BLESSED PAUL BURALI: Charity
S. Andrew Avellino, first biographer of Blessed Paul Burali
CHARITY
It was also reported to me (I do not remember by whom) that as a Royal Councillor he was Commisar of a quarrel of a poor widow, who demanded a palace. It seemed to him that the neglected lady was right. But her lawyer and prosecutor were not urging a trial. Several times meeting them, he insisted to them, “Solicit the cause of that poor lady.” They answered him, “There is no security deposit” (two hundred ducats were needed to start the lawsuit). Finally thinking that the client, reduced to nothing, was losing a palace merely for not giving two hundred ducats deposit, seeing the lawyer and the attorney again he reasoned in these terms, “Solicit the lawsuit. God will provide the deposit.” The case was argued and the destitute widow was given a positive verdict and received the house (it is assumed that he secretly provided for the deposit and put back two hundred ducats of his own so that the poor woman would not lose her house). One can therefore understand how upon his entry into religion someone shouted in the Council, “Justice is lost. It was better for him to remain in the Council than to become religious.” From these two episodes it can be understood how friendly he was to poverty even in the century: in fact very little he owned.
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Prayer
O God who manifested in Blessed Paul Burali the multiform and admirable ways of your call to Christian perfection, grant us the comfort of his heavenly protection to follow you wholeheartedly. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(there is a small silence to ask for the grace that each person carries in his heart)
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
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Thought of Blessed Paul Burali:
“Whoever is Christ’s seek Christ, and seek him with the heart and freedom of the spirit. Only in this way will the yoke of Christ become light and gentle, otherwise one bears it unwillingly and recalcitrant, without ever being able to nourish the hope of breathing in the light of God’s infinite goodness.”
QPRD
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Note: The monthly message of our Blessed and Venerable Theatines is not only to be read. It is an invitation to learn more about them and make them known. It is an invitation to pray with faith, so that through their intercession with God we may receive from heaven a special grace, usually a healing, that the Church requires to confirm the holiness of those who are considered luminous beacons, God’s presence among men.
These messages are meant to be prayed with people in our communities. In a joking tone, it is said that the Blessed and Venerable Theatines are a bit grouchy because no one asks them to intercede with the Lord. And they look forward to it! So let us intensify our prayer, which is proof of our faith and hope in the good things to come.