CARDINAL SARAH VISITS NORCIA
22 Oct. 2016
Several cities will be shaken down and swallowed up by earthquakes. People will believe that all is lost. Nothing will be seen but murder, nothing will be heard but the clash of arms and blasphemy. Our Lady of La Salette 19 Sept. 1846 (Published by Mélanie 1879)
Water and fire will give the earth's globe convulsions and terrible earthquakes which will swallow up mountains, cities, etc.. Our Lady of La Salette 19 Sept. 1846 (Published by Mélanie 1879)
There will be thunderstorms which will shake cities, earthquakes which will swallow up countries. Our Lady of La Salette 19 Sept. 1846 (Published by Mélanie 1879)
Will the Norcia Monks move?
Something strange is going on with the Monks of Norcia. Is it hell attacking the Monks? or maybe the Lord of Earthquakes Himself?
Of course many will say that the region of Italy always suffers quakes - so its no big deal.
Then again...
In the 24 Aug. earthquake that killed over 300 the monks were just getting up to say Matins & Laudes when it hit.
This time the the pair of quakes hit just after the monks said their Vespers and the second quake hit after the monks said their compline.
22 Oct CARDINAL SARAH VISITS NORCIA
“It reminds me of Bethlehem.”
With these words, Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican, brought consolation and inspiration to the ears of his listeners — the 10 monks of San Benedetto in Monte. In the early hours of October 22, we gathered together for the Cardinal’s blessing of our temporary living quarters.
After sprinkling the kitchen, scriptorium, beds and chapel, he declared gently but powerfully: “I am certain that the future of the Church is in the monasteries… because where prayer is, there is the future.”
Planned long before the earthquake, His Eminence’s visit for a speech to the local lay chapter of the Association of St. Benedict, Patron of Europe, became the occasion for a visit to the damaged buildings and personal time with the monks. After assisting at Conventual Mass in choir, the Cardinal brought his gentle tone and gracious words to an informal gathering of the entire monastic community and answered our questions with candor and depth, reminding us that, just as Pope Benedict XVI has given us an example of the importance of prayers, we are called to be men of prayer for the entire Church, to help bring up to heaven all who encounter us in one broad sursum corda.
This delightful visit was no doubt the highlight of the week, but as we prepared for it we also cleaned the property and enjoyed an intense mountain hike to explore the 17th century stone walls surrounding the property. We were searching for the best places to pray — and for a spot to picnic!
Other discoveries this week have included the surprise donation of a gas stove top from a local restaurant. Monks in town made a fraternal visit to the Benedictine monastery of S. Pietro in Perugia which has often hosted our monks while they study Italian. The leaves are now changing color and the mountainside of Norcia reminds of autumn in New England. We know many there and throughout the world are praying for us and as winter comes closer, know that your prayers are appreciated as we now have roofs over our heads and a warm fire. Deo Volente, we might just have our church of San Benedetto in Monte open by Christmas. A new Bethlehem indeed.
We produce below a transcript of the Cardinal’s words to the monks at San Benedetto in Monte following the blessing:
Thank you for this welcome, for the prayer this morning, and for asking me to bless this house, which reminds me of Bethlehem, where it all began. Salvation began in Bethlehem, in absolute poverty, and I think that we should follow Christ in this, in His poverty, which is also the humility of God. God is humble, God is poor, but He is rich in love. To live here means that your heart is full of the love of God, for you cannot live with God without loving him. Love is at the center of all of our work. This is why the revelation that Jesus gives us says that the Lord, our Father, is love, and that everything we do comes from love, above all.
I ask that this be a place of love for the Lord. I am certain that the future of the Church is in the monasteries, because where prayer is, there is the future. Where there is no prayer, there is disaster, division, war. Perhaps I am not an optimist, but I see that a church that doesn’t pray is a disastrous church. Since you are a church that prays, the whole of the Church is here.
So I thank you for your commitment, for this manifestation of your love, for the expression of your love in continuous prayer. Pray for the Church, pray for the Holy Father, for his collaborators and for me. I promise you now that I am familiar with your home, that I will always pray for you and ask the Lord to continue to send you more young men to join your life that serves the Lord in prayer, in silence and, above all, in solitude.
Thank you, pray for me. I promise to pray for you. And if the Lord gives me life, perhaps I will return to see your new home. But never forget poverty, never forget humility, and if your house is beautiful, remain always humble and poor. Thank you.
– Robert Cardinal Sarah –
October 22, 2016
In Christ,
Fr. Benedict
SubpriorFour days later after Cardinal Sarah pays the monks a visit and blesses their temporary digs the pair of earthquakes hit:
Italy's 'unending nightmare': Historic churches and homes are brought to rubble by TWO powerful earthquakes - just months after same region was shattered by massive shake that killed 300 people
Many residents in central Italy say they are unable to 'shake off the fear' as two powerful earthquakes have rocked the region, devastating historic buildings and leaving thousands homeless, two months after a quake that killed nearly 300 people hit the area. On Wednesday, two quakes, about two hours apart, damaged several buildings, including Campi's late 14th century church, San Salvatore a Campi di Norcia, whose rose-windowed facade was reduced to rubble. The first tremor measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale came at 7.10pm local time on Wednesday, near Visso in Macerata province. The second quake, measuring 6.1, came two hours later, wiping out buildings and plunging homes into darkness. It was felt as far away as Venice in the far north, Naples in the south and the capital, Rome, where historic buildings are reported to have shaken, 80 miles away from the epicentre near Perugia. On August 24, a 6.2-magnitude quake struck just 45 miles away from Wednesday's quake. The latest two were probably a result of August's seismic break, Massimiliano Cocco from Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said. 'It's never ending. These damned earthquakes won't leave us alone!,' restaurateur Linda Cappa said as she handed out pastries, hot coffee and juice to the traumatised residents of Ussita, close to the quake's epicentre, in the early hours of the morning. Daily Mail Read More>>>>>
Cardinal Sarah did say one strange thing during his visit to Norcia:
“It reminds me of Bethlehem.”I don't see how Norcia would remind anyone of Bethlehem, seeing that
Now Christ willed to be born of a Virgin Mother under an edict of Roman authority, according to the testimony of Luke, his scribe, in order that the Son of Man, made man, might be numbered as a man in that unique census. This fulfilled the edict. It were perhaps more reverent to believe that the Divine Will caused the edict to go forth through Caesar, in order that God might number Himself among the society of mortals who had so many ages awaited His coming.
So Christ in His action established as just the edict of Augustus, exerciser of Roman authority. Since to decree justly presupposes jurisdictional power, whoever confirms the justice of an edict confirms also the jurisdictional power whence it issued. Did this power not exist by Right, it would be unjust. De Monarchia bk.ii.ch.xiii.
I doubt very much any of the monks of Norcia desire to see a restoration of the Divinely Ordained Authority of the Holy Roman Emperor, let alone, be subject to his rule as Jesus Mary and Joseph were.
Yeah. so Norcia and Bethlehem have nothing in common.
Señor de los Temblores (Lord of the Earthquakes)
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