Making a Home for Jesus and Mary: Fr. Rale Pilgrimage 2018

They Have No Wine

Our Lady at the foundations of this diocese

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”– John 2:1-6

We know the rest of the story. Jesus tells the servers to fill six water pots with water and bring them to the headwaiter, who tastes them only to discover they have become wine.

The story you just heard has become a pattern over the centuries. There was a wedding feast in Cana and they ran out of wine. Mary saw that they were in need and she wasted no time. She knew who could help them. So she went to her Son and told Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus says, “What concern is this of mine?” but she won’t take no for an answer. She already knows He won’t refuse His mother. She simply ignores Him (as a mother would do) and then tells the waiters, “Do whatever He tells you.” She knows He will answer the prayer, so simply follow His instructions and all will be well. 

This has been Mary’s role throughout the centuries. Jesus knew what He was doing when He gave us His mother as our mother from the cross. Over and over again she has noticed our need, both material and spiritual and gone to her Son knowing that her prayer will not be refused. Then she tells us to do whatever He should tell us to do, to let Him use us as His instruments to work whatever miracles He wishes.

With that in mind, I want to bring you back to the year 1634. A young nun named Sr. Marie of the Incarnation had just finished her prayers and gone to bed when she had a dream. She is being led through a beautiful land to some destination, she knows not where. Finally, she arrives and what she sees has everything to do with our story. I want to read this excerpt from her journals to you:

Advancing within, I saw at some distance to my left a little church of wrought white marble, on top of which was the Blessed Virgin, seated on the pinnacle. She was holding the Child Jesus on her lap. This place was very elevated, and below it lay a majestic and vast country, full of mountains, of valleys, and of thick mists which permeated everything except the little building which was the church of this country.

The Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, looked down on this country, as pitiable as it was awesome.…I ran towards this divine Mother and stretched out my arms so that they touched the two ends of this little church on top of which she was seated. Eagerly I awaited some word from her. As she gazed upon this unfortunate country I could see her only from behind. Then I beheld her become supple and look at her Divine Child, to whom she silently intimated something important concerning myself. It seemed to me that she spoke about this country and about myself and that she had in mind some plan which involved me.

Marie says this country was pitiable and unfortunate. Why? Because the souls therein did not know Jesus. The Mother God sat atop this little church looking on it with sadness. They did not know her Son, they did not know the love and the joy He wished to pour upon them, and her heart. And so what did the Mother of God do? She whispered into the ears of her divine Child, “They have no wine. They need you. Who will bring you to them? Who bring them your love?” And in the midst of this conversation, Sr. Marie steps in. She knows they’re talking about her, she knows they have some plan, but she has no idea what it is.

What is this land that the Mother of God was so concerned for? What is this land that Sr. Marie (now St. Marie of the Incarnation) was shown? Months later, Sr. Marie had a vision in which Jesus appeared her. She writes:

One day, while my soul was in these dispositions, I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament when my spirit was of a sudden ravished in God. During this rapture the vast country which had already been shown to me in the manner I have described above was represented to me with all its circumstances. Then this adorable Majesty said to me, “It is Canada that I have shown you; there you must go to make a home for Jesus and Mary.”

Canada. Our Lady was praying for Canada. This could be presumptuous, but I would be willing to wager that Jesus did not have modern political boundaries in mind when He showed St. Marie this vast land. At the time of St. Marie, that vast land included most of what is now the state of Maine. Our Lady look out over, yes, Quebec and Montreal and saw souls being lost there, but also over Madawaska and Jackman and Bangor and Skowhegan. She was praying for us. And what was their mission for St. Marie?: to make a home here for Jesus and Mary.

Thus missionaries began being called to this frontier wilderness to bring the gospel to native Americans who had never heard it before. When you look at the stained glass windows of the church, it’s like watching the conversation between Jesus and Mary on that hill unfold before our eyes. The earliest priests depicted there are Fr. Pierre Biard and Fr. Enemond Masse who founded the first Catholic mission on Mount Desert Island in 1614. The mission began when a child was miraculously cured after having been baptized and it ended when an English ship raided the mission and took Fr. Biard prisoner. Fr. Gabriel Druillettes continued the work of making a home here for Jesus and Mary. Seeing the joy of tribe members who had embraced the faith in Canada, Abenakis on the Kennebec begged that a priest be sent to them so that they could receive the sacraments. For two years Fr. Gabriel sent to them and he founded the mission of the Assumption in Augusta and the Norridgewock mission that Fr. Rale would later become pastor of. And finally we come to Fr. Rale, the first permanent pastor of the Norridgewock tribe. These men were an answer to Our Lady’s prayer. She saw the needs of this territory, she saw we had no wine, and her prayers to her Son were answered.

Today, we’re going to follow the life of Fr. Sebastian Rale who was one of these missionaries sent to bring the love of Jesus to the state of Maine. We’re going to meditate on his example and the lessons he can teach us about how to live as Christians. But we’re going to do more than just that. We are going with Mary to Jesus to tell Him, “We have no wine,” that souls are thirsting for Him in the state of Maine and they don’t even know it. And after that what will we do? We will ask Jesus for the grace to do just what Our Lady asked and do whatever He tells us, so that we can be His instrument in this great plan of His for the state of Maine.

For the next thirty minutes, you’ll have some time to talk to Jesus and prepare yourself for the journey you’re about to undertake. You can see in the program there are reflection questions. I would encourage you to reflect a little about your needs, the needs of your family and the needs of this state. When you’re ready, I would encourage you to approach the altar and kneeling face to face before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, lay those needs before Him.

The second step, to do whatever He tells us, will be difficult and so I would ask you to then pick up both a Miraculous Medal and a rosary. The Miraculous Medal was given to us by Our Lady in 1830, who promised great graces to those who wore it around their neck. The Miraculous Medal is Our Lady’s shield for you in the spiritual battle, the rosary is her weapon. If you offer yourself to the service of Jesus, you’ll find you use both quite a bit. Once you have taken one of each, I would encourage you to say the prayer printed in the program and then return to your seat.

Again, you’ll have thirty minutes. I would encourage more than one person to go at a time, otherwise we will run out of time before the thirty minutes are up. After those thirty minutes, a bell will ring and we will begin a rosary with Fr. Rale.

Who Does This Land Belong To? 

Making a home for Jesus and Mary in Maine

Thus we come to the end of the story. Jesus is taken down from the cross and placed in the arms of His mother, who loved Him more than anyone. Fr. Rale’s body is taken in the arms of his flock, who loved him more than anyone.

Some say that no one knows where they buried his body since the body was hidden to keep it from being desecrated. According to the account by his superior, his body was buried here, beneath the altar where Fr. Rale stood at the foot Calvary in the Mass every day before he went to his own Calvary. A hundred years later, Bishop Benedict Fenwick bought this land and erected a monument in honor of this devoted pastor. Interestingly enough, when you look at the deed to the land, Bishop Fenwick bought the land for 100 pieces of silver, the same price that was set on Fr. Rale’s head by the English.

What can we learn from this? What I first like to point out is that this conflict that led to Fr. Rale’s death runs deeper than might first meet the eye. At first glance, you might think this was all a fight over land rights. After all, when you look at the wars that preceded the Norridgewock massacre, they’re all disputes over who has the rightful claim to this land east of the Kennebec. But I would argue something else is going on. This is still a dispute over land rights, but at its core it wasn’t about whether the land belonged to the Indians or the English. At its core, this was about whether or not this land belonged to Jesus Christ.

Think back to the beginning of this pilgrimage. What was the mission given by Jesus and Mary to St. Marie of the Incarnation? To make a home here for Jesus and Mary. What was Fr. Rale doing here? He was making a home for Jesus and Mary among the people of Maine. He was preaching the gospel to them and making room for Jesus in the hearts of the Norridgewock tribe. He was building churches, one in honor of Mary, where Jesus would take up his abode, body, blood, soul and divinity. He was insisting on the law given to us by God, that Jesus might be the ultimate ruler of this land.

Now look at the sins the English fell into. First, they rejected Jesus’ rule and His laws. They thought they had justice on their side because they could trot out legal technicalities that made it look like this land belonged to them, but they did so by ignoring a law that was higher than their treaties and contracts. Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet they neighbors’ goods, thou shalt not kill are not subject to revision by human beings. These are laws given to us by God and their observance is commanded by Jesus Christ. But the English ignored them.

Then when they had snubbed Jesus’ commands, they tried to drive Jesus Himself from this land. They began by outlawing all priests. The very men Jesus had appointed to make Himself present, body, blood, soul and divinity they banned. The very men Jesus had appointed to be instruments of His mercy in the sacrament of confession, they banned. And if a priest of Jesus Christ were caught within New England territory, he would either be imprisoned for life or killed.

When they had driven Jesus from New England, they then attacked Him in Norridgewock. The church that Fr. Rale had been so careful to decorate, to make it a fitting home for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, they burned down three times. The first two times they did this, Fr. Rale had removed the Blessed Sacrament to protect Our Lord from abuse. But the third time, the pastor was not there to intervene. They had already killed him. They went to the tabernacle and abused Our Lord’s sacred body and then burned His house.

You see? This wasn’t a fight about whether the land belonged to the English or the Indians. This was a fight about whether this land belonged to Jesus Christ.

This land belongs to Jesus. The people of Maine have been purchased by Jesus Christ when He shed His blood and died for them. Whether they realize it or not, these people and this land belong to Him.

This land belongs to Mary. When He died on the cross, Jesus gave us Mary as our Mother: “Behold thy Mother!” She is queen of Heaven and Earth and she has a special love for Maine. She has been praying for this land for centuries, that her Son might have a home here. She has adopted us as our patroness and our diocese is dedicated to her under the title of the Immaculate Conception.

This land belongs to Jesus and Mary and it’s time we made a home for them here. In this time when families are falling apart, it is time that the people of Maine knew that they have a mother and her name is Mary. She has been praying for them since before they were born. She continues to pray for us and be a mother to all the people of this state.

In this time of political division, it is time that the people of Maine knew that they have a king to whom they owe their ultimate allegiance and His name is Jesus Christ. He is their savior, His laws and policies are just, and it is Him that they should serve.

The work begun by men like Fr. Rale, to make a home for Jesus and Mary in the state of Maine, is not yet finished. Now it is our turn. Let us go with Mary to Jesus and tell Him that the people of Maine have no wine. Then let us do whatever He tells us.

Fr. Rale Pilgrimage 2018: Prayers and Reflections

Following Our Lady to the Foot of the Cross 

Fr. Rale Pilgrimage, August 11th, 2018 

An Introduction to Fr. Sebastian Rale – Louise Ketchum Hunt

Louise Ketchum Hunt is the author of the most recent book on Fr. Rale, In the Shadow of the Steel Cross published in 2015. Her book weaves historical information and oral tradition passed on by the native Americans of Maine into a compelling narrative, giving a window into aspects of Fr. Rale’s life and character not covered by traditional sources. A native of Maine, Mrs. Hunt and her husband currently live in Alabama.


Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

O salutaris Hostia,
Quæ cæli pandis ostium:
Bella premunt hostilia,
Da robur, fer auxilium.

Uni trinoque Domino
Sit sempiterna gloria,
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in patria.

Amen.

Opening Reflection: They have no wine

A Reading from the Gospel of John

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” – John 2:1-6

Questions for Reflection

You will have about thirty minutes for prayer and reflection. In that time, I would ask you to reflect on the questions below: 

1. What are the needs of my family that I want to bring before Jesus? What are the needs of my community? The needs of the people of this diocese and this state?


2. Am I prepared to do whatever Jesus asks of me? Do I trust Him enough to follow wherever He should lead, however mundane or extraordinary?


When you are ready, you may go to kneel before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Ask Our Lady to go with you and bring your needs to Jesus with her. Once you have brought your intentions to Jesus, take a rosary and a Miraculous Medal (we will use both throughout the pilgrimage) and say the following prayer:

Mary immaculate, patroness of this diocese, I entrust my needs and petitions to you and ask you to bring them to your Son. Please pray for the needs of the state of Maine, for the conversion of souls and for my own conversion. I offer myself in service to whatever designs your Son may have for me. Pray for me, that I may have the courage to do whatever He tells me.

A Rosary with Fr. Rale

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; Born of the Virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; Was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into Hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; And is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

- I believe in the Holy Spirit; The Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father, Who art in heaven Hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

- Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

- Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen. (3X)

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

- As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen


1st Mystery: The Annunciation

We pray for the grace to say yes to God’s call

From the papal bull Regimini militantis ecclesiae (1540) describing the Jesuit’s fourth vow of special obedience to the pope

Whatever the present or other Roman pontiffs order that concerns the saving of souls and the spread of the faith, and to whatever provinces he shall wish to send us, this let us strive to accomplish as far as in us lies, without any turning back or excuse; whether he shall send us to the Turks, or to any other infidels, even those living in the lands that are called the Indies; or to any heretics or schismatics, or believers, whatever. Wherefore let those that are about to join us consider long and well, before they put their shoulders to this task, whether they have enough grace for good deeds to mount this citadel at the command of their superiors; that is, whether the Holy Spirit that urges them promises to them enough grace to enable them with God’s help to bear the weight of this calling.

Reflection

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she did not know everything God was asking of her. She did not know that Joseph would consider divorcing her, that she would have to flee to Egypt with her child, or that her child would be cruelly beaten and nailed to a cross. All she knew was God was calling her and she would say yes to whatever He asked: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy Word.”

When Fr. Rale took the fourth vow to go wherever the pope should ask, he did not know what God had in store for him. He did not know where he would be assigned, what he would eat, what language he would speak, or what joys and dangers might await him. All he knew was that God was calling him through His vicar on earth, and he would resolve to go wherever God called. Let us ask Our Lady for a great trust in God’s providence, that we may always say yes to Him and follow wherever He should lead us.

Let us pray.

Mary, humble handmaid of Almighty God, ask your Son Jesus to grant us an unbounded confidence in His plan for our lives. Pray for us, that in trusting Him absolutely, we might never hesitate to say yes to Him and follow Him wherever He should call.
Our Father…

Hail Mary… (10X)

Glory be…


2nd Mystery: The Visitation

We pray for the grace necessary to make God’s love known far and wide

From Fr. Rale’s address to the Amalingan tribe (c. 1700)

My children, for a long time I have desired to see you; now that I have this happiness, my heart is almost bursting. Think of the joy that a father has who tenderly loves his children, when he sees them again after a long absence in which they have run great dangers, and you will conceive a part of mine. For, although you do not yet pray, I nevertheless look upon you as my children, and have for you a father’s tenderness, — because you are the children of the Great Spirit, who has given life to you, as well as to those who pray; who has made Heaven for you as well as for them; who thinks of you as he thinks of them and of me; and who desires that all should enjoy eternal happiness. …If you have insurmountable obstacles to prayer, and if, remaining in the condition in which you are, I were able to make you enter into Heaven, I would spare nothing in order to procure for you this happiness. I would urge you on, I would make you all enter there, so much do I love you, and so much do I desire that you should be happy; but that is not possible. You must pray, and you must be baptized, that you may be able to enter that place of delight.

Reflection

Mary went in haste to her cousin Elizabeth to confirm that the angel’s words were true. When Elizabeth confirms for Mary what the angel told her, Mary cannot contain her joy. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…for He has remembered His promise of mercy!” God’s love is so powerful that when we encounter it, we cannot hold it in. We have to make His love known to everyone we meet.

That is what Fr. Rale is doing in New France: proclaiming the greatness of the Lord to those who have not heard the good news. He holds back nothing. He doesn’t worry about how his message will be received or whether he will be rejected but boldly lets them know how much they are loved by God.

Let us pray to Mary, that like her nothing might hold us back from making God’s love known far and wide.

Let us pray.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, ask your Son Jesus to set our hearts on fire with His love. Aflame with His love, pray that Jesus might give us the grace to make that love known in our families, in our local communities and throughout the state of Maine.

Our Father…

Hail Mary… (10X)

Glory be…


3rd Mystery: The Nativity

We pray for a spirit of poverty

From Fr. Rale’s letter to his brother (1723)

The thing which most shocked me when I began to live among the Savages, was being obliged to take my meals with them; for nothing could be more revolting. When they have filled their kettle with meat, they boil it, at most, three-quarters of an hour, — after which they take it off the fire, serve it in basins of bark, and distribute it among all the people who are in their cabin. Each one bites into this meat as one would into a piece of bread. This spectacle did not give me much appetite, and they very soon perceived my repugnance. “Why aren’t you eating?” they said. I answered that I was not accustomed to eat meat in this manner, without adding to it a little bread. “You have to get over yourself,” they replied; “is that so hard for a Patriarch who thoroughly understands how to pray? We ourselves overcome much, in order to believe that which we do not see.” Then it was no longer a time to deliberate; we must indeed conform to their manners and customs, so as to deserve their confidence and win them to Jesus Christ.

Reflection

When God became man, He took on our poverty. He chose to be born in a stable, poor like the poor He came to care for. Next to Him in that stable was Mary. She had yes to God and she would follow His call wherever it led, even to poverty, to giving birth in a stable.

When Fr. Rale said yes to going to the Abenakis, he took on their customs, their manners and yes, even their poverty. He would live with them and like them. He spent countless hours learning a language that was foreign and difficult for him. He learned to eat their food, even though it turned his stomach. When they were hungry, he was hungry. Living among them, he chose to share both their joys and their sorrows. He followed Christ call, for better or for worse.

Are we willing to follow Christ without counting the cost? Are we willing to love Christ and our neighbor, even when it requires that we sacrifice some of our comforts? Pray to Mary, that she might gain for us a spirit of poverty.

Let us pray.

Mary, mother of Jesus, you gave birth to the king of kings in poverty. Pray for us, that He might be our one true possession and that all our worldly belongings might be placed at His disposal, to be used for love of Him and our neighbor.

Our Father…

Hail Mary… (10X)

Glory be…


4th Mystery: The Presentation

We pray for the grace to love until it hurts

From Fr. Rale’s letter to his nephew (1722)

This accommodating spirit of the Savages emboldened the English to settle all along the river without asking consent; they built houses and erected forts, three of which were of stone… But at last — seeing themselves gradually, as it were, surrounded by English settlements — they began to open their eyes, and to become suspicious. They asked the English by what right they had thus settled in their territory, and had even constructed forts therein. The answer that was given them — to wit, that the King of France had ceded their country to the King of England — threw them into the greatest alarm; for there is not one savage Tribe that will patiently endure to be regarded as under subjection to any Power whatsoever; it will perhaps call itself an ally, but nothing more. Therefore the Savages immediately sent a few of their number to Monsieur the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor- general of New France, to inquire if it were true that the King really had thus disposed of a country of which he was not master.

Reflection

Imagine how much it hurt her to hear Simeon’s words, “This child shall be a sign of contradiction and your heart shall be pierced as with a sword.” She knew then that her Son would suffer. This would break the heart of any mother, but for Mary whose pure heart loved Jesus more than anyone will ever know, seeing her Son suffer would cause her unbearable suffering, it would pierce her heart like a sword.

So too, imagine what it was like for Fr. Rale to hear the news that the Treaty of Utrecht had been signed. The English were claiming that the King of France had given Indian lands to the English, making his flock English subjects, bereft of their ancestral heritage. He could see the abuses that awaited his flock and the almost certain war that would break out. He did not take this as his cue to leave or think of his own welfare; no, he loved his tribe so much that their troubles broke his heart and bound him to their fate.

Do we dare love that deeply? Does the suffering of those we love pierce of our hearts? Or do we guard our hearts precisely to keep them from breaking? Pray to Mary, that Jesus might give us tender hearts and sustain us through difficult moments.

Let us pray.

Immaculate heart of Mary, pierced with a sword, ask your Son Jesus to make our hearts tender. May they bleed for those who suffer, for those who are unknown and unloved, who do not know your Son. And may our hearts suffer for love of Him, whose greatest sadness is that His love is not returned.

Our Father…

Hail Mary… (10X)

Glory be… 

5th Mystery: Jesus Cleanses the Temple

We pray for the virtue of fortitude

From Fr. Rale’s Letter to Captain Moody (1720)

I’m presently composing an ample writing about these things to send to the King of France, that he see what I do to preserve my Indians in their land and prayers which depend thereon…I’ll cause my book to be printed, presented to the King and the public, that it may be seen what I do for my children. Shall they be cheated, driven from their lands and prayers, and shall not I counsel and defend them? They shall sooner take away my life than hinder me! The book shall be embellished with figures of rhetoric, epigrams, poetry, etc. A Jesuit is not a Baxter, or a Boston minister.

I’ll describe how the English treat the Indians, killing them and their dogs (dearer to him than his oxen.) [How he] would govern them, possesses his land without his consent to his own great profit, and when the Indian says to the English, “Why are you doing this?” the answer is, “I’m offended – your priest told you to say that!”

Reflection

Jesus was patient with the penitent sinner, but fierce with the unrepentant. In seeing His Father’s house turned into a den of thieves, Jesus grabbed a whip and drove the money changers out of the Temple. He would not tolerate such evil and thus the scribes and the Pharisees began making plans to have Him killed.

So too when Fr. Rale saw his flock mistreated, members of the tribe kidnapped and held for exorbitant ransom, land stolen, and tribe members cheated, he could not remain silent. Fr. Rale repeatedly stood up to the English. This boldness of his caused a price to be put on his head.

Pray to Our Lady, that we might have courage in standing up for justice and remain steadfast in facing our crosses.

Let us pray.

Our Lady Mirror of Justice, you have a special love for the poor and oppressed. Pray that we might not be silent in the face of evil but may we be instruments of your Son, that His light might shine in the darkness and justice may be done.

Our Father…

Hail Mary… (10X)

Glory be… 

Benediction

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Præstet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et iubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.
Amen.


℣. You have given them bread from heaven.

℟. Having within it all sweetness.

℣. Let us pray. O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever.

℟. Amen.

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ,
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.


Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God

- That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

- Amen.

At this point we will travel to the site of the Narantsouack Mission on Old Point in Madison, Maine. We will begin the procession there by 11:00 AM. Altar servers: please pick up your cassock and surplice now in the back of Notre Dame Church and be vested and at the start of the path at The Pines park on Father Rasle Road by 10:50 AM.

Directions

To get to Madison, turn left on Water Street then fork right onto Commercial Street. When you come to the intersection of Commercial and Madison, go straight onto Elm Street. Elm Street will turn into Norridgewock Avenue which will turn into River Road. You will be on this stretch about five miles.

River Road will intersect with Rt. 201A. Turn right onto Rt. 201A. After 6.3 miles you will make a sharp left onto Father Rasle Road (coming from the other direction, it would be right fork.) If you reach a neighborhood or downtown Madison, you have overshot. On the right side of the road is a park called The Pines. Find a place on the side of the road to park and meet us at the beginning of the park, closest to 201A.

Fr. Rale’s Way of the Cross 

Old Point, Madison, Maine 

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. – Matthew 5:11-12

1st Station: Jesus Is Condemned

From An Act against Jesuits & Popish Priests (1700)

Whereas Jesuits, Priests and Popish Missionaries have of and for some time have had their residence in the remote parts of this Province [Massachusetts], and other of His Majesties Territory's near adjacent; who by their subtle information, industriously labor to debar, seduce and withdraw the Indians from their due obedience unto His Majesty, and to excite and stir them up to sedition, rebellion and open hostility against His Majesty’s government. For prevention whereof…be it enacted that all and every Jesuit…who shall continue, abide, remain or come in to this Province, or any part thereof, after the tenth day of September aforesaid, shall be deemed and accounted an incendiary, and disturber of the public peace and safety, and an enemy to the true Christian religion, and shall be adjudged to suffer perpetual imprisonment. And if any person being so sentenced and actually imprisoned, shall break prison and make his escape, and be afterwards retaken, he shall be punished with death.

Reflection

Those who live in the darkness hate the light. Jesus’ preaching did not endear Him to the Pharisees and in the end His criticism of them led them to falsely accuse Him and hand Him over to Pilate.

So too Fr. Rale’s protestations against the English colonists did not endear him to them either. They refused to listen. They refused to acknowledge the rights of the Abenaki nations and would not have themselves accused of wrongdoing by a popish priest. Therefore, they resolved to get rid of Fr. Rale by whatever means necessary and in 1720 placed a price on his head.

Imagine Our Lady’s sorrow at both of these condemnations. Pray to her who was mother to both of them as they journeyed to Calvary hill.

Let us pray.

Mary, you had to look on as the world hated your Son and falsely accused Him who gave His life for love of them. You’ve had to look on as His followers have suffered the same hatred. Pray for us when the world hates us, that we might bear the name of Christian proudly and remain faithful to Christ.

At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last. 

For the sake of His sorrowful passion

- Have mercy on us and on the whole world. (10X)

Eternal Father, I offer you the body, blood, soul, divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ

- In atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.


2nd Station: Jesus Takes Up His Cross

From Fr. Rale’s letter to his nephew (1722)

My Neophytes moved by the danger to which I am exposed in their Village, often urge me to retire for a little time to Quebec. But what will become of the flock, if it be deprived of its Shepherd? Death alone can separate me from them. They tell me, but to no purpose, that in case I fall into the power of their enemy, the least that can happen to me will be to linger out the rest of my days in wretched imprisonment; I shut their mouths with the words of the Apostle, which divine goodness has deeply impressed upon my heart. I say to them: “Do not be anxious about that which concerns me. I do not fear the threats of those who hate me when I have not deserved their hatred; and I do not consider my life more precious than myself, so that I may finish my course, and the ministry of the word which has been entrusted to me by the Lord Jesus.” Pray to Him, my dear nephew, that He may strengthen in me this feeling, which comes only from His mercy, in order that I may live and die working unceasingly for the salvation of these neglected souls, who were bought with His blood and whom He has deigned to commit to my care.

Reflection
Though sinless, Jesus had a choice: He could have refused the cross. Had He done so, our salvation would be in jeopardy. But Jesus didn’t. He loved us so much that He even embraced the cross, so that we might be saved.

So too, as the danger increased, Fr. Rale had a choice to make. He could leave, and his tribe would not blame him. But Fr. Rale loved them too much to do that. Who would care for their souls, who would bring them the sacraments if they no longer had a priest? No; love compelled him to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever He might be leading.

Let us pray.

Mary, when Jesus left you to begin His ministry, you knew He was leaving to go to the cross. While it broke your heart, you let Him go for the good of souls. Pray for us as we take up our own crosses. Pray that we might learn to embrace them like your Son and offer them out of love for Him and for our neighbor.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.


For the sake of His sorrowful passion

- Have mercy on us and on the whole world. (10X)

Eternal Father, I offer you the body, blood, soul, divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ

- In atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.


3rd Station: Jesus Carries His Cross

From Fr. Rale’s letter to his brother (1723)

Two Savages came in haste to my quarters to inform me that they had seen the English at the distance of half a day’s journey. “Our father,” said they, “there is no time to lose; you must go away, you would risk too much in remaining here. As for us, we shall wait for the enemy and perhaps we shall go to meet them. The runners are setting out at this very moment to watch for them; but, as for you, you must go to the Village with these people whom we have brought to conduct you there. When we have learned that you are in a place of safety, we shall be at ease.”

I departed at daybreak with ten Savages who served me as guides; but, after a few days’ journey, we came to the end of our small stock of provisions…In the meantime, we came to a Lake which was beginning to thaw, and where there were already four inches of water on the ice. We were obliged to cross it with our snowshoes on; but as these snowshoes are made of strips of skin, as soon as they were wet they became very heavy and rendered our walking much more difficult. Although one of our men went in advance of us to sound the way, I suddenly sank knee-deep; another man, who was walking by my side, suddenly sank waist-deep, crying out: “My father, I am a dead man!” As I was approaching him to give him my hand, I myself sank still deeper. Finally, it was not without much difficulty that we extricated ourselves from this danger, on account of the impediment caused us by our snowshoes, of which we could not rid ourselves. Nevertheless, I ran much less risk of drowning than of dying from cold in the middle of this half-frozen Lake.

Reflection

Let no one romanticize the cross and think that just because it comes from God, it is not heavy. Even Jesus fell three times under the weight of the cross. So heavy was the weight of our sins.

Fr. Rale’s cross too was no joking matter. For several years he lived under the constant threat of attack and in at least one case, his attempt to escape led him to nearly die of starvation, drowning, and exposure.

Those who embrace the cross do so out of love. But that does not mean it is not heavy. Let us pray to Jesus, that He might walk to Calvary with us and help us when we are too weak to bear its weight.

Let us pray.

Mary, you saw your Son struggle towards Calvary hill, born down by the weight of the cross. You watched as your missionaries struggled to remain at their posts, to persevere in the crosses your Son gave them. Pray for us, that we might persevere in carrying our crosses, not on our own strength but relying on the grace of your Son.

For the sins of His own nation,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
All with bloody scourges rent.


For the sake of His sorrowful passion

- Have mercy on us and on the whole world. (10X)

Eternal Father, I offer you the body, blood, soul, divinity of your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ

- In atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

4th Station: The Crucifixion

From a letter by Fr. De la Chasse, Jesuit superior (1724)

After many acts of hostility had been committed on both sides by the two Nations, a little army of Englishmen and their Savage allies, numbering eleven hundred men, unexpectedly came to attack the Village of Nanrantsouak. The dense thickets with which that Village is surrounded helped them to conceal their movements; and as, besides, it was not enclosed with palisades, the Savages were taken by surprise, and became aware of the enemy’s approach only by a volley from their muskets, which riddled all the cabins….

Father Rale, warned by the clamor and the tumult of the danger which was menacing his Neophytes, promptly left his house and fearlessly appeared before the enemy. He expected by his presence either to stop their first efforts, or, at least, to draw their attention to himself alone, and at the expense of his life to procure the safety of his flock.

As soon as they perceived the Missionary, a general shout was raised which was followed by a storm of musket-shots that was poured upon him. He dropped dead at the foot of a large cross that he had erected in the midst of the Village, in order to announce the public profession that was made therein of adoring a crucified God. Seven Savages who were around him, and were exposing their lives to guard that of their father, were killed by his side.

Reflection

Thus ends the long journey to Calvary. Jesus cries out, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, breathes His last.

But notice who is there with Him when He dies. It is not Peter nor any of the apostles save one. It is His Mother who follows Him all the way to Calvary and had been following Him from the very moment she received that joyful call from the angel Gabriel.

So too, Our Lady had been with this mission from the very beginning when Fr. Biard first preached to native Americans on the Kennebec, when Fr. Druillettes founded the mission on the Kennebec and named it after her Assumption, when Fr. Rale built a beautiful chapel in her honor along the banks of the river. She had been here all along and she was there in its final moments, as the English killed their missionary and burned their village to the ground.

Prayer

Everyone is invited to stand or kneel at the monument at the site of the Norridgewock church and the place where some believe Fr. Rale to be buried. This is an opportunity to call on the intercession of Fr. Rale and bring whatever intentions you have before Jesus. After a period of silence, we will recite the follow prayer together.
Mary, grant that I may stand by you at the foot of the cross. Ask Jesus to give me the faith to never doubt His love for me. Ask Jesus to give me the hope to persevere in serving Him, even in times of difficulty. And ask Him to give me perfect charity that my heart might set on fire with His love and radiate His light out to the whole world.

By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.


5th Station: Jesus Is Laid in His Mother’s Arms

From a letter by Fr. De la Chasse, Jesuit superior (1724)

The death of the Shepherd dismayed the flock; the Savages took flight and crossed the river, part of them by fording, and part by swimming. They were exposed to all the fury of their enemies, until the moment when they retreated into the woods which are on the other side of the river. There they were gathered, to the number of a hundred and fifty. From more than two thousand gunshots that had been fired at them only thirty persons were killed, including the women and children; and fourteen were wounded. The English did not attempt to pursue the fugitives; they were content with pillaging and burning the Village: they set fire to the Church, after a base profanation of the sacred vessels and of the adorable Body of Jesus Christ.

The precipitate retreat of the enemy permitted the return of the Nanrantosouakians to the Village. The very next day they visited the wreck of their cabins, while the women, on their part, sought for roots and plants suitable for treating the wounded. Their first care was to weep over the body of their holy Missionary…After these devout Christians had washed and kissed many times the honored remains of their father, they buried him in the very place were, the night before, he had celebrated the holy Sacrifice of the Mass – that is, in the place where the altar had stood before the burning of the Church.


Final Reflection: Who does this land belong to?

Prayer for the Beatification of Fr. Rale

Eternal Father, grant that Sebastian Râle, martyr of the faith among the Abenakis of Maine, will be raised to the altar of the blessed. Through his intercession, we pray that your divine favor will be manifest among us so that we may return praise to your eternal glory. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit One God world without end. Amen.


Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs

- Pray for us

Our Lady of the Americas

- Pray for us

O Mary conceived without sin

- Pray for us who have recourse to thee

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

- Amen.

Sebastian Rale: Giving All for Love

From a talk on Fr. Rale I gave to a group of college students preparing to do youth ministry in Maine earlier this summer.

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous.

Teach me to serve you as you deserve;

to give and not to count the cost;

to fight and not to heed the wounds;

to toil and not to seek for rest;

to labor and not to ask for reward,

except to know that I am doing your will.

 Fr. Rale's story is fascinating and it hits close to home, since Fr. Rale gave his life for Jesus Christ only an hour and a half from here in present day Madison, Maine. There are a lot of lessons that could be drawn from Fr. Rale's life but here's the central one I want you to chew on: how much am I willing to give out of love? I think Fr. Rale is a model for that.

"Sell everything you have, give it to the
poor, then come, follow me."

Sebastian Rale was born in France in 1652. There are no obvious indications he was a born prodigy and he doesn't seem to be another Dominic Savio, having attained Christian perfection at ten years old. At your age, his hopes and aspirations in life were probably about the same as yours. I'm sure he wanted a good job, a loving wife and a happy family together with them. But in 1675, Sebastian Rale sacrificed all that for a life of poverty, chastity and obedience in the Society of Jesus. Like many religious before him, he chose to answer Jesus' call to the rich young man to leave everything he had and come follow Him. Those three vows by themselves require a spirit of generosity, that you would respond to God's love by making Him your all, that all you have might belong to Him, that your whole heart might belong to Him, and that your whole will might belong to Him.

This sounds like a lot, but there was still more that could be offered to God. Just when we think we've given everything, God finds something more that He asks us to give out of love for Him. For Sebastian Rale, that came in the form of the call to the missions. He was ordained a priest in 1689 and his first assignment was to Quebec to begin studying the Abekani language in preparation for one day being assigned to live among the Abenaki people and bring Jesus to them.

It doesn't get any better than Mom's cooking...

So I want you to close your eyes and imagine this. Imagine you're at home surrounded by family and friends. You've grown up in that house; it's warm, it's comfortable, it's homey. You can smell a homecooked dinner wafting through the air from the kitchen. It smells delicious and you know that there's more where that came from.

Now imagine you're in the wilderness. Those familiar faces are gone and will never be seen again and are replaced by strangers whose language you don't yet fully understand and whose customs never cease to surprise you. Your warm house is replaced by a hut made of branches and animal skins. The food you once enjoyed so much is now scavenged from the woods and is not only not to your palate but is extremely scarce. But these strangers are loved by Jesus Christ and He has called you to go there. And so you leave more than you thought possible, get in a canoe and travel to the village Narantsouack on the Kennebec River in present day Maine.

A missionary preaches to native Americans

Fr. Rale got right to work once he arrived at the village. These souls were hungry for Our Lord. They had witnessed healing miracles fifty years before when Fr. Druillettes had come and baptized them. They hadn't a priest since. They long to know more about the Great Spirit, they longed for someone to baptize their children, to hear their confessions, and to bring them Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, but there had been no one until now. Now Fr. Rale comes in and takes responsibility for the care of these souls as a father does for his children.

That relationship took work and time to build. It wasn't enough just fill a function. Fr. Rale left everything he had out of love for Christ of course, but in obedience to Christ's commandment to love his neighbor. So out of love for the Abenakis he set himself to the task of getting to know them. He lived among them and like them. He learned their language and even wrote the first dictionary of the Abenaki language ever written. He ate their food (as much as it grossed him out) and went on their hunting expeditions for months on months as their chaplain. He loved them, every part of them.

Loving the Abenaki people the way he did meant giving himself in a generous way that extended beyond his usual spiritual functions. Yes, he spent countless hours catechizing and training altar boys and decorating the church and offering Mass and leading holy hours. But he also founded the first school in the state of Maine so these children could learn both the sacred and the natural sciences. When they were sick, he cared for them. When they had problems, he was the one they went to for counsel. Amidst all these duties, Fr. Rale wrote at one point that he almost never had any time to himself and the only part of his day that he jealously guarded was the time he set aside to pray.

You're beginning to see the pattern. Over the course of his life, the more Fr. Rale fell in love with God and his neighbor, the more he offered himself at the service of both. The more generously Fr. Rale offered himself, the more God asked him to give and the greater the graces God gave to sustain him through it. Just be a holy pastor in that mission would have been a feat in itself, but Fr. Rale's mission was in a unique situation because it was got in a tense and violent conflict with the English settlers to the south of them. This conflict drew out of Fr. Rale a deeper love of God and neighbor than had been required of him before.

Although built slightly after Fr. Rale's death,
Fort Halifax in Winslow is a good example of the
type of  fort that caused such controversy.

There were several incidents with the English that concerned Fr. Rale, but the most important one began in 1714 when France lost Queen Anne's War and ceded Acadia to the English. Based on this, the English assert that the village of Narantsouack and the surrounding hunting grounds on which the Abenakis had lived forever now belonged by right to them. There was just one problem: Narantsouack was never French territory and so the king of France could never ceded that in a treaty. Nevertheless, the English began building forts and settlements and trading posts closer and closer to the Indian village.

Fr. Rale was incensed at the way his flock was being treated and so he decided to stand up to the English. This did not go over well. The English blamed Fr. Rale for riling up the Indians. Rather than seeing their own responsibility in the conflict, they accused the missionary of stirring the Indians up to rebellion in order to further French interests. Consequently, the English decided the priest had to go. They asked the Indians to hand over Fr. Rale and in turn they would give them a Protestant minister in his stead, but they refused to let go of the one whom they called their father. After peaceful means had been tried, the English put a price on Fr. Rale's scalp: whoever brought his scalp back would receive a 100 pound reward. Still, Fr. Rale refused to back down.

Then in 1722, things really came to a head. An English militia attacked Narantsouack and Fr. Rale had just enough warning to go to the church, consume the Blessed Sacrament and run to the woods to hide. By the grace of God, they didn't find Fr. Rale, but they did find his cabin (which they ransacked) and his church, which they burned to the ground. In the wake of this, the Abenakis encouraged Fr. Rale to leave. It was dangerous for him to stay. But that love of Christ and of his neighbor had grown too big for that. He knew that staying meant almost certain death, but if he left, what would happen to the faith of the Abenakis? Who would care for these souls then? As he wrote to his brother he said, "Death alone can separate me from them."

And so it happened. On August 23rd, 1724 Fr. Rale was writing a letter in his cabin. Hearing the sound of musket fire, he hurried out to see the people he loved fleeing for their lives. The men were rushing to arm themselves to defend their families and their village. The women and children were trying to get out of their but not soon enough. When the English saw Fr. Rale, they began firing on him. Seven Indian chiefs died trying to protect their father from those bullets, but to no avail. All died and fell down at the foot of the iron cross in the middle of the village. Thus Fr. Rale gave the last thing he had out of love for God and love for his neighbor.

So now I ask you: how much are you willing to give out of love?

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding and my entire will

- all that I have and call my own.

You have given it all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours, do with it as you will.

Give me only your love and your grace.

That is enough for me.