Subj : February 16th - Bl. Verdiana, Virgin To : All From : rich Date : Sat Feb 15 2020 08:18:36 From: rich February 16th - Bl. Verdiana, Virgin d. 1240 VERDIANA, whose name is variously written Viridiana and Veridiana, was born at Castelfiorentino in Tuscany of a noble family which had fallen from its high estate. When she was twelve years old, a well-to-do relation took her as a companion for his wife, who made her housekeeper. Even at that time she had a reputation for sanctity, and when she obtained permission to join a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostela she had first to promise that she would come back to Castelfiorentino. Upon her return, her fellow pilgrims gave such an account of her holiness that the people begged her to stay permanently amongst them. This she consented to do if they would allow her to live the life of a recluse and would build her a hermitage. They erected one near the river Elsa, adjoining a little oratory it is reputed to have measured ten feet by four and to have been furnished only with a narrow stone ledge to serve as a seat. She lived for thirty-four years in her cell, and all the communication she had with the outside world was through a little window which opened into St. Antony's oratory.= * [* Just such a window or hatchway can be seen at the site of an anchorhold at Lewes in Sussex, giving on to the church of St. Anne.] She ate once a day, mainly bread and water with, occasionally, a few vegetables. She slept on the bare earth except in winter when she used a plank. She had a very great love for the poor, to whom she gave nearly everything which the piety of visitors brought to her, and she only cared to receive the poor and the afflicted. Wonderful miracles were ascribed to Bl. Verdiana. It was commonly reported that two serpents had entered her cell through the tiny window and that they remained with her for years, being allowed to torment her and even eating from her plate but that the saint kept their presence a secret, as she did not wish her sufferings to be known. She had a visit from St. Francis of Assisi himself in 1221, The two saints talked together of heavenly things and he admitted her, it was said, into his third order. She was divinely warned of her approaching death, and she closed her window and was heard reciting the penitential psalms. Tradition tells that her passing was miraculously announced by the sudden pealing of the bells of Castelfiorentino. In Florentine art Bl. Verdiana appears in the habit of a Vallombrosan nun, carrying a basket with two snakes in it. It seems certain that she was associated with the Vallombrosan Order, but her connection with the Franciscan third order is by no means so clearly established. The cultus was approved by Clement VII in 1533. 0. Pogni, Vita di S. Verdiana (1936), published a Latin text written soon after her death. A later one, translated back from an Italian version, is in the Acta Sanctorum, February, vol. i. Canon Pogni also published Canon M. Cioni's account of the beata and her church and hospital at Castelfiorentino (1932-34). See also Gonnelli, Vita di S. Verdiana (1613). There is a notice in Leon, Aureole S=C3=A9raphique (Eng. trans.), vol. i. Saint Quote: When anyone places his whole trust in God, hoping in and serving Him faithfully at the same time, God watches over him, to the extent of his confidence, in every danger. Infinite is the love which God bears to souls who repose in His protection. Diffidence in ourselves and confidence in God are like the scales of a balance; the elevation of the one is necessarily connected with the depression of the other. The more we have of diffidence in ourselves, the greater is our confidence in God; the less we possess of confidence in God, the more presumptuous shall we be of our own powers; but if we have no sort of confidence in our own strength, we may be assured that our hopes center completely in God. -- St. Francis of Sales Bible Quote: "For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body." [James 3:2] <><><><> Holy Holy Holy, Holy Holy Holy, O Lord of Hosts, Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory and Thy dignity. Have mercy O God the Father Almighty. O Holy Trinity have mercy on us. O Lord God of powers be with us, for we have no other helper in our tribulations and adversities but Thee. O God, release, remit, and forgive us our transgressions which we have committed willingly and which we have committed unwillingly, which we have committed knowingly and which we have committed unknowingly, the hidden and the manifest. O Lord, remit them for us, for the sake of Thy Holy Name, which is called upon us according to Thy mercy, O Lord, and not according to our sins. (One Our Father) --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .