Saint Josaphat
by VP
Posted on Wednesday November 13, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
Martyrdom of Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych by Józef Simmler (1823–1868)
"The life of St. Josaphat is a lesson for all time. The two truths which he was charged by our Divine Lord to proclaim, and which he was to seal with his blood: the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff and the unity of the Church, are denied in our own day by the same sectaries, and all who maintain them assailed by the same fiendish cruelty." The Dublin Review, Part 1 page 46. 1877
"Stir up, O Lord, we beseech thee, in thy Church the Spirit wherewith
the blessed Josephat thy Martyr and Pontiff was filled." Thus prays our
Mother, today, and the Gospel likewise points to the desire of obtaining
pastors like to thee, O holy Bishop! The sacred text speaks of the
false shepherd, who flees at first sight of the wolf; but the Homily,
which explains it in the Night Office, brands equally with the title of
hireling the keeper who, though he does not flee, suffers the enemy
un-resisted to work havoc in the fold. May the divine Shepherd, whom
thou didst imitate unto the end, even unto laying down thy life for the
sheep, live again in all those whom he calls, like Peter, to exercise a
greater love." The Liturgical Year: Passiontide and holy week, 3d edition. 1901 Abbot Prosper Gueranger OSB
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
by VP
Posted on Tuesday November 12, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
Mother Cabrini and Pope leo XIII
"I will have no peace until I have wrested every last child from Protestant hands."
"We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries but on Jesus alone." Mother CabriniPrayer: Almighty and Eternal Father, Giver of all Gifts, show us Thy mercy, and grant, we beseech Thee, through the merits of Thy faithful Servant, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, that all who invoke her intercession may obtain what they desire according to the good pleasure of Thy Holy Will...(here name your request).
O Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, mindful of Thy bountiful goodness and love, deign, we implore Thee, through the tender devotion of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini for Thy Sacred Heart, to hear our prayers and grant our petitions.
O God, the Holy Ghost, Comforter of the afflicted, Fountain of Light and Truth, through the ardent zeal of Thy humble handmaid, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, grant us Thy all powerful aid in our necessities, sanctify our souls and fill our minds with Divine Light that we may see the Holy Will of God in all things.
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, beloved spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, intercede for us that the favor we now ask may be granted.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc. (Three times)
Imprimatur: Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago, 1943
Sanctuary of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
These Splendid Sisters: Mother Cabrini An Apostle of the Italians by JAMES J. WALSH, 1926
'If ever there was a social problem so complex as to seem almost hopelessly insoluble and so many-sided as to perplex and bewilder the best intentioned, it was the welfare of the Italian immigrant in this country at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Not only schools for the poor were needed, but for the better classes as well, where they might find sympathy with their national aspirations and character; hospitals also were necessary to prevent the pitiable condition of sufferers coming to dispensaries and city hospitals with little or no knowledge of English and subject to being unfortunately misunderstood to their own detriment. The hard manual labor in which their fathers were engaged, involving numerous accidents, left many orphan children to be cared for, and in a thousand other ways, also, these willing workers bearing so many difficult burdens of the country, demanded sympathetic assistance. The question was where would one begin, and having begun how carry on and diffuse any social work widely enough to cover these needs not alone in the coast cities of the East, but everywhere where the Italian immigrant had gone or had been brought by others.
Many people, even Catholics, feel that very little has been done, especially by Catholics, for the solution of this vast problem, although it mainly concerns our Italian Catholic brethren. Such a thought, however, betrays ignorance of an immense work that has been developing around us during the last twenty years. The recent death of Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini at the Columbus Hospital, Chicago (December, 1917), has emphatically called attention to the fine results secured in this important matter by her congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Not quite seventy when she died, she had established over seventy houses of her religious. Her institute, less than forty years old, numbers its members by thousands. From Italy, where her foundation was made, it has spread to North, South and Central America, as well as France, Spain and England. No wonder that at her death, she was honored by those who knew her work as a modern apostle whose influence for good proved that the arm of the Lord had not been shortened: that He still raised up great personalities to meet the special needs of the Church in all generations.
Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini was born at St. Angelo di Lodi, July 16, 1850. Her parents belonged to the Italian nobility. From her early years she gave evidence of devout piety, and at the age of thirty undertook the organization of a congregation that would devote itself to teaching especially the children of the poor and of training school teachers. Her first house was founded at Codogno in 1880. A series of houses sprang up, during the following years, in and around Milan, and her work having attracted the attention of Leo XIII., she was invited to open a Pontifical School at Rome. This succeeded so admirably, that the Pope saw in it a great agency for the benefit of Italians all over the world. This great Pontiff had been very much attracted by Mother Cabrini's character and her enthusiastic zeal, which overcame obstacles that to many seemed insurmountable.
Accordingly when the foreign missionary spirit developed among her Sisters, Mother Cabrini, knowing the blessing that always accrued to a congregation for missionary work, applied to the Pope for permission to send her Sisters into the Orient. Pope Leo suggested that her mission lay in exactly the opposite direction. He recommended the Americas, North and South, as a fertile field for the labors of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Mother Cabrini, receiving the suggestion as a command from God, proceeded to carry it out. A few months later she embarked for America with her Sisters, and assumed charge of a school for the children of Italian immigrants which was opened in New York in connection with the Church of St. Joachim.
Immigration was then at its height, the social problems of the Italians were at a climax, Americans had scarcely awakened to the need of doing anything, the Italian government was aroused to the necessity of accomplishing something, but politics were blocking the way, and it looked as though a little band of Italian Sisters could accomplish very little. Yet in a few years it became evident that this mustard seed was destined to grow into a large tree whose branches would shelter the birds of the air.
Mother Cabrini very soon realized that despite the importance of teaching, there were other crying needs of our Italian population that must be met if there was to be a solid foundation for the solution of social problems among them. Ailing and injured Italians needed the care that could properly be given them only by their own. Seeing in the celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, then impending, an auspicious moment, Mother Cabrini, in 1892, opened Columbus Hospital in New York. It had an extremely humble beginning in two private houses and with such slender support as would surely have discouraged anything less than the zeal of this foundress, convinced that she was doing God's work on a mission indicated by the Pope himself. Before long, the fortunes of the hospital began to brighten, until now it is one of the recognized institutions of New York, situated in a commodious building that brings it conspicuously to the notice of New Yorkers. Before the outbreak of the War, plans had been drawn for a ten-story building which should have been finished before this, and would have been one of the most complete hospitals in the country.
But Columbus Hospital was only the beginning. Mother Cabrini's great work of schools for Italian children of the poorer and better classes, was not neglected, but it was now evident that hospitals offered the best chance to win back adult Italians who had abandoned their faith and to influence deeply those who could be brought in no other way under Christian influences. After an Italian had been under the care of these devoted Italian Sisters, it was, indeed, hard for him to neglect his religion as before, and many a family returned to the devout practice of the Faith when the father had had his eyes opened to the practical virtues of religion by his stay in the hospital. Hence, in 1905, Columbus Hospital, Chicago, was founded under extremely difficult conditions. For some time the failure of this enterprise seemed almost inevitable, and Reverend Mother Cabrini's heart was heavy at the prospect of her beloved poor deprived of skilled care. She did not lose courage, however, and she was rewarded, after a particularly trying time in which her greatest consolation and help was prayer, the assured future of the hospital.
A little later, a branch hospital known as Columbus Extension Hospital, was established for the very poor in the heart of an Italian district in Chicago, at Lytle and Polk Streets. Five years later, Columbus Hospital and Sanitarium in Denver was founded and a few years later Columbus Hospital, Seattle. All of these were in excellent condition, with abundant promise of future usefulness, and healthy development at the time of Mother Cabrini's death. This holy woman brought to the service of her zeal for religion such good sound common sense and business acumen and efficiency, as to call forth the admiration of all who knew her and who realized what she was accomplishing in the face of unlooked-for and almost insurmountable difficulties.
Municipal and state officials were often staggered at the projects she undertook with apparently utterly inadequate means at her command, but after a struggle and hard work, the abundant success she realized, opened their eyes to the fact that here was not merely an ordinary activity but something so extraordinary as to suggest the assistance of a supernatural agency.
Prominent officials in this country and in Europe, not only in Italy but in France and Spain and England, had learned to admire unstintedly the humble, simple, little Mother of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart who at first appeared a hopeless enthusiast, yet proved on comparatively short acquaintance to be the most practical of women. In explaining how she succeeded in doing things that seemed hopeless to others, she was in the habit of saying: "What do you wish? you men who look at these problems have too much to do, and then you want to do too much all at once. For instance, there is no need of lengthy discussion as to the necessity for protection for immigrants, but what is needed is to put protection for the immigrant into effect. You see I do not discuss, I find that there is a good thing that ought to be done. I set myself and my little institute at work at it at once. I do not despair of finding the means with which to do it. I always feel confident that somehow or other I shall always find them. I do not know quite how it is that I find these, and others do not, but perhaps that is because I am only a little nun whom nobody minds, and therefore perhaps I meet with less opposition and people are
ready to help me." That was all that she was in her own estimation, just "a little nun," but under the modest habit of a nun she possessed a soul constantly open to aspirations and ideals, tenacious of purpose and ready to do anything once she was sure that it would redound to the glory of God by benefiting mankind.
A favorite expression of hers, often repeated to her Sisters and often uttered even in her dealings with secular people, was: "I can do all things in Him that strengthens me." Her entire confidence in God, her utter lack of self-sufficiency, her constant confession that she was but "a poor little nun," bore her triumphantly over all difficulties. Her foundations remind one of St. Teresa's journeys to make her foundations, and of her character and simple-hearted confidence in tackling the most difficult problems under conditions that seemed most forbidding. One recalls the Spanish Saint's reply when told that she was assuming a preposterous task in setting out to found a house of her order with only three ducats at her disposal. The words are famous in the history of religious endeavor: "Teresa and three ducats, can do nothing, but Teresa and three ducats and God can accomplish anything."
Poor St. Teresa made her long journeys either on foot or in an ox-cart. Mother Cabrini's journeys were made under less difficult circumstances, but the length of them probably made them at least as tiresome and trying as those of the Saint three centuries and a half ago. Nothing could give a better idea of the extraordinary vigor and marvelous power of action of the little nun than an account given to one who knew her well: "I came a month ago from South America. I am just setting out for Chicago. After a fortnight there, I expect to go to Los Angeles and probably not long after, I return to the East, from there I shall have to set out for Italy. In the meantime (Carroccio, January, 1918.), however, I must try to make it clear to the Commissioner of Immigration that our Columbus Hospital is giving aid directly to the Italians." At that time the statistics of the hospital showed that over 100,000 Italians had been discharged from it cured.
In the midst of her activities in North America she did not forget that the Pope's recommendation had included all the Americas, and so she voyaged to South America in order to lay foundations there. Schools were founded in Argentina, in Brazil and then in Chile and Peru. Once she made the journey over the mountains from one side of the South American Continent to the other-and it must not be forgotten that the Cordilleras are even higher than the Alps-on mule back, running all the risks of that old-fashioned mode of travel. Many a precipice's edge had to be passed on her sure-footed little beast, and once Providence seemed almost to have abandoned her. The animal disappeared with her over a precipice and she was saved, apparently only by a miraculous intervention. Nothing could diminish her zeal, nor quench her enthusiasm for her work. Dangers and trials might come, her one idea was to accomplish as much as possible before the end came, and the darkness set in and no man could labor.
Her South American missionary labors were successful, and she founded houses at Buenos Ayres, Mercedes and Rosario in Argentina, at Rio de Janeiro and San Paolo of Brazil. On her return to the United States there came the call for her Sisters to go to Central America. They tell the story of her sending to New York for one of her Sisters whom she had chosen to be the head of the foundations in Central America, to come to her in Los Angeles. The good Sister's train was delayed and Mother met her almost at the door telling her that she was sorry for the delay of her train, but now no time was to be lost. She must set out at once for Nicaragua.
There were very few words to be said, for it was deeds not words that she loved, and soon the definite foundation of a house in Central America had been made.
At the time of her death there were, as we have said, more houses of her Congregation than she counted years, though her work as a foundress had not begun until nearly half of her life was run. It is said that as a young woman she had in her zeal for missionary labor asked her confessor for permission to join an order of Missionary Sisters that would take her far from home, so that home ties should count for little in life, and should surely not disturb her complete devotion to her vocation. Her confessor replied that he knew of none. There were no missionary sisters in the strict sense of the word and so Mother Cabrini founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, which has flourished so marvelously.
Houses of the Congregation are established about Milan, and at Genoa, Turin, Cittá della Pieve, Monte Compatri, Marsciano; and hospitals and orphan asylums in Paris, London, Madrid, Bilbao, as well as other places in Europe and here in America. The greatest extension of the Congregation has taken place in the United States where, besides the Hospitals already mentioned, there are schools in New York City, the Villa of the Sacred Heart for children of better class parents at Fort Washington Avenue, an orphan asylum at West Park, schools in the parishes of the Transfiguration, of St. Charles in Brooklyn, of St. Rita and the School of Feminine Crafts in connection with the Church of the Madonna of Pompeii. In New Orleans there are two schools and a large orphan asylum; in Chicago, besides two hospitals, there is a school, and in Denver, a school and an orphan asylum, as well as a hospital and sanitarium. There are schools at Newark and West Arlington, N. J.; Scranton, Pa.; at Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., and a school at Seattle which was the opening wedge for a hospital founded later at this extreme end of the continent. Mother Cabrini took advantage of the sale of a large hotel in that city to secure it for this hospital.
Everywhere she emphasized the Italian origin and spirit of her work. No wonder then that the Ambassador from Italy deeply concerned with the problem of making the Italian people here as happy and contented as possible, but above all of keeping them from being imposed upon in any way, called her his "precious collaborator." "While I may be able to conserve the interests of the Italians,” he said, "by what I am able to accomplish through those who are in power, she succeeds in making herself loved and esteemed by the suffering, the poor, the children, and thus preserves these poor Italians in a foreign country.”
In spite of her devoted Italian sentiments, she drew her postulants from practically every nationality in the country. Many an Irish girl, after looking into Mother Cabrini's wonderful eyes, felt it her vocation to help this wonderful little woman in the work she had in hand. She won all hearts to herself, but only for the sake of the Master, and so it is that in the course of scarcely more than twenty-five years, her Congregation counts nearly five hundred members here in America. It has some three thousand throughout the world, all intent on accomplishing the social work that has been placed in their care, and of solving the problems brought about by the huge Italian immigration to the Americas in the eighties and nineties of the last century.
When the Italians entered the War, Mather Cabrini, by cable, mobilized her Sisters in Italy for the aid of their native country in every way possible. The houses of the Congregation were transformed into hospitals and refuges for the convalescent, as well as asylums for the sons and daughters of those who had fallen on the field of battle. Her devotion to her Italian people was so great, Il Carroccio, or as it is called in English, The Italian Review, published in New York, compares her to Florence Nightingale, for what she has accomplished both in peace and in war. Nor may anyone who knows all the circumstances of her work, deny that the comparison is more than justified. "Scarcely more than a generation has passed, and Mother Cabrini has thousands of coworkers and many hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries. What will the fruit of her labors mean three generations from now, if anything like the original initiative be maintained? Only the future can reveal the full significance of her story. One thing is certain, that after reading the brief sketches of her life that have thus far appeared, we may not doubt that God still provides the necessary agents for great works. When needs are most crying, some one is raised up who is equal to them. When conditions are at their worst, some one comes to find a way out of the difficulties. After the pioneer work is done, its difficulties are lost sight of by those who enjoy its results. But the pioneer succeeds only by the personal immolation of self and the ability to lead others by the same heights of sacrifice."
Saint Martin, Pope and Martyr, A.D. 655.
by VP
Posted on Monday November 11, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
"He was bishop of Rome, and faithful in all the duties of his pastoral charge. Having laboured for some time to reclaim Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, from the errors of the Monothelites, but without effect, he at length, in a council at Rome of one hundred and five bishops, condemned him; and by this drew upon himself the fury of the Emperor Constans. The emperor sent an order either to cause St. Martin to be massacred, or to send him a prisoner into the East. But the officer who had undertaken to murder the holy pope, was struck with blindness, and could not see him. The emperor then sent another to seize him, who carried him off at midnight; and after long delay and great sufferings, he was brought to Constantinople. There he was cast into a dungeon for nearly three months; after which he was dragged about the city with an iron collar round his neck, and then thrown into prison with murderers. Here he continued in great suffering for three months; at the end of which he was banished to Chersonesus, where having no other comfort but what came from heaven, he surrendered his soul to God, in the year 655.
Pray for the present bishop of that holy See, that God would assist him with all blessings necessary for so great a charge. Pray for all pastors of the Church,
that they may be zealous against all errors and abuses. And learn from
this prelate, not only to suffer reproaches, but all extremities, rather
than favour, or comply with, what is unlawful, or unjust. Suffering here cannot be long: but suffering hereafter may be eternal. It is worth your trouble to prevent one by the other. Your present uneasiness will be your comfort at the hour of death. Be upon the watch, neither to flatter those who raise slanders and false reports, nor to join with them in believing, or spreading their calumnies. Suspend all judgment and assent, as to what you hear against others; that you may escape the too common guilt of rashly judging, or helping to defame your neighbour." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Martin of Tours Bishop and Confessor
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 10, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
"Saint Martin trembled on entering a Church and never sat, stood or spoke while there, because he remembered that he was before God, his Judge. Oh, that all who go to Church, would take to heart that they appear before their Judge! How differently would they conduct themselves! May you, at least, think earnestly of it. Say to yourself: "I go to my God; I shall appear before Him, who, in a little while, will be my Judge, and who will sentence me for all eternity. At this moment He is still my Savior, ready to pardon my sins and give me grace, that I may go to heaven. But soon He will judge me according to His justice." Considering all this carefully, you will surely avoid everything that is displeasing to God, and you will guard against the least disrespect. "This place is terrible. It is nothing less than the house of God and the gate of heaven," said the Patriarch Jacob of the place where he had seen, in his sleep, the Lord of Heaven. He was afraid, because he had dared to sleep there, though he knew not that the place was holy. How much more reason have you to fear when you are irreverential in Church, as you know that it is, in a grander sense, the house of God the gate of heaven.
The Evil Spirit, who appeared to St. Martin in his last hour, was easily driven away with the words: " Wherefore art thou standing there, thou blood-thirsty beast? Thou has nothing to expect from me." Consider well; if Satan dares to tempt so holy a man; if he can fill him with fear and confusion; what will he not do to those whose have led an indolent, lukewarm, or even sinful life? "The devil has descended upon you," says Holy Writ; "he is full of great wrath because he knows that he has but little time." St. Martin feared not, but drove him away, because his conscience was free from anything with which Satan could reproach him. Oh! happy is he, who cannot be reproached in his last hour with anything that he has not confessed already and expiated. St. Martin was accustomed to fight during his life with Satan; therefore he easily conquered him in death. Think deeply on it; those who accustom themselves during their lives to fight with Satan's temptation, will be able, by the grace of God, to do the same on their death-bed. But how will those fare, who, during the greater part of their lives, have consented to the temptations of Satan? Oh! there is good reason to fear that, in their last hour, they will do the same, and thus go to eternal perdition. Impress this point well upon your mind, and accustom yourself in time to fight bravely against Satan and his temptations, as otherwise your are lost for all eternity. "Vainly do they promise themselves security in their dying hour, who, during their life, resist not temptation." says St. Leo. "If Satan finds any one who is not watchful, and well experience in fighting, he will easily conquer him," says St. Cyprian." On the Life of Each Saint for every day in the year. Rev. F. X. Wininger D.D., S.J. 1876
"THIS famous bishop was born in Hungary, and was taken to Italy in his infancy. At ten years of age, he became a Catechumen, that is, he placed himself under instruction for the Christian faith, against the will of his parents, who were idolators. At fifteen he was compelled by his father to enter the army, and served under Constantius and Julian. While he was a soldier, he performed that remarkable charity of cutting off half of his cloak, with his sword, to cover a poor man whom he met at the gate of Amiens, almost naked, shaking with cold, in a very hard winter, and begging alms of those that passed by. The following night he saw Jesus Christ dressed in that half of his cloak, which he had given to the poor man, and was bid to look at it well, and see whether he knew it. He then heard our Saviour say to the angels that surrounded him: "Martin, yet a Catechumen, has clothed me with this garment." This encouraged him to finish what he had begun; and therefore, leaving the military life, he was baptized, and went to St. Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, by whom he was instructed in all virtue, and ordained acolyth. After some time, being made bishop of Tours, he preserved in that dignity an humble mind; and notwithstanding the great distractions of his charge, lived in solitude, and was most severe to himself in all the rigours of a monastic life. Thus eminent in all sanctity, which God likewise testified in many miracles wrought by him, at the age of fourscore and one he died happily, in the year 397. Pray for all pastors of the Church, that the great humility and piety of this prelate may be their example; that while they are watchful in the concerns of their flock, they may be likewise solicitous in the care of their own souls. And for yourself, if you desire the necessary assistance of Heaven, seek it by your charity to the poor. This
was the beginning of those
eminent graces which St. Martin received from God. Help others in their
necessities, as far as your circumstances permit; for in this you
oblige heaven to help you. Charity has a sweet saviour, ascends before
God, and brings down abundance of heavenly blessings." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer
"O holy Martin, have compassion on our depth of misery! A winter more severe than that which caused you to divide your cloak now rages over the world. Many perish in the icy night brought on by the extinction of faith and the cooling of charity. Come to the aid of those unfortunates, whose torpor prevents them from asking assistance. Wait not for them to pray, but forestall them for the love of Christ in whose name the poor man of Amiens implored you, whereas they scarcely know how to utter it. And yet their nakedness is worse than the beggar's, stripped as they are of the garment of grace, which their fathers received from thee and handed down to posterity.
How lamentable, above all, has become the destitution of France, which you once enriched with the blessings of Heaven, and where your benefits have been requited with such injuries! Deign to consider, however, that our days have seen the beginning of reparation, close by your holy tomb restored to our filial veneration. Look upon the piety of those grand Christians whose hearts were able, like the generosity of the multitude, to rise to the height of the greatest projects. See the pilgrims, however reduced their numbers, now taking once more the road to Tours, traversed so often by people and kings in better days of its history Has that history of the brightest days of the Church, of the reign of Christ the King, come to an end, O Martin? Let the enemy imagine he has already sealed our tomb. But the story of your miracles tells us that you can raise up even the dead. Was not the catechumen of Liguge snatched from the land of the living when you called him back to life, and Baptism? Supposing that, like him, we were already among those whom the Lord remembers no more, the man or the country that has Martin for protector and father need never yield to despair. if you deign to bear us in mind, the Angels will come and say again to the supreme Judge: "This is the man, this it the nation for whom Martin prays," and they will be commanded to draw us out of the dark regions where dwell the people without glory, and to restore us to Marin, and to our nobles destinies.
Your zeal, however, for the advancement of God's kingdom knew no limits. Inspire, then, strengthen and multiply the apostles all over the world who. like you, are driving out the remnant of infidelity. Restore Christian Europe which still honors your name, to the unity so unhappily dissolved by schism and heresy. in spite of the many efforts to the contrary, maintain your noble fatherland in its post of honor, and in its traditions of brave fidelity. may your devout clients in all lands experience that your right arm still suffices to protect those who implore you. In Heaven today, as the Church sings, the Angels are full of joy, the Saints proclaim your glory, the Virgins surround you saying: "Remain with us for ever." is not this the continuation of what your life was here on Earth when you and the virgins vied with each other in showing mutual veneration, when Mary their Queen accompanied by Thecla and Agnes loved to spend long hours with you in your cell, Marmoutier, which thus became, says your historian, like the dwellings of the Angels? Imitating their brothers and sisters in Heaven, virgins and monks, clergy and pontiffs turn to you, never fearing that their numbers will cause any one of them to receive less, knowing that your life is a light sufficient to enlighten all and that one glance from martin will secure to them the blessings of the Lord." In Lumine Fidei: Liturgical year for traditional Catholics, Don Gueranger.
Saint Andrew Avellino, CONFESSOR, A.D. 1608.
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 09, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
"On the last day of his life, November 10, 1608, Saint Andrew rose to say Mass. He was eighty-eight years old, and so weak he could scarcely reach the altar. He began the Judica me, Deus, the opening prayer, but fell forward, the victim of apoplexy. Laid on a straw mattress, his whole frame was convulsed in agony, while the ancient fiend, in visible form, advanced as though to seize his soul. Then, while the onlookers prayed and wept, he invoked Our Lady, and his Guardian Angel seized the monster and dragged it out of the room. A calm and holy smile settled on the features of the dying Saint and, as he gazed with a grateful countenance on the image of Mary, his holy soul winged its way to God.
Reflection: Saint
Andrew, who suffered so terrible an agony, is invoked as special
protector from an unprovided and sudden death. Ask this holy priest to
be with you in your last hour, and bring Jesus and Mary to your aid." Sanctoral
"He was born in the kingdom of Naples; and gave early tokens of a disposition to virtue. He escaped many snares and dangers by assiduous prayer, mortification, watchfulness over himself, and care in shunning all dangerous company. He was sent to Naples to study the civil and canon law, and was made priest. Once while he was pleading a cause an untruth escaped him in a matter of small consequence; but he was struck with so great remorse of conscience for this fault, that he resolved immediately to renounce his profession in the ecclesiastical court, and give himself up entirely to a penitential life, and the care of souls. The direction of a convent in the city was committed to him by the archbishop. He embraced the rule of the Regular Clerks, called Theatins. Wonderful were his abstinence and mortifications; but much more his love of abjection and hatred of himself, and of his own will. All the hours that were free from exterior employments of duty or charity, were by him devoted to prayer and contemplation. Thus he acquired that eminent spirit of piety and charity, by which his labours in the conversion and direction of souls were wonderfully successful. He founded new convents of his Order in several places; and was honoured with the gifts of prophecy and miracles. After having given the world an example of the most heroic virtues, being broken with labours and old age, he was seized with apoplexy at the altar as he was beginning mass. He was prepared for his passage by the holy sacraments, and calmly resigned his soul on the 10th of November, 1608. If this saint conceived so great a horror for having but once told a small untruth, learn the practice of suffering both reproof and anger for truth, rather than to defend yourself by taking shelter in alie. There can be no zeal for truth, where there is an unwillingness to suffering something for it. Embrace every humiliation, rather than offend against truth.
"This saint was a fit instrument of the Holy Ghost, in directing others in the paths of perfect virtue, because dead to himself, and a man of prayer. He never spoke of himself, never thought of his own actions except of his weaknesses, which he had always before his eyes in the most profound sense of his own nothingness, baseness, total insufficiency, and weakness. Those who talk often of themselves, discover that they are deeply infected with the disease of the devil, which is pride, or with the poison of vanity, its eldest daughter.They have no other reward to expect, but what they now receive, the empty breath of sinners. Even this incense is only affected hypocrisy. For men, by that base passion which they betray, become justly contemptible and odious to those very persons whose vain applause they seem to court." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
St. Teresa advises all persons to shun such directors, as pernicious to souls both by the contagion of self-conceit and vain-glory which they spread, and by banishing the Holy Ghost with his light and blessing; for nothing is more contrary to him than a spirit of vanity and pride. The most perfect disinterestedness, contempt of the world, self-denial, obedience, and charity, are no less essential ingredients of a Christian, and especially an ecclesiastical spirit, than meekness and humility."
Rev. Fr. Alban Butler The lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints Vol 11 1821
Prayer
O most glorious saint, whom God has made our protector against apoplexy; Seeing that thou thyself didst die of that disease, we earnestly pray thee to preserve us from an evil so dangerous and so common.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.
The Raccolta The lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints 1878
St. Elizabeth of the Holy Trinity, Carmelite
by VP
Posted on Thursday November 07, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
St. Elisabeth de la Sainte Trinite
Prayer to the Trinity
O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to become utterly forgetful of myself so that I may establish myself in you, as changeless and calm as though my soul were already in eternity. Let nothing disturb my peace nor draw me forth from you, O my unchanging God, but at every moment may I penetrate more deeply into the depths of your mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it your heaven, your cherished dwelling-place and the place of your repose. Let me never leave you there alone, but keep me there, wholly attentive, wholly alert in my faith, wholly adoring and fully given up to your creative action.
O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, I long to be the bride of your heart. I long to cover you with glory, to love you even unto death! Yet I sense my powerlessness and beg you to clothe me with yourself. Identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, submerge me, overwhelm me, substitute yourself for me, so that my life may become a reflection of your life. Come into me as Adorer, as Redeemer and as Saviour.
O Eternal Word, utterance of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you, to become totally teachable so that I might learn all from you. Through all darkness, all emptiness, all powerlessness, I want to keep my eyes fixed on you and to remain under your great light. O my Beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may never be able to leave your radiance.
O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, overshadow me so that the Word may be, as it were incarnate again in my soul. May I be for him a new humanity in which he can renew all his mystery.
And you, O Father, bend down towards your poor little creature. Cover her with your shadow, see in her only your beloved son in whom you are well pleased.
O my `Three’, my All, my Beatitude, infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself to you as your prey. Immerse yourself in me so that I may be immersed in you until I go to contemplate in your light the abyss of your splendour!
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, pray for us!
November 4th: Saint Charles Borromeo
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 03, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
" For more than eighty years Milan had been without a resident archbishop, and left to the government of a single Vicar, but too often a man of lax discipline, who have but a small portion of his time to the administration of the diocese. All this neglect, added to revolutions, wars, and other calamities of the times, had reduced the vineyard of the Lord to a deplorable condition. Not only was it barren of fruit, but the rank weeds of sin flourished in profusion for the chastisement of the wickedness of men. Ecclesiastical jurisdiction was almost entirely neglected, and in certain points was never exercised. (...) The lives and manners of the clergy were as scandalous as can be conceived, and gave the worst example, for their way of living was altogether worldly, and more sensual by far than that of laymen. They wore the secular dress, carried arms publicly, and lived for the most part in open and habitual concubinage, absenting themselves from their benefices, and neglecting all things appertaining to the service of God. The churches and sacred things were in consequence in a neglected and disgraceful state. So great was the ignorance of many who had cure of souls, that they did not know even the sacramental form of confession, nor that there were such things as reserved cases and censures. In some parts of the diocese ignorance had reached such a pitch that priests having cure of souls never went to confession, believing that they were not bound to do so, because they confessed others. Many other lamentable abuses were seen in the lives of the clergy, whose office was thus rendered contemptible, and little short of hateful, in the eyes of the laity, so that it had become a common saying, "If you want to go to hell, become a priest."
Even the regulars were not exempt from these disorders. From the bad lives of both the secular and regular clergy, there sprang up among the people countless errors , corruptions, and heresies. Numbers having entirely lost all knowledge of God, abandoned, as a natural consequence, the observance of His holy law. The sacraments, especially Confession and Communion, were very lightly esteemed. Many persons neglected them for ten and fifteen years, or even longer. There were to be found men of ripe age who had never made a confession, and who did not even know the meaning of it; whilst those persons who desired to keep up an appearance of Christianity, approached the sacraments once a year from custom rather than true devotion. A very small number were indeed yet to be found, both among clergy and people, who were assiduous in attending the sacred mysteries, whose Christian lives shone out in contrast to those of the majority around them. So much ignorance of the things of God prevailed, especially among the poor, that they had no knowledge of the foundations and principles of the Catholic faith, and were unable to say the Lord's Prayer or the Hail Mary. They did not know the Articles of the Faith or the Precepts of the Church, and could scarcely make the sign of the cross. Holy days were profaned by plays, dances, games, banquetings, and other disorders, as also by servile works, and public fairs and markets. It was as if Festivals had been ordained for the express purpose of multiplying occasions of offending God. Holy places were treated with the utmost irreverence. The business of the markets was carried on in the churches even during the time of the Divine Offices. Men laughed and talked loudly in the assembly of the faithful, walking up and down, as though it were a public lounge. Worse still, in some parts of the diocese banquets and balls were held in the churches; while, at other times, they were used without any scruple for threshing grain, and other profane purposes. Religion was brought so low that men, in a state of semi-intoxication, would actually mock priests by feigning a wish to go to confession. They would even show themselves in the church with masks on, and, under pretense of making their offering, would seize upon the offerings of others. The majority altogether disregarded the observance of fasting days, especially during Lent, when not only milk food, but even flesh meat, was eaten openly and without scruple; and the bacchanalian orgies of the carnival were prolonged for several days of the holy season, during which public feasts, dances, and disorders without number were carried on. The public scandals of adultery and of habitual concubinage were of continual occurrence, together with thousands of others vices and corruptions too numerous to mention. In like manner there was a neglect of discipline and strict observance in convents, the nuns allowing themselves the greatest liberty, coming in and going out at their pleasure, and admitting seculars freely, there being no observance of enclosure. It were needless and distressing to dwell at any length upon the public entertainments, profane dances, and such like disorders of these convents, together with grievous and deplorable scandals which resulted therefrom.
Such was the miserable condition of the Church of Milan before God blessed it with the presence of St. Charles. Often would the saint weep bitterly when on his visits to his diocese he witnessed with his own eyes these miseries. It was not, however, to be wondered at that weeds had overrun the vineyard, which had been so long deprived of a careful husbandman. Prelates and pastors may take warning from the sufferings entailed on their flocks by non-residence. Strict, indeed, will be the account they will have to render to God of all the souls whom their neglect has buried in hell."
Source: The life of st. Charles Borromeo by Fr. Giovanni Pietro Giussano
Prayer to Saint Charles Borromeo:
O Glorious St. Charles! The father of the clergy, and the perfect model
of holy prelates! Thou art that good pastor, who, like thy divine
Master, didst give up thy life for thy flock, if not by death, at least
by the numerous sacrifices of thy painful mission. Thy sanctified life
on earth was a spur to the most fervent, thy exemplary penance was a
reproach to the slothful, and thy indefatigable zeal was the support of
the Church.
St. Charles, Father and Guide of the Clergy, pray for us
St. Charles, the light and support of the Church, pray for us
St. Serapion of Antioch, Bishop and Confessor.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday October 30, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"An eminent bishop of Antioch, of the second age. He was zealous in maintaining the doctrines received from the apostles,
and in opposing all those who taught contrary to what had been
delivered: so that no new opinion any where began to appear, but it
certainly found him an adversary. This his zeal, as Eusebius observes,
was very remarkable in his condemning a book recommended to the faithful under the title of St. Peter's Gospel; being a sacrilegious artifice made use of by some false zealots, for the more plausible recommendation of their errors. But such titles prevailed not with him, who regarded truth alone.
Be zealous for the truth; and fear not only apocryphal gospels, but likewise being imposed upon by the mistaken sense of such as are canonical. But let your zeal be not only in regard of faith, but likewise of such other practical truths, as have been taught by Christ and his apostles. Assert the necessity of taking up the cross of self-denial, of mortifying the flesh, of living by the spirit of Christ, that is, by the spirit of charity, humility and patience. For the faith of Christ will not carry any one to heaven, if there be not due endeavors to live according to the life of Christ. But those who will hazard all for the sake of Jesus, and to order their lives according to His life, will find all worldly comforts supplied in the possession of Him, and that in losing all, they have gained all. This is the doctrine of self-denial; this is the command of forsaking all for Christ's sake, and of loving nothing more than Him, which is so often inculcated in the Gospel, and laid down for the foundation of a Christian life. Whoever has not learned this, has not yet begun to be a true disciple. But how great grace is necessary for us in this state of our weakness, to follow these lessons of the Gospel. Beg then of God to help you in his mercy, and not to let His grace be wanting, by which you may not only purpose, but effectually walk in it all your lives." (The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER)
Saint Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 29, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Perjury and its punishment.-St. Narcissus, who governed the Church of Jerusalem in 195, when we find him assisting at a council held in that town, was about eighty years old when elevated to the episcopacy. Notwithstanding the miracles that God vouchsafed to his piety, the venerable bishop was accused of an abominable crime by three impious men, who only resorted to this expedient for the purpose of shielding themselves from a better-founded accusation which he might have laid against them. They each swore with an imprecation. May I be burnt alive!" said one. May I be struck with leprosy!" said another. 'May my eyes never more behold the light of day!" added the third. The holy old man, rather than compromise them by seeking to justify himself, withdrew to a solitude where he might remain unknown. The evils which his accusers had invoked upon themselves speedily befell them; being then justified by God himself, he reappeared, and was more beloved than ever by his flock. He lived to the age of 116, but St. Alexander, in the capacity of coadjutor, helped him to discharge the pastoral functions.
MORAL REFLECTION.-"Let no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, for the Lord is the avenger of all such," says the great Apostle.-(1 Thess. iv. 6.)
Prayer for the Abused and Unjustly Accused (by Fr. Mychal Judge OFM)
O Holy Family of Nazareth, community of
love of Jesus, They cried out, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said
to them, "I find no guilt in Him. Take Him yourselves and crucify Him."
(John 19)
Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, falsely and maliciously accused by the
mob, have mercy on us. Jesus Christ, Lamb of God, handed over to death
by cowardly authority, have mercy on us. Jesus Christ, Sun of Justice,
vindicated by your Resurrection, grant us justice.
Father of
Truth, send the light of your Holy Spirit into the darkness of every
false accusation and unjust condemnation. Give strength to the innocent
to stand firmly in truth, as you gave to Jesus, in the face of torture
and death. Give courage to church and civil authorities to grant justice
and due process to the innocent, in the face of the mob. Father of
Mercy, deliver your innocent ones from evil; grant them speedy justice
and vindication, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Victim and Savior.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on all innocent victims: the abused and the falsely accused.
Follow with Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Prayer for Persecuted Priests
All Powerful and Eternal God, through
the merits of Your Son Jesus, and Through Your love for Him, I implore
You, have pity on the priests of the Holy Church. In spite of their
sublime dignity, they are fearful and weak, like all created beings. In
your infinite mercy, inflame their hearts with the fire of Divine Love.
For the sake of Jesus, Your Son, bestow grace on the priests and uphold
them. Do not let them fall into temptation and tarnish their noble
vocation.
O Jesus, we implore you. Look with pity on the priests of the Holy
Church: those who are serving You faithfully and proclaiming Your glory;
those who are persecuted for tending your flock; those who are
abandoned, weary and sorrowful: those who are lukewarm, confused and who
have denied their faith; those who are sick, dying, or in Purgatory.
Lord Jesus, we entreat You. Listen to our supplication, have pity and
console them.
O Jesus, we entrust to You the priests of the whole world: the priests
who baptized me, absolved my sins, offered Holy Mass and consecrated the
Eucharist to nourish my soul. We entrust to You the priests that
instructed me when I was ignorant, gave me strength in my weakness,
showed me the Way and the Truth and comforted me in my sorrow and
affliction. For all the blessings they obtained for me, I implore You to
support them in Your Loving Kindness.
O Jesus, shelter our priests in Your Sacred Heart. Let them take refuge
in Your mercy and love, in this life, and to the hour of death. Amen.
By his Eminence the late Ignatius Cardinal Kung, Bishop of Shanghai.
Published 7/16/1953 during the early years of persecution of the Roman
Catholic Church in China by its communist government. He was imprisoned
from 1955 to 1988.
Ss. Simon and Jude, Apostles
by VP
Posted on Monday October 28, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Simon and Jude, El Greco. pd
"This day being the festival of the apostles of Jesus Christ; the first part of our devotion ought to be, to give most earnest thanks to Almighty God for his particular mercy in bringing us to the light of His Gospel, and calling us to be members of the Holy Catholic Church, by which we may be taught His truths, and be assisted with all those helps, which His infinite goodness has appointed for our salvation.
The second part of our devotion ought to be in humbly beseeching the Father of mercies to perfect the work which he has begun in us; not to leave us in our natural poverty, but so to strengthen us by a daily supply of grace, that we may live in the practice of the Gospel, and not be a dishonor to our profession, by joining a wicked life to a holy faith. What can be the fruit of our faith in Christ, if we are not solicitous to make his law the rule of our lives?
It having so pleased Almighty God, that the apostles, who were made choice of by Christ for preaching His Gospel to the world, should suffer death from the hands of unbelievers; we have in this, lessons very proper for our instruction. One is, that in whatever we undertake, we are to be solicitous in this point only, of being careful and faithful in the performance of what belongs to us; but as for the success or good effect of our endeavors, this we are to leave with all possible indifference to the appointment of the all-wise Disposer of all things; and stand prepared with equal submission, whether the effect be answerable to our wishes or not. For while we see apostles chosen by Christ himself, commissioned by Him, engaged in no less a work than the conversion of souls; and yet, after all their labors, falling a sacrifice, by the violence of those very errors which they were sent to reform; who is there that upon confidence of his cause can presume of success? No, there are no circumstances in which this presumption ought to be allowed.
When the undertaking
is good, success may be desired: but, since all our part is to
co-operate with Providence, and its counsels are wholly hidden from us,
we are only to join with our best endeavors, where the will of God seems to call for them; and if He permits a disappointment, even then to rejoice in the accomplishment of the Divine Will, and conclude that disappointment to have been ordained by Almighty God, as the means for His greater glory, and our good.
It was thus in the apostles;
in whose death God was as much glorified, as in their lives. What
construction then is to be put upon all that grief and uneasiness which
too often oppress us, and even incline us to repent of the good which we have done, when we see it attended with some ill consequence, and that our charity, or piety, turns to our loss? What is to be said of such grief, but that it is either the effect of pride, which sought itself more than God, and expected the glory of being made the instrument of good; or, that it is a want of faith, which having regard to what is present only, sinks under the present evil, and receives no comfort from the hope of what is yet to come? Now this not being apostolical, ought to be reformed on the day of apostles, and better principles settled; such as may ever put us upon doing good, because it is good; and because God, in present circumstances, seems to require it of us: and as for the effect, to wait upon Providence for whatever that may be. And this, with a mind prepared even to suffer for the good which we do; remembering that whatever we suffer, having done well, is suffering for justice sake, and that which has the promise of eternal
blessings to crown it.
Suffering brought upon our own heads, by our folly, extravagance and sin, has something very afflicting in it, even a sting that cannot easily be taken from it. But as for whatever we suffer in consequence of our having done well, this has so much of eternal comforts to sweeten it, that wherever there is not a want of faith, there can be no want of patience, since God has promised to be the reward exceeding great." Source: The Catholic Year; by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER
