• April 29th - St. Hugh the Great

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Sun Apr 28 09:22:48 2019
    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 )


    <><><><>
    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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