On the Joy of God's Service [IV]

[Rich]

On the Joy of God's Service [IV]

What return can I make for all these countless favors? If only I could
serve You faithfully all the days of my life! If only I could render
You worthy service, even for a single day! For You alone are worthy of
all service, honor, and eternal praise. (Rev. 4:11) You are truly my
God, and I Your poor servant, who am bound to serve with all my
powers, nor should I ever weary in Your praise. This is my wish and
desire; whatever is lacking in me, I pray you to supply.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ, Bk 3 Ch 10

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May 22nd - Saint Joachima de Vedruna de Mas
(Widow, Third Order)

Born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1783, Joachima was the fifth of the eight
children of the aristocratic Vedruna family. When she was twelve she
wanted to be a cloistered Carmelite nun; but at 16 she married a
young lawyer, Theodore de Mas, who had been thinking of becoming a
Franciscan. Both joined the Third Order Secular of St Francis. During
the 17 years of her married life, Joachima was a beloved wife
and the devoted mother of eight children, the last of whom was born in
1815.

When Napoleon invaded Spain, Theodore served in the Spanish army,
after he had moved his family to Vich. When the French troops arrived
there, Joachima had to flee with her children; but after the war she
returned to that city, the birthplace of her husband.

Joachima and Theodore were both members of the Third Order fraternity
at the Capuchin church in Vich. She was only thirty-three when
Theodore died in 1816 at the age of forty-two. Though her old desire
to enter a religious community was still strong in her, Saint Joachima
de Vedruna had duties to perform towards her children; and so, for the
first seven years of her widowhood she took care of her children. At
the same time, she led an austere life, wearing the Tertiary habit as
her ordinary dress, spending much time in prayers, and waiting on the
sick in the hospital at Vich.

One day in 1820, as Saint Joachima de Vedruna was passing the Capuchin
church, her mount refused to go farther. She went into the church and
entered the confessional of Father Stephen of Olot, a noted preacher
and director of souls. He told her that she was not to join an
existing religious order but to found a new community which would
devote itself to teaching in schools and to nursing the sick.

In 1823, two of her children married and one of them took the two
remaining girls into their home. Joachima was now free to carry out
her plans. Father Stephen assisted her in laying the foundations for a
Franciscan sisterhood of the Third Order Regular and drafted the
constitutions. The new sisterhood was formally established in 1826 in
Joachima’s home with six members, but not as a Franciscan community.
Bishop Paul Corcuera of Vich, a Carmelite, made it a congregation of
the Carmelite Third Order Regular and called it the Carmelite Sisters
of Charity. Later St Anthony Mary Claret revised their rule and
constitutions. In 1850 these received the approval of the bishop and
in 1880 the approbation of the Holy See.

Though a hospital was opened at Tarrega a few months after its
founding in 1826, the new sisterhood had to contend with many
difficulties during the first years. During the Carlist Wars, Mother
Joachima was put in a prison for five days in 1837; and she, with some
of her sisters, was an exile in Perpignan, France, for three years
until the fall of 1843. Converts with schools and hospitals were then
established all over Catalonia.

Sickness compelled Mother Joachima to resign the superiorship in 1851;
and during the last four years of her life, a gradual slow paralysis
caused her to die by inches. Saint Joachima de Vedruna was seventy-one
when she died in 1854. In 1940, the Carmelite Sisters of Charity had
2,000 members in 150 convents, of which 135 were in Spain and 10 in
Spanish America. Mother Joachima, who attained a high degree of
prayer, trust in God, and selfless charity, was enrolled in the ranks
of the Blessed in 1940.

*from The Franciscan Book of Saints, Marion Habig, OFM


Saint Quote:
Can the life of a good Christian be anything other than that of a man
nailed to the Cross with Jesus Christ?
-- Saint John Vianney


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From the Letters of St. Joachina

“If only we were all on fire with love for God! If we were, we should
preach love, proclaim love, and yet more love, until we had set the
whole world on fire. We must have great desires: then God will give us
whatever is best for us.

We must be careful to free our hearts from everything that might get
in the way of the pure love of our beloved Jesus. He is love itself,
and wants to give Himself to us through love. Jesus is calling us all
the time–how long are we going to remain deaf to His voice? No, let us
keep our hearts ready, our wills completely for Jesus, our faculties
and our senses for our Lord.

There must be no undue attachment in our hearts for created things:
they must burn with love alone, love ever more fervent; for love never
says ‘enough,’ never rests until it is completely on fire. When our
hearts are completely on fire with pure love for Jesus, everything
that might hinder love from taking complete possession will be cast
out.

We must not give in to weariness: we must spend every minute in loving
God. God alone, the maker of heaven and earth, must be our rest and
our consolation. The love of God is the only thing we can possess for
ever: everything else will pass away.

Love, love, and yet more love–love that is never satisfied! The more
we love God, the more we shall long to love Him. And when we have
Jesus in our hearts, we shall have everything else in Him and with
Him.”