? Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ?

- Deuteronomy 6:4-9 -
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your
God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These
commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress
them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on
your hands
and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your
houses and
on your gates.
__________________________

In Moses' time, the heart was understood to be the seat of a person's
emotions,
the very center of his being, the place where decisions were made. The
soul was
considered the basis for a person's traits and qualities, or his
personality.
Strength refers to physical, mental and spiritual strength. So within
this
command to love God with "your heart and with all your soul and with
all your
strength" every fiber of humanity is addressed. Our goal as people who
follow
Christ should be no less than becoming people who are madly in love
with God.


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November 4th - St. Charles Borromeo

St. Charles Borromeo (1538-1584), Bishop and Confessor, was called by
God to
execute a true reform in the Church. The happy conclusion of the
Council of
Trent is in great part due to his prudence. Cardinal at age 23, he was
given the
archbishopric of Milan. He presided over synods and councils,
established
colleges and congregations, and renewed the spirit of his clergy and
the
religious Orders. He was the founder of the diocesan seminaries.

St. Charles Borromeo put into practice the decisions taken at the
Council of
Trent. He had both the natural and supernatural gifts necessary to be
a holy
Bishop. His sole aim was to realize the model of the perfect Bishop.
All his
life was ordained to this ideal. In him, the man disappeared and only
the
Prelate appeared, manifesting splendorous sanctity.


Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)

Something that can be noticed in History is that when a people reach
an apogee,
great men start to appear. And many of these great men are so closely
bound to
the post that they occupy that the person almost seems to disappear
and only the
position shines. Let us consider some examples.

There is one man who until today is the Emperor of Emperors, the
perfect and
definitive pattern for all Emperors. This is so true that when one
thinks about
an Emperor, one thinks foremost of him. He is Charlemagne. After
Charlemagne
died, the invasions that he had stopped, began again; the Empire that
he had
built, broke up; the Europe that he wanted to unite, fragmented into
many
kingdoms and smaller political units; the dynasty he founded, was
extinguished.
Everything would lead to the conclusion that his memory would
disappear. But
Charlemagne remained forever in the memory of all men as the prototype
of the
Catholic Emperor, and, therefore, the Emperor par excellence. The
memory of
Charlemagne endured with all the imperial dignity, plenitude of
personality, and
elevation of spirit proper to an Emperor sent by God to do His work on
earth.

Louis XIV is the French King par excellence, the Sun King; Philip II
of Spain
was par excellence the King who defended the Faith. In the same way,
you can
find other personages who personified all the facets of the roles they
exercised.

The same rule applies inside the Holy Church of God. St. Gregory VII
was the
Pope par excellence, St. John Baptist Vianney was the model for all
parish
priests, and St. Charles Borromeo was the prototype of a Bishop.

As a true Pastor who watches over his flock, he was alert to the way
error was
being presented at his time and took a strong position against it.
Like many
other preeminent figures of the Counter-Reformation, he helped
Catholic doctrine
progress by developing the doctrine that Protestantism denied. In his
written
works, he deduced new developments from truths already known. His
position was
always militant, as a Bishop should be. He was not an ecumenical
Prelate who
accepts little parts of truth that the error might have in order to
appease the
heretic. He would analyze the ensemble of the heresy he was dealing
with and
discern its ultimate bad intentions. Then he would refute the error in
these
malicious points and develop the opposite doctrine of the Church.

St. Charles Borromeo was not only a great Bishop of the Counter-
Reformation, but
in a certain sense he was the Bishop of the Counter-Reformation. This
title is
his not just because he was a very learned man, but rather because he
became the
very archetype of a Bishop. He was not satisfied with writing books
against the
errors of the time, which he did. But he did even more, he personified
the
truths he defended in his books. He became the very symbol of what he
wrote.

A Cardinal, as you know, is supposed to dress with pomp, grandeur, and
solemnity
to glorify Our Lord Jesus Christ before men. In addition to being a
Prince of
the Church, St. Charles Borromeo was a temporal Lord in Milan, born
into a great
and noble Italian family. In his 20s, he was entrusted with the
responsible post
of Papal Secretary of State. Therefore, he used to dress and appear in
great
style.

Once his carriage was on its way to one of his appointments when a
simple friar,
who was walking on the road, approached it. St. Charles Borromeo
ordered the
driver to stop the vehicle. The friar greeted him and said:

"Your Eminence, how nice it must be to live the life of a
Cardinal, to wear
such splendid clothes and travel in a magnificent carriage! Surely it
is much
more agreeable than to be a simple friar like me, and walk by foot."

Cardinal Borromeo kindly invited the friar to accompany him. The friar
seated
himself next to the Cardinal and the journey re-commenced. Shortly the
friar
began to cry out in pain, because the beautiful cushions of the
benches were
placed over a board of sharp iron nails of penance that the Cardinal
normally
used to mortify himself. The pain became more acute with every
movement of the
vehicle. The friar could not support such mortification, and begged
that the
carriage stop for him to get out. Relieved, he returned to his "walk
by foot."

That is to say, the silks and crystals of the luxurious carriage were
meant to
be seen by the people to glorify God and the dignity of his post.
Underneath the
splendid appearance of a Cardinal, the Saint continued to practice
penance for
his sins and those of his flock.

We can ask St. Charles Borromeo to intercede with Our Lord and Our
Lady for
several things on his feast day:

o for the reform of today's Bishops who so often are very
different from
the model he represented,

o for the restoration of the seminaries, so immersed in bad
morals and
false doctrine,

o and finally, for the restoration of the entire Holy Catholic
Church
today as he helped to restore her in his times.

For ourselves personally, we might ask him to give us his vigilance
against
heresy and his heroic sense of sacrifice.

See Icons at:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j100sdCharlesBorremeo_11-4.htm


Saint Quote:
Pray that neither self indulgence nor pride, nor any other evil
passion, prevent
me from seeing in my patients Jesus who suffers, and from healing and
comforting
Him.
-Saint Richard Pampuri in a letter to his sister, a missionary nun

Bible Quote:
I know how to live humbly, and I know how to live in abundance.
(Phil. 4:12)


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Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead

"Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because
the hand of
the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.

FOURTH DAY

Death separates us; it breaks the earthly tie which binds us one to
another, but
it cannot break the spiritual tie which unites one soul to another -
one heart
to another.

Prayer: Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis

De Profundis

Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,
O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the
voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand it?
For with Thee there is merciful
forgiveness: and by reason of Thy
law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on His word; my soul
hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until
night; let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord there is mercy;
And with Him plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel from
all its iniquities.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them:
May they rest in peace. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, by the merits of Thy Precious Blood, deign to
succour and
release the Souls in Purgatory, particularly the soul that is most
abandoned.
Place it today in Heaven that in union with the angels and Thy Blessed
Mother,
it may praise Thee forever. Amen.

See entire prayer at:
http://halfthekingdom.com/daily%20thoughts%20and%20prayers.html
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