Category Archives: Courage

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, patron saint of drug addicts?

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St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was born in Hebei, China on 1834 into a Catholic family where he was raised in the Faith. He was a doctor, and in his early thirties he suffered from a stomach ailment for which he treated himself with opium. This cured him, but he developed an addiction to it. In 19th Century China, this was a severe problem, just like the opiate epidemic is today. Addiction was not understood then, by anyone, anywhere in the world. His addiction was regarded as sinful; a lack of proper willpower or moral fortitude.

He tried to overcome his addiction through the sacraments: frequent reception of Communion and especially Confession. However, his confessor concluded that since Mark Ji was confessing the same sin again and again, he did not have a firm purpose of amendment, thus rendering the confession invalid. He was forbidden from going to confession again until he stopped using. This also unfortunately prevented him from receiving Holy Communion.

Before anyone complains about this, this was correct in the context of the times, as well as being in accord with the sacramental norms today. You cannot go to confession and confess your sins if you have no intention of stopping them. You do not go to confession to ‘wipe the slate clean’ so you can sin again. Although Mark Ji had every intention to stop, he couldn’t. This, however, wasn’t believed due to the poor understanding of addiction in those days. His confessor did not technically make a mistake; although by today’s understanding, he did. But those days were not today’s. Mark Ji was guilty of causing public scandal by being an addict.

Mark Ji was trapped in an addiction from which there were no ‘Steps’ to climb out of, no treatment centers, no nothing. And there was nothing he could do.

He desperately wanted to receive the sacraments but couldn’t due to the contemporary understanding of his illness. He suffered this for the remaining thirty years of his life. He wanted to quit using but couldn’t; he wanted to receive the sacraments and thus hopefully assure himself of eternal life. That was at risk due to the prohibition of him receiving.

What to do?

Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang

Mark Ji prayed for martyrdom. If you die for the Faith, your salvation is assured. Now, in Catholicism, martyrdom is when you are killed for being a Catholic. Being a Catholic was unpopular since it was regarded as a foreign religion; a Western colonial import. Nevertheless, the Faith grew.

In 1900, there was turmoil in China; the Boxer Rebellion broke out. Its goals were the total expulsion of all Western influence from China. And Christians were obvious targets.

Mark Ji and his family were arrested and in 1900, suffered beheading. Mark Ji’s prayers were answered. He refused to renounce his Catholic Faith. He reportedly requested to be executed last, after his family, so he could encourage them and that none would die alone.  This was granted. He was lead to where he’d be executed, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary the entire time, including up to when the blade separated his head from his body.

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I learned about this saint last night during my weekly Knights at the Foot of the Cross virtual meeting on Google Meet. My new good friend Harold Gomes of Chariot Fire mentioned him during the discussion. I had never heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang and looked him up right away and was astounded by his story.

Now, it’s interesting that I heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang during a meeting of the Knights at the Foot of the Cross. St. Maximilian Kolbe founded the Militia of the Immaculata, of which the ‘Knights at the Foot of the Cross’ are an apostolate. (The KFC was actually established first in the USA in the early 1980s. If you are in the KFC, you are also an MI.) St. Maximilian was named the patron saint of addicts due to the manner of his execution (lethal injection.) St. Max never touched drugs or alcohol (he even banned smoking cigarettes in his friaries.) So, him being named the patron saint of addicts always seemed like a stretch to me. Granted, St. Maximilian suffered through Hell while in Auschwitz. And he brought the breath of life and humanity into that horrid place. But in light of the existence of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, I don’t think he should be the primary patron saint for addicts. St. Mark Ji Tianxiang should be.

Please bear in mind that St. Maximilian Kolbe is my favorite saint; I’ve read 2500 pages of his writings and several bookshelves of stuff on his life and teachings. So I’m not disrespecting him. He is already the patron saint of a number of other things (notably, the pro-life movement, given that abortion ‘clinics’ are mini-Auschwitzes and while in the real one, he never subscribed to the idea that living a horrible existence justifies the termination of a life, like so many pro-choicers think. I’m referring to their argument that abortion is a viable option to keep people from being born into poverty or dysfunctional families. As if people are better off dead rather than to try to improve society and families. Killing people is easier, I guess.)

Anyway, St. Mark Ji Tianxiang is likely the best candidate to be the patron saint of addicts. Especially given that he was never able to break the addiction. He died using. Not his fault; nor should he be condemned by people in recovery for that: he had no choice given the powerful addiction as well as having absolutely no recovery resources.

Mark Ji was beatified on November 24, 1946 by Pope Pius XII and canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is July 7. His story is, I think, one of faithful perseverance and a fervent desire for salvation, despite being prevented from participating in the means to gain it. Most people would have turned away and left the Faith. How many people today just abandon the Faith because they’ve gotten a divorce and remarried, and thus can’t receive Communion? Or some other ‘crime’ of the Church? St. Mark Ji Tianxiang persevered. He knew that participating in the sacramental life of the Church was a key to gaining Heaven. And despite being kept from them, he didn’t despair. He remained a Catholic, raised his family in the Faith an desired salvation so much that he prayed for the only means available to him that would assure him of salvation. Martyrdom.

Regarding St. Maximilian and retaining the memory of his death, perhaps he should be the patron saint of death row inmates. Even though he committed no crime deserving of death (just like Jesus!), those on death row need all the intercessory help they can get so that they can receive the grace of conversion, repentance and final perseverance. Take a look at Kolbe Prison Ministries.

Here are several links to articles on him:

He was an opium addict who couldn’t receive the sacraments. But he’s a martyr and a saint

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang couldn’t stay sober, but he could keep showing up

The life of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang: Persevering in faith despite addiction

The Saint Who Was Addicted to Drugs for 30 Years

ST MARK JI TIANXIANG (1834-1900) – Husband, Father, Grandfather, Doctor, Martyr, Opium Addict, Intercessor For Addicts, Patron Against Despair, Patron Of The Opiate Crisis

Addict, Martyr, and Saint

This Addict Is a Saint

Mark Ji Tianxiang

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Announcing the 31 Day Rosary Challenge!!! Join the Militia of the Immaculata!!!

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I received an email from the Militia of the Immaculata this morning announcing a new apostolic initiative of theirs! Here’s the email (I copied it.)     
Join the Militia of the Immaculata for a 31 Day Rosary Challenge set to begin on October 1st!!!

The idea is to pray the Rosary at different hours and different places, doing what you do in your everyday life, whether that is walking, hiking or climbing, whatever outdoor or indoor event(s) you participate in.

Post your selfies on social media, using the hashtag #31dayrosarychallenge
or #31DRC and please tag us so we can use your videos
when updating our social media.

Let us pray for Our Lady’s intentions
and peace and unity in our country and the world.

 

SIGN UP HERE: THE 31 DAY ROSARY CHALLENGE SIGN UP SHEET

“The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.” –St. Padre Pio

We need Families as well as Men and Women in all walks of life to join us during these 31 Days!

Show your support this October,
begin whenever you can, and let’s keep this going for 31 days.
Invite your friends and neighbors to join in the challenge.

(Copy and Share)

“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” –Bl. Pius IX

At the end of the #31DRC, we invite You to make (or renew) your total consecration to Our Lady and to consider joining her MI Family!
Find out how (Click Here).

Join the Militia of the Immaculata as we begin
our 31 Day Rosary Challenge!

Let us “win the entire world for the Immaculata and, through her, for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,” as St. Maximilian Kolbe stated.

 

About the Militia of the Immaculata (MI):

OK, Paulcoholic again! The MI was founded  in 1917 by St. Maximilian Kolbe and aims to win the whole world for Christ through the Immaculata, Mother of God and of the Church. He did it in response to anti-Catholic and anti-Papal Freemason demonstrations in Rome earlier that year. St. Maximilian was inspired by the conversion story of Alphonse Ratisbonne, who had experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church of St. Andrea della Fratte in Rome in 1842. The Miraculous Medal played a crucial role in that. Kolbe reasoned that if Our Lady can work the conversion of an atheistic Jewish person by virtue of the Miraculous Medal, then it can be a ’spiritual bullet’ targeting souls of other unbelievers and so forth. The MI was founded on October 16th of 1917, and approved by Pope Pius XI as a “Pious Union” a few years later (and is now termed a Universal and International Public Association of the Faithful.)

In essence, the MI is an evangelical organization dedicated to spreading Catholicism to everyone by whatever means is best suited to the individual and their state in life. The Miraculous Medal is worn outwardly by members as a public witness.

Members must have made a ‘total consecration’ to Our Blessed Mother by a formula written by St. Maximilian so that she can use us in any manner that she wishes. St. Maximilian likens it to being used as a “pen or paintbrush in the Immaculata’s hands.” The consecration as laid out by St. Maximilian is very similar to that established by St. Louis Grignon de Monfort, except in one detail: there is an evangelical aspect to it that de Monfort’s lacks. We pick a Marian feast day to do our Consecration (mine was on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7, 2002.)

I may actually begin using my TikTok account for this. So, start warming up these hashtags! #31dayrosarychallenge #31DRC, #mi #militiaoftheimmaculata

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Why I stopped regularly attending AA meetings

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I wrote in my last post, “Today is my Twentieth Soberversary” that I had last attended an AA meeting as a regular member in 2004, and that I left it in anger. I thought that I had posted about it before, but couldn’t find it. If it exists, then finding it is taking more time than writing a new one about the experience. So, I’m writing a new one. Or the first one. Shut up and blog, Paulcoholic.

OK, so it was August 2004. I was ‘going through some stuff’ that summer and one of the ways I got through it all was to be the coffeemaker for my Home Group. Usually, the job rotates. My Home Group met every weekday and I ‘needed’ to make it everyday to cope. No one objected as they knew I needed it and wouldn’t keep it as a daily service work forever. So for a few months, I made the coffee every day. And then around August I decided that I had gotten past the worst of what I was going through and was now ready to relinquish the job, keeping just Monday for myself. This other guy had taken Tuesday.

All was fine for a while. Then one day, a Monday, actually, the meeting began and the Tuesday Guy was the chairperson. My Home Group had some liberal policies as to who can chair a meeting. Tuesday Guy had only three months in the program, but he wanted to chair it and no one objected. When it came time to come up with a topic, no one suggested any and so he came up with one. It was a topic that oftentimes is introduced during the holidays. “What to do when confronted with a drinking situation.” (Because around Christmas, Easter and other holidays, a recovering person often finds themselves in just such a situation.) Tuesday Guy, if I recall correctly, recently lost a friend in a motorcycle accident, and there was going to be an event held in the deceased’s honor at a local drinking establishment; ‘and should I go?”

I dislike sharing when I have no personal “experience, strength and hope” to relate to. In other words, if the topic is something I have no personal experience with, I’ll pass when called upon to share. I’d never really faced this situation, so I’ll just pass. 

Tuesday Guy started calling upon people to share. Then it was my turn. I said, “I’ll pass.” But Tuesday guy would have none of that. “No, Paul, we all want to know what you think about this!” 

Well, I always had this paranoid fear in AA meetings that one day I’ll be called upon to share, I’d refuse, and promptly be told that isn’t the custom at this meeting; ‘here, when you’re called to share, you must.’ A paranoid, irrational fear, to be true; and that it would only happen if I attended a meeting far beyond my home area, where they might have strange customs. Except that it didn’t happen in some far away AA meeting, it happened right in my Home Group! So, I figured I’ll just share what I know from AA’s ‘Conference-approved literature,’ in this case, something from their book, “Living Sober.” And so I quoted from memory a line that said something about ‘if you have a legitimate reason for being there,’ and at that point Tuesday Guy interrupted me. “Well, Paul doesn’t know what he’s talking about; can someone else share?”

I was stunned. My worst fear was not only realized, that of being forced to share, but while sharing relevant book knowledge, I was humiliated in from of a bunch of people. The meeting continued. The men couldn’t look at me; the women gave me sympathetic looks. Almost everyone quoted the same line I started quoting. 

The meeting ended. I don’t even recall if I helped clean up. As coffeemaker, my job was done prior to the meeting; afterwards others pitch in with the clean up. 

Remember, this was Monday and Tuesday follows, meaning Tuesday Guy was going to be there early the next day to open up and make the coffee. I was prepared.

Tuesday rolls around and I get there early. I timed my arrival so that I showed up after about when I thought Tuesday Guy got there but before anyone else arrived. I was successful. The site was opened, he was there, in the back, alone, getting ready. I stalked over to him, he sees me coming and has a crooked smirk. I went up to him and slammed down on the table, right next to the coffee machine, my copy of the building’s keys. I said quite loudly, almost shouting into his smirky face, “I AM NOT COMING TO THIS MEETING EVER AGAIN!”

And then I stormed out. All I can say is that when I was walking to my car I had a feeling of liberation. The sun was sunnier. The birds were chirpier. The cars driving by were carrier. And a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I literally felt lighter.

And I never set foot in that meeting. Well, not quite true. I did return a over a year later to an occasional meeting, but it had moved to a different location by then and so I figured my declaration held. 

Since that day in August 2004, I never considered myself a regular meeting attendee. As I’ve said before, I am a misfit in a fellowship of misfits. I don’t bother with live meetings; occasionally dabble in online recovery and read AA literature. But having a Home Group? Nope. 

A couple of posts on Catholics attending AA meetings:

Should Catholics Attend AA meetings? I heard they’re bad.

A Fortnight of Years in Sobriety

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Walk onwards home

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This morning’s Office of Readings for Saturday, 34th Week on Ordinary Time has a sermon by Saint Augustine which I take the following excerpt: “Let us sing Alleluia to God, who is good and frees us from evil”: “O! what a happy alleluia there, how carefree, how safe from all opposition, where nobody will be an enemy, where no-one will ever cease to be a friend! God’s praises sung there, sung here – here, by the anxious; there, by the carefree – here, by those who will die; there, by those who will live for ever – here, in hope; there, in reality – here, on our journey; there, in our homeland.

So now, my brethren, let us sing, not to delight our leisure, but to ease our toil. In the way that travellers are in the habit of singing, sing, but keep on walking. What does it mean, ‘keep on walking’? Go onward always – but go onward in goodness, for there are, according to the Apostle, some people who go ever onward from bad to worse. If you are going onward, you are walking; but always go onward in goodness, onward in the right faith, onward in good habits and behaviour. Sing, and walk onwards. “

(Via Universalis.)

The first few paragraphs deal with the toil of living on Earth and the necessity of tolerating the fears and anxieties that fill our lives. We cannot avoid them, in fact we pray daily the “Our Father” to help us cope with them. But St. Augustine exhorts us to put up with this life, for there is a better one to come. And then came the section I excerpted above.

Lovely words which should give us the strength and fortitude needed to keep us going, to keep us on the right path, so that eventually we will arrive home, the place where there is no sorrow or suffering, where we are never parted from our loved ones.

Think about that. This desire for Heaven is an excellent manner to rid ourselves of our tendency to sin. While we still will sin, we at least will have a better purpose of amending our lives to increase its holiness. The desire for Heaven can cause us to be detached from this Earth and its “pleasures.” The delayed gratification and satisfaction of Heaven may cause us to not seek the immediate gratification of our sinful (and addictive) actions.

NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are very slowly being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Death and Acceptance

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I am in the process of transferring old posts from “The Four Last Things,” a blog I ran until 2016 on ‘Death, Judgement, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell.’ This process of migrating was started quite some time ago, but for no reason aside from laziness and forgetfulness was never completed until today. By ‘completed,’ I mean the posts have been moved and mostly postdated, a few backdated. I ran across this one from August 7, 2013. I was going to backdate it, but figured hardly anyone will see it unless they explored the archives. So here it is, unedited:    

I attended an AA meeting today for the first time in who knows how long. I had intended to go to Confession, but I ran into the priest and he told me that it was cancelled for today. Some diocesan shindig. I knew the parish hosted an AA meeting at the same time and so I figured, “What the heck? I’ll check it out.”

The topic was death and acceptance.

I didn’t share as I’m usually reticent about doing so. Fear of speaking at AA meetings go ‘way back. I do when I can offer something. I should have today, but was nervous as I had never been to this meeting before.

What I would have said, had I bothered to was something like this:

“Taking death and acceptance, and putting it into our recovery, all I can say is that we’ve already died once. Our old practicing alcoholic selves died when we entered the program and achieved a lasting sobriety. We’ve been reborn, in a way, when we got that sobriety and learned a bit about the Steps.

I think the book “Daily Reflections” has a reading from (I think June) which says something about how we alcoholics are fortunate to have lived two lifetimes in one life. There’s the life we lived as drunks, and now our new one as sober alcoholics.

All we have to do is “keep our side of the street clean” against the eventuality of our own death.”

Not bad. But it was enough to conquer the fear of attending a meeting for the first time, much less expecting me to talk. What I said was hinted at anyway by some other speakers, so really no big deal.

Maybe next time.

NOTE: (26 October 2021.) Well, there never was a ‘next time.’ I went to a few more meetings, started regular meeting attendance in early 2014, but quit after a few months. I do online recovery instead. My sobriety is just as strong as it was when I regularly attended meetings. Which, come to think of it, was really only from 2001-2004! But this is me, if you need regular meetings, by all means…

Additional NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, some edited, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers

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The First Reading for the Mass for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) is from 1st Book of  Kings Chapter 19, verses 4-8;

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. 
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD! 
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. 
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water. 
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” 
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

 

I attended the Vigil Mass last night to fulfill one of the requirements for the First Saturday Devotion (receiving Holy Communion) and the First Reading from 1 Kings struck me. Elijah is depressed after having slain the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel. Jezebel took issue with this and has threatened Elijah’s life if she ever caught him, and so now he is on the run. 

Despite his success in defeating the false prophets and showing Israel just Who the True God is, he is at a loss as to what to do next. He feels defeated as he has no support amongst anyone in Israel. This, despite the obvious support of God, by Whom Elijah wrought his victory over the false prophets of Jezebel.

I think many of us can relate; despite obvious signs of Divine Providence in the past, we may be now going through difficult times and are at the end of our proverbial rope. We may even yearn for death; not in any suicidal manner, but just as a release from the uncertainties and transitory ways of our secular life and the joy of hopefully getting to Heaven. There, we find eternal peace, happiness and freedom form anxiety, fear and the need for material support like income and food as well as no longer having to suffer from our own character defects. But we don’t get that; it’s not God’s will that we join Him yet.

But, as Elijah discovers, from within the depths of despair or loneliness comes a sudden reversal of fortune and circumstance. God suddenly has something for him to do and He supplies Elijah with the means to do it. 

I hope we all have had similar experiences. I know one time in late 1993, I was unemployed and facing eviction and on the same day, just in time, I landed a decent job and an apartment. Despair was gone and I felt pretty good about myself for having faced down those threats and survived. (A side note: although I believed in God, this happened during a period when I was not practicing any religion.) 

There is a word for this: Eucatastrophe – Wikipedia:

A eucatastrophe is a sudden turn of events at the end of a story which ensures that the protagonist does not meet some terrible, impending, and very plausible and probable doom. The writer J. R. R. Tolkien coined the word by affixing the Greek prefix eu, meaning good, to catastrophe, the word traditionally used in classically inspired literary criticism to refer to the “unraveling” or conclusion of a drama’s plot.

So, Elijah experienced a ‘eucatastrophe,’ as did I in November 1993. The biggest eucatastrophe is of course, the Resurrection. Eucatastrophes I think happen when things get out of control, either by external circumstances or our own neglect, and God will that He intervenes before we perish. This means He still has plans for us in some way. Perhaps He intervenes despite our past neglect and complacency; perhaps He Wills it to happen so as to show His might and power. Ultimately, all things work to glorify God. My life experience glorifies Him because although at the time I attributed it to my sudden newfound ‘street smarts,’ in retrospect it was done for me by Him in spite of myself. (And I wasn’t even a Catholic, or any kind of Christian!) 

I need a eucatastrophe within a month. I know ‘something’ will happen, but there is the anxiety driven by not knowing when relief will come. But, Faith assures us when Fear tries to tell us the worst will happen. 

We just have to Trust in Him. 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

How St. Rita can help those of us in recovery

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St. Rita, whose feast day is today, May 22nd, is the patroness of ‘impossible cases,’ as well as women in abusive marriages, mothers and those with serious illnesses and especially of wounds. A lot of that is appropriate for anyone in recovery, since we’ve experienced abuse and have given it, as well as succumbing to various illnesses. But there’s some more stuff thay I gleaned from reading a biography on her. (St. Rita: Saint of the Impossible)

In the opening chapters of her life, the words “humility and patience” kept being repeated. They were her tools to deal with many things afflicting her: her parents’ refusal to allow her to enter a convent, her abusive husband (and these tools were critical in converting him into being the model of a devoted husband,) her children who were intent on fulfilling a vendetta against her husband’s murderers, and her later illnesses in religious life.

Although her children were still intent on making good on the vendetta, out of fear for their immortal soul she prayed that God would either convert them or take them from life before they committed the mortal sin of murder. They died before they accomplished their task. That is interesting: how many would implore God to take their children’s lives to prevent a mortal sin? Rita was more concerned for her son’s immortal lives that their temporal existence. That is love; sacrificial love.

Her husband was afflicted with passions. I’m talking about explosive tempers, violent behavior, and riotous living. Those of us who are alcoholics and addicts can relate: even though we may not exhibit the abuse that her husband Paolo Mancini did, we often lack what is called ’emotional sobriety.’ We are ‘dry drunks’ from time to time or we otherwise display behavior ‘not quite serene’. We can ask St. Rita for help in this regard.

Passions, and our lack of control over them, can lead to other problems, such as being governed by anxiety and fear. Although anxiety and fear may be prudent feelings nowadays, we should not allow them to control us to the point of affecting our relations with other people as well as our own duties.

So, St. Rita has a lot to offer people in recovery. Apart from her traditional clients, her spirituality is one that can be of tremendous use for addicts and alcoholics in coping with the common travails of life.

So, look into her life. See about getting the book I linked to up above. I will soon post a list of resources on her life as well as on devotions to her.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

33 Reasons NOT to walk the Camino

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If you have been reading this blog for the past several years and retain a good memory for certain oddities, then you would know that I hold an obsession regarding the film “The Way.” It is a film directed by Emilio Estevez and starred his father, Martin Sheen. It is about a man (Sheen) who’s son (Estevez) died one day into his 500-mile pilgrimage and how he went to Spain to retrieve his son’s body. While there, the father impulsively decided to walk the Camino himself, carrying his son’s ashes, so that the son could ‘complete’ the Camino. It has lead me to watching untold hours of You Tube videos on the Camino. Ideally, I will walk the Camino someday; practically, it ain’t gonna happen, so until then I will do it vicariously. (Incidentally, there are ‘virtual Caminos;’ once in a while in my Facebook feed I see ads for such things. It’s like an exercise app where you enroll and walk so many miles a day wherever you live, either in your home or around the neighborhood and town. You keep track of how far you walk. I think it’s a smartphone app or Apple Watch thing; I’m not sure because I haven’t done that, either. But it looks interesting.)

Now, on to the point of this post. Recently I subscribed to a You Tube channel that is about this couple doing their third Camino. What I just love about it is that it is one of the few Camino channels that is unabashedly Catholic and approaches the Camino from its origins and purposes as a CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE. Almost all of the others focus on a non-denominational/quasi-pagan spiritual development, or its historical and cultural importance, or that it’s a fun and worthwhile thing to do. Mostly backpackers for whom it is ‘just another’ hiking thing like the Appalachian Trail or whatever.

The channel is here: Los Peregrinos. The pilgrims are a Filipino couple from Dallas, Texas (although originally from the Philippines.) The series of videos are subtitled “33 reason why Catholics should not walk the Camino.” It is a funny use of ‘reverse psychology’ as each reason is a good lesson on faith and growing closer to Jesus, using Camino metaphors and examples.

I have not finished the series yet, currently I’m on Day 25. Each day they relate what happened, where they went and how it was; and at some point within the video he gives that day’s “reason not to walk” it, along with a “Camino Saint of the Day,” typically a saint from the area they were in on that day who is tied to the Camino in some manner.

I am loving these videos (although sometimes I do get dizzy as the camera is moved much too fast when a site is shot. But a small price for such an edifying series of videos.)

There is another You Tube Channel created by Catholics who also walked the Camino; although they visit churches along the way and their Faith is important, their videos aren’t as religious (but still worthwhile!) The St. Max Media YouTube Channel is run by a Polish lady who went on Camino with her daughter. Their playlist is here:  Camino de Santiago – The Way of Saint JamesI have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available!
"The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus

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Last year I began a new devotion, the “Work of Reparation,” also known as the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. I initially wrote about it here, but to quote from that post for a refresher: “During the late 1840’s. Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to a Carmelite nun in Tours, France, and revealed a message to her that was to be shared with the world. That message was the Devotion to His Most Holy Face. Sister Marie of St. Peter was tasked with making this “Work of Reparation” known.

This Devotion is intended to make reparation for the sins of blasphemy against the Holy Name of God and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days. In addition, it is to be a spiritual weapon against Communists.”

I went on to say, “This is a devotion gravely needed for our times. Western Civilization is conceivably in a state of collapse as evidenced by the political and popular responses to the Coronavirus pandemic, riots and mob thuggery in our cities and Leftist infection of our cultural elites and the resulting aggressive action by the power centers they control in culture and society.” I am afraid that in addition to the threat of Leftist violence in the USA, Right-wing violence over the Presidential election results is now also a possibility. We may not have ‘passed the point of no return,’ regarding correcting our collective path to perdition, but to me, it’s only a matter of time before there is a Divine intervention of some kind. God does not provide miracles when there are still ordinary means to resolve problems and crises, but I think we’re coming to some such thing  soon. When? No idea, but the time for spiritual preparation is NOW (actually, it has been for a while.)

And so we come to the Holy Face Devotion, which in recent months  I am seeing more evidence of online (namely in the form of You Tube channels dedicated in part to it.)

Today is traditionally the Feast Day for the Holy Face. It is not celebrated in the Ordinary Form of the Mass, and in the Extraordinary Form (‘Latin Mass’) is is an optional votive Mass. But in years past the day before Ash Wednesday id dedicated to the ‘work of reparation,’ which is interesting given that the same day in secular cultures is dedicated to getting the last bit of debauchery out of your system before Lent begins the next day.

“Fr. Z,” who has a You Tube Channel where he celebrates the Latin Mass, posted yesterday on his blog, the Mass Propers for the Votive Mass in Honor of the Holy Face of Jesus. Here’s a link from that post for a downloadable PDF file for the Propers :  PDF of Mass Propers for the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus. If you want to watch the Mass, go here.

You can get a clear insight into the Holy Face Devotion by contemplating the Propers. I urge you to prayerfully read them!

ARCHIVE OF SOBER CATHOLIC HOLY FACE DEVOTION POSTSI have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available!
"The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

St. Felix of Valois

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Today is the feast day of St. Felix of Valois on the liturgical calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass. St. Felix was a hermit and a co-founder (with Saint John of Matha) of the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives (a/k/a “The Trinitarians”). The Trinitarians were devoted to the mystery of the Holy Trinity as well as to the ransom of Christians taken captive by Moslems in their raiding along the Mediterranean coast of Europe in the 12th Century.

In the Collect (akin to the intercessory prayers of the common Mass)  we pray:

“O God, Who by heavenly inspiration graciously called forth blessed Felix, Your Confessor, from the desert to the work of ransoming captives; grant, we beseech You, that by his intercession, and liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins, we may be led into our heavenly fatherland.”

Source: Missale Meum.

I introduce you to this Saint particularly because the Collect prayer refers to our being “liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins.” Therefore I am adding St. Felix of Valois to our list of saints that can especially be called upon to assist in liberating us from our captivity to alcohol and addiction. I am aware that “captivity” in this sense is metaphorical as St.Felix had nothing to do with addictions. But nevertheless, captivity is captivity; whether we are enslaved to another human or enslaved to a drug, our dignity as human beings is degraded through the abuse we receive. It may be easier to escape from a human slave owner than an addiction; which may seem ridiculous, except to those who have been trapped in an addiction.I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available!
"The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)