Tag Archives: Benefactors

2013/02/21 · 10:13

Thanks to benefactors! Laudie and the rooster, and some ferocious meanwhiles

first aid

  • Thanks go to… anonymous! … for the First Aid Kit, you know, should I get a bit carried away with the chainsaw while a tree is falling on me. Yikes!
  • Thanks go to… anonymous! … for the first aid book for dogs. Yes, I suppose that any dog who adopts me is risking life and limb, considering how clumsy I am. But maybe this is also in view of the rooster, whose spurs are big enough to gouge out a dog’s brains through the eyes. Here’s the book, with Laudie-dog feeling all the more content about this:

first aid laudie

And here are the spurs of the rooster. I wonder if it is at all advisable to trim those down a bit. I don’t think so, since the rooster is able to use these against the monsters in the forest while the hens, with no such defense, forage for insects. Laudie is in no danger from the spurs, since she keeps well away from both the hens and the rooster.

rooster spurs

Mind you, once Laudie is able to get herself into her spot beneath the wood stove, safe from the rooster, she is smugness defined. Here she is, looking at the door which bars the way of any danger from the rooster:

laudie

content smugness defined

Actually, I’m in more danger from the rooster than Laudie. Here’s the rooster just about taking my eyes out. You can see three of the hens below. Apparently, the camera looks like something to eat:

rooster

  • Thanks go to C.A.L., for her very kind gift to the hermitage, against all my tantrum like protestations. Very kind, indeed, especially considering, you know, all my tantrum like protestations!

And then, we have some meanwhiles today, some projects to accomplish:

  • Replenish the ever diminishing pile of firewood. Yesterday, I started hacking apart a huge, mostly rotted red oak right next to the hermitage. The first chunk off, perhaps 120 pounds, started to roll down the ridge and went a couple of hundred yards, barreling, careening, bouncing high in the air, smashing anything and everything in its way, before it stopped on an old logging trail. I wasn’t about to try to stop it. Pretty smart, huh? ;) Chainsawing on a ridge. An extreme sport. I was more careful with the other chunks I cut off. Today, I’ll try to chop those up, and then perhaps go after the piles of branches that were collected last Autumn and hauled to the hermitage with Jenny the Jeep. Ice storm on the way. Done.
  • Write a letter to our dear former parish priest. If I were in his position right now, I would love to get a bit of encouragement from my fellow priests. Support your parish priest today! Done.
  • Investigate a bit into the individual insurance requirement. Anyone know of any updates on this, a clear presentation of the facts, that is, the parameters for this, and the rules of enforcement, any revised dates, etc.? I have something rather extraordinary in mind in this regard, but I’ll need your expertise. For this one, you can use the comment box, or, perhaps, preferably, the email address: holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com. A bit of progress, but…

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2013/02/19 · 16:39

Thanks to Benefactors!

laudie

  • Thanks go to C.H., for her kind contribution the other day. Very kind!
  • Thanks go to… anonymous… for gifts in kind… delivered, yes, on the 18th of February. Very thoughtful altogether.
  • Thanks go to the benefactor… anonymous as well… who provides for the altar breads that come to the hermitage by way of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. Talk about a great need for benefactors big and small: They are building a new monastery, and… and… on the grounds of that monastery is going to be built, please God, a new seminary for the Southern U.S.A., really about the only one in the entire region. I’ve been talking with them and the organizers about how to make sure that the seminary will be Catholic entirely, through and through. They are totally on the right track. Go to that link and see what’s happening with some videos they made. Yikes! The Church is on the move in the Carolinas! Yikes! These nuns, you have to know, are totally just so cool. For instance, they might forget my name (I have difficulty with names as well), and so end up saying, “You know who I mean… I’m talking about Father Goodness And Kindness!” Honestly. That’s pretty much how I’ve concluded almost all my homilies in the last few years, speaking of the Lord’s goodness and kindness. The Missionaries of Charity did that to me in Rome as well. In those years I concluded all my homilies with “Jesus loves us just so much.” And so they started calling me “Father Jesus Loves Us Just So Much!” Nuns! If any ladies are reading this and need to be thinking about a vocation because our Lord really is calling them, they might just consider the PCPA here in Charlotte for totally enthusiastic cloistered service to Jesus at the Heart of His Church, or the MCs for totally enthusiastic missionary service to Jesus at the Heart of His Church. But even if you’re not going to be joining either of them anytime soon, because you’re, say, a businessman, a CEO in Germany, you might just want to visit that PCPA website anyway. Prepare to be inspired. The Heart of the Church always inspires and provides us strength to be on our way to that one thing that is important, getting to heaven to praise our Lord!

Update on Laudie-dog: In this picture today, after much melting of the snow and wet conditions outside, Laudie-dog wanted to come in — but was having to contend with a herd of galloping chickens and rooster following me around — and was a bit frantic as to how to get around them when I got up to the door of the hermitage. Somehow she risked life and limb and got past them, jumping, as only she could, from the door to under the stove from the wrong side (what with so many obstacles). It had to be a perfect jump. She did it. Extreme Sport Laudie-dog. The picture was taken only seconds later. This is typical her. Her heart racing a zillion beats a second, but looking totally calm. Only Laudie-dog.

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2013/02/18 · 08:12

Thanks to Benefactors! and a couple of “meanwhiles”

missale romanum hymnal edmund campion

Against all my usual tantrum like protestations, the following violently forced gifts on the hermitage. There was nothing I could do. I was overpowered:

  • Thanks go to I.V.E., for the gift to the hermitage. Very naughty of ye all. Yikes!
  • Thanks go to F.J.F. & M.E.F. for their gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to J.B.A. for her gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to D.E.G. for her gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to C.W. for the Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal of the Traditional Latin Mass pictured to the above-right.
  • Thanks to P.C.W. for her gift to the hermitage. (names added!)
  • Thanks go to R.T.G. & J.A.G. for their gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to T.P.F. & R.L.F. for their gift to the hermitage.
  • laudamus-teThanks go to the http://www.laudamus-te.com crowd ( contact at laudamus-te dot com ) for sending the LENT 2013 TLM, which brings us through Passion Week, the week before Holy Week. I’m sure Holy week and the Triduum will be a separate issue. One of these days, I’ll try to write a review of this publication, which is the TLM version of the Ordinary Form’s Magnificat. I think that every priest should have this. Would you do this for your priest(s). It’s a culture changing publication. Very, very cool.

Meanwhile, I’ll have to be busy about this sometime. It’s my privilege to do this favor for Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary:

Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary

Meanwhile, sleet and snow are on their way, so I had better be busy about getting some more wood today. Lots of sawing, hauling, splitting, hauling, stacking.

Winter, mind you, is the worst time to collect firewood, since it will be wet, since you have to use it right away. The best tool I have in the hermitage cost me three bucks at the Humane Society used items shop: a bellows!

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2013/02/07 · 05:00

Thanks to Benefactors! (which turns into an autobiographical entry of somewhat poetic prose)

card

Thanks go to F.K., for her gift to the hermitage, against all my continuous tantrum like protestations. Very thoughtful. That brings this month up to $120.00. Thank you!

The envelope she used transports me back to younger days in Minnesota. 

This is very much a Northern Minnesota scene: a very wet, soaking fog rising out of dead calm glacial lakes lined with pine curtains draping the otherwise exposed and deeply fractured lichen mottled bedrock.

We did have a canoe. And I did light campfires. And I did swim like a fish, even at night. Cold. Leaving one shivering, even in Summer. So invigorating. Warming up, standing by the fire for some moments in nothing but a pair of “cut-off” blue jeans just would not do. The mirror of the night sky that the lake became would necessarily have to be rippled with perfect skipping stones, chosen for their round, disk-like shapes, enabling the first skip to be a hundred yards out on a good throw, fifty to the next splash, then twenty five, halving the distance like this some dozens of times on a best throw, so that, way off in the distance, in the moon’s reflection, one might see the final ever so tiny wake as the stone came to a stop before sinking down to rest after its chaotic but ever so mathematically measured journey. It was fascinating to listen to the quiet clap of the stone on the water, again and again, until one only heard the spray of some drops of water, fascinating to hear this at such a distance. It was so very quiet.

Many of these lakes seemed unending, one connected to the next. Where I was, there were six lakes connected to each other, some shallow, some easily 150 feet deep, crystal clear, all the way to the bottom, as if it was only 15 feet deep.

I would look up into the skies, the Milky Way so much like splashed milk, the very visible bands of the galaxy spreading here, and over there. Stars so, so bright, far from dreary city light. And fireflies… everywhere… like sparks from an unseen fire.

I prided myself at being able to tell the time, to within one or two seconds, by looking at the stars turning like a clock overhead. One only had to know which way was North. Ah yes, there’s the Northern Star. I clearly remember one night when I decided to try this out. I guessed 2:23 A.M. and 22 seconds. And it was 2:23 A.M. and  22 seconds. Yikes!

I liked to paddle ever so quietly, only some drops dripping from the paddle ever so slightly breaking the silence. Quietly, but more quickly than the shrill warning of ever trailing mosquitoes.

Paddling into the center of the lake… What’s that?! So very beautiful!  The Northern Lights. And there I would sit, taking in the magnificent show put on by our heavenly Father. God is good, thought I.

Then I would become aware of the sounds of the forest carried across the water. Frogs, by the trillions. Crickets, by the trillions. What’s that? A wolf, howling in the distance. And then, of a sudden, total silence, except for the throbbing of my heart in my ears.

But then! YIKES! Near heart attack for a few seconds! Turn up the volume first!

Ever so mysterious. I just absolutely loved it. Loved it. Loved it. It’s a sound which makes one feel ever so alone before God, the Creator of all things, ever so alone, ever so tiny, ever so insignificant, but, in that way, not alone, but rather ever so much part of all that God loves, however unworthy we are, which is only an occasion for greater thanksgiving. The more ridiculously itsy bitsy we know ourselves to be, the more hilariously wonderful is it that:

God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him (John 3,16-17 nab).

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the hermitage, I’m now ready to give the conference on Genesis and the Immaculate Conception, just finishing mostly just logistics, printing out the plane ticket and such. I must say that it’s quite a production for a hermit to get clean clothes so I don’t gross people out, smelling like a wet hermit that the dog dragged in. Blech! How bad would that be?! So, everything clean. Shoes shined instead of chicken manured boots. All that. What a fiasco. But I hope the conference will help lead people to heaven.

So, O.K. Mass said (and Jesus removed from the Tabernacle). Breviary said. Chickens and Laudie fed with enough food and water for days, though I’ll be back tomorrow already. Right now, it’s time to be on the way to the airport. Rosary in hand. Guardian angels!

P.S. Someone (R.O’C, no less) once said that my poetic style is terrible. And I don’t even know what prose is, since I hardly ever read anything. I have to wonder how bad it is to write such things as “Stars so, so bright, far from dreary city light.” I guess I just have to laugh at myself. Hah!

P.S. Did you offer this ten second novena of thanksgiving to the Immaculate Conception for seminarian Philip Gerard Johnson‘s cancer going into remission? Take out ten seconds right now and do this, as it is very much great news:

O most beautiful lady, who appeared to the humble little Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes, look with pitying eye upon the sick and the afflicted. Let me remember to say to you each day as do the pilgrims at Lourdes, “Ave, Ave, Ave Maria.” Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

P.S. I haven’t forgotten your emails. They’re there, in the inbox, waiting for calmer times, that is, after the conference!

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2013/02/05 · 18:21

Thanks to benefactors!

Ephiphany

  • Thanks go to R.A. for her gift to the hermitage. Very kind with your Happy Belated Epiphany card!

Actually, not so late. It’s at this time that the Cajuns are finding little plastic images of the baby Jesus in cakes. I’m sure that these were first served on February 2nd, the very tail end of the Christmas Season, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas, whereby Jesus is presented as Lumen Gentium, the Light of the Nations. These days, the bakeries sell these cakes as a part of Mardi Gras, capitalizing on the “runs” down the way. Perhaps I’ll say something about that later, or maybe leave it for the autobiography! Yikes!

Thanks, R.A., for forcing a gift on the hermitage!

As indicated on the top of the sidebar, this raises February 2013 gifts to the hermitage from $0.00 to $20.00.

May the Lord Jesus continue to bless all the Benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

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2013/02/02 · 21:18

Thanks to Benefactors — Masses for Benefactors

benefactorsThanks go to — it didn’t say — who sent in some printer toner. This will be good for many thousands of pages. Once I get writing, I go through quite a few of these. No matter how much I edit on the screen — and I do a lot of that for things I would eventually like to publish — I just can’t see half the mistakes, which are often made in making other corrections, unless I print it all out and fill those pages with ink, rewriting everything, only to edit some more. Laudie thought that she would ham it up and get in the picture of the toner.

I’m offering a number of Masses these days for you who are benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage…

[[Friday, 1 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

[[Saturday, 2 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

[[Sunday, 3 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

I pray for ye all every day.

May the Lord continue to bless you all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

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2013/01/29 · 17:27

Trying tantrums, tires to trenches: Thanks to benefactors

trenches

As mentioned in another post, I’ve been sprucing up the trenches on the path up the mountain in preparation for what is said to be a torrential downpour in this rain forest. We’ll see. This is the best I could do. Three trenches, all about 6″ deep.

Meanwhile, some of you have helped out with getting a couple of replacement tires (tyres for those in the U.K.). Thank you for that. Better than going about on the rims. That would be quite the extreme sport, but I’m sure the police would say that the tread has worn down sufficiently to merit some replacements! Here they are:

truck tires

Meanwhile, I’ve gone on a bill paying spree: groceries, internet, phone, chainsaw repair, the tires, more repairs for the truck (which were more than expected), and other various and sundry expenses.

You’ve generously given $1530 this month. Thank you very much for that. I must continue to protest with very trying tantrum like protestations that you are forbidden to give anything to the hermitage. North Carolina arbitrarily prohibits solicitation of donations by those not sporting a federal 501(c)3. I don’t have that. If I did, under Obama’s persecution, I would have to buy Obama abortion insurance for the employees of the hermitage. There is only one, it being a hermitage, namely, the hermit himself. But that doesn’t matter to Obama, who would force me to pay for abortions. So, no. It’s interesting how I get repeat visits to the blog from the I.R.S. and the S.S.A. Probably just people on their coffee breaks.

If you would like to force a gift on me — hopefully not going so far as a Canadian atheist group, which threatened to punch me unconscious and stuff my shirt-pocket with ten bucks to prove they were forcing this upon me — I don’t think that I am obliged to insult you by burning your gift! But you can read more about that HERE.

There’s now just a bit over $900 in the checking account, which includes the following:

  • Thanks go to Mother L., who sent in a gift for Masses for the recently deceased mother of Father M.G. Those Masses will be offered, please God, in May of this year.
  • Thanks go to J.F.C., who also sent in a gift to help with tires.
  • Thanks go to C.L., for her generous gift to the hermitage!
  • Thanks go to the famous D.K., for her two gifts to the hermitage.

May the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Prince of the Most Profound Peace continue to bless you all abundantly from now and right unto heaven, rushing, rushing, rushing into the arms of our Heavenly Father, all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

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· 09:51

Thanks to benefactors

laudamus te

  • Thanks go to Laudamus Te for sending in the pre-Lent supplement for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. This is the same size and more or less the same format as the “Magnificat” for the Ordinary Form of the Mass. The Liturgical Advisor is an FSSP priest. Very cool, that. You can contact Laudamus Te at www.laudamus-te.com. A word to the wise!
  • Thanks go to C.J.F. for her gift to the hermitage. Very kind.
  • Thanks go to T.P.F. & R.L.F. for their gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to G.P.E. & S.M.E. for their gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to J.D.-B. for her gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to F.K., for her gift to the hermitage.
  • Thanks go to C.W., for her gift to the hermitage, along with some Mystic Monk Bold Hermit Blend (gotta love that!)
  • Thanks go to Mother L for a homemade fruitcake! Yummy!
  • Thanks go to RTG & JAG for their gift to the hermitage.
  • In case I haven’t put this up yet on the blog, thanks go to J.W.M. for his gift to the hermitage. Very kind indeed.
  • Thanks go to P.M. for her gift to… Laudie-dog… perhaps for milk-bones, she says! I suppose. There was a little incident with Laudie the other day. She had some feathers in her mouth. Poor chicken! But the chicken got away. Laudie doesn’t do this, ever. But this was a special circumstance. Good Laudie! But that’s a story for another post. Yikes!
  • Perhaps I already put this up — forgive me for my bad memory (the hermitage has been in quite a state trying to put up a bit of insulation on part of one wall — but, anyway, thanks go to A & C W. for their gift of trail-tested recipes! I’ll have to do something this Spring about putting up an appropriate counter in the hermitage on which to prepare some of these items. For now, my counter is the top of a 5-gallon water bucket next to the stove!

recipes book

  • Thanks go to D.M.K. for her gift of white vestments and an alb to the heritage. She knows how decrepit my other set of white vestments and alb is getting with all the grit and grime of the forest hermitage. But more on that later. Here’s a detail of the vestment:

vestments

Thanks go to J.L.K for this gift to this ever so inept hermit, having me enrolled in the Poor Clares’ League of Prayer:

poor clares league of prayer

You can find out more about that League of Prayer by emailing nuns@stjosephmonastery.com and by going to their great website at http://www.stjosephmonastery.com

dawn eden the journey homeBy the way, remember that Dawn Eden supplied the hermitage with two more volumes of her latest book, My Peace I Give You – Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints?  Here it is on Amazon (Since no one grabbed those up, I sent those off to the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, where Pornchai is doing great work with this book with the other prisoners. A majority of prisoners have suffered abuse when they were young. So, perhaps the most needy people will get a chance to read this fruit of Dawn’s own tremendous progress in the spiritual life. And… and… if you haven’t read it yet — Where have you been?! — Here’s Dawn’s super-readable Master’s Thesis. Very enjoyable, hilarious in some parts.  Here’s that short thesis (*.pdf).

And, just a note on the weather: The arctic blast that swept the country these past days has now been replaced by a warm front, with temps 50 60 degrees warmer from coldest to warmest (not including wind-chill). That spells trouble in the form of torrential rain. Flood warnings have been issued for days, with multiple inches of rain predicted, though when that happens this little area of the mountains usually gets many multiple times the amount predicted. I spent a good bit of yesterday sprucing up the rain-trenches on the path up the mountain, lest the entire mountain be swept away. It will be interesting to see what happens to Holy Souls Mountain road as well. Now watch, we’ll only get some drizzle, which would be mighty fine with me.

May the Lord continue to bless you all abundantly according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception!

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2013/01/01 · 18:32

Thanks to benefactors (some free books of Dawn Eden to distribute)

  • Thanks to RMJ for her gift to the hermitage, and also a holy hour on 9 January. Thank you very much for that. Yikes!
  • Thanks to Dawn Eden, who just now supplied the hermitage with two more volumes of her latest book, My Peace I Give You – Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints. I would like to distribute these to the those who would benefit from them the most, that is, those who are in need of doing some healing of sexual wounds, and who are interested in the goodness and kindness of the saints in this regard. Send me an email at holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com. Don’t be shy! The request need not be for yourself, of course. Perhaps someone you know.

Now then, just to say, you’ve been very good to me this last month of December 2012. You sent in $1,010, totally against my unending tantrum like protestations. The hermitage would not be possible without you. Keep an eye on the sidebar of the blog to see the progress or not in the fundraising thermometer, which is set to zero and has a desired goal each month of zero, because I can’t solicit donations, since I won’t get a 501(c)3, because I don’t want to buy Obamacare insurance for myself, because of what’s entailed therein. Yikes!

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2012/12/30 · 20:22

Some Masses in thanksgiving for benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage

ad orientem

An excerpt from the Mass Page:

Thursday, 20 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Brother F.A., O.F.M., very much alive, at the request of C.W.

Friday, 21 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

Saturday, 22 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

Sunday, 23 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

Monday, 24 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for the Servantes des Pauvres at the request of C.W.

Tuesday, 25 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for a personal intention. Motu proprio.

[[Tuesday, 25 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]

Tuesday, 25 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Wednesday, 26 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

Thursday, 27 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

Friday, 28 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

Saturday, 29 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Gordon MacRae, Pornchai Moontri and friends at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. Motu Proprio.

[[Sunday, 30 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

[[Monday, 31 December, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

[[Tuesday, 1 January, 2013, Holy Mass is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!. Motu Proprio.]]

Wednesday, 2 January through Thursday, 31 January, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for Father B. and the entire Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri as requested by C.W.

[[Friday, 1 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

[[Saturday, 2 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

[[Sunday, 3 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage! Motu proprio.]]

Monday, 4 February through 28 February, 2013, Holy Mass is offered for Father G.L., very much alive (celebrating his 25th anniversary of ordination), as requested by C.D.

Friday, 1 March, Holy Mass is offered for Bishop R.F., very much alive, as requested by E.F. …

* * *

Also, I pray for ye all daily. I know so very many of you pray for me. Thank you so much.

May the Prince of the Most Profound Peace reign in your hearts and souls and minds all the days of your life and forever in eternity, granting you to do your purgatory here on earth (super-yikes!) so that you may rush, rush, rush… fly into His arms as you straightaway enter into eternity, and all this according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception, our dear mama.

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2012/12/29 · 11:21

Benefactors! Thank you. (+1)

  • Thanks go to R.T.G. & J.A.G. for their gift to the hermitage, saying: “We know thou dost protest against any and all solicitations… however, ‘Me thinks, the Hermit dost protest too much.” /// Hmm… No I will have to shout and scream all the more, let it be thought that I am, in fact, soliciting donations, which I’m not, because I can’t. Hah! /// Thanks also so much for having me included at the Christmas Mass at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament!
  • Thanks go to G.P.E. & S.M.E. for their regular gift to the hermitage. Very kind.
  • Thanks go to P.M., for her gift to the hermitage. Thank you!
  • Thanks go to Charlene, Godmother of Pornchai, who sent in the video of his graduation. Now, I will have to figure out how to convert that to a format that can be uploaded to the blog. I’ll put up another post about that, with some particulars of the file names. Yikes!
  • Thanks go to J.M.D. for her gift to the hermitage, and for her support of PGJ! Very cool, that.
  • Thanks go to C.T., for kindly including me in the Marytown Christmas of Masses running until January 2nd. I am very grateful. Thank you.
  • Thanks to anonymous, who has sent in Laudamus Te for Christmastide from Magnificat Press. Very thoughtful!

benefactors3

  • Thanks go to… I dunno… Anonymous… who sent in this book by Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., with its preface by Cardinal Timothy Dolan:

benefactors4

  • Thanks go to… anonymous… (surely not THE ”Anonymous”) for two Poor Clares T-Shirts from the wishlist. The purchase of these T-Shirts helps them build their new monastery not far from Holy Souls Mountain, which is also where the new diocesan seminary will be. Totally awesome! Here’s a link to their website page which includes two videos on the progress their making: HERE.

benefactors 1

  • Thanks go to C.D. for the book on deaconesses. This reminds me of the class on priesthood which I taught to the seminarians at the Pontifcal College Josephinum a couple years back. I must say that quite a few of them were very well prepared, knowing all the authors. I haven’t yet read this work, but it is high on the list. Thanks for that.

benefactors2

  • Thanks go to C.W. for the Mystic Monk Hermit’s Bold Blend coffee. All hermits are BOLD, right? Hah! Very thoughtful.

UPDATE: Thanks go to J.W.M for his gift to the hermitage, against all my protestations! Thank you!

May the Prince of the Most Profound Peace continue to bless you all according to the perfect intercession of His Immaculate Mother.

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2012/12/24 · 15:05

Christmas Dawn Mass offered for Benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage. Have a blessed Christmas!

christmas

May the Lord Jesus, Christ our God, the Divine Son of God,
the Word made flesh, the sapling of Jesse,
the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Wonder Counselor, God-Hero,
Everlasting Father, Prince of the Most Profound Peace,
born to us this day, in eternity our Brother, forever our Friend,
always so good and kind, continue to bless you abundantly,
carrying you along all the days of your life, right to heaven,
all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception,
that Virgin Mother, His and ours,
who with the most tender solicitation asks for what is best for us,
the very best, the best that God can give, Himself.

I wish you all a Most Blessed Peaceful Christmas.

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2012/12/21 · 04:00

Benefactors! Sweet and Spicy! It’s like mixing Coca-cola with Bordeaux (Mmm mmm!)

christmas chocolate

  • Thanks go to C.W., who, against all my tantrum like protestations (as for all donations), sent in a mountain of chocolate, including some timely Whitman’s. This should sweeten me up a bit. One can get too sweet, however. So…
  • Thanks go to R.B., for adding some oriental spice to this hermit’s diet, four packs of a real treat:

nuts plus nuts

  • And then, just to make sure that this hermit does not fail to properly celebrate Catholic Holy Days (as it should be), P.B. provided what is I’m-sure-never-before-tried-by-any-hermit Chocolate Red Wine[!]…

chocolate red wine

That reminds me of my sojourn as a chaplain in Lourdes, France, harassing the French chaplains at table, threatening to very loud protestations that their ever so precious Bordeaux would taste good with some Coca-cola. And so I shall add insult to injury: I’m sure that — barbaric American that I am — I will enjoy the Chocolate Red Wine even more than a certain 1893 bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. Hah!

  • But if celebrating our Lord’s birthday seems beyond tolerance for those who think all hermits must be in caves in dry deserts instead of in huts on top of mountain ridges in rain forests, I do have some fraternal correction that may come my way. I was finally provided with all three K of C cards upon my transfer down to North Carolina. There is one for the first and second degrees. One for the third degree. One for the fourth degree (which I urge many more knights to take up. Patriotism is so very much needed right now).

k of c honorary life member cards

  • Finally, I thank *** for introducing himself and having a long conversation with me. He’s a DHSer who has seen pretty much all practical domestic aspects of the intelligence game for a very long time indeed.

May the Lord Jesus, King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of the Most Profound Peace, continue to bless you all abundantly according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

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2012/12/18 · 23:40

Thanks to benefactors: Prayers, Masses, Sacrifices… and so much more

papal flag

  • Thanks go to Mr and Mrs G.E. for their care package of a Papal Flag. Right now I only have one flag pole. That will change. I have plenty of things of which to make a flag pole. Not sure of the etiquette here, which one goes on which side depending on so many things… The Papal Flag has special import concerning the Tiber River for the donors. Way cool! They also send in lots of goodies, almonds, nuts, chocolate and more. Very thoughtful!

care package

And… and… something for Laudie! (She really loved this. She had it chewed down to almost nothing in about twenty minutes. Perhaps that’s a new world record.)

laudie3

  • Thanks go to B and S. D. for the care package sent to the hermitage. Lots of soups and UHT organic whole milk and chocolate and so much more. :

care package2

And… and… a Poor Clares T-Shirt! (always but always on the wish list). Let’s take a look at that T-Shirt:

poor clares

poor clares2

Buying these T-Shirts (there are different sayings) help build the Poor Clares Monastery here in the Diocese of Charlotte on a property where the new very Catholic seminary of the South will also be situated! I always have these on my Amazon wishlist for that reason.

  • Thanks to C.W., who has Holy Mass offered for yours truly about once a month, and prays for me so much! Yikes!
  • Thanks to Mother L., O.S.B., who also often has Holy Mass offered for yours truly, and prayers so very much for me! Double Yikes!
  • Thanks to Mother E., O.C.D., who has offered her sufferings and prayer for life for yours truly. A seven-fold Yikes!
  • Thanks go to C. and C. H., who had a Mass offered for yours truly by the Fathers of Mercy. How cool is that?! Thank you so much! They also sent in an Amazon gift card. Very thoughtful.
  • Thanks to K. and S. McC. for sending a gift for use for Laudie and also a gift for yours truly. They’ve also included me in a novena of Masses. Very, very kind.
  • Thanks to all of you who so often pray for me and have Masses offered for me…
  • Thanks to T.P.F. & R.L.F. for their regular gift to the hermitage!
  • Thanks to F.K. for her gift meant for candles for HSH chapel. Very kind.
  • Thanks to G.P.F. for his gift of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (the entire Hebrew Bible), which, you’ll notice, opens rather differently than Greek or Latin or other Western language bibles. This will most useful for the popular commentary on Genesis 2,4–3,24. Thanks G!

BHS

  • Thanks to A.L., who kindly sent in a couple of chainsaw bars, the exact model for the kind of chainsaw I have. Very kind. I must admit that I have a knack for turning such things into pretzels, rendering them useless pretty quickly, hanging upside-down by one knee curled over a branch while cutting down a tree with the saw in but one hand, reaching over an expanse of void that would make anyone queezy, even while that tree is threatening to crash where I wouldn’t want it to fall, even while…. well… you get the idea! Thanks, A.L.!

chainsaw bars

  • Thanks go to C.D., who sent in some Mass intentions for most of the month of February, as you can see on the Mass Page.
  • Thanks go to H.R.B., who sent in the new Hünermann edition of Denzinger’s Enchiridion symbolorum. Very, very, very cool. This will get some heavy use, also for the popular edition of the opus on Genesis 3,15.k Yikes! Included was a large box of oatmeal. Just the thing to prepare on the wood stove on a cold Winter’s morning!

deninger

  • Thanks to Anonymous[!], for Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Dorothy Rabinowitz’ magnum opus No Crueler Tyrannies – Accusation, False Witness and Other Terrors of Our Times. You might know that she wrote a two-part series on Father Gordon MacRae (about). Those articles are here and here. I am very grateful for this, as there is a great deal going on with Father Gordon’s case right now. Prayers for that, please: Saint Michael the Archangel…

no crueler tyrranies

fruitcake1

fruitcake2

  • Thanks to Anonymous, who for all the time I’ve been a hermit, has been paying the bill with the Poor Clares for the altar breads used at Holy Mass here at Holy Souls Hermitage. Thank you very much for that!

poor clares3

I have often complained that I am afraid of going before the judgment of our Lord, when it is certain (is it not?) that He will ask me what I did with all the graces which came my way, what with so many offering prayers and Masses for me. I have complained that I will then be at a total loss, hanging my head in shame, not having been able to respond in the smallest positive way for all that has been done for me. Mother L., however — and I think I’ve mentioned this before — reprimanded me more than once for my attitude about this, saying that I should reflect on where, instead, I would have been had ye all not been praying and sacrificing and having had Masses for me. Yikes! O.K. O.K. Thank you! I owe ye all my eternal life.

May the Lord, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Prince of the Most Profound Peace, continue to bless you all abundantly according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

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2012/12/11 · 19:05

Thanks to benefactors!

  • A second box of sanctuary candles came in today, not sure from whom… Thank you very much. I have to say that the very first thing a visiting priest to the hermitage did was to check to see if there was a sanctuary candle and to see if it was lit. Yes, on both counts. Hah!
  • Thanks to the D.W. family, who added me to the Christmas “novena” of Masses, which actually run a full forty days until February 2nd, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Purification of Mary, Candlemas (whereby it is hailed that Jesus is Lumen Gentium, the Light of the Nations). Very soon after these Masses are completed, I will, please God, jump in the truck and be on my way up to Washington, D.C. to give a conference on Genesis 2,4–3,24 and the Immaculate Conception. Another speaker at that little gathering will be my old professor and licentiate tesina director at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Father Klemens Stock, S.J., the current Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Yikes! I’ll be spending the forty previous days preparing. The Masses are very much appreciated.

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· 11:01

Thanks to Benefactors!

  • Thanks go to D.W., who added my name to a novena of Masses offered by the FSSP from 17 to 25 December. Thank you for that. Very kind. D.W. also added a gift to the hermitage, against all my protestations. Thank you!
  • Thanks go to L.T. and family, who sent in a box of sanctuary candles from the wishlist, one of which is already burning next to tabernacle. My silly efforts at candles just didn’t work, and I think my guardian angel is saying, “See! That’s how you do it!” O.K.! O.K.! Thanks, L.T.!
  • Thanks go to  C.T., who sent in the Daily Roman Missal from the wishlist. This is most useful, especially for those visiting priests who don’t know the Extraordinary Form (yet!). This Missal provides the readings in English for both Sundays and Weekdays. Very handy. Thank you very, very much.

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2012/12/07 · 07:52

Benefactors, Benedict XVI, Genesis 3,15, Laudie

Jesus of Nazareth Benedict XVIThanks go to N. and J. W. for sending in volume 3 of Pope Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth, very appropriate reading this Advent, as this slim volume covers the infancy narratives. Very thoughtful! Opening the book up at random, my eyes fell on a passage explaining the etymology of the Holy Name of Jesus: YHWH is Salvation. Indeed and Yikes! I am reminded of Genesis 3,15, wherein Yahweh Elohim, that is, Jesus, that is, the Divine Incarnate Son of the Immaculate Conception, that Woman who is the Mother of the Redeemer, provides us with enmity over against Satan, another way of saying that He Himself will provide us with salvation, created anew with sanctifying grace, becoming members of the Body of Christ.

laudie

Thanks go to J.M.R. and P.M.R. for their gift to the hermitage, along with a great note of encouragement.

May the Lord continue to bless you all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.

Oh, I forgot… Laudie! How could I forget?! One of the readers mentioned that she’ll soon be due for a claw trimming.

That, to me, falls into the same category of the nefarious trimming of the beaks of chickens. NOT to be done, especially for well-fed free-range chickens who are in no danger of eating each other, as are cooped-up chickens.

I mean, O.K., it’s true. If Laudie batted you with one of her paws, she could probably just about rip your guts out. As it is, she doesn’t do such things! Also, trimming her claws would be a death sentence. You have to know that she runs a billion miles an hour through the forest, bouncing off trees and cornering so sharply that her front paws stay in one place even as her back end throws up debris  like a tornado. But she couldn’t do this unless she had claws! Also, in walking up the mountain the other day, past the neighbor’s machinery, which has sharp edges that could de-gut any flying dog like Laudie… well… there came Laudie at her usual billion miles an hour. I was sure she was not going to be able to stop, but would instead be totally ripped apart by that machinery, given her unstoppable trajectory. But no, she avoided such a gory fate, just barely, perhaps denting a rib or two in the process… but she lived. If she had no claws, we would now have one dead Laudie. And we don’t want that!

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2012/12/05 · 18:40

Benefactors: Mass, Laudie, Chickens (worms edition)

benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth 2

  • Against all my tantrum like protestations, N. and J. W. sent in Vol. 2 of Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI, which I had on my Amazon Wishlist just as a reminder to myself. J is the big sister of one of my favorite seminarians at the Josephinum! Thanks J, for forcing this on me. You can see instructions for how to get to the wishlist on the Benefactors! page.
  • K.T.T. & D.G.T. sent in a Mass intention, E.F., for Father D.G., F.S.S.P. That’s scheduled for Tuesday, 9 April, 2013. They also included a gift for the hermitage. Very thoughtful.
  • A certain anonymous seminarian sent in a Mass intention for J.W., very much alive. That’s scheduled for 10 April, 2013.
  • Thanks go to D.W. for sending in collection of super-Catholic items, including beautiful images of our Lady, Padre Pio items, etc. Wonderful.

treasures

laudieBut that’s not all. D.W. also sent in a very cool folding knife and something to distract Laudie, not that she needs any distraction. She’s a source of distraction.

  • S.D. sent in an entire bucket of whole dried meal worms! Yay! Oh… I see… Not for human consumption. Darn! Oh… I see… They’re for the chickens. Sigh. But, that’s O.K. Lets try them out:

chickens worms 3

Snapped up before I could get an action shot. Chickens are lightning quick.

chickens worms 1

And if they like what they get, they INSIST on having more. From MyPetChicken. The chickens like the worms much better than the dead house fly glop. Maybe just my chickens. But chickens do know what they like and what they don’t. They like worms.

chickens worms 2

Hah! S.D. also sent in some items for Laudie:

benefactors laudie

The squirrelly things have noise makers in them. These are meant to train Laudie into being a ferocious squirrel and rat hunter, tearing them to shreds and eating them whole. I like that. I’m sure a dear reader, Charlene, won’t like that. Anyway, the bag of beef something or others are to chew on. Much better than a turkey thigh bone, as I am told by another reader. These dissolve, whatever they are. Yikes!

May the Lord continue to bless you all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception, Virgin Mother of God, of the Prince of the Most Profound Peace.

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2012/12/02 · 08:58

Chicken benefactors (blech! edition) and other matters of great, shall we say, of blazing import

F.C. in Payette, Idaho, sent in some Chunky Chicken Caviar! (blech!) @ 3/4 pounds each bag.

chunky chicken caviar 1

The first thing to note: **NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. I am reminded of the boxes I am told arrive in the kitchens of our prisons. They are marked “Not Fit For Human Consumption.” There’s a reason for that, by the way.

chunky chicken caviar 2

Here are the ingredients. The first refers to the common house fly. Blech! Super yummy for chickens!!!

chunky chicken caviar 3

All that protein, making for fat meat hens and good egg production, also makes for a whiff of “fresh” country air! But that’s O.K. I’m used it by now.

O.K. I just took some from a bag and mixed it with the scratch feed. I refrained from opening the bag with my teeth. Don’t do that. When you take some out with your fingers, you’ll realize that mashed up fly carcasses are rather mushy, and rather smell like rotting fly carcasses! Mmmm mmm good! say the chickens! No wonder Satan is called Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, in Sacred Scripture. Flies like death. But chickens eat it all right up, taking good out of evil. Chickens are like that. I think everyone should have chickens, in the country or in the city. TEOTWAWKI events and situations do occur, after all.

Note to I.R.S.: F.C. sent this in completely unsolicited. I never heard of such a thing as Chunky Chicken Caviar before, but I happily give it a free plug. Click on Santa Cluck to go to their rather extensive website. Not sure about the -istas bit, as I’ve had some terrible experiences with that, but we’ll let that go. Just know that at that website they sell even things like chicken poop lip balm…

mypetchicken

O.K. Now. Having said that… and as it says on the Benefactors! page, it remains to be said that there are those wonderful readers or those who have only recently stumbled upon the blog, who ask how it is that they can force a non-solicited donation on the hermitage. One way, if you are in the USA, is to make out a check to GEORGE DAVID BYERS.

GEORGE DAVID BYERS
102 COLLEGE STATION DRIVE
SUITE 3, PMB 233
BREVARD, N.C. 28712 U.S.A.

If it is a care package or something from Amazon.com, etc., and you need to enter a phone number on the form, use that of the U.P.S. Store (United Postal Service Store), in Brevard, N.C., U.S.A., which is my shipping address: (828) 883-4701. That’s not my personal phone number!!!

Should you wish to see what I’m reminding myself to get, see my Amazon wishlist:

(1) Click on the wishlist logo to the left. That will take you to the generic Amazon Wishlist page.

(2) Type ” Byers George D ” in the “Find someone’s list” box. Yikes!

Just as a reminder system for myself, I’ve added a few things to the wishlist, including sanctuary candles, which I’m out of. Not a good situation. I’m burning votive candles that F.K. provided. But that’s not a long term solution, nor even a short term solution.

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2012/12/01 · 00:01

Non-Fundraising at Holy Souls Hermitage: No! Don’t do it! No more, sir! Take the bowl and spoon back too!

I’ve decided to let you know how much, in any given month, anyone may force upon me — if anyone, if anything — despite all my tantrum like protestations (which I provide, with explanations, on the Benefactors! page.

This first thermometer, depicted just below, will be placed over on the sidebar before it scrolls off the front page. The image shows the present state of the December Thermometer: zero! (Could anyone expect differently in view of my protestations, in view of the desired goal being zero?)

Note, in fact, that the thermometer, a classic way to encourage donations, is, because of my protestations not to receive any gifts, not only set to zero for the beginning amount at the bottom, but is also set to zero for the desired amount up at the top. Hah! Those zeros will never change. Nor will the mercury rise. But — as some atheists in Canada would have it — should anyone punch me unconscious, and then stuff ten bucks in my shirt pocket, proving that the gift was against my protestations — you’ll then see an amount figure just above the bottom zero reflecting what was given. That may change as the month proceeds, if there are any more gifts for that particular month. That would be unwishful thinking, I know.

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2012/11/30 · 18:22

Laudie humor (HAH!), K of C 4th*, benefactors, spiders & florae for the Immaculate Conception

Ooooooo! What’s that you’re eating there? Yummy for sure!

laude2

I’m hungry! I’m hungry! I’m hungry! Can I have some? Pleeeeeeeeeaaase!

laudie 1

AAAAAggghhh! Blech! Yuck! Waaah! What IS that? Blech!

laudie 3

“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!

spider

Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home! I did NOT eat that spider! Nor did Laudie!

  • Some good things did come in by way of a thoughtful benefactor, however. Some special Christmas chocolate (already!) and some Mystic Monk coffee. Thanks go to C.W. for forcing this gift to the hermitage upon me, against all my protestations. I love the addition of the ox and donkey next to the manger. Very appropriate. Our Holy Father agrees. I’ll have to think about getting that most recent book of his, which covers the infancy narratives in the Gospels…

chocolate

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.

  • Thanks go to J.A., who sent in… something very sweet and yummy, truly. Thank you! And, there’s a reusable tupperware tub included. Very handy, that.

bars

  • The neighbor was insisting that I transfer my lifetime 3rd and 4th degree memberships in the Knights of Columbus to the local councils in Brevard, where he’s a 3rd degree member, and the nearest 4th degree crowd, which is way down in Hendersonville. I just got back this response from the 4th degree. I guess this means I’m a practical Catholic as they put it.

KofC 4th Degree

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.

  • Thanks go to T.P.F. & R.L.F. for their regular gift to the hermitage. Very kind of you.
  • Thanks go to Mr & Mrs G.E. for their regular gift to the hermitage. Very thoughtful. Included was a card, the transcription of which is 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.

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.

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2012/11/29 · 12:32

A test canvas for the baldacchino for Holy Souls Hermitage: a preparatory exercise in being a soldier in the Church Militant (Ecclesia Militans)

L.T. has sent in a picture of a small test canvas. You’ll note the deadly serious, militant insistence of  the expression of the Holy Spirit, whose work of sanctification among us is to forgive our sins and have us formed into being members of the Body of Christ, who, as we read in Genesis 3,15, is The Soldier in this Church Militant.

That Holy Spirit, the inspiration of the martyrs, is about to swoop with lightning speed into the soul of L.T.’s eldest son, who is holding that test canvas above, and who is in his preparatory time preceding the reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation. What a fright! What a joy!

When I was teaching “upper-level” catechists for the Archdiocese of New York, the idea many had was that the Sacrament of Confirmation is a mere psychological affirmation of the Holy Spirit on the part of the candidate, a statement to the world, if you will, that he now chooses the Catholic Church over against atheism or whatever.  Rubbish.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is that sanctifying grace lifting the soul in its own particular manner into the life of the Church. Confirmation doesn’t merely make the grace of Baptism flourish. Baptism is well able to have the candidate live in the life of the Holy Trinity. Confirmation doesn’t merely make the grace of Holy Communion flourish. Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is well able to bring us heart to Heart with Himself.

Confirmation, like Baptism and Holy Orders, provides the soul with an eternal character: once baptized, always baptized; once a priest, always a priest (even if “laicized”); once confirmed, always confirmed.

With Confirmation, one is marked out eternally as a soldier of Christ in this Church Militant, the merits of which, the love of which, one will bring into heaven, just as Christ Jesus bears the wounds on His risen body, in His hands and feet, in His side… His Sacred Heart.

With Confirmation one is invited by Christ Jesus to be on the Cross, to lay down one’s life for others, to embrace the entire Mystical Body of Christ, all those souls of whatever time or place, who, by the intercession of our very lives, will be encouraged to be on the way to heaven that much more.

The ferocity of this love! A seven-fold Yikes!

Now, here’s a detail of that detail of the test canvas. Note that has been “edited” just a bit, regarding the thickness of the lines.

Thinner or thicker, that is the question!

I opt for thinner, sharper, more ferociously clear, intensely fiery!

I think that if Bernini’s window didn’t have to have such a heavy supporting framework for the alabaster, he would have opted for something a bit more on the lines of a painting. However, I’m leaving this to the inspiration of L.T., the extraordinary artist of the Holy Spirit.

* * *

There are plenty of series on the sidebar of http://holysoulshermitage.com and I think I just might add one or two more, on the ferocious gifts of the Holy Spirit, and on the ferocious fruits of the Holy Spirit.

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2012/11/25 · 16:56

Progress on the baldacchino for Holy Souls Hermitage

Right now, this is what the situation above the altar looks like:

This doesn’t quite match what is happening below, with the altar itself:

I thought that a baldacchino was in order. Really, a 4′x8′ painting that would run the length of the window and then angle up to the decline of the roof at what will probably end up being a 30 degree slope. This was the design I proposed, it being that this image of the Holy Spirit in Bernini’s alabaster window above the cathedra of Saint Peter in Saint Peter’s Basilica over at the Vatican says much about the purpose of Holy Souls Hermitage.

In situ:

Readers will remember that L.T., wife, mom, SAR agent and talented artist, volunteered with enthusiasm. She writes in with some notes on progress on the baldacchino:

* * *

Hello Father!

Blessed Feast of Christ the King to you!

As you know, we have been waiting on a projector to borrow from school to help transfer the image to the canvas. The sweet teacher who was trying to coordinate it for me works as a Spanish teacher and is the de facto IT specialist. She was hoping to replace and recalibrate a couple of the spare projectors that are used with the computer and quickly loan one to me for a couple of days (she was apologetic that I couldn’t keep it very long) – but between hurricane Sandy and the normal duties she covered, she just couldn’t get to it. She told me she was beginning to worry that she would not be able to help me after all – and right at that point, someone came to the school and donated several old school overhead projectors. She immediately thought of me and called to see if one of those would work. Absolutely! As we were wheeling it out to my truck, I was chatting with her about the project and she just beamed, “God provides!” How good is our Lord, who knows of our every need. Now, since these are not in high demand and she has many extras, I do not have to worry about a quick return and will have access to it if needed down the line in the project.

Armed with a transparency and projector, we moved furniture and stretched out the cord, backing it up until the picture filled the canvas. I stood very still for a very long time, just absorbing it. I’ve been looking at the VERY. LARGE. blank white canvas on my wall for this past week and I had almost forgotten what it will look like. I stood so still for so long my husband finally broke the silence. “What are you thinking? Are you going to be able to do this?”

The sillohettes of the angels in the original “framing” of Bernini won’t be in the final painting for the Baldacchino. The angels won’t mind at all, since, in the hermitage, there are two stained glass angels to either side of the tabernacle.

My heart leaped and I blurted out, “Yes! This will work!” And that is exactly what I was feeling, looking at the picture – joy and gratitude for the blessing to be able to be an instrument in this way.

We turned off the light and my meticulous husband went to work one last time with help from my oldest son – finding the center of the canvas top, bottom and sides and exact center. He is the reason that the picture is aligned so perfectly – he is CDO (its like OCD but with the letters in alphabetical order, as they should be…).

Night fell – our little boy was in bed and asleep – it was time. Prayers, deep breath – and I started to trace the lines for the image.

It was a wonderfully soothing process – I was either praying or listening to “Be Still My Soul” – a song that has been speaking to my heart for several weeks now.

I was joined in this part by my oldest son who has an artistic bent himself.

The picture is hung mid-wall and as large as it is, there are several places that to draw we had to be on our knees – and it was absolutely the “right” position for the work. It really lent an air of this being one big prayer. In fact, at one point in the drawing, when I was tracing a very short, straight line for a section of the alabaster, my husband came in and shared a headline from the news – and (as you might imagine these days) I immediately lost my peace – and the line showed it – my worst, most crooked line of the night!

We shared a good laugh over that and have agreed that the painting is a “no news” zone – must keep our peace when working on it. :-)

* * *

I’m speechless, L.T. Thank you. Thank you all.

May the Lord Jesus, King of kings, Lord of Lords, the Prince of the Most Profound Peace, send powerfully the Holy Spirit in the hearts of you and yours, according to the perfect intercession of the spouse of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ Immaculate Mother.

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2012/11/24 · 08:05

Father George privileged to be “doing time” with the Great Pornchai “Super-Max”imilian Moontri

A package arrived at Holy Souls Hermitage from the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. It’s from Pornchai. What could it be? Let’s investigate. Continue reading →

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2012/11/18 · 18:50

Thanks to benefactors! (Some intentions, some books, a care package, a certain Laudie)

  • Pentecost TLM Lourdes 2009

    Thanks go to B.F., who requested a novena Masses for three priests, all very much alive. The entry on the Mass Page looks like this: Friday, 15 March through Saturday, 23 March, 2013, a novena of Masses will be offered for Father M.V., Father C.B., and Father T.H., all very much alive, at the request of B.F. If you would like to have Masses offered for priests or bishops, drop me a line at holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com. Just priests and bishops, please, though there are some few exceptions!

  • Thanks go to Mother L., over in the Eternal City, who sent in this volume on one of the Church’s most outrageously great missionary priests to Africa. Hmmm. Africa. I think that there’s a prophesy in there somewhere! Anyway, yes… If I Lived A Thousand Lives – St Daniel Comboni’s Journey to Holiness by Vittorio Moretto. I’ll have to see if I can’t read this later tonight.  Mother L. also sent in a great recipe for Minestrone soup. Great! I have a terrible, terrible mental block for cooking. Not good, or perhaps good, for a hermit. I’ll have to see if I can make this, however. Thanks, Mother!
  • Thanks go to anonymous by way of Wholesalers Remainders Com LLC for sending in a volume of TAN Books and Publishers, a.k.a., Saint Benedict’s Press. I’ve always loved TAN books. What I received was Thoughts of the Curé d’Ars. That will go in the chapel of the hermitage. Very thoughtful. Thank you. Just to say. You got the address wrong. It’s 102, NOT 100, which is about 1/2 mile away!
  • Thanks go to A.L., who sent in a care package: two buckets of clarified butter (with instructions for this amazing inventions appropriate for hermits with no refrigeration except the great outdoors in the wintertime!) along with a just-add-water package of beef stroganoff. Yum!!! This changes everything, of course, in regard to cooking. I’ll have to do something about my mental block with cooking. Father Z and I are polar opposites in this regard. I hope A.L. doesn’t mind, but I’d like to relate the words of encouragement that accompanied the care package:

Whenever possible, I read your Holy Souls Hermitage website. Your words inspire, inform, guide, direct, teach. Since my first reading of it, your Emergency Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception has been of great comfort and relief, primarily because it has brought me to acceptance in understanding situations beyond my, but not God’s control.

Are you still without refrigeration? [Yes, and it will stay that way. Also, no TV, no plumbing... at all... one of those hermit things!] It’s my hope this small care package will help. Just recently I learned of this clarified butter product that may fill a need. So, without consulting you in advance and despite any protestations or possible rejections you may wish to assert regarding this donation, I’m mailing these samples to you. The dinner is for a time when frightful hunger, depletion of energy, of scarcity[ of time are visited upon you. Both items have long shelf lives.

With many thanks and prayers for all you accomplish through your life of prayer, hard work, study, and sacrifice in God's name. [Believe me: I fall way, way, way short of all that I should do. Lord, have mercy! Should I make it to heaven, I think everyone in heaven will laugh with joy, exclaiming with astonished faces, "You!?!? We were praying for you, but hardly expected to see you here. Praise the Lord for His goodness and kindness even for you!" -- Hah! That's my hope!]

P.S. Please give Laudie an extra petting for me. It’s a joy she came your way and you could take her in. Such a lovely companion! [O.K. I did that. Well, I scratched her between her shoulder blades. That makes her roll over instantly. At which point, I toss her lightly into the air. She hits the ground running a billion miles an hour, in every which direction, almost crashing into trees, or using them as launching pads, bouncing from one to the next, only to race by me just as fast, again and again. I'm surprised she doesn't knock some of the trees down. Then she comes back for more. Hah! What a distraction. But, if you look at her picture, it's as if she has no personality at all... or am I wrong on that? Hah!]

If I remember, on 1 December, I’ll put up a donation thermometer set to $0.00 for the start of the month with a projected goal of… of… you guessed it! — $0.00. Hah! That way, you’ll know how much you’ve forced on me totally against my will and despite all my tantrum like protestations, as explained on the Benefactor’s Page.

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

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