Today, 14 Of November Is: St. Lorcn Ua Tuathail / Lawrence O'Toole / Laurent D'Eu

Today, 14 of November is: St. Lorcán Ua Tuathail / Lawrence O'Toole / Laurent d'Eu

Nascut a Irlanda el 1128, Lawrence era fill del cap del clan Murray. Quan tenia 10 anys, va ser pres com a ostatge pel rei de Leinster, Dermonf McMurrough, que dos anys més tard el va enviar a l'abadia de Glendalough. El nen es va enamorar de la vida monàstica, i s'hi va quedar amb el permís del seu pare.

Als 25 anys va ser elegit abat de Galedalough, càrrec que va ocupar fins al 1162. Home d'acció i de pregària, es va comprometre a reformar els costums de l'Abadia, i va prestar especial atenció a la caritat cap als orfes abandonats.

El 1179 participà en el Tercer Concili General del Laterà, a Roma, quan el papa Alexandre III el va nomenar bisbe de Dublín i cinc diòcesis més d'Irlanda, a més de nomenar-lo el seu representant a l'illa.

El rei Enric II d'Anglaterra, incòmode amb tanta autoritat ofert a Dom Lourenço pel Sant Pare, va prohibir al bisbe tornar a Irlanda. Després de moltes negociacions, el monarca va acabar cedint i permetent que Lourenço tornés a l'illa, però el bisbe, ja vell i malalt, va morir durant el viatge, el 14 de novembre de 1180.

Canonitzat per Honori III l'any 1225, sant Llorenç O'Toole pertany al grup de sants que van patir pels petits interessos dels representants del poder temporal que no honraven els seus càrrecs perquè temien poc Déu i s'estimaven més que ell.

Sant Lawrence O'Toole, pregueu per nosaltres!

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Born in Ireland in 1128, Lawrence was the son of the chief of the Clan Murray. When he was 10 years old, he was taken hostage by the King of Leinster, Dermonf McMurrough, who two years later sent him to Glendalough Abbey. The boy fell in love with the monastic life, and remained there with his father's permission.

At the age of 25 he was elected Abbot of Galedalough, a position he held until 1162. A man of action and prayer, he was committed to reforming the Abbey's customs, and paid special attention to charity towards abandoned orphans.

In 1179, he participated in the Third General Council of the Lateran, in Rome, when Pope Alexander III appointed him Bishop of Dublin and five other dioceses in Ireland, in addition to naming him his representative on the island.

King Henry II of England, uncomfortable with so much authority offered to Dom Lourenço by the Holy Father, banned the Bishop from returning to Ireland. After many negotiations, the monarch ended up giving in and allowing Lourenço to return to the island, but the Bishop, already elderly and ill, died during the trip, on November 14, 1180.

Canonized by Honorius III in 1225, Saint Lawrence O’Toole belongs to the group of Saints who suffered because of the petty interests of representatives of temporal power who did not honor their positions because they feared God little, and loved themselves more than Him.

Saint Lawrence O’Toole, pray for us!

“Her wisdom enrages me, her modesty irritates me, her humility annihilates me and oppresses me, and her whole behavior provokes me to unbearable wrath. I abhor Her more than all the children of Adam. There is in Her a special power, which often makes it impossible for me to approach Her; if I assail Her with suggestions, She does not admit them, and all my efforts in her regard until this hour have been entirely fruitless. Hence it is important for us all that we find a remedy; and we must make the greatest exertions, lest our power be ruined. I desire the destruction of this soul more than that of all the world.”

From City of God by Mary of Agreda; a vision of the devil addressing his legion about the Mother of God as a child.

Beauty everywhere.

An age that has not gone, is just hidden from us.

Padre St. Pio, pray for us.

12/23/2022

Her poor virgin ears!

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La Vallée de Larmes, oil painting by Gustave Doré, 1883.

Taking pity the human race, condemned by the fault of the first parent, He -the Splendor of the Father's glory, the Image of the substance of God, the Ruler of the world, the Judge of the future age- came down to us from the heavenly citadel and the high throne of God to save us.

- Pope Pius II, Cum bellum hodie (2.4.8), trans. Michael von Cotta-Schönberg. Original Latin below.

Misertus humani generis, primi parentis culpa jam pridem damnati, ut nos redimeret, ex arce caelesti et altissimo Dei throno, splendor paternae gloriae, figura substantiae Dei, moderator orbis, judex futuri saeculi, ad nos descendit[.]