SEPTEMBER 24
ST. PACIFICUS
A little Italian boy born in 1653 was named Charles Anthony. He was just five years old when his loving parents died. He was sent to live with his uncle. This uncle was a cross, mean man. He treated Charles worse than a servant. Yet the boy took this hard treatment quietly and patiently. When he was seventeen, Charles entered a monastery. He chose the name Pacificus, which means "peaceful." After he became a priest, he was made a teacher, but his great desire was to become a preacher. How happy he was when his superior sent him on a preaching mission to many little towns and villages.
St. Pacificus was very popular with people in the country because his talks were simple and gentle. Besides that, he had the marvelous gift of reading consciences. Once, he reminded a man in confession that he had been unkind to his mother. He had also kept impure thoughts in his mind. What Father Pacificus said was true. The man was very sorry for his sins. Everywhere the priest went to preach and hear confessions, he did much good.
But when he had been preaching only about six years, Pacificus had to give it up because of ill health. He became blind, deaf and crippled. He spent his time praying and doing penance in his monastery. He helped others in any way he could. God was always very close to him. He gave him the gift of prophecy. St. Pacificus foretold the great victory of the Christian armies over the Turks at Belgrade. He also said to a bishop, "Your Excellency-heaven! Heaven! And I will follow you soon!" About two weeks later, the bishop died. Not long after, just as he had said, St. Pacificus died, too. It was the year 1721. Many miracles took place at his grave. Father Pacificus was proclaimed a saint by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839.
St. Pacificus had a sad childhood. He could have let himself become an angry, frustrated adult. Instead, he prayed to Jesus for a forgiving, patient heart. His hard times were turned into moments of growing in his love for God and people. Because he had suffered, he could sympathize with the hurts of others and help them to find God in their lives.
Aiwudz
24 September is also the feast of Our Lady of Ransom, which I've seen described as 'the only Marian feast specific to England'. It's a matter of slight regret to me tha Sundays take precedence over feast days and that unless the feast in question is a Solemnity, it gets skipped altogether. I'll just have to miss out on Our Lady of Ransom for 2006.