Thursday, July 31, 2014

The Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola

You may know that St. Ignatius is the great founder of the Jesuit Order. And if you remember that, you probably remember his worldly youth and his career in the army, his wounding on the battlefield and his conversion to piety after reading the lives of the saints. 

But, did you know...

* his full name was actually Íñigo López de Loyola

* His baptismal name was chosen for the patron, 
St. Inecus, Abbot of Ona; Inecus was a medieval Basque name, meaning "little one."  It isn't known when he began to call himself "Ignatius," but one can imagine why he opted to change it...

*  he was born on Oct. 23, 1491,  in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain


*  he was the youngest of thirteen children

*  his mother dying shortly after his birth, little Inigo was taken in by the wife of the local blacksmith to be nursed and cared for through his infancy

*  when still a child he became a page in the service of a relative in the Kingdom of Castile

*  his first inspirations in his formative years came from reading the stories of El Cid, the knights of Camelot, and the Song of Roland -- all adventures of worldly fame and glory through warfare

*  when he was still just a teenager, he joined the army, and encountering a Muslim who denied the divinity of Christ, Ignatius (surely by this time, he no longer went by Inigo) challenged him to a duel, and forthwith ran him through with his sword, killing him!

*  at the time he was wounded, Ignatius was 30 years old and serving as a knight/Gentilhombre under the illustrious patronage of the Viceroy of Navarre, holding a position of honor and certain privilege



*  it was a cannonball that laid Ignatius flat, breaking one leg and severely injuring the other


*  he endured several surgeries on his legs -- before anesthesia existed


* one of the surgeries he underwent unnecessarily!  A bone in one of his legs healed poorly, causing a limp;  caving to the vanity that he hadn't yet overcome, Ignatius required his surgeon to saw off the protruding bone, further lengthening his convalescence 

*  before he actually read the Lives of the Saints, Ignatius read De Vita Christi, a life of Christ written by Ludolph of Saxony

*  an explanation and images of the beautiful illuminated text of the Vita Christi may be found here

*  unfortunately, there has been no complete English translation of Ludolph's Vita Christi, though some prayers and small sections can be found

*  it was through the example of the Vita Christi that St. Ignatius first understood the notion of simple contemplation that lead eventually to his great work: The Spiritual Exercises

*  The introduction to contemplative prayer in The Spiritual Exercises is also known to have  inspired such great saints as Peter Favre, Francis Xavier, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Francis de Sales

* resolving to give up the world, St. Ignatius took up the grace of God as a challenge to his new life, and, on March 25th, 1522 symbolically hung up his armor before a statue of the Blessed Mother at the cathedral of Santa Maria de Montserrat in Catalonia


The statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, before which St. Ignatius surrendered his sword and armor.  The history of the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Montserrat can be found here.
* a panoramic video of the interior of the spectacular cathedral of Santa Maria de Montserrat may be viewed here


The cave at Manresa, in which a chapel has been built
*  after his recovery and his conversion and before embarking upon his journey of founding the Jesuit Order, Ignatius spent several months living the life of an ascetic in a cave in the wilderness near Manresa, Catalonia

*  he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land  in 1523, where he developed a strong desire to work and pray for the conversion of non Christians in Jerusalem  -- a mission he promoted for the rest of his life

* St. Ignatius was brought before the Roman Inquisition -- twice -- found innocent and released twice after satisfying the charges of a certain kind of "over zealousness" that was a problem at that time

*  of the six companions Ignatius gathered together to form the core of the Society of Jesus in 1534, only one was a priest initially; when the Order was approved in 1537 by Pope Paul III they were all ordained


* the term "Jesuit," which in the 15th century meant "one who too frequently used or appropriated the name of Jesus," was first applied to the Society as a reproach.  Ignatius never used the title, though members and friends of the Society in time adopted it as a positive appellation

* St. Ignatius' preferred title was the Company of Jesus, or Amigos en El Señor, "Friends in the Lord," as he felt "they were placed together by Christ." He liked that the first title had a military ring to it (as in an infantry "company"), as it also related to their discipleship (the "companions" of Jesus). The word "company" also originates in Latin, cum +pane = "with bread", or a group that shares meals

* St. Ignatius spent seven years at the Catholic Collège de Montaigu of the University of Paris, graduating at the age of 43 (which makes him a patron and inspiration for those seeking to further their education later in life!)

* he was lauded by his contemporaries as a talented and inspiring spiritual director, well liked by all who knew him

* St. Ignatius fought tooth and nail against the Protestant Revolt which was in the opening days of its proliferation during his time, and worked vigorously to ignite a fire under his culture in his efforts toward a Counter Reformation in the Church

* he believed that the reform of the Church had to begin with the reform of each individual's heart -- thus the importance and influence of his Spiritual Exercises (found in pdf format here)
The Jesuits were the first missionaries
to North America

* St. Ignatius and his Jesuits founded the first ever retreats for lay people, using the Spiritual Exercises

* the Jesuits have  been known from the beginning as a missionary and teaching order of the Church, with a strong emphasis on education

* The original terms of the charter of the Order, approved by Pope Paul III, limited the growth of the Society of Jesus to only 60 members (This limitation was lifted after St. Ignatius appealed it)


* when he died in Rome on July 31, 1556 (of a form of malaria), his followers in the Jesuit Order numbered almost 1,000 members

*  by the 18th century, the Society of Jesus was the largest, most influential Order in the Church

*  through a series of scandals resulting largely from the Society's perceived lack of regard for local politics, in addition to other miscellaneous controversies, the Order was temporarily dissolved by Pope Clement XIV in 1773, and was not restored until 1814

* following the restoration of the Order in the 19th century, the Society of Jesus grew steadily, reaching its peak in 1965 with 36,000 members, but decreasing rapidly after Vatican II.  Today the Society reports fewer than 19,000 members -- but it is still the largest Order of the Church

* this famous entreaty of St. Ignatius:  


“To give, and not to count the cost
to fight, and not to heed the wounds,

to toil, and not to seek for rest,

to labor, and not to ask for any reward,

save that of knowing that we do thy will”

*  "AMDG" began as St. Ignatius motto for himself and his Order?



*  St. Ignatius was canonized in 1622, less than 100 years after his death, by Pope Gregory XV

* he is the patron saint of all spiritual retreats, educators and education, the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) throughout the world, Catholic soldiers,  and the Basque region in Spain

*  knowing his devotion to the conversion of the Holy Land, it might be appropriate to beg his intercession for the suffering Christians throughout the Middle East in our day 

*  meditating upon the influence of books in St. Ignatius life, we might beg for his direction in our lives in the forms of entertainment we choose for ourselves and our children

* today on his feast day, as on all feastdays, we can count upon special blessings on all of our intentions when asked through the intercession of St. Ignatius Loyola


St. Ignatius, Pray for Us!


* A free coloring page for St. Ignatius Loyola can be downloaded from here...

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Storming the Castle...





 And Having Fun!

We threw the first annual Princess Bride party Sunday evening, and, let me tell you --  we had a blast with it!  I mean, how can you go wrong with this theme, right?  And, no kidding, we have a few hams in this family.  Unabashed. Uninhibited.  Crazy People.

The fun started out with the conceiving of the menu (not inconceivable!).  Since this is our first go at a Princess Bride party, we used the internet as a crutch this time around, finding several ideas on good ole' Pintrest.  And several of the signs that were required to go with the dishes the children made were printed off the computer for lack of time.  (This was a spur of the moment idea!)  Next time around I expect we'll a lot more time for creativity -- and then, look out!  




Needless to say, everyone had to wear costumes, so a raiding of the bins followed the stealing of ideas from the internet.   Somewhat surprisingly, everyone wanted to be Dread Pirate Roberts and no one wanted to be Princess Buttercup.  (Gone are the days of sweet little cherub girls in diamonds and trailing dresses here. ==sigh==)

Dread Pirate Cathy and Dread Pirate Anna
The perfect kiss?  Cookies and cream.

 
I'm not going to repeat what these are... ,




 Since the chief purpose of our party was to eat food and watch the movie...  we only arranged to play one game. We bought a little dollar-store, light-up tiara which we passed from person to person by means of sly word-trickery.  Cathy volunteered to be the first to wear the tiara.  Before the party, Dan wrote several individual words on little slips of paper and placed them in a little toy pirate's chest.  (Words like:  "Inconceivable,"  "Princess," "Westley," and "Sword..." to go with the movie, naturally...)  Upon donning the tiara, Cathy chose one of the words in the pirate chest, read it, and destroyed the evidence. Her goal then was to trick someone else into saying the word she chose.  When that happened, she got to relinquish her crown and give it to the speaker of the secret word.  At the end of the movie, the person stuck with the crown, got to be "Princess Buttercup" for the week.  Haha! A fate worse than death for most of the children -- the boys especially, but -- even the girls were hurrying to relinquish the title! (Forgive me if I still just can't get over this. Only a  couple years ago, our girls would have been thrilled to be Princess Buttercup!)

Anyway,  in the course of the movie, the tiara passed around and around....  ending up on William!   So, William is having to put up with us referring to him as "Buttercup" this week. (snort!)  He's taking it in good humor, I'm happy to report.

Theresa as "Buttercup"
Cathy "Buttercup"
William "Olive Fingers"

Not sure you can read the label; these are Miracle Max's Miracle Cure Chocolate Bites

 (a la Mom)*
 
Dread Pirate Anna again  (too cute to dread)

Miracle Max's Olde Time Sandwich Shoppe: Mutton, Lettuce, & Tomato fixin's - (a la Theresa)*

 
Dread Pirate William

Count Rugen's meat roll-up "fingers"... (a la Anna)*
 
We're not sure who Gabe is here -- maybe the Albino?
 
Westley's "I'm not one to be trifled with Trifle"  (a la Cathy)*

Dan took his turn as "Buttercup," too
 
Fireswamp Chili (a la Mom)*

One thing our children are especially good at: Pirate Sneering. This is how dread pirates have a good time! 
And, truly, a good time was had by all! 
It was a treat to have Dominic home for the party, but, as always, we missed all the other brothers and Michelle  being here to share in it with us!  Maybe next time, guys?  (We'll have to plan it for the next reunion or something.)

* Recipes

Fireswamp Chili --    * Ground Turkey Chili  

Miracle Max's Miracle Cure bits -- *Double chocolate paleo energy bites

     MLT Sandwiches -- pretty much what it looks like, except the "mutton" is turkey pastrami!
Westley's "I am no one to be trifled with" Trifle -- * Oreo Trifle

* Count Rugan Finger Roll Ups 

Ingredients:
app 1/2 lbs. med-thick-sliced deli meat of any variety (we used turkey)
1 package softened cream cheese
1 half can black (or green) olives, diced small
1/2 tsp garlic salt
sprinkling of parsley flakes if desired
(Makes approximately one pair of hands)

Into softened cream cheese, mix garlic salt, parsley, and well-drained diced olives.  Spread 1-2 tablespoons of this mixture evenly over a slice of deli meat, then roll from the narrow end, to form a long, finger-shaped roll up.  Repeat.  Make five for Count Rugan's left hand, six for his right hand.  Form a simple "palm" out of circular pieces of deli meat, sandwiched with the cream cheese mixture.  Arrange appropriately.  Enjoy!

Friday, July 25, 2014

It's the Feast Day of Both St. Christopher and St. James the Greater

But, today I'm focusing on St. Christopher -- who has always been and always will be a bona fide saint in our book.

Not St. Christopher
 There are a handful of saints whose popularity has catapulted them from the pages of the Missal  and into the mainstream maelstrom.  Everyone knows who St.Christopher is, right?  And you don't have to be Catholic to know about St. Francis of Assisi, or St. Theresa the Little Flower, or St. Nicholas...  Poor St. Nicholas.  But, unlike holy, but hi-jacked St. Nicholas, the legend of St. Christopher suits the sanctity of a man whose exact life story may be clouded by the mists of time, but whose eternal story continues in his legendary quest -- of serving Christ, of saving souls.  St. Christopher is known as the patron saint of travelers -- and we've depended on him, ourselves, over many miles traveling cross country through the years -- but we can also call on him as a dutiful friend to carry us through troubled waters of the soul.  There is a real human heart on the other end of every prayer we send up to our beloved saints, and each of those real human hearts, having reached the perfect happiness of heaven, wants each of us to find our way to that happiness.  No kidding, it's a hard road; the saints know it better than anyone, and they know better than anyone how worthwhile a journey it is to tackle. They extend their hands to help...

And I'm grateful for all the help I can get. You can be sure I'll be begging for a little ride on St. Christopher's shoulders when the going gets tough...

by Edward Reginald Frampton  (1870–1923)
And even when it's not so tough, but we need a little temporal reassurance for ourselves and our loved ones.  On St. Christopher day this year, we're begging his intercession in all our travels through the end of the summer, and for the continued safe journeys of all our priests on their missions and our teaching Sisters who travel all over the country during the summer providing Catechism Camps for our children.

St. Christopher, pray for us!  We're counting on you!

Below:  A most popular subjects of artists through the centuries, the story of St. Christopher has been retold on canvas over and over again.  Below are some of our favorites works of art.    Do you have a favorite?  How do you imagine St. Christopher?

(The Durer engravings make awesome coloring pages!  I'm taking a bunch of copies for the kids to color on the way to Denver today. :0)

by TizianoVecellio, better known as Titan (1524)

by Jan Mostaert  (1475-1555)

by De Ribera, (1591-1652)

by Konrad Witz  (c. 1400-1446)

by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)
Another by Lucas Cranach the Elder
by Hieronymous Bosch ( (c. 1450 – 9 August 1516)


by Orazio Gentileschi   (1563–1639)


by Lorenzo Lotto  (c. 1480 – 1556)



14th c. -- panel of of  triptych of St. Vincent Ferrar
Couldn't find the name of the artist
by Quentin Massys  (1466–1529) 
by Adam  Elsheimer   (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610)

Woodcutting; unknown artist, dated 1423
Unknown Artist, dated 1939

Albrecht Durer

by Albrecht Durer

Albrecht Durer
And HAPPY, HAPPY NAMEDAY to our stupendous second son,
  Kevin Christopher!  
We love you, Kevvy!
Kevvy as a 4 year old.

Kevvy now...  with glasses about the same size as the 4 y.o. photo...
(Someday we might actually get a normal smiling picture of this guy
 so everyone can see how handsome he is!)

*repost from 2012