. I was able to shut the door and sleep without interruption for seven and a half hours, waking up without having to struggle with grumpiness half the morning. Which was nice.

Now it is "all systems go." I am about to be transported to another hospital where a bed will be waiting for me, and presumably without much delay, will be prepared for surgery. Nowadays, heart bypass surgery is quite common, and generally successful, but it is a major business, so your prayers would be much appreciated - for the success of my operation and recovery if that is God's will, or for my eternal salvation if the Lord decides it is time for me to render an account of my stewardship.

Remember - heart attack or no heart attack - we will all face eternity within a few short years. We forget that so easily and concern ourselves with stupid trivia or even sinful things that last a moment but can lose us salvation. May I join my voice to that of Fr Z; Go to confession!

The helicopter landed outside my window earlier on. It would have been fun to go off in that, but I will be going in an ambulance. I've said the day hours, so I'll read some more of Disinformation which Fr Z kindly sent me to load up on my Kindle.