Tuesday, March 4, 2014

March 4: Saint Casimir


Saint Casmir
(Note his three hands-
According to legend, the
painter attempted to redraw
the right hand,but his original
version kept reappearing.)

History

Casmir was a prince of Poland, and he sometimes struggled with shaving to choose between his father the King and his heavenly Father, the King of Kings. Once, his dad sent him with an army to take over the throne of Hungary. Casmir knew in his heart this was wrong, but he didn’t want to disobey his dad. When his soldiers began to desert on the way to Hungary, Casmir turned around and went home. His dad sent him away to a castle in a remote city to punish him, but Casmir only grew stronger in his desire to please God, even if it meant refusing to do what his dad asked him to do.

Activity

Saint Casimir use to sleep very little, staying up late to pray. When he died, his favorite hymn “Omni die dic Mariae" was played at his funeral mass. Listen to the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles sing it, and maybe you’ll see why it was such a favorite of St. Casimir.

Saint Casimir, pray for us!

More reading for parents:

Catholic Online


SPECIAL NOTE: 

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent. It is important to either give something up for Lent (like candy or television or sleeping with a pillow) or to add some daily devotion  (such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy or the Rosary or morning prayer) or both. Even a small child can do this! 

Furthermore, Ash Wednesday is a day of abstinence (for everybody age 14 and up) and fasting (for everybody aged 18-59, unless they have a medical reason or strenuous job that precludes them from giving up meals. This includes pregnant and nursing moms!) 

Abstinence means abstaining from meat products. Fish/seafood is allowable, but remember the point is to make this a day of penance, not feasting. 

Fasting means limiting yourself to one regular-sized meal and two smaller meals (glorified snacks) with no eating between meals. You can choose when to eat your regular-sized meal (I find it best to eat it over the noon hour). 

Details on fasting and abstinence here.

Mass is offered tomorrow, along with the imposition of ashes, but it's not a holy day of obligation. Strive to get to Mass if you can, but if you can't that's okay. Here are the Mass readings if you wish to study them at home. 

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