Sharing the spirit of St. Francis with the world VOL. 128/NO. 5 • NOVEMBER 2020 • PUBLISHED BY FRANCISCAN MEDIA
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
The Election’s Over—Now What?
page 14
THE NUNS & THE NONES CONNECTION ACROSS GENERATIONS
NOVEMBER 2020 • $4.99 StAnthonyMessenger.org
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VOL. 128 N O. 5
2020 NOVEMBER
20 20 Nuns & Nones: Connection across Generations
COVER STORY
ABOVE and COVER: Young spiritual seekers and women religious find common ground in shared values and a desire to promote justice and peace.
By Katie Rutter
Nuns and millennials: How much could they have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
26 Mile-High Meditation: Mother Cabrini Shrine
COVER: KATIE RUTTER; ABOVE: MC KOZUSKO/SAM
By Richard Bauman
Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, this shrine commemorates the first US citizen to be declared a saint.
33 Radical Paths to Holiness
Text by Melanie Rigney; artwork by Mary Catherine Kozusko
These two female saints are prime examples of what happens when we take difficult steps to put our faith into action.
40 Faith, Family, & Food By Rita E. Piro
Mary Ann Esposito draws on all three of these ingredients as she shares Italian culture and recipes on Ciao Italia, the nation’s longest-running cooking show.
COMING NEXT
ISSUE
A story of two New York City nurses on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a look at how celebrating Christmas will be very different this year StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 1
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Saint Day
T
he saints were real people with real stories—just like us! Their surrender to God’s love was so gen-
erous that the Church recognizes them as heroes and
of the
heroines worthy to be held up for our inspiration. Join Franciscan Media in our daily celebration of these holy men and women of God. Sign up for Saint of the Day, a free resource delivered right to your inbox.
Saints featured in the month of November include . . .
November 1 While many saints have a specific feast day on which we celebrate their lives and work, most of the saints of heaven do not. Today we celebrate all of those men, women, and children on whose shoulders we stand in our faith.
St. Margaret of Scotland November 16 St. Margaret of Scotland was Scottish because her family was rescued by the king of Scotland as they fled William the Conqueror. She married the king and introduced him and his country to a more cultured life. They had six sons and two daughters.
St. Agnes of Assisi November 19 Often confused with St. Agnes of Bohemia to whom St. Clare wrote her famous letters, St. Agnes of Assisi was Clare’s younger biological sister as well as her first follower in the way of holy poverty. Agnes, indeed, matched her sister in devotion to prayer.
St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions November 24 St. Andrew Dung-Lac was one of the 117 people martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. While members of this group were beatified on four different occasions between 1900 and 1951, all were canonized by Pope John Paul II.
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VOL. 128 N O. 5
“Whatever people leave behind them when they die will perish. Their charity and almsgiving will be rewarded.”
2020 NOVEMBER
—St. Francis of Assisi
13 POINTS OF VIEW
SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCIS 10 Ask a Franciscan
14 I’d Like to Say
Advent Calendars Can Keep Us Focused
The Election’s Over—Now What?
12 Franciscan World
16 At Home on Earth
12 St. Anthony Stories
18 Faith Unpacked
13 Followers of St. Francis
19 Editorial
Tagliacozzo
ALL IMAGES FALL UNDER PUBLIC DOMAIN USAGE RIGHTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
14
Battling the Darkness
A Diamond down the Drain?
Respecting Each Other’s Boundaries
Friar Mike Lasky, OFM Conv
Lord, Save Us from ‘Cute’ Saints
52 Faith & Family
What Does Love Look Like?
CULTURE
48 Media Reviews
Music | Tiny Desk Concert Podcast | StoryCorps
48
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
50 Film Reviews 4 Dear Reader Enola Holmes Francesco
5 Your Voice 6 Church in the News
53 54 56
54 Lighten Up and Pete & Repeat In the Kitchen Reflection
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 3
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dear reader In Gratitude
PUBLISHER
Daniel Kroger, OFM
I
’ve never been so ready to say goodbye to a year. Where to begin? Our country has endured a devastating pandemic that has claimed some 200,000 lives, lingering social and racial unrest, hurricanes, wildfires, and a brutal election season that proved how divided our country is. Simply put: 2020 belongs squarely in our rearview mirror. But we’re still thankful. As an organization, we at Franciscan Media are grateful for the leadership and charism of our friars. As a magazine, we are grateful for you, our readers, who support our mission. As an individual, I’m grateful for my friends, family, and colleagues. I would also like to take a moment to thank the writers who contributed to this issue: Katie Rutter, an intrepid journalist, who wrote this month’s cover story; photographer/writer Richard Bauman, who brought us to the Shrine to St. Frances Cabrini; longtime contributor Rita E. Piro, who interviewed renowned chef Mary Ann Esposito; and Melanie Rigney, whose book Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century, published by Franciscan Media, we adapted in this issue. It’s been a grueling year. Perhaps this line from Psalm 69 says it best: “But here I am miserable and in pain; let your saving help protect me, God, that I may praise God’s name in song and glorify it with thanksgiving.”
PRESIDENT
Kelly McCracken EXECUTIVE EDITORS
Christopher Heffron Susan Hines-Brigger
FRANCISCAN EDITOR
Pat McCloskey, OFM ART DIRECTOR
Mary Catherine Kozusko MANAGING EDITOR
Daniel Imwalle
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Sandy Howison
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Sharon Lape
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING
Christopher Heffron, Executive Editor
Ray Taylor
PRINTING
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PAGE 26
Richard Bauman is a lover of reading, traveling to little-known places, and photography. Richard and his wife, Donna, reside in West Covina, California. His latest book is Pranks in Print: A Collection of Fake Stories, Phony Ads, and other Media Mischief.
PATRICIA MISH
MELANIE RIGNEY
proofreader and copy editor
writer Radical Paths to Holiness
Patricia Mish is managing editor of FAITH Grand Rapids magazine in West Michigan. A former assistant editor for St. Anthony Messenger, she has worked as a beat reporter, copy editor, and proofreader for daily newspapers and contributed to many Catholic publications.
Melanie Rigney is an author and speaker who loves almost nothing more than listening to the saints and sharing their stories. Her most recent book is Brotherhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration (Franciscan Media). Learn more about Melanie at RejoiceBeGlad.com.
PAGE 33
To subscribe, write to the above address or call 866-543-6870. Yearly subscription price: $39.00 in the United States; $69.00 in Canada and other countries. Single copy price: $4.99. For change of address, four weeks’ notice is necessary. See FranciscanMedia.org/subscriptionservices for information on your digital edition. Writer’s guidelines can be found at FranciscanMedia.org/ writers-guide. The publishers are not responsible for manuscripts or photos lost or damaged in transit. Names in fiction do not refer to living or dead persons. Member of the Catholic Press Association Published with ecclesiastical approval Copyright ©2020. All rights reserved.
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RICHARD BAUMAN
ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER (ISSN #0036276X) (U.S.P.S. PUBLICATION #007956 CANADA PUBLICATION #PM40036350) Volume 128, Number 5, is published 10 times per year for $39.00 a year by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province, 28 W. Liberty Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-6498. Phone 513-241-5615. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional entry offices. US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: St. Anthony Messenger, PO Box 189, Congers, NY 10920-0189. CANADA RETURN ADDRESS: c/o AIM, 7289 Torbram Rd., Mississauga, ON, Canada L4T 1G8.
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POINTSOFVIEW | YOUR VOICE Feedback from Our Online Readers
On “Andrea Bocelli on Music and Miracles,” by Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP (September 2020) Great interview. Very inspiring and encouraging. Wow, what a blessing to witness! —Albert
I love Andrea Bocelli’s music and can’t wait to see the movie Fatima! —Paula
Love you, Andrea. May God bless you and your family. —Patricia
What a blessing you are, Andrea! You express your love of music so beautifully. Your faith is an inspiration and encouragement to all who are trying to find some meaning in their life. Hoping you’ll come back to Colorado soon. Your voice is like heavenly angels. —Patrice
‘Doing the Lord’s Work’
.S.P.S. TION ed 10 Friars Street, 5615. addiddress ngers, AIM, 8.
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Stephen Copeland’s article in the September issue of St. Anthony Messenger (“From Grief to Healing”) was so touching and inspirational. Though the topic of hospice for children is an extremely sad one, it is so important to share the story of those who do such amazing work. In my mind, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is doing the Lord’s work while also putting some of the best minds to scientific research and improved medical treatment. But even when a child’s life can’t be saved, they realize that care for the family needs to be continued. I’m very fortunate to not have experienced such a profound loss in my family, but I have a number of close friends and coworkers who have, and it’s so devastating—emotionally and spiritually. However, the resources provided by organizations such as St. Jude give a glimmer of hope in what can seem like an abyss of despair. Thank you for sharing this story! Jacob Benson Seattle, Washington
PHOTO CREDIT HERE
Faith and the New Normal
Thank you for printing Patrick Carolan’s column in the September issue of St. Anthony Messenger (“I’d Like to Say: COVID-19 Can Lead Us to a Better World”). I agree with him on all points, and his last paragraph gave me
a great deal to think about. After coming into the Roman Catholic faith at 13, I had always been taught to believe that Jesus was God’s sacrifice to make the world a better place. I still believe that God sent Jesus to show humanity a better way to live and that Jesus knew what he was doing. What might God be asking us to sacrifice? Venita Gorneau Severn, Maryland
Bringing Meditation along for the Hike
I love Kyle Kramer’s At Home on Earth column, and the September entry (“Stop. Listen. Learn.”) was excellent. Being cooped up at home during the pandemic, I’ve found myself needing to get outside more often to take walks and get my thoughts together. Often, I’ll take one of these walks in a nearby park, which has some nice trails and places to just sit and admire nature. This fall, I’m going to try the nature meditation that’s recommended in his column and see how it might add a spiritual dimension to my hike. Jane Carruthers Pontiac, Michigan
Greyhound: A Movie with Meaning
I’m writing in regard to the movie review by Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP, of Greyhound in the September issue. I disagree with her point that it didn’t translate well from the book to the screen. I love how, in the beginning, the movie gives us a look at the captain and how his love is “today, tomorrow, and forever,” quoting Isaiah. It gives one the sense of true love and not the tawdry, cheap film versions we generally see. Aboard the ship, we see the captain say grace before a meal, along with his steward. I cannot think of the last time I saw that in a film. When two sailors are brought before the captain for fighting, the captain admonishes them both to restore peace to them and the harmony of the ship. At the end of the captain’s journey, he kneels in prayer despite having been on duty for only three days. Greyhound is uplifting and shows us how to live in the face of perilous situations. There are numerous other memorable and inspiring moments in the film. I highly recommend it. Michael J. Regan III Austin, Texas
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StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 5
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church IN THE NEWS
people | events | trends
By Susan Hines-Brigger
CALIFORNIA BISHOPS LAUNCH ANTI-RACISM INITIATIVE
In response to the May death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minnesota police officer and ongoing racial issues, protests have taken place throughout the country. (Left) Protesters gather in the streets of Pasadena, California. (Right) A protester is detained by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department during a June protest in that city.
O
S
ister Norma Pimentel, a Missionary of Jesus and executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, was recently named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for her work with migrants along the US-Mexico border. In a Facebook post, Sister Norma said she hopes that her name in the magazine—among athletes, politicians, activists, and entertainers—will “bring more understanding and help people see more clearly what we can each do to respect all human life, especially the most vulnerable.” Julian Castro, former US secretary of Housing and Urban Development, wrote a tribute in the magazine, saying that Sister Norma’s work has “taken on greater importance in the era of Donald Trump, and for good reason.” In 2015, Pope Francis personally thanked Sister Norma for her work with immigrants in a virtual town hall meeting featured on ABC’s 20/20.
Sister Norma Pimentel is pictured along a border wall between Texas and Mexico.
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SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL NAMED TO TIME’S MOST INFLUENTIAL LIST
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n September 9, following a meeting with African American Catholic leaders, the bishops of California announced a statewide, yearlong initiative to address the issues of personal and systemic racism. In a press release, the bishops said the initiative is “aimed at converting our hearts to more fully understand the extent and nature of the sin of racism in ourselves, our Church, and our nation. This journey is intended to offer tangible change, in which the bishops, together with the clergy, religious, and faithful of California, participate.” The initiative will roll out in three phases: listening, dialogue, and action. Listening sessions will be held at the parish, diocesan, and state levels, followed by dialogue sessions. The bishops said they hope those dialogues will address “the sin of racism—as individuals, as a society, and as a Church. This dialogue may include members of the African American community but should take place in all homes, parishes, small faith communities, and other Catholic organizations. It should include religious and laity, students and teachers, young and old.” Finally, taking what has been learned during the first two phases, the bishops said they will institute an action plan for 2021, which will include “education, advocacy, and ongoing listening and dialogue sessions with an emphasis on purifying the Church of the sin of racism and its consequences.”
COMMISSION FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS HOLDS PLENARY ASSEMBLY
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Union Superiors General, the Centre for Child Protection, and Telefono Azzurro. Attendees expressed interest in further online formation in practical matters of safeguarding. The commission said it intends to continue offering such online formation programs in the immediate future. Finally, the group on safeguarding guidelines and norms reported that it held a special seminar in December 2019 on “Promoting and Protecting the Dignity of Persons in Allegations of Abuse of Minors and Vulnerable Adults: Balancing Confidentiality, Transparency and Accountability.”
PHILIPPINE DIOCESE PLANTS 60,000 TREES
I TOP: COURTESY PEW RESEARCH; BOTTOM: KANAWA STUDIO/ISTOCK
CNS PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: MARIO ANZUONI, REUTERS; TOP RIGHT: PATRICK T. FALLON/REUTERS; BOTTOM: BARBARA JOHNSTON, COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
ue to the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met both virtually and, for those who could, in person for their 14th plenary assembly September 16–18. The meetings, held twice a year, give the 17 members a chance to listen to each working group’s progress report and to lay the groundwork for future action. According to a press release from the commission, the group “reviewed the impact of moving their outreach, study, research, and education programs online. They discussed the opportunities as well as the challenges presented by these evolving virtual and digital realities and the impact of lockdowns and quarantines, particularly for minors and for people who have suffered abuse.” The group that focuses on working with survivors reported that it had conducted a number of virtual meetings with those who have been abused, family members, and professionals. The group is now “directing its efforts to incorporating this learning into a series of webinars and seminars on ministry to those who have been abused, taking into account diverse cultural contexts.” The pandemic has impacted the pilot project of setting up local Survivor Advisory Panels, but the group reported that there has been progress. It reported that the panel in Brazil gave the impulse for the creation of an office to help as a task force for the Special Safeguarding Commission as it implements “Vos Estis Lux Mundi,” which is Pope Francis’ letter on the duty and accountability of Church leaders to protect their flock. The Education and Formation working group said it has studied the outcomes of the recent webinar series “Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable People during COVID-19” held in collaboration with the International
n early September, thousands of people from the Diocese of Tagbilaran in the Philippine province of Bohol gathered and planted around 60,000 saplings as part of the Season of Creation campaign, reported Vatican News. Bishop Alberto Uy of Tagbilaran said that priests, nuns, and lay faithful, predominantly young people, planted fruit-bearing and hardwood trees in parishes across the diocese to help improve the environment on the island. At least 100 volunteers in every parish of Tagbilaran joined the initiative and planted 10 trees each in their surroundings, backyards, and other designated areas. The bishop said he was most excited about the participation of the young people. “This is what we prayed for—that people, especially the young, will learn to love creation and to care for the environment,” said Bishop Uy. The event was one of the numerous activities of the Philippine Church during the worldwide ecumenical Season of Creation, which ran from September 1 to October 4. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 7
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church IN THE NEWS
people | events | trends
WASHINGTON BASILICA BEGINS JUBILEE CELEBRATION
BLACK WOMEN RELIGIOUS URGE CHURCH TO DO MORE TO COMBAT RACISM
O
n September 20, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception celebrated the beginning of its jubilee year with a Mass to commemorate the centennial of the placing of the shrine’s foundation stone, reported Catholic News Service (CNS). The basilica is the largest Catholic church in North America and was built to honor Mary. In his homily, Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory said, “Like so many great churches throughout the world, this basilica is an enduring project of countless hands and gifts. But above all, it is the grace of God that has made such a beautiful tribute to the Blessed Mother possible.” Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the anniversary Mass was limited to 100 people on a first-come, first-served basis. Pope Francis granted a plenary indulgence—with the customary conditions of sacramental confession, eucharistic Communion, and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father—for the centennial jubilee that began September 20 and runs through September 23, 2021. The basilica is among the 10 largest churches in the world and is the preeminent Marian shrine and patronal church in the United States; it has been designated a national sanctuary of prayer and pilgrimage.
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CNS PHOTO: TATYANA MAKEYEVA/REUTERS
People gather for Mass in the basilica in Washington, DC, this past September to mark the opening of its jubilee year.
his past September, the National Black Sisters’ Conference issued a “clarion warning” to US Catholics, saying Church members and leaders have not done enough to speak out against the sin of racism, reported CNS. “In this moment of dual life-threatening pandemics— COVID-19 and racism—the voice of the Church in America is, for the most part, eerily silent when it comes to the racial unrest in this country,” said the statement by the national organization of more than 150 Black Catholic women religious and associates in the United States. Citing an old spiritual entitled “Hold Up the Light,” the sisters said they are “holding up the light against the sin of racism that is still alive and well in the Catholic Church today.” In the statement, the sisters said that racism needed to be seen as a pro-life issue. They quoted Pope Francis, who said, “We cannot close our eyes to any form of racism or exclusion while pretending to defend the sacredness of every human life.” They pointed out that, every year, tens of thousands of Catholics gather in Washington for the March for Life to demonstrate against abortion and questioned if they would ever see a time when “tens of thousands of Catholics will gather to protest the sin of racism, which aborts the lives of millions of people of color every day in this country.” Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, chairman of the US bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, told CNS, “In response to the strife, anger, anxiety, and anguish felt by people due to ongoing racism in our Church and society, dioceses and entire conferences of bishops have had listening sessions, webinars, calls for prayer and fasting, and task forces formed to confront racism.” But, he said, “until racism is eradicated from our Church and society, it is impossible to say that any one of us has done enough.” Bishop Fabre added that he welcomed “the light the sisters hold up to shine upon us all.”
CNS PHOTOS: LEFT: MIHOKO OWADA/CATHOLIC STANDARD; RIGHT: KEVIN J. PARKS/CATHOLIC REVIEW
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monksRenaPrintAdv1.pdf
POPE CALLS FOR EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF COVID-19 VACCINE
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s researchers develop a vaccine for COVID-19, Pope Francis addressed “pharmaceutical marginality,” saying those who live in poverty are poor in medicines, treatment, and health, reported Vatican News. The pope made the comments during a meeting with representatives of the Fondazione Banco Farmaceutico (Medicine Bank Foundation). The foundation collects medicines from donors and companies and delivers them to over 1,800 charities that take care of people in difficulty. In regard to the current pandemic, the pope said, “While charitable assistance is being provided, it is also a matter of fighting this pharmaceutical poverty, in particular with a wide spread of new vaccines in the world.” He reiterated that “it would be sad if, in providing the vaccine, priority is given to the richest, or if this vaccine became the property of this or that country, and not for everyone.” Earlier this year, the Catholic Health Association (CHA) of the United States also addressed the issue, saying that “addressing the global health crisis requires a coordinated response by business, government, community leaders and health-care providers to ensure that vaccines and treatments are safe, effective, and available to all.” The CHA is the national leadership organization of the Catholic health ministry, representing the largest nonprofit provider of health-care services in the nation. K
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SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS | ASK A FRANCISCAN
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
Advent Calendars Can Keep Us Focused
Where do these come from? How can I find one? ccording to Aletia.com, Gerhard Lang, a printer in Germany, made the first one in 1908. His mother used to attach 24 little candles to a piece of cardboard; he decided to substitute small colored pictures onto the cardboard. Later little doors were added to be opened each day, revealing a biblical picture or symbol. More elaborate calendars have contained a chocolate or some other treat for each day. Advent begins this year on November 29. Many calendars are perpetual ones, starting on December 1 and ending with December 25. In their own way, they remind us that God has always journeyed with and loved the human family. An Internet search will reveal many types of Advent calendars for every budget.
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WE HAVE A DIGITAL archive of Q & As, going back to March 2013. To get started, go to StAnthonyMessenger.org. Material is grouped thematically under headings such as forgiveness, Jesus, moral issues, prayer, saints, redemption, sacraments, Scripture—and many more!
‘Say’ Mass? ‘Pray’ the Mass?
I remember hearing priests talk about “saying” Mass at a particular time and place. Now I hear people talk about “praying” the Mass. I’ve been to many Masses in various settings over the years. Some were celebrated very prayerfully. Others, not so much. The first group included moderate speed, good inflection on the part of readers and presiders, and generous use of pauses. God’s word was heard but was also being felt. Why the difference? he most obvious difference is that “saying” Mass emphasizes the priest’s role; “praying” the Mass, on the other hand, acknowledges the action of the faith community gathered there. Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy calls for the “full, conscious, and active participation” of those present at the Eucharist. Was everyone engaged in such participation at the Masses that you didn’t find very inspiring? Does the presider deserve all the credit for the Masses that did inspire you? I suspect that you will answer no to both of those questions. In any large gathering for Mass, people can be at very different places in life. One person has just lost a close friend or relative to cancer; someone else is rejoicing in the birth of a healthy child or grandchild. One couple has recently celebrated a major wedding anniversary while another person’s divorce has just been finalized. We bring all of life to the Eucharist. A Mass that you experienced as very profound may not be remembered that way by someone else. What seemed very ho-hum to you may have been exactly what someone else there needed to hear that day. When people celebrate 50 years of married love, they celebrate not simply the high points of those years but also (mostly?) the very ordinary moments that have brought them to that extraordinary day. Anyone tempted to live only for the high points will probably not experience many of them. Accepting the kingdom of God means being wide open to God’s grace, being content with any place at the heavenly banquet, and rejoicing in whoever is across from me or next to me. When the kingdom of God has taken deep root in a person’s life, there is no sense of “If only I had X, then my life would be complete.” God is enough for those who accept God’s values and the kingdom that these promote.
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Father Pat welcomes your questions!
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Pat McCloskey, OFM
Quick Questions and Answers
We say the “Glory Be to the Father” prayer very often, but do the words as it was in the beginning belong there? God certainly has no beginning. In this prayer, the words in the beginning refer not to God’s beginning but to the world’s beginning.
What are the correct initials to place after the name of a person who belongs to the Secular Franciscan Order? The initials are OFS, an acronym for the Latin title of this group.
What is the best Bible in English for a Catholic to buy?
The New American Bible translation is the one that most people hear at Mass. The New Revised Standard Version has a Catholic edition that is also very good.
Some parishioners at prayer healing sessions claim to have visions and messages from Mary and other saints. Is this real?
If these visions and revelations are indeed from God, they should be building up the body of Christ, as St. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 13. Please compare everything you hear to the public revelation we have in the Bible.
Some Mass prayers and readings do not portray God as a loving, forgiving heavenly Father. Is this done to promote Mass attendance out of fear of God?
In John 17:12, Jesus prays to God the Father: “While I was with them [his disciples], I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Did Judas Iscariot truly have a choice?
The language of predestination assumes that God lives in time the same way that we humans do: one moment after another (chronological time). But that forces a human limitation onto God. Doing that is an unintentional but subtle form of idolatry. What if God is present to time immediately and not sequentially? Although Judas was indeed free, he made a very bad choice, but he may have repented before taking his own life.
GABRIELABERTOLINI/FOTOSEARCH
TOP LEFT: MC KOZUSKO/SAM; TOP RIGHT: SEAMARTINI/FOTOSEARCH; LOWER RIGHT: CNS PHOTO/DEBBIE HILL
Catholic liturgy reflects the range of biblical images of God. A “holy fear” is part of an adult faith, but that is not its deepest foundation. To get beyond thinking of God as a police officer waiting to catch us doing wrong, some Christians have mentally turned God into a senile grandfather unable to tell right from wrong, justice from injustice.
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Light a candle in memory of a loved one, or for your special intention. When you light a candle on StAnthony.org, it will burn for three days at the National Shrine of St. Anthony in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Franciscan friars are ready to light a candle for you!
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9/30/20 2:35 PM
SPIRITOFST.FRANCIS “Dear Jesus, if it is a fault to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault that I learned from you.”
—St. Leonard of Port Maurice
FRANCISCAN WORLD
Tagliacozzo
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
T LEONARD OF PORT MAURICE His preaching on behalf of the Stations of the Cross and regular confession bore great fruit.
homas of Celano, who wrote two biographies of St. Francis and perhaps The Legend of St. Clare, is buried in the Church of St. Francis in this city in the Abruzzi region east of Rome. Thomas joined the friars in Tagliacozzo in 1216. After serving seven years in Germany, he was assigned to write an official biography of Francis immediately after his canonization by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. The second biography was written between 1245 and 1247. In his later years, Thomas served as spiritual director for the Poor Clare monastery (San Giovanni di Val dei Varri) near Tagliacozzo. He died in 1260 and was originally buried there but was later moved to this church served by the Conventual friars. Francis of Assisi was a new kind of saint, one who raised many questions and even fears in others: What if everyone tried to live the Gospel this way? The biographies by Thomas walked a fine line between showing traditional and innovative signs of holiness in Francis. May we be open to God’s grace—wherever it may lead us.
THE SON OF A SEA captain, Leonard (1676–1751) sought to preach in foreign lands but spent 40 years doing that in his own country.
Tagliacozzo is a beautiful mountain city with a rich history.
ST. ANTHONY STORIES
A Diamond down the Drain?
He was canonized in 1867; his feast is November 26. —Pat McCloskey, OFM
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fter bathing my dog in our bathtub and drying her off, I noticed the solitaire diamond from my wedding ring was missing. I searched the bathtub and all around the bathroom, to no avail. I thought for sure it had gone down the drain. I prayed to St. Anthony while my husband and I kept searching. After a week, I searched the bathroom again on my hands and knees and found the diamond wedged in a corner near the bathtub. How grateful I am to St. Anthony for all his many blessings. He always comes through! —Lucille Sciolini, Torrance, California
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PHOTO COURTESY OF PATRICIA MISH
An early bout with tuberculosis did not prevent him from later preaching retreats, Lenten sermons, and parish missions all over Italy. His missions, which lasted 15 to 18 days, were often followed by a week when he heard confessions.
The author of two biographies of St. Francis is buried in his own hometown.
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An excellent student, Leonard considered becoming a physician but joined the Friars Minor at the age of 23, much against the wishes of his uncle.
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FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS
ST. ANTHONY
Gathered at the Table of Justice and Peace
PHOTO COURTESY OF PATRICIA MISH
or Friar Mike Lasky, OFM Conv, seeking social justice goes beyond platitudes or social media posts. It means getting to work, at times with unlikely allies, with one foot firmly planted alongside the poor and another addressing systemic issues that cause poverty and injustice. Working for justice “is part of the Franciscan DNA,” says Friar Mike. “Catholic social teaching for us is not a list of rules or a way to make the world better. Catholic social teaching is a way for us to live in the world, proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.” Friar Mike, 49, is president of the Washington, DC-based Franciscan Action Network (FAN), described on its website as “a collective Franciscan voice seeking to transform US public policy relating to peacemaking, care for creation, poverty, and human rights.” He runs the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation ministry (JPIC) of the Franciscan Friars Conventual in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. He also directs Little Portion Farm in Ellicott City, Maryland, dedicated to serving the poor and caring for creation through sustainable farming methods. In these capacities, Friar Mike works alongside friars and “Franciscanminded” people to serve the poor and effect change. “Francis seems to be one of those unique figures in history who breaks down barriers to embrace all people. People can buy into him from all faiths and all walks of life in the secular world.” One example is Shamokin, Pennsylvania, a coal town where Franciscans have joined church, business, and government leaders to revitalize the region. He likens the effort to the oftquoted San Damiano experience, when Francis heard God say, “Rebuild my
house, which has fallen into Mike Lasky, OFM Conv ruin.” Many people interpret “my house” to mean “the people of God,” says Friar Mike. “I say, ‘No, he meant that church. He meant real stones and mortar.’ What I find is that in manual labor, shared manual labor, you form a common mission, then we can look to rebuilding in larger ways, together.” The friars’ ministry in Shamokin “is an example of what it truly means to be Franciscan,” says Friar Mike. “We’re able to look around us, and everybody is an ally and a friend and is invited to that table.” Indeed, the table is what drew Friar Mike to the Conventual Franciscans, whom he had first encountered at Archbishop Curley High School in his hometown of Baltimore. “Hands down, without batting an eyelash: It was the food,” he says with a smile. “The friars ate together at table, and they lingered. There was something that just felt right about that. It was family.” Today, as president of FAN and director of a Franciscan JPIC ministry, he helps young friars prepare for ministry by interacting with those they will serve. “For us Franciscans, it’s not ‘the homeless.’ It’s that homeless person. It’s not ‘the poor.’ It’s this poor, marginalized person with a name and a story,” says Friar Mike. “And we want to get to know the names and their stories, and we want them to get to know us. Because we’re stronger together, in relationship. “And where is relationship built?” asks Friar Mike, reflecting on the food that continues to sustain him 25 years after becoming a Franciscan. “It’s built at table.” —Patricia Mish
FRANK JASPER, OFM
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BREAD s
The National Shrine of St. Anthony is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Consecrated in 1889, it includes a first-class relic of St. Anthony and serves as a center for daily prayer and contemplation. The Franciscan friars minister from the shrine. To help them in their work among the poor, you may send a monetary offering called St. Anthony Bread. Make checks or money orders payable to “Franciscans” and mail to the address below. Every Tuesday, a Mass is offered for benefactors and petitioners at the shrine. To seek St. Anthony’s intercession, mail your petition to the address below. Petitions are taken to the shrine each week. viSit our webSite to:
StAnthony.org
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mAil poStAl communicAtionS to:
St. Anthony Bread 1615 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202-6498
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POINTSOFVIEW | I’D LIKE TO SAY
By Patrick Carolan
Patrick Carolan
CatholicClimateMovement.global
The Election’s Over—Now What?
O
n November 3, we all have an obligation to vote to determine the direction in which our great nation is moving. We’ve heard the speeches and read the attacks on each candidate. The campaign has been going on for almost two years. Most of us are tired of the ads, the negativity, and the divisiveness. We just want it to be over. A few may still be undecided on whom to vote for. I have a friend who was having a difficult time deciding whom to vote for. He is Catholic and strongly opposes abortion. But he also strongly opposes the death penalty, the policy of separating children from their parents at the border, and the continual destruction of God’s awesome and wondrous creation. A NATION DIVIDED
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After the 2016 election, there was a lot of talk about how divided we are as a nation. This concept is not new or unique to current times. In the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush campaigned on the idea that, if elected, he would be “a uniter, not a divider.” He also coined the expression compassionate conservative. This idea suggested that caring for the poor and marginalized, protecting our environment, and overcoming racism were important and even tantamount to who we are as a nation. We just needed to rethink how to do that. Senators Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch could disagree on how to build a better society and still remain friends. They often
worked together and reached a compromise on issues. At least on the surface, it appeared that our leaders could strongly disagree on policy while maintaining civility. While there was always a certain amount of vitriol thrown about by both sides, especially during campaigns, it seemed that the adults in the room would at least attempt to restore a semblance of civility. The 2016 election did not create the divisiveness—it was always there. But it felt different after that election; the divisiveness was much more out in the open. Families were split apart. Poll after poll showed how divided we were. After the 2016 election, people wrote articles about how we can come together. In one such article published in Reuters, author Jason Szep stated: “There was no comparative polling data from previous elections. But interviews with relationship counselors and voters suggest this election stood out by summoning passions, anger, and a divisiveness in ways that will make healing difficult.” Experts talked about how we can come together. Some even suggested setting ground rules and a list of acceptable topics for discussion at Thanksgiving dinner. Imagine having to set up a list of rules and topics not allowed just to have a peaceful Thanksgiving. What happened that our nation and our faith have become so divided? In the late 1960s—another time of division—Dr. Thomas Harris wrote I’m OK—You’re OK. It was described as “a practical guide to transactional analysis as a method for solving
UPPER LEFT: COURTESY PATRICK CAROLAN; TOP: STEVE CHRISTENSEN/ISTOCK
Patrick previously served as executive director of the Franciscan Action Network. He is also a cofounder of the Global Catholic Climate Movement. He currently serves as director of Catholic outreach for Vote Common Good. He is a recipient of the 2015 White House Champions of Change Award and is personally dedicated to social justice through individual and societal transformation.
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problems in life.” The title became a catchy phrase that folks would often use to simplify their feelings. It caught on, and many variations spawned from it. The phrase that might best describe how some feel about each other in today’s society is, “I’m right—you’re evil.” Now we are ending another election cycle. A key component of our faith is to stop and take some time to examine our conscience. We think of this as more of an individual examination: What sins did I commit? But we often fail to address the role we played in societal sin. The Jesuits practice a daily Examen, a method to detect God’s presence and discern his direction for us. The Examen is an ancient practice in the Church that can help us see God’s hand at work in our whole experience.
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UPPER LEFT: COURTESY PATRICK CAROLAN; TOP: STEVE CHRISTENSEN/ISTOCK
TURNING BACK TO GOD
No matter who wins the election on November 3, many of us will wake up and be angry. Anger itself is not wrong. Jesus sometimes got angry. Anger against injustice is righteous anger. But anger left unchecked will turn into hatred and fear. We need to take our righteous anger and turn it into prayerful action. Psalm 30:5 tells us, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” But the joy will never come if we are filled with fear and hatred. How do we overcome bitterness and anger? How do we start to heal? St. Clare challenges us to become a mirror of Christ for others to see and follow. She tells us to reflect Christ in our lives, to help build up the body of Christ through transformation in love. Ilia Delio says in her book Clare of Assisi: A Heart Full of Love: “Be yourself and allow God to dwell within you. Christ will then be alive, and the world will be created anew.” St. John of the Cross taught us that human desire is unlimited. The heart of a human being is not satisfied with anything less than Infinity—God himself. Our deepest human desire is a desire for God. When we turn away from God, we no longer consider God’s creation and all that it encompasses as sacred. Then our unlimited human desire for God expresses itself in materialism and consumerism. We have lost our connection to God. Our national divide centers on the unhealthy emphasis on the self. We have stopped, as St. Clare suggested, “being an imitation of Christ” and acting based on the common good. We have come to define ourselves not by whom we love but by whom we fear and hate. We are called not only to change ourselves but also to be agents of change in the larger community. On the morning after the 2016 election Pope Francis tweeted, “May we make God’s merciful love ever more evident in our world through dialogue, mutual acceptance, and fraternal cooperation.” Perhaps we should all copy Pope Francis’ words and place them by our bedside. Then, when we awake on the morning of November 4, we can take a moment, read and reflect on Psalm 30 and Pope Francis’ words, and start being Christ to others.
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POINTSOFVIEW | AT HOME ON EARTH
By Kyle Kramer
Battling the Darkness
Kyle is the executive director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, which offers interfaith educational programming in meditation, ecology, and social compassion. He serves as a Catholic climate ambassador for the US Conference of Catholic Bishopssponsored Catholic Climate Covenant and is the author of A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt (Ave Maria Press, 2010). He speaks across the country on issues of ecology and spirituality. He and his family spent 15 years as organic farmers and homesteaders in Spencer County, Indiana. EarthandSpiritCenter.org
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WOMB OR TOMB?
I don’t deny the march of human progress and the birth of new possibilities. I don’t deny the millions of acts of kindness going on this very minute across the globe. When I am in a better frame of mind, I celebrate those acts and I’m moved by them and I root for them. But these days, I find myself wanting to reverse Kaur’s question: What if this is not the darkness of the womb, but the darkness of the tomb? Don’t those old, unfashionable Christian verities—sin and death—still indeed hold sway over us? If you asked me for a boiled-down version of my faith, it would be this simple: We come from, are held by, and return to love. Sin is not simply “breaking the rules,” but on a much deeper level, it’s turning away from love, as individuals and as a human species. Sin causes untold death and destruction, personally and collectively. And yet, I also believe that love is stronger than death, or rather that love is larger than death: Love can contain death and bring meaning out of it. Love can redeem both sin and death. I feel that our sins—our turning away from love—have brought darkness upon us and our beautiful world, and that we’re in the tomb right now. There is so much death, whether from COVID-19, violence against our fellow human beings or other-thanhuman creatures, or the past-the-point-ofno-return destruction of the earth’s delicate ecosystems. I want to believe, as I wrote above, that love can redeem sin and death. But I wonder what redemption looks like at this moment in human and earth history. Does it look like the human species turning away from the brink of self-destruction and getting our collective act together? Does it mean we go over the brink, and love catches us—or doesn’t, and
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Kyle Kramer
aybe it’s the multiple crises of pandemic and recession and ecological collapse. Maybe it’s racial tensions and unrest. Maybe it’s shootings by madmen and angry men and policemen. Maybe it’s the cynical, post-truth character of our public discourse and the angry partisanship of our politics. Maybe— almost certainly—it’s all of the above. Whatever it is, though, to paraphrase Dante’s famous opening lines from the Inferno, I find myself “within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.” It’s hard to admit that I feel so hopeless right now. It’s hard to admit it to myself and to my wife and children. It’s definitely hard to admit it publicly to those of you who read this column. I’d like to help shine a light in a dark time. I’d like to provide encouragement, comfort, inspiration, and clear thinking about a better future for our world. As someone with a public voice within the Church, I feel a duty to do those things. But you can’t shine a light that isn’t glowing in your own heart. “When your eyes are tired,” writes the poet David Whyte, “the world is tired also.” Over recent weeks, I started several completely different drafts of this column, all of them trying to paper over or navigate around this central struggle. None of them worked. None of them felt authentic. They all felt like whistling in the dark, being naively optimistic, or fleeing to the realm of platitude or abstract argument. I’ve tried to tell myself that it is always “darkest before the dawn.” I’ve tried to believe Sikh activist Valarie Kaur’s beautiful expression of hope, that these trying times are “not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb,” with some new thing waiting to be born. But birth is a dangerous and uncertain process, and I know that births sometimes go catastrophically wrong.
LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: HIKRCN/FOTOSEARCH
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some new form of intelligent life rises from the ashes of our extinction? I just don’t know. The economy of salvation is beyond anything I might comprehend. WAYS TO KEEP PUSHING FORWARD
If you’re feeling anything like I am about these times we are living through, I can share three simple practices that are keeping me going in the midst of this tomblike darkness and doubt. First, we must try to stay connected to others and do whatever small acts of goodness and kindness are ours to do. For better and worse, we’re all in this together. Second, try to spend significant time outside every day, connecting with nature as teacher and healer and kin. Our screened-in porch has become my home office during COVID-19, and as I’ve been typing this column, I’ve watched one gorgeous hummingbird after another visit the flowers and the feeder just a few feet away from me. Those birds of the air, like the lilies of the field and very much unlike me, don’t trouble themselves for the morrow. They know instinctively how to rest in the arms of love. I hope to learn from such wise ones in these dark times. Finally and most importantly, we can wait. Jesus didn’t resurrect himself; he was raised from the dead by love that is stronger than death. Whatever resurrection awaits us, it won’t happen according to our timetables or programs of action. And so, I wait for love to act, and I pray that my heart—that our collective heart—will be open enough to receive love and to do whatever it invites us to do.
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REACH FOR THE LIGHT
Try to master the art of the “five-minute favor.” As often as you can, do some small thing for someone else that doesn’t take much time but could brighten that person’s day.
Though our Christian tradition speaks much of light, the darkness is an important part of the faith journey too. Poetry can be a helpful way to welcome the darkness. Try David Whyte’s “Sweet Darkness” and Rainer Maria Rilke’s “You Darkness.”
NATURE MANIA/FOTOSEARCH
LEFT: COURTESY OF KYLE KRAMER; RIGHT: HIKRCN/FOTOSEARCH
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POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH UNPACKED
By David Dault, PhD
Respecting Each Other’s Boundaries
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Want a certain topic covered? Send us your request. E-MAIL:
FaithUnpacked@ FranciscanMedia.org
ASK FIRST
For as long as my son and daughter have been old enough to understand language, this is the way we have acted in our home. My wife and I do not touch the kids without asking first. We do not touch them without their consent. From a distance, I realize this might look odd, or it might seem a cold and clinical way to raise our children. I get that. But we have a lot of affection in our home—we just ask first. We live in a culture where consent is a very murky matter, especially where children are concerned. When our children were born, my wife and I started talking a lot about this. We wanted to find ways to communicate to our children that their bodies were theirs, and that they had the right to say—no matter who it was or what the situation—whether or not they wished to be touched or left alone. We are now more than a decade into the practice, and it has been a powerful learning experience for me.
MAIL:
Faith Unpacked 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 PODCAST:
The Francis Effect podcast can be streamed live at FrancisFXPod.com.
A LESSON LEARNED
When I was younger, I was a very “huggy” person. I was physically affectionate with my friends and, sometimes, they would let me know that it made them uncomfortable. At the time, I found that confusing. How could anyone not want a hug? I realize now that I was not listening properly to the people around me and the very clear boundaries they were trying to set. More than this, I now realize how uncomfortable some people were around me because of this, to the point that I made them feel unsafe. This realization was part of the conversa-
tions I had with my wife. We also talked about the kind of situations we had both been in where boundaries were blurry or unclear. We both found ourselves wishing that we had felt more equipped to speak up about times we felt uncomfortable in those situations. So we made the decision together to arrange our home such that everyone could expect that their active, affirmative consent would be sought and respected before a hand was placed upon them. After years of practicing this way of raising our children, I can tell you that I love it. It has changed the way I think about all my interactions in the world. In learning to wait for the consent of my children, I have become more aware of the ways that my own space had become eroded in social situations over the years. I have learned to reclaim that space for myself in my adult interactions, and it has been a source of healing for me. A little while later, my 11-year-old daughter approaches and begins talking with me. After a moment, she reaches out to put her arms around me. I do not react or move. Then she remembers, and asks, “May I hug you?” I answer yes, and then my arms enfold her. I am grateful for the home we have built, the four of us. It is full of light and a whole lot of affection. We just make sure to ask first.
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CARLACASTAGNO/ISTOCK
David hosts the weekly radio show Things Not Seen: Conversations about Culture and Faith. He also cohosts The Francis Effect podcast with Father Dan Horan, OFM. He lives with his family on the South Side of Chicago.
TOP LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICAGO SUNDAY EVENING CLUB/KHIEM TRAN; MICHAEL JUNG/FOTOSEARCH
David Dault, PhD
’m standing next to my son. He has just turned 9 years old. I smile at him and ask, “May I give you a hug?” I wait for him to answer, and I don’t move until I hear him say yes. At that point, I wrap my arms around him and envelop him in a big bear hug. He smells like a kid should—a mixture of soap and sweat. I want to give him a kiss, but I pause and ask, “May I give you a kiss?” Again, I wait for him to clearly say yes before I plant a kiss on the top of his head. Then the moment is over, and the tangled hug is finished.
POINTSOFVIEW | EDITORIAL
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
Lord, Save Us from ‘Cute’ Saints
L
oving God, almost 500 years ago St. Teresa of Avila, a great spiritual leader who is now recognized as a doctor of your Church, asked that you save us from “sad” saints who undermine the joy that your grace always brings. I now make a similar request regarding “cute” saints, those who have become so familiar and domesticated that they risk losing their ability to foster our conversion. Although Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Francis of Assisi may be the most popular “cute” saints today, that attitude would shock them and severely distorts what you would want us to take from the virtues they so generously enfleshed.
You, of course, never created “cute” saints. We did, as a subtle way of running interference, of shielding ourselves from the radical conversion that every saint (well-known or the “next-door” ones) should foster in us. “Cute” saints promote complacency, not conversion. “Cute” has a built-in distance. Someone might find a kitten on a piano keyboard cute, of course, but that image suggests to those who love it that all’s right with the world and that the person does not need to make any significant changes. All’s right with the world, not because of cute kittens but because you are always trying to help us live in your divine image. Because we all need a rest every now and then, “cute” isn’t all bad, but this way of looking at saints hides the wideness of your mercy and your grace so that our conversion to your ways keeps going ever deeper. “Cute” also has other dangers—in politics, finances, and all other aspects of life—because it refuses to ask tough questions and gives evasive answers a pass. “Cute” is a factor in many financial offers that sound too good to be true—and probably, in fact, are scams. Politicians sometimes give their opponents “cute” but derogatory nicknames in order to divert attention from important differences between their positions on key issues. CARLACASTAGNO/ISTOCK
TOP LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF CHICAGO SUNDAY EVENING CLUB/KHIEM TRAN; MICHAEL JUNG/FOTOSEARCH
THE FAULT IS OURS, NOT YOURS
ALL SAINTS ARE PROPHETS
Loving God, you inspired the author of the Book of Wisdom to write: “Although she [wisdom] is one, she can do all things, and she renews everything while herself perdur-
ing; passing into holy souls from age to age, she produces friends of God and prophets” (7:27). “Friends of God” and “prophets” are not separate groups but rather a single group: Your friends always point people to you. That’s also what all prophets do: They speak for you and point people to your invigorating grace. “Cute” saints ultimately dull our souls, creating more distance between us and you. Prophets, however, always say things that make some people feel uncomfortable. Over the centuries, many people have dismissed prophets as idealists and presented themselves as the only genuine realists. Were the harshest critics of Isaiah and Jeremiah more realistic than those prophets? Hardly! Genuine saints never seek publicity because they know their conversion is not yet complete—or they are still tempted to resist your grace by trying to improve upon your ways. ‘NOT DISMISSED SO EASILY’
Venerable Dorothy Day once said with irritation: “Don’t call me a saint! I don’t want to be dismissed so easily.” Dorothy Day had a strong devotion to Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Francis of Assisi, not because they were “cute,” but because they showed what happens when people cooperate generously with your grace. Saintly people move us to respect the dignity of every person because she or he has been created in your divine image. Your Church may some day recognize Dorothy Day as a saint—but certainly not because she was “cute.” She drew people closer to you, especially by working with people at the extreme margins of society. St. Oscar Romero was not being “cute” when, shortly before he was martyred, he told Salvadoran soldiers not to fire upon innocent civilians. Speaking truth to power is always dangerous, but it is never a waste of time or energy. Last month, we celebrated the feasts of Teresa of Avila, Thérèse of Lisieux, Francis of Assisi, and many other saints. We begin November by celebrating the feast of All Saints, acknowledging the many people from all times, places, occupations, and social conditions who, with a laser focus, point us to you. Help us not to blur that focus by making any of them “cute” as a feeble defense against your powerful grace. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 19
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Nuns & Nones:
Connection across G 20 • November 2020 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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Nuns and millennials: How much could they have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out. By Katie Rutter
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MC KOZUSKO/SAM
s Generations
t was a meeting of kindred spirits. Never mind the four decades separating them in age, difference in faith, or even taste in clothing. When Sister Ann VonderMeulen, OSF, walked into the coffee shop on March 11, 2020, Megan Trischler and Anjali Dutt greeted her with warm words and even warmer hugs. Trischler, a 33-year-old with a trendy pixie cut and a bright smile, moved her tote bag so that Sister Ann could sit next to her. Dutt, also 33, with thick-rimmed glasses and dark hair that reached past her shoulders, was already situated opposite. Sister Ann, 71, a Sister of St. Francis of Oldenburg, Indiana, wearing a palette of warm oranges and browns, settled down beside the millennials as comfortably as if she were at home. These three, with the addition of one more Franciscan sister, are the core of an unlikely group that meets monthly in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati. They are just one branch of a national movement called “Nuns & Nones,” where millennials and religious sisters come together in community. “I think what has maybe surprised me is that I feel like we have friends on the journey,” says Trischler, diving into deeper reflection with a speed that shows her comfort around her companions. “It’s just a space to be together, and to hold those questions of ‘How do we live with the pain and the joy of the world?’ I don’t know. But let’s do it together.” On a beautiful day in Cincinnati, Megan Trischler, Sister Ann VonderMeulen, Anjali Dutt, Kendra Krietsch, and Rebecca Smithorn enjoy the scenery and each other’s company from a safe distance.
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PHOTO CREDIT HERE
make a difference. Shared values bridge age and philosoOfficially, the national movement is referred to as “Nuns & phy and have become the glue holding the nuns and nones Nones,” though some local groups have opted to call themtogether. selves “Sisters & Seekers.” But the concept remains the same: Sisters have founded and staffed hospitals across the bringing together progressive young adults and women United States; millennials tweet and brainstorm about religious. sustainable health care. The young hold walkouts and lobby On a surface level, the two groups—nuns and nones— to raise awareness about climate change; sisters have been may seem too different to have even a brief conversation. concerned about “Sister Mother Earth” since the days of Sts. The “nuns,” technically a term for cloistered women reliFrancis and Clare. Women religious have lived and worked gious but that colloquially refers to active congregations as in slums and the inner city; nones are deeply concerned well, have a faith conviction so strong that they have dediabout racial inequality and the systems that create poverty. cated their lives to God. They also tend to be from the baby As one sister expressed at the very first Nuns & Nones boomer or silent generations. According to the National meeting: “We have so much more in common here than Religious Retirement Office, over three-quarters of the relicould ever divide us.” gious sisters in the United States are over the age of 70. In the Cincinnati group, the overlaps in activism and pasThe “nones” are those who would check sions are apparent. Trischler has spent the the “none” box on a survey about religious beginning of her career working in commuShared values affiliation, which would be about three in nity development and helping nonprofits bridge age and 10 millennials, according to statistics from design processes, projects, and resources to philosophy and the Pew Research Center. They also tend build up their neighborhoods. Dutt volunhave become the to be a progressive group, deeply inteteered for AmeriCorps and currently works grated with the digital world. But not all as a community psychologist trying to glue holding the the members of Nuns & Nones are technicreate more civic engagement opportunities nuns and nones cally “nones”: Many are associated with a for refugees and immigrants in Cincinnati. together. As one religion, but very few are Catholic and even Sister Ann was a missionary for 12 sister expressed at fewer would have ever expected to find years in Papua New Guinea, where the the very first Nuns friends in women religious. Oldenburg nuns taught and established a & Nones meeting: “We’ve had Buddhists, lapsed and pracsister community. She now teaches special “We have so much ticing Catholics, Muslims, women seeking education, including helping refugees learn ordination, Christians of all sorts, United English. Sister Donna Graham, also a Sister more in common Universalists, Jews, atheists, pagans, seekers, of St. Francis of Oldenburg and the fourth here than could mystics,” says Adam Horowitz, one of the member of the Cincinnati Nuns & Nones, ever divide us.” national organizers, in his blog. “We’ve had has a long list of professions: teaching, camfirst-generation immigrants, white folks, pus ministry, community mental health, people of color, queer folks, trans folks.” representing Franciscan friars as the director of their justice Despite the differences, local groups of Nuns & Nones and peace office, and caring for members of a senior living now meet regularly in 12 different locations across the community. country. Groups are already running or gearing up in Seattle, Sister Donna says millennials have “values around what’s San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia, among others. right and what isn’t and what needs to get changed in our Some meet monthly for a few hours of discussion. Others society, and they see sisters as having a history of being active get together for overnight retreat-like experiences. In one in various social injustice concerns.” case, several millennials decided to live in a convent for six For the sisters, finding their own passion for social justice months. reflected in the eyes of the young is a blessing beyond words. “Seekers go to make meaning in the social justice moveCongregations are retiring from ministry en masse, leavments that they’re part of, communities that they’re helping ing the hospitals, schools, and charities they have nurtured to build, increasingly less in religious spaces,” says Brittany for centuries. Now they are finally meeting those who have Koteles, using the group’s alternative term for “nones.” picked up the torch. Koteles is the national codirector of Nuns & Nones and helps “These folks are committed to a lot of the same things we coordinate a local meeting in Washington, DC. are in terms of social justice and looking out for those who “But in the places where we go to make a difference, it’s have much less than we do,” says Sister Ann. “Especially as there that we’re also trying to make meaning,” she says. our communities age, it gives me a lot of hope.” Sister Donna agrees: “It certainly gives me a ton of hope SOUL MATES about the future as I watch how these women are going The magnetic forces that seem to invisibly draw these two about their lives and basically trying to make the world betpolar opposites together are social justice and the drive to ter in their own particular way.”
TOP IMAGES: KATIE RUTTER; BOTTOM: MC KOZUSKO/SAM
SEEKERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
The nuns featured here are Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg, Indiana. The “nones” visited their motherhouse for a weekend last November.
PHOTO CREDIT HERE
TOP IMAGES: KATIE RUTTER; BOTTOM: MC KOZUSKO/SAM
Sister Ann smiles fondly at Kendra Krietsch. At the time of this meeting, Kendra was readying for a move to St. Louis, and the group gave her a sendoff that included snacks and homemade pie.
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“What I sense in this group is you don’t have to believe what I believe. And I also trust that you’re still going to see me as a human.”
—Megan Trischler
Megan Trischler leads the group in a moment of contemplation. Respectful sharing of questions and opinions is a hallmark of their meetings.
COMMUNITY COMMITMENT
Perhaps the biggest lesson the sisters are teaching the millennials is too large to be easily seen—the gift of community. Sisters have always lived together, uniting their efforts to move mountains much bigger than themselves. “I don’t actually think it’s possible to be our most courageous selves if we’re not in community. We need people that are supporting us, affirming us, holding us accountable,”
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KATIE RUTTER
As any sister could attest, however, a lifelong commitment to social justice is no easy journey. Millennials, now young adults, are just beginning to experience the exhaustion and burnout that come from “making a difference” and pushing back against systems much bigger than they are. “I think we often underestimate just how hard it is to live a life that’s really aligned with our values in a world in which it’s so easy to passively participate in a mainstream culture that hurts people,” explains Koteles. These young adults also have the added stressors of a digital existence. The echo chambers of social media lead people to seek only those with similar values and engage in a perpetual shouting match with those who disagree. The anonymity of hiding behind a profile picture makes it easy to discredit and demonize the other—or to be demonized yourself. “I overthink what I’m going to say, to make sure that this is politically acceptable, based on what a person in my position should be saying,” Dutt says. “We’re so concerned about being right that we forget to be just right with one another,” says Trischler. Both have found in Nuns & Nones an unusual safe space, a place where they can express their thoughts and ask honest questions without fear of backlash. Trischler explains: “What I sense in this group is you don’t have to believe what I believe. And I also trust that you’re still going to see me as a human.” “I’ve been impressed by the depth of sharing and the trust and the holding in confidence,” adds Sister Ann. “I think people feel so comfortable there that they know whatever
they share is not going to be used against them or in any way detract from who they are. They’re going to be accepted as they are.” The Cincinnati group says that when two members disagree, “there is room for it.” Their meetings last about two hours, with nothing but a simple phrase or question to kick off the discussion. The rest of the time is spent unpacking that thought: a method with obvious similarities to contemplation practiced by sisters, but often unheard-of by the younger generation limited to the 280 characters allowed by Twitter. “In my experiences where stuff starts to go awry, it’s because there’s not space for us even to personally ask, How did that make me feel? What am I feeling right now? Is that anger bubbling up in me? Is that sadness bubbling up in me? Do I feel a peace? Why do I feel peace?” explains Trischler. Koteles, the national codirector, recognizes the void experienced when there is no space for contemplation and reflection. She says, “The people holding some of the hardest work . . . are hungry to talk about the spiritual side of that, the human implications of that kind of work, the big questions that arise.”
MC KOZUSKO/SAM
FINDING A SAFE SPACE
KATIE RUTTER
MC KOZUSKO/SAM
explains Koteles. “In sisters’ cases, they have communities that have each other’s backs financially, that are investing in their education and training, that are in shared spiritual practice together so that when times get hard they have a life of habit and prayer to fall back on.” The recognition of the need for community is at the very origins of Nuns & Nones. Horowitz, who is Jewish, says that in 2016 he was brainstorming with a community minister “the kind of social, communal, and spiritual infrastructure needed for welcome, refuge, and belonging in the 21st century.” Wayne Muller, the minister, pointed to women religious as a model. That revelation launched Horowitz on the journey that would eventually lead to him staying at a convent—the Dominican Motherhouse in Fremont, California—for six months. “Sister Gloria Marie Jones explained to me the four organizing principles of her community: study, prayer, shared life (community), and ministry (work in the world),” Horowitz reflected in his blog about his stay. “This elegant simplicity was a welcome offering and resonated on a deep, intuitive level. I, too, was looking for a life of learning, contemplation, community, and healing work in the world.” Last November, several millennials from the Cincinnati Nuns & Nones decided to make their own weekend pilgrimage to the motherhouse of the Oldenburg sisters in Indiana. The community that Sister Donna and Sister Ann call home began, and is still rooted, in that tiny town of fewer than 700 people. The young people found a sprawling convent rising in several spires above the landscape, a testament to nearly 170 years of communal living and activism. Long corridors connect the sisters’ living spaces to a still-active academy founded in 1852, a reminder that this order started schools in Kentucky, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. Glass cases proudly display artifacts from the sisters’ missionary work among Native Americans in New
Mexico and Arizona, and among the poor in China and Papua New Guinea. The sisters who live at the motherhouse, most of whom are retired, still gather for communal meals in a bright, wood-floored dining hall adorned with old paintings and a massive crucifix. “We went on a tour of the convent and got to hear so many stories about changes that had happened in the convent—buildings being built, rooms being appropriated for new purposes as community needs changed or emerged, as well as memories about things that took place in a certain spot,” says Dutt. “Even though we weren’t really talking about that exact question explicitly [how to live], hearing several sisters’ life stories and all of us collectively talking about how to navigate challenges of life brought me to think about that question a lot,” she says. The organizers of Nuns & Nones wrestle with exactly how, as progressives in the 21st century, they can build committed communities like the one that has supported the sisters in their herculean task of making the world a better place. But building community with the nuns seems a good place to start. A SPACE TO BE AND TO DO
“I thought we were going to do something,” Dutt says. Sitting together in the coffee shop, their mugs pushed aside, the Cincinnati group is talking about its origins and the pleasant surprise of finding friends in one another. “But the answer from the group was, ‘Well, maybe we don’t need another space to do something,’” she continues, “and that was so eye-opening and powerful for me, to be like, everyone is right. We don’t need to do something; we need to be here for each other.” Together, the group was slowly coming to the conclusion that community is necessary for action. Without the buoying force of committed community, actions made alone are too small to stir the waters of change, as a pebble thrown into a pond is overwhelmed as it makes the tiniest ripple. Trischler began to hope that she
An unconventional trio to most eyes, Anjali Dutt, Sister Ann VonderMeulen, and Megan Trischler have found they are far more alike than different.
could find more spaces, like this one, where she could just be loved and strengthened. “What if we approached our spaces more as, we’re here to be human and find friends? Maybe that’s naïve, but isn’t that the call, to love our neighbors?” she asks. “And that’s what strengthens us for action,” adds Sister Ann. As they walk back to their cars, the three women talk about their next meeting. They pass restaurants and college students, most of whom are looking down into the little devices in their hands. Trischler shares the idea to incorporate art into their next meeting. Sister Ann and Dutt agree and offer suggestions. It seems, though, that art is already present: the art of being together. Katie Rutter, an award-winning video producer, editor, and journalist based in Bloomington, Indiana, specializes in Catholic/Christian media. Along with her work as a freelance writer, she creates short documentaries, promotional videos, and news reports. Her article “Facing the Opioid Crisis: A Catholic Response” appeared in our August 2019 issue.
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Mile-High Meditation: M
As sun bathes a statue of Mary, a storm makes its way across the beautiful backdrop of the Rocky Mountains’ rolling foothills at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, Colorado.
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n: Mother Cabrini Shrine Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, this shrine commemorates the first US citizen to be declared a saint.
By Richard Bauman
PHOTO COURTESY MOTHER CABRINI SHRINE/PATRICK DILLON PHOTO
I
f you’re driving along Interstate 70 near Golden, Colorado, and you see a tall, glistening white statue of Jesus jutting from a hilltop, it’s neither a mirage nor an illusion. It is the major landmark that marks the Shrine to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, America’s first US citizen saint, whose feast is November 13. The shrine is on land Mother Cabrini purchased in 1910. It has chapels, grottoes, inspiring walking paths, an intriguing spring, and a retreat center—in addition to the nearly threestory-tall statue of Christ. Francesca Cabrini was born two months prematurely in a small Italian village on July 15, 1850. Almost immediately after birth, she was rushed to the village church to be baptized for fear she wouldn’t live very long. She survived and went on to fulfill her childhood dream of becoming a missionary nun. In 1880, she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Some years later, during an audience with Pope Leo XIII, she asked to be sent to China. The pope instead asked her to go to New York to minister to Italian immigrants living there. She and six of her nuns arrived in New York in 1889. They ministered not only to Italian immigrants but also to the whole of the city. Learning English on the fly, Mother Cabrini founded an orphanage known as Cabrini Home, a hospital, and several schools. In 1902, she headed west to Denver, Colorado. There she and her nuns ministered to Italian mine workers and their families. Queen of Heaven Girls Orphanage in Denver opened its doors in 1905 for orphaned daughters of miners. When a property west of Denver became available in 1910, Mother Cabrini deemed it just right for a summer camp for the girls from the orphanage and scooped it up. The property already had a small farm, and several nuns moved there to maintain it. That year Mother Cabrini also became a US citizen.
“I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know him or have forgotten him.”
—St. Frances Cabrini
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THE SPRING: SOURCE OF FRESH WATER
There was one problem with the property she purchased, however: Its only source of water was a small pond. Water suitable for drinking, cooking, and bathing had to be hauled from some distance by wagon. During one of her visits in 1912, the sisters were grousing to Mother Cabrini about the lack of readily available water. She pointed her cane at some rocks and said: “Lift that rock over there and start to dig. You will find water fresh enough to drink and clean enough to wash.” How she knew the spring was at that exact spot, no one knows. Divine intervention, perhaps? The spring has never stopped flowing, and its waters are today contained in a huge tank. Faucets have been installed so visitors can drink the spring water and collect some to take home. Many say the water has brought them healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I can attest to it being very refreshing on a hot day.
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RICHARD BAUMAN (2)
“Nothing is impossible to the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” Mother Cabrini once said. The shrine’s focal point for many visitors is this statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Visible from the highway, the statue is 22 feet tall and stands upon an 11-foot-tall base.
During her last visit to the site, in 1912, Mother Cabrini, some nuns, and a handful of girls from the orphanage climbed to the top of the highest hill on the property. There the nuns and children arranged some white stones they found in the area into the shape of a heart. With smaller stones they made a cross to top the arrangement. Other stones were arranged to recall Jesus’ crown of thorns. Mother Cabrini named the hill “Mount of the Sacred Heart.” That stone Sacred Heart of Jesus still exists there, now encased in glass. Today, the Stairway of Prayer follows the route Mother Cabrini and her entourage took to the top of the Mount of the Sacred Heart. The stairway was built in late 1954 and consists of 373 concrete steps. At its beginning are the Stations of the Cross. On a wooden cross at each station is a small mosaic, made in Italy, that depicts events on Christ’s walk to his crucifixion. At the top of the first flight of stairs there’s a turn to the left, and the
PHOTO COURTESY MOTHER CABRINI SHRINE/PATRICK DILLON PHOTO
STAIRWAY TO THE SACRED HEART
Stations give way to the mysteries of the rosary. There are plenty of benches on the stairway to sit on to pray, meditate, and rest during the climb to the base of the gigantic statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The 22-foot-tall statue was carved by an Italian artist and is positioned on an 11-foot-tall base. It stands right next to the stone Sacred Heart. The site affords a great view of Denver to the east. STONE HOUSE, CHAPEL, AND GARDENS
RICHARD BAUMAN (2)
PHOTO COURTESY MOTHER CABRINI SHRINE/PATRICK DILLON PHOTO
During that same 1912 visit, Mother Cabrini met with a builder, Thomas Eckrom, to create the plans for the Stone House—a building that would serve as a dormitory for the girls while they were at camp and as a residence for the nuns. Built from native rock, the house is impressive even today. Each evening, the girls from the orphanage loaded a donkey-drawn cart with stones at a nearby quarry and hauled them to the building site. Construction was completed in 1914. Girls from the Queen of Heaven Orphanage used it as a summer camp until it was closed in 1967. The house then became a place for retreats and prayer gatherings. The sisters moved out of the Stone House when their convent was completed in 1970. The convent, a threestory brick building, also contains the Chapel to the Sacred Heart, a gift shop, and a museum describing Mother Cabrini’s life, along with some items she personally used. Adjacent to the chapel is a set of stained glass windows that trace key moments in her life: her birth, the TOP: The Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel is open seven days a week, with regularly scheduled Masses. The chapel’s central feature is a mosaic of the Sacred Heart of Jesus behind the main altar. BOTTOM: Part of a gravel path weaves its way through the manicured Cabrini Garden. The building in the background is the Cabrini Museum, which houses artifacts that were used by the saint.
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founding of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, her work with Italian immigrants, her death, and her 1946 canonization as a saint. The Cabrini Garden and Grotto, the Rosary Garden, and the Meditation Walk are tranquil places to pray, meditate, and take in the natural beauty of the shrine. Near the spring is another special place for prayer and meditation—a grotto akin to that of Lourdes. LEGACY OF LOVE
Mother Cabrini’s heart was with the poor and downtrodden. Wherever she traveled, she inspired people to give of themselves to help others. She died at age 67 at Chicago’s Columbus Hospital, which she founded. She left a legacy of 67 schools, hospitals, and orphanages worldwide. What started out as a summer camp for orphans more than 100 years ago has become a place of prayer for some, a place of retreat for others, a place for anyone who wants a respite from the highway—and a shrine to her life and sainthood.
T lo o r R p v H
T C c w f o t
RICHARD BAUMAN (3)
TOP: The Cabrini Garden is a meditative place devoted to depicting the life of the saint. In the center of the garden is a statue of Mother Cabrini and two orphans, which recalls the original use of the land as a summer camp for girls from Queen of Heaven Girls Orphanage in Denver. BOTTOM LEFT: At each Station of the Cross on the Stairway of Prayer is a small mosaic depicting one of the scenes from Scripture. Pictured here is the Second Station, where Jesus takes up his cross. BOTTOM RIGHT: The Stairway of Prayer follows the route Mother Cabrini, her fellow nuns, and a group of orphans took to the top of the mountain in 1912. The 373 steps of the stairway ascend to the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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TOP: PHOTO COURTESY MOTHER CABRINI SHRINE/TOM FRANCIS; BOTTOM: RICHARD BAUMAN
Richard Bauman is a writer and photographer who resides in West Covina, California. A self-described “history sleuth,” Richard enjoys visiting, photographing, and writing about lesser-known historical sites across the United States.
T c F s o M
THE MOTHER CABRINI SHRINE is located in Golden, Colorado, just outside of Denver. It offers group or individual retreats, either overnight or one-day. Retreats are self-directed; the shrine provides the food and lodging. Several venues are available, including the Stone House, Hermitage, and chapel.
TOP: PHOTO COURTESY MOTHER CABRINI SHRINE/TOM FRANCIS; BOTTOM: RICHARD BAUMAN
RICHARD BAUMAN (3)
The address of the shrine is 20189 Cabrini Blvd., Golden, CO 80401. Masses can be scheduled at the shrine for weddings, anniversaries, quinceañeras, funerals, memorials, or other special occasions. The main chapel can hold up to 175 people. The events listed above may be curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. For current information about the shrine, special events, and hours of operation call 303-526-0758 or go to MotherCabriniShrine.org.
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Leave a Legacy that Reflects Your Values
Leave a legacy of mercy, compassion, and care for the poor through a bequest to our friars. For more information about including a gift in your will, call 513-721-4700, ext. 3219.
You are the heart of our ministry.
The Franciscan Friars, Province of St. John the Baptist 1615 Vine St., Ste 1 • Cincinnati, OH 45202-6492 Franciscan.org • StAnthony.org • 513-721-4700, ext. 3219
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Paths to Holiness Text by Melanie Rigney Artwork by Mary Catherine Kozusko
R These two female saints are prime examples of what happens when we take difficult steps to put our faith into action.
adical. The word makes us, well, itchy. We think of people whose political beliefs are at one end of the spectrum or the other, people who won’t compromise or collaborate, maybe even people who foster revolutions that upset entire nations. How in the world could women formally canonized by the Catholic Church for heroic virtues and associated miracles be considered radical? Because being a Christian is radical. The word radical comes from the Latin radicalis, meaning “of or relating to a root.” When Christ and his teachings are our foundation, we are on a radical path, a path that people have struggled to walk for more than 2,000 years. Think about it: Is there anything more radical than loving God with your entire being and loving your neighbor as yourself? Society encourages us to worship money, status, prestige, and more. Putting God before any of that? Before our own spouses, parents, children, friends, all those people we love and would do anything for? And how about loving those who look different from us or who have betrayed us, injured us, or persecuted us simply because we’re told God loves them every bit as much as he loves us? Now that’s radical. You know people who are living radically too. And I’m sure people think of some of you as they watch the way you trust, suffer, accept, and more, consciously or unconsciously. You think it’s no big deal, just as the women in this article did and do. But I assure you it is. You see, it’s easier to be radical than we think. All we have to do is stop playing it safe—and follow the leader.
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“In God’s will, there is great peace.”
—Josephine Bakhita
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Bakhita FORGIVING AS CHRIST DOES
Slave traders took away Josephine’s name and her family. She was kidnapped, beaten, and scarred. And yet, when asked what she would say to her persecutors if she met them again, Josephine said she would thank them, because without them she would not have discovered her faith and her vocation. Even in the worst of times, the times she was struck every day, the times her enslavers made her walk for miles on end, the times she was turned over to yet another enslaver, Josephine had always wondered: The sun. The moon. The stars. Who had put them all there? Who was in charge of them? It must be someone very great indeed. But then, the girl didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about theology or philosophy. Mainly she focused on survival. The men who had taken her away from her family when she was 7 or 8 had scared her so badly that she forgot her name and birthdate. They had a cruel sense of humor; they dubbed her Bakhita, “fortunate one” in Arabic. The first enslavers made her walk barefoot for a day, then hid her away for more than a month in a dark hut before selling her to someone else. During the next 12 years, at least four more people would use and abuse her. One, she said, hurt her every single, solitary day. At a Turkish general’s home, someone used flour to draw more than one hundred patterns on her body, then cut them into her skin, then rubbed them with salt to ensure permanent scarring. Bakhita couldn’t move for three months after this savagery. She still wondered about that larger world beyond her suffering, the one with the majesty of the sun, the moon, and the stars. It must have seemed far beyond her reach. In 1883, the Italian vice consul in Khartoum, Sudan, encountered Bakhita at the home where she had been so gruesomely scarred, and he acquired her. Bakhita remembered him as the first enslaver who didn’t hurt her. When political issues required the family to return to Italy, they took Bakhita along. She was then “gifted” to Augusto Michieli, a Venetian businessman and friend of the vice consul. One of Bakhita’s main jobs for the Michielis was to serve as nanny for their little girl, called Mimmina. When Mimmina was around 2 years old, her parents decided to
move to Sudan permanently, and they sold their estate in Italy. But some details remained to be settled, and the Michielis didn’t want to subject the child to any more travel than was necessary. Finally, at the recommendation of the couple’s business administrator, it was decided that Bakhita and Mimmina would live at the Canossian Sisters’ boarding school in Venice. The administrator also provided Bakhita with two gifts: a small, silver crucifix and the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. At the boarding school parlor, Bakhita saw a larger crucifix, one on which Jesus’ wounds were visible, just like her own scars. She began taking religious instruction with the Canossians. When Mrs. Michieli returned nine months later, Bakhita refused to return to Sudan with her. A legal battle ensued, and in November 1889, an Italian court found that Bakhita was free, for laws in Italy did not recognize slavery. Two months later, Bakhita received a different type of freedom: She was initiated into the Church and took the name Josephine Margaret Fortunata. As Josephine’s faith deepened, she found herself called to religious life. She became a Canossian novice at the end of 1893 and made her first vows in 1896. Josephine was assigned to a convent outside of Schio, which was her residence for most of the rest of her life. There was no duty she would not take on: cook, sacristan, doorkeeper, weaver. Josephine’s writing and reading skills remained limited, and another sister was assigned to take down her stories. Interest in her journey resulted in new roles of speaking (with another sister providing most of the talking) on behalf of missions to Africa and helping sisters prepare for work there. Josephine was confined to a wheelchair in her final years, and she died of pulmonary congestion. She never remembered her original name. After the day she was abducted, she never again saw her parents or any of her six siblings. And yet, when she was asked what she would do if she encountered those who had tortured her and taken everything but her human dignity, she was quick to answer that she would kneel and kiss their hands. If it had not been for them, she said, she would not have been a Christian or a Canossian. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 35
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Cope PROVIDING CARE WITH COURAGE
Marianne Cope listened only to God, accepting and caring for people others feared or found distasteful, which put her own health at risk. When she was 2, Maria Anna Barbara Koob (the name Cope was adopted later) moved with her family from Germany to Utica, New York. Utica’s population had exploded from about 3,000 to nearly 13,000 in 20 years. Industrial development helped to attract immigrants. The city also was an important stop on the Underground Railroad for those escaping enslavement in the South. In the years after she arrived in Hawaii, the islands experienced revolution, abdication of the final queen, establishment of a republic, and then annexation to the United States. In 1883, Father Leonor Fouesnel, who was assigned to Hawaii’s Catholic mission, sent a letter to more than 50 communities of women religious. It identified the need for sisters to run hospitals and schools and to “procure the salvation of souls and promote the glory of God and the interest of our holy religion.” But every community declined. Every community, that is, until the letter made its way to Mother Marianne Cope, provincial superior for the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York. She felt called and wrote back for more information. Future letters from Father Leonor talked about the islands’ climate, the salary the sisters would receive, and the possibility Protestants would be asked to help if the Sisters of St. Francis didn’t say yes. A month would pass before, during a personal visit to the sisters, Father Leonor disclosed that the work would be among those who suffered from Hansen’s disease, in those days called leprosy. Hansen’s disease struck fear in the hearts of most people. It was believed—later disproved—that the infection that strikes the skin, nervous system, and more was highly contagious. When the infection went untreated, those with the disease often were crippled, paralyzed, and blinded. As a result, in Hawaii and elsewhere, those suffering from Hansen’s disease and sometimes their family members were cast out from society. And based on the information avail-
able at the time, anyone working with those stricken put his or her health at severe risk. Knowing all this, the community council’s vote was radical in its courage: eight to one in favor of going to Hawaii. Within a few months, Mother Marianne and five others were on their way. Hard work and criticism were nothing new to Mother Marianne. After she finished school, she had worked at a factory, possibly the textile mill across the street from her parents’ home. Her plan upon beginning her novitiate in 1862 was to be a teacher, and while she did that for a time, her focus changed to health care and administration. She helped to establish central New York’s first two Catholic hospitals, where she was reproached for allowing alcoholics and other “undesirables” to receive treatment. What she and the others found when they arrived in Hawaii was much more challenging: The facility she was to manage had been built for 100 people but housed double that. Conditions were deplorable. But instead of turning around and leaving on the next boat, Mother Marianne and the others chose to stay. Mother Marianne became a tireless advocate for those she served. When she learned patients were being abused at a hospital near Honolulu, she gave an ultimatum: Either the administrator left, or the sisters would. She won control of the hospital. The sisters also set up a home within the hospital campus to tend to the daughters of those with Hansen’s disease, for no other facility would care for them. The sisters took on responsibility for additional hospitals and schools. Mother Marianne and Father Damien, known as the apostle to the lepers, met after she had been in Hawaii only a few months. When he himself was diagnosed with Hansen’s two years later, she courageously nursed him and took on his work among men with the infection. Despite 35 years in ministry on the islands, Mother Marianne never contracted the disease. Her insistence on strict sanitary and hygiene procedures generally are credited for this. She died of natural causes in 1918. Her remains currently reside at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.
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“Let us make best use of the fleeting moments. They will not return.”
—Marianne Cope
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More
Women
Want to know about other 20th-century women canonized in this century and what they can teach us? This list is current as of January 2020. NAZARIA IGNACIA MARCH MESA (born January 10, 1889, in Spain; died July 6, 1943, in Argentina; canonized October 14, 2018; feast day: July 6). As a child, her devotion to the Lord and desire to become a woman religious were so strong that her parents grew weary of hearing about both. Founder of the Missionary Crusaders of the Church. MARÍA DE LA PURÍSIMA SALVAT ROMERO (born February 20, 1926, in Spain; died October 31, 1998, in Spain; canonized October 18, 2015; feast day: September 18). The convent rules were important to her, and she made sure everyone, including herself, followed them to a T. Member of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. MARIE-ALPHONSINE DANIL GHATTAS (born October 4, 1843, in Palestine; died March 25, 1927, in Palestine; canonized May 17, 2015; feast day: March 25). She had such a special relationship with the Blessed Virgin that she established a congregation devoted to the rosary, the first Palestinian community of women religious. Founder of the Holy Order of the Rosary. MARIA CRISTINA OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION BRANDO (born May 1, 1856, in Italy; died January 20, 1906, in Italy; canonized May 17, 2015; feast day: January 20). She was devoted to the Lord’s sacrifice for us and to the gift of the Eucharist, spending hours in adoration. Founder of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. MARÍA GUADALUPE GARCÍA ZAVALA (born April 27, 1878, in Mexico; died June 24, 1963, in Mexico; canonized May 12, 2013; feast day: June 24). She was in love and engaged to be married. Then she realized she loved Jesus even more, and he had another plan for her. Founder of Handmaids of St. Mary Margaret and the Poor.
MARÍA DEL MONTE CARMELO SALLÉS Y BARANGUERAS (born April 9, 1848, in Spain; died July 25, 1911, in Spain; canonized October 21, 2012; feast day: December 6). Her focus was on human dignity and equality, in particular for women. Founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. BONIFACIA RODRÍGUEZ Y CASTRO (born June 6, 1837, in Spain; died August 8, 1905, in Spain; canonized October 23, 2011; feast day: August 8). From her childhood days observing her tailor father, she understood the value of work. Cofounder of the Servants of St. Joseph. GIULIA SALZANO (born October 13, 1846, in Italy; died May 17, 1929, in Italy; canonized October 17, 2010; feast day: May 17). She loved teaching people—children and adults alike—about the beauties of our faith. Founder of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. CÁNDIDA MARÍA OF JESÚS (born May 31, 1845, in Spain; died August 9, 1912, in Spain; canonized October 17, 2010; feast day: August 9). Growing up, she had little money and little education. As a woman religious, she helped the poor and established schools across her country. Founder of the Daughters of Jesus. GELTRUDE COMENSOLI (born January 18, 1847, in Italy; died February 18, 1903, in Italy; canonized April 26, 2009; feast day: February 18). Her focus was on adoration of the Eucharist. She was convinced to expand her community’s ministry to help young working women. Founder of the Sacramentine Sisters of Bergamo. MARÍA BERNARDA BÜTLER (born May 28, 1848, in Switzerland; died May 19, 1924, in Colombia; canonized October 12, 2008; feast day: May 19). Just after her 40th birthday, she and six other sisters left Switzerland for Ecuador. Ministry in South America wasn’t always easy, but she did it for decades. Founder of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians.
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MARÍA JOSEFA SANCHO DE GUERRA (born September 7, 1842, in Spain; died March 20, 1912, in Spain; canonized October 1, 2000; feast day: March 20). People told her they didn’t think she had a vocation as a woman religious. So she established her own community. Founder of the Servants of Jesus of Charity.
URSULA LEDÓCHOWSKA (born April 17, 1865, in Austria; died May 29, 1939, in Italy; canonized May 18, 2003; feast day: May 29). For a time, she and her sister nuns were “undercover” in Russia, because they weren’t allowed to wear their habits. Founder of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus. ANGELA OF THE CROSS GUERRERO Y GONZÁLEZ (born January 30, 1846, in Spain; died March 2, 1932, in Spain; canonized May 4, 2003; feast day: March 2). Ill health resulted in her departure from two religious communities. Founder of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross.
This article is adapted from the book Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century (Franciscan Media). In addition to Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century, Melanie Rigney is the author of Brotherhood of Saints, Sisterhood of Saints, and Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from Our Sisters in Faith. She also writes for Living Faith, CatholicMom, and other Catholic blogs and publications. You can learn more about her at RejoiceBeGlad.com.
PAULINE OF THE AGONIZING HEART OF JESUS (born December 16, 1865, in Italy; died July 9, 1942, in Brazil; canonized May 19, 2002; feast day: July 9). As a child, she moved with her family from what is now Italy to Brazil. Brazil’s first saint took her removal as superior general with humility and served the poor and her community faithfully in the following 30-plus years. Cofounder of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception’s Little Sisters.
To order a copy, go to:
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RAFQA PIETRA CHOBOQ AR-RAYÈS (born June 29, 1832, in Lebanon; died March 23, 1914, in Lebanon; canonized June 10, 2001; feast day: March 23). She offered up her suffering, including eventual blindness and paralysis. Sister with Lebanon’s Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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food Mary Ann Esposito draws on all three of these ingredients as she shares Italian culture and recipes on Ciao Italia, the nation’s longestrunning cooking show. By Rita E. Piro
t first glance, Durham, New Hampshire, may seem an unlikely setting for an Italian cooking show. While New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts are known for their large Italian neighborhoods, America’s Granite State has far fewer such areas. Yet it is from this New England town that chef and food historian Mary Ann Esposito hosts Ciao Italia, the longest-running cooking show on US television. Each week, more than 5 million viewers tune in as Mary Ann imparts lessons not only in Italian cooking, but also in Italian history and civilization. “Ciao Italia has always been a show devoted to not just food but culture as well, and viewers like this concept,” explains Mary Ann. Her loving memories of growing up in a large Italian American family punctuate almost every episode. Included among them are the many traditions of her family’s Catholic faith that are a part not only of Mary Ann’s life experience, but of her recipes as well. Broadcast by PBS since 1989, Ciao Italia was born of a suggestion by Mary Ann’s husband, Dr. Gaetano (Guy) Esposito. “One day I was typing up some recipes,” explains Mary Ann, “and Guy said I should put them together for a show on our local cable.” Not expecting much, she sent a proposal to the general manager of the local public television station who initially declined, but later reconsidered when the station sought to expand its programming.
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A
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Twenty-nine seasons, 13 cookbooks, and nearly 700 epiIn her first companion book to Ciao Italia, Mary Ann sodes later, both Ciao Italia and its founder and host are con- describes her family’s special celebration of St. Joseph: “Of sidered synonymous with authentic regional Italian cookall the saints’ feast days, none was more sacred in our home ing. The secret ingredients to the show’s huge success? “My than St. Joseph’s Day. After attending Mass, my grandmothmother and grandmothers are at the heart of Ciao Italia,” she ers would get to work making the food for the table to honor says with affection, “and I try to keep them alive through the San Giuseppe. A solemn statue of St. Joseph stood on the recipes and stories on the show and in the books.” best lace tablecloth in the center of the dining room table. Though she was born and raised in a suburb of Buffalo, Around him were plates of food, flowers, and candles. There New York, the roots of both sides of Mary Ann’s family are were breads of many sizes and shapes, but what I really firmly planted in Italy. Paternal grandmother “Nonna” Maria looked forward to were the sfinci, fried puffs of dough. [For Saporito emigrated to Rochester, the recipe, visit CiaoItalia. New York, from Caltanissetta in com.] They were mounded the central part of Sicily, while on large decorative trays and “Nonna” Anna Galasso came to brought to the table. I would Buffalo from Bellizzi, near Naples. reach for the sfinci, only to Nonna Saporito owned a butcher get a tap on the wrist from shop in Fairport, New York, where Grandma to remind me that her granddaughter would spend we pray first, then eat.” school vacations helping out. Mary Ann spent countNonna Galasso shared a home less hours with her mother with her daughter Louisa and her and grandmothers, helping son-in-law Roy (Mary Ann’s parto make bread, can vegetaents) and their five sons and two bles and fruits, and prepare daughters. Remembers Mary Ann, meals. Her earliest memory of “We lived in a big house in an cooking was helping to make Italian American neighborhood maccheroni, known in today’s surrounded not only by family, parlance as pasta. “When I but by friends whose families had was a kid, old broom handles also settled in the area after leavpropped between kitchen ing Italy.” chairs, holding rows of golden As she grew up in a traditional yellow pasta in various shapes Italian Catholic family, faith and sizes, were a familiar sight. played as much of a role in daily Homemade spaghetti, fettuclife as did family and food. Mary cine, and lasagna sheets were The award-winning cookbook Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in staples in my house.” Another Ann has “lots of fond memories of loving Catholic school, clear memory involves her Italy features more than 150 recipes. with nuns and more nuns” at St. mother and grandmother Mary’s in Lancaster, New York, part of St. Mary’s Parish, baking bread. Despite the absence of high-powered mixwhere her family worshipped and received the sacraments. ers, blenders, and other utensils, Nonna Galasso or Mamma She remembers many family Baptisms, first Communions, made bread daily, upwards of 20 loaves a week, even during Confirmations, and weddings, featuring “lots of picture the summer. taking and parties to commemorate each occasion. Sunday It was at St. Mary’s High School in Lancaster that Mary was a big family dinner day with all the relatives after Mass,” Ann met her future husband, Guy, who followed a path in recalls Mary Ann. “That’s a memory that has stayed with me medicine as an orthopedic surgeon. After graduation, Mary all my life.” Ann continued on to what was then Rosary Hill College, Her family’s strong devotion to the Blessed Mother now known as Daemen College, in Amherst, New York, included recitation of the rosary every evening, as well as where she completed a degree in education. Mary Ann and daily Mass, lighting candles, and lots of prayer. “There were statues of saints everywhere, and our family’s patrons were OPPOSITE PAGE: TOP: Mary Ann (back row, third from left) grew up in a St. Lucy and St. Anthony,” says Mary Ann. “Every morntraditional Italian Catholic family. MIDDLE (left to right): Mary Ann displays ing, rain or shine, Grandma Galasso would get up early and Italian fare from the PBS studio kitchen in Durham, New Hampshire. Pictured walk the mile or so to attend Mass at Our Lady of Pompeii with her husband, Guy, Mary Ann received the prestigious Premio Artusi Church. On Saturdays, I would often go with her. She always Award in recognition of her work preserving the traditions of regional cooking. sat in the first pew and read from a fragile, thumb-smudged BOTTOM (left to right): On a trip to Italy, Mary Ann visits “the two Mariettas,” Italian prayer book.” bread and pizza bakers, and shops for fresh ingredients. 42 • November 2020 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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Guy were married in 1968 at St. The freshest, highest quality Mary’s Catholic Church back ingredients are the key to incred“I started out as a teacher. in Lancaster. Their reception ible recipes, insists Mary Ann, and And I really haven’t moved from featured many homemade foods, she is lucky to have those literally including pyramid displays of at her doorstep. Guy Esposito is, that profession, but now I Italian cookies and a wedding in his wife’s words, “an incredible have 5 million students.” cake—both made by Mamma gardener” and has been since his —Mary Ann Esposito Louisa. After they married, college days at the University of Mary Ann taught high school Rochester. for a few years before dedicatWith the passing of the years, ing herself full-time to the care Guy’s garden grew exponentially, and of her daughter, Beth, and son, he is now able to boast of a garden Christopher. with more than 100 plants. While he It was during the couple’s has been an orthopedic surgeon for first trip to Italy in 1980 when more than 50 years, Guy is happy to Mary Ann took an actual cooking be known as “The Vegetable Garden class, realizing that years spent Doctor,” able to take any garden watching and working with from seeds to sprouts to saplings and her mother and grandmothto storage for his wife’s use in the ers had already exposed her to Ciao Italia kitchen. much more than the teacher was Her television series and cookoffering. She turned her attenbooks are not the only means tion to Italian regional cooking, through which Mary Ann connects traveling to Italy twice a year to with fans. She has enthusiastically research, study, and test foods embraced social media, the Internet, representative of the 20 regions and video streaming to teach her of Italy. Back home in Durham, worldwide classroom. The Ciao Mary Ann took courses at the Italia website features nearly 2,000 University of New Hampshire in recipes, instructional videos, comhistory, food history, and Italian, mentaries, cultural facts, personal completing a master’s in history stories, and more. Mary Ann posts in 1991. on Facebook at least once a day and As Ciao Italia grew in popupersonally answers questions sublarity, producers took Mary Ann mitted from her more than 35,000 out of the kitchen and into the followers. Instagram and Twitter actual towns, villages, farms, accounts are filled with photos, reciMary Ann stands in front of the Pulcinella, a masked character markets, purveyors, and manupes, and tips. facturers of the foods and ingreNow entering its 30th season, that originated in Naples. She draws culinary and cultural inspiradients featured in her show. This tion from all 20 regions of Italy. Ciao Italia is still growing in popureal-life setting greatly increased larity and recognition. While the the authentic regional aspect of the show. With Mary Ann as first 26 seasons were filmed in a studio kitchen, the past three their guide, viewers have been treated to a unique combinaseasons have been broadcast right from Mary Ann’s home tion of culinary and cultural adventures in all 20 regions of kitchen in Durham. Over the course of almost two weeks Italy. “And I love them all!” Mary Ann insists emphatically. each August, producers, directors, camera techs, and others Mary Ann has welcomed many special guests to share descend upon the Esposito home and film approximately 20 her Ciao Italia kitchen, but none more special than Louisa episodes. Saporito, her beloved mother. Before she passed away in More trips are being planned, more special shows orga2008, Louisa appeared on several of Mary Ann’s shows to nized, and personal appearances arranged. Yet Mary Ann demonstrate some of her family recipes right in her own eschews any status as a cooking icon, preferring instead to basement kitchen in Buffalo. A reflection of the generation be considered a teacher. “I started out as a teacher,” she says. in which she was raised, Louisa devoted her life to her home, “And I really haven’t moved from that profession, but now I her husband, and their seven children, as well as to the care have 5 million students.” of her mother, the beloved Nonna Galasso. After raising her children, Louisa returned to school while in her 50s, becomBased in New York City, Rita E. Piro has written multiple articles for St. Anthony ing a dietician. Messenger, including profiles of Patty Duke and Florence Henderson. 44 • November 2020 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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FOOD FOR THE SOUL: CELEBRATING SAINTS AND FEAST DAYS December 13 | Santa Lucia, or St. Lucy
Lucy brought food and aid to persecuted Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs as a display of gratitude for the miraculous healing of her mother. She would make her way through the dark tunnels of the underground, wearing a candlelit wreath on her head to light her way, which left her hands free to carry as much food as possible. After refusing a marriage contract, Lucy was exposed as a Christian. Her punishment consisted of several cruelties, the most famous of which was the gouging out of her eyes. For this she became the patron saint of eye-related illness and vision problems. In religious art and statuary, she is always depicted holding her eyes on a plate. St. Lucy enjoys much veneration in Sicily, where it is said that prayers to her during a famine miraculously brought three ships filled with wheat to the harbor of Siracusa on her feast day. Grateful residents chanted prayers of thanksgiving to St. Lucy as they unloaded the food. So hungry were Siracusa’s citizens that they did not bother to grind the wheat, opting instead to boil the whole grains in water to eat as quickly as possible. Still today, in Sicily, it is the custom to eat whole grains instead of bread and pasta on December 13 in honor of Santa Lucia. The traditional thick porridge of boiled wheat is called cuccia and is often mixed with ricotta cheese, berries, fruits, sugar, honey, or vegetables. On her feast day, a silver statue of St. Lucy containing her relics is paraded through the streets before returning to the Cathedral of Siracusa.
THIS PAGE: PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY ANN ESPOSITO ARCHIVES; OPPOSITE PAGE: BARBARA VALLANCE/ISTOCK
The tradition of Babbo Natale, as Santa Claus is known in Italian, did not arrive in Italy until the 1960s, but the tradition of Santa Lucia as the great gift-giver for children is centuries old. On the evening before the feast of Santa Lucia, children would leave the main window of their home open so that she could enter and leave toys and treats for them. Santa Lucia would ride through the night sky on her donkey, for whom the children would leave water and hay outside the window. Of course, Santa Lucia could not see in the dark of night, but that was not a problem as God had gifted her donkey with the ability to see where they were going. Children were warned that it was useless to try to sneak a glimpse of Santa Lucia because if she sensed anyone trying to look for her, she would blow ash into their eyes so that they could not see until she was gone. The next day, as the children played with their new toys, they would enjoy the special cookies in honor of Santa Lucia called occhi di Santa Lucia, or “St. Lucy’s eyes.” NUMEROUS AND VARIED types of Italian foods are used to celebrate Catholic holy days, memorials, and feast days. For more recipes and the stories behind them, visit CiaoItalia.com. —Rita E. Piro Prayers and blessings lie on the altar in the crypt of St. Lucy, underneath the Cathedral of St. Domnius in Diocletian’s Palace in Split, Croatia. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 45
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PHOTOS BY RITA E. PIRO (2), BAKER: SUSAN J. FLANNIGAN
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Occhi di Santa Lucia (Eyes of St. Lucy) yield: 5 dozen • prep time: 40 minutes; cook time: 4–7 minutes for a few cookies at a time
E
xpressions of devotion on the feast of St. Lucy are not always in the form of prayer. Making these cookies, formed in the shape of eyes, is a tradition in honor of this revered saint, the protector of eyesight. These fried cookies are best eaten warm. Ingredients:
4 2/3 to 5 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar ½ teaspoon salt 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 cup milk Vegetable oil for deep-frying Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling
Your Gifts Power Our Work
Instructions: In a large bowl, mix together 4 cups of the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the salt.
PHOTOS BY RITA E. PIRO (2), BAKER: SUSAN J. FLANNIGAN
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. Stir the mixture into the flour mixture, adding enough additional flour to make a soft ball of dough. On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each piece into a rectangle about 15 by 12 inches. Sprinkle each rectangle evenly with half of the remaining sugar and roll up tightly like a jelly roll. Cut the rolls into ½-inch slices. In a deep fryer or deep, heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees. Fry the cookies, a few at a time, until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to brown paper to drain. Sprinkle the cookies with confectioners’ sugar and serve.
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WANT MORE? See page 54 for more recipes from Mary Ann Esposito.
OUR MISSION is to spread the Gospel in the spirit of St. Francis in ever-widening circles through new media. With joy and with purpose, we seek to follow in the footsteps of our founder and share the grace of our loving God. We are blessed to join with generous partners like you to grow our circle of friends and multiply our efforts. Your gift will support critical new initiatives that share powerful messages of hope, inspiration, and purpose for our lives.
For more information, please contact Ray Taylor at: (614) 495-7378 or RTaylor@FranciscanMedia.org StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 47
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By Daniel Imwalle
Tiny Desk Concert
uring the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been starved of experiencing many things we were used to enjoying so easily before: large family gatherings, sporting events, festivals, and much more. Our experience of the arts has changed drastically as well—from watching movies to visiting an art museum, everything is different now. And that certainly extends to the world of music. Virtual concerts might leave a bit to be desired, as they sometimes attempt to recreate the experience of being in-person at large venues. To the rescue for this music lover is NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Gathered around the desk of Bob Boilen (host of the weekly online program All Songs Considered), musicians of all stripes perform intimate renditions from their catalog as well as surprising covers of others’ music. Often, the setting itself changes how the musicians play and stretches them creatively in ways that a performance on a big stage with lighting and theatrics might not. At the Tiny Desk, there’s nothing to hide behind or distract, so the music itself takes center stage. Most of the artists who have been featured are indie up-and-comers or veteran acts with a small but devoted following. However, some big names have taken the leap and embraced
the Tiny Desk concert experience, including Coldplay, Yo-Yo Ma (playing solo cello), the legendary Tom Jones, and superstar Taylor Swift. Coldplay’s concert, which aired this past March, featured a soulful nine-piece choir alongside lead singer Chris Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland. Smiles splashed across the musicians’ faces as they played a jubilant cover of Prince’s “1999.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the recent entries in the series were recorded at the home of an artist or band member, which only seems to accentuate the low-key and personal aspect of the performance. Singer Norah Jones’ August 17 concert, featuring her on an upright piano at home, is mesmerizing. The heartbreaking and bittersweet beauty of Jones’ song “How I Weep,” which introduces her 18-minute set, seems somehow more palpable and real in the home setting. There’s something for everyone with the Tiny Desk Concert series, with over 800 performances from the past 10 years to choose from and a wide variety of genres represented. Most of the concerts are between 10 and 20 minutes in length, so it’s easy to commit to watching a few at a time. For more on this series, visit npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts.
ICONS
music
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books
podcast tv & streaming
film
video
e-learning & online 9/30/20 2:30 PM
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF STORYCORPS
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PHOTO COURTESY NPR/CREATIVE COMMONS 2.0/SELENA N. B. H.
NPR’s Bob Boilen sits behind his desk, where hundreds of musicians have performed on the Tiny Desk Concert series.
By Pat McCloskey, OFM
Remembering Thanksgiving Day
About StoryCorps
T
his holiday celebrates freedom and family amid the struggles and responsibilities of living in this country. What better way to do that than to hear family members recount their challenges and blessings? By early September 2020, 96 Thanksgiving Day-related interviews had been posted at Archive.StoryCorps.org.
S Alyssa Belizario, Laura Belizario
Evelyn Thiem, Maggie Goodish
Cole Carey, Ann Baratta
‘SHOOT FOR THE STARS’
The motto above is a personal goal for Laura Belizario, she told Alyssa, her youngest child (age 18). Born in the Dominican Republic, Laura came to the United States in 1965 at the age of 10. With Spanish as her first language, she quickly learned English, excelling at math and spelling. She worked for 35 years as a pharmacy technician, is very attached to her biological family, has experienced the Holy Spirit in her life—and has gone skydiving! She advises, “Don’t be overly concerned with how others judge you.” Laura is glad for the sacrifices she has made for her family. Grief has taught her to accept more deeply the good things she has experienced. She became a US citizen at the age of 53, never expecting to see a Black man become president. “Don’t give up on what you want to see happen,” she says.—Interview #567327, 37 minutes
g&
In Washington, Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodish (age 13) interviewed her grandmother Evelyn Thiem, the youngest of seven children. Evelyn’s father was killed in a train accident shortly before she was born. Growing up in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, she enjoyed playing in her high school band and is still in touch with other band members. Evelyn reveals that Maggie’s mom was very smart and “no trouble at all.” Evelyn’s family is from the United States but has German roots. She did not know her grandparents.—Interview #2083821, 11 minutes INTERVIEWING NANA
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF STORYCORPS
PHOTO COURTESY NPR/CREATIVE COMMONS 2.0/SELENA N. B. H.
‘WHAT WAS MY MOM LIKE?’
Cole Carey (age 15) interviews his 85-year-old maternal grandmother, Ann Baratta. She summarizes the three most important lessons she has learned in life: Be true to yourself; you can’t predict the future; and do what you think is right at the time. She did not expect to have five daughters and hopes that her grandchildren will be successful by emulating their parents and following their dreams. When she asks Cole about his future plans, he says he hopes to be involved in sports media. She is confident that he will be successful, whatever he chooses. —Interview #244601, 7 minutes
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HAVE A FAVORITE CULTURE ITEM YOU WANT TO SHARE? Let us know about it: MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org
toryCorps, founded by David Isay, began in 2003 as a single story booth in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. Two years later, it had two mobile booths at the Library of Congress and had become a feature on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition program. Its first collection of stories, Listening Is an Act of Love, won a Pulitzer Prize and quickly became a New York Times best seller. Four other collections have been published in subsequent years. In 2015, Isay received the TED Prize. The StoryCorps database can be searched thematically (how the stories at left were identified), geographically, or by the year described. It has also developed apps for stories about being incarcerated or living as an LGBTQ person. This donor-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit seeks to collect, share, and preserve people’s stories, stressing its interview sessions, offering a wide diversity of participants, and always acting as a public service. RECORDING YOUR STORY
Go to StoryCorps.org/participate to find a recording session at a city near you—or go to StoryCorps. org/participate/StoryCorps-diy to learn about recording an interview on any topic with a friend or family member. Happy recording!
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 49
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CULTURE
By Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
Sister Rose’s FAVORITE MOVIES
about
SAINTS A Man for All Seasons (1966) Vision (2009)
The Song of Bernadette (1943) Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) Romero (1989)
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Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, and Millie Bobby Brown star in the Netflix original Enola Holmes.
ENOLA HOLMES
S
ixteen-year-old Enola (“alone” spelled backwards), played by Millie Bobby Brown, lives with her mother, Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter), on the family’s estate in England. Eudoria teaches her daughter every school subject, however unconventional, and how to fend for herself. Then, on Enola’s 16th birthday, her mother goes missing. Enter Enola’s eldest, uptight brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin) and seemingly fuzzybrained brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill). Mycroft makes plans to send Enola off to a proper boarding school while Sherlock investigates their mother’s disappearance. Enola takes matters into her own hands, disguises herself as a stable boy, and heads for London. She has an idea where her mother might be. But her plans are derailed a bit when she encounters Lord Viscount Tewksbury (Louis Partridge), who is fleeing his family for reasons of his own. Enola Holmes is based on the young adult book series The Enola Holmes Mysteries, by Nancy Springer. The script is by Jack Thorne, and Harry Bradbeer directs. I thoroughly enjoyed this Netflix original film. Brown
shows her considerable acting talent, and the camera loves her. I was surprised at how deftly Enola unfolds the mystery, but it is also about women’s suffrage and feminism in late 19th-century England. It shows that there are alternative ways to resolve conflict and redress wrongs other than violence. There may be some romance in any sequels. Not yet rated, PG-13 • Peril and some fighting.
LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; ENOLA HOLMES: COURTESY OF LEGENDARY PICTURES/ALEX BAILEY (2)
Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the award-winning film columnist for St. Anthony Messenger since 2003 and is the author of several books on Scripture and film, as well as media literacy education.
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FRANCESCO: MIDDLE: COURTESY JUAN CARLOS CRUZ; LEFT; COURTESY L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO/COMMUNITY OF SANT’EGIDIO; RIGHT: COURTESY SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL
Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
Pope Francis visits with Syrian refugees in Santa Marta.
Sister Norma Pimentel meets with Pope Francis.
FRANCESCO
FRANCESCO: MIDDLE: COURTESY JUAN CARLOS CRUZ; LEFT; COURTESY L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO/COMMUNITY OF SANT’EGIDIO; RIGHT: COURTESY SISTER NORMA PIMENTEL
LEFT: COURTESY SISTER ROSE PACATTE, FSP/MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS; ENOLA HOLMES: COURTESY OF LEGENDARY PICTURES/ALEX BAILEY (2)
Full disclosure: I am an associate producer of this film.
O
scar- and Emmy-nominated director Evgeny Afineevsky’s latest documentary is a unique deep dive into the life, vision, and papacy of Pope Francis. Beginning with the dramatic image of the solitary pope crossing St. Peter’s Square as rain fell on March 28 to pray to end the pandemic, the film moves around the world with Pope Francis, first focusing on Syrian refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos on his first apostolic journey as pope. He brought back 12 Syrian refugees to Rome. We go with him to the Italian immigrant reception center on Lampedusa, where mostly African people land when their boats sink on the way to Europe, followed by a controversial visit to Chile that broke open the reality of the clergy abuse scandal and evoked a humble apology from the pope to victims. A moving encounter via videoconference shows Francis thanking Sister Norma Pimentel in Allen, Texas, for her work with immigrants at the US-Mexico border—and calling her his favorite nun. The pope’s visit to Myanmar to navigate a tense diplomatic encounter is also included, as is his advocacy for the Rohingya people with the prime minister of Bangladesh, who opens her borders to those fleeing genocide. The film also gives us the backstory of Jorge Maria Bergoglio, who would become Pope Francis in 2013. Through archival photos and footage, as well as interviews with family members in Argentina, the audience comes to
a better understanding of the people, faith, and Jesuit charism that shaped him. Francis’ call for interfaith dialogue among Christians, Jews, and Muslims is highlighted by his visit to Israel and his friendship with his favorite rabbi, Abraham Skorka of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the pope’s Pope Francis and Juan Carlos Cruz hometown. Director Afineevsky, who is Jewish, has a compassionate vision when his subject is suffering people. He was given unprecedented access to Vatican television footage, the Vatican, and finally Pope Francis himself, whose smile and words of faith conclude the film. Francesco is a live-action, illustrated version of the pope’s agenda for serving humanity and bringing the peace of Christ to those who suffer. It addresses themes of Catholic social teaching, especially human dignity, respect for human life, the common good, and care for the earth. It is currently in theatrical release and will begin streaming online in January 2021. Not yet rated • Scenes of human suffering and peril.
Catholic News Service Media Review Office gives these ratings. A-1 General patronage
A-2 Adults and adolescents
A-3 Adults
L Limited adult audience
O Morally offensive
Source: USCCB.org/movies
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POINTSOFVIEW | FAITH and FAMILY
By Susan Hines-Brigger
What Does Love Look Like?
Susan welcomes your comments and suggestions! E-MAIL: CatholicFamily@ FranciscanMedia.org MAIL: Faith & Family 28 W. Liberty St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
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LANGUAGES OF LOVE
When I brought that up, Maddie mentioned a book that she had read for one of her college classes—The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman. She said it was very insightful to learn about the different ways people express their love. Chapman is the senior associate pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in WinstonSalem, North Carolina, as well as a well-known marriage counselor and director of marriage seminars. He says he wrote the book after
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Susan has worked at St. Anthony Messenger for 26 years and is an executive editor. She and her husband, Mark, are the proud parents of four kids—Maddie, Alex, Riley, and Kacey. Aside from her family, her loves are Disney, traveling, and sports.
noticing certain patterns in his counseling sessions. Those patterns, he points out, were that different people with different personalities express love in different ways. When people aren’t able or willing to speak each other’s language, trouble can arise. That realization led him to develop what he says are the five love languages—words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Maddie proceeded to explain what the different love languages look like and shared that her language was acts of service. She pointed out that in situations where I seemed to expect her to react with a hug or some other form of affection, she felt called more to get busy and do something for me, such as clean the house so I didn’t have to. The problem was, as someone who sits firmly under the physical touch banner of love languages, that wasn’t what I was hoping for. Her giving me a hug told me that she loved me. Her cleaning the house so I didn’t have to worry about it was her way of telling me she loved me. So you can see where there could be great potential for misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Likewise, my lack of understanding and honoring each of their specific languages was unknowingly creating a barrier between us. By the end of the conversation, we had all agreed that we would do better to both learn and respect how each of us best expresses our love and would like to receive love. It’s going to be an interesting process. LIFELONG LEARNING
What this whole situation reminded me of, though, was that we are always being called to learn and grow whether individually or in our relationships. Before we got married years ago, my husband, Mark, and I learned that we couldn’t just put our marriage on cruise control and expect to have a great ride. So why did I think it would be different with these relationships? As parents, we are constantly reminded that each of our children are unique individuals with his or her own likes, dislikes, and love language. The challenge is for us to learn how to speak it.
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TOP RIGHT: A DOGS LIFE PHOTO/FOTOSEARCH; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE
Susan Hines-Brigger
few months ago, I had the blessing of being able to sit down and talk with my three oldest children about what was going on in their lives. Since my oldest daughter, Maddie, no longer lives at home, my son, Alex, was heading off to college in Arizona, and my daughter Riley is often at work, it was a rare treat. Over the course of the more than two-hour conversation, a wide range of topics came up, such as family memories, future life plans, culture, and politics. It was a very stream-of-consciousness discussion. The subject that touched me the most, however, was when we talked about our relationships—where they’ve been, where they are, and how we hope they will continue to evolve as the kids grow and start to map out their own lives. As part of that, we began discussing the ways in which each of us expresses our love for others. It very quickly became evident that the way each of us demonstrates and understands showing love is as different as our personalities. For instance, none of my kids are very physically affectionate. They never have been. I, however, am the complete opposite. I don’t think anything says, “I love you,” quite like a big hug, and I am continually baffled as to why my kids don’t feel that same way.
MC KOZUSKO/SAM; MARABIRD/ISTOCK
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LIGHTENUp! WORD FIND
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SANDRA MALCOLM OF MULBERRY, KANSAS, wrote the winning caption for the image below from our September issue. Keep an eye out for the next Wordsmith Caption Contest and send in your ideas. You could be the next winner!
“It’s ‘Zooming’ cats and dogs!”
TRIVIA QUESTIONS
ADVENT
ESPOSITO
LEONARD
RADICAL
AVILA
FRANCESCO
MARIANNE
SAINTS
2: Where was Mary Ann Esposito born and raised?
TAGLIACOZZO
3: Who said: “Don’t call me a saint. I don’t want to be dismissed so easily”?
TURKEY
4: Where is the Franciscan Action Network based?
FEAST
GOLDEN
BISHOP
GRATITUDE
BOUNDARIES
HOLIDAYS
CABRINI
ITALIAN
CHEF
JUBILEE
DESK
JUSTICE
ELECTION
PETE&REPEAT
LOVE
MERCY
NETFLIX NONES
OLDENBURG PROPHETS PSALMS QUILT
RECIPE
STORYCORPS
THANKSGIVING VETERANS VOTE
WASHINGTON
1: When was St. Frances Xavier Cabrini canonized?
HINT: All answers can be found in the pages of this issue. ANSWERS AND CAPTIONS: E-mail your answers and captions to: MagazineEditors@FranciscanMedia.org, or mail to: St. Anthony Messenger, 28 W. Liberty St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
These scenes may seem alike to you, But there are changes in the two. So look and see if you can name Eight ways in which they’re not the same. (Answers below)
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ALL AGES!
Go online to order: Shop.FranciscanMedia.org For ONLY $3.99 Use Code: SAMPETE ANSWERS to PETE & REPEAT: 1) The girl’s hair is longer. 2) Pete’s shirt no longer has a white band on the bottom. 3) The candle has moved. 4) A fold in the curtain has disappeared. 5) Pete’s hand is now on the side of the platter. 6) The other turkey leg is visible. 7) Another muntin bar has appeared on the window. 8) There is no rim on the platter.
TOP RIGHT: A DOGS LIFE PHOTO/FOTOSEARCH; PETE & REPEAT: TOM GREENE
W
WINNING CAPTION!
Y
AUTUMN
MC KOZUSKO/SAM; MARABIRD/ISTOCK
U
brainteasers | games | challenges
StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 53
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in the kitchen
with Mary Ann Esposito
Cookies and Treats for the Holidays Ossi dei Morti (Bones of the Dead)
yield: 1½ dozen • prep time: 20 minutes; cook time: 30–35 minutes, depending on oven space • preheat oven: 300 degrees
T
hese cookies are brittle and dry like old bones. They are made throughout Italy around November 1 and 2 to celebrate All Souls’ Day, in remembrance of deceased relatives. Don’t let their name turn you off. They are unusual to look at, delicious to eat, and a real conversation piece.
COOKIE BATTER Ingredients:
2 large egg whites, at room temperature 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fine semolina flour 2/3 cup coarsely chopped semisweet or milk chocolate 3/4 cup coarsely chopped blanched almonds
FROSTING Ingredients:
2/3 cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
Instructions: Generously grease and flour cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. In a medium-size bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks begin to form. Slowly add half the sugar a little at a time, beating until well incorporated and the whites are stiff and shiny. Sprinkle the remaining sugar, semolina flour, chocolate, and almonds over the egg whites, and fold in with a rubber spatula. Using 2 teaspoons, use a small portion of batter to form bone-shaped cookies about 3 inches long and 1½ inches wide. (I use a cardboard template of a bone and trace it with a pencil onto the underside of the parchment paper. I then fill in the space with the batter.) Space the cookies about 1 inch apart. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cookies are fairly dry but still pale-looking. Cool on sheets, then transfer carefully to a cooling rack.
This recipe is featured on Season 3: Episode 313 of Ciao Italia.
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PHOTO COURTESY MARY ANN ESPOSITO
Stir the frosting well. Dip the underside of each cookie into the frosting and, while still wet, make wavy lines through the chocolate with a fork or a frosting comb. Let the cookies dry completely.
PHOTO BY RITA PIRO, BAKER: SUSAN J. FLANNIGAN
Fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the chocolate and butter to the top of the double boiler, cover, and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes or until the chocolate and butter are melted.
Mom’s Shortbread Cookies
yield: approximately 4 dozen • prep time: 20 minutes; cook time: about 10 minutes, depending on oven space • preheat oven: 350 degrees
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aking should not take all day. But quality should not be sacrificed either. I think this crunchy, rich, and definitely addicting shortbread cookie from my mother’s recipe box is a nice balance between time spent baking and the delicious results.
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled natural pistachio nuts 2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup dried cherries
Instructions: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Remove the wax paper from the log. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into ¼-inch thick rounds. (Or slice thicker rounds if you prefer.) Space the cookies about 1 inch apart and bake for about 10 minutes. The cookies should not brown but remain pale with just a hint of browning around the edges. Cool on wire racks. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy this treat from Mom. Note: Cookies like shortbread can be made ahead and frozen if well wrapped and sealed in tins, plastic containers, or plastic bags. This recipe is featured on Season 22: Episode 2215.
Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast them for about 5 minutes; watch that they do not burn. Cool, then coarsely chop and set aside. In a medium-size bowl, mix the flour and salt and set aside. In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very smooth. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Add the cranberries, cherries, and nuts and combine on low speed. Slowly blend in the flour and salt.
Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. PHOTO COURTESY MARY ANN ESPOSITO
PHOTO BY RITA PIRO, BAKER: SUSAN J. FLANNIGAN
Gather up the dough and transfer it to a large sheet of wax paper. Pat the dough into a rectangle roughly 4 inches wide and 18 inches long. Use the wax paper to help you roll the dough into a log shape. Neaten the ends and place the wax paper-wrapped dough in the freezer for 10 minutes.
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WANT MORE? See page 40 for a feature story spotlighting Mary Ann Esposito. StAnthonyMessenger.org | November 2020 • 55
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reflection
Faith lifts the soul. Hope supports it. Experience says it must. And Love says let it be!
STC SHIRLEY/FOTOSEARCH
—St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
56 • November 2020 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
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