Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, The Feast of All Saints of the Order of Preachers, Onze Liewe Vrou van Scherpenheuvel / Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium (17th Century) and Memorials of the Saints – 7 November

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

The Feast of All Saints of the Order of Preachers: “Fountain of all holiness, you stirred up in our holy brothers and sisters an extraordinary love of truth, conformity to Christ crucified, and a thirst for the salvation of souls: may we imitate them in offering you thanks on account of the way of life they gave us.” — From the Intercessions at Lauds for the feast of All Saints of the Order of Preachers.

Onze Liewe Vrou van Scherpenheuvel / Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel
Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium (17th Century) – Commemorated on the First Sunday after the Feast of All Saints

For many years the Marian cult on the Scherpenheuvel (“Sharp Hill”) centred at an oak tree on top of the hill. According to the foundation legend, a shepherd noticed that the image had fallen to the ground and decided to take it home. When he had lifted it, he discovered he was unable to move. As the herd did not return in the evening, his master became concerned and went to look for the shepherd. Only by restoring the Statue to its original place in the oak tree, could the master release the shepherd, thereby discovering the spiritual importance of the site.

The inhabitants of the nearby Town of Zichem would frequent the site in the second half of the sixteenth century whenever they were in need of the intercession of the Blessed Mother.

After an official enquiry in 1604 Mathias Hovius, Archbishop of Mechelen, approved the cult of Scherpenheuvel . The approval was accompanied by the publication of a collection of miracles ascribed to the intercession of the Virgin of Scherpenheuvel, issued in Dutch, French and Spanish. An English translation followed in 1606. Philip Numan, who had authored the collection, produced two more editions (1605 and 1606) as well as three more collections (1613-1614, 1617 and 1617-1618) in short succession. Latin versions were later published too. According to these publications, close to 700 miracles were credited to the intercession of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, in the course of the seventeenth century. The Latin collections, in particular, caused a lot of controversy among theologians, with Calvinist authors ridiculing the whole idea of miraculous intercession by the Saints.

Meanwhile, it had been decided in 1602, to remove the Statue from the oak tree and house it in a small wooden Chapel nearby. Within the year, the Chapel proved too small and was replaced by a modest stone edifice. Its foundation stone was laid on 13 July 1603 by Count Frederik van den Bergh on behalf of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella. From that point on, the Archdukes showed great interest in the development of the Shrine. Attributing the recent relief of the besieged Town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch to the intercession of the Virgin, Albert and Isabella made their first pilgrimage to Scherpenheuvel on 20 November 1603. It would soon become a yearly pilgrimage that took place in May or June and lasted the nine days of a novena.

Under the patronage of the Archdukes, the emerging Shrine was raised to the status of a Town in 1605 and of an independent Parish in 1610. Their support helped to ensure the grant of a Papal Indulgence on 16 September 1606, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Shortly after reaching a cease-fire with the United Provinces, on 28 August 1607, Albert and Isabella announced that they would build a vast Church and surround it with a planned and fortified Town. The foundation stone of the third and present Church was laid by them in person, on 2 July 1609, the Feast of the Visitation.

The iconographical decoration of the Basilica is particularly rich. The recurrent use of the number seven (in the shape of the Church and the Town, the number of Altars outside and inside, the shape of the stars on the dome) recalls the cult of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin.

The image of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel was solemnly crowned by Cardinal Victor-Auguste-Isidor Deschamps on behalf of the Blessed Pope Pius IX on 25 August 1872.

Fifty years later, on 2 May 1922, Pope Pius XI raised the Shrine to the status of a Minor Basilica.

St Achillas
St Amarand
St Amaranthus

Blessed Anthony Baldinucci SJ (1665-1717) Priest of the Society of Jesus, Preacher, Writer and Missionary.

St Athenodorus of Neo-Caesarea
St Auctus of Amphipolis
St Baud of Tours
St Blinlivet
St Congar
St Engelbert of Cologne (c 1185-1225) Archbishop Martyr
St Ernest of Mecca
St Florentius of Strasburg
St Gebetrude of Remiremont
St Herculanus of Perugia
St Hesychius of Mytilene
St Hieron of Mytilene
St Hyacinth Castañeda Puchasons
St Lazarus the Stylite
St Nicander of Mytilene
St Peter Ou
St Prosdocimus of Padua
St Prosdocimus of Rieti
St Raverranus of Séez
St Rufus of Metz
St Taurion of Amphipolis
St Thessalonica of Amphipolis
St Tremorus of Brittany
St Vincent Liem

St Willibrord (c 658 – 739) “Apostle to the Frisians,” Bishop, Missionary.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Alfredo Fanjul Acebal
• Blessed Andrés Francisco Simón Gómez
• Blessed Isabelino Carmona Fernández
• Blessed José Delgado Pérez
• Blessed José Vega Riaño
• Blessed Juan Mendibelzúa Ocerín
• Blessed Manuel Marín Pérez
• Blessed Serviliano Riaño Herrero
• Blessed Vicente Rodríguez Fernández

Posted in Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 7 November – Blessed Peter Ou

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Blessed Peter Ou, also known as Peter Wu Gousheng, Wu Gousheng, Wu Guosheng Petrus, was a Chinese martyr. He was born in 1768 at Longping in Guizhou Province, China, to a pagan family, and was one of the first converts made by missionaries to his area.

Known from his youth for his sense of justice, his quick defense of the poor and oppressed; his outspoken frightened people in his traditionalist region. A husband and self-made businessman, he owned and ran a large hotel. Naturally enthusiastic, Peter tossed out his household idols, and preached Christianity to anyone who came by. He became the lay leader of the converts in his district, and took the name Peter at baptism. He worked as a catechist for missionaries in Sichuan; instrucing 600 people in Christianity.

He was arrested on 3 April 1814 during a violent backlash against the faith. Although imprisoned and tortured to break him from his faith, he worked to inspire faith in his fellow prisoners, and led prayer services in the cells. He was condemned to death and strangled on 7 November 1814 for refusing to step on a crucifix.

Heaven, heaven, my true home! I see my heavenly Mother and my guardian angel coming to take me home.

Peter’s dying words

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering –7 November – My Lord, I am Unworthy!

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My Lord, I am Unworthy!
Prayer before Holy Communion
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

My Lord,
Who are You
and who am I,
that I should dare to take You
into my body and soul?
A thousand years
of penance and tears,
would not be sufficient
to make me worthy
to receive so royal a Sacrament even once!
How much more am I unworthy of it,
who fall into sin daily,
I, the incorrigible,
who approach You so often
without due preparation!
Nevertheless, Your mercy
infinitely surpasses my unworthiness.
Therefore, I make bold
to receive this Sacrament,
trusting in Your love.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 7 November – The finger of God

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One Minute Reflection – 7 November – Readings: Sedulius, Ps 44:2, Ecclus 24:14-16, Luke 11:27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the multitudes, a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice and said to Him, Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that nursed You. But He said, Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.

Luke 11:27-28

REFLECTION – May your hand be ready to help me! The Father’s beloved Son is he whom we call the hand of God, he through whom God created all things. This hand intervened when it took our flesh, not simply without injury to his mother, but still more, according to the prophet’s testimony, by taking on himself all our sicknesses and bearing our sufferings.

Indeed, this hand laden with medicines and dressings has healed every ill. It has removed everything that leads to death and has raised people who were dead; it has broken the gates of hell, bound the strong one and stripped him of his weapons; it has opened heaven and poured out the Spirit of love into the hearts of its own. This hand sets prisoners free and gives light to the blind; it raises those who have fallen; it loves the just and protects the stranger; it welcomes the orphan and widow. It snatches from temptation those in danger of giving way to it, restores with its comforting those who suffer; it gives joy back to the afflicted and shelters the weary in its shade; it writes for those desiring to meditate its Law and touches and blesses the hearts of those who pray, strengthening them in love by its touch; it makes them progress and persevere in their works. Finally, it leads them to their homeland; it brings them back to the Father.

For if it has become flesh it is so that it may draw man through a man, joining our flesh to his flesh so as lovingly to bring back to God, the almighty and invisible Father, the straying sheep. Because this sheep had fallen in the flesh by abandoning God, the mystery of this hand’s Incarnation had to guide it, to lift it up and lead it back to the Father

St Amadeus of Lausanne

PRAYER – Lord God, Your Son has shown us the way. As we follow in His steps, may we never wander from the path that leads to life. Renew the wonders of Your grace in our hearts so that neither death nor life may separate us from Your love. Holy Father, as You were glorified by the life and death of all the Dominican Saints and Blesseds, grant that by their prayers, we may receive Your grace to give first to You and then to our neighbour in complete love and service. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, with You in union with the Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 7 November – Hail, holy Mother

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With God’s holy faith forgotten, each individual will want to direct himself and rise above his peers. Civil and ecclesiastical authority will be abolished, all order and justice will be trampled underfoot. Only murders, hatred, jealousy, lying and discord will be seen, with no love of country or family.

Our Lady of La Salette

Oh, happy those who live under the protection of a mother so loving and so powerful! The prophet David, although Mary was not yet born, besought of God salvation, by dedicating himself to Mary as her son, and thus prayed; “Save the son of thy handmaid.” Whose handmaid?” asks St. Augustine, “she who says: Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”

St Alphonsus Liguori

As a mother who sees her son exposed to the sword of the enemy, makes every effort to save him, thus do I, and will I ever do for my children, sinful though they be, if they come to me for help.

The Blessed Virgin to St Bridget

Every one who loves this good mother and trusts in her protection, should take courage and repeat: What do you fear, oh my soul? The cause of thy eternal salvation will not be lost, as the final sentence depends upon Jesus, who is thy brother, and upon Mary who is thy mother.

St Bonaventure

Everything belonging to the gentle virgin, everything which is under her protection remains intact: the virtue and strength of those vowed to her worship, no less than the garment of flesh which she gave her Son, and of which it was said: ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken’, no less than the linen tunic which was not torn.

Tragedy of Calvary

Then he began again to talk with his sweet mother Mary, and repeating the word, ‘mother, mother’, he tranquilly expired, like a child falling asleep in the arms of its mother. Soon after, it was revealed to a devout religious that he had already entered paradise.

St Alphonsus Liguori

Posted in NOVEMBER - Month of the SOULS in PURGATORY

Thought for the Day – 7 November – Comparison to explain the impetuosity and love by which the souls in Purgatory desire to enjoy God

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Treatise on Purgatory

St Catherine of Genoa

CHAPTER VI

Let us suppose that there existed in the world but one loaf of bread to satisfy the hunger of every creature, and that the mere sight of it could do this. In such a case a man, having naturally, if in good health, a desire for food, would find himself, so long as he was kept from dying or falling sick, growing more and more hungry; for his craving would continue undiminished, he would know that the bread, and nothing but the bread, could satisfy him, and not being able to reach it, would remain in intolerable pain ; the nearer he got to the bread without seeing it the more ardently would he crave for it, and would direct himself wholly towards it, as being the only thing which could afford relief ; and if he were assured that he never could see the bread he would have within him a perfect hell, and become like the damned, who are cut off from all hope of ever seeing God their Saviour, who is the true Bread.

The souls in purgatory, on the other hand, hope to see that Bread, and satiate themselves to the full therewith ; whence they hunger and suffer pain as great as will be their capacity of enjoying that Bread, which is Jesus Christ the true God, our Saviour and our love.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Notre-Dame de Valfleury / Our Lady of Valfleury, France (800) and Memorial of the Saints – 6 November

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Notre-Dame de Valfleury / Our Lady of Valfleury, France (800) – 6 November:

The title traces its origins to the image of the Black Madonna at Valfleury (Loire), France, near St Etienne and St Chamond south of Lyons and is venerated annually on 6 November.

The original Statue, in wood, dates to Christmas 800 when the image was found in a broom bush. Pilgrimages began as early as the eighth century, almost ceased entirely during the years of the plagues that struck the region and resumed in earnest again in 1629. The Shrine is a Church partially underground that had appeared in the written records by the end of the tenth century. Entrance to the Church is at the base of a massive rock formation, on top of which, stands the Romanesque tower of the 12th century and steeple. Among the unique features of the Church are 22 steps cut from the rock inside the entrance. A number of frescoes depict eventS in Christ’s life. The miraculous cures of a child on a pilgrimage was reported to have occurred in the Chapel in 1842. In 1854, Pope Pius IX granted the pilgrimage of Vals, a plenary indulgence.

Benedictine Monks established a priory there and called the place “valley flowers.” In 1625, the Congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul succeeded them. They established a mission house and took care of the pilgrimage Church which replaced the original Shrine and was erected in 1809.

St Atticus
St Barlaam of Novgorod
Bl Beatrice of Olive
Bl Christina of Stommeln
St Demetrian of Cyprus
St Edwen of Northumbria
St Efflam of Brittany
St Emilian of Faenza
St Erlafrid of Hirschau
St Felix of Fondi
St Felix of Genoa
St Felix of Thynissa
St Illtyd
St Israel of Limoges

St Leonard of Noblac (c 496-559) Monk, Hermit, Abbot, Miracle-worker.

St Leonard of Reresby
Bl Leonianus of Autun
St Melaine of Rennes
St Paul of Constantinople
St Pinnock
St Severus of Barcelona
Bl Simon of Aulne
St Stephen of Apt
St Theobald of Dorat

St Valentine of Genoa
St Victor Chumillas-Fernández
St Winnoc of Wormhoult (Died 716/717) Abbot
—
Martyrs of Antioch – 10 saints: Ten Christians murdered together by Arabs after their seizure of Antioch, Syria. No names or other details about them have come down to us. 637 in Antioch, Syria.

Martyrs of Gaza – 9 saints: A group of Christian soldiers who were captured by Saracens invading the area of Gaza in Palestine. When the men continued to profess their Christianity, they were executed. We know the names of some of the martyrs – Himerius, John (2 of them), Kallinikos (Callinoco), Paul, Peter, Stephen and Theodore (2 of them). They were beheaded in Gaza, Palestine.

Martyrs of Spain – 498 saints and beati: – Martyred Franciscan Capuchins of Barcelona – 26 beati
Martyred Vincentians of Spain – 14 beati

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 6 November – Saint Demetrian of Cyprus

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Saint Demetrian of Cyprus was a priest and monk and bishop in Cyprus in the ninth and tenth centuries. Born in Sika on Cyprus, he at first he resisted the appointment as bishop. Not wanting to exchange his quiet monastic life for a busy episcopal office in the city, he fled, and was hidden in a cave by a friend. Ultimately, however, his friend became uncomfortable with the situation, and Demetrian was convinced to return to the city and embrace his appointment. He served as bishop of Chytri for twenty-five years, from 885 until his death, and is acknowledged as that office’s most famous inhabitant.

Near the end of his life he saved a group of Christians from Muslims when the latter invaded and took captives to sell as slaves. Despite his advanced age, Demetrian followed them on the road and pleaded desperately for their release. Miraculously, the Muslims were persuaded and they released the captives to him.

Venerated as a patron saint of prisoners, Demetrian is also invoked by a prayer: “Loving Father, through the intercession of Saint Demetrian, rescue me from the anxieties that hold me captive.”

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 6 November – Ave Regina Caelorum

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Ave Regina Caelorum
Queen of Heaven Enthroned

Hail, O Queen of Heaven enthroned.
Hail, by angels mistress owned.
Root of Jesse, Gate of Morn
Whence the world’s true Light was born,
Glorious Virgin, Joy to thee,
Loveliest whom in Heaven they see;
Fairest thou, where all are fair,
Plead with Christ, our souls to spare.

V. Vouchsafe that I may praise thee,
O sacred Virgin.
R. Give me strength against thine enemies.

Let us pray:
We beseech thee, O Lord,
mercifully to assist our infirmity,
that like, as we do now
commemorate the Blessed Mary
Ever-Virgin, Mother of God;
so by the help of her intercession
we may die to our former sins
and rise again to newness of life.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen

“Ave Regina caelorum” is one of the Marian antiphons said or sung in the Liturgy of the Hours at the close of compline. In the Roman Breviary as revised by Pope Pius V in 1569 it was assigned for this use from compline of 2 February until compline of Wednesday of Holy Week.
The original author is unknown – it has been found in a manuscript from the twelfth-century.
It has been set to music by various composers including Hyden and many others.

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 10 November – The girl is not dead but sleeping

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One Minute Reflection – 10 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Phil 3:17-21; 4:1-3, Matt 9:18-26

At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the crowds, behold, a ruler came up and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, my daughter has just now died; but come and lay Your hand upon her, and she will return to life.”

Matt 9:18-26

REFLECTION – Let us consider, dear friends, how the Master is continually proving to us that there is to be a resurrection, of which he made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits when he raised him from the dead. Let us observe, dear friends, the resurrection that is regularly taking place. Day and night show us a resurrection; night falls asleep, day arises; day departs, night comes on. Let us take the crops; how and in what way does the sowing take place? The sower goes out and sows each seed in the ground. They fall into the ground dry and bare, and decay; then from their decay the greatness of the Master’s providence raises them up, and from a single grain many spring up and bear fruit. Do we, then, regard it as a great and marvellous thing for the Creator of all things to bring about the resurrection of those who have served him with holiness in the assurance of a good faith?

With this hope, then, let our souls be bound to him that is faithful to his promises and upright in his judgments. He who has commanded us not to lie will much more not lie himself. For nothing is impossible to God except lying. So let faith in him be rekindled in us, and let us understand that all things are possible to him.

With his majestic word he constituted all things and with a word he can overturn them. When he pleases, and as he pleases, he will do everything, and none of the things he has decreed will pass away. All things are in his sight and nothing has escaped his Providence.

St Clement of Rome

PRAYER – Lord God, You built Your Church on the firm foundation of the Apostle Peter and You promised that the gates of hell would never overcome it. So too, may we trust in Your power, that by our faith we may receive the grace to withstand the enemy who will not prevail against us. May we always serve You in our brother and may your Holy Spirit grant us the grace of fortitude to withstand our temptations and thus gain eternal life, supported by the prayers of all the Angels, Saints and our Blessed Mother Mary. Through Christ, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God now and forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 10 November –Their end is ruin, they mind the things of earth

Posted on by AnaStpaul

This vice excludes a man from the assembled choir of the Church and forces him to pray with those possessed and obsessed by the devil; it separates the soul from God to associate it with demons. This utterly diseased queen of Sodom renders him who obeys the laws of her tyranny infamous to men and odious to God.

St Peter Damian

It is fitting that among all those born of women this man John is the greatest in that he not only brought accusations against those living adulterously, but even shunned illicit union with a woman because of his love for virginity. And if John, who was so great, so noble, and segregated from women by so vast a desert, did not escape the perils of women, who is there who lives in the midst of women and has confidence that he will escape such perils without the greatest effort and without taking the utmost precaution? Who else other than one who is nourished by the Holy Ghost?

St Peter Chrysologus

Being born again not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God who liveth and remaineth for ever. For all flesh is as grass; and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass is withered, and the flower thereof is fallen away. But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.

St Peter

I say then that the Blood does harm to him who receives it unworthily, not through defect of the Blood, nor of the minister, but through his own evil disposition and defect inasmuch as he has befouled his mind and body with such impurity and misery, and has been so cruel to himself and his neighbour.

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

Continue on your way and you will shortly be in Hell! You cannot endure the faults of your neighbour because he is too tiresome; you do not like his company. Go away, unhappy people, you are but hypocrites, you have only a false religion, which, whatever good you are doing, will lead you to Hell.

St John Vianney

Fornications, and adulteries, and perjuries will fill the land; sorceries, and incantations, and divinations will follow after these with all force and zeal. And, on the whole, from among those who profess to be Christians will rise up then false prophets, false apostles, impostors, mischief-makers, evil-doers, liars against each other, adulterers, fornicators, robbers, grasping, perjured, mendacious, hating each other. The shepherds will be like wolves; the priests will embrace falsehood; the monks will lust after the things of the world; the rich will assume hardness of heart; the rulers will not help the poor; the powerful will cast off all pity; the judges will remove justice from the just, and, blinded with bribes, they will call in unrighteousness.

On the End of the World (Pseudo-Hippolytus)

Posted in NOVEMBER - Month of the SOULS in PURGATORY

Thought for the Day – 6 November – The peace and joy of purgatory

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Treatise on Purgatory

St Catherine of Genoa

CHAPTER V

The souls in Purgatory having their wills perfectly conformed to the will of God, and hence partaking of His goodness, remain satisfied with their condition, which is one of entire freedom from the guilt of sin. For when they passed out of this life, penitent, with all their sins confessed and resolved to sin no more, God straightway pardoned them ; and now they are as pure as when they were created ; the rust of sin alone is left, and this they get rid of by the punishment of fire. Cleansed thus from all sin, and united in will to God, they see God clearly according to the degree of light He imparts to them ; they are conscious too what a thing it is for them to enjoy God, that for this very end souls were created.

Again, there is in them a conformity of will so uniting them to God, so drawing them to Him through that natural instinct whereby God is, as it were, bound up with the soul, that no description, no figure, no example can give a clear idea of it as it is actually felt and apprehended by inward consciousness ; nevertheless I will mention something like it which suggests itself to me.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Feast of the Holy Relics, Nossa Senhora da Medalha Milagrosa / Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Monte Sião, Brazil (1939) and Memorials of the Saints

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Feast of the Holy Relics

Nossa Senhora da Medalha Milagrosa / Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Monte Sião, Brazil (1939) – 5 November now moved to 27 November:

The first Church in Monte Sião appeared in 1849, dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, built by the founder of the place, Antonio Bernardes de Souza. The official Consecration of the Church took place on 13 April 1850. In the Parish of Father Luigi Cocoresi, from 1883 to 1890, more precisely in 1881, the Chapel was replaced by the Parish Church, built on top of in in the same square. The new Church was also built of clay based on strips of sawn wood.

In the parish administration of Fr. José Eugênio de Faria – Fr Zequinha – in 1934, the construction of the current Mother Church began, which is located in the same place as the previous two.

The Church’s architecture resembles the style of Roman art from the 12th century and the main Altar is entirely carved in wood, where the centenary image of the Patron Saint, the Blessed Mother, can be seen. The image of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which adorns the main Altar, was brought to Monte Sião around 1860 and came from Portugal, through a Portuguese farmer, Mr João Pereira Batista Machado, who would have funded both its acquisition and the transportation. The image arrived at the Port of Rio de Janeiro and was brought to the City on the back of animals, inside a cargo jack and wrapped in dry corn husk.

In 1937, at the request of the Bishop, the image was removed from the Altar and sent to a Chapel in the countryside, claiming that the Statue looked too modern.

The faithful greatly missed the Statue in the Igreja Matriz. It was then, that between 1937 and 1939, the City of Monte Sião was inflicted by a period of great drought. There was rain in every other City but not there. The people then associated the lack of rain with the absence of the Statue of their Patron and went to intercede with the Parish Priest, to bring the Statue back. On 5 November 1939, the Statue was allowed to return. The day was sunny and a procession was held to honour the Patroness.

When the Statue reached the City, the first drops began to fall and then a heavy rain, soaking everyone. This was called the rain miracle and after that, everything went smoothly. The Statue underwent a restoration in the year 2015, which returned all the original features to the image, which had been lost with previous restorations.

Although the Feast was 5 November it was moved to co-incide with the official Feast of the Miraculous Medal, 27 November, which is a local public holiday, when it is celebrated after a Novena between 18 and 26 November, with a Mass in honour of the Patron , the Blessed Maria of the Miraculous Medal.

All Saints and Blesseds of the Society of Jesus:

The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, was Founded in 1534 by Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) at Montmartre, Paris, France. A body of clerics regular organised for Apostolic work, following a religious rule and relying on alms for their support. It was the chief instrument of the Catholic Reformation. Pope Paul III approved the new rule in 1540 and Ignatius was elected the first general of the order in 1541. The constitutions, drafted by him and based on his Spiritual Exercises were adopted in 1558. It was the first order which enjoined by its constitutions devotion to the cause of education. The ministry of the Society consists chiefly in preaching. teaching catechism. administering the sacraments. conducting missions in parishes, taking care of parishes. organising pious confraternities, teaching in schools of every grade, writing books, pamphlets, periodical articles, going on foreign missions and special missions when ordered by the current Holy Father, to whom they take a vow of total obedience. Our current Holy Father, Pope Francis is a Jesuit and has jokingly wondered aloud who is boss of whom in his Order. The general resides at Rome, Italy and has a council of assistants. The motto of the Society is Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the greater glory of God).

St Augustine of Terracina
Bl Bernhard Lichtenberg
St Bertille (c 629-c 703) Abbess
St Canonica
St Comasia
St Ðaminh Mau
St Dominator of Brescia
St Elizabeth
St Domninus the Physician
St Epistemis
St Eusebius of Terracina
St Felix of Terracina
St Fibitius
St Galation
St Gerald of Beziers
Bl Gomidas Keumurjian
Bl Gregory Lakota
St Guetnoco
St Guido Maria Conforti
St Hermenegild
St Idda
St Juan Antoni Burró Mas
St Juan Duarte Martín
St Kanten
St Kea
St Laetus of Orleans
St Magnus of Milan
St Mamete
St Marco of Troia
Bl María del Carmen Viel Ferrando
Bl Simon Ballachi
St Spinulus of Moyen-Moûtier
St Sylvanus of Syria
St Zachary
—
Martyrs of Caesarea Maritima – 4 saints: Four young Christian men who were martyred together in the persecutions of Maximian – Aussenzius, Philotheus, Timothy and Theotimus. They were martyred in the arena at Caesarea Maritima, Palestine.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Juan Antoni Burró Mas
• Blessed Juan Duarte Martín
• Blessed María del Carmen Viel Ferrando

Posted in Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 5 November – Blessed Gomidas Keumurjian

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Blessed Gomidas Keumurjian, also known as Gomida Keumurgian, Cosma de Carboniano, was a martyr. Originally a priest in the Armenian church, in 1696 he and his family made complete submission to the authority of Rome. His preaching attracted large audiences of not only Armenians, but also Ottoman Greeks and so many Muslims that he had to regularly preach sermons in Turkish. This angered the Armenian officials. Some of them falsely accused Gomidas of being a spy for Rome, which led to his arrest and execution by Turkish authorities.

At the insistence of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch of Constantinople, Gomidas was tried before an Islamic court and sentenced to death by the Qadi for treason against the Ottoman Sultan and for secretly baptizing Muslims. Gomidas, however, was offered a full pardon and his immediate release in return for his conversion to Islam. The other eight priests with him immediately accepted the offer of pardon in exchange for conversion to Islam, and only Gomidas refused, saying, “I will not exchange my gold for your copper.”

Accompanied by his wife and children and a crowd of three thousand witnesses, Gomidas was led out of prison on 5 November 1707 to the Samatya quarter of Istanbul. Like the many other martyred priests under the Caesars, he was followed to the place of execution by his wife and children. His wife encouraged him to remain firm, while his sister, Irena, begged him not to bereave his family. Irena urged her brother to instead pretend to convert to Islam, while remaining a crypto-Christian. Unmoved, he continued until he reached the crossroads called Parmak Kapu, where he was ordered to kneel. Gomidas did so, facing Jerusalem, much to the dismay of the crowd, who repeatedly called in vain for him to turn and face Mecca instead. When the executioner approached with a drawn sword and also urged him to save his life through conversion to Islam, he replied, “No, do your work”, and began reciting the Nicene Creed in the Classical Armenian liturgical language. His prayer only ceased when he was beheaded.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 5 November – Come Jesus,for My Feet are Soiled

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Come Jesus,
for My Feet are Soiled
By Origen of Alexandria (c 185-253)

Come Jesus,
for my feet are soiled.
Become once more,
a Servant for my sake.
Pour water into Your basin
and come and wash my feet.
I know these words of mine,
presume too much
and yet, I dread those
frightening Words of Yours,
“If I do not wash your feet,
you can have no part in me!”
Then wash my feet,
so that I belong to You.
Yet how can I dare to say,
“Wash my feet?”
Let Peter say so;
he needed only
to have his feet washed
For he was clean through and through.
I too have been washed once in Baptism
and yet, I need that other cleansing
that You spoke of,
when You said:
“I have another baptism to undergo;”
Cleanse me Lord thoroughly,
by Your saving Death.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 5 November – “Whoever believes in me will live”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 5 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Phil 3:17-21; 4:1-3, Matt 9:18-26

He said, “Begone, the girl is asleep, not dead.” And they laughed Him to scorn. But when the crowd had been put out, He went in and took her by the hand; and the girl arose.

Matt 9:18-26

REFLECTION – “Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live; and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” What is being said? “Whoever believes in me, even if he is dead like Lazarus, will live” because God is not God of the dead but God of the living. Already, concerning Abraham, Isaac and Jacob those long-dead patriarchs, Jesus had given the same reply: “He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob; he is not God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive”. Believe, then; and though you were dead, you will live! But if you do not believe, then although you may be living, actually, you are dead. From where comes death in the soul? From the fact that faith is no longer there. From where comes the death of the body? From the fact that the soul is no longer there. The soul’s soul is faith.

“Whoever believes in me, even though he die in body will be alive in soul until the body itself rises again to die no more. And whoever lives in the flesh and believes in me, although he must die in his body for a season, will not die for ever because of the life of the Spirit and immortality of the resurrection.”

That is what Jesus' reply to Martha meant: “Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world. Believing this, I have believed you are the resurrection; I have believed you are the life; I have believed that whoever believes in you, though he die, will live; I have believed that whoever lives and believes in you will never die eternally.”

St Augustine

PRAYER – Lord God, teach us humility, to give and not to count ever the cost to ourselves, to take the lowest part and the back seat – teach us Lord, to strive and not to seek for glory, save for that of Your Kingdom. Let us see Your Face, His Face, He our Teacher, our Saviour in the face of all those in most need. May all those great Jesuit Saints standing before that Face, pray for us! We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who we beg, have mercy on us all, who seek rewards for our own sakes, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, QUOTES on PRIDE

Quote/s of the Day – 5 November – Their glory is in their shame

Posted on by AnaStpaul

He, moreover, who has committed this crime for which the Old Testament prescribes the death penalty, should not be promoted to ecclesiastical orders.

St Peter Damian

It is a very dangerous error to fall into, to imagine, that in leading an effeminate and indolent life, one does not stray into the broad road which leads to perdition.

Pere Haineuve

For what would wantoness ask, other than the demise of chastity, the murder of purity, the death of sanctity, which is always its enemy? Give me the head of John.

St Peter Chrysologus

Unquestionably, this vice, since it surpasses the enormity of all others, is impossible to compare with any other vice. Without fail it brings death to the body and destruction to the soul. It pollutes the flesh, extinguishes the light of the mind, expels the Holy Spirit from the temple of the human heart, and gives entrance to the devil, the stimulator of lust. It leads to error, totally removes truth from the deluded mind, prepares a trap for the traveler and secures the pit and makes it impossible for the victim to escape.

St Peter Damian

Why, of all theatres, you should select those where the most sensual exhibitions are given? What necessity is there, that you should always be in the company of those whom you wish to please or who please you? What necessity is there for encouraging the acquaintance of dissolute libertines, who unfortunately know no better, and are only capable of persuading you to join them in their evil course of life?

Massillion

Listen, you do-nothing superiors of clerics and priests. Listen, and even though you feel sure of yourselves, tremble at the thought that you are partners in the guilt of others; those, I mean, who wink at the sins of their subjects that need correction, and who by ill-considered silence allow them license to sin. Listen, I say, and be shrewd enough to understand that all of you alike “are deserving of death, that is, not only those who do such things, but also they who approve those who practice them.”

St Peter Damian

Posted in NOVEMBER - Month of the SOULS in PURGATORY

Thought for the Day – 5 November – The difference between the souls in hell and purgatory

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Treatise on Purgatory

St Catherine of Genoa

CHAPTER IV

From what has been said, it is clear that the guilt of sin consists in the perverse opposition of the will to the will of God, and that so long as the will continues thus evilly perverse the guilt will continue. For those, then, in hell, who have departed this life with an evil will, there is no remission of sin, neither can be, be cause there can be no more change of will. In passing out of this life the soul is fixed for good or evil according to its deliberate purpose at the time ; as is written, “Where shall I find thee (that is, at the hour of death, with a will either to sin or sorry for sin and penitent), there will I judge thee : ” and this judgment is final ; because after death the will can never again be free, but must remain fixed in the condition in which it was found at the moment of death.

The souls in hell having been found at the moment of death with a will to sin, have with them an infinite degree of guilt ; and the punishment they suffer, though less than they deserve, is yet, so far as it exists, endless. But the souls in purgatory have only the punishment for sin, and not its guilt ; for the guilt was effaced at the moment of death, in that they were found then deploring their sins and penitent for having offended the Divine Goodness ; so their punishment has a limit, and goes on diminishing in duration, as has been said.

O misery above every misery ! and so much the greater because men in their blindness consider it so little. The punishment of the damned is not, indeed, infinite in amount ; for the sweet goodness of God sheds the rays of His mercy even in hell. A man who has died in mortal sin deserves a punishment infinite in pain and infinite in duration ; but God in His mercy has made it infinite only in duration, and has limited the amount of pain. He might most justly have given them a far greater punishment than He has. O how perilous is a sin committed through malice ! for hardly does a man repent of it ; and not repenting, his guilt remains, and will remain, so long as there is any affection for the sin committed, or any purpose of committing it afresh.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Santa Maria alla Porta Luigi / Our Lady of Port Louis, Milan and Memorials of the Saints – 4 November

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Santa Maria alla Porta Luigi / Our Lady of Port Louis, Milan, Italy – 4 November:

The ancient City of Milan, Italy, has had three completely different systems of walls defending the City throughout the ages. The oldest walls were Roman, built in the Republican and Imperial eras. The second wall was built in the 12th century, shortly after the City was razed by Frederick Barbarossa. The third, and final wall system was built in the 16th century by the Spanish rulers of Milan. Even though in most places there is little left of the walls, the gates, or “ports” contributed to the layout of the City as the streets passed through the gates from a central hub. The Roman gates were Porta Romana, Porta Ticinese, Porta Vercellina and so on, with each wall having gates with a variety of names. None of them, however, has had the name of Porta Luigi There is no Church in Milan to St. Louis and I can find no reference to this feast of Mary, that was once famous enough to have a date on the calendar. (https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-port-louis.html).

I (Ana) have found a Church called “Santa Maria alla Porta” (Holy Mary at the Gate), see below, which dates from very early times, certainly before the 12th Century. Although a Church already stood in the same Milanese location since before the year 1105, the present Church was erected in 1652 under Spanish rule.

St Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) Archbishop of Milan (Memorial)

St Agricola of Bologna
St Amandus of Avignon
St Amandus of Rodez
St Birstan
St Clarus the Hermit
St Clether
St Emeric of Hungary (c 1007-1031) Confessor, Prince and heir to the Hungarian Throne, Son of St Stephen, King of Hungary

Bl Frances d’Amboise
St Gerard de Bazonches
St Gregory of Burtscheid
Bl Helen Enselmini
Bl Henry of Zweifalten
St Hermas of Myra
Bl Joan Antoni Burró Mas
St Joannicus of Mount Olympus
St John Zedazneli
St Modesta of Trier
St Nicander of Lycia
St Patrobas
St Perpète
St Philologus
St Pierius
St Proculus of Autun
Bl Teresa Manganiello
St Vitalis of Bologna

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 4 November – Blessed Frances d’Amboise

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Blessed Frances d’Amboise, also known as Francisca de Amboise, Françoise d’Amboise, was a daughter of Louis d’Amboise, Viscount de Thouars, and the Duchess of Brittany, being married to Peter II, Duke of Brittany at age 15.

Born on 28 September 1427 in Thouars, Deux-Sèvres, France, her marriage was not a happy one, and Peter sometimes abused her, but Frances softened Peter over the years, and he assisted in her charitable work. She established a Poor Clare convent at Nantes, France, and worked for the canonization of Saint Vincent Ferrer. She supported the Dominican convent at Nantes. Widowed in 1457, she entered into a conflict with King Louis XI who wanted to marry her, but ultimately was able to devote herself to religious life. Frances joined the Carmelite nuns at Bondon on 25 March 1468, making her final vows in 1469. She was a spiritual student of Blessed John Soreth. After working in the infirmary for a while, she was elected prioress for life in 1473. She is considered the foundress of the Carmelite nuns in France.

She died on 4 November 1485 at Les Couêts, Nantes, France of natural causes, and while in a religious ecstasy. Miracles were reported at her tomb. Her body had to be moved to save it during the Huguenot wars, and again in the French Revolution. She was beatified on 16 July 1863 by Pope Pius IX.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 4 November – Your Instrument – Prayer of St Charles Borromeo

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thy Instrument
By St Charles Borromeo (1538-1584)

Almighty God,
Thou hast generously made known
to human beings,
the Mysteries of Thine Life
through Jesus Christ
Thy Son in the Holy Ghost.
Enlighten my mind
to know these Mysteries
which Thy Church
treasures and teaches.
Move my heart to love them
and my will, to live in accord with them.
Give me the ability
to teach this Faith to others,
without pride,
without ostentation
and without personal gain.
Let me realise that,
I am simply Thy instrument,
for bringing others to the knowledge
of the wonders Thou hast done
for all Thy creatures.
Help me to be faithful to this task
Thou hast entrusted to me.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 4 November – Follow me

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 4 November – “Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory” – Readings: Sir 45:30, Ps. 131:1, Sir 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matt 25:14-23

The Lord made a covenant of friendship with him, and made him a prince; that he should possess the dignity of priesthood forever.

Sir 45:30

REFLECTION – May those who have been disinherited of wealth learn from the Church that, according to the judgment of God himself, poverty is not a disgrace, and that there is no need to blush with shame if you have to earn your daily bread through work. Jesus Christ Our Lord confirmed this by his example, he who for the salvation of men “made himself poor though he was rich.” He who was the Son of God and God himself wanted to be taken for the son of a worker in the eyes of the world. He went so far as to spend a large part of his life in doing paid work. “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?”

Whoever keeps his eyes on the divine model will understand that true human dignity and excellence dwells in a person’s habits, that is to say, in his virtue. Virtue is the common patrimony of mortals; it is available to everyone, to the small and to the great, the poor and the rich. Wherever they are seen, virtue and merit alone will obtain the reward of eternal beatitude. Even more, it seems that God’s heart is more inclined towards the less fortunate classes. Jesus Christ calls the poor blessed. With love he invites all who suffer and weep to come to him so that he might console them; he embraces with a more tender charity those who are small and oppressed. These teachings are certainly given in order to humble the haughty soul of the rich and to make him more compassionate, to raise the courage of those who suffer and to inspire them with trust.

Pope Leo XIII

PRAYER – Lord God, in Your wisdom, You created us, by Your providence You rule us, penetrate our inmost being with Your holy light, so that our way of life, may always be one of faithful service to You. With great love we thank You for the great gifts You shower upon us and for being our Father, who seeks and finds us when we are lost. Grant that by the intercession of St Charles Borromeo and St Emeric, we may ever seek to stay true to our baptism. Through Jesus, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 4 November – Talents

Posted on by AnaStpaul

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his particular ability, and then he went on his journey.

Matt 25:14-23

God is content if we do all we can to love Him in our sphere of life, and He asks for nothing more. You sometimes regret that you cannot practice great austerities, which no doubt are due to Him for our past sins. Supply for these in another way, replace those fastings and watchings by fervent acts of love, He requires nothing more.

Paul Segneri

If you are always ready to do His will and to submit to it, then be sure that you love Him. Conformity to the will of God also makes a man happy as God, who is happiness itself.

Le Pere Nepveu

They reverenced even the scourges which God had sent to chasten them. The early Christians blessed the hands that struck them.

Massillon

According to St Augustine, the Divine Word falls on a weak and sensitive element, and it becomes a sacrament. This word also falls on impure hearts, and it makes them chaste, on the wicked, and makes them saints. It finds them in sin, and it converts them to God.

La Pere Antoine de la Porte

However enlightened and clever we may be, we must not, on account of that, neglect the assistance of holy instructions, however bright may be our intellect, we can easily go astray, however learned and scientific, we can always learn something from hearing the Word of God.

Massillion

Nothing can excuse the neglect of the duties of the position in life which God has conferred upon us. No amount of external work, not the unsleeping universal heroism of a St Vincent de Paul, can make up for the want of attention to our own souls.

Fr Faber

Posted in NOVEMBER - Month of the SOULS in PURGATORY

Thought for the Day – 4 November – Separation from God

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Treatise on Purgatory

St Catherine of Genoa

CHAPTER III

All the pains of purgatory take their rise from sin, original or actual. God created the soul perfectly pure and free from every spot of sin, with a certain instinctive tendency to find its blessedness in Him. From this tendency it is drawn away by original sin, and still more by the addition of actual sin ; and the farther off it gets, the more wicked it becomes, because it is less in conformity with God. Things are good only so far as they participate in God.

To irrational creatures God communicates Himself, without fail, as He wills, and as He has determined ; to the rational soul more or less, according as He finds it purified from the impediment of sin ; so that, when a soul is approaching to that state of first purity and innocence which it had when created, the instinctive desire of seeking happiness in God develops itself, and goes on increasing through the fire of love, which draws it to its end with such impetuosity and vehemence, that any obstacle seems intolerable, and the more clear its vision, the more extreme its pain.

Now because the souls in purgatory are without the guilt of sin, there is nothing to stand between God and them except the punishment which keeps them back, and prevents this instinct from attaining its perfection ; and from their keenly perceiving of what moment it is to be hindered even in the least degree, and yet that justice most strictly demands a hindrance, there springs up within them a fire like that of hell. They have not the guilt of sin ; and it is this latter which constitutes the malignant will of the damned, who are excluded from sharing in the goodness of God, and therefore remain in that hopeless malignity of will by which they oppose the will of God.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Notre-Dame des Miracles et Vertus / Our Lady of Miracles and Virtues, Rennes, France (14th Century) and Memorials of the Saints

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Notre-Dame des Miracles et Vertus / Our Lady of Miracles and Virtues, Rennes, France (14th Century) – 3 November:

The Statue of Our Lady of Miracles and Virtues, often simply called Our Lady of Miracles, is a depiction of Virgin and Child. Installed in 1876, it replaces the original Statue venerated since the fourteenth century and destroyed during the French Revolution. The original Statue was first mentioned in the fourteenth century , as part of a miracle that would have occurred during a siege of the City. It is created in 1445 and her hands were restored in 1522.

The English, having made a mine to ignite the Town, it is said that the candles in the Chapel were found miraculously alight; t he bells rung of themselves and the image of the Blessed Virgin was seen to stretch out its arms towards the middle of the Chapel where the mine had been concealed, which by that means, was discovered. The people rushed to the spot and so the plot was uncovered and the entire Town saved through the intervention of Our Lady of Rennes. Great was the rejoicing and deep the gratitude of the people.
Known today as the Basilica of Saint Sauveur in Rennes, it is located in the heart of historic Rennes, which was once the capital of Brittany. It is situated at the termination of Saint-Sauveur Street on which its façade faces. As the original Gothic Church partially collapsed in the year 1682, the Classical style Church that can currently be seen, was constructed beginning in 1703 and Consecrated in August of 1719.

In the year 1793, during the French Revolution, the Church was made into a Temple of Reason and the miraculous Statue of Our Lady was destroyed. It was not until 1802, after the end of the Terror, that the Church was opened again to worship. The Church was made into a minor Basilica in 1916 by Pope Benedict XV.

In 1634, the miracle of Our Lady’s intervention against the English invaders, was officially recognised by the Bishop of Rennes, Pierre Cornulier.
There are many more miracles attributed to Our Lady, including the miraculous cure of Magdalene Morice in the year 1761. She had gangrene in her right foot which was instantly healed on Easter Sunday.
The Statue of Our Lady of Miracles and Virtues currently displayed at the Basilica was placed there in February of 1876.

In 1684 a boy of eleven left home for the City of Rennes in the hopes of enrolling at the Jesuit College of Thomas a Becket. The young Louis-Marie was an intelligent boy who was taken under the guidance of the Jesuit Priest, and it was at Rennes that he began to consider a possible vocation to the Priesthood. It was here, at the Shrine of Our Lady at Rennes, that Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort made the final decision to become a Priest.

St Martin de Porres OP (1579-1639) (Optional Memorial) “Saint of the Broom,” Dominican lay Brother, Miracle-worker, Apostle of Charity, Mystic.

St Acepsimas
St Acheric of Vosges
Bl Alphais of Cudot
Bl Berardo dei Marsi
Bl Berchtold of Engelberg
St Caesarius
St Cecilio Manrique Arnáiz
St Clydog
St Cristiolus
St Domnus of Vienne
St Elerius
St Englatius
St Florus of Lodeve
St Francisco Colom González
St Gaudiosus of Tarazona
St Germanus
St Guenhael
St Hermengaudius of Urgell
St Hilary of Viterbo
St Hubert of Liege (c 656-727) Bishop, the “Apostle of the Ardennes”
Bl Ida of Toggenburg
St José Llorach Bretó
St José Ruiz de la Torre
St Libertine of Agrigento
Bl Lorenzo Moreno Nicolás

St Malachy O’More of Armagh (1094 – 1148) Bishop, Abbot, Confessor, Reformer, Miracle-Worker, Primate of Ireland, gifted with the charism of Prophecy.

St Papulus
St Pierre-François Néron
St Pirmin
St Quartus
St Rumwold of Buckingham
St Sylvia of Rome
St Theophilus
St Valentine of Viterbo
St Valentinian
St Vitalis
St William of Vosges
St Winifred of Wales
St Wulganus

Innumerable Martyrs of Saragossa: A large group of Christians martyred in Zaragoza, Spain by Dacian during the persecutions of Diocletian. Dacian ordered all Christians of the city into exile under pain of death; when they were assembled to leave, Dacian ordered imperial soldiers to massacre the lot of them. They were martyred in 304.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Cecilio Manrique Arnáiz
• Blessed Francisco Colom González
• Blessed José Llorach Bretó
• Blessed José Ruiz de la Torre

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 3 November – Blessed Alphais of Cudot

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Blessed Alphais of Cudot (also known as Alpais, Alpaida, Alpaidis) was born in 1150 at Cudot, diocese of Sens, France. Born to a poor peasant family, after the death of her father, she worked in the fields with her brothers. When her strength weakened, she looked after the sheep. It was discovered that she had contracted leprosy. She was relegated to a small hut where her relatives brought her food. One day her brothers decided to abandon her and stop feeding her. Some days later, her brothers, filled with remorse, returned to find all traces of leprosy had disappeared, which she attributed to the gentleness of the Virgin Mary. Although cured of the leprosy, she was paralyzed. She subsequently recovered the use of her right arm and hand. Alpaïs had frequent ecstasies during which she appeared as if asleep, almost dead. But when she woke up, she could describe her visions. The peasants from the surrounding area and then the Cistercian monks from a nearby abbey came to visit.

The Archbishop of Sens, Guillaume de Champagne, decided to investigate. He came himself to visit the girl and decided to replace the hut with a cell and build an adjoining church so that she could attend Mass every day.

Becoming known for holiness and penance, Alphais had the gift of inedia – subsisting solely on the Eucharist. She was a counselor to Queen Adela of France.

Her vita was written c. 1180 by the monk Peter of the nearby Cistercian monastery of Les Écharlis.

Patronage: against sickness; sick people, disabled, handicapped and physically challenged people.

And blessed Mary said to [Alpais]: “Because, dear sister, you bore long starvation in humility and patience, in hunger and thirst, without any murmuring, I grant you now to be fattened with an angelic and spiritual food. And as long as you are in this little body, corporeal food and drink will not be necessary for the sustaining of your body, nor will you hunger for bread or any other food because after you have once tasted the celestial bread and drunk of the living fountain you will remain fattened for eternity.” And so it was.

The Life of Alpais of Cudot

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 3 November – Heal Us Lord God

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Heal Us Lord God
By St Albert of Trapani O.Carm. (c 1240-1307)

O my God,
You have created the human race
by Your wonderful power.
It is an act of Your clemency that has called us
to share Your glory and eternal life.
When the first sin condemned us to suffer death,
out of Your goodness,
You wished to redeem us
through the Blood of Your Son,
To unite us to Yourself
through our faith
and Your great mercy.
You have brought us back
from the shame of our sin,
You have veiled our dishonour
in the brightness of Your glory.
Look now and see that what You have created,
giving it subtle limbs and joints
and made beautiful through its immortal soul,
is now subject to the attack of Satan.
Be pleased Lord
to reconstitute Your work and heal it.
May Your power be glorified
and may the malice of the enemy be stunned.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 3 November – The prayer of God’s children

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 November – Readings: Jer 29:11-12; 29:14, Ps 84:2, Phil 3:17-21; 4:1-3, Matt 9:18-26

But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Take courage, daughter; your faith has saved you.” And the woman was restored to health from that moment.

Matt 9:18-26

REFLECTION – This is how Our Lord tells us to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven.” A new man, reborn and restored to his God by his grace says in the first place “Father” because he has now begun to be a son. “He came,” the Gospel says, “unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him he gave to them the power to become the sons of God, to those who believe in his name”. He, therefore, who has believed in his name and has become the son of God, thereafter should begin to give thanks by professing himself son of God and by declaring that his father is God in heaven.

How great is the indulgence of the Lord, how great the abundance of his regard for us and his goodness, that he has thus wished us to offer prayer in the sight of God so as to call the Lord “Father”! And just as Christ is the Son of God, he wants us also to be pronounced the sons of God, which name no one of us would dare to take in prayer, had not he himself permitted us so to pray.

So, most beloved brethren, we ought to remember and to know that, when we speak of God, we ought to act as sons of God, so that, just as we are pleased with God as Father, so too he may be pleased with us. Let us live as if temples of God, that it may be clear that the Lord dwells in us.

St Cyprian

PRAYER – Holy God and Father, You sent Your Son to show us the way to our eternal home. Teach us always to understand that by relinquishing the things of this world and focusing our efforts only on following the Light He shines on our path, we may attain the eternal victory. May the prayers of Your our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, assist us in carrying our cross after Him. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 3 November – Their god is the belly

Posted on by AnaStpaul

A reasonable man eats in order to give strength to his body, lest its weakness might have an effect on his mind, but those who are addicted to intemperance, eat even to clouding their intellect and ruining their body.

Père de la Colombière

There are some people whose body is of no use to the intellect (unlike the saints, who complained of having a body, which occasioned so much trouble to the mind) such as these would like to be deprived of the qualms of conscience, in order to partake of the pleasures of beasts, pleasures they constantly seek and sigh for.

Père de la Colombière

A man addicted to wine, says St Chrysostom, is fit for nothing, for of what use is such a man? Such a man is useless, he is fit for nothing, he is a fool, he must be left to himself, he does not deserve a thought.

Pere Houdry

One ought to take food as one would take remedies. Necessity ought to rule our inclination, so as to free us from the inconvenience of hunger, and not that concupiscence which lays a snare in the pleasure that follows, that solace, which we seek for in eating and drinking.

Père de la Colombière

The kingdom of heaven and happiness which are destined for us, are not intended for those who eat and drink. Those, therefore, who pamper their appetites, those who are slaves of intemperance, have no claim or right.

Pere Houdry

Excess in eating and drinking has killed many a man, frugality has killed no one, immoderate use of wine has injured many a constitution, temperance has never done any harm. Many have died in the midst of banquets, and have soiled the very tables with their heated blood. You invite your friends to a feast, and you lead them to death.

St Ambrose

Posted in NOVEMBER - Month of the SOULS in PURGATORY

Thought for the Day – 3 November – The joy of the souls in Purgatory

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Treatise on Purgatory

St Catherine of Genoa

CHAPTER II

I do not believe it would be possible to find any joy comparable to that of a soul in purgatory, except the joy of the blessed in paradise a joy which goes on increasing day by day, as God more and more flows in upon the soul, which He does abundantly in proportion as every hindrance to His entrance is consumed away. The hindrance is the rust of sin ; the fire consumes the rust, and thus the soul goes on laying itself open to the Divine inflowing.

The pain, however, does not diminish, but only the time of remaining in that pain. As far as their will is concerned, these souls cannot acknowledge the pain as such, so completely are they satisfied with ordinance of God, so entirely is their will one with it in pure charity. On the other hand they suffer a torment so extreme, that no tongue could describe it, no intellect could form the least idea of it, if God had not made it known by special grace ; which idea, however, God’s grace has shown my soul ; but I cannot find words to express it with my tongue, yet the sight of it has never left my mind. I will describe it as I can : they will understand it whose intellect the Lord shall vouchsafe to open.