St. Jerome Emiliani: A Different Kind of Saint

St. Jerome Emiliani
(1481?-1537)


We all have our own stories of conversion. We are sinful, we fall and stumble, then something happens - God touches us - through an event, a person - we experience "conversion."

Here is St. Jerome's story out of "Saint of the Day."

A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think, and he gradually learned how to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took charge of the education of his nephews—and began his own studies for the priesthood.

In the years after his ordination, events again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. Plague and famine swept northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon resolved to devote himself and his property solely to others, particularly to abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital.

Around 1532 Jerome and two other priests established a congregation, the Clerks Regular of Somasca, dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928 Pius Xl named him the patron of orphans and abandoned children.

comment: Very often in our lives it seems to take some kind of “imprisonment” to free us from the shackles of our self-centeredness. When we’re “caught” in some situation we don’t want to be in, we finally come to know the liberating power of Another. Only then can we become another for “the imprisoned” and “the orphaned” all around us.

* check out the "Somascan Fathers and Brothers" HERE

Tim Tebow's "Focus on the Family" Superbowl Ad

God bless you Pam Tebow, you scored a touchdown for life!

* Check out "Focus on the Family" HERE

A Quote for the Day

A Quote for the Day

Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it. - Thomas Merton

Image©bjm

Saying Grace by Norman Rockwell

Saying Grace

Today is Norman Rockwell's birthday. Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894. A few years ago, on a road trip through Vermont, my wife and I stopped at his studio - now an inn - in Arlington. There was nothing much there to see, but I did enjoy being there - where this wonderful painter did much of his work. I read that Rockwell was raised Episcopal, but after his teen years, he was not much of a churchgoer. His faith must have had some importance in his life - how else could he have created such a beautiful painting.

Maria Esperanza of Betania

Maria Esperanza of Betania, Venezuela has witnessed 31 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary over the course of 15 years. The Virgin called herself the "Reconciler of People and Nations" and warned of impending war and suffering. Many visitors have come to the site, reporting numerous miracles and signs. On one occasion in 1984, 108 people claimed to have witnessed a public apparition of the Virgin.

The local bishop approved the authenticity of Maria's experiences in 1987.

Description of the Virgin -

"And when she revealed herself, she went to the top of the tree, and I saw she was beautiful, with her hair brown, dark brown, her eyes that were lgiht brown and she had very fine, very pretty eyebrows, tiny mouth, a nose very straight and her complexion was so beautiful, it was skin that seemed like silk. It was bronzed. It was beautiful. Very young. Her hair was down to here, to her shoulders."

- Maria Esperanza

Bishop Paul Bootkoski, Ordinary of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, has decided that there are sufficient grounds to open the cause for beatification and canonization of Mrs. Maria Esperanza de Bianchini, a Venezuelan mother of numerous children and alleged mystic, who lived between the years of 1928 and 2004. Bishop Bootkoski gave a truly religious sense to this juridical act by conducting the opening of the cause in the context of a Mass celebrated at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen, on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 3:00 pm. The Betania Choir of Venezuela, composed of the family members and spiritual followers of Maria Esperanza, provided the music for this liturgical celebration.

Merciful Father, You blessed Maria Esperanza with an abundance of spiritual gifts for the consolation of your people. She served You as wife, mother, and missionary to promote the unity of the family and the reconciliation of all peoples. You enabled her to be the central figure in the manifestations of the Virgin Mary, under the title Reconciler of all Peoples and Nations, in Betania. Grant us the grace to follow her example of humility, hope, and unconditional love. Through the intercession of your servant, Maria Esperanza, we pray for the healing and reconciliation of our families, and for the fraternal unity of the entire human family. Especially, we beseech You to grant us the favors we now request(mention your intentions here) through the merits and prayers of your servant. Likewise, we humbly implore that she be inscribed in the Church's catalogue of saints, as a universal model of the beatitudes. We pray all this according to your holy will, cherished by your servant until the end, through Jesus Christ, your Son, Our Lord. Amen.

(With the ecclesiastical approval of Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski of Metuchen, New Jersey, December 4, 2009

More information about Maria Esperanza HERE

More on the Ted Tebow Ad....

Here is a good article out of Catholic-Online, written by Theresa Bonopartis. Theresa is a good soldier in the cause for life. God bless you Theresa!

Guest Opinion: Tebow Ad Opponents call me 'Anti- Choice'? They Oppose the Choice for Life!

CHICAGO, IL - NOW (The “National Organization for [Anti-Right to Life] Women) is in an outrage over the Tim Tebow ad which is scheduled to air during the Super Bowl. On their web site they state:

“Focus on the Family has an aggressively anti-abortion, anti-LGBT, anti-woman agenda. This ad reportedly promotes the decision of one woman to go against her doctor's advice to terminate an at-risk pregnancy. While NOW would never disparage any woman's reproductive choice, we believe that all women should be free to make the decision that is right for them. We also believe that this ad could potentially put women's health and lives at risk by promoting ideology over medicine”

NOW President Terry O'Neil told the Associated Press that the planned ad is, "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning." I now ask the obvious. What is demeaning about a woman choosing life? What happened to “trusting” women to make their own choices? Perhaps Terry O’Neil should speak to one of the couples I know who were pressured to abort babies due to adverse diagnosis. Talk about demeaning and offensive!

I searched NOW’s site to see if they had expressed any outrage regarding these couples who are often coerced to abort a child and told they are selfish for even thinking of bringing an imperfect child in the world. Of course, I found no such thing.

NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) is also in an uproar. They sent out an email asking women to send a letter to CBS which included these words, “Focus on the Family has an unmistakable anti-choice, anti-birth-control, anti-sex-education, anti-gay agenda. If that wasn’t bad enough, its views on women are just plain insulting and dangerous.

For example, its web site urges women facing an unintended pregnancy to seek ‘wise advice’ because ‘the hormones and extreme emotions of pregnancy make reasonable decisions more difficult’. …We can’t just sit by while CBS lets Focus on the Family place a political ad during the Super Bowl, when millions of people are watching ads.”

Read the rest of the article HERE!

Groundhog Day

Here is some information about Groundhog Day, out of the westsidestory.net -

Each year on Feb. 2, thousands of revelers climb atop Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania., (northcentral part of the state) to witness the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog with the mythical ability of forecasting either an early spring or lengthier winter. With the help of his keepers and protectors, the tuxedo-clad members of the mysterious Inner Circle, Phil shares that prediction with the world from the region known as the Pennsylvania Wilds.

If Phil sees his shadow, he predicts six more weeks of winter and returns to his burrow. If he does not see his shadow, spring is just around the corner. The first legendary trek to Gobbler’s Knob occurred in 1887. Crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler’s Knob for a multiday festival celebrating the town’s most famous resident – Punxsutawney Phil. Background European Roots

The custom dates back to the early days of Christianity in Europe and grew out of a winter festival called Candlemas Day, a day for clergy to bless and distribute candles. According to legend, clear skies on Candlemas Day meant an extended winter.

The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, brought this tradition to the Germans, who concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, a hedgehog would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather or “Second Winter.”

In Germany, the hedgehog became part of the legend. The German twist was that on a clear, sunny day, the hedgehog would cast a shadow.

For a bit of humor, I am posting here a film clip from the movie "Groundhog Day." (yes - a hilarious movie) Now, the clip ends tragically, but do not be alarmed, becase the next day Phil wakes up again to a new day!