From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
April 29th - St. Hugh the Great
(1024-1109)
The saints, even those canonized, are like the stars: some are of
greater magnitude than others. One reason why the monastic reformer
St. Hugh is called =E2=80=9Cthe Great=E2=80=9D is precisely because his con= temporaries
recognized him as =E2=80=9Ca major planet.=E2=80=9D
Hugh, the eldest son of a French count of Burgundian background, had
so clear a calling to become a Benedictine monk that he entered the
monastery of Cluny when only 14. Ordained a priest when only 20, and
named prior of the monastery that same year, he was elected abbot in
1049 when only 25: surely a token of high esteem among his brethren.
Pope St. Leo IX soon saw his worth. The two became promoters of
monastic reform. Under Pope Leo and his eight successors, Abbot Hugh
was constantly traveling to and fro in Europe on missions of great
importance to church and state.
Not that he neglected his monastery. Cluny, too, profited by his
guidance and example, and under St. Hugh several reformist daughter
monasteries were established in various European countries. Hugh also
founded a monastery for nuns, presided over initially by his sister;
and he opened a hospital for lepers, where he loved to wait on the
sick personally.
St. Hugh served his Church and his monks until he was 85. When he knew
that he was dying, he asked to be carried to church. There he lay upon
symbolic sackcloth and ashes, until death came.
Hugh the Great was canonized only 11 years after his death. That in
itself indicates the consensus that he was not only a saint but a
great one.
A description of the saint by his disciple Heribert gives us a good
idea of why St. Hugh was universally admired.
=E2=80=9CInsatiable in reading, indefatigable in prayer,=E2=80=9D wrote Her= ibert, =E2=80=9Che
employed every moment for his own progress or for the good of his
neighbor. It is hard to say which was the greater, his prudence or his simplicity. Never did he speak an idle word; never did he perform a questionable act. Anger, except against sin, he never knew. His
advice, even when addressed to individuals, was serviceable to all.
There was in him more of the father than of the judge, more of
clemency that of severity. He was tall of stature and striking in
appearance, but his spiritual endowments far surpassed his bodily
graces. When he was silent, he was conversing with God; when he
talked, he spoke of God and in God. He could always deal with whatever
he undertook, for he gave it his entire attention. He loved, in their
due order: God above and beyond all, his neighbor equally with
himself, and the world beneath his feet.=E2=80=9D
Many generous people have bequeathed their wealth for the benefit of
posterity. How much nobler is the heritage of good example bequeathed
to mankind by people like St. Hugh the Great? And how splendid on the
part of all of us if we are able to leave to those who survive us the encouraging memory of a blameless life! It is like the heritage left
by the risen Christ Himself.
Saint Quote
Everyone--past, present, and future--will be judged. Now, then, is the
time for mercy, while the time to come will be the time for justice
only. For that reason, the present time is ours, but the future time
will be God's only!
--St. Thomas Aquinas
Bible Quote:
The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the
way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God's
power to save. As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the
wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned.=C2 (1
Corinthians 1:18-19 )
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Prayer
O my Jesus, Immaculate Lamb sacrificed on the Cross for me! Let not all tha=
t Thou hast suffered for me be lost, but accomplish in me the object of Thy=
great sufferings! O bind me entirely with the sweet chains of Thy love in = order that I may not leave Thee, and that I may nevermore be separated from=
Thee: "Most sweet Jesus, suffer me not to be separated from Thee, suffer m=
e not to be separated from Thee!
Amen.
--From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori=
:
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