The Lord Turns Us toward Him

[Weedy]

The Lord Turns Us toward Him

"Lord, you help us as we move toward you. Grant that we may never
attribute to our own wisdom the fact that we are converted to you.
Neither let us ever attribute to our strength the fact that we
actually reach you.
In this way we will avoid being repelled by you who resist the proud."
--St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 18 (1), 15

Prayer: Lord, help us, so that a change may be achieved in us and we
find you ready to offer yourself for the enjoyment of those who love
you.
--St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 6, 5

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13 March – St Leander of Seville

(c 534-600/601)
– BIshop/Confessor of the Faith/Teacher/Writer Apostle of Spain and
Evangelisation
– Patron of episcopal attire and liturgical garments. Saint Leander,
as bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during
Mass—a practice which continues today. He viewed the Creed as a
manner in which to proclaim the divinity of Christ at a time when the
Church suffered attack from various heresies, as well as an
opportunity to reinforce the faith of the people. Through his diligent
work, Saint Leander saw Catholicism flourish in Spain at a time of
great political and religious uncertainty.

Leander and Isidore and their siblings (all sainted) belonged to an
elite family of Hispano-Roman stock of Carthago Nova. Their father
Severianus is claimed to be, according to their hagiographers, a dux
or governor of Cartagena, though this seems more of a fanciful
interpretation since Isidore simply states that he was a citizen. The
family moved to Seville around 554. The children’s subsequent public
careers reflect their distinguished origin: Leander and Isidore both
became bishops of Seville and their sister Saint Florentina was an
abbess who directed forty convents and one thousand nuns. Even the
third brother, Fulgentius, appointed Bishop of Écija at the first
triumph of Catholicism over Arianism but of whom little is known, has
been canonised as a saint.

The family as a matter of course were staunch Catholics, as were the
great majority of the Romanised population, from top to bottom; only
the Visigothic nobles and the kings were Arians. It should be stated
that there was less Visigothic persecution of Catholics than legend
and hagiography have painted. From a modern standpoint, the dangers of
Catholic Christianity were more political. Saint Leander, as bishop,
instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a
practice which continues today. He viewed the Creed as a manner in
which to proclaim the divinity of Christ at a time when the Church
suffered attack from various heresies, as well as an opportunity to
reinforce the faith of the people. Through his diligent work, Saint
Leander saw Catholicism flourish in Spain at a time of great political
and religious uncertainty.

Leander, enjoying an elite position in the secure surroundings of
tolerated Catholic culture in Seville, became at first a Benedictine
monk and then in 579 he was appointed bishop of Seville. In the
meantime he founded a celebrated school, which soon became a centre of
Catholic learning. As Bishop he had access to the Catholic Merovingian
Princess Ingunthis, who had come as a bride for the kingdom’s heir and
he worked tirelessly with her to convert her husband St. Hermenegild,
the eldest son of Liuvigild, an act of court intrigue that cannot
honestly be divorced from a political context. Leander defended the
new convert even when he went to war with his father “against his
father’s cruel reprisals,” the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it. “In
endeavouring to save his country from Arianism, Leander showed himself
an orthodox Christian and a far-sighted patriot.”

This action earned him the king’s wrath and exile to Constantinople,
where he met and became close friends of the Papal Legate, the future
Pope Gregory the Great. Saint Leander served as a contemporary and
advisor to Saint Gregory, encouraging him to write his famous
commentary on the Book of Job entitled the “Moralia.”

After some time, King Leovigild summoned Leander back to Seville.
Having experienced a change of heart, he wished for Leander to
instruct his son Reccared—who would inherit the throne—in the ways of
the faith. Through Leander’s instruction and model, the people of
Spain were converted. He presided over the third Council of Toledo,
which upheld the consubstantiality of the Trinity and brought about
many moral reforms in the Church. Saint Leader further wrote an
influential Rule for Spanish nuns. He introduced the practice of
praying the Nicene Creed at Mass. A prolific writer, unfortunately
most of his works have been lost to history, although much of the
correspondence written by Gregory the Great to his attention remains
extant.

After a long life of fighting heresies and preaching the truth, Saint
Leander died around the year 600. He was succeeded by his brother, St
Isidore of Seville, who is a Doctor of the Church.

https://anastpaul.com/2017/03/13/


Quote of the Day – 13 March
“There will never be much perfection without much prayer.”
― Alfonso Maria de Liguori – Doctor of the Church
(Uniformity with God’s Will & The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ)

Saint Quote:
You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great
multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great
heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the
accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.
-- Saint John Chrysostom

Bible Quote:
"If any man wants wisdom, let him ask of God, Who giveth to all
abundantly, and upbraideth not." [James 1: 5]

Saint Leander, pray for us that we will always seek truth, and never
shy away from defending it. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen

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Hail Mary of Gold

Hail Mary, White Lily of the Glorious and always-serene Trinity.

Hail brilliant Rose of the Garden of heavenly delights:
O you, by whom God wanted to be born and by whose
milk the King of Heaven wanted to be nourished!
Nourish our souls with effusions of divine grace. Amen!

At the hour when the soul which has thus greeted me
quits the body I will appear to them in such splendid
beauty that they'll taste, to their great consolation,
something of the joys of Paradise.

The Blessed Virgin to St. Gertrude the Great
(Revelations book III, chapter XVIII)