St. Felix of Burgundy, Bishop, Apostle of the East Angles, Confessor, a.d. 646
by VP
Posted on Wednesday March 06, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Felix. from the reredos of the church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, UK
"Saint Felix was a native of Burgundy, who being for his virtue and merits advanced to the priestly dignity, flourished in sanctity and learning at the time when Sigebert, a prince of the East Angles, went over into that province. Becoming acquainted with St. Felix, he was convinced by him of the errors of Paganism, was baptised by St. Felix, and became a sincere and zealous Christian. Some time after, Sigebert was called home to succeed to the kingdom, and made it his first care to introduce the Christian religion into his provinces of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, and to establish it on a solid foundation. For this purpose he invited over from France his spiritual father, St. Felix; who without demur quitted his country, friends, and native home, to come and preach the faith of Christ to an uncivilised Pagan people. To proceed regularly in so great an undertaking, he addressed himself to Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury, by whom he was duly authorized and commissioned to preach to the East Angles. King Sigebert received him with great honor, and appointed him for his residence the place now called Dunwich in Suffolk, formerly a great town, but long ago swallowed up by the sea. St. Felix was consecrated bishop by St. Honorius, and undertook his apostolic charge with an ardent desire of the glory of God and the salvation of souls. He founded, with the help of the king, churches, monasteries, and schools; and brought over the whole kingdom to the true faith. St. Felix was bishop for seventeen years, and had during that time discharged the duties of a most zealous and vigilant pastor. At length he departed to our Lord in the year 646, and was buried in the church of Dunwich; but his relics were afterwards translated to the abbey of Ramsey.
Pray for your country.
Give God thanks for all those apostolic men, by whose labors God
brought so great a blessing to this nation; and beseech him to revive a
like spirit in all who succeed to their charge. Pray for the pastors of this nation, that God would animate them with true zeal for the good of their flock." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
St. Gerasimus, Anchoret, a.d. 475.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday March 05, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"He was born in Lycia. He went into Palestine, and retiring into a desert near the Jordan, suffered much from the assaults of the devil, and by his snares was prevailed on to take part with heretics. But having heard of the eminent virtues of St. Euthymius, a holy abbot in Palestine, he went to him in his solitude; he was so moved with his discourse, that he returned to the faith of the Church. He grieved bitterly during his whole life for having gone astray, and this fault made him more humble, vigilant, and penitent than ever.
St. Gerasimus afterwards built a large laura with separate cells for seventy solitaries, and in the midst of it, a monastery for cenobites, that is, those who lived in community. Here he entered with those who joined him into a severe penance of poverty and humility, observing entire silence for five days in the week; and on them admitting no other food but bread, dates and water. They had no clothes but the habit which they wore, and no furniture but a mat for their bed, and a pitcher for the water which they drank. They employed themselves in manual labor, making baskets of palm branches.
The inhabitants of Jericho, full of astonishment and admiration at the rigorous lives of these holy men, resolved to provide something more for their support. But the greater part of them were grieved to have their solitude broken in upon by people of the world, and shunned all intercourse with them as full of danger. St. Gerasimus persevered in this edifying course of life till his happy death on the 5th of March, 475.
Let the example of those, who are above your imitation, excite in you a resolution of doing something to overcome yourself. If you make inclination and the world your rule, you forsake the Gospel,
which commands you to renounce both. You must deny yourself, if you
will be Christ's disciple. A remissness in observing discipline is the first step to the greatest
disorders. Niceness, self-love, and sloth, find reasons for dispensing
with it; but no favor must be shown to their arguments." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
St. Casimir, Prince of Poland, Confessor, a.d. 1483
by VP
Posted on Monday March 04, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Casimir by Agostino Masucci
(1691–1758)
"He was son of Casimir, king of Poland, who amidst all the softness of the court, lived with the austerity of the desert, in fasting and sackcloth, even in his youthful years. He was eminent for his charity in relieving the distressed, so as to be styled the father of the poor; and was very careful to avoid everything that could be prejudicial to chastity.
Pray for all those, who live amidst the dangers of the court; and in particular for princes, that, being God's vicegerents, they may encourage religion and virtue, and not permit that general depravity in persons attending them, by whose profaneness, irreligion, and luxury, their courts become the resemblance of hell, while the power of God is in the throne. Pray likewise for persons of quality of both sexes, that they may not employ their youthful years in vanities and dangerous follies, nor sully the honor of their birth with dishonourable practices, such as make them the worst of slaves, and render them contemptible both to God and man. The abuse of those blessings, with which they are encompassed above their neighbors, will be one day a very heavy charge; and it will be an aggravation of their hell to have all their imperiousness and pride trampled on by devils. The method of this saint in charity, piety, and penance is the only Christian honor; and this will raise all that follow it to the honor of saints. The ecclesiastical season of the year calls all now to it. See that you embrace it heartily; labor by an exact observance, to make some atonement for all past follies, and never remit your endeavors, till you have wrought a solid change in your soul." The Catholic Year by Rev. John Gother
For the Church and Civil Authorities by Archbishop Carroll:
We pray Thee, O almighty and Eternal
God, Who through Jesus Christ Hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to
preserve the works of Thy mercy; that thy Church, being spread through
the whole world, may continue, with unchanging faith, in the confession
of Thy name. We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow
with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life our Pope
Francis, the vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ in the government of His
Church; our own bishop ...; all the other bishops, prelates, and pastors
of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise
among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people
into the ways of salvation.
We pray Thee, O God of might,
wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered,
laws are enacted, and judgments decreed, assist, with the Holy Spirit of
counsel and fortitude, the President of the United States, that his
administration may be
conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people,
over whom he presides, by
encouraging due respect for virtue and religion;
by faithful execution of the law in justice and
mercy; and by restraining vice
and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress,
and shine forth in all the
proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government;
so that they may tend to the preservation
of peace, the promotion of national happiness,
the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful
knowledge, and may
perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.
We pray for his Excellency the Governor of
this State, for the members of the Assembly,
for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who
are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled,
by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties
of their respective stations with honesty and
ability. We
recommend likewise to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow
citizens, throughout the
United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified
in the observance of Thy
most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace
which the world cannot give;
and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those
which are eternal.
Finally, we pray Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy
servants departed who are gone
before us with the sign of faith, and repose in the sleep of peace:
the souls of our parents, relations, and friends;
of those who, when living, were members of this
congregation; and particularly of such as are lately deceased;
of all benefactors who, by their
donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the
decency of divine worship,
and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance.To these, O Lord, and to
all that rest in Christ, grant we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment,
light, and everlasting
peace, through the same Jesus, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Saint Chad, Bishop and Confessor, a.d. 673
by VP
Posted on Saturday March 02, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, found the ordination of St. Chad defective, and adjudged the see of York to St. Wilfrid. St. Chad willingly offered to resign his bishopric, of which he had never thought himself worthy. But St. Theodore was so charmed with his humility, that he would not admit of his resignation, but supplied what he found wanting to his ordination. The humble prelate retired to his former monastery; but was soon after appointed bishop of the Mercians, and fixed his episcopal see at Lichfield. By his heavenly doctrine and saintly life, he shone forth as one of the brightest stars in the firmament of God's Church. His common abode was in a house which he had built near the church at Lichfield; wherein he was accustomed to pray and read with seven or eight brethren, as often as he had any spare time from the labour and ministry of the Word. He had governed his diocese with admirable perfection for two years and a half, when he died in the great pestilence, on the 2nd of March, in 673.
Pray for all the prelates of Christ's Church, and in particular for those of your country, that both by word and example they may be lights to the faithful, to lead them into all truth and holiness. Pray for the people of this
nation, that God would show mercy to them, in removeing his judg ments,
and raising up apostolic men, by those labours vice and profaneness may
be banished from this island." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Saint Simplicius (47th Pope)
by VP
Posted on Saturday March 02, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Saint Simplicius was the ornament of the Roman Clergy under Sts. Leo and Hilarius, and succeeded the latter in the pontificate in 468. He was raised by God to comfort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, were fallen into the hands of barbarians. The emperors for many years were rather shadows of power than sovereigns, and, in the eighth year of the pontificate of Simplicius, Rome itself fell a prey to foreigners. Italy, by oppression and the ravages of barbarians, was left almost a desert without inhabitants; and the imperial armies consisted chiefly of barbarians, hired under the name of auxiliaries. These soon saw that their masters were in their power. The Heruli demanded one third of the lands of Italy, and, upon refusal, chose for their leader Odoacer, one of the lowest extraction but a resolute and intrepid man, who was proclaimed king at Rome in 476. He put to death Orestes, who was regent of the empire for his son Augustulus, whom the senate had advanced to the imperial throne. Odoacer spared the life of Augustulus, appointed him a salary of six thousand pounds of gold, and permitted him to live at full liberty near Naples.
Pope Simplicius was wholly taken up in comforting and relieving the afflicted, and in sowing the seeds of the Catholic faith among the barbarians. The East gave his zeal no less employment and concern. Peter Cnapheus, a violent Eutychian, was made by the heretics Patriarch of Antioch ; and Peter Mongus, one of the most profligate men, that of Alexandria. Acacius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, received the sentence of St. Simplicius against Cnapheus, but supported Mongus against him and the Catholic Church, and was a notorious changeling, double-dealer, and artful hypocrite, who often made religion serve his own private ends. St. Simplicius at length discovered his artifices, and redoubled his zeal to maintain the Holy faith, which he saw betrayed on every side, list the patriarchal sees of Alexandria and Antioch were occupied by furious wolves, and there was not one Catholic king in the whole world. The emperor measured everything by his passions and human views. St. Simplicius, having sat fifteen years eleven months and six days, went to receive the reward of his labors in 483. He was buried in St. Peter's on the 2d of March."
Reflection.-" He that trusteth in God shall fare never the worse," saith the Wise Man in the Book of Ecclesiasticus.
Source: Lives of the Saints, with reflections for every day in the year.
Prayer for the Pope ( by Pope Leo XIII)
O Lord, we are the millions of
believers, humbly kneeling at Thy feet and begging Thee to preserve,
defend and save the Sovereign Pontiff for many years. He is the Father
of the great fellowship of souls and our Father as well. On this day, as
on every other day, he is praying for us also, and is offering unto
Thee with holy fervor the sacred Victim of love and peace.
Wherefore, O Lord, turn Thyself toward us with eyes of pity; for we are
now, as it were, forgetful of ourselves, and are praying above all for
him. Do Thou unite our prayers with his and receive them into the bosom
of Thine infinite mercy, as a sweet savor of active and fruitful
charity, whereby the children are united in the Church to their Father.
All that he asks of Thee this day, we too ask it of Thee in unison
with him. Whether he weeps or rejoices, whether he hopes or offers
himself as a victim of charity for his people, we desire to be united
with him; nay more, we desire that the cry of our hearts should be made
one with his. Of Thy great mercy grant, O Lord, that not one of us may
be far from his mind and his heart in the hour that he prays and offers
unto Thee the Sacrifice of Thy blessed Son.
At the moment when
our venerable High Priest, holding in His hands the very Body of Jesus
Christ, shall say to the people over the Chalice of benediction these
words: "The peace of the Lord be with you always, grant, O Lord, that
Thy sweet peace may come down upon our hearts and upon all the nations
with new and manifest power. Amen.
Saint David, Wales and Saint Albinus, Brittany (Bishops)
by VP
Posted on Friday March 01, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"From his tender years, he gave great proofs of the fear and love of God, which increased in him as he grew up, together with a love of purity, and a diligent application to sacred literature: and such was the progress he made in virtue and learning, that he was judged worthy of being advanced to the priesthood. He exercised his talents in preaching the word of life, and propagating the kingdom of Christ among the Britons. He gained innumerable souls to God, by word and example. He also collected a great number of disciples, desirous to aspire to Christian perfection in a monastic life; in favour of whom he founded twelve religious houses, under a most excellent rule and institute.
Whilst he was thus conducting many holy souls to Christian perfection, he was invited by St. Dubritius to a national synod of British bishops, assembled at Brevi, in Cardiganshire, against the Pelagian heresy. At the conclusion of the synod, St. Dubritius resigned his archbishopric to St. David, who removed the metropolitan see to Menevia, now called St. David's.
Such was the life and conversation of this holy archbishop, that he was looked upon as the glory of Britain, and the father of his country. He has ever since been honored as the principal patron of Wales, on account of his eminent sanctity, and the great miracles, for which he was renowned, both in his life and after his death. He was a mirror and pattern to all; instructing all, both by word and example; an excellent preacher in words, but more excellent in works. He was an instruction to all, a model to the religious, life to the poor, support to orphans, defence to widows, father to the fatherless, a rule to monks, and a model to teachers; becoming all to all, to gain all to God.
St. David having founded several monasteries, and been the spiritual father of many saints, died about the year 544, at a very advanced age. Pray for all bishops in Christ's Church. Pray for your country; that God would in his mercy remove from it all errors and schisms, and establish it in the unity of its primitive faith. And let the ancient Britons have this day a part in your prayers.
It being the first day of the month, consecrate it by a sincere oblation of yourself to God, and his service. Beg his blessing on yourself, and all who belong to you; and beseech him to accompany you in the discharge of all your duties, and preserve you from temptation and sin." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"Saint David, son of Sant, Prince of Cardigan and of Non, was born in that country in the fifth century, and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the service of God. He began his religious life under Saint Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who had been sent to Britain by Pope Saint Celestine to stop the ravages of the heresy of Pelagius, at that time abbot, as it is said, of Bangor. On the reappearance of that heresy, in the beginning of the sixth century, the bishops assembled at Brevi, and, unable to address the people that came to hear the word of truth, sent for St. David from his cell to preach to them. The Saint came, and it is related that, as he preached, the ground beneath his feet rose and became a hill, so that he was heard by an innumerable crowd. The heresy fell under the sword of the Spirit, and the Saint was elected Bishop of Caerleon on the resignation of St. Dubricius ; but he removed the see to Menevia, a lone and desert spot, where he might, with his monks, serve God away from the noise of the world. He founded twelve monasteries, and governed his Church according to the canons sanctioned in Rome. At last, when about eighty years of age, he laid himself down, knowing that his hour was come. As his agony closed, Our Lord stood before him in a vision, and the Saint cried out, “ Take me up with Thee,” and so gave up his soul on Tuesday, March 1, 561."
Saint Albinus, Bishop. Saint Albinus was of an ancient and noble family in Languidic Vannes, Brittany, and from his childhood was fervent in every exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness which a devout soul finds in being perfectly disengaged from all earthly things. Having embraced the monastic state at Tintillant, near Angers, he shone a perfect model of virtue, living as if in all things he had been without any will of his own; and his soul seemed so perfectly governed by the spirit of Christ as to live only for Him. At the age of thirty-five years he was chosen abbot, in 504, and twenty-five years afterwards Bishop of Angers. He everywhere restored discipline, being inflamed with a holy zeal for the honor of God. His dignity seemed to make no alteration either in his mortification or in the constant recollection of his soul. Honored by all the world, even by kings, he was never affected with vanity. Powerful in works and miracles, he looked upon himself as the most unworthy and most unprofitable among the servants of God, and had no other ambition than to appear such in the eyes of others as he was in those of his own humility. In the third Council of Orleans, in 538, he procured the thirtieth canon of the Council of Epaone to be revived, by which those are declared excommunicated who presume to contract incestuous marriages in the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity. He died on the 1st of March, in 549.
Reflection.— With whatever virtues a man may be endowed, he will discover, if he considers himself attentively, a sufficient depth of misery to afford cause for deep humility; but Jesus Christ says, “ He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, 1894
St. Oswald, Archbishop of york, confessor, A.d. 992.
by VP
Posted on Thursday February 29, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"He was nephew of St. Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, and by him educated, and made dean of Winchester; but passing into France, he took the monastic habit at the famous abbey of Fleury. His life and conversation in this monastery were so perfect, that he was fit to instruct in all religious virtues even those by whom he came to be instructed. He was wonderfully patient, humble, mild, and full of charity. He was sparing in sleep, mortified in diet, discreet in speech, and assiduous in prayer. St. Dunstan had so great an esteem for him, that he procured his nomination to the bishopric of Worcester. He was no sooner placed in that see, than he began to labour to reform the manners of his clergy and people. He preached everywhere a holy life, and confirmed what he taught by his own example.
St. Oswald was afterwards prevailed on by St. Dunstan, much against his will, to accept the archbishopric of York; and began to discharge with the same zeal and piety all the duties of a good pastor in that archdiocese. He was particularly remarkable for his great humility, and extraordinary charity to the poor, of whom he entertained twelve everyday, and would wash their feet, and wait upon them
and serve them at table with his own hands, which was his constant
practice to his dying day. The day before his happy death, he was observed to stand for a long time with his eyes fixed on heaven. Being asked what he saw, he answered that he was looking to that place whither he was going, and that the morrow's sun would not set before his Lord would bring him to it, as he had promised him. He then called together the religious, and desired them to give him the viaticum of our Lord's body, and the extreme unction. The night following he assisted in the church at the divine office, and spent the remainder of it in the praises of God. The next day he washed the feet of the poor, as usual, and recited his usual fifteen psalms, at the end of which he added, Glory be to the Father, and gave up his spirit into the hands of Christ, quietly expiring on his knees at the feet of the poor. He died on the 29th of February, 992. Pray that all pastors may inherit the spirit of this saint: and that your country may receive blessings through his intercession." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
The Martyrs of Alexandria, A.D. 261.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday February 28, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
" These were many holy priests, deacons, and laymen, who when the city of Alexandria, for its sins, lay under the scourge of a most severe plague, in the third century, exposed their lives for the service and comfort of those who were infected. There was not a single house in that great city which entirely escaped the pestilence, or had not to mourn for some dead. All places were filled with groans, and the living appeared almost dead with fear. This sickness was the greatest of calamities to the Pagans, but an exercise and trial to the Christians, who shewed on that occasion, how contrary the spirit of charity is to the interested spirit of self-love. In the time of this public calamity, most of them, regardless of their own lives, visited, relieved, and attended the sick, and comforted the dying. They closed their eyes, and buried them; and the charity of many of them being rewarded by death, the Church has thought proper to honour their memory, making but little difference between so glorious a death, and that of the martyrs. Thus," adds St. Dionysius, "the best of our brethren have departed this life; some of the most valuable both of priests, deacons, and laics; and it is thought that this kind of death is nothing different from martyrdom."
St. Leander, Bishop of Seville, Confessor, A.D. 596.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday February 27, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"He entered into a monastery very young, where he lived many years, and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and sacred learning. These qualities occasioned his being promoted to the see of Seville; but his change of condition made little or no alteration in his method of life, though it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude for the salvation of those whom God had placed under his care, as well as for the necessities of the whole Church, and particularly of the Church of Spain. He was a man of that eminent piety and public spirit, that he forgot himself, when the service of God and his flock was before him. His great affliction was the errors of the Visigoths, who were all generally infected with Arianism. But his prayers and tears were so powerful with the divine mercy, that God in a short time made him the instrument of converting to the Catholic faith Hermenegild the king's son, who died a martyr by his father's cruelty. He also afterwards so far prevailed with the father, that the care of his other son was committed to him; by which means the whole nation soon after renounced its errors, to the great comfort of this prelate, and of the whole Church. Having seen the fruit of his labours, he departed this life, full of joy, in the sixth century.
Let the blessings which attended this prelate move you to pray that a like spirit may animate the prelates and pastors of God's Church. And let his zeal raise in you a compassion for all those, whose obstinacy in vice and errors keeps them out of the way of salvation. You have a horror of seeing a limb cut off, or witnessing a public execution; but what are these to the consideration of such vast numbers running into hell-fire? Pray that God would remove this blindness. Let no joy remove this misery of your neighbor from your heart; that you may be ever mindful of the compassion and charity due to him." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday February 27, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Our Lady's Creed by St. Gabriel:
I believe, O Mary, that thou art the mother of all men.
I believe that thou art our life and, after God, the sole refuge of sinners.
I
believe that thou art the strength of Christians, and their help,
especially at the hour of death; that following thee, I shall not stray;
that praying to thee, I shall not be abandoned; that standing with
thee, I shall not fall.
I believe that thou art ready to aid those
who call upon thee, that thou art the salvation of those who invoke
thee, and that thou art willing to do more good for us than we can
desire; that even when not asked, thou dost hasten to our assistance.
I
believe that in thy name is to be found a sweetness like to that
experienced by Saint Bernard in the name of Jesus - that it is joy to
the heart, honey to the mouth and music to the ears and that, after the
name of Jesus, there is no other name through which the faithful receive
so much grace, so much hope and so much consolation.
I believe that
thou art a co-redemptrix with Christ for our salvation, that all the
graces which God dispenses pass through thy hands, and that no one will
enter heaven except through thee who art rightly called the 'Gate of
Heaven.'
I believe that true devotion to thee is a most certain sign of eternal salvation.
I believe that thou art superior to all tire saints and angels, and that God alone surpasses thee.
I
believe that God has given to thee in the highest possible degree, all
the graces, special and general, with which He can favor His creatures.
I believe that thy beauty and excellence surpass that of all angels and men.
I
believe that thou alone didst fulfill perfectly the precept: 'Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God": and that the very seraphim of heaven can
learn from thy heart how to love God.
I believe that if all the love
which all mothers have for their children, all that all husbands and
wives have for each other, all that all the angels and saints have for
those who are devoted to them, were united in one, it would not equal
the love that thou hast for even one soul."
Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows
Prayer to St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows:
Dear Saint Gabriel, your very name recalls your particular devotion to Christ the Man of Sorrows and to Mary the Afflicted Mother. You died young as a Passionist religious but left to us all an example of a life of Christlike sacrifice. Intercede for our seminarians and young religious who are in desperate need of your patronage amid today’s sensual and selfish world. Amen.
"We also remarked in him a tender devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He was truly enamoured of Christ in the Eucharist. Frequently, he spoke to his companions of his sacramental Lord with an emotion and vivacity so intense that he aroused the enthusiasm of those who listened to him. To Christ in the tabernacle his thoughts instinctively turned, and all the impulses of his heart impelled him to go before the altar to pour out his affections. Many times in the day and night, he would send his angel guardian to visit the Blessed Sacrament when his occupations would not permit him to do so in person. And sometimes he would tell his angel to go to the place where Christ was most lonely and forgotten, there to adore and keep vigil with Him.
“When out for a walk, if we entered a church, his first thought was to look for the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, and then to kneel before it in silent adoration. He became all affected and moved when he spoke of the coldness with which so many receive the Holy Eucharist, and of the outrages, profanations and sacrileges committed against It by unbelievers and even by bad Christians. From these insults offered to Jesus he took occasion to admire His patience and mercy; and he would redouble his efforts to make reparation so far as he could.
(...)
The words which, at this time, he addressed to his brother who had just been ordained to the priesthood, may be taken as indicative of the sentiments that actuated his own conduct. "Shun idleness, and apply yourself to study. One of the thoughts that frightens me when I think of becoming a priest is the study it demands, and few are the days on which this reflexion does not occasion me serious thought.”
To Gabriel, study was not merely an occupation, not merely an essential requisite for admission to the priesthood. To him knowledge was power: power, in the first place, that would enable him to discharge the work of the ministry for which he was preparing, not only efficiently, but in the full spirit of the Church, who bids her children learn wisdom from the lips of her priests, and who commands her priests not only to recognize the value of learning, but also to acquire it, and set it in motion in the great combat waged between mere human reason and divine revelation in the arena of human thought and moral responsibility.
In the second place knowledge, in his eyes, was power that would raise him to higher levels in the sanctity to which he aspired. To him the ultimate purpose of every endeavor was to know God better. He was accustomed to repeat to his companions the saying of one of the wise philosophers of the Middle Ages:
"Logic is good, which teaches us how to separate truth from falsehood; grammar is good, which teaches us to write and speak correctly; rhetoric is good, which teaches us to speak with elegance and to persuade; geometry is good, which teaches us to measure the earth on which we dwell; so is arithmetic, or the art of reckoning, by means of which we can convince ourselves of the small number of our days; and music is good, which teaches us harmonies, and makes us think of the sweet song of the Blessed; and finally, astronomy is good, which makes us consider the heavenly bodies, and the virtues of the stars, darting forth splendor before God. But much better is theology, which alone can be truly called a liberal science, because it frees the human soul from its miseries, and prepares it for the acquiring of virtue.”
And this the study of theology did for Gabriel. The sublime and amazing truths it unfolded before his mind - of God, His nature and His attributes - brought the divine Majesty closer to him and by its very beauty and splendor, enraptured his soul until, entirely overwhelmed by the divine attractiveness, his soul surrendered itself to God in completest love and profoundest homage. Thus his studies were for him an act of worship.
“He directed his attention chiefly to his interior, stripping his heart of its vices and clothing it with the opposite virtues.
He kept before his eyes his own nothingness and misery; his former life in the world, his propensity to evil, his weakness and selfishness. With all these motives he was deeply penetrated, especially during the time of meditation; and by this means he attained such a lowly opinion of himself that he greatly feared and distrusted self, relying in all things solely on the assistance of God's grace. He often said: 'Of myself I can do nothing. Of myself, I am capable only of sin, yes, even of the greatest crimes.' He spoke thus because he was thoroughly convinced that what he said was true."
Source: Saint Gabriel, Passionist by Father Camillus J Hollobough, C.P., 1923
