The dandelions are constantly cycling out on Holy Souls Mountain. A great emergency food… and drink…
Like the Mountain Hemlocks, these guys are plagued by lichen horror…
For this one, the lens of the camera was over-maxed. Huge. Way high up a tree full of them.
And, of course, everywhere you look, the Triliums by the trillions.
Filed under florae
No flower is too insignificant to present to the Immaculate Conception. There are no “ordinary” or, to be consistent, “extraordinary” flowers. We can exclaim Ooohh! and AAAAaaahh! before this or that flower, but the closer we look, the more agile our souls are, the more, I think, we can appreciate the greatness of all that which we would otherwise consider merely ordinary. Each has its place. Each has its glory.
Having said that, we note that this is a rather confusing week in the Latin Rite of the Church, what with both Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Liturgy going on at the same parishes in increasingly many places. There is an Octave of Pentecost in the Extraordinary Form but not in the Ordinary Form.
I think it would be great if the Ordinary Form of the Liturgy would include an Octave of the Pentecost.
Until that happens, perhaps we might inscape the concept into the Ordinary Form calendar that all of ordinary time is to be considered an extended octave of Pentecost. Does not the Extraordinary Form calendar count the Sundays after Pentecost instead of Sundays of Ordinary Time? Yes, it does.
We are, in fact, ever since Pentecost, living in the time of Pentecost, the end times, the times in which the Holy Spirit forms us as members of the Body of Christ.
We are to look to the Holy Spirit, asking that He put us to death, death to ourselves, that we might be enlivened with His fiery love, manifesting the very love of Christ in these lowly bodies of ours, our weakness, then, pointing to very strength of His glory.
[By the way, I use the word liturgy, which some think is, you know, suspect of being somehow a liberal word. Such people fail to realize that the liturgy is made up of more than the Mass. There is the Breviary (LotH) etc. 
]
Long time readers will remember these pictures from last Summer, all on Holy Souls Mountain.
Filed under florae
These are just a few feet away from Holy Souls Hermitage.
How they survived the chickens rampaging all around, tearing up everything like any 600 pound wild boar would do is beyond me. Perhaps it’s the chicken poop fertilizer. 
Not all the plants are in bloom, but there are very many indeed.
The seminarians are away again. Whirlwind. Always.
Filed under florae
Filed under florae
The Holy Spirit, who hovered over the waters at the moment of creation, graciously continues to have florae for the Immaculate Conception spring into bloom on Holy Souls Mountain.
Meanwhile, there is an update on the Holy Spirit Baldacchino being painted by an ever increasing number of people, as directed by L.T., baldacchino artiste extraordinaire. Let’s take a look at more progress. Here are three painters working away. Three, I say. The Lord blesses the sleep of the just (1 Sam 2,8).
I count nine in the following picture.
With the little girl dancing away, I am reminded of the story of the little boy who figured that since he had nothing else to give to the Lord, he would demonstrate for Him the few acrobatics tricks that he knew, that is, in Church, right before the tabernacle, something akin to the little shepherd boy, you know, the little drummer boy, who played for the Lord on that cold but glorious night really not all that long ago.
The Holy Spirit loves it all. All of it.
I’m told that the rickety table of paints that you see was not knocked over during this dance.
Filed under baldacchino, florae
Dogwoods, in the form of a cross, with the stigmata, the wounds, not immaculate in the least, but rather, brilliant white splattered with blood, but in this way washed with the blood of the Lamb, perfect as florae for the Immaculate Conception, who, as a good Mother, desires that we are all of us washed in the blood of the Lamb, that is, us, all of us who have crucified Him by our sins, me, you, all of us. The blooms are blooming weeks later than their counterparts not much further down Holy Souls Mountain.
In other news, Holy Souls Hermitage will be invaded by seminarians today, Sunday. After Spring semester exams are over, it seems to me that they are in “school’s out forever” mode for a day or two, until they get ready to learn Spanish immersion style in the Latin American countries picked out for them by their vocation directors. And then it’s back to the seminary for the Autumn semester. It’s a good sign of the times that the crazy days of Summer begin not at the beach, but in the mountains, at a hermitage, with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and bit of adoration of our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament on the agenda. Of course, there will be a great meal after that. I hear they caught some fish in Lake Saint George. :)
In other news, I’m very happy with the reception of the article of the great Dorothy Rabinowitz: Rabinowitz: The Trials of Father MacRae. There’s been a sea-change in the comments over the last number of years. Anyone facilitating the wrongful accusation or imprisonment of a priest is starting to be considered a collaborator in sexual abuse. And that’s right, of course. People could get so sick of false accusations that, in the future, they will start to brow-beat true victims into silence. And that’s not good, is it? No, it’s not. Not at all. Justice for all is good.
Please God, there will be more on this towards the end of this week. I’ll need to digitize some documents, with their signatures :) and put them up with some commentary. Rather catastrophic for those on the wrong end of being put under oath, should it come to that. And I hope it does. Telling the truth after so many years of not telling the truth is good for the soul. I am reminded of Saint Thomas More’s statement to Meg out by the river:
“When a man takes an oath, he’s holding his own self in his own hands like water, and if he opens his fingers then he needn’t hope to find himself again.”
Should it come to the taking of oaths, even with a number interested parties in Manchester, N.H., placing their hands on the Holy Bible, and swearing that they are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth before both man and God, well then, I will rejoice in that day, that is, if the truth be told. Taking oaths can help. It’s then that one can realize that it’s all over. No more earthly glory, and facing an eternity of… what…? Yikes! Better to tell the truth. I tell you that if they do, I will, please God, stand up and applaud them wherever I am when I hear the news that the blood of the Lamb has been splattered about over the souls of those needing that blood. Hail Mary…
Filed under abuse, Catholic, florae, seminarians
The pictures of florae in the ongoing series “Florae for the Immaculate Conception” are from Holy Souls Mountain.
Now, I must say that some readers have sent in messages of exasperation and depression and anger (of solidarity), with some feeling themselves to be like sheep without a shepherd, what with the stories we’ve been covering here of late on HSH about Msgr Edward Arsenault, Msgr Stephen Rossetti, Bishop John McCormack and the Diocese of Manchester, N.H.
Actually, I must say that I feel the opposite to despair. Perhaps it’s because I know more of the background, more of what will happen even by tomorrow, Saturday, 11 May, 2013, and then again, possibly, by late next week. There is ever so much more that will be coming to light.
I’ve seen it all before, ten thousand times in my priestly ministry, how Jesus, the Lord of History, the King of kings and Lord of lords, The Priest of priests, let’s this and that fall into place, encouraging some to become saints, letting others proverbially hang themselves, and setting up a situation in which many will have an opportunity to come to life in Him, the Prince of the Most Profound Peace, seeing the awe inspiring irony of truth and justice and mercy unfold before them.
We don’t get anywhere with bitterness or anger or depression or darkness. An ever broadening horizon of love, lifted high into the open Heart of Him who was lifted up high on Mount Calvary, is the only way, the only way not to be controlled by the darkness of bitterness (a failure on our part), and the only way to be enlivened with peace amidst chaos, peace that is enough to go on, in anguish that all be saved, even while we know there are some who will reject that salvation for which they were redeemed. And yet, with love, we can be fired up with love before the mystery of free will, and mercy, and justice.
Don’t forget, we’ve all of us, without exception, crucified the Son of the Living God, the Divine Son of the Immaculate Conception, who is so good and so kind. And yet, our beloved Mother leads us to Jesus, she also being so good, so kind.
Should you desire some comforting words of the Holy Spirit, blazing with ferocity against false shepherds, but supplying Him who is The Shepherd to us, take a look at some of Ezekiel 3 and 34, verses which I think ought best be memorized by the shepherds of our own day. Here they are, appropriately from the NAB: Continue reading
Filed under Catholic, florae, Spiritual Life
Today, Holy Souls Mountain is in the eye of the massive, swirling rain storm that’s been stalled over the South-Eastern United States for it seems like forever. I mean, has the weather forgotten that it’s supposed to go from West to East in the Northern Hemisphere? I haven’t been out on the road for a few days, so I have to wonder if there is any damage. We’ll see.
I did have quite a bit of difficulty with the Internet connection with the tower some miles away over the mountain ridges.
Meanwhile, there are still florae for the Immaculate Conception to be put up in her honor. Spring has truly sprung on Holy Souls Mountain.
Saturday is the seventh day of the week. It’s the day that God rested from the six days of creation. All was perfect.
Adam was created on the sixth day, and also fell on that day. He undid himself and all creation groans, as Saint Paul says.
Adam couldn’t possibly fully appreciate creation, indeed, even himself, that is, in relation to God.
But Mary, the Immaculate Conception, free from original sin, alone fully rejoiced in thanksgiving on the seventh day.
The Sabbath, the perfection of the seventh day, the day of rest, belongs to her with the Most High.
Yes, she also had to be redeemed so that she could stand transformed in grace from the first instant of her conception (see Luke 1,28).
But there’s a huge difference in the absolutely clear vision and agility of soul inherent with being immaculately conceived and the dullness of mind and heart that the rest of us suffer through with the consequences of original sin that, even though forgiven, do not leave us until we enter heaven (please God!).
Saturday is, therefore, a day when we, as Mary’s little children, can rightly rejoice that she was able to rejoice in thanksgiving like none of us could.
We rejoice to have such a good mother, Immaculate from the beginning, her divine Son being just that good, just that kind.
Filed under florae, Immaculate Conception
Just because!
Filed under florae
The ever so common, uncommonly beautiful dandy dandelion, the dent-de-lion
So, you feel that you are just a run of the mill Catholic, nothing special, nothing extraordinary, with nothing at all to offer our Lord except your humble self, and you feel that that is just too common, vulgar even, in the face of the majesty of the Most High?
Join the club! No one has anything special, anything extraordinary to offer the Lord. All we have are our sins, the only aspect of ourselves that we own. Give those sins to Him in confession, and then you’ll be content with The Nothing you have to offer, being filled, as you will be, by all that which is magnificent, our Lord’s very life given to you in a most unique way to yourself.
A sin to give our Lord is any sense of entitlement that we might have in thinking that we have a duty and an obligation to give something out of the ordinary to Him, which is nothing more than an excuse to go nowhere near the Lord, since we know that we don’t have anything quite so special. All our talents are as nothing. The talents He would have us carry are His five wounds. If anyone had talents, it was our Lord. He laid down His life for us instead. He could have continued preaching, healing, forgiving, but He wants us to take on His five wounds instead.
Being common, humble — just doing the Lord’s will — is where it’s at. That’s where the Lord is to be found. That’s where He finds us. It’s not good to hide!
Just to say, the Vulgate, the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures put into the vulgar, that is, common tongue of Latin, is anything but vulgar or common, right?
So, let’s just be like the ever so common but not vulgar lily of the field, the dandelion, the dent-de-lion, “the lion’s tooth”. We’ll then find that we are with the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who leaves no one standing but Himself and those who are with Him. Does He bear wounds? Sure. Because He didn’t feel entitled not to have them even though He didn’t deserve them as we do, even though in deserving them, we can feel entitled not to have them! But He would rather have the right in justice to have mercy on us in this ever so common way, taking on what we deserve. Extraordinarily uncommon. Such goodness and kindness of our Lord.
Now, imagine the joy of such a Lion giving a flower, a dent-de-lion, a dandelion, to His Immaculate Mother! Pretty awesome if you ask me.
Filed under florae, Spiritual Life
No matter how tiny the soul feels to be before the absolute immensity of God’s majestic grandeur, if it be pure, with the simplicity of even the itsie bitsiest of flowers in His Kingdom, well then, that soul can take in to itself the absolute immensity of God’s majestic grandeur. And that speaks to the goodness and kindness of the Most High, does it not? It does!
Meanwhile, no good deed goes unpunished. Have you ever noticed that?
Note to punishers of good deeds: It is not any tiny soul that is smacked down as much as it is the Lord God, the Almighty, the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, the Creator and Ruler of all things, visible and invisible, who is mocked.
Such punishers of good deeds, instead of rejoicing in the expansive magnificence of the Most Holy Trinity, implode in on themselves, tiny as they were to begin with. The frightening violence of the vortex of frustration of something so very tiny would nevertheless seem powerful enough to take down the entire universe.
And it is.
And it has.
Jesus, Divine Son of the Immaculate Conception, allowed this.
He laid down His own life for us, taking on what we deserve, having the right in all justice to have mercy on us.
“Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.”
I confess: I killed Him by my sins.
I seek forgiveness. Always. I need it.
When you next go, soon, to Confession, listen to the words (with most readers hearing the words of the Ordinary Form):
Deus, Pater misericordiarum,
qui per mortem et resurrectionem Filii Sui
mundum Sibi reconciliavit
et Spiritum Sanctum effudit in remissionem peccatorum,
per ministerium Ecclesiae
indulgentiam tibi tribuat et pacem.
Et ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis
in nomine Patris,
et Filii, ✠
et Spiritus Sancti.God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and resurrection of His Son
has reconciled the world to Himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, ✠
and of the Holy Spirit.
And in this way we once again become the absolute tiniest of souls, able once again to rejoice in the absolute fiery immensity of God’s goodness and kindness.
And is that not a tiny flower that can be given to the Immaculate Conception by way of her Son? I think it is.
Here’s a list of the entries I included so far in the Ferocious Holy Souls Hermitage Confession Series on the sidebar of http://holysoulshermitage.com. If you click on the “Confession” Category of posts, you’ll find many more articles that touch on Confession, such as the one you’re reading now.
I would add one more to that, which concerns the invalidity of the Confessions offered by the SSPX:
Église Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet — A Confessional Experience… not… at least not yet!
That article is pretty much exhaustive in proofs that the SSPX do not have faculties to absolve sin. If you want the Extraordinary Form for Confession, go to an FSSP priest, or to any priest who has faculties and knows the rite. Here’s the absolution in the Extraordinary Form which I’ve used as a Confessor and participated in as a penitent:
Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis tuis, perducat te ad vitam æternam. Amen. Indulgentiam, absolutionem, ✠ et remissionem peccatorum tuorum tribuat tibi omnipotens et misericors Dominus. Amen. Dominus noster Jesus Christus te absolvat: et ego auctoritate ipsìus te absolvo ab omni vinculo excommunicationis, (suspensionis), et interdicti, in quantum possum, et tu indiges. Deinde ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis, in nomine Patris, et Filii, + et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution, ✠ and remission of your sins. R.: Amen. May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release you from every bond of excommunication (suspension) and interdict, in so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from your sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, ✠ and of the Holy Spirit. R.: Amen.
Be the tiniest little soul, pure and agile of spirit, and, however small, able to take in the immensity of the goodness and kindness of Jesus. Look at the example of the great Saint Paul, who calls himself the very least (in Greek, the superlative of that which is already just a micron, that is, super-incredibly tiny:
To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light (for all) what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens. This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness of speech and confidence of access through faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over my afflictions for you; this is your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.(Ephesians 3,18,21 – nab).
A good flower for the Immaculate Conception, to be sure.
P.S. I mentioned in Pope Francis and The Judas Crisis: My Guest Essay on These Stone Walls that it would be great if you would drop a comment over on my guest post this week over at These Stone Walls. If you haven’t done it yet, or if you haven’t seen the recent comments (up to 22 as of this writing), click on over to Pope Francis and The Judas Crisis.
Filed under Catholic, Confession, florae, Spiritual Life
Have you picked or potted any flowers for the Jesus’ good mom recently?
Filed under florae
So, it’s time to pick some flowers for the Immaculate Conception. It looks like this will be a daily activity for some months. There’s quite a bit of variety, which changes as the weeks go by. But that’s what one would expect from a rain forest.
Filed under florae
One hand and arm are totally out of commission for a while. Pretty grotesque, really.
That’s O.K., but just when you think that that’s all that’s wrong, then you notice other things. Pretty grotesque, really.
Right now, I just so need some rest. But I had to “pick” these flowers for the Immaculate Conception. Me giving these to our Lady: pretty grotesque, really.
Have you picked flowers for our Lady recently? No excuses!
Update: typing’s not easy!
Just a swollen hand, like five bananas stuck in a musk melon stuck on a log attached to my shoulder. And, of course, it had to happen. The left leg is swelling up fast. Skin smells weird when it is so stretched that white blood cells start to make their way through. Don’t worry. I’m just a klutz. I’m used to it.
But I now have a fire going. Which is good. Sleet and snow tonight. The project this summer is to get the hermitage insulated. That cuts down on foraging for wood.
You think I would have figured that out before.
Update: Wow. Thanks for the prayers. The intestines also got swollen just to do it, but not all the way shut. At a certain point, it all just stopped getting worse. The hand didn’t swell to its usual almost break the skin state, the leg stopped swelling. Nothing else swelled up. So, now it’s all going away. Here’s a pic of the hand after the swelling started to go down, though still about three times the normal size. Yikes!
Filed under florae
Our Lady knows all about prep time for Christmas, the advent of the Lord. It’s a time when, in the northern hemisphere, it’s always getting darker, when things are dying, when, as one priest said in a difficult moment: all the lights are going out. It’s always the darkest before the Dawn from on High comes among us.
In these dark, cold days, all goes to seed. But that brings the promise of new life.
Even that which is going through its most difficult manifests a certain beauty, enthralling, having one end up in amazement, as always, before our Creator.
No matter where you look, life is changed, not ended. Heck, even the moss, or whatever this is, goes through it’s cycle…
The variety is spectacular…
The glory fades…
And yet, if you know what to look for, if you have a bit of awe before our Heavenly Father, you can find great beauty everywhere and with everything.
Just imagine. Our Lady had eyes that could see beauty even in us, if only we would do the will of God, which is precisely the intention of her prayers for us. Then, if we, cut down by the ravages of original sin, must also die, yet we know that there is life eternal on the way. We thank the Immaculate Conception for her prayers for us.
As the feast of the Immaculate Conception gets nearer, I’m hoping to put up a nine hour novena on the day itself. Yikes!
Ooooooo! What’s that you’re eating there? Yummy for sure!
I’m hungry! I’m hungry! I’m hungry! Can I have some? Pleeeeeeeeeaaase!
AAAAAggghhh! Blech! Yuck! Waaah! What IS that? Blech!
“It’s called Spider Delight! Recipe: Just smack down any random spider galloping across Holy Souls Hermitage chapel floor in broad daylight, and you’re ready to go! I bet this fellow gained entrance to the hermitage by way to the logs I was carrying in to burn. Mmm, mmm… good!
Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home! I did NOT eat that spider! Nor did Laudie!
I’ve added, as a reminder to myself, the last two volumes of the Holy Father on Jesus of Nazareth to my Amazon wishlist, which you can find on the Benefactors! page.
He speaks of Patriotism. Yes, that’s a virtue described, in fact, by Saint Thomas Aquinas. Not for the faint of heart. Sometimes for the feint of heart, if they are as clever as they are stalwart in their patriotism! Anyway, thanks go to the neighbor for arranging this.
Recommendation to One’s Guardian Angel for a Happy Hour of Death, by Saint Charles Borromeo:
My good Angel: I know not when or how I shall die. It is possible I may be carried off suddenly, and that before my last sigh I may be deprived of all intelligence. Yet how many things I would wish to say to God on the threshold of eternity. In the full freedom of my will today, I come to charge you to speak for me at that fearful moment. You will say to Him, then, O my good Angel:
- That I wish to die in the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church in which all the saints since Jesus Christ have died, and out of which there is no salvation.
- That I ask the grace of sharing in the infinite merits of my Redeemer and that I desire to die in pressing to my lips to the cross that was bathed in His Blood!
- That I detest my sins because they displease Him, and that I pardon through love of Him all my enemies as I wish to be pardoned.
- That I die willingly because He orders it and that I throw myself with confidence into His adorable Heart awaiting all His Mercy.
- That in my inexpressible desire to go to Heaven I am disposed to suffer everything in may please His sovereign Justice to inflict on me.
- That I love Him before all things, above all things and for His own sake; that I wish and hope to love Him with the Elect, His Angels and the Blessed Mother during all eternity.
Do not refuse, O my Angel, to be my interpreter with God, and to protest to Him that these are my sentiments and my will. Amen.
Finally, florae for the Immaculate Conception. I always have the idea she appreciates these simple gestures of the florae.
All is dark in the ever mysterious forest of Holy Souls Mountain, except for a few leaves illuminated by a ray of sunshine, which has woven its way through the thick canopy above, right next to the hermitage. Very cool.
May the Lord Jesus, Christ our God, deign to shower upon you continuous blessings and graces according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.
Filed under Benefactors, Catholic, faunae, florae
We’ve been with sub-freezing temperatures on many nights. Yet…
Which reminds me of Lourdes. I have some pictures of some itsybitsy roses right next to the grotto. They were bursting through inches of ice and snow (lots of ice) in February, when it had been below freezing for weeks on end.
Of course, there are the usual… but always extraordinary…
And…
And…
And yes, I am thankful to our Lady as well. For she brought us Jesus.
Filed under florae
Way back in the day, say, the early mid-1970s, as a teenager, in Minnesota, when Fall colors would be at their explosive height, I would go out into the local forest, right off the back porch, and collect some small, still alive branches from oak and maple trees, with their ferocious oranges and reds, and from poplars and birch, with their striking yellow displays, and from the (non-poisonous) sumac bushes, with their burnt red fronds. I would throw in some craggley branches with no leaves, just for effect, not to mention milkweed pods, with or without their parachute seeds.
This would all be uncerimoneously — however carefully — shoved into a gargantuan clay vase — perhaps two and half feet tall on it’s own — which I had made out of rolled clay and had fired up at the local high school that I was attending. The vase was the absolutely most ugliest vase ever to have been made in the history of mankind, a quality which, with my imagination, gave it a charm all its own. My mother agreed. The rather stupendous displays of nature that found their way into that vase (no longer extant, alas), would take pride of place on the sideboard of the kitchen/dining room.
Of course, none of this was necessary, for one only had to lift one’s eyes to see, through any window, the magnificence of nature in all her glory. But it was the thought, as the saying goes, that counts, and it does, in the heart of any mother.
The Immaculate Conception, the Mother of God, with her pure heart, could rejoice, and did, in the stupendous displays put on by our Creator. But how much more would she rejoice if her Divine Son, little Jesus, would bring her some sign of affection by way of a flower or colorful leaf or two?
Don’t forget to bring something to our Lady. It will do good for your soul. Truly.
But Father! But Father! All the world is going to hell and you’re worried about flowers and leaves, about milkweed pods of all things!
Well, not worried. Just enthusiastic. Such a small action is a far reaching prayer, for it unites us with our Lord’s own enthusiasm for all that is good and holy. This kind of thing does not go unnoticed by Him. The other way around.
This afternoon, after lots of hauling logs on my shoulders from all around to the hermitage after cutting them up in managable sections, then cutting these to stove length, and stacking them, and repeating all that a bunch of times, I was pretty exhausted. So I just fell to the ground where I was for just a few minutes of rest. Hermits can do that you know. In looking up, I saw some Fall colors:
We’re just now after the peak for the Fall colors, as the leaves are quickly falling to the ground, especially after the freezing weather that came with hurricane Sandy.
Now, falling to the ground for a rest is rather annoying for dog who thinks she has to watch over the health and well being of yours truly. Remember, she adopted me, not the other way around. She debating whether or not she has to investigate to see whether I’m still alive or not:
“Still alive? Well, alright then.”
“In that case, let me whistle at… what’s that?! Look! Look! Look!”
The camera wasn’t quick enough to get a non-blurry shot of this Eastern Phoebe. Little thing. I think it’s the same one that was in and around the hermitage at this time last year. They like to scoot in and around wood piles looking for tasty bugs to eat (of which there are very, very many).
Here’s a googled version of the same:
All in all, a good couple of minutes to get my breath back.
Then it was back to work, trying to say a few prayers for and send some blessings for various priests I know that are in difficult circumstances. There are many. Satan is very active, harassing priests, trying to distract them from the one thing necessary, which is to be one in mind and heart and soul with our High Priest, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One described his experience in this way: “The lights are going out everywhere.”
Jesus has conquered. But join me, if you will, in saying a Hail Mary for them all: Hail Mary…
This is what I see from Holy Souls Hermitage. I say that they’re in honor of the Immaculate Conception because, you have to know, that’s what I think their Creator says too! Jesus is really cool that way.
So, it’s now autumn. And that means that the road down below will be dangerous with tourists looking at the leaves and not at the road. And it’s a one lane road with deep ravines. Yikes!
This morning has seen some long awaited progress at the hermitage. I’ve been copying files onto an external harddrive from the one computer that is ready to give up the ghost and am getting ready to put them into the new laptop. That means that I’ll soon be able to set up a directory for the writing projects and get things in order, and… and… even attempt to connect to the little printer. Can’t wait to see if it still works. Yikes!
Filed under florae
I’m all for having shrines in honor of our Lady. To honor her is to honor her Son, who honors her more than any and all of us put together could begin to do. Having a shrine, mind you, requires a bit of upkeep. No dead flowers like one finds at the cemetery! But this is part of it. Upkeep means thinking about our Lady and her Son with some frequency, and that’s a good thing. So, here’s a typical example of an indoor shrine from T.M., which she sent in a while back (sorry, T.M.!). Note that Mary does not need to be the only one there in the shrine, and probably will not be if it is an indoor shrine. And, of course, she is always the Immaculate Conception whether or not there is any artistic reference to Lourdes! Now then, here’s an example of an outdoor shrine sent in by T.B. Also magnificent. I love the blue candles and the symmetry of the colors of the flowers.
If you would like to share what you have, send in your pics via holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com.
Filed under florae
Of course, following the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, our thoughts immediately turn to our Lady and her co-victory over Satan as the New Eve. That victory likewise entailed great suffering for her, her heart being with His, her Immaculate Heart being with His Sacred Heart. She visits her dear Son in prison. Talk about being in solidarity! But with this, don’t forget, there is also a Triumph of our Lady, all in the grace of her Son, always pointing to and pointing us to her Son. How about offering her some flowers?
These, I’m told, are called Touch Me Nots, not because they they inject you with tens of thousands of microscopic needles that we had in Minnesota, but because they explode their seeds when ripe and when they are disturbed. In fact, the plant is used as an antidote to poison ivy. Too bad we didn’t have these in Minnesota, where the poison ivy is so virulent. Some others…
I’m sure our Lady appreciates all such florae picked for her, not to mention bits and pieces that you would add to the bouquet…
Tiny, but in fairly good sized clumps, pre-made bouquets, if you will.
The best flower to give to our Lady is a soul that is spiritually agile, able to be in solidarity.
Our going to confession is her greatest joy!
UPDATE: What?! Nobody noticed the flying beast in one of the florae pictures?! What?! You’re asleep?!
Filed under florae
The above card is from S.McC. I love it! I’m sure Jesus immediately turned and gave those flowers to His Blessed Mother. The boy, by the way, is looking at her, isn’t he? Jesus is just doing the delivery. How very thoughtful!
Now the card below, sent in by C.W., was surely chosen because of another, like flower that was growing on Holy Souls Mountain. Yikes! So, flowers coming in from around the world for our Lady!
Meanwhile—– we have these two itsybitsy flowers on the mountain. They also have their own beauty. Not every flower has to be gargantuan. After all, in the painting leading this post, the little boy is giving dandilion seed puffs to our Lady, right?
Nevertheless, here is another gargantuan flower on Holy Souls Mountain that is blooming in these days. Not that the flower is so big, but the shoots coming out of the flower spread far and wide.
It’s good to pick some flowers for our Lady. Truly. It does the soul good.
Filed under florae
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter.
All told, Masses offered for Benedict XVI came to 918.
י ב ר כ ך י ה ו ה ב ה ת א ם ל ת פ י ל ת מ ר י ם ה ק ד ו ש ה
May the Lord continue to bless you
according to the intercession of Mary Most Holy
