From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

May 19th - Saint Peter Celestine, Hermit, Visionary

(1221-1296)

Saint Peter Celestine was the 11th of the 12 children of a poor
Italian farmer. As a child, Peter had visions of our Blessed Lady,
Angels and Saints. His heavenly visitors encouraged him in his prayers
and chided him when he fell into any fault. His mother, though only a
poor widow, sent him to school, feeling sure that he would one day be
a Saint.

At the age of twenty, he left his home in Apulia to live in a mountain solitude. Here he passed three years, assaulted by the evil spirits
and beset with temptations of the flesh, but consoled by the visits of
Angels. After this his seclusion was invaded by disciples who refused
to be sent away; and the rule of life which he gave them formed the
foundation of the Celestines, a branch of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Angels assisted in the church which Peter built; unseen bells rang
peals of surpassing sweetness, and heavenly music filled the sanctuary
when he offered the Holy Sacrifice; he had consented to be ordained,
to find in the Holy Eucharist assistance against temptation.

Suddenly the poor anchorite found himself torn from his loved
solitude, having been named by acclamation to the Papal throne, which
had remained vacant for twenty-seven months. Resistance was of no
avail. He took the name of Celestine, to remind him of the heaven he
was leaving and for which he sighed. He was seventy-two years old.
After a reign of five months, Peter judged himself unfit for the
office, and summoning the cardinals to his presence, he solemnly
resigned his trust.

During the remaining three years of his life he worked many and great
miracles. On the day after his abdication, his blessing after Mass
healed a lame man. Saint Peter left the palace, desiring seclusion,
but was brought back by the papal guards, for his successor feared a
schism; crowds had followed Saint Peter. Lest he be prevailed upon to
take back his office, he was put under surveillance at Anagni.
Content, he remarked: =E2=80=9CI desired nothing but a cell, and a cell the=
y
have given me.=E2=80=9D And there he enjoyed his former loving intimacy wit=
h
the Saints and Angels, and sang the Divine praises almost continually.

At length, on Pentecost Sunday he told his guards he would die within
the week, and immediately fell ill. He received the Last Sacraments,
and the following Saturday, as he finished the concluding verse of
Lauds, =E2=80=9CLet every spirit bless the Lord!=E2=80=9D he closed his eye=
s to this
world and opened them to the vision of God.


Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul
Gu=C3=A9rin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 6; Little Pictorial Lives
of the Saints....


Saint Quote:
A ship with a good navigator comes safely to port, God willing. A soul
with a good shepherd climbs easily heavenward, even if it has earlier
done much wrong.
-- Saint John Climacus

Bible Quote:
For the wisdom of the flesh is death: but the wisdom of the spirit is
life and peace. Because the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God.
For it is not subject to the law of God: neither can it be. And they
who are in the flesh cannot please God.=C2 =C2 [Romans 8:6-8] DRB


<><><><>
An Act of Abandonment To Divine Providence

0 sovereign goodness of the sovereign Providence of my God!
I abandon myself forever to Thy arms.
Whether gentle or severe,
lead me henceforth whither Thou wilt;
I will not regard the way through which Thou wilt have me pass,
but keep my eyes fixed upon Thee,
my God, who guidest me.
My soul finds no rest without the arms
and the bosom of this heavenly Providence,
my true Mother, my strength and my rampart.

Therefore I resolve with Thy Divine assistance,
0 my Saviour,
to follow Thy desires and Thy ordinances,
without regarding or examining why Thou dost this rather than that;
but I will blindly follow Thee
according to Thy Divine will,
without seeking my own inclinations.

Hence I am determined to leave all to Thee,
taking no part therein save by keeping myself in peace in Thy arms,
desiring nothing except as Thou incitest me to desire,
to will, to wish.
I offer Thee this desire, 0 my God,
beseeching Thee to bless it;
I undertake all it includes,
relying on Thy goodness,
liberality, and mercy,
with entire confidence in Thee,
distrust of myself,
and knowledge of my infinite misery and infirmity.
Amen!
--By Saint Jane Frances De Chantal.


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