Whole nations seized upon the apostles' teaching

[Weedy]

Whole nations seized upon the apostles' teaching

Supposing two men come to a city without food, money, or a change of
clothes. Who do you think would welcome them, where would they find an
open door? Who would want to know them? What sort of lodging would
they find and where would they start to look for it? One must surely
marvel at the power of one who could send his disciples out in such a
way, and at the faith of those whom he sent.
Why be so amazed that the apostles were believed, or that they
themselves could believe, and that they returned home safely after
being welcomed everywhere? But these are truly great marvels and we
should not fail to realize this. Unknown strangers, poorly dressed and
without contacts, traveled all over the world proclaiming someone who
had been crucified, and offering a life of fasting in place of
drunkenness, and irksome self-restraint in place of sensuality. It can
hardly have been easy for those addicted to such vices to receive
these exhortations to renounce them and live upright lives. And yet
whole peoples seized upon this teaching, whole nations embraced it.
--Eusebius of Emesa

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August 24th – St. Emily de Vialar
Also known as
• Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emily de Vialar
• Emilie de Vialar
• Emilie de Vialard

(1797-1856)
St. Emily de Vialar founded an international religious order that even
today numbers over a thousand members. That task involved an
extraordinary number of setbacks, but she achieved her aim with vigor
and clarity of spirit.

Born at Gaillac in southern France and baptized Anne Marguerite
Adelaide Emilie, the future foundress was the daughter of a nobleman,
Baron Augustin de Vialar; the granddaughter, on her mother
Antoinette’s side, of Baron de Portal, the prominent physician of
Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X. The parents sent their daughter to
Paris for schooling.

When Emily was 15, however, her mother died. The widowed father
brought his daughter home to Gaillac to keep him company. She did her
best to serve his wishes, but Baron de Vialar proved to be a
self-centered curmudgeon. Particularly after she had rejected his
plans to marry her off, he became very mean to her. He allowed her no
say in the household, and on one occasion even threw a decanter at
her. Furthermore, the teenager had no suitable priest to guide her.
“God became my director,” she said in later life. She took a private
vow of chastity, and intensified her prayer life. On one occasion she
had a vision of our Lord pointing to the wounds of His passion. This
experience moved her deeply and had a lasting effect on her life.

Fortunately, when Emily was 21, she finally found an understanding
spiritual director in the Abbe Mercier, a young priest assigned to
Gaillac He was able to steer her spiritual life along consistent
lines. Meanwhile she devoted her time to taking care of the local poor
and of neglected children. She welcomed these needy to the terrace of
her home. This hospitality caused her father to explode once more. He
didn’t want charity cases cluttering his terrace! But the people of
Gaillac, at least, valued the efforts of his daughter.

Finally, in 1832, when she was 35, a providential event occurred that
invited Emilie to stride forth on her real career. Her grandfather de
Portal died, leaving her a considerable fortune.

Under the wise supervision of Abbe Mercier, Mlle. de Vialar now bought
a large house of her own at Gaillac. On Christmas 1832, with the
permission of the archbishop of Albi, she and three other young women
laid the foundations of a new religious community to be called the
Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. (The “apparition” was God’s
revelation to Joseph that Mary had conceived Jesus, the Son of God.)
The sisters’ apostolate was to be the care of those in need and the
education of children. What was unusual about their aim was that from
the start they intended to focus on foreign missions. In fact, when
Emily established their second house in 1834, it was in Algiers, North
Africa, where the French were busy colonizing. At Algiers the sisters
quickly won high praise for their work during a cholera epidemic. From
her Algerian center Mother Emily then founded additional convents in
Tunisia and Malta; and from Malta the sisters spread into the Balkans
and the Near East. Indeed, theirs was the first group of nuns in
modern times to undertake a mission to the Holy Land. During her
lifetime the foundress also sent nuns as far afield as Burma and
Australia.

All this was accomplished in the face of great odds. St. Emily was
“imperilled,” like St. Paul, “in the city, in the desert, at sea, by
false brothers.” For one thing, she suffered a chronic physical
ailment. Then she also had to bear widespread criticisms from many
sources. When she sailed for Malta, her ship, like St. Paul’s, was
wrecked on its shore.

Though backed by Rome, she lost her battle against the domineering
tactics of the bishop of Algiers, who even excommunicated the sisters
and ousted them from his diocese, to their great financial loss. But
being a woman of wit and balance, St. Emily made light of her
troubles. “I have plenty of trials,” she wrote, “but God is always
there to support me.”

Pope Pius XII canonized this valiant woman in 1951.

–Father Robert F. McNamara


Saint Quote:
I am a Christian. It seemed a while ago as if God rejected me as a
stone unfit to enter His building, but He has the goodness to take me
now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all things for His name,
that I may have a part in His kingdom with His Saints.
--St. Serenus

Bible Quote
This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved
you. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life
for his friends. You are my friends, if you do the things that I
command you. (John 15:12-14)


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From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:

Most Holy, Immaculate Virgin and my Mother Mary! To thee who art the
Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the world, the Advocate, the Hope, and
the Refuge of sinners, I have recourse today, I who am the most
miserable of all.

I render thee my most humble homage, O great Queen, and I thank thee
for all the graces thou hast conferred on me until now, especially for
having delivered me from Hell, which I have so often deserved.

I love thee, O most amiable Lady; and for the love which I bear thee,
I promise to serve thee always and to do all in my power to make
others love thee also. I place in thee all my hopes; I confide my
salvation to thy care.

Accept me for thy servant and receive me under thy mantle, O Mother of
Mercy. And since thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all
temptations; or rather, obtain for me the strength to triumph over
them until death. Of thee I ask a perfect love for Jesus Christ.

Through thee I hope to die a good death. O my Mother, by the love
which thou bearest to God, I beseech thee to help me at all times, but
especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not, I beseech
thee, until thou seest me safe in Heaven, blessing thee and singing
thy mercies for all eternity.
Amen. Thus, I hope. Thus, may it be.