Saint Salsa

 My grandchildren and I were playing a card game.  The cards had saints' names and their deeds.  We were to match the saint to the Beatitude that matched the saints' deeds.  One of the saint's name was Salsa.  That's right, Salsa.  Immediately, the grands liked her name because they like salsa with chips and there is also a dance called salsa.  When we read her story, these girls embraced her name even more so, and want to have it for their confirmation name.

Who is Saint Salsa?

She lived in the 4th century in Algeria.  Her parents were pagan, but she fell in love with Jesus.  Being only 13-14, her parents made her go with them to worship at the pagan temple of a dragon.  Salsa was appalled at the drunken, drugged behavior of the revelers surrounding the dragon. She speaks out to her parents and others around them how she felt.

I believe in ONE God, the Father Almight, the maker of heaven and earth.  I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary.  For our sake He was crucified, died and was buried, and rose again where he ascended into heave.  He will come again in glory.

The people thought she was crazy.  Salsa was angry and plotted how to pull down that statue of the dragon.  She thinks of Judith, Daniel, and Rachel, and decides to copy their courage. 

At night, she sneaks into the temple and hacks off the dragon's head and throws it into the sea.  Nobody sees her.  The pagans are struck with grief over the destruction of their dragon.

Salsa returns and pulls down the rest of the statue and drags it to the sea and dumps it there.  However, this caused a lot of ruckus and people caught her.  They were incensed and beat her to death and threw her body into the sea.

Salsa's body floated up but the dragon was never found or restored.

A sailor, named Saturninus retrieved Salsa's body and gave it to the Catholics in the town and they gave her a beautiful funeral Mass to honor her martyrdom. Eventually, a church was built there to honor Salsa. Unfortunately, wars, earthquakes and floods have destroyed the entire area.

The martyrdom of Salsa is remembered when we praise all saints.  They are to be praised through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is the honor, power, and glory with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.  Amen.

Prison as a Prep School

This morning I was reading a letter from St. Cyprian (Ep. 6, 1-2; CSEL 3, 480-482) and this

paragraph caught my eye:

How blessed is the prison honored by your presence, how blessed the prison that sends men of God to heaven!  

Not all prisons, only those which recognize God, honor Him, and work towards their personal salvation to live with Him in eternity.  For example, the Lay Dominican chapters inside prisons.  Presently, there are three: MCI Norfolk, Huntsville, Texas, and one in Belgium.

Certainly, God is in MCI Norfolk.  In fact, I can just picture Jesus returning in the little, poor, interdenominational chapel in the CSD building.  That is exactly where our Redeemer who was born in a stable would return.  It's just His style.

However, St. Cyprian was speaking of his imprisonment during the reign of Emperor Valerian.  An edict of persecution was issued against anyone who refused to sacrifice to the pagan deities.

Well, you know why bishops wear red.

The Bishop's exchange was public and preserved:

Galerius Maximus: "Are you Thascius Cyprianus?" Cyprian: "I am." Galerius: "The most sacred Emperors have commanded you to conform to the Roman rites." Cyprian: "I refuse." Galerius: "Take heed for yourself." Cyprian: "Do as you are bid; in so clear a case I may not take heed." Galerius, after briefly conferring with his judicial council, with much reluctance pronounced the following sentence: "You have long lived an irreligious life, and have drawn together a number of men bound by an unlawful association, and professed yourself an open enemy to the gods and the religion of Rome; and the pious, most sacred and august Emperors ... have endeavoured in vain to bring you back to conformity with their religious observances; whereas therefore you have been apprehended as principal and ringleader in these infamous crimes, you shall be made an example to those whom you have wickedly associated with you; the authority of law shall be ratified in your blood." He then read the sentence of the court from a written tablet: "It is the sentence of this court that Thascius Cyprianus be executed with the sword."
 Cyprian: "Thanks be to God.”


Galerius Maximus is the proconsul.  Cyprian responds "Thanks be to God."  when he learns he will be martyred.  And so Cyprian's prison was preparation to send him to heaven.

Thanks be to God.

The First American Priest Martyr

Padre Stan

The First American Priest Martyr: With martyrs, Christians are always faced with a moral paradox, for martyrs are signs of contradiction not only to the people and culture that executed them but also to the Church that venerates them.

I read this because I remember in the early days of our country's beginnings, priests were martyred. I'm thinking of the French Jesuits in Canada and the Spanish missionaries in Central America. But the title says "American", meaAmerican-born born. It's about Father Stanley Francis Rother's martyrdom in Guatemala. Please read the article.

In Odium Fidei

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney, Australia, a Dominican, said that Pere Jacques Hamel died in "hatred of the faith."  The Latin term is "in odium fidei."  IOW, he died a martyr for his faith.  Read more in this article from the Catholic Herald.

Je Suis Prêtre

Slain French priest was attack on 'all of us,' imam said: WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Father Jacques Hamel's gruesome murder in northern France July 26 -- by men claiming allegiance to the Islamic State -- prompted sorrow and outrage from Muslim leaders around the world.  In fact, many French Muslims went to the funeral Mass of Pere Jacques Hamel, who was martyred by terrorists, in the name of their religion, in protest to the terrorists' false interpretation of Islam.  Also, these imams refused to bury the terrorists.  They cut off all association with the terrorists' twisting of their Islamic religion.

It is good to see something visibly noticeable, as a response to terrorists claiming to be Islamic.  We are descendants of Abraham.

St. Toribio Romo

Toribio Romo was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1900.  He always wanted to be a priest and was ordained when he was 22.  But this was a time when religion was not only frowned upon, in Mexico, there were laws severely restricting Catholicism.  The President, Plutarco Elias Calles was very hostile towards Catholicism.  His anti-Catholicism fueled the Cristeros.

In order to minister to his people, Father Romo had to go underground.  He celebrated Mass in factories and residences.  I imagined he prayed for a lot of strength, but his fears didn't stop him.

On February 25, the government soldiers woke him up at 4:00 AM and shot him. The story of his martyrdom spread.  He became the patron saint of those who watch over migrants and refugeesand border crosses

.  In 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Father Toribio Romo, along with 24 other martyrs murdered for their faith during the Cristero War.

Martyrs

How many martyrs do we not know?  For some reason, this is shocking, to me.  Imagine dying for God and no one knows.  Of course, God knows; but it doesn't seem right that there is no memorial or feast day, to acknowledge the martyr's sacrifice.

What brought on this line of thought?  Pope St. Martin I.  I don't think much is known about him.  He was elected pope in 649, which was a time when he knew he would probably die a martyr.  All the early popes were martyred.  How's that for a job description?  Why would anyone want the job?  There was no money in it.  There was negligible influence.  One would have to have a deep faith and trust in God to accept the position, otherwise, why do it.

When Martin I became pope, the patriarch of Constantinople was the most influential church leader in the world because Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine empire.  Also, the emperor of the Byzantine empire worked in conjunction with the patriarch.  There was no separation between church and state.

Prominent at the time was a teaching that stated that Jesus Christ had no human will.  We believe that Jesus had both -- human and divine.  The emperor believed in one divine will, only.  Martin I called an ecumenical council, Lateran, and condemned the teaching.  The emperor tried to turn the people and their bishops against the pope.  He tried to have the pope assassinated.  Then he sent his troops to Rome and captured Martin to bring him to Constantinople.  Martin was an ill man, anyway.  He died after being imprisoned and tortured.

For some reason, Pope Martin I's story touched me.  May he live in eternal life.

For this is the will of my Father,

that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him

may have eternal life,

and I shall raise him on the last day.

Paul Miki and Companions

Today, I'm teaching parents whose children are receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.  I'm giving the parents the history of the sacrament.

This morning, I opened my prayer book to find out that today is the feast of Paul Miki and Companions.  I can use this feast in explaining the history of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  In early Christianity, the sacrament was public because Christianity was just beginning to develop.  Christianity was outlawed.  When it was discovered that you were Christian you were arrested, beaten, tortured, and killed in various horrendous ways.  Many denied that they were Christians.  That's apostasy.

Afterwards, these traitors tried to go to church.  What nerve, huh?  Of course, their brothers and sisters could see that they needed to be accepted back, so the deniers of Christ had to apologize to the community.  This is how the first confessions were done--publically.  The community decided on the penance.  Once the penance was fulfilled, the bishop came to give absolution.

I am afraid that I'd be a coward and deny Jesus.  I'd need the grace of God to not be afraid and be strong enough to declare that I am a child of Christ.

Then this morning, I read about Paul Miki and twenty-five companions who were martyred in Japan.  Not only were they not afraid, they were happy about it.  They rejoiced.  They sang Te Deum!

May God bless them! They rejoiced because they were dying for God.  They were hung on crosses, much like Jesus. They died with God's praises on their lips.

I think God for such brave Christians.  Their story is so moving that for the next couple of centuries Japanese Christians kept the faith underground.  The blood of martyrs watered the faith of Christ.

Let us pray for Christians who are persecuted throughout the world.

What Being Christian Means

Stephen's martyrdom is very unsettling.  He is the first martyr.  Read Acts 7: 54-60.  Stephen's death prefigures what being Christian means.  Christians will be persecuted.  The next passage after describing Stephen's death, Acts 8: 1-3 relates the persecution of the followers of Jesus.

Following Jesus meant and still means, persecution.  Today, the persecution of the Christians in the Middle East comes to mind.  In my personal surrounding world, being Christian means being counter- cultural.  There is an insidious feeling of not being accepted, of being a religious nut, or some other kind of crack-pot.  My opinions are irrelevant because the majority opinion rules.

We should have known this from what happened to St. Stephen.  He is the precursor of today's martyrs.  Stand fast, my brothers and sisters.  A crown of glory awaits you at the end of your journey.

St. John of Gorcum & Companions -- Pray for us!

"Night now is over, rising sun casts splendor over the triumph of those valiant soldiers fallen in battle on the field of Gorkum; great in their courage!"

These words begin the Lauds hymn for the feast of St. John of Cologne, also known as St. John of Gorkum, (+ 1572, feast - July 9) and his 18 companions who were martyred in Holland by Calvinists. With the spread of Calvinism during the Reformation, the area of Gorkum had become overrun with Calvinists who would have nothing to do with the Catholic priests still living in the vicinity. So they imprisoned and tortured them in an attempt to get them to renounce the Church's teaching. These priests and religious, many of whom were Franciscans, remained steadfast in their faith.
    When St. John, who was serving in a parish in the nearby Hornar, heard of their plight, he obtained permission from his superiors to go and serve the priests incognito and offer them the sacraments. Eventually, he was caught and was subjected to the same torments that his fellow priests suffered. 
      Through various methods of torture, the Calvinists sought to get the priests to renounce the Eucharist and Papal supremacy. Yet, 19 of the 20 captured remained faithful (the other was not blessed to join them in martyrdom). As time went on, the Calvinists continued to try to get the faithful priests and religious to proclaim heresy. Ultimately, they would not, and so they were brought to Briel, and on the night of July 8th, they were taken to a barn outside the city.
         As they walked along, they heard one another's confessions, and upon arriving, they were hanged. One Dominican, eleven Franciscans, two Praemonstratensians, one Canon Regular of St. Augustine, and four secular priests offered their lives as witnesses to the truth of the Church's teachings on the Eucharist and the Papacy.
        That night, a couple of the Catholics in Gorkum, some of whom even thought there was a chance for the release of the prisoners, had visions of a troop of martyrs. Moreover, a shrub bearing 19 white flowers is said to have sprung up at the site of their martyrdom. Many miracles have been attributed to their intercession, especially the curing of hernias.
          May St. John of Cologne and his companions intercede for us that the Lord may grant us perseverance no matter what hardships or persecutions we may have to endure.

        "O God, who didst crown with the wreath of immortality the strife of Thy blessed Martyrs, John and his companions, for the faith, mercifully grant that, fighting here on earth, we may likewise deserve, through their merits and after their example, to be crowned with them in heaven. Through Christ our Lord."

www.Vocations.OPEast.org

www.DominicanFriars.org

Praying for Persecuted Christians

It's early Saturday morning and the Feast Day is as cold as the sky.  I'm on the Cape and the ocean is a white/blue.  So is the sky.  In fact, there's no horizon line.  From the shore to the white sun in the sky, is all white/blue.  I shivered as I looked at it, praying morning prayers.

Today is the feast of Sts. Isaac Jogues, John De Brebeuf, and companions, and the thought of their martyrdom, has also made me shiver.  Even Fr. Francis Moy, s.j. has the same reaction.  As a fellow Jesuit as these martyrs, who were fearfully tortured, (and went back for more), Fr. Moy says his heart drops.  I wonder at their courage and faith.  I find myself praying "Oh Lord, don't ever let that happen to me."  Then, I sheepishly gulp, "according to Your Will, O Lord."

Good grief!  I'd need an avalanche of grace to be a martyr.  I don't mind the dying; that will happen, anyway.  It's the torture that worries me.  God help and forgive me.

Today's meditation in Magnificat is by Joseph Chihwatenhwa, a Huron who was converted by the martyrs.  The date is 1640:

...I am the one who, in derision, am everywhere called "The Believer."  They think they are speaking evilly of me; but that name is my greatest glory.  I am that man.  I have kinsmen in your village, and you know them.  I make public profession of following the good instructions which these Blackrobes, my teachers, have given me.  We have no sense, as many as there are of us.  Our thoughts do not extend farther than this life.  Those of us who believe place our hopes upon an eternity of good things which are surely prepared for us hereafter.

Couldn't Joseph Chihwatenhwa's words be spoken to people today?  You don't think...

Nah, ....

but?

do you think we Believers could be martyred, today?

Let us pray for all Christians in the Middle East, and everywhere the church is persecuted, especially for the two Jesuits who have been missing for two months in Syria.