• January 25th - Bl. Teresa Grillo Michel

    From rich@1:396/4 to All on Thu Jan 24 08:20:43 2019
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    January 25th - Bl. Teresa Grillo Michel

    Bl. Teresa Grillo Michel was born in Spinetta Marengo (Alessandria),
    Italy, on 25 September 1855. She was the fifth and last child of
    Giuseppe, the head physician at the Civil Hospital of Alessandria, and
    of Maria Antonietta Parvopassau, a descendent of an illustrious family
    of Alessandria. At Baptism she was given the name of Maddalena.

    After the death of her father, the family moved to Turin, where
    Maddalena attended elementary school and her mother supervised the
    university studies of Francesco, her elder brother. When Maddalena
    finished elementary school, she was sent to a boarding school run by
    the Ladies of Loretto in Lodi, where she passed her final exams at the
    age of 18.

    After leaving school, she returned to Alessandria, where, under her
    mother's guidance, she was introduced to society. It was here that she
    met her future husband, Giovanni Michel, a cultured and brilliant
    captain of the Bersaglieri.

    After their wedding on 2 August 1877, they moved first to Caserta,
    then to Acireale, Catania, Portici and, lastly, Naples.

    After her husband died of sunstroke during a Naples parade in 1891,
    Teresa sank into a depression which bordered on total despair. Her
    sudden, almost unexpected recovery, due to reading the life of the
    Ven. Cottolengo and to the help of her cousin, Mons. Prelli, led her
    to embrace the cause of the poor and needy.

    Teresa began to open the doors of her family home to poor children and
    people in need. At the end of 1893, seeing that the numbers of the
    poor continued to grow, she sold the Michel family home and purchased
    an old building on Via Faa di Bruno. Here she began her work of
    rebuilding, adding an upper floor and buying some modest dwellings
    nearby. Thus began the "Little Shelter of Divine Providence". The work
    Teresa had begun was certainly not without difficulties, which came
    not only from the authorities but especially from friends and
    relatives. Nevertheless, the solidarity and affection of the poor, of
    generous persons and of the women who worked with her were evident.
    Following many requests to the ecclesiastical authorities, on 8
    January 1899 Teresa Grillo was clothed with the religious habit in the
    small chapel at the Little Shelter, together with eight of her
    co-workers, and founded the Congregation of the Little Sisters of
    Divine Providence.

    In her remaining 45 years, her primary concern was to spread and build
    up the institute. In fact, immediately after its foundation, her
    community opened houses at various places in Piedmont, and soon spread
    to the Veneto, Lombardy, Liguria, Apulia and Lucania. On 13 June 1900
    the institute was extended to Brazil, and in 1927, at the request of
    Bl. Luigi Orione, she also established houses in Argentina.

    Sparing no effort, Teresa inspired and encouraged her sisters with her
    caring and charismatic presence in the community. As many as 8
    times she crossed the ocean to visit Latin America, where at her
    request numerous foundations sprang up with nurseries, orphanages,
    schools, hospitals and homes for the elderly. She made her eighth
    voyage in 1928, at the age of 73.

    On 8 June 1942 the Holy See granted the Congregation of the Little
    Sisters of Divine Providence apostolic approval.

    Bl. Teresa Grillo died in Alessandria on 25 January 1944, at the age
    of 89. By then her institute had 25 houses in Italy, 19 in Brazil and
    7 in Argentina.

    http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum
    369


    Saint Quotes:
    St. Vincent de Paul was not contented, as so many are, with knowing
    and loving virtues, but he applied himself continually to the practice
    of them. It was his maxim that labor and patience are the best means
    of acquiring and planting them firmly in our hearts and that virtues
    acquired without effort or difficulty can be easily lost, while those
    which have been beaten by the storms of temptation and practiced amid
    the difficulties and repugnances of nature, sink their roots deep into
    the heart. And so, on such occasions, instead of being sad he appeared unusually cheerful. When a certain person was lamenting a mischance
    which had recently occurred as likely to give bad opinion of his
    community and give rise to comments injurious to himself, he replied,
    "This is good, for it will give us a more favorable occasion to
    practice virtue."

    By this same sentiment, St. Philip Neri encouraged his penitents not
    to grieve when they suffer temptations and trials, telling them that
    when the Lord intends to confer on anyone some particular virtue, He
    is accustomed to permit him to be first assailed by the contrary vice.

    St. Francis de Sales illustrated the firmness of virtue in this
    manner: "if' said he, "the world comes to attack me, I will treat i=
    t
    as I would a viper: I will trample it underfoot, and obey none of its suggestions. If Satan arms his powers, I will not fear them at all. I
    am stronger than he. God is my Father, and He will have compassion on
    me, and will fight for me." Here is a fine example of virtue, and of
    the way to exercise it.
    ("A Year with the Saints". January - Perfection)

    Bible Quote
    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
    to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the
    resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,=C2 (1 Peter 1:3)


    <><><><>
    Seek God early in the day

    Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life's
    problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early quiet time gain a
    calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe.
    Do not seek God only when the world's struggles prove too much and too
    many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have
    a consciousness of God's spirit in the world. People often only seek
    God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any
    other way, forgetting that if they sought God's companionship before
    they need it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)
  • From rich@1:396/4 to All on Thu Jan 24 08:20:43 2019
    From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

    January 25th - Bl. Teresa Grillo Michel

    Bl. Teresa Grillo Michel was born in Spinetta Marengo (Alessandria),
    Italy, on 25 September 1855. She was the fifth and last child of
    Giuseppe, the head physician at the Civil Hospital of Alessandria, and
    of Maria Antonietta Parvopassau, a descendent of an illustrious family
    of Alessandria. At Baptism she was given the name of Maddalena.

    After the death of her father, the family moved to Turin, where
    Maddalena attended elementary school and her mother supervised the
    university studies of Francesco, her elder brother. When Maddalena
    finished elementary school, she was sent to a boarding school run by
    the Ladies of Loretto in Lodi, where she passed her final exams at the
    age of 18.

    After leaving school, she returned to Alessandria, where, under her
    mother's guidance, she was introduced to society. It was here that she
    met her future husband, Giovanni Michel, a cultured and brilliant
    captain of the Bersaglieri.

    After their wedding on 2 August 1877, they moved first to Caserta,
    then to Acireale, Catania, Portici and, lastly, Naples.

    After her husband died of sunstroke during a Naples parade in 1891,
    Teresa sank into a depression which bordered on total despair. Her
    sudden, almost unexpected recovery, due to reading the life of the
    Ven. Cottolengo and to the help of her cousin, Mons. Prelli, led her
    to embrace the cause of the poor and needy.

    Teresa began to open the doors of her family home to poor children and
    people in need. At the end of 1893, seeing that the numbers of the
    poor continued to grow, she sold the Michel family home and purchased
    an old building on Via Faa di Bruno. Here she began her work of
    rebuilding, adding an upper floor and buying some modest dwellings
    nearby. Thus began the "Little Shelter of Divine Providence". The work
    Teresa had begun was certainly not without difficulties, which came
    not only from the authorities but especially from friends and
    relatives. Nevertheless, the solidarity and affection of the poor, of
    generous persons and of the women who worked with her were evident.
    Following many requests to the ecclesiastical authorities, on 8
    January 1899 Teresa Grillo was clothed with the religious habit in the
    small chapel at the Little Shelter, together with eight of her
    co-workers, and founded the Congregation of the Little Sisters of
    Divine Providence.

    In her remaining 45 years, her primary concern was to spread and build
    up the institute. In fact, immediately after its foundation, her
    community opened houses at various places in Piedmont, and soon spread
    to the Veneto, Lombardy, Liguria, Apulia and Lucania. On 13 June 1900
    the institute was extended to Brazil, and in 1927, at the request of
    Bl. Luigi Orione, she also established houses in Argentina.

    Sparing no effort, Teresa inspired and encouraged her sisters with her
    caring and charismatic presence in the community. As many as 8
    times she crossed the ocean to visit Latin America, where at her
    request numerous foundations sprang up with nurseries, orphanages,
    schools, hospitals and homes for the elderly. She made her eighth
    voyage in 1928, at the age of 73.

    On 8 June 1942 the Holy See granted the Congregation of the Little
    Sisters of Divine Providence apostolic approval.

    Bl. Teresa Grillo died in Alessandria on 25 January 1944, at the age
    of 89. By then her institute had 25 houses in Italy, 19 in Brazil and
    7 in Argentina.

    http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum
    369


    Saint Quotes:
    St. Vincent de Paul was not contented, as so many are, with knowing
    and loving virtues, but he applied himself continually to the practice
    of them. It was his maxim that labor and patience are the best means
    of acquiring and planting them firmly in our hearts and that virtues
    acquired without effort or difficulty can be easily lost, while those
    which have been beaten by the storms of temptation and practiced amid
    the difficulties and repugnances of nature, sink their roots deep into
    the heart. And so, on such occasions, instead of being sad he appeared unusually cheerful. When a certain person was lamenting a mischance
    which had recently occurred as likely to give bad opinion of his
    community and give rise to comments injurious to himself, he replied,
    "This is good, for it will give us a more favorable occasion to
    practice virtue."

    By this same sentiment, St. Philip Neri encouraged his penitents not
    to grieve when they suffer temptations and trials, telling them that
    when the Lord intends to confer on anyone some particular virtue, He
    is accustomed to permit him to be first assailed by the contrary vice.

    St. Francis de Sales illustrated the firmness of virtue in this
    manner: "if' said he, "the world comes to attack me, I will treat i=
    t
    as I would a viper: I will trample it underfoot, and obey none of its suggestions. If Satan arms his powers, I will not fear them at all. I
    am stronger than he. God is my Father, and He will have compassion on
    me, and will fight for me." Here is a fine example of virtue, and of
    the way to exercise it.
    ("A Year with the Saints". January - Perfection)

    Bible Quote
    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
    to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the
    resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,=C2 (1 Peter 1:3)


    <><><><>
    Seek God early in the day

    Seek God early in the day, before He gets crowded out by life's
    problems, difficulties, or pleasures. In that early quiet time gain a
    calm, strong confidence in the goodness and purpose in the universe.
    Do not seek God only when the world's struggles prove too much and too
    many for you to bear or face alone. Seek God early, when you can have
    a consciousness of God's spirit in the world. People often only seek
    God when their difficulties are too great to be surmounted in any
    other way, forgetting that if they sought God's companionship before
    they need it, many of their difficulties would never arise.
    --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
    * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)