Let us bind ourselves to Christ
It is right that we follow the example of John the Baptist
and listen to the outstanding works Christ has done, even when we are
bound by
the chains
of our sins. So powerful is the word of God that we shall be set free by
its
efficacy and sing
triumphantly with the prophet: Lord, you have broken my bonds; I will
offer you
the sacrifice
of praise. Let us bind ourselves to Christ as his disciples and with
ardent
desire and constant
prayer humbly beg him to be our teacher, so that, taught by him, we may
believe
in him as true
Messiah and, as believers, may love him with pure hearts as we ought.
Finally, let us in every place keep our hearts focused on our king as a
powerful
example.
By word and deed he makes it clear that he is Messiah and true Christ; let
us
likewise show
ourselves complete Christians in his image by our faith that works through
love,
for the Lord
says: Behold, I am coming quickly, to render each according to his works.
If
these works are
holy, they will not leave their doers until they have led them into heaven
and
everlasting glory,
by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who reigns with the Father and the
Holy
Spirit
through all ages. Amen.
-Alonso de Orozco, O.S.A.
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March 14th - St. Matilda of Saxony, Queen, Widow (RM)
(Also known as Mathildis, Maud, Mechtildis)
Born at Engern, Westphalia, Germany, c. 895; died at Quedlinburg, March
14, 968.
Saint Matilda is another who shows us the possibility of living in the
world and
reaching the state of Christian perfection. It's not easy, especially at
first,
because there are so many delightful distractions that titillate the
senses and
feed the ego. But when the soul becomes acquainted with God and forms a
relation****p, it hungers and thirsts for more of His love. Thus, fervent
prayer,
holy meditation, and reading pious books, are more necessary for those
living in
the world than for professed religious, because of the continual
distractions.
Amidst the pomp, hurry, and amusements of a court, Saint Matilda gave
herself up
to holy contemplation with such earnestness, that though she never
neglected any
duties, her soul was raised to heaven.
Saint Matilda was daughter of Count Dietric (Theodoric) of Westphalia and
Reinhild of Denmark. At a very early age her parents placed her under the
care
of her grandmother, Maud, abbess of Eufurt monastery, who had renounced
the
world upon her widowhood. Matilda relished the life of prayer and
spiritual
reading. Like all young ladies she learned the refined skill of
needlework. She
remained in the convent until her parents married her to Henry, son of
Duke Otto
of Saxony, in 909 (some vitae push all the dates for marriage and crowning
by
several years).
Her husband, named the Fowler, from his fondness for popular s****t of
hawking,
became duke of Saxony at the death of his father, in 912. Upon the death
of
Conrad I in 919, was chosen king of Germany. He was a pious and victorious
prince, and very tender of his subjects. His solicitude in easing their
taxes,
made them ready to serve their country in his wars at their own cost,
though he
generously recompensed their zeal after his expeditions, which were always
attended with success.
While he by his arms checked the insolence of the Hungarians and Danes,
and
enlarged his dominions by adding to them Bavaria, Matilda gained domestic
victories over her spiritual enemies, more worthy of a Christian, and far
greater in the eyes of heaven. She nourished the precious seeds of
devotion and
humility in her heart by assiduous prayer and meditation; and, not content
with
the time which the day afforded for these exercises, employed part of the
night
the same way. The nearer the view was which she took of worldly vanities,
the
more clearly she discovered their emptiness and dangers and sighed to see
men
pursue such bubbles to the loss of their souls; for, under a fair outside,
they
contain nothing but poison and bitterness.
It was her delight to visit and comfort the sick and the afflicted, to
serve and
instruct the poor, and to show charity to prisoners, procuring their
freedom if
justice would permit it or easing their suffering by liberal alms. Her
husband,
edified by her example, concurred with her in every pious undertaking.
After twenty-seven years of marriage, Matilda and Henry were separated by
his
death in 936. During his last illness, Matilda went to the church to pour
forth
her soul in prayer for him at the foot of the altar. As soon as she
understood,
by the tears and cries of the people, that he had expired, she called for
a
priest that was fasting, to offer the holy sacrifice for his soul; and at
the
same time cut off the jewels which she wore, and gave them to the priest
as a
pledge that she renounced from that moment the pomp of the world.
She had three sons (one source says five); Otto, afterwards emperor;
Henry, duke
of Bavaria who is known as "the Quarrelsome"; and Saint Bruno, archbishop
of
Cologne. Henry was the better suited to succeed his father, but Otto, the
eldest, was elected. Otto was crowned king of Germany in 937. Matilda, in
the
contest between her two elder sons for the elected crown, favored her
middle
son, Henry, a fault she expiated by severe afflictions and penance. When
Otto
(the Great) was elected, she persuaded him to name Henry duke of Bavaria
after
he had led an unsuccessful revolt.
These two sons conspired to strip her of her dowry, on the unjust charge
that
she had squandered away the revenues of the state on the poor. This
persecution
was long and cruel, especially because it came at the hands of her
precious
sons. She retired to her country home but was later recalled to the court
at the
insistence of Otto's wife, Edith. The errant princes were reconciled to
her and
restored her all they had taken. She then became more liberal in her alms
than
ever.
When Henry again revolted, Otto put down the insurrection in 941 with
great
cruelty. Matilda censured Henry when he began another revolt against Otto
in 953
and for his ruthlessness in suppressing a revolt by his own subjects; at
that
time she prophesied his imminent death. Yet, the testimony of her son
Henry is
powerful. He told her: "Oh, my very dear one, in all things you have given
us
excellent advice: how many times have you changed iniquity to justice."
After Henry's death in 955, she devoted herself to building many churches
and
four religious houses, including Engern, Pöhlde in Brunswick (where she
maintained 3,000 monks), Quedlinburg in Saxony (where she buried her
husband),
and Nordhausen, where she retired in her later years. When she had
finished the
buildings, Quedlinburg became her usual retreat. After his victories over
the
Bohemians and Lombards, Matilda governed the kingdom when Otto went to
Rome in
962 to be crowned emperor, which is often regarded as the beginning of the
Holy
Roman Empire.
During the last of her 32 years of widowhood, Matilda entered one of the
convents she had founded at Nordhausen. She applied herself totally to her
devotions, and to works of mercy. It was her greatest pleasure to teach
the poor
and ignorant how to pray, as she had formerly taught her servants. In her
last
sickness she made her confession to her grandson William, the archbishop
of
Mentz, who yet died twelve days before her, on his road home. She again
made a
public confession before the priests and monks of the place, received a
second
time the last sacraments, and lying on a sackcloth with ashes on her head.
Her
body remains at Quedlinburg, where she is buried beside her husband. The
Benedictines venerate her as one of their oblates.
To find the bliss Matilda found requires foregoing vain pleasures to open
precious hours for devotional exercises. Perhaps we can all hasten our
journey
toward sanctity this Lent by giving up an hour of television daily to
spend in
prayer or Scripture study or volunteering to help the less fortunate. Time
is a
most precious commodity; use it wisely (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Saint Quote:
Even while living in this world, the heart of Mary was so filled with
tenderness
and compassion for men, that no one ever suffered so much for his own
pains as
Mary suffered for the pains of others.
-St. Jerome
Bible Quote:
11. He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12. And
whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself
shall be
exalted. (Matthew 23:11-12)
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Prayers after Mass
Look Down Upon Me, Good And Gentle Jesus
(En Ego, O Bone Et Dulcissime Iesu)
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before your face I humbly
kneel, and with burning soul pray and beseech You to fix deep in my heart
lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins,
and a firm purpose of amendment, while I contemplate with great love and
tender pity your five wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to
mind
the words which David, your prophet, said of you, my good Jesus: "They
have
pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones" (Ps 21,
17-18).
(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be,
for the Holy Father's intentions.)
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