Devotion for Saturday/Sunday: Veni, Creator Spiritus

Creator Spirit, by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid,

Come visit every pious mind;

Come pour thy joys on humankind;

From sin and sorrow set us free,

And make thy temples worthy thee...

Refine and purge our earthly parts;

But, O, inflame and fire our hearts!

Our frailties help, our vice control,

Submit the senses to the soul;

And when rebellious they are grown,

Then lay thy hand and hold them down

.

Chase from our minds the infernal foe,

and peace, the fruit of love, bestow;

And lest our feet should step astray,

Protect and guide us on the way.

Make us eternal truths receive,

And practice all that we believe;

Give us thyself tht we may see

The Father and the Son, by thee

John Dryden(1631-1700)

Devotion for today: love's greatest choice

Today, as we approach All Saints Day (Nov.1), we are humbled by the example of a young girl.

St. Maria Goretti: Born in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy, on October 16 1890; her farm worker father moved his family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio. Her father died of malaria and her mother had to struggle to feed her children. In 1902 an eighteen-year-old neighbor, Alexander, grabbed her from her steps and tried to rape her. When Maria said that she would rather die than submit, Alexander began stabbing her with a knife. Maria continually cried out to her assailant, "No! It is a sin! God forbids it! You will go to hell!" On her deathbed a day later, in her agony, she forgave her murderer. "For the love of Jesus I forgive him, and I want him to be with me one day in heaven!" Her death didn't end her forgiveness, however. Alexander was captured and sentenced to thirty years. He was unrepentant until he had a dream that he was in a garden. Maria was there and gave him flowers. When he woke, he was a changed man, repenting of his crime and living a reformed life. When he was released after 27 years he went directly to Maria's mother to beg her forgiveness, which she gave. "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withhold forgiveness," she said. When Maria was declared a saint in 1950, Alexander was there in the St. Peter's crowd to celebrate her canonization. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950 for her purity as model for youth. She is called a martyr because she fought against Alexander's attempts at sexual assault. However, the most important aspect of her story is her forgiveness of her attacker -- her concern for her enemy extending even beyond death. http://www.catholicorg.com/, http://www.mariagoretti.org/

Scripture for meditation: 1 Thessalonians:3-5, 7:  It is God's will that you grow in holiness: that you abstain from immorality, each of you guarding his member in sanctity and honor, not in passionate desire as do the Gentiles who know not God. God has not called us to immorality but to holiness.

Scripture for reflection: Luke 23: 33-35: When they came to Skull Place, as it was called, they crucified Him there and the criminals as well, one on His right, and one on His left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing."

Blessed John Paul II tells us: "She did not flee from the voice of the Holy Spirit, from the voice of her conscience. She rather chose death. Through the gift of fortitude the Holy Spirit helped her to 'judge"- and to choose with her young spirit. She chose death when there was no other way to defend her virginal purity. Maria Goretti's blood, shed in a sacrifice of total fidelity to God, reminds us that we are also called to offer ourselves to the Father. We are called to fulfill the divine will in order to be found holy and pleasing in His sight. Our call to holiness, which is the vocation of every baptized person, is encouraged by the example of this young martyr. Look at her especially, adolescents and young people. Like her, be capable of defending your purity of heart and body; be committed to the struggle against evil and sin, nourishing your communion with the Lord through prayer, the daily practice of mortification, and scrupulously observing the commandments. Do not be afraid to take a counter-cultural stance, to reject the world's idols when it is a question of courageously witnessing by your lives that you belong to a chaste and poor Christ. Always esteem and love purity and virginity. In a Homily commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the virgin-martyr's birth

Prayer:  Official Prayer to St. Maria Goretti

Oh Saint Maria Goretti who, strengthened by God's grace, did not hesitate even at the age of twelve to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity, look graciously on the unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially youth, with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus anything that could offend Him or stain our souls with sin. Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation, comfort in the sorrows of life, and the grace which we earnestly beg of  thee (here insert intention), and may we one day enjoy with thee the imperishable glory of Heaven. Our Father,   Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father, etc.   http://www.mariagoretti.org/

My thoughts: What is "Love's greatest choice"? Is it to resist the sin of impurity because of our love for God? Is it the forgiveness of someone who has maliciously harmed us? Or is it to care in all situations for the salvation of another person's soul? Maria Goretti, in her resistance, feared that the act would send her attacker to hell. On her deathbed, she expressed her desire for him to be in heaven, and in death, she appeared to him to offer him a new life. He accepted, and died a good and holy man. Maria is remembered for her purity, her ability to forgive, and her desire to save a soul. May we, too, pray for the graces of fortitude, forgiveness, and spiritual concern for our neighbor. It is such a beautiful way to live, and die.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us.

St. Maria Goretti's feast day is July 6.

St. Maria Goretti is the patron saint of youth, young women, purity, and victims of rape.

Recommended website: http://www.mariagoretti.org/.

 

Devotion for today: a man for all seasons

So far, in our preparation for All Saints Day (Nov. 1) we have looked at a Capuchin, a Carmelite, a mother, and today...a lawyer!

St. Thomas More was born at London in 1478. After a thorough grounding in religion and the classics, he entered Oxford to study law. Upon leaving the university he embarked on a legal career which took him to Parliament. In 1505, he married his beloved Jane Colt who bore him four children, and when she died at a young age, he married a widow, Alice Middleton, to be a mother for his young children. A wit and a reformer, this learned man numbered Bishops and scholars among his friends, and by 1516 wrote his world-famous book "Utopia". He attracted the attention of Henry VIII who appointed him to a succession of high posts and missions, and finally made him Lord Chancellor in 1529. However, he resigned in 1532, at the height of his career and reputation, when Henry persisted in holding his own opinions regarding marriage and the supremacy of the Pope. The rest of his life was spent in writing mostly in defense of the Church. In 1534, with his close friend, St. John Fisher, he refused to render allegiance to the King as the Head of the Church of England and was confined to the Tower. Fifteen months later, and nine days after St. John Fisher's execution, he was tried and convicted of treason. He told the court that he could not go against his conscience and wished his judges that "we may yet hereafter in heaven merrily all meet together to everlasting salvation." And on the scaffold, he told the crowd of spectators that he was dying as "the King's good servant-but God's first." He was beheaded on July 6, 1535. http://www.catholic.org/

Scripture for meditation: 1 Corinthians 2:12-15

The spirit we have received is not the world's spirit but God's spirit, helping us to recognize the gifts He has given us. We speak of these, not in words of human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, thus interpreting spiritual things in spiritual terms. The natural man does not accept what is taught by the Spirit of God. For him, that is absurdity. He cannot come to know such teaching because it must be appraised in a spiritual way. The spiritual man, on the other hand, can appraise everything, though he himself can be appraised by no one.

Scripture for reflection: Matthew 14: 25, 28-31

At about three in the morning, He came walking toward them on the lake. Peter spoke up and said, "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across the water." "Come," He said. So Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water, moving toward Jesus. but when he perceived how strong the wind was, becoming frightened, he began to sink and cried out, "Lord, save me!' Jesus at once stretched out His hand and caught him. "How little faith you have!" He exclaimed. "Why did you faulter?"

St. Thomas More tells us:  I will not mistrust God...though I feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear. I shall remember how Saint Peter, at a blast of wind, began to sink..., and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to Him for help. And then I trust He shall place His holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning. Spiritual Advice from The Saints, Pauline Books

Prayer: Written by St. Thomas More while imprisoned in the Tower of London
Give me the grace, Good Lord: To set the world at naught. To set the mind firmly on You and not to hang upon the words of men's mouths. To be content to be solitary. Not to long for worldly pleasures. Little by little utterly to cast off the world and rid my mind of all its business. Not to long to hear of earthly things, but that the hearing of worldly fancies may be displeasing to me. Gladly to be thinking of God, piteously to call for His help. To lean into the comfort of God. Busily to labor to love Him. To know my own vileness and wretchedness. To humble myself under the mighty hand of God. To bewail my sins and, for the purging of them, patiently to suffer adversity. Gladly to bear my purgatory here. To be joyful in tribulations. To walk the narrow way that leads to life. To have the last thing in remembrance. To have ever before my eyes my death that is ever at hand. To make death no stranger to me. To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of Hell. To pray for pardon before the judge comes. To have continually in mind the passion that Christ suffered for me. For His benefits unceasingly to give Him thanks. To buy the time again that I have lost. To abstain from vain conversations. To shun foolish mirth and gladness. To cut off unnecessary recreations. Of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life and all, to set the loss at naught, for the winning of Christ. To think my worst enemies my best friends, for the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred. These minds are more to be desired of every man than all the treasures of all the princes and kings, Christian and heathen, were it gathered and laid together all in one heap. Amen.  

My thoughts: We have no better role model in the face of adversity than St. Thomas More. He had what all men desire, and he gave it up to hold fast to his beliefs. He suffered great mental and emotional torment while locked in the Tower of London, yet he never failed to reach for God's hand when he started to sink. Knowing he was misunderstood by everyone, even his own family, he stayed in the truth of the Spirit. An absurdity to man? Yes, he was. God's faithful servant to the end? Yes, indeed. May the same be said for us.

St. Thomas More, patron saint of lawyers, pray for us.
St. Thomas More's feast day is June 22.

Recommended reading:The Four Last Things: A Dialogue on Conscience by Thomas More.
The Sadness of Christ by Thomas More