March 8th - Blessed Faustino Miguez, Sch. P. (AC)
Born at Xamiras, Orense, Spain, March 24, 1831; died Getafe, March 8,
1925;
beatified October 24, 1998.
Faustino was the fourth child of a hard-working Christian family. After
studying Latin and the humanities in Orense, there he heard God's call to
be
a priest and teacher in the spirit of St Joseph Calasanz. In 1850 he
entered
St Ferdinand's novitiate of the Piarist Fathers in Madrid. In his long
life
as a Piarist, almost 50 years dedicated to education, he was sent to
schools
in San Fernando, Guanaboacoa, Getafe, Monforte de Lemos, Celanova, El
Escorial and Sanlucar de Barameda.
Convinced that "those who want to teach need to learn," he worked
tirelessly, training himself daily to fulfil his educational mission. God
endowed him with a special love for the young and a sensitivity that
enabled
him to approach them with kindness, to know them and to seek their
welfare.
School was the place where he met the Lord, whom he loved and served in
children. Through piety and learning he opened horizons of culture to
them,
encouraging them and teaching them to love what is true, noble and
sublime.
A Piarist for all children, his devotion to them was expressed in his
concern for the weakest and neediest. Fr Faustino, like St Joseph
Calasanz,
lauded education as "the noblest work, the greatest and the most sublime
in
the world because it embraces the whole of man as God conceived him . . .
."
He spent many hours hearing confessions and was renowned for his patience
and wise advice. His whole life was dedicated to the love of God and to
learning. He combined scientific research with his vocation as an educator
and studied the healing properties of plants, which he believed were
Providence's remedy for illness. He prepared medicines and cured many of
the
sick who consulted him. The Miguez Laboratory in Getafe is one of his
great
legacies to society.
In Sanlucar de Barrameda, he encountered the illiteracy and
marginalization
of women and, aware of their im****tance in the family and in society, he
felt an urgent need to assist with the human and Christian advancement of
girls, especially the very poor. This Inspired him to found the
Calasanctian
Institute of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess on 2 January 1885. He
devoted great wisdom to their formation, imbuing their life with a spirit
of
prayer, humility, simplicity and ardent love for Mary so that, as Mother
and
Shepherdess, she might be the model for their vocation of service to the
young and the lowly. He outlined their charism in the Constitutions: "The
aim of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess is to seek souls and lead
them to God . . . ."
Obedience required him to leave his congregation for Getafe, but Fr
Faustino
knew that if it was God's work it would last. Indeed, the congregation
expanded to Andalucia, Castille and Galicia, and he had the joy of seeing
new foundations in Chile and Argentina. He died in Getafe, at the age of
94
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Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself. (Matthew 16:24)
"One of the things that keep us at a distance from perfection is, without
doubt, our tongue. For when one has gone so far as to commit no faults in
speaking, the Holy Spirit Himself assures us that he is perfect. And since
the worst way of speaking is to speak too much, speak little and well,
little and gently, little and simply, little and charitably, little and
amiably"
-St. Francis de Sales
St. Ignatius Loyola governed his tongue so well that his speech was
simple,
grave, considerate, and brief.
St. John Berchmans was a man of few words, and so considerate in his
speech
that there was never heard from his mouth an idle word, one contrary to
rule, one that was neither necessary, useful, nor directed to any good
purpose. Being once asked by a brother novice how he managed never to
commit
a fault in speaking, he replied thus: "I never say anything without first
considering it, and recommending it to God, that I may say nothing which
can
displease Him" Besides, he was never observed to violate silence and when
asked how he could keep this rule so perfectly, he answered: "This is the
way I do: I salute humbly all those I meet; if anyone asks any service of
me, I show the greatest readiness to render it; if anyone asks me a
question, I listen, and answer briefly; and I avoid saying a single
superfluous word."
(Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)
Bible Quote:
But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above
these, is of evil. (Matthew 5:37)
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Prayer to St. Joseph by Pope Leo XIII
We come to thee, O blessed Joseph, in our sore distress. Having sought the
aid of thy most blessed Spouse, we now confidently implore thy assistance
also. We humbly beg that, mindful of the dutiful affection which bound
thee
to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and of the fatherly love with
which
thou didst cherish the Child Jesus, thou wilt lovingly watch over the
heritage which Jesus Christ purchased with His Blood, and by thy powerful
intercession help us in our urgent need.
Most powerful guardian of the Holy Family, protect the chosen race of
Jesus
Christ; drive far from us, most loving father, every pest of error and
corrupting sin. From thy place in heaven, most powerful protector,
graciously come to our aid in this conflict with the power of darkness,
and
as of old thou didst deliver the Child Jesus from supreme peril of life,
so
now defend the holy Church of God from the snares of Her enemies and from
all adversity. Have each of us always in thy keeping, that, following thy
example, and borne up by thy strength, we may be able to live holily, die
happily, and so enter the everlasting bliss of heaven. Amen.
POPE LEO XIII WAS THE ONE WHO COMPOSED THE ST MICHAEL PRAYER AFTER HEARING
THE ARGUMENT BETWEEN GOD AND Satan
http://www.marypages.com/StJoseph.htm
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