On Self-Denial, and Renunciation of all Cupidity II]

[Rich]

On Self-Denial, and Renunciation of all Cupidity II]

THE DISCIPLE.
Lord, this is not the work of a single day, and no easy matter. These
few words contain the whole way of spiritual perfection.

CHRIST.
My son, do not be discouraged or diverted from your purpose at hearing
of this way of perfection. Rather let it spur you to higher things and
at least, to set your heart on them. If only you would do this, and
attain that state where you cease to be a lover of self and stand
ready to do My will and His whom I have appointed as your Father, you
would greatly please Me and your whole life would be filled with joy
and peace. You have still many things to renounce, and unless you
surrender them to Me without reserve, you cannot obtain what you ask
of Me. I counsel you to buy from Me gold, refined in the fire, that
you may be rich (Rev.3:18) in that heavenly wisdom that rejects all
worthless things. Despise the wisdom of the world and every temptation
to please others or yourself.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 32

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July 8th - Saint Sunniva of Norway

THIS popular Norse legend is a sort of local version of the story of
St Ursula. Sunniva, daughter of an Irish king, in order to avoid
marriage or to escape dishonourable intentions or flying before an
invader, put to sea with a number of followers in a boat without
rudder, sail or oats. They were cast up on the island of SeIje, off
the coast of Norway, where they lived in caves and fed upon fish
presumably they got tired of this diet, for the inhabitants of the
neighbouring mainland began to miss beasts from among their cattle
left to graze on the island. Suspecting that the strangers were
responsible they sent an armed party across to see about it; but when
they arrived they found that the caves occupied by the refugees had
been blocked up and the occupants entombed by a
landslide--miraculously closed against their pursuers at the prayer of
Sunniva.

Some time afterwards passers-by in boats noticed a strange light
streaming from the spot where the strangers had died. This story
reached King Olaf Tryggvason (then engaged on an attempt to
christianize the land), and he went to investigate, accompanied by a
bishop. The caves were opened and bones found; but the body of
Sunniva was intact and incorrupt. Olaf built a church there to
shelter the body. This was in 995.

In 1170 her relics were translated to the cathedral of Bergen, and the
feast of the Seijemen was celebrated every year on this day during the
middle ages. What truth lies behind the story it is impossible to
tell. The bones discovered have been speculated to be those of slain
sea-rovers; but why did King Olaf trouble to disinter them and build a
church there?

Saint Sunniva is the patron saint of the Norwegian Diocese of
Bjørgvin, as well as all of Western Norway.

The Latin legend, not older than the eleventh century seems to have
been written by an Anglo-Saxon missionary bishop, Sigurd or Sigward.
The text has been printed by G. Storm, Monumenta Historiae Norvegiae,
pp. 147-152. See also the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvii (1898), p.
347, and S. Undset, Saga of Saints (1934), pp. 68-86. For further
references, see Analecta Bollandiana, vol. lii (1934), pp. 120,121.

Saint Quote:
When I pronounce the name of Mary,
I feel myself inflamed with such love and joy,
that between the tears and happiness
which I pronounce this beautiful name,
I feel as though my heart might leave my breast.
For this sweet name is like a honeycomb dissolving
in the innermost recesses of my soul.
--Blessed Henry Suso

Bible Quote:
And there shall come a redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from
iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord.
[21] This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that is
in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart
out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the
mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for
ever. [Isaias (Isaiah) 59:20-21]

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Be simple as doves. [Matt. 10:16 ] July: Simplicity

31. God is a Being most simple in His essence, admitting no
composition whatever. If, then, we desire to render ourselves as much
like Him as possible, we should endeavor to be by virtue what He is by
nature; that is, we ought to have a simple heart, a simple soul, a
simple intention, a simple mode of action. We ought to speak simply,
and to act frankly, without deceit or artifice, always letting our
exterior reflect our interior, and never regarding anything in all our
actions except God, Whom alone we endeavor and desire to please.
--St. Vincent de Paul

Such, in fact, was the simplicity of this Saint, for his exterior was
always in entire conformity to his interior. Whoever heard his words
could immediately know what was in his heart, which he always kept
upon his lips. And however numerous and varied might be his
occupations, they all had the same end, which was to please God alone.
It might be truly said that he possessed this virtue to such a degree
that the faculties of his soul were wholly steeped in it, and whatever
he said or did proceeded from this source.
("A Year with the Saints".