- Psalm 119:9-11 -
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
_______________________________________________________
We are drowning in a sea of impurity. Everywhere we look, we find
temptation
to lead impure lives. The psalmist asked a question that troubles us all:
how do we stay pure in a filthy environment? We cannot do this on our own,
but must have counsel and strength more dynamic than the tempting
influences
around us. Where can we find that strength and wisdom? By reading God's
Word
and doing what it says.
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December 16th - St. Adelaide
St. Adelaide was a marvel of grace and beauty, according to St. Odilon of
Cluny, who was her spiritual director and biographer. Daughter of Rudolph
II, King of Burgundy, she was born in 931 and at age 15 married Lothaire
II,
King of Italy. Later their daughter became Queen of France.
Adelaide was 18-years-old when she lost her husband, who was supposedly
poisoned by his political competitor Berengarius of Ivrea. The latter soon
proclaimed himself King of Italy and proposed to unite Adelaide in
marriage
with his son. The widow refused and Berengarius confiscated her estates
and
held her prisoner in the Castle of Garda. St. Adelaide managed to escape
and
fled to the Castle of Canossa, property of the Church. From that
impregnable
fortress she directed a plea to Otto I, King of Germany, to come to her
aid.
Otto I hastened to her appeal with a powerful army. After defeating her
oppressor, Otto became King of Italy and married St. Adelaide. One year
later, in 952 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. The eldest son of
this marriage, Otto II, succeeded his father as Emperor. At first,
influenced by his jealous wife Theohano, Otto II revolted against his
mother. Fearing for her life, she fled to Burgundy. There she came to know
St. Odilon and became famous for her charities to many French monasteries.
Later, after her son repented, she returned to Germany where she continued
her saintly life. She sent a splendid imperial mantle worn by her son to
be
placed in the grave of St. Martin. She wrote these instructions to the one
charged with the mission:
"When you will reach the tomb of the glorious St. Martin, say these words:
'Bishop of God, receive these humble gifts from Adelaide, servant of the
servants of God, sinner by nature and Empress by the grace of God. Receive
this mantle of Otto, her eldest son. You, who had the glory to cover Our
Lord with your mantle in the person of a poor man, pray for him.'"
After Theophano died, Adelaide became the regent of her grandson, Otto
III.
She used her position to help the poor, evangelize, and build and restore
monasteries and churches. When she felt her end was near, she asked to be
taken to the Convent of Seltz in Alsace that she had built. She was laid
to
rest next to the tomb of Otto the Great, her second husband.
Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)
The life of St. Adelaide is so extraordinary that it could be the subject
for a medieval illumination. She was not the kind of saint who lives in a
convent in the recollected life of a cloister. Rather, she is the heroine
who has great adventures and passes through the most difficult dangers.
She
was not the kind of person whose ideal is to live in retirement. To the
contrary, she saw in the risk, in the uncertainty, in the fight for the
cause of her legitimate rights, the reason for her life. For her this was
the salt of life that gave it flavor.
We can imagine Queen Adelaide, a saint with the innocence of the dove and
the astuteness of the serpent.
She was a Princess, daughter of the King of Burgundy, and married the King
of Italy. Berengarius II supposedly poisoned her husband, proclaimed
himself
King of Italy and wanted her to marry his son, that is, the son of the
murderer of her husband. If she had, she could have lived an easy life,
without problems. She refused, was imprisoned and exposed to the worst
offenses. She escaped.
I admire her escape very much. Normally one has a different picture of a
holy woman in prison: a sad lady, a little overweight, seated next to a
column, weeping, lacking the cunning to fool the guards. She was the
opposite. We can imagine her vigilant, studying her chances to escape. And
when the moment came, she had the agility of mind to act, to slip through
a
door, to jump over a fence, to seek provisory refuge and then continue the
flight until she was out of danger. A saint is not like the caricature of
the sad fat lady; a saint has to have the virtue of fortitude.
St. Adelaide also knew where to find safety. She went to Canossa, the
impregnable fortress where St. Gregory VII stayed when he received Emperor
Henry IV, who went there to make penance, kiss the feet of the Pope, and
ask
forgiveness. Canossa was a territory that belonged to another king - the
Pope, who was also a temporal sovereign. Therefore, Adelaide knew where to
seek refuge: she was a good politician. She had the innocence of the dove,
but also the cunning of the serpent.
After that, what did she do? Something one would not expect from a saint.
She arranged a marriage for herself, and a very good one. She wrote to the
King of Germany, the heir of the Holy Roman Empire, and asked him to come
to
defend her. He did, and then they were married. For her this represented
the
beginning of a new life. You can imagine the great fortitude of this soul,
her dedication and courage. The magnificent virtues of St. Adelaide are
the
very opposite of the caricatures often painted of the saints!
Otto became Emperor, they married, and had a son. The son of this
marriage,
however, at first was not so good, and a new tragedy started for St.
Adelaide. He revolted and persecuted her. She fled to Burgundy, met St.
Odilon and made many gifts to the monasteries there. It is probable that
she
also made a promise to St. Martin in return for her son's conversion,
because the incident that follows gives the impression that she was
fulfilling a promise made for a favor granted.
When she sent the Emperor's mantle to honor St. Martin, she included a
message, and the most beautiful part of it, in a certain sense, was the
title she chose for herself:
"Adelaide, sinner by nature and Empress by the grace of God."
There is a grandeur in this title that comes from the simplicity of the
contrast of the two descriptions. She attained the highest position a
woman
can have on earth, but she recognized that everything was due to grace.
Let us ask St. Adelaide to give us the spirit of adventure that she had.
To
be fighters for the right, to love the risk to its furthest limits within
wisdom. To be courageous soldiers of Our Lady so that in the future
someone
could say about each one of us, "Sinner by nature, but champion against
the
Revolution by the grace of God."
Saint Quote:
The faith given to me in baptism suggests to me surely: by yourself you
will
do nothing, but if you have God as the center of all your action, then you
will reach the goal.
--Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
Bible Quote:
4 What man of you that hath an hundred sheep: and if he shall lose one of
them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that
which was lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, lay it upon
his shoulders, rejoicing: (Luke 15:4-5)
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Novena Prayer to St Mariana, the Lily of Quito
My Sweet Jesus, as You rested among the lilies in your celestial garden,
You
turned Your eyes from Eternity to the most fragrant Lily of Quito. From
the
moment of her creation, you provided her with all of the sweet blessings
that you bestow upon souls which are to be placed before Your throne; I
now
prostrate myself before Your Divine Majesty imploring Your divine mercy
through the merits of Your faithful servant and affectionate spouse St.
Mariana de Jesus. Grant me, Lord, by the imitation of St. Mariana's heroic
virtues, a soul that will emit the fragrance of virtue as hers did, for
the
glorification of Your most Holy Name. Amen.
My God of Infinite Holiness, One in Being and three in Person, I thank you
for the innumerable graces with which you have bestowed upon your most
affectionate servant, St. Mariana de Jesus, demonstrated through her
example
and holy life. O Lord, by the singular benefits that you grant to those
who
invoke her, with a lively faith in any tribulation, especially in times of
plagues and earthquakes, continue to give to all devotees who appeal to
you
through St Mariana's intercession the necessary graces. Do not deny the
request I ask of You in this novena, if it will assist me to gain eternal
salvation. Amen.
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