My Purpose Is to Reach My God

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My Purpose Is to Reach My God

"Fervently, I seek my God in the material things of heaven and earth,
and I do not find him. I seek the reality of him in my own soul, and I
do not find it. Yet I am determined to seek my God.
In my yearning to understand and look into the invisible things of
God by means of created things, I pour out my soul within me. I have
no other purpose henceforth but to reach my God."
--St. Augustine--Commentary on Psalm 41, 8

Prayer: I call upon you, my God, my Mercy, my Creator. I had forgotten
you, but you held me ever in your sight.
--St. Augustine--Confessions 13, 1


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October 9th - Bl. Gunther
d.1045

The first part of the life of Gunther, cousin of St. Stephen of
Hungary and related to the Emperor St. Henry, was by no means inspired
by the holiness of his relatives, for until his fiftieth year he was a
worldly and ambitious nobleman, and none too scrupulous at that. He
then came under the influence of St. Gothard of Hildesheim, at that
time abbot of Niederaltaich and engaged in reforming the monastery of
Hersfeld. This prelate succeeded also in reforming Gunther, who made
up his mind to expiate his sins by becoming a monk. He devoted all his
property to the endowment of Hersfeld, with the exception of an
endowment for the abbey of Göllingen in Thuringia, of which house he
retained the ownership in spite of the protests of St. Gothard.
Gunther then went on pilgrimage to Rome, with great results, for they
were animated with charity and breathed a spirit of sanity and on his
return entered Niederaltaich as a monk. But his conversion had not
full sincerity and humility. His humble position did not satisfy his
ambition, and he insisted on being allowed to be made abbot of
Göllingen. The experiment was not successful: there was friction
between him and his monks, and the monastery began seriously to
suffer. Aided perhaps by an illness which overtook Gunther, St.
Gothard succeeded by persuasion and rebuke in inducing him to resign
his abbacy, and he returned to Niederaltaich. His turning to God was
at last wholehearted, and whereas formerly the status of a simple monk
had been too modest for him he now wished for an even more humble and
retired life. Accordingly in 1008 he went to live as a hermit in the
forest of Lalling, where a reputation of sanctity soon brought him
disciples. Later he moved with them to the neighbourhood of Rinchnach
on the Regen in Bavaria, where cells were built and a church. This
foundation developed into a regular monastery.

Bl. Gunther in the meanwhile continued his eremitical existence, going
from place to place to beg alms for the poor, and encouraging his
cousin Stephen in the christianization of his realm. It is said that
Gunther received the gift of infused knowledge and became a powerful
preacher though deficient in ordinary ecclesiastical learning: he
could probably neither read nor write. He atoned for the excesses of
his earlier years by severe mortification, and he exercised a rigid
discipline over his followers, to the extent of rationing the amount
of water which each of his monks might have at their disposal. Bl.
Gunther died at about the age of ninety, on October 9, 1045, at
Hartmanice in Bohemia. He was buried at Brevnov, near Prague, and the
reputation of the last thirty-five years of his life together with the
wonders that were reported at his tomb led to a popular cultus. It is
recognized liturgically at Passau and elsewhere.

The main facts in the Latin biography printed both by Mabillon and the
Bollandists are probably reliable. This compilation seems to be based,
at least in part, upon statements taken from the writings of Wolfher,
a canon of Hildesheim, who was a contemporary. See also Grauert, in
the Historisches Jahrbuch, vol. xix (1898), pp. 249-287 Oswald, Das
Kloster Rinchnach (1902) MGH., Scriptores, vol. vi, p. 672, vol. xi,
pp. 276-279 and the early lives of St. Stephen of Hungary.


Saint Quote:
Let us detach ourselves in spirit from all that we see and cling to
that which we believe. This is the cross which we must imprint on all
our daily actions and behavior.
-- Saint Peter Damian

Bible Quote:
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of
my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:8-10, 14]


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Prepare to meet the Lord

We must strive to enter the house of our hearts, open the windows, and
notice what is seemly and what unseemly in that house. We must brush
away the cobwebs, sweep the floors, clear out the dust and dirt, strew
the clean floors with freshly-gathered rushes, fragrant herbs, and
sweet-smelling flowers, and paper the walls in bright colors. Then we
must put on festive clothes, prepare a banquet, and rejoice on our way
to meet the Lord with hymns of gladness. If we have been engaged in
servile occupation outside ourselves, that is, engrossed in sin, we
must return to our hearts, as the prophet teaches when he says:

Sinners, return to your hearts.
The spiritual senses are the windows of this house. Through them
divine knowledge shines upon us and illuminates the innermost recesses
of our minds. We must take care to open these windows by constant
mental awareness, to brush away the cobwebs by humbling our pride, to
keep the floors swept by confessing our sins, to strew them with
rushes by doing penance, to paper the walls by training ourselves in
virtue, to wear splendid clothes by performing good works, to prepare
food by reading and meditating upon holy scripture, and to sing psalms
by giving constant praise to God. That is the sort of care we must
take to prepare to meet the Lord, so as to deserve the coming among us
of him who lives and reigns as God for ever and ever. Amen.
--Hugh of Saint Victor