MARCH 27, 2024 – WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK – ST. JOHN OF EGYPT.
- St. Augusta. Martyr, Virgin. (Historical)
- St. John Damascene (749). Doctor of the Church, Priest. (Traditional) Father of the Church
- St. Rupert of Salzburg (720). Bishop. (Historical)
TILL he was twenty-five, John worked as a carpenter with his father. Then feeling a call from God, he left the world, and committed himself to a holy solitary in the desert. His master tried his spirit by many unreasonable commands, bidding him roll the hard rocks, tend dead trees, and the like. John obeyed in all things with the simplicity of a child. After a careful training of sixteen years, he withdrew to the top of a steep cliff to think only of God and his soul. The more he knew of himself, the more he distrusted himself. For the last fifty years, therefore, he never saw women, and seldom men. The result of this vigilance and purity was threefold: a holy joy and cheerfulness which consoled all who conversed with him; perfect obedience to superiors; and in return for this, authority over creatures, whom he had forsaken for the Creator. St. Augustine tells us of his appearing in a vision to a holy woman whose sight he had restored, to avoid seeing her face to face. Devils assailed him continually, but John never ceased his prayer. From his long communings with God, he turned to men with gifts of healing and prophecy. Twice each week he spoke through a window with those who came to him, blessing oil for their sick, and predicting things to come. A deacon came to him in disguise, and he reverently kissed his hand. To the Emperor Theodosius he foretold his future victories and the time of his death. The three last days of his life John gave wholly to God: on the third he was found on his knees as if in prayer, but his soul was with the blessed. He died A.D. 394.
REFLECTION: The Saints examine themselves by the perfections of God, and do penance. We judge our conduct by the standard of other men, and rest satisfied with it. Yet it is by the divine holiness alone that we shall be judged when we die.
WORD OF THE DAY
HYSTERIA. An emotional disorder that may defy ready diagnosis and yet deeply affects the moral responsibility of the hysterical person. It may assume various forms, notably: 1. conversion hysteria, where conflicts in the mind become disabilities in the body, such as paralysis, blindness, or lack of feeling; 2. sleepwalking; 3. flight, where the person loses all memory of the past; 4. multiple or split personality, when the individual becomes alternately different people with no conscious connection between successive states. Hysteria has been known for centuries, and is an object of the Church’s special concern in investigation of persons reputed for sanctity, and of reported miracles in order to exclude the "cure" of hysterical sickness.
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!)
HOLY WEEK MEDITATIONS
Special meditations focused on Holy Week: WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
LENT MEDITATION DAY 43
Enjoy daily meditations this lent from Fr. Richard Clarke, SJ. Short and powerful, written in 1880 for busy lay people to reap rewards through lent. (includes audio): Lent Day 43: Wednesday in Holy Week — The Death of Jesus.
March is the Month of St. Joseph
Daily devotional meditations on Saint Joseph: March 27th — St. Joseph’s Purity of Heart.
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