Quote of the Day
If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the divine honor.
St. Charles Borromeo
Today's Meditation
“My Jesus, it is truly easy to become holy; it just takes a little good will! And if He finds this minimum of good will in a soul, He quickly gives Himself to her. And nothing can stop Him, neither our faults nor our falls, absolutely nothing. Jesus hurries to help that soul; and if the soul is faithful to this grace from God, she can in a short time reach the highest levels of holiness that a created being can attain here below. God is very generous and does not refuse His grace to anyone. He gives even more than we ask for. The shortest road is faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.”
—St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 291
Daily Verse
The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7b
St. Florian
Saint of the Day
St. Florian (C. 250-304 A.D.) was a commander in the Roman army in what is now Austria. He served during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, who violently persecuted Christians. Among Florian’s military duties was the organization of firefighting brigades. St. Florian was secretly a Christian and was known for miraculously saving a town from being destroyed by fire; after praying to God for help, he extinguished a raging fire with a single bucket of water. Word reached the Emperor that Florian was not enforcing the ban against Christianity in his territory. He was put under investigation and was discovered to be a Christian. In one account, it was for refusing to offer sacrifice to the gods; in another, for refusing to execute a group of Christians. He was then condemned to be tortured and executed for his Christian faith. Refusing to recant, St. Florian was then flayed alive, scourged, and martyred by being dumped in the river with a millstone attached to his body. His body was later recovered, and today his relics are venerated at a church named for him in Kraków, Poland. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters, chimney-sweeps, brewers, drowning victims, Austria, Poland, and against floods, fires, and battles. St. Florian’s feast day is May 4th.
Month of Our Lady
Devotion of the Month
Prayer to Mary, Queen of Heaven by Pope Pius XII: From the depths of this vale of tears where sorrowing humanity makes weary progress, through the surges of this sea of ours, endlessly buffeted by the winds of passion, we raise our eyes to you, O most beloved Mother Mary, to be comforted by the contemplation of your glory and to hail you as Queen of heaven and earth, Queen of mankind. In the heights of heaven, you exercise your primacy over the choirs of angels who acclaim you as their sovereign, and over the legions of saints who delight in beholding your dazzling beauty. So, too, reign over the entire human race, above all by opening the path of faith to those who do not yet know your Divine Son. Reign over the Church, which acknowledges and extols your gentle dominion and has recourse to you as a safe refuge amid the calamities of our day. Reign over men’s minds, that they may seek only what is true. Reign over individuals and over families, as well as over societies and nations. Reign in the streets and in the squares, in the cities and the villages, in the valleys and in the mountains, in the air, on land and on the sea; and hear the pious prayers of all those who recognize that yours is a reign of mercy, in which every petition is heard, every sorrow comforted, every misfortune relieved, every infirmity healed, and in which, at a gesture from your gentle hands, from death itself there arises smiling life. Obtain for us that all who now in every corner of the world acclaim and hail you Queen and Lady may one day in heaven enjoy the fullness of your kingdom in the vision of your Divine Son, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
