From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   March 5th - St. John Joseph of the Cross, Visionary   
   Confessor, priest, Franciscan Friar   
      
   (1654-1734)   
      
   Saint John Joseph of the Cross was born on the feast of the Assumption in   
   1654,   
   on the island of Ischia in the kingdom of Naples. From his childhood he was   
   a   
   model of virtue, and in his sixteenth year he entered the Franciscan Order   
   of   
   the Strict Observance, or Reform of Saint Peter of Alcantara, at Naples.   
   Such   
   was the edification he gave in his Order, that within three years after his   
   profession he was sent to found a monastery in Piedmont. He assisted in its   
   construction himself and established there the most perfect silence and   
   monastic   
   fervor.   
      
   One day Saint John Joseph was found in the chapel in ecstasy, raised far   
   above   
   the floor. He won the hearts of all his religious, and became a priest out   
   of   
   obedience to his Superiors. He obtained what seemed to be an inspired   
   knowledge   
   of moral theology, in prayer and silence. He assisted at the death of his   
   dear   
   mother who rejoiced and seemed to live again in his presence, and after he   
   had   
   sung the Mass for the repose of her soul, saw her soul ascend to heaven, to   
   pray   
   thereafter their God face to face.   
      
   With his superiors' permission he established another convent and drew up   
   rules   
   for the Community, which the Holy See confirmed. Afterward he became a   
   master of   
   novices vigilant and filled with gentleness, and of a constantly even   
   disposition. Some time later he was made Provincial of the Province of   
   Naples,   
   erected in the beginning of the 18th century by Clement XI. He labored hard   
   to   
   establish in Italy this branch of his Order, which the Sovereign Pontiff had   
   separated from the same branch in Spain. His ministry brought him many   
   sufferings, especially moral sufferings occasioned by numerous calumnies.   
   Nonetheless, the Saint succeeded in his undertakings, striving to inculcate   
   in   
   his subjects the double spirit of contemplation and penance which Saint   
   Peter of   
   Alcantara had bequeathed to the Franciscans of the Strict Observance. He   
   gave   
   them the example of the most sublime virtues, especially of humility and   
   religious discipline. God rewarded his zeal with numerous gifts in the   
   supernatural order, such as those of prophecy and miracles.   
      
   Finally, consumed by labors for the glory of God, he was called to his   
   reward.   
   Stricken with apoplexy, he died an octogenarian in his convent at Naples,   
   March   
   5, 1734. Countless posthumous miracles confirmed the sanctity and glory of   
   the   
   Saint, and he was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.   
      
   Reflection. Christ by His death has acquired for Christians the grace of the   
   state of interior death, by which the heart in its depths cannot be moved by   
   any   
   attraction coming from the world. Its honors, its riches, its pleasures are   
   as   
   though offered to a dead person. This is a state which must be carefully   
   conserved and cherished by each one of us. (Jean-Jacques Olier)   
      
   Source: Lives of the Saints for Every Day of the Year, edited by Rev. Hugo   
   Hoever, S.O. Cist., Ph.D. (Catholic Book Publishing: New York, 1951-1955).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to   
   heaven.   
   --St. Rose of Lima   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much.  (Luke 7:47)   
      
      
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   Prayer to the Holy Spirit   
      
   Most Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, Father of the poor, Comforter of the   
   afflicted, Light of hearts, Sanctifier of souls; behold me prostrate in Thy   
   presence.   
      
   I adore Thee with profoundest homage: I bless Thee a thousand times, and   
   with the Seraphim who stand before Thy throne, I also say: "Holy, holy,   
   holy."   
      
   I firmly believe that Thou art eternal, consubstantial with the Father and   
   the Divine Son.   
      
   I hope in Thy goodness that Thou wilt deign to save and sanctify my soul.   
      
   I love Thee, O Divine Love, with all my affections above all the things of   
   this world, because Thou art Infinite Goodness, alone worthy of all love.   
      
   And since in my ingratitude and blindness to Thy holy inspirations, I have   
   so often offended Thee by my sins, with tears in my eyes I beg Thy pardon a   
   thousand times, and am more sorry for having offended Thee, the Sovereign   
   Good, than for any other evil.   
      
   I offer Thee this most cold heart of mine, and I pray Thee to pierce it with   
   a ray of Thy light, and with a spark of Thy fire, which shall melt the hard   
   ice of my iniquities.   
      
   Thou who didst fill the soul of the most holy Mary with immense graces, and   
   didst inflame the hearts of the Apostles with holy zeal, inflame, I beseech   
   Thee, my heart also with Thy love.   
      
   Thou art the Divine Spirit; give me courage against all evil spirits.   
      
   Thou art Fire; enkindle in me Thy love.   
      
   Thou art Light; enlighten my mind with the knowledge of eternal things.   
      
   Thou art the Dove; give me innocence of life.   
      
   Thou art the gentle Breeze; disperse the storms of my passions.   
      
   Thou art the Tongue; teach me how to bless Thee always.   
      
   Thou art the Cloud; shelter me under the shadow of Thy protection.   
      
   And lastly, Thou art the Giver of all heavenly gifts; animate me, I beseech   
   Thee, with Thy grace; sanctify me with Thy charity; enlighten me with Thy   
   wisdom; adopt me by Thy goodness as Thy son, and save me in Thy infinite   
   mercy; so that I may ever bless Thee, praise Thee, and love Thee; first   
   during this life on earth, and then in heaven for all eternity. - Amen.   
   --Saint Alphonsus M. de' Liguori   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)