Subj : April 5th - St. Catherine of Palma To : All From : rich Date : Sun Apr 04 2021 10:13:02 From: rich April 5th - St. Catherine of Palma Also known as Catherine Tomas =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Catherine Thomas =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Catalina Thomas =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Catalina Tomas =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 Katarina Tom=C3=A1s av Palma Memorials =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 5 April =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 27 July and 28 July in Valldemossa, Spain =C2 =C2 =E2=80=A2 1 April on some calendars The whole life of Catherine Tom=C3 s--from the moment of her birth in the little village of Valdemuzza until her death at Palma--was spent in the Balearic island of Majorca. Her parents died when Catherine, their seventh child, was seven years old, leaving her unprovided for. Sad tales are told of the indignities to which she was subjected in the house of her paternal uncle, to whose custody she was transferred. Young as she was, she became a regular little drudge whom the very servants were encouraged to overwork and to slight. Nevertheless she bore her sufferings with unfailing sweetness and patience. =C2 When she was about 15 years old, visions of St. Antony and of her patroness St. Catherine awoke aspirations after the religious life which she confided to a holy hermit priest, Father Antony Castagneda. Thinking that time was required as a test of her vocation, he replied that she would receive a reply in due course if she would continue to commend her case to God, as he himself would do. She meekly agreed, but she had to wait for a long time--a delay which was the more trying because the unkindness of her relations was increased by their fear of losing her services. Father Antony, however, had not forgotten her, although he found it difficult to find a convent which could afford to take a dowerless girl. As a preliminary step, he arranged for Catherine to enter the service of a family in Palma where no hindrances would be placed in the way of her spiritual life. The daughter of the house taught her to read and write, but soon became her disciple in religious matters, for Catherine had already advanced very far on the road to perfection. Eventually several convents offered to open their doors to Catherine almost at the same moment, and she elected to join the canonesses of St. Augustine in their convent of St. Mary Magdalen at Palma. She was then in her 20th year. From the moment of her admission she won the veneration of all by her sanctity and their love by her humility and eagerness to serve others. At first there was nothing about the convent life of Catherine Tom=C3 s to distinguish her from any other holy nun, but she soon began to be subject to a number of strange phenomena which are carefully described in the records of her life. Annually, for 13 or 15 days before the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, she was observed to lie in a profound trance and always, after making her communion, she would remain in an ecstasy which usually lasted for the greater part of the day and occasionally extended to several days or even to a fortnight. Sometimes she seemed to be in a cataleptic state, giving no signs of life, but at other times she would move about with her feet together and her eyes shut--sometimes holding converse as with celestial spirits and oblivious of all around, at other times answering quite intelligently questions that were put to her. She also possessed the gift of prophecy. Alternating with these occurrences were severe trials and assaults from the powers of darkness. Not only did she suffer from evil suggestions and alarming hallucinations or phantoms, but she was subjected to physical violence of the most distressing nature. On such occasions fearful shrieks and sounds were heard by the other nuns who, however, could never see the attackers although they witnessed the results and tried to alleviate St. Catherine's sufferings. But she tried never to allow her experiences to interfere with the punctual discharge of her duties. The death of St. Catherine Tom=C3 s, which she had foretold, took place when she was 41. She was beatified in 1792 and canonized in 1930. The bull of canonization, which is printed in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. xxii (1930), pp. 371-380, gives a summary of her life and details of the miracles approved in the last stages of the process. Early biographies were written by Canon Salvador Abrines, who had been her confessor, and by Father Pedro Caldes. Both are freely quoted in the documents of the official process, the earliest portions of which appear to have been printed in 1669. There was a Ristretto della Vita della Beata Caterina Tomas published in Rome at the time of the beatification. Saint Quote: Being comes first, and afterwards, being good or evil. However, had God kept from being made those who through His goodness were to have existence but who by their own choice were to become evil, then evil would have prevailed over the goodness of God. Thus, all things which God makes He makes good, but each one becomes good or evil by his own choice. -- Saint John of Damascus Bible Quote: Be nothing solicitous: but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.=C2 And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline: think on these things.=C2 (Philippians 4:6-8) DRB <><><><> And what kind of affronts did not the Redeemer suffer in His Passion? He saw Himself affronted by His own disciples. One of them betrays Him and sells Him for thirty pieces. Another denies Him many times, protesting publicly that he knows Him not; and thus attesting that he was ashamed to have known Him in the past. The other disciples, when they see Him taken and bound, all fly and abandon Him: Then his disciples leaving him, all fled away. (Mark xiv. 50). O my Jesus, thus abandoned, who will ever undertake Thy defence, if, when Thou art first taken, those most dear to Thee depart from and forsake Thee? But, my God, to think that this dishonour did not end with Thy Passion! How many souls, after having offered themselves to follow Thee, and after having been favoured by Thee with many graces and special signs of love, being then driven by some passion of vile interest, or human respect, or sordid pleasure, have ungratefully forsaken Thee! Which of these ungrateful ones is found to turn and lament, saying, Ah, my dear Jesus, pardon me; for I will not leave Thee again. I will rather lose my life a thousand times than lose Thy grace, O my God, my Love, my All. --From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori= : --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .