- 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.
_____________________________________________________________________-
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. Teresa Eustochio Verzeri
Teresa Verzeri was born in Bergamo (Italy) on July 31, 1801, the first of
the
seven children of Antonio Verzeri and the countess Elena
Pedrocca-Grumelli.
Her
brother, Girolamo, became Bishop of Brescia. Her mother, doubtful of
whether
she
should give herself to matrimony or embrace the monastic life, had
listened
to
the prophetic word of her aunt, Madre Antonia Grumelli, a Franciscan Poor
Clare
Nun: "God has destined you for this state to become the mother of holy
children."
At a very tender age Teresa learned from her mother, a prominent woman, to
know
and ardently love God. She was led in her spiritual journey by the Canon
Giuseppe Benaglio, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Bergamo, who
already
accompanied the family.
Teresa completed her initial studies at home. Intelligent, gifted with an
open
spirit, vigilant, and upright, she was educated to discern, to seek true
values
and to be faithful to the action of grace. From childhood to maturity
Teresa
allowed herself to be led by the Spirit of Truth that engaged her in a
constant
and intense spiritual battle: in the light of faith she discovered and
experienced the weight of her own weakness; she unmasked, as far as
humanly
possible, every idolatrous form of falsehood, pride, and fear, in order to
surrender totally to God. Through grace, she traveled a road of
detachment,
of
purity of intention, of simplicity and straightforwardness that brought
her
to
seek "God alone."
Interiorly Teresa lived the special mystic experience of the "absence of
God,"
anticipating something of the religious life of today: the weight of human
solitude before a restless sense of the distance of God. Nevertheless, in
unshakable faith, Teresa never lost her confidence and abandonment to the
living
God, provident and merciful Father, to whom she devoted herself in
obedience.
Her lonely cry, like that of Jesus, became the entrusting of her whole
self
through love.
With the intention of pleasing God and doing only his will, her religious
vocation matured at home and in the Benedictine Monastery of St. Grata.
After a
long and tormenting search, she left the Monastery to found the
Congregation
of
the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus together with the Canon
Giuseppe
Benaglioon February 8, 1831, in Bergamo.
Teresa Verzeri lived during the first half of the 1800s, a time of great
transformation in the history of Italy and the society of Bergamo, marked
with
political changes, revolutions, and persecutions that did not spare the
Church,
which was also wounded by Jansenism and by the crisis of values, resulting
from
the French Revolution.
At a time when the devotion to the Sacred Heart found resistance, she gave
to
the first Daughters of the Sacred Heart this testament that characterizes
the
spiritual patrimony of their religious family: "To you and to your
Institute
Jesus Christ has given the precious gift of his Heart, for from no one
else
can
you learn holiness, he being the inexhaustible source of true holiness"
(Libro
dei Doveri, vol. III,p. 484).
Teresa saw very clearly the pressing needs of her times. Wherever charity
called, she seized the situation, even the most dangerous and serious,
with
absolute availability, and with her first companions she dedicated herself
to
diverse apostolic services: "education of middle-class troubled girls;
homes
for
orphans who were at risk, abandoned and even led astray; public schools,
christian doctrine, retreats, holiday recreations and assistance to the
infirm"
(Libro dei Doveri, vol. III, p. 368).
In fulfilling her mission Teresa revealed her special talent as spiritual
guide,
as apostle and as pedagogue. She expressly professed the preventive
system:
"cultivate and attentively guard the mind and heart of your little girls
while
they are still young, to prevent as far as possible, any entrance of evil,
it
being better to avert a fall with your warnings and admonitions than to
have
to
lift them up again with correction" (cf Pratiche, 1841).
Education is a work of freedom and persuasion, respecting individuality.
For
this she recommended that the young be allowed "a holy freedom so that
they
may
do willingly and with full agreement that which, oppressed by command,
would
only be accomplished as a burden and with violence." In addition, she
desired
that the choice of methods established be adapted "to the temperament, the
inclinations, the circumstances of each person... and be according to the
capacity of each" (Libro dei Doveri, vol. III, p. 347 and 349).
In 1836 Canon Benaglio died and Teresa, sup****ted by the obedience that
guaranteed that the Congregation was willed by God, dedicated herself
totally to
its approbation, strengthening and expansion. In this she was affronted by
many
obstacles placed in the way by civil authorities, and also by
ecclesiastics
who
put her virtue to the hard test. Teresa showed herself heroic in
abandonment
to
the will of God that sustained her.
After a life of intense giving, Teresa Verzeri died in Brescia on March
3,1852.
She left to the Congregation, already approved by the Church and by the
government, a vast documentation-above all in the Constitutions, the Book
of
Duties and in more than 3,500 letters-from which it is possible to draw
all
the
richness of her spiritual and human experience.
The precious spiritual patrimony transmitted to the Congregation finds its
center in the Heart of Jesus from whom the Daughters of the Sacred Heart
inherit
the spirit of magnanimous charity that compels one to be "all to all" in
an
intimate relation with the Father and in loving solicitude for one's
neighbor.
Teresa expressed it this way: "The Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
like
those who draw their charity from the very source of love, that is, from
the
Heart of Jesus Christ, must burn with the same love of the Divine Heart
for
their neighbor: purest charity that has no aim save for the glory of God
and
the
good of souls; universal charity that excludes no one but embraces all;
generous
charity that does not draw back from suffering, is not alarmed by
contradiction,
but rather, in suffering and opposition, grows in vigor and conquers
through
patience" (Libro dei Doveri, vol. I, p. 58).
Animated by this spirit, the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
continue
the
mission of Teresa today in Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia, in the
Central
African Republic and in Cameroon, in India, and in Albania.
In the contemplation of the Heart of Christ they receive the mandate to go
to
every man and woman with a dedication that loves the poor with
predilection,
is
open for every service, is always solicitous to promote the dignity of the
person, to be the Heart of Christ there where the need is greatest. The
relics
of Teresa Verzeri are venerated in the chapel of the Daughters of the
Sacred
Heart of Jesus, in Bergamo.
This item 3652 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
Saint Quote:
If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our
joy
in
the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is
Joy
which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.
-Saint Katherine Drexel
Bible Quote:
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such
things
as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
(Hebrews 13:5)
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LADY IN THE LIGHT
Crystalline brilliance of light so endowed,
To Mary, our Mother, for Her heavenly shroud,
Love's own white fire, a fire that heals,
The souls She will come to when answering appeals.
The stars of divinity set in Her crown,
Send ****mmering stardust to earthly abounds;
Soft velvet whispers that need no translation,
To carry Her message to souls of all nations.
This is the aura that streams from above,
Sent forth from the heavens and the Father of love.
Soft velvet whispers that need no translation,
To carry Her message to souls of all nations.
This is the aura that streams from above,
Sent forth from the heavens and the Father of love.
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