The Providence of God:
God is the unchanging conductor as well as the unchanged creator
of all things that change. When he adds, abolishes, curtails, increases,
or
diminishes the rites
of any age, he is ordering all events according to his providence.
This will hold good until the beauty of the completed course of time-whose
parts
are the
dispensations suitable to each different period-shall have played itself
out,
like the great
melody of some ineffable composer. - Letter 138, 1
Prayer
Instruct me, Lord, and command what you will. But first heal me and open
my ears
that I may hear your words.
- Soliloquies 1, 1: Augustine
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January 20th - St. Fechin of Fobhar (Fore), Abbot (AC)
(also known as Vigean, Virgin)
Born at Bile Fechin (Connaught), Ireland; died c. 665. Fechin, the
abbot-founder
of several Irish monasteries, was trained by Saint Nathy at Achonry,
County
Sligo. After a life of sanctity, he died during the great pestilence which
felled four Irish kings and nearly two-thirds of the populace.
Fechin's name is particularly connected with that of Fobhar (Fore or
Foure) in
Westmeath, which was his first monastic foundation, and an im****tant one
for its
manuscripts. Here he eventually governed over 300 monks. The monastery
became
famous because of the water mill that he is reputed to have miraculously
created
out of a rock with his own hands. Even in the 12th century, this mill was
much
revered, as were the churches dedicated to him. Out of respect for the
saint,
women were never allowed into the mill.
The monastery he founded in Cong is renowned because of the Cross of Cong,
one
of the great treasures of Ireland, which had been hidden in an old oaken
chest
in the village, now resides in the National Museum in Dublin. Both the
church
and monastery at Cong were sumptuously rebuilt in the 12th century for the
Augustinians by Turlough O'Connor, who gave them the bejewelled
processional
cross he had made to enshrine a particle of the True Cross. Cong Abbey
also
sered as the refuge for the last high king of Ireland, Roderick O'Connor.
His other foundations include those at Ballysadare (his birthplace?),
Imaid
Island, Omey and Ard Oilean, from which came the oldest manuscript about
his
life. All of these are now in ruins. His memory, however, is also
perpetuated at
Ecclefechan and Saint Vigean's (the name under which he is invoked in the
Dunkeld Litany), near Arbroath in Scotland, where a fair was held on his
feast
day. The Bollandists in Belgium have preserved an ancient saint in honor
of
Saint Fechin (Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, D'Arcy, Farmer, Husenbeth,
Kenney, Montague, Moran, Muirhead, Neeson, Stokes).
Saint Quote:
"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Here is the true token of a soul
absolutely
perfect: when one has succeeded in leaving behind his own will to such a
degree
as no longer to seek, to aim, or to desire to do what he would will, but
only
what God wills.
-St. Bernard
Bible Quote
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth. (1 Tim 3:15)
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These were the first words of the Apostle St. Paul as he recognized the
Lord:
"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" And they were uttered by him with so
much
sincerity of affection, and with such submission of will, that from that
day
forward he had no other desire and no other aim than to fulfill the Divine
Will
in all and through all. Nor in all the adversities, labors, sufferings,
and
torments which he encountered was there ever a thing sufficient to
diminish, or
even in the least to shake, his constancy and fidelity.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal had so great a desire to know and follow
the
Divine Will that on merely hearing those words, "Divine Will" she felt all
on
fire, as if a torch had been applied to her heart, and she remained in a
kind of
torture until she knew how she was to understand them.
The venerable Mother Seraphina di Dio testifies of herself that the
Lord
showed her plainly, by an interior illumination, how good a thing it is to
live
without any will of one's own and to commit one's self entirely to His
holy
will. "I remained:" she says, "fully persuaded that on account of His
greatness
and perfection it was the most suitable thing for all His creatures to
have no
other will than that of their most loving God; and that when one has
reached
this point, he belongs wholly to God and enjoys Paradise upon earth."
(Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints". January - Perfection)
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Reflection and Prayer from the Imitation of Christ
Obedience
We must not be satisfied with exteriorly submitting to obedience and in
things
that are easy, but we must obey with our whole heart, and in things the
most
difficult. For the greater the difficulty, the greater also is the merit
of
obedience. Can we refuse to submit to man for God's sake, when God, for
love of
us, submits to man, even to His very executioners?
Jesus Christ was willingly obedient during His whole life, and even
unto the
death of the Cross; and am I unwilling to spend my life in the exercise of
obedience, and to make it my cross and my merit? Independence belongs to
God,
who has made man dependent upon others, that his subordination may be to
him the
means of his sanctification. I will therefore form myself upon the model
of my
submissive, dependent, and obedient Saviour, and dispose of nothing in
myself,
not even of my own will.
Prayer: O my Saviour, Who, in obedience to Thy Father, wast conceived in
the
womb of Mary, Who didst go down to Nazareth, and wast subject to Thy
parents for
thirty years, Who wouldst be born and live, and die in obedience, induce
us to
follow Thine example, to obey Thee in all things in the persons of our
superiors, who hold Thy place in our regard. Grant that, doing willingly
what is
ordained us, and endeavoring to believe it best, we may spend our whole
lives in
continual obedience, and thus secure for ourselves Thy grace in time, and
Thy
glory for all eternity. Amen.
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