Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP
Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, is a member of the Dominican Order and serves as the editor for Our Sunday Visitor.
About the amazing bread from heaven
Occasionally, God has supplied physical bread “from heaven” — a bread that was the essential sustenance required in those moments. The readings for this Sunday recall multiple instances of this. Initially, we observe God providing for Elijah in the Old Testament passage from 1 Kings 19:4-8. The Gospel passage, John 6:41-51, references two distinct events where God delivers bread from heaven: the manna bestowed upon the Israelites during their escape from Egypt, and the bread that Christ multiplied to satisfy the “large crowd” by the shores of the Galilean sea.
It is Christ who informs us that these extraordinary gifts of physical sustenance are indicators of a more essential type of nourishment: “I am the bread of life. / Your forebears consumed the manna in the wilderness, yet they perished; / this is the bread that descends from heaven / so that one may partake of it and not perish. / I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; / whoever ingests this bread will exist eternally; / and the bread that I will provide is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Planting a Rosary garden: the Luminous Mysteries
This is the second of a five-part series on establishing a rosary garden for your residence or parish; every month I showcase a set of Mysteries and provide a corresponding plant for each meditation, wrapping up in May. This approach allows you to design or create your rosary garden, one stage at a time.
This month we will examine the Luminous Mysteries — often referred to as the mysteries of light — reflections that were established in 2002 by Pope Saint John Paul II in his apostolic letter “Rosarium Virginis Mariae.” These are enigmas that invite us to reflect on how the divine illumination of God is revealed through Jesus, the Light of the World.
The rosary is a highly cherished prayer that inspires feelings of time, location, and tranquility as we contemplate through the pater and mater beads. The term rosary is derived from the Latin word “rosarium,” which signifies rose garden, eventually coming to represent “a garden of prayers.” This led to the publication of a prayer book, “hortulus animæ,” which directly translates to “little garden of the soul.” It was in the fifteenth century that the rosary developed into its current structure.
A dazzling display of heavenliness unveiled
Peter, James, and John felt delighted to be present. Certainly, they wished to remain there forever.
Jesus had led them “up a mountain to pray.” Then an incredibly wondrous event occurred: Christ was transformed so that his face “shone as the sun.” Even his garments turned “white as snow!”
Romano Guardini analyzes the scene in this manner: Peter, James and John has received a unique insight into Christ’s vibrant flame of love. Christ, Guardini expresses in “The Lord” (Gateway, $24.99), is “the living Word, and from his sacred existence, simultaneously human and divine, arises the spark that ignites the flame of our own belief.” Thus, the illumination that radiated from Christ was the light that “belongs to the domains of inner truth.” Furthermore, it was “heavenliness revealed.”
Directed by Guardini, we can therefore assert that within the Transfiguration, Christ’s true essence radiated — the paradise that embodies the very existence of God; Love itself. In the Gospel verse, the Father affirms this: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
A cloistered life centered around the Eucharist
The moment I stepped through the entrance of the public chapel of our monastery years back as a teenager exploring a cloistered monastery for the first time, I was captivated. Although the whole chapel was stunning, the centerpiece was a radiant monstrance positioned above the altar, integrated into the grille that divided the nuns’ choir from the public area. I was immediately attracted by the image.
The Eucharist is positioned at the core of our chapel, which, in turn, is situated at the heart of our monastery. Our daily routine is structured around it, encompassing daily Mass and the hours of the Divine Office that stem from this sacrament, along with the daily assignments of sisters designated to watch over the Lord as adorers. The tangible centrality symbolizes a more profound spiritual reality: The Eucharist is fundamental to our calling as cloistered Dominican nuns.
As reflective nuns, our mission is to pursue the presence of God. Numerous Dominican monasteries throughout the United States are blessed with perpetual adoration. In this sacred space, before the monstrance, we behold his concealed visage, presenting to him the pain and challenges, necessities and requests, as well as the joys and gratitude of all humanity. Constantly, we are contacted through phone calls, letters, and messages that ask, “Sisters, could you kindly pray for … ?”
A beloved ‘little’ community now faces a major milestone
Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Lamb from across the globe are convening at their motherhouse in France from now until May as they encounter a significant milestone in their history.
The emerging religious organization, the Community of the Lamb, is in the process of selecting a successor for its founder, Little Sister Marie, who is still alive (members of the community prefer not to use their surnames).
The congregation of religious sisters and brothers has significantly influenced those they have met for various reasons.
It’s their “epic” spirituality expressed in small wooden homes that captivates Oscar Shingledecker, a college student from North Carolina. Their unique sung Masses, which combine the liturgies from both East and West, impressed Cathe Sienkiewicz, a mother and catechist from Kansas. Additionally, their profoundly Christ-centered mission outlook drew in Aaron Riches, a theologian who has encountered them in two different nations.
The community presently possesses “small monasteries” in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, Argentina, Chile, and Kansas, and are recognized for their mendicant way of life and their cheerful disposition, which includes staging original performances and breaking into song.
Little Sister Marie-Jeanne, 36, hailing from Paris, France, guides the sisters in Kansas City, Kansas. She shared with Our Sunday Visitor, “As Little Sisters of the Lamb, we experience the immense joy of being beggars. We travel door-to-door, two-by-two, emulating the example of the disciples and our founders, St. Dominic and St. Francis, to request something to eat.”
Concerning the smiles and melodies, she mentioned, “We find happiness in our longing for God, for in our emptiness before him, we encounter his abundance.”
The community originated in Paris in 1968, initiated by Dominican sisters who began to collectively consider the Church’s approach to fundamental inquiries like “Who is God?” and “What defines our humanity?” In 1981, the foundation was officially acknowledged by Chartres Bishop Michel Kuehn. In 1983, Perpignan Archbishop Jean Chabbert received the community into his archdiocese. Dominican Master Vincent de Couesnogle identified the order as “a new branch sprouting from the trunk of the Order of Preachers.” Since 1996, Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has served as the bishop overseeing the community.
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