St. Abraham, Hermit. A.D. 370
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 16, 2025 at 01:00AM in Saints
"In his youth, his parents importuning him to marry, though he knew not how to contradict them, yet when the appointed time was come, he withdrew from them in disguise, and entering into a solitude, was so charmed with it, that no persuasions could oblige him to quit it. He spent his whole time in adoring and praising God, and imploring his mercy. He possessed no other goods but a cloak and a piece of sackcloth which he wore, and a little vessel out of which he both eat and drank. For fifty years he was never wearied with his austere penance, and holy exercises, and seemed to draw from them every day fresh vigour.
When he had lived thus many years, a neighbouring bishop, knowing his sanctity, importuned him from his cell to go and preach to a town, whose obstinacy in idolatry had rendered all the endeavours of the bishop fruitless. Being called to this combat, he preached to that people repentance and faith in Christ; and they seeing no hopes of being delivered from his importunity, resolved to stone him to death. Having done it, as they thought, he yet outlived that storm, and soon appeared repeating the same lesson to them, and they repeated their cruelty; and so a third time, when they left him for dead. But God miraculously preserving his life, he came again with a new zeal. Upon which, being touched from heaven, they received the faith of Christ, and were baptized. But he, returning to his solitude, after many years of great sanctity, there ended his days.
May not his persevering charity be an encouragement to all pastors, in their endeavours to reclaim the lost sheep? May it not be a direction to you, not to be too hasty in despairing of the amendment of those, who seem as yet deaf to all advice? Have then a true compassion for all in sin and error; let your charity to them be untired. Perseverance is a force upon heaven, and the most powerful persuasive upon the hearts of men. And if at last they hear you not, remember that your charity is not lost: it will be fruitful to you, if not to them." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
"The Conversion of Sinners: Abraham, the solitary, after having disposed of his vast property and distributed the proceeds to the poor, was living in a deep retreat near Edessa, in Mesopotamia, when the bishop of Edessa consecrated him as bishop, and invested him with the mission of converting the inhabitants of a neighboring town, who were still pagans. Abraham undertook this out of a spirit of obedience, and, God aiding, succeeded in the undertaking, but not without vast efforts, and not without having been thrice on the eve of martyrdom.
He then withdrew to
this beloved solitude, but was obliged to leave it once again. A niece
whom he tenderly love had abandoned her home, and given herself up to
evil courses. When, after two years' seeking and prayer, the pious
solitary had at length discovered her abode, he assumed a disguise, and
went to visit her. So soon as he made himself known she gave way, while
pouring out her sorrow, and, of her own accord, imposed on herself rude
austerities which were only to end with her life. St. Abraham died towards 370.
Moral reflection:
It is the duty of every Christian to labor for the conversion of
sinners, because all partake of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, says the
apostle St. Peter: "To declare His virtues, who hath called us out of
darkness into His marvelous light. " (1 Peter ii. 9.)" Source: Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints by Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
"O
that we realized the omnipotence of prayer! Every soul was created to
glorify God eternally; and it is in the power of every one to add by the
salvation of his neighbor to the glory of God. Let us make good of
this talent of prayer, lest our brother's blood be required of us at the
last. "I affectionately entreat you to pray assiduously for the
salvation of sinners, for whom I ask of you wrestlings and tearful
prayers, that I may satisfy My longing to show them grace and mercy." Revelation to St. Catherine of Siena" Source: Miniatures Lives of the Saints, for Every Day in the Year, 1883
Novena Prayer for the Return of Lapsed Catholics
O
Good Shepherd, you never cease to seek out the lost, to call home the
stray, to comfort the frightened, and to bind up the wounded. I ask you
to bring (mention names) back to the practice of the Faith, and to
remove all obstacles that prevent them from receiving your abundant
mercy, which flows sacramentally through the heart of your holy Church.
Prayers for the return of a lapsed Catholic should also be accompanied by sacrificial and secret acts of fasting and almsgiving done in their name.
Day 12. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Catechism on the Cardinal Virtues
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 16, 2025 at 01:00AM in Lenten Sermons
"Prudence shows us what is most pleasing to God, and most useful to the salvation of our soul. We must always choose the most perfect. Two good works present themselves to be done, one in favor of a person we love, the other in favor of a person who has done us some harm; well, we must give the preference to the latter. There is no merit in doing good, when a natural feeling leads us to do it. A lady wishing to have a widow to live with her to take care of, asked St. Athanasius to find her one among his poor. Afterwards meeting the Bishop, she reproached him that he had treated her ill, because this person was too good, and gave her nothing to do by which she could gain heaven; and she begged him to give her another. The saint chose the worst he could find; of a cross, grumbling temper, never satisfied with what was done for her. This is the way we must act, for there is no great merit in doing good to one who values it, who thanks us and is grateful.
There are some persons who think they are never treated well enough; they seem as if they had a right to everything. They are never pleased with what is done for them; they repay everybody with ingratitude... Well! those are the people to whom we should do good by preference. We must be prudent in all our actions, and seek not our own taste, but what is most pleasing to the good God. Suppose you have a franc that you intend to give for a Mass; you see a poor family in distress, in want of bread: it is better to give your money to these wretched people, because the Holy Sacrifice will still be offered; the priest will not fail to say Holy Mass; while these poor people may die of hunger... You would wish to pray to the good God, to pass your whole day in the church; but you think it would be very useful to work for some poor people that you know, who are in great need; that is much more pleasing to God than your day passed before the holy tabernacle.
Temperance is another cardinal virtue; we can be temperate in the use of our imagination, by not letting it gallop as fast as it would wish; we can be temperate with our eyes, temperate with our mouth - some people constantly have something sweet and pleasant in their mouth; we can be temperate with our ears, not allowing them to listen to useless songs and conversation; temperate in smelling - some people perfume themselves to such a degree as to make those about them sick; temperate with the hands - some people are always washing them when it is hot, and handling things that are soft to the touch... In short, we can practice temperance with our whole body, this poor machine, by not letting it run away like a horse without bit of bridle, but checking it and keeping it down. Some people lie buried there, in their beds;... they are glad not to sleep, that they may the better feel how comfortable they are. The saints were not like that. I do not know how we are ever to get where they are...Well! if we are saved, we shall stay infinitely long in purgatory, while they will fly straight to heaven to see the good God.
That great saint, St. Charles Borromeo, had in his apartment a fine cardinal's bed, which everybody saw; but, besides that, there was one which nobody could see, made of bundles of wood; and that was the one he made use of. He never warmed himself; when people came to see him, they remarked that he placed himself so as not to feel the fire. That is what the saints were like. They lived for heaven, and not for earth: They were all heavenly; and as for us, we are all earthly.
Oh, how I like those little mortifications that are seen by nobody, such as rising a quarter of an hour sooner, rising for a little while in the night to pray! but some people think of nothing but sleeping.
There was once a solitary who had built himself a royal palace in the trunk of an oak-tree; he had placed thorns inside of it, and he had fastened three stones over his head, so that when he raised himself of turned over he might feel the stones or the thorns. And we, we think of nothing but finding good beds, that we may sleep at our ease.
We may refrain from warming ourselves; if we are sitting uncomfortably, we need not try to place ourselves better; if we are walking in our garden, we may deprive ourselves of some fruit that we should like; in preparing the food, we need not eat the little bits that offer themselves; we may deprive ourselves of seeing something pretty, which attracts our eyes, especially in the streets of great towns. There is a gentleman who sometimes comes here. He wears two pairs of spectacles, that he may see nothing... But some heads are always in motion, some eyes are always looking about...When we are going along the streets, let us fix our eyes on our Lord Carrying His cross before us; on the Blessed Virgin, who is looking at us; on our guardian angel, who is by our side. How beautiful is the interior life! It unites us with the good God. ...Therefore, when the devil sees a souls that is seeking to attain to it, he tries to turn him aside from it by filling his imagination with a thousand fancies. A good Christian does not listen to that; he goes always forward in perfection, like a fish plunging into the depths of the sea. As for us, alas! We drag ourselves along like a leech in the mud.
There were two saints in the desert, who had sewed thorns into all their clothes; and we seek for nothing but comfort! Yet we wish to go to heaven, but with all our luxuries, without having any annoyance; that is not the way the saints acted. They sought every way of mortifying themselves, and in the midst of all their privations they tasted infinite sweetness. How happy are those who love the good God! They do not lose a single opportunity of doing good; misers employ all the means in their power to increase their treasure; they do the same for the riches of heaven - they are always heaping up... We shall be surprised at the Day of Judgment to see souls so rich!"
Sources: The Spirit of the Cure d'Ars, by Abbe Monnin, p. 106, 1865
Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen
Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPGSecond Sunday in Lent: Duties of Lent
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 16, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
"God has called us... unto sanctification in Christ Jesus our Lord."—I THESS. iv. 7.
1. Our sanctification the work of Lent.
2. The means: Fasting, self-restraint.
3. Almsgiving: Christ's poor alive and dead.
4. Prayer: the direct and most important means.
"OUR heavenly Father has granted us to start another Lent, during which "let us amend and do better for those things in which we have sinned through ignorance; lest suddenly prevented by the day of death, we seek time for penance, and be not able to find it." And the means by which we can amend and do better are plainly set before us during Lent. Each of us knows them; and each of us, if he followed his selfish inclinations, would fain find excuse not to use them. Fasting, almsdeeds, and prayer are not duties that human nature welcomes. But these are the means unto sanctification to which we are called.
There are so many reasons and excuses found for the non-observance of fasting, that very few are found to take any heed of the obligation. But the necessity of doing penance is still urgent upon us. And if we cannot endure the hardships that our forefathers bore humbly and penitently—are we less sinful, less prone to evil, have we less to make atonement for than they had? And is there no means of doing penance other than depriving ourselves of food? Is all that we drink as necessary to sustain us as meat and bread ? Would it not be real fasting to do without some of our pleasures and pastimes, cards, theatres, and the rest? Let us try the Rosary and attendance at the Stations of the Cross for a change. We may be unwilling, granted; but otherwise how shall we answer to God that we used the means to our sanctification?
Self also is ready with excuses when there is mention of almsdeeds. "Charity begins at home," and other well-known pleas immediately find utterance. But we are called unto sanctification, and not slavishly to obey the dictates of selfishness. The Holy Scriptures tell us: "Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from any poor person; for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned from thee. For alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it " (Tobias iv. 7, 12). And did not our Blessed Lord Himself note and commend the widow's mite, for He sees and blesses the good intention of the kindly heart. Remember His words: "Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured unto you again " (Luke vi. 38).
It may seem most unlikely to us that we shall ever need the alms of others; and it may be so in this life, but the day will come that we shall be needy and poor. When our soul, friendless and alone, shall be imprisoned in purgatory till the last farthing be paid, that is the hour when with bitter regret we shall bewail our selfishness in neglecting the poor and needy, and "Take especially the souls of the faithful departed. pity on me, at least you my friends!" Yes; but how seldom did we heed that cry from others amidst the pleasures and occupations of our life on earth! Prayers, a holy Communion, a Mass offered for the departed—what a blessing they will prove to us hereafter ! Give, and it shall be given to you."
eternal and blessed occupation. And we poor sinners are permitted to join our voices with theirs to praise and glorify and thank the good God. St. John the Evangelist, when blessed with a vision of heaven, heard the angels cry out, "Glory and honour and benediction! Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power, because Thou hast created all things, and for Thy Will they were and have been created" (Apoc. iv.). Should our prayers aspire to this? Yes, in very deed, we can thank and glorify God in union with the prayers of Mary Immaculate and the very prayers of the Sacred Heart of our Lord Himself. For we are "called unto sanctification in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
These are the means by which we can sanctify Lent -prayer, fasting, and almsdeeds. We have need to make good use of this holy time. It is a duty, and an imperative duty. And how consoling it will be to us, when we come to die-perhaps before the next Lent-that we have made good use of this holy time." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
The Lenten duties that we have considered-viz., fasting and almsdeeds-have reference to ourselves and our neighbours; the third great duty-prayerrefers directly to God. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee; Who forgiveth all thy iniquities, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion" (Ps. cii. 2, 4). To use this greatest means of our sanctification, as it should be done, not so many more prayers are needed-though in Lent there should be an increase-as an intensifying of our devotion during prayer. We must throw our hearts into our prayers. We must remember Whom we are addressing.
Lowly adoration of our heavenly Father, our Creator, with an ardent offering of ourselves to do His blessed Will, and thus inherit the Kingdom of heaven, should commence our prayer. And that our prayers may be acceptable, our sins should be always before us," that He may fill our hearts with true sorrow, for " a humble and contrite heart" God will not despise. Then, lest we should fall away again, let us pray for help and strength. God loves thus to be implored, and He is our hope and strength in all our necessities.
There is another part of prayer in which we are often wanting-thanksgiving. Our Father loves to be thanked. Thanksgiving is the work of the angels, their
