I love learning about the saints, and
when I was looking up the saints for today I came across these 3 men who have
been beatified and who lived as Carthusian monks at the time of Henry VIII in
England. For practicing the Catholic
faith, they were put to death in 1537.
The Carthusians are an interesting
order. They were started in the 11th
century by St Bruno of Cologne. They live a very disciplined life of strict
silence, solitude, and prayer. They do
not go out into the world as missionaries or as pastoral ministers. I read recently where there are less than 500
Carthusian nuns and monks located in 25 different charterhouses in the world
today. The Carthusians do not allow visitors or retreatants to visit their
charterhouse. The only charterhouse existent in the United States is in
Vermont. In thinking about the
Carthusian martyrs we celebrate today, I cannot imagine anyone wanting to kill
such peaceful human beings who are dedicating their lives to prayer. We recognize their sacrifice of these 3
Carthusian monks today as they are now known as martyrs for our faith.
The psalmist states that the Lord is
kind and merciful, yet sometimes we are called to make sacrifices for the faith
and to suffer for our faith, to stand up for what is right. We give thanks for the witnesses for the
faith that we, including these 3 Carthusian monks that we honor today. We ask that their prayers help us on our
journey.
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