by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“An Italian Benedictine monk who became the ‘Apostle of the English,’ Saint Augustine of Canterbury is honored by the Catholic Church on May 27. Under the direction of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Augustine founded the famous See of Canterbury and preached the Catholic faith to the country’s Anglo-Saxon pagans during the late sixth and early seventh centuries. …”
“… 1. ‘Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife’ (cf. Mt 1 :24). Inspired by the Gospel, the Fathers of the Church from the earliest centuries stressed that just as St. Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing,(1) he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, that is, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model. …”
COUNSELS AND PRACTICES SUITABLE FOR THE SOUL’S GUIDANCE FROM THE FIRST
ASPIRATION AFTER A DEVOUT LIFE TO THE POINT WHEN IT ATTAINS A CONFIRMED
RESOLUTION TO FOLLOW THE SAME.
I. What True Devotion is . . . 1 II. The Nature and Excellence of
Devotion . . . 5 III. Devotion is suitable to every Vocation and
Profession . . . 8 IV. The Need of a Guide for those Who Would enter
upon and advance in the Devout Life . . . 11 V. The First Step must be
Purifying the Soul . . . 15 VI. The First Purification, namely, from
Mortal Sin . . . 18 VII. The Second Purification, from all Sinful
Affections . . . 20 VIII. How to effect this Second Purification . . .
22 IX. First Meditation–Of Creation . . . 24 X. Second Meditation–Of
the End for which we were Created . . . 27 XI. Third Meditation–Of the
Gifts of God . . . 30 XII. Fourth Meditation–On Sin . . . 32 XIII.
Fifth Meditation–On Death . . . 35 XIV. Sixth Meditation–On Judgment
. . . 38 XV. Seventh Meditation–Of Hell . . . 41 XVI. Eighth
Meditation–On Paradise . . . 43 XVII. Ninth Meditation On the Choice
open to you between Heaven and Hell . . . 45 XVIII. Tenth
Meditation–How the Soul chooses the Devout Life . . . 48 XIX. How to
make a General Confession . . . 51 XX. A hearty Protest made with the
object of confirming the Soul’s resolution to serve God, as a
conclusion to its Acts of Penitence . . . 53 XXI. Conclusion of this
First Purification . . . 56 XXII. The Necessity of Purging away all
tendency to Venial Sins . . . 57 XXIII. It is needful to put away all
Inclination for Useless and Dangerous Things . . . 60 XXIV. All Evil
Inclinations must be purged away . . . 62
“… Dark Night of the Soul … Ascent of Mount Carmel … Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ …”
“Saint John of the Cross who is well known for his mystical writings and poetry, was closely associated with Saint Teresa in her work of founding the reformed Carmel. Juan de Ypes was born at Fontiveros in Spain in 1542 into a poor and struggling family. The death of his father soon afterwards and the lack of family support for his mother meant that he was no stranger to destitution. In fact, one of his brothers died in childhood, probably from malnutrition. John’s life was marked by suffering but he knew the security of the genuine selfless love of his mother and elder brother, Francisco. …”
“Dec. 14 is the liturgical memorial of Saint John of the Cross, a 16th century Carmelite priest best known for reforming his order together with Saint Teresa of Avila, and for writing the classic spiritual treatise ‘The Dark Night of the Soul.’ …”
“… At Rome in the sixth century Lucy was honored among the other virgin martyrs, and her name was inserted in the Canon of the Mass. A reference to her sanctity occurs in a letter written by Pope Gregory the Great. In the Middle Ages, she was invoked by persons suffering from eye trouble, perhaps because Lucy (in Italian, Lucia) derives from <lux>, the Latin word for light. The first church writer to give an account of St. Lucy from her <Acts> was the English bishop St. Aldhelm of Sherborne at the end of the seventh century. This saint’s relics are venerated at Venice and at Bourges, in France. She is patroness of Syracuse; her emblems are a cord and eyes.”
“St. Lucy is a virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose feast is celebrated on December 13th. … Like so many of the early martyrs, Lucy had consecrated her virginity to God, and she hoped to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor. …”
“St. Lucy (Lucia) feast day brings many different types of celebrations in various countries. Her feast is also tied in with the celebration of light and winter, as her name means light and her feast day originally coincided with the winter solstice, which marked the shortest day of the year. …”
“Francis Xavier had planned to devote himself to the intellectual life, but at a strategic moment he surrendered to God, who had long and patiently pursued him. That surrender changed the course of his life—and the course of history as well. Even Ignatius of Loyola, the leader of the new Jesuit community, had planned to deploy Francis as a scholar. But India beckoned, and Ignatius reluctantly sent Francis to preach the gospel there. Thus, the man who had planned on a leisurely intellectual life became a missionary apostle, perhaps second only to St. Paul. …”