Rome - La Verna - Rome

April 11, 2022 Peace and Good, We started our definitory a week ago Saturday, and then on Sunday we headed up to La Verna for our annual retreat. La Verna is in Toscany, and it is a site on a mountain side. This is the place where St. Francis received the stigmata a couple of years before his death. The OFM friars have a beautiful shrine there, and this is the third time that I have had a retreat there. The friars have done one very good thing - they have begun to heat the rooms so that they are no longer uncomfortably cold. In the past one froze outside and inside the friary. Now it is much better. When we arrived there was still snow on the ground, but over the course of the week it melted (even if the weather remained cloudy and windy). We have two different retreat presenters, one of our friars who is the rector of the Basilica in Padua and one of the friars from La Verna who lives in the hermitage there. Saturday we returned to Rome and this afternoon we will begin our definitory again. It will go until Wednesday evening, and then we will spend the Triduum in prayer. Sunday I head back to the States where I will be travelling from one city to the next until the beginning of June. I have finished some reading: The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris This is a biography of the life and career of Joseph Lister and his crusade to establish antiseptic conditions in his operating rooms. He surprisingly faced much opposition, including in the United States. Yet, the success of his procedures in comparison to those of others became obvious over time, and by the time of his death he was recognized as a pioneer in the practice of antiseptic surgery. Roman Hispania by Charles River Editors This is a history that speaks of the lands of Spain and Portugal under the local Celtic tribes, under the Greeks and the Carthaginians, and then finally under the Romans until the land was conquered by Visigothic invaders and later by Islamic invaders. The author necessarily covers the career of Hannibal who began his invasion of Italy from Spain. Rules of Prey by John Sanford This is a novel about a serial killer in Minnesota and how a brilliant policeman is slowly able to track him down, more by accident than anything. The detective is presented as a flawed individual whose relationships with women are damaged (both due to him and to them). He is also the friend of a nun who helps him to sort out the profound dimension of what the killer was doing (as she and some others play the computer games which the detective had developed). Beginner’s Mind by Yo-Yo Ma This is a short audible book which speaks of how Yo-yo Ma learned to play the cello, and especially how he developed his talents so that his playing might be an honest communication of culture. He especially emphasized the need to work with fellow musicians in a partnership. The book is well done, showing how the background and studies of Ma became the raw material of his artistic endeavors. Revelations by Elaine Pagels This is an investigation into the content and the effect of the Book of Revelation. Pagels is an expert on Gnostic Literature, and she brings some of that knowledge into this study. She has a very strange theory concerning those whom the community opposed (positing that they were fellow Christians of the Pauline variety and not the pagans and Gnostics of that era). Yet, some of her treatment of the eventual reception of the book by the community is very well done. King, Kaiser and Tsar by Catrine Clay This is an overview of the lives and actions of King Edward VII of England, Kaiser William of Germany, and Tsar Nicholas of Russia. Only the first survived the disruptions of World War I. The three were cousins who often communicated, especially in light of their descendance from Queen Victoria. William is presented as an unbalanced autocrat who desperately needed good advisors but did not have them. The Age of Tyrants by Charles River Editors This speaks of the tyrants of ancient Greece. Today we use the word for cruel autocrats, and a few of the ancient tyrants were in fact this. But most of the tyrants were individuals who seized power to displace the autocrats who normally ruled Greek cities. They were opposed by those autocrats because they threatened their privilege. The Search for the Green River Killer by Charlton Smith and Tomas Guillen This is the account of the mass murderer known as the Green River Killer (in the state of Washington). It speaks of the attempts of the police to discover who was killing so many women and leaving their bodies in isolated fields. The killer was eventually discovered, although almost by accident. This investigation gave rise to many of the reforms in police departments and the FBI to use more scientific means of discovery. Gunpowder by Charles River Editors This is a history of the invention of gunpowder and then of instruments in which it could be used (fireworks, guns, canons, etc.). The book speaks of the spread of knowledge about this substance from China to the Arab world and then to Europe. May you have a prayerful Holy Week. Shalom fr. Jude

Los Angeles - Ellicott City - London

August 2, 2021 The Feast of the Portiuncula Peace and Good, I flew out from LA to Baltimore so that I could participate in the simple profession and solemn profession of vows of some of our friars (four for simply profession and three for solemns). The simple profession took place in the chapel at our friary in Ellicott City, while the solemn profession was in the local church, St. Louis, in Clarksville. Both were beautiful. The solemn profession had a choir from Togo, since one of those professing was born there. After communion they played a vibrant song that had people dancing in the ailes. I was very moved. I have always felt an attraction to the African form of the liturgy which is filled with life and emotion. I flew from Dulles to London on Saturday. The flight was good. There was a considerable amount of paperwork to fill out before getting on the flight, but checking in at Washington and passing through passport control in London was easy. Today Great Britain declared that one who comes from the States does not have to quarantine any more. I had to take another covid test this morning, but that is all. Masks are not required, but they are recommended on public transport. The weather here the past couple of days was typical London - cool and rainy. Mark Twain once said that the worst winter he ever lived through was a July in London. Today, the sun has come out and it is really pleasant. I finished some reading: The Quiet Game by Greg Iles This is a story set in Natchez where a former district attorney and now an author, Penn Cage, arrives in his home town. He mentions an old murder of a black man many years before which she then puts in her newspaper. This begins a frightening series of events as the Penn Cage tries to solve the murder mystery (which seems to have been a racial crime). In the process, he and his family face incredible danger. The Aeneid of Virgil by Elizabeth Vandiver This was a twelve lecture course on the Aeneid by Virgil. This was an epic poem written toward the beginning of the reign of Augustus to give a mythic origin story for the now powerful Roman Empire. Vandiver is very good at presenting the material and the background. It is remarkable that Virgil actually wanted the text of the epic to be burned because he was dying before he could put the finishing touches on it. Augustus refused to do this, saving this masterpiece for Rome and for us. Megan Phelps-Roper by Audible Interviews This is an interview of a member of Westborough Baptist Church who left the Church and then wrote about her experience. This is the church which picketed at funerals, demonstrated at other Church functions to provoke others to violence so that they might sue them, etc. She explains why people interpreted scripture the way they did and how they actually thought that what they were doing was for other people’s benefit. Ugarit by Charles River Editors This short presentation is one of the better Charles River Editors productions. Ugarit was a city in the Mideast which was a trading center between Mesopotamia and Egypt and Greece. The population was Semitic. The ruins where not discovered until the 20th century. Among the important finds was a library of thousands of clay tablets written in a primitive cuneiform alphabet. Gideon’s Sword by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston Child and Preston are some of my favorite authors. They have written a long series of stories about a FBI inspector named Pendergast. This volume is part of another series. This one deals with a company that performs projects for the government and others which spies would normally do. The greatest tool of the company is a very intricate system of social manipulation and evaluation. In this book, Gideon, who has a condition that will kill him within a year, is sent out to discover the secrets of a Chinese scientist who was coming to the US. Sherman makes Georgia Howl by Charles River Editors This is the account of one of the most controversial actions of the Union army during the war. It speaks of Sherman’s conquest and destruction of the city of Atlanta, and then his march to the sea in which he left a path of destruction. He is still despised in the south for what he did. The excuse on the part of Sherman was that he had to destroy the backers of the rebellion, including their manufacturing and capacity to provide food for those who were fighting. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner This is a fictional biography of Queen Juana la Loca, Juana the mad. The author speaks of her marriage to a Hapsburg heir who turns out to be unfaithful and power hungry. He treats her badly in many ways. She eventually poisons him. Her reign was clouded by the fact that Ferdinand (the husband of Isabella) closed her away and ruled in her stead. The author prefers to speak of her as totally innocent and manipulated by the men around her. She avoids speaking of the mental illness of some sort that does seem to have affected her. Have a good week. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome

March 30, 2021 Peace and Good, I hope your Holy Week is going well. Just this morning the city of Rome cancelled the red zone for a while (until Holy Saturday). When you went out in the street, you had to have a written form where you were going and what you were doing. The weather is getting better. Spring has arrived, but it is still quite cool. I will be leaving for the States this Thursday and spend time in Ellicott City until I am able to get my vaccine and do a couple of visits to the doctors and dentist. I am flying out Lufthansa. I have already gotten three reminders to have my covid test before I get to the airport. Germany has closed down entry to anyone who has not gotten it. We are meeting in our definitory meeting. We will finish sometime tomorrow afternoon. I have finished some reading: Ice by Ed McBain This is one of the Ed McBain detective novels about a police headquarters and the detectives who work there. There is a series of murders committed with the same gun, and there seem to be connections with a cocaine ring. The story is very well done. Red Rain by Dean Koontz This is one of the novellas in the Nameless series. Nameless is a man who works for an unknown operation that tries to determine the truth of murders which are true evil. In this case, he finds an arsonist and his accomplices and sets them against each other. The story is well done. The Mercy of Snakes by Dean Koontz This is the fifth of the Nameless series. He is an avenger for those whose connections to people in power are protected and who do evil things against others. This issue deals with a doctor who owns a five star elderly facility. He hires a detective to discover those who have a relative who wouldn’t mind if the resident were to die early. He and his nurse/lover then kill that person and he get a share of the inheritance. Typical of the series, Nameless is able to engineer a falling out between the co-conspirators. Photographing the Dead by Dean Koontz This is an episode in a series called the Nameless series of an operative who seeks revenge upon notoriously evil characters. In this case, it is a rich young man who likes to kill anonymously simply for the joy of the kill. Koontz is a very, very good author. The History of Spain by Joyce Salisbury This is a Teaching Company course on Spain from ancient times to the present. The professor is good, but I found that she felt that the ancients, the Muslims and Jewish people were fine, while her treatment of Christianity is not all that good. Nevertheless, it is a good account, including many of the cultural elements of Spanish culture. Classics of American Literature by Arnold Weinstein This is a very, very long series from the Teaching Company by a literary critic from the time of the early republic up to the present. Some of the insights of the professor were quite interesting, others were very, very odd, almost as if they were the personal pet peeves of the author. There were 84 episodes in the series. Have a good Triduum. Shalom fr. Jude

Rome

March 14, 2021 Peace and Good, I have been in quarantine this week in my room. As far as I can remember, this is the 12th this year. The friars here are incredible in being available to supply me with anything I need. Four days this week I participated in a zoom meeting of the members of the federation to which our US provinces belong. Here the meeting lasted from 8 to 12 PM. The meeting went very well with us finding good understandings on most matters. Today I exited my room. I will be here until this coming Saturday morning when the definitory leaves for our annual retreat (in the vicinity of Rome). Then, after the retreat, we will be holding a definitory meeting. Italy is still fairly well locked down. Restaurants must close at 6 PM, and there is a night curfew. I finished some reading: Robin Ince by Audible Interviews This is an interview of a comedian who has also studied mental illness among comedians and artists. He has found a correlation between those with a way of seeing outside of the box and those who suffer from various difficulties. Furthermore, he speaks of responses to bad thoughts that run through one’s mind (how everyone has them) and to death (that each person mourns in his/her own way). America’s War for the Greater Middle East by Andrew Bacevich This is an overview of American policy in the Mid-East (including Afghanistan) over the past decades. The author is very critical of the American attitude of running in and thinking that one can solve all their problems, and then abandoning the effort when it proves to be more difficult than they thought. He also deals extensively with military strategy. He is ruthless in his honesty, which make this read so good. I also like the fact that he tries not to be partisan (Republican or Democrat), but basically says a pox on them all. Christ’s Descent into Hell by Lyra Pitstock This is a very technical book on the meaning of the phrase that Jesus descended into Hell after his death on the cross. The author is contrasting Von Balthassar’s position which interprets this descent symbolically with the teachings of Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict. The book has some interesting points, but certainly reads like a doctoral thesis. A Rare Book of Cunning Device by Ben Aaronovitch This is a short story based on the character of Peter Brown, a young London detective who works on the magic squad. There is a problem with a series of unusual incidents in the British Library, and Peter must solve this incident by discovering a book that is much more than a book. Aaronovitch has created a likeable character and is pitch perfect in dialog and plot development. The Cumans: the History of the Medieval Turkic Nomads by Charles River Editors This is a short account of a tribe of nomads from Asia who eventually settled in much of southern Russia and the Balkans, including Hungary and Bulgaria. They eventually melded into local cultures and the Mongol invaders. The History of Spain: a Land on the Crossroads by Joyce Salisbury This is one of the Teaching Company Courses on the history of Spain from prehistoric times to the present era. The professor is well read and prepared. I enjoy some of her insights, but I often get the impression that everything Muslim and Secular is seen as positive, while everything Catholic is viewed with great suspicion. The Kugelmass Episode by Woody Allen This is a strange little story which take place in Russia. It concerns a smuggling ring which the orator accidentally uncovers. He meets a blind boy who is able to travel around the town without difficulty, a beautiful young woman who is always singing, etc. Keep safe. fr. Jude