JANUARY 3, 2025 – ST. GENEVIEVE, VIRGIN.
FIRST FRIDAY
- Holy Name of Jesus. (Traditional)
- Most Holy Name of Jesus. (Current)
- St. Blase (316). Bishop, Martyr. Patron of throats, throat diseases and ailments. (Current, Traditional)
- St. Genevieve (500). Virgin. Patroness of Paris. (Historical)
GENEVIEVE was born at Nanterre, near Paris. St. Germanus, when passing through, specially noticed a little shepherdess, and predicted her future sanctity. At seven years of age she made a vow of perpetual chastity. After the death of her parents, Paris became her abode; but she often travelled on works of mercy, which, by the gifts of prophecy and miracles, she unfailingly performed. At one time she was cruelly persecuted; her enemies, jealous of her power, called her a hypocrite, and tried to drown her; but St. Germanus, having sent her some blessed bread as a token of esteem, the outcry ceased, and ever afterwards she was honored as a Saint. During the siege of Paris by Childeric, King of the Franks, Genevieve went out with a few followers and procured corn for the starving citizens. Nevertheless Childeric, though a pagan, respected her, and at her request spared the lives of many prisoners. By her exhortations again, when Attila and his Huns were approaching the city, the inhabitants, instead of taking flight, gave themselves to prayer and penance, and averted, as she had foretold, the impending scourge. Clovis, when converted from paganism by his holy wife, St. Clotilda, made Genevieve his constant adviser, and, in spite of his violent character, became a generous and Christian king. She died within a few weeks of that monarch, in 512, aged eighty-nine.
A pestilence broke out at Paris in 1129, which in a short time swept off 14,000 persons, and, in spite of all human efforts, daily added to its victims. At length, on November 26th, the shrine of St. Genevieve was carried in solemn procession through the city. That same day but three persons died, the rest recovered, and no others were taken ill. This was but the first of a series of miraculous favors which the city of Paris has obtained through the relics of its patron Saint.
REFLECTION: Genevieve was only a poor peasant girl, but Christ dwelt in her heart. She was anointed with His Spirit, and with power; she went about doing good, and God was with her.
WORD OF THE DAY
PARENTAL OBEDIENCE. The duty of children to obey their parents, as prescribed by the fourth commandment of the Decalogue: "Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that Yahweh your God has given you" (Exodus 20:12). The precept obliges children to show love, reverence, and obedience toward their parents. The love that is due should be evident in words, actions, and attitudes. The obedience concerns everything that is part of the parents’ care and obliges until the children reach their majority. It does not apply, however, to the children’s choice of a state of life or, when they are of age, a choice in a marriage partner.
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!)
Christmastide Meditations
Daily devotional meditations on the Birth of Our Savior and Christmastide: The Meaning of the Circumcision – Christmas Meditation Day 10 (Jan 3)
This article, JANUARY 3, 2025 – ST. GENEVIEVE, VIRGIN. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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