Our Lenten Journey, April 4(*): St. Casilda of Toledo
(*) Patron_Archive says, today. St. Casilda of Toledo was the daughter of Moorish king Yahya ibn Ismail al-Mamun, who ruled when parts of northern Spain were under Muslim control in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
Saint Casilda, by Francisco de Zurbarán (Wikimedia Commons, in the public domain) Casilda was well known for her kindness to Christian prisoners. She often brought them bread in a basket hidden in her skirts. Once when stopped by soldiers to ask what she was bringing to the prison, she replied ‘roses.’ When she showed the basket to the soldiers, it was full of roses, thus hiding her charitable mission.
Casilda became ill, most likely with women’s health issues, and Muslim doctors had not been able to heal her. She travelled to the healing springs at San Vicente near the northern coast of Spain and was miraculously cured.
Casilda then converted to Christianity and was baptized at Burgos. She returned to San Vicente and lived the rest of her life as a prayerful hermit, not far from the springs that healed her. It is said that she lived to be 100 years old, dying sometime around 1050.
St. Casilda’s feast day is April 9.
She is the patron saint of infertile women and Muslim converts to Christianity
St. Casilda is not the only saint to experience “the miracle of the roses” while helping others. Read more about that here: wikipedia.org
The above painting has an interesting history of its own. Read more about it here:
museothyssen.org
thedialog.org NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Ezekiel 37:21-28
The Reunification of the Two Kingdoms (Continuation)
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[21] Then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all sides, and bring them to their own land; [22] and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. [23] They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
[24] ”My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall dwell in the land where your fathers dwelt that I gave to my servant Jacob; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. [26] I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. [27] My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [28] Then the nations will know that I the LORD will sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in the midst of them for ever more."
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Commentary:
37:15-27. Unity will be the most obvious effect of the people’s purification. By the symbolic action of the two sticks, Ezekiel shows that it is God himself who will bring about the unification of the tribes that made up the Southern kingdom (Judah) with those of the North (Joseph-Ephraim); it will be a union so strong that it will never again be broken (as it was broken after the death of Solomon: cf. 1 Kings 12:20-33). This unity is also a symbol of the oneness that Jesus wants the new people of God to have (cf. Jn 17:21) and which is essential for the success of his plans for mankind’s salvation, “All men are called to be part of this catholic unity of the people of God which in promoting universal peace presages it. And there belong to or are related to it in various ways, the Catholic faithful, all who believe in Christ, and indeed the whole of mankind, for all men are called by the grace of God to salvation” (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 13).
37:26. A “covenant of peace”. The concluding words of the oracle (vv. 24-28) are messianic ones, as can be seen from the reference to David, king and shepherd (v. 24), and from the emphasis put on the fact that the nation will abide in the land “for ever” (v. 25) with the sanctuary in its midst (vv. 27, 28). Peace (cf. 34:25) is the greatest of the messianic gifts (cf. Is 9:5); it implies safety from external enemies but, above all, peace with God and neighbor. Jesus called peacemakers blessed, happy (cf. Mt 5:9). “[T]he peace of Christ radiates from God the Father. For by the cross the incarnate Son, the prince of peace reconciled all men with God. By thus restoring all men to the unity of one people and one body, he slew hatred in his own flesh; and, after being lifted on high by his resurrection, he poured forth the spirit of love into the hearts of men” ("Gaudium Et Spes", 78).