Recently, a very beloved nun in her eighties ( Sister D) who had taught me since primary school at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus in Kuala Lumpur and who was still active with her duties at the Convent, was hurt in a car accident. When I visited her in hospital, her bravery and courage in the midst of great pain – was evident. I thought, gosh, what is it which makes them so unique – nuns and priests? Super-heroes but - unlike Superman’s cape - they had just the ‘cape of their calling’ to give them strength and spur them on to inspire and care for others. The accident and some other events related to nuns and priests which happened during these past few weeks provided unexpected moments of reflection for me. Aside from visiting Sister D in hospital, my husband Terry and I were blessed to have a visit from our good friend and priest from the Legionaries of Christ in Rome, Father T who stayed in our home for a few days. To round off this, we were fortunate to be invited to a special private preview of the soon-to be-released Hollywood movie, ‘Cabrini’ – about a rare and unusual nun, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini who left Italy for America and there, with her small band of nuns, created her ‘empire of hope’ for the poor in America.
Above - Upper Right : Benedictine monks in prayer from the ‘Life of St. Benedict’, oil on panel by G. Signorelli ( 1477-1549); Abbey of Monte Oliveto, Maggiore, Italy.
Above - Upper Left : At the Vatican in 2022, the blessed and awesome ceremony of the ordination of 37 seminarians who became priests of the Legionaries of Christ, giving up all for God.
Above - Lower Left : Celebrating the milestone of the 160th anniversary of the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus in Singapore in 2014 - see the joy in the faces of the nuns who live a life of service to educate children.
Above - Lower Right : The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus’ motto which reflects this perfectly : ‘Simple in Virtue; Steadfast in Duty’.
Above : Some examples of Convent schools run by various orders of nuns- all over the world. On the left is the Loreto Convent in Darjeeling, India and on the right, the Mary Knoll Convent in Hong Kong
In so many aspects of life, ranging from education, nursing and spiritual care, nuns and priests have contributed to our lives in so many incalculable ways. They are ‘normal’ people like you and me but they have distinct and rare qualities – they are selfless; they strive for holiness; they love each one of God’s creatures; and in the process of educating, nursing, evangelizing and loving us – transform and add to our lives.
I have decided today, to present to my readers, spiritual portraits of two such special persons : a priest – Saint Benedict OSB; and a nun – Saint Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini. Both St. Benedict and St. Mother Cabrini as canonized saints are indeed true heroes of the Catholic faith - their exceptional holiness and closeness to God inspiring us.
“…For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”
( St. Paul : 1 Thessalonians 4:7).
For Catholic men who have the rare calling to experience sanctification - to be priests or monks ; and for women - to be nuns, they need to renounce all the materialism of their lives and after many long years of training and learning, they then enter holy orders, take the permanent vows of poverty, obedience and chastity and follow a strict set of rules as they live in community with their brothers ( in the case of priests ) or their sisters ( in the case of nuns ).
Since the Middle Ages, the Christian world owes a huge debt to the medieval monks who not only spend their time in prayer but tirelessly work to copy-write the most beautiful theological manuscripts by hand. In their music, architecture, art and philosophy, medieval and Renaissance monks have contributed much to the world.
But for nuns and priests - prayer - constant and consistent - is essential. St. Paul writes that a monk or nun should "pray without ceasing" even during times of rest when the body may be asleep but the "heart is awake." Symeon the Theologian was a 10th century Eastern Orthodox monk, poet and mystic who wrote about how monks ( and nuns ) who find their calling are able to experience God so directly that, "…he who is a monk walks forever with God alone."
In his HYMN 25, Symeon the Theologian beautifully describes his mystical union with God as …light itself !
“…But, oh, what intoxication of light ;
Oh what movements of fire !
Oh, what swirlings of the flame in me ,
Miserable one that I am;
Coming from You and Your glory !”
SAINT BENEDICT OSB
Right : ‘Saint Benedict's Vision of the Globe and the Three Angels’ ( 1658-1660); oil on canvas by the Renaissance master, Alonso Cano; Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. In this painting, Benedict is in his cell and he receives an apparition of a globe held by three angels in the presence of the Holy Trinity.
Left : ‘Saint Benedict Enthroned between Saints Catherine and John the Baptist, Saints Paul and Giustina’ by Giovanni Mazone, 1474 - 1479 ; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK. This is a beautiful altarpiece by Giovanni Mazone painted for a chapel in the Benedictine church of San Nicolò Boschetto near Genoa. Benedict is seated and the other saints are, from left to right, Catherine, John the Baptist, Paul and Giustina. St Benedict’s importance, as the founder of the monastic Benedictine Order, is further emphasised by his larger scale compared to his companions.
St. Benedict was born, the son of aristocrats in 480 CE in the Italian town of Nursia in Umbria who left all his family’s material wealth to live as a hermit in a cave near Subiato, Italy to be closer to God. Benedict is known all over the world as the founder of the Benedictine Order of Monks; their monasteries becoming not just great centres for monks to be cloistered spiritually but also learning centres for monks and also young lay people. Subiato and Monte Cassino are among the many monasteries founded by St. Benedict in Italy. Benedict wrote the now famous ‘Rules for the Monastic Life’– Rules with such clarity, balance and moderation that they resonate for all ( not just monks ) who read them and provide, truly “a compass for life.” By integrating prayer with physical work in the monastery and academic studies, St. Benedict was able to guide the spiritual well-being of his monks with a clear and complete set of Rules which are as relevant today as it was 1,500 years ago. Today, the monks known as the ‘Order of Saint Benedict’ are all over the world including the Benedictine Abbey of Ampleforth in Yorkshire in the UK which also includes the famous Catholic Ampleforth boarding school which is also my Catholic husband Terry’s alma mater.
Above : The San Benedetto Altarpiece. Now at the National Gallery in London, this huge multi-panelled Altarpiece was originally painted for the high altar of the monastery of San Benedetto Fuori della Porta Pinti in Florence. The main panels ( left : the ‘Death of St. Benedict’ and right, ‘Incidents in the Life of St. Benedict’ ) are in the National Gallery, but other parts of the Altarpiece are scattered in collections across the world.
“Listen carefully … and incline the ear of your heart.”
( Rule of St. Benedict)
“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”
( 1 Samuel 3:7-11 )
In the above passage from the Old Testament, we learn about the willingness to obey as all nuns and monks do. The great prophet Samuel learned three things about listening : who to listen to; how to listen and what to do after you have listened.
With daily and consistent contemplation and prayer, nuns and priests are able to listen to God – profoundly listen.
Above : the St. Benedict Devotional Medal. On one side is a Cross. On the other side, the medal has an image of Saint Benedict, holding the Holy Rule in his left hand and a cross in his right. The Cross of St. Benedict is a protector from curses, evil and vice, protects against diseases and protects good health.
MOTHER FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI
Just like priests, nuns also take solemn perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. These wonderful women live a life of unselfish service for others. There are so many religious orders of Sisters or nuns who have done this for hundreds of years. The Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus, the Maryknoll Sisters, Carmelites, Sacred Heart Sisters, Sisters of Notre Dame and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to name but a few count among the many religious orders of nuns whose mission is to teach or nurse. In the Catholic Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus where I studied for 12 years of primary and secondary school, the Convent’s motto which so aptly reflects the nuns’ is : ‘Simple in Virtue; Steadfast in Duty’. The nuns are fiercely dedicated to teach the young girls under their care and to do good in the world. They are giving, loving and totally unselfish.
Left : Mother Cabrini at Columbus Hospital in 1905 (photo: National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini / Public Domain).
Right : The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in New York in 1889.
Above : Mother Cabrini Memorial – Battery Park, New York City, USA.
In 1889, Frances Xavier Cabrini and seven of her fellow nuns from the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Italy finally arrived in New York after Cabrini’s many tireless attempts to get the Pope to send her on a mission to help the poor in China. When papal permission was finally granted, she was sent not to China but to the New World of America. On her arrival in New York, Cabrini was appalled at the scale of the poverty of the Italian immigrants and she immediately got to work to set up schools, clinics and orphanages despite much opposition from politicians and her own religious superiors in New York. She overcame bigotry, sexism, violence and even arson to do this.
Above : Cabrini - the MOVIE. Cristiana Dell'Anna in 'Cabrini' coming out to theaters in the USA on 8th March on International Women's Day. (photo: Courtesy photos / Angel Studios)
Very soon, the world will hear all about Mother Cabrini on the big screens worldwide. It is a Hollywood movie directed by the award-winning Alejandro Monteverde and starring David Morse, John Lithgow, Giancarlo Giannini and with Italian actress Christiana Dell Anna in the title role. The movie has stayed very close to the real Cabrini. What a remarkable life this brave Italian nun had as she fought everyone tooth and nail to feed her orphans, care for the sick and minister to the needs of the Italian community in New York. Her life was so full of drama and excitement that the script writer of the movie did not have to embellish or add anything to portray this rare and audacious woman of courage. A woman who was just a nun. Wow !
Today, Mother Cabrini’s order, the ‘Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus’ is one of the largest charitable organizations in the world. She made at least 24 arduous trans-Atlantic crossings from Italy to America and managed to establish the astonishing number of 67 institutions: schools, hospitals, and orphanages. For us, Mother Cabrini was not just a nun who saw Christ in everyone. She loved not only all who came under her care but also those who rejected her. Her faith and holiness enabled her to build something bigger than any earthly conglomerate. Mother Cabrini’s ‘empire’ was one of hope and love. On December 22, 1917, in Chicago, she died peacefully and in 1946, she was canonized a saint by Pope Pius XII in recognition of her holiness and service to mankind.
Nuns and priests have holiness. They are rare human beings who have been able to experience sanctification; they have consecrated themselves to God. Their lives and what they give to us is essential to the life force of the Church. For their lives and how they have touched us, we are so blessed.
___________________________________________________________________________
Editor’s Note :
Dear Reader, thank you for reading this edition of SMITTEN BY FAITH. We publish every fortnightly on a Saturday. ALL articles in every issue are FREE so you can simply click and subscribe as a FREE Subscriber to continuously receive the articles automatically by email.
To our paid subscribers for the past two years since we launched Smitten By Faith, on behalf of the Regina Apostolorum Foundation, I send you much appreciation and thanks for your support of Catholic higher education. Paid Subscribers do not need to renew their paid subscriptions for 2024 as from now on, you will continue to receive each issue for free.