Thought for the Day – 13 February – The Memorial of Blessed Jordan of Saxony O.P. (1190-1237
“You have no doubt heard that our kind Father, Master Jordan, his two companions and ninety-nine other persons have been taken from this wicked world by shipwreck in a violent storm. However, dear brothers, do not let your hearts be saddened by this awful calamity; for God, in His mercy, has already greatly consoled us, who have become orphans through the untimely death of a good Father. After the storm, the bodies of our three confrères were washed ashore and bright lights in the form of crosses shone over them every night until they were found and buried where they lay by those who escaped from the disaster. These, together with many others, have borne testimony to the miracle. Moreover, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, drawn to the place of the catastrophe by reports of so marvellous an occurrence, testify that they experienced a sweet fragrance all round; while those who touched the bodies declare that this fragrance did not leave their hands for more than ten days. Indeed, this same sweet odour pervaded the locality until the fathers at Ptolomais came in a boat and took up the bodies for burial in the conventual church of that city. There now repose the remains of our late beloved Master General; and many wonders have in this short time been attributed to his intercession. Blessed be God in all His works. Amen”
All through his religious life the second head of the Order had been regarded as a very saintly man. A number of prodigies were said to have been wrought by him. Others came after his death; while several very holy persons declared that, in visions, they saw his soul ascend into heaven. All this, together with the facts recorded in the letter just quoted, occasioned a devotion to the man of God which continued through the course of centuries and caused him to be given the title of Blessed Jordan of Saxony. After a thorough study of this immemorial veneration by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, Leo XII, who reigned from 1823 to 1829, allowed the Friars Preacher the world over to say mass and recite the divine office in his honour. Throughout his Order he is held in an esteem second only to that which is accorded to Saint Dominic.
It is not commonly known or understood the highly efficacious intercession available to us all and thus we pray, Blessed Jordan of Saxony, Pray for us!
AnaStpaul 