ELIGIUS, a goldsmith at Paris, was commissioned by King Clotaire to make a throne. With the gold and precious stones given him he made two. Struck by his rare honesty, the king gave him an appointment at court, and demanded an oath of fidelity sworn upon holy relics; but Eligius prayed with tears to be excused, for fear of failing in reverence to the relics of the Saints. On entering the court, he fortified himself against its seductions by many austerities and continual ejaculatory prayers. He had a marvelous zeal for the redemption of captives, and for their deliverance would sell his jewels, his food, his clothes, and his very shoes, once by his prayers breaking their chains and opening their prisons. His great delight was in making rich shrines for relics. His striking virtue caused him, a layman and a gold-smith, to be made Bishop of Noyon; and his sanctity in this holy office was remarkable. He possessed the gifts of miracles and prophecy, and died in 665.
REFLECTION: When God called His Saints to himself, He might, had He so pleased, have taken their bodies also; but he willed to leave them in our charge, for our help and consolation. Be careful to imitate St. Eligius in making a good use of so great a treasure.
WORD OF THE DAY
SHEOL. The Hebrew word for hell, corresponding to the Greek Hades. At first a vague, gloomy place in which departed souls lived, gradually it was looked upon as a place of terrible punishment for unworthy souls. The lesson is vividly taught in the New Testament that Sheol is the destination of souls dying in sin. Luke speaks of the “torment in Hades” (Luke 16:23). The letter to the Hebrews warns of “the dreadful prospect of judgment and of the raging fire that is to burn rebels” (Hebrews 10:27). Revelation describes “the fire and brimstone in which they will be tortured in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb, and the smoke of their torture will go up forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10-11).
Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)
ST. ANDREW NOVENA
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, o my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.
(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30th) until Christmas, will obtain what is asked). This formula of the prayer bears an Imprimatur from † Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York. New York, February 6, 1897.
DAILY ADVENT MEDITATIONS
Deepen your appreciation of the Incarnation and our salvation with The Great Truths Series by Fr. Richard Clarke S.J. Read today’s “Transient Gleams & God Our Lord” but consider this:
Yet in the end I must recognize God’s ownership; if I do not do so willingly and with joyful loyalty, I shall have to do so unwillingly and in misery and pain. Everything I have taken from God and appropriated to myself will have to be given back to Him. I shall have to pay the penalty for each misuse of what was entrusted to me.
This article, DECEMBER 1 – ST. ELIGIUS. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/december-1-st-eligius/
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