A Report from Rome: The Ceremony for Spiritual Warrior Sr. Dot

Yesterday we meditated on spiritual warriors all among us.  I share with you here a report from Tom Stang, brother of Sister Dorothy Stang, who wrote the following on the airplane returning from Rome where he attended the ceremony of his sister being named a contemporary martyr. 

A special thanks to Tom and his brother David for their brotherly support of their sister during her life and afterwards in both South and North America.  And for allowing me to share this letter with DM readers. 

(May I add that Tom drove up from Los Angeles with a banner he painted of his sister to participate in our very first ceremony of taking vows for the Order of the Sacred Earth.  Sister Dorothy was well represented at the origins of OSE and in my opinion is the patron saint of the rainforest defenders and of OSE.)

It began with a papal audience. Being in the presence of Francis who shares Dot’s love for mother earth and father sky was worth the effort even if we did not know what was being said. The papal guard security forces were not available in the days of Jesus.  Sort of wonder what He is thinking of all these trappings. 

Friday was the best day.  It began with the tour of the basilica of San Bartolomeo the Apostle. What a thrill to know that Dot’s relics of her blood-soaked earth would be placed on the altar for American martyrs late in the evening…

To know the same basilica that holds the relics of an Apostle, the relic of Bishop Romero of El Salvador and many others from the time of the Nazi and communist days, to see their relics displayed below in the Church catacombs.  The community of St Egidio, dedicated to service the poor around San Bartolomeo is so Dorothy.

The basilica of San Bartolomeo is not on such a grand scale as St. Peters or St John Lateran where we spent our last day  celebrating Merlini being made blessed. I don’t think Dot missed the more patriarchal trappings present at this event.  Sister Mary and Sister Kathy Harmon did the simple ceremony of placing Dots relics on the altar.  The Gregorian university held a symposium earlier in the day in honor of Dorothy with participants relating how her Leadership in the Amazon forest and sustainability are being emulated in many ways today.

So I am returning home from the eternal City knowing that my sister has become well established in the Pantheon of Saints and Martyrs in Rome giving glory to God.

Her family and All her sisters of Notre Dame.  To quote Dr. Gianni Bella at the symposium: “From the moment her earthly life ended, this humble religious has become a powerful symbol of non-violent resistance to a predatory model of development, ready to sacrifice human dignity on the altar of the money God.”

This letter is a bit discombobulated but after a 15-hour plane ride home, I stillllll am trying to get it together.  Now to hosing with water all the ash that has fallen on Stangrila while I was gone. The city of angels is in major grief for all the loss.

May we wake up to what we must do to help Mother Earth, our common home recover from our years of abuse.  What is happening in Los Angeles is a heavy price.

Tom

See Matthew Fox, “Hildegard as Eco-Warrior,” in Fox, Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint For Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21^st Century, pp. 97-132.  [Sister Dot fell in love with Hildegard of Bingen at our Creation Spirituality program.]

And Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 404-423.

See also Fox, “Spiritual Warriors,” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors To Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 77-104.

And Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Lustag, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action.

And Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.

Banner image: Altar for Sister Dorothy Stang at a Cosmic Mass, created by her brother Tom.

Queries for Contemplation

Do you take pride in Sister Dorothy’s courage and commitment to “non-violent resistance to a predatory model of development, ready to sacrifice human dignity on the altar of the money God”?  How do we best do that in North America?

Recommended Reading

Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century

Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.

One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths

Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit

The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine

To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature,  to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God

Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug

In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.”  ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope.