- Ephesians 3:14-19 -
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family
in
heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious
riches he
may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so
that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being
rooted
and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to
grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know
this love
that surp***** knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all
the
fullness of God.
_______________________________________________________________________
God's love is total. It reaches every corner of our experience. It is wide
- it
covers the breadth of our own experience, and it reaches out to the whole
world.
God's love is long - it continues the length of our lives. It is high - it
rises
to the heights of our celebration and elation. His love is deep - it
reaches to
the depths of our discouragement, despair, and even death. When you feel
shut
out or isolated, remember that you can never be lost to God's measurable
and
inexhaustible love.
<<>><<>><<>>
February 19th - St. Lucy Yi Zhenmei & Comp., Martyrs
1815 - 1862
Lucy Yi Zhenmei, a native of Mainyang in Sichuan, was born a Catholic on
December 9, 1815, and was the youngest member in her family. Even as a
child she
was very pious, making a vow of chastity at the age of 12. She loved to
read
classics and at the age of 20, she fell gravely ill, but quickly recovered
with
a remedy her brother prescribed. Continuing her studies, she became more
spiritually devout, spending hours in daily prayer, much like a religious.
Her
mother taught her how to spin, which also became part of her daily life.
After
her father died, she lived with her brother and mother, using part of her
leisure time to teach the faith to children nearby. The parish priest, who
asked
her to teach at the school in Mianyang, noticed her devotion and reliable
knowledge of her faith. After four years, her brother went to Chongqing to
practice medicine, and Lucy and her mother moved with him. In Chongquing,
the
priest also asked her to help teach the women in the parish. When she was
offered money for her work, she refused to take it and offered her work to
God.
A few years later, her brother moved back to Guiyang, and soon after her
mother
died. Full of enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel, she went on doing
missionary
work. However, for her own safety she decided to stay at the convent of
lay
virgins. Shortly after, her failing health forced her to move back home
again.
In 1861, Bishop Hu asked her to teach once more at the convent. In spite
of
opposition from relatives, she returned to work there.
In 1862, she went with Fr. Wen Nair to open a mission in Jiashanlong, but
just
then the administrator of Guizhou Province, Tian Xingshu, began to stir up
hatred against Christians, which the local magistrate sup****ted. As a
result,
Zhang Tienshen, Wu Shuesheng, Chen Xianheng and Father Wen were all
imprisoned
and sentenced to death without a formal trial. On February 18, the day of
their
execution, they met Yi Zhenmei on the road. She was also jailed and put on
trial
that very day and sentenced to death as she refused to renounce her faith.
The
following day at noon, February 19, 1862, she was beheaded. Brave
believers took
the bodies of all five martyrs to the Liuchonnguan seminary grounds for
burial.
Pope Pius X proclaimed all five of them "Blessed" on May 2nd, 1909 and
Pope John
Paul II canonized them on October 1st, 2000.
Saint Quote:
Humility is the mother of many virtues. From it spring obedience, holy
fear, reverence, patience, modesty, mildness, and peace; for, whoever is
humble easily obeys all, fears to offend any, maintains peace with all,
shows himself affable to all, is submissive to all, does not offend or
displease any, and does not feel the insults which may ensue.
-St. Thomas of Villanova
Bible Quote
/16. And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure
their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you,
they
have received their reward. /17. But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy
head, and wash thy face; /18. That thou appear not to men to fast, but to
thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will
repay
thee. (Matthew 6:16-18)
<><><><>
"He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from
distress." -
Proverbs 21:23
"To restrain the tongue is therefore a great good, and on the other hand,
not to
restrain it, a poisonous evil"
"Behold also ****ps, whereas they are great, and are driven by strong
winds, yet
are they turned about with a small helm, whithersoever the force of the
governor
willeth. Even so the tongue is indeed a little member, and boasteth great
things.
"Behold how small a fire kindleth a great wood. And the tongue is a fire,
a
world of iniquity. The tongue ... defileth the whole body, and inflameth
the
wheel of our nativity, being set on fire by hell. For every nature of
beasts,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is tamed, and hath been
tamed,
by the nature of man.
"But the tongue no man can tame, an unquiet evil, full of deadly poison.
By it
we bless God and the Father: and by it we curse men, who are made after
the
likeness of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My
brethren, these things ought not so to be." - James 3:4-10
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