Who except God can give peace?

 

Who except God can give you peace?
Has the world ever been able
to satisfy the heart?

St. Gerard Majella

Saint Peter Damian

 

Feast February 21

Peter Damian was born in Ravenna, Italy. His parents died when he was still very young, and he was adopted by his older brother who sent him to school, where he excelled in his studies and eventually worked as a professor.

Fasting and prayer were the great hallmarks of his sanctity. He had a great love for those less fortunate than himself, and frequently dined with the poor at his table, serving them with his own hands.

Leaving all his earthly possessions, Peter became a hermit in the Order of St. Benedict. Though reluctant to do so, he later became abbot of the hermitage in 1043. He guided his holy brothers with great piety, and eventually founded five other hermitages.

Peter’s wisdom was valued greatly within the Church, and in time, he was asked to be Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia. He reluctantly accepted, but often asked to be reinstated as a simple monk.

Eventually his wish was granted, and he returned to his simple life as a hermit, though he continued to assist the Church in matters of importance. He died at Faenza in 1072 of a severe fever.

The Hildebrandine reform in the Church – the stress for clerical celibacy and the fight against simony – is largely due to St. Peter Damien.

He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.

Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto

Saints Francisco (1908-1919) and Jacinta Marto (1910-1920) 

Francisco and Jacinta, brother and sister, were born in the hamlet of Aljustrel,
in the province of Fatima, Portugal.

Their parents, Manuel Marto and Olimpia de Jesus, had altogether ten children, of which the little seers were the eighth and ninth.

Francisco was a good-looking, sturdy lad, of a calm, retiring disposition. Jacinta was a pretty girl, with a spritely temperament, and just a bit spoiled.

At the time of the apparitions they were nine and seven years old, respectively. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, was ten years old.

Together with Lucia they thrice saw the Angel of Portugal in 1916. When Our Lady appeared on May 13, 1917 at Cova da Iria, Fatima, Lucia was the one to speak to the apparition, Francisco could see but not hear, and Jacinta could see and hear.

On the second apparition of June 13, when the children asked about going to heaven, Our Lady told them that Francisco and Jacinta would be going soon, while Lucia was to stay on earth a while. She added that Francisco would have to say many rosaries.

Between this information, and Our Lady’s insistence on reparation to Our Lord for so much offense, and prayer and sacrifices to help save the souls of poor sinners, the two youngest seers embarked on a rare program of holiness, culminating in their beatification in 2000.

Indeed, brother and sister were not beatified for having seen Our Lady, albeit the greatness of such a grace, but because, taking the heavenly invitation seriously, they attained heroic sanctity.

Francisco, though good and simple, obviously had some significant fault or faults for which to atone. On hearing from Lucia that Our Lady had said that he would have to say many rosaries to go to heaven, without the least trace of resentment he exclaimed: “O, my dear Our Lady, I will say as many rosaries as you want!”

He was often seen with his rosary in hand, seeking solitude or spending long hours before the Blessed Sacrament. His loving, innocent heart felt the special calling to “console Our Lord” for the sins of mankind.

After suffering without complaint the ravages of the Influenza of 1918, Francisco died on April 4, 1919 peacefully at home, with a smile on his lips. He was eleven years old.

Jacinta was riveted by the apparition of July 13 in which they were given a glimpse of Hell. After this vision, her every thought was of helping to save the souls of “poor sinners,” and she spared no prayer or sacrifice for that end.

Also contracting the Influenza of 1918, Jacinta suffered heroically. In a private apparition, Our Lady asked her if she would be willing to remain on earth a little longer to help save more sinners. The nine-year-old girl generously accepted, enduring a trip to Lisbon where she was admitted to two hospitals, and finally dying alone far from her family, as Our Lady had foretold to her. Still, the Blessed Mother herself supported her, appearing to her frequently, instructing and counseling her as well as showing her many things to come.

Francisco and Jacinta Marto were solemnly beatified on May 13, 2000, and canonized in May 2017.

He waits

 

He loves, He hopes, He waits.
If He came down on our altars on certain days only,
some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have
to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait.
Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner
for years
rather than keep him waiting one instant.

St. Peter Julian Eymard

Saint Wulfric of Haselbury

 

 

Feast February 20

Wulfric was born south of Bristol in Compton Martin. Assigned to a parish in Deverill near Warminster after his priestly ordination, he avidly continued some of his more worldly pursuits. Hunting – with both hawks and hounds – had been a passion with him and he was loath to give either of them up until a chance conversation with a beggar.

Converted to more godly pursuits by the words of the poor man, Wulfric moved back to his native village, now as its parish priest.

In 1125, desiring to live as an anchorite, Wulfric withdrew to a cell adjacent to the Church of St. Michael and All the Angels in Haselbury Plunett, Somerset. He had failed to obtain his bishop’s permission to do so, but was supported by the Cluniac monks at Montacute and others, who shared a great respect for his holiness.

His cell stood on the cold northern side of the church. In these simple quarters, Wulfric lived alone for twenty-nine years, devoting his time to prayer, meditation, the study of the Scriptures and severe bodily mortification: he slept little, ate frugally, abstained from meat, exposed his emaciated body to extreme temperatures and wore a hair shirt and heavy chain mail tunic.

People soon sought him out for his blessing and then for his guidance and counsel. He came to be known as a healer of body, mind and spirit; miracles and prophesies followed.

From his humble abode, the saintly anchorite came to exercise a powerful influence even at court. To King Henry I he predicted his imminent death; his successor, King Stephen, he chastised for the evils of his government.

Wulfric was one of the most influential anchorite priests of medieval England. Upon his death on February 20, 1154, a scuffle erupted in and around the church that had sheltered him in its shadows for nearly three decades.

The Cluniac monks of Montacute maintained that since they had provided food for the holy man for many years, this gave them a claim to the hermit’s mortal remains while the pastor of Haselbury, the town’s inhabitants and their neighbors from Crewkerne, forcibly retained their possession of the same.

Wulfric was buried in his own cell by the Bishop of Bath who had come to visit him shortly before his death.

---

Header Image: Written miracle of St. Wulfric of Haselbury

Tomorrow is the Anniversary of the Death of St. Jacinta of Fatima

 

 

By Benoit Bemelmans

 

+ March 11, 1910: Jacinta is born

+ From May 13 to October 13, 1917: the Blessed Mother appears to the three little shepherds

+ October 1918: Jacinta’s illness begins

+ February 20, 1920: Jacinta dies

 

A mystery to many

“Why should I read an article about Jacinta?” you may ask. “What can I get out of it? I already know everything about Fatima: the Blessed Mother appeared in Portugal to three little shepherds in 1917, told them to pray the rosary, and Jacinta was a very lucky little girl even though she died very young... she is now another little angel among the angels! How does it concern my life? How can I relate to a little girl who lived almost 100 years ago? Will I find it interesting at all?”

As you read this article you will discover that which is still a mystery to many, namely, why, during the apparition of July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin showed Hell to the three children: Lucia, 10, Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7.

Yes, the Blessed Virgin showed Hell to a little girl of seven, with demons in the form of horrible monsters, and souls of the damned burning in a huge fire! Why would she do such a thing?

That vision transformed Jacinta’s life: from then on she agreed to suffer so that sinners could convert, and therefore avoid losing their souls forever. As you read these few pages, you will see how the love of neighbor, including sinners, can lead a child to a heroic acceptance of suffering.

And how she suffered! Small, ignorant, poor and sick, through suffering Jacinta is transformed into a giant of virtue, a universal model of wisdom, inner richness and strength.

I am convinced that Jacinta has something very special to convey to you. Read her story, look her in the eyes, and discover for yourself what her questioning look suggests.

 

“How I have pity for souls who go to Hell!”

The concept of eternity was one of the things that most impressed Jacinta in the vision of Hell. At times she would stop in the middle of a game and ask her cousin,

“But look. So, after many, many years, will Hell still not be over? And you never get out of there?”

“No.”

“Even after many, many years?!”

“No. Hell never ends. Neither does Heaven. Whoever goes to Heaven never leaves. And those who go to Hell don’t either. Don’t you see that they are eternal, that they never end?”

Also:

“And those people burning there do not die? They do not turn into ashes? If we pray a lot for sinners, does Our Lord deliver them from there? And with sacrifices too? Poor ones! We will pray and make many sacrifices for them...How good that Lady really is! She has already promised to take us to Heaven!”

The vision of Hell had caused Jacinta such horror that all the penances and mortifications she could make seemed little to prevent a few souls from falling into it.

How could Jacinta, so small, understand and accept such a spirit of mortification and penance? Lucia explains,

“It seems to me that it was first by a special grace God wished to grant through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; secondly, by seeing Hell and the terrible state of the souls that fall into it.

“There are people, even pious ones, who do not want to talk about Hell to children so as not to frighten them. But God did not hesitate to show it to a seven-year-old child, knowing that she was going to be horrified, I would almost venture to say, to the point of dying of terror.”

Often, Jacinta would sit on a stone, and plunged into her thoughts, would say:

“Hell! Hell! What pity I have for the souls that go to hell! And the people burning alive there, like wood in a bonfire!”

Then, shuddering, she would kneel down, clasp her hands and recite aloud the prayer which the Blessed Virgin had taught them:

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”

“There are so many who go there!”

Jacinta remained on her knees for a long time, repeating the same prayer. From time to time she stopped to call her companions:

“Francisco, Francisco, are you praying with me? We need to pray a lot to deliver souls from hell. So many go there! So many!”

One day Lucia went to see her cousin and found her sitting in bed, pensive.

“Jacinta, what are you thinking about?”

“About the war that is to come. So many people will die! And almost all will go to hell! Many houses will be razed and many priests killed. Look, I am going to Heaven. And as soon as you see that night light the Lady said will come before [the war], make sure to flee there too!”

“Don’t you see that one can’t flee to Heaven?”

“It’s true! You can’t. But do not be afraid! In Heaven I will pray very much for you, for the Holy Father, for Portugal* so the war does not come here, and for all priests.”

At other times, she would ask,

“Why does Our Lady not show Hell to sinners? If they only saw it they would no longer sin to avoid going there! You must tell the Lady to show hell to all those people [present at Cova da Iria at the time of the apparition]. You will see how they will convert.”

Then, somewhat dissatisfied, she would ask Lucia,

“Why didn’t you tell Our Lady to show hell to those people?”

“I forgot,” she replied.

“I did not remember it either!” Jacinta said sadly.

At other times she also asked,

“What sins do these people commit to go to hell?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps the sin of not going to Mass on Sunday, stealing, saying ugly words, cursing, swearing.”

“And they go to hell just because of a single word?!”

“Of course! It’s a sin!”

“What would it cost them to keep silent and go to Mass? What a pity I have for sinners! If only I could show them hell!”

And then she would take Lucia by the arm and insist,

“I am going to Heaven, but you who stay here if Our Lady lets you, tell everyone what hell is like so they don’t sin anymore and don’t go there.”

At other times, after a period of reflection, she would say,

“So many people falling into hell, so many people in hell!”

To reassure her, Lucia would remind her:

“Do not fear; you are going to Heaven.”

“I am,” she said peacefully, “but I wanted all those people to go there too.”

 

Suffering to Save Sinners

Jacinta would not miss any opportunity of making sacrifices to obtain the conversion of sinners.

When Jacinta would not eat to mortify herself, Lucia would tell her:

“Jacinta! Come on, now eat!”

“No. I offer this sacrifice for sinners who overeat.”

And when, already very affected by illness, she would go to Mass during the week, Lucia tried to prevent her:

“Jacinta, don’t come, you cannot. Today is not Sunday!”

“It does not matter. I am going for the sinners who do not even go on Sunday.”

And if she happened to hear unseemly words uttered by some people, she would hide her face with her hands and say,

“O my God! Don’t these people know that by saying these things they can go to hell? Forgive them, my Jesus, and convert them. Surely they do not know that, with this, they offend God. What a pity, my Jesus! I pray for them.”

 

The three little shepherds knew children of two poor families who begged for alms from door to door. Seeing them one day when leading her flock, Jacinta proposed to Lucia and Francisco:

“Shall we give our lunch to those poor people for the conversion of sinners?”

And she ran to take her lunch to them.

Of course, in the afternoon, the three little shepherds got hungry. To remedy that, Francisco climbed up a green oak tree and filled his pockets with long, sweet and nutty acorns. But Jacinta suggested that they could instead eat acorns from great oaks to make the sacrifice of chewing something very bitter.

That became one of her usual sacrifices. She also gathered olives before the brine bath that would cut down their bitterness. The acorns and olives were so bitter that one day Lucia said to her:

“Jacinta, do not eat that, it’s very bitter!”

“That’s why I eat it, to convert sinners.”

Jacinta seemed insatiable in offering sacrifices. In her generosity as a little victim, all she thought of was to suffer to save sinners. For this end, she frequently accepted the harsh conditions of life as it presented itself.

 

Everyday Sacrifices to Save Sinners

Jacinta's mother knew well her little girl’s repugnance for milk. One day, she brought her a cup of milk and a nice bunch of grapes.

“Here, Jacinta,” she told her, “if you can’t take the milk, just leave it and eat the grapes.”

“No, mother, I do not want the grapes, you may take them. Let me have the milk.”

And without showing the slightest repugnance, she drank it. Her mother was happy, thinking that her daughter's distaste for milk was gone. Then Jacinta told Lucia:

“I craved those grapes so much, and it was so hard to drink the milk!” But I wanted to offer this sacrifice to Our Lord.”

One morning, Lucia found her with an altered countenance and asked if she felt any worse.

“Tonight,” she replied, “I’ve had many pains and wanted to offer Our Lord the sacrifice of not going back to bed, so I did not sleep at all.”

Another time she confided to Lucia,

“When I am alone, I get out of bed to say the prayers of the angel; but now I can no longer reach the ground with my head because I fall. I pray only on my knees.”

Concerned, Lucia mentioned it to the confessor who knew how to guide her. He ordered that Jacinta should no longer get out of bed to pray but say all the prayers she wanted in bed, without tiring too much. She hastened to pass the message on to Jacinta, who asked:

“Will Our Lord be pleased?”

“He will,” I replied. “Our Lord wants us to do what the pastor tells us.”

“Then it’s fine; I will never get up again.”

 

“I saw the Holy Father crying, and people insulting him”

On one very hot day, the children spent the siesta hour on the well at the back of the garden of Lucia’s house. Jacinta asked her cousin,

“Haven’t you seen the Holy Father?”

“No!”

“I do not know how it happened! I saw the Holy Father in a very large house, on his knees, in front of a table, with his hands on his face, crying. Outside the house were many people and some threw stones at him, others cursed and told him many ugly words. Poor little Holy Father! We have to pray a lot for Him!”

Another day, two priests who had gone to interrogate them explained who the Pope was and asked the children to pray for him. Jacinta then asked Lucia,

“Is he the same I saw crying, and of whom the Lady spoke in that secret?”

“Yes.”

“Certainly that Lady also showed him to these priests! See? I was not mistaken. We must pray a lot for him.”

In fact, Jacinta was taken with such a love for the Holy Father that every time she offered one of her sacrifices to Jesus, she added:

“And for the Holy Father.”

At the end of each rosary she always recited three Hail Marys for the pope and sometimes would say,

“I wish I could see the Holy Father! So many people come here and the Holy Father never comes.”

Another time, the three little shepherds had gone to their favorite rock hollows on Cabeço hill, where the angel had appeared to them. Prostrating with their foreheads on the ground, they fervently recited the prayer he had taught them. After a moment, Jacinta arose and asked,

“Don’t you see many roads, paths and fields full of people crying with hunger, who have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church, praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And many people praying with Him?”

After several days, she asked Lucia:

“Can I say that I have seen the Holy Father and all those people?”

“No. Don’t you see that it is part of the secret and they would soon discover it?”

“All right, then I won’t say anything.”

 

Jacinta’s illness

One year after the last apparition, towards the end of October 1918, Jacinta fell ill, followed by Francisco.

The flu epidemic affecting so many people at the time was undoubtedly the cause of her very strong bronchopneumonia, which never healed but degenerated into an infected pleurisy with an external abscess, and ultimately tuberculosis.

On the eve of her illness, she said to Lucia,

“My head hurts so bad and I am so thirsty! But I do not want to drink in order to suffer for sinners.”

Despite her pain, she would not complain. Her only confidante was Lucia:

“I feel such pain in my chest! But I do not say anything to my mother; I want to suffer for Our Lord in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Holy Father, and for the conversion of sinners.”

One morning, when Lucia came to see her, she asked,

“How many sacrifices did you offer to Our Lord tonight?”

“Three: I got up three times to say the prayers of the angel.”

“I have offered Him many, many; I do not know how many, for I had many pains and did not complain.”

  

At the hospital of Vila Nova de Ourem: “I am not going there to be healed”

On July 1, 1919, Jacinta, who had been ill for almost a year, was taken to the hospital at Vila Nova de Ourem, the same town where she had been imprisioned by the Mayor back in August, 1917.

Her father carefully arranged her thin and feverish body on the back of a mule for the three-mile journey from their hamlet to the town.

She knew very well that she was not at the hospital to be cured, but to suffer for the conversion of sinners. The Lady had told her so.

Along the way she remembered a visit the Lady had paid to her and Francisco when she was doing a little better and would spend her day sitting on her brother's bed. Immediately afterwards she had called Lucia to tell her,

“Our Lady came to see us and says that she will soon come to take Francisco to Heaven. And she asked me if I wanted to convert more sinners. I told her I did. She told me that I would be going to a hospital and would suffer a lot there; that I should suffer for the conversion of sinners, in reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the love of Jesus. I asked her if you were going with me. She said no. For me this is the hardest part. She said that my mother was going to take me and I would be there alone!”

The poor little girl was extremely afraid of staying alone in a place she imagined to be terrible. So she added:

“If you only went with me! The hardest thing for me is to go without you. Maybe the hospital is a very dark house where you cannot see anything, and I will be there suffering alone!”

And then she immediately returned to the only thing that really mattered:

“But it is all right; I suffer for Our Lord’s sake, to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners, and for the Holy Father.”

In fact, the Saint Augustine Hospital in Vila Nova de Ourem was all white and flooded with light. But the treatment Jacinta received there for two months could do nothing to improve her health, and she suffered greatly.

What had begun as the flu in October 1918 had turned into tuberculosis, which affected one of her lungs. An abscess had formed and a wound opened on her left side through which oozed foul-smelling pus.

She received few visits, as distance and daily occupations prevented her mother from visiting her youngest child as often as she would like. When she came to see Jacinta, she asked if she wanted anything. Of course, what Jacinta wanted the most was to see Lucia and converse with her.

So, as soon as she could her mother brought Lucia with her, not a small complication as she had to make a round trip of more than twelve miles in a single day. This trip was made, not in a car or by train, but as all the poor traveled, by donkey cart.

As soon as Jacinta saw Lucia she kissed her with joy and asked her mother to leave them together while she went shopping.

“Do you suffer much?” Lucia asked her.

“Yes, I do suffer; but I offer everything for sinners and to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

And she began to speak enthusiastically of Our Lord and the Blessed Mother:

“I am so glad to suffer for Their love! To make Them pleased! They love very much those who suffer to convert sinners.”

The visit went by quickly and when Jacinta’s mother asked her again if she wanted something, she asked her to bring Lucia again when she came to visit.

The second time around, her cousin found her suffering with the same joy for the love of God, of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for sinners and the Holy Father.

Lucia wrote, “It was her ideal; that was what she talked about,” adding:

“She was only a child of ten. As for the rest, she already knew how to practice virtue and show her love for God and the Blessed Virgin by practicing sacrifice.”

In Lucia’s opinion, she had an intimate and meticulous knowledge of the profound meaning of the message which the three had received:

“It seems to me that Jacinta was the one to whom the Blessed Virgin communicated a greater abundance of grace, knowledge of God and virtue.”

 

Back from the hospital

After two long months in the hospital of Vila Nova de Ourém, she returned home. She never complained or showed impatience during the daily care required by the open and infected wound on her side.

In September 1919, despite her lamentable state, Jacinta was still moving a little. Weakened and emaciated, she went to Mass at the church of Fatima. But the Cova da Iria was too far away for her feeble strength.

In October, a friend of the family found her in a pitiful state, remarking: “The little one is skeletal. Her arms are woefully skinny. She continually burns with fever. Her appearance inspires compassion.”

She was again the object of endless visits and questions from people who came to see her now that she could no longer hide.

“I offer also this sacrifice for sinners,” she said with resignation. “I wish I could go to Cabeço to say a chaplet in our grotto! But I am no longer able to.”

 

A new visit by the Blessed Mother: “I will die all alone!”

Again the Blessed Virgin came to see Jacinta, bedridden, to announce new crosses and sacrifices. She hastened to break the news to Lucia:

“She told me that I am going to Lisbon, to another hospital; that I will not see you again, or my parents; that, after suffering very much, I will die alone but should not be afraid, as she is going to take me to Heaven.”

Jacinta wept as she kissed her cousin:

“I’ll never see you again. You’re not going to visit me there. Look, pray a lot for me, as I am dying alone.”

“Do not think about it,” I told her one day.

“Let me think, because the more I think, the more I suffer; and I want to suffer for the love of Our Lord and for sinners. And then I do not care! Our Lady is going there to fetch me to Heaven.”

She was also worried she still had not been able to receive communion:

“Am I going to die without receiving the hidden Jesus? If only Our Lady would bring Him to me when she comes to get me!”

And when Lucia asked her what she would do once in heaven,

“I am going to love very much Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray a lot for you, for sinners, for the Holy Father, for my parents and siblings, and for all those who have asked me to pray for them.”

If asked whether she needed anything, she replied:

“No, thank you very much, I need nothing.”

After people left, she would say to Lucia:

“I'm very thirsty but do not want to drink; I offer it up to Jesus for sinners.”

On another occasion, Lucia found her kissing an image of the Blessed Virgin and saying,

“O my sweet heavenly Mother, will I then die alone?”

The poor child seemed frightened at the idea of dying alone. To console her, Lucia recalled,

“What do you care if you die alone, if Our Lady will come fetch you?”

“It’s true! I do not care at all. I don’t know what will happen to me ; sometimes I do not remember that she’s coming to get me, just that I will die without you standing by me."

 

 

Lisbon and the death of Jacinta

In mid-January, 1920, Canon Formigão, a priest who had been present at several of the apparitions and had been able to question the seers with tact and precision, returned with a doctor from Lisbon, a pious soul who came to pray at Cova da Iria with Lucia. He then met Jacinta and her parents.

Although they told him that she had shown no improvement after the two-month stay at the hospital in Vila Nova de Ourem, and that they knew the Blessed Virgin would soon take their little Jacinta to heaven, the doctor finally convinced them to send her to Lisbon.

Knowing that the use of all possible remedies to cure the little patient was not opposed to the will of God, her parents agreed and her father went to announce their decision.

Jacinta was saddened by the news but accepted it with resignation.

Her father explained to her that they had to send her to Lisbon so people would not say they had refused a treatment that could have cured her.

“Oh, daddy! Even if I recover, another illness will come and I will die. If I go to Lisbon, you can bid me goodbye.”

Shortly before Jacinta left for Lisbon, where she knew she was going to die away from her family, finding her immersed in her memories, Lucia told her,

“Do not be sad that I am not going with you. It is a short time; you can spend it thinking of Our Lady, Our Lord, and often saying these words that you like so much:

“My God, I love You! Immaculate Heart of Mary! Sweet Heart of Mary!”

“That’s right!” she answered in a lively way. “I will never tire of saying them until I die! And then I will sing them many times in Heaven!”

Before leaving her home forever, Jacinta asked her mother to take her to the Cova da Iria, where she wanted to pray again and see the place where the Blessed Virgin had appeared.

With the help of a neighbor who lent a mule, they made the journey which they had traveled so often in the past. The little one got off of the mule a little before arriving in order to pluck a few flowers. These she placed in the little chapel that had been built where the little green oak once stood which served as a support to the Queen of the Universe.

She prayed on her knees for a long while, and then, rising, showed her mother the trees over which the Lady would pass when she went back to Heaven.

 

Departure from Fatima

The day of departure for Lisbon, January 21, 1920, finally arrived. Jacinta’s farewells to her dear Lucia were poignant. She embraced her for a long time, weeping and saying,

“We’ll never see each other again! Pray a lot for me, until I go to Heaven. Then, there, I will pray a lot for you. Never tell anyone the secret, even if they kill you. Love Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary very much, and make many sacrifices for sinners.”

Then Jacinta departed with her mother to take the train to the capital.

 

At the orphanage of Mother Godinho

Having arrived at the Lisbon station, three ladies came to fetch them and took them to the orphanage of Our Lady of Miracles, founded and directed by Mother Godinho, where Jacinta had to wait a little before being admitted to the hospital.

Her mother stayed with her for a few days, and after a week returned to the hamlet, leaving her little Jacinta in the care of Mother Godinho, whom all the little orphans called “Godmother.”

Jacinta’s great consolation was to discover that the house where she was had a passage to the back of the church adjoining the pulpit. She was installed on a small chair from which she could see the tabernacle and the altar, and she would stay there for as long as they would allow it.

She was admitted to communion almost every day: finally, she was able to receive the hidden Jesus in her heart!

Having noticed that many visitors were talking and laughing in the orphanage chapel, Jacinta asked Mother Godinho to admonish them about the lack of respect that this represented to the Real Presence. When that didn’t work, she asked that the cardinal be warned: “Our Lady does not want us to speak in church.”

It is certain that the Most Holy Virgin came to see her several times, conversing with her and announcing the day and hour of her death. Jacinta had someone write this to Lucia, again recommending her to be very good.

Who can tell the depth of Jacinta’s conversations with the Mother of God? Knowledge of certain future events and discernment of souls are also a small indication of what these conversations were like. Following are several examples:

She confided to Godmother that the Blessed Virgin would have liked two of her sisters, aged sixteen and seventeen, to become nuns. But since her mother opposed it, Our Lady would soon take them to heaven, something that happened shortly after Jacinta’s death.

A doctor who looked after her asked her to pray for him when she was in heaven. Jacinta said yes, but told him to be prepared, for he too would soon die.

She likewise predicted to another physician his coming death and that of his daughter.

After hearing the sermon of a priest whom everybody admired, she said, “Godmother, when you least expect it, you will see how bad this priest is.” Indeed, shortly after that the priest left the priesthood and began to live openly in scandal.

She was well aware that, even if she prayed for sinners, their conversion depended on themselves and if they persisted in sin it was their own responsibility. Thus, when Godmother asked her to pray for some people in a miserable spiritual state, she replied,

“Yes, Godmother, but those are already beyond any hope!”

 

The last hospital – “I am going to die”

She was finally admitted to the hospital on the 2nd of February with two ribs that were turning necrotic and were about to be removed in the hope of containing the infection in the lungs.

There she was separated from the company of her good Godmother and especially from the presence of Jesus hidden in the tabernacle and frequent communion.

Placed in a large, cold and sad infirmary with many beds, she was as sorry as ever for sinners.

She blamed some nurses and visitors for their frivolous and hardly modest way of dressing:

“What’s all this for? If these people only knew what eternity is!”

She was operated on the 10th of February.

Because of her great weakness they did not use chloroform to make her sleep, but only the local anesthetic available at the time.

Her greatest suffering, however, was to have her little body undressed at the hands of doctors, so little attentive to the admirable modesty of that little Christian girl. She cried a great deal.

Every day they had to tend to the gaping wound, which rekindled excruciating pain. As they were taking care of her, she groaned softly:

“Ouch! Nossa Senhora! Ouch! Nossa Senhora! (In English it would have been, “Ouch, Mother of God! Ouch, Mother of God)

And then she would add:

“Patience! We must all suffer to go to Heaven.”

For the rest of the time she was never heard to complain. The Most Holy Virgin, who came to see her several times in this infirmary, completely removed her pain four days before taking her away.

To her “Godmother,” Mother Godinho who came to see her once a day, Jacinta said,

“Our Lady has appeared to me again; she will soon come for me and has immediately taken away my pains.”

As her Godmother went to sit at a certain place, Jacinta protested:

“Not there, Godmother. That is where Our Lady sat.”

Shortly before her death, someone asked her if she wanted to see her mother. Jacinta replied:

“My family will last a short time and we will soon meet again in heaven. Our Lady will appear another time, but not to me, for without a doubt I will die as she told me.”

The day fixed for her departure to heaven, February 20th, a Friday, finally arrived.

About six o'clock in the evening, feeling ill, she asked to receive the last sacraments. A priest came from the nearby parish and heard her confession. She insisted that she should be given communion, but the priest told her that he would bring It the next day.

Once he left, Jacinta insisted again to receive communion, saying she was going to die.

About half-past ten Jacinta died very quietly, but without communion. Only a young nurse, whom she affectionately called “my little Aurora,” stood beside her and watched over her remains for the rest of the night.

 

“In Heaven I will pray much…”

“I will return to Fatima, but only after my death,” Jacinta told Godmother. She was first buried in the cemetery of Vila Nova de Ourem, in the vault of Baron de Alvaiazere, protector of her family.

Francisco was buried in the cemetery of Fatima. On September 12, 1935, Jacinta’s precious remains were transferred to the Fatima cemetery and placed in a new grave prepared especially for her and her brother. The tombstone bore this simple inscription: “Here lie the mortal remains of Francisco and Jacinta, to whom Our Lady appeared.”

Subsequently (in 1951 and 1952, respectively), the precious remains were moved to the Basilica of Fatima, where they now are.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jacinta had told Lucia what she would do once in Heaven:

"I am going to love very much Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray a lot for you, for sinners, for the Holy Father, for my parents and siblings, and for all those who have asked me to pray for them.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The story of Jacinta Marto is not for the Catholic inclined to sentimentality. It is a story of a little girl who saw with her own eyes the Mother of God, but also Hell. As a consequence of these facts and of her correspondence to graces received, Jacinta went from being a simple little shepherd girl in the fields of Portugal to a great Saint.

She understood what really matters in this life as well as the immense importance and reality of eternity. She was called to be what the Church calls an “expiatory victim” and she accepted this calling with great love and generosity. Her life and example stand in sharp contrast with the 21st century and that is precisely why her story is so relevant for us today.

Saint Jacinta, Pray for us!

  

---

*Indeed, Portugal remained neutral throughout World War II, despite much pressure. As Jacinta prayed, the war did not go to Portugal.

We must decide

 

This world and the world to come
are two enemies.
We cannot therefore be friends to both; but
we must decide which we will forsake
and which we will enjoy.

Pope St. Clement I

Saint Boniface of Lausanne

 

 

Feast February 19

Boniface was born in Belgium in 1205, and when he was just 17, was sent to study at a university in Paris.

Once he completed his education, he remained at the university as a teacher, and over the course of seven years, became a very popular lecturer.

When the students at the university became locked in a dispute with their teachers and started boycotting classes, Boniface left Paris to fill a post at the cathedral school in Cologne.

Just two years later, in 1230, Boniface was elected Bishop of Lausanne. He accepted his new position enthusiastically and devoted all his energies to the spiritual leadership of his diocese.

But his eight years as Bishop of Lausanne were riddled with disputes, and the people of his diocese were discontented with his frank and open ways in the pulpit: he publicly scolded Emperor Frederick II and the local clergy for their corruption.

As a result of this rebuke, in 1239 he was attacked and gravely wounded by Frederick's men. This caused Boniface to ask Pope Gregory IX for permission to resign as bishop. The pope agreed, and Boniface returned to his native Belgium and began living at the Cistercian monastery at La Cambre.

Although he stayed there for the rest of his life and wore the habit of the order, he apparently never became a Cistercian.

Boniface was canonized in 1702.

This sums up man’s entire relation to God

Charity
may be a very short word,
but with its tremendous meaning of pure love, it
sums up man’s entire relation to God
and to his neighbor.

St. Aelred of Rievaulx

Saint Theotonius

 

Feast February 18

Born in 1082 into a wealthy and pious family in northern Portugal, Theotonius was a nephew to the Bishop of Coimbra and studied with him from a young age to prepare for the priesthood.

When Theotonius was ordained a priest, he lived most austerely, avoiding luxury. After the death of his uncle around the year 1112, the young priest, now thirty years old, accepted – though not without reluctance – the office of the Superior of the Cathedral Chapter of Viseu.

The Countess Teresa of Portugal (referred to by Pope Paschal II in 1116 as "Queen," a title that remained from that time onwards) and her husband, Henry of Burgundy, with the consent of the clergy and at the urging of the people, often sought to appoint Theotonius as Bishop of Coimbra, but he always refused.

In an effort to dissuade the Queen from her intentions, Theotonius resigned his office as Prior of the Cathedral Chapter and made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. After he returned to Portugal, he resumed his work as a priest and Chapter member in Viseu, but refused to take up again the office of Prior.

Theotonius was fearless in rebuking sinful behavior, in public or in private. In one instance, the now widowed queen was attending Holy Mass celebrated by Theotonius. She was accompanied by the Galician nobleman Fernando Pérez de Traba and the nature of their scandalous relationship had become well-known. Theotonius' sermon, though not naming them, was clearly directed at their conduct.

On another occasion, Theotonius was about to begin Holy Mass when the queen had a message sent asking him to say the Mass quickly. He replied simply that there was another Queen in heaven, far more noble, for whom he ought to say the Mass with the greatest reverence and devotion. If the queen did not wish to stay, she was free to leave, but he would not rush – Theotonius was ever insistent on the exact and reverent recitation of holy prayers.

Theotonius’s priestly life was distinguished by a great love for the poor and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for whom he offered Mass every Friday. The Mass was followed by a procession to the cemetery, and large sums were donated to the priest, but Theotonius distributed the money to the poor.

Theotonius died in 1162 at the age of eighty. When he heard the news, Don Afonso Henriques, Queen Teresa's son and the first king of Portugal, who was a good friend of Theotonius’s, remarked of him, “his soul will have gone up to Heaven before his body is lowered into the tomb.”

Divine medicine

 

Trials and tribulations offer us a chance
to make reparation for our past faults and sins.
On such occasions the Lord comes to us
like a physician to heal the wounds left by our sins.
Tribulation is the divine medicine.

St. Augustine of Hippo

Seven Holy Founders of the Servites

 

Feast February 17

Between 1225 and 1227, seven men from prominent families of Florence, Italy, left their lives of luxury and devoted themselves to prayer.

After some time, as they prayed on the feast of the Assumption, the Virgin Mary appeared to them, urging them to devote themselves to her service. Upon making arrangements for their families (two of the seven were married, and two others were widowers), the men withdrew to Monte Senario and established a simple and austere community there.

In 1240, Our Lady again appeared to the seven penitents. This time she asked them to wear a black habit and follow the Rule of St. Augustine and take the name “The Servants of Mary,” or “Servites.”

The seven men were ordained priests, and the order grew and expanded. The Order was not fully recognized by the Pope until 1304, over sixty years after its establishment.

Can you love the Blessed Virgin too much?

 

Never be afraid
of loving the Blessed Virgin too much.
You can never love her more than Jesus did.

St. Maximilian Kolbe

Saint Gilbert of Sempringham

 

Feast February 16

Gilbert was born in Lincolnshire, England, around 1083 to a wealthy knight and his wife. Deformed at birth, he was unfit to be a knight, and instead dedicated himself to learning.

Over time, Gilbert was ordained a priest, and made pastor of two churches on his father’s estate.

Among his parishioners were seven devout young women who lived under his direction. Hoping to establish a religious community for them, he built a modest house and developed an order based upon the rule of St. Benedict.

Soon, he admitted lay sisters to their community, and later, as the order gradually spread, lay brothers to provide manual labor.

Lastly, Gilbert included chaplains for the nuns. Thus the Gilbertines, the only medieval religious order of English origin, developed, with Gilbert himself eventually becoming head of the order.

His generosity was legendary. He had such love for the less fortunate, that most of the alms received from his parishioners were donated to the poor.

At his table he always had an additional plate, which he called “the plate of the Lord Jesus.” On this plate he put the highest quality food available and then gave it to the poor.

Gilbert remained head of the order until he began to go blind. He died in 1189 at 106, and was canonized in 1202.

How to approach God

 

Go to God simply,
with great confidence that His goodness will guide you;
let yourself go confidently as your heart draws you, and
fear nothing but pride and self-love.

St. Claude de la Colombière

Saint Claude La Colombière

 

Feast February 15

Claude La Colombière, third child of the notary Bertrand La Colombière and Margaret Coindat, was born on 2nd February 1641 at St. Symphorien d'Ozon in the Dauphine, southeastern France.

After the family moved to Vienne Claude began his early education there, completing his studies in rhetoric and philosophy in Lyon.

It was during this period that Claude first sensed his vocation to the religious life in the Society of Jesus. We know nothing of the motives which led to this decision. We do know, however, from one of his early notations, that he "had a terrible aversion for the life embraced".

This affirmation is not hard to understand by any who are familiar with the life of Claude, for he was very close to his family and friends and much inclined to the arts and literature and an active social life. On the other hand, he was not a person to be led primarily by his sentiments.

---

Entering the Novitiate

At 17 he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Avignon. In 1660 he moved from the Novitiate to the College, also in Avignon, where he pronounced his first vows and completed his studies in philosophy. Afterwards he was professor of grammar and literature in the same school for another five years.

In 1666 he went to the College of Clermont in Paris for his studies in theology. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, Claude was assigned by superiors in Paris the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of Louis XIV's Munster of Finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert.

---

Becoming a Priest

His theological studies concluded and now a priest, Claude returned to Lyon. For a time he was teacher in the College, then full-time preacher and moderator of several Marian congregations.

Claude became noted for solid and serious sermons. They were ably directed at specific audiences and, faithful to their inspiration from the gospel, communicated to his listeners serenity and confidence in God. His published sermons produced and still produce significant spiritual fruits. Given the place and the short duration of his ministry, his sermons are surprisingly fresh in comparison with those of better-known orators.

The year 1674 was a decisive one for Claude, the year of his Third Probation at Maison Saint-Joseph in Lyon. During the customary month of the Exercises the Lord prepared him for the mission for which he had been chosen. His spiritual notes from this period allow one to follow step-by-step the battles and triumphs of the spirit, so extraordinarily attracted to everything human, yet so generous with God.

---

Preparation for Mission

He took a vow to observe all the constitutions and rules of the Society of Jesus, a vow whose scope was not so much to bind him to a series of minute observances as to reproduce the sharp ideal of an apostle so richly described by St. Ignatius. So magnificent did this ideal seem to Claude that he adopted it as his program of sanctity. That it was indeed an invitation from Christ himself is evidenced by the subsequent feeling of interior liberation Claude experienced, along with the broadened horizons of the apostolate he witnesses to in his spiritual diary.

On 2nd February 1675 he pronounced his solemn profession and was named rector of the College at Paray-le-Monial. Not a few people wondered at this assignment of a talented young Jesuit to such an out-of the-way place as Paray. The explanation seems to be in the superiors' knowledge that there was in Paray an unpretentious religious of the Monastery of the Visitation, Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom the Lord was revealing the treasures of his Heart, but who was overcome by anguish and uncertainty. She was waiting for the Lord to fulfill his promise and send her "my faithful servant and perfect friend" to help her realize the mission for which he had destined her: that of revealing to the world the unfathomable riches of his love.

---

The Sacred Heart

After Father Colombière's arrival and her first conversations with him, Margaret Mary opened her spirit to him and told him of the many communications she believed she had received from the Lord. He assured her he accepted their authenticity and urged her to put in writing everything in their regard, and did all he could to orient and support her in carrying out the mission received.

When, thanks to prayer and discernment, he became convinced that Christ wanted the spread of the devotion to his Heart, it is clear from Claude's spiritual notes that he pledged himself to this cause without reserve.

In these notes it is also clear that, even before he became Margaret Mary's confessor, Claude's fidelity to the directives of St. Ignatius in the Exercises had brought him to the contemplation of the Heart of Christ as symbol of his love.

---

Ministry in Protestant England

After a year and half in Paray, in 1676 Father La Colombière left for London. He had been appointed preacher to the Duchess of York - a very difficult and delicate assignment because of the conditions prevailing in England at the time. He took up residence in St. James Palace in October.

In addition to sermons in the palace chapel and unremitting spiritual direction both oral and written, Claude dedicated his time to giving thorough instruction to the many who sought reconciliation with the Church they had abandoned. And even if there were great dangers, he had the consolation of seeing many reconciled to it, so that after a year he said: "I could write a book about the mercy of God I've seen Him exercise since I arrived here!"

The intense pace of his work and the poor climate combined to undermine his health, and evidence of a serious pulmonary disease began to appear. Claude, however, made no changes in his work or life style.

---

Persecution and Final Years

All of a sudden, at the end of 1678, he was calumniously accused and arrested in connection with the Titus Oates "papist plot". After two days he was transferred to the severe King's Bench Prison where he remained for three weeks in extremely poor conditions until his expulsion from England by royal decree. This suffering further weakened Claude's health which, with ups and downs, deteriorated rapidly on his return to France.

During the summer of 1681 he returned to Paray, in very poor condition. On 15th February 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, towards evening Claude suffered the severe hemorrhage which ended his life.

On the 16th of June 1929 Pope Pius XI beatified Claude La Colombière, whose charism, according to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, was that of bringing souls to God along the gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us. His feast day is on February 15th.

I'll be getting broiled on a grill in purgatory

 

They think I'm a saint...
When I'm dead, they'll come and touch holy pictures and rosaries to me, and
all the while I'll be getting broiled on a grill in purgatory.
At least promise me you'll pray a lot for the repose of my soul.

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Our Lady of Lourdes

On February 11, 1858 in the Pyrenean village of Lourdes, France, a beautiful young lady appeared to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous. Bernadette and her sister were searching for firewood near the Grotto of Massabielle. Bernadette was often ill, so when her sister removed her stockings in order to wade across the river, the frail girl remained where she was. Soon, a strange silence filled the air. She turned her head towards the grotto and saw in the opening of the rock a young and beautiful lady. "The Lady" was dressed in white with a yellow rose at each foot and a rosary draped over her arm. Removing her own rosary from her pocket, Bernadette knelt down before "the Lady" and began to pray.

This was the first of eighteen apparitions of the Blessed Mother to the young girl. During the sixteenth apparition on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, Our Lady identified herself as "the Immaculate Conception." Bernadette ran to her pastor’s house, repeating to herself over and over again the strange name that "the Lady" had given her so as not to forget it. At that time, the "Immaculate Conception" was not a well known term: just four years earlier, on December 8, 1854, Blessed Pope Pius IX had proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. Although unknown to the young illiterate Bernadette, the name that "the Lady" had given her was to her dumbfounded pastor more confirmation than he had ever expected.

Complying with Our Lady’s request, there is now a church at the grotto. Our Lady asked that people come in procession, and persevere with prayer and personal conversion.

 During the ninth apparition, Our Lady asked Bernadette to kneel and wash in the spring. Confused, because there was no spring near Massabielle, she began to scratch the loose gravel off the ground inside the grotto. As she did so, a small pool formed, and she cupped her hands together and drank, and then washed her face. The next day, the pool was overflowing and water was dripping down over the rock. To this spring are attributed countless cures, though only 67 are officially recognized by the Church and medicine. The shrine is considered the most visited place of pilgrimage and healing in the world. The celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was extended to the universal Church in 1907.

First Photo by: Manuel González Olaechea

How do you learn to love?

 

You learn to speak by speaking,
to study by studying, to run by running,
to work by working, and just so,
you learn to love by loving.
All those who think to learn in any other way
deceive themselves.

St. Francis de Sales

Saint Scholastica

 

Feast February 10

Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict, consecrated her life to God when she was very young. After her brother established his monastery at Mount Cassino, she resided in the neighborhood at Plombariola, about five miles from where her brother lived.

Scholastica founded a monastery of nuns that was governed by Benedict, though still under her own direction.

She visited her brother once a year, and as she was not allowed to enter his monastery, he went with a few of his brothers to meet her at a house some distance away to pray together and speak of spiritual matters.

On one such occasion in 543, they had passed the time as usual in prayer and holy conversation and in the evening sat down to eat supper. Scholastica begged her brother to remain until the next day, deviating from their usual custom, so that they might continue their conversation. Benedict refused to spend the night outside his monastery as it was contrary to his order’s rule.

Scholastica turned to God in prayer, and a thunderstorm erupted. The rain and lightning was so violent, that Benedict and his companions were prevented from returning home. "May God forgive you, sister" said Benedict, "for what you have done." "I asked a favor of you," she replied simply, "and you refused it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it!" Thus, they spent the night speaking of holy things.

In the morning, they parted ways, never to see one another on earth again: just three days later, Scholastica died.

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.

Love implies sacrifice

 

Love is not just an affirmation,
but a negation.
It implies sacrifice – a surrender of our will,
of our selfish interests, for the good of the other.
It looks not to the lover’s pleasure, but to the happiness of the beloved.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Saint Michael Febres Cordero

 

Feast February 9

Michael was born in Cuenca, Ecuador in 1854 to a wealthy family. From birth he had a deformity that disabled him and prevented him from walking.

One day, as he sat in his wheelchair, he saw a rose in the garden. Above the flowers, he saw a beautiful lady wearing a white and blue dress, calling his name. His family, who could see nothing other than the rose, were astonished when he proceeded to get up and walk. From then on, Michel spoke with Our Lady and Jesus on a regular basis.

When the De LaSalle Brothers arrived in Ecuador in 1863 and set up a seminary, Michael enrolled, though his parents objected to his plans to become a lay brother rather than a priest.

Instead, they sent him to the seminary where his father taught, but within a few months he became seriously ill and had to return home.

His mother finally agreed to let him become a lay brother. In 1868, Michael entered the order of the De LaSalle Brothers and a year later was assigned to the Beaterio, a congregation of lay sisters dedicated to prayer and charitable work in Quito, where he specialized in preparing children for their First Communion for the next 26 years.

Transferred to Spain to assist in the translation of sacred documents, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia, and he died on February 9, 1910. His body was returned to Ecuador, and his tomb in Quito soon became a shrine and place of pilgrimage.

The Ecuadorian government issued stamps bearing his likeness and erected a bronze and marble monument to him in Quito’s central park.

Upon the statue’s dedication in June, 1965, there was a huge parade in which 30,000 school children participated.

Where is the proof of love?

 

The proof of love is in the works.
Where love exists, it works great things.
But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.

St. Gregory the Great

Saint Jerome Emiliani

 

Feast February 8

Jerome was born in Venice in 1481.

As a military commander who prided himself on the strength of his army, he was not a man of God. Yet when he was taken prisoner and thrown in a dungeon, the proud leader turned to God and miraculously escaped his captors.

After his conversion, Jerome dedicated himself to Our Lady and the work of God, and was eventually ordained to the priesthood in 1518.

At that time, famine and plague were rampant in Northern Italy, and Jerome devoted himself to caring for sick orphans, housing and teaching them Catholicism.

After contracting the plague and recovering, Jerome decided to wholly devote himself to caring for others.

In 1531, he established multiple orphanages and a shelter for penitent prostitutes, and just a year later, along with two other priests, a congregation for men.

The congregation, named The Clerks Regular of Somascha, mainly saw to the care of orphans and the instruction of youths and young clerics.

In 1537, Jerome caught an infectious disease while caring for the sick, and died on February 8.

The Clerks Regular of Somascha still exist today, and it is said Jerome Emiliani was the first to introduce the idea of teaching catechism to children.

What does it mean to love God?

 

To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be
detached from all temporal love.
We must love nothing but Him, or
if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake.

St. Peter Claver

Saint Luke the Younger

Feast February 7

Born on the Greek island of Aegina, Luke belonged to a family of farmers. Saracen raiders forced his family to leave their homeland for Thessaly, where Luke worked in the fields and tended sheep. He was a dutiful child, but his charity towards the poor often frustrated his parents: Luke would often give his own food and clothing to those less fortunate.

He was so charitable that God blessed him, and his family’s crops flourished, but his parents still did not approve.

After his father's death, Luke decided to become a hermit. The decision angered his mother, who wanted her son at home.

He left Thessaly to find a monastery, but was captured by soldiers who mistook him for a runaway slave. Imprisoned for a short time, he then returned to his mother after he convinced his captors of his true identity.

Later, two monks on their way to the Holy Land persuaded Luke's mother to allow him to join a monastery in Athens.

After only a short time, Luke’s superior claimed that his mother had appeared to him in a vision calling for help, and Luke was sent home. Eventually, Luke's mother understood her son's call to religious life and no longer opposed him.

Luke built his hermitage on Mount Joannitsa, near Corinth when he was only eighteen.

At times, Luke was seen suspended above the ground in prayer. After his death, his cell was transformed into an oratory and named the Place of Healing.

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil, and the astonishing reason why

 

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is
humility.
For, as he does not know at all how to employ it,
neither does he know how to defend himself from it.

St. Vincent de Paul

Saint Paul Miki & Companions

Feast February 6

By 1549, St. Francis Xavier had begun the evangelization of Japan.

After he left to spread the faith elsewhere, a Catholic community flourished. The community grew, and eventually expanded to include Paul Miki, a high-born Jesuit priest who became well-known as a preacher.

Paul followed St. Francis’ footsteps and continued the spread of Christianity, along with missionaries and priests from various countries and orders.

In 1597, Hideyoshi, a powerful Japanese official, listened to the gossip and lies of a Spanish merchant. The merchant said that Paul and the missionaries were traitors of Japan, and were spies for Spain and Portugal.

In an unspeakable act of savagery, Hideyoshi cut off the left ears of twenty-six Catholics, including Paul Miki, smeared their cheeks with blood as a warning to others and paraded them through towns before executing them.

Priests, brothers, laymen, catechists, doctors, servants, old men and innocent children were bound to crosses and raised into the air, a lance trust into their sides, killing them. Hideyoshi crucified the martyrs on a hill, now known as the Holy Mountain, above Nagasaki.

They were canonized in 1862.

What does it mean to belong to the Church?

 

Belonging to the Church is a very great and very demanding thing.
We must think as the Church thinks, have the mind of the Church,
proceed as the Church wishes in all the circumstance of our lives.
This supposes a real Catholic sense,
an authentic and complete purity of customs, and
a profound and sincere piety.
In other words,
it supposes the sacrifice of an entire lifetime.

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

Saint Agatha

 

Feast February 5

Very little is known about St. Agatha, other than that she was martyred in Sicily during the persecution of Emperor Decius in 251.

According to legend, Agatha dedicated her life to Our Lord at a young age and refused any man who wanted to marry her. Agatha was arrested after refusing the advances of Quintian, a powerful man of high rank, and was imprisoned in a brothel.

Throughout the month she spent being tortured in the brothel, Agatha would pray: “Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil," and she was preserved from being violated.

Agatha was removed from the brothel and again advanced upon by her captor.

Again, she refused him, saying she was dedicated to God alone. Her captor then sent her to prison, and had her tortured repeatedly.

He refused her any medical care, but God comforted her in the form of a vision of St. Peter. Agatha was tortured yet again, and this time her body was grossly mutilated.

Photos by: Hermetiker

She died with this prayer on her lips: "Lord, my Creator, you have always protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer.”

About a year after her death, Agatha was attributed with calming an erupting volcano, and is revered as a protector against fires.

Because of the way her body was mutilated before her death, she is also known as the patroness of breast cancer patients.

St Agatha, pray for us!

Begin every day like this

 

If we wish to make any progress in the service of God
we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness.
We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as possible and
have no other view or end in all our actions
but the divine honor.

St. Charles Borromeo

Tomorrow is First Saturday

 

The Five First Saturdays devotion is one of the principal points of the Fatima message. It centers on the urgent need for mankind to offer reparation and expiate for the many injuries that the Immaculate Heart of Mary suffers from the hands of both impious and indifferent men.

On the First Saturday during 5 Consecutive Months, the Devotion consists of:

1. Going to Confession,
2. Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion,
3. Saying five decades of the Rosary,
4. Meditating for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary.

All this offered in REPARATION for the sins of blasphemy and ingratitude committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Click below and print your 2022 Five First Saturday Devotion Calendar. Print double sided and fold it in half to create a "Tent Calendar"

2022 Five First Saturday Devotion Calendar

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History

During the third apparition on July 13, 1917, Our Lady revealed that she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and for the Communion of Reparation of the Five First Saturdays. Consequently, she asked for the devotion in 1925 and the consecration in 1929.

"Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ingrate men pierce it at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to pull them out."

While staying at the House of the Dorothean Sister in Pontevedra, Portugal, Sister Lucia received a vision on December 10, 1925 where the Blessed Mother appeared alongside a Boy who stood over a luminous cloud. Our Lady rested one hand on the Boy’s shoulder while she held on the other hand a heart pierced with thorns around it.

Sister Lucia heard the Boy say, "Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ingrate men pierce it at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to pull them out."

Our Lady expressed her request in the following words,

"See, my daughter, My Heart surrounded with thorns with which ingrates pierce me at every moment with blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, make sure to console me and announce that all those who for five months, on the first Saturdays, go to confession, receive Communion, say five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the purpose of making reparation to Me, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls."
— Our Lady, December 10, 1925

A few days afterward, Sister Lucia detailed this vision in a letter addressed to Monsignor Manuel Pereira Lopes, her confessor when she resided in the Asylum of Vilar in the city of Oporto, Portugal.

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Why Five Saturdays?

Sister Lucia’s confessor questioned her about the reason for the five Saturdays asking why not seven or nine. She answered him in a letter dated June 12, 1930. In it she related about a vision she had of Our Lord while staying in the convent chapel part of the night of the twenty-ninth to the thirtieth of the month of May, 1930. The reasons Our Lord gave were as follows:

The five first Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are:

1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
2. Blasphemies against her virginity
3. Blasphemies against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all men
4. Instilling indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children
5. Direct insults against Her sacred images

Let us keep the above reasons firmly in our minds. Devotions have intentions attached to them and knowing them adds merit and weight to the practice.

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Modifications to the Five First Saturdays Devotion to facilitate its observation

The original request of Our Lady asks one to confess and receive Communion on five consecutive first Saturdays; to say five decades of the Rosary; to meditate during 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary for the purpose of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in reparation for the sins of men.

In subsequent private visions and apparitions however, Sister Lucia presented to Our Lord the difficulties that devotees encountered in fulfilling some conditions. With loving condescension and solicitude, Our Lord deigned to relax the rules to make this devotion easy to observe:

• Confession may be done on other days other than the First Saturdays so long as one receives Our Lord worthily and has the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
• Even if one forgets to make the intention, it may be done on the next confession, taking advantage of the first occasion to go to confession.
• Sister Lucia also clarified that it is not necessary to meditate on ALL mysteries of the Rosary on each First Saturdays. One or several suffice.

With much latitude granted by Our Lord Himself, there is no reason for the faithful to hesitate or delay this pious practice in the spirit of reparation which the Immaculate Heart of Mary urgently asks.

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This devotion is so necessary in our days

The culture of vice and sin remains unabated even as one reads this. Abortion, blasphemy, drug abuse, pornography, divorce and bad marriages, religious indifference, the advances of the homosexual agenda and others are just some of society’s many plagues that cut deeply into the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

We must console Our Lady amidst all these insults and injuries to her and her Divine Son. She asks for reparation, she pleads for our prayers, she hopes for our amendment of life. Let us listen to her maternal pleas and atone for the ingratitude of men.

The First Five Saturdays devotion stimulates the spirit of reparation; it instills a tender love for the Holy Sacraments of Confession and the Blessed Eucharist. It nurtures a holy affection for the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Rosary. Above all, it is an excellent means to maintain one in the state of grace while immersed in the daily spiritual battles and prosaic existence in the neo-pagan world that we live in.

Let us not delay in observing this devotion for it too gives us hope for eternal salvation.

Print this devotion

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REFERENCE:

Solimeo, Luiz Sergio: Fatima, A Message More Urgent than Ever
(Spring Grove, PA: The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property-TFP, 2008.)

Saint John de Britto

Feast February 4

John de Britto, was born in Lisbon on March 1, 1647 to a noble Portuguese family. His father died while serving as Viceroy of Brazil.

Growing up, John was a playmate to the future King of Portugal, Pedro II. At fifteen, the young nobleman applied to join the Society of Jesus into which he was duly accepted. His talent for academic excellence was soon noted by his superiors; however, John’s great admiration and devotion to St. Francis Xavier urged him to apply to serve in the Indian missions.

Amid strong opposition from his family, in 1673 John traveled to Madura in southern India.

As he traveled throughout India on foot, John lived austerely. He dressed himself in the saffron cloak and turban of the native Indians, abstained from eating meat and lived humbly. Through his holy efforts, John soon became well-known, and developed a group of catechists.

Though the practice of Catholicism was not illegal in India, John was hated by many because of his faith. He and his followers were often subjected to agonizing torture, but each time John miraculously recovered.

In 1683, John was banished from India, and departed for Portugal. Returning soon after, the ardent missionary continued in his apostolate for three more years.

In 1693, he was again arrested, tortured and once more commanded to leave India. When he refused, John was sentenced to death. “I await death, and I await it with impatience,” he wrote to his superior. “It has always been the object of my prayers. It forms today the most precious reward of my labors and my sufferings.”

On February 4, John de Britto was executed. As he knelt at the execution block, the rajah's order of death was read aloud.

The executioner hesitated, but John said to him, "My friend, I have prayed to God. On my part, I have done what I should do. Now do your part.”

John de Britto was canonized in 1947.