Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Radical shake-up for Maynooth - Michael Kelly
From www.irishcatholic.ie 24 Mar 2011 Maynooth College may soon cease to function as a Catholic seminary marking the end of a 200- year-tradition, The Irish Catholic has learned. The national seminary, which has educated Irishmen for the priesthood since 1795, may be set for closure after the recent Apostolic Visitation by New York's Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan. It is expected the report will recommend that Pope Benedict XVI move all Irish seminarians to a reformed and restructured Pontifical Irish College in Rome. The historic shift would bring an end to concerns about falling academic standards at Maynooth and claims by some that the college in no longer 'fit for mission'. One senior academic told The Irish Catholic that the Apostolic Visitors were ''appalled'' by some of the standards in Maynooth. Rome would give access to heavyweight universities under direct scrutiny from the Vatican. It is understood the plan would include the Irish College in Rome dramatically reducing the number of non-Irish students enrolled in the seminary to make way for the seminarians from Maynooth. The Irish college would also have to be reformed to take account of an expected raft of recommendations from Archbishop Dolan's report. During his visitation to Maynooth, Archbishop Dolan requested from moral theology lectures copies of class notes and presentations to students to assess the suitability of the content. A wholesale move to Rome would address concerns that some of the theology taught at Maynooth is not sufficiently orthodox for future priests. On a practical level, Maynooth has been under pressure in recent years to fill vacancies left by the retirement of theology professors. In addition, the faculty of Canon Law has only one full-time member while the faculty of philosophy has no full-time staff relying instead on occasional lecturers from the neighbouring National University of Ireland, Maynooth. It is understood that the Apostolic Visitors are of the view that the current low number of seminarians at Maynooth makes the college's future as a national seminary untenable with a concentration in Rome offering a better use of resources and seminary staff. Most seminarians would go to the Irish College while some others would join other Irish students at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome which specialises in training older men for the priesthood. Meanwhile, in Rome, Rector of the Irish College Msgr Liam Bergin is due to step down at the end of this term. Msgr Bergin - a priest of the Ossory diocese - is expected to take up an appointment teaching theology at Boston College in the US. The new rector of the Irish College will require the approval of the Vatican before an announcement can be made. There are currently 66 seminarians for Irish dioceses at Maynooth, 18 at the Irish College in Rome, seven at the Beda College in Rome and seven at St Joseph's Seminary in Belfast. Two Irishmen are also undergoing preparatory studies at the Royal English College in Valladolid, Spain.
Catholic church to lose stronghold on Irish education system
From http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Catholic-church-to-lose-stronghold-on-Irish-education-system-118832599.html Ireland’s Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, has established an expert group to examine how the majority of primary schools will be moved from Catholic Church patronage. The minister has said he wants more than 50 percent of the Ireland’s schools currently under Church patronage to move to an alternative guardianship. The Catholic church controls about 90 percent of the State’s 3,200 primary schools. Professor John Coolahan, from the National University of Maynooth will chair the forum, which will have its first meeting this coming May. Dr Coolahan will be supported by Fionnuala Kilfeather, former chief executive of the National Parents' Council, and Dr Caroline Hussey, former registrar and deputy president at UCD. The working group will advice the new minister on a range of issues to ensure that primary schools in Ireland can cater for all religions, as well as the practicalities of how to transfer patronage. The forum will also include input from various patronage bodies, Irish Primary Principals' Network, the Irish National Teachers Organization and other stakeholders including parents. It will also take submissions from the public. "This forum is really to discuss the mechanisms and modality whereby a school under patronage of one body – let’s say the Catholic Church - would come to an orderly decision to transfer that patronage to another patron body in a manner that does not damage the educational experience of the children or indeed the operational or working arrangements of the teachers and parents involved,” he told RTÉ radio yesterday.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Bishops commit to Friday prayer and fasting for clergy abuse victims
By Kevin J. Jones
Dublin, Ireland, Mar 23, 2011 (EWTN News)
The Catholic Bishops of Ireland have committed themselves to prayer and fasting on the first Friday of each month in reparation for abuse by clergy and the failure of Church leadership to respond to the crimes.
These actions will “renew our commitment to the tradition of Friday penance with a particular emphasis on remembering the suffering of those who have been abused,” the bishops wrote in their March 19 pastoral letter “Towards Healing and Renewal.”
The abuse of children by some priests and religious was “an appalling wrong,” they said, adding that the inadequate response from Church leaders has “left a deep wound that may never be fully healed.”
“We are deeply ashamed of this and we are profoundly sorry for any failures on our part,” the bishops said.
Bishop Colm O’Reilly of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, in his March 19 homily at the Cathedral Centre in Longford, also discussed the letter.
“Placing confidence in the power of prayer, the bishops renew their commitment to restoration of the trust, seriously damaged by abuse and our failure to deal with it,” he said.
Only someone who knows the “ache in the heart” caused by abuse can fully appreciate the kind of struggle abuse survivors face day after day, he added. However, Christians should never consider themselves “doomed to isolation.”
“Most importantly, we are never condemned to be cut off from God,” Bishop O’Reilly said. He invoked the example of St. Patrick, who knew “the intense pain of isolation” in his time as a young slave in Ireland.
Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said the 16-page bishops’ letter was “a very important pastoral document.”
“It represents part of a wider response and longer journey by the Church in offering its support to survivors of abuse on their journey to healing and peace, and in committing itself to renewal,” he commented on March 19.
The pastoral letter was published on the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral letter to Ireland which apologized to victims of abuse. It recommits the Irish bishops to existing initiatives for victims and commits them to several new ones.
The Irish bishops also stressed the importance of responding to the crisis with prayer, which they called an “essential part of the journey to healing and renewal.”
“Many survivors have told us how much they value the prayers that are offered for them by individuals and parish communities,” the bishops wrote.
They invited contemplative orders in Ireland to dedicate part of their daily life of prayer for abuse victims. They also encouraged all parish communities to offer public and private prayer for the same victims.
The Irish bishops also noted the power of the Christian liturgy’s themes of consolation, healing and support for those who have experienced pain and loss. They will ask a group including sexual abuse victims to outline a proposal for liturgies of lament, atonement and healing.
Because the failure to listen to “the distressing cries” of abuse victims was “one of our greatest failures in the past,” the bishops said, they recommitted themselves to listen with “openness, sensitivity and care.” They also invited priests, religious and parish communities to reflect on how they can help abuse victims and their families.
The Catholic Church in Ireland has established a confidential helpline and counseling referral service. On average its effort have provided 20,000 counseling sessions a year, with face to face counseling for over 4,000 individuals and helpline support to over 15,000 survivors of abuse by clergy.
About $28.3 million has been spent on the programs so far, and the bishops announced on March 19 that another $14.2 million is available to support the services over the next five years.
The bishops said they hope the initiatives will help rebuild trust.
Dublin, Ireland, Mar 23, 2011 (EWTN News)
The Catholic Bishops of Ireland have committed themselves to prayer and fasting on the first Friday of each month in reparation for abuse by clergy and the failure of Church leadership to respond to the crimes.
These actions will “renew our commitment to the tradition of Friday penance with a particular emphasis on remembering the suffering of those who have been abused,” the bishops wrote in their March 19 pastoral letter “Towards Healing and Renewal.”
The abuse of children by some priests and religious was “an appalling wrong,” they said, adding that the inadequate response from Church leaders has “left a deep wound that may never be fully healed.”
“We are deeply ashamed of this and we are profoundly sorry for any failures on our part,” the bishops said.
Bishop Colm O’Reilly of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, in his March 19 homily at the Cathedral Centre in Longford, also discussed the letter.
“Placing confidence in the power of prayer, the bishops renew their commitment to restoration of the trust, seriously damaged by abuse and our failure to deal with it,” he said.
Only someone who knows the “ache in the heart” caused by abuse can fully appreciate the kind of struggle abuse survivors face day after day, he added. However, Christians should never consider themselves “doomed to isolation.”
“Most importantly, we are never condemned to be cut off from God,” Bishop O’Reilly said. He invoked the example of St. Patrick, who knew “the intense pain of isolation” in his time as a young slave in Ireland.
Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said the 16-page bishops’ letter was “a very important pastoral document.”
“It represents part of a wider response and longer journey by the Church in offering its support to survivors of abuse on their journey to healing and peace, and in committing itself to renewal,” he commented on March 19.
The pastoral letter was published on the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral letter to Ireland which apologized to victims of abuse. It recommits the Irish bishops to existing initiatives for victims and commits them to several new ones.
The Irish bishops also stressed the importance of responding to the crisis with prayer, which they called an “essential part of the journey to healing and renewal.”
“Many survivors have told us how much they value the prayers that are offered for them by individuals and parish communities,” the bishops wrote.
They invited contemplative orders in Ireland to dedicate part of their daily life of prayer for abuse victims. They also encouraged all parish communities to offer public and private prayer for the same victims.
The Irish bishops also noted the power of the Christian liturgy’s themes of consolation, healing and support for those who have experienced pain and loss. They will ask a group including sexual abuse victims to outline a proposal for liturgies of lament, atonement and healing.
Because the failure to listen to “the distressing cries” of abuse victims was “one of our greatest failures in the past,” the bishops said, they recommitted themselves to listen with “openness, sensitivity and care.” They also invited priests, religious and parish communities to reflect on how they can help abuse victims and their families.
The Catholic Church in Ireland has established a confidential helpline and counseling referral service. On average its effort have provided 20,000 counseling sessions a year, with face to face counseling for over 4,000 individuals and helpline support to over 15,000 survivors of abuse by clergy.
About $28.3 million has been spent on the programs so far, and the bishops announced on March 19 that another $14.2 million is available to support the services over the next five years.
The bishops said they hope the initiatives will help rebuild trust.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Latin Mass Propers for the Feast of St. Patrick for the dioceses of Ireland
(excluding dioceses of Armagh, Dromore, Kilmore and Ross)
Introit
Egredere de terra tua et de cognatióne tua, et de domo patris tui, et veni in terram quam monstrábo tibi. Faciámque te in gentem magnam. Ps. Confitémini Dómino, et invocate nomen ejus: annuntiáte inter gentes opera ejus. Glória Patris ...
Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land that I shall show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation. Ps Give glory to the Lord and call upon His name: declare His deeds among the gentiles. Glory be to the Father ...
Prayer
O God, who didst vouchsafe to send Blessed Patrick, Thy Confessor and Bishop, to preach thy glory to the nations: grant, through his merits and prayers, that what thou commandst us to do, that same we may, by Thy mercy, be able to accomplish. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ ...
Epistle
From Letter of St Paul to Romans 10:10-18
Brethen, with the heart we believe...
(See Epistle Nov 30th Feast of St Andrew)
Gradual
Misit ante eos virum: in servum venúmdatus est Joseph. Donec venire verbum ejus. Elóquium Dómini inflammávit eum.
He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. Until his word came. The word of the Lord inflamed him.
Tract
Ego Dóminus vocávi te in justíta, et apprehéndi manum tuam, et servávi te. Et dedi te in foedus pópuli in lucem géntium. Ut aperíres óculos caecórum et edúceres de conclusion vinctum, de domo cárceris sedéntes in ténebris. Ego Dóminus, hoc est nomen meum: glóriam meam álteri non dabo, et laudem meam sculptílibus.
I the Lord, have called thee in justice, and have taken thee by the hand and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to the gentiles. That thou mightiest open the eyes of the blind and bring forth the prisoners out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I, the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things.
Gospel
Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St Luke 10:1-9
At that time, the Lord appointed also other seventy-two: ...
(See Gospel April 25th Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist.)
Offertory
Eduxit eum foras, et ait íllí: Súscipe caelum, et númera stellas, si potes. Et dixit ei: Sic erit semen tuum.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
Secret
May this clean oblation be acceptable unto Thee, O Lord of Hosts, which, as it hath pleased Thee, shall be offered unto the greatness of Thy name among the nations, through the labours of Blessed Patrick, from the rising of the sun even to the going down thereof. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ ...
Preface for weekdays
Communion
Manus Dómini confortávit te, et ídeo eris benedíctus in aetérnum.
The hand of the Lord hath strengthed thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed for ever.
Postcommunion
O God, who dist ordain the Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood as a pledge of love among the peoples: grant in Thy mercy that those who Thou hast hallowed by the divine mystery may, through the intercession of Blessed Patrick, be knit closer together, day by day, by the bonds of peace and concord. Who livest and reignest...
St Patrick's Breastplate
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ on the deck,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Another earthquake shifts earth's axis
Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html?hpt=T1
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/japan.earthquake.tsunami.earth/index.html?hpt=T1
Japanese quake's epicenter located near Marian apparition site
Japan, Mar 12, 2011 (Catholic News Agency)
The epicenter of the earthquake that caused a deadly March 11 tsunami is located near the site of an apparition in which Mary warned about a worldwide disaster that could afflict humanity.
Japanese church officials have confirmed that the Diocese of Sendai, in the north of the country, was hit hardest by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake – the worst in Japanese history – and the resulting 23-foot waves.
Hundreds of people have already been confirmed dead in the city of Sendai, located less than 90 miles away from the apparition site of Our Lady of Akita in the town of Yuzawa.
The city of Akita, which experienced fire damage and flooding along with many parts of northern Japan, is a place of veneration for Catholics.
In 1973, the Virgin Mary was said to have predicted a number of future events – including natural disasters even more serious than Friday's earthquake and tsunami – during three appearances to a Japanese religious sister, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa.
The purported appearances of the Virgin Mary in Japan were reviewed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1988. During his time as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prior to his election as Pope Benedict XVI, he let stand the local bishop’s judgment that the apparitions and the messages were acceptable for the faithful.
The messages warned of chaos within the Church, and disasters which could afflict the world.
“If men do not repent and better themselves, God the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity,” Mary reportedly told Sr. Agnes. “If will be a punishment greater than the (biblical) flood, such as never seen before.”
“Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful,” she said. “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church, in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops.”
“Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises, and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.”
“Each day, recite the prayers of the Rosary,” she told Sr. Agnes. “With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.”
Two years after the last message, the statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel where the apparitions had occurred began to emit tears and drops of blood. The occurrence continued for more than six years.
Reports from Akita following Friday's earthquake indicate that the city received significantly less damage than other parts of northern Japan, despite its proximity to the epicenter. However, residents did report power outages, burst pipes, and fires.
Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata, whose territory includes the Akita apparition site, is also the president of Caritas Japan, which will be working to assist victims of the earthquake and tsunami. The relief organization is accepting contributions to its emergency fund at www.caritas.org.
The epicenter of the earthquake that caused a deadly March 11 tsunami is located near the site of an apparition in which Mary warned about a worldwide disaster that could afflict humanity.
Japanese church officials have confirmed that the Diocese of Sendai, in the north of the country, was hit hardest by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake – the worst in Japanese history – and the resulting 23-foot waves.
Hundreds of people have already been confirmed dead in the city of Sendai, located less than 90 miles away from the apparition site of Our Lady of Akita in the town of Yuzawa.
The city of Akita, which experienced fire damage and flooding along with many parts of northern Japan, is a place of veneration for Catholics.
In 1973, the Virgin Mary was said to have predicted a number of future events – including natural disasters even more serious than Friday's earthquake and tsunami – during three appearances to a Japanese religious sister, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa.
The purported appearances of the Virgin Mary in Japan were reviewed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1988. During his time as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prior to his election as Pope Benedict XVI, he let stand the local bishop’s judgment that the apparitions and the messages were acceptable for the faithful.
The messages warned of chaos within the Church, and disasters which could afflict the world.
“If men do not repent and better themselves, God the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity,” Mary reportedly told Sr. Agnes. “If will be a punishment greater than the (biblical) flood, such as never seen before.”
“Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful,” she said. “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church, in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops.”
“Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises, and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.”
“Each day, recite the prayers of the Rosary,” she told Sr. Agnes. “With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.”
Two years after the last message, the statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel where the apparitions had occurred began to emit tears and drops of blood. The occurrence continued for more than six years.
Reports from Akita following Friday's earthquake indicate that the city received significantly less damage than other parts of northern Japan, despite its proximity to the epicenter. However, residents did report power outages, burst pipes, and fires.
Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata, whose territory includes the Akita apparition site, is also the president of Caritas Japan, which will be working to assist victims of the earthquake and tsunami. The relief organization is accepting contributions to its emergency fund at www.caritas.org.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Former abortionist now head of one of the largest pro-life medical practices in the U.S.
From http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/former-abortionist-spreads-gospel-of-life
By Patrick B. Craine
FAIRFAX, Virginia, March 3, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com)
This week the pro-life community celebrated the life of the great Dr. Bernard Nathanson, famed for his dramatic conversion from a leading abortionist to a stalwart and outspoken advocate for children in the womb.
Dr. Nathanson’s passing reminds us of the powerful testimony of the dozens of doctors who have left the squalor of their abortion facilities and committed themselves to life-giving and authentic health care.
Dr. John Bruchalski is one of these doctors. A former abortionist in his ob/gyn residency, the 50-year-old Virginia native has now become a leading light in pro-life medicine. Through his unique Tepeyac Family Center, one of the largest free-standing pro-life medical practices in the country, Dr. Bruchalski’s team offers a safe haven for women in crisis pregnancies, spreading hope through authentic health care that respects the natural processes of the woman’s body, the right to life of the unborn child, and the eternal end of the mother’s soul.
“How do you combine the best of modern medicine with the healing presence of Jesus Christ? That’s what we’re about,” he told LifeSiteNews.
Though raised in a devout Catholic family, Bruchalski says he began his exit from the faith when he left for Catholic college. There, he was taken in by professors and friends who claimed that the Catholic Church can change with the culture - that its teachings on divorce, homosexual marriage, abortion, and contraception would eventually conform to the pervading cultural values.
“It became a non-issue - you could still be a great Catholic and choose to dissent from particular Church teachings,” he said.
By the time he entered medical school in 1983 at the University of South Alabama, contraception and abortion seemed to him “the way to promote health and happiness and wholeness in a woman’s reproductive life.” Aiming to be the best gynecologist he could, he learned the different methods for abortion, sterilization, and artificial reproduction, and began providing them during residency.
But he began to have doubts. “I didn’t see happiness or joy in my clinics,” he explained. “Wherever I had more abortion, more contraception, there were more broken relationships, more infections, more destruction, more brokenness.”
“I didn’t know what to do because the professors were saying ‘Well, we just need more education, more contraception, more abortion to answer these questions,’” he added.
Bruchalski first felt the call back to the faith of his childhood right before beginning his residency, when a friend convinced him to take a trip to Guadalupe in Mexico City. He says there he heard Our Lady of Guadalupe - whom Catholics revere as the patroness of the unborn - ask him, “Why are you hurting me?”
Yet he wasn’t ready to respond. “I kind of put that in the back of my mind,” he said.
Then two years later, between the 2nd and 3rd year of residency, his mother took him on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where many Catholics believe Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, has been appearing since 1981.
He says the pilgrimage reawakened the great love for Christ and Mary that his parents had nurtured in him during his childhood. “It was the simplicity of the messages of getting back to conversion,” he explained. “And then I had an experience there with a young woman from Belgium who was there praying for the pro-life cause. She told me she had a message for me about Our Lady and began telling me things about my life.”
When he got home, he told his professor that he could no longer commit abortions or sterilizations, though he expressed shame to LifeSiteNews that it took him a year to fully extricate himself from these anti-life procedures.
He began reading the works of Pope John Paul II, particularly the pope’s landmark addresses on the theology of the body. He learned about natural family planning under the mentoring of Dr. Thomas Hilgers, the Couple to Couple League, Mercedes Wilson and Family of the Americas, and Dr. Hannah Klaus. And he studied the exciting advances in natural reproductive technology pioneered by Dr. Hilgers, who founded the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska.
“When I came home, I was given the grace not only to see myself as I really was - you know, my whole life passed before me - but I actually saw that ... there was a better way to practice medicine,” he explained. “The approach to reproductive health was the polar opposite to what Planned Parenthood was saying. That’s what Our Lady told me my role was going to be.”
He put that vision of medicine into practice in 1994 when he founded the Tepeyac Family Center with his wife in the basement of his house. The obstetric and gynecological medical facility now boasts six pro-life physicians and one nurse practitioner.
Based on a Catholic vision of health care, the Center promotes health practices that respect the natural rhythm of the woman’s cycle and the sanctity of human life. They advocate natural family planning as opposed to contraceptives, and in cases of infertility they focus on treating the underlying causes rather than using assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization.
“We believe that health is based on the relationships found in community, and we believe that if we love enough in medicine we can create a loving atmosphere where abortion becomes unthinkable,” he said. “Almost like an abortion-free zone.”
“Our approach is that we hate the disease but love the patient, especially the weakest of our brothers and sisters,” he added.
They are the only practice in the country offering full obstetrical care for patients from crisis pregnancy centers, and they have a special dedication to welcoming the poor. Of the over 700 babies they delivered in 2009, 30% of the mothers did not have commercial insurance.
“As we tried to be a for-profit practice, ... the Blessed Mother kept saying, ‘You must see the poor in your daily life to be rewarded,’” Dr. Bruchalski said. “It’s one thing to try to be a pro-life practice, it’s another thing to try to see the poor in your pro-life practice.”
“The renewal of medicine is going to involve both social justice - seeing the poor - and the Gospel of life. It’s both/and, not either/or,” he said. “You can’t be an NFP-only doctor. You must serve the underserved. And if you serve the underserved, in order to provide excellent cooperative medicine that treats the disease but loves the patient you have to have the basis for natural family planning in your practice.”
The Tepeyac Family Center now operates under an umbrella organization called Divine Mercy Care, which raises funds and heightens awareness through educational programs. Their network of services includes a perinatal hospice, and in coming years they hope to offer a family practice, pediatric care, and a mental health program.
“Ideally, we would like to be a city on a hill, where you have a multi-specialty group that is dedicated to the healing and the wholeness and the healthiness of the human person in body, soul, and spirit,” he explained. “A medical facility and a medical system where the human person is respected as he’s made in the image and likeness of our God.”
Though their services are available to people of any creed or culture, he said they believe that through medicine they can offer patients “the happiness, and wholeness, and healthiness that comes with coming to a deeper sense of the sacred in their own life.”
Dr. Bruchalski said his experience working with abortion-minded women has shown him the need to focus on offering women hope for life with their child, rather than emphasizing adoption or images of fetal development.
“You can show women fetal development and many of them it doesn’t phase,” he said. “Remember the fetus, the baby, the unborn child is an adversary to the woman, it’s going to cramp her life.”
Abortion-minded women see adoption, on the other hand, as a “double negative,” he says. “Not only are you not qualified to be a mother and care for the child, but you have to give the child up,” he explained. “They hate that choice, so for them the abortion becomes the best alternative, the least terrible of those options.”
“You really have to focus on [the fact] that there is life after having a child, that there is a way out of your predicament,” he said. “Just meeting women where they are by being able to listen to their pain and their agony and their suffering, and then love them so much that we walk them through this.”
The Center has a special focus on implementing John Paul II’s theology of the body, which Dr. Bruchalski says was “revolutionary for relationships, for medicine, and for families.”
He said one’s approach to medicine is profoundly impacted “if you believe that the story in Genesis is real and that we were created in the image and likeness of God, and that men and women are complementary - that we were not meant to be alone - and that our bodies speak a language to us, our actions, and that to love God and to love neighbor is what we’ve been called to do.”
“The theology of the body in medicine means that you cooperate with the body, you don’t repress it,” he explained. “You focus on health, not disease. You don’t treat desires, you treat the disease. You don’t treat people like products. ... You don’t try to go to the best doctor who creates the healthiest babies with the best techniques. Because we’re more than products, we’re people.”
“We are just now developing the wording and the language of translating [the theology of the body] from the religious and the anthropological to the medical and the scientific,” he added.
Divine Mercy Care hopes to inspire and mentor other health care professionals to take up the Gospel of life in their practice. In February and March Bruchalski’s spending two weeks on a speaking tour to 22 medical schools in 19 states with Medical Students for Life.
“At the heart, abortion is a medical procedure,” he said. “We need to inspire doctors to step out in faith and become the men and women that God’s called them to be.”
His conversion experience shows that “no one is beyond God’s mercy, no one, no one,” he said. “I was doing the abortions because I believed it was the lesser of two evils, ... yet I realized that people were just more broken after the procedure. There might have been a brief respite from the stress and strain, but most relationships broke up after the abortion.”
“The mercy of God was what truly penetrated my heart.”
By Patrick B. Craine
FAIRFAX, Virginia, March 3, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com)
This week the pro-life community celebrated the life of the great Dr. Bernard Nathanson, famed for his dramatic conversion from a leading abortionist to a stalwart and outspoken advocate for children in the womb.
Dr. Nathanson’s passing reminds us of the powerful testimony of the dozens of doctors who have left the squalor of their abortion facilities and committed themselves to life-giving and authentic health care.
Dr. John Bruchalski is one of these doctors. A former abortionist in his ob/gyn residency, the 50-year-old Virginia native has now become a leading light in pro-life medicine. Through his unique Tepeyac Family Center, one of the largest free-standing pro-life medical practices in the country, Dr. Bruchalski’s team offers a safe haven for women in crisis pregnancies, spreading hope through authentic health care that respects the natural processes of the woman’s body, the right to life of the unborn child, and the eternal end of the mother’s soul.
“How do you combine the best of modern medicine with the healing presence of Jesus Christ? That’s what we’re about,” he told LifeSiteNews.
Though raised in a devout Catholic family, Bruchalski says he began his exit from the faith when he left for Catholic college. There, he was taken in by professors and friends who claimed that the Catholic Church can change with the culture - that its teachings on divorce, homosexual marriage, abortion, and contraception would eventually conform to the pervading cultural values.
“It became a non-issue - you could still be a great Catholic and choose to dissent from particular Church teachings,” he said.
By the time he entered medical school in 1983 at the University of South Alabama, contraception and abortion seemed to him “the way to promote health and happiness and wholeness in a woman’s reproductive life.” Aiming to be the best gynecologist he could, he learned the different methods for abortion, sterilization, and artificial reproduction, and began providing them during residency.
But he began to have doubts. “I didn’t see happiness or joy in my clinics,” he explained. “Wherever I had more abortion, more contraception, there were more broken relationships, more infections, more destruction, more brokenness.”
“I didn’t know what to do because the professors were saying ‘Well, we just need more education, more contraception, more abortion to answer these questions,’” he added.
Bruchalski first felt the call back to the faith of his childhood right before beginning his residency, when a friend convinced him to take a trip to Guadalupe in Mexico City. He says there he heard Our Lady of Guadalupe - whom Catholics revere as the patroness of the unborn - ask him, “Why are you hurting me?”
Yet he wasn’t ready to respond. “I kind of put that in the back of my mind,” he said.
Then two years later, between the 2nd and 3rd year of residency, his mother took him on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where many Catholics believe Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, has been appearing since 1981.
He says the pilgrimage reawakened the great love for Christ and Mary that his parents had nurtured in him during his childhood. “It was the simplicity of the messages of getting back to conversion,” he explained. “And then I had an experience there with a young woman from Belgium who was there praying for the pro-life cause. She told me she had a message for me about Our Lady and began telling me things about my life.”
When he got home, he told his professor that he could no longer commit abortions or sterilizations, though he expressed shame to LifeSiteNews that it took him a year to fully extricate himself from these anti-life procedures.
He began reading the works of Pope John Paul II, particularly the pope’s landmark addresses on the theology of the body. He learned about natural family planning under the mentoring of Dr. Thomas Hilgers, the Couple to Couple League, Mercedes Wilson and Family of the Americas, and Dr. Hannah Klaus. And he studied the exciting advances in natural reproductive technology pioneered by Dr. Hilgers, who founded the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska.
“When I came home, I was given the grace not only to see myself as I really was - you know, my whole life passed before me - but I actually saw that ... there was a better way to practice medicine,” he explained. “The approach to reproductive health was the polar opposite to what Planned Parenthood was saying. That’s what Our Lady told me my role was going to be.”
He put that vision of medicine into practice in 1994 when he founded the Tepeyac Family Center with his wife in the basement of his house. The obstetric and gynecological medical facility now boasts six pro-life physicians and one nurse practitioner.
Based on a Catholic vision of health care, the Center promotes health practices that respect the natural rhythm of the woman’s cycle and the sanctity of human life. They advocate natural family planning as opposed to contraceptives, and in cases of infertility they focus on treating the underlying causes rather than using assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization.
“We believe that health is based on the relationships found in community, and we believe that if we love enough in medicine we can create a loving atmosphere where abortion becomes unthinkable,” he said. “Almost like an abortion-free zone.”
“Our approach is that we hate the disease but love the patient, especially the weakest of our brothers and sisters,” he added.
They are the only practice in the country offering full obstetrical care for patients from crisis pregnancy centers, and they have a special dedication to welcoming the poor. Of the over 700 babies they delivered in 2009, 30% of the mothers did not have commercial insurance.
“As we tried to be a for-profit practice, ... the Blessed Mother kept saying, ‘You must see the poor in your daily life to be rewarded,’” Dr. Bruchalski said. “It’s one thing to try to be a pro-life practice, it’s another thing to try to see the poor in your pro-life practice.”
“The renewal of medicine is going to involve both social justice - seeing the poor - and the Gospel of life. It’s both/and, not either/or,” he said. “You can’t be an NFP-only doctor. You must serve the underserved. And if you serve the underserved, in order to provide excellent cooperative medicine that treats the disease but loves the patient you have to have the basis for natural family planning in your practice.”
The Tepeyac Family Center now operates under an umbrella organization called Divine Mercy Care, which raises funds and heightens awareness through educational programs. Their network of services includes a perinatal hospice, and in coming years they hope to offer a family practice, pediatric care, and a mental health program.
“Ideally, we would like to be a city on a hill, where you have a multi-specialty group that is dedicated to the healing and the wholeness and the healthiness of the human person in body, soul, and spirit,” he explained. “A medical facility and a medical system where the human person is respected as he’s made in the image and likeness of our God.”
Though their services are available to people of any creed or culture, he said they believe that through medicine they can offer patients “the happiness, and wholeness, and healthiness that comes with coming to a deeper sense of the sacred in their own life.”
Dr. Bruchalski said his experience working with abortion-minded women has shown him the need to focus on offering women hope for life with their child, rather than emphasizing adoption or images of fetal development.
“You can show women fetal development and many of them it doesn’t phase,” he said. “Remember the fetus, the baby, the unborn child is an adversary to the woman, it’s going to cramp her life.”
Abortion-minded women see adoption, on the other hand, as a “double negative,” he says. “Not only are you not qualified to be a mother and care for the child, but you have to give the child up,” he explained. “They hate that choice, so for them the abortion becomes the best alternative, the least terrible of those options.”
“You really have to focus on [the fact] that there is life after having a child, that there is a way out of your predicament,” he said. “Just meeting women where they are by being able to listen to their pain and their agony and their suffering, and then love them so much that we walk them through this.”
The Center has a special focus on implementing John Paul II’s theology of the body, which Dr. Bruchalski says was “revolutionary for relationships, for medicine, and for families.”
He said one’s approach to medicine is profoundly impacted “if you believe that the story in Genesis is real and that we were created in the image and likeness of God, and that men and women are complementary - that we were not meant to be alone - and that our bodies speak a language to us, our actions, and that to love God and to love neighbor is what we’ve been called to do.”
“The theology of the body in medicine means that you cooperate with the body, you don’t repress it,” he explained. “You focus on health, not disease. You don’t treat desires, you treat the disease. You don’t treat people like products. ... You don’t try to go to the best doctor who creates the healthiest babies with the best techniques. Because we’re more than products, we’re people.”
“We are just now developing the wording and the language of translating [the theology of the body] from the religious and the anthropological to the medical and the scientific,” he added.
Divine Mercy Care hopes to inspire and mentor other health care professionals to take up the Gospel of life in their practice. In February and March Bruchalski’s spending two weeks on a speaking tour to 22 medical schools in 19 states with Medical Students for Life.
“At the heart, abortion is a medical procedure,” he said. “We need to inspire doctors to step out in faith and become the men and women that God’s called them to be.”
His conversion experience shows that “no one is beyond God’s mercy, no one, no one,” he said. “I was doing the abortions because I believed it was the lesser of two evils, ... yet I realized that people were just more broken after the procedure. There might have been a brief respite from the stress and strain, but most relationships broke up after the abortion.”
“The mercy of God was what truly penetrated my heart.”
Vatican officials say bad Masses lead to weak faith
From http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1100868.htm
By Cindy Wooden
ROME (Catholic News Service)
A weakening of faith in God, a rise in selfishness and a drop in the number of people going to Mass in many parts of the world can be traced to Masses that are not reverent and don't follow church rules, said two Vatican officials and a consultant.
"If we err by thinking we are the center of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith," said U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, head of the Vatican's supreme court.
Cardinal Burke and Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, spoke March 2 at a book launch in Rome.
The book, published only in Italian, was written by Father Nicola Bux, who serves as a consultant to the congregations for the doctrine of the faith and for saints' causes and to the office in charge of papal liturgies.
The English translation of Father Bux's book title would be, "How to Go to Mass and Not Lose Your Faith."
Cardinal Burke told those gathered for the book presentation that he agreed with Father Bux that "liturgical abuses lead to serious damage to the faith of Catholics."
Unfortunately, he said, too many priests and bishops treat violations of liturgical norms as something that is unimportant when, in fact, they are "serious abuses."
Cardinal Canizares said that while the book's title is provocative, it demonstrates a belief he shares: "Participating in the Eucharist can make us weaken or lose our faith if we do not enter into it properly" and if the liturgy is not celebrated according to the church's norms.
"This is true whether one is speaking of the ordinary or extraordinary form of the one Roman rite," the cardinal said, referring to Masses in the form established after the Second Vatican Council as well as the Mass often referred to as the Tridentine rite.
Cardinal Canizares said that at a time when so many people are living as if God did not exist, they need a true eucharistic celebration to remind them that only God is to be adored and that true meaning in human life comes only from the fact that Jesus gave his life to save the world.
Father Bux said that too many modern Catholics think the Mass is something that the priest and the congregation do together when, in fact, it is something that Jesus does.
"If you go to a Mass in one place and then go to Mass in another, you will not find the same Mass. This means that it is not the Mass of the Catholic Church, which people have a right to, but it is just the Mass of this parish or that priest," he said.
By Cindy Wooden
ROME (Catholic News Service)
A weakening of faith in God, a rise in selfishness and a drop in the number of people going to Mass in many parts of the world can be traced to Masses that are not reverent and don't follow church rules, said two Vatican officials and a consultant.
"If we err by thinking we are the center of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith," said U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, head of the Vatican's supreme court.
Cardinal Burke and Spanish Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, spoke March 2 at a book launch in Rome.
The book, published only in Italian, was written by Father Nicola Bux, who serves as a consultant to the congregations for the doctrine of the faith and for saints' causes and to the office in charge of papal liturgies.
The English translation of Father Bux's book title would be, "How to Go to Mass and Not Lose Your Faith."
Cardinal Burke told those gathered for the book presentation that he agreed with Father Bux that "liturgical abuses lead to serious damage to the faith of Catholics."
Unfortunately, he said, too many priests and bishops treat violations of liturgical norms as something that is unimportant when, in fact, they are "serious abuses."
Cardinal Canizares said that while the book's title is provocative, it demonstrates a belief he shares: "Participating in the Eucharist can make us weaken or lose our faith if we do not enter into it properly" and if the liturgy is not celebrated according to the church's norms.
"This is true whether one is speaking of the ordinary or extraordinary form of the one Roman rite," the cardinal said, referring to Masses in the form established after the Second Vatican Council as well as the Mass often referred to as the Tridentine rite.
Cardinal Canizares said that at a time when so many people are living as if God did not exist, they need a true eucharistic celebration to remind them that only God is to be adored and that true meaning in human life comes only from the fact that Jesus gave his life to save the world.
Father Bux said that too many modern Catholics think the Mass is something that the priest and the congregation do together when, in fact, it is something that Jesus does.
"If you go to a Mass in one place and then go to Mass in another, you will not find the same Mass. This means that it is not the Mass of the Catholic Church, which people have a right to, but it is just the Mass of this parish or that priest," he said.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE FROM 'MIRACULOUS' STAIRS IN SANTA FE FOUND UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WOOD
From http://www.spiritdaily.com/newmexico2.htm
You perhaps have heard of it, the staircase at Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where -- according to the literature -- nuns who operated a convent there began a novena to Saint Joseph, patron of carpenters and builders, when they needed a way to easily traverse up to the choir loft, which previously had been accessed by ladder. Their dilemma was that there was no room for a stairway as normal stairways go. A flurry of carpenters they consulted had said so.
According to accounts, on the last day of the novena, a gray-haired man came to the convent with a donkey and a tool chest -- basically, a saw, a hammer, and a square. He also needed tubs to soak wood. They gave him the job, and he set about the work on July 25, 1873, taking what is now estimated as six to eight months to complete it. Only wood pegs (no nails) were used. And the result was exquisite.
"The winding stairway that the old man left for the sisters is a masterpiece of beauty and wonder," noted St. Joseph Magazine. "It makes two complete 360-degree turns. There is no supporting pole up the center as most circular stairways have. This means it hangs there with no support. The entire weight is on the base. Some architects have said that by all laws of gravity, it should have crashed to the floor the minute anyone stepped on it and yet was used daily for nearly a hundred years." Indeed, there are photos of the staircase filled with members of the choir!
When the sisters went to pay the man, continues the account, he had vanished. There is no record of paying anyone a penny for the incredible piece of carpentry.
We have had an article on this previously. "I spoke with Urban C. Weidner, a Santa Fe architect and wood expert, about the staircase," noted Sister M. Florian. "He told me that he had never seen a circular wooden stairway with 360-degree turns that did not have a supporting pole down the center. One of the most baffling things about the stairway, however, is the perfection of the curves of the stringers, according to Mr. Weidner. He told me that the wood is spliced along the sides of the stringers with nine splices on the outside and seven on the inside. Each piece is perfectly curved. How this came about in the 1870s by a single man in an out-of-the-way place with only the most primitive tools has never been explained."
Indeed, it is a gorgeous piece of woodwork -- now with banisters (it was originally constructed without any).
An angel? St. Joseph himself?
"Sisters, going in to the Chapel to pray, saw the tubs with wood soaking in them, but the man always withdrew while they said their prayers, returning to his work when the Chapel was free," says another account. " Some there are who say the circular stair which stands there today was built very quickly. Others say no, it took quite a little time. But the stair did grow, rising solidly in a double helix without support of any kind and without nail or screw. The floor space used was minimal and the stair adds to, rather than detracts from, the beauty of the chapel."
We would like to emphasize another twist to this mystery. It comes to us from Richard Lindsley, who managed the Loretto Chapel (which is now in private hands) from 1991 to 2006 and says at one point he took a sample of wood from the staircase and gave it to a scientist named Forrest N. Easley, who worked at the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, California.
"I went to the top of the stairs," Lindsley told Spirit Daily. "There's a crack that's held together with a metal plate. The staircase had sunk an inch or inch-and-a-half into the floor. That's where I pried a loose piece and gave it to him. I expected to hear the results quickly."
Instead, says Lindsley, two months passed and he all but gave up about hearing anything. But one day, he recalls, Easley showed up at the chapel because he wanted to report his results in person. What he told Lindsley was straight to the point: the wood sample was spruce of no known subspecies. It matched nothing in the scientific record. Easley had wanted to thoroughly search through all known data. That's what had caused the delay. He researched it further and after 18 months came out with a careful, measured statement saying that the wood from the staircase had molecules that were "very dense and square" and indicated that it had come from trees that grew slowly in a "very, very cold place," like Alaska (not New Mexico).
That was interesting because at the time the chapel was constructed -- by the mysterious stranger -- there was no rail system that could have brought in the wood from such a distance, and no local trees that grew above an elevation of 10,000 feet -- which is the only place of comparable cold.
The closest match remained spruce from Alaska.
In short, it was no known type.
"He claimed to have discovered a new subspecies," says Lindsley.
"He called it Pinacae Ticea 'Josefii' Easley," or 'Loretto spruce."
Let's call it a mystery.
Or a miracle.
Ah, St. Joseph!
How quickly he answers novenas!
How hidden he is.
You perhaps have heard of it, the staircase at Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where -- according to the literature -- nuns who operated a convent there began a novena to Saint Joseph, patron of carpenters and builders, when they needed a way to easily traverse up to the choir loft, which previously had been accessed by ladder. Their dilemma was that there was no room for a stairway as normal stairways go. A flurry of carpenters they consulted had said so.
According to accounts, on the last day of the novena, a gray-haired man came to the convent with a donkey and a tool chest -- basically, a saw, a hammer, and a square. He also needed tubs to soak wood. They gave him the job, and he set about the work on July 25, 1873, taking what is now estimated as six to eight months to complete it. Only wood pegs (no nails) were used. And the result was exquisite.
"The winding stairway that the old man left for the sisters is a masterpiece of beauty and wonder," noted St. Joseph Magazine. "It makes two complete 360-degree turns. There is no supporting pole up the center as most circular stairways have. This means it hangs there with no support. The entire weight is on the base. Some architects have said that by all laws of gravity, it should have crashed to the floor the minute anyone stepped on it and yet was used daily for nearly a hundred years." Indeed, there are photos of the staircase filled with members of the choir!
When the sisters went to pay the man, continues the account, he had vanished. There is no record of paying anyone a penny for the incredible piece of carpentry.
We have had an article on this previously. "I spoke with Urban C. Weidner, a Santa Fe architect and wood expert, about the staircase," noted Sister M. Florian. "He told me that he had never seen a circular wooden stairway with 360-degree turns that did not have a supporting pole down the center. One of the most baffling things about the stairway, however, is the perfection of the curves of the stringers, according to Mr. Weidner. He told me that the wood is spliced along the sides of the stringers with nine splices on the outside and seven on the inside. Each piece is perfectly curved. How this came about in the 1870s by a single man in an out-of-the-way place with only the most primitive tools has never been explained."
Indeed, it is a gorgeous piece of woodwork -- now with banisters (it was originally constructed without any).
An angel? St. Joseph himself?
"Sisters, going in to the Chapel to pray, saw the tubs with wood soaking in them, but the man always withdrew while they said their prayers, returning to his work when the Chapel was free," says another account. " Some there are who say the circular stair which stands there today was built very quickly. Others say no, it took quite a little time. But the stair did grow, rising solidly in a double helix without support of any kind and without nail or screw. The floor space used was minimal and the stair adds to, rather than detracts from, the beauty of the chapel."
We would like to emphasize another twist to this mystery. It comes to us from Richard Lindsley, who managed the Loretto Chapel (which is now in private hands) from 1991 to 2006 and says at one point he took a sample of wood from the staircase and gave it to a scientist named Forrest N. Easley, who worked at the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, California.
"I went to the top of the stairs," Lindsley told Spirit Daily. "There's a crack that's held together with a metal plate. The staircase had sunk an inch or inch-and-a-half into the floor. That's where I pried a loose piece and gave it to him. I expected to hear the results quickly."
Instead, says Lindsley, two months passed and he all but gave up about hearing anything. But one day, he recalls, Easley showed up at the chapel because he wanted to report his results in person. What he told Lindsley was straight to the point: the wood sample was spruce of no known subspecies. It matched nothing in the scientific record. Easley had wanted to thoroughly search through all known data. That's what had caused the delay. He researched it further and after 18 months came out with a careful, measured statement saying that the wood from the staircase had molecules that were "very dense and square" and indicated that it had come from trees that grew slowly in a "very, very cold place," like Alaska (not New Mexico).
That was interesting because at the time the chapel was constructed -- by the mysterious stranger -- there was no rail system that could have brought in the wood from such a distance, and no local trees that grew above an elevation of 10,000 feet -- which is the only place of comparable cold.
The closest match remained spruce from Alaska.
In short, it was no known type.
"He claimed to have discovered a new subspecies," says Lindsley.
"He called it Pinacae Ticea 'Josefii' Easley," or 'Loretto spruce."
Let's call it a mystery.
Or a miracle.
Ah, St. Joseph!
How quickly he answers novenas!
How hidden he is.
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