SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, Priest and Angelic Doctor.

 

The story and history of SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS. Thomas Aquina was born of noble parents at Aquino in Italy, in 1226. At the age of nineteen he received the Dominican habit at Naples, where he was studying. Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris, he suffered a two years’ captivity in their castle of Rocca-Secca; but neither the caresses of his mother and sisters, nor the threats and stratagems of his brothers, could shake him in his vocation. While Thomas was in confinement at Rocca-Secca, his brothers endeavored to entrap him into sin, but the attempt only ended in the triumph of his purity. Snatching from the hearth a burning brand, the Saint drove from his chamber the wretched creature whom they had there concealed. Then marking a cross upon the wall, he knelt down to pray, and forthwith, being rapt in ecstasy, an angel girded him with a cord, in token of the gift of perpetual chastity which God had given him. The pain caused by the girdle was so sharp that Thomas uttered a piercing cry, which brought his guards into the room. But he never told this grace to any one save only to Father Raynald, his confessor, a little while before his death. Hence originated the Confraternity of the “Angelic Warfare,” for the preservation of the virtue of chastity.

Having at length escaped, Saint Thomas went to Cologne to study under Blessed Albert the Great, and after that to Paris, where for many years he taught philosophy and theology. The Church has ever venerated his numerous writings as a treasure-house of sacred doctrine; while in naming him the Angelic Doctor she has indicated that his science is more divine than human. The rarest gifts of intellect were combined in him with the tenderest piety. Prayer, he said, had taught him more than study. His singular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament shines forth in the Office and hymns for Corpus Christi, which he composed. To the words miraculously uttered by a crucifix at Naples, “Well have you written concerning mme, Thomas. What shall I give you as a reward?” He replied, “Nothing save yourself, O Lord.” He died at Fossa-Nuova, 1274, on his way to the General Council of Lyons, to which Pope Gregory X had summoned him. His tomb is located in Tolouse.

©Ibreviary

SAINT AGNES, Virgin and Martyr.

 The story and history of SAINT AGNES. Agnes was only twelve years old when she was led to the altar of Minerva at Rome and commanded to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised her hands to Christ, her spouse, and made the sign of the life-giving cross. She did not shrink when she was bound hand and foot, though the bonds slipped from her young hands, and the heathens who stood around were moved to tears. The bonds were not needed for her, and she hastened gladly to the place of her torture.

Next, when the judge saw that pain had no terrors for her, he inflicted an insult worse than death: her clothes were stripped off, and she had to stand in the street before a pagan crowd; yet even this did not daunt her. “Christ,” she said, “will guard His own.” So it was. Christ showed, by a miracle, the value which he sets upon the custody of the eyes. While the crowd turned away their eyes from the spouse of Christ, as she stood exposed to view in the street, there was one young man who dared to gaze at the innocent child with immodest eyes. A flash of light struck him blind, and his companions bore him away half dead with pain and terror.

Lastly, her fidelity to Christ was proved by flattery and offers of marriage. But she answered, “Christ is my spouse: he chose me first, and his I will be.” At length the sentence of death was passed. For a moment she stood erect in prayer, and then bowed her neck to the sword. At one stroke her head was severed from her body.

-IBreviary.

SAINT ANTHONY OF EGYPT

 

The life of SAINT ANTHONY will remind many people of Saint Francis of Assisi. At 20, Anthony was so moved by the Gospel message, “Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor” (Mark 10:21b), that he actually did just that with his large inheritance. He is different from Francis in that most of Anthony’s life was spent in solitude. He saw the world completely covered with snares, and gave the Church and the world the witness of solitary asceticism, great personal mortification and prayer. But no saint is antisocial, and Anthony drew many people to himself for spiritual healing and guidance.

At 54, he responded to many requests and founded a sort of monastery of scattered cells. Again like Francis, he had great fear of “stately buildings and well-laden tables.”

At 60, he hoped to be a martyr in the renewed Roman persecution of 311, fearlessly exposing himself to danger while giving moral and material support to those in prison. At 88, he was fighting the Arian heresy, that massive trauma from which it took the Church centuries to recover. “The mule kicking over the altar” denied the divinity of Christ.

Anthony is associated in art with a T-shaped cross, a pig and a book. The pig and the cross are symbols of his valiant warfare with the devil—the cross his constant means of power over evil spirits, the pig a symbol of the devil himself. The book recalls his preference for “the book of nature” over the printed word. Anthony died in solitude at 105.

©Ibreviary

He knows and holds your future

 Saturday of the first week in Ordinary Time. Year C

He knows and holds your future

“The LORD anoints you commander over his heritage.You are to govern the LORD’s people Israel" (1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1)

Beloved, the ways of the Lord is perfect, and different from ours. Saul did not plan what happened to him today, God led him through the search for the lost asses of his father, to his destiny of kingship. 

God knew Saul's future, his strength and weakness, yet he still goes on to annoint him.  He perfects his plan in mysterious ways. Jesus continues in like manner, he said he did not come to call the righteous but sinners. 

Beloved, don't be over worried about your past or future, put them in the hands of Him who holds the key to your life and future. Don't also condemn anyone. You see dearly beloved, every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. You are destined for greatness and God is willing to hold you by the hand, to lead you to the rightful place he prepared for you before you were born. He does this in mysterious ways, you only need to trust him, and live in the present moment, grateful for the past and hopeful for the future. 

Good morning and have a blessed day.

-Gerald Nwogueze, OFM Cap.

Is God still with us?

 

 Thursday of the first week in Ordinary Time. Year C

Is God still with us? 

 “Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?" (1 Sm 4:1-11)

Beloved, this was a very bad moment for Israel. They were defeated and the All powerful ark was  captured. Why?

There had been moments when I questioned the whereabouts of God while his people suffer. But coming to think of it, we abandoned him first when we chose to sin, but did the just God ever abandon us because of our sins? 🤔 

Why would God, All powerful and loving not prevent evil on his people? Don't we deserve good life, no sickness, no robbery, no accident, no kidnapping, no rape, no death, a cross free Christianity? 

The gospel of Mark 1:40- 45 instead, presents Jesus offering his healing presence to the leprous man, and all who sought him even when he wanted to be alone in the desert. No matter what caused the defeat of Israel today, obviously the sons of Eli and Eli were forewarned, Christ did not promise us sun without rain, love without hurt, life without suffering, he promises to fill our suffering with his presence! So in the mystery of suffering, will you still hold on to him?

We are often confused on what direction to take in the _way_ full of diverse routes, wide and narrow; who to trust in a _truth_ mixed with falsehood, and troubled over a _life_ that has an end, unknown to us. -Fulton Sheen-. Christ calls us to abide in him always, he is the way, truth and life, cut off from whom we can do nothing. 

Good morning and have a blessed day.

-Gerald Nwogueze, OFM Cap.

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ST. RAYMOND OF PENYAFORT

 

 OF PENYAFORT was born near Barcelona around 1175. He became a canon of the diocese of Barcelona and afterward joined the Order of Preachers. At the command of Pope Gregory IX, he produced a collection of canon law. He was elected general of his order and directed it wisely. The Summa casuum, which treats of the correct and fruitful administration of the sacrament of penance, is the most notable of his works. He died in 1275. 

©IBreviary

St. André Bessette, C.S.C.

 

 Bessette, C.S.C. (9 August 1845 – 6 January 1937), known simply as Brother André was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross, credited with thousands of reported miraculous oil healings associated within his deep devotion to Saint Joseph.

Born Alfred on August 9, 1845 in Mont-Saint-Grégoire,(Québec, he was so frail when he was born that the curé baptized in emergency at his birth. From a working-class family, his mother, Clothilde Foisy Bessette, saw to the education of her children. Alfred found himself orphaned at the age of twelve after the early deaths of his parents.

His parish priest, noting his piety and devotion, presented him to the Congregation of Holy Cross. writing a note to the superior, “I’m sending you a saint.” Initially rejected because of his frail health, Archbishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal intervened on his behalf, and in 1872, Alfred was accepted, and entered the novitiate of the congregation, receiving the religious name of Brother André, by which he was known for the rest of his life. He made his final vows on February 2, 1874, at the age of 28.

André was given the task of porter at Notre Dame College in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec“When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40 years,” he said.

He was deeply devoted to Saint Joseph and recommend Saint Joseph’s intercession to the afflicted. On his many visits to the sick in their homes, he would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel and recommend them in prayer to Saint Joseph. People claimed that they had been cured through the prayers of the good Brother and Saint Joseph, and they were grateful their prayers had been heard. Brother André steadfastly refused to take any credit for these cures. Because he wanted Saint Joseph to be honored, in 1904 Bessette began the campaign to erect a chapel to honor Saint Joseph.

When an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, André volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. “I do not cure,” he said again and again. “Saint Joseph cures.” In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the 80,000 letters he received each year.

As his reputation spread, controversy inevitably arose. There were many religious in the Congregation of Holy Cross, teachers and parents of students at the College who supported him but many others opposed him and even considered him dangerous to the well-being of the school’s reputation because they regarded him as a charlatan.

In 1924 construction of a basilica named Saint Joseph’s Oratory began on the side of the mountain, near his chapel. André Bessette died in 1937, at the age of 91. A million people filed past his coffin. Brother André was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II on May 23, 1982. On October 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI formally declared sainthood for him, the first saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

 ©IBreviary

SAINT JOHN NEUMANN

SAINT JOHN NEUMANN was born in Bohemia on March 20, 1811. Since he had a great desire to dedicate himself to the American missions, he came to the United States as a cleric and was ordained in New York in 1836 by Bishop Dubois. In 1840, he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists). He labored in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 1852, he was ordained bishop of Philadelphia. There he worked dilligently for the establishment of parish schools and the erection of many parishes for the numerous immigrants. Bishop Neumann died on January 5, 1860. He was beatified by Saint Paul VI in 1963 and also canonized by him in 1977.
 ©IBreviary