Dead tired with sorrow, hearts ripped out of them, carrying the weight of the entire universe, hardly able to see at that early hour, not least because of the tears streaming from reddened eyes, walking past the cross to the tomb…
Luke 24,6 – Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?
SURREXIT DOMINUS VERE! ALLELUIA!
For the lyrics in Latin and English: Continue reading
An icy, icy, icy morning on Holy Souls Mountain. 26 January 2013
To this day, I can very much sense the presence of the angels in the hermitage and on Holy Souls Mountain, especially when departing or arriving. I think we can all recognize the presence of the angels, which is very much like the presence of Christ. That presence of Jesus is to be noticed as that bond of charity in all friendship which is stable amidst the ever-changing myriad of circumstances, so that we recognize that it is in Him that we live and move and have our being, although we are, at the same time, taking in by way of our senses all that which is presented to us in this world provided to us with such tender solicitation for our welfare.
Unchanging stability on the one hand, ferociously changing, must be taken care of circumstances on the other. Add to this our weakness before His strength, and we have the extreme sport of life, no? Rather mirthful, in the Chestertonian sense. The joy of the Holy Spirit. We are just so inept, but He holds us close to His Heart. I love that. The angels, of course, want nothing more than to encourage us to be in all out reverence before Jesus, what I call humble thanksgiving. Angels, mind you, are rather ferocious, and are patient with us only inasmuch as they see the work of our Lord within our lives.
With them around, we are reminded that we really, really, really want to be about doing the will of our Lord in our lives, staying away from sin, and being an ever simple child of God. Are we wretched as infernal hell without grace? Sure. And it is in knowing that that the joy of the Holy Spirit is all that much more enhanced. We know more just how good and just how kind Jesus is.
Meanwhile, Laudie is having a good time of it, watching me take a picture of her below the wood stove on a particularly icy-cold day. I suppose that she put on her donkey ears in order to enjoy listening to the fire crackle and pop just above her. A rather comforting noise, that. I’m wrong, of course. She’s ever attentive to noises outside, and jumps to attention wanting to go out at the first sign of possible trouble, like little branches burdened with ice breaking off and falling to the ground. And out she goes in full protection mode. Dogs, along with everything else, are a sign of God’s love for us.
* * *
Meanwhile again, with the whole heavenly court all about on Holy Souls Mountain, and right in the hermitage (just as they are everywhere, interceding for us all, especially those like me who are sinners), I am reminded of sitting in the back of a chapel, in the corner, in the dark shadows, not to be seen, in an ever so ancient monastery in Italy very many years ago. The chapel was in two parts, separated by a massive iron grille, behind which was the choir for the cloistered nuns. One of the nuns had a habit (sorry for the pun), when she was looking for another nun, of racing through the choir, from one side to the next, calling out, “C’è nessuno?” which means, “Is there nobody here?” hardly waiting for an answer, but racing on her way. I wanted Jesus in the tabernacle to startle her one day by saying to her, “Yes, I AM here.” Yikes! A good lesson that would be for all of us, no?
* * *
Today is the day after the ice-storm. No power lines down, but there is still ice everywhere, at least in these parts of the mountains. I went out to let the chickens out, and to throw them a bit of scratch feed to get them going for the day. As I looked in wonder at the icy beauty around me… CRASH!!! There I was, in a heap, sliding down Holy Souls Mountain just a bit, scratch feed everywhere. Hah! A good lesson, that.
We are all in danger of falling into sin one way or another at any time. We start not paying so much attention to Jesus, how He is drawing us to Himself, and because of that, with less agility of soul, we start not to recognize how we are paying too much attention to anything and everything apart from Jesus. CRASH!!! A fall. And we wondered how that happened. And then it is time for confession.
Today’s Saturday, a good day for confession in a church not far from you. Spend a little time with Jesus. He is there. He is Someone. He does love us. The angels are encouraging us. If your priest has made time to hear confessions, encourage him by going to confession. You might just save his soul in doing so.
Meanwhile, yet again, I am reminded of a horrific ice storm in Lourdes, when I was a chaplain some years ago. I was headed down to hear confessions when… CRASH!!! Down I went. And I was paying attention! We can be just that inept, that weak. And then, crash and crash and crash again. Fully five times. No broken bones, but I was a total wreck by the time I got to the confessions chapel. I was wishing I had had some ice-cleats. But, in the spiritual life, there’s nothing that can help us like Jesus Himself grabbing us and lifting us up. The sun came out in Lourdes, and all was well again. Jesus also shines on our souls, and then we rejoice exceedingly.
Filed under ad orientem, angels, Catholic, Confession, Just me, Weather
Laudie-dog is the most gentle, friendly, silly, clutzy, enthusiastic, sleep-all-day, full of energy, block-headed, smart as a tack dog you would ever want to have around.
Also, she just doesn’t bark, ever, which is a blessing. Well, she almost never barks. She only barks at zombies.
The other night, say about midnight, just when I’m ready to go to bed, she perks up. She hears something, something going bump in the night, something scary.
I’ve never, ever seen her do this. She had to go outside N O W ! ! ! She was in full attack mode. Growling, barking, howling, snorting, grunting, more growling, chasing, confrontational challenging of some monster, running back to the hermitage to circle it and see if I was still alive, threatening whatever it was the whole time, and then back in attack mode, keeping at bay, away from the hermitage, whatever it was.
And whatever it was circled the hermitage perhaps twice over a space of about 45 minutes, at a distance of about a hundred yards or so, with Laudie keeping up the assault of barking and growling and threatening the whole time, checking on me to see if I was alive about every five minutes or so, absolutely frantic for my welfare.
What a great Laudie-dog!
I’m guessing it was not a bear or even my favorite wolf, or one of the many coyotes, as that is not their behavior at all. Once they have domestic dogs after them, they just get annoyed and leave. They know better than to stick around what with so many hunters looking to kill them. This was not a hunter, as there were no accompanying dogs.
This was, therefore, a zombie, sometimes in the National Forest, which is fine and dandy, but sometimes on private property, which is a no-no in these parts. Circling the hermitage in this way, especially at night, would be extremely difficult. Some places are extremely steep. There are thorned vines to trip you up. There are holes and fallen logs. There are broken pine branches gouging your eyes out. Gaghh! To do this twice, blindly, with no light, is somewhat insane. Whatever. Laudie did her job.
However, whoever it was came back today, in broad daylight. I was down the mountain a bit, but the neighbor described Laudie’s behavior, and it matched the other night. Uh-oh. Whoever it was, went away by way of the forest. Not a good sign, that.
But then the neighbor said that Laudie came chasing down the forest logging path so incredibly fast that she couldn’t stop, even though she knew she was in mortal danger because of her speed. She put on the brakes up the next ridge. Imagine a dog in full breakneck sprint down a steep hill with zero thought of stopping until it’s really way too late. Evel Knievel Laudie. She needs a parachute deployment system to slow down.
I didn’t want to take such a report too seriously, but then, in hiking it up the mountain, I saw where she tore up the path trying to slow down, perhaps one hundred and eighty feet of putting on the brakes until getting smacked down by the forest on the next ridge. The whole path was slashed with the Laudie-claw braking system.
Was she running away from a zombie? I don’t know, but Laudie can move faster than anything in Western North Carolina. That’s for sure.
Freezing rain just started, and will go on all night. So, no worries about zombies being out in such weather.
It makes me wonder whether I should consider a cc permit. Naw. I wouldn’t have the money for that anyway! Way, way, way too expensive. The Ka-Bar and the crowbar, and Laudie, are more than enough.
Seriously: I’ve heard what sounded like hammering this morning and this evening over in the forest. I wonder if someone is building a little campsite that’s somewhat permanent. We might be seeing much more of this in times to come, in which case, in these parts, I might be the chaplain to the squatters. We’ll all have to help each other.
Filed under .
Father Z at WDTPRS linked on the sidebar of HSH blog, kindly put up some pictures of first vespers for the Octave of Christmas. Present were seminarians of the Pontifical North American College. One of them in the above picture was one of my students at the Pontifical College Josephinum just before I became a hermit. Good to see he is doing well and is still on his way to the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
In the picture below, you’ll notice the bit of orange to the upper right of the Pope Benedict XVI, who is presiding at Vespers.
Just to get some perspective of that, here’s the view from the back balcony of the basilica:
A close-up of that alabaster Holy Spirit window, depicting why the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, successor of Saint Peter (a depiction of whose cathedra, or teaching chair, is below that window), is infallible when he speaks on faith and moral to the universal Church as the Vicar of Christ: The Holy Spirit!
Closer up yet:
The colors are hard to get right…
Just take note of the utterly intense and determined ferocity of love by which the Holy Spirit is swooping like any bird of prey into our hearts and souls so as to take them captive in love. He’s already slightly turned, on edge, readying Himself for the tightest grip on us, not willing to let us go, instead forming us into the image of Him who sends Him to us, Jesus, the Word of the Father. The Holy Spirit will not stop at anything, including our deaths as witnesses to His love for all of us. We need only look to Him in humble thanksgiving. This is not quietism, for this friendship is most alive!
Now then, here is some progress on the painting that will become the baldacchino for Holy Souls Hermitage. Thanks go to L.T. and her entire family for their endeavors. I only include some pictures here. More to come in future posts. This is no longer the test canvas. We’re starting the real thing:
And then…
A detail:
All the intensity of love. The eyes tell the story, of course. The talons tell the story! Yikes!
We might think that we’re just so expert at avoiding the Lord. And we are. But He knows all about it. He’s prepared. He will grab us. I love that.
Whatever the circumstances are that we will face this coming year, know that the Lord knows, and provides or permits these things for the benefit of our growth in love in view of all eternity. Have your eyes fixed on heaven, which means both love of God and ferocious love of neighbor here and now. It’s the Holy Spirit working for us, in us. He is untiring, always in zillion ways arranging this and that for us, that we might be simple children of His.
Filed under ad orientem, baldacchino, Catholic, seminarians
The original request (HERE) has revealed the good will of the readers of HSH for their priests and bishops.
It’s taking a while just to prepare the list.
All names of priests and bishops are kept confidential.
Comments are turned off for this post. Instead, send me an email:
holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com
In the memo line of the email, please write in caps: PRAYERS FOR PRIESTS.
Besides Benedict XVI, you’ve already sent in the names of…
There are…
There are those who…
There are those who are in living in conditions of…
There are those who are…
There are those who living in conditions of…
There are those who are…
There are those who
You get the idea. Send in the names! holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com, noting in the memo line: PRAYERS FOR PRIESTS
Don’t forget those who are living saints. They are by far the most attacked by Satan. Thank you for remembering them.
I was very touched that many of you noted those priests and bishops who were sacramentally instrumental in your salvation with baptism, confirmation, and confession. When I hear confessions, I always but always add a bit at the end: “And pray for me, too!” That always brings a smile and a pledge of prayer! 
The only ones I’m telling the names to already know them: our Lord Jesus, our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, our guardian angels…
I will print out a couple of copies, however. One for me in the chapel of Holy Souls Hermitage, and another which will be placed below the tabernacle.
Don’t hesitate to send in heaps of names.
Observations: Many of you have written in more than once, apologizing for having sent in the names of every priest they could think of except, for instance, a brother who is a priest, or one’s parish priest whom one sees almost daily, etc. So, include the obvious ones too!
Post script: Why this exercise of names? you might ask. Well, it’s like this… The way I look at it is that although prayers go up for all priests, living and deceased, there are certain ones that I’m sure our Lord in His providence would like to single out a bit. It is by His providence that you have visited this blog post and have chosen to send in same names for whom to pray. I just think that it’s most appropriate any way you look at it.
By the way and to the point: Part of the purpose of this name collecting is to get you to remember to pray for priests, particularly those who are close to you in any way, either positively or negatively. We priests need prayer!
Comments Off
Filed under Catholic, Prayers for Priests, priests
When I was in Lourdes as a chaplain for a couple of years, I must admit to being rather distracted, time and again, by the exclamatory words of the Immaculate Conception – now highlighted in raised gold lettering under the statue of the grotto - which are usually translated as “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Going down from the Chaplain’s house on the “zig-zag path” to the grotto to offer Holy Mass followed by adoration (from 11:00 PM until midnight, my favorite time in Lourdes), or passing by the grotto on my way to the Rosary or Eucharistic Processions, or to hear Confessions in the morning and afternoon, I would stare hard at these words. I knew I just had to hunt down some of the rapidly diminishing in number local Bigourdan speakers. You probably can’t tell it from my blog posts, but I’m a bit of a grammar freak, and these words just bothered me to no end. Sorry. I think I was born this way.
So, I went Bigourdan-speaker hunting and spoke with an elderly, retired gentleman who, though not knowing anything about grammar or spelling, was quite certain of the following, for he has lived the language. If I remember rightly, he was the legendary head sacristan who retired just days after my speaking with him.
The “què” [yes, with the grave accent, impossible in French], he said, has nothing to do with the French subjunctive. It means “je” in French (or “I” in English). I’m sure he’s correct, though I bet this derived from the subjunctive as a cultural oddity, which speaks to the humility of the locals, not wanting to put themselves forcefully forward, but always using the subjunctive for themselves.
Anyway, the “soy” is “suis” in French (or “am” in English).
“Immaculada Councepciou” is clearly “Immaculée Conception” in French (or “Immaculate Conception” in English).
The “éra” [yes, with the accute accent], he continued, is not part of a compound verb (perhaps giving us something like a presently continuing situation of a past event [and wouldn't that be interesting?]) but is rather what he called a definite article, as in “la” = ” l’ ” in French (or “the” in English). But then he backtracked and said that, in reality, “era” is the Bigourdan way of saying “elle” in French (or “she” in English), giving us something exclamatory like: “I am she: Immaculate Conception!” Wow… I can’t imagine that being said except with much joy. No wonder Bernadette ran, ran, ran to the parish priest, repeating what our Lady had said the entire way.
But then this elderly gentleman got complicated on me, saying that, in his opinion, it is not written the right way, that “Què soy éra Immaculada councepciou” is unacceptably too proper. The “éra”, he says, would be contracted into “Immaculada”, giving us this: “Què soy érimaculada councepciou”. So, not an exclamation. The pronoun was simply used over time as a definite article: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
But then, why was the phrase written the way it was written, especially if this is so unacceptable? Did the parish priest try to clean up the language a little bit, falling into a linguistic error himself? No. I doubt that. I mean, when the words ‘Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou’ were put up, wouldn’t all the locals who knew how to read know exactly what the words meant? And wouldn’t they have realized that there was a mistake if there indeed was one?
So, back to the exclamation: “I am she: Immaculate Conception!”
I should be satisfied with that, I suppose. But the accent in “éra” bothers me. The opening deadened “e” in the French “elle” would hardly develop into “é”, even if the double “ll” easily turned into an “r”. A self-proclaimed expert said that this could be a past tense verb of some kind, but that surely it was just a definite article. Given the difficulties with the “unacceptable” nature of the “éra” standing on its own, I’m guessing that it is some kind of past tense verb, giving us presently continuing action begun in the past. This would be the perfect rendition of the Greek perfect in Luke’s Gospel, where the angel says, “Rejoice, O you who stand transformed in grace” (in context, from the first moment of her vocation to be the Mother of God, from the first moment of her conception). Now, wouldn’t that be wonderful? This would be a gentle push for the Church at that time (1858) to look more closely at the Gospel, and this just a short time after the very correct definition that Mary was immaculately conceived (1854). The doctrine of Sacred Tradition is not only reflected in the Sacred Scriptures, but it is in the Sacred Scriptures themselves (not only in Luke 1,28, but also in Genesis 2,4–3,24). Mary was not only immaculately conceived, but she is still perfectly what she was when she was just conceived, to wit, the Immaculate Conception. Wonderful.
While in Lourdes, I kept asking Bigourdan speakers about the “éra”. While they admit that Bigourdan is way closer to Italian than it is to Spanish, and while they admit that however much French there is in this dialect, there really is quite a bit of Italian influence, some are adament that this is a definite article, or, at least, something along the lines of “She is”, giving us “I am she is… Immaculate Conception.” More smoothly: “I am she: Immaculate Conception.” So, does that solve the mystery? Perhaps the “definite article” did not have to be in a contracted form at that time. Moreover, the continuing action begun in the past is perfectly rendered here: “I am” is present tense, while “Immaculate Conception” hails to the time of her conception. Again, that perfectly reflects what’s happening in Luke 1,28, where we read of Mary perfectly continuing to be perfectly transformed in grace from the first instant she could begin to live her vocation to the Mother of God, that is, at her conception, her Immaculate Conception!
How very humble of Mary. Instead of pointing to her being the Mother of God, she instead emphasizes the glory of being the Mother of God, which is doing the will of God, which she did perfectly, by the way, at the time of her being immaculately conceived. She was always, from the first instant, utterly transformed in grace, just as she is today as Queen of heaven and earth, angels and men, the Virgin Mother of God assumed soul and body into heaven. It is God’s life within us that counts the most, doing his will.
You might want to click on this blog’s category “Immaculate Conception.”
/// A great seminarian wrote in the other day to say that he was offering the Emergency Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception for me (very, very much appreciated), but with some changes. He said that before and after this chaplet, on the three beads one finds by themselves on a rosary, he added the words three times each: “Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou!” He called these statements “prayers”… This seminarian is very close to Saint Bernadette. I got to thinking about that repetition of those words, and Bernadettes breathless run came to mind, from the grotto to her parish priest up the steep hill, up in town, incessantly repeating these words, “Que soy era Immaculada Councepciou!” Imagine what the parish priest would have thought with such a child, totally out of breath, utterly uneducated, stammering on his doorstep: “I am she: Immaculate Conception! I am she! Immaculate Conception! I am she! Immaculate Conception!” …. and only after just a bit explaining that this was the name of the lady she saw in the grotto. To repeat those words with the innocence of a little child, with such enthusiasm, yes, this also is a prayer. Was not Jesus, the High Priest, also Mary’s little child? Yes, by the way, He was, and is! Are we not as well? Yes, I think we are!
Filed under Immaculate Conception
I spotted this scene about a hundred yards down Holy Souls Mountain, a red oak that broke off up in the canopy of the forest and then found itself as a cross beam some fifty feet long and about twenty five feet up. Yikes!
This immediately reminded me of another scene quite a few miles down the mountain and over the way, toward Charlotte, N.C., on the property where the new Saint Joseph Monastery of Perpetual Adoration of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (of Mother Angelica fame) will be established. This is also where the new seminary for the South-Eastern United States is going to to established, please God. This picture was taken when Mother Dolores and others were out investigating the property:
So, why mention this during Advent?
Because our Lord came among us, was born among us, to die, that is, to take on the worst we could give out, death, so that He, remaining innocent, would have the right in justice to have mercy on us, to give us life in heaven after we finish the course here on earth of the just consequences of original sin. This is the greatest love ever. The cross is glorious. We boast of the cross of the Lord, of His great love.
Filed under Catholic, Poor Clares, Spiritual Life
All names of priests and bishops are kept confidential.
Comments are turned off for this post. Instead, send me an email:
holysoulshermitage using gmail dot com
In the memo line of the email, please write in caps: PRAYERS FOR PRIESTS
You needn’t say the reason for the request; that they are Roman Catholic Priests is enough. If they are removed from ministry, if they are “laicized”, whether justly or unjustly, all the more reason for prayer, right? Send me those names as well. They can be living or deceased. Holy Souls Hermitage is about helping out priests in the purgatory of this life and the next, right? Yes.
I try to limit the intentions for Holy Mass to priests and bishops, living or deceased. But don’t send Mass intentions with this round of emails. Hold off on that for a while. Right now I just want to write up a fresh list of names for whom to pray.
Of course, prayers for those priests who seem to be on top of the world, are very faithful to Holy Mother Church, the ones whom you think are the last in the world to need prayers, well… let me tell you… they are especially in need of prayer to remain close to our Eucharistic King.
If you are a priest or bishop, don’t hesitate to drop me a line requesting a prayer or two. You might then find yourself with many prayers and blessings coming your way.
May the Lord Jesus, whose majesty reigns supreme over all kings in all good governance, whose truth enlivens the prophets, the martyrs, whose charity has Him sacrifice Himself for us, as the Priest of all of us unworthy priests… may this Divine Son of God, Prince of the Most Profound Peace, continue to shower blessings upon you according to the perfect intercession of the Mother of Priests, the Immaculate Conception.
Update 5:54 AM — 4 December 2012: So far, you’ve sent in hundreds of names, beginning with our Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, gloriously reigning, the Supreme Pontiff, Benedict XVI. There is also one deacon.
Other than that, there are many Cardinal Archbishops, Archbishops, Bishops, Auxiliary bishops, Monsignors, and very many priests, both religious and diocesan and those belonging to Institutes of Apostolic Life, not to mention some hermits!
Both the living and the deceased are mentioned.
Material and formal schismatics, abusers, those who have left the priesthood, are all mentioned.
Those who happily swam the Tiber are in the intentions.
I think I see the names of some living saints in the list. Very cool. They are the most attacked by Satan. Thank you for remembering them.
I was very touched that many of you noted those priests and bishops who were sacramentally instrumental in your salvation with baptism, confirmation, and confession. When I hear confessions, I always but always add a bit at the end: “And pray for me, too!” That always brings a smile and a pledge of prayer!
The only ones I’m telling the names to already know them: our Lord Jesus, our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, our guardian angels…
I will print out a couple of copies, however. One for me in the chapel of Holy Souls Hermitage, and another which will be placed below the tabernacle.
Don’t hesitate to send in heaps of names.
Post script: Why this exercise of names? you might ask. Well, it’s like this… The way I look at it is that although prayers go up for all priests, living and deceased, there are certain ones that I’m sure our Lord in His providence would like to single out a bit. It is by His providence that you have visited this blog post and have chosen to send in some names for whom to pray. I just think that it’s most appropriate any way you look at it.
Observations: Almost no names were repeated, perhaps only myself and one other priest. I know quite a few of the priests in the list. There’s one whose name I have not seen, which is a surprise to me. Truly.
Anyway, as I say, don’t hesitate to send in heaps of names.
By the way and to the point: Part of the purpose of this name collecting is to get you to remember to pray for priests, particularly those who are close to you in any way, either positively or negatively. We priests need prayer!
The great Father Mark Kirby of Vultus fame has been at Silverstream Monastery for quite a while now, and is renovating a cottage there, which he just now wants to call Holy Souls Hermitage. Good idea! After all, what would anyone call a hermitage except Holy Souls Hermitage! I love it. Here. Of course, the Holy Souls Hermitage of yours truly is a rather more humble affair. Would that the world would be filled with Holy Souls Hermitages!
Small world. The same bishop who invited Father Mark to Ireland is the same bishop who ordained me a deacon a gazillion years ago. Also, the great Mother L., prioress in Rome, prayers for both of us. Yikes!
Filed under Catholic
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.
Filed under baldacchino, Benefactors
Firstly: read this post about Stir-Up Sunday over at WDPTRS.
Having done that, forage and gather:
Preheat discarded rectangular food service food warmer trough directly on top of wood stove to 350 degrees.
Now then. Toss in a handful of non-galvanized, non-coated nails into the that trough on the stove. That’ll keep your cookie tray just off the direct heat.
O.K. Now, smash butter and sugars together in a bucket with a stick. Crack open the freshly laid egg over this, preferrably with one hand. Give shells back to the chickens who will love you for it. Splatter in the vanilla. Get a good consistency with the yeast. Grind in the oats. Make three big cookies and arrange on baking tin, which you’ll now put over the nails inside your discarded food warmer trough. Cover. Roast until done, enjoying the fire.
Observations: Takes quite a while. That’s great, because the aromas coming from the baking cookies bring back the most pleasant memories.
Result: Mmmmmmmmm good! The yeast makes it taste great! I’ll have to patent the recipe. Why? Because the yeast also makes me want to drink a beer. Imagine, cookies that taste great with beer! But, alas! No beer in the hermitage, even though Saint Benedict said that an ale a day for the brothers was the way to go. But I could make beer as well, and sell that with the cookies. Now what would a good label be for a beer made by a hermit at Holy Souls Hermitage, a hermitage for priests? Any ideas? One day I might be able to get all the required business and charity numbers and set up shop! Hmmm… Let me think…
Comment: Even barbaric attempts are part of celebrations. Catholics know how to celebrate.
Click to enlarge the above screenshot. After this post, another visit came in from the Executive Office of the President of the United States. That usually doesn’t happen, since, if I remember correctly, that office has two subscriptions to http://holysoulshermitage.com.
I post this just for the record. Sometimes that’s important. That post perhaps has it’s own importance. Perhaps something can finally be done about abuse of that Office. Oh, and this:
Maybe some following up on this. Very cool.
Filed under atheism, politics, separation of church and state
[I'm re-posting this June 16 2012 article at the top of the blog for, well, a certain reason. Sigh. Even the WordPress crowd doesn't know how to handle this situation. What are we coming to in Amerika?]
This is the avitar of “Robert”, over at the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Pleasant, huh?
POTUS Barack Hussein Obama has stooped to a new low, hiring a team of militant hate-bloggers to attack religious freedom from the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America.
The tax-payer funded computers and offices used are but a stone’s throw from the Oval Office, precisely at 725 17th St NW:
I received what seemed to be an innocuous comment from a self-proclaimed atheist, who was wanting to know more about a nine year old’s perspective inasmuch as the faith of that little boy shut the mouths of many an atheist in one of my parishes some years ago. I would have thought this was a sincere inquiry, and was pleased to let the nine year old be a voice of reason and religion in the public square that is filled with so many atheists who are, instead, insincere. So, in view of that little boy, I answered that atheist’s comment on that post as best I could HERE.
It wasn’t very long before HSH became the object of a nefarious attack, though this was short lived:
Don’t worry, my Holy Souls Hermitage WordPress.com blog is not a fraudulent web page, and is protected by the awesome WordPress no-java-script allowed security system! So…
“Hah!” quoth I, as I set to look for possible answers as to why such a thing would happen. I took a gander at the IPv4 address of the atheist’s comment, and then did a search on a run of the mill blog stats program which is running in the background overseas for just such events as this. I easily found the IPv4, in tandem with another within the same assigned range [click to enlarge (the bits in bold are my additional notes)]:
It’s like a “look what I found and now you take care of it” situation. As it is, I found that these IPv4 addresses frequently work in tandem. Surely, thought I at first, “Executive Office of the President” meant that these athiest guys were, like, the president and ilk of the local gardening club. But, no, that wasn’t it. I did a bit more searching…
725 17th Street, NW is, in fact, the New Executive Office Building of the President of the United States of America.
But there’s more. “Hey!” quoth I. “These guys got a blog that they were trying to advertise on my blog, providing the real reason behind the comment, right? Advertising one’s website or blog is not a required field in the comment form. I visited that blog. Sigh.
All this time I was thinking that this was all on the up and up. You know, just another atheist guy on a coffee-break in the president’s office, sincerely checking out my blog, letting himself be challenged by the nine year old boy who believes in Jesus. I mean, I think I must have half the offices of the Department of Defense reading such posts as this on my blog during their coffee breaks, so, why not the White House? Wrong. Going out of one’s way to advertise a blog address from the tax-payer funded Executive Office of the President of the USA is not an incompetent mistake; it’s a calculated move, right? They are paid to be careful, to do exactly what they are told. Obama has always made it clear that there will be no dissenter in his offices.
Obama’s Executive Office’s blog is a hate-blog, filled with world class and quite violent anti-religious-freedom hate-speech, all with your tax dollars! I wonder if anyone else is getting such visits from these IPv4 addresses…
The statements made by the hate bloggers have to be taken as a threat inasmuch as they emanate directly from the Office of the most powerful political force in the world. It’s a team of hate-bloggers hired from among the ever diminishing crowd of Obama sychophants. “Robert” (the blogger’s handle), mind you, has an M.A. from Georgetown (sigh), so he must know what he’s talking about as an official spokesman for the President, right? Let’s take a look at some of the statements on the blog, with my emphases and [comments]:
This guy, this team, of the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, is out of control. And that’s what’s intended, right? The Executive Office of the President is a reflection of the Oval Office of the President.
I edited the blog address out of the approved comment, since, of course, error, as error, has no rights, particularly when error is being violent. I’m not about to point my readers to such trash as that. In this post, however, I have made an exception. If you want to see the intellectual level of these Obama sycophant lackeys, google some of the quoted phrases above. Inconsistences, contradictions, hypocrisies, really evil equivocations and out and out lying are everywhere to be seen. The subtitle to the blog, about embracing the tyranny of relativity on the most individual level says it all.
WHAT MAKES ME UPSET is the way way the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America is so willing to the use the sufferings of a little boy to advance its anti-religious freedom agenda. The POTUS hates the faith of this boy. The faith of this boy is a danger to the President, precisely because this little boy is a voice of goodness and kindness and truth and friendship. The President wants to get the voice of that little boy out of the public square, thinking that it is a danger to society to have someone like him speaking of goodness and kindness. In case you hadn’t clicked on the link above, be prepared for a shock of goodness and kindness HERE.
Obama’s hate bloggers try to parade about under cover of anonymity. COWARDS! They kick the little boy in the face and run, squealing in glee! Of course, if other branches of the government that frequently visit this blog (NNIC, USAIC, DHS, etc.) wanted to provide the names of these guilty cowards to Congress, you know, for an investigation as to why it is that tax-payers have to pay for such anti-Constitution and cowardly acts against a boy’s faith, well, they have the means to find out who was sitting at which computer when, right? Right. We’re waiting. I mean, what is this: We’re actually paying for hate-bloggers in the Executive Office of the President of the United States to frighten children? This is America? Really?
Filed under atheism, news, Persecution, politics, separation of church and state
This is the new Catholic section of one of the hundreds of local cemeteries, this being one of the larger cemeteries around, though you couldn’t tell it from this picture. In the first days of November, there’s a particularly easy plenary indulgence you can get for the Holy Souls: here.
This is the last big bit of plastic that served as a wall for the hermitage for the past year. It’s just been dropped to the ground from on high since — you guessed it — just about the last section of non-wall has been replaced with something more substantial (plywood and 2x4s).
That bit of plastic was not tossed or even put away. It’s now serving as a way to keep the kindling dry.
Kindling… Some of those branches are 4 inches thick. I’ll have to use the saw on them again to get them down to size. Here’s another pile about three times as large. I’ve yet to cover it up.
I’m distracted by a certain Laudie who thinks she can fly if she just flaps her ears fast enough.
Since she’s putting on weight, and she thinks she can fly, why don’t I just call her Dumbo after, you know…
Such distractions! I’ll have to get back to writing about Genesis. Lot’s of animals in that account as well.
Filed under Holy Souls, progress, Purgatory
L.T., who is generously going to paint the baldacchino (which will be the painting, as it’s 4 by 8 feet!) is making some good progress, well actually not her at this point. It’s her husband and young son who took charge of the stretcher bars and the attachment of the canvas. quite the project in order to relax after SAR (Search and Rescue) activities for hurricane sandy. The stretcher bars are above, and their young son is helping measure below.
Everything squared away…
O.K. So, you get the idea of how big the baldacchino will be!
Ready to stretch the canvas…
The first nerve racking staples…
The image will a representation of the alabaster window of the Holy Spirit above the Cathedra of Saint Peter in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. You can see that the smaller painting of a chickadee (also her work!) is dwarfed by the larger canvas…
From the progress email:
Hello, Father!
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks here. Sandy’s timing made us miss my husband’s 4th Degree Knight installation. The evening before we were supposed to go, he got called in to work the hurricane prep. Sigh. All in God’s time, right?
Needless to say that between the storm and his working hours, nothing happened for a while with the baldacchino. We are grateful beyond belief that we weathered the storm as well as we did – where we live we often lose power even in summer squalls so we were quite amazed that ours remained on throughout the storm. Having lived through Katrina in New Orleans, our hearts especially ache for all those in the NE who are now dazed and hurting.
The very first thing that my husband did with his first day off yesterday was to assemble the stretcher bars and mount the canvas. A lot of (to me) tedious measurements went into it’s construction. It is as square as it comes. We laugh because this is the part of the project I wanted nothing to do with – and this was the part he was eager to do. He is the meticulous, detail oriented one, and me….not so much! Apparently as you can see from the photos, my younger son is cut from the same cloth as his father – he happily helped by measuring and remeasuring throughout the entire process, cheerily exclaiming, “That looks just fine, Dada!”
The next part is attaching the canvas to the frame. Happily, my artist friend (who had the gall to move across country right before I volunteered for this – what was she thinking?!) was back in town recently and gave us a quick run down on how to pull the canvas – you start in the middle and work your way out, pulling and tugging almost in a spiral motion from the centers of the four bars to the corners – outwards and opposites, if that makes sense. Slowly, surely, the wrinkles pull out and you are left with a nice smooth surface.
The canvas is so large that we are going to mount it on the wall in our bedroom instead of trying to cobble together an easel. It has the bonus of having the best lighting in the house, a door that keeps my little “helper” at bay (until/unless he CAN be helpful), and…well…it will provide some…ah…motivation I suppose – not like I can “forget” that I need to work on the painting! The hanging has to wait until my husband comes back from the second part of his SAR training.
Once its in position, I am going to be borrowing a projector from my church’s school to enlarge the image onto the canvas. Although I have painted murals on my son’s walls before in freehand, I’m going to “cheat” and try to get the dove of the Holy Spirit as exact as possible. Alas, the projector may also entail some wait time because I was supposed to get it early next week, however, that was before Sandy came roaring in. The projector needs a bulb replaced and calibrated and the generous teacher who is lending me the projector first must tend to report cards and who knows what else that cropped up because of the storm. Understandably, a burned out bulb isn’t going to be high on her list!
So I leave you with some photos to let you see the process before the process….
God Bless!
Wow! Thanks so much, L.T., for the illustrated progress report. Not only will this make for the best baldacchino that any hermitage ever had, but it will make the baldacchino’s of the great cathedrals and basilicas around the world rather envious. Hah! We’ll show them how to do it right!
Filed under baldacchino
All Souls Day — Holy Souls Day — is the titular feast of Holy Souls Hermitage.
The hermitage is especially given over to helping priests and bishops through the purgatory of this life and the next. So, there is an emphasis this month on getting priests and bishops out of purgatory.
I’m not alone in this intention. For instance, from a priest who visited Holy Souls Hermitage recently:
May the goodness and kindness of our Lord fill your hear this All Saint Day and following into your special feast day, All Souls Day!
I will offer three Masses tomorrow. One for all the faithful departed, with particular mention of your charism and hermitage, one for those deceased in my own family, and one for the Holy Father.
Filed under Holy Souls, Purgatory
One of my gracious neighbors down the road of Holy Souls Mountain heard on the news this morning that it’s National Hermits Day.
I was called down the mountain to get a gift — against all my protestations — that tastes good while not necessarily being too good for you, which is fine with me.
All just in time before being possibly snowed or iced in — as promised by NOAA — something which is — you have to understand — welcomed by hermits.
Mark your calendars for next year. National Hermits Day falls on 29 October.
Let’s celebrate by saying a prayer for the Holy Souls (who really, really, really appreciate this) … Hail Mary…
Also, thanks go to C.W. for some Bold Hermit blend from the Mystic Monk crowd. Thank you!
Update 8:45 PM: O.K. So… The first snow flakes of the season are falling outside. Tiny flakes. Probably it won’t amount to even a dusting. But it’s a reminder to pray for those who are getting pounded North and East of here.
Filed under .
If possible, I’ll put in at least four hours a day average working on the popular version of the thesis on Genesis 2,4–3,24. Because it is such a massive project, which I’ve been delaying since the defense in the Spring of 2007. But now, with some wood under the hermitage, with the walls of the hermitage mostly up, I have no more excuses.
If I can do it, but after the Genesis project, I would like to continue with a pastoral ecumenical project regarding textual criticism of the Scriptures: It’s NOT what you might expect with words like that. At any rate…
It is significant that these things might be wrought in the Year of Faith, beginning with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. Much of what I write will reverse the idiocy of various very influential individuals at this time, and will provide resources for understanding that there is a hermeneutic of continuity in which to rejoice.
Please, accompany me in prayer with these projects. I cannot, cannot, cannot do it alone. Hermits, mind you, are never alone in the midst of Holy Church. I will provide frequent updates to encourage you to continue with the prayers. Might I recommend a prayer? Why not the same Saint Michael prayer we’ve been saying.
Filed under Catholic
One of our faithful readers has volunteered to paint a canvas which will be fit into the underside of a small baldachin for Holy Souls Hermitage, small meaning four by eight feet!
The usual image one finds on the “ceiling” of a baldachin is the Holy Spirit. I’ve chosen this detail of Bernini’s alabaster window, which is appropriately above Saint Peter’s Cathedra in Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome. The picture in this post will help our artist, as it is twice as long as it is high, so, the right proportions, but in miniature.
The picture in this post is rather on the dark side, as I wanted to get in all the detail I could. I’m hoping that the final result will be brighter.
The artist has asked me to write a bit — if I would be bold — about the “spirit” of the Holy Spirit. Hmmm…. I had better not! However, I might be able to describe a bit of what I see going on in Bernini’s work.
Note, if you will, that the dove is not precisely centered in the circle, verifiable if you look at the wingtips. Also note the ever so slight tilt of the body, itself tensed up for the upcoming violence that is about to take place. Look at the ferocious eyes, intense and intent. He’s swooping in for the kill, as a bird of prey might do. Note what, in this case, I can only call talons[!], are ready to dig deeply into the victim, to carry him off, thankfully, unto sanctification, unto truth in all charity, unto, in the case of the Holy Father, the protection of fatherly, infallible teaching of faith and morals.
The Holy Spirit, so firey in love, forms us into the image of Mary Immaculate’s Son, Jesus, as He is now, in heaven. Yet, we are still in this world. Our reception of such a grace will, in this world, have us be crucified to our fallen nature, to the world, the flesh and the devil, so that we might aptly manifest the love of our risen Lord. Christ Jesus, mind you, still bears those wounds on hands and feet and side… in His Sacred Heart. We get to know a bit of the majesty of those wounds here on this earth in all humble thanksgiving. But we have to be killed off to our egoism to be in humble thanksgiving, no? The Holy Spirit is quite ferocious, with, of course, incomparable enthusiasm.
Anyway, since prayers and Masses go up for our Holy Father at Holy Souls Hermitage, I figured that this would be the best image to have above the Altar of Sacrifice. One of the major writing projects — by far the most important one on Genesis — has much to do with the Holy Father and the Magisterium of the Church. Yikes!
Read the great article by the seminarians of the North American College in Rome here.
Jenny the Jeep made it up the mountain, even though… even though… the path up was still a bit muddy after the 8 1/2 inches of rain the other day. How is that possible, you ask? Isn’t the path up Mount Carmel, that is, Holy Souls Mountain, already way too steep even when it’s dry and conditions are perfect for climbing? Well, yes, that’s true, unless…
The trick is to balance the wood, spreading out the burden, indeed, even coming up with extraordinary ways to do this:
In this way, with a good couple hundred pounds out front, not to mention — well, I don’t even want to think how much the total weight of this wet red oak came to in the rest of Jenny — she went right up the mountain, accompanied by some rather fervent prayers to guardian angels. Another two trips like coming up. Yikes!
The Lord Jesus, Mary’s Son, carried the cross for us, redeemed us, and, please God, provides us sanctifying grace, saving us, having us hope in the grace of final perseverance, of a happy death. Yes, that’s true. However! As Saint Paul says, we are to make up what is lacking to the sufferings of Christ.
What could be lacking? He’s God! Of course, we can’t make that redemption any more perfect than it was and is. However, upon reception of such friendship with our Lord, we become so one with Him that when He goes into battle with Satan, so do we. When He lays down His life for us, being crushed by Satan even as He crushes Satan, He lays down our lives with His own as well. For we are but one with Him, His Mystical Body of which He is the Head.
How very many times He told His apostles that He must suffer and die, and then rise on the third day. How very many times He told all his disciples that we are to take up the cross and carry it, looking not at the cross, but to Him, following Him. He doesn’t want to carry the cross alone. He wants our company so that we go up Mount Calvary together. He spreads out the weight of the wood, the wood of the cross. And up we go, right up Mount Carmel.
When we see horrific, diabolical injustice, we must ask our Lord for the grace to see that Satan easily manipulates those who are not perfectly saints, that we are not fighting them, but rather Satan, and that, indeed, we are not fighting Satan, but our Lord is, and He would have us with Him in this battle.
In the battle, the wood, the torture, physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, is to be carried up the mountain, but it takes spreading out the burden.
Padre Pio carried the weight of diabolical injustice wrecked on innocent priests, innocent himself. Jesus also carried this cross of being slandered.
There are many, ridiculously, betraying fear, who immediately say that our Lord, unlike Padre Pio and so many others, was not accused of sexual misconduct, as if suffering such a slander, as if undergoing such an injustice for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens, would not be proper for our Lord. What idiocy.
Instead… instead… our Lord carried all the injustice, all the weight of the wood of the cross that we carry, as if it were an injustice that happened to Him: “What you have done to the least of these, you have done to Me.”
Padre Pio carried the wood of the cross, and was nailed to the cross, helping to bear the burden that all of us should be carrying.
We receive from Christ and those who are with Him, like Padre Pio. However, we can’t just receive (for then, we don’t really receive anything), but we must shoulder the weight of the wood as well. We don’t have the strength, but Christ does, and we are to look to Him, not to ourselves.
It’s interesting that of stigmata of Padre Pio included the shoulder wound of Christ carrying the cross. Padre Pio said that this was a most painful wound, the shouldering of the weight of the wood. But we can shoulder this wood of the cross as well, looking to Jesus. And up we go, right up the mountain.
They didn’t graze the tops of the towering white pines this time. They were up a respectable two or three hundred yards. They weren’t moving fast, so the turbulent chopping noise was LOUD! This, for me, is always great to see. HSH supports our military. Zulu Cobras. Very cool.
Filed under Military
Father Gordon MacRae (about) wrote an excellent article defending Father Benedict Groeschel (here). He also sent in a comment via email for another defense of Father Groeschel written by yours truly (here). I did add Father Gordon’s comment there, but I thought I would put it in it’s own post at the top of the blog. As you read through that post, know that EWTN also read it (here).
“I am so glad that Father Byers has taken this up. We – the entire Church – owes a debt of respect and gratitude to Father Benedict Groeschel. It is distressing to say the least that EWTN has allowed him to go into the night under an undeserved dark cloud, but it is an abomination that they have also apparently removed all evidence that he was ever associated with EWTN. The greatest insult here is not to Father Groeschel, but to Mother Angelica under whose leadership such a thing could never have happened. We also owe it to EWTN to call them to task on this. The Lord did not build this important television network just so that its administration can practice a spirit of cowardice. I hope all readers will send Father Byers’ post and my own at These Stone Walls to EWTN, and to other Catholic media. Father George, you are a man of courage and principle.
With blessings to all,
Father Gordon MacRae”
Get that? The greatest insult is to Mother Angelica herself. I think Father MacRae is on to something here. It’s tempting for me to speculate about how this could possibly be the case. Let’s just say that Mother was a firey autocrat (and one would expect no less), but as soon as you get others involved, they find this modus operandi most distressing, aggravating, and can’t wait for it to stop. Being rid of one of Mother Angelica’s best friends and advisors would surely make a statement, wouldn’t it? Just asking. There’s no other reason to be so crass as the leadership of EWTN has been.
To EWTN: Put Father Groeschel’s stuff back on line. Mother Angelica did not have a spirit of cowardice, did she? Don’t forget, you’re resting on her laurels, not your own. In protecting your own spirit of political correctness to the naysayers that there will always be, you are not protecting EWTN, just yourselves, but even what you think you have will be taken away from you, will it not, if you continue in this fashion? No one wants cowards. Really.
Holy Mass was offered just as the first glimmerings of hope that dawn might be breaking soon visited Holy Souls Hermitage.
However, right after Holy Mass, this ad orientem view was to be seen of this blue ridge mountain rain forest.
I looked closer outside, and, sure enough, there were mist clouds hugging Holy Souls Mountain, as usual. The humidity always hangs around 99%. The forest floor is almost always soaking wet, a mat of rotting pine needles and dead trees, even while that which is alive reaches to the heavens, still full of sap, still green.
Taking a closer look… yep! It’s a rain forest all right:
I’m guessing that there are some prayers going up for me, since I all of a sudden seem to have the gumption these days to do what I haven’t done for a very long time, which is to work on the hermitage. Perhaps it’s also a fear that this winter will be very long and very cold indeed. I took a gander at the plastic high up on one “wall” and tore it down, this being the result early this morning:
Not very weather-proof, you say? You would be right on that. So, after a bit of prestidigitation with hammer and saw, this was the result:
That will tend to keep the heat from the wood-stove inside just a bit more efficiently. The first winter in the breezy loft of the barn, and the second winter under unrolled tacked-up polyurethane, and now, the third winter coming up, what with some actual wind-breaking construction, all make and will make for unique experiences of the great outdoors such that, this winter, one might even be tempted to call it indoors!
Amidst a day of sunshine, then rain, then sun, then rain, etc., this was to be seen in the evening looking to the West of the hermitage:
And this was spotted while putting the chickens away for the night. Praise the Lord for all His creatures, great and small!
Did I mention I also saw two lynx together today, about 200 yards from the hermitage? Totally cool. I’m guessing that they are this years litter of the lynx I saw last year in almost the same place.
I write this post with a somewhat heavy heart. It seems that the security of the property on which the hermitage is situated might be a bit tenuous. More news on that coming up on 30 August, 2012. We shall see. A Hail Mary for that intention, please: Hail Mary…
Filed under progress
Scroll down for new posts.
As the comment box says, this is The General, and he said, famously, “I shall return!”
Back again. Good to be back.
Filed under .
$0.00 so far for APRIL 2013 for Holy Souls Hermitage. That's surprising. The starting amount is $0.00 and the desired goal is $0.00. If I actually solicited donations, I would have to be a 501(c)3, which requires paying into the Obamacare abortion insurance program. Catholics need not apply. So, if you force donations on me, well, that's up to you. I explain it best on the Benefactors! page. I'm very thankful for what I have, and content with whatever there is. I thank all who have forced donations on Holy Souls Hermitage against all my protestations. I pray for you all daily, and offer Holy Mass for you about once a month.
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
Comments policy: Laudie eats “rabbits” for breakfast
Sometimes some things need to be stated explicitly: I think Father Z has a lot of wisdom when it comes to comments policy for blogs. I’ll adopt those, especially the bit about rabbits. Laudie-dog eats rabbits for breakfast. The rabbits that can sometimes come to the hermitage comments box look more like rats. But Laudie-dog doesn’t mind that at all.
I would add that there there are many blogs out in the blogosphere. I welcome all here. But, if you really don’t like it here at all, and can do nothing but complain… I mean… — Hey! — you are free to go elsewhere. Particularly uninvited are trolls (even those who don’t think of themselves as such), even those who are in the Executive Office of the POTUS.
Share this:
5 Comments
Filed under .
Tagged as comments policy, HSH, laudie