a year of prayer: 365 Rosaries

Today, Easter Sunday, we celebrate with great joy the Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ! Alleluia! The Resurrection of the Lord is also the first Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary. We can imagine that Our Blessed Mother, Mary, having been foretold of His birth by an angel, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and suffered with Him as he died on the cross, knew that Her Son, Our Lord, was unlike any other. Her heart—the heart of a mother—died with Christ, but like ourselves, was reborn in the Resurrection!


We, like Christ, die a thousand times in sin, rising again in the forgiveness of Our Lord. Monsignor Romano Guardini writes, “This dying and entombing of the old self is a constant process within us through every struggle against evil, through every conquest of self, through every suffering which is bravely borne, through every sacrifice of love and charity. But through this dying of the old self, the resurrection of the new man is also accomplished.” We are reminded on Easter Sunday that our own lives must be those of conversion and resurrection. That our daily pain and struggle against sin brings us closer to the newness of life. After the pain of Good Friday, and the silent waiting of Holy Saturday, we find the love and forgiveness of the Lord on Easter morning.


1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.



9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.



17He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"

"What more do you want, o soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfaction and kingdom -- your beloved whom you desire and seek? Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and you won't find him, or enjoy him more than by seeking him within you."


Today, December 14, we celebrate the feast day of Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Doctor of Mystical Theology, and Doctor of the Church. Saint John exemplifies the Christian philosophy of self-sacrificing love, penance, and the finding of joy in suffering alongside the crucified Christ.

Juan de Yepes was born in the village of Fontiveros in Castile, about 30 miles from Avila, Spain. His family struggled financially, as his father had been disowned after he married a woman they considered beneath their class. A marriage of true love, Juan’s parents were deeply influential in his understanding of suffering and love. Juan’s father became ill, and died when Juan was only seven years old, leading to a series of family moves and struggles.

One story is frequently told regarding John’s childhood. As he was playing near a pond one day, he fell into the deep water. As he rose to the surface, a tall and incredibly beautiful Lady came to offer her hand to assist him to land. “No,” said John, the child, “You are too beautiful; my hand will dirty Yours.” After voicing his concern, an elderly gentleman appeared on the shore and extended his staff to the child to bring him to shore. These figures, looking out for the child, were the Mary, Our Blessed Mother, and Saint Joseph. Similarly, at another point in his childhood, John fell into a well, and his family grieved, certain that he would be found dead upon retrieving him. However, they found him at the bottom of the well, seated, comfortable, and waiting peacefully for rescue. He stated, “A beautiful lady took me into Her cloak and sheltered me.” From this, his mother grew certain that her son was destined for great things.

John’s mother moved the family frequently, and as an adolescent in Medina, John was put into school, as he demonstrated no aptitude for learning a trade. Academically, he was found to excel, however. Quick to learn, John soon found a patron who adopted him at fourteen, sending him to a Jesuit school where he flourished under the influence of one of the masters. At seventeen he began to work in the hospital where his patron was warden, bringing him into close contact with those who were suffering and near death. This work, along with that of his childhood, nurtured and developed his sensitivity and compassion—traits which characterized his life and works.

John felt called to religious life. One evening, as he was praying to the Lord, hoping that his vocation would be made known to him, an interior voice said to him: “You will enter a religious Order, whose primitive fervor you will restore.” Soon thereafter, John entered the Carmelite Order, at age 21. Out of humility, John attempted to conceal his mind and works, but was quickly professed the following year and was sent to the University of Salamanca, one of the four leading universities of Europe at that time. It was there he studied theology and arts, and was ordained a priest.

As a priest, John desired nothing less than perfection, and his means for attaining it were sacrifice, penance, mortification, and humility. He dwelt in an obscure corner whose window opened upon the chapel, opposite the Most Blessed Sacrament. Each day, he wore around his waist an iron chain full of sharp points, and over it a tight vestment made of reeds joined by large knots. These practices led to constant blood loss and pain. Drawn to solitude, his plans were interrupted when he met Saint Teresa of Avila, who made him the confidant of her projects for the reform of Carmel and asked him to be her auxiliary.

John, accompanied by two friars, retired to a poor and inadequate dwelling and began a new kind of life, conformed with the primitive Rules of the Order of Carmel. The three lived together in quiet solitude and contemplation, practicing their apostolic works, traveling throughout the region preaching and hearing confessions. The reform, however, was not accepted by many of the Carmelite brethren. He was persecuted, insulted, and made to suffer by those members of the Order resistant to reform. Despite this persecution and difficulty, Saint John continued to pray to the Lord, stating his wish as only “To suffer and to be scorned for You.” The General of the Order approved the reform, but it was rejected by the older friars, who condemned the Saint as a fugitive and an apostate and cast him into prison. There, in a tiny cell that measured only 6 feet by ten feet, and had little light, John was confined for nine months. Beaten three times a week, and left to suffer, the brothers expected John to give up. Yet in that unbearable dark, cold, and desolation, his love and faith were like fire and light. He had nothing left but God -- and God brought John his greatest joys in that tiny cell. From his cell, Saint John wrote many books of practical advice on spiritual growth and prayer that still speak to the faithful today, including: “Ascent of Mount Carmel,” “Dark Night of the Soul,” and “A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ.”

John's drawing of Christ, crucified (below, top), still preserved by the Carmelites, inspired Salvador Dali's painting (below, bottom):



After nine months, John managed to escape from his torturous imprisonment by picking the lock of his cell, creeping past the guards at great personal risk, and climbing from a window to freedom. Having no idea of where he was, John followed a dog for several days, eventually finding refuge at the infirmary of some Carmelite nuns. Having brought his spiritual poetry with him (which he wrote in the darkness of his cell), he spent his days reading to the sisters of the convent, and explaining the extraordinary grace his imprisonment had been. In prison, John had experienced the profound love of the Lord.

John’s suffering did not end there. Twice more, before his death, he was shamefully persecuted by his brethren, and publicly disgraced. Asked by his beloved Master what reward he would like for all he had done for the order, John replied, “Lord, what I wish you to give me are sufferings to be borne for your sake, and that I may be despised and counted as nothing.” Eventually, due to the harsh treatment he had suffered, John fell ill and was given a choice of monasteries to retire to. He chose a monastery where he was sure to be ill-treated, and this was the case. As he became progressively sicker, he was left untended most of the time, to suffer in isolation. But at his death, the room was filled with a marvelous light, and his unhappy Prior recognized his error, and that he had mistreated a Saint.

Saint John of the Cross’ body was buried, and later his relics translated. After a first exhumation, his body was found to be intact. This was the case in many subsequent exhumations (the latest occurring in 1955). Saint John of the Cross was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1926 by Pope Pius XI.

Saint John’s life was one filled with hardship, persecution, and misery. Yet, he found nothing by the love of God in each of his experiences. Rather than giving up, becoming bitter or jaded, John’s compassion and love increased with every insult. He truly lived his words: "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love." The life of Saint John of the Cross reminds us that despite our worldly experiences, true happiness and joy can come only from the Lord. When we look to Him, we will find our comfort.



Selected Quotations of Saint John of the Cross:
If you do not learn to deny yourself, you can make no progress in perfection.

In detachment, the spirit finds quiet and repose for coveting nothing. Nothing wearies it by elation, and nothing oppresses it by dejection, because it stands in the center of its own humility.

The Lord measures our perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them.

I wish I could persuade spiritual persons that the way of perfection does not consist in many devices, nor in much cogitation, but in denying themselves completely and yielding themselves to suffer everything for the love of Christ. And if there is failure in this exercise, all other methods of walking in the spiritual way are merely a beating about the bush, and profitless trifling, although a person should have very high contemplation and communication with God.

Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive by any earthly thing.

O you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the Lord.

In giving us His Son, His only Word, He spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word - and He has no more to say…because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son.

If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.

In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.

It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.

Beloved, all that is harsh and difficult I want for myself, and all that is gentle and sweet for thee.

In tribulation immediately draw near to God with confidence, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.

If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.

The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.

Anyone who complains or grumbles is not perfect, nor is he even a good Christian.

Anyone who trusts in himself is worse than the devil.

Anyone who does not love his neighbor abhors God.

Whoever flees prayer flees all that is good.

Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water.

Suffering for God is better than working miracles.



Let us pray today that those called to seek God in Carmel
may remain, like Saint John of the Cross,
faithful to the meditation of the Word and to prayer
by day and by night,
until their consummation in the Living Flame of Love.


O God,
who endowed your priest, Saint John,
with a spirit of utter self-denial
and a surpassing love of the Cross;
grant that, by ever holding fast to his example,
we may attain to the contemplation of your everlasting glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.


O God,
who by Thy living flame of love,
didst sustain Saint John of the Cross even in the darkness:
shed Thou Thy light, we beseech Thee,
on all who love Thee though it be night
and give them to drink their fill of that deathless spring
that in the living Bread lies hidden.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.




Year 2: Day 348 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Willingness to suffer for the Lord; Humility; Joy in Christ.
Requested Intentions: Financial security, successful employment (J); Obedience to God’s will (A); Conversion of souls (A); Success of business venture; faith of daughter (S); Safe return home (J); Recovery of mother and son; repose of the souls of the dearly departed (A); Blessings upon a relationship (M); Sobriety and recovery for a son (M); Employment and successful marriage (A); Employment, healing, freedom from anxiety (T); Financial security (C); Conversion (T); Peace in difficult times at work (E); Financial security and blessings for mother and children (T); Financial security for a mother (M); Health, finances, successful marriage (A); Successful resolution of court case for son (K); Continued sobriety (N); Healing of a chronic health condition (B); Successful employment (A): Peace in a family, recovery of a niece from substance use (L); Blessings on a marriage, healing of a husband (P); For the health and recovery of sisters (B); For a daughter and granddaughter (D); Blessings on overseas employment (M); Healing of mother (L).

Today, September 2425 we celebrate the feast day of Blessed Herman the Cripple (also known as Hermannus Contractus, or Herman of Reichenau, 1013-1054), monk, 11th century scholar, composer, musical theorist, mathematician, and astronomer. Blessed Herman composed the Marian prayers Alma Redemptoris Mater, and the Salve Regina (also known as the “Hail Holy Queen”) which we pray each time we pray the Holy Rosary. Despite significant physical limitations and suffering, the bright and contemplative mind of Blessed Herman advanced not only our understanding of the physical world, but furthered our devotion to Our Blessed Mother. His contributions to both science and faith remind us that regardless of appearance or apparent physical abilities, we each possess immense God-given gifts and talents! He was called "The Wonder of His Age."


Herman was born into royalty, the son of a duke of Altshausen. From birth, it was apparent that he would be horribly crippled and disfigured, earning him the less-than-pleasant name of “Hermannus Contractus” (or “Herman the Twisted”). Sources suggest he was born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy and spina bifida. Without assistance, he could not move, and could barely speak, but within his body was a keen mind and iron will.

At the age of seven, Herman’s parents left him at the Benedictine monastery of Reichenau, where they arranged for him to be raised and educated. Situated on the shores of Lake Constance, it was expected that this location would be ideal for Herman’s health, but also for his developing intellect. Abbot Berno, the monk who led the community, took Herman under his wing, educating him with kindness and compassion.

Despite his obvious intellect, Herman struggled to read and write at first, his physical limitations difficult to overcome. Once he mastered the basics, the academic world opened to him, and he impressed all with the breadth and depth of his subsequent studies. Not only did he immerse himself in the sciences, but also in languages, music and theology. Herman became fluent in Latin, Greek, and Arabic. He wrote extensively on mathematical and astronomical topics, as well as volumes on the history of the world. He was professed a monk at the age of 30, and continued to write, producing works of great spiritual depth. Of note, his treatise “On the Eight Principal Vices,” which he wrote in a poetic style.

More than his writings, however, Herman was known for his gentleness, joy, and sweet disposition. Never was he heard to complain, despite the fact that most activities were painful and difficult. Rather, he was recognized to have a smile for all, and became a beacon of hope and joy throughout the monastery. Students traveled great distances to study with him, learning not only their academic subjects but also strength of character, perseverance, and humility through his model.

Blessed Herman’s contributions to academics were great, as were his contributions to sacred tradition. He wrote many hymns which continue to be sung today, as well as portions of the Mass. His greatest contributions may be his hymns of devotion and love for Our Blessed Mother: Alma Redemptoris Mater and Salve Regina. The confidence and hope we place in Mary is eloquently and simply captured in his writings.

Relics of Blessed Herman

Blessed Herman died at the young age of 40, having succumbed to the symptoms of his many afflictions. He was beatified in 1863. He was a man who took joy in his struggles, and looked at each difficult day as an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord. Every time we pray the Holy Rosary, we end in prayer with Blessed Herman. The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) reminds us of our deep connection not only to Our Blessed Mother, but to all those who suffer alongside us in the world.


Salve Regina

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve!
To thee do we send up our sighs; mourning and weeping in this vale of tears!
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us, and after this, our exile, show to us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O Clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us O Holy Mother of God…That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.



Alma Redemptoris Mater

Sweet Mother of the Redeemer,
that passage to heaven,
gate of the morning,
and star of the sea:
Assist the fallen,
lift up, you who cure, the people:
you who bore to the wonderment of nature,
your holy Creator.
Virgin before and after,
who received from Gabriel
that joyful greeting,
have mercy on us sinners.



Herman The Cripple
A poem by William Hart Hurlbut, M.D.

I am least among the low,
I am weak and I am slow;
I can neither walk nor stand,
Nor hold a spoon in my own hand.


Like a body bound in chain,
I am on a rack of pain,
But He is God who made me so,
that His mercy I should know.


Brothers do not weep for me!
Christ, the Lord, has set me free.
All my sorrows he will bless;
Pain is not unhappiness.


From my window I look down
To the streets of yonder town,
Where the people come and go,
Reap the harvest that they sow.


Like a field of wheat and tares,
Some are lost in worldly cares;
There are hearts as black as coal,
There are cripples of the soul.


Brothers do not weep for me!
In his mercy I am free.
I can neither sow nor spin,
Yet, I am fed and clothed in Him.


I have been the donkey’s tail,
Slower than a slug or snail;
You my brothers have been kind,
Never let me lag behind.


I have been most rich in friends,
You have been my feet and hands;
All the good that I could do,
I have done because of you.

Oh my brothers, can’t you see?
You have been as Christ for me.
And in my need I know I, too,
Have become as Christ for you!

I have lived for forty years
In this wilderness of tears;
But these trials can’t compare
With the glory we will share.


I have had a voice to sing,
To rejoice in everything;
Now Love’s sweet eternal song
Breaks the darkness with the dawn.

Brother’s do not weep for me!
Christ, the Lord, has set me free.
Oh my friends, remember this:
Pain is not unhappiness.

The poem is taken from Father Benedict J Groeschel’s book, Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones.



Year 2: Day 268 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Patience, obedience, endurance to bear our sufferings for the Lord.
Requested Intentions: Business success, peace, health (E); Conversion and deliverance of those who suffer, increase in vocations (M); Financial security and safe housing (M); For a daughter (K); Conversion of a family, deliverance of the souls in Purgatory (S); Successful marriage (A); Health, safety, grace, success of a building project (A); Successful treatment and recovery from cancer (D); Clear speech for a child (C); Conversion of a family (A); Successful employment (S); For the healing of impaired vision (F); For a couple experiencing difficulties (L); Successful employment after finishing college (M); Mother’s health (A); Financial security, freedom from anxiety (S); For a son and cousins (L); Peace and civility (B); Successful examination results (D); Safety of family, strength, courage, wisdom (C); For the souls of a departed father and brother, finding of a suitable marriage partner (R); Successful pilgrimage, deepening of prayer life (R); Restoration of health (J); Restoration of health (S); Freedom from pride (A); For children and marriage (M); For the birth of a healthy baby (Y); For personal family intentions, for the sick, poor, hungry, and homeless (G); Financial security and peace (J); Grace, peace, and obedience to the will of God in a marriage (H); Successful and blessed marriage for sin, freedom from anxiety for husband, spiritual contentedness for family (N); Employment and health for a husband (B); Recovery and health of a mother (J); For a family to grow closer to the Church, salvation for all children (D); Successful employment (L); Successful employment (S); Renewal of faith life (A); Support for an intended marriage, health for friend and aunt (J); Mental health assistance for son (G); Freedom from illness (S); Successful employment (C).

Today, September 24, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Pacificus of San Severino (1653-1721), Franciscan Friar, missionary, Superior of the Friary of San Severino, and joyful sufferer for Christ. The life of Saint Pacificus inspires us to take stock of our own lives, accepting those things we consider to be difficult or sufferings with endurance, obedience, and joy—offering our difficulties and failings to the Lord.


Pacificus was born at San Severino (central Italy), the son of distinguished parents. Both of his pious parents died while he was quite young, at approximately five years of age, and he was raised by an uncle who treated him quite harshly, viewing him as little more than a servant. Never one to complain, Pacificus obediently completed any task asked of him, spending his free time in prayer and contemplation. At the age of 12, he requested admission into the Franciscan monastery of san Severino, and was accepted.

Following his formation and ordination, Pacificus began his apostolic life as teacher to his brethren (Professor of Philosophy), preacher, and later missionary to the rural communities of Italy. Recognized for his intelligence and piety, Pacificus was well-respected and sought out for counsel and advice. His preference was to lived as an ascetic, fasting perpetually, and limiting his intake to bread, soup, or water. He wore uncomfortable garments made of rough iron beneath his robes, and submitted all things to the Lord. His obedience was only surpassed by his poverty and humility.

At the young age of 35, Pacificus was struck ill by an aggressive disease that eventually left him deaf, blind, and physically crippled. For the remaining 29 years of his life, he lived a contemplative life—no longer able to participate in missions outside the monastery. He prayed constantly, offering his daily sufferings for the conversion of sinners, and came to be known for miraculous cures of the sick who came to visit him. He was further gifted with ecstasies in which he communed with the Lord, and had the ability to “read souls,” reminding penitents in the confessional of sins they had forgotten.

Appointed superior of the monastery, Saint Pacificus led through his humble example. He served the post until his death, and soon thereafter, miracles began being reported at his tombside. Through the intercession of this saintly man who had suffered throughout his life, the sufferings of many were cured by the grace of God.



Year 2: Day 267 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Patience, obedience, endurance to bear our sufferings for the Lord.
Requested Intentions: Business success, peace, health (E); Conversion and deliverance of those who suffer, increase in vocations (M); Financial security and safe housing (M); For a daughter (K); Conversion of a family, deliverance of the souls in Purgatory (S); Successful marriage (A); Health, safety, grace, success of a building project (A); Successful treatment and recovery from cancer (D); Clear speech for a child (C); Conversion of a family (A); Successful employment (S); For the healing of impaired vision (F); For a couple experiencing difficulties (L); Successful employment after finishing college (M); Mother’s health (A); Financial security, freedom from anxiety (S); For a son and cousins (L); Peace and civility (B); Successful examination results (D); Safety of family, strength, courage, wisdom (C); For the souls of a departed father and brother, finding of a suitable marriage partner (R); Successful pilgrimage, deepening of prayer life (R); Restoration of health (J); Restoration of health (S); Freedom from pride (A); For children and marriage (M); For the birth of a healthy baby (Y); For personal family intentions, for the sick, poor, hungry, and homeless (G); Financial security and peace (J); Grace, peace, and obedience to the will of God in a marriage (H); Successful and blessed marriage for sin, freedom from anxiety for husband, spiritual contentedness for family (N); Employment and health for a husband (B); Recovery and health of a mother (J); For a family to grow closer to the Church, salvation for all children (D); Successful employment (L); Successful employment (S); Renewal of faith life (A); Support for an intended marriage, health for friend and aunt (J); Mental health assistance for son (G); Freedom from illness (S); Successful employment (C).

Yesterday, September 14, we celebrated the feast day of Saint John Chrysostom (344-407), Bishop of Constantinople, and Doctor of the Church. The power of Saint John’s words, and the eloquence of his sermons earned him his surname, which translated literally means “the golden mouthed.” Saint John preached the Gospel to all who would listen, drawing attention to the needs of the poor, and advocating for great social change on the part of the rich and noble classes. As such, he was exiled twice, but never gave up preaching the Gospel message, even while banished from his homeland. Saint John is the recognized as the Eastern Father of the Church.


We continue our postings of Saint John Chrysostom’s writings and homilies today, pausing to reflect on his contemplations and interpretations of Saint Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians.



Again Paul turns to speak of love, softening the harshness of his rebuke. For after convicting and reproaching them for not loving him as he had loved them, breaking away from his love and attaching themselves to troublemakers, he again takes the edge off the reproach by saying: Open your hearts to us, that is, love us. He asks for a favour which will be no burden to them but will be more profitable to the giver than to the receiver. And he did not use the word “love” but said, more appealingly: Open your hearts to us.


Who, he said, has cast us out of your minds, thrust us from your hearts? How is it that you feel constraint with us? For, since he has said earlier: You are restricted in your own affection, he now declares himself more openly and says: Open your heart to us, thus once more drawing them to him. For nothing so much wins love as the knowledge that one’s lover desires most of all to be himself loved.


For I said before, he tells them, that you are in our hearts to die together or live together. This is love at its height, that even though in disfavour, he wishes both to die and to live with them. For you are in our hearts, not just somehow or other, but in the way I have said. It is possible to love and yet to draw back when danger threatens; but my love is not like that.


I am filled with consolation. What consolation? That which comes from you because you, being changed for the better, have consoled me by what you have done. It is natural for a lover both to complain that he is not loved in return and to fear that he may cause distress by complaining too much. Therefore, he says: I am filled with consolation, I rejoice exceedingly.


It is as if he said, I was much grieved on your account, but you have made it up for me in full measure and given me comfort; for you have not only removed the cause for any grief but filled me with a richer joy.


Then he shows the greatness of that joy by saying not only I rejoice exceedingly but also the words which follow: in all my tribulations. So great, he says, was the delight that you gave me that it was not even dimmed by so much tribulation, but overcame by its strength and keenness all those sorrows which had invaded my heart, and took away from me all awareness of them.

Today, June 15, we celebrate the feast of Saint Aleydis of Schaerbeck (also known as Saint Alice, Alice the Leper, and Saint Adelaide, 1204-1250), Patron Saint of the Blind and Paralyzed. Saint Aleydis is a perfect example of Christian suffering, devotion, and humility. She was sustained by her love of the Lord and her reception of the Holy Eucharist.


Born at Schaerbeek (near Brussels) Belgium, Aleydis was raised in a pious household. Ill and frail as a child, she took to spending her days in devotion and prayer, and at the young age of 7, requested that she be raised at the Cistercian convent of “Camera Sanctae Marie,” the Chamber of Saint Mary. There, the nuns of the convent raised her in the ways of devotion and prayer, educating her both spiritually and intellectually.

From her arrival, Aleydis impressed her sisters with grace and humility. As she matured, she requested and was granted entrance into the Order. The quiet contemplation of the convent was a good match to her shy personality, although she took every opportunity to serve her sisters, performing the most menial and despised tasks. She was admired, in return, for her piety and devotion, and miracles were recorded at her prayerful intercession.

As a young woman, Aleydis contracted leprosy, and was forced into quarantine in the convent. It grieved both her and her sisters to be isolated from each other. For Aleydis, leprosy was but the beginning of her sufferings. It brought in its wake other sufferings, sufferings of the heart, of the mind, and of the soul. It brought, more than anything else, a great loneliness. Her biographer says that the first night of her reclusion “her heart was so severely crushed and bruised, that her spirit fainted away, and her mind remained forcibly in shock.”

But in her own suffering, Aleydis soon found in her solitude the opportunity to more fully contemplate the sufferings of Christ. As her illness progressed, she was stricken with blindness and paralysis, but took these as signs of her growing closer to the Lord, sharing His suffering, and prayed for continued opportunities to suffer for sinners and the world.

One day another nun, Dame Ida, seeing the extent of Alice’s sufferings, began to weep. Alice, disfigured and handicapped, consoled her, saying: “Sweetest Sister! Be not so afflicted! Do not imagine that is for sins of my own that I am prey to these torments. Rather, it is for the deceased, subject to long, excruciating detention in purgatory, and for the sinners of the world, already miserably trapped in the fowlers’ snares and apt to be endlessly seduced. Yes, while this penalty, as you see, is rapidly consuming me, it is also having the happy effect of releasing the living, and of freeing the deceased from all such snares.”

While she was nourished each day by Eucharist, Saint Aleydis reported her truest suffering to be her inability to receive from the chalice during Communion. Soon after, our Lord appeared to Alice and consoled her by stating that receiving the consecrated bread was receiving the Blood as well as the Body of Jesus. He stated, "Where there is part, there also is the whole."

At the age of 45, Aleydis became gravely ill and received the anointing of the sick. It was revealed to her in an ecstatic vision that she would suffer for twelve more months on earth, but would also be graced with ecstasies and revelations. She spent the remainder of her days in physical agony, praying for the souls in purgatory.  On June 10, 1250, as predicted, Saint Aleydis died. She is recognized as the patroness of those suffering from paralysis.

Saint Aleydis’ prayers and sacrifices for sinners were perfectly in keeping with the doctrine of sharing that the Church has always taught, between the faithful on earth, in heaven and in purgatory. This is the Communion of Saints. Like Saint Aleydis, we must try to turn our suffering into good and pray in communion with the Saints that God will give us the strength to endure and that we may be consoled through the reception of the Sacraments and the prayers of the faithful.



Year 2: Day 166 of 365
Prayer Intentions: Joy in our suffering.
Requested Intentions: Restoration of health (D); Successful employment for couple (N); For employment for children (K); For health of friend, for successful relationships for children, for safe pregnancy for daughter (C); For the health of a mother (J); Virtue for daughter (V); Successful acceptance to college for nephew (M); For the health of a cousin (T); Freedom from legal difficulties for husband (S); Husband’s freedom from illness (L); Personal intentions (S); Successful passing of dental board examination (P); Blessings on a family (Z); Successful permanent employment (C); Healing of a son with autism (J); Son’s successful employment (L); For the intentions of family and relatives, for the Carthusian community (T); For personal intentions (A); Restoration of lost hearing (C); Resolution of relational and financial challenges (S); Comfort following loss of husband, security for family, assistance with housing (B); Healing and return of brother (O); Successful hermitage foundation (S); Support from family, permission to marry (H); Recovery of wife following surgery, freedom from depression (W); Protection and recovery of mentally ill daughter (J); Successful resolution to legal proceedings (N); Freedom from worry and successful employment (M); For successful sale of home and freedom from debt (J); Freedom from pain and illness (E).