- John 14:1 -

- John 14:1 -

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."
__________________________________________________________

To look around is to be distressed.
To look within is to be depressed.
To look up is to be blessed.
- Corrie ten Boom


<<>><<>><<>>
January 28th - Saint Peter Nolasco, Founder
(1189-1256)

In the early thirteenth century the Moors still held much of Spain, and in
sudden raids from the sea they carried off thousands of Christians, holding
them as slaves in Granada and in their citadels along the African coast. A
hero of these unfortunates was Saint Peter Nolasco, born about the year 1189
near Carcassonne in France. When he went to Barcelona to escape the heresy
then rampant in southern France, he consecrated the fortune he had inherited
to the redemption of the captives taken on the seas by the Saracens. He was
obsessed with the thought of their suffering, and desired to sell his own
person to deliver his brethren and take their chains upon himself. God made
it known to him how agreeable that desire was to Him.

Because of these large sums of money he expended, Peter became penniless. He
was without resources and powerless, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to him
and said to him: "Find for Me other men like yourself, an army of brave,
generous, unselfish men, and send them into the lands where the children of
the Faith are suffering." Peter went at once to Saint Raymond of Pennafort,
his confessor, who had had a similar revelation and used his influence with
King James I of Aragon and with Berengarius, Archbishop of Barcelona, to
obtain approbation and support for the new community. On August 10, 1218,
Peter and two companions were received as the first members of the Order of
Our Lady of Ransom, dedicated to the recovery of Christian captives. To the
three traditional vows of religion, its members joined a fourth, that of
delivering their own persons to the overlords, if necessary, to ransom
Christians.

The Order spread rapidly. Peter and his comrades traveled throughout
Christian Spain, recruiting new members and collecting funds to purchase the
captives. Then they began negotiations with the slave-owners. They
penetrated Andalusia, crossed the sea to Tunis and Morocco, and brought home
cargo after cargo of Christians. Although Peter, as General of the Order,
was occupied with its organization and administration, he made two trips to
Africa where, besides liberating captives, he converted many Moors. He died
after a long illness on Christmas night of 1256; he was canonized by Pope
Urban VIII in 1628. His Order continues its religious services, now devoted
to preaching and hospital service.

Sources: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on
Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea
(Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des
Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2.


<><><><>
St. Fulgentius was so enamored of perfection that whatever he did towards it
always seemed to him little, and he was always desiring to do better.

St. Vincent de Paul every day saw, more of his own faults, yet he
continually applied anew all his zeal to amend and perfect himself.

St. Ignatius constantly compared one day with another, and the gain on one
day with the gain on another. Thus he advanced daily and entertained a
constant desire of advancing still more, that he might reach the summit of
perfection to which God called him.

St. James the Apostle received great praise because he went on advancing
daily in the divine service.

(Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints". January - Perfection)

Bible Quote:
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its savor, with what
shall it be salted? (St. Matthew 5:13)


<><><><>
QUESTIONING HEART

Mary is crying!
I care...do you?
Jesus is bleeding anew,
And I care...do you?
Do you ever say "I love You?"
He cares for you-
Will you love Him till the end time?
There's Heaven then for you!




.

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