Prayer at Thanksgiving

Father, all of Creation rightly owes you thanks and praise. Your justice, love and mercy abound. We thank you this day for all that you have given us:
For the Passion and Death of your Divine Son..... we thank you Father....through the Cross, He redeemed the world.
 

For the Church......... we thank you Father.... it is our beacon for salvation.
 

For the martyrs and saints who give testimony to your Son......... we thank you Father.....their witness to your Son is our inheritance.
 

For our loved ones and friends who have died and gone before us..... we thank you Father...their love abides with us forever.
 

For loving spouses ......we thank you Father......together we seek you.
 

For the gift of children.....we thank you Father....they are your precious gifts to us and to the world.
 

For the gift of our families, loved ones and good friends.......we thank you Father....Through them we see the reflection of your Son.
 

For jobs, our homes and all that we have.....we thank you Father....give us only that which we need, as we seek Your Kingdom.
 

For the bounty we are about to eat...we thank you through Christ Our Lord. Amen

Great Video on Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR

From: franciscanfriars.com

In this year of the priest, here is an inspirational story of a priest (and a friend of our Abbey) dedicated to serving the poor.  Congratulations Father Benedict on 50 years of Priesthood!!!

Prayer of St. Gertrude, OSB

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

St. Gertrude, OSB

From: EWTN.com

Benedictine and mystic writer; born in Germany, 6 Jan., 1256; died at Helfta, near Eisleben, Saxony, 17 November, 1301 or 1302. Nothing is known of her family, not even the name of her parents. It is clear from her life (Legatus, lib. I, xvi) that she was not born in the neighbourhood of Eisleben. When she was but five years of age she entered the alumnate of Helfta. The monastery was at that time governed by the saintly and enlightened Abbess Gertrude of Hackerborn, under whose rule it prospered exceedingly, both in monastic observance and in that intellectual activity which St. Lioba and her Anglo-Saxon nuns had transmitted to their foundations in Germany. All that could aid to sanctity, or favour contemplation and learning, was to be found in this hallowed spot. Here, too, as to the centre of all activity and impetus of its life, the work of works—the Opus Dei, as St. Benedict terms the Divine Office—was solemnly carried out. Such was Helfta when its portals opened to receive the child destined to be its brightest glory. Gertrude was confided to the care of St. Mechtilde, mistress of the alumnate and sister of the Abbess Gertrude. From the first she had the gift of winning the hearts, and her biographer gives many details of her exceptional charms, which matured with advancing years. Thus early had been formed between Gertrude and Mechtilde the bond of an intimacy which deepened and strengthened with time, and gave the latter saint a prepondering influence over the former.

Partly in the alumnate, partly in the community, Gertrude had devoted herself to study with the greatest ardour. In her twenty-sixth year there was granted her the first of that series of visions of which the wonderful sequence ended only with life. She now gauged in its fullest extent the void of which she had been keenly sensible for some time past, and with this awakening came the realization of the utter emptiness of all transitory things. With characteristic ardour she cultivated the highest spirituality, and, to quote her biographer, "from being a grammarian became a theologian", abandoning profane studies for the Scriptures, patristic writings, and treatises on theology. To these she brought the same earnestness which had characterized her former studies, and with indefatigable zeal copied, translated, and wrote for the spiritual benefit of others. Although Gertrude vehemently condemns herself for past negligence ( Legatus, II, ii), still to understand her words correctly we must remember that they express the indignant self-condemnation of a soul called to the highest sanctity. Doubtless her inordinate love of study had proved a hindrance alike to contemplation and interior recollection, yet it had none the less surely safeguarded her from more serious and grievous failings. Her struggle lay in the conquest of a sensitive and impetuous nature. In St. Gertrude's life there are no abrupt phases, no sudden conversion from sin to holiness. She passed from alumnate to the community. Outwardly her life was that of the simple Benedictine nun, of which she stands forth preeminently as the type. Her boundless charity embraced rich and poor, learned and simple, the monarch on his throne and the peasant in the field; it was manifested in tender sympathy towards the souls in purgatory, in a great yearning for the perfection of souls consecrated to God. Her humility was so profound that she wondered how the earth could support so sinful a creature as herself. Her raptures were frequent and so absorbed her faculties as to render her insensible to what passed around her. She therefore begged, for the sake of others, that there might be no outward manifestations of the spiritual wonders with which her life was filled. She had the gift of miracles as well as that of prophecy.

When the call came for her spirit to leave the worn and pain-stricken body, Gertrude was in her forty-fifth or forty-sixth year, and in turn assisted at the death-bed and mourned for the loss of the holy Sister Mechtilde (1281), her illustrious Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn (1291), and her chosen guide and confidante, St. Mechtilde (1298). When the community was transferred in 1346 to the monastery of New Helfta, the present Trud-Kloster, within the walls of Eisleben, they still retained possession of their old home, where doubtless the bodies of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde still buried, though their place of sepulture remains unknown. There is, at least, no record of their translation. Old Helfta is now crown-property, while New Helfta has lately passed into the hands of the local municipality. It was not till 1677 that the name of Gertrude was inscribed in the Roman Martyrology and her feast was extended to the universal church, which now keeps it on 15 November, although it was at first fixed on 17 November, the day of her death, on which it is still celebrated by her own order. In compliance with a petition from the King of Spain she was declared Patroness of the West Indies; in Peru her feast is celebrated with great pomp, and in New Mexico a town was built in her honour and bears her name. Some writers of recent times have considered that St. Gertrude was a Cistercian, but a careful and impartial examination of the evidence at present available does not justify this conclusion. It is well known that the Cistercian Reform left its mark on many houses not affiliated to the order, and the fact that Helfta was founded during the "golden age" of Citeaux (1134-1342) is sufficient to account for this impression.

Many of the writings of St. Gertrude have unfortunately perished. Those now extant are:

—The "Legatus Divinae Pietatis",—The "Exercises of St. Gertrude";—The "Liber Specialis Gratiae" of St. Mechtilde.

The works of St. Gertrude were all written in Latin, which she used with facility and grace. The "Legatus Divinae Pietatis" (Herald of Divine Love) comprises five books containing the life of St. Gertrude, and recording many of the favours granted her by God. Book II alone is the work of the saint, the rest being compiled by members of the Helfta community. They were written for her Sisters in religion, and we feel she has here a free hand unhampered by the deep humility which made it so repugnant for her to disclose favours personal to herself. The "Exercises", which are seven in number, embrace the work of the reception of baptismal grace to the preparation for death. Her glowing language deeply impregnated with the liturgy and scriptures exalts the soul imperceptibly to the heights of contemplation. When the "Legatus Divinae Pietatis" is compared with the "Liber Specialis Gratiae" of St. Mechtilde, it is evident that Gertrude is the chief, if not the only, author of the latter book. Her writings are also coloured by the glowing richness of that Teutonic genius which found its most congenial expression in symbolism and allegory. The spirit of St. Gertrude, which is marked by freedom, breadth, and vigour, is based on the Rule of St. Benedict. Her mysticism is that of all the great contemplative workers of the Benedictine Order from St. Gregory to Blosius. Hers, in a word, is that ancient Benedictine spirituality which Father Faber has so well depicted (All for Jesus, viii).

The characteristic of St. Gertrude's piety is her devotion to the Sacred Heart, the symbol of that immense charity which urged the Word to take flesh, to institute the Holy Eucharist, to take on Himself our sins, and, dying on the Cross, to offer Himself as a victim and a sacrifice to the Eternal Father (Congregation of Rites, 3 April, 1825). Faithful to the mission entrusted to them, the superiors of Helfta appointed renowned theologians, chosen from the Dominican and Franciscan friars, to examine the works of the saint. These approved and commented them throughout. In the sixteenth century Lanspergius and Blosius propagated her writings. The former, who with his confrere Loher spared no pains in editing her works, also wrote a preface to them. The writings were warmly received especially in Spain, and among the long list of holy and learned authorities who used and recommended her works may be mentioned :

—St. Teresa, who chose her as her model and guide,—Yepez,—the illustrious Suarez,—the Discalced Carmelite Friars of France,—St. Francis de Sales,—M. Oliver,—Fr. Faber,—Dom Gueranger.

The Church has inserted the name of Gertrude in the Roman Martyrology with this eulogy: "On the 17th of November, in Germany (the Feast) of St. Gertrude Virgin, of the Order of St. Benedict, who was illustrious for the gift of revelations."

Gertrude Casanova
Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
In memory of Sabina Jablonski

---

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright (c) 1913 by the Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright (c) 1996 by New Advent, Inc. Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

St. Martin of Tours

From:  http://www.stmartin.edu

November 11th is "Martinmas Day" – the feast of St. Martin of Tours.

It's a day full of old traditions, fun, and superstition. One belief was that if one stood in the back of the parish church on this day, one could see an aura around the heads of those who would be gone before the next Martinmas.

Another story had it that once when St. Martin was on his way to Rome, he met up with Satan. He promptly changed the devil into a donkey, and rode him into the City. The donkey spoke to him, and in palindromes, no less: "Signa te signa. Temere me tangis et agnis," he said; and "Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor." ["Cross thyself, you plague and vex me without need; for by my efforts you are about to reach Rome, the object of your travel."]

So who was this Martin?

He was a real paragon; and he could be called a "conscientious objector for the centuries."

He prayed, "O Lord, if I am still necessary to my people, I do not refuse the labor: Thy will be done." But what he did refuse to do, finally, was to fight.

This seemed out of character, given his family situation. Martin was born in a Roman province (Pannonia, now part of Hungary) in or about the year 315. His father was a military man, an officer in the Roman army who had risen from the ranks; and, with his wife, a worshiper of the old Roman gods. Many were at this time, although the persecutions of Christians had finally come to an end.

But young Martin yearned to learn the lessons of Christianity, and to be baptized. So, when he was barely ten years old, he secretly went to the house of a priest and begged for instruction.

Within a few years, while still a catechumen, Martin was "drafted." All he wanted was to be a soldier for Christ, but the Romans apparently had a law that any son of a soldier would become a soldier himself. This soldier-to-be was so reluctant that he had to be held in chains until the induction; after that, he believed it his duty to serve. At the same time, he lived insofar as possible the life of a monk–even after he, too, was raised to officer's rank; and even though he was made part of an elite ceremonial unit, whose members wore gorgeous uniforms and had light duty.

It was his warm uniform–and what he did with it–that first got him noticed. When he was about twenty, he was riding home one bitterly cold night (and the stories say he had already given away most of what he was wearing to people who, he thought, needed it more than he did), when he saw an exceedingly old and poor man, who was almost without any clothes at all, and about to freeze to death. Martin immediately jumped from his horse, took off his luxurious cloak, and cut it in two with his sword. Wrapping one half around the starving beggar, he returned the other half to his own shoulders, and rode off.

Years later, a friend, admirer, and disciple named Sulpicius Severus told this story, and many others no less wonderful, in what he called "a little treatise" on Martin's life.

The climax to the story of the beggar and the cloak doesn't come where people laugh at the young man on the horse and he isn't fazed by it (although some realize they're in the presence of Christian goodness). It ends later that night, when Martin has a dream. In his dream, he sees Jesus, dressed in the half-of-a-cloak he had given the beggar, and hears Him saying, "Martin, who is still but a catechumen, clothed me with this robe" and reiterating, as in the Scripture, "Inasmuch as ye have done these things to one of the least of these, ye have done them unto me."

At that point, he did become a baptized Communicant. But he had to continue serving in the army.

Before a battle, when the troops were being handed money as an incentive, he protested that now he was "a soldier of Christ," so could not fight. "Put me in the forefront, though," he offered. The commander was so livid that he promised he would do exactly that, and had Martin thrown in jail until time to take the field.

Imagine his surprise when the enemy surrendered before the battle began. Well, Martin's life continued like that. Finally demobilized, he sought out St. Hilary, and begged to serve and learn from him. Set upon by robbers, he quietly and lovingly told them about God, so that at least one of them converted on the spot–and years later, told his story to Sulpicius Severus, who wrote it down. Saintly act followed on saintly act. It's no wonder God had called Martin out of paganism at such an early age: This was a man who was truly, unselfishly, loving.

Of course his fame spread. The people of Tours decided as one that he must be their next bishop. At the same time, they knew very well that he was so humble, he would never accept the offer unless he was tricked into it.

And so they tricked him. Someone begged him to come minister to "his sick wife"; and when Martin–who came immediately, of course– got to Tours, people came out of every hiding place, just as though at a surprise party, and welcomed him as their new spiritual leader.

It was really impossible for him to refuse (even though the church officials who had come to induct him thought he was a terrible choice, given his monkish ways and terrible haircut, etc.)

So Martin did serve as bishop, but again, in his own inimitable way. He took up residence in a cell; and, although dozens of disciples clustered around him, his ministry was mainly one-on-one evangelism: He would go into his people's homes as a real pastor.

There are lovely stories of how he thwarted paganism with that same quiet love. Once, when he asked that a tree be cut down because the people were worshiping it, he was told that he would have to sit under where it would fall. He agreed; and just as it was felled, he made the sign of the Cross, and it fell the other way! (But slowly, so everybody else had plenty of time to get out from under it!)

He became widely known for begging the lives of those who would otherwise be tortured and killed. It got to the place where those in authority, seeing him coming, just gave up and pardoned their prisoners.

He had some trouble with heretics, but mainly managed to live a godly, spiritual life, at peace with just about everybody.

And so he died, at or about the age of 80, on November 8 in or about the year 397, and was buried November 11. He begged to be buried in the Cemetery of the Poor, and so he was; but later, a chapel was built over his grave; and still later, it was replaced by a beautiful basilica.

From Saints and Sinners

©1998 by The Big Network. All rights reserved.

Lord, if Your people still have need of my services I will not avoid the toil.  Your will be done.  I have fought the good fight long enough.  Yet if You bid me continue to hold the battle line in defense of Your camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength.  I will do the work You entrust to me.  While You command, I will fight beneath Your banner. (Traditional prayer attributed to St. Martin of Tours)