Thought for the Day – 19 February – The Memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933)
It was at Clongowes that his life of prayer and penance began to be noticed. He ate the plainest of food. Staff who looked after rooms said his bed was untouched and he slept on the floor. He was always seen in the chapel praying until late and rising early to do so again. At times, he hardly seemed to notice the world around him. But if he was hard on himself, he was never so on others. Despite his brilliant mind and academic achievements it was his holiness that was recognised. Many revered him as a saint. He prayed constantly – he walked with God continually – he listened to Him and he found Him and God worked through him. Many who were in need of spiritual or physical healing flocked to him and asked his prayers – and strange things happened. The power of God seemed to work through him and many were cured.
But there was another dimension. Apart from his work as teacher, spiritual father and retreat director, Father Sullivan was a familiar figure amongst the sick and the needy for miles around Clongowes. He visited them on foot or on an old battered bicycle. On these home visits to the poor, he brought them small luxuries, including a bit of tobacco, tea and sugar, as well as oranges and apples. In time, there was an ever-widening circle of others, whom he visited in hospitals and consoled by letter, or who came to him from almost every county in Ireland to ask the intercession of his prayers in their illness and misfortunes. He constantly heard confessions in the church attached to the college. People came by bicycle, by horse or donkey and cart, or arranged a lift in a car for a sick person. In later years, it was a common sight to see several vehicles waiting outside the door, in which invalids had been brought to receive his blessing.
Neither weather nor distance seemed to be major obstacles. Once Fr Sullivan walked fourteen miles there and fourteen miles back to pray with and to bless a sick person. His bicycle brought him on longer journeys, including visits to Dublin and back. In his threadbare clothes and his aged and patched boots, he was a familiar sight on the roads around Clongowes and further afield.
Fr Sullivan’s prayers restored people to health, cured their pain, relieved them of psychological problems. His compassion and reverence for the person was often observed. He would draw very close to them, when even medical staff found their condition near nauseating. There have been hundreds of testimonies attributing various healings to him during his life and a number of those are seen as miracles and have been verified as such, which has led to his beatification.
Cardinal Amato, at the Beatification ceremony, also referred to an incident when Fr John, on one of his customary visits to the sick, encountered a priest already in the cottage visiting. “The pastor asked him to leave, fearing a dangerous opponent in the ministry. Upon his brusque command, Fr Sullivan knelt down and asked forgiveness. The pastor was profoundly moved.” The profound humility of Bl John reaches out now still to us all. May we constantly pray for his intercession that God may grace us with this greatest of all virtues, humility!
PRAYER for the CANONISATION of Blessed JOHN SULLIVAN (1861-1933)
O God, who honour those who honour You, make sacred the memory of Your servant, John Sullivan, by granting through his intercession the petition we now make ………………………………………. [bring to mind your intention] Hasten the day when his name will be numbered among those of Your saints. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
One Minute Reflection – 19 February – The Memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933)
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours...Mark 11:24
REFLECTION – “In prayer,don’t mind the scaffolding. Get at God.”
PRAYER – God of mercy, teach us to live as You have ordained. Help us to follow Your commandments with courage and steadfast devotion. Let our Saviour be our master, help us to learn from Him, the ways of prayer in silence. Fill us with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that we may learn how to pray. Grant blessed Trinity, that by the prayers of Blessed John Sullivan, who so clearly gave himself totally in prayer, we may grow in holiness. Through Jesus our Lord, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 19 February – The Memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933) and Monday of the First Week of Lent – a Penitential Prayer from St Ignatius
Pardon Me, O my God St Ignatius Loyola S.J. (1491-1556)
Pardon me,
O perfections of my God,
for having preferred imperfect
and evil inclinations to Thee!
Pardon me,
O justice of my God,
for having outraged Thee by my sins.
Pardon me,
O holiness of my God,
for having so long stained
Thy sight’s purity, by my sins.
Pardon me,
O mercy of my God,
for having despised so long
Thy mercy’s voice.
In deep sorrow and contrition,
I cast myself at Thy feet.
Have mercy on me.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 19 February – Blessed John Sullivan S.J. (1861-1933) – Priest, Religious, Lawyer, Teacher, Writer, Miracle Worker, Apostle of Charity. Patronages – Ecumenism, teachers. Blessed John (8 May 1861 – 19 February 1933) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Jesuits. Sullivan was known for his life of deep spiritual reflection and personal sacrifice; he is recognised for his dedicated work with the poor and afflicted and spent much of his time walking and riding his bike to visit those who were troubled or ill in the villages around Clongowes Wood College school where he taught from 1907 until his death.
From the 1920s onwards there were people who testified to his healing power despite the fact that he never claimed credit or causation for himself from these reported cases. Father Sullivan was known for his friendliness, his amiable nature was coupled with a somewhat shy temperament but one willing to aid those who needed it most. He was noted for his strong faith and for leading multiple penances on himself such as eating little.
Sullivan had long been admired during his life and was known as a man of inspirational holiness which prompted for calls for his beatification; the cause later opened and would culminate on 7 November 2014 after Pope Francis confirmed his heroic virtue and named him as Venerable. The same pope approved a miraculous healing credited to his intercession on 26 April 2016. His beatification, the first ever to take place Ireland, took place in Dublin on 13 May 2017 and was celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Amato.
Childhood and education
John Sullivan was born in mid-1861 at 41 Eccles Street in the old Dublin. He was born as the last of five children to Sir Edward Sullivan (10.07.1822–13.04.1885) – member of the Church of Ireland and a successful barrister who would later become the Lord Chancellor of Ireland – and Elizabeth Josephine Bailey (1823–27.01.1898) – a Roman Catholic from a prominent land-owning household in Passage West. Sullivan was raised as a Protestant and was baptised in the local Church of Ireland parish of Saint George on Temple Street on 15 July 1861. One sister was Annie Sullivan (1852-25.01.1918) and a brother was William (23.02.1860–07.07.1937). The girls were raised as Catholics while the sons were raised as Protestants. The first child was Annie and then came Edward, Robert and William.
In late 1861 the household relocated to 32 Fitzwilliam Place in Dublin. In 1873 he was sent to the Portora Royal School in Enniskillen with his brother William. In 1877 his brother Robert (1853–77) drowned after a boating accident in Killiney Bay along with Constance Exham who was the daughter of a family friend.
After his time at the Portora Royal School he followed in his father’s footsteps and went to Trinity College from 1879 where he studied classics. He was awarded the Gold Medal in Classics in 1885 and he studied for the English Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in London. During this period he travelled across Europe and spent time taking walking tours in Macedonia and Greece as well as Asia Minor. He spent several months in one of the Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos and even contemplated entering it as a monk. He travelled through Southern Italy en route home but was forced to prolong his stay there due to contracting smallpox.
Upon his father’s death in 1885 he came into a comfortable inheritance. He was a frequent visitor to the Hospice of the Dying at Harold’s Cross where he brought comfort and companionship in addition to small tokens of food and drink as well as clothing to those ill people. Even after he became a teacher at Clongowes Wood College he continued these small luxuries to the poor including a bit of tobacco while also providing them with tea and sugar as well as oranges and apples. His brother novices remember him for his small kindnesses extended to his classmates.
Conversion and priesthood
Sullivan was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 21 December 1896 in a celebration that the Jesuit priest Michael Gavin presided over at Farm Street Church Mayfair in central London. His family had expressed their great surprise upon his decision to convert to the Catholic faith. He commenced his Jesuit novitiate on 7 September 1900 at Saint Stanislaus College at Tullabeg. On completion of his novitiate around 1901 he was sent for his philosophical studies – until 1904 – to Saint Mary’s Hall in Stonyhurst. In 1904 – once he concluded his studies – he went to Milltown Park in Dublin for his theological studies and the Archbishop of Dublin William Walsh later ordained Sullivan as a Jesuit priest in the chapel at Milltown Park on 28 July 1907. He said his first Mass at the convent of the Irish Sisters of Charity at Mount Saint Anne’s in Milltown.
Sullivan soon after took up a teaching position at Clongowes Wood College which was an all-male boarding school the Jesuits managed near Clane. From 25 July 1919 until 20 May 1924 he served as the rector of the Juniorate and Retreat House at Rathfarnham Castle on the outskirts of Dublin. Sullivan then returned to teaching at Clongowes Wood College after this. Sullivan was untiring in his attention to the sick and he would travel miles to make a sick call which was often on foot but also riding a battered bike. On one occasion a workman by chance passed the chapel at the school at 2:00 am to see Sullivan in deep prayer on his knees. Each Holy Thursday, he spent five or six hours kneeling before the altar.
Illness and death
In February 1933 he began suffering severe abdominal pains and so was transferred on 17 February from the college to Saint Vincent’s Nursing Home in Lower Leeson Street in Dublin while asking for his breviary to be brought to him. Sullivan died at 11:00 pm on 19 February 1933 with his brother Sir William Sullivan at his side; an old friend who was present at his death said: “He died well”. He was buried in Clongowes Wood Cemetery. In 1960 his remains were exhumed and transferred to Saint Francis Xavier Church on Upper Gardiner Street.
Beatification
In 1944 his name was placed on the list that the Jesuit postulator Carlo Micinelli had set up in relation to prospective sainthood causes that could be opened; opening the process saw him titled as a Servant of God. The informative process that opened in 1953 saw the accumulation of witness testimonies and documentation being gathered and this process was completed in September 1960. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints were given the evidence and validated the informative process in acceptance in 1969 prior to theologians approving his spiritual writings in 1972. On 22 February 2000 the C.C.S. issued the official “nihil obstat” to the cause which acted as a formal introduction to the cause and approval of its continuation.
In June 2002 another process was held in Dublin to collate further evidence and the findings of this particular tribunal were forwarded to the C.C.S. who validated it on 18 October 2002. In 2004 the postulation submitted the Positio dossier to the C.C.S. for inspection with their consulting theologians approving its contents on 19 November 2013; the C.C.S. later approved this on 16 October 2014.
On 7 November 2014 he was named as Venerable after Pope Francis – himself a Jesuit – approved a decree acknowledging the heroic virtue of the late priest’s life based on the cardinal and theological virtues. Sullivan’s beatification depended on the approval of a miracle that was an unexplainable healing after his death; one such case was investigated in Ireland and it received C.C.S. validation on 10 February 2006. The C.C.S. approved this miracle on 19 April 2016 after the medical experts and theologians approved it. The pontiff – on 26 April 2016 – approved a miracle attributed to the late priest’s intercession and thus approved his beatification to take place. The miracle approved was the 1954 healing of a cancerous tumor on the neck of the Dublin woman Delia Farnham.
The beatification was celebrated in Dublin at the Saint Francis Xavier Church on 13 May 2017. He was also the first person to ever be beatified in Ireland.
The current postulator for this cause is the Jesuit priest Anton Witwer. The current vice-postulator is the Jesuit priest Conor Harper.
Devotions and legacies
There is a constant demand for blessings with his vow crucifix which is kept in the Saint Francis Xavier Church where his remains are located in the Sacred Heart Chapel. There is a special Mass celebrated in that church once each month dedicated to him and there is also an annual Mass to celebrate his life at the same church celebrated close to the commemoration of his 1933 death. The people of Kildare created their own monument to the late priest in Clane close to Clongowes Wood College.
Sullivan had been a Protestant until he reached middle age though that church was an important aspect to his life. On 8 May 1983 the retired Church of Ireland Archbishop George Simms gave the address at a memorial service to honour Sullivan’s life and work which was held in Saint Georges Church on Temple Street. The Catholic Auxiliary Bishop James Kavanagh attended and bought with him a text from Pope John Paul II reading: “His Holiness asks you to convey his cordial greetings to all present. In communion of prayer he gives thanks to Almighty God for the extraordinary gifts bestowed on Father Sullivan during his life and for the spirit of mutual understanding, reconciliation and goodwill which his memory enkindles between various christian communities in Ireland today”.
Miracles during his lifetime
There have been miracles reported during Sullivan’s life such as the two mentioned below:
The cure of Michael Collins (b. 1925) – nephew of the famed Michael Collins – from infantile paralysis. The child awoke one night in October 1928 in extreme distress and the summoned doctor diagnosed him with infantile paralysis. Mrs Collins drove to the school seeking out Sullivan’s assistance; Sullivan promised to say a Mass but also rode his bike to their home where he touched the child’s leg and prayed over him for two hours.
The cure of Miss Kitty Garry (aged ten at the time) from TB; he blessed her and the ailment left her after a month.
Genesis 9:8-15, Psalms 25:4-9, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:12-15
Mark 1:15 – “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Psalm 25:4 – Make me to know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths
Lent is a kind of desert. A time set apart to pray with greater focus and intensity.
A time to fast from what distracts us from what is most important – that good news!
When the outside noise is quietened, we are more in touch with the inner pulls that are going on inside of us.
It is not always a comfortable space to be!
We are used to be anaesthetised to the tugs of the Holy Spirit calling us to something new, something more and often we struggle to be free from the attachment to things, we would prefer them staying just as they are, thank you.
But now we seek to emerge, like Jesus, from our desert time of Lent, strengthened and renewed.
We have a new energy and courage to respond to whatever God is asking of us in this moment of our lives.
Part of that time is to spend true moments, as Jesus did, listening to the Father. We must create some desert space.
Is there a time we can safeguard each day for prayer?
Can we reduce the clutter of too much external stimulation from TV, social media, so that we can tune into what God is saying, what the Holy Spirit is wanting us to notice?
Be sure to find that “desert time and space” each day. What are those inner concerns, questions, worries with which the Spirit is driving you into that desert this Lent? Imagine yourself with Jesus in the desert. Enter into conversation with Him.
Fr Nicholas King SJ – Long Journey to the Resurrection
Christus.Behold a matter that is deeply displeasing to Me, namely, how few there are who recognise the value of time, the time that I lend to men for doing penance, for increasing the grace given them, for acquiring heavenly glory. Lo, the acceptable yet irrevocable time, passes and no one is considering it in his heart; the days of salvation are slipping by and no one makes the occasion of their flight a reason for using well what can never return.
But you, as far as you are able, flee the things of time, such as acquaintanceship, speech-making and occupations of small profit and because the days are evil, redeem the time that should be given rather to Me and to your soul than to others. Is My proposition hard and difficult? Observe how much time is given up to the body for food and sleep, to conversation, banquets and the rest, so that you cannot give ever so small a portion to God, to your soul, to eternity! Alas, how prodigal men are of time when it is a question of serving vanity, how sparing of it when it is a case of occupying themselves with His business to whom all time is owed.
Make me to know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths…Psalm 25:4
Keep me, O God, from pettiness. Let us be large in thought, word and deed. Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off self-seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face without self-pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgement and always generous. Let us take time for all things. Make us grow calm, serene, gentle. Teach us to put into action our better impulses and make us straight-forward and unafraid. Grant that we may realise that it is the little things in life that create differences; that in the big things we are all as one. And, O Lord God, Let us not forget to be kind. Amen
Saturday after Ash Wednesday – 17 February 2018 Isaiah 58:9-14, Psalms 86:1-6, Luke 5:27-32
Show me Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth.
Isaiah 58:9-10: “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your darkest hour will be like noon.
Luke 5:32: “I have come to call not the upright but sinners to repentance.”
Isaiah makes it abundantly clear that it is our service to the poor and the weak that wins God’s favour, not lifeless religious practices. The message becomes most meaningful in modern society, marked by unfair distribution of resources, hatred, violence, abuse and mutual accusations. It is only when we strive against such evils that we win God’s approval. “You shall be like the watered garden” the prophet says. The image stands for the possession of every good thing that we desire.
The Gospel speaks of the call of Levi. His joy was so great that he could hardly contain it.
He organised a party for his fellow tax-collectors, which unfailingly earned the criticism of the Pharisees. Jesus’ answer was that His mission was precisely to wrongdoers, to the least and the lost. These words indeed offer us hope when we stray and urge us to reach out to others as Jesus did.
That is the Christian calling, that is the Christian ‘job’! (Archbishop Thomas Menamparanpil SDB – Gods Word)
Don’t you wonder what it was about Levi that moved Jesus to call him? And what was it that caused Levi to respond?
He must have been a pretty successful man in economic terms but as a tax collector, he was undoubtedly not popular in his own community and was seen as a collaborator with Rome. Perhaps he had a nagging sense of “there must be something more to life”. perhaps a sense of emptiness and sadness. Something touched him so deeply at Jesus call, that he let go of a previous way of life and opened himself instantly to the gift being offered. He was overjoyed, he was filled with joy, he was joyous, he bubbled over and threw a big party in order to share his joy! And Jesus attended the party! He was at the party! He is at our party too when we allow Him entrance to our hearts.
When asked who he is, Pope Francis responded “I am a sinner, whom the Lord has looked upon.” When we are able to see ourselves as Pope Francis does, as loved sinners, we are open to receive the forgiveness and help God longs to give us. When we are aware of ourselves as sinners, loved and called by God, we respond with a deep sense of repentance, gratitude and joy, we throw that party and invite other sinners to join us. We simply have to share the joy!
Where do I experience my own sinfulness? How is this awareness a gift? Spend some time with Jesus today sharing with Him your struggles and Your need of His help. Have a party with Him! (excerpt Fr Nicholas King S.J. ‘The Long Journey to the Resurrection’)
My soul, what have you done for God?
Look o’er your misspent years and see;
See first what you have done for God,
And then what God has done for thee!
Daily Lenten Prayer
Today Lord, I choose life,
I choose Your love
and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens,
day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength
and power ever more deeply in my life.
May this truly be for me a time of new life,
of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day.
Amen
Friday after Ash Wednesday – 16 February 2018
Isaiah 58:1-9, Psalms 51:3-6, 18-19, Matthew 9:14-15
Isaiah 58:3-4 – Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high…
Matthew 9:14-15 – 14 – Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Create in me a clean heart, O God and put a new spirit within me.
Genuine faith does not make a believer pretentious.
Dialogue with God is not a business bargain.
External observance of religion wins little favour with God, if it is combined with unfairness to the weak and indifference to the poor.
Openness to the indigent is the door to true religion.
The world itself changes for the better with the widening of human concern for the poor. Good works multiply on the face of the earth and everyones sees the glory of God in action.
The Gospel presents Jesus, as refusing to absolutise ritual fasting.
What He expects from His disciples is that they remain faithful to the mission He is about to give them even at great sacrifice.
It will make evidently greater demands from them than mere ritual fasting.
They should be prepared.
Jesus is introducing a new set of values of immense worth, for which the old order of things must make way. (Archbishop Thomas Menamparanpil SDB – GodsWord)
Each of us has different talents, material resources and opportunities. Lent is an invitation, not to introspection and penance for its own sake but always to help us to better partner with God in responding to the needs of our world.
Is there a need I feel called to do something about? Could I ask God to show me where He is inviting me to act? What one thing might I do today to reach out to someone in need? (excerpt Fr Nicholas King S.J. ‘The Long Journey to the Resurrection’)
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope, where there is darkness, light and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Our Morning Offering – 16 February – The First Friday of Lent 2018
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross By St Alphonsus Rodriguez S.J. (1532-1617)
Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of You,
when You, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight, to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy, to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure:
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure.
Amen
Thursday after Ash Wednesday – 15 February 2018
Deuteronomy 30: 15-30 – See, I set before you life or death, blessing or curse.
Luke 9: 22-25 – ‘if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me’.
The readings today put the choice for God or against God in stark and dramatic terms. Choose God and follow His ways and you will be happy and live. Choose against God and you will destroy yourself. The Gospel echoes this in the warning that one can win the world but in the process, lose oneself.
We often hear of good and gifted people who were led to compromise their following of Christ. Something hooked them – whether wealth, prestige, sex or power and gradually led them to start making choices which increasingly led them away from their truest selves. When there are things in our lives which we don’t want others we respect to know about, that is often a clue that something is off-key!
Today we are invited to reflect on our choices. The decision to follow Christ and take up our cross each day is a challenging one and one which is gradually consolidated or undermined every day in each of our choices.
When I think over the last week of my life, does it reflect what I would hope someone would be able to say about me at my funeral?
Is there some area of my life which I feel compelled to keep a secret?
What one good daily action could I choose which could deepen my relationship with God and could manifest that “taking up my cross” each day? (excerpt Fr Nicholas King S.J. ‘The Long Journey to the Resurrection’)
O Holy Spirit of God, take me as Your disciple; guide me, illuminate me, sanctify me. Bind my hands, that they may do no evil; cover my eyes, that they may see it no more; sanctify my heart, that evil may not dwell within me. Be You my God; be You my guide. Wherever You lead me I will go; whatever You forbid me I will renounce; whatever You command me, in Your strength, I will do. Lead me, then, unto the fullness of Your truth. Amen Cardinal Henry Edward Manning (1806-1892) ”Prayer a Day for Lent”
Thought for the Day – 15 February – The Memorial of St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)
This is a special day for the Jesuits, who claim today’s saint as one of their own. It’s also a special day for people who have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion Claude de la Colombière promoted, along with his friend and spiritual companion, St Margaret Mary Alacoque. The emphasis on God’s love for all was an antidote to the rigorous moralism of the Jansenists, who were popular at the time.
Claude showed remarkable preaching skills long before his ordination in 1675. Two months later, he was made superior of a small Jesuit residence in Burgundy. It was there he first encountered Margaret Mary Alacoque. For many years after he served as her confessor.
As a fellow Jesuit and as a promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saint Claude must be very special to Pope Francis who has so beautifully emphasised the mercy of Jesus. The emphasis on God’s love and mercy are characteristic of both men.
“The past three centuries allow us to evalutate the importance of the message which was entrusted to Claude. In a period of contrasts between the fervour of some and the indifference or impiety of many, here is a devotion centred on the humility of Christ, on His presence, on His love of mercy and on forgiveness. Devotion to the Heart of Christ would be a source of balance and spiritual strengthening for Christian communities so often faced with increasing unbelief over the coming centuries. May the canonisation of Claude La Colombiere be for the whole Church an appeal to live the consecration to the Heart of Christ, a consecration which is a self-giving that allows the charity and mercy of Christ to inspire us, pardon us and lead us in His ardent desire to open the ways of truth and life to all our brothers and sisters!”…St Pope John Paul II, during the canonisation of Saint Claude (31 May 1992)
Quote/s of the Day – 15 February – The Memorial of St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)
“May the Heart of Jesus Christ be our school! Let us make our abode there. Let us study its movements and attempt to conform ours to them. Yes, O Divine Jesus, I want to live there.”
“When the Holy Spirit is in a soul, He communicates Himself, in one way or another. We can say that He makes virtue contagious and turns a simple faithful into an apostle.”
“God is in the midst of us, or rather, we are in the midst of Him; wherever we are, He sees us and touches us, at prayer, at work, at table, at recreation.”
“God is more honoured by a single Mass than He could be by all the actions of angels and men together, however fervent and heroic they might be. Yet, how FEW hear Mass with the intention of giving God this sublime honour! How FEW think with joy on the glory a Mass gives to God. How FEW rejoice to possess the means of honouring Him as He deserves! . . . If we only knew the treasure we hold in our hands!”
St Claude de la Colombiere (1641-1682)
“St Claude has been a dear friend of mine since I discovered his writings quite some years ago. . I count on his intercession. I turn to him when I feel my heart is tired and a little cold and distressed. This Saint of Hearts is a most willing guide leading us to the warmest Heart of Christ full of Mercy and Love.”
The Franciscan St John Wall O.F.M. (1620-1679) (Joachim of Saint Anne), who was martyred for the crime of being a Catholic priest near Redhill, Corcester, England on August 22nd, 1679, knew Saint Claude. After having spent a night in spiritual conversation with him, the soon–to–be martyr said,
“When I was in his presence I thought that I was dealing with Saint John returned to earth to rekindle that fire of love in the Heart of Christ.”
One Minute Reflection – 15 February – The Memorial of St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you...1 Peter 1:3-4
REFLECTION – “Lord, I am in this world to show Your mercy to others. Other people will glorify You, by making visible the power of Your grace, by their fidelity and constancy to You. For my part I will glorify You, by making known how good You are to sinners, that Your mercy is boundless and that no sinner, no matter how great his offences, should have reason to despair of pardon. If I have grievously offended You, My Redeemer, let me not offend You even more, by thinking that You are not kind enough to pardon me.” … St Claude de la Colombiere
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, Your great mercy, gave us Your Son! Surely nothing can be a greater proof to us of Your unending love and mercy to Your lowly creatures, we who are dust. Through Him, who died and rose for us, You have shown us the way of true mercy. Grant us this day that by the intercession of St Claude, we may take up our crosses with Him, never leaving the love of His Sacred Heart, so that we may join Your holy saints in eternal life. Through Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 15 February – The Memorial of St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)
Lord, be the Centre of Our Hearts by St Claude de la Colombiere
O God, what will You do to conquer
the fearful hardness of our hearts?
Lord, You must give us new hearts,
tender hearts, sensitive hearts,
to replace hearts
that are made of marble and of bronze.
You must give us Your own Heart, Jesus.
Come, lovable Heart of Jesus.
Place Your Heart deep in the centre of our hearts
and enkindle in each heart a flame of love
as strong, as great, as the sum of all the reasons
that I have for loving You, my God.
O holy Heart of Jesus, dwell hidden in my heart,
so that I may live only in You and only for You,
so that, in the end,
I may live with You eternally in heaven, amen
Saint of the Day – 15 February – St Claude de la Colombiere SJ (1641-1682) Religious Priest, Confessor, Patron of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Ascetical Writer, Teacher, Preacher, Missionary. Patronages – Devotion to the Sacred Heart, toy-makers, turners. St Claude was a Jesuit priest and the confessor of St Margaret Mary Alacoque, the visionary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St Claude was born on 2 February 1641 at Saint-Symphorien d’Ozon, Rhône, France and he died on 15 February 1682 at Paray-le-Monial, Saône-et-Loire, France of hemoptysis (coughing up blood). He was Canonised on 31 May 1992 by St Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy.
CLAUDE DE LA COLOMBIÈRE, third child of the notary Bertrand de la Colombière and Margaret Coindat, was born on 2nd February 1641 at St Symphorien d’Ozon in the Dauphine, southeastern France. After the family moved to Vienne, Claude began his early education there, completing his studies in rhetoric and philosophy in Lyon.
It was during this period that Claude first sensed his vocation to the religious life in the Society of Jesus. We know nothing of the motives which led to this decision. We do know, however, from one of his early notations, that he “had a terrible aversion for the life embraced”. This affirmation is not hard to understand by any who are familiar with the life of Claude, for he was very close to his family and friends and much inclined to the arts and literature and an active social life. On the other hand, he was not a person to be led primarily by his sentiments. At 17 he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Avignon. In 1660 he moved from the Novitiate to the College, also in Avignon, where he pronounced his first vows and completed his studies in philosophy. Afterwards he was professor of grammar and literature in the same school for another five years.
In 1666 he went to the College of Clermont in Paris for his studies in theology. Already noted for his tact, poise and dedication to the humanities, Claude was assigned by superiors in Paris the additional responsibility of tutoring the children of Louis XIV’s Munster of Finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert. His theological studies concluded and now a priest, Claude returned to Lyon. For a time he was teacher in the College, then full-time preacher and moderator of several Marian congregations.
Claude became noted for solid and serious sermons. They were ably directed at specific audiences and, faithful to their inspiration from the gospel, communicated to his listeners serenity and confidence in God. His published sermons produced and still produce significant spiritual fruits. Given the place and the short duration of his ministry, his sermons are surprisingly fresh in comparison with those of better-known orators.
The year 1674 was a decisive one for Claude, the year of his Third Probation at Maison Saint-Joseph in Lyon. During the customary month of the Exercises the Lord prepared him for the mission for which he had been chosen. His spiritual notes from this period allow one to follow step-by-step the battles and triumphs of the spirit, so extraordinarily attracted to everything human, yet so generous with God.
He took a vow to observe all the constitutions and rules of the Society of Jesus, a vow whose scope was not so much to bind him to a series of minute observances as to reproduce the sharp ideal of an apostle so richly described by St Ignatius. So magnificent did this ideal seem to Claude that he adopted it as his program of sanctity. That it was indeed an invitation from Christ himself is evidenced by the subsequent feeling of interior liberation Claude experienced, along with the broadened horizons of the apostolate he witnesses to in his spiritual diary.
On 2nd February 1675 he pronounced his solemn profession and was named rector of the College at Paray-le-Monial. Not a few people wondered at this assignment of a talented young Jesuit to such an out-of the-way place as Paray. The explanation seems to be in the superiors’ knowledge that there was in Paray an unpretentious religious of the Monastery of the Visitation, Margaret Mary Alacoque, to whom the Lord was revealing the treasures of his Heart but who was overcome by anguish and uncertainty. She was waiting for the Lord to fulfil his promise and send her “my faithful servant and perfect friend” to help her realise the mission for which he had destined her: that of revealing to the world the unfathomable riches of his love.
After Father Colombière’s arrival and her first conversations with him, Margaret Mary opened her spirit to him and told him of the many communications she believed she had received from the Lord. He assured her he accepted their authenticity and urged her to put in writing everything in their regard and did all he could to orient and support her in carrying out the mission received. When, thanks to prayer and discernment, he became convinced that Christ wanted the spread of the devotion to his Heart, it is clear from Claude’s spiritual notes that he pledged himself to this cause without reserve. In these notes it is also clear that, even before he became Margaret Mary’s confessor, Claude’s fidelity to the directives of St Ignatius in the Exercises had brought him to the contemplation of the Heart of Christ as symbol of His love.
After a year and half in Paray, in 1676 Father La Colombière left for London. He had been appointed preacher to the Duchess of York – a very difficult and delicate assignment because of the conditions prevailing in England at the time. He took up residence in St James Palace in October. In addition to sermons in the palace chapel and unremitting spiritual direction both oral and written, Claude dedicated his time to giving thorough instruction to the many who sought reconciliation with the Church they had abandoned. And even if there were great dangers, he had the consolation of seeing many reconciled to it, so that after a year he said: “I could write a book about the mercy of God I’ve seen Him exercise since I arrived here!”
The intense pace of his work and the poor climate combined to undermine his health, and evidence of a serious pulmonary disease began to appear. Claude, however, made no changes in his work or life style. Of a sudden, at the end of 1678, he was calumniously accused and arrested in connection with the Titus Oates “papist plot”. After two days he was transferred to the severe King’s Bench Prison where he remained for three weeks in extremely poor conditions until his expulsion from England by royal decree. This suffering further weakened Claude’s health which, with ups and downs, deteriorated rapidly on his return to France.
During the summer of 1681 he returned to Paray, in very poor condition. On 15th February 1682, the first Sunday of Lent, towards evening Claude suffered the severe haemorrhage which ended his life.
On the 16th of June 1929 Pope Pius XI beatified Claude de la Colombière, whose charism, according to St Margaret Mary Alacoque, was that of bringing souls to God along the gospel way of love and mercy which Christ revealed to us. (vatican.va)
It is said that the day after Claude’s death, Sister Margaret Mary received supernatural assurance that Claude needed no prayers, as he was in already heaven; he was enjoying the fullness of communio with the Trinity. Claude was considered a “dry” martyr, having suffered every abuse for the Christian faith except death. The life of Saint Claude was an example of being in correspondence with the Lord Himself –through the logic of Love– that he was known to be concrete example of mercy in the face of trials. Saint Claude’s life of holiness drew many of the Protestants to the Catholic Church. His was a trust that we must adopt: “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded.”
May we learn from Saint Claude la Colombiere what it means to be in relationship with Jesus the Good Shepherd, true Divine Love.
Mosaic of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St Claude la Colombiere Chapel, Paray-le-Monial
St Agape of Terni
Bl Angelus de Scarpetti
St Berach of Kilbarry
St Claude de la Colombierre S.J. (1641-1682)
St Craton
St Decorosus of Capua
St Dochow
St Druthmar of Corvey
St Eusebius of Asehia
St Farannan of Iona
St Faustinus
St Faustus of Monte Cassino
St Georgia
St Joseph of Antioch
St Jovita
St Onesimus the Slave
St Quinidius of Vaison
St Severus of Abruzzi
St Walfrid
—
Martyrs of Antioch: 5 saints
A group of Christians murdered together. We know the names of five of them – Agapev, Baralo, Isicio, Joseph and Zosimus.
Martyrs of Passae:
Castulus
Lucius
Magnus
Saturninus
Martyrs of Prague – 14 beati – Franciscan Friars Minor martyred together by a mob led by Lutherans:
Franciscan Friars Minor martyred together by a mob led by Lutherans.
• Antonín of Prague
• Bartolomeo Dalmasoni
• Bedrich Bachstein
• Christoffel Zelt
• Didak Jan
• Emmanuel of Prague
• Gaspare Daverio
• Giovanni Bodeo
• Girolamo degli Arese
• Jakob of Prague
• Jan of Prague
• Juan Martínez
• Klemens of Prague
• Simon of Prague
They were martyred on
• Shrove Tuesday 15 February 1611 at the Church of Our Lady of the Snows in Prague, Czech Republic
• body dumped nearby but given Christian burial on 19 February 1611 in the monastery
• re-interred in the side chapel of the church in 1616
Beatified
13 October 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Martyrs of Sweden:
Sigfrid
Sunaman
Unaman
Winaman
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Bl Pere Vallmitjana Abarca
Thought for the Day – 6 February – The Memorial of St Paul Miki S.J. (1564/65-1597) & Companions – 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki
Twenty-six Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries and Japanese converts crucified together by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Following their arrests, they were taken to the public square of Meako to the city’s principal temple. They each had a piece of their left ear cut off and then paraded from city to city for weeks with a man shouting their crimes and encouraging their abuse. The priests and brothers were accused of preaching the outlawed faith of Christianity, the lay people of supporting and aiding them. They were each repeatedly offered freedom if they would renounce Christianity. They each declined. Today, a new era has come for the Church in Japan. Although the number of Catholics is not large, the Church is respected and has total religious freedom. The spread of Christianity in the Far East is slow and difficult. Faith such as that of the 26 martyrs is needed today as much as in 1597.
These Martyrs died an horrendous and agonising death in witness to their faith in Jesus Christ. We may not be called to make such a sacrifice but we are all called to bear witness to Him, very often this will result in broken ‘friendships’, ostracisation, bad ‘vibes’ around us, loneliness and feelings of being rejected – remember these utterly courageous Martyrs, pray for their intercession and bear your sufferings in silence!
Our Morning Offering – 6 February – The Memorial of St Paul Miki S.J. & Companions – 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki
O God, I Love You By St Francis Xavier SJ (1506-1552)
O God, I Love You,
not simply to be saved,
and not because
those who fail to love You
will be punished with eternal fire.
You, You, my JESUS,
have all-embraced me,
on the cross.
You have borne the nails,
the lance, much ignominy,
numberless griefs, sweatings
and anguish and death,
and these on account of me
and for me, a sinner.
Why therefore,
should I not love You,
O, most loving JESUS?
Not that in heaven
You shall save me,
nor lest for eternity
You shall condemn me;
not with the hope of any reward,
but as You have loved me,
so also will I love You,
only because You are my King,
and because You are my God.
Amen
St Paul Miki SJ (1564/65-1597) & Companions/Martyrs of Nagasaki – 26 saints (Memorial)
—
St Alfonso Maria Fusco (1839-1910)
St Amand of Maastricht
St Amand of Moissac
St Amand of Nantes
St Andrew of Elnone
Bl Angelus of Furci
St Antholian of Auvergne
St Brinolfo Algotsson
Cassius of Auvergne
Bl Diego de Azevedo
St Dorothy of Caesarea
St Ethelburga of Wessex
Bl Francesca of Gubbio
St Francesco Spinelli
St Gerald of Ostia
St Guarinus
St Guethenoc
St Hildegund
St Ina of Wessex
St Jacut
St Liminius of Auvergne
Bl Mary Teresa Bonzel
St Mateo Correa-Magallanes
St Maximus of Aurvergne
St Mel of Ardagh
St Melchu of Armagh
St Mun of Lough Ree
St Relindis of Eyck
St Revocata
St Saturninus
St Tanco of Werden
St Theophilus
St Theophilus the Lawyer
St Vaast of Arras
St Victorinus of Auvergne
—
Martyrs of Emesa:
St Luke the Deacon
St Mucius the Lector
St Silvanus of Emesa
Mary Ward (1585-1645) Foundress, was an English nun who founded a women’s religious community modelled on the Jesuits, dedicated to active service, died on 30 January in 1645. She is so little known today, though so worthy of praise.
She was born to a Catholic family in North Yorkshire, England, just a few years before the defeat of the Spanish Armada. The family was determined to practice the Catholic faith in spite of the ongoing hostility. In 1589 the family home was burned down but Mary and her sisters were saved by her father.
At the age of 15, Mary Ward felt called to religious life. Ward entered the Poor Clare convent in Saint-Omer in France. At the time the only option for religious life for women was in cloistered communities. Mary Ward, however, wanted to give active service to God and others. Thus began her extraordinary journey.
At the age of 24, Mary gathered a number of companions and formed a religious community. In creating a structure for her religious community, Mary Ward drew on the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Church authorities, however, were implacably opposed to the idea of religious women being active in any ministry outside of the enclosed walls of the cloister.
The community grew in the face of severe opposition. They ministered to imprisoned and persecuted Catholics openly on the European continent, secretly in England. Mary was imprisoned by the English government and later by the Inquisition in Rome. While she was personally admired, Mary Ward’s congregation was suppressed in 1630. There was also an effort to destroy all related documents so as to erase the memory of Mary’s work. Returning to England in 1642, Mary died surrounded by a few companions in 1645. Although she was continually frustrated in her dreams, Mary Ward never lost confidence in her relationship with Jesus.
Mary Ward’s legacy survives today in the Sisters of Loreto (Institute of the Blessed Virgin) worldwide and in the newly renamed Congregation of Jesus.
A friend wrote of her:
What applause would she not have won, what friends would she have acquired and have made herself an object of admiration to the world, if she would have relented but a little on some points regarding the Institute. But she put herself aside, without regarding what was agreeable or disagreeable. Her only ambition being fidelity to God, which she desired so that that it did not appear difficult whatever she suffered in so doing – to lose friends and make enemies, to despise honours and embrace contempt, to reject riches and embrace poverty.
Thought for the Day – 3 January – – The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus & The celebration of the Titular Feast of the Society of Jesus
The Mass for the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, the titular feast day for the Society of Jesus, was offered today by Pope Francis in the Church of Jesus/Gesu Church in Rome, the Home of the Jesuits. Today the Church reminds us “to let the centre of … [our] heart be occupied by Christ.”
“This is the restlessness that Peter Favre [Faber] had, man of great desires, another Daniel. Favre was a “modest, sensible man of profound interior life and gifted with the gift of close relations of friendship with persons of all sorts” (Benedict XVI, Address to Jesuits, April 22, 2006). However, he was also a restless, uncertain and never satisfied spirit. Under the guidance of Saint Ignatius he learned to unite his restless but also gentle — I would say exquisite – sensibility with the capacity to take decisions.
He was a man of great desires; he took charge of his desires, he acknowledged them. In fact for Favre, it was precisely when difficult things were proposed that his true spirit was manifested which moved him to action (cf. Memoriale, 301).
Authentic faith always implies a profound desire to change the world. Here is the question we should ask ourselves: do we also have great visions and dash? Are we also daring? Does our dream fly high? Does zeal devour us (cf. Psalm 69:10)? Or are we mediocre and content with our laboratory apostolic programs?
Let us remember always: the strength of the Church does not lie in herself and in her organisational capacity but is hidden in the profound waters of God. And these waters agitate our desires and desires enlarge the heart. It is what Saint Augustine says: pray to desire and desire to enlarge the heart. In fact it was in his desires that Favre could discern God’s voice. Without desires one goes nowhere and it is because of this that we must offer our desires to the Lord. Stated in the Constitutions is that “one’s neighbour is helped, with desires presented to God our Lord” (Constitutions, 638). Pope Francis 3 January 2014
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”…..John 14:6
LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME A SINNER
One Minute Reflection – 3 January – The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus & The celebration of the Titular Feast of the Society of Jesus
“Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant”…Philippians 2:5-7
REFLECTION – “We, Jesuits, want to be conferred the name of Jesus, militate under the standard of His Cross and this means, to have the same sentiments of Christ. It means tothink like Him, love like Him, see like Him, walk like Him. It means to do what He did and with His same sentiments, with the sentiments of His Heart. The heart of Christ is the heart of a God who, out of love, “emptied” Himself. Every one of us Jesuits who follow Jesus should be willing to empty himself. We are called to this abasement, to be of the “emptied.” To be men that do not live centred on themselves because the centre of the Society is Christ and His Church.”…Pope Francis (3 January 2014)
PRAYER – We pray, to the eternal Lord of the universe, through the help of Your glorious Mother, we may live to empty ourselves for the sake of the glory of Your Kingdom and our own eternal happiness with You. Mary, Mother of God, help us to be messengers of your Son. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, in union with God our Father, one God forever and ever. All you holy Jesuit Saints in heaven, pray for us! Amen.
Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Optional Memorial) – moved to 3 January
The Titular Feast of the Society of Jesus
—
St Pope Antherus
Bl Arnold Wala
St Athanasius of Cilicia
St Bertilia of Mareuil
St Bertille of Thuringia
St Blitmund of Bobbio
St Constant of Gap
St Cyrinus of Cyzicus
St Daniel Himmerod the Younger
Bl Daniel of Padua
St Eustadius
St Finlugh
St Fintan of Doon
St Florentius of Vienne
St Florentius of Vienne the Martyr
St Genevieve
Bl Gerard Cagnoli
St Gordius of Cappadocia
St Imbenia
St Kuriakose Elias Chavara
St Lucian of Lentini
St Melorius
St Peter of Palestine
St Primus of Cyzicus
St Salvator of Belluno
St Theogenes of Cyzicus
St Theonas
St Theopemptus of Nicomedia
St Wenog
Bl Bl William Vives
St Zosimus of Cilicia
—
Martyrs of Africa – 12 saints: A group of Christians martyred together in Africa, date unknown, exact location unknown. We know nothing more than their names – Acuta, Candidus, Constantius, Eugenia, Firmus, Hilarinus, Lucida, Martial, Poenica, Possessor, Rogatianus and Statutianus.
Martyrs of Tomi – 7 saints: A group of Christians martyred together, date unknown. We know nothing more than their names – Claudon, Diogenius, Eugene, Eugentus, Pinna, Rhodes and Rhodo. They were martyred at Tomi, Exinius Pontus, Moesia (modern Constanta, Romania).
Quote/s of the Day – 21 December – The Memorial of St Peter Canisius (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
“Such should be the shepherd
in the Church who, like Paul,
becomes all things to all men,
so that the sick may find healing in him;
the sad, joy;
the desperate, hope;
the ignorant, instruction;
those in doubt, advice;
the penitent, forgiveness and comfort
and finally, everyone,
whatever is necessary, for salvation.
And so Christ, when He wished
to appoint the chief teachers
of the world and of the Church,
did not limit Himself to saying to his disciples:
‘You are the light of the world’;
but also added these words:
‘A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle
and put it under a measure but upon a candlestick,
that it may shine to all who are in the house.’
Those churchmen err, who imagine,
that it is by brilliant preaching,
rather than by holiness of and all-embracing love,
they fulfil their office.“
“If you have too much to do, with God’s help, you will find time to do it all.”
St Peter Canisius (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
“Among the Jesuit saints, it is Peter Canisius that brought me into the Society of Jesus… as we go on, you will see, what influence St Peter has had on this sinner. “
“(St Peter Canisius had) an extraordinary devotion to the Holy Eucharist – his devotion to the Holy Sacrifice were such that people would come from great distances to watch him offer Mass, so devoutly did he celebrate. He was one of the people that urged frequent Communion at the Council of Trent and was one of those who got the Council of Trent to pass a little known decree, little known because it took almost three hundred years for that decree to really come to life. The Council of Trent, mind you, sixteenth century, encouraged daily Communion – you would never guess it, would you? Peter Canisius was one of those who, under instructions from Ignatius, made sure that the Council passed that decree and he spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament.”
Ven Servant of God Fr John A Hardon S.J. (1914-2000)
One Minute Reflection – 21 December – The Memorial of St Peter Canisius (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
God who is mighty, has done great things for me, holy is his name…….Luke 1:49
REFLECTION – “While remaining the Mother of our Judge, Mary is a mother to us, full of mercy. She constitutes our protection. She keeps us close to Christ and she faithfully takes the matter of our salvation into her charge.”……………….St Peter Canisius
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, You have filled Mary with grace and made her a Co-Meaditrix with Christ Your Son. Grant that I may have constant recourse to her and attain the salvation she helped win for the world. St Peter Canisius, you lived a life of total and full dedication to our Father, to His divine Son and his holy and most blessed mother and in complete openness to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for us that as you were strengthened in sanctity and doctrine for the defence and growth of the Catholic faith, every seeker of truth may have the joy of finding our God and that all Catholics may persevere and grow in love and zeal for the one true faith. amen.
Our Morning Offering – 21 December – The Memorial of St Peter Canisius (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
May I Be United With You, Good Jesus St Peter Canisius (1521-1597) Doctor of the Church
Let my eyes take their sleep
but may my heart always
keep watch for You.
May Your right hand bless Your servants
who love You.
May I be united with the praise
that flows from You, Lord Jesus,
to all your saints;
united with the gratitude
drawn from Your heart, good Jesus,
that causes Your saints to thank You;
united with Your passion, good Jesus,
by which You took away our guilt;
united with the divine longing
that You had on earth, for our salvation;
united with every prayer
that welled from Your divine heart, good Jesus
and flowed into the hearts of Your saints.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 21 December – St Peter Canisius SJ (1521-1597) – Confessor, Priest, Religious, Doctor of the Church, Reformer, Teacher, Writer, Apostle of Charity – (Born as Pieter Kanis on 8 May 1521 at Niemguen, Netherlands – 21 December 1597 at Fribourg, Switzerland of natural causes). Patronages – Catholic Press, Germany, Catechists. Known as the Hammer of Protestantismand the Second Apostle of Germany. St Peter became known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia and Switzerland. The restoration of the Catholic Church in Germany after the Protestant Reformation is largely attributed to the work there of the Society of Jesus, which he led. “Peter Canisius was the first publisher, the first author, the first editor of the Society of Jesus. By now, Jesuits have followed in his footsteps to the tune of having published in 400 years, thousands of books. From the time of Canisius, and his name is first in the bibliography of Jesuit writers, from Peter Canisius to the end of the l9th century, that is to 1900, there are about twenty volumes of bibliography, each volume about two inches thick, stands about eighteen inches high, filled just with authors and titles, thousands and thousands and thousands, no other religious institute in the Church publishes as much as members of the Society. It was all started by Peter Canisius.” (Ven Servan of God Fr John A Hardon S.J.)
St Peter Canisius was born in 1521 in what is now the Netherlands. His father was the local mayor and his mother died shortly of his birth. Peter studied at the University of Cologne and earned a Master’s degree in 1540 at the age of 19. While there, he met St Peter Faber, one of the first Jesuits. Through him, Canisius became the first Dutchman to join the Society of Jesus in 1543. St Peter Canisius’ preaching and writings, led him to become one of the most influential Catholics of his time. He supervised the founding and maintenance of the first German-speaking Jesuit colleges and was known as the Second Apostle of Germany.
If you have too much to do, with God’s help you will find time to do it all – StPeter Canisius
For a half-century he led the Catholic Reformation in Austria, Bavaria and Bohemia. For that reason he is reckoned an apostle to Germany, second only to St. Boniface. With stupendous energy he preached and taught in parishes, reformed and founded universities, wrote many books including popular catechisms, restored lapsed Catholics, converted Protestants, preached retreats and found time to care for the sick. In his last 30 years travelling more than 20,000 miles on foot or horseback, St Peter Canisius spearheaded the renewal of the Catholic faith in southern Germany.
Peter Canisius revitalised Catholic life and teaching at universities in Ingolstadt and Augsburg. He founded new ones at Prague and Fribourg. In all four cities his preaching and catechising won the hearts of Catholics and attracted nominal Protestants to the church. In Vienna his personal care for plague victims made him a most popular figure. Thus, when appointed diocesan administrator, he was in a position to revive the city’s long decadent Catholic community.
After 1555, Peter Canisius published his famous Summary of Christian Doctrine and two smaller catechisms. These books generated the Catholic Reformation as Luther’s catechism had spread Protestantism. Canisius’s catechisms also helped launch the Catholic press. The Three Catechisms he compiled between 1555 and 1558. The first Catechism was addressed to students who could grasp the elementary notions of theology; the second, to young people of the populace for an initial religious instruction; the third, to youth with a scholastic formation of middle and high school levels. He explained Catholic doctrine with questions and answers, concisely, in biblical terms, with great clarity and with no polemical overtones. “There were at least 200 editions of this Catechism in his lifetime alone, translated into 15 languages! And hundreds of editions succeeded one another until the 20th century. So it was that still in my father’s generation people in Germany were calling the Catechism simply “the Canisius”. He really was the Catechist of Germany for centuries, he formed people’s faith for centuries.” (Pope Benedict XVI).
He was offered the post of Bishop of Vienna in 1554 but declined in to continue his travelling and teachings.
In the late 16th century, when open hostility typified relations between Catholics and Protestants, Peter Canisius advised charity and moderation. He opposed theological debates with Protestant leaders and in general, discouraged discussion of Catholic distinctives such as indulgences, purgatory and monastic vows with Protestants. He believed such efforts only heightened division and embittered relations. He articulated his views in this letter to his Jesuit superior:
“It is plainly wrong to meet non-Catholics with bitterness or to treat them with discourtesy. For this is nothing else than the reverse of Christ’s example because it breaks the bruised reed and quenches the smoking flax. We ought to instruct with meekness those whom heresy has made bitter and suspicious and has estranged from orthodox Catholics, especially from our fellow Jesuits. Thus, by whole-hearted charity and good will we may win them over to us in the Lord.
Again, it is a mistaken policy to behave in a contentious fashion and to start disputes about matters of belief with argumentative people who are disposed by their very natures to wrangling. Indeed, the fact of their being so constituted is a reason the more why such people should be attracted and won to the simplicity of the faith as much by example as by argument.”
In 1591, Peter Canisius suffered a stroke that nearly killed him. But he recovered and devoted himself to writing for six more years until his death in 1597. His body was interred before the high altar of the Church of Saint Nicholas in Fribourg and his relics were translated to the Church of Saint Michael at the Jesuit College in Fribourg in 1625. He was Canonised 21 May 1925 by Pope Pius XI and was added to the now 36 Doctors of the Church, by Pope Pius XI in 1925.
Thought for the Day – 15 December – Friday in the Second Week of Advent – “The Golden Thread”
The Golden Thread
All through the long ages that elapsed from the promise to the coming of the Redeemer, a golden thread of light from Heaven ran athwart their darkness. In the chosen people of Israel, there ever prevailed a strong conviction of the coming of a Saviour, who was to deliver His people from all sin and evil. It was handed down from generation to generation and was again and again renewed by the inspired declarations of the Prophets of Israel. Thus, God in His mercy never leaves Himself without a witness to reveal to men of goodwill the message of hope.
So through all the centuries that have passed since the coming of our Lord, the Catholic Church has been the golden thread of light amid the darkness of heresy and heathendom. What a bright and glorious thread! What a contrast to all around! How it has, through God’s mercy, enlightened my life ! How can I ever thank God sufficiently that, led by its Divine light, I am travelling on in peace and safety to the Heavenly Jerusalem!
So, too, there runs through the life of all those who are to attain at last to the eternal happiness of Heaven, a golden thread, which never wholly disappears, even though their steps may wander far from the right path. Sometimes it is kindness to the poor; sometimes devotion to the holy souls; very often, it is a reverence to the Holy Mother of God that thus runs through the whole of life. In my life, God has interwoven some such thread. Do I follow it up with grateful perseverance? (Fr Richard Clarke SJ)
One Minute Reflection – 13 December – The Memorial of St Lucy (c 283-304)
Cast me not our of your presence and your Holy Spirit, take not from me….Psalm 51:13
REFLECTION – “When the Holy Spirit is in a soul, He communicates Himself in one way or another.
We can say that He makes virtue contagious and turns a simple faithful into an apostle.”…St Claude de la Colombiere S.J. (1641-1682)
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, grant that Your Holy Spirit may inspire me to be a true follower of Your Son. May He dwell in me always and keep me ever on the path of holiness. May the prayer of the virgin Martyr Lucy, support us, O Lord, so that with each passing year, we may celebrate her entry into life and finally see You face to face and greet her with joy. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever amen.
Thought for the Day – 9 December 2017 – Saturday of the First Week of Advent & the Memorial of St Juan Diego(1474-1548) , the Marian Visionary of the Miracle of Mary of Guadalupe – Five Lessons from the Manger
The Surprise: God does not manifest in great events but in small surprises. The boy in a manger, who would have imagined that God among us shows Himself like this? The Christian lives the surprise in the small gifts of the day to day.
The Silence: Mary meditates all this in her heart, with a look that goes deeper and finds the meaning of things. The Christian feeds on silence, prays and asks the Father for an understanding of what happens to him, in order to discern the best options.
The Light: On the darkest night of the year the Light of Jesus manifests itself. God visits our darkness, the places where we think He could never be. We are not abandoned children but infinitely loved. The Christian lives this hope.
The Poor: The shepherds, despised by all, are the first recipients of the announcement of the birth of Jesus. Always the little ones are the favourites of God. The message is given to the poorest, to whom no one gives importance. This is particularly obvious today, on the Memorial of St Juan Diego, the Marian Visionary of the Miracle of Mary of Guadalupe, for whom we ask, please pray for us St Juan!
These are the five lessons we learn from the manger. Throughout this month, we pray that we might get closer Christ’s coming to us on this Christmas Day, in your prayer proposals and in your union with the Holy Father and his intentions.
A Holy and Blessed Advent!
(Taken partially from Father António Valério, SJ – Director of the Pope’s Global Network of Prayer in Portugal)
Tuesday of the First Week of Advent – 5 December 2017
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Daily Meditation: A shoot shall sprout from the stump.
Our God can transform our weakness, our sin, all conflict and all division.
From every life-less stump – where any future hope has been cut off
– a shoot of new life can sprout.
He shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
We need to really hear this “good news” so that our hearts can begin to be softened
to hear how profoundly our God desires to help us
and to make things right with all of creation.
Throughout the day today, we can lighten our spirits
as we turn to God and pray:
Let me rejoice at the coming of your Son, for me!
Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace forever. Psalm 72
Today’s Daily Reflection – Intercessions:
To the eternal Word who became man
to reveal to us the new and living way.
Let us make our humble prayer:
Come, Lord, and save us!
God in whom we live and move and have our being,
– come teach us that You have made us Your own.
You are not far from each of us,
– show Yourself to all who search for You.
Father of the poor and consoler of the afflicted,
– set captives free, give joy to those who mourn.
You hate death and love life,
– free all mankind from eternal death.
Closing Prayer:
God of forgiveness,
I turn to You in my great weakness
and beg for Your help.
Let me feel the joy growing in my heart
as I anticipate Your coming.
I hear the message of the prophets of old
and know that the Messiah will bring
new life and new ways of living.
From the humbleness of my life,
help me to grow and bloom
and hear the words
that will change the world.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
AnaStpaul 
You must be logged in to post a comment.