Let charity be exercised by your living good lives

[Weedy]

Let charity be exercised by your living good lives

The heedless person forgets to put an end to a quarrel; the stubborn
one is loath to grant pardon when asked; the person who is proudly
ashamed disdains to beg pardon. Animosities live on in these three
vices, but they kill the soul in which they don't die. Let a spirit of
recollection keep watch against heedlessness, of compassion against
vindictive stubbornness, of gentle good sense against proud shame. If
you recall that you have neglected to make it up with someone...
--Augustine of Hippo*

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10 September – Saint Pulcheria

(399-453)
Virgin Empress, Widow, (remaining chaste during her marriage),
Defender of the Faith against heresy, Apostle of the poor. Born on 19
January 399 and died in July 453 of natural causes. Patronages –
against in-law problems, against the death of parents, empresses,
orphans, people in exile, victims of betrayal. Also known as –
Pulqueria.
The Roman Martyrology states: “At Constantinople, Pucheria, Virgin and
Empress, distinguished by her piety and zeal for the True Faith.“

The daughter of Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia, the Emperor and Empress of
the Eastern Roman Empire, Pulcheria was an exceptional woman. Her
mother lived the life one would expect of royalty — not immoral in our
sense, but luxurious and gaudy. She (Eudoxia) ran afoul of Saint John
Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, who declared that a silver
statue of the Empress (and the unveiling celebration for it)
dishonoured the Church. John had already been exiled and recalled once
for criticising Eudoxia — his comparison of her to Herodias and
himself to John the Baptist earned him exile to the Caucasus. When he
was writing letters, critical of the Imperials, they further relocated
him to Georgia, but he died on the way.

Eudoxia died not long after, soon followed by her husband. Pulcheria,
who was still a minor and her younger brother, who became Emperor were
governed by regents who were appointed to administer the kingdom.
These were veteran Palace administrators, loyal and wise but
Pulcheria, even at 15, was a woman who knew her own mind.

One of the regents offered to arrange a marriage for her, perhaps to
his grandson. But Pulcheria was determined to consecrate her virginity
to God. Having come of age, she thanked the regent for his good
service and appointed herself regent for her younger brother and set
about training him in all ways to be emperor, instituting a monastic
way of life in the Palace. Pulcheria insisted on chanting and praying
and fasting for herself, her sisters and all the servants of the
Palace. They gave up the jewelry and finery, preferring instead to
provide food and clothing for the poor. This and the restoration of
honours for St John Chrysostom, after his death, led to her being much
admired by the Church.

Pulcheria arranged a marriage for her brother when he was twenty but
the young wife was always jealous of her sister-in-law’s influence
over Theodosius and the two quarreled. When Theodosius died on 26 July
450, Pulcheria married Marcian, allowing her to continue to rule in
place of her brother, while simultaneously not violating her vow of
virginity. She died three years later, in July 453.

Pulcheria influenced the Church and its theological development by
being involved in the Council of Ephesus and guiding the Council of
Chalcedon, in which the Church ruled on Christological issues.

Pulcheria also engaged in a fierce battle with Nestor, the Archbishop
of Constantinople, who accused her of adultery. Eventually, in the
arguments over the human nature of Christ, Nestor was vanquished and
exiled. There is no doubt that Pulcheria was in the thick of the fight
against his heresy.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/10/


“A person who wishes
to become the Lord’s disciple
must repudiate a human obligation,
however honourable it may appear,
if it slows us, ever so slightly,
in giving the wholehearted obedience
we owe to God.”
--St Basil the Great (329-379)
Father and Doctor of the Church


Saint Quote:
God refuses only the person who does not admit his own weakness; He
sends away only the unhappy proud person. You must "hold him" well and
strongly, with a poor spirit, with a poor heart, with a life entirely
poor...
--Saint Raphael Kalinowski

Bible Quote:
Let your foot be seldom in your neighbors’ house,
lest they have their fill of you—and hate you. Proverbs 25:17

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O Blessed Lady, Mediatrix and Advocate
By St Bernard (1090-1153)
Father and Doctor of Light

Our Mediatrix and Advocate
O blessed Lady,
you found grace, brought forth the Life,
and became the Mother of Salvation.
May you obtain the grace for us to go to the Son.
By your mediation, may we be received by the One
who through you, gave Himself to us.
May your integrity compensate with Him
for the fault of our corruption
and may your humility,
which is pleasing to God,
implore pardon for our vanity.
May your great charity
cover the multitude of our sins
and may your glorious fecundity
confer on us, a fecundity of merits.
Dear Lady, our Mediatrix and Advocate,
reconcile us to your Son,
recommend us to Him
and present us to your Son.
By the grace you found,
by the privilege you merited,
by the Mercy you brought forth,
obtain for us the favour we ask of you,
O blessed Lady.
Amen