  HAPPY FEAST OF OUR LITTLE SISTER ST. THERESE!!!!! If you're just joining us - or if you feel like you've been here forever - whether you're the worker who woke at dawn or the one who slept in til noon, welcome and happy feast! We hold Jesus to His promises here, and today we're planning on a feast day celebration (an octave, or a triduum at least) to reward us above anything we can ask . . . but first we need to ask, according to the wishes of our dear brother, best friend, and the Spouse of our souls. I don't mean we have to ask what He wants us to ask, but simply that He wants us to ask, and the bigger the requests the better so our True Love can show off His love for us. Let's get to it, then, and finish our novena to St. Therese. We've been remembering all your intentions - even the ones you've forgotten! - so no worries, let's just pray. O Little Therese of the Child Jesus Please pick for me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, please ask God to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands: for Marcel to obtain a miracle for Suzie, for us all to become great saints, and for the countless other miracles we need for ourselves, for those we love, and for the whole wide world. St. Therese, help us to always believe as you did, in God’s great love for us, so that we may imitate your “Little Way” each day. Amen. And now for a word from our sponsor: I feel my mission is about to begin; my mission of making others love God as I love Him: of giving them my Little Way. I shall send down a shower of roses. I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. - St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, big sister of little Marcel Van We have a lot of feasting to do, so I'm going to get down to business and offer a few roses from our sister Therese on this opening day of her festivities, and then send you on your little way. Tomorrow, October 2nd, is the feast of the guardian angels (thank you, dear friends!), and then the next day is Therese's feast again. My impression is that Holy Mother Church gave us two liturgical calendars (the old and new) so we could feast to our hearts' content. Cupcakes, anyone? Roses? Miracles? On the miracle front: This year has been a year of miracles for sure. I wish I could have a cup of tea with each of you and just listen to the litany of miracles you could recite for me, and if you weren't seeing them, I would love to laughingly point them out. I can't wait till Heaven! But then again, the point of the miracle we've been asking for lately is precisely to keep me from Heaven, or rather, in the words of St. Catherine of Siena which a dear friend now has as her motto under her signature (and so happily I get to read it frequently), since "All the way to Heaven is Heaven," we've been asking that I stay on this little way of Heaven with y'all, and that's precisely what's been happening. I went to City of Hope! And guess what? It was really and truly, if not a city (since I went to the satellite office in South Pasadena), at least a medical building FILLED WITH HOPE! I met the wonderful Dr. Paz (Dr. Peace, which makes me feel like I'm in a Trollope novel), and wow did he do his job well. He began with a friendly, "What can I do for you?" and before he ended with a kind and sincere, "Did I answer all your questions?" he ordered more tests and told me the words every blonde (and even those of us with recent highlights) wants to here: "There's a good chance you won't have to do chemo." Hooray for Marcel and all the little miracles he and Therese procure to keep us from losing our minds and sometimes even from losing our hair! I have been keeping up with a few of you in terms of the miracles we're asking on your behalf, and let me tell you, Heaven seems stingy (that's stinge-ee) lately, but I think we must be looking at it all wrong. I can't remember if I told the joke here recently, but I heard it in the Reagan movie and it sums up this life on earth. Our Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus of Avila said it this way after falling off the back of a cart (how they rode in the old days) and into the mud: "No wonder You have so few friends, if this is how you treat them!" Reagan's words, the punchline of a joke, were from the mouth of a little boy whose father found him digging in a pile of manure on Christmas morning. When asked what he was doing, the boy replied, "I know there's a pony in here somewhere!" Sheesh, it's so true! When Mary and Joseph were the perfect parents of Jesus, what did the little imp do but make them search 3 days to find them in His Father's house?! And now when we're trying so hard to be what He wants us to be, or at least doing what He told us to and ASKING so we can RECEIVE, what does He do but hide, and sometimes it seems like He's hiding in a pile of manure, or at least dumping us in a mud puddle before He offers us a hand to lift us out. Sorry for the vivid images that are so unfeastlike, but one of Therese's mysterious (to me) sayings, taken from her counsels to and reminiscences of her novices, goes like this: "Do you know my Sundays and feastdays? They are the days when the good God tries me the most." I don't know if she means that when God tries her the most, that's a feast day for her - and if that's what she meant I find it singularly unhelpful. Just for the record, I like a feast to be a feast and, I've said it before, I definitely like a kiss to be a kiss. Mother Teresa (and if you're young, that's St. Teresa of Calcutta to you, but some of us have photos with her, and we like to call her Mother, hahahaha). As I was saying, Mother Teresa spread this terrible rumor that suffering is a kiss of Jesus. Can we just reframe that? I don't like to overquote Myth Busters, but let me just reject her reality here and substitute my own. A kiss is something delightful. A kiss is the symbol and reality used by God in Scripture (His love letters to us) and in life to express affection, sweetness, joy, and love. Let's not ruin that with this whole suffering business! I do understand that suffering is inevitable. I've been in 12 step groups where some have said, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." I disagree. It seems to me that pain and suffering both happen, just as it seems to me that God has made us for everlasting joy with Him in Heaven, and He's also intended for that Heaven to begin on earth. "All the way to Heaven is Heaven" comes from another Doctor of the Church, and since we can have Jesus with us - we do have Jesus with us - on earth, on the way to Heaven, so we have Him who is Heaven with us now, and so we have Heaven now. And suffering? Well, darn if God didn't give us free will, and that does tend to get us into trouble. We - I use the royal we of the children of God - made a pretty silly decision in The Garden, and we're still paying for it. But the glorious Truth is that the Second Person of the Trinity became incarnate, He took on flesh, so that He could pay for us, and ever since then things have been much better. I like to look at it according to the sage advice God gave us through His consoling prophet, Isaiah: Behold, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?—Isaiah 43:19 To get back to St. Therese, wonderfully enough Pope Pius XI who beatified and canonized her and called her the star of his pontificate (not just the rock star, but the guiding star) had a cute nickname for her. He called her "Omen Novum" and it's on a book she's holding in the huge statue of her that you pass as you walk (or drive) to the her Basilica in Lisieux. Shall we go see it together someday? My future daughter in law (talk about miracles of grace!) will be working at a wonderful Catholic pilgrimage company, and I bet we can set something up. Ah, Lisieux! Ah, Therese! Why are you an "Omen Novum"? What in the world did Pius mean? It was in a speech the day after her canonization in the spring of 1925 that he coined the phrase, and he was saying she was a New Omen, a new sign of God's love for us, and a portent of His future gifts and graces. Having seen how many roses she had already sent - miracles, favors, and actual roses, thousands of which festooned St. Peter's for the canonization, and some of which had fallen at his feet after the homily - it wasn't a big prophecy for him to predict she'd keep sending them! But more than her miracles of healing, reconciliation, conversion, and so on, there is The Miracle of her Little Way. I never tire of repeating the story about her sister Celine who was chastised in the process of the Process. The Church officials interviewing and taking depositions from those who knew Therese were asking Celine why she thought Therese should be declared a saint. When Celine said it was so her Little Way of Spiritual Childhood could be shared with the whole world, they got exceedingly snippy and told her to STOP, cease, and desist such talk of a "new way" because that was exactly the kind of thing that sunk a cause. Celine, that "salad with vinegar" as Therese called her, snapped back, "Well then don't canonize her! If I can't talk about her Little Way, there's no point in talking about her at all!" My translation here is loose, but that was the gist of it. Celine later said that the happiest day of her life - more so than Therese's beatification day or canonization day - was when Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Therese's heroic virtues and in his allocutio he offered her Little Way to the whole world! I think she must have loved this "Omen Novum" bit too, then, because by this nickname Pope Pius XI again proposed her Little Way. In his speech he called her, "A new omen, a Word of God in our time." As our Heavenly Father reveals to us, "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43: 18-19) He even continues, "I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise." Sometimes I object to calling this life a valley of tears because when I was young I misunderstood and thought that meant I ought to resign myself to unhappiness. Not so! Might I say that the cross is inevitable (by God's mysterious design), but unhappiness is optional? Yes, it is so often a wilderness or a desert where we find ourselves. Even a dark alley! But the good news is that God is there - He is here, with us - and He knows the way out of that dark alley, He knows where the path out of the wilderness is, He knows how to keep us on a straight track leading out of the desert instead of in circles . . . but even while we are in the desert, the wilderness, dark valley, He makes it a place of springs and delicious fruits. So, where was I? Yep, dilly dallying and shilly shallying so as to avoid tallying up our miracles. Miracle of complete healing from cancer for me? Well, no, not yet, but I'm having so much fun that I feel a little guilty asking you to pray for me! Or maybe I should put it this way: Your prayers are so incredibly powerful that I can only see this as a time of blessings beyond imagining. Truly. As for the complete healings and miraculous restorations I've been praying for right back atcha, well, those are equally elusive and equally ongoing . . . Without going into details, I'll just say at last count I am praying for - hahaha, I don't have all day, and neither do you! I was going to count up how many miracles I'm praying for, and then I started and realized we'd never end! Here it is, my miracle story for today. Well, let's make that two miracle stories: 1. We prayed for my dear and so dear father in law Paul for 0ver 60 years, that he would return to the sacraments and the Church. Let me clarify that the photo at the top is of me and taken in the last year, so I am (hopefully clearly) not over 60 quite yet (but golly, I'm getting close). But my mother in law prayed for Paul from the time she met him, I'm guessing, because they fell in love pretty instantly and she was a devout Catholic and he was fallen away. When their kids came along, they started praying because they knew and loved their parents first, and God a close second, and they wanted for their daddy what they had by the grace of God and the love of their mom. Then when friends, spouses, grandkids, etc., came along, we all prayed too. Who didn't love this man, and who didn't, by definition, want everything good for him - the chief of which was the grace of God and the beautiful sacramental life of the Church? And then (let's make it sound sudden, and it kind of was) on April 24, 2021, the Vigil of Good Shepherd Sunday, Paul Harold Andres said yes to Fr. Tom who had brought the sacraments to his sickbed. He received anointing and absolution, in the middle of which his beloved and so faithful, loving wife said aloud in her awe and joy, "WOW!" and at the end of which, as the priest was leaving, Paul said with his engaging smile and typical charm, "God bless you, Father!" 2. After seeing a good doctor and a bad doctor (God bless them both), I have found not only A FABULOUS DOCTOR but also a whole CITY of them. This is truly a miracle because if the bad doctor, we'll call him Dr. B, had exhibited just the tiniest bit more bedside manner and not sent me on my way with instructions to self-insert a port (okay, that's an exaggeration, but not by much!), we would now be in an infusion room for chemo I may not even need! Is this an indictment of the medical profession! NO WAY JOSE! (I'm not good at inserting accent marks in blog posts, so please read that as no way hoe-zay!) As I've said before, I love doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc. God just needed to remind me that, as Therese herself liked to say, "Everything is a grace." This means that when she loved God her whole life without committing a mortal sin, that made her no better than Magdalene but simply covered with preventative grace, like the child whose father doesn't let go of her hand, and thus she is kept from running out into the street and getting hurt by oncoming traffic. So in my case, I have been showered with wonderful doctors in my life, starting with my dad and Uncle Mike, moving on to cousins, a brother, nephews, and that's not to mention all their friends and colleagues. And most of all, the great doctors who have not been relatives and only became friends after they treated me and those I love with the utmost kindness and compassion and professional expertise. And don't get me started on the nurses! What a profession and procession of angels! It was good, then, for me to be reminded that no field is exempt from The Fall, and poor Dr. B gains my prayers but not my confidence. Which brings us back to Therese! "It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love!" Let that be our byword, our watchword, our mantra! Why is it nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love? Because God is Love, and He loves us. When an animal has been hurt, it hides away and licks its wounds. (Okay, this is good. Sometimes I bet there are animals that have been hurt and so they lash out and try to hurt back! Let's stay away from those ones, poor things!) We have been hurt - sometimes we hurt ourselves - and our tendency is to hide away. You can see it in the beginning of the book of Genesis. It's a very old story, a very old history. And yet what is God's attitude? He is Love, and He loves us. He comes looking for us, and like the Good Samaritan, He binds up our wounds. Here we are, crouching in a corner or hiding under the covers, hoping to be left alone to cry or moan. Therese is a new word of God for us, and that word is CONFIDENCE, that word is LOVE. Little Therese, we are so bad at confidence. Please give us yours. You don't need it anymore - you see Face to face what you believed on earth, what you taught and lived with so much hope. Give us your hope, give us your trust, give us your confidence in the good and merciful God who loves us without limit, who loves us exactly as we are right now. Wake up Marcel and little Jesus. They are asleep on Mary's lap, but they need to wake up and come quickly to our aid. You were a bossy little girl Therese, and when asked what you would choose, you chose all! Choose all for us and bring that basket of miracles near so we can feel them pouring over our heads and into our hearts and the hearts of all those we love, all who have asked for our prayers, all we have promised to pray for, and all who need our prayers. Thanks, sis! Draw me, we will RUN!!! BONUS ROSE FOR THE FEAST: Last week I had the joy of speaking with Dr. Marcus Peters on the Catholic radio show "Ave Maria in the Afternoon." We talked about the similarities between Padre Pio and St. Therese and now there is a link to our 10 minute convo: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3mgvylWUJkk6GeypmEvz9O?si=vZuCpDLxQk-J7JZnrXN-PA The highlights for me were the amazing pronunciation by the host of the name "Padre Pio" the first time he introduces the topic . . . and his first question to me: about whether my son Joseph was at Ave Maria . . . it turns out they were classmates in Theology Grad School! It was fun to be on the radio, and fun that somehow my future daughter-in-law was the only one who could figure out how to hear it live as my husband drove me to a follow up appointment and I chatted away! May St. Therese, Padre Pio, and our guardian angels help us always to use this amazing modern technology to glorify God, Who is so very, very good to us! Also I love that I couldn't hear the closing music warning me to wrap it up, and as a consequence I talked to the very last possible moment, which allowed me to end on Therese's invitation that we, too, ask Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to remain in us as in a tabernacle. If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend Something New with St. Therese: Her Eucharistic Miracle. Our friends at amazon will get it to you instantly on a kindle or computer or phone (and I think you must have one if you're reading this now!) if you click HERE, and they'll get it to you almost instantly in 3-D, that is, as a paperback book, if you click HERE. Thanks again to Mimi, our production designer and so much more, for creating the gorgeous cover, which boasts Therese as sacristan from a photo by Celine, but in this version in charcoal by Celine. This charcoal rendition was their oldest sister Marie of the Sacred Heart's favorite image of Therese, and she kept it in her cell until her own entry to Heaven decades after Therese had flown the coop. Enjoy!   
“Jesus wants to make us holy at all costs . . . He offers you continual proof of this.” - St. Padre Pio "Oh I beg you, become a Saint. God is begging this from you." - St. Therese, Last Conversations “I thank you very much for sending me yet more writings of our friend [Elizabeth of the Trinity] . . . If, after this valley of tears, I am to save my soul, I know she will have had a significant part in my success. Not all the learning in the world—not the inductions, the syllogisms, the mastering of arguments, the analyses, the syntheses, or the reading of great books will do any of us a bit of good unless we, in our own way, rise, if ever so little, toward the wisdom one finds bursting out from all her writings.” — Ronald P. McArthur, founding president, Thomas Aquinas College * * * Alleluia, sing to Jesus! Today is the feast of our dear spiritual father, Padre Pio, 56 years exactly (if I did the math right!) since his birthday into Heaven, and it happens also to be 22 years exactly since DJAEA (son #2, but the names have been shortened to initials to protect the innocent) had his birth into this life of exile. Not quite accidental since a planned c-section meant I got to choose the day, and the first feast of Padre Pio after he'd been canonized seemed a magnificent day to have a son. We are finishing our novena to Padre Pio (Il Padre) and beginning our novena to St. Therese (La Petite Fleur; this is our chance to imitate those wonderful old books that bandy foreign words about like there's no tomorrow), and before I get lost in the wonders of Elizabeth and The Big Mac, the other two friends gracing our title above and our post below, why don't we say our prayers? Concluding Prayer to The Padre Dear Padre Pio, you promised to stand outside the gates of Heaven until all your spiritual children had entered. You know that we, like you and Jesus, want that group of spiritual children to include EVERYONE, so we ask you to bring all of us and all those we love, all those who have asked for our prayers, all those for whom we have promised to pray, and all those who need our prayers, under your fatherly care. Let us be your spiritual children despite our tendency to wander off, and with the help of your guardian angel and ours please bring us back always to your and Jesus' side until we can rest forever in our adorable Savior's sweet embrace. Please wake up Marcel (if he's sleeping) and ask him to wake Jesus (Who is almost always sleeping) and ask for the innumerable favors we need, including Suzie's instantaneous, complete, and lasting cure from cancer. Amen. Novena to St Therese O Little Therese of the Child Jesus Please pick for me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, please ask God to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands: for Marcel to obtain a miracle for Suzie, for us all to become great saints, and for the countless other miracles we need for ourselves, for those we love, and for the whole wide world. St. Therese, help us always to believe as you did, in God’s great love for me, so that we may imitate your “Little Way” each day. Amen. * * * We are late to mention that yesterday was the 100th birthday of another spiritual father of ours, at least as dear to us as our beloved Padre Pio . . . And who is this mystery man? He was called throughout his life by various names: Ronnie, Ronald, Ron (no, I'm not talking about Reagan, God rest his soul, though I did love the recent movie with Dennis Quaid) . . . More specifically, he was also "RPM," and eventually, to give it away completely, he was called Dr. McArthur, or formally, officially, and in print, Dr. Ronald P. McArthur. Our favorite of his many names, though, is "The Big Mac," and believe it or not, despite my love of McDonald's fast food, it never occurred to me until now that this nickname may have been a play on words. However the moniker started, it sure fit because RPM was a very tall man (I think 6 foot 6 inches was his wingspan in his prime), and yet there was something extremely down to earth about him (I think of "Mac" as a wonderfully working class kind of name) even if he was, according to his amazing wife Marilyn, never destined to be a carpenter as I think she said his father was. Once I asked Mrs. McArthur how she felt when her husband said he wanted to start a college. I figured she must have had her hesitations, like the early Thomas Aquinas College benefactor who said, when approached in his office on a high floor of a sparkling Los Angeles skyscraper by two of the would-be-college-starters (later revered as founders), "You have about as much chance of starting a college as you do of jumping out of that window and flying!" God bless hilarious and skeptical rich men! As the college's website states in its Brief History of the school, "From the very beginning, the College would rely on the generosity of many friends and benefactors. Among the first were oil magnate and philanthropist Henry Salvatori, whose initial $10,000 grant funded the College's incorporation on October 14, 1968." Right after Mr. Salvatori told Dr. McArthur and Mr. DeLuca (the last founder standing today) what he thought of their chances, he pulled his checkbook out of a drawer and began writing, saying as he wrote, "But everyone deserves a chance to fail." God rest his soul! Henry, don't forget us now either. You might well be looking down on us from above and saying we have about as much chance of getting to Heaven as we have of flying, but you're in a good place to know that all things are possible with God! But what was Mrs. McArthur's reply, the persevering reader may wonder. Let me set the stage by saying Mrs. McArthur always struck me as even more no-nonsense than Mr. Salvatori apparently was. She is also an extremely direct person, and I say "is" because while she passed away nearly two years ago, I'm convinced we don't lose our personalities in Heaven, so I'm betting she's still very direct. In fact, right now I can hear her (in my imagination) telling me not to go around telling you that she's already in Heaven. Pray for her soul, I'm supposed to tell you. Well, sure, we do always want to keep praying for those who have gone before us. Our dear Therese, whose novena we have just begun, loved to offer suffrages for the departed, and she prayed to the end of her life for her "firstborn," the notorious murderer Pranzini who had converted on the scaffold as a result of her prayers and sacrifices. She called him "very naughty" and wanted to help him for as long as he needed help. And yet this same doctor of the Church, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, also liked to say, "For those who love, there is no purgatory." By this she meant that the love of Jesus - ours for Him but especially His for us - is more purifying than all the flames of purgatory, and by one simple glance He can cleanse us in an instant of all our sins, their effects, and their punishments, making us just as instantly saints ready for direct entry into Heaven and our place before the Face of God. I also like to remind myself and others that Holy Mother Church, in offering us many opportunities to gain plenary indulgences (which similarly wipe away all our sins and their effects and punishments) extends to us the sweet privilege of offering these indulgences back to Her to apply to the souls in purgatory. Just using our common sense we can say it would be an unkind mother indeed who held out a treasure like this only to snatch it away each time we tried, by hook and by crook, to take it from her in order to help our friends! No, we can rest assured our Mother, the Church, is a kind Mother, the best Mother, and she has made this plenary indulgence gig very possible. When she says that just by doing the Stations of the Cross in a church, or by reading Scripture for half an hour, or by saying a Rosary in a family or in a church, or by praying before the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour - just by these simple acts plus "the usual conditions" (receiving Holy Communion, prayers for the Holy Father's intentions, and going to confession within 20 days before or after, and being detached from sin - which means asking God to detach us right then if we're not already) we can obtain a plenary indulgence for the dead EVERY SINGLE DAY, I gotta think this means we can actually obtain a plenary indulgence for those we love. Hilariously (and yes, I do find almost everything funny these days, which I attribute to a magnificent influx of grace due to your prayers, so thank you!), lately I've been doing the Stations after daily Mass so I can grab that brass ring for a poor soul each day, and I pray like Fr. Aloysius Ellacuria did that my angel will hide me as I move through the church. It's a requirement for gaining this plenary indulgence that, if possible, you walk and visit each Station as you pray, but in case anyone does see me, I'm wondering if they're thinking it's very edifying that this dying woman is always saying the Stations! Truth be told I'm no more dying than we all are (this life is terminal, they say, and I'm sure hoping they're right!), and my love for the Stations is based on the quick manner in which they get me that daily plenary indulgence! You don't have to say any exact formula of words as you move from one Station to the next, and although I love our Stations of the Cross with Our Sister St. Therese, I prefer to just look at Jesus in the image on the wall, say the title of the Station, make the sign of the cross, and think whatever comes to mind (that has some relation to the Station!), then move along. I insert little prayers like "We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world," and some in my own words, like, "Jesus, some people are really suffering today, please help them," but all in all, it's so quick and easy! But there. Forgive me, I've still not told you what Mrs. McArthur said. I asked her what she thought when Dr. McArthur decided he wanted to start a college. She said, "I thought it was a great idea." I was stunned. I thought she, of all people, would be thinking of the practical side of the situation. And she was, as it turned out. He was a Catholic college professor in the 1960's, and he was thinking of abandoning his profession due to the failure of Catholic colleges to stay Catholic. Naturally, he'd need to find another profession, and he suggested to Marilyn that he might become a carpenter. She said he was terrible at carpentry! So when he suggested he might start a college, an endeavor we've gratefully seen occur many times over in recent decades but which was unheard of in the late 1960's, she thought, "Now there's something he could actually do!" And so he, along with Marcus Berquist, Jack Neumayr, and Peter DeLuca, not to mention many, many other hardworking and hard praying men and women, lay, priests, and religious, and those generous benefactors we can never cease thanking (or begging from), did start a college! With tears in my eyes I think of how this college changed my life and taught me first and foremost what riches God has given us in the Catholic faith, and second, how much fun you can have following the ten commandments. I went seamlessly from high school days that were far from carefree (when you are allowed to do almost anything, life becomes very unhappy), where my friends and I could only think of the mall or the movie theatre for entertainment (if we weren't up to things I wouldn't want to repeat here!) to an immersion experience like no other. I was suddenly up to my neck in Catholic friends who had so many great ideas about what to do when we weren't reading great books that it's impossible to remember and name them all. Grunyon running anyone? Hiking? Singing? Making home movies more hilarious than SNL skits back in the day? Going on calls for Legion of Mary in Jon Syren's truck? Baking, dancing, eating, confessing (ah, the joys of a clear conscience, at least for the first thirty seconds or so, as our dear Fr. Steck liked to quip), laughing, teasing, joking, and sometimes taking naps to make up for the late nights eating popcorn in the dorm . . . I can't say those were the best days of my life, because the days keep getting better, but I can say they were the beginning of the best days. When I think of all we've been given, it's hard to ask for more. Ha, at least for thirty seconds! and then I remember all the needs of those I love . . . and so I thank God for His many good gifts, chief among which are the saints I have known, and then I shamelessly ask away! If you want to read more about Dr. McArthur and St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, you can go HERE to my article on "Books and Friendship with the Saints." If you want to read my latest article on Padre Pio and St. Therese (that came out today on Catholic Exchange!) you can go HERE. And if you want to read some super fabulous sayings from Padre Pio, just scroll down in this post. But in order not to keep you if you've got to go get ready for a CT scan (oh! That's me! My two CTs were authorized - thanks to your prayers! - and will hopefully happen today) or a birthday party (me again for that mysterious DJAEA, whose link and mystery identity you can find HERE - and then you can have a birthday party in his honor too, or for Padre Pio's birthday into Heaven or for The Big Mac's big day yesterday), I will close now with our two simplest and favoritest prayers. Let these be your novena prayers to Therese if you find the one above too long, She's always about little, and the beauty of her novena is that you can miss a day or two and call it a little novena! Over here at MMM we'll do our best to say nine days worth, and your intentions are definitely included. Little Flower in this hour show your power! Draw me, we will run! Words of Padre Pio, taken from padrepiodevotions.org and their Words of Faith page: Be of good cheer; abandon yourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and let Him take care of everything. You think you know my love for you but you don’t know that it is much greater than you can imagine. I follow you with my prayers, with my suffering and with my tears. Oh my daughter, how beautiful is His face, how sweet His eyes and what a good thing it is to stay close to Him on the mount of His glory. We must place all our desires and affections there. Place all your trust in the heart of sweet Jesus……Never abandon your faith and renew it always. Faith has never abandoned any man, and far less so will it forsake a soul that yearns to love God. Every Christian soul ought to be familiar with this saying of the holy apostle St. Paul, “For me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:2). I live for Jesus Christ, I live for His glory, I live to serve Him, I live to love Him. And when God wants to take our life from us, our sentiment and our feeling should be those of a person who at the end of his toil goes to collect his wages, who, at the end of the fight, goes to receive the prize. By justice, Jesus Christ once risen should have ascended at once to the glory of the right hand of the Father. . .And yet we know very well that for 40 days He wanted to be seen as risen. And why? To affirm, as St. Leo says, by such an excellent mystery, the good news of our faith. . .These 40 days before our ascent to Heaven will pass for us too. Perhaps they will not be days, but months and years. I wish you, my brothers and sisters, a long and prosperous life full of heavenly and material blessings. But finally this life will come to an end. And then we will be happy, if we have assured for ourselves the joy of a happy transit to eternity. Then our resurrection will be complete. There will be no more danger of losing the grace of God. There will no longer be any suffering, no more death, but instead everlasting life with our Savior Jesus Christ in Heaven. May our Lord bless these wishes of mine which I am happy to have demonstrated to show how much I have your happiness at heart, how much I worry and unceasingly pray for it. * * * Padre Pio, be a padre to us! And if you didn't already come here from there, this link will lead you to a lovely Happy Birthday to Dr. McArthur!  Today is the feast of the Korean martyrs. In less than one hundred years, ten thousand Koreans were martyred for their Catholic faith until Christianity was declared legal in the 1880s. In 1984, Our Holy Father Pope Saint John Paul II canonized St. Andrew Kim Taegon, the first Korean priest, St. Paul Chong Hasang, the lay apostle who went as a political interpreter to China and from there wrote to ask Pope Gregory XVI for an apostolic vicariate and apostolic vicar for Korea (which the pope granted and sent in 1825), and 101 more Korean martyrs. The stories of each of these martyrs is fascinating, edifying, and insanely awesome. St. Paul (the original) called this insane awesomeness "the foolishness of Christ." But what we here at Miss Marcel's Musings find particularly charming, and even adorable, is the way that Jesus came to the Koreans. It was not through the direct ministration of missionary priests or lay catechists. It was through books. And later, when baptism made complete Catholics out of the interested bookworms, it was by writing that their plight was made known and help was sought, and finally it was by writing that the amazing St. Paul Chong presented his case to the judge who tried and sentenced him for his faith. Please join us in praising and thanking our dear Savior, Jesus, the Word made flesh, for reading and writing and especially for the gift of Truth which is Himself. And may He be forever blessed in His angels and in His saints! Here is the story of the Korean martyrs as told by the Vatican News Service: AN UNLIKELY BEGINNING When, around the year 1777, a small group of Korean scholars began to study Christian writings brought into their country from China, something happened that is difficult to explain as anything other than a work of God. A spark was ignited. Pondering the words, some were “cut to the heart,” like the crowds listening to the apostles in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 2:37). In 1784, one of them traveled to China, found a priest, and asked for baptism. When he returned to his country, the spark became a fire. Person to person, friend to friend, this new faith spread. A Chinese priest was finally able to visit Korea in 1794. There, he found 4,000 believers! In fifty years, this community, poor in the sacraments but rich in faith, grew to 10,000. Korean authorities were not pleased by this “foreign” religion. The authorities’ cruelty was great, but the faith of these new believers was greater, for in them was a fire, a love and a life that did not have its source in man. THE PRIEST Taegon Kim, baptized Andrew at age 15, had that faith in him. It carried him 1,200 miles to Macau to study for the priesthood. The French missionary bishop who ordained him was filled with joy to see the zeal of this young Christian. After ordination in Shanghai, the first native Korean priest returned home. To be a Christian in Korea was not for the fainthearted. Most of the men in Andrew’s family had been martyred. Christianity was outlawed. But Fr. Andrew, exhorting his fellow believers, articulated what many of them already knew in their hearts: “We have received baptism… and the honor of being called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians in name only and not in fact?” To be Christian in fact in Korea meant to be ready at any moment to witness to Christ with one’s life. Andrew did so in 1846. At age 25, this young priest was tortured and beheaded. Before he died, he exhorted his executioners: “If I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death!” THE LAY APOSTLE The nephew of one of the most noteworthy Korean philosophers of his day, Hasang Chong, baptized Paul, knew even at age seven what honor he bore in being called Christian. In that year, his older brother and father died martyrs. Paul became a government interpreter, which allowed him to travel to China. In Beijing, he became a spokesman for his fellow Christians, even writing to the Pope to ask for an apostolic vicariate be established in Korea for the care of the faithful. In 1825, Pope Gregory XVI did as Paul requested. There were too many martyrs in his family for Paul not to be aware that this fate likely lay in store for him, too. When he was finally tried in 1839, he handed a written defense of the faith to his judge. The judge was impressed: “You are right in what you have written, but the king has forbidden this religion, and it is your duty to renounce it.” Paul’s answer? “I have told you that I am a Christian. I will be one until my death.” “THE HONOR OF BEING CALLED CHRISTIANS” The martyrs numbered 10,000 in less than a hundred years. Most were laypeople. Some were catechists, others noblemen, still others housewives. One boy, Peter, whose flesh was so torn he could throw pieces of it at his torturers, was thirteen. A woman, Columba, was asked before she was tortured why she and her sisters did not marry. She answered, “In order to cherish our body and heart in all purity, to serve and worship God….” They knew the honor of bearing the name of Christian. There was a fire in the hearts of these courageous believers. It was passed on person to person, heart to heart, and it continues burning: South Korea boasts the fastest growing Catholic population in the world. In 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized Fr. Andrew Kim, Paul Chong, and 101 of their companion martyrs. * * * Here is more on St. Paul Chong, and the stories of some of the other canonized Korean martyrs as presented by catholicculture.org. My guess is that this was translated from the Korean, and I am so grateful for those who passed these histories down to us. I will leave the translation untouched, and we ask God to bless the writer many times over for taking the time and trouble to record the lives of the saints. Saint Paul Chong Hasang St. Paul Chong Hasang (1795-1839) was one of the lay leaders who have participated in the establishment of the early Korean Catholic Church. He was also the second son of Chung, Yak Jong, a martyr who was killed during the Shin-Yu Persecution (1801). During this persecution, the Korea’s only priest, Chu, Moon Mo and many prominent leaders of the early Korean Catholic Church were martyred. After these incidents, it seemed impossible to reconstruct the devastated Korean Catholic community. It was St. Paul Chong Hasang who gathered the scattered Korean Catholic members and ignited their hearts with the raging flames of faith. Furthermore, he reorganized the structures and activities of the Korean Catholic church and initiated a movement for the Beijing Bishop to send priests to Korea. To accomplish this mission, from 1816, he has crossed the China borders nine times, overcoming many dangers and fiercely cold weathers, totaling 2000 Km of round trips. He entered the China territory as a lowly servant to the Korean diplomatic members who have made their annual tributary missions to China to exchange gifts with the Chinese Emperor. By using these opportunities in Beijing, St. Paul Chong requested many times that the Beijing Bishop send priests to Korea. As many of his attempts failed, he directly pleaded the case to Pope Gregory XVI. Finally, on September 9th, 1831, the Pope proclaimed the legitimacy of the Korean Catholic Diocese to the World. The followings are St. Paul Chong Hasang’s main achievements: First, he was the leader of the early Korean Catholic Church during the persecution period, during which he provided the essential momentum to establish the Korean Catholic Diocese with progressive and worldly vision. Second, he contributed greatly to the development of the Korean Catholic Church by dedicating his life to accommodating and assisting the priests who were sent to Korea after the establishment of the Korean Catholic Archdiocese. Third, he was one of the seminary students of Bishop Imbert to become a priest. However, during the Gi Hye Persecution in 1839, the bishop and St. Paul Chong Hasang were martyred, unfortunately he was unable to actualize his dream of becoming a priest. Fourth, he wrote a document declaring the position of the Korean Catholic Church that the Catholic faith is good for the nation but not a threat, the Sang-Je-Sang-Su. In this document, he firmly pleaded to the persecutors to stop persecuting Catholic members. The document, Sang-Je-Sang-Su, is a short writing of only two thousands words but, it is a well written Catholic doctrine explaining why the Korean government should not persecute Catholics. Fifth, his martyrdom became the testimony of his faith toward Christ and through his eternal glory, he became the pinnacle of the Korean Catholic faith. St. Paul Chong Hasang was martyred at the age of forty-five on September 22, 1839 during the Gi Hye Persecution. Two months later, his mother, Yu Cecilia, passed away during the imprisonment and the following month, his younger sister, Jung Hye was also martyred. The three martyrs were beatified on June 6th, 1925 and were canonized, declared as saints, on May 6, 1984 by Pope John Paul II. The lives of a few more of these martyrs, from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea. Saint Kim Ob-I Magdalene (1774-1839) Saint Kim A-gi Agatha (1787-1839) Saint Han A-gi Barbara (1792-1839) Kim Ob-I Magdalene and Han A-gi Barbara were arrested together in September 1836. It is not certain whether Kim A-gi Agatha was captured with them or at her own home. In any event, the three of them were taken into custody on the same day. In prison they found themselves in the company of several other Catholics. They were Nam Myong-hyok Damian, accused of hiding the bishop's vestments, Kwon Tug-in Peter, accused of making and selling crucifixes and holy pictures, Pak A-gi Anna, who remained in prison despite the apostasy of her husband and children and Yi Ho-yong, Peter's sister Yi Agatha. The first to be questioned was Pak A-gi Anna. In spite of the torture she remained unbowed. "So what if my husband and son have apostatized! I choose to keep my faith and die for it," she lightly answered the police. Next was Han A-gi Barbara. No less brave than Pak A-gi Anna, her body was a bloody mess when they had finished with her. While Han A-gi Barbara was undergoing torture, Kim Ob-I Magnalene have witnessed her faith by explaining Catholic doctrine to the police commissioner. Next Kim Agatha was called. "It is true you believe in the Catholic Church?" "I don't know anything but Jesus and Mary." "If you could save your life by rejecting Jesus and Mary, wouldn't you reject them?" "I would rather die than reject them." And in spite of the tortures Agatha could not be persuaded to change her mind. Seeing this the police commissioner had them moved to prison. When the other Catholic prisoners saw Kim A-gi Agatha arriving they cheerfully greeted her. "Here comes Agatha who doesn't know anything but Jesus and Mary," they said, congratulating her on her bravery. Because of her inability to learn the doctrine and prayers Kim A-gi Agatha had not yet been baptized. She was the first to be baptized in prison during the persecution. Baptism gave her new strength and with it she went on to overcome terrible torture and punishment. After all the investigations and trials, death sentences were handed down on Nam Myong-hyok Damian, Kwon Tug-in Peter and Pak A-gi Anna on May 11, 1839. The next day Yi Kwang-hon Augustine and Pak H.I.-sun Lucy were also sentenced to death. It took three more days of discussion before Kim Ob-I Magdalene, Han A-gi Barbara and Kim A-gi Agatha were given the sentence for believing in Catholicism and refusing to give up that belief. Finally May 24, 1839, arrived. The events of that day are described by Cho Shin-ch'ol Charles as follows: "On the appointed day ox carts, with crosses taller than the average person erected on them, were brought to the jail. When all was ready guards brought the condemned prisoners out and tied them to the crosses by the arms and hair. A foot rest was put under their feet and the signal given to depart. When they arrived at the steep hill on which the Small West Gate is situated the guards suddenly pulled away the foot rests and the drivers urged the oxen to run headlong down. The road is rough, with many stones. The carts lurched, causing extreme agony to the prisoners who were hung on the crosses by their arms and hair. The execution ground is a the foot of the hill. The guards took the prisoners from the crosses and tore off their clothes. The executioners tied their hair to the wooden beam and proceeded to cut off their heads." The nine martyrs received their crown at three o'clock in the afternoon, the same time as Jesus breathed his last on the cross several tens of centuries before. In accordance with the law the bodies were left at the execution site for three days. In the court record of the time it is written: "On April 12, Yi Kwang-hon Augustine, Kwon Tug-in Peter and others, in all nine criminals, were executed for following the false religion." Bishop Imbert wrote as follow: "With difficulty we reclaimed the bodies at dawn on April 27. We buried the bodies of the martyrs at a place I had prepared earlier. I would have liked to have dressed the bodies in fine clothes and anointed them with expensive perfume, in the European manner. However, we are poor and to dress the bodies in this way would have been a burden on the Catholics, so we just wrapped them in straw matting. Now we have many protectors in heaven. When the day of religious freedom comes to Korea, as I know it will, these bodies will be a precious heritage." Saint Kim Ob-I Magdalene, Saint Kim A-gi Agatha and Saint Han A-gi Barbara were beatified on July 5, 1925 and together they were canonized on May 6, 1984 at Yoido, Seoul, by Pope John Paul II. Saint You Chin-gil Augustine (1791-1839) St. Yu Chin-gil Augustine came from a family of government officials. Among the Korean martyrs, he was one of three who held government posts and the father of the 13-year-old martyr, St. Yu Tae-ch'ol Peter, the youngest of the 103 Korean Martyr Saints. He was known as a man of deep contemplation. Curious about the origin and meaning of natural phenomena, especially philosophical and religious truths on the origin of man he spent much of the night examining the texts of Neo-Confucianism looking for answers. However, the more he studied the classics the more dissatisfied he became with the Tae-geuk-eum-yang (traditional Korean explanation of reality). His search led him on to investigate the teachings of Taoism and Buddhism. What is the origin of the universe? Is it the Li (basic principle) that Neo-Confucianists talked about or is it the Kong (emptiness) of Buddhism or the Mu (nothingness) of Taoism? In his youth he heard of the Catholics who had been arrested and killed. He began to wonder if the books they had studied could be of any help to him. One day he came upon an old chest hidden away in a corner of the house. Inside it was lined with sheets of paper on which words like "spirit of life", "spirit of understanding"” and "soul" were written. Such terms had not appeared in any of the books he had read. On tearing off the sheets and putting them together he found the parts of the book called the Cheon-ju-sil-ui (True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven). The first Catholic writings had been brought into Korea by envoys or interpreters who had gone on official business to Beijing. Since Yu Chin-gil's family members had visited China as interpreters they were among those who brought back such books. However, during the persecution of 1801, when people were ordered to destroy all books on Western Learning, Yu's family used the book to repair a tattered storage chest. Yu Chin-gil went over the torn pages a number of times. They touched on the questions that had bothered him. But the few torn pages were not enough to satisfy him. So in the hope of finding a complete copy he began to inquire as to where he could meet Catholics. One day he met Yi Kyong-on Paul who was the younger brother of Yi Kyong-do Charles and Yi Soon-I Lutgardis who had been martyred in 1801. They had a long conversation and found that they were of the same mind. Yu borrowed True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven and other books on Western Learning. He discovered the one who created and supervised the world. It was not the basic principle that Neo-Confucianists talked about nor was it the Kong of Buddhism or the Mu of Taosim. It is the Lord who resides in Heaven. Humans have not only bodies but also souls, so when people die their bodies are disintegrated but their souls are immortal and subject to the final judgement of God. He got down on his knees and marveled. "The true nature of humans is not to grow and get fat but to burnish their soul till it becomes bright and beautiful. This indeed is the correct truth." He felt as if the eyes of his soul opened and he began to see the sun shining through dark clouds. He went back to Yi Paul from whom he learnt Our Father and Hail Mary as well as the Ten Commandments. Soon he was ready to enter the Church. Through a meeting of Western and Eastern thought, Yu Chin-gil solved the question that had troubled him most. He was introduced to Chung Ha-sang Paul and other Catholics. At that time, following the persecution of 1801 when Father Chu Mun-mo, Chinese priest sent from Beijing, was martyred, there was not a priest in Korea. The Catholics who had survived were struggling to re-establish the Church and to have another priest sent in from China. Even though he had not yet received baptism, on the instructions of Chung Ha-sang Paul, he recited morning prayer and evening prayer each day and faithfully followed the Ten Commandments. In October of 1824 the winter diplomatic delegation was preparing to go to China. Yu Chin-gil did not want to miss this opportunity, so he made every efforts to be included as an interpreter and to have the noble-born Chung Ha-sang Paul to accompany him disguised as a servant. The delegation safely arrived in Beijing. Avoiding their companions, the two Catholics slipped off to meet the Bishop of Beijing. In Chinese, Yu asked him for baptism. The Bishop was delighted to receive visitors from so far away but felt he should question Yu Chin-gil to find out how much he knew about the teachings of the Church. Yu Chin-gil replied with the answers exactly as they were in the catechism. Why are humans born into the world? To know and honor God and to save their souls...” The Bishop was amazed that such zealous and well-instructed believer could come out of a Church that was being persecuted and had no clergy. "This is indeed a miracle of God,"” he exclaimed. Yu Chin-gil was baptized during a special Mass. When the priest recited, "Receive and eat this. It is my body which will be offered up for you,"” he felt as if the blood of Jesus was flowing through his own veins. He returned to his lodgings but was unable to sleep. He felt as though his heart was shining brightly in the dark room. He was moved by a deep religious experience. He knelt down and prayed. "God, I thank you for the wonderful way in which You have led me to baptism. Send priests to our land so that the people there who live in darkness might have the joy of receiving the Eucharist. May this foolish servant, no matter what suffering or persecution is to come, give witness to You by offering my life in Lord's work of opening the eyes of our nation. Give me the deep faith, strength and courage that I need. Amen." The Korean envoys learned from the priests in Beijing about practical sciences and Western inventions. In their discussions with the Western priests they became familiar with many aspects of Western learning. They were particularly surprised to learn that China was not the center of the world nor the most enlightened nation in the world. They were surprised to hear that humans were not created as nobles or commoners, but humans were all equal before God and all brothers and sisters in Christ, the Son of God. With words like equality, universal love and freedom ringing in his ears, Yu Chin-gil Augustine felt as if the teachings of the Chinese sages had come crashing down around him. It was as if he had heard the roar of thunder and seen Jesus rise from Golgotha. It was a sign of faith and a discovery of God. Even before he had set out for Beijing he had a faith that did not fear death, but after meeting the Western priests his understanding had deepened and his eyes had grown brighter. Korean Catholics, because of their faith, were to lead a profound change in the consciousness of the Korean people. In a nation which did not know such a God, they were to sow seeds which would alter lives. This was due to their own love of truth and the providence of God. Yu Chin-gil, Augustine and Chong Ha-sang Paul asked the priests to see the bishop who welcomed them and asked about the need of the Church in Korea. Yu Chin-gil Augustine told him of the difficulties they had to overcome in order to meet the bishop. Their Church was in a pitiful state. For almost 20 years it was without a priest. Yu Chin-gil Augustine was fortunate in being able to come to China and receive baptism, but there were many catechumens in Korea who were unable to receive baptism and many Catholics who could not receive Confirmation, Confession, the Eucharist or the other sacraments. The bishop was moved by what they said. He replied regretfully that, because of the persecutions in China, priests could not go into that country freely either and so he had no one to send to Korea. However, if they wrote directly to the Pope explaining the situation the bishop would do all he could to support their request. Yu Chin-gil Augustine and Chong Ha-sang Paul took courage from the bishop's promise to help them. They returned to their lodging and composed the following letter requesting priests. Knowing that if this letter was discovered by the Korean authorities it would lead to another persecution, they signed it with the name "Ambrose". Holy Father, With troubled heart we greet Your Holiness and seek your help. Since Fr. Zhou Mun-mo was martyred, the spread of the Gospel has been blocked by persecutions. About one thousand believers remain in hiding and can do little by way of witness or evangelization. No matter how much truth the teaching of the Korean Church contains, if the Church continues in its present form that truth will be wasted. Because our brains are dull the teachings of the Church do not bear fruit and the grace of God is being blocked. Those dying from old age or sickness cannot receive the Last Rites and go to their graves in sorrow. Those they leave behind endure in grief and are tired of life. Sorrow and pain are gradually eating into our hearts. Therefore, despite the dangers involved, we have on a number of occasions asked the Bishop of Beijing to help us. The bishop sympathizes with us in our concern and would like to send priests to give new life to souls that have fallen into sin, but he has no one available. Having explained the situation in Korea in this way, they suggested that there might be missionaries in Macao who could come to their assistance. They went on to state the way that the priests should come, if they came by boat, how many sailors they would need, what dangers to avoid, the best places to land and how to handle any officials they might encounter. When they had finished the letter to the Pope they gave it to the bishop. The bishop, in turn, sent it to the representative of the Congregation for Evangelization in Macao, Fr. Umpierres, who translated it into Latin and sent it on to the Pope on December 3, 1826. On their return to Korea, Yu Chin-gil Augustine and Chong Ha-sang Paul gave a full report to Nam Myong-hyok and the other leaders. News of the letter they had sent to the Pope gave new hope and courage to the fragile Church. When Yu Chin-gil Augustine returned home good news awaited him. He now had a son whom he named Tae-ch'ol Peter. Due to appeals by You Chin-gil Augustine and his companions, Pope Gregory XVI, on September 9, 1831, established Korea as a Vicariate Apostolate separate from Beijing and appointed Bartholomew Bruguiere of the Paris Foreign Mission Society as its first bishop. This initiative was due to the letter of 1826 which so moved the Pope. Bishop Bruguiere, who had been working in Bangkok, Thailand, received news of his appointment as first bishop of Korea sometime after July 25, 1832. Unfortunately, in his efforts to enter Korea, Bishop Bruguiere fell ill in Yodong while traveling towards Korea and died on October 20, 1835. This news soon reached Korea. You Chin-gil Augustine and his companions were much saddened, but determined to keep up their efforts to help other priests to enter the country. Meantime, You Chin-gil Augustine acted like a priest and converted many prominent people and scholars. However he couldn't convert his own wife and daughters although his son followed him in faith. His 13-year old first son, You Tae-ch'ol Peter, became the youngest of the 103 Martyr Saints of Korea. You Chin-gil Augustine was arrested at home in July of 1839. Many of his relatives begged him to renounce his religion, but he refused to do so. They reminded him of what would happen to his family, position and property, but You Chin-gil Augustine told them that it was more important to save souls than to take care of bodies, although he was sorry to cause trouble for them. The police chief interrogated. "As a government official, how can you adhere to a religion prohibited by the government? Reveal where the Catholics and the books are hidden.” You Chin-gil Augustine did not reveal anything, and so he was severely tortured on five occasions, and his flesh was torn apart. The police chief asked You Chin-gil Augustine about Bishop Imbert and two other missionaries. Augustine told him that they came to Korea to teach Korean people about God and to help them save their souls. He said that the missionaries didn't seek their own glory, wealth and pleasure. The police chief questioned who brought them to Korea. You Chin-gil Augustine said that he did. The police chief then brought in Bishop Imbert and questioned them together. The bishop told You Chin-gil Augustine that the government already knew that Fathers Maubant and Chastan were in Korea. However, You Chin-gil Augustine refused to reveal the names of the Church leaders in Korea. His legs were twisted and tied with ropes, and were bleeding profusely. Police interrogation continued. "This is not the sort of crime a stupid and low class person like you could do on your own. Who among the Catholics masterminded this? Since you have abandoned the beautiful customs and ritual of your country and accepted the treacherous ways of the foreigner, even if you were put to death ten thousand times, would the punishment not be too light? This is a solemn interrogation. So answer carefully without any deceit." They stressed that since Catholic teaching was false, treacherous and anti-social, those who brought foreign priests into the country had committed treason. However, You Chin-gil Augustine answered them calmly. "I have already told the investigating officers all that I did. Ten years ago I joined Chong Ha-sang Paul and his group in studying about the Catholic Church. When I reflected on what I learned, I realized that there are various sacraments and procedures in the Church which can be performed only by a priest. Since God is the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, we have to believe in Him and praise Him. The only crime I committed is to deceive the king since this teaching is prohibited in our country. I have already spent three months in jail. Among the Catholics I know, some have suffered the death penalty, some are held in prison and the rest have been scattered like the wind. Since I was born and have lived in the capital how could I know anything about the people in the country? If I have committed any great crime, I'm alone the responsible." The police chief asked again. "How did you come to break the law of the country and fall into these traitorous acts?" He replied, "How can you compare suffering the death penalty with going to hell after death? Which is the worse?" You Gin-gil Augustine did not want to argue with them further. So, he said. "I have nothing to say further. My only sin was to deceive the king." After this, You Chin-gil Augustine was tortured on two further occasions. His flesh was torn apart and his bones terribly crushed. But his faith did not waver and he received the death sentence. On September 22, 1839, You Chin-gil Augustine and Chong Ha-sang Paul were taken outside the Small West Gate in Seoul. On the way to the place of execution You Chin-gil Augustine showed no sign of fear. It was as if he had no interest in the things of the world and was lost in contemplation. With serene face he was beheaded. You Chin-gil Augustine was beatified on July 5th, 1925 and canonized on May 6th, 1984 at Yoido, Seoul, by Pope John Paul II. Saint Kim Song-im Martha (1787-1839) In the "Diary of the Persecution of 1839", Saint Kim Song-im Martha is referred to as Pup'yong House, a title referring to the fact that she was married to someone from Pup'yong. Kim Song-im was a 50-year old pagan widow. Her husband was of a very uncompromising temperament and they did not thave a peaceful relationship. This was before Kim Song-im became a Catholic. The situation became so bad that she had no choice but to separate from her husband. She left quietly and went to live in Hanyang. There she met and lived with a blind man who made a living by telling fortunes. At this stage she was over fifty but she still had not learned about the Catholic faith. One day she heard about the God and His Only Son, Jesus, from a Catholic who was living in the same house. With this encounter she began to believe in God and her faith grown eventually. Life with her blind husband had been difficult but when he suddenly died Kim Song-im Martha's future looked bleak. Some Catholics came to her aid. Martha began working in the houses of the Catholic friends to repay their help. It was during this period that her faith grew deeper and she repented of her past sins, her inability to put up with her first husband and her subsequent living by superstition. At times Martha felt deep sorrow but in her total dependence on the Lord she came through her depression. The concern and Christian example of the other Catholics made her realize and confirm how great is the love of God. One day Martha was with Yi Magdalena, Yi Theresa and Kim Lucy talking about the persecution, the courageous martyrs and the happiness of Heaven. They were so deeply moved by the love of God that all decided to give themselves up to the government authorities to profess their faith. They wanted to do mortification and sacrifice following the cross of Jesus Christ. The History of the Catholic Church in Korea says: "Voluntary surrender is not in accordance with the ordinary rules. However, it might have been evoked by divine grace, or God might have given His tacit approval to them, because the women were steadfast in their faith and wanting to be witness of God by being martyrs. There are other laudable examples in church history, such as St. Plollina, St. Aurelia and others." By the end of March or in the beginning of April of 1839 these courageous women went to the police station and told the police to put them in prison because they were Catholics. To the unbelieving policemen they showed their rosaries. The police tied them up and put them in prison. Therefore, it can be easily understood that these pious women courageously endured all tortures and pains for the love of God. The police chief interrogated the women. "Do you believe that the Catholic religion is the true religion?" "Of course, we do. Otherwise we wouldn't be here." "Deny God." "We can never deny God. Even if we have to die." " Are you not afraid of tortures?" "You are wasting time in persuading us to deny God. We surrendered ourselves for the sake of God. How can we deny Him? We will die if required by the law of the country, but we can never deny God." They were repeatedly and severely tortured. The courageous women were sent to the higher court, where they were interrogated again. "Do you still believe that the Catholic religion is the true religion?" "Yes, we do. We worship God, and we are determined to die for Him." The police chief tortured the women more severely than others to punish them for surrendering themselves. But they didn't succumb to him. They were finally sentenced to death. According to the government Sungjongwon Diary, these four pious women and four other Catholics were beheaded outside the Small West Gate on July 20th, 1839. Martha was 53 years old when she was killed for her faith. She was beatified on July 25th, 1925 and canonized on May 6th, 1984 at Yoido, Seoul, by Pope John Paul II. Won Kwi-im Maria (1819-1839) Won Kwi-im Maria was born in 1819 in Yongmori, Kyuanggun. She lost her mother when she was a child, and followed her father, who wandered around begging for food. When she was nine years old, one of her relatives, Won Lucy, who was a very devout Catholic, took her and taught her prayers and the catechism. She also taught Maria embroidery for her livelihood. Maria was very intelligent, genial and pious. Her aunt was proud of Maria's devotion and faithfulness. Maria was baptized at the age of 15. Soon after that she received an offer of marriage. But she refused to be married because she wanted to offer herself to God. The next year she put her hair up in a style which indicated that she was a married woman. Maria was accused of being a Catholic by a neighbor and was arrested. She looked a little discouraged when she first was put in prison. But she thought that everything was according to God's Will, and regained her usual peacefulness. Mary was interrogated by the police chief. "Are you a Catholic?" "Yes, I am, as you say." "Deny God, and you will be saved." "I want to worship God and save my soul. If I have to die, I would rather die for God to save my soul." Maria's legs were twisted and she was beaten with a cudgel. Many of her bones were dislocated, but her faith was not shaken. According to the government document Sungjongwon Diary, Maria and seven other Catholics were beheaded outside the Small West Gate on July 20th, 1839. Maria was 22 years old, when she was crowned with martyrdom. She was beatified on July 25th, 1925 and canonized on May 6th, 1984 at Yoido, Seoul, by Pope John Paul II. Saint Kim Barbara (1805-1839) Saint Kim Barbara was one of those who died of disease while in prison. According to Hyon Sok-mum Charles in the "Diary of the Persecution of 1839", over sixty people died of torture and disease in prison. In fact, while the pain of torture was terrible, every day prison life was even worse and unbearable. There were many who bravely witnessed through all forms of torture, but finally gave in because of the hunger and thirst. Given no more than two fistfuls of rice a day the prisoners were often reduced to eating the dirty straw they lay on. Also, with a large number of people crammed into the small cells, it was inevitable that disease would break out and spread very quickly. Bishop Daveluy, who would himself later die as a martyr, wrote of the prison situation: Our Catholics were packed in so tightly that they could not even spread out their legs to sleep. Compared to the suffering of imprisonment the pain of torture was nothing. On top of everything else the stench from their rotting wounds was unbearable and in the heat typhoid would break out killing several in a few days. People like Kim Barbara suffered the extremes of prison life. Those in prison worried most whether they would live long enough to claim the glory of martyrdom from the executioner's sword. Kim Barbara was born to very poor family in Kyonggi Province. Her family was Catholic, but not very devout. At the age of thirteen Kim Barbara was sent as a servant to the wealthy Catholic family of Hwang Maria. It was there she spiritually met God and her devotion for Jesus grew. She was forthright and diligent, inscribing in her heart the teachings of the Lord. Very much aware of the Lord's grace in her life, she was determined to remain a virgin. One day her father came to tell her that a match had been made for her with a young Catholic man. "It is a very good match and we have already agreed to it so you must now prepare for marriage," he told her. "It is my wish to preserve my chastity for the Lord." "If husband and wife are both believers there are no obstacles for a faithful life and this match will be advantageous for you, so do not be so obstinate," her father responded and she had no choice but to agree to the marriage. However, it turned out that her husband was a pagan and all her efforts to convert him were of no use. She had several children of whom she only managed to baptize a daughter. Differences in faith created many difficulties between the couple and these problems were never resolved. After her husband's death she was able to devote herself to prayers and good works. With the arrival of foreign priests in the country she was able to lead a more fervent and happy spiritual life. Barbara was arrested in March, 1839, and subjected to torture, but she refused to apostasize or reveal the name of other Catholics. During the three months of her prison life she suffered from torture, hunger, thirst and disease. On May 27th, 1839, Kim Barbara died of typhoid fever lying on the dirty mat of her cell at age of thirty-five. She was beatified on July 5th, 1925 and canonized on May 6th, 1984 at Yoido, Seoul, by Pope John Paul II. Saint Kim Rosa (1784-1839) In June 1839, Cho Pyong-ku who had a pathological hatred for Catholics took control of the Korean government. On July 5th, a decree came down to completely eradicate the Church. The first to be martyred after this decree were eight Catholics who were already in prison. Of these Kim Rosa was the first to have been arrested. Kim Rosa was born in a non-Catholic family in 1784, Hanyang. She was married, but she and her husband subsequently separated. After the separation Kim Rosa went to live with a Catholic relative and this was her first contact with the Church. Although it was late in her life she happily applied herself to learning the doctrine. She was intelligent and could communicate well so she was able to make others understand the value of her belief. She taught her mother and older brother the truths of the faith helping them to repent of their past. Thus the family was able to live in harmony, practicing the teaching of the Church. Kim Rosa lived according to her faith, examined her conscience frequently, repented her sins and prayed constantly. She had high respect for priests and did all she could to help them. She was a model to other Catholics. On January 16th, 1838, in the middle of the night, the police surrounded her house but she did not show any concern. Happy that at last her time had come, she went to prison calling on the names of Jesus and Mary. She never betrayed her faith, but testified to all in the prison. Even the guards were impressed by her attitude. However, she could not avoid the fury of the government. When she first appeared before the judge he displayed all the instruments of torture before her and said, "Criminal Kim Rosa, before we use these instruments to break your leg and lacerate your flesh, give up your God and report the names of other Catholics." "Judge! I cannot give up my God. He is the Creator and Father to all of us. He loves virtue and punishes sin, so how could I abandon Him? Harming others is also a sin. A long time ago I decided to shed my blood for these truths. Do as you please." "Listen to me, criminal. Your religion's doctrine has been forbidden by our king, yet you still insist on belonging to that Church?" "My body is now in the hands of the king but before that it belonged to God. We are all God's sons and daughters. How is it that Your Excellency does not know this simple fact?" The judge was furious and had her tortured before sentencing her to death. The sentence was carried out on July 20th, 1839. She was fifty-six years old. Kim Rosa was beatified on July 5th, 1925 and canonized on May 6th, 1984 at Yoido, Seoul, by Pope John Paul II. * * * Names of some of the martyrs killed in the persecutions in 1791, 1801, 1827, 1839, 1846, and 1866, 103 of whom were later canonized to sainthood May 6, 1984 by Pope John Paul II. In a break with tradition, the ceremony did not take place in Rome, but in Seoul.
List of the 103 Korean Saints
DRAW ME, WE WILL RUN!!!  St. Catherine of Siena is the one who said, "All the way to Heaven is Heaven," and Blessed Fra Angelico painted the picture of her words. As to who took the picture of his photo, well, you know life is good and God is crazy generous when you realize the best way to put a clear image on your blog is to use the photo you took yourself when you were in France last Christmas. WOW! Thank You Jesus!!
But now we must ask the question of the day: Why is it Heaven all the way to Heaven? That's a bit like asking, "How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways . . ." (a question originally asked by Elizabeth Barrett as she was falling in love with Robert Browning, or perhaps it was asked by Elizabeth Barrett Browning as she thanked the good Lord that he scooped her up quite literally and married her because God is bigger than anything). 1. I love Thee (and Heaven is paved with Heaven along the way) because You came to us in the Incarnation, stayed with us in the Blessed Sacrament, and want to live in the closest intimacy with us until the day we see You without any veils! (for more details, check out this book: Something New with St. Therese, Her Eucharistic Miracle) 2. I love Thee because You gave us St. Therese to teach us her Little Way to Heaven which consists of sleeping in Your arms while You lift us there. (Phew. I couldn't do all those stairs, but surrendering myself like a child in Jesus' arms, while sometimes a challenge, takes my breath away in a much more pleasant fashion!) 3. I love Thee because You have given us so many cool saints who catch our hands and drag us to You on the days we've forgotten to climb into Your arms! Like St. Joseph of Cupertino, whose feast day was yesterday. He was such a cool guy! Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, not the brightest bulb in the pack, and yet, it was thanks to him that many of us got through school in one piece (and with some peace). Here's what our patroness St. Therese says about him. Her sister Celine (Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face) was complaining as Therese was dying, "God will not be able to take me immediately after your death because I won't be good enough." Therese replied: "It makes no difference; you remember St. Joseph Cupertino, his intelligence was mediocre, and he was uninstructed, knowing perfectly only this verse of the Gospel: 'Beatus venter qui te.' [Blessed is the womb that bore Thee.' Luke 11:27] Questioned precisely on this subject, he answered so well that all were in admiration, and he was received with great honors for the priesthood, along with his three companions, without any further examination. For they judged after hearing his sublime answers that his companions knew as perfectly as he did. "Thus I will answer for you, and God will give you gratis all He will have already given me." (Her Last Conversations, July 12, 1897) I'm pretty excited to get there (to Heaven) and have Therese answer for me, though knowing me I'll probably interrupt her! But I'm guessing my fate might be much like Celine's. Therese promised her and the others to come back and get them quickly. (Well, maybe she didn't promise Pauline/Mother Agnes, knowing she'd have several decades of work ahead of her, all of it regarding Therese.) But God's timing - which I admit is perfect - is so different from ours. You know that old saw about a single day and a thousand years . . . and it turns out that Therese didn't answer for Celine (when Celine met their True Love and ours) for another 52 years, no kidding! Let's see, 52 years from now I'll be 102. I am thinking lately of joining the YLI, a wonderful Catholic organization that stands for Young Ladies' Institute. Believe it or not (and I am totally serious, though also laughing!), once when my husband and I looked over their literature, we found that most of these young ladies lived well into their 100s. We were saying goodbye (through the pages of their national member magazine) to women who were 104, 109, and so on! We have a wonderful group of these women (nowhere near that old, as far as looks can show) in our parish, and they have invited me to accompany them on an annual visit to the seminary for lunch with the seminarians. I am so thrilled! And clearly this means my chances for many decades left in exile are increasing by the minute (both mine and God's). If you've been praying for me in our triple novena with our longer prayers, or (please feel free in your prayers!) by simply blurting out occasionally, "Marcel, get a miracle for Suzie!" (or if you are praying as we like to do, as Therese and Marcel and Jesus have taught us, by a sigh of love or a glance toward Heaven or a glance at Jesus here on earth in the Blessed Sacrament), thank you!!! Your prayers are really working. I am either getting more cancer, or staying the same, or it's disappearing! All of these are great options because none of them rule out a miraculous cure, and as you may have guessed, we're all about helping Marcel here. You might be thinking he ought to help himself, but we are of a different mind. In a word, we are little. Pathetic is another word for it, but that has such a derogatory ring that we prefer little. And for little ones, there is only Jesus to save us. So, we are counting on Jesus to give Marcel a miracle whenever He damn well pleases (okay, that seems funny to me, but feel free to read "dang" if that offended you) - and Jesus our sweet Savior is welcome to use me as the miracle if He would like to . . . but no rush! I'm meeting so many great people and still looking forward to some form of treatment that will require other people to bring dinner to me and my family. This is a great gig! Meanwhile the first visit with an oncologist on Tuesday was excellent. It taught us some things we are not looking for and prepped us for our second opinion with City of Hope. Then the PET scan (sorry to shout PET but that's what they do) was cancelled, but that's good too because I got to have a banana nut muffin with a friend yesterday instead of fasting from carbs, and I am writing this blog post instead of getting ready to drive too far for a procedure that might not be necessary. Yes, there is a reason I have been called Pollysuzanna, and I'm sticking to it! Glad, glad, glad, and grateful, grateful, grateful. Not to mention smiling! How could I not be when I have so many people praying for me? I am experiencing what others have before me: as our wonderful Fr. Chung stage whispered to me (complete with Korean accent) in church the other day, and had to practically shout when I couldn't understand: "Prayer works!" How could it not? God is so good, so mighty and so merciful. We obtain from Him as much as we hope for, and I'm hoping a whole lot. Those saints who take our hands and drag us, even when we're kicking and screaming, even when we're distracted by all the shiny things in the dust, even when we are trying to yank free to get a gelato, they are absolutely adamant about this - God loves us and wants us to ask for everything so we can help Him to give us everything. As Therese said to her friend and novice Marie of the Trinity, we insult God by not expecting great things, whereas we bring Him tremendous joy by asking for the moon! (Okay that's a loose translation, but it's exactly what she meant!) For those who would like a reprise of our novena prayers in the longer form, here they are, and please remember I'm including all your intentions too! Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. And through the intercession of your littlest son, Servant of God Marcel Van, may Suzie be miraculously healed from her cancer, and may all our other needed and desired miracles be granted. Amen! * * * O Saint Padre Pio, holy bearer of the Wounds of Christ, accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession. And do thou, O our Spiritual Father, stay there at the Gates of Heaven until all of your spiritual children have entered through, even and including us. Through Christ our Lord, Amen. Dear Padre Pio, I recall your promise to the Lord, “Lord, I will stand at the gates of heaven until I see all my spiritual children have entered.” Encouraged by your gracious promise, I ask you to accept me as a spiritual child and to intercede for my prayer requests, including getting Marcel Van to intercede to heal Suzie's cancer completely and miraculously. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever, world without end, Amen. Draw me, we will run!
Padre Pio - or St. Padre Pio as we now call him - was one funny guy. He was happy because he was in love with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and as we can all say of ourselves too (praise God!), they were even more in love with him! Here he is laughing, and he's laughing because we are not asking him to give us miracles today, but merely using him as a messenger to wake up his little brother, Servant of God Marcel Van. I think Pio's plan is to tickle Marcel, but he might just give him a friendly poke with one (now ungloved) finger. Can't you picture it? They both will then start talking to Our Blessed Mother because Marcel is asleep on her lap. He isn't shown here in the photo of Our Lady of Grace (the favorite Marian image of Pio's in San Giovanni Rotundo), but that's because Marcel wasn't in Heaven when the picture was taken for Pio's Capuchin friary. Now, though, you can't bet your bottom dollar Marcel knows the comfiest place to take a nap, and that's always on Mary's lap. Why don't we turn to Our dear Mama Mary with them? We can use the same novena prayer we've already been using and launch into our part-two-of-three which will lead us directly (in 9 days) to September 23, Padre Pio's feast day . . . and just to make sure Pio doesn't feel too ignored (he sure has enough miracles to his credit, but we like to go with the underdog), let's add (just today, or each day if you feel like it) the prayer asking Padre Pio to be our spiritual father. This way if it seems kind of boring to just keep asking Marcel to heal Miss Marcel's cancer, we can spice it up by asking Pio to be our dad. He's a great father, and while I don't have time now to go into details, I've enjoyed both reading and telling about his kindness and compassion before, so here are a couple of links to learn more. The first essay is by me, and the second by our dear friend and children's book author (and substack-don-dolindo writer) Maura McKeegan: THE REAL FACE OF PADRE PIO PADRE PIO, PURGATORY, AND PLENARY INDULGENCES And now for our novena prayers: Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. And through the intercession of your littlest son, Servant of God Marcel Van, may Suzie be miraculously healed from her cancer, and may all our other needed or desired miracles be granted. Amen! * * * O Saint Padre Pio, holy bearer of the Wounds of Christ, accept us this day as your spiritual sons and daughters and keep us always on the Little Way by your intercession. And do thou, O our Spiritual Father, stay there at the Gates of Heaven until all of your spiritual children have entered through, even and including us. Through Christ our Lord, Amen. (And just for good measure :) Dear Padre Pio, I recall your promise to the Lord, “Lord, I will stand at the gates of heaven until I see all my spiritual children have entered.” Encouraged by your gracious promise, I ask you to accept me as a spiritual child and to intercede for my prayer requests, including getting Marcel Van to intercede to heal Suzie's cancer completely and miraculously. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever, world without end, Amen. Draw me, we will run! P.S. I haven't been miraculously healed yet, but I sure have been sustained and refreshed by all your prayers! Thank you!!! I am asking Our Lord to divert some of the many graces and roses pouring down from Heaven back to all your own special intentions, but rest assured (on Mary's lap) that I also have asked Him to keep me pain free. I am so grateful for His and your kindness!! I will have a PET scan on September 19, and it will be fun to see what they find. St. Therese says in her wonderful Letter 197, "Let us stay away from all that sparkles." Apparently that is what we want to do in the PET (again, no actual pets will be harmed in the making of the film) scan, namely, stay away from all that lights up . . . but we'll see! I think Marcel might very much want to make it worse before he makes it better, so that he'll have a bigger miracle to advance his cause, so that he can be more officially recognized as the Apostle of Children and the Second Little Flower (in other words, so he can help lots more people when they come to know him and start asking too) . . . or perhaps our little brother is just waiting for the right moment and when we see the scan results we'll just be all clear and good to go! I'll keep you posted, and meanwhile, Our Lady of Sorrows is hiding behind the Sunday today, so be sure to cheer her up with a Hail Mary and a cupcake! She is happy to know that Jesus' Resurrection and our little Easter have taken precedence over her sadness. What mom wants to make her kids sad? Praise God for her maternity, and Happy Sunday!  A recap of last week's episode, just like you might find at the beginning of a two-part Adam West Batman, or better yet, at the start of the next installment of your favorite K-Drama (Crash Landing on You!) . . .We are in the midst of our annual TRIPLE NOVENA: 1. Starting Sept 6 (32nd anniversary of our clothing in Carmel) we pray for 9 days leading to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept 14). 2. Starting Sept 15 (Our Lady of Sorrows) we pray for 9 more days leading to the Feast of St. Padre Pio (Sept 23). 3. Starting on Padre Pio day (Sept 23) we pray for 9 days to the FEAST OF ST THERESE our patroness and sister, and the sister of Servant of God Marcel Van who needs a miracle (and we're setting one up for him) to be officially recognized as Blessed. I forgot to mention in the previous post which announced our novena that this is a VERY SPECIAL NOVENA INDEED! Do you remember Calvinball? Calvin (of "and Hobbes" fame) got to make up rules as he went along. And so too do we! Rules: 1. You can start any day you like. 2. You can miss as many days as you like. 3. Just in virtue of reading this or hearing about it in any way, your intentions are included. So don't think of yourself as late, or conversely (if you were early) don't worry that I'm repeating myself . . . but simply rejoice in this beautiful "Old French Prayer for Friends" on this joyful feast of the Nativity of our Blessed Mother. Here we go: FIRST NOVENA PRAYER (back by popular demand, a fan favorite) Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. And through the intercession of your littlest son, Servant of God Marcel Van, may Suzie be miraculously healed from her cancer, and may all our other needed or desired miracles be granted. Amen! That is our triple novena . . . SO WHAT IS OUR TRIPLE FEAST? 1. Birthday of Mary! (September 8, long ago - remember, a lady never reveals her exact age) 2. Profession (union with Jesus) of St. Therese, the Little Flower (September 8, 1890, Lisieux, France) 3. Profession (union with Jesus) of Servant of God Marcel Van, the Second Little Flower (September 8, 1946, Hanoi, Vietnam) Two final questions: Why are we saying a triple novena? and Who the heck is Servant of God Marcel Van? I will answer the first (why are we saying a triple novena) in three parts: 1. Because it's fun to link these amazing dates together and have the chance to importune little Jesus three times in a row. I especially like that we step on Padre Pio's broad shoulders to climb up to Therese's feet in the third part of our novena. 2. Because Miss Marcel, who is Suzie (ack! the curtain is pulled back! Shades of the Wizard of Oz!), i.e. me, has a little breast cancer that has suddenly become interesting by spreading to some nearby "but we were just minding our own business!" lymph nodes - same slow growing, low grade, non-aggressive (friendly, we like to call it) cancer, which being by definition very slothlike and lazy (lazy is good; see Marcel's Conversations, and since I can't remember exactly where, you'll just have to read the whole book!) ought not to have traveled even this short distance. 3. And finally we are saying our triple novena because we all need LOTS of miracles, and our buddy Marcel Van, who is merely a Servant of God - the very lowest ranking of those in the queue for canonization - needs a miracle, so why not get together and make it happen? Which leads us to our second question and answer: Who the heck is Marcel Van anyhow? It has come to my attention that a little bio of Marcel is in order because many kind people are happy to pray our prayer to Marcel but may be wondering, as a kind friend recently expressed it, "I'm saying that prayer to Marcel Van for you but who is Marcel Van?" or as it was expressed even more endearingly some years ago by another dear friend upon being presented with a picture of Marcel, "Oh! I love him! . . . Who is he?" There are two ways to answer this question. One way is to blather on indefinitely. The other is to give you links so you can go find out what I've already said in my previous blathering. How about we do a little bit of both? So first, the facts of Marcel Van: Vietnamese. Catholic from birth. Born 1928 in Hanoi, entered the Redemptorists when he was about 16, became a lay brother. He was never a priest but he was fully in the Order, living in a community of Vietnamese novices taught by French Canadian missionaries who brought St. Alphonsus' Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer to Vietnam in 1925. Marcel was in the south of Vietnam in the early 50s when all hell started breaking loose, and he requested permission to go back to the north so someone would love Jesus amidst the Godless communists there. Once back in the nearly evacuated Redemptorist community in Hanoi, Marcel was soon arrested on a trumped up charge and spent the next several years in communist camps, finally dying of love in the camps in 1959 at age 31. Just as St. Therese died of love but it looked like tuberculosis (that was another cause but not the deepest cause), so Marcel died of love but it looked like beriberi, or from another perspective, martyrdom (since the beriberi was due to horrible living conditions in the camps where he was because of the communists hatred of his Faith). Marcel's first postulator (main one working to show he was a saint) was Cardinal Francis Xavier van Thuan, another amazing Vietnamese holy one. So holy that he died before he got very far with Marcel's cause, zipped straight to Jesus, and now has his own cause for beatification and canonization. Delightfully, Cardinal van Thuan has moved ahead of Marcel in the ranks and is now called "Venerable" because his heroic virtues have been examined, discussed, and formally recognized and approved. That is Marcel's story in a nutshell except for one MAJOR and ESSENTIAL fact: When he was a boy in the minor seminary, Marcel read St. Therese's memoir Story of a Soul. He asked her (like we might) to be his big sister. He felt, just like we might, that she said yes, and so he was filled with joy - just like might happen to any one of us when we connect with a new saint. Except. Unlike most of us, Marcel then heard a voice. Okay, I hear voices too, but they say, "Mom, when's dinner?" This voice said to Marcel, "Van!" {his name before he entered the Redemptorists and was called, in religion, Marcel. "Van! My dear little brother!" In his own words, from his Autobiography: Then I glanced round to see if there really was someone calling me . . . I heard again the same voice, gentle as the passing breeze, which called, "Van! My dear brother!" I was stunned and a little troubled, but I remained calm as usual, and guessed immediately that this voice which called me was a supernatural voice. I then let out a hurried cry of joy: "Oh! It's my sister Saint Therese!" The reply was not long in coming: "Yes, it is really your sister Saint Therese who is here . . . I have come here in reply to your words which have echoed in my heart. Little brother! You will be personally and from now on my little brother, just as you have chosen me, personally, to be your big sister. From now onwards our two souls will be separated no longer by any obstacle as they formerly were. They are already united in the sole love of God. From this moment I will let your know all my beautiful thoughts on love, that which has occurred in my life and has transformed me in the infinite Love of God. Do you know why we are meeting today? It is God Himself who has arranged this meeting. He wished that the lessons of love which He has taught me in the secret of my soul are perpetuated in this world, and, for that, He has deigned to choose you as a little secretary to carry out the work He wishes to entrust to you." (Autobiography, 590) Now perhaps you can see why I'm crazy about this daring duo: Little St. Therese, Doctor of the Church and universal patron of missionaries on a par with St. Francis Xavier himself . . . and little Marcel Van, her Vietnamese spiritual little brother, most remarkably unremarkable in his littleness and just-like-usness - these two have a message for us, and a mission. Their mission is to spread the love of God and make Him loved. Their message is that He loves us infinitely in all our pathetic humanness, our woundedness, our poverty, our "but how could I ever be a saint, I'm just an idiot with 800 faults more obvious to me and the rest of the world every single day" or worse yet our, "But then again I guess I do have some rather wonderful qualities that make me better than every one else, so of course God would love me . . ." Yes, He does! From the top of your head to the fullest extent of your toes! HE LOVES YOU INFINITELY and wants you to be happy with Him both IN THIS LIFE OF EXILE and in the next REAL LIFE of Heaven which lasts FOREVER! So on this day of September 8, Mary Immaculate was born. On this day of September 8 many centuries later, little Therese Martin pronounced her vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a Discalced Carmelite nun, which means that she became one with Jesus like those who say their wedding vows become one in virtue of those vows. (Which is why Holy Mother Church won't let people write their own vows. She wants us to get it right and actually do what we intend: namely become one with that other person through the awesome power of the words we say with understanding and free consent of our will.) Then on this day some decades later, Marcel Van pronounced his vows as a Redemptorist brother and thus became one with Jesus on the same day as his sister, mentor, and ideal, St. Therese. He tells us (again in his Autobiography, though my favorite book - bar none - is his Conversations with Jesus, Mary, and Therese): "The eighth of September. What a happy day! I see written there a double memory, which will attract my attention each year. It is first of all the birthday of the Mother of God and at the same time the day when my sister St. Therese celebrated her spiritual marriage with Jesus, her spouse of love. Since the day when I got to know the book The Story of a Soul, I have always wished to resemble Saint Therese, and I said to myself, 'If the day of my profession could coincide with that of the profession of my sister, how happy I would be!' Today this wish has become a reality, and it is once again a favour that Jesus wished for his friend. Yes, my Father, that is Love. When one loves there is no difficulty, no matter how big, that cannot be overcome; above all when one is dealing with a friend as powerful as is my friend Jesus. . . Indeed, in the presence of this infinitely magnificent Love and its immense kindness, it felt as if my soul was immersed in a state of extreme intoxication. . ." (859) If you would like to know more about Marcel Van, you can find a few of my articles about him by clicking HERE or read at the website of our favorite translator of Marcel's writings into English, Jack Keogan HERE Don't forget to pray, hope, and don't worry (in the words of our friend Padre Pio), or if you are tired, don't forget to take a nap. It's a feast day of Our Lady and a special anniversary for Therese and Marcel, so help God to spoil you with your favorite treat, put your feet up, lay your head back, and may the peace beyond all understanding, the Holy Spirit of Love and sweetness, envelop you and fill you with joy! Draw me, we will run!  And the Lord answered me: "Write the vision, make it plain upon tablets, so that he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." (Habakkuk 2: 2-3) "I have chosen you to tell everyone." - Jesus to Mary Magdalene (in Marie Miller's "Woman") I have news! I am now officially interesting, and you can bet this makes me very happy. I know, I know, our guiding star St. Therese exhorts us in my favorite of her letters (Letter 197 to her sister and godmother Marie of the Sacred Heart) to stay far from all that sparkles, and I admit, this has perplexed me. But then she goes on, "Let us love our littleness . . .then we will be poor in spirit and however far we are, Jesus will come to get us. He will transform us into flames of love." As if that isn't enough (ah, nothing is enough but God, and we don't get Him completely yet, so let's thank Him for His messengers), she continues in the words our Holy Father Pope Francis said were enough to have earned her that sparkly Doctorate conferred on her after 97 years of pleading by the whole world: "It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love." And finally, she encourages us, "Since we see the way, let's run together! Yes, I feel it. Jesus wants to give us the same graces. He wants to give us Heaven for free!" This is excellent wisdom (not just your garden variety - although once you've had "just your garden variety," you'll never see a tomato in the same way again!). I am all about Heaven for free. But don't worry, I'm not rushing there yet. I'm just continuing to meander along our Little Way smelling the many roses friends have been providing (ah, I do love roses!!!) - and going to a couple of doctor's appointments to see what Marcel has been doing lately. So there I was yesterday with son #2 (my chauffeur) with me as the Doc repeated the news I'd first heard a few days ago on the feast of St. Gregory the Great and St. Piux X (hooray for at least two calendars, and as many more as we can find!): "I don't know how this happened . . ." he said. I turned to said son and whispered, "Marcel." Or as a friend said, a friend who knows both me and my altar ego well, "Ah. I was wondering what Marcel had up his sleeve - or in his socks!" I had warned my husband that Marcel is an imp. I like to ask my caro sposo for his permission and approval before I launch into a new endeavor, lest I fail to take advantage of his eminent prudence (i.e. lest I fall on my face and he isn't there to pick me up). So when I thought of asking Marcel to intercede for a miracle to advance his cause, specifically for him to obtain from God my complete and instantaneous healing from cancer, I did warn DH that Marcel might make it worse before better in order to get a big enough miracle for the advancement he needs. My husband is such a trusting man. Guileless, even. Is it harsh to call him naive? At least we can say he's a babe in the woods when it comes to the clever workings of the likes of Marcel and me, despite his having known us both a long time. My in-laws gave us one and only one piece of advice when we married: "Never say I told you so." It was a relief to find out thirty plus years later that they never meant don't think it! Impossible!" they laughed, when I said I was afraid I had definitely thought it over the years. Since I am not allowed to say I told you so, let's just say I saw Marcel's handwriting on the wall and could have predicted the sequel . . . No more suspense then: The little tumor in my right breast was removed with clear margins. That is good! That means they got it all, as far as that little lump goes. That's very good! The sentinal lymph nodes that were removed (three in honor of the Trinity, all in a little clump) then SHOCKED THE SOCKS RIGHT OFF my good doctor. "I'm sorry for your bad luck," he said yesterday. We then got into a rather sweet altercation because I assured him I didn't have bad luck, and he assured me I did. I said he wasn't allowed to feel bad for me and he said he sure could. Well, if he doesn't understand Marcel's ways of making it worse before he makes it better, I can't blame him. You need a rather blonde and possibly devious soul to understand these things. Speaking of which, I did ask him if it might be the time to go blonde, and he said now might be the time! The upshot is that I have more cancer than he expected, though not necessarily a lot. Certainly not as much as I momentarily misunderstood him to say. When he said that all 3 nodes had cancer, and that one had 10 mm of cancer, I naturally understood him to say 10 cm of cancer. For a clear explanation and a somewhat prophetic account of my cluelessness about measurement, see Nate Bargatze in Washington's Dream HERE. (Please do follow that link - it will make everything so much more enjoyable!) Happily that was just my inner blonde imagining 10 cm. The reality of 10 mm is not that big . . .but it was nonetheless surprising because the cancer in the breast (and I think the cancer in this little lymph node clump is the same) was low grade and the tumor was small - which adds up to non-aggressive and slow growing, which means it shouldn't have had time to go anywhere else. Hence I am interesting. I told the Doc that he and his colleague (who will be my oncologist) could then write up a journal article on me, but he gave the impression that he doesn't want me to be that interesting. Meanwhile, what was going to be a quick surgery (which I, for one, enjoyed), an easy recovery (so far so good!!), and a bit of radiation ("No chemo!" I kept telling everyone, "That's the bad one!") followed by some estrogen blocking pills (and after all, I did find menopause kind of funny the first time around: I'd wonder why the room/church/house/world had gotten so very hot, I'd take off my sweater, and then I'd have to control my laughter - it seemed hilarious that I could be old enough to be having hot flashes!) . . .has become SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING! There is a whole world of people out there I haven't yet met! I haven't forced St. Therese holy cards or Miraculous Medals on them yet! I haven't confused them yet with my dark humor, my silly humor, my frequently ill-timed humor, and I haven't had a chance to smile at them and start conversations we never have time to finish. I haven't yet made the vision plain so they may run: the vision of God's infinite love for us that makes life so much sweeter even while we're stuck here in exile. So now it looks like chemo will happen (when will I learn to never say never?!) - but hey, they have anti-nausea meds and some funny ice-cap thing that you can wear on your head to keep your hair. Son #2 pointed out it was time for me to make Husband #1 feel better about his scalp (by having a matching one), and the doctor gave the A-Okay to my plan for "lived-in blonde." I'm just having a hard time seeing what's not to enjoy about this. Okay, there was a moment the other night when for the first time (I won't give you details) it seemed like I had cancer. But the moment was quite short-lived, and a kind of good wake-up call. "Hello?" I said. "Hi, this is Marcel! Just wanted to let you know that everyone's prayers are working! That's why you've had no pain, hardly any discomfort, and nothing icky to experience or feel." No wonder why I am enjoying this! PRAYER WORKS!! Which brings us to our triple novena . . . In past years we've started around now to do a Triple Novena. This means that we pray a simple prayer for 9 days leading up to the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14. Then for 9 more days, another simple prayer leading to Padre Pio's feast. And then, the icing on the cupcake, 9 more days of a simple prayer takes us to that FEAST OF FEASTS - no, not Easter - no, not Christmas - no, not my birthday - THE FEAST OF ST. THERESE the Little Flower on October 1st! (For purists you can finish September 30 on the day she died, or for double dippers, you can celebrate again on October 3, her feast in the old calendar still celebrated in the traditional Latin Mass/extraordinary form.) A friend who has been extremely perceptive lately (well, for decades, most likely, but lately she is sharing her extreme perceptions with me) - the same one who wasn't surprised at those lymph nodes because she knew Marcel was up to his usual tricks - had a wonderful insight into how we could pray and involve our other favorite saints without taking the miracle away from Marcel. You see, if we want the miracle to be attributed to Marcel in order to move him from the low rung of Servant of God to a higher rung like Blessed, we need to be praying fairly exclusively to him, asking his intercession with little Jesus for the miracle of my instant and complete and permanent cure from the cancer (which is now a more impressive and interesting cancer, and thus more likely to impress those very critical doctors who help the Vatican distinguish between miracles and good luck). Here is what my friend wrote: "Lest Marcel not get the credit, I was so afraid of invoking someone else’s help for a cure that I didn’t talk to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph or St Therese about you, except to say, “Suzie’s sick.” But this morning it came to me that I could pray to them to make sure that you are cured obviously through Marcel’s intercession." Yes, that sounds just right to me. And lest we forget how powerful our prayers are, let me say something I should have told you about a month ago: We did a 54 day rosary novena that ended on the Feast of the Assumption. MIRACLES ENSUED! At least two of the huge miracles we had asked for have now been granted by our kind and merciful Father in Heaven, and more are in the works. AND the best kind of novena turns out to be not just the one that gets an answer straight out of the box, but the one that needs to be repeated until it becomes almost perpetual, and THEN God answers. Case in point: I keep laughing as I tell the story of the engagement of Son #1 to The Loveliest Catholic Woman on the Planet. It all started (and then progressed to engagement in 2 months) when my husband and I said a novena to St. Joseph for our sons' vocations. The Loveliest Catholic Woman (etc.) started a St. Joseph novena for her own vocation the same day (9 days before St. Joseph's March 19 solemnity). And then they met and the rest is history in the making. But the reason I laugh - besides utter giddiness and absolute joy - is that this CAN'T be the first time I've prayed to St. Joseph for my son's vocation. It might be the 9000th time, and perhaps that was the kind of novena needed! So thank you a million zillion for the prayers you've already said. You are in mine for sure! And now if you're game, feel free to join in our next novenas - for your own as well as our intentions! TRIPLE NOVENA: 1. Starting today (Sept 6 - 32nd anniversary of our clothing in Carmel) we pray for 9 days leading to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept 14). 2. Starting Sept 15 (Our Lady of Sorrows) we pray for 9 more days leading to the Feast of St. Padre Pio (Sept 23). 3. Starting on Padre Pio day (Sept 23) we pray for 9 days to the FEAST OF ST THERESE our patroness and sister, and the sister of Servant of God Marcel Van who needs a miracle (and we're setting one up for him) to be officially recognized as Blessed. FIRST NOVENA PRAYER (back by popular demand, a fan favorite) An Old French Prayer for Friends Blessed Mother of those whose names you can read in my heart, watch over them with every care. Make their way easy and their labors fruitful. Dry their tears if they weep; sanctify their joys; raise their courage if they weaken; restore their hope if they lose heart, their health if they be ill, truth if they err, and repentance if they fall. And through the intercession of your littlest son, Servant of God Marcel Van, may Suzie be miraculously healed from her cancer. Amen. Draw me, we will run!  "God does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude." - little St. Therese
That may be my favorite quote from St. Therese because we are so easily tricked into thinking we are supposed to do great and be great. Ah, but the joy of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood which gained Therese a Doctorate is that we don't have to do anything big, just love God from our spot in the firmament (or is it terra firma?) - well, simply surrender ourselves like a child into its mama or papa's arms, and sigh with gratitude. Easy for me to say! I just had the most pain free cancer surgery ever! Granted I'm still a little stymied that no pink swag was offered (2 dear ones who had been through this before assured me there would be pink swag offered) - the nurses even laughed at me slightly scoffingly when I suggested this during the last pre-op (I love that anything happening between diagnosis and operation is "pre-op" and thus sounds very grand!), just before it was time for "Scalpel, please." Luckily for us all, I was well out of it when (and if) the doctor put on his Marcus Welby act (or Doogie Howser or George Clooney in E.R. - gosh, it's been a long time since I've even heard about a medical show! Hugh Laurie in House? Is that about hospitals?). The point is that anesthesiologist did a marvelous job. Then the surgeon apparently did his job, though I could hardly tell you because if you asked me, nothing happened! Just a nice snooze, an easy return from dreamland, and I was on my little way home being driven by my chauffeur of 36 years. He's remarkably good. So I am grateful! I got to go to early Mass with my husband yesterday, the day after surgery. I got to visit with friends, and I got to see what it would be like if I rose out of my coffin at my own funeral! Not to be morbid at all, but it was fun to see the happy expressions on people's faces when I went to breakfast at TAC after Mass. Not even one person accused me of faking the whole "I need an operation, please pray for me a lot" routine. Said husband assures me it did happen! And I am grateful for all your prayers, dear reader. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my life so joyful. I know from past experience that it is possible for life to be really painful (physically and otherwise), but I know that God is a merciful Father and the kindest brother in the world, One who must turn away His face when we suffer, One who must come down to be with us in our pain. The great news is that He will never leave us alone, and the way He is showing me that this time is by your presence in my life. So thank you, with tears in my eyes, though only tears of joy and gratitude for YOU and your love. Please don't think you are unimportant because your great actions haven't been noticed. Your little ones have, and those are the ones that got Mother Teresa, St. Therese, and big St. Teresa to Heaven! Speaking of which, I whiled away the time just before we went off to the hotel and hospital (always cushion your hospital outpatient surgery with a Hilton stay is my new advice! If it is near a hospital, they may give you a special discount and/or comp the parking and breakfast so you can pretend this is a way of life rather than a super fun and crazy adventure) - but as I was saying, as I whiled away the time before we left home, I listened and watched (mostly listened) to a lady in a bright jacket and floral dress talk about these 3 Teresas, and I was so excited. Okay, it was me, but thanks to a dear friend who is magnificent with a camera, and thanks to New Jersey for providing the fun (and soft) jacket, and thanks most of all to the angels, saints, and the Holy Spirit Who was with us the day I gave the talk for my parish - WOW, it sounded credible to me, all that stuff I said! (Okay, I didn't listen to the end, but I heard the first half, and it sounded both true and interesting. I can't ask for more!) So if you feel like hearing (and perhaps seeing) more about these 3 Teresas who got to Heaven by surrender and gratitude (okay and a little elbow grease for the 1st and 3rd, but for the 2nd, our heroine and fave Doctor, the French little Therese, not so much elbow grease as very, little, teeny, tiny daily tasks done often badly - she was terrible at housework in the convent! - with lots of love, or at least as much as she could muster!) - then go for it and click HERE: Miss Marcel speaks at St. Sebastian's Eucharistic day of reflection, back in the spring of 2024 May God bless and reward you for your love, support, and silent prayers (and even your out loud prayers!) - they have meant so much and provided me with a cushy ride on this new stretch of road. Poor Big St. Teresa falling out of that cart. She couldn't believe she was in the mud, and told the Truth the truth: "No wonder You have so few friends, if this is how You treat them!" - If you're having that kind of day, feel free to complain, but don't forget to laugh, too, because as little St. Therese says, "Children fall often, but they don't hurt themselves much because they're already so close to the ground!" As for my prayers for you, I can only repeat with our sister: Draw me; we will run!  FIRST JOY - Today's Feast: The Seven Joys of Mary!!!  Second Joy: Peanuts comic strips - including this prophetic one! Here I am totally blonde (let's just admit it!) and happily receiving visitors, roses on my bedside table representing the near presence of little Therese and Marcel, while my excellent medical helper takes notes!
Okay, so Marcel didn't do a disappearing-tumor-act miracle, but that's good! You get so many fewer roses when you DON'T have surgery but just have a miracle. That's my guess! And I was (and am) really looking forward to this great surgeon I have (thanks Shirl!) doing his work well. How disappointing if yesterday he had his first surgery of the morning today cancelled with no one to replace it. A surgeon is virtuous (as a surgeon) when he practices his art excellently! So here's to doctors, nurses, techs, and all the good people I'll meet almost as soon as I finish this post! As for the 5 other joys I mentioned in the post title, how about: Joy #3 - your prayers! Thank you so much! Joy #4 - God's kindness in letting me fulfill a long held dream last night of watching from a comfy hotel room His gorgeous orange sunset over the mountains and city lights! Wow! Spectacular work, God! Thank You! Joy #5 - All the kind people we've been meeting along the way! Wow, this world is so full of kind people I hope you meet sometime too! How about start with whomever you see the minute you look up from this screen (or the first person you see whenever a person shows up in your sight!) - love him first and watch it boomerang right back to you (or be absorbed in a black hole if you got the wrong person, but hey, he needs love more than anyone!) Joy #6 - my husband upstairs in the hotel room as I'm in the lobby wide awake - and he's hearing the alarm and wondering where I am but with confidence (I hope) that I haven't left for Vegas! Joy #7 - the Saints! May they come to you today with their angels and greet you with joyful surprises in honor of Mary's 7 joys! Draw me, we will run!  Infinitely good Father, You have given Marcel Van the mission of changing suffering into joy. Inspired by the saints and comforted by the maternal solicitude of the Blessed Mother, he totally surrendered himself to Your Love. O sweet Jesus, grant that we may be inspired by Marcel, joyful through love, to follow him along St Therese's Little Way with simplicity and an unshakeable confidence in Your Love. Holy Spirit of Love, attracted by Marcel's weakness, You set him on fire with Love. Grant, we pray, that the Church may one day soon proclaim his sanctity, and please give us the grace we ask of You through his intercession, namely Suzie's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from cancer and Bosco's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from illness. We ask this through Jesus' adorable and powerful name. Amen. * * * If you are just now tuning in, and if you had the hutzpah to say the bold prayer above with us, please don't let the "Suzie's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from cancer, and Bosco's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from illness" part throw you off. Miss Marcel is, we hate to admit, a pseudonym. Along with "Aunt Suzie," a favorite appellation, it is the nom de plume of - well, I guess the cat is out of the bag, so get ready to sneeze - me, aka, Suzie. And I do have cancer, which is quite as thrilling as you can imagine, except that (shhhh, don't tell the Congregation for the Causes of Saints!) it is not that serious. A little lump that will be removed on the feast of St. Monica, aka, the Seven Joys of Mary. No, I don't mean St. Monica is actually the Seven Joys of Mary, but rather her new feast on August 27 is, for Franciscans and those of us who adopt every liturgical calendar ever hinted at (because what child can ever have enough feasts, aka, days off?), also the feast of the Seven Joys of Mary! And also the 36th wedding anniversary (this year of Our Lord, 2024) of M and KC, dear friends without whose love and support, care and feeding, Miss Marcel would have long ago shriveled into a shell of her happy, robust self. In other words, no worries! But we thought our little brother and St. Therese's, the Servant of God Marcel Van, could use this opportunity to show off his intimacy with Jesus. Marcel's cause, you see, though begun officially in 1997 (and worked for tirelessly by many minions including the great Anne de Blay and our own personal favorite, Jack Keogan), has gone nowhere fast, so we figured why not boost it with a little miracle? Have you heard the one about the turtle who was mugged by a gang of snails? "Okay," said the policeman, notebook in hand, pencil poised to write out the details. "Can you describe the assailants?" "I don't think I can," said the turtle. "It all happened so fast." I'm sure Marcel is saying the same thing as he lives it up in Heaven with the Communion of Saints gathered there: "It all happened so fast! First Jesus whisked me up to Heaven, and next thing I knew I had a cause. Before I could catch my breath, Cardinal Van Thuan left off being my postulator to come stand beside me, both of us laughing while Therese announced he'd just been declared Venerable on earth." Yes, our little brother has the distinction (it can hardly be the first time, but I find it endlessly amusing) of lagging behind in the race for sainthood while his postulator, now deceased, has sped ahead of him and claimed the title "Venerable," meaning his heroic virtues have been declared. Good job, dear Cardinal Francis Xavier Van Thuan! How about for your miracle for beatification you get Marcel made Venerable too? But let's not muddy the waters. Focus. We're trying to obtain a more practical miracle so that when the Church declares Marcel a Venerable sort of guy, his next step (to be ranked among the Blessed) will be all ready and set to go. You see, you need a miracle (after you die; the ones before don't count for this, so relax) to be beatified - which used to be two miracles, but under JPII the process was simplified because hey, if you've got God's ear in Heaven, and He consents to give you (by "you" I mean the one with a cause, so again, no pressure on you personally, dear reader) whatever it is you're asking for on behalf of the likes of us left behind in exile, why should the blokes at the Vatican demand more? Their investigation into proposed miracles is so strenuous it's surprising anyone ever obtains a single one - no need for two! Well, okay, another miracle is needed for canonization, but here's why. When a holy dear departed soul is declared Blessed by the Church (that is, when someone is beatified), it means that this person is in Heaven seeing the Face of God. Cue fireworks! This is true success! - Not the beatification part, but the Beatific Vision part, for after all, what are we made for but eternal bliss in knowing and loving God eternally? I can't wait! But let's say a person is beatified and we now know he's in Heaven, then the Church needs to know if God wants this person-in-Heaven universally honored by the WHOLE Church across the world, not just by the person's family, friends, diocese, religious order, or special clients who can publicly honor him with liturgies and statues and such after he's blessed. To take an example, Blessed Pier Giorgio, whose centenary the Church is currently celebrating (yay Peter George!), is in Heaven - we know that because we are calling him Blessed, and as St. Augustine pointed out, no one is Blessed until his happiness is forever, which only happens in Heaven. And because Blessed Pier Giorgio is from Italy, the Italians are mighty proud of him. And because he went to Heaven relatively young, he's often beloved by young people. And because he was super athletic and climbed mountains, he's invoked (or should be!) by other mountain climbers and athletes. And because he's super good looking, and more importantly he was really kind, let's admit it, we all love him! But when his next miracle comes through (and I hear from the google elves that it's just a matter of approval, though I only have their word for it so far), the Church will be saying this: "Okay, we admit Blessed Pier Giorgio is already a universal favorite, but after he was beatified, someone back there in row 377 asked for a miracle through his intercession, and since God granted not just the miracle for his beatification to show us P. G. was in Heaven, but also a second miracle just for fun (and to let PG show off), we now know God wants EVERYONE to honor Saint Pier Giorgio. In case there was anyone who didn't already love him, from this moment on we encourage everyone to ask his intercession and enjoy his friendship and good example, so go for it!" You get the idea. But again, here's dear Marcel having so much fun playing games in Heaven (as he liked to tell Jesus he would), that he hasn't advanced a single step in the Process down here. So we figured, let's give him a chance, let's call on him and give him a specific job that should take him no more than 15 minutes tops, just like cleaning his room used to do in the old days when he was stuck in exile with the rest of us. If we start a novena today, it will end on the day I'm supposed to have my surgery, but the day before that, August 26th (feast of the Transverberation of St. Teresa's heart), they'll be taking some images to make sure the doctor knows just where to scoop out the tiny bit of cancer, and wouldn't it be fun if they found just plain me and no cancer? Then not only would the surgeon (who's a great guy) get to sleep in the next day instead of operating on me, but Marcel - the one we're asking to whisper to Jesus what we need and obtain our miracle of no cancer - would get his miracle. Here's a photo of the Transverberation of St. Teresa's heart, which event Carmelites celebrate on August 26, the day we're going to surprise the radiologist (God willing):  Wonderfully, I'm just remembering that August 26 is also the day Jesus told St. Anthony Mary Claret that He would remain sacramentally in St. Anthony perpetually between their Holy Communions. I talk about this at length in Something New with St. Therese: Her Eucharistic Miracle, so if you need a good book to pass the time while waiting for our miracle, you can get your copy HERE.
But what of the day we start the novena? As I hinted in the title above, you're welcome to start or join in whenever you stumble upon this post, but in order to finish on my surgery day, we're beginning officially on our today, which is August 19, feast of the infamous St. John Eudes. Infamous? you say, curious and all agog. Well, yes, infamous ever since the hilarious repartee about St. John Eudes that Jesus shot back at Marcel in one of their conversations. In case you're on a buying spree, you can buy Conversations HERE and read the whole story for yourself, but while we've got your attention, we'll tell it in a nutshell right now. When our dear Marcel Van was a young novice with the Redemptorists, each New Year's he chose a slip of paper on which was written the name of a saint who would be his special patron for the next year. In his Conversations (with Jesus, Mary, and St. Therese), Marcel writes on January 1, 1946 the following dialog he had with Jesus about his new saint for the year: Jesus: Marcel, for the new year I wish you an abundance of everything: much love, much joy, much suffering. I wish that you eat a lot, that you have a lot of fun, that you sleep a lot, that you work a lot . . . in a word, I wish everything for you in abundance. Were you surprised yesterday to receive Saint John Eudes, of whom you had never heard, as your patron for the year? It's very strange is it not? Is that what has made you sad? Marcel: Yes, little Jesus, I am very sad. After having asked You insistently, You have given me neither Your name nor that of Mary and You have not even left me that of my sister Therese. You always tell me that You give me all I ask; and yet, after having begged You so much, You have not given me what I desired. Truly, You do not keep Your word. I am very sad because of it, little Jesus. Jesus: Come, come, Marcel, what did I say to you the other day? I told you that I would choose a very strange patron for you. So, how can you reproach me for not having kept my word? . . . it is necessary that you enlarge the circle of your relations with your brothers and sisters, the saints . . . Marcel: So, Jesus, why have You not given me my father Saint Alphonsus? And who, therefore, is Saint John Eudes, little Jesus? I know absolutely nothing about him; I only heard of him for the first time yesterday. * * * And here's the line which always makes me smile and laugh: Jesus: Saint John Eudes, Marcel, is Saint John Eudes, that's all. He is a saint who loved me a lot during his life, after his death he ascended to heaven with me and the Church canonized him . . . And now, I want to give you him as your patron of the year. Marcel, you are so fussy; even if you know nothing of Saint John Eudes, that's of no consequence and I am not obliging you to know any more about him. The only thing that you must know is that I have chosen him for your patron of the year. And since I have chosen him for you, why would it not be as suitable as another. Do not be sad, Marcel. And even if you were sad, you would not be able to change is since you have already eaten some sweets in his honour; if you were going to change, all the saints would make fun of you and you would be very ashamed. * * * Well, it turns out that St. John Eudes is not only Saint John Eudes, he's also up for consideration as a Doctor of the Church! But let's face it, now that St. Therese is a Doctor, we've got our lifetime reading plan in place, so don't be afraid I'm going to give you another link to another book you need to order and not have time to read . . . instead, I'm going to copy a terrific little bio I just read on the infamous St. John Eudes, because though Jesus didn't elaborate, that's where we come in! Who is St. John Eudes? I'm so glad you asked! From the website of his religious order and refined by our editorial team: Born in France on November 14, 1601, St. John Eudes’ life spanned the century immediately following the glorious Council of Trent, which heralded the dawn of a golden age of sanctity and mystic fervor. No fewer than seven Doctors of the Church had lived in the previous century, including St. Francis de Sales, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross. Their influence, along with that of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Philip Neri, was still fresh as St. John Eudes came onto the scene. He was educated by the newly founded Jesuits in rural Normandy, later to be known as the land of St. Therese of Lisieux. He was ordained into the Oratory of Jesus and Mary, a society of priests based on the model of St. Philip Neri’s Oratory in Rome and recently founded by Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle, a man renowned for his holiness and named “the apostle of the Incarnate Word” by Pope Urban VII. Rounding out St. John Eudes’ heritage is the influence of the Discalced Carmelites. His spiritual director, Cardinal Bérulle himself, had brought sisters from St. Teresa of Avila’s convent in Spain to help found the Carmel in France. John Eudes would later become spiritual director to a Carmelite convent himself. Their cloister prayed constantly for his missionary activity. As an avid participant in a wave of re-evangelization in France, St. John Eudes’ principal apostolate was preaching parish missions. Spending anywhere from 4 to 20 weeks in each parish, he preached over 120 missions across his lifetime, always with a team of confessors providing the sacrament around the clock, and catechists meeting daily with small groups of parishioners. Early in his priesthood, an outbreak of plague hit St. John Eudes’ native region and he rushed to provide sacraments to the dying. The risk of contagion was so great that no one else dared to approach the victims. In order to protect his Oratorian brothers from contagion, St. John Eudes took up residence in a large empty cider barrel outside of the city walls until the plague had ended. During his missions he heard countless confessions, including those from women forced into prostitution. Realizing they needed intense healing and support, he began to found “Houses of Refuge” to help them get off the street and begin a new life. In 1641 he founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge to continue this work. They would live with the penitent women and provide them with constant support. Today, these sisters are known as the Good Shepherd Sisters, inspired by their fourth vow of zeal to go out seeking the “lost sheep.” Occasionally, St. John Eudes would return to the site of a previous mission. To his dismay, he found that the fruits of the mission were consistently fading for lack of support. The crucial piece in need of change was the priesthood. Previously, the only way to be trained as a priest was through apprenticeship to an already ordained priest, and understandably the result was inconsistent. In 1643 St. John left the Oratory and founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary to found a seminary; his innovation was a response to a proposal of the Council of Trent. At a mission in 1648, St. John Eudes authored the first known Mass in honor of the Heart of Mary. In 1652 he built the first church under the Immaculate Heart’s patronage: the chapel of his seminary in Coutances, France. During the process of his canonization, Pope St. Pius X named St. John Eudes “the father, doctor, and apostle of liturgical devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.” The Heart of Jesus because he created the first Feast of the Sacred Heart in 1672, just one year before St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had her first apparition of the Sacred Heart. Although his Marian devotion was intense from a tender age, the primary inspiration for this feast came from St. John Eudes’ theology of baptism. From the beginning of his missionary career he taught that Jesus continues His Incarnation in the life of each baptized Christian. As we give ourselves to Christ, our hands become His hands, our heart is transformed into His heart. Mary is the ultimate exemplar of this. She gave her Heart to God so completely that she and Jesus have just one Heart between them. Thus, whoever sees Mary, sees Jesus, and honoring the Heart of Mary is never separate from honoring the Heart of Jesus. At the time of this writing, Bishops the world over have requested that the Vatican proclaim St. John Eudes a Doctor of the Church. For more information on the progress of this cause, on his writings or spirituality, contact [email protected]. * * * Isn't that amazing??? And here's an extra little bit of Therese trivia to finish off the story: St. Therese, the Little Flower, said she would have wanted to go join the Good Shepherd sisters (or some such order, but I think she may have been thinking of St. John Eudes' order) if she hadn't been accepted in Carmel, and she would have enjoyed no one knowing she wasn't a Magdalene. She loved so much! And she loved Magdalene (as well as Magdalenes) so much! I was trying to find the exact quote from her regarding this desire, but the Holy Spirit hid it from me and gave me instead an old post from MMM on Mary Magdalene. If you click on her name in bold, you can read that post after this one - for some, over ten words is too much, but in case you are in the other class of people where, when it comes to the saints, you can never read enough, you can find more of Mary Magdalene and Therese and Marcel HERE. Meanwhile, I found a new prayer to Marcel with which I thought we'd end our post. That way we can remind ourselves, in the midst of all these giants, of the little sprout we're calling on for our miracle. And please join me in thanking God for a mini-miracle He's giving me today: there's a Miss Marcel East whose wedding anniversary is today, and I get to eat Lebanese food with her in person even though we live 3000 miles apart (on any normal day)! Miracles are in the air, so don't forget to ask for some extras when you're saying our prayers to Marcel. I'll include your intentions too, and before we know it, we'll be rejoicing over more miracles than we can submit to Rome in a lifetime! Marcel, you who were the hidden apostle of Love, so humble and so small, Marcel, you to whom Jesus entrusted the mission of turning suffering into joy, Marcel, you who lived in trust and filial tenderness with Jesus and Mary, Marcel, you who told us that "God is Father and the Father is Love," Marcel, you who became Thérèse's spiritual little brother, Join us in our trials and be our support. Through the grace we ask of you (namely Suzie's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from cancer, Bosco's complete, instantaneous, and lasting cure from illness, and all the other healings and miracles we need), grant us from the Heart of Jesus an increase in faith, hope, and love. Heavenly Father, now let the faithful who pray to You in the power of the Holy Spirit with Your servant Marcel Van see the efficacy of his intercession in answering their requests, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! Draw me, we will run!!! |
Miss MarcelI've written books and articles and even a novel. Now it's time to try a blog! For more about me personally, go to the home page and you'll get the whole scoop! If you want to send me an email, feel free to click "Contact Me" below. To receive new posts, enter your email and click "Subscribe" below. 
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