St. Paul is called "the first hermit" in the Missal and Breviary, a rare distinction, for such titles are seldom appended. Our saint was the standard-bearer of those courageous men who for the love of Christ left the world and entered the wilderness to dedicate themselves wholly to contemplation amid all the privations of desert life. The hermits were the great men of prayer in those difficult times when the Church was locked in fierce struggle with heresy after heresy. For centuries the example of their lives served as the school of Christian perfection. Their action set the background for the rise of monasticism and religious orders in the Church. 
In Benedictine history Maurus holds a distinguished place, taught and trained by St. Benedict himself. While still very young, Maurus and another youth, Placid, were brought by their parents to be reared in monastic life by the Patriarch of Monks. An incident reveals Maurus' spirit of childlike obedience. One day Placid was sent to a near-by lake to draw water. Soon he was at the shore, where, boy that he was, he fell victim to his own heedlessness. Eager to fill the vessel quickly, he reached out too far and was dragged in by the rapidly filling jar. He was being borne along by the waves when from his cell St. Benedict realized what had happened. "Hurry, run to the lake! Placid has fallen in!" he called to Maurus. Stopping only for his spiritual father's blessing, Maurus sped to the lake, seized Placid by the hair and brought him ashore. 
Missionary and ascetical writer, born of noble parentage at Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, between Lyons and Vienne, in 1641; died at Paray-le-Monial, 15 February, 1682. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1659. After fifteen years of religious life he made a vow, as a means of attaining the utmost possible perfection, to observe faithfully the rule and constitutions of his order under penalty of sin. Those who lived with him attested that this vow was kept with great exactitude. In 1674 Father de la Colombière was made superior at the Jesuit house at Paray-le-Monial, where he became the spiritual director of Blessed Margaret Mary and was thereafter a zealous apostle of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1676 he was sent to England as preacher to the Duchess of York, afterwards Queen of Great Britain. He lived the life of a religious even in the Court of St. James and was as active a missionary in England as he had been in France. Although encountering many difficulties, he was able to guide Blessed Margaret Mary by letter. His zeal soon weakened his vitality and a throat and lung trouble seemed to threaten his work as a preacher. While awaiting his recall to France he was suddenly arrested and thrown into prison, denounced as a conspirator. Thanks to his title of preacher to the Duchess of York and to the protection of Louis XIV, whose subject he was, he escaped death but was condemned to exile (1679). The last two years of his life were spent at Lyons where he was spiritual director to the young Jesuits, and at Paray-le-Monial, whither he repaired for his health. His principal works, including "Pious Reflections", "Meditations on the Passion", "Retreat and Spiritual Letters", were published under the title, "Oeuvres du R. P. Claude de la Colombière" (Avignon, 1832; Paris, 1864). His relics are preserved in the monastery of the Visitation nuns at Paray-le-Monial. (Catholic Encyclopedia) He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 31, 1992. 
Devotion to Our Lady of Prompt Succor dates back to 1802, when the Ursuline Order in New Orleans pleaded for help in sustaining the Order with new sisters from France. Their prayers were answered with papal permission for sisters to be transferred from France to New Orleans. In thanksgiving for this favor, the Ursulines dedicated a statue in their convent chapel to Our Lady of Prompt Succor in 1810. He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:11)
What’s in your newspaper today? Wars and uprisings? Murders and robberies? Celebrity marriages, divorces, and remarriages? “Bad news” seems to sell so much better than “good news,” doesn’t it? Well, let’s look at some good news instead: Jesus is your brother!
It’s easy to forget that Jesus is completely human and that he shares kinship with us. In fact, he is willing—indeed, happy—to be so closely connected with us. As today’s reading tells us, the One who makes us holy and we ourselves have the same origin (Hebrews 2:11). We are of the same stock. Yes, he is our brother!
Jesus knows our struggles. Not just because he’s God and he knows everything but because he shared our humanity (Hebrews 4:15). He knows firsthand our human limitations. He knows the tiredness and weakness and incessant whispering of the devil that we all face. He knows our grief, our fear, and our reluctance to do what the Father asks sometimes. None of these pulled him down, but he is our brother, full of compassion for us, even when we do fall.
As your brother, Jesus wants to strengthen you. He wants to speak truth to you. He wants to teach and encourage and protect you; to walk right with you through everything you face in life. What’s more, he is not ashamed to be called your brother. Rather, he is proud to have you. He loves you, understands you, and is deeply concerned for you. And more than anything, Jesus wants to pour the love, confidence, joy, and peace that are in his heart into your heart so that you can stand strong in this world, just as he did.
It may be hard to believe such good news, but genuine news has a way of surprising us. Just ask him to teach you. Sit quietly, and let him show you what it means that he is your brother. He may speak to you through Scripture, in a song, in a quiet voice in your heart, or through something a friend said to you yesterday. Write down whatever you sense him saying, and take it with you all day. After all, it’s the best news you could ever hear!
“Jesus, I want to know you as my brother. Open my eyes and my heart so that I can experience that closeness with you today.”
Psalm 8:2, 5-9; Mark 1:21-28
