A Witness to Ultimate Truth

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Now known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, as the formal recognition of his Divine election has taken place in the church, Padre Pio was a man, an instrument, who possessed a special witness to the Truth of Christ the Redeemer. The Holy Spirit of God bestows a variety of gifts on many believers, many of which are mentioned in New Testament writings...prophecy, healing, words of wisdom, etc. Padre Pio, right around the time when this picture was taken (1919), received the wounds of Christ (stigmata) and bore them throughout his whole life as a priest. Needless to say, this drew much curiosity, devotion and enthusiasm from many people throughout the world. It was a remarkable phenomenon, and had been looked into and physically examined by doctor's and scientists. One scientist's evaluation came in a later talk:

"Critics who claim that the stigmata of the likes of Padre Pio are not authentic, have a tough opponent to contend with: MODERN SCIENCE."

"From the medical point of view, the stigmata cannot be considered as wounds or sores, because they do not heal even when treated," Dr. Silvestri explained. "They neither become infected nor do they decompose; they do not degenerate in necrosis, and do not exude a bad odor. They bleed and remain constant and unaltered for years, against all laws of nature."

Immediately after he died, in the late 1960's, the wounds vanished mysteriously, revealing no scars at all. Padre Pio, as an instrument of God's mercy and justice in the world, was a human being no different than any of us. But he was somehow chosen to bear an ineffable sign in the world pointing to the truth of the Redeeming Sacrifice of the Son of God. All such manifestations are given to draw the souls of men and women towards true religion...the saving Truth which God has revealed in His Son. Such powerful signs, as the life of Padre Pio was, also serve to vindicate ultimate justice. In the end, it will certainly be seen that more than enough "evidence" was given for mankind to believe and receive the rebirth which has been purchased for us on the cross. Padre Pio was a man of great suffering and so many mysterious gifts. The crucifix was truly the centerpiece of his devotion; so much that he participated in the mystery in the most exacting way possible. It just may be that our present century will have other such extraordinary witnesses of God's love and invitation.

Everyman at Dawn

David Whyte Poem:

A garden inside me, unknown, secret, neglected for years.

The layers of its soil deep and thick.

Trees in the corners with branching arms

and the tangled briars like broken nets.

Sunrise through the misted orchard,

morning sun turns silver on pointed twigs.

I have awoken from the sleep of ages.

Not too sure if I am really seeing,

or only dreaming,

or simply astonished

walking towards sunrise,

to have stumbled into the garden

where the stone was rolled

from the tomb of longing.

The End of the Modern World

In his book, "The End of the Modern World", Romano Guardini drives home his thesis that the "mass man" of the future will increasingly neglect all that has historically gone before. Every preceding age was built upon inherited wisdom of the past to some degree. The Middle Ages presented intellectual life as that which seeks intensely, through study of ancient (inspired) sources, to learn what had already been given, and to develop and synthesize it into a unity. The stages of intellectual pursuit which have emerged beyond the Middle Ages, that which might be framed "classical liberal currents", have pushed to unshackle humanity from the constraints of inherited wisdom, which includes serious esteem for Divine Revelation and the mode of living it proposes. So we have grown more and more dislocated from our historical roots, and, for Guardini, have lost our place...our identity. In the new world of fragmentation, experimentation, technological complexity, superficiality etc. man will struggle to find his way back to truth, and therein to return to the God of his true identity.

This book is a hard read for its terminology. If read through though, one easily comes away having been convinced of the veracity of its central thesis. This book helps to inspire the reader to embrace a more contemplative life, so as to rediscover himself and God...the Goal of Life.

A Bright and Wise Poem

I once knew an old monk who recited poems constantly, often repetitiously. One of his poems concerned the world around us. It is a delightful and very contemplative poem:

You're a big, wide, beautiful, wonderful world

With wonderful waters around you curled

With wonderful grass upon your breast

World, you are beautifully dressed!

The wonderful clouds are over me

The wonderful wind is shaking the trees

It walks on the waters and whirls the mills

And talks to itself on top of the hills

Ah, you are so great, and I am so small

I tremble to think of you world, at all

But as I was saying my prayers today

A voice inside of me seemed to say

You are more than the world

Though you are but a dot

For you can love and think

But the world cannot!

In the Beginning

Welcome to my blog!

I am one who daydreams. I am one who looks both backwards and forwards. The life of popcorn compulsivity I renounce, though I have good friends who seem to get along fine this way. My central role models in life are hermits and monks. There was a period of time in our Western Civilization when this was very, very normal. One of the motives for creating this blog, is to somehow, in my own little way, serve to get people acquainted with the characteristics of day to day life in the Middle Ages. Writing this blog fits well into my own daily life for now, and I'm hoping that it may prove interesting to those who might stop in and check it out.

Has anyone heard of the contemplative life? It is a form of life in which daydreamers like me end up. So I live in a community of hermits. Our belief: Nothing truly matters as much as being recollected, and living a thoughtful, prayerful life. Out of this flows depth of consciousness, empathy and compassion toward others, sensitivity of conscience, and attentivity to symbols. It is this attentivity to symbols in the world, in life, that was a characteristic of the Middle Ages, before the advent of so great a complexity of civilization as we have presently. In outward form, the Middle Ages were simple times, when people more generally abided in a thoughtful, far sighted and prayerful manner. (Yes, fallen human nature was present then too!) This blog, which may take many directions, here at the outset flows out of my love and appreciation of the formal character of the Middle Ages, when men and woman lived beyond this world, a world which was known to be passing away.

The label "Mushroom Cloud Soup" is being applied generally to our contemporary world in all its complexity, and the seeming end toward which it is tending. It is not a description meant to condemn individual persons, but rather one which evaluates and renders a personal judgement upon the general situation of things modern. To me, life has become in many ways less humanly enriching than it once was, though there are yet many opportunities to live well and lovingly.