St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, Carmelite
by VP
Posted on Wednesday May 29, 2024 at 01:54AM in Saints
Offerings to the Divine Incarnate Word of His own Most Precious Blood
"O most Holy Word! I offer Thee Thy priests, and in their behalf I offer thee whatever is most dear to Thee in heaven and on earth, in union with all Thy Most Precious Blood: and I pray Thee to enable them fitly to conceive of the high degree to which they are exalted, and to hold in extreme abhorrence whatever can dishonor their dignity or contaminate their lives." ( St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi. Confraternity of the Precious Blood)
"God complains of his servants, because they neglect to recommend
sinners to his mercy, He once said to Mary Magdalen de Pazzi,"See, my
child, how sinners are in the hands of the devil: if my elect, by their
prayers, did not deliver them, they should be devoured." The Almighty
desires, in a particular manner, that priests and religious pour fort
their prayers in favor of sinners. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say to
her sisters in religion, "My dear sisters, God has separated us from
the world, not only to sanctify ourselves, but also to appease his wrath
against sinners." (...)
She prayed especially for priests; because
their virtues ensure the salvation of many, and their bad example causes
the ruin of thousands. Hence, she frequently begged of God to punish
her for their sins saying, "Lord, put me to death frequently, and make
me return to life, that by frequently suffering the pangs of death, I
may satisfy Your justice for them." It is related in her life, that she
liberated numberless souls from the hands of Lucifer." A Short Treatise on Prayer by St. Alphonsus of Liguori
Biography:
"Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi was the only daughter of the illustrious Camille de Pazzi, related to the Medicis of Florence. She was born in the year 1566, and was baptized with the name of Catherine. As a child she loved to go into solitary places to enter into prayer with God, who revealed Himself to her from her tender years without the aid of teachers, as her Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. She made a crown of thorns one day, and wore it for an entire night, enduring great pain. She received her First Communion at ten years of age; at twelve years, she made a vow of virginity and took great pleasure in teaching Christian doctrine to poor children.
Her father, not knowing of her vow, wished to give her in marriage, but she persuaded him to allow her to become a religious, and chose the Carmelites, because there the nuns received Communion frequently. She entered in the year of the death of Saint Teresa of Avila, 1582, at the age of sixteen. It had been more difficult to obtain her mother's consent; while she was a novice, her mother sent a portrait artist to the convent, with instructions that her daughter be portrayed in lay clothing. The Sisters complied with her request, and the portrait can still be seen in the Convent. She became professed at eighteen years of age in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence, May 17, 1584, Feast of the Holy Trinity. She changed her name of Catherine to that of Mary Magdalene on becoming a nun, and took as her motto, Either suffer or die.
Her life thereafter was one of penance for sins not her own, and of love for Our Lord, who tried her in ways fearful and strange. She was obedient, observant of the Rule, humble and mortified, and had great reverence for the religious life. One day, when she seemed to be at the last hour of her life, she rose from her sickbed and hastened everywhere throughout the convent, saying during her ecstasy, O Love! O Love! No one knows You, no one knows You, no one loves You! For five years she was tormented by demons with fearful temptations of pride, sensuality, gluttony, despair, blasphemy; they became so violent that she said, I do not know whether I am a reasonable creature or one without reason; I see nothing in myself but a little good will never to offend the divine Majesty.
God raised her to elevated states of prayer and gave her rare gifts, enabling her to read the thoughts of her novices, and filling her with wisdom to direct them. She was twice chosen mistress of novices, and then made Superior. On her deathbed she asked her Sisters to love only Our Lord Jesus Christ, to place all hope in Him, and be perpetually ardent with desire to suffer for love of Him. God took her to Himself on May 15, 1607. Her body remains incorrupt.
Reflection. Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi was so filled with the love of God that her Sisters saw it in her love for them, and called her Mother of Charity, and the Charity of the Monastery." Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, by Fr. John Gilmary Shea (1894).
Saint Cyril, Martyr
by VP
Posted on Wednesday May 29, 2024 at 01:00AM in Saints
THE HOLINESS OF CHILDHOOD.-A philosopher has said; "A man is trained on his mother's knees." In like manner it might be said, it is at the knees of the mother that saints are formed. The young Cyril had learned from his mother to pronounce the name of Jesus, to love the sweet Saviour, and to long for the advantages of Heaven. But his father, hardened in idolatry, drove him from his roof, that he might no longer hear repeated a name which provoked his anger. The governor of Cæsarea, informed of these facts, caused Cyril to be brought before him, and strove to gain him over by caresses and promises; but perceiving how vain were his efforts, he had him led to the place of execution, where the instruments of torture were placed before his eyes. The child was overjoyed at being at length able to die so as to go to Heaven; when he was led before the judge; "I do not fear death," he exclaimed, "and I wish for Heaven; you could never make up to me on earth for the advantages I should lose by your sparing me. To the work then speedily, for I am a Christian, and intend always to remain one.' The judge thereupon delivered him to the executioners. The martyrdom is generally believed to have occurred under the reign of the emperor Decius.
MORAL REFLECTION.-Parents should keep in memory that it is "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings that God has perfected praise."-(Psa. viii. 3.)
