- 2 Samuel 22:17-20 -
"He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my sup****t.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me."
____________________________________________________________________
Your needs are not too much for God. He holds all the earth in his
control.
He
sustains all of life. It is not a frustration or difficulty for Him to
care
for
you. He will give to you in abundance. He wants to provide for you. YOU
ARE
RESCUED.
- Pearls From Heaven, Mary Grace Birkhead
<<>><<>><<>>
April 28th - St. Peter-Louis-Marie Chanel
The print version of the CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA contains two articles on
this
saint. We reproduce both articles here.
PIERRE-LOUIS-MARIE CHANEL
By Joseph Freri (Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 11)
Born at Cuet, Diocese of Belley, France, 1802; died at Futuna, 28 April,
1841.
He was ordained priest in 1827, and engaged in the parochial ministry for
a
few
years; but the reading of letters of missionaries in far-away lands
inflamed
his
heart with zeal, and he resolved to devote his life to the Apostolate. In
1831
he joined the Society of Mary, and in 1836 he embarked for Oceania. He was
assigned by his bishop to the Island of Futuna, and landed in Nov., 1837.
No
Christian missionary had ever set foot there, and the difficulties Peter
encountered amidst those savage tribes were almost incredible.
Nevertheless,
he
was beginning to see the results of his efforts, when Niuluki, king and
also
pontiff of the island, already jealous of the progress of the new
religion,
was
exasperated by the conversion of his son and daughter. At his instigation,
one
of the ministers gathered some of the enemies of Christianity and Peter
was
cruelly assassinated without uttering a word of complaint. Through his
death,
the venerable martyr obtained what he had so ardently desired and
earnestly
worked for, the conversion of Futuna. In 1842, two Marist missionaries
resumed
his work, and nowhere has the preaching of the Gospel produced more
wonderful
results. Peter was declared Venerable by Pius IX in 1857, and beatified by
Leo
XIII on 17 November, 1889.
PIERRE-LOUIS-MARIE CHANEL
By J.P. Sollier (Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3)
Proto-martyr of Oceanica, born at Cuet, dep. of Ain, France, 1803, died at
Futuna, Friendly Islands, Oceanica, 28 April, 1841. Being of humble
parentage, a
zealous priest, M. Trompier, assisted his education. Ordained priest in
1827, he
went as curate to Ambérieux and later as pastor to Crozet. His desire to
serve
in the foreign missions drew him, in 1831, into the newly-founded Society
of
Mary which, having been formally approved, 29 April, 1836, was entrusted
with
the evangelization of Occidental Oceanica. Chanel, after taking the three
religious vows at the hands of Father Colin, founder and first superior of
the
Marists, embarked that same year for his distant mission under the
leader****p of
Bishop Bataillon, and was sent to the island called Horn, or Allofatu, by
geographers, and Futuna by the natives. War between rival tribes and the
practice of cannibalism had reduced its population to a few thousands when
Chanel landed on its shores. The religion he found there was a wor****p of
terror
offered to evil deities. Chanel laboured faithfully amid the greatest
hard****ps,
learning the native language, attending the sick, baptizing the dying, and
winning from all the name of "the man with the kind heart". Niuliki, the
then
ruler, showed first an amicable disposition towards the missionary and
even
declared him "taboo", or sacred and inviolable; but when he saw that his
subjects were being drawn away from the idols into the white man's
religion,
he
issued an edict against him to avert the movement towards Christianity. At
that
very time his son Meitala joined the missionary.
Musumusu, Niuliki's prime minister and an implacable enemy of
Christianity,
then
concocted a plot with the petty chiefs against the Christians, which was
carried
out with great cruelty. At day-break, on 28 April, 1841, the conspirators
assembled together and, after wounding many neophytes whom they had
surprised
sleeping, proceeded to Chanel's hut. One shattered his arm and wounded his
left
temple with a war-club. Another struck him to the ground with a bayonet. A
third
beat him severely with a club. The missionary was uttering the while words
of
gentle resignation: "Malie fuai" (it is: well for me). Musumusu himself,
enraged
at the tardiness of death, split open the martyr's skull with an adze. The
remains of the martyred missionary, hurriedly buried, were later claimed
by
M.
Lavaux, commander of the French naval station of Tahiti, and taken to
France
on
a government trans****t, 1842. The cause of the beatification of Father
Chanel,
introduced 1857, terminated by the Brief "Quemadmodum" of 16 Nov., 1889.
The
solemnities took place the following day in the basilica of St. Peter,
Rome.
"Oceanicæ protomartyr" is the official title given Blessed Chanel by the
Congregation of Rites in the decree declaring: "tuto procedi posse ad
solemnem
Ven. servi Dei P. M. Chanel beatificationem".
[Note: Peter Chanel, the proto-martyr of the Society of Mary, and of
Oceania,
was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII.]
From
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11769a.htm
Saint Quote:
Do not be dismayed by toil or suffering, nor by the meager fruit of your
labours. Remember that God rewards not according to results, but effort.
-Blessed Zefirino Agostini
Bible Quote:
Woe to the world because of scandals! (St. Matthew 18:7)
<><><><>
Short Prayers
O saving Victim, opening wide
The gate of heaven to man below,
Our foes press on from every side;
Thine aid supply, Thy strength bestow.
To Thy great Name be endless praise,
Immortal Godhead, one in three;
Oh, grant us endless length of days
In our true native land with Thee.
Amen.
Blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord:
Hosanna in the highest.
Jesu, bread of life, protect us;
Shepherd kind, do not reject us;
In Thy happy fold collect us,
And partakers of the bliss elect us,
Which shall never see an end.
Thou, the wisest and the mightiest,
Who us here with food delightest,
Seat us at Thy banquet brightest
With the blessed Thou invitest
An eternal feast to spend.
Amen.
|
