April 10th - St. Michael de los Santos, Trinitarian Priest
(1591-1624)
Saint Michael was born in Spain in 1591 of parents notable both for their
piety and their probity. Their son from his early childhood made a vow of
perpetual chastity; his father, when he heard of it, one day with a smile
proposed to him, to test him, a fine marriage. The child began to weep and
hurried to an altar of the Blessed Virgin to renew his vow. At the age of
six he fled to a cave to meditate on the Passion of Our Lord. When his
father sent out a search party, he was obliged to return, but continued to
live only for heaven, keeping himself constantly in the presence of God.
He
chose Saint Francis of Assisi for his model and practiced extreme
mortifications to imitate Jesus crucified.
At the age of twelve he presented himself at the novitiate of the
Trinitarians of Barcelona, who admitted him. He made his perpetual vows in
1607, and assisted in the reform of the Order, in progress at that time.
He
never ceased to practice the primitive rule of the Institute. Saint
Michael
never had more than one tunic; beneath it he wore rude hair ****rts. He
practiced a perpetual fast and imposed constant disciplines on his flesh.
He was ordained a priest, and then it was at the altar that he received
the
most signal favors from heaven and inspired in those in attendance a most
remarkable devotion. Twice Saint Michael was named Superior of the houses
where he resided, yet he never became inflated with pride; on the contrary
he believed himself worse than the demons. It seemed that heaven envied
the
earth in the possession of this Saint; he died at the age of thirty-three.
Miracles followed at his tomb, and he was canonized in 1862 by Pope Pius
IX.
Source: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin
(Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 8.
Saint Quote:
Humility, to be true, must be always accompanied by charity; that is,
loving, seeking, and accepting humiliations to please God, and to become
more like Jesus Christ; to do otherwise, would be to practice it in the
manner of the heathen.
-St. France de Sales
Bible Quote:
36 Now whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of
them, and saith to them: Peace be to you; it is I, fear not. (Luke 24:36)
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Psalm LXIX
Incline unto my aid, O God.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul.
Let them be turned backward and blush for shame that desire evils to me.
Let them be presently turned away blu****ng for shame that say to me, "Tis
well, 'tis well."
Let all that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; and let such as love
Thy
salvation say always, The Lord be magnified. But I am needy and poor: O
God,
help me.
Thou art my helper and my deliverer; O Lord, make no delay.
Glory Be To The Father, etc.
V- Save Thy servants.
R- Trusting in Thee, O my God.
V- Be unto us, O Lord, a tower a strength.
R- From the face of the enemy.
V- Let not the enemy prevail against us.
R- Nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt us.
V- O Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
R- Neither reward us according to our iniquities.
V- Let us pray for our chief bishop: (name)
R- The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the
earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
V- Let us pray for our benefactors.
R- Vouchsafe, O Lord, for Thy name's sake, to reward with eternal life all
those who do us good.
V- Let us pray for the faithful departed.
R- Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light ****ne upon
them.
V- May they rest in peace.
R- Amen.
V- For our absent brethren.
R- Save Thy servants who hope in Thee, O my God.
V- Send them help, O Lord, from Thy holy place.
R- And from Sion protect them.
V- O Lord, hear my prayer.
R- And let my cry come unto Thee.
LET US PRAY:
O God, Whose property is always to have mercy and to spare, receive our
petition, that we and all Thy servants who are bound by the chain of sin,
may, by the compassion of Thy goodness, mercifully be absolved.
Hear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the prayers of Thy supplicants, and pardon
the sins of those who confess to Thee, that, in Thy bounty, Thou mayest
grant us both pardon and peace.
In Thy clemency, O Lord, show Thy unspeakable mercy to us, that so Thou
mayest both loose us from all our sins and deliver us from the punishments
which we deserve for them.
O God, who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard
the prayers of Thy people, who make supplication to Thee, and turn away
the
scourges of Thine anger, which we deserve for our sins.
O almighty and eternal God, have mercy on Thy servant (N)., our chief
bishop, and direct him according to Thy clemency, in the way of
everlasting
salvation, that, by Thy grace, he may desire the things that are pleasing
to
Thee, and perform them with all his strength.
O God, from Whom are all holy desires, righteous counsels, and just works,
give to Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that, our
hearts being disposed to keep Thy commandments, and the fear of enemies
taken away, the times, by Thy protection, may be peaceful.
Inflame, O Lord, our reins and hearts with the fire of the Holy Spirit;
that
we may serve Thee with a chaste body, and please Thee with a clean heart.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of
Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through pious
supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired.
Direct, we beseech Thee, O Lord, our actions by Thy holy inspirations, and
carry them on by Thy gracious assistance; that every prayer and work of
ours
may always begin from Thee, and through Thee be happily ended.
O almighty and eternal God, Who hast dominion over the living and the
dead,
and art merciful to all who Thou foreknowest will be Thine by faith and
good
works: we humbly beseech Thee that they for whom we have purposed to offer
our prayers, whether this present world still detains them in the flesh or
the next world hath already received them divested of their bodies, may,
by
the intercession of Thy saints and the clemency of Thy goodness, obtain
pardon and full remission of all their sins. Through Our Lord Jesus
Christ,
Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
God, world without end.
R- Amen.
V- O Lord, hear my prayer.
R- And let my cry come unto Thee.
V- May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us.
R- Amen.
V- And my the souls of the faithful departed throught the mercy of God,
rest
in peace.
R- Amen.
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