Subj : September 22nd - St. Thomas of Villanova, To : All From : rich Date : Sat Sep 21 2019 08:45:24 From: rich September 22nd - St. Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876 Among the many Saints, celebrated on account of their virtues and miracles, who adorned the Catholic Church at a period when a great number of heretics revolted against her, one of the most famous was St. Thomas of Villanova. He was born 1488, in Castile, and received his surname from the city where he was educated.... PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS I. The whole life of St. Thomas was a continued practice of charity to the poor and sick. For this he consumed almost his entire revenues. How much do you use, weekly, monthly, or yearly, in deeds of Christian charity? Do you not use much more in vanity, intemperance in eating and drinking, maintaining useless animals, or in various forbidden pleasures? Will this give you consolation in your last hour? Will you, acting thus, be able to justify yourself before God? "What will you answer to your Judge," says St. Basil,"if you have covered the walls of your house, but have allowed the poor to go bare and naked? if you have richly decked your horses, but despised your brother because of his torn garments? if you have allowed the corn to rot, but have not fed the hungry? You have not opened your house to the poor; therefore will the gates of heaven remain closed against you." Consider what, according to your circumstances, you are able to do for the poor. Follow the admonition Tobias gave to his son: "According to thy ability, be merciful. If thou have much, give abundantly; if thou have little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little." (Tob. iv.) II. St. Thomas led a holy life, and yet feared he would not be able to justify himself before God. Faith teaches you that you will have to render account, to an omniscient, just, and omnipotent Judge, of all your thoughts, words, actions, and omissions. This account will be much more difficult for you than for thousands of others, because you have received more benefits from God than thousands of others. "To whom much is given, of him much will be required," is a sentence pronounced by the Almighty. "With the increase of the gifts or benefits of God, increases also the account we have to render of them," says St. Gregory. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrha have, according to the words of Christ, not to render so heavy an account on the day of judgment, as those of Corozain and Bethsaida; because the latter received more graces than the former. (Matt xi.) For this reason the Jews and heathens have less to account for than the Christians. And, for the same reason, you have more to account for than thousands of other Christians. Is it possible then, that you do not fear this responsibility, this account? The Saints have feared, and yet you do not, although you lead an indifferent, perhaps even a sinful life! Can this be possible? And whence comes it that you do not fear? Perhaps because you do not earnestly think of it, or because you imagine that the time to give an account is still very far off. In the first you are wrong, because you ought to think frequently of it, as so much depends on the issue. In the second you err no less; for, you do not know how near or how far your death may be; and, hence, the account which you have to render. "Behold the judge standing before the door," says St. James. (James, v.) Should He, however, still tarry a long time, you ought nevertheless often to think of it, and prepare yourself for His coming. You ought to regulate your life in such a manner, that you can justify yourself to your God. How must you conduct yourself? Listen to the words of St. Chrysostom: "Let us keep the judgment of God continually before our eyes, and we shall surely endeavor to be truly pious; for, as he who forgets it, falls into vices, so will he who keeps it in mind, walk continually in the path of virtue." See more at: http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Thomas%20of%20Villanova%20popup.html Saint Quote: "Dismiss all anger," says St. Thomas of Villanova, "and look a little into yourself. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a saint, notwithstanding his present weakness. You may fall into the same faults or perhaps into a worse fault. But supposing you remain upright, to whom are you indebted for it, if not to the pure mercy of God?" --Readings with the Saints. Bible Quote: God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the strong. (I Cor. 1:27) On Certain Temptations Against Humility It is not easy to be humble when we are praised and flattered. Our self-love sucks in with eagerness the words of compliment. We think they must be partly true, or at least we are tempted to exult in the high opinion that others profess of us. Such occasions are very perilous to humility. We should do well to think of Herod when the people listened to his oration, and shouted out: "It is the voice of a god and not of a man." We read that because he took the glory to himself instead of giving it to God, he was smitten down by the Angel of the Lord and died miserably. (Acts xii.) Yet we cannot help being pleased when others speak kindly of us, and we ought to be pleased when our superiors commend us. But we must observe certain precautions. (1) We must take care to rejoice rather in the kindness of others than in their praise. (2) We must strive and forget ourselves, and raise our heart to God, and offer Him our success. (3) We must make an act of humility at the thought that if those who praise us saw us as God sees us, they would despise, not honor us. --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .