Thought for the Day – 24 September – The Memorial of Bl Anton Martin Slomsek (1800-1862)
“Teacher and educator, writer and poet, biographer and critic,
lover of his mother tongue and fighter for national equality,
patriot, speaker and preacher, ecumenical worker
and theological teacher of the Slovene people,
priest and bishop. Slomsek’s personality is like a mosaic,
each stone has its own colour, its own function and size
but all together provide the image of a saint,
that is a person who is open to the breath of the Holy Spirit,
who prophetically understands the signs of the time and responds to them,
who understands how to use all natural and supernatural means
to realise the kingdom of God on earth.” …… Dr Franc Kramberger, Bishop of Maribor, Slovenia, 1999
“The new blessed also paid great attention to culture. Living in the middle of the last century, he was perfectly aware of the importance for the nation’s future of the intellectual formation of its inhabitants, especially the young. For this reason, he combined pastoral action with commitment to the promotion of culture, which represents a nation’s wealth and is the patrimony of all Culture is the soil from which a people can draw the necessary elements for their growth and development.
Convinced of this, Slomsek worked to open various schools for young people and saw to the publication of books useful for human and spiritual formation. He warned that if young people were corrupted, the fault could often be traced to the lack of adequate formation. Families, schools and the Church, he taught, must join forces in a serious educational programme, each preserving its own area of autonomy, but all taking account of the values they share.
Only with a sound formation can men and women be prepared to build a world that is open to the perennial values of truth and love.”…St John Paul at the Beatification of Bl Anton (Sunday, 19 September 1999)
Bl Anton Martin Slomsek, Pray for us!
AnaStpaul 