But mortally wounding his opponent after being challenged to a dual,

he knew his life must change.

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ST BERNARD OF CORLEONE : Feast day is January 12th

Born in 1605 in Corleone, Italy, St. Bernard followed the footsteps of his father and became a cobbler. But he also was enamored by the soldiers stationed nearby. From them he learned the art of fencing, or swordfighting. He was very good and considered ‘the one’ to beat and so he would be challenged to fights.  But one fight turned deadly. Seeking sanctuary in the Franciscan Capuchin church, where he remained for a week, he had time to take stock of his life. Conversion ensued and he decided to join the Franciscans and become a lay brother in the order. And so Philip Latini became Brother Bernard in 1632.

The way in which Brother Bernard strove particularly to make amends for his violence towards others was in directing his violence against himself. He led a most penitential life as a Franciscan. But along with his stern self-discipline and fasting, he advanced by giant steps in his prayer life. Many spiritual gifts were reported of him as time passed: prophecies, wonders, miracles.

Among the more unusual graces bestowed on Br. Bemard was the ability to heal animals. In a truly Franciscan spirit, he felt loving kinship with all lesser creatures. He was sad to see them in pain, for, as he said, they could not speak in order to tell human beings of their illnesses, and there were (at that time) no doctors to prescribe for them or medicines to cure them.

Because of the reputation Bernard acquired of curing animals, owners of all sorts of animals brought them to this “supernatural veterinary”.  He would usually say the Our Father over them, and then lead them three times around the cross that stood in front of the Capuchin church. “He cured them all,” says a biographer.

St. Bernard cherished a special love for the Blessed Mother, and encouraged others to do the same. The Blessed Mother appeared to him and placed the Divine Child in his arms. Moreover, she gave him knowledge of the day of his death four months in advance. He died at Palermo on January 12, 1667.

His biographers stated that, attracted by the fame of his sanctity, there gathered for his burial so many people who raised their voices in praise of the deceased, that it was less a funeral cortège than a triumphal procession. Numerous miracles occurring at his grave promoted the cause of his beatification in 1767 and subsequent canonization in 2001.

God our Father, you have given us St Bernard
as a wonderful example of penance and of Christian virtues.
By the power of your Spirit make us firm in faith and effective in our work.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

Prayer, Fasting and Mercy by St. Peter Chrysologus

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practise mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defence, a threefold united prayer in our favour. Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving. To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth.

However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit. When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.

St. Peter is an early Church Father and as one of the greatest preachers of the early church explains the key penitential practices of Lent-prayer, fasting, and almsgiving or mercy. Saint Peter Chrysologus declares that Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. He shows how prayer, mercy and fasting are one, and they give life to each other. This reading is used by the Roman Church for the Office of Readings for Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent. St. Peter Chrysologus was the bishop of Ravenna, Italy in the middle of the 5th century. His sermons were so inspiring that he was given the title “Chrysologus” (greek for “Golden-worded) and was eventually declared a “Doctor of the Church.”