Day 7 – May 28th – Feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury
~Prayers~
O my sovereign Queen and worthy
Mother of my God, most holy Mary; I seeing myself, as I do, so despicable and
loaded with so many sins, ought not to presume to call thee Mother, or even to
approach thee; yet I will not allow my miseries to deprive me of the
consolation and confidence that I feel in calling thee mother; I know well that
I deserve that thou shouldst reject me; but I beseech thee to remember all that
thy Son Jesus has endured for me, and then reject me if thou canst. I am a wretched sinner, who, more than all
others, have despised the infinite majesty of God: but the evil is done. To thee have I recourse; thou canst help me;
my Mother, help me. Say not that thou
canst not do so; for I know that thou art all-powerful, and that thou obtainest
whatever thou desirest of God; and if thou sayest that thou wilt not help me,
tell me at least to whom I can apply in this my so great misfortune. "Either pity me," will I say with
the devout St. Anselm, "O my Jesus, and forgive me, and do thou pity me,
my Mother Mary, by interceding for me, or at least tell me to whom I can have
recourse, who is more compassionate, or in whom I can have greater confidence
than in thee.” (Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary)
O God, Who didst give blessed
Augustine to the English people, to be their first teacher, grant unto us, we
beseech thee, that as we do proclaim his praise on earth, so we may feel his
prayers in heaven. Through Jesus Christ,
thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy
Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
(Missale Romanum)
~Reading for Meditation~
Taken from the Example for Part I of Chapter I of The Glories of Mary
by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
We read, in the life of Sister
Catharine of St. Augustine, that in the place where she resided, there was a
woman, of the name of Mary, who in her youth was a sinner, and in her old age
continued so obstinate in wickedness, that she was driven out of the city, and
reduced to live in a secluded cave; there she died, half consumed by disease,
without the sacraments, and was consequently interred in a field like a
beast. Sister Catharine, who always
recommended the souls of those who departed from this world, with great fervor
to God, on hearing the unfortunate end of this poor, poor old woman, never
thought of praying for her, and she looked upon her (as did every one else) as
irrevocably lost. One day, four years
afterwards, a suffering soul appeared to her, and exclaimed: "How
unfortunate is my lot, Sister Catharine! Thou recommendest the souls of all
those that die to God; on my soul alone thou has not compassion." "And who art thou!" asked the servant
of God. "I am," she replied,
"that poor Mary who died in the cave." "And art thou saved?" said
Catharine. "Yes," she
answered, "by the mercy of the Blessed Virgin Mary." "And how?" "When I saw myself at the point of
death, loaded with sins, and abandoned by all, I had recourse to the Mother of
God, saying, 'Lady, thou art the refuge of abandoned creatures; behold me, at
this moment, abandoned by all; thou art my only hope; thou alone canst help me:
have pity on me.' The Blessed Virgin
obtained, for me the grace to make an act of contrition. I died, and am saved; and besides this, she
my Queen obtained for me another favor, that my purgatory should be shortened,
by enduring, in intensity, that which otherwise would have lasted for many
years: I now want only a few masses to be entirely delivered; I beg thee to
have them said; and on my part, I promise always to pray for thee to God and to
Mary." Sister Catharine immediately
had the masses said; and after a few days that soul again appeared to her,
shining like the sun, and said: "I thank thee, Catharine: behold, I go to
Paradise, to sing the mercies of my God, and to pray for thee."
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