Audience


John Paul II addresses the Adorers of the Blood of Christ and the Missionaries of the Precious Blood
May 19, 2003, Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City

I found on the Vatican website a report about the audience I attended on Monday I was there early enough to get a front row seat and take some pretty spectacular pictures.

Here is a bit of what he said:

Addressing the spiritual daughters and devotees of St. Maria De Mattias, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters, Adorers of the Blood of Christ in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope said that "during her life she spread the Christian commandment of love, reconciling separations and healing difficult situations and the contradictions of society in her day. It is easy to confirm the reality of her message."

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 9:10 AM link

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Travel

Sr. Mary Joseph Lyons, O.P.


The travel is getting nuttier. I leave today for San Francisco. I am using one of my free tickets to travel to the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. Sr. Mary Joseph Lyons, OP, a dear friend and former employer is celebrating her Golden Jubilee. She was intrumental in the beginnings of my vocation to the priesthood and it is a joy and an honor to concelebrate at her Jubilee. My Provincial has arranged for there to be a Provincial Council meeting on Monday to round out the weekend. That will be followed by BBQ at one of our parishes and then the Provincial would make sure I got back to the airport to catch the red-eye back to Chicago. But Fr. Bob's funeral has now been scheduled for next Thursday and I wanted to stay out on the west coast for the funeral. Changing the free ticket would have cost an exorbitant amount and I really need to be at a meeting all day Tuesday in Chicago. So, I pulled out another free ticket and will be back to California next Wednesday to attend Fr. Bob's Vigil and Funeral.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 9:01 AM link

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Birthday greetings Sunday were sung in Spanish, Italian, English, Greek, AND Polish

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 5:02 PM link

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Fr. Bob Mathews


Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 3:28 PM link

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Maria's Spiritual Director



Venerable Giovanni Merlini was the Spiritual Director of St. Maria De Mattias for over 40 years

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 2:28 PM link

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Maria's Miracle

A boy born at Biograd (Croatia) in 1972 was the recipient of the miracle that led to Maria's Canonization.


Krešimir and his mother in the Paul VI Audience Hall prior to the Community's audience with the Holy Father, Monday May 19

Taken from the Adorer's website:

On October 10, 1979 the child began to show a strange behavior, indicating a change in mood. He didn't want to play or be with his friends; he didn't want to study. Nine days later he slumped onto a chair because his legs wouldn't support him. His nurse-aunt took him to the doctor, and he was hospitalized October 20. The doctors said it was nothing serious, but they kept him in the hospital. In the following days the boy's condition deteriorated as neurological signs appeared, including hemiparesis (weakness) on the left. He went in and out of consciousness. The doctors decided to transfer him to a clinic for infectious diseases at the hospital in Zagreb, with a tentative diagnosis of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (a progressive and fatal brain disorder caused by infection).

During the trip the boy lost his power to speak, then consciousness; he entered into a coma. Many complications aggravated his condition. The coma became profound; in November 1979 there were symptoms of decerebration (spontaneous extension of limbs). In addition, widespread hypertonicity (abnormally increased muscle tone) of the limbs, generalized convulsion and widespread myoclonia (spasms of the soft palate, facial muscles and diaphragm). The paralysis of respiratory muscles required a tracheotomy and artificial respiration which continued uninterruptedly until January 1980, and then at intervals until June of that year, when spontaneous breathing resumed. Other problems included urinary infections, bed sores, inflammation in the ears, and chicken pox. In spite of everything, the doctors continued to try to help him.

In the meantime, the boy's father's aunt, Sister Nikolina, an Adorer of the Blood of Christ in Zagreb, along with other ASCs, began to pray unceasingly and with great confidence to Blessed Maria De Mattias. The parents and other relatives, even many in the hospital prayed. While on the one hand, the family began to prepare for his death and burial, Sister Nikolina continued to pray. She said: "I prayed to Blessed Maria De Mattias to intercede for little Krešimir, and so that she would obtain that one drop of the precious Blood fall on him and cure him. One day, I felt a voice in my heart saying: 'The time will come in which he will be cured.' "

On August 20, 1980, the anniversary of the death of Blessed Maria De Mattias, to everyone's amazement -- especially that of the medical personnel -- the boy awoke and asked for something to eat. For him, even though very much weakened by artificial nourishment for ten months, it was as though he awoke from a long sleep. His psyche was very healthy; he remembered the names of his parents and grandparents and was able to reason perfectly. Someone gave him a book turned upside down and asked him to read it. He said, "How? It's upside down!" He recovered from the weakness and the motor difficulty in an extremely short time, in comparison to normal recovery time. In January 1981 he returned to school, with good results. His growth continued normally. Today, he works as a truck-driver for a transportation company in Biograd, a happy, 30-year-old young man full of life.

The Medical Consultants of the Causes of Saints defined his illness as subacute encephalitis, deriving from a previous measles infection. He came out of the illness in a completely unexpected way, especially since his body had been reduced to no natural resources for healing.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:40 AM link

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More on Maria

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ (USA) have a website. There are problems with the site which is why I do not have normal link to it. It works only a fraction of the time.

On our last day in Rome we made a pilgrimage to Maria's tomb:

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 11:33 AM link

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Catholic Press

Catholic World News reported that the Pope celebrated these Beatifications in the midst of his countrymen. (It seems they did not notice they were canonizations.) The emphasis in all their reporting was on the Polish saints. Their article reports that roughly half of the 50,000 people there were from Poland.

Obviously they have the right to report on the event from their perspective. I will report on the event from the perspective of one who was there, and was with many people from my community who were there.

We estimate that more than 75% of the crowd were wearing Maria De Mattias Red Hats, and that most of them were Italian. Happy Birthday was sung to the Holy Father in four languages that I heard.

Catholic World News has proved to me once again that they report on the Church from a relatively narrow perspective. One wonders if they even had a reporter present.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 10:30 PM link

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Yes, I am home in Chicago. It is great being back at an American keyboard. Rome was great. I go back at the end of June.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 9:49 PM link

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John Paul II Homily

The entire homily can be found here:

Here is the portion about Maria De Mattias

"This is his commandment, that we should believe... and love one another" (I Jn 3: 23). The Apostle John exhorts us to accept the boundless love of God, who for the salvation of the world gave his Only-begotten Son (cf. Jn 3: 16). Christ expressed this love in a sublime manner when he poured out his Blood as "an infinite price of redemption" for all humanity. Maria De Mattias was won over in the depths of her spirit by the mystery of the Cross and founded the Institute of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ "under the emblem of the Divine Blood". Love for Jesus crucified was expressed in her in passion for souls and in humble devotion to her brothers and sisters, her "beloved neighbour", as she liked to say. "Let us encourage one another", she urged, "to suffer willingly out of love of Jesus who with such great love shed his blood for us. Let us work hard to win souls for heaven".

St Maria De Mattias entrusts this message to her spiritual sons and daughters today, spurring all to follow the Lamb who gave himself in sacrifice for us, even to the point of giving up their life.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 9:16 PM link

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Yes, there were a great many Poles at Sunday's Canonization. But look at the pictures! The red hats are in abundance. There was a large contingent of Polish people here from our community. Our Polish provincial and I had a great conversation about bringing Retrouvaille to Poland.

Both Zenit and CWN have focused on the Polish aspects of Sunday, ignoring that fact that more than 75% of Sunday's congregation were wearing Red St. Mattias hats.

This is not the first time I have been at a public event that when reading subsequent press reports I was left wondered if they were at the same event.

Zenit only published the Regina Coeli Birthday greetings, ignoring the homily which I had hoped to read in English. On Catholic World Report the Italian saints were an afterthought.

First task on returning home: cancel my subscription to Catholic World Report. I had the impression that they focused too intently on sacndal and that their reporting was somewhat politically focused and a bit unbalanced. Now I have first hand experience.

When I get the homily, I will post it here.

I will be traveling all day on Wednesday. Thursday I will be in Chicago. Friday I leave for California.

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 3:30 PM link

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We are all the ones in red hats:

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 3:26 PM link

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This was a day to remember. Although I had been at many audiences in St. Peter's Square, a canonization is very different. The Square is full. The crowd is estimated from 50,000 to 75,000. I am used to such rowdyness in this square. But here, absolute silence. It was a stunning moment: to experience this boistrous crowd who had risen in great rejoicing at the mention of each new saint, now to be in awesome silence at the consecration of the Mass, to witness the thousands of pilgrims kneeling on the hard stones of the square.

I could not imagine how they could distribute communion to this throng, but they did in great order and reverence. It was like being in a small country church where you knew everyone, yet here you were in a throng of thousands and it was the same reverence and awe.

Even after communion the pilgrims with head bowed in prayer remained in quiet as the choir sang its anthem.

Then the Holy Father chanted the communion prayer. After which the crowd erupted in a moment of joy that was indescribable. In Spanish, English and Polish various birthday greetings were sung. We were surrounded by pilgrims from Bari, all Italians who were impressed that we knew their pastor and associate. They erupted in joyous song greeting the Holy Father on his birthday.

It is a moment I shall not soon forget. Such reverence and awe! What joy!

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 3:17 PM link

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Can you find me in the picture? What a glorious day!

posted by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. on 2:55 PM link

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