Inbox Inspiration: November 20, 2019: Saint Clement of Rome

Saint Clement of Rome

Dear Friends, 
Clement was Bishop of Rome and Pope from 88 until his death in 99.
He was the fourth Pope or third successor of Saint Peter,
preceded by Popes Linus (64-76) and Cletus (76-88), also canonized saints.
Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna are regarded as the Church’s Apostolic Fathers.
These are Church Fathers who lived in the first and early second centuries and either knew one of the apostles directly or were significantly influenced by them.
Regarding Clement, few reliable details are known about his life.
He was probably banished from Rome during one of the Emperor’s persecutions and martyred for his faith.
The one thing Clement is definitely known for is an epistle or letter to the church in Corinth, written in the year 96.
It is considered the earliest authentic Christian document outside the New Testament.
In this epistle, Clement deals with issues of disunity in the Corinthian church.
Saint Clement inspires us to stay glued to our Christian roots and to remember the basics of faith that make us one.
His feast day is November 23 in the Catholic calendar.
 
“Let us then serve in his army, brothers, following his blameless commands with all our might. The great cannot exist without the small, nor the small without the great; they blend together to their mutual advantage. Take the body, for example. The head is nothing without the feet, just as the feet are nothing without the head. The smallest parts of our body are necessary and valuable to the whole. All work together and are mutually subject for the preservation of the whole body. Our entire body, then, will be preserved in Christ Jesus, and each of us should be subject to his neighbor in accordance with the grace given to each.”
From Letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement of Rome.

“All you holy men and women, Saints of God, pray for us.” 
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: November 13, 2019: Saint Margaret of Scotland

Saint Margaret of Scotland

Dear Friends,
Saint Margaret’s father Edward was an English prince in the eleventh century.
Because of political unrest, he and his family were exiled from England and eventually found their way to Hungary.
It was there that Margaret was born in the year 1045.
In 1057 the family was able to return to England where her father soon died.
Margaret, her sisters, her brother and her mother eventually had to flee from England after the Norman conquest of 1066.
They settled in Scotland and there Margaret married King Malcolm III.
The couple had eight children.
Margaret was a devoted Catholic and positively influenced her husband and three of her sons who also became kings.
She worked to restore the worship and practices of the Church of Scotland to those of Rome, in which she had been formed while growing up in Hungary.
She was known for spending time every day in private prayer and spiritual reading.
Margaret is especially remembered for her charitable works, serving in a hands-on way the poor and orphans.
She died on November 16, 1093 at the age of forty-eight, just days after her husband and eldest son were killed in a battle against the English.
Margaret’s life is an inspiration to wives, mothers and all women.
She was canonized a saint in 1250 and is the Patron Saint of Scotland.
Her feast day is November 16 in the Catholic calendar.

“There are two ways to be charitable: the ‘clean way’ and the ‘messy way.’ The ‘clean way’ is to give money or clothing to organizations that serve the poor. The ‘messy way’ is dirtying your own hands in personal service to the poor. Margaret’s outstanding virtue was her love for the poor. Although very generous with material gifts, Margaret also visited the sick and nursed them with her own hands. She and her husband served orphans and the poor on their knees during Advent and Lent. Like Christ, she was charitable the ‘messy way.’”
From Franciscan Media.

“All you holy men and women, Saints of God, pray for us.” 
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: November 6, 2019: Saint Louise de Marillac

Saint Louise de Marillac 

Dear Friends, 
Louise de Marillac was born in France in 1591.
She was well educated and happily married to a courtier of the Queen of France.
The couple had one child, a son, whom Louise raised with much love and care.
Then, after just twelve years of marriage, her husband succumbed to illness and died in 1625.
Soon Louise knew that she wanted to dedicate her life to God in some special way.
She looked for a spiritual director and was soon introduced to Vincent de Paul (see the Inbox Inspirations from last week, October 30, 2019).
Vincent had already formed some groups of rather wealthy women (Confraternities of Charity) to assist in bringing medicine, clothes, and food to the poor.
Louise became active in this but before long, she desired a deeper and more formal commitment to Christ.
At first, under Vincent’s guidance, Louise formed a group of women to do the really hands-on work in caring for the poor and the sick.
It was out of this that Louise and Vincent became the co-founders of what we now know as the Daughters of Charity.
Its members take vows, live in community but are not cloistered (a new idea when the Daughters were formed), have a strong spirituality and prayer life, and devote themselves to actively aiding those in need.
Today, there are 14,000 Daughters of Charity and these Sisters work in 90 countries.
Louise de Marillac died in 1660 and was canonized a saint in 1934.
She has been declared the Patroness of Social Workers.
Her feast day is May 9 in the Catholic calendar.

“How obliged you are to serve the poor respectfully as your master, and devotedly because they represent for you the person of Our Lord who said: What you do to the least of mine, I will consider as done to me. So then, Sisters, Our Lord is really with that…person [in need] who is receiving the service you render.”
From the writings of Saint Louise de Marillac.

“All you holy men and women, Saints of God, pray for us.” 
Father Michael Schleupner

Inbox Inspiration: October 30, 2019: Saint Vincent de Paul

Saint Vincent de Paul

Dear Friends, 
Ever since I was a child, I heard of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.
It was and is a group men and women who assist those in need – especially by providing food and clothing.
The origin of this is with a man named Vincent de Paul (de Paul was his family name) who was born in 1580 in France.
Vincent became a priest and eventually realized his calling to care for persons who were lacking even the basics for life.
He founded a religious institute of priests called the Congregation of the Mission or the Vincentians.
Their mission was to bring the faith to the poor peasants in France.
With Louise de Marillac (more about her next week), Vincent founded an institute of vowed, religious women called the Daughters of Charity.
Their mission was to care for the sick and the poor.
Additionally, Vincent also set up some “conferences” or associations of lay people to care for the poor.
Then, in the nineteenth century, long after Vincent’s death in 1660, his vision led to the establishment of Saint Vincent de Paul Conferences in many parishes.
Today these Conferences are active in 140 countries.
Vincent de Paul was canonized a saint in 1737.
He inspires us to assist those in need with whatever we are able to provide.
Vincent de Paul’s feast day is September 27 in the Catholic calendar.

“Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor. For when one person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves.”
From Epist.2546: Correspondence, entretiens, documents of Saint Vincent de Paul. 

“All you holy men and women, Saints of God, pray for us.” 
Father Michael Schleupner