bethânia 1

Maria Bethânia (Veloso)

en haar oudere broer Caetano Veloso

werden geboren in het stadje Santo Amaro...

- voluit Santo Amaro da Purificação ! -

in de Allerheiligenbaai... 

in de staat Bahia 

(wat 'baai' betekent).

De heilige Amaro, of Maurus... 

belangrijke discipel van Benedictus...

kwamen we al eerder tegen: in Camboriú !

(De heilige die in een visioen het Aardse Paradijs mocht zien...

met Maria centraal aanbeden in het midden!)

Amerigo Vespucci...

de Italiaanse ontdekkingsreiziger... 

was de eerste Europeaan die de baai bezocht tijdens zijn 2e expeditie naar Amerika. 

Hij ging de baai binnen op 1 november 1501. En volgens de gewoonte van die tijd werden alle landvormen vernoemd naar de heiligen van de dag waarop ze werden geïdentificeerd, vandaar de naam 'Allerheiligenbaai'. De eerste stad noemde hij Salvador, naar zijn parochiekerk in Florence, San Salvatore di Ognissanti ['Heilige Verlosser van alle heiligen']. 

Salvador was aan het begin van de 18e eeuw een belangrijke slavenhaven voor de suikerrietvelden van Brazilië. De regio werd een vroeg centrum van de suikerrietproductie onder de Portugezen, met nederzettingen voornamelijk langs de rivier de Subaé. 

Samen met Nazaré en Cachoeira ['Waterval', dat we al kennen van het verhaal van de inlandse Catarina Paraguaçu, haar Mariavisoen en het ontstaan van het karmelietenklooster Carmo da Cachoeira in Bahia!], werd het een van de allereerste regionale stedelijke en economische centra van de Recôncavo Baiano, de regio rondom de baai

Voor de komst van de Europese kolonisatoren...

was Santo Amaro was de thuisbasis van Caetés, Pitiguaras en Carijós-volkeren.

Het gebied staat bekend om zijn nabijgelegen prachtige stranden, de watervallen van Vitória en de grot van Bom Jesus dos Pobres. In de tijd van de walvisvangst was het ook al een populaire plek, aangezien de baai een broedplaats was voor walvissen.

[wiki]

fra' claudio 6

Santa Lucia di Piave [bij Venetië]...

boasts a splendid church and a very high bell tower... 

the work of local artisans and artists, among which the sculptor Fra' Claudio Granzotto stands out.

His earthly pilgrimage began on 23 August 1900, and ended on 15 August 1947, the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, as predicted by the holy pilgrim.

Interrupted school attendance at the beginning of the third year of elementary school, due to the sad family situations created after the death of his father, then still named Riccardo works, as an apprentice, in the workshops of artisans and as a bricklayer in the small construction company of his brother Giovanni, who will also build the beautiful bell tower, the pride of the parish of Santa Lucia.

Riccardo, from an early age, felt a strong inclination towards art. 

A natural, innate artistic vocation. Encouraged and supported by his family, and by the parish priest Don Vittorio Morando, Riccardo moved to Venice. 

He takes and passes the artistic high school exams, an indispensable prerequisite for enrolling in the sculpture school at the Academy. He will come out of it, after four years (1929) with the title of professor of sculpture, with full marks 10/10 with honors.

-

Professor Riccardo is an established sculptor by now. 

But his success, his fame leaves him restless. 

Why?

He feels that the path followed so far does not satisfy him. 

There must be another one, perhaps more difficult, but one that excites him to walk. 

He perceives that 'beauty' and 'good' are inseparable... 

both in art and in life.

Riccardo meditates, prays, suffers, seeks. 

It also happened to Francis of Assisi at the beginning of his conversion.

He spends entire nights in front of the Blessed Sacrament, by which he will be more and more enlightened and motivated in his radical choice of life: 

a clean break with the world !

-

On November 27, 1933... 

he entered the convent, in San Francesco del Deserto... 

to devote himself exclusively to God and to sacred art.

Four months after his dressing, he must leave the enchanting island of the Venetian lagoon for the first, grandiose work commissioned from him by his superiors: the Lourdes Grotto in Chiampo.

He goes to Lourdes to study and contemplate the original. 

In one year, he made this immense sculpture with incessant work of trowel and chisel. 

The finished cave renders the Lourdian environment with such truth, that it makes him say: 'Many will come here to pray!'

The cave was inaugurated on 29 September 1935. 

Riccardo returned to San Francesco del Deserto to begin the canonical year of the novitiate, as a lay brother (7 December 1935). From that day on, Prof. Riccardo Granzotto will simply be called Fra' Claudio.

Cardinal Albino Luciani, patriarch of Venice, during a concelebration at the Grotto of Chiampo, in 1976, surprised everyone by saying: 

'In this cave, Fra Claudio gave, without knowing it, the touch of Franciscan art to Franciscan theology on the Immaculate Conception. With the most devoted statue of him, he gave a marble seal to the books of his theological confreres.'

[bron]

licht-krijger 2

At the end of the summer of 2005... 

Manuel returned home to his family and loved ones. 

After playing games, he always asked them to pray the Rosary, because 'the Hail Marys make me feel better.' He often asked those near him to recite Hail Marys in moments of pain, because 'they make it go away,' or when he was afraid, because 'they give me strength and peace.' 

As time passed, his relationship with Our Lady intensified and became almost palpable.

One on occasion... 

Manuel was physically exhausted from countless treatments... 

and asked Our Lady for a special consolation. 

It was the village’s patron saint day and they took Our Lady out in procession. 'Mom, Mom!' Manuel exclaimed. 'Our Lady said to me, ‘You are my joy, and this afternoon I will have fireworks for you.’' 

His Mom explained that they were not expecting fireworks that day, but Manuel responded quite certain, 'You’re wrong, because Our Lady told me that there would be!' 

Afterwards, Manuel went to sleep but was later awoken by fireworks. He said to his mom, 'Now are you convinced? Our Lady told me, ‘You are my joy and these fireworks are for you.’'

[bron]

licht-krijger 1

Manuel Fodera...

offered his sufferings to 'convert the greatest number of souls.' 

'Jesus has called me warrior of light to conquer the evil and darkness of the world.'

Manuel was born on June 21st, 2001 in Calatafimi, Sicily. 

His siblings Francesco and Stefania were already teenagers, when their newborn brother Manuel arrived, and they welcomed him with great affection. 

Manuel received a Christian education in the heart of a joyful and lively family, where everything seemed to go smoothly, until July of 2005. At the age of four, Manuel complained about a strong pain in his right leg as well as a terrible fever and loss of appetite. A few days later, he was admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Palermo. Doctors diagnosed him with 'a massive infiltration of stage IV neuroblastoma that has spread to the iliac crest of the pelvis.' 

At that moment, his 'Way of the Cross' began, and it was to last five years. Little Manuel was going to suffer several operations, thirty chemotherapy cycles, a transplant, blood transfusions, and indescribable pain. 

-

It was the beginning of a unique, painful, yet very joyful journey for this little one who eventually felt the presence of Jesus speaking to him like a close friend. 

He first underwent an operation to remove his tumor, recovered from it, and received his first few cycles of chemotherapy. At first, he wanted to go to school and play with his friends, and he cried because he could not go. Then, after some time, the inexplicable occurred: Manuel accepted his treatment, becoming serene and docile.

Sister Prisca, a Franciscan religious from the hospital, was the first to notice this change and commented: 'He was very small, only four years old. Before receiving treatment, he always came to me saying, ‘Sr. Prisca, take me to the chapel because I want to see Jesus!’ Very gently, I took him into my arms and brought his little head close to the tabernacle. He was very happy, because he wanted to be Jesus’ dearest friend. Afterwards, we prayed the Holy Rosary together, and I was moved as I listened to him reciting the litanies by heart.

[bron]

hiroshima 3

Hugo Lassalle... 

trat 1919 in das Noviziat der Jesuiten in ’s-Heerenberg in Holland ein, und durchlief ab 1921 die damals scholastisch geprägte ordenstypische jesuitische Ausbildung in Philosophie und Theologie in Valkenburg. 

Nach seiner Priesterweihe am 28. August 1927 absolvierte er das Tertiat, in dem er u. a. in die christliche Mystik (Teresa von Ávila, Johannes vom Kreuz, Thomas von Kempen) eingeführt wurde.

-

1929 wurde Lassalle in die Ostasienmission nach Japan geschickt... 

die durch soziales Engagement das Evangelium verkünden sollte. Neben seiner Tätigkeit als Verwalter des Jesuiten-Gebäudes der katholischen Sophia-Universität in Tokio setzte sich Lassalle deshalb auch durch Hilfswerke für soziale Belange ein, und versuchte den Zen-Buddhismus als geistige Grundlage der japanischen Gesellschaft zu verstehen. 

1935 wurde er Missionssuperior und Ordensoberer der Jesuiten in Japan. 1939, vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg... siedelte er nach Hiroshima über... wo er über Begegnungen an der Bunrika-Hochschule dem Zen näher kam. Seit 1943 wurde er von Shimada im Zen unterrichtete. 

Den Atombombenangriff... 

der Amerikaner auf Hiroshima am 6. August 1945... 

überlebte er, nur etwa 1,2 km vom Bodennullpunkt entfernt. 

Seine Erlebnisse werden in John Herseys Reportage Hiroshima aus Perspektive seines Ordensbruders Wilhelm Kleinsorge geschildert. 

Die Krise des Selbstverständnisses der Japaner nach dem verlorenen Krieg nahm Lassalle zum Anlass, demokratische Gesellschaftsstrukturen und die christlichen Ansätze verstärkt zu verbreiten. 

Ab 1947 versuchte er durch sein Engagement für die alte japanische Kultur die Menschen durch Buddha zu Christus zu führen, dazu hielt er gemeinsam mit Zen-Mönchen Vortragsreihen.

Unter dem Namen Makibi Enomiya... 

wurde er japanischer Staatsbürger. 

1948 wurde er Generalvikar der Diözese Hiroshima. 

Am 6. August 1954 wurde die von ihm gebaute Weltfriedenskirche in Hiroshima eingeweiht. Wegen Streitigkeiten mit dem Bischof wurde er dort nicht Pfarrer, sondern Koordinator der Missionstätigkeiten im Gebiet um Hiroshima und versuchte in den folgenden Jahren weiter über die Zen-Erfahrung das Christentum zu verbreiten.

Lassalle sprach 1962... 

ein Jahr nach dem Tod seines Zen-Meisters Harada Daiun... 

auf dem Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzil in Rom über neue Formen von Seelsorge und Liturgie. Unter anderem seinem Vortrag verdankt sich die Konzilserklärung "Nostra Aetate" [In onze tijd]. In dieser öffnet sich die katholische Kirche erstmals einem religiösen Pluralismus und einem Dialog bei gleichzeitiger Wahrung der eigenen Identität.

1977... 

gründete er das Meditationshaus Kloster Dietfurt. 

Es gilt als das älteste christliche Zen-Kloster im deutschsprachigen Raum. 

Am 7. Juli 1990 starb Lassalle nach mehreren Operationen im westfälischen Münster... 

nachdem er krankheitsbedingt nach Deutschland zurückgekehrt war.

[wiki]

gabrielle 2

1936

2 août

Sur le paquebot [oceaanstomer] — Pendant le concert classique, je Lui offrais en gerbes [in kransen] les sons et la douceur qui en sortait. Il m’a dit tout doucement, comme une fois [au Fresne]: « Ma petite Fille. »

-

23 août

On a fait un autel [altaar] sur le piano, je pensais aux goélands [meeuwen], aux avions qui viennent se poser sur les paquebots: « Cette fois, c'est le Christ. »

-

Je disais au milieu du roulis: «Vous savez bien que tout est pour Vous. Alors, je ne Vous le dis pas.» 

Lui : «Il faut Me le dire, parce que J’aime l'entendre. Dis-le Moi souvent. Quand tu sais que quelqu'un t'aime, tu es contente qu'on te le dise.»

24 septembre 

Canada — La chapelle est à la porte [voor de deur] de ma chambre, à chaque fois que je passe, je Lui souris. Il m’a dit : «Souris à tous. J'attacherai une Grâce à ton sourire.»

-

3 octobre

Dans le Saskatchewan — Lui : «Enferme-Moi [Sluit me op] dans ton coeur par un signe de croix comme derrière deux barreaux [zoals achter twee tralies].»

-

5 octobre

Christ-Roi — Ce matin, à la messe, M. l'abbé m´a consacrée à Dieu posant ma formule dans la pale sous l'Hostie. Il m'a dit : «Occupe-toi de Mon Amour... il n'y a pas un orphelin aussi délaissé que Moi.»

-

Près Québec — Les enfants ayant terminé leurs cantiques, je Lui disais: «Je ne Vous parle plus en musique.» Il m'a répondu : «Ma musique, c'est ton amour.»

1 novembre 1936 

Sur le paquebot qui me ramenait [terugbracht] d’Amérique, à la messe — «Crois à la purification infinie de Mon Sang.»

-

3 novembre 1936

Je mettais en pensée ma tête sur Son épaule. Il m’a dit: «Est-ce que tu Me la donnes pour toujours?»

-

4 novembre

Au retour [Op de terugweg] — Dernière messe sur le pont. Distraite [afgeleid] après la communion, j’ai entendu la voix suave [lief] qui disait : «J'attends.»

-

Décembre 

En France — Dans la rue. Moi: «Je marche à côté de Vous.» 

Lui (doucement): «Mais tu ne Me parles pas beaucoup...»

-

4 décembre 

«Travaille à être à tous Mon sourire. 

Mon aimable voix.»

[bron]

gabrielle 1

Gabrielle Bossis 

1874-1950

avondale 2

St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (1867)

eerste Poolse parochie in Chicago

in 1999 nog zwaar onderkomen...

maar dan hoort een priester de stem van Maria:

¨Make Me Mother and Queen of the Parish¨

en hij antwoordt:

´Holy Mother of God, 

I entrust all this to You

I give it to You !´

!

St. Stanisław Kostka

avondale 1

verhaal van een priester in Jackowo...

een van de Poolse districten

in Avondale, ´Pools Chicago´

naar de Basiliek van St. Hyacinth

Święty Jacek, in het Pools... 

Avon-dale

´valley of water´...

Avalon...

Hyacinthus van Polen

angelus 2

in de Basiliek van St.-Franciscus in Arezzo

graf van Fra Benedetto di Arezzo [†1282]

auteur v/h Angelus

kruis geschilder door

Orazio Alfani

16e eeuw

elisha 2

1.

Elisha knew everything

that was happening in the spirit world.

God has not left us alone

and Elisha knew this.

cf. 2 Kings 6:17

Elisha sees that God's army is ready!

(vs. Syrian army and chariots...)

>>

Ask God, the Almighty, to give us 

the realm of the spiritual insight

that was in Elisha.

!

2.

God is on our side...

You may not be in control

but He is!

Your perspective in life must be that of Elisha.

We must pray to have our spiritual eyes opened

just like the servant.

You must always remember that if God is for you

then no one can be against you.

3.

P R A Y E R  should be our first resort!

The heart of all prayer is intercession.

If you are going to pray

pray without ceizing [stoppen]/seizing [grijpen]

pray until all wordly pleasures become fleeting

pray in season and when the season has ended

pray until your trials stop

because they have become offended.

If you are going to pray

go further and engage in prayer and fasting

deny your appetites now and hold on to the everlasting

be willing to pray even if your knees get tired.

If you are going to pray

pray ´Thy Kingdom Come´

pray for all and not just for some

pray believing that you can command the disobedient mountain

pray knowing that God's bounty [milddadigheid] is an eternal fountain.

Pray, pray and don't quit when it gets hard.

Pray, pray and keep going even when it gets cold.

Pray, pray and keep fighting because your life depends on it.

Pray, pray and keep believing that God is your omnipotent provider.

No matter the cost, keep on praying.

You can't avoid the battle of life.

But you can pray.

If you are going to pray

pray when others stop and have fallen asleep.

Pray so you can escape the darkness deep in your soul.

Pray and beseech [smeek] God to make you whole.

Pray knowing that your weeping will end

when the morning comes.

If you are going to pray

pray, hope and do not believe your fears.

Pray, trust in God and not your own ways.

Pray boldly, and do not shrink back from the task.

Pray, believe that God already knew what you would ask.

If you are going to pray

pray knowing you have already received.

Pray to God expecting a blessing because you believed.

Pray and bind the forces of darkness and the pit of hell.

Pray knowing that all will be well.

God is waiting to delight in your prayers.

If you are going to pray, pray fervently.

eudocia 2

Blessed Evdokia... 

was born in 1856 in the village of Puza...

now the village of Suvorovo, in the Diveevsky district... 

in a peasant family of Alexander and Alexandra Sheikov.

From childhood on, she was ´out of this world´: quiet, in poor health, who did not like noisy games and fun... As a child, she had only one girlfriend - Maria, but she soon died.

After that, Dunya often began to go to the local Ascension Church to pray. But because of her weakness, she was unable to attend [orthodox, standing] services for a long time, so she knelt in the church and prayed throughout the service.

She always walked with a stick, and baptised everything around her with it. She wore only dark clothes and tied a scarf so that her face was barely visible.

Marthe Robin

Despite her physical weakness...

Dunya tried to help her relatives in the farming economy, but soon she fell ill.

Even in her teens, the Lord gave her the gift of clairvoyance for her chaste, pious life. At first, the relatives did not pay attention to Dunya's words, but then they noticed that everything turned out exactly as the girl said.

When it became clear that Dunya would no longer be able to walk, her relatives made a bench out of planks in her parents' hut, put foot cloths on it, and put a winter coat under her head. Here she lay.

Two young peasant women began to care for the young woman. And she also had a spiritual mentor - an astute [scherpzinnige] elder from Sarov, Hieromonk Anatoly. 

Afflicted with illness, Dunya began to lead a strict ascetic life.

St. Andrew the Fool

She devoted most of her time to prayer.

She prayed with her assistants from five in the morning until twelve in the afternoon, with a twenty-minute rest. The girls sang troparia and kontakia to the Queen of Heaven and the saints, read the Psalter, the Holy Gospel, canons and akathists. During prayer, everyone offered obeisances. In the evening, from eight o'clock to midnight, they offered a personal prayer.

Their house was small and dilapidated [vervallen], with only two windows in front. Dunya lay by the third side window. The stove in the hut often fell apart before their eyes, and in winter it was very cold. Her companions were sometimes so tired of the long prayers and household chores, that they fell to the ground and slept, despite the cold.

Remembering the Savior's suffering for sinful people, Dunya also took upon herself her heavy cross of constant sufferings. She didn't wash in the bathhouse, she didn't allow herself to change clothes until the shirt was completely rotten. She put pieces of bread on her bed, which then dried up into crackers, which clung painfully to her body. In addition, in her modest home, there were a large number of lice and cockroaches...

[bron]

alexandra

Het Diveeskyklooster in Sarov...

waarheen de heilige Serafim vanuit KIev gezonden werd...

ontstond in de tweede helft van de 18e eeuw. 

Rond 1758 arriveerde de rijke landeigenaresse Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova in Kiev, die haar man 20 jaar oud verloren had en gezworen haar leven voortaan aan God te wijden. Ze legde monastieke geloften af ​​in het Kievse Florovsky-klooster, en kreeg de naam Moeder Alexandra. 

Eens, na een nachtelijke gebedswake in de holenkerk Pechersk Lavra, had ze een visioen van de Allerheiligste Theotokos. De Moeder Gods zei tegen Moeder Alexandra...

[wiki]

kiev-sarov

Serafim... 

wordt op 30 juli 1759 geboren in Koersk [100km van Oekraïense grens] als Prochor Mosjnin. 

Zijn vader, Isidor Mosjnin, was koopman en eigenaar van een steenfabriek. Hij bouwde o.a. een kathedraal in Koersk, maar overleed nog voor de voltooiing van het gebouw. Vervolgens moest Prochor's moeder Agathia zich alleen om de opvoeding van haar zoon bekommeren. 

Prochor had een uitstekend geheugen en leerde snel lezen en schrijven. Vanaf zijn jonge jaren bezocht hij graag de kerk, waar hij veel bad en de Heilige Schrift en hagiografieën bestudeerde. Reeds op jonge leeftijd werd Prochor meerdere malen op wonderbare wijze genezen, nadat hem de Moeder Gods verscheen. 

Dergelijke gebeurtenissen liet bij Prochor langzaam het idee rijpen, dat voor hem een leven in het klooster was weggelegd. Toen hij zijn moeder in kennis stelde van zijn wens om in het klooster te treden, was zij onmiddellijk overtuigd van zijn levenspad, en gaf hem een koperen kruis, dat hij tot zijn stervensuur onder de kleding op zijn huid zou blijven dragen.

Prochor verliet in 1776 [17j. oud] Koersk... 

en pelgrimeerde te voet naar het holenklooster van Kiev... 

[het Petsjersk-Lavra of ´Grotten-Laura´ - oertype klooster waar kluizenaars, in grotten, samenleven]

om daar de iconen te vereren. 

Hier ontmoette hij Vader Dositheus... 

die hem zegende en vertelde dat hij naar het klooster van Sarov [450km ten O. van Moskou] moest gaan... 

[het vierde ´lot´ dat OLV - na Iberië, Athos, en Kiev - in dit gedeelte van de wereld heeft neergelegd!]

om dáár zijn kloostergeloften af te leggen... 

[wiki]

serafim 1

Serafim van Sarov

(1759-1833)

´de vurige´...

zie ook xenia viii