A Community of Love, Unity and Service

St. William Berruyer

William Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the ancient Counts of Nevers, was educated by Peterthe Hermit, Archdeacon of Soissons, his maternal uncle. From his early childhood Saint Williamlearned to despise the folly and emptiness of the world, to abhor its pleasures, and to tremble at itsdangers. His only delight was in exercises of piety and his studies, with which he employed hiswhole time in an untiring application.

Saint William was made a canon, an ecclesiastic attached to a cathedral church, first at Soissonsand afterwards in Paris; but he soon resolved to abandon the world and retired into the solitude ofGrandmont, where he lived with great regularity in that austere Order. Finally he joined theCistercians, flourishing with sanctity at the time, and later was chosen to be Prior of the Abbey ofPontigny, then made Abbot of Challis.

On the death of Henri de Sully, Archbishop of Bourges, William was chosen to succeed him. Theannouncement of this new dignity which had fallen on him overwhelmed him with grief, and hewould not have accepted the office had not the Pope and his own Cistercian General, the Abbotof Citeaux, commanded him to do so. His first care in his new position was to conform his life tothe most perfect rules of sanctity. He redoubled all his austerities, saying it was incumbent on himnow to do penance for others as well as for himself. He always wore a hair shirt under hisreligious habit, and never added to his clothing in winter or diminished it in summer; he never ateany flesh meat, though he had it at his table for guests.

When he drew near his end, he was, at his request, laid on ashes in his hair cloth, and in thisposture expired on the 10^th of January, 1209. While this holy bishop was laid out for veneration,an infirm young boy who wanted to venerate him, but had to be carried to the church by hismother, was completely cured of his infirmities, and ran about proclaiming the miracle. The stoneof his tomb in the Cathedral Church of Bourges cured mortal wounds and illnesses and deliveredpossessed persons; the deaf and dumb, the blind, the mentally ill became sound. So many miraclesoccurred there that the monks could not record them all, and he was canonized nine years after hisdeath, in 1218, by Pope Honorius III.

St. Theodosius

Saint Theodosius was born in Cappadocia in 423. He desired to visit the Holy Places, and on hisway visited Saint Simeon Stylites to ask his counsel. Simeon perceived him amid the crowd andcalled him by his name: “Theodosius, servant of God, you are welcome.” His desire to followJesus Christ attracted him to the religious life. He placed himself under Longinus, a very holyhermit, who sent him to govern a monastery near Bethlehem. Unable to bring himself to commandothers, he fled to a cavern, where he lived in penance and prayer. His great charity, however,forbade him to refuse the charge of some disciples, who, few at first, became in time a vastnumber; and Theodosius built a large monastery and three churches for them.

The holy monk eventually was named by the Bishop of Jerusalem Superior of all the religiouscommunities of Palestine. He and Saint Sabas, who had been appointed by Sallustus, the samebishop, to preside the Palestinian hermits, often consulted together on subjects of piety andedification and the means to procure the glory of God. Saint Theodosius accommodated himselfso carefully to the characters of his subjects that his reproofs were loved rather than dreaded. Buton one occasion he was obliged to put away from the communion of the others a religious guiltyof a grave fault. Instead of humbly accepting his sentence, the monk was arrogant enough toallege to excommunicate Theodosius in revenge. Theodosius thought not of indignation, nor ofhis own position, but meekly submitted to this false and unjust excommunication. This so touchedthe heart of his disciple that he submitted at once and acknowledged his fault.

Theodosius never refused assistance to any in poverty or affliction; on some days the monks laidmore than a hundred tables for those in need. In times of famine Theodosius forbade their alms tobe diminished, and often miraculously multiplied the provisions. He built five hospitals, in whichhe lovingly served the sick, while by assiduous spiritual reading he maintained himself in perfectrecollection. He successfully opposed the Eutychian heresy in Jerusalem and all of Palestine, andfor this was banished by the emperor Anastasius. His exile lasted but a short time, for the emperorwho sustained the heretics died soon afterwards, struck by lightning.

The holy abbot suffered a long and painful illness and refused to pray to be cured, calling it asalutary penance for his former successes. He died at the age of a hundred and six.

St. Alfred or Aelred

Saint Aelred was remarked in the court of a royal Saint, David of Scotland, for his humility andhis gentleness. He resolved to separate from his king, his friends, and all whom he loved dearly,reflecting that death will soon separate us from all things in this world. To make his sacrificecomplete, he left Scotland and went to the Province of York in England, where he received thehabit at the age of twenty-four years under William, Abbot of Rieval, a disciple of Saint Bernard.

The heart of Saint Aelred never ceased to love his friends, according to his own avowal, becausethe center of it was Love itself. He was heard to exclaim: “What is love, O my God? It is, if I amnot mistaken, this ineffable delight of the soul, the more sweet as it is more pure, the moregratifying as it is more ardent. The one who loves You possesses You in proportion to his love,because You are Love. Love is the torrent of joy with which you inebriate Your elect,transforming them into Yourself by love for You!”

As a young monk, his attention was drawn to one of his brethren because of his holiness. Thisgood monk, named Simon, had left the world in his youth, and he appeared as though deaf anddumb, so absorbed was he in God. One day Aelred, forgetting for a moment the rule of perpetualsilence, spoke to him. At once he prostrated himself at his feet, acknowledging his fault; butSimon’s look of pain haunted him for many a year, and taught him to let no human sentimentdisturb for one moment his or another’s union with God.

Aelred in 1142 was named Abbot of Revesby, a newly founded Cistercian monastery, and thefollowing year was obliged to take upon himself the government of the larger monastery ofRieval. A novice once came to him, saying that he must return to the world. But Aelred hadbegged his soul of God and answered, “Brother, do not ruin yourself; nevertheless you will beunable to do so, despite your desire.” The novice would not listen, however, and wanderedamong the hills, thinking all the while he was going far from the abbey. At sunset he found himselfbefore a convent strangely like Rieval, and Rieval it was. The first monk he met was Aelred, whoembraced him, saying, “Son, why have you done this? I have wept for you with many tears, and Itrust in God that, as I have asked of Him, you will not perish.” The world does not so dearly loveits friends.

At the command of his superiors Aelred composed his great works, both historical and ascetic,among which are the Life of David, King of Scotland; Life of Saint Margaret, Queen ofScotland; Spiritual Friendship and Mirror of Charity. In the last-named treatise he says that truelove of God is only to be obtained by joining ourselves in all things to the Passion of Christ. SaintAelred died in 1167, Superior of some three hundred monks.

St. Margaret Bourgeois

Saint Margaret Bourgeoys was born in Troyes, France, on Good Friday, April 17, 1620. She wasprepared by Divine Providence, over a period of many years, for her future mission. When shewas twenty years old, Margaret saw the Blessed Virgin who looked at her during a procession,and smiled at her. From that time on, she abandoned all ornaments and amusements common toher age and entered into a sodality of the Children of Mary, of which she became the President.Ten years later, on the Feast of the Assumption the Child Jesus, in appearance about three yearsold, made Himself seen by her in the Sacred Host of the monstrance. He kindled in her heartbright flames of divine charity, and inspired in her a great contempt for all earthly goods, with anunquenchable thirst for souls.

In 1653, when she was thirty-three years old, Margaret Bourgeoys set sail for Canada. The Virginsaid to her: “Go, I will not abandon you.” Four years passed before she could undertake theChristian education of children. In the meantime, her charity was lavished on all; she visited andserved the sick, buried the dead, consoled the afflicted, taught catechism to the colonists. Fromthen on, her task would be to form and direct a non-cloistered religious community dedicated toteaching. In 1658 she laid the foundations of her Congregation of Notre Dame Sisters by openingthe first school of Ville-Marie (Montreal), in a stable offered by Monsieur de Maisonneuve. Shesoon found co-workers, whom she initiated for their work. The “little schools” of New Francebegan to spring up on every hill and in every valley.

The social work of Mother Bourgeoys is no less admirable than her educational labors. Herdedication extended to the service of the many young households of those days. She took in,guided and directed the “Daughters of the King,” sent to be married to the colonists, inculcatingin them a sense of the serious duties of a spouse and mother. She remained their counselor forlong years, to whom they always turned for comfort and encouragement in the practice of virtue.The ingeniousness of Margaret became evident from her many varied projects: a workshop foryoung girls and married women, a vocational school for the formation of her companions ineducation, the “Work of the Tabernacles” which she founded with the recluse Jeanne Leber; apious association for young girls.

After 47 years of labors blessed by heaven and the Blessed Virgin, Margaret Bourgeoys died, atthe age of eighty, with the reputation of a soul eminent in sanctity. In a solemn ceremony at SaintPeter’s in Rome on November 12, 1950, Pius XII declared her Blessed. Since then she hasreceived the honors of canonization.

SAINT AELRED or ALFRED
Abbot

Saint Aelred was remarked in the court of a royal Saint, David of Scotland, for his humility andhis gentleness. He resolved to separate from his king, his friends, and all whom he loved dearly,reflecting that death will soon separate us from all things in this world. To make his sacrificecomplete, he left Scotland and went to the Province of York in England, where he received thehabit at the age of twenty-four years under William, Abbot of Rieval, a disciple of Saint Bernard.

The heart of Saint Aelred never ceased to love his friends, according to his own avowal, becausethe center of it was Love itself. He was heard to exclaim: “What is love, O my God? It is, if I amnot mistaken, this ineffable delight of the soul, the more sweet as it is more pure, the moregratifying as it is more ardent. The one who loves You possesses You in proportion to his love,because You are Love. Love is the torrent of joy with which you inebriate Your elect,transforming them into Yourself by love for You!”

As a young monk, his attention was drawn to one of his brethren because of his holiness. Thisgood monk, named Simon, had left the world in his youth, and he appeared as though deaf anddumb, so absorbed was he in God. One day Aelred, forgetting for a moment the rule of perpetualsilence, spoke to him. At once he prostrated himself at his feet, acknowledging his fault; butSimon’s look of pain haunted him for many a year, and taught him to let no human sentimentdisturb for one moment his or another’s union with God.

Aelred in 1142 was named Abbot of Revesby, a newly founded Cistercian monastery, and thefollowing year was obliged to take upon himself the government of the larger monastery ofRieval. A novice once came to him, saying that he must return to the world. But Aelred hadbegged his soul of God and answered, “Brother, do not ruin yourself; nevertheless you will beunable to do so, despite your desire.” The novice would not listen, however, and wanderedamong the hills, thinking all the while he was going far from the abbey. At sunset he found himselfbefore a convent strangely like Rieval, and Rieval it was. The first monk he met was Aelred, whoembraced him, saying, “Son, why have you done this? I have wept for you with many tears, and Itrust in God that, as I have asked of Him, you will not perish.” The world does not so dearly loveits friends.

At the command of his superiors Aelred composed his great works, both historical and ascetic,among which are the Life of David, King of Scotland; Life of Saint Margaret, Queen ofScotland; Spiritual Friendship and Mirror of Charity. In the last-named treatise he says that truelove of God is only to be obtained by joining ourselves in all things to the Passion of Christ. SaintAelred died in 1167, Superior of some three hundred monks.

St. Veronica of Milan

Saint Veronica’s parents were peasants of a village near Milan. From her childhood she toiledhard in the house and the field, and accomplished cheerfully every menial task. Gradually thedesire for perfection grew within her; she became deaf to the jokes and songs of her companions,and sometimes, when reaping and hoeing, would hide her face and weep. Untaught, she began tobe anxious about her lack of instruction, and rose secretly at night to try to learn to read. OurLady told her that other things were necessary, but not this: “My daughter, do not be anxious, itwill be sufficient for you to know the three letters that I bring you from heaven. The first is purityof heart, which makes us love God above all things; you must have only one love, that of My Son.The second is not to murmur against the faults of your neighbor, but to support them withpatience and pray for the one in question. The third is to meditate every day on the Passion ofJesus Christ, who accepts you for His spouse.”

After three years’ patient waiting she was received as a lay-sister in the convent of Saint Marthaat Milan. The community was extremely poor, and Veronica’s duty was to beg throughout thecity for their daily food. Three years after receiving the religious habit she was afflicted withconstant bodily pains, yet never would consent to be relieved of any of her labors, or to omit oneof her prayers. By exact obedience she became a living copy of her rule, and obeyed with a smilethe slightest wish of her Superior. She sought until the last the hardest and most humbleoccupations, and in their performance enjoyed some of the highest favors ever granted to Saints.

By the first letter taught her by Our Lady, Saint Veronica learned to begin her daily duties for nohuman motive, but for God alone; by the second, to carry out what she had thus begun byattending to her own affairs, never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who manifestlylacked virtue; by the third she was enabled to forget her own pains and sorrows in those of herLord, and to weep hourly, but silently, over the memory of the wrongs He suffered. She hadconstant ecstasies, and saw in successive visions the whole life of Jesus, and many othermysteries. Yet, by a special grace, neither her raptures nor her tears ever interrupted her labors,which ended only with death. She died in 1497, on the day she had foretold, after a six months’illness, in the thirtieth year of her religious profession.

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