Walk Before God In Truth and Humility (I)

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Walk Before God In Truth and Humility (I)

CHRIST.
My son, walk before Me in truth, and constantly seek Me in simplicity of heart.
He who walks before Me in truth shall be protected against the
assaults of evil; truth shall deliver him from his deceivers and from
the slanders of the wicked.
If truth set you free, you are truly free, and need care nothing for
the vain words of men.

THE DISCIPLE.
Lord, this is true; let it be as you have said. Let Thy truth be my
teacher and my guard, and lead me to salvation in the end. Let it free
me from every evil affection and lawless love, and I will walk before
Thee in complete freedom of heart.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 4

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12 May – St Domingo de la Calzada / Dominic of the Causeway

((1019 – 1109)
Priest, Hermit, Bridge Builder, a road, a Hospital/Hostel, a Church,
in effect a town, Miracle-worker. Born in 1019 as Domingo García in
Victoria, Biscay, Spain and died in 1109 at Santo Domingo de la
Calzada, Spain, of natural causes. Patronages – Spanish civil
engineers. eye diseases, the blind, the Pilgrim’s Town of Santo
Domingo de la Calzada, Spain. Also known as – Dominic of Landeveien,
Domenico, Dominicus…

Dominic was the son of a peasant named Ximeno García. His mother was
named Orodulce. We know little about his early years, except that he
worked as a shepherd and then tried, in vain, to be admitted as a Monk
in the Benedictine Monasteries of Valvanera and San Millán de la
Cogolla. This failure caused him to retire as a Hermit to a secluded
place, Ayuela, near present-day Santo Domingo de la Calzada. There he
led a contemplative life until 1039.

Fundamental to his later development was the relationship he
established, around this date, with Gregory, Bishop of Ostia, who
arrived in Calahorra as a Papal Envoy to combat a terrible locust
plague that devastated the Navarrese and Riojan territories. For five
years and until the death of the future Ostiense Saint in 1044,
Dominic became Bishop Gregory’s close collaborator. He received the
Priestly Ordination from Gregory’s hands. Together, they decided to
build the first wooden bridge over the Oja River to facilitate the
transit of pilgrims to Compostela.

After the death of Saint Gregory, Dominic returned to the area where
he had spent his years of retirement and undertook a profound
colonising work there. He cut down the forests, cleared the land and
began the construction of a stone road that was a deviation from the
traditional path between Logroño and Burgos but which became, from
that moment on, the main route between Nájera and Redecilla. To
improve the conditions of the pilgrims on their way to Compostela. who
began to cross it, he replaced the first wooden bridge with another
made of stone and built a complex consisting of a hospital, a well and
a Church, to attend to the needs of travelers. Today, it is the Casa
del Santo, which is used as a hostel by modern-day pilgrims.

The town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada began as a few houses built
around the Hermitage of the Saint in his lifetime. At his death in
1109, the village had grown in population. King Alfonso VI of Castile
annexed La Rioja in 1076 and seeing that Dominic’s efforts contributed
to the Castilianisation of the region, decided to support him and his
projects. He visited Dominic in 1090 and, thereafter, Dominic,
assisted by his disciple Juan de Ortega, began construction on a
Church dedicated to Christ and the Virgin Mary. Outside, and attached
to its walls, the Saint chose a place for his own burial. The Church
was Consecrated by the Bishop of Calahorra in 1106.

Dominic died in 1109. His Church, later the Cathedral of Santo Domingo
de la Calzada, was where he was buried, as he had requested and it was
elevated to the rank of Cathedral after being placed in the
jurisdiction of the Diocese of Calahorra in the 1230s.

Many miracles are attributed to the intercession of St Dominic, among
them the exorcism of a French knight who had been possessed by the
devil and who was freed of his affliction by visiting the tomb of
Dominic. Another miracle concerns the healing of a German pilgrim
named Bernard in the 15th Century, who was cured of an affliction of
the eyes, by his prayers at Dominic’s tomb. Another concerns the
healing of a blind Norman who was granted his eyesight by God, when he
prayed fervently for Dominic’s intercession in the Cathedral.

The most famous miracle, however, concerns that of the rooster and the
chicken, which occurred at Santo Domingo de la Calzada. In the 14th
Century, a German 18-year-old named Hugonell, from Xanten, went on
pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with his parents. A Spanish girl
at the hostel where they were staying made sexual advances toward
Hugonell. But he rejects her advances. Angry at this, the girl hid a
silver cup in the German’s bag and then informs the authorities that
the youth had stolen it. Hugonell was sentenced to the gallows, in
accordance with the laws of Alfonso X of Castile.

The parents sadly decided to examine their son’s body, still hanging
on the gallows, but suddenly heard his voice telling them that Saint
Dominic had saved his life! His parents quickly made their way to
Santiago de Compostela to see the Magistrate. The Magistrate, who was
eating dinner, remarked: “Your son is as alive as this rooster and
chicken that I was feasting on before you interrupted me.” And at that
moment, the two birds jump from the plate and begin to sing and crow
happily.

The first element of the tale, that of a hanged pilgrim, is found in
many collections of miracles, with the restoring of life after the
death of the victim attributed not only St Dominic, but also to Saint
James the Great, or to the Virgin Mary. The second part of the tale,
the miracle of the dancing and singing roasted chicken and rooster, is
unique to St Dominic de la Calzada.

In memory of Dominic’s miracle, a rooster and chicken, with white
feathers, are kept alive at the Cathedral all year round. A different
rooster and chicken are alternated each month, although they are
called descendants of the original birds, who miraculously danced even
though they were roasted. The pairs of roosters and chickens, when
they are not at the Cathedral, are kept in a chicken coop called the
Gallinero de Santo Domingo de la Calzada, which the Confraternity of
St Dominic maintains with the help of donations. A wayside Shrine
built in 1445, holds a relic associated with the miracle: a piece of
wood from the gallows from which Hugonell was hanged and then restored
to life. Medieval pilgrims gathered the feathers of these favoured
birds, or received them from the Priest and would affix them to their
hats. Another tradition claimed that if the birds ate breadcrumbs
directly from the end of the pilgrim’s staff, that pilgrim would
arrive safely in Compostela.

The German pilgrim Hermann Künig (15th century) claimed to have seen
the room where the roasted birds began to sing and dance. Documents
written by pilgrims state that Hugonell’s shirt, as well as the
gallows, had been conserved by the Church of Santo Domingo. These
artifacts are now lost

https://anastpaul.com/2022/05/12/


“Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not.” – John 4:48

Go on then with simple unquestioning faith and approach the Sacrament
with reverent beseeching. Anything you cannot understand, commit it
surely to God, Who is omnipotent. God does not deceive you – the
over-confident person deceives himself. God walks in step with the
simple ones, He shows Himself to the humble ones, He grants
understanding to the little ones; “He reveals hidden meanings to
little ones” and hides away His grace from the inquisitive and the
proud. Human reason is feeble and fallible but true faith cannot be
deceived. All use of reason, all human inquiry should walk in the
footsteps of faith; it should not go on in front of it, nor call it in
question.” – Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471) (The Imitation of Christ
IV, 18).


Saint Quote:
Not only think of the road through which thou art traveling, but take
care never to lose sight of that blessed country in which thou art
shortly to arrive. Thou meetest here with passing sufferings, but wilt
soon enjoy everlasting rest. When thou lookest up to the recompense
everything thou dost or sufferest will appear light, and no more than
a shadow; it bears no proportion with what thou art to receive for it.
Thou wilt wonder that so much is given for such trifling pains.
-- St. Augustine

Bible Quote:
Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out. That when the times of refreshment shall come from the
presence of the Lord, and he shall send him who hath been preached
unto you, Jesus Christ. Whom heaven indeed must receive, until the
times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the
mouth of his holy prophets, from the beginning of the world. (Acts
3:19-21) DRB


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“Do you also wish to go away?” He asked.
It was then that Simon Peter
made his memorable reply,
“Lord, to whom shall be go?
Thou hast the words of everlasting life.”
(Jn 6:68-69).
We also may experience, at times,
a sense of uncertainty
concerning the words of Jesus Christ.
There are such tremendous mysteries
in the Christian religion.
But, a religion which contained
no mysteries could scarcely be true.
There are mysteries of nature surrounding us
and within us.
How can we imagine that there are
no mysteries in God, the supreme
and most perfect Being?
Could it be possible
for our petty intellects fully
to comprehend God in Himself
and in His revelation?
Let us bow our heads, therefore,
before the mysteries of the Divinity.
Let us adore God and repeat with St Peter:
We cannot go away from You, O God
because You have the words of everlasting life.”
--Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Walk Before God In Truth and Humility (I)