St Clare quotes

A polyptych of Saint Clare, from Assisi

We celebrate the feast of Saint Clare, (1194-1253) a companion of St Francis of Assisi, who started her own order of the Poor Clares. Here are some quotes from Saint Clare:

“Gaze upon Him, consider Him, contemplate Him, as you desire to imitate Him.”

“Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother.”

“Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation.”

 

Saint Lawrence

St Lawrence helping the poor by Fra Angelico

Saint Lawrence was one of seven deacons in Rome who were in charge of giving help to the poor and the needy. When a persecution broke out, Pope St. Sixtus was condemned to death. As he was led to execution, Lawrence followed him weeping, "Father, where are you going without your deacon?" he said. "I am not leaving you, my son," answered the Pope. "in three days you will follow me." Full of joy, Lawrence gave to the poor the rest of the money he had on hand and even sold expensive vessels, chalices and candlesticks to have more to give away.
The Prefect of Rome, a greedy pagan, thought the Church had a great fortune hidden away. So he ordered Lawrence to bring the Church's treasure to him. The Saint said he would, in three days. Then he went through the city and gathered together all the poor and sick people supported by the Church and lined them all up. When he showed them to the Prefect, he said: "This is the Church's treasure!" 

St Lawrence's martyrdom by Valentin de Boulogne

In great anger, the Prefect condemned Lawrence to a slow, cruel death. The Saint was tied on top of an iron grill over a slow fire that roasted his flesh little by little, but Lawrence was burning with so much love of God that he almost did not feel the flames. In fact, he even joked, "Turn me over," he said to the judge. "I'm done on this side!" And just before he died, he said, "It's cooked enough now." Then he prayed that the city of Rome might be converted to Jesus and that the Catholic faith might spread all over the world. After that, he went to receive the martyr's reward.
St Lawrence is one of thousands of martyrs who were mercilessly killed by the ruthless Emperors in the first 300 years of Christianity. Others were crucified, sent to the lions, beheaded, burned, tied to a tree and arrows shot at them, others were skinned or had parts of their body taken out or cut off. With St Stephen he is the patron saint of deacons.

More Classic Cars

I know you cannot have posts on cars for two days in a row, but how about three in a row. In Baker City they called them Vintage Cars while here in Bend they are called Classic Cars, and so I ventured after my two weddings to view some of these old, shiny, but perfectly-restored cars from the 1920s, 30s, 40s and beyond. Their owners traveled many hundreds of miles to be here, actually to show off their hobby and talk about it, or rather brag about. Every time I asked a question to one of the owners, I ended up receiving a dissertation, which at times lasted 5 minutes, and was only interrupted when someone else asked another question. 

These cars were all displayed in the local Drake Park, and in the evening they paraded through the streets of downtown Bend, passing by the historic church, as you can see from some of these photos. Notice the original double-decker car which was one of the biggest surprise attractions. 

100,000 miles

My odometer yesterday reached 100,000 miles. That's 4 times around the earth. Yes, that's a lot of driving, and if I were still in Malta, it could take decades to cover that amount of miles. As is my habit whenever I reached that milestone, here's a picture of my dashboard as the numbers turned from 99,999 to 100,000 miles.

 

Vintage Cars

Every summer, many towns and villages in the USA hold exhibitions of vintage cars. It's like going back in time, back to the future as old cars show up to take us back to the 20s, 30s and 40s. Lots of aficionados mingle around the cars, shining and sparkling with their chrome fins and colorful bodies. These are some photos of cars that attracted my attention.

Transfiguration

Detail from Raphael's masterpiece "The Transfiguration"

Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on  earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice: "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him."
Are we listening to Him? He still talks to us through Scripture, through miracles that still happen daily, through the Eucharist, through recommendations we receive from the Pope, our Bishops and priests. Are we listening to them? Because if we don't listen to them, we're not listening to Him!

the 8 L's of parenting

LOVE your family and tell them. Spend time hugging, listening, and affirming. When you give your attention, it should be undivided.

LOOK for opportunities to find the good in your family and make comments about the good traits in the other parent and your children.

LISTEN to your children when they need to express their thoughts and feelings and model expressing your thoughts in an appropriate manner.

LAUGH with your children. A sense of humor goes a long way in dealing with the issues of life. Play together, each day is a gift you only get once.

LABOR diligently and with pride in what you do and expect the same of your children.

LEARN, learn, and learn. A good motto is, “Every day the thing to do is learn something new”. Have good books, periodicals, and information in your home. Read to your children, and for yourself, and instill a love of learning in them.

LEAVE TV and other media off. Have conversation and play be the noise in your homes, interact with one another.

LIVE life to its fullest. Take pleasure in the little things, ice-cream, the sunshine, the enthusiasm of your little ones, and the innocence of their sleep. Have candlelight family suppers – even if it is hamburger. Sing even if you do not carry a tune, remember to encourage dreams and be thankful.

Use these 8 L’s of parenting as a guide to remember what is important in life and how you can express Love with your children every day!

Saint John Baptist Vianney

St John Baptist Vianney, the Cure of Ars (1786-1859)

My all-time favorite Saint is not just the patron saint of priests, but also the patron saint of all those who find learning and going to school tough and hard. The Cure of Ars’ life is itself a miracle. Jean-Marie Vianney was born on May 8, 1786, in the French town of Dardilly and was baptized the same day. His parents had six children of which Jean-Marie was the third. He grew up on his family's farm in a very devotional environment. His parents frequently helped the poor and gave hospitality to many pilgrims
By 1790, the French Revolution forced many loyal priests to hide from the government in order to carry out the sacraments in their parish. The Vianneys continued attending Mass, even though it was illegal. In order to attend Mass, they traveled to distant farms where they would pray in secret. Since the priests would risk their lives day by day, Jean-Marie began to look upon priests as heroes. During the Mass, the windows were covered so that the light of the candles could not be seen from the outside.
By 1802, peace was re-established, and Jean-Marie wanted to start studying, but he still had to serve in the army. He was 19 when he started school, while his classmates were all 11 or 12, but he persevered, even though he found the study of Latin very hard. He gave up many times, but he was eventually ordained a priest on August 13, 1815. He was sent as Assistant to his sponsor, Father Balley in the parish at Ecully. Three years later he was made parish priest of Ars, a remote French hamlet, where his reputation as a confessor and director of souls made him known throughout the Christian world.

The body of St John Baptist Vianney, in the Basilica of Ars, France

His life was one of extreme mortification. Accustomed to the most severe austerities, beleaguered by swarms of penitents, and besieged by the devil, this great mystic manifested tremendous patience. He was a wonder worker loved by the crowds, but he retained a childlike simplicity, and he remains to this day the living image of the priest after the heart of Christ.
He heard confessions of people from all over the world for 16 hours each day. His life was filled with works of charity and love. It is recorded that even the staunchest of sinners were converted at his mere word. He died August 4, 1859, and was canonized May 31, 1925.

Prehistoric calculators

With all the gizmos that we are using nowadays, it's hard to imagine how life was only a few decades ago when we were using what we now consider 'prehistoric' equipment. I once visited the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC and saw the first computer created in the 1950s - it covered at least 5 large rooms. Today we have something much better in the palm of our hands. Calculators have also come a long way, and today I share with you three photos of old adding-machines which I found displayed in a small museum in St Gertrude's church in Cottonwood, Idaho. Today people have calculators on their watches!

Saint Peter Julian Eymard

Born in France in February 1811, Peter Julian Eymard worked at his father's trade as cutler until eighteen when he went to the seminary at Grenoble. In spite of his poor health, he was ordained a priest in 1834. He served as a parish priest for several years, then in 1845 he joined the Marists where he worked as a well-respected spiritual advisor with seminarians and priests. He worked with  other lay organizations promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the Eucharist. He rose to the position of Provincial of the Marist Society at Lyon in 1845. In 1856, due to disputes with the Marists, Eymard left them and founded the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and 2 years later founded the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, a congregation for women.
The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament began working with children in Paris to prepare them to receive their First Communion, even though this custom was only approved in 1909 by Pope Pius X. It also reached out to non-practicing Catholics, inviting them to repent and begin receiving Communion again. Eymard was a tireless proponent of frequent Holy Communion, another idea approved by Pope Pius X in 1905.

St Peter Julian blessing his people with the Eucharist

Eymard overcame a number of difficulties to reach his goals, including poverty in his family and in his community, his father's opposition to his only son’s desire to be a priest, years of serious illness and pain, and the difficulties of getting diocesan and papal approval for his new Order. Eymard was a contemporary and a friend of other saints including Peter Chanel, John Vianney and Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marists.
The French sculptor Auguste Rodin received counsel from Eymard when Rodin entered the Congregation as a lay brother in 1862, having giving up art after the death of his sister. Eymard recognized Rodin's talent and advised him to return to his vocation. Rodin later produced a bust of Eymard.
St. Peter Julian died on 1 August 1868. He was beatified in 1925, and canonized by Pope John XXIII on 9 December 1962. His Order runs a church in New York City where they have perpetual adoration of the Eucharist.

Animals at the County Fair

A Siberian Tiger at the County Fair

These are a few photos I took at the Deschutes County fair held this week. Some of the wild ones of course were behind cages, but most of the farm animals were in their pens waiting to be judged, and then to be auctioned. As usual the temperatures soared into the low 100s, and I'm sure the animals felt the heat as many of them just slept through the entire week, stretching from time to time, as quick photographers took their picture.

A Texas Longhorn showing off her baby

A very patriotic sheep waiting for the judging

Two pigeons in love separated by the cage

"Tastie" the cow waiting for the auction

The cougar waking up from a long nap

The wealthiest goat, covered with lots of money

A bearded dragon perched for everyone to see

Two rabbits snuggling in their cage

Saint Ignatius of Loyola

A true image of a young St Ignatius of Loyola

The Jesuits had quite an important role in my education and spiritual formation. My spiritual director in the Seminary was a Jesuit as were many of my priest friends. My two nephews were educated in a school run by the Jesuits, and which has actually produced quite a few well-known people in Malta. Jesuits have provided many good priests, many of whom have dedicated their lives to work in the missions. We thank St Ignatius of Loyola, their founder, whose feast we celebrate today.
St. Ignatius was born in the family castle in Guipúzcoa, Spain, the youngest of 13 children, and was called Iñigo. When he was old enough, he became a page, and then a soldier of Spain to fight against the French. A cannon ball shattered his leg and subsequently, a series of bad operations ended his military career in 1521. While St. Ignatius recovered, he started reading the Bible and the lives of the saints, and decided to dedicate himself to becoming a soldier of the Catholic Faith.

St Ignatius with his Spiritual Exercises

Soon after he experienced visions, but a year later suffered a trial of fears and scruples, driving him almost to despair. Out of this experience he wrote his famous "Spiritual Exercises". After traveling and studying in different schools, he finished in Paris, where he received his degree at the age of 43. Many first hated St. Ignatius because of his humble lifestyle. Despite this, he attracted several followers at the university, including St. Francis Xavier, and soon started his order called The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.
He was a gifted spiritual director, and has been described by Pope Benedict XVI  as “being above all a man of God and a man of profound prayer who gave the first place of his life to God.” He was very active in fighting the Protestant Reformation and promoting the subsequent Counter-Reformation. St Ignatius died at the age of 65. He was canonized on March 12, 1622.  There are 38 members of the Society of Jesus who have been declared Saints. So many other Jesuits have become Cardinals, Bishops and great writers, and two years ago, the first Jesuit Jorge Bergoglio became the first Jesuit Pope, Francis.

County Fair Photos

The main entrance to the County Fair

Every year many towns and villages present their County Fair. This is the week when the Central Oregon Deschutes County Fair is being held and yesterday I visited the exhibits, the animals, the attractions and the many booths presented to attract people. These are just a few of the photos I took of the strange, the unusual and the common. Photos of the animals will appear in this blog on Saturday, the same day that many of them will be auctioned, to the heartbreak of many of the children who have raised them since they were practically born.

The Catholic booth attended by volunteer Connie Vorndran

Animals crafted with fruits and vegetables

Canned fruit and vegetables presented as exhibits and awarded

Flowers judged and awarded

Martha was right!

St Martha by Vincenzo di Campo

July 29 is the liturgical feast of St Martha, and it’s good to remember her today and pray for all housewives, housekeepers, custodians, cooks and chefs, of whom she is the patron Saint.
We all remember that domestic scene in the Gospels when Jesus visits his friends Martha and Mary, who along with their brother Lazarus, were close friends to Jesus. We read how Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to listen to him talk, while Martha was busy with the household chores and duties of hospitality, which were very important in Middle Eastern culture. Eventually Jesus reprimanded Martha and praised Mary for choosing the better part. I always felt bad for Martha, because she was doing her duty as a host. As if she was trying to tell Jesus: “Let’s all fix some snacks together and then we can sit down and talk....”
Then I came across this painting by Vincenzo di Campo, and I’m sure you would agree with me....Martha was absolutely right! Look at all the food she had to prepare, foul, chicken, pheasants, lamb, fish, vegetables, and so much more. She had every right to complain and ask for her sister to help her out.