In charity there is everything
What is faith but the carriage that bears us to our native
land? What is hope but the food we take for our journey through life's
hard****ps? And those
other virtues of temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice - what are
they
but
the weapons
given us for the struggle? But when death has been swallowed up by that
perfection of charity
which is achieved in the vision of God there will be no more faith,
because
faith was the
preparation for that vision, and there will be no need to believe what we
see
and love. And
when we embrace God with the arms of our charity, there will be no more
hope,
for there
will be nothing left to hope for. And as for the other virtues, temperance
is
our weapon
against lust, prudence against error, fortitude against adversity, justice
against injustice.
But in charity there is also perfect chastity, and so no lust for
temperance
to
combat; in
charity there is the fullness of knowledge, and so no error for prudence
to
guard against;
in charity there is true blessedness, and so no adversity for fortitude to
overcome; in
charity all is peace, and so there is no injustice for justice to
withstand.
-Aelred of Rievaulx
<<>><<>><<>>
January 7th - St. Raymond of Pennafort
Dominican, Archbishop (1175-1275)
Born in 1175 of a noble Spanish family, Raymond, at the age of twenty,
taught
philosophy in Barcelona with marvelous success. Ten years later his rare
abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the University of Bologna,
accompanied by many high dignities. A tender devotion to our Blessed Lady,
which
had increased within him from childhood, determined him in his mature
years
to
renounce all his honors and to enter Her Order of Saint Dominic.
There a vision of the Mother of Mercy instructed him to cooperate with his
penitent Saint Peter Nolasco, and with James, King of Aragon, in founding
the
Order of Our Lady of Ransom for the redemption of captives. He began this
great
work by preaching a crusade against the Moors, and by rousing to penance
the
Christians enslaved in both soul and body by the infidels. The king of
Aragon, a
man of great qualities but governed by a ruling passion, often took Saint
Raymond with him on his voyages. On one such occasion, when they were
visiting
the island of Majorca, he was told by the Saint he must put away at once
the
cause of his sin. When he delayed, Raymond asked for leave to depart,
since
he
could not live in company with sin. The king refused and under pain of
death,
forbade his conveyance by any ****p. The Saint replied to the sailors, "If
a
mortal king has given such a command, we will see that the Eternal King
has
disposed otherwise." Full of faith, he went out on a rock extending into
the
sea, and spread his cloak upon the waters. Tying one end of it to his
staff
as a
sail, he made the sign of the cross and fearlessly stepped upon it. In six
hours
he was borne to Barcelona where, gathering up his cloak, which was dry, he
made
his way to his monastery.
The king, vanquished by this miracle, to which many were witness, became a
sincere penitent and the disciple of the Saint until his death. In 1230,
Gregory
IX summoned Raymond to Rome, made him his confessor and grand
penitentiary,
and
directed him to compile "The Decretals," a collection of the scattered
decisions
of the Popes and Councils. Having refused the archbishopric of Tarragon,
Raymond
was in 1238 chosen to be the third General of his Order, which post he
again
succeeded in resigning, pleading his advanced age. His first act when set
free
was to resume his labors among the infidels, and in 1256 Raymond, then
eighty-one, was able to re****t that ten thousand Saracens had received
Baptism.
He died at the age of one hundred years, in 1275.
Reflection. Ask Saint Raymond to protect you from the fearful servitude,
worse
than any bodily slavery, which even one sinful habit tends to form.
Saint Quote:
Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete
sinlessness
he suffered, and at the hands of those who were his own, and was numbered
among
the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord Jesus (how glorious it is!),
give
thanks to the Lord, the giver of all blessings.
May the God of love and peace set your hearts at rest and speed you on
your
journey; may he meanwhile shelter you from disturbance by others in the
hidden
recesses of his love, until he brings you at last into that place of
complete
plenitude where you will repose for ever in the vision of peace, in the
security
of trust, and in the restful enjoyment of his riches.
-from a letter by Saint Raymond
Bible Quote:
Blessed are you when men reproach you, and persecute you, and, speaking
falsely,
say all manner of evil against you, for My sake... because your reward is
great
in heaven. St. Matt. 5:11-12
<><><><>
Prayer Against the Seven Deadly Sins
Let me use all things for one sole reason: to find my joy in giving You
glory.
Therefore, keep me, above all things, from sin. Keep me from the death of
deadly
sin which puts hell in my soul. Keep me from the murder of lust that
blinds
and
poisons my heart. Keep me from the sins that eat a man's flesh with
irresistible
fire until he is devoured. Keep me from loving money in which is hatred,
from
avarice [greed] and ambition that suffocate my life. Keep me from the dead
works
of vanity and the thankless labor in which artists destroy themselves for
pride
and money and reputation, and saints are smothered under the avalanche of
their
own im****tunate zeal. Staunch in me the rank wound of covetousness and the
hungers that exhaust my nature with their bleeding. Stamp out the serpent
envy
that stings love with poison and kills all joy.
Untie my hands and deliver my heart from sloth. Set me free from the
laziness
that goes about disguised as activity when activity is not required of me,
and
from the cowardice that does what is not demanded, in order to escape
sacrifice.
But give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me
humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the
heaviest
of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of
love.
Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that
I
may
love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for
the
sake
of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone.
Thomas Merton, 1961, Gethsemani. Imprimatur Francis Cardinal Spellman,
Archbishop of New York
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