May 25--St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, Virgin

 

Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi by Allesandro Rossi

Mystics are a special breed of saint. They receive amazing visions and ecstasies that most people cannot even imagine. Some famous mystics are St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Avila, and in the 20th century, St. Faustina Kowalska and St. Pio of Pietralcina. Today’s saint, St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, was blessed with ecstatic visions on a daily basis for numerous years. Her confessor required them to be transcribed and preserved as a safeguard against deception. For six years five volumes were transcribed. However, she not only experienced great love for God, but also great trials. One was five years long!

St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi was born to a noble and wealthy Florence family during the Italian Renaissance in 1566. She made her first communion at the early age of ten, vowed virginity that same year, and at the age of twelve experienced her first ecstasy. She was allowed to enter a Carmelite convent at seventeen. It was during her novitiate that she became critically ill and thus allowed to take religious vows, after which she went into ecstasy for about two hours and then the following 40 days after receiving communion. She died in 1607 at the age of 41 and canonized a saint in 1669.

“Intimate union, God’s gift to mystics, is a reminder to all of us of the eternal happiness of union he wishes to give us. The cause of mystical ecstasy in this life is the Holy Spirit, working through spiritual gifts.” We may not have the gift of ecstasy, but we can meet Jesus in every person as Jesus tells us: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt. 25:40). St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, pray for us!

March 29–St. Berthold, Priest and Hermit

 

Berthold of Mount Carmel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mount Carmel was where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. But it is also the location of the foundation of the Carmelite religious order. However, even before the Carmelites were founded other hermits and religious men lived together on Mt. Carmel. That seems to be the case with today’s saint. St. Berthold was a priest who went with the Crusaders on the Third Crusade. He “found himself in Antioch when it was being besieged by the Saracens. Through his urgings, the Christians in Antioch turned to prayer and penance, and the city was delivered.”

It is said that he built “a monastery and church on Mount Carmel and dedicated the church in honor of the prophet [Elijah]... and lived out his days on Mount Carmel, ruling the community he had founded for forty-five years until his death about 1195. His example and way of life stamped the beginnings of the Carmelite Order,” which was formally founded later. The Carmelites have given us numerous saints, especially mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, all Doctors of the Church.

There is much fruit that can grow from small seeds. This was true of St. Berthold and it can be true of us. Every moment is an opportunity to do the will of God. Whatever we are doing, we can offer it up in love to God. It can be a moment of suffering, and thus we can participate in Christ’s sufferings. It can be a moment of joy, and thus we can rejoice in the gifts God has given us. It can be a moment of silence, such as when Jesus prayed to his Father. We need to offer each moment to God! St. Berthold, pray for us.

July 16--Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Besides being saints and blesseds, what do St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, St. Simon Stock, and St. Elizabeth of the Trinity have in common? They are all Carmelites, or members of the Order of Mt. Carmel. When hermits lived in a cave on Mt. Carmel in northern Israel in the 12th century, they dedicated a chapel to Our Lady. By the next century they became known as the Brothers of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel.

The order spread to Spain where St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross reformed the order in the 16th century. Both are Doctors of the Church. St. Therese of Lisieux is also a Doctor of the Church and was a member in 19th century France. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was a member in 20th century Germany and an esteemed philosopher before she was martyred by the Nazis. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi was a 16th century Italian mystic; St. Simon Stock was a 13th century Englishman who was an early leader of the order; and St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was a 20th century French mystic.

Although we do not necessarily belong to the Order of Mt. Carmel, we still have the same powerful patroness as they do, the Blessed Virgin Mary. We can follow the Carmelites, who honor Mary, who worships Jesus, who is our Lord and Savior. We share with them the joy that the Holy Spirit gives us when we profess our faith, witness to our hope, and live our love of God.

December 14--St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"  That line from Monty Python's Flying Circus sets off comedy sketches about the ineptitude of the inquisitors.  However, our saint of the day was not beset by British comics pretending to be ruthless interrogators; St. John of the Cross actually spent nine months in a jail cell being investigated by the Spanish Inquisition.

How is it that a saint who was the co-founder, along with St. Teresa of Avila, of the Discalced Carmelites, a mystic who wrote amazing poetry and described the dark night of the soul in which it seemed that God abandoned him, was arrested and thrown into prison?  It was because of his association with St. Teresa that he helped start the reform of his religious order in Spain.  Due to his efforts and misunderstandings by his superiors he was imprisoned and eventually released.  Through his sufferings he came to realize that "the soul must empty itself of self in order to be filled with God."

What is in our souls?  Is it desire pleasure, power, or prestige?  There is nothing wrong with the good things of this earth that bring us closer to God, but we must remember Jesus' admonition:  "No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt. 6:24).  Is God at the center of our lives?  "For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be" (Mt. 6:21).  Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, but the difficulties and sufferings we face may help us to realize that we are utterly dependent upon God, who is our only treasure.

October 15—St. Teresa of Avila, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Try these quotations on for size:  “May God deliver me from gloomy saints.”  “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”  “To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.” “Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.”  “Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”  “Don't let your sins turn into bad habits.”  “Pain is never permanent.”  “We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”

What a wealth of wisdom!  St. Teresa of Avila was a reformer in Spain in the 16^th century, helping turn spiritually weak nuns into spiritually strong nuns.  She reformed her religious order of Carmelites.  She is one of four women who have been declared Doctors of the Church along with St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thérèse of Lisieux and, this month, St. Hildegard of Bingen.

Wisdom is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we really need this gift in these times.  “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pr. 9:10).  Fear of the Lord refers to knowing our place before God as his creatures.  When we know that, we can start on the path to wisdom.  Further, Jesus told his disciples, and us:  “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt. 10:16).  St. Teresa truly was one of the wise virgins:  “Anyone who truly loves God travels securely.”  Let us be wise, love God, and travel through life secure in the Lord.