From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   The Lord Is Within   
      
   You, Lord, were within me, while I was outside. It was there that I sought   
   you. I rushed headlong upon these things of beauty that you had made.   
   You were with me, but I was not with you. They kept me far from you, those   
   fair things which,   
   if they were not in you, would not exist at all!   
   -Augustine - Confessions 10, 27   
      
      
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   July 6th - Bl. Maria Ledochowska   
      
   Blessed Ursula Ledochowska, foundress of the Ursuline Sisters of the   
   Agonizing Heart of Jesus, is God's gift to us-a woman open to the prodding   
   of the Holy Spirit, who fulfilled God's Will and served Him in His Plan of   
   Salvation, from her birth on April 17, 1865, until her saintly death in Rome   
   on May 29, 1939. Her strict family environment, consisted of aristocratic   
   parents, who lived out their marital commitment, as a covenant of love, and   
   expected their five children to practice self-discipline and to have an   
   intimate relationship with God. From childhood, Blessed Ursula possessed a   
   magnetic personality, and was loved by all. Her mother nicknamed her, "my   
   ray of sunshine" and her siblings share how she put this into a life's plan   
   of action-Francis, her younger sister remembers "for the youngest children   
   she was like a second mother; she helped us with our lessons, surprised us,   
   thought of new games to play, read the Passion of Jesus during Lent, prayed   
   the Litany of the Saints, on All Saints Day." Her brother Wlodzimierz   
   recalls, "she was sensitive and especially loved the poor and sick. She   
   visited their homes, brought them medicine, and evoked laughter, creating an   
   atmosphere of peace and joy."   
      
   Her dynamic apostolic spirit, coupled with deep faith and courage, revealed   
   a tremendous love of God and neighbor in the Mystical Body of Christ; once   
   it was suggested that the person who had come to visit her, wait, but   
   Blessed Ursula replied, "You must never ask Jesus to wait." How should one   
   love his/her neighbor? Blessed Ursula showed us that we should create an   
   atmosphere where a person feels good, protected, and at home! One of her   
   former students Maria Tucholczyna writes, "every word spoken by Mother   
   Ursula was saturated with a deep love of God and inspired one to take   
   immediate action. She simply explained to us that through our daily   
   responsibilities, we can draw closer to God, become saints and attain   
   heaven. Her great trust in Divine Providence was truly childlike. She saw   
   God's guiding hand in everything that occurred." The Sisters, too, felt that   
   she loved them maternally, not only as a group in community, but also   
   individually; she remembered their problems and worries "carrying them in   
   her heart." In her Spiritual Testament, she requests, "be good my children,   
   that is, kind to everyone. Always meet others with a smile of love and a   
   kind word on your lips. Rejoice if you can be of service to others, even if   
   this creates work and discomfort for you. Always live in harmony with   
   everyone. Harbor no grudges. Regard your neighbor as better than   
   yourself.live as Jesus did for the happiness of others, and become energized   
   by the words "whatsoever you do the least of my brothers you do unto Me."   
      
   Blessed Ursula's vision of love embraced not only Poles, but Danes, Swedes   
   and Finns. She noticed that the Finnish Protestant community of believers   
   were neglected spiritually, and states, "what a poor nation, one can apply   
   the scripture passage from Mt 9:36 to their situation, 'at the sight of the   
   crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled   
   and abandoned like sheep without a Shepherd.'" Bl. Ursula became the   
   shepherd! She translated and made available a Finnish Catechism; published a   
   prayerbook and hymnal and opened the convent chapel for ecumenical services   
   as well as bible study groups.   
      
   Even though Blessed Ursula was born in Loosdorf, Austria and her mother was   
   Austrian, she still possessed a patriotic love for Poland. A diplomat once   
   asked her about her political stance and she replied, "my political view is   
   love of God and country." She played a crucial role in the political arena   
   and delivered 50 powerful speeches to Kings, ambassadors, and politicians   
   about Poland's basic right to exist as an independent country; and revealed   
   the plight and injustice suffered by the enslaved Polish nation, erased from   
   the map of Europe. As a result the conscience of these foreign diplomats was   
   moved to reach out and come to Poland's aid both morally and politically.   
      
   Bl. Ursula taught her Sisters and all who came in contact with her "that it   
   is not enough to pray, Thy kingdom come, but to work, so that the Kingdom of   
   God will exist among us today." She sent her Sisters to both the spiritually   
   and materially impoverished, as teachers, catechists, social workers,   
   missionaries, and even factory workers in France! She was throroughly   
   convinced that the Kingdom of God had to be built and nurtured in the family   
   along with the "civilization of love". She stated at one of her conferences,   
   "The responsibility of the mother and teacher is to give God to her child.   
   If you give God, then you have given everything; if you don't give God, you   
   have given nothing!" She felt that a child's personal relationship with   
   Jesus in the Eucharist is essential. Consequently, with great fervor, she   
   founded and promoted the Eucharistic League and Marian Sodality in Poland.   
   Via these organizations, she wanted the children and youth to become   
   involved in the life of the Church and serve society. Because of her   
   inclusive approach the laity was not overlooked! She invited young women to   
   give one or two years of their life to serve the poorest of the poor in   
   Eastern Poland.   
      
   "Holiness," she repeated, "does not demand anything great, beyond the   
   ability of the person. It depends on God's Love; every daily act can be   
   transformed into an act of love." Bl. Ursula's love for the Agonizing Heart   
   of Jesus was reciprocated by her entire life and can be summarized in her   
   own words, "I am to love my neighbor as Jesus loved me. Take and utilize my   
   time, efforts, skills and talents, because they are at your disposition.   
   Take my heart, so that it may enlighten your life. I am yours, just as   
   Christ is mine."   
      
   On June 20, 1983, Pope John Paul II beatified Blessed Ursula in Poznan,   
   Poland. Her incorruptible body was transferred from the Generalate in Rome,   
   and brought to rest in the Motherhouse in Pniewy, Poland on May 29, 1989.   
      
   We invite you to please pray with us for the canonization of our beloved   
   Mother Foundress and intercede for her with your personal petitions.   
      
   This Version Taken From:   
   http://www.catholicyouth.freeservers.com/saints/bl_ursula.htm   
      
      
   Saint Quote   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)