February 15--St. Claude la Colombière, S.J., Priest and Religious

Saint Claude La Colombière priant le Sacré-Cœur de Jésus by Octave 444 licensed under CC by-SA4.0

"Death by a thousand paper cuts!"  Today's saint was familiar with how we can be cut to ribbons by the little things.  St. Claude la Colombière was a Jesuit priest from France in the 17th century.  At the time, the Catholic Church was fighting Jansenism, which taught that we did not have free will.  This is patently false because God gives us free will as a part of our human nature.  We can freely choose what God wants:  "God's free initiative demands man's free response" (CCC, 2002).  So therefore, we can freely overcome the cuts and little things that annoy us by responding to God's grace.

He wrote:  "All our life is sown with tiny thorns that produce in our hearts a thousand involuntary movements of hatred, envy, fear, impatience, a thousand little fleeting disappointments, a thousand slight worries, a thousand disturbances that momentarily alter our peace of soul.  For example, a word escapes that should not have been spoken.  Or someone utters another that offends us.  A child inconveniences you.  A bore stops you.  You don't like the weather.  Our work is not going according to plan.  A piece of furniture is broken.  A dress is torn.  I know that these are not occasions for practicing very heroic virtue.  But they would definitely be enough to acquire it if we really wished to."

How often do we lose our temper over little things?  St. Claude teaches that these little things are great opportunities.  It takes time to develop the virtues of patience and humility.  God provides us with time.  He allows us to endure the little cuts to bring us closer to him.  "Far from allowing us to be depressed at the sight of our faults, it strengthens us in the idea of the infinite goodness of our Creator."

Friday Following the Second Sunday After Pentecost—Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

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“The veneration of the Sacred Heart is a summary of all our religion and, moreover, a guide to a more perfect life. It more easily leads our minds to know Christ the Lord intimately and more effectively turns our hearts to love him more ardently and to imitate Him more perfectly” (Pope Pius XI, 1928). So that is all you need to know.

But wait, there’s more! The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus came from devotion to the humanity of Jesus, but it developed from the devotion to the Passion of Jesus and the Sacred Wounds. Many saints fostered this devotion, including St. Bonaventure, St. John Eudes, and the mystics St. Lutgarde, St. Mechtilde and St. Gertrude the Great. But the saint who promoted it in its modern form is St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. She had a vision of Jesus showing his heart in flames—“a sign of his burning love for the souls He had ransomed with his sacrifice on the Cross.” With the help of the Jesuit, St. Claude de la Colombière, she fostered the devotion to the point where it was liturgically celebrated in 1670, established as a feast for the whole Church in 1856, and raised to the highest rank of solemnity in 1928. Since 2002, it is also a special Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

That’s the theology and history, but what about its place in our hearts? Jesus’ Sacred Heart is a sign of his complete love for us. Further, the entire month of June is the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This guides us away from the secular celebration of “Pride” month, pride being the worst of the seven deadly sins! Love is about humility, service, and sacrifice, all of which are shown through Jesus’ Sacred Heart.

*https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/18704992416