Saint Agnes – Born: 291, Died: 304
Patronage:
Girls; chastity and virgins; victims of sexual abuse;
betrothed couples; gardeners; Girl Guides;
the Diocese of Rockville Centre,
New York; Children of Mary;
Collegio Capranica, Rome; the city of Fresno.
The Catechism in a Year – Day 325 – Battling for Purity
As Fr. Mike suggests, the battle for purity is never more difficult than in our own day. With God’s grace, we can prevail and find freedom from our temptations. Fr. Mike explains that we win this battle through chastity, purity of intention, purity of vision, and prayerful reliance on the Lord. He tells us how to pray for a pure gaze that allows us to see our brothers and sisters as God sees them. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2520-2533.
Click on link: https://youtu.be/cdga0HtlPpM?si=iIjsWrrE3Iw9anta
The Catechism in a Year – Day 307 – Offenses Against Chastity
What is God’s intended purpose for our sexuality? We confront several significant transgressions that hinder this design. These offenses include lust, the consumption of pornography, and engagement in prostitution. Fr. Mike offers us a poignant reminder that despite these sins, our intrinsic human dignity remains unblemished and worthy of reverence. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2351-2356.
Click on link: https://youtu.be/v4ZYtTd3Tw0?si=NzadmEaNbKWGHfKr
The Catechism in a Year – Day 306 – Gift of Self
What are the different types of chastity? We learn chastity is “a school of the gift of the person.” Mastering ourselves enables us to gift ourselves to another. Fr. Mike explains that chastity bears fruit in the form of true friendship. He explains that God calls everyone to this virtue, no matter his vocation. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2346-2350.
Click on link: https://youtu.be/5N6aWCK_NIA?si=iu8pBwSWZAH8Ftmj
The Catechism in a Year – Day 305 – The Call to Chastity
We are all called to the virtue of chastity, which integrates our sexuality within the fullness of our person. Chastity trains us in freedom, teaching us how to direct and guide our desires. Fr. Mike explains that this virtue requires sustained effort and leads to self-mastery and peace. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2337-2345.
Click on link: https://youtu.be/NuZBc3M5pao?si=jOymCzczDTkcHlt8
The Catechism in a Year – Day 127 – Consecrated Life
There are many ways that God calls people to lives of holiness. Just as he calls lay people to holiness, he also calls individuals to consecrated life, including hermits, consecrated virgins, widows, and religious. In a very intentional, specific, and lifelong way, those in consecrated life commit themselves to the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Father Mike helps us see how all the different kinds of consecrated life are a great gift to the Church and the world. Despite the many ways the Lord calls his children to holiness, the goal of each human life remains the same – intimacy with Christ. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 914-924.
Click on link to play video: https://youtu.be/nFPVnOoBEEw
Saint of the Day – January 28 – Saint Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was born into a wealthy and noble family in Aquino, Italy. He was the pious and brilliant son of a count, and a lucrative future was planned for him. When Thomas set off to enter the newly founded Dominican order to be a poor mendicant friar, his mother held him prisoner in the family castle in order to dissuade him. His brothers tried to destroy his purity, and thus his vocation, by tempting him with a prostitute. However Thomas resisted and turned to God for help; as a result, angels were sent to guard and preserve his chastity. This long ordeal only strengthened his vocation, and eventually he escaped and joined the Dominicans. He was ordained to the priesthood and went on to become a famed professor and prolific writer. His works remain immensely influential in philosophy and theology, the most famous being his Summa Theologica, and multiple popes have upheld him as the model of a systematic Catholic education. St. Thomas Aquinas is the foremost Doctor of the Catholic Church, known as the “Angelic Doctor” for his purity of mind and body, and remarkable intelligence. St. Thomas Aquinas is the patron of schools and universities, students, philosophers, theologians, apologists, academics, and chastity. His feast day is January 28.
//Catholic Company//
Meditation of the Day – The Vow of Chastity is Easily Lost
“The vow of chastity includes purity of body and soul; this is easily lost … This great treasure is deposited in a castle, which has many portals and openings, and if these are not well guarded and defended, the treasure is without security. My daughter, in order to preserve perfectly this vow, it is necessary to make an inviolable pact with thy senses, not to use them, except for what is according to the dictates of reason and for the glory of the Creator. After once the senses are mortified, it will be easy to overcome thy enemies, for only through them can they conquer thee; for no thoughts can recur, or be awakened to activity, unless fomented and excited by the images and impressions admitted through the exterior senses.”— Ven. Mary of Agreda, p. 86
//The Catholic Company//
Saint of the Day – March 24th – Saint Catherine of Sweden
St. Catherine of Sweden (1331-1381) was the fourth of eight children born to St. Bridget of Sweden and her husband, Ulfo. As a child she was sent by her parents to be educated in a convent, and was later given in marriage to a German nobleman. Catherine was able to persuade her husband, a virtuous young man, to live together in a mutual vow of perpetual chastity. They lived happily together in complete devotion to God.
After the death of her father, and with her husband’s consent, Catherine accompanied her mother to Rome. While there, Catherine’s husband died. She continued to be a companion to her mother and rejected further offers of marriage. Her mother worked to establish a new religious order, called the Order of the Holy Savior, or the Bridgettines.
After her mother’s death, Catherine took her body back to Sweden for burial while continuing the work of establishing the Bridgettines. She later traveled back to Rome to advocate for her mother’s canonization and for Pope Urban VI to ratify her Order. While in Rome she became great friends with St. Catherine of Siena. St. Catherine of Sweden finally returned to Sweden and became abbess of the newly founded Bridgettines, living the rest of her days as a model of prayer and penance.
St. Catherine of Sweden is the patron saint against abortions and miscarriages. Her feast day is March 24th.
//The Catholic Company//