Our Saint of the Day had a fierce devotion to the Eucharist and to the Sacred ❤️ Heart.
Hello John,
Today’s saint, Veronica was a devout nun who dedicated her life to serving others and experienced spiritual phenomena such as receiving the stigmata. Her unwavering faith and commitment to her religious calling are truly inspiring. If you would like to support the dissemination of inspiring stories like Veronica's, please consider making a donation to Franciscan Media. Your contribution will help us continue the of spreading faith, hope, and love to people around the world. Thank you for considering a donation to Franciscan Media. Donate today! |
Saint of the Day for July 10: Veronica Giuliani (December 27, 1660 – July 9, 1727) Saint Veronica Giuliani’s Story Veronica’s desire to be like Christ crucified was answered with the stigmata. Veronica was born in Mercatelli, Italy. It is said that when her mother Benedetta was dying she called her five daughters to her bedside and entrusted each of them to one of the five wounds of Jesus. Veronica was entrusted to the wound below Christ’s heart. At the age of 17, Veronica joined the Poor Clares directed by the Capuchins. Her father had wanted her to marry, but she convinced him to allow her to become a nun. In her first years in the monastery, she worked in the kitchen, infirmary, sacristy, and also served as portress. At the age of 34, she was made novice mistress, a position she held for 22 years. When she was 37, Veronica received the stigmata. Life was not the same after that. Church authorities in Rome wanted to test Veronica’s authenticity and so conducted an investigation. She lost the office of novice mistress temporarily and was not allowed to attend Mass except on Sundays or holy days. Through all of this Veronica did not become bitter, and the investigation eventually restored her as novice mistress. Though she protested against it, at the age of 56 she was elected abbess, an office she held for 11 years until her death. Veronica was very devoted to the Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart. She offered her sufferings for the missions, died in 1727, and was canonized in 1839. Her Liturgical Feast Day is July 9. Reflection Why did God grant the stigmata to Francis of Assisi and to Veronica Giuliani? God alone knows the deepest reasons, but as Celano points out, the external sign of the cross is a confirmation of these saints’ commitment to the cross in their lives. The stigmata that appeared in Veronica’s flesh had taken root in her heart many years before. It was a fitting conclusion for her love of God and her charity toward her sisters.
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Discover this Franciscan classic! Ilia Delio, OSF, shows how the Franciscan way can offer to all Christians an intimate and wholehearted approach to prayer. Franciscan Prayer: Awakening to Oneness with God |
Reckless in Love The simplest way to describe God’s poverty and humility is in terms of love. Love gives itself away—this is God’s poverty. Love turns toward the other so it can give itself to the other—this is God’s humility. In the Incarnation, God turns toward us through the Son/Word and gives (him)self to us as love. We call this gift of God’s love to us, this gift of total self-emptying love, “kenosis.” The poverty of God is the kenosis or self-emptying of the Word, the descent of the Word, from the riches of divine glory into our fragile human nature. The God whom Francis discovered is a God who shows himself to us in poor and humble fragile human flesh. This is a God who loves us so much as to be reckless in love; a God who throws it all away out of love and never tires of loving.
—from the book The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective
by Ilia Delio, OSF |
Discover the Franciscan approach to Prayer! Franciscan Prayer: Awakening to Oneness with God |
Time to Refocus Reflect The Lord searches day and night to find you. Pride and fear block our hearts from being found because they focus on the self. Our conversion begins when we refocus our life to Christ. Pray God, you search me and you know me.
You yearn for a relationship with me
and I continuously give the cold shoulder in self-centeredness.
Soften my heart, open my eyes,
help me to surrender to you.
For it is in you that I find peace—that I find rest.
Amen.
Act Name three ways you are focused solely on you—whether they be worrying, fearing indulging, etc. Ask God to take these things out of your hands. Give yourself a chance to reprioritize. Today's Pause+Pray was written by Natalie Ryan. Learn more here! |
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