S. Gregory Barbarigo| Daily Meditation| Daily Quote by S. Padre Pio| Divine Mercy Reflection
Today in the Latin Calendar we celebrate the Feast Day of S. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop. A story about this Feast Day can be found by Clicking Here.
Another Story:
Gregory was born in Venice to a noble family on September 16, 1625. At the age of 23, he accompanied the Venetian ambassador to Munster for the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years’ War. While there, he met the apostolic nuncio, Fabio Chigi, who found Gregory to be an exceptional young man, and the two became friends.
In 1655, Gregory was ordained a priest and worked heroically during the plague of 1657. When Fabio Chigi was consecrated as Pope Alexander VII, he did not forget the favorable impression Gregory had made on him in Munster: he appointed him bishop of Bergamo, then three years later named him cardinal, and eventually transferred him to Padua, where Gregory remained for 33 years.
Gregory was famous for his charity. He encouraged learning and founded a seminary for priests, endowing it with an excellent library and its own printing press. Some of the works which were published on this press were sent to Christians in Islamic countries to encourage them in their faith. Gregory also worked diligently towards a reunion with the Greek church and towards carrying out the reforms set forth by the Council of Trent.
As a cardinal, Gregory participated in five conclaves and at one point was considered a serious candidate for the papacy. He died at Padua in 1697 and was canonized in 1960 by Pope John XXIII.
Daily Meditation
Live An Adventure:
If we do everything with love, every day will become an adventure. The Holy Spirit will transform even our boredoms and drudgeries into chances for love and service.
Quote by S. Padre Pio:
Was he not the one who joined with S. Michael to defend God's honor against Satan and all his rebellious angels? (Our guardian angel) is still powerful against Satan and his satellites. His love has not lessened, and he can never fail to defend us.
Divine Mercy Reflection
Reflections on Notebook Two: 112-188
We now enter into Notebook Two of the six notebooks that make up the Diary of Saint Faustina. The reason for having more than one notebook is simply that when one notebook was filled by Saint Faustina she began with a new one. Therefore, there is nothing particularly different from one notebook to the other. However, for the purpose of this current book of daily reflections, each reflection will begin to be lengthened, starting here with Notebook Two, so as to help you, the reader, enter more deeply into the beautiful mysteries of faith and our shared spiritual life that have been revealed in these writings of Saint Faustina.
You are invited once again to take one reflection each day and to ponder it throughout the day. Try to pray the prayer for each reflection each morning, noon and evening. Allow each mystery reflected upon to become a source of wisdom and understanding for you.
Reflection 168: Evoking the Mercy of God for Others
There is one thing, and one thing only, that has the power to free sinners from the fires of hell. That one thing is Mercy. God offers His Mercy freely and in abundance, but He has also chosen to offer His Mercy in response to our prayers when they are prayed with the utmost faith and childlike confidence. Jesus cannot refuse a heart that is pure and is filled with love for sinners. Your heart must become this way. You must strive to love sinners with such a burning love that the Lord is “obliged” to answer your request for Mercy. He obliges Himself out of love in response to the love you have in your heart (See Diary #873).
Do you realize that you have a certain “power” over the Mercy of God? This is only so because the Lord wills it. He has willed to respond to the love you have in your own heart with an outpouring of His Mercy upon those whom you love. Your love, when pure and unwavering, becomes a door through which the Heart of Christ pours forth His grace. Reflect upon your love for sinners and place that love before the Lord as your powerful prayer. He will see your love and respond with abundant generosity.
Lord, I love You and I love sinners. Help me to love all people more deeply and to offer that love to You as my pure prayer. May the love in my heart be the cause of Your own outpouring of grace and an instrument of Your Divine Mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.