-- Ephesians 3:12 --
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and
confidence.
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He answered prayers - not in the way I sought,
Not in the way that I had thought He ought,
But in His own good way, and I could see
He answered in the fa****on best for me.
-- Unknown
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January 8th - St. Severinus of Nori***, Hermit (RM)
Died at Favianae in Nori*** (Austria), c. 476-78. Severinus was a Roman
citizen who gave all his worldly goods to live for a time in the deserts
of
Egypt. Here he was torn between his desire to live alone and God's call
for
him to evangelize unbelievers. Guess who's will triumphed? Severinus
followed God's call to Austria, which at that time was a highway of
invading
barbarians, its towns plundered and beleaguered.
About 453, Severinus came as a mysterious and unknown man sent by God in
that unhappy hour to bring help to Nori***'s suffering people. He gave no
information as to who he was beyond his name, which indicated his high
rank,
and it was obvious from his manner that he was a man of scholar****p and
distinction. He appeared to be an African Roman from Carthage and a
fellow-countryman of Saint Augustine of Hippo. Attila, the Scourge of God,
had just died, leaving behind him, with the break-up of his empire,
confusion and chaos, and the fair and fertile lands of central and
southern
Europe were at the mercy of leaderless armies and plundering tribes.
Into this scene of wretchedness and distress came Severinus, who settled
as
a hermit near Vienna. The work was not easy. Many people ignored all that
he
preached, but-knowing that God doesn't ask us to be successful, only
obedient-Severinus continued to preach and found monasteries along the
Danube, seeing these as oases of Christianity in an evil land.
He warned the inhabitants of approaching invasion, but his words went
unheeded. They replied with scorn that the proud city of Vienna would
never
surrender and that they had no fear of the barbarian hordes. But when his
words proved only too true, in their helplessness they sent for him, and
quietly and calmly he came to their rescue and organized relief. He
discovered that a rich woman had hidden away vast quantities of food,
which
Severinus persuaded her to give to the starving.
He put new heart into the people, gave them courage to go out to meet the
wild German horsemen, and strengthened the defenses of the city. Then,
providentially, the ice melted on the Danube and the river was filled with
****ps of food. Thus Severinus stood in the path of the Goths, and the fear
of him was to them, we are told, as the hand of God.
During this time Severinus was a great apostle of penance. He redeemed
captives, helped to comfort the oppressed and the poor, tended the sick,
and
undertook many efforts for the instruction of the Catholic people of the
Danube valley near Vienna. He also worked miracles. It seems that he drove
away a plague of locusts that threatened to bring another famine. Slowly
many Austrians accepted his faith. He was saddened that he never managed
to
heal the blindness of one of his greatest friends, but Severinus continued
to trust in God.
When the cloud of terror lifted, he retired to his hermit's cell, but
still
continued his relief work of securing food, redeeming captives, and
conciliating enemy tribes; and to this he added many other works of
sanctity
and charity. His difficulty was how to preserve a life of detachment amid
so
much pressure of activity, for the more he longed to dwell in solitude and
lead a simple life, the greater were the demands made upon him.
Even the enemies of Austria came under this influence. The proud and
desperate Odoacer, the boldest of the barbarians, sought his counsel, but
on
reaching the cell of the hermit, found it too small for his great height.
"Stoop low," said Severinus, and the ambitious Goth willingly stooped and
entered to receive his blessing.
Severinus also built many churches and evangelized widely in Austria and
Bavaria. To Saint Severinus is attributed the honor of establi****ng many
monasteries, though he himself remained a contemplative, living apart in a
spirit of great penance and prayer.
He became the popular saint of that area. He went barefoot, even in
mid-winter when the Danube was frozen, and he insisted on possessing only
one tunic. It is said that he never ate until sunset and that in Lent he
permitted himself only one meal weekly. To the end he preserved a simple
and
austere life. He refused a bishopric, though it is doubtful whether he was
even ordained.
For 30 years this saintly and active man, whose origin remained unknown,
carried on his noble and enterprising work, conferring with kings and
commoners. It is said that he predicted the day of his death. As he lay
dying of pleurisy those around him could hear him singing the words of the
Psalmist: "Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord." And so he
died
happily in peace and tranquility. Six years after his death, his monks
were
driven from Austria and carried his relics to Naples, Italy, where the
great
Benedictine monastery of San Severino was built to enshrine them
(Attwater,
Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Gill).
Saint Quote:
"Very many wish to be vouchsafed the Kingdom without labors, without
struggles, without sweat; but this is impossible.
If you love the glories of men, and desire to be wor****pped, and seek
comfort, you are going off the path. You must be crucified with the
Crucified One, suffer with Him that suffered, that you may be
glorified with Him that is glorified."
-St. Macarius of Egypt
Bible Quote:
15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her
seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
(Genesis 3:15)
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From The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus Liguori:
We read in history of a proof of love so prodigious that it will be the
admiration of all ages.
There was once a king, lord of many kingdoms, who had one only son, so
beautiful, so holy, so amiable, that he was the delight of his father, who
loved him as much as himself. This young prince had a great affection for
one of his slaves; so much so that, the slave having committed a crime for
which he had been condemned to death, the prince offered himself to die
for
the slave; the father, being jealous of justice, was satisfied to condemn
his beloved son to death, in order that the slave might remain free from
the
punishment that he deserved: and thus the son died a malefactor's death,
and
the slave was freed from punishment.
This fact, the like of which has never happened in this world, and never
will happen, is related in the Gospels, where we read that the Son of God,
the Lord of the universe, seeing that man was condemned to eternal death
in
punishment of his sins, chose to take upon Himself human flesh, and thus
to
pay by His death the penalty due to man: He was offered because it was His
own will (Is. 53:7). And his Eternal Father caused him to die upon the
cross
to save us miserable sinners: He spared not his own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all (Rom. 8:32). What dost thou think, O devout soul, of this
love
of the Son and of the Father?
Thou didst, then, O my beloved Redeemer, choose by Thy death to sacrifice
Thyself in order to obtain the pardon of my sins. And what return of
gratitude shall I then make to Thee? Thou hast done too much to oblige me
to
love Thee; I should indeed be most ungrateful to Thee if I did not love
Thee
with my whole heart. Thou hast given for me Thy divine life; I, miserable
sinner that I am, give Thee my own life. Yes, I will at least spend that
period of my life that remains to me only in loving Thee, obeying Thee,
and
pleasing Thee.
O men, men! let us love this our Redeemer, who, being God, has not
disdained
to take upon Himself our sins, in order to satisfy by His sufferings for
the
chastisement which we have deserved: Surely He hath borne our infirmities,
and carried our sorrows (Is. 53:4)
St. Augustine says that our Lord in creating us formed us by virtue of His
power, but in redeeming us He has saved us from death by means of His
sufferings: "He created us in his strength; he sought us back in his
weakness."
How much do I not owe Thee, O Jesus my Saviour! Oh, if I were to give my
blood a thousand times over,--if I were to spend a thousand lives for
Thee,--it would yet be nothing. Oh, how could anyone that meditated much
on
the love which Thou hast shown him in Thy Passion, love anything else but
Thee? Through the love with which Thou didst love us on the cross, grant
me
the grace to love Thee with my whole heart. I love Thee, infinite
Goodness;
I love Thee above every other good; and I ask nothing more of Thee but Thy
holy love.
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