A Deo et Rege

I must sadly report that Terri Schiavo has died. Today our country has witnessed and even legally facilitated the death of an innocent woman. This is truly a dark day. May God have mercy on her soul and and be with her family May God have mercy upon us.

The old order has passed away:
welcome her then into paradise,
where there will be no sorrow, no weeping nor pain,
but the fullness of peace and joy
with your Son and the Holy Spirit
for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer from Fr. Pat’s Place

On
Good Friday, as Terri Schiavo lay dying of thirst in Woodside Hospice,
Gabriel Keys took her a cup of water. Gabriel was arrested, handcuffed
and taken away.

Apparently,
no one taught Gabriel that you do not disobey a judge’s order, even to
bring water to someone dying of thirst. As he is 10 years old, he is
probably not yet conversant with the new morality, where a corporal
work of mercy can be a crime. Perhaps his parents filled his mind with
such subversive texts as, "Whoever shall give to drink to one of these
little ones, a cup of cold water" shall not lose eternal life.

Continue reading Culture of Death Advances (Pat Buchanan, Worldnetdaily)

Once again the liberal, Jewish, atheist Nat Hentoff (so much for the media stereotype about prolifers) has spoken articulately and forcefully about Terri Schiavo:

For all the world to see, a 41-year-old woman, who has committed no
crime, will die of dehydration and starvation in the longest public
execution in American history.

Continue Reading Terri Schiavo: Judicial Murder (Village Voice)

This was my first year experiencing Lent, Holy Week and the Triduum since converting to Catholicism and I must say it was one of the most awesome experiences of my life.

This Lent was not easy, but was filled with disappointments and changes of plans. As many of you know, plans that I had made for years had to be put indefinitely on hold. Watching dreams be delayed or possibly denied has been difficult. It was also during Lent that I became quite personally invested in the case of Terri Schiavo. Watching her die has been especially painful. Yet, through it all, by God’s grace, I stayed the course and made it to Easter, my faith strengthened and enlivened. Although I could never fully appreciate the sufferings of Jesus for us, I was able to at least join my minimal suffering and anxiety to his sufferings and his sacrifice.

Holy Week was especially difficult this year, but also quite a blessing. Much of it was preoccupied with praying and working for Terri Schiavo, which made it all the more painful, especially as one person after another failed her. The fasting made me somewhat weak, but it went a long way towards helping me identify with Jesus’s sufferings in such a minimal way. I also saw it as a chance to stand in solidarity with Terri who was receiving no food or water.

I began my first Catholic Triduum with Holy Thursday and was reminded visually and vocally of Christ’s command to love one another, something I’m not always the best at. Good Friday, especially the reading of the Passion, brought home the sacrifice of our Lord and my part in it. Taking the role of the crowd is disturbing and painful, yet we play that role every time we sin. I especially loved the veneration of the holy cross. There’s something humbling and sublime about kneeling before the foot of the Cross.

The Vigil was especially amazing this year. The Old Testament readings, done in the dark, were especially moving and drove home the saving power of God among his people. Singing the Gloria, especially after a long Lent and Holy Week, created a new sense of jubilation in my heart. As we did the baptisms, receptions, and confirmations, I was struck by how ancient these liturgies are (the Vigil is the earliest known form of Christian worship used today) and felt that I was back in the second century for a few brief moments. It also reminded me of my own reception and confirmation, which brought back a flood of joy. And of course, I found the greatest comfort and power in the first communion of Easter. My thoughts turned immediately to how precious and sacred life is and how blessed I am to be alive and healthy. However, Good Friday still stands as a vivid reminder of the precariousness of life in a hostile word.

The Vigil like Lent, Holy Week, and the Triduum, took me more fully into the life of Christ, beyond mere intellectual assent. I have always believed in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection or our Lord. This year liturgically, emotionally, and spiritually, as much as is possible, I lived it.

Image from Novgorod State United Museum

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (Westminster, UK) has given a great Easter sermon, one that mentions Terri Schiavo and the defense of life. Here is the excellent text on her:

In the United States this week we have had the moving case of Terri
Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who is now starving to death because a court ordered her feeding tube to be removed; the view of the
court is that her life is not worth living. People say that withdrawing
her tube is to let nature take its course. But how natural is it to
starve to death? She is totally dependent on others for food and water,
it has been argued. But so is a baby. So are many elderly people. What
is wrong with being helpless and dependent? Our true nature is one of
dependence of dependence on God for life, on our parents for nurture,
on our friends, and our colleagues. Human beings were created
interdependent; only our fallen nature believes we can make it alone. How well do our institutions and our laws safeguard protect those most
deserving of our protection? In Britain, there are now 180,000
abortions a year the highest ever because these are not lives
considered worth saving. Research embryos, surplus to in vitro
treatment, are created, then discarded, because they do not have the
right tissue type; they did not meet the criteria for life. The
pressure to allow euthanasia is mounting; is it any wonder our elderly
people are increasingly disrespected?

In all these cases, the terrible truth is that it is the strong who
decide the fate of the weak; human beings therefore become instruments
in the hands of other human beings. But that way, as we have seen so
often in human history, lies disaster for us all.

The intrinsic dignity of human life the source of our hope - comes
from knowing that God died for us, and raised up his only Son, his only
Son who died the death of a worthless criminal. The dignity of life is
not naturally apparent to human beings; it is the gift of faith, God’s
gift to us. A Christian country is one that starts from that gift, that
believes that the most helpless are those who most deserve our
protection even the poorest and most despised of creatures. They
deserve our protection because God created them, God died for them, God
rose for them. But do we in Britain really embrace this? Do we raise
our voices on behalf of those who no one to protect them? Do we really
believe that God is the author of life, our Father?

Read the whole sermon (highly recommended)

I want to wish a blessed Easter to every reader of this blog! I give you the words of Saint, Pope, and Doctor Leo the Great (Sermon LXXI, section 6):

Let God’s people then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ,
and with all vigilance understand by Whom they have been adopted and
Whom they have adopted" forsake his work, but rather attend to that which he sows than look
back to that which he has left behind. Let no one fall back into that
from which he has risen, but, even though from bodily weakness he still
languishes under certain maladies, let him urgently desire to be healed
and raised up. For this is the path of health through imitation of the
Resurrection begun in Christ, whereby, notwithstanding the many
accidents and falls to which in this slippery life the traveller is
liable, his feet may be guided from the quagmire on to solid ground,
for, as it is written, "the steps of a man are directed by the Lord,and
He will delight in his way. When the just man falls he shall not be
overthrown, because the Lord will stretch out His hand." These thoughts, dearly-beloved, must be kept in mind not only for
the Easter festival, but also for the sanctification of the whole life,
and to this our present exercise ought to be directed, that what has
delighted the souls of the faithful by the experience of a short
observance may pass into a habit and remain unalterably, and if any
fault creep in, it may be destroyed by speedy repentance. And because
the cure of old-standing diseases is slow and difficult, remedies
should be applied early, when the wounds are fresh, so that rising ever
anew from all downfalls, we may deserve to attain to the incorruptible
Resurrection of our glorified flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who lives
and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

From New Advent
Image "The Morning of the Resurrection" by Burne-Jones from CGFA

As bloggers fighting for Terri, many of us have become personally invested in this case. I know that I personally have woken up each day since her feeding tube was removed worried that I’ll hear the dreaded news that she has died. At the beginning of the court fight I had great hope that the federal judges would intervene, but now I don’t think so. The only secular solution seems to lie with Jeb or George W. Bush and action from them is looking less likely by the hour. A new report says that Terri is bleeding from the eyes and tongue. After more than a week without food and water, time is seriously running out. Barring a miracle, Terri doesn’t have much time left. We must pray hard. God is the author of life as we are especially reminded as we approach the holiest of holy days.

Ah, for the days of Teddy Roosevelt, someone who spoke his mind and more importantly acted on principle. During a strike of coal workers Roosevelt was so annoyed with the intransigence of the mine owners who refused to even to talk to the union workers gathered together at the White House that the President threatened to take over the mines and use the army to run them. When a congressmen questioned the constitutionality of this act, Roosevelt grabbed the man and said: "to hell with the Constitution when the people want coal."

The move would have been illegal or at least semi-legal, but the mine owners knew he’d probably at least try to do it. The result? The owners relented and agreed to submit to arbitration chosen by Roosevelt.

Terri Schiavo is being starved and dehydrated to death in Florida and the President throws up his arms in the air and says he’s done all he can do. Really? In the face of intractable and capricious courts, perhaps Bush needs to have a Teddy Roosevelt moment and threaten to send in the federal marshals to rescue Terri. Perhaps that would at least wakeup the courts. When a US Citizen is being murdered with explicit approval of the judiciary and this is considered "constitutional" (which, by the way, I think it isn’t), then to hell with this so-called interpretation of the Constitution.

Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo was not to be removed
from her hospice, a team of state agents were en route to seize her and
have her feeding tube reinserted — but they stopped short when local
police told them they would enforce the judge’s order, The Miami Herald has
learned.

[Update: New link does not require registration]: Continue Reading Florida Officials attempt, fail to seize Schiavo (Knight Ridder, sanluisobispo)

Hat Tip: David

The other night on MSNBC, a justifiably angry Pat Buchanan said the following:

What George Bush ought to do right now is send federal marshals in and
pick up Terri Schiavo and put that breathing tube back into her—excuse
me, the food and hydration tube back into her, as this is taken up to
the United States Supreme Court.  He took an oath, Chris, to defend the
Constitution of the United States.  He has got an obligation, as well
as these judges do, to defend that Constitution.  And that means to
protect this woman‘s life.

He later added:

The point is, the president of the United States—there‘s a woman dying,
sentenced to death because she‘s brain-damaged.  She‘s committed no
crime.  She‘s having food and water denied to her.  That is a violation
of human rights and the president of the United States has an
opportunity, as does the governor of Florida, to step in as executives
and act.

Go Pat! I agree.

See the Transcript
Thanks to David for originally pointing me to this

According to a recent poll President Bush’s approval rating has dropped in one week by 7 percentage points to its lowest point ever (45%). The approval rating dropped the most sharply among "men, self described conservatives, and churchgoers." The Republican National Committee says it’s not because of Terri Schiavo, but because the President is tackling tough issues. Yeah right. How many protesters are in front of the White House demanding energy reform? How many blogs are in a frenzy for Social Security reform? I believe the President could do a lot more to help Terri and it seems that I’m not alone.

Read the article on this at Salon.Com (note: you may have to view a brief ad)

Last Night as I was praying before Blessed Sacrament I found a wonderful prayer from the Precious Blood Prayer Book, entitled "To Obtain A Special Request." I can think of no more special request than Terri Schiavo. Please join me in praying to our Lord on this day when his Precious Blood was shed for us.

By the Voice of your Blood, O Jesus,

we would press you, solicit you, importune you.

Though you seem to reject our supplications

we will not leave your bleeding feet until you hear us.

So many graces, so many mercies have come forth from your Blood
that we shall not cease to hope
even to the end, in its efficacy.

Then, O Jesus,
by your Precious Blood

seven times shed for the welfare of all,

by each drop of that Sacred Price of our redemption,

by the tears of your immaculate mother,

we entreat you to hear our prayers.

[Save Terri O Lord, save her in your mercy]

O Lord, who during all the days of your mortal life

consoled so many sufferings,

healed so many infirmities,

encouraged so many who were disheartened,

you will not fail to have pity
on a soul
who cries to you from the depths of anguish.
No, it is impossible.

Another sigh from our wounded heart,

and from the wound in your own,

will flow to us upon a wave
of your Precious Blood
the graces we so ardently desired.

O Jesus,
hasten the moment
when you will change our tears into joy,

our sighs into thanksgiving.

Holy Mary,
source of the divine Blood,

we entreat you not to lose this occasion
of glorifying the Blood
which made you immaculate.

Amen.

Image of the Agony in the Garden from St. Charles Borromeo Church (Image Gallery)

His sufferings were inexpressible; but it was by them that he merited for us the grace necessary to resist those temptations to despair which will assail us at the hour of death,—that tremendous hour when we shall feel that we are about to leave all that is dear to us here below. When our minds, weakened by disease, have lost the power of reasoning, and even our hopes of mercy and forgiveness are become, as it were, enveloped in mist and uncertainty, —then it is that we must fly to Jesus, unite our feelings of desolation with that indescribable dereliction which he endured upon the Cross, and be certain of obtaining a glorious victory over our infernal enemies. Jesus then offered to his Eternal Father his poverty, his dereliction, his labours, and, above all, the bitter sufferings which our ingratitude had caused him to endure in expiation for our sins and weaknesses; no one, therefore, who is united to Jesus in the bosom of his Church must despair at the awful moment preceding his exit from this life, even if he be deprived of all sensible light and comfort; for he must then remember that the Christian is no longer obliged to enter this dark desert alone and unprotected, as Jesus has cast his own interior and exterior dereliction on the Cross into this gulf of desolation, consequently he will not be left to cope alone with death, or be suffered to leave this world in desolation of spirit, deprived of heavenly consolation. All fear of loneliness and despair in death must therefore be cast away; for Jesus, who is our true light, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, has preceded us on that dreary road, has overspread it with blessings, and raised his Cross upon it, one glance at which will calm our every fear. Jesus then (if we may so express ourselves) made his last testament in the presence of his Father, and bequeathed the merits of his Death and Passion to the Church and to sinners. Not one erring soul was forgotten; he thought of each and every one; praying, likewise, even for those heretics who have endeavoured to prove that, being God, he did not suffer as a man would have suffered in his place. The cry which he allowed to pass his lips in the height of his agony was intended not only to show the excess of the sufferings he was then enduring, but likewise to encourage all afflicted souls who acknowledge God as their Father to lay their sorrows with filial confidence at his feet. It was towards three o’clock when he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani?’ ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’

From the Dolorious Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Blessed Anne Katherine Emmerich
Photo taken by me at Sorrowful Mother Shrine, Bellevue, Ohio

Columnist Bob Novak has written an excellent article that deals with the explosive poltical debate that Terri Schiavo’s case has caused in Washington. His column also points out that even many liberals and Democrats came out in support of Schiavo. He reminds us that 47 Democrats voted for the bill to save her including nine members of the ultra liberal Congressional Black Caucus. In what may be some of the biggest political news of the year, he even suggests that Ralph Nader has his doubts about the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube!

Read A Feeding Frenzy in DC by Robert Novak (Chicago Sun Times)

Blessed Margaret was born blind, lame, deformed and hunchbacked. Her parents kept her walled in the side of a chapel, only allowing her to leave for mass and the Sacraments. They took her to be healed and when she wasn’t, they abandoned her. Considered an outcast and useless, she nonetheless became a lay Dominican and lived a life of charity and prayer. In the Catholic Church she is patroness of the disabled, the handicapped, and physically challenged people.

Blessed Margaret, pray for Terri Schiavo
And for all who invoke your aid

Information on Margaret from Patron Saints Index