Feast of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre : THE BEGGAR OF PERPETUAL ADORATION

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Benedict Joseph was a man who was rejected by every Religious Order that he went to join but he never

lost hope.He believed that no matter how much people may reject him,the good Lord shall receive him and

he lived with that believe until the very last breathe of his. 

His Pilgrim life was inspired by Saint Alexus of Rome and it was a life that abandon his country,his family and whatever earthly desire and to lead a life that was most painful,strict penance,not in a wilderness

or in a cloister but in the midst of the world to see the wickedness of this world.He had to face the world 

and all its cruelty and while he devoutly visit the famous places of Catholic Devotions barefoot as a pilgrim

of God.  

Along his pilgrimage,he visited the various shrines in Loreto, Assisi, Naples, and Bari in Italy, Einsiedeln in Switzerland,Paray-le-Monial in France and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.He prayed as he went along

and asked Jesus for the grace to go on and not lose hope.

Many times,people have seen him receive harsh treatment from others without fighting back.He talked

rarely but prayed frequently.Soon he was known as the Fool for Christ and people laughed at him where ever he was seen praying.He was a man that was not afraid of the world and he showed himself to the 

world knowing that the world would reject him;he did not run away but rather stayed and witness its brutality.

His faithfulness to prayer,soon was proved by the cures of many homeless he came across during his pilgrimage and he  multiplied bread for them.He often prayed among them while helping them with their

needs.They looked to him as their ' Tower of Refuge' because when the world rejected them,he was

always there to pray and take care of them.Though he was just the same as them,his faith was stronger

than theirs and they all knew that there was a Saint among them.

Even in his time of alms,he never forgot to spend time infront of the Blessed Sacrament.He spent many hours there and people found it difficult to understand how he could stay so long in the church.Many get distracted but not him.He almost seemed like he was in the Blessed Sacrament with Jesus just relaxing and talking 

with Jesus through his prayers and frequent recitation of the Rosary.He became so known as the 

"Saint of the 40 Hours"  for his dedication to Eucharistic Adoration.

Wednesday of Holy Week,1783,the day came for his departure from this world,he was 35-year-old when

he collapsed on the steps of a church.This poor pilgrim's final stop was at the church and no where else for that was his home because Jesus always welcomed him with open arms no matter how smelly or dirty he was;he always felt the embrace of Jesus whenever he entered church.He died peacefully in the home of a friendly butcher.As soon a he died,children and people came running in the streets exclaiming : 

" The Saint is dead! The Saint is dead!" 

The entire town turned out to pay their respects even those who made fun of him were present for his funeral.Extra police had to be brought in to control the crowds.That day did not seem like a beggar passed away but rather a Prince.God gave him such a grand funeral for all the sufferings that he endured.

May we know that through the life of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, that none of our prayers offered daily
to Jesus are not heard because Saint Benedict trusted Jesus blindly even without results from his prayers;
he kept on trusting.Saint Benedict held on to the words that Jesus told Jairus : (Mark 5: 36)

 " Do not be afraid ; just Believe " 

With this words of Jesus,today Saint Benedict sits happily in Heaven as rich Beggar of Christ.He was

begging for Jesus and the Lord heard him.Let us then not lose hope but rather cast our eyes on this great

Saint that shows us through his simple life that " NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE with GOD " because

God has transformed a Beggar into a Great Saint!

His confessor,Marconi,wrote a biography of Benedict Joseph Labre and also testimonies of  136 cures
to his intercession within 3 months of his death. Those miracles were instrumental in the conversion of the Reverend John Thayer,the 1st American Protestant clergyman to convert to Catholicism,who was resident
in Rome at the time of St. Benedict's death.A devotion grew up around him very soon after his death,and
he was Beatified in the year 1860, on the 20th of  May by Pope Pius IX as Blessed Benedict Joseph Labre and then was Canonized in the year 1881, on the 8th of December by Pope Leo XIII as Saint Benedict Joseph Labre.

Quotes of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre:

God is so good and so merciful,that to obtain Heaven it is sufficient to ask it of Him from our hearts.

We offend God because we do not know his Greatness.

God afflicts us because he loves us;and it is very pleasing to him,when in our afflictions he sees us abandon ourselves to his paternal care.

Meditate on the horrors of Hell, which will last for eternity because of one easily-committed mortal sin.Try hard to be among the few who are chosen. Think of the eternal flames of Hell, and how few there are that are saved.

                       

 The Servant Song :

The Shrine of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, 

Saint Malachy's Church, Belfast

                        
PRAYER TO SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE:

O Holy Saint Benedict,the Beggar of Perpetual Adoration,you who did spend a minimum of 40 hours of your time adoring the Blessed Sacrament daily.Pray that we too may have that love of spending as many hours as we can infront of the Blessed Sacrament,to adore Jesus.Teach us the value of this precious gift given to us by God that we may cherish it throughout our life here on earth.Help us to believe in the power and the presence of Jesus in this Holy Sacrament.For by this very Sacrament you were bestowed with abundant graces;pray for us that we may witness the graces flowing silently  from this beautiful Sacrament.
Amen.
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre,Beggar of Christ Most Sorrowful,pray for us!

Feast of St Gemma Galgani : LILY OF LUCCA

 

IMPORTANT FACTS :

Gemma Umberta Maria Galgani or commonly known as GEMMA GALGANI.She was a simple girl.
At a young age she had a very strong communication with Jesus.This was because of her mum who was a pious Catholic & taught Gemma alot about the Catholic Faith.Her mum taught her how to share her sufferings and problems with Jesus.They would often go for Mass daily and sit for hours in church praying together.She loved her mother deeply and had a very strong bond with her mother through all the prayers they often prayed together.Gemma gave credits to her mum for making her desire to go to Heaven.

Though she was very small,she learned very well from her mother all that she was taught and kept it dear to her heart.She knew very well how to talk and converse with Jesus.She found peace during her conversations with Jesus.

This is Gemma at a young age :

 

Around the age of 6,her mother became terribly ill with tuberculosis.This was a prolong suffering for her mother and she was forced to watch her mother suffer so much.She continued going to church on her own to pray for her mother's recovery.She was determine to save her mother from this terrible sickness because she wanted her mother to be restored back to good health so that they could both go to church together again.Most of her days after school,her first thought was to hurry home to see her mother's sickroom because she feared that her mother might have passed away without her presence.
Her constant worry was that her mother would leave her without saying "Goodbye" to her.

After much sadness and prayer,Gemma had a confirmation that came on May 26th, 1885.It happen
during the Mass of thanksgiving after the ceremony “all of a sudden,” she tells, “ a voice in my heart said to me: “Will you give me your Mamma? I answered, “Yes,if you will take me as well.” the voice replied,“No,give me your Mamma without reserve. I will take you to heaven later.” At first Gemma hesitated to give her answer because she felt sad about it but then she said : "Yes". 
This was her first Great Sacrifice and it cost her bitter grief and tears; but when her mother died a few months later it was Gemma who consoled the others.Though Gemma was only 8 years old but she had
the courage to say: “Why should we cry? Mamma has gone to heaven”  

Though she consoled others,she felt the bitterness in her heart.She looked at Jesus for consolation.
She said during her sadness: “If God has taken away my mother,He has left me His own.”
So Gemma turned towards Mother Mary because she felt that Jesus was calling her to come closer towards
His mother.Jesus made her understand that even her earthly mother has gone but she still has a Heavenly
Mother who cares and understands her sorrows.Gemma grew closer to Our Lady and spent most of
her prayer time with Mother Mary like how she often spent her time with her own mother.During these
times,she grew stronger in prayer and desire deeply in her heart to be a Saint.This desire was like
a light in her soul and it became brighter each time she prayed and asked Mother Mary for her prayers.
And Gemma's frequent Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary was:

When Gemma was not able to receive Holy Communion due to her very young age.She would say to the Confessor or the Sisters : “Give me Jesus,and you will see how good I shall be: I will not sin again,I shall be quite changed.” The custom of the time was against Communion at so early an age, and she was 10 years old before permission was finally granted, and only granted by special exception.The confessor declared : “There is no alternative but to admit her to Communion or see her die of grief.”
The grand day finally arrived and Gemma received her First Holy Communion on a very special day and it was the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 17th, 1887.She was a happy child that very day.She received  Jesus for the first time.Gemma said to one of her fellow friends after receiving the Jesus,pointing to her breast. : " I feel a fire burning here.Do you feel like that? "

This part we can see how little Gemma was but her knowledge towards the Holy Eucharist was more matured than her age.She knew that only through receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist,her soul would be empowered.Gemma always believed with all her heart that Jesus comes into her heart during Holy Communion.She would say :  “Gemma is good for nothing but Gemma and Jesus can do all things.”
Gemma's gain her power through receiving Jesus daily in Communion and she made sure that she receive Jesus with a heart that is pure and holy.Many times Gemma did feel unworthy to receive Jesus due to her weakness and she has confessed this in a letter to her spiritual director,Venerable Father Germanus C.P.
This is what Gemma confessed : 

So we should Gemma's trust in receiving Jesus worthily in Holy Communion.For she hoped that her good intentions at least will be pleasing to Jesus and indeed the graces of her Holy Communion brought forth abundance of fruits to glorify the Lord.

Feast of Saint John Baptist De La Salle

IMPORTANT FACTS:

Father John Baptist De La Salle was a very humble man with a great ambition.He had very big blue eyes

that radiated the Light of Faith which was filled by the Holy Spirit that led him to accomplish great things

in life.

His main focus in life was suddenly drawn to the poor during his time and he felt ashamed for not being to

help them when he came from a wealthy background.So one day,he made up his mind to focus on helping

the poor children in need and to encourage them to love studying.He wanted to bring up the poor ones in

the place he was living.Soon he was known to many poor ones around the world and people came from

all walks of life to seek his help and education.

He had many ways of teaching his students.Father John's teachings was full of  Charism of the Holy Spirit

and zeal.This made him very popular among the young.He was truly animated in faith.Soon his way of teachings were branched out in various places and many came to know his new way of teaching.He was 

a FOUNDER in founding training colleges for teachers, reform schools for lawbreaking,technical schools, and secondary schools for modern languages, arts, and sciences.

One decision led to another until Father John found himself doing something that he had never anticipated. He wrote:

 " I had imagined that the care which I assumed of the schools and the masters would amount 

only to a marginal involvement committing me to no more than providing for the subsistence 

of the masters and assuring that they acquitted themselves of their tasks with piety and devotedness.Indeed, if I had ever thought that the care I was taking of the schoolmasters 

out of pure charity would ever have made it my duty to live with them, I would have dropped 

the whole project. God, who guides all things with wisdom and serenity, whose way it is not to

 force the inclinations of persons, willed to commit me entirely to the development of 

the schools.He did this in an imperceptible way and over a long period of time so that one commitment led to another in a way that I did not foresee in the beginning."

In 1716,he resigned and stopped giving orders.He lived like the humblest of the brothers,teaching the novices and young boarders.During his free time,he occupied himself with prayers and focused on God to make sure that he was not drifting away from God due to his busy life.

Father John Baptist was Beatified February 19, 1888 and became Blessed John Baptist De La Salle
Then in the year 1900,he was Canonized on May 24 and became Saint John Baptist De La Salle.

Pope Pius X proclaimed Saint John Baptist De La Salle as the Patron of Christian Teachers May 15, 1950.

A video of Saint John Baptist De La Salle's Life and Holiness.

FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE OF 

THE BROTHERS OF

 THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS 

Quotes of Saint John Baptist De La Salle:

• The more you abandon to God the care of all earthly things, the more he will take care to provide for all your wants.
• Example makes a much greater impression on the MIND and the Heart than words.
• Young people need Good teachers,like visible Angels.
• In the light of faith you see things quite differently.
• Hold prayer in high esteem.It is the foundation of all the virtues, and the source of all grace needed the source of all grace needed to sanctify ourselves and to discharge the duties of our employment.

PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE: 

O Lasallian Saint,Patron of Catholic Teachers,you who taught the Brothers and teachers the proper way
of handling Catholic schools;gave them guidance in every way that you could to bring God's teachings
to educate the poor.Help the Brothers and teachers who continue teaching in schools to preserve your
ways of teaching.Guide them to always be insipred by the Holy Spirit to carry out proper teachings that
will educated the ones poor in knowledge.May by doing so,the ones poor in knowledge may increase in
zeal to love the faith and be educated.Saint John Baptist De La Salle,pray for all Brothers and teachers to enjoy teaching and to pray for their students like you prayed during your time.Amen.
Saint John Baptist De La Salle,Educator of the Faith,pray for all Brothers and teachers in their way of guiding students in schools!