Cheryl Green

The Church today remembers Saint Anselm of Canterbury, and his story does not begin in a cathedral, but in the mountains. He was born around 1033 in Aosta, in what is now northern Italy, a place of stone, cold air, and quiet strength. His father was strong-willed, ambitious, a man shaped by the world. His mother was gentle, devout, the one who first taught him to look toward God. And like so many of us, Anselm stood between those two worlds. As a boy, he once dreamed that he climbed the mountains and was welcomed at the table of God. That dream stayed with him. But his path was not straight. His mother died, and the home he knew changed. The peace he once had gave way to tension, and rather than settling into a clear direction, he left. For years, he wandered through Burgundy and France, searching, thinking, restless. Until he found a monastery at Bec. There, under the guidance of Lanfranc, something awakened in him. Not just faith, but a desire to understand it. Anselm would later give voice to something that still shapes the Church today: faith seeking understanding. He did not believe because he understood. He sought to understand because he believed. He entered the monastery, and from there, his life began to deepen. He became prior, then abbot. And the monks loved him, not because he ruled with force, but because he led like a father. Patient. Steady. Drawing men toward God, not driving them. But his quiet life did not remain quiet. He was called to England, and eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury. And here, the struggle began. Kings sought control over the Church. Anselm refused. Not with anger, but with conviction. He was exiled. More than once. He lost position, comfort, and security, but he would not bend the truth to satisfy power. And yet, even in all of this, he remained a man of prayer. He wrote of God as the One than which nothing greater can be conceived, and he wrestled deeply with the mystery of why God became man, speaking of Christ’s sacrifice with a clarity that still shapes how many understand the cross. But what stands out most is not only what he wrote. It is how he lived. A man shaped by loss, formed through searching, anchored in truth. A man who would not trade the things of God for the favor of kings. And so the Church remembers him. Not as a distant figure, but as a voice still speaking. In a world that demands compromise, he reminds us to stand. In a world that separates faith and reason, he holds them together. In a world that forgets God, he calls us to seek Him more deeply. Saint Anselm did not begin as a saint. He began as a restless young man. And God did not waste that restlessness.

Twin priests Fr Joe and Fr Matt Kelly, aged 95, have celebrated an extraordinary milestone in Ireland, marking 70 years since their ordination to the priesthood. Image: The Way

“Se não conseguir a santidade, nada terei feito neste mundo.” — São Domingos Sávio

O Lord, grant us a quiet night and a peaceful end. #Compline

St Theodore of Sykeon, pray for us! Born out of wedlock, he practiced penances & lived an austere, solitary prayer life in his youth. Ordained a priest at 18, with gifts of prophecy, performing miracles of healing & exorcisms. bit.ly/3OdbC4L

Though I will to do good, because of my weakness I fail to accomplish it (Rom 7:18)… O Lord, how absolutely necessary is Your Grace for me!

† St. Padre Pio says: "Your tears were collected by angels and were placed in a golden chalice and you will find them when you present yourself before God."

Let nothing disturb you,  Let nothing frighten you,  All things are passing away:  God never changes.  Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing;  God alone suffices. Amen. - Saint Teresa of Avila

Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of a new day. May all that I do today be done with love and for your glory. #MorningPrayer

† St. Padre Pio says: "Humility, humility, and always humility ....... satan fears and trembles before humble souls!"

When you decide firmly to lead a clean life, chastity will not be a burden on you…it will be your crown of triumph! Be chaste! St. Josemaria Escriva.

There are people who do not want us to talk about hell. Hell is not an invention of the Vatican. Hell does not cease to exist simply because people no longer speak of it. The shepherd children in Fatima have seen that hell exists. And it is not empty. Cardinal Francis Arinze

St. Julie Billard (1816) During the French Revolution, she hid loyal priests in her home. Because of this, she became a hunted prey, being forced to flee several times. After receiving a vision, she co-founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and was elected as Mother General

"Our greatest fault is, that we wish to serve God in our way, not in His way; according to our will, not according to His will. When He wishes us to be sick, we wish to be well; when he desires us to serve Him by sufferings, we desire to serve Him by works; when He wishes us to exercise charity, we wish to exercise humility; when He seeks from us resignation, we wish for devotion, a spirit of prayer, or some other virtue. And this is not because the things we desire may be more pleasing to Him, but because they are more to our taste. This is certainly the greatest obstacle we can raise to our own perfection, for it is beyond doubt that if we wish to be Saints according to our own will, we shall never be so at all. To be truly a Saint, it is necessary to be one according to the will of God." - St. Francis de Sales

The judgments of God have terrified me. The darkness of death has overtaken me: and the fear of hell has invaded me. But in solitude I will expect thy consolation: and in my chamber I will wait for thy mercy. – St. Bonaventure

This is how St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney has been illuminated for Christmas, with a beautiful Nativity scene projected onto its façade. Image: Our Lady of the Rosary Fairfield Parish