Hours of the Passion

Transcription

1 Hours of the Passion SPECIAL EDITION August-February Third International Corato Convention on Luisa Piccarreta s Doctrines It is with great joy that I share with you the most recent developments on the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta. Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi participants. However, I am allowed to address in this newsletter those topics that concern the spiritual welfare of the faithful and the public status of Luisa's Cause. With regard to the convention's focus on Luisa's doctrines, it is worthy of mention that Luisa's "doctrines" are the contents of everything she ever In October of this year the Archbishop of Trani and head of Luisa Piccarreta's Cause of Beatification, Archbishop Giovanna Battista Pichierri sanctioned this year's "Third International Convention on the Doctrines of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta." The Archbishop invited by private invitation those priests conversant with Luisa's doctrines from various continents of the globe to review them in this period of preparation pending the official version of Luisa s writings. The priests had special passes, and several lay persons that assisted in the diffusion of Luisa's works were also invited from Italy, America, Mexico, Spain, etc. All were players and contributed in their own capacity. I marveled as I watched God's grace guide the international participants toward communion and a collective desire for unity. Amazing! This may well be one of the biggest achievements and fruits of the The Third International Convention on the Doctrines of Luisa Piccarreta convention, for Luisa's cause cannot advance unless there is unity among her promoters and devotees. The primary purpose of the convention was to review Luisa's "doctrines." Many topics were discussed, some of which I am unable to address in this newsletter, as the convention was reserved to the wrote. Unlike Luisa's "writings," her doctrines are the kernel, the nucleus, the spiritual DNA of all that her writings contain. Or better, Luisa's writings are the form and style in which she expresses the divine truths God revealed to her - the doctrines. Consider that Luisa wrote in Coratan dialect, which was and is indeed

2 limited in vocabulary, and conditioned by the culture, place and setting of her time. In theology these limitations and conditionings are called the Sitz em Leben (place and setting of the author). Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical Humani Generis and the Vatican II document Dei Verbum underscore the importance of the author's Sitz em Leben, as without it, it is NOT possible to properly understand what the author intends to convey in writing. This especially applies to Luisa's writings. Case and point: It was revealed at the convention that the Italian expression, "chiamandomi" in standard Italian means "calling me," whereas in the Coratan dialect (Luisa's language), it does not mean "calling me" at all, but often means "along with." And this applies to other passages of Luisa's writings as well. Given the foregoing, one can readily understand the importance of the distinction between Luisa's "doctrines and "writings," and the value of Luisa's "place and setting" before printing her works. The purpose of the convention was: A) To ensure that all who promote Luisa do so in accord with the teachings of Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. B) To apprize all invitees of the Italian and international copyright protection laws. It was emphasized that no one may print or post a word of Luisa's writings. The Archdiocese of Trani does not grant permission to anyone to do so. This is old news, but the Archdiocese felt that it needs to be reiterated. The legal implications are many and it is not my place to discuss them. It suffices to recall that God cannot divide himself. God cannot speak through his Church Between lectures Archbishop G. B. Pichierri and Fr. Iannuzzi enjoy a cup of hot espresso! representatives (the Archbishop of Trani and his Archdiocese) and, at the same time, contradict what his representatives say concerning Church law. Let us obey like little children. Moratorium In answer to the question of the status of the "Moratorium" that many who follow Luisa s cause have asked me to address (Moratorium is the prohibition on printings of all of Luisa s writings), I am happy to provide them with the lucid response of Archdiocese of Trani. Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri and his vicar affirmed that the "Moratorium" on Luisa's writings that the Archbishop of Trani put in force years ago, remains unaltered. Nothing in writing has ever alluded to its modification. Thus no one is permitted to print anything Luisa has written. Those who, in good faith, or who were of the impression they had permission to print Luisa s works, are asked to desist from their printings and to liquidate their stocks. Those that wish to publish works about Luisa's doctrines, life or spirituality in which they use quotations from Luisa's writings, are asked to: a) inform the Archdiocese of Trani of their works, and b) refer to their quotations from Luisa s writings as "pro-manuscripts." Pro-manuscripts are any and all of those editions or versions of Luisa's writings that are in circulation today; they are NOT the official version, as the official version is not yet available, but is being prepared. Those editions or versions of Luisa s writings that are in circulation today, and which give the reader the impression they are the "authorized" or "approved" version of Luisa's works are not compliant with the Archdiocese's request. The Archdiocese of Trani obtained its Italian volumes of Luisa s writings

3 and its copyright ownership from the Francesco Gamba Publishing House in Milan, Italy. My experience suggests that these Italian volumes of the Francesco Gamba Publishing House are the most accurate volumes of Luisa available to date. Thus all writings of Luisa in circulation today, and all quotations from her writings are to refer to themselves as a "pro-manuscript" version, and there are many "pro-manuscript" versions out there that you are free to choose from. Conversely, one may ask: Isn't a Moratorium on all of Luisa's writings an obstruction to God's grace? Don't the faithful need to read Luisa's writings in order to receive the gift of Living in the Divine Will? In answer to these genuine concerns, I submit a two-fold response: Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri affirmed publicly and on several occasions that "all" of Luisa's volumes and all of her other works that are in circulation today contain errors (even the Passion Book editions and the Virgin Mary Book editions). These errors are either grammatical (they do not conform to the original text; they alter the meaning of Luisa's words) or doctrinal (they deviate from or contradict Church teaching). It suffices to recall the early-century heresies that, at the time of their dissemination, were zealously believed by scores of Christians, including some early-century bishops. Here one recalls the heresies of Arianism which affirms that Jesus is not the eternal Son of God but a mere human creature; Monothelitism which affirms that in the Divine Will we operate with only 1 will, the Divine Will, as the human will ceases to operate; Neo-Palagianism which affirms that we - not God - dispose ourselves to receive God s Will, and the Divine Will is so lofty that those who experience it do not need created grace. To make matters worse, the disseminators of these early Christian heresies, believed in their conscience that what they preached and wrote was the gospel truth. Though they were sincere, their zeal compounded the situation, as the more they disseminated their incorrect teachings, the more spiritual harm they unwittingly imposed upon the faithful. In reaction to the spiritual harm that these early-century promoters were producing, the Church's authorities intervened to correct publicly their heresies and erroneous interpretations of Jesus' message. Similarly today, the Church's representatives intervened to place a Moratorium on all printings of Luisa's works to safeguard the spiritual welfare of the faithful. But this is only temporary... Let us recall the Catholic Church's HOURS OF THE PASSION august mission before God to safeguard and lead the faithful. So if ever a Christian group claims that the private revelations of this or that mystic "surpass," are "equivalent to, or "add to" the Public Revelation of Jesus Christ, it is leading Christians into error. Jesus Christ's message contains the one eternally transcendent Truth for all times to follow ("Truth" with a big T), whereas all private revelations that come after Jesus contain divine truths ("truths" with a small t) that explicate and assist in actualizing the Truth Jesus revealed. Although many of the modern errors associated with Luisa's writings have been corrected - thanks to the intervention of Catholic theologians faithful to the Magisterium - her "doctrines" need to be more fully understood and assimilated by the Christian faithful. With respect to the Archbishop s request that all printing and publishing houses deplete their stocks of Luisa's volumes, far from being an obstacle to God s grace, it is a grace in itself, and for the following

4 reasons: 1) to clear the air and the market of all the volumes that are presently in circulation, as they contain some errors; 2) to allow the faithful to continue to deepen their union with God from Luisa's inspired teachings; 3) to dispose the faithful to receive the official, critical edition of Luisa s works when it is published. The Archbishop emphasized that whenever the faithful encounter errors in these circulated printings, they are to approach the person of choice: a Catholic priest, preferably "one that is trained in mystical or dogmatic theology" who will encourage devotion to Luisa in light of Magisterial teachings. The reason for this reccomendation is that the priest possesses ecclesiastical schooling in systematic theology and is better able to help clarify these errors. The Archbishop and his Vicar, moreover, affirmed that whenever possible, every Divine Will cenacle or prayer group ought to be accompanied by or be in contact with a Catholic priest. Many devotees of Luisa are already in contact with a priest via , internet or phone. In light of all that has been said, the Archbishop is clearly more concerned with presenting Luisa's teachings in accord with Magisterial teachings, than with disseminating Luisa's works before the official, critical edition is released. That the Catholic priest the archbishop refers us to has lots or little knowledge of Luisa's writings, is not as important as his ability to lead the faithful in the Magisterial teachings that Jesus Christ and the Church Councils present to us. There are many such priests out there. Luisa was always pliant and readily obedient to her Catholic priest, each and everyone of them, no exceptions made. As a result Luisa always obedeyed the teachings of the Magisterium, to the point of unreservedly submitting all of her writings to the Vatican upon request. Indeed Luisa raised the bar of obedience for all of us to follow. Let us follow her lead. In answer to the aforesaid question on whether the Moratorium on Luisa's writings at this juncture is an obstruction to God's grace, it goes without saying that the Moratorium is not an obstacle, but is itself a grace that disposes us through the virtue of obedience itself to receive the gift of Living in the Divine Will. Think about it: If Luisa zealously clung to her volumes after the Vatican request she surrender them, she would have in that same instant left the Will of God... But she obeyed with a sense of great relief and joy. The Archbishop and his vicar also affirmed that there exists no national director for the Divine Will in the U.S. They explained: Canon law stipulates that each priest is responsible not to a national director, or to any US group, but to the bishop in whose diocese that priest resides. Presentations At the International Convention the representative of the Archdiocese of Trani Fr. Vincent Di Pilato delivered a fantastic talk on Luisa's "doctrines." The title of his talk was "The Rapport between Public Revelation and the Writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta." Everyone ought to have a copy of this talk, which is available in English. As it is my understanding that you have permission to obtain a copy of this talk in English, I encourage you to contact the Archdiocese of Trani for more information. May I add that Fr. Vincent is a bright, young professor from the local Italian theological seminary. I have known him for some 8 years now, while he was yet a student. Over the years we ve shared ideas and theological insights on Luisa's doctrines, and he is very much

5 abreast of my doctoral thesis on Luisa's doctrines that I am presently completing for the University of Rome for the advancement of Luisa s cause. Talks on the status of Luisa's "writings" were given by Fr. Lattanzio, Msgr. Giannotti, and Fr. Sergio. Instead Fr. Pablo Martin gave a talk on Luisa's "spirituality." An invited speaker from Corato and magazine editor gave a talk on the "copyright laws" and on the "Moratorium" of Luisa's writings. Much of these presentations are privy to the participants only. It is noteworthy that all those that gave presentations at the international convention are linked juridically and territorially to the Archdiocese of Trani (Corato), whereas all international priests privately invited to the convention to review Luisa's doctrines are not directly linked to Corato. All international priests were assured they will continue to contribute to and play a formative role in the final product of Luisa's writings, just as they had done at the convention. The Archbishop and the Vicar General revealed that a theologian from Rome is officially entrusted with reviewing and editing all of Luisa's volumes before they will be released to the general public. May I again add, this theologian is abreast of and instrumental in the work of my doctoral thesis on Luisa's writings that I am to submit to Rome very shortly. The Archbishop asked that the faithful refrain from writing letters to the "Vatican Congregation in Rome" at this juncture pending Luisa's Beatification, as such letters may complicate an already a tenuous situation. All inquiries may be addressed to the Archbishop's Archdiocese of Trani. Prudence dictates that the faithful refrain from contacting anyone of those theologians or players mentioned above. The Typical and Critical Editions of Luisa's Collected Works As I assisted in translating the presentations at the 3rd International Convention, I recall also the Archbishop's words on the distinction between the "typical" and "critical" editions of Luisa's collected works. This I am permitted to also share with you. The distinction between the "typical" and "critical" editions of Luisa's writings is important, as it concerns not only the Church's official procedure for the release of Luisa's writings, but the release of the writings of any Church saint. As I have understood the Archbishop, the "typical" edition is the transliteration of what Luisa wrote (from poor dialect Italian to the polished standard Italian) "without" however the necessary introduction, commentries, annotations, footnotes, endnotes, Church seals, etc. that are required for the edition s final production. Anyone who reads Scripture knows that when the Bible is bereft of annotations (that bear the Church's seals of approval) it is open to a plethora of varied and conflicting interpretations; its otherwise perplexing and contradictory passages will be understood in a thousand different ways. Likewise the writings of Luisa - though not equivalent to Sacred Scripture - require annotations in order for the readers to properly understand her thought in light of Church teaching. Without the necessary annotations, introduction, commentaries, etc. that will bear the Church's seals of approval, the writings of Luisa will be open to a plethora of interpretations and misconceptions. One must be mindful that on account of Luisa's poor form and Coratan dialect, her words did not always accurately convey what she intended to write. Luisa's spiritual director and censor of her writings, Saint Hannibal di Francia, acknowledges in his memoirs that he had to edit and make corrections to Luisa's writings on account of their poor form and grammar. Unlike the typical edition, the critical edition will be the final, definitive, and conclusive edition of everything Luisa ever wrote, it will bear the Archdiocese's seals of approval and it will be released to the general public. Needless to say, theologians will review Luisa s works before they are released to ensure their form and content corrospond to Church teaching. The critical edition is clearly the edition of preference. For the past several years I have encouraged the faithful to pray for the release of the critical edition, and I continue to do so especially now. Now is the time for Luisa's devotees to unite in prayer for its speedy release, as it will dispose the world to receive the greatest gift of all, the gift of Living in the Divine Will. Thank you to Luisa's Promoters As I share this information with you out of charity and for your spiritual welfare, I am mindful of the words the Archbishop spoke to all individuals that made Luisa known throughout the world. He personally thanked everyone that was present, and no one was excluded. One may assume that all those that spread devotion to Luisa and made her

6 writings available did so with a genuine and great love for her. Indeed the Archbishop took the time to personally thank "all" promoters of Luisa. In the proper order of diffusion a warm thank you is due to all the promoters from Italy (Corato, Milan, Rome, San Giovanni Rotondo, Sicily), Germany, Mexico, United States, Spain, etc., as all contributed to what is becoming a world-wide devotion to the Divine Will. I personally thank God for those promoters that I am in close collaboration with that continue to assist me in my work throughout the world. These collaborators are unknown and unseen to most, but their selfless efforts have positively influenced many. Their work is very instrumental in opening up the doors to numerous countries that invite me to speak publicly on Luisa writings and doctrines. And now is the time for all promoters and devotees of Luisa to follow the conventional wisdom of the Church: To follow Luisa's example, to refrain from printing anything she wrote, to remain obedient to the teachings of the Magisterium, and to submit their interpretations to a Catholic priest conversant in theology that will encourage devotion to Luisa. These promoters have done their duty, and now the hierarchical Church is doing hers. It is fitting that devotion to Luisa should now assume a new direction: Devotion is passing from the "evangelization phase" (the preaching and diffusion of Luisa's writings) to the "doctrinal and internalization phase" (the release of the official edition and interpretation of Luisa s writings that will bring about a more perfectly embodiment of her teachings in many souls). Pope Benedict XVI Receives Published Works on Luisa Last but not least, by the grace of God, in September 2006 two ecclesiastically a p p r o v e d publications on Luisa Piccarreta's doctrines were submitted directly to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and to Pope Benedict XVI. My friend, a saintly religious sister, consigned these publications to the Vatican and was assured the Pope will read these works with great interest. The first published work that the Pope received is entitled, "The Splendor of Creation" (the Pope received the English and Italian editions of this publication), and the second is entitled "Proper Catholic Perspectives on the Writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta." FIAT!

7 The 11 AM Hour of the Passion [the crucifixion] Look, from the very beginning of this Hour, whom do we meet? You guessed it: An ambiguous "Jesus, my Mother, come to write together with me" (pro-manuscript English text)... The closeness of Mother and Son can't be closer, so that one "becomes" the other in the secrecy of God's creative mind. Co-redemption? Isn't this a question that asks itself? Nevertheless, Mary, the Mother of God, of whom we focus in these essays, fairly participates in the theology of her Son to the degree that one cannot speak of either/or without seeing them both all the time in these hours. Time and "beyond time (eternity) mesh more and more in the outcome, whereby all else seems to pale before the full realization of what goes on in the ongoing "Hours". One is reminded of "The Catholic Hour" on radio years ago. It lasted thirty minutes, but everyone knew what was meant by the caption. Here, instead we by-pass such discussions to focus on the eternity of this Hour. The point is this: We meet the Mother in no uncertain terms. Yes, Jesus, too, but that, too, is the point. Meeting her means meeting him and meeting him means necessarily having to meet her. So, Luisa, without any theological prowess, correctly bids, "let us together write!" Let us co-redeem? How wonderful! How insightful! How innocent of mistakes! No deceit, no confusion, Rev. Jerome Purta, OSB just good sense. Surely we know what Luisa means! She, unwittingly or not, "trinitizes" an authorship attributable to Jesus, Mary, and this lovely Italian scribe, whereby they themselves choose to "write together". Luisa betrays a kind of heavenly ignorance of this in her earthly participation of the Passion. Is it she who bids them to co-author, or is it really they who prompt her to ask them for the favor? And so she writes... Here we witness "the third crowning of thorns" as mentioned before in its multiple re-actment, a term we might invent in place of simple re-enactment as in a stage play. This is real, and it is repeatable, for history is in the making for the first time and yet repeated in the eternity of Christ's human nature. Luisa's absorption of such an experience gives credence to stories about others like Saint Rita of Cascia, whose single thorn, it is related, was the result of her having heard a literally piercing sermon on all of this - evidence enough of her part in the actual re-actment. And Luisa predicts that Jesus indeed looks for those who willingly nudge up to him "to sustain him in so much sorrow and confusion". At last, who else most of all qualifies for the fullest participation in Jesus' Passion? Observe the circle of names in our Luisan account that blend properly beyond contemporary nonsense versions of what even the most respectable periodicals dare to call "the gospels" as though all these "copies" were "original" Gutenberg reproductions free for the asking, whereas they might better be defined as purchasable imitations that barely stand up to coffee shop criteria. Compare the tone found of the imitations with that of the original Gospels here reflected in Luisa's Hour: "Here is your sorrowful Mother who, with her heart rent, suffers as many deaths as you do pains. Oh Jesus, loving Mary Magdalene, who appears beside herself because of your pains, and faithful John, who appears speechless because of the intensity of the pain of your Passions, are here also." Step aside, magazines of mutilation, and see the proper assembly of thoughts and persons without any rancor, or admire the hand of God in his handiwork of Jesus and Mary, of John and Magdalene, of man and woman. Let all editors cease to hide their prejudiced assignment of men as creatures shorn of all love for women. Those who know how to look more closely, beyond the nude and crude letter of the text, will find ample evidence to suggest an authentic balance of the both genders and their respective roles in God's plan in salvation history. Certainly, one can twist history itself into shapes unrecognizable, by unassuming and vulnerable readers who become virtual victims along with chosen mystics like Luisa. Children all, let us shrug off the commercial accumulation of subjection interpretations, despoiled of their better potential in favor of original honesty implanted in us by good will, by the Divine Will!

8 Let us read, instead, with hearts like those of the saints, between mere lines meant to tell the truth, to discover therein the pure mind and clean breath of God working in us, and sniff out the right from the wrong interpretation of anything we read, even the secular attempt at delivering trustworthy information. How easily, for instance, one can misread letting "each drop of [the Savior's] Blood be light to the mind of every creature so that no one may offend [the Divine Will] with evil thoughts." Even that can be "secularized" by pulling it apart into non-contextualized components to suggest that "the mind of every creature" is equivalent to all creatures, rational and irrational, as having a mind. Do trees have a mind? Is that what Luisa meant? No, clearly not. Such argumentation is inconsonant. But when understood properly, it is meant to convey that even rational thoughts may touch trees if one has a proper relationship to trees in the total "economy of salvation". All creatures participate somehow in the dynamic reality of grace that influences all creation, as St. Paul reveals: "All creation groan for salvation". With regard to the Blood Christ shed for mankind in this Hour, one recalls the story of Cain's betrayal of not only Abel's blood, but the person to whom it belonged. This sinfully historic event provides us with an example of how Abel's blood influences another, namely, God, its owner. Res clamat auctor! Luisa recognizes in the shedding of blood a paradox: What appears to be by all human standards an ill-intended "martyrdom" becomes a well-intended "rest" on behalf of "all [Christ's] children," He being the first among them in the mind or the intention of God. Christ, the chosen child, frees mankind's broken situation from the "Abel" complex - the notion that I am the victim of irreparable harm. Thus the "tree of life" is forevermore identified with the Cross that, through Christ's Passion, makes of us new, life-laden branches for the Creator's joy lavishly shared in that manner. "I am the vine [tree], you are the branches." How intimately the Creator identifies with his creation in a mind-to-mind eternal symbiosis! Lest we get lost in excessive poetic freedom, may these insights of Luisa's grand view of the Crucifixion simply recall the refrain already sung above. Luisa consistently attends to it. In the loveliest kind of unselfishness, she speaks to Jesus: "You see, my tender Love, I am not the only one who asks You for this [the great grace of remaining crucified with the Lord, much like the grace of being re-crowned with thorns]. Your afflicted Mother, inseparable Mary Magdalene, and beloved John also say that it would be more bearable to be crucified with You than to assist and see You crucified alone." Notice Divine Will spirituality" when Luisa expresses individually, but, and in the relation to the aforesaid personalities, "Together with You, I [the corporate I that we humans freely will to be by God s own design] offer myself to the Eternal Father as I become one with your Will, with your Love, with your reparations, with your very Heart, and with all your pains." Read the response of Jesus for yourself, and see if you do not fit the description I offer as "corporate I". Jesus clearly keeps "you as the beloved of [His] heart." One might concede a proposition in face of the foregoing: Let us suppose Jesus says: Let the person without an attachment to Jesus please come and throw the first stone at Me, the corporate Christ. Know how to really recognize Me without the usual fictional filth the world flings at Me - I am the One who became the corporate 'I', who 'became sin', and who took on the name of the corporate Magdalene residing in each 'Me', the corporate John who is the supremely honest one standing intimately nearby... Let that puzzle you the right way. Don't unravel it. Just let your conscience be your guide. That doesn't happen too often in public. It's as personal as the Incarnation itself. By Divine Will we become that Incarnation. It needs no further publicity. It needs you. It's a celestial, personal, as well as corporeal marriage based on the resurrection of the body all at once between you and Jesus whose child you are. Allow yourself to be mixed up in him! (I will continue this essay in the next issue as the story mysteriously and artfully spotlights the Christ-incrucifixion. Only at the end of its prolonged "hour" do we see a return of Christ's Mystical Body embracing us all along. Mary our Mother then re-enters, along with all of us, ai piedi della Croce [at the foot of the Cross]. Yes, at the foot of the cross as proposed in many writings by one no less than Our Holy Father Benedict XVI. One recent example is his letter to the superior general of the Society of Jesus, 23 May It commemorates Pope Pius XII's Encyclical, Haurietis aquas, on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in which he says, "In fact, being Christian is only possible with our gaze fixed on the cross of our Redeemer." Can you detect a familiar ring?)

9 Above is the Chapel of our Companions of Christ the Lamb Community, located in Paradise, MI. Three members of our community will be making vows in December The Companions of Christ the Lamb Community enjoys the Church approval of already three Catholic bishops, and is well on its way to becoming a clerical institute. With over 1,040 acres of land nestled within the surrounding woods of the Great Lake Superior, many pilgrims and devotees of Luisa Piccarreta's spirituality have come to experience our lifestyle. It is a lifestyle of ongoing union with God attained through prayer before the Eucharist (each member makes one daily Holy Hour), the frequent reception of Confession and the Eucharist and spiritual retreats. The resident members profess the vows of simplicity, obedience and chastity. They are obedient to the Will of God, expressed through Christ s vicar Pope Benedict XVI, through the bishops in union with him, and through the superior. They lead a life of simplicity by avoiding the accumulation of unnecessary trappings that clutter the mind and obstruct the soul from unceasing, contemplative prayer of the Trinity, which enables them to "Live in the Divine Will". They embrace a life of chastity in accord with their respective state in life. Married couples live chastity by living the teachings of Humana Vitae (the encyclical of Pope Paul VI), and by seeing, thinking and acting with a chaste attitude. The religious (brothers and sisters) and the priests live chastity through the observance of celibacy. The hermits and consecrated laity are members that live celibacy as well (the consecrated laity observe celibacy while working in the world). All contribute to the community through their talents and resources.

10 This year several pilgrims made spiritual retreats on our property. Of the many pilgrims this year on guided or solo retreats, two have decided to become members, and three are expected to profess temporary vows this December in our chapel (see photo). Here in Paradise, the environment, the hospitality and the spiritual depth the community offers is superb. There are several resident priests that are spiritual masters that make themselves available to say daily Mass, to hear confessions and to give sound spiritual direction. If you feel the Spirit tugging at your heart, consider a spiritual retreat with us, by contacting Mr. Chuck Roelant: P.O. Box 12, Paradise, MI Remember, the gift of Living in the Divine Will is a mystical gift lived in faith, and it is yours for the asking. To know more of this magnanimous gift, please write us at this newsletter address. May God grant the gift of the Divine Will to all of you, and may your Christmas may be a most joyous one ever. May God bless you noe and always: + Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Above is a lateral view of the just some of the many cabins of our Paradise Community. These cabins are at our camp retreat site, and are part and parcel of our desire to live the mystical gifts that God imparts to his Church. There are also houses, hermitages refectories, etc. Last month we began the construction of our new 2-story rectory that will house the many future priests of our order. Please keep this undertaking for God in your prayers. To subscribe to this Newsletter, please write: Hours of the Passion P.O. BOX Jacksonville, FL (recommended donation of $12.00 / year) Advisory: Our newly Church-Approved Community in Paradise, MI will eventually have its own, new mailing address. In the meantime, please continue to send your newsletter donations to the above PO Box address.