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St. Alexis of Rome

IMITATION OF THE SAVIOUR.-Alexis, born at Rome, in 350, of a family bearing senatorial rank, quite as illustrious by its Christian virtues as for its nobility and opulence, chose as his portion that part of our Saviour's life in which He has found fewest imitators, namely, in His humiliation. Having been urged by his family to turn his thoughts to marriage, he profited by this to carry out his design, and fled to Edessa; where, during seventeen years, he remained unknown, seeking for humiliations and the contempt of men with as much eagerness as others exhibit in pursuit of fortune and honours. But at length, becoming admired for his sanctity, he once more fled; and, the course of events leading him back to Rome, he went to his own father's house to crave an asylum as the veriest beggar. He there ended his days, after having been for seventeen years made the object of scorn to the entire household. His family at length discovered who he was by means of a paper found upon him containing his name and the main events of his life. The pope, the emperor, and sovereign princes came to render homage to him who had so profoundly humbled himself amongst men.

MORAL REFLECTION.-"Every one that hath left house or lands for my sake shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting."-(Matt. xix. 27.) Pictorial Half Hour with the Saint by Abbe Lecanu

"A FEAST in honour of our Blessed Lady is kept on this day, on which, as we are assured by several writers of the Carmelite Order, St. Simon Stock, general of the Carmelites, was admonished by the holy Mother of God in a vision, to establish the confraternity of the Scapular. This confraternity has been approved, and favoured with many privileges by many popes. The object of it is to unite the devout clients of the Blessed Virgin in certain regular exercises of religion and piety.

Learn from the Blessed Mother of God clothing her devout children with the humble scapular, a thorough contempt of the world. She proclaims to us: Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. Love not its riches, its fine apparel, or other vanities; but having food, and wherewith to be clothed, learn to be content. For they that would become rich fall into temptation and the snares of the devil. Despise the honours of the world; and keep not a high and proud heart beneath an humble garment. Be not greedy of power and pre-eminence above others; but willingly sit down in the lowest place, by far the most secure. Equally dangerous, and to be shunned by every faithful follower of Jesus and Mary, are the pleasures of the world. You are called in this life to labour and penance. The time of rest and enjoyment will not fully arrive till you have passed through the gate of death. To live in pleasures and sensual enjoyments, is a life full of danger, and too often leads to eternal death; but by a life of mortification, you secure joy everlasting. This is that holy violence which carries away victoriously the kingdom of heaven. And be not disturbed or fearful about the judgments of the world. Men of the world fear where there is no fear: but for your part, fear only him who has power to cast into hell. Place yourself under the patronage of the holy Mother of God; she will protect you by her powerful intercession, and procure for you the true fear and love of God." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Prayer to the Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel:
O Most Blessed and Immaculate Virgin, ornament and splendor of Carmel, thou who regardest with an eye of special kindness those who wear thy blessed habit, look down also benignly upon me and cover me with the mantle of thy special protection. Strengthen my weakness with thy power; enlighten the darkness of my mind with thy wisdom; increase in me faith, hope, and charity. Adorn my soul with such graces and virtues as will ever be pleasing to thy divine Son and to thee. Assist me in life, and console me in death, with thy most amiable presence, and present me to the most august Trinity as thy devoted servant and child; that I may eternally bless and praise thee in paradise. Amen 2 Hail Marys and Glory be to the Father.  The New Raccolta 1903

Links:

Carmelites of Fairfield, Pennsylvania

Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, Wyoming

Seven Carmelite Nuns of the Strict Ancien observance of the Mother-Carmel at Lanark, Allentown, Pa., will soon be transferred to Asheville, N.C. , to found a new Carmelite Monastery there under the title of "Carmel of St. Joseph and the Holy Child."
The nuns are going to North Carolina at the invitation of the Most Rev. Vincent S. Waters, Bishop of Raleigh. Their establishment in the Raleigh Diocese will be the first monastery for strictly cloistered nuns in North Carolina.

Bishop to Pontificate
Solemn opening services and the first Mass will be celebrated at the new Asheville Carmel by Bishop Waters on March 19..
Authorization for the new monastery has come from Pope Pius XII through the Sacred Congregation for the Religious, since the nuns are members of a Papal Institute. Previous approval had been granted by the most Rev. John F. O'Hara, C.S.C., Archbishop of Philadelphia.
This will be the second Carmelite monastery to be founded in the United States from the Allentown Mother-Carmel. In November 1954, seven nuns left there to establish a new Carmel in Wahpeton, North Dakota.

Departure Ceremonies
Special departure ceremonies were conducted at the Allentown Monastery on March 7. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Leo G. Fink, P.A., V.F., presided and presented Mission Crosses to the seven nuns who will form the new North Carolina community. They are: Reverend Mother M. Bernadette of Our Lady of Lourdes, a native of Philadelphia, who entered the Allentown Carmel on March 5, 1934. She will serve as Mother Prioress to the new community.
Sister Mary Magdalen of Jesus, of Allentown, who entered the Allentown Carmel on July 16, 1933, Assistant to the Mother Prioress.
Also, Sister Mary Anne of St. Bartholomew, of Philadelphia; Sister Mary Veronica of the Holy Face, Jersey City, N.J.; Sister Mary Patricia of the Nativity, of Philadelphia; Sister Mary Genevieve of the Holy Face, of Philadelphia; and Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, candidate for the new novitiate of New Bedford, Mass.

Note 25th Anniversary
The Allentown Carmelites are currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of their establishment in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which marks their first foundation in the United State, under the leadership of the late Reverend Mother Therese of Jesus and her companion, Mother Clement Mary of the Guardian Angel. The Carmelites were established by the General of the Carmelite Order, Blessed John Soreth, Ord. Carm. , on October 14, 1453, at Guelder, Holland. About 26 years before, St. Teresa of Avila began her reform of the Carmelites, in Spain, a branch of the original monastery was founded in Naples, Italy, in 1536. it was from this Carmelite Monastery of Naples in Italy that Carmel of the Strict Ancient Observance extended to American soil its first Foundation on May 22, 1931, at Lanark, near Allentown.

Life of a Carmelite
These Carmelite nuns take Solemn Vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, and observe strict Papal Enclosure. The choir religious chant the Divine Office in common. In addition to the Divine office, the cloistered religious observe perpetual adoration of the Holy Sacrament. Day and night, one or two Sisters kneel before the tabernacle, adoring, praising, petitioning for the needs of Mother Church throughout the world, for the Vicar of Christ on earth, for personal sanctification, and for the sanctification of all. The greater part of the day and night of the cloistered nuns is spent in prayer, meditation and other spiritual exercises. A certain part of the day is devoted to manual labor.

Source: The Catholic Standard and Times, Vol. 61, 9 March 1956

Henry II

"PIETY, MEEKNESS, AND BRAVERY.- Henry II., anointed emperor of Germany on the 8th July, 1002, showed by his life that piety is a royal virtue, because it had justice as its companion, and that piety and justice sanctify bravery when allied with mercy. Though four times compelled to fight against his revolting subjects, he as often pardoned them. Great wars gave full employment to his arms. He subdued Poland, Bohemia, and Moravia, the populations whereof had made incursions into the empire. He drove out the Saracens from Italy, whose presence had been disturbing Rome and Christendom in general. Being at length at peace on every hand, he journeyed through his dominions in order to impart new life while repressing abuses, establishing justice, and protecting religion. He expelled all flatterers from the imperial court, and loaded with favours such as reproached him for any fault. He died at Halberstadt, on the 14th July, 1024, and was canonized in 1152. Werinhair, the bishop of Strasbourg, prevented him from relinquishing the sceptre, as he had intended, with the aim of seeking greater perfection.

MORAL REFLECTION.-Happy would it be for nations were those invested with the governing power true saints; and saints they would be, did they but remember that they hold the place of God.-(Prov. viii.) Pictorial Half Hour with the Saints, by Abbe Lecanu

Whence came her unflinching strength to make such daily sacrifices to God? From her love of the Divine Eucharist. Jesus in the tabernacle, Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus in her heart through Holy Communion, Jesus was her life, Jesus was her delight. To Him she went as often as she could. It was a saying in the village that Kateri's only place was in her cabin or in church. Thither she dragged herself, despite her infirmities, and remained whole hours, seraphlike. The lives of the greatest saints do not reveal a more ardent love than burnt in the heart of the saintly Iroquois for the august Sacrament of our altars."

Source: Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks, 1656-1680  By Edouard Lecompte (S.J.) 1927

"The quiet retreat which Kateri has chosen for herself is near the pathway leading to the stream, and made by the women of the hunting-camp in tramping back and forth for water. There, in her rustic oratory, she is accustomed to kneel amid the snow. She does not raise her head except to look at the cross she has cut on the trunk of a tree. Her hands are crossed on her breast, and her blanket hangs loosely down from her head and shoulders in many a careless fold. The rivulet close beside her is crusted with ice, and the bushes are heavy with snow. The water runs freely and swiftly a little beyond her where there is a break in the line of bushes along the brink of the stream. They have been thrust aside, and the snow has fallen from them. Here it is that the women come to dip water for the camp. Kateri was there in the morning, and among the very first. She helped to prepare the breakfast for the hunters. She was present also at the morning prayers which were said in common. It was not until the men were busily engaged in eating a meal that would last them the greater part of the day, and the women, with nothing special to do, were hovering about seeking a chance to join in the good cheer and see the hunters off, that Kateri slipped away, and now is hiding among the trees, as though she were nothing else than a little white rabbit that makes his home in a snow-bank.

One would scarcely notice the print of her moccasins where she passed along by the bushes. The snow is tufty and light. The long, low branches of Kateri's tree the one on which she has marked the cross – are bowed with its weight. They almost touch the ground, and shelter her motionless figure on the side towards the moccasintrail that leads to the water's edge. Little wavy lines on either side of the interlacing footprints of the women show where their blankets and skirts with shaggy fringe disturbed the even surface of the new-fallen snow as they passed along. Kateri brushed away the freshest of the snowy mass in front of her cross, before she be gan her prayers. She kneels on the hard-packed snow that is fast frozen to the ground. Her figure is sharply outlined against a little white mound of feathery flakes. Her thoughts are many miles away, though her eyes are fixed on the cross, which is suddenly lit up by a flash from the rising sun. She knows that the moment has come for Mass to begin in the village chapel at the great rapid of the St. Lawrence. In spirit she kneels with the few who are gathered there, and follows the Mass from beginning to end with appropriate prayers. She begs her guardian angel to fly away to the chapel and bring her back the fruits of the sacrifice there being offered." Source: The life and times of Kateri Tekakwitha by Ellen Hardin Walworth 1893

"He is surnamed the seraphic doctor. His devout mother was careful to inspire into him, from the cradle, most ardent sentiments of piety, and to inure him betimes to assiduous practices of self-denial, humility, obedience, and devotion. At twenty-two years of age, he entered into the Order of St. Francis. He referred all his studies to the divine honour, and the sanctification of his own soul, and may be said to have made them a continued prayer. When St. Thomas Aquinas asked him in what books he had learned his sacred science, pointing to his crucifix he said: "This is the source of all my knowledge. I study only Jesus Christ, and him crucified." He prepared himself to receive the holy order of priesthood, by long fasts, humiliations, and fervent prayer. At the age of thirty-five, he was chosen general of his Order. He was afterwards created cardinal, and consecrated bishop of Albano by Pope Gregory X. He assisted at the general council of Lyons, but was taken ill before its conclusion. The Pope himself gave him Extreme Unction. He kept his eyes constantly fixed on a crucifix, till he expired in great tranquillity on the 14th of July, in the year 1274, in the fifth-third year of his age. It was said of him in his funeral panegyric, that "no one ever beheld him, who did not conceive a great esteem and affection for him; for he was gentle, affable, humble, pleasing to all, compassionate, prudent, chaste, and adorned with all virtues."

Pray for all the bishops of Christ's church, that they may follow the spirit of this prelate; pray for all the college of cardinals, of which he was an honorable member; that by exemplary piety they may draw down the blessings of heaven upon them. Pray that you may be faithful in your own station. There is no condition but what has many obligations annexed to it; few are solicitous to consider them all, and fewer still perform them. Heavenly light and grace are necessary for this; reflect on your own wants, and let your prayers be proportioned to them." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

"ST. ANACLETUS was bishop of Rome, and the third after St. Peter. He governed the Church after St. Clement, nine years and three months, according to the Liberian pontifical, and another very old Vatican manuscript register; but according to some later pontificals, twelve years and three months. The Emperor Trajan raised the third persecution against the Church, while he was in the East, in 107. In those difficult times, St. Anacletus suffered much, and probably laid down his life in testimony of the Christian faith, as he is styled a martyr in very ancient martyrologies. Pray for his present holiness. As he has the care of all, so he ought to have the prayers of all; since the good of the Church very much depends upon the faithful performance of his charge. Pray for all the pastors, and for yourself, that you may never make the enemies of God blaspheme, nor any way bring a scandal on the faith which you profess. How many are averse to the Church, through the ill lives of its members! See that you have no part in this; for so many souls must you answer for, as are discouraged from seeking the truth by your bad example.

"He was born at Florence, and for some time a soldier; but upon showing mercy to the murderer of his brother, God rewarded this his charity in forgiving an enemy, by inspiring him with holy resolutions of changing his life. Entering into a religious house, where he became an example of all virtues, he afterwards instituted a new order, under the rule of St. Benedict, which from the valley where the saint built the first monastery, was called the order of Vallis Umbrosa, or the shady valley. St. John was chosen the first abbot; and, with other religious men who followed him, wholly applied himself to make war against error, and all the practices of simony. In this undertaking, he met with great opposition, and suffered much : but God blessed his endeavours with great success. Being at length exhausted with labour, fasting, watching, prayer, mortification, and old age, he died in the year 1073.

Pray for all the religious of this order, that they may keep up the spirit of their holy founder. Pray for his charity, that you may learn that gospel-lesson of forgiving and loving your enemies. Great blessings are entailed upon it; and so you are to expect pardon of God for your own sins, as you forgive others, who have offended you. But then see that you be sincere in this. It is easy to say that you forgive them; but this must be from your heart; and the charity of your heart must manifest itself in your behaviour, in your words and actions. If you cannot come up to this, remember that your profession of charity is to be suspected as false and counterfeit ; and you cannot have true peace, till you have gained this point. Pray for grace, that you may be no ways wanting in this essential duty. Join likewise your prayers this day for rooting out all practices of simony from among the faithful; they are very provoking to God, who manifested his early anger against them in Simon Magus. Let no kind of temporal advantage influence you in spiritual affairs." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

"ST. PIUS was a native of Aquileia. He had served the church among the clergy at Rome many years under the Emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, when he succeeded St. Hyginus in the pontifical throne in the year 142. He condemned the heresiarch Valentinus, and rejected Marcion, who came from Pontus to Rome after the death of St Hyginus. He appears to have died by the sword, and thus obtained the crown of martrydom; though some suppose that he is styled a martyr merely on account of the severe conflicts which he sustained. He passed to a better life in the year 157.

Pray for the present bishop of that holy see; that God would assist him for the faithful discharge of all duties. Pray for all pastors and for all the faithful. Pray for yourself, that your life may be answerable to your faith. Pray for all that are out of the church; that God would shew mercy to them, and bring them into the fold of Christ. Study to obtain the spirit of the martyrs; that the love of God and the faith of the life to come may make all that welcome, which may any way help to secure to you the possession of what you desire. How are you to think yourself unhappy under the afflictions of this life, when an humble submission to them is of so great value in the purchase of heaven? Comfort and relieve, as far as you can, such as are persecuted for truth or justice. If you know any, whom the iniquity of men has made miserable, show your compassion; for thus you will oblige God to your assistance, and lay up treasures in heaven. Be not one of those who court such as are in prosperity; but if the world has frowned upon them, then know them not; for this is a baseness of spirit unworthy of a Christian. Let your conduct be regulated by duty, and not by human respects or worldly considerations." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

St. Felicitas and her Seven Sons

"The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble pious Christian widow in Rome, who brought them up in the most perfect sentiments and practice of heroic virtue. The mother and sons were apprehended, and brought before Publius, the prefect of Rome. He used the strongest inducements to bring them to sacrifice to the pagan gods; but despairing of overcoming their resolution, the prefect laid the whole process of the examination before the Emperor Antoninus. He, having read the interrogatory, gave orders that they should be condemned to different deaths. One of the brothers was scourged to death; two were beaten with clubs till they expired. Another was thrown headlong down a steep precipice. The three youngest were beheaded; and the same sentence was executed upon the mother four months after.

SS. Rufina and Secunda were sisters, who having consecrated their virginity to God, and resolutely refused all offers of marriage made by their parents, were accused for their faith in Christ; and after many torments of scourges and fire, were beheaded at Rome under Valerian. Pray for all those who are dejected in troubles; that God would give them the patience of the martyrs.

Consider what it is to want comfort; have compassion on those who stand in need of it, and pray for their relief. Humble yourself under your present troubles, and beseech God to sanctify them to you. All your disquiets avail you nothing; but a patient submission may save your soul. Pray for all those who have consecrated their virginity to God, and for those who live in that state in the world. The devil and the world are so much their enemies, and so many snares are before them, that all good Christians have reason to stand on their side. Be ever cautious in making vows; and never do it but with good advice. But if you have obliged yourself, see that you be faithful in the performance." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

"The Christian Mother: A mother has not done her entire duty when she has trained for the world, and according to the spirit prevailing in the world, her children as honorable citizens. A Roman matron, name Felicitas, has inspired her seven sons with sentiments of the purest Christianity, and the example of this excellent family exercised so great an influence, that many pagans, at the sight thereof, became Christians. The pagan priests denounced her to the emperor Antoninus, and Felicitas and her sons were soon cited to appear before the prefect Publius. No manner of remonstrance, threat, or promise did he refrain from making to each one separately, but all in vain; and when the generous mother beheld the moment of their sentence approaching, she thus addressed her sons: "Look heavenward, my children, behold Jesus Christ stretching forth His arms and battling for your souls!" They were condemned to difference kinds of torture, and martyred at intervals. Felicitas died with the last of her children, four months after the death of the first who had suffered martyrdom. This glorious event occurred in the year 164 of the Christian era.

Moral reflection: A Christian mother should ever keep before her eyes this example, as also that of the mother of the Maccabees, ever "to be admired above measure, and worthy to be remembered by good men." (2 Mach.7.20) Pictorial half hours with the saints by Auguste François Lecanu

A Motherʼs Prayer

O God, grant that one of my sons may become a priest! I myself want to live as a good Christian and want to guide my children always to do what is right, so that I may receive the grace, O God, to be allowed to give you a holy priest!  Amen. Mothers of Lu (Italy)

A Mother’s Prayer for a Seminarian

O Jesus, eternal High Priest, Who hast entrusted to priests the important work of saving souls, and Who has deigned to inspire my child, my own flesh and blood, to strive after the high office of the Priesthood, I pray Thee most fervently to bless and assist him, and to make him more worthy day by day. Give him success and perseverance in his studies and constant growth in virtue and holiness. Help him, O Jesus, overcome all temptations arising from the world, the flesh and the devil, which seek to frustrate his holy vocation. Fill his heart with burning love for God and for souls redeemed by Thy most Precious Blood.

Grant me, O Lord, the unmerited grace one day to behold my own child in priestly garb ascending the holy altar of God, and to receive from his consecrated hands the priestly blessing and the Bread of Life Eternal.

As long as I live, O Jesus, I shall every day offer Thee, through the hands of Mary, the Mother of priests, all my prayers, works and sacrifices, to call down God’s blessing upon the work of priests, and especially upon my son. The Catholic Standard and Times, Volume 61, Number 32, 4 May 1956