Quote/s of te Day – 1 June – The Memorial of Mary, the Mother of the Church/Mater Ecclesiae and St Annibale Maria di Francia (1851-1927)
“…She is clearly the Mother of his members; that is, of ourselves, because she cooperated by her charity, so that faithful Christians, members of the Head, might be born in the Church. As for the body, she is the Mother of its Head… Mary gave birth to our Head; the Church gave birth to you. Indeed, the Church also, is both virgin and mother, mother, because of her womb of charity, virgin, because of the integrity of her faith and piety.”
“Gracious Lady,
you are a Mother and Virgin,
you are the Mother
of the body and soul
of our Head and Redeemer,
you are also truly Mother
of all the members of Christ’s Mystical Body.
For through your love,
you have co-operated
in the begetting of the faithful in the Church.
Unique among women,
you are Mother and Mirgin,
Mother of Christ and Mirgin of Christ.
You are the beauty and charm of earth, O Virgin.
You are, forever, the image of the holy Church.
Through a woman came death,
through a woman came life,
yes, through you, O Mother of God.“
St Augustine (354-430) Doctor of Grace
“He had one other to send, a beloved son”
Mark 12:6
“So bread upon the table might not lack, I brave the cold, the dripping sweat on back… Oh, here it is today the food my children need, Tomorrow’s dole our Father sure will speed. I’ve often knocked on doors, a scant welcome bidden My sentence stiff has scarce been hidden – “Beware of him, the pest, he’s lost his mind. Now let him suffer fate unkind!” Discern My martyrdom, My flaming core, No father loved His children more… For You, I, God and man implore!”
One Minute Reflection – 1 June – The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Monday of the Ninth week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: Peter1:2-7, 20 or Acts 1:12-14, Psalm 91(90):1-2.14-15, Mark 12:1-12 and the Memorial of Mater Ecclesiae and St Annibale Maria di Francia (1851-1927)
“He had one other to send, a beloved son” … Mark 12:6
REFLECTION – “Christ has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18). Paul brings out the apostles’ greatness by showing us what kind of ministry has been given them, while showing us at the same time the love with which God has loved us. When people had refused to listen to the one He had sent, God did not give vent to His rage, He did not spurn them but went on calling them both on His own account and through the apostles (…)
God has put into our mouths “the message of reconciliation” (v.19). And so we come, not for some difficult work but to make everyone friends of God. When they did not listen, the Lord told us to continue to urge them until they come to faith. Hence Paul adds: “We are ambassadors of Christ, it is God himself who is appealing through us. We implore you in Christ’s name, be reconciled to God” (v.20) (…)
What could be compared to so great a love as this? When we had repaid his blessings with insults, far from punishing us He gave us His Son to reconcile us with Himself. Yet, far from wanting to be reconciled, we put Him to death. God sent other ambassadors to urge us and, after that, Himself became our suppliant. Always it was He who appealed – “Be reconciled to God.” He did not say: “Reconcile God to yourselves.” It was not He who turned us away, it was we who refused to become His friends. Can God experience feelings of hatred?” … St John Chrysostom (c 345-407) Father and Doctor of the Church – 11th homily on the 2nd letter to the Corinthians
PRAYER – Lord God, You bestowed the Holy Spirit on Your Apostles while they were at prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Fill us too with the gift of Your grace in the Holy Spirit, that we may live our lives both in prayer and action and grant, that by Mary’s prayer and the prayer of Your servant, St Annibale Maria di Francia, we may give You faithful service and spread abroad the glory of Your name, by word and example. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, Your divine Son, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 1 June – Saint Annibale Maria di Francia (1851-1927) Priest, Founder, Carmelite Tertiary, Apostle of Charity, orphans, the poor, Apostle of Prayer for Vocations, Apostle of the Holy Eucharist, Marian devotee – he founded a series of orphanages and the Congregations of the Rogationist Fathers and the Daughters of Divine Zeal. Patronages – Prayer for Vocations, Orphans, the Poor, Messina, Italy, Anthonian Orphanages, the Rogationist Fathers and the Daughters of Divine Zeal. Also known as Hannibal Mary di Francia.
Annibale Maria Di Francia was born in Messina, Italy, on 5 July 1851 . His father, Francis was a Knight, the Marquises of St Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, also belonged to an aristocratic family. The third of four children, he lost his father when he was only fifteen months old. The sad experience of losing a parent, made him deeply sensitive to the plight of children bereft of parents and this, influenced his life and his educational system.
In childhood he developed such love for the Eucharist that he was allowed to receive Communion daily, something quite exceptional in those days. He was only seventeen when, at prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, he was given the “revelation of Rogate”, that is, he deeply felt that vocations in the Church come only through prayer. Subsequently he found that such prayer is commanded by Jesus in the Gospel when He says: “Ask [Rogate] the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to gather his harvest” (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2). These words became the fundamental insight to which he dedicated his entire life.
Annibale proved to be of lively intelligence with remarkable literary abilities. As soon as he felt the call of God, he immediately responded by placing himself and his talents at the service of God. After his theological studies, he was Ordained a Priest on 16 March 1878. A few months before his Ordination, he met an almost blind beggar, Francesco Zancone, a providential encounter which led him to discover the sad social and moral reality of one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the outskirts of Messina (Case Avignone). It was the beginning of a long walk and his boundless love for the poor and the orphans, was one of the primary characteristic of his life.
Fr Annibale meets the poor and blind Zancone who challenged Father’s life
With the permission and the encouragement of his Bishop, Msgr. Joseph Guarino, he made the Avignone ghetto his home and dedicated himself completely to the redemption of its inhabitants. In accordance with the Gospel, he saw them as “sheep without a shepherd.” It was an experience strongly marked by misunderstandings, difficulties and obstacles of every kind which he overcame by great faith, seeing Jesus Christ in the poor and marginalised people. He was carrying out what he defined as the “spirit of a twofold charity – the evangelisation of and the care for the poor.” In 1882 he started his orphanages, which were called “Anthonian Orphanages” because they were placed under the patronage of St Anthony of Padua. His concern was not only to provide the children with food and occupation but, above all, to assure that they were brought up in a way, that integrated the moral and religious aspects of their lives, offering a family climate, which helped lead them to discover and follow God’s plan for them.
With his missionary spirit he wanted to reach out to the orphans and the poor all over the world. But how could he do it? He perceived that the “Rogate” was the real answer. He wrote: “What are these few orphans we attend to, these few people we bring the good news to, compared to the millions who are lost and abandoned as sheep without a shepherd?... I looked for an answer and I found a complete one in the words of Jesus: ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to gather his harvest’. I concluded then, that I had found the secret key to all good works and to the salvation of all souls.”
Annibale felt that the Rogate was not simply the Lord’s recommendation but, an explicit command and an “infallible remedy.” For this reason, his charism can be considered as giving life to a providential foundation in the Church. He was also a forerunner in considering the work of committed lay persons, like parents, teachers and even good government workers, as vocations.
To carry out his apostolic ideals in the Church and in the world, he founded two religious Congregations: the Daughters of Divine Zeal, in 1887 and the Rogationists ten years later. He wanted both institutions to live the Rogate as a fourth vow. The institutions were canonically approved on 6 August 1926.
St Annibale with the visionary and co-worker Melania Calvat in Messina
In a petition to St Pius X, in 1909, Father Annibale stated: “From my early youth I have committed myself to that Holy Word of the Gospel – ‘Rogate ergo…’ From my small Institutes, an unceasing daily prayer is raised by the orphans, the poor, the priests and the consecrated virgins, to the most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, to St Joseph and the Apostles, that they may abundantly provide the Church with holy and chosen priests and with evangelical workers for the spiritual harvest of souls.”
To spread the prayer for vocations he promoted several initiatives – he had personal epistolary contacts with the Popes of his time, he instituted a “Holy Alliance,” a movement of prayer for vocations intended for the clergy and the “Pious Union of the Evangelical Rogation” for all the faithful. He published the periodical “God and Neighbour,” to involve everyone in these ideals.
“The entire Church must formally pray for this aim,” he wrote, “because the purpose of the prayer to gain vocations must concern all the faithful, every Christian who has at heart the good of souls and, in a particular way, the Bishops who are the shepherds of the spiritual flock and to whom souls are entrusted. They are the living Apostles of Jesus Christ today.” The annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1964 can be considered a response to his intuition.
His love for the Priesthood was great. He strongly believed that the world could be redeemed only through the work of many holy Priests. That is why he was deeply concerned with the spiritual formation of the seminarians entrusted to him by the Bishop of Messina. He used to say, that without a lot of prayer and a solid spiritual training, “all the efforts of Bishops and of seminary educators would only result in artificial priests.” He strove to become himself a model of the “good labourer” of the Gospels and to be a Priest according the Heart of Jesus. His charity knew no bounds and was directed towards all kinds of people in need, including Priests facing difficulties and cloistered nuns.
Even when he was still alive, his reputation as a saint was widespread on all levels. When he died in Messina, on 1 June 1927, people began to say: “Let us go to see the sleeping saint.” He died comforted by the vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had loved so much during his life.
His funeral, according to the chronicles and pictures in the newspapers of that time, became a triumph. Civil authorities promptly granted permission for his burial in the Shrine of the “Evangelical Rogation” which Fr Annibale himself had built in Messina and wanted to be dedicated to the command of the Gospel: “Ask, therefore, the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into his harvest…”
The religious families founded by Blessed Annibale are currently present on all the continents. According to the ideals of their founder, they dedicate themselves to spreading the prayer for vocations through centres for vocations, publishing houses and printing presses, institutions for orphans and abandoned children, schools for deaf and mute, nutritional centres, homes for aged, homes for single mothers and professional and vocational schools.
The sanctity and mission of Fr Annibale as an “outstanding Apostle of the prayer for vocations” are deeply felt in our time by all who are concerned with the need for vocations in the Church. St John Paul II proclaimed Father Hannibal a Blessed on 7 October 1990 and defined him as the “authentic forerunner and zealous master of the modern pastoral care for vocations”. … Vatican.va
On 30 June 1990 the Medical Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints unanimously agreed that the case of Gleida Danese – a young Brazilian girl who was doomed to die because of the rupture of the aorta but who suddenly recovered – had no possible medical explanation. Both the Commission of Theologians on 14 July 1990 and then the Congress of Cardinals and Bishops on 27 July 1990, unanimously agreed upon the miraculous recovery of the girl and found that it was to be attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Annibale Maria Di Francia.
He was Canonised on 16 May 2004, by St Pope John Paul II, who said of him:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word” (Jn 14: 23). In these words of the Gospel we see illustrated the spiritual profile of Annibale Maria Di Francia, whose love for the Lord moved him to dedicate his entire life to the spiritual well-being of others. In this perspective, he felt above all the urgency to carry out the Gospel command: “Rogate ergo… Pray then to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest!” (Mt 9: 38).
He left to the Rogationist Fathers and the Daughters of Divine Zeal the task to do their utmost with all their strength so that prayer for vocations would be “unceasing and universal.” This same call of Fr Annibale Maria Di Francia is directed to the young people of our times, summed up in his usual exhortation: “Fall in love with Jesus Christ.
From this providential intuition, a great movement of prayer for vocations rose up within the Church. I hope with all my heart that the example of Fr Hannibal Mary Di Francia will guide and sustain such pastoral work even in our times.”
The need for such a prayer has been recognised by the Supreme Authority of the Church. St Pope Paul VI on 23 January 1964 instituted the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Since then, every year, the Popes remind the universal Church that still today salvation comes to us through the work of many and holy ministers of the Gospel and that to obtain them from God we must pray.
On 7 July 2010, Pope Benedict XVI blessed a marble Statue of St Annibale Maria di Francia (1851-1927), Founder of the Congregation of the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus and of the Daughters of Divine Zeal. The statue is positioned in an external niche of the Vatican Basilica near the Arch of the Bells with other Founder Statues.
St Agapetus of Ruthenia
Bl Alfonso Navarrete Benito Saint Annibale Maria di Francia (1851-1927)
Bl Arnald Arench
Bl Arnold of Geertruidenberg
St Atto of Oca
St Candida of Whitchurch
St Caprasius of Lérins
St Clarus of Aquitaine
St Claudius of Vienne
Bl Conrad of Hesse
St Conrad of Trier
St Crescentinus
St Cronan of Lismore
St Damian of Scotland
St Dionysius of Ruthenia
St Donatus of Lucania
St Felinus of Perugia
Bl Ferdinand Ayala
St Firmus
St Fortunatus of Spoleto
Bl Gaius Xeymon
St Gaudentius of Ossero
St Giuse Túc
St Gratian of Perugia
Bl Herculanus of Piegare
St Iñigo of Oña
St Ischryrion and Companions
Bl James of Strepar
St Jean-Baptiste-Ignace-Pierre Vernoy de Montjournal Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini (1839-1905) His Lifestory: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/01/saint-of-the-day-1-june-blessed-john-baptist-scalabrini-1839-1905-the-apostle-of-the-catechism-and-the-father-of-migrants/
Bl John Pelingotto
Bl John Storey
St Juventius
Bl Leo Tanaka
St Melosa
St Pamphilus of Alexandria
St Peter of Pisa
St Porphyrius of Alexandria
St Proculus of Bologna
St Proculus the Soldier
St Ronan
St Secundus of Amelia
St Seleucus of Alexandria
St Simeon of Syracuse
St Telga of Denbighshire
St Thecla of Antioch
Bl Theobald Roggeri
St Thespesius of Cappadocia
St Wistan of Evesham
St Zosimus of Antioch
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Martyrs of Alexandria – 5 saints: A group five of imperial Roman soldiers assigned to guard a group of Egyptian Christians who were imprisoned for their faith in the persecutions of Decius. During their trial, they encouraged the prisoners not to apostatize. This exposed them as Christians, were promptly arrested and executed. Martyrs. Their names are – Ammon, Ingen, Ptolomy, Theophilis and Zeno. They were beheaded in 249 at Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Caesarea – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Galerius. We know little more about them than the name – Paul, Valens and Valerius. They diedf in 309 at Caesarea, Palestine.
Martyrs of Lycopolis – 6 saints: Five foot soldiers and their commander who were martyred for their faith by order of the imperial Roman prefect Arriano during the persecutions of Decius. In Lycopolis, Egypt.
Martyrs of Rome – 6 saints: A group of spiritual students of Saint Justin Martyr who died with him and about whom we know nothing else but their names – Carito, Caritone, Evelpisto, Ierace, Liberiano and Peone. In Rome, Italy.
Saint of the Day – 31 May – Saint Camilla Battista da Varano OSC (1458-1524) Italian Princess, Virgin, Poor Clare Nun and Abbess, Mystic, Spiritual Writer, Stigmatist – born on 9 April 1458 in Camerino, Macerata, Italy and died on 31 May 1524 in Camerino, Macerata, Italy of natural causes.
Camilla Battista was born into nobility in Camerino, Italy on 9 April 1458. As a Princess in the home of her father Duke Giulio Cesare da Varano she grew up in the court and received a good education.
Palace of Blessed Camilla’s father, the Duke of Camerino
Around the age of 9 she listened to a sermon on Good Friday preached by Domenico of Leonessa, a Franciscan friar who later became one of her confessors. He ended his sermon by encouraging his listeners to shed one teardrop for the Passion of Christ. She resolved to show her love for Jesus by shedding a tear each Friday. Though not initially drawn to the spiritual life, she persevered in her vow and would squeeze out a tear before running off to play. She found a booklet that contained a meditation on the Passion of Christ divided into 15 parts to be prayed like a rosary. She began to pray this devotion each Friday while on her knees before a Crucifix. Other spiritual practices like fasting and night vigils began to attract her even though she continued to spend time in the youthful pursuits of court life.
During Lent of 1479 a sermon she heard touched her deeply, inspiring her to take a private vow of chastity. Her father initially opposed her desire to enter religious life as he wanted her to marry. She wanted to enter the Poor Clare Monastery in Urbino. Her spiritual life deepened during the few years before she actually entered the Monastery. She wrote Lauda (Praises) during this time – a work in which she expressed the joy she felt in knowing that Jesus loved her.
On 24 November 1481 she entered the Poor Clare Monastery in Urbino and made her profession in 1483. Early in 1484, she transferred to the new Monastery of Santa Maria Nuova at Camerino which was close to her father’s castle. Her father had made arrangements with the Pope and the Vicar General of the Friars to have her moved there. She was reluctant to do so and went only under obedience.
While living in the Monastery in Urbino, she experienced visions and composed several other spiritual works. She was elected Abbess in 1500. The following year, due to political disagreements, her father and her brothers were killed and she was forced to flee to the Abruzzo region until 1503 when she felt safe to return to Camerino. She founded a Monastery in Fermo and trained a group of nuns in San Severino Marche who adopted the Rule of St Clare.
She died in her Monastery in Camerino during a plague on 31 March 1524, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, at the age of 66. Her remains were placed to rest in the crypt of the Monastery of the Poor Clares of Camerino.
St Camilla wrote with equal facility in Latin and Italian and who was accounted one of the most accomplished scholars of her day. The Major Works of St Camilla Battista da Varano are: Praises of the Visions of Christ, 1479 – 1481 Remembrances of Jesus, 1483 Treatise on the Mental Sufferings of Jesus Christ our Lord, 1488 The Spiritual Life, 1491 (Autobiography)
Her Autobiography from 1466-1491 which is considered a “jewel of art” and of the spiritual life. In this work, she describes how two Seraphim with wings of gold, appeared to her because they were assigned to help her understand the mysterious working of unitive love.
“Two angels came to me, dressed in resplendent white garments which I have seen only worn by Jesus. They had wings of gold. One of them took my soul from the right side, the other from the left side and they elevated it in the air, laying it down near the crucified feet of the Son of God made Man. This state lasted about two months almost continually, I seem to walk, to speak and do what I wished, deprived however of my soul. It remained there where the two Angels had placed it but they never abandoned it.
…They (the celestial spirits) declared to me, that they were so intimate with God that God is not ever separated from them. They also explained to me, that the Seraphim were likewise united to the Cherubim, in that none of them could ever go without the other to a soul.” – Camilla Varano, The Spiritual Life
Both Saint Philip Neri and St Alphonsus Liguori recorded their admiration for her.
On 8 April 1821 Pope Leo XIII approved the acts of the process for her Canonisation. She was Beatified by Pope Gregory XVI on 7 April 1843, following recognition of her long-standing public cult. On 4 February 1893 her writings were also approved. On 17 October 2010 Pope Benedict XVI Canonised her, along with five others.
Prayer for the Intercession of St Camilla Battista da Varano
Holy and Blessed Trinity,
You granted Camilla Battista the ability
to live as a true daughter of the Father,
to adhere to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and to allow herself to be moulded
by the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Grant me the grace to imitate her example
and to make, of my life,
a reflection of her beauty
and of her sanctity.
Grant me, I pray,
through the intercession of Saint Camilla Battista,
this grace that I ask
………………………………………….. (here state the favour you are requesting) Amen
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be…
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St Alexander of Auvergne St Camilla Battista da Varano OSC (1458-1524)
St Crescentian of Sassari
St Donatian of Cirta
St Felice of Nicosia
St Galla of Auvergne
St Hermias of Comana
Bl Jacob Chu Mun-mo
Bl James Salomone
St Juan Moya Collado
Bl Kasper Gerarz
St Lupicinus of Verona
St Mancus of Cornwall
Bl Mariano of Roccacasale
St Mechtildis of Edelstetten
St Myrbad of Cornwall
Bl Nicolas Barré
Bl Nicholaus of Vangadizza
Bl Nicholaus of Vaucelles
St Nowa Mawaggali
St Paschasius of Rome
St Petronilla of Rome
Bl Robert Thorpe
St Silvio of Toulouse
Bl Thomas Watkinson
Bl Vitalis of Assisi
St Winnow of Cornwall
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Martyrs of Aquileia – 3 saints: Three young members of the imperial Roman nobility and who were raised in a palace and had Saint Protus of Aquileia as tutor and catechist. To escape the persecutions of Diocletian, the family sold their property and moved to Aquileia, Italy. However, the authorities there quickly ordered them to sacrifice to idols; they refused. Martyrs all – Cantianilla, Cantian and Cantius. They were beheaded in 304 at Aquae-Gradatae (modern San-Cantiano) just outside Aquileia, Italy.
Martyrs of Gerona – 29 saints: A group of Christians martyred together in Gerona, Catalonia, Spain, date unknown. No details about them have survived but the names – • Agapia• Amelia• Castula• Cicilia• Donatus• Firmus• Fortunata• Gaullenus• Germanus• Honorius• Istialus• Justus• Lautica• Lupus
• Maxima• Paulica• Rogate• Rogatus• Silvanus• Tecla• Teleforus• Tertula• Tertus• Victoria• Victurinus• Victurus
Martyrs of the Via Aurelia – 4 saints: Four Christians martyred together. No information about them has survived except their names – Justa, Lupus, Tertulla and Thecla. The martyrdom occurred in 69 on the Via Aurelia near Rome, Italy.
Quote/s of the Day – 30 May – The Memorial of St Joan of Arc (1412-1431)
“Act and God will act.”
“Since God had commanded it, it was necessary that I do it. Since God commanded it, even if I had a hundred fathers and mothers, even if I had been a King’s daughter, I would have gone nevertheless.”
One Minute Reflection – 30 May – “Mary’s Month” – Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 28:16-20, 30-31, Psalm 11:4-5, 7, John 21:20-25 and the Memorial of St Ferdinand III King (1199-1252)
Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper” … John 21:20
REFLECTION – “The love of Jesus for His faithful disciple is shown by the words: “Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper” (Jn 21:20).
Someone who truly follows the Lord wants everyone to follow Him, which is why He turns to his neighbour with kind attentions, prayers and proclamation of the Gospel. Peter’s turning around, signifies all those things. In the book of Revelation we find the same idea: “The bridegroom and the bride – Christ and the Church – say: ‘Come!’ Let him who hears say: ‘Come!'” (Rv 22:17). Christ, through interior inspiration and the Church, by preaching, say: “Come!” And whoever hears these words says to his neighbour: “Come!” which is to say: “Follow Jesus!” Then Peter, turning round, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following after. Jesus loves the one who follows Him.
Although his name is not mentioned, John stands out from the others, not because Jesus only loved him but because He loved him more than the others. He loved all the others but this man was closer to Him. … It was he who “reclined upon His chest during the supper” (Jn 21:20). This was a great sign of love, the fact that he alone could have leaned on the chest of Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3). …
And so, during the Supper in heaven, we shall be satisfied for eternity, we shall take our rest together with John on the chest of Jesus. The heart is in the chest; love is in the heart. We shall rest in His love because, we shall love Him with all our heart and all our soul and shall discover in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. … So to Him be the praise and the glory for endless ages. Amen. … St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Evangelical Doctor
PRAYER – Almighty God and Father, Your ways are not our ways, teach us to willingly agree to them, for You know which way we should go. Help us to say “yes” always to Your plan and to render ourselves, as a sacrament of Your divine love to all we meet. Fill us with the grace to be your tools, to bring glory to Your kingdom. Our Father, who art in heaven, may Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Mary Mother of God, pray for us! St Ferdinand, you who with the earthly power which rested on you, showed forth only the Love, Power and Will of God, Pray for Us! Through our Our Lord Jesus Christ with You, in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 30 May – St Ferdinand III of Castile (1199-1252) King of Castile and Toledo, Knight, a man of great virtue and goodness who sought sanctity in all things, a man of great justice who sought to elevate even those he conquered, a man who was a great father, bringing his children up in the fear and love of God alone, a diplomatic genius because of his great goodness, a unifier of all, he had a great devotion to Our Lady – born in 1198 near Salamanca, Spain and died on 30 May 1252 at Seville, Spain of natural causes. Patronages – authorities, governors, rulers, engineers, large families, magistrates, parenthood, paupers, poor people, prisoners, Spanish monarchy, tertiaries, Seville, Spain, Ilagan, Philippines, diocese of, Lucena, Philippines, diocese of, San Fernando, Philippines, diocese of, Aranjuez, Maspalomas, Pivijay, and of several other localities, Spanish Army’s Corps of Engineers. The body of St Ferdinand is incorrupt.
Saint Ferdinand’s father was King Alfonso IX of Leon and his mother the saintly Lady Bereguera. As his parent’s marriage was annulled by Pope Innocent III, St Fernando was actually raised by his grandfather, King Alfonso VIII of Castile and his mother. King Alfonso VIII was a great warrior and knight, to whom Christian chivalry was more than just a code of conduct or a set of rules to which he adhere, it was a pursuit of virtue meant to guide him in all of his thoughts and actions. In striving for the ideal of knighthood, he attained a true nobility of character. Living a life of honour, King Alfonso was a magnificent warrior who courageously defended the Church and his kingdom of Castile. He was also an excellent role model for young Fernando, who wanted nothing more than to be a knight of Christ.
Saint Ferdinand was still a young man when he became King of Castile. His kingdom was in tatters, as there had been numerous raids by both Christian and Moor into Castile, as well as internal rebellions. Saint Ferdinand worked tirelessly to restore his realm to prosperity and administer justice throughout his land, though he continued always to train as a warrior.
On the day Saint Ferdinand became a King and Knight, he prayed:
“Christ, my Lord, I am in Thy hands, the same way this sword is in mine. Show me, my King, what Thou wantest of this Thy knight.”
In the silence and stillness of the night, St Ferdinand heard Christ answer him:
“I want to make your whole life like a representation and marvellous parable so that the coming centuries may contemplate the war that I, Eternal King and Universal Lord, wage against the powers of darkness, to conquer the entire earth for my Father. Fernando, you will be the noble and considerate king who leads his vassals in this great enterprise, the courageous and mortified King who, above all others, charges ahead in the midst of danger and endures the strain of hard work and the fatigue of battle. You will be the generous and magnanimous King who in victory does not worry about his treasure, but distributes the spoils among his faithful knights.”
God granted to Saint Ferdinand to see the stark outline of the life that was to be his, a life full of struggles and hardships and warfare. Yet his soul did not quake at the prospect, for he knew that he would be doing God’s will and that God would be with him as long as he remained true. He was prepared to do whatever was required of him now and all the days of his life.
St Ferdinand’s Flag
King Saint Ferdinand became one of history’s most gifted and formidable warriors, while being at the same time one of the greatest monarchs who ever ruled. He, like so many men of his time, did not seek to enjoy a long life so much as he sought to live a good life. Thus, he spent his entire life in the service of God, rather than wasting his time in service to himself.
King St Ferdinand was a man of clear and deep faith, who realised that everything depends on God and that it is He Who grants the victory. He knew, nonetheless, that the Lord never wants to help those who are lazy but to assist with grace those who do everything that is in their power. This effort becomes a prayer of action, when combined with trust in Him.
As a consequence of his holy intentions, all of Saint Ferdinand’s ventures met with success. He was absolutely invincible, personally as well as while directing his armies, conquering hearts and minds as completely as he did cities and strongholds. He knew that there is no holier enterprise than to do one’s duty before God and that his first obligation was to rescue his own country.
This great Catholic monarch truly lived his faith and by his chivalry, loyalty and generosity of character was worthy of the high regard and friendship of those who had once fought against him. By the kindness and gratitude he showed toward those who rendered service to him and by his great generosity, he captured the affection and won the willing obedience of his nobility. He always and everywhere applied himself whole heartedly to his duties as king, zealously seeking after justice and prosperity for his people. He was a model of righteousness and proper conduct for his sons and by his example earned the respect and love of all his children. He was to them the most tender and caring of fathers, leaving them an incomparable heritage the like of which few Christian monarchs could boast.
The legacy of King Saint Ferdinand III is far-reaching and eternal. It was he who had permanently combined the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile and with that might he conquered more Islamic territory than any other Christian, expelled the Muslims from most of Andalusia and turned their remaining kings into his obedient vassals. King Ferdinand ’s achievements clearly outstrip those of King Sancho II and King Jaime I, not to mention those of king’s Saint Louis IX, Frederick II and Edward I. At a time, when the crusading efforts of all the rest of Christendom, hardly sufficed to maintain a foothold on the coast of the Holy Land, Ferdinand inflicted on medieval Islam its greatest defeat up until that time.
King Saint Ferdinand had been known as “the Saint” during his lifetime, so it should come as no surprise, that immediately after his death, his subjects unanimously awarded him a place in celestial glory. St Ferdinand soon became the object of public veneration and many miracles were recorded and that same year Pope Innocent IV declared that King Saint Fernando of Castile enjoyed the reputation of “having always followed the path of obedience to the Divine precepts, and that he greatly contributed to the spreading of the worship of the Holy Name of Jesus.”
By the time of his death in 1252, Ferdinand III had delivered to his son and heir, Alfonso X, a massively expanded kingdom. The boundaries of the new Castilian state established by Ferdinand III would remain nearly unchanged until the late 15th century. His biographer, Sister María del Carmen Fernández de Castro Cabeza, A.C.J., asserts that, on his death bed, Ferdinand said to his son “you will be rich in land and in many good vassals, more than any other king in Christendom.” Ferdinand was buried in the Cathedral of Seville by his son, Alfonso X. His tomb is inscribed in four languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Latin and an early version of Castilian.
The body of St Ferdinand is incorrupt and he can still be seen in the Cathedral of Seville, for he rests now enclosed in a marvellous gold and crystal casket worthy of the Castilian king. King Saint Ferdinand is the only king whose earthly crown has never been taken away, for his golden crown still encircles his head as he reclines beneath the statue of the Virgin of the Kings, awaiting the day of resurrection.
St Ferdinand was Beatified on 31 May 1655 by Pope Alexander VII and Canonised in 1671 by Pope Clement X.
St Joseph Marello
Bl Lawrence Richardson
St Luke Kirby
St Madelgisilus
Bl Marie-Céline of the Presentation
Bl Otto Neururer
St Reinhildis of Riesenbeck
St Restitutus of Cagliari
Bl Richard Newport
Bl Thomas Cottam
St Venantius of Lérins
St Walstan of Bawburgh
Bl William Filby
Bl Willilam Scott
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Martyrs of Aquileia – 3 saints: Three Christians martyr together. We have no other details than their names – Cantianus, Euthymius and Eutychius. Aquileia, Italy.
Quote/s of the Day – 29 May – the Memorial of St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) and Bl Rolando Maria Rivi (1931-1945) “I belong to Jesus,” Seminarian, Martyr
“Jesus Christ You have heard Him spoken of, indeed the greater part of you are already His – you are Christians. So, to you Christians I repeat His name, to everyone I proclaim Him – Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. He is the king of the new world. He is the secret of history. He is the key to our destiny.”
“Here lies the test of truth, the touchstone of evangelisation – it is unthinkable, that a person, should accept the Word and give himself to the kingdom, without becoming a person who bears witness to it and proclaims it in his turn.”
“Do you really believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what you believe? Do you really preach what you live?”
Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975
St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)
“I belong to Jesus”
Bl Rolando Maria Rivi (1931-1945)
Seminarian, Martyr
One Minute Reflection – 29 May – “Mary’s Month” – Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 25:13-21, Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20, John 21:15-19 and the Memorial of St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) and Bl Rolando Maria Rivi (1931-1945) “I belong to Jesus,” Seminarian, Martyr
“Do you love me?” … John 21:17
REFLECTION – “Here I find all good shepherds in the one shepherd (Jn 10:14). Good shepherds are not lacking but they are in the one. To speak of many. implies division … If the Lord entrusted them at the time we speak of, it was because He found Peter – indeed, in Peter himself, He recommended unity. There were many apostles but to one is said: “Feed my sheep” … When He entrusted His sheep to Peter, as one to another, He wished to make him one with Himself and, so to entrust the sheep to him, as to be Himself the Head, while Peter assumed the figure of the body (Col 1:18) … What, then, does He first say to Peter, in order to entrust the sheep to him yet avoid entrusting them as if to another? “Peter, do you love me?” And he answered: “I do love you.” And again: “Do you love me?” And he answered: “I do love you.” And a third time: “Do you love me?” And he answered a third time: “I do love you” He makes sure of love so as firmly to establish unity.
Jesus, the one shepherd, feeds His sheep in these shepherds and they in the Him … It was not because of a scarcity of shepherds (as though the prophet were foretelling bad times to come) that He said: “I will feed my sheep myself” as though He had no-one to whom to entrust them. Even when Peter himself was alive and the apostles were still alive in the flesh, He, the one in whom all the shepherds are one reality, said: “I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; them also must I bring, that there may be one flock and one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). So let them all be in the one Shepherd and speak with the one Shepherd’s voice… All should Him speak with the one voice and not with different voices. “I beseech you, brethren, that you all say the same thing and there be no divisions among you” (1Cor 1:10). Let the sheep hear this voice, cleared of all division and cleansed of all heresy and let them follow their shepherd as He says: “Those who are my sheep hear my voice and follow me” (Jn 10:27).” … St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace – Sermon 46, On the Shepherds, #30
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help us to accept the tasks you have given us to do in life. Let us be faithful all our days and be able to attain Your eternal reward in heaven. May our Blessed Mother, St Paul VI and the Blessed little Rolando Rivi, who so diligently showed their love for Your Son, pray for us that we may always praise Your glory and be faithful at all times and in all circumstances, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 29 May – “Mary’s Month” – Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter and the Memorial of St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)
Look Down Most Blessed Virgin Mother By St Pope Paul VI (1897-1978)
Look down with maternal clemency,
most Blessed Virgin, upon all your children.
Consider the anxiety of Bishops
who fear that their flocks
will be tormented by a terrible storm of evils.
Heed the anguish of so many people,
fathers and mothers of families
who are uncertain about their future
and beset by hardships and cares.
Soothe the minds of those at war
and inspire them with “thoughts of peace.”
Through your intercession,
may God, the avenger of injuries, turn to mercy.
May He give back to nations
the tranquillity they seek
and bring them to a lasting age of genuine peace and joy.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 29 May – Blessed Rolando Maria Rivi (1931-1945) “I belong to Jesus,” Seminarian, Martyr, – born on 7 January 1931 in San Valentin di Castellarano, Reggio Emilia, Italy and died on 13 April 1945- aged 14.
Blessed Rolando was noted for his studious and pious nature with an intense love for Jesus Christ which was evident through frequent Confession and the reception of the Holy Eucharist. He was amiable to all and wore his cassock with great pride to the point where he affirmed that he belonged to Christ and His Church. The Communist partisans murdered him “in odium fidei” (in hatred of the faith) towards the end of World War II in Modena, because he would become a Priest.
Born in San Valentino, a hamlet of the town of Castellarano, he was the second of three children of Roberto and Albertina Rivi. On the day after he was born, his parents brought him to be Baptised in the village church, after which they dedicated him to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Bl Rolando is on the left
Rivi grew up, educated in the faith by his mother and father and in the strong religious atmosphere, was a fixture in his Parish. Before going to work in the fields each morning, he attended the celebration of the Mass and received the Eucharist, after he made his First Communion. In this home filled with faith, he grew along with his older brother Guido and little sister Rosanna. His exuberance and liveliness often proved a test to his parents but his grandmother, Anna sensed his good character and said once that “Rolando will become either a rascal or a saint! He can not walk the middle ground.”
In 1937 he began attending the local school where his teachers cultivated his love for life and for Jesus Christ, while noting his desire to know and love Jesus. He was admitted to receive his First Communion almost at once, because he was among the better prepared children and eager to do so. His First Communion was made on 16 June 1938 on the Feast of Corpus Christi. Rolando changed after that event – while remaining amiable and energetic, he became more mature and responsible, which was a profound change and which was accentuated after receiving his Confirmation on 24 June 1940 from the Bishop of Reggio.
In the meantime, his Parish Priest Father Marzocchini Olinto, became his teacher and a spiritual father. Rivi availed himself of the Sacrament of Penance each week and each morning he got up to serve Mass and receive the Eucharist. He was almost 11 when he was no longer able to ignore the beginnings of his vocation to the Priesthood and he said to his parents and grandparents: “I want to be a Priest to save many souls. I will go as a Missionary to make Jesus known, far far away.” His pious parents did not oppose the decision and after he completed his schooling, he commenced his Ecclesial studies in Marola in Carpineti on 1 October 1942. As was the custom, he wore the cassock from the moment he entered as a Seminarian and was proud of the garment, viewing it as a sign of his belonging to Christ and to the Church.
Bl Rolando outside the Seminary
Rolando was forced to leave his studies and return home in June 1944 after the Nazi forces occupied the Italian nation but he still wore his cassock with pride, against the wishes of his parents. His parents were worried about rising anti-religious sentiment and even violence against Ecclesial figures but he refused to desist and continued to wear it. He said to them: “I study to be a priest and these vestments are the sign that I belong to Jesus.”Rivi wore his cassock during vacation periods and even during the hot summer months. He liked music and could use a harmonium. People in his village admired him for his holiness and even his father admired him and said once: “My son is so good and studious.”
On 10 April 1945, Rolando was taken by a group of Communist insurgents, who forced him to go with them into the woods. His father, Roberto, wrote of that day as follows:
“It was the morning of 10 April 1945. After returning from Mass with my son, I left to work in the fields. When I returned around midday I did not find Rolando in the house. My sister-in-law told me that he had gone to study in his usual place, a grove nearby the house. I called him, there was no response. Together with his mother I went to the place thinking that he might be asleep but a sad surprise awaited us. His books were scattered on the ground and, on a piece of paper taken from one of his notebooks, these words were written: “Do not search for him, he has come with us for a moment. The Insurgents.” My wife began to cry.”
On Friday, 13 April 1945, after three days of torture and humiliation, the insurgents brought him to a forest in the village of Piane di Monchio, where there was already a grave dug. It was about 3:00 in the afternoon. They hurled him to the ground and then forced him to kneel on the edge of the grave. Before they killed him, Rolando asked for – and was granted – a moment to pray for his parents. Even then, he reaffirmed his belonging to Christ. The Communist insurgents then murdered him with two shots of the pistol.
On the evening of 14 April following the directions of some insurgents (including the very assassin!), Roberto Rivi and Father Alberto Camellini, the pastor of San Valentino, recovered Rolando’s body. His face was black and blue, his body tormented and there were two mortal wounds – one at the left temple and the other at the heart. The following day they brought him to the town of Monchio, where the funeral and Christian burial were held.
The original Gravestone of Bl Rolando
On the Sunday after Easter, Don Camellini and Roberto Rivi exhumed the Martyr’s body, which was temporarily buried in the neighbouring cemetery. On 25 May 25, 1945, the mortal remains were brought back to San Valentino, surrounded by a crowd of hundreds of young Catholics who had known the young saint. On his tomb, his father had these words engraved:
“Rest in light and peace, you who were extinguished by hatred and darkness.”
His figure became more well known in 2001 after news broke that the English child James Blacknall (born 1998) was cured of leukemia on 4 April 2001 after a hair and blood relic of Rivi was placed under his pillow with a novena said. Rolando Rivi’s cause for Canonisation was opened by the Archdiocese of Modena on 7 January 2006. In May of 2012, the competent Vatican commission of theologian “censors” approved the validity of Rolando’s Martyrdom in odium fidei – in hatred of the faith. Then, on 28 March 2013, Pope Francis authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree recognizing the Martyrdom. The ceremony of Beatification was celebrated on 5 October 2013, by Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in the city of Modena. Almost 20 000 people attended the Beatification.
Cardinal Amato at the Beatification with the Relics
“If we could believe in Jesus Christ with the swiftness, the spontaneity, the simplicity and the docility with which Rolando Rivi believed, our faith would become strong like his, and our Church would become strong like the Church that he had in his heart and for which he did not hesitate to die” (Bishop Negri, Bishop of Montefeltre). We may ask, through the intercession of Blessed Rolando Rivi, for the grace to belong to Jesus totally and without compromise—then, will we enjoy true freedom and reign with Christ forever. Amen.
St Restitutus of Rome
Bl Richard Thirkeld Blessed Rolando Maria Rivi (1931-1945) Seminarian, Martyr Died aged 14
St Theodosia of Caesarea and Companions St Ursula Ledochowska (1865-1939) Her lifestory: https://anastpaul.com/2017/05/29/saint-of-the-day-29-may-st-ursula-ledochowska-mother-maria-ursula-of-jesus/
St Votus of Atares
St William of Cellone
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Martyrs of Toulouse: A group of eleven Dominicans, Franciscans, Benedictines, clergy and lay brothers who worked with the Inquisition in southern France to oppose the Albigensian heresy. Basing their operations in a farmhouse outside Avignonet, France, he and his brother missioners worked against heresy. Murdered by Albigensian heretics while singing the Te Deum on the eve of Ascension. They werebeaten to death on the night of 28 to 29 May 1242 in the church of Avignonet, Toulouse, France and Beatified on 1 September 1866 by Pope Pius IX (cultus confirmation).
• Adhemar
• Bernard of Roquefort
• Bernard of Toulouse
• Fortanerio
• Garcia d’Aure
• Pietro d’Arnaud
• Raymond Carbonius
• Raymond di Cortisan
• Stephen Saint-Thibery
• William Arnaud
• the prior of Avignonet whose name unfortunately has not come down to us.
The church in which they died was placed under interdict as punishment to the locals for the offense. Shortly after the interdict was finally lifted, a large statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary was found on the door step of church. Neither the sculptor nor the patron was ever discovered, nor who delivered it or how. The people took it as a sign that they were forgiven, but that they should never forget, and should renew their devotion to Our Lady. They referred to the image as “Our Lady of Miracles.”
Until recently there was a ceremony in the church on the night of the 28th to 29th of May, the anniversary of the martyrdom. Called “The Ceremony of the Vow”, parishioners would gather in the church, kneel with lit candles, and process across the church on their knees, all the while praying for the souls of the heretics who had murdered the martyrs.
Martyrs of Trentino: Three missionaries to the Tyrol region of Austria, sent by Saint Ambrose of Milan and welcomed by Saint Vigilius of Trent. All were martyred – Alexander, Martyrius and Sisinius. They were born in Cappadocia and died in 397 in Austria.
One Minute Reflection – 28 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11, Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11, John 17:20-26 and The Memorial of Blessed Lanfranc of Canterbury (c 1005-1089)
“And I have given them the glory you gave me …” … John 17:22
REFLECTION – “… Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of Your day that is not measured by the sun. … In Your sacrament we daily embrace You and receive You into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope. We have had Your treasure hidden within us, ever since we received baptismal grace, it grows ever richer at Your sacramental table. Teach us to find our joy in Your favour! Lord, we have within us Your memorial, received at Your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.
We glimpse the beauty that is laid up for us, when we gaze upon the spiritual beauty Your immortal will, now creates within our mortal selves. Saviour, Your Crucifixion marked the end of Your mortal life; teach us to crucify ourselves and make way for our life in the Spirit. May Your Resurrection, Jesus, bring true greatness to our spiritual self and may Your sacraments be the mirror, wherein we may know that self. Saviour, Your divine plan for the world is a mirror for the spiritual world – teach us to walk in that world as spiritual men.
Lord, do not deprive our souls, of the spiritual vision of You, nor our bodies of Your warmth and sweetness. The mortality lurking in our bodies spreads corruption through us; may the spiritual waters of Your love cleanse the effects of mortality from our hearts. Grant, Lord, that we may hasten to our true city and, like Moses on the mountaintop, possess it now in vision.” … St Ephrem (306-373) Father and Doctor of the Church – (Sermo 3, De fine et admonitione 2. 4-5)
PRAYER – God of mercy, You have filled us with the hope of resurrection by restoring man to his original dignity. May we who relive this mystery each year come to share it in perpetual love. May the Mother of Our Lord stand with us as we gaze upward to her Son and may the prayer of Bl Lanfranc, be a support in our troubles. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Our Morning Offering – 28 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter and The Memorial of St Germanus (c 490-576)
Most Holy Virgin, My Consolation By St Germanus (c 490-576)
Most Holy Virgin!
Who are the greatest consolation
that I receive from God,
you who art the heavenly dew
which assuages all my pains,
you who are the light of my soul
when it is enveloped in darkness,
you who are my guide in unknown paths,
the support of my weakness,
my treasure in poverty,
my remedy in sickness,
my consolation in trouble,
my refuge in misery,
and the hope of my salvation,
hear my supplications,
have pity on me,
as becomes the Mother of so good a God
and obtain for me a favourable reception
of all my petitions at the throne of mercy.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 28 May 2020 – Blessed Lanfranc of Canterbury OSB (c 1005-1089) Archbishop of Canterbury, Benedictine Abbot, celebrated Jurist, Scholar, Professor, spiritual writer, Reformer, negotiator – born in c 1005 in Pavia, Italy and died on 24 May 1089 in Canterbury, England of natural causes. He is also variously known as Lanfranc of Pavia,Lanfranc of Bec and Lanfranc of Canterbury. He renounced his career as a very well-known and celebrated jurist, to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen in Normandy and then as Archbishop of Canterbury in England, following its Conquest by William the Conqueror.
Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate. He was orphaned at an early age.
He was trained in the liberal arts, at that time a field in which northern Italy was famous. For unknown reasons at an uncertain date, he crossed the Alps, soon taking up the role of teacher in France and eventually in Normandy. About 1039 he became the Master of the Cathedral school at Avranches, where he taught for three years with conspicuous success. But in 1042 he embraced the Monastic life in the newly founded Bec Abbey. Until 1045 he lived at Bec in absolute seclusion.
Lanfranc was then persuaded by Abbot Herluin to open a school at Bec to relieve the Monastery’s poverty. From the first he was celebrated. His pupils were drawn, not only from France and Normandy but also from Gascony, Flanders, Germany and Italy. Many of them afterwards attained high positions in the Church, one student, Anselm of Badagio, became Pope under the title of Alexander II, another, St Anselm of Canterbury (Doctor of the Church) succeeded Lanfranc as the Archbishop of Canterbury.
As a result of his growing reputation, Lanfranc was invited to defend the Doctrine of Transubstantiation against the attacks of Berengar of Tours. He took up the task with the greatest zeal, although Berengar had been his personal friend. He was the protagonist of orthodoxy at the Church Councils of Vercelli (1050), Tours (1054) and Rome (1059). Our knowledge of Lanfranc’s polemics is chiefly derived from the tract De corpore et sanguine Domini, probably written c 1060-63. His work was regarded as conclusive and became for a while a text-book in the schools. It is often said to be the place where the Aristotelian distinction between substance and accident was first applied, to explain Eucharistic change. It is the most important of his surviving works.
When the see of Rouen next fell vacant (1067), the thoughts of the electors turned to Lanfranc. But he declined the honour and he was nominated to the English Primacy as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was speedily Consecrated on 29 August 1070. The new Archbishop at once began a policy of reorganisation and reform.
By long tradition the primate was entitled to a leading position in the king’s councils and the interests of the Church demanded, that Lanfranc should use his power in a manner not displeasing to the king. On several occasions when William I was absent from England Lanfranc acted as his vicegerent.
On the death of the Conqueror in 1087, Lanfranc secured the succession for William Rufus, in spite of the discontent of the Anglo-Norman baronage and, in 1088, his exhortations induced the English militia to fight on the side of the new sovereign against Odo of Bayeux and the other partisans of Duke Robert. He exacted promises of just government from Rufus and was not afraid to remonstrate, when the promises were disregarded. So long as he lived he was a check upon the worst propensities of the king’s administration. But his restraining hand was too soon removed. In 1089 he was stricken with fever and he died on 24 May amidst universal lamentations.
Bl Lanfranc between St John the Baptist and St Liborius
The efforts of Christ Church Canterbury to secure him the status of saint seem to have had only spasmodic and limited effect beyond English Benedictine circles. However, in the period after the Council of Trent, Lanfranc’s name was included in the Roman Martyrology and in the current edition, maintains the rank of beatus, the feast day being celebrated on 28 May. His tomb rests in Canterbury Cathedral.
Statue of Bl Lanfranc from the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral
Bl Heliconis of Thessalonica
St Helladius of Rome
St Herculaneum of Piegaro
Bl John Shert
St Justus of Urgell Blessed Lanfranc OSB (c 1005-1089)
St Luciano of Cagliari
Bl Margaret Plantagenet Pole Blessed Maria Bartolomea Bagnesi OP (1514-1577) Her lifestory: https://anastpaul.com/2017/05/28/saint-of-the-day-28-may-blessed-maria-bartholomew-bagnesi-t-o-s-d/
Bl Mary of the Nativity
St Moel-Odhran of Iona
St Paulus of Rome
St Phaolô Hanh
St Podius of Florence
Bl Robert Johnson
St Senator of Milan
Bl Thomas Ford
St Ubaldesca Taccini
St William of Gellone
Bl Wladyslaw Demski
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Martyrs of Palestine: A group of early 5th century monks in Palestine who were martyred by invading Arabs.
Martyrs of Sardinia – 6 saints: A group of early Christians for whom a church on Sardinia is dedicated; they were probably martyrs, but no information about them has survived except the names Aemilian, Aemilius, Emilius, Felix, Lucian and Priamus. Patrons of the diocese of Alghero-Bosa, Italy.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Blessed Luís Berenguer Moratona
Quote/s of the Day -– 27 May – The Memorial of St Augustine of Canterbury
OSB (Died c 605)
“God, in His promises to hear our prayers, is desirous to bestow Himself upon us; if you find anything better than Him, ask it but if you ask anything beneath Him, you put an affront upon Him and hurt yourself, by preferring to Him, a creature which He created.
Pray in the spirit and sentiment of love, in which the royal prophet said to Him, ‘Thou, O Lord, are my portion.’ Let others choose to themselves, portions among creatures, for my part, You are my portion, You alone I have chosen for my whole inheritance.”
St Augustine of Canterbury (Died c 605)
“The Apostle to the English”
“Ask God to lead you by Faith, Only God, seek only Him.”
One Minute Reflection -– 27 May – “Mary’s Month” Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 20:28-38, Psalm 68:29-30, 33-36, John17:11-19 and the Memorial of St Augustine of Canterbury (Died c 605)
“I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. … As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.” … John 17:15,18
REFLECTION – “Well, that God who saved me then, will be with me again in this journey and if I do not abandon Him, He will be with me always and while He is with me, everything that can happen to me will always be a grace, a blessing for which I should thank Him. If in danger, He wants to withdraw, or pretends to be asleep on the bow of the ship, like the Apostle, I will go to wake Him and let Him see my danger. And then if He does not want to listen, I will say – Lord, command me to come to You and my soul will walk on the waters, it will go to His feet and be content forever.
I do not know what He is preparing for me in the journey I begin tomorrow. I know one thing only, He is good and loves me immensely, everything else – calm or storm, danger or safety, life or death, are merely changeable and passing expressions of the beloved immutable, eternal Love. Yes, my beloved brethren, we have another country, another home, a kingdom where we must all meet, where there will no longer be separations or departures, where past sorrows and danger will merely serve to increase our consolation and glory.” … Blessed Giovanni Mazzucconi P.I.M.E. (1826-1855) Martyr – Giovanni Battista Mazzucconi was an Italian priest from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. He was killed in hatred of the faith in Papua New Guinea during his work there amongst the people. He was 29 years old. He was beatified in 1984. His life is herehttps://anastpaul.com/2019/09/07/saint-of-the-day-7-september-blessed-giovanni-battista-mazzucconi-1826-1855-martyr/ and includes this, his letter before his last journey to Papua New Guinea.
PRAYER – Give us the grace Holy God to ever serve You and be faithful to You alone. Nothing of this world is worthy of our love and alone in You do we have life and light. May Your divine Son be our Guide and our Hope and may He always be with us as we make our way to our home country, together with His Mother and ours, the Blessed Virgin. Listen too, we pray, to the prayers of St Augustine of Canterbury, who we ask to intercede for our needs. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
St Acculus of Alexandria
St Antanansio Bazzekuketta
St Barbara Kim
St Barbara Yi St Bruno of Würzburg (c 1005-1045) Bishop Prince
Bl Dionysius of Semur
Bl Edmund Duke
St Eutropius of Orange
St Evangelius of Alexandria
St Frederick of Liège
Bl Gausberto of Montsalvy
St Gonzaga Gonza
St James of Nocera
Bl John Hogg
St Julius the Veteran and Companions
St Liberius of Ancona
St Matiya Mulumba
Bl Matthias of Nagasaki
St Melangell
St Ranulphus of Arras
St Restituta of Sora and Companions
Bl Richard Hill
Bl Richard Holiday
St Secundus of Troia
One Minute Reflection – 26 May- “Mary’s Month!” – Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 20:17-27, Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21, John 17:1-11 and The Memorial of St Mariana de Jesus de Paredes OFS (1618-1645) “The Lily of Quito”
“Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him.” … John 17:1-2
REFLECTION – “At the conclusion of the central section of the Church’s great Credo—the part that recounts the mystery of Christ, from His eternal birth of the Father and His temporal birth of the Virgin Mary, through His Cross and Resurrection to the second coming—we find the phrase: “he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” From the earliest times, the prospect of the Judgement has influenced Christians in their daily living, as a criterion by which to order their present life, as a summons to their conscience and at the same time as hope in God’s justice. Faith in Christ, has never looked merely backwards or merely upwards but always also forwards to the hour of justice that the Lord repeatedly proclaimed…
In Christ who was crucified, the denial of false images of God is taken to an extreme. God now reveals His true Face in the figure of the Sufferer who shares man’s God-forsaken condition, by taking it upon Himself. This innocent Sufferer has attained the certitude of hope – there is a God and God can create justice, in a way that we cannot conceive, yet, we can begin to grasp it through faith. Yes, there is a resurrection of the flesh. There is justice. There is an “undoing” of past suffering, a reparation that sets things aright.
For this reason, faith in the Last Judgement is first and foremost hope—the need for which, was made abundantly clear in the upheavals of recent centuries. I am convinced that the question of justice constitutes the essential argument, or in any case the strongest argument, in favour of faith in eternal life. The purely individual need for a fulfilment, that is denied to us in this life, for an everlasting love that we await, is certainly an important motive for believing, that man was made for eternity but, only in connection with the impossibility, that the injustice of history should be the final word, does the necessity for Christ’s return and for new life become fully convincing.” … Pope Benedict XVI – Pope from 2005 to 2013 – Encyclical “ Spe Salvi ” § 41, 43
PRAYER – Lord God, You opened for us, the way to eternal life, when Christ Your Son was take up to glory and Your Holy Spirit, came to enlighten Your Church. Grant that, as we share in so great a gift, our longing and hope, for our eternal home may grow every stronger and so our service ever more loyal to Your commandments. Listen to the prayers of Holy Mother Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of Your Son and of St Maria de Jesus de Paredes, whom we beg to pray for our intercession. Through Christ, Our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God for all time and for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 26 May – “Mary’s Month!” – Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter and The Memorial of St Philip Neri (1515-1595)
Mary, I Love You By St Philip Neri (1515-1595)
Mary, I love you.
Mary, make me live in God,
with God and for God.
Draw me after you, holy mother.
O Mary, may your children persevere in loving you.
Mary, Mother of God and Mother of mercy,
pray for me and for the departed.
Mary, holy Mother of God, be our helper.
In every difficulty and distress,
come to our aid, O Mary.
O Queen of Heaven,
lead us to eternal life with God.
Mother of God, remember me,
and help me always to remember you.
O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to you.
Pray for us,
O holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy
of the promises of Christ.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray to Jesus for me.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 26 May – Saint Mariana de Jesus de Paredes OFS (1618-1645) “The Lily of Quito,”Third Order Franciscan, Hermit, Penitent, Mystic, Ecstatic, miracle-worker. She was endowed with the charism of prophecy. Born as María Ana de Jesús de Paredes y Flores on 31 October 1618 at Quito, Ecuador and died on 26 May 1645 at Quito, Ecuador, aged 26. St Mariana is first Canonised Saint of Ecuador and she has been declared a National Herione. Patronages – Ecuador, Americas, bodily ills, loss of parents, people rejected by religious orders, sick people, sickness. Her Incorrupt body is enshrined in the Cathedral of La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús.
Mariana de Jesus de Paredes was born in the city of Quito, in the New Kingdom of Granada (modern-day Ecuador). She was born of aristocratic parents on both sides of her family, her father was Don Girolamo Flores Zenel de Paredes, a nobleman of Toledo, Spain and her mother was Doña Mariana Cranobles de Xaramilo, a descendant of one of the best Spanish families. Mariana was the youngest of eight children and it is claimed her birth was accompanied by most unusual phenomena in the heavens, clearly connected with the child and juridically attested at the time of the process of her Beatification.
She was orphaned at a very young age and, thereafter, she was raised by her older sister, Jerónima de Paredes and the latter’s husband, Cosme de Caso. Mariana was drawn to a spiritual life, her sister and brother-in-law allowed her to live in seclusion in their house, living “the life of an uncloistered beata,” similar to Rose of Lima to whom she is often compared. She was refused entry into a convent, despite supplication by her brother-in-law and surrogate father, Cosme de Caso. She subjected herself to bodily mortification, with the aid of her Indian servant. She did not live in total seclusion but rather focused her spiritual life on the nearby Jesuit church, where she participated in a number of apostolates.
Her spiritual life was closely connected to the Jesuits and her religious name “de Jesús” was no doubt intentional. Following her death in 1645, her funeral and burial were in the Jesuit church. The funeral sermon that the priest Fr Alonso de Rojas preached emphasised her bodily mortification and renunciation of the flesh and put her forward as a model for females in Quito to emulate. “Learn girls of Quito, from your fellow countrywoman, [to prefer] holiness over beauty, virtues over ostentation.” The sermon became a key document in the long process to establish her saintliness, Beatification (1853) and final Canonisation (1950).
The Franciscans claimed de Paredes as a holy person. She did wear the Franciscan scapulary and sash but her seventeenth-century Jesuit hagiographer, Jacinto Morán de Butrón, confirmed that the Jesuits nurtured her spiritual life. Soon after Mariana’s 1645 death, the Franciscan province of Peru, based in Lima, included a biography of Mariana in the history of the province citing the Jesuit funeral sermon as a source. She received the habit of the Third Order from the Franciscans in her native town of Quito. ccording to her Jesuit hagiographer, Mariana did not go to the Franciscan church to receive the garments but sent someone else.
It is reported that the fast which she kept was so strict that she took scarcely an ounce of dry bread every eight or ten days. The food which miraculously sustained her life, as in the case of Catherine of Siena and Rose of Lima, was, according to the sworn testimony of many witnesses, the Eucharist alone, which she received every morning in Holy Communion.
Mariana possessed an ecstatic gift of prayer and is said to have been able to predict the future, see distant events as if they were passing before her, read the secrets of hearts, cure diseases by a mere sign of the Cross or by sprinkling the sufferer with holy water and at least once restored a dead person to life. During the 1645 earthquakes and subsequent epidemics in Quito, she publicly offered herself as a victim for the city and died shortly thereafter.
It is also reported that, on the day she died, her sanctity was revealed in a wonderful manner – immediately after her death, a pure white lily sprang up from her blood, blossomed and bloomed, a miracle which has given her the title of “The Lily of Quito.” The Republic of Ecuador has declared her a national heroine.
St Mariana was Beatified on 10 November 1853, Rome by Pope Pius IX and
was Canonised on 9 July 1950 Rome, by Pope Pius XII.
St Mariana’s incorrupt body is exposed and venerated at her shrine at the Cathedral of La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, known colloquially as La Compañía, is a Jesuit Cathedral in Quito, Ecuador.
Nostra Signora di Caravaggio / Our Lady of Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy (1432) – 26 May:
Title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary who appeared in an apparition on 26 May 1432 in the countryside outside Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy. Giannetta de’ Vacchi Varoli was cutting hay in a field when the Virgin appeared. Mary requested penance from and a chapel built by the locals. A new spring of healing water appeared in the hay field. The apparition anniversary became a day of pilgrimage to the Shrine of Santa Maria del Fonte built at the site and devotion to the Madonna of Caravaggio spread through the region and eventually around the world. In 1879, Italians from Lombardy built a chapel for their settlement in southern Brazil. As it was the only sacred art that any of them possessed, they dedicated the Chapel to the Madonna di Caravaggio. Today the shrine hosts over a million pilgrims annually. Patronage – Diocese of Cremona, Italy.
— St Alphaeus St Anderea Kaggwa Bl Andrea Franchi St Becan of Cork Bl Berengar of Saint-Papoul St Damian the Missionary St Desiderius of Vienne St Pope Eleuterus St Felicissimus of Todi St Fugatius the Missionary St Gioan Ðoàn Trinh Hoan St Guinizo of Monte Cassino St Heraclius of Todi Bl Lambert Péloguin of Vence St Mariana de Jesus de Paredes OFS (1618-1645) “The Lily of Quito” – The first Canonised Saint of Ecuador.
St Odulvald of Melrose St Paulinus of Todi St Peter Sanz St Ponsiano Ngondwe St Priscus of Auxerre and Companions St Quadratus of Africa St Quadratus the Apologist St Regintrudis of Nonnberg St Simitrius of Rome and Companions St Zachary of Vienne
Quote/s of the Day – 25 May – The Memorial of St Maria Magdalena de’ Pazzi O.Carm (1566-1607)
“Trials are nothing else but the forge that purifies the soul of all its imperfections.”
“O Sisters, if we would only comprehend the fact that while the Eucharistic Species remain within us, Jesus is there and working in us inseparably with the Father and the Holy Spirit and, therefore, the whole Holy Trinity is there.”
“The last thing I ask of you — and I ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — is that you love Him alone, that you trust implicitly in Him and, that you encourage one another continually, to suffer for the love of Him.”
One Minute Reflection – 25 May – “Mary’s Month” – Monday of the Seventh week of Easter, Readings: Acts 19:1-8, Psalm 68:2-7, John 16:29-33 and the Memorial of St Maria Magdalena de’ Pazzi O.Carm (1566-1607)
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have conquered the world.” ... John 16:33
REFLECTION – “Let nothing intervene to hinder the progress of any who travel alongside each other, in this evangelical life but let us walk with agile step though the road be rough and hard, let us show a brave and manly spirit, overcome obstacles, pass along from pathway to pathway, from hill to hill, until we climb onto the mountain of the Lord and make a home for ourselves in the holy place of His impassibility.
Now, companions assist each other on the way; so then, my brothers, as the apostle says: “Bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2) and make up for whatever is lacking to others (cf. 2 Cor 8:14 ; Phil 2:30). To the negligence that perhaps holds sway today, noble courage will succeed tomorrow, now one is in gloom and then suddenly one rises to the surface and discovers joy again, at one moment our passions rise up but soon God comes to help us, they are broken and calm returns. For you will only be seen like this yesterday and the day before but, dear friend, you will not always remain the same but the grace of God will draw near you, the Lord will fight for you and perhaps, like the great Antony, you will say: “Where were you just now?” and he will answer: “I wanted to see your combat.”
For now, let us persevere, children, dear children, let us be patient for a little, brothers, dear brothers.… Who will be crowned without having fought? Who will go to rest if he is not tired (cf. 2 Tim 2:5-6)? Who will gather the fruits of life without having planted virtues in his soul? Cultivate them, prepare the earth with the greatest care, take trouble over it, sweat over it, children, God’s workers, imitators of the angels, competitors with incorporeal beings, lights for those who are in the world (cf. Phil 2:15)!” … St Theodore the Studite (759-826) Monk – Catechesis 28
PRAYER – Lord God, as You brought joy to the world, through the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, grant that through His Virgin Mother, we may constantly seek and recognise our Lord and Saviour and turn to Him in complete trust and love. May we ever live in confidence and share our joy with our neighbour. St Maria Magdalena de’ Pazzi, pray that we may know the courage of our Saviour. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Saint of the Day – 25 May – Saint Maria Magdalena de’ Pazzi O.Carm (1566-1607) Carmelite Nun and Mystic, Ecstatic, she bi-located and was the intercessor of many miracles, Stigmatist – born as Caterina de’ Pazzi (but in the family was called Lucrezia) in 1566 at Florence, Italy and died on 25 May 1607 of natural causes. Patronages – against bodily ills, against sexual temptation, against sickness, sick people, Naples (co-patron).
The second of four children, Caterina was born in Florence on 2 April 1566, to Camilo de’ Pazzi and Maria Buondelmonti. In the comfortable setting of a noble family, that began to call her Lucrezia, after her paternal grandmother, the young girl grew up peacefully and with a certain sensitivity to the aesthetic side of her social condition. Her heart was open to God and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, in great simplicity, which is something we can see in the way she might share her lunch pack with a needy person, out of compassion, or the way she would help the children of the poor by gently offering them the first truths of faith. Her mother’s deep piety and the visits to her home by the Jesuit Fathers, that her parents invited regularly, helped to stamp on Caterina’s soul that sense of Church, “sensus ecclesiae,” that in later life would appeal so much to her conscience.
St Maria Magdalena de’ Pazzi at age 16 by Santi di Tito (1583)
At eight years of age, she was sent as a pupil to the nuns at San Giovannino. The nuns, who noticed the contemplative nature of the child, prepared her for First Holy Communion and not many weeks later, Caterina was sufficiently mature to offer her virginity to God. She was ten years old and now she didn’t need anymore to get the scent of Jesus, by standing near her mother when she had received Holy Communion, now, she began to meditate on the humanity of Jesus. As she was learning to read, she came across the Athanasian Creed and she was very inspired by it. In the same way, she grew to be totally enamoured by the meditations of St Augustine and the Lord’s Passion by Loarte, which she read on the advice of Fr Andrea Rossi, who was her Spiritual Director. The artworks below are of St Augustine writing on her heart.
She had not yet reached the age of seventeen, when she showed her desire to be consecrated to God in religious life. Having overcome the initial opposition of her family, she entered the monastery in Borgo San Frediano, to join the Carmelite community of Santa Maria degli Angeli who were very happy to have her. They allowed her to begin as a Postulant on 8 December 1582. This community, that was well known to and highly regarded by the Bishop of Florence, was attractive to the young girl, principally because of the possibility of receiving Holy Communon everyday.
Two months after entering, on 30 January 1853, Caterina received the Carmelite habit, and with it, the name, Sr Maria Magdalena. At the end of the novitiate year, it was decided, that she would put her profession back until there were other Novices ready to join her. Maria Magdalena , however, got very sick in the following months, to the point of almost dying. With little hope of recovery – even the best doctors in the city had failed to diagnose what today we would call pneuomonia – the Prioress decided to have her make her profession in danger of death, in articulo mortis.
About one hour after her profession, something happened to Magdalena. It was an experience of rapture in God. The sisters tell us that when they went to visit her in the infirmary, they came upon the young eighteen year old patient, transfigured and looking very beautiful. From that day onwards, it was 27 May 1584, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the Lord visited her every morning, for forty days and revealed the depth of his love to her. These frequent episodes gave rise to many misgivings in the young girl whose only desire was to live in the hiddenness of her life in Carmel but, it was obvious, that this kind of grace had to be recognised and preserved. For that reason, the sisters began very soon to take notes, writing down what Magdalena. would say while in ecstasy and what she would say, out of obedience, to the Prioress and Mistress.
Towards the end of that same year, a new period of divine favour began for her. This time, Jesus, the divine Word, held her in intense conversation (reported in I Colloqui) that revealed increasingly, the bridal relationship that Christ had formed with her. It was in one of those ecstasies that Christ brought her into His passion and death. It was Holy Week in 1585 – her experiences included the Stigmata impresssed on her soul, the Crown of Thorns, the Crucifixion and every scene from the Gospel was displayed, as if it was happening live in that slender tormented body. Then, on the Sunday after Easter, she received from her divine Bridegroom the ring of her mystical marriage.
The manuscript titled, Revelazioni e Intelligenze, gives a faithful account of the communication of God’s grace, that in the days between the vigil of Pentecost and the Sunday of the Blessed Trinity, gave Magdalena, an entry into the revelation, of the inner dimensions of her Trinitarian life. What was communicated to her, was what goes on between the divine person, and how the human person can fulfil a supernatural vocation, by allowing this mystery dwelling within, to do its work.
The central element in this understanding, is the saving mission of the Word, Love, made flesh in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary and the intuition of “dead love” as the highest expression of the ultimate gift of self.
On the last day of this intense octave of Pentecost, Magdalena began to see, with some clarity, that the moment had arrived when God, as He had made known to her already on a few occasions, was about to take away from her, the enjoyment of His presence. That was the beginning of five very difficulty years of torment and temptation, to the point where she felt as if she had been thrown into the “lions’ den” and reduced to “nothing.” In these interior trials, described in the Probazione, Jesus continued to support her but without lessening the radical purification that striped her bare, made her more simple and extremely receptive to His visits. In the heart of the crucible, however, Magdalena also received understanding from God concerning the condition of the Church of her time – so slow to implement the renewal sought by the Council of Trent – and she felt that she was being drawn by the Truth, to be involved in a practical way, in calling to order prelates, cardinals and even the Pope, Sixtus V. The twelve letters that she dictated in ecstasy, in the Summer of 1586 are collected in the volume titled, Rinnovamento della Chiesa. The five years of trial restored to us a Magdalena. transformed . The Lord had brought her through a divinising process, through which, today, she could well be considered a master and guide.
After Pentecost 1590, she returned to the normality of ordinary life, something she had always wanted. Apart from just a few and important, moments of ecstasy (reported in the second part of the Probazione) her days passed quietly as she went about the jobs she had to do (on account of her spiritual maturity she was put in charge of the young sisters in formation) and all the other forms of humble service that she tended to seek. Then the experience of “naked suffering” took hold of her and this would unite her once and for all to the Crucified Bridegroom.
Sr Magdalena could read the thoughts of others and predict future events. For instance, during one ecstatic event she predicted the future elevation to the Papacy of Cardinal Alessandro de’ Medici (as Pope Leo XI). During her lifetime, she appeared to several persons in distant places and cured many sick people.
The symptoms of tuberculosis began to appear in 1603. As her strength declined, she suffered the added pain of not being able to feel anything of the Lord’s presence. Just her presence in the community, in the eyes of the sisters, had become a vision of God’s work of art about to be completed. On 25 May 1607, at 3 p.m. in the afternoon, Sr Maria Magdalena, at the age of forty-one gave up her spirit.
She was buried in the choir of the Monastery chapel. She was Beatified in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. At her Canonisation in 1668, her body was declared miraculously incorrupt. Her body is located in the Monastery of Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi in Careggi.
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