- Ephesians 3:14-19 -
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family
in
heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious
riches he
may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so
that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being
rooted
and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to
grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know
this love
that surp***** knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all
the
fullness of God.
_______________________________________________________________________
God's love is total. It reaches every corner of our experience. It is wide
- it
covers the breadth of our own experience, and it reaches out to the whole
world.
God's love is long - it continues the length of our lives. It is high - it
rises
to the heights of our celebration and elation. His love is deep - it
reaches to
the depths of our discouragement, despair, and even death. When you feel
shut
out or isolated, remember that you can never be lost to God's measurable
and
inexhaustible love.
<<>><<>><<>>
February 19th - St. Conrad of Piacenza, Hermit
Born in 1290; died 1351 or 1354; cultus approved with the title of saint
by Paul
III. Saint Conrad was living peacefully as a nobleman of Piacenza. He had
married when quite young and led a virtuous and God-fearing life. One day,
when
engaged in his usual pastime of hunting, he ordered his attendants to set
fire
to some brushwood where game had taken refuge. The prevailing wind caused
the
flames to spread rapidly, and the surrounding fields and forest were soon
in a
state of conflagration. A mendicant who happened to be found near the
place
where the fire had originated was accused of being the author; he was
imprisoned, tried and condemned to death. As the poor man was being led to
execution, Conrad, stricken with remorse, declared the man innocent and
confessed his own guilt openly. In order to repair the damage of which he
had
been the cause, as he then volunteered to do, he was obliged to sell all
his
possessions. He repaid his neighbors for all the losses they had suffered,
then
retired to a distant region where he took the Third Order habit of Saint
Francis, while his wife entered the Order of Poor Clares.
Nothing could keep away men and women attracted by the great austerity of
the
rest of Conrad's life. He withdrew more and more into solitude, finally
spending
thirty years in the valley of Noto in Sicily. He spent part of his time in
the
Hospital of Saint Martin, and the rest in the hermitage founded by William
Bocherio, another noble who had become an anchorite.
Seeking still more solitude, he hid himself in the grotto of Pizzoni near
Noto.
Yet his prayers brought blessings to men, sometimes healing their
diseases, and
thousands flocked to him. When a famine struck, people came to him to beg
for
help. Through his prayers, relief was said to come at once.
Even the bishop of Syracuse traveled to seek his blessing towards the end
of
Conrad's life. It was re****ted that as the bishop's attendants were
preparing to
unpack provisions they had brought, the bishop asked Conrad smilingly
whether he
had anything to offer his guests. Conrad replied that he would go and look
in
his cell. He returned carrying newly made cakes, which the bishop accepted
as a
miracle.
Conrad returned the bishop's visit and made a general confession to him.
As he
arrived, he was surrounded by fluttering birds, who escorted him back to
Noto.
He died still praying for others in the church of Saint Nicholas in Noto,
where
his tomb became the goal of many pilgrimages because of the miraculous
cures
that occurred there (Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, White).
In art, Conrad is a Franciscan hermit with a cross upon which birds perch.
Sometimes he is ****trayed as a bearded, old man with a tau staff, bare
feet,
Franciscan cincture, with small birds fluttering around him (Roeder), or
with
stags and animals about him (White). He is invoked against hernias
(Encyclopedia, White).
Reflection. Saint Augustine says, "When the enemy has been cast out of
your
hearts, renounce him not only in word but in works; not only by the sound
of the
lips, but in every act of your life."
<><><><>
Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. -Lk. 14:11
"What is it, O my God, that we expect to gain by appearing well before
creatures, and by pleasing them? What does it matter to us if we are
blamed by
them, and considered worthless, provided we are great and faultless before
Thee?
Ah, we never come fully to an understanding of this truth, and so we never
succeed in standing upon the summit of perfection! The Saints had no
greater
pleasure than to live unknown and abject in the hearts of all.
-St. Bernard
A holy bishop, in order to live unknown, left his diocese, and
putting on
a poor dress went secretly to Jerusalem, where he worked as a laborer.
There a
nobleman saw him several times sleeping on the ground, with a column of
fire
rising from his body even to the heavens. Wondering at this, he asked him
privately who he was. He answered he was a poor man who lived by his work,
and
had no other means of sup****t. The count, not satisfied with this, urged
him to
reveal the whole truth, and the bishop, after exacting a promise of
secrecy
during his lifetime, told him who he was, and how he had left his country
to
escape from renown and esteem, as he held it to be unworthy of a
Christian, who
ought always to have in mind the insults and reproaches heaped upon his
Lord, to
enjoy the honor and reverence of men.
(Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)
<><><><>
TO THE BLESSED MOTHER FOR HUMILITY
O Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray to thy Divine Son for me, a poor sinner; beg
Him
to make me humble. Oh, how humble art thou, the purest of Virgins; thou,
my
powerful mediatrix; thou, O most holy among the children of Adam, who art
the
exalted Mother of God! Thou didst declare thyself the handmaid of Him
Whose
Mother thou art. Behold, my dear heavenly Mother, how gladly I would
dedicate
myself to thy Divine Son, that His Will may also be mine. But my pride, my
self-esteem, my vanity, are always against me. I struggle against them,
and yet
I allow them to surprise and deceive me so often. Oh, how this afflicts
me!
Mary, Refuge of Sinners, if I were only sincere when I beg of thee to
obtain
humiliation for me. But alas, whilst praying for such helps to humility, I
fear
the granting of my prayer. I clearly see better things; I even desire
their
possession and yet I shrink from what alone can give me true humility.
Behold my
trials, my combats in this valley of tears! O my dearest Mother, if to be
freed
from this body would give glory to God, how gladly would I not lay down my
life.
Taken from HIS FAVORITE PRAYERS: St. John Neumann, C.SS.R.
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