This is about to repeat itself in the States.
Saturday, 1 November 2014
Family Memories
Two of the stories my grandmother, who died in her nineties, would tell me were the horrific massacres of Lidice and Ležáky. Those who know the history of the Third Reich will recognize the name of Reihard Heydrich, one of the most egotistic and violent of all the, SS-Obergruppenführers.
He had been appointed Reichsprotektor over Bohemia and Moravia, from where some of my ancestors came. I know we shall these times again, when tyrannies try to exterminate target groups.
I shall let Wiki tell the rest of the stories.
He had been appointed Reichsprotektor over Bohemia and Moravia, from where some of my ancestors came. I know we shall these times again, when tyrannies try to exterminate target groups.
I shall let Wiki tell the rest of the stories.
On the morning of 27 May 1942, Heydrich was being driven from his country villa atPanenské Břežany to his office at Prague Castle. When he reached the Kobylisy area of Prague, his car was attacked (on behalf of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile) by the Slovak and Czech soldiers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš.[2] These men, who had been part of a team trained in Great Britain, parachuted into Bohemia in December 1941 as part of Operation Anthropoid. After Gabčík's Sten gun jammed, Heydrich ordered his driver, SS-Oberscharführer Klein, to stop the car. When Heydrich stood up to shoot Gabčík, Kubiš threw a modified anti-tank grenade at Heydrich's car.[4] The explosion wounded Heydrich and Kubiš.[5] Heydrich sent his driver, Klein, to chase Gabčík on foot. In the ensuing firefight, Gabčík shot Klein in the leg, below the knee. Both Kubiš and Gabčík managed to escape the scene.[6] On 4 June Heydrich died in Bulovka Hospital in Prague from septicaemia caused by pieces of upholstery entering his body when the bomb exploded.[7]
Late in the afternoon of 27 May, SS-Gruppenführer Karl Hermann Frank proclaimed a state of emergency and a curfew in Prague.[8] Anyone who helped the attackers was to be executed along with their entire family.[8] A massive search involving 21,000 men began. A total of 36,000 houses were checked.[8] By 4 June 157 people had been executed as a result of the reprisals, but the assassins had not been found and no information was forthcoming.[8]
The mourning speeches at Heydrich's funeral in Berlin were not yet over, when on 9 June, the decision was made to "make up for his death". Karl Hermann Frank, Secretary of State for the Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, reported from Berlin that the Führer had commanded the following concerning any village found to have harboured Heydrich's killers:[9]
- Execute all adult men
- Transport all women to a concentration camp
- Gather the children suitable for Germanisation, then place them in SS families in the Reich and bring the rest of the children up in other ways
- Burn down the village and level it entirely
Horst Böhme, the SiPo chief for the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, immediately acted on the orders.[1] Members of the Ordnungspolizei[10] and SD (Sicherheitsdienst) surrounded the village of Lidice, blocking all avenues of escape. The Nazi regime chose this village because its residents were suspected of harbouring local resistance partisans and were falsely associated with aiding "Operation Anthropoid" team members.[11]
All men of the village were rounded up and taken to the farm of the Horák family on the edge of the village. Mattresses were taken from neighbouring houses where they were stood up against the wall of the Horáks' barn.[9] The shooting of the men commenced at about 7.00 am. At first the men were shot in groups of five, but Böhme thought the executions were proceeding too slowly and ordered that ten men be shot at a time. The dead were left lying where they fell. This continued until the afternoon hours when there were 173 dead.[8] Another 11 men who were not in the village that day were arrested and murdered soon afterwards as were eight men and seven women already under arrest because they had relations serving with the Czech army in exile in the United Kingdom.[9]
A total of 203 women and 105 children were first taken to Lidice village school. They were then taken to the nearby town of Kladno and detained in the grammar school for three days. The children were separated from their mothers. Four women were pregnant and were sent to the same hospital where Heydrich died. They were forced to undergo abortions and then sent to different concentration camps. On 12 June 1942, 184 women of Lidice were loaded on trucks, driven to Kladno railway station and forced into a special passenger train guarded by an escort. On the morning of 14 June 1942, the train halted on a railway siding at the concentration camp atRavensbrück. On their arrival the Lidice women were first isolated in a special block. The women were forced to work in leather processing, road building, textile and ammunition factories.
Eighty-eight Lidice children were transported to the area of the former textile factory in Gneisenau Street in Łódź. Their arrival was announced by a telegram from Horst Böhme's Prague office which ended with: the children are only bringing what they wear. No special care is desirable.[citation needed] The care was minimal. They suffered from a lack of hygiene and from illnesses. By order of the camp management, no medical care was given to the children. Shortly after their arrival in Łódź, officials from the Central Race and Settlement branch chose seven children for Germanisation.[12] The few children considered racially suitable for Germanisation were handed over to SS families.[9]
The furore over Lidice caused some hesitation over the fate of the remaining children.[12] However, in late June Adolf Eichmann ordered the massacre of the remainder of the children. On 2 July 1942, all of the remaining 81 Lidice children were handed over to the Łódź Gestapo office, who in turn had them transported to the extermination camp atChełmno 70 kilometres (43 miles) away, where they were gassed to death in Magirus gas vans. Out of the 105 Lidice children, 82 died in Chełmno, six died in the GermanLebensborn orphanages and 17 returned home.
The village of Lidice was set on fire and the remains of the buildings destroyed with explosives. Even those buried in the town cemetery were not spared. Their remains were dug up and destroyed.[2] A film was made of the entire process by Franz Treml. A collaborator with German intelligence, Treml had run a Zeiss-Ikon shop in Lucerna Palace in Prague. After the Nazi occupation he became a filming adviser for the Nazi Party.
All together, about 340 people from Lidice died because of the German reprisal (192 men, 60 women and 88 children). Only 153 women and 17 children returned after the war.[8] All the animals in the village—pets and beasts of burden—were slaughtered as well.
The small Czech village of Ležáky was also destroyed two weeks after Lidice. Gestapo agents found a radio transmitter there of an underground team who parachuted in with Kubiš and Gabčík.[13] There both men and women of the village were shot, and the children were sent to concentration camps or 'Aryanised'. The death toll resulting from the effort to avenge the death of Heydrich is estimated at over 1,300.[13] This count includes relatives of the partisans, their supporters, Czech elites suspected of disloyalty and random victims like those from Lidice.
Nazi propaganda had openly, and proudly, announced the events in Lidice, unlike other massacres in occupied Europe which were kept secret. The information was instantly picked up by Allied media.
I never asked my grandmother why she told me the stories of Lidice and Lezaky. It is possible we lost family there, or in the revenge killings.
Her father was part of the government in exile.
Her father was part of the government in exile.
He is mentioned in the wiki article on the Pittsburg Agreement-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Agreement
Hynek Dostál (1871 - 1943)
Dostál was the editor of the Hlas newspaper of St. Louis and the editor of the journal of the Saint John Nepomuk Chapel, the first Czech Catholic newspaper in the United States.
(Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president, originally had a plan for a federal government involving staying in the Austro-Hungarian empire, but when it became clear the empire was breaking up permanently, he supported independence.)
I say what my Grandmother Ludmilla would say, "Do not forget Lidice."
This bronze plaque has my Great-Grandfather's signature, as it is a copy of the first Czech constitution. http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsbursk%C3%A1_dohoda
Becoming worse, but read these...
16 Jul 2013
This time, He will not come as man in the flesh. Found here. OOPs our friends at the Warning have contradicted Catholic Teaching yet again. When Christ returns, He, of course, will come as the Incarnate God.
26 Aug 2013
This time, He will not come as man in the flesh. Found here. OOPs our friends at the Warning have contradicted Catholic Teaching yet again. When Christ returns, He, of course, will come as the Incarnate God.
23 Apr 2013
More against the Warning-from another source not me and GOOD. Posted by Supertradmum · http://blog.newadvent.org/2013/03/a-closer-look-at-false-prophecies-of.html · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to ...
31 Aug 2012
A Warning on False Seers Again--Oh, Foolish Galatians. Posted by Supertradmum. The errors spilling forth from some websites already mentioned on this blog are leading Catholics astray. A reader has brought to my ...
04 Mar 2013
Catechist Kev said... Readng through the comments kind of tells the story for me, SuperT. The way some of those who say they are devoted to MDM attack Mr. Akin (sometimes with vehement vitriol)is all this Catholic needs to ...
Shock of The Day
This was the diocesan celebration for All Saints' Day.
How many people in the congregation? About 47, shocking.
So goes the Catholicism of Malta, falling into ennui and neglect.
The choir was superb. Here is what they sound like. Not today, of course, but in a concert.
Sad days for Malta.
What A Jerk Journalist!
War is not honorable always, but willing human sacrifice for others is always honorable.
This guy could be living under communism or nazism.
My dad used up his youth in trenches in France and fighting in and from the Battle of the Bulge to Berlin.
We must always be thankful for what the military has done, regardless of the justification of wars.
WWI was not justified, but WWII was.
What a spoiled brat article!
I taught war poetry, as it is one of my specialties, working on David Jones for years for my unfinished doctoral thesis. We need greater minds, like we had in the early 20th Century. Sadly, there is a crisis of soul in England.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/oct/28/tower-of-london-poppies-ukip-remembrance-day
From In Parenthesis:
This guy could be living under communism or nazism.
My dad used up his youth in trenches in France and fighting in and from the Battle of the Bulge to Berlin.
We must always be thankful for what the military has done, regardless of the justification of wars.
WWI was not justified, but WWII was.
What a spoiled brat article!
I taught war poetry, as it is one of my specialties, working on David Jones for years for my unfinished doctoral thesis. We need greater minds, like we had in the early 20th Century. Sadly, there is a crisis of soul in England.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/oct/28/tower-of-london-poppies-ukip-remembrance-day
t’s difficult with the weight of the rifle.
Leave it–under the oak.
Leave it for a salvage-bloke
let it lie bruised for a monument
dispense the authenticated fragments to the faithful.
It’s the thunder-besom for us
it’s the bright bough borne
it’s the tensioned yew for a Genoese jammed arbalest and a
scarlet square for a mounted mareschal, it’s that county-mob
back to back. Majuba mountain and Mons Cherubim and
spreaded mats for Sydney Street East, and come to Bisley
for a Silver Dish. It’s R.S.M. O’Grady says, it’s the soldier’s
best friend if you care for the working parts and let us be ‘av-
ing those springs released smartly in Company billets on wet
forenoons and clickerty-click and one up the spout and you
men must really cultivate the habit of treating this weapon with
the very greatest care and there should be a healthy rivalry
among you–it should be a matter of very proper pride and
Marry it man! Marry it!
Cherish her, she’s your very own.
Coax it man coax it–it’s delicately and ingeniously made
–it’s an instrument of precision–it costs us tax-payers,
money–I want you men to remember that.
Fondle it like a granny–talk to it–consider it as you would
a friend–and when you ground these arms she’s not a rooky’s
gas-pipe for greenhorns to tarnish.
You’ve known her hot and cold.
You would choose her from among many.
You know her by her bias, and by her exact error at 300, and
by the deep scar at the small, by the fair flaw in the grain,
above the lower sling-swivel–
but leave it under the oak.
Leave it–under the oak.
Leave it for a salvage-bloke
let it lie bruised for a monument
dispense the authenticated fragments to the faithful.
It’s the thunder-besom for us
it’s the bright bough borne
it’s the tensioned yew for a Genoese jammed arbalest and a
scarlet square for a mounted mareschal, it’s that county-mob
back to back. Majuba mountain and Mons Cherubim and
spreaded mats for Sydney Street East, and come to Bisley
for a Silver Dish. It’s R.S.M. O’Grady says, it’s the soldier’s
best friend if you care for the working parts and let us be ‘av-
ing those springs released smartly in Company billets on wet
forenoons and clickerty-click and one up the spout and you
men must really cultivate the habit of treating this weapon with
the very greatest care and there should be a healthy rivalry
among you–it should be a matter of very proper pride and
Marry it man! Marry it!
Cherish her, she’s your very own.
Coax it man coax it–it’s delicately and ingeniously made
–it’s an instrument of precision–it costs us tax-payers,
money–I want you men to remember that.
Fondle it like a granny–talk to it–consider it as you would
a friend–and when you ground these arms she’s not a rooky’s
gas-pipe for greenhorns to tarnish.
You’ve known her hot and cold.
You would choose her from among many.
You know her by her bias, and by her exact error at 300, and
by the deep scar at the small, by the fair flaw in the grain,
above the lower sling-swivel–
but leave it under the oak.
Slung so, it swings its full weight. With you going blindly on
all paws, it slews its whole length, to hang at your bowed neck
like the Mariner’s white oblation.
You drag past the four bright stones at the turn of Wood
Support.
all paws, it slews its whole length, to hang at your bowed neck
like the Mariner’s white oblation.
You drag past the four bright stones at the turn of Wood
Support.
It is not to be broken on the brown stone under the gracious
tree.
It is not to be hidden under your failing body.
Slung so, it troubles your painful crawling like a fugitive’s
irons.
tree.
It is not to be hidden under your failing body.
Slung so, it troubles your painful crawling like a fugitive’s
irons.
Persecution Watch Big Time in GB WHY????
End of religious freedom of speech, end of academic freedom...what is going on and why in GB?
Catholics will be targeted, of course................especially on the issue of "gay rights".
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| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Rievaulx_Abbey_ruins_14.jpg and thanks to wikicommons for photo below as well |
Has the government lost all discernment and common sense? Or is this a planned war against Christianity and academic freedom?
Anyone who criticises Sharia law or gay marriage could be branded an “extremist” under sweeping new powers planned by the Conservatives to combat terrorism, an alliance of leading atheists and Christians fear.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, unveiled plans last month for so-called Extremism Disruption Orders, which would allow judges to ban people deemed extremists from broadcasting, protesting in certain places or even posting messages on Facebook or Twitter without permission.
Mrs May outlined the proposal in a speech at the Tory party conference in which she spoke about the threat from the so-called Islamic State – also known as Isis and Isil – and the Nigerian Islamist movement Boko Haram.
But George Osborne, the Chancellor, has made clear in a letter to constituents that the aim of the orders would be to “eliminate extremism in all its forms” and that they would be used to curtail the activities of those who “spread hate but do not break laws”.
He explained that that the new orders, which will be in the Conservative election manifesto, would extend to any activities that “justify hatred” against people on the grounds of religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability.
......He also disclosed that anyone seeking to challenge such an order would have to go the High Court, appealing on a point of law rather than fact.
The National Secular Society and the Christian institute – two organisations with often diametrically opposing interests – said they shared fears that the broad scope of extremism could represent a major threat to free speech.
Keith Porteous Wood, director of the NSS, said secularists might have to think twice before criticising Christianity or Islam. He said secularists risk being Islamophobic and racist because of their high profile campaigns against the advance of Sharia law in the UK.
“The Government should have every tool possible to tackle extremism and terrorism, but there is a huge arsenal of laws already in place and a much better case needs to be made for introducing draconian measures such as Extremism Disruption Orders, which are almost unchallengeable and deprive individuals of their liberties,” he said.
“Without precise legislative definitions, deciding what are ‘harmful activities of extremist individuals who spread hate’ is subjective and therefore open to abuse now or by any future authoritarian government.”…
A Conservative spokesman said: “Freedom of expression and freedom of speech are a vital part of a democratic society….
More here
“Sharia law or gay marriage critics would be branded ‘extremists’ under Tory plans, atheists and Christians warn,” by John Bingham, the Telegraph, October 31, 2014:
Can you imagine them doing this with a Muslim?
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/candidate-in-washington-state-attacked-for-his-catholic-faith-61653/
Anti-Catholicism, the last acceptable prejudice...
Anti-Catholicism, the last acceptable prejudice...
Follow Up on Earlier Post Today on Saints
Look here for the first part of some thoughts today, All Saints' Day.
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/11/it-is-not-our-feast-day-folks.html
I want to add a few thoughts to this distinction between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant.
First, a review of teaching on the three branches of the Church:
EWTN has a great, short reference from Father William Most, from which I use a selection here.
The Church, the Mystical Body, exists on this earth, and is called the Church militant, because its members struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. The Church suffering means the souls in Purgatory. The Church triumphant is the Church in heaven. The unity and cooperation of the members of the Church on earth, in Purgatory, in Heaven is also called the Communion of Saints. When St. Paul uses the word "Saints" in opening an Epistle, he does not mean they are morally perfect. He has in mind Hebrew qadosh, which means set aside for God, or coming under the covenant. Being such means of course they are called to moral perfection. But of course, not all have reached it in this world.
Taken from The Basic Catholic Catechism
PART FIVE: The Apostles' Creed IX-XII
Ninth Article: "The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints"
By William G. Most. (c) Copyright 1990 by William G. Most
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/chura1.htm
Now, I want to highlight that we are the Church Militant, as I noted in the last posting, not the Church Triumphant. Fr. Most refers to St. Paul's use of the word "qadosh", which is incorrectly translated as saint in the sense of one who is canonized. Qadosh is explained further here by Jeff A. Brenner.
When we use the word holy, as in a holy person, we usually associate this with a righteous or pious person. If we use this concept when interpreting the word holy in the Hebrew Bible then we are misreading the text as this is not the meaning of the Hebrew word qadosh. Qadosh literally means "to be set apart for a special purpose"....Israel was qadosh because they were separated from the other nations as servants of God. The furnishings in the tabernacle were qadosh as they were not to be used for anything except for the work in the tabernacle. While we may not think of ourselves as "holy" we are in fact set apart from the world to be God's servants and representatives.
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/27_holy.html
Here we see that the word "consecrated" would be a better application to the Church Militant.
We are, or should be seen, as set apart for God's work in the world. We have a purpose in the world to be signs of contradiction to evil, to worldliness.
Second, although we are called to perfection, and some in the Church are in union with God while on earth, and those usually become recognized after death as canonized saints, the road to perfection takes time and processes, explained in the long series on Garrigou-Lagrange.
No one can claim to be a saint. God allows the Church to declare someone in the Church Triumphant and that declaration is part of the infallibility of the Pope.
Third, one must not forget the Church Suffering, those souls in purgatory for whom we should pray daily and, this year, especially on Sunday or Monday, depending on which Mass you attend, in which diocese.
http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2014/11/it-is-not-our-feast-day-folks.html
I want to add a few thoughts to this distinction between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant.
First, a review of teaching on the three branches of the Church:
EWTN has a great, short reference from Father William Most, from which I use a selection here.
The Church, the Mystical Body, exists on this earth, and is called the Church militant, because its members struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. The Church suffering means the souls in Purgatory. The Church triumphant is the Church in heaven. The unity and cooperation of the members of the Church on earth, in Purgatory, in Heaven is also called the Communion of Saints. When St. Paul uses the word "Saints" in opening an Epistle, he does not mean they are morally perfect. He has in mind Hebrew qadosh, which means set aside for God, or coming under the covenant. Being such means of course they are called to moral perfection. But of course, not all have reached it in this world.
Taken from The Basic Catholic Catechism
PART FIVE: The Apostles' Creed IX-XII
Ninth Article: "The Holy Catholic Church; the Communion of Saints"
By William G. Most. (c) Copyright 1990 by William G. Most
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/chura1.htm
Now, I want to highlight that we are the Church Militant, as I noted in the last posting, not the Church Triumphant. Fr. Most refers to St. Paul's use of the word "qadosh", which is incorrectly translated as saint in the sense of one who is canonized. Qadosh is explained further here by Jeff A. Brenner.
When we use the word holy, as in a holy person, we usually associate this with a righteous or pious person. If we use this concept when interpreting the word holy in the Hebrew Bible then we are misreading the text as this is not the meaning of the Hebrew word qadosh. Qadosh literally means "to be set apart for a special purpose"....Israel was qadosh because they were separated from the other nations as servants of God. The furnishings in the tabernacle were qadosh as they were not to be used for anything except for the work in the tabernacle. While we may not think of ourselves as "holy" we are in fact set apart from the world to be God's servants and representatives.
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/27_holy.html
Here we see that the word "consecrated" would be a better application to the Church Militant.
We are, or should be seen, as set apart for God's work in the world. We have a purpose in the world to be signs of contradiction to evil, to worldliness.
Second, although we are called to perfection, and some in the Church are in union with God while on earth, and those usually become recognized after death as canonized saints, the road to perfection takes time and processes, explained in the long series on Garrigou-Lagrange.
No one can claim to be a saint. God allows the Church to declare someone in the Church Triumphant and that declaration is part of the infallibility of the Pope.
Third, one must not forget the Church Suffering, those souls in purgatory for whom we should pray daily and, this year, especially on Sunday or Monday, depending on which Mass you attend, in which diocese.
More Repostings for Today
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Saints of The Knights of Malta Part Three
Blessed Gerard had an entire website to himself. The pictures and photographs are worth seeing.
You may read his story here.
Blessed Gerard has been noted on this blog before today.Monday, 4 August 2014
Saints of The Knights of Malta Part Four
I first came across St. Nuno Álvares Pereira at Whitefriars Church in Dublin, where I was attending Mass last summer at this time. I would go to Adoration as well, and one day, I noticed the Flag of St. George in the window and was intrigued by this saint.
But, there is a painting of him done in his lifetime, which is rare for a saint. He was a warrior as well as a Carmelite. I love this saint.
He was a soldier, a husband, a father and a Carmelite.
There is a fantastic blogspot dedicated to him here.
http://invitaminerva45.blogspot.com/2011/11/batalha-de-valverde-meados-de-outubro.html
Wiki also has an article, as well as the main site of these saints.
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Saints of The Knights of Malta Part Five
Several women are saints of the Order of Malta. I have had one on this blog before, but hereis the first one.
First, an explanation from the main site on women in the Order.
http://www.smom-za.org/saints/women.htm
The text of this page is quoted from: Ducaud-Bourget, Msgr. François: The Spiritual Heritage of The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Vatican 1958
Saint Flora of Beaulieu Virgin.
http://catholic-thoughts.info/saints/Octsaints.htm
Patron of the abandoned, of converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal — Flora was born in France about the year 1309. She was a devout child and later resisted all attempts on the part of her parents to find a husband for her. In 1324, she entered the Priory of Beaulieu of the Hospitaller nuns of St. John of Jerusalem. Here she was beset with many and diverse trials, fell into a depressed state, and was made sport of by some of her religious sisters. However, she never ceased to find favour with God and was granted many unusual and mystical favours. One year on the feast of All Saints, she fell into an ecstasy and took no nourishment until three weeks later on the feast of St. Cecelia. On another occasion, while meditating on the Holy Spirit, she was raised four feet from the ground and hung in the air in full view of many onlookers. She also seemed to be pierced with the arms of Our Lord's cross, causing blood to flow freely at times from her side and at others, from her mouth. Other instances of God's favouring of his servant were also reported, concerning prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally know. Through it all, St. Flora remained humble and in complete communion with her Divine Master, rendering wise counsel to all who flocked to her because of her holiness and spiritual discernment. In 1347, she was called to her eternal reward and many miracles were worked at her tomb
There are more saints from the Knights of Malta Order. One can look at the main site on the first posting for more. Just a taste....
First, an explanation from the main site on women in the Order.
http://www.smom-za.org/saints/women.htm
The Women of the Order of Malta
Not far from the Hospital of Jerusalem there already existed before the foundation of the Order a women's infirmary; it was entrusted to nuns.
A Roman lady, Agnes or Alix, received the habit of the Order from the hands of the Blessed Gerard and became the abbess of that convent which was dedicated to Saint Magdalene. There under her direction, a life of prayer and charity unfolded all its zeal and resources, until the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187. Then the nuns were dispersed throughout the West and remained in small groups in the hospitals of the Knights, taking care of the sick women sheltered in them. But even before the exodus the houses of Europe had felt the need of leaving women in their hospitals; sisters were therefore present in the Commanderies. In 1180, we find nuns at Hampton, Standon, and Gosford in England. But toward 1186, Henry II, at Buckland, Somerset, created a home for the sisters of Saint John under the direction of Fina, the first abbess; she governed for 54 years. She gathered under her crosier all the nuns scattered in the religious houses of the Knights.
Almost at the same time, in 1188, Doña Sancha, wife of Don Alfonso, King of Aragon, in memory of the pious Knights fallen in defence of the Holy Land, raised a convent at Sigena, between Saragossa and Lerida, to receive without dowry the poor daughters of noble families. In theory they were to furnish proofs of nobility. But their families were so distinguished and well-known that these proofs were not required. The Queen deeded extensive tracts of land to them. At the assumption of power by the Infante Don Pedro, at the death of Don Alfonso, she withdrew to her convent with her daughter, Doña Dulce. They took the habit. The good Queen died in that convent in November l208, after having been at the head of the community for some years; her rule was characterized by great wisdom and holiness. She was buried in the convent church, and her stone tomb leas covered over with a very hard wood, painted quite skilfully in the ancient fashion. On it can be seen the portrait of the princess abbess in royal dress, with a crown on her head and the cross of Saint John on her cloak. In memory of her the nuns carried a silver sceptre in the choir.
Since the reign of Leo XIII, proofs of nobility have no longer been required to enter this convent.
Many other houses of the Order were founded, especially in Genoa and Pisa, beginning with the first half of the thirteenth century. Some were devoted to the care of the sick, as at Beaulieu, of which we shall speak later. In general, however, after leaving the Holy Land, the sisters turned to contemplation, under the rule of Saint Augustine.
Their habit was composed of a gown of red silk and a black cloak with a white cross. After the fall of Rhodes, they dressed in mourning, wearing a black gown. They were not dependent on the local bishop; they came under the jurisdiction of the Prior of the province or the Grandmaster of the Hospital.
The Order of the Sisters of Saint John of Jerusalem has now been presented. Let us proceed to consider the three highest and most gracious figures of its martyrology.
The text of this page is quoted from: Ducaud-Bourget, Msgr. François: The Spiritual Heritage of The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Vatican 1958
28th MAY - SAINT UBALDESCA V. ON.
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| image courtesy of St John's Gate, London |
Saint Ubaldesca
Virgin of The Order
Memorial
She was born in 1136 at Calcinia, near Pisa. At the age of fifteen, she joined the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and worked for fifty-five years in the infirmary attached to the monastery at Pisa, caring for her neighbour out of love for God. She died on 28 May 1206. Her body was taken back to Calcinia where it is now enshrined. Not only honoured among the saints and blessed of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, she is celebrated also as a patroness of the City of Pisa.
The Collect of the Mass
O God, pride of the humble and lover of virginity,
you called Saint Ubaldesca to the religious life
in the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem :
Grant that through her prayers and example
we may rejoice in being humble
and follow you with pure minds.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Saints of The Knights of Malta Part Six
from the main site....
http://www.smom-za.org/saints/toscana.htm
In 2003, there was a TLM in her church in Verona
http://www.unavoce-ve.it/fsspx16-02-03-3.jpg
St. Toscana
Religious of the Order of Malta
Memorial: 14 July
She was born in Zevio, near Verona (Italy) about 1280 and married a man from Verona, Albert Canoculi with whom she began to do remarkable work for the poor. After her husband's death, she sold all that she owned and became a nun in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, where she devoted her life to prayer and caring for the sick. She died on 14 July 1343 or 1344.
Prayer:
O God, who kept your servant Toscana unscathed by the turbulence of this world both as a wife and as a widow, and made her the instrument in our Order of a remarkable work of charity for the poor, grant us the grace of serving you as she did and of pleasing you by our faith and by our actions. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(From: The Missal with readings of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes, & of Malta, London 1997)
Saints of The Knights of Malta Part Seven
Saint Flora of Beaulieu Virgin.
http://catholic-thoughts.info/saints/Octsaints.htm
Patron of the abandoned, of converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal — Flora was born in France about the year 1309. She was a devout child and later resisted all attempts on the part of her parents to find a husband for her. In 1324, she entered the Priory of Beaulieu of the Hospitaller nuns of St. John of Jerusalem. Here she was beset with many and diverse trials, fell into a depressed state, and was made sport of by some of her religious sisters. However, she never ceased to find favour with God and was granted many unusual and mystical favours. One year on the feast of All Saints, she fell into an ecstasy and took no nourishment until three weeks later on the feast of St. Cecelia. On another occasion, while meditating on the Holy Spirit, she was raised four feet from the ground and hung in the air in full view of many onlookers. She also seemed to be pierced with the arms of Our Lord's cross, causing blood to flow freely at times from her side and at others, from her mouth. Other instances of God's favouring of his servant were also reported, concerning prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally know. Through it all, St. Flora remained humble and in complete communion with her Divine Master, rendering wise counsel to all who flocked to her because of her holiness and spiritual discernment. In 1347, she was called to her eternal reward and many miracles were worked at her tomb
There are more saints from the Knights of Malta Order. One can look at the main site on the first posting for more. Just a taste....
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