august 4. alexandrina maria da costa, victim soulAlexandrina once said: ""O my Jesus, I want to suffer all! I want to be crushed by you! I am your victim . . . but do not punish the world. I want to be the lightning conductor of your wrath."
|
august 11. clare of assisi, patron of tvOn Palm Sunday in 1212, arrayed as a bride, Clare fled in the night to the woods where Saint Francis and his friars dwelt. There, he initiated her.
|
august 17. clare of montefalco, whose heart has a crucifix in itOne chronicler describes her pain as such: “In her brows she felt agonies of torture as vivid as though the thorns were piercing through to the brain. The taste of vinegar and gall was in her mouth; her hands and feet quivered as though the nails were tearing through flesh and sinews; her body was tortured as though men had scourged it till they were weary of scourging.”
|
august 17. jeanne delanoue, the pig wife of christJeanne grew so dirty that her superiors referred to her as "the pig of Jesus Christ." All the while, Jeanne became "exceptionally inflamed with the love of Jesus, her spouse."
|
august 23. rose of lima, whose mortifications were legendaryGod told Rose of Lima: "Affliction is always accompanied by Grace; Grace is proportionate to Suffering. The measure of My gifts is increased with the measure of trials."
|
august 26. mariam, who outlived a throat slittingWhat happened next was a miracle: a nun dressed in blue came upon her cut body and spirited her away to an unlocatable grotto. There, the mysterious figure stitched her throat’s slit and ministered to Miriam for a month.
|
AUGUST 30. NARCISA DE JESÚS MARTILLO Y MORÁN, WHO HUNG NIGHTLY FROM A CRUCIFIX SHE BUILTShe made a cross and remained fastened to it for hours, wearing a crown of thorns. When she came down from the cross, she took a short rest on an iron bed with points on it. When she arose from the bed, she would bloody herself with discipline.
|