{"id":733,"date":"2014-07-04T11:57:11","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T18:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/?p=733"},"modified":"2014-07-04T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2014-07-04T18:57:11","slug":"a-fourth-of-july-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/04\/a-fourth-of-july-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fourth of July Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went into the seminary right out of high school. \u00a0I had been a (proud) member of The Young Americans and had the great opportunity to sing and dance as a youth ambassador for the U.S.A. \u00a0all over the world, as well as on television, (The Julie Andrews Show.) \u00a0I credit this magnificent group as part of the reason I was kept free of the influence of drugs, so prevalent among other teen-agers. \u00a0The other, and more important reason was that I had just acquired a deep devotion to Our Lady, through the influence of my dear sister, who introduced me to the apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Garabandal in Spain.<\/p>\n

While in Rome I attended the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, (the Angelicum.) \u00a0Being so close to Africa, I spent a summer in Algeria visiting a cousin, now deceased, God rest her immortal soul+ \u00a0I believe her to have been a saint. \u00a0She was a Little Sister of the Poor and their charism is to house, clothe and feed and nurture the poverty stricken aged. \u00a0What a wonderful example she gave me! \u00a0Her name was Sr. Therese Lucienne de St. Joseph and she gave everything to the Lord. \u00a0She gave up America, (her order sent her to their Motherhouse in France.) \u00a0She never returned to the U.S.A., but was sent to Belgium at first, then Kenya, then Algeria, where she served so unselfishly for many decades.<\/p>\n

In the early years of seminary, we were free to go home for vacation in the summer, but most of us went on missions. \u00a0Mine was to Algeria, to meet and stay with my cousin, Sr. Therese. \u00a0What an eye opener that was! \u00a0To see how those in third world countries lived is an enlightening experience. \u00a0I was staying with missionaries who had so little, because their charges had almost nothing. \u00a0What they had they gave. \u00a0What they gave, they gave with joy and love. \u00a0I remember visiting a long closed Cathedral, (the Muslims were just beginning their persecutions. \u00a0In the end, the good sisters were forced out of the country.) \u00a0In this Cathedral that was dedicated to great St. Joseph, I saw boxes and boxes and piles and piles of food and medicine and clothing that were gifts from America to the people of Algeria. \u00a0They had the symbol of the arm and hand of Uncle Sam grasping in handshake the hand of the foreigner. \u00a0The boxes said: “A Gift from the American People.” \u00a0I was proud, (once again) of my country.<\/p>\n

Because all mail of non Algerians was opened and scrutinized by the authorities, my cousin had to write in code to me. \u00a0She called the priest the “baker,” and the church the “bakery.” \u00a0Their foundation was in Annaba, which is the ancient seat of St. Agustine, (Hippone.) \u00a0I was able to see the shrine to this great saint, before they had to close it and send the relic of his forearm away.<\/p>\n

The Algerians were very proud of their country, though the war for independence with France had taken its toll. \u00a0They had so few hospitals and they were in bad shape. \u00a0I visited the sick and there was little to alleviate their suffering.<\/p>\n

When I left Algeria and flew back to Marseilles, I noticed that I was the only Anglo on the plane. \u00a0The flight was full of workers heading from North Africa to Europe. \u00a0They were all looking at me and smiling. \u00a0I didn’t know what to think. \u00a0The stewardess came up to me, (I was sitting near the door hatch at the front.) \u00a0She looked down at me and said, in French, “I hope you’re ready for this!” \u00a0I had no idea what she was talking about! \u00a0She then handed me the required landing questionnaire, which all passengers must fill out and hand in to the custom’s officer when they are processed. \u00a0I took out my pen and passport and started to fill it out. \u00a0Then it happened\u2026 \u00a0All of a sudden I was bombarded by every migrant Algerian on that plane! \u00a0None of them knew how to read or write! \u00a0They were all begging me to fill out their forms, in French, of course. \u00a0After a plaintive look at the stewardess, who had come back to the front of the plane, (she just smiled and put her hands up and said, “We pretend they do it themselves. \u00a0They won’t be allowed in unless you do it for them. \u00a0You won’t get into trouble, don’t worry.”)<\/p>\n

It was in that moment that I was most proud and humbled and grateful for the immense privilege of being an educated American. \u00a0I blessed the dear nuns of Elizabeth Bailey Seaton, who taught me to read and write and the tradition of literacy in my family that brought me to the point of being able to accomplish the task of filling out over one hundred forms on that short flight over the Mediterranean. \u00a0My eyes were being opened, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, by the education of the traveler. \u00a0Some things must just be experienced. \u00a0No amount of arm chair traveling or reading or watching media can replace actual experience. \u00a0I was and am so grateful to be an American. \u00a0God bless this country. \u00a0How sad I am at her fall and coming demise. \u00a0It was, and still is in many ways, a beacon of light, a shining house on a hill\u2026 \u00a0Can she be saved? \u00a0Only God knows. \u00a0Have we gone too far to come back? \u00a0Only God knows. \u00a0What I know is this- gratitude and concern for my nation. \u00a0Let us pray. \u00a0The United States is the only country in the history of the world to be consecrated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n

O MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT SIN, PRAY FOR U.S. WHO HAVE RECOURSE TO THEE!<\/p>\n

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I went into the seminary right out of high school. \u00a0I had been a (proud) member of The Young Americans and had the great opportunity to sing and dance as a youth ambassador for the U.S.A. \u00a0all over the world, as well as on television, (The Julie Andrews Show.) \u00a0I credit this magnificent group as part of the reason I… (more…)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[473,42,471,288,470],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughts","tag-algeria","tag-france","tag-north-africa","tag-spain","tag-therese-lucienne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamiestanthony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}