April 2 – St. Francis of Paola and the Bartlett Pear

The Bartlett pear is called “The Good Christian” in France, after St. Francis of Paola introduced it

 

‘poire bon chretien’ (good Christian pear)

 

“Said to have originated in Calabria in southern Italy, Bartletts probably were introduced to France by St. Francis of Paola. St. Francis brought a young tree as a gift for King Louis XI of France, who had summoned him in the hope that the saint would miraculously cure the king’s many illnesses. When the king died in 1483, St. Francis returned to Italy, but he left behind the legacy of his pear tree, called by the French the ‘poire bon chretien’ (good Christian pear).”
Nick Malgieri is the author of “Perfect Cakes” and “A Baker’s Tour” (HarperCollins) and “Perfect Light Desserts” (Morrow).
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/sep/19/heavenly-32bartletts/

Audio sermon for today. The non-discriminatory policy as it applies to creed has given us the foundation for a true lack of charity with the illusion of respect and love of our fellow men. The demons are rejoicing in this. If we are truly striving to please God and live virtuously then we must expect attacks from these demons. Temptations are not a sign that we are failing but rather a sign of our progress. The greater the temptations the closer we must be approaching the goal of the love of God. Do not be disheartened by your temptations and failings, but get up and strive even more. Take courage God's grace is sufficient for us. 

 Audio Sermon for today, the Fourth Sunday in Lent. We are children of the Promise. Let us rejoice. Be not envious of the apparent successes of the children of the slave girl (the children of the world). If we realize our inheritance we will no longer fear or dread the sacrifices necessary to obtain Heaven. We can even rejoice in our sacrifices. 

Bishop Giles, OFM

Ladder of Divine Ascent Icon

 The remembrance of death makes us lose all affection for the things of this life.”

St. Alphonsus 

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Fourth Sunday in Lent 30 March 2014

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friend,

There is great symbolism in today's Gospel for us to contemplate today. We learn from the parallel Gospel of St. Matthew that the multiplication of bread and fishes was done by Jesus, but He distributed them only through His Disciples. All those who ate were fed by God, but through the hands of the Apostles. 

So, it is that God has seen fit to give us spiritual food throughout history, even to today. If we are to be truly fed the life giving bread of the Word of God, we must approach The Church, or in other words the bishops who have been appointed by the Holy Ghost to sanctify, teach and govern Her. Outside of The Church or outside of Her bishops there is no salvation, because The Word of God is not there. 

Those who have taken the Bible as the word of God and claim to receive it directly from God, deceive themselves. They indeed take food, but in not taking it from the hand of God's ministers their digestion suffers greatly. The Church is the only living authority that is the sole dispenser of the Word of God, and She is also the sole guarantee and protector of It. Those who take the written Word of God and separate it from the Living Tradition and Authority, have some of the raw ingredients for the food for their soul, but they cannot assemble it correctly so that it will give them spiritual life. They have the ingredients, but do not have the recipe, or they refuse to follow the recipe and end up with indigestible truths. Because certain truths are indigestible to them, they then begin to deny and cast out all that they cannot accept. This is what has happened with the Protestants throughout history. Private interpretation demands rejection of whatever is unpalatable to the individual. It is unpalatable because they have refused to receive it correctly from the hands that God has appointed to distribute it. 

The number of believers has been reduced to a remnant, due to this Protestant/Pagan influence in the world. Nonetheless, the Church will continue until the end of time. This God has promised to us. One of the necessary marks of the Church is that She is Apostolic. We, therefore, conclude that there will always be at least one true bishop in the world, and that those who will be saved will receive the life giving spiritual food of the Word of God from the hands of these bishops. 

Noting the Great Apostasy and the fewness of bishops, should not discourage us. Just as Jesus multiplied the bread and fishes, so He can and does multiply the words of His bishops. We have a treasure trove of the recorded teachings of the Apostles and their successors throughout history. The fewness of true bishops today is a result of the diminishing number of true Catholics. Or perhaps the converse is truer: there are few Catholics because there are few true bishops. 

In any case, God has seen fit to offer us a remedy for the scarceness of bishops. The words and teachings of our bishops are multiplied and can be heard throughout the world due to the advances of technology. All those who have access to the World Wide Web, are able to hear their bishops directly, or the priests who have been approved and appointed to teach in their names. 

The governing of the Church can likewise be taken care of from a distance. This leaves us with the matter of sanctification. Many in the world are at such a distance that they cannot receive the sacraments. This has always been a grave concern for the bishops in this time of apostasy. God has seen fit in suggesting to us that we spiritually receive the sacraments when we are physically impeded from doing so. 

It has long been the suggestion and practice in the Church to make frequent Spiritual Communions. We can in spirit repent of our sins and unite our hearts with Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. God, Who sees and knows everything, accepts the desire for the deed. Grace is ours for the asking. This is not an empty suggestion given to quiet the consciences of pietistic souls, but is rather a sound practice of the saints throughout history. 

The spiritual reception of the sacraments offers us the opportunity to gain grace at all times and in all places. There is nothing to hinder us. This great desire to receive the physical sacrament very often softens God's Heart to such a point that He will bring a true priest to us, or us to a true priest to receive that which our hearts desire. 

Today, we still see the multiplication of the bread and fishes. We can find the spiritual food we need so that we do not have to faint along the way of this life. Let us beg of God these graces and open up our hearts and minds to receive from God's appointed ministers this life-giving food for our souls.

 A deer guarded this noble saint from the unwanted advances of men

St. Catherine of Sweden

Patroness against abortion and miscarriage.

St. Catherine of Sweden. Photo by Smas.

The fourth child of Saint Bridget and her husband, Ulf Gudmarsson, born 1331 or 1332; died 24 March, 1381. At the time of her death Saint Catherine was head of the convent of Wadstena, founded by her mother; hence the name, Catherine Vastanensis, by which she is occasionally called. At the age of seven she was sent to the abbess of the convent of Riseberg to be educated and soon showed, like her mother, a desire for a life of self-mortification and devotion to spiritual things. At the command of her father, when about thirteen or fourteen years, she married a noble of German descent, Eggart von Kürnen. She at once persuaded her husband, who was a very religious man, to join her in a vow of chastity. Both lived in a state of virginity and devoted themselves to the exercise of Christian perfection and active charity. In spite of her deep love for her husband, Catherine accompanied her mother to Rome, where Saint Bridget went in 1349. Soon after her arrival in that city Catherine received news of the death of her husband in Sweden. She now lived constantly with her mother, took an active part in Saint Bridget’s fruitful labours, and zealously imitated her mother’s ascetic life. Although the distinguished and beautiful young widow was surrounded by suitors, she steadily refused all offers of marriage. In 1372 Saint Catherine and her brother, Birger, accompanied their mother on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; after their return to Rome Saint Catherine was with her mother in the latter’s last illness and death.
In 1374, in obedience to Saint Bridget’s wish, Catherine brought back her mother’s body to Sweden for burial at Wadstena, of which foundation she now became the head. It was the motherhouse of the Brigittine Order, also called the Order of Saint Saviour. Catherine managed the convent with great skill and made the life there one in harmony with the principles laid down by its founder. The following year she went again to Rome in order to promote the canonization of Saint Bridget, and to obtain a new papal confirmation of the order. She secured another confirmation both from Gregory XI (1377) and from Urban VI (1379) but was unable to gain time in the canonization of her mother, as the confusion caused by the Schism delayed the process. When this sorrowful division appeared she showed herself, like Saint Catherine of Siena, a steadfast adherent of the part of the Roman Pope, Urban VI, in whose favor she testified before a judicial commission. Catherine stayed five years in Italy and then returned home, bearing a special letter of commendation from the pope. Not long after her arrival in Sweden she was taken ill and died. In 1484 Innocent VIII gave permission for her veneration as a saint and her feast was assigned to 22 March in the Roman Martyrology. Catherine wrote a devotional work entitled “Consolation of the Soul” (Sielinna Troëst), largely composed of citations from the Scriptures and from early religious books; no copy is known to exist. Generally she is represented with a hind at her side, which is said to have come to her aid when unchaste youths sought to ensnare her.
J. P. Kirsch (Catholic Encyclopedia)

St. Thomas More rejects his wife’s pleas to abandon the Faith

St. Thomas More

Thomas More was Lord High Chancellor of England in the reign of King Henry VIII. He was a fervent Catholic, and although zealous in the service of his King, was still more so in the service of God.
When Henry rebelled against the Church, he put into prison, and sometimes even condemned to death, those who would not acknowledge him to be head of the Church in England.
When he informed Sir Thomas More of this law which he had made, requiring his subjects to submit to his authority in spiritual things, Sir Thomas at once replied that he for one would never obey it, “because,” he said, “it is against the law of God.”

St. Thomas More Defending the Liberty of the House of Commons, painting by Vivian Forbes, 1927, St. Stephen’s Hall, English Parliament, London.

The King was very much grieved at Thomas’s refusal, not only because he himself had a great esteem for him, but also because he knew the great influence his example would have over others. So he tried, first by promises, and then by threats, to make him submit.
But it was all in vain, for the faithful servant of the King of Heaven firmly declared that he would sooner die than neglect his duty to God.
This answer put the King into a great passion, and he ordered him to be immediately put into prison. “You shall see,” he said, “that I am your master, and that you must do what I wish.”
“You have, indeed, power over my life, and over everything I have that passes away with life,” replied the intrepid Thomas, “but more than that you have no power over.”

Lady Alice Middleton More

The King condemned him to death. But wishing to give him yet an opportunity of saving his life, he went to Lady Alice, his wife, and persuaded her to go to her husband and to try and influence him by those endearing motives which have most effect upon the human heart.
“O my husband,” she said to him, “do obey the command of the King as others have done, and your life will be spared.”
“And how long, my dear wife,” he answered, “how long do you think I shall live if I do what you ask me?”
“For at least twenty years,” she said.

Sir Thomas More family’s vault in St Dunstan’s Church. Photo by Liondartois

“Well, if you had said twenty thousand years, that would have been something; but it would, indeed, be a very poor thing to live even that number of years, and run the risk of losing my God in eternity! Oh no, dear wife, I thought you would have spoken more wisely to me than that. I will never consent to disobey my God in that way; I promised Him over and over again that I would serve Him faithfully all my days, and love Him with my whole heart, and by His grace I will do it.”
Sir Thomas More died on the scaffold on the sixth day of July, 1535.

Rev. D. Chisholm, The Catechism in Examples (London: R & T Washbourne, Ltd., 1919), 406-7.

St. Louis the King teaches his nobles to hate mortal sinMarch 20, 2014

St. Louis, King of France, asked one of his nobles named Joinville what he would do if he were asked to choose between committing a mortal sin and being struck with leprosy.
Joinville, without any hesitation, answered the King: “I would sooner commit ten mortal sins than be infected even once with that terrible plague.” 
The King looked sadly on his friend and said: “Ah! my dear sir, it is evident you do not know what an evil it is to commit a mortal sin. There is no evil so terrible as sin is: for no matter how much we detest our sins, we can never be sure so long as we live whether or not God has forgiven us, or that we have sufficiently repented of them.”

Rev. D. Chisholm, The Catechism in Examples (London: R & T Washbourne, Ltd., 1919), 382.
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 369

 



Audio recording of today's sermon. Second Sunday in Lent. Our Lord's Transfiguration. The old Testament is fulfilled and the New begins and continues with Christ. We must prepare ourselves to reciprocate God's love for us. True love is self-sacrificing.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Second Sunday in Lent 16 March 2014

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friend,

In the Gospel today, Jesus is preparing His disciples for His ultimate Sacrifice. They are still inundated with the ways of the material world, and not the spiritual ways of God. The chosen apostles witness the Divinity of Jesus Christ that has remained hidden within Him for so many years. He has shown them His true and glorious Self. For a brief moment these apostles find themselves glimpsing into Heaven while still here on earth. 

There is a stark contrast between the glory of Jesus at this moment and the death of our Savior that was soon to take place. This revelation was given so that they would understand that no one was to take the life of Jesus — He laid down His life freely and willingly, and just as freely took it up again. As God He has power not only of the spiritual, but also of the material world. The material life or worldly life is not worthy to be compared to the spiritual or heavenly life. This sharp contrast between the two worlds is brought forcefully and clearly before the eyes of the apostles. There is no reason for them to fear or doubt that Jesus is God and Man. 

There is also another transformation that takes place at this moment. The apostles were likewise being instructed in the fact that the Old Law of Moses was fulfilled and was completed. The New Law of Christ has taken its place. The Voice of the Father instructed the apostles to hear Jesus. It was not the law of Moses, nor was it the prophets that they were hear, but rather the words of Jesus — the beloved Son of the Father. 

All of those who remained attached to the law of Moses or the prophets, remained so only in appearance. The true followers of Moses and the prophets recognized that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and prophesies. They saw clearly that all pointed to Him and they listened to Him and believed and were baptized. Those that refused to follow Jesus and to become Catholic have failed to follow the Law or the prophets. Their clinging to the Old Testament, is a sure sign that they never really followed it at all. 

Today, many confuse the Torah and the Talmud. The Torah is the Old Testament (inspired by God) that prepared the way and pointed the way to Jesus Christ. The Talmud is a compilation of the many works of man in reinterpreting and adapting the Torah to the modern Judaism. Modern Judaism bears little resemblance to the Old Testament because of the Talmud. It is not the religion of the Israelites. The true religion of the twelve tribes of Israel had a priesthood and sacrifice and prepared the way for Jesus. What is called Judaism today does not have a priesthood or sacrifice. It is materialistic and worldly as opposed to spiritual. 

This Transfiguration was a turning point in history. Moses and Elias here bore witness to the fulfillment of their works in Jesus Christ. The Father in Heaven confirmed this with His Voice from Heaven when He said that Jesus is His Son and we are to hear Him. 

We are to take home the understanding that Jesus is both God and Man. We are to believe clearly that He is the fulfillment of all that was foretold in the Old Testament; and that Jesus begins a new chapter in history. The bloody sacrifices of the animals in the Old Testament has been replaced with the un-bloody sacrifice of Jesus in the Mass. The priesthood of the Old Testament has died out and now God has instituted a new Priesthood that is to continue to the end of time. 

We are to understand that this material world is not all that there is. There is a spiritual world that is above and far better than the material world that we now experience. If we will believe Jesus we will value this present life as the means to gain the spiritual life. The loss of this life is the gain of the next one which is infinitely better. It is this thought that has led all the saints who have gone before us to turn their backs upon this material world so that they may look forward to the spiritual one. 

It is now our turn. We are called upon to recognize that Jesus is God, Our Lord, and Savior. He has called us not to the life of the Old Testament or of the man-made religions of the Talmudists or the Protestants, but rather to the life of grace in the One, Holy and Catholic Church. This life of grace demands that we value the spiritual life above the material one; and are ready, willing, and able to sacrifice the lesser for the greater.

For those who would like to listen to me reading the Gospels. Here are the links to St. Matthew and St. Mark. May God bless you. 
 Bishop Giles, OFM

St. Matthew Chapter 1
St. Matthew Chapter 2
St. Matthew Chapter 3
St. Matthew Chapter 4
St. Matthew Chapter 5
St. Matthew Chapter 6
St. Matthew Chapter 7
St. Matthew Chapter 8
St. Matthew Chapter 9
St. Matthew Chapter 10
St. Matthew Chapter 11
St. Matthew Chapter 12
St. Matthew Chapter 13
St. Matthew Chapter 14
St. Matthew Chapter 15
St. Matthew Chapter 16
St. Matthew Chapter 17
St. Matthew Chapter 18
St. Matthew Chapter 19
St. Matthew Chapter 20
St. Matthew Chapter 21
St. Matthew Chapter 22
St. Matthew Chapter 23
St. Matthew Chapter 24
St. Matthew Chapter 25
St. Matthew Chapter 26
St. Matthew Chapter 27
St. Matthew Chapter 28

St. Mark Chapter 1
St. Mark Chapter 2
St. Mark Chapter 3
St. Mark Chapter 4
St. Mark Chapter 5
St. Mark Chapter 6
St. Mark Chapter 7
St. Mark Chapter 8
St. Mark Chapter 9
St. Mark Chapter 10
St. Mark Chapter 11
St. Mark Chapter 12
St. Mark Chapter 13
St. Mark Chapter 14
St. Mark Chapter 15
St. Mark Chapter 16

St. Louise de Marillac Le Gras

Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, born at Paris, 12 August, 1591, daughter of Louis de Marillac, Lord of Ferrieres, and Marguerite Le Camus; died there, 15 March, 1660. Her mother having died soon after the birth of Louise, the education of the latter devolved upon her father, a man of blameless life. In her earlier years she was confided to the care of her aunt, a religious at Poissy. Afterwards she studied under a preceptress, devoting much time to the cultivation of the arts.

Her father’s serious disposition was reflected in the daughter’s taste for philosophy and kindred subjects. When about sixteen years old, Louise developed a strong desire to enter the Capuchinesses (Daughter of the Passion). Her spiritual director dissuaded her, however, and her father having died, it became necessary to decide her vocation. Interpreting her director’s advice, she accepted the hand of Antoine Le Gras, a young secretary under Marie de Medici. A son was born of this marriage on 13 October, 1613, and to his education Mme. Le Gras devoted herself during the years of his childhood. Of works of charity she never wearied. In 1619 she became acquainted with St. Francis de Sales, who was then in Paris, and Mgr. Le Campus, Bishop of Belley, became her spiritual adviser. Troubled by the thought that she had rejected a call to the religious state, she vowed in 1623 not remarry should her husband die before her.

M. Le Gras died on 21 December, 1625, after a long illness. In the meantime his wife had made the acquaintance of a priest known as M. Vincent (St. Vincent de Paul), who had been appointed superior of the Visitation Monastery by St. Francis of Sales. She placed herself under his direction, probably early in 1625. His influence led her to associate herself with his work among the poor of Paris, and especially in the extension of the Confrérie de la Charité, an association which he had founded for the relief of the sick poor. It was this labor which decided her life’s work, the founding of the Sisters of Charity. The history of the evolution of this institute, which Mme. Le Gras plays so prominent a part, has been given elsewhere; it suffices here to say that, with formal ecclesiastical and state recognition, Mme. Le Gras’ life-work received its assurance of success. Her death occurred in 1660, a few month before the death of St. Vincent, with whose labors she had been so closely united.
She was canonized by Pius XI in 1934.

(cfr. Catholic Encyclopedia)

March 10 – “I want no prayers from heretics!”

St. John Ogilvie

Ogilvie, the son of a wealthy noble, was born into a Calvinist family near Keith in Banffshire, Scotland and was educated in mainland Europe where he attended a number of Roman Catholic educational establishments, under the Benedictines at Regensburg in Germany and with the Jesuits at Olomouc and Brno in the present day Czech Republic.

Mercat cross. The Mercat Cross stands at the south-eastern corner of Glasgow Cross. It is a monument to St. John Ogilvie and was commissioned for construction in 1929–30 by William George Black, and designed by the architect Edith Hughes.

In the midst of the religious controversies and turmoil that engulfed the Europe of that era he decided to become a Roman Catholic. In 1596, aged seventeen, he was received into the Roman church at Louvain, Belgium by Father Cornelius a Lapide. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1608 and was ordained a priest in Paris in 1610. After ordination he made repeated entreaties to be sent back to Scotland to minister to the few remaining Roman Catholics in the Glasgow area (after the Scottish Reformation in 1560 it had become illegal to preach, proselytise for, or otherwise endorse Roman Catholicism).
He returned to Scotland in November 1613 disguised as a soldier, and began to preach in secret, celebrating mass clandestinely in private homes, mostly among his fellow nobility. However, his ministry was to last less than a year. In 1614, he was betrayed and arrested in Glasgow and taken to jail in Paisley. He suffered terrible tortures, including being kept awake for eight days and nine nights, in an attempt to make him divulge the identities of other Roman Catholics. Nonetheless, Ogilvie did not relent; consequently, after a biased trial, he was convicted of high treason for refusing to accept the King’s spiritual jurisdiction. On 10 March 1615, aged 36 years, John Ogilvie was paraded through the streets of Glasgow and lawfully hanged at Glasgow Cross.

His last words were “If there be here any hidden Roman Catholics, let them pray for me but the prayers of heretics I will not have”. After he was pushed from the stairs, he threw his concealed rosary beads out into the crowd. The tale is told that one of his enemies caught them and subsequently became a lifelong devout Roman Catholic. After his execution Ogilvie’s followers were rounded up and put in jail. They suffered heavy fines, but none was to receive the death penalty.

Hanged, drawn and quartered. Many of the English, by order of Elizabeth I, were martyred this way.

As a martyr of the Counter-Reformation he was beatified in 1929. He is the only post-Reformation saint from Scotland.
Saint John Ogilvie is commemorated 10 March.

THANKS TO NOBILITY.ORG FOR THIS STORY

The Audio Sermons for the Weekend: First Friday - The Mysteries of the Way of the Cross
  Saturday March 8 - Lent
  First Sunday in Lent - Enter the season of Penance with love. A great desire to accompany Jesus in every act of reparation He has made for us.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals First Sunday in Lent 7 March 2014

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friend,

Today, we read that The Spirit led Our Lord into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Jesus had just been baptized by St. John and now He is going forth to be tempted. There is no disorder in Jesus, so the temptations were not to come from within Him as so often happen with us because of the passions caused by our fallen nature. All the temptations of Jesus had to come from outside of Himself. 

The devils do their damnedest to divide us from each other before they begin their assault. Our Lord went into the desert to allow these temptations for our instruction. Not everyone is called by Him to go into the desert to fight these demons. Most are instructed to learn from Our Lords temptations and how to avoid them, rather than seek them out. Only those inspired by God or the foolish seek out combat with evil spirits. Our best tactic is to avoid them. St. Augustine tells us that the demons are like chained dogs that cannot harm us as long as we do not enter into the realm of their chain. They may bark and snarl, but they can do no more, unless we draw near to them.

Seeing that Jesus went into the desert to be tempted, instructs us in the truth that the devils seek first to separate us from others who may help us to resist their temptations. For example the devil waited to approach Eve when she was separated from Adam. He chose to attack the weakest point, when she did not have the support of Adam. After winning Eve over to sin, she became an instrument of the devil in the assault upon Adam.

In like manner, the devils prepare their assault against us. The temptations to sin are the greatest when we are separated from others who would be a deterrent to us. The temptation of the young, is to get away from their parents and family. Most of our young people impatiently await the day when they turn eighteen or twenty-one so that they no longer have to answer to their parents or familial authority. They are independent and free. They move out on their own — often as far away from their parents as they can. In a new environment, away from the eyes of those whom they feared or respected, they are now easy prey of the devils. 

There appears to be another newer weapon that the demons love to make use of today. In the guise of bringing us closer to one another — many have started using electronic tools. (mobile phones, texting, emailing, etc.) It seems that the more these tools are implemented the less physical connection takes place. People no longer make eye contact; much less speak to the person physically next to them. They are too busy chatting or texting someone at a distance (sometimes even in the same room). Or they are absorbed in some electronic game. They are alone even in the midst of a crowd. 

The electronic media offers a sense of anonymity. Anonymity suggests a sense of separateness, and this is the opening that the devils are waiting for. Thinking that no one they know is watching them, they are spiritually entering into the desert. The internet is filled with temptations and the assault begins. Gradually at first, but then with heightening crescendo it culminates in forgetting God and committing sin. 

They begin by separating from any good moral influence physically around them. Family and friends are put at a distance, and then any thought of God is pushed out of the mind. Once God is forgotten or pushed out of our thoughts, it is not long before He is removed from our hearts too. Temptations are suggested and with all restraint taken away, the damage is done. At this point, the evil is virtually committed. Sin is just a consent away. The progression is from: a sense of isolation (real or virtual); then comes the temptation; desire soon follows; the desire gives way to words actions or omissions, and the sin is complete. Actually the sin is complete as soon as the consent or desire is entered into. The man who harbors hatred or lust in his heart is already guilty of murder or adultery. He need never physically say or do anything. The electronic virtual world allows this with greater and greater ease.

Seeing Jesus fight off the temptations of the devils, should inspire us with the desire to resist them also. He has placed the answers and tools in our hands to resist the devils at every stage of their game. But, the greatest instruction and weapon that He shows us is that we should not enter into their game. We should keep a positive moral influence near us at all times. We should constantly remind ourselves that God and all the angels and saints are watching us. 

We know that our government can and does watch us and many are outraged and are fighting against this because they fear the eroding of our freedom and liberty. While this may be true, and we should be concerned of this "Big Brother," we must always remember that we have no reason to fear those who can only hurt us in this life. Rather, we must fear God, who not only can punish us in this life, but can also send us into Hell to suffer for all of eternity. 

We are always in His presence, and if we will remember this, we will never sin. Let us strive to constantly keep Him in our minds and we will never be alone in the desert to fight the demons alone.

St. Frances of Rome

St. Frances of Rome with her Guardian Angel, who was continually visible to her.

One of the greatest mystics of the fifteenth century; born at Rome, of a noble family, in 1384; died there, 9 March, 1440.
Her youthful desire was to enter religion, but at her father’s wish she married, at the age of twelve, Lorenzo de’ Ponziani. Among her children we know of Battista, who carried on the family name, Evangelista, a child of great gifts (d. 1411), and Ages (d. 1413).

St. Frances curing the gangrenous leg of Janni, who had been ill a long time. On the right, Janni is thanking St. Frances. One of a series of frescoes in the Monastery of Tor de’ Specchi in Rome, featuring stories of the life of St. Frances of Rome painted by Antoniazzo Romano.

Frances was remarkable for her charity to the poor, and her zeal for souls. She won away many Roman ladies from a life of frivolity, and united them in an association of oblates attached to the White Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria Nuova; later they became the Benedictine Oblate Congregation of Tor di Specchi (25 March, 1433) which was approved by Eugene IV (4 July, 1433). Its members led the life of religious, but without the strict cloister or formal vows, and gave themselves up to prayer and good works.

With her husband’s consent Frances practiced continency, and advanced in a life of contemplation. Her visions often assumed the form of drama enacted for her by heavenly personages. She had the gift of miracles and ecstasy, we well as the bodily vision of her guardian angel, had revelations concerning purgatory and hell, and foretold the ending of the Western Schism. She could read the secrets of consciences and detect plots of diabolical origin. She was remarkable for her humility and detachment, her obedience and patience, exemplified on the occasion of her husband’s banishment, the captivity of Battista, her sons’ death, and the loss of all her property.

Santa Francesca Romana Church, Rome

On the death of husband (1436) she retired among her Oblates at Tor di Specchi, seeking admission for charity’s sake, and was made superior. On the occasion of a visit to her son, she fell ill and died on the day she had foretold. Her canonization was preceded by three processes (1440, 1443, 1451) and Paul V declared her a saint on 9 May, 1608, assigning 9 March as her feast day. Long before that, however, the faithful were wont to venerate her body in the church of Santa Maria Nuova in the Roman Forum, now known as the church of Santa Francesca Romana.

FRANCESCO PAOLI (Catholic Encyclopedia)

CHAPTER XXI
OF THE MOST HOLY MIRACLE OF ST FRANCIS IN TAMING THE FIERCE WOLF OF GUBBIO
At the time when St Francis was living in the city of Gubbio, a large wolf appeared in the neighbourhood, so terrible and so fierce, that he not only devoured other animals, but made a prey of men also; and since he often approached the town, all the people were in great alarm, and used to go about armed, as if going to battle. Notwithstanding these precautions, if any of the inhabitants ever met him alone, he was sure to be devoured, as all defence was useless: and, through fear of the wolf, they dared not go beyond the city walls. St Francis, feeling great compassion for the people of Gubbio, resolved to go and meet the wolf, though all advised him not to do so. Making the sign of the holy cross, and putting all his confidence in God, he went forth from the city, taking his brethren with him; but these fearing to go any further, St Francis bent his steps alone toward the spot where the wolf was known to be, while many people followed at a distance, and witnessed the miracle. The wolf, seeing all this multitude, ran towards St Francis with his jaws wide open. As he approached, the saint, making the sign of the cross, cried out: "Come hither, brother wolf; I command thee, in the name of Christ, neither to harm me nor anybody else." Marvelous to tell, no sooner had St Francis made the sign of the cross, than the terrible wolf, closing his jaws, stopped running, and coming up to St Francis, lay down at his feet as meekly as a lamb. And the saint thus addressed him: "Brother wolf, thou hast done much evil in this land, destroying and killing the creatures of God without his permission; yea, not animals only hast thou destroyed, but thou hast even dared to devour men, made after the image of God; for which thing thou art worthy of being hanged like a robber and a murderer. All men cry out against thee, the dogs pursue thee, and all the inhabitants of this city are thy enemies; but I will make peace between them and thee, O brother wolf, is so be thou no more offend them, and they shall forgive thee all thy past offences, and neither men nor dogs shall pursue thee any more." Having listened to these words, the wolf bowed his head, and, by the movements of his body, his tail, and his eyes, made signs that he agreed to what St Francis said. On this St Francis added: "As thou art willing to make this peace, I promise thee that thou shalt be fed every day by the inhabitants of this land so long as thou shalt live among them; thou shalt no longer suffer hunger, as it is hunger which has made thee do so much evil; but if I obtain all this for thee, thou must promise, on thy side, never again to attack any animal or any human being; dost thou make this promise?" Then the wolf, bowing his head, made a sign that he consented. Said St Francis again: "Brother wolf, wilt thou pledge thy faith that I may trust to this thy promise?" and putting out his hand he received the pledge of the wolf; for the latter lifted up his paw and placed it familiarly in the hand of St Francis, giving him thereby the only pledge which was in his power. Then said St Francis, addressing him again: "Brother wolf, I command thee, in the name of Christ, to follow me immediately, without hesitation or doubting, that we may go together to ratify this peace which we have concluded in the name of God"; and the wolf, obeying him, walked by his side as meekly as a lamb, to the great astonishment of all the people. Now, the news of this most wonderful miracle spreading quickly through the town, all the inhabitants, both men and women, small and great, young and old, flocked to the market-place to see St Francis and the wolf. All the people being assembled, the saint got up to preach, saying, amongst other things, how for our sins God permits such calamities, and how much greater and more dangerous are the flames of hell, which last for ever, than the rage of a wolf, which can kill the body only; and how much we ought to dread the jaws of hell, if the jaws of so small an animal as a wolf can make a whole city tremble through fear. The sermon being ended, St Francis added these words: "Listen my brethren: the wolf who is here before you has promised and pledged his faith that he consents to make peace with you all, and no more to offend you in aught, and you must promise to give him each day his necessary food; to which, if you consent, I promise in his name that he will most faithfully observe the compact." Then all the people promised with one voice to feed the wolf to the end of his days; and St Francis, addressing the latter, said again: "And thou, brother wolf, dost thou promise to keep the compact, and never again to offend either man or beast, or any other creature?" And the wolf knelt down, bowing his head, and, by the motions of his tail and of his ears, endeavoured to show that he was willing, so far s was in his power, to hold to the compact. Then St Francis continued: "Brother wolf, as thou gavest me a pledge of this thy promise when we were outside the town, so now I will that thou renew it in the sight of all this people, and assure me that I have done well to promise in thy name"; and the wolf lifting up his paw placed it in the hand of St Francis. Now this event caused great joy in all the people, and a great devotion towards St Francis, both because of the novelty of the miracle, and because of the peace which had been concluded with the wolf; and they lifted up their voices to heaven, praising and blessing God, who had sent them St Francis, through whose merits they had been delivered from such a savage beast. The wolf lived two years at Gubbio; he went familiarly from door to door without harming anyone, and all the people received him courteously, feeding him with great pleasure, and no dog barked at him as he went about. At last, after two years, he died of old age, and the people of Gubbio mourned his loss greatly; for when they saw him going about so gently amongst them all, he reminded them of the virtue and sanctity of St Francis.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Quinquagesima Sunday 2 March 2014

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friend,

Today we are encouraged to consider the blind man by the wayside. This blind man represents all sinful men. Our sins have blinded us to the light of God and to all truth. But, only those who acknowledge or recognize their own blindness will pray for light and sight as the man did in today's Gospel. Jesus' followers had just heard Him tell them about going to Jerusalem to be betrayed, to suffer and to die. They were unable to see or understand this. Their spiritual blindness is paralleled in the physical blindness of this man by the wayside.

We are all sinners and therefore blinded to many things of God. Those who realize this pray to God unceasingly for a remedy. Tragically, the majority appear to think that they see clearly and have no need to pray.

There are others that give way to the remonstrance of the crowd that precedes the coming of Christ. As the people told the blind man to be quiet in his entreaties, so it is that the devils, the world, and our own passions intimate to us that we must cease our prayers. All too often they are successful in getting us to stop praying to God. Once we have ceased praying, then Our Lord continues on His journey passing us by. Christ only stopped when He heard the cries and entreaties of the blind man. In the same way Jesus will only hear our prayers if we persevere in them despite the admonitions and rebukes that we receive from others. God requires of us, that we be insistent in our prayers. The insistence of the blind man's prayer caused Jesus to stop and have the blind man brought to Him. We, too, can imitate this insistence and cause Jesus to stop. He will have us brought near to Himself, just as He had the blind man brought near to Him.

If the blind man had not been insistent, Jesus would have passed by. Let us gain the attention of Jesus this season of Lent with an persistence of prayer. He will stop for us, just as He did for the blind man. Then, let our petition be like the blind man and ask Him that we may see.

He also desires that we know for what we are asking. The blind man was praying, but it was not for money, it was for his sight. Too often our prayers are for the cheap and insignificant things of this world that will soon pass away. This blind man represents to us the man who prays for spiritual goods, rather than worldly ones. We are called upon to imitate him and seek first the things of Heaven. Our prayer this coming season of Lent should be for the spiritual goods, rather than worldly ones. Our prayer must be insistent for the grace of God's light so that we may see spiritual truths and thus be able to walk safely through this minefield of life. Then we may arrive securely at our destination in Heaven.

To see or know the Will of God in our own lives is one of the greatest blessings. There are so many obstacles and pitfalls in our journey through life, that on our own (without the help of God) we are doomed to failure. Seeing is not enough. If we see clearly the path that God has laid out for us, then we must follow that path. This following requires another grace from God. We must see the path, desire to take the path, and receive God's help in following it.

This season of Lent, God is opening our eyes to the necessity of penance. It is a time for us to take a good look at ourselves, and where we are (spiritually speaking). Many have been blind to their own spiritual condition. If we examine ourselves carefully with spiritual eyes, we more often than not find that we are in a very miserable situation. We have a great need to do penance and to amend our lives. Our Holy Mother Church has wondrously provided the opportunity for us to do this penance with the season of Lent.

Now is the time to call out unceasingly to God for mercy. When we have gained His attention through persistence, then let us beg of Him spiritual understanding. As He opens our eyes to reality, let us beg from Him the further grace to pass correctly and safely through all the traps and dangers of this life.

Many times we turn back once we have seen the human impossibility of safely passing through this spiritual minefield. We must follow Jesus to Jerusalem to be betrayed, handed over, and die for the love of God. Too often, we blind ourselves to this necessity. The safe passage demands that we carry a bitter or painful cross. The burden or cross seems too hard, or too heavy so we cower in fear, refusing to go forward. Lent is the time to see the cross of penance set out before us, and to willingly and lovingly embrace it; knowing that with God's help we can carry it and make it safely into eternity.