Mancipia October/November, 2008

8/2/2019 Mancipia October/November, 2008

1/16

October/November 2008

T he R epoRT of The C Rusade of s ainT BenediCT C enTeR

M anCipia

I n This issue : Brother Andr explains and explores aunique type of the Church on Page 2. Sister Marie Thrse writes aboutan easy way to meditate on the Rosarymysteries. Page 3. Brian Kelly tells us about The PrisonerCastro Couldnt Break on page 6. Another installment in The Can Mansstory, this one about his wife. Page 10.


2/162 M anCipia T he R epoRT of The C Rusade of s ainT B enediCT C enTeR October/November 2008

T o f Riends of The C Rusade :i s The C huRCh a h aRloT ?

A lright, this is a very pro-vocative title, I admit, but the name of the book about which I here write is even

more so: Casta Meretrix, TheChaste Whore. An Essay onthe Ecclesiology of St. Ambrose .This long and jarring appellation bedecks a Spartan little volume,sadly out of print, by CardinalGiacomo Bif , formerly the

Archbishop of Bologna and a scholar of no minor accomplish-ment.

There seems to be no end to the ton-nage of collective guilt heaped upon theChurch herself for the crimes (real and

supposed) of her children. Not only dosecular journalists, entertainers, andsocial commentators of all sorts engagein this fashionable slander, but Catholicnotables gladly join their voices to theraucous chorus. The Cardinals smallstudy a redacted lecture is oneresponse to this plethora of craven pro-testations of the Churchs guilt.

Oft times, the experts who urgechurchmen to these corporate mea cul-

pas make the claim that the Church isat the same time a saint and a sinner.Some of them boldly assert, with the ef-fect of arresting all objections, that theChurch Fathers lend their weight to theopinion by calling the Church a chastewhore. (Cardinal Bif cites a passagefrom the arch-villain Hans Kng doing just that.) Cowed into submission bythe cult of experts, the ill-informed gowith the ow and call the Church dirtynames.

Enter Bif . He shows that it can inno way be said that the Fathers gen-erally used this term. It is of very rarecoinage. In fact, only one father used it:Saint Ambrose. Conveniently, CardinalBif is not only a native of Milan theepiscopal see of the Honey-Tongued Doctor but he is alsoan Ambrosian scholar; he was a principal collaborator in the publication of the Opera Omnia di S. Ambrogio .

Fully quali ed to get to the heart of Saint Ambroses useof this poetic oxymoron, His Eminence puts the phrase in its

context: Ambrose did, in fact, use the expression in question

once and once only, in his meditation on Rahab, the woman of Jericho who is mentioned in the book of Joshua (p. 17).So, we are speaking in terms of typology; and in typology

(as the Cardinal points out), we must not be too eager to trans- pose all the qualities of the type to its antitype. Otherwise,Our Lord would bear the moral failings of Solomon, David,Abraham, and all the other Old Testament types of the Messias; while the Immaculate Virgin would carry guilt akin to

that of Eves transgression. These areunthinkable conclusions.

Here is Saint Ambroses contextfor the chaste whore comment. To

understand this passage, it is impor-tant to be familiar with the biblical passage in question, Josue 2, whichwould not take too long to read:

Rahab who as a type was a prostitute, but as a mystery is theChurch showed in her blood the fu-ture sign of Universal Salvation amidthe worlds carnage; she does not re-fuse to unite herself with numerousfugitives, and is all the more chastein the extent to which she is closely

joined to the greater number of them;she is the immaculate virgin, with-out a wrinkle, uncontaminated in her modesty, plebeian in her love, a chastewhore, a barren widow, a fecund vir-gin ( In Lucam 3:23).

In his use of Old Testament typol-ogy, Saint Ambrose has made use of the accommodating character of the prostitute she gladly receives allcomers but he has stripped it of itssexual impurity and made it chaste.In fact, he calls the Church immacu-late, something incompatible with themoral character of an actual harlot.

Here, I quote at some length fromthe book, for the typology of Rahab

interests us for more than one reason (the bold emphasis ismine):

Ambrose says that she as a type was a prostitute but, as a mystery, is the Church, united now to the Gen-tiles by the sharing of the sacraments. . . .

Br. Andr Marie, M.I.C.M., Prior

continued on page 8

On the cover: IHM Schools Professor C. Brad Grinstead address-ing the audience at our 12th annual conference in Nashua, NH.

Saint Ambrose



C onvenT C oRneR C onsideRaTion

Sr. Marie Thrse, M.I.C.M.,Prioress

C onsideration is the heartof charity. This can be applied to how wetreat our fellow man and also

how we treat the mysteries thatGod has revealed to us. Another name for consideration in thiscase is meditation. Here is whatOur Blessed Mother says aboutconsideration: Whoever shallrecite my Rosary devoutly, ap-

plying himself to the consider-ation of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by mis-fortune. God will not chastise him in His justice; he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remainin the grace of God and become worthy of eternal life. Saint

Louis Marie says that praying the Rosary without meditatingon the mysteries is like having a body without a soul. In thisissue I want to share with you some hints about how to makemeditation on the mysteries of the Rosary a delight so thatyou can receive all of the tremendous bene ts of praying your daily Rosary properly.

Hopefully you have been praying your Rosary every dayas Our Lady asked at Fatima, so you have already been an-nouncing the mysteries. Perhaps you have been using some pamphlet to help you think about the mysteries. A few of youmay even have spent a little extra time reading a more sizable

book on the mysteries, which may have included the passagesfrom holy Scripture, verbal pictures of the scenes, meditationson some aspect of the mysteries, poems, or various relatedquotes from holy Scripture. In doing this you have been llingup your mind and heart with a reservoir of good thoughts andaffections to draw from whenever you pray the Rosary. Some

form of collecting good thoughts about the mysteries is es-sential for each person who wishes to bene t from the Rosary.You cannot consider or meditate upon something of which youknow next to nothing. In fact, if you try to pray the Rosary

and nd your mind on other subjects, it may very well be thatyou have not put enough good thoughts on the mysteries intoyour memory so that your poor mind is then meditating onsomething else which you know and love better than thesemysteries.

One of the most delightful ways to meditate on the mys-teries of the Rosary is to relate each mystery to some other thought. This could be the liturgical feasts of the year, or ones personal situation, or the virtues of the saint for the day, or even to take two Rosary mysteries and to think about them si-multaneouslyin short, to take two thoughts and to have them perform a mental ballet which ends up bringing out the hidden

beauties of the mystery. For example, the month of October isdedicated to the holy Rosary and to the holy angels. If duringeach of the mysteries you try to discover how the holy angelsare involved or if there is any relationship at all between theRosary mysteries and the holy angels, you will be very sur- prised at the beautiful lights and graces you will obtain. Bythe way, there are angels in every mystery of the Rosary. Inseven mysteries they are actually visible! But consider the holyangels and the Presentation where the angels are not visible.Do you have any thoughts on this? Ask yourself, for example,is there any relationship between what the angels are doing inthe temple around Our Blessed Lord and what they are doingsimultaneously in heaven? Also, each person in the temple hashis own guardian angel. As the Holy Family entered, whatkind of inspirations were they giving to their charges? Dontyou nd this a delightful method to think about the mystery of the Presentation?

The Blueberry Jammers performing at the Blueberry Fiddle Festival. IHM Brigade at the 13th annual Auriesville Pilgrimage for Restoration.

continued on page 15



I would like to encourage all of our readers and, especially, our Third Order members to institutethe following salutary practicein their own homes. Br. JohnMarie Vianney, M.I.C.M., Tert.

C an anything in a Christianfamily equal in beautythe sight of childrenwho, from the youngest to theoldest, present themselves each

night with reverence before their father and mother to receivetheir blessing before retiring to rest? This touching ceremonyennobles a family and consecrates authority; natural affectionignites a spark of the love of God, and the domestic hearth

becomes a threshold of Heaven! God grant that this piouscustom may be ever maintained where it already exists, and beadopted where, either through neglect, or the chilling effect of a Protestant atmosphere, it has hitherto not been practiced!

A blessing imparted in the name of God is more than a goodwish: it is also a prayer. Such a solemn invocation of the authorityof God, made by a parent for his children, cannot fail to beef cacious. The Holy Ghost Himself makes Ecclesiasticus say:

The fathers blessing establisheth the houses of the children(ch. 3:11).

The Sign of the Cross was still unknown in the time of thePatriarchs.

The day had not yet dawned when the God-Man, by dyingthe ignominious death on the Cross, was thereby to change thatsign of foolishness into one in which the great St. Paul, and allChristians after him, were to glory. The Patriarchs of old, in blessing their children, extended their hands over their heads.With such a rite did Abraham bless Isaac, and Isaac his sonJacob, and Jacob his twelve sons. Under the Old Law, only thefathers had seemingly the privilege of giving their blessing totheir children; but under the New Law ever since, throughMary, women have been raised to a loftier condition; and ever since one of their sex, blessed among all women (Luke 1:28),was found worthy to become the Mother of God, the right of

blessing their children has been conferred also upon mothers.The history of parental blessings presents many edifyingexamples for our admiration and imitation. The fathers andmothers of the martyrs used to give their blessings to their sonsand daughters as they lay in chains in their prisons; and these

blessings lled them with a renewed courage to suffer morefor Christ.

In the history of the Fathers of the Church, we read thatthe saintly Macrina daily blessed her grandsons: one lived to become the great St. Basil, and the other, St. Gregory of Nyssa. Nonna, the mother of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, also blessedher son; and from a child she consecrated him to Jesus Christ,

by placing his little hands on the sacred scriptures.St. Louis, King of France, when about to die on the African

coast, addressed the following words to his son, who stood byhis deathbed:

My dear son, I give you all the blessings which a goodfather can give to his son.

The young John Gerson, who in later-life became theChancellor of the University of Paris, daily headed his eleven

brothers and sisters to receive the blessing of their father andmother.

St. Francis of Sales reverently knelt every night at thefeet of his parents to receive their blessing; until the day,when, after he had received the episcopal consecration, these

p RefeCT s C oluMn a p aRenTal Blessing in a C hRisTian h oMeBy an a nonyMous BenediCTine M onk

Tertiary* Br. JohnMarie Vianney

* Third Orders, whose members are called tertiaries, are asso-ciations of the faithful established by religious orders. Most M.I.C.M.tertiar ies are lay folk.

F rom the h ousetops M agazine s peCial o ffeR

For a limited time only you can receive a set of twenty-ve different Housetops magazines for the low priceof $50.00. (Offer includes shipping and handling.) Thewell-written articles run the gamut from Church his-

tory and militantapologetics to hagi-ography and soundCatholic doctrine.Consider using theHousetops packetfor a Christmasgift. In fact, for anyoccasion, such as awedding or birth-day, these timeless

gems are an excellent way to get others active in spread-ing the Catholic Faith. So order now, while supplies last,to receive a set of classics that could easily become afamily heirloom. This offer will last until December 31,2008.

To order, call Bob Cohen at our toll-free number,(877) 773-1773, or ll out the reply form on page 15.

continued on page 13



f oundeRs ColuMn T he W isdoM of The s ainTsf RoM ChapTeR one of P hilosoPhia P erennis

Wisdom is twofold to usmen. There is a super-natural wisdom which

can only come from God, and anatural wisdom, one that could

be achieved by the good use of our minds. We should all try toacquire these two types of wis-dom.

Supernatural wisdom iscontained in Holy Scripture and in the traditional teachingsof the Church. All of Holy Scripture may be considered as a

book about wisdom, because all of its seventy-two books talk more about wisdom than any other subject. Moses pointed tothe Scriptures and said to the people of Israel: This is your

wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations (Deut.4:6). So the people of Israel received a wisdom that can onlycome from God, and can only be received through a super-natural act of Faith. This is supernatural wisdom; and whileour present course is primarily about philosophy or naturalwisdom, we must rst give the honor of place to the wisdomrevealed by God.

There are seven books in the Old Testament; namely, Job,Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticle of Canticles, Wis-dom, and Ecclesiasticus, called in a very special way Booksof Wisdom in order to distinguish them from other books thatspecialize in sacred history or in prophecy. And in the New

Testament, there are twenty-one books called doctrinalor wisdom books. They arethe fourteen epistles of St.Paul and the seven epistles by other Apostles. It would,then, be true to say thatwhile the seventy-two booksof the Bible are about wis-dom, there are twenty-eightof them that major in it.

We will examine a few

lines from one of these doc-trinal books, namely, theEpistle of St. James. In hiscapacity as rst Bishop of Jerusalem and apostle to theJews, St. James addressed

his famous epistle to the Jews in the Diaspora (i.e. those Jewswho left Palestine and spread throughout the world). In thisinspired epistle we get a good taste of Divine Wisdom. This ishow the Epistle of James begins:

James the servant of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ,to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temp-tations, knowing that thetrying of your faith worketh patience. And patience hatha perfect work, that you may

be perfect and entire, failingin nothing. But if any of youwant wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all menabundantly (James 1:1-5).

St. James was writing tothe Jews in the Diaspora, butthe Holy Ghost, who is the

principal author of the epis-tle, was teaching, throughthis message to the Jews, allgenerations everywhere. Solet us pretend to be the Jews of the Diaspora and appropriatethe epistle as if it were addressed to us.

It is not easy to rejoice when you get trials. But St. James,or rather, the Holy Ghost, is telling us that if we are trulyChristians and truly have the Faith, we should be happy whenGod sends us trials. And trials seem to be a necessary adjunctof having the Faith. This is especially true in times when onehas to ght for the Faith. One should count it all joy because,

whether we like it or not, that is part of true wisdom.St. James also recommends patience. To ght for the Faith

in our time, you need the patience of Job, was the favoritesaying of a wise man of this century. If we receive our trialswith joy, we will have patience, and patience hath a perfectwork (James 1:4). Patience is the virtue of perfection. Everygood artist knows that to be true. It is supremely true in thatgreatest of all arts: the art of becoming a saint.

The inspired author of the epistle goes on to say: But if anyof you want wisdom, let him ask of God (James 1:5). EvidentlySt. James did not believe that too many people want wisdom.Yet all who read this Introduction presumably want wisdom,

otherwise (we think), it would go unread. So let the reader paygood attention to the Scripture, and seek wisdom prayerfullyof God. This book cannot give anyone wisdom; however, if the reader prays enough, our course could be Gods tool inshowing where and how to seek for it. God is generous: Hegiveth to all abundantly, and upbraideth not (James 1:5). AllHe asks is that we ask for it and seek earnestly.

Wisdom is the most perfect knowledge of the most impor-tant truths in the right order of emphasis, accompanied by atotal, permanent disposition to live accordingly.

Brother Francis, M.I.C.M.

To fight for theFaith in our time,

you need the pa - tience of Job, was the favorite sayingof a wise man of

this century.

Moses pointed to the Scriptures andsaid to the peopleof Israel: This is

your wisdom andunderstanding in

the sight of thenations (Deut. 4:6).



k elly f oRuMf oR M y n aMe s s ake

In the news recently (June 16)there was a bite about ElianGonzales, the Cuban boywho was at the center of an in-ternational custody battle eightyears ago. He was eight yearsold when the boat in which heand his mother were escapingfrom Cuba sank off the Floridacoast. The mother drowned butElian survived. He was deniedthe asylum that his relatives in

the United States sought in order to keep him here, and hewas deported back to Cuba at the behest of his father. Nowsixteen, he recently joined the Young Communist Union alongwith a supposed 18,000 other teenagers, a victimized pawn for Marxist propaganda. Having read this, I prayed for, and to, hismother, who, along with thousands of other Cubans, thoughtthat sailing for freedom in a makeshift dinghy across ninetymiles of open sea was worth the risk.

I also thought of the heroic poet, Armando Valladares,about whom I had read many years ago in Readers Digest .The article was written by Sheldon Kelly and titled ThePrisoner Castro Couldnt Break. It was a story not only of

a mans valiant faith and in-credible endurance, but alsoof a woman, Armandoswife Marta, and her agoniz -ing patience and her delity

to the man she loved.Armando Valladares

troubles began in 1960 after Castro had ceased rattlinghis rosary beads and wear-ing the mask of some kind-hearted modern Robin Hood.The impostor had been grad-ually manifesting his real political colors, blood red,Communist to the core. Asa postal bank inspector, our

hero was ordered by somecadres of the revolutionary

new government to replace the nameplate on his desk with an-other, which read: If Fidel is a communist, then put me on thelist. Hes got the right idea. When Armando refused, it wasduly noted. Then, on Christmas Day of that year, the dicta-tor decreed, in conformance with the party line, that religiousworship was counter-revolutionary. Armando disagreed so much so, that he decided to defy the insane edict and thespying informers, and go to church to pray. It was the feast of

La Navidad de Nuestro Salvador and the church was nearlyempty.

Three days later, in the middle of the night, the Valladareshome was invaded by police. One of them put a machine gunto the young mans head pressing it into a pillow ashe lay in bed. Then they ran-sacked the place, terrorizingArmandos parents as theysearched for anti-govern-ment material. The young

postal inspector had none.That didnt matter; he wasarrested as potentially dan-gerous. At a mock trial onJanuary 15, 1961, Arman-do was sentenced to thirtyyears in the notorious Isla dePinos prison for offensesagainst state authorities. Hewas allowed no visitors, nomail, and often deprived of his scanty ration of boiled oats or corn mush. Too, there wasa daily ritual of beatings. Such was the lot of anyone the ofcials considered a plantado , one who refused rehabilitation.

One day a very devout fourteen-year-old schoolgirl cameto the prison to visit her father, also jailed for political reasons.She was impressed with the handsome plantado who, despitehis suffering, spoke of esperanza to other cellmates unjustly

detained. This was Marta Lopez, the future Seora Valladares.Sometime later, when she heard that Armando had attemptedan escape and been caught, her heart went out to him. She

prayed for his safety. And, she prayed that they would meetagain.

In punishment for his run, our hero was thrown naked intosolitary without any sanitation. Rats, infesting the little dun-geon, gnawed at his ngers and chewed away the tips of them.An ankle that he had broken during his brief escape was leftuntreated. It was black and swollen. Sores covered his body.This but scarcely describes the emaciated condition of the manwhom the guards returned to the common prison on Decem-

ber 25, 1961. Give me strength, O Lord, he prayed, on thisday of your blessed birth.

As Armando prayed he began to turn his prayers into po-etry, writing lines extolling the virtues, especially faith andhope. He would write on anything that would take ink or lead,

be it tissue or cigarette paper. Some of his poems were evenillustrated these he managed to send to Seorita Lopez byway of an underground postal system, which was run by anti-Castro inmates and a few sympathetic guards. The poet had

become an inspiration and a leader to the other inmates.

Mr. Brian Kelly

If they could notbreak him withphysical torments,

they would trystroboscopic brain -washing techniquesand drugs. Nothing

worked.

As Armandoprayed he began

to turn his prayersinto poetry, writinglines extolling the

virtues, especiallyfaith and hope.He would write onanything that would

take ink . . .



Marta was able to visit Armando only six times when, inOctober 1964, he proposed marriage to her: You are withme always, sustaining life. She consented, upon her fathers

blessing.The example of Valladares and his encouraging in uence

on the other prisoners began to disturb the authorities so muchthat they tried a different tactic to silence him. No, they did notwant to just kill him for that would make a martyr out of him in the eyes of the other inmates no, they would sell himhis freedom. All that he had to do to buy it was renounce theCatholic Faith. His response to that was unhesitatingly crisp

Never! This holy spunk won him another transfer, this timeto La Cabaa , a remote tropical gulag otherwise known asthe Widow Maker. A hell-hole made to house thirty inmates,Valladares shared this rancid dungeon with 350 others. The prisoners slept on pallets in shif ts. Over owing toilet bucketsdrew ies and mosquitoes; leeches dropped from walls; cock -roaches shared their meager rations; and rats had the run of the place. Outside the barred windows was the paredon , the

bloodstained wall of the ring squad.Communist strategy in whatever country they take over is

to use Catholic holy days for their blitzkrieg purges or to enactsome oppressive new measure. On Christmas Day, 1967, of-cials ordered all plantados in all prisons to take off their yel-low fatigues and put on the blue uniform of the rehabilitated.

Nine hundred refused. (Of the approximately 80,000 political prisoners incarcerated since 1959 in Castros gulags 70,000agreed to participate in the Communist re-education pro-gram rather than undergo the or else.)

By now, Valladares reputation had become legend. He wastransferred again, this time to a remote re-education outpostcalled Boniato . If they could not break him with physical tor-ments, they would try stroboscopic brainwashing techniquesand drugs. Nothing worked. He was returned to La Cabaa .

In their determination to undo the obstinate poet, of cials

decided to try a completely different tactic accommodation.They moved him back to La Cabaa and gave him special privileges; they even allowed Marta to visit. When he asked if he and his anc could marry, permission was granted. A civilceremony was performed in the bloodstained courtyard.

Now his enemies had a wedge. Surely, they thought, hewould wear blue if he wanted to ever see his wife again. Whenthey asked, el plantado answered, Never! He was immedi-ately beaten and returned to Boniato and put in a special cellwith windows sealed up with iron sheets. The beatings weremore savage: he was poked with bayonets and his scalp wasslit open with a blow, probably from a ri e butt. He woke upsoaked in blood. It was February 1970.

Back again at La Cabaa , he somehow continued to writeletters, prayers, and illustrated poems. The theme was alwaysesperanza . Then, the guards found his pens and pencils.

They do not want me to writeThey took away the pensthe pencils,but I still have lifes ink,my own blood and with it I can write poems

At some point, Armando convinced Marta, for her ownsafety, to immigrate to Miami. Four years passed by. One day,in 1974, all the plantados at La Cabaa who refused to changeinto blue forty-four of them were thrown into a dungeonwhere they were to be starved into submission. On account of this hellish treatment the poet was stricken with a nervous dis-ease and his legs paralyzed in atrophy. On the forty-sixth dayof this slow death, they ended the torture and pulled the survi-vors out. Valladares naked and emaciated body was draggedin front of the other prisoners as a warning.

It was a miracle that he lived. These verses describing thetortures were smuggled out to Marta:

The prisoners were taken out one by one,kicked and shoved by ri e buttsbeaten like animals . . .

Everything was done with perfect order The dead were perfectly murdered The wounded perfectly wounded The heads perfectly broken.

There were more tortures to come. In January, 1977, Ar-mando was relocated to a new maximum security detention.He was again put in solitary in a sealed room; the beatingscontinued; his rations reduced. But he would not die. Nor would he despair. Nor would he hate. God had another plan for Armando, and for his wife.

A letter from Marta with incredible information made itscontinued on page 9

Armando and Marta Valladares



The typical use of Rahab a contradictory char-acter, to whom was attributed both an unworthy profes-sion and a praiseworthy and providential action wasalready a classic in Christian literature.

Matthews Gospel has recalled her in the genealogyof Jesus (Matthew 1:5). The Letter to the Hebrews hadfeatured her as an example of the faith which saves (He- brews 11:31). St. James, concerned with other aspectsof theology, had emphasized her justi cation obtainedthrough works, i.e., through the good deed that she didfor the Hebrew scouts (James 2:25). Clement of Rome,almost as though trying to synthesize and reconcile thetwo texts, had written, Through her faith and her hos- pitality, Rahab the prostitute was saved ( I ad Corin-thios 12:1).

After Clement, who dwells a long time on the epi-sode of Joshua 2:1-21, reading it in the light of the Re-demption worked by Christ (cf. I ad Corinthios 12:1-8),a de nite ecclesiological interpretation of the gure of Rahab is clearly delineated from Justin to Irenaeus,to Origen, to Cyprian. Indeed, it is through re ectionupon the house of the prostitute the only housein Jericho which preserved its occupants from death

that the famous prin-ciple emerged of extra

Ecclesiam nulla salus . No one could be de-

ceived in this regard,writes Origen, no one

could be mistaken; out-side of the house, thatis to say outside of theChurch, there is no salva-tion ( hom. in Josue 3:4).

Cyprian in turnwrites, Do you think that you can live if youdetach yourself from theChurch, building your-self other houses anddifferent dwelling places,

when Rahab, prototypeof the Church, was told

that anyone who left the door of her house would beguilty? ( De unitate ecclesiae 8).

[In a footnote, His Eminence adds:] In Cyprian,the principle of extra Ecclesiam nulla salus is linkedto the truth of the maternity of the Church: no one canhave God for a father who does not have the Church for a mother ( De unitate ecclesiae 6) [p. 17-18].Theres that dogma again!

In the books development, Cardinal Bif explores theecclesiology of Saint Ambrose by citing from many of that fa-thers works. The net resultis to prove with scholarlyagility that the doctor fromMilan never intended, andcould not have consideredwithout contempt, the insultthat modern progressivistsregularly direct toward theChurch.

His Eminence does, withthe help of Saint Ambrose,wrestle with the great mys-tery of a sinless Church madeup of sinful members, but space does not allow me to pursuethis investigation. Suf ce it to say that he handles the issuewith aplomb. Whatever the crimes of her children may be, theChurch herself remains the immaculate bride of Christ.

So, far from being a protestation of the Churchs guilt, the phrase chaste whore emphasizes the Churchs immaculatenature as well as her necessity for salvation.

Email Brother Andr Marie at [email protected].

T o f Riends of The C Rusade :i s The C huRCh a h aRloT ?continued from page 2

In Cyprian, the prin -ciple of extra Eccle -

siam nulla salus islinked to the truthof the maternityof the Church: noone can have Godfor a father whodoes not have theChurch for a moth -er.

Whatever thecrimes of her chil -dren may be, theChurch herself re -mains the immacu -late bride of Christ.

Be one of The feW . J oin ouR Book of The M onTh C luB

For $30 a month we will automaticallymail you a book from our rich stock of Catholic classics. Our selections fea-ture timeless gems from the golden eras of Faith, as well as more recent productions byscholarly authors, including: G. K. Ches-terton; Hilaire Belloc; Father Denis Fahey;Father Leonard Feeney; Sister Catherine,M.I.C.M.; Brother Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.;and a host of other great writers. Along witheach book, Club members also receive one

back issue of From the Housetops magazineand an extra copy of the current Mancipia newsletter.

Fill out the reply form on page 15 or call ourbookkeeper, Russell LaPlume at (877) 773-1773

(toll-free) to join or for more information.



way through the underground post. Armandos cell writingshad been published in the United States. The poem about onemassacre at the Boniato outpost was being quoted worldwide.For our hero, this was victory. He redoubled his literary pro-ductions. In 1979, in France, his poetic accounts were pub-lished under the title, Prisoner of Castro .

News of this, no doubt, prompted Castro to order Valla-dares transfer to the Havana Orthopedic Hospital. After en-during eighteen years of the worst kinds of abuse, the forty-one-year-old poet began receiving medical treatment for ahost of consequent ailments. Afterwards, they would still notrelease him. In fact, when news came that he had receiveda Freedom Prize from an international writers organizationand that a second book, The Heart with Which I Live , had been

published, he was returned to solitary con nement and sub -mitted to more torture, more brainwashing tactics. Once hewas beaten unconscious for refusing to pose for a pro-Castro propaganda lm.

The following words were written on blank prescription paper, using a sliver of wood and mercurochrome as ink:

For months I have been living on a concrete slab 2 feetwide by 6 feet long . . . but the narrower my physical space,the broader my spiritual horizons. The greater the repression

and torture, the rmer andmore resistant my internalframework. My situation isdif cult, but I feel and am afree man.

Marta never ceased inher efforts to have Armandofreed. She used every dip-lomatic channel and everyhuman rights organizationshe could to apply pressureon Fidel Castro. Forty-sevenU.S. senators signed a letter urging the dictator to release Valladares and all other planta-dos. Frances President Mitterand also protested. Finally, bymid-1982, after eight thousand days of torment, the poet wassent back to the hospital. After intense treatment he was ableto stand on his feet and shuf e along. Then, he was perfunctorily taken to a police station and given his exit papers: he wasordered to leave the country. The police even gave him a rideto the airport where he was put on a plane to Madrid. Castrocould wash his hands now, for one prisoner that is. MeanwhileMarta, who was staying in France, waited for him at the naldestination, the Paris airport. On October 22 the lovers werereunited in a guarded room at the terminal. We have done it,Armando, my darling, cried Marta, our prayers have beenanswered. Husband and wife were married sacramentally atSt. Keirans Catholic Church in Miami on December 18.

I will come to you . . .The bayonets in the horizonbeyond my back will no longer matter nor the hillswhere the barbed wire ourishesas if suspecting the joyof our meeting.

Valladares memoirs, Against All Hope , details the horror of his twenty-two year incarceration. After reading this book,President Ronald Reagan appointed Valladares to serve as the

US ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commis-sion. As Head of the U.S. Delegation, he successfully broughtCuba before the Commission for its human rights violations.President Reagan would later confer on him the nations high-est civil honor, the Presidential Citizens Meda l.

Currently, Valladares is President of the Valladares Project,an international non-pro t organization dedicated to the protection of children. He is also Chairman of the Human RightsFoundation. He now lives in Miami.

Email Brian Kelly at [email protected].

k elly f oRuM f oR M y n aMe s s akecontinued from page 7

The narrower myphysical space, the

broader my spiri-

tual horizons.... Mysituation is difficult,but I feel and am afree man.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Schoolneeds your help!

Support traditional Catholic education! Immacu-

late Heart of Mary School needs your help to providean affordable education that will enable our studentsto reach their full potential: mentally, physically, andspiritually.

With a few lay teachers and our dedicated sisters,our expenses are kept to a minimum, but there are stillcosts that arent covered by tuition.

We are looking for Patrons of IHM: individuals,families, or businesses that would help with contribu-tions (which could be given monthly or in a few larger installments).

Will you help us? All Patrons receive: 1) a framed,autographed picture of the students and faculty of Im-maculate Heart of Mary School; 2) an annual subscrip -tion to the school newspaper, The Queens Quarterly; 3) a remembrance in certain special daily prayers; and4) our eternal gratitude!

Fill out the reply form on page 15 or callSister Maria Philomena at (603) 239-6495

to sign up or for more information.


10/16



ed), by watching her curing those hurts, giving comfortinghugs, intervening with me on our childrens behalf, sewingthe clothes and tending the garden: yes, these are the lovingdeeds of my wife as well as my mother. I guess I always took my mother for granted sort of a wall ower silently xed inthe background always there, but never truly appreciated.Sad to say, the fondest memories I have of my mother wereduring her nal illness.

She was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease some timein her eighties and silently drifted away into that strange and

lonely world. Sometime be-fore that, her oldest son, my brother Robert, had died of the same disease and Momsuffered so much watch-ing him fade away. It wasvery sad to see this valiantwoman slowly slipping intothat same void. As the celllights of her brain grew dim,she would struggle to recallwhat she had just said, to re-member to whom she wastalking, to recognize evenher own children or her sur-roundings. After severalyears of this debilitating dis-ease she quietly faded awayinto her own world and onewould think that she had lostall powers to communicate.

She would just sit in her chair and constantly move her handsin a very peculiar motion. This puzzled us all until my sister hit upon the idea of putting some cloth in her hands, whichmy mother promptly folded and set upon the table. She wasfolding our laundry again times thirteen. It was during oneof these visits that my wife, Judith, placed rosary beads in her hands and she proceeded to nger them slowly without skip - ping a bead.

You could see in my mothers eyes attempts to communi-cate and she struggled mightily to do so. During one of thesestruggles, she grabbed the arms of my sister, who had movedinto the house to take care of her, and blurted Thank You,then immediately slipped back to where she had been. A hu-morous instance occurred when my brother, who is known for his non-stop talking, visited her and proceeded to harangueher for a while. After he had left, my sister went to my mother and said, Ma, that was Richard who just visited, whereuponshe raised one hand, cupped it and uttered, Yak, yak, yak,and faded away again. A dear moment came when my daugh-ter visited my mother with her own newborn daughter whomshe had named Regina in honor of my mother. We told her thather namesake grandchild was here to visit her and she imme-

diately stretched out her arms. We gave her the child and sheheld it as she must have held all her other babies rmly, withgreat tenderness.

She died in her ninety-fourth year as she had lived, stead-fast, enduring, and obscure. It is only now that I realize thetremendous love that she had for her children a love she hidin the little way of her life. My mother, the wall ower, wastruly a rose.

Email Russell LaPlume at [email protected].

I always took mymother for granted sort of a wall -flower silently fixedin the background always there, butnever truly appreci -ated. Sad to say,

the fondest memo -ries I have of mymother were dur -ing her final illness.

Join the Team! Be a Queens Tributer

Just as a family has to budget its monthly incomein order to pay the bills, so do the Slaves of the Im-maculate Heart of Mary.

The advantages of giving monthly are many:

1. It is a commitment; although voluntary, it is stillmore likely to be met than not.2. It helps the religious economize more prudentlyand, at the same time, more magnanimously.3. It can be less stressful on most benefactors be-cause giving less, more often, is easier than givingmore once a year.4. It helps young benefactors, those just beginningto practice their obligation to support the Church, to

budget accordingly.

Queens Tribute donors receive all our mailings.More importantly, every month the traditional LatinMass is offered for all our benefactors.

Fill out the reply form on page 15 or call ourbookkeeper, Russell LaPlume, at (877) 773-1773(toll-free), to join or for more information.

The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary


12/16



Christian parents knelt in their turn before their son, to receivehis blessing.

The biographer of St. Jane Frances of Chantal, speakingabout the manner in which she educated her children, proceedsthus: Shortly after supper, this pious mother used to withdrawwith her children to make them say their night prayers, of which a De Profundis for the soul of the late Baron, their father,formed a part that was never omitted. After a few momentsdevoted to the examination of conscience, she made them sayaloud and all together the short prayer:

In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum Into thy handsI commend my spirit (Luke 23: 46) after which she blessedeach with Holy Water and the Sign of the Cross, and madethem undress with modesty.

The writer of the life of Blessed Sir Thomas More makesthe following remark: In our country, children are wont to ask on their knees, at morning and at night, the blessing of their fathers and mothers. This is the common usage in England.But I must confess that when grown up, married, or raisedto some high dignity in the Church or in the State, childrengenerally give up this pious practice, or at least it is retained by but few. The more remarkable in this respect was the

faithfulness of Sir Thomashimself. During the wholeof his fathers lifetime, andeven when he was holdingthe of ce of Chancellor of England, Sir Thomas never failed to come every nightto ask him reverently for his blessing.

In monasteries at night,at the hour of Compline, erethe monks are dismissed totheir cells, the Abbot, whostands to his subjects asa true father, making theSign of the Cross over them, pronounces the words: Maythe Almighty and mercifulGod, Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost, bless and guard us. And in like manner, in the morningat the hour of Prime: May the Lord bless us and defend usfrom all evil and lead us to eternal life.

This parental blessing instills into the hearts of children agreater and purer love for their parents. Their lial affectiondaily grows by this impressive rite, in which the parent stands

before the eyes of his children as the representative of God, andas the minister of His Divine Blessing. He performs essentiallyan act of authority. This cross, which you have traced on theforehead of your children, O Fathers and Mothers! changes

their natural love for you into a more spiritual dutifulness, andhelps to insure forever their respect and veneration for you.

Under the in uence of your blessing, the child will also learnto treat his body with respect. May it not suggest, in a criticalmoment of temptation, that itwould ill become this brow,which but this morning, or this night, was blessed withthe Sign of the Cross, tohave reason to blush under the silent, but scrutinizinglook of a father or a mother,when the time for the next blessing has come round?The time of this blessing isalso a most favorable timefor acknowledgment of faults,for pardon, for solemn andserious advice; the blessingshould be withheld in case no signs of repentance are shownfor some fault committed in the course of the day.

Finally, this blessing is not without its bene cial effectsupon him who confers it, for it must needs make him better,more Christ-like, more holy. When a parent sees his children

bowing down before him, it brings home to him the great factthat he, also, as well as the bishop of his diocese, or the priestof his parish, has in a certain sense the care of souls, and thathe owes his family the good example of a lively and practicalFaith, and that he must be to them the pattern of all Christianvirtues; for it is written: The just who walketh in his simplicityshall leave behind him blessed children (Prov. 20:7).

Let, then, this blessing recover the place of honor it heldin all Christian times! Fathers and Mothers! confer it in thesimplicity of the rite of old, and of better days. When after night prayers, or before retiring to their rest, your children arecome to you to wish you a good night, place for an instant your left hand upon their heads, and with the thumb of the right handtrace the Sign of the Cross upon each forehead, saying either silently, or aloud: May God bless you, my child; or, In thename of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

It is the Good-night of the Christian, a good-nighteminently religious, which brings to their minds the wholesomethought of eternity!

Perhaps you are not rich; it may be you have no greatfortune to bequeath to your children; but what you have at leastto bestow upon them is the inheritance of your blessing: andfar more pro table than riches is eternal salvation.

Imprimatur +Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York 1897

Email Brother John Marie Vianney at [email protected].

p RefeCT s C oluMn a p aRenTal Blessing in a C hRisTian h oMe

continued from page 4

The time of thisblessing is also amost favorable timefor acknowledg -ment of faults, forpardon, for solemnand serious advice.

During the whole ofhis fathers lifetime,and even when hewas holding the of -fice of Chancellor ofEngland, Sir Thom -as never failed tocome every night toask him reverentlyfor his blessing.



The altar looked from golden eyesAnd wept with silent, slow surprise,Wondering who could be to blame

That no priest came.

The candles, whispering softly, died;The cruet wine and water dried;

Some quiet children, kneeling there,Grown tired of waiting, tired of prayer,

Arose and, genu ecting, wentInto the dark, and were content.

Then drop by drop, the voided roomFell dull and dreamless as a tomb.

On wings of wind a whimpering moanCame up and kissed the altar stone;

And once, and once (it was not well),A brown rat struck the silver bell.

So now from dry and sightless eyesThe altar gapes with no surprise

Through age on age by worlds and suns, Oh let us pray, forsaken ones,

For him or her who was to blameThat no priest came.

*The late Father Thomas Feeney was the brother of our founder, Father Leonard Feeney.

T he a lTaR By f aTheR ThoMas BuTleR f eeney *

Brs. Louis Marie and Maximilian Maria professed final vows on Oct. 12.

All Saints Day party: St. Hubert trying to stump the panel.

Most of Saint Josephs Brigade at the 2008 Auriesville Pilgrimage.IHM Brigade after walking 65 miles on the 2008 Auriesville Pilgrimage.

Correction: The picture in last issue of the Mancipia wasnot Padre Pios actual face but a mask. Hes not incorrupt.



Please print:

Name Address City State ZipPhone ( ) Best time to call

( ) Best time to callE-mail

Check your payment choice:

Check enclosed $ Make checks payable to Saint Benedict Center.Charge my credit card one time $Charge my credit card monthly for $

Visa MasterCard Discover AMEX Card Number Exp. Date Signature

Reply Form(please check appropriate lines)

I wish to join:IHM Patron $____ per monthQueens Tribute$ ____ per monthBook of the Month Club $30 per month ____(Please see the ad on page 8 or call(877) 773-1773 for more information.)

I wish to donate:General donation $______

I wish to purchase:From The Housetops SpecialQty. of sets ____ @ $50 per set

Questions? Call Russell at(877) 773-1773

Detach and return in enclosed reply envelope or mail to Saint Benedict Center, PO Box 627, Richmond, NH 03470

What if you have a very pressing dif culty in your per -sonal life, such as a test that you are about to take? If you takea minute, can you think of any of the mysteries that show Our Lord distressed over taking a test? How about the First Sor-

rowful mystery? Can you see that He would have had any of the same feelings and sentiments that you are going throughright now? And how about the virtues that He then practiced?Perhaps you will feel inspired to ask Him to help you to dothe same or even to give you the merits of His own virtues inyour situation.

And now for the ballet of the mysteries themselves. The wayto propel this ballet is by way of starting to ask the questions

who, what, where, why, when, and how as you mentally placetwo mysteries next to each other. You will be acting somewhatlike a detective, and this activity on your part will assist youin paying attention during the Rosary. If you layer one set of

mysteries over another, you can get a beautiful kaleidoscopeof meditations. So, for example, you could be thinking aboutthe Birth of Our Lord and the Crowning with Thorns at thesame time. Perhaps you see His meekness come out more con-vincingly when you note that He has taken the trouble to showit as an infant and as an adult. (There was no room for Him inthe inn.) Or perhaps you are remembering that He is indeeda King and it was rst said in adoration, Where is He whois born King of the Jews? and thirty-three years later, Hail,King of the Jews in mockery.

So now do you share my enthusiasm for this method of Rosary meditation leading to contemplation?

If you nd this method helpful, please share it with others,and by so doing you will be able to get the bene ts of another promise of Our Lady: All those who propagate the Holy Ro-sary will be aided by Me in their necessities. And if you getany special lights on the mysteries, I would be very interestedin hearing about them!

Email Sister Marie Thrse at [email protected].

C onvenT C oRneR C onsideRaTioncontinued from page 3

Building Lots for SaleTwo wooded building lots on a quiet lane

off Route 119 in Richmond.About 1.5 miles from SBC.

Contact Jim or Betty Buzzell(603) 239-7004


16/16

o uR CRusade :The propagation and de -fense of Catholic dogma especially extra ecclesi - am nulla salus and theconversion of America to

the one, true Church.For more information:Our congregation website:www.catholicism.org

Our bookstore website:www.store.catholicism.org

And our conference website:www.SbcConference.com

Slaves of theImmaculate Heart of Mary

Saint Benedict CenterPost Office Box 627

Richmond, NH 03470

[email protected](603) 239-6485

C alendaR n oTes : The Chair of Unity Octave is from the feast of St. Peters Chair at Rome (Janu -ary 18) to that of the conversion of St. Paul (January 25). Please contact us if

you would like the prayers.

e xTRa e CClesiaM n ulla s alus Ex Cathedra: There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside which no

one at all is saved. (Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215.) Ex Cathedra: We declare, say, de ne, and pronounce that it is absolutely neces -

sary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.(Pope Boniface VIII, the Bull Unam Sanctam, 1302.)

Ex Cathedra: The most Holy Roman Church rmly believes, professes, and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but thatthey will go into the eternal re which was prepared for the devil and his angels,unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this ecclesiastical body that only those remaining within this unity can pro t by thesacraments of the Church unto salvation, and they alone can receive an eternal rec-ompense for their fasts, their almsgivings, their other works of Christian piety andthe duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, noone, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless heremain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church. (Pope Eugene IV,the Bull Cantate Domino, 1441.)

Until December 31,2008, all audio products are 25% off at our new webstore!

If you havent seen our new and improved website,youre missing out on a wealth of Catholic informationand updates, including: bookstore and CD sales, articlesnew and old (center page), From the Laptops regular columns hosting a variety of timely and timeless infor-mation (right column), current news with analysis (leftcolumn), Catholic trivia in the Did You Know section,short bio on the Saint for the Day, From the Housetopsarticles, Mancipias , Brother Andrs weekly Ad Rems ,covering theology, philosophy, historical documents

relating to the history of our crusade, Church history,lives of the saints, Marian devotion, interior life, and justabout every subject necessary for anyone interested inthe restoration of Catholic culture.

The site is very easy to navigate, even if one has only basic computer experience. Check it out today and let us know what you think. The more familiar onegets with the new site the more easily one discovers the treasures awaiting each click of the mouse.

Visit www.catholicism.org and www.store.catholicism.org

Documents

Mancipia October/November, 2008