Collect taken from the Memorial of St. Angela Merici
Collect: May the Virgin Saint Angela never fail to commend us to your compassion, O Lord, we pray, that, following the lessons of her charity and prudence, we may hold fast to your teaching and express it in what we do. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son…
“May the Virgin Saint Angela never fail to commend us to your compassion, O Lord, we pray”
– When we pray to a saint, we are essentially asking them to pray for us because they are closer to God and, quite simply, they pray better than we do. Thus, we ask Angela to invoke the compassion of God as she prays for our needs.
“that, following the lessons of her charity and prudence, we may hold fast to your teaching and express it in what we do”
– Note that we wish to learn not only the lesson of Charity (which is not simply “being nice”), but also the lesson of prudence. It is prudence that guides us to make decisions based on Charity and Truth so that we can in fact (and not just in our imaginations) express the actual teachings of Christ in our actions.
Questions & Advice: Are you lazy in expressing your charity? Christian art, movies, and music is often criticized for being poorly done, probably because it is tempting to think that simply doing something “for Jesus” is good enough and that we don’t have to make it excellent. Do you let good intentions justify half-hearted effort or poorly thought-out decisions?
Learn more about the virtue of prudence. Try starting a conversation about what Christian prudence looks like in today’s world and look for the opportunity to teach others or be taught on the subject. In this year of Mercy, it is good to remember that “instructing the ignorant” is a work of mercy.
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| St. Angela Merici, pray for us! |