Today is the first time the Jesuits and Spain celebrate the liturgical memorial of the new beatus, Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos. When Blessed Bernard was lifted to the altars in April, I posted on him, and here. For me, he's an attractive contemporary apostle of the Sacred Heart Jesus. The second reading for the Office of Readings of the Divine Office follows:
From the Instruction of Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos to Brother Ignatius Osorio
(Vallalodid, 14 September 1732, nn. 40-41; MS 1596, University Library of Salamanca.)
A divine and heavenly peace in your heart
Try to have, my beloved brother, a divine and heavenly peace in your heart. I do not speak of peace with others, called by another name, charity; for that I repeat (the words) of the Apostle to the Thessalonians: Now concerning love of the brothers, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for your yourselves have been taught by God to love one another (1 Thessalonians 4:9). I speak of peace within one's own heart, which often is the greater struggle for us, arousing in the soul a thousand disturbances, anguishes, and disquiet with which the demon succeeds in his aim of thwarting us in the way of perfection. The distinguishing characteristic of the friends of God consists in this interior peace, which Christ so often recommended to his disciples, repeating: Peace be with you (Luke 10:5; 24:36) for he is called "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Disturbance, on the contrary, is characteristic of reprobates: There is no peace for the wicked. (Isaiah 48:22). Jesus cannot abide where there is no peace. The soul is a mirror; it is a crystal-clear steam which reflects all the beauties placed before it; in which the image of our God is reflected: into the same image we are being transformed (2 Corinthians 3:18), so long as the waters of this stream are nit disturbed or agitated, so long as the clarity of this mirror is not dimmed or obscured.
But if from the depths of this stream emerge the debris of passions, the muck of imperfections; if this mirror is exposed to the dust (which happens more often) the imperceptible cloud of fog dims it, suddenly the beauties it reflects distance themselves. This is precisely what happens to the heart.
Suddenly the heart loses peace and like the stream grown turbid, or the mirror darkened, the soul does not receive, but rather repels the rays of the sun that before allowed it to identity itself with this same stream, with the mirror. O beloved brother of mine! Strive to have this peace. which is happiness on earth. Happy is the one of whom it can be said: `His place of rest is in peace' (Psalm 75:3).
Responsory John 14: 26-27.
R. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, * will teach you everything, and will remind you of all that I have said to you.
V. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.
R. He will teach you everything, and will remind you of all that I have said to you.
Blessed Bernard Francis de Hoyos, priest
Bernard Francis de Hoyos was born on 20 August 1711 in Torrelobaton, in the modern province of Vallalodid, Spain. After excelling in classical studies in the Colleges of Medina del Campo and Villagarcia de Campos, he entered the Society of Jesus on 11 July 1726 and was ordained a priest on 2 January 1735. He always distinguished himself for his perfection in the virtues and particularly for his love of God and of neighbor. From the beginning until the end of his religious life he received eminent mystical graces from the Lord. He was responsible for the introduction of the public veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spain. He died of typhus in Valladolid on 29 November 1735 during his terrtianship. In 2009, Benedict XVI inscribed him in the book of the Blessed.
Leave a comment