Saturday, August 23, 2003

The Feast of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin
is today. There is information on her here. .

"Even the most favoured of that glorious company, whom He has washed clean in His Blood; they never forget what they were by birth; they confess, one and all, that they are children of Adam, and of the same nature as their brethren, and compassed with infirmities while in the flesh, whatever may be the grace given them and their own improvement of it. Others may look up to them, but they ever look up to God; others may speak of their merits, but they only speak of their defects. The young and unspotted, the aged and most mature, he who has sinned least, he who has repented most, the fresh innocent brow, and the hoary head, they unite in this one litany, 'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.' So it was with St. Aloysius; so, on the other hand, was it with St. Ignatius; so was it with St. Rose, the youngest of the saints, who, as a child, submitted her tender frame to the most amazing penances; so was it with St. Philip Neri, one of the most aged, who, when some one praised him, cried out, 'Begone! I am a devil, and not a saint;' and when going to communicate, would protest before his Lord, that he 'was good for nothing, but to do evil.' Such utter self-prostration, I say, is the very badge and token of the servant of Christ;—and this indeed is conveyed in His own words, when He says, 'I am not come to call the just, but sinners;'and it is solemnly recognized and inculcated by Him, in the words which follow the text, 'Every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.' " - Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., Sermons Preached on Various Occasions

It is also the feast of St. Philip Benizi, Priest , and St. Tydfil, Martyr .




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