Fruitful ministry of a Franciscan begger

Posted on May 11, 2012 by catherine

Today, 11 May 2012, is the feast day of St Ignatius of Laconi, an 18th century Capuchin Franciscan friar who lived in Sardinia. Due to a difficult pregnancy while he was still in the womb his mother dedicated him to St Francis of Assisi. Eventually this little one entered the Capuchins and edified everyone with his humble holiness.

St Ignatius of Laconi was born in 1701 as Vincent Peis into a loving, faithful but very poor family. Growing up, Vincent never enjoyed good health and these times of solitude and sickness led him deeper and deeper into prayer. During a serious bout of illness Vincent promised God that he would become a Franciscan if he was healed. Healed he was, but his father depended upon his labour to keep food on the family’s table, so Vincent wasn’t permitted to leave. Later on, Vincent recalled the promise he had made to God when he was spared from death after a horse bolted, and delayed no longer. Some convincing was needed to get Vincent – now aged 20 – accepted into the Capuchins because of his frail health.

The friary at Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, received him, and when the time came for him to receive a name in Religion, they gave him the name Ignatius. Without much education, Ignatius became a lay brother of the Order, and set out to keep the Rule as perfectly as possible. Those who worked with him in the various menial tasks of the friary soon came to appreciate the holiness growing and glowing within him. For many of these early years of religious life Ingatius worked in the weaving shed, one of those places which appreciates order, patience and attendtion to detail.

In 1741, now aged around 40, Ignatius began the ministry for which he is now famous. Whenever a Franciscan friary could not support itself from its own labour, they would send out members to seek alms from the locals. Ignatius now became one of these questors. With his Rosary beads in one hand and his eyes downcast, Ignatius would walk the local streets and docks questing for alms. As he did his rounds Ignatius loved to speak to the people he came in contact with about God, about Our Lady and about the Passion of Jesus.

When poor children came up to him, he welcomed them warmly, shared some bread with them and helped them to learn the catechism. Sometimes he was insulted on his way, but this did not disturb him because he knew his faults. Because his heart was so close to God’s, Ignatius had a kindly knack of consoling people, giving advice, converting sinners and helpng people reconcile their differences. Ingatius proved to be a good listener, so people readily confided their troubles to him. He encouraged them to trust in God and then he spent long hours of prayer in the chapel praying for all those he had encountered. In time people began to notice that after they had been with brother Ignatius that their troubles eased. Around 121 pages of miracles are attributed to him during his lifetime and 86 miracles after his death.

Ignatius lived with his eyes and heart fixed on the goal of Heaven, and gave good example to others through his obedience to the Rule and to the superiors, his mortification (he knew how to make sacrifices within the Rule for the conversion of sinners), his love for poverty and his thirst for prayer. One of the hardest things he had to do under obedience was to go to a wealthy man (whom he had previously avoided) and to seek alms from him. Ignatius knew that this money resulted from the man’s oppression of the poor. When he arrived back at the friary God permitted that instead of coins, blood flowed out of the begging sack because it was money obtained through the blood and tears of the poor. Now that the friars realised why Ignatius ignored that place, they joined together to pray for the wealthy man’s conversion.

Even when his eyesight began to fail, and when he went blind, Ingatius continued upon his rounds – only now with greater confidence in Gods care and providence. Following two years of blindness and a short final agony, Ignatius passed into his eternal reward on 11 May 1781, aged around 80.

The virtues of St Ignatius of Laconi still speak strongly to us today, and encourage us to make the most of the interactions with people that come our way, so that those we encounter might leave us closer to God than when re arrived.

St Ignatius of Laconi, pray for us.

Spiritual guide to extraordinary Saints

Posted on May 10, 2012 by catherine

Today, 10 May 2012, is the feast day of St John of Avila, a 16th century Spanish priest who was instrumental in the lives of St Teresa of Avila, St Ignatius Loyola, St Francis Borgia, St Peter of Alcantara and St John of God, to name a few. Since August 2011 the Church has been eagerly awaiting the proclamation by Pope Benedict XVI of St John of Avila as the 34th Doctor of the Church, but a date has yet to be set.

Over the years I have often wanted to learn more about St John of Avila, but have never done anything about it. So today I am going to have a look at some excerpts from his book ‘Audi, Filia – Listen, O Daughter’ and from his Letters, in order to gain a greater appreciation for this Saint who guided so many to holiness.

The first excerpt, comes from Chapter 26 of ‘Audi, Filia’, and is of immense consolation to those who don’t experience much in prayer and who find the lyric beauty of St Therese of Lisieux’s prayers wonderful but well beyond their ability to emulate:

“If you are lacking tenderness in devotion, do not be troubled, for our service is measured only by love. Love does not consist in tender devotion but in a free offering and intention of the will to do what God and His Church want us to do, and to suffer what He wills that we suffer, in order to please Him. If those who seem to have left what they have in the world to serve God were also to leave the disordered desire for sweet feelings in the soul, they would live more happily than they do. The devil would not find certain hairs of appetites by which to take hold of their heads and turn them about, thereby harming and even deceiving them. Jesus Christ died naked on the Cross; naked, we have to offer ourselves to Him. Our only clothing is to be doing His holy will according to the commandments of God and of His Church, receiving with loving obedience whatever He wills to send us, no matter how hard. Likewise, we are to receive from His hand temptation and consolation and to give Him thanks for the one and the other.”

The second excerpt also comes from ‘Audi, Filia’, but from Chapter 76, and is a reminder that our purpose is to grow in charity, and that prayer should help us to this end and not not be seen as an end in itself:

“So that you may profit from the exercise of prayer, I must tell you that the end of meditation on the Passion must be to imitate it and to fulfill the law of the Lord. I say this because some take much account of the hours spent in prayer and the sense of sweetness in it, but not of the benefit they derive from it. They think wrongly that one who experiences greater sweetness and spends more hours in prayer is the greater saint. But, in reality, the greatest is the one who, with profound contempt for himself, has the greatest charity. The perfection of the Christian life and the fulfillment of the whole law consist in this. Whoever lives well and prays well has to do it with this end and not content himself with having spent well a period of time in confessing or receiving communion or devout prayer or similar things.”

This third excerpt comes from Letter IV which contains advice to a priest who asked how to prepare well for Holy Mass. This advice is useful for laity as well. :

“…it would be best for you to practice yourself in considerations proper to excite in you fervent love and reverence. For this purpose , I know of nothing better than to meditate on the fact that our Lord, with Whom we are to treat, is both God and man, and to think over the reasons for which He comes down upon the altar. Surely such a stroke of love should be enough to awaken anyone from the slumber of indifference. Let such a one reflect upon this Mystery and say to himself : ‘It is God Almighty Who will come down upon the altar at the words of Consecration: I shall hold in my hands, and converse with Him, and receive Him into my breast.” If only we remember this, and if, by the help of God’s Holy Spirit, it penetrate our soul, it will suffice, and more than suffice, to enable us, frail mortals as we are, to perform this sacred duty as we ought.”

Our final excerpt comes from Letter VIII, which was St John of Avila’s response to a person who asked him how best to prepare for death – Advice which is still salutory whatever our age:

“This preparation (for death) consists not only in setting ourselves free from both debts and mortal sin, but in doing penance for our past faults, so that when our good and evil deeds are put into the balance of Justice, with the Divine Mercy added to the right side of the scale, our attachment to God’s service may weigh as much as our former attachment to the world. We ought to give alms, to be charitable, devout, patient and humble, in order to compensate for our former defects in these virtues. Busy like a honey-making bee, with a holy fervour, we should seek to get nearer and nearer to God ; for at our time of life the hour approaches when we shall appear before Him. How shall we answer our Sovereign Judge, if we have spent carelessly those later years He has most mercifully given us, in which to amend the past and prepare ourselves for Heaven?”

If you would like to read more from these wonderful letters of St John of Avila, some of which deal with vocations, grief, illness and other questions, go to www.archive.org/stream/lettersofblessed00davirich#page/n9/mode/2up

I’m sure that the more we read of St John of Avila, the greater will be our rejoicing when the Pope proclaims him a Doctor of the Church, and the more our souls will benefit.

St John of Avila, pray for us.

What God can do with a holy diplomat…

Posted on May 9, 2012 by catherine

Today, 9 May 2012, is the anniversary of the translation of the relics of Blessed Nicholas Albergati (a.k.a. Blessed Niccolo Albergati). During the 15th century he led an amazing life of law student, Carthusian monk, Bishop, Cardinal and Papal diplomat. God used each and every one of his gifts and talents to further the kingdom of God.

Even though most of us outside Europe have rarely heard of Blessed Nicholas Albergati, he has been highly honoured. On the facade of the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome among the statues of saintly Popes there is a statue of Blessed Nicholas Albergati as well as one of St Charles Borromeo. Not long after his death, Blessed Nicholas appeared to his assistant – one Tommaso da Sarzano – and told him that he would soon serve as Pope. Obviously Tommaso had enormous regard for Blessed Nicholas because when he was elected Pope in 1447 he chose the name Nicholas V. Another one of his secretaries, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, became Pope Pius II.

Blessed Nicholas Albergati was born around 1373 in Bologna, Italy. At the age of 20 when he had recently completed a law degree at Bologna University and on the point of beginning a brilliant legal career Nicholas paid a visit to the Carthusian charterhouse in Bologna. The visit was intended to be a short one, but while he was there a storm hit which made travel impossible. To pass the time Nicholas went to the chapel and experienced the monks praying the Divine Office. In those moments he heard the call of God to become a Carthusian monk and responded to it wholeheartedly.

The next few years passed gently full of silence and prayer in the Carthusian charterhouse while Nicholas prepared to become a full member of the order and to be ordained a priest. When the time came to elect a new Prior his fellow monks found the choice of Nicholas very easy to make, even though he was still in his early thirties. This role enabled him to play a part in reuniting the Order which had split during the Schism in the Church of 1378-1417.

Someone must have noticed how well those delicate negotiations went, because that same year he was chosen to become the next bishop of Bologna. Can you imagine how daunting it was for him to leave, under obedience, this haven of prayer, silence and intercession and to enter into the busy, noisy and highly political life of a bishop? Nevertheless Nicholas made an excellent bishop. As far as possible he kept up the Carthusian habits of penance and fasting and remained in his Carthusian habit. Nicholas chose to live in a very simple dwelling rather than a grand one, and to make a point of visiting the people of his diocese, particularly the poor. Under his episcopal leadership many reforms were begun, especially in the areas of education and meeting the needs of the poor. Patronage of scholars and writers was another area he generously gave his time to.

These years were rather turbulent ones for the Church. So when Bologna rebelled against the papacy, Nicholas went in exile to Florence until such time as the people repented and welcomed him back. People outside Bologna soon recognized Nicholas’ special talents for diplomacy and he was sent on important missions to Florence, Venice, Milan and France. By 1426 he had been appointed Cardinal. As his reputation for peace making grew Nicholas became involved in mediating between popes and monarchs, and was appointed as papal legate to the Council of Basel-Ferara-Florence. For a short time his efforts brought about a reunion of the Greek Church with the Latin Church.

As he aged, it was Nicholas’ dearest wish to return to the life of a Carthusian monk. That was not to be. The need for holy and effective diplomats never fades, and it was on a papal diplomatic mission that he died in Siena in 1443. How many lives were saved due to his diplomatic efforts we will only know in heaven. Nicholas had an enormous ‘behind the scenes’ influence for good. May the good Lord grant that his cause for canonisation may soon be taken up again with gusto and brought to a happy conclusion.

Blessed Nicholas Abergati, pray for us.

Blessed Nicholas Abergati, please pray, too, for all scholars and diplomats.

Make of everything you can a sacrifice

Posted on May 8, 2012 by catherine

Sacrifice isn’t a word that gets used much these days, and yet it was a key element in the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Reading ‘Fatima in Lucia’s own words’, edited by Fr Louis Kondor SVD, published in 1976, I am struck by how diligently the three children put the request of Our Lady, ‘Make of everything you can a sacrifice’, into practice. We might often pray for the conversion of a soul, but how often to we take the example of Blessed Jacinta and her companions to heart and add sacrifices to those prayers?

Of course, sacrifice is never easy. Perhaps that is why we shy away from it so much. The heroism of the sacrifices that Blessed Jacinta offered up at the tender age of 7 or 8 leaves me in awe. Here is a short excerpt:

“When some time later, we were put in prison, what made Jacinta suffer most, was to feel that their parents had abandoned them. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she would say: ‘neither your parents nor mine have come to see us. They don’t bother about us any more!’ ‘Don’t cry,’ said Francisco, ‘we can offer this to Jesus for sinners’. Then, raising his eyes and hands to heaven, he made the offering: ‘O my Jesus, this is for love of You, and for the conversion of sinners.’ Jacinta added: ‘And also for the Holy Father, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Some time later Jacinta was again crying, and Lucia asked her why. ‘Because we are going to die,’ she replied, ‘without ever seeing our parents again, not even our mothers!’ With tears running down her cheeks, she added: ‘I would like at least to see my mother.’ ‘Don’t you want, then, to offer this sacrifice for the conversion of sinners?’ ‘I do want to, I do!’ With her face bathed in tears, she joined her hands, raised her eyes to heaven and made her offering.”

Many of us tend to equate sacrifice with self denial, and the three children of Fatima certainly did that by often giving up their lunch in favour of poor children they met on their way out to shepherd their families’ sheep. Such acts fall under the heading of things we choose to do to show our love for God. Looking at what happened in the prison scenes, we can see that sacrifice also means accepting with love our disappointments and the death of our cherished dreams. Such acts fall under the heading of things that God chooses for us to show our love for Him. This other aspect of sacrifice is something we have largely forgotten the value of.

Whereas we tend to pray first and, once in a blue moon, tack on a sacrifice when praying for the conversion of a loved one, Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia sought sacrifices first and prayer second. Through Our Lady and by experience these children learned that to obtain a conversion sacrifices are essential. They were also willing to pray and sacrfice for long periods of time so as to obtain from God the graces desired for souls. What fueled their zeal was the thought that the horrors and tortures of hell go on and on for ever, never ever finishing, and so in compassion for sinners they were willing to sacrrifice and pray until they saw genuine change in the lives for which they offered those sacrifices and prayers.

In her ‘Story of a Soul’, St Therese of Lisieux also talks about this second kind of sacrifice:

“Another time I was working in the laundry, and the Sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water. My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance. On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to this novel kind of aspersion, and I resolved to come as often as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed.”

St Therese obviously saw these kinds of sacrifices as the legal tender of the Kingdom of God, and exceedingly valuable in the exchange rate for the conversion of souls.

These truths we tend to hear and then act on for a short while, before forgetting them again. Therefore we need to be reminded of them on a regular basis, lest we forget them completely and so forfeit such treasures for souls. Reading details about the lives of the Saints often provides the reminders we need, as does reflecting upon the messages of Our Lady of Fatima.

May Blessed Jacinta Marto, Blessed Francisco Marto, Sr Lucia of Fatima and St Thererse of Lisieux pray for us and help us to gather the graces of sacrifices frequently and regularly.

Welcoming penitents with the Heart and smile of Jesus

Posted on May 7, 2012 by catherine

Today, 7 May 2012, is the first feast day of Blessed Francesco Paleari, an Italian priest of the Society of Priests of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo. He was beatified last year on 17 September 2011 by Pope Benedixt XVI. Of all the good he accomplished with God’s grace throughout his lifetime, his ministry in the confessional was the greatest.

It is most timely to reflect upon the holy life of Blessed Francesco in the light of Pope Benedict’s special audience with clergy in Rome a few weeks ago on the 9th of March. He said, ‘The New Evangelisation…begins in the confessional.’…’Dear priests and dear deacons who are preparing for the priesthood, in the administration of this sacrament you are given, or you will be given, the possibility of being instruments of an ever renewed meeting of people with God. All who turn to you, precisely because of their condition as sinners, will experience within them a profound desire: the desire for change, the desire for mercy and, ultimately, the desire for the encounter with Christ and for Him to embrace them once again. You will therefore be collaborators and protagonists of a great many possible “new beginnings”, as many as the penitents who come to you.’

So let’s see how God worked through Blessed Francesco… He was born at Pogliano Milanese, near Milan in Italy in 1863 into a family poor in temporal things but profoundly rich in spiritual things. Each Sunday when the family went to worship God at Mass, they would live out their gratitude for Holy Communion by inviting a poor person to lunch with them afterwards. With example like this it is not surprising that Francesco developed not only a priestly vocation but also a vocation of service to the poor. The religious order founded by St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was a perfect fit for him, since they ministered to the poorest of the poor.

Early in his seminary days he had a major struggle with homesickness, but the grace of God overcame that. Despite being short in height and slim in build, Francesco’s heart is big with love. Following his ordination to the priesthood, Francesco began his 53 years of ministry within the Order. Very quickly, Francesco became known as the priest who smiles. Children were the first to sense that he had a very special gift in the confessional. Gradually adults of all ranks learned to seek him out in the Tribunal of Penance and to obtain God’s consolation there. How much easier it is to confess one’s sins if you receive a genuinely warm and gentle welcome from your confessor! As with all Saints, prayer was as important as breathing to him. Joined to this was his ardent love for Jesus in the Eucharist and his deep devotion to Our Lady.

Francesco ministered to the sick, poor, disabled and children with learning difficulties under his care with tenderness and with infinite patience. As more people became aware of the holiness of his life, Francesco was called to take on increasing responsibilities as spiritual director of the local seminary, preacher and confessor to communities of nuns, seminary teacher, and roles of service within the diocese. There are, of course, many who desired someone less peasant-like in these roles, and were rather vocal about it. Francesco wasn’t bothered by this, and kept giving of himself to souls in need in imitation of his divine Master. Despite so many tasks before him, Francesco remained full of the peace that passes human understanding and entrusted himself completely into God’s capable hands. Of all things, what Francesco wanted was a share in God’s wisdom, to have God’s eternal perspective on the value of all things. To this end, his constant prayer was, ‘Lord, teach me to be smart.’

In 1936, three years before his death, the good Lord sent him the most difficult trial for a seeker of souls – a period of inactivity due to heart trouble. This was indeed a martyrdom of the heart for Francesco, yet he increased his trust in the Lord and reminded himself that he was like a ball in the hand of God. The stronger the force with which it hits the ground, the stringer it bounces up again.

Death came via several days of agony on 7 May 1939. As soon as word reached students, priests, bishops, poor people, businessmen etc of his death, they came out in droves to his funeral, eager to honour this priest through whom they had received the mercy, kindness and direction of Jesus. Many had experienced this smiling priest reading their souls, imparting the healing of Jesus and giving them inspired advice for future decisions within the confessional.

May the good Lord grant that we may soon learn more about this priest who welcomed all comers with the warmth, love and welcome of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. May He grant that we may soon share the joy of the news of his canonisation.

Blessed Francesco Paleari, pray for us.

When God calls…

Posted on May 6, 2012 by catherine

Today, 6 May 2012, is the memorial of Blessed Bartholomew of Montepulciano, a man who ended his days as a Italian Franciscan friar and priest in the 14th century. How this came to be is the interesting question, because prior to answering this particular call of God’s he was married and living a comfortable life.

Blessed Bartholomew of Montepulciano started out life as Bartholomew Pucci-Franceschi. Even when and where he was born has not been preserved by history. What we do know is that prior to the major spiritual change in his life Bartholomew was married for many years, had a wife and children, and was a wealthy man.

It is easy to forget that the good God has quite a history of asking married people to follow Him in religious life. Several of the Apostles were married. Some of the male relatives of St Bernard of Clairvaux who followed him to the monastic life were married. A good number of the holy founders of the Servite Order were married. St Nicholas of Flue was married before God called him into a hermit-like life. Obviously a similar call must have been placed on Bartholomew’s life, and he answered it with all his heart after his wife gave permission and herself took a vow of chastity. The promise of Jesus definitely includes married people: ‘I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life.’ (Luke 18:29-30)

We don’t know the actual catalyst for this major change in direction in Bartholomew’s life. For some people that catalyst is serious illness or a near death experience. For others the grace of conversion comes with the grace to live in reparation for the major sins in the past. It would not be uncommon for someone who had badly given into lust, pride and greed to desire to live in reparative chastity, humility and poverty. For a third group their lives had been steadily growing in holiness and this call was a natural next step. For yet a fourth group perhaps this was a chance to follow a vocational call that they had rejected in their earlier days. Others may have been going long their merry way when God sent them a heavenly visitation ( a la St Paul at Damascus, St Mary of Egypt or St Gabriel Possenti) What ever the reason was for Bartholomew, the catalyst was in an abundant outpouring of grace.

We do know that Bartholomew fully embraced the Franciscan spirituality of poverty and humility. He was unafraid to be treated as a fool for the sake of Jesus. Imagining how people and children would have treated a once wealthy man who was now going about in the poor habit of a Franciscan, ridicule and taunts must have been commonplace. We are also told that sometimes Bartholomew experienced visions of Our Lady and of the angels. Franciscans have a particular charism of devotion towards Our Lady (the sheer number of defenders of her Immaculate Conception point to this) and to the angels (the Portincula Indulgence underlines this). Certainly he lived out his Franciscan vocation in a manner that would have made St Francis of Assisi proud.

Bartholmew’s life teaches us another lesson, and one which a great many people need to hear. When God’s call came it asked him to leave his wife. That sacrifice was the way Bartholmew was able to show God how much he loved Him and how much His rule was No.1 in his life. Married clergy, which so many people have the unexamined idea is a good thing, is not in His perfect plan for the Church. Married clergy don’t make that visible statement of love, sacrifice and God’s supremacy in their lives.

Let’s examine the largely unexamined idea. Our Protestant brothers and sisters have used this model, and even they know it doesn’t work. The unhappiest woman in a parish is the pastor’s wife? Why? Because the pastor can never put her first in his life. Even if she is up to her ears in sick children and frail parents, as soon as someone tells the pastor about a dying parishioner, he has to go. To not become bitter, she would have to be a saint. Did you know that Protestant’s have coined a term, PKs, (Pastor’s kids), because it is so well recognised that most of the children of a pastor go through a big rebellious phase because Dad never had enough time for them, he was never there when they needed him, because they always had to share him with the parish? Married clergy is a bad idea for all concerned, for the man himself – split in two directions, for his wife and family, for the parish itself – because they don’t have total access to him in their needs, and many feel guilty about seeking his guidance. The Catholic Church has been around for many centuries more than the Protestant Churches, so you can trust that She has been there, done that, and knows through vast experience what is actually best for priest and parish.

Examining the life of Blessed Bartholomew of Montepulciano raises the question for each of us: if God called me to the religious life, would I be able to follow; if He called my spouse, would I be able to surrender my spouse to Him? What ever the Lord is asking of us at the present time, may Blessed Bartholomew pray that we be enabled to respond as whole-heartedly as he did.

Blessed Bartholomew Pucci-Franceschi of Montepulciano, pray for us.

A life hidden in God, yet luminous

Posted on May 5, 2012 by catherine

Today, 5 May 2012, is the memorial of St Echa (or Etha) of Crayke, which is in the North Riding area of Yorkshire, England. Since St Echa lived in the eighth century, dying in the year 767, most details about his holy life have been lost, but the important ones have survived almost 1250 years.

Most of what we know about St Echa is contained in a poem written by Alcuin in Latin about the Bishops and Saints of York. Putting it into verse would have made it easier for people to learn and retell to others. The translated segment about St Echa goes like this…

“Then flourished Echa, venerable man, A holy anchorite in wilderness; A secret life he sought, and in chaste zeal Fled from all earthly honours, that, with God His King, be might find honours at heaven’s court; Devoutly led on earth an angel’s life, And seem’d as if with prophetic pow’r inspired.”

Other gleanings say that he was ordained a priest, and spent most of his life as a hermit. Whether he was attached to a monastic community at Crayke, or whether he only settled with the monks at Crayke when his health deteriorated, is not known.

For certain, St Echa must have been under a powerful call from God to live a life similar to those of the Desert Fathers, and similar to those of St Cuthbert and other early hermits of Lindisfarne. From time to time God continues to call people to this ‘vocation within a vocation’. Normally it is felt by those who have already consecrated their lives to Him in religious life. Sometimes that call to ‘come away and be with Me alone’ is of a short duration for a special intercessory or ‘preparation for ministry’ purpose, and sometimes it is a call to enter into that state of spiritual warrior permanently. St Charbel would be a good modern example of a contemporary hermit. Most long established religious orders have remote places or separate dwellings for those who wish to respond to that particular call of God.

How St Echa’s prophetic gifts were exercised we no longer know, but it would have taken St Echa courage to respond to them and a degree of engagement with society. Perhaps people sought him out and God gave him a gift similar to St Padre Pio’s of reading souls and giving specific guidance to individuals for their future. Perhaps God directed him to seek out others so as to transmit God’s message person to person.

We can look forward to finding out more about St Echa in heaven, yet in the meantime if you are needing specific guidance from God about a choice you need to make (eg which job offer to take, which subjects to choose, which aged care facility to choose) why not seek St Echa’s intercession?

Dear God, thank you for raising up this holy man, St Echa, to dedicate his entire life solely to you. Thank you for the 1245 years of eternity that he has already experienced in your presence, and for all the prayers you have answered in response to his intercession over those years. May St Echa’s prayers bring us all closer to You.

St Echa of Crayke, pray for us

Champion of infant baptism

Posted on May 4, 2012 by catherine

Today, 4 May 2012, is the feast day of Blessed Jean-Martin Moye (a.k.a. Blessed John Martin Moye). Even though he died at the age of 63, he crammed into that span of life many years of fruitful priestly life. As a French diocesan priest he founded a religious order of nuns whose purpose was to educate youngsters. Next he served as a missionary in China, before returning to France to complete his days.

Blessed Jean-Martin Moye was born in 1730 at a place called Cutting in the Moselle region of France, near the border with Germany. His parents were not wealthy, and raised 13 sons. From such origins Jean-Martin must have had special aptitude for learning and for the things of God for him to have entered the seminary after studying with the Jesuits. It must have helped to have had an older brother, a seminarian, to learn from. By 1754 he was ordained a priest, and filled with zeal for spreading the Gospel.

As a curate he was sent to various parishes of Metz, and noticed two things: the need for apologetic work among the Protestants and in rural areas the need for Catholic schools. The former Jean-Martin dealt with by writing treatises. The latter Jean-Martin dealt with by founding a religious order of women, the Sisters of Divine Providence. Since one thing Jean-Martin was convinced about was the baptism of newly born infants, this brought him into conflict with Protestants who by and large were against the baptism of new born infants.

To let the controversy die down, 1771 saw Jean-Martin set sail for China as a missionary priest as part of the Paris Foreign Missions, although China wasn’t his first choice of destination. It wasn’t easy learning the new language, customs,and way of life of the area of Chrina entrusted to him. Zealously he worked, and in many respects succeeded. European type schools would not work in a political climate where spreading the Gospel could often get you arrested, so Jean-Martin gathered unmarried women and formed them into the Institute of Christian Virgins. Then these women could go easily into the homes of families and give care to the sick and catechectical instruction to women and children without arousing suspicion. At one point the Institute had several thousand members.

The fire in Jean-Martin’s heart for bringing the very young to baptism had not died out. Again and again he would encourage and promote infant baptism. Not everyone appreciated his methods, so this opposition together with his broken health led to Jean-Martin’s return in 1784 to France and to the Sisters of Divine Providence.

Once back in France, it wasn’t long before the first rumblings of the French Revolution began. In this situation Jean-Martin’s experiences in China in how to keep priestly ministry available to the faithful in times of repression would have been extremely valuable. Using these experiences he was able to give advice and counsel to priests and laity. Being no fool, Jean-Martin could see the writing on the wall, so he took the painful yet necessary step of moving the Sisters of Divine Providence into exile in Trier, Germany. This measure worked for a little while before the French army came along in 1792 and disbanded everything.

It must have been a bitter blow to see this happen. Jean-Martin continued to preach and to minister to the sick. While conducting this ministry to the sick he contracted typhoid fever, which led to his death on 4 May 1793. When the French Revolution died down, the Sisters of Divine Providence regrouped in 1816 and flourished. In 1954, Jean-Martin was proclaimed Blessed by Pope Pius XII.

Blessed Jean-Martin Moye has been active in heaven on behalf of souls. In 1901 a member of the Sisters of Divine Providence, St Clarence Pochet, who was suffering a form of paralysis, fervently joined in the novena held in preparation for the anniversary of Jean-Martin’s death. Late on the vigil of this day, the Sister was free of pain and able to walk again. In 1923 a 7 year old boy, Ennio, came down with an inflamation of the brain. The Sisters began a novena seeking Jean-Martin’s intercession, before the novena finished the youngster who was so close to death was returned to full health.

The majority of quotations we have from Blessed Jean-Martin Moye relate to his utter confidence in Divine Providence. Here are a few…

“God‘s Providence governs all things, provides for everything, arranges everything, and turns everything to good.”

“Remember what Jesus Christ said to St Paul , ‘My grace is enough for you.’”

“Always remember that one of your fundamental virtues is poverty. Love it therefore as your inestimable treasure… Practice it in yourclothing, in your furniture, in your food…in a word, everything… Know how to go without everything, whenever necessity, the needs of the neighbour, and circumstances require it.” (Advice to the Sisters)

“Abandonment to Providence is the virtue that earns you your name. To practice it, remain without preference and without attachment, casting all your cares on the bosom of God.” (Advice to the Sisters)

“Providence never forsakes those who confidently abandon themselves to it. Rely on it alone. Just cast your cares upon the Lord, and He will support you.”

“Remember that to confide oneself in Providence when one has everything in abundance is not a very heroic act. But when one lacks everything and does not know where to turn, then one must confide in Providence and hope against all hope.”

How much we need to be reminded of these truths, particularly when the going is tough!

May the good Lord grant that more information will become available about Blessed Jean-Martin Moye online and that the process towards his canonization may be hastened.

Blessed Jean-Martin Moye, pray for us.

to be completed later on today…

May is Mary’s month

Posted on May 3, 2012 by catherine

Traditionally May has been the month dedicated to renewing and intensifying our relationship with the Mother of Jesus. At any time of the year doing this is a good idea because one of the things that the Saints all have in common is deep, sincere and abiding devotion to Our Lady. So the question is how to develop a relationship with Mary, – and if you already have one – how to deepen it.

Before I get to those questions, I’ll mention my own plans. What I’m doing to celebrate this special month of May is reading aloud to my son a couple of pages each night from the book, ‘Fatima in Lucia’s own words’, edited by Fr Louis Kondor SVD. My copy was published in 1976 and most probably came into my hands from one of the many holy people I have met in parish life who are now in eternity. Choosing this particular book wasn’t hard because I wanted something that would show Our Lady in an active relationship with the three children of Fatima. Already, since reading aloud slows down the reading process and enriches the story because the mind has a chance to let mental images of the story emerge, I have been taken by the words to events that I don’t recall reading before. Later in the month when a rather long novena finishes we’ll swap the Litany of St Joseph for the Litany of Our Lady and St Joseph and start the Chaplet of the Flame of Love of Immaculate Heart of Mary (there will be more information about this later).

A relationship with Our Lady tends to start during times of crisis. When an urgent need for prayer comes up we turn naturally to those who can assist us the most, and this frequently needs to dusting off the rosary beads and praying with them. As soon as you have experienced the power and love of Our Lady’s intercession a person can’t help but wish to know her better and seek to please her. Many, many times this heavenly Mother has responded to my pleas, has obtained answers from God, and has been a companion through some very dark moments, so any chance to honour her is a pleasant one. So step 1 is seeking Mary’s intercession when trouble strikes. She is trustworthy.

The next necessary thing is to read about her. St Alphonsus Ligouri and St Louis de Monfort have written wonderful books about her, as have many other Saints. Hearing about recent actions of Our Lady also helps. I find the quarterly magazine ‘Ave Maria’ from PO Box 118, Midland, Western Australia 6936, Australia to be something that reawakens my trust on a regular basis. ($15 AUS per year for locals, $20 AUS per year for international subscriptions. In the current April 2012 issue there is a story about how the lives of two parents were saved at the time of the French Revolution because the daughter prayed the rosary and never gave up; a story about the fruits of a visit to Lourdes; and a story about how God answered a mother’s prayers or the salvation of her son. The more we know her the more we will love her.

The last step is to enter into relationship by praying with Our Lady, as well as to her. The holy Rosary is a privileged means, by which we can ponder the life of Jesus through Mary’s eyes. Delve into some of the other prayers that Christians have treasured over the centuries; the Magnificat, the Memorare, the Hail Holy Queen, the Rosary of Tears, the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, the Litany of Our Lady, and learn from them how to love her and seek her aid. Prayer is how we connect with her and take on her mind and her values.

And what did Our Lady ask for in May, via Fr Stefano Gobbi in 1988 (message 381)? For prayer, for trust and for love. Which is a good and easy recipe to follow.

Attatched to the Flame of Love Chaplet, mentioned above, is a special promise, ‘While this chaplet is prayed ‘no dying soul in that neighbourood will be damned.’

At the beginning make the Sign of the Cross five times in veneration of Our Saviour’s Five Holy Wounds. On the large beads of the Rosary…Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us who seek refuge in you! On the small beads…Holy Mother save us, through your Immaculate Heart’s Flame of Love! At the end, three times Glory Be…

Any small effort we make on Our Lady’s behalf is received with gratitude. Like God, she cannot be outdone in generous rewards for all those who help her bring souls back to God.

May all of us receive a deeper and truer love for the holy Mother of Jesus during the month of May.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

google72769705261b455b