Two Cathedrals
Did you ever wonder why there are two Cathedrals in Dublin, St Patrick’s and Christchurch? It’s not a recent phenomenon: it’s been that way since the 13th century!
Both St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (better known as Christchurch) have been in the care of the Church of Ireland for centuries, but the roots of both go back long before the Protestant reformation. Christchurch is the older of the two. It was founded in the early 11th century by Sitric, the Norse king of Dublin, and its first bishop was Bishop Dúnán.
When the Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland in 1169, Christchurch was already well established. Its bishop at that time, St Laurence O’Toole, was the fifth to occupy its seat.
A cathedral, of course, was never just a bishop’s church. At this time cathedrals always had groups of clergy associated with them called chapters. A cathedral chapter, whose members were called canons, had some responsibility for the celebration of the liturgy in the cathedral, and played an important role in church governance, especially in the selection of a new bishop.
Broadly speaking, there were two kinds of cathedral chapters: regular and secular. Regular chapters were true religious communities, whose members worshipped together throughout the day and were bound for life to one another by vows. They lived according to a rule, such as the Rule of St Benedict, or St Augustine. In Christchurch it seems the chapter was initially Benedictine, but it was reorganised by St Laurence O’Toole into a community of Augustinian canons regular. So that’s what the Anglo-Norman invaders found in Dublin: a well-established cathedral with a regular chapter, and in that chapter, there were surely many clergy from Irish and Norse stock, who knew little and liked less the customs of the new arrivals.
The Second Chapter
What about the second kind of chapter? A secular chapter was made up of diocesan priests who don’t live according to a monastic or canonical rule. Each secular canon received income from a parish assigned to him that’s his prebendal church, to use the terminology of the time and they kept this income for themselves. Since they didn’t make vows for life, they were more loosely associated with one another, and this feature made secular chapters more malleable
than regular chapters. If you were a king keen on controlling episcopal elections, then secular chapters were far preferable to regular chapters. Secular canons could be removed or added with relative ease, depending on the needs of the occasion. It’s no mystery, then, that Kings of England at this time founded secular chapters where they could.
Now, in the wake of the Anglo-Norman invasion, the Church in Ireland began to be reshaped in the image of the Church in England, and cathedrals with secular chapters appeared in almost every diocese. mirroring their counterparts in England. In the case of St Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, for example, the new secular chapter was founded explicitly in imitation of English models.
So, what happened in Dublin? Unfortunately, we’re not in possession of all the facts we’d like to be, so the story is somewhat incomplete, but we know that the venerable archbishop, St Laurence O’Toole, was replaced on his death in 1180 by John Cum in, a loyal and long- standing servant of King Henry II. Just over a decade after this appointment, we find Cumin rebuilding an old church associated with St Patrick and elevating its status. On St Patrick’s Day, 1192, he, together with the Archbishops of Cashel and Armagh, processed from Christ-church to consecrate the new church. There was a body of secular canons here, each of whom was assigned a prebendal parish church, but it doesn’t yet look like a full cathedral. It’s only under his successor, Henry of London, that full cathedral status emerged. In 1221, all the appropriate officers were appointed to St Patrick’s a dean, precentor, chancellor, and treasurer. It now had all the features of a full cathedral, with a secular chapter, just down the road from an older cathedral with a regular chapter.
Would the latter simply wither away? That certainly would have suited the Crown and its agents, but Christchurch was not going to give up its ancient rights and duties without a fight. But the new regime wasn’t going to cede ground in the face of native custom either. So when Henry of London died in 1228, each cathedral independently tried to organise an episcopal election, leading to the kind of acrimony and litigation which characterised the relations between these two churches throughout the thirteenth century.
It’s only in 1300 that a lasting settlement was reached, known as the pacis compositio (the coming together of chapters for the elections to the archbishop), negotiated locally, and confirmed by Pope Boniface VIII. According to this agreement, Christchurch was recognised as the mother church, superior in honour. Episcopal consecrations and Chrism Masses were to take place in the older cathedral. One archbishop would be buried in Christchurch, his successor in St Patrick’s, and so on. And new arch-bishops would be elected by gatherings of both chapters, in Christ- church.
That’s the story of Dublin’s two cathedrals. The struggles involved might seem obscure, but their resolution, the uneasy integration of old and new, is a monument to the complex nature of Dublin city itself. And none of us now could imagine Dublin without those two old beauties.
Rue de Bac
The Miraculous Medal is one of the most popular devotions in the Church. The story of the Medal begins in 1830, in a convent chapel on the Rue du Bac in Paris, where Our Lady appeared to a young novice, St. Catherine Labouré. A series of Marian apparitions would lead to greater devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Conception, and of course, the medal that honours it.
Catherine was a member of the Daughters of Charity. When she was 24 years old, she experienced the first of three apparitions. On the night of 18 July, 1830, a mysterious child awakened Catherine and led her to the convent chapel. There, she encountered Our Lady, who sat in a chair near the altar. During this meeting, Mary spoke to Catherine about the challenges facing France and the world, promising her guidance and protection for those who sought her intercession.
The most significant apparition occurred on 27 November 1830. During evening prayer, Catherine saw the Virgin Mary standing on a globe, with rays of light streaming from the rings on her fingers. Surrounding Mary were the words, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” Mary instructed Catherine to have a medal struck in this image and promised that all who wore it with faith would receive great graces.
The medal’s design is rich in symbolism. The front side depicts Mary standing on a globe, crushing a serpent under her feet, representing God’s triumph over sin. The rays streaming from her hands symbolise the graces she bestows on those who ask for them. The prayer encircling the image highlights the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which asserts that Mary was conceived without original sin. On the reverse side of the medal, there is a large “M” intertwined with a cross, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary below, surrounded by twelve stars representing the apostles. It also has a deep biblical symbolism. In the Book of Revelation, the mother of the Saviour is described as being clothed in the sun, standing on the moon, with a crown of twelve stars.
After receiving approval from her spiritual director, Fr. Aladel, and with the consent of the Archbishop of Paris, the first medals were made in 1832. Initially called the “Medal of the Immaculate Conception,” it quickly gained a reputation for miraculous conversions, healings, and protection. As word of these miracles spread, the medal became known as the “Miraculous Medal.”
One of the most famous miracles associated with the medal is the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a Jewish banker who became a Catholic, and later a priest, after experiencing a vision of the Virgin Mary while wearing the medal in 1842. This event further fuelled the medal’s popularity and solidified its reputation as a powerful tool of Marian devotion.
The Miraculous Medal is closely linked to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854. The widespread acceptance of the medal and the devotion it inspired helped prepare the Catholic faithful for this important doctrinal declaration.
Another interesting influence of the Miraculous Medal is the design of the flag of the European Union. The flag, blue with twelve gold stars, was designed by Arsène Heitz in 1955. According to Heitz, the idea of stars came from the medal.
Today, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on Rue du Bac in Paris remains a significant pilgrimage site, attracting visitors from around the world who come to pray and seek Mary’s intercession. Catherine Labouré died in 1876. Her incorrupt body lies in a glass coffin at the chapel. The Miraculous Medal continues to be worn and used by millions of people worldwide. It serves as a powerful reminder of Mary’s maternal care and her willingness to intercede with her Son on behalf of those who call upon her with faith.
Married Saints
It seems fitting to begin a series on the married saints of the Church with Mary and Joseph, the mother and earthly father of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. We speak of them collectively as the Holy Family of Nazareth and celebrate their feast day on 29 December. Familia is the Latin for household, and famulus is the Latin for servant. Therefore, we can assume that the root meaning of the word has to do with service and belonging. The family was a sacred entity, and it was the responsibility of every father to preserve that entity. In the Jewish culture of the time, betrothal was considered to be the equivalent of marriage in everything but name.
We can therefore appreciate the distress of Joseph when he found out that the young woman he was going to marry was expecting a baby, whom he believed was that of another man. He must have been hurt, but if he was angry too, he did not turn on Mary. Instead, he decided to ‘divorce’ her quietly and spare her embarrassment and retribution. This gives us our first indication of his character. Indeed, St Matthew describes him as a “just man”. The person to whom God would entrust the guardianship of His Son and Mary would have to be a very special one. Much would be asked of him, and he was the man Jesus as a child would emulate.
When Jesus is found in the Temple after three days, the focus of the account is on Mary, but she touchingly refers to St Joseph as Jesus’ father.
We hear nothing about the everyday life of the Holy Family in Nazareth but can assume that Joseph’s life was entirely focused on providing for his wife and child, living a simple life with them, and supporting them by means of his work as a carpenter while remaining faithful to the religious practices of his ancestors. God made sure the Saviour would be nurtured in an environment where Jesus would not only know the Scriptures well but would have the example of humble and obedient hearts in the two people to whom he was closest.
Mary’s “Yes” to becoming the Mother of God set the Salvific Progress in process; Joseph’s obedience, in turn, moved God’s agenda forward. They worked together to fulfil the divine task with which they had been graced. They could not have done it without one another.
GMT And The Prime Meridian
Before the establishment of standardised time, civilisations used natural phenomena to measure it. The movement of the sun, moon, and stars formed the basis for calendars and clocks. Ancient Egyptians used sundials as early as 1500 BCE to divide the day into 12-hour periods. In the medieval period, mechanical clocks appeared, marking a leap forward in time measurement. However, without a uniform system, time varied widely across regions. Each town had its own “local mean time” based on the sun’s position. This worked for centuries, but became problematic as transportation and communication improved.
In 1675, King Charles II of England commissioned the construction
of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Its primary purpose was to accurately measure and record the positions of celestial bodies, which were crucial for navigation and the development of accurate maps. By accurately determining the positions of stars, planets, and other celestial objects, astronomers at the Transit Circle at the Royal Observatory Greenwich is a special telescope, used to calculate GMT by observing the movement of the stars.
observatory contributed not only to the improvement of navigation techniques, helping sailors and explorers chart their course more accurately, but also played a crucial role in the development of accurate timekeeping methods. By using precise astronomical observations, astronomers at the observatory were able to determine the exact moment of noon each day.
Understanding Meridians In the eighteenth century, global maritime trade and exploration had surged, requiring precise navigation. For this purpose meridian lines on maps were created. By dividing the Earth into slices using imaginary lines that run vertically from the North Pole to the South Pole, people could map and navigate more easily. At first, different countries used their own meridian lines. This created confusion in the making and using of maps for navigation. To precisely calculate a ship’s position at sea, sailors needed a standardised reference point.
In the early eighteenth century. The Astronomer Royal, Sir George Airy, recognised the need for a standardised time system. He proposed that the meridian line, which passes through Greenwich in London and terminates at the North and South poles, be the Prime Meridian, the starting point for measuring how far east or west a place is. This effectively would divide the Earth into two halves: the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere, and would give the central reference line for all other meridian lines. This would establish a universal time standard that could be used by astronomers, navigators, and other scientists around the world.
Creating the Prime Meridian
In 1847, Sir George Airy’s proposal came to fruition when the meridian line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich became the official Prime Meridian for the British Empire. In 1884, the Greenwich Meridian was officially adopted as the worldwide Prime Meridian at an international conference held in Washington, DC. The delegates from the 25 nations at the conference chose Greenwich because Britain’s Empire at this time was vast, so the use of its prime meridian line already existed in 72 per cent of global charts. This decision marked the beginning of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The Prime Meridian was defined as 0 degrees longitude, and all other longitudes were measured relative to it.
Following the Meridian Conference, GMT quickly became the global time standard for navigation and solved the problem of inconsistent local times. By the late nineteenth century, the world had adopted 24 time zones, each plus or minus one hour apart from one another, depending on which side of the Prime Meridian the zone fell on. This allowed for precise timekeeping and coordination of activities across the world. With the establishment of GMT, a new era of accurate timekeeping and navigation began.
GMT and Modern Timekeeping
In the twentieth century, GMT continued to play a vital role in global timekeeping. However, with the advent of more accurate atomic clocks and the need for even greater precision, GMT was gradually replaced in the 1970s by Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is now the primary time standard used worldwide, but it is still based on Greenwich Mean Time.
Although UTC is now the official global standard, GMT is still used in several ways today. Pilots, air traffic controllers, and ship navigators, for instance, often use GMT (or UTC, which is nearly identical) to avoid confusion across different time zones. Some computer systems, servers, and software continue to use GMT as a time reference for global operations. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, GMT is still the official time during the winter months. However, they switch to British Summer Time (BST) or in the case of Ireland, Irish Standard Time (IST) in the summer, which is GMT plus one.
Today, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich remains an important historical site and continues to symbolise the origin of standardised time and the development of accurate timekeeping. The Prime Meridian, marked by a line and a brass strip in the observatory’s courtyard, attracts visitors from around the world who come to stand at the centre of time. The Prime Meridian at Greenwich remains a powerful reminder of our shared global framework for time, linking science, navigation, and history.
Although our lives have changed significantly with new technologies in navigation and timekeeping, the Royal Observatory is a powerful reminder of our enduring relationship with the Sun, Moon and Stars.
Famous Converts: Rhoda Wise
Maolsheachlann O’Ceallaigh
“On 2:45 on the “eighth day of May 1939, Our Blessed Lord appeared to me as I lay awake in bed at my home. The room, which had been dark, suddenly became bright, and when I turned around in bed to see the cause of it, I beheld Jesus sitting on a chair beside my bed.
I distinctly saw the marks of his forehead where the thorns had pierced his brow. He was gloriously beautiful and was robed in a gold garment, which reflected every colour.”
These words were written by Rhoda Wise, a wife and mother from Ohio who is believed to have received extraordinary spiritual gifts. Not only did she have visions of Jesus, but she developed the marks of his crucifixion on her own body, a phenomenon that is called stigmata. As well as this, there are many accounts of miraculous cures through her intercession, both during her life and after her death.
One person who claimed to have had such an experience was Rita Rizzo, a teenage girl who suffered from a painful stomach complaint. When her mother brought her to meet Rhoda Wise, the visionary gave her a prayer card and asked her to pray a novena. The day after the novena, Rita was completely cured.
That teenage girl went on to become Mother Angelica, founder of ETWN, the world’s largest Catholic television network. The encounter with Rhoda Wise changed Rita’s life: “All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus”, she said.
Rhoda Wise was not born a Catholic. She was attracted towards the faith by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, who cared for her during her many and protracted stays in the hospital.
Rhoda’s life was full of suffering. It came mostly in the form of sickness and physical pain, which afflicted her for much of her adulthood and even kept her bedridden at one point. But she also experienced widowhood, the loss of an infant, poverty, and marriage to an alcoholic. Ultimately, of course, she was to be united to the sufferings of our Lord in the extraordinary form of the stigmata.
She was born Rhoda Greer in 1888 in Cadiz, Ohio. When she was two, her family moved to Wheeling, Virginia. Her father was a bricklayer, and she was brought up as a Protestant. Hostility to Catholicism would have been a common experience in her upbringing.
In 1915 she married a man named Ernest and moved to Canton, Ohio. Ernest died of a brain haemorrhage after six months. Two years, later she married George Wise. George was an alcoholic, which caused considerable instability and poverty in Rhoda’s life. They adopted two daughters, one of whom died as a baby in the Spanish Flu epidemic.
In 1931, Rhoda developed a huge ovarian cyst. It was so big she had trouble finding a doctor willing to remove it. She survived the dangerous surgery, but the complications from it led to further surgeries. To add to her health woes, she accidentally stepped into a ditch at this time, badly injuring her leg and keeping her bedbound for a long time to come.
Interest in the Catholic Faith
As a result of all these health problems, Rhoda was to spend a lot of time in Mercy Hospital in Canton. There, she became friendly with the religious sisters who nursed her. One of them gave her a small memento of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. Another taught her to pray the rosary, at Rhoda’s own request. She had asked to hold some rosary beads that one of the sisters carried and found that warmth radiated from the crucifix on the rosary as she held it.
As Rhoda’s health deteriorated, her interest in the Catholic faith grew. She asked for instruction from a priest she had seen on the wards, a Monsignor George Habig. He instructed her during the last week of 1938, and she was received into the Catholic Church in her hospital bed on New Year’s Day. She received her first Holy Communion the next day, the birthday of the Little Flower, to whom she was praying a continuous novena. In a diary she kept at this time, Rhoda wrote that she had lost some of her closest friends as a result of her conversion.
Rhoda had now developed stomach cancer. In April, her doctor told her there was nothing further he could do to help, and she was sent home to die. There was an open wound on her abdomen which required daily dressing by a visiting nurse. Her suffering was excruciating.
It was at this time that Rhoda experienced the vision of Jesus in her bedroom. Our Lord told Rhoda that the time of her death had not yet come, and that he would return in thirty-one days. On this next visit, he was accompanied by the Little Flower, who put her hand on Rhoda’s stomach and miraculously healed her of both the abdominal wound and the stomach cancer. Within that same year, Rhoda’s leg was to be healed after another visit from the Little Flower, and best of all, to Rhoda’s mind, her husband had a vision of Jesus and, from that day forward, stopped drinking.
Rhoda Wise died in 1948, after experiencing many other visions. Her cause for canonisation was opened in 2016. Rhoda’s home in Canton, Ohio, is today a shrine that attracts thousands of visitors annually.
Like Ps In A Pod
Perishing since the time of Adam and Eve, the human race was suffering in Satan’s sin. He had spied on as fallen human beings succumbed to his subtle art of temptation. Slithering through Eden’s green grass, the snake seduced these simpletons by suggesting that they could sip of God’s sap and savour the succulent fruit of any tree in the garden, including the forbidden tree: ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?”. Having been successfully lured into unchecked pleasure, the couple could not see through the serpent’s shrewd schemes and now sought to possess eternal life. For he had lied to Eve, saying, ‘You will not die.’ It only remained to entice Adam and Eve into unbridled power, when he swore that they would be like God.’ (Genesis 3:1, 4-5). The devil triumphantly tempted Adam and Eve with three temptations: Pleasure, possessions, and power. He would like wise test God’s Incarnate Son with these three temptations in the desert.
Pleasure – Possessions – Power
Tempting our Lord to ‘command that these stones to become bread.’ the devil was providing Jesus with the possibility to pacify his stomach’s pangs of hunger and lure him into indulgent pleasure (Matthew 4:3). But the Lord’s virtue of temperance was impeccable, and he promptly dispelled Satan’s assault.
And so, having failed to entice our Lord into pleasure, the devil turned to the allure of possessions. What else do possessions provide for us than a soft landing in life? The trappings of the world’s goods provide a comfortable, worry-free existence, security in old age, and an economic immortality. Thus, when the Enemy taunted God the Son to throw himself from the Temple’s pinnacle, he promised him an angelic soft-landing: ‘He will give his angels charge of you’ (Matthew 4:6). Again, however, our Lord was not interested in worldly spectacles and charged Satan with tempting the Lord God of Israel. The devil was following his stan- dard schema of trusted temptations when he promised Jesus power over ‘all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,’ so long as the King of kings would surrender to the prince of darkness (Matthew 4:8).
Yet our Lord remained steadfast in the face of the devil’s tiresome tactics, for he knew that the father of lies was repeating the same deceits with which he manipulated Adam and Eve into Original Sin.
Purity – Poverty – Piety
The Lord also knew that all ‘who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus would be targets of the devil’s snares (Revelation 12:17). As the perfect pastor of our souls and the pedagogue of perpetual life in paradise, the Lord provided us with a remedy to defeat all of these three temptations. When tempted into indulging our concupiscence, the Lord calls us into a holy purity by commanding us to fast and moderate our senses of pleasure.
If we find ourselves dazzled by worldly glitz. Then the Lord asks to ‘give alms,” so as to cultivate a spirit of detachment in our souls (Matthew 6:2). Finally, when the devil promises us unchecked power in any domain of our lives, the Lord Jesus counsels us to prayer. For in prayer, we submit our bodies and souls before God, and humbly lift our minds in contemplation of his inscrutable truth and unite our hearts in devotion to His Sacred Heart. As soon as we hear the whispers of evil, we pray from the depths of our troubled soul, ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’ (Matthew 6:13).
When the Lord allowed Satan to tempt him in the desert, the devil bit the bait and unwittingly presented the Lord Jesus a perfect opportunity to enlighten us about the spiritual warfare that rages all around us. When the devil throws pleasure at us, we respond like Jesus with purity. When Satan boasts of the pizzazz of this passing world’s possessions before our impressionable eyes, we choose poverty; when the trappings of worldly power seek to ply our affections from God’s providence, then we turn to God in submissive prayer.
Pride – Piety
Pure, impoverished, and prayerful we may be, but the devil’s assaults are not finished yet. For he returns with that first sin of deathly pride. He might commend us for our purity, whilst enticing us to scorn the impure. He will congratulate us on our poverty, but tempt us to despise the rich. He will listen on as we pray, before sowing seeds of judgement against heathens. In all of this, then, the devil’s final battle is pride. Were it not for the goodness of God, we would be lost, eternally damned as prideful souls in hell. Our Lord Jesus thus warns us not to practice our ‘piety before men in order to be seen by them,” so as to ensure that our good deeds are motivated by love, not pride. When our piety is ordered to God’s love, then everything we think, say, or do will be directed in a holy submission to God our Father.
In the end, the devil could no longer withstand our Lord’s scriptural retorts. Satan left him, and God sent his angels to minister to his Son (Matthew 4:11). The devil shall leave us alone, too, once we gracefully and piously fight our temptation to pride by trusting in the loving and protecting help of God our omnipotent Father.
In Imitation Of Christ
War brings out the worst in human beings, but conversely it also brings out the best. There are many stories of courage, heroism and bravery in the annals of World War II. What follows is just one of them.
At the time of the surprise attack on the United States naval base of Pearl Harbour by the Empire of Japan on 7 December 1941, America was a neutral country in World War II. However, after ‘the date that would live in infamy’, she formally entered the war on the side of the Allies.
Numbers of troopships were deployed during the years of combat, often drafted from commercial shipping fleets. One of these was the Dorchester, a civilian liner converted for military service as a troop transport of the War Shipping Administration.
On February 3, 1943, USAT Dorchester was attacked, sending 676 men to their graves in the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It was the worst troop transport disaster the American nation suffered during the war, but it was not for this that it has always been remembered.
Departing from St. John’s, Newfoundland on 2 February 1943, the Dorchester was filled to capacity, carrying 902 servicemen, merchant seamen and civilian workers on their way to an American base in Greenland. It was well known that they would be in danger from the many German submarines that roamed the area north of Newfoundland, referred to as “Torpedo Junction”.
Among those on board were 4 newly commissioned chaplains on their way to their first duty assignments.
They were of diverse faiths but with similar motivations. They had all been ordained years earlier, had experience in civilian parishes, and after the attack on Pearl Harbour were moved to minister to troops in battle. Since boarding the Dor chester in New York, they had been working as a team to counsel, comfort, motivate, and generally assist the men on board. Most of these were young, new recruits, who were on their first sea voyage. They were seasick, scared and lonely so the chaplains spent a good deal of their time helping them to cope.
The Priest and The Rabbi
John P. Washington was born in New Jersey on 18 July 1908, the son of Irish immigrants and the eldest of 7 children. His neighbourhood was tough, and he almost lost his sight in an airgun accident.
He attended St. Rose of Lima Catholic Elementary School in Newark and had a newspaper round to provide money for his large family. He loved music and was a member of the church choir. As early as the seventh grade, he knew he wanted to be a priest. That dream came true on 15 June 1935.
Alexander D. Goode was born on 10 May 1911 in New York City, the son of a rabbi. He attended Eastern High School in Washington, DC, where he earned medals in tennis, swimming, and track and was an excellent student. From his earliest days, he planned to follow in his father’s footsteps as a rabbi.
Virtually penniless as a college student during the Great Depression, Alexander contemplated quitting school, but he believed it was God’s plan for him to pursue a religious vocation. For much of his youth, he served in the National Guard to make ends meet. In 1935, he married his childhood sweetheart, Theresa Flax, and they had one daughter, Rosalie. His first assignment as a rabbi was in Marion, Indiana.
The Protestant Minister, Clark V. Poling, was born on 7 August 1910 in Columbus, Ohio. His family was a prominent one and his father was a well-known radio evangelist and religious newspaper editor. There was never any doubt that he would become the seventh generation of his family to enter the ministry. In high school, he excelled at football and was student body president.
After studying at Hope College in Michigan and Rutgers University in New Jersey, he entered Yale University’s School of Divinity. After which he was ordained a minister in the Reformed Church of America. By the time he became pastor of the First Reformed Church in Schenectady, new York, he was married with a young son. He would not live to see his baby daughter.
George L. Fox was born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania on 15 March 1900. He enlisted in World War I without finishing high school in order to escape an abusive father. His gallant service in the Great War as a medic earned him the Silver Star, several Purple Hearts, and the French Croix de Guerre.
After studies in Illinois Wesleyan University and the Boston University School of Theology, he was eventually ordained a Methodist Minister on 10 June 1934. He assumed the pastorate of various churches all in Vermont. By this time, he was married and had a son; a daughter followed in 1936.
Last Hours
Though the chaplains had vastly different backgrounds, their similar experiences and love of God brought them together on the deck of the Dorchester. On that last night, they threw an impromptu party in the main mess area. Afterwards, Fr Washington said Mass in the same place, and men of different faiths attended.
As the clock ticked past midnight, many began to breathe easier with the knowledge that they were near safe waters. Then it happened, the U-boat rose silently to the ocean’s surface in the dark winter night. Torpedoes were fired. The initial explosion killed dozens outright. The attack quickly eliminated all power and radio contact with nearby coastguard escort ships. Panicked men, not trapped below deck, scrambled topside, stunned from the explosion, the frigid darkness and the blasting arctic winds.
The four chaplains immediately jumped into action, calming frantic soldiers and tending to the wound- ed. When it was found that there were not sufficient life jackets, they each removed their own and gave them to others, in spite of the fact that this meant their fate was sealed.
Some survivors later said their last memory of the ship was that of the four chaplains braced at the rail, arms entwined, praying and singing aloud. United in faith, they selflessly helped others, exemplifying courage and sacrifice in their final moments.
They were posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Purple Heart. In 1960, Congress authorised that a special gold medal be awarded to them.
In a world torn asunder by hatred and war, these chaplains continue to shine an eternal light on the importance of our common humanity rather than the differences that divide us.
The Cloister Garden
Frater Fiachra
Lily of the Valley, Convallaria Majalis, The May Lily
Lily of the Valley, ‘O Mystic Rose’, we sing in the old Marian hymn, I’ll sing a hymn to Mary. The Lily of the Valley was said to resemble the Blessed Virgin because of her meekness and lowliness, and the hidden nature of her life with reference to the valleys and lowlands of our world.
The unique fragrance of the lily, which can be quite potent,t is a symbol of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin and the puri- ty of her body and soul. Tradition holds that when Mary wept at the foot of the cross, her tears fell to the ground and turned into these tiny white fragrant teardrops. Another tradition holds that when Eve was expelled from the garden, she wept, and her tears turned into flowers as she walked away from paradise.
An English legend from the 6th century associates St. Leonard with the flower while encountering the devil in a forest in Sussex. For three days and nights, he struggled with the devil who fought against him viciously, leaving poor Leonard, as we might say, in tatters. Leonard was victorious, and the devil abandoned the assault against the holy hermit. Wherever St. Leonard’s blood had fallen on the forest floor, the lily of the valley emerged, and the forest of St. Leonard became a place of pilgrimage in spring, where pilgrims would follow the trails of white fragrant bells and collect them for those who needed help in sickness and temptation.
In France on May 1st, 1560, the young King Charles IX, then 10 years of age, was offered a lily of the valley in honour of the Virgin Mary by a knight during a visit to the Drôme region. The following year, which was also the year of his coronation, the king, remembering the gesture with appreciation,n decided that he would take up the idea himself. Accordingly, every first day of May, he would offer a sprig of lily of the valley to each lady of the court as a gift of good luck and prosperity and a symbol of the beginning of summer.
In the 1900s, the French fashion designer Christian Dior put the lily of the valley back in the spotlight, offering lily of the valley sprigs to his workers and customers and announcing it as his favourite flower. Being of a very superstitious nature, he also kept in his pocket a dried sprig that was contained in a small box. During the fashion shows, he asked the workers to sew dried sprigs of lily of the valley inside the clothes. He made the flower an essential part of his couture and even dedicated an entire collection to the lily of the valley in 1954. It became so strongly associated with the brand that it can still be seen as in the House of Dior’s designs today. When Dior died, his coffin was adorned with a full wreath of lilies of the valley.
The lily of the valley is naturally a woodland plant and has a great spreading habit, which makes it ideal for growing as a ground cover plant. The lily thrives in a moist, shaded spot and gradually spreads to form dense clumps of lush, green foliage. Mulch annually with leaf mould or other organic matter and propagate by dividing clumps in autumn. The lily of the valley is the queen of all natural perfumes, and I think it is most Christian, as it makes us stoop in lowliness to appreciate its beauty and fragrance.
The Angels
Many people are intrigued by the topic of angels and much has been said and written about them. But what do we really know about these mysterious spirits? This series of articles will attempt to address this fascinating subject.
In the name of God, our God of Israel, may Michael, God’s angel messenger of compassion, watch over your right side. May Gabriel, God’s angel messenger of strength and courage, be on your left and before you, guiding your path, … while behind you, supporting you, stands Raphael, God’s angel of healing, and over your head, surrounding you, is the presence of the Divine.
The word “angel” is derived from the Greek word aggelos. Aggelos is in turn a translation of the Hebrew word mal’akh, which means messenger. An Old English word for it was aerendgast, literally “errand-spirit”
Perhaps the most significant Catholic statement concerning the existence of angels comes from the Fourth Lateran Council held in the thirteenth century. This council declared that God is the creator of all things, both “the spiritual or angelic world and the corporeal and visible universe.” The declaration was echoed in the nineteenth centu- ry at the First Vatican Council and was repeated by Pope Paul VI in 1972.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear about the existence of angels: “The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels” is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition. CCC 328.
From the Beginning
Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan. From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels.
Holy Scripture clearly teaches that the Angels pray on our behalf. The prophet Zacharias, speaking of the supplicating angels who were watching over Jerusalem, says, “The angel of the Lord answered, and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have not have mercy on Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah?” (Zach. 1:12). And the Archangel Raphael said to Tobias, “When thou didst pray with tears…I offered my prayer to the Lord.” (Tob. 12:12). St Augustine says, “The Angels pray for us, not as if God did not know our needs, but the sooner to obtain for us the gifts of his mercy and to secure for us the blessings of His grace.”
After our Lord’s Resurrection, we read how an Angel descended from Heaven and rolled back the stone that had closed the Holy Sepulchre. The Sacred Scriptures say that the countenance of the Angel was like lightning and his raiment white as snow. His appearance was so full of majesty that the soldiers whom Christ’s enemies had placed to guard the Tomb were terrified and dared not look on him but fell to the ground as if dead.
When man reflects on the universe and his place in it, he discovers the principle of hierarchy. Living things are higher, ontologically better than non-living things. Animals are higher than plants. Cats feel; chrysanthemums do not. As plants are higher than minerals and animals are higher than plants, man is higher than the animals. He is capable of analytical thought and can distinguish right from wrong, can love (at various levels) and has a will and a conscience.
If there were no animals, there would be a big gap between plants and humans; if no plants, a big gap between animals and minerals.
And if there were no angels, there would be a big gap between man and God.
Great Faculties
The Angels, like God, have two great faculties: the Will and the Intellect. When an angel wills, he never draws back. He wills with all his possible power, and there can be no change. His decisions are certain and irrevocable, for they are made with all the necessary information about what he wills. In what he does, there is no struggle, no conflict. He bears down opposition with irresistible might.
The Egyptians, as we read in Genesis, held God’s chosen people in cruel bondage. God, to punish the oppressors and deliver his children, sent an Angel who slew 70,000 Egyptians in one night! The intellect of the Angel is incomparably superior to the human intellect. The Angels are not only perfect in beauty, mighty in strength, but they are full of knowledge and wisdom.
Their manner of understanding is likewise completely different from ours. The human mind has to plod from truth to truth just as the human body moves step by step, whereas the angelic intelligence grasps the whole of a subject at a single glance. Seeing a principle, it sees at once all its consequences; seeing a truth, it sees at the same time all its possible aspects.
The most learned academics of this Earth have amassed the knowledge of a limited number of subjects with infinite labour and long years of study. Nor may they claim the credit for all they know, for they began where others had left off, and others will continue from where they have left off. The knowledge, too, thus acquired at the cost of such labour is frequently mingled with errors, mistakes and doubts, whereas the knowledge of the Angels is clear, certain and free from all possibility of error.
For the Angels know all the secrets of nature, they see into the centre of the Earth, into the depths of the sea, they have all-natural knowledge. They know more about health and medicine than all the doctors in the World, more about the stars and the Heavens than all the astronomers who ever lived or will live. All sciences are known to them in their most absolute perfection, besides which God fills their intelligence with very oceans of supernatural light.
The Mystery Of The Burning Bush: Mary And Virginity
Dom Aelred Magee ocso
In the bush that Moses saw burning yet unburnt, we see the symbol of your wonderfully preserved virginity. Mother of God, intercede for us.
ike a thread running through the cloth of the Work of God – the celebration of the Divine Office, or the Liturgy of the Hours Cistercian monks and nuns turn their gaze regularly to the patronage and example of the Mother of God. In each of the seven offices celebrated in choir by Cistercian communities, a little antiphon draws our attention to some aspect of Mary’s participation in the great plan of salvation which the Father brings to completion in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, some of these antiphons are sung by the whole Church at prayer, on the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God (1st January).
The antiphon with which we began this piece is sung at the Office of Terce, the Third Hour, which commemorates especially the descent of the Holy Spirit on the newborn Church at Pentecost. It celebrates one of the most ancient titles given to Mary, and one which is rooted in Sacred Scripture, and bears the autograph of Mary herself – “But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34).
The fathers of the Church delighted in borrowing imagery and refashioning it to suit their own purposes. In this case, one of the key events in salvation history becomes a vehicle for meditation on Mary’s virgin motherhood. The divine self-revelation in the burning bush at Sinai for Moses, and the voice which spoke in that moment, began the definitive journey from slavery to free- dom which would eventually assume its fullness and explosive significance in Christ’s death and resurrection. In the burning bush, the Hidden God reveals himself by name, and so opens an intimacy with humankind which will remain unchallenged and unparalleled. The fact, as always, that it is God who chooses to act in this way will find wonderful resonance in the marriage of virginity and motherhood in Blessed Mary.
As Father Jean Corbon says of this mystery of mysteries: There is neither pantheism nor a simple process of sacralization, for this presence is the presence of a person. The Holy One does not destroy but penetrates with fire everything that is. Human beings are his holy land, and the divine glory permeates it all the more profoundly as the divine salvation draws near… Here, everything is given gratuitously, both in the fire that reveals itself and in the heart that receives it. And at that great moment of the annunciation, it is the fire of the Holy Spirit which burns without consuming, and the heart of the Virgin which receives without being diminished!
Catching Our Breath
The mystery of Mary’s virginity is. of course, always at the service of the mystery of Christ. And that mystery is the expansive plains of Sacred Scripture. That delightful and penetrating poet and theolo- gian, Ephraim the Syrian, writing in the fourth century, traced the brightness of the Virgin birth from the spotless earth which gave birth to Adam, through the virgin Eve, to our already mentioned Moses at Sinai, touching on the famous prophecy in Isaiah which also announced a name (Emmanuel, God-with-us), and finally to Christ’s resurrection, the new birth, from a tomb which had never been used. And in this climactic moment, he allows himself to run free: The womb and Sheol shouted with joy and cried out about your Resurrection. The womb that was sealed conceived you: Sheol that was secured, brought you forth…
Against nature, the womb conceived, and Sheol yielded. Sealed was the grave which they entrusted with keeping the dead man. Virginal was the womb that no man knew. The virginal womb and the sealed grave like trumpets for a deaf people, shouted in its ear.
And for us today is there not a shout in our ear in the very matter of Mary’s virginity and the loss of a sense of how integral virginity is to the beauty of the human person made in the image of God? Not only the reality of virginity but the invitation to chastity, to respect for the other, for the sacredness of the sexual act and a child as a gift of God made possible through the cooperation of parents. Mary’s perpetual virginity should catch our breath, not only because of its mystery in the service of mystery, but because of its relevance in our altogether selfish and entitled way of being.
The Life Of Saint Martin
The first day of January 1639 well as I do that ever since you found Martin in his sixtieth year. On the first day of January 1640, he would no longer be on earth.
One day Fr Cyprian de Medina, after looking all through the convent, found Martin sweeping in the kitchen. Father Cyprian was the Mexican Archbishop’s nephew, and as he hurried up to Martin, he could hardly contain his excitement. “Brother Martin, I have such a surprise for you! You are to go to Mexico to His Grace, my uncle!”
Martin smiled at Father Cyprian. How well he remembered those days, so many years ago, when this same priest had been an awkward young novice. How he been such a general source of amusement because he was so clumsy. Now he was a famous scholar, a fine-looking man and a credit to the Order.
Martin stopped his sweeping for a moment. “Mexico, Father Cyprian? Why ever should I go there?”
Cyprian chuckled. “You are not fooling me,” he said. “You know as saved his life, my uncle thinks you are a treasure, and he wants you to be near at hand. Mexico needs a wonderworker, he says, and he wants you there.”
Martin sighed. No matter what he said or did, no one ever seemed to believe that the cures that had happened at his hands were not his doing at all. They were the work of God, in answer to a simple prayer. “His Grace, the Archbishop, would have recovered without my help,” he said. “Dear Father Cyprian, why are you always trying to make me feel proud?”
The priest flung up his hands in despair. “What an impossible man you are!” he cried. “Brother Martin, have you forgotten what you did for me? How I was once the laughing-stock of the convent because of my looks? How I was too short and too fat…”
“You always had a good heart, Father Cyprian. “How I was stupid at books? How I was never able to…”
“God was always your only worried look just the same. How
love, Father.”
“How you prayed for me when I fell sick as a novice, and afterwards no one recognised me because I had grown twelve inches, became a good student and changed in all my looks? Ah, dear Brother Martin! Where would I be without you?”
Here at Santo Domingo,” smiled Martin, smoothing the handle of his broom. But even as he stood there there smiling at the other man, a familiar pain stabbed his whole body with the suddenness of lightning. Of late, it had been with him often, that pain. Was this the reason that he could smile at Father Cyprian’s bit of news that the Archbishop wanted to move him to Mexico? In his heart, Martin knew that soon God would be calling him to go on another and much more important journey.
Cyprian seemed to sense that something was wrong, and that strange thoughts were passing through his friend’s mind. “You are ill!” he cried anxiously. “Brother Martin, why didn’t you tell me? Why aren’t you in bed, instead of working here in the kitchen?
Martin held tight to his broom, hoping the pain would pass. “I’m all right,” he managed to say. “It’s only natural for an old man to feel his age now and then.”
The priest peered anxiously into Martin’s eyes. “Sixty years isn’t so old,” he said, but his face wore a dreadful if anything should happen to Brother Martin!
It was only a few days later that the community were surprised to see Martin wearing a brand-new habit. It was well known that he only chose the poorest and most patched together garments. One priest, Father John de Barbaran, jokingly asked Martin if he was suddenly becoming vain about his clothes. In answer Martin said, “No, Father, I just want to have a new habit for my burial!” Father John stared. “Burial? Why, Martin, whatever do you mean?”
“I mean I am going to die, Father, in about four days.”
Saint Martin Replies
Anon: I wish to thank St Martin, Padre Pio and St Jude for many favours received. My three children had cancer and one of them died as a result. St Martin gave me the strength to go on. I will always be grateful for all the answers to many many prayers. I know well St Martin is helping me every day and I will continue to pray to him for the rest of his life.
Westmeath: I wish to publish my Thanksgiving to the Sacred Heart, Our Blessed Lady and St Martin. I prayed that our son would find employment in his field nearer home, and our prayers were answered. I pray to St Martin every day and I feel that we have received many blessings through his intercession.
Galway: I have so much to thank St Martin for but I just want to mention one favour here. We had a lamb who was very sick with a stiff neck which it could not move. At one point we left him stretched on a bale of hay, but when we returned, he had not moved. The vet had given all possible injections and said there was no hope, even if he lived the neck would never be right. One of the family went out in the evening with a statue of St Martin to the shed and we all prayed. The next day all was well. We kept the lamb because he was St Martin’s gift.
Malta I am 70 years of age, and I have been receiving and reading the Saint Martin magazine since I was 13 years old. I pray to St Martin, and he helps me every day. I am indebted to him. He is my greatest friend; I call on him and he answers me. All the mem- bers of my family know how much I love him, and they ask for my prayers to St Martin on their behalf. Thank you, St Martin.
Clare: I would like to give thanks for a wonderful favour which we received. I prayed for the gift of a grandchild, and we are now enjoying this wonderful miracle in our family. I have received many favours through the intercession of St Martin. He never lets us down and I will always keep praying to him.
Anon: This is a thanksgiving to St Martin for his intercession on behalf of my son. He was given the grace to overcome a very serious health problem. Please con- tinue to help us St Martin.
Fermanagh: I wish to thank St Martin for favours received. I had a lot of troubles I was trying to cope with the main one being the death of my sister. I prayed for the intercession of St Martin and St Pio and thankfully I am in a much better place now. I am so grateful to them both.
CORK I have suffered from health problems for the past year and as a result money has been in short supply. I have always pray- ed to St Martin as my mother had great faith in him. We know he had answered our prayers through his intercession on many occa- sions. I offered a Novena regard- ing a medical appointment and in hopes that surgery would not be necessary after all. This proved to be the case. I was even able to discontinue the medication which I had been taking for many years. Even more good news came when I heard from the Pension Department that my pension had been incorrect- ly assessed and they were refunding me the arrears! It was a significant sum and one that helped me get back on my feet. I knew St Martin was a good friend to all in need and have had cause to be grateful to him often, but this lump sum out of the blue and my improved health are really miracles.
ANON I promised publication in thanksgiving to the Sacred Heart, Our Lady and St Martin for my daughter’s interview to be suc- cessful as she has had so many letdowns in the past. She did get the job, and I will keep praying to St Martin to guide her in this new path in her life.
LIMERICK I would like to thank St Martin for a wonderful favour received and for taking care of me down through the years. I am also very grateful for his intercession on behalf of my wonderful furry friends whom he keeps safe and well. I would be lost without them.