Thatched Roofs

                     
I once came across this thatched roof house somewhere in England, and of course, I took a photo of it. They are quite popular in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Korea, Denmark, parts of France, Sicily, Belgium, and Ireland. There are more than 60,000 thatched roofs in the United Kingdom and over 150,000 in the Netherlands. Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, bulrushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed—trapping air—thatching also functions as insulation. Palm trees are also popular in tropical countries, and are found in Fiji, Hawaii, Bali, while sugar cane leaves are popular in Kenya.

Appropriate apology

Ted Heath, England's Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974

Baron William Beaverbrook was a major publisher of British newspapers. Once he wrote a nasty and offensive article on the member of Parliament Ted Heath, who eventually became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A few days later, they met in a public toilet. Finding himself trapped and in an uncomfortable situation, he told Ted ‘my friend, I am so sorry for what I wrote about you. I was wrong and I want to apologize to you.’ At that, Ted Heath responded ever so diplomatically, ‘very well, but next time I prefer that you insult me in the toilet, and make your apology in the newspapers!’

Madonna del Ghisallo

The Giro d’Italia is being contested these present three weeks, transferred from May because of the coronavirus. Back in 1949, Pope Pius XII built a chapel at an elevation of 754 meters, known as the Madonna del Ghisallo, Madonna of Cyclists. It is on the Ghisallo pass, where many cyclists pass through while touring the Giro della Lombardia and the Giro d’Italia. It is said that in that place the medieval Count of Ghisallo was saved from a band of robbers by the appearance of the Virgin Mary. It’s a tranquil place of birdsong and sunshine close to the town of Bellagio, and it remains a destination for cyclists. The Madonna del Ghisallo is the patroness of cyclists, declared by Pope Pius XII during the 1949 Giro d’Italia. An eternal flame burns inside in memory of every cyclist who has died on Italian roads, and the walls are hung with their pictures and with bikes and jerseys donated by champions from every era. 

The Cycling Museum behind the chapel of Madonna del Ghisallo

And now, behind the chapel, behind the statues of Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi, (two iconic Italian cyclists of the 30s, 40s and 50s,) there’s a museum of cycling, a modern purpose-built center that houses a huge archive of Italian cycling history. During World War II, the Italian cyclist Gino Bartali would carry in the frame of his bike false documents, and he would distribute them to various monasteries, and through them, many Jewish people could escape from the Nazis and Fascists. In fact, Israel has given Bartali the honor of ‘Righteous among the Nations,’ the highest honor given to those who during the Holocaust risked their lives to save people.

Our Lady of the Rosary

Even though the Rosary is a daily devotion which most Catholics pray every day, the month of October has always been connected in a special way to the Rosary. The origin of the Rosary has been attributed to a Marian apparition to Saint Dominic in 1208 in the church of Prouille. People wanted a devotional of sorts to pray, since the priests were able to pray the Office and read the 150 psalms in Latin, while most of the people could not read. So the devotion was started to pray 150 Hail Marys, later divided into decades and divided into three Mysteries, while more recently in 2002, the Luminous Mysteries were added. Many people however had abandoned the devotion to the Rosary and it was only revived after plagues, a schism, and other calamities hit most of Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Blessed Mother appeared to Blessed Alan de la Roche to revive this devotion, also reviving the ancient Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. Blessed Alan was one of the Dominican Fathers from the monastery at Dinan, in Brittany. He was an eminent theologian and was famous for his sermons. Our Lady chose him because it was most fitting that a Dominican from the very same province, should have the honor of re-establishing this feast. In 1571 Pope St Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of the Christians against the Turks in Lepanto. The victory was attributed to Our Lady, as a rosary procession was offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. In 1565, the Turks had already tried to take over Malta in the Great Siege, but the Maltese people, with the help of the Knights of Malta, were able to defend the island from the attack of the Ottoman Empire. In 1573 Pope Gregory XIII changed the title of this feast day to "Feast of the Holy Rosary". This feast was extended by Pope Clement XII to the whole of the Latin rite, inserting it into the Roman calendar of saints in 1716, and assigning it to the first Sunday in October. Pope St Pius X changed the date to October 7th in 1913. In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to "Our Lady of the Rosary".

The ‘homeless’ priest

                        
A priest was assigned to his new parish, and tried an unusual method of how he can mingle with his parishioners, before they even got to meet him. So he dressed up as a homeless man, and on the day the parishioners were expecting their new priest, he arrived a little early and started to mingle with the people. Yet most people ignored him or even moved away from him. Nobody talked to him or greeted him as he moved from a group of people to a nice family hopefully to share a few words. So he decided to enter the church and a few minutes before 9AM, when the Mass was supposed to start, he rested in the front bench, all by himself, all disheveled and unkempt. Then an usher came towards him and asked him to move towards the back. He obliged and waited in the last pew.  Around 9 AM, a lector came on the podium and told the congregation that they were still waiting for the new pastor to show up. At that moment, the ‘priest’ started walking slowly through the middle aisle and went up in the sanctuary and to the podium. He cleared his voice and told the people, whose eyes now were fixed on him, ‘I hope that you all go home today, and seriously reflect on what just happened here today. Please examine your conscience and your heart. I’ll see you all next Sunday.’ The entire crowd felt very embarrassed and guilty on how they had behaved. A few were crying and others just looked at each other in disbelief, realizing how they had so negligently and uncharitably behaved. The priest was the pastor in that parish for over 10 years, but even though they may not have remembered any homilies he preached, what he did that first day was the best homily that priest ever gave to that parish.

Fratelli Tutti

Pope Francis signing the Encyclical at the Assisi altar.

Pope Francis has just issued his third Encyclical, a lengthy treatise on fraternal love, entitled ‘Fratelli Tutti’, (All brothers) the words of St Francis himself. He signed the document  in Assisi on the eve of the saint's feast day. In the introduction, Pope Francis says: “I offer this social Encyclical as a modest contribution to continued reflection, in the hope that in the face of present-day attempts to eliminate or ignore others, we may prove capable of responding with a new vision of fraternity and social friendship that will not remain at the level of words. I have sought to make this reflection an invitation to dialogue among all people of goodwill. It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity. Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together.”

Towards the end of the Encyclical, the Pope shares this beautiful prayer to the Creator:

Lord, Father of our human family, you created all human beings equal in dignity: pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice, and peace. Move us to create healthier societies and a more dignified world, a world without hunger, poverty, violence, and war. May our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the earth. May we recognize the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us, and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects, and shared dreams. Amen.

St Francis of Assisi

We are all familiar with the prayer "Make me an instrument of your Peace" attributed to Saint Francis. So I decided to add a few more phrase to this prayer:

Where there is disagreement, let me create consensus.
Where there is impatience, let me create tolerance.
Where there is egoism, let me show altruism.
Where there is indifference, let me show genuine interest.
Where there is division, let me bring unity and peace.
Where there is competition, let me create a sense of teamwork.
Where there is cheating, let me create a spirit of honesty.
Where there is discouragement, let me create encouragement.
Where there is confusion, let me bring order.
Where there is a struggle, let me add and instill perseverance.
Where there is loneliness, let me bring in companionship.
Where there is too much seriousness, let me bring in a sense of humor.                                           And where there is spiritual apathy, let me show commitment, prayerfulness and devotion. 

The Ladder

Have you ever thought of how the ladder can teach us an important lesson in life? The lesson is about humility and patience. When you have to climb a ladder, you always have to start from the lower rung, and climb one step at a time. It’s impossible to climb a ladder starting from the 6th or 10th rung, but you always have to start from the lowest rung, from the floor. So is life – we cannot reach a milestone right away. We cannot achieve success instantly. We cannot be promoted as soon as we start working. You cannot win a trophy or a medal as soon as you start practicing your sport. It takes patience, perseverance, and sheer determination to reach your goal. It takes time and occasional failure. It takes lots of humility to become successful in anything you dream of. To reach the top rung of a ladder and grab that book from the top shelf of a library, or paint the chimney of your house, you have to climb a ladder, step by step, starting from the bottom. For Pope Francis to become a Pope, he had to study in a seminary like all priests. For President Trump to become President, he had to attend nursery school like all of us. For Michael Phelps to win the large haul of gold medals at the Olympic Games, he had to get up daily at 4 AM, and train hard, doing thousands of laps and follow his coaches’ advice. They all climbed the ladder step by step, starting from the floor and stepping on that first rung. May we show humility and patience in everything we do, methodically planning our lives, step by step, literally and figuratively. Only then we can attain everything we dream of, sometimes with sacrifice, after plenty of mishaps and mistakes, and occasional humiliating failure. But never give up. 

Guardian Angels

                  

The belief in Guardian Angels appears in the Old Testament, although it is not specifically articulated. The belief that angels can be guides and intercessors for men appears in the books of Job and Daniel where angels seem to be assigned to certain countries. In the Gospel, Jesus says of children: "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." This is often understood to mean that children are protected by guardian angels. The fathers of the Church had differing views on the Guardian Angels. The first Christian theologian to outline a specific scheme for guardian angels was Honorius. He said that every soul was assigned a guardian angel the moment it was put into a body. St Thomas Aquinas agreed with Honorius and specified that it was the lowest order of angels who served as guardians. Saints Jerome and Basil of Caesarea argued that sin drove the angels away. Guardian angels appear in literary works throughout the medieval and renaissance periods. 

Popes have always invoked the protection of their Guardian Angels. Pope Pius XI recalled in one of his audiences that he relied on his Guardian Angel’s help when confronting the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. Pope John XXIII in a private conversation with a Canadian bishop attributed the idea of calling an ecumenical council to his Guardian Angel - it was via his Angel that God gave him the inspiration to convene Vatican Council II, which started October 11, 1962, 58 years ago. One can also name your own Guardian Angels, as I have personally done when I called mine Stephen. Yes, Stephen has been very good to me, protecting me from danger and saving me from near-accidents and who knows what else.
PRAYER: Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Miniature sculpture at Mt. Carmel Church, Valletta

Always looking for practical ways to develop our spirituality in the craziness of ordinary life, here is a short exercise you can do to engage your angel during your prayer time.

1. Find a quiet place. No cell-phone, No TV, No Internet.

2. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, ask Jesus to bless your prayer, and then imagine your guardian angel by your side. You’re going to have to use your imagination to do this, but in time you’ll begin to feel more at peace

3. When you’re ready, quietly say: “Guardian angel, pray with me. Lead me closer to God. Protect me and give me direction throughout the day.”

4. Then talk to your angel about your day — your worries, your dreams, your hopes. Ask for guidance. Ask for support. Ask for assistance in making a decision. And then recite the Lord’s Prayer with your angel. Really imagine that your angel is praying those words with you. Talk to your Guardian Angel using his/her name.

St Therese of Lisieux

St Therese in the convent

Generations of Catholics have admired this young saint, called her the "Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for their own lives than in volumes by theologians.  Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was a brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized. Therese was born in France in 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be a monk. The two had gotten married but determined they would be celibate until a priest told them that was not how God wanted a marriage to work! They must have followed his advice very well because they had nine children. The five children who lived were all daughters. Tragedy and loss came quickly to Therese when her mother died of breast cancer when Therese was four and a half years old. Her sixteen-year-old sister Pauline became her second mother -- which made the second loss even worse when Pauline entered the Carmelite convent five years later. Therese’s parents were eventually canonized on October 18, 2015. When her other sisters, Marie and Leonie, left to join religious orders (the Carmelites and Poor Clares, respectively), Therese was left alone with her last sister Celine and her father. She wanted to enter the Carmelite convent to join Pauline and Marie but how could she convince others that she could handle the rigors of Carmelite life. When the superior of the Carmelite convent refused to take Therese because she was so young, the formerly shy little girl went to the bishop. When the bishop also said no, she decided to go over his head. Her father and sister took her on a pilgrimage to Rome to try to get her mind off this crazy idea. Therese loved it. It was the one time when being little worked to her advantage! Because she was young and small she could run everywhere, touch relics and tombs in the Vatican without being yelled at. Finally, they went for an audience with the Pope. They had been forbidden to speak to him but that didn't stop Therese. As soon as she got near him, she begged that he let her enter the Carmelite convent. She had to be carried out by two of the guards! But the Vicar General who had seen her courage, was impressed and soon Therese was admitted to the Carmelite convent that her sisters Pauline and Marie had already joined. 

St Therese as a young girl

Her romantic ideas of convent life and suffering soon met up with reality in a way she had never expected. Her father suffered a series of strokes that left him affected not only physically but mentally. As a cloistered nun, she couldn't even visit her father before he died. She knew as a Carmelite nun she would never be able to perform great deeds. Therese took every chance to sacrifice, no matter how small it would seem. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining -- often given the worst leftovers. When Pauline was elected prioress, she asked Therese for the ultimate sacrifice. Because of politics in the convent, many of the sisters feared that the family Martin would take over the convent. Therefore Pauline asked Therese to remain a novice, in order to allay the fears of the others that the three sisters would push everyone else around. This meant she would never be a fully professed nun. Upon their father’s death, now Celine also entered the convent. Four of the sisters were now together again. In this small convent, they now made up one-fifth of the population. Despite this and the fact that Therese was a permanent novice, they put her in charge of the other novices. Then in 1896, she coughed up blood. She kept working without telling anyone until she became so sick a year later everyone knew it. She died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24 years old. After she died, Pauline put together Therese's autobiography and sent 2000 copies to other convents. Within two years, the Martin family had to move because her notoriety was so great and by 1925 she had been canonized. 

The hole in the boat

                            

A man owned a small boat.  Whenever spring came around, he would take his children out on the boat and went fishing in the lake nearby. One year at the end of the summer, he brought the boat in since he won’t be using it until next spring.  When he did, he noticed a small hole in the back of the boat but he thought he will fix it next year since he won’t be using it for a while.  However, he did call a painter to repaint the boat. The next spring came around when the man’s two sons wanted to ride the repainted boat.  So the man launched the boat with just two of his sons in it but he forgot about the hole in the boat. After a couple of hours later, he remembered about the hole.  Frantically he ran to the lake because not only they were inexperienced with the boat but they didn’t know how to swim. However, by the time he arrived at the lake, the boys were done boating and were about to head back home.  The man checked and saw the hole was fixed.  He wondered who might have fixed it and then, he remembered. The man took a nice present and went to visit the painter.  The painter was puzzled why he brought such a nice gift and said, “You have paid me already for the paint job.  What is this for?” The man said, “I have only asked you to paint the boat but you have fixed the hole which saved my two sons from drowning.  And for that, I cannot thank you enough.” Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles (Matt. 5:41).  Doing, giving, serving, and going that “extra” mile can leave a huge impact on people.  Going above and beyond the call of duty is what Christians should be known for.  May God give us more caring and thoughtful painters in our lives.

The Archangels

Today is the feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael - the angel of judgment - is known as the champion in the fight against Satan and the other devils as well as the guardian of the faithful especially at the time of death. Frequently he is portrayed crushing the devil’s head with a lance. Gabriel - the angel of mercy - is the messenger from God in St Luke’s gospel who foretold the birth of John the Baptist, “Be not afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.” Six months later it was Gabriel who appeared to Mary at the Annunciation saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Raphael  -  whose name means “God has healed” was sent by God to heal Tobias of his blindness and to deliver Sara from the devil in the book of Tobit. We tend to underestimate the presence of Angels in our lives. However, they are gaining popularity as we see many angel pins on people’s jackets, posters, and paintings of various angels are showing up at card stores. And of course, at Christmas, there are the angels on ornaments and hanging on nativity scenes. We sing about the angels in several of the Christmas hymns. Angels were also present at Jesus’ tomb when the women went to anoint his body and found the tomb empty. But we are reluctant to accept their actual existence. This is certainly a departure from our childhood when we prayed to our Guardian Angel at least daily. As children, we believed that there was truly one angel whose job was to look after us, who would always hover around us ready to protect us from all evil and to communicate our desires and needs to God. The feast of the Guardian Angels in fact is in 3 days, October 2.

Washington monuments

I’ve been to Washington DC twice. Once was a hair-raising experience as I was traveling with a Filipino priest who had a mini-stroke as he was driving back to our parish on Long Island. He ended up in Philadelphia, but I was able to lead him back towards New York, with the limited experience I had of the busy Northeast highways. But I enjoyed my visit there, seeing the Smithsonian Museum, walking through the historic streets and relishing the various monuments that highlight the almost 250 years of history of the United States. 

These are just 2 monuments close to the Capitol, taken with a regular camera as this was 1983, before the digital cameras came along. The first one is made of bronze, with the Capitol rotunda in the background, and the second one made of marble. Later on this week, we'll visit the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, a much-beloved church by all Catholics.

Steve Jobs - his last words.

                     

Many people may not know that Steve Jobs was born in war-torn Syria and soon after, his parents gave him up for adoption. He was adopted by an American family and raised with lots of love. We all know that he as the brain behind the iPhone, the iPod, and the iPad. Steve Jobs died a billionaire... with a fortune of $7 billion...at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer...and here are some of his last words...“In others’ eyes... my life is the essence of success... but aside from work... I have little joy. And in the end.... wealth is just a fact of life to which I am accustomed. At this moment... lying on the bed... sick and remembering all my life... I realize that all my recognition and wealth that I have is meaningless in the face of imminent death. You can hire someone to drive a car for you... make money for you ... but you cannot rent someone to carry the disease for you. One can find material things.... but there is one thing that cannot be found when it is lost – “LIFE”.  Treat yourself well...and cherish others. As we get older we are smarter... and we slowly realize that the watch is worth $30 or $300 – both of which show the same time. Whether we drive a car worth $150,000, or a car worth $20,000 – the road and distance are the same... we reach the same destination. If we drink a bottle worth $300 or wine worth $10 – the “stroller” will be the same. If the house we live in is 300 square meters... or 3000 square meters – the loneliness is the same. Your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world.  Whether you’re flying first class...or economy class – if the plane crashes...you crash with it. So... I hope you understand that when you have friends or someone to talk to – this is true happiness!"

Retired License plate

                       

Continuing my review of flashbacks from my past, this license plate struck me one day, and of course, took the picture which I saved for close to 40 years. I never thought of myself as a retired person, and probably will never officially retire completely, because I hope to be always able to celebrate Mass and help in parishes whenever I am needed. Even though I am not assigned to any particular parish, I do take care of the spiritual needs of a Retirement Home as I visit the residents to give them communion and celebrate daily Mass in my chapel, which they can also follow on a closed-circuit TV in their own rooms. And this has been very beneficial in the present Covid-19 situation, which means that it is actually more work for me as I spend 2 hours going from room to room to bring Jesus to the residents, plus confessions, some counseling, and just my presence, which consoles them and lifts their spirit. I say 2 Masses on Saturday and 2 more on Sunday, besides an extra Mass on Sunday in the local Naxxar parish. They also look forward to my playing the flute for them, often after communion, and frequently during lunch in the dining room. I also present occasional PowerPoint talks on various religious subjects, which they enjoy. So, as you can see I am far from a retired person, although I have no fixed address since I live here most of the time. I have a phone which is not one of my favorite gizmos, unlike our young and not-so-young people who seem to have their cell-phone connected to their bodies. My clock is always going and I still follow my customary hibernation routine, early to bed (by 10PM) and early to rise (around 5:30 AM.) And since I do everything here on a voluntary basis, money has never been a priority for me, although you need the basics to buy the daily necessities.

Pumpkins

Everybody in the USA, at least the people that knew me, were all aware that I disliked pumpkin pie. It is a specialty that appears around Thanksgiving Day, and yet, I always preferred apple pie or strawberry pie, or mince pie, my all-time favorite. But still, I know what an important role pumpkin has in the lives of Americans, especially as September leads into October, and people start decorating their thresholds and entrances with pumpkins, decorative gourds, and foliage that turns annually from green to brown, to orange and red.

Children especially enjoy hayrides in fields, and picking their own pumpkin is a tradition that children are introduced into at an early age. Just like decorating the Christmas Tree, and the setting up of the Nativity for Christmas, putting doily snowflakes on windows and hearts in February and shamrocks in March and Easter eggs in Easter, the presence of a pumpkins heralds the arrival of Fall or Autumn. In Malta, pumpkins are not that popular, but we do have marrows that are used for soups, especially any kind of minestrone or vegetable soup. But nonetheless, as I continue my flashbacks from the 1980s, enjoy these nostalgic pumpkin photos from my years in New York.

Feeding the birds

Malta unfortunately has a bad reputation about bird hunting and bird trapping. There is a brief hunting season in April and another one in October, when the birds are migrating from Africa to Europe and vice-versa, but the European Union regulations have minimized the opportunity for bird hunting. As a result, we are having many more birds stopping over in Malta, like flamingoes, swans and other unusual birds that normally do not even think of slowing down on Malta. Good for them, because there are always hunters ready with their shotguns to kill whatever flutters and moves. Understandably, many anti-hunting groups do protests against the cruelty of animals and birds. And respect for birds has increased over the last few years, but nevertheless, you’ll always find some hunter who shows no respect. Even more, turtles have been nesting on Maltese shores, three of them this past summer, each with close to 80 babies hatching and head to the sea, waddling away as their instinct tells them to do. Well, as I continue my flashbacks browsing through my collection,  I took this photo you see today near a lake where someone was feeding these bunch of sparrows. They were so friendly, since there were no shotguns aimed at them, that they would come and eat from your hand, literally, as you can see. May we always respect nature in all its forms, and admire all animals, except for mosquitoes, especially those that buzz annoyingly by your ears at 2 in the morning.

Padre Pio

Today we celebrate the liturgical feast of St. Pio of Pietralcina, known as Padre Pio. He was a holy man who received the stigmata in 1918, and they disappeared the moment he died in 1968, suffering with bleeding all through his life. Padre Pio saw Jesus in all the sick and suffering. A fine hospital was built on nearby Mount Gargano in the 1940s, known as "House for the Alleviation of Suffering" and has 350 beds. A number of people have reported cures they believe were received through the intercession of Padre Pio. He died on September 23, 1968, was beatified in 1999 and made a saint in 2002. While Padre Pio never visited the United States, the famous stigmatist did have some interesting interactions with US servicemen during and after World War II. During the Allied aerial bombing campaign in Italy, the Nazis had placed one of their ammo dumps close to San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio’s monastery, and the nearby town and the people of the town begged the pious monk to save them from the bombs. From that point, whenever an Allied bombing mission targeted the Nazi base, the American planes would develop malfunctions of various sorts that prevented them from dropping their payloads or would encounter unexpected bad weather right over the target. Eventually, pilots began reporting seeing a ‘little man with a brown robe’ flying through the air, waving their planes off. After the Allies liberated Italy, some of the pilots visited the monastery and recognized Padre Pio as the little man in the air.

Flashbacks

I’d like to share with you over the next few weeks a few old photos I took while in the USA. With no particular order or choice, here are the first two from my time in New Hyde Park, New York, where I spent 10 glorious years between 1981 and 1991. The first one shows an unusual globe that was wrapped in various American flags. Since I’m always looking for the unusual and strange, this globe caught my attention and I took a photo of it. 

The second photo was of a car wrapped up in a cover made up of different flags. Now this is something that is common in Malta, where the sun is very hot, and car aficionados like their cars to remain cool, and so they create cloth covers for them. But it was very unusual to come across a similar car on Long Island in the USA. Well, someone in the early 1980s was fond of his car and covered it with a very attractive car cover. Notice in the background some other older models of cars, which were quite big in the 1980s, as well as a Diner and a Delicatessen, popular stores that saw many people frequent them, and which undoubtedly they still do.

Malta’s Independence Day

Malta was ruled over the past 2 millennia by the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish, the Knights of St John, the French and the British. Following a Maltese constitutional referendum in 1964, approved by 54.5% of voters, on September 21st, 1964, Malta became an independent state as a Constitutional Monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State.  So September 21st every year is celebrated as Independence Day or Jum l-Indipendenza in Maltese, this year being the 56th anniversary. One can say that both Labour Leader Dom Mintoff, as well as Nationalist Leader and Prime Minister George Borg Olivier contributed towards the attainment of Independence. On December 1st 1964, Malta was admitted to the United Nations. In 1965 Malta joined the Council of Europe, and in 1970, Malta signed an Association Treaty with the European Community. Malta was declared a republic on December 13th, 1974, and on May 1st, 2004, Malta finally became the 25th nation to join the European Union.

Forgiveness

As a widow in Colorado, Mrs. Hanna was filled with hate and bitterness toward the man who had just killed her daughter. She found it absolutely impossible to forgive him after he was captured, found guilty, and sent to prison. She wrote, “All that seemed alive was the hate burning within me.....consuming everything in me that had once responded to love, beauty and laughter.” Eventually, she realized that she was being consumed by hate even though she believed in a forgiving God. She arranged to have a Bible sent to the prisoner with her personal message of love and forgiveness. Previously sullen and morose, the imprisoned man asked the intermediary to tell “Mrs. Hanna that she had given me a gift such as I have never had before....If she could show me such forgiveness, I have hope and faith that God could do the same.” The experience changed his life, and he ended up ministering to other prisoners. Reflecting on the change, Mrs. Hanna observed: “No one had ever told him that he was loved.” Mrs. Hanna herself felt that a great burden has been lifted from her.  Yes....it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

Our Lady of the Milk

In Bethlehem there is a shrine known as the Milk Grotto, where thousands upon thousands of conceptions and births were a direct answer to prayers offered there. Now, it’s interesting to note that in Florida, there is a pilgrimage site known as the Shrine of Our Lady of the Milk, (La Leche) in the historic city of St. Augustine. Because of the singular graces associated with the La Leche shrine, flooded with requests, by email or message, people from all over the world request prayers for family members, co-workers, and friends or for themselves. Stories abound from the Grotto in the Holy Land, and the shrine in St. Augustine, about children born to parents who had struggled for years to conceive or had been told there was no hope. Why do Mary’s prayers facilitate such a grace for couples? Perhaps Mary’s life provides the answer.

According to some traditions, Mary’s parents Joachim and Anne were themselves struggling to conceive. They turned to God in prayer, and in time, that prayer was answered by Mary’s nativity. Not only did God hear their prayer, but he also did something even more extraordinary: God chose to preserve her, from the very first moments of her existence, from original sin. In her conception, she was immaculate. Many couples make the pilgrimage to the grotto, or the shrine, and earnestly pray, but yet do not conceive. The reality is that God answers prayer, but sometimes differently, and perhaps some are given the grace to become open to adoption, or to foster-parenthood, or something else. While praying at the shrine, couples can experience a sense of Mary’s consoling and comforting love for them.

The new chapel of Our Lady of the Milk in St. Augustine, Florida.

Novena Prayer to Our Lady of La Leche

Lovely Lady of La Leche, most loving Mother of Jesus, and my mother, listen to my humble prayer.  Your motherly heart knows my every wish, my every need. To you only, His spotless Virgin Mother, has your Divine Son given to understand the sentiments which fill my soul. Yours was the sacred privilege of being the Mother of the Savior. Intercede with him now, my loving mother, that in accordance with his will (your request here). This I ask, O Lady of the Milk, in the name of your Divine Son, my Lord, and Savior. Amen. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us.

Cardinal Jaworski

Cardinal Marian Jaworski, retired archbishop of Lviv of the Latin Rite Catholics of Ukraine, died on September 5 at the age of 94. He was a close friend of Pope St. John Paul II, and administered the last sacraments to the Polish Pope on his deathbed in 2005. Jaworski was born in 1926 and entered the major seminary of Lviv in 1945. Following the occupation of the territory by Soviet troops, he was sent to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, Poland. Ordained a priest in 1950, he continued his studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland) and then at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Lublin (Poland). It was during this period that he met the future Polish pope. At his death, various commentators recalled how John Paul II thought his life and the life of Cardinal Jaworksi were intertwined not just in their friendship and physical proximity, but in a mystical way. Cardinal Jaworski lost his hand because of a train accident. But he was on the train because of the future John Paul II. It was June of 1967 and Karol Wojtyla (the future John Paul II) had been called to Rome to be made a cardinal. Wojtyla already had had something on his schedule for the date of the consistory — a trip to Olsztyn, Poland — and he asked Jaworski to take his place. It was during this trip that an unfortunate accident occurred, which led to the amputation of Jaworski’s hand.

He later taught at the Catholic Academy of Theology in Warsaw, and then became full professor at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Krakow in 1976. He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Lubaczów (Poland) in 1984 by John Paul II, who appointed him Archbishop of the Latin Archdiocese of Lviv in 1991. Upon his return to his native country, he worked patiently to rebuild the diocese, which had been destroyed by the Communist regime. The Ukrainian high prelate was himself made a cardinal by the Polish pope in 1998, though his elevation wasn’t made public until 2001. He participated in the conclave of 2005 that elected Benedict XVI. He resigned his office in 2008 at the age of 82.

Miracles still happen

Azita and Christian meeting after 20 years (video further down)

I feel honored to share with you a touching story of love and joy, as we see miracles happening all around us, which unfortunately are never reported. This is an incredible story of a woman who found an abandoned baby in the woods and now they are re-uniting after 20 years. Watch this dramatic encounter and her story of how Azita Milanian found this baby, thanks to her dogs who were in a place they were not supposed to be, back in 1998. All she could say was “Thank you for coming into my life; you’ve changed my life. The day I found you, my faith grew stronger. God sent us here for a purpose.” Azita bursts into tears at the sight of the man whom she first met as an abandoned baby. It was May 1998, in Pasadena, California. Azita Milanian turned down a friend who invited her for a salsa class. She did not know why, but that evening she wanted to go for a jog with her Labradors in the nearby mountains. In addition, she had parked her car one block closer than she had in the past 8 years. And she was wearing a T-shirt about helping orphans. All of this continues to assure her that there are no coincidences in life.

That evening in the mountains something caught her dogs’ attention. Distracted, they stopped in the bushes and didn’t react to her calling them. Milanian locked them in the car and returned to that spot. Suddenly she saw two small feet sticking out of the ground and heard barely audible cries. It was a baby boy who had been born just hours before. He was wrapped in a blue towel, laid in a hollow in the ground and covered with dirt. An umbilical cord was still attached to his belly. Milanian immediately cleared his mouth and nose and called 911. Waiting for the ambulance, Milanian tried to calm the baby. She hugged him and repeated: “Don’t die, please, don’t die. I will never leave you. I love you.” A few days later, in an interview, she recalls: “He grabbed my wrist and stopped crying. This was so emotional. What sick person could possibly do such a thing?”

The child was rushed to the hospital and quickly recovered, which the then-director of the neonatology department of Huntington Memorial Hospital calls a miracle. Media outlets, following the hospital staff, named the newborn “Baby Christian,” and people moved by the story start donating toys, clothes, and money. Within a few months, adoptive parents were found for the little boy, and Milanian lost touch with him. At first, she tried to fight for being able to know his whereabouts, but she was turned down and eventually gave up. She was convinced that one day she’d find him.Baby Christian, now named Matthew Christian Whitaker learned in 2017 about what happened to him right after he was born. On May 18, 2018, Azita Milanian and Matthew were invited to be guests on the show On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Hugging Matthew, with tears streaking down her cheeks, 58-year-old Milanian says: ”This day is the fulfilment of my dreams. I’ve been waiting for it for 20 years. You are exactly the way I imagined. I guessed your size, everything. Thank you for coming to my life; you changed my life.”

Grab a tissue, and watch the emotional reunion here. Just copy this link and watch the video further down in the article:

https://aleteia.org/2020/09/07/she-found-a-baby-buried-alive-they-reunited-20-years-later/

Oregon fires

I ask for your prayers for my former beloved state of Oregon as they are experiencing the most devastating fires in history. California and Washington are facing the same fate as hundreds of homes have been destroyed, over 35 lives lost as all these fires created apocalyptic scenes with smoke-filled air settling over the Bay Area in California and Central Oregon with smoke visible from space and flames that produced an ominous orange glow. The destructive fire in Oregon was driven by 45-mile-an-hour wind gusts that tore through two towns, destroying more than a thousand homes and raising fears that some people had not been able to escape. The towns of Idanha, Detroit, Mill City and further down in Talent are very familiar to me, as I drove through them annually for our retreat at Mount Angel. Very often I used to stop by to take photos of the ponderosa pine trees that cradle each town, as well as rivers and reservoirs and scenic spots, which photographers like myself look forward to. 

Map of Oregon showing where the fires are burning

While the foothills of Oregon's Cascade Mountains have been ablaze, creating red ominous skies and leaving five small towns in ashes, most of the churches in the Archdiocese of Portland have not burned and many have offered shelter to thousands of evacuees. The director for Catholic Community Services of Lane County, said in his 39 years in the area, he has never seen fires and air quality this bad. He said Catholic Community Services, which provides a range of emergency services, will remain open. "We are in the middle of a hotly contested election, we have social justice issues that need attention, there's a pandemic that's taking lives every day. Then to have this apocalyptic scene — people are feeling tired. But at the same time, it's encouraging to see how much people are capable of collaborating and how important it is to work together."