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The Holy Family for Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem

December 26th, 2023

The Holy Family for Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem

The Holy Family for Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem : Frame by Roberto Lavadie of Taos, New Mexico
“...He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
From the Prologue of St John’s Gospel
Perhaps the most beautiful words in the Gospels come from this incredible,
sonorous, mystical Prologue. In her commentary (she audaciously asserts, was dictated to her by St John himself) on the Gospel of John, Adrienne von Speyr comments on nearly every sentence. I have found it difficult to suggest reading Adrienne to almost anyone. But for me, I can read a few sentences and she is so profound that I have to stop. She has played a huge role in my spiritual life and understanding. I’ve read most of her books that have been translated, but there are many more, which await translation. True mystics are as rare as hen’s teeth, so I don’t use, in fact...never use, that word lightly. The suffering of a true mystic makes me shudder, and yet because they have been given this gift, for the Church, or our world, by God, I am drawn to them... “The abundant harvest of graces hidden in Adrienne’s theological mission for our times still waits to be more fully carried into the storehouses of the Church for whom she was sent.”
Jacques Servais,SJ.
And let me say also, I truly believe there have been and are, true mystics in all religious traditions.
This icon was commissioned for the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, Israel, “Holy Family Hospital is the premier maternity hospital and neonatal care center in the Bethlehem region of the West Bank. It’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit cares for the critically-ill newborns, some weighing just over one pound.”
In all honesty, I was overwhelmed by this request. Imagine trying to create an icon of the Holy Family for Bethlehem?! I put everything I had in my heart and spirit into creating Joseph sheltering Mary and the Child. My dear friend, master woodworker, Roberto Lavadie, knows always, exactly what is needed. He instinctively carved flowers from Israel into the frame, and I had a metal plate made with the name of the icon in three languages.
It turns out we are always waiting for some war or other, to end. Holy Prophet Thomas Merton once prophetically said, “There will always be another war to end war.” Did you see President Zelensky speaking to Congress ? I can’t even fathom that there were people in Congress who would not stand, applaud or support him; but there were. People who are safe and warm in this terrible time for Ukraine. I was so ashamed of them. “And yet, and yet” as Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ, used to say and write, we live in such shameful times, when the massacre of children, ordinary civilians, means nothing to these people. And you could cite so many other atrocities along with Ukraine.
Such is the True story of Christmas. If you don’t touch into this story, all the Santa’s, the Hallmark stories, the elves, the reindeers , lighted trees, and the white Christmases will never bring you to this very real story, happening right now. These will never bring you the Peace inside the real Christmas story. I purposely listen to these “minor chord” Carols which have substance; a sense of what His birth brought into our world.
Then what are we to do ? I remember being transfixed by the character Linda Hunt played in the film, “A Year of Living Dangerously.” He ( she played a man) asked “What then are we to do ?” His answer was the words of St John the Baptist, (Luke 3:10). The answer is simply to hear the cries and share the abundance you have been given by God. It doesn’t matter how. This means all abundance; spiritual, physical, monetary, artistic ... use your incredible imagination... in any way, share what you have been given, freely.
We are all gifted in something ; simply give . I’ve continually found this as not a source of guilt, but as an honor, a privilege, a joy of all joys. I always think of the two patrons of the Third Order of St Francis, St Louis IX and St Elizabeth of Hungary, royalty, who loved to be extravagant in their giving. They were wealthy, a king and a queen, but they listened and responded. When I hear these words from St Luke’s Gospel, I think first : happiness consists of being used by God... and then squandering what has been given, by Him to us.
Only songs like “The Coventry Carol” (my favorite version is by Alison Moyet where she literally wails) really get at the true story. Somehow out of the poverty of the Birth of Jesus we become His disciples. This night, Christmas Eve, is a birth of Christianity; Our birth...Our real life...Our happiness ... Our Hope... Our truly honest Joy ! A Blessed Christmas with love to you all !
Fr William Hart McNichols 🎄👶🏻🎄Christmas Eve 2022

The Advent of Hagia Sophia

December 26th, 2023

The Advent of Hagia Sophia

The Advent of Hagia Sophia
“What Wisdom is and how She came to be, I will now declare,
I will hide none of the secrets from you; I will trace Her right from
the beginning and set out knowledge of Her, plainly, not swerving
from the truth...She is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation
of the glory of the Almighty; hence nothing impure can find a way
into Her. She is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of
God’s active power, image of His goodness... She deploys Her strength
from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things for good.”
Wisdom 6, 7
Many years ago I was invited to give a small retreat at Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center, run by the Order of the Daughters of Wisdom, in Litchfield, Connecticut. This Order of women was founded in the 18th century by St Louis de Montfort and Blessed Marie Louise Trichet. The aim of the Daughters of Wisdom congregation was to seek Divine Wisdom. Meeting these women I was eventually commissioned to write an icon of one of their sisters who was martyred in Africa in the 1964 Congo massacre; “Holy New Martyr Sister Mary Antionette” (Anne Donniacu) of America. In my retreat room there was hanging right over the bathroom mirror, on a thin red cord of yarn, a brief quote by St Louis de Montfort: “Wisdom is the Cross; the Cross is Wisdom.” And another quote in a book written by one of the sisters, from the early Church Father (rehabilitated by Cardinal von Balthasar) Origen Adamantius.
I cant remember it exactly but it was close to this; “Wisdom took a body and became like every other crying child ...”
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Logos or Word, taking a body, but I’d never heard of him before as graphically taking a body, as literal-Wisdom-incarnate . I know this is in writing in St Paul, but I never heard it so bluntly, so visually put, as with Origen. Then I began to notice how much St John’s Jesus often sounds like Wisdom speaking in the Book of Proverbs. Needless to say, this sent me on a search for years, looking first into Origen, using the book “Origen : Spirit and Fire” by Hans Urs von Balthasar, translated by my former teacher, Fr Robert Daly, SJ. Then of course, the 5 Wisdom books in Scripture and the wonderful commentary “The Wisdom Literature” by Kathleen O’Connor. This finally led me to read Christopher Pramuk’s incredibly evocative and beautiful book “Sophia: the Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton.” I can’t mention all the other places I found Wisdom, mainly in the Russian Theologians, but finally my search came out in many icons including this one: “The Advent of Hagia Sophia” - the Coming of Holy Wisdom.
I place these books before you, just in case you are interested in looking for Wisdom too. I often feel like I had much more wisdom when I was a a child and younger man, but I think the truth is, that She continually calls to us in each part of our lives, and must be found again and again.
In the icon She descends from above, visually similar to the image I painted of the Buddhist Tanka in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; of the “Amitabha Buddha Descending from the Pure Lands.” Looking at It now, years later I see a kind of Trinitarian imagery with Jesus’ hand coaxing her to alight upon us, and the table as the Father or ground of being, holding Holy Scripture, as in some ancient Orthodox icons, and the flame of course, the Holy Spirit. This was not my intention then, but Wisdom continues to surprise me and She is still my Teacher.
Chris Pramuk, a teacher, author, theologian ,husband and father too, most recently wrote a meditation on a poem by Thomas Merton about the Visitation, the meeting between Mary and her relative Elizabeth. I asked his permission to quote from the ending :
“The great temptation of our time, it seems to me, and for young people especially, is cynicism, the cold shadow-side of despair. The elder Elizabeth wonders how such miracles are not only possible for Mary but would be given to her, a longtime barren woman living under the boot of Roman occupation in the sunset chapters of her life. The whole of Luke’s Nativity story, and this scene in particular, rebels against the preeminent lie of our times that there are no new gifts to be given. Faith’s fragile ‘Yes’ makes it possible once again to find a way through this ‘eyeless dark’ with renewed hope, and to find our way together.
From Mary and Elizabeth, Joseph and Zechariah, Jesus and John, the Nativity story spirals outward to meet us where we are, two millennia later. With our Yes, the seed of Advent faith trembles in the realization that our humble lives too, no less than Jesus’s ‘could be washed in the Spirit of God.’ Oh burning joy! Blessed are we, when we believe that what was promised to us by the Lord will be fulfilled. “
Today (also Pope Francis’ 86th Birthday !) we begin the ancient “O Antiphons” beginning with “O Wisdom” ...
“O come thou Wisdom from on high, who orderest all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in Her ways to go. Rejoice ! Rejoice ! Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel.”
May Hagia Sophia alight on us now, in this season of Her descending, and please please please, Dear Lord, send Her to mightily to
Russia for her sister, Ukraine 🙏🏼
Fr William Hart McNichols 🕯🇺🇦🕯 17 December 2022

Mother of God Light In All Darkness - For Gaudete Sunday

December 26th, 2023

Mother of God Light In All Darkness - For Gaudete Sunday

Mother of God Light In All Darkness : For Gaudete Sunday
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.”
Philippians 4:4-5
Mother of God
Light In All Darkness,
Shelter Him our flame of hope
With your tender hands.
And in our times of
Dread and nightmares,
Let Him be our dream of comfort.
And in our times of
Physical pain and suffering,
Let Him be our healer.
And in our times of separation,
From God and one another,
Let Him be our communion.
Amen
There are two Sundays in the year when the liturgical vestments are rose or pink colored; Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent. Rose is the color of Joy and the Church rejoices as Christ is coming at Christmas and Christ is Rising at Easter. Every year we go through the life of Christ; each season offers us a “view with intimacy” so that relating to him, becomes the way or pattern of our lives too. As an iconographer I am also particularly blessed to celebrate all “His Hallows” the almost infinite world of the saints. At times I get to paint images of people who are not canonized saints, but who have had a strong, positive effect on my life; such as Maura Soshin O’Halloran, Rachel Carson, Elijah McClain, Robert A. Johnson, and many more. At this time, for instance ,I am working on another commission of Thomas Merton.
When I was teaching art and theology at Regis High School in Denver, the students introduced me to the musical group Steeleye Span, who sang this robust old English hymn, “Gaudete.” If you google that hymn I think you’ll find it wild and celebratory.
This icon I’m showing you now, is the culmination of my life as a Hospice Chaplain with people dying at the time of the pandemic of AIDS. As an illustrator before I became an iconographer, I did many drawings aimed at the terrible suffering I saw and the violent prejudice we all experienced, being in any way connected to this pandemic. These drawings and one painting, can be seen on my website. So, when I began to paint/write icons, I was commissioned very soon to do an icon not about the suffering and prejudice that those who were sick experienced, but something that would comfort them. I chose to model this icon on the Russian 14th. century, Icon of the Theotokos of Pimen.
I knew from listening to those who during the 80’s were certain of dying, that they felt their greatest suffering was fear. They were inundated with the negative voices in their heads, from the culture around them, that not only were they alone, but also they could not trust anyone from any religious community, who were quite eager to damn them for eternity. At that time, this was a popular theology, and I’m sorry to say, that now we hear this all the time, not just about lgbtq people, but for anyone who dares antagonize the strident voices of the far right or far left. So much so, that I no longer have to explain what this vehement prejudice was like then; because it’s front and center now. I received a lot of help from the late theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar in his book “Dare We Hope?” Meaning, dare we hope that everyone will go to Heaven ? In his book von B says we are all so eager to damn the “other side” to hell, but this is not Christian. We should want, and beg Heaven for our own conversion and that of everyone; even as Jesus told us, our enemies. Just now as I write this I see Trevor Noah on tv speaking of his new comedy Netflix show, about "The End of Days.” We hear this all the time now. I’m not convinced of that yet. Perhaps what I really believe is the convulsions of a new Heaven, new Earth, spoken about by the author of the Apocalypse. This final book of the Bible has been linked to the Beloved Apostle John, exiled to the island of Patmos for his love of Jesus. Tradition tells us he is the only apostle who was not murdered. And that he was given Our Blessed Mother, to care for, by Jesus, dying on the Cross (John 19:26-27). As the late scripture scholar G.B. Caird said, “The end is not an event but a Person.”
In this icon, I have the Holy Child holding a candle. The candle symbolizes the sick person. The Child is too young to have any prejudices so he holds all of us, and his Mother, Our Mother, shelters his flame with her tender hands.
I offer this icon for Gaudete Sunday because for me, this is true joy, in the midst of suffering. I wrote this prayer “thinking musically,” as the prayers I love always have that musical element, like the Irish prayer, “The Breastplate of St Patrick.” Much to my surprise someone from the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, did put this prayer to music. I have never heard it performed, but I did see the music sheet, around the time of World Youth Day in 1993. And I must mention that my dear friend Mirabai Starr, did the impossible, by writing 51 astonishingly beautiful prayers, for our book “Mother of God Similar to Fire.” It’s difficult to write one beautiful prayer, but 51 ? That’s a “Holy Spirit-given talent,” and Mirabai’s love for Mary is palpable in each prayer.
My prayer ends with one of our most beautiful words “communion.” We who receive the body and blood of Christ know this word as meaning, the simple host or bread. But this word is so powerful in its meaning of literal togetherness; something we are promised when our soul leaves our body, but something we can experience, at unexpected times, here on earth. I believe in these precious moments of communion, and
A Blessed Gaudete Sunday❗️
Fr Bill McNichols 🎄 December 2022

Our Sister Thea Bowman

December 26th, 2023

Our Sister Thea Bowman

Our Sister Thea Bowman * (29 December 1937 - 30 March 1990)
“I think that children carry a message just by the way they are, and it’s a message that needs to be heard ... My approach is : teach me. I will learn. I want to learn. I want to keep learning until I die. But I also want to teach. I want to accept your gifts. Please share your treasures with me, but I also want to share my treasures with you.”
The Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman
“Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; all over the sky a sacred voice is calling.”
The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk
“If reality speaks and God can speak in it, especially when it cries out, then listening to it is a necessary way of realizing our humanity.”
Jon Sobrino, SJ
“Vocation is a gradual revelation - of me to myself by God ... It is who we are, trying to happen.”
Evelyn and James Whitehead
I was very honored when Fr Mark Bosco, SJ commissioned me to write/paint an icon of Thea, for a chapel at Georgetown University. My next very real, kinda worried thought, was actually, why did Thea pick me? How would I place a very vibrant, warm, extremely intelligent, rowdy (her own word about herself), literally glowing woman into an iconic form ? That question of mine really gets to the very purpose for having an icon rather than a photograph or painted portrait. I could give you many examples but let me just tell you one.
In 1998 a dear friend, Mimi Meriwether took me and another one of her friends to visit the most recent purported apparition site of the Mother of God, in Medjugorje, Bosnia, Herzegovina. I think it might have been the second night we were there when the Franciscan author and chaplain to the visionaries, Fr Svetozar Krajalic, drove up to the house where we were staying and asked me to write an icon of Our Lady of Medjugorje. I had read (and later got to hear from them personally) the visionaries’ description of Mary. It was like a lovely Croatian girl, I thought, and then they said... “She is about 17. She has long, black curly hair down to her waist. She has dark blue eyes and very rosy cheeks. She wears a grey dress and white veil. She is standing on a small cloud with twelve stars around her head.” My thoughts were really, how can I fit this beautiful living girl into an iconic form ? But Fr Svet insisted, so I went ahead and did a symbolic icon of her. This is exactly how I felt when Fr Mark commissioned me to make Thea into an iconic presence. I use the word presence on purpose, because an icon is supposed to give you the opportunity to pray with Thea as she is now, in Heaven. This is because a true icon is more real than a photograph or painting. I know this is a very strong claim to make, but this is my own experience. Also it is more challenging when a prototype or original of an icon does not yet exist; when you are called upon to create the prototype. An icon takes time to sit with, to converse with to get to know; the same time it may take to get to know and love a friend.
In 1995 I painted/wrote the icon of the Ukrainian Holy New Martyr Nestor Savchuk. In 1996 an Orthodox Church in Atlanta asked to purchase Nestor because he had been martyred in 1993, and the youth in that church had a great devotion to him. It was very hard to give him up, but I did because I had his photograph and I thought I’d frame it and he’d still be with me. After taking him to be shipped to Atlanta, I came back to my room at St Mary’s Hall In Boston College and, his “presence” was gone, even though I had his photo.
This is how I learned the very real presence and need for an icon.
I started by asking a woman I know from our parish here in Albuquerque, St Joseph on the Rio Grande, to pose for me, Louise Davis. She is also a member of the African American Catholic Community. Louise gave me many symbols to work with including the acacia tree, with the word Umoja, unity, written beneath the tree. This word means, “to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves...” you see this tree near the bottom of Thea’s dress. That tree is the symbol of the African American Catholic Community. Then I chose the Nsoromma star on her headdress, meaning “child of the heavens.” The Nsoromma ne Osrane, star and moon, a symbol of faithfulness. And finally the ladder, Owuo Atwedie, “all people shall climb the ladder of death.” Around her neck are leaves and berries signifying Thea’s abundant life affirming power; while she was here on earth and now as one of our intercessors . She also wears a red necklace of the Franciscan Tau Cross. I painted that cross red to honor that the Franciscans bear the charism of the 5 wounds, the stigmata; from Francis right up until the present with Padre Pio.
Above Thea is a brown Holy Spirit, signifying God is “all races.” This brown Spirit I first saw and copied in a 19th century icon of Mary called “Mother of God Your Lap Has Become the Holy Table.” In this Icon Mary, the Child and Holy Spirit are all deep brown. Rays of the Spirit surround Thea as she opens her arms in “Marian fashion” to receive all of us.
This icon was almost a year’s prayer, work and many spiritual meetings with those African Americans whom (since I was born in 1949) I have especially admired; Dr King and Coretta Scott King... whom I actually met at his tomb in Atlanta, and I will never forget our exchange; Malcom X, James Baldwin, Elijah McClain, and of course, Thea Bowman. I spent this past year with her.
Now, let us pray together, this prayer composed for the canonization of Thea :
“Ever loving God, who by Your infinite goodness inflamed the heart of Your servant and religious, Sister Thea Bowman with ardent love for You and the people of God, a love expressed through her indomitable spirit, deep and abiding faith, dedicated teaching, and unwavering witnessing of the joy of the Gospel.
Her prophetic witness continues to inspire us to share the Good News with those whom we encounter, most especially the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. May Sister Thea’s life and legacy compel us to walk together, and to remain together as missionary disciples ushering in the New Evangelization for the Church we love.
Gracious God imbue us with the grace and perseverance that You gave Your servant, Sister Thea. For in turbulent times of racial injustice, she brought wisdom, awareness, unity, and charity. In times of pain, sickness, and suffering, she taught us how to live fully until called Home to the land of promise. If it be Your Will, O God, glorify our beloved Sister Thea, by granting the favor I now request through her intercession (mention your request), so that all may know of her goodness and holiness and may imitate her love for You and Your Church. We ask this through Your Son and Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen. “
Fr William Hart McNichols 🍁 September 2022
PS) I will be at Georgetown University this coming week to celebrate the arrival and installation of this icon . On 17 November, Fr Bosco, SJ and I will be doing a public discussion about the vocation of iconography.
🍁 November 2022

The Child Mary Soon To Become The Ark of the Covenant

December 26th, 2023

The Child Mary Soon To Become The Ark of the Covenant

The Child Mary Soon To Become The Ark of the Covenant
(This original painting is available please contact us if you are interested. )
“Contemplata aliis tradere...” (to share what you have contemplated), along with “Veritas”, (Truth) Dominican mottos.
“Then God’s Temple in Heaven was opened, and the Ark of His Covenant was seen within His Temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in Heaven, a woman clothed with the Sun, with the Moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child.”
(Revelation 11:19 - 12:2)
“Let us chant the melody which has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, ‘Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; Thou, and the Ark of thy sanctuary .’ For the holy Virgin is in truth an Ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.”
St Gregory Thaumaturgis (c. 213-270)
“The Ark contained three things: the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, a jar of manna from the desert, and Aaron’s staff that budded (Hebrews 9:4). So whereas the Ark contained the word of God inscribed on stone tablets, the bread of Heaven and the staff of the Levitical priesthood, within Our Lady’s womb was the word of God made flesh, Jesus the bread of life who is our true high priest. Until the Babylonian exile, the Ark of the Covenant marked the presence of God among His people. Now Our Lady has taken on this role and so it is very appropriate that we pray to her as Ark of the New Covenant, that she reveal to us the blessed fruit of her womb.”
Dominican Friar Robert Verrill, OP
The titles given to Mary of Nazareth are especially evocative in icons. She is, Quick to Hear, Seeker After the Lost, Similar to Fire, the Enclosed Garden, the Burning Bush, Joy of All Joys, Mother of Mercy, Life-Giving Spring ,Star of the Sea, Your Lap Has Become the Holy Table, Soothe My Sorrows, Stone Broke Loose From the Mountain, She Who Reigns, Mother of Holy Hope...and in the Litany of Loreto, Mystical Rose, Gate of Heaven, House of Gold, Seat of Wisdom, Health of the Sick, Solace of Migrants, Ark of the Covenant, Morning Star, Refuge of Sinners, Mirror of Justice, and many more. At times I would choose an icon to copy just because of the title. It was very nourishing for me to spend the time on the icon and to better understand how the ancient iconographers brought these titles so tenderly, to life.
When I began my iconographer’s apprenticeship in 1990 I had already read many of the mystical lives of Mary which all go back to the Protoevangelium of St James, the ancient story where we learn the names of Anna and Joachim, Mary’s parents. And during the Year of St Joseph, proclaimed by Pope Francis, I found a mystical life of St Joseph by Mother Maria Cecilia Baij, OSB, she said was given to her by Jesus, completed in 1766. During that year I slowly read this life and began to ponder the young Joseph and his gradual realization of his vocation. I put this contemplation into a painting I called “St Joseph Flower of Jesse.” These mystical lives of course are not Gospel, and some people consider them pious novels, but for some reason I have been really inspired by a few; not all feel authentic and at times, they can feel forced.
While reading Cardinal von Balthasar’s volume (in his 7 volume series “The Glory of the Lord”) on the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible) I came across the Shekhinah; the Feminine presence of God which would lead the Israelites, wandering in the desert and hover over the Ark of the Covenant whenever they would stop for a time. Then I discovered Rabbi Leah Novick’s magnificent book, “On The Wings of the Shekhinah.” For years I had planned in my imagination to portray Mary, the Shekhinah and the Ark, all in one image. I chose to make Mary about 8 or 9 years old, as if she too (like Joseph) was coming to a gradual awareness of some extraordinary vocation she would embody. This of course was all revealed to her by the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. Most scholars agree that Mary was around 14 or 15.
This year at the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, and into Yom Kippur, I finally felt it was the right time to bring this imaginative, symbolic, inner vision to life.
I will never forget when, through the writings of my friend Christopher Pramuk, I first saw Thomas Merton ‘s mystical drawing of “Christ Unveils the Meaning of the Old Testament,” on the cover of his book “Sophia : The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton.” I realized again, that some contemplative concepts can only be represented through visual art. Chris and I are now working on a book (to be published by Orbis Press) of some of my drawings, illustrations, paintings, and a few icons, through this book, we go deeper into this conversation- with images included.
This one of the Child Mary, I have just completed, is really something I hope will feed your prayer during this Advent which begins very early this year, 27 November. I have really loved working on this image, and my hope is that love will touch you too.
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible for God.”
Luke 1: 35-37
Fr William Hart Dominic McNichols 🍁 October 2022

St Francis Detail from Viriditas- Finding God In All Things

December 26th, 2023

St Francis Detail from Viriditas- Finding God In All Things

St Francis (Detail from “Viriditas: Finding God In All Things)
“Joy fall to thee father Francis,/ Drawn to the Life that died;/ With the gnarls of the nails in thee; niche of the lance;/ his Lovescape crucified/ And seal of his seraph-arrival...”
From “The Wreck of the Deutschland” by Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ
“...he was always occupied with Jesus: Jesus he bore in his heart, mouth, eyes, ears, and in his entire body; Jesus.”
1 Blessed Thomas Celano
“Put yourself out Brother Francis !” I used to cry. “Put yourself out before you burn up the world!”
Nikos Katzanzakis
“We warned him that the Ancients say/ drawing too close to the fiery shrub would mean death/ for human jars cannot bear liquid fire./ But he seemed to revel in the secrets found within the chambers of heat,/ and with him in our midst/ we too could burn without end./ We warned him not to cross too far to the other side,/ for we dreaded losing him/ yet he seemed at home nimbly scaling the ladder to the sky/ to the rhythm of the silent music./ Ah, but the time we hold most dear,/ the time which seemed out-of-time indeed,/ was that mid-September we found him hidden in the cleft of the rock./ His body could no longer bear the Love,/ and he broke out in Wounds.”
“The Legend of the Three Companions” by William Hart McNichols
Ever since I can remember, there has been Francis. I have loved him for so many reasons. During theology school, at the Mass on the feast of Francis, our teacher, Fr Emerich Meir, OFM, said in his homily (in reference to Rudolph Otto’s book) “Francis had an I-Thou relationship to all of creation.” And our present Pope Francis took on the seraphic wings to write his magnificent encyclical “Laudato si” on this I-Thou relationship, and the demonic threat of climate change. For who but “wicked servants” would choose greed over the fragile existence of God’s Beautiful World?
Because in his autobiography, St Ignatius recalled thinking in his dramatic convalescence at the Castle In Loyola, “What if I should do what Francis did? What if I should do what Dominic did?” I decided in 1984 to visit the tomb of Ignatius in Rome, the tomb of Dominic in Bologna and the tomb of Francis in Assisi. But it was my bus trip from Assisi to Mt. La Verna (sometimes here called Mt Alvernia, ) where Francis received the Wounds, that has burned into me ever since. And to tell the honest truth, I asked my dear friend Fr Andre’ Cirino, OFM, if I could join the SFO’s (Secular Franciscan Order) in the Bronx, because I wanted to share the Charism of the Wounds, that comes with being a Franciscan; from Francis all the way up to the 20th century and Padre Pio.
Now, we all bear wounds; whether it be wounds of emotional, physical or spiritual violence, or wounds of self-righteousness, pride, jealousy, or wounds of despair and depression. A most mysterious part of the Resurrection is that Jesus kept the wounds. So we watch him in the post-resurrection accounts speaking and acting oddly, mystically, differently... and healing with his wounds; I think that’s part of what Henri Nouwen was trying to say in his very popular book, “The Wounded Healer.” Reading the post-resurrection stories about Jesus, listen and watch him closely.
With both Francis and Padre Pio, the blood-soaked bandages were used by their contemporaries to heal (animals too w Francis) people and so, the precious blood became a miraculous salve. And when we were 10 years old being Confirmed by the Archbishop, he would lightly slap us on the cheek, with his gloved hand, to signify we’d better get ready to suffer for loving our faith. There was a costume-jewelry red jewel on each glove to signify the Wounds. It’s something symbolic, enigmatic, that has also stayed with me all these years.
This year Francis’ feast happens to fall on Yom Kippur, the Holy Day of Atonement. I wish Pope Francis would designate a Year of Francis, like he did with Joseph, so that we might be inspired by a Year of Atonement into ways of preserving Mother Earth.
In this detail from a very large painting with icons (“Viriditas: Finding God In All Things”) I did for The Environmental Sustainability Centre at Loyola University in Chicago, I began with the four figures at the bottom of the 10ft piece, Francis, Hildegard, the Child Jesus and Ignatius, all deeply rooted, grounded, nourished by the red earth of the Blood of Christ; the earth you might say, of the Sangre de Cristos. Then I worked my way up through Creation and into my poor attempt to picture the Holy Spirit bursting out of the void, (my picture of the Big Bang Theory !) to the Creator’s words “Let there be Light ...” (Genesis 1:3)
Dear Lord Jesus,
My wounds still hurt me, and sometimes others too.
I am slowly learning not to be ashamed of my wounds,
but to create with them-in-hand.
You kept the wounds even after you rose from the dead,
Why was this ?
Are we to learn to live with our wounds, no, even to
flourish with our wounds, just like you ?
Maybe this is the kairos time in the 21st Century
where we begin to see and do this.
O Dazzling Rider, Faithful and True, O Word of God,
Your radiant light though dipped in dark red, (Revelation 19:11) still causes sheer snow-blindness.
Warm our frozen hearts. Give us courage. Do not let us slip into heartlessness,
desolation and the blindness that comes from fear.
“Then we said, here we are Lord, send us! “ (Isaiah 6:7)
Amen
Fr William Hart McNichols, SFO 💮 October 2022

St Padre Pio - Mother Pelican

December 26th, 2023

St Padre Pio - Mother Pelican

St Padre Pio : Mother Pelican ( 25 May 1887 - 23 September 1968 )
“My Children, I am close to you. Closer than you can imagine. I am in contact with your mind and am directing your thoughts. I am close to your heart and am counting your heartbeats, so that with all in unison they might lift up a hymn of glory to God the Father Almighty.”
“Any mental pictures of your life that focuses on past sins is a lie and this comes from the devil. Jesus loves you and has forgiven you your sins, so there is no room for having a downcast spirit. Whatever persuades you otherwise is truly a waste of time. It is also something that offends the heart of our very tender Lover. On the other hand, if the mental picture of your life consists in what you can be or could be, then it comes from God.”
“My past, O Lord, to your mercy, my present, to your love, my future to your providence.”
“You will need the help of St Michael living in this world.”
“Invoke your Guardian Angel, who will enlighten and guide you for your protection, therefore, you should use him accordingly.”
“Don’t allow any sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely.”
“To be tempted is a sign that the soul is very pleasing to the Lord.”
“Once I take a soul on, I take on their entire family as my spiritual children.”
“Only one thing is necessary. Lift up your spirit and love God.”
“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”
“Let your whole life be spent in self-surrender, in prayer, in work, in humility, in giving thanks to our good God.”
“ Don’t spend your energies on things that generate worry, anxiety and anguish. One thing is necessary: Lift up your spirit and love God.”
“Abandon yourself in the hands of Mary. She will take care of you. I always pray for the sick. I say a holy Rosary for them. She will heal you.”
“Love Our Lady and make her loved. Always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible.”
“You must not be discouraged or let yourself become dejected if your actions have not succeeded as perfectly as you intended. What do you expect? We are made of clay and not every soil yields the fruits expected by the one who tills it. But let us always humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are nothing if we lack the Divine assistance.”
St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
In one of her books, perhaps “The Book of All Saints” I remember The Servant of God Adrienne von Speyr saying something like, the saints are especially available around their feast days. This seems only natural, as we think of loved ones who have passed on their birthdays and the anniversaries of they’re going into God.
Besides the obvious decorations and non-stop music in stores etc., no one has to tell you it’s the Christmas season. As kairos time gets closer to the 25th of December, you can actually feel the descent of the Holy Shekhinah; or what we call “the Christmas spirit.”
Padre Pio died on 23 September, and this year I thought I’d offer some of his quotes and I’d love them to encourage “your soul into Hope”. I mean real Hope. At the moment I’m back to reading some new books about him. I’ve read so many over the years, I’ll tell you which authors I’ve appreciateted so far. This only means that I haven’t gotten to everyone yet, not that they aren’t worthy. But since it’s Padre Pio season maybe you’ll join me in celebrating his incredible life. The man who promised, “After my death, I will do more. My real mission will begin after my death.”
Here are a very few that I know of :
Renzo Allegri, Bernard Ruffin, Graziella DeNunzio Mandato, Frank Rega, Diane Allen,
Adolfo Affatato, and two utter gems by Padre Alessio Parente.
There are so many books on Padre Pio, I don’t think in all my years, I’ve ever been disappointed. And recently Padre (hopefully) permanently zapped Shia LaBeof, while he was preparing to portray Padre in a new movie, released already on 9 September, although, sadly, with poor reviews. But at least, Padre’s reach into the mainstream culture has already begun. Maybe it will lead people to find out more about Padre? If you’re skeptical about Shia’s overwhelming conversion, I’d suggest reading James Fowler’s very realistic book called “Stages of Faith.” Sometimes a new convert can go very far right or left, and in maturity they will find their way. The reformed churches refer to this as a “walk with God” that continues to mature with time and, above all, hard earned wisdom. Isn’t this the way with all of us ?
Because the late compassionate, lovely, and kind late Archbishop James Casey of Denver, could not ordain me in June, the usual month for ordinations, I was providentially ordained on Padre Pio’s birthday, 25 May 1979. This has been a continually surprising grace throughout my 43 years as a priest.
This icon pictures Padre Pio holding a medallion of Jesus the Mother Pelican. This symbol comes from a medieval legend that if her chicks were starving, the Mother Pelican would open her side and feed them with her own blood. Both St Francis and Padre Pio were referred to as mother and father during their lives, by both men and women. When I finished the icon, I was hoping Padre would approve. Watching the video cassette (this was the 90’s) of his last Mass, September 22, 1968, as he turned around to leave the outdoor altar, being heavily supported by fellow Friars, I noticed on the back of his Chasuable, was an embroidered image of the Mother Pelican.
“Henceforth, let no one trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus.”
Galatians 6:17
“Dear Lord Our God,
You renewed the marks of the sufferings of your Son in the body of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina in order to inflame and heal our hearts with the fire of your love. Teach us always to glory in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.”
Fr William Hart McNichols ☦️ September 2022

The Mother of God Given Eagles Wings

December 26th, 2023

The Mother of God Given Eagles Wings

The Mother of God Given Eagle’s Wings (The Queenship of Mary * 22 August)
“But she was given the two wings like those of an eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.”
The Apocalypse (Revelation) 12:14
Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of The Queenship or Coronation of the Mother of God on the feast of the Maternity, or Pregnancy of Mary, 11 October 1954, in his Encyclical “Ad Caeli Reginam.” This is also the day Pope St John XXIII chose to convene, or open, Vatican Council II, in 1962; a Church pregnant with new life.
Pope Pius writes “we are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily
is almost destroyed by recurring crises.
Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a
Covenant of Peace?”
I love the Apocalypse and The Book of Tobit, and I often wish someone in the film industry would make animated films of both of these books. I think it’s the only way, even the best way, you can visualize them. It now seems odd that in 1954 the Holy Father would be speaking about daily peace being destroyed by recurring crises. Or even more odd, that in the 12th century Dr St Hildegard of Bingen, would warn her followers that if you attempt to destroy Mother Earth, God will allow the immense forces of Mother Nature to “fight back.” No matter how bad things have gotten (ie... in the AIDS Pandemic years) or now with multiple pandemics, catastrophes of nature, war in Ukraine, insurrections threatening democracies round the world ... I have this small pilot light in my soul that will not allow me to despair. I know this is a precious gift and I’m not one of those people who, I guess, are forced to be in denial and want to force everyone else to turn a blind eye toward evil. But if you read the Apocalypse, the final chapters are filled with the hope of a flowering tree with healing leaves for the nations. As I write this on the feast day of The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk, this tree of life was central to his vision. And like so many saints, he felt like a failure watching that tree wither. He thought it was his fault. St Francis felt the same grief of failure that he had not kept his followers together or reformed the Church. Adrienne von Speyr speaks this way about Jesus being brought out by Pontius Pilate, before the mob, mockingly dressed as a king with purple cloak, crown of thorns and a crude stick/scepter stuck in his bound hands. Just three years of public ministry and what seeds had he sown, what had he accomplished as Jesus Christ the King of the Universe?
Yet the tree/seed Jesus spoke of, is the tiny mustard seed growing into a very large tree. And most of his parables are about what Therese of Lisieux called “the little way” I like to call this the “little kingdom,” and the Buddhists call for any small “random act of kindness.” I mean, it’s most often the people at the gas station or the 7-11 where I get my vintage Kangaroo wine, that joke, smile and make my day. Or the relative or friend who calls out of the clear-blue, and showers love. It’s amazing how impressionable and childlike our souls can be.
Mary then is crowned Queen of exactly This World we struggle with now, and the one where our friends the saints live with all our deceased loved ones.
I must have over 100 (?) icons of Mary alone, Mary with the Child, Mary with the adult Jesus or Mary surrounded by her Holy Family. But tonite, I can only remember three of her with a crown. And tonite also I have fond memories of grade school May Crownings and us school children forming a powerful living Rosary. I think fondly too of the San Geronimo Taos Pueblo Church, where the Taos village women change Mary’s dresses seasonally. All these signs, gestures of affection, I know Our Mother sees.
I chose to show you my most troubled -Crowned -Mary from chapter 12 of the Apocalypse because contemplating her rescue and the rescue of her child, is where we live today. Mary then is crowned in the midst of her greatest danger, in this icon. Not sitting safely, in this particular icon, on a heavenly throne. I can’t help but see the immigrant women wading across the Rio Grande River carrying their children to a safer place ? Or the women of Ukraine with their children in dark, dank shelters or escaping along streets with their children dodging bullets or bombs. And if you really want to dive deeply into the suffering and triumph of women and their children pursued by the dragon, there is no better book I know of than the one my theologian friend Chris Pramuk introduced me to :
“The Female Face of God in Auschwitz : A Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust” by Melissa Raphael. It’s taking me forever to read, because I stop so often in utter amazement at the incredible strength and belief in hope against hope, of the brave surviving women she interviewed. Please trust me and find a copy of this book.
“God is the divine spark that constitutes the essence of humanity and must therefore survive. And as the divine spark in us, God is more powerful than ever, because the illuminating spark of the divine compels us to resist the dehumanizing logic of destruction and affirms our courage in the reality of the Apocalypse. What emerges, therefore, is the absolute, irrevocable interdependence of God and humanity/humanness. To remain human/humane, the individual must protect the ‘God’ part in her.; to remain divine,God must be protected and guarded by the individual.”
Rachel Felday Brenner (on the theology of Etty Hillesum )
Dear Mary Queen of the Universe
Crown all the brave and courageous women
who continue to hold up the fragile Earth.
Your watching your own Son, as he grew, taking
each tiny step, gives us a
pathway to finding the radiant truth.
Your prayer, as with Joseph, was
simply, full of wonder and immense joy
..... just to watch him.
You, whose life was formed first by your intimacy
with God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and then,
God, your Son.
Dearest Mother, keep us by your side
never let us be parted from you or the
Blessed Trinity living inside each
Human/Humane being.
Amen
Fr William Hart Dominic McNichols 💮 August 202

The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk

December 26th, 2023

The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk

The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk (1 December 1863 - 19 August 1950)
“Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; all over the sky a sacred voice is calling.”
Nicholas Black Elk
“A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky. “
Crazy Horse
“The voice of God, that has been my wish, that has been my desire.”
from the one woman play, “Julian” by Fr J Janda
Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces, but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave...”
1 Kings 19: 11-13
“God has prepared for you a birth so tremendous all language faints before its splendor. Trust those who know this because they have lived it, and forgive them their stammerings. Their mouths are burnt away by the blazing coal Truth has placed on their lips.”
Hadewijch of Antwerp
from “Love is Everything: A Year With Hadewijch of Antwerp” by Andrew Harvey
“I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God; I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Cry out therefore, and write thus !”
St Hildegard of Bingen at age 42
Three years ago I heard that Nicholas Black Elk was being considered for canonization, and so he received the title “Servant of God.” I was so excited that I painted this image for my fortieth anniversary of Ordination to the priesthood.
At the age of 22 I made a life changing retreat at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and my director, Fr John Staudenmaier, SJ, introduced me to a book of his visions, “Black Elk Speaks.” When I had a heart collapse 27 April 2012, I was in an induced coma for 2 weeks. After that I had to go to rehab until I was strong enough to go home and await open heart surgery on 6 June. During the 5 days of rehab, every night I’d listen on audible to “Black Elk Speaks.” His words were so soothing and healing for me. I cannot recommend this book enough; it is pure visionary poetry.
I had spent some time in Taos, at the Taos Pueblo and made some friends there. They told me that they weave or combine their Indian ways, with their Catholicism. From my study of Black Elk, this is what he did. Reminiscent of St Edith Stein, combining her Judaism, Feminism, Philosophy and Theology; never renouncing any part of her. It was her vocation to find a way of putting all this together. Black Elk was 67 years old when he agreed to tell the story of his visions to John Neihardt. Hildegard was 42 and getting sickness after sickness until she agreed to share her visions.
So many men and women writers have spoken of their fears about revealing themselves or any experience of God. This always reminds me of a scene in the film, “Yentl” where Yentl as a young woman is not allowed to study Torah. She coaxes her Rabbi father into teaching her. And he tells her to drape and close all the windows, and she says something like, “Papa, why ? God doesn’t care.” And he says “It’s not God I’m afraid of, it’s the neighbors.”
When I taught high school art and theology at Regis High in Denver, I’d ask the kids where they’d experienced God. And they would come out with the most amazing stories, usually in the vast Colorado nature. Later, when I was a chaplain in Manhattan in the AIDS Hospice, I read a book called “The Radiant Child.” In it the author interviewed people who had had experiences of God only to be told by a teacher, parent, or another significant adult, that it wasn’t real. This shut them down, sometimes for years.
This follows exactly the stories of the great visionary saints, Juan Diego, Bernadette, Margaret Mary, Faustina, and a very long list of people who have to rely on tremendous inner courage to speak. We all know the power of words to encourage, create, or destroy.
Yet we desperately need these accounts of touching into God to heal our planet, Mother Earth, (as St Francis called her) as well as her inhabitants ... us. Because the Romance languages have gender, Francis could say brother sun, sister water, etc. Old English had gender too which was dropped for some reason, by the time Julian of Norwich wrote in Middle English. I’ve often wondered if that’s why we can abuse nature because, the earth and animals are “its?”
Just one contemplative example for me. I have this paperback book by Adrienne von Speyr called “The Boundless God.” Adrienne was fond of calling God the “Ever-More.” On the cover is a beautiful photograph of the ocean or sea, and light is pouring down on her. It’s so powerful for me, I took it to FedEx and had it enlarged to 11” x 17” just to gaze into. I can’t get past chapter one yet because the cover says so much.
Here I’ll end with our Holy Father Pope Francis:
“...help us to show creative solidarity in addressing the consequences of this global pandemic. Make us courageous to embrace the changes that are needed in search of the common good. Now more than ever may we feel that we are all interconnected and interdependent. Enable us to listen and respond to the cry of the poor. May the present sufferings be the birth pangs of a more fraternal and sustainable world. Under the loving gaze of Mary Help of Christians. We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.
Amen”
Pope Francis from his encyclical inspired by St Francis, “Laudato Si’ “
Fr William Hart McNichols 🌱 💮 🌱 August 2022

St Ignatius and the Passion of the World in the 21st Century

December 26th, 2023

St Ignatius and the Passion of the World in the 21st Century

St Ignatius and the Passion of the World in the 21st Century
“Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within your wounds, hide me. Separated from you, let me never be. From the evil one, protect me. At the hour of my death, call me; bid me come to you. That with your angels and saints, I may praise you forever and ever. Amen”
St Ignatius Loyola: “The Anima Christi”
My dear friend and former provincial of the Missouri Province, Fr Dave Fleming, SJ, was holding a conference in St Louis concerning Ignatius and the Passion of Christ in the 21st. Century. He commissioned this icon around 2008, (?) for the conference.
I had to think about how to portray Ignatius and Christ. The Anima Christi has always been a favorite prayer of mine, and thousands of people.
I didn’t know at the time what was coming for our world, but I saw in my imagination, Ignatius holding up the world to Christ on the Cross, and 3 drops of blood from his right hand are about to fall into the world; “inebriate us, save us, sanctify us, wash us, strengthen us ... and your world.” As I look into this icon now, this is still my prayer today, for our world on fire.
In her “Revelations of Divine Love”, Lady Julian of Norwich was told by Jesus on the Cross, that the world was as little as a hazelnut, and that God would always protect her, Mother Earth, out of love. “...it lasts and ever shall, for God loves it... in this little thing, I saw three properties. The first is that God made it. The second is that God loves it. And the third, that God keeps it.”
St Padre Pio kept telling us over and over, in his lifetime, “I repeat that the temptations of jealousy, desperation, discouragement, distrust, etc. are works of the devil.”
Ignatian discernment is all about identifying which spirit is speaking in your head? The Buddha refers to this scramble as “monkey mind” or the “Yama, Yama.” Just today (and truthfully, quite often lately) my spirit was beginning to plunge, and I immediately felt the good spirit whispering, “Just look up!” Huge cirrrus and cumulus clouds were gathering over the Sandia mountains against the brilliant New Mexican turquoise sky. My spirit gasped at the sudden beauty. I thought of the quote of Dostoevsky that Dorothy Day loved, she, who saw daily, the harshness and injustice of the world; “Beauty will save the world.” How do we nurture this pilot light within; this flame of hope and love?
Ignatius counseled his companions to be Sure and have spiritual conversations, (meaning something about God) or to read something spiritual, like Holy Scriptures, the life of a saint, music that lifts your spirit - be it Stevie Wonder, “Rain Your Love Down,” Bach’s B-Minor Mass, “Wash Me Clean” by k.d. lang, or Joni Mitchell’s rendition of 1 Corinthians 13, “Love” ... or simply, humbly, pray the powerful Rosary. All these simple attempts are actually forms of prayer inspired by the Holy Spirit (“we do not know what to pray for ...” Romans 8: 26-27) and cause that pilot light within to become enflamed.
“Pray, even if you feel nothing, see nothing. For when you are dry, empty, sick or weak, at such times is your prayer Most pleasing to God, even though you may find little joy in it. This is true of all believing prayer.”
Lady Julian
“Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficultly, persevere in it for this is the very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and Love is not tried by ease and satisfaction...the endurance of darkness is the preparation for Great Light.”
St John of the Cross
“Behold, a sacred voice is calling you. All over the sky a sacred voice is calling.”
The Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk
“Act as if everything depended on you. Trust as if everything depended on God.”
St Ignatius Loyola
Happy Feastday of Holy Father St Ignatius!
Fr William Hart McNichols 💮 31 July 2022
(And, Happy Birthday Calvin Rupoli my dear niece’s brilliant son!)

 

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