十一月纪念的圣人

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11月1日:诸圣节 All Saints Day

 圣人是基督所救赎的人,他们是基督救恩的证人,也是我们跟随基督的榜样。他们既是教会的肢体,也是我们的前辈和朋友。 今日,他们在天主前,仍不断为我们代祷。

 「藉着基督,我们双方在一个圣神内,才得以进到父面前。 所以,你们已不是外方人或旅客,而是圣徒的同胞,是天主的家人。」(弗2:18-19)

 「我们既有如此众多如云的证人,围绕着我们,就该卸下各种累赘和纠缠人的罪过,以坚忍的心,跑那摆在我们面前的赛程, 双目常注视着信德的创始者和完成者耶稣:他为那摆在他面前的欢乐,轻视了凌辱,忍受了十字架,而今坐在天主宝座的右边。」(希12:1-2)

 (教会初期已有殉道者的纪念,进而也纪念非殉道的圣者。 610年,教宗改罗马万神殿为圣堂,以保存地窟殉道者的遗髑,称「殉道者圣母堂」。 835年,教宗额我略四世定11月1日纪念全体圣人。)

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11月2日:追思亡者 All Souls Day

 「炼狱」是某些人死後一种存在的状态。 他们因为尚未除去罪的玷污(小罪),或为了生前未做的补赎,或因没有充分悔罪的心情,暂时还不能接近至圣的天主。 他们应先炼净自己的罪污,才能与至圣的天主合一。这些需被净化的亡者灵魂,就是「炼灵」。 炼灵这种暂时远离天主的痛苦,和切愿面见天主的渴望,都能炼净他们,如同火炼纯金一样;然後才能与至洁的天主同居共处。 炼灵在炼净罪污後,便可离开炼狱,在天堂与天主一起。

 圣奥思定曾说「虽然这火是为了洗涤和洁净灵魂,它却是比我们在世上所能受的痛楚更为剧烈,炼狱中的苦楚是远远超出我们所能想像的。」

 世界上的信徒,可以行善功帮助炼灵。炼灵只能忍受痛苦并耐心地接受净化,因为他们不能再为自己获取功行而自救。 他们唯一能够获得减轻刑期的方法,是来自世人为他们所奉的赔补。

 天主是爱,祂愿意我们彼此相爱,互相帮助。基於“诸圣相通功”的缘故,我们应该帮助炼灵早登天乡与主相聚,做天主喜悦的事。

 「那些在天主恩宠和友谊中过世的,而尚未完全炼净的人,虽然他们永远的得救已确定,在死後要经过炼净, 为能获得必需的圣德,进入天主的荣耀。」(罗马天主教教理1054) 「因着‘诸圣相通’的事实,教会将亡者交托给天主的仁慈,为他们奉献祈祷,尤其是感恩圣祭。」(罗马天主教教理1055)

十一月是炼灵月,为炼灵取得全大赦:

 教友如满全办告解丶领圣体及为教宗意向祈祷之条件 (该等条件可於履行下列善工当日或之前或之後约二十日内满全,而为教宗意向祈祷,则可以诵念天主经及圣母经各一遍满全), 并履行以下其中一项善工,可为炼灵取得全大赦:

一丶在十一月一日至八日任何一日,虔诚地前往一间天主教坟场,并在该处为亡者默祷或诵祷;

二丶十一月二日,虔诚地前往任何圣堂或小堂,并在该处诵念一遍天主经及信经。(注:来自香港教区)

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11月3日:圣玛尔定.包瑞斯(修士)St. Martin de Porres

主保:社会工作者(1579-1639)

 「父亲不详」(Father unknown)这个冷漠的法律用词,有时会被用在洗礼的证明上; 而「混血」(Half-breed)或「战争下的纪念品」(war souvenir), 则常是那些所谓骄傲的「纯种」(pure-blood)者用来轻蔑他人的残酷用词。不幸的是,这些词句就常落在玛定年幼的心灵里。 然而,玛定却从来不是个生来就充满怨恨的人;相反地,为一个贫苦的小孩,他愿意给予他全部的心; 为穷困有需要的人,圣人则愿意给他们自己身上所有的全部。

 1579年的12月9日,圣人诞生在秘鲁的利马(Lima,Peru)。 他是巴拿马一位女子的非婚儿子;母亲可能是一位黑人,亦可能是美洲当地的印地安住民;父亲则是一位西班牙人,是驻秘鲁利玛的一位公爵。 玛定诞生时便承袭了母亲黝黑的肤色与外观,这带给父亲极大的困扰,甚至八年後才愿承认玛定是他的儿子; 玛定的妹妹诞生後,父亲便离弃了这个家庭。从此,他们一家就活在贫苦之中,成为利玛社会中的低下阶层。 圣人12岁时,母亲愿意玛定在一位同时是理发师又是外科医师的门下做学徒; 在那儿,圣人学会了如何修剪头发,也学会了如何抽血(这在当时是一个标准的医疗程序),并且还能照料伤口丶预备和管理药品。

 就在玛定当医疗学徒的数年後,他向道明会申请成为一位「在俗助手」(lay helper),因为他自觉不配成为一位会士。 九年後,因着他在祈祷丶补赎丶爱德与谦逊等方面的善表,道明会反而转而邀请他矢发完整的修会圣愿。

 在圣人的修道生活中,夜晚他都用来祈祷与补赎,白日则排满了照料病患与穷人的行程。 令人印象深刻的是,玛定对人的关怀,从不因对方的肤色丶种族,甚至是社会阶层而有任何的差异。 为此,他按着理想,创办了一个孤儿院,还特别照料从非洲被卖至美洲的奴隶,且尽可能地在会院内安排每日的布施。 渐渐地,他成了会院与该城的代管事务者(procurator); 无论是毛毯丶上衣丶蜡烛丶糖果丶甚至是奇迹或是祈祷,只要有人有求於他,玛定便努力地答覆这些需要; 而当自己的会院出现债务时,他则会说:「我只是一个可怜的混血儿,把我卖掉吧!我是这个修会的资产,卖掉我吧!」

 除了牧灵的工作之外,圣人的工作还包括厨房丶洗衣房以及医院里的日常工作;他的生命,完全反映出天主不寻常的恩宠来。 为此,关於圣人的报导不计其数,例如:身体在祈祷的神拔(ecstasy)中被举扬了起来丶他祈祷的小室, 总是充满着耀眼的光亮丶同时出现在不同的处所丶对超自然知识的理解丶神奇的医治能力丶能与动物沟通等等。

 圣人除了对人灵表达关怀之外,对动物也有同等的爱心,连厨房里的老鼠也不例外。为此,关於圣人与动物间的传奇到处留传。 相传,凡靠近他的所有动物,圣人都会加以喂食与医治;而动物们也似乎都听得懂他的话语而遵从之。 有个传奇甚至这样描述:某日,由於会院内鼠患日增,於是大家便决意设置捕鼠器,捕杀日渐增多的老鼠。 玛定听闻後大感哀伤,於是便与老鼠协议,若它们愿意退出会院,他则愿意在厨房的後门设法喂食它们。 神奇的是,从那天起,会院内就再也没有老鼠的踪迹了。 有时,他甚至还会因老鼠无法获得饱食而向其道歉;至於路上流浪的猫狗,玛定则托负妹妹照管。

 後来,玛定成了非常成功的资金筹募者;他所筹募的款项,帮助了许多贫穷的女孩,使她们能够负担结婚或进入修会时所需的资金; 许多与圣人同时期的修道者,皆以他为自己的神师,但玛定却仍喜欢自称是「可怜的奴隶」。他同时还是秘鲁利玛的圣女-圣罗莎(St. Rose of Lima)的好友。

 最後,圣人於1639年的11月3日过世;他在修会弟兄诵念「信经」的簇拥下,咽下了最後一口气,生前的最後一句话便是: 「et homo factus est-降生成人」。 圣人过世後,他的会衣成了众人争相取得的圣物;相传,无数次的医治神迹都与这些会衣的碎片有关。

 教宗额我略十六世(Pope Gregory XVI)宣布玛定为真福品,并将其庆日订在11月3日; 教宗若望二十三世(Pope John XXIII)则在1962年的5月6日,在四万群众前宣布其为圣品。 直到今日,因着圣玛定在种族与社会工作上的努力,仍有许多人对其表示崇敬,特别是在美洲地区。

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"Father unknown" is the cold legal phrase sometimes used on baptismal records. "Half-breed" or "war souvenir" is the cruel name inflicted by those of "pure" blood. Like many others, Martin might have grown to be a bitter man, but he did not. It was said that even as a child he gave his heart and his goods to the poor and despised.
He was the illegitimate son of a freed woman of Panama, probably black but also possibly of Native American stock, and a Spanish grandee of Lima, Peru. Martin inherited the features and dark complexion of his mother. That irked his father, who finally acknowledged his son after eight years. After the birth of a sister, the father abandoned the family. Martin was reared in poverty, locked into a low level of Lima’s society.

When he was 12, his mother apprenticed him to a barber-surgeon. He learned how to cut hair and also how to draw blood (a standard medical treatment then), care for wounds and prepare and administer medicines.

After a few years in this medical apostolate, Martin applied to the Dominicans to be a "lay helper," not feeling himself worthy to be a religious brother. After nine years, the example of his prayer and penance, charity and humility led the community to request him to make full religious profession. Many of his nights were spent in prayer and penitential practices; his days were filled with nursing the sick and caring for the poor. It was particularly impressive that he treated all people regardless of their color, race or status. He was instrumental in founding an orphanage, took care of slaves brought from Africa and managed the daily alms of the priory with practicality as well as generosity. He became the procurator for both priory and city, whether it was a matter of "blankets, shirts, candles, candy, miracles or prayers!" When his priory was in debt, he said, "I am only a poor mulatto. Sell me. I am the property of the order. Sell me."

Side by side with his daily work in the kitchen, laundry and infirmary, Martin’s life reflected God’s extraordinary gifts: ecstasies that lifted him into the air, light filling the room where he prayed, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures and a remarkable rapport with animals. His charity extended to beasts of the field and even to the vermin of the kitchen. He would excuse the raids of mice and rats on the grounds that they were underfed; he kept stray cats and dogs at his sister’s house.

He became a formidable fundraiser, obtaining thousands of dollars for dowries for poor girls so that they could marry or enter a convent.

Many of his fellow religious took him as their spiritual director, but he continued to call himself a "poor slave." He was a good friend of another Dominican saint of Peru, Rose of Lima (August 23).

Comment:
Racism is a sin almost nobody confesses. Like pollution, it is a "sin of the world" that is everybody's responsibility but apparently nobody's fault. One could hardly imagine a more fitting patron of Christian forgiveness (on the part of those discriminated against) and Christian justice (on the part of reformed racists) than Martin de Porres.

Quote:
In 1962, Pope John XXIII remarked at the canonization of Martin: "He excused the faults of others. He forgave the bitterest injuries, convinced that he deserved much severer punishments on account of his own sins. He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves: thus he deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: 'Martin of Charity.'"

Patron Saint of:
African-Americans
Barbers
Hairdressers
Race relations
Social justice

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11月4日:圣嘉禄.鲍荣茂(主教)(纪念) St. Charles Borromeo

「主日学校」的鼻祖

 公元十六世纪正是教会多难的时期。 教会的中流砥柱,改革运动的中心份子共有四位圣者:教宗圣碧岳五世丶圣斐利伯内利丶圣依纳爵圣师,和今日纪念的圣嘉禄主教。

 嘉禄出身义大利米兰贵族,生於公元一五三八年,父亲是位伯爵,母亲是教宗碧岳四世的姊姊。 嘉禄自幼热心敬主,在学校期间已有超凡圣德,同学奉他为模范。

 嘉禄博学多才在教会拥有崇高的地位和权力,可是他非常谦逊,常担忧自己的地位太高权力太大惴惴不安,他渴望早日挂冠求去,入隐院修道。 巴格德主教劝嘉禄不必担忧,天主赏赐他的尊贵地位和权力,是叫他充份利用,为圣教会服务, 所以他必须努力工作,帮助教会传扬福音与荣主救灵。

 教宗碧岳四世决定重开大公会议,负责执行这项历史性任务的就是嘉禄。 在大公会议进行期间,嘉禄的父亲逝世,按律应由嘉禄继承爵位,但嘉禄一心献身事主,视富贵如敝屣,就将伯爵的名衔让给叔父。 公元一五六三年嘉禄领受了铎品,升任主教职,不久他回米兰,致力整顿教区纪律。 他以身作则,操务苦行,生活俭朴,并将主教府收入全拨给慈善事业。 嘉禄对教会所订的礼仪非常注意。无论他有什麽急事,或是遇到冗长的礼仪,总是用心地诵念经文,绝不草率。

 嘉禄爱主的热忱,鼓舞着众人修德行善。嘉禄的善表,是他整顿教区纪律的最有效的武器。 他召集教务会议多次,拟订改革纪律的详细方案。嘉禄在推行改革运动时,恩威兼施。

 嘉禄的口才并不很好,他讲道完全靠个人的努力,才获得成功。 他的知友亚基利说:「嘉禄没有天生的口才,说话的声音又很低,可是他一上讲坛,字字打入听众的心坎,这一点确是非常难能可贵的。」

 嘉禄对儿童的要理非常注意。除了督促本堂司铎每主日讲道以外,他又创设了教理研究会。 研究会拥有七百四十所教理学校,三千名要理讲解员,四万名学生。圣嘉禄可以说是「主日学校」的鼻祖。 他创办的公教主日学校,比新教的主日学校早二百年。

 公元一五八○年,嘉禄与圣类思相遇,那圣类思还只有十二岁,初领圣体时,送圣体给他的正是圣嘉禄。

 米兰大疫期内,总督和缙绅离城逃避,嘉禄不顾生命危险,留居城内,主持救济工作。 主教府神职人员不够分配,嘉禄就向各修院呼吁,请求协助,修士纷纷响应主教的号召,全体动员,参加看护病人的工作。 这一次米兰疫病的严重,空前未有,丧命者不计其数,商业停顿,粮食缺乏。嘉禄每天需筹募粮食银钱,供应数千人的膳食,历尽辛苦。 主教府的财产全部变卖後,嘉禄还欠了许多的债务,他甚至将教宗游行所用的帐篷都全部拆下来,裁制衣服,发给灾民使用。

 嘉禄建筑了许多临时医院,在街道上搭起临时祭台,病人可以在自己的窗口望弥撒。嘉禄重新将教友们组织起来,协助神职人员看护病人。 他自己每天亲自往城内各区照顾病人,给他们准备善终。米兰大疫,於一五七六年爆发,两年後(一五七八年)方才终止。 嘉禄在这两年内,献出全部身心为病人服务,日以继夜,心力交瘁,个人的生命安全,早已置之度外。

 嘉禄因公务繁剧,睡眠不足,身体一天比一天弱。 公元一五八四年,嘉禄病势恶化,在故乡亚隆伯作了最後一次弥撒後,安逝主怀,享年四十六岁。公元一六一○年由教宗保禄五世列入圣品。

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Patron Saint of: catechists, seminarians

Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy, on 2 October 1538. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.

In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Milan (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of Protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.

He died at Milan on the night of 3-4 November 1584, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times.

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11月7日:圣吴国盛(殉道)

 圣吴国盛,贵州省遵义县人,自幼生性刚强,气力过人,好打抱不平,人见他都怕。可是,事奉父母特别孝顺。 在隆平开设一家大客栈,一天,有个教友来投宿。此人姓徐,是四川省罗玛弟神父派遣来的。徐姓教友见国盛性情豪爽,心中暗想: 若能劝他信主,一定能大大发展教务。一夜,月色甚好,便向他说:「吴老板,今夜的月光,如此明朗,您可晓得这月光是怎麽来的?」 「是它本身发的光嘛!」「屋里的灯烛,如果不加油,不点火,为何不能自己发光呢?天空的日月星辰,从古到今,所发射的光芒,为何一些不减? 这里面一定有掌管它们的神,请问祂是谁?」国盛沉思良久,竟想不出个道理来。 「你不明白,我倒晓得。」徐姓教友於是把宇宙的原始,万物的来历,人类的根源,以及其他重要道理,一一讲给他听。 国盛听罢,深受感动。徐君又送给他几本关於教理的书。

 乾隆六十年,罗神父亲自往隆平场,见国盛信德不凡,立他为本地会长,那时他尚未受洗。 神父为了要改变他的性情,要他去四川省,看看老教友的榜样。 国盛在重庆住了多日,感觉自己的行为,多不合乎耶稣的圣训,回家以後,深自悔过,尽心改变固执的个性。 翌年,罗神父给他付了洗,取名伯多禄。到嘉庆十六年,隆平场周围,创建了很多堂口,进教的有六百多人。

 不久,教难兴起,情势非常险恶。差役来抓他,他本来有机会逃脱,却不肯走,甘愿跟差役进城。 多次动大刑逼他背教,国盛不为所屈,宁死不肯背教。

 国盛在监时,每天同教友唱经。县官逼他践踏十字,他抵死不从,县官就定了他绞刑。赴法场,国盛手持念珠,欢欢喜喜地念玫瑰经。 既到法场,双膝跪地,大声喊道:「天堂丶天堂,我的家乡!」「我看见了天堂的荣光,我看到了救主耶稣!」 「我看见天主之母和我的护守天使下来接我了。」 这时刑役把他绑在十字架上,颈项套着绳索,用力一扯,登时毕命。忽然听得一声巨响,惊天动地。 时嘉庆十九年九月二十六日(阳历1814年11月7日),享年四十有六。 圣人殉道日,他的妻子闻讯,立即来城领尸,葬在隆平场的坟山上。圣人死後曾显现很多奇迹。 教宗良十三世,於1900年5月27七日奉他为真福。二○○○年十月一日宣圣。

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11月8日:真福董思高 Blessed John Duns Scotus

圣母无染原罪信理的捍卫者

 真福董思高是第十三世纪时的一位方济会士,他是一位司铎,也是位神学家。 在方济会的历史中,他可说是圣文都拉之後最重要丶也最具有影响力的神学家。 圣人是「思高学派」的创始者,法国大革命前,他的神学思想几乎主宰了所有欧洲的各主要天主教大学。 圣人最知名的的神学主张是:「耶稣基督的绝对王权」丶「圣母无染原罪」与「进化论的驳斥」。

圣人的孩童时期

 圣人在1265年时诞生於苏格兰的董思小城(Duns, Berwickhire,Scotland),一出生便付了洗,并以圣史若望为名。 他年幼时极其乖巧丶健康,纯洁得像个小天使一样;他从家里与堂区神父那接受了很扎实的信仰培育,并在熙笃会的Melros会院学习要理。 在该会院里,小思高深深地浸淫在对天主之母的热爱里,而这正是圣伯尔纳铎(St. Bernard)留给熙笃会士最宝贵的精神遗产。

 圣人在孩童时期因思考较为迟钝受了许多的苦;他切望能好好地阅读丶学习信仰方面的真理,然而他的心智却无法了解或明暸任何事物。 於是小思高藉着祈祷,求助於上智之座—圣母,祈求他的驽钝能得着治愈,并能在学习上有所精进。 圣母於是向小思高显现,并赏赐了他所求的恩宠。回到学校後,思高的「小小的脑袋瓜」着实让同学与老师们大感讶异! 於是,小思高决定以此属天的卓绝智慧来光荣甜美与荣耀的童贞圣母。

 十五岁时,圣人在Dumfries加入了小兄弟会(方济会)的初学院;在初学中,他的虔敬与天使般的德行与日俱增。 一年後,他在修会内矢发贫穷愿丶贞洁愿和服从愿,将自己奉献给上主。 之後,他被差遣到修会所设立的神学院研习神学,并在英国林肯郡的Oliver Shtton主教手中领受司铎圣制, 时间是在1291年的3月17日,地点是克隆尼修道院的圣安德肋教堂。晋铎後,圣人开始在英国与法国继续神丶哲学的深造。

圣母的显现

 1299年的圣诞夜,圣人在牛津会院沉浸於默观圣言降生成人的奥迹里,随後他即神魂超拔。 当时圣母向他显现,并将婴孩耶稣放在他的怀里,婴孩耶稣则温柔地亲吻拥抱圣人, 这或许是後来他主张在「道成肉身」的奥迹中,基督有着绝对优先性的原因; 在他看来,除了天主的救赎之外,基督的「道成肉身」可以说是天主之爱的最卓绝彰显。

执教於牛津大学的董思高

 圣人在牛津与剑桥大学执教约四年後,於1301年末回到巴黎,取得了神学学士的学位。 後来,在他获得博士学位的前夕,圣人突然必须离开法国而回到英格兰,因为当时的法王菲利比(Philip)与教宗Boniface VIII有一次争执,於是法王要求法国境内的所有神职人员丶贵族丶修道人丶主教与巴黎大学的教授诉诸大公会议来抵制教宗。 然而,思高却不愿接受法王的要求,於是只能选择被逐出法国。这事件约发生在1308年的六月25到28日

 一年之後,紧张的情况好转,圣人再次回到巴黎大学接受神学博士的学位,并成为该校的正式教授,这使得他名列在中世纪最伟大的学者之列。 圣人的天赋与学识很快地就传遍了整个欧洲,大批的学生慕名前来,希望能聆听这位大师的课程。 因着圣人习惯在神学论题上作缜密的解析,因此当代的学者皆以「精微博士(Subtle Doctor)」称之。 Rodulphus这样描述他说:「为他而言,没有任何事物是过於艰深难懂的;在他热切的心智中,没有任何事物是无法测度与澄清的; 没有什麽纠结是他无法解开的;为他过人的天资而言,也没什麽事物是过於困难丶诲涩而不能加以详解的。」 另一位写道:「当他描述天主的神圣属性时,就好似他亲眼见过天主一样;当他描述天朝诸神时,就好似自己曾是位天使一样; 当他描述未来属天的幸福时,就好似他已享受其间一样;当他描述天主的眷顾时,就好似他已浸淫在这奥秘之中一样。」

思高捍卫圣母无染原罪信理

 圣人在巴黎时因拥护圣母无染原罪(圣母无玷始胎)的信理,因而获得了「圣母博士(Marian Doctor)」的称号。 对该信理的宣扬,圣人在英国并未遭到任何的阻碍,但在巴黎的情况却正好相反。巴黎大学只承认圣母的原罪是在母亲圣亚纳(St. Anne)的胎中被净化的,就如同洗者若翰例子。当时巴黎大学里所有大师级的人物如:Alexander of Hales丶圣文都拉与圣多玛斯等,都无法解决原罪的普遍性与基督的救赎功效间的问题;他们认为: 即便是童贞圣母玛利亚,也被包括在原罪的普遍性之内,因此必会与原始罪污的影响有所关联,虽然仅是片刻而已,所以圣母也应被救赎。 圣人在巴黎大学内试图向学生介绍并讲授与校方不同立场的神学观点,因此,他必须在整个学院前对此一信念作公开性的辩护。 若他无法为他所信仰的真理做有效的辩护,那麽,他将承担被逐出校园的风险。 为此,思高在祈祷中丶带着全部的信心,将自己托付给上智之座的无玷圣母。

 当辩护的日子来到之时,在离开会院的路上,他途经一座圣母雕像,圣人便恳求她说: 「喔,至圣圣母!请允许我赞美妳,并赐我力量对抗妳的敌人。」圣母便以一个明显可见的记号回应他: 圣母雕像的头部在他面前轻轻地点了头。这就好像是说:「会的,我会赐你所需的力量。」

二位教宗的代表主持了这场公开的神学辩护。 後来,思高以有力的辨证与精妙的推理论证,驳斥了在场所有学者的异议,使反对圣母无染原罪的所有争论都变得哑口无声。圣人指出: 「无限美善的救赎主必会在某些情况下完成祂卓绝的救赎工程;然而,除非藉由某人预先平息了天主的忿怒,否则这卓绝的救赎工程是不能完成的。」 最後,思高获得了胜利。从那一天起,巴黎大学也开始为至圣童贞圣母所享有的这项殊恩加以辩护。

思高的死亡与列品

 思高必须又一次地离开巴黎大学,一方面是政治的因素,一方面是因他的反对者质疑圣人的神学理论。 离开巴黎後,方济会的总会长派遣他到德国的科伦,在那里负责教导方济学院的学生,直到圣人1308年的11月8日病逝为止,享年仅43岁。 他过世後不久,很快地就被人称为「真福」了。

 数世纪以来,许多教友都会到他的坟前纪念他; 苏格兰的爱丁堡丶义大利的诺拉(Nola)丶德国的科隆教区更常有奉献给他的公开敬礼,就如同普世方济会内所做的一样。 1854年,教宗碧岳九世(Pius IX)隆重地宣布圣人关於圣母的道理正确无误,且是基於宗徒信仰的表达: 「从耶稣基督功绩的观点下,玛利亚从成胎的第一刻起,就脱免了原罪的玷污。」 当基督君王节在1925年被教会建立时,圣人关於「基督的绝对优越性」神学也为教会官方所认可。 1992年的3月20日,在罗马的伯多禄大殿广场前,董思高由教宗圣若望保禄二世宣布为「真福品」。

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11月9日:祝圣拉特朗大殿(庆日) The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

 早期教会经历教难和迫害,达三百多年,终在313年得到自由。 当时的君士坦丁大帝,皈依圣教,并将拉特朗宫殿献给教宗,又於殿旁建一所大殿,供举行礼仪之用, 亦即今日之「拉特朗大殿」,又名「救主大殿」,别名「圣若翰大殿」。324年,由教宗西物斯德祝圣。

 拉特朗大殿的祝圣纪念,最初只在罗马举行,後因它是罗马的主教座堂(即宗徒之长丶伯多禄继承人丶教宗的座堂), 故被尊为「全球圣堂的母堂」。 於是,自十二世纪,拉特朗大殿的祝圣纪念,便推行到普世拉丁礼的教会,作为各地教会敬爱圣座和团结一致的象徵, 正如安提约基亚的圣依纳爵所写的:圣座「在这充满爱德的整个团体(教会)中位居首席」。

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11月9日:圣圣三依撒伯尔(贞女) St. Elizabeth of Trinity

(1880-1906) Carmelite

 1984年11月25日,若望保禄二世册封这位法国加尔默罗圣衣会的修女为真福。 他这麽介绍道:「一道新光为我们放射,一个新而可靠的引导。这位年轻热情的基督徒,能够和年轻人及所有寻找真理的人对话。 」她的秘密是什麽?「我告诉你,是内在和天主亲密的生活,成为照耀我生命的太阳。」

 《天使或魔鬼?》这是当依撒伯尔去听要理时,本堂神父对依撒伯尔的评语。依撒伯尔生於1880年7月18日。她的父亲是军队的长官。 小女依撒伯尔生来聪慧有才气,个性坚强,但脾气暴躁。 她姐姐说:「她很活泼,但常发怒,发火时像魔鬼。」另一方面,她向往一切高尚美丽的事,拥有一颗慷慨的心。 由於对耶稣的开放,她要因爱来克服她「可怕的个性」。

 《热情的年轻人》她7岁丧父。13岁时,她获得法国钢琴比赛头奖,音乐家的事业向她招手。 但她的野心在他处:要爱耶稣,这位她在初领圣体时相遇的耶稣。她要疯狂地爱祂!她从心底内被天主的临在所吸引。 14岁时,她「不能禁止地」把自己完全交托给耶稣,她惟一所爱。谁会相信呢?她的母亲爱好旅行。 他们有许多朋友,交际繁忙:出外游玩丶跳舞丶打球丶弹钢琴,这就是依撒伯尔,年轻人当中的佼佼者。 她的爱好广泛:游泳丶爬山丶和朋友谈天,但也喜欢去教堂,拜访病人,为孩子教要理。在这一切之上,她最喜欢祈祷。 她写道:「即使在这尘世中,我们也可以在内心静默之处聆听天主,这颗心只属於祂。」

 《爱人的声音》依撒伯尔越来越感到被召入加尔默罗圣衣会,以便能不断祈祷,并把人类带到天主前。 她写道:「一个加尔默罗修女的灵魂是望着十字架,并了解祂深切的爱;她愿意像祂一样把自己交出。」她的母亲坚决反对。 人们向她提亲。她回答道:「我的心已有所属!」她21岁入圣衣会,会名为圣三依撒伯尔。 她非常快乐:这是个贫苦丶简单的祈祷生活,但却充满着天主的临在以及姐妹的情谊。

 《深沉的爱》她的初学生活是困难与痛苦的。一年四个月之後,在1903年1月11日发愿,从此成为「基督的圣配」: “成为圣配,就是像祂一样被交出……和祂一起生活……永远一起……是要为祂孕育许多恩宠的孩子……” 她的生活越来越建立在天主的圣言:圣若望教导她如何“留存在天主内”; 圣保禄邀请她成为“天主光荣的赞颂”(弗1,12),因天主是“如此爱世人”(弗2,4),所以依撒伯尔要“以爱还爱”。 她的书信满溢着信心,相信天主的爱是为所有的人,祂只要我们相信。她和她的许多平信徒朋友们分享道: 「所有的人都被召,都被爱,所有受过洗礼的人都是天主的孩子,所有的人都被邀请参加圣餐,所有的人都可以把自己交给爱……」

 《到光明丶到爱丶到生命去》依撒伯尔不断地把我们的心引到生活的天主前:父丶子和圣神。 依撒伯尔如此写道:「天主圣三,这是我们的居留,我们的家,父亲的家,永远不应离开的家。」 1904年11月,她写了这篇出名的祈祷文:“啊,我的天主,我崇拜的圣三。” 在这祈祷中,她把自己完全奉献给燃烧的圣神爱火:“我将自己如俘虏般交付给祢”。 她的渴望就只是要相似耶稣,成为祂的“特选的人类,从现祂一切的奥迹”。26岁时,她患上了爱迪生症(Addison),在当时是不治之症。 她和死神挣扎了9个月。在这极大的痛苦中,她没有隐瞒她的焦虑,但也很高兴能分担耶稣的苦难,并和祂一起为世人奉献。 她在1906年11月9日凌晨去世。她最後的遗言是:「我走向光明丶爱情和生命!」最後的一句话是生命!

 《现代的先知》在她丰富的译着中,依撒伯尔留给我们一个简单但深刻与真实的讯息。 当爱我们的天主就住在我们内心的深处时,又何必到所谓的“东方”灵修中去寻找与神的经验?天主不是透过‘方法’来找到的。 依撒伯尔告诉我们她的秘密:“忘了自己”!停止和自私的“自己”对话,以便仰望那位元寻找我们,并带领我们到圣三亲密生活的耶稣。 如此,每日的生活,无论是喜怒哀乐,都是在祂的光明中。痛苦与死亡变成了通往生命的道路。

 依撒伯尔许下要帮助我们: 「在天上,我的使命是吸引人们,帮助他们放下自己,接受天主,透过简单但充满爱的行动,并使他们保持内心的平静, 以便让天主把自己的肖像刻印在他们内,使他们变成祂的样子。」

 依撒伯尔於2016年10月16日获宣圣。

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Source: http://www.helpfellowship.org/Blessed_Elizabeth_of_the_Trinity.htm

St. Elizabeth was born in July of 1880 into a military environment. Her father, Joseph, had been raised in a poor, agricultural family. At the age of twenty-one, he had enlisted in the French army. In September of 1873, Catez had married Marie Rolland, herself the daughter of a successful military man. After a career marked by combat as well as by many promotions, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1881. Spending her earliest years in this military environment Elizabeth was naturally formed in such virtues as courage and forthrightness.

From her earliest years, Elizabeth's personality was also marked by a determined, energetic disposition. The strong-willed, exuberant child's energy, however, often became violent, resulting in fits of rage. She could not support being opposed, seeming "to think that all must give way before her." Nevertheless, this child who was once described mischievously as "pure devil" simultaneously demonstrated and developed a great attraction to prayer.

The year 1887 marked a great change in seven-year-old Elizabeth's life. The year began with the death of her maternal grandfather in January. In October of that same year, her father, Joseph, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five. Madame Catez and her two children (Elizabeth's sister, Marguerite, who had been born in 1883) soon moved from their former house to an apartment in what could be called the suburbs of Dijon. From the window of her room in her new home, Elizabeth could see the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns.

After the death of her father, Elizabeth's outbursts of anger increased both in number and in violence. During the course of the same year, though, the child experienced for the first time the sacrament of Penance, "which brought about what she styled her ‘conversion'." She henceforth began to struggle noticeably against her violent temper, promising her mother that she would strive to be the very model of a "sweet, patient, and obedient" daughter.

However, it was only four years later that the future Blessed would manage finally to conquer her difficult temperament. In the spring of 1891, when she was almost eleven years old, Elizabeth made her First Communion. Sensitive by nature, especially to things sacred, she was profoundly affected by her first reception of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Tears of joy were seen to run down the young girl's face after her Communion. Upon leaving the church, she said to a close friend, "I'm no longer hungry. Jesus has fed me."

On the afternoon of her First Communion, Elizabeth also encountered the prioress of the Carmel of Dijon for the first time. The prioress, upon learning the name of the child, explained to her that "Elizabeth" means "house of God." A few days later, she would send this same message to Elizabeth, writing on the back of a holy card: "Your blessed name hides a mystery, accomplished on this great day. Child, your heart is the House of God on earth, of the God of love."

This theme of being the "house of God," then, was at first closely associated with the mystery of the Eucharist in the mind of Elizabeth. In a poem that she would later write to commemorate the seventh anniversary of her First Communion, she meditates upon the day:

When Jesus made in me His dwelling place,
When God took possession of my heart,
So well that since that hour,
Since that mysterious colloquy,
That divine and delicious meeting,
I have aspired to nothing else but to give my life
In order to return a bit of His great love
To the Beloved of the Eucharist
Who reposed in my feeble heart,
Inundating it with all of his favors.

Likewise, Elizabeth once wrote the following words to a friend who had just made her First Communion: "If He came this morning into your little heart, it was not to pass through it and go away, but to remain there always." It seems that the future Blessed understood that by giving himself to her in the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus had come to dwell within her in a new way.

Elizabeth lived out her desire "to return some of His great love to the Beloved of the Eucharist" by conquering her tempestuous nature. Her mother later testified, "From that day (of her First Communion) and afterwards, no more fits of anger." This victory did not come easily to the young girl, however, but rather cost her a considerable amount of effort and struggle. Yet, Elizabeth desired to return love for love, and to show her love for the loving God by becoming herself more loving towards others. She drew strength for this struggle from "the Beloved of the Eucharist who had made in her His dwelling place.

Elizabeth first discerned her vocation to Carmel after having received Communion one day when she was fourteen years old, but her mother was opposed to the idea. Eventually, when Elizabeth was nineteen years old, Madame Catez agreed to her daughter's entry into Carmel, but required her to wait until her twenty-first birthday. In the years before she entered the cloister, Elizabeth studied St. Teresa of Jesus' Way of Perfection. She also read the first edition of Therese of Lisieux's Story of a Soul, and quickly became an enthusiastic follower of the -Little Way." The soon-to-be Carmelite was also greatly enamored of "Little Therese's ‘Act of Offering to Merciful Love.’" Furthermore, in February of 1900, the young aspirant to the Carmel of Dijon was introduced to a Dominican friar, a friend of the nuns. Elizabeth asked for help in understanding her interior experience - her need for silence and recollection, and her sense - of an inexplicable presence in the depth of her soul. This Dominican proceeded to deepen her awareness of the truth of the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul of the baptized: that not just Christ, but that "all three of the Trinity" - Father, Son, and Spirit - were present in love in her soul. This graced meeting greatly reassured Elizabeth and aided her in her spiritual progress.

As she was waiting to enter her beloved Carmel, Elizabeth lived the life of a typical young, active Catholic laywoman of her time. She sang in two choirs in her parish, she helped prepare children for their First Communions, and she animated a type of summer "day care" for the children of those who worked in the local tobacco factory. The personality of this sensitive and energetic young woman had blossomed from her earlier years. Her simple, vivacious and spontaneous nature, coupled with her great, if hard won, self-possession, won for her friends of all ages. Many of those who knew her later testified that she exercised a notable influence on others, especially on those younger than herself, being skilled at animating recreations and other youthful activities. It should be noted that Elizabeth was also a very gifted musician. From the age of seven, she studied music at the Conservatory of Dijon, winning several prizes for her skill at the piano. She is said to have played with great passion, playing in order to please God himself. "No one can interpret the great masters like Elizabeth," noted one of her many admirers.

In the midst of her active social life. Elizabeth sought to liveas "a Carmelite on the inside" while she awaited the day of her entrance into the cloister, She sought to live in constant communion with the loving God whom she knew was always present within her. When she was twenty years old, Elizabeth addressed the following words to Jesus: "May my life be a continual prayer, one long act of love. May nothing be able to distract me from you [...]. I would like so much, O my Master, to live with you in silence. But what I love above all is to do your will, and since you still want me to be in the world. I submit with all my heart for love of you. I offer to you the cell of my heart; may it be your little Bethany, come to rest there, I love you so."

Finally, in 1901, Elizabeth entered her beloved Carmel, receiving the name "Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity." Her awareness and experience of the Triune God dwelling within her continued to grow. Through her communion with Christ in the Eucharist and in the Scriptures, the young Carmelite's spiritual life deepened even more. She drew nourishment from the teachings of the great saints of Carmel - St. Teresa of Jesus and St, John of the Cross, as well as from her contemporary, Therese of Lisieux. Above all, though, Elizabeth names as "the father of her soul" St. Paul, who preached to her "nothing but this mystery of the charity of Christ."

In St. Paul, Elizabeth found teaching that both echoed her own experience of the love of God and helped her to interpret this experience. Paul spoke to her of the "exceeding love" of Christ, who "loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20) According to Elizabeth, this last Pauline expression summed up everything about the love of Christ, a love that was true and strong.

As a child, Elizabeth had found the strength to conquer her fiery temper only after having received the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist for the first time. As a Carmelite, she would read in St. Paul that it was Christ who made peace through the blood of his Cross (Col 1:20), making "peace in my little heaven," so that it may truly be the repose of the Three." Elizabeth had experienced for herself the way in which the blood of the Eucharistic Christ had brought peace to her tempestuous soul, and later found the words in St. Paul to affirm her experience. Also, as seen above, Elizabeth found in the words of St. Paul the scriptural foundation for the doctrine of the indwelling of God in the soul of the Christian.

Likewise, Elizabeth found in St. Paul the words to confirm her experience that it is through Jesus that "we have access to the Father" (cf Eph 2:18). As Elizabeth writes in a poem that she composed for Christmas of 1901:

He comes to reveal the mystery,
To give all of the Father's secrets
To lead from glory to glory Even unto the bosom of the Trinity.

Elizabeth, then, experienced Christ as the one who comes to reveal to us the Father's love and to lead us to share in the divine life of Trinitarian love.

Finally, the young Carmelite found many passages in St Paul that helped her discover the great dignity of this vocation of the Christian to share in the life of the Trinity through union with Christ. She was especially drawn to the eighth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, in which the great saint writes: "For those he foreknow he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified" (Rom 8:29-30). Likewise, she drew great riches from the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians, in which Paul writes: "He chose us in (Christ), before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ. In accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in his beloved." (Eph 1:4-6)

Further on in this passage from Ephesians, Elizabeth discovered a type of "personal vocation" to live as a "Praise of Glory" of the Father, just as Jesus himself was the definitive Praise of the Father's Glory. This call to praise the glory of God also Included the call to share in the redemptive sufferings of Christ, to be able to say like St Paul, "In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church." (Col 1:24).

Elizabeth realized that all people are created in order to be united to Jesus, to be made like him, even in his sufferings, in order to share in the relationship of love that the risen Jesus shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit. She explains this great plan of God in one of her meditations:

God bends lovingly over this soul, His adopted daughter, who is so conformed to the image of His Son, the 'first born among all creatures,' and recognizes her as one of those whom He has 'predestined, called, justified.' And His fatherly heart thrills as He thinks of consummating His work, that is, of 'glorifying' her by bringing her into His kingdom, there to sing for ages unending 'the praise of His glory’.

All of this great work is an action of the God of Love. God creates us in order to lead us to communion with Himself, the God who is Love itself.

In response to this loving plan of God, Elizabeth desired to live fully her Christian and Carmelite vocation. On November 21, 1904, the feast of the Presentation of Mary, Elizabeth composed her famous prayer to the Trinity. This prayer is like an offering of herself to the God who is Love. It marks out the program of life which Elizabeth desired to follow. In it we see her desire to be united to Christ, conformed to him, in order to please the Father and to enter profoundly into the dynamic and infinite love of the Trinity. Elizabeth begs the Holy Spirit to "create in my soul a kind of incarnation of the Word: that I may be another humanity for Him in which He can renew His whole Mystery." She entreats the Father: "Bend lovingly over Your poor little creature; 'cover her with Your shadow.' seeing in her only the 'Beloved in whom You are well pleased." She concludes by surrendering herself to the Trinity, begging God: "Bury yourself in me that I may bury myself in You until I depart to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your greatness."

It was only two years after composing this prayer that Elizabeth of the Trinity finally did depart this life in order to contemplate the abyss of God's great love for all eternity. The young Carmelite died after many months of suffering from Addison's Disease, a malady of the kidneys which at that time was incurable. As a result of this illness, Elizabeth suffered great fatigue, an inability to digest food, intense abdominal pains and great thirst. She wrote that she felt as though tiny beasts were devouring her insides, and said that one of the first things she would do in heaven was to have a drink of water. Her community noted the great patience, courage, and joy with which Elizabeth suffered.

The young Carmelite viewed her suffering as a way of being conformed to Jesus, as a way of sharing in the redemptive suffering of her divine Bridegroom for the good of the Church. As such, Elizabeth even came to view this suffering as a gift. She explains to her mother in a letter written from her sickbed:

'I rejoice,' said St. Paul, 'to make up in my flesh what is lacking in the passion of Jesus Christ for the sake of His body the Church.' Oh, how your mothers heart should leap for divine joy in thinking that the Master has deigned to choose your daughter, the fruit of your womb, to associate her with His great work of redemption, and that He suffers in her, as it were, an extension of His passion. The bride belongs to the Bridegroom, and mine has taken me. He wants me to be another humanity for Him in which He can still suffer for the glory of His Father, to help the needs of His Church: this thought has done me so much good."

Elizabeth's last audible words before her death were, "I am going to Light, to Love, to Life." She died on November 9, 1906, at the age of 26, after having lived in Carmel for only five years. When asked if she would spend her heaven doing good on earth like "Little Therese," Elizabeth responded that she would not, but that she would shoot "like a rocket" deeper and deeper into the abyss of the Trinity. Nevertheless, she did intuit that she would exercise a particular mission within the Church from her place in heaven. From her sick bed, Elizabeth wrote to a fellow Carmelite "I think, that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them go out of themselves to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within that will allow God to communicate Himself to them and transform them into Himself".

On November 25, 1984, Pope John Paul II beatified Elizabeth of the Trinity. In his homily at the beatification, the Pope presented Elizabeth of the Trinity to the Church as one "who led a life 'hidden with Christ in God' (Col 3:3)," and as "a brilliant witness to the joy of being 'rooted and grounded in love' (Eph 3:17)." We can turn to Elizabeth of the Trinity today as a witness to the impact that the presence of the loving God within the soul can have in a human life. She proclaims to us with St. Paul the great dignity of the Christian Vocation: the call to be conformed to Christ - crucified, risen, and present in the Eucharist - to become "temples of the Spirit," all to the praise of the Father's glory. She reminds us that the Trinity is "our home," that God has created us in order to be united to Christ, to live as his adopted sons and daughters, dwelling in his love and remaining there always in this life and in the next.

Elizabeth of the Trinity was canonized on October 16 2016.

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11月10日:圣良一世(教宗丶圣师)(纪念) St. Leo the Great

461

 圣人不仅是位着作丰富的圣师,更是一位维护教会统一丶抵挡蛮人入侵的伟大教宗; 在教会历史中,仅有二位教宗被冠以「大」的名号,圣人是其中之一(另一位是教宗额我略一世—St. Gregory the Great)。 圣人生於义大利的Tuscany,生年不详。他曾受托於罗马皇帝Valentinian III与高卢人交涉,当时他仅是位执事。 主後453年,匈奴(Huns)入侵义大利,圣人出面与亚提拉(Attila)交涉,在罗马的城门外, 成功地劝退了蛮族的入侵,当时他已是教宗的身份(440-461); 三年後,汪达尔人(Vandal)入侵了罗马城,在圣人斡旋的努力下,罗马城与人民才幸免於彻底的毁灭。 圣人的这些伟大事迹,历史皆有留下明确的纪录; 或许当时教宗首席权的理论(Papal supremacy)也正是因着圣人的伟大功绩而获得了更多的支持。

 在圣人的时代,教会内关於基督「二性一位(Two Natures in One Person)」 的信理仍是莫衷一是,对於耶稣基督同时具有天主性与人性的真理,当代学者们的意见普遍不一。 主後449年,圣人在写给君士坦丁堡的Flavian主教的信函中确认:基督的天主性与人性同时存在一个位格内。 随後,这封信函在451年所举行的加采东大公会议(Council of Chalcedon, 451)上被隆重地宣读,且由大会判定为当信无误的信理。 圣人死於主後461年,留下了许多具有历史价值的的书信与着作。

 以下文字节录自圣良教宗讲道集:

 「天主的普世教会是由不同的阶层所组成,然而,这身体虽有许多部分,但却是个神圣的整体,就如同宗徒保禄所说的: 『我们大家都在基督内合而为一』。

 在洗礼中,十字架的标记使所有在基督内重生的人成为君王;他们全因圣神的傅油而成为司祭。 因此,除了我们这些肩负特殊职务的司祭之外,所有领受精神与超性恩宠的基督徒,也都应知道自己有份於王家的种族与司祭的职务。 一个灵魂由於服从天主而做肉体的主人,还有什麽比这更像似君王的? 一个人将纯洁的良心奉献与主,并在自己心灵的祭台上,呈上虔诚无玷的牺牲,还有什麽比这更属司祭的职务呢?」

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11月11日:圣玛尔定.都尔(主教)(纪念) St. Martin of Tours

 圣人在公元316年左右,出生於班诺尼(今匈牙利),父母皆属外教。 父为军官;15岁时,圣人被父亲强迫加入军队,在法国亚米央城驻屯时,开始慕道。 337年,他遇到一位冻得要死的乞丐,便把自己的斗逢,割下一半,送给这乞丐。当天夜里,他梦见耶稣穿着他割下的斗逢,显现给他。

 圣人曾因不肯收取军队掳获的战利品,而被军法处理,後来幸因战事结束,而不了了之。圣人22岁领洗後,脱离军队。

 圣人在圣依拉略的指导下,度隐修生活,曾在里古日建立隐修院;这是高卢地区首座隐修院。晋铎後,371年被选为都尔主教。 圣人确是善牧的模范;他建立隐修院,训诲神职,向穷人宣讲福音,使国人得闻喜讯。397年安逝。

 圣人在圣本笃之前,是欧洲隐修者的先驱。

圣人名句:

 主!假如你的子民仍需要我的话,我愿继续为他们服务。我愿承行你的旨意

Lord, if your people still need me, I am ready for the task; your will be done.

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11月12日:圣若撒法(主教丶殉道)(纪念) St. Josaphat

 圣人约在1580年出生於乌克兰,父母皆属东正教会;圣人与天主教会共融後,入圣巴西略隐修会,且曾任院长。 晋铎後,被选为波罗克城主教,力谋教会之合一。1623年遭暴徒所害,而舍身殉道。

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11月13日:圣方济加.加比尼(贞女)(纪念) St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

圣心传教女修会创办人

 圣女方济加的父亲加比尼,务农为业,在意大利洛弟诺经营一个农场,共有子女十三人,方济加最小。

 方济加生於一八五O年七月十五日。年幼时,由大姐罗撒负责管教。罗撒是个女教员,性情严肃,方济加的学业成绩非常好。

 加比尼全家都是虔诚的天主教徒,书架上的《传信部大事录》一书,叙述传教士在远方各地艰苦地传扬福音的英勇事迹。 方济加耳濡目染,对传教生活,感到很大的兴趣,她渴望能到中国来传教。

方济加的游戏,都以传教为中心对象。 她的洋娃娃都穿了修女的衣服,她折了纸船,放在水中飘浮,她把这些船看作是装运传教士到远方去的船。 儿童都喜欢吃糖,方济加也不例外,可是她戒掉了吃糖果的习惯,因为「将来到远方传教,没有糖果吃,所以还是趁早戒掉的好。」

 但是方济加的父母希望女儿在教育界工作,就送她进了亚吕诺修女学校读书。 十八岁那一年,方济加毕业,就在那时候,家庭遭遇重大的不幸:方济加的父母相继去世。

 以後两年,她和大姐罗撒同住,在山拉弟神父主办的学校读书。 她向旧日读书的亚吕诺女修院申请入会,因健康关系,她的请求被驳回;方济加又向另一所女修院申请,也以同样理由被驳回。

 一八七四年,山拉弟神父调任古督日教堂主任。堂区内有一所孤儿院,孤儿院的工作人员共有三名:安多尼亚小姐和另外两个女子。 山拉弟神父请方济加来帮助,同时利用这孤儿院为中心,创办了一所女修院。

 安多尼亚性情古怪,给予方济加很多的麻烦,可是方济加是一位意志坚强的女子,沉着应付, 一八七七年,方济加发了修道的初愿,同时发愿的有七人。主教任命方济加为院长。

 安多尼亚继续和方济加捣乱,方济加和七位修女苦心孤诣,维持了三年後,孤儿院就无法继续了,主教下令结束这项工作。 他召来方济加,对她说:「你不是有志到远方去吗?现在可以开始了,你自己创设一个传教女修会吧。」

 方济加立刻着手进行准备,她在古督日找到一间破旧的房屋,就和她的七位修女搬去同住。 院舍布置就绪,方济加起草了一份会规,这个新颖的女修会以灌溉基督化的教育给女童为目的, 会名位「圣心传教女修会」,会规於同年获得主教批准。两年内,增设了两所分院:一所在古美洛,一所在米兰。

 我们现在写方济加的传记,说来容易: 「两年内,增设了两所分院……」实际上,圣心传教女修会的创建,绝不是这样容易一举成功的,中间经过了不少的波折丶阻挠和打击。 传教事实胜於雄辩,圣心传教女修会一成立,成绩就非常好,有目共睹,反对的人不能不承认过去观察的错误。 这样良好的成绩,一方面固然是修会的目标正确,迎合教会和时代的需要;另一方面,不能不归功於方济加的领导有力。

 一八八七年,方济加亲赴罗马,向教廷申请批准圣心女修会。同时她计划在罗马创建分院。 这个计划一宣布,别人便都劝阻她,认为圣心女修会成立到现在,只有七年,历史太短,申请教廷批准,似乎时机尚未成熟。 方济加力排众议,拜访了巴洛基枢机。第一次会谈中,枢机的意见和一般人相同,认为要请求批准会规似乎有点过早。 可是第二次会谈时,枢机表示绝对支持方济加的计划。方济加原来的目的,是预备在罗马创办一所分院。 枢机却让她创办两所分院,一所义务学校,一所贫童收容所。数日内教廷颁诏,对圣心女修会的会规作「初次批准」。

 方济加原来的传教目的是我们中国,现在她的工作,却正在向西半球发展。 华亚森石主教在美洲创建了圣查理修会,为旅美的意大利侨胞服务,他请求圣心会修女到美洲来协助传教事业。 方济加对这个请求,本没有加以考虑,不久纽约总主教古利根正式邀请她去美国,除了山拉弟神父以外, 人人都鼓励她接受纽约总主教的邀请,她一时打不定主意,因为这件事涉及整个修会将来的发展方向,她决定晋谒教宗良十三世,请教宗做主。 教宗的答语很简单:「不要到东方去了,到西方去。」 方济加不再犹豫,带了六位修女,搭船横渡大西洋,一八八九年三月三十一日在纽约上岸。

 近一百年来,欧洲大量移民到美国。移民中有许多意大利人丶波兰人丶克罗地亚人丶斯洛文尼亚人。 方济加到美国的时候,仅纽约一地,意籍侨民就达五万人,其中大部分都没有学习过要理。 五万人中,只有一千二百人到圣堂参与弥撒。 在宾夕法尼亚州,情形也大致相仿,古利根总主教和良十三世教宗,对这种宗教危机非常担忧不安。

 圣心会修女到了美国,遭到了一连串的困难。她们计划在纽约开设一所孤儿院,教育意籍儿童,接着办一所初级学校。 可是到了纽约,她们连宿舍也没有,寄宿在一间污秽丶有虫鼠的破屋。 方济加和古利根总主教会谈後,才知道原来答应捐款建院的西斯诺伯爵夫人临时改变主意, 孤儿院的计划因此成了泡影,初级学校只有教室,没有修女宿舍和设备。 总主教对於这种意外的不利环境,非常抱歉,他最後一句话是:「我已经尽了我的可能,现在没有办法,只好请你们回去。」 方济加坚决而明白地答道:「不,主教大人。教宗命我到这里来,我必须留在这里。」 总主教想不到这位意大利女子有这样大的勇气,就慨然表示: 「你既有这样的 决心,我一定尽力帮助你。」修女们暂时寄宿在仁爱会女修院。

 方济加有的是坚强的意志。苦干的精神。 几个星期内,她和原来的捐款人--西斯诺伯爵夫人,就建立了友谊关系。 不但修女宿舍问题解决了,而且一个规模不大的孤儿院也正式开办了。

 一八八九年七月,方济加重返义大利徵募新的修女,参加伟大的传教事业。

 九个月後,方济加带了大批生力军,回到美国,接办了过去由耶稣会主持的赫逊河西园的传教机构。

 孤儿院原有屋舍不够,就搬到西园。圣心女修会在美国的总院和初学院也设在西园。

 圣心女修会在意大利和美国的传教事业,齐头并进的发展着。方济加亲自到了尼拉加加,在那里接办了一所孤儿院,开设了一所学校。 她应尚逊总主教的邀请,去新奥尔良考察。当地意大利侨民对宗教生活很冷淡,方济加考察後,决定在新奥尔良创设一所分院。

 方济加是一位能干的女子,这一点只要看了她的事业,就可以知道了。 她没有学习外国语言的天才,说起英文来,口音强硬,可是她和社会各阶层的人都能合作。 她对於非教徒的美国人,最初不大了解,因为过去在祖国没有机会和这一类人接触。但是她勇於学习,善於吸收新的观念丶新的知识。

 方济加是一个天生的领袖,人们有时过於严肃,但是,她富有博爱的精神,不断敦劝修女们发挥仁爱的精神: 「踊跃地在一切事上,随时为你的姊妹而牺牲自己。」

 一八九二年是新大陆发现四百周年,就在这一年,圣心会最着名的事业--纽约市哥伦布医院正式成立。 这医院过去由圣查理会经办,规模很小,自一八九二年起,由圣心女修会接办後得到扩充。

 方济加办事的毅力,实在令人钦佩。 她在意大利观察完,回到美国,席不暇暖,就又踏上旅程,经过哥斯达黎加丶巴拿马和智利,横越巴西,最後到达阿根廷的波爱诺赛。 一八九五年的中南美洲旅行,决不是现在游览旅行所能比拟。那时交通工具缺乏,路上非常辛苦。 但是,为了开拓福音的王国,方济加觉得这代价是值得付出的。

 方济加在波爱诺赛开办了高级女子学校一所,然後,她又横渡大西洋,返回意大利处理会务。

 方济加由意大利回到法国创建了分院,一八九八年秋季,她到了英国。沙华主教波恩过去在古督日已经认识方济加,便请她在英国创设分院。

 这样,一连十二年,方济加风尘仆仆,来往各地,有时在里约热内卢,有时在罗马,有时在西登赫,有时在西爱特。 假如在现代圣人中,物色像圣基多福那样的旅行主保,恐怕要算对方济加的呼声最高了。

 一八八八年,圣心女修会成立时,修女人数( 包括方济加在内),仅有八人。 到了一九O七年,会规正式批准的时候,修女人数跃升至一千有馀,分院达五十所以上。 修会主办的事业:有义校,有高级学校,有医院,还有其它慈善事业。 服务的对象,不仅以旅美意国侨民为限,社会广大群众,不分阶层,都是修会服务的对象。 修会五十周年金庆,连美国星星监狱的囚犯都写信道贺,圣心会创办的事业不胜枚举。最着名的有芝加哥哥伦布医院和波谷黎学校。

 一九一一年起,方济加的身体一天比一天衰弱,那时她年达六十一岁。六年後,病势突然恶化,一九一七年十二月二十二日在芝加哥修院安逝。 一九四六年荣列圣品。

 在美国出生或在美国工作的圣人圣女,过去有,将来也有。但是由教会正式宣布列圣品的,方济加是第一人。 她的光荣,属於意大利,也属於美国;属於教会,更属於全人类。 远在方济加列圣品的前五十年,教宗良十三世就已经说过: 「方济加修女是一位圣德高超的女子,她是一位圣女。」良十三世的话,在五十年後获得证实。

“We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.” - Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

One of thirteen children raised on a farm. She received a convent education, and training as a teacher. She tried to join the order at age 18, but poor health prevented her taking the veil. A priest asked her to teach at a girl’s school, the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadagono, Italy, which she did for six years. She took religious vows in 1877, and acquitted herself so well at her work that when the orphanage closed in 1880, her bishop asked her to found the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. Pope Leo XIII then sent her to the United States to carry on this mission.

She and six Sisters arrived in New York in 1889. They worked among immigrants, especially Italians. Mother Cabrini founded 67 institutions, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States, Europe and South America. Like many of the people she worked with, Mother became a United States citizen during her life, and after her death she was the first US citizen to be canonized.

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11月15日:圣亚尔伯(主教,圣师) St. Albert the Great

主教丶圣师(1206-1280)
主保:哲学家与科学家

 圣师大亚尔伯是13世纪的一位德国道明会士,同时还是教会中最伟大的学者之一。 他对教会最大的贡献是:在哲学方面,他藉由撰写亚里斯多德作品的注释,决定性地影响了教会对亚里斯多德学派的看法 (在此之前,教会所沿用的是柏拉图学派的哲学系统)。 不过,圣人有机会接触到亚里斯多德等希腊智慧的作品,仍应归功於伊斯兰的商人将它们带到了欧洲。

 由於士林哲学的顶峰代表 - 圣多玛斯(St. Thomas Aquinas)的影响,学习哲学者大多只知大亚尔伯是圣多玛斯的老师; 虽然,在学术界中,甚至是在教会的神学领域里,亚里斯多德哲学的发展,是由学生多玛斯推向顶峰的; 因此,圣人作为此一领域的启蒙者,却也不失其先锋的地位;确实配得这些学术上的荣耀与尊荣。

 1206年左右,圣人诞生在德国多瑙河流域的劳因根(Lauingen),父亲是一个既富有而又有权势的德国贵族, 大亚尔伯则是家中年纪最长的孩子;其父虽是一位骁勇善战的军人,但圣人却宁可选择接受文学方面的培育。 年轻时,他就学於Padua大学;毕业後,则於 Hildesheim丶 Freiburg-im-Breisgau丶Regensburg 以及Strasbourg大学任教。 由於他的声誉卓着,最後还被巴黎大学所延揽,除了在该校任教之外,并於1245年时,在该校获得博士学位。 为当时的学术界而言,大亚尔伯可说是第一批最伟大的自然科学家之一; 他在生物学丶化学丶物理学丶天文学丶地理学丶形上学和数学等领域上,向来享有极高的声誉。 同时,他在教会内,又是神学与圣经学方面的权威学者。成年後,在家人激烈的反对下,进入了道明会的初学。 後来,多年在各地宣讲,成绩辉煌。

 他对知识有着无穷尽的兴趣,因此,他毕其精力撰写了一部关於所有知识的概要,内容包罗万象,包括: 自然科学丶逻辑学丶修辞学丶数学丶天文学丶伦理学丶经济学丶政治学与形上学等; 对这些学科与知识的论述,共计花了他二十年的时间才予完成。 他说:「我们如此做的目的,是为了让拉丁语系的人,都能明了在他们以前的所有学问。」 这崇高的理想,在圣人於巴黎与科伦大学的任教中丶道明会省会长的任内丶以及作为雷根斯堡(Regensburg)主教期间,已经达成了。 同时,他还是托钵修会的保护者(mendicant orders),并且在德国与波希米亚大力为十字军而宣讲。 最後,1280年的11月15日,圣人逝世於德国的柯隆;1622年被列为「真福品」; 1931年由教宗碧岳十一世(Pope Pius XI)宣布为圣品。

 「你们应行此礼,为纪念我。」在这句话里,要注意二件事。 第一,吾主命令我们使用这件圣事,这是当祂说「你们应当行此礼」时所表示的。 第二,这件圣事应该成为祂的纪念,纪念祂为我们而赴死。 这件圣事有利於我们获得罪赦,最有利於我们生命拥有满溢的恩宠…; 也就是说,当基督在这件圣事中为我们而自献与圣父时,也把祂自己作为食物而赐给了我们…。此外,我们无法做比这更甘甜的事。 因为天主在这圣事中赏给我们无穷的美味,还有什麽比这圣事更甘饴的呢?… 也没有比这命令更有益的。 原来这件圣事便是那棵生命树的果实;谁以纯朴的信心虔诚地吃这果实,便永远不死。…

 也没有比这命令更可爱的。因为这件圣事能产生爱情与合一。爱情最伟大的标记便是把自己作为食物而给人。 …基督好似这样说:「我如此爱了他们,我也切望住在他们的肺腑内;而他们也盼望与我结合,好能成为我的肢体。 他们不能以比这更密切又更合乎本性的方式与我结合了,而我也是如此。」最後,没有比这命令更符合永生的了。 永生也来自这件圣事,因为天主把甘饴无比的幸福,倾注於享受永福的人身上。

-节录自《每日诵祷》11月15日诵读。

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11月16日:圣玛加利大 St. Margaret of Scotland

 圣妇约在一○四六年出生於匈牙利,当时其父充军该地。及长,嫁给苏格兰王,生了八子。 圣妇是母亲及王后的最佳模范。一○九三年安逝於爱丁堡。

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11月16日:圣女日多达(贞女) St. Gertrude

 圣女日多达是本笃会的修女,生於公元一二五六年。五岁的时候,入德意志汉夫德女修院,她的老师是圣女梅帝弟。

 日多达天资聪敏,好学不倦,精通拉丁文学。长大成人,正式领受会衣,矢发圣愿。

 廿五岁的时候,日多达首次见基督的显现。耶稣对她说:「你不要怕,我一定要拯救你。」

 事後日多达自述道:「耶稣说完了这几句话,拉着我的手,说道: 「过去你吮吸荆棘上的蜜糖,和敌人亲善。现在你回到我跟前来,我要赏赐你甘美如醇酒的喜乐。」 我的身体似乎提升空中,与吾主并肩而立,定睛注视,才见吾主手上的圣伤,灼灼发光,恍如珍宝一般。」

 以上所述,是日多达灵奇「归化」的经过。过去日多达嗜爱世俗文学,对宗教生活,不大感兴趣。从那一天起,她的思想完全转变。 她全心全意谋取与吾主密切结合。 在学术工作方面,她抛弃世俗文学,潜心研究圣经和教父的着作,尤其是圣奥斯定丶圣额我略和圣伯尔纳多的着作。 日多达由文学家一变而为神学家,这是她神修生活的转折点。

 表面上,日多达的生活与一般修女毫无差别。她每日抄写圣经,并写了几本研究圣经的小册子。

 关於死亡的问题,日多达的见解颇有独到之处。 她写道:「我渴望临终前有领全圣事的充分时间,可是我认为最可靠的准备善终的方法,是服从天主的圣意,服从天主的安排。 我坚决相信:无论我们死亡方式是怎样的,是骤然死亡也好,是可以预见的死亡也好,天主对我们是仁慈的,我完全依靠天主。」

 首次显现以後,日多达每天在领圣体的时候享见吾主。到了那一年圣母领报瞻礼上,耶稣恩赐圣女更清楚地认识祂。 日多达自述道:「从那一天起,我受着‘爱主’的热情所驱使,改过迁善,而不再为了‘畏惧’天主义怒的缘故,才纠正自己的错误。」

 日多达将历次神视的经过情形,笔录成书,书名是《天主圣爱的报导》。 她在这本书中自述,看见苦像肋部圣伤,有一股异光射出,恍如利矢。 她看见自己的灵魂如一块蜡在火上熔化,陈列在耶稣圣胸前,准备接受印记,又看见自己被吸入耶稣的圣心。

 圣女日多达复提倡勤领圣体丶大圣若瑟的敬礼和耶稣圣心的瞻礼。这些运动到後来方才普遍传扬。由此可知圣女的先知先觉,见解高人一筹。

 圣女日多达和她的老师梅帝弟二人常以耶稣圣心的爱为题材。吾主显现的时候,日多达有二次将她的头枕在耶稣圣胸上。  日多达所着的《天主圣爱的报导》一书,神学意义深邃,文字秀美,为灵修生活不可多得的佳作, 若干人推崇日多达这本书的价值仅次於圣德肋撒的作品。

 圣女日多达於一三O一年逝世,享年仅四十五岁。

永生的天主圣父,我呈献给祢至圣圣子耶稣基督的宝血,并结合今天全世界所奉献的弥撒圣祭,为了炼狱内全部的炼灵, 为世上所有的罪人,也为普世教会内的罪人,那些在我家族内,以及在我家中的罪人。亚孟。

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November 16 St. Gertrude the Great

"The eloquence of that sweet beating of His Heart is reserved for the last age in order that the world grown cold and torpid may be set on fire with the love of God."

(1256-1302 A.D.) Few men have merited the title, "the Great"; fewer women. I know of only one nun so honored, St. Gertrude of Helfta (in Germany), a mystic whose spiritual writings have remained influential up to the present.

When five years old, she was entrusted to the sisters of Helfta Abbey to be educated. From a very young age she gave evidence of her brilliance and quickly outstripped her companions. In her teen years she asked to join the community. Therefore, she probably spent her whole life from childhood on within the abbey walls.

Her love for secular studies made the common life wearisome, pride and vanity ate away at her soul and she soon became an unhappy young woman until Christ appeared to her. The day was branded in her memory, it was in her 26th year, when as she says "in a happy hour, at the beginning of twilight, thou O God of truth, more radiant than any light, yet deeper than any secret thing, determined to dissolve the obscurity of my darkness." From then on her biographer tells us "she became a theologian instead of a grammarian." She did not give up her intellectual ardor but now, all her labors were for her sisters, to cure what she termed "the wound of ignorance". Her many gifts and mystical graces did not prevent her from giving herself wholeheartedly to the common life with its joys and sorrows. In fact many of her special graces came to her as she took part in the ordinary routine of convent life. She felt keenly for those whose burdens involved them in distracting duties, for example those responsible for meeting the debts of the monastery.

She prayed that they might have more time to pray and fewer distractions. The Lord's answered "It does not matter to me whether you perform spiritual exercises or manual labor, provided only that your will is directed to me with a right intention. If I took pleasure only in your spiritual exercises, I should certainly have reformed human nature after Adam's fall so that it would not need food, clothing or the other things that man must find or make with such effort."

Many of her writings are lost, but fortunately she left to the world an abundance of spiritual joy in her book The Herald of Divine Love, in which she tells of the visions granted her by our divine Lord. She wrote this excellent, small book because she was told that nothing was given to her for her own sake only. Her Exercises is an excellent treatise on the renewal of baptismal vows, spiritual conversion, religious vows, love, praise, gratitude to God, reparation, and preparation for death.

She began to record her supernatural and mystical experiences in what eventually became her Book of Extraordinary Grace (Revelation of Saint Gertrude), together with Mechtilde's mystical experiences Liber Specialis Gratiae, which Gertrude recorded. Most of the book was actually written by others based on Gertrude's notes. She also wrote with or for Saint Mechtilde a series of prayers that became very popular, and through her writings helped spread devotion to the Sacred Heart (though it was not so called until revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque).

Gertrude is inseparably associated with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The pierced heart of Jesus embodied for her the Divine Love, an inexhaustible fountain of redemptive life. Her visions and insights in connection with the Heart of Jesus are very enlightening. In one such intellectual vision, she perceived the unceasing love of Christ for us in two pulsations of his Heart - one accomplished the conversion of sinners, the other the sanctification of the just. Just as our own faithful heart keeps right on whether we advert to it or not, these pulsations will endure till the end of time despite the vicissitudes of history.

Our Lord wishes people to pray for the souls in purgatory. He once showed Gertrude a table of gold on which were many costly pearls. The pearls were prayers for the holy souls. At the same time the saint had a vision of souls freed from suffering and ascending in the form of bright sparks to heaven.

In one Vision, Our Lord tells Gertrude that he longs for someone to ask Him to release souls from purgatory, just as a king who imprisons a friend for justice's sake hopes that someone will beg for mercy for his friend. Jesus ends with: "I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer."

In another vision she was given the Prayer which Our Lord told her would release 1000 Souls from Purgatory every time it is said with love and devotion. "Eternal Father, I offer You the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, those in the Universal Church, in my home, and in my family."

To her was granted the privilege of seeing our Lord's Sacred Heart. The graces flowing from it appeared like a stream of purest water flowing over the whole world. In many of the visions of the Sacred Heart, we find St John the Beloved Disciple present. He who leaned back against Jesus' chest at the Last Supper. On his own feast day, St John appeared and placed Gertrude near the wounded side of the Savior, where she could hear the pulsations of the Sacred Heart. "Why is it, O beloved of God", she asked him, "that you who rested on His bosom at the Last Supper have said nothing of what you experienced then? St John told her "It was my task to present to the first age of the Church the doctrine of the Word made flesh which no human intellect can ever fully comprehend. The eloquence of that sweet beating of His Heart is reserved for the last age in order that the world grown cold and torpid may be set on fire with the love of God."

These visions continued until the end of her life. Jesus said to her at the last: "Come, my chosen one, and I will place in you My throne."

Saint Gertrude was "the Great" because of her single-hearted love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the souls in purgatory. Though she was never formally canonized, Pope Clement XII in 1677 directed that her feast be observed throughout the Church. It is interesting to note that Saint Teresa of Avila had a great devotion to Gertrude.

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11月16日:圣玛加利大.丢薇尔(贞女) St. Marguerite d’Youville

 圣玛加利大丢薇尔(Marguerite d'Youville)1701年10月15日出生於满地可附近的Varennes, 1771年12月23日去世。她是慈善组织Sisters of Charity的创始人,也是第一个学习卫生学的魁北克妇女。 她的兄弟la Verendrye是第一个发现Rocheuses山脉的法裔人士。

她的父母Christophe Dufrost de Lajemmerais 和 Marie-Renee Gaultier一共育有六个子女,她是最小的一个。 在她7岁那年,父亲就去世了,她们家也陷入极度贫困中。在她爷爷的帮助下,玛加利大丢薇尔勉强念了两年学。

 1722年她嫁给Francois-Madeleine de Youville,8年不幸的婚姻生活产下六个孩子,但是只有两个活到成年。

 尽管屡遭不幸,玛加利大丢薇尔一生笃信天主,并热心慈善。 1737年12月31日玛加利大丢薇尔和三名志同道合的妇女共同发起成立了後来被称为 Sisters of Charity会。 她们决定把一生献给天主和帮助穷人的事业。在她的一生中有许许多多帮助穷人的动人的故事。

 1747年,圣玛加利大丢薇尔参与Charon 1694年创立的魁北克第一座慈善医院的工作,并随後在这所医院的运作中扮演了积极的角色。 在後来的七年战争期间,这所医院曾经救过许多士兵的生命。

 教宗若望二十三世於 1959年5月3日宣福。1990年宣圣。她是第一个被封圣的加拿大人。

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MARGUERITE d'YOUVILLE, the first native Canadian to be elevated to sainthood, was born October 15, 1701 at Varennes, Quebec. She was the eldest of six children born to Christophe Dufrost de Lajemmerais and Marie-Renée Gaultier. Her father died when she was seven years old leaving this family of six in great poverty. It was only through the influence of her great grandfather, Pierre Boucher, that she was enabled to study for two years at the Ursulines in Quebec. Upon her return home, she became an invaluable support to her mother and undertook the education of her brothers and sisters.

She married François d'Youville in 1722 and the young couple made their home with his mother who made life miserable for her daughter-in-law. She soon came to realize that her husband had no interest in making a home life. His frequent absences and illegal liquor trading with the Indians caused her great suffering. She was pregnant with her sixth child when François became seriously ill. She faithfully cared for him until his death in 1730. By age 29, she had experienced desperate poverty and suffered the loss of her father and husband. Four of her six children had died in infancy.

In all these sufferings Marguerite grew in her belief of God's presence in her life and of his tender love for every human person. She undertook many charitable works with complete trust in God, whom she loved as a Father. She provided for the education of her two sons, who later became priests, and she welcomed a blind woman into her home. Marguerite was soon joined by three young women who shared her love and concern for the poor. On December 31, 1737, they consecrated themselves to God and promised to serve him in the person of the poor. Marguerite, without even realizing it, had become the foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, "Grey Nuns".

She persevered in caring for the poor despite many obstacles. She was in weakened health and mourning the death of one of her companions when a fire destroyed their home. This only served to deepen her commitment to the poor. On February 2, 1745, she and her two early companions pledged themselves to put everything in common in order to help a greater number of persons in need. Two years later, this "mother of the poor" as she was called, was asked to become director of the Charon Brothers Hospital in Montreal which was falling into ruin. She and her sisters rebuilt the hospital and cared for those in most desperate human misery. With the help of her sisters and their lay collaborators, Marguerite laid the foundation for service to the poor of a thousand faces.

In 1765 a fire destroyed the hospital but nothing could destroy Marguerite's faith and courage. At the age of 64 she undertook the reconstruction of this shelter for those in need. Totally exhausted from a lifetime of self-giving, Marguerite died on December 23, 1771 and will always be remembered as a loving mother who served Jesus Christ in the poor.

Pope John XXIII beatified Marguerite on May 3, 1959 and called her "Mother of Universal Charity." She was canonized by Pope John Paul II, December 9, 1990.

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11月17日:圣依撒伯尔.匈牙利(纪念) St. Elizabeth of Hungary

 圣妇生於1207年,父为匈牙利王。十四岁时嫁给海门伯爵路易为妻,生有子女三人。 圣妇善尽贤妻良母之职,同时,慷慨救助穷人,不遗馀力。 1227年,丈夫死後,翁家不满她慷慨賙济贫病,迫她离家,但圣妇安心忍受。 1228年,圣妇加入方济第三会,立志度贫穷生活,专心默想天上事理,又建立 病院,亲为病人服务。1231年安逝於马尔堡城。

 圣妇实为公教慈善事业的主保。

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11月18日:圣伯多禄及圣保禄大殿奉献日

 十二世纪时,罗马教会便纪念圣伯多禄及圣保禄两大圣殿的奉献,而两座圣殿是在第四世纪兴建的。到近期,教会才将此纪念日推广到普世。 正如在八月五日,教会纪念圣母大殿的奉献,以尊敬天主之母;同样,教会纪念此两大圣殿的周年奉献日,是为尊敬两位大宗徒。

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11月礼仪年最後主日: 基督普世君王节Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

 基督普世君王节,宣示基督救恩的完成。基督将要为王於普世。他所带来天主的国,将要圆满实现。

 梵二後,教会把基督普世君王节,放在礼仪年的最後一个主日,正要强调万物终要归於基督元首,始得圆满。

 (1925年12月11日,教宗庇护十一世,鉴於世俗放任主义丶国内和国际战争四起, 遂以《建立基督君王瞻礼》通谕(Quam Primas)宣布订定每年十月最後主日, 为「耶稣基督君王节」,希望藉此敬礼,人人尊崇基督为王,停止作乱,世人得享和平幸福。

 事实上,耶稣基督为王的概念,已见於主显节丶耶稣升天节,甚至整个圣周,因为耶稣战胜死亡,显示复活时,他的王权已体现人间。 (斐2:6-11)
 1969年,梵二礼仪年历,将「基督君王节」,改於礼仪年最後一个主日(常年期第三十四主日)庆祝, 作为礼仪年的终向,以示万物都要在基督权下,获得圆满的救赎。(参阅哥1:12-20)

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11月21日:献圣母於圣殿(纪念) The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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 相传圣母在三岁时,由她的父母圣若亚敬和圣妇亚纳送到圣殿,奉献於天主。

 东方教会於公元第八世纪,已有献圣母於主堂的瞻礼。西方教会於公元1372年起,也举行本瞻礼。

 教宗庇护五世(1565-1572)改革礼仪时,不把这瞻礼列入礼书, 但教宗格肋孟八世(1592-1605),规定普世教会均应庆祝献圣母於主堂的瞻礼。

 (耶路撒冷第三座敬礼圣母的圣堂,建於圣殿原址入口广场,於543年11月21日祝圣; 後来,便在这天(11月21日),按伪经所传,纪念圣母三岁时,被献於圣殿。)

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11月22日:圣女则济利亚(贞女,殉道)(纪念) St. Cecilia

童贞殉道

教会音乐的主保

求主让我心,纯洁不受损,保全我贞洁,洁白献主前。

 圣女则济利亚是初期教会最着名的殉道贞女之一。她出身罗马贵族,自幼信奉圣教,并矢志终身守贞,每星期守斋多次。 到了及笄的年龄,父亲给她择配。未婚夫名叫华肋廉,是罗马的一位青年贵族。

 在结婚的那一天,则济利亚一心祈求天主护佑她,保持身心的无玷。 晚上新郎和新娘到了洞房里,则济利亚鼓起勇气,对华肋廉说:“我有一件秘密的事要告诉你。天主派一位天使在我身旁,保护我的童贞。” 则济利亚又道:“假如你一心信仰唯一的真天主,领受圣洗,你就会看见这位天使。”华肋廉表示接受。 则济利亚嘱他到罗马城外距亚尔比大道三里的贫人窟里找乌尔巴诺主教领受洗礼。

 华肋廉到了城外的贫民窟,按址查访,找到了乌尔巴诺主教。乌尔巴诺给他付了洗。华肋廉回到家里,真的看见则济利亚身旁的那位天使。 天使在二人头上放了一枝花冠,则济利亚和华肋廉共度守贞的生活,热心恭敬天主。

 过了一个时期,华肋廉的弟弟谛步爵来访,见兄嫂容光焕发,室内芬香扑鼻,不由啧啧称奇,问起原因, 则济利亚据实相告,并劝谛步爵也皈依真教,获取永生的荣冠。谛步爵也到城外去找乌尔巴诺主教,领了圣洗。

 自该时起,华肋廉和谛步爵弟兄二人全力从事公教敬主爱人的工作,在家里举行宗教仪式,并殓葬殉道烈士的尸体,後被人告发解往公庭受审。

 法官命华肋廉弟兄二人向邪神献祭,就可以获释出狱。华肋廉道:“我们决不向任何邪神献祭。 我们只钦崇唯一的真天主。”法官下令对他们施鞭刑。二人听了,欣喜若狂。 华肋廉对法庭旁听的基督徒高呼道:“罗马公民们,你们不要看见了我们所受的酷刑而觉得害怕,你们应坚守信德,宁死不背弃真主。”

 华肋廉弟兄二人解往刑场,斩首致命。有一个官吏,见他们这样英勇,非常感动,当场表示皈依真教,同时执行死刑。

 则济利亚殓葬了三个烈士的遗体。官吏派人去劝圣女背教,圣女反而将一些派来的人说服,归奉圣教。

 则济利亚继续为圣教服务。信教的人一天比一天增加,她的房屋成为传教的中心。吴尔班亲往她家里给四百人付洗。 一个贵族在则济利亚的屋子里,建了一座圣堂。

 法官将则济利亚拘捕,劝她背教。则济利亚口才很好,不消三言两语,将法官说得哑口无言。 人们将圣女关在浴室,烧起烈火,欲使她窒息而死。燃料较一般的数量加上七倍,谁知烧了一日一夜,圣女在浴室还是安然无恙。 一个兵士用利斧将圣女斩首,斩了三次,圣女倒在地上,信友纷纷前来慰问。 圣女遗命将自己的住屋送给教会,三日後方才气绝,遗体葬在圣加理多公墓,教宗陵墓的旁边。

 则济利亚遇难的日期,传记各有出入,但不出公元第二世纪至第四世纪中叶的一段时期。圣女为初期圣教殉道烈士的典型人物。 她的敬礼很早已非常普及。她的名字列入弥撒经的行祭常典内。圣女遇难的处所,建有“圣女则济利亚大堂”一座。

 820年左右,教宗圣巴斯加将则济利亚的遗体迎往圣女则济利亚大堂。

 1599年,史丰旦枢机修建则济利亚大堂,启棺重殓圣女的遗体。 名雕刻师马德诺在旁,目睹圣女面目如生,身体侧睡,恍如安眠的少女,就按照她的模样制成铜像。 这尊铜像安放在则济利亚大堂的祭台下面,像上有雕刻师的题语,照录如下: “此乃童贞圣女则济利亚之像,我亲见其遗容完整不腐,面容如生,特按 状制成本像。”

 自16世纪以来,圣女则济利亚是我们教会最着名的音乐主保,因为她举行婚礼的时候,乐师奏乐,圣女暗自咏唱,求主保护她的贞操。歌词是: 求主让我 心,纯洁不受损,保全我贞洁,洁白献主前。 1584年,罗马成立音乐学院选她为主保。卓登(Oryden)在她的节日写了一首歌,教宗也写了一首颂歌。

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St. Cecilia, Feastday: November 22,

Virgin, Martyr, Patroness of Church Music

The story of S. Cecilia is not without beauty and merit. There was in the city of Rome a virgin named Cecilia, who was given in marriage to a youth named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, and fasted, and invoked the saints and angels and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity. And she said to her husband, "I will tell you a secret if you will swear not to reveal it to anyone." And when he swore, she added, "There is an angel who watches me, and wards off from me any who would touch me." He said, "Dearest, if this be true, show me the angel." "That can only be if you will believe in one God, and be baptized."

She sent him to Pope S. Urban (223-230), who baptized him; and when he returned, he saw Cecilia praying in her chamber, and an angel by her with flaming wings, holding two crowns of roses and lilies, which he placed on their heads, and then vanished. Shortly after, Tibertius, the brother of Valerian, entered, and wondered at the fragrance and beauty of the flowers at that season of the year.

When he heard the story of how they had obtained these crowns, he also consented to be baptized. After their baptism the two brothers devoted themselves to burying the martyrs slain daily by the prefect of the city, Turcius Almachius. [There was no prefect of that name.] They were arrested and brought before the prefect, and when they refused to sacrifice to the gods were executed with the sword.

In the meantime, S. Cecilia, by preaching had converted four hundred persons, whom Pope Urban forthwith baptized. Then Cecilia was arrested, and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. She was shut in for a night and a day, and the fires were heaped up, and made to glow and roar their utmost, but Cecilia did not even break out into perspiration through the heat. When Almachius heard this he sent an executioner to cut off her head in the bath. The man struck thrice without being able to sever the head from the trunk. He left her bleeding, and she lived three days. Crowds came to her, and collected her blood with napkins and sponges, whilst she preached to them or prayed. At the end of that period she died, and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons.

Alexander Severus, who was emperor when Urban was Pope, did not persecute the Church, though it is possible some Christians may have suffered in his reign. Herodian says that no person was condemned during the reign of Alexander, except according to the usual course of the law and by judges of the strictest integrity. A few Christians may have suffered, but there can have been no furious persecutions, such as is described in the Acts as waged by the apocryphal prefect, Turcius Almachius.

Urbanus was the prefect of the city, and Ulpian, who had much influence at the beginning of Alexander's reign as principal secretary of the emperor and commander of the Pretorian Guards, is thought to have encouraged persecution. Usuardus makes Cecilia suffer under Commodus. Molanus transfers the martyrdom to the reign of Marcus Aurelius. But it is idle to expect to extract history from romance.

In 1599 Cardinal Paul Emilius Sfondrati, nephew of Pope Gregory XIV, rebuilt the church of S. Cecilia.

St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music [because of the story that she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married], and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.

From The Lives of the Saints by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, M.A., published in 1914 in Edinburgh.

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11月23日:圣克来孟一世(教宗丶殉道) St. Clement I

 圣人是伯多禄後的第三位教宗,第一世纪末治理罗马教会。他给格林多教友写了一封着名的书信,劝勉他们和平相处,团结一致。

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11月23日:圣高 隆邦(院 长) St. Columban

 圣人是爱尔兰籍,生於第六世纪初,精通人文科学和神学。後弃俗度隐修生活,并移居法国,创立了许多隐修院,院规严格。 後被迫充军至意大利,创立包比奥隐修院。六一五年安逝。

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11月23日:真福弥格.蒲罗(司铎,殉道) Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro SJ

 蒲罗(Bl. Michael Augustine Pro),1891年生於墨西哥充满教友精神的家庭, 1911年加入耶稣会,因祖国政治动荡不安,先後在西班牙及比利时读书,1925年8月30日晋铎。 虽然健康欠佳,特别是读神学时,但仍保持愉快及幽默感。 1926年7月回到祖国墨西哥,恰逢迫害教会的法律生效的前几天,蒲罗神父被迫秘密地开始执行司铎职务, 遭受虚伪的指控而被捕,短暂囚禁後,未经任何审判,於1927年11月23日在墨西哥城受处决殉道。 蒲罗以其愉快的气质,在艰难中奋勇献身於铎职,以及对耶稣君王的热忱敬礼,受人追念。

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11月24日:圣陈安勇乐及同伴(殉道—越南)(纪念) St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions

 自从十六世纪初,越南人民就开始接受了基督的福音,福音的种籽,因殉道者的见证,而不断结出果实。

 十七丶十八及十九世纪时,特别在闵芒作皇帝时代,有许多基督徒为主殉道。殉道者中有主教丶司铎丶男女会士丶传道员及平信徒。 他们为了基督信仰,及对主十字架的忠信,忍受了各种刑罚,成为基督的见证。

 教宗若望保禄二世於1988年8月19日,从这些殉道者中,选出了117位列入圣者的名单。

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11月24日:圣徐德新(主教、殉道)

 圣徐德新主教圣名若望.加俾额尔,十八世纪时生於法国中部。及长,入巴黎外方传教会。 晋铎後,於一七七六年到中国四川传教,前後凡四十年,并曾召开四川天主教会议。一八一五年为主殉道。

 教宗良十三世於一九○○年宣布他为真福。二○○○年十月一日宣圣。

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11月25日:圣加大利纳.亚历山大卓(贞女丶殉道) St. Catherine of Alexandria

闺女丶女学生丶哲学家丶讲道员丶磨坊工人的主保。

 圣女出身亚力山大里亚贵族,才貌双全丶学问渊博,青年时目睹圣母圣婴显现而皈依圣教; 当时皇帝迫害圣教,加大利纳亲自往皇宫痛斥皇帝暴行,皇帝无言自辩,召来外教哲学士五十人与圣女辩道, 圣女舌战群儒,语惊四座,哲学士们顿口无言,甘拜下风,当场表示信奉圣教,皇帝大怒,将哲学士们烈火焚毙,圣女押入监狱。 後来皇帝出巡,皇后听说有一位年轻貌美的才女,出於好奇心到监狱观看,被圣女说服领洗奉教,同时入教者有御林军二百名, 皇帝回来,将这批兵士一并处死,圣女被判车轮辗死,但车轴折裂,圣女无损,改判斩刑,後人将圣女遗体葬於西乃山。

According to the popular tradition, Catherine was born of a patrician family of Alexandria and from childhood had devoted herself to study. Through her reading she had learned much of Christianity and had been converted by a vision of Our Lady and the Holy Child. When Maxentius[3] began his persecution, Catherine, then a beautiful young girl, went to him and rebuked him boldly for his cruelty. He could not answer her arguments against his pagan gods, and summoned fifty philosophers to confute her. They all confessed themselves won over by her reasoning, and were thereupon burned to death by the enraged Emperor. He then tried to seduce Catherine with an offer of a consort's crown, and when she indignantly refused him, he had her beaten and imprisoned. The Emperor went off to inspect his military forces, and when he got back he discovered that his wife Faustina and a high official, one Porphyrius, had been visiting Catherine and had been converted, along with the soldiers of the guard. They too were put to death, and Catherine was sentenced to be killed on a spiked wheel. When she was fastened to the wheel, her bonds were miraculously loosed and the wheel itself broke, its spikes flying off and killing some of the onlookers. She was then beheaded. The modern Catherine-wheel, from which sparks fly off in all directions, took its name from the saint's wheel of martyrdom. The text of the <Acts> of this illustrious saint states that her body was carried by angels to Mount Sinai, where a church and monastery were afterwards built in her honor. This legend was, however, unknown to the earliest pilgrims to the mountain. In 527 the Emperor Justinian built a fortified monastery for hermits in that region, and two or three centuries later the story of St. Catherine and the angels began to be circulated.

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11月26日:圣若望碧文 St. John Berchmans

 圣若望碧文於公元1599年3月生於比利时,父亲是一名鞋匠。他在十三岁时被迫辍学,後半工半读在修院学校研究圣学。 1616年,碧文进入耶稣会初学院,并勤修圣德,多年勤劳,削弱了他的健康。他於1621年8月13日安逝主怀,时年仅22岁。 圣人於1865年被列真福品,1888年荣列圣品。圣碧文最杰出之处,乃在「小事情」上修炼伟大的圣德。 他曾说过:「假如我青年时不能作圣人,我就永远没有作圣人的机会了。」 事实证明,他的确是少年成圣,是年青人的好榜样,有「辅祭主保」丶「青年主保」的美誉。

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11月27日:圣加大利纳.拉布莱(显灵圣牌)(贞女) St. Catherine Laboure

Miraculous Medal Prayer
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to thee. Amen.

 一个出生於法国黄金海岸的农家女加大利纳拉布莱,一向热心恭敬天主圣母。做一切事,都为恭敬天主圣母。 当她妙龄24岁那年,在法国巴黎进了仁爱会做修女。 1830年7月18日半夜时分,加大利纳在梦中被一个发光的孩子叫醒,并带她到修会小圣堂。 便作虔诚祈祷,这时忽见圣母显现,对她说,将有一件困 难的事要她去做。

 那年11月27日加大利纳正在小圣堂祈祷,前面忽然有一道美丽柔和的光射出。 仔细一看,在光芒中见到圣母,她脚踏地球,双手向下拓开,手上射出灿烂的光线。 周围有法文的经文:『吁!玛利亚─无原罪之始胎,我等奔尔台前,望尔为我等祈。』 圣母教加大利纳念这篇经,并说:『我要祝福那些念这经文的 人。』

 不一会,这幅圣母图案转了过去。在光芒中,加大利纳又见到一个M字,这是圣母的名字MARY的第一个字母。 在M字上有个十字架,下面有两颗心,一颗是有茨冠的耶稣圣心,另一颗是被一把利剑刺透的圣心。 这时圣母对加大利纳说:『照这图样去制成圣牌;谁配戴这圣牌,并热心诵念圣牌上这篇经文,必得我特别保佑和各种恩宠。』 圣母说完这话,便隐去了。加大利纳就把圣母指示的圣牌样子绘在纸上,去交给院长,并告诉她是圣母的意思,请她照样去制成圣牌。 但院长没有立即去做,加大利纳只好热切地祈祷。

 过了一个月,圣母再以同样方式显现,教加大利纳设法去制这样的圣牌。 加大利纳没有办法,一面加工祈祷,一面把这情形去告诉她的神师神父。 那位神父调查清楚之後,就去呈报巴黎的总主教,那位神师神父仔细地作深入的调查; 经过很长时间,查出事实真相之後,就一切经过去向巴黎总主教呈报。总主教见事情属实,就批准照加大利纳说出的版样去制造圣牌。 数年後,第一批这样的圣母圣牌问世了,当院长把第一个圣母圣牌挂在加大利纳胸前时,她的喜乐真不是言语可以形容。

 不久,这件有关圣牌的事很快就传开了,大家很喜欢把这种圣牌配戴在身上,许多人因此得到圣母很多恩宠, 甚至那里有人挂这种圣牌,那里就有奇迹,不少病人挂带这圣牌,病就痊愈了,许多罪人挂带了这圣牌, 便立定志向悔改了,由於显的奇迹很多,人们就称这种圣牌为『显灵圣牌』。但当时没有人知道是谁设计了这种圣牌。

 当加大利纳修女完成她的初学之後,被派到巴黎的英格恩之家服务。在长达四十六年的岁月里,她照顾那里的老弱高年长者。 她刚去时,以「神贫」之志服务天主,在厨房里与锅盘为伍,她也曾在农场看管家禽,这必令她回忆起童年时,返家後在农庄的那段日子。 这麽多年来,加大利纳修女过着谦卑和祈祷的生活,她温柔慈蔼地照顾贫穷的人,并且分送显灵圣牌给任何她见到的人。

 圣母显现给她的事,除了她办告解的阿尔德神父外,没有人知道。 但阿尔德神父又不可告知任何人,那麽当神父过世以後,加大利纳修女的故事就再没有人知晓了。

 在修会总院的教堂圣坛上,竖着一尊圣母显灵圣牌的雕像,如圣牌上所见的,圣母的双手伸了开来。 但加大利纳修女曾告诉阿尔德神父,圣母也要求一尊她手握地球的塑像。 可惜不等塑像完成,阿尔德神父就过世了,仅留下素描和草图。

 加大利纳修女年事渐高,又患了疼痛难忍的风湿病症,她已不能再继续照顾贫苦老弱了。 慢慢的,管理门房丶接待访客丶修补衣务等成了她日常的工作,当然最重要的就是她永不间断的祈祷。 此外,她一直念念在心的就是完成圣母塑像一事了。

 一天加大利纳修女突然哭泣不止,令她的长上为之一惊,但加大利纳修女不愿说明原因, 只表示要等二天得到圣母的允许之後再告明。 次日加大利纳修女将圣母显现给她,以及显灵圣牌和圣母塑像的事全部告诉了她的长上, 长上听後保证根据已绘制的草图完成圣母塑像,加大利纳修女为此欣慰不已。 就在那年底,一八 七六年十二月三十一日,她安详平静地离开了人世, 去世前她已知道圣母手握地球的塑像,即将完成立於母院的教堂内。

 一九四七年七月二十七日,教宗碧岳十二世宣布加大利纳修女列入圣品。

 在巴黎母院的教堂内,圣母手握地球祭坛的下方,安放着圣加大利纳的遗体,至今仍然保存得十分完好。

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Meraculous Medal and St. Catherine Laboure

SANCTITY THROUGH LOVING SERVICE
The fact that Saint Catherine rested her hands on the lap of the Blessed Mother did not make her a saint. She personally worked no miracles, nor did she practice externally heroic charity like other great saints. She was not materially poor as were the children of Fatima and Bernadette... She sprang from upper middle class parents among the meadows and vineyards of Burgundy, France. Her father was an educated man and an excellent farmer living in the village of Fain-les-Moutiers not far from DiJon. Her sanctity consists in half a century of faithful service as a simple Daughter of Charity.

CHILD OF MARY
As the evening Angelus sounded, Catherine was born of Peter and Louise Laboure on May 2, 1806. She was the ninth child of a family of eleven. Fifteen minutes after her birth, her name was entered on the city records. The next day, she was baptized on the feast of the Finding of The True Cross. It seems more than a coincidence that Catherine was born at the ringing of the Angelus; surely it was God's charming touch - the heralding by our Lady's bells of the saint who was to be so highly favored by Mary. Nor was it an accident that Catherine's name received the prompt attention of the world... certainly it was her holy mother's intuition that led Louise Madeleine Laboure to call attention to her elected child. Even the feast of Catherine's baptism was prophetic, for Catherine was to find the cross in every turn of her life, and to have deep devotion for it, and to see a mysterious vision of the cross.
When Catherine was nine years old, her saintly mother died. After the burial service, little Catherine retired to her room, stood on a chair, took our Lady's statue from the wall, kissed it, and said: "Now, dear Lady, you are to be my mother."

GOD HAS DESIGNS
After living a year in Paris with her Aunt Margaret, Catherine came back to her father's home to supervise the household. She was her father's favorite child, and this efficient, stern, upper middle class farmer depended on her. On January 25, 1818, Catherine received her First Holy Communion. From that day on she arose every morning at 4:00 a.m., walked several miles to church in order to assist at Mass, and to pray.
One day she had a dream in which she saw an old priest say Mass. After Mass, the priest turned and beckoned her with his finger, but she drew backwards, keeping her eye on him. The vision moved to a sick room where she saw the same priest, who said: "My child, it is a good deed to look after the sick; you run away now, but one day you will be glad to come to me. God has designs on you - do not forget it." Later, she awoke, not knowing the significance of the dream.
Sometime later, while visiting a hospital of the Daughters of Charity, she noticed a priest's picture on the wall. She asked a sister who he might be, and was told: "Our Holy Founder Saint Vincent de Paul." This was the same priest Catherine had seen in the dream.

SISTER CATHERINE, DAUGHTER OF CHARITY
In January of 1830, Catherine Laboure became a postulant in the hospice of the Daughters of Charity at Catillon-sur-Seine. Three months later she was again in Paris, this time to enter the Seminary at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity. Shortly after she entered her new home, God was pleased to grant her several extraordinary visions. On three consecutive days she beheld the heart of Saint Vincent above the reliquary in which his relics were exposed, each time under a different aspect. At other times she beheld our divine Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament; this would occur especially during Mass when he would appear as he was described in the liturgy of the day.
Mary Appears to Saint Catherine Laboure

THE FIRST APPARITION
On the eve of the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, July 19, the Sister Superior spoke to the novices about the virtues of their Holy Founder and gave each of them a piece of cloth from his surplice. Catherine earnestly prayed to Saint Vincent that she might with her own eyes see the mother of God.
She was convinced that she would see the Blessed Virgin Mary that very night; and in her conviction, Catherine fell asleep. Before long, she was awakened by a brilliant light and the voice of a child. "Sister Laboure, come to the Chapel; the Blessed Virgin awaits you."
Catherine replied: "We shall be discovered."
The little child smiled, "Do not be uneasy; it is half past eleven, everyone is sleeping... come, I am waiting for you." She rose quickly and dressed. The hall lights were burning. The locked chapel door swung open at the angel's touch. Amazed, Catherine found the Chapel ablaze with lights as if prepared for midnight Mass. Quickly she knelt at the communion rail, and suddenly, she heard the rustle of a silk dress... the Blessed Virgin, in a blaze of glory, sat in the director's chair. The angel whispered: "The Blessed Mother wishes to speak with you."
Catherine rose, knelt beside the Blessed Mother and rested her hands in the Virgin's lap. Mary said:
"God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world."
A pain crossed the Virgin's face.
"Come to the foot of the altar. Graces will be shed on all, great and little, especially upon those who seek for them. You will have the protection of God and Saint Vincent. I always will have my eyes upon you. There will be much persecution. The cross will be treated with contempt. It will be hurled to the ground and blood will flow." Then after speaking for some time, the Lady like a fading shadow was gone.
Led by the child, Catherine left the Chapel, marched up the corridor, and returned to her place in the dormitory. The angel disappeared and as Catherine went to bed she heard the clock strike two.

MARY REAPPEARS
Catherine lived the normal life of a novice of the Daughters of Charity until Advent. On Saturday, November 27, 1830, at 5:30 p.m., she retired to the Chapel with the other Sisters for evening meditation. Catherine heard the faint swish of silk... she recognized our Lady's signal. Raising her eyes to the main altar, she saw her beautiful Lady standing on a large globe.
The Virgin spoke, this time giving a direct order: "Have a medal struck as I have shown you. All who wear it will receive great graces."
Catherine asked how she was to have the medal struck. Mary replied that she was to go to her confessor, a Father Jean Marie Aladel saying of this saintly priest: "He is my servant." Father Aladel at first did not believe Catherine; however after two years, he finally went to the archbishop who ordered two thousand medals struck on June 20, 1832. When Catherine received her share of these first medals from the hands of the priest she said: "Now it must be propagated."
The spread of a devotion to the medal urged by Saint Catherine was carried out so swiftly that it was miraculous itself.

THE SILENT SAINT
We might expect that praise and prominence would be the lot of one so favored by heaven. But she sought none of it; rather, she fled from it. She wanted to be left alone to carry out her humble duties as a Daughter of Charity. For over forty years, she spent her every effort in caring for the aged and infirm, not revealing to those about her that she had been the recipient of our Lady's medal. The Sisters with whom she lived held her in the highest esteem, and each one longed to be her companion.
In 1876, Catherine felt a spiritual conviction that she would die before the end of the year. Mary Immaculate gave Catherine leave to speak, to break the silence of forty-six years. To her Sister Superior, Catherine revealed the fact that she was the sister to whom the Blessed Mother appeared. On the last day of December, 1876, Saint Catherine passed on - once again to the hands of Mary - this time, however, in heaven. Today her beautiful remains still lie fresh and serene.
When her body was exhumed in 1933 it was found as fresh as the day it was buried. Though she had lived seventy years and was in the grave for fifty-seven years, her eyes remained very blue and beautiful; and in death her arms and legs were as supple as if she were asleep. Her incorrupt body is encased in glass beneath the side altar at 140 Rue du Bac, Paris, beneath one of the spots where our Lady appeared to her.
In the Chapel of the Apparition you can gaze upon the face and the lips that for forty-six years kept a secret which has since shaken the world.

Prayer of St. Catherine Laboure
"Whenever I go to the chapel, I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to him, Lord I am here. Tell me what you would have me to do. If he gives me some task, I am content and I thank him. If he gives me nothing, I still thank him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that. And then, I tell God everything that is in my heart. I tell him about my pains and joys, and then I listen. If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen. God always speaks to you when you approach him plainly and simply."

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11月29日:圣刘瑞廷及同伴(殉道)

 刘瑞廷,四川人,生於一七七三年,父母皆为热心教友。 嘉庆十二年,由圣徐德新主教手中领受铎品,在川东一带传教,一八二二年十一月卅日为主殉道。 教宗良十三世於一九○○年宣福。二○○○年十月一日宣圣。

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11月30日:圣安德肋(宗徒)(庆日) St. Andrew, Apostle

 圣安德肋是位宗徒也是位殉道者。圣人的名字是个希腊化的字,意谓着「勇气」。 他是加里肋亚渔夫若望的儿子,同时是西满伯多禄的兄弟。

 蒙耶稣召唤前,他所追随的是洗者若翰,居住在葛法翁。 但是当他认出耶稣就是他们所期待的默西亚之後,便立即将主引荐给他的兄弟西满伯多禄。 圣人与伯多禄丶雅各伯丶若望在当时组成了耶稣的第一批门徒,最後甚至被选为宗徒。 在耶稣的公开事件中,圣人的名字曾多次被提及;基督复活并升天後,圣人也随同其 他宗徒领受了由圣神而来的神恩。

 按初期教会历史家的记载, 圣人是先在卡帕多细雅(Cappadicia)丶迦拉达丶彼提尼雅(Bithynia)丶叔提雅(Scythia)开始他的传教使命,而後转 往拜占廷。 圣人的宣讲足迹也曾履及特瑞斯(Thrace)丶马其顿丶帖撒肋(Thessaly)与阿该雅(Achaea)。 最後,圣人在阿该雅的帕特雷(Patrae)领受了殉道冠冕。相传他是在罗马官长Aegeas的命令下,被判处X形的十字架之刑。 事实上,圣人并非是被处以钉刑,而是被绑在十架上受折磨而死的,因此,受苦的时间可能更长。 一般相信圣人是在尼禄皇帝任内,也就是主後60年的11月30日殉道的。

苏格兰丶俄罗斯丶希腊丶伯艮地(Burgundy)丶西班牙丶西西里丶奥地利丶纳布勒斯丶拉维纳(Ravenna)丶 布雷西雅(Brescia)丶阿玛菲(Amalfi)丶曼突阿(Mantua)丶马尼拉丶布鲁格斯(Bruges)丶波尔多与帕特拉斯 (Patras)等地, 皆是以圣安德肋为主保。另外,圣人还是肉贩丶渔夫丶矿工丶绳索编织工丶纺织业者和婚礼的主保。

 圣人的部分遗骨被带往君士坦丁堡(即今日的伊斯坦堡), 其他的部分则分布在拉维纳丶米兰丶莫斯科丶布雷西雅丶诺拉(Nola)丶纳慕尔(Namur)等地。

在圣像当中,圣安德肋常被描绘成是一位身负X形十字架的渔夫或传教士。

 「大圣安德,你曾是捕鱼的能手,今日为捕人的渔夫,奔走四方。伟大的使徒,请撒下你的渔网,援救我众信徒,脱离世海的惊滔骇浪。

 与圣伯铎生为兄弟,殉道时也如同手足,甘心接受十字架的苦刑,双双进入永生的天堂。 伟大的同胞兄弟,共同分享荣冠,同为圣教之父,同为世界之光。

 你找到耶稣在先,又把西满带到主的身旁,求你时时引导我们,驰骋在天国道上。 圣伯铎的杰出伴侣,求你显示爱心,使战斗中的教会,信心坚强。

 大圣安德,基督的爱徒,求你接引我们,奔向永恒的天乡,永远歌颂上主的荣光。亚孟。」

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