- Lamentations 3:22-25 -
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him...
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Trusting in God's faithfulness day by day makes us confident in his great
promises for the future.
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March 17th - St. John Sarkander, Martyr
Born at Skotschau, Silesia, in 1576; died 1620; beatified by Pius IX in
1860;
canonized by Pope John Paul II with Saint Zdislava Berka in Olomouc, Czech
Republic, in 1995. The canonization of Saint John Sarkander drew sharp
criticism
from Czech and Slovakian Protestants, although the Holy Father offered and
asked
for forgiveness for past sins committed in the name of religion.
John's father died when he was still very young, but his mother ensured
that
he
would receive an excellent education by sending him to the Jesuits schools
at
Olmutz and Prague, where he read philosophy in 1602. Four years later he
married
a Lutheran lady, Anna Platska, who died the following year. Shocked by
this
experience, he resumed his study of theology and was ordained to the
priesthood
in 1609.
He became a parish priest of Holleschau in Moravia (diocese of Olmutz), a
church
whose property was purchased by the Catholic Baron Lobkovitz from the
Bohemian
Brethren. John converted many Hussites and Bohemian Brethren, but as a
result,
he incurred the enmity of the Protestants, who came to power in Moravia in
1618
at the beginning of the Thirty Years War. At that time Saint John made a
pilgrimage to Czestochowa, Poland, and remained for some months in Cracow.
In 1620, King Sigismund III of Poland sent Cossack troops into Moravia to
support Emperor Ferdinand III against the Protestant Estates. Although the
Cossacks spared Holeschau when they met Sarkander in procession, he was
unjustly
accused of conspiring with the Poles, sent to Olmutz, and chained in a
dungeon
to await questioning.
At his trial, he denied any complicity in treasonable acts. He refused the
order
to reveal what he heard in confession from his penitent, the baron of
Moravia.
For his continued refusal to break the seal of the confessional, three
times
in
mid-February, he was cruelly racked, branded, covered with pitch and tar,
and
set ablaze. He survived the ill-treatment, but died within the month
(Benedictines, Farmer).
Saint Quote:
Envy is a sadness which we feel on account of the good that happens to our
neighbour.
Envy, my children, follows pride; whoever is envious is proud. See, envy
comes
to us from Hell; the devils having sinned through pride, sinned also
through
envy, envying our glory, our happiness. Why do we envy the happiness and
the
goods of others? Because we are proud; we should like to be the sole
possessors
of talents, riches, of the esteem and love of all the world! We hate our
equals,
because they are our equals; our inferiors, from the fear that they may
equal
us; our superiors, because they are above us. In the same way, my
children,
that
the devil after his fall felt, and still feels, extreme anger at seeing us
the
heirs of the glory of the good God, so the envious man feels sadness at
seeing
the spiritual and temporal prosperity of his neighbour.
We walk, my children, in the footsteps of the devil; like him, we are
vexed
at
good, and rejoice at evil. If our neighbour loses anything, if his affairs
go
wrong, if he is humbled, if he is unfortunate, we are joyful. . . we
triumph!
The devil, too, is full of joy and triumph when we fall, when he can make
us
fall as low as himself. What does he gain by it? Nothing. Shall we be
richer,
because our neighbour is poorer? Shall we be greater, because he is less?
Shall
we be happier, because he is more unhappy? O my children! how much we are
to
be
pitied for being like this! St. Cyprian said that other evils had limits,
but
that envy had none. In fact, my children, the envious man invents all
sorts
of
wickedness; he has recourse to evil speaking, to calumny, to cunning, in
order
to blacken his neighbour; he repeats what he knows, and what he does not
know he
invents, he exaggerates. . . .
Through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world; and also
through
envy we kill our neighbour; by dint of malice, of falsehood, we make him
lose
his reputation, his place. . . . Good Christians, my children, do not do
so;
they envy no one; they love their neighbour; they rejoice at the good that
happens to him, and they weep with him if any misfortune comes upon him.
How
happy should we be if we were good Christians. Ah! my children, let us,
then, be
good Christians and we shall no more envy the good fortune of our
neighbour;
we
shall never speak evil of him; we shall enjoy a sweet peace; our soul will
be
calm; we shall find paradise on earth.
-Saint John Vianney on Envy
Bible Quote
25. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good
things
in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazareth evil things, but now he is
comforted;
and
thou art tormented. (Luke 16:25)
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The Shield of St. Patrick
Attributed to St. Patrick
Paraphrased by Cecil Frances Alexander
I bind unto myself today the strong name of the trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three.
I bind this day to me forever by power of faith Christ's incarnation,
his baptism in the Jordan river, his death on the cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spiced tomb, his riding up the heavenly way,
his coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay, his ear to harken to my need,
the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward,
the Word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me;
Christ to comfort and restore me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word;
praise to the God of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord!
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