Blessed Herman, the Cripple. 40 Days for Life

Blessed Herman the Cripple, monk 1013 - 1054  is living proof why we value each life instead of the seeing it as a burden on our "environment".  Roman Catholics are benefiting from this man, almost one thousand years later. 

Each time we say the Hail Mary we need to know that Blessed Herman was the author of the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen).

This year we start 40 Days for Life one day after his feast day, September 26th and ends on November 4th, two days from the elections.  We believe each life has immeasurable value and we pray for leaders who see that value.  Click on your area of Oregon for a 40 Days for Life near you.  Portand  Salem  Beaverton  Eugene  McMinnville  Klamath Falls  St.Vincent dePaul - Portland  Bend

Blessed Herman was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida to a farm family. His parents cared for him until the age of seven, but in 1020 they gave him over to the abbey of Reichenau Island in Lake Constance in southern Germany; he spent the rest of his life there. He became a Benedictine monk at age twenty. A genius, he studied and wrote on astronomy, theology, math, history, poetry, Arabic, Greek, and Latin. He built musical instruments, and astronomical equipment. In later life he became blind, and had to give up his academic writing. The most famous religious poet of his day, he is the author of Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater. (thanks, Blessed Herman information to inspire Pro-lifers)

Herman The Cripple
by
William Hart Hurlbut, M.D.

I am least among the low,
I am weak and I am slow;
I can neither walk nor stand,
Nor hold a spoon in my own hand.

Like a body bound in chain,
I am on a rack of pain,
But He is God who made me so,
that His mercy I should know.

Brothers do not weep for me!
Christ, the Lord, has set me free.
All my sorrows he will bless;
Pain is not unhappiness.

From my window I look down
To the streets of yonder town,
Where the people come and go,
Reap the harvest that they sow.

Like a field of wheat and tares,
Some are lost in worldly cares;
There are hearts as black as coal,
There are cripples of the soul.

Brothers do not weep for me!
In his mercy I am free.
I can neither sow nor spin,
Yet, I am fed and clothed in Him.

I have been the donkey’s tail,
Slower than a slug or snail;
You my brothers have been kind,
Never let me lag behind.

I have been most rich in friends,
You have been my feet and hands;
All the good that I could do,
I have done because of you.

Oh my brothers, can’t you see?
You have been as Christ for me.
And in my need I know I, too,
Have become as Christ for you!

I have lived for forty years
In this wilderness of tears;
But these trials can’t compare
With the glory we will share.

I have had a voice to sing,
To rejoice in everything;
Now Love’s sweet eternal song
Breaks the darkness with the dawn.

Brother’s do not weep for me!
Christ, the Lord, has set me free.
Oh my friends, remember this:
Pain is not unhappiness.

by Blessed Herman the Cripple

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile,
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

V. Pray for us O holy Mother of God,
R. that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Thank you Lord for Blessed Herman and showing how Christ blesses each life, even when we feel alone and forgotten.

P.S. Thank you all for your prayers and loving me through this past year.  Having just minimal depressions where I did feel alone, prayers did matter.
In a nutshell:

• Last Valentine Day, 2010, I fell onto a concrete garage floor while maneuvering some steps.
• Went to the doctor and found out I had torn ligaments in my knees.
• Doctor saved my life by ordering an ultrasound on my heart that showed a congenital defect of my aortic valve and how it was almost blocked.
• Had open heart surgery on May 20th and have a replacement valve.  (Fortunately my other arteries were clean.) Stayed four days in hospital.
• June 1, 2010 while walking in home for exercise had a small stroke. Called 911. Went back to hospital for four more days.
• Mini-Stroke took away hearing in my right ear and gave me right brain stem damage.  I'm wobbly and have to use a walker sometimes.  The walker has room for three grandchildren so it can look like a stroller...:-)
• FELL again in May 2011 thinking I was okay to put socks on with foot on chair.  Lost my balance and went flat on my back, heard a huge crack and 911 was called and I was in the hospital again for four days.  (four is the lucky? number.)
• While seeing if my back was broken, no thank God.  Two CAT scans showed my left thyroid had grown to the size of two tennis balls.
• This wasn't seen during open heart surgery as it was behind my collar bone.Had two surgeons remove the culprit. It had moved my windpipe and was cutting off my breathing. Four more days in the hospital, egads.
• I'm still wobbly, deaf, have scars from three surgeries that form the letter "J" for Jesus?   :-) It's interesting that I had to have the open heart surgery before the thyroid surgery.  Both were life threatening issues.
• I thank these two doctors who just "happened" to order tests that weren't common to have.  They saved my life.  They are from the same office and interestly Christian.
• Honestly the Good Lord was watching out for me.  I want to listen to Him more and be thankful for small things.  THEN.

In November of 2011 I had a pacemaker put which happens sometimes after open heart surgery. December 2011 I had rotator cuff surgery because I HAD torn my shoulder muscles off in three places.  I told them it hurt.
On Feb. 3rd.  I was at the hospital when where my daughter was having a baby and was hit by a huge laundry cart that couldn't see me because of a wide turn.  My back has a fracture of the T-11 vertebrae and I had to fake it so my daughter wouldn't know I was hurt.  She was doing such a great job.  I just took more muscle relaxants that I had because my arm was in the sling because of my rotator cuff surgery.  She never knew until a few days later, but I didn't hold my new grandson that day.  Emotionally I was almost gone.

What I continue to have to strive for is to let people help me. 

I am so thankful for having a family that loves life in all it's stages and stands up to this challenge..

Grandchildren and children and husband are loved more dearly. 

Learning how much I am loved by my family and how much they have sacrificed without grumbling.

I trust the Lord more, although I hope there's not another surgery on the horizon.
 

• This is too long, but I was saved and challenged by Christ and wanted to share this "adventure".  So many people I've met have many more "adventures" than I could ever know.
•  It shows for me, the Lord's wisdom and saving hand for all His Creation.