From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   How we must Follow Christ's Way in Self-Denial  [IV]    
      
   CHRIST.   
   My son, since you know and have studied these things, blessed are you   
   if you do them. (John 13:17) Whoever truly loves Me knows and obeys My   
   commands. I will love him, and will reveal Myself to him, (John 14:21)   
   and he shall reign with Me in the Kingdom of My Father. (Rev.3:21)   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 3  Ch 56   
      
      
   =============   
   February 28th - Queen St. Jadwiga of Poland   
   (Also known as St. Hedwig, Queen of Poland )   
   (1371-1399)   
      
   There are two Polish women of royal blood who have long been venerated   
   by Polish Catholics. Up to 1997 they were referred to as Saint Jadwiga   
   and Blessed Jadwiga (Hedwig is the form of their name in German.) Now   
   both are called saints, for in June 1997, on a solemn visit to Krakow,   
   where he had formerly been archbishop, Pope John Paul II canonized   
   Blessed Jadwiga.   
      
   Jadwiga of Krakow was a ranking figure in the history of Poland and   
   Lithuania. She was the youngest daughter of King Louis of Poland, the   
   last member of the Piast dynasty. After Louis’ death in 1382,   
   Jadwiga’s counselors urged the 13-year-old princess to accept the hand   
   of Jagiello, Duke of Lithuania, who aspired to the Polish throne.   
   Jagiello was still a pagan; but he was ready not only to become a   
   Christian if Jadwiga would have him, but to bring all of Lithuania   
   into the Church.   
      
   The princess faced a crisis of conscience. She would have preferred   
   another suitor, yet this one presented great advantages both to the   
   Polish nation and the Church. In her dilemma, it is said that she   
   donned a black veil and walked to the cathedral of Krakow. There she   
   knelt for three hours in prayer before the crucifix in a side chapel.   
   Finally she decided to renounce her own will and accept the offer; and   
   rising, she draped the crucifix with her veil as a symbol of her   
   openness to God’s will. Even today, we are told, the veil covers   
   “Jadwiga’s Crucifix” in the cathedral chapel.   
      
   Jagiello seems to have been sincere. He was baptized with the   
   Christian name Ladislaus, and the wedding was celebrated, and he was   
   crowned, thus beginning the Jagiellonian dynasty. He did indeed see to   
   the conversion of Lithuania, which was thereafter united with Poland,   
   extending its boundaries far to the east. The conversion of the   
   Lithuanians was also slowly but effectively accomplished.   
      
   Jadwiga was not a mere queen-consort. She wielded a moderating   
   influence on the governance of the turbulent double-kingdom, tempering   
   her husband’s tendency to jealousy and extreme measures. The people   
   found in her a protector, and the nation and the Church a far-sighted   
   benefactor. She was a good wife to Ladislaus, who really loved her   
   deeply but also looked upon her with a certain awe. Her only fault   
   seems to have been a lack of prudence in penance and prayer.   
      
   Not content with expanding Poland and Christianizing it, Ladislaus II   
   and Jadwiga made Krakow a leading intellectual center by refounding   
   its university. The Jagiellonian University has since then made Krakow   
   “a bridge between the Christian West and East.” So declared Pope John   
   Paul, one of its most distinguished alumni. At the canonization he   
   praised Jadwiga’s appreciation of the value of cultural institutions   
   to both state and church.   
      
   The queen was long unable to bear a child to her husband. When she   
   finally did conceive, Ladislaus made enthusiastic plans to surround   
   the birthing with jewels and rich drapes. Jadwiga took no stock in   
   such splendor. She had long since renounced the pomps of the world.   
   Now she simply wanted to thank God for the gift of a child by making   
   His will her own. She now revisited the Jadwiga chapel of the   
   cathedral on the anniversary of her “great renunciation” and was   
   discovered several hours later in an ecstasy or perhaps a swoon. The   
   child, a girl, was born shortly afterward, but lived only a few days.   
   Its birth also cost the Queen her life. However, her good influence on   
   the King continued even after her death.   
      
   Devotion to their model queen inspired crowds to visit her tomb, and   
   miracles were recorded through her intercession. Although the process   
   for her beatification foundered, she was popularly referred to as   
   “Blessed.” Pope John Paul II made her formal beatification unnecessary   
   by canonizing her. Poland has had few more influential religious,   
   political and cultural leaders.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He   
   loves to teach the ignorant and the erring he turns again to his own   
   true way. He is easily found by those who live by faith and to those   
   of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, he opens   
   immediately.   
   --St. Hippolytus (Treatise on Christ and Antichrist)   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Now about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple, and   
   taught. And the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters,   
   having never learned? 16 Jesus answered them, and said: My doctrine is   
   not mine, but his that sent me.  (John 7:14-16) DRB   
      
      
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    A PRAYER FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY   
      
   Father, God of all consolation,   
   in Your unending love and mercy for us   
   You turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life.   
   Through Your Son, Jesus Christ,   
   we ask You to deliver the souls in Purgatory,   
   especially those for whom we now pray...   
      
   (Mention them here.)   
      
   Welcome them into Your presence   
   and bless them with eternal light and peace.   
   Raise them up to live forever with all Your saints   
   in the glory of the Resurrection.   
   We ask this through Christ our Lord.   
      
   Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)