Virtue A Month

2010-12-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR DECEMBER – HUMILITY

“Humility is the fundamental virtue by which a person remembers his utter dependence on God and God’s laws and God’s providence, and the utter folly of any action or any judgment or any self-glorification that is contrary to the will of God.”(1)

St. John Chrysostom remarked that “Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue.” Reverend John Mason of England exclaimed, “True humility makes way for Christ and throws the soul at his feet.” (2)

Abbe De Brandt told us, “Humility, to be true, must be deeply rooted in our hearts. Let us beseech our dear Lord to make us more clearly perceive, by the help of His grace, what means we should take in order to become truly humble. Humility must grow up out of our hearts perennially – a blossom growing from the deeply-rooted conviction of our nothingness.” (3)

SAINT FOR DECEMBER -
ST. JUAN DIEGO

Feast Day -December 9
1474-1548
Symbol - Eagle
Devotee of Our Lady of Guadalupe

St. Juan Diego exemplifies the Virtue of Humility par excellence. His own very humble beginnings as a poor farm worker who labored in the fields and made mats well-prepared him for his extraordinary encounters with the Virgin Mary. Juan had become a convert to Catholicism around 50 years of age. When he first met Our Lady on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico, he had been widowed in 1531 and was childless. He was, no doubt, on his way to perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Pope John Paul II praised Juan Diego for his simple faith nourished by catechesis and pictured him as a model of humility for all.    Juan Diego had defined himself to Our Lady of Guadalupe as, "I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf." (4)

Our Lady appeared to Juan about 10 years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Catholicism had begun to replace paganism but with litle success. As a result of Our Lady's apparitions and subsequent miracles, 8 millions souls became Catholic in a period of 7 years.
Juan Diego's journey on that December morning began the devotion to Our Lady of almost an entire nation. (5)

Juan's native birth name Cuautlatohuac meant "he who speaks like an eagle," and he took the name Juan Diego when he was baptized in 1527.   He received 4 apparitions of Our Lady from December 9 to December 12, 1531. The First one occurred early in the morning when Juan was walking by a hill and heard singing like "the song of many precious birds." When the singing stopped, it appeared as if the hills were answering the birds with even more beautiful songs. He said to himself " by any chance am I worthy, have I deserved what I hear? Perhaps I am only dreaming it" Perhaps I'm only dozing? Where am I? Where do I find myself? Is it posible that I am in the place our ancient ancestors, our grandparents, told about, in the land of the flowers, in the land of corn, of our flesh, of our sustenance, possible in the land of heaven?" (6)

As he looked up to the top of the hill and heard someone calling to him "Juanito, Juan Diegito." He climbed the hill unafraid and met a maiden beckoning him closer. Her clothing was shining like the sun and sending out waves of light. All of the plants were shining. He prostrated himself before her and heard her say, "Know, know for sure, my dearest and youngest son, that I am the perfect ever virgin holy Mary, Mother of the one Great God of Truth who gives us life, the inventor of men and women, the owner and lord of what is around us and what is touching us or very close to us the owner and lord of the sky, the owner of the earth. I want very much that they build my sacred little house here in which I will show Him; I will exalt Him on making him manifest.  I will give him to the people in all my personal love, in my compassionate gaze, in my help, in my salvation, because I am truly your compassionate mother...." (7)

Then Juan's humility was expressed. "My Lady, my Little Girl, now I am going to make your venerable breath, your venerable word, a reality; I, your poor Indian, am leaving you for a while."
He proceeded to Mexico City and to the palace of the Bishop who listened to him and then asked him to return another time. On his way home he met Our Lady again and told her of his dissappointment in not receiving permission to proceed. He asked her to send a nobleman who would be better received.  He is instructed to return himself the next day.   This time the Bishop is willing to accept the message and the messager if the Lady gives him a sign.

Juan reports this to Mary in the Third Apparition. She requests that he return the next morning for a sign and he continues on to visit his very ill uncle. Juan missed his visit with Our Lady on Dec. 11 as the uncle had asked Juan to send for a priest. On Dec. 12 when Juan went to bring back a priest, Our Lady made her 4th appearance. Mary tells him his uncle is already well and sends him to the top of the hill to pick roses as a sign. Later on Juan carries the roses in his tilma (cloak) to the Bishop. When he opens the tilma to display the roses, the image of Our Lady miraculously appeared. The Bishop and all present knelt and were full of awe and reverence. The Bishop initially took the tilma to his private chapel.  Finally it came to its final place of honor in 1666 in the Chapel on Tepeyac.

One final apparition of Our Lady was on the same day, but she appeared to Uncle Juan Bernardino  and cured him at the very moment that Our Lady was telling Juan about his uncle being cured. (8)

Juan Diego lived to be 74 years old. He was given special permission to receive the Holy Eucharist 3 times a week, and he walked 15 miles to receive the Lord. (9) He was canonized in 2002.

SCRIPTURES FOR THE MONTH

For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Luke XIV:11

PRAYERS FOR DECEMBER

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

Blessed Juan, you faced the skepticism and rejection of a bishop and the crowds to bring Mary's message to Mexico. Pray for us that when we are faced with obstacles to our faith we may show that same courage and commitment. Amen. (10)

Happy Juan Diego, true and faithful man! We entrust to you our lay brothers and sisters so that, feeling the call to holiness, they may imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel. Bless families, strengthen spouses in their marriage, sustain the efforts of parents to give their children a Christian upbringing. Look with favor upon the pain of those who are suffering in body or in spirit, on those afflicted by poverty, loneliness, marginalization, or ignorance. May all people, civic leaders and ordinary citizens, always act in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be reinforced. (11)

Beloved Juan Diego, "the talking eagle"! Show us the way that leads to the "Dark Virgin" of Tepeyac, that she may receive us in the depths of her heart, for she is the loving, compassionate Mother who guides us to the true God. Amen. (12)

ENDNOTES

1. "Catholic Treasures," Issue 88-89

2. New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1960 p. 281

3. Growth in the Knowledge of Our Lord, Herder Book Company, p. 151

4. John Paul II - Canonization homily, July 31, 2002

5. A Handbook on Guadalupe - Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, 1996

6.- 8. http://www.interlupe.com.mx/

9. http://www.catholiconline.org/

10. - 12. John Paul II Op cit

2010-11-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

NOVEMBER VIRTUE -

MEEKNESS

Meekness is the virtue that enables one to overcome the tendencies of anger, revenge, hatred, and enmity. …meekness presupposes the virtue of charity or love of neighbor, which provides the motives and the means of overlooking insult, injustice, and injury, real or imaginary, from others. (1)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth,” announced our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:5)

“The meek are not those who are never at all angry, for such are insensible; but those who, feeling anger, control it, and are angry only when they ought to be. Meekness excludes revenge, irritability, morbid sensitiveness, and but not self-defence, or a quiet, and steady maintenance of right.” Theophylact, Archbishop of Acris in early 5th Century. (2)

“Meekness is love at school, at the school of Christ. It is the disciple learning to know, and fear, and distrust himself, and learning of him who is meek and lowly in heart, and so finding rest to his soul.” Reverend James Hamilton, British clergyman in 19th century. (3)

SAINT FOR NOVEMBER -

ST. CATHERINE LABOURE

Feast Day: November 25

Patron of the Miraculous Medal

St. Catherine Laboure epitomizes the virtue of meekness. She is known as the "Silent Saint."
For over forty years, she lived a very quiet life in the convent, unknown as the one who promoted the Miraculous Medal.

She was born as Zoe Laboure May 2,1806 in Yonne, France to a middle class farming family. When her mother died she was 9 years old. She told Our Lady that she, Mary, was now her Mother. She did not attend school, as she stayed to run the household for her father, as her older sister had entered the convent. She could neither read or write, but she desired to also enter the convent. Eventually she was able to do so at age 24 when she joined the Daughters of Charity in Paris.

Zoe had had a dream about a priest telling her that she would be tending the sick and elderly. Was she surprised when she visited the convent of the Daughters of Charity and saw a portrait of this very same priest: St. Vincent de Paul.

She joined the Daughters of Charity and took the name Catherine. Some have called her a visionary, as she did have visions of Our Lord, St. Vincent de Paul, and our Lady.

"Shortly after she entered her new home, God was pleased to grant her several extraordinary visions. On three consecutive days she beheld the heart of Saint Vincent above the reliquary in which his relics were exposed, each time under a different aspect. At other times she beheld our divine Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament; this would occur especially during Mass when he would appear as he was described in the liturgy of the day." (4)

"Shortly after she finished her training as a postulant, Sister Catherine received a special privilege. She began to see the Blessed Mother. One night, she was awakened from sleep. A 'shining child' led her to chapel. There Our Lady came to talk to her. The Blessed Mother, in another vision, showed herself standing on a globe with streams of light coming from her hands. Underneath were the words: 'O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who turn to thee!' Sister Catherine was told that a medal was to be made of this picture of Our Lady. She was also told that all who wore it would receive many graces from Jesus through his mother's prayers. " (5)

Catherine asked her confessor, Fr. Jean Marie Aladel, to assist her in making this wish of Our Lady happen. Two years later, her confessor approached the Archbishop of Paris who had 2000 medals made and presented many to Catherine. Then Catherine commented that the medal should be made known to the faithful and she distributed many. Yet she kept all of these happenings in her heart and only revealed them to her confessor as requested by Our Lady.

She lived quietly with the other sisters taking a most unassuming place among them and caring for the aged and the infirm in a hospice as St. Vincent de Paul had predicted. At the very end of her life, she did tell her Mother Superior that she had been blessed by Our Lady to promulgate her wishes and create the Miraculous Medal which Our Lady had said would grant great graces to all who wore it.

St. Catherine Laboure died on December 31, 1876. Visitors to the chapel may still view her as her body had been exhumed in 1933 and her body was as if she had just died.

"Though she had lived seventy years and was in the grave for fifty-seven years, her eyes remained very blue and beautiful; and in death her arms and legs were as supple as if she were asleep. Her incorrupt body is encased in glass beneath the side altar at 140 Rue du Bac, Paris, beneath one of the spots where our Lady appeared to her.

"In the Chapel of the Apparition you can gaze upon the face and the lips that for forty-six years kept a secret which has since shaken the world." (6)

PRAYER FOR NOVEMBER

O, Lord Jesus Christ, Who for the accomplishment of Thy greatest works hast chosen the weak things of the world, that no flesh may glory in Thy sight, and Who for a better and more widely diffused belief in the Immaculate Conception of Thy Mother, hast wished that the Miraculous Medal be manifested to Saint Catherine Laboure; grant, we beseech Thee, that filled with like humility, we may glorify this mystery by word and work. Amen

(Miraculous Medal prayer) (7)

END NOTES

1. Catholic Treasures, pg.342.
2. The New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Co., 1960
3. op cit.
4. www.amm.org/catherine
5. www.holyspiritinteractive.net/dailysaint/november
6. www.amm.org/catherine
7. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives - Healing and Helping 4-58

2010-09-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR OCTOBER-
OBEDIENCE

Obedience is the virtue that grants one the willingness to submit to lawful authority. When one obeys, one is "hearing" (from the Latin audire -to hear) and one is accepting the authority. Christ, Himself, is our model, as He subjected His life to His Father's authority.

"By his loving obedience to the Father, 'unto death, even death on a cross' (Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfills the atoning mission (cf. Isa 53:10) of the suffering servant, who will 'make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities'(Isa 53:11; cf. Rom 5:19). " CCC 623

We realize that we must practice the virtue of obedience in the natural order: in the family milieu as children subject to our parents, in the educational environment as students subject to teachers, in the business world as employees subject to employers, and in the civil society as citizens subject to legitimate laws and leaders. In the spiritual order we owe obedience as members of Christ's Mystical Body to His Vicar on earth, our bishops, and our priests. Religious also owe obedience to their superiors.

We are provided with the Decalogue, Holy Scriptures, and Tradition as foundations for our observance of obedience.

"Indirectly, obedience also imposes obligations on those who hold authority to direct and command others. There is a right use of authority and a wrong use; it can be neglected or abused to the detriment of subjects. Therefore, every form of obedience involves obligations on the part of those in command." by Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.

SAINT FOR THE MONTH-
ST. MARIA FAUSTINA
Apostle of Divine Mercy

1905 -1938
Feast Day: October 5

Helena Kowalska was born on August 25, 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland to humble and devout parents. She exemplified the virtue of obedience from her childhood and throughout her life as a Sister in the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.

"From a very tender age she stood out because of her love of prayer, work, obedience, and also her sensitivity to the poor. At the age of nine she made her first Holy Communion living this moment very profoundly in her awareness of the presence of the Divine Guest within her soul." (1) In her teen years, she truly desired to become a religious but was obedient to her parents who did not approve. Maria attended school for 3 years and at 16 years worked as a housekeeper.

After a vision of the Suffering Christ, she did enter the convent at age 20 and took the name Sister Mary Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Sister Faustina lived a quiet and obedient life at several convents in Poland where she served as a cook, a gardner, and porter. Her unobtrusive life exteriorly "hid a deeply mystical inner life." (2)

"Externally nothing revealed her rich mystical interior life. She zealously performed her tasks and faithfully observed the rule of religious life. She was recollected and at the same time very natural, serene and full of kindness and disinterested love for her neighbor. Although her life was apparently insignificant, monotonous and dull, she hid within herself an extraordinary union with God." (3)

The Lord called her to be His Secretary. Here again she was obedient to Jesus and to her confessors who instructed her to record her visions, revelations, and the words of the Lord. She wrote in her 700 page Divine Mercy in My Soul (Diary 1693) that the Lord had called her to be his Secretary for His "most profound mystery." (4)

"The Lord Jesus chose Sr. Mary Faustina as the Apostle and "Secretary" of His Mercy, so that she could tell the world about His great message. In the Old Covenant — He said to her —I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart (Diary 1588). (5)

"The mission of Sister Mary Faustina consists in 3 tasks:

– reminding the world of the truth of our faith revealed in the Holy Scripture about the merciful love of God toward every human being.

– Entreating God's mercy for the whole world and particularly for sinners, among others through the practice of new forms of devotion to the Divine Mercy presented by the Lord Jesus, such as: the veneration of the image of the Divine Mercy with the inscription: Jesus, I Trust in You, the feast of the Divine Mercy celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, chaplet to the Divine Mercy and prayer at the Hour of Mercy (3 p.m.). The Lord Jesus attached great promises to the above forms of devotion, provided one entrusted one's life to God and practiced active love of one's neighbor.

– The third task in Sr. Mary Faustina's mission consists in initiating the apostolic movement of the Divine Mercy which undertakes the task of proclaiming and entreating God's mercy for the world and strives for Christian perfection, following the precepts laid down by the Blessed Sr. Mary Faustina. The precepts in question require the faithful to display an attitude of child-like trust in God which expresses itself in fulfilling His will, as well as in the attitude of mercy toward one's neighbors. Today, this movement within the Church involves millions of people throughout the world; it comprises religious congregations, lay institutes, religious, brotherhoods, associations, various communities of apostles of the Divine Mercy, as well as individual people who take up the tasks which the Lord Jesus communicated to them through Sr. Mary Faustina." (6)

Sister Mary Faustina suffered from tuberculosis and from innumerable sufferings which she accepted as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners. She died in Krakow at the 33 years on October 5, 1938 with a reputation for spiritual maturity and a mystical union with God. The reputation of the holiness of her life grew as did the cult to the Divine Mercy and the graces she obtained from God through her intercession.On April 18, 1993 our Holy Father John Paul II raised Sister Faustina to the glory of the altars. (7)

WORDS AND WRITINGS OF ST. FAUSTINA

As Jesus told St. Faustina:

My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners…[I]t is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. (Diary, 367) (8)

As St. Faustina instructs us:

"Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God." (Diary 1107) (9)
ASPIRATION OF THE MONTH

Jesus, I trust in You!
All for Thee, most Sacred Heart of Jesus. (300 days indulgence)

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg your mercy for poor sinners.
O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with you for poor sinners.
O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners.
O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood.

St. Maria Faustina (10)

SCRIPTURE OF THE MONTH

"It is not those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord' who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Mt.7:21)

END NOTES

1. www.marianland.com/saintfaustina.html
2. Ordinary People and Extraordinary Works - Group 6, Card 65
3. www.marianland.com/saintfaustina.html
4. Ordinary People, op cit.
5. www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000430_faustina_en.html
6. op cit.
7. www.marianland.com op cit.
8. www.divinemercy.org
9. op cit.
10.Ordinary People, op cit.

2010-09-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

TEMPERANCE

VIRTUE FOR SEPTEMBER

"Temperance Restrains our Passions and the Attractions of Sense Pleasure. The Gift of Fear perfects this Virtue by making us more Generous in Mortifying our Senses and Passions. Impelled by this Holy Fear, we become more vigilant than ever . . . eager to renounce anything rather than Displease our Heavenly Father.”
(St. Jermone -From Divine Intimacy -299)

"When we speak of virtues — not only these cardinal ones, but all of them, every virtue — we must always have in mind the real man, the actual man. Virtue is not something abstract, detached from life, but, on the contrary, it has deep "roots" in life itself, it springs from the latter and forms it. Virtue has an impact on man's life, on his actions and behavior. It follows that, in all these reflections of ours, we are speaking not so much of the virtue as of man living and acting 'virtuously'; we are speaking of the prudent, just and courageous man, and finally, precisely today, we are speaking of the 'temperate' (or 'sober') man.

" Let us add at once that all these attributes, or rather attitudes of man, coming from the single cardinal virtues, are connected with one another. So it is not possible to be a really prudent, man, or an authentically just one, or a truly strong one, unless one also has the virtue of temperance. It can be said that this virtue indirectly conditions all other virtues, but it must also be said that all the other virtues are indispensable for man to be 'temperate' (or 'sober')."

(John Paul II General Address entitled "Virtue of Temperance" - 11/22/78)

SAINT FOR SEPTEMBER -

ST. JEROME

Feastday: September 30

347-420

Patron of Librarians and Scholars

St. Jerome spent four years in the Syrian desert area and wilderness outside of Antioch fasting and wrestling with his earthly desires. He is a model of resisting the temptations, both from flesh and spirit. He practiced severe austerities and focused on studying Hebrew and mastered it providing him with the expertise to later translate the Bible into Latin.

He was born in 347 in Dalmatia to a rich and Christian family. He was a good scholar, studied the classics in Rome, and was baptized in Rome at 18. He became well-educated in Latin and Greek, traveled to Gaul, then Italy, and then Syria. He decided to become a monk. Following a vision in which he beheld Christ, he redirected his studies to scripture and not secular writings. Thus he could more completely be a follower of Christ, not of Cicero and pagan writers. He wrote to a friend that in his vision Christ was a judge and said, "Thou art a Ciceronian. Where thy treasure is, there thy heart is also." (1)

Jerome traveled then to the desert and took up the study of Hebrew. He suffered from illnesses while practicing severe penances. His words describe his state:

"In the remotest part of a wild and stony desert," he wrote years afterwards to his friend Eustochium, "burnt up with the heat of the sun, so scorching that it frightens even the monks who live there, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and crowds of Rome.... In this exile and prison to which through fear of Hell I had voluntarily condemned myself, with no other company but scorpions and wild beasts, I many times imagined myself watching the dancing of Roman maidens as if I had been in the midst of them. My face was pallid with fasting, yet my will felt the assaults of desire. In my cold body and my parched flesh, which seemed dead before its death, passion was still able to live. Alone with the enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering them with my tears, and tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not ashamed to disclose my temptations, though I grieve that I am not now what I then was." (2)

Eventually Jerome received Holy Orders in Antioch, studied in Constantinople, and returned to Rome in 382 where he acted as secretary to the council. Then Pope Damasus requested his service as his secretary and asked him to prepare a revised Latin text of the Greek New Testament. He acted in this capacity for three years and also directed a group of patrician women in spiritual activities. He worked at tempering his fleshly desires, but he was not so successful in tempering his need to speak the truth boldly and at all times. His work with these women led to unfortunate rash judgements by others. "The infamy of a false crime has been imputed to me, but it is not the judgments of men which open or shut the gates of heaven." (3)

He found refuge in the land of his Lord and settled in Bethlehem where he could walk in the footsteps of Christ. One of the Roman women, Paula, built him a monastery where he continued his work on translating the scriptures into Latin, wrote numerous works of histories, polemics, biographies, and exegesis. When Christians were forced to leave Rome when Alaric the Goth sacked the city, Jerome gave many refuge in his monastery.

He opened a free school there and also a hospice for pilgrims, "So that," as Paula said, "should Mary and Joseph visit Bethlehem again, they would have a place to stay." He himself lived in a cave near the birthplace of the Lord. (4) He continued translating the books of scripture including the Old Testament from the Hebrew.

"What has made his name so famous was his critical labor on the text of the Scriptures. The Church regards him as the greatest of all the doctors in clarifying the Divine Word. He had the best available aids for such an undertaking, living where the remains of Biblical places, names, and customs all combined to give him a more vivid view than he could have had at a greater distance." (5)

He died peacefully on September 30, 420 after a life of penances and fasting. His translations are known as the Vulgate Bible. In the Sixteenth Century, the Council of Trent declared these books of the Bible to be the authentic and authoritative Latin text.

WORDS OF ST. JEROME

Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied. (Letter 125, to the priest Innocent)

Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. (Jerome's Prologue to the “Commentary on Isaiah”: PL 24,17)

PRAYER OF ST. JEROME

Show me, O Lord, your mercy an delight my heart with it. let me find you whom I so longingly seek. See! here is the man whom the robgers seized, mishandled, and left half dead on the road to Jericho. O kind hearted Sararitan, come to my aid! I am the sheep who wandered into the wilderness - seek after me and bring me home again to your fold. Do with me what you will that I may stay by you all the days of my life, and praise you with all those who are with you in heaven for all eternity. (6)

THOUGHTS ABOUT ST. JEROME

St. Jerome was declared a Doctor of the Church. Here is a passage from:
http://www.doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com/

If you have trouble controlling your temper at times, being patient and staying calm interacting with others, then you are normal. Nearly everyone blows-up now and then. Grace and virtue can harness and tame you to some degree but unless you live in isolation you will most likely lose your cool occasionally. Our habits become ingrained in us. That's the most important reason why we should cultivate good habits, especially mental habits. Our thinking needs guidance because thoughts beget habits. Jerome can enlighten you. Implore him for assistance.

Perhaps because of his wide exposures to many people and travels, he developed a pugnacious and cantankerous disposition at times. His keen intellect could be contentious when his vision of truth differed from others. Jerome was a passionate lover of biblical, written expression. His ill-nature, that all creatures possess due to original sin, was forever attacking, challenging and defending his pursuit of scriptural expression.

Those involved in research, biblical studies, languages or translations of God's holy word have a sure friend and guide in Jerome. He had a razor-sharp mind and his pen expressed everything precisely.

ENDNOTES
1. www.catholic.org/saints/saint
2. www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint
3. The Lives of the Saints, Omer Englebert, 1951

4. www.catholic.org/saints/saint

5. op cit

6. Ordinary People and Extradinary Lives, Group 6/6 Teaching and Sharing

2010-08-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

CHASTITY -VIRTUE FOR AUGUST

Chastity is the moral virtue by which, with the help of God’s grace attained by prayer and the Sacraments, human beings are enabled to refrain from all misuse of their sexual faculties. Chastity is called the angelic virtue, and the Sixth Commandment forbids sins against Chastity.

“Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and integrality of the gift.” (C.C.C. 2337)

"All the baptized are called to chastity. The Christian has 'put on Christ,' the model for all chastity. All Christ's faithful are called to lead a chaste life in keeping with their particular states in life." (C.C.C. 2348)

SAINT FOR AUGUST -
ST. TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS

Feast Day: August 9
Patroness of Europe and Martyrs

St. Teresa, Blessed of the Cross, was born in 1891 in Breslau to a Jewish family and named Edith Stein. She died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942 as a Carmelite of Jewish ancestry.

She is a remarkable saint for today's Catholics of all ages. She lived a chaste life as a young woman who was one of the first German women to enter a university. She enjoyed her fellow students, served as a nurse in Austria during World War I, joined world famous philosopher Edmund Husserl as his teaching assistant, and then earned her Doctorate in Philosophy as a Summa cum Laude.

Her conversion story from a Jewish girl, to a teenaged atheist, to a Catholic demonstrated Edith's interior search for Love. When in 1921 she happened to read the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila while visiting with a Christian friend, she began her mission to find that Love that St. Teresa had described. Finishing the book overnite, she bought a Catholic catechism the next morning, attended her first Mass, and soon asked to be baptized. (1)

She taught at a Dominican school and her students recalled the "little kindnesses she showed to homesick and lonesome girls." (2) During that time she took personal vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and sought to join the Order of Reformed Carmelites whose foundress was St. Teresa of Avila. Her spiritual advisors advised her to wait. They realized that her gifts as a philosopher were very needed in the world. One personal factor was her own Mother's oppostion to Edith's conversion to Catholicism. So Edith lectured at the University of Munster, translated works of Thomas Aquinas and John Cardinal Newman. "She successfully combined scholarship and faith in her work and her teaching, seeking to be a 'tool of the Lord' in everything she taught. 'If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him.' " (3)

By 1933 the climate in Hitler's Germany presented a setback. She lost her position because of the anti-Semitic laws. Now it was time to enter the Carmelite convent in Cologne. She was 43 years old and took the name of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. The "Cross" was a recognition of the power of St. John of the Cross in her spiritual life, as well as St. Teresa of Avila. She was allowed to continue with her intellectual interests and her writings. She wrote pamphlets and booklets on Catholic subjects and continued her correspondence with many friends and former pupils.

In 1938 Sister traveled to Holland to join a Carmelite Convent away from the persecution of Jews in Germany. "She prayed and suffered that God would comfort the Jewish people in their sufferings and lead them to the Catholic Church." She wrote to he new prioress, "Dear Mother, I beg you, give me permission to offer myself to the Heart of Jesus as a [sacrifice] of atonement for the sake of true peace, that the Antichrist's sway may be broken." (4)

Shortly after that in 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. Partly as retribution for the Dutch Archbishop protesting the Nazi treatment of Jews, all Jewish members of Dutch orders were arrested and taken to concentration camps. In 1942 Sister Benedicta and her own sister Rosa, now a Carmelite who had joined her in Holland, were apprehended by the German Gestapo. They were taken in cattle cars to Auschwitz where they were killed.

Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1987 and canonized her in 1999. His own words beautifully tell the heroic and virtuous life of this martyr. "We bow down before the testimony of the life and death of Edith Stein, an outstanding daughter of Israel and at the same time a daughter of the Carmelite Order, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a personality who united within her rich life a dramatic synthesis of our century. It was the synthesis of a history full of deep wounds that are still hurting ... and also the synthesis of the full truth about man. All this came together in a single heart that remained restless and unfulfilled until it finally found rest in God." These were the words of Pope John Paul II when he beatified Edith Stein in Cologne on 1 May 1987. (5)

WORDS OF ST. TERESA BENEDICTA

"During the time immediately before and quite some time after my conversion I ... thought that leading a religious life meant giving up all earthly things and having one's mind fixed on divine things only. Gradually, however, I learnt that other things are expected of us in this world... I even believe that the deeper someone is drawn to God, the more he has to 'get beyond himself' in this sense, that is, go into the world and carry divine life into it." (6)

In 1938 she wrote: "I understood the cross as the destiny of God's people, which was beginning to be apparent at the time (1933). I felt that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take it upon themselves on everybody's behalf. Of course, I know better now what it means to be wedded to the Lord in the sign of the cross. However, one can never comprehend it, because it is a mystery." (7)

Edith Stein's entry into the Carmelite Order was not escapism. "Those who join the Carmelite Order are not lost to their near and dear ones, but have been won for them, because it is our vocation to intercede to God for everyone." In particular, she interceded to God for her people: "I keep thinking of Queen Esther who was taken away from her people precisely because God wanted her to plead with the king on behalf of her nation. I am a very poor and powerless little Esther, but the King who has chosen me is infinitely great and merciful. This is great comfort." (31 October 1938) (8)

PRAYER OF ST. TERESA BENEDICTA

Oh my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me. I do not see very far ahead, but when I arrived where the horizon now closes down, a new prospect will open before me, and I shall meet it with peace. (9)

SCRIPTURES FOR THE MONTH

Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God. (1Corinthians 6:18-20)

For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 St. John 2:16)

The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 2:14)

EndNotes

1) Modern Saints, by Ann Ball. 1983, pg. 375

2) op cit., pg.375

3) http://www.vatican.va.news/

4) Modern Saints, pg.376

5) http://www.vatican.va.news/

6) op cit.

7) op cit.

8) op cit.

9) Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, Group 2-58

2010-06-30T13:01:00.001-07:00

JUSTICE-VIRTUE FOR JULY

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. (CCC 1807)

"Such disregard of the principles of justice between man and man has gradually distorted the necessary distinctions between 'mine' and 'thine' until in some instances the conscience is completely dulled.

"Despite all popular notions to the contrary, justice is still an essential part of the natural law, and every sin and fault against it will be punished by God. It is defined as the virtue whereby a man respects the rights of others to what they possess; whereby he gives to every man what is his due, and takes from no man anything except that to which he has a just title." (Catholic Treasurers)

SAINT FOR JULY -
ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN (1303-1373)
FEAST DAY - JULY 23
PATRONESS OF SWEDEN, WIDOWS,
AND C0-PATRONESS OF EUROPE

St. Bridget, or Birgitta, chose a life of a religious after a happy marriage to Prince Ulf Gudmarsson. They had 8 children, including St. Catherine of Sweden. She is renown for your charity and piety. She sought to bring justice to the poor through her many good works and truth to the Popes residing in Avignon, France by urging them to return to Rome. She was loved and criticized for her attempt to accomplish this.

St. Bridget was born in Uppland, Sweden in 1303 to a family of royal blood. Her parents were models of devout Catholicism. "When only seven Bridget had a vision in which our Lady placed a crown on her head, and when ten, after a sermon on the Passion, she saw in a dream Christ wounded and bleeding. These two experiences seem to have been the formative ones of her life." (1)

She was wed at 14 and happily married for 28 years. As a widow, she changed her style of life and led an ascetic life, joining the Third Order of St Francis. Some denounced her for her new way of life to which she replied, " It was not on your account that I began, and your mockers will not prevent my continuing." (2)

Soon she founded the Order of St. Saviour, or the Brigittines, and traveled to Rome in 1349 for approval. Pope Urban V did confirm her Rule in 1370. She also traveled to other countries to promote it's work. In 1373 she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where she walked in the Lord's footsteps during His Passion. She encouraged devotion to the Lord's Passion in her congregation of nuns. (3) Her daughter Catherine became superior of the founding congregation in Vadstena.

St. Bridget was inspired to recall kings and clergy to their rightful duties. It was known that Popes Clement VI, Urban V, and Gregory XI "venerated her and had recourse to her counsel," even as she pressed them to leave France and return to Rome. (4)

"St. Bridget had the gift of prophecy and worked many marvellous cures. Once widowed, she lived an ascetic life, eating very little, sleeping short hours, and praying continually. She followed a strict rule and practiced every possible kind of charitable work, even reducing herself to begging. She received constant inspirations which were either taken down by her chaplain and put into Latin, thus becoming known as her 'Revelations,' or took the form of letters to the succeeding popes, cardinals, and secular rulers of the day, telling them of their wickedness and how to reform their lives. Both in Sweden and in Rome she was either hated violently or loved as a saint. 'Strong and full of courage,' she was 'homely and kind and had a laughing face.' " (5)

Pope Pius IX approved the publication of "The Fifteen Prayers" as revealed by Our Lord to St. Bridget while she was in the Church of St. Paul in Rome. One may find these at
www.marypages.com/BrigittaEnglish.htm .

WRITINGS OF ST. BRIDGET

First Prayer:

Oh Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from all eternity in the Divine plan....

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thous didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, gran me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission of all my sins. Amen

Conclusion:
Oh Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen (6)

PRAYER FOR JULY

Lord God, You revealed heavenly secrets to St. Bridget as she meditated on the Passion of Your Son. Grant that we, Your servants, may attain the joyful contemplation of Your glory.

END NOTES
1. Catholic Information Network www.cin.org
2. Lives of Saints, Omer Englebert. 1951
3. Catholic Encyclopedia
4. Butler, op cit
5. www.cin.org
6. The Pieta Prayer Booklet, 1982 pages 3-14
7. www.ainglkiss.com/saints/bridg.htm

2010-05-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR JUNE - LOVE OF NEIGHBOR (Negative Obligations)

Fraternal charity was the emphasis in May. This month's virtue reflects on how to avoid sins in order to advance in charity. Some areas to consider are: slandering others, ruining reputations, showing jealousy towards one, engaging in gossip, making sarcastic remarks, and hurting others by one's angry outbursts.

Ways to overcome these failings and sins include trying to cultivate a genuine zeal for souls, realizing how far-reaching one's own example is in influencing others, and recalling those words of Our Lord, "Whatsoever you have done to the least of my little ones, you have done it to me."

SAINT FOR JUNE
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591)

Feast Day - June 21

Patron of Catholic Youth, Teenagers, and Caregivers for AIDS Patients

St. Aloysius lived his 23 years of life in an extraordinary manner.  He knew that he wanted to be a priest and suffer for the Lord when he was very young. He had to exhibit much charity towards family members and the Renaissance Italian society into which he was born. He avoided placing himself in ways of temptation, tried to gain his father's approval to join the priesthood, and sought always to reflect a penitent heart.

Born into a noble family related to the powerful Medicis and many illustrious prelates, he was presented with a military career possibility at age 4 by his father and sent to live a soldier's life with his father, the Marquis of Castiglione, who was raising trooops for the King of Spain.  Aloysius called this period of his very young life his "life of sin." He learned many "guardroom" expressions for which he was forever sorry. (1)

He grew up amid the violence and brutality of the Renaissance Italy and witnessed the murder of two of his brothers. (2)
At age 7 he began his "conversion" determining to become a priest. He prayed the psalms and the Office of Mary. At 9 he attended Court in Florence and where he was educated. Then he pronounced that he was taking a vow of perpetual chastity. His mother welcomed her son's desire to enter religious life, but his father tried to dissuade him and sent him to attend courts in many cities. The Marquis even had bishops try to change his mind.

By age 11 he was teaching catechism to poor children, fasting three days a week, and practicing great austerities. When he was 13 years old he traveled with his parents and the Empress of Austria to Spain and acted as a page in the court of Philip II. "The more Aloysius saw of court life, the more disillusioned he became, seeking relief in learning about the lives of saints." (3)

At 17 he renounced his title and relinquished it to his brother exclaiming that he was the happier of the two as he was going to enter the Jesuit novitiate in Rome. (4)

His piety was well-known to his fellow novices and even annoyed them. He would say a Hail Mary on every step as he climbed the stairs. He fasted 3 times a week and scourged himself nightly. (5)

Holy Communion remained a central part of the Saint's life. His week was divided into two parts: the first he devoted to thanksgiving for receiving Christ, the second was preparation for the next Communion. On the eve of receiving the Eucharist, many of his fellow novices and priests would want to be near him to be inspired for their own masses because Aloysius would talk of the happiness that awaited him when he did consume the Body and the Blood. (6)

During his early studies in Rome, he would regularly go out into the streets of the city to care for victims of the plague. He himself contracted the disease as a result of his efforts for the suffering and died on June 21, 1591, at the age of twenty-three, six years short of his ordination as a Jesuit priest. He knew that he would die on the Octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi and he did and had prepared for it, holding the cross and calling out "Jesus."

During his short life, he knew St. Charles Bellarmine who gave him his First Communion and St. Robert Bellarmine was his confessor. Pope Benedict XIII canonized him in 1726.

PRAYER FOR JUNE
O, Holy Mary! My Mother; into thy blessed trust and special custody and into the bosom of thy mercy, I this day, and every day, and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and body. To thee I commit all my anxieties and sorrows, my life and the end of my life, that by thy most holy intercession, and by thy merits, all my actions may be directed and governed by thy will and that of thy Son    St. Aloysius Gongaza

THOUGHT OF ST. ALOYSIUS GONGAZA

I am a piece of twisted iron; I entered religion to get twisted straight.

ENDNOTES
1. Omer Englebert, Lives of Saints, 1951
2. http://www.gonzaga.edu/
3. http://www.americancatholic.org/
4. www.sjweb.info/Jesuits/saints
5. Extraordinary Live, Ordinary People -Overcoming Obstacles
6. www.sjwebinfo/Jesuits/saints

2010-04-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR MAY-
LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

"The love of one's neighbor is essentially bound up with the love of God. St. John put the matter simply when he said: 'If any man say that he loves God and hateth his neighbor, that man is a liar and the truth is not in him.' Hence it would be a contradiction to profess love of God and at the same time to exclude a neighbor from our love. Therefore the love of neighbor imposes many positive duties upon us, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, etc.each one of which is directed towards the well-being and happiness of our neighbor, at the same time it forbids certain sins which would bring unhappiness, spiritual or temporal, to a neighbor." (1)

SAINT OF THE MONTH
RITA OF CASCIA

Patron of Desperate Cases
Feast Day: May 22

St. Rita exemplifies love of neighbor. During her life she endured much anguish from her husband and his family, but she prayed unceasingly for them to walk the righteous path and not the path of vengeance. She forgave them, corrected them in charity, and sought always the spiritual well-being of each one.

She was born in 1377 in Umbria, Italy. At twelve years old, her parents arranged marriage for her to a young nobleman, although knowing that she desired to enter a convent. Throughout the 18 years of marrige, St. Rita prayed for her husband. During this period he received the graces to abandon the culturally accepted path of vengeance, although he was assassinated for this choice.

When their two sons took up arms and sought to avenge their father's death by killing his murderers, Rita prayed that they would die in the state of grace before they took that path. Her sons became ill, reconciled with Rita, forgave their enemies, and died in grace as their mother had prayed for.

Rita was eventually allowed to enter the convent, as she had desired to do as a young girl. Since she was not a virgin, she had to apply 3 times before she was accepted into the Augustinian convent. (2)

Her life then became one of more intense physical suffering. Her prayer to Jesus to bring her a crown of thorns was granted when she received a wound on her forehead, as if made by a crown of thorns. She was isolated as a leper from her community because of the open wound. When she was permitted to visit Rome for the Jubilee of 1450, the wound was healed.

When St. Rita was dying, she asked for a rose from the garden. It was not the season for roses, but a single rose was discovered and placed on her deathbed. The rose is her emblem which certainly affirms her as the Saint of the Impossible, as well as Desperate Cases, including those suffering from infertility. She was canonized in 1900. (3)

PRAYER TO ST. RITA
Dear St. Rita, model wife and widow, you yourself sufered in a long illness showing patience out of love for God. Teach us to pray as you did. Many invoke you for help, full of confidence in your intercession. Deign to come now to our aid for the relief and cure of my loved one. To God, all things are possible; may this healing give glory to the Lord. Amen (4)

ENDNOTES
1. Rev. Donald F. Miller, Catholic Treasures - Issue No. 88-89

2. Lives of the Saints, by Omer Englebert, 1951/McKay

3. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, MMI (St. Rita/Healing and Helping)

4. Op cit.

2010-02-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

MARCH VIRTUE:

CHARITY

"Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

"Charity is called the queen of the virtues because it unites man to God most perfectly and most permanently in the bonds of love. Charity is the divine friendship uniting man to God and man to fellow-man in the bonds of mutual affection. As we love those who are truly our friends, for their own sake and not because of any advantage to us, so through charity, we love God for His own sake and our neighbor because of God.

"Our neighbor includes all living human beings, even our enemies, the souls in purgatory, the blessed in heaven and the angels. When God gives us the infused virtue of charity, He gives us the means to make perfect acts of love, and the power to make these acts easily." (1)

SAINT FOR MARCH -
ST. KATHARINE DREXEL
Feast Day - March 3

Katharine Drexel was born in 1858 into a wealthy family and learned about the virtue of charity from her step-mother Emma Bouvier. Emma believed that God had provided well for the Drexels in order for the family to help others in need. From Katharine's childhood she helped Emma distribute food, medicine, clothing, and money to the poor in her birthplace of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (2)

She had always been interested in the plight of the Indians, having been appalled by reading Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?” His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities.   Back home, she visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions.

She could easily have married. But after much discussion with Bishop O’Connor, she wrote in 1889, “The feast of St. Joseph brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Colored.” (3)

Her concern for the needy increased as did her charity. After her father died and left her millions of dollars, she began helping Native American children to attend schools by underwriting their costs. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1889.  In 1891 she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. The Sisters took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and also vowed to be "mother and servant" of Native Americans and African-Americans.

Soon the nuns built their first mission school for Native Americans in Santa Fee, New Mexico. It was the first native school west of the Mississippi River. 145 missions and 12 schools for Native Americans and 50 schools for African-Americans followed. In 1915 Katharine founded Xavier University in New Orleans which was the first U.S. Catholic university for African-Americans.

St. Katharine lived a long life, dying in 1955. She had suffered a severe heart attack in 1935 and led a prayer-filled life for the next 20 years while her 500 Sisters taught in 63 schools.  Her life spanned almost one century, and in her death her charity continued as the remainder of her estate was donated to charity.
(4)

THOUGHTS ON THE SANCTITY OF ST. KATHARINE
by Brother Lawrence Mary, M.I.C.M. Tertiary

The question remains: What virtues did St. Katharine practice heroically — virtues that should be imitated by the Faithful? For Americans, in particular, St. Katharine provides us with a challenging example of heroic poverty of spirit and charity. Katharine was born into one of the richest families in America. She had all of the advantages such a background would provide — luxurious accommodations, the finest food, a marvelous education, an unlimited ability to travel, excellent social connections and a proper introduction to high society as a debutante and all that goes with it. In short, she had everything that could have turned her into a wealthy, high-society, spoiled brat. Yet, her life was one that exemplified true poverty of spirit.

As described by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., in his book Divine Intimacy , “Poverty of spirit includes detachment not only from material goods, but also from moral and even spiritual goods. Whoever tries to assert his own personality, seeking the esteem and regard of creatures, who remains attached to his own will and ideas, or is too fond of his independence, is not poor in spirit, but is rich in himself, in his self-love and his pride.” As we have seen, throughout her life Katharine was entirely docile to the counsels and advice of her spiritual director. She felt herself to be an entirely inadequate instrument of God. In practice, she treated herself as the humblest of servants. She always took the meanest of accommodations, ate the simplest foods and gave all personal belongings away. From her last years we have the following touching example of her poverty. After she had become enfeebled and was bedridden, her primary source of visible consolation was a small holy card with a picture of Pope St. Pius X. She held it in her hands for hours every day while she prayed. Once, when a longtime acquaintance, Father William Markoe, came to call, she saw in his face something that troubled her. When he was leaving, she gave him her most precious possession — her little picture of St. Pius X. Such was Katharine’s spirit of poverty. Her entire life was a sacrifice for others; she held nothing back for herself.

Aside from her personal growth in sanctity, St. Katharine’s primary concern was the salvation of souls. Everything else was only a means to this end. She burned with the desire to provide the opportunity for all Americans to love the Blessed Sacrament as much as she did. Her true Charity was intense. An old Indian who had been educated by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and who was a close friend of St. Katharine for many decades until her death in 1955 said, “She never mixed two religions together. She always stressed the Catholic.” At her canonization, when there was much talk about Katharine being a “saint of the oppressed” and “advocate for social justice,” an elderly sister, who had taken care of St. Katharine during her last years, made this wise observation, “Her greatest accomplishment was her sanctity.”

St. Mary Katharine Drexel, pray for us! (5)

WORDS OF ST. KATHARINE DREXEL

“The patient and humble endurance of the cross—whatever nature it may be—is the highest work we have to do.”

“Oh, how far I am at 84 years of age from being an image of Jesus in his sacred life on earth!” (6)

PRAYERS FOR MARCH
Father in Heaven, bless us with spiritual wealth as you blessed your servant St. Katherine Drexel. may the example of this extraordinary women help young people in particular to appreciate that no greater treasure can be found in this world than in following Christ with an undivided heart and in using generously the gifts we have received for the service of others and for the uilding of a more just and fraternal world. Amen.
(Prayer based on a tribute to St. Katharine by Pope John Paul II (7)

Ever-loving God, you called Saint Katharine Drexel to teach the message of the Gospel adn to bring the life of the Eucharist to the african-American and Native american peoples. By her prayers and example, enable us to work for justice among the poor and the oppressed, and keep us undivided in love in the eucharistic community of your Church. Grant this throught our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Opening Prayer for March 3 Commemoration Mass)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR MARCH

If I should speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charity, I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, yet do not have charity, I am nothing. And if I distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, yet do not have charity, it profits me nothing. Charity is patient, is kins; charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth; bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.   I Corinthians 13:1-7

So there abide faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. I Corinthians 13:13

AFTERNOTES

1. Understanding the Catholic Faith, Rev. John A. O'Brien, Ph.D., 1955, pages 102-103

2. Extraordinary People, Ordinary Lives, Healing and Helping 4/22

3. http://www.americancatholic.org/ Saint of the Day w

4. Extraordinary People, Ordinary Lives, op citw
5. http://www.catholicism.org/
6. Extraordinary People, Ordinary Lives, op cit
7. Op cit

5.
5. .

5.

2010-02-03T13:28:00.000-08:00

HOPE - VIRTUE FOR FEBRUARY

"Hope is the virtue by which we firmly trust that God, who is all-powerful and faithful to His promises, will in His mercy give us eternal happiness and the means to obtain it.

"Hope is absolutely necessary for salvation; adults must have the virtue and make the act of hope; infants must have the virtue. For the infused virtue of hope, like the infused virtue of faith, is given to the infant when he receives sanctifying grace." (1)

SAINT FOR FEBRUARY-

St. Polycarp , Bishop of Smyrna and Martyr
Feast Day - February 23
69 A.D. to 155 A.D.
Patron of persons suffering from earaches and dysentery

St. Polycarp can be our model for hope. He led a long life always knowing that the Lord would stand beside him and provide him with the graces to remain faithful to his priesthood, the Church, and to the Lord.

St. Polycarp had been a disciple of the Apostle St. John and of "those who had seen the Lord." When he was 86 years of age he responded to those who commanded that he deny Christ, "For the 86 years I have served him, He has never done me any ill; how can I blaspheme by Saviour and my King?"

His captors had planned to bind him to the stake with chains, when he called out, "Leave me as I am. He who has given me chance to suffer for Him will give me strength; he will soften the violence of the fire and will make me able to bear its heat." He was burned at the stake, but he was not burned. His enemies had to kill him by stabbing him. (2)

Writings of the early fathers include those of St. Irenaeus who tells us this about St. Polycarp:

"He was not only taught by the Apostles, and lived in familiar intercourse with many that had seen Christ, but also received his appointment in Asia from the Apostles as Bishop in the Church of Smyrna." He then goes on to speak of his own personal acquaintance with Polycarp, his martyrdom, and his visit to Rome, where he converted many heretics. He then continues, "there are those who heard him tell how John, the disciple of the Lord, when he went to take a bath in Ephesus, and saw Cerinthus within, rushed away from the room without bathing, with the words 'Let us flee lest the room should fall in, for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within'. Yea, and Polycarp himself, also, when on one occasion Marcion confronted him and said 'Recognise us', replied, 'Ay, ay, I recognise the first-born of Satan'". (3)

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

"God of Angels, who hast destroyed sin and will one day destroy death, I bless you that you have judged me worthy to approach the cup of your passion with my lips. My sacrifice then is almost consummated; before day is done I shall see the fulfilment of your promises. May your adorable name be ever glorified through Jesus Christ, eternal priest, in the unity of the Holy Ghose. Amen."

St. Polycarp's prayer at the stake. (4)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR THE MONTH

Psalm 42:11

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Psalm 71:5

For you, O Lord, are my hope,my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

Romans 8:25

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 12:12

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Colossians 1:3-5,27

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Titus 2:11-13

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Footnotes

(1) Understanding the Catholic Faith, Rev. John A. O'Brien, 1955

(2) The Lives of the Saints by Omer Englebert, 1951/ Page 37
(3) Op cit.

(4) Op cit.

2010-01-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR JANUARY - FAITH

"Faith is the theological virtue, infused by God, by which we firmly assent to all truths that God has revealed to mankind because God cannot deceive or be deceived. Faith is the foundation of all justification, the beginning of all supernatural virtue, the starting point of sanctification and perfection. 'Without faith it is impossible to please God.' " (1)

SAINT FOR JANUARY
ST. FRANCES de SALES

Feast Day: January 24

Patron of Catholic Press, Confessors, Educators, Writers, Journalists, and the Deaf

St. Francis de Sales professed his faith for the Lord and in Catholic teaching during very stressful times. He was successful in converting non-believers, non-Catholics, and heretics through his writings and preaching. His faith was always offered with gentleness and a kindly spirit. Introduction to the Devout Life is his best known work.
__________________________________________
Bishop of Geneva, Doctor of the Universal Church; born at Thorens, in the Duchy of Savoy, 21 August, 1567; died at Lyons, 28 December, 1622. His father, Francois de Sales de Boisy, and his mother, Francoise de Sionnaz, belonged to old Savoyard aristocratic families. The future saint was the eldest of six brothers. His father intended him for the magistracy and sent him at an early age to the colleges of La Roche and Annecy. From 1583 till 1588 he studied rhetoric and humanities at the college of Clermont, Paris, under the care of the Jesuits. While there he began a course of theology. After a terrible and prolonged temptation to despair, caused by the discussions of the theologians of the day on the question of predestination, from which he was suddenly freed as he knelt before a miraculous image of Our Lady at St. Etienne-des-Gres, he made a vow of chastity and consecrated himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1588 he studied law at Padua, where the Jesuit Father Possevin was his spiritual director. He received his diploma of doctorate from the famous Pancirola in 1592. Having been admitted as a lawyer before the senate of Chambery, he was about to be appointed senator. His father had selected one of the noblest heiresses of Savoy to be the partner of his future life, but Francis declared his intention of embracing the ecclesiastical life. A sharp struggle ensued. His father would not consent to see his expectations thwarted. Then Claude de Granier, Bishop of Geneva, obtained for Francis, on his own initiative, the position of Provost of the Chapter of Geneva, a post in the patronage of the pope. It was the highest office in the diocese, M. de Boisy yielded and Francis received Holy Orders (1593).

From the time of the Reformation the seat of the Bishopric of Geneva had been fixed at Annecy. There with apostolic zeal, the new provost devoted himself to preaching, hearing confessions, and the other work of his ministry. In the following year (1594) he volunteered to evangelize Le Chablais, where the Genevans had imposed the Reformed Faith, and which had just been restored to the Duchy of Savoy. He made his headquarters in the fortress of Allinges. Risking his life, he journeyed through the entire district, preaching constantly; by dint of zeal, learning, kindness and holiness he at last obtained a hearing. He then settled in Thonon, the chief town. He confuted the preachers sent by Geneva to oppose him; he converted the syndic and several prominent Calvinists. At the request of the pope, Clement VIII, he went to Geneva to interview Theodore Beza, who was called the Patriarch of the Reformation. The latter received him kindly and seemed for a while shaken, but had not the courage to take the final steps. A large part of the inhabitants of Le Chablais returned to the true fold (1597 and 1598). Claude de Granier then chose Francis as his coadjutor, in spite of his refusal, and sent him to Rome (1599).

Pope Clement VIII ratified the choice; but he wished to examine the candidate personally, in presence of the Sacred College. The improvised examination was a triumph for Francis. "Drink, my son", said the Pope to him. "from your cistern, and from your living wellspring; may your waters issue forth, and may they become public fountains where the world may quench its thirst." The prophesy was to be realized. On his return from Rome the religious affairs of the territory of Gex, a dependency of France, necessitated his going to Paris. There the coadjutor formed an intimate friendship with Cardinal de Berulle, Antoine Deshayes, secretary of Henry IV, and Henry IV himself, who wished "to make a third in this fair friendship" (). The king made him preach the Lent at Court, and wished to keep him in France. He urged him to continue, by his sermons and writings, to teach those souls that had to live in the world how to have confidence in God, and how to be genuinely and truly pious—graces of which he saw the great necessity.

On the death of Claude de Granier, Francis was consecrated Bishop of Geneva (1602). His first step was to institute catechetical instructions for the faithful, both young and old. He made prudent regulations for the guidance of his clergy. He carefully visited the parishes scattered through the rugged mountains of his diocese. He reformed the religious communities. His goodness, patience and mildness became proverbial. He had an intense love for the poor, especially those who were of respectable family. His food was plain, his dress and his household simple. He completely dispensed with superfluities and lived with the greatest economy, in order to be able to provide more abundantly for the wants of the needy. He heard confessions, gave advice, and preached incessantly. He wrote innumerable letters (mainly letters of direction) and found time to publish the numerous works mentioned below. Together with St. Jane Frances de Chantal, he founded (1607) the Institute of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, for young girls and widows who, feeling themselves called to the religious life, have not sufficient strength, or lack inclination, for the corporal austerities of the great orders. His zeal extended beyond the limits of his own diocese. He delivered the Lent and Advent discourses which are still famous—those at Dijon (1604), where he first met the Baroness de Chantal; at Chambery (1606); at Grenoble (1616, 1617, 1618), where he converted the Marechal de Lesdiguieres. During his last stay in Paris (November, 1618, to September, 1619) he had to go into the pulpit each day to satisfy the pious wishes of those who thronged to hear him. "Never", said they, "have such holy, such apostolic sermons been preached." He came into contact here with all the distinguished ecclesiastics of the day, and in particular with St. Vincent de Paul. His friends tried energetically to induce him to remain in France, offering him first the wealthy Abbey of Ste. Genevieve and then the coadjutor-bishopric of Paris, but he refused all to return to Annecy.

In 1622 he had to accompany the Court of Savoy into France. At Lyons he insisted on occupying a small, poorly furnished room in a house belonging to the gardener of the Visitation Convent. There, on 27 December, he was seized with apoplexy. He received the last sacraments and made his profession of faith, repeating constantly the words: "God's will be done! Jesus, my God and my all!" He died next day, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Immense crowds flocked to visit his remains, which the people of Lyons were anxious to keep in their city. With much difficulty his body was brought back to Annecy, but his heart was left at Lyons. A great number of wonderful favours have been obtained at his tomb in the Visitation Convent of Annecy. His heart, at the time of the French Revolution, was carried by the Visitation nuns from Lyons to Venice, where it is venerated to-day. St. Francis de Sales was beatified in 1661, and canonized by Alexander VII in 1665; he was proclaimed Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX, in 1877.

The following is a list of the principal works of the holy Doctor: (1) "Controversies", leaflets which the zealous missioner scattered among the inhabitants of Le Chablais in the beginning, when t hese people did not venture to come and hear him preach. They form a complete proof of the Catholic Faith. In the first part, the author defends the authority of the Church, and in the second and third parts, the rules of faith, which were not observed by the heretical ministers. The primacy of St. Peter is amply vindicated. (2) "Defense of the Standard of the Cross", a demonstration of the virtue of the True Cross; of the Crucifix; of the Sign of the Cross; an explanation of the Veneration of the Cross. (3) "An Introduction to the Devout Life", a work intended to lead "Philothea", the soul living in the world, into the paths of devotion, that is to say, of true and solid piety. Every one should strive to become pious, and "it is an error, it is even a heresy", to hold that piety is incompatible with any state of life. In the first part the author helps the soul to free itself from all inclination to, or affection for, sin; in the second, he teaches it how to be united to God by prayer and the sacraments; in the third, he exercises it in the practice of virtue; in the fourth, he strengthens it against temptation; in the fifth, he teaches it how to form its resolutions and to persevere. The "Introduction", which is a masterpiece of psychology, practical morality, and common sense, was translated into nearly every language even in the lifetime of the author, and it has since gone through innumerable editions. (4) "Treatise on the Love of God", an authoritative work which reflects perfectly the mind and heart of Francis de Sales as a great genius and a great saint. It contains twelve books. The first four give us a history, or rather explain the theory, of Divine love, its birth in the soul, its growth, its perfection, and its decay and annihilation; the fifth book shows that this love is twofold—the love of complacency and the love of benevolence; the sixth and seventh treat of love, which is practised in prayer; the eight and ninth deal with love, that is, conformity to the will of God, and submission to His good pleasure. The last three resume what has preceded and teach how to apply practically the lessons taught therein. (5) "Spiritual Conferences"; familiar conversations on religious virtues addressed to the sisters of the Visitation and collected by them. We find in them that practical common sense, keenness of perception and delicacy of feeling which were characteristic of the kind-hearted and energetic Saint. (6) "Sermons".—These are divided into two classes: those composed previously to his consecration as a bishop, and which he himself wrote out in full; and the discourses he delivered when a bishop, of which, as a rule, only outlines and synopses have been preserved. Some of the latter, however, were taken down by his hearers. Pius IX, in his Bull proclaiming him Doctor of the Church calls the Saint "The Master and Restorer of Sacred Eloquence". He is one of those who at the beginning of the seventeenth century formed the beautiful French language; he foreshadows and prepares the way for the great sacred orators about to appear. He speaks simply, naturally, and from his heart. To speak well we need only love well, was his maxim. His mind was imbued with the Holy Writings, which he comments, and explains, and applies practically with no less accuracy than grace. (7) "Letters", mostly letters of direction, in which the minister of God effaces himself and teaches the soul to listen to God, the only true director. The advice given is suited to all the circumstances and necessities of life and to all persons of good will. While trying to efface his own personality in these letters, the saint makes himself known to us and unconsciously discovers to us the treasures of his soul. (8) A large number of very precious treatises or opuscula.
By Raphael Pernin
Translated by Frank O'Leary (2)

Prayer of St. Francis de Sales

"Lord, I am yours, and I must belong to no one but you. My soul is yours, and must live only by you. My will is yours, and must love only for you. I must love you as my first cause, since I am from you. I must love you as my end and rest, since I am for you. I must love you more than my own being, since my being subsists by you. I must love you more than myself, since I am all yours and all in you. Amen." (from Treatise on the Love of God) (3)

WORDS OF ST. FRANCIS de SALES

Letter to an expectant mother and his spiritual daughter:

"Now, dear daughter, the babe being formed in your womb is to be a living representation of the divine Majesty, but as long as your vigour and physical strength are employed on the work, your spirits will inevitably droop and grow weary, and you will be unable to perform your daily duties with your usual zest and cheerfulness. Endure your lassitude and low spirits lovingly, and think of the honour God is to receive from your finished work, for it is your own reproduction which will find a place in the eternal temple of the heavenly Jerusalem, and will there give everlasting joy to the eyes of God and angels and men. The saints will hymn God's praises for what you have achieved, and you will join your voice to theirs when you behold it. So be patient with the feeling of drowsiness and dullness, and hold fast to our Lord's holy will, who has thus ordained things in His eternal wisdom." Written September 29, 1620. (4)

ASPIRATION FOR JANUARY
"Lord, increase our faith! "(500 days indulgence)

SCRIPTURES FOR JANUARY
Faith if the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

If thou confess with thy mouth the LordJesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him up from thedead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
ENDNOTES

1. Examination of Conscience for Adults
2. Catholic Encyclopedia noted on http://www.ewtn.com/
3. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (6-25)
4. Letters from the Saints, Hawthorne Books, 1964, pp. 86-88

2009-12-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR DECEMBER - HUMILITY

"Humility is the fundamental virtue by which a person remembers his utter dependence on God and God's laws and God's providence, and the utter folly of any action or any judgement or any self-glorification that is contrary to the will of God." (1) St. John Chrysostom remarked that "Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue." Reverend John Mason of England exclaimed, "True humility makes way for Christ and throws the soul at his feet." (2)

Abbe De Brandt told us, "humility, to be true, must be deeply rooted in our hearts. Let us beseech our dear Lord to make us more clearly perceive, by the help of His grace, what means we should take in order to become truly humble. Humility must grow up out of our hearts perennially - a blossom growing from the deeply-rooted conviction of our nothingness." (3)

SAINT FOR DECEMBER -

ST. JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL (1562-1641)

Feast Day - December 12 (in USA it is August 18)

Patron of forgotten people, in-law problems, loss of parents, parents separated from children, widows

St. Jane de Chantal truly lived a life of humility. Throughout her life as a wife, a mother, a nun, and a founder of the Order of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, she exemplified humility. She was born in Dijon, France where her father was President of the Burgundian Parliament. She married Baron de Chantal at 20 and bore him 6 children. Only 4 children survived. They lives in a feudal castle where she restored the custom of Daily Mass and brought order to the household which was on the brink of ruin and brought back prosperity. During her husband's absence at the court, or with the army, when reproached for her extremely sober manner of dressing, her reply was: "The eyes which I must please are a hundred miles from here." her humility was blessed by the Lord with miraculous cures of person for whom she had nursed.

Her husband was killed in a hunting accident after nine years of marriage. At 28 years old the young widow took an oath of chastity and devoted herself to her children and to works of charity, although this was difficult under the tyrannical father-in-law. Three years later, Jane heard St. Francis de Sales preach. She sought his guidance and his spiritual direction. She humbly accepted his direction not to become a nun but to continue with her family and community work. Three more years passed and St. Francis informed Jane of his plan to found an institute for women whose age or health would not allow them to live a cloistered life. They would be committed to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

Thus was founded the Order of the visitation whose work was primarily focused on exemplifying the virtues of Our Lady of the Visitation, namely humilty and meekness. St. Jane was 45 when the small congregation began. She remained humble and obedient when the Order was obliged to become cloistered and when her only son died and a plague took the lives of other family members. She and her nuns continued to care for the sick. The two holy founders saw their undertaking prosper. At the time of the death of St. Francis de Sales in 1622, the Order already counted 13 houses; there were 86 when St. Jane Frances died (December 13, 1641) and 164 when she was canonized.

St. Francis de Sales' commentary of her characterizes her life at Bourbilly and everywhere else: "In Madame de Chantal I have found the perfect woman, whom Solomon had difficulty in finding in Jerusalem." (4)

SCRIPTURE FOR THE MONTH

For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Luke XIV: 11

PRAYERS FOR DECEMBER

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heard like unto Thine.

(Opening Prayer for Memorial Mass)

THOUGHTS OF ST. JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL

O, Lord Jesus, I surrender to You all my will. Let me be Your lute. Touch any string You please. Always and forever let me make music in perfect harmony with Your own. Yes, Lord, with no ifs, ands or buts, let Your will be done in this family, for the father, for the children, for everything that concerns me, and especially let Your will be done in me. (5)

Fidelity toward God consists in being perfectly resigned to his holy will, in enduring everything that his goodness allows in our lives, and in carrying out all our duties, especially that of prayer, with love and for love. In prayer we must converse very familiarly with our Lord, concerning our little needs, telling him what they are, and remaining submissive to anything he may wish to do with us.... We should go to prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then remain still in God's presence, full of faith that he is more in us than we are in ourselves.

There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is. We must never dwell on our sins during prayer. Regarding our offenses, a simple humbling of our soul before God, without a thought of this offense or that, is enough...such thoughts act as distractions. (St. Jeanne de Chantal, from Wings to the Lord) (6)

ENDNOTES

1. "Catholic Treasures" - Issue 88-89

2. New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1960 p.281

3. Growth in the Knowledge of Our Lord, Herder Book Company, p. 151

4. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913 edition); Saint of the Day, Vol II, St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1975

5. Ordinary People - Extraordinary Lives 4/86

6. www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj22.htm

2009-11-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR NOVEMBER: MEEKNESS

Meekness is the virtue that enables one to overcome the tendencies of anger, revenge, hatred, and enmity...meekness presupposes the virtue of charity or love of neighbor, which provides the motives and the means of overlooking insult, injustice, and injury, real or imaginary, from others. (1)

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth," announced our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount." (Matthew 5:5)

The meed are not those who are never at all angry, for such are insensible but those who, feeling anger, control it, and are angry only when they ought to be. Meekness excludes revenge, irritability, morbid sensitiveness, and but not self-defence, or a quiet, and steady maintenance of rights." Theophylact, Archbishop of Acris in early 5th Century. (2)

"Meekness is love at school, at the school of Christ. it is the disciple learning to know, and fear, and distrust himself, and learning of him who is meek and lowly in heart, and so finding rest to his soul." Reverend James Hamilton, British clergyman in 19th Century. (2)

SAINT FOR NOVEMBER:

ST. MARTIN DE PORRES

Feast Day: November 3

Patron of Barbers

Pope John XXIII at the canonization of St. Martin on May 6, 1962 remarked, "He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing, and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves; thus deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: Martin of Charity." (3)

St. Martin's birth in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579, to Anna Valazquez, a free black woman, and John Porres, a Spanish nobleman, began a life that witnesed to meekness that did presuppose charity. His father abandoned him and his sister for 8 years because of their dark skin. Martin exhibited a call to holiness even in childhood. many times, Anna would send Martin to market with a few coins and a basket to purchase food and Martin would return home penniless and with an empty basket. Martin felt a great need to help the poor and would use the money to aid those in need. If Martin came across a church on his way to market, he always stopped to greet and visit with His Heavenly Father and the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom he a a great devotion. (4)

Martin lived with his father in Ecuador for four years where he received schooling. When his father was sent to govern Panama, martin returned to live with his mother in Peru. At the age of twelve, Martin had to choose a trade to help earn a living for himself and his mother. Martin trained to be a barber, which in those days meant only cutting hair and beards, but also letting blood, treating wounds and fractures, and even prescribing medicine for the more ordinary cases of illness. A barber was, in fact, at the same time a surgeon, doctor, and pharmacist.

Martin could have earned a great deal of money and lived in comfort with his mother, but the same charity which drove him as a small child, now moved him to devote himself to the poor. On a typical day, he set out at daybreak and along the way between his home and the shop, stopped for long periods of time in the church of St. Lazarus, serving at many Masses. After having spend the whole day in the effort to perfect himself in his profession and use it to help the poor, he shut himself up in his room to feed his soul with spiritual reading and prayer.

Over time, the cry of Christ dying on the cross - "I Thirst," had aroused in Martin a thirst for the honor of God through the salvation of souls, and he felt n irresistible desire to respond with all the ardor of his soul. By the age of fifteen, martin chose to present himself to the Friars Preachers of the monastery of the Holy Rosary. he requested the humblest post in the monastery; that of a "donado" - a lay helper. The donados took upon themselves the heaviest tasks and ere considered as ranking below the lay brothers. John de Porres, his father, did everything in his power to have Martin become a lay brother rather than a donado; but for years Martin refused and remained a lay helper.

Martin's work in the monastery included sweeping the cloisters and the corridors and cleaning the toilets. martin seized his broom and had it in his hands so often that it later bacame a distinguishing mark in pictures and statues of Martin de Porres. his skills as a barber and doctor led the superiors of the monastery to entrust martin with the care of the sick and he resumed the full exercise of his profession.

Martin proved to be a great organizer and eventually founded an orphanage, a hospital, schools, and a home for young women to stay in before being married. Martin's charity embraces not only the people of Lima but even animals that would come to him to be healed. Martin spent his whole life doing good for others. he practices severe austerities, fasting daily and scourging himself three times during the night. Martin wore only the most thread bare habit and an iron chain around his waist. Martin predicted his own death in the fall of 1639 when he became ill with a type of malaria. Filled with love fore god, he asked for the Sacraments and said, "this is the end of my pilgrimage on earth." With his Dominican Brothers around his bed chanting the Salve Regina and the Creed, Martin died on November 3, 1639, at the words: "...and he became man...." (5)

From caring for African slaves to collecting needed items for the priory and the city, he exhibited meekness and charity. He was known to collect everything from "blankets, shirts, candles, candy, (to) miracles or prayers." (6)

Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry and infirmary, God chose to fill Martin's life with extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and a remarkable control over animals. he is know to have declared at one point when the priory was in need of funds, "I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. i am the property of the Order. Sell me." (7)

Devotion to St. Martin encourages families to keep his statue in their kitchens, and their cupboards will always be filled with food.

SCRIPTURE VERSE AND ASPIRATION FOR NOVEMBER

For Thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is Thy pleasure in the strengthof horses, nor fro the beginning have the proud been acceptable to Thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased Thee. (Judith 9"16)

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

PRAYER TO ST. MARTIN DE PORRES

Father of the poor, Patron of the needy, Help of the Sick

O God, Who has given us in Your Humble son,

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the model of all virtue and perfection,

Grant to us the virtue of humility.

We think so little of You because we are so full of ourselves.

We cannot love You more until humility shows us our own nothingness

And makes us rejoice in our complete dependence upon You.

You have given to the world a glorious apostle of humility: St. Martin de Porres.

Guide us by his example and strengthen us through his intercession

In our effort to conform our hears to the humble hear of Your crucified Son.

May the glory of sainthood which you have deigned to bestow upon Brother Martin

Draw the world closer and closer to You.

Renew, O lord, in these days when pride and forgetfulness of You are so widespread,

The wonders which You performed through Your humble servant during his lifetime.

Through the same Christ our Lord, Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (3 times each) (8)

ENDNOTES

1. Catholic Treasures, pg. 34

2. The New Dictionary of thoughts, Standard Book Co., 1960

3. Saint of the Day, Vol II, St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1975

4. St. Martin de Porres Parish Church, Lake Charles

5. Ibid.

6. Saint of the Day, pgs. 135-137

7. Ibid.

8. http://www.mycatholictradition.org/

2009-10-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

OBEDIENCE-VIRTUE FOR OCTOBER

Obedience implies authority and conforming one's will to the authority, whether in the family, in the workplace, in government, in the church and religious life, or in working for one's salvation.

Our Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, "By 'authority' one means the quality by which persons or institutions make laws and give order to men and expect obedience from them." (1)

Seventeenth century French Bishop Jacques Bossuet reminds us, " Thirty years of our Lord's life are hidden in these words of the gospel, 'He was subject unto them.'" Another Frenchman, Michel Montaigne, shows the value of this virtue with this thought, "From obedience and submission spring all other virtues, as all sin does from self-opinion and self-will." (2)

SAINT FOR OCTOBER - ST. BRUNO
FEAST DAY -OCTOBER 6
PATRON FOR POSSESSED PERSONS

Bruno sought a solitary and contemplative life for many years. It eluded him as he was asked to pursue an active life in both the educational and ecclesiastic arenas. He was obedient to his Bishop and obedient to His Holiness Pope Urban II. At 65 years old, he was permitted to retire from public life and in 1095 he and his companions built a hermitage. He combined both the eremetical (hermit) and the cenobitic (monastic) aspects into a new religious life. The Order he founded we know as the Carthusian Order.

Bruno was born in 1030 in Cologne, Germany from a prominent family. He was educated in Parish and Rheims, France and ordained in 1055. He honored his bishop who requested that he return to Rheims. He was a well-respected professor teaching theology, learned in the human and Divine sciences, an ecclesiastical writer, critical of the worldliness of his fellow clergy, and supported Pope Gregory VII in his battle against the decadence of the clergy. He even challenged his own archbishop for his laxity and mismanagement and was the victim of the culprit's ransacking his residence. He sought the solitary life in 1075 but was appointed Chancellor of Rheims. (3)

He prepared materials for and attended some ecumenical councils. Finally Bruno begged Urban II to let him retire and was allowed to as long as he remained close to Rome. He inculcated 3 facets into his life: great spirit of prayer, extreme mortification, and filial devotion to the Virgin Mary. He requested that each house of Carthusians honor Our Lady as its chief patron. He died in 1101 in Calabria, Italy.

THOUGHTS OF ST. BRUNO
Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God's grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice, because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbor. Many wish to come into this port, and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above.

By your work you show what you love and what you know. When you observe true obedience with prudence and enthusiasm, it is clear that you wisely pick the most delightful and nourishing fruit of divine Scripture. (From a letter by St. Bruno to the Carthusians (5)

"God loves those who serve him with joy. St. Bruno used to say, 'Try and you will see how rewarding it is to serve God with all the love of your heart.' When we find something to complain about, we can ask St. Bruno to help us change our attitude into joy." (6)

PRAYER TO ST. BRUNO
Father, you called St. Bruno to serve you in solitude. In answer to his prayers help us to remain faithful to you amid the changes of this world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, forever and ever. Amen. (Feast Day Prayer)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR OCTOBER
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (Romans 13:1-2)

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)

ENDNOTES
1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1897
2. New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1964,page 445
3. http://www.americancatholic.org/
4. www.tntt.org/vni/tlieu/saints/st1006/htm.
5. www.catholic-forum.org/saints/saintb14.htm
6. www.tntt.org/vni/tlieu/saints/st1006/htm.

2009-09-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

TEMPERANCE -
VIRTUE FOR SEPTEMBER
Temperance may remind one of abstaining from alcohol, but the Latin word's origin "to restrain" more properly refers to our bodily well-being in mind and body. St. John Vianney tells us in his Catechism on the Cardinal Virtues:

"That is what the saints were like. They lived for Heaven, and not for earth; they were all heavenly; and as for us, we are all earthly. Oh, how I like those little mortifications that are seen by nobody, such as rising a quarter of an hour sooner, rising for a little while in the night to pray! but some people think of nothing but sleeping.

"There is a gentleman who sometimes comes here. He wears two pairs of spectacles, that he may see nothing. . . . But some heads are always in motion, some eyes are always looking about. . . . When we are going along the streets, let us fix our eyes on Our Lord carrying His Cross before us; on the Blessed Virgin, who is looking at us; on our guardian angel, who is by our side. How beautiful is this interior life! It unites us with the good God. . . . Therefore, when the devil sees a soul that is seeking to attain to it, he tries to turn him aside from it by filling his imagination with a thousand fancies. A good Christian does not listen to that; he goes always forward in perfection, like a fish plunging into the depths of the sea. . . . As for us, Alas! we drag ourselves along like a leech in the mud." (1)

SAINT GILES - SAINT FOR SEPTEMBER
Feast Day: September 1

Patron of Disabled Persons, Mentally Ill, Epileptics, Breast Cancer, and Edinburgh, Scotland
One of the 14 Holy Helpers

St. Giles lived a very ascetic life as a humble hermit in France in the 7th Century. He had left his native land of Greece and a well-to-do family, after he felt he was attracting too much attention to himself. He must have chosen this life as a hermit to better love and serve the Lord. St. Giles was known to have lived in a forest cave whose entrance was guarded by a thick thorn bush. Legend tells us that he dined only on herbs and milk, the latter was provided by a deer that appeared at stated times each day to nourish him.

His solitary life would have offered him little creature comforts, and he evidentally sought none. When he left Greece, he had already chosen this path. It is told that after his parents died, he gave away his wealth to the needy. Then in order not to receive adulation and rewards, he traveled to the Rhone River Valley where he would be completely unknown. (2)

"One day after he had lived there for several years in meditation, a royal hunting party chased the hind (deer) into Giles' cave. One hunter shot an arrow into the thorn bush, hoping to hit the deer, but hit Giles in the leg instead, crippling him. The king sent a doctor to care for saint's wound, and though Giles begged to be left alone, the king came often to see him. From this his fame as sage and miracle worker spread, and would-be followers gathered near the cave. The French king, Flavius, because of his admiration, built the monastery of Saint Gilles du Gard for these followers, and Giles became its first abbot, establishing his own discipline there. A small town grew up around the monastery.

"Upon Giles' death, his grave became a shrine and place of pilgrimage; the monastery later became a Benedictine house. The combination of the town, monastery, shrine and pilgrims led to many handicapped beggars hoping for alms; this and Giles' insistence that he wished to live outside the walls of the city, and his own damaged leg, led to his patronage of beggars, and to cripples since begging was the only source of income for many. Hospitals and safe houses for the poor, crippled, and leprous were constructed in England and Scotland and were built so crippled could reach them easily. On their passage to Tyburn for execution, convicts were allowed to stop at Saint Giles' Hospital where they were presented with a bowl of ale called Saint Giles' Bowl, 'thereof to drink at their pleasure, as their last refreshing in this life.' Once in Scotland during the 17th Century his relics were stolen from a church and a great riot occurred. In Spain, shepherds consider Giles the protector of rams. It was formerly the custom to wash the rams and color their wool a bright shade on Giles' feast day, tie lighted candles to their horns, and bring the animals down the mountain paths to the chapels andchurches to have them blessed. Among the Basques, the shepherds come down from the Pyrenees on 1 September, attired in full costume, sheepskin coats, staves, and crooks, to attend Mass with their best rams, an event that marks the beginning of autumn festivals, marked by processions and dancing in the fields." (3)

St. Giles sought obscurity; but, in the Lord's plan, St. Giles was to become so venerated that many places have been named after him. In France there are 15 such locations and at least one in Brussels. One hundred and sixty-two churches in England have been dedicated to him and 14 hospitals carry his name. He is invoked for assistance as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers by persons suffering from epilepsy, insanity, and sterility. (4)

PRAYER FOR SEPTEMBER
Dearest Lord, teach me to make the most of what I have, to be grateful for who I am, to remind me each and every day that I am able in spirit, able in mind, able in love. Guide me in using my abilities so that I may serve you. Amen (5)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR SEPTEMBER
If anyone loves righteousness, Wisdom's labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage. Wisdom 8:7

Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. Sirach 5:2

Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites. Sirach 18:30

The grace of God has appeared, offering salvation to all men. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age as we await our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus. Titus 2:11-13

ENDNOTES
1. Catechism on the Cardinal Virtues, John Mary Vianney
2. www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg15.htm
3. www.nndb.com/people
4. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (Group 1, Card 22)
5. Op Cit.

2009-07-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR AUGUST – CHASTITY

“Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.” (1)

Single people and married people are obliged to be chaste. Our Lord warned the Pharisees for their hypocrisy on insisting on the external ritual of washing their hands but neglecting their interior movements of the heart from which come evil things such as adultery and fornication. St. Paul’s letters reminds the Corinthians about the demands of Christian morality as they adjust to their new lives in the Lord. (2)

SAINT FOR AUGUST – St. Philomena

PATRON OF YOUTH AND CHASTITY, BABIES, BARRENNESS, BODILY ILLS, IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES

FEAST DAY – AUGUST -various days

Our saint, St. Philomena, martyr and virgin, could have been Joseph Joubert’s inspiration for his thoughts on chastity:
“ Chastity enables the soul to breathe a pure air in the foulest places. Continence makes her strong, no matter in what condition the body may be. Her sway over the senses makes her queenly. Her light and peace render her beautiful.” (3)

St. Philomena had been born in the 3rd Century A.D. to royal Greek parents who were converted to Christianity and soon after they became pregnant with a daughter whom they named Filia luminis, daughter of light. She was the light of faith for them who had been childless. When she was a very young woman, her father had to plead with the Emperor in Rome for help and in exchange for aid, the Emperor asked for his beautiful daughter. She refused Emperor Diocletion who so desired her. She would not sacrifice her virginity to him even for the sake of her parents’ well being, as she had promised herself to the Lord. St. Philomena had to endure foul prisons and the most foul and sensual Diocletion and finally martyrdom.

Her life was partially revealed when her tomb was discovered in 1802 as workers were excavating the Roman catacombs. On her tomb were 3 tiles with the words "Filumena, pax tecum" or "Philomena, peace be with you."

Also were carved the lily and the palm, symbols for virgin and martyr, along with symbols describing her martyrdom: an anchor, a scourge, 3 arrows pointing away from the martyr and one with fire in the tip. She had endured a drowning attempt and a public scourging naked in front of a raucous crowd. She had been shot with arrows, some with fire in them, and finally she was beheaded. (The arrows pointing away indicated that the arrows, miraculously, did not touch the Saint but returned to hit the bowmen.)

Her relics were presented to a priest in a parish in the kingdom of Naples who had asked for them. Before they were given to him, he had been cured of a sudden illness. Other miraculous cures followed. Pope Gregory XVI declared her to be the Wonderworker of the 19th Century. St. John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, called her the New Light of the Church Militant and attributed to her all that he had accomplished.

St. John Mary obtained a small fragment of her relic around 1815 and his devotion to her entered his life and that of his parish. She was his "Beatrice, his ideal, his sweet star, his guide, his comforter, his pure light." His "ardent and almost chivalrous love" was beheld by his flock and the many pilgrims who came for his spiritual direction. He would exhort them to call upon "his dear little saint, his consul, his representative, his agent with God." No doubt he was St. Philomena's knight promoting her cause. (4) (His feast day is August 4.)

WORDS OF ST. PHILOMENA

Note: Private revelations to Mother Mary Louisa of Jesus from St. Philomena have received the imprimatur, as there is nothing contrary to faith. There is no official acceptance of this private revelation, but they may be circulated as they do corroborate what is seen on St. Philomena’s tomb.

“Meditate on the Passion of the Redeemer and compassionate Him who alone suffered intensely. I only suffered a little because Jesus Christ had suffered for us.”

“Recite the Creed three times: once for the perseverance of the just, once for the conversion of sinners, and a third time for the return of heretics and infidels to the faith.”

“We realize we are before God as so many vases of honor, some larger, some smaller. The vases of our souls dilate according to the desire to love God that we had when we were on earth.” (5)

PRAYERS TO ST. PHILOMENA

Excerpts from
THE LITANY TO SAINT PHILOMENA
St. Philomena, filled with the most abundant graces from your very birth, pray for us
St. Philomena, faithful imitator of Mary, pray for us
St. Philomena, model of virgins, pray for us
St. Philomena, example of strength and perseverance, pray for us
St. Philomena, invincible champion of chastity, pray for us
St. Philomena, scourged like your Divine Spouse, pray for us
St. Philomena, pierced by a shower of arrows, pray for us
St. Philomena, protectress of innocent, pray for us
St. Philomena, patron of youth.

Composed by St. John Mary Vianney (6)

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

Hail, O innocent Philomena, who, for love of Jesus, preserved the lily of thy virginity in all its brightness. Hail, a illustrious Philomena, who shed thy blood so courageously for Jesus Christ.
I bless the Lord for all the graces He granted thee during thy lifetime, and most especially at the hour of thy death. I praise Him and glorify Him for the honor and power with which He has crowned thee, and I beseech thee to obtain for me from God the graces I request through thy intercession.
Saint Philomena, beloved daughter of Jesus and Mary, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Amen. (7)

ENDNOTES

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994, #2337
2. The Catholic Catechism, John Hardon, S.J., Doubleday,1975, page 381
3. The New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1960
4. The Cure D'Ars, Abbe Francis Trochu, 1977, Tan Publishers, pages 260-262
5. www. copiosa.org/patron_girls/st_philomena.htm
6. ibid.
7. www.catholictradition.org/Saints/philomena.htm

2009-06-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR JULY – JUSTICE

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give proper due to God and neighbor. “Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion.’ Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good.” (1)

Patristic tradition held that the cardinal virtues, like justice, all work together; so that there is no true justice unless it is prudent, strong, and temperate. Thus justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance are known as “hinge” virtues.

SAINT OF THE MONTH - Laurence of Brindisi
Patron of Conversions and Missions

Feast Day –July 21

Our saint for July is an exemplar of this patristic tradition. He strove for justice in his work with Catholics and non-Catholics and did so with fortitude, prudence and temperance. St. Laurence was born Julius Caesar Russo in 1559, in the kingdom of Naples. During his 60 years of life, he focused on evangelizing and bringing the Truth to people in lands hostile to and unfamiliar with Catholicism.

He sought justice in all of these efforts and as a peacemaker between warring Christian factions in the capacity of a papal emissary. His own devotion to the Eucharist and to Our Lady imbued him with the desire to travel the known world to bring the Good News to the unsaved.

His parents died early in his life, and an uncle supervised his studies in Venice with the Clerics of St. Mark’s. He entered the Order of Capuchins in 1575 as Brother Lorenzo and soon was recognized for his extraordinary gifts of intellect and spirit. He completed his studies and was ordained in 1582.

“Owing to his wonderful memory he mastered not only the principal European languages, but also most of the Semitic tongues. It was said he knew the entire original text of the Bible. Such a knowledge, in the eyes of many, could be accounted for only by supernatural assistance…” (2)

He was named Chaplain to the Imperial Army in 1601 and undertook a crusade against the Turks who had conquered much of Hungary. Laurence was then sent as a deputy to the German princes for their cooperation in halting further Turkish advances. The resulting battle pitted 18,000 Christian men against 80,000 Turks. Laurence, himself, led the army on horseback holding a crucifix in hand shouting “Victory is ours” and inspiring the hesitant generals to action. Although placed in a most vulnerable position, he was miraculously not wounded; and, after a 2 day battle at Albe-Royal, the Christian army was victorious. This was attributed to the presence of St. Lawrence. (3)

In 1602 St. Laurence was elected Minister General of his Order. He preached throughout Europe, bringing back to the Faith persons in Protestant land. He converted Jews who thought he himself must have been a convert from Judaism to Catholicism because of his linguistic gifts. He was instrumental in organizing the Catholic League to provide solidarity for the Catholic nations in Europe.

“In the life of St. Laurence of Brindisi, we see a man full of the courage and daring of Christ whose spirit carried him throughout the long and arduous years that he was engaged in a most trying apostolate. Of him it can be truly said that he possessed the special gifts that adorned the Churches' first Apostles and men were moved to the practice of virtue more by his example than by his words. Especially noticeable in Laurence's approach to life was his spirit of fortitude which enabled him to announce the Good News fearlessly and constantly, even among the very Jews of Rome. Laurence's power and effectiveness as a preacher which was witnessed to the Christian life derived from the intense interior life he managed to observe during the course of his busy life.” (4)

St. Laurence died in Lisbon in 1619, was canonized in 1881, and was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1959. It has been said that his writings may exceed all other Doctors. These include 8 volumes of sermons, 2 treatises on oratory, a commentary on Genesis and one on Ezechiel, along with 3 volumes of religious polemics.

WORDS OF ST. LAURENCE OF BRINDISI
“He will proclaim justice.” The law of the Gospel is given in order to rid human beings of ignorance and the vices; to enlighten them with knowledge of God, themselves, and good and evil; to make them perfect in the holy virtues and unimpeachable morals; and finally to bestow upon them unending happiness and everlasting blessedness. Thus the Gospel rids them of errors; it enlighten them with knowledge of the truth, showing them “what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is”; it brings to completion charity, which is the “bond that makes perfect,” and shows the way to eternal happiness, namely, “by being children of your Father who is in heaven.

"Because the initial light brought incomplete daylight, God created the sun which brought complete daylight. In like manner, because the law brought no one to perfection, God gave the supremely perfect law of the Gospel. This divine law of charity was observed by human beings like us: the apostles and martyrs under the regime of the Gospel, David, and the prophets under the law of Moses, the patriarchs under the law of nature. Why cannot we observe it with the grace and help of the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God? The commandments of God are not impossible but perfect. Christ sets apart and separates his faithful from Gentiles and tax collectors, because the former lack faith, while the latter are without justice and light of virtue. True Christians have both faith and justice; they hear God’s Word and keep it; they esteem the grace of Christ, their leader and Lord, above all else; they hope for everlasting salvation and desire it above everything." (5)

“God is love, and all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the Incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of his goodness and love and glory. So, Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first-born of every creature, and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam had not sinned.”(St. Laurence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Universal Church, Capuchin Educational Conference, Washington, D.C.) (6)

PRAYER FOR JULY
Lord, for the glory of your name and the salvation of souls you gave Laurence of Brindisi courage and right judgment.By his prayers, help us to know what we should do and give us the courage to do it.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.(Opening prayer for July 21 Liturgy)

FOOTNOTES
1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1991 Article VII,#1807

2. Catholic Encyclopedia www.newadvent.org/catholicencyclopedia

3. www.newadvent.org/catholicencyclopedia

4. http://www.beafriar.com/

5. Magnificat Vol.9,No.5, pages 303-04

6. http://www.americancatholic.org/

2009-06-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR JUNE

LOVE OF NEIGHBOR (Negative Obligations)

Fraternal charity was the emphasis in May. This month's virtue reflects on how to avoid sins in order to advance in charity. Some areas to consider are: slandering others, ruining reputations, showing jealously towards one, engaging in gosip, making sarcastic remarks, and hurting others by one's angry outbursts.

Ways to overcome these failings and sins include trying to cultivate a genuine zeal for souls, realizing how far-reaching my own example is in influencing others, and recalling those words of Our Lord, "Whatsoever you have done to the least of my little ones, you have done it to me."

SAINT FOR JUNE:

ST. IRENAEUS OF LYONS

Feast Day: June 28

Patron of Diocese of Mobile, Alabama

Born in Smyrna, in Asia Minor about 120 A.D. and died in Lyons, France, in the year 202 A.D.
St. Irenaeus worked diligently to promote the truth about the nature of Christ, to defend the teachings of the Church against the Gnostic heretics, and he "vigorously denounced all heresies and safeguarded unity of belief by laying down the principles of the doctrinal tradition of the Church." (1)

In his early training under St. Polycarp, who knew St. John the Evangelist, he learned the teachings of the Church. He encountered heretics and eastern Gnostics and studied all of the pagan philosophers to better understand the bases for heresies within the Church.

Later he moved to Lyons where he was ordained a priest. In 177 A.D. he replaced the existing bishop who had been killed in a persecution. In his 25 years as Bishop of Lyons, he must have had many opportunities to practice love of neighbor and enemy, to help his flock to avoid scandal and to caution them not to slander the heretics. He sought in love to convert the heretics back to the true Church in the expanding territory of Gaul to where many of the eastern Gnostic had migrated. These efforts and his missionary expeditions were eventually fruitful, as Gaul (France) did become known as the eldest daughter of the Church. (2)

It is said that "the Christians of Lyons became models by their candor, their estrangement from all ambition, their poverty, chastity and temperance, and in this way confounded many adversaries of their religion. Saint Irenaeus continued to imitate what he had seen done by his beloved master, Saint Polycarp, himself the disciple and imitator of Saint John the Apostle. One can readily imagine the excellence of the administration and the breadth of charity reigning in the Church of Lyons." (3)

According to St. Jerome, it is believed that St. Irenaeus died a martyr's death in a massacre of Christians in Lyons during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus in 202 A.D. Tertullian, Theodoret and Saint Epiphanus spoke of him as "a luminous torch of truth in the darkness of those times." (4)

This Doctor of the Church presented his torch of truth in the form of 5 books known as Against the Heresies. We also have his Account of Apostolic Doctrine which is a direct presentation of Christian beliefs learned at the side of St. Polycarp. (5)

WORDS OF ST. IRENAEUS
Instead of constantly ridiculing his adversaries, he treated them most charitably. He wrote, "There is no God without goodness."

"It is through love that the Word has become what we are, in order to make of us what It is."

"We hold out our hand to you with all our hearts, and will never cease to offer it to you." (6)

Against Heresies - Chapter XIV.—We should obey God rather than the authors of sedition. It is right and holy therefore, men and brethren, rather to obey God than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation.

For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good. Let us be kind one to another after the pattern of the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator.

For it is written, “The kind-hearted shall inhabit the land, and the guiltless shall be left upon it, but transgressors shall be destroyed from off the face of it.” Prov. ii. 21, 22.
And again [the Scripture] saith, “I saw the ungodly highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon: I passed by, and, behold, he was not; and I diligently sought his place, and could not find it. Preserve innocence, and look on equity: for there shall be a remnant to the peaceful man.” Ps. xxxvii (7)

PRAYERS FOR JUNE

Table Blessing for St. Irenaeus

Reading:

On the other hand, he revealed God to men and made him visible in many ways to prevent man from being totally separated from God and so cease to be. Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation gives life to all who live upon the earth, much more does the manifestation of the Father through the Word give life to those who see God. (St. Irenaeus, Treatise Against the Heresies).

Responsory:
Verse: Saint Irenaeus, true to his name, made peace the object of his life,

Response: and he labored to preserve the unity of the church.

The Lord's PrayerBlessing:
Almighty God, you inspired Saint Irenaeus to teach your divine truth faithfully, and to preserve at all cost the bond of unity in your church. May we follow after his example, becoming ministers of peace and reconciliation among all your people. Bestow your blessing upon this nourishment, and may we learn to share it willingly with the poor, the hungry, and the dispossessed. We ask this through Christ the Lord. Amen. (8)

ENDNOTES

1. catholic.org/saints

2. ibid.

3. ibid.

4. Christian Classics Ethereal Library - ccel.org

5. Lives of the Saints by Omer Englebert, 1951 - page 2486.

6. ibid.

7. Christian Classics Ethereal Library - op cit.

8. catholicculture.org Prayer Source: Table Blessings: Mealtime Prayers Throughout the Year by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, Ave Maria Press, 1994

2009-04-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR MAY - LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

"The love of one's neighbor is essentially bound up with the love of God. St. John put the matter simply when he said: 'If any man say that he loves God and hateth his neighbor, that man is a liar and the truth is not in him.' Hence it would be a contradiction to profess love of God and at the same time to exclude a neighbor from our love. Therefore the love of neighbor imposes many positive duties upon us, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, etc. each one of which is directed towards the well-being and happiness of our neighbor, at the same time it forbids certain sins which would bring unhappiness, spiritual or temporal, to a neighbor." (1)

SAINT FOR MAY:
BLESSED DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI - SERVANT OF HUMANITY
1840-1889
Feast Day: May 10

Future Patron of Lepers (when declared a saint October 11, 2009)

"A man of enormous activity, Damien vigorously tackled every need, spiritual or physical, that he saw. He cleaned wounds, bandaged ulcers, even amputated gangrenous limbs. When a hurricane destroyed the exiles’ shabby huts, Damien petitioned the Board of Health for lumber and built three hundred houses for the sick. He laid a pipeline to a distant spring to supply water for the settlement. Previously, the dead had been thrown in a ravine or buried in graves so shallow that wild pigs ravaged the corpses. Damien dug graves, built coffins, and said funeral Masses. It is estimated that he built more than 1,600 coffins during his years at Molokai." (2)

He followed one brother into the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and, in spite of his lack of proper education, became a candidate for the priesthood. When his own brother became ill prior to his departure as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, "Le bon gros Damien" begged to go in his brother's place. In four years he completed a ten year course of study and was ordained. Father Damien's first Hawaiian parish area took six weeks to cover by canoe and horseback. After 8 years converting Hawaiians, learning Hawaiian, Spanish, and Portuguese, his bishop assigned him along with 3 other priests a rotation of 3 months stay each to the leper colony in Molokai. (3)

"Damien was the first to volunteer. However, within days of his arrival, having seen the desperate needs of the eight hundred exiles at Kalawao, he wrote back: 'I am bent on devoting my life to the lepers. It is absolutely necessary for a priest to live here. The afflicted are coming here by the boatloads.' For sixteen years, Damien threw himself into his work. He went as a priest to serve the spiritual welfare of the Catholics at Kalawao, but once he arrived, he became a father to everyone, no matter what faith they professed." (4)

Our Lord worked amazing accomplishments through his humble priest. Fr. Damien did build churches and houses. He requested funds from Catholics and Protestants. He distributed food and clothing to all his lepers.

"He dressed the lepers' wounds, tried out new treatments, and built orphanages for boys and girls. In order to give the patients something to do, Damien organized bands and confraternities. When his people died, Father Damien not only said the prayers over their bodies, but often also built the coffins that held them." (5)

"Knowing the kanakas’ love for festivities, he organized processions for the feast days and formed a choir and band. In time, the musicians became famous as they performed a Mozart Mass for the visiting bishop and serenaded Queen Regent Liliuokalani when she visited the island. After her visit in 1881, the queen honored Damien with the title of Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Kalakaua.

" 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends' is engraved on a monument to Damien on Molokai. Damien’s presence there made the world realize that those afflicted with leprosy were not 'unclean outcasts,' but vulnerable human beings whom God deeply loved and who were worthy of the same respect and dignity as anyone else. Damien’s life of sacrifice turned attention to caring for these unfortunate men and women all around the world. Father Joseph Damien de Veuster was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 4, 1995, and the state of Hawaii has honored him with a statue which stands in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building." (6)

Father Alfred Bell, whose work to canonize Fr. Damien will be realized on October 11, 2009, commented, "Father Damien's example helps us to not forget those who are forgettable in the world," he said.

WORDS OF BLESSED FATHER DAMIEN

"...I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ. That is why, in preaching, I say 'we lepers'; not, 'my brethren....'" Letter to his brother 6 months after arriving on the island. (7)

"The Lord decorated me with his own particular cross—leprosy." Fr. Damien's response years after he had been decorated with the Cross of the Royal Order of Kalakaua by the Hawaiian government. He had accepted the award but rarely wore the medal. (8)

“It is the memory of having lain under the funeral pall twenty-five years ago--the day of my vows--that led me to brave the danger of contracting this terrible disease in doing my duty here and trying to die more and more to myself… the more the disease advances, I find myself content and happy at Kalawao.” Letter to his bishop in 1885. (9)

"Be severe toward yourself, indulgent toward others. Have scrupulous exactitude for everything regarding God: prayer, meditation, Mass, administration of the Sacraments. Unite your heart with God.... Remember always your three vows, by which you are dead to the things of the world. Remember always that God is eternal and work courageously in order one day to be united with him forever." Father Damien's spiritual counsel to himself, lacking a confessor and priest companion, until the last year of his life. (10)

PRAYERS FOR MAY
Father of mercy, in Blessed Damien, you have given a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned. Grant that, by his intercession, as faithful witness of the heart of your Son Jesus, we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,One God, for ever and ever. (11)

Prayer to Blessed Damien: Oh Blessed Damien, enlightened by the Holy Spirit and moved by the sorrows of the poor, you dedicated yourself tirelessly to the service of the lepers and became one like them. In doing so, you enhanced their God-given dignity to the last minutes of your priestly life, regardless of many trials and sufferings. Since then, your name has become a great inspiration for countless people throughout the world. We, touched by your self-sacrifice, beseech you to help us follow your footsteps in sharing our time, energy, talents, and other God-endowed gifts with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Now you have been glorified with Jesus Christ in the Heavenly Kingdom. We ask you to continue interceding for us before our loving and caring God, that we may have the gift of faith in Him, humility and the courage to bring love and healing to our poor brothers and sisters in the world. AMEN (12)

ENDNOTES
1. Rev. Donald F. Miller, Catholic Treasures - Issue No. 88-89
2. Catholic Saints and Other Heroes On-line
3. Modern Saints, Ann Ball - Tan Books, 1983
4. Catholic Saints and Other Heroes
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Fransicans of St. Anthony Guild on http://www.ewtn.org/
8. Ibid.
9. Catholic Saints and Other Heroes
10. Francisans of St. Anthony Guild on http://www.ewtn.org/
11. Opening prayer for Blessed Damien's liturgy ( http://www.usccb.org/

12. Archdiocese of Los Angeles Mission web-site

2009-04-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

APRIL: REVERENCE FOR GOD

"God has made a special commandment out of the natural duty and obligation of respecting His Name. That this should be necessary sometimes strikes as as very strange. God is Father, Provider, Preserver of us all; He became Man and died for us on the Cross, He resides in the tabernacles of our churches to be near us, and He wanted to regard us all with a happiness that will never end. "...we are bound to love God with all our heart and souls and mind and will, and love is diametrically opposed to disrepect, irreverence, scorn and contempt in using a lover's name." (1)

Saint for April:

St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

Life 1347-1380 Feast Day, April 29

Patron of Nursing Service, Women Involved in Catholic Action, and Fire Prevention

Reverence for God filled Catherine’s short life of 33 years. She was 6 when she first experienced a vision of Our Lord seated in glory with St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John. At 16 she became a Dominican Tertiary, and she lived a humble life in her family home.

Her extraordinary love of God and work as a Tertiary in hospitals motivated her to tend to the dying and the sufferers of plague, as well as to visit those condemned to execution. Our Lord blessed her with abundant graces and revelations.

She reconciled enemy factions, wrote to all the rulers in Europe, persuaded the Holy Father to return to Rome from “captivity” in Avignon, France, and worked to end the Great Western Schism. She received the Stigmata in 1375; it was visible only after her death.

Although she had no formal education and did not write, she was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970. Catherine was one of the most gifted literary persons of her day and had one of the most brilliant theological minds in the Church. She dictated all of her works, including 400 letters to Popes, rulers, family, acquaintances, and strangers. Her most mystical work “The Dialogue” was dictated under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Together they form the body of her spiritual doctrine which expresses immense reverence for God. (2)

LETTER FROM ST. CATHERINE TO THE KING OF FRANCE

Catherine's letters to great personages whom she did not know are, as would be expected, less searching and fresh than the many written with a more personal inspiration, but they afford at least an interesting testimony to the breadth of her interests. This letter to Charles V. was evidently written during her stay at Avignon, where she formed relations with the Duke of Anjou, and received his promise to lead in the prospective Crusade.

Avignon was a centre of intellectual life and of European politics, and Catherine must have been quickened there to think more than ever before in large terms and on great issues. To think of a matter is always, for her, to feel a sense of responsibility toward it; she writes, accordingly, to Charles V, urging him to make peace with his brother monarch:

"For so," says the maid of Siena serenely to the great King--"So you will fulfill the will of God and me. In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary: Dearest lord and father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire to see you observe the holy and sweet commands of God, since I consider that in no other way can we share the fruit of the Blood of the Spotless Lamb. Sweet Jesus, the Lamb, has taught us the Way: and thus He said: 'Ego sum Via, Veritas et Vita.'

"He is the sweet Master who has taught us the doctrine, ascending the pulpit of the most holy Cross. Venerable father, what doctrine and what way does He give us? His way is this: pains, shames, insults, injuries, and abuse; endurance in true patience, hunger and thirst; He was satiate with shame, nailed and held upon the Cross for the honour of the Father and our salvation.

"With His pains and shame He gave satisfaction for our guilt, and the reproach in which man had fallen through the sin committed. He has made restitution, and has punished our sins on His own Body, and this He has done of love alone and not for debt. This sweet Lamb, our Way, has despised the world, with all its luxuries and dignity, and has hated vice and loved virtue. Do you, as son and faithful servant of Christ crucified, follow His footsteps and the way which He teaches you: bear in true patience all pain, torment, and tribulation which God permits the world to inflict on you.

"For patience is not overcome, but overcomes the world. Be, ah! be a lover of virtue, founded in true and holy justice, and despise vice. I beg you, by love of Christ crucified, to do in your state three especial things. The first is, to despise the world and yourself and all its joys, possessing your kingdom as a thing lent to you, and not your own. For well you know that nor life nor health nor riches nor honour nor dignity nor lordship is your own. Were they yours, you could possess them in your own way. But in such an hour a man wishes to be well, he is ill; or living, and he is dead; or rich, and he is poor; or a lord, and he is made a servant and vassal.

"All this is because these things are not his own, and he can only hold them in so far as may please Him who has lent them to him. Very simple-minded, then, is the man who holds the things of another as his own. He is really a thief, and worthy of death. Therefore I beg you that, as The Wise, you should act like a good steward, made His steward by God; possessing all things as merely lent to you. " (3)

PRAYERS FOR THE MONTH

ST. CATHERINE’S TRINITARIAN PRAYERS

Love of Jesus, Fill us. Holy Spirit, Guide us. Will of the Father, Be done.Power of the eternal Father, help me! Wisdom of the Son, enlighten the eye of my understanding! Tender mercy of the Holy Spirit, enflame my heart and unite it to yourself!(Prayers, 48)

(And in a longer variation) You, Godhead, one in being and three in Persons, are one vine with three branches if I may be permitted to make such a comparison. You made us in your image and likeness so that, with our three powers in one soul, we might image your trinity and your unity. And as we image so we may find union: through our memory, image and be united with the Father, to whom is attributed power, through our understanding, image and be united with the Son, to whom is attributed wisdom; through our will, image and be united with the Holy Spirit, to whom is attributed mercy, and who is the love of the Father and the Son. (Prayers, 42)

(4)

ENDNOTES

1. Examination of Conscience for Adults by Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.

2. www.ewtn.com/library/MAVR/CATSIENA/htm

3. www.domcentral.org/trad/cathletters.htm

4. http://www.spiritualitytoday.org/

2009-03-02T11:42:00.001-08:00

MARCH - CHARITY

"Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Charity is called the queen of the virtues because it unites man to God most perfectly and most permanently in the bonds of love. Charity is the divine friendship uniting man to God and man to fellow-man in the bonds of mutual affection.

"As we love those who are truly our friends, for their own sake and not because of any advantage to us, so through charity, we love God for His own sake and our neighbor because of God.

"Our neighbor includes all living human beings, even our enemies, the souls in purgatory, the blessed in heaven and the angels. When God gives us the infused virtue of charity, He gives us the means to make perfect acts of love, and the power to make these acts easily." (1)

SAINT FOR MARCH - ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC

St. Louise de Marillac's feast day is March 15. She was born in1591and was a contemporary of St. Vincent de Paul. Louise was inspired and directed by Vincent’s spiritual leadership. She was Vincent’s collaborator in founding the Daughters of Charity and organizing hospitals for the sick poor, asylums for the orphaned, workshops for the unemployed, championing literacy for the uneducated, and established standards for local charities.

Louise was a wife, mother, teacher, nurse, social worker and religious foundress. In each phase of her life, she exhibited great charity.Suffering was never far from Louise. During civil unrest, her two uncles who held high rank within the government were imprisoned. One was publicly executed and the other died in prison. In 1623, when illness was wasting her husband, Antoine who died in 1625, depression was overcoming Louise.

While at prayer, Louise had a vision in which she saw herself serving the poor and living the vows of religion in community. She wrote this "lumiere" on parchment and carried it on her person as a reminder that despite her difficulties, God was guiding her life. In that vision a priest appeared to her, whom she later identified as Vincent de Paul, her future confidante and collaborator in ministry.Only over a long period of time, as Vincent de Paul became more acquainted with Louise, did he come to realize that she was the answer to his prayers. She was intelligent, self-effacing and had physical strength and endurance that belied her continuing feeble health.

The missions he sent her on eventually led to four simple young women joining her. Her rented home in Paris became the training center for those accepted for the service of the sick and poor. Growth was rapid and soon there was need of a so-called rule of life, which Louise herself, under the guidance of Vincent, drew up for the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul (though he preferred "Daughters" of Charity).

He had always been slow and prudent in his dealings with Louise and the new group. He said that he had never had any idea of starting a new community, that it was God who did everything. "Your convent," he said, "will be the house of the sick; your cell, a hired room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city or the wards of the hospital." Their dress was to be that of the peasant women. The Daughters were the first order of non-cloistered nuns. Louise de Marillac died in 1660, was canonized in 1934, and was declared patroness of social workers in 1960. (2)

THOUGHTS OF ST. LOUISE

St. Louise in 1655 wrote to her three Sisters of Charity in Poland, whom she called "Servants of the sick poor in Warsaw," announcing that three more sisters would be joining them. She is most solicitous on their behalf, as they are not Polish and urges the Polish Sisters to be most charitable in their dealings with the newcomers.

"Dear sisters, you have always told me that you had but one heart in your three persons. In the name of the Blessed Trinity to whom you paid honor and owe honor, I beg you to open your ranks and admit our threeSisters to this union of heart so that the three last may be indistinguishable from the three first. I assure you they are carrying out the project in a frame of mind which aims solely at pleasing God; no one is out for herself, no one wants personal satisfaction, any more than you do.

"That doesn't mean to say that at times human nature won't provide occasions of struggle, even to the most perfect, but that, as you know, test the loyalty of those who would belong entirely to God. Don't be taken by surprise then; however self may rebel, it is precisely then that our souls must rise to ever more generous heights in the practice of heroic virtue. We must straightway humble ourselves, calm our feelings, and give proof that we intend to be real Christians; thus we shall pay homage to Jesus Christ by exercising the virtues He has Himself set before us in His sacred humanity."

St. Louise further exhorts the Polish Sisters to refrain from speaking only Polish amongst themselves without explaining to the new Sisters what they are saying, thus promoting charity and kindness amongst themselves.She further urges them: "You realize these sisters' attitude towards you? They appreciate the choice God has been fit to make of you to be the corner stones of this new foundation, they believe that you should be given all the credit for it, and that God's providence has sheltered you under His wings to guide you as you go without companionship and in blind trust, having no clear knowledge of the road. These considerations, however, cause them no jealousy whatever; on the contrary, the sisters derive consolation from treading in your footsteps and look forward to finding you practising the customs and duties that God requires both of you and of themselves." (3)

Her final words of guidance to the sisters were, "Love the poor and honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself." (4)

PRAYER FOR MARCH

Dear St. Louise, you transformed your loss into a great gain for others, dedicating your life to complete devotion to the poor. Inspire us to follow your example, with acts of kindness, selfless generosity and love for all. For in giving of ourselves true healing will come. (5)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR MARCH

If I should speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charity, I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, yet do not have charity, I am nothing. And if I distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, yet do not have charity, it profits me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind; charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth; bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians 13:1-7

So there abide faith, hope and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

I Corinthians 13:13

AFTERNOTES

1. Understanding the Catholic Faith, Rev. John A. O'Brien, Ph.D., 1955, pages 102-1032. Vincentian Center for Church and Societycatholic.org.AmericanCatholic.org

2. Ibid.

3. Letters from the Saints, arranged by a Benedictine of Stanbrook Abbey, 1964, pages 31-324. 4. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, Healing and Helping (Group 4)

5. Ibid.

2009-01-31T22:50:00.000-08:00

HOPE - VIRTUE FOR FEBRUARY

"Hope is the virtue by which we firmly trust that God, who is all-powerful and faithful to His promises, will in His mercy give us eternal happiness and the means to obtain it." Hope is absolutely necessary for salvation; adults must have the virtue and make the act of hope; infants must have the virtue. For the infused virtue of hope, like the infused virtue of faith, is given to the infant when he receives sanctifying grace." (1)

SAINT FOR FEBRUARY-

ST.PAUL MIKI AND THE MARTYRS OF NAGASAKI

26 martyrs of Japan were crucified on a hill, now known as the Holy Mountain, overlooking Nagasaki. Among them were priests, brothers and laymen, Franciscans, Jesuits and members of the Secular Franciscan Order; there were catechists, doctors, simple artisans and servants, old men and innocent children, all united in a common faith and love for Jesus and his Church.

St. Paul Miki of Japan suffered a cruel martyrdom by crucifixion on the vigil of February 6, 1597. His encouragement to his companions and those gathered to watch the execution of the 26 Catholics evoked an amazing hope for their eternal happiness.

Three centuries later when missionaries were allowed to return to Japan after the persecution, they were amazed to discover an underground church of thousands of Catholics secretly practicing their faith. St. Paul Miki and his companions had sown the seed with their torment, derision, and death.

Brother Paul was a Jesuit born in 1562 to a wealthy family, the son of the military leader Miki Handayu. He felt a call to religious life from his youth. In 1580 he was educated at the Jesuit college at Azuchi and Takatsuki. He became a successful evangelist. When the political climate became hostile to Christianity, he decided to continue his ministry and was soon arrested.

On his way to martyrdom, he and the other imprisoned Christians were marched 600 miles so they could be abused by, and be a lesson to, their countrymen; they sang the Te Deum on the way. His last sermon was delivered from the cross. He was beatified on September 14, 1627 and canonized by Pope Pius IX on June 8, 1862. (2)

ST. PAUL MIKI'S SERMON ON THE CROSS

"The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain." (3)

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

God our Father, source of strength for all your saints, you led Paul Miki and his companions through the suffering of the cross to the joy of eternal life. May their prayers give us courage to be loyal until we die in professing our faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. (4)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR THE MONTH

Psalm 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Psalm 71:5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Colossians 1:3-5,27 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Titus 2:11-13 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Footnotes

(1) Understanding the Catholic Faith, Rev. John A. O'Brien, 1955

(2) catholic-forum.com/saint of the day

(3) americancatholic.com

(4) Magnificat, February 2007-February 6

2009-01-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR JANUARY - FAITH

First Vatican Council described Faith as an assent of the mind in co-operation with the will under the influence of grace and a free gift of God.

St. Robert Bellarmine of Italy embodies this virtue in his defense of revealed truths.He was born in Tuscany in 1542 around the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. He was known to be an excellent scholar and entered the Society of Jesus in 1560 and was ordained in 1570.

He taught Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae at the University of Louvain and then taught theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. In 1597 Robert was appointed theologian to Pope Clement VIII. In 1599 he was elected to the College of Cardinals.He played "a leading role in revising the Vulgate translation of the Bible and wrote an important catechism.

When King James I tried to defend his position as head of the English Church, Robert refuted him." (1) He distinguished himself by outstanding disputations in defense of the Catholic faith and the papacy. His best known work is Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei (Disputations) written to refute and convert Protestants.

He died in Rome in 1621 and was canonized in 1930.St. Robert Bellarmine's Feast Day is September 17. He is the Patron of Catechists, Canonists, and Catechumens.

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

God, our Father, you gave Robert Bellarmine wisdom and goodness to defend the faith of your Church. By his prayers may we always rejoice in the profession of our faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (2)

THOUGHTS FROM ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE

In a letter to Chinese Mandarins in 1616 rejoicing that they have allowed the introduction of the faith of Jesus Christ in the "immense Empire of China," St. Robert remarks that the teaching of the Gospel does not take away earthly kingdoms but bestows a heavenly one.

"But as faith in God the Father and His Divine Son does not by itself suffice for salvation, unless we also live soberly, justly, and piously in this world, I exhort you to run in the way of God's commandments without offence, abstaining from all injustice, impurity, lying, and deceit, abounding in every good work, making progress in holy virtues and especially in trustful love of God and real charity towards one another.

"If for the love of God you have to suffer any trouble or persecution, be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in Heaven. This is the will of God, our Father, that our faith, hope, and charity should be proved by patience as gold is tried in the furnace.

"It would not be difficult for Him to free us at once from all tribulation and sorrow, but instead He permits His friends to suffer much in this world that He may crown them all the more gloriously in Heaven, and make them more like His only-begotten Son, who never ceased to do good and to suffer injury while He was on earth that He might teach us patience by His example.

"Just as He humbled Himself, being made obedient even unto death, the death of the cross, and just as God the Father for that reason exalted Him to the throne of His glory, and gave Him a Name that is above all other names, ...so, too, will the Son of God exalt us and make the body of our lowliness like the body of His glory, if we bear persecutions and adversities with steadfast patience of soul." (3)

Footnotes

1. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, "Teaching and Sharing" 6/322.

2. Magnificat, September 2004, pg. 2543.

3. Letters from the Saints, Hawthorne Books 1964, pg. 53

2008-11-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR DECEMBER - HUMILITY

"Humility is the fundamental virtue by which a person remembers his utter dependence on God and God's laws and God's providence, and the utter folly of any action or any judgment or any self-gratification that is contrary to the will of God. Humility is the only remedy for pride.

"Pride is defined as an inordinate love of one's own excellence. It is called inordinate love because everyone is bound to love self in an ordinate or rational way, which means to love self inasmuch as and after the manner in which one is loved by God.

"God loves every human being that He has created; this means that God desires the happiness and salvation of each one and directs all His laws and all His providence and all His gifts and graces to these ends. A rightful love of self is really reducible to the love of God, because it means seeking what God seeks, conforming self to God's will, fulfilling God's plans in regard to one's destiny." (Rev. Donald Miller, C.SS.R)

"We can judge the degree of humility we have reached when the initiative is taken by others, that is, when others, and not ourselves, point to our faults and failings; when we are not only able to be truthful with ourselves but willingly allow others to tell us the truth about ourselves.

"Our state of humility is seen, in other words, in how we accept rebukes, correction, criticism, and humiliation.... Humility, in iself, in its most perfect state, does not consist in being little or feeling little but in making oneself little! Perfect humility consists, therefore, in constantly making oneself small, not for the sake of some personal need or benefit, but for the sake of love, to elevate others.

"That is what the humility of Jesus was like; he made himself so small as to 'annihilate' himself for us.... We must be humble for this deepest reason of all: to be similar to our Father and not to the 'father of untruth,' the liar, who, instead, always tends to 'elevate himself' and place his throne in heaven. (Isaiah 14:13) (Father Raniero Cantalamessas, O.F.M. Cap.)

ASPIRATION FOR THE MONTH

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

SCRIPTURE FOR THE MONTH

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.

(Colossians 3:12-13)

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

My Lord Jesus Christ, who, though Thou was the Creator and Master of the universe, didst humble Thyself and become a servant to redeem the world, help me to understand that humility is necessary for every other virtue I desire to possess.

Thou dost resist the proud and give Thy grace only to the humble. I, therefore, renounce the pride that has caused me to offend Thee so often in the past, that has made me place myself above Thee, the Sovereign Lord of all.

Let me prove my humility by accepting cheerfully every humiliation I receive from others; by submitting unreservedly to Thy commands and the authority of Thy Church; by seeking no honor and no recognition from the world, but only Thy approbation and Thy reward. O Mary, whose humility was so pleasing to the Most High, obtain for me the grace to renounce all self-will in complete surrender to God.

2008-10-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

MEEKNESS - VIRTUE FOR NOVEMBER

"Meekness is the virtue that enables one to overcome the tendencies of anger, revenge, hatred, and enmity. Many of its manifestations have already been listed under the heading of charity, because the principal incentives to anger come from the words or actions of a fellow human being.

"Thus meekness presupposes the virtue of charity or love of neighbor, which provides the motives and the means of overlooking insult, injustice and injury, real or imaginary, from others.

"The vice of anger, to which meekness is opposed, is responsible for very much of the misery in the world. It is a vice in which an animal passion in man is permitted to dominate his words and actions as if he possessed neither reason nor free will.

"In the brute animals, anger is directed by instinct to the purposes of self-defense and self-preservation, as exemplified when a brute fights for food, or against an enemy, or in defense of its young. In man, anger is also designed by nature to be a means of self-defense and self-preservation; but, like all passions, in him it is meant to be under the complete control of reason and free will."

Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR THE MONTH

PSALMS 37:11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

PROVERBS 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 CORINTHIANS 10:1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you--I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away!

MATTHEW 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

ASPIRATION FOR THE MONTH

Oh, God, grant us union of minds in truth and union of hearts in charity.

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

O sweet Redeemer, how great is the contrast between Thy conduct, under insult and injury, and mine!

Thou was silent when they accused Thee falsely; Thou didst not complain when they crowned Thee with thorns and scourged Thee at the pillar; Thou didst pray for the forgiveness of even those who nailed Thee to Thy cross.

And I - how often I have plotted revenge against someone for an imaginary wrong, and how long I have harbored ill-feelings toward others within my heart. I am sorry that I have been so unworthy a follower of Thee.

Grant me the grace to be prompt to forgive; to be generous with those who are niggardly with me; to be meek and patient whenever I am tempted to anger.

O Mary, who didst share in the ignominy of Thy son's passion and death without complaint, obtain for me the grace to overcome every temptation to hatred and anger.

Amen

Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.

2008-09-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER– CHASTITY

“Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and integrality of the gift.” (C.C.C. 2337)

SCRIPTURES FOR THE MONTH

For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 St. John 2:16) The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 2:14)

ASPIRATION FOR THE MONTH

O Mary, through thy Immaculate Conception, keep my body pure and my soul holy.

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see god,” grant me the grace of spotless chastity. Thou didst favor St. John with a special mark of Thy friendship because of Thy great love for the holy virtue; let me practice this virtue according to my state that I, too, may be Thy special friend.

I am sorry for every fault committed against purity in the past, for every undisciplined thought, for every evil word, for every sensual or impure action. For the future I promise that I shall call upon Thy name and the name of Thy Immaculate Mother in every temptation that assails me; I shall avoid every occasion of sin that might lead me to seek for sinful gratification; I shall insist on chastity in word and deed from those around me; and I shall mortify my body in order that it may be strengthened against the assaults of evil desire.

Moreover, I shall try to make some atonement for all the sins that are committed against chastity in the world, which made Thy physical pain so great in Thy bitter passion. I dedicate my life to the defense of this virtue, that the Christian home may be defended and protected and that many souls may be saved from the terrible condemnation that impurity must receive.

O Mary, Immaculate Mother, inspire in my heart thy own great love of the virtue of purity.

(Rev. Donald Miller, C.SS.R.)

2008-08-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR SEPTEMBER:
OBEDIENCE

Obedience is the virtue that grants one the willingness to submit to lawful authority. When one obeys, one is "hearing" (from the Latin audire -to hear) and one is accepting the authority.

Christ, Himself, is our model, as He subjected His life to His Father's authority. "By his loving obedience to the Father, 'unto death, even death on a cross' (Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfills the atoning mission (cf. Isa 53:10) of the suffering servant, who will 'make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities'(Isa 53:11; cf. Rom 5:19). " CCC 623

Christ also subjected Himself to his parents. "He went down with them, then, and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them." (Luke 2:31)

We realize that we must practice the virtue of obedience in the natural order: in the family milieu as children subject to our parents, in the educational environment as students subject to teachers, in the business world as employees subject to employers, and in the civil society as citizens subject to legitimate laws and leaders. In the spiritual order we owe obedience as members of Christ's Mystical Body to His Vicar on earth, our bishops, and our priests. Religious also owe obedience to their superiors.

We are provided with the Decalogue, Holy Scriptures, and Tradition as foundations for our observance of obedience. "Indirectly, obedience also imposes obligations on those who hold authority to direct and command others. There is a right use of authority and a wrong use; it can be neglected or abused to the detriment of subjects. Therefore, every form of obedience involves obligations on the part of those in command." (Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.)

Summarizing the obligations of citizens and public authorities regarding the Fourth Commandment, The Catholic Cathecism states:

"2254: Public authority is obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person and the conditions for the exercise of his freedom."

"2255: It is the duty of citizens to work with civil authority for building up society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom."

"2256: Citizens are obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order. 'We must obey God rather than men' (Acts 5:29)."

"2257: Every society's judgments and conduct reflect a vision of man and his destiny. Without the light the Gospel sheds on God and man, societies easily become totalitarian."

ASPIRATION OF THE MONTH

All for Thee, most Sacred Heart of Jesus. (300 days indulgence)

SCRIPTURE OF THE MONTH

"It is not those who say to me, 'Lord, Lord' who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Mt.7:21)

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." (Rom 13:1-2; cf. 1 Pet.2:13-17)

PRAYER FOR THE MONTH

O, Jesus, my Saviour, Thou didst say on entering the world: "I am come to do Thy will, O God," and didst fulfill Thy promise by becoming obedient even unto the death of the cross - O, do Thou teach me to be obedient in all things like unto Thee. In the past I have often rebelled against those who represent Thy own authority; permit me now by Thy grace to rebel no longer.

Thou didst obey Mary and Joseph at Nazareth, and all Thy civil and religious rulers. Let me see in my own superiors the same divine authority Thou didst obey, no matter what human defects Thy representatives may possess. And if Thou willest that I should have authority over others in any sphere, grant that I may exercise that authority with the same gentleness, meekness, kindness and charity that were always present in Thee.

O Mary, who didst say to the angel who represented God: "Be it done unto me according to thy word," let me echo thy beautiful submission whenever God's will is made known to me through my superiors. (Rev. Donald F. Miller, S.SS.R.)

2008-07-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

TEMPERANCE -

VIRTUE FOR AUGUST

Temperance may remind one of abstaining from alcohol, but the Latin word's origin "to restrain" more properly refers to our bodily well-being in mind and body. St. John Vianney tells us in his Catechism on the Cardinal Virtues:

"Temperance is another cardinal virtue: we can be temperate in the use of our imagination, by not letting it gallop as fast as it would wish; we can be temperate with our eyes, temperate with our mouth -- some people constantly have something sweet and pleasant in their mouth; we can be temperate with our ears, not allowing them to listen to useless songs and conversation; temperate in smelling -- some people perfume themselves to such a degree as to make those about them sick; temperate with the hands -- some people are always washing them when it is hot, and handling things that are soft to the touch. . . .

"In short, we can practice temperance with our whole body, this poor machine, by not letting it run away like a horse without bit or bridle, but checking it and keeping it down. Some people lie buried there, in their beds; they are glad not to sleep, that they may the better feel how comfortable they are. The saints were not like that. I do not know how we are ever to get where they are. . . . Well! if we are saved, we shall stay infinitely long in Purgatory, while they will fly straight to Heaven to see the good God.

"That great saint, Saint Charles Borromeo (Editor's note: Feast Day is Nov.4), had in his apartment a fine cardinal's bed, which everybody saw; but, besides that, there was one which nobody could see, made of bundles of wood; and that was the one he made use of. He never warmed himself; when people came to see him, they remarked that he placed himself so as not to feel the fire. That is what the saints were like. They lived for Heaven, and not for earth; they were all heavenly; and as for us, we are all earthly. Oh, how I like those little mortifications that are seen by nobody, such as rising a quarter of an hour sooner, rising for a little while in the night to pray! but some people think of nothing but sleeping.

"There was once a solitary who had built himself a royal palace in the trunk of an oak tree; he had placed thorns inside of it, and he had fastened three stones over his head, so that when he raised himself or turned over he might feel the stones or the thorns. And we, we think of nothing but finding good beds, that we may sleep at our ease. We may refrain from warming ourselves; if we are sitting uncomfortably, we need not try to place ourselves better; if we are walking in our garden, we may deprive ourselves of some fruit that we should like; in preparing the food, we need not eat the little bits that offer themselves; we may deprive ourselves of seeing something pretty, which attracts our eyes, especially in the streets of great towns. There is a gentleman who sometimes comes here. He wears two pairs of spectacles, that he may see nothing. . . . But some heads are always in motion, some eyes are always looking about. . . . When we are going along the streets, let us fix our eyes on Our Lord carrying His Cross before us; on the Blessed Virgin, who is looking at us; on our guardian angel, who is by our side.

"How beautiful is this interior life! It unites us with the good God. . . . Therefore, when the devil sees a soul that is seeking to attain to it, he tries to turn him aside from it by filling his imagination with a thousand fancies. A good Christian does not listen to that; he goes always forward in perfection, like a fish plunging into the depths of the sea. . . . As for us, Alas! We drag ourselves along like a leech in the mud." (1)

PRAYER FOR AUGUST
Dearest Lord, teach me to make the most of what I have, to be grateful for who I am, to remind me each and every day that I am able in spirit, able in mind, able in love. Guide me in using my abilities so that I may serve you. Amen (2)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR AUGUST

If anyone loves righteousness, Wisdom's labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage. Wisdom 8:7

Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. Sirach 5:2

Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites. Sirach 18:30

The grace of God has appeared, offering salvation to all men. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age as we await our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Saviour Christ Jesus. Titus 2:11-13

ENDNOTES
1. Catechism on the Cardinal Virtues, John Mary Vianney
2. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (Group 1, Card 22)

2008-06-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

JUSTICE - VIRTUE FOR JULY

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. (CCC 1807)

"Among the virtues that have suffered most in modern times, one of the outstanding is that of justice. It has been attacked by many false principles, such as : 'Business is business,' 'You can't get ahead without some sharp dealing,'and 'So long as a thing is legal it is O.K.'

"Such disregard of the principles of justice between man and man has gradually distorted the necessary distinctions between 'mine' and 'thine' until in some instances the conscience is completely dulled.

"Despite all popular notions to the contrary, justice is still an essential part of the natural law, and every sin and fault against it will be punished by God. It is defined as the virtue whereby a man respects the rights of others to what they possess; whereby he gives to every man what is his due, and takes from no man anything except that to which he has a just title.

"Just titles for the acquisition of material things are : 1) occupation, e.g., settling on unowned and unclaimed land, finding a lost article without trace of the owner; 2) the acceptation of increase, fruit or additional value that arises in a thing already possessed; 3) exchange of material things with other men, either thing for thing, or money for thing, or services for thing; 4) heredity. Any taking of material things from others without one of these titles or a title akin to one of them is injustice. It can readily be seen, therefore, that there are many ways in which justice can be violated." (Catholic Treasures)

Prayer for the Month

O Lord, who didst impose upon all men the commandment: "Thou shalt not steal," who will demand a strict account of all who have been unjust in their dealings with their neighbor, I am profoundly sorry for every sin and fault whereby I have wronged my fellow-man, and promise to make full reparation.

Thy greatest praise of Thy foster-father, St. Joseph, was contained in the simple words that "he was a just man."

Give me the strength to imitate his praise, to be just in my business affairs and private transaction, to be just in my dealings with those who are subject to me and those to whom I am subject; to be just in making restitution for all my injustices of the past. Let me not be moved by the example of the world, nor by the desire of riches and power, nor by the urgings of those who take no thought of Thee and of Thy law. Let me be detached from all earthly possessions and not envious of those who have great riches, in order that I may call Thee my only treasure.

O Mary, my Mother, obtain for me the grace to deal justly and fairly with all my neighbors.

(Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.)

Scripture for the Month

Defend the lowly and the fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and the destitute. (Psalm 82:4)

To practice justice is a joy for the just; but terror for evildoers. (Proverbs 21:15)

And when the Son of Man shall come in His majesty, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the Throne of His glory; and before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. (Matthew 25:31-33)

Aspiration for the Month

Grant us, dear Joseph, to run life’s pathway in innocent and just fashion: May we for ever be safe under thy blest patronage. Amen.

Glorious St Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously and justly.

2008-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR JUNE

LOVE OF NEIGHBOR (Negative Obligations)

Besides the positive duties of fraternal charity, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, there are many sins to be avoided in the practice of the same virtue, and these may be listed as the negative obligations. Every human being has it in his power not only to help his neighbor but also to hurt him. This latter may take the form of temporal harm, as it does in the sins of hatred, slander, detraction, and similar sins, or it may do eternal harm as in the the case of scandal and cooperation in another's sins.

A few examples cited in the Examination of Conscience for Adults:

**"Have I callously rejoiced over the serious misfortunes that came to others, ...because it pleased me to see them suffer?"

**”Have I deprived an unborn child of its right to life by causing an abortion, or paying for an abortion, or cooperating in it in some other way?"

**”Have I attributed bad motives to others when I could not be certain of their motives?"

**”Have I made cutting, sarcastic remarks to others?"

PRAYER FOR JUNE

"O patient Jesus, how unworthy I am of Thee! Thou was all charity towards Thy persecutors; I am so easily moved to hatred and rancor towards my enemies! Thou didst pray so lovingly for those who crucified Thee, and I so often seek revenge against those who offend me!

"Thy words were always words of kindness and compassion, or words of rebuke only when rebuke was necessary to win back a sinner's love; my words are so often inspired by dislike and ill-will towards others! Thou didst die to prevent sin, and I am one of those who so often made Thy death in vain by leading others into sin by my example or my cooperation.

"I am sorry now for all the harm I have done to souls that Thou didst purchase with Thy Precious Blood; I promise now to make atonement, and to be ready to lay down my life for the salvation of my neighbor. Grant me the grace to remember the power of my example and my words and my actions over the lives of others; let me say or do nothing that might bring pain to one of the little ones beloved by Thee.

"O Mary, who didst add thy sufferings of Jesus in behalf of sinners, accept the sacrifices I shall make in behalf of charity and unit them to thine, that with thee and in thee I may help to save many souls."

ASPIRATION FOR JUNE

Oh my God, I love Thee, and I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee.

SCRIPTURE FOR JUNE

A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another. (John 13:35, 36)

2008-04-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR MAY -

LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

"The love of one's neighbor is essentially bound up with the love of God. St. John put the matter simply when he said: 'If any man say that he loves God and hateth his neighbor, that man is a liar and the truth is not in him.' Hence it would be a contradiction to profess love of God and at the same time to exclude a neighbor from our love.

"Therefore the love of neighbor imposes many positive duties upon us, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, etc.each one of which is directed towards the well-being and happiness of our neighbor, at the same time it forbids certain sins which would bring unhappiness, spiritual or temporal, to a neighbor." (1)

PRAYERS FOR MAY

Jesus, Impeccable Judge of mankind, Generous Allocator of all blessings, Thank you for the virtue of charity.

Grant me the strength to model after You, Refraining from any acts of judging others, To generously share with those in need.

Erase any weaknesses of my human nature, Allowing my soul to shine as the morning sun. By Your grace may my charity towards others Truly reflect Your eternal quintessence, Engendering marvellous spiritual fruits. Blessed be Your Glorious Name!

O my God, I love You above all things with my whole heart and soul because You are all good and worthy of all my love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of You. I forgive all who have injured me and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen. (2)

SCRIPTURE FOR MAY

The Apostle St. Paul reminds us,

"He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13: 8-10)

ENDNOTES

Rev. Donald F. Miller, Catholic Treasures - Issue No. 88-89

www.catholic.org

2008-03-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR APRIL:

REVERENCE FOR GOD

"God has made a special commandment out of the natural duty and obligation of respecting His name. That this should be necessary sometimes strikes us as very strange. God is a Father, Provider, Protector, Preserver of us all; He became Man and died for us on the Cross. He resides in the tabernacles of our churches to be near us, and He wanted to reward us all with a happiness that will never end.

"On the basis of these things we are bound to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and will, and love is diametrically opposed to disrespect, irreverence, scorn and contempt in using a lover’s name. A good mother does not have to command her children not to abuse her name; a worthy father has never been known to have to implore his sons to speak respectfully of him. Yet such is the perversion of human nature in regard to God that He has to make a special commandment that His creatures may not take His name in vain.

"The chief forms of irreverence against God are blasphemy, unnecessary swearing, perjury, cursing, and profanity."

(Examination of Conscience for Adults by Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R)

Aspiration for April

Blessed be the name of God.

Prayer for April

My Lord and Saviour, who was reviled by the chief-priests, falsely accused by criminals, condemned by Pilate, mocked by the throngs and ridiculed by the soldiers who put Thee to death, let me atone by sorrow and penance for all my sins and the sins of the world against Thy holy name.

Teach me to use the great gift of speech Thou hast bestowed upon me to honor and praise Thee for the rest of my life. Grant me the power to silence unholy language on the lips of others, and to teach those dependent upon me the reverent and holy use of Thy name.

With all the mountains and hills I praise Thee; with all the seas and rivers I glorify Thee; with all the plants and animals I honor Thee as Lord and Master. May the heavens and earth be filled with Thy Glory; and may the lips of all men be taught to acclaim Thy goodness, Thy mercy, and Thy love.

Scriptures for April

You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished him who takes His name in vain.

Exodus 20:7

To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
I Timothy 1:17

2008-02-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

LOVE OF GOD - VIRTUE FOR MARCH

"The love of God is the highest and strictest obligation binding on all men. No one should ever forget the answer of Christ to the question: 'Which is the first and greatest commandment of the Law?' His words were simple, direct, forceful: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul, with thy whole mind and with all thy strength.' Without the fulfillment of this law, therefore, all striving for other virtues and qualities would be without profit.

"The love of God is the infused theological virtue by which we love God above all other things because of His infinite perfection and lovableness, and manifest that love in thought, word and deed. The love of God forbids, in general, the neglect from love, as well as the misuse or degrading of things given by God or dedicated to Him." (Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.)

Ejaculation for the month:

Jesus, my God, I love Thee above all things.

Scriptures for the month:

And we know that to them that love God all things work together unto good: to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints. Romans 8:28

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or persecution? Or the sword? Romans 8:35

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Prayer for the month:

O great Lord of heaven and earth, Infinite Good, Infinite Majesty, who has loved men so tenderly, how is it that Thou art so much despised by them? Yet amongst those men, O my God, Thou hast loved me in a particular manner and hast bestowed on me special graces that have not been given to so many others.

And I have depised Thee more than others. I deserve to be cast off on account of my frequent ingratitude to Thee. But Thou hast said that Thou wilt not reject a penitent soul that returns to Thee. My Jesus, I am sorry for having offended Thee.

I now acknowledge Thee for my Lord and redeemer, who hast died in order to save me and to be loved by me. I this day resolve to love Thee with my whole heart, and to love nothing but Thee. I adore Thee for all those who do not adore Thee, and I love Thee for all those who do not love thee.

My Lord, give me Thy love, but a fervent love which will make me forget all creatures; a strong love, which will make me conquer all difficulties in order to please Thee; a perpetual love which will never be dissolved between me and Thee. O Mary, my Mother, fill my heart with love for my Saviour! (Examination of Conscience for Adults)

Happy Lent

2008-01-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

HOPE -

VIRTUE FOR FEBRUARY

“Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (1817)

“The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.” C.C.C. (1818)

Scripture verses for February

Let us put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 1Thessalonians 5:8

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:12-13

Ejaculatory prayers for the month

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust and hope in Thee.

Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer of the world, Thou who didst ask faith and confidence from all the sick and sore distressed and didst grant to each one according to his faith, grant me the grace of an unshakable hope and confidence in Thee. Let me remember that since Thou didst die for me, there is no good thing Thou wilt ever deny me if only I trust in Thee always.

Relying on Thy merits and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary I firmly hope for the pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting. In difficulties, in desolations, in anxieties and trials, make me content to be deprived of all human help and consolation and to be dependent wholly on Thee.

Make me remember my weakness and distrust myself so that I shall ever seek Thy help in prayer. Help me to learn that nothing in life I worth possessing if the cost means separation from Thee. Permit me, in the hour of death, to say with all the confidence of Thy saints and martyrs: “In Thee, O lord, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded forever.”

(Examination of Conscience for Adults by Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.)

2007-12-31T21:55:00.000-08:00

A Virtue A Month for 2008

The New Year affords each faithful Catholic the opportunity to make resolutions in the material and the spiritual realm. Rev. Donald Miller, C.SS.R. suggests the Virtue a Month program in his"Examination of Conscience for Adults" booklet. This could be mostbeneficial when adopted for one's spiritual growth. We shall highlight the monthly virtue each month with prayer and scripture reference. Note: The booklet is available from Catholic Treasures in Monrovia.

Virtue for January -FAITH

"Faith is the theological virtue, infused by God, by which we firmly assent to all truths that God has revealed to mankind because God cannot deceive or be deceived. Faith is the foundation of all justification, the beginning of all supernatural virtue, the starting point of sanctification and perfection. ' Without faith it is impossible to please God.' "

Daily prayer for the month:

"Lord, increase our faith! "(500 daysindulgence)

Scriptures for the month:

If thou confess with thy mouth the LordJesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him up from thedead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9

Faith if the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen. Hebrews 11:1

2007-11-29T22:40:00.000-08:00

VIRTUE FOR DECEMBER – HUMILITY

“Humility is the fundamental virtue by which a person remembers his utter dependence on God and God’s laws and God’s providence, and the utter folly of any action or any judgment or any self-glorification that is contrary to the will of God.”(1) St. John Chrysostom remarked that “Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue.” Reverend John Mason of England exclaimed, “True humility makes way for Christ and throws the soul at his feet.” (2)

Abbe De Brandt told us, “Humility, to be true, must be deeply rooted in our hearts. Let us beseech our dear Lord to make us more clearly perceive, by the help of His grace, what means we should take in order to become truly humble. Humility must grow up out of our hearts perennially – a blossom growing from the deeply-rooted conviction of our nothingness.” (3)

SAINT FOR DECEMBER – St. Jane Frances de Chantal (1562-164)
Feast Day – December 12 (August 18, in USA)
Patron of forgotten people, in-law problems, loss of parents, parents separated from children, widows

St. Jane Frances de Chantal truly lived a life of humility. Throughout her life as a wife, a mother, a nun, and a founder of the Order of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, she exemplified humility. She was born in Dijon, France where her father was President of the Burgundian Parliament. She married Baron de Chantal at 20 and bore 6 children. Only 4 children survived. They lived in a feudal castle where she restored the custom of Daily Mass and brought order to the household which was on the brink of ruin and brought back prosperity. During her husband’s absence at the court, or with the army, when reproached for her extremely sober manner of dressing, her reply was: “The eyes which I must please are a hundred miles from here.” Her humility was blessed by the Lord with miraculous cures of persons for whom she had nursed.

Her husband was killed in a hunting accident after nine years of marriage. At 28 years old the young widow took an oath of chastity and devoted herself to her children and to works of charity, although this was difficult under the tyrannical father-in-law. Three years later, Jane heard St. Francis de Sales preach. She sought his guidance and his spiritual direction. She humbly accepted his direction not to become a nun but to continue with her family and community work. Three more years passed and St. Francis informed Jane of his plan to found an institute for women whose age or health would not allow them to live a cloistered life. They would be committed to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

Thus was founded the Order of the Visitation whose work was primarily focused on exemplifying the virtues of Our Lady of the Visitation, namely humility and meekness. St. Jane was 45 when the small congregation began. She remained humble and obedient when the Order was obliged to become cloistered and when her only son died and a plague took the lives of other family members. She and her nuns continued to care for the sick. The two holy founders saw their undertaking prosper. At the time of the death of St. Francis de Sales in 1622, the Order already counted thirteen houses; there were eighty-six when St. Jane Frances died (December 13, 1641) and 164 when she was canonized.

St. Francis de Sales's commentary of her characterizes her life at Bourbilly and everywhere else: "In Madame de Chantal I have found the perfect woman, whom Solomon had difficulty in finding in Jerusalem". (4)

SCRIPTURES FOR THE MONTH
For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Luke XIV:11

PRAYERS FOR DECEMBER
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

Lord, you chose St. Jane Frances to serve you both in marriage and in religious life. By her prayers help us to be faithful in our vocation and always to be the light of the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Opening Prayer for Memorial Mass)

THOUGHTS OF St. Jane Frances de Chantal
O, Lord Jesus, I surrender to You all my will. Let me be Your lute. Touch any string You please. Always and forever let me make music in perfect harmony with Your own. Yes, Lord, with no ifs, ands or buts, let Your will be done in this family, for the father, for the children, for everything that concerns me, and especially let Your will be done in me. (St. Jane Frances) (5)

There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is. We must never dwell on our sins during prayer. Regarding our offenses, a simple humbling of our soul before God, without a thought of this offense or that, is enough...such thoughts act as distractions. ( Saint Jeanne de Chantal, from Wings to the Lord ) (6)

ENDNOTES

1. "Catholic Treasures," Issue 88-89

2. New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1960 p. 281

3. Growth in the Knowledge of Our Lord, Herder Book Company, p. 151

4. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913 edition); Saint of the Day, Vol. II, St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1975

5. Ordinary People-Extraordinary Lives 4/86

6. www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintj22.htm

2007-10-31T23:14:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR NOVEMBER: MEEKNESS

Meekness is the virtue that enables one to overcome the tendencies of anger, revenge, hatred, and enmity. …meekness presupposes the virtue of charity or love of neighbor, which provides the motives and the means of overlooking insult, injustice, and injury, real or imaginary, from others. (1)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth,” announced our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:5)

“The meek are not those who are never at all angry, for such are insensible; but those who, feeling anger, control it, and are angry only when they ought to be. Meekness excludes revenge, irritability, morbid sensitiveness, and but not self-defence, or a quiet, and steady maintenance of right.” Theophylact, Archbishop of Acris in early 5th Century. (2)

“Meekness is love at school, at the school of Christ. It is the disciple learning to know, and fear, and distrust himself, and learning of him who is meek and lowly in heart, and so finding rest to his soul.” Reverend James Hamilton, British clergyman in 19th century. (3)

SAINT FOR NOVEMBER: ST. MARTIN DE PORRES

FEAST DAY: NOVEMBER 3
PATRON OF BARBERS

Pope John XXIII at the canonization of St. Martin on May 6, 1962 remarked, “He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing, and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves; thus he deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: Martin of Charity.” (3)

St. Martin’s birth in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579, to Anna Valazquez, a free black woman, and John de Porres, a Spanish nobleman, began a life that witnessed to meekness that did presuppose charity. His father abandoned him and his sister because of their dark skin for 8 years. Martin exhibited a call to holiness even in childhood. Many times, Anna would send Martin to market with a few coins and a basket to purchase food and Martin would return home penniless and with an empty basket. Martin felt a great need to help the poor and would use the money to aid those in need. If Martin came across a church on his way to market, he always stopped to greet and visit with his Heavenly Father and the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom he had a great devotion. (4)

Martin lived with his father in Ecuador for four years where he received schooling. When his father was sent to govern Panama, Martin returned to live with his mother in Peru. At the age of twelve, Martin had to choose a trade to help earn a living for himself and his mother. Martin trained to be a barber, which in those days meant not only cutting hair and beards, but also letting blood, treating wounds and fractures, and even prescribing medicine for the more ordinary cases of illness. A barber was in fact, at the same time a surgeon, doctor and pharmacist.

Martin could have earned a great deal of money and lived in comfort with his mother, but the same charity which drove him as a small child, now moved him to devote himself to the poor. On a typical day, he set out at daybreak and along the way between his home and the shop, stopped for long periods of time in the church of St Lazarus, serving at many Masses. After having spent the whole day in the effort to perfect himself in his profession and use it to help the poor, he shut himself up in his room to feed his soul with spiritual reading and prayer.

Over time, the cry of Christ dying on the cross – “I thirst”, had aroused in Martin a thirst for the honor of God through the salvation of souls, and he felt an irresistible desire to respond with all the ardor of his soul. By the age of fifteen, Martin chose to present himself to the Friars Preachers of the monastery of the Holy Rosary. He requested the humblest post in the monastery; that of a “donado” – a lay helper. The donados took upon themselves the heaviest tasks and were considered as ranking below the lay brothers. John de Porres, his father, did everything in his power to have Martin become a lay brother rather than a donado but for years Martin refused and remained a lay helper.

Martin’s work in the monastery included sweeping the cloisters and the corridors and cleaning the toilets. Martin seized his broom and had it in his hands so often that it later became a distinguishing mark in pictures and statues of Martin de Porres. His skills as a barber and doctor lead the superiors of the monastery to entrust Martin with the care of the sick and he resumed the full exercise of his profession.

Martin proved to be a great organizer and eventually founded an orphanage, a hospital, schools and a home for young women to stay in before being married. Martin’s charity embraced not only the people of Lima but even animals that would come to him to be healed. Martin spent his whole life doing good for others. He practiced severe austerities, fasting daily and scourging himself three times during the night. Martin wore only the most thread bare habit and an iron chain around his waist. Martin predicted his own death in the fall of 1639 when he became ill with a type of malaria. Filled with love for God, he asked for the Sacraments and said, “This is the end of my pilgrimage on earth.” With his Dominican Brothers around his bed chanting the Salve Regina and the Creed, Martin died on November 3, 1639, at the words: “…and he became man…” (5)

From caring for African slaves to collecting needed items for the priory and the city, he exhibited meekness and charity. He was known to everything from “ blankets, shirts, candles, candy, (to) miracles or prayers.” (6)
Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry and infirmary, God chose to fill Martin’s life with extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and a remarkable control over animals. He is known to have declared at one point when the priory was in need of funds, “I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the Order. Sell me.” (7)

Devotion to St. Martin encourages families to keep his statue in their kitchens, and their cupboards will always be filled with food.

SCRIPTURE VERSES / ASPIRATION FOR NOVEMBER

For Thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is Thy pleasure in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable to Thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased Thee. Judith 9:16

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.

PRAYER TO ST. MARTIN DE PORRES

Father of the poor, Patron of the needy, Help of the Sick
O GOD, Who has given us In Your humble Son,

Our Lord Jesus Christ, The model of all virtue And perfection,

Grant to us The virtue of humility.

We think so little of You Because we are So full of ourselves.

We cannot love You more Until humility shows us Our own nothingness

And makes us rejoice In our complete Dependence upon You.

You have given to the world a glorious apostle of humility: ST. MARTIN DE PORRES.

Guide us by his example And strengthen Us through his intercession

In our efforts To conform our hearts To the humble Heart Of Your crucified Son.

May the glory of sainthood Which you have Deigned to bestow Upon Brother Martin

Draw the world closer And closer to You.

Renew, O Lord, in these days When pride and forgetfulness Of You are so widespread,

The wonders which You performed Through Your humble servant During his lifetime.

Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be (3 times each.) (8)

ENDNOTES

1. Catholic Treasures, pg.34

2. The New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Co., 1960

3. Saint of the Day, Vol.II, St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1975

4. St. Martin de Porres Parish Church, Lake Charles, LA

5. Ibid.

6. Saint of the Day, pgs. 135-137

7. Ibid.

8. http://www.mycatholictradition.org/

2007-09-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

OBEDIENCE-VIRTUE FOR OCTOBER

Obedience implies authority and conforming one's will to the authority, whether in the family, in the workplace, in government, in the church and religious life, or in working for one's salvation.

Our Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, "By 'authority' one means the quality by which persons or institutions make laws and give order to men and expect obedience from them." (1)

SAINT FOR OCTOBER - ST. BRUNO

FEAST DAY -OCTOBER 6

PATRON FOR POSSESSED PERSONS

In 1084 following a dream of living in a secluded place, he and 6 others were offered land "in the Chartreuse" with its climate, desert, and mountainous landscape providing the desired solitude and quiet. The men supported themselves by copying manuscripts. When his former student, now Pope Urban II, called him to support his reform efforts, he sacrificed the solitary life to be the Pope's advisor. It "broke the saint's heart, but he obeyed." (4) He prepared materials for and attended some ecumenical councils. Finally Bruno begged Urban II to let him retire and was allowed to as long as he remained close to Rome. He inculcated 3 facets into his life: great spirit of prayer, extreme mortification, and filial devotion to the Virgin Mary. He requested that each house of Carthusians honor Our Lady as its chief patron. He died in 1101 in Calabria, Italy.

THOUGHTS OF ST. BRUNO

Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God's grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice, because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbor. Many wish to come into this port, and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above.

By your work you show what you love and what you know. When you observe true obedience with prudence and enthusiasm, it is clear that you wisely pick the most delightful and nourishing fruit of divine Scripture.

from a letter by St. Bruno to the Carthusians (5)

PRAYER TO ST. BRUNO

Father, you called St. Bruno to serve you in solitude. In answer to his prayers help us to remain faithful to you amid the changes of this world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, forever and ever. Amen. (Feast Day Prayer)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR OCTOBER

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Romans 13:1-2

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

ENDNOTES

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1897

2. New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1964,page 445

3. http://www.americancatholic.org/

4. www.tntt.org/vni/tlieu/saints/st1006/htm.

5. www.catholic-forum.org/saints/saintb14.htm

6. www.tntt.org/vni/tlieu/saints/st1006/htm.

2007-08-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

TEMPERANCE -

VIRTUE FOR SEPTEMBER

"Temperance is another cardinal virtue: we can be temperate in the use of our imagination, by not letting it gallop as fast as it would wish; we can be temperate with our eyes, temperate with our mouth -- some people constantly have something sweet and pleasant in their mouth; we can be temperate with our ears, not allowing them to listen to useless songs and conversation; temperate in smelling -- some people perfume themselves to such a degree as to make those about them sick; temperate with the hands -- some people are always washing them when it is hot, and handling things that are soft to the touch. . . . In short, we can practice temperance with our whole body, this poor machine, by not letting it run away like a horse without bit or bridle, but checking it and keeping it down. Some people lie buried there, in their beds; they are glad not to sleep, that they may the better feel how comfortable they are. The saints were not like that. I do not know how we are ever to get where they are. . . . Well! if we are saved, we shall stay infinitely long in Purgatory, while they will fly straight to Heaven to see the good God.

" That great saint, Saint Charles Borromeo (Editor's note: Feast Day is Nov.4), had in his apartment a fine cardinal's bed, which everybody saw; but, besides that, there was one which nobody could see, made of bundles of wood; and that was the one he made use of. He never warmed himself; when people came to see him, they remarked that he placed himself so as not to feel the fire. That is what the saints were like. They lived for Heaven, and not for earth; they were all heavenly; and as for us, we are all earthly. Oh, how I like those little mortifications that are seen by nobody, such as rising a quarter of an hour sooner, rising for a little while in the night to pray! but some people think of nothing but sleeping. There was once a solitary who had built himself a royal palace in the trunk of an oak tree; he had placed thorns inside of it, and he had fastened three stones over his head, so that when he raised himself or turned over he might feel the stones or the thorns. And we, we think of nothing but finding good beds, that we may sleep at our ease. We may refrain from warming ourselves; if we are sitting uncomfortably, we need not try to place ourselves better; if we are walking in our garden, we may deprive ourselves of some fruit that we should like; in preparing the food, we need not eat the little bits that offer themselves; we may deprive ourselves of seeing something pretty, which attracts our eyes, especially in the streets of great towns. There is a gentleman who sometimes comes here. He wears two pairs of spectacles, that he may see nothing. . . . But some heads are always in motion, some eyes are always looking about. . . . When we are going along the streets, let us fix our eyes on Our Lord carrying His Cross before us; on the Blessed Virgin, who is looking at us; on our guardian angel, who is by our side. How beautiful is this interior life! It unites us with the good God. . . . Therefore, when the devil sees a soul that is seeking to attain to it, he tries to turn him aside from it by filling his imagination with a thousand fancies. A good Christian does not listen to that; he goes always forward in perfection, like a fish plunging into the depths of the sea. . . . As for us, Alas! we drag ourselves along like a leech in the mud." (1)

SAINT GILES - SAINT FOR SEPTEMBER

Feast Day: September 1

Patron of Disabled Persons, Mentally Ill, Epileptics, Breast Cancer, and Edinburgh, Scotland

One of the 14 Holy Helpers

PRAYER FOR SEPTEMBER

Dearest Lord, teach me to make the most of what I have, to be grateful for who I am, to remind me each and every day that I am able in spirit, able in mind, able in love. Guide me in using my abilities so that I may serve you. Amen (5)

SCRIPTURE VERSES FOR SEPTEMBER

If anyone loves righteousness, Wisdom's labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage. Wisdom 8:7

Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. Sirach 5:2

Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites. Sirach 18:30

ENDNOTES

1. Catechism on the Cardinal Virtues, John Mary Vianney

2. www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg15.htm

3. www.nndb.com/people

4. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (Group 1, Card 22)

5. Op Cit.

2007-07-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR AUGUST – CHASTITY

“Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift.” (1)

Single people and married people are obliged to be chaste. Our Lord warned the Pharisees for their hypocrisy on insisting on the external ritual of washing their hands but neglecting their interior movements of the heart from which come evil things such as adultery and fornication. St. Paul’s letters reminds the Corinthians about the demands of Christian morality as they adjust to their new lives in the Lord. (2)

SAINT FOR AUGUST – St. Philomena

PATRON OF YOUTH AND CHASTITY, BABIES, BARRENNESS, BODILY ILLS, IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES

FEAST DAY – AUGUST -various days

Our saint, St. Philomena, martyr and virgin, could have been Joseph Joubert’s inspiration for his thoughts on chastity:
“ Chastity enables the soul to breathe a pure air in the foulest places. Continence makes her strong, no matter in what condition the body may be. Her sway over the senses makes her queenly. Her light and peace render her beautiful.” (3)

St. Philomena had been born in the 3rd Century A.D. to royal Greek parents who were converted to Christianity and soon after they became pregnant with a daughter whom they named Filia luminis, daughter of light. She was the light of faith for them who had been childless. When she was a very young woman, her father had to plead with the Emperor in Rome for help and in exchange for aid, the Emperor asked for his beautiful daughter. She refused Emperor Diocletion who so desired her. She would not sacrifice her virginity to him even for the sake of her parents’ well being, as she had promised herself to the Lord. St. Philomena had to endure foul prisons and the most foul and sensual Diocletion and finally martyrdom.

Her life was partially revealed when her tomb was discovered in 1802 as workers were excavating the Roman catacombs. On her tomb were 3 tiles with the words "Filumena, pax tecum" or "Philomena, peace be with you."
Also were carved the lily and the palm, symbols for virgin and martyr, along with symbols describing her martyrdom: an anchor, a scourge, 3 arrows pointing away from the martyr and one with fire in the tip. She had endured a drowning attempt and a public scourging naked in front of a raucous crowd. She had been shot with arrows, some with fire in them, and finally she was beheaded. (The arrows pointing away indicated that the arrows, miraculously, did not touch the Saint but returned to hit the bowmen.)

Her relics were presented to a priest in a parish in the kingdom of Naples who had asked for them. Before they were given to him, he had been cured of a sudden illness. Other miraculous cures followed. Pope Gregory XVI declared her to be the Wonderworker of the 19th Century. St. John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, called her the New Light of the Church Militant and attributed to her all that he had accomplished.

St. John Mary obtained a small fragment of her relic around 1815 and his devotion to her entered his life and that of his parish. She was his "Beatrice, his ideal, his sweet star, his guide, his comforter, his pure light." His "ardent and almost chivalrous love" was beheld by his flock and the many pilgrims who came for his spiritual direction. He would exhort them to call upon "his dear little saint, his consul, his representative, his agent with God." No doubt he was St. Philomena's knight promoting her cause. (4) (His feast day is August 4.)

WORDS OF ST. PHILOMENA
Note: Private revelations to Mother Mary Louisa of Jesus from St. Philomena have received the imprimatur, as there is nothing contrary to faith. There is no official acceptance of this private revelation, but they may be circulated as they do corroborate what is seen on St. Philomena’s tomb.

“Meditate on the Passion of the Redeemer and compassionate Him who alone suffered intensely. I only suffered a little because Jesus Christ had suffered for us.”

“Recite the Creed three times: once for the perseverance of the just, once for the conversion of sinners, and a third time for the return of heretics and infidels to the faith.”

“We realize we are before God as so many vases of honor, some larger, some smaller. The vases of our souls dilate according to the desire to love God that we had when we were on earth.” (5)

PRAYERS TO ST. PHILOMENA

Excerpts from

THE LITANY TO SAINT PHILOMENA
St. Philomena, filled with the most abundant graces from your very birth, pray for us
St. Philomena, faithful imitator of Mary, pray for us
St. Philomena, model of virgins, pray for us
St. Philomena, example of strength and perseverance, pray for us
St. Philomena, invincible champion of chastity, pray for us
St. Philomena, scourged like your Divine Spouse, pray for us
St. Philomena, pierced by a shower of arrows, pray for us
St. Philomena, protectress of innocent, pray for us
St. Philomena, patron of youth.

Composed by St. John Mary Vianney (6)

Saint Philomena
Hail, O innocent Philomena, who, for love of Jesus, preserved the lily of thy virginity in all its brightness. Hail, a illustrious Philomena, who shed thy blood so courageously for Jesus Christ.
I bless the Lord for all the graces He granted thee during thy lifetime, and most especially at the hour of thy death. I praise Him and glorify Him for the honor and power with which He has crowned thee, and I beseech thee to obtain for me from God the graces I request through thy intercession.
Saint Philomena, beloved daughter of Jesus and Mary, pray for us who have recourse to thee! Amen. (7)

ENDNOTES

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994, #2337

2. The Catholic Catechism, John Hardon, S.J., Doubleday,1975, page 381

3. The New Dictionary of Thoughts, Standard Book Company, 1960

4. The Cure D'Ars, Abbe Francis Trochu, 1977, Tan Publishers, pages 260-262

5. www. copiosa.org/patron_girls/st_philomena.htm

6. ibid.

7. www.catholictradition.org/Saints/philomena.htm

2007-06-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR JULY – JUSTICE

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give proper due to God and neighbor. “Justice toward God is called the ‘virtue of religion.’ Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good.” (1)

Patristic tradition held that the cardinal virtues, like justice, all work together; so that there is no true justice unless it is prudent, strong, and temperate. Thus justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance are known as “hinge” virtues.

SAINT OF THE MONTH - Lawrence of Brindisi

Patron of Conversions and Missions
Feast Day –July 21

Our saint for July is an exemplar of this patristic tradition. He strove for justice in his work with Catholics and non-Catholics and did so with fortitude, prudence and temperance.

St. Lawrence was born Julius Caesar Russo in 1559, in the kingdom of Naples. During his 60 years of life, he focused on evangelizing and bringing the Truth to people in lands hostile to and unfamiliar with Catholicism. He sought justice in all of these efforts and as a peacemaker between warring Christian factions in the capacity of a papal emissary. His own devotion to the Eucharist and to Our Lady imbued him with the desire to travel the known world to bring the Good News to the unsaved.

His parents died early in his life, and an uncle supervised his studies in Venice with the Clerics of St. Mark’s. He entered the Order of Capuchins in 1575 as Brother Lorenzo and soon was recognized for his extraordinary gifts of intellect and spirit. He completed his studies and was ordained in 1582.

“Owing to his wonderful memory he mastered not only the principal European languages, but also most of the Semitic tongues. It was said he knew the entire original text of the Bible. Such a knowledge, in the eyes of many, could be accounted for only by supernatural assistance…” (2)

He was named Chaplain to the Imperial Army in 1601 and undertook a crusade against the Turks who had conquered much of Hungary. Lawrence was then sent as a deputy to the German princes for their cooperation in halting further Turkish advances. The resulting battle pitted 18,000 Christian men against 80,000 Turks. Lawrence, himself, led the army on horseback holding a crucifix in hand shouting “Victory is ours” and inspiring the hesitant generals to action. Although placed in a most vulnerable position, he was miraculously not wounded; and, after a 2 day battle at Albe-Royal, the Christian army was victorious. This was attributed to the presence of St. Lawrence. (3)

In 1602 St. Lawrence was elected Minister General of his Order. He preached throughout Europe, bringing back to the Faith persons in Protestant land. He converted Jews who thought he himself must have been a convert from Judaism to Catholicism because of his linguistic gifts. He was instrumental in organizing the Catholic League to provide solidarity for the Catholic nations in Europe.

“In the life of St. Laurence of Brindisi, we see a man full of the courage and daring of Christ whose spirit carried him throughout the long and arduous years that he was engaged in a most trying apostolate. Of him it can be truly said that he possessed the special gifts that adorned the Churches' first Apostles and men were moved to the practice of virtue more by his example than by his words. Especially noticeable in Laurence's approach to life was his spirit of fortitude which enabled him to announce the Good News fearlessly and constantly, even among the very Jews of Rome. Laurence's power and effectiveness as a preacher which was witnessed to the Christian life derived from the intense interior life he managed to observe during the course of his busy life.” (4)

St. Lawrence died in Lisbon in 1619, was canonized in 1881, and was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1959. It has been said that his writings may exceed all other Doctors. These include 8 volumes of sermons, 2 treatises on oratory, a commentary on Genesis and one on Ezechiel, along with 3 volumes of religious polemics.

WORDS OF ST. LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI

“He will proclaim justice”

The law of the Gospel is given in order to rid human beings of ignorance and the vices; to enlighten them with knowledge of God, themselves, and good and evil; to make them perfect in the holy virtues and unimpeachable morals; and finally to bestow upon them unending happiness and everlasting blessedness. Thus the Gospel rids them of errors; it enlighten them with knowledge of the truth, showing them “what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is”; it brings to completion charity, which is the “bond that makes perfect,” and shows the way to eternal happiness, namely, “by being children of your Father who is in heaven.”

"Because the initial light brought incomplete daylight, God created the sun which brought complete daylight. In like manner, because the law brought no one to perfection, God gave the supremely perfect law of the Gospel. This divine law of charity was observed by human beings like us: the apostles and martyrs under the regime of the Gospel, David, and the prophets under the law of Moses, the patriarchs under the law of nature. Why cannot we observe it with the grace and help of the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God? The commandments of God are not impossible but perfect. Christ sets apart and separates his faithful from Gentiles and tax collectors, because the former lack faith, while the latter are without justice and light of virtue. True Christians have both faith and justice; they hear God’s Word and keep it; they esteem the grace of Christ, their leader and Lord, above all else; they hope for everlasting salvation and desire it above everything." (5)

“God is love, and all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the Incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of his goodness and love and glory. So, Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first-born of every creature, and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam had not sinned.”
(St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Universal Church, Capuchin Educational Conference, Washington, D.C.) (6)

PRAYER FOR JULY

Lord, for the glory of your name and the salvation of souls you gave Lawrence of Brindisi courage and right judgment.
By his prayers, help us to know what we should do and give us the courage to do it.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
(Opening prayer for July 21 Liturgy)

FOOTNOTES

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1991 Article VII,#1807
2. Catholic Encyclopedia www.newadvent.org/catholicencyclopedia
3. www.newadvent.org/catholicencyclopedia
4. http://www.beafriar.com/
5. Magnificat Vol.9,No.5, pages 303-04
6. http://www.americancatholic.org/

2007-05-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR JUNE - LOVE OF NEIGHBOR (Negative Obligations)

SAINT FOR JUNE: ST. IRENAEUS OF LYONS

Feast Day: June 28

Patron of Diocese of Mobile, Alabama

Born in Smyrna, in Asia Minor about 120 A.D. and died in Lyons, France, in the year 202 A.D.

St. Irenaeus worked diligently to promote the truth about the nature of Christ, to defend the teachings of the Church against the Gnostic heretics, and he "vigorously denounced all heresies and safeguarded unity of belief by laying down the principles of the doctrinal tradition of the Church." (1) In his early training under St. Polycarp, who knew St. John the Evangelist, he learned the teachings of the Church. He encountered heretics and eastern Gnostics and studied all of the pagan philosophers to better understand the bases for heresies within the Church.

According to St. Jerome, it is believed that St. Irenaeus died a martyr's death in a massacre of Christians in Lyons during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus in 202 A.D.

Tertullian, Theodoret and Saint Epiphanus spoke of him as "a luminous torch of truth in the darkness of those times." (4) This Doctor of the Church presented his torch of truth in the form of 5 books known as Against the Heresies. We also have his Account of Apostolic Doctrine which is a direct presentation of Christian beliefs learned at the side of St. Polycarp. (5)

WORDS OF ST. IRENAEUS

Instead of constantly ridiculing his adversaries, he treated them most charitably. He wrote, "There is no God without goodness." "It is through love that the Word has become what we are, in order to make of us what It is."

"We hold out our hand to you with all our hearts, and will never cease to offer it to you." (6)

Against Heresies - Chapter XIV.—We should obey God rather than the authors of sedition. It is right and holy therefore, men and brethren, rather to obey God than to follow those who, through pride and sedition, have become the leaders of a detestable emulation. For we shall incur no slight injury, but rather great danger, if we rashly yield ourselves to the inclinations of men who aim at exciting strife and tumults, so as to draw us away from what is good. Let us be kind one to another after the pattern of the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator. For it is written, “The kind-hearted shall inhabit the land, and the guiltless shall be left upon it, but transgressors shall be destroyed from off the face of it.”5858 Prov. ii. 21, 22.

And again [the Scripture] saith, “I saw the ungodly highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon: I passed by, and, behold, he was not; and I diligently sought his place, and could not find it. Preserve innocence, and look on equity: for there shall be a remnant to the peaceful man.”

5959 Ps. xxxvii (7)

PRAYERS OF JUNE

Table Blessing for St. Irenaeus
Reading:

The Word became the steward of the Father's grace for the advantage of men, for whose benefit he made such wonderful arrangements. He revealed God to men and presented men to God. He safeguarded the invisibility of the Father to prevent man from treating God with contempt and to set before him a constant goal toward which to make progress. On the other hand, he revealed God to men and made him visible in many ways to prevent man from being totally separated from God and so cease to be. Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation gives life to all who live upon the earth, much more does the manifestation of the Father through the Word give life to those who see God. (St. Irenaeus, Treatise Against the Heresies).

Responsory:

Verse: Saint Irenaeus, true to his name, made peace the object of his life,
Response: and he labored to preserve the unity of the church.

The Lord's Prayer

Blessing:

Almighty God, you inspired Saint Irenaeus to teach your divine truth faithfully, and to preserve at all cost the bond of unity in your church. May we follow after his example, becoming ministers of peace and reconciliation among all your people. Bestow your blessing upon this nourishment, and may we learn to share it willingly with the poor, the hungry, and the dispossessed. We ask this through Christ the Lord. Amen. (8)

ENDNOTES

1.catholic.org/saints

2. ibid.

3. ibid.

4.Christian Classics Ethereal Library - ccel.org

5. Lives of the Saints by Omer Englebert, 1951 - page 248

6. ibid.

7. Christian Classics Ethereal Library - op cit.

8. catholicculture.org Prayer Source: Table Blessings: Mealtime Prayers Throughout the Year by Brother

Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, Ave Maria Press, 1994

2007-04-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

VIRTUE FOR MAY - LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

"The love of one's neighbor is essentially bound up with the love of God. St. John put the matter simply when he said: 'If any man say that he loves God and hateth his neighbor, that man is a liar and the truth is not in him.' Hence it would be a contradiction to profess love of God and at the same time to exclude a neighbor from our love. Therefore the love of neighbor imposes many positive duties upon us, such as almsgiving, correction, forgiveness, etc.each one of which is directed towards the well-being and happiness of our neighbor, at the same time it forbids certain sins which would bring unhappiness, spiritual or temporal, to a neighbor." (1)

SAINT FOR MAY:

BLESSED DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI - SERVANT OF HUMANITY

1840-1889

Feast Day: May 10

Future Patron of Lepers (when declared a saint)

Truly, Blessed Damien de Veuster, SS.CC. epitomizes love of neighbor with his many years of spiritual, pastoral, physical, and emotional care for the lepers entrusted to him. He is called the Apostle of Charity. "A man of enormous activity, Damien vigorously tackled every need, spiritual or physical, that he saw. He cleaned wounds, bandaged ulcers, even amputated gangrenous limbs. When a hurricane destroyed the exiles’ shabby huts, Damien petitioned the Board of Health for lumber and built three hundred houses for the sick. He laid a pipeline to a distant spring to supply water for the settlement. Previously, the dead had been thrown in a ravine or buried in graves so shallow that wild pigs ravaged the corpses. Damien dug graves, built coffins, and said funeral Masses. It is estimated that he built more than 1,600 coffins during his years at Molokai." (2)

Father Damien was born in Belgium. Young Jef, as his Flemish family called him, never anticipated a vocation of working with lepers whose noxious odor he initially tried to cover with tobacco fragrance from a pipe. He did consider a religious vocation as a young man. In his family of 9 siblings, 3 already had joined religious congregations. He followed one brother into the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and, in spite of his lack of proper education, became a candidate for the priesthood. When his own brother became ill prior to his departure as a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, "Le bon gros Damien" begged to go in his brother's place. In four years he completed a ten year course of study and was ordained. Father Damien's first Hawaiian parish area took six weeks to cover by canoe and horseback. After 8 years converting Hawaiians, learning Hawaiian, Spanish, and Portuguese, his bishop assigned him along with 3 other priests a rotation of 3 months stay each to the leper colony in Molokai. (3)

WORDS OF BLESSED FATHER DAMIEN

PRAYERS FOR MAY

Father of mercy, in Blessed Damien, you have given a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned. Grant that, by his intercession, as faithful witness of the heart of your Son Jesus, we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,One God, for ever and ever. (11)

ENDNOTES

1. Rev. Donald F. Miller, Catholic Treasures - Issue No. 88-89

2. Catholic Saints and Other Heroes On-line

3. Modern Saints, Ann Ball - Tan Books, 1983

4. Catholic Saints and Other Heroes

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. Fransicans of St. Anthony Guild on www.ewtn.org

8. Ibid.

9. Catholic Saints and Other Heroes

10. Francisans of St. Anthony Guild on www.ewtn.org

11. Opening prayer for Blessed Damien's liturgy ( http://www.usccb.org/)
12. Archdiocese of Los Angeles Mission web-site

2007-04-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

APRIL: REVERENCE FOR GOD

Saint for April:
St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

1347-1380
Feast Day, April 29
Patron of Nursing Service, Women Involved in Catholic Action, and Fire Prevention

Reverence for God filled Catherine’s short life of 33 years. She was 6 when she first experienced a vision of Our Lord seated in glory with St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John. At 16 she became a Dominican Tertiary, and she lived a humble life in her family home. Her extraordinary love of God and work as a Tertiary in hospitals motivated her to tend to the dying and the sufferers of plague, as well as to visit those condemned to execution. Our Lord blessed her with abundant graces and revelations. She reconciled enemy factions, wrote to all the rulers in Europe, persuaded the Holy Father to return to Rome from “captivity” in Avignon, France, and worked to end the Great Western Schism. She received the Stigmata in 1375; it was visible only after her death. Although she had no formal education and did not write, she was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970. Catherine was one of the most gifted literary persons of her day and had one of the most brilliant theological minds in the Church. She dictated all of her works, including 400 letters to Popes, rulers, family, acquaintances, and strangers. Her most mystical work “The Dialogue” was dictated under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Together they form the body of her spiritual doctrine which expresses immense reverence for God. (2)

LETTER FROM ST. CATHERINE

TO THE KING OF FRANCE
Catherine's letters to great personages whom she did not know are, as would be expected, less searching and fresh than the many written with a more personal inspiration, but they afford at least an interesting testimony to the breadth of her interests. This letter to Charles V. was evidently written during her stay at Avignon, where she formed relations with the Duke of Anjou, and received his promise to lead in the prospective Crusade. Avignon was a centre of intellectual life and of European politics, and Catherine must have been quickened there to think more than ever before in large terms and on great issues. To think of a matter is always, for her, to feel a sense of responsibility toward it; she writes, accordingly, to Charles V., urging him to make peace with his brother monarch: "For so," says the maid of Siena serenely to the great King--"So you will fulfill the will of God and me."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary:
Dearest lord and father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood: with desire to see you observe the holy and sweet commands of God, since I consider that in no other way can we share the fruit of the Blood of the Spotless Lamb. Sweet Jesus, the Lamb, has taught us the Way: and thus He said: "Ego sum Via, Veritas et Vita." He is the sweet Master who has taught us the doctrine, ascending the pulpit of the most holy Cross. Venerable father, what doctrine and what way does He give us? His way is this: pains, shames, insults, injuries, and abuse; endurance in true patience, hunger and thirst; He was satiate with shame, nailed and held upon the Cross for the honour of the Father and our salvation. With His pains and shame He gave satisfaction for our guilt, and the reproach in which man had fallen through the sin committed. He has made restitution, and has punished our sins on His own Body, and this He has done of love alone and not for debt.
This sweet Lamb, our Way, has despised the world, with all its luxuries and dignity, and has hated vice and loved virtue. Do you, as son and faithful servant of Christ crucified, follow His footsteps and the way which He teaches you: bear in true patience all pain, torment, and tribulation which God permits the world to inflict on you. For patience is not overcome, but overcomes the world. Be, ah! be a lover of virtue, founded in true and holy justice, and despise vice. I beg you, by love of Christ crucified, to do in your state three especial things. The first is, to despise the world and yourself and all its joys, possessing your kingdom as a thing lent to you, and not your own. For well you know that nor life nor health nor riches nor honour nor dignity nor lordship is your own. Were they yours, you could possess them in your own way. But in such an hour a man wishes to be well, he is ill; or living, and he is dead; or rich, and he is poor; or a lord, and he is made a servant and vassal. All this is because these things are not his own, and he can only hold them in so far as may please Him who has lent them to him. Very simple-minded, then, is the man who holds the things of another as his own. He is really a thief, and worthy of death. Therefore I beg you that, as The Wise, you should act like a good steward, made His steward by God; possessing all things as merely lent to you. (3)

PRAYERS FOR THE MONTH

ST. CATHERINE’S TRINITARIAN PRAYERS

Love of Jesus, Fill us. Holy Spirit, Guide us. Will of the Father, Be done.

Power of the eternal Father, help me! Wisdom of the Son, enlighten the eye of my understanding! Tender mercy of the Holy Spirit, enflame my heart and unite it to yourself!
(Prayers, 48)

(And in a longer variation) You, Godhead, one in being and three in Persons, are one vine with three branches if I may be permitted to make such a comparison. You made us in your image and likeness so that, with our three powers in one soul, we might image your trinity and your unity. And as we image so we may find union: through our memory, image and be united with the Father, to whom is attributed power, through our understanding, image and be united with the Son, to whom is attributed wisdom; through our will, image and be united with the Holy Spirit, to whom is attributed mercy, and who is the love of the Father and the Son. (Prayers, 42) (4)

ENDNOTES
1. Examination of Conscience for Adults by Rev. Donald F. Miller, C.SS.R.
2. www.ewtn.com/library/MAVR/CATSIENA/htm
3. www.domcentral.org/trad/cathletters.htm
4. www.spiritualitytoday.org