Rich
2019-01-07 06:52:33 UTC
Not on Your Own
"There are some people who consider themselves able to refine
themselves on their own, in order to contemplate and remain in God.
Accordingly, they look down upon the mass of Christians who live
on faith alone as not being able to do as they do."
--St. Augustine--The Trinity 4, 15
Prayer: Give me strength to seek you, Lord, for you have already
enabled me to find you and have given me hope of finding you
ever more fully.
--St. Augustine--The Trinity 15, 51
<<>><<>><<>>
January 7th - St. Raymund of Peñafort
Dominican, Archbishop (1175-1275)
THE family of Peñafort claimed descent from the counts of Barcelona,
and was allied to the kings of Aragon. Feast Day formally January
23rd. Raymund was born in 1175, at Peñafort in Catalonia, and made
such rapid progress in his studies that at the age of 20 he taught
philosophy at Barcelona. This he did gratis, and with great
reputation. When he was about thirty he went to Bologna to perfect
himself in Canon and civil law. He took the degree of doctor, and
taught with the same disinterestedness and charity as he had done in
his own country. In 1219 Berengarius, Bishop of Barcelona, made
Raymund his archdeacon and “official”. He was a perfect model to the
clergy by his zeal, devotion and boundless liberalities to the poor.
In 1222 he assumed the habit of St. Dominic at Barcelona, 8 months
after the death of the holy founder, and in the 47th year of his age.
No one of the young novices was more humble, obedient or fervent than
he. He begged of his superiors that they would enjoin him some severe
penance to expiate the complacency which he said he had sometimes
taken in his teaching. They, indeed, imposed on him a penance, but not
quite such as he expected. It was to write a collection of cases of
conscience for the convenience of confessors and moralists, This led
to the compilation of the Summa de casibus poenitentialibus and the
first work of its kind.
Raymund joined to the exercises of his solitude an apostolic life by
labouring without intermission in preaching, instructing, hearing
confessions, and converting heretics, Jews and Moors; and he was
commissioned to preach the war of the Spaniards against the
last-named. He acquitted himself of his new duties with much prudence,
zeal and charity, and in this indirect manner paved the way for the
ultimate overthrow of the infidel in Spain. His labours were no less
successful in the reformation of the morals of the Christians detained
in servitude under the Moors, which had been corrupted by their long
slavery and intercourse with these infidels. Raymund showed them that
to triumph over their political foes they must first conquer their
spiritual enemies, and subdue sin in themselves. Inculcating these and
the like spiritual lessons, he journeyed through Catalonia, Aragon,
Castile and other countries. So general a change was wrought hereby in
the manners of the people that it seemed incredible to all but those
who were witnesses of it....
Pope Gregory IX, having called St. Raymund to Rome in 1230, nominated
him to various offices and took him likewise for his confessor, in
which capacity Raymund enjoined the pope, for a penance, to receive,
hear and expedite immediately all petitions presented by the poor.
Gregory also ordered the saint to gather into one body all the
scattered decrees of popes and councils since the collection made by
Gratian in 1150. In 3 years Raymund completed his task, and the five
books of the “Decretals” were confirmed by the same Pope Gregory in
1234. Down to the publication of the new Codex Juris Canonici in 1917
this compilation of St. Raymund was looked upon as the best arranged
part of the body of canon law, on which account the canonists usually
chose it for the text of their commentaries. In 1235 the pope named
St. Raymund to the archbishopric of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon:
the humble religious was not able to avert the blow, as he called it,
by tears and entreaties; but the anxiety brought on a serious illness.
To restore him to health his Holiness was obliged to consent to excuse
him, but required that he should recommend a proper person.
For the recovery of his health St. Raymund returned to his native
country, was received with as much joy as if the safety of the kingdom
depended on his presence. Being restored again to his dear solitude at
Barcelona be continued his former contemplation, preaching and work in
the confessional. The number of conversions of which he was the
instrument is known only to Him who by His grace was the author of
them. Raymund was employed frequently in important commissions, both
by the Holy See and by the king. In 1238, however, he was
thunderstruck by the arrival of deputies from the general chapter of
his order at Bologna with the news that he had been chosen third
master general, Bl. Jordan of Saxony having lately died. He wept and
entreated, but at length acquiesced in obedience. He made the
visitation of his order on foot without discontinuing any of his
austerities or religious exercises. He instilled into his spiritual
children a love of regularity, solitude, studies and the work of the
ministry, and reduced the constitutions of his order into a clearer
method, with notes on the doubtful passages. The code which he drew up
was approved in 3 general chapters. In one held at Paris in 1239 he
procured the establishment of this regulation, that the voluntary
resignation of a superior, founded upon just reasons, should be
accepted. This he contrived in his own favour, for in the year
following he resigned the generalship which he had held only two
years. He grounded his action on the fact that he was now 65 years
old.
But St. Raymund still had 34 years to live, and he spent them in the
main opposing heresy and working for the conversion of the Moors in
Spain. With this end in view, he engaged St. Thomas to write his work
“Against the Gentiles”; he contrived to have Arabic and Hebrew taught
in several convents of his order; and he established friaries, one at
Tunis, and another at Murcia, among the Moors. In 1256 he wrote to his
general that ten thousand Saracens had received baptism. He was active
in getting the Inquisition established in Catalonia; and on one
occasion he was accused--it is to be feared not without some
reason--of compromising a Jewish rabbi by a trick.
A famous incident in St. Raymund’s life is said to have taken place
when he accompanied King James to the island of Majorca. The king,
very loose in his relations with women, promised amendment, but failed
to implement his promise; whereupon Raymund asked leave to go back to
Barcelona. The king not only refused, but threatened to punish with
death any person who attempted to convey him out of the island. Full
of confidence in God, Raymund said to his companion, “An earthly king
withholds the means of flight, but the King of Heaven will supply
them.” He then walked to the sea and, we are told, spread his cloak
upon the water, tied up one corner of it to a staff for a sail, and
having made the sign of the cross, stepped upon it without fear whilst
his companion stood trembling on the shore. On this new kind of vessel
the saint was wafted with such rapidity that in six hours he reached
the harbour of Barcelona, sixty leagues distant from Majorca. Those
who saw him arrive in this manner met him with acclamations. But he,
gathering up his cloak dry, put it on, stole through the crowd and
entered his monastery. A chapel and a tower, built on the place where
he is supposed to have landed, transmitted the memory of this miracle
to posterity. During the saint’s last illness, Alphonsus, King of
Castile, and James of Aragon visited him, and received his final
blessing. St. Raymund gave up his soul to God on January 6 in the year
1275, the hundredth of his age. The two kings, with all the princes
and princesses of their royal families, honoured his funeral with
their presence but his tomb was rendered far more illustrious by
miracles. Several (including the one related above) are recorded in
the bull of his canonization, published in 1601.
Reflection.
Ask Saint Raymond to protect you from the fearful servitude, worse
than any bodily slavery, which even one sinful habit tends to form.
Saint Quote:
Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete
sinlessness he suffered, and at the hands of those who were his own,
and was numbered among the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord
Jesus (how glorious it is!), give thanks to the Lord, the giver of all
blessings.
May the God of love and peace set your hearts at rest and speed you on
your journey; may he meanwhile shelter you from disturbance by others
in the hidden recesses of his love, until he brings you at last into
that place of complete plenitude where you will repose for ever in the
vision of peace, in the security of trust, and in the restful
enjoyment of his riches.
--from a letter by Saint Raymond
<><><><>
The following was written by St. Augustine, to conclude several of his
sermons. It is completely suitable as an opening prayer for a group, such
as the Rosary:
Let us turn towards the Lord God and Father Almighty, and with a pure heart
let us give Him sincere thanks as well as our littleness will allow: Let us
with our whole hearts beseech His extraordinary clemency, that He may
vouchsafe to hear our prayers according to His good pleasure. May He by
His power drive our enemies far from us, lest we fall under the sway of the
evil one in act or thought. May He increase our faith, rule our mind, give
us spiritual thoughts, and at last lead us to His blessedness, through
Jesus Christ His Son. Amen.
"There are some people who consider themselves able to refine
themselves on their own, in order to contemplate and remain in God.
Accordingly, they look down upon the mass of Christians who live
on faith alone as not being able to do as they do."
--St. Augustine--The Trinity 4, 15
Prayer: Give me strength to seek you, Lord, for you have already
enabled me to find you and have given me hope of finding you
ever more fully.
--St. Augustine--The Trinity 15, 51
<<>><<>><<>>
January 7th - St. Raymund of Peñafort
Dominican, Archbishop (1175-1275)
THE family of Peñafort claimed descent from the counts of Barcelona,
and was allied to the kings of Aragon. Feast Day formally January
23rd. Raymund was born in 1175, at Peñafort in Catalonia, and made
such rapid progress in his studies that at the age of 20 he taught
philosophy at Barcelona. This he did gratis, and with great
reputation. When he was about thirty he went to Bologna to perfect
himself in Canon and civil law. He took the degree of doctor, and
taught with the same disinterestedness and charity as he had done in
his own country. In 1219 Berengarius, Bishop of Barcelona, made
Raymund his archdeacon and “official”. He was a perfect model to the
clergy by his zeal, devotion and boundless liberalities to the poor.
In 1222 he assumed the habit of St. Dominic at Barcelona, 8 months
after the death of the holy founder, and in the 47th year of his age.
No one of the young novices was more humble, obedient or fervent than
he. He begged of his superiors that they would enjoin him some severe
penance to expiate the complacency which he said he had sometimes
taken in his teaching. They, indeed, imposed on him a penance, but not
quite such as he expected. It was to write a collection of cases of
conscience for the convenience of confessors and moralists, This led
to the compilation of the Summa de casibus poenitentialibus and the
first work of its kind.
Raymund joined to the exercises of his solitude an apostolic life by
labouring without intermission in preaching, instructing, hearing
confessions, and converting heretics, Jews and Moors; and he was
commissioned to preach the war of the Spaniards against the
last-named. He acquitted himself of his new duties with much prudence,
zeal and charity, and in this indirect manner paved the way for the
ultimate overthrow of the infidel in Spain. His labours were no less
successful in the reformation of the morals of the Christians detained
in servitude under the Moors, which had been corrupted by their long
slavery and intercourse with these infidels. Raymund showed them that
to triumph over their political foes they must first conquer their
spiritual enemies, and subdue sin in themselves. Inculcating these and
the like spiritual lessons, he journeyed through Catalonia, Aragon,
Castile and other countries. So general a change was wrought hereby in
the manners of the people that it seemed incredible to all but those
who were witnesses of it....
Pope Gregory IX, having called St. Raymund to Rome in 1230, nominated
him to various offices and took him likewise for his confessor, in
which capacity Raymund enjoined the pope, for a penance, to receive,
hear and expedite immediately all petitions presented by the poor.
Gregory also ordered the saint to gather into one body all the
scattered decrees of popes and councils since the collection made by
Gratian in 1150. In 3 years Raymund completed his task, and the five
books of the “Decretals” were confirmed by the same Pope Gregory in
1234. Down to the publication of the new Codex Juris Canonici in 1917
this compilation of St. Raymund was looked upon as the best arranged
part of the body of canon law, on which account the canonists usually
chose it for the text of their commentaries. In 1235 the pope named
St. Raymund to the archbishopric of Tarragona, the capital of Aragon:
the humble religious was not able to avert the blow, as he called it,
by tears and entreaties; but the anxiety brought on a serious illness.
To restore him to health his Holiness was obliged to consent to excuse
him, but required that he should recommend a proper person.
For the recovery of his health St. Raymund returned to his native
country, was received with as much joy as if the safety of the kingdom
depended on his presence. Being restored again to his dear solitude at
Barcelona be continued his former contemplation, preaching and work in
the confessional. The number of conversions of which he was the
instrument is known only to Him who by His grace was the author of
them. Raymund was employed frequently in important commissions, both
by the Holy See and by the king. In 1238, however, he was
thunderstruck by the arrival of deputies from the general chapter of
his order at Bologna with the news that he had been chosen third
master general, Bl. Jordan of Saxony having lately died. He wept and
entreated, but at length acquiesced in obedience. He made the
visitation of his order on foot without discontinuing any of his
austerities or religious exercises. He instilled into his spiritual
children a love of regularity, solitude, studies and the work of the
ministry, and reduced the constitutions of his order into a clearer
method, with notes on the doubtful passages. The code which he drew up
was approved in 3 general chapters. In one held at Paris in 1239 he
procured the establishment of this regulation, that the voluntary
resignation of a superior, founded upon just reasons, should be
accepted. This he contrived in his own favour, for in the year
following he resigned the generalship which he had held only two
years. He grounded his action on the fact that he was now 65 years
old.
But St. Raymund still had 34 years to live, and he spent them in the
main opposing heresy and working for the conversion of the Moors in
Spain. With this end in view, he engaged St. Thomas to write his work
“Against the Gentiles”; he contrived to have Arabic and Hebrew taught
in several convents of his order; and he established friaries, one at
Tunis, and another at Murcia, among the Moors. In 1256 he wrote to his
general that ten thousand Saracens had received baptism. He was active
in getting the Inquisition established in Catalonia; and on one
occasion he was accused--it is to be feared not without some
reason--of compromising a Jewish rabbi by a trick.
A famous incident in St. Raymund’s life is said to have taken place
when he accompanied King James to the island of Majorca. The king,
very loose in his relations with women, promised amendment, but failed
to implement his promise; whereupon Raymund asked leave to go back to
Barcelona. The king not only refused, but threatened to punish with
death any person who attempted to convey him out of the island. Full
of confidence in God, Raymund said to his companion, “An earthly king
withholds the means of flight, but the King of Heaven will supply
them.” He then walked to the sea and, we are told, spread his cloak
upon the water, tied up one corner of it to a staff for a sail, and
having made the sign of the cross, stepped upon it without fear whilst
his companion stood trembling on the shore. On this new kind of vessel
the saint was wafted with such rapidity that in six hours he reached
the harbour of Barcelona, sixty leagues distant from Majorca. Those
who saw him arrive in this manner met him with acclamations. But he,
gathering up his cloak dry, put it on, stole through the crowd and
entered his monastery. A chapel and a tower, built on the place where
he is supposed to have landed, transmitted the memory of this miracle
to posterity. During the saint’s last illness, Alphonsus, King of
Castile, and James of Aragon visited him, and received his final
blessing. St. Raymund gave up his soul to God on January 6 in the year
1275, the hundredth of his age. The two kings, with all the princes
and princesses of their royal families, honoured his funeral with
their presence but his tomb was rendered far more illustrious by
miracles. Several (including the one related above) are recorded in
the bull of his canonization, published in 1601.
Reflection.
Ask Saint Raymond to protect you from the fearful servitude, worse
than any bodily slavery, which even one sinful habit tends to form.
Saint Quote:
Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete
sinlessness he suffered, and at the hands of those who were his own,
and was numbered among the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord
Jesus (how glorious it is!), give thanks to the Lord, the giver of all
blessings.
May the God of love and peace set your hearts at rest and speed you on
your journey; may he meanwhile shelter you from disturbance by others
in the hidden recesses of his love, until he brings you at last into
that place of complete plenitude where you will repose for ever in the
vision of peace, in the security of trust, and in the restful
enjoyment of his riches.
--from a letter by Saint Raymond
<><><><>
The following was written by St. Augustine, to conclude several of his
sermons. It is completely suitable as an opening prayer for a group, such
as the Rosary:
Let us turn towards the Lord God and Father Almighty, and with a pure heart
let us give Him sincere thanks as well as our littleness will allow: Let us
with our whole hearts beseech His extraordinary clemency, that He may
vouchsafe to hear our prayers according to His good pleasure. May He by
His power drive our enemies far from us, lest we fall under the sway of the
evil one in act or thought. May He increase our faith, rule our mind, give
us spiritual thoughts, and at last lead us to His blessedness, through
Jesus Christ His Son. Amen.