That Our Peace cannot Depend on Man [II]

He who attributes any goodness to himself, obstructs the coming of
God's grace, for the grace of the Holy Spirit always seeks a humble
heart. If you would perfectly overcome self and set yourself free from
love of creatures, I would come to you with all My grace.(1 Pet.5:5)
But while your interest is in creatures, the vision of the Creator is
hidden from you. Learn, then for love of the Creator to overcome self
in everything and you shall come to the knowledge of God. But so long
as anything, however small, occupies too much of your love and regard,
it injures the soul and hold you back from attaining the highest Good.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 42

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18 August – Saint Macarius the Wonder-Worker
Also known as Christopher, Macarius of Constantinople

Memorial 1 April on some calendars

Monk, Abbot, Defender of Icons, miracle worker – Born in the 9th
century Constantinople as Christopher and died on 18 August 850 on the
island of Aphusia, Bithynia of natural causes.

St Macarius’ legacy is one of working miracles and standing for truth
even in the face of torture.

Macarius was born in the ninth century in Constantinople, originally
named Christopher. He took the name Macarius when he became a monk.

Eventually, he was selected as abbot of his monastery and became
well-known for healing miracles, which is how he earned his title – St Macarius the Wonder-Worker. Crowds would flock to the monastery to
seek cures.
St Macarius opposed the emperor’s orders to suppress icons in one of
the great iconoclasm controversies. The controversy over icons was a
dispute that arose when some misinterpreted the Second Commandment,
which forbids the worship of images. The Church has consistently
insisted upon the orthodoxy of icons and other religious imagery as a consequence of the Incarnation – Jesus proved that God redeems all of creation and that all of creation can help mediate God’s presence to
us. Icons and religious imagery point our hearts and minds to God and
remind us of holy figures, they are not themselves objects of
veneration.

Macarius was imprisoned and tortured for defending the use of icons.
When the emperor died, the successor released him from prison and
tried to win him over. He rejected the new emperor as well and was
exiled. He died during this banishment.

The relics of St Macarius rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica
of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame’s campus.

St Macarius, who suffered torture and exile for your defence of
religious images—pray for us!

https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/18/


Saint Quote:
"Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each
little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so Our Lord is
occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no others
like it."
--St. Therese of the Child Jesus "Story of a Soul" (p. 14)

Bible Quote:
He who guards his mouth preserves his life;
he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. (Proverbs 13:3) RSVCE


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A Prayer in Time of Sickness or Trials

O good Jesus,
I accept willingly this sickness [or trial]
which it has pleased You to lay upon me.
I confide all my pains to your Sacred Heart,
and beg You to unite them with Your bitter sufferings,
and thus perfect them by making them Your own.

Since I cannot render You the praise due to You
because of the multitude of my sorrows and afflictions,
I ask You to praise God the Father for all I suffer,
with the same tribute of praise You offered Him
when Your agony on the Cross was at its height.

As You thanked Him with all the powers of Your soul
for all the sufferings and injustice
which He willed You should endure,
so, I pray You,
give Him thanks for my trials also.
Offer my sufferings, physical and spiritual,
to Him together with Your most holy pains
to His eternal honour and glory.
Amen.

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