Our New Doctors!

Today Pope Benedict declared St John of Avila and St Hildegard of Bingen Doctors of the Church.  The proclamation took place during the Mass for the Opening of the Synod of Bishops: the synod will look at the New Evangelisation.   It was quiet approprate that these Saints should be declared Doctors today since their lives, ministry and teachings are evangelical in nature, calling all men and women to come and recognise who Jesus Christ is, what he did for us and what he has in store for us.  

St John travelled the dusty roads of Spain preaching to a people who had fallen away from the faith, trying to inject vitality and love for Christ, while encouraging the clergy to live lives worthy of their vocation.  He would be most welcome to Ireland in these times when people are either confused having been led astray by unfaithful clergy, struggling to remain true to the Church in a hostile climate, or they have given up and embraced a godless existence.  This is the situation the Bishops and the whole Church has to face and find ways in which to proclaim the Gospel anew.  One of the challenges we have to face is the presumption of these jaded, fallen away Catholics - they think they know the faith and have rejected it or compromised it with the demands of the secular world, when in reality they know little of the riches of our faith, our heritage and the way of Christ. 

St Hildegard understood what the riches of the faith are, having lived the faith to a heroic and having seen those riches in the many visions she received.  Sharing her insights, like the Prophets Daniel and Ezekiel, and St John the Beloved Disciple, whom she resembles in the nature of her prophetic mysticism, God utters prophetic words through her - the words of the Gospel, drawing all men and women to the Word himself.  Though radical feminists and neo-pagans try to reinvent her, St Hildegard is very much in the heart of the Church trying to call others in after her.  She shares her visions so we can be inspired to abandon ourselves to Christ so we may come to share in those visions ourselves.

Both of these Doctors remind us of the Second Vatican Council's central teaching: the universal call to holiness - a teaching much ignored and perhaps even denied as the 'spirit of Vatican II' crowd push an agenda which seems more like the universal call to mediocrity and rupture.  Listening again to Fr Hans Kung's moan we can see that these rebels are drifting further and further away not only from the true spirit of the Council, but also from the teachings of Jesus Christ himself.  The fidelity of St John and St Hildegard to the Church and to the person of the Holy Father, to whom both were obedient, contrasts sharply with the post-conciliar rebellion, and offers us a nourishing example of love, peace and hope.

See here for the text of the Holy Father's homily during the opening Mass.

Monday Musings

The Holy Father announced yesterday that he will declare St John of Avila and St Hildegard of Bingen Doctors of the Church on Sunday the 7th October.  He is doing so at the beginning of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation and for a particular reason - these two figures, he says, are of considerable importance and relevance.  Well, that should offer all of us an opportunity to get reading the lives and writings of these two new Doctors.  In fact, given that the Holy Father is placing the emphasis on two Saints in the context of the New Evangelisation, we can see that the Saints in general are important as the Church "puts out into the deep" in this new missionary endeavour. 

We must spare a thought for the Holy Father in these days as two crises envelop the Vatican.  The president of the Institute for the Works of Religion (Vatican "bank") is in trouble, and after an investigation, a suspect in the so-called "Vati-leaks"  has been arrested - it is the Pope's own butler.   This will be hard on the Holy Father who relies on and trusts those people who are members of the "Papal family".  To have a trusted assistant betray a confidence is one of the worst kinds of betrayal.   He may not have been the only one though, the Vatican gendarme are continuing their investigations.

According to reports, the man will be tried by the Vatican legal system - that must be a first in a long time.  In this system, the defendant has a trial, and if found guilty, can have two appeals.  If found guilty after all that, he'll do his time in an Italian prison.  I heard that he could face up to thirty years in prison because these leaks constitute a national security breach.  It all sounds very strange, but then again we have to remember that the Vatican is an independent sovereign state and it operates as such.

Some will find that hard to take - after all, Jesus did not set up his own country - he was an itinerant preacher proclaiming the Word of God. True, but in practical terms if the Holy Father is to do the same without interference from secular governments, he needs to be free from the obligations of citizenship, and so the best way to do that is to have him living in an independent country where he is the ruler.   If we object to that, just look at the way some of the history's secular rulers treated the Church - Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Joseph II of Austria, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin; and today - Barack Obama and Enda Kenny: if the Pope were a citizen under any of them his ministry would be seriously curtailed.  Indeed Napoleon almost made the Popes his puppets as he dragged one Pope into captivity where he died, and made the life of another an absolute misery. 

But we must pray for him.  The Pope holds the Papal family very dear. One member, Manuela Camagni, died a couple of years ago: this is another blow. 

When I first read of the "Papal family" I was very much impressed.  These members of staff - his secretaries, the sisters that care for him and the household, form a little community in the Papal apartments.   It must be a real support to the Holy Father who can rely on them to make a home for him in the midst of the officialdom and ceremony which surrounds him.  

To be honest, it is a model which we priests and our bishops should look to. As diocesan priests many of us do not live in community - and even those priests that live together may not form a community.  When in seminary we were told that we were preparing for life on our own - our parishes would be our community, but in reality when we go to our homes after a day's work, there is no community there.  Some priests like that, other's don't.  Certainly, in my opinion, it is not an ideal situation, priests need support, and unfortunately when there is no domestic support, priests on their own can fall prey to too many temptations just out of sheer loneliness or isolation.

When I was in Drogheda three of us priests lived in the presbytery and we actually did have a community.  We usually had dinner together, sometimes went out for an evening together, took an interest in each other's lives and interests, and helped each other.  Our individual families were always welcome.  Our staff were also part of the community - the housekeepers, secretaries, the handyman.  But such situations are rare.

As I was thinking about all this the Lord's words from Genesis came to mind: "It is not good for man to be alone".  We understand that in terms of marriage and man as a social animal.  In terms of priesthood, I think we might also see it as being a good indication that we should not live isolated lives.   I am not advocating marriage for priests, by the way, but certainly we might look at how priests can live in the midst of a family in his domestic life.  How that can happen I do not know.  One thing I do know - it should not be completely formed of priests as the tendency to clericalism would be a serious temptation.

A Virgin Most Powerful!

Having been very busy over the last few days I haven't had time to blog, and so much has happened!  The best was of course the enrolling of Hildegard of Bingen in the canon of Saints by the Holy Father last week. I was delighted!  She was one incredible woman, a polymath, a lady of great culture and indeed so wise the nickname, "The Sybil of the Rhine" is no exaggeration.  She will be the fourth woman Doctor of the Church - I presume the Pope will conduct a ceremony for both herself and St John of Avila. 

For many St Hildegard is unknown, and for some of us, she is a woman much misunderstood.  She has been claimed by all and sundry, and so now when we hear of her it tends to be by radical feminists who see her as a rebel against male patriarchy and New Agers who see her as some sort of "white witch" casting her spells and mixing her earth potions in the best ecological way.  If Hildegard was around she would give them a slap, as a friend of mine would say. 

She was first and foremost, and she would declare this herself, a faithful daughter of the Church.  She loved Christ, and that is the first thing we need to remember.  She was consecrated from an early age, and most of her long life in an abbey.  She was a wise, prudent and holy Abbess, given much to prayer and the practice of virtue.  She received many visions which helped her understand the teaching of Christ and the call to holiness, and she responded generously to that call.  She wrote mystical texts, profound theological works (hence her being declared a  Doctor), praised her Lord and dignified the liturgy with her musical compositions, and nurtured a deep love for the poor and the sick.   She was also obedient to the Pope, and listening to the advice of wise and holy people: she entrusted herself to the advice and guidance of St Bernard of Clairvaux.

Pope Benedict dedicated to Audience talks to her in 2012: one on the 1st September, and the second the following week: they are well worth reading.   St Hildegard's cult has now been officially confirmed, her feast, the 17th September, has been added to the General Calendar, so we may now publicly celebrate her feast in our parishes and churches, and offer votive Masses and Offices. 

The Relics of St Hildegard

In other news:

Here's an interesting post from Elizabeth Scalia over at the Anchoress blog.  She starts with a few thoughts on Nanci Pelosi, and then moves to reflecting on the possibility of a schism within the Catholic Church in America and the creation of an American Catholic Church which will be liberal, pro-abortion, married priests, women priests (the usual stuff) and obedient to the secular authorities. 

It is a very interesting article, and she has a point.  As readers will know I have mooted that the same may happen in Ireland, though my even suggesting it has raised a few eyebrows ("Never happen, father").  To be honest I think it might - it has happened before, most notably during the Protestant Revolution in the 16th century.  Henry VIII's creation of his Church of England is a perfect example.  Looking around him and listening to what is being said, here in Ireland is a definite anti-Rome movement growing in the Church, a movement, if not sparked, certainly encouraged by our Prime Minister and members of the government.  As I said before, an obedient "state church" would come in very happy.  As for our socialist friends who quote Marx on religion, they know the value of being the ones handing out the opium to the people.

We shall see.

Right, a bit of music - we haven't had some in a while.  In honour of her canonisation, a some of St Hildegard's compositions: