Mercy and compassion are never worthless

[Weedy]

Mercy and compassion are never worthless

"Although the spite of some people does not grow gentle with any
kindness, nevertheless the works of mercy are not fruitless, and
kindness never loses what is offered to the ungrateful. May no one,
dearly beloved, make themselves strangers to good works. Let no one
claim that his poverty scarcely sufficed for himself and could not
help another. What is offered from a little is great, and in the scale
of divine justice, the quantity of gifts is not measured but the
steadfastness of souls. The 'widow' in the Gospel put two coins into
the 'treasury,' and this surpassed the gifts of all the rich. No mercy
is worthless before God. No compassion is fruitless. He has given
different resources to human beings, but he does not ask different
affections."
by Leo the Great (excerpt from SERMON 20.3.1.6)

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5 October – Blessed Raymond of Capua OP

Priest, “The Second Founder” of the Dominican Order of Preachers,
Reformer, Spiritual Director, he worked with St Agnes of Montepulciano
and St Catherine of Siena, hagiographer, teacher – born in c 1330 in
Capua, Naples as Raymondo delle Vigne and died on 5 October 199, aged
69, in Nuremberg, Germany of natural causes. Also known as – Raymond
delle Vigne, Raymund, Raimondo. Raymond was a leading member of the
Dominican Order and served as it’s Master General from 1380 until his
death. First as Prior Provincial of Lombardy and then as Master
General of the Order, Raymond undertook the restoration of Dominican
religious life. For his success in this endeavour, he is referred to
as the Order’s “Second Founder.” Raymond also worked for the return of
the papacy to Rome and for a solution to the Western schism. The
important Mystic, Reformer, Doctor of the Church, St Catherine of
Siena, accepted him as her spiritual director because of his burning
passion for the Church and for the revival of religious life, most
especially in their own Order.

He was born “Raymondo della Vigna” a member of a prominent family of
that city, and was a descendant of Pietro della Vigna (a figure
mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy). In 1350, while a student of law
at the University of Bologna, he entered the Dominican Order. For the
next twenty-five years he worked as a spiritual director or as a
teacher in various communities of the Order.

Raymond was first assigned to Montepulciano, where he served as a
chaplain to a monastery of nuns of the Dominican Second Order. He was
the first biographer of their venerated former prioress, St Agnes of
Montepulciano, who had died about fifty years earlier. He was then
stationed in Rome, to serve as the Prior of the Friars at Santa Maria
sopra Minerva. Later he was sent to Siena, where he was assigned by
the Master General to be the spiritual director and confessor to the
noted Dominican tertiary, Catherine of Siena.

Raymond spent the next six years advising her and hearing her
confidences. While there, Raymond gradually learned to trust her
holiness and her judgement. This was sealed, when they both became
involved in nursing victims of the plague in 1374. When he contracted
the disease himself and lay near death, Catherine came and sat at his
bedside until he recovered. Knowing how close he was to death, Raymond
credited his recovery to her prayers.

By 1374 Raymond had come to the attention of Pope Gregory XI, then
living in Avignon, as a result of his connection to Catherine and also
for his novel ways of confronting issues like the Crusades in the Holy
Land, the return of the papacy to Rome, and the general reform of the
Church. He was well known for his ability to pass seamlessly from
dealing with spiritual and supernatural considerations to the more
mundane matters of practical politics. For four years Raymond
accompanied Catherine in her journeys and went to Avignon to act as an
intermediary between her and the Pope.

This experience of trying to reconcile the Church proved to be
incredibly important for Raymond who, only weeks after St Catherine’s
death, was elected Master of the Order. Not only had the Church been
suffering through a schism but the Order too, was undergoing is own
divisive period. Raymond strove to unite the two factions in the Order
and with the help of holy friars, such as Bl John Dominici, he was
able to re-establish the regular observance in the Order and restore
peace and concord. For this, he was referred to as the “Second
Founder” of the Order. Thanks to Raymond, the Dominican Order never
split. During this time, Raymond also wrote The Life of St Catherine
of Siena.

In 1379 by command of Pope Urban VI Raymond was examined by Fra.
Giacomo Altoviti who promoted him to the grade of Master of Theology.

Raymond was buried first in Nuremberg (now Germany) where he died but
his body was later moved to Naples, to the Church of San Domenico
Maggiore. In 1899 Pope Leo XIII Beatified him, on the 500th
anniversary of his death.

https://anastpaul.com/2020/10/05/


“My brothers,
keep away from the beast of boasting
and concern for one’s reputation,
for these destroy and weaken,
every good work.”
--Bl Raymond of Capua (c 1330-1399)

Bible Quotes:
"Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the
Lord hath looked upon the earth" (Psalm 101:20)


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O God, You called Blessed Raymond
to seek Your kingdom
by following the way of perfect charity.
Strengthened by his prayers,
may we progress
in the same way of love
with joyful hearts.
We ask this, through our Lord, Jesus Christ,
Your Son, who lives and reigns with you
and the holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
Amen