'Oboedientia et Pax' - Blessed Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born on 25 November 1881 in the Bergamo province of the Lombardy region of Italy. He was fourth in a family of thirteen, and the first born son. His family worked as ‘share-croppers’, and although poor, could trace their heritage back to  Italian nobility who had fallen on hard times.


He received his First Communion  aged seven years, and was confirmed the following year. He was a pupil at the minor seminary of Bergamo from 1892-1895, followed by a period at the major seminary until 1900.  He then attended the main Roman seminary, the Apollinare, and after a break of twelve months for  compulsory military service,  was ordained priest in  1904 .  The following year he was appointed secretary to Mgr Radini Tedeschi, Bishop of Bergamo, retaining this position until 1914.

During World War I he was drafted into the Royal Italian Army, responsible for co-ordinating religious assistance to the troops, and appointed Military Chaplain to the reserve hospital at Bergamo. Discharged in 1919 he was then appointed as Spiritual Director to the diocesan seminary at Bergamo. 

         Fr Roncalli (3rd rt. back) with Bishop Radini Tedeschi


In 1925 Pope Pius XI appointed him Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria, and in 1935 he was appointed as Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece. 
In 1944 he was appointed by Pope Pius XII as Apostolic Nuncio to France, and in 1953 Patriarch of Venice and made a Cardinal.  
On 28 October 1958 he was elected Pope following the death of Pope Pius XII. 
He called the 2nd Vatican Council (1962-1965) but did not live to see it to completion, dying in June 1963. 
He was beatified on 3 September 2000.
                                   

                               Bishop Roncalli (front left) -  late 1930's?


From 1895 he kept a written record of his life, in the form of spiritual notes, in which is revealed that which he kept ‘a jealously guarded secret behind his smiling and innocent gaiety’: his prayer, his soul. In fact it contains notes, resolutions, meditations written on the occasion of various retreats and Spiritual Exercises from 1895, when the author was barely fourteen, until 1962, a few months before his death at the age of eighty-one. 
These notes, many written at night, by the  light of an oil lamp, were recorded in bundles of dog-eared papers and  crumpled copy-books, which were  kept  always close at hand, and over the years were re-read many times. In the spring of 1961, Pope John handed these notes to Mgr Loris Capovilla, an old and trusted friend, who asked him whether he might publish them. The Pope agreed somewhat reluctantly, for whilst recognising the potential world-wide interest in his diaries , he was sensitive to the personal and intimate spiritual matters revealed in their pages, and he thus stipulated that they were not to be published until after his death. 
'I was a good boy, innocent, somewhat timid. I wanted to love God at all costs and my one idea was to become a priest, in the service of simple souls who needed patient and attentive care.  Meanwhile I had to fight an enemy within me, self-love, and in the end I was able to get the better of it....Now, at a distance of more than sixty years, I can look upon these first spiritual writings of mine as if they had been written by someone else, and I bless the Lord for them.” (Pope John XXIII) speaking to Mgr Loris Capovilla.                                   

                         Pope John XXIII ( b.1881-d.1963)


'It has been suggested that initial perusal of ‘Journal of a Soul’ might leave a feeling of disappointment in the reader. The book could be adjudged as literal and formalistic piety .... a piety centred more on human contrivance than on the word of God, one that puts its trust in an exasperating profusion of wire entanglements, instead of that freedom based on familiarity with Sacred Scripture, the liturgy and writings of the Fathers; yet this was the  kind of spirituality that produced Pope John. This rigorously constructed spirituality was based on the letter of the law, but  within it lived and from it soared a great conception. Spiritual techniques degenerate if they remain purely mechanical, that is, isolated from all noble inspiration.  On the other hand no great conception can be realized without a rule, without a discipline. 
There is evidence in Pope John’s ‘Journal’, of a powerful and exalted evangelical impulse which dominated his whole existence.   Holy simplicity, the awareness of man's failings, scrupulous moderation and reserve, sensitivity, and above all, the will to aspire to the fullness of Christ, shine through his words. The ‘Journal’ records constant, yet gradual growth in understanding and knowledge of God’s purpose, reflected in both his personal life and ecclesiastical office. The formal framework becomes less rigid, the letter yields more and more to the spirit.'  (Fr Giulio Bevilacqua 1964)

                                         'oboedientia et pax'
                     
                        Coat of Arms, Cardinal Patriarch of Venice,
  -  the words 'oboedientia et pax'  inserted by Cardinal Roncalli,              describing them as - 'in a way, my own history and my life'.


‘After having skimmed through the doctrine of various ascetical authors, I am now quite content with the Missal, the Breviary, the Bible, The Imitation and Bossuet......my spiritual life must be intensified.  No overloading with devotions of a novel and secondary character, but fidelity to those which are fundamental, with passionate fervour ....gathering speed as I near the end.’(John XXIII Pp.)


‘Journal of a Soul’ is an interesting and fascinating account of the life of Pope John, deeply spiritual-often intimately so, always sincere and sympathetic to human frailty. Unlikely to be read in one sitting, but essential reading for those interested to learn more about Blessed Pope John XXIII.  The book includes several appendices  relating to specific events and devotions particularly dear to Pope John, also a copy of a letter written by him to his brother Severo, some 18 months before the Pope’s death, a letter described as a 'spiritual testament to all the Roncalli family',  which  reflects his great  love of God, the Church,  and  his family. Below are some extracts:-


My dear brother Severo,
Today is the feast of your great patron saint, who bore your own real Christian name, which is Francesco Zaverio, the same as that of our dear great-uncle, our ‘barba’, and now happily, the name of our nephew Zaverio.
.....  I used to enjoy typing so much and if today I have decided to begin again, using a machine that is new and all my own, it is in order to tell you that I know I am growing old -  how can I help knowing it with all the fuss that has been  made about my eightieth birthday? – but I am still fit, and I continue on my way, still in good health .....  For the present at least I can continue in the service of the Lord and Holy Church.
This letter which I was determined to write to you, my dear Severo, contains a message for all, for Alfredo,  Giuseppino,  Assunta,  our sister-in-law Caterina,  your own dear Maria,  Virginio and Angela Ghisleni,  and all the members of our large family,  and I want it to be to all of them a message from my loving heart, still warm and youthful.  Busied as I am............ I cannot forget the members of my dear family, to whom my thoughts turn day by day.
.......Now the great manifestations of reverence and affection for the Pope, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, are at an end and I am glad, because rather than receive the praises and good wishes of men, I prefer to enjoy the mercy of God who has chosen me for so great a task and who, I trust, will uphold me until the end of my life.
......  You are very wise to keep yourselves very humble, as I too try to do, and not let yourselves be influenced by the insinuations and tittle-tattle of the world. All the world wants is to make money, enjoy life, and impose its own will at all costs, even with violence, if this should unhappily seem necessary.
My eighty years of life completed tell me, as they tell you, dear Severo, and all the members of our family, that what is most important is always to keep ourselves well prepared for a sudden departure, because this is what matters most:  to make sure of eternal life, trusting in the goodness of the Lord who sees all and makes provision for all.
I wish to express these sentiments to you, my beloved Severo, so that you may pass them on to our closest relatives.... wherever they may be..... Go on loving one another, all you Roncallis, with the new families growing up among you........I like to remember the names of those among you who have most to bear:  dear Maria, your good wife, bless her, and the good Rita who with her sufferings has earned paradise for herself and for you two, who have cared for her so lovingly, and our sister-in-law Caterina,  who always makes me think of her Giovanni and ours, who look down at us from heaven -  and all our Roncalli relations....
I am well aware that you have to bear certain mortifications......  to have a Pope in the family, a Pope regarded with respect by the whole world, who yet permits his relations to go on living so modestly, in the same social conditions as before!  But many know that the Pope, the son of humble but respected parents, never forgets anyone; ...... and a Pope does not honour himself by enriching his relations, but only by affectionately coming to their aid, according to their needs and the conditions of each one.
At my death I shall not lack the praise which did so much honour to the saintly Pius X:  ‘He was born poor and died poor.’  
I always keep by my bedside the photograph that gathers all our dead together with their names inscribed on the marble:  grandfather Angela, ‘barba’  Zaverio,  our revered parents,  our brother Giovanni,  our sisters Teresa,  Ancilla,  Maria,  and Enrica.  Oh what a fine chorus of souls to await us and pray for us!  I think of them constantly.  To remember them in prayer gives me courage and joy, in the confident hope of joining them all again in the everlasting glory of heaven.
I bless you all, remembering with you all the brides who have come to rejoice the Roncalli family and those who have left us to increase the happiness of new families, of different names but similar ways of thinking.  Oh the children,  the children,  what a wealth of children and what a blessing!
                                                              Joannes XXIII Pp.
                                                                Vatican.  December 1961.

Ack.  'Journal of a Soul'
Published by Four Square Books,  
New English Library,1966


'Blessed Pope John XXIII,  pray for the Church, especially for those who have strayed'

Essential Reading - 'Our Father's House' - h/t 'Countercultural Father'

A very few lines to recommend a wonderful post on the 'Countercultural Father'  blog-site,  entitled 'Our Father's House - a Short Fable ....'   
http://ccfather.blogspot.com/
- don't miss it!!    Thank you Ben Trovato!

Cricket is such a Simple Game

                                Lords Cricket Ground


The summer of  2011 has been an eventful  one. In spite of economic doom and gloom, civil unrest, natural  disasters around the world, et al., one event will  forever be recorded  in the annals of sporting history, namely  the achievement of the England cricket team , under the captaincy of Andrew Strauss, in attaining  the no.1 spot in the World Cricket League. Their magnificent victories this summer  against India,  previously  the top team, crowned their achievement  in Australia last year, when they defeated the home country to retain the Ashes. 
Regrettably the cricket season will soon be over, with football ‘mania’ encroaching ever deeper into the summer months, historically the preserve of the ‘gentleman’s’ game. However, cricket lovers need not fear, for nothing can match the special  pleasure of playing in, or watching a  cricket match on a summer’s day in our 'green and pleasant land'.  The unique sound of ball against bat, or ball striking the stumps, the pleasure of watching a skilled batsman or bowler practising their craft, the air of peace and tranquillity, the often beautiful surroundings;  ‘ah those were the days’ says he reminiscing, and happily still ‘are the days’ and will ‘continue to be the days’,  for generations to come.
   

                                      Village Cricket


Some years ago a kind friend gave me a copy of ‘The Cricketer’s Bedside Book’, edited by  R Roberts. and published by  B.T.Batsford Ltd (1966), a fascinating anthology of cricket events, personalities, and anecdotes. Contributors include such legendary cricketers as Colin Cowdrey,  Richie Benaud, Alec Bedser, Mickey Stewart, Wally Grout, Gary Sobers, and others , also those forever associated with this great sport, such as John Arlott, E.W.Swanton, and Brian Johnston.
There are numerous amusing anecdotes - contributed by Brian Johnston, some reproduced below, which  reflect the light-heartedness and a certain ‘esprit de coeur’, shared by the vast majority of cricket lovers; N.B. a miniscule knowledge of the rules of cricket and cricketing terms  is recommended, although  not absolutely essential!
                                       
                           ****************************


In a Lancashire match a fast bowler was bowling on a bad wicket, and the opening batsman – who shall be nameless- had to face a number of terrifying deliveries. The first whizzed past his left ear; the second nearly knocked his cap off; and the third struck him an awful blow over the heart.  He collapsed and lay on the ground – then after a minute or two got up and prepared to strike again. The umpire asked him if he was ready. He replied, ‘Yes, but I would like the sight-screen moved.’
‘Certainly’, said the umpire. ‘Where would you like it?’
The batsman replied, ‘About half-way down the wicket between me and the bowler.’
                                
                              ***************************


Alec  Skelding was umpiring a match in which the bowler had a complete set of false teeth.  As he delivered a particularly fast ball all his teeth  dropped out. The ball hit the batsman on the pad, and the bowler turned round and mouthed un-intelligible noises. Alec quick to see what had happened, said, ‘I beg your pardon, I cannot tell what you say.’ The bowler tried again but Alec still pretended he could not distinguish the words, so the bowler stooped down, recovered his dentures covered in dust, replaced them and turning round, said, ‘How’s that?’
‘Not out’, said Alec.

                            *****************************


In a match against Gloucestershire Brian Close was fielding at forward short-leg  with Freddie Trueman bowling.  Martin Young received a short ball which he hit right in the middle of the bat. It hit Close on the right side of the head and rebounded to first slip, who caught it.
Close seemed none the worse, but when he returned to the pavilion at the next interval someone asked him: ‘That was a terrible blow; aren’t you worried standing so near? What would have happened if the ball had hit you slap between the eyes?’
‘He'd have been caught at cover,’ replied the indomitable Yorkshire captain.

                              ***************************


The Nottinghamshire Club and Ground used to play an annual match against a local village club, and the club’s captain, feeling very sure of his side’s strength, warned the Nottinghamshire secretary that he had better send a strong team this year, otherwise they were ‘in for trouble’. He got what he asked for, and Harold Larwood was a member of the strong side that came from Trent Bridge.  The village club batted first, and their opener was a huge, massive ‘village blacksmith’ who took guard and settled down to face the great Larwood. The first ball was a typical thunderbolt. It shaved the off-stump and landed viciously in the gloves of the wicket-keeper standing very well back’
As the ball looped its way back from wicket-keeper to bowler, via slip, cover and mid-off, it was noticed that the massive batsman had not moved a muscle.  His brawny arms still held the bat firmly in the block-hole, his menacing crouch was unchanged and his eyes were still fixed firmly on the far end of the wicket.  A second Larwood thunderbolt, again whistling past the off stump, had the same effect: not a move, not even the flicker of an eyelid from the vast and massive batsman.  As the third ball was delivered the umpire’s arm was flung out and his shriek of ‘No ball!’ echoed round the ground.  For the first time the batsman unbent. He strained ponderously upwards, turned to first slip and confided, ‘’E couldn’t fool me, I knew ‘e never ‘ad one all the toime!’

                                 **************************

Finally, cricket is such a simple game:-

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. 

Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. 

When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.

Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.

There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
         
What could be more simple?

STORM AT SEA

"Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." (John X, 37-38)

*******

‘It had been a hard day, the last of a series of hard days. The weight of the burthen was pressing on Him heavily; the future was dark, and He knew it would be full of storm.  It is easy, with all this, to understand the spirit which impelled His next movement. He was with His Twelve, in the cottage by the shore.  In the streets outside, and along the water’s edge, many of the  people still hung about, squatting in their little groups and discussing far into the night the events of that day;  others had settled down to rest here and there, wrapped from head to foot in their blankets.  He must get away, if only for a night and morning.  The old desire to be alone at times was never long absent from Him; He must get away, and give Himself a few hours of peace.  He turned to the fishermen; He looked towards the lake.  The moon was up, there was a gentle ripple on the water. 

               

'Let us go over the water', He said,                           

‘To the other side of the lake’.

   It was a welcome order.  These men had already learnt, and they were yet to learn more and more, what a different, what a wholly precious possession Jesus was when He was with them alone.  In His company, when His heart would soften towards them, and He was with them as He was with no others, how different life became!  Then they felt they had power; then they would do any deed, brave any danger, without so much as giving it a thought; then they would ‘do all things in Him who strengthened them’. So it was on this occasion.  Characteristically, with not a little noise and demonstration, they went out into the streets;  pompously they bade the remnant of the people disperse. With their new-born authority they bustled about, and without more ado, without thought of further preparation, they escorted the Master to the shore.

‘And sending away the multitude

   They take Him even as He was to the ship’.

There were several of their boats lying in.  One was chosen for Him; they scrambled in after Him and put out into the lake.

       

Let it be remembered that the Lake of Galilee is about fourteen miles long from north to south, and about six miles across at its broadest part, which is opposite Genesareth and Magdala.  It lies more than seven hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and is skirted on east and west by mountains, which shut it in as between two walls.  On the north and south are open plains, though these too lie between mountain ridges. Through the plain on the north the Jordan flows into the lake, on the south it creeps out again, to make its way to the Dead Sea.  From this it will be seen that a wind, especially a north wind, comes down upon the lake as through a tunnel, the mountains on either side confining it, the lower level of the lake’s surface giving the wind greater force.  Even a slight breeze, as may be seen almost any evening, will soon raise a ripple; a gale, coming down this tunnel on a sudden, will stir a storm in a very short space of time.

       

The objective for the boatmen that night was Gerasa, a village, or rather valley, on the opposite shore.  It lay somewhat south of Capharnaum, opposite Magdala,  and therefore the trip would have been about six miles, in a south-easterly direction, but much more east than south.  A wind coming down the tunnel from the north would have caught the boat almost broadside; hence, even without a storm, a sudden gust of wind might easily have brought danger with it.  

These fishermen were accustomed to be out in their boats at night, therefore the darkness in itself had no fears for them.  Nevertheless we have many indications, some of which prevail to this day, that they did not care to cross the lake at night; they feared the sudden winds that might catch them, especially in the springtide of the year.  When the darkness came upon them they preferred to moor where they were and wait till morning.

It was a quiet hour when the little boat put out. As it left the shore the lamp swung at the prow, its light reflected on the water. From behind them as they rowed a few lights glimmered, marking the long line of habitations from Bethsaida to Capharnaum and beyond.  Here and there a pariah dog barked, one answering another.  At a distance, on the outskirts of the town, a band of foraging jackals could be heard, with the laugh of a hyena added to their shrill yelping.  Once in a way a cock crew, and another replied, a striking feature of an eastern night.  For the rest all was silence, a silence only the more emphasized by these cries.  The boatmen submitted to the spell.  They went about their work saying nothing; if they had to speak they spoke in low whispers.  As soon as they had got away they put up their little sail, and nothing now was heard but the swish of the water around the vessel, and the creak of a mast as the sail yielded to the wind or the guiding rope.  In the stern, on the boards between the sides of the ship, Jesus lay down.  A rough cushion had been found for His head, and almost immediately He was fast asleep.  This must have been so, from the very nature of the voyage.  Jesus, the Son of God, was asleep, like any child, rocked in the cradle of the bark of Simon.

For a time all went well, and the boatmen settled down contented.  The breeze from the north filled the sails, and before daybreak they would be at Gerasa.  They relieved each other at the sheet and the rudder;  for the rest they, too, settled themselves to sleep.  But no sooner had they left the shelter of the shore than trouble began to arise; a mile out, or a little more, and they caught the full force of the wind coming down the upper valley.  The wind grew stronger, the cold air falling on the lake following the heat of the day, provoked it to a gale.  Rapidly it increased, the sail became difficult to control; the route they were taking, almost due east till they could come under the shelter of the mountains opposite, exposed them to the full force of the storm on their side;  they were in imminent danger of capsizing.  Presently the waters began to rise;  first an ominous splash of spray flew across the deck, then a wave curved over the edge and a stream of water ran down to the stern.  Wave followed wave and the ship began to fill.

Evidently there was serious danger, just the danger which none of the fishermen living on those shores ever cared to face. They had come on board without a thought; the excitement of the day had made them forget that at this spring season the lake was particularly treacherous.  Besides He had asked them to take Him away by boat, and that had driven every objection from their minds.  But now they were anxious; anxious for themselves, and anxious for Him.  He was asleep and wholly in their keeping, so soundly asleep that neither the howling of the wind nor the splashing of the water nor the creaking of the vessel could awaken Him; they had only one another to consult and were in a dilemma.  To put back to Capharnaum was now impossible; they dared not attempt to turn the boat round.  Their only hope was to run down the lake before the wind, or to keep on their course trusting that they might yet reach shelter; in either case they knew their condition was perilous.

Still the storm increased.  Soon the boat was utterly beyond control; neither sail nor rudder could be governed. It was filling fast, a little more and it must go down, even if it did not capsize.  The men began to lose courage; presently they lost their nerve; in a few minutes they were as helpless little children, seeking succour anywhere.  And yet through it all He was lying there, fast asleep. As they clung to the sides and the thwarts they looked at Him where He lay.  They loved Him, that none could deny; still there began to creep over them the feeling that if He were awake, if He knew all the trouble around them, all would cease. There came a little resentment;  while they were in such danger, while they were doing for Him all they could, and that at His own bidding, He was apparently indifferent, unconscious of it all.  They could endure it no longer; they were at the last extreme; they dropped sheet and rudder, they let the vessel go where it would.  In a panic they crept along the deck to where He lay, and began to cry in one voice:

‘Master

Does it not concern thee

     That we perish?

Lord save us

We perish.’

Instantly the sleeping Jesus opened His eyes.  Through the noise of the storm which drowned every sound, He nevertheless heard their appeal;  what the clamour of the elements had failed to do, their cry succeeded in doing, and He awoke.  At once He took in the scene; the howling wind above, the ship filling with water, the frightened men clinging to His feet.  He made no delay;  He made no show;  He acted as though it were an affair of every day.  These were His Twelve, His own, and for them there must be no terms, or formalities, or conditions.  He stood up where He was;  He stretched out His arm to the wind, looking at it, speaking to it, rebuking it, as if it were a thing of life.  He turned to the water lashing round Him, as a master would turn to a barking hound.

               ‘Peace, be still,'

He said;  no more.

The obedience was instantaneous.  The wind ceased; there was a dead calm on the surface of the water.  The battered sails hung listlessly above the masts;  the boat rocked gently up and down, to and fro and from side to side, staying where it was, as if it rested after a heavy struggle.  The men crouched still beside Him; for the moment they were paralysed.  They had come to Him expecting succour. If only He were awake among them they had felt they would be safe,  but they had never expected anything like this.  They had feared the storm, but now fear of a new kind crept over them.  They did not know what to say or think.

Meanwhile Jesus looked down upon them where He stood.  They did not yet recognise what He had done.  He had worked this wonder, not for the multitude, but for His own, His Twelve.  He had worked it in their own vessel, where He was always with them. He had worked it under conditions which, by all the laws of nature, were hopeless.  He had worked this wonder, and He had worked it for them; why did they not see?  But the time would come when they would.  If that day He had begun to speak to the people in parables, that night He had begun to act in parables to them.  One day they would read its meaning and would know that so long as He was with them in the boat, not till the end of time would any storm, would the gates of hell itself, be able to prevail against them.

All this they would one day understand,  but at present they were only little children.  They had much yet to learn, and as little children He must continue to teach them, now drawing them gently on, now with seeming sternness urging them.  He would seize this moment for the latter.  True they had been in trouble and come to Him; true they had appealed to Him for help.  All this showed faith, and He loved them and in His heart thanked them for it.  But He wanted more, He for ever wanted more, and not till He got that more could He be content.  So He would rebuke them; gently He would urge them; He would stir them to things yet greater, to faith that would ride over every storm.  He said:

‘Why are ye fearful

O ye of little faith?

Have you not faith in you yet?

   Where is your faith?’

The men awoke from their paralysis.  The boat was still, and if they would reach Gerasa by morning they must take to their oars.  He seemed not to need them any more,  He wished them to return to their labour.  They stepped down the deck and settled to their tasks, each man in his place.  But as the boat began again to move forward, as the late moon rose above the hills and streaked the waves with silver, they would whisper in awe to one another:

  ‘What manner of man is this?

Who is this, think you,

That he commandeth both the winds and the sea

And they obey him?

It was indeed another discovery, a new revelation of this Man who had already won their hearts and their allegiance. It would not now be long before they would find for themselves a full answer to their question, even on the very spot where they were then sailing, and under not unlike conditions.’

          

 From - ‘The Public Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ’ - An Interpretation.  By Archbishop Goodier S.J.  Published by Burns, Oates & Washbourne 1934

(‘The Storm at Sea’ – ref. Mathew VIII, 18, 23-27; Mark IV, 35-41; Luke VIII, 22-25.)

'Garden of the Soul' by Bishop R. Challoner - a Spiritual Gem

My wife has in her possession a copy of the prayer book ‘Garden of the Soul’ -

 ‘a manual of Spiritual Exercises and Instructions for Christians who, living in the world, aspire to devotion‘ - written by Bishop Richard Challoner,  first published in 1740, and reprinted without alteration in 1741.

This prayer book,  published in 1945 by Burns Oates and Washbourne, reproduces the text of the 1741 impression almost in its entirety. In June 1953, a copy of this, in lieu of the standard King James Bible, was given to all Catholic children attending non-Catholic schools in the Nottingham diocese,  to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. At the time my wife was one of a number of Catholic children attending Scunthorpe Grammar School.

This little prayer book is an absolute spiritual gem, containing all that a Catholic needs to know concerning the essence and practice of the Faith; which of course was the reason why Bishop Challoner wrote it.

Bishop Challoner was very devoted to St Francis de Sales, and reproduced in the ‘Garden of the Soul’,  ten meditations  from the latter’s famous ‘Introduction to a Devout Life’.

I take this opportunity to reproduce the meditations on ‘Hell’ and ‘Heaven’ which illustrate the simplicity and power of St Francis’ writing, and the  pastoral concern of Bishop Challoner in choosing to include such guidance for his scattered and persecuted flock.

The Seventh Meditation - On Hell

Preparation

1.Place yourself in the presence of God.

2.Humble yourself and implore His assistance.

3. Represent to yourself a dark city, all burning,  all stinking with pitch and brimstone, and full of inhabitants who cannot get out..

Considerations.

1. The damned are in the depth of hell, as within this woeful city, where they suffer unspeakable torments, in all their senses and members;  because as they have employed all their senses and members in sinning, so shall they suffer in them all the punishments due to sin.  The eyes for lascivious looks shall be afflicted with the horrid vision of hell and devils. The ears for delighting in vicious discourses shall hear nothing but wailings, lamentations, desperate howlings;  and so of the rest.

2. Besides all these torments there is another greater, which is the loss and privation of God’s glory, from the sight of which they are excluded for ever. Now if Absolom found it more grievous to him to be denied the seeing the face of his father David, than to be banished; O God, what a grief it will be, to be for ever excluded from beholding thy most sweet and gracious countenance!

3. Consider above all the eternity of these pains, which above all things makes hell intolerable.  Alas! if a flea in your ear, or if the heat of a little fever make one short night so long and tedious, how terrible will the night of eternity be, accompanied with so many torments?  From this eternity proceeds eternal desperation, infinite rage, and blasphemy.

Affections and resolutions.

1. Terrify yourself with the words of the prophet Isaiah.  ‘O my soul,  art thou able to live for ever in everlasting flames, and amidst this devouring fire? Wilt thou forfeit the sight of thy God for ever?’

2.  Confess that you have deserved hell,  yea oftentimes.  From henceforth I will take a new course; for why should I go down into this bottomless pit?  I will therefore use this or that endeavour to avoid sin, which only can bring me to this eternal death.

Give thanks. Offer. Pray - Pater,  Ave,  Credo.

The Eighth Meditation - On Heaven

Preparation

1. Place yourself in the presence of God.

2. Beseech Him to inspire you with His grace.

Considerations

1. Consider a fair and clear night, and think how pleasant it is to behold the sky

all spangled with that multitude and variety of stars: join this now with the beauty of as clear a day, so as the brightness of the sun may no ways hinder the lustre of the stars nor moon;  and then say boldly,  that all this put together is nothing in comparison with the excellent beauty of the heavenly paradise.   Oh!  how this lovely place is to be desired!  Oh! how precious is this city!

2. Consider the glory, beauty, and multitude of the inhabitants in this blessed country; those millions of millions of angels, cherubim, and seraphims!  Those troops of apostles, prophets, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and holy matrons. The number is innumerable.  O how blessed is this company!  The meanest of them is more beautiful to behold than all this world:  what a sight then will it be to see them all!  But, O my God, how happy are they!  They sing continually harmonious songs of eternal love;  they always enjoy a constant mirth; they interchange one with another unspeakable contentments, and live in the comfort of a happy and indissoluble society.

3. In fine, consider how blessed they are to enjoy God,  who rewards them forever with his lovely aspect,  and by the same infuses into their hearts a treasure of delights:  how great a happiness it is to be united everlastingly to the sovereign good.  They are there like happy birds flying and singing perpetually in the air of his divinity,  which encompasses them on all sides with incredible pleasure.  There everyone does his best, and without envy sings the Creator’s praise.  Blessed be thou forever, O sweet and sovereign creator and redeemer, who art so bountiful to us,  and dost communicate to us so liberally the everlasting treasures of thy glory:  blessed be you for ever, says He, my beloved creatures, who have so faithfully served me, and who now shall praise me everlastingly, with so great love and courage.

Affections and Resolutions

1. Admire and praise this heavenly country.  O how beautiful art thou, my dear Jerusalem! and how happy are thy inhabitants.!

2. Reproach your heart with the little courage it has had hitherto, in wandering so far from the way of this glorious habitation.  O why have I strayed so far from my sovereign good?  Ah!  wretch that I am, for these foolish and trivial pleasures have I a thousand times forsaken eternal and infinite delights!  Was I not mad, to despise such precious blessings for so vain and contemptible affections?

3. Aspire now with fervour to this delightful habitation.   O my gracious God, since it has pleased Thee at length to direct my wandering steps into the right way, never hereafter will I turn back.  Let us go, my dear soul, let us go to this eternal repose: let us walk towards this blessed land that is promised us: what have we to do in this Egypt? I will therefore, disburthen myself of all such things as may divert or retard me in so happy a journey: I will perform such and such things as may conduct me to it.

Give thanks. Offer. Pray- Pater, Ave, Credo.

                            

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I have found it surprisingly difficult to obtain an acceptable copy of ‘Garden of the Soul’, although presumably many editions were published. I have tried the major booksellers on the internet but so far, apart from contemporary re-print editions, without success. Although it is essentially  a ‘prayer-book’, it has unique historical and socio-religious implications due to its role in ensuring  the very  survival of the Catholic faith in England in the 18th century. For this reason particularly, I will continue to search for a suitable, preferably older copy, to remind myself of the great debt that we owe to Bishop Challoner and other courageous and caring Catholic pastors in an aggressively Protestant 18th century Britain.

                                    

         **************

Of your charity please pray for the repose of the soul of Mrs Edna Farrell, of Dawlish, Devon, who died recently aged 92 years. Fortified by the Rites of Holy Church. May she rest in peace.

'Pro-life' government appointments - very good news.

It is very good news to learn that ‘Life’ has been invited by the government to join its ‘Expert Advisory Group on Sexual Health’, and also that ‘Life’ and other pro traditional-family organisations are included as founder members of the government’s new ‘Sex and Relationships Education Council’. Warmest congratulations to, and prayers for, these pro-life and pro-family organisations, and indeed all those engaged in the pro-life cause.

                  LIFE - in safe hands           

Whilst investigating this good news, I found myself on an unfamiliar web-site entitled ‘leftfootforward.org’, which describes itself as a ‘political blog for progressives’, and ‘Britain’s no.1 left-wing blog’.

The date was May 25th and there was a post by Dianne Abbott, Labour MP (Hackney North and Stoke Newington), the shadow Health Minister, with the somewhat dire heading:-

                  

       ‘Government leaning dangerously towards anti-abortion groups’.

The tenor and intent of the article was immediately obvious, for in the words of Dianne Abbott:-

"We must not underestimate the chilling news that the government has appointed anti-abortion group ‘Life’ to their expert advisory group on sexual health. This appointment, coupled with the retraction of an invite to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, one of the UK’s leading abortion providers, signals a dangerous move"

"This news has broken in the same week that Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, pledged his support for the newly-formed ‘Sex and Relationships Education Council’ whose founding members include a deadly medley of abstinence promoters and anti-abortionists, including Life, Silver RingThing, and the Family Education Trust."

     Dianne Abbott, Labour MP (Shadow Health Minister)

Then followed somewhat wild allegations, some would say lies, but judge for yourself:-

             

"Life has perpetrated many scare stories …. anti-abortionists, including members of Life, can be seen on a daily basis outside the UK’s abortion clinics, shouting abuse at women going inside, and displaying grotesque posters of mutilated foetuses of an advanced gestation. They have no qualms about totally distorting the reality of abortions ……." (what hypocrisy! – my quote)

The article is fulsome in its praise for the previous members of the Department of Health ‘Sexual Health Forum’, which  "until now included some of the UK’s best sexual health professionals, experts in their field who have a track record of delivering and commissioning the highest levels of care."

'A track record of delivering and commissioning the highest levels of care'?

The reality is that in 2010 alone, in England and Wales, there were 189,574 abortions, i.e. 539 every day, 1 abortion every 3 minutes; representing a 10% increase in abortions over the last decade.

More than 20,000 women under 21 years of age, had a 2nd abortion, and 16,000 abortions were on girls under 18 years of age.

The record of ‘Sexually Transmitted Infections’ (STIs) show 100% increase between the years 1991-2001, viz. from 669,000 to 1,332,000, the vast majority of cases being young people. I believe that over the past decade these figures have multiplied.

In the light of these ever worsening statistics, each case a personal human tragedy, the truth speaks for itself. Previous government’s pro-abortion, anti-parent and anti-family legislation, urged on by the ‘experts’ from BPAS, the Brook Institute, and the Family Planning Association, with government promoted sex-education for children as young as six, and young adolescents ‘educated’ in the facts of immoral and un-natural sexual practices, has been an unmitigated moral and social disaster.

We humbly thank God for the pro-life organisations and individuals, who have fought incessantly for so many years against the ‘death brigades’ of abortion, euthanasia, and similar evils. The war is not yet won, but at last the value of life and the family has a recognised place on the political agenda, with its own experienced and dedicated standard-bearers, ensuring and promoting  pro-life and pro-family ideals in our secular, confused, and suffering society.

In one of several comments on ‘Life’, Dianne Abbott has this to say:-

            

"Life’s response to birth control is encompassed in a single word, abstinence, and we all know how unsuccessful those programmes have been in the USA, resulting in higher rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections than in groups using normal, modern, 21st century methods of family planning."

"And we all know how unsuccessful those programmes have been in the USA"...(but do we?).  From the study of numerous websites dealing with this question, it is clear that there is no definitive answer to this question. Different commentators hold opposing views, some genuine but others no-doubt influenced by prejudice or their own agenda. There is no evidence to support Dianne Abbott’s supposition, but there is evidence that the ‘abstinence’ programme enjoyed a measurable degree of success, and is still doing so. Her unsubstantiated and rash conclusion appears unsupported by any credible evidence.

Sadly, Dianne Abbott appears blind to the real tragedy of abortion, which above all is the killing of the defenceless, unborn child. She also seems unable or unwilling to admit the failure of past government’s ‘condoms-cure for all’ philosophy.

She concludes on a defiant note:-

            "We will monitor and oppose any attempts by the government to erode or undermine this country’s sexual health professionalism and expertise, and I have called for Life’s appointment to the sexual health forum to be retracted."

It is always a sobering thought to reflect, that one day, we must stand before the throne of God to give an account of our lives. But how will those who have spent their lives promoting and encouraging the killing of the unborn child, explain themselves? From the moment of conception, every human life is unique, with individual body and soul, created by God in His own image and likeness.

*******

The following day, an article by humanist Jennie Bristow, British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), appeared on the same website. She writes:-

            "We at BPAS have no objection to LIFE campaigning against abortion, and no problem with engaging in discussion about what is appropriate pregnancy counselling."

"Our interest is in supporting women’s choice. Life’s interest, on the other hand, is in opposing abortion – a position that necessarily skews any attempt to engage with a sexual health strategy that very clearly sees a role for abortion as a part of
family planning."

                                 

        Jennie Bristow - editor BPAS Journal 'Abortion Review'

When abortion was legalised, it was never intended as part of a ‘family planning’ strategy. Over the years, the sanctity of life has been de-valued and cheapened; secularism, materialism, and humanism, has so deadened the social conscience, that now, as Jennie Bristow admits, abortion is regarded as just another part of the ‘family planning’ armoury, with no regard for the human rights of the unborn child, human rights which are still written into the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

 In her article Jennie Bristow criticises Nadine Dorries MP, who recently proposed a series of initiatives in the House of Commons, designed to protect the rights of pregnant women and the unborn child in Britain. She dismisses the value of sexual abstinence, pregnancy counselling, and a woman’s ‘right to know’ laws, which have "plagued many states in the USA for a few years now, where it is a tried and tested tactic for social conservatives to dress themselves up as advocates for women, expressing concern about abortion harming health, and women being denied support for other options".

She considers that such initiatives in Britain will have limited effect, primarily because abortion has been enshrined in national law and policies, with 96% of abortions funded by the NHS, and 59% carried out by BPAS, Marie Stopes International, and like ‘charities’.

As part of the ‘Big Society’ agenda, she considers that organisations with a ‘vested interest in curbing abortion rights’ may have increased impact on the service provided, with opponents of abortion seeking to put ‘politically motivated and clinically unethical hurdles’ in the way of women seeking abortion.

She then concludes:-  "That is why we need to continue talking loudly about abortion, and providing it proudly"

Her remarks clearly show the contempt for the pro-life cause, so evident in  public statements of the pro-choice, pro-abortion lobby.

 A ‘vested interest’ in curbing abortion rights’? Well yes, if by ‘vested interest’ is meant the protection of the unborn.

If by ‘politically motivated and clinically unethical hurdles’,is meant the establishment in law of a woman’s right to choose the fate of her unborn child without coercion, and with full knowledge of the issues involved, with time to reflect and seek help, with the well-being of mother and her unborn child paramount; yes, this is what Nadine Dorries seeks to achieve.

     Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP

‘Political motivation or clinically unethical practices’ is perhaps a more accurate description of the methodology of the  pro-abortion lobby!

Some final questions that beg an answer :-

           

            a) Why are 96% of today's abortions funded by the NHS, compared with 47% in the years before 1990? Was the motive behind this increase based on politically 'ideological' grounds, and if so, is there any  reason now why this figure could not be substantially reduced?

            b) What is the actual cost involved?

            c) Why should taxpayers who are opposed to ‘legalised abortions’ on moral grounds, be obliged to finance them?

           d) Could not some scheme be arranged whereby such objectors could opt for their money to go to alternative medical needs?

As with Dianne Abbott MP, Jennie Bristow seems blind to the inhumanity of legalised abortion, with no mention of the killing of the unborn child, no mention of the proven connection between abortion and major cancers, and no mention of the proven psychological damage suffered by so many women and indeed men, as a result of abortion. Not to mention the ‘brutalisation’ of our 'social' conscience, with the ‘normalisation’ of abortion surely a contributory factor in the increasingly violent and immoral society of which we are all part.

We pray for all those working for the pro-life cause, in whatever capacity, to the glory of God and His Creation, and for the good of mankind; we pray that God will bless their work, themselves and their families.

We pray also for the conversion of those in the pro-abortion, anti-life lobby, that their minds and hearts will

recognise and respond to God's love and the sanctity of life.

                                               

         Our Lady of Victories, pray for us.