ORTHODOX LITANY

 

THE SAINTS AND FLOWERS OF LENT

 The Brazilian PASSION FLOWER grows on a vine and looks like something out of

Carnival. This flower its with colors and frills, inspired the Portuguese missionaries, like St Patrick and the shamrock before them, to use the Passion Flower to help the native understand Christ’s Crucifixion.  The frilly filaments symbolize the Crown of Thorns, the top stigma are the Three Nails used to crucify the Lord and the five lower anthers are the wounds in Christ’s hands and feet and side. The blood of Christ is the red stain from the plant.  The fragrance of the flower represents the spices prepared by the Holy Women at the tomb.  Tea made from the dried Passion Flower induces sleep symbolizing the three days in the tomb and the sweet fruit symbolizes the resurrection and salvation of all peoples.

Brazilian SAINT DULCE died March 13, 1992.  At the time of her death she was the most well-known women in Brazil.  Coming from an upper-class family, Dulce, her name means ‘sweet,’ entered the Franciscan sisters and began giving beggars haircuts and treating their wounds outside the convent door.  She found housing for them in abandoned houses in an area called Rat Island.  Evicted from there, she housed the sick in an abandoned fish market.  Evicted again, she convinced the mother superior to let her use the chicken coop to shelter her patients.  The Superior permitted it, as long as Dulce took care of the chickens – she did – by feeding them to the sick and poor!  That chicken coop later became San Antonio Hospital. Eighteen years after Dulce’s death her body, and clothing, were found to be incorrupt.  Canonized in 2019, St. Dulce’s passion for the salvation of souls flowered in her sweet deeds as she became known as the patron saint of the poor.   

March 15 is the feast of a Redemptorist, SAINT CLEMENT HOFBAUER. St. Clement is known for bringing the Redemptorists from Italy across the Alps to Austria and Poland. His generosity is legendary:

 Once, while collecting money for orphans he stopped to beg at a bar.  There he was ridiculed and had beer spat in his face.  In response he said, “All Right.  That was for me.  But what can you give for my boys?”  The men were so astounded by his Christ-like humility they generously opened their pockets and gave all they could.  In his younger years, Clement was a baker of bread who worked day and night to feed the poor.   

We could associate WINTER WHEAT which symbolizes abundance and generosity. Winter Wheat is planted in early Winter so it is ready to reap in the early summer.

In the 5^th century, it is said that SAINT PATRICK used

a SHAMROCK as a metaphor to convert the Irish to Christianity.   But the Celtic ancients already believed in the triune nature of everything such as the three stages of womanhood: maid, mother, crone; the three elements: earth, water and fire.  The shamrock is not the only sign of the Trinity:  the Celtic knot also symbolizes the Trinity and that God is intertwined in everything. Legend has it that Patrick designed the image of the Celtic Cross when he placed The Cross into the pagan Sun Wheel to Christianize the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth with the Cross of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  In seeing the Celtic Cross, our faith leads us to union with the risen Christ and hope in the life to come.   

The most common flower associated with ST JOSEPH on March 19^th and the ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD on March 25^th is the LILY.  It is a symbol of innocence; purity and beauty, peace.  

Joseph is depicted as holding the infant Jesus and a lily signifying purity and joy.

Likewise, in paintings of the Annunciation, Gabriel is often featured as offering a lily to Mary symbolizing the hope to be fulfilled in the new life she will carry: the Promised One, the Messiah.

When Mary visits Elizabeth she sings her Magnificat.  Perhaps she also sang from the prophet Sirach, “Listen to me, faithful ones: open up your petals; Send up the sweet odor like incense; break forth in blossoms like the lily.  Raise your voices in a chorus of praise; bless the Lord for all God’s works!” Sirach 39:13-14   

Lilies are often associated with funerals where they symbolize that the soul of the departed has been received and restored to innocence after death. 

One of my favorite flowers in later Spring is the IRIS.   Its name means ‘Sword Lily,’ and its symbolism is taken as an allusion to the sorrow of the Virgin Mary at the Passion of her Son.  Remember that Christ’s passion was foretold by Simeon in the Temple when Jesus was just a baby.   Simeon blessed the mother and child and prophesized over Mary, saying,

“This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God... And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart.”    Luke 2:34-35

The beautiful and elegant iris serves as a symbol of faith and valor in the midst of sorrow.  Its varied colors of purple represent the shades of sorrow that touches all our lives and the graces we have received from God to stand tall and fast like the iris, like Mary.  

 

Eve and the Snowdrops

 

Every three years, on the Saturday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time (sadly, not this year, but next year), we hear the story of Adam and Eve’s banishment from the garden of Eden.   But have you heard about Eve and the SNOWDROPS?    

After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit they were cast out from paradise by the angel.  They sat outside the Garden of Eden in the lonely wilderness where no flowers blossomed and no birds sang.  The earth was barren.  The trees were without fruits and the grasses were brown and dry.  Snow began the fall.  Adam and Eve sat and remembered the beautiful greenery and colorful flowers of the garden which had once been their home.  Eve shivered in the bitter cold and sobbed.  God in heaven looked down and saw Eve weeping.  The Most High took pity on her and sent an angel to watch over them.  To console Eve, the angel caught a handful of snowflakes, blew on them and ordered them to become flowers once they touched the earth.  As the snowflakes came in contact with the earth they sprung up into beautiful white flowers.  Eve smiled with joy to see the flurry of snowdrops spring up in the snow.  The angel told Eve, "Take heart, dear Eve, be hopeful and despair not. You will be the mother of all the living.  Let these little snowdrops be a sign to you that spring and sunshine and life will come again."   

That is how snowdrops came to be a symbol of consolation, hope, courage and the promise of the end of Winter and the coming of Spring, and of our Salvation.  As Eve became the mother of the living,  her descendant, the Blessed Virgin Mary would be the Mother of Life, through Jesus, her Son.   

We are always happy to find a flurry of snowdrops in a sheltered corner of the monastery peeking up through the snow in late Winter.  This sign, indeed, is our reason to hope and our salvation.

GIFTS OF EPIPHANY

Gold.  Frankincense.  Myrrh. 

What wondrous gifts for a babe!
Why did the magi give them to a child they did not know? 
They gave them because one of the magi discovered in the humble stable, a new born king and offered the gold. 
Another recognized a divine child come down from heaven and worshipped him with the sweet frankincense.  
The third magi offered myrrh when he suddenly foresaw the child’s redemptive cross and glorious resurrection.
They had come from different parts of the world and afterwards, returned to their homelands to share the wonderous epiphanies they experienced. 

Last year, on the feast of the Epiphany, we celebrated our Sr. Lydia’s 66^th anniversary of religious profession; her gift to the church and the world.    Sadly, we could not celebrate with her because of covid in the nursing home.  Sister had contracted covid and never fully recovered.  She was 90.  That Christmas, I was inspired to send her a stuffed toy frog and to write a little legend about a coqui from her native Puerto Rico. 

THE COQUI’S GIFT

A bright star blazed in the night sky while under the palm tree slept three wise kings with their camels. In the palm tree sat a little coqui frog keeping watch.  Silently, he had listened to their words of wisdom and learned they were on their way to greet the new king!  

“A king!” chirped the little coqui.  “How I would love to see this new king.” 
Quietly, he hopped down and nestled under the cloak of one the kings so he might travel with them to see this wonder himself.  
For many days they traveled and with each night the star grew bigger and brighter.   Finally, the star, in all its glory, stopped and glowed over a humble stable.
“How disappointing,” thought the coqui.  “This can’t be right.  This is no place for a king.”  
Inside the home was a poor couple with a newborn babe.   Generously, the couple welcomed the Three Kings, and the unbeknownst coqui, with such openness, love and warmth that you thought you entered heaven!

 With great insight, the three kings said, “Truly, this babe must be the Son of God,” as they humbly bowed before the newborn king and they offered their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.    

Sadly, the coqui had nothing to offer. 

When nighttime fell, the three magi and the holy parents drowsed and dreamed dreams of the wonders of God’s love. The coqui hopped closer to look at the Holy Child.  The babe’s little hand waved and beckoned him closer. The baby king wasn’t sleepy.  Neither was the coqui. 

Sitting on his little chest, the coqui felt a puff of the Holy Child’s breath.  The pitter patter of the infant king’s heart set the beat and the coqui, filled with wonder and gratitude at being able to keep this heavenly newborn company, began to sing.  He found his gift!  The coqui sang loudly all through the night, and has done so every night since, singing, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” 

I imagine Sr. Lydia enjoyed this story because the Three Kings are a big deal in Puerto Rico and she loved coquis. Sr. Lydia died 3 weeks later.  We rejoiced for her, for now she is in heaven singing her own song of wonder and gratitude to Jesus, the King of her heart.

What is the feast of Epiphany all about? Epiphany actually has three manifestations of the presence of God in our midst.  The first being the Three Kings.  The second is when John the Baptist recognized Jesus for who he truly is at his baptism in the Jordan when a voice from heaven declared, “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Matt 3:17     And the third Epiphany is at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Unfortunately, this beloved gospel reading only comes up once every three years.  Fortunately, this is the year!   In changing the water into wine at Cana, Jesus, himself, reveals his glory to the disciples and that of the Father’s abundant mercy and love for humankind. John 2:11

We can ask ourselves today:
Are we like the wise magi seeking Christ the King in our hearts?

Are we like Mary and Joseph welcoming the stranger?

Are we like John the Baptist, preparing the way that others might recognize Christ?

Do we hear the Father say to us, “You are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased?

Or are we like Jesus, using our God-given gifts to spread joy in the knowledge of God’s abundant love and mercy by our words and actions?

We need not be on some quest searching for something difficult to find. We have only to open our hearts to see evidence of God’s love surrounding us.  Everywhere and everything has been touched by the grandeur of God’s animating power.     Every moment of the day, whether it is something simple, like waking up in the morning, or difficult, like mourning the death of a child, is an occasion of God’s love and compassion.  

Can we be an epiphany of God’s love for the world in our own time and place?  Jesus believes we can, when he said, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, . . .  that the world may know that you sent me, and that you love them, even as you love me.   . . . Father, they are your gift to me.”  John 17:21-22, 24

I’ll end with a story about one of the sisters
I live with.  She has dementia.  Sister had always been a person with a heart of love.  Now, she can’t hold a conversation, but is still intent on looking for ways to help others.   At Mass, when she goes up to communion, she says, “Thank you” when the priest places the host in her hands.  It is very touching that somehow, she recognizes the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist. 

If the only gift we can offer in the presence of God is a simple, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” than that gift would be enough.

ADVENT/CHRISTMAS LETTER

 

What is more admirable and astounding, and a deep mystery in which the angels still get lost, than the humility which God underwent in the first instant of the Incarnation, when God lowered Himself to take on human flesh and became man.                                                               Blessed M. Celeste Crostarosa

2021 Advent and Christmas

Grace and Greetings to all our  
Family, Friends and Benefactors, 

We gather at this time of year to ponder the great mystery of Jesus’ Incarnation and in anticipation of Christ’s coming again in glory. 
We cry out, ‘Come, Lord Jesus,’ and sing with all the angelic choirs to the glory of God the Father, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!’ 

During this year of continuing (but easing) covid restrictions, climate disasters, human and political struggle, we find refuge under God’s protecting wings.  We are never without God’s loving mercy, peace
and joy, with the Holy One lighting our way.

Our year has been quiet but full.  Last Advent, Sr. Moira gave a reflection during the novena before Christmas on the Redemptorist YouTube channel, on the Key of David.  Our Sr. Lydia died in January and is now rejoicing with the angels in heaven.  Her funeral was live-streamed and her family in Puerto Rico, and others, were able to join in the celebration of her life.  February came in with a blizzard of 18 inches of snow and Ash Wednesday soon followed.  We received ashes applied with Q-Tips – they were the most precise crosses on our foreheads ever!  In March we rejoiced when we and the Carmelites received our covid shots. Despite that, we continued to follow the Archdiocesan protocol and celebrated Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil without a priest.  We missed our guests who would have joined us for the Triduum.  But on Easter morn, we were overjoyed when our local pastor, Fr. Richard Smith, celebrated Easter Mass with us. What a blessing!   After Pentecost we began to have a few masses a week but without guests. 

In June, Redemptorist Fr. Ako Walker was able to celebrate a Mass here in honor of our Mother of Perpetual Help for all your special intentions.  During the summer, Fr. Richard Smith was our honorary Redemptorist when he celebrated the feast day Masses for Holy Redeemer Sunday on the Third Sunday of July, St. Alphonsus on August 1 and Blessed M. Celeste on September 11. 

Meanwhile, we held ZOOM meetings with our Associates, received spiritual direction and attended a meeting discussing racial issues in religious congregations. We, also, measured Redemptorists for new habits via Zoom, and Skyped with family and friends.

In June we began a monthly morning of reflection for our community.  It began with a hymn, a short video, a time for sharing and ended with a prayer on such topics as: How Did You Know:  vocation stories, Being a Human Lighthouse, Are We Angels on Earth, Visions and Dreams of the Dying, and Gratitude. 

We, and our Carmelite Sisters, made our 10-day community retreats together in November.  Because neither community had a director, some of us viewed Season 2 of The Chosen, once- a-day, for eight days.  The Chosen tells the story of Jesus and His followers and, in a powerful way, lends itself to meditation and contemplation.

Our Novena before Christmas begins December 16.  We gather in Celeste Hall, our community room, around the flickering Advent candles and pray for all your intentions, saying,

“Adore, oh my soul, in the heart of Mary,
the only begotten Son of God who was made man for love of you.”

Wishing you a blessed and holy Christmas and New Year as we join the angels sweetly singing:
                                                Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Sr Paula is our Memory-Keeper Angel who helps us recall our history from Ontario to
New York.

Sr. Maria Paz is our Correspondence Angel
proclaiming throughout the year the Good News of Salvation with her letters 

             Sr. Maria Linda is our Sewing Angel tailoring habits for our Redemptorist priests and brothers.

Sr Mary Jane is our Tech Angel who keeps our
computers in tip-top shape.

 

Sr Moira is our Creative Angel keeping our website REDNUNSNY.ORG and Facebook up to date.