What and where is pride?

[rich]

What and where is pride?

Who can fathom his house among the wilderness of the human soul? Who
can see the light that shines dimly from it's upper window, where
pride watches for opportunity? Who sees pride leave his front door
toward our mind. He slips from tree to tree, staying deep in the
shadows. We have sought his paths and not found them. But silently
he approaches. We talk and talk, do and do. All the while unaware of
his approach. And when he finally comes upon us, who can tell from
which direction he came?
How very sad is the condition of man that we should be so blind to
such a great sin. Thanks to Jesus for His sacrifice. Who would be
able to stand before the Most High God without the blood of Jesus
about him?
"Now we see, as through a glass darkly. Then we shall know fully,
even as we are fully known".
--Saint John Eudes

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19 August - Blessed Jordan of Pisa OP

Memorial 19 August
6 March on some calendars

(c 1255–1311)
Dominican Friar, Theologian, Professor, renowned Preacher, Founder of
the Confraternity of the Holy Redeemer at Pisa, Visionary, Marian
devotee, promoter and daring innovator of the vernacular Italian
language as a ‘church’ language and a tool for evangelisation

Born c 1255 at Pisa, Italy and died on 19 August 1311 at Piacenza of
natural causes. At a time when scholars believed that no colloquial
tongue could ever replace Latin as a ‘gentleman’s’ language, Jordan
worked to make Italian the beautiful tongue that it is today.

Jordan attended the University of Paris where he first encountered the
Dominican friars in 1276. Four years later, probably after obtaining
his degrees, he returned to Italy and took the habit. He began a long
teaching career there as soon as he was qualified to do so.

He preached and taught variously at Siena, Viterbo and Perugia before
eventually moving to Florence, in which area he was a widely respected
preacher, eventually being appointed by the provincial chapter at
Rieti as a lector in the church of Santa Maria Novella in 1305. He
held that post for the next three years and contributed greatly to its
esteem. In 1301, he attended a general meeting of the order held in
Cologne, Germany.

He seems to have been fascinated with the whole question of preaching
as an apostolic tool and to have been one of the first to make a
scientific study of it. He pointed out that the Greek church was
“invaded by a multitude of errors,” because the Greeks had no
preachers, he could never say enough in praise of Saint Dominic’s
farsightedness in establishing an order specifically for preaching.

Jordan studied methods of making sermons more effective, both by using
examples that would reach the people and by the use of the vernacular.
This latter was a much-disputed subject in his day, Jordan was
considered a daring innovator. Because it was controversial, he strove
to make Italian a beautiful instrument on which he could play the
melodies of the Lord.

Blessed with an extraordinary memory, Jordan was renowned for his
knowledge in general and knew the Breviary by heart, as well as the
Missal, most of the Bible (with its marginal commentary), plus the
second part of the Summa. This faculty of memory he used in his
sermons but he was quick to point out to young preachers that learning
alone can never make a preacher. By the holiness of his own life he
made this plain and continually preached it to those he was training
to preach.

Jordan of Pisa had two great devotions–to Our Blessed Mother and to
Saint Dominic. He was favoured with a vision of Our Lady, she came
into the fathers’ refectory and served at table. Jordan, who was the
only one who could see her, could barely eat for excitement. He spoke
often of her in his sermons and also of Saint Dominic.

In 1311 the Master General, Aymericus Giliani, appointed him
professor of theology at the friary of Saint James in Paris, to
deliver his reading of the Lombard’s Sentences and obtain his master’s
degree but Jordan died on his way to Paris. His body was returned from
Piacenza, where death overtook him, to rest in the church of Santa
Caterina in Pisa. On 23 August 1833, Blessed Jordan’s cultus was
confirmed by Pope Gregory XVI and in 1838 he was Beatified by Pope
Gregory XVI.

Jordan studied the use of preaching for evangelisation. He pioneered
the use of the Tuscan language for preaching and lecturing, which
helped establish it as the foremost among the vernaculars of Italy.
His Tuscan was reputedly versatile and musical but never elaborate or
ornate. At Florence he would reportedly preach five times a day,
walking about, both indoors and out, followed by a crowd of listeners
as he developed his topic. During his lengthy sermons his friend and
disciple, Silvester of Valdiseve (1278–1348), sometimes sat near the
pulpit with wine to refresh him. Some of his listeners took notes that
have survived. His preaching was said to have a positive effect on
Florentine public life and morality by its emphasis on sound (i.e.
Thomistic) doctrine, Christian living and perseverance. What he had to
say would have sounded dry in Latin but significantly, no Latin
sermons by Jordan have survived.

https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/19/


Saint Quote:
The air that we breathe, the bread that we eat, the heart which throbs
in our bosoms, are not more necessary for man that he may live as a
human being, than is prayer for the Christian that he may live as a
Christian.
--Saint John Eudes

Bible Quote:
I sanctify Myself for them, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
(John 17:19)

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God of holiness,
by the integrity of his life and gentle manner
You made Blessed Jordan
a fitting minister to preach the gospel.
By following his example,
may we generously strive to serve You
through service to our neighbour
and so gain the fruit of an everlasting reward.
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
General Calendar of the Order of Preachers