SAINT VERONICA of MILAN
(1445-1497)
Saint Veronica's parents were peasants of a village near Milan. From
her childhood she toiled hard in the house and the field, and
accomplished cheerfully every menial task. Gradually the desire for
perfection grew within her; she became deaf to the jokes and songs of
her companions, and sometimes, when reaping and hoeing, would hide
her face and weep. Untaught, she began to be anxious about her lack
of instruction, and rose secretly at night to try to learn to read.
Our Lady told her that other things were necessary, but not this: "My
daughter, do not be anxious, it will be sufficient for you to know
the three letters that I bring you from heaven. The first is purity
of heart, which makes us love God above all things; you must have
only one love, that of My Son. The second is not to murmur against
the faults of your neighbor, but to support them with patience and
pray for the one in question. The third is to meditate every day on
the Passion of Jesus Christ, who accepts you for His spouse."
After three years' patient waiting she was received as a lay-sister
in the convent of Saint Martha at Milan. The community was extremely
poor, and Veronica's duty was to beg throughout the city for their
daily food. Three years after receiving the religious habit she was
afflicted with constant bodily pains, yet never would consent to be
relieved of any of her labors, or to omit one of her prayers. By
exact obedience she became a living copy of her rule, and obeyed with
a smile the slightest wish of her Superior. She sought until the last
the hardest and most humble occupations, and in their performance
enjoyed some of the highest favors ever granted to Saints.
By the first letter taught her by Our Lady, Saint Veronica learned to
begin her daily duties for no human motive, but for God alone; by the
second, to carry out what she had thus begun by attending to her own
affairs, never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who
manifestly lacked virtue; by the third she was enabled to forget her
own pains and sorrows in those of her Lord, and to weep hourly, but
silently, over the memory of the wrongs He suffered. She had constant
ecstasies, and saw in successive visions the whole life of Jesus, and
many other mysteries. Yet, by a special grace, neither her raptures
nor her tears ever interrupted her labors, which ended only with
death. She died in 1497, on the day she had foretold, after a six
months' illness, in the thirtieth year of her religious profession.
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Lord, may everything we do begin with Your inspiration and continue
with Your help,
so that all our prayers and works may begin in You and by You be happily ended.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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