From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   September 26th - St. Teresa Couderc   
      
   In the early part of the 19th century, the Church in France was beginning to   
   take on new life after the disarray of the Revolution. When Marie-Victoire   
   Couderc was a young woman, her father brought her home from school to   
   participate with the rest of the family in a mission to be given at the   
   little town of Sablieres, in the South of France, near the hamlet where she   
   was born. One of the missionaries was an energetic and zealous diocesan   
   priest name Stephen Terme.   
      
   During the mission Marie-Victoire revealed to Father Terme that she would   
   like to enter religious life. Now Father Terme had recently founded a small   
   group of sisters, called the Sisters of St. Regis, to serve villages without   
   Christian schools, so he offered to take her right away to the novitiate of   
   the Sisters of St. Regis. Victoire's father was not pleased with this idea.   
   After all, she was needed at home to help her mother care for the new baby   
   in the family. But after some time at home, he eventually relented, and   
   Marie-Victoire became Sister Therese.   
      
   You will notice that the group Sister Therese entered was not called the   
   Cenacle, and Therese was not its foundress. The beginnings of the Cenacle   
   congregation came about this way:   
      
   In the mountain village of La Louvesc, where many pilgrims came during the   
   season of good weather to pray at the shrine of St. Regis, there was no   
   suitable place for women pilgrims to stay. Because of the lack of space, the   
   innkeepers would house men and women together, and some women were even   
   sleeping in the church. Fr. Terme saw the need for a hostel for women   
   pilgrims. He had no money, but he did have a great deal of trust in God, and   
   before long the hostel opened. Sister Therese was sent to La Louvesc, first   
   as novice director, then as superior, and when La Louvesc was named the   
   mother house of the small congregation, she was named the superior general.   
      
   There was a problem, however. Business was booming. The sisters took in   
   everyone who came to the door, and they didn't always have beds for   
   everyone, so they spread straw in the corridors. And not only was the place   
   crowded, but it was also noisy and unruly. So Mother Therese went to Fr.   
   Terme and convinced him to make an important change: from then on, only   
   women who were willing to pray for several days would be able to stay there.   
   Under the influence of Mother Therese, what was originally a hostel was   
   taking the first step toward becoming a retreat house, where women could   
   deepen their prayer and grow in the spiritual life. The process was   
   completed when Father Terme introduced to the sisters the Spiritual   
   Exercises of St. Ignatius. These became an important element in the   
   spirituality of the Cenacle Sisters, as well as a way of helping the women   
   who came to their houses to draw closer to God.   
      
   In due time, the ministry of retreats was separated from the ministry of   
   teaching school, and the congregation which would be called the Cenacle was   
   born. This spiritual ministry is continued today in many countries   
   throughout the world by the Sisters of the Cenacle.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to   
   bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with   
   it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of   
   mercy.   
   -Saint Vincent de Paul   
      
   Bible Quote   
   8 O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people, when thou   
   didst pass through the desert: 9 The earth was moved, and the heavens   
   dropped at the presence of the God of Sina, at the presence of the God of   
   Israel.  (Psalm 67:8-9)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   An offering to God the Father, followed by a triple offering of   
   St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:   
      
   Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Blood, the Passion, and the   
   Death of Jesus Christ; the sorrows of Mary most Holy and of   
   Joseph in satisfaction for my sins, in aid of the holy souls of   
   Purgatory, for the needs of Holy Mother Church, and the   
   conversion of sinners.  Amen.   
      
   <><><>   
   Eternal Father, I offer unto Thee the infinite satisfaction which   
   Jesus rendered to Thy justice in behalf of sinners upon the tree   
   of the Cross; and I pray that Thou wouldst make the merits of   
   His Precious Blood available to all guilty souls to whom sin   
   has brought death; may they rise again to the life of grace and   
   glorify Thee for ever.   
      
   Eternal Father, I offer Thee the fervent devotion of the Sacred   
   Heart of Jesus in satisfaction for the lukewarmness and   
   cowardice of Thy chosen people, imploring Thee by the   
   burning love which made Him suffer death, that it may please   
   Thee to rekindle their hearts now so lukewarm in Thy service,   
   and to set them on fire with Thy love, that they may love Thee   
   for ever.   
      
   Eternal Father, I offer Thee the submission of Jesus to Thy   
   will, and I ask of Thee, through His merits, the fullness of all   
   grace and the accomplishment of all Thy holy will.  Blessed by   
   God.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)