It was a Monday morning in February 2013. Gemma decided to go along with three friends from Maternal Heart of Mary, Lewisham to do some rock climbing and abseiling at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains of NSW.
Gemma brought with her several years’ experience as an indoor climber but had never climbed or abseiled on a real rockface in the great outdoors before. Thankfully, her three friends were seasoned climbers.
Once the foursome arrived in Blackheath, they hiked two kilometres into rugged bushland to reach the canyon they intended to descend. Two abseiled to the bottom, while Gemma stayed at the top and watched.
The friend who remained with Gemma took her through the process of using the belay device to apply the brakes to the rope, to slow her progress. He eventually sent Gemma on her way, over the side.
“There was an outcrop of rock on the cliff face,” Gemma recalls. “And so, I had to release enough rope to provide enough slack to let me swing around the outcrop. As I was releasing the rope, I let too much out and began to free fall.
“Suddenly I was facing the sky and trying to brake, but it all happened so quickly, the next thing I know I had hit the ground, landing on rocks, with the two friends who were at the bottom, rushing to help me. I was conscious and in shock.”
Gemma had broken six ribs and an elbow, as well as puncturing her spleen and a kidney. She was struggling to take a breath.
Her friend back at the top of the cliff had to make his way back out of the bush to find a mobile signal and call for help.
It took around four hours for rescuers to extract Gemma from the canyon, to allow a helicopter to fly her to Westmead where she was placed in the Intensive Care Unit.
“Against all odds, and by God’s good grace, my life was spared. There is nothing like a near death experience to make one reassess the things that matter most,” says Gemma.
“I used the endless hours in hospital, staring up at the plain white ceiling asking God what goods things he could possibly draw out of this unexpected trauma.”
When Gemma’s fiancé (now husband) arrived at the hospital from work each evening, he would read her the Psalms and petitions from Vespers, allowing her to ponder and receive nourishment from Sacred Scripture and the church’s rich treasury of prayers.
“I could feel this gift of scripture and tradition healing me physically and strengthening me spiritually,” she says. “I was fully recovered within three months.”
Gemma says compared to St Ignatius of Loyola, who was hit by a cannonball, she got off lightly. But, she says, like his experience reading through a much longer recovery, it wasn’t the worldly literature of his day—stories of chivalry and heroic feats on the battlefield—but books on the life of Christ and the saints that steeled his resolve to dedicate the rest of his life to rebuilding the church.
“By delving into holy, edifying books, he became more receptive to enter into greater intimacy with the Lord and he eventually went on to found the Jesuit order,” she says.
“Prior to my accident I rarely read anything much longer than a tweet, a text or perhaps a blog. But once I was couped up in hospital, all my excuses evaporated so I sought out more edifying content, than the stuff our online culture fleetingly presents to our eyeballs every day.
“I realised that rebuilding the church requires a purification of our culture. Does the content we create, share and consume sustain such a culture?”
To find the edifying content she was seeking, Gemma started contributing to the Oriens Foundation; an organisation that’s goal is to promote the cultural, artistic and historical significance of the Traditional Latin Rite.
On 29 November, The Oriens Foundation launched its Oriens Journal to trace the influence of the classical Western liturgy, therefore inspiring a new generation to live a holy life.
“Like Catholic tradition itself, the Oriens Journal holds that the insights gleaned by saints and scholars are meant to be passed down through the minds, hearts and lives of Catholics who treasure what they have received and have the courage and generosity to share it with others,” Gemma says.
“In an era marked by social disorientation and the collapse of traditional cultural mores, this new journal will only succeed if it inspires our generation to know, to love and to spread the faith.”
The foundation’s patron, Archbishop Julian Porteous DD is already a champion of the journal’s mission to defend the integrity of the Catholic faith, especially in this time when speaking age-old truths can lead you to being crucified in a world that’s gone woke.
“The archbishop is a wonderful exemplar in demonstrating courage in the face of great opposition, particularly on his defence of marriage and speaking out against trans-activism in schools,” says Gemma.
“Despite threats and attacks, His Grace continues to carry the torch of truth without fear and has been a dedicated apostle of evangelisation during his tenure in Sydney and Hobart. His courage has inspired priests like Fr Pius Mary Noonan OSB and Fr Peter Joseph to share their wisdom and paternal love in the pages of the Oriens Journal.”
The journal is designed to be as interactive as possible and is published through Substack at oriensjournal.com.