How Sorrows are to be Borne Patiently: [I]
- From: Weedy <richarra@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:01:38 -0800 (PST)
How Sorrows are to be Borne Patiently: [I]
C H R I S T.
My son, I came down from Heaven for your salvation. (John 3:17) I
took upon Myself your sorrows, not because I must, but out of pure
love, that you might learn patience, and bear without complaint all
the troubles of this world. From the hour of My Birth until My Death
on the Cross, I had always to endure sorrow. (Isa. 53:3) I suffered
great lack of worldly goods; many accusations were leveled against Me.
I bore all disgrace and insults with meekness. In return for blessings
I received ingratitude; for miracles, blasphemies; for My teaching,
reproofs.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 17
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February 11th - St. Benedict of Aniane
Benedict of Aniane, OSB Abbot Hermit (AC) Born in Languedoc, France,
750; died at Cornelimuenster, Aachen, Germany, February 11, 821; feast
day formerly on February 12. The son of the Visigoth Aigulf, count or
governor of Maguelone, Witiza was cup-bearer to King Pepin and
Charlemagne and served in the army of Lombardy. About age 20 he made a
resolution to seek the kingdom of God with his whole heart. For three
years more he served at the court while mortifying his body.
In 774, having narrowly escaped drowning in the Tesin near Pavia while
trying to save his brother during a military campaign in Lombardy,
Italy, he made a vow to quit the world entirely. Witiza became a
Benedictine monk at Saint-Seine near Dijon, France, where he took the
name Benedict and was appointed cellarer. He spent two and one half
years there living on bread and water, sleeping on the bare ground,
often praying throughout the night, and going barefoot even in winter.
He received insults with joy, so perfectly had he died to self. God
bestowed upon him the gift of tears and an infused knowledge of
spiritual things.
When the abbot died he refused the abbacy offered him there because he
knew his brothers were unwilling to reform. In 779 Benedict returned
to his estate at Languedoc, where he lived as a hermit near the brook
of Aniane (Coriere), attracted numerous disciples including the holy
man Widmar, and in 782 built a monastery and a church. The monks
employed themselves in manual labor and copying manuscripts. They
lived on bread and water except on Sundays and great feast days when
they added wine or milk if they received any in alms. The results of
his austere rule combining those of Benedict, Pachomius, and Basil
were disappointing, so he adopted the Benedictine Rule and the
monastery grew. From here his influence spread. He reformed and
inaugurated other houses.
When Bishop Felix of Urgel proposed that Christ was not the natural,
but only the adoptive son of the eternal Father (Adoptionism),
Benedict opposed this heresy and assisted in the Council (synod) of
Frankfurt in 794. He also employed his pen to refute this heresy in
four treatises, which were published in the miscellanies of Balusius.
Throughout the Frankish empire monasticism had suffered from the dual
evils of lay ownership and the attacks of the Vikings. Monastic
discipline had decayed regardless of the efforts of 8th and 9th
century emperors who had legislated in favor of the Rule of Saint
Benedict as the fundamental and stable code of conduct throughout
their domains.
Benedict of Aniane and Emperor Louis the Pious cooperated with each
other to mutual benefit. The emperor, who built the abbey of
Maurmünster as a model abbey for Benedict in Alsace and then
Cornelimünster (initially called Inde) near Aachen (Aix-la- Chapelle,
Germany), made Benedict director of all the monasteries in the empire.
The monk instituted widespread reforms, though because of opposition
they were not as drastic as he had wanted.
And Benedict supported the emperor, first by moving closer to his
throne at Aachen. Then, at Aachen, he presided over a meeting of all
the abbots of the empire in 817—a turning point in Benedictine
history. During the meeting Benedict's Capitulare monasticum, a
systematization of the Benedictine Rule was approved as the rule for
all monks in the empire. He also compiled the Codex regularum, a
collection of all monastic regulations, and Concordia regularum,
showing the resemblance of Benedict's rule to those of other monastic
leaders.
The legislation emphasized the fundamental guidelines of the
Benedictine Rule, stressing individual poverty and chastity with
obedience to a properly constituted abbot, who was himself a monk.
Under imperial pressure for uniformity in food, drink, clothing, and
the Divine Office (which can be compared with Charlemagne's insistence
on the Roman Rite), there was also some attempt to impose monastic
observance in less important details. Benedict insisted upon the
liturgical character of monastic life, including a daily conventual
Mass and additions to the Divine Office. He also stressed the clerical
element in monasticism which led to the development of teaching and
writing as opposed to manual labor in the field. This innovative
systematizing and centralization fell into desuetude after the death
of Benedict and his patron Louis, but it had lasting effects on
Western monasticism. The influence of his reforms can be seen in the
reforms of Cluny and Gorze. For this reason, Benedict is considered
the restorer of Western monasticism and is often called the 'second
Benedict.'
Benedict died with extraordinary tranquility and cheerfulness at about
age 71 and was buried in the monastery church, where his relics remain
and are attributed with the working of miracles (Attwater,
Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Walsh).
In art, Saint Benedict is portrayed as a Benedictine abbot with
supernatural fire near him. Sometimes he is shown (1) in a cave, food
lowered to him in a basket (this is more generally Saint Benedict
himself), or (2) giving the habit to Saint William of Aquitaine. He is
venerated at Dijon (Saint-Seine) and Aniane (Languedoc) (Roeder).
<><><><>
This day is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, where Our Mother
appeared to
young Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared
to
St. Bernadette eighteen times, beginning of the eleventh of February
in
that year. It was there the Providence of God saw fit to confirm the
long-held belief of Christendom, when Our Mother declared that she was
"The
Immaculate Conception". In this place a spring gushed forth, and to
this
day the grace of God continues to grant miracles of healing. Crutches
of
the legion of cured souls line the grotto.
Saint Quote:
O my Jesus, draw me entirely to you. Draw me with all the love of my
heart. If I knew that one fiber of my heart did not palpitate for you,
I would tear it out at any cost. But I know that I could not speak
without your help. Draw me, O my Jesus, draw me completely. I know it
well, my heart cannot rest until it rests in your heart.
--Blessed Luigi Guanella
Bible Quote:
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)
<><><><>
Hail, angelic Bread of heaven,
Now the pilgrim’s hoping-leaven,
Yea, the Bread to children given
That to dogs must not be thrown:
In the figures contemplated
‘Twas with Isaac immolated,
By the Lamb ‘twas antedated,
In the Manna it was known.
Roman Missal, Feast of Corpus Christi,
Ecce panis angelorum (From sequence Landa Sion Salvatorem.) (Tr.
Henry) St.
Thomas Aquinas, 13th cent.)
.
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