From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:18)   
      
   Jesus' demand is unequivocal and without compromise. Do not love the   
   world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for   
   the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15). We must make a choice either   
   for or against God. Do you seek to please God in all your intentions,   
   actions, and relationships? Let the Holy Spirit fill your heart and   
   mind with the love and truth of God (Romans 5:5).   
      
   Prayer   
   "Lord Jesus, may the fire of your love fill my heart with an eagerness   
   to please you in all things. May there be no rivals to my love and   
   devotion to you who are my all."   
      
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   June 9th - Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, Housewife and Mystic   
   (1769-1837)   
      
   Most Catholic mystics beatified or canonized have been nuns. But Mrs.   
   Anna Maria Gianetti Taigi reached the heights of prayer while keeping   
   house for her large family.   
      
   Anna Maria’s father was a pharmacist in Siena, Italy – a good man, but   
   a spendthrift. When his family became impoverished, he moved to Rome.   
   Anna went to work at the age of 13, first in a factory, then as a   
   housemaid in the palace of a noble but rather shady lady. In these   
   worldly surroundings, she developed a taste for fancy clothing and   
   various forms of amusement. In 1790 she married Dominic Taigi. He was   
   a servant of the princely Chigi family, and a man much older than she.   
      
   After the birth of her first child, Anna began to take a more   
   Christian viewpoint on life. Father Angelo, a Servite priest, became   
   her confessor and spiritual director. He led her, slowly but surely,   
   up the ladder of holiness. Now she forsook her entertainments,   
   restricted herself to plain clothing, and adopted a program of   
   self-denial in the spirit of the Cross.   
      
   As time went on, Anna Maria’s task as a housewife became increasingly   
   demanding.   
      
   The Taigi household was a hectic one. She carefully raised her own   
   three boys and four girls in a house that was already overcrowded. Her   
   mother, a giddy person, lived with her, and Anna Maria nursed her   
   patiently through a repulsive malady. Her son Camillus also lived at   
   home for awhile after his marriage, and his wife tried to take over   
   the household. Signor Taigi, worthy but rather self-centered, liked to   
   be waited on. With superb diplomacy, Anna Maria succeeded in keeping   
   everybody reasonably at peace. One of her methods of unification was   
   family prayer and spiritual reading. At the same time, she was   
   constantly increasing her outside assistance to people poorer than   
   herself.   
      
   Signora Taigi had a series of remarkable visions, in which she was   
   permitted to understand God’s plans and His griefs. She now began to   
   offer her prayers and acts of self-denial especially for the sins of   
   others. Future events were manifested to her, and she became so noted   
   for her wisdom that all sorts of people asked her advice and prayers.   
   Pope Leo XII and Pope Gregory XVI frequently consulted with her, as   
   did priests and prelates, noblemen and noblewomen (including   
   Napoleon’s mother Letizia, and his uncle, Cardinal Joseph Fesch).   
      
   But even then, Anna did not allow her spiritual duties to interfere   
   with her family obligations. After her death, at the inquiry for her   
   beatification, her husband testified, “It often happened that on my   
   return home I found the house full of people. At once she would leave   
   anyone who was there – a great lady, maybe, or a prelate – and would   
   hasten to wait on me affectionately and attentively. One could see   
   that she did it with all her heart.”   
      
   In her earlier married years, Anna Maria had many spiritual   
   consolations. In later life, she experienced illness, calumny, severe   
   temptations, and desolation of mind. But she accepted these trials as   
   one more means of saving the souls of sinners.   
      
   At the turning point of Anna’s life, the Blessed Virgin had told her   
   that it would be her special vocation to demonstrate how one could   
   become a saint in any walk of life.   
      
   Her biography shows us how she lived up to that calling. It reminds us   
   that when Jesus told His followers, “You must be made perfect as your   
   heavenly Father is perfect.” He was speaking not only to cloistered   
   monks and nuns, but to butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, and busy   
   housewives.   
   –Father Robert   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   11 Thou dost show me the path of life;   
       in thy presence there is fulness of joy,   
       in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.  Psalm 16:11  RSVCE   
      
   Saint Quote:   
   ”The man who seeks a quid pro quo from God builds on uncertainty,   
   whereas the man who considers himself a debtor will receive sudden and   
   unexpected riches.”   
   --Saint John Climacus   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Act of Entrustment to St. Joseph   
      
   O dearest St. Joseph, I entrust myself to you that you may always be   
   my father, my protector and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain   
   for me a greater purity of heart and fervent love of the interior   
   life. After your example may I do all my actions for the greater glory   
   of God, in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate   
   Heart of Mary. O Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in   
   the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)