September 1st Fast

 +JMJ

"We put pride into everything like salt. We like to see that our good works are known. If our virtues are seen, we are pleased; if our faults are perceived, we are sad. I remark that in a great many people; if one says anything to them, it disturbs them, it annoys them. The saints were not like that – they were vexed if their virtues were known, and pleased that their imperfections should be seen." (St. John Vianney)

St. Catherine Laboure received many mystical graces—apparitions of Our Lady, prophetic visions of France's future, locutions from the Holy Spirit— but perhaps the most extraordinary grace she received was the gift of a hidden life.  Our Compassionate Mother shielded her servant from the world's eye, allowing this Sister 0f Charity the privilege of a peaceful existence. 

Yet, Sister Catherine cooperated with this invitation by humbly and gratefully accepting anonymity. How providential that her surname originates from the Latin root "to work"—laborare— for truly she led a life filled with drudgeries of the natural sort. Yet this ordinary life rose to supernatural heights— not owing to the miraculous occurrences that accompanied her years on earth— but as a direct consequence of the selfless love she poured forth in performing her duties without the desire of praise or attention. 

The call of each vocation is the total gift of self; yet that gift must be given without pretension or complaint. Sacrifices acquire their nobility not when they are exposed but when they are concealed.  For humility, the noblest of virtues, is attained through the most ignoblest of means: humiliations. The sincerely humble is eager for service and indifferent to notice. He serves the needs of others, not the needs of his ego. Not easily offended by others' seeming ingratitude, he is satisfied in the knowledge that his beloved is content. The hidden life of self-denial and daily service is one of heroic virtue, sought by a courageous few who accept the command of greatness in a life of littleness:

 "But not so with you, rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves." (Lk. 22:26-27)