From: "Trudie" 

March 19th - Blessed Clement of Dunblane, OP (AC)

Died 1256-58. One of the pioneers about whom we hear little is the colorful
and resourceful Bishop Clement of Dunblane, who received his habit from
Saint Dominic's hands and introduced the Dominicans as he preached in
Scotland. The monasteries he founded within a few years of the beginning of
the Dominican Order served the Church well, and the Church annals are
begemmed with the names of the people who made history in that interesting
country.
We read the names of Robert Bruce and Lord Douglas on the rolls of
benefactors of the Blackfriars. James Beaton, archbishop of Saint Andrews,
fled for sanctuary to the Dominican church in 1517; and in 1554, John Knox
was called to give an account of his strange doctrines in the Blackfriars
Church of Edinburgh.

Clement was Scottish by birth, and having met Saint Dominic at the
University of Paris and being received into the order, he was vocal and
active in bringing the friars to his homeland. Tradition holds that the
Scottish king, Alexander II, in Paris on a diplomatic mission, made a
personal appeal to Saint Dominic for missionaries. It is an historical fact
that this monarch was their first benefactor when the mission band at last
arrived, shortly after Dominic's death.

The priory in the lovely, seaside town of Ayr was founded in 1230, and
seven other large houses soon followed. There is record of transactions
with the rulers of the region at this time, and, a few years later, King
Robert Bruce granted the Dominicans the privilege of grinding their grain
at his mill.

Clement was appointed bishop of Dunblane in 1233, by Pope Gregory IX, a
devoted friend of Saint Dominic. He worked in this see for 23 years, and,
according to an old record, he "labored with unflagging zeal to uproot
superstition and destroy vice, to make true and solid piety known and
practiced, and to draw the faithful entrusted to his charge to the
imitation of all the virtues of Christian perfection, as he himself
fulfilled all the duties of a watchful and loving pastor"-a
description of a bishop that can hardly be bettered. He is described as
being poor himself, and the father of the poor, and all the old writers
speak of his zeal in restoring the ruined churches and the neglected rights
of the Church.

According to surviving records, he must have been a busy man, this rugged
missionary in an equally rugged land. He rebuilt Dunblane Cathedral,
visited tirelessly among the outlying regions of his diocese, setting
things in order, and solicited most of the funds for reconstruction
himself. He was appointed on several papal commissions, once to inquire
into the heroic virtues of Margaret of Scotland, another time to determine
the validity of a bishop's appointment. He was sent to collect alms for the
Holy Land in 1247, at a time when he badly needed the money to rebuild his
own diocese.

Through his influence, the episcopal see was transferred from the Isle of
Iona, which was frequently inaccessible and always in danger from stormy
seas, to a place where it could be readily in touch with the rest of
Scotland. He attended the general chapter of the Order held in London in
1250. At one time he had to pronounce a sentence of excommunication on all
those who had tried to murder the king.

In spite of these varied and absorbing labors, we are interested to find
that he wrote at least three books: a life of Saint Dominic, a book on
pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and the history of the Dominican Order in
Scotland.

When Clement died, he left a legacy of personal holiness so great that even
a Protestant historian would say of him: "This man was an excellent
preacher, learned above many of that time, and of singular integrity of
conversation" (Benedictines, Dorcy).



Saint Quote:
If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most
certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.
-Saint Colette

Bible Quote:
31. But he said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is
thine. 32. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this
thy brother was dead and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found.
(Luke 15:31-32)



The first sorrowful mystery prayer of the Eucharistic Rosary, to be offered
before the Blessed Sacrament:

The Agony in the Garden, offered for fervor in prayer and sorrow for sin:

Divine Saviour, under the weight of sorrow and sadness caused by our sins,
Thou fallest, bathed in a sweat of blood, and Thou endurest a mortal agony.
 In the Blessed Sacrament, also, Thou art still more humbled and
annihilated on account of our sins.

We adore Thee and we compassionate Thy agony of suffering in the Garden of
Gethsemane, as well as Thy agony of humiliation in the Eucharist, and we
beg of Thee, through the intercession of Thy holy Mother, a heartfelt
sorrow for our sins.

Imprimatur:  + John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, Sept 19, 1908.



In honor of Saint Joseph, Protector of the Church, also celebrated on March 19th

O glorious Saint Joseph, chosen by God to be the foster- father of Jesus,
the chaste spouse of Mary ever Virgin, the head of the Holy Family and then
appointed by the Vicar of Christ to be the heavenly patron and defender of
the Church founded by Jesus, most confidently do I implore at this moment
thy powerful aid for all the Church militant on earth. Do thou shield with
thy truly paternal love especially the Supreme Pontiff and all the Bishops
and priests who are in union with the Holy See of Peter.  Be the defender
of all who labor for souls amidst the trials and tribulations of this life,
and cause all the peoples of the earth to submit themselves in a docile
spirit to that Church which is the ark of salvation for all men.

Be pleased also, dear Saint Joseph, to accept this dedication of myself
which I now make unto thee.  I dedicate myself which I now make unto thee,
that thou mayest ever be my father, my patron and my guide in the way of
salvation. Obtain for me great purity of heart and a fervent devotion to
the interior life.  Grant that, following thine example, I may direct all
my actions to the greater glory of God, in union with the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and the immaculate heart of Mary and in union with thee.  Finally
pray for me that I may be a partaker in the peace and joy which were thine
at the hour of thy holy death.  Amen.

Imprimatur:  Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbp of New York, May 30, 1951.

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