3. Thérèse, Muhammad and Benjamin
Thérèse Martin
In 1843, Louis Martin was twenty when he decided to enter the religious life. He journeyed to the home of the monks at St. Bernard, but when asked if he had gotten through all his Latin examinations, he answered no. The Prior told him to go and pass those tests before returning. Louis was disappointed and knew he wouldn't become a monk. A short time after that, Azélie-Marie Zelie Guerin went with her mother to be admitted to the convent of the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. The Mother Superior told her that she wasn't suited for her mission and that God had something else in mind for her.
Louis and Marie met, had a brief courtship and were wed in the Church of Our Lady in Alencon on July 13, 1858. They produced nine offspring, but four died in infancy. Those who lived were all girls: Louise, Pauline, Leonie, Celine and Thérèse. Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin was born on January 2, 1873. Marie couldn‟t nurse her so she went to see a woman who could. On her return home, she found Thérèse cold and thought it was too late to revive her. Marie prayed to St. Joseph and soon discovered that the baby was recovering. It didn't last and Marie accepted the fate that her daughter would die. She was resigned but then saw that Thérèse was smiling at her.
The Martins had a good life, with Louis being a goldsmith and his wife having a thriving lace business. Marie‟s work was so successful that Louis abandoned his work to help her. Being quite religious, the Martin shop was closed on Sundays and feast days, despite an idea from others that would keep the business going on the weekend since Sunday could be quite profitable – sort of a Catholic loophole. The idea was to keep the front door barred but have the side one open for sales. But Louis and his wife would never do that. The couple attended Mass not only on the weekend, but each morning. They encouraged the girls to read the Lives of the Saints in addition to morning and night prayers.
Azélie-Marie died when Thérèse was four. She was deeply affected by the death of her mother. The day after, Celine turned to Marie-Louise and said, Well, you’ll be my mother now. Thérèse offered, and Pauline will be my mother. The family moved to Lisieux, where their aunt cared for the children, with Pauline charged with the religious raising of the sisters. One day after running in the sun, Thérèse mentioned to Pauline that she was extremely thirsty to which the latter asked, would you give up a drink to save a poor sinner? Thérèse replied in the affirmative. Pauline fetched a fresh glass of water and said, drink. You made the sacrifice and that counts. Pauline explained that Thérèse‟s reply indicated her consent to the sacrifice and that Pauline‟s command to drink was a request for obedience, another virtue.
Pauline was a guiding inspiration for Thérèse, who prospered in goodness. Pauline convinced her younger sister that only God was important in life. Those who saw Thérèse offered, she scarcely looks as if she were of this earth. One individual who saw her in church staring at the Blessed Sacrament said: I wouldn’t be surprised if that child dies young. But if she doesn’t, mark my words, she will be a saint! Because Thérèse meditated so often, Pauline found her sister to be too serious, missing out on play, games and other pleasures of life.
However, Louis and Thérèse truly appreciated nature, God‟s gift. They watched but also listened to its sounds: the birds, trees rustling and the bees as they pollinated flowers. A starry night entranced Thérèse as she saw her name scribed in the stars. It was the letter T in the constellation of Orion. She grasped something beyond her vision, which she just couldn‟t express in words.
One summer afternoon when she was seven and her father was away, she looked outside and called out, Papa, Papa! Her sisters came to her and inquired why she was calling him. She answered that she had spotted him coming towards her. He was bent over and appeared to be old, but his face was covered so she really couldn‟t see him. He moved back and then disappeared. Her sisters thought it might have been a prank pulled by the nurse, but she denied doing it and said she hadn't seen anyone in the garden. It was a vision that couldn‟t be explained that day but would be in the future.
Thérèse wanted to join the Carmelites as a teenager, but many were opposed to her doing so. Though appointed guardian, Mr. Guerin, her Uncle, thought it folly for someone her age joining the order. Later, when she went to see him, she was surprised when he welcomed her idea, saying, I prayed to Our Lord to change my heart and make me see your point of view and He did so. Next she had to convince the people of the order. They wouldn't agree to it because she was so young. She then proceeded to talk to priests and bishops – some supported her and others didn't. She even saw the pope but he just assured her that if God willed it, she would enter the order.
She was to enter after she turned fifteen, but even then, there was a delay. The agreement was that she would be allowed into the order after Easter for various reasons. When the time finally came, Monsignor Delatroette spoke to the religious community about her joining the Carmelites and mentioned that it was against his wishes that she should enter the cloister. The putdown was completely ignored by Thérèse, but through her stay in there, she would hear other not so kind words and receive less than considerate treatment by many of the sisters. In each case, she made difficult sacrifices, saying nothing.
Once she was where she had desired to be for years, the ill treatment by the sisters continued. Some were very considerate and kind to her, while others weren't. One reason was because of her age. Nonetheless, no Carmelite should have displayed such reprehensive behavior to anyone, let alone Thérèse. She obeyed and forgot about the behavior of the others. These were situations that were quite baffling to anyone. She was asked to take care of the garden each day, so she obeyed. On witnessing what Thérèse did outside, Mother Prioress said, what can we do with such a child, who is sent for a walk every day in the garden? Mother Prioress humiliated her often, discovering fault with whatever she did.
After six months as a postulant – a very satisfactory one – Monsignor needed further proof. Her time was extended by another few months. Her next period should have been another year, but it became almost two. Her profession was put off but she accepted the delay and placed everything in the hands of God. On September 8, 1890, she pronounced her vows. Two weeks later when her family could be present, the taking of the veil was scheduled.
She always had health issues and many times when she was suffering she dedicated herself to taking care of the other Sisters who were in need, not concerned for herself. Besides her work in the garden, she was given many tasks: sweeping the refectory; filling the water decanters; a job as third purser; painting the tabernacle fresco; linen cupboard duties; work in the dormitories; assistant to the Mother Sub-Prioress.
Her illness had to be affected by the way many treated her, even though it seemed not to bother her. This was the mental aspect, but there were also the physical ones. Many of the sisters slept in cold rooms with few blankets to stay warm during the night. What they would do was warm up before the fireplace sufficiently so that their evening would be bearable. This Thérèse did, but it was a long distance to her room. As a result, she endured many cold nights, which did not help her health.
She died on September 30, 1897 of tuberculosis. Even though she was 24, many thought that she was a child of no more than fourteen. Before her passing, a flock of birds sat on a tree near her window and sang. At the moment of her death, they ceased singing. After her death, many of her prayers were answered, including numerous conversions. Some were done by her brothers, whose subjects brought the faith to others. People declared Thérèse a wonder-worker as her intercession cured both bodies and souls. Her efforts resulted in vocations and extraordinary blessings for those in the religious life.
Thérèse was beatified in 1923 and canonized two years later. With Francis Xavier, she was declared a co-patron of missions in 1927. Pope John Paul II named her the 33rd Doctor of the Church in October 1997. She was the youngest and the third woman to be named. She is known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. She was declared the patron of all missionaries and missions.
Laying on her deathbed, Thérèse told the Carmelites that her body wouldn't be found to be corrupt. In September 1910, when her body was exhumed, all that was revealed were her bones. However, a palm placed inside her coffin was green, just as it had been on the day of burial, and the aroma of roses filled the air.
In the early 1900s, Anne, a seminarian from Lisieux suffered from tubercular hemorrhaging. Having a high fever, doctors didn't give him long to live. A relic of St. Thérèse was put around his neck with a novena in order to affect a cure. His condition deteriorated even further. One night his caretaker asked him to offer up the sacrifice of his life, but he had complete trust that St. Thérèse would save him. He soon sat up and his pain, shortness of breath and fever were gone. When the doctors checked his lungs, they found no trace of the disease and called his recovery a supernatural intervention.
During World War I, many soldiers saw a vision of St. Thérèse in the trenches and on the fields. She was Angel, sister and mother of the Germans, Italians, French and English. With her presence, each country turned to her, forgetting hatred of the enemy, as she brought comfort, courage and led many souls to God. One soldier heading onto the front line said, oh! Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus, protect me as a mother would, for my mother isn’t here! The French made her their Guardian Angel and planes were named after her. An aviator scribed, I am in despair as I have lost my relic of Sister Thérèse. Many soldiers sent letters asking for her beatification.
Sister Louis, a nun from the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross, had suffered from an ulcer beginning in 1912. Three years later she received the last rites, praying to St. Thérèse only for a happy death. Sister Louis didn't perish. Instead she lived and on the floor near her bed could be found rose petals of all colors. On December 22, 1916, she woke up, completely well again.
There were other miracles brought about because of the intercession of St. Thérèse. A woman prayed for her husband who had left the church after thirty years and she witnessed him receiving the Sacraments again. Wounded in battle, a soldier was able to walk. An incurable disease had descended upon a woman in Paris, but she was cured of it. Unable to use his right arm, even after many operations, a workingman returned to work and used the arm. A blind woman‟s sight was restored. The first thing she saw was the relic of St. Thérèse.
As far as Thérèse‟s vision of the bent over man, it was indeed that of her dad. Louis would journey to parts of Europe in 1885. He visited Germany, Greece, Austria and Italy, taking in all the sights. He was greatly impressed. A couple years before, he had been struck with paralysis, but somehow he was cured. Later he had a few strokes and was completely paralyzed. That is whom Thérèse had seen in the garden. Her life was extremely short and she suffered greatly, but she was an inspiration to many. Also known as the Little Flower, her feast day is on October 1st. There are numerous books about her including the 1981 offering by Sister Jesualda of the Holy Spirit, St. Thérèse The Little Flower and Story of a Soul: The Autobiography Of St. Thérèse Of Lisieux.
Muhammad Ali
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 17, 1942, to Cassius Marcellus Clay and Odessa Lee Grady. His father was a sign painter and named after a politician and abolitionist. His mother was a household domestic. Born as Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., the name change would come later, as would Rudolph or Rudy, his younger brother, His parents knew he would be something special when he was born was boxing gloves and wouldn't fit in the car to be brought home. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. However, it is true that at the age of three, he wouldn't fit in his crib. He had to be in a regular bed.
A story goes around that when the older son and his parents departed a bus and headed to their new home, Ali climbed an apple tree. Some man admonished him to get down before he broke a leg. Ali followed his orders and ran back through the house with no furniture in it. Even at a very young age, this was one creative individual.
The Clays weren't the wealthiest of families, but were rich with friends and good health. Ali never had to work as his dad was a very successful sign painter, buying his first home at twenty- three. Cassius, Sr. always had work and was his own boss, but he was a womanizer. Ali relates the story of the time when he was a young lad that his father hopped on a bus. Ali wondered why he did this since his dad owned a car, which he had just left. He was on the vehicle for less than a mile when he got off it. When Ali asked him about his actions, his dad said, I just wanted this girl’s phone number. Maybe he figured she wanted him to paint some signs.
Cassius, Sr. was a talker, even outtalking his son – if you can imagine that. When Ali joined the Black Muslims, he acknowledged that there was no pressure for his dad to join, too. Ali is not known to drink, smoke or chase women, but Clay‟s father didn't have those restrictions, nor did he desire to have them. Nonetheless, Ali‟s dad and Odessa always paid with cash, never on credit.
Rumor has it that Ali‟s mother was the daughter of a colored woman and a fellow from County Claire in Ireland named O‟Grady. Hence Ali is predominantly of African American descent, but possessing some English and Irish ancestry. His mom was a stay-at-home person who loved to cook and make draperies. She loved her boys and raised them well, allowing no cursing and having them behave like gentlemen. She marched them off to church every Sunday.
Cassius began to box since he figured it was the quickest way for a black person to succeed in America. He won his first amateur fight at twelve and a year later was on television doing the same. He gathered a big fo1lowing in Louisville by going around bragging that he would beat someone up and they could watch him on TV. He was challenged in the classroom with his studies and he knew this limited his making it as a football or basketball player.
His grades at Virginia Avenue Grade School and Central High dipped while his ability as a boxer improved. He had the talent, great reflexes and a mind that could win bouts. His training discipline was a plus and his desire was to be the best. His bragging had a triple purpose: he wanted to bring in fans; it gave him confidence; it might psych out his opponents. Ali was always looking for answers that would make him a better fighter. He was a student of boxing who read books on it and gathered as much information on the sport as he could.
In 1958, he won the light heavyweight crown in the Louisville Golden Gloves. In the Tournament of Champions in Chicago that followed, he lost to Tony Madigan, his first defeat. The following year in Toledo, he was winner in the same class of the National A. A. U. His words were, here is the prettiest middleweight in the world. It was the start of his run in the ring as well as another run. Ali lost to a Marine named Johnson in the Pan American Games in Chicago but his promoter Joe Martin thought he should stay an amateur and box in the Olympics in Rome in 1960.
He won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics and continued winning championships afterwards as a professional. I was never a big fan of boxing, so I only read about his victories. Heavyweight champion in 1964, he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, becoming a Black Muslim. Uncle Sam called three years later, but the champ refused. He did it on the grounds that he had no beef with the Vietnamese people and had no intention of killing people in a foreign land. In his biography, he mentions never intending to hurt anyone. Ali was arrested for draft evasion and found guilty of draft evasion charges. He was stripped of his boxing title. He wasn't fighting for four years when on June 28, 1971, the New York Daily News featured this headline:
ALI WINS DECISION
Court votes 8 – 0 to Kayo Draft Rap
You can read about his great comeback as well as more description on his matches in numerous books, including Sting Like A Bee: The Muhammad Ali Story, the 1971 book by José Torres, another boxer, as well as Ali‟s 2004 biography, The Soul Of A Butterfly: Reflections On Life’s Journey. Torres‟ book delves into all the intricacies of being in the ring of battle, giving great insight into the boxing world, even if you‟re not a fan. Was Ali the greatest as he says? No doubt, he was quite an individual and one of the best. There weren't too many promoters who surpassed him. He did many things on the canvas that no one else has done. Others did some things better than he did – such as a more explosive punch – but there were so many maneuvers of his that no one matched. His record as both amateur and professional speaks loudly, not unlike his ranting before a bout. However, when he said he would win in the sixth round, many times he did – although not always.
His autobiography gives us a glance into his life as a boxer as well as life with his family. He was married four times and is the father of two sons and seven daughters. He loves his children and they love him, but it was difficult being a good dad with so much travel and training. He married his long-time friend Yolanda Lonnie Williams on November 19, 1986. They adopted Asaad Amin when he was five months old. Ali and Lonnie, who was a convert to Islam in her twenties, reside in Scottsville, Arizona.
He has to be included in the list of the greatest fighters ever. His skills were exemplary but the values he possesses as well as his stand against social injustice and war gives him status as a true hero. Sports Illustrated called Ali the Sportsman of the Century and the BBC crowned him Sports Personality of the century.
Benjamin Montgomery
In the nineteenth century, philanthropist Robert Owen envisioned a community of families living on about 1,000 acres of land, all working together for a common purpose. They would grow their own fruits and vegetables as well as maintain their homes and learn what was necessary to sustain life. No one would be discriminated against based on race, creed or color. Owen began his project in 1826 in Indiana at New Harmony. Unfortunately, it fell apart after two years, mostly because some of the participants were lazy misfits and irresponsible.
Joseph Emory Davis was aware of the New Harmony failure but felt with a few changes, he could make it work. Davis was a retired lawyer who became a very successful planter. By 1850, Davis created a plantation in Mississippi at Hurricane, just south of Vicksburg near the New Orleans border. The place was called Davis Bend and it couldn‟t compare to the other cotton farms in the South as it treated the workers with dignity. They were fed, educated, properly housed and more accurately called servants, even though employer and employees made up a community of equals.
One of the people there was the slave Benjamin Thornton Montgomery, who was born in 1819 and hailed from Virginia. Davis encouraged Ben to be the best and Montgomery appreciated the concern and soon was a leader, mastering writing as well as reading. Years before, Montgomery was sold to a trader from a plantation in Mississippi, with Ben winding up at Joseph‟s farm. Not pleased with this life, the slave escaped, but Davis found him and convinced him to return, based on mutual confidence and understanding. Ben took advantage of the books in the Davis library and studied architecture and became a mechanic, which greatly benefited the plantation. He invented a boat propeller and tried to patent it, but was denied because he was black. When Davis applied for the patent, he too was denied it since the office realized who had originated the invention.
Montgomery married Mary Lewis in December 1840 and by 1851, the couple had five children, though Benjamin Osmond, the second son, died before reaching the age of three. Besides being a leather tanner, Ben also ran a dry goods store. He was a jack-of-all-trades who mastered them all. He was Davis‟s agent and business manager of nearby Brierfield as well as Hurricane. Isaiah was the youngest son, with brother Thornton and daughters, Virginia and Rebecca. The children were educated through the instruction of their parents. At times, a few white children were also students. This school integration ended when the practice became known in the area. Because of Joseph‟s concern for the Montgomerys, they had few ideas of what a slave truly was. Further proof was established because apparently neither Brierfield nor Hurricane witnessed any runaways. Both places displayed no clues that there was discontent among the workers, who had great respect for Davis and his family. Joseph saw the slaves as equals and addressed them not by nicknames, but by their full names.
Joseph despised the peculiar institution but realized that he couldn‟t free the African Americans on the plantation because of what might happen to them. The color of one‟s skin shouldn‟t matter. As the following decades proved, his belief was confirmed. Davis‟s brother was Jefferson, who felt completely different about blacks. He accepted the program that Joseph instituted but felt whites were superior to the Negro. He would eventually become the president of the Confederacy. Sadly, in the middle of the nineteenth century, the Davis servants could never be considered truly free. They had many fears, including their fate after Joseph died. They dreaded being sent to another plantation under any circumstance.
Joseph‟s plantation suffered a great setback with the outset of the Civil War in 1961. Ben and his family moved to Cincinnati to escape the conflict. Davis moved east to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with his family and a few of his workers. Confederates looted the farm and burned the residence of Joseph and his family. Only the library, which was separate from the main building, wasn't destroyed. In February 1865, Thornton was back at Hurricane, reopening the Montgomery store. Before long, Ben, Mary and the others returned home to Mississippi. Ben managed the store and plantation. In July, he originated the idea of leasing and operating a cotton gin. The rates that E. S. Bedford charged for ginning bordered on thievery, much to Ben‟s disapproval. Samuel Thomas, Assistant commissioner of the Freedman‟s Bureau denied Ben‟s request. He came up with excuses and lies so that Bedford could keep his position. There may have been some payola involved in Thomas‟s decision, probably racism, too. Thomas also thought that Montgomery was a cunning opportunist who would benefit but not share the profits with others.
He didn't realize that Ben, who had experience and was a successful businessman, was not one to give up easily. He had the best ally when Davis returned to Hurricane in the fall of 1865 and joined in the gin struggle. It was soon discovered that much of what Thomas said about the gin was an exaggeration, including the cost of its maintenance over the past few months. Joseph wrote to President Andrew Johnson and the Vicksburg Journal about the matter. One reply from Thomas offered that Ben didn't have the credentials to succeed in the ginning process. The fighting went back and forth with Davis defending Ben. More surprising than the way Thomas treated Montgomery was how Ben responded. Any other black doing the same would have wound up as a strange fruit growing on a Southern tree, which Billie Holiday would sing about more than a half-century later. In April 1866, Commissioner O. O. Howard relieved Thomas of his duties.
That same year, Joseph sold the farm and its property to Montgomery for $300,000. It was a ten-year loan with payments of interest due every year, even if no amount was credited toward the payment of the principal. At the time, this transaction was illegal because blacks were prohibited from property ownership, but Davis made it appear to be nothing more than a rental, which in a way it was. Through the years, Davis Bend had been quite successful. With Thomas banished, Captain A. W. Preston reported that the plantation at Davis Bend had better crops and more suitable housing. The workers were energetic, inspired, productive and contented. Nonetheless, in the first year of the new lease, challenges abounded. The land being so near the Mississippi River meant levee protection was imperative. Ben‟s embankments may have been fine, but levees of the neighbors needed much work. Montgomery even assisted in flood protection efforts of the others, but the mighty river didn't cooperate. Water on the farms harmed all the crops and then came the armyworms, only making matters worse, destroying most of the crop. Fortunately, Davis was lenient regarding payments on the loan.
The first years were tough but eventually, matters improved and the interest was paid. Schools were self-supporting and they educated the children in the area even though a session was only four months. This was because of the need for workers in the cotton season. The enterprise succeeded and Montgomery bought more land and expanded. He did so not because he was a heartless capitalist – he did have to pay back the loan, though – but because he wanted to give more opportunities to those in need. All of Ben‟s family contributed to the effort, even Mary‟s brother, William Lewis, and Benjamin Green, his nephew. Virginia and Rebecca had duties in the store and other relatives were on duty during the busy holiday season.
Both Virginia and Rebecca made their own clothes and played the piano. They had gardens, picked cotton, did some fishing together and returned with a few fish. In 1872, they entered Oberlin College in Ohio, which was only eight percent black. They were there for two years. Like their brothers, the daughters were ambitious, industrious and contributed immensely to the farm. Indeed Rebecca and Virginia were women ahead of their time.
Just as the Davis enterprise was disrupted by the Civil War, hard times beseeched Montgomery and his workers. The necessary expansion and huge loan were problems, but so was the ever- present political and social atmosphere. There were small disputes at Davis Bend, but most were settled amiably. Many payments on the debt were forgiven, but nowhere near enough. Ben had amassed an overwhelming amount