predication.net

Saint Margaret Maria Alacoque was born on the 22nd of July 1647 in the village of Lauthecour in Burgundy. Her family was middle-class, religious, and considered trustworthy and honorable. Her father, Claude Alacoque, had made it to the Royal Notary. Her mother, Philiberta Lamyn, was the daughter of Francois Lamyn, who had also already been a royal notary.

Abhorrence of sin

Her family members discovered very early on that Margarete Maria felt a genuine disgust for sin from the tender childhood of around three years old. Simply pointing out that a particular action offended God caused the girl to recoil in horror. This abhorrence of sin was soon joined by a great fondness for prayer and penitential exercises, as well as a tendency to help the poor.

„God gave me such a deep love for the poor“, the saint once wrote, „that I would have preferred to dedicate it only to them. He imprinted on my soul such a great pity for their misery that I would have liked to leave everything to them if only it had been in my power. If I had money, I would give this to the poor people so that they would approach me and I could teach them the catechism and how to pray.“

According to the custom of the time (1652 – 1655), she spent her childhood from the fourth to the seventh year of her life at the castle of her godmother, Madame de Corcheval, a noblewoman in the area. Her education began in this quiet, barren environment.

Two women took care of her upbringing. One was graceful and accommodating. But Margarete tried more to escape her. The other, on the other hand, was strict and bold, and Margarete was strangely attracted to her. Nobody could explain this preference. Only later would one discover that, in this case, too, it was an expression of special divine protection. The first led a morally flawless life, while the second did not fault his lifestyle.

Margarete’s upbringing suffered a deep turning point when Madame de Corcheval died. The godchild was sent back to his parents’ home. But Margarete’s father would also die in the same year, 1655. Her mother was now forced to put right the family’s complicated financial situation left by her husband, and therefore had no time to raise their daughter. As was usual at the time, she sent them into retirement with the Poor Clares. The silence of the monastery corridors, the long hours of reflection and gathering, and the nuns’ modesty and spirit of prayer awakened Margaret’s calling to monastic life. Here, she received her first Holy Communion at around nine. From now on, the grace of prayer and the taste for inner contemplation increased even more significantly.

The young Margarete was to receive from the Poor Clares the education that a girl of her class usually received, that is, she was to be prepared for the life of a future mother and lady of society. This definitely includes a solid moral education, the outstanding characteristics of which were modesty, tact, restraint, and self-control in dealing with people.

In addition to character development, the practice of the art of light, pleasant but by no means superficial conversation, was meaningful. There were also subjects such as music, painting, and dance, which were intended to develop the girls’ sense of pleasing rhythm and good tone. Ultimately, an orderly coexistence among pensioners should foster a sense of moderation, naturalness, and well-behavedness, while developing the ability to assess people and events—a talent to which particular emphasis was placed in French education during the Ancien Régime.

Saint Teresa of Ávila (real name Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada) was born on 28 March 1515 in Ávila, Spain, and died on 4 October 1582 in Alba de Tormes. Coming from a Jewish family, she became the most essential Spanish mystic and reformer of the Carmelite order. She was beatified by Pope Paul V on 24 April 1614 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622. Her feast day is celebrated on 15 October. On 29 September 1970, Pope Paul VI named St Teresa of Ávila the first woman to be recognized as a teacher of the Church. Today, there are four teachers of the Church: St Teresa of Ávila, St Hildegard of Bingen, St Catherine of Siena, and St Teresa of Lisieux.

The attributes of St Teresa of Ávila are the letters IHS, an angel with a fiery arrow piercing her heart, and a dove. She is the patron saint of Spain, Croatia, Mexico, the archbishopric of Ávila, the city of Alba de Tormes, and Naples. She is also the patron saint of all Carmelite communities.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
The parents of St. Teresa of Avila were the knight Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda and Beatriz d’Ávila y Ahumada; the latter’s parents were of Jewish origin. At the end of the 15th century in Spain, the Reconquista (the liberation of Spain from Moorish rule, which began in 711 and ended in 1492) was in full swing. A Catholic royal couple, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, succeeded in liberating Granada, in southern Spain, from Muslim rule. The defeat of the Muslims brought movement within the Spanish populations. Muslims and Jews who refused to accept Christianity gradually had to leave Spain, while the Spanish Inquisition closely monitored mainly Muslim and Jewish converts, many of whom had only converted to Catholicism in name.

However, the Catholic conversion of St. Teresa of Avila’s ancestors was sincere. Her mother, Beatriz d’Avila y Ahumada, raised her in Catholic piety. Teresa read the biographies of saints from a young age, and at the age of seven, she ran away from home with her brother Rodrigo, hoping to die as a martyr during the Christianisation of North Africa by the Moors. However, outside the city walls, the siblings were found by their uncle, who took them back home. Unable to become martyrs, the siblings built maids out of stones and played at home as monks and martyrs.

In 1531, Teresa introduced her father to the Augustinian convent in Avila for his upbringing and education. While in the monastery, Teresa read the letters of St. Jerome on the consecrated life and morals. In 1535, she decided to enter the Carmelite monastery in Avila, and in 1536 she received the religious order’s robe. That same year, she came across the book Alfabeto Espiritual (Spiritual Alphabet) by the Spanish Franciscan Francisco de Osuna, which would have a significant influence on her spiritual development (this book would later be recommended by the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola).

In 1537, Teresa fell seriously ill, suffering from headaches, chest cramps, and heart disease. The doctors could not help her. On 15 August 1537, she lost consciousness, and the doctors thought she was dead, so they had her buried. After four days, she recovered, but was partially paralysed for three years. Her physical condition did not improve until 1540; however, she continued to suffer mentally because she felt the horror of sin in everyone and was troubled by how many souls she could not help to achieve eternal salvation.

However, not everyone viewed St Teresa of Avila’s mortification positively. According to several strict Spanish theologians, she went beyond the usual measure of mortification. She even reached the point where she stopped meeting people because she could not concentrate on matters of prayer and meditation amid worldly concerns.

Her confessor, St Francisco Borgia, supported her in her efforts. In 1559, she admitted that apparitions of Our Lord Jesus Christ had appeared to her for approximately two years. During one of these ecstatic states, one of the seraphim appeared to her and pierced her heart with a red-hot golden spear, causing her spiritual and physical pain, but she was glad to receive it. This event also inspired her throughout her life; through suffering, she wanted to get closer to Christ.

She later commented on this event herself in the following words: “I saw that he held a golden spear in his hand, at the tip of which I saw a small fire. He stabbed me in the heart and seemed to pierce me inside too. When he withdrew, he left me in the fire of God’s great love. I felt a great, yet sweet and intense, pain… Lord, let me suffer or die?”

Words from the book of St Theresa of Avila inspired the important Baroque artist Gianlorenzo Bernini, who subsequently created the statue ‘Ecstasy of St Teresa of Avila’.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, ‘Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila’
St. Teresa of Avila is considered to be one of the greatest Catholic mystics. However, her mysticism and mystical ideas are very demanding and far removed from the liberal and modernist ideas of bishops, priests, and believers, who perceive faith as an all-embracing love that guides these unfortunate people to the point that they even regard the administration of the Eucharist as a gift.

In her mysticism, St. Teresa of Avila focused on how the human soul can rise to God. The first degree of the soul’s approach to God is pious contemplation and concentration, primarily on Christ’s suffering and forms of repentance, which the soul must practice, drawing closer to God.

The second level is silent prayer, in which the human will is lost in God’s will through a supernatural state given by God. The third degree has a partially ecstatic character: the soul sinks into God’s love. The fourth degree is entirely ecstatic. Ecstasy can last up to half an hour, and a person may find themselves in tears after waking up from it. According to witnesses living near St Teresa of Ávila, she levitated during the fourth ecstatic stage.

In 1560, she had a vision of hell. This filled her with terror, and she wrote the following about her vision of hell:

‘One day, I was suddenly transported to Hell, without knowing how. It was a very short vision, but it seems to me that I will not be able to forget it, even if I live for many years.” The entrance appeared to be a long, narrow, underground passageway, like a dark, low furnace; the floor was smelly mud, full of disgusting reptiles. In the wall behind, a cavity had been dug out, like a niche, and I felt myself being closed in it. The suffering I endured is beyond human comprehension and cannot be conveyed in words. I felt an indescribable fire in my soul, while unbearable pain tormented my body. I have experienced many of the most difficult things that a person can suffer, according to doctors, because all my nerves stiffened and I was completely twisted. And that’s not to mention the various other sufferings caused to me by an evil spirit. These can be no less compared to them, especially when I consider that the torment should have been endless and without relief. However, even that was nothing compared to the mortal struggle of the soul. The oppression, anxiety and deep sadness were overwhelming, and the pain was so vivid and desperate that I don’t know how to express it. I was left devastated by fear, and even now, almost six years later, I am still stuck on the spot with fear. Since then, as I say, no suffering seems easy to me compared to that one moment. From this experience, I have been left with a profound sense of sorrow at the loss of so many souls…“

Anyone interested in ancient Christian monuments cannot visit Rome without seeing the famous Catacombs of Calixtus. This extensive underground burial ground is named after Pope Saint Calixtus I, whose feast day is on 14 October.

Saint Calixtus I came from a Christian family. He was born in the second half of the 2nd century in Roman Zátiberí (now Trastevere). We know quite a lot about his life from the writings of his contemporary, Hippolytus of Rome. The disadvantage of these sources is that they are one-sided. Hypolitus was Calixtus’ personal enemy and therefore sought to find in his life anything that would portray him in the worst possible light. Nevertheless, Hippolytus’ testimony is historically valuable, and, alongside other sources, it enables us to better understand the life of Pope Calixtus I than that of many of his successors.

Calixtus’ parents were slaves, and he was a slave himself in the household of an imperial courtier in his youth. His master was wealthy because Emperor Commodus gave him large properties and allowed him to open a bank as a reward for his service as a legionnaire. As he was a Christian, some Christians also deposited money in his bank. Calixtus demonstrated specific abilities when his master entrusted him with managing this particular bank. However, he was a poor farmer. He lost a lot of money through frivolous lending. Fearing severe punishment, he decided to escape. He had already boarded a ship in the port of Ostia, but he was caught. The Lord punished him by making him do hard work. After a while, the Lord released him from this duty on the condition that he recover the borrowed money from the debtors. Some of the debtors were Jews, and it seems that Calixtus sought them out when they were gathered in the synagogue. The Jews were outraged by this. Not only did he not receive the money, he was also accused of being a Christian and of violating their rights, which were guaranteed by Roman law.

He was imprisoned and sentenced to forced labour in the Sardinian mines, where other Christian convicts also worked. After some time, however, he and several other Christians were released. This was thanks to the religious concubine of Emperor Komodo, who, at the initiative of Pope Victor, asked the emperor for mercy for the imprisoned Christians. Nevertheless, Pope Victor did not want Calixtus to remain in Rome and offered him a position and security in the nearby city of Ancyra.

Pope Victor was succeeded by Zephyrin in 198. Zephyrin called Calixtus to Rome to serve as his collaborator, ordained him a deacon, and entrusted him with managing a crucial Christian cemetery on the Via Appia, a road in Rome. As Calixtus was entrusted with this task for a long time, the cemetery became known as the Catacombs of Calixtus.

Calixtus proved himself well in his service to the Roman Church and, after Zephyrinus’s death, he was elected as his successor. This greatly upset the learned but proud priest Hippolytus, who considered himself the most suitable candidate for the papal throne. He refused to recognise Calixtus’s election and was himself elected by his supporters as an antipope. This was the first case of antipopeism in church history. However, after a long split, Hippolytus finally died reconciled to the Church in 235.

Pope Calixtus served as pope for five years. He solved essential questions that had caused contradictions between the faithful and the clergy during his time as pope. He allowed those excluded for apostasy or serious moral offences to return to the Church if they repented and asked to rejoin the community. Furthermore, he recognised the validity of marriages between free citizens and slaves without reservation. By doing so, he overcame discriminatory Roman laws that prohibited marriage between a slave man and a free woman.

Calixtus also intervened in religious disputes, maintaining a prudent and moderate attitude throughout. However, he definitely condemned clearly erroneous insights. One such case was that of the heretic Sabellius, who rejected the Church’s doctrine of three persons in the Holy Trinity. Calixtus showed admirable patience towards the rebellious schismatic Hypolite. He never condemned him and rose above his slander and insults with noble dignity.

Pope Calixtus died a martyr on 14 October 222. He was ambushed and killed by anti-Christian rioters in Zatiberia. Given the circumstances, it was probably not feasible for the Roman faithful to transfer Calixtus’ body across the Tiber to the distant catacombs on the Appian Way. Therefore, he was buried in the nearby Kalepodius cemetery on the Via Aurelia. This created an interesting situation. In the papal crypt of the Catacombs of Calixtus, popes from the 3rd century onwards were buried, starting with Zephyrin — except for Calixtus I, after whom the crypt was named. In the 8th century, Calixtus’s remains were transferred from the Via Aurelia to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Despite his relatively short reign, Calixtus I is considered one of the most important popes of Christian antiquity. He was the first pope after Peter and Paul to achieve liturgical veneration in the Roman Church.

You may still remember, because the media presented it repeatedly. On January 20, 2025, the inauguration ceremony of the U.S. president was held. Mariann Budde, Bishop of Washington, gave the speech at this ceremony. She sat in the front row with Melania, his wife, and his entourage. A camera shot showed a tiny woman in an ambulance. The second captures President Trump’s disdainful, grumpy, and icy-cold demeanour and manner of speaking. At the same time, Bishop Budde refers to “mercy “as a fundamental concept of the Christian faith in a sermon. 

An ancient term that shines even brighter now than it did long ago because it alludes to heart sensitivity. Bishop Budde says, “In the name of God, I am asking you for mercy for the people of our country who are now afraid. And then he calls them by name: people who work in industry or wipe tables in restaurants after U.S. citizens have eaten there. Or they are after night shifts in hospitals or cleaning offices. Now they fear having to leave the country or be separated from their children because they don’t have a passport… Almost two months after taking office, there is no evidence that Trump or his people have listened to Mariann Budde—quite the opposite. 

But millions of people in the United States and around the world have listened. And now it’s up to all of us more than ever to stick together, not let ourselves be divided, keep what is good, and live this message – each of us in our place: Dare to be more merciful! Jesus tried not only to talk about making them more merciful for the top elite of the Jewish people, just as mercy itself showed him. They constantly provoked and came with many reservations. 

Meanwhile, they asked for a sign: When the crowds gathered, Jesus began to say: “This generation is an evil generation. He asks for a sign, but he does not receive a sign, unless the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevite’s, so will the Son of Man be to this generation “. 

The story of Jonah is full of wit and humour. However, Jonah himself has nothing to laugh about. It can be doubted whether Jonah ever had a good laugh at himself. He took everything too seriously, especially himself. He was convinced of the truth of his message: the evil city of Nineveh would perish.

Furthermore, he would like to be a true prophet, someone people would one day say predicted the city’s destruction. Ideal conditions for a great prophetic drama with a magnificent actor in the leading role. But it is a big “Ale”: if Nineveh were not finally destroyed, then Jonah would be a false prophet. Then he would announce something that didn’t happen. And who would be to blame for the entire development? Jonah fears that God might reconsider destroying Nineveh at the end. If so, Jonáš would look pretty stupid. Therefore, he does not want to accept this assignment. 

Because he knows the Divine Trade: Nineveh may not even perish! When you push, God is always merciful, loving, and understanding toward people. So it is clear to Jonah: he wants nothing to do with it, absolutely nothing. That is why he flees from God. He’s so crazy, and he wanted to do it with a boat going in the opposite direction and endangering the lives of his fellow passengers. Something like this can’t end well! And it doesn’t go well, either. But at least it ends well with Jonah miraculously surviving. If the sign is Jonah, then the path of God’s salvation reveals the possibility of redemption for the whole world. Then it is as relevant today as it was then. Because we, as God’s children, are part of this sign. If I accept God’s invitation to become merciful to my fellow man like him, then the story of Jonah still has a happy ending. Let each of us ask in our place: Dare to be more merciful! According to Jesus!

The Pope arrives for an audience during the Jubilee of Missionaries and Migrants.
On Thursday, the Vatican published the first apostolic exhortation of Pope Leo XIV, on which Pope Francis began working, focusing on service to the poor. 

In a document called Dilexi te (I loved you), the Pope condemns the economy that kills, inequality, violence against women, malnutrition, and educational deprivation. 

He echoes Pope Francis’s appeal for migrants and calls on believers to expose injustice, because ‘structures of injustice must be destroyed by the power of good’.

The 121-point text follows the Church’s magisterium on poverty over the last 150 years. The Augustinian pope signed the document on 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, following in the footsteps of his predecessors. St. John XXIII (Mater et magistra). (Mater et magistra), Paul VI. (Populorum Progressio), and John Paul II (Caritas in Veritate), who emphasised the ‘preferential relationship of the Church to the poor’. (Caritas in veritate), and Francis, who made caring for the poor one of the fundamental pillars of his pontificate.

Francis began
Work on this apostolic exhortation began under Pope Francis before his death. Similar to the 2013 encyclical Lumen fidei, written by Benedict XVI’s successor, this apostolic exhortation follows on from Pope Francis’s last encyclical, Dilexite nos, on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

The connection between God’s love and love for the poor is strong: ‘Through them, God still has something to say’, says Pope Leo XIV.

On the wounded face of the poor, we find the imprint of the suffering of the innocent.

Robert Francis Prevost’s exhortation offers many stimuli for action and reflection on poverty: poverty of ‘those who do not have the means to live’, poverty of ‘those who are socially excluded’, but also ‘moral’, ‘spiritual’, or ‘cultural’ poverty. It also identifies new, ‘softer and more dangerous’ forms of poverty, which are associated with economic systems that have increased wealth but not justice.

Lack of justice is the root of social evil.

From this point of view, Leo XIV. Acknowledges that the United Nations has included poverty eradication among the Millennium Development Goals. However, there is still a long way to go, especially at a time when there is a ‘dictatorship of the economy that kills’ (92) and a ‘culture of discarding’ that ‘indifferently tolerates the fact that millions of people die of hunger or live in conditions unworthy of human beings’.

In fact, human rights do not apply equally to all.

The Pope therefore calls for a ‘change of mindset’ so that the dignity of every human person is ‘respected now, not tomorrow’.

Acceptance of migrants
Pope Francis devotes significant space to the topic of migration, drawing on the image of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian boy whose photograph on the beach made headlines around the world. ‘Similar events,’ he writes, ‘are unfortunately becoming more and more marginalised’. At the same time, he acknowledges the Church’s work among migrants.

As a mother, the Church walks alongside those who are displaced. Where the world sees threats, the Church sees children; where walls are built, the Church builds bridges. He knows that in every migrant we reject, it is Christ himself who is knocking on the community’s door.
Robert Prevost also recalls Francis’s famous ‘four verbs’: ‘Accept, protect, support, and incorporate’. He also adopts Pope Francis’s definition of the poor as ‘teachers of the gospel’.
Serving the poor is not an act of ‘top-down’, but a meeting of equals.

Peter’s successor describes women who suffer from exclusion, abuse, and violence as ‘double poor’. At the same time, he discusses the causes of poverty itself: ‘The poor are not here simply because of blind and bitter fate. Poverty is even less their choice. And yet there are still people who claim it, showing blindness and cruelty’. 

He points out that sometimes even Christians are infected with secular ideologies or political and economic attitudes that lead to unfair generalisations and deceptive conclusions. For instance, some believe that ‘the poor should only be cared for by the state’ or that ‘it would be better to leave them in poverty and teach them to work’. Proof of this is that almsgiving is rarely practised today and is often despised. The Pope, therefore, calls on us:

‘As Christians, let us not give up almsgiving. We need to practise it to touch the suffering bodies of the poor.
Leo XIV adds that in some Christian communities, “there is a complete lack of commitment to the most disadvantaged”. Be careful, as ‘there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor’. The risk is ‘decay’ or ‘spiritual worldliness’.

In contrast, the world of saints, blessed ones, and missionaries stands as a testament against this indifference. The Pope mentions Saint Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, and Saint Augustine, who said, ‘Anyone who claims to love God but has no compassion for the needy is a liar’, among others. The Pope also commemorates the work of religious orders for the sick, orphans, widows, beggars, and victims of slavery.

The tradition of these religious orders continues to this day. In fact, it has inspired new forms of action against modern forms of slavery, such as human trafficking, forced labour, sexual exploitation, and various addictions. When Christian love becomes flesh, it becomes liberating.

In the exhortation, the Pope also emphasises the importance of educating the poor, stating that it is an ‘obligation’ rather than an act of charity. He recalls the struggle of popular movements led by ‘leaders who were often suspected or even persecuted’. Finally, he turns to the whole People of God, requesting that ‘they sound, even in different ways, a voice that awakens, reveals and runs the risk of appearing crazy’.

Structures of injustice must be recognised and destroyed by the power of good (97).

Finally, Leo XIV calls on all of us to be evangelised by the poor, because they are not just a ‘social problem’ but are at the heart of the Church.

We live in troubled times. There are many wars in the world. Pope Francis said that we are already in a fragmented third world war. Pope Leo XIV also consistently calls for weapons to fall silent and for warring parties to begin negotiating and agree on a peace.

Questions to think about: Do I have peace in my heart, soul, and conscience? What brings peace to my life? What worries me in life? Am I a peace spreader? Even in today’s troubled world, God invites us to draw on his peace through an active and deep spiritual life, prayer, and the Eucharist. Illustration image: Man and Faith/Martina Rehorová

Peace is a precious gift from God that begins in the human heart. Before the first people fell into sin, they lived in peace with God, themselves, and others. This is because God is the creator of peace. It was only when original sin entered a person’s life, bringing with it expulsion from paradise, that restlessness took hold, because an evil spirit is the creator of restlessness.

The prophet Isaiah offers excellent advice on achieving peace of heart: ‘This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: “I am the Lord your God; I will teach you what is best for you and lead you along the right path. If you had observed my orders, your peace would be like a river and your well-being like sea waves’ (Isaiah 48:17–18).

If we want peace in our hearts, souls, and consciences, we must observe God’s commandments – the Ten Commandments or the commandment to love God and neighbour. When we do not observe them and commit sins, we experience restlessness and remorse. It is often as simple as that, but challenging at the same time.

CHRIST, OUR PEACE

Lord Jesus Christ, ‘miracle Counsellor, mighty God, eternal Father, Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:5), restored God’s peace to us. When he was born on Christmas night in Bethlehem, the angels joyfully announced to the shepherds: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will!’ (Lk 2:14). As the apostle Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians: ‘For he himself is our peace!’ (Ephesians 2:14).

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the peace of humanity and the whole world. For every single human heart. After his glorious resurrection, when he appeared to the eleven apostles in the upper room, he greeted them with the words: ‘Peace be with you!’ (Jn 20:19). He left us this peace at the Last Supper: ‘I leave you peace; I give you my peace.’ But I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid“ (Jn 14:27).

Therefore, peace is Christ’s gift to all humanity. In his speech on the Mount of the Beatitudes, he himself invited us to spread his peace: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:9). In the Letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul also encourages us to seek peace: ‘If it is possible, and it depends on you, live in peace with all people’ (Rom 12:18).

BE AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE

Even in today’s troubled world, God invites us to draw on his peace by leading an active and deep spiritual life through prayer, attending Mass, receiving the Eucharist, reading God’s word, and performing acts of love and mercy.

He calls on us to be peaceful. May we spread peace, so that the peace of Christ may reign in our hearts, in our interpersonal relationships, marriages and families, in our parishes, villages and cities, in our societies and countries, and throughout the world.

Let us pray to St Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) for peace and tranquillity in our hearts and around the world: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, to bring love where there is hatred, forgiveness where there are insults, and unity where there is discord. Let me bring truth to those who wander, faith to those who doubt, hope to those who despair, light to those who grope in darkness and joy to those who mourn. May I try to please others rather than myself, understand others rather than myself, and love others rather than myself. For it is only by giving that we acquire; only by forgetting ourselves that we find ourselves; only by forgiving that we receive forgiveness; only by dying to ourselves that we rise to a new life. Amen.’

–

9 October, commemoration
Position: priest
Died: 1609
Patron saint of: pharmacists and catechists
BIOGRAPHY:

He came from Tuscany. He was a pharmacist first and a priest from around the age of 30. In addition to founding the lay society of Christian doctrine, he established the religious society of clerics of the Mother of God. In Rome, he supported the establishment of hospitals and schools. Pope Clement VIII entrusted him with visiting many religious congregations and contributing to their spiritual renewal. He established a missionary training college which later became the Papal Institute for the Propagation of the Faith. He died in Rome at the age of 68.

SPREADING FAITH – A TASK FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN
He was born in 1541 in Diecimo, a commune near Lucca in northern Italy. He was raised in a Christian family, led a devout life, and chose a career in pharmacy. At the same time, he began to devote himself to lay apostolic activity, forming a fraternal community called the Columbines with a group of friends led by a Dominican priest. This community aimed to lead a more devout Christian life and provide assistance to the poor and pilgrims. He then began to consider religious life, but was unsuccessful with the Lesser Brothers. At the age of 26, his search turned into a vocation to the priesthood, recommended by his confessor.

John studied theology and was ordained a priest in 1571. Focusing on teaching religion according to the Council of Trent’s guidelines, he acted as catechist in all the temples of Lucca by the authority of the bishop. His manual for catechists went through multiple editions. He encouraged lay people to spread and consolidate doctrine by creating a ‘Society of Christian Doctrine’.

He also set a good example to fellow priests, and in 1574, he founded the ‘Brotherhood of Reformed Priests of the Blessed Virgin’, which was later renamed the ‘Regular Clerics of the Mother of God’. He obtained ecclesiastical approval for his brotherhood and was elected its chief superior.

However, the city lords disliked the zeal of the priestly reformer. They described him as a violator of public order who did not respect them, and issued a decree ordering his permanent expulsion from the city, with severe punishments to be inflicted if he tried to return.

Leonardi left his apostolate to continue to Rome. There, he received the support of Cardinal Baronies and Philip Neri, as well as the help of the Oratorians.

His activities did not escape papal attention, and due to his zeal and abilities, he was entrusted with various tasks, particularly those related to reforming declining religious societies.

In 1601, he opened the house of his priestly association in Rome, contributing to the city’s spiritual renewal through this activity. Priests who followed his instructions spread reverence for the Eucharist and encouraged frequent reception of Holy Communion.

John cared for non-Christians too, and together with the Spaniard G. B. Vives, he planned to establish a society of priests to spread Christianity among non-believers. In 1603, they established an organisation that evolved into the Urban College for the Propagation of the Faith, which later became the papal institute ‘de Propaganda Fide’.

Following his death in October 1609, John Leonardi was initially buried in the church of Santa Maria in Portico. In 1662, his remains were transferred to Santa Maria in Campitelli, the main seat of the religious society he had founded. Pope Pius IX canonised him in 1861. In 1861, John Leonardi was declared blessed, and in 1938, he was canonised by Pope Pius XI.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER

Today, I will focus my contemplation on the call to evangelisation, to understand what God expects of me in this area.
God, giver of all good, you awakened in Saint John a living desire to carry your gospel to all nations. At his intercession, let life grow by faith everywhere in the world through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Jonah’s sermon was a great success, and the people of Nineveh were converted. However, rather than rejoicing, Jonah mourned it. He had preached destruction to Nineveh. If his words did not come true, God’s honour would also be wronged. He did not want to be seen as a liar by these Gentiles for the glory of God. The Lord changed his plan and everything happened the opposite of what Jonah had predicted. This was terrible for his soul, and he desired nothing more than to die.

He was angry with the Lord, but he did not want to give up on him. He prayed to him, but it was difficult to pray well in such a state of mind. Suddenly, the West seems the right way to him, and he feels he was wrong to repent. We often want to take back things we bitterly regret later. God sees that this is only a temporary crisis, in which the remnants of anger and darkness are manifested, but behind this bitterness lies a sincere heart. God is trying to calm Jonah down: ‘Don’t be afraid that they will consider you a liar. I saw their deeds; they turned away from their evil ways; therefore, I forgive them.’

When God asked Jonah if he was angry for the right reasons, Jonah remained silent. He leaves the conversation with God and goes outside the city to build a booth. He was convinced that he was right and that God would eventually recognise this truth. God will have to change his mind, not him. From his booth, Jonah wants to observe God’s terrible judgments. He waits for his prophecies to be fulfilled.

God uses a minor miracle to teach Jonah a lesson. To prevent Jonah from suffering in the sun, God hastily grows a shading plant, which pleases Jonah. However, the next day, the plant withers just as quickly, which makes Jonah sad and upset. God says to him: ‘You can grieve because one plant has dried up, but I shouldn’t be sorry for the death of thousands of people?’ Today, many people call God’s punishments upon the world in the form of thunder and lightning, yet nothing happens to them. How far is that from ‘love your neighbour as yourself’?

 We have entered the Marian month of October, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary – Queen of the Holy Rosary. Autumn has already arrived. In nature, roses bloom, and in the church, roses bloom the most in October—white roses – joyful, red roses – sorrowful, golden roses – festive. We wind them into a wreath, which we call a rosary. It is our aid in spiritual life. The Rosary is a book that captures the lives of the Lord Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and our own lives in images. A child and an older woman, a poet and a president, can read it.

The Rosary is a strength in pain, a companion in sleepless nights, it will be our equipment for the coffin. The Blessed Virgin urgently calls in Fatima: “Pray the Rosary!” And Marian devotees from the ranks of the clergy and laity take this call of Mary very seriously. Pope Blessed John XXIII confirmed this when he said: “The priest after praying the breviary and the layman after Holy Mass should have the rosary in his hands and pray it devoutly.” It is also interesting that Blessed John XXIII sometimes prayed the breviary in the Vatican gardens, but the Holy Rosary always in the chapel and on his knees. This saint prayed the entire 15-decade rosary daily. In praying the Holy Rosary, the Blessed Virgin reminds us of the entire history of salvation. And so, with the joyful rosary, she wants to make the love of the heavenly Father present to us. She wants us to remember this love. Our heavenly Father sent us his Son. The Father accepts the redemptive work and sacrifice of the Son. The Virgin Mary presents this sacrifice with her Son to the heavenly Father to atone for the sins of the world and for our new failings. He always inclines us again and again to the Father’s justice, which leads from punishment to infinite mercy. And that is why we accompany this intercession of the Virgin Mary with a joyful greeting: Hail Mary! Then we have the painful rosary. With the painful rosary, we are to remember the sacrifice of our redemption. It is the bloody sacrifice of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is at the same time a reminder of our spiritual birth, when Mary herself gave birth to us under the cross of Christ. Here we are to realize what sin is and what its consequences are. Here is our landmark: either I belong to Christ or to the Evil One. We cannot rise from the painful rosary and continue to love sin and evil, which cost the Son of God death, namely death on the cross. 

And finally, we have the solemn rosary. We pray the solemn rosary with our gaze fixed on our ultimate goal – to connect with God in eternal life. Therefore, we pray to him with great hope that death was destroyed once and for all by Christ’s resurrection. Under this impression, we can confidently step into everyday life and bravely overcome its obstacles. Then we will not be afraid of death either. The resurrected Christ dwells in our heart, we are filled with the joy of Easter morning and we come to our Mother Mary with trust and love. Such, then, is the mystery of the Holy Rosary. So great is the gift of our Blessed Virgin and Mother of God, Mary. The rosary is not just a simple chain of pearls. The rosary is the chain that draws heaven to us and us to heaven. The rosary is a chain that always binds Satan more firmly and firmly, and always makes him more and more powerless towards us. It is the chain that gives us the power of the Holy Spirit – that spirit of truth and love that strengthened and strengthens the followers and martyrs of all times.

This is is what the holy rosary sincerely and fervently prays, it will certainly penetrate into the stunning mystery of our salvation, into God’s infinite love, which created us for itself, which redeemed us from the dominion of the devil and which sanctifies us for our eternal life in perfect bliss. And so let’s finally reject the opinions of some theologians who claim that the rosary is good just for old grandmothers. For the old woman, the rosary is an excellent decoration of trembling hands. For a young man, the rosary is a compass, so that he does not deviate either to the right or to the left, but always points directly towards God. For the young mother, the rosary will remain a source of strength to draw from the Mother of God the courage to walk firmly alongside her children. What about other young people? Without the rosary, they are like without a weapon against the odds! Young people need a rosary as they need bread. Yes, just as our bread is never eaten, so should the Holy Rosary never become commonplace. We urgently need the rosary for our spiritual life, such as air, water and bread.O. O. I will tell you three short stories about this need to pray the Holy Rosary: First from the story of the old wise priest Mons. Aloisa Pekárka, who remembers the time of his twelve-year imprisonment under the communist regime: “I made a rosary of bread in my cell. The balls of chewed bread hardened to the bone. When I was once beaten with a rubber baton during interrogation, I prayed dozens about whipping. Then I found out that the bread rosary in the bag was broken to dust. I sighed, So we were, Lord, scourged together. “And now story two: In the years 1980-81, former president Václav Havel and Prague archbishop Dominik Duka were imprisoned together in Bor. They talked about history, philosophy and religion. Havel expressed the wish that they pray the rosary. Before each tithe, the priest made a short meditation, then they recited alternately. The rhythm of prayer created a strong community.

Finally, story three: At school, we learned Ebenen’s poem The Wedding Shirt. The unfortunate girl went out into the stormy night with a strange guide. The wind whistled, the dogs howled, the owls hooted. The traveler encouraged haste and tore all her religious objects. He threw away the prayer books, and they were ten miles away by jumping. What do you have, my dear, behind your waist? I took the rosary with me. – Ha, that rosary from the rattle like a snake will wrap around you, narrow you down, take your breath away: throw it away because we are in a hurry! – The rosary caught, he threw it away, and they were a jump twenty miles away. That was progress! But where did it lead her? – To the cemetery! Let’s never throw away the rosary or the cross. Without religion, the world would be transformed into one great cemetery. Without the protection of the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, it would be sad and cold – like where maternal love is lacking. And so let’s go back to praying the Holy Rosary. The return to the rosary is the return to the motherly heart of the Virgin Mary. And it is good for the little and the big on this heart. Let’s go back to praying the rosary, and the world will be more beautiful, because there will be more love, mercy and peace in it. Holy Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, pray for us!