Blog by-the-Sea

The Pontificator's Recessional

About 3 months after his old blog site was hacked and then brought back on line again, and about one month after moving his blog to Wordpress, Fr. Alvin Kimel has announced that he will stop blogging.  The very personal message was posted on Pontifications on Wednesday, saying that the decision followed his recent trip to Ireland and describing his own deep feelings of hurt since the situation in the Episcopal Church led to his departure to the Catholic Church 2 years ago.  He was ordained a priest in the Catholic Church in December, 2006.

While he was in Ireland, or shortly after his return, the old Pontifications website went down and has never returned.  Some of the articles from the old site were salvaged and posted on the new Wordpress site.  The posts added to the new site over the past month include photos from Ireland and one remarkable post titled "Renewing the Renewed Liturgy", as well as his touching message of farewell.

It is not the first time he has spoken of ending his blogging.  He wrote about the possibility soon after his conversion to Catholicism.  Pontifications had been an Anglican blog, on an Anglican hosted site, during the time when he wrote through his struggles over the Episcopal Church's decision to approve Gene Robinson as bishop.  He blogged through the decision making over Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox theology.  Well before he announced his move, he was prompting blog comments like one I remember: "You have decided which girl you want to dance with, what is stopping you?" or something.  He wrote then that the blog would have to change or end, as his decision had been made and it no longer served its original purpose. 

Many readers encouraged him to continue, and he has done so for 2 more years (a total blogging time of May 2004 to May 2007 on the old site, according to Kendall Harmon.  [Updated July 2: Kendall Harmon's Titusonenine blog now reports that the main problem with the old Pontification site may have been fixed, although the servers are still somewhat unstable.  Pontifications (original site) was up for a few minutes today and then down again.  If the main problem is solved, I will restore the old link to the original Pontifications site to the blog list in the sidebar here.]

The more recent changes in the blog have been somewhat noticeable, including the loss of the old look of the once Anglican blog, the loss of the archives, and little posted over the past month since his return from Ireland.  The end of Pontifications is a significant loss, especially for those like me who remember it from its Anglican days and enjoyed it in its Catholic days as well.

I hope that many will keep Father Kimel in their prayers as he struggles with the pain described in his farewell post, and that we will hear more from him in the future.

Kendall Harmon has a post about Father Kimel's blog and his journey, with links to several other blogs that have posts about it, some with interesting comments.  Glory to God for All Things is among those other blogs with comments.

Pope Benedict XVI's Letter to the Church in China

Pope Benedict XVI's Letter to China was posted today on the Vatican website in Chinese, English, French and Italian, together with an explanatory note and a declaration.  The explanatory note and declaration provide short explanations of the Pope's reasons for writing and his basic message, possibly in recognition that reporters and others might appreciate the background information and a concise explanation of the Pope's intentions in writing.

At the conclusion of the letter, he proposed May 24, the memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, venerated in Shanghai, as a world day of prayer in union with the Church in China, asking that "the Catholics of the whole world – in particular those who are of Chinese origin – will demonstrate their fraternal solidarity and solicitude for you, asking the Lord of history for the gift of perseverance in witness, in the certainty that your sufferings past and present for the Holy Name of Jesus and your intrepid loyalty to his Vicar on earth will be rewarded, even if at times everything can seem a failure."

The Accompanying Declaration

Here is the Declaration in its entirety, with today's date:

"By means of his Letter, which is made public today, Pope Benedict XVI wishes to express his love for the Catholic community in China and his closeness to it.  

"From the text of the Papal document two basic attitudes are clear: on the one hand, deep spiritual affection for all Catholics in China and cordial esteem for the Chinese people, and, on the other, an earnest appeal to the perennial principles of the Catholic tradition and the Second Vatican Council in the ecclesiological sphere. It is, therefore, a pressing invitation to charity, unity and truth.

 "The Letter is directed to the Church in China and deals with eminently religious questions, responding to precise queries which have been addressed for some time to the Holy See by Chinese Bishops and priests. It is not, therefore, a political document, nor, much less, an indictment of the government authorities, although it does not ignore the well-known difficulties which the Church in China must daily tackle.

  "The Holy Father recalls the "original plan" which Christ had for his Church and which he entrusted to the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops. In this light, he takes into consideration various problems of the Church in China which emerged during the past fifty years. From this "plan" he also draws inspiration and formulates guidelines to tackle and resolve, in a spirit of communion and truth, the said problems.

"In the Letter, Benedict XVI declares himself fully available and open to a serene and constructive dialogue with the civic authorities in order to find a solution to the various problems concerning the Catholic community, and to reach the desired normalization of relations between the Holy See and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, in the certainty that Catholics, by freely professing their faith and by giving generous witness of life, contribute also, as good citizens, to the good of the Chinese people."

The Explanatory Note

The Explanatory Note accompanying the Pope's letter is dated May 27.  It explains that the two basic thoughts of the letter are the Pope's passion for charity and his passion for truth.  It then sets the letter in the context of the history of the last 50 years of the Church in China, offers a short explanation of what prompted the Pope to write this letter, and then offers summaries of the letter and its tone that are more extensive than the short declaration given above.  Recognizing that the Pope's letter would attract media attention, the Vatican clearly made its best effort to avoid the risk that a mistranslation or erroneous headline might prompt an international incident in any way comparable to the misunderstanding of his lecture in Regensburg last year.  While Benedict XVI's letter addresses Chinese bishops, priests, religious and the faithful with an understanding of the history and complexity of their situation, the Vatican thus also made extensive efforts to make the letter understandable to those who would not otherwise understand its context or theological and practical implications.

The context includes persecutions dating back to the 1950's and government bodies that have attempted to authorize ordinations without papal consent.  In the 1980's, China saw a new growth of religious freedom, new churches were built, and the faith spread.   However, differences arose, ranging from clandestine ordinations of those who wanted to resist government control of the Church, to efforts by those ordained under state authority to subsequently seek to be accepted into  the communion of the Church.  Many of the latter were accepted in view of the complexity of the situation.  Since the 1990's, Chinese Catholics have sought precise instructions from the Vatican in how to address their situation and their conflicts.  Pope Benedict called a meeting held January 19-20, 2007, including the participation of some Chinese participants.  At the conclusion of the meeting, he decided to prepare a letter addressing the situation. 

The explanation and declaration clarify that the intent of the letter is pastoral and not political.  It sets out principles of Catholic ecclesiology and offers guidelines for the life of the Church in the context of the difficulties it faces in China.  The role of a bishop derives from that understanding of the nature of the Church.   The Pope's letter expresses hope for a dialogue leading to the eventual normalization of relations between the Chinese government and the Church, with progress toward agreement on the selection of Chinese bishops.

The letter revokes all earlier directives to the Church in China.  Changes in the situation there make it possible for the Chinese to follow the general canonical norms, seeking Vatican guidance when necessary.

The Letter

The letter itself is more than 11,000 words with 56 footnotes and a table of contents at the end.  Part One discusses the factual situation facing the Chinese Catholics and the theological principles governing their situation.  Part Two discusses specific pastoral problems, offering guidelines as to each of them.  It is dated on the Solemnity of Pentecost, May 27, 2007.

Pope Benedict went to considerable effort to emphasize his admiration for Chinese culture and to identify Chinese values that are consistent with the values of Christianity.  Although not expressly mentioned in the letter, the extent of the discussion reflects the basic principle of Christian thinking that respects the cultural contexts in which Christianity exists.  Pope Benedict has mentioned that in his previous theological writings, drawing from the efforts of the first and second century evangelists to present Christianity in the context of Roman culture, and the efforts of Pope/Saint Gregory the Great in the sixth century to present Christianity in England in the context of English culture (See the essay "Truth - Tolerance - Freedom" in Truth and Tolerance). 

[Note added July 7: Pope Benedict XVI has also written that the culture transmitted by the Church enriches those cultures.  In the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum,"  Pope Benedict mentioned St. Gregory the Great as one of those popes "who made every effort to ensure that the new peoples of Europe received both the Catholic faith and the treasures of worship and culture that had been accumulated by the Romans in preceding centuries. He commanded that the form of the sacred liturgy as celebrated in Rome (concerning both the Sacrifice of Mass and the Divine Office) be conserved. He took great concern to ensure the dissemination of monks and nuns who, following the Rule of St. Benedict, together with the announcement of the Gospel illustrated with their lives the wise provision of their Rule that 'nothing should be placed before the work of God.' In this way the sacred liturgy, celebrated according to the Roman use, enriched not only the faith and piety but also the culture of many peoples."]

Quoting John Paul II's message from 2001, he expressed hope for overcoming misunderstandings by a dialogue leading to "concrete forms of communication and cooperation" between the Vatican and the People's Republic of China, the normalization of diplomatic relations with time and mutual good will.

He quoted his Encyclical of last year in discussing the role of the Catholic Church in connection with the various States in which it exists:

Likewise, therefore, the Catholic Church which is in China does not have a mission to change the structure or administration of the State; rather, her mission is to proclaim Christ to men and women, as the Saviour of the world, basing herself – in carrying out her proper apostolate – on the power of God. As I recalled in my Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, ‘‘The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply''.

In a discussion of the communion of particular churches and the universal Church, the following is a portion of the Pope's explanation of Catholic ecclesiology and the role of a bishop within the Catholic Church as mentioned briefly in the Declaration quoted above:

As you know, the profound unity which binds together the particular Churches found in China, and which likewise places them in intimate communion with all the other particular Churches throughout the world, has its roots not only in the same faith and in a common Baptism, but above all in the Eucharist and in the episcopate. Likewise, the unity of the episcopate, of which ‘‘the Roman Pontiff, as the Successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation'', continues down the centuries through the apostolic succession and is the foundation of the identity of the Church in every age with the Church built by Christ on Peter and on the other Apostles.

Catholic doctrine teaches that the Bishop is the visible source and foundation of unity in the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral ministry. But in every particular Church, in order that she may be fully Church, there must be present the supreme authority of the Church, that is to say, the episcopal College together with its Head, the Roman Pontiff, and never apart from him. Therefore the ministry of the Successor of Peter belongs to the essence of every particular Church ‘‘from within''.  Moreover, the communion of all the particular Churches in the one Catholic Church, and hence the ordered hierarchical communion of all the Bishops, successors of the Apostles, with the Successor of Peter, are a guarantee of the unity of the faith and life of all Catholics. It is therefore indispensable, for the unity of the Church in individual nations, that every Bishop should be in communion with the other Bishops, and that all should be in visible and concrete communion with the Pope. . . .

Communion is the fruit and demonstration of that love which springs from the heart of the Eternal Father and is poured out upon us through the Spirit whom Jesus gives us (cf. Rom 5:5), to make us all ‘one heart and one soul' (Acts 4:32). It is in building this communion of love that the Church appears as ‘sacrament', as the ‘sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the human race.'

The sources cited, in footnotes, in support of those principles included the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, sections 23 and 26, and a Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of the Church understood as Communion by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during the time when Benedict XVI was its head, Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), sections 11-14. 

He also quoted, in a footnote, his recent Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis (22 February 2007), 6: ‘‘The Church's faith is essentially a eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary aspects of ecclesial life. Awakened by the preaching of God's word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: ‘faith is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and strengthens faith.' For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar is always at the heart of the Church's life: ‘thanks to the Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!' The more lively the eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord's eucharistic presence among his people''.

Before the synod on the Eucharist, the published sources for the thinking of Benedict XVI on the issues of ecclesiology and communion, and still helpful in addition to the apostolic exhortation, included Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today and Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as Communion.

From that understanding of the nature of the Church, the Holy Father appealed for pardon and reconciliation within the Church in China, quoting his predecessor Pope John Paul II.  He then called for the Church in China to live in truth and charity with the State, drawing from Scripture and the Vatican II documents concerning the proper role of Church and State and their interaction with each other.  Speaking of Jesus, he said "His Kingdom does not establish its claims by force, but is established by bearing witness to and listening to the truth and it grows by the love with which Christ, lifted up on the Cross, draws people to himself (cf. Jn 12:32)'." (drawing from Vatican II's Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis Humanae, section 11, and from his own  General Audience  of Wednesday 5 April 2006). 

Therefore, he concluded that an individual bishop and a legitimate national council of bishops may lead the Church under their apostolic authority, and also stated that independence, self-management and democratic administration of the Church is incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

Addressing the Chinese Episcopate, the Pope began by drawing a distinction between the role of the ordained clergy and the role of the lay faithful:

In the Church – the People of God – only the sacred ministers, duly ordained after sufficient instruction and formation, may exercise the office of ‘‘teaching, sanctifying and governing''. The lay faithful may, with a canonical mission from the Bishop, perform an ancillary ecclesial ministry of handing on the faith.

On that basis, he considered the difficulty arising when State agencies made up of persons who are not ordained, and sometimes not baptized, undertake to govern the Church and to appoint bishops.  Where clandestine ordinations have taken place in China, the Holy Father noted that this is not a normal condition, but rather one that exists amid suffering.  He expressed a hope that those validly ordained clergy who were ordained in secret will be recognized by the civil authorities.  Similarly, some bishops selected by the State and later legitimized by the Church have not always openly acknowledged their legitimization, leading to confusion among the faithful.  The Holy Father stated that it is indispensable that such clergy bring their legitimization into the open with increasing signs of their full communion with the See of St. Peter.

Conversely, any bishops appointed by the State who have not been legitimized by the Holy See are to be considered illegitimate although validly ordained.  The Bishops Conference of an individual nation is made up of the legitimate bishops, which cannot be subject to any civil authority in matters of faith.

The Pope thus made the following statement about the nature of the present College of Catholic Bishops of China:

In the light of the principles expounded above, the present College of Catholic Bishops of China cannot be recognized as an Episcopal Conference by the Apostolic See: the "clandestine'' Bishops, those not recognized by the Government but in communion with the Pope, are not part of it; it includes Bishops who are still illegitimate, and it is governed by statutes that contain elements incompatible with Catholic doctrine.

In Part II of the letter, he considered questions related to the celebration and concelebration of the Eucharist, the remaining restrictions on religious freedom that remain despite more openness in recent years, formation of the clergy, the "new evangelization", the need for careful discernment and religious formation for aspirants to the priesthood and religious life (including "a more solid formation with regard to the human, spiritual, philosophical-theological and pastoral aspects, to be carried out in seminaries and religious institutes"), the needs of the family, the need for a serious period of catechumenate for Christian initiation of adults, and the missionary nature of the Church always and everywhere.

In conclusion, the Holy Father announced May 24 as a day for prayer for the Church in China, as the memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians, who is venerated at a Marian shrine in Shanghai.

The mystery of an obscure history

The word of God helps us, once again, to discover the mysterious and profound meaning of the Church's path in the world. In fact ‘‘the subject of one of the most important visions of the Book of Revelation is [the] Lamb in the act of opening a scroll, previously closed with seven seals that no one had been able to break open. John is even shown in tears, for he finds no one worthy of opening the scroll or reading it (cf. Rev 5:4). History remains indecipherable, incomprehensible. No one can read it. Perhaps John's weeping before the mystery of a history so obscure expresses the Asian Churches' dismay at God's silence in the face of the persecutions to which they were exposed at the time. It is a dismay that can clearly mirror our consternation in the face of the serious difficulties, misunderstandings and hostility that the Church also suffers today in various parts of the world. These are trials that the Church does not of course deserve, just as Jesus himself did not deserve his torture. However, they reveal both the wickedness of man, when he abandons himself to the promptings of evil, and also the superior ordering of events on God's part''.

- Pope Benedict XVI, To the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People's Republic of China, May 27, 2007 (released today).

The Pope's Homilies for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul

The Vatican has official translations of the Holy Father's homilies from First Vespers of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul and from today's Mass.  Teresa Benedetta also has translated the Holy Father's homilies from both yesterday's Vespers service and today's Mass for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.  The Asia News article about the Mass covers the homily as well as the imposition of the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops.

Full translations of the Pope's words before the midday Angelus are available from the Vatican and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum. 

In his homily at the First Vespers of the Solemnity, given at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, he spoke most particularly about St. Paul.  St. Paul's success, he said, was not due to great oratorical or apologetical skills, but rather to his personal involvement and dedication to the Gospel without fear of persecution.

He also spoke of the unity between St. Peter and St. Paul, although they were different from each other and their relationship was not without tension.  He mentioned the visiting delegation from the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, which is reciprocating the Pope's visit to Istanbul on the feast of St. Andrew.  He stated that "these meetings and initiatives are not simply an exchange of courtesies between the Churches, but express our common commitment to do everything possible to hasten the time towards full communion between Christians of the East and the West." 

In announcing the Pauline Year from June 2008 to June 2009, he drew particular attention to St. Paul's commitment to the unity of all Christians, asking "May he guide and protect us in this bimillennial celebration, helping us to progress in our humble and sincere quest for full unity of all the members of the Mystical Body of Christ."

In his homily at today's Mass, given at St. Peter's Basilica, he again appealed for Church unity, speaking of the parallels between Peter and Paul, although Peter had a distinctive mission as the "rock" on which Jesus would build His Church.  The Pope spoke of Peter's confession of Jesus as tied up with his mission to the flock.  It occurred as Jesus turned toward Jerusalem and invited his disciples to become a community of believers, the Church.  The Holy father said:

"We want Peter's answer to be ours. According to the Gospel of Mark, he said, 'You are the Christ' (8,29); in Luke, the statement is 'The Christ of God' (9,20); in Matthew, 'You are the Christ, Son of the living God' (16,16); finally, in John, 'You are the Holy One from God' (6.69). They are all valid responses, even for us."

The titles Peter gave to Jesus anticipated the Cross, which is difficult even for the believer to accept.  That Jesus was "not just a man sent by God, but God himself who had become man" was beyond the disciples' capacity to understand.  Their faith had to adapt progressively, as a pilgrimage, as does ours.  The Pope added: 

"And that has also been how it is with the faith of the Church in the course of history, as it is also with the faith we have, we Christians today. Resting firmly on the 'rock' of Peter, it is a pilgrimage towards that truth which the Fisherman from Galilee professed with passionate conviction: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God' (Mt 16,16)."

Online Broadcasts of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul at St. Peter's Basilica

At a special vespers service today, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the year from June 2008 to June 2009 to be the year of St. Paul, in honor of the 2000th year since his birth.  (Ordinarily, I would have posted information on TV and radio coverage.  I have been busier than usual at work.)

Tomorrow (Friday) is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.  There will be a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, and the Holy Father will bestow the pallium on 51 metropolitan archbishops.  A list of their names is posted in an article from Catholic World News.  There is only one American among the new archbishops, who are from throughout the world.

EWTN will broadcast the Mass live at 3:30 a.m., with rebroadcasts Friday at noon and midnight Eastern Time.  The live broadcast is at 12:30 a.m. Pacific Time, with rebroadcasts at 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.  The broadcast will last 2 hours.  If you do not have EWTN in your cable TV service, you can watch online with either English or Spanish commentary.

If those times will not fit your schedule and you want to watch the Mass, try watching the video on KTO French Catholic TV from the Diocese of Paris.  First, click on the green box "Regarder la Video."  Then, to get a full screen on Real Player, you can click on "Si aucune video ne s'affiche, cliquez ici." 

As far as I have been able to determine, EWTN does not keep the special broadcasts available for later viewing, but KTO broadcasts live online and then usually makes the videos available within a day after the live broadcast.  Some may only be available for 2 weeks, but you can find others in the archives there long after the live broadcast.  Even if you do not understand the French commentary, it can be well worth the effort to actually see the Mass and hear the music.

Other options include Vatican Radio (live online with choices for Italian, English, German, French or Spanish commentary)  and Vatican Television.

Motu Proprio on Tridentine Mass Released to Bishops

From Vatican Information Service today, the Motu Proprio on the Tridentine Mass was released yesterday to a group of bishops during a meeting with the Pope and Vatican Secretary of State:

VATICAN CITY, JUN 28, 2007 (VIS) - Given below is the text of a communique released today by the Holy See Press Office concerning Benedict XVI's forthcoming "Motu Proprio" on the use of the Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962.

  "Yesterday afternoon in the Vatican, a meeting was held under the presidency of the Cardinal Secretary of State in which the content and spirit of the Holy Father's forthcoming 'Motu Proprio' on the use of the Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962 was explained to representatives from various episcopal conferences. The Holy Father also arrived to greet those present, spending nearly an hour in deep conversation with them.

  "The publication of the document - which will be accompanied by an extensive personal letter from the Holy Father to individual bishops - is expected within a few days, once the document itself has been sent to all the bishops with an indication of when it will come into effect."

Any number of blogs will link to the news articles and provide more information.  Among those providing good links and staying on top of this story are The Cafeteria Is Closed and Rorate Caeli.  An article from Catholic World News specifies July 7 as the date set for release to the public. 

Thou art come within the Church's nets: be taken alive, flee not.

"Already there is an odour of blessedness upon you, O ye who are soon to be enlightened: already ye are gathering the spiritual flowers, to weave heavenly crowns:  already the fragrance of the Holy Spirit has breathed upon you:  already ye have gathered round the vestibule of the King’s palace; may ye be led in also by the King! . . .

"If any one is conscious of his wound, let him take the salve; if any has fallen, let him arise.  Let there be no Simon among you, no hypocrisy, no idle curiosity about the matter.

"Possibly too thou art come on another pretext.  It is possible that a man is wishing to pay court to a woman, and came hither on that account.  The remark applies in like manner to women also in their turn.  A slave also perhaps wishes to please his master, and a friend his friend.  I accept this bait for the hook, and welcome thee, though thou camest with an evil purpose, yet as one to be saved by a good hope.  Perhaps thou knewest not whither thou wert coming, nor in what kind of net thou art taken.  Thou art come within the Church’s nets: be taken alive, flee not:  for Jesus is angling for thee, not in order to kill, but by killing to make alive:  for thou must die and rise again.  For thou hast heard the Apostle say, Dead indeed unto sin, but living unto righteousness.  Die to thy sins, and live to righteousness, live from this very day."

- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, from the Prologue to the Catechetical Lectures. (Part of this was quoted by Pope Benedict in his teaching about St. Cyril of Jerusalem during today's weekly audience.)

 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: A Christianity that Involves Our Entire Existence

In today's general audience, Pope Benedict XVI continued his series on the great teachers of the Early Church, this time speaking about St. Cyril of Jerusalem.  An article is available from Asia News. Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem lived during the Arian heresy of the fourth century.  He is best known for writing catechetical instructions, based in the "symphonic" harmony of the Old and New Testaments, covering the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, baptism, the Eucharist, and the Trinity.  The Arian heresy denied the divinity of Christ.  The Pope spoke about the need for "integral catechesis" today in response to the temptation to deny Christ's divinity.  St. Cyril's catechesis, he said, was not merely intellectual but involved “learning a Christianity that really involves our entire existence,” "body, soul and spirit."

Writings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, including catechetical lectures, are online from Christian Classics Ethereal Library,

Sts. Elijah, John the Baptist and the Early Hermits: Going Back Too Far

This past Sunday, the memorial of the birth of St. John the Baptist, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his words at the midday Angelus to catechesis on the life of that saint. 

Later that day, I had a post based upon Abbot John Chapman's mention that Dionysius Exiguus and St. Benedict of Nursia believed that St. John the Baptist had been the founder of monasticism, and his disciples had been the first monks.  The Benedictine Abbot Chapman then stated in a footnote that Dionysius had ignored the "Carmelite view" that St. John the Baptist had been a friar and the first General of the Carmelite order.  He does not identify his source for the latter view, one of the stories of Mt. Carmel  that is not supported by historical research and not accepted by historians (Carmelite or otherwise).

Yesterday, I added a quotation from the Conferences of John Cassian, an earlier source than St. Benedict and Dionysius Exiguus, in which Cassian relates that the fourth century hermits St. Paul and St. Anthony (i.e., Paul the Hermit and Anthony of Egypt) imitated Sts. Elijah and John the Baptist.  The fourth century saints were the first anchorites, according to John Cassian.  Cassian spoke of Elijah and John the Baptist as greatly influential in the thinking of the desert hermits, but not as their founder.  Cassian's writings were an important source of the thinking of St. Teresa of Avila and other great Carmelite saints about the early hermits.

In that quotation, Cassian mentioned that John the Baptist had spent all his life in the desert, withdrawing into the desert like Elijah and Elisha, and he offered Scripture quotations about spiritual warfare and the lives of others who lived solitary lives in the wilderness.

Tonight, here is one more source, St. Jerome's fourth century writing on the life of St. Paul the Hermit.  St. Jerome is another important influence in the thinking of St. Teresa of Avila, discussed in this earlier post.

St. Jerome mentioned the thinking of people of his own day who attributed to Elijah and John the Baptist the origin of the hermit life.  They are "going back too far,"  wrote St. Jerome.  Instead, he credited St. Paul the Hermit or St. Anthony of Egypt as being the true originator of  the hermit life.  St. Jerome both affirms that the belief already existed in the fourth century that the hermit life could be traced back to Elijah and John the Baptist, and also that the stories crediting them as founders were then already considered legends.

The Life of the same St. Anthony, written by St. Athanasius, was mentioned by Pope Benedict last week during his weekly audience discussion of the life of St. Athanasius. 

Here is the first paragraph of St. Jerome's life of St. Paul the Hermit:

"It has been a subject of wide-spread and frequent discussion what monk was the first to give a signal example of the hermit life. For some going back too far have found a beginning in those holy men Elias and John, of whom the former seems to have been more than a monk and the latter to have begun to prophesy before his birth.

"Others, and their opinion is that commonly received, maintain that Antony was the originator of this mode of life, which view is partly true. Partly I say, for the fact is not so much that he preceded the rest as that they all derived from him the necessary stimulus. But it is asserted even at the present day by Amathas and Macarius, two of Antony's disciples, the former of whom laid his master in the grave, that a certain Paul of Thebes was the leader in the movement, though not the first to bear the name, and this opinion has my approval also.

"Some as they think fit circulate stories such as this--that he was a man living in an underground cave with flowing hair down to his feet, and invent many incredible tales which it would be useless to detail. Nor does the opinion of men who lie without any sense of shame seem worthy of refutation. So then inasmuch as both Greek and Roman writers have handed down careful accounts of Antony, I have determined to write a short history of Paul's early and latter days, more because the thing has been passed over than from confidence in my own ability. What his middle life was like, and what snares of Satan he experienced, no man, it is thought, has yet discovered."

John Cassian on Sts. Paul (the Hermit) and Anthony as Imitating St. John the Baptist and Elijah

"Out of this number of the perfect, and, if I may use the expression, this most fruitful root of saints, were produced afterwards the flowers and fruits of the anchorites as well. And of this order we have heard that the originators were those whom we mentioned just now; viz., St. Paul [the Hermit] and Anthony, men who frequented the recesses of the desert, not as some from faintheartedness, and the evil of impatience, but from a desire for loftier heights of perfection and divine contemplation, although the former of them is said to have found his way to the desert by reason of necessity, while during the time of persecution he was avoiding the plots of his neighbours.

So then there sprang from that system of which we have spoken another sort of perfection, whose followers are rightly termed anchorites; i.e., withdrawers, because, being by no means satisfied with that victory whereby they had trodden under foot the hidden snares of the devil, while still living among men, they were eager to fight with the devils in open conflict, and a straightforward battle, and so feared not to penetrate the vast recesses of the desert, imitating, to wit, John the Baptist, who passed all his life in the desert, and Elijah and Elisha and those of whom the Apostle speaks as follows [Heb. 11:37-38]:

"They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth."

Of whom too the Lord speaks figuratively to Job [Job 39:5-8]:

"But who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his bands? To whom I have given the wilderness for an house, and a barren land for his dwelling. He scorneth the multitude of the city and heareth not the cry of the driver; he looketh round about the mountains of his pasture, and seeketh for every green thing."

In the Psalms also [Ps. 106/107:2, 4-6]:

"Let now the redeemed of the Lord say, those whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;"

and after a little:

"They wandered in a wilderness in a place without water: they found not the way of a city of habitation. They were hungry and thirsty: their soul fainted in them. And they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He delivered them out of their distress;"

whom Jeremiah too describes as follows [Lam. 3:27-28]:

"Blessed is the man that hath borne the yoke from his youth. He shall sit solitary and hold his peace because he hath taken it up upon himself,"

and there sing in heart and deed these words of the Psalmist [Ps. 101/102:7-8]:

'I am become like a pelican in the wilderness. I watched and am become like a sparrow alone upon the house-top.'"

- John Cassian, Conferences, Chapter VI.

From the notes on that chapter at Christian Classics Ethereal Library:

"Paul was from very early days celebrated as the first of the anchorites. Indeed, S. Jerome, who wrote his life (Works, Vol. ii. p. 13 ed. Migne) calls him "auctor vitæ monasticæ" (Ep. xxii. ad Eustochium). He is said to have fled to the Thebaid from the terrors of the Decian persecution, and to have died there in extreme old age. Antony has already been several times mentioned by Cassian. See the Institutes V. iv.; Conference II.   ii.; III. iv., etc."

Videos of Pope Benedict's Brazil Trip

A collection of videos from the Pope's time in Brazil, with 1 video about the transition from John Paul II to Benedict XVI can be found on the Official Website for that visit.

St. John the Baptist and Mount Carmel

In the "Carmelites: History" category of this blog, there are a few posts done last year on the stories of Mt. Carmel, with a look to how much truth may be found in a few of the old stories about the history of the order.  The Carmelites trace their history back to European hermits living on Mt. Carmel during the Crusades, but we do not know the name of a founder of their order, nor can we identify a specific date when they began to settle there.  St. Albert of Jerusalem, the bishop who gave them a rule, is the one name best known from that era.  However, he was not a Carmelite. 

Hermits had lived on Mt. Carmel as far back as anyone could know, and the hermits of St. Albert's day lived near the well of St. Elijah, seeking to pattern their lives on the life of Jesus and on the lives of the hermits of the Early Church who were known from the writings of St. Jerome and John Cassian, among others. 

In the absence of a biography and specific founder's name, stories sprang up attributing their founding to Elijah, Mary, and also to St. John the Baptist, among others.  Thus, Abbot John Chapman makes an amusing reference to the Carmelite connection to St. John the Baptist in a footnote in his scholarly biography Saint Benedict and the Sixth Century.  In his text, the abbot is describing St. Benedict's familiarity with the work of Dionysius Exiguus, whose work was known and quoted by St. Benedict:

"I think St. Benedict knew also Dionysius's translation of the Invention of the Head of st. John the Baptist, for his two churches at Montecassino were dedicated to St. John and St. Martin, the latter the most celebrated Father of monks in the West, the former the patron (one would think) of solitaries rather than of cenobites.  But the preface of Abbot Dionysius, addressed to another Abbot, Gaudentius, seems to explain why St. Benedict regarded the Baptist as the Patron of monks.  It was a divinely ordered coincidence, says the Abbot, that monks should have discovered the head of the saint, and that an exiguous monk should publish the story for Roman ears: [Latin text omitted] . . . Here St. John the Baptist is definitely the founder of monasticism, his disciples being the first monks."

In footnote, Abbot John Chapman comments:

"Dionysius therefore ignores the Carmelite view that St. John was not a monk but a friar: that the Carmelites founded by St. Elias were (like Benedictines) separate communities without a common head, in the days of the schools of the Prophets and of Pythagoras (the author of the multiplication table) and of other celebrated friars, but that the Baptist united them and became the first General of the order."

Abbot John Chapman's biography of St. Benedict was first published in 1929.  Today's Carmelite historians would not draw from those legends in writing the order's history.  Compare the summary here of the presentation made about a week ago by Fr. Patrick McMahon, O.Carm., on the order's early history.  Nor is much mention of that story made in the writings of Carmelite saints (none that I know of, anyway).  The attribution to St. John the Baptist of a role as the order's founder is one of the stories of Mt. Carmel, a legend from the order's heritage. 

Yet, in the sixth century, according to Abbot John Chapman, Dionysius Exiguus and St. Benedict of Nursia considered St. John the Baptist to be the father of monasticism.  Certainly, St. John the Baptist and his life as a hermit, as described in Scripture, became an example for the early Christian monks and hermits and for the early European Carmelites.

St. Teresa of Avila mentions St. John the Baptist -- but not as the order's founder -- in her Meditations on the Song of Songs (translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD):

"What can do you great harm is praise -- for once it starts it never ends -- if you are not careful, so as to humble yourselves more afterward. . . . You should never let a word of praise pass without it moving you to wage war interiorly, for this is easily done if you acquire the habit. . . . Look at the esteem [the world] had for St. John the Baptizer, for they wanted to take him for the Messiah, and how and why they beheaded him."

Image: A panel depicting St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, once part of an altarpiece by Mariotto di Nardo, made in 1408.  Museum information.  (Photo by me.)

St. John the Baptist: An Authentic Prophet

Today is the memorial of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  The Holy Father devoted his discussion to the saint at the midday Angelus.  As usual, Asia News has an article.  Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum. 

The Pope spoke of John the Baptist as the "first witness" of Jesus, having received a sign.  When he baptized Jesus, he said, "He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost" (Jn 1,33).  The Pope mentioned that his book Jesus of Nazareth begins with the importance of John's baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River, and he called the saint "an authentic prophet" who "testified to the truth without compromises." (quotes from Teresa Benedetta's translation).

Image: A panel of St. John the Baptist by Luca di Tommè, once part of an altarpiece from the late 1300's.  Museum information.

Catching Up

I have a lot going on at work right now, so I have not had much time for the blog the past few days.  It might be a bit slow for the coming week too.

I have replaced the photos in the 2007 Congress posts with more color corrected photos.  These were the first photos I took with a new camera phone, and I didn't realize until afterward that I have all kinds of adjustments to make for the type of lighting, color correction and so forth in the digital camera part of the phone.  It is all very sophisticated, so it should produce better photos once I am familiar with it.  Meanwhile, I have somewhat color adjusted the photos from the Congress, which were all quite orange to begin with.  They still are not ideal, but I am happy to have photos to post at all.

St. Athanasius: God Is Accessible

In today's general audience, Pope Benedict XVI turned his attention to St. Athanasius of Alexandria, calling him "one of the most important and venerated Fathers of the Early Church."  An article about the audience is available from Asia News.  Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

In his catechesis, the Holy Father said that St. Athanasius became bishop of Alexandria in 328, at a time when the Arian heresy threatened the Church.  During that time, St. Athanasius was in exile for 17 years, meeting St. Anthony of the Desert during an exile spent with the desert monks.  His book On the Incarnation, was a best seller, defending the divinity of Christ.  His book On the Life of St. Anthony influenced the development of monasticism.

Here is a quote from Zenit's translation:

"The most famous work of the Alexandrian bishop is the treatise on the "Incarnation of the Word, " the divine 'Logos' made flesh, like us, for our salvation.

"In this work, Athanasius says, in a phrase that has become well known, that the Word of God "became man so that we might become God. He manifested himself by means of a body in order that we might perceive the unseen Father. He endured shame from men that we might inherit immortality" (54:3).

"In fact, with his resurrection, the Lord made death disappear like 'straw in the fire' (8:4). The fundamental idea of the entire theological battle of St. Athanasius was that God is accessible. He is not a secondary God, he is true God, and through our communion with Christ we can truly unite ourselves to God. He truly became 'God with us.'"

English translations of the writings of St. Athanasius are available online from Christian Classics Ethereal Library.  A biographical post is available on this blog about St. Athanasius.

From the 2007 OCDS Congress: Western U.S. Carmelites Today

This is the third in a series of 3 posts on the California-Arizona Province OCDS Congress which ran from Friday, June 15 through Monday, June 18 in Seattle.  The first two posts are The 2007 OCDS Congress in Seattle and From the 2007 OCDS Congress: Our Carmelite History (just below this post).  As a reminder, the summaries were made primarily from my handwritten notes, and they could contain errors.

The photo in the top left corner shows an icon in progress, being written by one of the Discalced Carmelite friars at Mt. Angel seminary in Oregon.  During the Congress, one of the other friars gave a reading of the icon.  The icon shows the spring on Mt. Carmel, with St. Albert of Jerusalem on the right side of the spring of living water, handing the rule to the Carmelite saints on the left.  The figure of St. Teresa of Avila can be seen at the far left at the bottom.  At the top of Mt. Carmel are St. Paul and (I think) Elijah.  The mountain looks like the knuckles of a hand, like a priest's hand holding up a host, reflecting the Eucharistic aspect of Carmelite mission. 

Sister Sean Hennessy, OCD: Carmel Through the Lens of a Kaleidoscope

Sister Sean of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is a Discalced Carmelite nun from St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery in Seattle, where she has lived since 1996.  She was born and raised in California.  The archbishop of Seattle granted permission for her to leave the monastery on Saturday to address the OCDS Congress.  Here are my notes from her address:

The Rule of St. Albert is designed to teach us to interiorize the elemental realities of life in such a way that they become the mystical grace in which God can give us God.

For a particle in a kaleidoscope, as it turns, its position changes, and space is different.  Similarly, the inner dynamic of daily reading the Rule provides a continuous turning or twisting in the life of a Carmelite nun.  It is an invitation -- not a given -- to move from the obvious of daily living into the reality of mystical space.  Each reading becomes a place of meeting with our Beloved.  God is ready to give us God.  There is a rhythm throughout the day, the month, the year, a lifetime.

Each person has a kaleidoscope, sometimes turning with the group, and sometimes not.  It is unique to each sister, a process of self-awareness, of moving to ever deeper levels of truth, humility and commitment.  It is a process of a lifetime.  Once you know it is true, you cannot not know it.

Sister Sean received a standing ovation at the conclusion of her address, which was delivered in a very gracious and gentle manner.  Before her presentation, she was seen walking through the hotel with others from the Congress, with a beautiful smile and a captivating grace to her presence.  Everyone was greatly appreciative of her willingness to make her presentation, and also appreciative that the bishop had allowed her to leave the monastery for that purpose.

Father Aloysius Deeney, OCD -- Keynote Speaker: Responsible Leadership and Collaboration in Light of the Constitutions

The keynote speaker was Father Aloysius Deeney, OCD (photo at left), who gave his address on Sunday morning.  Since 1997, he has been the Delegate of the General to the Secular Order, working for the Discalced Carmelite Father General in Rome.  He travels to visit Secular Carmelite groups throughout the world.  Father Deeney has articles posted on his own blog at ocds4ocds.  Here is a summary of his address:

We need to come together to learn how to be alone before God.  We need to understand why we come together.  That will clarify many things.

The Rule of St. Albert speaks of governance.  The first thing required in order to learn to be a hermit is not that you go to daily Mass or say the Hours, but rather that you have a prior chosen by common consent or by the more mature part of you, and that each of you promise obedience.  As members, you should make your lives a cooperation and collaboration with the one who is in charge.

Section 15 of the Rule of St. Albert says, On Sunday, and other days if necessary, you should discuss matters of your welfare, discuss the discipline of your lives, and correct things.  You are to meet on Sunday to discuss how your life is going.  It is not a hierarchical system.  The prior is elected.

The prior is to have his gate closest to the entrance so that he could handle the business of the community.  But the community is not to make decisions and others to abide by them; rather, the community is to meet to discuss what is being done well, and to establish how things are to be done.  The prior's role is more in dealing with the outside community.

The immediate authority of a community today is the council.  The council's primary responsibility is the formation and Christian and Carmelite maturing of the community.  They have inherited the role of the prior from the Rule.  The primary responsibility of the members is participation in the process of formation. 

We do not come to join an organization, but to grow in the spiritual life because we cannot do so alone.  There is a need for it because we cannot do it perfectly alone.  It is not joining a club, but rather it demands our participation so that the organization will produce fruit in our spiritual lives.

To participate in it, there are requirements.  It is necessary to have someone who is responsible, and to cooperate with that person, but decisions are made by the community's discernment.  This is seen in sections 46 and 47 of the Constitutions, and most important is section 46.  The divine obligation is formation and Christian and Carmelite maturing.  The spiritual purpose of becoming Carmelites is to grow in the spiritual life.  That is the only purpose that makes sense. 

St. John of the Cross says some things to directors and some to directees that can be applied to leadership and membership in the community in the Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Book II, Chapter 22.  Look for Christ.  In the incarnation of the Word spoken by the Father, God has revealed everything.  In Article 9 of Chapter 22, he says that God is so content that direction be through other people and by natural reason, that He does not want them to put their trust in what we think or feel unless it has been confirmed by other men.

We come to Carmel moved by the desire for God, so we may have a spiritual obligation to listen to our spiritual director and to cooperate.  Humility is important to St. Teresa of Avila, together with detachment and charity.  The humble person does not dare deal with God independently, nor can he be completely satisfied without human counsel and direction.  We form community to know what God is asking of us.

No one has a vocation to be a leader.  Everyone has a vocation to be a member.  Certain members are called at times to lead.  But membership is the most important part of our spiritual life.  God will not bring clarification and confirmation of the truth to one who is alone.  The original hermits were not solitaries.  They were members who wanted to learn how to be alone.

St. John of the Cross, then, is very demanding in what is required of directors.  In the third stanza of The Living Flame of Love, St. John of the Cross speaks to spiritual directors.  The principle is that a person goes to the director and the community to grow in the spiritual life.  The spiritual director must remember that God alone is the agent.  The director must be very humble before God,  not seeking what he or she wants to do, but rather what God wants done.  Directors should be  content in disposing these people toward the perfection of emptiness of spirit.  If people are not going backward, they are going forward.

The greatest obligation of leadership is to respect the differences that exist among the members.  Leaders are called to a deeper humility, which is almost crucifying.  When a member is no longer a leader, he goes back to being a cooperator.  All have the vocation of being members.  The spiritual director does not have all of the answers for everyone who comes to them.  After we have done our best, we must trust God with the results.  A director cannot take the attitude of "I know, and you do not," or he may be trampling on the Holy Spirit. 

But we must cooperate with those who are leaders.  If one is called to be a member, one is called to give himself in a way.  You can live a Carmelite spirituality without the community.  But if you are in the community, you are there to give. 

Father Donald Kinney, OCD: Work through Prayer for Union with God -- The Carmelite Story and Our Story

Father Kinney spoke Sunday afternoon.  Since his ordination in 1988, most of his ministry has been in Formation.  After 7 years at the seminary at Mt. Angel, Oregon, he is now Master of Novices and Students in San Jose, California.  Here is a summary of his address:

We work through prayer by means of prayer for union with God.  Everything we do in life has meaning in prayer.  Prayer itself is often hard work.  We have to work through prayer for union with God.  If we do so, we will indeed be one with God in the end.

The Carmelite story is our story.  Where Our Lady and the saints have gone, we hope to follow.

With Mary and Martha in Scripture, Jesus told Martha that there was need of only one thing.  Prayer is our priority.  Each of us wants to identify with Mary, sitting at the Master's feet and wishing we could stay there forever.  What Martha did was also needed.  But, like Martha, we are often burdened with much serving.  It is when prayer and work interfere with each other that the balance is lost.

St. Teresa wrote about the balance of prayer and work.  She still praised work at the end of Interior Castle.  St. Thérèse  wrote a play called "Mary of Bethany," saying that work is necessary, but it must always be accomplished by a fervent prayer.  We should not separate our work and prayer, but rather we should turn work into prayer, as did the first Carmelite hermits.  Brother Lawrence wrote of turning work into prayer.  He wrote that we must perform all our actions carefully and deliberately, and stop for a moment to adore God in the depth of our heart.

St. Albert's emphasis on silence is perhaps more important for us today.  We cannot hear God if we are attached to the cell phone, television and internet.  All the flood of grace we receive through prayer are for the whole Church according to the Constitutions sections 25 and 26.

There will always be tension in our lives between prayer and work, with weeds growing among the wheat until the final harvest.  The Rule of St. Albert is the way God leads us to Himself.

Brother Thomas Reeves, OCD: The Schedule of the Carmelite House of Studies: Putting the Rule into Practice

Brother Thomas is a seminarian at Mount Angel, Oregon.  He made his solemn profession on January 1, 2006.  His presentation about life as a Carmelite seminarian was very funny.  I made a few notes on his more serious thoughts:

In the structure of the students' lives, two core principles are liturgy and fraternal charity.  Those principles are pertinent to all of us.  How we are in our relationships with others is an indication of where we are in our spiritual lives.   "I am sorry" are words we need to remember.  Also "I forgive you."  St. John of the Cross said, At the end of life, we will be judged in love.

Theresa Thomas, OCDS: The Distinctive Marks of the Secular Carmelite Apostolate Today: The Lord of Hosts Lives, Before Whom I Stand

Theresa Thomas was definitively professed in 1997.  She has been director of formation in her community and is now its president.  She served as coordinator for the OCDS provincial task force on formation, which developed our province's OCDS formation guidelines.  I was not able to hear her entire address on Monday morning because I needed part of the time to finish packing and checking out of the hotel.  Here are a few notes from what she said:

There are 6 "M"s in the Carmelite apostolate:

1. Meditation

2. Morning and evening prayer

3. Mass

4. Mary

5. Meetings

6. Mission

In Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, the Eucharist and the vocations of lay people are discussed, affirming the mission of the laity as vocation, which would extend to the vocation of Secular Carmelites (I think the reference was to Section 79).

Votive Mass: St. Joseph, Patron of our Province

We had Mass and morning and evening prayer during the Congress.  The Congress ended with a Votive Mass on late Monday morning.  One sentence from the homily:

"We are called to an order to order our lives."

From the 2007 OCDS Congress: Our Carmelite History

Two of our first presentations at the Congress, just completed, covered our history from the twelfth century hermits of Mount Carmel to the present day. 

Later the same day, we were privileged to hear a presentation from Sister Sean Hennessey, a Discalced Carmelite nun about Carmelite life.  On Sunday, we had more presentations with an excellent presentation of Carmelite life and mission in our present day.  I will get to those, hopefully, tomorrow. 

I did not take notes during homilies, so the summaries are by no means exhaustive.  As a result, the posts only summarize a part of what we learned.  Also, keep in mind that these summaries are taken from my handwritten notes and could possibly contain inadvertent errors.

Father Patrick McMahon, O. Carm.
"Albert's Dream: To Win the World for Christ":

Our first speaker, Fr. Patrick McMahon, is from the other branch of the Carmelites, the Carmelite Order (O. Carm.).  He is the Praeses (president) of the Institutum Carmelitanum, the International Institute of the Order in Rome.  He has a Ph.D. in history from New York University and wrote his dissertation on the fourteenth century Carmelites of Florence, Italy.

I was very interested in hearing his presentation about the early Carmelites who lived on Mt. Carmel in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  He gave us a very detailed presentation about that history with a power point presentation to go with it.  The topic of his presentation was “Albert’s Dream: To Win the World for Christ.”

In 1100, St. Anselm’s work “Cur Deus Homo” placed an emphasis on Jesus becoming a person.  That led to a fascination with the humanity of Christ that changed the way people viewed Jesus.  In 1182, St. Francis of Assisi was born.  Pope Innocent III, elected in 1198, revolutionized the Church, radical in vision.

The thirteenth century was an age of the common person.  The nobility was less important, and less wealthy, than before.  A new middle class in the thirteenth century had a deep faith, and they had a fascination with the historical person of Jesus. 

Lay hermits became a phenomenon of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  Groups of lay hermits in Europe sought their bishops’ blessing.  They looked back to the desert monks and desert traditions – ordinary lay people were reading John Cassian’s writings about the desert fathers of earlier centuries.  Those lay people wanted a simple life inspired by the Word of God, the Gospels.

People then came from Europe to the Holy Land, seeking to live as Jesus had lived. With the third Crusade, the west had consolidated its hold on Galilee and the area around Mt. Carmel.  At that time, there were already hermits living on Mt. Carmel, but Latin hermits then began to arrive from Europe who were from the rising middle class.  They spoke European vernacular languages, and not Arabic or other middle eastern languages.  They were a group of lay hermits trying to imitate the life of Christ.

There, by the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, they were living in an unsuccessful war zone, as the west was losing ground.  The Crusades were a failure. 

Albert, the patriarch of Jerusalem, living in Acre near Mt. Carmel, saw that.  He said that their struggle was not with flesh and blood (the Muslims), but rather with the evil one.  He counseled them to put on the armor of God.  What would win the world for Christ, he saw, would be the conversion of Christian people, and not military conquest.  Ephesians 6 became the basis for Chapters 18 and 19 of the Rule of St. Albert, followed by the European monks then living on Mt. Carmel.  St. Albert mentioned them living near the spring of Mt Carmel, following the example of Elijah, in a life of allegiance to Jesus Christ.  Albert died in 1215.  A year after his death, the Fourth Lateran Council said there could be no new religious rules.

Pat Thibodeaux, OCDS
From Medieval Reform into the New Millennium: The Development of the OCDS Identity:

Pat Thibodeax is a Secular Carmelite from the St. Elijah Community in Berkeley, California.

Pat spoke on the history of the order from medieval reform into the new millennium, and the development of the OCDS identity.  There has been a third order from at least the end of the thirteenth century, although there was no separate rule until 1455.  Often family and friends of the Carmelites were called “brothers of the order.” A rule for the secular order was written in 1452, attributed to Blessed John Soreth.  Pope Nichol V approved the third order, lay confraternities, and Carmelite nuns.  The rule was based on the Rule of St. Albert.  It stressed silence, solitude, prayer and good works.

At the beginning of the Teresian Carmel in the 16th century, there were first nuns, and friars six years later.  Pat described the developments from then until 1912, when a manual was published in Rome for a third secular order, which was approved, with adjustments, by Pope Benedict XV in 1921.

Vatican II brought changes in the role of the laity.  As a result, in 1979, the old name of “third order” was discontinued, and the lay Carmelites became known as “secular” Carmelites.  The rule for the secular Carmelites was re-evaluated, and a new constitution was approved in 2003.

Under the present constitution and statutes, Secular Carmelites are full members of the order with the same apostolic mission.  Prayer and mission go hand in hand.

2007 OCDS Congress in Seattle

I have spent the past few days attending the California-Arizona Province OCDS Congress in Seattle.  I am going to devote a few posts to summarizing the Congress and some of the wonderful addresses.  The topic of our meeting was “The Rule of St. Albert: Fount of Living Waters.”  We had presentations from very knowledgeable speakers, including two from Rome, about Carmelite history and the Carmelite role within the Church.

The posts will be divided up by (1) this discussion about how wonderful the week-end was, (2) a post on Saturday’s presentations on Carmelite history, and (3) a post on Sunday’s presentations on Secular Carmelite present day life and mission.  I will try to get the first two done tonight, with a couple of pictures.

In case someone is not familiar with “OCDS”, it stands for the Secular branch of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (the laity within the order).  The mission and role of OCDS within the Church was discussed in detail during our meetings, so I will leave to the summaries a further discussion of what that is.

Before getting to the substance of the presentation, it is important to say what an opportunity it was to get to know others from the San Diego OCDS group better as well as an opportunity to meet and talk to others from throughout the west and even from other parts of the country. 

There were rare opportunities to be remembered.  For example, I, and eight others attending the congress, shared breakfast together one morning with Father. Aloysius Deeney from Rome, a rare opportunity for a casual conversation with someone as globally respected as he is in the order.  A cloistered Discalced Carmelite nun received the bishop’s permission to leave the monastery on Sunday to give us a presentation on the life of a Carmelite, which was another exceptional opportunity.  A group of students preparing to become Carmelite friars attended the congress, and one of them gave a very humorous presentation about the life of a student preparing to become a Carmelite priest.

The photos here show a group of the friars at the end of our Mass this morning, an apostolic blessing that the Seattle OCDS group obtained for the congress (which unfortunately was damaged during shipping but is still beautiful).  I will have a couple more photos later.

We pray not for one, but for the whole people, because the whole people are one.

"Before all things, the Teacher of peace and the Master of unity would not have prayer to be made singly and individually, as for one who prays to pray for himself alone. For we say not 'My Father, which art in heaven,' nor 'Give me this day my daily bread;' nor does each one ask that only his own debt should be forgiven him; nor does he request for himself alone that he may not be led into temptation, and delivered from evil. Our prayer is public and common; and when we pray, we pray not for one, but for the whole people, because we the whole people are one. The God of peace and the Teacher of concord, who taught unity, willed that one should thus pray for all, even as He Himself bore us all in one. This law of prayer the three children observed when they were shut up in the fiery furnace, speaking together in prayer, and being of one heart in the agreement of the spirit; and this the faith of the sacred Scripture assures us, and in telling us how such as these prayed, gives an example which we ought to follow in our prayers, in order that we may be such as they were:  'Then these three,' it says, 'as if from one mouth sang an hymn, and blessed the Lord.' [Song of the Three Children 28] This law of prayer the three children observed when they were shut up in the fiery furnace, speaking together in prayer, and being of one heart in the agreement of the spirit; and this the faith of the sacred Scripture assures us, and in telling us how such as these prayed, gives an example which we ought to follow in our prayers, in order that we may be such as they were:  'Then these three,' it says, 'as if from one mouth sang an hymn, and blessed the Lord.' [Acts 1:14] They continued with one accord in prayer, declaring both by the urgency and by the agreement of their praying, that God, 'who maketh men to dwell of one mind in a house,' [Psalm 68:6] only admits into the divine and eternal home those among whom prayer is unanimous."

- St. Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise on the Lord's Prayer, Section 8.

"We have spoken of his thought on the Church but, lastly, let us not forget Cyprian's teaching on prayer. I am particularly fond of his treatise on the 'Our Father', which has been a great help to me in understanding and reciting the Lord's Prayer better.

"Cyprian teaches that it is precisely in the Lord's Prayer that the proper way to pray is presented to Christians. And he stresses that this prayer is in the plural in order that "the person who prays it might not pray for himself alone. 'Our prayer', he wrote, 'is public and common; and when we pray, we pray not for one, but for the whole people, because we the whole people, are one' (De Dom. orat. [Treatise on the Lord's Prayer], 8).

"Thus, personal and liturgical prayer seem to be strongly bound. Their unity stems from the fact that they respond to the same Word of God. The Christian does not say 'my Father"' but 'our Father', even in the secrecy of a closed room, because he knows that in every place, on every occasion, he is a member of one and the same Body."

- Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience on St. Cyprian, June 6, 2007

Pope Benedict XVI in Assisi

Pope Benedict XVI is visiting Assisi today in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the conversion of St. Francis of Assisi.

(Updated: The Vatican web page on the journey has the official translations of the Holy Father's addresses in Assisi in various translations, including English.)

Asia News has an article about the Mass held there this morning, the Pope's homily and his words at the Angelus.  An English translation of the Pope's homily is available from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum (scroll down). The Vatican's English translations are available on the Vatican's page on the Assisi visit.  Zenit also has a translation of the Pope's words at the recitation of the midday Angelus and the Vatican translation of the Papal Address to the Franciscan General Chapter.

Sandro Magister has an article at Chiesa.com about the Pope's homilies on the conversions of St. Francis and St. Augustine in his journeys to Assisi and Pavia.

In his homily, the Pope spoke of St. Francis' work as based in Christ, and a desire to transform himself in Christ. He spoke of events in the Bible that motivated St. Francis, including David and Bathsheba, the stigmata of the Apostle Paul, and the sinner who was forgiven because they have greatly loved.  He spoke of St. Francis' commitment to dialogue among all men because of Christ who is our peace, speaking of the relationship between Logos and dialogue. The Pope spoke of the Assisi meeting launched by Pope John Paul II for people of various faiths to pray together for peace, and of the need for Christian authenticity in inter-faith dialogue, rather than religious indifference.  He called for true respect for other faiths, while proclaiming Christ as the Savior of the world.

Here is an excerpt from Teresa Benedetta's translation of the homily:

"The 'spirit of Assisi' which continues to spread itself from that event is opposed to the spirit of violence, of the abuse of religion as a pretext for violence. Assisi tells us that loyalty to one's own religious conviction, loyalty above all to Christ crucified and resurrected, is not expressed in violence and intolerance, but in a sincere respect for others, in dialog, in a proclamation that appeals to freedom and reason, in the commitment for peace and reconciliation."

Zenit has an English translation of the Holy Father's words before praying the midday Angelus before crowds gathered at the basilica, again appealing for peace.  Here is an excerpt from Zenit:

"May St. Francis, man of peace, obtain for us from the Lord, the grace of an increasing number of people who will agree to become "instruments of peace" through thousands of small gestures in their daily lives. May those who are in positions of power be motivated by a passionate love for peace, an indomitable will to obtain it, and may they choose the adequate means to reach it."

Benedict XVI and Chrysostomos II

Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI received Beatitude Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of New Justiniana and Cyprus. 

The Vatican has a webpage with English translations of their addresses to each other and their common declaration.

In addition, Asia News has an article with quotations in English translation.  Teresa Benedetta has an English translation of the Pope's address to Chrysostomos II on Papa Ratzinger Forum.  Zenit also has the Vatican's translation of the Holy Father's address, Chrysostomos II's address, and their common declaration.

I have not found a full English translation of  their common statement issued during their meeting.  However, the Vatican news bulletin offered the Holy Father's address in Italian, Beatitude Chrysostomos' address in Greek with Italian translation, and their common statement also in Greek with Italian translation.  I will add a link to more English translations when available.

In his address to the archbishop, the Pope said that there is a need to find a new common spiritual language to help to re-build unity in the dialogue between the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church.  Beatitude Chryostomos spoke of the need for unity and a new evangelism in view of the crisis facing Europe, which he said has "Gospel values" but rejects the importance of its Christian roots.  In conclusion, the Orthodox Church archbishop invited the Pope to visit Cyprus as his guest, and to bless his home.

Never will I forget the impression the sea made upon me

"Never will I forget the impression the sea made upon me; I couldn't take my eyes off it since its majesty, the roaring of its waves, everything spoke to my soul of God's grandeur and power. . . . I made the resolution never to wander far away from the glance of Jesus in order to travel peacefully toward the eternal shore!"

- St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul (Study Edition, Manuscript A), writing of a trip to the ocean when she was 5 years old.

Photo: Crescent Beach (or maybe Endert's Beach?), Crescent City, California, photo by me, probably taken in 1995.  I think this is one of several photos I took from a trail going into a redwood forest on the bluffs above the shoreline.