Spiritual Progress Draws Detractors
Traudel
People who change their way of life and begin to think about making
spiritual progress also begin to suffer from the tongues of detractors.
Whoever has not yet suffered this trial has not yet made progress,
and whoever is not ready to suffer it does not even endeavor to progress.
-Augustine -- Commentary on Psalm 119, 3
Prayer.
Come to my aid, O God, the one eternal, true reality! In you there is no
strife,
no
disorder, no change, no need, and no death; only supreme clarity, supreme
permanence, supreme
fullness, and supreme life.
-Soliloquies 1, 1
Meditation for troubled times;
God can work through you better when you are not hurrying.
Go very slowly, very quietly, from one duty to the next, taking time to rest
and
pray between.
Do not be too busy. Take everything in order. Venture often into the rest of
God
and you will
find peace. All work that results from resting with God is good work. Claim
the
power to work
miracles in human lives. Know that you can do many things through the Higher
Power. Know
that you can do good things through God who rests you and gives you
strength.
Partake regularly
of rest and prayer.
I pray that I may not be in too much of a hurry. I pray that I may take time
out
often to rest
with God.
-From Twenty-Four Hours a Day
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May 14th - St. Carthage the Younger, Abbot (AC)
(Also known as Carthach, Mochuda)
Born at Castlemaine, Kerry, Ireland; died near Lismore, Ireland, on May 14,
c. 637; cultus confirmed in 1903. This swineherd was probably named Cuda. He
became a disciple of Saint Carthach the Elder who ordained him and from whom
he took his name. About 590, he became a hermit at Kiltlaugh and then at
Bangor under Saint Comgall.
After visiting several monasteries, Carthage settled for a time at Rahan in
Offaly, and then in 595 he founded a monastery there and ruled over 800
monks, two of whom were Britons who tried to drown him because they felt it
was time for the monastery to have a new abbot. Carthage wrote a rule in
metrical verse, a later version of which still exists. He also was probably
a bishop at Fircall.
After 40 years, the foundation provoked the jealousy of monasteries on
adjacent lands, and Carthage and his monks were driven away by Blathmac, a
local ruler. He led his monks to the banks of the Blackwater and founded a
new monastery at Lismore, where he survived long enough to give his monks a
firm foundation to what was to become one of the most famous of all Irish
monastic schools. One of its students was Saint Cathal, who was elected
bishop of Taranto, Italy, during his return from the Holy Land.
Saint Carthage was exceptionally strict about the holding of property; at
Rathan he would not allow the community to have horses or oxen to help in
the tillage. Nevertheless, the Lismore Crozier is a treasured item of Irish
art-now residing in the National Museum at Dublin. The saint retired to a
cave near Lismore where he spent his last years as a hermit (Attwater,
Benedictines, Carthage, Delaney, Montague).
Also Today:
May 14th - Saint Matthias, Apostle
Matthias was one of the 72 disciples of Our Lord; he was chosen to replace
Judas
Iscariot in the College of the Twelve Apostles. There is not much
information
about him.
According to a Greek tradition, he preached the Gospel in Cappadocia and in
regions bordering the Caspian Sea. Tradition tells us he suffered martyrdom
in
present day Ethiopia, where he was stoned, and then beheaded.
Some parts of his doctrine were conserved by Clement of Alexandria. This
sentence is attributed to the Apostle:
"We must combat the flesh, taking what advantages we can without giving
it
blameworthy delights. Regarding the soul, we should develop it through
intelligence and faith."
Saint Quote:
"As to ... the avoidance of sin, there is no more efficacious means of
subduing the passions [desires], of resisting temptations, and consequently
of avoiding sin, than the remembrance of God's presence."
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori (Useful Doctor, 1696-1787)
Bible Quotes:
"Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord
hath looked upon the earth" (Psalm 101:20)
"And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the
multitude of my sins. For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his
wrath looketh upon sinners. Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer
it not from day to day. For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the
time of vengeance he will destroy thee" (Ecclesiasticus 5:69)
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NOVENA TO SAINT LUCY FOR PERFECT VISION
Relying on Your goodness, O God, we humbly ask You,
through the intercession of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr, to
give perfect vision to our eyes, that they may serve for Your
greater honor and glory. Saint Lucy, hear our prayers and
obtain our petitions. Amen
A Novena must be said every day for 9 days.