HE LEADETH ME
This GOD is our GOD for ever and ever:
HE will be our guide even unto death.
O LORD, Thou art my GOD; I will exalt Thee, I will
praise THY name; for Thou hast done wonderful things;
Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. The LORD
is the ****tion of mine inheritance, and of my cup.
HE leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for HIS
name's sake. Yes though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art
with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou
hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me
with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? And there is none
upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my
heart faileth: but GOD is the strength of my heart,
and my ****tion for ever. Our heart shall rejoice in HIM,
because we have trusted in HIS holy name. The LORD
will perfect that which concerneth me; Thy mercy, O LORD,
endureth for ever: forsake not the works of Thine
own hands.
AMEN and AMEN
<<>><<>><<>>
February 13th - Saint Catherine of Ricci, Visionary
(1522-1590)
Alexandrina of Ricci was the daughter of a noble Florentine. At the age of
thirteen she entered the Third Order of Saint Dominic in the monastery of
Prato, taking in religion the name of Catherine, in honor of her patron
and
predecessor of Siena. Her special attraction was to the Passion of Christ,
in which she was permitted miraculously to participate. During the Lent of
1541, being then twenty-one years of age, she had a vision of the
crucifixion so heartrending that she was prostrated and confined to bed
for
three weeks, and was only restored on Holy Saturday, by an apparition of
Saint Mary Magdalene and the risen Jesus.
During twelve years Saint Catherine passed every Friday in ecstasy. She
received the sacred stigmata, the wound in the left side, and the crown of
thorns. All these favors gave her continual and intense suffering, and
inspired her with a loving sympathy for the yet more bitter tortures of
the
Holy Souls. In their behalf she offered all her prayers and penances; and
her charity toward them became so famous throughout Tuscany that after
every
death the friends of the deceased hastened to Catherine to secure her
prayers.
Saint Catherine offered many prayers, fasts, and penances for a certain
great man, and thereby obtained his salvation. It was revealed to her that
he was nonetheless in purgatory; and such was her love of Jesus crucified
that she offered to suffer all the pains which would be inflicted on that
soul. Her prayer was granted. The soul entered heaven, and for forty days
Catherine suffered indescribable agonies. Her body was covered with
blisters, emitting heat so great that her cell seemed on fire. Her flesh
appeared as if roasted, and her tongue like red-hot iron. She remained
calm
and joyful, saying, "I long to suffer all imaginable pains, that souls may
quickly see and praise their Redeemer." She conversed with the Saints in
glory, and frequently with Saint Philip Neri at Rome without ever leaving
her convent at Prato. She died, amid angels' songs, in 1589.
Reflection: If we truly love Jesus crucified, we must like Saint
Catherine,
long to release the Holy Souls whom He has redeemed but has left to our
charity to set free.
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).
Saint Quote
We must always choose the most perfect. Two good works present themselves
to
be done, one in favour of a person we love, the other in favour of a
person
who has done us some harm. Well, we must give preference to the latter.
--Saint John Vianney
Bible Quotes:
And answering, he said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard
and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the
deaf
hear, the dead rise again, to the poor the gospel is preached:
And blessed is he whosoever shall not be scandalized in me. (Luke
7:22-23)
Anyone who so much as looks with lust at a woman has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. (St. Matthew 5:28)
<><><><>
Matt. 25:31-46
Jesus said to his disciples:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
****d and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or ****d and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Then he will say to those on his left,
'Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
****d and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
Then they will answer and say,
'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or ****d or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?'
He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life."
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