OCTOBER 19 – ST. PETER OF ALCANTARA.
PETER, while still a youth, left his home at Alcantara in Spain, and entered a convent of Discalced Franciscans. He rose quickly to high posts in the Order, but his thirst for penance was still unappeased, and in 1539, being then forty years old, he founded the first convent of the “Strict Observance.” The cells of the friars resembled graves rather than dwelling-places. That of St. Peter himself was four feet and a half in length, so that he could never lie down; he ate but once in three days; his sackcloth habit and a cloak were his only garments, and he never covered his head or feet. In the bitter winter he would open the door and window of his cell that, by closing them again, he might experience some sensation of warmth. Amongst those whom he trained to perfection was St. Teresa. He read her soul, approved of her spirit of prayer, and strengthened her to carry out her reforms. St. Peter died, with great joy, kneeling in prayer, October 18th, 1562, at the age of sixty-three.
REFLECTION: If men do not go about barefoot now, nor undergo sharp penances, as St. Peter did, there are many ways of trampling on the world; and our Lord teaches them when He finds the necessary courage.
WORD OF THE DAY
SUPERNATURAL REVELATION. Divine communication of truth in which either the manner of communication or its content is beyond the capacity of human nature to attain. Thus revelation may be supernatural in its objective source, which is more than the universe naturally tells about its Creator, and again supernatural in the subjective powers by which a person acquires what God desires to reveal. Revelation may also be supernatural in its very essence, as when God discloses such mysteries as the Trinity and the Incarnation. Or it may be, and always is, supernatural in the manner that God chooses to use for communicating himself to human beings. It partakes of a miraculous enlightenment of the seer who then serves as divine legate for sharing with others what God has supernaturally communicated to that person. In every case, however, the acceptance of revelation requires the influx of supernatural grace to enable a person to believe.
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!)
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