Universalis

Friday, December 07, 2007

The Medicing Bag

Hi all!
My daughter wrote a paper in her reading class about a medicine bag. She had to make the bag and decorate it. Then she needed to find something very special, put it in the bag and write a paper about it. I am attaching it. Hope you all enjoy.
Our family is doing well, but we all miss Karen. Our father passed away on October 1st. So needless to say it was a ruff couple months.


My Medicin Bag By: Cora Spangler

I did my medicine bag on a rosary. This is special to me because my Aunt Karen used to hand make them all the time. She used to make all different colors, even mixed. And she made big ones and small ones. My Aunt loved church and everything that had to do with it. Even if someone did not go to church she would try to help them anyways. She used to have a blog online where people would comment and send her letters. The letters, which came from all over the United States, were from people asking for a rosary. She would send it to them free of charge. Sometimes she would send one and sometimes she would send fifty. She even got phone calls from people saying that they needed a rosary, whether it was for a whole church or just themselves. She passed away on August second while visiting here for my Aunt Martha’s funeral a week earlier. She was fifty-one years old. At her calling hours she had so many rosaries left over we put them out for people to take. We knew that’s what she would have wanted. I would pass this down to my child because I got this from her calling hours, so my family will always remember what she did for people and what she did for God, and always have a little piece of her with us to keep us going.AMEN!!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Thank you ALL!

Yea, We have a new password. I am Susan, Karens #6 sibling. I copied Christines post so all will know how much we appreciate your prayers. If anyone can make it to the mass we would love to meet you.
Talk Later,

SUSAN

To all the kind souls out there in blogger, thank you soo much for all the loving and heartfelt prayers. Our family truly appreciate them. I too will miss Karen's posts. Rest assured, we are doing our best to reset the password to delete the posting that is not and never will be any part of what Karen's message was. Anyone in the Milwaukee or surrounding area, please know that we are having a memorial mass/service in Milwaukee at St John's Cathedral -downtown. The Mass will be Saturday, September 1 at 10 am. A major majority of the siblings will be there, and we would love to meet any and all of Karen's friends and external family. Even if you've never met her, but were touched by her blog, please know you are welcome and we can share her spirit with you. Again, thank you to everyone for the prayers and kind words. Please know that all are welcome and well needed.
With Love and Prayer,
Christine Knapp (Litteral) #8 of 8
15 August, 2007 08:05

Friday, July 20, 2007

Normative Catholicism

Sherry Weddell at Intentional Disciples, before she began the Catherine of Siena Institute, belonged to the Nameless Lay Group. She's written about that over there, and also posted a list that the Nameless Lay Group made yon many years ago. It's still challenging and still true, so I've brought it over here for you-all to noodle with in the comment box.

from the Nameless Lay Group of Seattle:

1. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to have a living, growing, love relationship with God.

2. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to be excited Christian activists.

3. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to be knowledgeable about their faith, the Scriptures, the doctrinal and moral teachings of the church, and the history of the Church.

4. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to know what their charisms of service are and to be using them effectively in the fulfillment of their vocation or call in life.

5. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to know that they have a vocation/mission in life (primarily in the secular world) given to them by God. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to be actively engaged in discerning and living this vocation.

6. It is NORMAL for lay Catholics to have the fellowship of other committed lay Catholics available to them, to encourage, nurture, and discern as they attempt to follow Jesus.

7. It is NORMAL for the local parish to function consciously as a house of formation for lay Catholics which enables and empowers lay Catholics to do #1-6 above.

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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Answering the Cave Man's question

Vir Speluncae Catholicus asked me a question, in a thread about cozying up with the SSPX, which I promptly and politely answered, but he has deigned not to allow the answer to post, Unfortunately, I didn't keep a copy of my answer, but I am pretty sure I can recompose it.

The Cave Man asked:

Karen Marie said...
A "rad-trad", short for "radical traditionalist", is someone who falsely claims to keep the Holy Tradition as an excuse to separate themselves from the Holy Church and from their proper bishop.

Does that include Anglicans, Lutherans and Calvinists who also falsly claim to keep Holy Tradition (as they see it per Henry VIII, Martin Luther, John Calvin) as an excuse to seperate themselves from the Holy Church and from their proper bishop?

Well... does it?


Those Catholic people who have thrown away the Faith and run away from their bishops to go be a Lutheran or Anglican or X-brooker or whatever are indeed in the same pityable position as the SSPXers

The biggest difference between the SSPX, SSPV, CMRI, Spiritus Christi, the followers of the antipopes Michael and Pius XIII, et alii, and (other) Protestants is that the vast majority of the SSPX and company have been Catholic, and have thrown it all away to go their own way, out into the wilderness, in their own willfullness. Whereas the vast majority of Lutherans, Anglicans, etc., have never been in the Church to separate themselves. have never had a proper bishop to guard their faith, and are not running away from anything. In fact, many of them are diligent about seeking out and clinging to every crumb of Truth and Faith us Catholics have left laying about outside over the centuries. We need to evangelize them all.

That's where my attempted comment at the Cave Man's ended. But, I think another paragraph's in order:

This is actually a judgment on us. Many poor cradle-Protestants, with only the crumbs of the Truth and Faith that we've left laying around, have been very graced and become very spiritually sleek and strong, whereas too many of us cradle-Catholics, with full access to the complete banquet and the stuffed pantry of Truth and Faith from babyhood, could not care less, and are such wimpy starvelings. We need to pray for each other and evangelize ourselves, also.

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Saturday, July 14, 2007

Two totally exceptional Saints

Today the Church commemorates two truly exceptional holy people: Saint Camillus de Lellis, and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I'll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.
------ Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha



Today the Church celebrates one of the scariest of the scary-holy penitent saints, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

Tekakwitha was born in 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk chief, the head of the Turtle clan, and his wife, a captive Algonquian woman who was a Catholic Christian. When Tekakwitha was four, she lost her mother, her father, and her brother in a smallpox epidemic, and she was left badly scarred and nearly blind. Her name means "she pushes all before her," and most likely refers to her habit of feeling in front of herself so she wouldn't run into stuff, but that name was also appropriate because she seemed to have a gift from childhood for domestic management, for imposing order on chaos. This talent kept her tolerated by her surviving relatives, who otherwise considered her a burden and who were upset that she would not allow herself to be married off.

When the Jesuit missioners arrived in her village, she was one of the first converts, in 1676 when she was twenty, and was baptised with the name Kateri, Mohawk for Catherine. This was to the extreme displeasure of her relatives. When their treatment of her degraded from grudging neglect to outright abuse, she left, and moved to a settlement about 200 miles away that was entirely Christian, living a life of deep prayer and strict austerity, in reparation for the sins of her nation.

When on a visit to Montreal she met some religious sisters, she was drawn to their life, and set out to form a community of sisters in her village, but was discouraged from that by the pastor; however, she herself made the vow to the counsels in 1679, becoming the first consecrated person among the Mohawk, in fact among any of the original nations of North America.

Never strong or healthy, and weakened by her austerities, she died at the age of 24 on this day in 1680.

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Today is also the memorial day of Saint Camillus de Lellis, founder of the Servants of the Sick [who still thrive today, and have a motherhouse in Milwaukee].



Camillus was the son of a military officer, born in 1550. His mother died when he was still a toddler. Following his father's trade, Camillus became a mercenary soldier while still very young, fighting first for Venice and then for Naples.

Camillus also has an addiction to gambling, and lost so much that he had to take a second job working construction to repay his gambling debts. He was working on a building belonging to the Capuchin Franciscans when they brought him to conversion.

He left the military and entered the Capuchin novitiate three separate times, but injuries from his fighting days forced him to leave each time. He went to Rome seeking medical treatment, and there became a protege of Saint Philip Neri (that God-bitten character!). Camillus moved into San Giacomo hospital for incurables to live, and, eventually, became its administrator.

Aware of his total lack of education, he began elementary school at the age of 32, studying with the local children, and after long study was ordianed a priest. He formed the Congregation of the Servants of the Sick, now commonly called the Camillans, dedicated entirely to the care of the sick. Camillus honored the sick as living images of Christ.

As it says in today's Office of Readings passage, a citation from a biography written by one of his companions:

.....The mere sight of the sick was enough to soften and melt his heart and make him utterly forget all the pleasures, enticements, and interests of this world. When he was taking care of his patients, he seemed to spend and exhaust himself completely, so great was his devotion and compassion. He would have loved to take upon himself all their illness, their every affliction, could he but ease their pain and relieve their weakness.

In the sick he saw the person of Christ. His imagination was so vivid that, while feeding them, he perceived his patients as other Christs. He would even beg of them the grace of forgiveness for his sins. His reverence in their presence was as great as if he were really and truly in the presence of his Lord. In his conversations he talked of nothing more often or with greater feeling than of holy charity. He would have liked to plant this virtue in every human heart. .....


After many years of selfless service, he died on this day in 1614.

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Saturday, July 07, 2007

New Liturgy documents out!

Not rumors, not mania, but the Real Deal, here. [Beware, it's pdf; Adobe Reader required]

Was glad to read that both the normative redaction, the ordinary form, and the extraordinary form, the previous redaction, are one Rite, not two, not separate. I've never been able to quite catch on to the whole carrying-on about "rupture" and about "manufacture" of the normative redaction. I'm old enough to remember, but not old enough to be nostalgic, and with slow and careful implementation and good cetechesis I went almost seamlessly from the Mass of 1962 as permitted by the bishop, which was the dialogue Missa Cantata, right to the current Mostly-Sung Dialogue Mass in the Known Tongue, by the time I graduated from high school.

Going back to read more. Then I'll come back and maybe Blogger will let me type in a title...... (title fixed)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

A reminder to commenters (especially anonymous ones)

Comments in violation of Part Three, Section Two, Chapter Two, Article Eight, numbers iii and iv, of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or that place this blogger in violation of number v of the same Article of the Catechism, are not welcome on this blog and will not be retained here. When Blogger gets a banning mechanism and I figure it out, anonymous violators and repeat violators will be banned also.

A word to the wise should be sufficient.
What a way to have to spend my birthday [frowny face]
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Friday, June 22, 2007

Wish I'd taken a picture

it was so cute. Two little boys about 5 or 6 years old, sitting on the floor in the corner at the grocery store. (I think they belonged to the two ladies in the checkout lane not too far away.) They were chatting away in all the happy-tones, but I respected them enough to keep my distance enough that I don't even know which language they were using, in this neighborhood it could be any of four. And there was no need to hear their words to know what was up, just from their actions. They were tugging up their shorts hems to compare their knee scrapes!

Just like we did, when we were young......

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Friday, June 15, 2007

Forget all the awful saccharrine artwork

inspired by today's and tomorrow's holy feasts, and just cling to the truth:

Look Upon the Heart of Jesus
Which So Loves the Humanbeing!

And see the heart of the all-pure Mother of God,
which loves all whom her Son loves.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Milwaukee's been a favorite battlefield since at least Archbishop Messmer's time.....

so I'm kind of used to it, having lived and prayed here since I was 18, yon many years ago.

An emailer tipped me to this article about the recent history of my beloved archdiocese, from the local secular lifestyle magazine. It's actually pretty good, much better than could normally be expected from a secular lifestyle mag. Also, compares favorably with reality in most aspects, as seen from the pews I've been in the last several decades.

[Now, my emailer wouldn't agree; he claimed that I'd "enjoy the fantasy". There is no fantasy involved.]

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Saturday, June 09, 2007

Better Late than Never

the Catholic Carnival was a bit delayed this week, but it's finally up. So, here's this week's Catholic Carnival 122 and this week's Christian Carnival CLXXV. Enjoy the rides!

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

There is neither Jew nor Greek,

there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians 3:28]

Today, I'd like to call to mind yet more African teenaged martyrs, who courageously witnessed to the truth of the Christian Faith, and lost their lives in that witness.

In 1997, there was a genocidal civil war taking place in Rwanda and Burundi, fueled by long-standing tensions and grievances between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. On April 30th, the large minor seminary at Bura in Burundi was invaded by approximately 2000 Hutu militiamen, who caught the seminarians in the senior's dormitory unawares, with no chance to flee.

The militia officer ordered the seminarians to sort themselves by their ethnic groups, so the Tutsi could be slaughtered and the Hutu conscripted. And the seminarians refused to sort themselves, asserting that there was neither Hutu nor Tutsi, but all were one in Christ. After many threats would not get the seminarians to separate, the militia officer ordered the slaughter of them all. A few who survived reported that the seminarians were heard forgiving their murderers, and praying fragments of the Psalms, while they were being hacked to death.

So, do please remember the Forty Martyrs of Bura, who died in witness to the unity of all Christians in Christ:
Jean-Thierry Arakaza
Bernard Bahifise
Gilbert Barinakandi
Alain-Basile Bayishemeze
Sébastien Bitangwaniman
Remy Dusabumukama
Robert Dushimirimana
Eloi Gahungu
Léonidas Gatabazi
Willermin Habarugira
Désiré Ndagijimana
Audace Ndayiragije
Pie Ndayitwayeko
Pascal Hakizimana
Joseph Harerimana
Jean-Marie Kanani
Pacifique Kanezere
Adronis Manirakiza
Jules Matore
Longin Mbazumutima
Joseph Muhenegeri
Jimmy-Prudence Murerwa
Emery Ndayumvaneza
Alexis Ndikumana
Boniface Nduwayo
Désiré Nduwimana
Phocas Nibaruta
Prosper Nimubona
Diomède Ninganza
Patrick Nininahazwe
Egide Niyongabo
Prosper Niyongabo
Protais Niyonkuru
Pasteur Niyungeko
Alphonse Ntakiyica
Pierre-Claver Ntungwanayo
Gédéon Ntunzwenimana
Lénine Nzisabira
Oscar Nzisabira
Gabriel Sebahene

All holy martyrs, pray for us.
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Monday, June 04, 2007

Fr. David Kirk has reposed

according to the New York Times [free registration required], Father David Kirk, founder of the Emmaus House Community of New York City, one of the oldest and longest disciples of Venerable Dorothy Day, and the compiler of the book Quotations from Chairman Jesus, has died, at the age of 72.

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

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Sunday, June 03, 2007

It's a Mystery! If you can understand it, it isn't God!

"There are some things so beautiful that one can only gaze in awe" [+Timothy my archbishop in his Trinity Sunday homily in 2004]

icon: Holy Theologian Bernard in the Mysteries of the Processions of the Most Holy Trinity

This icon, in Toronto, Ontario, is titled, if my memory serves, "Holy Theologian Bernard in the Mysteries of the Processions of the Most Holy Trinity." The three holy visitors to Abraham, the iconic representation of the Trinity, are those three angel figures. The tiny guy in the righthand corner, who's prostrating after dropping his book and pen, is the indomitable Bernard Lonergan. I myself suspect that the great and holy theologians Karl and Hugo Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar are just out-frame right in the same state of awe. The only way one can be, when face to face with the truly True.

A glorious Trinity Sunday to you!
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