From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   April 7th - Saint John Baptist De Lasalle, Founder   
   (1651-1719)   
      
   Complete dedication to what he saw as God's will for him, dominates the life   
   of   
   John Baptist de LaSalle. Founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools,   
   or   
   Christian Brothers, he was canonized in 1900. In 1950 Pope Pius XII named   
   him   
   patron of schoolteachers.   
      
   Saint John Baptist was born of the nobility of Rheims in 1651, and after a   
   very   
   pious youth was ordained a priest at the age of 27, becoming at once a Canon   
   of   
   the Cathedral there. It was said that to see him at the altar was sufficient   
   to   
   give an unbeliever faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord. The people would   
   wait   
   for him to come from the church to consult him. His life was marked by a   
   rule he   
   set for himself, to maintain perfect regularity in all his duties.   
      
   He became interested in the creation of gratuitous schools for poor and   
   abandoned children. He himself was invited to help in their education; and   
   after   
   directing the teachers for four years, decided to join them. In this he was   
   opposed by most of the city, for whom such a life was very humiliating for a   
   Canon of the Cathedral. His spiritual director, a virtuous Franciscan Minim   
   priest, encouraged him, saying that for teachers, whose vocation is to aid   
   the   
   poor to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, the only suitable inheritance is the   
   poverty of the Saviour.   
      
   Saint John Baptist divested himself of the patrimonial wealth he still   
   controlled, then took religious vows with his co-workers. His tender and   
   paternal charity soon sanctified the house and the labors; peace reigned,   
   and   
   the members of the new society loved one another sincerely. The Institute   
   developed and spread amid a thousand difficulties and persecutions; these,   
   by   
   humiliating its members, brought down graces on them and made the Providence   
   of   
   the Lord more evident.   
      
   The blessed Founder died in 1719; a religious superior said of him that "his   
   humility was universal; he never acted without taking counsel, and the   
   opinion   
   of others always seemed better to him than his own. He listened to others in   
   conversation, and was never heard to say any word tending to his own   
   advantage..." Indeed it is God who elevates those who take the last place   
   for   
   themselves, to place them among the first.   
      
   Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin   
   (Bloud   
   et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 15; Saint of the Day, edited by Leonard Foley,   
   O.F.M. (Saint Anthony Messenger Press: Cincinnati, 1974), Vol. I.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   As iron is fashioned by fire and on the anvil, so in the fire of suffering   
   and   
   under the weight of trials, our souls receive that form which our Lord   
   desires   
   them to have.   
   -St. Madeline Sophie Barat   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  (John 6:56)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   The Faithful are granted a traditional indulgence of three   
   years for an Act of Spiritual Communion, in any form they   
   wish.  A plenary indulgence is granted on the usual conditions   
   (Confession, Communion, and prayers for the Holy Father) if   
   one of the following is repeated each day for a month.   
      
   Act of Spiritual Communion of St. Alphonsus Ligouri:   
      
   My Jesus, I believe that Thou art present in the Blessed   
   Sacrament.  I love Thee above all things and I desire Thee in   
   my soul.  Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,   
   come at least spiritually into my heart.  As though Thou wert   
   already there, I embrace Thee and unite myself wholly to   
   Thee; permit not that I should be separated from Thee.   
   Amen.   
      
   Act of Spiritual Communion of Raphael Cardinal Merry del   
   Val:   
      
   At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself and I offer Thee   
   the repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its   
   nothingness and in Thy holy presence.  I adore Thee in the   
   Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist.  I desire to   
   receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee.   
   While waiting for the happiness of sacramental Communion, I   
   wish to possess Thee in spirit.  Come to me, O my Jesus,   
   since I, for my part, am coming to Thee!  May Thy love   
   embrace my whole being in life and in death.  I believe in   
   Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee.  Amen.   
      
   Imprimatur:  Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, May 30,   
   1951.   
      
      
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   Plea to the Everlasting God for the Unborn   
      
   Lord God, our Eternal Father, we come to Thy Throne full of   
   awe and reverence at Thy saving power. Through our Savior   
   Jesus Christ, we beg Thee to help us stop the widespread   
   slaughter of unborn babies in our land. May our love for our   
   innocent brothers and sisters closely resemble the love that   
   exists in the Holy Family. Help us provide all human life with   
   protection under our civil laws. We know that through the   
   intercession of our Mother Mary, chosen Spouse of the Holy   
   Spirit, our request will be granted. Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)