Friday, May 19 : St Hildegard of Bingen

[St Hildegard presents a vision where vice and virtue are in dialogue ] Sadness – “Alas, why was I created? why am I alive? who will free me? if God watched over me why do I know so many dangers? Even were I to trust in Him He would not bring me happiness. Even when I rejoice in Him he does not protect me from misery…If He is my God why does he deprive me of His grace? Created in misery, born in misery, I have no consolation, what is the point of a life that lacks joy? Celestial Joy – “God created man full of light…Consider the prosperity God pours upon man! Who gives you all that you have if it isn’t God?…I praise all the works of God even if they are sources of sadness. You, you are constantly sad, but I , I entrust my actions to God who reveals to me that even in a certain sadness there is joy, and even in a certain joy there is no profit… Without the breath of the Spirit, all of the life forces wilt. A depressed soul receives everything with sadness, and desires to find no joy, she hides in the pit of nostalgia because she fears all who pass. She is like the dead because she does not aspire to heaven.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team

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