From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   April 21st - St. Conrad of Parzham   
      
   Johannes Birmensdorfer, the future Conrad, was born on December 22, 1818 in   
   Parzham a village near Passau in Bavaria, Germany, into a very pious family   
   of   
   peasants.   
      
   When he was still a boy, his colleagues would change the subject of their   
   talk   
   if it was bad when he would approach: "Here comes Johannes, let's not talk   
   about   
   this any longer." He always kept his head uncovered in his work in the   
   fields,   
   even in the heat of Summer because, sensing the presence of the majesty of   
   God   
   everywhere, he was in continuous prayer and for that reason he thought he   
   should   
   not use his hat.   
      
   Johannes was the youngest son, so he was supposed to inherit the farm. This   
   was   
   a common custom of the area; the youngest son carried on the work of the   
   father   
   and received the farm. At age 30, Johanneshe left his family home and   
   inheritance and entered the Capuchin Order as a lay brother. He was admitted   
   with the name Conrad.   
      
   After making his vows, Brother Conrad was assigned as porter of the Capuchin   
   Monastery of Altötting. Attached to it was a famous Marian Sanctuary that   
   attracted thousands of pilgrims. This meant that the porter was very busy   
   with   
   little time to rest. He worked 18 hours each day at the door.   
      
   Brother Conrad spent 41 years at his post at the door, attending to this job   
   with great tact and attention. Indeed, he was known for his patience and   
   respect   
   for others, humility, and piety; he was always willing to assist others and   
   never lazy. No one ever saw him in a bad mood or heard him utter a useless   
   word.   
   He became a silent preacher, who infused respect in the visitors, converted   
   sinners, consoled the afflicted and helped the poor.   
      
   Once he wrote to a friend:   
      
       "My life is to love God, suffer, and marvel in ecstasies and prayers   
   about   
   the love God has for us, poor creatures. His love never ends. There is   
   nothing   
   in my occupations that separates me from this union with God. My book is the   
   Cross. It suffices for me to look at it to know what I should do."   
      
   Three days before dying, he resigned his office of porter. He died on April   
   21,   
   1894.   
      
      
   Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)   
      
   St. Conrad of Parzham was a humble Capuchin Brother who appears as a man   
   with   
   very white skin, white hair and a white beard. He wears a Capuchin habit   
   with a   
   large key-ring at his waist, a symbol of his job as porter. I have seen some   
   representations of him like this.   
      
   This selection offers various data to consider. First, it is interesting to   
   see   
   how he spread fear among his colleagues who were engaging in immoral talk.   
   It   
   reflects the preservation of the time and place where he lived. Today, I   
   doubt   
   that even a saint would spread fear among such boys at school who talk about   
   immoral subjects. It shows how the Revolution is progressing as a cancer.   
   Today   
   the evil reveals itself completely and appears as triumphant. It is one of   
   the   
   elements that make the chastisement announced at Fatima necessary.   
      
   Second, the intensity of his piety is worthy of attention. He prayed all the   
   time, even during his work in the fields. For this reason, he didn't want to   
   cover his head because no man should cover his head when he speaks with God.   
   As   
   a sign of respect, it should be uncovered. It also shows his lack of human   
   respect. It is easy to imagine that many persons told him to cover himself   
   to   
   avoid the burning rays of the sun. But he would not heed their advice out of   
   respect for God.   
      
   Further, it demonstrates his admirable mortification. Manual labor is   
   already   
   hard in itself, but if one carries it out with the sun beating on his head,   
   it   
   becomes twice as difficult. Well, Conrad not only did this but he was also   
   able   
   to still focus on his meditations, which reveals an enormous capacity of   
   concentration, especially if compared with the modern man, so dispersive in   
   his   
   thinking.   
      
   Third, at age 30 he entered the Capuchin Order and was assigned the role of   
   porter in the Monastery near a famous Sanctuary of Our Lady. He became the   
   opposite of the porter common to many monasteries. I have known many porters   
   of   
   monasteries and in general, they are aggressive, lazy and prone to bad   
   moods.   
   When one rings the bell of a monastery or calls on the phone asking to speak   
   with a monk, it can take a very long time for the porter to call the monk,   
   and   
   then another long wait for the monk to arrive (1). The porters are often   
   negligent and indifferent to the needs of the visitor. St. Conrad was the   
   very   
   opposite: he was respectful, solicitous, and efficient.   
      
       Note 1: For many years until the 1950s, Prof. Plinio was the lawyer for   
   both   
   the Carmelite Order and the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo. This job required him   
   to   
   be in constant contact with monasteries.   
      
   Fourth, he was a man who edified everyone who came into contact with him. By   
   his   
   presence and virtue, he preached a unspoken lesson for 41 years. He became a   
   great missionary, a true preacher, even though he had never given a sermon.   
   This   
   shows us that men who can carry out a good apostolate are not only those who   
   have the capacity to speak or teach. A simple man like St. Conrad was quite   
   efficient, but in this case the key to his apostolate was not based upon his   
   natural talent but rather his supernatural life. The supernatural life that   
   dwells in the interior man irradiates to those around them. For this reason   
   we   
   see a simple lay brother porter holding a very obscure job and without   
   notable   
   learning who did an enormous good for the Catholic cause.   
      
   The life of St. Conrad of Parzham is a splendid illustration of the   
   principle   
   enunciated by Dom Chautard that the soul of all apostolates is the interior   
   life. If we want our apostolate to be fecund, we should do it exclusively   
   for   
   the love of God. Not to be important, not to appear before others, but only   
   for   
   the cause of Our Lady. If we do this, our apostolate will be a channel of   
   grace.   
      
   If we have self-interest, it will be a blocked channel that does not let the   
   waters flow through it. Souls will be thirsty for graces and because of our   
   guilt, they will not receive the waters that Our Lady wants to give them. A   
   serious apostolate demands a complete abnegation and a complete renouncement   
   of   
   our self love.   
      
   Give me an entirely abnegated man and I will give you an apostle.   
      
   Let us ask St. Conrad of Parzham to help us have the abnegation of which he   
   was   
   a model, indispensable for the accomplishment of our vocation.   
      
   See Icons at:   
   http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j175sd_ConradParzham4-21.shtml   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service   
   of   
   my thorn-crowned Captain.   
   --Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen   
      
   Bible Quote   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)