Saint of the day and Feast days.

[Patricia]

'Look. . . this is what thou oughtest to love. Forsake the attractions of human love, and thou shalt find in my Heart ineffable delights.'

[odhiambo]

Forty three years old. . . We often think we may live a much longer time, but we never know.. so must always be ready..

God keep us, forgive us, bring us to true penance and salvation. . . 

As "a thief in the night" it comes. I lost a sister a few years ago. We are told that she was  in perfect health. After  her evening meal, she watched television for a while with her husband. Then decided to call it a day and retired to sleep. About half an hour later, her husband also went to sleep. He found her very restless, saying she was feeling very hot, could he please put her on the floor. He sensed there was something wrong. Lifted her to put her on the floor, and that was it.
The Bible tells us to always be ready.

[Patricia]

So true!

[odhiambo]

So saintly.. I have read more than once of a saint that God treated in this way, turning bread into flowers. . .  And they're flowers in Heaven too.
I love the story about how she left her sheep in the care of her guardian angel.  

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, Saint Casilda of Toledo and Saint Didacus of Alcala, to mention a few. All were surreptitiously  carrying bread to the poor or prisones. When challanged and searched, roses were found instead.

[odhiambo]

Today is also St. Lutgardis' day, amongst many other saints. . .

St. Lutgardis is the friend of St. Christina the Astonishing, another special saint.

"A pretty girl with a fondness for clothes and no apparent religious vocation, Lutgardis was sent to the Black Benedictine convent near Saint Trond at age 12 because her dowry had been lost in a failed business venture, and there was thus little chance for a life as a normal, married lay woman. She apparently lived there at first as a mere boarder, still open to the possibility of marriage in her future. In her late teens Lutgardis received a vision of Christ showing her His wounds, and in 1194 at age 20 she became a Benedictine nun with a true vocation. She had visions of Christ while in prayer, experienced ecstacies, levitated, and dripped blood from forehead and hair when enraptured by the Passion. Chosen as prioress of her community in 1205, she repeatedly refused to be abbess.

The Benedictine order was not strict enough for Lutgardis, and on the advice of her friend Saint Christina the Astonishing, in 1208 she joined the Cistercians at Aywieres (near Brussels in modern Belgium) where she lived for her remaining 30 years. She displayed the gifts of healing, prophecy, spiritual wisdom, and was an inspired teacher on the Gospels. Blind for the last eleven years of her life, she treated the affliction as a gift – it reduced the distraction of the outside world. In one of her last visions, Christ told her when she was to die; she spent the time remaining in prayer for the conversion of sinners. She died in the year of Our Lord 1264 at Aywieres."

From further accounts:

"So vividly did she come to realize God's presence, that when engaged in prayer she beheld our Lord with her bodily eyes. She would speak with Him familiary, and if summoned away to perform some duty she would say, quite simply, 'Wait here, Lord Jesus, and I will come back directly I have finished this task.'"

And the story of her conversion:

St. Lutgardis was visited by a young suitor once, and after he left, she had a vision of Christ who came to her and bared his breast revealing his burning Sacred Heart. He said to her, 'Look. . . this is what thou oughtest to love. Forsake the attractions of human love, and thou shalt find in my Heart ineffable delights.'

And a little of the life of St. Christina the Astonishing from various sources:

'Christina was born to a peasant family in the town of Saint-Trond in 1150 A.D. She was orphaned at fifteen, along with her two sisters, and worked as a shepherd, growing closer to God over the years. In the process of this contemplation, she seems to have neglected her body's need for sustenance; Thomas de Cantimpré writes, "she grew sick in body by virtue of the exercise of inward contemplation and she died."

During her funeral Mass, she suddenly recovered, and levitated to the roof of the church. Ordered down by the priest, she landed on the altar and stated that she had been to hell, purgatory, and heaven, and had been returned to earth with a ministry to pray for souls in purgatory.

Her life from that point became a series of strange incidents cataloged by a Thomas de Cantimpré, Dominican professor of theology at Louvain who was a contemporary recorded his information by interviewin witnesses, and by Cardinal Jacques de Vitny who knew her personally. She exhibited both unusual traits and abilities. For example, she could not stand the odor of other people because she could smell the sin in them, and would climb trees or buildings, hide in ovens or cupboards, or simply levitate to avoid contact. She lived in a way that was considered poverty even in the 13th century, sleeping on rocks, wearing rags, begging, and eating what came to hand. She would roll in fire or handle it without harm, stand in freezing water in the winter for hours, spend long periods in tombs, or allow herself to be dragged under water by a mill wheel, though she never sustained injury. Given to ecstasies during which she led the souls of the recently dead to purgatory, and those in purgatory to paradise.

People who knew her were divided in their opinions: she was a holy woman, touched of God, and that her actions and torments were simulations of the experiences of the souls in purgatory; she was suffering the torments of devils – or she was flatly insane. However, the prioress of Saint Catherine’s convent testified that no matter how bizarre or excessive Christina’s reported actions, she was always completely obedient to the orders of the prioresses of the convent. Christina was a friend of Louis, Count of Looz, whose castle she visited, and whose actions she rebuked. Blessed Marie of Oignies thought well of her, and Saint Lutgardis sought her advice. '

The "madness" of the saints, some might say. It is true that in their holiness, some of their actions may seem bizarre to us lesser mortals. All they do, however , is for the glory of God.
Saint Lutgardis,
Pray for us!
Saint Christina the Astonishing,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

'Look. . . this is what thou oughtest to love. Forsake the attractions of human love, and thou shalt find in my Heart ineffable delights.'

Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I place my trust in Thee!

[martin]

The "madness" of the saints, some might say. It is true that in their holiness, some of their actions may seem bizarre to us lesser mortals. All they do, however , is for the glory of God.

The following story is taken from "The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ" by St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri.

The Blessed Giacopone, who in this world had been a man of letters, and afterwards became a Franciscan, seemed to have become mad through the love that he bore to Jesus Christ. One day Jesus appeared to him and said, Giacopone, why do you commit these follies?
“Why?” he answered, because Thou hast taught them me. If I am mad,” said he; “Thou hast been more mad than I, in that Thou hast died for me. I am a fool, for Thou hast been a greater fool.”

[odhiambo]

The following story is taken from "The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ" by St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri.

The Blessed Giacopone, who in this world had been a man of letters, and afterwards became a Franciscan, seemed to have become mad through the love that he bore to Jesus Christ. One day Jesus appeared to him and said, Giacopone, why do you commit these follies?
“Why?” he answered, because Thou hast taught them me. If I am mad,” said he; “Thou hast been more mad than I, in that Thou hast died for me. I am a fool, for Thou hast been a greater fool.”

That confirms it martin.
The saints are mad "through their love for Jesus". Would, that we were all afflicted with that madness.

[odhiambo]

June 17
Today is the Feast day of
Saint Emily de Vialar
Among mamy other saints.

[odhiambo]

Saint Emily de Vialar
She is also known as
Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emily de Vialar
Emilie de Vialar
Emilie de Vialard

Emily was born on 12 September 1797 at Gaillace ( Gaillac), near Albi in the south of France. Her given name was Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emily de Vialar. She was born to an aristocratic family. Her father was Baron James Augustine de Vialar and her mother was Antoinette de Vialar. She was the eldest of three children and she was the only girl in the family( I came across another source that mentioned she was an only child.) At the age of seven, her wealthy parents sent her to school in Paris. She remained in Paris for a number of years but the death of her mother when she was 15 years old, caused her to return home.
She managed the house for her father until she was 35 years old. Then she inherited a fortune from her grandfather. She used this inheritance to found a new religious order in Marseilles on Christmas Day in 1832. They called themselves the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition.The Apparition refers to the appearance of Gabriel to Joseph, telling him to flee to Egypt.They were dedicated to the care of the sick and poor, and to the education of children.
In 1835, When a cholera epidemic broke out in Algeria, Emily and several of the Sisters went there to help the sick, thus, and begin her dream of missionary work.
In the following years, Emily established 14 new houses, travelled extensively, and sent missionaries anywhere that would accept them.
She went through a period of hardship including bankruptcy. At the time of her death, however, the her sisters were working in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Emily died on 24 August 1856 at Marseilles, France of natural causes.
She was beatified on 18 June 1939 by Pope Pius XII and canonized on 24 June 1951 by Pope Pius XII.
Saint Emily de Vialar,
Pray for us!

[odhiambo]

June 18

Today is the Feast day of
Saint Mark and Saint Marcellian
Among many other saints

[odhiambo]

Saint Mark and Saint Marcellian.

Mark and Marcellian ( Marcus and Marcellianus) were twin brothers born to pagan parents. They were from an illustrious family in Rome. The two were converted to Christianity in their youth. Both were said to have married. When Emperor Dioclatian ascended to the imperial throne in 284, the persecutions of Christians increased. Both the twins were cast into prison and tortured for the faith. They were then condemned to die. Well meaning relatives, among them their pagan parents Tranquillinus and Martia, together with their wives, obtained a 30 day’s postponement of the execution to allow them to prevail on them to worship idols. In vain, they tried for the twins would not give in to their tears and entreaties. They were visited in prison by Saint Sebastian who encouraged them to persevere in their faith.

They were eventually bound to pillars, with their feet nailed to the same. They were then kept in this position for a day and a night. The following day, they were lanced to death. The year was 286.
They were buried near the Catacomb of Saint Domitilla. Their graves were re-discovered in 1902.

Their canonization was Pre-Congregation .

Saint Mark,
Pray for us!
Saint Marcellian,
Pray for us!

Ref:
Saint Companions for Each Day
By A.J.M. Mausolfe
And J.K. Mausolfe.

[Patricia]

Sts. Mark and Marcellian, pray for us!

[Shin]

Sts. Mark and Marcellian, pray for us!

Amen! 

[odhiambo]

just imagine this fact from a thread at CAF "..., the total number of Christians martyred since the time of Christ is around 70,000,000."!    About twice the population of Kenya!
It is only by the Grace of God that we were not wiped off the face of the earth.

[odhiambo]

Today is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.

I pray that:
 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
 and the love of God
 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit"
 is with us all on this great feast of the triune God

The Angel of Portugal's Prayer.

Prayer of Adoration to the Blessed Trinity.

Most Holy Trinity,
 Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
 I adore You profoundly,
and I offer You the Most Precious Body,
 Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ,
 present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages,
 sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended.
 And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart
 and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
 I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

 Third apparition of the Angel of Portugal.