Saint Gregory the Wonderworker
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 17, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"He was bishop of Neocæsarea in Pontus; eminent for his great learning and virtues, but much more for his miracles, which he wrought in such numbers that he was called Thaumaturgus, which signifies, Worker of Miracles. In this respect, as St. Basil says, he might be compared with Moses and the apostles. When he built a church at Neocæsarea, he commanded a mountain which obstructed the work, to remove and yield place, which it did. He fixed his staff near the bank of a river, which sometimes overflowed and swept away inhabitants, houses, cattle and crops; and no such floods happened again. His staff also grew, and became a tree. A lake, which was a subject of contention between two brothers, was dried up at the prayers of the saint, and became solid land, whereby the cause of dispute was removed. He was a man of a prophetic and apostolic spirit; and in his devotions, he shewed the greatest reverence and recollection. He abhorred lies and falsehood, and particularly all detraction. No anger or bitterness ever appeared in his words or behavior. A little before his death, he inquired how many infidels yet remained in the city; and being told that there were seventeen, he sighed, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, expressed his grief that any continued strangers to the true religion, but thankfully acknowledged as a great mercy, that having found but seventeen Christians at his first coming thither, he left but seventeen idolators. He died in the year 270, or 271
Pray for all the pastors of the church; that by their vigilance and good example, they may bring forth a plentiful harvest. All who are engaged in error, or in a sinful state, stand in need of their help, and ought to be the subject of their labors and prayers, that none may perish through their neglect. In whatever degree you are, let your words and example be to edification. Endeavor to do good to all, and let the great charity of this saint teach you not to conceal any thing that may be beneficial to the public." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
"St. GREGORY was born in Pontus, of heathen parents. In Palestine, about the year 231, he studied philosophy under the great Origen, who led him from the pursuit of human wisdom to Christ, Who is the Wisdom of God. Not long after, he was made Bishop of Neo-Cæsarea in his own country. As he lay awake one night an old man entered his room, and pointed to a lady of superhuman beauty, and radiant with heavenly light. This old man was St. John the Evangelist, and the lady told him to give Gregory the instruction he desired. Thereupon he gave St. Gregory a creed which contained in all its fulness the doctrine of the Trinity. St. Gregory set it in writing, directed all his preaching by it, and handed it down to his successors. Strong in this faith, he subdued demons; he foretold the future. At his word a rock moved from its place, a river changed its course, a lake was dried up. He converted his diocese, and strengthened those under persecution. He struck down a rising heresy; and, when he was gone, this creed preserved his flock from the Arian pest. St. Gregory died in the year 270.
Reflection.-Devotion to the blessed Mother of God is the sure protection of faith in her Divine Son. Every time that we invoke her, we renew our faith in the Incarnate God; we reverse the sin and unbelief of our first parents; we take our part with her who was blessed because she believed." Little Pictorial Lives of the Saint edited by John Gilmary Shea
Saint Gertrude, Virgin and Abbess A.D. 1292
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 16, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
" St. Gertrude, Spouse of Christ, Pray for us.
If you want to find me, look for me near the Altar or in the heart of Gertrude."
"JESUS CHRIST IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST.-It was by meditation on the infinite goodness of Jesus Christ in the adorable sacrament of the Eucharist that St. Gertrude, abbess of Rodersdorff, in Saxony, was raised to that high degree of perfection, contemplation, and divine love, which was never surpassed, save by St. Theresa, and which still awakens the admiration of all who are intent upon the contemplative life. But, not content with meditating and praying, she sought to reproduce in her own person the humility, charity, patience, and sweetness of the Divine Exemplar, so that works, without which there is no true virtue, should not be wanting to her Faith. She has sketched the true portrait of her soul in her book of Revelations," which embodies the narrative of her communications with God and the holy transports of His love. She died in 1334, and her last malady was, so to speak, nought but a holy languor of Divine love, so delightful and ineffable were the consolations she enjoyed. Numerous miracles have borne witness to her sanctity.
MORAL REFLECTION..-"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give shall never thirst, but this water shall be in him a well springing up into life everlasting."-(John iv. 13.)" Pictorial half hours with the saints by Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
"AT five years of age, she was offered to God in a Benedictine nunnery in Saxony, and at the age of thirty, chosen abbess. Divine contemplation and devout prayer she always looked upon as the principal duty of her state. The Passion of our divine Redeemer was the favorite object of her devotions. She spoke of Christ with so much unction, as to enrapture all who heard her. The love of God, which burned in her breast, seemed the only spring of her affections and actions. Watching, fasting, abstinence, perfect obedience, and the constant denial of her own will, were the means by which she tamed her passions. But profound humility and perfect meekness had the chief part in this work. Though possessed of great natural talents, her mind was penetrated only with deep sentiments of her own nothingness and imperfections. It was her sincere desire that all should have the same contempt of her, which she had of herself; and she used to say that it seemed to her one of the greatest of all the miracles of God's goodness, that he was pleased to suffer the earth to bear her. Though superior over the rest, she behaved towards them as if she had been the lowest
servant, and one unworthy to approach them. While she gave herself up
to heavenly contemplation, she was very solicitous to attend to the necessities of every one. Her tender devotion to the Mother of God, sprang from the ardour of her love for the divine Son. The suffering
souls in Purgatory had a great share in her compassion and charity. She
never interrupted her sighs and moans, admitting no human consolation,
so long as her desire was delayed. Yet she rejoiced in hope and love in perfect resignation to the will of God, in the visits of the divine
Spirit, in suffering with her loving Redeemer, and for his sake, and in
labouring for his service. Her desires were at length fulfilled, and
having been abbess forty years, she was called to her heavenly spouse in
1292; having in her last sickness enjoyed the sweet comforts and presence of the Holy Ghost." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
On another day, as she received the saving Host, our Lord addressed her thus: "Consider that the priest who gives you the Host touches it directly with his hands, and that the vestments with which he is clothed, out of respect, do not reach beyond his arms; this is to teach you, that although I regard with pleasure all that is done for My glory, as prayers, fasts, vigils, and other like works of piety, still (those who have little understanding will not comprehend it), the confidence with which the elect have recourse to Me in their weakness touches Me far more sensibly; even as you see My Flesh is nearer to the hands of the priest than his vestments.” The Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude
Prayer before Mass (Prayers of St. Gertrude):
O Almighty, everlasting God, seeing that it is the true faith of Thy Church that the holy Sacrifice of the Mass instituted by Thy Son is infinitely pleasing to Thy divine Majesty, and renders Thee an infinite worship and praise, and since by it alone Thou canst be worthily and adequately worshiped and praised; impelled by an ardent desire of Thy honor and glory, I purpose to assist at this present sacrifice with the utmost devotion of which I am capable, and to offer this most Holy Oblation to Thee in union with Thy priest.
I offer Thee not only this sacrifice, but all those which shall be this day offered from every part of the world; and I protest before Thee that if it depended on me whether they should be offered or omitted, I would put forth all my powers to procure and further their being offered. And were I able now to raise up to Thee, of the stone which are scattered over the earth, most devoted priests, who should day by day and with glowing fervor offer to Thee this sacrifice of praise, I would most gladly do it. But, being what I am, I implore Thee, O most holy Father, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, to pour into the hearts of all Thy priests, and especially those who might perchance otherwise offer Thee this acceptable sacrifice coldly and without due recollectedness, the spirit of grace and of fervor, that they may be enabled to celebrate Thy tremendous Mystery with becoming awe and devotion.
Grant to me, and to all those who are here present with me, that we may join in this most sacred action with reverence and devotion, so that we may have our portion in its fruit and effect. I confess to Thee, O almighty God, and to the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, and to all the Saints, my own sins and those of all the world; and I lay them on Thy sacred Altar, that they may be entirely blotted out by the virtue of this sacrifice. Do thou deign to grant us this grace, by that love which held back Thy hand from smiting when Thy most beloved Son, Thy only Son, was immolated by the hands of ungodly men. amen"
Preces Gertrudianae; Prayers of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde.
Saint Albert the Great, Bishop Confessor patron saint of scientists and philosophers.
by VP
Posted on Friday November 15, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
" Dread the torments suffered by the souls in Purgatory, and have compassion on them. Succor them by your prayers and deliver them by your good works" St. Albert the Great.
Miniatures Lives of the Saints, for Every Day in the Year, Volume 1; Volumes 28-146 1883
"God, thou art wondrous in thy saints!
Appointed by you to the highest pastoral office of the Church of Jesus Christ, I kneel today as a pilgrim at the tomb of St Albert, to glorify you with all the faithful on this day commemorating the 700th anniversary of his death, and to thank you for his life and his works, through which you gave him to your Church as a teacher of the faith and example of Christian life.
God, our creator, cause and light of the human spirit, you gave St Albert a profound knowledge of faith in true imitation of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. The world itself became for him the revelation of your omnipotence and goodness. Through his contact with your creation he learned to recognize and love you more profoundly. At the same time he researched through the works of human wisdom, including the writings of non-Christian philosophers, and paved the way for their encounter with your Gospel. Through the gift of discrimination you made him uniquely able to avoid error, to establish truth more deeply and make it known among men. In doing so you made him a teacher of the Church and of all mankind. With the intercession of St Albert we pray together to you for your mercy.
Send to your Church teachers of truth in our time as well, who will be capable of interpreting and preaching your Gospel to the people of the world through their words and saintly living. Hear us, O Lord. Open the hearts of man through the grace of a living faith so that they may recognize God's presence in his creation and their own lives and come to correspond more and more perfectly with his holy will. Accompany and illuminate the work of scientists and scholars with your Holy Spirit. Preserve them from pride and self-conceit and give them a sense of responsibility in their dealings with the gifts of your creation. Give those responsible in State and society insight and responsibility so that they may use the achievements of science and technology for peace and progress among the peoples of the world and not for their harm or destruction. Help us all to recognize the truth amidst the many dangers and errors of our time and to serve you devoutly in a life strengthened by faith. With the intercession of St Albert, bless all citizens of this country, give the German people peace and unity and let it always be aware of its' responsibility in the community of nations. Accompany my pastoral visit in the Federal Republic of Germany with your special blessings and assistance, strengthen all believers in their love of Christ and his Church so that through the testimony of their Christian living your name may be glorified in truth and justice in the world today. Pray for us, St Albert , that we might be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: God, our refuge and strength, you gave the sainted bishop and teacher of the Church, Albert, the power to associate human knowledge with eternal wisdom. With his intercession and strengthen, protect our faith in the intellectual confusion of our days. Give us the openness of his intellect so that the progress of science may also help us to know you more profoundly and come closer to you. Let us grow in the knowledge of the truth which you yourself are, so that we may some day see you face to face in the presence of all the saints. For this we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saint Josaphat
by VP
Posted on Thursday November 14, 2024 at 12:00AM 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 Wednesday November 13, 2024 at 12:00AM 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 Tuesday November 12, 2024 at 12:00AM 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 Monday November 11, 2024 at 12:00AM 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 Sunday November 10, 2024 at 12:00AM 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 Friday November 08, 2024 at 12:00AM 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 Monday November 04, 2024 at 12:00AM 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
