From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Intimate Friendship of Jesus (2)   
      
      WHEN Jesus is near, all is well and nothing seems difficult. When   
   He is absent, all is hard. When Jesus does not speak within, all other   
   comfort is empty, but if He says only a word, it brings great   
   consolation.  Did not Mary Magdalen rise at once from her weeping   
   when Martha said to her: "The Master is come, and calleth for thee"?   
   John 11:28.  Happy is the hour when Jesus calls   
   one from tears to joy of spirit.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 8   
      
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   30 May – St Ferdinand III of Castile   
      
   (1199-1252)   
   King of Castile and Toledo, Knight, a man of great virtue and goodness   
   who sought sanctity in all things, a man of great justice who sought   
   to elevate even those he conquered, a man who was a great father,   
   bringing his children up in the fear and love of God alone, a   
   diplomatic genius because of his great goodness, a unifier of all, he   
   had a great devotion to Our Lady – born in 1198 near Salamanca, Spain   
   and died on 30 May 1252 at Seville, Spain of natural causes.   
   Patronages – authorities, governors, rulers, engineers, large   
   families, magistrates, parenthood, paupers, poor people, prisoners,   
   Spanish monarchy, tertiaries, Seville, Spain, Ilagan, Philippines,   
   diocese of, Lucena, Philippines, diocese of, San Fernando,   
   Philippines, diocese of, Aranjuez, Maspalomas, Pivijay, and of several   
   other localities, Spanish Army’s Corps of Engineers. The body of St   
   Ferdinand is incorrupt.   
      
   Saint Ferdinand’s father was King Alfonso IX of Leon and his mother   
   the saintly Lady Bereguera. As his parent’s marriage was annulled by   
   Pope Innocent III, St Fernando was actually raised by his grandfather,   
   King Alfonso VIII of Castile and his mother. King Alfonso VIII was a   
   great warrior and knight, to whom Christian chivalry was more than   
   just a code of conduct or a set of rules to which he adhered, it was a   
   pursuit of virtue meant to guide him in all of his thoughts and   
   actions. In striving for the ideal of knighthood, he attained a true   
   nobility of character. Living a life of honour, King Alfonso was a   
   magnificent warrior who courageously defended the Church and his   
   kingdom of Castile. He was also an excellent role model for young   
   Fernando, who wanted nothing more than to be a knight of Christ.   
      
   Saint Ferdinand was still a young man when he became King of Castile.   
   His kingdom was in tatters, as there had been numerous raids by both   
   Christian and Moor into Castile, as well as internal rebellions. Saint   
   Ferdinand worked tirelessly to restore his realm to prosperity and   
   administer justice throughout his land, though he continued always to   
   train as a warrior.   
      
   On the day Saint Ferdinand became a King and Knight, he prayed:   
   “Christ, my Lord, I am in Thy hands, the same way this sword is in   
   mine. Show me, my King, what Thou wantest of this Thy knight.”   
      
   In the silence and stillness of the night, St Ferdinand heard Christ answer   
   him:   
   “I want to make your whole life like a representation and marvellous   
   parable so that the coming centuries may contemplate the war that I,   
   Eternal King and Universal Lord, wage against the powers of darkness,   
   to conquer the entire earth for my Father. Fernando, you will be the   
   noble and considerate king who leads his vassals in this great   
   enterprise, the courageous and mortified King who, above all others,   
   charges ahead in the midst of danger and endures the strain of hard   
   work and the fatigue of battle.  You will be the generous and   
   magnanimous King who in victory does not worry about his treasure, but   
   distributes the spoils among his faithful knights.”   
      
   God granted Saint Ferdinand to see the stark outline of the life that   
   was to be his, a life full of struggles and hardships and warfare. Yet   
   his soul did not quake at the prospect, for he knew that he would be   
   doing God’s will and that God would be with him as long as he remained   
   true. He was prepared to do whatever was required of him now and all   
   the days of his life.   
      
   King Saint Ferdinand became one of history’s most gifted and   
   formidable warriors, while being at the same time one of the greatest   
   monarchs who ever ruled. He, like so many men of his time, did not   
   seek to enjoy a long life so much as he sought to live a good life.   
   Thus, he spent his entire life in the service of God, rather than   
   wasting his time in service to himself.   
      
   King St  Ferdinand was a man of clear and deep faith, who realised   
   that everything depends on God and that it is He Who grants the   
   victory.  He knew, nonetheless, that the Lord never wants to help   
   those who are lazy but to assist with grace those who do everything   
   that is in their power. This effort becomes a prayer of action, when   
   combined with trust in Him.   
      
   As a consequence of his holy intentions, all of Saint Ferdinand’s   
   ventures met with success. He was absolutely invincible, personally as   
   well as while directing his armies, conquering hearts and minds as   
   completely as he did cities and strongholds.  He knew that there is no   
   holier enterprise than to do one’s duty before God and that his first   
   obligation was to rescue his own country.   
      
   This great Catholic monarch truly lived his faith and by his chivalry,   
   loyalty and generosity of character was worthy of the high regard and   
   friendship of those who had once fought against him. By the kindness   
   and gratitude he showed toward those who rendered service to him and   
   by his great generosity, he captured the affection and won the willing   
   obedience of his nobility. He always and everywhere applied himself   
   wholeheartedly to his duties as king, zealously seeking after justice   
   and prosperity for his people. He was a model of righteousness and   
   proper conduct for his sons and by his example earned the respect and   
   love of all his children. He was to them the most tender and caring of   
   fathers, leaving them an incomparable heritage the like of which few   
   Christian monarchs could boast.   
      
   The legacy of King Saint Ferdinand III is far-reaching and eternal. It   
   was he who had permanently combined the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile   
   and with that might he conquered more Islamic territory than any other   
   Christian, expelled the Muslims from most of Andalusia and turned   
   their remaining kings into his obedient vassals. King Ferdinand ’s   
   achievements clearly outstrip those of King Sancho II and King Jaime   
   I, not to mention those of king’s Saint Louis IX, Frederick II and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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