Monday Motivation: Wendell Berry

It's been awhile since I've done a Motivation Monday post. But I'd like to start up again, because I need small reminders of motivation and inspiration. I'm ready to dig back into studies, stricter routines, writing, etc. I just need to find the right focus and maintain momentum. Is this what hope feels like? Maybe it's best not to analyze, just to sit with it.  

St. Albert of Jerusalem

St. Albert of Jerusalem was born to a noble family in Italy around 1150. He was an intelligent man and studied theology and law. He joined the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross then served as bishop of Bobbio and Vercelli. He then served Pope Clement III as a diplomat. For his mediation between the papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor, the pope made Albert an imperial prince.

In 1205, Pope Innocent III named Albert the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The title had been established in 1099 when Jerusalem had come under control of Christian crusaders. However, by Albert’s time, the Saracens had recaptured the city. The title was an honor, but not one many accepted, as the position led to persecution and possible martyrdom under the Saracan rule. Still, Albert accepted the position and moved to Palestine. He lived in the port city of Acre, as Jerusalem was too dangerous. There, he helped the hermits on Mount Carmel establish the Carmelite Order and wrote what became called the Carmelite Rule of St. Albert.

He continued his work of diplomacy, mediating disputes between various kingdoms whose interests intersected in the Holy Land. In 1214, he was invited to the Fourth Lateran Council. In calling the council, Pope Innocent III wrote of the urgent matter of reclaiming the Holy Land alongside several needed reforms of the Church. It is clear that Albert’s role in the Holy Land and his experience with diplomacy would have been most useful at the council.

Yet, before he left Acre for Rome, the Master of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit, a man Albert had earlier rebuked for immorality, stabbed Albert to death during a procession on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

St. Albert died that day on Sept. 14, 1214. His feast day is Sept. 25. He is the patron of the Carmelite Order.

St. Catherine of Bologna

St. Catherine of Bologna was born Sept. 8, 1413 into a wealthy Italian family. She was raised in the court of the Marquis of Ferrara and was well-educated. She excelled in writing, painting, and music. In 1426, she joined a group of beguines (lay women living a semi-religious life) following the Augustinian rule. The women were divided on whether to continue to follow the Augustinian rule or the Franciscan rule. In 1431, the beguine house was converted into a Poor Clare convent; Catherine remained in the house and became a Poor Clare sister.

Catherine became mistress of novices. She wrote religious treaties, sermons, and copied and illustrated her own breviary. She drew and stitched images of several saints and of the infant Jesus. She is said to have experienced visions of Mary, Joseph, and Thomas Becket and receive prophecies of the future, including the 1453 fall of Constantinople.

In 1455, she was sent to serve as abbess of a new convent in Bologna.

St. Catherine of Bologna died on March 9, 1463. Eighteen days after her burial, the nuns reported a sweet smell coming from her grave. Her body was exhumed and found to be incorruptible. She is the patron of artists, the liberal arts, and against temptations. Her feast day is March 9.