From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   If we love Jesus, we ought to resemble Him   
      
   If I love Jesus, I ought to resemble Him; If I love Jesus, I ought to   
   love what He loves, what He does, what He prefers to all else:   
   humility. How may we acquire this virtue? Neither logic or reflection   
   will help us any; thinking nice thoughts about it or taking heroic   
   resolutions would lead us to believe we had already acquired it, and   
   we would content ourselves with that. We must examine our actions to   
   see if we not sought our own interest in them. Let us repeat often, "   
   Jesus, so humble of heart, make our hearts like unto thine."   
   --St. Peter Eymard   
      
   ===============   
   March 13th - Blessed Agnellus of Pisa & Saint Euphrasia   
      
   Today we remember two lesser-known holy servants of God: Blessed   
   Agnellus of Pisa (1195-1236) and Saint Euphrasia (380-420). Both   
   Agnellus and Euphrasia, while very different from each other,   
   possessed hearts of service and sacrifice for the Lord, committing   
   their lives to the Gospel, and working to spread the Christian faith   
   with profound humility and meekness.   
      
   Blessed Agnellus of Pisa is remembered as the founder of the English   
   Franciscan province, credited with bringing the Franciscan rule to   
   Great Britain in 1224. Admitted into the Order by Saint Francis   
   himself, Agnellus was a tireless missionary of God’s love, going   
   wherever he was asked, enduring harsh and inhospitable conditions.   
      
   Born in Pisa of noble family, as a youth he encountered Saint Francis,   
   and was admitted directly into the Seraphic Order, where he became   
   known for his pursuit of holy perfection. Saint Francis, recognizing   
   in this young man not only zeal for God’s law, but also the meekness   
   and humility required to counsel great leaders, mediate   
   misunderstandings, and secure the spread of the order. Saint Francis   
   first dispatched Agnellus to Paris, where he erected a convent, and   
   upon success was ordered to England to establish the province. Along   
   with nine companions, Agnellus traveled to Dover in the winter of   
   1224, subsisting on the alms and kindness of those they encountered,   
   truly living the rule of poverty. They survived the winter, eating   
   little but bread and fermented beer. Within months, Agnellus had   
   secured a house in Oxford, which eventually became the examplar for   
   all Franciscan provinces. Agnellus, despite his lack of personal   
   schooling, established a school for friars at Oxford, which led to the   
   development of the university there.   
      
   Blessed Agnellus sent his brothers across the region, and throughout   
   Europe, spreading the word of God. He was counselor to Kings and   
   Princes, and worked tirelessly to assist these leaders in finding   
   political options in avoidance of war and suffering. Given his strict   
   observance of the rule of poverty, his frequent fasting and   
   mortification, and his travels, is was not surprising when he   
   contracted a fatal disease. Upon returning to Oxford, he eagerly   
   awaited death, crying out repeatedly for 3 days, “Come, Sweetest   
   Jesus, Come!” His body, incorrupt, was buried in Oxford.   
      
   Saint Euphrasia was born into Roman nobility, the daughter of   
   Antigonus, Senator of Constantinople, and cousin to Roman emperor   
   Theodosius I who finished the conversion of Rome to a Christian state.   
   When her father died, while Euphrasia was still very young, she and   
   her mother became members of the emperor’s court. Euphrasia’s mother   
   was a woman of great faith, and upon becoming a widow, consecrated her   
   remaining years to God. With her young daughter, she moved to Egypt,   
   where she owned an estate, and attached herself to a convent there.   
   She would visit the sisters in faith each day, bringing young   
   Euphrasia with her. At just about age 7, Euphrasia requested that she   
   be allowed to enter the convent, which her mother joyously allowed,   
   saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, receive this child under Your special   
   protection. It is You alone whom she loves and seeks; to You she   
   recommends herself.”   
      
   Euphrasia moved into the convent, and her holy mother died a few years   
   later, leaving her with these parting instructions: “"Fear God, honor   
   your sisters, and serve them with humility. Never think of what you   
   have been, nor say to yourself that you are of royal extraction. Be   
   humble and poor on earth, that you may be rich in heaven." Upon her   
   mother’s death, Euphrasia was recalled to Constantinople by the   
   Emperor, as he had arranged a political marriage for her. Euphrasia   
   was not to give up her vow of virginity and consecration to the Lord,   
   however, and wrote the Emperor explaining as much. She further   
   requested that all of her land and estates be sold, with the money   
   used charitably to aid the poor. In her own words:   
      
   "Invincible emperor, having consecrated myself to Christ in perpetual   
   chastity, I cannot be false to my engagement, and marry a mortal man,   
   who will shortly be the food of worms. For the sake of my parents, be   
   pleased to distribute their estates among the poor, the orphans, and   
   the church. Set all my slaves at liberty, and discharge my vassals and   
   servants, giving them whatever is their due. Order my father's   
   stewards to acquit my farmers of all they owe since his death, that I   
   may serve God without let or hindrance, and may stand before him   
   without the solicitude of temporal affairs. Pray for me, you, and your   
   empress, that I may be made worthy to serve Christ." The emperor,   
   moved by her faith, executed all her wishes before his death in 395.   
      
   Saint Euphrasia exemplified humility, meekness, and charity. She was   
   frequently tormented by temptation, which upon guidance from the   
   abbess, she overcame through physical and oftentimes exhausting   
   penitential labors. In one case, as recorded in her life, she   
   repeatedly moved a pile of heavy and painful stones from one place to   
   another for 30 days, at which time, the temptations she struggled with   
   left her.   
      
   She was known for driving demons out of those possessed, as well as   
   miraculous cures, saying, “May He who created you, heal you!”   
   Euphrasia lived an austere life, relishing with holy ardor the love of   
   the Lord. She persisted in self-imposed fasting nearly every day,   
   spent much of her time in prayer, and yet was often times treated   
   poorly due to her status as a foreigner in Egypt. Even in moments of   
   mockery and humiliation, she remained humble and meek, oftentimes   
   falling at the feet of her accusers, and begging that they pray for   
   her. She died peacefully at age 40.   
      
      
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