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The story of the Four Chaplains

WHEN A TORPEDO from a German submarine struck the USAT Dorchester shortly after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, panic ensued. At that moment, four chaplains emerged from the chaos: Methodist preacher George Fox, Jewish rabbi Alexander Goode, Presbyterian minister Clarke Poling, and Catholic priest John Washington.

The four had met at Chaplain School at Harvard University and became good friends. Together they boarded the Dorchester in January 1943. They had been at sea for less than 10 days when the torpedo struck. In the aftermath of the attack, the four chaplains calmed the men, organized an evacuation, and distributed life jackets. When the life jackets ran out, they gave up their own.

Life jackets, however, weren’t the only thing in short supply. The Dorchester had only enough lifeboat space to accommodate one quarter of its men. The officers offered spots to the chaplains, but they refused to go.

As the survivors rowed away from the ship, they could see the four chaplains – linked arm in arm, praying for the souls and safety of their men. Before the sun rose, the Dorchester was done. So were her four chaplains and nearly 700 others. Only 230 men survived.

Posthumously, the four chaplains received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart. In 1988, Congress declared Feb. 3 “Four Chaplains Day,” and the Episcopalian Church honors all four men on that day with a liturgical feast.

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When the Loretto Chapel of the Sisters of Loretto in Santa Fe, New Mexico was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder – completely impractical for the sisters – as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.

To find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, placing the construction under his care. On the completion of the novena an old, gray-haired, gray-bearded man appeared, leading his donkey and carrying a simple tool collection of a saw, a carpenter’s square, and a hammer. Months later the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was Saint Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.

The stairway is not only magnificent, it is also miraculous. The design was innovative for the time, and even today experts cannot explain the miraculous strength of its construction. The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. It is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. In 1996 a wood technologist completed a study of the wood used for the staircase and reported it was a species of spruce heretofore unknown, with unique square-shaped structure cells.

Over the years thousands have flocked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. The staircase has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including "Unsolved Mysteries" and the full-length movie titled "The Staircase", starring William Petersen and Barbara Hershey.

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Most of us are familiar with the idea that after His death Christ "descended into Hell," as it states in the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. It is this event, rather than Christ's resurrection at the tomb, that is the most popular and traditional representation of the Resurrection in the Eastern Church and classic iconography.

Early Christian writers like Origen and Saint Ambrose wrote about this event as "the harrowing of Hell." This otherworldly event is alluded to in an ancient homily read in the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday and in Saint John Chrysostom's Paschal homily read in many Orthodox churches on Easter morning. Detailed accounts of it can be found in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus and in the transcribed visions of the German nun and stigmatist Blessed Anna Catherine Emmerich.

Both of these accounts tell how when the soul of Christ left His body on the Cross, He entered Hades – that is, the underworld or the world of departed spirits – where He came to those departed souls who were awaiting the Christ and had not yet ascended into Paradise, many of them righteous and holy people.

In this paschal icon these holy ones stand on either side of the radiant and dynamic risen Christ, looking on in worshipful joy: King David, Solomon, Saint John the Baptist, Abel the Righteous, and the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Raising them up the Savior brings them into Paradise and sets them free.

He also raises Adam and Eve by the hands from their tombs, symbolizing the freeing of mankind from its imprisonment in fallen nature that was accomplished by the Resurrection. As the Holy Saturday homily relates: "The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in awe and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: 'And with your spirit.' And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

'I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise." In the icon Christ stands on the fallen gates or doors of Hell and Lucifer lies chained and crushed beneath them, symbolizing the victory of the divine over evil: "He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! … And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: 'Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions' " (Paschal Homily of Saint John Chrysostom).

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The Blessed Virgin’s Smile

"I was at Cauterets at the time when there was so much talk of the Lourdes apparitions. I no more believed in them than in the existence of God; I was a lost sheep, and what is worse, an atheist. Having seen in the local paper that Bernadette had had an apparition on July 16, and that the Virgin smiled upon her, I resolved out of curiosity to go to Lourdes and catch the little one red-handed in her lies.

I went to the Soubirous' home and found Bernadette on the doorstep busy darning stockings. After long questioning about the apparitions I said to her; 'Lastly, how did she smile, this beautiful Lady?' The little shepherdess stared at me with wonder; then after a moment's silence: 'Oh, sir, you would have to come from Heaven itself to reproduce that smile.'

Saint Bernadette 'Could you not repeat it for me? I am an unbeliever and I don't believe in your apparitions.'

The child's face clouded over. 'Then, sir, you think I am a liar.'

I felt disarmed. No, Bernadette was no liar, and I was on the point of going down on my knees to beg her pardon. Then she went on: 'As you are a sinner, I shall repeat the Blessed Virgin's smile for you.' The child got up very slowly, joined her hands and gave a heavenly smile such as I have never seen on any mortal lips. Her face lit up with a dazzling brilliance of light. She smiled again with her eyes raised heavenwards. I remained motionless before her, convinced that I had seen the Virgin's smile on the face of the visionary.

Since then I have treasured this heavenly memory in the depths of my soul. I have lost my wife and my two daughters. Yet it seems to me that I am not alone in this world. I live with the Virgin's smile."

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St. Agnes was Roman girl who was only thirteen years old when she suffered martyrdom for her faith because she refused to marry. She was martyred in 304 during the reign of Diocletian. St. Agnes is the patron saint of virgins. Her feast day is January 21st.

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"As we prepared to reopen our chapel, we elected to line the walls with icons of the Saints both as inspirations and as a reminder of our journey homeward to be part of the great Communion of Saints. In making that decision, we chose Monastery Icons as a company that is reliable and dedicated to supplying a quality product that we would be proud to display! They were exactly what we hoped for.

Thank you, Monastery Icons!"

Father Tom B.,

St. Gregory Thaumaturgus Church, Pennsylvania

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Saint Anthony the Great–feast day Jan 17th.

Honored as the first Christian abbot, Saint Anthony began his first step towards the angelic life by giving away his large inheritance and taking up a life of solitary prayer. Literally wrestling with the devil, he emerged victorious as one of the greatest masters of the Christian interior life.

Even in his desert solitude other like-minded men sought him ought, and he eventually gathered many disciples around him in the first Christian monastic order. Decades of vigorous ascetic labors and prayers left him a healthy vigorous man up till the time of his death at 105.

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Tomorrow is the feast of the Baptism of Christ, also called Theophany.

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St. Andre of Montreal, wonderworker, feast day Jan. 6th.

Pope John Paul II said, “We venerate in Blessed Brother André a man of prayer and a friend of the poor, a truly astonishing man...In each age the Holy Spirit raises up such humble witnesses of the Gospel.”

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The incense artisan who creates our Monastery Incense Resin Sticks has replenished our inventory, & this customer favorite is now in stock. A convenient & affordable way to enjoy America’s favorite liturgical incense.

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Wishing you a Joyous Christmas from Monastery Icons

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Our traditional icon of the Nativity of Christ.

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And the Angels Were Amazed Icon from Monastery Icons