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Thea Bowman - religious sister, civil rights

advocate, candidate for sainthood

Sister Thea Bowman was the granddaughter of a slave, an advocate for racial justice, and the first

African American woman to address the U.S. bishops' conference. Two years ago, her sainthood

cause was opened.

“She was an outstanding teacher and she was an

outstanding speaker. And she had a voice like an

opera star and she could sing really beautifully, and

people loved to be with her,” said Sister Charlene

Smith, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of

Perpetual Adoration (FSPA).

“I often say she was a whole lot like Jesus. People

love to be around her, and I was one of those

people that was lucky enough to be around her.”

Smith, who was friends with Bowman for 35 years,

recounted the impact that Bowman made on many

of those around her. In 2012, Smith co-authored a

biography of her friend, entitled, “Thea's Song: The

Life of Thea Bowman.”

Bowman became a noted public speaker, and travelled around the country, talking about race

and the Catholic faith. She continued to travel and teach even after being diagnosed with breast

cancer in 1984, even landing an interview with 60 Minutes.

Bowman died March 30, 1990. Her canonization cause was opened by the Diocese of Jackson in

2018. Smith said Bowman’s impact lives on after her death, with schools named after the sister,

events held in her memory, memorials established in her honour, and at least 40 books mentioning

her story and influence.

Source: www.catholicnewsagency.com

Pope Francis Tweets Pope Francis @Pontifex

Today is the International Day Of Families: Let us

pray for all families, so that the Spirit of the Lord -

the spirit of love, respect, and freedom - might

grow in families. #PrayTogether– May 15

We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form. At the same time, we have to recognize that violence is self-destructive and self-

defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost. Let us pray for reconciliation and peace.

– Jun 3

There are two Christian responses to escape the spiral

of violence: prayer and the gift of self.

– Jun 9

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Actor Hopes to Lead People ‘to Christ in Some

Way’

By Bree A. Dail

“My mother is Roman Catholic —

she’s from Ireland — and my

father is from Egypt, and his father

is from Syria. I was raised Greek

Orthodox, baptized Greek

Orthodox, but later transitioned to

Roman Catholic, when we moved

from New York City to the

suburbs,” Roumie told the Register.

“What really has resonated with

me is that both are sacramentally

based. This is how I have found

myself really going deeper into my

faith — through the sacraments.”

Roumie explained that, while

never falling away from his faith,

he did have what he called a “deeper conversion” within the last few years. “There was never really

a point in my life where I felt I was disconnected from my faith: maybe a little lukewarm, a little

casual at times — never disconnected. God’s been too prevalent in my life, from as long as I can

remember.”

Speaking about his role as the Son of God, Roumie mused, “For me, as a Christian, if I really am

practicing my faith, God is part of my existence in everything that I do; so I’m not only

acknowledging him, fully and completely with my being, but I am trying to evaluate how this role

can better be served through my faith, through the lens of my faith.”

He added, “I have a much greater advantage than, I think, anybody who has played Christ — for

the ability to ‘humanize’ him — because of how long we get to take with the stories that we’re

telling.”

Considered a resounding success, the critically acclaimed first multi-season series on the life of Christ,

and having been independently released around the world to more than 180 countries, “The

Chosen” is now crowd-funding to produce Season Two. It may be downloaded for free through an

app on the series website.

Roumie says he feels blessed by the opportunity. “For me, at this juncture in my life, I know this is what

God has put me here to do: in a very imperfect way, as a human, to be a vessel for the Spirit of his

Son to work through this TV project; to work through this prayer time online … to be able to be

transparent about my faith and incorporate it into my art. I think people are hungry for it.”

“I think the fact that we’re going through this pandemic has allowed people to re-evaluate their

relationships to their Creator, or even start looking for that relationship. If I can lead them to Christ in

some way, I feel that that’s what I’m here to do.”

Source: ncregister.com

Jonathan Roumie credits his Catholic faith as the

foundation of his portrayal of Jesus

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Our Lady, Help of Christians,

Patroness of Australia

Catholic devotion honours Mary under various titles, and the title of

‘Helper’ goes back to the ancient Fathers. Auxilium Christianorum

(Help of Christians) appears as a Marian title in sixteenth-century Italy,

and was inserted in the Litany of Loreto.

The institution of a feast day sometimes reflects a historical event – like

the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on the anniversary of the Battle of

Lepanto, 7th October 1571; or the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary

on the anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Vienna, 12th September

1683. The feast of Our Lady Help of Christians is similar, originating with

the experiences of Pope Pius VII (1800-23), and the Church of his time.

The era of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars (1789-1815) was a period of great

tribulation for the Church. After the persecutions and martyrdoms in France at the time of the

Revolution, especially during the Reign of Terror (1793-94), the papacy also fell victim to the

revolutionary forces. French troops occupied Rome in 1798, and Pope Pius VI was taken captive. The

following year he died in captivity at Valence in France, and many assumed the papacy was finished.

The cardinals were unable to meet in Rome; but following instructions left by Pius VI for emergency

conditions they met in Venice, and elected Pius VII.

At first the new pope was able to negotiate a settlement with Napoleon Bonaparte, who had come to

power in France in 1799. In 1801 a Concordat was signed that regularised the situation of the Church in

post-revolutionary France, and in 1804 Pius VII came to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon as

Emperor in Notre Dame. (Napoleon placed the crown on his own head rather than let the Pope do this

as at other papal coronations in history – coronation by the pope could symbolise that the crown was

in the gift of the pope, and that what the pope had given he could also take away.) In 1808, France

again occupied the Papal States, leading Pius to excommunicate Napoleon. But the Pope was himself

taken captive by the French in 1809, first to Savona, then Fontainebleau.

Finally in 1814, with the decline of France’s military fortunes, Pius was freed. On his journey home, he

visited many sanctuaries of Our Lady and crowned her images, and was enthusiastically welcomed by

the Catholic people. And on 24th May 1814, he at last reached Rome. The following year, he instituted

in thanksgiving the annual Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, to be celebrated on 24th May, the

anniversary of his return, honouring Mary for the deliverance of the Church from all the tribulations of

the Revolutionary era.

That era was also the first period of the British colony in Australia, so it was in this historical context that in

1821 the foundation stone was laid for what was to become St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, and ‘Mary,

the Immaculate Help of Christians’ was chosen by the pastor, Fr Therry, as the title of the mother-

church. 23 years later in 1844, the First Provincial Synod of Sydney chose Mary, under the title ‘Help of

Christians’, to be the patroness of Australia.

Pius VII died in 1823, having seen the restoration of the Papal States by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

The cause for his beatification was opened in 2007 and he now has the title ‘Servant of God’.

As for Napoleon, after his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo on 18th June 1815, he was exiled to the

island of St Helena in the South Atlantic. In his recorded conversations with his British captors, he would

hold forth at this or that time in defence of Islam, or Protestantism, or materialist atheism. But as his

health declined, on 15th April 1821 he wrote his last will and testament, which opens with the words,

‘I die in the apostolic and Roman religion, in the bosom of which I was born more than fifty years ago.’

He died on 5th May 1821; having on 29th April confessed his sins and having received from Abbé Vignali

the last sacraments of the Catholic Church.

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St Bernard of Menthon –

Patron of the Alps

The annual opening of our snow season in Australia happens

to be around the time of the feast day (15 June) of the

official patron saint of the Alps, St Bernard of Menthon (also

known as St Bernard of Montjoux). He is also considered the Statue of St Bernard near the Hospice

patron of mountaineers, skiers, and snow activities generally.

Not to be confused with the more famous St Bernard of

Clairvaux (Cistercian abbot and Doctor of the Church

whose influence dominated Catholic Europe in the mid-

1100s), St Bernard of Menthon, who lived earlier, is

nonetheless famous in having the St Bernard breed of dog,

and two alpine passes, named after him.

Born probably about 1020 at the Château de Menthon

near Annecy (modern France, then part of the Kingdom of

Hospice du Grand Saint-Bernard, Arles), Bernard became a priest, then archdeacon, in the

with Mont Mort behind diocese of Aosta in north-western Italy. For 42 years he

ministered in the mountain villages around this highest part

of the Alps where Switzerland, Italy and France meet.

Between Mont Blanc (France/Italy), western Europe’s highest

mountain, and the great Swiss-Italian peaks of the Matterhorn

and Monte Rosa a little way east, is a dangerous high pass that

Great St Bernard Pass: view from Hospice was used by French and German pilgrims to Rome, coming

across Lac du Grand Saint-Bernard to Italy through the Swiss canton of Valais across to Italy.

In 1050, Bernard built a hostel as a refuge for travellers at the top

of the pass at 2469 metres (now in Switzerland, just before the

Italian border), still operated there today by a monastery that he

established of Canons Regular of St Augustine. The pass

eventually became known as the Great St Bernard Pass.

(Another nearby pass from France into Italy, where Bernard

established another hostel, is known as the Little St Bernard Pass.)

Great St Bernard Pass and Hospice – towards

Switzerland, Mont Vélan and Grand Combin,

From the 17th century we know of the St Bernard dogs which

were bred there, and which until 2004 were used at the

hospice for rescuing travellers in the snow. (The last recorded

rescue by one of the dogs was in 1955; the opening of the

Great St Bernard Tunnel in 1964, and modern technology,

have made rescue operations largely unnecessary.)

Bernard died in June 1081 at Novara in Italy. He was canonised as a saint by Pope Innocent XI

in 1681, and named Patron of the Alps by Pope Pius XI in 1923.

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Prayer during the

Coronavirus Pandemic

Mary, Help of Christians. We fly to you today as your beloved children. We ask you to

intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.

Pray for us, loving Mother, and gain for our nation and world, and for all our families and

loved ones, the protection of God’s holy angels, that we may be spared the worst of

this illness.

For those already afflicted, we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.

Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful, wipe away their tears and help them to

trust.

In this time of trial and testing, teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be

patient and kind. Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.

We come to you with confidence, knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother,

health of the sick and cause of our joy. Shelter us under the mantle of your protection, keep

us in the embrace of your arms, help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus.

Amen.