Daily Reflections

Matthew 9:13; Hosea 6:6, 4

Go and learn the meaning of these words:
– I want a loving heart more than sacrifice,
knowledge of My ways more than holocausts.

Your love is like the morning cloud,
the dew that swiftly fades away.
– I want a loving heart more than sacrifice,
knowledge of My ways more than holocausts.

Blessed Virgin Mary 

Saint Clare, Virgin (Traditional)

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow

SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTEL, WIDOW

The daughter of the president of the Burgundy parliament, Jane was married at twenty. What a way to start a marriage!  Jane no sooner arrived at her new home then she discovered she might lose it.  Her husband, Christophe, had not only inherited the title of baron but enormous debts as well.

But Jane had not come to the marriage empty-handed.  She brought with her a deep Faith instilled by her father who made daily religious discussion fun, allowing the children to talk about anything — even controversial topics.  She also brought a good-hearted way that made a friend comment, “Even stupid jokes were funny when she told them.”

These qualities helped the twenty-year-old French woman take charge by personally organizing and supervising every detail of the estate, a method which not only brought the finances under control but won her employees’ hearts as well.

Despite the early financial worries, she and her husband shared “one heart and one soul.”  They were devoted to each other and to their four children.

One way Jane shared her blessings was by giving bread and soup personally to the poor who came to her door.  Often people who had just received food from her would pretend to leave, go around the house and get back in line for more.  When asked why she let these people get away with this, Jane said, “What if God turned me away when I came back to Him again and again with the same request?”

Her happiness was shattered when Christophe was killed in a hunting accident.  Before he died, her husband forgave the man who shot him, saying to the man, “Don’t commit the sin of hating yourself when you have done nothing wrong.”  After the untimely death of her husband, she retreated into prayer and caring for her four children. Heartbroken, Jane, however, had to struggle with forgiveness for a long time.  At first she tried just greeting him on the street.  When she was able to do that, she invited him to her house.  Finally she was able to forgive the man so completely that she even became godmother to his child.
She was a bright example as daughter, spouse, mother and widow. These troubles opened her heart to her longing for God and she sought God in prayer and a deepening spiritual life. Her entreaties for a spiritual director were answered when, in 1604, she met Francis de Sales in Dijon, France. Her commitment to God impressed Saint Francis de Sales, the Bishop who became her director and best friend.  Their friendship started before they even met, for they saw each other in dreams, and continued in letters throughout their lives. In Jane, Francis glimpsed a soul “simple and sincere as a child, of a lofty and solid judgement”.Together they founded the Congregation of the Visitation, an Order that welcomed women who were unable to join existing Orders because of age or infirmity.

Still a devoted mother, she was constantly concerned about the materialistic ways of one of her daughters.  Her daughter finally asked her for spiritual direction as did many others, including an ambassador and her brother, an archbishop.  Her advice always reflected her very gentle and loving approach to spirituality:

“Should you fall even fifty times a day, never on any account should that surprise or worry you.  Instead, ever so gently set your heart back in the right direction and practice the opposite virtue, all the time speaking words of love and trust to Our LORD after you have committed a thousand faults, as much as if you had committed only one.  Once we have humbled ourselves for the faults God allows us to become aware of in ourselves, we must forget them and go forward.” By the time of her death in 1641, she had founded over eighty-five convents.

SAINT CLARE, VIRGIN

From The Memoirs by the secretary of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
(Françoise-Madelleine de Chaugy, Memoires sue la vie et les vertus de Sainte J.-F. de Chantal, III, 3: 3e edit., Paris 1853, pp. 306-307)

Love is as strong as death

One day Saint Jane spoke the following eloquent words, which listeners took down exactly as spoken:

“My dear daughters, many of our holy fathers in the Faith, men who were pillars of the Church, did not die martyrs. Why do you think this was?” Each one present offered an answer; then their mother continued. “Well, I myself think it was because there is another martyrdom: the martyrdom of love. Here God keeps His servants and handmaids in this present life so that they may labour for Him, and He makes of them both martyrs and confessors. I know,” she added, “that the Daughters of the Visitation are meant to be martyrs of this kind, and that, by the favour of God, some of them, more fortunate than others in that their desire has been granted, will actually suffer such a martyrdom.”

One sister asked what form this martyrdom took. The saint answered: “Yield yourself fully to God, and you will find out! Divine Love takes its sword to the hidden recesses of our inmost soul and divides us from ourselves. I know one person whom love cut off from all that was dearest to her, just as completely and effectively as if a tyrant’s blade had severed spirit from body.”

We realized that she was speaking of herself. When another sister asked how long the martyrdom would continue, the Saint replied: “From the moment when we commit ourselves unreservedly to God, until our last breath. I am speaking, of course, of great-souled individuals who keep nothing back for themselves, but instead are faithful in love. Our LORD does not intend this martyrdom for those who are weak in love and perseverance. Such people He lets continue on their mediocre way, so that they will not be lost to Him; He never does violence to our free will.”

Finally, the saint was asked whether this martyrdom of love could be put on the same level as martyrdom of the body. She answered: “We should not worry about equality. I do think, however, that the martyrdom of love cannot be relegated to a second place, for love is as strong as death. For the martyrs of love suffer infinitely more in remaining in this life so as to serve God, than if they died a thousand times over in testimony to their Faith and love and fidelity.”

DAILY MEDITATION 

“How can man complain when he beholds Christ hanging on the Cross and covered with blood?”  asked Saint Clare; and she also said, that those nights in which she contemplated the Passion of the LORD, seemed short. During her long and painful maladies, she meditated on all of the sufferings which Our LORD endured to save us, and by this means, learned such resignation, that she not only had no thought of murmuring against divine Providence, but also bore her pains with great interior consolation. See your crucified Saviour and think: “What is my suffering compared to that which my Redeemer endured for love of me? My Jesus has suffered with patience, with joy, and even with the desire to suffer still more. Why then should I be impatient and faint hearted?“ With such thoughts, you should animate yourself, especially during the night, as it is generally then that the pains increase. Remember the night, the bitter night, which your Saviour passed in the house of Caiaphas, maltreated in every possible manner, and pray for grace, to bear the cross laid upon you, with patience and fortitude. Only try it once, and you will find great relief. Saint Gregory said rightly: “remembering the sufferings of Christ, we can bear everything patiently, how heavy, soever it may be.“ 

Saint Clare, besides her love for her crucified, LORD, had an especial devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. To it she went with all your cares and found strength and comfort. Why do you not do the same?… especially when you are unhappy, in misfortune, in temptation, go to him. Pray to him in the words of Saint Clare: “LORD, do not deliver to the demons the soul of one who believes in Thee. Protect  and keep Thy servant whom Thou hast bought with Thy Precious Blood.” Do not forget the instructions here given you. Follow the admonition of Saint Paul, who says: “Let us therefore go with confidence to the throne of grace: that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid“ [Hebrews 4:16]. This throne of Grace you will find in the Blessed Sacrament. Fly to it in all your sorrows, and you will find comfort and assistance.

Father Francis Xavier Weninger [d. 1888] – Austrian priest, professor, and author; joined the Jesuits as missionary preacher to the United States.

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen