{"id":2417,"date":"2015-11-07T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2012\/11\/winsome-saint-willibrord\/"},"modified":"2015-11-07T10:12:16","modified_gmt":"2015-11-07T09:12:16","slug":"winsome-saint-willibrord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2015\/11\/winsome-saint-willibrord\/","title":{"rendered":"Winsome Saint Willibrord"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1007willibrord_001.jpg\"Energetic in Everything He Undertook for God<\/strong>
\nSaint Willibrord is the patron saint of The Netherlands. He was also a Benedictine, one of the companions of Saint Boniface and Saint Lioba in the English evangelization of Northern Europe. Alcuin, in his Life of Willibrord, describes him as “comely of face, cheerful in spirit, wise in counsel, pleasing in speech, grave in character and energetic in everything he undertook for God”. Willibrord’s ministry was one of zealous preaching shaped by the psalmody of the Hours and by the practice of lectio divina<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Willibrord Changes Water Into Wine<\/strong>
\nAlcuin relates a number of miracles performed by Saint Willibrord. I especially like one having to do with wine. It shows a fully human and compassionate Willibrord. On one occasion, Willibrord came with his companions to the house of a friend of his and wished to break the fatigue of the long journey by taking a meal there, but it came to his ears that the head of the house had no wine. He gave orders that four small flasks — all that his companions carried with them for their needs on the journey — should be brought to him. He blessed them in the name of Christ who at the marriage feast of Cana changed water into wine. After Willibrord’s gracious blessing about forty people drank their fill from the small bottles. With great thanksgiving and joyful hearts, they said one to another: “The Lord Jesus has in truth fulfilled His promise in the Gospel: He who believes in me will do the deeds I do, and greater than these shall he do<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Plant the Cross and Build A Monastery Around It<\/strong>
\nSaint Willibrord illustrates for us, in this time of the New Evangelisation, the enduring value of the monastic mission. To plant the Cross and to build a monastery around it remains, even today, an act of evangelisation, an effective way of preaching the gospel. Monasteries open and monasteries close but wherever men and women truly seek God and prefer nothing to the love of Christ the seed of the Gospel is planted in the earth to bear a fruit that will abide (Jn 15:16).<\/p>\n

I came across this wonderfully evocative Litany of Saint Willibrord. It gives, I think, the portrait of a true missionary of the Gospel:
\n<\/em>
\nLord, have mercy.
\nChrist, have mercy.
\nChrist, hear us.
\nChrist, graciously hear us.
\nGod the Father in heaven,
\nhave mercy on us.
\nGod the Son, Redeemer of the world,
\nhave mercy on us.
\nGod the Holy Spirit,
\nhave mercy on us.
\nGod the Holy Trinity,
\nhave mercy on us.
\nSt Willibrord, pray for us!
\nSt Willibrord, Guiding Light of the Church,
\nSt Willibrord, Bright-shining star of our country,
\nSt Willibrord, Missionary to our homeland,
\nSt Willibrord, special protector of this our land,
\nSt Willibrord, first apostle of the Netherlands.
\nSt Willibrord, founder of monasteries and churches,
\nSt Willibrord, promotor of progress and knowledge,
\nSt Willibrord, teacher of truth,
\nSt Willibrord, passionate interpreter of the teaching of Christ,
\nSt Willibrord, ceaseless proclaimer of the Holy Gospel,
\nSt Willibrord, teacher of true faith,
\nSt Willibrord, founder of peace and justice,
\nSt Willibrord, model of hope and reconciliation,
\nSt Willibrord, conqueror of injustice and discord,
\nSt. Willibrord, Architect of Community and Unity,
\nSt Willibrord, Destroyer of idols,
\nSt Willibrord, Patron Saint of children,
\nSt Willibrord, Gentle guide of the lost,
\nSt Willibrord, Support of the homeless,
\nSt Willibrord, Friend of the persecuted,
\nSt Willibrord, Light of the blind,
\nSt. Willibrord, Refuge for the sick,
\nSt Willibrord, Gentle father of the poor,
\nSt Willibrord, Comforter of the afflicted and sorrowful,
\nSt Willibrord, Helper to the suffering,
\nSt Willibrord, True voice of God,
\nSt Willibrord, Humble servant of Jesus Christ,
\nSt Willibrord, Mighty advocate in heaven,
\nSt Willibrord, Miraculous healer,
\nSt Willibrord, True witness and confessor of Christ,
\nSt Willibrord, Saviour of those who doubt their faith,
\nSt Willibrord, Supporter of the care-giver and educator,
\nSt Willibrord, Hope of those who pray,
\nSt Willibrord, Model of patience and gentleness,
\nSt Willibrord, Example of active love,
\nSt Willibrord, Master of joy and life,
\nSt Willibrord, Disciple of Christ,
\nLamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
\nHear us!
\nLamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world.
\nGraciously hear us!
\nLamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world.
\nHave mercy on us!<\/p>\n

V. Pray for us, Saint Willibrord.
\nR. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.<\/p>\n

Let us pray.
\nO God, the Saviour of all,
\nwho sent Thy bishop Willibrord as a pilgrim for Christ
\nto proclaim the Gospel to many peoples
\nand confirm them in their faith,
\ngrant us, we beseech you,
\nso to witness to Thy steadfast love by word and deed
\nthat Thy Church may flourish and wax strong in holiness.
\nThrough Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Energetic in Everything He Undertook for God Saint Willibrord is the patron saint of The Netherlands. He was also a Benedictine, one of the companions of Saint Boniface and Saint Lioba in the English evangelization of Northern Europe. Alcuin, in his Life of Willibrord, describes him as “comely of face, cheerful in spirit, wise in <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saints"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-CZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2417"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11783,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2417\/revisions\/11783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}