Vultus Christi

Abramo, a native of Guadalajara in Mexico, began his novitiate on October 31, 2006 in the Abbey of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome.

Reverend Father Abbot Don Simone clothed Abramo in the white habit of the Cistercian novice and chose for him the illustrious name of Bernardo. Fra Bernardo is a gifted musician.

I will be for him both a mother and a father, both a brother and a sister. I will make the crooked path straight for him and the rough places smooth. I will temper and arrange all things that his soul may advance and his body not suffer. He will serve the Lord with joy and gladness. He will sing of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.

Saint Bernard, To the Parents of a Novice

November 10th, the feast of Pope Saint Leo the Great is the onomastico of my dear confrère and friend Fra Leone Maria. Fra Giuseppe Benedetto and I affectionately call him "The Lion." Fra Leone is one of the three founding fathers of our monastery of Santa Cruz in Guadalajara, Mexico.

At Santa Croce in Rome Fra Leone was charged for several years with building the presepio in the narthex of the basilica. Now, in Guadalajara, he is in charge of coordinating the construction of the new monastery. Not quite the same dimensions! Fra Leone shares my passion for Gregorian Chant. He plays the zither and enjoys listening to music too, especially Mexican Baroque. Pray for him!

Don Carlo's feast was November 4th, Saint Charles Borromeo. Don Carlo is Romanian; he made solemn profession at Santa Croce and was ordained a priest in 2004. Currently he is studying Canon Law. If you are ever in Rome you may see him in the piazza in front of Santa Croce where he has a very effective ministero del sorriso.

Don Martino, wearing the black beret, hails from Milano. He is among our venerable and cherished seniors. More than anything else he gives good example to his younger brethren by his exemplary fidelity to the common life.

Cistercian life at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is never dull. There is always someone or something to celebrate!

John Henry Newman writes about Santa Croce in Gerusalemme:

"This Basilica is so called, because St. Helena, not only brought the True Cross there, but earth from Mount Calvary on which the Chapel or the Altar there is built — thus if there be a centre of the Church, we shall be there, when we are on earth from Jerusalem in the midst of Rome." (Ascension Day, 1847)

Brother Ryan tells me that in one of Newman's letters written from Santa Croce, he speaks of the convenient staircase leading from his rooms directly into the basilica below. I have not yet been able to find that letter; it would have been written in 1847. In any case, this is the very staircase that I now use several times a day to go down into the sacristy and basilica. Brother Ryan has dubbed it la Scala Newman.

It is fascinating that, through the intervention of Blessed Pope Pius IX, the English Oratory began here at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Now, it is impossible for me to go downstairs without thinking of John Henry Newman and listening for ancient footsteps. As the staircase is often treacherously dark, I should also think of the poem Newman wrote at sea in 1833:

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home—
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene—one step enough for me.

Father Jeff Keyes, C.PP.S. tells about his recent visit to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. The highlight of the day was a concelebrated Votive Mass of the Passion of the Lord with the Proper Chants taken from the Graduale Cistercense. Read all about it at Rifugio San Gaspare.

This is the view from the window directly across from my cell. Looking west across the terrace and gardens of Santa Croce, I can see the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in the morning light. I shall never grow accustomed to seeing such sights. In Jam, Christe, Sol Iustitiae, the hymn at Lauds during Lent, we sing:

O Christ, Thou Sun of Justice, come,
Pierce with Thy rays our mental gloom;
With virtue light our souls once more,
And unto earth Thy day restore.

The garden of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme with the roses in bloom seen from the roof terrace. In the background one can see the May 1st manifestations being held in the park that runs from Santa Croce to San Giovanni in Laterano.

Dear Jesus,
I want to be Thy lamp that, close to Thee,
burns with a flame of love,
Thy lily that remains always to adorn Thy altar
and to adore Thee.

Today, 17 December 2007, Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI received in a private audience His Eminence, the Most Reverend Lord Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In the course of the audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the heroicity of the virtues of the Servant of God Antonietta Meo, called Nennolina, a little girl born in Rome, in the parish of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, on 15 December 1930, where she also died on 3 July 1937. Nennolina is buried in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. The Venerable Servant of God attended the school of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also in the parish of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

This morning in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI received a group of people belonging to the Italian Catholic Action Movement for an exchange of Christmas greetings. The Holy Father spoke of the Venerable Servant of God, our little Nennolina.

Words of the Holy Father

It pleased me that, a moment ago, you quoted a little girl, Antonia Meo, called Nennolina. Just three days ago I decreed the recognition of her heroic virtues and I hope that her cause of beatification may be brought quickly to a happy conclusion. What a luminous example has this little member of yours left us! (Note: Nennolina was enrolled in the "Benjamins" section of the Italian Catholic Action Movement.)

Nennolia, a child of Rome, in her very short life — only six and a half years —demonstrated a faith, a hope, a special charity, and other Christian virtues as well. Though she was a frail little girl, she succeeded in giving a strong and robust witness to the Gospel and has left a deep impression in the diocesan community of Rome. Nennolina belonged the Catholic Action Movement; today she would certainly be inscribed in the A.C.R. (Childrens' Catholic Action)!

For all of you can consider her your friend, a model to inspire you. Her existence, so simple and, at the same time, so important, demonstrates that holiness is for every age; for little children and young people, for adults and for the elderly. Every season of our existence can be good for us to decide seriously to love Jesus and to follow Him faithfully. In a few years, Nennolina reached the summit of Christian perfection that we are, all of us, called to ascend, she ran quickly the "highway" that leads to Jesus. And so, as you yourselves recalled, Jesus is the true "way" who leads us to the Father and to our permanent home, which is Paradise. You know that Antonia now lives in God, and from heaven, she is close to you; you sense that she is present with you, in your groups. Learn to know her and follow her examples. I think that she also will be happy about this: to be involved still in Catholic Action.

Anniversary of Nennolina's First Holy Communion

Nennolina received her First Holy Communion 71 years ago on Christmas Eve, 1936, in the chapel of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 38, Via Germano Sommeiller. Witnesses of her First Holy Communion said that the little girl was transfigured in a kind of ecstatic adoration of her Jesus. A few months before her First Holy Communion, Nennolina had written to Jesus:

"Dear Jesus Eucharist I love You so much! . . .
Really very much!
Not only because You are the Father of all the world, but also because You are the King of all the world, I always want to be Your lamp which burns night and day before You and near You in the Sacrament of the altar.

I'd like You to grant me three favours the first - make me saint, and this is the most important favour;
the second - give me some souls;
the third - make me walk normally, to tell the truth this is the least important.
I'm not saying to give me back my leg, I gave it to You!

Dear Jesus I like my teacher Sister Noemi very much.
I love her so, help her to do all the necessary things that You want her to do.
Dear Jesus Eucharist!
I love You so much so that I'm really longing for Christmas.
Make my heart shine to You when You come into my poor heart.
Dear Jesus, I'll make a lot of sacrifices that I'll offer to You
when I do the First Holy Communion.

Dear Jesus Eucharist! . . .
I want to suffer a lot to redeem also the sins of men, especially of the very bad ones.
Dear Jesus Eucharist I say good-bye to You and I kiss You.
Your Antonietta.
Good night Jesus good night Mary."