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Question Your Heart
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Traudel
Mar 10, 2023, 3:58:51 AM3/10/23
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Question Your Heart
"My brothers and sisters, question your heart, and if you cannot find
love of neighbor there set your mind at ease. Such love cannot exist
without the Spirit of God.
Paul the Apostle bears witness to this: "The love of God has been
poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to
us."
--St. Augustine--Sermon on 1 John 6, 10
Prayer: Lord, whatever you give me is too little for me. Be yourself
my inheritance! I love you without reserve: with all my heart, soul,
and mind. Of what value is anything you give me that is not yourself!
--St. Augustine--Sermon 334, 3a
<<>><<>><<>>
March 10th - Saint Marie-Eugénie de Jésus
St Marie Eugenie was a remarkable woman. From its foundation in 1839,
she led the Assumption for fifty five years. Her story is that of a
woman who, springing from an irreligious background, came to
understand that each one of us is called by God to a unique way of
service, and that hers was to inspire countless others to strive for
the building of the Kingdom of God through education. Her life is
marked by her three great loves – for Jesus Christ, for Mary the
Mother of Jesus and our mother and for the Church.
St Marie EuginieA first call
Anne Eugenie Milleret, later to become Sr. Marie Eugenie of Jesus
foundress of the Religious of the Assumption, was born in Metz in
northern France in 1817. Her family was privileged, wealthy,
politically involved, and irreligious. She was baptised, however, and
her first communion at the age of twelve was an extraordinary
spiritual experience.
As she returned from the altar rails, worried that she would not find
her mother in the crowd, she heard a voice within her saying: you will
lose your mother, but I shall be for you more than a mother. A day
will come when you will leave everything you love in order to glorify
me and serve this Church that you do not know.
And that was how it was. When she was 13 a reversal in family fortunes
saw her father’s bankruptcy, the separation of her parents and the
departure of Anne Eugenie to Paris with her mother. Two years later
her mother died of cholera after only a few hours of illness and at
the age of 15 Anne Eugenie was alone. She was boarded out with
different families and although outwardly she was happy enough,
inwardly she was miserable.
"Each one of us has a mission on earth.”
Then God intervened. It was the custom to attend special sermons
during Lent and she chose to go to the cathedral of Notre Dame, where
the young and already famous Lacordaire was preaching. He spoke to her
heart. She realised that she must give her life to God. As she said
later, my vocation dates from Notre Dame. What was she to do? She
wrote to Lacordaire: Each one of us has a mission on earth. But what
was hers? He advised patience, reading and prayer. It was only the
next year that chance – or the hand of God – brought her into contact
with Fr. Combalot. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Two great friendships
She was helped by two great friendships. The first was with one of the
very first sisters, Kate O’Neill, who as Sr. Therese Emmanuel,
co-foundress of the Congregation, was her constant help and support.
The second was a priest, Emmanuel d’Alzon, just a few years older than
her. Marie Eugenie had been introduced to him by Combalot before the
Congregation started. So when the relationship with Combalot became
very difficult, she was able to turn to him for help. To the extent of
the possible – he lived 500 miles away – he agreed to help and support
her and thus began a friendship and partnership that was to last until
his death nearly 40 years later.
In the beginning it was he who supported her, but as time went on she
would be just as likely to be giving him advice. She encouraged him to
found a Congregation of men: the Augustinians of the Assumption. But
above all they helped each other to become holy. As he said of her:
“If I have given anything, I have also received a great deal”. And
when he died in 1880 she wrote to her sisters: “What I shall see
eternally in Father d’Alzon is his love for Jesus Christ, his devotion
to the Church, his zeal for souls.”
“I am looking at my Lord. It is in looking at Him that we learn how to love.”
Marie Eugenie led the Assumption for fifty-five years. Her life was
full. Her first priority was for her sisters: their happiness, their
formation, their work. She was concerned for their health – more than
two hundred sisters were to die before she did, often young and of
tuberculosis.
She was constantly travelling from community to community,
encouraging, consoling and challenging. As the Congregation became
known, she was invited to start more and more communities. She saw her
work as being always in and for the Church, and her loyalty to it was
absolute.
The last few years of her life were spent in increasing retirement.
Gradually her health failed. Her legs refused to carry her and her
speech also slowed, so that at the end she could only occasionally say
a few words. Those around her were struck by her gentleness and
patience. One day she managed to say: I am looking at my Lord. It is
in looking at Him that we learn how to love. She died, surrounded by
her sisters, on the 10th March 1898.
St Marie Eugenie was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on 3rd June 2007.
Download “A Saint for Today: a life of St Marie Eugenie”
Bible Quote:
"Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to
the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to
the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. You, on the other
hand, have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who lord it over
you: Are not they the ones who drag you into court, who insult the
honorable name which has been pronounced over you? Well, the right
thing to do is to keep the supreme Law of Scripture: you will love
your neighbor as yourself; but as soon as you make class distinctions,
you are committing sin and under condemnation for breaking the Law."
[James 2:5-9:]
Saint Quote:
Prayer ought to be humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and
accompanied with great reverence. One should consider that he stands
in the presence of a God, and speaks with a Lord before whom the
angels tremble from awe and fear.
--Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
<><><><>
Grant Me Grace,
O Merciful God
Prayer of St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus & Doctor Communis
which he was accustomed to recite everyday before the image of Christ.
Grant me grace,
O merciful God,
to desire ardently
all that is pleasing to Thee,
to examine it prudently,
to acknowledge it truthfully
and to accomplish it perfectly,
for the praise
and glory of Thy Name.
"My brothers and sisters, question your heart, and if you cannot find
love of neighbor there set your mind at ease. Such love cannot exist
without the Spirit of God.
Paul the Apostle bears witness to this: "The love of God has been
poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to
us."
--St. Augustine--Sermon on 1 John 6, 10
Prayer: Lord, whatever you give me is too little for me. Be yourself
my inheritance! I love you without reserve: with all my heart, soul,
and mind. Of what value is anything you give me that is not yourself!
--St. Augustine--Sermon 334, 3a
<<>><<>><<>>
March 10th - Saint Marie-Eugénie de Jésus
St Marie Eugenie was a remarkable woman. From its foundation in 1839,
she led the Assumption for fifty five years. Her story is that of a
woman who, springing from an irreligious background, came to
understand that each one of us is called by God to a unique way of
service, and that hers was to inspire countless others to strive for
the building of the Kingdom of God through education. Her life is
marked by her three great loves – for Jesus Christ, for Mary the
Mother of Jesus and our mother and for the Church.
St Marie EuginieA first call
Anne Eugenie Milleret, later to become Sr. Marie Eugenie of Jesus
foundress of the Religious of the Assumption, was born in Metz in
northern France in 1817. Her family was privileged, wealthy,
politically involved, and irreligious. She was baptised, however, and
her first communion at the age of twelve was an extraordinary
spiritual experience.
As she returned from the altar rails, worried that she would not find
her mother in the crowd, she heard a voice within her saying: you will
lose your mother, but I shall be for you more than a mother. A day
will come when you will leave everything you love in order to glorify
me and serve this Church that you do not know.
And that was how it was. When she was 13 a reversal in family fortunes
saw her father’s bankruptcy, the separation of her parents and the
departure of Anne Eugenie to Paris with her mother. Two years later
her mother died of cholera after only a few hours of illness and at
the age of 15 Anne Eugenie was alone. She was boarded out with
different families and although outwardly she was happy enough,
inwardly she was miserable.
"Each one of us has a mission on earth.”
Then God intervened. It was the custom to attend special sermons
during Lent and she chose to go to the cathedral of Notre Dame, where
the young and already famous Lacordaire was preaching. He spoke to her
heart. She realised that she must give her life to God. As she said
later, my vocation dates from Notre Dame. What was she to do? She
wrote to Lacordaire: Each one of us has a mission on earth. But what
was hers? He advised patience, reading and prayer. It was only the
next year that chance – or the hand of God – brought her into contact
with Fr. Combalot. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Two great friendships
She was helped by two great friendships. The first was with one of the
very first sisters, Kate O’Neill, who as Sr. Therese Emmanuel,
co-foundress of the Congregation, was her constant help and support.
The second was a priest, Emmanuel d’Alzon, just a few years older than
her. Marie Eugenie had been introduced to him by Combalot before the
Congregation started. So when the relationship with Combalot became
very difficult, she was able to turn to him for help. To the extent of
the possible – he lived 500 miles away – he agreed to help and support
her and thus began a friendship and partnership that was to last until
his death nearly 40 years later.
In the beginning it was he who supported her, but as time went on she
would be just as likely to be giving him advice. She encouraged him to
found a Congregation of men: the Augustinians of the Assumption. But
above all they helped each other to become holy. As he said of her:
“If I have given anything, I have also received a great deal”. And
when he died in 1880 she wrote to her sisters: “What I shall see
eternally in Father d’Alzon is his love for Jesus Christ, his devotion
to the Church, his zeal for souls.”
“I am looking at my Lord. It is in looking at Him that we learn how to love.”
Marie Eugenie led the Assumption for fifty-five years. Her life was
full. Her first priority was for her sisters: their happiness, their
formation, their work. She was concerned for their health – more than
two hundred sisters were to die before she did, often young and of
tuberculosis.
She was constantly travelling from community to community,
encouraging, consoling and challenging. As the Congregation became
known, she was invited to start more and more communities. She saw her
work as being always in and for the Church, and her loyalty to it was
absolute.
The last few years of her life were spent in increasing retirement.
Gradually her health failed. Her legs refused to carry her and her
speech also slowed, so that at the end she could only occasionally say
a few words. Those around her were struck by her gentleness and
patience. One day she managed to say: I am looking at my Lord. It is
in looking at Him that we learn how to love. She died, surrounded by
her sisters, on the 10th March 1898.
St Marie Eugenie was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on 3rd June 2007.
Download “A Saint for Today: a life of St Marie Eugenie”
Bible Quote:
"Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who were poor according to
the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to
the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. You, on the other
hand, have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who lord it over
you: Are not they the ones who drag you into court, who insult the
honorable name which has been pronounced over you? Well, the right
thing to do is to keep the supreme Law of Scripture: you will love
your neighbor as yourself; but as soon as you make class distinctions,
you are committing sin and under condemnation for breaking the Law."
[James 2:5-9:]
Saint Quote:
Prayer ought to be humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and
accompanied with great reverence. One should consider that he stands
in the presence of a God, and speaks with a Lord before whom the
angels tremble from awe and fear.
--Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
<><><><>
Grant Me Grace,
O Merciful God
Prayer of St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus & Doctor Communis
which he was accustomed to recite everyday before the image of Christ.
Grant me grace,
O merciful God,
to desire ardently
all that is pleasing to Thee,
to examine it prudently,
to acknowledge it truthfully
and to accomplish it perfectly,
for the praise
and glory of Thy Name.
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