Blessed Alexandrina de Costa Nourished Only by the Eucharist
07/15/23 • 5 min
Alexandrina Maria da Costa (1904-1955)
Alexandrina Maria da Costa was born on 30 March 1904 in Balasar, Portugal. She received a solid Christian education from her mother and her sister, Deolinda, and her lively, well-mannered nature made her likeable to everyone.
Her unusual physical strength and stamina also enabled her to do long hours of heavy farm work in the fields, thus helping the family income.
When she was 12, Alexandrina became sick with an infection and nearly died; the consequences of this infection would remain with her as she grew up and would become the "first sign" of what God was asking of her: to suffer as a "victim soul".
Nourished only by the Eucharist
On 27 March 1942, a new phase began for Alexandrina which would continue for 13 years and seven months until her death. She received no nourishment of any kind except the Holy Eucharist, at one point weighing as few as 33 kilos (approximately 73 pounds).
Medical doctors remained baffled by this phenomenon and began to conduct various tests on Alexandrina, acting in a very cold and hostile way towards her. This increased her suffering and humiliation, but she remembered the words that Jesus himself spoke to her one day: "You will very rarely receive consolation... I want that while your heart is filled with suffering, on your lips there is a smile".
Alexandrina Maria da Costa (1904-1955)
Alexandrina Maria da Costa was born on 30 March 1904 in Balasar, Portugal. She received a solid Christian education from her mother and her sister, Deolinda, and her lively, well-mannered nature made her likeable to everyone.
Her unusual physical strength and stamina also enabled her to do long hours of heavy farm work in the fields, thus helping the family income.
When she was 12, Alexandrina became sick with an infection and nearly died; the consequences of this infection would remain with her as she grew up and would become the "first sign" of what God was asking of her: to suffer as a "victim soul".
Nourished only by the Eucharist
On 27 March 1942, a new phase began for Alexandrina which would continue for 13 years and seven months until her death. She received no nourishment of any kind except the Holy Eucharist, at one point weighing as few as 33 kilos (approximately 73 pounds).
Medical doctors remained baffled by this phenomenon and began to conduct various tests on Alexandrina, acting in a very cold and hostile way towards her. This increased her suffering and humiliation, but she remembered the words that Jesus himself spoke to her one day: "You will very rarely receive consolation... I want that while your heart is filled with suffering, on your lips there is a smile".
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Saint Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure
Doctor of the Church & Second Founder of Franciscan Order
St. Bonaventure was born in Viterbo, only about 60 miles from Assisi, in 1221, just five years before the death of St. Francis. There is a tradition that he was re-named by St. Francis when he was healed of a serious illness by the little Poverello, or poor one. His birth name was John, but the tradition, or Fioretti, tells us that when St. Francis healed him, he proclaimed "O buona ventura" or good fortune. There's nothing to base that on, other than tradition, but St. Bonaventure himself, tells us that he was spared from death by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi.
He was destined to be clothed in the tunic of St. Francis and the friars all his life. He loved Francis and everything Franciscan, except the bitter infighting in the Franciscan community that had been going on for as long as he could remember, actually since before the death of St. Francis. One of his greatest ambitions in life was to bring the dissident factors of the Franciscan community, which had grown so far apart, together as a family. But his attempt to unite the Franciscans didn't happen until later on in his life.
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The Life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Saint Ignatius of Loyola audiobook
Subtitle:
Founder of the Jesuits
Description:
Saint Ignatius of Loyola discovered a dark cave, virtually unknown because it was so overgrown with brush.
There, he would spend hours, sometimes all through the night, praying without interruption, except for the occasional sounds of God's four-legged and winged creatures calling out to one another.
The cave at Manresa was a battlefield, a lonely battlefield, with Ignatius battling one temptation, winning that battle only to be put to the test with another temptation and another battle.
Among other struggles, Saint Ignatius of Loyola imagined himself guilty of all types of sins, mistaking venial sin for mortal sin, battling alleged scruples and scrupulosity to the point of near desperation.
He did not know where to turn; it seemed to him that God had deserted him.
Then, he remembered hearing that God would come to his aid, if he fasted until his petition was granted.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola fasted from Sunday to the following Sunday.
Browse our Saint Ignatius of Loyola Media
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