Devotions from July 5 to 11, 2021
“Forgiveness is a force that restores us to new life and gives us the courage to look to the future with hope” (Pope Francis). The saints have shown us this radiant truth through their lives, including those we remember this week. Precisely during the week in which we celebrate Saint Maria Goretti, the saint of forgiveness, let us be guided by these words of Pope Francis: “It is not easy to forgive, because in peaceful moments one says: ‘Yes, this person has done all sorts of things to me, but I have done many things too. It is better to forgive in order to be forgiven.’ But then resentment returns, like an annoying summer fly that comes back and back and back... Forgiving is not just something done once; it is an ongoing struggle against this resentment, this hatred that returns. Let us think of the end and stop hating.”
MONDAY JULY 5
Beginning of the novena to Saint Camillus de Lellis
“We must be ‘mothers’ to the sick even more than brothers,” said the holy founder of the Camillians. And again: “The sick are the pupil and heart of God, and whatever you do for these poor sick people, you do for God himself.” Let us invoke the intercession of Saint Camillus and pray for all those who are sick in body and spirit, so that they may find in his example the strength to face the trials that life presents to them.
For further reading:
• Saint Camillus de Lellis. Patron saint of the sick, those who suffer, healthcare workers, and places of care
TUESDAY, JULY 6
Saint Maria Goretti
Today the Church presents us with the example of Marietta (1890-1902), as she was called, who at the age of 12 died defending her purity: “No, no, God does not want this; if you do this, you will go to Hell,” she cried to eighteen-year-old Alessandro Serenelli, who was trying to assault her. The young man flew into a rage and, taking an awl he had with him, began striking her. Before she died, she forgave him, saying: “For the love of Jesus, I forgive him; I want him to come with me to Paradise.” Alessandro, arrested and sentenced to prison, had already repented by 1910 and had dreamed of Marietta in Paradise, offering him flowers with her unmistakable smile. After leaving prison, he asked Assunta’s forgiveness, and together they received Communion. His conversion was Marietta’s first great miracle.
For further reading:
• Marietta. The little-big story of Saint Maria Goretti
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7
Beginning of the novena to the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel
“The various generations of Carmel, from its origins to the present day, have sought to shape their lives according to Mary’s example. For this reason, in Carmel and in every soul moved by tender affection for the Virgin and Most Holy Mother, contemplation of her flourishes.” Thus wrote John Paul II in a message to the Carmelite Order. Let us invoke the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and ask her to assist us in the joyful and sorrowful events of our lives.
For further reading:
• The Scapular of Carmel
THURSDAY, JULY 8
Beginning of the triduum to Saint Benedict
Pope Francis emphasizes that “Saint Benedict does not look at social status, wealth, or power. He appeals to the common nature of every human being, who, whatever their circumstances, certainly yearn for life and desire happy days. For Benedict, there are no roles, only people. This is precisely one of the fundamental values that Christianity has brought: the sense of the person, created in the image of God. Based on this principle, monasteries would be built, which over time would become the cradle of the continent’s human, cultural, religious, and even economic rebirth.” Let us rediscover this extraordinary figure and confidently turn to his intercession.
For further reading:
• Prayers to Saints Benedict and Scholastica
FRIDAY, JULY 9
Saint Veronica Giuliani
Today the Church remembers a saint who was called the “Saint of Love and Suffering”: Veronica Giuliani. She lived between 1600 and 1700 and, from childhood, began to experience frequent visions of Jesus and Mary smiling at her. At the age of 17, she entered the Capuchin monastery in Città di Castello (Perugia). Out of obedience, she wrote a diary recounting the extraordinary experiences of her inner life, culminating on Good Friday in 1697 with the reception of the stigmata. When she died in 1727, the emblems of the Passion, just as she had described them, were found imprinted on her heart. The spiritual legacy she left is great. She wrote in her diary: “O sinners, understand this well: God is all charity; he is all love. Do you not feel that you are in a fire of love? And yet you do not value such goodness; you lose yourselves among earthly loves; you grow cold amid a thousand sins… O fools! What are you doing? Return to God, change your lives. You will experience the effects of his mercy. He will receive you into the arms of his compassion.” Let us draw inspiration from her example: may our hearts too expand and discover, in the love of God, a force that forgives and raises us to new life.
For further reading:
• Saint Veronica Giuliani: Life and Selected Passages
SUNDAY, JULY 11
Saint Benedict
The father of Western monasticism was born in Norcia in 480 to a wealthy family that sent him to study in Rome. In the Eternal City, his vocation matured into a true flight: disgusted by the worldliness of many of his companions, he first withdrew to Affide and then to Subiaco, where he lived as a hermit in a cave for three years. In 529, a new phase of Benedict’s life began as he moved to Monte Cassino, from which abbeys and monasteries inspired by his Rule would spring up throughout Europe. At his death, Benedict left a spiritual and cultural legacy that still endures today. In 1964, Saint Paul VI proclaimed Saint Benedict the patron saint of Europe.
For further reading:
• Prayers to Saints Benedict and Scholastica
• The Medal of Saint Benedict
• The Rule of Saint Benedict
May another thought from Pope Francis accompany us this week: “We live by mercy and cannot afford to be without mercy: it is the air we breathe. We are too poor to set conditions; we need to forgive because we need to be forgiven.”
Have a good journey!
