From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

March 2nd - St. Angela of the Cross Guerrero

Angela de la Cruz; Angela Guerrero Gonzalez; Angela of the Cross Guerrero y=
Gonz=C3=A1lez; Angelita (family nickname); Maria of the Angels; Mother Ang= ela of the Cross; Mother of the Poor

Another little Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Seville, Spain, who founded the=
"Congregation of the Cross" to help the sick, the poor, orphans and the ho= meless, after she was refused in several Congregations because of her bad h= ealth.

One of fourteen children born to a poor but pious family; only five of her = siblings survived to adulthood. Her father worked as a cook and her mother =
a laundress in a Trinitarian Fathers convent, and Angela had to quit school=
at age twelve to work in a shoe factory to help support her family. She ma=
de her First Communion at age eight, Confirmation at nine; she prayed the r= osary daily, and had a great devotion as a youth to Christ Crucified. Her p= iety was so obvious that her employer, Antonia Maldonado, brought her to th=
e attention of Father Jos=C3=A9 Torres Padilla. He became her spiritual dir= ector when she was 16, and helped discern if Angela had a call to religious=
life.

She first tried to join the Carmelites, was refused, and when she was final=
ly accepted at age 19, became so sick that she was forced to return to her = family. When she recovered, she began caring for cholera victims, and those=
even poorer than herself. In 1868 she entered the convent of the Daughters=
of Charity of Seville, but again her health failed, and she was forced to = return to her parents and the shoe-shop. In 1871, with Father Padilla's ble= ssing, she started a plan whereby she lived at home under a particular Rule=
, yearly renewing her vows.

While in prayer in 1873 she received a vision that she understood God was c= alling her to a mission to the poor, and she began keeping a spiritual diar=
y to record what she understood of the life God was calling her to. Others = were attracted to her life, and on 2 August 1875 the Congregation of the Cr= oss was born. The Congregation works with the sick, the poor, orphans, the = homeless, finding them food, medicine, housing, and other needs, living sol= ely on alms, and keeping only enough for themselves to continue their work.=
Though they started with only Mother Angela and three sisters, they had gr= own to 23 convents during her life, and continue their good works today.

Born 30 January 1846 at Seville, Spain as Maria of the Angels Guerrero Gonz= alez
Died 2 March 1932 in Seville, Spain of natural causes
Beatified 5 November 1982 by Pope John Paul II at Seville, Spain =C2 - Canonized 4 May 2003 by Pope John Paul II at Plaza de Col=C3=B3n, Madrid, S= pain


Readings:
=C2 =C2 The nothing keeps silent, the nothing does not want to be, th=
e nothing suffers all. The nothing does not impose itself, the nothing does=
not command with authority, and finally, the nothing in the creature is pr= actical humility.=C2
--Saint Angela

=C2 =C2 Love and sensitivity to the poor prompted Saint Angela of the=
Cross to found her "Company of the Cross" for the most deprived with a cha= ritable and social dimension that made an enormous impact on the Church and=
society of Seville in her day. Her distinctive traits were naturalness and=
simplicity, seeking holiness with a spirit of mortification and at the ser= vice of God in her brothers and sisters.=C2
--Pope John Paul II in his homily at the canonization of Saint Angela

Bible Quote:
=C2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of ch= arity, if any society of the spirit, if any bowels of commiseration: 2. Ful= fil ye my joy, that you may be of one mind, having the same charity, being =
of one accord, agreeing in sentiment. 3. Let nothing be done through conten= tion, neither by vain glory: but in humility, let each esteem others better=
than themselves: 4. Each one not considering the things that are his own, = but those that are other men's. 5. For let this mind be in you, which was a= lso in Christ Jesus: =C2 (Philippians 2:1-5) DRV


<><><><>
Undertake all of your duties with a calm mind and try to do them one at a=
=C2
time. If you try to do them all at once, or without order, your spirits wil=
l be=C2
so overcharged and depressed that they will likely sink under the burden an= d=C2
nothing will be done.=C2

In all of your affairs, rely on the Providence of God through which alone y= ou=C2
much look for success. Strive quietly to cooperate with its designs. If you= =C2
have a sure trust in God, the success that comes to you will always be that= =C2
which is most useful to you, whether it appears good or bad in your private= =C2
judgment.=C2

Think of the little children who with one hand hold fast to their father=C2=

while with the other they gather berries. If you handle the goods of this w= orld=C2
with one hand, you must also always hold fast with the other to your heaven= ly=C2
Father's hand, and turn toward him from time to time to see if you are plea= sing=C2
him. Above all, be sure that you never leave his hand and his protection,=
=C2
thinking that with your own two hands you can gather more or get some other= =C2
advantage.=C2
--Saint Francis de Sales, from Introduction to the Devout Life
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)