The tongue can be a dangerous weapon

The tongue can be a dangerous weapon. Psalm 34:13 records: "Guard your
tongue from evil, your lips from any breath of deceit. Turn away from
evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it," and St. James counsels
that one who exercises wisdom is slow to speak. James is very definite
in his identification of a Christian as one who is humble, obedient to
God and active in faith. If a Christian doesn't display active,
vibrant faith and doesn't act upon what he has been taught, "that
person's religion is worthless." Jesus taught in Matthew 7:21-27 that "...everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will
be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. [...]. But
everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them
will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand."

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7 February – St Giles Mary of St Joseph OFM

 (1729-1812)
Religious Franciscan Friar, Apostle of Charity and Prayer, Marian
devotee – known as the “Consoler of Naples” and the “Saint of the Little Way” (also known as Egidio Maria da Taranto, Egidio Maria de
Saint Giuseppe, Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph and Francesco Postillo).

St Giles Mary was born on 16 November 1729 at Taranto, Apulia, Italy
and died on 7 February 1812 at Naples, Italy of natural causes while
at prayer. Patronage – Taranto, Italy (chosen on 29 June 1919 by
Archbishop Orazio Mazzella of Taranto).

Francesco Postillo was born in Taranto to a very poor family. Cataldo
Postillo, his father and Grazia Procaccio, his mother. Three siblings
later followed him. He was baptised as Francesco Domenico Antonio
Pasquale Postillo.

His father’s death died in 1747 left the 18-year-old Francesco to care
for the family. Francesco had to abandon his hope of education and to
seek work to provide for his widowed mother and siblings. For a brief
period of time he worked as a rope maker.

Although his desire was to become a priest, his lack of education
meant that he was unable to fulfil this desire and served instead as a professed religious in the Order of Friars Minor in Naples. He applied
to enter the order on 27 February 1754 and made his solemn profession
of vows on 28 February 1755 at the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
in Galatone. He assumed the religious name of “Giles of the Mother of
God” but he later altered this instead to “Giles Mary of Saint
Joseph”.

For 53 years he served at St Paschal’s Hospice in Naples in various
roles, such as cook, porter or most often as official beggar for that community. He often travelled outside the confines of his convent to
beg for alms and to aid those who were shunned and isolated,
especially the lepers.

“Love God, love God” was his characteristic phrase as he gathered food
for the friars and shared some of his bounty with the poor—all the
while consoling the troubled and urging everyone to repent.  He
invited men and women to recognise their own gifts and to live out
their dignity as people made in God’s divine image.

The charity which he reflected on the streets of Naples was born in
prayer and nurtured in the common life of the friars.  St Giles often
carried an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a depiction known as Our
Lady of the Well when he made sick calls. The people whom Giles met on
his begging rounds nicknamed him the “Consoler of Naples.”

In the same year that a power-hungry Napoleon Bonaparte led his army
into Russia, Giles Mary of St Joseph ended a life of humble service to
his Franciscan community and to the citizens of Naples. The date was 7
February 1812. Huge crowds turned out for his funeral, lamenting the
loss of their Consoler.

His relics are enshrined in an urn next to the icon of Our Lady of the
Well in the church of San Pasquale Baylón in Taranto. He was Canonised
on 2 June 1996 by St Pope John Paul II. His canonisation miracle
involved the cure of Mrs Angela Mignogna in 1937.

https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/07/



Saint Quote:
Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in God's presence,
always ready to give Him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from Him by consenting to sin.
-- St. Thomas Aquinas

Bible Quote:
Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart,
and lean not upon thy own prudence.
In all thy ways think on him,
and he will direct thy steps.  [Pro 3:5-6]  DRB


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Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. —Lk. 14:11

"Whoever is not very humble, can never draw profit from contemplation,
in which any little atom of insufficient humility, though it may seem
nothing, works the greatest harm"
--St. Teresa

      Because the blessed Clara of Montefalco experienced a vain
pleasure in some things she had done, the Lord withdrew from her, for
15 years, His lights and celestial consolations, which she could not
regain during all that time, though she begged for them earnestly,
with tears, prayers, and the use of the discipline.

("A Year with the Saints". February - Humility)

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