Vatican Radio REPORT Pope Francis on Saturday addressed members of the Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice concluding their three-day conference here at the Vatican.
Instituted in 1993 by Blessed John Paul II two years after his encyclical Centesimus Annus, the aim of the FCAPP, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is to be a vehicle for lay education and evangelization of Catholic social doctrine.
Speaking to members of the organization, Pope Francis called attention to the theme of the conference: “Rethinking solidarity for employment: the challenges of the 21st century.”
In light of the current economic crisis and the rapid spread of unemployment, the pope said “There is no worse form of material poverty… than that which makes it impossible to earn a living and which deprives someone of the dignity of work.”
It is therefore not enough to help the poor, the Holy Father said, but we must reform the system at the global level in a way that is consistent with the fundamental human dignity.
The root causes of the current crisis are not only economic and financial, but ethical and anthropological, where the “idols of power, of profit, of money,” are valued more than “the human person.”
Pope Francis said “We must return to the centrality of man, to a more ethical view of business and human relations, without the fear of losing something.”
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
Instituted in 1993 by Blessed John Paul II two years after his encyclical Centesimus Annus, the aim of the FCAPP, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is to be a vehicle for lay education and evangelization of Catholic social doctrine.
Speaking to members of the organization, Pope Francis called attention to the theme of the conference: “Rethinking solidarity for employment: the challenges of the 21st century.”
In light of the current economic crisis and the rapid spread of unemployment, the pope said “There is no worse form of material poverty… than that which makes it impossible to earn a living and which deprives someone of the dignity of work.”
It is therefore not enough to help the poor, the Holy Father said, but we must reform the system at the global level in a way that is consistent with the fundamental human dignity.
The root causes of the current crisis are not only economic and financial, but ethical and anthropological, where the “idols of power, of profit, of money,” are valued more than “the human person.”
Pope Francis said “We must return to the centrality of man, to a more ethical view of business and human relations, without the fear of losing something.”
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
POPE FRANCIS - "A SIMPLE FAITH"
Vatican Radio REPORT: Those who approach the Church should find the doors open and not find people who want to control the faith. This is what the Pope said this morning during Mass in the Casa Santa Marta. The day's Gospel tells us that Jesus rebukes the disciples who seek to remove children that people bring to the Lord to bless. "Jesus embraces them, kisses them, touches them, all of them. It tires Jesus and his disciples "want it to stop”. Jesus is indignant: "Jesus got angry, sometimes." And he says: "Let them come to me, do not hinder them. For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these." "The faith of the People of God – observes the Pope - is a simple faith, a faith that is perhaps without much theology, but it has an inward theology that is not wrong, because the Spirit is behind it." The Pope mentions Vatican I and Vatican II, where it is said that "the holy people of God ... cannot err in matters of belief" (Lumen Gentium). And to explain this theological formulation he adds: "If you want to know who Mary is go to the theologian and he will tell you exactly who Mary is. But if you want to know how to love Mary go to the People of God who teach it better. " The people of God - continued the Pope - "are always asking for something closer to Jesus, they are sometimes a bit 'insistent in this. But it is the insistence of those who believe ":
"I remember once, coming out of the city of Salta, on the patronal feast, there was a humble lady who asked for a priest's blessing. The priest said, 'All right, but you were at the Mass' and explained the whole theology of blessing in the church. You did well: 'Ah, thank you father, yes father,' said the woman. When the priest had gone, the woman turned to another priest: 'Give me your blessing!'. All these words did not register with her, because she had another necessity: the need to be touched by the Lord. That is the faith that we always look for , this is the faith that brings the Holy Spirit. We must facilitate it, make it grow, help it grow. "
The Pope also mentioned the story of the blind man of Jericho, who was rebuked by the disciples because he cried to the Lord, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
"The Gospel says that they didn’t want him to shout, they wanted him not to shout but he wanted to shout more, why? Because he had faith in Jesus! The Holy Spirit had put faith in his heart. And they said, 'No, you cannot do this! You don’t shout to the Lord. Protocol does not allow it. And 'the second Person of the Trinity! Look what you do... 'as if they were saying that, right? ".
And think about the attitude of many Christians:
"Think of the good Christians, with good will, we think about the parish secretary, a secretary of the parish ... 'Good evening, good morning, the two of us - boyfriend and girlfriend - we want to get married'. And instead of saying, 'That's great!'. They say, 'Oh, well, have a seat. If you want the Mass, it costs a lot ... '. This, instead of receiving a good welcome- It is a good thing to get married! '- But instead they get this response:' Do you have the certificate of baptism, all right ... '. And they find a closed door. When this Christian and that Christian has the ability to open a door, thanking God for this fact of a new marriage ... We are many times controllers of faith, instead of becoming facilitators of the faith of the people. "
And 'there is always a temptation - said the Pope - "try and take possession of the Lord." And he tells another story:
"Think about a single mother who goes to church, in the parish and to the secretary she says: 'I want my child baptized'. And then this Christian, this Christian says: 'No, you cannot because you're not married!'. But look, this girl who had the courage to carry her pregnancy and not to return her son to the sender, what is it? A closed door! This is not zeal! It is far from the Lord! It does not open doors! And so when we are on this street, have this attitude, we do not do good to people, the people, the People of God, but Jesus instituted the seven sacraments with this attitude and we are establishing the eighth: the sacrament of pastoral customs! ".
"Jesus is indignant when he sees these things" - said the Pope - because those who suffer are "his faithful people, the people that he loves so much"
"We think today of Jesus, who always wants us all to be closer to Him, we think of the Holy People of God, a simple people, who want to get closer to Jesus and we think of so many Christians of goodwill who are wrong and that instead of opening a door they close the door of goodwill ... So we ask the Lord that all those who come to the Church find the doors open, find the doors open, open to meet this love of Jesus. We ask this grace. "
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
CHRISTIAN SENTENCED FOR OWNING BIBLES IN UZBEKISTAN
ASIA NEWS REPORT
Sentenced to 18 months "corrective" work and part of his salary paid to the State as a fine. The fear is that he will be sent to cotton fields for harvest, exhausting work. In the capital, a group of believers punished with "heavy fines" for having met in a home to read "Christian material."
Tashkent (AsiaNews/F18) - The Uzbek authorities have sentenced a Protestant Christian in Urgench, in the northwest of the country to 18 months of "corrective labor", charged with "illegal production, storage, importation or distribution of religious materials." The judge Makhmud Makhmudov ruled that the woman should carry out menial jobs at the complete service of the state, while a good part of her salary be handed over as payment of a fine. In addition, for the next few months she can only travel within the state.
In a second incident of violation of religious freedom, a group of people in the capital were sentenced to heavy fines for "gathering" to pray and read Christian material (a Bible) in a private home.
Local sources said that the secret police artfully assembled fake evidence to nail Sharofat Allamova, who was then convicted in a sham trial. The possession of religious materials is strictly controlled by the State, with a heavy censorship of the Committee for Religious Affairs, which often targets the Christian minority.
The double raid on the private home took place in January and the court only ruled on the case recently, in accordance with Article 244-3 of the Criminal Code. Already in May 2012 she had suffered similar punishment, again for possession of religious materials. In addition to the confiscation of the Bible and other texts, the biggest fear is that the woman can be shipped to the cotton fields for the autumn harvest. As repeatedly denounced by organizations and activists, the state uses the work of minors and convicts for the grueling task.
88% of the Uzbek population is of the Sunni Muslim faith while Christians make up 8%. In the country, confessional freedom is subject limited by the government. The annual report of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, published on April 30, under the heading "Countries subject of particular attention" included a list of 15 governments including that of Tashkent.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS
Sentenced to 18 months "corrective" work and part of his salary paid to the State as a fine. The fear is that he will be sent to cotton fields for harvest, exhausting work. In the capital, a group of believers punished with "heavy fines" for having met in a home to read "Christian material."
Tashkent (AsiaNews/F18) - The Uzbek authorities have sentenced a Protestant Christian in Urgench, in the northwest of the country to 18 months of "corrective labor", charged with "illegal production, storage, importation or distribution of religious materials." The judge Makhmud Makhmudov ruled that the woman should carry out menial jobs at the complete service of the state, while a good part of her salary be handed over as payment of a fine. In addition, for the next few months she can only travel within the state.
In a second incident of violation of religious freedom, a group of people in the capital were sentenced to heavy fines for "gathering" to pray and read Christian material (a Bible) in a private home.
Local sources said that the secret police artfully assembled fake evidence to nail Sharofat Allamova, who was then convicted in a sham trial. The possession of religious materials is strictly controlled by the State, with a heavy censorship of the Committee for Religious Affairs, which often targets the Christian minority.
The double raid on the private home took place in January and the court only ruled on the case recently, in accordance with Article 244-3 of the Criminal Code. Already in May 2012 she had suffered similar punishment, again for possession of religious materials. In addition to the confiscation of the Bible and other texts, the biggest fear is that the woman can be shipped to the cotton fields for the autumn harvest. As repeatedly denounced by organizations and activists, the state uses the work of minors and convicts for the grueling task.
88% of the Uzbek population is of the Sunni Muslim faith while Christians make up 8%. In the country, confessional freedom is subject limited by the government. The annual report of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, published on April 30, under the heading "Countries subject of particular attention" included a list of 15 governments including that of Tashkent.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS
GOVERNMENT BILL TO LEGALISE EUTHANASIA REJECTED IN AUSTRALIA
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
24 May 2013
The NSW Legislative Council has emphatically rejected a Greens Private Member's Bill to legalise euthanasia and physician assisted suicide by 23 votes to 13.
"The Bill was comprehensively defeated," says Greg Donnelly MLC, the well known Labor politician and a member of the NSW upper house since 2005.
While some Labor politicians voted for the Bill, despite Coalition members of the upper house having been given a conscience vote, the entire group unanimously rejected the Bill.
"The Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill 2013" was introduced to the House as a private member's Bill by Greens politician, Cate Faerhmann earlier this month. Advocating that those who are terminally ill and wish to end their lives, should have the legal right to die either by euthanasia or physician assisted suicide.
The Bill underwent debate in the House following its introduction on 2 May, on Thursday, 9 May and again on Thursday, 23 May when it was soundly defeated.
In a surprise move , before the debate began Cate Faerhmann moved an amendment motion asking that before a vote the Bill be sent to a Legislative Council Committee for further examination.
"This was an arrogant and blatant attempt to keep the Bill alive. No prior consultation was given to members of the House about this amendment, or whether or not they might be interested in such a move," Greg Donnelly says.
The amendment was voted down and after more debate on the issue, the Bill itself was resoundingly and defeated.
Ironically the defeat comes during Palliative Care Week. Palliative care specialists, experts, psychiatrists and medical staff at Australia's hospices and hospitals know the value and importance of quality palliative care, pointing out that by using the latest palliative care advances, depression, pain and discomfort can be alleviated and bring peace and comfort to the terminally ill during their final weeks or months.
The Greens however seldom if ever acknowledge the strides made by palliative care and in her right of reply address in the NSW upper house after the debate had ended, Cate Faerhmann signalled the matter was not over and a similar private members Bill on the right to die would be introduced into the NSW Parliament's lower house in the near future.
The politicians who will bring the Bill aimed at legalising euthanasia and physician assisted suicide before the state's Legislative Assembly are the Sydney electorate's Independent MP, Lake Macquarie's Independent member, Greg Piper and the Balmain electorate's Greens MP Jamie Parker, who so far is the only member of the Greens in the NSW lower house.
"The people who are advancing this new Bill need to think carefully about this if they are not to suffer the sort of overwhelming defeat such as we have seen this time," Greg Donnelly says.
Despite having similar bills defeated in state after state including South Australia, Tasmania and some years ago in NSW, Bills advocating the right to die are likely to continue.
Earlier this year Tasmania's Labor Premier Laura Giddings joined with the state's Greens leader, Nick McKim to create a discussion paper on the issue and have announced they have created a framework for a Dying with Dignity Bill and intend to introduce it before the end of the year.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
24 May 2013
Quality palliative care has become widespread for
the terminally ill
the terminally ill
"The Bill was comprehensively defeated," says Greg Donnelly MLC, the well known Labor politician and a member of the NSW upper house since 2005.
While some Labor politicians voted for the Bill, despite Coalition members of the upper house having been given a conscience vote, the entire group unanimously rejected the Bill.
"The Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill 2013" was introduced to the House as a private member's Bill by Greens politician, Cate Faerhmann earlier this month. Advocating that those who are terminally ill and wish to end their lives, should have the legal right to die either by euthanasia or physician assisted suicide.
Prominent politician Greg Donnelly, MLC urges Australians to reject Greens Culture of Death
In a surprise move , before the debate began Cate Faerhmann moved an amendment motion asking that before a vote the Bill be sent to a Legislative Council Committee for further examination.
"This was an arrogant and blatant attempt to keep the Bill alive. No prior consultation was given to members of the House about this amendment, or whether or not they might be interested in such a move," Greg Donnelly says.
The amendment was voted down and after more debate on the issue, the Bill itself was resoundingly and defeated.
Euthanasia is a complex issue that challenges the fundamental principles on which society is based
The Greens however seldom if ever acknowledge the strides made by palliative care and in her right of reply address in the NSW upper house after the debate had ended, Cate Faerhmann signalled the matter was not over and a similar private members Bill on the right to die would be introduced into the NSW Parliament's lower house in the near future.
Greens politician Cate Faehrmann's Bill to legalise euthanasia and physician assisted suicide overwhelmingly defeated
"The people who are advancing this new Bill need to think carefully about this if they are not to suffer the sort of overwhelming defeat such as we have seen this time," Greg Donnelly says.
Despite having similar bills defeated in state after state including South Australia, Tasmania and some years ago in NSW, Bills advocating the right to die are likely to continue.
Earlier this year Tasmania's Labor Premier Laura Giddings joined with the state's Greens leader, Nick McKim to create a discussion paper on the issue and have announced they have created a framework for a Dying with Dignity Bill and intend to introduce it before the end of the year.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : SAAT. MAY 25, 2013
| Mark 10: 13 - 16 | |
| 13 | And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. |
| 14 | But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. |
| 15 | Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." |
| 16 | And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them. |
2013
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St. Bede
DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, HISTORIAN
Feast: May 25
 Information:
| Historian and Doctor of the Church, born 672 or 673; died 735. In the last chapter of his great work on the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" Bede has told us something of his own life, and it is, practically speaking, all that we know. His words, written in 731, when death was not far off, not only show a simplicity and piety characteristic of the man, but they throw a light on the composition of the work through which he is best remembered by the world at large. He writes: Thus much concerning the ecclesiastical history of Britain, and especially of the race of the English, I, Baeda, a servant of Christ and a priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, which is at Wearmouth and at Jarrow (in Northumberland), have with the Lord's help composed so far as I could gather it either from ancient documents or from the traditions of the elders, or from my own knowledge. I was born in the territory of the said monastery, and at the age of seven I was, by the care of my relations, given to the most reverend Abbot Benedict [St. Benedict Biscop], and afterwards to Ceolfrid, to be educated. From that time I have spent the whole of my life within that monastery, devoting all my pains to the study of the Scriptures, and amid the observance of monastic discipline and the daily charge of singing in the Church, it has been ever my delight to learn or teach or write. In my nineteenth year I was admitted to the diaconate, in my thirtieth to the priesthood, both by the hands of the most reverend Bishop John [St. John of Beverley], and at the bidding of Abbot Ceolfrid. From the time of my admission to the priesthood to my present fifty-ninth year, I have endeavored for my own use and that of my brethren, to make brief notes upon the holy Scripture, either out of the works of the venerable Fathers or in conformity with their meaning and interpretation. After this Bede inserts a list or Indiculus, of his previous writings and finally concludes his great work with the following words: And I pray thee, loving Jesus, that as Thou hast graciously given me to drink in with delight the words of Thy knowledge, so Thou wouldst mercifully grant me to attain one day to Thee, the fountain of all wisdom and to appear forever before Thy face. It is plain from Bede's letter to Bishop Egbert that the historian occasionally visited his friends for a few days, away from his own monastery of Jarrow, but with such rare exceptions his life seems to have been one peaceful round of study and prayer passed in the midst of his own community. How much he was beloved by them is made manifest by the touching account of the saint's last sickness and death left us by Cuthbert, one of his disciples. Their studious pursuits were not given up on account of his illness and they read aloud by his bedside, but constantly the reading was interrupted by their tears. "I can with truth declare", writes Cuthbert of his beloved master, "that I never saw with my eyes or heard with my ears anyone return thanks so unceasingly to the living God." Even on the day of his death (the vigil of the Ascension, 735) the saint was still busy dictating a translation of the Gospel of St. John. In the evening the boy Wilbert, who was writing it, said to him: "There is still one sentence, dear master, which is not written down." And when this had been supplied, and the boy had told him it was finished, "Thou hast spoken truth", Bede answered, "it is finished. Take my head in thy hands for it much delights me to sit opposite any holy place where I used to pray, that so sitting I may call upon my Father." And thus upon the floor of his cell singing, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost" and the rest, he peacefully breathed his last breath. The title Venerabilis seems to have been associated with the name of Bede within two generations after his death. There is of course no early authority for the legend repeated by Fuller of the "dunce-monk" who in composing an epitaph on Bede was at a loss to complete the line: Hac sunt in fossa Bedae . . . . ossa and who next morning found that the angels had filled the gap with the word venerabilis. The title is used by Alcuin, Amalarius and seemingly Paul the Deacon, and the important Council of Aachen in 835 describes him as venerabilis et modernis temporibus doctor admirabilis Beda. This decree was specially referred to in the petition which Cardinal Wiseman and the English bishops addressed to the Holy See in 1859 praying that Bede might be declared a Doctor of the Church. The question had already been debated even before the time of Benedict XIV, but it was only on 13 November, 1899, that Leo XIII decreed that the feast of Venerable Bede with the title of Doctor Ecclesiae should be celebrated throughout the Church each year on 27 May. A local cultus of St. Bede had been maintained at York and in the North of England throughout the Middle Ages, but his feast was not so generally observed in the South, where the Sarum Rite was followed. Bede's influence both upon English and foreign scholarship was very great, and it would probably have been greater still but for the devastation inflicted upon the Northern monasteries by the inroads of the Danes less than a century after his death. In numberless ways, but especially in his moderation, gentleness, and breadth of view, Bede stands out from his contemporaries. In point of scholarship he was undoubtedly the most learned man of his time. A very remarkable trait, noticed by Plummer (I, p. xxiii), is his sense of literary property, an extraordinary thing in that age. He himself scrupulously noted in his writings the passages he had borrowed from others and he even begs the copyists of his works to preserve the references, a recommendation to which they, alas, have paid but little attention. High, however, as was the general level of Bede's culture, he repeatedly makes it clear that all his studies were subordinated to the interpretation of Scripture. In his "De Schematibus" he says in so many words: "Holy Scripture is above all other books not only by its authority because it is Divine, or by its utility because it leads to eternal life, but also by its antiquity and its literary form" (positione dicendi). It is perhaps the highest tribute to Bede's genius that with so uncompromising and evidently sincere a conviction of the inferiority of human learning, he should have acquired so much real culture. Though Latin was to him a still living tongue, and though he does not seem to have consciously looked back to the Augustan Age of Roman Literature as preserving purer models of literary style than the time of Fortunatus or St. Augustine, still whether through native genius or through contact with the classics, he is remarkable for the relative purity of his language, as also for his lucidity and sobriety, more especially in matters of historical criticism. In all these respects he presents a marked contrast to St. Aldhelm who approaches more nearly to the Celtic type. (Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia) |
SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/B/stbede.asp#ixzz1vtN2rpR5
TODAY'S SAINT : MAY 25 : ST. MADELINE SOPHIE BARAT
St. Madeline Sophie Barat
FOUNDRESS
Feast: May 25
 Information:
| Foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, born at Joigny, Burgundy, 12 December, 1779; died in Paris, 24 May, 1865. She was the youngest child of Jacques Barat, a vine-dresser and cooper, and his wife, Madeleine Foufé, and received baptism the morning after her birth, her brother Louis, aged eleven, being chosen godfather. It was to this brother that she owed the exceptional education which fitted her for her life-work. Whilst her mother found her an apt pupil in practical matters, Louis saw her singular endowments of mind and heart; and when, at the age of twenty-two, he returned as professor to the seminary at Joigny, he taught his sister Latin, Greek, history, natural science, Spanish, and Italian. Soon she took delight in reading the classics in the original, and surpassed her brother's pupils at the seminary. After the Reign of Terror, Louis called Sophie to Paris, to train her for the religious life, for which she longed. When he had joined the Fathers of the Faith, a band of fervent priests, united in the hope of becoming members of the Society of Jesus on its restoration, he one day spoke of his sister to Father Varin, to whom had been bequeathed by the saintly Léonor de Tournély the plan of founding a society of women wholly devoted to the worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to prayer and sacrifice, and destined to do for girls what the restored Society of Jesus would do for boys. Father Varin had vainly sought a fitting instrument to begin this work; he now found one in this modest, retiring girl of twenty. He unfolded the project, which seemed to satisfy all her aspirations, and she bowed before his authoritative declaration that this was for her the will of God. With three companions she made her first consecration, 21 November, 1800, the date which marks the foundation of the Society of the Sacred Heart. In September, 1801, the first convent was opened at Amiens, and thither Sophie went to help in the work of teaching. It was impossible yet to assume the name "Society of the Sacred Heart", lest a political significance be attached to it; its members were known as Dames de la Foi or de l'Instruction Chrétienne. Father Varin allowed Sophie to make her vows, 7 June, 1802, with Genevieve Deshayes. The community and school were increasing, and a poor school had just been added, when it became evident to Father Varin that Mademoiselle Loquet, who had hitherto acted as superior, lacked the qualities requisite for the office, and Sophie, although the youngest, was named superior (1802). Her first act was to kneel and kiss the feet of each of her sisters. Such was ever the spirit of her government, November, 1804, found her at Sainte-Marie-d'en-Haut, near Grenoble, receiving a community of Visitation nuns into her institute, One of them, Philippine Duchesne, was later to introduce the society into America. Grenoble was the first of some eighty foundations which Mother Barat was to make, not only in France but in North America (1818), Italy (1828), Switzerland (1830), Belgium (1834), Algiers (1841). England (1842), Ireland(1842), Spain (1846), Holland (1848), Germany (1851), South America (1853) Austria (1853), Poland (1857). Mother Barat was elected superior-general in January, 1806, but a majority of one vote only, for the influence of an ambitious priest, chaplain at Amiens, wellnigh wrecked the nascent institute. Prolonged prayer, silent suffering, tact, respect, charity, were only means she used to oppose his designs. With Father Varin, now a Jesuit, she elaborated constitutions and rules grafted on the stock of the Institute of St. Ignatius. These rules were received with joy in all the houses, Amiens alone excepted; but Mother Barat's wisdom and humility soon won submission even here. In 1818 she sent Mother Duchesne, with four companions, to the New World; her strong and holy hand was ever ready to support and guide this first missioner of the Society. She called all the superiors together in council at Paris in 1820, to provide a uniform course of studies for their schools. these studies were to be solid and serious, to fit the pupils to become intelligent wives and devoted mother; to give that cultivation of mind. that formation of character, which go to make up a true women; all was to stamped and sealed with strong religious principles and devotion to the Sacred Heart. Foundations multiplied, and Mother Barat, seeing the necessity of a stronger guarantee of unity, sought it in union with Rome. The solemn approbation was obtained much sooner than usual, owing to a memoir drawn up by the foundress and presented to Leo XII in May, 1826. The decree of approbation was promulgated in December. The society being now fully organized and sealed by Rome's approval, for forty years Mother Barat journeyed from convent to convent, wrote many thousand letters, and assembled general congregations, so as to preserve its original spirit. The Paris school gained European repute; Rome counted three establishments, asked for and blessed by three successive pontiffs. At Lyons Mother Barat founded the Congregation of the Children of Mary for former pupils and other ladies. in he same year (1832), she began at Turin the work of retreats for ladies of the world, an apostleship since widely and profitably imitated. Numerous foundations brought Mother Bart onto personal contact with all classes. We find her crossing and recrossing France, Switzerland, Italy, often on the eve of revolutions; now the centre of a society of émigrés whose intellectual gifts, high social position, and moral worth are seldom found united; now sought out by cardinals and Roman princesses during her vicits to her Roman houses; at another time, speaking on matters educational with Madame de Genlis; or again, exercising that supernatural ascendency which aroused the admiration of such men as Bishop Fraysinous, Doctor Récamier, and Duc de Rohan. These exterior labours were far from absorbing all Mother Barat's time or energies; they coexisted with a life of ever-increasing holiness and continual prayer; for the real secret of her influence lay in her habitual seclusion from the outside world, in the strong religious formation of her daughters which this seclusion made possible, and in the enlightened, profound, ans supernatural views on education which she communicated to the religious engaged in her schools. She worked by and through them all, and thus reached out to the ends of the earth. In spite of herself she attracted and charmed all who approached her. New foundations she always entrusted to other hands; for, like all great rulers, she had the twofold gift of intuition in the choice of persons fitted for office, and trust of those in responsible posts. Allowing them much freedom of action in details, guiding them only by her counsels and usually form afar. Prelates who now and them ventured to attribute to her the successes of the society, saw that instead of pleasing, they distressed her exceedingly. Beloved by her daughters, venerated by princes and pontiffs, yet ever lowly of heart, Mother Barat died at the mother-house in Paris, on Ascension Day, 1865, as she had foretold, after four days' illness. She was buried at Conflans, the house of novitiate, where her body was found intact in 1893. In 1879 she was declared Venerable, and the process of beatification introduced. [Note: Mother Barat was canonized in 1925.] (Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia) | |||||||||
SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/M/stmadelinesophiebarat.asp#ixzz1vtMnjQtX
TODAY'S SAINT : MAY 25 : ST. MARY MAGDALEN DE PAZZI
St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
DISCALCED CARMELITE MYSTIC AND HEALER
Feast: May 25
 Information:
| Carmelite Virgin, born 2 April, 1566; died 25 May, 1607. Of outward events there were very few in the saint's life. She came of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri de' Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptized, and named Caterina, in the great baptistery. Her childhood much resembled that of some other women saints who have become great mystics, in an early love of prayer and penance, great charity to the poor, an apostolic spirit of teaching religious truths, and a charm and sweetness of nature that made her a general favourite. But above all other spiritual characteristics was Caterina's intense attraction towards the Blessed Sacrament, her longing to receive It, and her delight in touching and being near those who were speaking of It, or who had just been to Communion. She made her own First Communion at the age of ten, and shortly afterwards vowed her virginity to God. At fourteen she was sent to school at the convent of Cavalaresse, where she lived in so mortified and fervent a manner as to make the sisters prophesy that she would become a great saint; and, on leaving it, she told her parents of her resolve to enter the religious state. They were truly spiritual people; and, after a little difficulty in persuading them to relinquish their only daughter, she finally entered in December, 1582, the Carmelite convent of Santa Maria degl' Angeli, founded by four Florentine ladies in 1450 and renowned for its strict observance. Her chief reason for choosing this convent was the rule there followed of daily Communion. Caterina was clothed in 1583, when she took the name of Maria Maddalena; and on 29 May, 1584, being then so ill that they feared she would not recover, she was professed. After her profession, she was subject to an extraordinary daily ecstasy for forty consecutive days, at the end of which time she appeared at the point of death. She recovered, however, miraculously; and henceforth, in spite of constant bad health, was able to fill with energy the various offices to which she was appointed. She became, in turn, mistress ofexterns--i.e. of girls coming to the convent on trial--teacher and mistress of the juniors, novice mistress (which post she held for six years), and finally, in 1604, superior. For five years (1585-90) God allowed her to be tried by terrible inward desolation and temptations, and by external diabolic attacks; but the courageous severity and deep humility of the means that she took for overcoming these only served to make her virtues shine more brilliantly in the eyes of her community. From the time of her clothing with the religious habit till her death the saint's life was one series of raptures and ecstasies, of which only the most notable characteristics can be named in a short notice. * First, these raptures sometimes seized upon her whole being with such force as to compel her to rapid motion (e.g. towards some sacred object). * Secondly, she was frequently able, whilst in ecstasy, to carry on work belonging to her office--e.g., embroidery, painting, etc.--with perfect composure and efficiency. * Thirdly--and this is the point of chief importance--it was whilst in her states of rapture that St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi gave utterance to those wonderful maxims of Divine Love, and those counsels of perfection for souls, especially in the religious state, which a modern editor of a selection of them declares to be "more frequently quoted by spiritual writers than those even of St. Teresa". These utterances have been preserved to us by the saint's companions, who (unknown to her) took them down from her lips as she poured them forth. She spoke sometimes as of herself, and sometimes as themouthpiece of one or other of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity. These maxims of the saint are sometimes described as her "Works", although she wrote down none of them herself. This ecstatic life in no wise interfered with the saint's usefulness in her community. She was noted for her strong common-sense, as well as for the high standard and strictness of her government, and was most dearly loved to the end of her life by all for the spirit of intense charity that accompanied her somewhat severe code of discipline. As novice-mistress she was renowned for a miraculous gift of reading her subjects' hearts--which gift, indeed, was not entirely confined to her community. Many miracles, both of this and of other kinds, she performed for the benefit either of her own convent or of outsiders. She often saw things far off, and is said once to have supernaturally beheld St. Catherine de' Ricci in her convent at Prato, reading a letter that she had sent her and writing the answer; but the two saints never met in a natural manner. To St. Mary Magdalen's numerous penances, and to the ardent love of suffering that made her genuinely wish to live long in order to suffer with Christ, we can here merely refer; but it must not be forgotten that she was one of the strongest upholders of the value of suffering for the love of God and the salvation of our fellow-creatures, that ever lived. Her death was fully in accordance with her life in this respect, for she died after an illness of nearly threeyears' duration and of indescribable painfulness, borne with heroic joy to the end. Innumerable miracles followed the saint's death, and the process for her beatification was begun in 1610 under Paul V, and finished under Urban VIII in 1626. She was not, however, canonized till sixty-two years after her death, when Clement IX raised her to the altars in 28 April, 1669. Her feast is kept on 27 May. (Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia) |
SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/M/stmarymagdalendepazzi.asp#ixzz1vtMclWS2
TODAY'S SAINT : MAY 25 ; ST. BEDE