Judgment and the Punishment of Sin (2)

[Weedy]

Judgment and the Punishment of Sin (2)

The patient man goes through a great and salutary purgatory when
he grieves more over the malice of one who harms him than for his own
injury; when he prays readily for his enemies and forgives offenses
from his heart; when he does not hesitate to ask pardon of others;
when he is more easily moved to pity than to anger; when he does
frequent violence to himself and tries to bring the body into complete
subjection to the spirit.
It is better to atone for sin now and to cut away vices than to
keep them for purgation in the hereafter. In truth, we deceive
ourselves by our ill-advised love of the flesh. What will that fire
feed upon but our sins? The more we spare ourselves now and the more
we satisfy the flesh, the harder will the reckoning be and the more we
keep for the burning.
'A Kempis:--Imitation of Christ, Bk. 1 Ch 24

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April 24th - St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

[At Angers in France, St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, virgin and
foundress of the Institute of the Good Shepherd Sisters, whom Pius
XII, Sovereign Pontiff, enrolled among the number of the saints.]

ROSE Virginia Pelletier was born in 1796 in the island of Noirmoutier
off the coast of Brittany; her parents had been forced to seek shelter
there in the war of La Vendée. Having been sent to school at Tours,
Rose came to learn something of the Convent of the Refuge. This
belonged to a religious congregation founded in 1641 by St. John Eudes
for the rescue of “fallen” women and the protection of those in
danger. It was known as the Institute of Our Lady of Charity of the
Refuge, and it had a house in Tours. Rose joined the noviceship there
in 1814, and some eleven years later, when she was still only
twenty-nine, was elected superior. In this office she was prevailed
upon to make a new foundation at Angers and she herself went
temporarily to take over a house of refuge which had existed there
years before under the invocation of the Good Shepherd. Her success
was marvellous, but there was a sad reaction when she was compelled to
leave Angers and return to her own proper community at Tours. In the
end, after much negotiation and rather painful controversy, Mother
Pelletier was made prioress of the new founda­tion. Coming before long
to realize the difficulties which would hamper their work if each
house, as was the ease with the Institute of Our Lady of Charity,
stood alone, remaining under control of the bishop of the diocese and
training its own novices, Mother St. Euphrasia (as she was now called)
became convinced that a centralized organization was necessary, having
one common noviceship, and a superior general who could transfer
subjects from one house to another as need required. In spite of
strong opposition and the anguish of mind entailed by taking so
independent a line, Mother Euphrasia stood firm in what she clearly
saw to be a wiser policy to promote the great cause they had at heart.

While deeply humble and respectful of authority, the young prioress,
who, as one of her admirers said, “était de taille a gouverner un
Royaume”, succeeded, God’s providence helping, in creating at Angers
what was virtually a new institute, “of the Good Shepherd”. Papal
approbation was obtained in 1835, and the developments were rapid,
immense good being visibly affected wherever new foundations were
made. When Mother Euphrasia died in 1868, the Good Shepherd nuns
numbered 2760 and were known all over the world. In all her manifold
trials and difficulties, including charges of rash innovation,
personal ambition and impatience of authority, St. Mary Euphrasia
displayed heroic fortitude, cheerfulness and trust in God; “Having
brought to birth all our young sisters in the Cross”, she said once,
“I love them more than life itself. And the root of that love is in
God and in the knowledge of my own unworthiness, for I realize that at
the age at which they are professed I could not have supported such
deprivations and hard work.” She was canonized in 1940.

There are full biographies in French, both in two volumes, by Mgr
Pasquier (1894) and by Canon Portais (1895), and a more recent one
(1946) by G. Bernoville in which use has been made of unpublished
beatification documents; shorter ones by F. Georges (1942) and H. Joly
(1933) in the “Les Saints” series. A religious of the congregation
published a life in English in 1933, and Redemption (1940), by G. F.
Powers, is a good popular account of the saint; the biography by A. M.
Clarke is founded on the books of Pasquier and Portals.


Saint Quote:
The day you learn to surrender yourself totally to God, you will
discover a new world, just as I am experiencing. You will enjoy a
peace and a calm unknown, surpassing even the happiest days of your
life.
-- Saint Jaime Hilario

Bible Quote:
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For
theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10)


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Reading from Journey of the Mind to God

Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the
vehicle, like the "throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant," and
"the mystery hidden from the ages." A man should turn his full
attention to this throne of mercy, and should gaze at him hanging on
the cross, full of faith, hope, and charity, devoted, full of wonder
and joy, marked by gratitude, and open to praise and jubilation. Then
such a man will make with Christ a "pasch," that is, a passing-over.
Through the branches of the cross he will pass over the Red Sea,
leaving Egypt and entering the desert. There he will taste the hidden
manna, and rest with Christ in the sepulcher, as if he were dead to
things outside. He will experience, as much as is possible for one who
is still living, what was promised to the thief who hung beside
Christ: "Today you will be with me in paradise."
-- Saint Bonaventure