Fr. Francis Duggan, A Degreed Jesuit

I graduated high school, went away to have some life experiences (the usual: marriage, deaths, Vietnam, drugs, divorce, etc.), and finally made it back into school. On the G.I.Bill, I enrolled at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit liberal arts school, and among other classes, I had to take "bonehead" English. Our class was taught by Fr. Francis Duggan, a degreed Jesuit who, I'm certain, had survived the Holy Inquisition and, depending on your point of view, may have even participated.

To open the class, he read John Keats' "Ode ona Grecian Urn" to us. He read it with us. We read it independently. Then he told us to write a paragraph describing the scene on the urn that Keats had described so poetically. My paragraph got an F! It had mechanical mistakes, of course, but Fr. Duggan noted that I rambled. He suggested that I hadn't said anything new, that I wasn't descriptive, and that I needed to hone and polish my phrases. 

I felt terrible. This was my first quarter in college, and I was tempted to chuck it all. Instead, I made an appointment to discuss my grade with him. Fr. Duggan had me rewrite the paragraph. He corrected it again. It earned a D. He told me to focus, refine, and rewrite it again. I did, and again he corrected it. This time, I earned a C-. And so on and on until—and this will sound like an exaggeration—I had rewritten that paragraph seven times. The paragraph finally received a B+, but what I had gained, besides an excellent grade, was some inkling of what it means to be a writer. Writing, like reading, is a process not a product, and it is a process of constant revision and refinement. Fr. Duggan didn't tell me not to rewrite the paragraph again (I probably could have gone on indefinitely); what he did say was that at some point a writer lets go and allows the piece to be "finished." I guess I still haven't let go of "We were twelve days out of Auckland, New Zealand, when it struck" but somewhere along the way, along with the detritus of failed marriages and career redirections, the manuscript of that story has been discarded. Interestingly, the final revision of "A Paragraph on `Ode on a Grecian Urn,'" is still among my papers. 

Link (here) to the National Writing Project

George Orwell, "Many A Jesuit Priest"

It is a commonplace that the Christian Heaven, as usually portrayed, would attract nobody. Almost all Christian writers dealing with Heaven either say frankly that it is indescribable or conjure up a vague picture of gold, precious stones, and the endless singing of hymns. This has, it is true, inspired some of the best poems in the world:

Thy walls are of chalcedony,
Thy bulwarks diamonds square,
Thy gates are of right orient pearl
Exceeding rich and rare!

But what it could not do was to describe a condition in which the ordinary human being actively wanted to be. Many a revivalist minister, many a Jesuit priest (see, for instance, the terrific sermon in James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist) has frightened his congregation almost out of their skins with his word-pictures of Hell. But as soon as it comes to Heaven, there is a prompt falling-back on words like 'ecstasy' and 'bliss', with little attempt to say what they consist in. Perhaps the most vital bit of writing on this subject is the famous passage in which Tertullian explains that one of the chief joys of Heaven is watching the tortures of the damned.

The pagan versions of Paradise are little better, if at all. One has the feeling it is always twilight in the Elysian fields. Olympus, where the gods lived, with their nectar and ambrosia, and their nymphs and Hebes, the 'immortal tarts' as D.H. Lawrence called them, might be a bit more homelike than the Christian Heaven, but you would not want to spend a long time there. As for the Muslim Paradise, with its 77 houris per man, all presumably clamouring for attention at the same moment, it is just a nightmare. Nor are the spiritualists, though constantly assuring us that 'all is bright and beautiful', able to describe any next-world activity which a thinking person would find endurable, let alone attractive.

It is the same with attempted descriptions of perfect happiness which are neither Utopian nor other-worldly, but merely sensual. They always give an impression of emptiness or vulgarity, or both. At the beginning of La Pucelle Voltaire describes the life of Charles IX with his mistress, Agnes Sorel. They were 'always happy', he says. And what did their happiness consist in? An endless round of feasting, drinking, hunting and love-making. Who would not sicken of such an existence after a few weeks? Rabelais describes the fortunate spirits who have a good time in the next world to console them for having had a bad time in this one. They sing a song which can be roughly translated: 'To leap, to dance, to play tricks, to drink the wine both white and red, and to do nothing all day long except count gold crowns' how boring it sounds, after all! The emptiness of the whole notion of an everlasting 'good time' is shown up in Breughel's picture The Land of the Sluggard, where the three great lumps of fat lie asleep, head to head, with the boiled eggs and roast legs of pork coming up to be eaten of their own accord.

Link (here) to read George Orwell's full essay entitled, "Can Socialist Be Happy?"

They Revile And Persecute You

"That fat priest whose name you asked is the Abbe Gudin, a Jesuit, obstinate enough — perhaps I ought to say devoted enough, — to remain in France in spite of the decree of 1793, which banished his order. He is the firebrand of the war in these regions and a propagandist of the religious association called the Sacre-Coeur. Trained to use religion as an instrument, he persuades his followers that if they are killed they will be brought to life again, and he knows how to rouse their fanaticism by shrewd sermons. You see, it is necessary to work upon every man's selfish interests to attain a great end."

Link (here) to read The Chouans: Brittany in 1799 By Honoré de Balzac, Katharine Prescott Wormeley

Fr. Patrick Earl, SJ, “Just Having Something Public Is Not Going To Be A Big, Big Deal Here.."

Fr. Patrick Earl, S.J.

At St. Peter's Catholic Church, a Jesuit parish in Charlotte has canceled plans to read the Qur’an from the pulpit on June 26, the feast of Corpus Christi.  

“Just having something public is not going to be a big, big deal here, but to have someone come in and read from the Qur’an and to recognize publicly the existence of Islam and to reverence and respect is a good thing for the Church to do,” Father Patrick Earl, S.J., said on May 27. “I’ve heard from Muslim imams about what they and their congregations have suffered just from the fear, the fear of what they call Islamophobia.”  

On June 7, Father Earl announced the cancellation of the event; he said that he had been unaware that 2004 Vatican instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum forbade such readings. The document states that “it is strictly to be considered an abuse to introduce into the celebration of Holy Mass elements that are contrary to the prescriptions of the liturgical books and taken from the rites of other religions.”  

Link (here) to read the original story at Catholic Culture

 

Evangeline Visits The Black Robed Chief Of The Jesuit Mission

Evangeline

" On the western slope of these mountains Dwells in his little village the Black Robe chief of the Mission. Much he teaches the people, and tells them of Mary and Jesus; Loud laugh their hearts with joy, and weep with pain, as they hear him." Then, with a sudden and secret emotion, Evangeline answered, "Let us go to the Mission, for there good tidings await us!" Thither they turned their steeds; and behind a spur of the mountains, Just as the sun went down, they heard a-murmur of voices, And in a meadow green and broad, by the bank of a river, Saw the tents of the Christians, the tents of the Jesuit Mission. is Under a towering oak, that stood in the midst of the village, Knelt the Black Robe chief with his children. A crucifix fastened High on the trunk of the tree, and overshadowed by grapevines, Looked with its agonized face on the multitude kneeling beneath it. This was their rural chapel. Aloft, through the intricate arches Of its aerial roof, arose the chant of their vespers, Mingling its notes with the soft susurrus and sighs of the branches. Silent, with heads uncovered, the travelers, nearer approaching, Knelt on the swarded floor, and joined in the evening devotions. But when the service was done, and the benediction had fallen Forth from the hands of the priest, like seed from the hands of the sower, Slowly the reverend man advanced to the strangers, and bade them "Welcome; and when they replied, he smiled with benignant expression, Hearing the homelike sounds of his mother-tongue in the forest, And, with words of kindness, conducted them into his wigwam. There upon mats and skins they reposed, and on cakes of the maize-ear Feasted, and slaked their thirst from the water-gourd of the teacher. Soon was their story told; and the priest with solemnity answered: — "Not six suns have risen and set since Gabriel, seated On this mat by my side, where now the maiden reposes, Told me this same sad tale; then arose and continued his journey!" Soft was the voice of the priest, and he spake with an accent of kindness; But on Evangeline's heart fell his words as in winter the snow-flakes Fall into some lone nest from which the birds have departed. "Far to the north he has gone," continued the priest; "but in autumn, "When the chase is done, will return again to the Mission." Then Evangeline said, and her voice was meek and submissive, "Let me remain with thee, for my soul is sad and afflicted." So seemed it wise and well unto all; and betimes on the morrow, Mounting his Mexican steed, with his Indian guides and companions, Homeward Basil returned, and Evangeline stayed at the Mission. Slowly, slowly, slowly the days succeeded each other, — Days and weeks and months; and the fields of maize that were springing Green from the ground when a stranger she came, now waving about her, Lifted their slender shafts, with leaves interlacing, and forming Cloisters for mendicant crows and granaries pillaged by squirrels. Then in the golden weather the maize was husked, and the maidens Blushed at each blood-red ear, for that betokened a lover, But at the crooked laughed, and called it a thief in the corn-field. Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not her lover. ins "Patience!" the priest would say; 

"have faith, and thy prayer will be answered! Look at this vigorous plant that lifts its head from the meadow, See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the magnet; This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has planted Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveler's journey Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert. Such in the soul of man is faith. The blossoms of passion, Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of fragrance, But they beguile us, and lead us astray, and their odor is deadly. Only this humble plant can guide us here, and hereafter He Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with the dews of nepenthe."

Link (here) to the portion of the epic poem Evangeline, a tale of Arcadia by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Words

Vasco Da Gama discovered the Cape route to India. Filippo Sassetti, an Italian Jesuit priest who was in Goa in the 1580s, noted that the terms in Sanskrit and in Mediterranean languages for six, seven, eight and nine, God, snakes, etc were similar.
Link (here) to the Telegraph to read full article.

Some People Would Say, Frightening

It's the end of the 15th century, and the rebellious duchess Caterina Sforza, her children kidnapped by the forces of the ruthless Cesare Borgia, stands on the battlements of her castle, throws up her skirts and screams at Borgia’s 15,000 advancing troops: “Idiots! Don’t you think I can make more of them?” Later, with her castle reduced to rubble, Catarina is seized, raped and sent to Rome, where Borgia’s father holds a particularly high office: pope. Provocative material for a movie, certainly. Particularly when the movie is being made by Jesuits.“The Borgia Popes” is, in fact, just one of the projects under way by Loyola Productions, a nonprofit production company in Culver City, Calif., owned by members of the Society of Jesus, a large Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers. Jesuits are a missionary order whose members, in this case at least, would rather not be thought of as proselytizers.“When I have meetings around town, you can see that people are thinking, ‘Oh my God, they’re trying to convert us,’ ” said the Rev. Eddie Siebert, S.J. the company’s founder and president. “It’s very frustrating. I try not to say who I am till they get to know me. I don’t even introduce myself as a Jesuit priest. It tends to really frighten people.” But only if they know what a Jesuit is. “In fact, most people don’t know,” Father Siebert said. “ ‘Oh, you’re Jewish?’ No, no, Jesuit. ‘Is that Catholic?’ Some people would say so.”

Link (here) to the New York Times article.

Photo of Fr. Edward Siebert, S.J. is from Facebook.

D'Artagnan, Aramis And The Jesuit

Pointing to D'Artagnan with his hand, and addressing the two ecclesiastics.

" Give God praise, monsieur," replied they, bowing.

" I have not failed to do so, your reverences," replied the young man, returning their salutation.

" You arrive very apropos, D'Artagnan," said Aramis, "and by taking part in our discussion, may assist us with your intelligence. M. Ic Principal of Amiens, M. le Curd of Montdidier, and I, are arguing upon certain theological questions, with which we have been much interested ; I shall be delighted to have your opinion."

" The opinion of the man of the sword can have very little weight," replied D'Artagnan, who began to get uneasy at the turn things were taking, " and you had better be satisfied, believe me, with the knowledge of these gentlemen."

The two men in black bowed in their turn.

" On the contrary," replied Aramis, " your opinion will be very valuable ; the question is this : Monsieur le Principal thinks that my thesis ought to be dogmatic and didactic."

"Your thesis ! are you then making a thesis?"

" Without doubt," replied the Jesuit : " in the examination which precedes ordination, a thesis is always requisite."

" Ordination !" cried D'Artagnan, who could not believe what the hostess and Bazin had successively told him ; and he gazed, half stupefied, upon the three persons before him.

" Now," continued Aramis, taking the same graceful position in his easy chair that he would have assumed in a rttelle, and complacently examining his hand, which was as white and plump as that of a woman, and which he held in the air to cause the blood to descend from it, " now, as you have heard, D'Artagnan, M. le Principal is desirous that my thesis should be dogmatic, whilst 1, for my part, would rather it should be ideal. This is the reason why M. le Principal has proposed to me the following subject, which has not yet been treated upon, and in which I perceive there is matter for magnificent developments :— ' Utraque manus in benedicendo chricis inferioribus nccessaria est.'"

D'Artagnan, whose erudition we are well acquainted with, evinced no more interest on hearing this quotation, than he had of that of M. dc TreVille, in allusion to the presents he fancied he had received from the Duke of Buckingham.

" Which means," resumed Aramis, that he might perfectly understand the matter ; "' The two hands are indispensable for priests of the inferior orders, when they bestow the benediction.' "

" An admirable subject!" cried the Jesuit.

"Admirable and dogmatic!" repeated the curate, who, about was strong as D'Artagnan with respect to Latin, carefully watched the Jesuit, in order to keep step with him, and repeated his words like an echo.

As to D'Artagnan, he remained perfectly insensible to the enthusiasm of the two men in black.

" Yes, admirable ! promts acimirabile ! " continued Aramis ; " but which requires a profound study of both the Scriptures and the Fathers. Now, I have confessed to these learned ecclesiastics, and that in all humility, that the duties of mounting guard and the service of the king have caused me to neglect study a little. I should find myself therefore, more at my ease, facilius natans, in a subject of my own choice, which would be to these hard theological questions what morals are to metaphysics in philosophy."

D'Artagnan began to be tired, and so did the curt.

" See what an exordium !" cried the Jesuit

" Exordium," repeated the curt, for the sake of saying something. " Quemadmodum inter caloruin iminensilatem."

Aramis cast a glance upon D'Artagnan, to see what effect all this produced ; and found his friend gaping enough to split his jaws.

" Let us speak French, worthy father," said he to the Jesuit, " M. D'Artagnan will enjoy our conversation the more."

" Yes," replied D'Artagnan ; " I am fatigued with riding, and all this Latin confuses me."

" Certainly," replied the Jesuit, a little thrown out, whilst the curt greatly delighted, turned upon D'Artagnan a look full of gratitude : " well, let us see what is to be derived from this gloss."

" Moses, the servant of God—he was but a servant, please to understand ! Moses blessed with the hands ; he held out both his arms, whilst the Hebrews beat their enemies, and then he blessed them with his two hands. Besides, what does the gospel say : ' Imponite manus,' and not 'manum .•" place the hands and not the hand."

" Place the hands," repeated the curt, with the proper gesture.

" St. Peter, on the contrary, of whom the popes are the successors," continued the Jesuit: " ' Porrige digitos ' present the fingers. Do you see that, now ?'

" Certes," replied Aramis, in a pleased tone, " but the thing is subtle."

" The fingers !" resumed the Jesuit, " St. Peter blessed with the fingers. The pope, therefore, blesses with the fingers. And with how many fingers does he bless ? With three fingers, to be sure, one for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Ghost."

All crossed themselves ; D'Artagnan thought it was proper to follow this example.

" The pope is the successor of St. Peter, and represents the three divine powers ; the rest, ordines infcriores, of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, bless in the name of the holy archangels and angels. The most humble clerks, such as our deacons and sacristans, bless with goitpillons (brushes for sprinkling holy water), which resemble an infinite number of blessing fingers. There is the subject simplified. Argumentum omni denudatum ornamento. I could make of that subject two volumes of the size of this " and, in his enthusiasm, he struck a St. Chrysostom in folio, which made the table bend beneath its weight

D'Artagnan trembled

Link (here) to the referenced portion of Alexandre Dumas's classic The Three Musketeeers.

The Son Of Siro, "After The Manner Of The Nazarenes"

He observed that the prophet was rather tall and well proportioned, with a tendency to slimness. There was about him an air of serenity and command, attracting the love and reverence of the seriously-minded son of Siro. The hair was a rich golden-brown, long and falling down to the shoulders. It was parted on the forehead after the manner of the Nazarenes. The forehead was white, broad and high, giving its owner an indescribably noble appearance. Upon approaching nearer, Lazarus saw that the complexion was so marvelously clear as to resemble the purest alabaster, or Parian marble. The cheeks were faintly tinged with color; the lips had the redness of perfect health. The beard, a shade or two lighter than the hair, was not long, but thick and forked. The features which most impressed Lazarus were the eyes. They were clear, grey and piercing. At times they appeared almost blue, changing and deepening in color as they expressed the various emotions of the soul.

Link (here) to the mentioned portion of  The Son of Siro: A Story of Lazarus, by Fr. J.E. Copus, S.J.

The First Legion

Emmet Lavery's contemplations of religious faith and "miracles," revealed in his play, "The First Legion," which was done on Broadway in 1934, have been brought to the screen in a faithful, temperate and generally reasonable film that goes by the play's original title. It opened at Loew's State yesterday.

Earnestly played by Charles Boyer, Walter Hampden and Leo G. Carroll as Jesuit priests, by William Demarest as a monseigneur and by Lyle Bettger as an agnostic medical man, this film has a special fascination that should appeal to those of contemplative mind.

For what Mr. Lavery is considering, in comparatively simple terms, is the difference between the spiritual and the materialist attitudes. Setting his drama, for the most part, in a Jesuit novitiate, where various degrees of devotion are evidenced among the priests, he brings on a clash of personalities and of basic attitudes over the question of whether an ill person can be miraculously cured.

This question arises when an old priest, seemingly at death's door, gets up from his bed and recovers, which is hailed as a "miracle." However, one wise priest (Mr. Boyer) entertains reasonable doubts, and these are confirmed some time later by the doctor who attends the old man. It seems that the cure was accomplished by something resembling a shock, and the doctor has kept his silence because of his cynical attitude.

Up to this point, Mr. Lavery maintains a reasonable line and carries it through in a series of intellectually stimulating scenes. His characters are solid, credible people, their talk is literate and good, and the quality of their emotions is clearly and tastefully exposed. Furthermore, Mr. Lavery—and Douglas Sirk, who directed his script—continue the tension of the conflict between the doubting priest and the doctor into subsequent scenes.

The priest persists in demanding that the doctor make public the facts, the doctor refuses this exposure, even to settle a lot of swarming pilgrims' minds. But the argument and drama grow fuzzy from this point at which they seem beyond accord, and the whole is brought to a misty ending with a second and seemingly unquestioned "miracle." This latter—the cure of a young lady who undoubtedly has a broken back—brings the priest and the doctor together in a bond of absolute faith.

Link (here) to the full movie review from the NY Times in 1951

Tamil Jesuit: Fr. Constanzo Beschi, S.J.

Veeramamunivar (Fr. Constanzo Beschi, S.J.) is a catholic priest, Born at Castiglione in the Venetian Republic, 1680; died at Manapar c. 1746. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1698, and went to the Mandura mission in 1710,

He composed a grammar of High Tamil, and was the first to write a grammar of Low Tamil (the common dialect) which still remains the foundation of scientific Tamil philology. He is also the complier of several Tamil dictionaries, among them the quadruple lexicon containing words, synonyms, categories of words, and rhymes; a Tamil-Latin and Latin-Tamil-Portuguese dictionary.

He wrote several ascetical books in Tamil, especially doctrinal instructions for the use of the native catechists; also controversial tracts against the Danish Lutheran missionaries who sought to gain a foothold in the Mandura Mission. Beschi is, however, best known as a Tamil poet. In a poem of 1100 stanzas, "Kittêri ammalle saritiram" he sings the praises of the martyr St. Quiteria (not St. Catherine, as some writers have mistakenly asserted). His greatest poetical work is the "Tembavani" (The Unfading Garland), one of the Tamil classics.

Link (here) to the full article.

French Jesuits And George Washington

Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior by George Washington published in 1748.

Though often credited with writing this treatise on manners, the 16-year-old George Washington at best merely translated the rules compiled in 1595 by French Jesuits. A translation had already appeared in England long before

The young Washington produced what may have been a school assignment, but in the folklore associated with our nation's first president, his name has been attached to the advice given in "Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior."

In any event, the American document retains its interest as a window into the standards of behavior that Washington thought, early on, to set for himself and, by extension, for his nation. One of the rules would become increasingly relevant to the leader after he received his ivory (not wooden) dentures: "Cleanse not your teeth with the Table Cloth, Napkin, Fork or Knife but if others do it let it be done with a Pick Tooth."

Link (here) to the full Wall Street Journal article entitled Five Best.

Painting of George Washington at Valley Forge

Before Original Sin

A Jesuit Themed Science Fiction Classic

James Blish's, A Case of Conscience (1958) is a classic work, which presents the trip of Jesuit priest to a planet,

inhabited by a species of intelligent dinosaurs, which appears to be existing – without religion of any kind --

in a state "before original sin." The priest perceives the planet as a diabolical trap, but the ending of the book is ambivalent.

Link (here)

Jesuits In Middle Earth

Manuscripts from Marquette University’s renowned J.R.R. Tolkien Collection will be exhibited from Oct. 5 though Nov. 19 at the Gerald M. Quinn Library at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. The exhibit, “The Beginnings of a Masterpiece: Original Manuscripts from The Fellowship of the Ring,” is co-sponsored by the two Jesuit universities.

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book of Tolkien’s Middle Earth fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, first published in 1954. Tolkien was a professor of Old and Middle English language and literature at Oxford University whose epic works set the stage for a generation of high fantasy writers. His books inspired music, films, artwork and countless imitators.

"These manuscripts show how hard it was to write a great trilogy in days before the computer--and in this case, Tolkien was virtually inventing the new genre of epic fantasy," said John Davenport, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy, who has used Tolkien's works in his classes. "The emergence of characters in several handwritten and typed drafts is a case study in the development of a novel also show how much of the plot and personalities may be undetermined when the writing process begins. Yet the result is a work of enduring importance; for example, Tolkien's fiction is featured at two courses we offer at Fordham, and will be the subject of an hour show on the History Channel next Monday."

The exhibit coincides with an assortment of Middle Earth programming in Midtown Manhattan, including an orchestral performance of the musical score composed for the motion picture The Fellowship of the Ring at Radio City Music Hall on Oct. 8 and 9. The exhibit marks the first time that the literary manuscripts have been exhibited in New York City.

Select items will be featured in the exhibition at the Quinn Library: The complete manuscripts for The Lord of the Rings, written by J.R.R. Tolkien between 1938-1955, contain more than 9,250 pages. Some highlights featured in the Fordham exhibition will include drawings and sketches, maps and calendars of Middle Earth, linguistic notes about the author’s invented languages, Hobbit family genealogies, detailed time schemes and other plot notes, and examples of Tolkien's finest calligraphy. The original documents reflect an extraordinary creative process; as many as 18 drafts exist for some chapters.

Marquette University Libraries preserves the manuscripts and working drafts for three of J.R.R. Tolkien’s most celebrated books, The Hobbit (1937), Farmer Giles of Ham (1949), and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), as well as the original copy of the illustrated children's book Mr. Bliss. The acquisition of the manuscripts was the brainchild of then Marquette library director William B. Ready (1914-1981). Ready recognized The Lord of the Rings as a work of genius and negotiated to purchase the Oxford professor’s papers. Tolkien's personal and academic papers, as well as his other literary manuscripts, including The Silmarillion, are preserved by Oxford University.

Admission to "The Beginnings of a Masterpiece" is free. The exhibit is located on the first floor of Lowenstein Center, 113 W. 60th Street. Quinn Library will be open to visitors between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday; and 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday. All visitors will be asked to show a valid photo ID to enter Lowenstein Center and Quinn Library.

Marquette University Libraries' Tolkien Archives Fund, established in 1987 by the late Richard E. Blackwelder and expanded by numerous enthusiasts, is sponsoring the manuscript exhibition.

Link (here)

If you would like to read Tolkien in the light of our Catholic faith, then you have to read this blog entitled St. Holbytla's Monastery, by Quirino M. Sugon Jr, the author of the Monk's Hobbit.