- Psalm 16:11 -
You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
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We can live a full life only when we seek God above all else. Pray for His
guidance as you search your heart. Confess any sin or any aspirations that
you
give higher priority to than the Lord, and ask God to fill your life as
only
He
can do.
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March 3rd - St. Cunegundes, Empress
(Also known as Cunegund)
(d. 1040)
Saint Cunegundes was the daughter of Sigefried, the first Count of
Luxemburg,
and Hadeswige, his pious wife. From her cradle her virtuous parents
instilled
into their daughter the most tender sentiments of piety. When she was of
an
age
to marry, they chose for her spouse Saint Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who at
the
death of the Emperor Otto III was named King of the Romans and crowned on
the
6th of June, 1002. Queen Cunegundes was crowned at Paderborn on Saint
Laurence's
day.
In the year 1014 she went with her husband to Rome and received the
imperial
crown with him from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. With Saint Henry's
consent,
before their marriage she had made a vow of perpetual virginity.
Calumniators
afterwards made vile accusations against her, and the holy Empress, to
remove
the scandal of such a slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence,
walked
over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. The Emperor renounced and
condemned his own too scrupulous fears and credulity, and from that time
on
they
lived in the strictest union of heart, working together to promote piety
and
God's honor in every sphere.
Going once to make a retreat in Hesse, Saint Cunegundes fell dangerously
ill,
and she made a vow to found a monastery at Kaffungen, in the diocese of
Paderborn, if she recovered. This she executed in a stately manner, and
gave
it
to nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict. Before it was finished, Saint
Henry
died
in 1024. She earnestly recommended his soul to the prayers of the empire,
and
especially to her dear nuns, and expressed her longing desire to join the
Sisters. She had already exhausted her treasures in founding bishoprics
and
monasteries and in relieving the poor, and she had therefore little left
to
give. But intending to embrace perfect evangelical poverty, to renounce
all
things in order to serve God without obstacle, she assembled a great
number
of
prelates at the dedication of her church of Kaffungen, on the anniversary
day of
her husband's death, 1025. After the Gospel was sung at Mass she offered
on
the
altar a relic of the true cross, and then, putting off her imperial robes,
clothed herself with a poor habit. Her hair was cut off, and the bishop
gave
her
the veil and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse.
After she was consecrated to God in religion, she seemed to forget
entirely
that
she had been an empress, and served as the last in the house, being
persuaded
that she was such, before God. She prayed and read a great deal, worked
with
her
hands, and took singular pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick. In
this
way she passed the last fifteen years of her life.
When her last hour was drawing near, perceiving that they were preparing a
cloth
fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she ordered it to
be
taken away; and she could not rest until the promise was given that she
would be
buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3rd of March,
1040.
Her
body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was
solemnly canonized by Innocent III, in 1200.
Reflection. Detachment of the spirit at least, is necessary for those who
cannot
undertake to enter religion. "Every one of you," says Jesus Christ, "who
does
not renounce all that he possesses, cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:33)
Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on
Butler's
Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger
Brothers:
New York, 1894).
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Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself -Matt. 16:24
"The first step to be taken by one who wishes to follow Christ is,
according
to
Our Lord's own words, that of renouncing himself-that is, his own senses,
his
own passions, his own will, his own judgment, and all the movements of
nature,
making to God a sacrifice of all these things, and of all their acts,
which
are
surely sacrifices very acceptable to the Lord. And we must never grow
weary
of
this; for if anyone having, so to speak, one foot already in Heaven,
should
abandon this exercise, when the time should come for him to put the other
there,
he would run much risk of being lost"
-St. Vincent de Paul
The same Saint made himself such a proficient in this virtue that it might
be
called the weapon most frequently and constantly handled by him through
his
whole life until his last breath; and by this he succeeded in gaining
absolute
dominion over all the movements of his inferior nature. Therefore, he kept
his
own passions so completely subject to reason, that he could scarcely be
known to
have any.
(Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints" March - Mortification)
Bible Quote
But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them,
and
then they shall fast. (Matthew 9:15)
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Covetousness
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also... No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon" (Matthew 6:19-21, 24).
"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).
"Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches" (Psalm 73:12).
"He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).
"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs
28:20).
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:10).
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John
2:15).
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