ST. STANISLAUS
Daniel,
Chapter 3, Verse 90
Bless the God of
gods, all you who fear the Lord;
praise and give thanks, for his mercy endures forever.
God
gave the land of Israel to the Israelites as an eternal possession; land could
be leased to pay debts but it always reverted back to the family who owned it.
In a similar way Christ has given the possession of your eternal soul back over
to you through His mercy; after you leased it out to the evil one. Do not fear or be dismayed to take possession
of it.
The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year
acceptable to the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)
The
way we take possession of our soul is by the way of purification. A man in
possession of his soul seeks to live in such a way that he does not lose
ownership of his soul. He strives to place
first things first and he endeavors to follow God’s holy Will in his life.
Conversion means turning to God (Beatitude Meditation) and keeping the four
last things in our mind when we are tempted: Death, Judgment, Heaven and hell.
Immediately after death we will be judged and our private judgment will be
repeated on the Day of Judgment; when all men will know us for what we are. If
we have done our best and followed Christ’s commandments (if you love me you will keep my commandments) we will join Him in
Heaven but if we have ignored His commandments and refused to make use of His
help (via the church sacraments) we shall be condemned to hell. [1].
Therefore; strive to love God in your daily life and make use of His grace.
When you fall, immediately make a prayer in honor of the Wound of His Holy
Shoulder making use of His grace in the sacrament of confession at the earliest
opportunity and receive Holy Communion only after confession.
O Loving Jesus, meek
Lamb of God, I miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of
Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh
and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other
wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise
and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound,
beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy
Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial
sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.
Imprimatur: Thomas D.
Beven, Bishop of Springfield
It is related in the annals
of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded
suffering, and Our Lord answered: "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My
Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the
others, and which is not recorded by men. Honor this wound with thy devotion,
and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit.
And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them
all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins."[2]
I shall content
myself with relating the history of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow, Poland,
who restored to life a man who had been dead for three years, attended by such
singular circumstances, and in so public a manner, that the thing is beyond the
severest criticism.... This incident was known by countless persons and by all
the court of King Boleslaus II (reigned 1058-1080) St. Stanislaus, bought from
a man named Piotr [Peter] an estate situated on the banks of the Vistula in the
territory of Lublin for the use of his church at Cracow. The Prelate gave the
full price of it to the seller. This was done in the presence of witnesses, and
with the solemnities required in that country, but without written deeds, for
written accounts of transactions of this kind were seldom made in Poland at
that time. They contented themselves with having witnesses. Stanislaus took
possession of this estate, and his church enjoyed it peaceably for about three
years. In the interim, Piotr, who had sold it, happened to die. The King of
Poland, Boleslaus, had conceived an implacable hatred against the holy Bishop
because he had frequently reproved him for his excesses. Therefore, seeking to
cause him trouble, the King excited the three sons of Piotr, his heirs, against
their father and told them to claim the estate which their father had sold, on
the pretense that it had not been paid for. He promised to support their
demand, and to cause the estate to be restored to them. Thus these three men
had the Bishop cited to appear before the King, who was then at Solec, occupied
in rendering justice under some tents in the country, according to the ancient
custom of the land, in the general assembly of the nation. The Bishop was cited
before the King, and maintained that he had bought and paid for the estate in
question. The day was beginning to close, and the Bishop ran great risk of
being condemned by the King and his counselors. Suddenly, as if inspired by the
Holy Spirit, the Bishop promised the King to bring before him in three days
Piotr, the deceased man who had sold it to him. The condition was accepted
mockingly, as a thing impossible to be executed. The holy Bishop retired to his
Church a distance away, where he prayed
and fasted with his household for three days. On the third day, he went in
his pontifical robes, accompanied by his clergy and a multitude of people,
ordered the gravestone to be raised, and made them dig until they found the
corpse of the defunct, all fleshless and corrupted. Then St. Stanislaus
commanded him to come forth and bear witness to the truth before the King's
tribunal. The Bishop touched the bones with his crosier and they filled out with
flesh. The dead Piotr rose; they covered him with a cloak. The Saint took him
by the hand and led him alive to the feet of the King. No one had the boldness
to interrogate him. But Piotr himself spoke out freely, and declared that he
had in good faith sold the estate to the Prelate and that he had received the
value of it. After stating this, he severely reprimanded his sons, who had so
maliciously accused the holy Bishop. Stanislaus asked Piotr if he wished to
remain alive to do penance. Pierre thanked him, and said he would not expose
himself anew to the danger of sinning. Stanislaus re-conducted him to his tomb,
where he again fell asleep in the Lord. It may be supposed that such a scene
had numerous witnesses, and that all Poland was quickly informed of it. The
King was only the more irritated against the Saint. Sometime after [on May 8,
1079], he killed the Bishop with his own hands as he was coming from the altar
in Wawel Castle outside the walls of Cracow. He then ordered that the Prelate’s
body be hacked into 72 pieces so that they might never be collected together to
be paid the honor due to them as the body of a martyr for the truth and for
pastoral liberty. St. Stanislaus was canonized in 1253 by Pope Innocent IV. He
is the patron of Poland and of the city and Diocese of Cracow, and is invoked
in battle.
Daily Devotions
·
Manhood of
the Master-Day 4 week 11
·
Please
pray for me and this ministry
[1] Paone, Anthony J., S.J. My Daily Bread,
Confraternity of the Precious Blood.
[2]
http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=31
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