Subj : Of seeking peace of mind and of spiritual progress To : All From : rich Date : Tue May 29 2018 10:12:07 From: rich Of seeking peace of mind and of spiritual progress [6] 6. It is a hard thing to break through a habit, and a yet harder thing to go contrary to our own will. Yet if thou overcome not slight and easy obstacles, how shalt thou overcome greater ones? Withstand thy will at the beginning, and unlearn an evil habit, lest it lead thee little by little into worse difficulties. Oh, if thou knewest what peace to thyself thy holy life should bring to thyself, and what joy to others, methinketh thou wouldst be more zealous for spiritual profit. --Thomas =C3 Kempis --Imitation of Christ B00k 1 Ch 11 <<>><<>><<>> May 30th =E2=80=93 Bl. Baptista Varani Baptista was the daughter of Duke Julius Caesar of Camerino, Italy. She was born in the capital city of that prince in 1459. In her earliest years she took pleasure in the vanities of the world. Her heart, it is true, remained unstained; but nevertheless she liked to appear in costly garments and beamed with joy when she was adorned with glittering jewels. But one day she heard a sermon by a Franciscan on the bitter sufferings of Christ. The touching portrayal so wrung the heart of the young princess that she bewailed her previous vanity with many tears and was henceforth a changed person. From then on not a day passed on which she did not meditate on the sufferings of our Lord. Under the spiritual direction of Blessed Peter of Mogliano, a Franciscan, she also practiced various bodily mortifications, and arose every night to pray the rosary in honor of the Mother of God. Meanwhile her father was contemplating marriage for her, but Baptista desired only to devote herself to God and the contemplation of the divine mysteries in some quiet convent cell. The duke opposed this wish of his beloved daughter for the space of 2 years. At last, however, he consented that she take the veil in the convent of the Poor Clares at Urbino. Now Baptista was happier than if she had received a royal crown, and later she often said: "Oh, what sweetness I experienced in the holy convent at Urbino." Some years later, there was an urgent request that the daughters of St. Clare establish themselves in Camerino. The duke built a convent for them, and Baptista was sent there with several other sisters. But now the servant of God, already firmly established in her vocation, was not to escape the test of suffering. She endured long and painful maladies, to which were added violent interior struggles and also persecution by misguided people. But she thanked God for them all, feeling that she was thereby more intimately united with her suffering Saviour. She prayed for those who persecuted her; and when her father and brother were cruelly murdered, Baptista prayed to God for the murderers: "O Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Because of her fidelity in suffering, her crucified Lord constantly drew her more closely to Himself. Christ revealed to her what suffering His own heart endured, and had her record much of it for the benefit of others. After she had served her Divine Spouse in the convent for more than 40 years, Baptista died blessedly on the 31st of May, 1517. Thirty years after her death her body was exhumed, and the tongue which had so often prayed for her enemies, was found incorrupt and fresh, as it is still preserved that way in a special reliquary. Baptista, who was venerated as a saint immediately after her death, was declared Blessed by Pope Gregory XVI. <><><><> ON DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART 1. Consider how our Divine Lord led Blessed Baptista from the contemplation of His bodily sufferings into the consideration of the sufferings of His Sacred Heart. We wished to direct her to honor His Sacred Heart long before He commended his devotion for the universal Church through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Baptista did indeed worship the Sacred Heart perfectly. In contemplating the sufferings of our Lord, her heart grew inflamed with love that was at the same time contrite and willing to make sacrifices. That induced her to forsake the vanity and glamour of the palace in order to belong to God alone. Seldom has anyone fulfilled the appeal of our Lord, "Give me your heart" (Prov 23:26) more perfectly. During this next month, which is especially consecrated to the Heart of Jesus, He directs this request also to you. For devotion to the Sacred Heart consists above all, in offering one's own heart to the Heart of Jesus, and in sacrificing whatever is apt to lead our heart away from Him.--What sacrifices of this kind have you to offer Him during this month? 2. Consider how, out of love for our suffering Savior, Blessed Baptista practiced mortification and cheerfully offered up to God sickness and interior affliction. Because she saw the Heart of Jesus grieving over the sins of men, she found consolation in suffering with Him, and she prepared sweet consolation for the Sacred Heart by offering her sufferings in atonement for sin. Such an atonement is an essential part of true devotion to the Heart of Jesus. Have we no need to render it for our own sins? Offenses committed against God by those who are otherwise numbered among good Christians wound the Heart of Jesus most painfully. He Himself complains: "With these I was wounded in the house of those who loved Me=E2=80=9D (Zach 13:6).--Have you, too, gi= ven occasion for this complaint? How do you offer atonement? 3. Consider how Baptista imitated the Divine Heart in His perfect love. Not only did she sincerely forgive the gravest of offenses, but she even pleaded for forgiveness for the murderers of her father, as Christ prayed to His Father for His executioners. Such prayer and forgiveness in imitation of the Heart of Jesus are the most pleasing honor we can render Him. They satisfy in great measure for our own failings against the Sacred Heart.--Frequently look at the pierced Heart of Jesus on the cross and draw from it strength, as did Blessed Baptista, to imitate His sentiments. <><><><> PRAYER OF THE CHURCH O God, who didst inflame Blessed Baptista with the fire of love by the contemplation of the sufferings of Thy only -begotten Son, grant through her intercession that we may always devoutly honor these holy sufferings and deserve to receive the fruits thereof. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .