Dear Cora,<\/p>\n
It seems so long ago that you were on the fellowship in Europe and rediscovered Christ\u2019s love, its power and its tenderness.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t that long ago, and you mustn\u2019t forget it!\u00a0 God has given you a heavy cross: a family that doesn\u2019t encourage your faith; the responsibility of earning money to help support your younger siblings; a father who is less than responsible.\u00a0 And yet, he has also given you so many blessings: your life, your faith, your youth, your dreams, your intelligence… And if he sent you to Europe and gave you a special experience of his love, it\u2019s for a reason.\u00a0 He will show you the reason little by little, but for now, you must renew your good resolutions \u2013 all of them.\u00a0 Start writing in that spiritual diary of yours again, write the good and the bad, and read what you wrote two months ago, and don\u2019t let the devil trick you into giving up on Christ.\u00a0 Take a lesson from today\u2019s saint.<\/p>\n
Pauline was daughter to a poor couple from northern Italy who immigrated to Brazil looking for a better life.\u00a0 They found a lot of suffering and poverty instead.\u00a0 But even so Amabile (the saint\u2019s original first name) learned her faith and received the sacraments, and thus God\u2019s grace had a chance to take root.<\/p>\n
When she was 25, she and a friend began to take care of a woman in town who was sick with cancer.\u00a0 It was one of her typical acts of charity to those in need, but it sparked the foundation of a new religious order, the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, dedicated to a life of rigorous prayer and tireless service to the poor, the sick, the homeless, and all those in need.<\/p>\n
The now Sister Pauline and her two companions worked so zealously and joyfully that even amidst their extreme poverty, they attracted a steady flow of vocations.\u00a0 Their congregation received ready approval from the bishop and Mother Pauline was named superior for life.\u00a0 For six years the Institute grew rapidly and spread Christ\u2019s love among the neediest of Brazilian society.\u00a0 Then the Archbishop of Sao Paolo decided to remove her from any position of government in the Congregation and make her a subordinate for the rest of her life.\u00a0 Imagine how you would react to such a surprising about-face!\u00a0 The Holy Foundress didn\u2019t resist this humiliation, nor did she evade the cross.\u00a0 The Archbishop himself described her reaction: \u201cShe threw herself on her knees… she humbled herself… she answered that she was most ready to hand over the Congregation… she offered herself spontaneously to serve the Congregation as an underling.\u201d\u00a0 And that she did \u2013 for the next 33 years, the last of which were made even more bitter by physical sufferings \u2013 a horrible case of diabetes that led to blindness and the amputation of limbs.<\/p>\n
Would you trust spiritual advice from such a Christ-like woman?\u00a0 I would.\u00a0 Actually, I do.\u00a0 I follow it every day, in my imperfect little way.\u00a0 And I would like to pass it on to you, so that it can be a light for you now and always: \u201cBe humble. Trust always and a great deal in divine Providence; never never must you let yourselves be discouraged, despite contrary winds. I say it again: trust in God and Mary Immaculate; be faithful and forge ahead!… The presence of God is so intimate to me that it seems impossible for me to lose it; and such presence gives my soul a joy which I can not describe.\u201d<\/p>\n
God, my sorrowful young niece, will never let you down; you just have to stay the course and stay close to him.\u00a0 With my prayers, I remain, with honor,<\/p>\n
Your devoted uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Cora, It seems so long ago that you were on the fellowship in Europe and rediscovered Christ\u2019s love, its power and its tenderness.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n