Quote/s of the Day – 13 March – Monday of the Third Week in Lent
“Are we going to neglect our own salvation? Let us show great compassion towards the poor so as to be made worthy of possessing good things to come for all eternity!”
St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor of the Church
“What great profit you gain from God when you are generous! You give a coin and receive a Kingdom; you give bread from wheat and receive the Bread of Life; you give a transitory good and receive an everlasting one. You will receive it back, a hundred times more than you offered.”
“If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide for those of the need, without waiting for them to ask you. Especially, anticipate the needs of those, who are ashamed to beg. To make them ask for alms, is to make them buy it!”
One Minute Reflection – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanueva OSA (1488-1555) Archbishop, Confessor – Sirach 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matthew 25:14-23
“To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately …” – Matthew 25:15
REFLECTION – “The man who is the landowner is actually the Creator and Lord of all. The Word compares the time the landowner spends away from home, in the parable, to either the Ascension of Christ into Heaven, or, at any rate, to the unseen and invisible character of the Divine Nature. Now, one must conceive of the property of God, as those in each country and city who believe in Him. He calls His servants, those who according to the times, Christ crowns with the glory of the Priesthood. For the holy Paul writes, “No-one takes this honoUr upon himself; he must be called by God.”
He hands over [His property] to those who are under Him, to each giving a spiritual gift, so that he might have character and aptitude. We think that this distribution of the talents, is not supplied to the household servants in equal measure because, each is quite different from the other, in their understanding. Immediately they head out for their labours, He says, directly, indicating to us here, that apart from the procrastination of one, they are fit to carry out the work of God.
Surely those who are bound by fear and laziness will evolve into the worst evils. For he buried, Jesus says, the talent given to him in the earth. He kept the gift hidden, making it unprofitable for others and useless for himself. For that very reason, the talent is taken away from him and will be given to the one who is already rich. The Spirit has departed from such as these and the gift of the divine gifts. But to those who are industrious, an even more lavish gift will be presented.” – St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Archbishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church (Fragment 283)
PRAYER – O God, Who endowed blessed Bishop Thomas with the virtue of special pity for the poor, we beseech Thee, through his intercession, generously to pour forth the riches of Thy mercy upon all those who pray to Thee. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
St Thomas of Villanueva/Villanova OSA (1488-1555) Archbishop, Confessor, Religious Priest of the Order of St Augustine,Writer, Preacher, Teacher, Apostle of Charity, Mystic, Miracle-Worker often called “the Almsgiver” and “the Father of the Poor“, Reformer. Canonised on 1 November 1658 by Pope Alexander VII. About St Thomas here: https://anastpaul.com/2017/09/22/saint-of-the-day-22-september-st-thomas-of-villanova-o-s-a/
St Irais St Jonas St Lauto of Coutances St Lindru of Partois Bl Otto of Freising St Sadalberga St Sanctinus of Meaux St Septimius of Jesi (Died c 307) Bishop, Confessor, Martyr St Sigfrid of Wearmouth St Silvanus of Levroux St Symphorian
Martyrs of the Theban Legion: + Martyrs (c 287) A Roman imperial legion of 6,600 soldiers, all of whom were Christians; they had been recruited from the area around Thebes in Upper Egypt, were led by Saint Maurice and served under Emperor Maximian Herculeus. Around the year 287, Maximian led the army across the Alps to Agaunum, an area in modern Switzerland, in order to suppress a revolt by the Bagandre in Gaul. In connection with battle, the army offered public sacrifices to the Roman gods; the Theban Legion refused to participate. For refusing orders, the Legion was decimated – one tenth of them were executed. When the remainder refused to sacrifice to the gods, they were decimated again. When the survivors still refused to sacrifice, Maximinian ordered them all killed. Martyrs. Known members of the Legion include: Alexander of Bergamo Candidus the Theban Chiaffredo of Saluzzo Exuperius Fortunato Innocent of Agaunum Maurice Secundus the Theban Ursus the Theban Victor of Agaunum Victor of Xanten Victor the Theban Vitalis of Agaunum Other profiled Saints associated with the Legion include: Antoninus of Piacenza (martyred soldier; associated by later story tellers) Adventor of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers) Cassius (may have been a member) Florentius the Martyr (may have been a member) George of San Giorio (not a member; associated by later story tellers) Gereon (not a member, but another soldier who was martyred for refusing to make a sacrifice to Roman gods) Octavius of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers) Pons of Pradleves (escaped the massacre to become an evangelists in northern Italy) Secundus of Asti (not a member but linked due to art work) Solutor of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers) Tiberio of Pinerolo (may have been a member) Verena (wife of a member of the Legion) They were Martyred c 287 in Agaunum (modern Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, Switzerland. A Basilica was built in Agaunum to enshrine the relics of the Legion. The full story: https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/22/saints-of-the-day-22-september-st-maurice-and-the-martyrs-of-the-theban-legion-martyrs-c
Madonna di Porto Salvo / Our Lady of Porto Salvo, Lampedusa, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy (1843) – 22 September:
The island of Lampedusa lies far south of Sicily, closer to Tunisia than to Italy. Since the time of the Crusades, it has been home to a rural Shrine frequented by mariners both Christian and Muslim in the 1500s and 1600s, who kept an oil lamp burning constantly before the crude stone Statue of the Madonna and Child.
But the island was not inhabited until 22 September 1843, when two steamships of Italian colonists arrived under Governor Bernardo Maria Sanvisente. In Madonna Valley, they found the Chapel dilapidated and the mutilated Statue of the Virgin on the ground. Sanvisente ordered the Chapel and Statue to be restored and a Mass sung every year on 22 September in honour of the Madonna of Porto Salvo and the settlement of the island. During World War II, bombs destroyed the Church, but the Madonna was unhurt and no-one killed.
In 1967, the Virgin and Child were crowned but in 1979 the precious crowns were stolen. The faithful soon raised money for new ones and the Madonna of Porto Salvo was recrowned on 21 September 1980.
She is the Patron of fishermen and her celebration now lasts two weeks. On the first Sunday of September, the Statue processes from its Shrine to the main Church in town, where it is honoured with special services until the big day of the 22nd, when it processes solemnly through the City streets. Of course, the festa is the occasion for general entertainment, games and food as well. On the 23rd, a final procession returns the Madonna to the Sanctuary outside town.
Whilst exploring the story of this veneration of Our Lady, I discovered that on 22 September 2020 the “Key to the Island” was stolen. Below is the report in the local newspaper. Don Carmelo La Magra reassured all the islanders: “Whoever took it, repented, gave it back to me.” Great symbolic value – it is the key to the island in the hands of the Blessed Virgin:
“The key of Our Lady has been returned. Whoever took it, repented, gave it back to me anonymously. We thank the Virgin Mary because this story ended well and we pray for each other.” It is with this message that Fr Carmelo La Magra, Priest of Lampedusa, reassured all the islanders last night.
For hours, the alarm had been circulating on social media: “The golden key of the Madonna of Porto Salvo has been stolen“. A key that has a single, important meaning – the key of Lampedusa in the hands of the Blessed Virgin. A theft carried out, according to what was reported yesterday, on her feast day, 22 September. A party that, however, this year, due to the Coronavirus emergency, did not take place. The carabinieri, last night, did not find anything. Neither to those of the company command of Agrigento, nor to those of the Lampedusa station. No complaint had been formalised, nor had there been any interventions in this regard. But the military, having received informal news, immediately took an interest in the “case.”
A case that was resolved, fortunately, quickly and spontaneously. Because that key (which, according to what transpires, is not gold at all) was returned, as guaranteed by the Parish Priest of Lampedusa.
St Augustinus Yu Chin-Kil St Basilia St Digna of Rome St Emerita of Rome St Emmeramus St Florentius the Venerable St Gunthildis of Suffersheim (Died c 1057) Laywoman
St Irais St Jonas Bl Joseph Marchandon St Lauto of Coutances St Lindru of Partois St Maurice & Co Bl Otto of Freising St Sadalberga St Sanctinus of Meaux St Silvanus of Levroux
St Thomas of Villanueva/Villanova OSA (1488-1555) Archbishop, Religious Priest of the Order of St Augustine, Confessor, Writer, Preacher, Teacher, Apostle of Charity, Mystic, Miracle-Worker often called “the Almsgiver” and “the Father of the Poor“, Reformer. About St Thomas here: https://anastpaul.com/2017/09/22/saint-of-the-day-22-september-st-thomas-of-villanova-o-s-a/
Martyrs of the Theban Legion: Martyrs (c 287) A Roman imperial legion of 6,600 soldiers, all of whom were Christians; they had been recruited from the area around Thebes in Upper Egypt, were led by Saint Maurice and served under Emperor Maximian Herculeus. Around the year 287, Maximian led the army across the Alps to Agaunum, an area in modern Switzerland, in order to suppress a revolt by the Bagandre in Gaul. In connection with battle, the army offered public sacrifices to the Roman gods; the Theban Legion refused to participate. For refusing orders, the Legion was decimated – one tenth of them were executed. When the remainder refused to sacrifice to the gods, they were decimated again. When the survivors still refused to sacrifice, Maximinian ordered them all killed. Martyrs. Known members of the Legion include: • Alexander of Bergamo • Candidus the Theban • Chiaffredo of Saluzzo • Exuperius • Fortunato • Innocent of Agaunum • Maurice • Secundus the Theban • Ursus the Theban • Victor of Agaunum • Victor of Xanten • Victor the Theban • Vitalis of Agaunum Other profiled saints associated with the Legion include: • Antoninus of Piacenza (martyred soldier; associated by later story tellers) • Adventor of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers) • Cassius (may have been a member) • Florentius the Martyr (may have been a member) • George of San Giorio (not a member; associated by later story tellers) • Gereon (not a member, but another soldier who was martyred for refusing to make a sacrifice to Roman gods) • Octavius of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers) • Pons of Pradleves (escaped the massacre to become an evangelists in northern Italy) • Secundus of Asti (not a member but linked due to art work) • Solutor of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers) • Tiberio of Pinerolo (may have been a member) • Verena (wife of a member of the Legion) They were martyred c 287 in Agaunum (modern Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, Switzerland. A basilica was built in Agaunum to enshrine the relics of the Legion. The full story: https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/22/saints-of-the-day-22-september-st-maurice-and-the-martyrs-of-the-theban-legion-martyrs-c-287/
Martyrs of Valencia, Spain – Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Alfonso Lopez • Blessed Antonio Gil-Monforte • Blessed Antonio Sáez de Ibarra López • Blessed Carlos Navarro Miquel • Blessed Esteban Cobo-Sanz • Blessed Federico Cobo-Sanz • Blessed Félix Echevarría Gorostiaga • Blessed Francisco Carlés González • Blessed Francisco Vicente Edo • Blessed Germán Gozalvo Andreu • Blessed Josefina Moscardó Montalvá • Blessed Luis Echevarría Gorostiaga • Blessed María Purificación Vidal Pastor • Blessed Miguel Zarragua Iturrízaga • Blessed Simón Miguel Rodríguez • Blessed Vicente Sicluna Hernández
Nuestra Senora de la Covadonga, also named “La Santina” / Our Lady of Covadonga (720) – 8 September:
This is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the name of a Marian Shrine devoted to her at Covadonga, Asturias. The Shrine in northwestern Spain rose to prominence following the Battle of Covadonga in about 720, which was the first defeat of the Moors during their invasion of Spain. A Statue of the Virgin Mary, secretly hidden in one of the caves, was believed to have miraculously aided the Christian victory. Our Lady of Covadonga is the Patron of Asturias, and a Basilica was built to house the current Statue. Our Lady of Covadong’s east day is 8 September.
Our Lady of Health of Vailankanni (16th Century) – 8 September:
This is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by people as she twice appeared in the town of Velankanni, Tamil Nadu, India, in the 16th to 17th centuries. The Feast of the Nativity of Mary, is also commemorated as the feast of Our Lady of Good Health. The celebration starts on 29 August and ends on the day of the feast. The feast day prayers are said in Tamil, Marathi, East Indian, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Konkani, Hindi and English.
Nuestra Senora de la Meritxell / Our Lady of Meritxell (12th Century) – 8 September:
This is an Andorran Roman Statue depicting an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Meritxell is the Patron Saint of Andorra. On 6 January in the late 12th century, villagers from Meritxell, Andorra were going to Mass in Canillo. Though it was winter, they found a wild rose in bloom by the roadside. At its base was a Statue of the Virgin and Child. They placed the Statue in a Chapel in the Church in Canillo. The next day the Statue was found sitting under the wild rose again. Villagers from Encamp took the Statue to their Church but the next day the Statue had returned to the rose bush. Though it was snowing, an area the size of a Chapel was completely bare and the villagers of Meritxell took this to mean that they should build a Chapel to house the Statue and so they did. On 8-9 September 1972 the Chapel burned down and the Statue was destroyed, a copy now resides in the new Meritxell Chapel. The feast day of Our Lady of Meritxell is 8 September and the Andorran National Day.
St Adam Bargielski St Adela of Messines Bl Alanus de Rupe
St Disibod of Disenberg St Ethelburgh of Kent St Faustus of Antioch St Isaac the Great St István Pongrácz St Kingsmark St Peter of Chavanon Bl Seraphina Sforza St Pope Sergius I (c 650–701)
St Timothy of Antioch Bl Wladyslaw Bladzinski — Martyrs of Alexandria – (5 saints) A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Ammon, Dio, Faustus, Neoterius and Theophilus. Martyred in Alexandria, Egypt.
Martyrs of Japan – (21 beati): A group of 21 missionaries and converts who were executed together for their faith. • Antonio of Saint Bonaventure • Antonio of Saint Dominic • Dominicus Nihachi • Dominicus of Saint Francis • Dominicus Tomachi • Francisco Castellet Vinale • Franciscus Nihachi • Ioannes Imamura • Ioannes Tomachi • Laurentius Yamada • Leo Aibara • Lucia Ludovica • Ludovicus Nihachi • Matthaeus Alvarez Anjin • Michaël Tomachi • Michaël Yamada Kasahashi • Paulus Aibara Sandayu • Paulus Tomachi • Romanus Aibara • Thomas of Saint Hyacinth • Thomas Tomachi Died on 8 September 1628 in Nagasaki, Japan Beatified on 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius XI
Martyred in England: Bl John Norton Bl Thomas Palaser
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Adrián Saiz y Saiz • Blessed Apolonia Lizárraga Ochoa de Zabalegui • Blessed Bonifacio Rodríguez González • Blessed Dolores Puig Bonany • Blessed Eusebio Alonso Uyarra • Blessed Ismael Escrihuela Esteve • Blessed Josefa Ruano García • Blessed Josep Padrell Navarro • Blessed Mamerto Carchano y Carchano • Blessed Marino Blanes Giner • Blessed Miguel Beato Sánchez • Blessed Pascual Fortuño Almela • Blessed Segimon Sagalés Vilá • Blessed Tomàs Capdevila Miquel
Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C +2019
St Augustinus Yu Chin-Kil
St Basilia
St Digna of Rome
St Emerita of Rome
St Emmeramus
St Florentius the Venerable St Ignatius of Santhia OFM Cap (1686-1770)
St Irais
St Jonas
Bl Joseph Marchandon
St Lauto of Coutances
St Lindru of Partois
St Maurice & Co
Bl Otto of Freising
St Sadalberga
St Sanctinus of Meaux
St Silvanus of Levroux St Thomas of Villanueva/Villanova OSA (1488-1555)
About St Thomas here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/09/22/saint-of-the-day-22-september-st-thomas-of-villanova-o-s-a/
Martyrs of the Theban Legion: Martyrs (c 287)
A Roman imperial legion of 6,600 soldiers, all of whom were Christians; they had been recruited from the area around Thebes in Upper Egypt, were led by Saint Maurice and served under Emperor Maximian Herculeus. Around the year 287, Maximian led the army across the Alps to Agaunum, an area in modern Switzerland, in order to suppress a revolt by the Bagandre in Gaul. In connection with battle, the army offered public sacrifices to the Roman gods; the Theban Legion refused to participate. For refusing orders, the Legion was decimated – one tenth of them were executed. When the remainder refused to sacrifice to the gods, they were decimated again. When the survivors still refused to sacrifice, Maximinian ordered them all killed. Martyrs.
Known members of the Legion include:
• Alexander of Bergamo
• Candidus the Theban
• Chiaffredo of Saluzzo
• Exuperius
• Fortunato
• Innocent of Agaunum
• Maurice
• Secundus the Theban
• Ursus the Theban
• Victor of Agaunum
• Victor of Xanten
• Victor the Theban
• Vitalis of Agaunum
Other profiled saints associated with the Legion include:
• Antoninus of Piacenza (martyred soldier; associated by later story tellers)
• Adventor of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers)
• Cassius (may have been a member)
• Florentius the Martyr (may have been a member)
• George of San Giorio (not a member; associated by later story tellers)
• Gereon (not a member, but another soldier who was martyred for refusing to make a sacrifice to Roman gods)
• Octavius of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers)
• Pons of Pradleves (escaped the massacre to become an evangelists in northern Italy)
• Secundus of Asti (not a member but linked due to art work)
• Solutor of Turin (not a member; associated by later story tellers)
• Tiberio of Pinerolo (may have been a member)
• Verena (wife of a member of the Legion)
They were martyred c 287 in Agaunum (modern Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, Switzerland. A basilica was built in Agaunum to enshrine the relics of the Legion. The full story: https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/22/saints-of-the-day-22-september-st-maurice-and-the-martyrs-of-the-theban-legion-martyrs-c-287/
Martyrs of Valencia, Spain – Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Alfonso Lopez
• Blessed Antonio Gil-Monforte
• Blessed Antonio Sáez de Ibarra López
• Blessed Carlos Navarro Miquel
• Blessed Esteban Cobo-Sanz
• Blessed Federico Cobo-Sanz
• Blessed Félix Echevarría Gorostiaga
• Blessed Francisco Carlés González
• Blessed Francisco Vicente Edo
• Blessed Germán Gozalvo Andreu
• Blessed Josefina Moscardó Montalvá
• Blessed Luis Echevarría Gorostiaga
• Blessed María Purificación Vidal Pastor
• Blessed Miguel Zarragua Iturrízaga
• Blessed Simón Miguel Rodríguez
• Blessed Vicente Sicluna Hernández
Thought for the Day – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova O.S.A (1488-1555) “The Father of the Poor”
The new Archbishop was so poor that he was given money for furnishings but he took it to the hospital for the indigent. On being led to his throne in church, he pushed the silken cushions aside and with tears kissed the ground. His first visit was to the prison. Two-thirds of his episcopal revenues were annually spent in alms. He daily fed five hundred needy persons, made himself responsible for the bringing up of the city’s orphans and sheltered neglected foundlings with a mother’s care.
He wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate, mending it himself. The canons and domestics were ashamed of him but they could not convince him to change. Several hundred poor came to Thomas’s door each morning and received a meal, drink and money. When criticised because he was at times being taken advantage of, he replied:
“If there are people who refuse to work, that is for the governor and the police to deal with. My duty, is to assist and relieve those, who come to my door.”
During his eleven years’ episcopate, not one poor maiden was married without an alms from the archbishop. Spurred by his example, the rich and the selfish became liberal and generous. And when, on the Nativity of Our Lady, 1555, after one week of illness, Saint Thomas was about to breathe his last, he gave his bed to a poor man and asked to be placed on the floor.
Holy Mass was being celebrated in his presence when after Communion he breathed his last, reciting the words: “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.”
It has been said that at his death he was probably the only poor man in his see.
This is our “mark” – this generosity to the poor, this utter self-giving and mercy. This total trust in Divine Providence. We are often tempted to tend our image in others’ eyes, without paying sufficient attention to how we look to Christ. St Thomas still urges us to rethink our priorities.
Quote/s of the Day – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova O.S.A (1488-1555)
“I am, notwithstanding, inexcusable, if I do not love You; for You grant Your love to all who desire or ask it. I cannot see without light: yet if I shut my eyes in the midst of the noon-day light, the fault is in me, not in the sun.”
“What great profit you gain from God when you are generous! You give a coin and receive a kingdom; you give bread from wheat and receive the Bread of Life; you give a transitory good and receive an everlasting one. You will receive it back, a hundred times more than you offered.”
“If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor!”
“If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide those of the needy without waiting for them to ask you. Especially anticipate the needs of those who are ashamed to beg. To make them ask for alms is to make them buy it.”
“Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother and as he is, in the way of salvation, God can make him a saint, in spite of his present weakness.”
One Minute Reflection – 22 September – Today’s Gospel: Luke 8:4–15 – Saturday of the Twenty-fourth week in Ordinary Time, Year B
“And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bring forth fruit with patience.”…Luke 8:15
REFLECTION – “If you ask me what Jesus Christ means by this sower who goes out early to cast his seed over his field then, my brethren, that sower is the good God Himself, who began the work of our salvation from the beginning of the world by sending us His prophets before the coming of Christ, to teach us what was needed, if we would be saved. Not content with sending His servants, He came Himself, He marked out the way we should take, He came to make known His holy Word.
Do you know what a person is like who is not fed by this holy Word?… Such a person is like a patient without a doctor, a traveller who is lost and without a guide, a poverty stricken person without means of help. Brethren, it is absolutely impossible to love and please God, unless we are fed by this divine Word. What can draw us to follow Him unless by knowing Him? And who enables us to know Him, with all His perfections, beauty and love for us, if not the Word of God, who teaches us about everything He has done for us and the good things He has in store for us in the next life?”…St John Marie Vianney (1786-1859)
“This parable reminds us that we are the soil where the Lord tirelessly sows the seed of His Word and of His love. How do we receive it? And it will do us good not to forget that we too are sowers. God sows good seed and here too we can also ask ourselves: which type of seed comes out of our heart and our mouth? Remember, what counts, is … what comes out of the mouth and of the heart.”…Pope Francis – Angelus, 13 July 2014
PRAYER – All-powerful, eternal God, splendour of true light and neverending day, turn our ears and hearts to Your Word, that we may hear and live by the seed You have sown. May all that grows in us be of Your good seed and yield fruit a hundredfold. Grant Lord, we pray, that by the prayers St Maurice and the Martyrs of Theban and St Thomas of Villanova, we may be filled with courage and love and spread Your Word by our lives. We make our prayer through Jesus, our Lord and Word, with the Holy Spirit, one God with You, forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova O.S.A. (1488-1555)
I Will Love You, Lord By St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
I will love You, Lord,
in every way
and without setting limits to my love.
You set no limits
to what You have done for me;
You have not measured out Your gifts.
I will not measure out my love.
I will love You, Lord,
with all my strength,
with all my powers,
as much as I am able.
Amen
I Will Love You, Lord By St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
I will love You, Lord,
in every way
and without setting limits to my love.
You set no limits
to what You have done for me;
You have not measured out Your gifts.
I will not measure out my love.
I will love You, Lord,
with all my strength,
with all my powers,
as much as I am able.
Amen
Thought for the Day – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
As Bishop but choosing to live in absolute simplicity, St Thomas became a dynamo of activity in his archdiocese.
The see was immensely wealthy and he used the wealth for the benefit of the poor and his many charities.
Each day several hundred poor came to his door and each one was fed and given alms.
He took destitute orphans under his care and set up dowries for poor girls.
He paid his servants to find abandoned infants and took care of them.
When a nearby town was plundered by bandits, he sent money to rebuild and ransom the captives.
He tried to resign several times, to retire to a life of prayer but his requests were refused.
In August 1855, he had a heart attack and prepared for the end.
He ordered that all he owned be given to the poor and that after he died his bed be given to the local prison.
Whilst he was dying, Mass was offered in his presence and he died peacefully at the Altar of his Lord.
He was known as “the model of bishops”, “the almsgiver” and “the father of the poor.”
What overwhelming generosity our saints present! St Thomas of Villanova earned even derisive laughs with his determined shabbiness and his willingness to let the poor who flocked to his door take advantage of him. He embarrassed his peers but Jesus was enormously pleased with him.
Their trust in Divine Providence is so great that they give away anything and everything, never counting the cost.
They know in total trust, that they will be provided for.
This is our “mark” – this generosity to the poor, this utter self-giving and mercy. This total trust in Divine Providence. We are often tempted to tend our image in others’ eyes without paying sufficient attention to how we look to Christ. St Thomas still urges us to rethink our priorities.
We will be known by our fruits!
Quote/s of the Day – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova
“What great profit you gain from God when you are generous! You give a coin and receive a kingdom; you give bread from wheat and receive the Bread of Life; you give a transitory good and receive an everlasting one. You will receive it back, a hundred times more than you offered.”
“I am, notwithstanding, inexcusable, if I do not love You; for You grant Your love to all who desire or ask it. I cannot see without light: yet if I shut my eyes in the midst of the noon-day light, the fault is in me, not in the sun.”
One Minute Reflection – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova
“Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.”…Ephesians 4:26-27
REFLECTION – “Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little.
Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother
and as he is, in the way of salvation,
God can make him a saint, in spite of his present weakness.”….St Thomas of Villnova (1488-1555)
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, grant us the grace to withold our anger, to always put a guard on our tongues and to speak with charity. St Thomas of Villanova, you preached temperance in all things and lived a life of charity in word and deed, please pray for us, amen.
Saint of the Day – 22 September – St Thomas of Villanova OSA (1488 – 1555) Bishop, Religious Priest of the Order of St Augustine, Confessor, Writer, Preacher, Teacher, Apostle of Charity, Mystic, Miracle-Worker often called “the Almsgiver” and “the Father of the Poor,” Reformer. Born Tomás García y Martínez (1488 in Villanueva de los Infantes, Ciudad Real, Spain – September 8, 1555 in Valencia, Spain of natural causes). Canonised on 1 November 1658 by Pope Alexander VII. Patronages – Villanova University and various cities. Attributes – A bishop distributing alms to the poor.
St Thomas’ father was a miller, who regularly distributed food and provisions to the poor, as did his mother. He grew up and was educated in Villanueva de los Infantes, in the Province of Ciudad Real, Spain, therefore the name Thomas of Villanueva. Part of the original house still stands, with a coat of arms in the corner, beside a family chapel. In spite of his family’s wealth, as a young boy he often went about naked because he had given his clothing to the poor.
St Thomas Villanova Dividing His Clothes by Murillo
At the age of sixteen years, Thomas entered the University of Alcalá de Henares to study Arts and Theology. He became a professor there, teaching arts, logic, and philosophy, despite a continuing absentmindedness and poor memory. In 1516, he decided to join the Augustinian friars in Salamanca and in 1518 was ordained a priest.
He became renowned for his eloquent and effective preaching in the churches of Salamanca. Thomas composed beautiful sermons, among which stands out the Sermon on the Love of God, one of the great examples of sacred oratory of the 16th century. Charles V, upon hearing him preach, exclaimed, “This monsignor can move even the stones!”. Charles named Thomas one of his councilors of state and court preacher in Valladolid, the residence of the Emperor when on his visits to the Low Countries.
His scathing attacks on his fellow bishops earned him the title of reformer. Some of his sermons attacked the cruelty of bullfighting. He also had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose heart he compared to the burning bush of Moses that is never consumed.
Within the Order, he successively held the positions of prior of his local monastery, Visitor General and Prior Provincial for Andalusia and Castile. In 1533, Thomas sent out the first Augustinian friars to arrive in Mexico. Charles V offered him the post of Archbishop of Granada but he would not accept it.
Bishop:
In 1544 he was nominated as Archbishop of Valencia and he continued to refuse the position until ordered to accept by his superior. Given a donation to decorate his residence, he sent the money to a hospital in need of repair. He began his episcopacy by visiting every parish in the Archdiocese to discover what were the needs of the people. Aided by his assistant bishop, Juan Segriá, he put in order an archdiocese that for a century had not had direct pastoral government. He organised a special college for Moorish converts and in particular an effective plan for social assistance, welfare and charity. In 1547 he ordained as a priest the future Saint Luis Beltrán, O.P., a noted missionary in South America. Thomas started the Presentation Seminary in 1550.
He was well known for his great personal austerity (he sold the straw mattress on which he slept in order to give money to the poor) and wore the same habit that he had received in the novitiate, mending it himself. Thomas was known as “father of the poor.” His continual charitable efforts were untiring, especially towards orphans, poor women without a dowry and the sick. He possessed, however, an intelligent notion of charity, so that while he was very charitable, he sought to obtain definitive and structural solutions to the problem of poverty; for example, giving work to the poor, thereby making his charity bear fruit. “Charity is not just giving, rather removing the need of those who receive charity and liberating them from it when possible,” he wrote. He established boarding schools and high schools.
Thomas died in Valencia on September 8, 1555 of angina at the age of 67. His remains are preserved at the Cathedral there. St Thomas is the author of various Tracts, among which is included the Soliloquy between God and the soul, on the topic of communion. Francisco de Quevedo wrote his biography. His complete writings were published in six volumes as Opera omnia, in Manila in 1881.
Our Morning Offering – 22 September – The Memorial of St Thomas of Villanova
I Will Love You, Lord By St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
I will love You, Lord,
in every way
and without setting limits to my love.
You set no limits
to what You have done for me;
You have not measured out Your gifts.
I will not measure out my love.
I will love You, Lord,
with all my strength,
with all my powers,
as much as I am able.
Amen
AnaStpaul 
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