Cardinal laments lack of priestly vocations in Florentine archdiocese

Parma, Ohio, Oct 4, 2019 / 04:18 pm (CNA).- The Ruthenian Bishop of Parma last week erected Christ the Bridegroom Monastery as a female monastery sui iuris of eparchial right.

The decision was made “in light of the present circumstances and the spiritual needs of the nuns of Christ the Bridegroom, and for the good of the people of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma for the Ruthenians.”

Bishop Milan Lach’s decree was given Sept. 27. As a sui iuris monastery of eparchial right, the community does not depend on another monastery, it is governed by its own typicon (rule of life), and it was erected by its bishop.

Sister Natalia, a rasophore (novice) of the community, explained to CNA that “our canonical establishment is a promise that our eparchy is here for us and desires our presence. It’s a promise, too, that we are here for our eparchy, as we are for the world – dedicating our lives in prayer, fasting, and hospitality.”

She said that “what we hope to give to our eparchy, and to the world” is “a witness of the joy and love that come from radically loving Christ as our Spouse.”

With the canonical establishment, the monastery feels “a greater responsibility to live the life laid out in our typikon,” Sister Natalia reflected. “There is also a tangible change in the atmosphere of our community – an abundance of joy and peace, fruits of the Holy Spirit.”

Christ the Bridegroom Monastery, located in Burton, Ohio, fewer than 40 miles east of Parma, was first established in 2009; Bishop Lach’s decree completes the canonical process of its founding.

The bishop wrote that through the community of Christ the Bridegroom, the eparchy “has experienced in a fruitful way the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In religious consecration, the nuns of Christ the Bridegroom express and model in a new manner the gift of monastic life.”

“In silence, prayer, and hospitality, the nuns of Christ the Bridegroom are called to rediscover the spousal language from the falsifications of our culture, displaying faithfully not only that monastic consecration refers to mankind’s union with God in Heaven, but also that longings of human hearts for the beloved are meant to be fulfilled in the intimate union with Christ and participation in the life of the Holy Trinity.”

The monastery “seeks to hark back to the original call of God for all baptized Christians to seek the Kingdom of God above all else with the holiness of their lives,” Bishop Lach reflected.

In accord with the monastery’s formal establishement, the stavrophore (life-profesed) nuns elected Mother Theodora as the hegumena (abbess) Sept. 29, and the following day, the decree was publicly announced and Mother Theodora’s institution as hegumena was celebrated.

“We are so grateful to Bishop John Kudrick for his invitation to begin living this life ten years ago, for taking the initial canonical steps in our foundation, and for his spiritual fatherhood. We are also so grateful to our current bishop, Bishop Milan, for taking the final steps needed to reach this canonical approval as an eparchial monastery and for loving us as a father,” the monastery said Oct. 1.

The community has six members (four stavrophores and two rasophores), who observe poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Bishop Kudrick, who was Ruthenian Bishop of Parma from 2002 to 2016, outlined his vision for the monastery in January 2008. He saw it as a response to St. John Paul II’s 1995 apostolic letter Orientale Lumen, which called for a renewal of monastic life among the diaspora of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

The community first formed in April 2009, and was received into the eparchy as a community in March 2010. Mother Theodora became the community’s first stavrophore nun in November 2011, and in August 2015 the community was established as a public association of the faithful.

The monastery typically has Divine Liturgy on Sundays and one other day during the week. On weekdays, the daily schedule begins with Matins at 6:30 am and goes until Compline, which ends at 9:30 pm. At noon the community prays one of the Hours, as well as special intentions and the day’s epistle and gospel, and Vespers is celebrated in the evening. The remainder of the day has time set aside for exercise, personal prayer, silence, work, free time, recreation, studies, and meals.

The monastery includes several poustinias (small retreat houses) for guests to make short retreats.

The community will hold a benefit dinner called “The Bridegroom’s Banquet” Oct. 19 at St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church in Brecksville, Ohio.

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CNA Staff, Jun 25, 2020 / 04:34 pm (CNA).- Two statues of St. Junipero Serra have been moved from a Catholic mission and church in southern California amid fears of vandalism as protests around the state continue to topple statues.

The Mission San Juan Capistrano and its neighboring church have removed statues of Serra from their outside displays this week.

Diocese of Orange spokeswoman Tracey Kincaid told the OC Register that the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano moved the statue “out of precaution.” The statue, which was anchored to a pedestal at the entrance, was removed on June 23.

The mission next door relocated the statute from its front courtyard to its Sala building. The 104-year-old statue has been displayed for almost 80 years. It will soon be part of a mission exhibit on the life of Serra.

“The statue was moved to ensure its protection and was relocated to also ensure its continued access to the public,” mission staff said in a June 24 Facebook post.

The basilica was built in 1986 to accommodate the growing Catholic community, which outgrew the mission’s smaller Serra Chapel. The Mission San Juan Capistrano was established by Serra in 1776.

Serra statues are among numerous depictions of historic figures pulled down in the past week amid ongoing protests and riots throughout the country. While some protests have torn down the statues of Confederate figures, as part of a call to end systemic racism, other statues have also been torn down from prominent locations, including one of George Washington.

During the eighteenth century, Serra founded nine Catholic missions in the area that would later become California, many of those missions would go on to become the centers of major California cities.

Serra helped to convert thousands of native Californians to Christianity and taught them new agricultural technologies. Critics have lambasted Serra as a symbol of European colonialism and said the missions engaged in the forced labor of Native Americans, sometimes claiming Bl. Serra himself was abusive.

But Serra’s defenders say that Serra was actually an advocate for native people and a champion of human rights. They note the many native people he helped during his life, and their outpouring of grief at his death.

Biographers note that Serra frequently intervened for native people when they faced persecution from Spanish authorities. In one case, the priest intervened to spare the lives of several California natives who had attacked a Spanish outpost.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco issued a June 20 statement highlighting the saint’s good works, saying, “St. Serra made heroic sacrifices to protect the indigenous people of California from their Spanish conquerors, especially the soldiers…”

“For the past 800 years, the various Franciscan orders of brothers, sisters and priests that trace their inspiration back to him have been exemplary of not only serving, but identifying with, the poor and downtrodden and giving them their rightful dignity as children of God,” the archbishop said.

The California Catholic Conference of Bishops similarly defended Serra, saying, “The historical truth is that Serra repeatedly pressed the Spanish authorities for better treatment of the Native American communities. Serra was not simply a man of his times.”

“In working with Native Americans, he was a man ahead of his times who made great sacrifices to defend and serve the indigenous population and work against an oppression that extends far beyond the mission era,” they said.

“And if that is not enough to legitimate a public statue in the state that he did so much to create, then virtually every historical figure from our nation’s past will have to be removed for their failings measured in the light of today’s standards.”

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Anchorage, Alaska, Oct 1, 2019 / 01:30 pm (CNA).- The city of Anchorage has dropped a complaint filed with the city’s Equal Rights Commission after a women’s shelter in the city refused to allow a biological man to stay the night, it was an… […]