Servant and Steward

The Custody of the Holy Land - which has its origins in 1217 when Saint Francis of Assisi decided to send some of his friars to walk where the Lord Jesus himself lived, died, and rose - today celebrates a day of great joy as Father Francesco Patton, O.F.M. succeeds Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M. in his new ministry as Custos:

As he takes up this vital office in the service of the Church, Father Patton said he is filled with both "trepidation" and "great confidence" because "I believe in the value of obedience and so I believe that the will of God passes through very concrete human mediations, such as the willingness to take up this service as requested by the Order."

The work of the Custos is of great importance, not only for the Holy Land but for Christians everywhere. The Custody of the Holy Land describes his ministry as follows:

The main task of the Custos, in addition to animating the life of the friars, is to coordinate and direct the reception of pilgrims who come to the Holy Land for pilgrimage and pray at the shrines of our Redemption. This task was bestowed by the Holy See over 600 years ago. The term used at those times to designate this task was "custody" of the holy places, from which derived the terms still in use "Custody" and "Custos ".

The first and most important role of the Custos, therefore, is to receive the pilgrims at the Holy Shrines, offering them spaces of prayer and making available hostels for those who cannot afford expensive hotels.

The Custos ensures that friars are available to receive and talk with pilgrims at the holy places. His jurisdiction includes all the Catholic Christian sanctuaries. He ensures their economic support in order that this important function is fulfilled.

Another mission that the Custos assumes is to coordinate information about the Holy Land and instill in the Christians of the world the "loving care" for these sites: archaeological excavations at the holy places, publication of ancient pilgrimages and above all, the study of the Bible through geography and history of these same sites where the events took place. For this reason the Custody has set up the SBF, FAI, FPP, to name a few. These activities depend mainly on the Custos who sponsors such initiatives.

Another important task the Custos undertakes is to care for and sustain, in agreement with the local church, the Christian presence in the Holy Land through various initiatives. This includes ministry to schools and parishes and is done in conjunction with the local church [more].

I congratulate Father Patton and invite you to remember him and his ministry in your daily prayers.

05 June 2016

Would you like to help a couple adopt a child?

When I made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land two Christmases ago with Steve Ray (which I highly recommend!), his daughter Charlotte and her husband Wes were on the same pilgrimage.

Yesterday, Steve invited us to do "something nice & Prolife" on his blog, Defenders of the Catholic Faith, by buying a piece of Wes and Charlotte's adoption puzzle. The idea behind it is both simple and clever, as Charlotte explains on her blog, Finding Baby Sorrill:

Wes and Charlotte Sorrill

We have customized a 252 piece puzzle. I actually painted it by hand, uploaded to photoshop for the text (I have terrible handwriting) and then had the image printed on a puzzle!

Each piece will represent someone who donated to help us bring home our baby!

Each puzzle piece is a minimum donation of $25!

You may want to be represented on 1 piece of our puzzle or many pieces!

Your name will be written on the back of each piece that you represent.

Once the puzzle is finished it will be framed in a double sided glass frame and hung in our sweet baby's nursery. It will forever be a cherished piece of art and reminder of who was part of our journey with us [more]!

Adopting a child is an expensive endeavor because of the many legal requirements and fees. This is a creative way to help pay those costs and to involve other members of the Body of Christ in the process. If you can help, please do!

Islamic State in West Africa (formerly Boko Haram) Ongoing Updates - June 2016

19 June 2016

UPDATE (06-20-16): Nigerian officials discover 'spiritual book' used by Boko Haram for indoctrination

16 June 2016

UPDATE (06-17-16): 700 Boko Haram members surrender
Nigeria's Boko Haram opens radio station

12 June 2016

Civil Defence Arrests Major Boko Haram Recruiter in Borno

11 June 2016

UPDATE (06-12-16): Four women killed by Boko Haram in Nigeria

10 June 2016

UPDATE (06-11-16): Boko Haram: 130 killed as Chad, Niger troops fight insurgents in Bosso

9 June 2016

UPDATE (06-10-16): Chad Deploys 2,000 Soldiers to Niger after Boko Haram Raid of Military Base

4 June 2016

UPDATE (06-05-16): Nigerian troops kill Boko Haram's most feared butcher, 18 others
UPDATE (06-05-16): Boko Haram attack kills 32 in Niger
UPDATE (06-05-16): Nigerian military uncovers fresh plot of Boko Haram
UPDATE (06-05-16): Nigerian military uncovers plot by Boko Haram to bomb Nigeria during Ramadan

Rome Reports on Father Tolton

Rome Reports posted a brief story about the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Father Augustus Tolton yesterday.

The story, frankly, isn't all that good - both in terms of content and technical quality - and the reason for the story at this time is unclear. Still, it is good to see that his cause is still in the news as we wait for the process to unfold in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

In seventeen more days I'll be able to make a pilgrimage back to Father Tolton's grave when I return home from Rome.

04 June 2016

Travels in England: The Round Table and King Arthur's Grave

A meme has been going round on Facebook over the last few days that several friends have shared with me:

Though I am a great fan of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and I have been since I was a boy, I find this meme to be something of a groaner. The timing of the meme, however, is interesting, because it was only a few days ago that I visited the Great Hall at Winchester to see the Round Table that hangs there.

Part of the beauty and the appeal of the Arthurian legends is the manner in which this body of literature has been - and continues to be - adapted in different times and places for various means and purposes. As the Matter of Britain grew and expanded, new elements were introduced by particular authors.

The Round Table, for instance, perhaps the most politically important element of Arthuriana, was, so far as we can tell, introduced into the corpus in 1155 by Robert Wace in his "translation" of Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. Concerning the Round Table, Wace writes:

Arthur fashioned the Round Table

Of which many tales are told

There sit his knights,

Each one equal to the next:

The sit equally at the Table

And are equally served.

None of them can boast

That he sits ahead of the next.

None has a favored position,

And none is excluded.

Sir Thomas Malory (if memory serves, though it may have been Chrétien de Troyes) would later say instead that the Round Table was not made by King Arthur, but received as a wedding gift from Guinevere's father, King Leodegrance, though the symbolism given to the Round Table by Robert Wace was retained.

Hanging today in the Great Hall at Winchester is a Round Table that, although repainted by order of King Henry VIII around 1516, the table itself dates between 1250 and 1350 and was likely constructed by order of either King Edward I (who sought to make use of the Arthurian Legends to his advantage) or of King Edward II. This Round Table measures some eighteen feet in diameter and weighs 1.3 tons:

From Winchester, I made my way to Glastonbury where, in 1191, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey - one of the finest in England - claimed to have discovered the lost (and previously forgotten) grave of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.

Gerald of Wales relates what was found in his De Instructione Principis, written about 1223:

However, Arthur’s body, which the fables allege was like a fantastic thing at the end, and as it were moved by the spirit to far away places, and not subject to death, in our own days was discovered at Glastonbury between two stone pyramids erected in the holy cemetery, hidden deep in the ground by a hollow oak and marked with wonderful signs and marvels, and it was moved into the church with honor and committed properly to a marble tomb. Whence a leaden cross with a stone underneath, not above as it usually is in our day, but rather lower nailed on the side, (which I have seen, and in fact I have traced these sculpted letters - not projecting and protruding, but carved into the stone) contains the words: “Here lies buried the famous King Arthur with Guinevere, his second wife, in the isle of Avalon.”

At the time, not everyone accepted the claim of the monks and some viewed it as an utter deception, a belief held by many - though not all - historians and archeologists today. in fact, Graham Phillips claimed last month to have discovered two possible locations for King Arthur's grave in Shropshire (I'm a bit skeptical of his claims, but I haven't yet read his book and my skepticism is greatly increased by looking at the titles of his books).

Several decades later, King Edward I ordered the exhumation of the mortal remains and their re-interment in a marble tomb in the sanctuary of the great abbey on Easter Tuesday in 1278, as Adam of Domerham recounts:

[T]he lord king had the tomb of the famous king Arthur opened. Wherein in two caskets painted with their pictures and arms, were found separately the bones of the said king, and those of Queen Guinevere, which were of marvelous beauty...on the following day...the lord king replaced the bones of the king and the queen those of the queen, each in their own casket, having wrapped them in costly silks. When they had been sealed they ordered the tomb to be placed forthwith in front of the high altar, after the removal of the skulls for the veneration of the people.

After King Henry VIII ordered the "dissolution" of the abbeys in 1536, the Glastonbury Abbey - with the graves - was destroyed in 1539 and the bones lost to history, though the leaden cross discovered with the bones survived. We know John Leland saw it about 1540 and William Camden seems to have used it for an illustration in a work printed in 1607. In the early 1700s, the cross was in the keeping of William Hughes of Wells Cathedral, though what happened to it afterward is uncertain.

Ecclesiastical footwear

For as long as I can remember I have disliked shoes rather strongly and have often said they must have come from the devil. Whenever I enter my office and sit at my desk, the first thing I do is kick off my shoes. Sometimes I wonder if the only drawback of the diocesan or secular priesthood - as opposed to the religious priesthood - is that sandals and flip-flips are not generally acceptable footwear with the cassock or black suit, though they are often acceptable - at least - with the religious habit.

Yesterday, the English section of Vatican Radio posted a few recent photographs of His Holiness Benedict XVI on its Facebook. What most struck me about the photographs is what the Pope Emeritus wore on his feet:

If the Pope Emeritus can wear sandals with his cassock, can I wear sandals with mine? Admittedly, I do not really like that style of sandal, nor do I think socks should be worn with sandals. Still, sandals are much more comfortable than shoes.

One good turn deserves another

A couple of days ago, Father Michael Rapp, one of the priests with the podcast Catholic Stuff You Should Know, very kindly and unexpectedly gave a "shout out" to me on the podcast about love/pride which was uploaded on 2 June 2016. The shout out made a few of my friends back home very excited.

I've listened to the Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast for several months now, having learned about it because two of the priests who host it live in the Casa here in Rome. Each episode runs about 40 minutes and includes a good bit of banter and an engaging exploration of some topic relating to Catholic life. I highly recommend it to you and you think you'll find it an enjoyable addition to the tedium of driving or exercising.

Media gives greater attention to dead gorilla than beheaded Christians

Since April of 2014 I have maintained an ongoing daily update of news articles regarding the Islamic State. I have done the same with news articles concerning the Islamic State in West Africa (formerly known as Boko Haram) since February 2015.

I have invested much of my time in this way both because reading these stories helps focus my prayers for those suffering so greatly and because most of the media does not adequately or accurately report on the Islamic State. As evidence of this, consider the media coverage given to the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians by the Islamic State on the shores of Libya and the recent killing of a gorilla in the Cincinnati Zoo to keep a child safe:

Since the death of Harambe the gorilla through Thursday morning, the three networks have dedicated a total of 1 hour, 28 minutes, 17 seconds to the story during their morning and evening news shows.

....

In contrast, since February 2015, the networks have offered 14 minutes, 30 seconds total to the 21 Egyptian Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya [more].

It should be clear every man and woman of good will which of these two situations deserves the greater treatment by the news media. It should also be clear why you cannot trust the news media.

02 June 2016

Papal prayer intentions - June 2016

In addition to praying to the Sacred Heart for priests, please remember the following intentions of the Holy Father Pope Francis in the charity of your prayers through the month of June:

General Intention: That the aged, marginalized, and those who have no one may find – even within the huge cities of the world – opportunities for encounter and solidarity.

Mission Intention: That seminarians and men and women entering religious life may have mentors who live the joy of the Gospel and prepare them wisely for their mission.

01 June 2016

Pope Francis asks prayers for priests

During his General Audience Address yesterday in St. Peter's Square, His Holiness Pope Francis called upon the faithful to pray for their priests throughout the month traditionally devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, saying, "I invite everyone to pray [to] the Heart of Jesus for the entire month of June and to support with closeness and affection your priests so that they always reflect the image of that Heart full of merciful love."

To take up the Holy Father's call, you might consider posting this prayer somewhere were you will see it each day:

Remember, O most loving heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom you prayed so earnestly the night before your death. These are they to whom you look to continue with you in your sorrows when others forsake you, who share your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord. Remember, O heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the world's hatred and Satan's deadliest snares. Keep them then, O Jesus, in the safe citadel of your sacred heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in you and love you.

Biretta tip to the Catholic News Agency for the prayer.

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