Happy Feast of St. Catherine of Siena!

(My moment of prayer before the body of St. Catherine of Siena in Rome)

"If anyone should earnestly desire to know what was the secret of this woman's power, the answer is: her humility. Humility, not pride, can scale the battlements of the city of God. Humility raises the saints high, and seats them on the thrones left vacant by the fallen cherubim. Humility is strength: she is the mother of greatness."

~ from the chapter on St. Catherine of Siena in Maidens of Hallowed Names, 

copyrighted by Charles Piccirillo in 1881.

Some of the saints in Heaven, depicted by Fra Angelico (public domain)

"There is no fallacy more fatal to the generality of us than that the Saints were cast in a different mold to ourselves, or that the age of Saints is passed. It is not and cannot be so: the Arm of God is not shortened -- there is no age without its Saints. All around us are men and women living lives closely united to God -- Saints in the making; only our eyes are held and we see not, for the beauty of their souls is hidden from us."

~ Sister Mary Philip, A Jesuit at the English Court, imprimatur 1922.

As a mother, I find it inspiring to talk to other women who face the same challenges that I do, and who set themselves the same goal - to get our families to Heaven! Likewise, it uplifts the soul and revitalizes the heart to talk to someone - male or female, lay or religious, who is struggling along the path to Heaven just like us: falling down, picking ourselves back up, praying, fighting, striving, sweating, laughing, crying, and just never surrendering. Take courage!

 Beautiful Lac d'Annecy, in St. Francis de Sales Country

Sitting on a bench looking at this view, it seems easier to think of doing one thing at a time...doing what God puts in front of me to do. Let us pull back from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and focus on this quote of the dear saint...

"Let us do the smallest thing that God ask of us today. Tomorrow we shall see what else He will give us to do."

 ~ St. Francis de Sales

 Blessed Eastertide!

(Here you can see the reliquary containing the skull of St. Mary Magdalene, being carried up from the crypt where it is normally kept. Cathedral of St. Maximin-la-Sainte-Beaume, southern France)

Father Pichon, S.J., the spiritual director of St. Therese of Lisieux, like other holy Jesuits, preached that sadness and discouragement come from the devil. In the following quote, he relates it to the meeting of Our Lord and St. Mary Magdalene on Easter morning:

"Unexpectedly, He shows Himself to her, but Magdalen does not recognize Him. Sadness acts as a veil which robs her of the clear sight of God. Sadness and worry are the devil's masterpieces. We are incapable of great deeds while we are sad... The devil desires nothing so much as to rob us of our peace and joy of soul. Magdalen was sad; therefore, she did not recognize Our Lord."

~ Almire Pichon, S.J., Seeds of the Kingdom, imprimatur 1961.