FEBRUARY LENTEN CALL FROMTHE PRISON DESERT

“The desert is an invitation and purification for the soul.”—Blessed Charles de Foucauld (Charles of Jesus)

As we begin to enter into Lent, I would like to emphasize why I have called this ministry to prisoners Desert Prison Ministry. It was not an idle thought that prompted me to do this. Standing at the head of a Wadi canyon in the Sultanate of Oman a few years ago, I was impelled to cry out that I was reclaiming this desert in the name of Jesus Christ. Before Muhammed began the great jihad that took over much of the world for Islam, the Arabian peninsula was spotted with synagogues and monasteries. Within a few years, all traces of Judaism and Christianity had been purged by the armies of Islam and, of course, they have not been able to return. If you are interested in this subject, you may wish to read “The Cross and the Desert,” on my other blog, http://failedhermit.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html

In recent years I have entered more into the spirit of hermitage and the Desert Fathers of the early centuries of the Church. Like Monsignor Hugh Benson, the author of the apocalyptic The Lord of the World (1907), I can easily foresee a Europe as a dying sunset, Rome as a heap of ruins, and the Papal chair removed to a white-washed hut in the desert near Jerusalem. I also think that it is now time for the Church to return to the spirituality of the Desert Fathers and the hermits of every age.

My contact with prisoners across the country brings me shocking stories each week. Prisoners on death row or in long-term sentences such as life without parole are daily subjected to abuses I would blush to describe. No, dear friends, it is not true what you may hear in the bars—that most prisoners are living in the lap of luxury with nice gyms, free TV, and coddled therapy groups. It just ain’t so. Even when they live in almost tolerable conditions, they are often deprived of the Sacraments or the visitations of priests and deacons. To many prisoners, deprived of even basic necessities, five dollars a month to purchase stamps, paper, or a few snacks, means a great deal.

Thank you for the outpouring of donations in January and throughout 2012. Thanks to you, over sixty packages of books, catechisms, Bibles, religious publications, and good literature have arrived to lighten dreary cells, and small money orders have made it possible for prisoners to write their families and lawyers.

Blessings! Please pray for this ministry, for the prisoners throughout the world (think of Korea! China! and the Islamic countries!)

-Ken Craven
661 S. Edgewood Drive
Sparta, TN 38583-1105
www.kencraven.blogspot.com
kentoncraven@hotmail.com

THE PRISON DESERT IN JANUARY

Yes, I know, January is the bleakest month on the money front. Bills, dues, appeals, fiscal cliffs, insurance, prescriptions, and the debt ceiling (whatever that is). Nevertheless, this hermit comes a begging with the news that the Desert Prison Ministry bank account is registering at $1.26.

The good news is that all the prisoners on my list received Christmas cards and letters, and many of them received good books, including the recommended A Different Kind of Cell: The Story of a Murderer Who Became a Monk by a Trappist hermit. If you read this book and want to share it with a prisoner, let me know. Or, just send the list price plus estimated shipping and I’ll send it in your name, if you wish, or anonymously, if you prefer. Or send me copies of the book (new or used) and I will do the rest.

I’m off to Riverbend Maximum Security Prison and Morgan County Corrections Complex in January. I’m nearly out of stamps, and will need printer ink, paper, gasoline, books, packing envelopes, and prayers this month. Please help! Send checks, stamps, good used books, money orders, questions, uncut diamonds, and gold bullion to the address below. You know where to send the prayers. Benedicite!

Thanks to everyone for their contributions during Advent!

Special thanks to Holy Angels Book Shop (http://penitents.org/giftshop.html) for providing copies of Shorter Christian Prayer at cost!

PS Please pray for Ruth, a Third Order Carmelite who gave some twenty-plus years to a letter-writing prison ministry after the death of her husband, and has recently retired from her saintly labors while giving me much needed help!

Ken Craven
Desert Prison Ministry
661 S. Edgewood Drive
Sparta, TN 38583-1105
kentoncraven@hotmail.com
931-979-1938

Manuel Pardo Requiescat in Pace

After 27 years on Death Row, Manuel Pardo was executed by the State of Florida on December 11, 2012, at 6PM EST, when the Governor of Florida and the Courts refused to grant a stay of execution. On the day before his execution, Manuel took the time to write me a farewell letter, which I print out here:

December 10, 2012

Dear Ken,

Hola Amigo, I hope this letter finds you in the best of health with your family. I am doing OK, Thank God and thanks for having been blessed with your friendship. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for me especially your precious friendship.

My daughter Lxxxx and godson were here today and we had a nice visit but as always it’s rough to see them cry and not be able to hug & kiss them. At least tomorrow after the first two hours when I have my last meal (I asked for Spanish food) they will give me a one hour of contact visit from 10AM-11AM when I’ll be able to kiss and hug my daughter, sister, godson, nephews, etc. So thank God I will be able to have closure with them. Then they bring me back to the cell then at 4PM take me to another cell by the Execution Chamber, and at 6PM send me to God’s Eternal Kingdom. I’ve made my peace with God, have him in my heart, and pray hard to protect Mxxx and give her strength to carry on and have a long, healthy, happy life!

I want to thank you again my brother in Christ for all you have done for me especially your precious friendship. Please keep in touch with Brother Dale [Recinella, author of Now I Walk on Death Row]. He will be with me tomorrow at the end for spiritual support. God bless you always tu Amigo Siempre,

Manuel

God bless you always, Ken! Thank you!

Desert Prison Ministry thanks you for your prayers of support for Manuel. I continue to need your support for my work with men in prisons. I will now need to drive to another prison in Tennessee. Needs: money for books, stamps, gas money, clerical supplies, and money for monthly allowances to prisoners in need. Blessings for each of you for what you do! Benedicite!

ST NICHOLAS FEAST DAY & PRISONERS

Dear Manuel, amigo, camerado, In the Eastern Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches, the Feast of Saint Nicholas is a big day. One of the parishioners dresses up as Nicholas would have appeared, in a Bishop’s hat and long beard, and passes out candy and fruit to the children. We know that Nicholas was, indeed, a holy man famed for miracles and kindness, and that he was chosen as bishop for his home town of Myra, near the sea, in what is now Turkey. We also know that under the brutal persecution by the Emperor Diocletian he was tortured and imprisoned for his adherence to the faith. When Diocletian died and Constantine became Emperor, one of Nicholas’s famous miracles was appearing in a dream to Constantine and pleading for three prisoners condemned to die. The next day, Constantine freed the three prisoners and sent them to Bishop Nicholas with a request that Nicholas pray for the peace of the world. More churches have been dedicated to Saint Nicholas than any other saint, four hundred of them in England alone. He is the patron saint of prisoners and captives and many miracle of his intervention on their behalf have been recorded. Saint Nicholas, I ask you to come to the aid of Manuel, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and bring him peace of heart and mind. St. Nicholas, pray for Manuel and for all prisoners on death row in America! Manuel, again, I don’t know if this has time to reach you, but again, please know that many are praying for you. In Christ Our Savior, Ken

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.