To the Band of Brothers: November 5, 2020
Good morning!
Today is November 5th and we celebrate the feast day of all the Jesuit saints and blesseds. While we are constantly celebrating individual feast days throughout the liturgical year, today we lump them all together and give thanks that our history has been graced with such courageous and compassionate men. In total, there are 51 saints and 150 blesseds, not to mention, of course, the many more men who lived saintly lives, but simply have not been canonized.
There is one in particular blessed I would like to mention. I should have done it on Tuesday when we celebrated his feast day but thought it would be great to do it today. His name is Rupert Mayer, S.J. He was born in Germany in 1876 and entered the Society of Jesus shortly after his high school graduation.
In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered as an army chaplain where he was made a field captain and sent to the front. There he faithfully ministered to all the soldiers, oftentimes risking his life crawling from one soldier to another in the heat of battle. His bravery was so legendary that in December of 1915 he was the first chaplain to ever be awarded the Iron Cross. A year later, he lost his left leg in a grenade attack. He would forever be referred to as the “limping priest.”
Years later, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and began his vicious campaign against Catholic churches and religious orders, the feisty Mayer got to work. He boldly denounced Nazism from the pulpit, on the street corners, and in the press. On many occasions, he was interrogated by the Gestapo and imprisoned. He was relentless even though he had been warned by many to stay quiet. For this reason, in November of 1939, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp where his health began to deteriorate.
After six years of imprisonment, the camp was liberated by U.S. forces. Fr. Mayer returned to his priestly ministries in Munich where he eventually died of a stroke while celebrating mass. It was in May of 1987 that Pope John Paul II beatified him and referred to him as a Catholic hero and soldier for Christ.
Like Blessed Mayer, there are countless amazing stories of incredible priests and brothers who sacrificed their lives to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since the founding of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits have been living holy and committed lives. It is for this reason, on this day, we also focus and pray for the promotion of Jesuit vocations.
We need more young men to respond valiantly to God’s call for service. Currently, there are three young Belen alumni who are in the Jesuit seminary. Young men, just like you, who not too long ago were sitting in a Belen classroom, playing on the basketball court, and eating in the dining hall. They heard the call of Jesus Christ to serve as Jesuits and they responded. There is no doubt in my mind that right now, among the 1,387 students in our school, God is calling a few to become Jesuits. All it takes are ears to listen and the courage to say “yes.”
Auspice Maria
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Today is November 5th and we celebrate the feast day of all the Jesuit saints and blesseds. While we are constantly celebrating individual feast days throughout the liturgical year, today we lump them all together and give thanks that our history has been graced with such courageous and compassionate men. In total, there are 51 saints and 150 blesseds, not to mention, of course, the many more men who lived saintly lives, but simply have not been canonized.
There is one in particular blessed I would like to mention. I should have done it on Tuesday when we celebrated his feast day but thought it would be great to do it today. His name is Rupert Mayer, S.J. He was born in Germany in 1876 and entered the Society of Jesus shortly after his high school graduation.
In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered as an army chaplain where he was made a field captain and sent to the front. There he faithfully ministered to all the soldiers, oftentimes risking his life crawling from one soldier to another in the heat of battle. His bravery was so legendary that in December of 1915 he was the first chaplain to ever be awarded the Iron Cross. A year later, he lost his left leg in a grenade attack. He would forever be referred to as the “limping priest.”
Years later, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and began his vicious campaign against Catholic churches and religious orders, the feisty Mayer got to work. He boldly denounced Nazism from the pulpit, on the street corners, and in the press. On many occasions, he was interrogated by the Gestapo and imprisoned. He was relentless even though he had been warned by many to stay quiet. For this reason, in November of 1939, he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp where his health began to deteriorate.
After six years of imprisonment, the camp was liberated by U.S. forces. Fr. Mayer returned to his priestly ministries in Munich where he eventually died of a stroke while celebrating mass. It was in May of 1987 that Pope John Paul II beatified him and referred to him as a Catholic hero and soldier for Christ.
Like Blessed Mayer, there are countless amazing stories of incredible priests and brothers who sacrificed their lives to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since the founding of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits have been living holy and committed lives. It is for this reason, on this day, we also focus and pray for the promotion of Jesuit vocations.
We need more young men to respond valiantly to God’s call for service. Currently, there are three young Belen alumni who are in the Jesuit seminary. Young men, just like you, who not too long ago were sitting in a Belen classroom, playing on the basketball court, and eating in the dining hall. They heard the call of Jesus Christ to serve as Jesuits and they responded. There is no doubt in my mind that right now, among the 1,387 students in our school, God is calling a few to become Jesuits. All it takes are ears to listen and the courage to say “yes.”
Auspice Maria
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.