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On the Great Goodness and Love of God in Communion [IV]
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Rich
Jan 24, 2023, 3:51:10 AM1/24/23
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On the Great Goodness and Love of God in Communion [IV]
See, from whom this love proceeds! See the Source whence this high
glory shines! How deep a gratitude, how high a praise are You due for
all these blessings! How greatly to our profit and salvation was Your
counsel when You instituted this Sacrament! How sweet and delightful
the Feast in which You give Yourself to be our food! How wonderful are
Your ways, O Lord; how mighty Your power, how infallible Your truth!
You spoke the word, and all things were made; (Ps. 148:5)' You
commanded, and it was done.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 4 Ch. 2
<<>><<>><<>>
24 January – St Francis de Sales CO, OM, OFM (Cap)
(1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church: Doctor caritatis (Doctor of Charity) – ‘The
Gentle Christ of Geneva’ and Patronages – against deafness, authors,
writers, Catholic press, confessors, deaf people, journalists,
teachers, Champdepraz, Aosta, Italy, 8 dioceses, 7 cities, the
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, the Salesians of Don
Bosco. His motto ‘Non-excidet’ – (No failure).
Excerpt from Pope Benedict’s
Catechesis on St Francis de Sales
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
“God is God of the human heart” (The Treatise on the Love of God, I,
XV). These apparently simple words give us an impression of the
spirituality of a great teacher of whom I would like to speak to you
toda – St Francis de Sales, a Bishop and Doctor of the Church.
Born in 1567, in a French border region, he was the son of the Lord of
Boisy, an ancient and noble family of Savoy. His life straddled two
centuries, the 16th and 17th and he summed up in himself the best of
the teachings and cultural achievements of the century drawing to a
close, reconciling the heritage of humanism striving for the Absolute
that is proper to mystical currents. He received a very careful
education, he undertook higher studies in Paris, where he dedicated
himself to theology and at the University of Padua, where he studied
jurisprudence, complying with his father’s wishes and graduating
brilliantly with degrees in utroque iure, in canon law and in civil
law.
In his harmonious youth, reflection on the thought of St Augustine and
of St Thomas Aquinas led to a deep crisis. This prompted him to
question his own eternal salvation and the predestination of God
concerning himself, he suffered as a true spiritual drama the
principal theological issues of his time. He prayed intensely but was
so fiercely tormented by doubt, that for a few weeks he could barely
eat or sleep. At the climax of his trial, he went to the Dominicans’
church in Paris, opened his heart and prayed in these words: “Whatever
happens, Lord, You who hold all things in Your hand and whose ways are
justice and truth, whatever You have ordained for me… You who are ever
a just judge and a merciful Father, I will love You Lord…. I will love
You here, O my God and I will always hope in Your mercy and will
always repeat Your praise…. O Lord Jesus You will always be my hope
and my salvation in the land of the living” (I Proc. Canon., Vol. I,
art. 4).
The 20-year-old Francis found peace in the radical and liberating love
of God – loving Him without asking anything in return and trusting in
divine love, no longer asking what will God do with me – I simply love
Him, independently of all that He gives me or does not give me. Thus
I find peace and the question of predestination — which was being
discussed at that time — was resolved, because he no longer sought
what he might receive from God, he simply loved God and abandoned
himself to His goodness. And this was to be the secret of his life
which would shine out in his main work – the The Treatise on the Love
of God.
Overcoming his father’s resistance, Francis followed the Lord’s call
and was ordained a priest on 18 December 1593. In 1602, he became
Bishop of Geneva, in a period in which the city was the stronghold of
Calvinism so that his episcopal see was transferred, “in exile” to
Annecy. As the Pastor of a poor and tormented diocese in a mountainous
area whose harshness was as well known as its beauty, he wrote: “I
found [God] sweet and gentle among our loftiest rugged mountains,
where many simple souls love Him and worship Him in all truth and
sincerity and mountain goats and chamois leap here and there between
the fearful frozen peaks to proclaim His praise” (Letter to Mother de
Chantal, October 1606, in Oeuvres, éd. Mackey, t. XIII, p. 223).
Nevertheless the influence of his life and his teaching on Europe in
that period and in the following centuries is immense. He was an
apostle, preacher, writer, man of action and of prayer dedicated to
implanting the ideals of the Council of Trent, he was involved in
controversial issues dialogue with the Protestants, experiencing
increasingly, over and above the necessary theological confrontation,
the effectiveness of personal relationship and of charity, he was
charged with diplomatic missions in Europe and with social duties of
mediation and reconciliation.
Yet above all St Francis de Sales was a director, from his encounter
with a young woman, Madame de Charmoisy, he was to draw the
inspiration to write one of the most widely read books of the modern
age, The Introduction to a Devout Life. A new religious family was to
come into being from his profound spiritual communion with an
exceptional figure, St Jane Frances de Chantal -The Foundation of the
Visitation, as the Saint wished, was characterised by total
consecration to God lived in simplicity and humility, in doing
ordinary things extraordinarily well – “I want my Daughters”, he
wrote, not to have any other ideal than that of glorifying [Our Lord]
with their humility” (Letter to Bishop de Marquemond, June 1615).
He died in 1622, at the age of 55, after a life marked by the hardness
of the times and by his apostolic effort.”
https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/24/
“Man is the perfection of the Universe.
The spirit is the perfection of man.
Love is the perfection of the spirit and charity that of love.
Therefore, the love of God is the end, the perfection of the Universe.”
--St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
“We must fear God out of love,
not love Him out of fear.”
“In the royal galley of divine Love,
there is no galley slave –
all rowers are volunteers.”
“Nothing makes us
so prosperous
in this world,
as to give alms.”
“Perfection of life,
is the perfection of love.
For love, is the life of the soul.”
--St Francis de Sales
“Let us run to Mary
and, as her little children,
cast ourselves into her arms,
with a perfect confidence.”
“Consider all the past as nothing
and say, like David,
‘Now I begin to love my God.'”
--St Francis de Sales
Saint Quote:
"Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow.
The same Everlasting Father, who takes care of you today,
will take care of you tomorrow.
He will either shield you from suffering,
or give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace then,
and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations."
--Saint Francis de Sales.
Bible Quote:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. And the
bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight
there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to
meet him. (Matt 25:4-6)
<><><><>
Saint Anthony, Zealous for Justice
Dear St. Anthony, you were prompt to fulfill all justice.
You gave God and His creation the service He required
from you. You respected other people's rights and treated
them with kindness and understanding. St. Anthony, Zealous
for Justice, teach me the beauty of this virtue. Make me
prompt to fulfill all justice toward God and toward all creation.
Help me also in my pressing needs. (Name them.)
See, from whom this love proceeds! See the Source whence this high
glory shines! How deep a gratitude, how high a praise are You due for
all these blessings! How greatly to our profit and salvation was Your
counsel when You instituted this Sacrament! How sweet and delightful
the Feast in which You give Yourself to be our food! How wonderful are
Your ways, O Lord; how mighty Your power, how infallible Your truth!
You spoke the word, and all things were made; (Ps. 148:5)' You
commanded, and it was done.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 4 Ch. 2
<<>><<>><<>>
24 January – St Francis de Sales CO, OM, OFM (Cap)
(1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church: Doctor caritatis (Doctor of Charity) – ‘The
Gentle Christ of Geneva’ and Patronages – against deafness, authors,
writers, Catholic press, confessors, deaf people, journalists,
teachers, Champdepraz, Aosta, Italy, 8 dioceses, 7 cities, the
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, the Salesians of Don
Bosco. His motto ‘Non-excidet’ – (No failure).
Excerpt from Pope Benedict’s
Catechesis on St Francis de Sales
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
“God is God of the human heart” (The Treatise on the Love of God, I,
XV). These apparently simple words give us an impression of the
spirituality of a great teacher of whom I would like to speak to you
toda – St Francis de Sales, a Bishop and Doctor of the Church.
Born in 1567, in a French border region, he was the son of the Lord of
Boisy, an ancient and noble family of Savoy. His life straddled two
centuries, the 16th and 17th and he summed up in himself the best of
the teachings and cultural achievements of the century drawing to a
close, reconciling the heritage of humanism striving for the Absolute
that is proper to mystical currents. He received a very careful
education, he undertook higher studies in Paris, where he dedicated
himself to theology and at the University of Padua, where he studied
jurisprudence, complying with his father’s wishes and graduating
brilliantly with degrees in utroque iure, in canon law and in civil
law.
In his harmonious youth, reflection on the thought of St Augustine and
of St Thomas Aquinas led to a deep crisis. This prompted him to
question his own eternal salvation and the predestination of God
concerning himself, he suffered as a true spiritual drama the
principal theological issues of his time. He prayed intensely but was
so fiercely tormented by doubt, that for a few weeks he could barely
eat or sleep. At the climax of his trial, he went to the Dominicans’
church in Paris, opened his heart and prayed in these words: “Whatever
happens, Lord, You who hold all things in Your hand and whose ways are
justice and truth, whatever You have ordained for me… You who are ever
a just judge and a merciful Father, I will love You Lord…. I will love
You here, O my God and I will always hope in Your mercy and will
always repeat Your praise…. O Lord Jesus You will always be my hope
and my salvation in the land of the living” (I Proc. Canon., Vol. I,
art. 4).
The 20-year-old Francis found peace in the radical and liberating love
of God – loving Him without asking anything in return and trusting in
divine love, no longer asking what will God do with me – I simply love
Him, independently of all that He gives me or does not give me. Thus
I find peace and the question of predestination — which was being
discussed at that time — was resolved, because he no longer sought
what he might receive from God, he simply loved God and abandoned
himself to His goodness. And this was to be the secret of his life
which would shine out in his main work – the The Treatise on the Love
of God.
Overcoming his father’s resistance, Francis followed the Lord’s call
and was ordained a priest on 18 December 1593. In 1602, he became
Bishop of Geneva, in a period in which the city was the stronghold of
Calvinism so that his episcopal see was transferred, “in exile” to
Annecy. As the Pastor of a poor and tormented diocese in a mountainous
area whose harshness was as well known as its beauty, he wrote: “I
found [God] sweet and gentle among our loftiest rugged mountains,
where many simple souls love Him and worship Him in all truth and
sincerity and mountain goats and chamois leap here and there between
the fearful frozen peaks to proclaim His praise” (Letter to Mother de
Chantal, October 1606, in Oeuvres, éd. Mackey, t. XIII, p. 223).
Nevertheless the influence of his life and his teaching on Europe in
that period and in the following centuries is immense. He was an
apostle, preacher, writer, man of action and of prayer dedicated to
implanting the ideals of the Council of Trent, he was involved in
controversial issues dialogue with the Protestants, experiencing
increasingly, over and above the necessary theological confrontation,
the effectiveness of personal relationship and of charity, he was
charged with diplomatic missions in Europe and with social duties of
mediation and reconciliation.
Yet above all St Francis de Sales was a director, from his encounter
with a young woman, Madame de Charmoisy, he was to draw the
inspiration to write one of the most widely read books of the modern
age, The Introduction to a Devout Life. A new religious family was to
come into being from his profound spiritual communion with an
exceptional figure, St Jane Frances de Chantal -The Foundation of the
Visitation, as the Saint wished, was characterised by total
consecration to God lived in simplicity and humility, in doing
ordinary things extraordinarily well – “I want my Daughters”, he
wrote, not to have any other ideal than that of glorifying [Our Lord]
with their humility” (Letter to Bishop de Marquemond, June 1615).
He died in 1622, at the age of 55, after a life marked by the hardness
of the times and by his apostolic effort.”
https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/24/
“Man is the perfection of the Universe.
The spirit is the perfection of man.
Love is the perfection of the spirit and charity that of love.
Therefore, the love of God is the end, the perfection of the Universe.”
--St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
“We must fear God out of love,
not love Him out of fear.”
“In the royal galley of divine Love,
there is no galley slave –
all rowers are volunteers.”
“Nothing makes us
so prosperous
in this world,
as to give alms.”
“Perfection of life,
is the perfection of love.
For love, is the life of the soul.”
--St Francis de Sales
“Let us run to Mary
and, as her little children,
cast ourselves into her arms,
with a perfect confidence.”
“Consider all the past as nothing
and say, like David,
‘Now I begin to love my God.'”
--St Francis de Sales
Saint Quote:
"Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow.
The same Everlasting Father, who takes care of you today,
will take care of you tomorrow.
He will either shield you from suffering,
or give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace then,
and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations."
--Saint Francis de Sales.
Bible Quote:
But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps. And the
bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight
there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to
meet him. (Matt 25:4-6)
<><><><>
Saint Anthony, Zealous for Justice
Dear St. Anthony, you were prompt to fulfill all justice.
You gave God and His creation the service He required
from you. You respected other people's rights and treated
them with kindness and understanding. St. Anthony, Zealous
for Justice, teach me the beauty of this virtue. Make me
prompt to fulfill all justice toward God and toward all creation.
Help me also in my pressing needs. (Name them.)
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