How Devotion is Won by Humility and Self-Denial [III]

[Weedy]

How Devotion is Won by Humility and Self-Denial [III]

As soon as you shall yield yourself to God with all your heart, and
seek nothing for your own will and pleasure, but place yourself
without reserve at His disposal, you shall find yourself united to
Him, and at peace. Nothing will afford you more joy and satisfaction
than the perfect fulfilling of God's will. Whoever, therefore, raises
his intent to God with a pure heart, and disengages himself from all
inordinate love or hatred of any creature, shall best be prepared to
receive grace, and be worthy of the gift of devotion. For Our Lord
bestows His blessings where He finds vessels empty to receive them.
And the more completely a man renounces worldly things, and the more
perfectly he dies to self by the conquest of self, the sooner will
grace be given, the more richly will it be infused, and the nearer to
God will it raise the heart set free from the world.
--Thomas à Kempis--Imitation of Christ Book 4 Ch. 15

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May 1st – St. Peregrine Laziosi

In 1283 Saint Philip Benizi, Prior General of the Friar Servants of
Mary, attempted to lead back to obedience to the Apostolic See the
citizens of Forlì, then under interdict. He was driven out of the city
with insults and violence. While this true follower of Christ was
praying for his persecutors, one of the crowd, an eighteen-year-old by
the name of Peregrine of the famous Laziosi family, repented and
humbly asked Philip for forgiveness. Philip received him with love.
From that moment, the young man began to scorn the vanities of the
world and to pray most fervently to the Blessed Virgin, asking that
she show him the way of salvation. A few years later, guided by the
Virgin, he received the habit of Our Lady in the priory of Siena where
he dedicated himself to her service. There, together with Blessed
Francis of Siena, he committed himself totally to the Servite life.

After some years he was sent back to Forlì where, because of his love
for God and Our Lady, he gave himself to the recitation of psalms,
hymns and prayers, and to meditation on the law of God. On fire with
love for others, he lavished a wealth of charity on the poor. It is
said that he miraculously multiplied grain and wine during a severe
shortage in his area.

Above all else, he was outstanding in his love for penance; in tears,
he would reflect on the errors which he thought he had made and would
frequently confess to the priest. As was common at the time, he
afflicted his body with various forms of mortification: when tired he
would support himself on a choir stall or a rock; when overcome by
sleep, he preferred the bare earth to a bed. As a result of this type
of life, at the age of sixty he suffered from varicose veins which
degenerated into cancer of the right leg.

His condition deteriorated to the point that a physician, Paolo
Salazio, who visited him in the priory, decided, with the consent of
all the friars, to amputate the leg as soon as possible. The night
before the operation, Peregrine dragged himself before the crucifix in
the chapter room. There he became drowsy and seemed to see Jesus
descend from the cross to heal his leg. The following day, the doctor
arrived to perform the amputation but could find no sign of the
cancer, or even of a wound. He was so shocked that he spread the news
of the miracle throughout the town. This only increased the people's
veneration of Peregrine. The saint died of a fever about 1345 when he
was almost 80 years old. An extraordinary number of people from the
town and countryside honored him in death. Some of the sick who came
were healed through his intercession.

His body rests in the Servite church of Forlì where it is greatly
honored by the people. Pope Paul V declared him blessed in 1609 and
Pope Benedict XIII canonized him in 1726.


Saint Quote:
Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a
new hope, no longer keeping the sabbath, but the Lord's Day, in which
our life is blessed by him and by his death.
--Saint Ignatius of Antioch


Bible Quote:
Give in to God: resist the devil, and he will run away from you. The
nearer you go to God, the nearer he will come to you. Humble
yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. (James 4:7-8,10 )


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A Prayer to St. Peregrine for Sick Relatives and Friends

O great St. Peregrine, you have been called
"The Mighty", the "The Wonder Worker"
because of the numerous miracles
which you obtained from God for those
who have turned to you in their need.
For so many years you bore in your own flesh
this cancerous disease that destroys the
very fiber of our being.
You turned to God when the power
of human beings could do no more,
and you were favored with the vision of
Jesus coming down from His cross
to heal your affliction.
I now ask God to heal these sick persons
whom I entrust to you:
(Here mention their names)
Aided by your powerful intercession,
I shall sing with Mary a hymn of gratitude
to God for His great goodness and mercy.
Amen.