Saint John Leonardi, Priest founded the Order of Clerics Regular of the Mother of God
by VP
Posted on Wednesday October 09, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
Source: Orbis CatholicVs John Paul Sonnen
"Dear brothers and sisters, the luminous figure of this Saint invites priests in the first place, and all Christians, to strive constantly for "the high standard of Christian living", which means holiness, naturally each one in accordance with his own state. Indeed, authentic ecclesial renewal can only stem from faithfulness to Christ. In those years, on the cultural and social threshold between the 16th and 17th centuries, the premises of the contemporary culture of the future began to be outlined. It was characterized by an undue separation between faith and reason that produced, among its negative effects, the marginalization of God, with the illusion of the possible and total autonomy of man who chooses to live "as though God did not exist". This is the crisis of modern thought, which I have frequently had the opportunity to point out and which often leads to forms of relativism. John Leonardi perceived what the real medicine for these spiritual evils was and summed it up in the expression: "Christ first of all", Christ at the centre of the heart, at the center of history and of the cosmos. And, St John said forcefully, humanity stands in extreme need of Christ because he is our "measure". There is no area that cannot be touched by his power; there is no evil that cannot find a remedy in him, no problem that is not resolved in him. "Either Christ or nothing!". This was his recipe for every type of spiritual and social reform.
There is another aspect of St John Leonardi's spirituality that I would like to emphasize. On various occasions he reasserted that the living encounter with Christ takes place in his Church, holy but frail, rooted in history and in its sometimes obscure unfolding, where wheat and weeds grow side by side (cf. Mt 13: 30), yet always the sacrament of salvation. Since he was clearly aware that the Church is God's field (cf. Mt 13: 24), St John was not shocked at her human weaknesses. To combat the weeds he chose to be good wheat: that is, he decided to love Christ in the Church and to help make her, more and more, a transparent sign of Christ. He saw the Church very realistically, her human frailty, but he also saw her as being "God's field", the instrument of God for humanity's salvation. And this was not all. Out of love for Christ he worked tirelessly to purify the Church, to make her more beautiful and holy. He realized that every reform should be made within the Church and never against the Church. In this, St John Leonardi was truly extraordinary and his example is ever timely. Every reform, of course, concerns her structures, but in the first place must have an effect in believers' hearts. Only Saints, men and women who let themselves be guided by the divine Spirit, ready to make radical and courageous decisions in the light of the Gospel, renew the Church and make a crucial contribution to building a better world."
Source: Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, Oct. 7 2009
St. Bridget of Sweden, Widow, A.D. 1373.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 08, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
Source: Beautiful Pearls of the Catholic Truth, 1897 V2
"The power of the priest, My daughter, is very great; for he is the angel of the Lord, and mediator between God and man. His office is more sublime than even that of the angels, for he holds in his hand the God whose infinite Majesty it is not in any one's power to comprehend; a miserable creature is, when the priest pleases, united to all that is greatest in heaven."
Source: The Revelations of St. Bridget, Princess of Sweden published with the approval of Cardinal Manning 1874"ST. BRIDGET was born in Sweden, and so piously educated, that at ten years of age she was sensibly moved with the thoughts of our Savior's passion, made that the subject of her meditation, and could never speak of it but with tears. Being married by her parents to a nobleman, she faithfully discharged all the duties of a
good wife and a good mother; and by her powerful example obliged both
her husband and children to a virtuous life. Her husband, with her
consent, undertaking a monastic life, she likewise was called by Christ
to a stricter engagement with him. After the death of her husband, she renounced her rank in the world,
divided her estates among her children, and practiced incredible
austerities. Having received very particular favors from Heaven, she
instituted a religious Order of nuns, for God's greater glory, and the good of souls, in which she has had many followers. Going afterwards to Rome, and then to Jerusalem, the example of her virtue shone forth with great lustre; and in Palestine she watered with her pious tears the chief places which Christ had sanctified by his divine steps and precious blood. She was favored with many revelations, chiefly concerning the sufferings of our Blessed Savior: but she always humbly submitted her revelations to the pastors of the Church; and so far from glorying in these favors, she only increased in humility and the love of God. After a whole year's sickness, she died in the year 1373.
In this saint, young people have an instruction to seek God by an early application of their thoughts to Him; and the method of those is reproved, who give those first and better years to vanity and the love of the world.
Parents are taught to be just in all family duties; husband and wife to
each other, to their children and servants. Widows are taught to turn
their thoughts to heaven; and religious, to be strict in all the duties of their state. Pray for all degrees, that the grace of God may attend them, for all good." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Mark, Pope and Confessor AD 336
by VP
Posted on Monday October 07, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
GOOD USE OF RICHES.-When Magdalen poured over the feet of Jesus the precious spikenard, the spirit of avarice, speaking by the mouth of Judas, blamed the act under the plea that it would have been better to give the price to the poor; but the Savior praised the act and the intention which prompted it. Even thus in our days do worldlings indulge in regrets at the sums expended upon the adornment of the house of God and the splendor of His worship; but pious souls let them say on as they will. The Pope St. Mark, during his short pontificate of eight months and twenty days, in like manner shrank not from withdrawing from the support of the poor, for whom he had withal the greatest charity and pitying tenderness, large sums of money, to expend them in the construction of two churches. All ancient writers laud his generosity, and the solicitude he showed to maintain fervor amongst the faithful while the Church was at peace. Having been elected to succeed Pope St. Sylvester, in 336, he died in the month of October in the same year.
MORAL REFLECTION.-When Judas Macchabæus, triumphing over Gorgias, had "carried away gold, silver, precious furniture, and mighty riches" from the Syrians, he embellished therewith the Temple of Jerusalem." Pictorial half hours with the saints by Rev. Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
"Pray for the (Pope, Bishops), and for all the pastors of the Church. They have a great charge, and infinite difficulties; and since the good of the whole body very much depends upon their administration, let them have your prayers.
Bless your divine Savior for having established His Church, and solemnly engaged His word, that by his spirit it shall be guided and led to truth to the end of the world. Let no degree of infidelity possess your heart; and no pretext make you disobedient to the rule which He has ordained to direct you." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
A Prayer for the Church (Holy Face Devotion)
O God, by Thy Holy Name have pity on us, protect us, and save us.
O Good Jesus, in thy sweet Name guard our Sovereign Pontiff; breathe into his soul the spirit of the Comforter.
Jesus, thy Church is menaced with great trials! Holy Father, by the
virtue of thy salutary Name protect the Church of Jesus Christ. This was
the last will of thy Divine Son; it is the holy prayer which love
prompted towards the end of His life. Holy Father, keep in thy Name
those thou hast given me (St. John Chap xxvii 11)
O most holy and worthy Mother, refuge of the Church, intercede for us and save us by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
St. Michael and the Holy Angels, guard the bark of Peter, disperse its enemies by the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Venerable Marie de Saint Pierre, Holy Face Devotion, Work of Reparation 1885
Placidus and Companions, MARTYRS, A.D. 546.
by VP
Posted on Saturday October 05, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"ST. PLACIDUS was a disciple of St. Benedict. St. Gregory relates, that having fallen into a lake, as he was fetching some water, St. Benedict, who was in the monastery, knew of the accident, and calling Maurus, said to him, "Brother, run, make haste; the child is fallen into the water." Maurus, having begged his blessing, ran to the lake, and walked upon the water to some distance from the land, to the place where Placidus was floating, and taking hold of him by the hair, returned with the same speed. St. Benedict ascribed this miracle to the disciple's obedience. St. Placidus advanced daily in holy wisdom, and the exercise of all virtues, so that his life seemed a true copy of that of his holy master, St. Benedict. Being sent by him into Sicily, he there founded a church and monastery, near the port of Messina. Having lived there with thirty monks, in wonderful sanctity, a Pagan barbarian, with a fleet of pirates from Africa, landed in Sicily, and out of hatred to the Christian name, put them all to the sword for their faith in Christ, which he could not persuade them to renounce, in the year 546.
Pray for all who suffer; and in particular for those, who lie under temptation of renouncing their faith, on account of preferment, interest, or other temporal conveniences. See if some of these considerations do not prevail on you to pass the bounds of duty to the creed or commandments. Great grace is necessary to keep you steady. Make provision therefore against the time of temptation. Christians have to subdue corruption, and live by the spirit of Christ.
They must open their breasts to this holy spirit; and put their whole
hearts so under its conduct, that all other motions being suppressed,
their thoughts, desires, affections, words, and actions may be regulated
by this divine guest, and they may do in all things, not now what they will, but what God wills in them. This is the only way to give their lives to Christ, and the only way to die for Him." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Francis of Assisi
by VP
Posted on Friday October 04, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Francis, Holy Name Cathedral Raleigh NC VP
"I also beseech in the Lord, all my brethren who are, or who shall be, or who desire to be priests of the Most High, that whenever they wish to celebrate Mass, they be pure, and offer with purity and reverence the true Sacrifice of the most holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ with a holy and perfect intention; not from any earthly motive, nor for the fear or love of any creature, as though desiring to please men; but let every will (according to the grace given) be directed solely to the most High God, and do you desire to please Him alone, for He alone works in this holy Sacrifice according to His good pleasure, as the Lord has Himself said: "Do this in remembrance of Me:" and he who does otherwise becomes a traitor like Judas.
Remember, O priests, my brothers, how it is written in the law of Moses, that those who transgressed even in corporal sacrifices were condemned by God to death, without any mercy. What a far more terrible punishment will he deserve, who tramples under foot the Son of God, and treats the Blood of the New Testament by which he is sanctified as a vile thing, and offers insult to the Holy Ghost! A man stained with sin despises and tramples on the Lamb of God, when, as the Apostle says, not discerning the sacred Bread, which is Christ, from other food, he eats unworthily by being guilty of unworthy actions; for the Lord has said by His Prophet: "Cursed is the man who does the work of God with negligence or fraud." And on account of those priests who will not lay these things seriously to heart, we are condemned, when Our Lord days: " I will curse your blessings."
Hearken, my brethren. If the Blessed Virgin Mary is honored, as she well deserves, for having borne our Savior in her most holy womb; if St. John the Baptist trembled, and did not dare to touch the forehead of his Lord; if the Holy Sepulcher in which this same Lord reposed for a short time is so venerated - how holy, how just, and how worthy ought not he to be who touches with his hands, receives into his mouth and heart, and gives to others, this God Who is now no more to die, but Who will live and be glorified for ever, on Whom the angels desire to gaze! Understand your dignity, O priests, my brothers, and " be ye holy, because He is holy." As God has honored you more than all others through this Mystery, do you love, reverence, and honor Him through this Mystery. It is a great misery, and a deplorable weakness, when you have Him thus present, that you should care for anything else in the whole world. Man should be seized with fear, the earth should tremble, and the heavens rejoice exceedingly, when Christ the Son of the living God descends upon the altar in the hands of the priest.
O admirable greatness! O stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! the Lord of the universe, God, and the Son of God, so abases Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under the form of a morsel of bread! See, O my brethren, the lowliness of your God! pour out your hearts before Him and humble yourselves, that you may be worthy to be exalted by Him. Do not keep back anything of yourselves, that He Who gives Himself to you without reserve may receive your entire being."
Source: Works of the Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi By Saint Francis (of Assisi) 1882Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux
by VP
Posted on Thursday October 03, 2024 at 12:46AM in Saints
Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux, Brittany, France
"Our vocation is not to go and reap in the Father's fields: Jesus does
not say to us: " Cast down your eyes and reap the harvest"; our mission
is still more sublime. Here are the words of the Divine Master: "Lift up
your eyes and see..." see that in Heaven there are empty places; yours
it is to fill them...you are as Moses praying on the mountain; ask of Me
laborers and I will send them; I await but a prayer, a sigh from out
your heart!"
Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux (Spiritual Maxims)
"Now it is in the Host that I can see you carry your annihilation in full. How humble you are , oh Divine King of Glory in submitting Yourself to all your priests without making any distinction between those who love you and those who, alas, are lukewarm or cold in your service! You descend from Heaven to their call. They can anticipate or delay the time of your Holy Sacrifice. You are always ready! (Pr 20)" -- St. Thérèse de Lisieux
Prayer for Priests and Vocation ( Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux)
O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds
of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple
John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of
Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the
souls of men.
May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of
Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who
suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and
thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into
close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is
specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.
Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary,
priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care
with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.
Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son,
open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and
give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the
tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.
O my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful, to
those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may
grasp it as their support. And for those poor unfortunate souls who have
fallen, lift them up in the great ocean of Your Mercy, that being
engulfed therein, they may receive the grace to return to Your Great
Loving Heart. Amen.
October 3rd: St. Thomas of Hereford, Bishop and Confessor, AD 1282
by VP
Posted on Thursday October 03, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"This saint was most nobly born, being the eldest son of William, Lord Cantelupe, and allied by his mother's side to the royal families of England and France. From his childhood he despised worldly pleasures, and walked in the lovely paths of innocence and truth. The fear and love of God grew up with him, and accompanied him to the universities, first of Oxford, then of Paris, where he made great progress in learning, but much more in the science of the saints.
St. Thomas resolved to consecrate himself to God in the ecclesiastical state; and was made chancellor of the university of Oxford. In this office he shone so brightly, that King Henry III. appointed him chancellor of the kingdom. In this eminent office his virtues shone with still greater lustre, to the benefit of the whole nation. After the king's death, however, he gladly resigned the seals of his office, and returned to Oxford, where he took the degree of doctor of divinity. He had always lived in the greatest purity of conscience, and was eminent in Christian simplicity, candor, and humility. He exhibited heavenly prudence in his whole conduct, and great devotion to the divine service, especially in celebrating Mass. He was remarkable for patience and meekness under sufferings and injuries, and great temperance and sobriety in eating and drinking; as also for daily mortification, watching, fasting, and perfect charity for every neighbor. His charity produced in him such an aversion for detraction, that he would sharply rebuke such as he found guilty of it.
These virtues so recommended him, that he was chosen Bishop of Hereford. From that time, he became a greater saint than before. His zeal for the Church seemed to have no bounds; and such was his charity, that he seemed born only for the relief of his neighbor, both spiritual and temporal. No reviling language or ill treatment could ever provoke him to anger; his enemies he always treated with respect and tenderness, and would never bear the least word which might reflect upon them or any others.
After St. Thomas had for some years illustrated the whole Church of this nation by his eminent sanctity, he went to Rome for some ecclesiastical affairs. This journey was very fatiguing to the saint, on account of his age and infirmities; but he would never spare himself in the cause of God and his Church. In his way home, he was overtaken by his last illness at Montefiascone in Tuscany. He received the last sacraments with incredible cheerfulness and devotion, and made the sufferings and death of his Redeemer the constant subject of his fervent prayer, in which he calmly gave up the ghost, in the sixty-third year of his age, in the year 1282. Pray for this nation, that God would be its protector, and visit it with all blessings, spiritual and temporal."
The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER 1861
Prayer for the Bishops
O Jesus, Prince of Pastors, Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls, give our bishops ................ all those
virtues, which they need for their sanctification! May they watch over
themselves and the entire flock, with which the Holy Spirit has
entrusted them! Fill their hearts with Thine own Spirit! Give them
faith, charity, wisdom and strength! Send them faithful co-laborers in
the great work of saving and guiding souls! Make them shepherds after
Thine own heart, living only for their holy office, fearing nobody but
Thee, and hoping for nothing but Thee, in order that when Thou shalt
come, to judge shepherds and flocks, they may obtain the unfading reward
of eternal life! Amen
Imprimatur: Most Rev. Vincent S. Waters, D.D. Raleigh, N.C. March 25, 1956
Saint Théodore Guérin
by VP
Posted on Thursday October 03, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"What strength the soul draws from prayer! In the midst of a storm, how sweet is the calm it finds in the heart of Jesus. But what comfort is there for those who do not pray?" – Saint Théodore Guérin
“What have we to do in order to be saints? Nothing extraordinary; nothing more than what we do every day. Only do it for [God’s] love.”—Saint Theodora Guérin
"A woman of uncommon valor, one of those religious athletes whose life and teachings effect a spiritual fecundity that secures vast conquests to Christ and His Church. It is a beautiful and forcible setting of those sublime truths that underlie the eternal plan of creation and establish the relationship that should exist between the Sovereign Maker and the creature fashioned by His word; showing clearly how Providence is just and holy in wise dispensation, man often perverse in selfish conceit. It proves that the arm of the Lord is not shortened; that the gift of God abideth with the just, whose advancement shall have success forever. (Ecclus. Xi 17).
(...) Every one who pledges himself to the work of saving souls must expect to suffer if his ministry is to be profitable. Multiplied labors are not the greatest rigors. Distress of mind and heart, human weakness, lack of sympathy and support, misunderstands, to say nothing of the malice of men and the snares of the devil - this is the burden of the apostolate. All seem to know it, yet when it comes to the exercise how few are found with magnanimity of soul enough or with spiritual nerve enough to endure the test! Many there are who are willing to sit with Christ at His table but few to share His fast; many to behold His glory, few to bear His ignominy. (A Kempis)
It is in generous acceptance of the cross that strength comes for the warfare; so it is also in self-sacrifice that we discern the halo of holiness - God's presence in His elect.
Sacrifice shorn of its glory, inasmuch as it was scarcely recognized, epitomizes the life of Mother Théodore Guérin. The keynote of her intensely spiritual character is sounded in these lines addressed to the estimable Bishop of Mans: "I consider it the greatest privilege of my life to have suffered something for my God." Truly the lesson of Calvary was well understood by this spouse of a crucified King! It must needs be that rich endowment of supernatural favor was her recompense.
This is the age of hidden saints. A bloody persecution may not be sending victors to the eternal courts, but the sword of trial is as sharp as the blade of the executioner; and though a martyr's triumph is not proclaimed from the Church's altar, a martyr's palm is borne by those sequestered Servants of God who now "follows the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."
(...)
In deploring the scarcity of vocations to the religious life when the field was so vast and the laborers so few, we observe that the cause she assigned was the same that today holds back so many nobly gifted young men and women from responding to the call of the divine Master. Appeal to the religious impulses of nature is hushed by irresistible pleasure-seeking, softness, and love of one's ease, which incapacitate souls for anything approaching the valorous in self-sacrifice; strangers to the arbitrament of virtue, their lives are as aimless as useless." Introduction by Cardinal Gibbons, Life and life-work of Mother Theodore Guérin : foundress of the Sisters of Providence at St.-Mary-of-the-Woods, Vigo County, Indiana
Short Biography:
"Mother Theodore Guerin is the foundress of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana.
Born in 1798, ( Born Anne-Thérèse Guerin in the village of Etables–sur–Mer in Brittany, France) of fervent Catholic parents, she entered the community of the Sisters of Providence of Ruille, recently established by the Abbe Dujarie, who is also the founder of the Brothers of the Holy Cross. After several years of successful work as head of important establishments, at the request of Bishop de la Hailandiere of Vincennes, Indiana, she was sent by her superior to found an educational establishment in the New World. She and her Sisters reached Terre Haute, Ind., on October 22, 1840. A boarding school was opened in 1841. The first boarders arrived on July 4 of the same year. Tribulations from within and from without sorely tried the heart of the foundress. Several times credit was refused to the Sisters at the stores, and the immediate necessities of the community and the pupils were relieved by Providential intervention. Often after a frugal breakfast, nothing was left for dinner, and the Sisters would have to go and beg potatoes and eggs from the neighboring farms.
Calumnies and disappointments of all sorts fell thick upon the establishment. Mother Guerin herself
was deposed from office on two different occasions, and the bishop went
so far as to excommunicate her. Amidst these trials she found refuge in
God: "Let us pray more," she would tell her Sisters, "and rest quiet in
the Providence of the Sacred Heart. Can we think that our good God will
abandon us? No, not as long as we cling to Him! Courage, hope and pray."
On days when her heart was sinking beneath weight of all the afflictions that fell upon her, she would exclaim: "Hail, crosses, great and small, spiritual and temporal, inward and outward, hail! I kiss your feet, unworthy as I am of your shadow." One day when her life-work was threatened with total extinction, she spent the whole night before the Blessed Sacrament and there, in the stillness of the chapel, poured forth her soul in indescribable anguish. It was remarked the next morning that she received Holy Communion with a radiant countenance. When the chaplain asked her what made her so happy, she answered simply: "In the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness." She would often repeat to her daughters: "All that we teach the children must be done for the glory of God and the good of souls. The profit that the community derives from it is a secondary consideration." "A Sister of Providence cannot go to heaven alone; if she is not surrounded by the souls she has brought to the knowledge and love of God, she herself will not find the way to the heavenly home."
Before her death, in 1850, she had the consolation of seeing her work solidly established in many dioceses. " The Annals of St. Joseph, Norbertine Fathers, March 1919.
| Canonized on | October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI |
|---|
Prayer:
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin,
valiant woman of God,
intercede for us in our needs.
Implore for us through Jesus, the Christ,
the gifts of a living faith,
abiding hope
and steadfast charity,
so that
through a life of prayer
and service with others
we may aid in promoting
the Providence of God
among all peoples.
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, pray for us.
Amen.
(With Ecclesiastical Approval)
St. Remigius, ARCHBISHOP OF RHEIMS, CONFESSOR, A.D. 533.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 01, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"He was the great apostle of the French nation. Prayer, meditation on the Holy Scriptures, the instruction of the people, and the conversion of infidels, heretics, and sinners, were the constant employment of this holy pastor. Clovis, the king of the French, was converted after gaining a great victory, in consequence of calling on Christ to assist him. St. Remigius prepared him for Baptism by the usual practices of fasting, penance, and prayer, and solemnly baptized him at
Rheims. Under the protection of this great monarch, St. Remigius wonderfully propagated the gospel of Christ by the conversion of a great part of the French nation; in which work, God endowed him with an extraordinary gift of miracles. Having been bishop above seventy years, St. Remigius died in the year 533. Pray for all the pastors in God's Church, that they may be as eminent in virtue, as in dignity; that they may be watchful over their flocks, and teach the gospel by their example. Pray for all princes throughout the world, who as yet live in darkness, and know not Christ or his truths; that God would powerfully draw them to himself, and raise up some apostolic men in these our days, who may be instruments of this great work, for the good of innumerable souls. Pray that all Christians may live up to what they profess. What a melancholy sight it must be, when looking on ourselves, we discover the general method of our lives to have so very little regard to what Christ teaches, and so often to depart quite from him, as if we had no faith in his ways, or no interest in walking in them? The gospel charges us to be humble, meek, temperate, just, clean of heart, and not to love the world or ourselves; and we too often live as if we believed not in the gospel, and had no faith in its promises.
On this first day of the month, recommend yourself and all yours to the protection of Heaven, and consider upon the means for the amendment of past failings, that you may not be always the same." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Church A.D. 420
by VP
Posted on Monday September 30, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Jerome (...) wrote (...) a famous letter in which he enumerated the austere duties of the sacerdotal life. Amongst many other lessons to be found in it is the following, which applies to all preachers, and which Fenelon has inserted in his third " Dialogue upon Eloquence": "When teaching in the church do not excite the applause but rather the lamentations of the people; let the tears of your auditors be your commendation. The sermons of a priest should overflow with Holy Scripture. Be not an orator, but a sincere expounder of the mysteries of your God." [Source: Saint Jerome by Father Largent, translated by Hester Davenport 1913]
"An eminent Doctor and Father in God's Church, born in Dalmatia, under the Emperor Constantius. He was brought up to learning, and improved it by the assistance of St. Gregory Nazianzen, and other great men of that age, and by four years' study of the Holy Scriptures in a desert of Syria. He was made priest by Paulinus, bishop of Antioch; and going to Rome, for composing some differences of the Eastern bishops, was chosen secretary to the pope, St. Damasus. But tired with the distractions of that
employment, he returned to his solitude; where, in continual
abstinence, prayer, and contemplation, he led an angelical life. He was
perplexed indeed with great temptations and want of health, but never discouraged; nor did he permit these to give interruption to his prayers or studies. He was there consulted both by St. Damasus and St. Augustin about difficulties of holy writ. He there translated the Old Testament out of Hebrew; and at the request of St. Damasus, corrected the New. He there vigorously opposed the errors of his time, and illustrated the Catholic faith by his learned volumes. In this method of sanctity, he lived to a great age, and died at length under Honorius, in the year 420.
Pray for all who apply to learning, that they may take virtue along with them. Learn from this saint to read the Scriptures with a diligent and humble mind. Presume not on your own sense. Solid virtue and many years' study qualified St. Jerome for an expositor; without these your expositions may be subject to great errors.
Reflect on your
own circumstances: if they engage you in great distractions, deliver
yourself, as far as you are able; and let no preferment or interest take place of your soul. But if idleness, vanity, and the earnest desire of gratifying yourself prove your distraction, your obligation to quit all this is still greater.
Pray for the whole Church and its pastors.
Pray for yourself, that the industrious, laborious, and holy spirit of this saint may be your portion, and secure you against all the mischief of sloth and self-love.
It being the last day of the month, give thanks for all blessings received, and beg hearty pardon for all your sins." [The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER]
