CHRISTMAS SEASON IN THE PRISON DESERT

First, thanks for all the help you have given me. Contributions of money, stamps, and most importantly, prayers, have made it possible for me to get five Shorter Christian Prayers to prisoners. Several of these men are Benedictine Oblates or Oblate novices, and three are considering becoming Oblate novices. I meet with a small group at Riverbend Prison in Nashville who are hoping to form a Benedictine community in the prison with the help of the Chaplain, Jeannie Alexander. Please pray for them and for her. One of the men I write who was strongly considering becoming a Benedictine Oblate is Manuel Pardo, who is still on Death Watch and is scheduled to be executed on December 11 at 6 PM EST, after living for 27 years on Death Row. On December 2, I am beginning a Novena to Saints Peter and Paul, asking for their intercession on Manuel’s behalf as he faces his ordeal, and I ask you to join me in this prayer. [See http://blessedcatholicsaints.blogspot.com/2010/06/novena-for-feast-of-saints-peter-and.html] By the way, if you are a Protestant, “novena” means nine, and the reason we pray “novenas” is because the Apostles and Mary prayed in the upper room for nine days after the Ascension before they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. So if you just pray for Manuel for those nine days, thinking of the prison terms of Saints Peter and Paul . .well, that would be wonderful. During November, I have also been able to send money orders for prisoners amounting to $100, and many books, including four copies of He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Ciszek, S.J, one copy of his With God in Russia, two copies of G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, two copies of A Different Kind of Cell: The Story of a Murderer Who Became a Monk, by Father Jones, a Trappist hermit, and many other books and pamphlets, as well as Bishop Sheen’s War Prayer Book, and murder mysteries. I heartily recommend the Different Kind of Cell book to all! Thank you for your continued generosity! Ken Craven Desert Prison Ministry 661 S. Edgewood Drive Sparta, TN 38583-1105 931-979-1938 kentoncraven@hotmail.com

PLEASE NOTE: Desert Prison Ministry is now located at: www.kencraven.blogspot.com

DEATH WATCH

Manuel writes on November 1, 2012, that he will be executed by the State of Florida on December 11, 2012, after twenty-seven years on Death Row in Florida. He will have one hour to kiss his daughter and family, and after that can be seen through glass only. On Death Watch, he has been moved to Florida State Prison, where Florida executes its inmates. Manuel thanks me and Desert Prison Ministry supporters for the book he has been reading this month, The Desert Fathers by Helen Waddell. In the last month, Manuel has been giving strong consideration to becoming a Benedictine Oblate. Please pray for Manuel, a good Catholic man who accepts his guilt and punishment, and ask others to pray for him. Manuel is regularly visited by volunteer Catholic Chaplain Dale Recinella (Now I Walk on Death Row) and a retired Catholic bishop.