Closer...and closer still...

"Totally love Him, Who gave Himself, 

totally for your love.” - St Clare

“I come, O Lord, unto Thy sanctuary 
to see the life and food of my soul.  
As I hope in Thee, O Lord, inspire me with that 
confidence which brings me to Thy holy mountain. 
Permit me, Divine Jesus, 
to come closer to Thee, 
that my whole soul may do homage 
to the greatness of Thy majesty; 
that my heart, with its tenderest affections, 
may acknowledge Thine infinite love; that 

my memory may dwell on the admirable mysteries 
here renewed every day, and that the sacrifice 

of my whole being may accompany Thine.”

St Clare of Assisi 

Italy ~ 1194-1253
"Clare" means transparent life
Foundress of Poor Clare Sisters
Incorrupt

Feast Day – August 11

"We become what we love and who we love 

shapes what we become." - St Clare 

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"They say that we are too poor, but can a

heart which possesses the infinite God 

be truly called poor?" - St Clare

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"Place your mind before 

the mirror of eternity! 

Place your soul in the 

brilliance of glory!"- St Clare

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Click here: St. Clare of Assisi - YouTube  (2 mins)

More on St Clare ... Click here: St. Clare of Assisi

St Clare, pray for us!

From glory to glory...

 “So death will come to fetch you? - No, not death, but God Himself.  

Death is not the horrible specter we see represented in pictures.  

The catechism teaches that death is the separation of the soul 
from the body; that is all.  I am not afraid of a separation 

which will unite me forever with God.” - St Therese of Lisieux

 

"The Pope and the faithful had gathered in the catacombs in  the evening of August 6, 258.  Being Christians in a cemetery, theirs was an illegal assembly punishable by death.  There is every reason to believe that the catacomb Mass that evening was to be offered specifically to strengthen the faithful to endure the new persecution... Pope Sixtus was preaching... soldiers burst into the crypt.  The congregation drew together before them, baring their breasts and extending their necks to signify that they were ready to die to protect the Pope.  But Sixtus would have none of that.  He came forward and they took him, along with four of his deacons.

   Another deacon, Lawrence, cried out:  "Father, where are you going without your deacon?"  Sixtus replied:  "I do not leave you, my son.  You shall follow me in three days."

   The Vicar of Christ was taken up the nearby stairs and beheaded on the spot, along with the four deacons.  For some 1,500 years his name was mentioned in the Canon said by every Catholic priest of the Latin rite, anywhere in the world.

  Deacon Lawrence was temporarily spared in order to give the persecution officials access to the treasure supposedly accumulated by the Roman church.  What he actually brought forth before the prefect of Rome was not gold and silver, but a representative group of the poor and needy. ...The angry prefect commanded that Lawrence be roasted to death on a gridiron.  He joked with his executioners about turning his body over because 'one side is broiled enough'." 

From The Founding of Christendom, Vol I - Warren Carroll

This series a MUST READ! Excellent, excellent!

St Lawrence

Deacon, Martyr - d. 258
Considered third patron of Rome
(after St Peter and St Paul)

Feast Day - August 10

Among the Christian martyrs of ... The early Roman days ...

Was good St. Lawrence, who was famed ... For his unselfish ways ...

He loved the humble and the poor ... And helped them all he could ...

And in those persecution days ... In their defense he stood ...

The Romans had the notion that  ... The Church was rich in treasures ...

And they demanded all its wealth ... With threats of dire measures ...

"Here are the riches of the Church" ... St Lawrence then replied ...

As he embraced the sick and lame ... And beggars at his side ...

And so they roasted him alive ... Above a fire slow ...

But on the martyr's face remained ... A happy, holy glow.
From Poem Portraits of the Saints, James J Metcalfe (1956)

Click here: St. Lawrence - YouTube
Painting above:  Martyrdom of St Lawrence ~ Pellegrino Tibaldi (1592) ~ Basilica, El Escorial 

St Lawrence, pray for us!

Leaving our narrowness...

The Lord's Day is the lord of days... 

but also remembering TODAY>>>>

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross...

   LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; 

you have made my lot secure.  The boundary lines 
have fallen for me in pleasant places; 

surely I have a delightful inheritance. - Psalm 16: 5-6

 

“To live the Eucharistic life 
means to exit the narrowness

of one’s own life...

in order to grow into 

the infinity of Christ’s life.”

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

(Edith Stein)

Germany ~ 1891-1942
Philosopher
Convert from Judaism - Carmelite nun
Martyr at Auschwitz
Patroness of Martyrs

Feast Day - August 9

"When night comes, and retrospect shows that 

everything was patchwork and much that one had 

planned left undone, when so many things 

rouse shame and regret, then take all as is, 

lay it in God's hands, and offer it up to Him. 
In this way we will be able to rest in Him, actually 

to rest and to begin the new day like a new life."

 St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

"Hail to the Cross, our only Hope!" 

 St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

"It is most important that the Holy Eucharist 

becomes life's focal point." 

 St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

"God Himself teaches us to go forward with our hand 

in His by means of the Church's liturgy." 

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

11 Quotes of Wisdom from St. Edith Stein to Live By – EpicPew

Click here: The Hidden Life of Wisdom | Crisis Magazine

Click here: Edith Stein | Sophia Institute Press
Click here: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - YouTube (2 mins)

St Teresa Benedicta, pray for us!

The miraculous answer...

The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, 

your faithfulness too, in the 

assembly of the holy ones. - Psalm 9:10

 

The Miracle of Saint Dominic

    "During the ceremony of profession of the nuns of St Sixtus, there was a great excitement and a call for the saint to come out, since the nephew of one of the bishops who was acting with him in this case had just been thrown from his horse and was lying dead in the square outside. ...The body of the young man was brought in, badly mangled from the accident, and laid at the feet of the saint.  Dominic ordered them immediately to remove the body to another room. 

    Once more life came back at his request; this time after he had offered the Holy Sacrifice.  Bystanders testified that during the Mass they had seen him raised above the ground.  There were hundreds of witnesses to the miraculous answer when he spoke to the dead youth and commanded:  "Young man, I say to thee arise."  The youth rose up joyful and with no sign of injury and was restored to his family.  This miracle was instrumental in bringing into the (Dominican) Order two of its most famous sons; they were the brothers, Hyacinth and Ceslaus, and were later to win great renown as the apostles of the North."  

Sr Mary Jean Dorcy, OP

Saint Dominic

St Dominic

SPAIN ~ 1170-1221

Founder:  Order of Preachers (OP)

(popularly known as Dominicans)

Motto: Laudare, benedicere, praedicare

"to praise, to bless, to preach"

Known for rigorous intellect, humility,
austerity and prayerful love of God
Worked effectively against Albigensian heresy

Feast Day - August 8

 "Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword;
wear humility rather than fine clothes." - St Dominic

"One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, 

Our Lady will save the world."  - St Dominic

"We must sow the seed, not hoard it." - St Dominic

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"St Dominic responded when ... He heard his Master call ... And truly lived a pious  life ... With charity to all ... The holiest of friars who ... Were living in his time ... He fought against the ravages ... Of heresy and crime ... He founded the Dominicans ... And taught them prayer and fasting ... And that humility which leads ... To glory everlasting ... One day when he was rapt in prayer ... And dwelt on God’s commands ... Our Lady came to him and placed ... The Rosary in his hands ... And so today each bead we say ... For all the poor and sick ... Should be in loving memory ... Of good St Dominic. - From Poem Portraits of the Saints, James J Metcalfe (1956)

Click here: St. Dominic - YouTube 
Click here: The History of the Rosary 

Spiritualdirection.com| Saint Dominic's Nine Ways of Prayer 

St Dominic, pray for us!

Divine attraction...

 "Receive Communion often, very often ... there 

you have the sole remedy, if you want to be cured.  

Jesus has not put this attraction in 

your heart for nothing... " - St Therese of Lisieux

"My God, Jesus my love,

uncreated goodness, what 

would have become of me if You 

had not drawn me to Yourself? 

St Gertrude

 Painting: The Communion ~ Alphonse Legros (1865)