Holy Passion Bearer Dorothy Stang - Martyr of the Amazon 1931 - 2005

�Holy Passion Bearer Dorothy Stang �

Sr. Dorothy Stang : Martyr of the Amazon
(1931 - 2005) a new Patron of Ecology....along with St Francis and St Hildegard

�I light a candle and look at Jesus on the Cross and ask for the strength to carry the suffering of the people. Don�t worry about my safety. The safety of the people is what�s important.�
Sr. Dorothy Stang

�On the morning of February 12, 2005, Sr. Dorothy Stang, an American-Born nun who had spent fifty years in Brazil, set off for a meeting of landless farmers. Along the muddy trail her way was blocked by two hired gunmen who asked whether she carried any weapon. In reply she produced her Bible and began to read the Beatitudes : Blessed are the poor in spirit...Blessed are the peacemakers. And then they shot her.
Sr. Dorothy, born in Dayton, Ohio, joined the Sisters of Norte Dame de Namur out of high school and volunteered in 1966 to work in Brazil. Eventually she was drawn to the remote regions of the Amazon and the cause of poor farmers who were exploited and robbed by rich loggers and cattle barons. She had come to see the connections between defending the rights of the poor and protecting the ecological balance of the rain forest itself.
Well into her seventies, she trudged through mud and thick forests to attend prayer services and labor meetings. Her efforts on behalf of the farmers and the imperiled rain forest marked her as an enemy by those who hired her assassins.
Her death aroused the government of Brazil and the whole world to the cause of ecology and justice for which she offered her life.�

From the February issue of : �Give Us This Day� page 157

Right after I was ordained in Denver in May of 1979 I was invited by the Sisters of the Precious Blood, who ran the school of Christ the King I attended from kindergarten through sixth grade , to say Mass for them one evening. When I got to the homily, it suddenly occurred to me that sitting before me were the very women who had given me most everything I knew (as well as my parents) of Jesus, the Blessed Mother and my love for the saints. So that was my homily, just thanking these women and telling them that without them, I would not be able to give our faith to anyone. My seventh and eight grade years were spent at St John�s School, with two great lay women teachers and the wonderful Sisters of Loretto.
This particular icon is dedicated to Sister Carolyn Wiethorn, CSJ, and all the holy - great women of our church and the many religious women I have met over the years, especially the Sisters of St Joseph in Baden, Pennsylvania. These religious women, often forgotten, demeaned, and hidden apostles of Jesus, have nourished me and so many thousands, and sometimes even saved my priesthood through their love and wise guidance.

Fr Bill McNichols
February 2017