June 27, 2021

Dear St. Martin of Tours Family and Friends,

Many of you have noticed that I’ve been adding prayers and spiritual reflections in our bulletins. The reason ought to be obvious, but it’s still worth mentioning.

As a Family of God (which is what a parish is), our primary task is to sanctify our souls, first and foremost for our salvation, but also to become a channel of salvation for others. We need to take our salvation seriously! – Not as something to be taken for granted or assumed to be inevitable. By no means! We are told time and again in Scripture that the Way of Salvation is difficult as “through the narrow door” (Lk 13:24) or “the eye of the needle” (Mt 19:24).

On June 19, we celebrated the Feast of St. Romuald who over a thousand years ago established an order of hermits later called Camaldolese (named after the mountains where the first monastery was built). These hermits do their work in solitude, gardening, cleaning, baking, writing, reading, and praying.

Come to think of it, the events of 2020 forced us to live a bit like Camaldolese monks! But even now with the epidemic practically over, I am aware that many in our parish who desire a deeper union with God (which I do indeed hope is all of us!) could be helped by the wisdom of St. Romuald. So here is a brief “Rule of Life” composed by the great saint – just seven easy rules – which, if we choose to adopt them, can help us get closer to God.*

Sit in your cell as in paradise.
Put the whole world behind you and forget it.
Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish.
The path you must follow is in the Psalms—never leave it … take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart and to understand them with your mind.
And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up; hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.
Realize above all that you are in God's presence, and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor.
Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him.

Let us all, according to our state in life, try to live these ancient and useful practices of St. Romuald.

In Christ and Our Lady –

*From The Mystery of Romuald and The Five Brothers by Thomas Matus, O.S.B. Cam., A publication of Source Books and Hermitage Books, 1994.