How to make a really good beginning

 

Truly, matters in the world are in a bad state;
but if you and I begin in earnest to reform ourselves,
a really good beginning will have been made.

St. Peter of Alcantara

Tomorrow is First Friday

 

 

“I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment.”  — Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary

 

How to complete the First Friday’s Devotion:

1. Receive Holy Communion on each First Friday;
2. The nine Fridays must be consecutive;
3. They must be made in honor and in reparation to His Sacred Heart.

 

ACT OF REPARATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee!

The more Thy mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly we shall believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!

The more impiety endeavors to extinguish our hopes of immortality, the more we shall trust in Thy Heart, sole hope of mankind!

The more hearts resist Thy Divine attractions, the more we shall love Thee, O infinitely amiable Heart of Jesus!

The more unbelief attacks Thy Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly we shall adore It, O Divine Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more we shall delight to observe them, O most holy Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Sacraments are despised and abandoned, the more frequently we shall receive them with love and reverence, O most liberal Heart of Jesus!

The more the imitation of Thy virtues is neglected and forgotten, the more we shall endeavor to practice them, O Heart of Jesus, model of every virtue!

The more the devil labors to destroy souls, the more we shall be inflamed with desire to save them, O Heart of Jesus, zealous Lover of souls!

The more sin and impurity destroy the image of God in man, the more we shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, O Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Holy Church is despised, the more we shall endeavor to be her faithful children, O Sweet Heart of Jesus!

The more Thy Vicar on earth is persecuted, the more we will honor him as the infallible head of Thy Holy Church, show our fidelity and pray for him, O kingly Heart of Jesus!

O Sacred Heart, through Thy powerful grace, may we become Thy apostles in the midst of a corrupted world, and be Thy crown in the kingdom of heaven.  Amen.

 

12 Promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary

1.  I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2.  I will give peace in their families.

3.  I will console them in all their troubles.

4.  I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.

5.  I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.

6.  Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7.  Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8.  Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.

9.  I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.

10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.

12. In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

 

---

 
 

 

Also Read:

• First Fridays Devotion Confirmed at Death
• Sacred Heart, Bridge and Refuge

 

 

Pope St. Sylvester I

Little is historically known about Pope Sylvester, though legend adds a few anecdotes.

It is known that his father was a Roman by name of Rufinus. He succeeded Pope Miltiades in 314 and reigned for twenty-one years.

With Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313, Christianity was finally granted freedom. Legend has it, that having contracted leprosy, Emperor Constantine was healed after receiving baptism at the hand of St. Sylvester, and that afterwards, he made many gifts to the Church.

In any case, with the Edict of Milan, things certainly became easier for the Church. It was during the reign of St. Sylvester that several great basilicas were built by Constantine: The Lateran, Santa Croce, St. Peter in the Vatican, and several cemetery churches over the graves of the martyrs. No doubt, St. Sylvester was involved in the construction of these churches.

St. Sylvester also contributed to the development of the Roman liturgy, and it was during his reign that the first martyrology was drawn up. Sylvester also established a Roman school of singing, and built a church over the Catacomb of St. Priscilla.

Pope Sylvester took part in the Council of Nicaea at which the heresy of Arianism was condemned. He also sent legates to the First Ecumenical Council.

St. Sylvester died possibly on December 31 or was buried on that day of the year 335. At first buried in the church of St. Priscilla, his relics now rest in the church of English Catholics in Rome.

Satisfy your longings

 

You have everything when you have within you the One who made all things,
the only One who can satisfy the longings of your spirit.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Egwin of Worcester

Egwin of Worcester was of a noble family, possibly a descendant of the Mercian kings.

Devoted to God since his youth, he succeeded to the see of Worcester in 662. Though a good bishop, protector of orphans and widows, and a fair judge, he incurred the animosity of people who resisted his insistent teaching on marital morality and clerical celibacy.

The resentment of some found its way to his ecclesiastical superiors, and Egwin undertook a pilgrimage to Rome to place his case before the Pope. One account relates that on crossing the Alps with a few companions, there was no water. Parched, those who did not appreciate his sanctity, mockingly suggested that he ask for water, like Moses. But others, who knew him well, reverently beseeched him to, indeed, pray for water. As Egwin prostrated himself in prayer, a stream of crystalline water issued forth from a rock.

On his return to England, Egwin founded the famous abbey of Evesham under the patronage of Mary Most Holy.

Around 709, he again journeyed to Rome, this time in the company of Kings Cenred of Mercia, and Offa of the East Saxons, and received many privileges for his monastery from Pope Constantine. In the tenth century Evesham became one of the great Benedictine abbeys of Medieval England.

St. Egwin died on December 30, 717 and was buried at the monastery he had founded.

First Photo by: Oosoom

Pure, radiant, and useful

 

Mary is a most pure star, a most radiant star, and a most useful star.
She is a most pure star by living most purely;
a most radiant star by bringing forth Eternal Light;
a most useful star by directing us to the shores of our true home country.

St. Bonaventure

St. Thomas Becket

Also known as St. Thomas of Canterbury, he was born in London on December 21 about the year 1118. His parents had come from Normandy and settled in England some years previously. His early education at Merton Abbey was followed by further studies in Paris. He initially employed himself in secretarial work, first with Sir Richer de l’Aigle and then with his kinsman, Osbert Huitdeniers, who was “Justiciar” of London. About the year 1141, he entered the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, and so won his master’s favor that he became the most trusted of all his clerks.

Theobald recognized his capacity and made use of him in many delicate negotiations. After studying civil and canon law at Bologna and Auxerre, the Archbishop ordained Thomas a deacon in 1154 and bestowed on him several preferments, the most important of which was the Archdeaconry of Canterbury.

When Henry II came to the throne upon the death of King Stephen, he took “Thomas of London”, as Becket was then most commonly called, for his chancellor, and in that office Thomas at the age of thirty-six became one of the most powerful subjects in Henry’s dominions. Although twelve years his junior, the sovereign “had but one heart and one mind” with his chancellor. Both had the prosperity of the kingdom deeply at heart and in many matters they saw eye to eye. The king’s imperial views and love of splendor were quite to the taste of his minister. When Thomas went to France in 1158 to negotiate a marriage treaty, he traveled with such pomp that the people said: “If this be only the chancellor what must be the glory of the king himself?”

Thomas took a leading role in most operations, be they civil or military. Deacon though he was, he unhorsed knights like the best of them and lead the most daring attacks in person. But although, as men then reported, “he put off the archdeacon”, in this and other ways, he was very far from assuming the licentious manners of those around him. No word was ever breathed against his personal purity. Foul conduct or foul speech, lying or unchastity were hateful to him, and on occasion he punished them severely.

He seems at all times to have had clear principles with regard to the claims of the Church, and even during this period of his chancellorship he more than once risked Henry’s grievous displeasure. But to the very limits of what his conscience permitted, Thomas identified himself with his master’s interests.

Archbishop Theobald died in 1161, and in the course of the next year Henry seems to have decided that it would be good policy to prepare the way for further schemes of reform by securing the advancement of his chancellor to the primacy. From the first Thomas drew back in alarm. “I know your plans for the Church,” he said, “you will assert claims which I, if I were archbishop, must needs oppose.” But Henry would not be denied, and Thomas at the instance of Cardinal Henry of Pisa, who urged it upon him as a service to religion, yielded in spite of his misgivings. He was ordained priest on Saturday in Whit Week and consecrated bishop the next day, Sunday, 3 June, 1162.

A great change took place in the saint’s way of life after his consecration as archbishop. Even as chancellor he had practiced secret austerities, but now in view of the struggle he clearly saw before him he gave himself to fastings and disciplines, hair shirts, protracted vigils, and constant prayers. Before the end of the year 1162 he stripped himself of all signs of the lavish display which he had previously affected. On August 10 he went barefoot to receive the envoy who brought him the pallium from Rome. Contrary to the king’s wish he resigned the chancellorship. Whereupon Henry seems to have required him to surrender certain ecclesiastical preferments which he still retained, notably the archdeaconry, and when this was not done at once showed bitter displeasure. Other misunderstandings soon followed. The archbishop, having, as he believed, the king’s express permission, set about to reclaim alienated estates belonging to his see, a procedure which again gave offence. Still more serious was the open resistance which he made to the king’s proposal that a voluntary offering to the sheriffs should be paid into the royal treasury.The saint’s protest seems to have been successful, but the relations with the king only grew more strained.

Soon after this the great matter of dispute was reached in the resistance made by Thomas to the king’s officials when they attempted to assert jurisdiction over criminous clerks. The saint himself had no wish to be lenient with criminous clerks. It was with him simply a question of principle. St. Thomas seems all along to have suspected Henry of a design to strike at the independence of what the king regarded as a too powerful Church. With this view Henry summoned the bishops at Westminster (1 October, 1163) to sanction certain as yet unspecified articles, one of the known objects of which was to bring clerics guilty of crimes under the jurisdiction of the secular courts. The other bishops, as the demand was still in the vague, showed a willingness to submit, though with the condition “saving our order”, upon which St. Thomas inflexibly insisted. The king’s resentment was thereupon manifested by requiring the archbishop to surrender certain castles he had hitherto retained, and by other acts of unfriendliness. In deference to what he believed to be the pope’s wish, the archbishop in December consented to make some concessions by giving a personal and private undertaking to the king to obey his customs “loyally and in good faith”. But when Henry shortly afterwards at Clarendon sought to draw the saint on to a formal and public acceptance of the “Constitutions of Clarendon”, under which name the sixteen articles, the avitæ consuetudines as finally drafted, have been commonly known, St. Thomas, though at first yielding somewhat to the solicitations of the other bishops, in the end took up an attitude of uncompromising resistance.

Then followed a period of unworthy and vindictive persecution. When opposing a claim made against him by John the Marshal, Thomas upon a frivolous pretext was found guilty of contempt of court. For this he was sentenced to pay £500; other demands for large sums of money followed, and finally, though a complete release of all claims against him as chancellor had been given on his becoming archbishop, he was required to render an account of nearly all the moneys which had passed through his hands in his discharge of the office. Eventually a sum of nearly £30,000 was demanded of him. His fellow bishops summoned by Henry to a council at Northampton, implored him to throw himself unreservedly upon the king’s mercy, but St. Thomas, instead of yielding, solemnly warned them and threatened them. Then, after celebrating Mass, he took his archiepiscopal cross into his own hand and presented himself thus in the royal council chamber. The king demanded that sentence should be passed upon him, but in the confusion and discussion which ensued the saint with uplifted cross made his way through the mob of angry courtiers. He fled away secretly that night (October 13, 1164) sailed in disguise from Sandwich (November 2), and after being cordially welcomed by Louis VII of France, he threw himself at the feet of Pope Alexander III, then at Sens, on November 23. The pope, who had given a cold reception to certain episcopal envoys sent by Henry, welcomed the saint very kindly, and refused to accept his resignation of his see. On November 30, Thomas went to take up his residence at the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny in Burgundy, though he was compelled to leave this refuge a year later, as Henry, after confiscating the archbishop’s property and banishing all the Becket kinsfolk, threatened to wreak his vengeance on the whole Cistercian Order if they continued to harbor him.
The negotiations between Henry, the pope, and the archbishop dragged on for the next four years without the position being sensibly changed. Although the saint remained firm in his resistance to the principle of the Constitutions of Clarendon, he was willing to make any concessions that could be reasonably asked of him, and on January 6, 1169, when the kings of England and France were in conference at Montmirail, he threw himself at Henry’s feet, but as he still refused to accept the obnoxious customs, Henry repulsed him. At last in 1170 some sort of reconciliation was patched up. The question of the customs was not mentioned and Henry professed himself willing to be guided by the archbishop’s council as to amends due to the See of Canterbury for the recent violation of its rights in the crowning of Henry’s son by the Archbishop of York. On December 1, 1170, St. Thomas had brought with him, as well as over the restoration by the de Broc family of the archbishop’s castle at Saltwood. How far Henry was directly responsible for the tragedy which soon after occurred on December 20 is not quite clear. Four knights who came from France demanded the absolution of the bishops. St. Thomas would not comply. They left for a space, but came back at Vesper time with a band of armed men. To their angry question, “Where is the traitor?” the saint boldly replied, “Here I am, no traitor, but archbishop and priest of God.” They tried to drag him from the church, but were unable, and in the end they slew him where he stood, scattering his brains on the pavement. His faithful companion, Edward Grim, who bore his cross, was wounded in the struggle.

A tremendous reaction of feeling followed this deed of blood. In an extraordinary brief space of time devotion to the martyred archbishop had spread all through Europe. The pope promulgated the bull of canonization, little more than two years after the martyrdom, February 21, 1173. On July 12, 1174, Henry II did public penance, and was scourged at the archbishop’s tomb. An immense number of miracles were worked, and for the rest of the Middle Ages the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury was one of the wealthiest and most famous in Europe.

In 1220, St. Thomas Becket’s remains were relocated from this first tomb to a shrine, where it stood until it was destroyed in 1538, by orders of Henry VIII. The king also destroyed St. Thomas Becket’s bones and ordered that all mention of his name be obliterated. The pavement where the shrine stood is today marked by a lit candle.

Day by day He comes to us personally in this lowly form

 

… day after day He humbles Himself,
as when He came down from His royal throne into the Virgin’s womb.
Day by day He comes to us personally in this lowly form.
Daily He comes down from the bosom of His Father, onto the altar, into
the hands of the priest.

St. Francis of Assisi

Feast of the Holy Innocents

When the Magi arrived in Judea seeking the newborn “king of the Jews” (Matt. 2:1-2), King Herod was worried. After ascertaining in Scriptures that Bethlehem was the likely birthplace of the Child, he met with the Wise Men. The crafty king bid them go to Bethlehem and bring him back details so he could also adore the new king.

But God Who sees into the hearts of men, warned the three Magi in a dream not to return by way of King Herod. Far from wishing to adore Christ Jesus, the tetrarch wished to destroy Him.

Realizing that he had been found out, Herod raged and ordered all little boys, two years of age and under, to be slaughtered in Bethlehem and its surroundings, hoping thus, to also destroy the Child Jesus.

But warned in time by an angel, St. Joseph had gathered the mother and child and fled to Egypt. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the Prophet Jeremiah: “A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning, Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” (Matt.2:17-18).

The Church considers those slaughtered babes, the first martyrs, since they shed their blood because of Christ. The Church officially honors their martyrdom on December 28. Several churches in Rome and throughout Europe claim to house their relics.

10 Tips for better New Year's Resolutions

 

 

1. Be honest. Know yourself. What is your strongest virtue? What is your worst vice? Therefore, tailor your resolution so it strengthens your good side and fights your bad one. A one-size fits all resolution is useless. 

 

2. Be specific. Don't use generalities. They don't work. For example, if you need to be more humble, just saying "I am going to be more humble," is useless. You need to zero in on one situation where you need to practice humility and resolve to improve in that one situation.

 

3. Be simple. Don't make it complicated. Focus on something you can see and measure easily and that does not overwhelm you each time you try to obtain it. Otherwise, you will become distracted and your energy will be dispersed and misdirected.

 

 

 

 

 Click here to join our Three Hail Marys Pledge

 

4. Be reasonable. Don't try to do too much at once. You won't become a saint in one day. Remember: you have one MAJOR point upon which is hinged your entire fidelity to God and His Holy Laws. This is a called your primordial light. Find out and work on improving it. Everything else will improve if you improve on that one major point.

 

5. Be consistent. It's far better to do something small everyday to improve on that one key point in your soul than to make a big resolution that you cannot keep for more than a week or two. Slow and steady wins the race!

 

6. Be humble. Recognize that you cannot do any good action which has value in the supernatural order without God's grace and the intercessory help of the Blessed Mother. Beg God's grace through Our Lady's intercession constantly in all your thoughts, desires and actions.

 

7. Be disinterested. Remember that God wants us to defend His rights and interests, and to share His thoughts and ways. And therefore, to focus on things, happening and events that are very close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary that are not necessarily linked to our own personal interests.

  

 

 

 

Click here to become a Child of Mary

 

8. Write it down. It's important to write down your resolution so you can refer back to it often during the year. Also, by writing it down, you will be able to review it when the year is over, and to evaluate your progress since the time the resolution was made.

 

9. Public expressions of faith. Don't hide your faith. That's just what the devil wants. He knows when you express your faith publicly, others see you and are encouraged to follow your good example. Say grace openly and proudly before meals in a restaurant so people can see. You'll be surprised with the good reactions you will get.

 

10. Devotion to Our Lady. Have more devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Devotion to the Mother of God is a panacea. Saint Louis de Montfort said that devotion to Holy Mary is the easiest, safest, fastest, most secure, and surest path to Jesus and to our own salvation. If you can do nothing else, resolve to say the Rosary everyday. Saint Louis de Montfort wrote:

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins 'you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.' Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if-- and mark well what I say-- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins."

 

 

 

 

 

What burns within me?

 

I would wield the sword, I would be a Priest,
an Apostle, a Martyr, a Doctor of the Church,
I would fain accomplish the most heroic deeds
— the spirit of the Crusader burns within me,
and I would gladly die on the battlefield in defense of the Church

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

St. John the Evangelist

John was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of James the Greater. In the Gospels, the brothers are often called “the sons of Zebedee”. Our Lord also called them “Boanerges” or “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17).  The fact that John is usually mentioned after James seems to indicate that he was younger than his brother.

Originally, John fished with his father and brother in the lake of Genezareth.  He was probably among the disciples of John the Baptist, when the Lord attached him to His apostolic college.

John is mentioned numerous times in the Scriptures, in Acts 1:13 as second after Peter. He seems to hold a prominent position among the apostles. Peter, James and he were the only witnesses to the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37), of the Transfiguration (Matt.17:1), and of the Agony in the Garden (Matt.26:37). At the Last Supper, he was the one that leaned his head on the Lord’s chest. According to pious tradition and private revelation, he was the first recipient of the devotion to Our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart.

Of all the apostles, John was the only one that was not married, and a virgin.

At the foot of the cross, he was the only one of the apostles standing with Mary Most Holy, and it was to him that the dying Savior entrusted His beloved Mother’s keeping and protection.

After the Lord’s death, John seems to have labored with the other apostles for several years in Palestine until the persecution of Herod Agrippa led to the scattering of the apostles throughout the Roman Empire. John went to Asia Minor, including to Ephesus, where a pious tradition holds that he took the Blessed Mother to live.

One of the four evangelists, St. John is the author of the fourth and last Gospel. He wrote the Apocalypse on the Island of Patmos and was the only apostle not to suffer martyrdom but to die of natural causes around the age of 100.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

In the fullness of time, God chose to send His Only- begotten Son to earth by means of a family – a family of Judea. The head of that family was a man whom Scriptures calls “Just” (Matt.1:19). It also gives the genealogy of this “Just Man”, Joseph by name, he was “of the house of David” (Luke 1:27), though he was impoverished and exercised the profession of a carpenter. His bride was the youthful Mary, offered by her parents to the Temple as a small child; she had been raised among the things of God and educated in the Holy Writ. She also descended from King David.

Given their ancestry, Joseph and Mary were a Judean prince and princess.

By a special providence of the Most High, these two holy people were betrothed, though Mary had made a vow of perpetual virginity, which Joseph meant to honor in their marriage. Evidence of their mutual agreement to this effect  is the fact that when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was to bear a son, she asked the question foremost in her mind: “How shall this be, since I know not man?” (Luke1:34) – a question, otherwise nonsensical, in a person entering the married state.

Mary’s question was not the result of doubt but of a simple need to understand. And thus, when she was told that the child she was to bear would be Jesus, the Son of the Most High, and that this marvel would occur through the work of the Holy Spirit, she gave her Fiat, “…and the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14).

And Joseph and Mary were married and lawfully constituted a family, in the eyes of God and men. And when Joseph learned of the mystery within Mary, we can imagine him falling to his knees, and adoring the God Child in the world’s first tabernacle.

And as true foster father, he lived to serve the God made man who called him “father”.

In the virtuous, cross-embracing example of the Holy Family, and later by constituting marriage between a man and a woman a Sacrament, God has exalted the Christian Family, giving it the means to be the mainstay of every wholesome society, the “hub” of true culture, and the nest of sanctity.

 

Photos by: Ralph Hammann

Our best Friend

 

To withdraw from creatures and repose with Jesus in the Tabernacle
is my delight; there I can hide myself and seek rest.
There I find a life which I cannot describe, a joy which I cannot make
others comprehend,  a peace such as is found only under the
hospitable roof of our best Friend.

St. Ignatius Loyola

St. Stephen Martyr

Stephen was a Jew, possibly of the Hellenist Dispersion who, therefore, spoke Greek.

His election and that of six other men as deacons is related in the Acts of the Apostles: “And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 6:5)

Stephen spoke with such wisdom and fire that his listeners could not resist his words. Thus a plot was begun in certain synagogues against him. At first, they tried to debate with the young deacon but could not withstand his inspired logic. Wanting to silence him by any means, they then conspired to put him to death.

Brought before the Sanhedrim, he delivered a marvelous defense of the New Order established by Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Order (recorded at length in the Acts of the Apostles),and finished with the stinging words: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” (Acts 7:51-54)

The whole assembly raged at Stephen, but he, full of the Holy Ghost, looked up and saw our Savior standing at the right hand of God the Father, and exclaimed: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7: 55)

At which words those assembled loudly protested, and stopping their ears, fell upon him and seized him. Dragging the deacon outside the city, they stoned him. Standing by, watching, was a man named Saul, and those hurling the stones laid their cloaks at his feet for safe keeping.
As the martyr felt himself dying under the awful blows, he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling on his knees he cried out, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:58-59). After which he fell asleep in the Lord.

St. Stephen is the first to have shed his blood for the Name of Christ Jesus.

Why did He choose to be born so?

Our Lord could have ordered the angels to embellish the Holy Grotto with the most delicate silks, the most aromatic perfumes, and the most celestial symphonies. He could have enjoyed every legitimate material delight from the first moment of His human life.

Instead, He chose the very opposite. His delicate body lay not on soft silk, but on coarse straw. His crib was a feeding trough which, however diligently scoured by Our Lady, did not exude the sweet smells of exquisite perfumes. Born at midnight in the middle of winter, the Holy Infant trembled in the cold night air, warmed only by the breath of beasts. His cradle song was the lowing of cows.

Thus, Our Lord Jesus Christ showed us how foolish it is to make this world’s delights the end of our lives. To the contrary, Christ taught us to disdain them for the glory of God and the good of souls, in the measure that they distract and even deviate us from our ultimate end — the eternal delight of unending life with Him.


Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

On December 25 the Church celebrates the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity made man, Who taking flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, was  born nine months later in a stable in Bethlehem as predicted in the Scriptures: "And Thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Micah, 5:2). The Gospels of St. Luke and St. Mathew cover the marvelous story. St. Luke writes of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem for the census of Caesar Augustus and Jesus being born there and laid in a manger.  He tells of the appearance of an angel to shepherds nearby announcing the birth of the Child as the awaited Savior, Christ the Lord, and how these same shepherds found Him in the humble stable just as the angel had foretold.

In the account of St. Matthew, wise men follow a mysterious star to Bethlehem and lay gifts at the feet of the Divine Child. He also recounts the massacre, ordered by the envious Herod, of all little boys two years old and under, and the flight of the holy family into Egypt to save the Child Jesus. They later settle in Nazareth.

Though there are records of the feast of the Nativity of Jesus being celebrated as early as the third century in Egypt, the celebration of this feast did not spread throughout the Christian world until the middle of the fourth century. It was at first celebrated along with the feast of Epiphany on January 6, the feast of the arrival of the Wise Men or Magi. Little by little, Christmas became its own feast. Many of the early Church Fathers regarded December 25 as the actual date of Christ’s birth.

Historically and traditionally, Christmas is deemed one of the greatest Christian feasts along with the solemn, grateful remembrance of the Lord’s death on Good Friday, and the joyful celebration of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In all Christian countries, Christmas gives rise to a multitude of cultural expressions of colorful, sparkling joy, in remembrance and thanksgiving for this most charming of divine gifts, a God made a babe for our salvation. Countless songs, and ballads through the ages sing of this Gift of gifts, and people, in turn, have recourse to gift giving as a visible overflow of their gratitude and joy – or so it should be.

Why did He come so humbly?

 

The Son of God was not satisfied with promising to redeem us or with becoming Man.
But He willed to come into this world in a manner not at all consistent with His grandeur.
He came as humbly as can be imagined so that we might be more free to approach Him.

St. Louise de Marillac

Sts. Irmina and Adela

Princesses Irmina and Adela were daughters of St. Dagobert II, King of the Francs. Their father had acceded to the throne at the age of seven but had been deposed soon after and had fled to Ireland for safety. During his exile he married the Anglo-Saxon princess, Matilda, and had five children, among them Adela and Irmina. He returned to the Frankish capital of Metz in 673 and reclaimed the throne.

Irmina was betrothed to Count Herman but he was assassinated shortly before they were to marry and she professed her desire to embrace the religious life instead. King Dagobert restored a convent at Horren in Trier where she founded a Benedictine community. When a deadly plague threatened her sisters, she sought the help of St. Willibrord. In gratitude for being preserved from this pestilence, she provided the manor where the monastery of Echternach was founded in 698. Her devotion to the poor led to her being honored as a saint after her death in the year 710.

Her sister, Adela, was married to Alberic and they had a son prior to her husband’s untimely death. Despite many marriage offers, the young widow chose to enter religion as well. She founded the convent of Palatiolum outside of Trier on lands that were then undeveloped and governed it as Abbess for many years until her death on December 24, 735. The monastic site later grew into the town of Pfalzel. Her son became the future father of St. Gregory of Utrecht.

The memory of the two royal sisters and foundresses is celebrated jointly on December 24.

Magnet of souls

 

The Blessed Sacrament is the magnet of souls.
There is a mutual attraction between Jesus and the souls of men.
Mary drew Him down from heaven. Our nature attracted Him rather than the nature of angels.
Our misery caused Him to stoop to our lowness.
Even our sins had a sort of attraction for the abundance of His mercy and the predilection of His grace.
Our repentance wins Him to us. Our love makes earth a paradise to Him; and
our souls lure Him as gold lures the miser, with irresistible fascination.

Fr. Frederick William Faber

St. John of Kanti

Born on June 23, 1390, John Cantius takes his name from the town of his birth, Kanti, Poland.

Country people of some means, his parents saw early on that John was as clever as he was good. At the right time, they sent him to the University of Cracow where he received degrees, was ordained a priest and appointed to a professorship.

Leading a strict ascetic life, when warned about his health, he was wont to reply that the fathers of the desert usually lived to a ripe old age.

Such was his success as a teacher and preacher that inevitably envy reared its ugly head against him. Removed from his post, he was appointed parish priest of Olkusz. Although he gave his all to his new assignment – not without some trepidation – his parishioners did not like him at first; however, he persevered for several years and won his people’s hearts.

Recalled to the University of Cracow, St. John was appointed professor of Sacred Scriptures, a post he held until his death.  He was as welcome a guest at the houses and tables of the nobility as he was well-known to all the poor in the city. Whatever he owned was always at their disposition.

A number of miracles were attributed to him during his life. When people heard that he was dying, their sorrow was genuine and general. To those who ministered to him on his death bed he said, “Never mind about this prison that is decaying, but think of the soul that is going to leave it.”

He died on Christmas Eve of the year 1473. He was eighty-three years of age. John of Kanti or Cantius, as he is sometimes called, was canonized in 1767.

How to be holy

 

Holiness is a disposition of the heart
that makes us humble and little in the arms of God,
aware of our weakness, and confident
– to the point of audacity –
in His Fatherly goodness.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Sts. Chaeremon, Ischyrion and other Martyrs

 

In his letter to Fabian, the Bishop of Antioch, St. Dionysius of Alexandria speaks of Christians who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Decius. Many were driven to flee into the desert where they suffered hunger, exposure, and died prey to either wild beasts, or at the hand of men just as wild. A good number were also sold into slavery.

St. Dionysius particularly mentions a very old man, the Bishop of Nilopolis, by name of Chaeremon who, with a companion, disappeared into the mountains of Arabia. Though a search was carried out, not even their bodies were found.

In the same letter St. Dionysius also mentions the name of Ischyrion, the procurator of a magistrate of Egypt. When ordered by the Egyptian official to sacrifice to the idols, Ischyrion refused so steadfastly that neither abuse nor threats could make him change his mind. The enraged magistrate then had him mutilated and impaled.

 

Photo by: Roland Unger

The Holy Family Novena

 

 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving Holy Church, as we are bound to do, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing forth our love by the witness of our deeds.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of openly professing, as we are bound to do, with courage and without human respect, the faith that we received of Thy gift in Holy Baptism.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of sharing, as we are bound to do, in the defense and propagation of the Faith, when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of our fortunes and our lives.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of loving one another in mutual charity, as we are bound to do, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will and action, under the rule and guidance of our holy Pastors.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us and grant us the grace of conforming our lives fully, as we are bound to do, to the commandments of God's law and that of His holy church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we ask in particular this special favor: [state your request here]

 

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, Who, being made subject to Mary and Joseph, didst consecrate domestic life by Thine ineffable virtues; grant that we, with the assistance of both, may be taught by the example of Thy holy Family and may attain to its everlasting fellowship. Who livest and reignest, world without end.  Amen.

 

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Click here for a printable PDF of this Novena

 

Jesus wishes to remain completely united with us

 

Could anyone ever have been able to imagine that the Word become flesh 
would take on the appearance of bread to become our food unless He Himself had already done so?
Even though we cannot see Him in the Eucharist, He sees us and is really present there.
He is present so that we can possess Him, but hidden in order that we might desire Him.
Until such time as we come to our homeland, Jesus wishes to give Himself completely to us 
and to remain completely united with us. 

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

St. Peter Canisius

St. Peter Canisius is rightly considered the second apostle of Germany after St. Boniface.

Peter Kanis – his name was later Latinized to “Canisius” – was born in Nijmegen, Holland, then a German province of the archdiocese of Cologne. He originally thought of becoming a lawyer to please his father, a wealthy public official, but after a retreat directed by St. Peter Faber, one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the young Canisius decided to become a Jesuit.

Shortly after his ordination to the priesthood, he accompanied the Bishop of Augsburg to the Council of Trent and attended two sessions of the Council as a delegate. He was later summoned to Rome by St. Ignatius who retained him by his side for five months.

In response to an appeal by Duke William IV of Bavaria for Catholic professors capable of countering heretical teachings then permeating the schools, after his solemn profession, Peter Canisius was sent to Germany with two other brother Jesuits.

From then on Peter Canisius spent his life helping people in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia and Switzerland to hold firmly to their Catholic Faith in opposition to the errors of the Protestant reformation then spreading throughout those countries.  The restoration of the Catholic Faith in Germany is largely due to the work of the Jesuit fathers which Canisius led.

He combined powerful preaching, with teaching and ceaseless works of charity. In Austria, he at first preached to almost empty churches, partially due to his Rhineland German which grated on the ears of the Viennese.  But his tireless ministrations to the sick and dying during an outbreak of the plague, won the citizens’ hearts, after which his accent was of little importance.

The king, the nuncio and even the Pope wished to appoint him to the vacant see of Vienna, but St. Ignatius would only allow him to administer the diocese for a year without episcopal orders. It was at this time that St. Peter began work on his famous catechism, Summary of Christian Doctrine.

Appointed to Prague, he practically won the city back to the Faith. The college he established in the city was so highly regarded for its excellent academics that even Protestants sought to send their sons to it. During this time he was also made Provincial Superior of the Jesuit Order for an area covering Czechoslovakia, South Germany, Austria and Bohemia.

Not only did Peter Canisius found several colleges, but prepared the way for many others. He also wrote extensively throughout his life. His books were catechetical, instructional, historical and apologetic, refuting the errors of Protestantism.

Canisius was already advanced in age when he was instructed to found a college in Fribourg, Switzerland, capital of the Catholic canton, sandwiched between two powerful Protestant neighbors. Surmounting all obstacles, including numerous financial difficulties, St. Peter founded a university operative to this day. The preservation of the Catholic faith in Fribourg in a critical time of its history can be confidently attributed to him.

Increasing bodily illness obliged Peter Canisius to give up preaching. In 1591 he suffered a paralytic seizure which brought him near death, but recovering sufficiently, he continued writing with the help of a secretary until shortly before his passing on December 21, 1597.

Peter Canisius was simultaneously canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

Second photo by: GFreihalter

What makes me afraid?

 

I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help,
some of our Divine help will fail us.

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Dominic de Silos

Dominic was born at Canas de Navarre, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. From a family of peasants, at first he looked after his father’s flocks in the foothills of the beautiful mountains of that region.

Developing a taste for silence and solitude, he entered the monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla. As he made great progress in the religious state, he was entrusted with works of reform and became prior of his monastery.

Refusing to hand over to King Garcia III of Navarre some of the monastery’s lands which the monarch coveted, he and two of his companions were forced into exile by the king. They were warmly received by Ferdinand I of Castille and León who entrusted to Dominic the monastery of San Sebastián de Silos, in a remote part of the diocese of Burgos. The ancient Benedictine monastery, however, was decaying – structurally and spiritually.

As Abbot of San Sebastian, Dominic restored order to both the physical structure of the edifice and the spiritual edifice of the souls within, and made Silos famous throughout Spain.

Dominic was a great miracle worker, and it was said that there was no disease that he had not, at one time or another, cured. His charitable solicitude embraced not only the poor and the infirm but Christians enslaved by the Moors. These he endeavored by all means within his powers to free from their cruel captivity.

About one hundred year after his death, a young woman, Blessed Juana de Aza de Guzmán, made a pilgrimage to his tomb, asking to conceive a child. The child she effectually conceived and bore, she named Dominic after the holy abbot of Silos. This Dominic became the great St. Dominic de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican Order.

Dominic of Silos died on December 20, 1073.

When the heart is pure...

 

When the heart is pure, it cannot help loving,
because it has found the source of love,
which is God Himself.

St. John Vianney

Pope St. Anastasius I

St. Jerome wrote of Pope Anastasius that he was a distinguished man of blameless life and apostolic solicitude, a man of great holiness, rich in his poverty.

Born a Roman, son of Maximus, Anastasius was the successor of St. Siricius, and was pope from 399 to 401.

During his short reign, he fought the heresy of Origen. In 400 he called a Council to discuss the man and his doctrines. The Council condemned Origin’s errors.

He also opposed Donatism, another heresy in Northern Africa.

Sts. Jerome, Augustine and Paulinus, were his friends and admirers.

Jesus was kind to sinners, but...

 

While Jesus was kind to sinners and to those who went astray,
He did not respect their false ideas, however sincere they might have appeared.
He loved them all, but
He instructed them in order to convert them and save them.

Pope St. Pius X

St. Flannan

St. Flannan mac Toirrdelbaig, was the son of Turlough, the King of Thomond in Ireland.

He became a monk at the monastery of Killaloe, and at a certain point made a pilgrimage to Rome where Pope John IV consecrated him bishop. He was the first bishop of Killaloe, the diocese becoming one of twenty-four established at the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1111.  St. Flannan's diocese of Killaloe is operative to this day.

Following Flannan’s example of dedication and holiness, his devout father, King Turlough, retired in his old age and entered religion, becoming a monk in the Abbey of Lismore.

Renowned for the eloquence and ardor of his preaching, St. Flannan, also performed remarkable miracles. When he sensed death approaching, he instructed those present on the importance of observing natural and human justice, blessed his relatives and died on December 18.

First photo by: James Yardley

Second photo by: JJM

The reason for many failures in life

 

There are many who begin, yet they never reach the end.

I believe this is due mainly
to a failure to embrace the cross
– from the beginning.

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Sturmi

Sturmi was the son of Christian parents in Bavaria. He was placed under the direction of St. Boniface, the great apostle of the Germans, who, in turn, entrusted the youth’s education to St. Wigbert in the abbey of Fritzlar.

In due course ordained a priest, Sturmi was a missionary in Westphalia for three years, after which he took to an eremitical life.

Later, when St. Boniface founded the monastery of Fulda in 744, he appointed Sturmi abbot. The favorite foundation of St. Boniface, Fulda became a point from which Germany could be effectively evangelized and the pattern-seminary of priests for all Germany.

Soon after the foundation, Sturmi traveled to Italy to study Benedictine observance at Monte Cassino. There seems to be evidence that Pope St. Zachary granted the Abbey of Fulda to be subject directly to the Pope, free from episcopal jurisdiction. After the martyrdom of St. Boniface, St. Lull as his successor, acted differently toward the abbey claiming it should be subject to his jurisdiction as bishop. In the ensuing struggle, Sturmi was banished and another appointed abbot, but the monks did not accept him and expelled him, threatening to appeal to the king.

Eventually, Sturmi returned to the helm of Fulda Abbey, but his efforts to evangelize the Germans was somewhat truncated by Charlemagne’s conquests and his rather truculent enforcement of religion. When Charlemagne turned to Spain to fight the Moors, the Saxons drove out the monks from Fulda.

In 779 when Charlemagne returned, incurring some victories against the Saxons, St. Sturmi was in a better position but he did not live to continue his missions.

The saintly abbot fell gravely ill, and despite the efforts of Charlemagne’s own physician, he died on December 17, 779.

First photo by: 4028mdk09

Christmas Novena, December 16 - 24

 

Click here for a printer friendly version

 

 

Opening Prayer for each day:

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment

In which the Son of God was born

Of the most pure Virgin Mary

At midnight, in Bethlehem

In piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe I beseech Thee, O my God,

To hear my prayers and grant my petitions

Through the merits of Jesus Christ and of His most blessed Mother. Amen.

 (Mention your intentions here)

 

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Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Day 7	Day 8	Day 9

 

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Day 1

Prayer: O Great Son of God, you have become man in order to make yourself loved by men. But where is the love that men give you in return? You have given your life blood to save our souls.

Why then are we so hard-hearted, repaying your love with our ingratitude? More than others, I have myself ill-treated you in this manner, Lord.

But your Passion is my hope. For the sake of that love which led you to take upon yourself our human nature and to die for me on the cross, forgive me all the offenses I have committed against you.

I love you, O Word Incarnate. I love you, O infinite goodness. Contrite and repentant, out of love for you, I could die of grief for these offenses. Give me, O Jesus, your love. Let me no longer live in ungrateful forgetfulness of the love you bear me. I wish to love you always. Grant that I may always persevere in this holy desire.

O Mary, Mother of God and my Mother, pray for me that your Son may give me the grace to love Him always. Amen.

 

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Day 2

Prayer: O Dearest Infant! Tell me, what have you come on earth to do? Tell me, whom do you seek? Yes, I already know. You have come to die for me, to save me from hell. You have come seeking me, your lost sheep, so that, instead of fleeing from you, my gentle shepherd, I may rest in the protection of loving arms. O my Jesus, my treasure, my life, my love and my all!  Whom will I love, if not you?  Where can I find a father, a friend, a spouse more loving and more lovable than yourself?

I love you, O my God; I love you, my only good.  I regret the many years when I have not loved you as I ought, but rather spurned and offended you. Forgive me, O my beloved Redeemer; I am heartedly sorry for having treated you so coldly.

Pardon me, and give me the grace never more to withdraw from you, but constantly to love you in all the years that still lie before me in this life.  My love, I give myself entirely to you; accept me, and do not reject me as I deserve.

O Mary, my advocate, by your prayers you can obtain whatever you will from your Son. Beseech Him, then, to forgive me, and to grant me holy perseverance until death. Amen.

 

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Day 3

Prayer: O Dear Infant Jesus, would I have been so ungrateful and offended you so often, if I had realized how much you have suffered for me? But these tears which you shed, this poverty which you embrace for love of me, fill me with the hope that you will pardon all the offenses I have committed against you.

My Jesus, I am sorry for having so often turned my back on you. But now I love you above all else. "My God and my all!" From this moment forward, O my God, you shall be my only treasure and my only good. With Saint Ignatius of Loyola I will say to you, "Give me the grace to love you; that is enough for me." I long for nothing else; I want nothing else. You alone are enough for me, my Jesus, my life, my love.

O Mary, my Mother, obtain for me the grace that I may always love Jesus and always be loved by Him. Amen.

 

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Day 4

Prayer: O Dearest Savior, you have embraced so many outrages for love of me, yet I am incapable of bearing a single insult without immediately being filled with resentful thoughts, I who have so often deserved to be trodden underfoot by the demons in hell! I am ashamed to appear before you, sinful and proud as I am. Yet, do not drive me from your presence, O Lord, even though that is what I deserve. You have said that you will not spurn a contrite and humbled heart. I am sorry for the offenses I have committed against you. Forgive me, O Jesus. I will not offend you again.

For love of me you have borne so many injuries; for love of you, I will bear all the injuries that are done to me. I love you, Jesus, who were despised for love of me. I love you above every other good. Give me the grace to love you always and to bear every insult for love of you.

O Mary, recommend me to your Son; pray to Jesus for me. Amen.

 

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Day 5

Prayer: O Jesus, my sweet Love! I too have caused you to suffer during your life. Tell me, then, what I must do in order to win your forgiveness. I am ready to do all you ask of me. I am truly sorry, O sovereign Good, for all the offenses I have committed against you. I love you more than myself, or at least I feel a great desire to love you. Since it is you who have given me this desire, do you also give me the strength to love you exceedingly.

It is only right that I, who have offended you so much, should love you very much. Always remind me of the love you have borne me, so that my soul may ever burn with love of you and long to please you alone. O God of love, I, who was once a slave of hell, now give myself entirely to you. Graciously accept me and bind me to yourself with the bonds of your love. My Jesus, from this day and forever, I shall live loving you, and, in loving you, will I die.

O Mary, my Mother and my hope, help me to love your dear God and mine. This is the only favor I ask of you, and through you I hope to receive it. Amen.

 

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Day 6

Prayer: O my Dear Redeemer! Where would I now be, if you had not borne with me so patiently, but had called me from this life while I was in the state of sin? 

Since you have waited for me till now, forgive me quickly, O my Jesus, before death finds me still guilty of so many offenses that I have committed against you. I am so sorry for having despised you, my sovereign Good that I could die of grief. But you cannot abandon a soul that seeks you.

If hitherto I have forsaken you, I now seek you and love you. Yes, my God, I love you above all else; I love you more than myself. 

Help me, Lord, to love Thee during the rest of my life. I seek nothing else of you. But this I beg of you, this I hope to receive from you.

Mary, my hope, pray for me. If you pray for me, I am sure of obtaining this grace. Amen.

 

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Day 7

Prayer: Dear Infant Jesus, crying so bitterly! How much reason you have to weep in seeing yourself persecuted by men whom you have loved so much. I, too, O God, have persecuted you by my sins. But you know that now I love you more than myself, and that nothing pains me more than the thought that I have so often spurned you, my sovereign Good.

Forgive me, O Jesus, and let me bear you with me in my heart, during the remainder of my life’s journey, so that together with you, I may enter into eternity. How often have I driven you from my soul by my sins. But now I love you above all things, and more than all other misfortunes, I regret that I have offended you. I wish to leave you no more, my beloved Lord. But give me the strength to resist temptation. Never permit me to be separated from you again.  Let me rather die than ever again lose your good grace.

O Mary, my hope, obtain that I may always live in God's love and then die in loving Him. Amen.

 

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Day 8

Prayer: O Jesus, my Savior! When I consider how, for love of me, you spent thirty years of your life hidden and unknown in a poor workshop, how can I desire the pleasures, honors and riches of this world? Gladly do I renounce them, one and all, since I wish to be your companion on this earth, poor as you were, mortified and humble as you were, so that I may hope to be able one day to enjoy your companionship in heaven. What are all the treasures and kingdoms of this world? O Jesus, you are my only treasure, my only Good!

I keenly regret the many times in the past when I spurned your friendship in order to satisfy my foolish whims. I am sorry for them with all my heart. For the future I would rather lose my life a thousand times than lose your grace by sin. I desire never to offend you again, but always to love you. Help me to remain faithful to you until death.

O Mary, the sure refuge of sinners, you are my hope. Amen.

 

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Day 9

Prayer: O Adorable Infant Jesus! I should not have the boldness to cast myself at your feet, if I did not know that you yourself invite me to draw near. It is I who by my sins have made you shed so many tears in the stable of Bethlehem. But since you have come on earth to pardon repentant sinners, forgive me also, now that I am heartily sorry for having spurned you, my Savior and my God, who are so good and who have loved me so much.

This blessed night, during which you bestow great graces on so many souls, grant your heavenly consolation to this poor soul of mine. All that I ask of you is the grace to love you always, from this day forward, with all my heart. Set me all on fire with your holy love. I love Thee, O my God, who became a Babe for love of me. Never let me cease loving you ever more.

O Mary, Mother of Jesus and my Mother, you can obtain everything from your Son by your prayers. This is the only favor I ask of you: pray to Jesus for me. Amen.

 

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The obligation of prayer

 

Although one is not bound to pray at all hours,
one is bound throughout the day to keep oneself fit for prayer.

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Adelaide of Italy

Adelaide was the daughter of Rudolph II of Burgundy and Bertha of Swabia. In a political settlement between her father and Hugh of Provence when she was but a year old, she was promised in marriage to Hugh’s son, Lothair.

Fourteen years later the young princess married Lothair II, then nominal King of Italy. Supported by the Italian nobility, real power in the kingdom was held by Berengar of Ivrea. The couple had a daughter, Emma who later married Lothair of France.

Lothair II died under suspicious circumstances in 950 and was succeeded by Berengar who tried to cement his usurped power by forcing a marriage between the young widow and his own son, Adalbert, whom he had crowned as his co-ruler. At her refusal, Adelaide was shut up in a castle on Lake Garda from which she made her escape with the assistance of a priest who dug a subterranean passage.

Through an emissary, Adelaide appealed to Otto I of Germany for protection. He attacked and conquered Berangar and, on Christmas day in 951, married Adelaide who was twenty years his junior. They had four children. In 962, Otto was crowned emperor in Rome and Adelaide empress.

When her son, Otto II, succeeded his father in 973, Adelaide at first exercised a powerful influence at court. But when Otto married the Byzantine princess, Theophano, the latter turned her husband against his mother, and the dowager was alienated from court. She sought refuge with her brother, Conrad, King of Burgundy, who, eventually, reconciled them.

At Otto II’s death in 983, both Theophano and Adelaide were appointed regents for his infant son, however, Theophano once more drove the Dowager Empress from the royal court into exile. But upon her daughter-in-law’s death in 991, Adelaide was again restored to the regency for her eleven-year-old grandson. Her energy being at this time of life much reduced, she was assisted by Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz. When the young Emperor Otto III came of age in 995, she was free to dedicate herself to works of charity, especially the foundation and restoration of religious houses.

Queen Adelaide had been a friend of Sts. Majoulos and Odilo, abbots of the great monastery of Cluny, then the center of monastic and clerical reform. She retired to the convent of Selta, near Cologne, which she had founded around 991, and though never professed, spent her last days in prayer. She died on December 16, 999.

Second Photo by: Vitold Muratov

The reason for affliction

 

Without the burden of afflictions
it is impossible to reach the height of grace.
The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.

St. Rose of Lima

St. Mary di Rosa

Mother Maria Crocifissa was born Paolina Francesca di Rosa, the sixth of nine children of Clement di Rosa and the Countess Camilla Albani. The di Rosas were a wealthy family of Brescia, Italy.

Losing her mother to a terminal illness at age eleven, her education was entrusted to the Visitation Sisters. At seventeen Paolina left school to assist in the running of her father’s estate and household. To these duties she soon added the care and spiritual welfare of the girls working at her father’s mills and other factories in the city. She also founded a woman’s guild and arranged retreats and special missions. When the cholera epidemic devastated Brescia in 1836, she and a widow, Gabriela Bornati, served the victims in the hospital with such dedication that Paolina was next asked to undertake the supervision of a workhouse for penniless girls, which she did for two years.

She continued to engage in social work, always giving signs of ability and a perspicacious intelligence with a surprising grasp of theology. In 1840, with Gabriela Bornati, she started a congregation with the purpose of serving the ill and suffering in hospitals. Taking the name of Handmaids of Charity, they started with four members and soon grew to number twenty-two.

The name she took upon her profession of religious vows was a synthesis of her whole life: Maria Crocifissa. Her spiritual life was firmly grounded on the imitation of Christ’s suffering on the Cross. This was the foundation of her life, her teaching and her contemplation. Her love for Christ Crucified was reflected in her unstinting and total dedication to the suffering members of his Mystical Body.

As the community expanded, Clemente di Rosa provided a commodious house in Brescia, and their rule of life was provisionally approved by the bishop in 1843. Anticipating Florence Nightingale by several years, the Handmaids of Charity ministered to the wounded in the war which ravaged the region in 1848. After a meeting with Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1850, the constitutions of the Handmaids of Charity of Brescia were approved.

A second cholera epidemic hit northern Italy and pushed the growing order to its limit. After a flurry of foundations in Spalato, Dalmatia and Verona, Mother Maria collapsed, and was brought home to Brescia to die. She passed away peacefully on December 15, 1855 at the age of forty-two.

Set the soul on fire

 

Contemplation is nothing else than a secret, peaceful, and loving 
infusion of God, which if admitted,
will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love.

St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross

John’s father, Gonzalo de Yepes, was of a prominent family in Toledo, Spain. At his marriage to a poor girl, Catherine Alvarez, he was disinherited, and tried his hand at the silk-weaving trade. When Gonzalo died young, Catherine was left destitute with three young sons, John being the youngest.

Sent to a poor school in Medina, John found work at the city’s hospital, and there labored for seven years.

Already given to the practice of prayer, and to bodily austerities, he studied with the Jesuits. It was revealed to him that he was to serve God in an Order, the ancient perfection of which he would help to renew.

At twenty-one he took the Carmelite habit as John of St. Matthias. Though meaning to be a lay brother, he excelled in theology and was ordained in 1567. Early on, he obtained permission to follow the original Carmelite rule, without the mitigations allowed by various popes.

When St. Teresa of Avila, the great reformer of Carmel, met John in Medina-del-Campo, she knew he was the man for the reform of the male branch of the order.  Though John was small in stature, Teresa sensed his courage and commitment. With all the proper backing and credentials, she and John proceeded to found reformed branches of the Carmelite Order in Duruelo, Pastrana, Mancera and Alcalá. As a reformed Carmelite, John took the name of John of the Cross, indeed a prophetic title.

Around this time in his life, after tasting the joys of contemplation, John entered a period of aridity, scruples, and interior desolation. While assaulted with terrible temptations, he was also persecuted with calumnies. His book, Dark Night of the Soul is the child of these trials. But in the calm that followed the storm, St. John became a great mystic, writer, and is deemed one of the best poets that ever lived.

He later, along with St. Teresa, suffered much by confusions generated within their order, as a result of the reforms. He was imprisoned by his own brothers, as he was pressured to abandon the reform. He also suffered a severe beating at the hands of the Vicar General, which marks he bore until his death. After nine months of incarceration, he managed to escape, and fled to a reformed friary.

In 1579 he became head of the college at Baeza, and in 1581 was chosen prior at Granada. It is around this time that he began the writings on mystical theology that made him a Doctor of the Church.

But troubles within the order followed him. At one point he was stripped of all status and was sent to a remote friary. Another time there was a threat of expulsion of the holy reformer from the order. Ultimately, he died in a friary whose superior was hostile to him though, ultimately, repentant.

But John of the Cross had reached that level of sanctity where crosses were welcomed and gladly embraced in union with his crucified Lord. After suffering acutely for three months, he rendered his sterling soul to God on December 14, 1591.