The Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle.
Schneider, Victoria.
Scepter Publishers. 2018. Kindle Edition.
A dear priest friend recommended to me this little book summarizing the teaching of St. Manuel González, Bishop of Malaga and later of Palencia canonized in 2016, one of the confessors of the Church amidst all the tumult of early 20th Century Spain. The saint was born in Seville in 1877 and died at Madrid in January 1940.
Father classed as life-changing for him his encounter with the teaching of St. Manuel on the Holy Eucharist, so aptly laid out by Victoria Schneider. It is a beautiful book and I understand his point. For me, this first encounter with St. Manuel provided some invaluable insights into the true dynamics of keeping our Eucharistic Lord company in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle.
Much of what you read written by priests or seminarians about the daily holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament frankly leaves me perplexed, as the tone of the well-meaning descriptions of this exercise differ little from that of getting in your 100 pushups or sit-ups per day. As unfair as that jab may be, St. Manuel offers better.
That said, I will wholeheartedly encourage you to take and read. Victoria succeeds quite will in bringing out the greatness of heart of this holy priest and bishop, who was totally caught up in the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, waiting for us in the solitude of the Tabernacle.
St. Manuel's teaching can offer us a new handle for understanding the recent findings of the Pew Research Center on the small percentage of Catholics professing belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Saint rightly underlines the key role of priests in leading people to Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
As hard as it is for me to believe, I am already three weeks into my retirement and that will make three weeks at home here in Sioux Falls, come Sunday evening. My private chapel here in the house is still a work in progress. The sisters up at the Cathedral are busy sewing veils for my tabernacle and my altar is a loaner from the diocese. I have a carpenter working, but no timeline. Candles and sanctuary lamps stand at the ready. Hopefully, next week I can get a man in to help me hang the pictures to go on the wall. For now St. Kateri Tekakwitha has an honored place on a window sill, but hopefully in the not too distant future a pedestal to give her due prominence.
Despite the imperfections of the room, I have begun celebrating the Vetus Ordo exclusively here at home. In Switzerland I had found great consolation in the public celebration of both Pontifical High Masses and the Missa Praelatitia. Now I have this additional and incomparable joy.
Just yesterday I was overjoyed to learn that one of my sisters and her husband have found refuge in the Mass of All Ages. Yes, oh so gently, the Old Mass is unfolding its arms to embrace and draw God's People to their Eucharistic Lord. It is enough for me, Lord. Thank you for your wisdom and great kindness!
PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI
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