Wednesday, January 31, 2018

How to make the devil powerless

 Do you want Our Lord to give you many graces?
Visit Him often.
Do you want Him to give you few graces?
Visit him seldom.
Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and
an indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil.
Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
and the devil will be powerless against you.

St. John Bosco

Family Tip from St. John Bosco



6 Ways to Live a Good Life and Reach Eternal Happiness 

Born in 1815, Saint John Bosco was a man of extraordinary intelligence, charm, and physical strength—gifts he used exclusively to serve his neighbor in tireless efforts to win souls to God, especially those of young boys. He founded the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales, a school and refuge for boys, and, in 1859, the Christian education of youth.
His teaching style was candid, simple but filled with wisdom. We present here what he called “medicine” for the soul. The simplicity and efficacy of these “prescriptions” remind us of those good old-fashioned homemade remedies made by our mothers and grandmothers. They help young and old alike.
Prescription #1:  Give God the greatest possible glory and honor Him with your whole soul. If you have a sin on your conscience, remove it as soon as possible by means of a good Confession.
Prescription #2:  Never offend anyone. Above all, be willing to serve others. Be more demanding of yourself than of others.
Prescription #3:  Do not trust those who have no faith in God and who do not obey His precepts. Those who have no scruples in offending God and who do not give Him what they should will have many fewer scruples in offending you and even betraying you when it is convenient for them.
Prescription #4:  If you do not wish to be ruined, never spend more than you earn. You should bear this in mind and always measure your true possibilities accurately.
Prescription #5:  Be humble. Speak little of yourself and never praise yourself before anyone. He who praises himself, even if he has real merit, risks losing the good opinion of others. He who seeks only praise and honors is sure to have an empty head fed only by wind… will have no peace of soul and will be unreliable in his undertakings.
Prescription #6:  Carry your cross on your back and take is as it comes, small or large, whether from friends or enemies and of whatever wood it be made. The most intelligent and happiest of men is he who, knowing that he is doomed to carry the cross throughout life, willingly and resignedly accepts the one God sends him.
Promise of Happiness
Don Bosco concludes:  “Dear friend, I am a man who loves joy and who, therefore wishes to see you and everybody happy. If you do as I say, you will be joyful and glad in heart.”



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St. John Bosco

The youngest of a poor farming family of Piedmont in northern Italy, John Melchior Bosco was born on August 16, 1815. He lost his father at the age of two, and his saintly “Mamma” Margarita brought up three sons in extreme poverty and want.

When he was nine, John had the first of a series of vivid dreams that left a profound impression upon him for the rest of his life. Standing in a field filled with fighting, cursing and blaspheming lads, he tried in vain to pacify them with arguments and fists. Then he saw a beautiful lady who said, “Softly, softly does it…if you wish to win them! Take your shepherd’s staff and lead them to pasture.” At this the boys were transformed into wild beasts and then into lambs.

Intelligent and talented, John Bosco received his first instruction from a priest who, perceiving his gifts, took him under his wing. Supported by his mother and facing many difficulties, he pursued the priesthood, and at twenty-two was ordained in the diocese of Turin.

Turin, a vast industrialized city of 117,000 inhabitants, had seen an influx of migrants from the country in search of work. Many young men, some as young as 11 and 12, lived in the streets, under bridges or in bleak public dormitories. Visiting prisons in the city, Don Bosco was heartsick at the condition of many of these youth who ended up behind bars. In 1842 he began to gather these social outcasts, befriend them and instruct them in the Catholic faith. By 1846 the numbers of this young flock had risen to 400. Despite the anti-clerical government’s opposition to new religious orders, Don Bosco went on to found the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales, known as the Salesians, where boys learned the faith, Christian morality, academics and a trade.

A teacher, spiritual director, mystic and miracle worker, Don Bosco knew how to mingle the spiritual with the human so as to win these young souls. He was beloved of his students, guiding them out of darkness and hopelessness into light and hope.

At the time of Don Bosco’s death on January 31, 1888 the Salesians had 250 houses dispersed throughout the world.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

We become what we love

We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.
If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing.
Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather
it means becoming the image of the beloved,
an image disclosed through transformation. This means
we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.

St. Clare of Assisi

St. Hyacintha Mariscotti

Born of a noble, wealthy family at Vignanello in Italy, Hyacintha’s baptismal name was Clarice. In her early youth she was remarkable for her piety, but later became frivolous, vain and worldly despite being almost miraculously saved from death at the age of seventeen and being educated at the Franciscan Convent of St. Bernardine in Viterbo.

At twenty she had set her heart on marrying the Marquess Cassizucchi; the young nobleman married Clarice's younger sister instead. Despondent, Clarice joined the community at St. Bernardine and received the name, Hyacintha.

In the convent, far from giving up the luxuries of the world, she had her father furnish her apartment with every comfort, kept her own kitchen, wore a habit of the finest material, and received and paid visits outside the monastic enclosure.

For ten years she led a life of scandal to the spirit of her religious community but by a special protection of God retained a lively faith, remained pure, was regular at her devotions, and had a special tenderness for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Falling ill at thirty-five, and exhorted by her confessor to change her ways, she was touched by grace and made a radical and total conversion embarking upon an astounding life of penance, prayer, corporal mortification and charity to the poor of all stations.

She founded two confraternities: one helped the poor, homeless and prisoners, the other assisted the elderly. She worked numerous miracles, had the gift of prophecy and discernment of the secret thoughts of others.

When she died at fifty-five, her habit had to be changed three times in succession, so many were her devotees snipping it for mementos.

Monday, January 29, 2018

The more she is honored...

Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son
by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for
the more she is honored,
the greater is the glory of her Son.
There can be no doubt that
whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

St. Gildas the Wise

St. Gildas is considered to be the first British historian quoted by the Venerable Bede and Alcuin.

Gildas was born in Scotland of a noble British family. He was educated in Wales under St. Illtud and was the companion of St. Samson and St. Peter of Leon.

He embraced the monastic state and went to Ireland where he was ordained. From Armagh in Ireland he went to North Britain where his teaching was confirmed by miracles. On returning to Ireland at the invitation of King Ainmire, he strengthened the faith of many and built monasteries and churches.

After a pilgrimage to Rome, his love of solitude led him to a hermetical life on the Island of Houat off the coast of Brittany. Discovering his place of retreat, the Bretons convinced him to establish a monastery at Rhuys, on the mainland from whence he wrote his famous rebuke to five petty British kings and also to the clergy accusing them of sloth and simony. His writings indicate a man of no small culture, scriptural knowledge and sanctity.

He died on January 29, the day his feast is celebrated.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Evil thoughts

In the realm of evil thoughts 
none induces to sin 
as much as do thoughts 

that concern the pleasure of the flesh. 

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas was born about 1225 in the castle of Rocca Secca, into the noble lineage of the family of Aquino. His father, Landulf, was a knight and his mother, Theodora, a countess.

At age five Thomas was sent to the Benedictines of Monte Cassino as an oblate and remained until thirteen. He was studious, meditative and devoted to prayer, and frequently asked the question, “What is God?”

Around 1236, the Abbot convinced Thomas’ father that such a talented lad should go to Naples to study, and there he shone academically. In Naples Thomas came under the influence of the Dominican Order of Preachers, and at nineteen was received into the Order.

His family was indignant because he had chosen a mendicant order. At Theodora’s orders two of his soldier-brothers imprisoned him in a castle. They even introduced a temptress into Thomas’ chamber whom he drove away with a brand snatched from the fire. Falling to his knees he begged God for the virtue of integrity of mind and body.  Falling asleep, he dreamt of two angels who girded him with a white girdle saying, “receive the girdle of perpetual virginity”, and he was never tempted by the flesh again – for which he is called “The Angelic Doctor”. He spent the two years of his captivity praying, studying and writing.

Finally his mother relented. Returning to the Dominicans they found that he had made so much progress on his own, that he was soon ordained. Sent to study in Cologne under St. Albert Magnus, his great size and silence earned him the encomium of “the Dumb Ox” but hearing his brilliant defense of a difficult thesis, St. Albert responded, "We call this young man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound throughout the world."

Thomas received his doctorate in Theology in Paris, and went on to teach, preach, and write extensively. Between 1259 and 1268 he was in Italy as Preacher General teaching in the school of selected scholars attached to the Papal court. About 1266 he began writing the most famous of all his works, The Summa Theologiae.

In 1269 he was back in Paris, where he was a friend and counselor of King St. Louis IX. In 1272 he was recalled to Italy. On the feast of St. Nicholas the following year he received a revelation that caused him to leave his great Summa unfinished saying, “…all that I have written seems like so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.”

Becoming ill, Thomas died on March 7, 1274 at fifty years of age. He was canonized in 1323 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope St. Pius V in 1567.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Pray with great confidence

Pray with great confidence, with confidence
based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God
and upon the promises of Jesus Christ.
God is a spring of living water
which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.

St. Louis de Montfort

St. Angela Merici

Angela de Merici was born in Desenzano, on the southwestern shore of beautiful Lake Garda, in northern Italy. Left an orphan at the age of ten with an older sister and a brother, they were taken in by an uncle living in the neighboring town of Salò.

Angela was much distressed when her sister suddenly died without the assistance of the last sacraments. At this time she had a vision, the first of many in her life, which set her mind at rest as to her sister’s salvation. In gratitude, she made a special consecration of herself to God, joined the Third Order of St. Francis and began to lead a life of great austerity.

After her uncle died when she was twenty, Angela moved back to Desenzano. Convinced of the need to instruct young girls in the Faith, she converted her home into a school. In a vision, she was shown that she would found a congregation for the instruction of young girls. Angela talked with fellow Franciscan tertiaries and friends who began to help her. Though petite in stature, Angela had looks, charm and leadership. Her school thrived and she was approached about starting a similar school in the larger city of Brescia where she came in contact with leading families whom she influenced with her great ideals.

In 1525 on a pilgrimage to Rome, Pope Clement VII, who had heard of her holiness, suggested she found a congregation of nursing sisters in Rome. But Angela who felt called elsewhere and shunned publicity, declined and returned to Brescia.

On November 25, 1535, with twelve other virgins, Angela Merici laid the foundations for her order for the teaching of young women, the first congregation of its kind in the Church. She placed her order under the protection of St. Ursula the patroness of medieval universities and popularly venerated as a leader of women. To this day her followers are known as the Ursulines.

Angela died only five years after establishing the Ursulines, and was canonized in 1807 by Pope Pius VII.
Photo by: Benoit Lhoest

Friday, January 26, 2018

March for Life 2018- America Needs Fatima

External devotions

External devotions are useless
if we do not cleanse our souls from sin.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Sts. Timothy and Titus

Timothy and Titus were two of St. Paul’s favorite and most trusted disciples.

Timothy had a Greek father and a Jewish mother named Eunice. His grandmother, Lois, was the first to become Christian in the family. Timothy was a convert of St. Paul around the year 47 and later joined his apostolic work. He is the recipient of St. Paul’s Epistles to Timothy in the Gospel. He was with the great Apostle when the church of Corinth was founded and worked with him for fifteen years.

St. Paul sent Timothy on difficult missions, often to face disturbances at churches he had just established, and was installed by Paul as his representative to the church of Ephesus.

Timothy was relatively young for the work he was doing as we read in Tim. 4:12, “Let no one have contempt for your youth,” and that he suffered with his health when we read in Tim. 5:23 “Stop drinking only water, but have a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.”

Timothy was with St. Paul in Rome during his house arrest, and at some point was in prison himself. Around the age of eighty he tried to halt a pagan procession and was beaten and stoned to death.

Titus was Greek and a convert from paganism; he is mentioned in several of the Pauline epistles. He is seen as a peacemaker, administrator and great friend of the Apostle Paul. When St. Paul was having trouble with the community at Corinth, Titus was the bearer of his severe letter and with tact, firmness and charity succeeded in smoothing things out, which gave St. Paul great joy.

St. Paul charged Titus with the administration of the Christian community in the Isle of Crete and instructed him to organize the faithful, correct abuses and appoint presbyter-bishops. There is no record of his death.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Will we have time? And strength?

We put off our conversion
again and again, but
who says we will still have the time and strength for it then?

St. John Vianney
 

Conversion of St. Paul


Saul, later Paul, was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. Being born at Tarsus in Cilicia, he was by privilege a Roman Citizen. As a young man he studied the Law of Moses in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, a learned and noble Pharisee, and became a scrupulous observer of the law.

Later, sincerely persuaded that the followers of Jesus opposed God’s true law, he became a zealous persecutor of the first Christians. He took part in the murder of St. Stephen, deacon and first martyr of the Catholic Church.

In the fury of his zeal, he next applied to the high priest for a commission to travel to Damascus, then a Christian center, to arrest all followers of Jesus.

He was nearing the end of his trip on the road to Damascus with a contingent of armed men, when, about noon, they were surrounded by a brilliant light. Saul was struck to the ground, and though all saw the light he alone heard a clear voice, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Saul answered, “Who are You, Lord?” and the voice rejoined, “Jesus of Nazareth Whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goad.”

Then Christ Our Lord instructed him to arise and proceed to Damascus where he would learn what was expected of him. On arising Saul found that he was blind, and was led into the town to the house of a man called Judas.

In Damascus, Christ appeared to Ananias, a virtuous man, and bid him go to Saul. Ananias trembled at the name of the well-known persecutor but obeyed. Finding Saul, the holy man laid his hands upon him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your journey, sent me that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Immediately something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see.

Saul arose, was baptized, and ate. He stayed for a while with the disciples of Damascus and began to preach in the synagogues that Christ Jesus was the Son of God to the astonishment of all who knew his previous persuasion.

Saul, who became Paul, was the great apostle of the Gentiles, preaching far and wide to the pagan world. He was martyred in Rome about the year 67.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Our Lady Rewards the Public Use of the Rosary

Alphonsus, King of Leon and Galicia, very much wanted all his servants to honor the Blessed Virgin by saying the Rosary. So he would hang a large rosary on his belt and always wear it, but unfortunately never said it himself. Nevertheless, his wearing it encouraged everyone to say the Rosary very devoutly.
One day he fell seriously ill and was given up for dead. He found himself, in a vision, before the judgment seat of Our Lord with many devils accusing him of his sins and Our Sovereign Judge about to condemn him to hell. But Our Lady appeared to intercede for him. She called for a pair of scales and had his sins placed in one of the balances and the rosary he had always worn on the other, together with all the Rosaries that had been said because of his example. It was found that the Rosaries weighed more than his sins.
Looking at him with great kindness Our Lady said, "As a reward for this little honor you paid me in wearing my Rosary, I have obtained a great grace for you from my Son. Your life will be spared for a few more years. See that you spend them wisely and do penance."
When the King regained consciousness he cried out, "Blessed be the Rosary of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, by which I have been delivered from eternal damnation!"
Having recovered his health, he spent the rest of his life spreading devotion to the Holy Rosary and said it faithfully every day.
People who love the Blessed Virgin should follow the example of King Alphonsus so they too may win other souls to say the Rosary. They will receive great graces on earth and eternal life. "They that explain me shall have life everlasting." [1] Ecclus. 24:31
Adapted from Saint Louis de Montfort’s The Secret of the Rosary (Hanover, Pa: America Needs Fatima, 2008), 12.

Even if your whole world seems upset

Do not lose your inner peace
for anything whatsoever,
not even if your whole world seems upset.
If you find that you have wandered away from
the shelter of God,
lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.

St. Francis de Sales

St. Francis de Sales

Francis de Sales was born in the Duchy of Savoy, in present-day France, in the Château de Sales. His father was Francis, Lord of Boisy, Sales and Novel and his mother Frances de Sionnz, the daughter of a prominent magistrate.

Born prematurely, Francis was delicate but slowly strengthened, though his health was never robust.

Being the oldest son of six, his father destined him for a secular career, despite Francis’ early leanings to the religious life. He attended the Jesuit college of Clermont in Paris where he excelled in rhetoric, philosophy and theology. During this period, Francis suffered a terrible temptation to despair of being saved. He was miraculously delivered before an image of Our Lady and there and then made a vow of chastity.

At twenty-four he received his law degree in Padua. With a brilliant career ahead of him, and a noble prospect of marriage, Francis declared his intention of following an ecclesiastical career. A sharp struggle ensued between him and his father who only relented in his opposition when Bishop Granier of Geneva offered Francis the post of Provost of the Chapter of Geneva in the patronage of the Pope.

Francis was ordained in 1593. The next year he volunteered to evangelize the region of Le Chablais, recently returned to the Duchy of Savoy from Calvinist Geneva and on which the Genevans had imposed their creed. With enormous tact, charity and zeal the young provost confuted the preachers sent to debate him, converted several prominent Calvinists and at great personal risk and traveling extensively brought back to the Church tens of thousands of the people of Chablais.

He was consecrated Bishop of Geneva in 1602, ruling his diocese from Annecy in France where he immediately established regular catechetical lessons for young and old. He himself taught the children of  whom he was beloved. He visited the parishes throughout his rugged diocese, made provisions for the clergy, reformed religious orders, and preached incessantly, everywhere known for his kindness and patient zeal. Those who flocked to hear the holy bishop said, “Never have such holy, apostolic sermons been preached.”

With St. Jeanne Frances de Chantal he founded the Order of the Visitation for girls and widows who had not the health or inclination for the austerities of the great orders.

In the midst of all his activities he found time to write numerous letters and works, among the most famous being his Introduction to the Devout Life.

Francis de Sales died in 1622 at age fifty-six and crowds thronged to venerate him. He was canonized in 1665 and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1877.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Why does God punish us?

God does not wish to see us in affliction, but
it is we who draw down sufferings upon ourselves, and
by our sins enkindle the flames in which we are to burn.
God punishes us,
because we oblige Him to do so.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

St. Vincent of Zaragoza

St. Vincent was a native of Huesca, Spain, but lived in Zaragoza.

He was ordained a deacon by his friend, Saint Valerius of Zaragoza.

In 303 the Roman emperor published edicts against the clergy and in 304 against the laity. Vincent and his bishop were imprisoned in Valencia, and though they were subjected to hunger and torture, they thrived.

Speaking for Valerius who had a speech impediment, Vincent angered Dacian, the governor, by his outspoken and fearless manner. Dacian exiled Valerius but subjected Vincent to the gridiron. Seeing the deacon unmoved, the governor had the torturers beaten.

Finally Dacian suggested a compromise. He suggested that Vincent at least give up the Sacred Scriptures to be burned according to the emperor’s edict. On the saint’s refusal, Dacian lost control and had him thrown in jail where the holy deacon converted the jailer.

In despair, the governor wept but, strangely enough, ordered the martyr to be given some rest. But Vincent had earned his eternal rest. As soon as he was laid on a bed, he gave up his faithful soul to God.

Monday, January 22, 2018

The Only Thing That Could Save You

When Saint Francis Borgia (1510-1572) was in Rome, a cleric came to speak with him. The saint, being busy with many things, sent his good friend, Father Acosta to see him.
The cleric said to him: "Father, I am a priest and a preacher, but I live in sin, and distrust the divine mercy. A most amazing thing has just happened to me. After preaching a sermon against the stubborn, who afterwards despair of pardon, a person came to me to make his confession. This stranger then narrated to me all my sins, and at length told me that he despaired of the divine mercy! In order to do my duty, I told him that he must change his life, and trust in God. At that very moment, he rose to his feet and reproached me, saying: ‘you, who preach thus to others, why do you not amend, and why do you distrust? Know, that I am an angel come to your aid; amend and you will be pardoned.’”
The priest continued, “When he had said this, he disappeared. I abstained for several days from my sinful practices, but when temptation came I again returned to my sins.
On another day, as I was celebrating Mass, Jesus Christ sensibly spoke to me from the Host, and said: 'Why do you thus maltreat me, when I treat you so well?' After this I resolved to amend, but at the next temptation fell again into sin.”
Shaking his head in sorrow, the cleric continued, “A few hours ago, a youth came to me in my apartment, and drew from under his mantle a chalice, and from this a consecrated Host, saying: 'Do you know this Lord Whom I hold in my hand? Do you remember how many favors he has done you? Now behold the punishment of your ingratitude,' and saying this he drew a sword to kill me.
I then cried out: 'For the love of Mary do not kill me, for I will indeed amend.' Replacing the sword from where it was drawn, he replied: 'This was the only thing that could save you: make a good use of this grace, for this is the last mercy for you.' Then he left me, and I came immediately here, begging you to receive me among you."
Father Acosta consoled him, and the priest, by the advice also of Saint Francis, entered another order of strict observance, where he persevered in holiness till his death.
From the Glories of Mary, by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori.

It is a sin

The doctor should not meddle.
The right of the child is equal to the right of the mother’s life.
The doctor can’t decide;
it is a sin to kill in the womb.

St. Gianna Beretta Molla

St. Vincent Pallotti

Vincent Pallotti was born in Rome in 1795, the son of a well-to-do grocer. In school he was known as a “little saint” and, although bright, he was also considered “a bit slow” – an illusion amply disproved by the apostolic endeavors of his life.

He was ordained a priest when only twenty-three, and taking his doctorate in theology soon after, became an assistant professor at the Sapienza University of Rome.

As a close friend of St. Gaspar del Bufalo, a missionary in Italy, he decided to give up his teaching post for a more apostolic life. Inflamed by the missionary spirit, he longed to send missionaries throughout the world and to work for the conversion of the Mohammedans.

Don Pallotti, as he was known, was a great confessor and fulfilled that office at several colleges. He had an intense devotion to the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity and a tender love for the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1835 he began the Society of Catholic Apostolate. He organized schools for shoemakers, tailors, coachmen, joiners and market-gardeners to improve their education and general pride in their trade. He started evening classes for young workers and an institute to teach better methods of agriculture.

Widely regarded as another St. Philip Neri, he was indefatigable in his work with those in need. Burning with zeal to save sinners, he once dressed as an old woman to reach a dying person whose relative had sworn to shoot the first priest to approach. He was also a great exorcist, and healed the sick with a word of encouragement or a blessing.  He foresaw the future, and once predicted the movement of Catholic Action, even its name.
Vincent Pallotti died on January 22, 1850 at the age of fifty-five. When his body was exhumed in 1906 and again in 1950, it was found to be completely incorrupt. It is enshrined in the Church of St. Salvatore in Onda in Rome.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

The source of Satan's power

All the strength of Satan’s reign
is due to
the easy-going weakness of Catholics.

Pope St. Pius X

St. Agnes

Agnes was born around 291 in a Christian, patrician family of Rome, and suffered martyrdom in the terrible persecution of Diocletian.

As a young maiden, she pledged herself to Christ and defended her virginity to the death.

Exceptionally beautiful, she turned down numerous suitors, but when she refused Procop, the Prefect’s own son, things became very complicated. Procop tried to win Agnes with gifts and promises but she answered: “I’m already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars, and He has said He will never leave me!”

Angered, Procop  took  the maiden before his father, and accused her of being a Christian. The Prefect tried to turn her from her Faith first by cajolements, and then by placing her in chains, but she only rejoiced.

The pagan official, set on overcoming Agnes by any means, next had her taken to a house of prostitution but she was visibly protected by an angel.

Finally, Agnes was condemned to death, but she was happy as a bride about to meet her bridegroom. Even pagan bystanders were moved to tears at the sight of the radiant maiden going to her death, and begged her to relent, to which she retorted: “If I were to try to please you, I would offend my Spouse. He chose me first and He shall have me!” Then praying, she offered her neck for the death stroke.

St. Agnes is one of seven women besides the Blessed Virgin to be mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. She is the patron of chastity, young girls, engaged couples, rape victims and virgins. She is depicted holding a lamb as her name in Latin means “lamb”, “agnus”. But the name “Agnes” is actually taken from the Greek “hagne” meaning chaste, pure, sacred.

Agnes’ relics repose beneath the high altar of the Church of Sant’Agnese Fuori le mura, built upon the place she was originally buried. This church was built in her honor by the daughter of the Emperor Constantine, and is one of the oldest in Rome.  St. Agnes’ skull is in the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone at Piazza Navona.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

My purpose

God's purpose in creating us is
to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth,
so that
we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with Him in heaven.

St. Ignatius Loyola

Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian

Pope St. Fabian was the first layman ever to be elected to the papacy. Before entering into his pontificate in 236, Fabian was a humble and well respected farmer. Upon the death of his predecessor, Pope Anterus, Fabian traveled with some companions to Rome to mourn his passing with the faithful and to be present when the new pope was elected. While attending the council to determine who Anterus’ successor would be, a dove suddenly appeared and descended upon the head of Fabian as a clear sign of his divine election.  By unanimous vote, Fabian was instantly chosen as the next pope.

During his fourteen-year pontificate, the Church enjoyed relative peace under Emperor Philip, and Fabian was able to do much to consolidate and develop the Church. He died a martyr’s death in 250 and was one of the first victims of the persecution under Emperor Decius, who considered him a rival and personal enemy. He was buried in the Catacomb of Calixtus.

Celebrated alongside St. Fabian is the Roman martyr, Sebastian. Though the narrative of his story is largely unhistorical, legend tells us that he was a young officer in the imperial army, who secretly dedicated himself to the spiritual and temporal assistance of the Christians and martyrs. It was he who exhorted Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus to constancy in the Faith and inspired them with the courage to face their deaths when they began to waver under the pleas of their friends. Being thus discovered, Sebastian was condemned by Emperor Diocletian and delivered over to Mauritanian archers to be shot to death. Miraculously, he survived though and was nourished back to health by St. Zoe, a convert of his and mother of Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus. Refusing to flee, Sebastian confronted the Emperor again and harshly reproached him for his cruelty to the Christians. He died in 288 after being clubbed to death and his body thrown into the common sewer. It was privately removed, and he also was buried in the cemetery of Calixtus.

Although St. Fabian and St. Sebastian’s feasts are liturgically separate, they are celebrated on the same day; and the relics of the two saints are both kept and venerated together in the Basilica of St. Sebastian in Rome.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Enough exhortations!

We’ve had enough of exhortations to be silent!
Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues.
I see that the world is rotten
because of silence.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Wulfstan of Worcester

Wulfstan (Wulstan) was a native of Warwickshire, England.  After his priestly ordination, he became a novice at the monastery of Worcester where he edified all by the innocence and sanctity of his life. He was assiduous at prayer, often watching all night in church.

The first task assigned to him at the monastery was the instruction of children, then treasurer and eventually - though against his fierce resistance - he was made prior. In 1062, he was elected Bishop of Worcester.

Wulfstan was a powerful preacher, often moving his audience to tears.

To his vigorous action is particularly attributed the suppression of the heinous practice among the citizens of Bristol of kidnapping men into slavery and shipping them over to Ireland. St. Patrick who became the great apostle and patron of the Irish was such a slave in his youth.

After the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror was initially uncertain about Wulfstan. But acknowledging his capacity and uprightness, Wulfstan was the only bishop William retained at his post under the new rule.

For the next thirty years Wulfstan rebuilt his cathedral, cared for the poor and put forth great effort in alleviating the harsh decrees of the Normans upon the vanquished Saxons. Whenever the English complained of the oppression of the Normans, Wulfstan told them: “This is a scourge of God for our sins, which we must bear with patience.”

The saintly bishop died on January 19 at eighty-seven years of age after washing the feet of a dozen poor men, a humble ritual he performed daily. He was canonized in 1203.
Photo by: Christopher Guy

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Life without struggle

To live without faith,
without a patrimony to defend,
without a steady struggle for truth,
that is not living, but existing.

Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassatti

St. Prisca

There are actually three St. Priscilla’s who lived in the first few centuries of the Church – all of whom were martyrs – and two of them share the same feast day of January 18! It is the virgin martyr St. Prisca that the Church primarily celebrates today though.

Prisca was born of a noble family in Rome during the reign of Claudius II. Most likely a Christian from birth, she was arrested during the persecutions when she was a young teenager and brought before the Emperor for questioning. Despite her youth, Prisca courageously proclaimed and upheld her Catholic Faith, even though she knew that by doing so in those days was ultimately the pronouncement of her own death sentence.

She suffered terrible tortures, one of which was being taken to the arena to be devoured by wild beasts. Rather than devour her though, the lions are said to have licked her feet! Finally, she was taken outside the city walls and beheaded. Legend tells us that when she was martyred, a great eagle appeared above her and protected her body for several days until the Christians were able to retrieve it.

The young martyr was buried in the Catacomb of St. Priscilla - the catacomb named after the St. Priscilla, wife of a Roman senator, who shares the same feast day of January 18 with the child-martyr, Prisca. She is said to have opened her home near the catacomb to Christians and to have befriended St. Peter who used her home as his headquarters in Rome. She was martyred during the reign of Emperor Domitian. As an interesting fact, there is probable speculation that this St. Priscilla was a family relation of the child-martyr St. Prisca, who is buried in her catacomb.

The third  St. Priscilla was a disciple of St. Paul and wife of the Jewish tentmaker, Aquila.

St. Margaret of Hungary

Margaret of Hungary was the daughter of King Bela IV, a champion of Christendom, and Maria Laskarina, a pious Byzantine princess. Bella IV being the brother of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Margaret was the saintly Queen of Hungary’s blood niece.

King Bela and his queen, worried about an impeding Tartar invasion, vowed to dedicate to God the child they were expecting. Bela was victorious over the Tartars, and little Margaret was taken to the Dominican monastery at Vezprem at the age of three.

The child thrived in her new surroundings. By age four she had memorized the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At age ten she was moved to a convent built for her by her father on an island – today named Margaret Island – on the Danube near Buda and there she professed her vows at age twelve.

King Ottokar II of Bohemia having seen Margaret at eighteen years of age, ignoring her religious habit, sought her in marriage. A dispensation would have been possible in this case, and King Bela seemed to favor the prospect for political reasons. Yet, Margaret adamantly refused declaring she would have no other bridegroom than Jesus Christ, and would rather cut off her nose and lips.

Margaret’s was a life of astounding penance, prayer and charity toward the poor. To avoid preferential treatment in the convent because of her royal rank, she sought the most menial tasks to the point that a maid once said that she was humbler than a servant.
Her body worn out by the fatigue of long hours of labor, fasting and prayer, Margaret died at the age of twenty-eight on January 18, 1270. The virtuous princess was universally venerated as a saint from the time of her death.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Rachel, Why Do You Cry?

By Andrea F. Phillips

A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and great mourning;
Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted... Matt 2:18

Watching a pro-life documentary the other day, I was deeply moved as girl after girl, woman after woman, and professional after professional gave heart-wrenching testimonies of the emotional, spiritual and psychological devastation our women, our modern “Rachels,” undergo in this culture of abortion.
How did we get here? Why in the name of freedom, liberation, rights and choice are girls and women so battered?

“It Wasn’t My Choice”
One professional said, “Women are offered abortion in the name of ‘choice,’ yet the overwhelming answer to the question, “Why did you do it?” is, “It wasn’t my choice.”
And another young woman, her face a torrent of tears said, “Everyone pushed me. And, in the end, I killed my child so everyone else could feel free.”

What We Have Lost
As a young girl, Dad took me out to the garden bench one morning. It wasn’t every day that I got to have a private interview with my father, so I fixed my brown eyes on his face, and missed nothing of what he said. He spoke of young womanhood, and of beauty as something proceeding from the soul, rather than from a lot of make-up, clothes and trinkets. He spoke of the Blessed Mother as a model for girls, a woman true to her inner star, contrary to what the world promoted.
Child that I was, I only captured fragments of his meaning, except that I knew that some things in my life were about to go the way of the TV–out the window. But I wasn’t worried. Dad knew best.
As it turned out, my sisters and I were homeschooled. We painted paper dolls, studied art and music, learned cooking and baking, raised a garden, loved the library, read lots of books, put on marionette shows, watched select movies, played with friends, learned our Catholic Faith inside out, and frequented the Sacraments–a life-style the world called “restrictive.”

Meeting the World
And then the time came to start driving and working.
At my first job, I worked with women who wore little, swore plenty, and headed for bars after work. There were the stories of boyfriends, and sex, and cheating, and divorce, and drugs and alcohol, and hangovers.
Then little sister came home one day wide-eyed from nursing school.
“We studied STDs today, and you will not believe the amount of such diseases every single one of those girls have had. I felt like an angel.”
And then there was another sister taking English in college. One day the professor showed the class pictures of obscene sculptures claiming that these were the artist’s way of dealing with the “Catholic Church’s obsession with sex.” Up shot her hand, “Sorry, Sir, but it seems to me that you are, rather, talking of the artist’s obsession with the subject?”

Thanks, Mother Church!
In our “sheltered” Catholic home, while we were taught about the “birds and the bees,” the subject was only one among many. Though in our “restrictive” lifestyle we learned the moral code that regulated sexual behavior, we handled rising hormones by steering our thoughts and desires to positive, engaging activities, prayer and the Sacraments.
Interaction with boys was always in familial, communal settings, and while marriage was a great, exciting ideal, we were taught that it was the most serious commitment we’d ever make–and thus we must prepare.
We dressed modestly not out of prudishness but because there was nothing more precious than a girl’s body, latent seat of life–and what was sacred was veiled. Yet mother, in her common sense and good taste, taught us style, and to use make-up to enhance, rather than to cover; jewelry to add, rather than to glare.
Far from “sheltered” or “restricted,” I remember at fifteen feeling cherished, respected – free. To arrive at my wedding aisle anything but a virgin was unthinkable. I had a mind full of ideals, a heart full of God’s life-giving principles, and a soul on fire with idealism. I wanted to be an asset to the world, to use my talents to help build something beautiful.

An Anti-Woman Culture
Unfortunately, “beautiful” is not what awaited the majority of my gender, for the culture of “emancipation” is, ultimately, battering to women.
As my life went on, with everything “free,” from free love to women’s lib, I witnessed the breakdown of the last vestiges of modesty and dignity in fashions; the destruction of the last ethical barricades. With these trends came teen pregnancy, failed contraception, abortion, STDs, anorexia, bulimia, substance abuse, and suicide.
As a result of all this “liberation,” countless girls became the sad victims of the “culture of emancipation” turned “culture of death”–many as young as eleven or twelve–about the age I was when Dad talked to me on that garden bench.
Generous souls started organizations such as Rachel’s Vineyard and countless other institutions. Their goal: to either convince single moms to have their babies, or to provide support for them, after family, friends or boyfriends dropped them off at abortion clinics, and the psychological, emotional trauma of the aftermath threatened to engulf them.
Gently, with heart-warming charity, these organizations seek to pick up the crushed, crumpled, tear-stained forms and, speaking to them of love and forgiveness, endeavor to return them to their beautiful, confident, glowing selves.

Woman’s Nature v. Lies of the Culture
A woman is made amazing. Hers is a nature so lofty that she instinctively understands that love is nurturing, and is, therefore, sacrificial. All she asks is to love and be loved so she can love forever. And what is greater, more selfless, stronger, more inspiring and propulsive than sacrificial love?
Hers is a mind so quick and intuitive, that she perceives things way before they’ve been spelled out. A true woman has the natural combination that is the spark of genius: heart and intuition.
But the culture lies to today’s growing girl. The culture tells her she must be ashamed of her femininity, and of her maternal instinct. She is told that compared to men, her femininity is weakness, and in light of the culture, her maternal instincts misguided. Unless she succeeds in the corporate world, she is a failure, and homes and children are only for the under-achieved woman.
Logically thus, since her body is not necessarily or primarily made to give life, but for pleasure and sexual satisfaction, she is told to show it off, to use it to her maximum “advantage”– out with the blushing bride, in with the voyeur.
But what the culture never tells the growing girl today is that the blushing bride calls man to his noblest; the “voyeur” to his basest. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “So goes the dignity of women, so goes the dignity of a nation.”
My mother’s version was, “Girls, sit on your mountain top and if he is worth his salt, he will climb it.”
What has more power–the ability to command or the ability to influence? Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand, eminent Catholic philosopher and lady, answers genially: “Command changes actions. Influence changes beings.”
And what is a woman’s greatest genius but that of influence? And what is the greatest secret of that genius but true, disinterested, sacrificial love that doesn’t care for recognition but for results: the good of those she loves.

To Dry Rachel’s Tears
It is time fathers again become teachers, guides and protectors of their daughters and give them the religious/philosophical principles that will aid them to choose husbands wisely. It is time fathers take their daughters to the garden bench; better still, on occasional dates to show how a gentleman treats a lady. It is time fathers take the initiative of countering the culture of death with the life-giving culture of Christ.
This Christ-centered enculturation must be done intelligently, insightfully, with common sense, but also with strength. Above all, it is time fathers give their daughters the supreme example of faith and virtue, first by example and then by doctrine. To a girl, a godly father is indeed, next to God. Brown, blue or green eyes will be raised to his face unflinchingly seeking to be convinced by his conviction.
It’s time mothers teach their girls modesty, purity, culture, manners, the arts of the home, and their priceless worth as the pearls of great price of society. It’s time the “lady” (layman’s term for “princess”) returns. It’s time that again a nation follows the dignity of its women. It’s time that knights again climb mountain tops to meet their ladies.
It’s time that we teach our daughters and sons how to prepare for founding Christian homes, homes where every baby is welcomed, cherished and raised, and yes, then yes, no child will be left behind.
It’s time that we stand in the gap for the preciousness of our young women, and teach our girls to see through the great LIE, and then, only then will our Rachels no longer cry.

Truth must be loved

People hate the truth
for the sake of whatever it is they love more than the truth.
They love truth when it shines warmly upon them
and hate it
when it rebukes them.

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Anthony of Egypt

Anthony was born in 251 in the village of Koman, south of Memphis in Egypt. Anthony’s well-to-do parents died before he was twenty leaving him in charge of a younger sister, and the owner of a considerable estate.

In 272, wishing to leave all to follow Christ, after securing his sister’s support and upbringing, he distributed his holdings among the poor, and retired to a life of solitude. He lived a life of penance, sleeping on a rush mat on the bare floor, eating and drinking bread and water. The devil was allowed to attack him grievously, on one occasion subjecting him to a beating that left him for dead, only to be saved by friends.  Anthony emerged victorious from all these trials.

At the age of thirty-five, the holy hermit moved from his solitude in the vicinity of his native village, to a location across the eastern branch of the river Nile where he made his abode in some ruins on the summit of a mountain. There he lived for twenty years, rarely seeing any man except one who brought him bread every so often.

St. Athanasius, his friend and first biographer, speaks of Anthony as not only spending his time in prayer and meditation but also in making mats. He also gardened.

At fifty-four, being sought out by men who wanted to follow his way of life, Anthony founded his first monastery in Fayum in a series of scattered caves, which he visited occasionally.

In 311 as religious persecution again broke out under Emperor Maximinus, Anthony left his solitude to give courage to the martyrs in Alexandria. When the persecution abated, he returned to his previous solitude. He later founded another community of monks near the Nile called Pispir, though he continued to live on his mountain.

Years later, at the request of the bishops, Anthony again journeyed to Alexandria to confute the Arians, who denied the divinity of Christ. All ran to hear the holy hermit, and even pagans, struck by the dignity of his character, flocked around him. Heathen teachers and philosophers often sought him out, and were astounded at his meekness and wisdom.

Anthony died at age 101 surrounded by his spiritual sons in his hermitage on Mount Kolsim. His last words were, “Farewell, my children, Anthony is departing and will no longer be with you.” Thus saying, he stretched out his feet and calmly ceased to breathe.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

The first step to loving Jesus

If you really want to love Jesus, first
learn to suffer, because
suffering teaches you to love.

St. Gemma Galgani

St. Honoratus of Arles

Honoratus was born into a patrician Roman family that had settled in Gaul, present-day France. As a young man, he renounced paganism and won his elder brother Venantius over to Christ.

Although their father objected and placed obstacles before them, the two brothers decided to leave the world. Under the tutelage of the hermit St. Caprasius they sailed from Marseilles with the intention of leading a secluded life in a Grecian desert.

In Greece, illness struck and Venantius died in peace. Also ill, Honoratus was obliged to return to Gaul with his instructor. At first, he lived as a hermit in the mountains near Fréjus.  Later, he settled on the island of Lérins off the southern coast of France. Followed by others, he founded a monastery on the island about the year 400. The monastic community is active to this day. St. Patrick, the great apostle of Ireland is said to have studied at Lérins.

In 426 Honoratus was pressed upon to accept the bishopric of Arles, where he reestablished Catholic orthodoxy, challenged by the Arian heresy. He died three years later exhausted from his apostolic labors.
The island of Lérins, today the island of Saint Honorat just south of Cannes, is home to Cistercian monks who live in a majestic monastery and produce fine wines and liqueurs which are well-known throughout the world.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Why God sends us trials and afflictions

God sends us trials and afflictions
to exercise us in patience and
teach us sympathy with the sorrows of others.

St. Vincent de Paul

St. Ita of Killeedy

Among the women saints of Ireland, St. Ita holds the most prominent place after St. Brigid. She is sometimes called Deirdre.

Though her life is overlaid with a multitude of legendary and mythical folklore, there is no reason to doubt her historical existence.

She is said to have been of royal descent and that she had been born near Waterford in the southeastern Irish province of Munster.

There was a royal suitor but through prayer and fasting she was able to convince her father to let her live a consecrated life of virginity. She migrated to Hy Conaill, in the western part of County Limerick where, at Killeedy, she founded a community of maidens.

It appears that St. Ida also led a school for small boys, and that St. Brendan was her student there for five years.

St. Ida died, probably in the year 570.
Photo by: Andreas F. Borchert

Sunday, January 14, 2018

People will notice

Be sure that you first preach
by the way you live.
If you do not, people will notice that … 

St. Charles Borromeo

St. Sava of the Serbs

Sava, born in 1174, was the youngest of the three sons of Stephen I, founder of the Nemanyde dynasty, of the independent Serbian State. At the age of seventeen he became a monk on Mount Athos, on the Greek peninsula. Abdicating the throne in 1196, his father joined him and together they established the thriving monastery of Khilandari.

Sava returned to Serbia in 1207 to help settle an inheritance dispute between his two brothers.

As his brother Stephen took the throne, Sava set to work to revamp the faith in his country which was lax and mixed up with paganism.

With the help of missionary monks from Khilandari, he established several important monasteries in Serbia. He also convinced the Eastern Emperor Theodore II, a relative, to establish Serbia’s own bishopric in order that its clergy might be better managed. The emperor established the prince-monk Sava as Serbia’s first Metropolitan of the new hierarchy.

Under Sava, his brother, Stephen II was duly recognized by the Holy See and though already crowned by a papal legate in 1217, was again crowned by his brother as Archbishop in 1222 with a crown sent by Pope Honorius III.

Thus, the retiring young prince, who left home to become a monk, succeeded before the age of fifty in consolidating, both civilly and religiously, the country founded by his father.

St. Sava died with a smile on his face on January 14, 1237 and is the patron saint of Serbia.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

How to Find True Happiness



Today, the number of Americans who suffer from depression, anxiety and despair is growing. The organization Mental Health America reports that:
Depression is a chronic illness that exacts a significant toll on America's health and productivity.  It affects more than 21 million American children and adults annually and is the leading cause of disability in the United States for individuals ages 15 to 44.
Lost productive time among U.S. workers due to depression is estimated to be in excess of $31 billion per year.  Depression frequently co-occurs with a variety of medical illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and chronic pain and is associated with poorer health status and prognosis.  It is also the principal cause of the 30,000 suicides in the U.S. each year.  In 2004, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, third among individuals 15-24.
Moreover, there is the self inflicted pain that comes from failed suicide attempts.  Some experts say that the state of mind of a person who has experienced a failed suicide attempt is even worse than before.
The skyrocketing depression and suicide troubles in America stem from the same, common root: a great unhappiness and a basic, fundamental misunderstanding about what happiness is and where we can find it on this earth.
As Catholics, we know that we can never be completely happy on this earth.  That complete happiness is only reserved for those who go to Heaven to be with God for all eternity.  While on earth, humans are happy to the degree they accept and carry out God’s Holy Will in their lives.
However, since the problem of happiness and unhappiness is getting more acute today, we ought to delve deeper into finding the solutions that lead to happiness, and to offer people a Catholic and comprehensive explanation on this crucial issue.

For this purpose, we offer an insightful piece written by the French priest, Father Henri Ramiere, which is taken from his book The Reign of Christ in History.
Going Deeper: The Search for True & False Happiness
Before leaving this topic, it is still necessary to delve a little deeper into the depths of our nature so as to discover the reason for support or resistance that it would offer to divine action in the different stages of its moral life.
The inclinations that drag the human will are very different and opposed, but have a common source. The movements that lead us to good and those that lead us to bad, the most reprehensible disorders and the most heroic virtues have the same motive, a desire for happiness.
We all want – and necessarily so – to be happy.  If this happiness could be present and complete at the same time, we would not hesitate at all to choose it. We would rush to it simply for its pleasure with all the impetus of our will.

But it is not so, and in this is our trial.  God, the sole entire and infinite good, hides and denies us at present the pleasure of His beauty; forbids us a love so filled with pleasure that we would be able to find in creatures.  And that’s where men divide themselves.
They let themselves be taken by the same desire for happiness but towards opposite directions: some want to satisfy that desire in the present life at any price, revolted against God, who denies them this satisfaction.  Others accept the time in which God deigns to satisfy them.
Here is the point of separation between two inimical societies that St. Augustine called “the City of God” and “the City of the sons of men.” The former is composed of those who want to be happy with God and the latter by those who pretend to be happy without God and in spite of God.
The former’s motto is “love of God even at the scorn of oneself” while the latter’s motto is “love of oneself even at the scorn of God.” But it is not only in one act that the majority of men take a definitive stand in either of these societies.
Normally, a man begins to act well or badly according to the way he is brought up. Obliged to receive from outside the greater part of his knowledge, he receives his inclinations from it as well. It would be, therefore, either good or bad depending on the influences he receives; and following them, he will look for his happiness in the service of God or in violation of his laws.
While receiving outside influences with docility, he will not be able to settle firmly either in the good or in the bad. That settling will only come from the fight. If his upbringing made him good, the fight will come from the attraction to evil; from the awakening of his passions; from the present pleasures whose allures he feels; from the immediate satisfaction that the thirst for happiness will exert upon him. It would seem fascinating to him to be the master of his own destiny and not depend on any superior authority.
If, on the contrary, man was taken to evilness prior to knowing the disorder it causes, the bitter consequences of such disorder will soon be felt. Virtue, in turn, will present its charms; and true happiness will put forward its solid hopes against the illusions of false happiness. In the two situations, there will be a fight and this fight will last for a long time through a succession of defeats and victories, attained now by the good, now by the bad.
To whom will definitive victory go? Only freedom will decide. But this is what happens many times: a man who lets himself be swept away by the most shameful disorder through a poorly understood desire for happiness; who is convinced by his experience of the impossible satisfaction of such a desire far removed from God; and who is crushed by shame and remorse; turns to the sovereign good and unites himself with it with as much strength as was his deplorable falling away from God.
We can therefore distinguish three periods in the moral life of man that correspond to the three primary ages of his physical life. The age of infancy, one of docile ingenuity and little self-consciousness; the age of youth, one of passions and fight; and the age of maturity, one of disappointments and fully deliberate resolutions.
In all these ages, man is either free to unite himself with God or to revolt against Him, but his freedom attains fullness only in maturity, which is the age wherein God has the most influence on human souls and in which He oftentimes redirects towards Himself those who did not shun very sad transgressions in their youth.
But, while the trial endures, be it in infancy, be it in youth, be it in maturity, God always has a great influence over hearts, even among those that have fallen farthest away from Him. The reason for this influence is the same that takes hearts away from Him: a desire for happiness.
There exists, therefore, between men and God, a great misunderstanding, for the happiness which they want can only be obtained with the help of God.  Provoking and maintaining this misunderstanding is the constant objective of Satan and his agents. Overcoming it is the priority of the indefatigable efforts of God and his friends.
The Word of God, upon descending on Earth, had no other objective than to gather in his heart and place within men’s reach all the goods they were unsuccessfully seeking for many centuries. After the Holy Redeemer ascended into Heaven, the Church did nothing but encourage successive generations to go drink from that divine source.
In the preceding chapters, we studied the divine plan in relation to God. We have just finished considering it in relation to men, and will now go on to study it in society and in the ensemble of creation.


 *The second part of this article is taken from the book The Reign of Jesus Christ in History by Father Henri Ramiere.

St. Hilary of Poitiers

Hilary was born into an illustrious family in Poitiers, Gaul, in present-day France. Although he was brought up in idolatry, its tenets and beliefs did not satisfy his spiritual thirst. Chancing upon a copy of the Sacred Scriptures one day, after years of searching and studying, Hilary opened the Book of Exodus to God's words to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"
"I was frankly amazed at such a clear definition of God, which expressed the incomprehensible knowledge of the divine nature in words most suited to human intelligence," he wrote later.

The pursuit of meaning for his own existence, which had consumed all his thoughts up until then, had found its answer and he converted to Christianity. By this time he was married and had a daughter named Apra.

His eminent qualities attracted not only the attention of Gaul but of the Church, and in 350, against his humble protests, he was chosen, by clergy and laity alike, and consecrated Bishop of Poitiers.

He went on to wisely and valiantly combat the Arian heresy. The Arians did not believe in the divinity of Christ and they exerted much power and enjoyed the support of the emperor. This led to many persecutions. When Hilary refused to support the Arians in their condemnation of St. Athanasius in 356, he was himself exiled by Emperor Constantius. However, he continued his courageous fight from exile. "Although in exile we shall speak through these books, and the word of God, which cannot be bound, shall move about in freedom," he challenged them. Doctrinal works flowed from his pen during this period, the most renowned and esteemed of these being On the Holy Trinity. The earliest writing of Latin hymns is also attributed to him.

Returning to Gaul from exile, Hilary strengthened the weak in the Faith and convoked a synod to condemn that of Rimini in 359. He fought Arianism to his very death in 368.

St. Hilary was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Blessed Pius IX in 1851.
Photo by: Wolfgang Sauber

When in desolation...

Though in desolation
we must never change our former resolutions,
it will be very advantageous to intensify
our activity against the desolation.
We can insist more
upon prayer, upon meditation, and on much examination of ourselves.
We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

St. Marguerite Bourgeoys

Marguerite Bourgeoys was born the sixth child of twelve children in Troyes, France in 1620. At the age of twenty, touched by a special grace from Our Lady, and feeling called to the religious life, she applied to the Carmelites and the Poor Clares but was unsuccessful in both ventures.  A priest friend suggested that perhaps God had other plans for her.

When Marguerite was thirty-four, she was invited by the visiting governor of the French settlement in Canada to start a school at Ville-Marie, today Montreal. She generously accepted and traveled to the French colony then numbering two hundred people. Ville-Marie also had a hospital and a Jesuit mission chapel.

Marguerite started a school, but soon realized her need for help. Returning to Troyes, she recruited a friend, Catherine Crolo, and two other young women. In 1667 they added classes in their school for Indian children.  Six years later, on a second trip to France, Marguerite was joined by six other young women, and had her school approved by King Louis XIV.

The congregation of Notre Dame de Montreal was established in 1676 but their rule and constitutions were only approved in 1698, as orders of non-cloistered religious sisters were then a novelty.

Marguerite and her sisters worked untiringly for the establishment and growth of the French settlement, and when she died in 1700 she was known as “Mother of the Colony”. Marguerite Bourgeoys was canonized in 1982.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Go ahead, scandalize the Pharisees

We must not stop doing good
even if it scandalizes the Pharisees.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch

Theodosius was born in Garissus, Cappadocia in 423. He took to the road as a pilgrim, and, in his travels visited the famous St. Simeon the Stylite on his pillar.

Eventually, he retired as a hermit to a cave on a mountain near Bethlehem, but his sanctity and miracles attracted many who wished to serve God under his direction. A spacious monastery was built on a place called Cathismus, which became a haven of saints in the desert.

Persecuted by Emperor Anastasius who favored the Eutychian heresy, Theodosius traveled extensively through Palestine exhorting the faithful to remain strong in the faith of the four general councils. The Emperor ordered the saint’s banishment, which was executed, but Theodosius died soon after in 529 at the advanced age of one hundred and five.

His funeral was honored by miracles, and he was buried in his first cell, called the Cave of the Magi, because the wise men who visited the Infant Christ were said to have lodged in it.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Infant of Prague: The Little King


by Plinio Solimeo

The Infant of Prague is perhaps the most famous representation of the Child Jesus, eliciting devotion throughout the Catholic world. Nevertheless, it seems that few Catholics know very much about the history of the statue and the invocation. One of our correspondents who visited Europe, including Prague, sent us this enlightening account of the Infant of Prague, beginning with its origins and tracing its story up through the time of the Nazi and Communist invasions of Prague.


Devotion to the Infant Jesus
Shortly after the Church’s founding, many saints, notably Pope Saint Leo the Great, had already spoken of the Child Jesus and His birth. But devotion to the Infant Jesus truly began to flourish in the Middle Ages, thanks to the ardor of various saints. Saint Francis of Assisi was moved while meditating on the fact that God became a child and was laid in a manger. It was he who set up history’s first nativity scene to represent this divine mystery. Saint Anthony of Padua, following the example of his founder and master, likewise marveled at the Infant-God, and was often granted the privilege of holding Him in his arms, this being the way Saint Anthony is generally depicted. Other saints have also received this ineffable favor.
It was in Spain in the 1500’s, Spain’s “Golden Century,” that the Child Jesus began to be depicted standing, rather than laying in a manger or in Our Lady’s arms. The great Saint Teresa of Avila introduced this devotion into her convents. From there it spread throughout Spain and the world. Her disciple and co-founder of the reformed branch of the Carmelite Order, the great Saint John of the Cross, bore such enthusiasm for the mystery of God-made-man that he often carried the image of the Child Jesus in procession during the Christmas season and composed touching poems about the Nativity. Many invocations of the Child Jesus thus began to circulate in the Carmelite houses, such as “the Little Pilgrim,” “the Founder” and “the Savior.”
Devotion to the Child Jesus was not limited to the cloister. For example, Ferdinand Magellan had with him an image of the Child Jesus when he discovered the Philippines. This very same statue is venerated to this day on the Philippine island of Cebu.
Nevertheless, it would fall to a daughter of Saint Teresa to be both a propagator of the devotion to the Child Jesus and His confidante.
Venerable Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament (1619-1648) was a Carmelite in the King of Glory convent in Beaune, France, having entered the convent as a boarder when she was eleven. She enjoyed great familiarity with the angels and saints and the privilege of participating in the great mysteries of Our Savior’s life. Hers was the special mission of venerating and propagating devotion to the infancy of Christ. As she prayed before His image in her convent, the Infant God spoke to her, “I choose to honor you and make visible in you My infancy and innocence as I lay in the manger.” She received many extraordinary graces by which the Child Jesus gave her a deeper understanding of this mystery.
Among her other apostolic labors, Sister Marguerite founded the “Family of the Child Jesus,” inviting all to fervently celebrate the twenty-fifth of every month in remembrance of the Holy Nativity and to pray the “Little Crown of the Child Jesus” — three Our Fathers and twelve Hail Marys — in honor of the first twelve years of Our Lord’s life.
Centuries later, another Carmelite, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, honored the Child Jesus in a special way, not only choosing this as her name in religion, but also by initiating the way of “Spiritual Infancy.” It was, she said, on Christmas night of 1886 that she received the greatest grace of her life, the grace of forsaking childish immaturity and entering the great way of the saints. She abandoned herself to the Child Jesus with all docility, like a ball in the hands of a child. When she received the responsibility of dressing the convent’s little image of the Child Jesus, she did so with true devotion. She also enjoyed prolonged colloquies with the image of the Infant of Prague in the choir of the novitiate.

The Infant of Prague
Prague is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe. Those who visit her never tire of strolling her streets, always discovering new features and unexpected marvels. Her topography contributes greatly to her beauty, and the Moldau River, which divides the city, is almost legendary. Her various historical periods are reflected in her architecture, from Romanesque foundations to beautiful examples of religious and civic Gothic architecture , to buildings of the Renaissance, the Baroque and Classical styles, all the way to an example of Modern “art,” a concession to the spirit of the times.
Among the innumerable buildings worthy of interest in this privileged city is the church of Our Lady of Victory, the first Baroque sanctuary of the locale, built between 1613 and 1644. Belonging to the Discalced Carmelites, it shelters the great marvel of Prague, the charming statue of the “Little King,” as the Infant of Prague is known.
 

How the devotion began
Venerable Brother Dominic of Jesus Maria, prior-general of the Discalced Carmelites, had distinguished himself in exhorting the Catholic armies in the Emperor’s victory over the Elector Palatine, the Calvinist Frederick V, in the bloody Thirty Years’ War. In 1624, as a gesture of gratitude, Emperor Ferdinand II called the Carmelites to Prague and gave them a church that was renamed Holy Mary of Victory in recognition of Our Lady’s help during the battle.
In 1628 Brother John Louis of the Assumption, prior of the Carmelites of the city, communicated to his religious an inspiration he had felt that they should venerate the Child Jesus in a special way. He assured them that if this was done, the Child Jesus would protect the community and the novices would learn from Him how to be “like little children” to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Almost simultaneously, Providence inspired Princess Polyxena of Lobkovice, a widow who was retiring to the castle of Roudnice, to donate to the monastery a wax-covered statue of the Child Jesus. He was represented standing, vested in royal garments, holding a globe in His left hand while giving a blessing with His right. The statue had been a wedding present to her mother, Maria Manriques de Lara, when she married Vratislav of Pernstyn, and she had in turn presented it to her daughter as a wedding gift.
On presenting the statue to the prior, Princess Polyxena said to him, “I offer you, dear Father, what I love most in this world. Honor this Child Jesus and be certain that as long as you venerate Him you will lack nothing.”
Brother John Louis thanked her for this present that had so miraculously come to fulfill his desire and ordered that it be placed on the altar of the novices’ oratory. There the Carmelite friars assembled every day to praise the Divine Infant and recommend their needs to Him.
In time, after an initial period of prosperity in Prague, the friars were reduced almost to misery. The prior and his subjects had recourse to the Child Jesus, and their prayer was soon answered. Emperor Ferdinand II, king of Bohemia and Hungary, knowing the hardships of the Carmelite community, granted them an annuity of a thousand florins, as well as assistance from the imperial income.
Shortly thereafter, another extraordinary event took place that provides a measure of the Infant of Prague’s unfailing assistance to those who turn to Him. There was a vine in the convent garden that had long been barren. Suddenly, in a most unforeseen manner, it began to flower and bear the sweetest and most splendid fruit one could imagine.


The apostle of the Child Jesus
In this convent there was a young priest, Friar Cyril of the Mother of God, who had left the relaxed branch of the Carmelite order to embrace Saint Teresa’s reform. Rather than finding the peace he had so hoped for, however, he felt like a reprobate suffering the pains of Hell. Nothing consoled or appeased him.
The prior, seeing him sullen and depressed, asked what was wrong. Friar Cyril opened his heart and told him of all his pains. “As Christmas approaches,” suggested the prior, “why not kneel at the feet of the Holy Child and confide all your sufferings to Him? You will see how He will help you.”
Obeying the prior, Friar Cyril went to the image of the Child Jesus. “Dear Child, behold my tears! I am at Thy feet; have pity on me!” At that very moment he felt as if a beam of light had penetrated his soul, dispelling all his anguish, doubts, and sufferings. Moved and extremely grateful, Friar Cyril resolved to become a true apostle of the Divine Infant.

Besieged by heretics
Meanwhile, the Protestants regrouped and in November of 1631, under the command of the Prince Elector of Saxony, besieged Prague anew. Panic gripped the imperial troops, and many of the city’s anguished inhabitants fled.
Friar John Maria prudently sent his friars to Munich, remaining with just one friar to look after the convent.
Prague surrendered. The Protestant soldiers invaded churches and convents, profaning and destroying the objects of Catholic worship. They imprisoned the two Carmelites and began to loot the convent. Seeing the statue of the Child Jesus in the oratory of the novitiate, they began to ridicule it. One of the soldiers, wanting to impress the others, severed the little hands from the image with his sword, and then cast the image amidst the rubble to which the altar had been reduced. There the Child Jesus remained, forgotten for many years.
When a truce was signed in 1634, the Carmelites were able to return to their convent. Friar Cyril did not return at this time, and no one else remembered the image of the Child Jesus. When Friar Cyril finally returned three years later, he quickly noticed its absence. He searched for the precious statue, but in vain.
Unfortunately, the peace was not lasting. The Swiss, breaking the accords, again besieged Prague, burning castles and villages as they came. The prior advised his friars to pray, seeing that prayer alone could save them this time. Friar Cyril suggested that they recommend themselves to the Little King, and he renewed his search for the image. After much effort, he found it, dusty and dirty, and joyfully took it to the prior. The friars prayed fervently before the handless image for the salvation of the city. Their prayers were heard; the Swiss raised the siege.
When the image was newly enthroned in the oratory of the novitiate, the benefactors of the convent, who had disappeared in those years that the image was missing, returned and renewed their assistance.
Despite his fervor, Friar Cyril had not noticed that the hands of the Child Jesus were missing. One day, as he prayed before the Infant on behalf of the community, the statue said to him sadly, “Have pity on Me and I will have pity on you. Return my hands that the heretics cut off. The more you honor Me the more I will favor you.”
Friar Cyril immediately ran to the prior to tell him what had taken place. The prior seemed not to believe and, because of the privation the convent was enduring, said that it was necessary to await better days before making the restoration, since there were more pressing needs.
Profoundly afflicted, Friar Cyril asked God to provide the means to restore the statue. Help came in an unexpected way. A foreign noble, having asked Friar Cyril to hear his confession, told him, “Reverend Father, I am convinced that the good God led me to Prague to prepare me for death and to do you some small favor.” He then gave Friar Cyril an alms of a hundred florins.
The friar sought out the prior and handed him the alms, requesting at least a single florin for the restoration of the statue. Despite this small miracle, the prior still replied that the restoration was not so important and could wait. To make matters worse, he commanded Friar Cyril to remove the statue from the oratory and take it to his cell until it could be repaired. Friar Cyril, not without sadness, obeyed his superior, asking the Little King to pardon his disbelief. The Most Holy Virgin then appeared to Friar Cyril and gave him to understand that the Child Jesus ought to be restored as soon as possible and exposed for the veneration of the faithful in a chapel dedicated to Him.
Favorable circumstances arose when a new prior was elected shortly thereafter. Friar Cyril renewed his request, to which the prior replied, “If the Child first gives us His blessing, I will have the statue repaired.” Soon there was a knock at the door, and an unknown lady handed Friar Cyril a sizable donation. Yet the prior allowed him only a half florin for the restoration, saying that it must suffice. That insignificant amount was soon augmented by a generous donation from Daniel Wolf, a court official who had received a favor from the Child Jesus.
At last, the little statue was refurbished. It was then placed in a crystal urn near the sacristy, thus fulfilling the express desire of Our Lady that the Child be exposed for public veneration.

A miraculous cure and the growth of the devotion
Another unexpected event greatly influenced the devotion rendered the Little King. One day in 1639, Friar Cyril, already considered a saint by many, was sought out by Henry Liebsteinski, Count of Kolowrat, whose spouse was gravely ill. The count asked the Carmelite friars to take the statue to the bedside of the sick woman, a cousin of the Princess Polyxena who had given the statue to the convent. As various physicians already considered her case lost, her sole remaining hope was the Holy Child.
Friar Cyril could not help but answer such a just request. When he arrived at the bedside of the dying woman, her husband said to her, “My dear, open your eyes. See, the Child Jesus is here to cure you.” With much effort the sick woman opened her eyes and her face lit up. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “the Child is here in my room!” She raised her arms toward the statue to kiss it. Seeing this, her husband exclaimed jubilantly, “A miracle! A miracle! My wife is cured!”
Hardly had she been restored to health when the countess went to the convent and offered the Child a crown of gold and other precious objects in gratitude. This is one of the most celebrated miracles attributed to the Little King.
Knowledge of this prodigy soon spread beyond the court, reaching the people of the city and the surrounding area. An ever greater number of pilgrims from all locales began to come to see the Child Jesus. Such was His renown that one rich lady of the court, moved by imprudent zeal, made off with the statue. God punished this sacrilege, however, and the Little King was returned to the Carmelites.
With the faithful giving many monetary and other offerings in gratitude for graces received from the Divine Infant, it was finally possible to construct a chapel specifically for the miraculous statue.
The Archbishop of Prague, Ernst Cardinal Adalbert von Harrach, was invited for the solemn consecration in 1648. He granted the friars the more ample faculty of celebrating Mass in the Holy Child’s chapel.
This solemn episcopal confirmation transformed the chapel of the Little King of Peace into a place of official devotion, and it was visited extensively.

A new trial, and a definitive altar
In 1648, during another battle of the Thirty Years’ War, Swiss Protestant troops invaded the city once again. This time they transformed the Carmelite convent into a field hospital, but none of the 160 wounded soldiers treated there dared to ridicule the Holy Child. On the contrary, during an inspection, the commander of the invaders, General Konigsmark, prostrated himself before the miraculous statue and said, “O Child Jesus! I am not Catholic, but I also believe in Your infancy, and am impressed seeing the faith of the people and the miracles You perform in their favor. I promise that, inasmuch as I find it possible, I will end the billeting of the convent.” And he gave the friars a donation of thirty ducats.
Shortly afterwards, the Swiss occupation of Prague ended, and everyone attributed the return of peace to the Little King.
With the return of normality, the Superior General of the Carmelite Fathers, Friar Francis of the Most Blessed Sacrament, arrived in Prague in 1651. He approved the devotion to the Divine Infant and recommended that the friars spread it to the Carmelite houses in Austria and among the faithful. In recognition of the legitimacy of devotion to the hallowed statue, he had a letter affixed to the door of the Child Jesus’ chapel.
In 1655, thanks to a contribution of the Baron of Tallembert, the miraculous image was placed upon a magnificent altar in the church of Our Lady of Victory and solemnly crowned by Archbishop Joseph von Corti of Prague.
To this day a solemn memorial of this coronation is celebrated on Ascension Day.
Devotion to the Divine Infant continued to spread throughout every social level. In 1743 the great Empress Maria Theresa of Austria herself aspired to make a rich garment for the Little King with her own hands.
In 1744, Protestant troops, this time Prussian, once again surrounded Prague.
The city authorities hastened to the Carmelite convent to ask the prior to carry the Little King in solemn procession throughout the city in order to free it from the onslaught of the heretics.
An honorable surrender, without any battles, was achieved; a few months later the Prussians left Prague, and the residents of the city hastened to Our Lady of Victory to thank the Child Jesus for yet another grace.
Not long thereafter, yet another and even greater danger threatened devotion to the Divine Infant. In 1784, Emperor Joseph II, disdainful of monastic life and especially of contemplative life, suppressed the Carmelite convent, as he did many others, and gave the church of Our Lady of Victory to the Order of Malta.
Without the continued dedication of the Carmelites, devotion to the Child Jesus declined.
In the twentieth century, during the Second World War, the Nazis occupied Prague, after which the scourge of Communism fell upon the country for almost 50 years. Neither one nor the other enemy of the faith of Christ, however, made any attempt against the miraculous statue itself, which remained upon its throne in the church of Our Lady of Victory.


The Communists prohibit the devotion in Prague
The communist regime in Czechoslovakia’s capital forbade the free exercise of the devotion as they propagated State atheism. In the “Prague Spring” of 1968, an attempt by the people of Czechoslovakia to free themselves from the impious regime was bloodily suffocated.
Devotion to the Child Jesus continued to be restricted to the church where the statue was exposed. The Carmelite friars, expelled far from Prague, continued their apostolate by making prints of the Holy Child and sending them clandestinely to other European convents.
Finally, in 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia fell and the country was divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Religious and civil liberties were reestablished in the Czech Republic, and the new Archbishop of Prague, who had also been a victim of the communist repression, decided to give a new impulse to the devotion of the Child Jesus. At his invitation, two Carmelite friars went to Prague to reopen the convent and stimulate devotion to the Divine Child Jesus.
Devotion to the Child Jesus had already extended from Prague to the rest of Europe. From there it spread to Latin America, India, and elsewhere. In the United States the devotion owes much to that great apostle of the immigrants, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, who wanted a statue of the Little King in every house of the institute she founded.

Efficacious prayer to the Holy Child Jesus
O Child Jesus, I have recourse to Thee by Thy Holy Mother; I implore Thee to assist me in this necessity, for I firmly believe that Thy Divinity can assist me. I confidently hope to obtain Thy holy grace. I love Thee with my whole heart and my whole soul. I am heartily sorry for my sins, and I entreat Thee, O good Jesus, to give me strength to overcome them.
I firmly resolve never to offend Thee again and to suffer everything rather than displease Thee. Henceforth, I wish to serve Thee faithfully. For love of Thee, O divine Child, I will love my neighbor as myself. O Jesus, omnipotent Child, I entreat Thee again to come to my assistance in this necessity. (Here mention the necessity.) Grant me the grace of possessing Thee eternally with Mary and Joseph, and of adoring Thee with Thy Holy Angels and Saints. Amen.
Prayer from a revelation said to have been made by the Blessed Mother to the Ven. Servant of God, Father Cyril of the Mother of God, who died in the odor of sanctity in 1675.


(*) The author is indebted to the excellent work El Pequeno Rey, by Sorella Giovann della Croce, C.S.C.