Saints: April 2009 Archives

Merciful God, source and goal of all life, you gave Blessed Pauline the grace to seek and do your will in all the changing circumstances of her life. Through her intercession help us to trust in your guidance and to bear witness to your love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Sisters of Christian Charity

Mother Adalberta Mette's biography of Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt

The source of Mother Pauline's competence and self-assurance in dealing with people was Christ. It was said of her:

Christ was the center of her life--Christ, "the kindness and love of God" (Titus 3, 4) made visible. In Christ, in the encounter with him in his Word and in the Eucharist, as well as in the "least of his brothers and sisters," she found love that does not count, that does not calculatingly repay like with like, but gives itself away out of pure mercy, without reservation, without restriction, without intention, and which gives witness of the fidelity, the mercy, the affection of God for us people. It is that love which accepts the risk to let the other free to accept this affection but in the same way knows how to awaken the best in others and may raise them to the light.  She wanted every Sister of her congregation to feel impelled by this love.

O God, who willed to guide the steps of your priest, saint Louis-Marie, into the way of salvation and of delight in Christ in the company of the Blessed Virgin, grant that we, by following his example, may meditate the mysteries of your love and devote ourselves tirelessly to the upbuilding of your Church.

Saint Louis-Marie's Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary can be followed here.

And if you want to know more about the rosary, read a classic: The Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.

A brief biography of Saint Louis-Marie can be read here.

All of Montfort's works are worthy of time but especially noteworthy is the Total Consecration.

O ye holy and just ones, rejoice in the Lord, alleluia. God hath chosen you unto Himself for an inheritance, alleluia.

O God, Who didst exalt blessed Mark, Thine Evangelist, by the grace of teaching Thy Gospel; grant we beseech Thee, that we may ever profit by his teachings and be defended by his prayers.

Ye daughters of Jerusalem, come and see the Martyrs with the crowns wherewith the Lord hath crowned them, on the day of their solemn feast and rejoicing, alleluia, alleluia.

O God, Who dost gladden us by the merits and intercession of blessed George. Thy Martyr; mercifully grant that as we seek Thy blessings through him, we may obtain them by the gift of Thy grace.

...that they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (John 17:21).

In simplicity of heart I gladly offer everything, O Lord.
The Lord put me on this path, he will remember to sustain me in battle.
To His mercy I entrust my frailty.
I saw in front of me a big cross...,

I thought that my sacrifice was nothing in comparison to His.
I offered myself entirely and I do not withdraw the given word.
God's will whatever it may be, this is my joy, my happiness, my peace.
I will never be able to thank enough.
I cannot say but these words:" My God, your Glory."

Blessed Maria Gabriella

Read more of the blessed's life here and here.

Saint Anselm, Abbot, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (1033 - 1109)

This year marks the ninth centenary of the death of Saint Anselm, often referred to as the "Father of Scholasticism," though he is one among many who are said to be the "Father of Scholasticism," a philosophical movement which sought to express religious dogma within a philosophical framework dependent on the Fathers of the Church, especially Saint Augustine of Hippo, and the teaching of Aristotle. He relied on reason to argue for the existence of God and other theological tenets.

Three of Anselm's best known works of more than 10 known works, On Divine Being (Monologion),  Why God Became Man (Cur Deus Homo) and the treatise on the Knowledge of the Existence of God (the Proslogion) continue to keep his name alive in philosophical and theological circles.

Born in Aosta, Italy, he traveled to France for his education where he eventually became a monk at the newly founded monastery of Bec in Normandy. In 1063 he was appointed Prior of the monastery. He was profoundly influenced by the charismatic scholar and abbot, Lanfranc, who was to become the close friend of the Norman Duke, William, famous for his conquest of England in 1066. Lanfranc was appointed archbishop of the primatial See of Canterbury, continuing to be the trusted advisor of the king and pursuing a policy of reforming the Church in England along Norman lines through ecclesiastical administration, liturgical ritual, and Romanesque architecture.

Anselm, after his election as abbot of Bec (1078), was able to use his long tenure in office for scholarly and spiritual pursuits, a life to which he was ideally suited. Under Anselm Bec as an intellectual center expanded. Following Lanfranc's death, William II nominated Anselm to the See of Canterbury (1093), where, however, his temperament and continual conflicts with the Anglo-Norman kings caused him bitter disappointment and exile.

We beseech Thee, O Lord, graciously enlighten Thy Church, that being illumined by the teaching of blessed Anselm, Thy Confessor and Bishop, she may attain to eternal gifts.