Muñequitos Monasticos: Augustinian Canons

The Canons Regular of St. Augustine. I'm still unsure on their organization and origins, but I know they go back as far as some of the other ancient orders. They have such a unique habit that I had to illustrate them. In this case I based the caricature on the Canons of the Klosterneuburg Monastery. They wear a distinctive tie looking garment called a sarozium, like a scapular it drapes in the back as well as the front. The sarozium evolved from the rochet(demonstrated in the second figure). The canons remove the sarozium and replace it with a rochet when in the church. Particular to the professed canons at Klosterneuburg are the violet mozzetta with tassels for offices of the church and the tassels instead of fringes on the cassock's sash.

These are the third Canons Regular I've covered in this series, the others being the Crosiers and the Norbertines. If anyone is wondering what the Canons Regular are, they are essentially priest that live communally, like monks, following the Rule of St. Augustine.

San Mateo Evangelista

I posted the following last year, I used the representation of the inkwell for St. Matthew, the above is a more common representation. 

Today is the feast of Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew. He was a publican and tax collector before he followed Our Lord. Was the first to record the account and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Among his patronages are;  bookkeepers, security forces, and  tax collectors.


Sancte Matthæe, ora pro nobis

Guiseppe Desa

In the old Calendar today is the feast of one St. Joseph of Cupertino. At the age of eight he started having ecstatic visions which he continued to have the rest of his life. He was rejected by the Conventual Franciscans for "being to dumb" and after a brief stint dismissed by the Capuchin Franciscans "for being too clumsy" (having ecstasies out of nowhere will cause you to drop the odd plate here and there). He was eventually accepted into the Third Order by a Franciscan convent near Cupertino as a stable worker. Over time was able to win the friars over and accepted him as a full lay brother and despite not being well educated or able to read well, was ordained a priest. Along with his trances he also levitated, thus his most famouse attribute. His ecstasies and levitatios were too much and was kept out of sight until his death.

He's the patron for people associated with aviation and air travel, because of his miraculous levitations, but if you are not one of those book smart people and are doing your best to improve your education, or have a difficult test coming up, this is the saint for you. The Conventuals rejected him for his lack of education and was said to be a poor reader, yet he was able to be ordained as a member of the Catholic sacerdotal ranks.

For a fuller story check out this biography at EWTN.com. His early life was pretty depressing. He should also be the patron of people with difficult parents, for his mother was tough on him, especially after he was dismissed by the Capuchins. She wanted nothing to do with him, but then she was kind of the catalyst that got him back into religious life... still, she was a bit difficult. He also makes a great patron for those that have been asked to leave a religious community after it has been decided that it was not the life for them.

Santus Iosephus or pro nobis

Clip Art XXVIII

I tried to get this done for yesterday's Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, but problems with the program I was using made me recreate it on another program. The good news is I found a good temporary solution to my graphics creating problem, so I should be back to regularly posting stuff.

Here you have a stylized cross with the monogram of Our Lord's name in the center.

Click on the image to see it in full size, it's looks better.

BEER!

Inspired by my MS Paint creation from the last post, I created the following with an online program that will cease to exist this weekend, so it leaves me back to the search for a temp solution until my technical issues are remedied.

Salve

Not much stuff going on around here, I know.

I'm still working on getting a way to create graphics with out resorting to traditional means or MS paint.

This is what happens when I use MS Paint

Pax

On Entrances

Earlier this week another follower of this blog entered religious life. The first was Jairus, now Brother Jairus, a postulant with the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, who entered May of last year. He is doing well and is on his way towards the novitiate. Now it's Sister Lisa, who is now a postulant with the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist.

This fall I will lose another follower to the convent. I need to recruit more followers. I need to fix my computer. Bah, enough about me.

God bless you Sister Lisa.

The Reality of Entering

Original emblem from The Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church

From the Hopeful Bride's discernment blog

...

Hi there! Yeah I'm still here. I've been preparing for entrance by being as aggressive as I can with paying down my loans as well as being persistent in my fundraising efforts. I was working on a dinner in which one of the sisters would give a talk but it looks like the dinner won't be happening anytime soon. Initially I had planned on a dinner for October 22nd but with the need to get everything ready to enter as soon as possible, it does not look like I will be able to have a dinner any time soon. I am hopeful though that I can fundraise enough to be ready for entrance.

In other news, my discernment is going as can be expected. I went through a good week of anxiety and fear of the unknown shortly after I gave my boss official notice that I was leaving. We both knew that I was leaving but giving her my letter of resignation made it all too real and I got the gist of what I was doing. I didn't have any regrets or second thoughts but I didn't realize how much I needed to trust in the Lord as I continued to make steps to enter Religious Life.

So these last few weeks have been a wave of emotions for me as I prepare to face the unknown. I have experienced true happiness and joy at the anticipation of my entrance and the beginning of a life lived in Community. I have experienced anxiety when I think of the fact that I not only need to get additional items for my trousseau but also must be just about debt-free by the time I enter.

Last night in Adoration, I told the Lord that I was going to spend the next hour with him in silence and I barely made it. After about half an hour I wanted to pull out my rosary to pray the rosary and I just about did and I was reminded gently of my promise. Fifteen minutes after that I wanted to pull out my book to do some spiritual reading; it wasn't until the last ten minutes of Adoration that I finally decided to stop and silence my heart and mind and hear the Lord.

I have been soo looking forward to my entrance that I haven't been thinking too much about what it would be like. Now that's it's approaching, I think about it more and more and I realize that I won't be visiting anymore and I keep thinking and worrying about that. While I am exited on one hand, I can't help but be worried about "messing" up.

I wonder if this is how a new bride feels after the wedding, when she and her groom are finally under one roof and she suddenly feels as though she is under a microscope. I will never know since I have never been a new bride, but I do know that when I think of life in the convent I do feel as though it will be like living under a microscope; I don't want to "mess up" nor do I want to be unnatural. I guess I need to continue to remind myself to just be myself, just as I was on my previous visits.

I need your prayers now more than ever as I prepare for this very exciting and radical move especially as I work on eliminating my loans. Please consider making a donation or inviting someone to donate to support my vocation.

May God Bless you always,
Hopeful

Clip Art XXVII

A variation of Discalced Carmelite coat of arms. The motto reads "With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts." The shield represents Mt. Carmel and the Carmelites, the cross is a distinct to the Discalced order, the common observance Carmelites don't utilize it. The flaming sword represents Elijah, who serves as inspiration of the Carmelite life, the crown represents the Kingdom of God, and the 12 stars the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Technical Difficulties

My computer is in a coma, thus trapping all my files and denying me the autonomy to create new illustrations and graphics. I am relegated to borrowing a computer and other apparatus to get online, and none of those methods can handle my art rendering programs. So for an unknown amount of time this blog will be sparse in posts. I try to find other avenues to create images for the time being and will do some recycling and scrounging of older images I have around. Prayers that all this will e resolved sooner than later would be appreciated.

Pax

The Dormition of the Mother of God

...

*Assumption of Mary

All-powerful and ever-living God,you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goaland come to share her glory.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.– Amen. - From the Liturgy of the Hours 

*Originally posted Aug. 15, 2011

Which Crown?

Part of the idea behind the cross I created, which is my current profile pic, is based on a vision St. Maximilian Kolbe had. In his vision the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Maximilian holding two crowns, one white the other red. The white crown represented purity, the red one martyrdom. He said he would accept both.

My first exposure to St. Maximilian was in a book about Freemasonry. He had first hand experience of the Masonic dangers to the Church and wrote about it. From there I learned about this Conventual Franciscan's vision, his devotion to the Holy Mother, his use of media to evangelize and defend the Faith and his martyrdom in a Nazi concentration camp, in which he gave his life for another.

Sanctus Maximilianus, ora pro nobis.