The Upright of Heart

[Weedy]

The Upright of Heart

"Do you know who the upright of heart are? They are those who wish
what God wishes. Therefore, do not try to twist God's will to you own
but correct your will to that of God. The will of God is a rule of
conduct. By it you have the means of being converted and of correcting
your evil ways."
--St. Augustine--(excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 93,18)

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April 11th – St. Isaac of Spoleto

“A monk who wants earthly possessions is not a monk at all”; a vision
of our Lady bade him train disciples; endowed with the gifts of
prophecy and miracles.

The ilex-covered slopes of Monte Luco, considered sacred since pagan
times, are honeycombed by caves which sheltered many a Christian
solitary in the early middle ages. One of the most famous of these
recluses was St. Isaac, a man well known to St. Gregory’s friend St.
Eleutherius, who furnished the particulars about the hermit that are
contained in the Dialogues. Isaac was a Syrian, who left his native
land in consequence of the monophysite persecution to take up his
residence in Italy. Upon his first arrival in Spoleto he entered a
church, where he remained for three days and three nights, absorbed in
prayer. Mistrusting his motives, one of the custodians of the building
called him a hypocrite, struck him, and drove him from the church.
Retribution immediately overtook the man, for the Devil entered into
him and would not leave until St. Isaac had stretched himself upon the
body of his assailant. “Isaac is driving me out !” exclaimed the evil
spirit, thus disclosing to the inhabitants of Spoleto the identity of
the stranger. The townsfolk, convinced that they had in their midst a
very holy man, offered him presents and would have built him a
monastery, but he refused all gifts and retired to a cave on Monte
Luco.

After several years spent in solitude, he had a vision of our Lady in
which she bade him train disciples. He then became the director of a
kind of laura, although he never founded a monastery. Several times
his followers asked him to sanction their acceptance of offerings from
the faithful, but he always replied, “A monk who wants earthly
possessions is not a monk at all”. The holy man was endowed with the
gifts of prophecy and miracles.

All that we know of St. Isaac is derived from the third book of the
Dialogues of St. Gregory. See also the Acta Sanctorum, April, vol. ii.

Saint Isaac was a Syrian monk who fled from the Monophysite
persecution and founded a laura at Monteluco, near Spoleto, Umbria,
Italy.
He was one of the restorers of eremitical life in 6th century Italy
(Benedictines).

Reflection. The safest correction of vice is the Christian’s blameless
life. Yet there are times when silence would make us answerable for
the sins of others. At such times let us, in the name of God, rebuke
the offender without fear.

Saint Quote:
Stand fast, therefore, in this conduct and follow the example of the
Lord, 'firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of the brotherhood,
loving each other, united in truth,' helping each other with the
mildness of the Lord, despising no man.
--Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter to the Philippians

Bible Quote:
Let the people shew forth their wisdom, and the church declare their
praise. (Ecclesiasticus 44:15)

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Woe to him!

[B]ut there is another angle. St. Paul told the Corinthians ( 1 Cor
12:26): "If one member [of Christ] suffers, all the members suffer.
For we are naturally bound together, we form one body in Christ. An
old Rabbis said it well, Simeon ben Eleazar: "Someone has committed a
transgression. Woe to him! He has tipped the scale to the side of debt
for himself and for the world. For any sin of someone harms all. There
is no such a thing as a victimless crime.

So the Holiness of God wants the scales rebalanced because He loves
what is right in itself. He also wants it rebalanced because the
imbalance is harmful to all the other members of Christ. Finally, Pope
Paul VI, in Indulgentiarum doctrina, of January 9, 1967, sanctioned
the whole concept that the objective moral order is put out of balance
by sin, and must be rebalanced.

But one member can make up for another. So St. Paul said (Col 1:24):
"I fill up the things that are lacking to the tribulations of Christ
in my flesh for His body, which is the Church." Of course, Christ
lacked no suffering. His suffering was beyond telling. But the whole
Christ, that is, Christ with His members, can lack something. For we
are not saved as individuals. We are saved in as much as we are
members of Christ. And of course that means we must be like Him--like
Him in the matter of making rebalance for sin. St. Paul knew that many
members of Christ were not doing their part--but he, Paul, could make
up for them. So he did.