\u201cSimply put, this idea of prayer is the process of slowly infusing of the soul with the mind of God as He has revealed Himself to us<\/em>…\u201d \u2014Hilary White, a Catholic writer who lives in Italy, in an essay on sanctity and prayer that she published yesterday on the OnePeterFive website (<\/em><\/strong>link<\/em><\/strong><\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n M\u00e8re C\u00e9cile Bruy\u00e8re (12 October 1845-8 March 1909), first abbess of St. Cecilia’s Abbey, Solesmes<\/p><\/div>\n “It\u2019s a somewhat alarming truth of the Faith that we are all \u2014 every one of us in every station and condition of life\u00a0\u2014\u00a0required\u00a0to attempt the great heights. And we are all given exactly the same means to make the attempt. Every spiritual writer from the earliest centuries to our own time has said the same thing: <\/em>the means is prayer<\/em><\/strong>. Without this key ingredient \u2014 the striving of the soul for union with God \u2014 even the power of the sacraments is muted. It is only and\u00a0<\/em>exclusively through prayer that a soul is made capable of receiving the sacramental grace dispensed by God through the Church. Prayer is the rain that softens the hard earth of our souls to receive the seed of the Divine Sower, the grace of the Holy Ghost<\/em>.” \u2014Hilary White, in the same article<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere is a happiness beyond that which comes from the enjoyment of visible\u00a0things; no good less than God will satisfy us, neither will any happiness less<\/em>than\u00a0fulfillment of God\u2019s promise to pour His own eternal\u00a0joy into our souls<\/em>.\u201d \u2014The great Benedictine Abbess, Cecile\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Bruy\u00e8re, (1845-1909), cited by White at the end of the same essay. <\/em><\/strong>Bruy\u00e8re<\/em><\/strong> was a student of the 19th-century Benedictine reformer and reviver Dom Prosper Gu\u00e9ranger (see below for more details). The passage cited is from Bruy\u00e8re’s book\u00a0\u201cThe Spiritual Life and Prayer According to Holy Scripture and Monastic Tradition.” White tells us that Bruy\u00e8re’s book is “a<\/em><\/strong>precious and almost forgotten modern manual of sanctification based on ancient sources, that can now be bought in translation from Wipf and Stock publishers, Eugene Oregon.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n =====================<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In Rome, Pope Francis<\/strong> is preparing to make a four-day trip to Bulgaria and Macedonia with implications for Catbolic-Orthodox dialogue.<\/p>\n He will start the trip on Sunday. One thing may be said: Francis at 82 is keeping a punishing schedule, with meetings, homilies, addresses and decisions to take every single day.<\/p>\n Here is a summary preview<\/a> of the upcoming trip from Philip Pullella<\/strong> of Reuters<\/em>:<\/p>\n By Philip Pullella,\u00a0Angel Krasimirov<\/em><\/p>\n VATICAN CITY\/RAKOVSKI, BULGARIA (Reuters<\/em>), May 3 —<\/strong> Pope Francis\u00a0starts a trip on Sunday to Bulgaria and North Macedonia where he will\u00a0have to tread carefully because of sensitive relations with the dominant\u00a0Eastern Orthodox Church in the two Balkan countries where Catholics\u00a0are a tiny minority.<\/p>\n Bulgaria, a country of 7.1 million people, is home to just 58,000\u00a0Catholics, while North Macedonia, with a population of 2 million, has\u00a0just 15,000 Catholics, less than some single neighborhood parishes in\u00a0Rome.<\/p>\n One purpose of the three-day trip is to improve relations with the\u00a0Orthodox churches as part of the Vatican\u2019s push for eventual unity\u00a0between the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity that split in\u00a01054.<\/p>\n But that task is delicate because Orthodox churches in both countries are\u00a0caught up in their own internal conflicts, which have spilled over into\u00a0official relations with Catholics.<\/p>\n Bulgarian Orthodox leaders have ordered clergy not to take part in\u00a0prayers or services with the pope, saying its laws do not permit it. But the\u00a0pope will meet Orthodox Patriarch Neophyte<\/strong> and visit an Orthodox\u00a0cathedral in Sofia…<\/p>\n A statement from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church last month explaining\u00a0its position emphasized that the invitation for the pope\u2019s visit was made\u00a0by state authorities, suggesting it had been given only a secondary role in\u00a0the planning.<\/p>\n Bulgaria\u2019s Orthodox community<\/strong> is one of the most hardline in relations\u00a0with the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n It is the only Orthodox community that has boycotted the most recent\u00a0meetings of the official Orthodox-Catholic dialogue and also boycotted\u00a0the 2016 Pan-Orthodox Council, citing differences on preparatory texts.<\/p>\n The Orthodox world considers North Macedonia\u2019s Church<\/strong> to be in a state\u00a0of schism since it declared itself autocephalous, or independent, from the\u00a0Serbian Orthodox Church<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Apparently in an effort not to upset other Orthodox Churches, the pope\u00a0will not be meeting privately with North Macedonian Orthodox Primate\u00a0Stephen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It will be only the second visit by a pope to Bulgaria — Pope John Paul<\/strong>\u00a0II visited in 2002…<\/p>\n (end Reuters article)<\/em><\/p>\n Also in the news: Catholics in Sri Lanka continue to mourn the horrific bombings of their churches on Easter Sunday, April 21, which took the lives of hundreds.<\/p>\n This has focused a spotlight on the archbishop of Colombo, the capital city, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith<\/strong> (an old friend since his days in the liturgy dicastery in Rome more than 10 years ago), who took the decision to close the city’s churches for the moment, as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n Some, like Catholic writer Charles Collins<\/strong> writing today in Crux<\/em>, have even taken the opportunity to ask whether Ranjith’s spirit, character and outlook make him “papabile” \u2014 someone who might be considered a strong candidate to become the next Pope.<\/p>\n Here are a few lines from his article (link<\/a>).<\/p>\n By Charles Collins, Managing Editor, Crux<\/em><\/p>\n May 3, 2019<\/p>\n This Sunday, Catholics in Sri Lanka will miss Sunday Mass for the second week\u00a0in a row.<\/p>\n It is a bold and drastic decision made by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith<\/strong>, the\u00a0Archbishop of Colombo, and leader of the country\u2019s Catholic Church.<\/p>\n Strange for a former papal diplomat — Ranjith served as the papal nuncio to\u00a0Indonesia for a short time in the mid-2000s — the Sri Lankan cardinal has been\u00a0unusually blunt in the aftermath of the Easter bombings which hit two Catholic\u00a0churches on the South Asian island, as well as an Evangelical church and three\u00a0hotels.<\/p>\n Ranjith has complained about the government\u2019s response to the attack, and\u00a0closing the churches to Sunday worship drives the point home that he doesn\u2019t\u00a0think the security forces are up to the task of protecting the country\u2019s Christian\u00a0minority.<\/p>\n At the same time, he has supported an emergency law preventing Muslim women\u00a0from veiling their faces, a move which could cause tension in interfaith relations\u00a0on the island.<\/p>\n Such outspokenness is not extraordinary for the cardinal: His time as a papal\u00a0diplomat was bookended by two periods of service in the Roman Curia. Ranjith\u00a0first served in the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples as the adjunct\u00a0secretary in charge of the Pontifical Mission Societies under St. John Paul II<\/strong>.\u00a0Later, under Benedict XVI<\/strong>, he served as secretary at the Congregation for Divine\u00a0Worship.<\/p>\n He was known for giving frank interviews and was probably a bit too forthright\u00a0for a long career in Rome. Ranjith became Archbishop of Colombo in 2009, but\u00a0Benedict showed his estimation of the Sri Lankan by naming him a cardinal the\u00a0next year.<\/p>\n Although a known figure in his homeland, Ranjith has kept a pretty low profile\u00a0on the international ecclesiastical scene for the past decade (aside from hosting\u00a0Pope Francis<\/strong> for three days in 2015.)<\/p>\n But now events have put the 71-year-old cardinal on the front pages of the\u00a0world\u2019s newspapers, and his star is beginning to shine. Whenever that happens,\u00a0Church watchers always ask, if only in a whisper:\u00a0Is he papabile<\/em>?<\/p>\n Ranjith ticks several boxes many cardinals will be looking for in the next\u00a0conclave: He comes from the global south, speaks several languages, has\u00a0experience in the Roman Curia, and has served as the head of a diocese — both\u00a0before and after his time in Rome.<\/p>\n The Sri Lankan cardinal is seen as a conservative, and his support for Benedict\u2019s\u00a0liberalization of the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass created many\u00a0enemies in Rome…<\/p>\n Still, he has mostly avoided being painted as an opponent of the pope\u2019s agenda,\u00a0such as several Rome-based conservatives, including German Cardinal Gerhard\u00a0M\u00fcller<\/strong>, American Cardinal Raymond Burke<\/strong>, and Guinean Cardinal Robert\u00a0Sarah<\/strong>. For example, Ranjith didn\u2019t join in on the fight surrounding\u00a0Amoris\u00a0Laetitia<\/em>, the papal document on marriage and the family.<\/p>\n In fact, aside from his conservative theological stance and more traditional\u00a0liturgical tastes, Ranjith can almost be seen as a \u201cFrancis bishop.\u201d He is a\u00a0promoter of interfaith dialogue, advocates missionary activity, and is not the sort\u00a0of \u201cairport bishop\u201d that spends most of his time outside of his archdiocese. In the\u00a0aftermath of the Easter bombings, he has often been seen with people of his\u00a0archdiocese, gaining \u201cthe smell of the sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the differences are apparent, and they might appeal not only to the\u00a0more conservative cardinals, but to other cardinals from the global south…<\/p>\n (end Crux article)<\/em><\/p>\n =============<\/p>\n In another news note, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi<\/strong>, bishop of the Mother of God at Moscow diocese, in a recent interview, said that a papal trip to Russia in the fairly near future “may be possible.” (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n He said there have been “timid attempts,” especially since 2016 and the meeting between Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill<\/strong> and Pope Francis<\/strong>in Havana, Cuba (February 12, 2016), for Catholic and Orthodox in Russia “to bear witness together to the Gospel of Christ.”<\/p>\n Since, as Sister Lucy wrote and persistently maintained, the coming religious conversion of Russia is part of the “secret” of Fatima, it seems important to follow and, when possible, assist these developments.<\/p>\n (Note<\/em>: This is the work of our Urbi et Orbi Foundation, and Archbishop Pezzi has been a kind host to our delegations in recent years on all of our recent pilgrimages to Russia, Ukraine, other places in the East, and Rome.<\/p>\n Our 6th annual pilgrimage will be in July, and we will once again visit the sites where Christians were executed in the last century, and where Christians today are living out their faith. If any reader would like to join with us this summer — the middle weeks of July — you may reach out to me by replying to this email. Such emails comes directly to me.)<\/p>\n (end report from Moscow)<\/em><\/p>\n ============<\/p>\n I could not end this letter without drawing attention to a profound and moving essay by another friend, Hilary White<\/strong>. She is a Canadian convert to Catholicism who now lives, writes and tends her garden in central Italy, and her essays and reflections on our current ecclesial and societal predicament are powerful and fearless.<\/p>\n Yesterday she published a piece on OnePeterFive<\/em> which goes deeply into the question of sanctity and prayer. (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n White draws extensively of the writings of the M\u00e8re\u00a0C\u00e9cile Bruy\u00e8re<\/strong>\u00a0(12 October 1845-8 March 1909), first\u00a0abbess\u00a0of\u00a0St. Cecilia’s Abbey, Solesmes\u00a0(Abbaye Sainte-C\u00e9cile de Solesmes<\/em>) and a follower of\u00a0Dom Prosper\u00a0Gu\u00e9ranger<\/strong>\u00a0in the revival of\u00a0Benedictine\u00a0spirituality in 19th century\u00a0France.<\/p>\n (Note<\/em>: for the following biographical information, I draw from Wikipedia<\/em>, link<\/a>.)<\/p>\n She was born as Jeanne-Henriette Bruy\u00e8re<\/strong> (and went by Jenny<\/em>), the granddaughter of the architect and engineer\u00a0Louis Bruy\u00e8re<\/strong>\u00a0and the architect\u00a0Jacques-Marie Huv\u00e9<\/strong>. Her family lived\u00a0at\u00a0Sabl\u00e9-sur-Sarthe.<\/p>\n She was sent to Dom Gu\u00e9ranger, founder of\u00a0Solesmes Abbey\u00a0and the reviver of the French Benedictine tradition, to be prepared for her\u00a0first communion, and became his\u00a0spiritual daughter.<\/p>\n In 1866, with Dom Gu\u00e9ranger’s support, she founded the first women’s house within his French Benedictine Congregation (now the\u00a0Solesmes Congregation). The new\u00a0nunnery was dedicated to\u00a0Saint Cecilia<\/strong>\u00a0(Sainte C\u00e9cile) because of Dom Gu\u00e9ranger’s devotion to her. Jenny Bruy\u00e8re\u00a0<\/strong>herself as a child had always desired to be called by that name,\u00a0after her maternal grandmother. She took the name C\u00e9cile as her confirmation name in 1858, and kept the same name in religious life.<\/p>\n Although St. Cecilia’s was still only a priory, C\u00e9cile Bruy\u00e8re was named abbess of the new foundation at the age of 24<\/em> by\u00a0Pope Pius IX<\/strong>\u00a0on 20 June 1870.<\/p>\n This may have been a gesture\u00a0of thanks towards Dom Gu\u00e9ranger for his great support to the Pope at the\u00a0First Vatican Council\u00a0in favour of the recently proclaimed dogma of\u00a0Papal infallibility.<\/p>\n Mother C\u00e9cile, with the support of Dom Gu\u00e9ranger, wrote the nunnery’s constitutions, which were influential beyond her own nunnery. Of especial note are the re-establishment of the\u00a0office of abbess with its symbols (the ring, the\u00a0pectoral cross\u00a0and the\u00a0crozier), and of the long-forgotten rite of the consecration of virgins.<\/p>\n Her\u00a0nuns, in accordance with the thought of Dom Gu\u00e9ranger and the Congregation he established, learned\u00a0Latin\u00a0and\u00a0Gregorian chant, which was altogether exceptional at that time.\u00a0This remains the practice of the abbey and of the\u00a0Solesmes Congregation.<\/p>\n The French anti-religious laws of the early 20th century forced the whole community into exile in England, to the forerunner of the present\u00a0St. Cecilia’s Abbey,\u00a0Ryde, on the\u00a0Isle of Wight,\u00a0where on 18 March 1909 Mother C\u00e9cile died.<\/p>\n When the community was at last able to return to Solesmes, in 1921, her body was also transported and re-buried there.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/220px-Ce\u0301cile_Bruye\u0300re.jpg\")
From the News of the Day to the Desire for Eternal Union with God<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
#1: Papal trip to Bulgaria and Macedonia<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Pope on sensitive trip to Orthodox\u00a0Bulgaria and North Macedonia<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n#2: The bombings in Sri Lanka and the pastoral care of Cardinal Ranjith<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Sri Lanka bombings put Ranjith in the spotlight<\/strong><\/h4>\n
News Analysis<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n
#3: Archbishop Pezzi in Moscow, Russia, on a possible papal trip to Russia<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
#4: Sanctity and Prayer<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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