FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 28th APRIL – 5th MARCH 2024
This coming Sunday we listen to Jesus’ parable about the vine and, as usual, this connects to certain memories. For around 10 years I was secretary to the North European Conference of Passionists. In line with a restructuring of the Congregation in recent years, this is now referred to as the Configuration of Charles Houben (St Charles of Mount Argus) because the story of St Charles spans a number of provinces in North Europe. He, of course, was born at Munstergeleen in the Netherlands. This became the Passionist Province of Our Lady of Holy Hope. In Munstergeleen the old farmhouse where St Charles was born and grew up is now a beautiful shrine to St Charles, and indeed the two approved miracles that paved the way for the Beatification, and then the Canonization of St Charles, were the cures of two people from the Netherlands. Fr Charles’ Passionist formation took place at the newly established monastery at Eyre in Belgium, which became the Province of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Unfortunately, this province had to be dissolved in recent years due to aging and diminished membership. After ordination he came to England, which until very recently was St Joseph’s Province. He worked there with Irish immigrants in the wake of the famine. He was destined to return to England for a number of years after he was exiled from Ireland due to false stories that were spread about him, which the Archbishop of Dublin feared could be the cause of scandal. However, completely exonerated, he returned to Dublin for a second stint, and picked up his ministry of healing, hope and reconciliation which had begun before his exile. Ireland at that time was part of St Joseph’s Province, and it was only in 1927 that, combined with Scotland, it became St Pattrick’s Province. Now, ironically, because of aging and diminished numbers, St Joseph’s Province has now been subsumed into St Patrick’s Province. You may be bamboozled with all of that, but I imagine you can see why St Charles of Mount Argus is the obvious choice as the patron of our North European Configuration of Passionists.
My memory goes back to the mid 1990’s. I was, in my secretarial capacity, attending a meeting at our Passionist monastery in Bordeaux, at a place called Verdelais. A few years later the French Passionists would move from there to establish a House of Welcome and Hospitality in Lourdes. The monastery was surrounded by vineyards in the region of Entre Deux Mers, a beautiful Bordeaux wine-making area, located between the two rivers – the Garonne and the Dordogne. I remember that, in the little cemetery in Verdelais, the famous artist, Toulouse-Lautrec was buried. As was our custom at these meetings, a half-day was set aside for the host province to bring the provincials and delegates from the other provinces on a little outing. On this occasion, the French Passionists brought us to a local chateau for a wine tasting tour and visit. It was a very pleasant and informative experience. At the end of the tour, we were seated in a circle in a beautiful garden and were given two glasses of wine to sample. One, we were told, was a very expensive wine. The other was of a much cheaper variety. We were then asked to declare our preference. Almost all of us that day chose the much cheaper variety, which either goes to show that we were an unsophisticated lot, with no taste, or else that, unless you’re a bit of a connoisseur, for whom money is no object, don’t be tempted into paying too much for a bottle of vino, as you might actually prefer something that doesn’t hurt your pocket quite as much. Either way, it was a lovely day out, and a pleasant break from what was usually a very demanding few days of meetings, especially for the secretary, wrestling with the different languages and cultures of the various provinces. The Passionist map has changed a lot since then, with significant diminishment in some parts of the world, and growth in other parts. May God’s grace, and the Holy Spirit, continue to guide us moving on.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
This coming Sunday we listen to Jesus’ parable about the vine and, as usual, this connects to certain memories. For around 10 years I was secretary to the North European Conference of Passionists. In line with a restructuring of the Congregation in recent years, this is now referred to as the Configuration of Charles Houben (St Charles of Mount Argus) because the story of St Charles spans a number of provinces in North Europe. He, of course, was born at Munstergeleen in the Netherlands. This became the Passionist Province of Our Lady of Holy Hope. In Munstergeleen the old farmhouse where St Charles was born and grew up is now a beautiful shrine to St Charles, and indeed the two approved miracles that paved the way for the Beatification, and then the Canonization of St Charles, were the cures of two people from the Netherlands. Fr Charles’ Passionist formation took place at the newly established monastery at Eyre in Belgium, which became the Province of St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. Unfortunately, this province had to be dissolved in recent years due to aging and diminished membership. After ordination he came to England, which until very recently was St Joseph’s Province. He worked there with Irish immigrants in the wake of the famine. He was destined to return to England for a number of years after he was exiled from Ireland due to false stories that were spread about him, which the Archbishop of Dublin feared could be the cause of scandal. However, completely exonerated, he returned to Dublin for a second stint, and picked up his ministry of healing, hope and reconciliation which had begun before his exile. Ireland at that time was part of St Joseph’s Province, and it was only in 1927 that, combined with Scotland, it became St Pattrick’s Province. Now, ironically, because of aging and diminished numbers, St Joseph’s Province has now been subsumed into St Patrick’s Province. You may be bamboozled with all of that, but I imagine you can see why St Charles of Mount Argus is the obvious choice as the patron of our North European Configuration of Passionists.
My memory goes back to the mid 1990’s. I was, in my secretarial capacity, attending a meeting at our Passionist monastery in Bordeaux, at a place called Verdelais. A few years later the French Passionists would move from there to establish a House of Welcome and Hospitality in Lourdes. The monastery was surrounded by vineyards in the region of Entre Deux Mers, a beautiful Bordeaux wine-making area, located between the two rivers – the Garonne and the Dordogne. I remember that, in the little cemetery in Verdelais, the famous artist, Toulouse-Lautrec was buried. As was our custom at these meetings, a half-day was set aside for the host province to bring the provincials and delegates from the other provinces on a little outing. On this occasion, the French Passionists brought us to a local chateau for a wine tasting tour and visit. It was a very pleasant and informative experience. At the end of the tour, we were seated in a circle in a beautiful garden and were given two glasses of wine to sample. One, we were told, was a very expensive wine. The other was of a much cheaper variety. We were then asked to declare our preference. Almost all of us that day chose the much cheaper variety, which either goes to show that we were an unsophisticated lot, with no taste, or else that, unless you’re a bit of a connoisseur, for whom money is no object, don’t be tempted into paying too much for a bottle of vino, as you might actually prefer something that doesn’t hurt your pocket quite as much. Either way, it was a lovely day out, and a pleasant break from what was usually a very demanding few days of meetings, especially for the secretary, wrestling with the different languages and cultures of the various provinces. The Passionist map has changed a lot since then, with significant diminishment in some parts of the world, and growth in other parts. May God’s grace, and the Holy Spirit, continue to guide us moving on.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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