Saint Fiacre, Confessor
by VP
Posted on Friday August 30, 2024 at 12:18AM in Saints
Saint Fiacre. Stained glass window, Notre-Dame, Bar-le-Duc, France, 19th century.
"Sanctify of Labor: Labor, which was imposed on man after the Fall by way of expiation, acts also as a preservative. Virtue and idleness do not dwell under the same roof; assiduous labor leaves no room for vice. This has been well understood by so many founders of religious orders, who enjoined labor on their monks as a positive duty.
St. Fiacre, an Irish monk, having come to France in the seventh century to seek out a solitude, established himself in the forest of Breuil, where he cleared and cultivated a plot of ground the produce whereof sufficed for his own maintenance, and for abundant alms to others. Combining with labor continual prayer and the rigor of penance, he ended by becoming the oracle and apostle of the neighboring regions, and a saint to whom God vouchsafed the gift of miracles. He died in 670, and since then his tomb has always been held in veneration. Princes, kings, prelates, and people have alike honored the poor solitary, who had learned the grand science of labor and prayer.
Moral reflection: Ye who love indolence, ponder well these words of the Great Apostle: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat." (2 Thes. iii. 10.)"
Prayer: Deign, Lord, to raise our souls to Thee, and form our hearts to the cultivation of Christian virtues and to the practice of doing good. We beg Thee, through the intercession of Blessed Saint Fiacre, to grant us the grace to persevere in the way of salvation, so that on the day of eternal justice, Thou may find us worthy of taking our place in the abode of the elect. Amen.
St. Rose of Lima, VIRGIN. A.D. 1617.
by VP
Posted on Friday August 30, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"WHEN the faith of Christ began to enlighten the vast regions of America, St. Rose appeared as the first fruits of its canonized saints. From her infancy, her patience in suffering, and love of mortification, were extraordinary. Whilst yet a child, she ate no fruit, fasted three days a week, and on other days took only unsavory herbs and pulse. Every incentive of pride and sensuality was to her an object of abhorrence. She triumphed over self-love by the most profound humility, and the most perfect obedience and denial of her own will. She never disobeyed the orders of her parents in the least thing; but gave proofs of her
scrupulous obedience and invincible patience under all pains, labor,
and contradictions, which surprised all who knew her. To comply more
easily with the vow she had made of holy virginity, she enrolled herself in the third Order of St. Dominic. She wore upon her head a thin circle, studded on the inside with little sharp nails, which wounded her head, in imitation of a crown of thorns. This she did to put her in mind of the Passion of Christ, which she desired to have always in her thoughts. Her ardent love of God appeared most sensibly, when she was in presence of the Blessed Sacrament; and when in receiving it she united her heart to her beloved in that wonderful fountain of his
love. God favored her with many extraordinary graces; but for her
humiliation, she suffered much from her relations, and many severe
interior trials. After long and painful sickness, she died at the age of thirty-one, in the year 1617.
Pray for all under the profession of virginity; that fixing their hearts on their heavenly Spouse, they may be ever ready to go forth to meet him. If you have children under your care, the charge is difficult, and requires particular grace to satisfy its duties. If you see not an early sense of heaven in them, take care that it be not your fault. They are then susceptible of all impressions; and will receive such as are good, if you are diligent in giving them." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer to St. Rose of Lima
Admirable Saint Rose, you were truly a sweet flower blooming on a rugged soil; you were indeed a rose among thorns, bearing with meekness and patience the stings of envious tongues, and preserving perfect purity and modesty amid the alluring blandishments of a deceitful world. To the sufferings inflicted on you by others you added the voluntary tortures of fasting and watching, of the discipline, of the crown of thorns and of the hair shirt, to subdue the flesh and to make yourself like to your heavenly Spouse.
By the merits which you have thus gained with your divine Bridegroom, obtain for me the grace to bear my afflictions with patience, to remain pure and modest, to be meek and humble, to be faithful to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and so to mortify my passions that I may be ever more pleasing and acceptable in the sight of my dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen
Source: The Catholic Girl's Guide: Counsels and Devotions for Girls in the Ordinary Walks of Life, and in Particular for the Children of Mary, Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance, 1906 p 609