Saints – Page 62

Pope Saint Leo the Great

The Church offers us today the life of someone salvation history has determined to be a significant figure in the proclamation of the Gospel. Pope Saint Leo the Great, a doctor of the Church helped the Church of his era develop orthodox thinking on the person of Jesus Christ that is standard theology today. He defended the two natures of Jesus Christ at the Council of Chalcedon. The Fathers of Chalcedon said, “Peter has spoken through Leo!”

Saint Leo is one of three popes to be given the title “the Great” acknowledging his work as a father of the faithful.

This text is a hymn based on a text taken from the Office of Readings for Matins for Christmas. This text captures Leo and his keeping belief in Christ correct.

God truly is come down from heaven,

begotten of the Father,

and has entered into the womb of the Virgin

and has appeared visibly to us,

clothed in human flesh

received from our first parent:

and He who is both God and man,

Light and Life,

the Creator of the world,

has passed through the closed portal.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Who is Saint Josemaría Escrivá?

The Pope advocated knowing the lives of the saints as a way of coming to know Christ, and to know how to live one’s baptism. This video of Saint Josemaría Escrivá gives an excellent introduction to the life of a 20th century saint and founder of the lay movement of Opus Dei.

Saint Josemaría’s work was to make known that sanctification is open to all people. People can find God in their ordinary lives; deep spirituality can be found in the everyday activity, at work, in the family, the world. Secularity (not to be confused with secularism) showed the face of the living God. Living for God is what we are all called to, with absolutely no distinction. Holiness is not just for priests and nuns. At his canonization on October 6, 2002, Pope John Paul II called Escrivá the “saint of ordinary life.”

Saint Josemaría’s liturgical memorial is June 26.

Saint Charles Borromeo

Saint Charles Borromeo’s intercession is as much needed today as ever we needed it. He was an unexpected gift of God to his family and to the Church and we ask him to intercede for us. Some interesting points about the legacy of Saint Charles Borromeo, whose feast we celebrate today.

His nephew,
Federico Borromeo (1564-1631), was archbishop of Milan from 1595 and,
furthering Charles’ support for Catholic learning, in 1609 founded the
Ambrosian Library in that city. He donated a tremendous collection of art and
literature to the library.
Borromeo’s emblem is the Latin
word humilitas (humility), which is a portion of the Borromeo shield.
He is usually represented in art in his robes, barefoot, carrying the cross as archbishop; a rope round his neck, one hand raised in blessing, thus recalling his
work during the plague.
Borromeo is one of only four people mentioned at the
beginning of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, citing them as responsible
for the Council of Trent, which gave way to the modern day catechism. The
others mentioned are St. Peter Canisius, St. Turibius of Mongrovejo and St.
Robert Bellarmine.
The city and county of St. Charles, Missouri are named for
Borromeo.

All Saints

Today is the day since the time of Pope Gregory III that the Church has observed a day for all the saints ever recognized officially, and for those who are in the process of becoming listed saints in the martyrology, and certainly all those holy men and women who ever lived. Looking at the Roman Martyrology, the book that contains all the saints of the Church, but it doesn’t list the all the Baptized. Hence, our feast day. There is a great dynamic of love that we observe today, but it should be a dynamic that we live every day of our lives. How many people, holy men and women have we known who touched out lives in great and small ways. I think of the various priests, and laity who promised to pray for me.

During his September visit to England, Pope Benedict boldly asked the young (indeed, all of us) to consider becoming saints and not to settle for something less than what we are made for. The value here, if you want to speak in this way, is that holiness is not for plastic people, people who have no sense of relationships, no concept of community, no understanding of the value of good friends. Holiness means taking ourselves seriously as loved people and worthy of friendship with the Lord and with another person; holiness is means setting aside distractions, sinful tendencies and the lack of attentiveness of God and what Jesus did for us. That is, Jesus’ death and resurrection for love of us personally. It’s taken me a long time to understand this point, and what the Pope has invited to, but there is solid, reliable truth in that God alone satisfies me. Which means, other things and mediocre relationships do not. Here is a portion of his homily:

What God wants
most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you
much more than you could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for
you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness.

Perhaps some of
you have never thought about this before. Perhaps some of you think being a
saint is not for you. Let me explain what I mean. When we are young, we can
usually think of people that we look up to, people we admire, people we want to
be like. It could be someone we meet in our daily lives that we hold in great
esteem. Or it could be someone famous. We live in a celebrity culture, and
young people are often encouraged to model themselves on figures from the world
of sport or entertainment. My question for you is this: what are the qualities
you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of
person would you really like to be?

When I invite you to become saints, I am
asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue
one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to
be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to
make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but
it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still. It might make
us famous, but it will not make us happy. Happiness is something we all want,
but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find
it, because they look for it in the wrong places. The key to it is very simple
– true happiness is to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place
our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success,
or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the
deepest needs of our hearts.

Pope Benedict XVI

Greeting to Catholic Pupils of
the United Kingdom

St Mary’s College, Twickenham

17 September 2010

Saints Simon and Jude

May the apostles and martyrs Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us!

May Saint Simon intercede for Egypt and may Saint Jude intercede for Persia!

Saint Luke

Lord God, who chose Saint Luke to reveal by his preaching and writings the mystery of Your love for the poor, grant that those who already glory in Your Name, may persevere as one heart and one soul, and that all the nations may merits to see Your salvation.

Today, let us pray for healthcare professionals, hospital chaplains and those others who care for the ill through Saint Luke’s intercession.

Saint André Bessette

Pope Benedict said earlier today,

“Brother André Bessette, born in Quebec, in Canada, and a
religious of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, knew suffering and poverty
very early in life. This led him to turn to God for prayer and an intense
interior life. Doorman at the Notre Dame College in Montreal, he showed
boundless charity and did everything possible to soothe the despair of those
who confided in him. With little instruction, he nevertheless understood what
was essential to his faith. For him, to believe meant to submit freely and
lovingly to Divine Will. Everything existed through the mystery of Jesus, he
lived the beatitude of the pure of heart, that of personal rectitude. It is
thanks to this simplicity, he showed many God. He had the Saint Joseph Oratory
of Mont Royal built, where he was the faithful guardian until his death in
1937. There, he was the witness of many healings and conversions. “Do not try
to have your trials taken away from you”, he said, “rather, ask for the grace
to endure them well”. For him, everything spoke of God and His presence. May
we, following his example, search for God with simplicity to discover Him
always present in the core of our lives! May the example of Brother André
inspire Canadian Christian life!”

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop

The Church in Australia has a her first native born
saint, Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
The canonized Saint Mary of the Cross with 5 others earlier today. The feast day of Saint Mary of the Cross is August 8.

“She
dedicated herself as a young woman to the education of the poor in the
difficult and demanding terrain of rural Australia, inspiring other women to
join her in the first women’s community of religious sisters of that country.
She attended to the needs of each young person entrusted to her, without regard
for station or wealth, providing both intellectual and spiritual formation.
Despite many challenges, her prayers to Saint Joseph and her unflagging
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom she dedicated her new
congregation, gave this holy woman the graces needed to remain faithful to God
and to the Church. Through her intercession, may her followers today continue
to serve God and the Church with faith and humility! She dedicated herself as a
young woman to the education of the poor in the difficult and demanding terrain
of rural Australia, inspiring other women to join her in the first women’s
community of religious sisters of that country. She attended to the needs of
each young person entrusted to her, without regard for station or wealth,
providing both intellectual and spiritual formation. Despite many challenges,
her prayers to Saint Joseph and her unflagging devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, to whom she dedicated her new congregation, gave this holy woman the
graces needed to remain faithful to God and to the Church. Through her
intercession, may her followers today continue to serve God and the Church with
faith and humility!”

(Pope Benedict XVI, 17 October 2010, canonization
homily)

Saint Edward the Confessor

Hail to You, Christ, Prince of Peace!

Your great reign shall never cease!

Model of each Christian king,

Hear the song of praise we bring

For Saint Edward, strong and true,

Ever faithful, Lord, to You!

On this day we sing his fame,

And proclaim Your holy Name!

Steadfast in his nation’s care,

Fervent with the poor to share,

Just to great and small, they say;

His good deeds we sing this day!

Give us grace, like him to strive,

That our faith might be alive,

Full of mercy, love, and grace

That the world may see Your face!

Glory to the Father bring!

Glory to the Son, our King!

Glory to the Spirit blest!

Three-in-One, in heaven’s rest!

With St. Edward joined as one,

May we pray, “Thy will be done!”

Till we there in heav’n may be

Joined with You, forever free!

77.77D

suggested tune: St George’s Windsor

Blessed John XXIII

Today we are given Blessed John XXIII as a model of holiness. Pope Blessed John’s liturgical memorial is not the date of his death but the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

As one example of his holy inclinations I recently read his 1962 letter to women religious, “Il Tempio Massimo.” It is remains a beautiful testament to a great man filled with the Holy Spirit lived as a man of the Church. In this letter the Pope talks about the place of spiritual renewal in religious life; he’s got the grace of a new Pentecost in mind: an old person can be born again.

The new Pentecost in Blessed John’s mind is evidenced in a life of prayer, a life of example and a life in the apostolate, whether active or in the cloister. Of course, this letter to the women religious has a specific structure and emphasis but one that ought not be lost to the rest of the Church today; the Pope encourages us “to cultivate a holy enthusiasm” in life in Christ aiming to a more complete and full vocation first introduced to us in the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation & Eucharist) and then in the call to serve the Lord and the Church in a particular manner (the vowed life, priesthood for those given that vocation, the married state and single life).

Blessed John’s points on prayer could be summarized as follows:

1. “…more rigid mortification and penance is intended to affirm once again the pre-eminence of the duties of worship and of complete consecration of life to prayer over any other form of apostolate…;

2. “…conform more perfectly to the call of the Divine Master…in the contemplative life”;

3. “…the only foundations and soul of the apostolate is the interior life”;

4. without a life of prayer can “…fall into that ‘heresy of action’;

5. a life of prayer “…entails not a mechanical repetition of formulas but is rather the irreplaceable means by which one enters into intimacy with the Lord, to better understand the dignity of being daughters of of God and spouses of the Holy Spirit, the ‘sweet guest of the soul’ Who speaks to those who know how to listen in recollection”;

6. “holy Mass should be the center of your day, so much so that every action converges on it as a preparation or as a thanksgiving. Let Holy Communion be the daily food which sustains, comforts and strengthens you”;

7. 3 recommended and fundamental devotions: “Nothing is better for enlightening and encouraging the adoration of Jesus than to meditate upon Him and invoke Him in the threefold light of the Name, the Heart and the Blood.

I’d recommend reading the rest of the letter because Pope John talks about honoring poverty, radiating chastity, a life of sweet obedience and the apostolic and contemplative life.