St. Bernard's Magazine, Fall 2023

S T . B E R N A R D ' S M A G A Z I N E

SPLENDOR OF THE TRUTH

THE EUCHARIST: REFLECTING ON VERITATIS SPLENDOR DURING THE NATIONAL EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

FIDES ET RATIO AT 25: WHY IT STILL MATTERS

TRUTH'S OWN SPLENDOR: ST ELIZABETH ANN SETON & THE NYS EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

With each passing year, I grow in my appreciation of our Lord’s pronouncement that the truth will set us free As a young man, I was like many of my generation who considered the truth, especially in the moral realm, as a barrier to the realization and expression of my authentic self! The nebulous quality of my inner spiritual and emotional life, however, told a different story, and after a time, through much needless suffering, I came to understand that one needed the solid and constant ground of the truth both to steady oneself amid life’s shifting sands, and to launch the trajectory of one’s life even when all conspires to suspend this indefinitely

In this issue of the St. Bernard’s Magazine, we take a moment to express our gratitude not only for the graces that have fallen upon our community, but also for the Church’s enduring proclamation and dogged defense of fundamental things which, when taken all together, declare the Church to be the voice of sanity and sanctity in this world. Even amid its sinful members and the degradations and injustices that they perpetrate, the Church boldly speaks of the full nature of reason, its beautiful relation to and service of the Faith, our capacity to know the fundamental truths of reality, our ability to effect the good and the beautiful in our lives, and our access to those avenues of sanctifying grace offered to us, all of which guide and strengthen us, allowing us to manifest in freedom and integrity the fullness of that to which we have been made, thereby realizing our authentic selves and our happiness.

We are, then, no longer slaves to this world and its empty promises In the light of the truth of our Faith we are children and friends of God. May we honor with our lives this great gift and lovingly invite others into the splendor that we enjoy.

Sincerely, President

A YEAR IN REVIEW

God’s blessings continue to fall upon our community! This academic year we witnessed:

The re-affirmation of our accreditation by the Association for Theological Schools for another 10 years!

Our 42nd Annual Commencement with 22 students graduating! The Reverend Eugene P Ritz, Vicar for Clergy and the Director of Permanent Diaconate Formation for the Diocese of Allentown, PA, gave the commencement address

The 18th Annual Gathering of the Ministerium for the Diocese of Rochester, titled Heart Speaks to Heart: Friendship with God & Friendship with Others, featuring Rachel Bulman as keynote speaker

Preparations for our upcoming annual academic conference entitled, “Human Action and the Drama of Accompaniment: The 30th Anniversary of Veritatis Splendor,” to be held September 29th through October 1st, 2023

The hiring of Deacon Ed Knauf as Director of Finance and Human Resources, Mr. Ryan

Stansbury as Director of Development, Mrs. Maria Mruzek as Events Assistant, Miss Julia Sengenberger as Academics and Library Assistant, as well as the promotion of Mr. Danny Drain, Ph.D. (Cand.) to a full-time appointment as Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology

Close to 600 auditors to our One Free Summer Audit initiative (now gratefully sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Finger Lakes Chapter) an increase from 351 last summer

An overall increase of approximately 15% in new student enrollment

The 48th annual Otto A. Shults Lecture Series with Sister Gill Goulding, CJ, presenting on "The Mystery of God at Work in the Voice of the People of God: The Spiritual Theology Underpinning the Synodal Process”

A $25,000 grant from ATS to continue the work initiated under our Lilly Foundation Pathways for Tomorrow grant

A revivification of St. Bernard’s On the Road, making our faculty available for in-person talks to parish communities throughout upstate New York

Join with us in giving thanks to God for all that He has entrusted to us!

FACULTY & STAFF UPDATES

This past year has been filled with exciting new additions to the St. Bernard’s team!

that St Bernard’s welcomes Deacon Ed Knauf as Director of esources. Deacon Ed brings with him more than forty years of finance and accounting He was a founding partner in a public nd has also held Controller and CFO roles in private industry of the University of Notre Dame and is a 2012 graduate of St. was ordained in 2012 as a permanent deacon in the Diocese of ried to his wife, Pam, and they have three daughters and seven grandchildren.

St. Bernard’s also welcomes Mr. Ryan Stansbury as Director of Development A native of Rochester, NY, Ryan graduated recently from The Catholic University of America, where he studied philosophy and history. After graduation he worked in real estate, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D C He now joins St Bernard’s to combine his business skills and love of theology in service of the Church.

The School congratulates Mr. Daniel Drain, Ph.D. (Cand.), who has recently been promoted from Lecturer in Pastoral Theology to Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology. Daniel’s excellence in the classroom and his earnest accompaniment of his advisees and students make him an outstanding resource and a valuable member of the School’s faculty.

St Bernard’s has also added several important part-time staff members to our team Mr. Michael Ceragioli has joined the School as Program Director of the Certificate in Evangelization. Michael received a Master's degree in theology from Mt. Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon, and is currently engaged in doctoral studies at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas Michael oversees the operations and success of the Certificate, which graduated its first cohort of 27 students this past May!

Ms. Julia Sengenberger is St. Bernard's new Academics and Library Assistant, and Mrs. Maria Mruzek, MS, PT, joins the community as Events Assistant, where she helps the St Bernard’s team continue its legacy of hospitality and detail-oriented facilitation of conferences, lectures, and more.

Finally, it is a great joy to welcome several excellent instructors to our School We are honored to welcome Kasey Kimball, Ph.D. (Cand.), Rev. Eugene Ritz, J.C.L., Matthew Ramage, Ph.D., Erik van Versendaal, Ph.D., and Catherine Yanko, Ph.D. (Cand.); they bring an incredible depth and breadth of insight and experience to our School and deeply enrich the experience of studying at St Bernard’s.

Message from the Chair

Life, for all its joys and beauties, can be so very difficult at times In my own case, in the past few months, a relative lost his job, a good friend lost her spouse, another friend was just diagnosed with inoperable cancer, and a close family member was asked to move, yet again, to another part of the country.

In life, how does one cope with these difficult indeed, oftentimes extraordinarily difficult circumstances?

Whether one is the person in these difficult circumstances, or is just a close friend or family member, it helps to have a shoulder to cry on, a belief system that helps guide one’s way through such times, and, importantly, I believe, to have a belief and faith in God Whether one’s family or friend network is large or small, it is at these difficult times helpful to know and believe in God, and to know that there is something better that awaits all of us.

And at these times, prayer matters Prayer helps us give voice to our beliefs, our fears, our sadness, and our hopes, as well as fulfills our desire to comfort and to be comforted Prayer can be comforting, therapeutic, cathartic, and, even in the darkest of moments, uplifting.

“This, too, shall pass” can be a helpful thought at such times, but that thought alone is oftentimes indeed, most often insufficient Prayer, coupled with the passage of time, can be the bridge that comforts us and those around us; it can get us through the tunnel of despair

But, I would add, prayer matters during better times as well: prayer for the protection of loved ones, prayer of thanks for the gifts and graces the Lord has bestowed on us, prayer of resolve to do better in our personal lives, prayer for others to do better in their lives, and even prayer of simple appreciation for life

In the cases I referenced above I can already see improvement, though not necessarily in the manner I might have expected, and have even seen how some good has come from an otherwise sad circumstance Nevertheless, I will continue to pray

With appreciation for, love of, and, yes, prayers for, the entire St Bernard’s community,

Edward W. Kay, Jr. Chair, St. Bernard’s Board of Trustees

COMMENCEMENT 2023

May 12th, 2023, marked St Bernard’s 42nd annual Commencement and conferral of degrees, which welcomed twenty-two students into the School’s ever-growing community of alumni It also celebrated the first cohort of twenty-seven graduates from our Certificate in Evangelization, a unique six-credit program offered in partnership with the Saint John Society. Faculty, staff, students, and friends gathered at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester, NY, where the Reverend Father Eugene P Ritz, Vicar for Clergy and the Director of Permanent Diaconate Formation of the Diocese of Allentown, PA, addressed our graduates in a ceremony presided over by the Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano, Bishop of the Diocese of Rochester.

MSt Bernard’s strives not only to educate and form the mind, but to accompany our students in their human and spiritual journey

This spirit of accompaniment and its indispensability to the Christian life formed the basis of Fr Ritz’s address, wherein he held up Dante’s guides in the Divine Comedy, Virgil, Beatrice, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, as examples of what we should strive to be in each other’s lives He explained that it is only by “knowing and loving God that people come to the fullness of truth about themselves,” and therefore are able to accompany others in their own journey to do the same

Our 2023 class of graduates, representing five of our academic programs and including eight lay students, seven diaconate candidates from the Diocese of Buffalo, five

pre-seminarians from the Diocese of Albany, and one religious sister from the Society of Mary, were indeed accompanied throughout their time at St Bernard’s, with many experiencing firsthand this gift of coming to know themselves more fully through their study of the faith. As one student shared, “As I have deepened my studies in philosophy, I have discovered the freedom of being human I have received a new perspective, meaning, and priorities ”

Each of our graduates has now been sent forth to continue their various work in the world as ministers, missionaries, and lay men and women While we will miss them, we know that they carry with them a gift and achievement that will outlast even their own lives, living eternally as blessings to the Church which we have been called to serve

Class of 2023 with Bishop Matano of the Diocese of Rochester, Bishop Lucia of the Diocese of Syracuse, Fr Eugene Ritz, Board Members, and Faculty

Certificate in Evangelization graduates with St. Bernard's faculty and administration

Graduates & Permanent Deacons with Deacon Timothy Chriswell, Director of Deacons, Diocese of Buffalo, NY

Service Sacramentalized: Deacons Formed & Sent

These words from the second edition of The National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States of America (no. 127) underscore the task, and therefore the gift, which St Bernard’s receives in its capacity as intellectual formators for those approaching diaconate ordination in the Dioceses of Albany, Allentown, Buffalo, and Rochester This year, we were blessed to see a number of men ordained for these Dioceses who have come through our academic programs, many of whom recently graduated with a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies (MAPS)

The Diocese of Buffalo saw 7 of our graduates ordained to the permanent diaconate on May 20th, 2023: Kevin Barron ’23, Todd Bowman ’23, †James Cantella ’23, Martin Hackford ’23, Thomas Labelle ’23, John Phillips ’23, and John Rhein ’23 In the Diocese of Albany, likewise on May 20th, 2023, three of our students were also ordained to the diaconate: Eduardo Treviño, Jr (current MAPS student), Joseph Tuan Van Pham ’22, and Anthony Onu ’22 St Bernard’s is blessed beyond measure to have participated in the passing on of “substantial nourishment” to these men who now serve the Church as deacons and is ever grateful for having been the “precious instrument” in their intellectual formation (National Directory, no. 127).

As these men now enter what is called the “Post-Ordination” stage of formation, we continue to pray for them and ask for their intercession on our behalf, keeping in mind these words of exhortation from Pope Francis: “[a]ll of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel” (National Directory, no 265)

"The commitment to study, which takes up no small part of the

Diocese of Rochester's permanent deacon class of 2022; photo courtesy of Jeff Witherow/Catholic Courier

time of those preparing for the [permanent diaconate]... is not in fact an external and secondary dimension of their human, Christian, spiritual, and vocational growth. In reality, through study, especially the study of theology, the future [deacon]... assents to the word of God, grows in the spiritual life, and prepares himself to fulfill his pastoral ministry.”

By the Numbers

Scan the QR code to join our summer 2024 waitlist!

Starting in the summer of 2020, during some of the most intensive quarantine protocols of the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff and faculty at St Bernard’s made the bold decision to offer the opportunity to audit a summer course for free to the wider community. That wider community ended up being the wider global community! St. Bernard’s saw over 100 auditors join us from all over the United States and around the world. At that time, we felt both incredibly grateful for this extended community and strongly motivated to share our mission even more broadly with anyone who was interested; today we remain more grateful and motivated than ever.

This past summer our third annual One Free Summer Audit Initiative, now sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Finger Lakes Chapter, drew a total of approximately 600 auditors from across the United States and the world: this represents an increase of over 70% compared to last year! This year, auditors came from almost every state in the United States, as well as countries from all over the world, including: Canada, Brazil, Nigeria, France, Portugal, Ireland, India, Australia, and others!

St. Bernard’s is incredibly honored to continue building up this global community of auditors, and we look forward to doing so each summer semester. We are incredibly grateful and humbled that many of our summer auditors continue to audit with us, or matriculate into one of our academic degree or certificate programs!

Becoming Catholic was, for me, like drinking from a firehose. With no shortage of wisdom to take in, but without a means by which to shape and guide my learning, I felt like a starving man at the banquet table trying to eat everything at once rather than one bite at a time.

Auditing "Co-Worker in the Truth: The Legacy and Thought of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI" gave me the exact structure I had been seeking Years back as a smug agnostic, Ratzinger's "Introduction to Christianity" had (within a paragraph) promptly humbled me as I realized just how little I understood the Catholic intellectual tradition Auditing this course not only drew me to a higher pitch of intellectual growth, but strengthened my faith through the unshakable confidence of this intellectual giant who stood firm in the face of fascism, socialism, political corruption, and ecclesiastical infighting a confidence of which we are in dire need of today

Madeleine Troppe | Pittsburgh, PA

Thanks to the professors of, "My Beloved is Mine, an I am My Beloved's: Mystical Commentary on the Song of Songs," Prof. Lisa Lickona and Dr. Matthew Kuhner, this previously puzzling book of the Bible was opened to reveal a greater depth of love and beauty than I had ever imagined. I am humbled by the understanding that God bestows beauty on His bride (each of us) in such a generous way that this beauty becomes our own, almost as if it were a mystery to Him. He desires to know His bride, and as the bride's desire for Him is kindled in turn, the desire purifies her This course is timely for me, as I was eternally espoused to Christ this summer as a consecrated virgin living in the world, and the class awakened in me a new sense of awe in my Bridegroom

Tyler Wentland | York, ME

Your Generosity Remembered

Our 2022-2023 Annual Donor Report recognizes those who made financial or in-kind contributions to St. Bernard’s between June 1st, 2022, and May 31st, 2023. We reached almost $134,000 in total donations - an amount we have not raised since the 2013-2014 fiscal year! We are deeply grateful to our friends listed here. Through your prayerful support, we are able to continue to provide outstanding resources and facilities to prepare our graduates for a lifetime of ministry.

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FIDES ET RAtIO at 25: Why It Still Matters

by Stephen J Loughlin

"The Storm on the Sea ofGalilee,"RembrandtHarmenszoon van Rijn, 1633

The teaching of philosophy is for many Christians a-

kin to intellectual triage Although our profession is dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom, there has always been that keenly felt responsibility to encourage others to join in this quest, or at least to give them the tools whereby they might think, act, and feel aright Those privileged to teach introductory philosophy courses at the undergraduate level receive those wounded by the age in which we live, who have become cynical before their time, disaffected with the world and its empty promises, and closed off from the true riches and beauty that surround them at the very least in their families and in their friends. We know that our instruction and example will be instrumental in the healing of some of those we treat. However, we know equally well that no matter what we do, there will be those who remain in mortal danger and that, generally speaking, we are only a part of that larger field hospital: there will be those that stop the bleeding, those that stabilize the wounded, and those who will provide further healing that we did not or could not

and are blissfully unaware of the true pastoral duties to which Christians are called Instead, we have in this work the perennial exordium of the good rhetorician, the exhortation of the Baptist, the protrepticus of the Christian philosopher, the encomium of the one who has purchased the pearl of great price. To those so hardened by the cruelty of our age, such a work and the posture of its author still stand as they did 25 years ago, namely as kindly but firm reminders that there is something beyond our empirical reach, that the intangibles in which both the faith and the arts are involved are not wholly encompassed by the human person’s subjectivity, that there is a hale and hearty communion shared among the great disciplines of the western intellectual tradition and the faith of our Fathers (to the betterment of them both), and that we need not feed upon the thin mean gruel served up by the scientism of our day as if this were the only true food and drink available to us

This is not some quaint practice of a scholar, as some would have it, naïve to the demands of this world, lost in the rarified climes within which only a few dwell

Works such as Fides et Ratio erupt just at that moment when a people have swept aside the greater intangible truths of faith and philosophy, which they often consider to be the superstitions of their youth, having convinced themselves that now, with the sweet mythic lies of the nursery put firmly upon the shelf (or in the bin depending upon your taste), humanity can now begin the real work of living toward fullness, perfection, and dare we say, happiness. But like a canary in the coalmine, the youth that present themselves in an introductory philosophy class tell a very different story, and one wonders at the collective blindness of a generation of professors, social reformers, churchmen, and other professionals as they swing their swords mightily upon battlefields at opponents either long dead, or who are simply removed from combat and who look piteously upon this farcical fray as they go about the true degradation of the people of God Works such as Fides et Ratio will always matter not simply because of the need to remind people of all walks of life not to divide what God originally has joined (faith and reason!), but that our lives only take on the fullness, perfection, and happiness to which they are directed when we draw upon all that is best, true, and good in our artistic, scientific, philosophical, and

In considering "Fides et Ratio" upon its 25th anniversary, we continue to hear the clarion call of that lover of wisdom, Pope St. John Paul II, to pursue and embrace the depths of our faith not in some partial fashion, but in the fullness of the image to which we have been made, engaging the heights of our humanity to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

PopeJohnPaulII,usinghiscrosierforsupport,celebratesanoutdoorMassinSlovenia,Sept.19,1999(photo:GabrielBouys/AFPviaGettyImages) theological traditions. In so doing we face and behold both each other and ourselves as we truly are, revealed by these traditions in their communion with the revelation of God. In this communion of the natural and the supernatural, we are positioned to behold both the wonder that we are and the depths, the breadths, and the heights of God’s creation.

We dare not, then, let this clarion call become a plaintive cry The terror that this might happen fuels especially the Christian philosopher’s efforts before and against the madness of the multitude and the effect that it has upon all that it touches In this we hope not to be found, as Socrates feared in the Republic, as men who, in the face of the blast of a storm, press themselves solidly against the wall of their house, waiting for it to pass, and not to be taken up by its ferocious force. Indeed, the temptation to save ourselves in this way, especially in the midst of the nonsense that assails us continuously from all sides, is most understandable. But unlike Socrates, the Christian is strengthened by the revelation of God and that grace which He constantly pours out upon His beloved. We assume, then, the posture captured in that wondrous and famous picture of Pope St. John Paul II in his latter years leaning upon his crosier, his robes and person whipped mightily by the gale, but withstanding all the while its force. We hold fast not only to our search for and love of wisdom, but speak, as Christ did from the boat upon the waters, to these winds in rebuke, no longer cowed by their force nor by the danger that they bring, but ever firm in the knowledge of our true nobility revealed through the complementarity of faith and reason and all that derives from this happy and unbreakable marriage

Stephen J. Loughlin, Ph.D., is President and Professor of Philosophy at St Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry He earned his Master's and Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Toronto Before coming to St Bernard’s, Dr Loughlin was an Associate Professor of Philosophy and the Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at DeSales University in Center Valley, PA , a position he held for almost 20 years. Dr. Loughlin’s academic work has appeared in The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, Pro Ecclesia, and Josephinum, and his areas of research interest include Medieval philosophy and Thomistic anthropology Dr Loughlin deeply loves teaching, having engaged in the profession for over 25 years

“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth in a word, to know himself so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.”

Opening statement, Fides et Ratio

by Carmina M. Chapp

For us, truth is not a thing – it is a person, the person of Jesus Christ, Who has told us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Jesus tells Pilate, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (John 18:37). Pilate’s question in response to Jesus, “What is truth?” could well have been, “Who is Truth?” Whose voice is speaking when truth is heard? Truth Himself was standing right before him.

This presupposition that Jesus is Truth provides the lens through which all of Pope St. John Paul II's Veritatis Splendor must be read. Indeed, it is the Catholic worldview through which all believers in Christ must see the world. In the introductory paragraph we read,

The splendor of truth shines forth in all the works of the Creator and, in a special

way, in man, created in the image and likeness of God (cf Gen 1:26) Truth

and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord (no. 1).

An encounter with Sacred Scripture is always a personal encounter with Jesus, one that elicits a response. It is relational. His word goes out to us and affects us. The objective truth encounters us in a subjective, personal way. How we respond to the Word reveals more about ourselves and our level of slavery to sin or freedom in truth than it does about Truth itself. Truth is real, we are not. We are becoming real as we grow closer to Truth, who is Jesus, and become like Him.

The most powerful response we can make to encountering the Word is to participate in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist We are in the midst of a National Eucharistic Revival aimed at raising appreciation for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist Our recognition of the Real Presence correlates to our ability to recognize Truth If we seek

The splendor of truth shines forth in all the works of the Creator and, in a special way, in man, created in the image and likeness of God. Truth enlightens man ' s intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord.

Thus, we understand that Jesus shines forth in all the works of Creation, especially in man. Jesus enlightens man’s intelligence and shapes his freedom

So we ask again, is there such a thing as truth? No, there is a person who is Truth. Is it possible to know truth? Yes, Truth Himself wants to be known, and known intimately. He is the revelation of the hidden God. We come to know the Truth by coming to know Jesus personally in His Word and in His sacraments.

The words of Jesus are always effective. As we read in Isaiah:

So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

the Truth, we find Jesus in the Eucharist. We feel His Presence in the Eucharist. The desire for Truth is a desire for Jesus, for the God who is love Everything we encounter in our lives is discerned as true or false, good or evil, only in light of

what is revealed to us when we are in the presence of Jesus in Holy Communion or at Adoration We bring our lives to liturgy and allow it to purify us St Paul urges us,

“to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2).

This living sacrifice is manifested in our offering of ourselves at the offertory at Mass and glorifying God with our lives at the dismissal It is “right and just” to “lift our hearts to the Lord ” We strive to conform ourselves to Truth and be truly who we were made to be: the image and likeness of God

enlightens man's intelligence

The gift of the Eucharist empowers us to be truthful. Not only can we know the Truth, we are capable of acting on it, of living truthfully. We acknowledge our sinfulness (in fact, we can only know what sin is because we know Truth), but we also know that by the grace of God we are not slaves to sin – we can overcome the lies in our lives This is the reason for our hope:

"Man always has before him the spiritual horizon of hope, thanks to the help of divine grace and with the cooperation of human freedom It is in the saving Cross of Jesus, in the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the Sacraments which flow forth from the pierced side of the Redeemer (cf Jn 19:34), that believers find the grace and the strength always to keep God's holy law, even amid the gravest of hardships" (no. 103).

The intimate communion with Jesus that we are privileged to receive allows us to see the beauty of the moral life of the Church even when it is difficult to live it. This union is encouraging and uplifting, and also comforting and consoling Truth loves us, and we are humble and grateful

St Bernard's is hosting its third academic conference celebrating the 30th anniversary of Veritatis Splendor this September 29th - October 1st Further details can be found on the back cover of this issue.

More information on the National Eucharistic Revival can be found by visiting: www eucharisticcongress org/ St Bernard's is honored to be a sponsor for this historic event

Carmina M. Chapp, Ph.D., earned her Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Providence College and her Ph D in Roman Catholic Systematic Theology from Duquesne University, with a focus on sacramental theology Her areas of theological interest include sacraments and liturgy, ecclesiology, and spirituality Chapp has been involved in Catholic seminary formation and higher education for over twenty-five years and lives with her husband on the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm in northeastern Pennsylvania.

TRUTH'S OWN Splendor

by Lisa Lickona

Professor Lisa Lickona will be delivering a keynote address on the Eucharist in the lives of women saints on October 22nd, 2023, at the New York State Eucharistic Congress. What follows is a small preview of her presentation:

New York businessman, Will Seton, arrived in Livorno, Italy, in November 1803, ailing from tuberculosis. At his side were his wife, Elizabeth, and their little daughter, Anna Maria, who had journeyed with him in the hopes that the Italian sun, good food, and the company of Will’s business partners, Antonio and Filippo Filicchi, would promote recovery But it was not to be

As they left the ship, Italian soldiers whisked Will, Elizabeth, and Anna Maria into a quarantine station to prevent the spread of yellow fever. After nearly a month condemned to the cold, drafty, smoke-filled stone fortress, Will’s condition had become grave; he died two weeks later, leaving Elizabeth and Anna in the care of the Filicchis

In her grief, Elizabeth donned the black dress and bonnet of an Italian widow, and she pretty much never took them off again This pious Episcopalian woman was destined within a few years to become a Roman Catholic woman religious and the black dress would become her habit But first, a dramatic conversion had to occur.

Up to this point in her life, Elizabeth was a devout student of the Scriptures and an eager patroness of the poor. Her intimacy with God, nurtured in prayer, had made her a spiritual mother to her shivering, moaning husband in his dying days. Will entered quarantine something of a lukewarm Episcopalian, but he died fervent such was the power of Elizabeth’s accompaniment But in the weeks that Elizabeth spent with the Catholic Filicchis, she discovered a new breadth and depth to her faith

Seeking to cheer Elizabeth up, the Filicchis took Elizabeth on a tour of Italy’s cities where she saw churches and squares and their treasures of religious art. Yet what moved Elizabeth more were the scenes of faith played out in those spaces. Elizabeth had shared “communion bread” at the Episcopal service, but she had never seen anything like what she beheld in the side chapels of the churches, where that “bread” was fitted into a brilliant gold monstrance and adored day and night by men and women, young and old She had par-

"Allegory of the Eucharist," ca 1676-1725 Artist unknown

taken of “communion services” on Sundays at home in New York, but she had never imagined the intimacy with the Lord that led Antonio’s wife, Amabilia, to hasten to the church every morning and brought her back radiant and full of joy. Elizabeth had known God’s presence in prayer, but she had never been overcome as she was the day a Eucharistic procession passed outside her bedroom window. She threw herself on the floor and begged in prayer that she might believe as the Catholics believed: that she might believe that His Presence was Real.

In Italy, in these dark days of her grief, our Lord provoked Elizabeth and drew her to a passionate search for the “true faith” through truth’s own splendor For truth is beautiful It has taken form: on the Cross where it shows itself to be Love, in the Eucharist where that same Love is shared out, and in the lives of His faithful ones, who bear that Love to the world

It was the splendor of the truth that Elizabeth Ann Seton discovered in Italy. And thus she boarded the ship for New York in June 1804, not yet a Catholic in name, but certainly one in her heart.

Learn more about New York State's Eucharistic Congress here: www nyseucharisticcongress org/

Lisa Lickona, S.T.L., Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology, comes to St. Bernard’s after serving for eight years as Editor for Saints at Magnificat, where she researched and wrote daily on the lives of the saints She has written and spoken widely on issues in theological anthropology and culture from the perspective afforded by Pope St John Paul II’s theology of the body and his “new feminism ” Her most recent work includes co-editing The Relevance of the Stars: Christ, Culture, Destiny by Lorenzo Albacete and a chapter for Clerical Sexual Misconduct II: A Foundational Conversation. She has published essays in Humanum, Catholic Social Science Review, and Ave Maria Law Review

In these dark days of her grief, our Lord provoked Elizabeth and drew her to a passionate search for the “true faith” through truth’s own splendor. For truth is beautiful. It has taken form: on the Cross where it shows itself to be Love, in the Eucharist where that same Love is shared out, and in the lives of His faithful ones, who bear that Love to the world.

ReproductionofElizabethAnnSeton'sportraitpaintedbyAmabiliaFilicchi,1888