Jesuit Bites Cop, Cops Arrest Jesuit

Fr. John Lee Young-chan, S.J.

Jesuits in South Korea have urged authorities to release a man arrested last month after he bit the forearm of a police officer during a protest against a controversial naval base on Jeju Island. Father John Lee Young-chan, 61, was protesting against the violent arrest of a female activist at the entrance to the base construction site when the incident happened. A court confirmed the legality of his detention on Tuesday, and on Friday he was formally charged with attacking a police officer. He is being held in Jeju Prison. Following a Mass in support of Fr. Lee in Seoul on Friday, Father John Shin Won-sil said the accused should be allowed out on bail “as he is not a flight risk and would not destroy evidence.”

However, Woo Jeong-sik, chief inspector of Jeju police, said today the law would be strictly enforced given that “Fr. Lee bit a policeman who tried to restrain him,” which he described as “the obstruction of police work.” Meanwhile, Jesuit Fr. Kolbe Kim Sung-hwan, who claims to have seen the incident, said that Fr. Lee had done little more than bite the police officer’s clothes. “He acted in self-defense because he felt gravely threatened while three policemen held him by squeezing his throat and twisting his arms,” said Fr. Lee’s lawyer Kim In-sook.

 In a letter from prison, he said activists were engaged in “just protests” against the “unjust construction” of the naval base and accused police of undermining their rights. The construction of the naval base on Jeju Island, which will become home to a new fleet of 20 warships and other vessels, has sparked vigorous protests from residents, environmental activists and religious leaders. Protesters say the project would cause irreparable damage to the ecosystem of the island, a popular tourism destination and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Link (here) to UCANANEWS

Blogger Note:
Jesuit Fr. John Lee Young-chan and Brother John Park Do-hyun, were handed six months in jail, also suspended for two years. Earlier in the year for similar protests (here)

Jesuit Brother Apart Of Team Rubicon

Brother Jim Boynton, S.J., is a Jesuit from St. Ignace, MI. As a Jesuit, Jim has taught high school in India, Nepal, Cleveland and Detroit and has served as vocation director for the Detroit Province. Jim has organized and led numerous medical mission trips to Guatemala and Honduras and traveled with groups of Jesuit novices to Peru for their introduction to the culture and immersion in the language. He is currently assigned to work with the Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Services and is serving as principal of St. Ignace school of Foi et Joie in Quanaminthe, Haiti.

Link (here) to Team Rubicon

Brother Thomas Pounde, S.J.

The Goal of Newgate

While before his judges, Thomas Pounde, S.J. felt his fortitude increase, and he defended the faith of the Church with a vehemence and courage which irritated them, and for which they determined he should fully atone. Pound was high-born, therefore should he be humbled. He was condemned to traverse the streets of London in irons, and was led from place to place like a common felon, being pointed out to the people as an object of curiosity and derision. But his courage never failed him. He bowed to the mob who derided and insulted him, and his calm and benign countenance bore the impress of the purity and peace of his soul. After being thus paraded, he was conveyed to the prison of Newgate, and handed over to the executioners, who awaited him. He was then submitted to the torture designated by the Protestants "the widow's alms." Thomas steadfastly declared his attachment to the Church of Rome, in the bosom of which he was determined to live and die; and such was his patience, under the horrible tortures to which he was subjected, that he tired out the cruelty of his inhuman tormentors. In the event of punishment failing, Queen Elizabeth had commanded that kindness and promises should be employed, for she wished to subdue the quondam courtier whom she had treated with so much disdain. But the courtier had become a Jesuit. He was supported by the prayers and the merits of the Society of Jesus, and, by those prayers and those merits, he obtained a superabundance of grace, which made him triumph as easily over allurements and promises as he had done over the most cruel tortures. He was next shut up in a dungeon, and his captivity appeared to be unendurable; but, so far from repining, he thanked God for this martyrdom. He prayed for his persecutors, and put his trust in Heaven. The proud Elizabeth, chagrined by this heroic constancy, had him again interrogated, but without any better result, when he was removed to another prison, from which he was soon taken to a third, until, finally, he was conveyed back to the Tower.

Link (here) to read the full account of Fr. Thomas Pound, S.J. 

With Fr. James Kelly, S.J. On Manitoulin Island

There are many factors that get in the way of my seeing much of the rest of Manitoulin Island outside of our weekly visits to Anderson Lake - not having a license being the main one, but we're also pretty busy here most of the time, so that cuts down on potential traveling time!!-.  So, you can understand that I was rather looking forward to spending a day or 2 with Fr Jim Kelly, who has parishes in 4 other locations on the Island (M'Chiging, Gore Bay, Mindamoya and Sheshawaning. ) a few weekends ago. Besides the fact that I knew I'd get along with Jim amazingly well, I was eager to see some other parts of this beautiful Island, but also to visit other parishes. As attached as I am to Wiki, I needed to experience how other parishes live their faith on Manitoulin Island.

Link (here) to Dan Lackmen's blog A Beautiful Journey With Christ.

Jesuit Brother No Longer Missing in India

Brother Mariadoss Antonimuthu, S.J.

A Jesuit Brother who went missing from Tamil Nadu a month ago was found in Orissa Feb. 15. Brother Mariadoss Antonimuthu, 65, came to St. Vincent Pro-Cathedral in Bhubaneswar looking for a priest. Father Joseph Kalathil, vicar general of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese and the parish priest who met the Brother, informed a nearby Jesuit house since he mentioned some local Jesuits’ names. “He had an overgrown beard and was shabbily dressed. He looked sick and asked me if there was a house of the Missionaries of Charity,” Father Kalathil told ucanews.com. Jesuit Father P. Tony, who took the Brother to Loyola Bhavan, said the senior Jesuit can remember only certain things. “He is safe and taken for medical check-up in Loyola Hospital” in the city, Father Tony told ucanews.com. The Brother, who was working with Pathai Illam, a Jesuit-run organization helping the rural poor in Chennai, went missing on Jan. 17. The police in Tamil Nadu had launched statewide search after him.

Link (here)

Jesuit Brother Concludes Hunger Strike In Communist Venezuela

Brother José María Korta, S.J. told journalists outside Congress in Caracas, where he was holding his fast, that in "the dialogue that we have held with government leaders, the main reason for our hunger strike has received a response." In the company of two young activists who joined him in the hunger strike over the last three days, the elderly missionary said he felt fine and that he could have "continued the strike, and may still take it up again." Korta called off his protest after Vice President Elías Jaua promised to meet with him to listen to his concerns and seek solutions to his demands, along with leftwing President Hugo Chávez, who returned from an 11-day international tour Sunday.

Link (here) to read the full story.

St. Nicholas Owen, S.J.

On the 22nd of March we remember St Nicholas Owen, the Jesuit who was martyred at the start of the 17th Century. Nicholas Owen is remembered, other than his martyrdom, for his outstanding skills at building priest-holes. One such home to come under his craftsmanship was Harvington Hall, located within the archdiocese of Birmingham.

Link (here) to Fr. Paul Johnson's blog from England

Jesuit Response To The Crisis In Haiti

By now we are all well aware of the tragedy unfolding in Haiti. Many of you know that Brother Jim Boynton is now working in Haiti at a school in a town called Ouanaminthe which is located in the Northeast of the country. His region felt the quake and had minimal damage but the damage to the Capital Porte-au-Prince has been devastating. Brother Boynton has said that the Jesuit schools in Haiti serve the very poor and right now these families need just about everything. To help with the relief effort, the Detroit Province of the Jesuits will be sending money to the Jesuits in Haiti which will go to help the families and the schools we serve. Brother asks that we be as generous as we are able.

Send all Donations to:
The Jesuits (put "Haiti Relief" on the check)
Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus
7303 W. Seven Mile Detroit, MI 48221

Link (here)

Haitian Relief: With A Jesuit Brother And Team Rubicon Haiti

Assembling a second team to go to Haiti. In need of: ER doctors, EMTs with pediatric skills. Rally point will be Fayetteville, NC. Click here for more info.

From Brother Jim Boynton, S.J. to
Team Rubicon Haiti

Father Karl Kiser, S.J. uses a BlackBerry. I do not but will give it a try. At Christmas I told my friend, Father Jim Williams, that some day I hoped to have a love for the Haitian people that was not based on pity.

This island seemed like a latrine, and the people only to be pitied. Pity is not bad, but it makes you the superior; it sets up an inequality and puts me at the top.

After what I have seen these last few days, now when it would make most sense to pity these poor people I have none. My pity has grown to respect and admiration. Over night I have come to love these people in a way that makes them a model for me, and clearly puts them on a higher plane than I will ever be.

Furthermore you can tell a tree by its fruit. Over the years some fine students of mine have joined the US military, and I have even encouraged some to do so.

That said I have not been the greatest supporter of our soldiers. I have even protested our military at Fort Benning. After seeing how our military has formed the men I am now with my opinion has changed. I am not ashamed that I have protested, but can say with a great deal of certitude I would never do that again.

The boys I am with are who they are because of their military training. They are far more prepared to serve than if they had been reading Thomistic philosophy the last 10 years, and quite frankly, I'm glad they haven't.

Br. Jim Boynton, S.J.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Link (here) to Team Rubicons action packed blog post.

Photo is of Br. Jim holding an IV (here)

Specolations: Brother Guy Consolmagno

Listen to Brother Guy's podcast on the Vatican, the Jesuits and their love of the stars (here)

Podcaster: Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J.

Organization: The Vatican Observatory
http://www.vaticanobservatory.org/

The music "Ocean Blue" was written and performed by Warren Raiti

Description: The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutions in the world, dating from the reform of the calendar in 1582 -- when Galileo himself was just a teenager! We've been around in our present form since 1891, a group of a dozen Jesuits from four continents all united by a love of the sky. Here's who we are, and what we're doing... both in our regular work, and special this year for the IYA.

Bio: Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ is a planetary scientist and Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory. He earned two degrees from MIT and a Ph. D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona, was a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps, and taught physics, before entering the Jesuits in 1989. At the Vatican Observatory since 1993, his research explores the physical nature of meteorites, asteroids, and dwarf planets. He is also a co-author (with Dan Davis) of the astronomy best-seller Turn Left at Orion.

Link (here)

Read Brother Guy's blog entitled Specolations (here)

Jesuit Brother Is Now A Jesuit Father

Jesuit Brother Rick Curry has a new vocation. He's now Jesuit Father Rick Curry.

But he still plans on helping wounded war veterans restore meaning and purpose in their lives.

Becoming a priest at age 66, as he did Sept. 13, might seem to be what in some circles is called a "late vocation." But don't apply that term to Father Curry. He said he views priestly ordination as "an extension of my ministry."

In 2002, after Father Curry had spent 27 years working with his National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped, the workshop administrators were asked to bring returning wounded vets from Afghanistan and Iraq to begin a writers' program so that they could tell their own stories and, as Father Curry told Catholic News Service, "open up the floodgates of post-traumatic stress."
"It was during that time that I began to be asked by the Wounded Warriors (the eventual name of the program) to actually hear their confession. I told them I was a Jesuit brother and not ordained. I told them that so frequently that I began to suspect there was some invitation there," Father Curry said. "I was so happy as a Jesuit brother I never thought of it (priesthood)."

His spiritual director echoed Father Curry's suspicions, saying, "Maybe there's an invitation here." "I said, 'To what?' He said, 'To priesthood.' I jokingly said, 'I don't like priests,'" Father Curry recalled.

Yet, after a program of study at the Washington Theological Union in the nation's capital, Father Curry was ordained. There was only one hitch, and that was easily overcome: Father Curry, who was born without his right arm, obtained an indult from the Vatican to celebrate Mass with only one hand.

Given the flowing chasubles worn by priests at Mass, "everybody can, or cannot, be cognizant of the fact that I have only one hand," Father Curry told CNS. "I've learned to navigate in this world, so I'm pretty comfortable with my own skin and I think I radiate a sense of comfort in the sanctuary. ... And if I'm comfortable, I hope everyone else is comfortable."

He gave credit to the late Jesuit Father Jerry Hall for helping him. "He took me on privately and he figured out how to offer Mass, how to anoint people, how to baptize babies, all with one hand," Father Curry said. "It was a life-affirming experience. My only regret was that he died earlier and he wasn't able to be there in the flesh when I was ordained. He was certainly there in spirit."

Father Curry, now in residence with the Jesuit community at Georgetown University in Washington, wants to resume two initiatives for the Wounded Warriors. One is the writers' workshop, where vets hone their writing and testify to their experiences in military life and in combat.

"Any program for veterans has to be talked up by other veterans. Veterans have an amazing sense of their 'own,' like being from a certain alma mater; Notre Dame has a certain cachet," he said.

Father Curry added that vets have asked one another about him: "Is he one of us?" "I explain to them I have not lost my arm. I am born without an arm. It matters very little to them. They say, 'You know what it means to be different. You know what it's like to navigate in the two-fisted world.' They were making such an identification with me."

Father Curry said he plans to recruit vets for the program after they've been discharged from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and is looking for a site on or near the Georgetown campus to house the program -- which can take in up to 20 vets at a time for the 12-day program -- as well as a veterans' academy for the soldiers to pursue academics.

The priest will also look for a site in Washington for the second initiative: a bakery training program and retail bakery. Father Curry had such a training program in Maine until he had to shut it down last year to pursue his priesthood studies. Two of the most popular products sold at the Maine site were Brother Curry's Breads and Brother Curry's Miraculous Dog Biscuits.

What made them miraculous? He replied, "If you buy them, I find that miraculous."

Father Curry also hopes to have an annual fundraising event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington to give voice to the soldiers' stories, bring attention to the program and raise money to sustain it.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, "allowed us to pray to do great work," Father Curry said. A Jesuit for 48 years, "I've always thought of myself as a Jesuit," he added. "More importantly than anything else, I'm serving as a Jesuit."

Link (here)

How Many Jesuits Are There?

By Felix Raj, SJ

According to a recent Jesuit Documentation, No. 81, published from Rome, as of January 2001, there were 21,063 Jesuits in the world - 14,852 priests, 3,997 scholastics, and 2,311 Brothers.

The net loss from January 2000 is 320 members. Between January 2000 and January 2001, 500 men entered the Society of Jesus, 479 died and 339 left the order.

While the relative numbers of entrances and departures is consistent with the trend of the last few years, the number of deaths is higher.

The highest number of Jesuits in their 460-year history was in 1965 with 36,038 members, 20,301 Priests, 9,865 Scholastics and 5,872 Brothers.

The overall decline in number from 1965 to 2001 is 41%, of which the share of the brothers is 16.9%, scholastics' is 16.4% and priests' 7.7%.

In the last 35 years, the overall fall of brothers is 60.6%, scholastics is 59.5% and priests 14.7%.

The Jesuit Headquarters is situated in Rome: Curia Society of Jesus, Borgo S. Spirito, 4 – 00193 ROMA, Italy.

Superior General: Most Rev. Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbagh, SJ.

Link (here)

Blogger Note: The total number of Jesuits today is just under 20,000.

"Rest In Peace", Br.Charles John Blouin, S.J.

Brother Blouin was born on April 12, 1925 and passed away on Monday, August 10, 2009.

Brother Blouin was last known to be living in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He attended to financial and other practical concerns in Shreveport Jesuit High School, Grand Coteau St. Charles College and Our Lady of the Oaks, Tampa Jesuit High School, Springhill College, New Orleans Jesuit High School, Loyola University, and Ignatius Residence]and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School.

He served in the US Army from 1944-46 and in the Navy from 1946-50.

There will be visitation at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 14, at Holy Spirit Church 6201 Stratford Pl., New Orleans, followed by a funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m.
Interment will take place Friday, August 14, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. at the Jesuit cemetery at St. Charles College in Grand Coteau.

In recognition of Brother Blouin's service as a religious, in order to provide for the care of elder Jesuits and the training of young Jesuit seminarians and brothers, donations are requested for The Jesuits, 710 Baronne St., Ste B., New Orleans, LA 70113.

Link (here)

Go (here) for another more detailed obituary.

Polish Jesuit, Blooming Jesuit

Born in 1917, Stefan Franczak, a Polish Jesuit, began breeding clematis in the 1960s in the garden that he had created 10 years earlier at a Jesuit college in Warsaw. Brother Stefan looked for clematis "with large flowers of a bright color (red, violet, etc.) with stiff tepals and contrasting stamens," says Polish nurseryman Dr. Szczepan Marczynski.

He often named his cultivars after notable Poles or events in Polish history. One example is Jan Pawell II, sometimes sold as John Paul II, a cream-flowered cultivar with pink stripes named for the late pope, who was Archbishop of Krakow before his elevation to the papacy.

Though hampered at times by both his own order and the Polish government, Brother Stefan worked with English nurseryman Jim Fisk, who introduced the Franczak clematis into commerce.

While the clematis have flourished in the international marketplace, the same cannot be said of Brother Stefan's garden. Since 1996, authorities at the Jesuit college have reduced its size, first to accommodate the construction of a new church and then to increase the amount of lawn space.

Fortunately, his countrymen can now purchase his clematis from Polish nurseries.

Link (here)

Photo is is of Br. Stephan and the clematis is a John Paul II

Jesuit Star Gaze

As the world marks the International Year of Astronomy, the historic links between religion and science, faith and reason, are worth nothing, says Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., an acclaimed American astronomer. Of course, Consolmagno, after whom an asteroid is named, is also a Jesuit who does his research at the Vatican Observatory in the papal summer palace at Castelgandolfo, south of Rome.

Link (here)

Br. James Horan, S.J., "Rest In Peace"

Brother James Horan, S.J.

Jesuit brother worked with the Catholic ministry that runs the Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center in Dundalk.

By Frederick N. Rasmussen

September 6, 2008

James Horan, a Jesuit brother who worked with the Apostleship of the Sea, a Roman Catholic mariners' ministry that operates the Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center in Dundalk, died of melanoma Aug. 29 at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 76.

"Brother Jim had an international reputation because he was known by seafarers from all over the world who had gotten to know him in Baltimore," said Monsignor John L. FitzGerald, the group's director. "He visited ships and picked up crewmen in our van and drove them to the seafarers' center so they could use the phones and computers to communicate with their families," Monsignor FitzGerald said.

"Jim would take them shopping, and if they had a change of duty, he'd take them to the railroad station or airport," he said. "If they needed them, he'd give them the gently used shoes or clothing that he had gathered." There were times when Brother Horan confined his visits to crewmen aboard ships docked at the port of Baltimore. "He'd talk with them, drop off magazines and newspapers, and if they were interested or requested it, Bibles," Monsignor FitzGerald said.

"He was a very level-headed and low-key guy who was always willing to counsel them if they asked. He was a good listener." Brother Horan, who insisted that he be called Jim, was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from the old Northeast Catholic High School in 1950.

After studying at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia for two years, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1955 and professed his vows in 1957. Brother Horan worked briefly as a tailor and printer before being trained as a cook and as a food-service management worker. From 1960 to 1967, he was cook and food-service manager at the Society of Jesus Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., near Reading.

"He was a great spirit and always tried to keep us happy in those days when the novitiate at Wernersville was grim and operated like a boot camp for Jesuits. He made sure we didn't take it too seriously," said Brother Rick Curry, a friend of 47 years. "He also was an excellent cook and trained me to cook. We even later worked together," he said.

Brother Horan was transferred in 1967 to Manresa-on-the-Severn, a Jesuit retreat house near Annapolis, where he was business manager for a year before being sent to Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, where he cooked from 1969 to 1971. From 1971 until his retirement in 1991, he was an administrative assistant at Loyola High School. In his retirement, he volunteered at the seafarers' center and at Our Daily Bread. "I think he was happiest working for the Apostleship of the Sea. He was an unpretentious man and was committed to those who needed him the most," Brother Curry said. "What a good man. What he did for us was go to local supermarkets, especially the Safeway on North Charles Street, and pick up day-old baked goods and vegetables and bring them to us," said Dennis M. Murphy, director of Our Daily Bread, the Fallsway facility that helps the needy and is operated by Catholic Charities of Baltimore. "He did this every day for nearly 10 years."

Brother Thomas Kretz, a longtime friend and minister at St. Claude La Colombiere , the Jesuit residence on Roland Avenue where Brother Horan lived, said his white beard and twinkling eyes made him look like Santa Claus, and he was "just as jovial." "He loved parties and had a great sense of humor," Brother Kretz said.

"Because he was an Irishman from Philadelphia, he knew how to tell great stories and spin yarns," Monsignor FitzGerald said. In recognition of his work, the Brother Jim Communication Center at the Stella Maris International Seafarers' Center has been named in his honor, as was a 12-passenger van that was recently donated by the International Transport Workers' Federation. "On the sides is painted, 'Brother Jim Horan, S.J. Van,' and the words, 'A True Friend of Seafarers,' " Monsignor FitzGerald said. A Mass of Christian burial for Brother Horan was offered Wednesday at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Baltimore, with interment in Wernersville. Surviving is a sister, Franceline Horan of Shelton, Conn.

Link (here) .

Listen to Brother Rick Curry, S.J. eulogy on Br. James Horan, S.J. (here)

A Jesuit Brother And Miss Betsy

Family keeps light shining for 'Miss Betsy'

Thursday, September 04, 2008
Lynne Jensen

As twilight fell on the city Aug. 28, lovers of New Orleans icon "Miss Betsy" gathered outside her Pancake House on Canal Street to remember the woman who fed their bodies and their souls.

"She was my waitress and my friend," Edwin Shorty said about Elizabeth "Betsy" McDaniel. She was 72 when she died after being brutally beaten and robbed on Memorial Day in her Marrero home. Her killer remains at large.

"I just hope that one day they catch him," Shorty said before the candlelight service. He sat inside the corner eatery at the table near the window, his table.

When sitting there for Sunday breakfast before heading to church, Miss Betsy would always say "Shorty, pray for me," he said. "Everything about her was special. She was always doing something for some one else. Never for her."

As the service entitled "A Night to Not Forget!" began, Miss Betsy's relatives, customers and friends gathered to share stories, pray and sing.

Streetcars rumbled by as amplifiers wafted Amasa Miller's keyboard music. Before the night was over, Charmaine Neville stood under the blue canvas "Betsy's" awning and sang a tribute to the woman she called "Mama."

"This is a spot in New Orleans that everybody knows," Jesuit Brother Larry Huck said. Miss Betsy created "a place that we came to find Christ at these tables . . . because Miss Betsy loved Christ."

Brandy Hills shared the story of how she became a member of Miss Betsy's extended family. When Hills said she wanted to be a cook, Miss Betsy offered Hills a week to prove herself. That week became a year "of working together with her," Hills said, recalling the day Miss Betsy got mad at her "for making the pancakes too big."

Laughter arose from the crowd. It was the typical cast of characters that gathers for meals at Betsy's. Lawyers and judges stood with cab drivers, firefighters and police officers. People of all ages and races shared tears and memories as candlelight flames were reflected in the restaurant window.

Employee Jeanette Michaelson was a customer before she started working at Betsy's. She told the crowd that she was sitting at the counter and thought "there's something in here I want." She found it, she said. "It was happiness."

Link (here)

Photo is of the interior of The Pancake House

Jesuit Brother: Stargazer

How to teach science to the Pope

The Vatican keeps tabs on science, integrates new research into theology
By Michael Mason

An excerpt.

Brother Guy Consolmagno occupies a small space of heaven. A Jesuit brother and astronomer for the Vatican Observatory, he works at the observatory’s headquarters at the pope’s summer palace in Castel Gandolfo, a 45-minute train ride from Rome.

Castel Gandolfo sits on the high ground of Italy’s Lazio region, perched above the exotic, sapphire-blue volcanic Lake Albano. The view you get is magical. “This is a good place for things like an occultation, like the transit of Venus in 2004,” Consol­magno says. “We observed the comet hitting Jupiter because the first events were visible only from this part of the world.”

Below the observatory’s domed chamber are the offices that make up the rest of the Vatican Observatory. One study has bookshelves filled with hardbound journals all the way to the high ceiling. Consolmagno pulls one off a shelf and reads aloud: “Account of a new telescope by Mr. Isaac Newton.” He shows me, then smiles. “I think he has a future,” he says.

Link to the full article (here)

Photo is of the spots on Jupiter

The Carpenter Who Became A Jesuit

From the blog entitled, Our Lady's Tears. The authoress, Sanctus Belle writes a moving piece on hope. Read her excerpt from the post, Heroic Virtue IV.

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Saint Nicholas Owen was probably the most important person in the preservation of Catholicism in England during the period of the penal laws against the faith.

He was a carpenter or builder, who saved the lives of countless Jesuit priests in England for two decades by constructing hiding places for them in mansions throughout the country. He became a Jesuit lay brother in 1580, was arrested in 1594 with Father John Gerard, and despite prolonged torture would not give the names of any of his Catholic colleagues; he was released on the payment of a ransom by a wealthy Catholic.

Brother Nicholas is believed to have been responsible for Father Gerard's dramatic escape from the Tower of London in 1597. Nicholas was arrested a third time in 1606 with Father Henry Garnet, whom he had served 18 years, Father Edward Oldcorne, and Father Oldcorne's servant, Brother Ralph Ashley. He refused to give any information concerning the Gunpowder Plot. They were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Nicholas was subjected to such vicious torture, which literally tore his body to pieces, killing him. Nicholas was also known as Little John and Little Michael and used the aliases of Andrews and Draper. Born in Oxford, England; died in the Tower of London, 1606; beatified in 1929; canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales; feast day formerly March 12.
Link (here)

Jesuit Brother, 50 Years Of Service

Brother William Spokesfield, SJ, entered the Society of Jesus at age 42. He always had the desire to be a missionary. Brother William spent 20 years in Brazil as a “jack of all trades” doing anything that needed to be done to support the mission. When he returned to the United States, he took care of the retreat house. Brother now resides at Campion Center and will be 92 in January. Link (here)