Christmas 2003

Buon Natale! It is that time of year when one’s thoughts turn naturally to relatives, friends, colleagues – goodwill to all. Amazing really, when you think about it, what impact one little Baby made on world history! Let us pray that the grown-ups who play soldiers in our world take another thoughtful look at the Stable of Bethlehem and do what their better natures dictate.

Since last I wrote to you, I continue to attend, four times a week, the course run by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for Postulators and their assistants. One of the greatest benefits of this course is that one meets others (83 on this Course) who are involved in work similar to one’s own. One learns quickly that procedures change by the year and that what was sufficient last year may need to be augmented this year! Ever since the Papal Decree of 1982 that updated the process of Beatification/ Canonization, there have been almost annual changes, and one needs to be alert to what documentation, submissions, etc., may be required.

Those familiar with the Edmund Rice Cause will know that the writing of the Historical Positio was well under way when the changes were announced in 1982, and a virtual rewriting was required before it was finally accepted in 1988. I was part of the team involved. Now there is talk about taking Beatification out of Rome altogether or even amalgamating Beatification and Canonization!

In the meantime, however, as things now stand, one further miracle is required before we proceed with Edmund’s Canonization. Miracles, of course, do not grow on trees, and many remarkable favours ‘die’ for lack of adequate documentation and the reluctance of many doctors to put their professional competence at risk by declaring a remarkable recovery to be outside the realms of medicine. Therefore, the great need to pray through the intercession of Blessed Edmund and to document the many favours received, if only to emphasise that people pray through his intercession. Who knows but your answer to prayer may be the one that finally sways the Congregation of Saints to advance Edmund’s Cause over that final hurdle! There is, of course, our time and God’s time, and there is the question that we need to keep on answering for ourselves: ‘What is Edmund saying to our generation and our world?’

For those of you who may enjoy learning more about the whole raison d’etre of Saints and Canonizations, there is a delightful booklet (96 pages) on the market in the American Redemptorist Series, What You Should Know About … It is written by Sister Charlene Altemose MSC, and costs about €6. It may be ordered at any good Catholic bookshop, and its publication details are as follows: Charlene Altemose MSC, What You Should Know About The Saints, Liguori |Press, One Liguori Drive, Liguori, MO 63057-9999, USA, 1997, ISBN: 0-7648-0047-7, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 97 98 99 00 01 54321.

Buon Natale – and happy reading! May Blessed Edmund guide you.

Br. Donal Blake cfc,

Postulator

15 December 2003

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