To Heal the Broken Hearted

This week’s issue of The Tablet has a book notice about my life of Saint Charles of Mount Argus, To Heal the Broken Hearted, and the collection of reflections on Saint Charles’ life and spirituality, Herald of Hope. -which reminds me that Thomas tells me that I haven’t posted yet on the new Ovada edition of To Heal the Broken Hearted. It costs £9.50 plus postage and is available from Thomas Davie at Saint Mungo’s Bookshop, Glasgow: phone from UK 0141 552 1823; phone from outside the UK ..44 141 552 1823; the e-mail address is mungoshop(at)gmail.com (-you can also read it online, but it’s much less fun that way).

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St Vincent Strambi

Father Justin (nom-de-blog of a parish priest somewhere in England) of Nova et Vetera has been reading Cardinal Wiseman’s Recollections of the Last Four Popes and of Rome in Their Times (the Last Four Popes being Pius VII, Leo XII, Pius VIII and Gregory XVI), which we are fortunate to have in our library but which can also be read online, by courtesy of The Internet Archive. Father Justin highlights what Wiseman wrote concerning Saint Vincent Mary Strambi and Pope Leo XII:
All Rome attributed the unexpected recovery [of the Pope] to the prayers of a saintly bishop, who was sent for, at the Pope’s request, from his distant see of Macerata. This was Monsignor Strambi, of the Congregation of the Passion. He came immediately, saw the Pope, assured him of his recovery, as he had offered up to Heaven his own valueless life in exchange for one so precious. It did indeed seem as if he had transfused his own vitality into the Pope’s languid frame. He himself died the next day, the 31st December [1823], and the Pontiff rose, like one from the grave. (Wiseman, op. cit., page 236)

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What’s been happening?

Post-Christmas catch-up, the annual paperwork for OSCR (the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator), about seven funerals in the last few weeks, and also the demands of everyday life have meant that I haven’t been blogging much lately. A fortnight ago, however, I managed a short visit to our English-speaking Passionist community at Saint Joseph’s Paris. While in Paris, I was able to go to Saint Gervais for Mid-day Prayer with the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem and look around their bookshop afterwards. Here are some photographs I took, beginning with one of the sisters on her way back from work to Saint Gervais. (-No, I wasn’t stalking this unknown sister; I was just going to the same place.)

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Saint Mungo’s Day

Today, in the rest of the world, is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, but in Glasgow we have been celebrating Saint Mungo (or Kentigern), patron of our Monastery and Church, and the City and Archdiocese of Glasgow. Archbishop Mario Conti celebrated Mass here today, as he does every year on the Feast of Saint Mungo. It was also the opening of the Forty Hours Adoration in Saint Mungo’s. The Archbishop preached this evening in Glasgow Cathedral (-pre-reformation, now used by the Church of Scotland). He referred in passing to a recent theory among historians that Aberdeen’s Saint Machar may simply be a varation on our Saint Mungo; I don’t remember hearing that before. I found it really interesting; those of you who know me will not be surprised by that; others will probably advise me that I should get out more.

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Passionist Vocations

The next weekend retreat for young men interested in knowing more about life in the Passionist Community will be held at the Passionist Monastery, Crossgar, Co. Down, N. Ireland, beginning on the evening of Friday, 25 January and concluding on Sunday afternoon, 27 January. Please remember a prayer for those who will give the retreat and those who will take part.
For more information about Passionist Vocations, see the link in the sidebar.
(Our Vocation Site)

Give these chaps a rest. – Join the Passionists!

(Photograph: Father Hubert’s Sixtieth Anniversary of Ordination.
Photo by Paul McSherry)

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May the road rise before you!

Bishop Paul Michael Boyle died today. May he rest in peace. Father Don Webber, Provincial of Holy Cross Province, gives this summary of his life:
Paul M. Boyle was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 28, 1926. In 1946 he made his vows as a Passionist of the Western Province of the United States. Ordained in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 1953 and sent to Rome for graduate studies in canon law, he received a licentiate in Sacred Theology from St. Thomas University in 1955 and a licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University in 1957. He also attended Northwestern University in Evansville, Illinois, St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, St. Regis College in Toronto, and St. Paul College in Detroit.
In 1964-1965 Boyle served as the president of the Canon Law Society of America and from 1965 to 1968 as its executive coordinator. He taught canon law and homeletics at Sacred Heart Seminary in Louisville and canon law at St. Meinrad Theological Seminary from 1965 to 1968. In 1969 Boyle became president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, a position he held until 1974. >From 1974 to 1976 he served as president of Stewardship Services Inc., an organization established by the CMSM to give financial assistance to religious communities. During these years he began working on another project to help religious communities with financial management. In 1976 he founded and became the president of Religious Communities Trust (RCT) set up to instruct religious organizations on short term investments, a position he still holds.
In May of 1968, Boyle was elected Provincial of the Holy Cross Province of the Passionists (Chicago); from 1976 until 1988 he served as Superior General of our Passionist Congregation. In 1991 Pope John Paul II made him the first bishop of the newly formed Vicariate Apostolic of Mandeville, Jamaica, West Indies.
Bishop Boyle retired in 2004 to the Passionist Community in Louisville. Since his retirement, he was active with preaching appeals for Food for the Poor, sacramental ministry, and other preaching engagements.
(From the Passio Christi site)

Father Gary, who was one of Paul’s secretaries when he was General, gives another biography at The Passionist Charism.

Whispers in the Loggia has a tribute to one who was Ever a Missionary.

He was also the founder of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Mission Society of Mandeville).

Although born in Detroit, Paul Michael Boyle considered himself an Irishman as well as an American: his Irish passport was one of his most treasured possessions.

Thank you, Paul, for the example and encouragement you gave me in my Passionist life.

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Prayers please

From the newsletter of Holy Cross Province (Chicago):
Bishop Paul Boyle remains in critical condition after suffering a stroke. Please keep him in your prayers.

Bishop Paul Michael Boyle is the retired Bishop of Mandeville, Jamaica. He lives at Sacred Heart Retreat, Louisville, Kentucky. Bishop Boyle is a former president of the Canon Law Society of America and of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. He was Superior General of the Passionists from 1976 to 1988.

Photo: Bishop Boyle with Pope Benedict, October 2006.

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Passionists in Kenya

The Passio Christi site has an e-mail from Father Filippo Astori, superior of the Passionists in Kenya. He writes:
The situation continues. Everyone is blocked in the villages and mission stations where they went to vote. Here in Molo I’m all alone with just two Philosophy students who are on their holidays and live close by. They are bearing up wonderfully as they assist people to come together. We’re the only mission which is managing to do anything, helped by the Sisters, and frequently in collaboration with the police in order to enter villages. Today we’ve taken into our house some twenty children with their mothers, whose homes were burned to the ground and who have lost everything they possessed. Their husbands/fathers have remained behind in the villages. We’re expecting more to come tomorrow. Fortunately we have a supply of vegetables, milk and meat. We missionaries are not in danger, so don’t worry. Just keep us in your prayers that we may carry on with courage and faith.

This picture, taken last summer in Molo (Kenya), shows Father Filippo and three young African Passionists with Lisa and Stacey from our Young Adult Group and one of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception with whom Lisa and Stacey were working last year. Please keep them in your prayers.

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The Father Charles Train

A news item for the Feast of Saint Charles of Mount Argus, which I came across at the Pater Karel site:
In Limburg, the region of the Netherlands where Saint Charles was born, a train has been named after the new local saint. As well as having his picture on the outside, the train seems to show video clips of his canonisation on the inside! Here is a news clip about it (in Dutch). Watch out for the unstoppable Father Harry Broers (the Parish Priest of Munstergeleen), Father Giovanni Zubiani (Postulator General), Father Luigi Vaninetti (General Consultor) and Dolf Dormans, whose miraculous cure through the intercession of Poor Old Charlie made the canonisation happen.

Since all the Aer Lingus planes are called after Saints of Ireland (including Saint Patrick who, like Charles, was born elsewhere) what about a Saint Charles plane for next year’s feast day?

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Mass for the Feast of Saint Charles of Mount Argus

Icon of Saint Charles by Michael Galovic,
for the Passionist Community,
Saint Mungo’s, Glasgow
Copyright © Michael Galovic

On Saturday, 5 January, we will celebrate the Feast of Saint Charles (-his first since canonisation). In Saint Mungo’s, Mass for the Feast will be at 12.15.

Father Gary has posted the prayers and readings for the Mass of Saint Charles of Mount Argus here.

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