Saturday, April 19, 2008

Just for Today, April 20

I became the most humble and most abject of all men, that thou mightest learn to overcome thy pride by My humility. Learn, O dust, to obey; learn to humble thyself, thou that art but dirt and mire, and to cast thyself down under the feet of all men. Learn to break thy own will, and to yield thyself up to all subjection.
-Bk. III, ch. xiii.
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If today the Saint is able to do untold good upon earth and to bring about a complete transformation in souls, we may believe that she earned this right at the same cost by which Christ redeemed our souls, viz., by suffering and the cross.

The ceaseless war that she waged against her im­perious and ardent nature was not the least of her crosses. Even as a child she had formed a habit of never complaining or excusing herself, and at Carmel she wished to be the little handmaid of her Sisters. In her humility she endeavoured to obey them all without distinction.

One evening during her last illness the Community were to sing a hymn at the Sacred Heart hermitage. Although exhausted by fever the Saint went with them, but on reaching the spot was obliged to sit down. A nun made her a sign to stand, which she immediately did, remaining standing to the end in spite of her weak condition.

-The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme)
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For more information, see this post.
Adapted from Just For Today(©1943 Burns & Oates)
Nihil Obstat: Reginaldus Phillips, S.T.L.,Censor deputatus
Imprimatur: Edwardus Myers, Vic. Cap.

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