Monthly Archives: August 2012

Transformed by Grace

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Today, 28 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Augustine of Hippo, well-known convert, bishop and doctor of the Church. Following the success of the prayers of his mother, St Monica, Augustine went on to become a prolific writer about all kinds of Christian subject matter and the instructions he wrote for the clergy who lived a monastic life with him at Hippo formed the basis of the Rule of St Augustine upon which many religious orders have modelled their own Rules. So important are St Augustine’s 5th century writings that the Church includes them in Her Office of Readings about once a week on average; which is twice as often as other Saintly writers.

St Augustine of Hippo was born in late 354 in North Africa, and was blessed with considerable gifts of intellect and rhetoric. From his late teens until the Grace of God won him over completely in his baptism in Milan at the Easter vigil of 387, Augustine lived a pagan life and found heretical sects more to his taste than the disciplines of Catholicism. Returning to North Africa soon afterwards, he spent the rest of his life there until his death at Hippo on 28 August 430.

Even translated into English the works of St Augustine are a delight to read. His arguments are cogent and help us rediscover the wonder and the power of God. St Teresa of Avila had a special devotion to him. From St Augustine comes the tradition of reciting the 7 penitential Psalms in preparation for death – he arranged for them to be written about the walls. He also had a strictly enforced rule that no one was to say anything negative about anyone. What I didn’t know until recently was how much St Augustine valued humility and how often he wrote about it.  

Now for a few gems from his heart and pen, to whet our appetites for more….

From The Confessions of St Augustine, Book X, Chapter I : ‘Let me know Thee, O Lord, who knowest me: let me know Thee, as I am known. Power of my soul, enter into it, and fit it for Thee, that Thou mayest have and hold it without spot or wrinkle. This is my hope, therefore do I speak; and in this hope do I rejoice, when I rejoice healthfully. Other things of this life are the less to be sorrowed for, the more they are sorrowed for; and the more to be sorrowed for, the less men sorrow for them. For behold, Thou lovest the truth, and he that doth it, cometh to the light. This would I do in my heart before Thee in confession: and in my writing, before many witnesses.’

From St Augustine’s explanation of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 5: Chapter VII, Section 18: ‘ “Let your light,” says He, “so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If He had merely said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,” He would seem to have fixed an end in the praises of men, which hypocrites seek, and those who canvass for honours and covet glory of the emptiest kind. Against such parties it is said, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ;” and, by the prophet, “They who please men are put to shame, because God hath despised them;” and again, “God hath broken the bones of those who please men;” and again the apostle, “Let us not be desirous of vainglory;” and still another time, “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” Hence our Lord has not said merely, “that they may see your good works,” but has added, “and glorify your Father who is in heaven:” so that the mere fact that a man by means of good works pleases men, does not there set it up as an end that he should please men; but let him subordinate this to the praise of God, and for this reason please men, that God may be glorified in him. For this is expedient for them who offer praise, that they should honour, not man, but God; as our Lord showed in the case of the man who was carried, where, on the paralytic being healed, the multitude, marvelling at His powers, as it is written in the Gospel, “feared and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.” And His imitator, the Apostle Paul, says, “But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed; and they glorified God in me.” ‘

From St Augustine’s ‘On Christian Doctrine, in Four Books’, Book 1, Chapter 24, Section 24: ‘No man, then, hates himself. On this point, indeed, no question was ever raised by any sect. But neither does any man hate his own body. For the apostle says truly, “No man ever yet hated his own flesh.” And when some people say that they would rather be without a body altogether, they entirely deceive themselves. For it is not their body, but its corruptions and its heaviness, that they hate. And so it is not no body, but an uncorrupted and very light body, that they want. But they think a body of that kind would be no body at all, because they think such a thing as that must be a spirit. And as to the fact that they seem in some sort to scourge their bodies by abstinence and toil, those who do this in the right spirit do it not that they may get rid of their body, but that they may have it in subjection and ready for every needful work. For they strive by a kind of toilsome exercise of the body itself to root out those lusts that are hurtful to the body, that is, those habits and affections of the soul that lead to the enjoyment of unworthy objects. They are not destroying themselves; they are taking care of their health.’

To read more, go to http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine?show=biography and then choose ‘Works By (13)’.

We thank You, Lord, for Your Grace which transformed St Augustine from a talented yet troubled young man into a powerhouse of holiness and an inspiration for centuries of believers.

Novena to Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine, great Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church, may your life of conversion to the Catholic Faith be an example to both those who have never been a part of the Church, and to those who have fallen away from Christ’s Church. Through your closeness with Our Lord in Heaven, intercede for us and bring to the One True Faith the following people (mention names).
May your conversion centuries ago continue to inspire those who are lost today and with the help of your prayers, may God bring them to a full understanding of the Faith. Most importantly, may your struggle to find Truth, through many sins and failings be an example of the Lord Jesus’ forgiveness and eternal saving Grace. Amen.

Oh Merciful God, hear the prayer of Your servant, St Augustine, and bring the message of salvation to all who seek You in sincerity. Amen.

St Augustine, pray for us.

Our Father, Who art in heaven hallowed be Your Name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. (3 times)

Encouragement to persevere in prayer

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Today, 27 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine of Hippo. On her feast day everyone who has been praying for the conversion of a loved one for a long time – especially one’s menfolk – is encouraged by her example to keep on praying. The life of St Monica reminds us all that God only delays to answer our heartfelt prayers if He is preparing an answer for us beyond our wildest imaginings. For Monica, she wanted Augustine to make His peace with Jesus, follow His teachings and get to Heaven. For God, He wanted Augustine to serve Him as priest, bishop, theologian, Saint and Doctor of the Church. Obtaining the transformation God wanted required years upon years of prayers, tears and sacrifices.

St Monica was born around the year 332 and was raised in a Christian home. Monica was married to Patricius, a pagan citizen of Tagaste, a city in Northern Africa. He is said to have had a bad temper and other vices. By her prayers and example she obtained the grace of baptism for her husband before his death. Monica had other children besides Augustine but we do not know much about them.

Augustine was living a sinful life, cohabiting with his girlfriend and accepting heretical teachings. Monica prayed, wept and did a lot of penance over about 20 years to obtain the conversion of Augustine. When he went to Rome, she followed, when he went to Milan, she followed. Without losing heart she asked others to pray, too, and she asked bishops and priests to speak to her son. When she found out that her son had met St Ambrose, she prayed even harder. 

When Augustine finally accepted Baptism at Easter in 387 she was filled with joy. Augustine recalled ‘You had granted her much more than she had asked for in her tears, prayers, plaints and lamenting.’ On their way home to Africa that same year, Monica had a special vision from God at Ostia before she died. She told him ‘Now I find no joy in anything of this life. All my hopes have been accomplished.’ She was no longer concerned about where she would be buried, only that Augustine would remember her at the altar of God.

Augustine later became a priest and bishop and Doctor of the Church. Writing of his mother, ‘She had a woman’s weak body but a man’s strong faith, the composure appropriate to her years, a mother’s love for her son, and a Christian’s devotion.’ He also wrote, ‘If I am Your child, O my God, it is because You gave me such a mother!’

Novena to St Monica

Dear St Monica, exemplary Mother of the great St Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats, but with prayerful cries to heaven. Please intercede for all mothers in our day, so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray.  Dear St Monica, troubled wife and mother, many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime, yet you never despaired or lost faith. With confidence, persistence and profound faith, you prayed daily for the conversion of your beloved husband, Patricius and your beloved son, Augustine. Grant me that same fortitude, patience and trust in the Lord Jesus.  You sought these conversions with prayers, with tears, with penance, and with daily offering to the Holy Trinity the sacrifice of the holy Mass.So great was your confidence in God’s goodness in the Eucharist that you asked St Augustine to always remember you at holy Mass. Intercede for me, dear St. Monica, that God may favourably hear my plea for  (mention your petition here) And grant me the grace to accept His will in all things, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. St Monica, pray for us, and pray with us. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen. (3 times)

St Monica, pray for us.

To honour an apostolic patron

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Today, 24 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Bartholomew, the Apostle that Jesus chose to share His public life with, to join to His priesthood, and to send out to the world as a witness to His resurrection and ascension. Ever since His martyrdom in Greater Armenia, St Bartholomew has been close to Jesus in Heaven, interceding for the members of the Body of Christ on earth.

As you would have read from earlier blog-posts, St Bartholomew is my patron Saint for 2012, and the first time I have been given an Apostle for a patron. Obviously the reliable information about St Bartholomew is scarce; early written references to him are few, but the references in private revelation are rather consistent and we can infer quite a lot from looking at the lives of the Saints who had great devotion to him.

Just like Simon Peter was called Bar Jonah in the Gospel : son of Jonah, so the Church has seen that Nathaniel and Bartholomew : son of Tolmai or Tholmai, are one and the same person. Early sources agree that Bartholomew went east of Jerusalem to preach the Gospel, probably going through Arabia, Persia, Lycaonia and similar places before reaching Greater Armenia. Flayed alive and then beheaded is the way he entered eternity to be with Jesus, which is why he is the patron Saint of those who work with leather and other animal skins and of those with nervous and neurological problems.

The following extract from ‘Through the Eyes of Jesus’ by C. Alan Ames, page 36 of Book 3, is about Bartholomew and of great value as spiritual encouragement:

“Bartholomew spoke quietly to Me, ‘They have been praying a long time. I wish I was with them, but it was my turn to prepare the meal,’ he said, sadly. ‘You pray when you work for others,’ I explained. ‘What do You mean Lord? Cooking doesn’t seem like a prayer to me,’ Bartholomew asked. ‘In your work, whatever it is, if you offer the work to God and do it for God, then it becomes a prayer of action. See in everything you do that it is done because you love God and want to please Him… then everything is a prayer. See, as you live this life, that every breath is a gift from God, and so every time you take a breath you are accepting God’s gift within. Then use that gift for His glory in every action you do, from the smallest to the largest. See the way God’s gift to you is used to help others by your service to them in His name, then every act of servitude becomes a prayer. Life itself can become a never-ending prayer to God, when you make the effort to do everything for God in thanks for the gift of life He has given you. Never see anything you do as unimportant or inconsequential to God, for even the smallest task can be made a prayer, and then even the smallest task becomes important,’ I answered. ‘Even so, Lord, it would be good to be praying with them,’ said Bartholomew, as he looked over to the others. ‘My friend, understand it is because of your sacrifice to prepare the meal, they have the freedom to pray. See that what you are doing is giving your friends the opportunity of spending time trying to come closer to God, and that your denying yourself for them is a prayer in itself, ‘ I replied. ‘It’s true, isn’t it? If I wasn’t cooking, others would have to do it, and so they couldn’t pray. I didn’t think of that,’ he said. ‘See then what a special prayer your work is, a prayer that helps another come closer to God,’ I stated. ‘Cooking, a prayer!’ Maybe I should cook more often,’ smiled Bartholomew, as he continued preparing the meal. A few moments later the others started to gather around the fire. They all looked happy after their prayers. (and here follows some conversation around the campfire, not totally relevant to this story) …’Anyway, I think it is time we all said a prayer before we eat,’ said Bartholomew, for the fish was nearly ready. After we prayed, we sat to eat, when Bartholomew asked out loud, ‘Lord, can eating be a prayer?’ ‘Everything can be, if you show you appreciate God’s love in everything, and offer Him your love in return,’ I said. ‘What, even sleeping?’ he asked. ‘Yes, even sleeping,’ I said, smiling, thinking of the amount of prayer Bartholomew would be doing in the future as he slept.”

There is still more to come - especially what I have learned from looking at the Saints with great devotion to St Bartholomew – but it will have to wait until later…. Thank you for your patience. There are at least 12 Saints either named after St Bartholomew or who took his name in religion which have been written about in this blog during the last 9 months, so it could take quite some time.

 

St Bartholomew, Apostle of Jesus, pray for us.

Beautiful in God’s Eyes

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Today, 23 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Rose of Lima, (a.k.a. Rosa de Lima) a young woman of Peru in the 17th century who followed Jesus along the royal way of the Cross and discovered the beauty of suffering for Him and with Him.

St Rose was my patron Saint for the year in 2007, and her prayers and example helped me get through a time of unexpected distress and bewilderment. It is only through perplexing times like that we begin to comprehend the value of suffering.

St Rose of Lima was born in 1586 in Lima, Peru, and christened Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that everyone called her Rose. From her parents she received both Spanish and Inca heritage. She was confirmed by St Turibius, archbishop of Lima. As she grew up she grew more beautiful, and yet she worked willingly to help her family when they fell on hard times, growing flowers, doing needlework and embroidery. She greatly admired St Catherine of Siena. In life she only wanted Jesus to notice her, and wanted to love Jesus only, and after several years of trying finally persuaded her parents to let her live a life of virginity as a Dominican Tertiary.

Because she didn’t want her beauty to become a cause of sin to anyone, sometimes she would do things to make herself look blotchy and ugly. When she talked about Jesus, her face would glow with love. She retired to a little house in the family garden, here she prayed and did much penance. To modern eyes her penances might seem extreme, but Rose was experiencing many mystical graces and ardently desired to co-operate in the salvation of souls. So fasting three times a week, wearing a circlet around her head which had sharp inner points, hair shirts and other bodily penances were part of her regular spiritual life together with frequent Holy Communion. Often these penances and prayers were offered for the archbishop and for the conversion of souls. Her friends and others caused her suffering when they made fun of her.

Rose understood the value of suffering in the Christian life when it is united to the suffering of Jesus. At some point she wrote ‘Listen, all you people! At Christ’s bidding and in His very words, I warn you: We cannot win grace if we do not suffer affliction; toil upon toil must be ours if we are to attain an intimate share in the divine nature, the glory of God’s children, and perfect happiness. If only men knew how beautiful, noble, and priceless a thing God’s grace is!’

This is one of her prayers, simple and poignant :

“Help me to remember what is really important: that I am Your child You are my Father
You love me for who I am and how I live not what I look like or what I own. Let me praise You, Who sees into my heart, Who is always with me and Who eases my suffering.”

Rose also overcame many temptations and cared for those who were sick and suffering, often in her own dwelling. Eventually she herself became very ill, with a very long painful sickness. But even in her sickness she prayed, ‘Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart’.  She died aged 31, on 24 August 1671 and was mourned by everyone, with her body remaining incorrupt for a considerable time.

For more information on St Rose of Lima, refer to http://www.catholickingdom.com/AAA_load_in_pages/Monastery/Lives%20of%20the%20Saints/Female/Rose%20of%20Lima.html

Novena to St. Rose of Lima

God our Father, for love of you St. Rose gave up everything to devote herself to a life of penance. By the help of her prayers may we imitate her selfless way of life on earth and enjoy the fullness of Your blessings in heaven. Almighty God, the beginning  and giver of all good things, Who willed that Blessed Rose should be prepared by the dew of grace from Heaven, and should bloom as a most beautiful flower of virginity and patience, grant us to be drawn by the perfume of her virtue, that we may deserve to become a sweet fragrance of Christ. You filled St. Rose with love for You and enabled her to leave the world and be free for You through the austerity of penance. Through her prayers, help us to follow her footsteps on earth and enjoy the torrent of Your delights in heaven. Amen.

Glorious St. Rose of Lima, you knew what it was to love Jesus with such a fine a generous heart. Since infancy you despised the world’s vanities in order to embrace His Cross. You loved with unfailing devotion our Heavenly Mother and professed a great tender dedication to the destitute, serving them the same way Jesus did. Teach us to imitate your greatest virtues, so that we, following your example, will enjoy your glorious protection in Heaven. We ask this through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

St Rose of Lima, pray for us always. Amen.

Our Father…..Hail Mary….Glory Be….

 

 

He inspired others to follow him on the road to Heaven

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Today, 20 August 2012, is the feast day of St Bernard of Clairvaux, priest, Cistercian monk and Doctor of the Church, who lived most of his life in 12th century France. In life he inspired many to embrace a radical Christian lifestyle, and several hundred years later his writings are still inspiring people to love God more and to be more deeply committed to Him.

St Bernard of Clairvaux was born in 1090 at Fontaines into a noble family of Dijon, France. He was the third son of seven children, several of whom are recognised as Saints. Sorrow entered his life early with the death of his mother when Bernard was in his late teens. When he responded to the call of Jesus to follow Him as a monk, he rounded up 30 friends and relatives and inspired them to join the new monastery at Citeaux founded by St Robert, St Alberic and St Stephen Harding. They all arrived at Easter 1112. 

Three years later, Bernard was sent as abbot to found a new monastrery in the Valley of Light, known as Clairvaux.  Bernard remained as abbot for the rest of his life, but was also called upon to preach, to advise popes, and negotiate peace between warring princes. Busy with the things of God, he founded many monasteries and wrote many letters, sermons and books about spritual matters and theological subjects. To him God granted the gift of miracles. Despite all this, Bernard’s one desire was for God alone.

He had a very deep love of the Blessed Mother, and always greeted her with a Hail Mary whenever he passed one of her statues. One day he heard her voice reply ‘Hail Bernard’, so much did this practice of his please her. To St Bernard is attributed the powerful prayer to Our Lady known as the Memorare:

Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary that never was it known that anyone, who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence therefore I fly to you, O Virgins of virgins, my mother, to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. Do not O Mother of the Word of God despise my prayers, but in your mercy graciously hear and answer them. Amen.

To St Bernard is also attributed the Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus:

O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Your Shoulder on which You bore Your heavy Cross, which so tore Your Flesh and laid bare Your Bones so as to inflict on You an anguish greater than any other Wound of Your Most Blessed Body. I adore You, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify You and give You thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching You by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Your heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Your Cross. Amen. (Our Father… Hail Mary… x 3)

Here is a small taste of St Bernard’s writings from ‘On the Canticle of Canticles’ (or Song of Songs) : ‘ The Holy Spirit wisely compares the bridegrom’s name to oil when he leads the bride to exclaim: ‘Your name is as oil poured out.’ For oil gives light, nourishes, and anoints. Oil kindles fire, renews the flesh and eases pain. It is light, food and medicine. How much more so is the name of the true Bridegroom! When preached, His Name gives light ; when contemplated, it nourishes the soul ; when invoked, it heals and eases our wounds. We can profitably meditate upon each point…The name of Jesus is not only light, but it is also food. Are you not strengthened as often as you call it to mind? What else so strengthens the soul of the person contemplating it! What else so renews our tired senses, encourages us to virtue, establishes good and holy habits and develops noble affections? All spiritual consolation dries up unless infused with this oil; it all becomes insipid unless seasoned with this salt. If someone writes a book, I cannot savour it unless it speaks to me of Jesus. If someone speaks or preaches, I cannot enjoy it unless I find Jesus therein.’

After a lifetime of bringing souls to God, on August 20, 1153, God called Bernard into eternity. 

If you think you are up to being challenged today by St Bernard and his holy family, read ‘The Family that overtook Christ’ by M. Raymond, which is also available on Kindle. If you feel up to the challenge of reading his writings, try here and here. 

St Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.

 

Intercessor for First Communicants

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Today, 21 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Pius X, who was Pope from August 1903 until his death in August 1914. Although this holy Pope did many wonderful things during his pontificate, he is probably best remembered for lowering the age at which children could make their first Holy Communion. 

The following extract is abridged from Chapter 30, of ‘Flame of White, a life of Saint Pius X’, by William Hunermann, c.1959…

“On August 8, 1910, Pope Pius X announced the solemn decree ‘Quam singular Christus amore,’ commanding that all priests over the whole world should admit children to Holy Communion as soon as they were able to distinguish Eucharistic bread from common food. The whole world received the decree with great joy. Especially happy were the young souls for whom the Pope opened the tabernacle. Although there arose some voices that expressed fear lest reverence for the Holy Sacrament be lessened if little children were admitted, the Pope knew that his way was God’s way. Above all he was consoled by the numberless letters that came to him from the little ones all over the world. Again and again he read them with tears of consolation.

‘Just see, Giovanni, what this little girl writes to me,’ he said with eyes sparkling. “At times after Communion, I feel as if my Father pressed me to His heart; I am so happy that I cannot say a word. But dear Jesus knows how much I love Him.” Oh, friend, what bishop in the world could have spoken more beautifully about the meeting of the Lord in Holy Communion?’

Each year he invited the First Communicants of Rome to the Vatican. In the Cordile della Pigna the Holy Father was surrounded by a vast crowd of little ones. From an elevation he spoke to them with deep love, asking them to be always true to Jesus and never allow Him to depart from their hearts. ‘Will you do that?’ he called to them.

‘Yes,Yes,’ rang the chorus of radiant children.

‘And of course you will help me pray. The Pope has many big cares; but you will help me pray when Jesus comes to your heart?’

‘Yes, yes – yes, Papa,’ promised the little ones. Some attempted to climb up on the platform. He helped one girl and one boy get on the dais. It seemed as though that moment was being repeated when Jesus drew the Palestinian children about him and caressed and blessed them. Again, the Pope asked them if they would love Jesus all their lives. The answer was a thundering ‘yes’. But the little girl near the Holy Father pressed close and said, ‘Yes, Jesus.’

Even the masters of ceremony, who were displeased at first when they saw the children, became so touched that tears were visible in their eyes. They saw Christ’s love in action and admitted the result.

‘We will come again, Holy Father; we will come again,’ called the children as Pius X dismissed them with his blessing. Nothing in those days gave the Pope more consolation than audiences with children. He rejoiced over their visit many days ahead of time.

‘When I am dead,’ he often said to Don Bressan, ‘I shall still desire to have First Communicants come to me. Bring them to my coffin and even from my grave I will bless them.’ ”

The rest of ‘Flame of White, a life of Saint Pius X’ is well worth reading, and will give you a deep love and respect for this true servant of Jesus.

Note: Rome is a long way to go, to where St Pius X is buried in St Peter’s Basilica, but should you ever visit Port Macquarie in NSW or the Gold Coast in QLD, there are two places you could pray to receive this promised blessing. At Port Macquarie there is a chapel dedicated to St Francis of Assisi which is part of the Catholic Retirement Village. Inside the chapel, near the statue of St Francis is a little box, it contains a little relic of St Francis of Assisi and a little relic of St Pius X. At Marian Valley, www.marianvalley.org , at 2541 Beechmont Road, Canungra QLD (about a 40 minute drive from Surfer’s Paradise) there is a little outdoor chapel dedicated to St Pius X containing a life-sided bust of him.  

Another story about St Pius X goes like this : St Pius X was once speaking to the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. This is what he said to them. ‘Holy Communion is the shortest and surest way to Heaven. There are others, innocence for instance, but that is for little children; penance, but we are afraid of it; generous endurance of the trials of life, but when they approach us we weep and pray to be delivered. Once for all, beloved children, the surest, easiest, shortest way is by the Holy Eucharist. It is so easy to approach the Holy Table, and there we taste the joys of Paradise.’

To the intercession of St Pius X we entrust all of the young and not-so-young that we have prepared to receive Holy Communion for the first time, and all of those that the good Lord will sent to us in the future. May our young girls and boys fall in love with Jesus and always remain faithful to Him, as was St Pius X’s dearest wish.

St Pius X, pray for us.

A heart formed by the Sacred Heart

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Today, 19 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St John Eudes ( a.k.a. St Jean Eudes), a 17th century French priest, preacher and founder of two religious Orders : the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (a.k.a. Eudists) and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. Because he let his heart be formed in the furnace of the Sacred Heart of Jesus he preached with extraordinary efficacy and led many souls back to God. When ever he preached the confessors of the area were besieged with penitents.

While I had always had a soft spot for St John Eudes because of his great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, fifteen years ago his holy life was most emphatically placed before our notice by God. Fifteen years ago a battle royal was going on, would our son be born on the feast day of St John Eudes or on the feast day of St Bernard of Clairvaux? At 11.10pm on 19 August 1997 the battle was decided, but it was a very close thing. So it is with special relish that I learn a bit more about St John Eudes today.

St John Eudes spread the good news of God’s love in as many ways as possible. He preached. He taught others to preach. He conducted parish missions. He wrote books, catechisms, prayer manuals, devotional material and the liturgical prayers for several feast days. Together with that, he responded to the needs of his time, setting up seminaries and places of refuge for penitent women of ill repute, no matter how difficult those tasks were.

St John Eudes was born in late 1601 in the little village of Ri, near Argentan, Normandy France into a rural farming family. Joy filled his parent’s hearts when his mother discovered that she was pregnant, because they had been praying for three years for a child. Soon after this happy news, they travelled some 50 kms away to a shrine of Our Lay to give thanks, and to dedicate this as-yet-unborn little one to her. Happily the good Lord granted the family six more children. In the region where John grew up, he saw for himself the outcome of inadequate catechesis : lives lived with minimal reference to the sacraments. For himself, when of age, John began receiving Holy Communion as frequently as possible – which in those days was once a month after a good confession.

Because of his desire for the priesthood, and gifts of intelligence, John at age 14 was sent to the Jesuit college at Caen, some 50 kms away to study. Around this time he made a vow of chastity and consecrated his life to Our Lady. After pondering for some time how to serve God as a priest, as a diocesan priest, Jesuit or religious, John became very impressed with the Oratory of Jesus in Paris, begun by Pierre de Berulle and modelled on the Oratory of St Philip Neri. In 1622 a house of these Oratorians opened up in Caen, and in 1623 John joined them, being ordained to the priesthood just before Christmas in 1625.

Strangely, almost as soon as John was ordained he fell seriously ill and was unable to work as an active priest. What he did do was use this time of illness to further his studies and to deepen his prayer life. Just as he was recovered, news came that near his home village a plague had taken hold. Volunteering to help them, John went off to care for the sick and to bring them the comfort of the sacraments. Returning to Caen he entered fully into the life of the Oratory before plague struck Caen itself. While some isolated themselves, John again volunteered to assist the victims, putting up with having to live in a large oak wine cask in a field so as not to bring infection to his brother Oratorians.

When the plague ended, John began his ministry of parish missions. Not for him any one or two week mission. He knew that at least six to eight weeks were needed to effect any lasting change, particularly with the high levels of religious ignorance in the places he preached. For him, ‘Preachers beat the bushes. Confessors catch the birds.’, so the real work of the mission was not complete until the people came to the confessional and experienced the mercy of God and started afresh with Christ in their lives.

The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity were founded first, unofficially, in 1641, and officially in 1657. Since often the religious ignorance of the clergy was as bad as that of the laity, John saw the need for the reforms of the Council of Trent which greatly encouraged the founding of seminaries for diocesan priests. It was this need which prompted his leaving the Oratorians in order to found the Congregation of Jesus and Mary for the purpose of developing and running seminaries. This was a move which attracted a lot of criticism but which achieved profound and long-term good.

Wherever John went he promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the extraordinary union between these two Hearts. Because he preached from a heart in close conformity to that of Jesus’, large crowds came to hear him preach and to be converted.

After a long and fruitful life for souls, St John Eudes passed to his eternal reward on 19 August 1680 at Caen, Normandy. In 1925 Pope Pius XI canonised him.

An excellent source for finding out more about St John Eudes’ writings is at http://www.liberius.net/livres/The_spiritual_teaching_of_saint_John_Eudes_000000430.pdf

St John Eudes, pray for us.

Can you imagine the joy?

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Today, 15 Aug 2012, is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. It is a day when we can entrust the deepest desires of our hearts into her intercession, knowing that today of all days prayers will be answered, and answered powerfully. For today is the day we recall that God answered the deepest prayer of Mary’s heart – to be united forever to her Son, face to face, in the wondrous glory of Heaven.

Can you imagine with what intense longing Mary desired Heaven after seeing the joy, glory and wonder of her risen Son? Can you imagine all the preparations that went on in Heaven to welcome her? Can you imagine how Heaven sparkled with happiness when she arrived? Can you imagine how amazing it was for her to experience the fullness of her relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit for the first time? If you can, then you will have some idea about how fervently all Heaven celebrates the anniversary of Our Lady’s entrance into that longed for place.

That is why this Feast day is the joy and the hope of the dying members of the Church, who, like Mary, increasingly long to enter through Heaven’s gates. That is why this Feast day sees so many happy souls freed from Purgatory. That is why this Feast day consoles all of those who are waiting for God to answer their prayers, and helps us make our times of waiting fruitful.

Yet, how sad it is that so many priests don’t know how to preach on Feast days like this. Perhaps the priest today wanted to leave the school children with only one simple thought – that of Mary’s generosity – and inspiring though that is, there was so much more that could have been said. Sitting in the pews sometimes a person can get the feeling that a priest is uncomfortable in his relationship with Our Lady. Let us pray heaps for priests such as these, because leading people to her maternal heart is the sure route to leading them to Jesus and to holiness.

On this Feast day, too, let us decide not to dumb down the faith to our children and our teenagers. They need to know about Heaven, and they need to know how to get there. Why can’t we give them hymns to sing that aren’t banal? Why can’t we give them hymns to sing that have decent doctrinal content? How does singing the school song as an Entrance hymn prepare them properly to enter into the sacred Liturgy? Surely ‘Firmly I believe and truly’, or something similar, would do a far better job? Do the dreadfully dumbed down Eucharistic Prayers for Children really help them? Do the shockingly bad ‘children’s translations’ of the Scriptures really assist their understanding? Our youngsters deserve to be inspired with truth, holiness and virtue.

May Our Lady assumed into Heaven obtain all the graces that we need, the children, the young, the not so young, and the old, for us to follow her Son Jesus in such a way that the gates of Heaven will open swiftly to us when our time comes to pass from this world to the next.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Amen.

 

 

Highlights from a mini pilgrimage

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Recently we were able – at last – to visit the Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians, Patroness of Australia, at Marian Valley, Beechmont Road, Canungra, QLD. As with most places run by the Order of St Paul the Hermit, it was well off the beaten track.

To find out all the official information about this place, visit www.marianvalley.org . However, don’t depend upon the map on their website. Use a proper map or a Google search, and be prepared for a few winding roads.

Compared with their sister site at Penrose Park, near Berrima, NSW, this one was more compact and we could park much closer to the main devotional areas.

Sadly we didn’t get to see the whole site, but what we did see was impressive.

Firstly there was a life sized statue of Blessed Pope John Paul the Great, and the major shrine dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians, where a priest was busy hearing confessions. From there we went along the path where all the mini shrines are located. We didn’t have time to also do the walk along the life sized Stations of the Cross, which had been provided by the Vietnamese community.

Along the route it was a joy to find many heavenly friends to greet us, and opportunities to seek their intercession for particular intentions. Among them was a Lourdes grotto including St Bernadette, St Lucy, St Barbara, St Mary of the Cross McKillop, St Anthony of Padua, St Pius X, St Padre Pio and St Gerard Majella.

Many of the mini shrines opened our eyes to the vast array of devotion to Our Lady throughout the world, especially in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the middle East – several we had never heard of before.

Other mini shrines recalled the valiant Korean martyrs and St Lorenzo Riuz, the first Filipino Saint, or reminded us of holy images from Malta and other places. Still others were under construction, notably one for St Francis Xavier.

Sadly we didn’t get to have a look at the piety store, but we did get to visit a very lovely Adoration chapel and to hear the Magnificat sung in Latin for the first time.

The places where retreatants could stay looked very nice from the outside.

Opportunities to enrich our devotional lives don’t come quite so often any more, so this visit to the Marian Shrine was a real treat. So many churches have had all of their devotional elements removed or located where they are not easily visible, that it is good that places like these still exist to remind us of our Saintly friends in heaven and of the wonders God has done in ages past and in distant lands.

So if you are planning a holiday to south-east QLD, plan to include at least a half-day trip out to Marian Valley. It took about a 40 minute drive from Surfer’s Paradise to get there. You won’t regret it.

Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.

 

 

We only wait for important things

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Yesterday we had to go on a bit of a pilgrimage, because in this holiday corner of the world there is no Saturday morning Mass to be had anywhere. So into the diocesan CBD we traipsed and went to the cathedral. Awaiting us was something unexpected, and inspiring.

The other thing we needed was an opportunity to go to the Sacrament of Penance. Thankfully there was a regular time slot prior to the Mass on Saturdays. When we finally reached the cathedral it took quite a while to actually locate where the confessionals were. Most confessionals could do with better sign-posting; our new church is almost 5 years old and regulars are still discovering where it is! At the church we went to on Saturday night I couldn’t locate the confessional, even though I knew it had to be there somewhere.

Upon locating the waiting area for the Sacrament we had to do a double-take, because there were over 20 people already in the queue. They were of all ages, genders and nations of origin. An anxious wait then began, because only 40 minutes of official confessional time was left. Admittedly this was a city church, but even so it has been a long time since I’ve seen that many lined up for individual confessions (as apposed to second-Rite celebrations in Advent and Lent.)

Human beings aren’t good at waiting, but each person lined up in the rows in front of us did so without complaint and without fidgeting. None of them gave up and went off elsewhere. By their patience each one silently witnessed to the importance of this Sacrament in their lives. That was inspiring! Answering our pleas, the good Lord arranged for us to take our turn inside the confessional just as the official time slot was up. May He be praised!

On the other hand, the longer I sat the more I appreciated the dedication of this priest within the confessional. Easily he could have sent the penitent before me back to the waiting area with a message that the confessional time was up, and to come back later. This he didn’t do. On the contrary, the priest kept hearing confessions for an extra 15 minutes after the official hour for confessions was over, right up until he had to go and vest for Mass. It has been quite a while since I’ve been privy to priestly generosity of this magnitude.

It’s certainly been quite a while since I’ve waited 40 minutes for the Sacrament of Penance, but it was worth it.

For the gift of being pardoned by God we will wait. However we don’t wait well at traffic lights, or at the entrance to theme parks and restaurant queues. At least that shows we have our priorities right.

May the good Lord bless this confessor and all those like him, and grant His graces to all those who waited with us.