December 2018
Meditation Next to the Child God in the Crib
By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Approach the crib of the Child God with me. Let us imagine the arrival of the Magi Kings at the manger, after having followed the Star of Bethlehem with their caravans and treasure-laden animals. These sovereigns—King Balthazar, King Melchior and King Gaspar—offer the Child Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh, in adoration. Looking at the God Child, we pause and consider His infinite grandeur, His accessibility, as well as His infinite compassion. We then ask ourselves, which of these three Divine qualities draws us closer to Him. Dignity of the Child Jesus and His Most Holy Mother As we consider the infinite greatness of His birthplace, let us imagine a spacious grotto as high as a cathedral, with some of the stones arranged, as if by angels, in such a way as to remind us of the arches of the gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages. We can also imagine the manger that served as a cradle for the Child God, the roughness of the wood sanctified by His Divine Presence. Placed at the focal point of the grotto with a heavenly, golden light hovering over Him, the manger is a majestic throne. While still a newborn, the Divine Child lay in His crib with the majesty of a true King: King of all majesty and all glory; Creator of Heaven and Earth; God incarnate made man. From the first moment of His being, while “cloistered” away in His Mother’s womb, He had more majesty, grandeur, strength and power than all men throughout the history of mankind. Knowing all things incomparably more than any scientist, the Christ Child had inscribed in every physical feature that majesty made of wisdom, holiness, science, and power.
Imagine we are seeing all this mysteriously expressed on that Boy’s face. At times, as He moves, that movement reveals His kingly bearing. When He opens His eyes, we know we are in the presence of the Wisdom of the Ages. A whole atmosphere of holiness surrounds those who approach Him. The very air one breathes has such purity that people do not even approach the place without asking forgiveness for their sins; but at the same time, the holiness emanating from the manger makes them want to amend their lives. Imagine also Our Lady at the foot of the Child Jesus. She is truly a Queen. Her dignity and grandeur are so naturally a part of her being that even without wearing noble-looking garments, her dignity shines throughout the grotto.
to the Child God. Invisibly, angels sing songs of glory and the whole atmosphere is permeated with so much sanctity as to transform the poverty of the stable into a royal court. Now we approach the manger, feeling the greatness of the Divine Child. As Catholics, we are worshiping all that is noble, pure, holy and steadfast, to fight and sacrifice all for the glory of God. The Boy before us mysteriously draws to Him all the goodness and grandeur that flow from Him and yet are but reflections of Him. For is it not true that all forms of purity, all forms of holiness, only exist because of His holiness? Thus, fending away from us sin, error, disorder and chaos, we do not even dare to raise our eyes to that magnificent scene of the Nativity in which order, hierarchy and splendor permeate everything. Though Majestic, He Beckons Us to Come Close Now let us imagine another aspect: His infinite accessibility. The grandeur of the Nativity is permeated with order, hierarchy and splendor. The Child Jesus is filled with infinite goodness. He only waits for us to approach. Painting by Dias Tavares.
Majesty Exuding From Sanctity From where does all this majesty come? Sanctity. Let us shift our meditation momentarily to consider a more recent example of this type of majesty. We will turn to Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower. It is written that even as a child she was so dear and imposing that her father called her “my little queen.” During the process of her canonization, the gardener of the Carmel of Lisieux reported that he once saw a nun working with her back to him: she was Saint Thérèse. The devil’s advocate1 then asked, “How could you know she was Sister Thérèse when she had her back to you?” The gardener’s response was very significant: “I knew it through the majesty of her bearing, for no other nun had such majesty.” If Saint Thérèse was like that, what would Our Lady be like? Imagine the Mother of God kneeling before her Child’s crib. She is so majestic, transcendent and pure, praying 1 The term “devil’s advocate” refers to the popular title of the person Appointed by the Roman Catholic Church to challenge a proposed beatification or canonization, according to the process used at the time of this writing. 2
Imagine the Baby Jesus immensely approachable. This King, so full of majesty, at a certain moment opens His eyes to us. We notice right away that His most pure, highly intelligent and penetrating gaze meets ours. He immediately sees the deepest of our faults, but also the best of our qualities. At that moment, He gently touches our soul just as He moved Saint Peter during His Passion. The Gospels tell us that the way Our Lord looked at Saint Peter was such that the latter went out and wept bitterly. Throughout his life, the Prince of the Apostles never forgot the touching gaze that continually caused him to repent of his three-fold denial of his Lord. It is only natural that this gaze would provoke in us a deep sorrow for our faults. Giving us a knowledge of our failings, it inspires us with a horror for our sins. But all is not lost! Just when we fear we cannot withstand that gaze, the newborn Redeemer also manifests His love of our qualities. He will always love that which He, in His infinite goodness, created. It is a love He dedicates to us despite our faults, because we were created by Him and are destined to a degree of holiness and perfection that He Himself placed within us. He knows our potential for greatness and that is what He loves. And when we least expect it, by a kind entreaty of Our Lady, He smiles. Despite all His majesty, with that smile we feel the distance disappear, forgiveness invades our soul, and we are drawn to Him; and thus
drawn, we walk up to stay with Him. We have determined that we will never leave the Child God’s side. The Divine Child affectionately embraces us and pronounces our name, in the most clear and loving tones to ever fall upon our ears. “My dear one, I do love you so much! I wish you so many things and forgive you for so many others! Do not think about your sins any longer. From now on, think only about serving Me. And throughout your life, when you have any doubt, remember the sympathy, kindness and good pleasure I am now showing you. Have recourse to Me through My Mother. Through the voice of My Mother, I will always hear you. I will be your refuge and your strength, and these will take you to heaven, to reign at my side for all eternity.”
Infinite Compassion Now imagine the mercy of the Child Jesus. This divine mercy is most evident when He seeks our good and discerns what is good and bad in us. In His mercy, the Child God considers the miserable condition of every man traveling through this vale of tears. The mercy of Christ analyzes the sorrow and suffering that each of us brings along—past, present and future suffering; the grief and sorrow that you may feel at this very moment. He already knows all of this because He is God. And He also sees the risk that our souls run of going to hell. As Catholics, we know that on his earthly journey man is exposed to the very real danger of losing his soul for all eternity. Also, imagine the Child Jesus looking at Purgatory and the torments that await us there if we are not entirely faithful. His Face now shows a look of sympathy and deep participation in our pain; a desire to remove that pain as much as possible in view of our sanctification. In His infinite mercy, this Infant desires to give us the strength to withstand whatever pain is necessary for our sanctification. In Him, we see that which so greatly consoles the human soul: perfect compassion. It is part of our human nature for us, when we are suffering, to feel consoled at seeing that someone has pity on us. Compassion thus lessens suffering by sharing in it. Man is made in such a way that when he is happy and communicates his joy, that joy is doubled; and when he is sad and communicates that sadness, the sorrow is divided.
So also are we made stronger when we discern in the face of the Child God that most perfect compassion. In all the sufferings of our life, when the cup of our trials is bitter, we should repeat, through Our Lady, His prayer: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, but let Your will be done, and not mine.” At any time we can ask that the pain cease. However, if it is His will that we drink from a bitter cup as He did, we are certain that our pain will find His compassion. In addition, He will tell us: “My son, I am suffering with you! Let us suffer together, for I suffered for you; a moment will come when you will forever participate in My joy.” And we can be sure that the compassionate gaze of Jesus will not leave us a single moment of our existence. Therefore, throughout the ups and downs of everyday life, we should retain this threefold memory—the Child God’s infinite majesty, His infinite accessibility, and the boundless compassion He shows towards us. This should be a living memory, one which composes in our imagination an accurate image, which moves our soul.
Three Crèches for the Child God Being like us in all things except sin, Our Lord’s human nature is comprised of perfections and moods that existed according to the circumstances of His life, and all of them perfect. He was full of majesty, fully accessible, ready to listen and to have compassion on men from the moment He became incarnate. It is only natural that one or another part of Christ’s human nature would be more obvious as different people, in different states of soul, approach Him. To better assist in a meditation like the one we just shared, it would be very inspiring if we were able to set up three crèches in a church, on three different altars. On each of these altars the figures and the whole atmosphere would signify each of these aspects, thus making it easier for souls to meditate on the Child’s mood that touches them the most. In this way our meditation on Christmas would be based on a very sensible retelling of the scene, which can more easily touch us and stay with us as we make our way out of the Crèche and back into the world.
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The Truth About The Tuam Scandal By Damien Murphy ISFCC.org
In 2014, and again in 2018 when Pope Francis visited Ireland, allegations were widely published of the supposed dumping of babies’ remains in a septic tank at the old Tuam Children’s Home. Headlines across the world blared: “Bodies of 800 babies, long-dead, found in septic tank at former Irish home for unwed mothers” – The Washington Post, USA “Almost 800 ‘forgotten’ Irish children dumped in septic tank mass grave at Catholic home” – ABC News, Australia. Zappone confirms she told pope about children’s bodies in sewage system of Tuam Home - The Journal, Ireland The Bon Secours sister who had run Tuam Children’s Home from 1925 to 1961 were accused of callously dumping the remains of babies in a septic tank without any proper burial. How true is this? What do the facts actually tell us? It is essential today for Catholics to know current affairs such as the Tuam scandal in order to effectively defend the honour of the Catholic Church. This does not mean we deny the existence of bad priests, bishops, and nuns in the Church; It means knowing the entire picture.
The High Mortality Rate
In 1938, the national infant mortality rate for newborns (those less than one year old) was 66 per 1,000. The average infant mortality rate in the Tuam Children’s Home from 1924 to 1960 was 128 - almost double the national average. This 4
figure is more similar to that of Dublin Borough and Cork City, where the rates were 102 and 103 respectively. Several facts, however, make the Home’s statistics inaccurate and actually quite impossible to ascertain. Children who were brought to the Home by government inspectors came from severly unsanitary conditions where diseases were more rampant. In the 1949 Report, the inspector says this: “First there is the constant risk of infection brought in from outside by the admission of whole families...”1 The chances these unfortunate people had infectious diseases was higher than average because of their often heartbreaking state of life. The nuns also had to contend with a crowded conditions in which highly infectious diseases spread rapidly. Many diseases that are today regarded as mere nuisances such as measles or Whooping cough, killed many babies. In 1926 for example, 64% of deaths were attributed to measles, in 1936 it was 48%. In response to these outbreaks of infectious diseases, the nuns frequently asked for isolation chambers to be built.2,3,4,5 The statistics mentioned earlier are based upon the death register. While such registers were supposed to kept 1 https://books.google.ie/books/about/tuambabies.html?id=0B9xCQAAQBAJ 2 “The care given to infants in the Home is good; the Sisters are careful and attentive; diets are excellent. It is not here that we must look for cause of the death rate” https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Bon_Secours_Mother_and_Baby_Home#Workhouse_ and_military_barracks 3 A 1949 report: “They found everything in the Home in very good order, and congratulated the Bon Secours Sisters on the excellent condition of their Institution.” - Tuam Herald 25/06/1949 4 “The committee congratulated Rev Mother Hortense and the Bon Secours community on the very efficient manner in which the Home is being conducted.” - Tuam Herald 29/4/1950 5 “Dr. T B Costello, Medical Officer, Children’s Home, Tuam, and the matron (Sister Hortense), in their respective reports, urged the necessity of proceeding with the erection of the proposed laundry and disinfecting chamber for the Tuam Home owing to the risk of an outbreak of fever in the institution. [and the board did decide to prepare plans for it.]” - Connaught Tribune 23/4/1938
throughout the country, in rural areas it was very patchy. The Home however had a resident doctor and a Medical Officer. This meant that, by contrast to a country cottage, the birth and death of a baby in the Home would be registered since the competent officers were always present. This obviously gave an impression of a higher infant mortality rate to the Home and would partly explain why the rate of the Home and the cities of Dublin and Cork are similar. Both of these cities had a natural concentration of personnel authourised to register a death.
Dumping of Dead Babies in A Septic Tank In 1975, Frannie Hopkins and Barry Sweeney, two local boys, lifted a concrete lid and discovered a type of vault with bones scattered at the bottom. In 2007, the exact location of the 1975 discovery was recorded by the Archaeological Survey and numbered XXX GA-043-141---.6 Philip Boucher Hayes also interviewed Frannie Hopkins and photographed him standing over the location of the grave. Both the photograph and the location marked by the Archaeological Survey are within the old workhouse walls while the sewage tank is clearly marked as being outside the walls. Towards the end of 2016, test excavations were done which revealed two structures. According to the commission: 6 Incidentally, the National Monuments Service silently moved the dot a few days after the controversy broke. They moved it from OSI Irish Transverse Mercator coordinates of 544090, 751193 to 544086, 751185. The author of @tuambabies: A Critical Look at the Tuam Children’s Home Scandal, Brian Nugent recorded the exact location a few days before they moved it and also noticed that they retained the townland corresponding to the old location, Toberjarlth, which is now inaccurate when applied to the new one, which is clearly in Farrannabox. The original location was also recorded by Steve White @lostexpectation on twitter before it was moved.
Conclusion
A. is where a recent archaeological dig has discovered Famine remains. B. and C. are where in 1975 Frannie Hopkins and Barry Sweeney made their discovery. D. is the centre of an area marked as a ‘sewage tank’ in c.1930 O.S. map. E. is the location of a crypt seen by Mary Moriarty. F. is the location of a shed, which during its construction, human remains were found.
“One structure appears to be a large sewage containment system or septic tank that had been decommissioned and filled with rubble and debris and then covered with top soil. The second structure is a long structure which is divided into 20 chambers. The Commission has not yet determined what the purpose of this structure was but it appears to be related to the treatment/containment of sewage and/or waste water. The Commission has also not yet determined if it was ever used for this purpose.”7
Interview of Mary Moriarty In the 1970’s a girl called Mary Moriarty fell through a hole and discovered what she described as a crypt. Mary: “There seemed to be raises, or steps or something, on the far wall opposite me and the babies were placed on that. You could see they were 7 https://www.aai.gov.ie/images/03-MAR---Mother-and-BabyHomes-Commission-of-Investigation-Statement-.pdf
swaddled up, rolled up in cloth, and placed one after another in each raise. And there was quite a lot of them there ... I understood it was a crypt... What I saw seemed to have been newborn babies. Like I couldn’t tell if they were babies or not but the way they were wrapped they seemed to me they were.” Interviewer: “You made the presumption they were stillborn babies?” (M):“Yes, that’s what I thought and that’s what the people who were along with me at the time thought as well...There was three or four I thought, levels, or five maybe, from the ground up to the roof that was filled with those parcels, They were like little parcels on the shelves.” (I):“Approximately a hundred bodies?” (M):“That’s what I presumed was in it. I never realised it was anything more.”8
8 Interview by Philip Boucher-Hayes, Drivetime, RTE Radio 1, 12/6/14, https://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/ rteradioweb.
Did the Bon Secours nuns commit a crime? Reading the newspapers one would get the impression that they did, but according to the Gardai, no crime was committed. “If the coroner suspects suspicious elements then we have an obligation to investigate. We don’t have anything to investigate at the moment because there’s no crime and even if there was, there’s no one to prosecute.”9 Did the nuns do something morally wrong? Were they disrespectful towards the dead? If they discarded dead babies in a sewage tank then yes, they committed a morally objectionable act. But there is no evidence to support this assertion. The Tuam scandal is far more nuanced than what RTE and the Irish Times portray. Catholics should not hang their head in shame every time Tuam is mentioned. They should immediately be suspicious of how the story is being spun and see if they can unearth facts the media try to hide. Most importantly, Catholics should always remember that the Church has gone through many crises. And as with previous conflicts, she will emerge victorious over her external and internal enemies.
Much of the information in this article is drawn from @tuambabies: A Critical Look at the Tuam Children’s Home Scandal. http://www.lulu.com/ shop/brian-nugent/tuambabies/paperback/product-23587358.html html#!rii=b9_20597601_83_12-06-2014 9 https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/tuamno-evidence-of-crime-nobody-to-prosecute-780150.html
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Ambiences, Customs and Civilisations
Old Age: Decrepitude or Glory?
By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
“Catolicismo”, N. 23, November 1952 (*)
How the modern world, caught up in sensuality, deceives itself when it sees only decadence in aging. When one knows how to esteem the spirit more highly than the body, growing old is to grow into what is most noble, the soul. Although aging does entail bodily decadence, this is only the material element in the human person. The body may indeed lose its beauty and its vigor, but it may enrich itself with the translucence of a soul that knew how to develop and grow along the course of life. This translucence constitutes the highest beauty the human face may acquire.
Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier was born in the island of Noirmoutier of pious parents on July 31, 1796, and received in baptism the name of Rose Virginia. She entered the community of the “Refuge” of Tours in 1814, and made her profession in 1816, taking the name of Mary Saint Euphrasia. She became first mistress of the penitents, a short time after her profession, and about eight years later was made superioress of the house of Tours. Desirous of extending the benefits of her order to the very extremities of the earth, she clearly saw that a central government, a mother-house, should be established. With help from Pope Gregory XVI, she founded Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd of Angers. She died in April 29, 1868, and her feast is celebrated on April 24. During her life, nothing representing beauty was lacking to her youth: the crispness of her features, the beauty of her eyes and her flawless skin, the distinction of her face, the nobility of her bearing, the vigor and grace of youth. Moreover, the splendor of a dear, logical, vigorous and pure soul was reflected on her face. She was a magnificent example of a young Christian maiden. Now behold her in her old age. There remains but a dim reflection of her youthful tharm. Yet another beauty, a higher one, shines in that admirable face. Her gaze has grown profoundly, a noble and imperturbable serenity foretells the transcendental and definitive nobility of the blessed in heavenly glory. Her face conserves the marks of the arduous battles of the interior and apostolic life of the saints, showing a form of strength, of completeness, of the immutable—it is maturity in the most beautiful sense of the word. The mouth is finely pressive, conveying the temper of iron. Great peace and kindness with neither romanticism nor illusion, but with some remnant of the former beauty, still shines in this face. The body has declined, but the soul has grown so much that now it is all in God, leading one to recall Saint Augustine, statement, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee.” Who would dare affirm that for Saint Mary Euphrasia growing old was growing decadent? 6
(*) Crusade Magazine, vol. 77, September-October 2005, page 11.
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Annual Calendar
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The afformentioned campaigns are only a proportion of the campaigns presently being undertaken by Irish Society for Christion Civilisation. The above are approximate figures based on information available when printing error and omissions excepted
itatio n Nex Child t to t God i he n the Crib
Decemb er 2018 Approa ch imagine the crib of the Ch ild after ha the arrival of vin the Mag God with me caravan g followe . Let d the St i Kings at s the ma us ar of Be reigns— and treasur Imagine nger, e-l thl By Pl Gaspar—King Balthaz aden animals ehem with inio Co on tha we are seein their ar, King . Thes offer t Bo rrêa g e sove myrrh de Ol Melc ment rev y’s face. At all this myste , in ad the Child Je iveira riously oration sus go hior and Ki eyes, we eals His kin times, as He ng ld, frank expres . Looking gly mo se know incense of the we are bearing. Whe ves, that mo d infinite at the God Ch and Ag vein es. n He gr the pres nite co andeur, Hi ild, we paus ence of opens His A whole s accessi mpassio e and co the Wisd three Di bil n. nsider approa atmosphere om His vine qu We then ask ity, as well ch of as His alities ourselve rity tha Him. The ve holiness su infi draws rro t us close s, which of Dignity asking people do no ry air one br unds those these r to Hi ea wh fo t of the m. Child the ho rgiveness fo even approa thes has such o liness Jesus ch the r their pu em an pla sin Most want to d His an As we Holy M amend ating from s; but at the ce without co other sa the ma their liv let us im nsider the infi Imagine nger ma me time, es. kes the also Ou with so agine a spac nite greatne She is m ss ious gr me of truly a r Lady at the otto as of His birthp the sto such a Queen. dignity foot of ne hig wa lace, Her an the Ch cathedr y as to rem s arranged, as h as a cathe naturall d grandeur ild Jesu ind dral, als of if by are so y s. the Midd us of the that ev a part of her arches angels, in We ca le Ages en of the being n also . gothic imagine ring no without we for the able-look the Child ments, God, the manger tha ing ga by His he rDivine t served r dignit roughn shines grotto Presen through y with a ce. Plac ess of the wo as a cradle the grott out he the ma od sanc o. nger is avenly, golde ed at the foca tified a majes l po n While tic thron light hoverin int of the sti g over e. with the ll a newbor Him, n, all glo majesty of a the Divine Ch ry; Crea true Ki ild lay made ng: Ki tor of in His ma He ng crib “cloiste n. From the aven and Ea of all majes ty fir rth; Go red majesty, ” away in st moment d incarn and of Hi through grandeur, str s Mother’s His being, wh ate womb ength out the , He ha ile an incom d more parably history of ma d power tha n all me had ins more tha nkind. cribed Know n n any ing all in made of wisd every phys scientist, the thi ical fea om, ho Christ ngs liness, tur Ch science e that majes ild , and po ty wer.
7
Lecture on Catholic teaching on Creation In September Irish Society for Christian Civilisation co-hosted several lectures by Hugh Owen, founder and director of the Kolbe Centre for the Study of Creation. The topic of his lectures was: Creation, Evolution and the Anti-Culture of Death. Pope St. Pius X called Modernism the “synthesis of all heresies” and he identified evolution as “the principal doctrine of the modernists.” In his lectures Mr Owen explained, from both theological and scientific perspectives, why evolution lies at the root of the anti-culture of death in Ireland; and why a culture of life can only be built on the foundation of the true Catholic doctrine of creation.
Each lecture was followed by lively Question & Answer sessions.
Mr Hugh Owen
Founder and Director of the Kolbe Centre for the Study of Creation
Our Readers Write Just a note to express my gratitude to Ireland Needs Fatima. Since beginning to subscribe and support this most worthwhile crusade, you, in your turn have sent me some beautiful gifts such as Rosary beads, Calendars, an exquisite sterling silver medal of Our Lady which I gifted to my son, he never takes it off, a big thank you on his behalf. More recently Michael, you sent me a bronze medallion of Our Lady of Fatima, fitting very neatly into a box display case. Thank you so much for what will now become a family heirloom. Continued success with the crusade. MS. Co Cork. I received your wonderful calendar 2019, if you only knew how much I look forward to getting your calendar every year you would be amazed, it gives me the confidence to start evert year....Happy Christmas to you and all at Ireland Needs Fatima. ES, CoWaterford. I just want to thank you for your gift of the Fatima Centenary Rosary which I received a couple of months ago. It is a lovely Beads and I will use it when praying the Rosary as I usually don’t use a Beads even though I had always one or two in my possession. The Rosary is a very powerful prayer that everyone should say with the World being a better place as a result. LO’M, Co Limerick. 8
Ireland today is at a crossroads.........Your crusade is like an oasis of hope in a desert of despair. May Mary lead us with Jesus to partake of its healing waters and may Ireland once more reflect the inheritance of our dearly departed loved ones who passed on the faith of their fathers to us. SJ, Co Offaly. I received your beautiful gift in the post, I am so delighted to receive such a lovely Medallion of Our Lady of Fatima. It made my day when I received it,.... since then I feel the house has felt happier. I trust in Our Blessed Lady to watch over and guide our Family always. Once again thank you for my gift, and thank you for bringing peace back to our home. SM, Dublin 18.
Many thanks for the newsletter, I found it very interesting and a good read. I wish you good luck with your mission, nothing but good can come out of it. GD, Co Donegal. Thank you so much for the beautiful calendar, I put it where everyone can see it. The Irish scenery is just so beautiful....... May God bless you. AT, Co Limerick.
Ireland Needs Fatima Newsletter is published by Irish Society for Christian Civilisation Talbot Hall, P.O. Box 9701, Swords, Co. Dublin Tel/Fax: 01-842 9640 – www.isfcc.org The Ireland Needs Fatima Newsletter is free of charge, although any donations sent to help defray the cost of producing it will be welcome. Ireland Needs Fatima is a special project of Irish Society for Christian Civilisation, which is a charity registered as a company limited by guarantee. Registration Number 381474. Directors: P.Folley, M. Murphy. Secretary: R. M. O’Hanlon. Charity Number: CHY 20680. Registered Charity Number: CRA 20082277