That we should never Despair [II]

Banish discouragement from your heart as best you can, and if trouble
comes, never let it depress or hinder you for long. At the least, bear
it bravely if you cannot bear it cheerfully. Even if you are reluctant
to bear it, and feel indignant, yet control yourself, and let no rash
words escape you that may harm Christ's little ones. The violence of
your feelings will soon subside, and grace return to heal your inner
pain. I live, ( Isa 49:18) says the Lord, `ready to help and comfort
you more than ever, if you will trust Me and call on Me with
devotion.'
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 3 Ch. 57

<<>><<>><<>>
13 May – Blessed Imelda Lambertini
May 12 on some Calendars
Child Mystic, Virgin. Born in 1322 AS Imelda Dpmenica Lambertini at
Bologna, Italy and died on the Feast of the Ascension, 12 May 1333
Bologna, Italy. Patronage – First Communicants (named by Pope Saint
Pius X).

Imelda Lambertini was born of a noble family in Bologna, Italy in
1322. Her parents raised her to love her Catholic faith and through
their influence she developed a love for prayer, especially for the
Mass. Often she would attend Mass and Compline (Night Prayer of the
Divine Office) at a nearby Dominican Church. Her mother also taught
Imelda to cook and sew for the poor and cultivated in her child an
eagerness to perform the corporal works of mercy. Even so, her mother
and father, both of whom were getting on in years, were surprised when
Imelda asked permission at the tender age of nine to go to live with
the Dominican nuns at a neighbouring Monastery. As difficult a
decision as this was, her parents evidently sensed the depth of their
child’s desire and entrusted her spiritual formation to the Dominicans
at Val di Pietra.

At this distance of centuries and culture it is not easy to determine
precisely what little Imelda’s status was at the Convent. It seems she
was well loved by the Sisters, who allowed her to wear the Dominican
habit, to pray with them and to follow their way of life, to the
extent that a little girl would be able to do, while still remaining a
child. Imelda, we are told, longed (and intensely, it seems) to be
allowed to receive Holy Communion with the nuns but in that day, such
a thing would have been unheard of for a child her age. Her pleading
was again and again gently refused, with the explanation that she
would need to wait until she was older and more prepared.

For a time Imelda had to be content with this answer, meanwhile
learning to chant Office from hearing the nuns in choir and developing
her own interior prayer life in simple childlike ways. The saints,
whose stories she had learned from her parents and from the nuns,
became her “secret companions” and probably had a hand, in nurturing
the longing she felt, to receive Jesus intimately in the Sacrament of
the Eucharist. In her private conversations with Jesus, with whom she
was developing a deep friendship, we can imagine that she often made
known her desire to be allowed to receive Communion. There is no
evidence that He put up any opposition to the proposal—but neither did
the Sisters relent. And so, Imelda continued, with the intensity of a
child, to get to know Jesus more deeply and to desire Him all the
more.

As spring approached, the sisters, who perhaps thought that they had
succeeded in diverting Imelda’s “childish fancy” to go to Communion
with the grown-ups, were a bit startled when she asked again, shortly
before the Feast of the Ascension, to receive her First Holy
Communion. (“Asked,” in fact, is not the word. She begged them
insistently, it seems.) When the Chaplain was consulted, he agreed
with the Sisters and responded with no hesitation that Imelda was much
too young. On the Vigil of the Ascension Imelda was in her place in
the Chapel, quietly praying as the Sisters received Communion. Then
Jesus did a little “insisting” of His own. After Mass, as one of the
nuns was clearing the Altar, she heard a noise and looked up to the
choir to see Imelda, a glowing light shining above her head, with the
Sacred Host suspended in the light.

The Chaplain was called at once and he understood that Jesus Himself
was making his desire known. “Let the little children come to Me and
do not stop them.” The Priest gave Imelda her First Holy Communion.

We can well imagine that the nuns were amazed and thrilled both at the
great blessing to their little one and to their Convent. The Prioress
allowed Imelda to remain for some time in thanksgiving and then sent
for her to come and have her breakfast. Imelda was still kneeling as
they had left her, a smile on her face. Yet when called for, Imelda’s
body was still. She had died of pure joy. Her thanksgiving had been
well completed and she had nothing left to desire.

Imelda’s story is so well entrenched in the collective memory of her Dominican Brothers and sisters, that it has remained firmly in the
Order’s history. She continues to offer the witness of a child with
mature desires, and a faith unspoiled in its intensity.

Imelda understood instinctively what many of us have forgotten – that
it is the single-hearted who are blessed and that unless we become
like children we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Her remains are kept in Bologna at the Church of San Sigismondo,
beneath the wax effigy of her likeness. Blessed Imelda was Beatified
on 20 December 1826 by Pope Leo XIII.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/13/


Quote of the Day – 13 May – The Memorial of Blessed Imelda Lambertini (1322-1333) Child Mystic, “Adorer of the Blessed Sacrament”

“Can anyone receive Jesus
into his heart
and not die?”
--Blessed Imelda Lambertini (1322-1333)


Saint Quote:
Humility is the mother of many virtues. From it spring obedience,
holy fear, reverence, patience, modesty, mildness, and peace; for,
whoever is humble easily obeys all, fears to offend any, maintains
peace with all, shows himself affable to all, is submissive to all,
does not offend or displease any, and does not feel the insults which
may be inflicted upon him. He lives happy and contented, and in great
peace.
--St. Thomas of Villanova

Bible Quote
"One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your
calling. One Lord, one faith, one Baptism" (Eph 4:5)

<><><><>
Lord Jesus Christ, you received into heaven Blessed Imelda
who loved you in the Eucharistic banquet. By her prayers
may we learn to approach your holy table with that same fervent love
and so fulfill our longing to be with you,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
General Calendar of the Order of Preachers

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