Saints celebrated on the 30th of July
Prayer to the Angels and the Saints
Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.
In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.
Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.
Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.
ST MARIA DE JESUS SACRAMENTADO
One of the saints remembered by the Church [on] July 30 is St Maria de Jesus Sacramentado. She was born in 1868 at Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, Mexico.
She was the youngest of twelve children and her Mother died when St Maria was quite young. The family suffered financial hardship but they were bolstered by the father’s strong Catholic faith. The father died when St Maria was 19 years old and later she moved to Guadalajara, where she worked in a charity hospital called the Sacred Heart Hospital, staffed by a lay group called the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St Maria joined these Daughters and served as a nurse, then as a pharmacist. At the age of 31 St Maria felt called to take religious vows, and under her leadership the Daughters became a Religious Order. St Maria was elected Superior.
THE CHURCH WAS DRIVEN UNDERGROUND
St Maria carried on this vital work in spite of revolution and guerrilla warfare. In 1925 the Mexican Government confiscated the property of the Church, including their hospitals, and drove the Church underground. Violence spread and the streets of Guadalajara were filled with blood. Catholic priests who refused to abandon their parishioners were arrested and executed by firing squad. Others were stabbed to death or hanged. Churches were reopened in 1929, but violent conflicts continued sporadically for many years.
THROUGHOUT THESE YEARS MARIA KEPT THE SACRED HEART HOSPITAL OPEN
Throughout these years of difficulties, St Maria kept the Sacred Heart Hospital open, enabling its care and services to help those who were sick and wounded. St Maria died peacefully on July 30, 1959. Pope Saint John Paul II, in 2000, canonised her a saint along with 25 Mexican priests who were martyred in the revolution.
THROUGH OUR CATHOLIC FAITH AND TRUST IN GOD WE CAN STILL REMAIN SERENE WHEN ALL AROUND IS DISTURBED
St Maria’s great Catholic faith enabled her to live in serenity amidst great upheaval and violence, and enabled her to keep loyal to her calling from God without deviation. She is an example for us to imitate when difficulties and problems come at us from many sides. Through our Catholic faith and trust in God we can still remain serene when all around is disturbed.
(From: Spiritual Thought From Father Chris, 2015)
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