The real Von Trapp Family
Last weeks Keeping It Catholic Monday was about All Hallow's Eve and All Saint's Day featuring an section out of Maria Von Trapp's book A Year with the Von Trapp Family. This week is the rest of that story, we will continue to feature articles on All Saints/All Souls day throughout the rest of October. November will be similar in the posts but the subject will be on that of keeping Advent, the season before Christmas. May you have a blessed week!
The Saints & All Souls Day
By: Maria Von Trapp
A Year Around with the Von Trapp Family
Besides these "appointments" of patron saints, there are many chosen by the people. I never could find out why St. Anonthy of Padua (June 13th) has to find lost objects for everybody around the glove or why St. Matthew (February 24th) is the patron of repentant drunkards. With other saints it is easy to see why some incident of their life or death was taken up by the people as indications that they should be invoked in special cases. Good St. Anne is the patron saint for mothers-in-law and domestic troubles; St. Florian (May 4th), who was a Roman soldier condemned to death as a Christian and drowned in the River Enns in Austria, is universally invoked to extinguish fires, obviously with the help of the alter hallowed by his death; St. Bartholomew (August 24th), who was skinned alive, was made the patron for all tanners and butchers. It is easy to see why the Holy Innocents (December 28th) are the patrons of choir boys and foundlings but rather hard to fathom why St. Margaret (July 20th) cures kidney diseases.
One of our children made a list once, "in case we need it," of saints to be invoked for special illnesses. Here it is:
Against fever - St. Hugh (april 29th)
Against epilepsy - St. John Chrysostom (January 27th)
Against burns and poisons - St. John the Evangelist (December 27th)
Against inflammations - St. Benedict (March 21st)
Against cough and whooping cough - St. Blaise (February 3rd)
Against consumption - St. Pantaleon (July 27th)
Against cold - St. Sebaldus (August 19th)
Patron of all the sick and dying - St. John of God (March 8th)
One of our boys got interested in patron saints for special professions. Here is his little list:
St. Jerome - patron of students (September 30th)
St. Isadore - patron of laborers (May 10th)
St. Ives - patron of lawyers, jurists, advocates, notaries and orphans (May 19th)
The "Four Crowned Martyrs" - patrons of masons and sculptors (November 8th)
St. Francis de Sales - Patron of writers (January 29th)
St. Gomer - patron of the unhappily married (October 11th)
St. Gregory the Great - patron of singers (March 12th)
St. Cecilia - patroness of musicians
St. John the Baptist - Patron of tailors (June 24th)
St. Paul - patron of rope-makers (June 30th)
If there are girls and boys in a family and one of the boys has made a list of various saints for different professions, the girls simply have to make a list of patron saints too. Ours found patron saints for animals:
Bees- St. Ambrose (December 7th)
Pigs - St. Anthony the hermit (January 17th)
Dogs - St. Rochus (August 16th)
Horses - St. Leonard (November 16th)
Asses - St. Anthony of Padua (June 13th)
Birds - St. Francis of Assisi (October 4th)
Fish - St. Anthony (June 13th)
And once in a while somebody would come running with a special discover. "Mother, look! We have enough girls in our family. I found a patron saint to obtain male children: St. Felicitas (July 10th)!" "Mother, do you think Aunt Susan knows there is a stain of old maids- St. Catherine of Alexandria (November 25th)?"
They also found that St. Gaston is the patron of children who learned to walk very late, and they discovered a few valuable saints for weather. If you want rain, pray to St. Odo; if you want sunshine, pray to St. Claire. But the head of the heavenly weather department is of course St. Peter.
And so it goes. If the children in a family become sufficiently interested in their big brothers and sisters, the saints, to start making such lits and finding out about the respective feast days, it is just as if one of their grown-up sisters were getting married and the new in-laws taken into the family. Their birthdays and feast days are noted down, the enlargement of the family circle is celebrated, and this, each time, is a happy occasion.
While close relations are kept up with a great many of the saints, some of them are singled out by the Church to be celebrated in a special way. There is, for instance, St. John the Baptist, whose feast is celebrated on the twenty-fourth of June. We learn that as far back as the eighth century bonfires were being lit in honor of the precursor of Christ - the Johannesfeuer - as a special solemnity. In the old world, the young people of the villages and towns take kindling wood up the mountains or outside of town to some beautiful spot on a river bank. Before it is lit a few words point out the significance of this fire at the height of the year, at the beginning of the summer when the nights are shortest; and the symbolism of fire and light in relation to that radiant figure, the Baptist. "He was a burning and shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light" (John 5:35). When the flames are leaping up, everybody present joins in singing one of the old songs of the occasion. When the fire is burning low, everyone leaps over it- boys and girls holding hands and leaping by twos. Then they settle down around the fire for the fire-watch until the last spark has died out.
Soon afterwards, on June 29th, we celebrate the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. The badge of St. Peter is the cock, in memory of the "thrice-crowing" of that animal. As St. Peter is the "Great Fisherman," his feast day is celebrated in many seacoast towns with great festivity. Boats are decorated with garlands and ribbons. There are races, and the chief dish is fish, of course.
In our extensive traveling throughout many countries over three continents we have come across many a saint who is very famous locally but of whom we otherwise might never have heard. One day in the year is set aside to remember them all- the ones whose names are mentioned in the calendar and the multitudes who stand around the throne of God. This is All Saints' Day, on November 1st. In the Epistle, St. John tells us about the vision he had of the "great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands," singing praise to God.
The teaching of Our Lord in the Gospels tells us what makes a saint a saint: "Blessed are the meek... Blessed are they that mourn... Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice... Blessed are the merciful ... Blessed are the clean of heart... Blessed are the peacemakers... Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake..." Nothing is so encouraging as to consider, on All Saints' Day, those millions and millions around the throne of God who followed this teaching. Like St. Augustine before her, our Martina, when she was still quite little, said once on All Saints' day, "As I think of it, Mother, if all those people could do it, why not we!"
The Saints & All Souls Day
By: Maria Von Trapp
A Year Around with the Von Trapp Family
Besides these "appointments" of patron saints, there are many chosen by the people. I never could find out why St. Anonthy of Padua (June 13th) has to find lost objects for everybody around the glove or why St. Matthew (February 24th) is the patron of repentant drunkards. With other saints it is easy to see why some incident of their life or death was taken up by the people as indications that they should be invoked in special cases. Good St. Anne is the patron saint for mothers-in-law and domestic troubles; St. Florian (May 4th), who was a Roman soldier condemned to death as a Christian and drowned in the River Enns in Austria, is universally invoked to extinguish fires, obviously with the help of the alter hallowed by his death; St. Bartholomew (August 24th), who was skinned alive, was made the patron for all tanners and butchers. It is easy to see why the Holy Innocents (December 28th) are the patrons of choir boys and foundlings but rather hard to fathom why St. Margaret (July 20th) cures kidney diseases.
One of our children made a list once, "in case we need it," of saints to be invoked for special illnesses. Here it is:
Against fever - St. Hugh (april 29th)
Against epilepsy - St. John Chrysostom (January 27th)
Against burns and poisons - St. John the Evangelist (December 27th)
Against inflammations - St. Benedict (March 21st)
Against cough and whooping cough - St. Blaise (February 3rd)
Against consumption - St. Pantaleon (July 27th)
Against cold - St. Sebaldus (August 19th)
Patron of all the sick and dying - St. John of God (March 8th)
One of our boys got interested in patron saints for special professions. Here is his little list:
St. Jerome - patron of students (September 30th)
St. Isadore - patron of laborers (May 10th)
St. Ives - patron of lawyers, jurists, advocates, notaries and orphans (May 19th)
The "Four Crowned Martyrs" - patrons of masons and sculptors (November 8th)
St. Francis de Sales - Patron of writers (January 29th)
St. Gomer - patron of the unhappily married (October 11th)
St. Gregory the Great - patron of singers (March 12th)
St. Cecilia - patroness of musicians
St. John the Baptist - Patron of tailors (June 24th)
St. Paul - patron of rope-makers (June 30th)
If there are girls and boys in a family and one of the boys has made a list of various saints for different professions, the girls simply have to make a list of patron saints too. Ours found patron saints for animals:
Bees- St. Ambrose (December 7th)
Pigs - St. Anthony the hermit (January 17th)
Dogs - St. Rochus (August 16th)
Horses - St. Leonard (November 16th)
Asses - St. Anthony of Padua (June 13th)
Birds - St. Francis of Assisi (October 4th)
Fish - St. Anthony (June 13th)
And once in a while somebody would come running with a special discover. "Mother, look! We have enough girls in our family. I found a patron saint to obtain male children: St. Felicitas (July 10th)!" "Mother, do you think Aunt Susan knows there is a stain of old maids- St. Catherine of Alexandria (November 25th)?"
They also found that St. Gaston is the patron of children who learned to walk very late, and they discovered a few valuable saints for weather. If you want rain, pray to St. Odo; if you want sunshine, pray to St. Claire. But the head of the heavenly weather department is of course St. Peter.
And so it goes. If the children in a family become sufficiently interested in their big brothers and sisters, the saints, to start making such lits and finding out about the respective feast days, it is just as if one of their grown-up sisters were getting married and the new in-laws taken into the family. Their birthdays and feast days are noted down, the enlargement of the family circle is celebrated, and this, each time, is a happy occasion.
While close relations are kept up with a great many of the saints, some of them are singled out by the Church to be celebrated in a special way. There is, for instance, St. John the Baptist, whose feast is celebrated on the twenty-fourth of June. We learn that as far back as the eighth century bonfires were being lit in honor of the precursor of Christ - the Johannesfeuer - as a special solemnity. In the old world, the young people of the villages and towns take kindling wood up the mountains or outside of town to some beautiful spot on a river bank. Before it is lit a few words point out the significance of this fire at the height of the year, at the beginning of the summer when the nights are shortest; and the symbolism of fire and light in relation to that radiant figure, the Baptist. "He was a burning and shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light" (John 5:35). When the flames are leaping up, everybody present joins in singing one of the old songs of the occasion. When the fire is burning low, everyone leaps over it- boys and girls holding hands and leaping by twos. Then they settle down around the fire for the fire-watch until the last spark has died out.
Soon afterwards, on June 29th, we celebrate the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. The badge of St. Peter is the cock, in memory of the "thrice-crowing" of that animal. As St. Peter is the "Great Fisherman," his feast day is celebrated in many seacoast towns with great festivity. Boats are decorated with garlands and ribbons. There are races, and the chief dish is fish, of course.
In our extensive traveling throughout many countries over three continents we have come across many a saint who is very famous locally but of whom we otherwise might never have heard. One day in the year is set aside to remember them all- the ones whose names are mentioned in the calendar and the multitudes who stand around the throne of God. This is All Saints' Day, on November 1st. In the Epistle, St. John tells us about the vision he had of the "great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands," singing praise to God.
The teaching of Our Lord in the Gospels tells us what makes a saint a saint: "Blessed are the meek... Blessed are they that mourn... Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice... Blessed are the merciful ... Blessed are the clean of heart... Blessed are the peacemakers... Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake..." Nothing is so encouraging as to consider, on All Saints' Day, those millions and millions around the throne of God who followed this teaching. Like St. Augustine before her, our Martina, when she was still quite little, said once on All Saints' day, "As I think of it, Mother, if all those people could do it, why not we!"
All Soul's Day
Toward the end of the year, on November 2nd, the Church sets a day asaide which is devoted to the suffering souls in Purgatory. Just as we turn to our big sisters and brothers, the saints, to intercede for us as the throne of God, the poor souls are also turing toward us: "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me" (Job 19:21; Office of the Dead). Helpless in themselves, since the purification they are undergoing is passive suffering, they can be helped by us. We can pray for them. we can offer up sacrafices and good works with the desire that God may accept them and, seeing in them the prayer and suffering rise from the Mystical Body of His only Son, hasten the delivery of those souls whom He deems worthy and ready for such help on the day of "all the faithful departed" the Church reminds her children to listen to the message of the Scriptures in her liturgy and to do some thinknig and meditating on Purgatory and the holy souls there.
We know Purgatory is a ralm of twilight, so to speak - an inbetween darkness and light, a place of regret and longing. If the suffering which is undergone there, we are told that it is bitter and great, that it surpasses all imaginable suffering here on earth as an ocean surpasses a little puddle.
A knowledge of Purgatory we find already in the Old Testament. Two hundred years before Christ Judas Macabeus "making a gathering... sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrafice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (for if he hand not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead); and because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is, therefuore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for thedead, that they may be loosed from thier sins" (II Macc. 12:43-46).
All Souls' Day is a solemn day for families. We mothers must tell our children again about the Communion of Saints, which functions in the same way as life in large family, where each member depends on the others. In this case, the poor souls depend on us. They depend on our love, but love does not consist in words only, it consists in our deeds. The sooner the little ones learn to understand this, the better it is for their whole life. On All Souls' Day they will be encouraged to bring little sacrafices, to say special prayers. They will be told about the thesaurus ecclesiaae, the golden treasure chest of Holy Church filled with the atoning sacrafice of Christ, the merits of the Blessed Birgin, of the saints - canonized and uncanonized - into which we may delve. Itwas given to Peter to bind and loosen, and his successor, making use of that very power, sets the conditions under which this can be done. One such disposition is the toties quoties indulgence: each time we visit a parish church on the second of November and say six "Our Fathers," six "Hail Marys," and six "Glorys," we may gain a plenary indulgence applicable to the poor souls.
All Souls' Day is also the date when we remind our children that on the solemn day of their baptism the Church lit the baptismal candle and said: "Receive this burning light and see thou guard the grace of thy baptism without blame. Keep the Commandments of God so that when the Lord shall come to call thee to the nuptials, thou mayst meet Him with all the Saints in the heavenly court, there thou mayest meet Him with all the Saints in the heavenly court, there to live forever and ever." This baptismal candle of our children we should wrap reverently and keep in a special place together with our own. If, as happened to us, these candles are no longer in the family (we could not take along such things from the old country), one can take candles blessed on Candlemas Day, tie the names of each child to a candle, and keep them in a special place. This is what we did. Only Johannes, being born in this country, has his own original baptismal candle. On All Souls' Day we take the candles out and look at them and remind each other to light our candle for any of us in case of sudden death, as a symbol that we want to die in our baptismal innocence, that the light which was kindled at that solemn moment has not been extinguished voluntarily by us. It is always a solemn moment when the children are called to think of their parents' death.
In the old country the great event of the day used to be the visit to the cemetery. First I have to describe an Austrian cemetery. Out in the country every village has its cemetery around the church; bigger towns have them on the outskirts. Every grave is a flower bed at the head of which is a crucifix, sometimes of wrought iron, sometimes carved in wood. Occasionally there are also tombstones. Families take care of their graves individually. People who have moved elsewhere will pay the cemetery keeper to do it for them. The German word for cemetery is Gottersacker, meaning "God's acre." In the summer it looks like a big flower garden. People are constantly coming and going, working on their gaves, or just praying for their loved ones. On anniversaries you will see vigil lights burning and on All Souls' Day every grave will have its little vigil light as a token that we do remember. People will flock out to the cemeteries in the early evening because it is such a sight - those many, many flames and all the mouns covered with flowers. Slowly one walks up and down the aisles, stopping at the graves of relatives and friends to say a short prayer and sprinkle them with holy water.
When the father of our family died several years ago, we started our own old-world cemetery. Soon one of his children followed him and now there are two flower-covered mounds under the large carved-wood crucifix. The lanterns are lit not only on the anniversaries and on All Souls' Day, but every Saturday night. A hedge of rosa multiflora encircles this holy spot. Inside the hedge there is a bench and we often sit there in the peace and quiet of our little acre of God.
Toward the end of the year, on November 2nd, the Church sets a day asaide which is devoted to the suffering souls in Purgatory. Just as we turn to our big sisters and brothers, the saints, to intercede for us as the throne of God, the poor souls are also turing toward us: "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me" (Job 19:21; Office of the Dead). Helpless in themselves, since the purification they are undergoing is passive suffering, they can be helped by us. We can pray for them. we can offer up sacrafices and good works with the desire that God may accept them and, seeing in them the prayer and suffering rise from the Mystical Body of His only Son, hasten the delivery of those souls whom He deems worthy and ready for such help on the day of "all the faithful departed" the Church reminds her children to listen to the message of the Scriptures in her liturgy and to do some thinknig and meditating on Purgatory and the holy souls there.
We know Purgatory is a ralm of twilight, so to speak - an inbetween darkness and light, a place of regret and longing. If the suffering which is undergone there, we are told that it is bitter and great, that it surpasses all imaginable suffering here on earth as an ocean surpasses a little puddle.
A knowledge of Purgatory we find already in the Old Testament. Two hundred years before Christ Judas Macabeus "making a gathering... sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrafice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (for if he hand not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead); and because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is, therefuore, a holy and wholesome thought to pray for thedead, that they may be loosed from thier sins" (II Macc. 12:43-46).
All Souls' Day is a solemn day for families. We mothers must tell our children again about the Communion of Saints, which functions in the same way as life in large family, where each member depends on the others. In this case, the poor souls depend on us. They depend on our love, but love does not consist in words only, it consists in our deeds. The sooner the little ones learn to understand this, the better it is for their whole life. On All Souls' Day they will be encouraged to bring little sacrafices, to say special prayers. They will be told about the thesaurus ecclesiaae, the golden treasure chest of Holy Church filled with the atoning sacrafice of Christ, the merits of the Blessed Birgin, of the saints - canonized and uncanonized - into which we may delve. Itwas given to Peter to bind and loosen, and his successor, making use of that very power, sets the conditions under which this can be done. One such disposition is the toties quoties indulgence: each time we visit a parish church on the second of November and say six "Our Fathers," six "Hail Marys," and six "Glorys," we may gain a plenary indulgence applicable to the poor souls.
All Souls' Day is also the date when we remind our children that on the solemn day of their baptism the Church lit the baptismal candle and said: "Receive this burning light and see thou guard the grace of thy baptism without blame. Keep the Commandments of God so that when the Lord shall come to call thee to the nuptials, thou mayst meet Him with all the Saints in the heavenly court, there thou mayest meet Him with all the Saints in the heavenly court, there to live forever and ever." This baptismal candle of our children we should wrap reverently and keep in a special place together with our own. If, as happened to us, these candles are no longer in the family (we could not take along such things from the old country), one can take candles blessed on Candlemas Day, tie the names of each child to a candle, and keep them in a special place. This is what we did. Only Johannes, being born in this country, has his own original baptismal candle. On All Souls' Day we take the candles out and look at them and remind each other to light our candle for any of us in case of sudden death, as a symbol that we want to die in our baptismal innocence, that the light which was kindled at that solemn moment has not been extinguished voluntarily by us. It is always a solemn moment when the children are called to think of their parents' death.
In the old country the great event of the day used to be the visit to the cemetery. First I have to describe an Austrian cemetery. Out in the country every village has its cemetery around the church; bigger towns have them on the outskirts. Every grave is a flower bed at the head of which is a crucifix, sometimes of wrought iron, sometimes carved in wood. Occasionally there are also tombstones. Families take care of their graves individually. People who have moved elsewhere will pay the cemetery keeper to do it for them. The German word for cemetery is Gottersacker, meaning "God's acre." In the summer it looks like a big flower garden. People are constantly coming and going, working on their gaves, or just praying for their loved ones. On anniversaries you will see vigil lights burning and on All Souls' Day every grave will have its little vigil light as a token that we do remember. People will flock out to the cemeteries in the early evening because it is such a sight - those many, many flames and all the mouns covered with flowers. Slowly one walks up and down the aisles, stopping at the graves of relatives and friends to say a short prayer and sprinkle them with holy water.
When the father of our family died several years ago, we started our own old-world cemetery. Soon one of his children followed him and now there are two flower-covered mounds under the large carved-wood crucifix. The lanterns are lit not only on the anniversaries and on All Souls' Day, but every Saturday night. A hedge of rosa multiflora encircles this holy spot. Inside the hedge there is a bench and we often sit there in the peace and quiet of our little acre of God.
