Today's Minute Meditations encourages stillness with prayer. 🙏
Dear John, Francis’s first biographer, Thomas of Celano, once wrote that the saint's life became a “living prayer.” Today’s meditation from God’s Love Song by Murray Bodo and Susan Saint Sing talks about not only praying but becoming a place of prayer ourselves. St. Francis of Assisi puts it this way, “Let us always make a home and a dwelling place there for Him Who is the Lord God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Today, might we all continue to prepare within ourselves a place for God to dwell? I hope you enjoy this copy of God’s Love Song as you prepare your home for God’s transforming love to turn your life into a beautiful song. |
Stephen Copeland Book Editor, Franciscan Media |
Saint of the Day for April 10: Magdalene of Canossa (March 1, 1774 – April 10, 1835)
Saint Magdalene of Canossa’s Story Wealth and privilege did nothing to prevent today’s saint from following her calling to serve Christ in the poor. Nor did the protests of her relatives, concerned that such work was beneath her. Born in northern Italy in 1774, Magdalene knew her mind—and spoke it. At age 15 she announced she wished to become a nun. After trying out her vocation with the cloistered Carmelites, she realized her desire was to serve the needy without restriction. For years she worked among the poor and sick in hospitals and in their homes, and also among delinquent and abandoned girls. In her mid-20s, Magdalene began offering lodging to poor girls in her own home. In time she opened a school, which offered practical training and religious instruction. As other women joined her in the work, the new Congregation of the Canossian Daughters of Charity—or Canossian Sisters—emerged. Over time, houses were opened throughout Italy. Members of the new religious congregation focused on the educational and spiritual needs of women. Magdalene also founded a smaller congregation for priests and brothers. Both groups continue to this day. Magdalene died in 1835. Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1988. Reflection Let us pray to Saint Magdalene for the many young women who are caught up in the sex trafficking epidemic of our day. |
"Every life well lived is a love song, and we hope that the pages of this book makes that real, especially for anyone who chooses to follow St. Francis and St. Clare." —from God's Love Song: The Vision of Francis and Clare. |
Wait in Silence I have found that if someone is going to work hard at being immersed in God, the effort should not be just in the praying itself but in becoming yourself a place of prayer. This place of prayer, so carefully prepared, sometimes by extensive work, is where we can just be. Be silent. Be alone. Be at peace with our solitude. So, to learn to pray, we, like St. Francis, need to find our own sacred place of solitude and silence. Then, once we’ve come to that oasis, we need only enter and wait in silence. We often don’t really know what we’re waiting for, but we trust that something will come; and when it does, it will be a surprise, both in when it comes and what it is. —from the book God’s Love Song: The Vision of Francis and Clare
by Murray Bodo, OFM, and Susan Saint Sing |
Explore how Franciscan spirituality can inspire and encourage a wholeness of body and soul through all the ups and downs of life. |
A Humble Heart Reflect In order to learn, we must first accept our limitations. How can we be better Christians if we do not approach God with a humble heart? Pray Lord, from glory you came down to greet us.
While on earth you made a home with the poor,
you lived among the diseased and dispossessed.
No one was beneath your benevolence.
Grant me the gift of humility that I may share in your glory.
Amen. Act Ask someone in your life who you admire and wish to emulate to help you appreciate the gifts God has given them. Today's Pause+Pray was written by Clifford Hennings, OFM. Learn more here! |
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