August 12 2026 - St. Frances de Chantal - Radiant through different walks of life

 

St. Jane Frances de Chantal was wife, mother, nun and founder of a religious community.  This 16^th Century saint had an amazing array of life experiences, many of which, however, involved the cross.

 Jane’s mother died when she was but 18 months old. Her father, who was head of the French parliament saw to her development as a woman of beauty and refinement.  She was married at age 21 to Baron de Chantal. They had six children, but three died in infancy. At their castle, she restored the custom of daily Mass, and was deeply engaged in various charitable works.

Jane’s husband was killed in a hunting accident after seven years of marriage, leaving her a widow at 28 with four children, and broken-hearted.

A few years later, her father invited her to come to Dijon to hear the Lenten sermons of the holy bishop of Geneva Switzerland, St. Francis de Sales. Which certainly changed her life. The saint became her spiritual director, and under his direction, she grew in sanctity and discerned a religious vocation. So, at age 45, she joined the Visitation Nuns, the cloistered community founded her spiritual director. Their charism was to seek to exemplify the humility and meekness exemplified by Our Lady at the Visitation.

Life’s challenges however continued.  Her son was killed, and a plague ravaged France.  In response to the plague, she persuaded local authorities to respond to the plague victims and she put all the resources of her convent at the disposal of the sick.

Additionally, Religious life did not shield Jane Frances de Chantal from great trials of the spirit, temptations, darkness, and spiritual dryness, but her strong faith enabled her to carry these crosses. St. Vincent de Paul, who knew her personally, said: “for all that suffering, her face never lost its serenity, nor did she once relax in the fidelity God asked of her.” 

It may surprise us that a saint should be subject to such great suffering, spiritual dryness, darkness.  But that’s how saints are made. Saints are those who persevere through the darkness. At the heart of the saint is a trust and faith in God that is deeper than any darkness—that no matter what one is feeling, no matter what tragedy or chaos life throws at you, we rely on God’s grace, we seek to be faithful to God in season and out of season. Just because we are having a bad day, a bad week, a bad decade, we are not excused from the commandment to love.

Jane Frances de Chantal went to her heavenly reward in 1641 at the age of 69 after many sorrows and joys. She is invoked as a patron saint of widows, people with problems with their in-laws…we didn’t even get into those…and parents who are separated from their children.

A soul made beautiful and holy through God’s grace, through the crucible of suffering, imitation of the Blessed Virgin, and the help of other saints along the way. May we benefit from her prayers and holy example, and like her become radiant through the many different walks of our own life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That we like St. Frances de Chantal, we may respond to life's challenges with faith, perseverance, and love, and that we may grow in our trust in God amidst life's turmoil.

For those facing trials of the spirit, temptations, or spiritual dryness, those experiencing grief,  depression, broken-heartedness, for widows, for parents who have lost children, for those with problems with their in-laws, and for those experiencing any kind of darkness in their lives, that they may find hope in the examples of saints who persevered through similar struggles.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

Loving and merciful God, as we celebrate the saints, hear our prayers, that we like them may face life’s challenges with unwavering faith, persevering hope, and generous charity. Through Christ our Lord.

August 11 2023 - St. Clare of Assisi - To love and serve God is everything

 The idea of entering a monastery in order to pursue a life of prayer and joyful communion with the Lord, like St. Clare, is quite foreign to the vast majority of the world today.  Our modern culture tells our young people that they cannot be happy unless they abandon the values of the past and create themselves anew. They are told that religion has nothing to offer—and to seek happiness is riches and internet celebrity and positions of power in the corporate or political world. 

But St. Clare rightly discerned that there is something more than the world has to offer. Clare was raised in an aristocratic Italian family, she lived in a castle, she wore rich clothing and jewels, and was to marry a noble prince. 

However, she met the son of a cloth merchant, who had left behind the trappings of the world in order to follow Christ in radical poverty and charity, St. Francis of Assisi. Francis, radiated a profound joy, that attracted of thousands and thousands of followers in the first few years of his ministry. Clare desired that joy, and so determined to dedicate her life to pursuing the joy that the world cannot give, the joy that comes from radical discipleship, on Palm Sunday in the year 1212, Clare left her family home, to consecrate herself to Christ. At the altar of Our Lady, Clare traded her rich clothing for the rough brown woolen habit of the Franciscans; she exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with three knots to symbolize poverty, chastity, and obedience, and caught off her long golden tresses.  Thus she became espoused to Christ.  Her sister Agnes, 14 years old, soon joined her, as did several other women, in the following weeks.

They lived a simple life of poverty, austerity, and seclusion from the world.  Clare and her consecrated religious sisters went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat, and observed almost complete silence.  This was the beginning of the cloistered order of Franciscan nuns known as the Poor Clares, thus the Virgin Clare was made the mother of countless virgins consecrated to Christ.

It took a lot of courage for clare to leave behind her old life, just as it takes a lot of courage for young people today to discern a religious vocation. But it’s a vocation the Church needs, that humanity needs, to remind us that there is something beyond the gold and fame and power of the world, something that all of us should do everything in our power to obtain. 

Not all of us are called to religious life, but all of us are called to pursue holiness as much as we possibly can. Christ tells us to love God with our whole, heart, mind, soul, and strength. And St. Clare challenges us. Am I seeking to love God as much as I can? Am I seeking to serve God as much as I can?

The Lord promises in the Gospel “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more”. Why am I so slow to trust him? What would I give up if I trusted God a little a bit more? What is God inviting me to give up in order to love Him and serve Him for deeply?

May we, like Clare, trust God enough, love God enough, may we have the courage enough to follow him out of the luxury of the world, away from the empty promises of our culture, to pursue the promises of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For an increase in vocations to the consecrated religious life, that young people may hear the Lord calling them to radical holiness, and for the Poor Clares and all those consecrated religious under St. Clare’s patronage, for their sanctification, and that they may be a witness to the whole Church to seek the holiness for which we were made.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering. 

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

February 10 2020 - St. Scholastica - Those who love more can do more

St. Gregory the Great said, “Since God is love, then surely he can do more who loves more.”  We certainly see the power of love at work in the life of St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict.

Like Benedict, Scholastica heard the call of God to leave the worldliness of the city in order to pursue the call of radical holiness. The two siblings helped each other start a community for religious women about five miles south of Benedict’s monastery in Monte Cassino.

We only have one story of Scholastica, but it’s a great story. Because they were so dedicated to their holy way of life, the holy siblings were only able to visit together once a year, and only for a short while, for they both had to return to their communities according to their rule of life. One year, they met at a residence half way between their two communities to spend the day praying and  speaking of God and the spiritual life.

When Benedict said he had to return to the monastery, Scholastica begged him to stay and talk awhile longer. Benedict refused, saying that his rule required that the monks be in their monastery at night. Desiring their holy conversation to continue, Scholastica folded her hands, put her head on the table, and prayed. As she prayed, a storm began, so terrible that no one could venture out. "What have you done?" Benedict exclaimed to his sister. She explained that she entrusted their time together to the will of God and God granted this favor.

Benedict and Scholastica continued their conversation and prayer until morning.  And then both returned to their monastery. Three days later, while praying in his cell, Benedict had a vision that his sister had died.  In his vision, her soul rose to heaven in the form of a dove.  Benedict buried his sister in the tomb that had he had originally prepared for himself.

When we love God, our priorities begin to coincide with His. For Scholastica and Benedict, it was a holy conversation, and lives dedicated to seeking radical holiness. Love of God opens up new pathways, new possibilities, that we never thought possible before, whether its calming a storm, founding a religious community, overcoming sinful habits and engaging in new modes of charity and service.

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May St. Scholastica help us to love God with such purity and trust, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
For the good of the Church, for the Pope and his prayer intentions for this month: that the needs of migrants and victims of human trafficking may be heard and acted upon.

For those in religious life, that like St. Scholastica they may shine as beacons of Christ’s light and love in the world, and for an increase in vocations to the consecrated life.

For a healing of all the wounds of sin and divisions in families, that the love of God may govern all families, for a healing of troubled marriages, and for all engaged couples.

For the sick and suffering, and for all of our beloved dead, especially X, for whom this mass is offered.

July 23 2019 - St. Bridget of Sweden - Holiness in all walks of life

The Opening Prayer mentions how God guided Saint Bridget of Sweden “along different paths of life.”  Bridget was a wife, a mother, a lady-in-waiting in the royal court, a mystic, a third Order Franciscan, and finally a foundress of a religious order.

Throughout the stages of her life, Bridget exemplified considerable holiness. At the age of ten, Bridget had a vision; she saw Our Lord as He was on the Cross. She meditated constantly on the mysteries of the Passion even in her youth. Throughout her marriage a Prince of Sweden, she was dedicated to the works of mercy. She even had a monastery built for the good sisters which she later joined after the death of her husband, when she renounced her wealth in order to live as the ascetical life as a Third Order Franciscan.

She went on to found the Religious Order of the Precious Blood, which is known familiarly as the Bridgettines, which still exist to this day. I would often see them in Rome. You can tell them by their very unique head guard to their religious habit. Her daughter joined the Bridgettines as well, and went on to become a saint. Saint Catherine of Sweden.

Pope John Paul II declared St. Bridget co-patroness of Europe. And In his declaration the Pope said, “In naming her a Co-Patroness of Europe”, she is not just a model for those in consecrated religious life, but especially for married people—that those who have “the high and demanding vocation of forming a Christian family will feel that she is close to them.”  The Pope emphasized how “she and her husband enjoyed a married life in which conjugal love was joined to intense prayer, the study of Sacred Scripture, mortification and charitable works. Together they founded a small hospital, where they often attended the sick. Bridget was in the habit of serving the poor personally. At the same time, she was appreciated for her gifts as a teacher”

“Who is my mother, who are my brothers and sisters?” Asks the Lord in the Gospel today. “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father” St. Bridget sought to do the will of God, and is a model for us all. Like St. Bridget, we are each to seek opportunities within our individual vocations to grow in holiness, opportunities to build the kingdom.

We see in the Saints what life is supposed to look like.  The Lord guides us along many different paths and desires to teach us, like St. Bridget, the wisdom of the cross: that fulfillment in this life and happiness in the life to come is found, not in wealth and possessions and making a name for ourselves but seeking the Lord’s will in all things, particularly in accepting the cross for the sake of the kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That members of the Church, priests, religious, married, and single, may seek the kingdom of God His and righteousness and the Divine Will above all.

For an increase in vocations to the religious life, for the spiritual good of the Bridgettine Order, for third Order Franciscans, that our consecrated religious may continue to bless the Church by their faithful living of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Through the intercession of St. Bridget, co-patroness of Europe, for the conversion of the people of Europe from all that keeps them from following Christ.

That the sick, suffering, and sorrowful may know the consolation and peace of the living God.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

May 22, 2017 - St. Rita of Cascia - Battered wife, sorrowful mother, stigmatist, saint

St. Rita is a truly remarkable figure in the history of the church and the history of the saints. She was born in Umbria in 1381. From an early age she wanted to become a nun, a religious dedicated entirely to God. But her parents had other plans for her. They wanted her to marry, and so she did; she obeyed her parents’ insistence and married at a young age. But her husband turned out to be cruel and harsh and the marriage was very difficult, Rita’s only consolation during these years was God; she united herself often, in prayer, to Christ’s sorrowful passion.

After 18 years of a difficult, abusive marriage, her husband, who was a quarrelsome fellow got himself killed in a brawl. When her two sons vowed to avenge their father's murder, she feared for their souls. She tried to persuade them to let go of their anger, but to no avail, they began to plot a murder.

So she prayed, and she petitioned God to prevent her sons from sinning and losing their souls, even if it meant that they lost their earthly life. And it so happened that the sons developed dysentery; but, they were reconciled to God before they died, repentant of their hatred.

Free from earthly ties, St. Rita entered the Augustinian nuns in the nearby town of Cascia. She became renowned for her austerity, devotion, prayer, and charity; and for her patience in long-standing illness, she received visions from heaven and the stigmata—a wound resembling the crown of thorns on her forehead, which she bore until her death, which occurred on May 22, 1457.

So many spiritual lessons, from this brief description of her life:

She united her suffering to passion of Christ. And she followed God’s call to a life of religious consecration. I wish we lived in a culture where it was more common, as it was in those days, for men and women to enter religious life, and to become dedicated to God in prayer and fasting.

And she understood the consequences of mortal sin and the value of the souls of her sons. She understood that sin is the greatest of evils because its effects are eternal. So many parents these days are overly concerned about their children’s earthly successes without greater concern for their eternal welfare. The neglect of religious formation is deeply troubling.

St. Rita is one of the patron saints of impossible causes, we certainly invoke her intercession for the transformation of our culture whose conversion seems quite difficult these days. May St. Rita continue to teach us, inspire us, and challenge us, that we may reach the perfection for which we were made for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Christians may grow in grace by uniting their sufferings to the Sufferings of Christ and know God’s presence with them in their sufferings.

For all those in difficult or abusive marriages, that the Lord will protect victims of abuse and bring healing and reconciliation where it is possible.

That all young people may come to value discipleship of Jesus Christ above all earthly pursuits, be preserved from sin, and grow in grace and holiness.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, and for a strengthening of all vocations of service.

For all those impossible cases which only the grace of God can remedy.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the repose of the soul of Fr. Robert Wendelken, longtime pastor of St. Rita parish, for all of the pour souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.