The Catholic Church is the New Jerusalem, the New Chosen People of God, continually springing forth new fruits through the heroic lives of Saints. Palestine, that holy land, is hallowed by Mary Immaculate, through the coming of the Word made Flesh, hallowed by His most sacred feet and blessed by receiving His sacrifice on Calvary for the salvation of all mankind. It is the cradle of the early Church, a land that is permeated with a peace and mystery beyond telling. Sorrowful to say, peace in the Holy Land is something little known today. A country that at one time had a large population of Christians is now dwindling through migration — a result of fear and violence. Despite the hopeless attitude we may take to the situation, Jesus has planted a flower in His own region of Galilee to whom we can turn for intercession to obtain peace: Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified.

Jesus, our dearest Savior is the Divine Gardener. This Saint is a seed He planted gently into good soil in the Galilean village of Abellin over a hundred and sixty years ago. Little Mariam was born on January 5th 1846, under the Pontificate of Blessed Pius IX, being the answer to the prayers of George and Mary Baouardy, a pious Greek-Melkite Catholic couple. Indeed, she was to be the apple of their eyes, the treasure of the poor, humble, little household, for, prior to her arrival, they endured the sorrow of having lost all twelve previous infants shortly after birth. Blessed Mary’s parents made a journey on foot to Bethlehem to beg the intercession of the Mother of God for a baby girl. They promised they would name their daughter in her honor and give alms for the divine services consisting of an amount of beeswax equal to the child’s weight at the age of three. The heavenly mother heard their plea. The Beata also had a brother named Paul born not that long after. Little Mariam began her “Way of the Cross” at the tender age of three with the sudden death of her parents leaving both brother and sister orphans. Members of the extended family took them in, causing Paul and Mariam to remain separated the rest of their lives.

It is not certain at what age, but while living with her new family in Alexandria, God made use of an event that placed in her heart the seed of a religious vocation. Some pet birds of Mariam had died and while burying them she had the first of many mystical experiences. Jesus in the depths of her soul said: “This is how all things pass away! If you are willing to give me your heart, I will always remain with you!” She responded with a generous YES. An even greater delight was granted to her to receive Holy Communion at the age of seven — something unheard of at this time. Added to this was the permission to communicate weekly. Gradually she began to have an increasing distaste for the things of the world desiring only the Lord. Mariam wanted to give her entire self to the Lord but her relatives had other things in mind. In the Middle Eastern countries it is not uncommon for marriages to be arranged at a very young age. This is exactly what was looming in the imminent future; and to this angelic girl of thirteen, her virginity meant too much for her to sacrifice. As a sign of her total consecration to Jesus, she cut off her hair as a refusal of the proposed espousal. With the help of Mary Immaculate she endured the harshness of the family with heroic patience and other trials culminating in a most frightful event which some writers refer to as her “Baptism of blood.”

Mariam, seeking solace in midst of the turbulent home of her extended family, sought to invite her brother Paul for a visit. Unfortunately, the household servant she confided in to be the courier of the letter was a Muslim with a ferocious hatred towards Christians. He tried to get her to apostatize from the Catholic Faith and when she would not, the brutal man slit her throat with his ritual scimitar leaving her for dead in an alley way. Left bleeding and alone, Jesus’ little rose was miraculously resuscitated by Mary, His Immaculate Mother, appearing as a nun dressed in blue and healing the gaping wound on her throat. After being fed and comforted by this Heavenly Mother, Mariam began to work as a servant girl in Jerusalem, Beirut, and Egypt, but never stayed in one place for long. Finally, at the age of seventeen she found a place with an Arab Christian family and served as the cook of the house for two years.

Those who are fond of gardening naturally know that there are times when plants need to be trimmed or even transplanted in order to thrive in better soil. This in fact is what God did with His rose, transplanting her to the lush and fertile soil of Marseilles, France in May 1863. It was there that her mystical experiences began to abound. Out of obedience, Blessed Mariam, in her writings, tells of her visions of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell, an ecstasy lasting four days! Her confessor came to the realization that there was something very special about this humble Arab girl; and so he proceeded to assist her ardent wish to enter religious life. Difficulties in this were certainly not wanting as most Religious houses would not accept a poor illiterate woman as a candidate. At last, she was welcomed as a postulant in the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition in Marseilles. Things for the Saint went well until her mystical gifts began to manifest themselves in the community, the most extraordinary of these being her reception of the stigmata in 1866. Such was her humility and simplicity that she believed herself to have leprosy. Unaccustomed to witnessing such heavenly marvels, the community became disrupted and she was dismissed from the convent.

All was not for loss, for in 1867, Jesus once more plucked Blessed Mariam and planted her with a permanent religious family at the Carmelite monastery at Pau in the southwestern part of France. The ecstasies and stigmatic phenomenon continued and she also suffered much from Satan who attacked her frequently, even physically. During the years of 1870-1872 she journeyed to Mangalore, India where she made her profession of vows receiving the religious name Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified. Her humility being most profound in the midst of such extraordinary experiences, she declined frequently the entreaties of fellow sisters for her to become a choir sister. Blessed Mariam always preferred to remain hidden and unnoticed like her Divine Spouse. The legacy that she left to the Universal Church was the founding of a Carmel in Bethlehem in 1878. With the generous help of a wealthy pious laywoman our Saint was able to complete the task after much suffering and labor. For a completely illiterate woman, the founding of the Bethlehem Carmel was truly miraculous as she organized and designed everything herself, not to mention helping in the actual construction! Unfortunately, in August of 1878, during the building process, she fell and broke her arm which developed gangrene that poisoned her system and on the 26th of August at the age of 33, Our Lord called her to Himself. Jesus waited no time in manifesting the heroic sanctity of His little spouse. The same day she passed into eternal life, an inexplicable rainbow was seen over the Carmel and one of the convent sisters testified to her visiting in a dream. In addition, the fragrance of flowers could be detected in the monastery and there was bleeding from cloths she used to wipe her stigmata. Miraculous cures were soon to follow.

In 1983, a little over a hundred years since her passing, Pope John Paul II inscribed Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified in the catalogue of the “Blessed”. On this occasion, he expressed his hope that through her intercession a just peace may be restored in Palestine. In view of the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict to the Holy Land let us renew our zeal in praying for peace. By the same token, as good Catholics, we should also pray for the conversion of the Jewish people that the Lord will lift the veil of darkness from them, giving them the precious gift of faith in Jesus Christ as the only Messiah. This will be highly pleasing to His Sacred Heart and also will be very much according to the desire Blessed Mary Baouardy had for the conversion of sinners, especially those of her homeland. As the Holy Father journeys to take Christ’s presence and comfort there, let us likewise strive to bring Jesus and the Catholic faith to others each day of our lives.

Copyright 2009 Catholic Exchange

This emphasis on the Triune nature of God literally permeates the entire Liturgy. The end of every litany of petition said by the priest ends with a doxology of the Trinity; we make the sign of the Cross three times and with three fingers. During Great Lent we prostrate ourselves three times. The Eastern Church places the Feast of Theophany as one of highest ranking celebrations after Easter and Christmas for it is the manifestation of the Trinity at the Jordan on the occasion of the Baptism of Jesus. This is no coincidence. As Catholics, we take for granted the rich patrimony of Trinitarian theology with which the Church, like a good Mother, nourishes us.

Many of us do not even know the beautiful Saints who defended this most fundamental truth of the Faith. Since the Eastern Church, by the Providence of God, promulgated special Feasts to remind the faithful of our indebtedness to certain Patristic Fathers, I would like to share with you the story of the special February feast of a “trinity” of Saints. On February 12th, Byzantine Rite Catholics celebrated the feast of Basil, Gregory and John Chrysostom.

Before looking at the history of the Feast, we must recognize that it is these three who contributed enormously in expounding for us the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. It was in the crucible of persecutions, exiles, and heated debates of valiant, zealous priests and bishops that the Catholic Faith was able to take solid root. Their theological discourses reveal to us the situation of the Church in the fourth century — a time both of great excitement and great confusion. Do not kid yourselves twenty-first century Catholics! Yes, we are living in times of an unprecedented loss of faith. But the Arian crisis was comparable in severity as a challenge to the Church. Satan roused Arius, a fourth century priest, to deny the divinity of Our Lord and Savior, advancing the error that Jesus was only a mere man. Around the same time we have Macedonius of “itchy ears” (2 Tim.4:3-4) contending that the Holy Spirit was only a creature and not divine. Countless trusting and unsuspecting faithful were infected with the spiritual venom that seeped into the body of Christ, placing souls in danger.

This naturally got the attention of all three Fathers, Saints Basil, John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus. Besides prayer their greatest weapon was the pen. Saint Basil made vigorous defenses of the divinity of Christ in his Letters against the Arian Eumonius. His renowned treatise, De Spiritu Sancto, dismantled Macedonius’ claims and affirms by Scripture the constant belief of the universal Catholic Church: that the Third Person of the Most Blessed Trinity is Divine. His wrestling with heretics of this sort is manifest throughout the Divine Liturgy which bears his name, where we find the classic Trinitarian doxology “Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, now and forever and ever, Amen.” Likewise, one sees this influence in the Anaphora (Canon) of the Liturgy itself where once more he makes quite clear that all three Persons of the Trinity are Divine, equal and distinct, yet one. It is Saint Basil to whom we owe these most magnificent prayers.

As for Saint John Chrysostom, the golden mouthed, he too composed a Divine Liturgy — at which all Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite assist — wherein his staunch defense of Christ’s divinity and the unity of the Trinity is made evident by numerous doxologies, the Trisagion prayer and Anaphora to name just two. His strong stance against Arius is also demonstrated by his monumental commentaries on the Gospels, most notably that of St. John, which is full of Christological passages and is a favorite target of attack for the heretics. He lays them low by the reaffirmation of the unity of Christ’s Person, and the distinction of His two natures, divine and human.

We could hardly overstate the enormous contribution of Saint Gregory in his works on the Blessed Trinity. The babbling of heretics gave him little time for repose, either. He mounted his crusade for the Lord in is his most famous Five Theological Orations, where he rigorously defends the Nicene profession of faith in the unity and distinctness of the Persons by frequent use of the Nicene terms “Hypostasis” and “Consubstantial”. The latter of these theological terms is also to be found within the Divine Liturgy.

There is a saying that goes “lex orandi, lex credendi”. We pray what we believe. For these Fathers, this is taken very seriously. Assisting at Sunday Mass meant not only worshipping God and receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist, but also getting an education in the Faith. Whether realizing it or not, while the faithful were praying, they were learning what the Holy Catholic Church teaches and has always taught. It became an “apologia pro sancta Trinitate,” so to speak. The struggles to maintain the purity of the Faith in the midst of a crisis so severe left an indelible mark, so that every opportunity was utilized to reinforce the correct doctrine on the Triune nature of God. However, it would be a mistake to reduce Saints Basil, John Chrysostom and Gregory to solely great theological minds. They were and always will remain for time immemorial Fathers, not merely of the Faith — but spiritual Fathers entrusted with the care of souls. Of course, after their passing into eternal life, the flock who received so much care would not let their legacy die, as subsequent years were to prove.

Though each Father has an individual Feast day dedicated in his honor, a singular event occurred which brought the three champions of the Blessed Trinity together with one feast. Curiously enough, the Feast of the “Three Hierarchs” is a more recent addition to the Byzantine Rite Calendar, having its origin in the middle part of the eleventh century. It is related that a heated debate broke out amongst the faithful as to which Father was the greatest. The controversy had three groups each taking party names from the Patristic Father whom they preferred: the Basilians for those who loved Saint Basil; the Joanites for those who were devoted to Saint John Chrysostom; and the Gregorians for the supporters of Saint Gregory. Knowing the humble hearts of these beloved Fathers, this was sure to be most displeasing to them, and so with God’s permission, they decided to settle the bickering once and for all.

It so happened that the Saints paid a visit to Bishop John of Euchaita near Constantinople, each one separately and then all three together. In these apparitions the Fathers spoke the following message:

We, as you can see, are one before God and there is nothing between us that is contrary or controversial; each one of us, differently inspired by the Holy Spirit, taught that which was necessary for the salvation of man. Therefore, there is no first or second among us, but as you call one so shall the others be called. Arise, then, and command those who are arguing over us, not to divide themselves, for as during life, so too after death, our goal is to bring peoples from all corners of the earth to peace and unity. Institute, therefore, the celebration of our memory on the same day, as all three of us are of the same rank before God, and we shall help those to achieve salvation, who shall celebrate our memory.

The venerable Bishop John responded promptly to the wishes of the Holy Fathers and placed the feast on the 12th of February in Greece.

This holy feast of the three calls us to rejoice and to a fervent hope in the Lord’s solemn and infallible promise that “the gates of Hell will not prevail” against His Church. We can rely on His word, seeing that every time Satan has launched his most vicious attacks against the Lord’s Mystical Body, Jesus raises up great men to send Hell’s warriors back into their infernal abodes. His holy servants, the Saints, are not opposed to one another but preach the same Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Let us rest in the Lord, knowing that as constantly as weeds of heresy sprout, He will continue to ever send forth His Holy Helpers to cut them down with the sharp two-edged sword of unchanging Truth. God is with us! God is wonderful in His Saints, Basil, Gregory and John Chrysostom!

The priesthood of the New Law is not made up of the powerful and intellectual but of men from ordinary walks of life who have renounced everything to live in continence, to follow the Master more closely. There are many in secular circles, and some even within the Church today, who question the validity of this charism in relation to the priesthood, arguing that it no longer suits the modern times in which we live. Others claim that there is no evidence, either scriptural or historical, that supports the apostolic roots of a celibate priesthood. Contrary to all the negativity, in-depth research vindicates priestly celibacy as indeed apostolic.

The proponents of abolishing the celibate priesthood use Scripture, claiming that the Apostles were married based on the passage relating the cure of Saint Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever by Jesus (Matt 8:14-15). The reasoning is as follows: the Apostle has a mother-in-law, therefore he is married. Yes, Saint Peter obviously married at one time, but does that mean that he is married at the time of his apostolic call by Jesus? There are women who pass away before their mothers and before their husbands. In some such cases the mother-in-law moves in with her son-in-law. This possibility cannot be ruled out. Even if the Apostle is married at the time of his calling, the Lord states unequivocally what is required to follow Him: to leave everything, including family and wives (Luke 14:26-27). What of the invitation of Christ to a continent life (Matt 19:10-12)? Further on in the same text renunciation of possessions is declared a necessity to be a disciple. It is in response to the words of the Prince of the Apostles that we receive confirmation again from Jesus’ own lips as to what they have sacrificed: lands, home, mother brother, sister, wives and children (Matt 19:16-30). It is clear that the desire of the Lord is to have men who are divested of all worldly ties and responsibilities in order to devote themselves unreservedly to His service.

A subsequent argument by the opponents of celibacy is that it is an invention imposed by the Catholic Church in the fourth century. Opponents present Scripture and early ecclesial history in a manner that can be misleading for the ordinary lay Catholic unacquainted with all the facts. Major research has been undertaken into this controversy by scholars Cardinal Stickler, Father Cochini, S.J., Roman Cholij and Stefan Heid. What they all assure us of is that continence is the norm for the priesthood in both East and West from the beginning of the Church’s history. Among the aforementioned, Stickler provides the most succinct and easy to understand presentation of the subject. He demonstrates that if a man was married prior to ordination, both he and his spouse took a vow of perpetual continence. This applied from the lower clerical ranks up to Bishop. In the West, the Council of Elvira in the fourth century makes direct reference in Canon 33 to this renunciation of the martial rights and notes that this meant no begetting of children. The penalty for violating this vow was removal from the clerical ranks. If a priest violated this solemn promise and begat a child, it was considered adultery. As Stickler points out, Saint Jerome — who knew many bishops, Fathers and monks throughout the East — testifies in his writings that continence was the norm in the Eastern Church and that married men who were ordained would separate from their wives. The same Council of Elvira, in Canon 27, as well as Nicea, in Canon 3, gives even further specifications: that a bishop and priest are only permitted to have a blood sister, mother, aunt, or a daughter who is a consecrated virgin dwelling under the same roof. This excludes a wife.

Probably the favorite of all opponents’ arguments centers upon a Saint Paphnutius of Egypt called “a Bishop and hermit.” It is asserted that at the Council of Nicea this holy man pleaded with the Fathers not to impose continence on priests saying that it is too heavy a burden to place upon them. He proposed to allow the particular Churches to decide on their own practice. Up until recently, this was believed to be a justification for the current married practice among the clergy of the East. Stickler, Cochini, Cholij and Heid all masterfully tackle this long-standing belief. The veil was lifted from this mystery by study of the Council documents, in which accurate records were kept of every bishop present. Examination of the oldest texts revealed that among the names of Fathers in attendance, there was no such bishop by that name. Stickler acknowledges that his name does appear in later copies of the Council’s proceedings but it is a contradiction because he was honored at the time of Nicea as a Confessor, not a Father. It is concluded that his bishopric was of the nature of a legend, a creation of hagiographers’ pious devotion.

The perplexing question then arises: If priestly celibacy dates from the Apostles, why is it that only in the fourth century do we begin to see actual Church law enforcing celibacy? A principle which must be understood is the following: the absence of a formal ecclesial declaration up to a certain period does not imply that the dogma, doctrine or discipline is not universally believed by the Body of Christ. In other words, controversy begets definitive pronouncements by the Church. The Divinity of Jesus Christ, His being fully God, was not formally declared until the fourth century at Nicea but the Church always professed this belief. The denial of this truth by the heresiarch Arius demanded a concrete defense. The same can be applied to Mary’s title as Mother of God. It was not formally declared until the fifth century at the Council of Ephesus, yet she was venerated as such from the very beginning. Again, it is the refusal of Nestorius to render Mary her rightful veneration that prompted a concrete response. In this case, as Stickler notes, the Church made specific laws regarding celibacy among the clergy because of widespread abuses where the vow of continence was not being faithfully lived out. It is at this point that we begin to see one of the first rifts between East and West.

Eventually, due to these increasing difficulties and abuses, the Latin West began gradually selecting more and more candidates to the priesthood and Bishopric from among the monastics. Over a period of time, especially with the establishment of seminaries by the Council of Trent, the phenomenon of married clergy completely disappeared. As for the Eastern Church we have a very different response conditioned both by geography and politics. While the Latin Church had the great advantage of the central authority of the Pope, the East had problems attaining any kind of conformity in discipline due to myriads of regional Councils all making decisions in dealing with abuses and there was no one to give a definitive judgment. Added to these issues is the close relationship between the Byzantine Empire and the Church. This had benefits in allowing for religious freedom but often led to the government interfering with the hierarchy’s efforts to properly exercise governing authority. Despite these influences, there is today within the Eastern Churches a large number of celibate priests, but, if the circumstances of history had been more favorable, the clergy of the East would be entirely celibate as well.

Ultimately, continence — celibacy — receives its supreme value from the fact that Jesus chose it for Himself and for His Mother Mary. This should not be brushed away as a mere coincidence nor should this way of life be viewed just as a “discipline.” This is missing the point. Priests share in the eternal priesthood of Christ and act in persona Christi, to be mirrors of His very Person not just in word and act but in their very mode of being. The Lord came not to be served but to serve and to pour Himself out as a ransom for souls. By this charism of continence — expressed most completely and perfectly by virginity — the priest is poured out and consumed like Christ, not for a physical family but for the souls of the faithful. Of course, the debate on the celibate priesthood will always exist, but for Catholics the best answer will be found by kneeling before Jesus crucified where virginity’s lasting value is silently conveyed in two words: love and sacrifice.

For further information please see:

The Case for Clerical Celibacy by Alfons Maria Cardinal Stickler (Ignatius Press);

Celibacy in the Early Church by Stefan Heid (Ignatius Press);

The Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy by Father Christian Cochini, S.J. (Ignatius Press).

The Gospel account tells us of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. Tradition has it that they resided there for as many as seven years — Saint Joseph laboring to provide for Jesus and Mary — and returned to Nazareth after Herod’s death. It was no accident that the Infant Jesus paid a visit to this pagan land and to be sure He took pity on the poor people who were enslaved by idolatry. This sojourn was the seed planted which would blossom into a verdant garden on the Nile.

What motivated early Christians to move into the desert? What was it that took such a strong hold on so many to enter the desert to seek perfect union with Christ? Undoubtedly deep faith and love, something that goes beyond what the lips can utter. It is the search for the pearl of great price hidden in the field of which Jesus speaks in the Gospel. However, there were also political and ecclesiastical factors at work which made this spiritual conquest of the heart possible. Some went into the deserts of Egypt in order to escape persecutions raging against the Church but for the most part, it was a desire for solitude with God and to engage in the spiritual combat with the Devil. It was believed that Satan’s place of residence was the desert. The faith of Christians dwelling in the cities had driven him out into the wilderness, forcing him to retreat. Well, in the mind of the monk, it would be the goal to drive him out even further.

For the founders of Eremitic and Cenobitic monasticism in the Eastern Church — Saint Antony and Saint Pachomius — setting out into the desert was a whole new adventure. If one takes a close look at a topographical map showing the colors indicating sea level in relation to the land, what a surprise it is to discover that the areas of major monastic settlements of the Sketes, Nitria, Celles and Marea are in the green to dark green along the Nile. This meant that water was not as scarce as we may think and there was vegetation and cultivatable land. Clues pointing to this are also given us in the classic Sayings of the Desert Fathers where Fathers such as Abba Antony, Abba Arsenius, Abba Gelasius, Abba Moses and others speak of marshes, palm trees, figs olives and plots of land for growing! Still the fact that there was cultivatable land does not mean at all that was this an easy life. The Fathers were still surrounded by the desert sands and extreme heat and even cold, the threat of wild beasts and barbarian hordes, yet they still had the wherewithal to survive. Their goal was union with Christ, the vanquishing of the passions, and purity of heart, not a comfortable living. They lived in the desert and subsisted on just what was necessary. Life was a continual harmony of prayer, silence, battling with the devil and work: weaving mats and baskets from rushes or palms, growing food, or baking bread.

In his book, The Desert a City, Derwas Chitty is among those who show that this title is a proper description of monasticism in Egypt in every sense of the word. Archeological studies reveal that the Nitira and Sketes Monasteries had wells, ovens for baking bread, and the ability to grow crops. At the height of what is known as, in the words of Monastic scholar Evelyn White, “the Golden Age” of Nitria, as many as thousands lived in those desert communities. The desert marvels were not as isolated as we once believed them to have been, either, and this proved to be unfortunate indeed. While the Nile waterway system brought visitors, it brought troublemaker as well. Arianism, coming from Alexandria, was able to destroy the Nitria monastery by fomenting factions within, resulting in riots. News also circulated fairly well and with remarkable speed through the desert, as Saint Augustine, hundreds of miles away mentions in a letter to a priest the barbarian tribe that wiped out the Sketes settlement. Despite the collapse of these magnificent monasteries, they served as a model and guide for future foundations that would sprout like wheat in successive generations and which exist even today. Even greater are the spiritual treasuries, words of recorded wisdom from the Heiromonk to the novice that set the standard for formation in the school of virtue in the Eastern Churches.

How can Catholics today feel a connection with the Egyptian saints of the desert? It comes with the realization that they were ordinary people just as we are now. What made them unique was that they responded to Christ’s call to sanctification in a radical way: leaving everything for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven through the Evangelical Counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. Some, such as Saint Antony, left a great inheritance of money behind; others, such as Saint Mary of Egypt, had a tremendous conversion of heart from a life of prostitution to solitude, wandering through the desert sands. Those who were considered wolves became like lambs such as the great Abba Moses who turned from a profession of robbery and donned the monastic habit, bringing his whole band of thugs to conversion with him. Others left the noise of the world by mounting a pillar where they prayed day and night for the salvation of mankind.

As it has been said so many times, saints are not born, they are made by the grace of God and so it is with all of us. Many entered into the desert crucible with very sinful pasts, it is true; but they ended their lives well, having made up a hundredfold by their ascetic labors. This should be a source of encouragement for all that we are, each and every one without exception, called to sainthood. Noise is the endemic disease of our times. All desire silence and solitude, but the majority are not called to monastic life but to life in the world. The desert Fathers challenge all Catholics today regardless of state in life to maintain recollection with God in everyday duties, that everything we do becomes a prayer. Saint Catherine of Sienna, a great Saint of the West gives us the best example: to make the soul a “cell,” your own “desert of solitude,” where despite the confusion and noise around you, you can remain continually united to Jesus in perfect love.

The Home was founded over forty years ago as a part of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon. It has the blessing of being under the administration and spiritual care of the Ukrainian Sisters of St. Joseph. The Monastery is separate but there is always one Sister who remains overnight in case of emergency along with the 24-hour nursing staff. The facility has two floors able to accommodate 85 residents, many of who are of Ukrainian descent. It is well to point out with regards to the residents that they are all treated with respect and without distinction according to their health problems. An example is that those suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s are not segregated from those who do not. At St. Joseph’s there is no such thing as an “Alzheimer’s ward”; instead, their dignity as a person, as a child of God, is held sacred.

When one visits for the first time, one cannot help but immediately sense the atmosphere of peace and serenity which comes from a life of prayer and love fostered by the Sisters among the seniors. As you enter the front door you are greeted by the statue of St. Joseph in a fountain. This is the sitting area where residents gather to talk, watch the morning news or just to take a snooze. As you walk down the halls, you are attended by the many comforting pictures of the Mother of God, Jesus and the saints. These always keep the mind lifted to Heaven or give courage to the heart of a resident for whom waking is a struggle or joy to another who is lonely for family. Upstairs on the second floor is an indoor botanical garden solarium. Full of lush flowers, plants and trees, it provides great therapy for the seniors, especially during the winter months. On the ground floor is an even larger solarium offering a place for quiet reading or reception of visitors. A large recreation room on the ground floor is also furnished to serve the residents needs for the various activities scheduled during the day.

The crown of St. Joseph’s Home is the full size chapel found just off the sitting area. It is there that Jesus is reserved in the Tabernacle to accompany the residents on their final journey to eternity. Inside, the Byzantine Icon screen with icons of Jesus, Mary and other saints fills one with reverential awe. There is plenty of seating, with full size pews, extra space for wheelchairs and walkers, and a confessional. The Home has a chaplain, a Ukrainian Catholic priest and who celebrates Divine Liturgy daily and offers the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Anointing and spiritual direction as needed. This is the nucleus of what life at the Home is all about — it is God centered, Jesus-in-the-Eucharist centered.

Spending a day with the residents, one sees the resemblance of life here to living the monastic rule — a melding of life with the eleven Sisters. As at any typical nursing home there is the morning routine but again, this “gem” in the prairies has quite a contrast. Walking down the corridor at 7 am towards the chapel, one sees many of the residents sitting in their wheelchairs or leaning on walkers, lined up praying the Rosary, reading a prayer book or sitting silently waiting for the doors to be opened. As time gets closer, a small crowd of eager souls congregate outside, waiting anxiously to be the first to get a seat for Divine Liturgy. There are serious times and even humorous ones — reminders that even in old age there is still need for growth in virtue. Battles can break out among residents over a favorite pew — but one will be sure to hear one of the Sisters speak up: “Children, we are here preparing to meet the Lord as the end of our life approaches. He wants us to love one another and to share.” Again the goal of the Home and Sisters’ apostolate is always to help these dear ones to be ready to meet the Lord when He calls them.

The recreation room is the meeting place for activities that include singing traditional Ukrainian songs, religious and folk, plus exercises and games all conducted by the Sisters and received with smiles and enthusiasm. Special guests sometimes come from one of the Catholic schools to entertain with their stage band or the Ukrainian kindergarten students come for a visit. Movie hour is always geared to a religious theme with such films as “The Song of Bernadette”, “The Miracle of Fatima” or documentaries on monasteries in the East. As the day opens with prayer, so it closes with prayer. At the end of the day one of the Sisters prays over the intercom the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be with the comforting words in Ukrainian “Dobravyniche” or” goodnight.” No doubt the presence of the Sisters is what makes life at St. Joseph’s unique, so special, because they bring the love, mercy and compassion of Christ to those who are suffering and in need.

It is certainly appropriate that this “gem” is named after St. Joseph, as he is invoked by the Universal Catholic Church as “Patron of a happy death.” He had the privilege to die in the arms of Jesus and Mary and so he is most solicitous for such as the elderly who are so near departing to God. The Church is like a ship whose passengers are journeying with the Sacraments and prayer as their bulwark. St. Joseph’s Home is a final stop-over before eternity, a school filled with occasions to grow in holiness, an opportunity for conversion and to sanctify oneself in the very last stages of one’s life in Christ.