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TominAdelaide
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A work of a lifetime but something to strive for (or at least to die trying!) From Fr Spirago, The Catechism Explained:
We honor the saints because they are the friends of God, princes of the heavenly court, and benefactors to ourselves; also because we obtain great graces from God through venerating them.
On account of the great number of the saints, their different degree of glory, and the fact that their life was more in heaven than on earth, they are compared to the stars; or again to precious stones, rarely found upon earth and valuable in God’s sight; to the cypress, whose wood never decays, because they were not contaminated by the corruption of serious sin; to the majestic cedars of Lebanon, by reason of the height of perfection they attained; to the fragrant lily, because by their good works they shed a sweet odor around them; to an anvil, unbroken by the blows of the hammer, for they stood steadfast beneath the strokes of misfortune. They are also said to be the pillars of the Church, for they sustain her by their prayers, and like the towers that crown a city, they add to her outward majesty and dignity.
I was reading in “Saint Francis of Assisi: Passion, Poverty & the Man Who Transformed the Catholic Church” (by Bret Thoman) that St Francis of Assisi saved the Church from collapsing in the 1200’s:
However, that night, Pope Innocent had a dream that would forever change the direction of the Church. He saw the façade of the cathedral begin to lean, threatening to collapse. Suddenly, a poor beggar appeared to the pontiff and, with arms outstretched, held the basilica up, preventing it from falling. Pope Innocent awoke startled. He knew immediately that the man was Francis. He quickly called his guards and ordered them to find Francis and bring him back.
Now that’s something I would like to have on my CV!
We honor the saints because they are the friends of God, princes of the heavenly court, and benefactors to ourselves; also because we obtain great graces from God through venerating them.
On account of the great number of the saints, their different degree of glory, and the fact that their life was more in heaven than on earth, they are compared to the stars; or again to precious stones, rarely found upon earth and valuable in God’s sight; to the cypress, whose wood never decays, because they were not contaminated by the corruption of serious sin; to the majestic cedars of Lebanon, by reason of the height of perfection they attained; to the fragrant lily, because by their good works they shed a sweet odor around them; to an anvil, unbroken by the blows of the hammer, for they stood steadfast beneath the strokes of misfortune. They are also said to be the pillars of the Church, for they sustain her by their prayers, and like the towers that crown a city, they add to her outward majesty and dignity.
I was reading in “Saint Francis of Assisi: Passion, Poverty & the Man Who Transformed the Catholic Church” (by Bret Thoman) that St Francis of Assisi saved the Church from collapsing in the 1200’s:
However, that night, Pope Innocent had a dream that would forever change the direction of the Church. He saw the façade of the cathedral begin to lean, threatening to collapse. Suddenly, a poor beggar appeared to the pontiff and, with arms outstretched, held the basilica up, preventing it from falling. Pope Innocent awoke startled. He knew immediately that the man was Francis. He quickly called his guards and ordered them to find Francis and bring him back.
Now that’s something I would like to have on my CV!
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