St. Bernardine of Siena
St. Bernardine of Siena
In the year 1400, a young man came to the door of the largest hospital in Siena. A plague was raging through the city so horrible that as many as twenty people died each day just in the hospital alone. And many of the people who died were those who were needed to tend the ill. It was a desperate situation -- more and more people were falling ill and fewer and fewer people were there to help them.
The twenty-year-old man who stood there had not come because he was ill but because he wanted to help. And he brought not new patients but young men like himself willing to tend the dying. For four months Bernardine and his companions worked day and night not only to comfort the patients but to organize and clean the hospital. Only at the end of the plague did Bernardine himself fall ill -- of exhaustion.
But that was Bernardine's way -- whatever he did, he put his whole self into it. Immediately after he recovered he was back caring for the sick -- but this time, he was responsible not for a whole hospital but one person -- an invalid aunt. Yet for fourteen months she got his full attention. Throughout his life, he put as much energy into caring for one person as for hundreds, as much commitment into converting one citizen as to preaching to a whole city.
After his aunt died, Bernardine started to think about where his life should be going. The son of a noble family, he had been orphaned at seven and raised by an aunt. We are told as a young person that he hated indecent talk so much that he would blush when he heard it. Even his schoolmates hesitated to make him so uncomfortable but apparently one adult citizen thought it would be a great joke to needle Bernardine. In a public marketplace he stopped Bernardine and started to talk to him in a shameful way. But if he had thought to get away with his cruel trick, he was surprised when Bernardine slapped him in the face. The man slunk away, shamed in front of the very crowd he'd been trying to impress.
Bernardine, who had come to Siena to study, threw himself into prayer and fasting to discover what God wanted him to do. One might have expected him to continue his work with the sick but in 1403 he joined the Franciscans and in 1404 he was ordained a priest.
The Franciscans were known as missionary preachers, but Bernardine did very little preaching with because of a voice that was weak and hoarse. For twelve years he remained in the background, his energies going to prayer or to his own spiritual conversion and preparation.
At the end of that time, he went to Milan on a mission. When he got up to preach his voice was strong and commanding and his words so convincing that the crowd would not let him leave unless he promised to come back.
Thus began the missionary life of the one whom Pope Pius II called a second Paul. As usual, Bernardine through his whole self, body and soul, into his new career. He crisscrossed Italy on foot, preaching for hours at a time, several times a day. We are told he preached on punishment for sin as well as reward for virtue but focusing in the end on the mercy of Jesus and the love of Mary. His special devotion was to the Holy Name of Jesus.
Some who were jealous denounced him to the pope by saying he preached superstition. Silenced for a short while, Bernardine was soon cleared and back to preaching.
Bernardine refused several cities that wanted him as bishop but he was unable to avoid being named vicar general of his order. All his energy during that period went to renewing the original spirit of the order.
Soon, however, Bernardine heard the call to go back to preaching which consumed his last days. As a matter of fact, even when it was clear he was dying, he preached fifty consecutive days. He died in 1444 when he was almost 64 years old.
Prayer:Saint Bernardine of Siena, words were very important to you. You spent most of your life speaking the golden words of Jesus' mercy and his Holy Name. And you abhorred words that were shameful. Pray for us that we may always choose to speak Jesus' name with reverence and choose words of love over words of shame. Amen
Copyright 1996-2000 by Terry Matz. All Rights Reserved.
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Dear Saint,
Kindly endow the priests with the zeal to preach the Gospel and enable the laity to do their part, to live the Gospel. Help me to love Jesus with my whole heart and mind and to feel his grace working through me in spite of me. Drive away the evil spirit of lust for flesh from me so that I may devote all my energies in loving God for the sake of God. Amen.
Dear St. Bernadine,
Please intercede for my mother who had spinal surgery and will have more today because she is leaking spinal fluid. I pray that you guide the surgeons and help her to heal.
Good St. Bernardine, I am trying to control my tongue more and more these last couple of months. The Holy Spirit has shown me that I need to. I also want to help others (in quiet and humble servitude to God) increase their understanding of God's Word through my proclamation of It.
Help me to unite my words to God's Word more and more so that His work is done through what I speak and do. May I not be tempted into idle or unsacred talk. May I not want to listen to anything profane or against God in any way. Protect me from the media. May my words be always prayerful. If anyone comes at my side with loose talk, may you help me escape.
Please help my family too St. Bernardine, especially my husband and son. Protect them from all blasphemy against the Holy Name of Jesus. Ask Mary to help them.
I pray for your intercession in this. It is on my heart. Please help. Amen.
St.Bernardine of siena please pray for me and my family
I ask for your help in my work
God Bless us all
Amen
Dear St. Bernardine ... I have been recently told I have 3 nodules in my lung. I will be getting a PET scan soon to determine what these nodules are . . . please intercede for me, St. Bernardine, that I do not have cancer. I have 4 young grandbabies, with two more on the way in the Fall. They mean the world to me. Please heal my lung so that I may praise and adore Jesus more fully. In this, I pray.
Dearest St. Bernardino,
My sister has asked for you to pray for my father, who has been in the ICU with ARDS for 49 days. Two days ago we were given the great news that his lungs are showing signs of clearing. I pray that you help to continue this miracle and heal his lungs everyday. He is a spiritual man who finds moments of comfort while in the ICU when we pray with him. Please lift him up and help his lungs to recover. Thank you for helping to work miracles. I ask this through Christ our lord. Amen.
Dearest St. Bernardino, my father Dennis was admitted to the hospital six weeks ago tomorrow due to pneumonia and sepsis. He was intubated within one hour of admission and sedated immediately due to poor oxygenation. The sepsis was miraculously resolved with antibiotics however the pneumonia caused complications including two pnuemothorax and now is Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. My father was sedated and paralyzed for fourteen days at a local hospital in our town, before both lungs collapsed and caused him to nearly lose his life. Our family was given information that a hospital 100 miles away had a technology called ECMO that could save his life on the day in which the doctors and nurses told us that my father would not make it through the night. We made the decision to transfer him via critical care ambulance (the doctors said that his lungs were too weak to be transported flight for life) and with GOD's grace, my father made it safely to the hospital. My father has been on the ECMO machine for 28 days tomorrow.He has been in intensive care for 42 days. His lungs are still very sick, however the doctor says that his condition has improved somewhat (due to the fact that he is now awake and responding to the staff and family). My father is in need of a miracle. I pray to you St. Bernardino that you intervene and heal my father's sick lungs. Our faith in GOD is eternal, and I ask you for your help. My father has a young son and baby grandchildren. He is only 56 years old and has lots of life to live. I believe that you can help him. I found a beautiful medal with a card with you on it which I had blessed by my priest at church today. I am bringing it to his room tomorrow. Lord, I ask this in the name of you. I praise you St. Bernardino for your intercession.
ST.Bernardino of Siena, please intervene and help my husband Gary Blair he was exposed to toxic black mold which is now in his lungs.He is on oxygen 24/7 he struggles to breathe w/o any relief. He has bad infections on going-his DR. says there not much they can do- just rest and take antbotic.He is getting weaker everyday, I KNOW THIS MOLD IS KILLING HIM. Please help Gary overcome all his lung issues, pray for him , restore his health, I PRAY for your healing to help GARY. This mold did kill my poor dog. Please intercede for me with a healing miracle to cure my loving husband of these lung ailments. For you are the physician of lungs and I have faith in you and Jesus Christ. HOLY,HOLY,HOLY IS THE KING OF ALL LORDS. AMEN THANK YOU, and God bless you for all you do to those in need. amen chris blair
Dear Saint Bernardino of Siena,
You are known to help persons with breathing problems, please heal the scarred lungs of our friend & brother Dave. At this time he is very fearful, that he may have cancer. Please intercede on his behalf to replace his fears with trust in God's Mercy. His wife, 2 young daughters and mother-in-law rely on him fully after the untimely & very painful death of his father-in-law, due to complications from surgery this past summer. Please heal Dave in Jesus' Name. Amen.
St. Bernadine, I ask for your intercession. That you may pray for my brother Michael. He has had asthma since he was a child and through the years of potent medications, he's health worsens. Pray that his lungs may be healed, so that he may finally take a full breath. Help him to heal his body and revitalize his spirit. Thank you for your love and compassion for the sick.
Amen
Dear St. Bernardino, please bless my sister-in-law, Maxine and heal her from asthma. Give her doctors wisdom in treating her case. Hold fast to her as she struggles to breathe. Cover her in your love. Thank you, in Jesus' name. Amen
Please pray for my Father John, he cannot breathe and is on oxygen. He is suffering very bad please help him.. Thank you
my saint please help my brothers and sisters ad also my mother who are not recognized this church i mean the catholic.they are believe in protestant.please help them.including my husband who his always drunk and also not go prayer during the sabbath day...etc.please my saint help us.i believe and trust u .
Dearest St. Bernardino of Siena, I have just learned that I have reduced lung capacity and COPD. Please intervene on my behalf, praying that my lungs be healed, and that my lung capacity be increased, and not only for me but for all those requesting your intervention, in the Holy Name of Jesus.
Dearest St. Bernardino, I am just learning of your wonderful work, I humbly ask if you would pray for my complete recovery from lung and bone cancer, I know my lord loves me and heals all......thank you kindly, Louise R.
St. Bernadine, please pray for my sister-in-law Michelle. She is good, holy, and righteous and I know that Jesus loves her very much. Please pray with us that her recurrent pneumonia will go away and that she will be returned to good health. Thank you for blessing us with your prayers.
Dear Saint Bernardine of Siena,
I can't breath. Please pray for me that my lungs will clear of this congestion. Thank you.
Please cure my father of his lung ailment that appeared after his stroke. For some reason he now needs oxygen and cannot get rid of his wet cough. St. Bernadine, please intercede and cure my father.
Knowing the history of my patron saint is more of a guide in living m Life! Pray and intercede on m behalf St Bernardine always IJN. Amen
Probably because the derivative of his name, Bernardine, sounds and looks to most Americans/English speakers as a female name. I prefer to call him St. Bernardino. St Bernardino pray for us in the Holy Name of Jesus!