Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Notre-Dame, Folgoët / Our Lady of Folgoët Finistère, Brittany, France (1650) and Memorials of the Saints – 5 September

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Notre-Dame, Folgoët / Our Lady of Folgoët Finistère, Brittany, France (1650) – First Sunday or the First Week of September:

Known as the “the fool of the woods,” St Salaün (Died1358 – Memorial on1 November) lived in a forest clearing near a spring, over which he enjoyed hanging from an oak branch, immersed to his shoulders, singing “O Maria.” He lived by begging: “Ave Maria! Salaün could eat some bread!” After he died in 1358, aged 48, in the woods near the spring, people found a white lily with “Ave Maria” in gold lettering on its petals — growing from the mouth of the dead fool buried beneath.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame du Folgoët was begun on the spot in 1365, completed in 1419 and consecrated in 1423. Its main Altar is over the spring, channeled into a basin behind the Church. In 1888, a dark stone Virgin was crowned Our Lady of Folgoët, replacing a polychrome wooden Statue which was moved to a side Altar. The Black Virgin is standing, holding the Child with her left arm; both wear large crowns. Her back is flat; the statue may have been on the exterior of the Church before the Revolution, when some Statues were damaged and removed for safekeeping from the marauding mobs of the French Revolution.

In the late 1500s, the big pilgrimage date was 15 August Feast of the Assumption. Three hundred years later, the celebration moved to 8 September, Nativity of the Virgin. Since 1970 the Grand Pardon has been held the first weekend in September, with a succession of processions and Masses in the Breton language.

St Albert of Butrio

St Alvito de León (Died 1063) Bishop. Alvito was the Confessor to King Fernando I of León, a Monk and the Benedictine Abbot of the Sahagún Monastery.

Bl Anselm of Anchin
St Anseric of Soissons

St Bertin the Great (c 615-c 709) Benedictine Monk and Abbot, Missionary.

Bl Florent Dumontet de Cardaillac
St Genebald of Laon
Bl Gendtilis
Bl Gerbrand of Dokkum
St Guise Hoang Luong Canh
Blessed John the Good OSA (c 1168-1249) Bishop
Bl Jordan of Pulsano
St Lawrence Justinian (1381-1455) Bishop
St Obdulia
St Phêrô Nguyen Van Tu
St Romulus of Rome

St Victorinus of Amiterme
St Victorinus of Como
Bl William Browne
—
Martyrs of Armenia – 1,000 saints: A group of up to 1,000 Christian soldiers in the 2nd century imperial Roman army of Trajan, stationed in Gaul. Ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods, they refused and were transferred to Armenia. Ordered again to sacrifice to pagan gods, they refused again. Martyrs. We know the names of three of them, but nothing else – Eudoxius, Macarius and Zeno.

Martyrs of Capua – 3 saints: Three Christians who were martyred together. Long venerated in Capua, Italy. We know their names, but little else – Arcontius, Donatus and Quintius. They were martyred in Capua, Italy.

Martyrs of Nicomedia – 80 saints: A group of 80 Christians, lay and clergy, martyred together in the persecutions of Valens. We know little more than the names of three of them – Menedemo, Teodoro and Urbano. They were locked on a boat which was then set on fire on the shore of Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey) c 370.

Martyrs of Porto Romano – 4+ saints: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius. We know little more than their names – Aconto, Herculanus, Nonno and Taurino. c180 at Porto Romano, Italy.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 5 September – Blessed  Peter Nguyễn Văn Tự

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Blessed Peter Nguyễn Văn Tự, also known as Phêrô Nguyễn Văn Tự or Peter Tu Van Nguyen, was a Dominican priest and martyr born in 1796, Nam Dinh, Vietnam. Growing up during a time of persecutions of Christians, he entered the seminary, was ordained a priest in 1826, and joined the Dominican Order on January 4, 1827.

For 12 years Peter served in parishes across the Diocese of Bùi Chu. When the 1832 edict under Emperor Minh Mạng came, he went into hiding for six years, yet continued ministering secretly, often at great risk. In June 1838, soldiers raided Kẻ Mốt village, confiscating religious items and torturing locals. His hiding spot was betrayed and he was arrest on June 29, 1838, alongside catechist Bùi Văn Úy.

While imprisoned, Peter boldly preached during interrogations and refused to trample on a crucifix. Sentenced to death, he prepared with prayer, confessing to a fellow priest and receiving Holy Communion. On September 5, 1838, at age 42, he was beheaded at Cổ Mễ execution grounds alongside Joseph Hoàng Lương Cảnh. His body was buried at Nghĩa Vũ parish, with relics now at Trung Lại church in Bắc Giang province.

He was beatified on May 27, 1900, by Pope Leo XIII.

O blessed, you may regard yourselves as having been translated from a prison to, we may say, a place of safety. It is full of darkness, but you yourselves are light; it has bonds, but God has made you free. Unpleasant exhalations are there, but you are an odour of sweetness. The judge is daily looked for, but you shall judge the judges themselves.

Tertullian (To the Martyrs)

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 5 September – A Eucharistic Offering

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Our Morning Offering – 5 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

A Eucharistic Offering
By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Lord, all things in heaven and earth are Yours.
I desire to offer myself to You
in free and perpetual oblation,
so that I may forever be with You.
Lord, in simpliciy of heart,
I offer myself this day to You,
to be Your servant in service
and sacrifice of perpetual praise.
Accept me with the oblation of Your precious Body,
which this day I offer You in the presence
of Your holy Angels, here invisibly present,
so that it may be to my salvation
and to the salvation of all people.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 5 September – “After a long time the master of those servants came back”

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One Minute Reflection – 5 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Sir 45:30, Ps. 131:1, Sir 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matt 25:14-23

Then after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Matt 25:14-23

REFLECTION – “Brothers, up till now we have done nothing at all: so let us begin today.” It was to himself that Saint Francis addressed this counsel; let us humbly make it our own. How true it is that we have done nothing – or very little – as yet! One year follows another without our asking ourselves what we could have made of them. Hasn’t there been anything to change, to add or take away from our way of behaving? How carelessly we have lived, as though the day were never going to come when the eternal Judge would call us to himself and we would have to give an account of our deeds and of what we have done with our time.

Don’t let us waste our time. We ought not to put off for tomorrow what we could do today. The grave overflows with good intentions and, in any case, who can say whether tomorrow we shall still be alive? Let us listen to the voice of our conscience; it is the voice of the prophet: “Oh that today you would hear his voice: Harden not your heart,”.

All we have is the present moment: so let us keep a watch over it and live it as though it were a treasure entrusted to us. Time doesn’t belong to us; don’t let us waste it.

Padre Pio

PRAYER – Almighty and merciful God, open the ears and eyes of our hearts and fill us with Your grace. May we follow You in holiness all the days of our lives. Grant we pray, that as You brought Your Saints and Martyrs to overcome fearlessly, the persecutions of Your people, that we too may remain invincible under Your protection and by their prayers, be strengthened against the snares of the enemy. St Lawrence Justinian, pray for us in these times of evil! Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 5 September – St Lawrence Justinian

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Quote/s of the Day – 5 September – The Memorial of St Lawrence Justinian (1381-1455) Bishop

“There is no prayer or good work
so great, so pleasing to God,
so useful to us,
as the Holy Mass.”

“The name of Mary
is a tower of strength,
which saves sinners from punishment
and defends the just
from the assaults of hell.”

“By the practice of prayer
we can construct an impregnable citadel,
in which we shall be securely protected
against all the snares of the enemy.”

Posted in SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

Thought for the Day – 5 September – Let him take up his cross

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Letter to the Friends of the Cross by St Louis de Montfort

[C. Let him take up his cross]

“Let him take up his cross,” the one that is his. Let that man (or woman) so rare “far beyond the price of pearls,” take up his cross joyfully, embrace it lovingly, and carry it courageously on his shoulders, his own cross, and not that of another – his own cross which I, in my wisdom, designed for him in every detail of number, measure and weight; his own cross which I have fashioned with my own hands and with great exactness as regards its four dimensions of length, breadth, thickness and depth; his own cross, which out of love for him I have carved from a piece of the one I bore to Calvary; his own cross, which is the greatest gift I can bestow upon my chosen ones on earth; his own cross, whose thickness is made up of the loss of one’s possessions, humiliations, contempt, sufferings, illnesses and spiritual trials, which come to him daily till his death in accordance with my providence; his own cross, whose length consists of a certain period of days or months enduring slander, or lying on a sick-bed, or being forced to beg, or suffering from temptations, dryness, desolation, and other interior trials; his own cross, whose breadth is made up of the most harsh and bitter circumstances brought about by relatives, friends, servants; his own cross, whose depth is made up of the hidden trials I shall inflict on him without his being able to find any comfort from other people, for they also, under my guidance, will turn away from him and join with me in making him suffer.

“Let him take up,” that is, let him carry his cross and not drag it, or shake it off, or lighten it, or hide it. Instead, let him lift it on high and carry it without impatience or annoyance, without intentional complaint or grumbling, without hesitation or concealment, without shame or human respect.

“Let him take it up” and set it on his brow, saying with St. Paul, “The only thing I can boast about is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Let him carry it on his shoulders like our Lord, that it may become the source of his victories and the sceptre of his power: “Dominion is laid upon his shoulders.” Let him set it in his heart, where it may, like the burning bush of Moses, burn day and night with the pure love of God without being consumed!

“The cross”: let him carry it, for nothing is so necessary, so beneficial, so agreeable, or so glorious as to suffer something for Jesus Christ.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Madonna della Consolazione / Our Lady of Consolation, or Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted, (1436) and Memorials of the Saints – 4 September

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Madonna della Consolazione / Our Lady of Consolation, or Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted, (from the Latin Consolatrix Afflictorum): (1436) – 4 September

It is found in the Litany of Loreto.
The feast of Our Lady of Consolation is one of the solemnities not inscribed in the General Roman Calendar but which are observed in particular places, regions, churches or religious institutes. Augustinians and many regions, observe today 4 September, the Benedictines 5 July.

And about The Augustinians, Our Lady of Consolation and The “Augustinian Rosary”
The “Corona (or Crown) of Our Mother of Consolation.”

St Ammianus the Martyr
St Caletricus of Chartres
St Candida of Naples/St Candida the Elder
St Castus of Ancyra

Blessed Catherine of Racconigi OP (1486-1547) Third Order Dominican, Mystic, Stigmatist.

St Fredaldo of Mende
St Hermione

St Ida of Herzfeld (c 770-825) Laywoman, Widow, Apostle of the poor.

St Irmgard of Süchteln
St Julian the Martyr
St Magnus of Ancyra
St Marcellus of Chalon-sur-Saône
St Marcellus of Treves
St Maximus of Ancyra
St Monessa
St Moses the Prophet
Bl Nicolò Rusca
St Oceanus the Martyr
Bl Peter of Saint James
St Rebecca of Alexandria
St Rhuddlad
St Rosalia (c 1130-c 1160) Virgin, Recluse, known as “La Santuzza” – “The Little Saint.“

St Rose of Viterbo TOSF (c 1233 – 1251) Virgin, Preacher – Member of the Franciscan Third Order, Recluse, Miracle-Worker.

St Rufinus of Ancyra
St Salvinus of Verdun
Bl Scipion-Jérôme Brigeat Lambert
St Silvanus of Ancyra
St Sulpicius of Bayeux
St Thamel
St Theodore the Martyr
St Ultan of Ardbraccan
St Victalicus
—
Blessed Martyrs of Nowogródek:
The Eleven Nuns of Nowogródek or Blessed Mary Stella and her Ten Companions were a group of members of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, a Polish Roman Catholic religious congregation, executed by the Gestapo in August 1943 in occupied Poland (present-day Navahrudak, Belarus).

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 4 September – St Moses the Prophet

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Moses (“saved from the waters”) was a Hebrew liberator, law giver, and prophet. He belonged to the tribe of Levi and was born in Egypt (10th century B.C.), at a time when Pharaoh had ordered the killing of all male Hebrew children. Exposed in the waters of the Nile, he was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter and educated at court.

Having killed an Egyptian to save one of his brethren from ill-treatment, he fled to Madian where he married Jethro’s daughter. God appeared to him in the burning bush and commanded him to go and deliver his people, with the help of his brother Aaron, but Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, and the terrible chastisements known as the Ten Plagues of Egypt only hardened his heart. However the last one, the death of every first born, forced him to yield, and the Hebrews departed, after celebrating the first Pasch.

The Finding of Moses

Then began, under the leadership of Moses, a long journey in the direction of the Promised Land. Moses himself is excluded from it because of his lack of confidence at the “Waters of Contradiction”. The Israelites finally reached the banks of the Jordan, after defeating the Amorrhites and Moabites, and Moses died on Mount Nebo after pronouncing the three discourses preserved in Deuteronomy, his position being inherited by Joshua. He was buried in the valley of Moab, but “no man knows his sepulchre”.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 4 September – To Our Lady of Sorrows by St Bonaventure

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Our Morning Offering – 4 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” and Mary’s Saturday

To Our Lady of Sorrows
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

O most holy Virgin,
Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the overwhelming grief you experienced
when you witnessed the Martyrdom,
the Crucifixion and the Death,
of your Divine Son,
look upon me, with eyes of compassion
and awaken in my heart,
a tender commiseration for those sufferings
and a sincere detestation of my sins,
in order that,
being disengaged from all undue affection
for the passing joys of this earth,
I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem
and that, henceforward, all my thoughts
and all my actions may be directed
towards this one most desirable object,
the honour, glory and love
of our divine Lord Jesus,
and to you,
the Holy and Immaculate
Mother of God.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 4 September – “You cannot serve God and mammon”

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One Minute Reflection – 4 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

But seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides.

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – See what benefits Jesus Christ promises and how beneficial his commands are to us since they set us free from such great evils. The misery caused you by riches, he says to us, is not just that of arming thieves against you and filling your mind with impenetrable gloom. The great wound they inflict is to snatch you away from the blessed service of Jesus Christ to make you slaves of a piece of senseless, soulless metal.

“You cannot serve both God and money.” My brethren, let us shudder at the thought that we are forcing Jesus Christ to speak to us about money as though it were an alternative divinity to God ! But surely, you will say, didn't the patriarchs of old find it possible to serve God and money at the same time? Certainly not. But how, then, was it that Abraham and Job set such store by their wealth? I reply that there's no question here of invoking those who possessed riches but those who were possessed by them. Job was a rich man; he made use of money without being its slave; he was its master, not its worshipper. He considered his wealth as though it had been another's and saw himself as its administrator, not its proprietor. That was why he was not the least bothered when he lost it.

St John Chrysostom

PRAYER – Holy God, Almighty Father, You taught us to honour Your holy day and the day of rest. In Your divine Son, Whom You gave to us as our brother and glorified by His Resurrection, You showed us the way to our eternal life. As His glorified body shines anew, we rejoice in our future life with Him and embrace His day as our own, each Sunday renewing His Resurrection and each day of our lives. We run forward to sing Your glory together with our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin and most Sorrowful Mary, to eternity, through our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 4 September – Saints

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But of the fruit of the Spirit is: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such things there is no law. And they who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.

Gal 5:16-24

John was made steadfast in God, rooted in Christ, filled with the Holy Ghost, made strong by virtue, and most lofty in holiness, he could not be bent back or altered from his faith in Christ, once he had borne witness to it, by the winds of admirers, or by the squalls of slanderers, or by the gales of threats, or by the feathery touches of pleasure, or by the storms of suffering.

St Peter Chrysologus

If we consider the friendships of the ordinary run of mortals nowadays, we should find that nearly all human friendships are at a very low ebb, and are simply kept up by the prospect of gain in the business of this life. The friendship between persons united in and with Jesus Christ is solid, constant, and invicible, it is not shaken or impaired by suspicion, calumny, or even by death itself.

St John Chrysostom

Indeed, what could I wish to be, if I did not wish to be a saint? I must then be a reprobate, for there is no middle course, either a saint or a reprobate.

Le Pere D’Argentan

And how many saints, who were men like ourselves, and subject to the same infirmities, have been happier, more contented in their poverty, than the rich worldlings with all their treasures? How many of them have felt a sweeter consolation in the midst of scorn and contempt, than the most ambitious have felt, even when loaded with honours? And how many have felt a holier joy, even when carrying a heavy cross, than the sensualists in the midst of their pleasures.

Le Pere D’Argentan

How can a truly virtuous man fail in anything? In what situation, will he not be powerful, in what state of poverty, will he not be rich, in what obscurity, will he not be brilliant, in what inaction, will he not be industrious, in what infirmity, will he not be vigorous, in what weakness, will he not be strong, in what solitude, will he not be accompanied? for he will have for company the hope of a happy eternity, for clothing, he will have the grace of the Most High, for ornament, the promises of a halo of glory! Let us recollect that the Saints were not of a more excellent nature than ours, but were more orderly and regular, that they were not exempt from sins, but that they took pains to correct their faults.

St Ambrose

Love Him, then; keep Him as a friend. He will not leave you as others do, or let you suffer lasting death. Sometime, whether you will or not, you will have to part with everything. Cling, therefore, to Jesus in life and death; trust yourself to the glory of Him who alone can help you when all others fail. You will quickly be deceived if you look only to the outward appearance of men, and you will often be disappointed if you seek comfort and gain in them. If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him. Likewise, if you seek yourself, you will find yourself — to your own ruin. For the man who does not seek Jesus does himself much greater harm than the whole world and all his enemies could ever do.

Thomas a Kempis

Posted in SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

Thought for the Day – 4 September – Let him renounce himself

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Letter to the Friends of the Cross by St Louis de Montfort

[B. Let him renounce himself]

If anyone, therefore, wants to follow me thus abased and crucified, he must glory, as I did, only in the poverty, humiliations and sufferings of my Cross. “Let him renounce himself.”

Excluded, then, from the company of the Friends of the Cross are those who take pride in their sufferings; the worldly-wise, the intellectuals and the sceptics who are attached to their own ideas and puffed up with their own talents.

Away from you those endless talkers who make a great show but produce nothing but vanity. Away from you those so-called devout Catholics who in their pride display the self-sufficiency of proud Lucifer wherever they go, saying, “I am not like the rest of men;” who cannot endure being blamed without making some excuse, being attacked without answering back, being humbled without exalting themselves.

Be careful not to admit into your society those delicate and sensitive people who are afraid of the slightest pin- prick, who cry out and complain at the least pain, who know nothing of the hair-shirt, the discipline or other instruments of penance, and who mingle, with their fashionable devotions, a most refined fastidiousness and a most studied lack of mortification.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Notre Dame de Brebières / Mother of the Divine Shepherd, France (also known as Le Divine Bergère – The Divine Shepherdess) and Memorials of the Saints – 3 September

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Notre Dame de Brebières / Mother of the Divine Shepherd, France (also known as Le Divine Bergère – The Divine Shepherdess) – 3 September:

Our Lady, Mother of the Divine Shepherd, or Notre Dame de Brebières, is located in the small town of Albert in the Diocese of Amiens, France. At one time, probably sometime in the 12th century and according to local tradition, a shepherd was grazing his sheep at Brebières when he observed that many of the animals were staying in the same area to eat, ripping the grass out by the roots. It must have seemed very odd to the shepherd, who decided that the sheep were trying to uncover something, so he started to dig in the very spot himself. In a short time he uncovered a Statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted from a single piece of solid stone.

The Statue was fairly large, nearly 1,22 metres tall and represented the Blessed Mother holding the Divine Child in her arm. There was a sheep depicted quietly reclining at Mary’s feet. As has happened so often throughout history, the finding of the Statue increased the enthusiasm and affection of the local populace toward the Mother of God. A small Chapel was built at the site to honour the Statue and receive the pilgrims who had already begun coming to Albert to visit the Holy Mother.

Saint Colette can be credited for helping to spread the fame of Our Lady, Mother of the Divine Shepherd. At age fourteen, she was somewhat short and had a delicate constitution. Seeking a remedy through the favour of the Blessed Virgin, Saint Colette prayed to Our Lady of Brebières She not only obtained vigour and good health, she also found that several inches were miraculously added to her height!

In 1637 the Sanctuary was partially burned and IN 1727 the miraculous image was moved to the Parish Church of Albert. During the French Revolution the Church was made into a pagan temple to the goddess of Reason, while the image of the Mother of God was hidden until 1802 when the horrors of the Terror during this supposed time of reason subsided.

This feast is celebrated in a number of places and by certain religious communities and congregations: Capuchins, Marists and others, on widely different dates. It is a special festival of the Shrine of Our Lady of Brebières a very old Sanctuary near Albert in France, formerly much resorted to by the shepherds.

The pilgrimage here was revived after 1870 and a beautiful Basilica was completed in 1887. The Statue was crowned in 1901 and miraculously survived the devastation of both world wars. The Basilica has again been rebuilt.

The collect of the Mass prays that by following the Good Shepherd on earth, we may reach the pastures of eternal life with Mary in heaven.

The Raising to the Pontificate of St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) – Father & Doctor of the Church (Memorial)- Pre 1969 Feast Day – 12 March the day of his death.

St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) “Pope of the Blessed Sacrament” Feast Day pre-1969 today, the date of his election to the Pontificate

St Aigulphus of Lérins
St Ambrose of Sens
St Ammon of Heraclea
Bl Andrew Dotti
St Auxanus
St Balin
St Basilissa of Nicomedia

Blessed Brigida of Jesus Morello (1610-1679) Religious Sister and Founder of the Ursuline Sisters of Mary Immaculate, Widow.

St Chariton
St Chrodegang of Séez
St Frugentius the Martyr
Bl Guala of Brescia
St Hereswitha
Bl Herman of Heidelberg
St Macanisius
St Mansuetus of Toul
St Marinus (Died c 366)
St Martiniano of Como
St Natalis of Casale

St Phoebe (1st Century) Disciple of St Paul – Deaconess at Cenchrese, Matron and possibly a widow. She is mentioned by the Apostle St Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, verses 16:1-2.

St Regulus of Rheims
St Remaclus
St Sandila of Cordoba
St Vitalian of Capua (Died 699) Bishop
—
Martyrs of Aquileia – 4 saints: Four young women, variously sisters and cousins, who were born to the nobility, the daughters of the pagans Valentinianus of Aquileia and Valentius of Aquileia. Each woman converted and made private vows, dedicating themselves to God. They were arrested, tortured and martyred by order of Valentius for becoming a Christian. We know little else but their names – Dorothy, Erasma, Euphemia and Thecla. They were martyred by beheaded in the 1st century in Aquileia, Italy and their bodies were thrown into a nearby river.

Martyrs of Nagasaki – 6 beati: A group of priests and clerics, native and foreign, murdered together in the anti-Christian persecutions in Japan. They were scalded in boiling water and then burned alive on 3 September 1632 in Nishizaka, Nagasaki, Japan and Beatified on 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX.

• Anthony Ishida
• Bartolomé Gutiérrez Rodríguez
• Francisco Terrero de Ortega Pérez
• Gabriel Tarazona Rodríguez
• Jerome of the Cross de Torres
• Vicente Simões de Carvalho

Martyrs of Seoul – 6 saints: A group of Christian lay people martyred together in the persecutions in Korea.
• Agnes Kim Hyo-Ch’u
• Barbara Kwon Hui
• Barbara Yi Chong-hui
• Ioannes Pak Hu-jae
• Maria Pak K’Un-agi
• Maria Yi Yon-hui

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Andrea Calle González
• Blessed Concepción Pérez Giral
• Blessed Dolores Úrsula Caro Martín
• Blessed Joaquim Balcells Bosch
• Blessed Pius Salvans Corominas

Posted in Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 3 September – St. Remaclus

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Saint Remaclus, also known as Remaclus von Stablo, Remacle, Remaculus, Rimagilus, was a Benedictine monk, priest, and the first abbot at Solignac Abbey in France, a position to which he was appointed by Saint Eligius. Th leader of a busy life, he was born in the early 7th century, in Aquitaine, France, he came from nobility. Remaclus grew up in and around the royal court of Aquitaine, and studied under Saint Sulpicius of Bourges.

He became an advisor to King Sigebert II of Austrasia and convinced the king to found the double abbey of Stavelot, Belgium, and Malmedy, Ardennes, France, in 648. Saint Remaclus served as its first abbot. He then became missionary bishop of Maastricht, Netherlands from 652 to 663, a diocese frequently out of touch with the Church. Also a diocese which had murdered some of its previous bishops. He worked to spread monasticism in the region.

He was friends with Saint Hadelin and the spiritual father of Saint Trond, Saint Babolen, Saint Theodard of Maastricht, and Saint Lambert of Maestricht. In his later years he retired to the abbey at Stavelot to spend his final days as a prayerful monk, dying 663 of natural causes. His relics lie in St. Sebastian Church in Stavelot.

Church of St. Sebastian in Stavelot

He is often depicted with a wolf because a wolf able to drive away the devil accompanied him. With his staff, the saint discovered springs which possessed healing waters.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 3 September – O Divine Jesus! Lonely in So Many Tabernacles

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Our Morning Offering – 3 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – The Memorial of St Pope Pius X (1835-1914) (Pontiff 1903-1914)

O Divine Jesus!
Lonely in So Many Tabernacles
By St Pope Pius X (1835-1914)
“Pope of the Blessed Sacrament”

O Divine Jesus!
Lonely today in so many Tabernacles,
without visitor or worshipper,
I offer Thee my lonely heart.
May it’s every beat be a prayer of love to Thee.
Thou art ever watching under the Sacramental Veils,
in Thou love, Thou never sleeps
and Thou art never weary of Thy vigils for sinners.
O Loving Jesus!
O Lonely Jesus!
may my heart be a lamp,
the light of which shall burn and beam
for Thee alone.
Watch, Sacramental Sentinel!
Watch for the weary world,
for the erring soul
and for Thy poor lonely child.
O Jesus, my God, I adore Thee,
here present in the Sacrament of Thy love.
Amen

Indulgences:
100 days each time before the Tabernacle
300 days each time before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed
(St Pope Pius X – 3 July 1908)
Prayers to the Sacred Heart
15th Ed 1936

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION, Uncategorized

One Minute Reflection – 3 September – “Tend my sheep”

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One Minute Reflection – 3 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 88:20-22, Ps 88:2, 1 Thess. 2:2-8, John 21:15-17

At that time, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these do? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Feed My lambs.

John 21:15-17

REFLECTION – The Lord asks Peter what he already knew, and that not just once but a second and a third time, whether Peter loved him. And each time he has the same answer, that he is loved, while just as often he gives Peter the same charge to feed His sheep. To the threefold denial there is now appended a threefold confession of love. His tongue is not to yield a feebler service to love than it did to fear, and the testimony of his word must be just as open in the presence of life as it was before the threat of death. If it was the sign of fear to deny the Shepherd then let it be the office of love to feed the Lord’s flock.

Those who have this as their purpose in feeding the flock of Christ, that they may have them as their own and not as Christ's, are convicted of loving themselves and not Christ. They are motivated either by the desire of boasting, or of wielding power, or of acquiring gain, and not from the love of obeying, serving, and pleasing God. The thrice repeated saying of Christ condemns those, therefore, of whom the apostle complains that they seek their own interests, not the things that are Jesus Christ's. For what do the words mean: "Do you love me? Feed my sheep"? It is as though he said, “If you love me, do not think of feeding yourself but feed my sheep as mine, and not as your own; seek my glory in them, and not your own; my dominion, and not yours; my gain, and not yours… So let us not love ourselves, but him; and in feeding his sheep, let us be seeking the things which are his, not the things which are our own.

St Augustine 

PRAYER – God our Father, Your rule is a rule of love, Your providence is full of mercy for Your people. Through the intercession of Your |Angels and Saints and the Most Sorrowful Mother of Your Son, that we may be granted the spirit of wisdom and understanding in Your Word. Grant that by the light of the Your Word made flesh, we may know our eternal home and strive to attain eternal joy there with You. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 3 September – St Pius X

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Quote/s of the Day – 3 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”

“Truly we are passing through disastrous times,
when we may well make our own,
the lamentation of the Prophet:
“There is no truth,and there is no mercy
and there is no knowledge of God in the land”.
Yet in the midst of this tide of evil,
the Virgin Most Merciful rises before our eyes
like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace
between God and man.”

“…The great movement of apostasy being organised in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, neither discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions and which, under the pretext of freedom and human dignity, would bring back to the world (if such a Church could overcome) the reign of legalised cunning and force and the oppression of the weak and of all those who toil and suffer. […] Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators – they are traditionalists.”

“I accept with sincere belief,
the doctrine of faith
as handed down to us
from the Apostles,
by the orthodox Fathers,
always in the same sense
and with the same interpretation.”

“Is it permitted for Catholics
to be present at, or to take part in,
conventions, gatherings, meetings,
or societies of non-Catholics
which aim to associate together
under a single agreement everyone who,
in any way, lays claim to the name of Christian?
IN THE NEGATIVE! …
It is clear, therefore,
why this Apostolic See
has never allowed its subjects,
to take part in
the assemblies of non-Catholics.”

“The Church alone,
being the Bride of Christ
and having all things
in common with her Divine Spouse,
is the depository of the truth.”

“There is one way
in which the unity of Christians
may be fostered
and that is,
by furthering the return
to the one true Church of Christ
for those who are separated from Her.”

“The ROSARY is the most beautiful
and the most rich in graces of all prayer.
It is the prayer that touches most,
the Heart of the Mother of God…
and if you wish peace to reign in your homes,
recite the FAMILY ROSARY.”

“If there were one million families
praying the Rosary every day,
the entire world would be saved.”

“I was born poor,
I have lived poor,
I wish to die poor.”

Posted in SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

Thought for the Day – 3 September – The Practices of Christian Perfection

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Letter to the Friends of the Cross by St Louis de Montfort

II. THE PRACTICES OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION

Christian holiness consists in this:

  1. Resolving to become a saint: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine;”
  2. Self-denial: “Let him renounce himself;”
  3. Suffering: “Let him take up his cross;”
  4. Acting: “Let him follow

[A. If anyone wants to follow me]

“If anyone,” says our Lord, to point out the small number of chosen ones willing to conform themselves to Christ crucified by carrying their cross. Their number is so small that we would be dumbfounded if we knew it. It is so small that there is scarcely one in ten thousand, as has been revealed to several saints, including St. Simon Stylites, St. Basil, St. Ephrem and others. It is so small that, should it please God to gather them together, he would have to call them one by one as he did of old through his prophet, “You will be gathered one by one;” one from this country, one from that province.

“If anyone wants,” if anyone has a genuine desire, a determination, not prompted by nature, habit, self-love, self-interest, or human respect, but by the all-conquering grace of the Holy Spirit, which is not given to everyone. “It is not given to all men to know this mystery.”

In fact, only a few people have the knowledge of how to live out the mystery of the Cross in daily life. For a man to climb Mount Calvary and allow himself to be nailed to the cross with Christ in the midst of his own people, he must be courageous, heroic, resolute; one who is close to God, and treats with indifference the world and the devil, his own body and his own desires; one who is determined to leave all things, to undertake all things, and to suffer all things for Christ.

You must realise, my dear Friends of the Cross, that should there be anyone among you without this determination, he is only walking on one foot, flying with one wing. He is not worthy to be one of your company, since he is not worthy to be called a Friend of the Cross, which we must, like Jesus, love “with a generous mind and a willing heart.”

It only needs one half-hearted member to spoil the whole group, like a mangy sheep. If such a one has entered your fold through the evil door of the world, then in the name of Christ crucified drive him out as you would a wolf from the flock.

“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine.” If anyone wants to follow me who so humbled and emptied myself that I became a worm rather than a man; who came into the world only to embrace the Cross, to set it in my heart, to love it from my youth, to long for it all the days of my life, to carry it joyfully, preferring it to all the joys and delights that heaven and earth could offer, and not being content till I had died in its divine embrace.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 2 September – St Margaret of Louvain

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Saint Margaret of Louvain, also known as known as Margaretula, Margaret la Fière, Margaret van Leuven, Margaret van Löwen, Margarita Lovania, Fiere Margriet.

Death of Margaretha of Louvain by Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen

She was a maid born in 1207 to a poor family at Louvain, Brabant, Belgium. When a teenager, Margaret worked as a maid at the Sint Joris, an inn in Louvain owned by her uncle Aubert. Aubert and his wife sold the inn, planning to each enter the religious life. Margaret herself wanted to become a Cistercian nun.

The body of the blessed Margaretha of Louvain laid out.

On their last night in the inn, thieves broke in and murdered the owners while Margaret was out. She came home as the killers were leaving, seeing what they had done. She ran and the thieves gave chase. They caught up with her along the banks of the Dyle River, where they murdered her by slitting her throat. They threw her corpse into the Dyle, but when a large fish pushed the body upstream and an angel hovered over the river, shining a light on the body, it was recovered and buried on the riverbank where she was killed. Miracles were reported at her gravesite, and her remains were then translated and reinterred in a chapel in the yard of Saint Peter’s Church in the centre of town, where many miracles occured.

In 1905, Pope Pius X confirmed her cultus. Her shrine was made of gilded copper and adorned with semi-precious stones and co-financed by gifts from parishioners and young maids who honor Marguerite la Fière as their patron saint.

The funeral procession of Blessed Margaretha of Louvain

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Madonna della Montagna / Our Lady of the Mountain, Polsi di San Luca, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy (1144) and Memorials of the Saints – 2 September

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Madonna della Montagna / Our Lady of the Mountain, Polsi di San Luca, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy (1144) – 2 September :

In 1144, a boy found his calf kneeling before an unusual iron Cross, apparently just unearthed. The Madonna appeared, asking for the young herder to spread the news and for a Church to be built on the spot, half a mile high in the mountains.

In 1560, a chest was found floating in the sea. It was taken ashore and found to contain a stone Statue of the Madonna. When the chest was placed in a cart, the oxen suddenly took off for the mountain pass and nothing more was heard of the Statue until it turned up in the heart of Aspromonte, at the place where a calf had found a Cross and the Madonna had requested a Church. The Sanctuary there became a place of pilgrimage.

Every year, people from all over Calabria and Sicily would make the 24-hour walk, enlivened by hymns and ballads, along the rugged path to Polsi, where they would greet the Madonna with gunshots on their arrival on 2 September As pilgrims still do — though now they can travel by road or train as well — they would spend the night in one of the hostels near the Shrine. On 3 September, a wooden Madonna is carried in procession. The stone Statue is only taken from its place on the main Altar every 25 years or in special circumstances. Also known as the Mother of the Good Shepherd, the Madonna of the Mountain was crowned in 1881, 1931 and on 2 September 1981.

Bl Albert of Pontida
St Antoninus of Pamiers
St Antoninus of Syria

Blessed Antonio Franco (1585-1626) Monsignor, Priest,
Penitent, Ascetic.

St Brocard
St Castor of Apt
St Comus of Crete
St Eleazar the Patriarch
St Elpidius of Lyon
St Elpidius the Cappadocian
St Hieu

St Ingrid of Sweden OP (Died 1282) Dominican Religious and Mystic.

St Justus of Lyons
St Lanfranco of Vercelli
St Lolanus
St Margaret of Louvain
St Maxima

St Nonnossus (c 500-c 575) Monk, Abbot and Deacon.

St Prospero of Tarragona

St Solomon le Clerq FSC (1745-1792) Martyr, Religious Brother of the De La Salle Brothers, Teacher.

St Theodota of Bithynia
St Valentine of Strasbourg
St William of Roeskilde
—
Marytrs of Nicomedia – 3 saints: Three Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. No details about them but their names have survived – Concordius, Theodore and Zenone. They were martyrd in
Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey).

The Holy Martyrs of September (Died 1792) – 191 beati: Also known as – • Martyrs of Paris,• Martyrs of Carmes.

Martyrs of 2 September – 10 saints: A group of ten Christian martyrs; their names are on old martyrologies but we have lost all record of their lives and deaths. They were canonised.
• Antoninus
• Diomedes
• Eutychian
• Hesychius
• Julian
• Leonides
• Menalippus
• Pantagapes
• Philadelphus
• Philip

Holy Bishops of Rennes:
Honors all the bishops of the Diocese of Rennes, France who have been recognized as saints and beati. They include :
Saint Maximinus of Rennes
Saint Modéran of Rennes
Saint Rambert of Rennes
Saint Riotisme of Rennes
Saint Servius of Rennes
Saint Synchronius of Rennes

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Baldomer Margenat Puigmitja
• Blessed Fortunato Barrón Nanclares
• Blessed Joan Franquesa Costa
• Blessed José María Laguía Puerto
• Blessed Lorenzo Insa Celma

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering –2 September – The Suscipe of Ven Sr Catherine McAuley

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Our Morning Offering – 2 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”

The Suscipe
of Venerable Sr Catherine McAuley (1778-1841)

My God, I am Yours for time and eternity.
Teach me to cast myself entirely
into the arms of Your loving Providence
with a lively, unlimited confidence
in Your compassionate, tender pity.
Grant, O most merciful Redeemer,
that whatever You ordain or permit,
may be acceptable to me.
Take from my heart all painful anxiety,
let nothing sadden me but sin,
nothing delight me
but the hope of coming
to the possession of You,
my God and my all,
in Your everlasting kingdom.
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “He had the servants called”

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One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 36:30-31, Ps 36:1, Sir 31:8-11, Luke 19:12-26

You knew that I am a stern man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow. Why, then, did you not put my money in a bank, so that I on my return might have gotten it with interest?

Luke 19:12-26

REFLECTION – O beloved Truth, O calmest equity of my God, how shall I dare to appear in your presence, bowed down as I am beneath the load of my iniquity, the crushing weight of all my negligence? I have not been faithful, nor have I traded with the talent you entrusted me, the priceless treasure of Christian faith and the spiritual life. I ought to have committed your money to the bankers of your charity so that I might draw abundant interest of perfection from it and so give you back what belongs to you with interest. And not only have I spent your precious talent, my time, but I have wasted it, squandered it utterly away. Where shall I go? Who shall I turn to? “From your presence, where shall I flee?”.

O Truth, you have justice and equity as your inseparable judges. Woe to me if, when I come before you, I lack an advocate to plead my cause. O Love, come forward on my behalf; answer for me; sue for my pardon. If you plead my cause, I know I still have hope of life.

I know what I will do: “The cup of salvation I will take up”. I will lay it upon the empty scale of Truth's balance. So I shall supply all that is lacking and outweigh all my sins. That cup will raise up again all my ruins; with that cup I shall worthily overbalance all my unworthiness.

O beloved Truth, I could not, dare not stand before you without my Jesus; but with him, my Jesus, I will come with joy and gladness. Then sit on your judgement seat, O Truth...: “I fear no evil”.

St Gertrude of Helfta

PRAYER – Lord, my God, You chose us from the foundations of the world to be Your children. We pray that our courage may not fail us as we strive to live in obedience to Your commandments and by our lives spread Your holy Word. We ask too for courage, as we are attacked from all sides, in our struggle home to You. Grant that through the prayers of our Sorrowful Mother, we may fight unto death for Your love and the glory of Your Kingdom. Through our Lord, Jesus, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

Posted in QUOTES on MERIT, QUOTES on WORK/LABOUR

Quote/s of the Day – 2 September – Work for God

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And having summoned ten of his servants, he gave them ten gold pieces and said to them, ‘Trade till I come.’

Luke 19:12-26

Paul told them that each of them would receive his reward in proportion to his labour. This ought to make you realise that your happiness in heaven will be greater than what will be enjoyed by those who have worked only for their own salvation.

St John Baptist de La Salle

What a consolation for those who have procured the salvation of souls: to see in heaven a great number whom they have helped to obtain the advantage of enjoying so great a happiness! This will happen to those who have instructed many people about the truths of religion, as an angels said to the Prophet Daniel: Those who instruct many people in Christian justice will shine like stars throughout eternity.

St John Baptist de La Salle

What an honour, and how glorious it is to be in the service of so great, so good a Master! The condition of the least of His servants is incomparably greater than that of the kings of the earth, for their greatness and prosperity finish with their lives, but the servants of God finish with their lives the pains and trials they have had to suffer in His service, and after that they find an eternal happiness and immortal crowns awaiting them.

Henrie Marie Boudon (16th Century)

It is true that all men esteem and love to be great, but they do not think wherein true greatness is. They deem it a great honour to be in the service of royalty, they pay heavy sums to be deemed the head of a firm, but they take but little pains to be a servant of God, and, what is more grievous, they often blush at the idea of fulfilling the duties of His service.

Henrie Marie Boudon

Jesus has always many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who care for trial. He finds many to share His table, but few to take part in His fasting. All desire to be happy with Him; few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His passion. Many revere His miracles; few approach the shame of the Cross. Many love Him as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless Him as long as they receive some comfort from Him. But if Jesus hides Himself and leaves them for a while, they fall either into complaints or into deep dejection. Those, on the contrary, who love Him for His own sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him in all trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation. Even if He should never give them consolation, yet they would continue to praise Him and wish always to give Him thanks. What power there is in pure love for Jesus — love that is free from all self-interest and self-love!

Thomas a Kempis

He, therefore, is a fool indeed, who despises so great a good, and chooses rather to receive in this life, the earnest money of Hell, walking by the lower road with great toil, and without any refreshment or advantage.

St Catherine of Siena

Posted in SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

Thought for the Day – 2 September – The Two Companies

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Letter to the Friends of the Cross by St Louis de Montfort

B. The Two Companies

My dear brothers and sisters, there are two companies that appear before you each day: the followers of Christ and the followers of the world.

Our dear Saviour’s company is on the right, climbing up a narrow road, made all the narrower by the world’s immorality. Our Master leads the way, barefooted, crowned with thorns, covered with blood, and laden with a heavy cross. Those who follow him, though most valiant, are only a handful, either because his quiet voice is not heard amid the tumult of the world, or because people lack the courage to follow him in his poverty, sufferings, humiliations and other crosses which his servants must carry all the days of their life.

On the left hand is the company of the world or of the devil. This is far more numerous, more imposing and more illustrious, at least in appearance. Most of the fashionable people run to join it, all crowded together, although the road is wide and is continually being made wider than ever by the crowds that pour along it like a torrent. It is strewn with flowers, bordered with all kinds of amusements and attractions, and paved with gold and silver.

On the right, the little groups which follow Jesus speak about sorrow and penance, prayer and indifference to worldly things. They continually encourage one another saying, “Now is the time to suffer and to mourn, to pray and do penance, to live in retirement and poverty, to humble and mortify ourselves; for those who do not possess the spirit of Christ, which is the spirit of the cross, do not belong to him.

Those who belong to Christ have crucified all self-indulgent passions and desires. We must be true images of Christ or be eternally lost. “Have confidence,” they say to each other. If God is on our side, within us and before us, who can be against us? He who is within us is stronger than the one who is in the world. The servant is not greater than his master. This slight and temporary distress we suffer will bring us a tremendous and everlasting glory. The number of those who will be saved is not as great as some people imagine. It is only the brave and the daring who take heaven by storm, where only those are crowned who strive to live according to the law of the Gospel and not according to the maxims of the world. Let us fight with all our strength, let us run with all speed, that we may attain our goal and win the crown.

Such are some of the heavenly counsels with which the Friends of the Cross inspire each other.

Those who follow the world, on the contrary, urge each other to continue in their evil ways without scruple, calling to one another day after day, “Let us eat and drink, sing and dance, and enjoy ourselves. God is good; he has not made us to damn us. He does not forbid us to amuse ourselves. We shall not be damned for so little. We are not to be scrupulous. ‘No, you will not die’.”

Dear brothers and sisters, remember that our loving Saviour has his eyes on you at this moment, and he says to each one of you individually, “See how almost everyone deserts me on the royal road of the Cross. Pagans in their blindness ridicule my Cross as foolishness; obstinate Jews are repelled by it as by an object of horror; heretics pull it down and break it to pieces as something contemptible. “Even my own people – and I say this with tears in my eyes and grief in my heart – my own children whom I have brought up and instructed in my ways, my members whom I have quickened with my own Spirit, have turned their backs on me and forsaken me by becoming enemies of my Cross. ‘Will you also go away?’ Will you also desert me by running away from my Cross like the worldlings, who thus become so many antichrists? Will you also follow the world; despise the poverty of my Cross in order to seek after wealth; shun the sufferings of my Cross to look for enjoyment; avoid the humiliations of my Cross in order to chase after the honours of the world? ‘There are many who pretend they are friends of mine and protest that they love me, but in their hearts they hate me. I have many friends of my table, but very few of my Cross.’ (Imit. II, 11, 1).”

At this loving appeal of Jesus, let us rise above our human nature; let us not be seduced by our senses, as Eve was; but keep our eyes fixed on Jesus crucified, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection (Heb 12.2). Let us keep ourselves apart from the evil practices of the world; let us show our love for Jesus in the best way, that is, through all kinds of crosses. Reflect well on these remarkable words of our Saviour, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself, and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16.24; Lk 9.23).

Posted in SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

September Devotion – The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross

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The Seven Sorrows of
the Blessed Virgin Mary

1, The prophecy of Simeon
2. The Flight to Egypt
3. Loss of Child Jesus for 3 days
4. Meeting Jesus carrying His Cross
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus
6. The Pieta – receiving Jesus’ Body
7. The Burial of Jesus

During this month of September, we are drawn into the spiritual Martyrdom which the Blessed Mother experienced during the physical Martyrdom of Jesus. The evils of sin are manifest but conquered through intense suffering. The Blessed Mother’s tears of anguish reflect God’s washing away of sin.

We see this theme of joy followed by affliction mirrored in the liturgical calendar in two September Feasts – the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on 14 September and the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on 15 September. Happy the heart of the blessed Virgin Mary! She, without dying, earned the treasure of Martyrdom beneath the Cross of our Lord for her anguish.

The name of Our Lady of Sorrows centres on the extraordinary and bittersweet suffering the Blessed Mother experienced during Christ’s Passion. As seen in the artwork above, her agony is composed of “The Seven Dolors,” that pierced the Heart of Mary. Dürer’s portrayal of each event encompasses the central figure of Christ’s sorrowful Mother.

Bid me bear, O Mother Blest,
On my heart, the wounds imprest,
Suffered by the Crucified!

An Indulgence of 50 days each time.
Plenary Indulgence once a month under the usual conditions.

Posted in Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 1 September – St Joshua the Patriarch

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Joshua commanding the sun to stand still

Joshua (‘God is salvation’) – also known Joshua the Prophet, Joshua, son of Nun, Giosuè, Hosea, Hoshea, Jehoshua, Jesus, Josua, Josue, Josuë, Jozua, Jozuë, Osee, Yehoshu’a, Yehoshúa, Yeshua – was Moses’ assistant and later succeeded him as the leader of the Israelites.

Joshua was charged by Moses with selecting and commanding a militia group for their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the Amalekites in Rephidim. He later accompanied Moses when he ascended Mount Sinai to commune with God, and he was with Moses when he descended from the mountain, heard the Israelites’ celebrations around the Golden Calf. Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to scout out the land of Canaan. 

Joshua and Caleb were the only two who had confidence in God and would recommended a direct attack. Because of their faith and trust they were exempt from the condemnation of their generation to death in the wilderness outside the Promised Land. The book of Joshua recounts his victories at Jericho, Ai, and other places.

Just before he died at the age of 110, he convened the elders and chiefs of the Israelites and exhorted them to have no fellowship with the native population, because it could lead them to be unfaithful to God.

No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life: as I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Joshua 1:5

Joshua’s Tomb in Jordan

Posted in MARIAN TITLES

Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady, celebrated at Louvain -and Memorials of the Saints – 1 September

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“Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”

Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady, celebrated at Louvain – 1 September:

The Abbot Orsini writes that “A feast is kept in honour of the Blessed Virgin, called the Collection of all the Feasts of Our Lady.”

Louvain refers to Leuven, the capital of the Province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. There was once a Chapel called Our Lady of Louvain, which had stood near the Church tower of a separate Church dedicated to Saint Peter. The Chapel owed its origin to an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was given by a group of Monks from Abbey Park as a sign of brotherhood in 1132. According to tradition, the wooden statue, which depicted the Blessed Virgin seated with the Divine Child in her lap, was a gift from heaven deposited on the earth by heavenly Angels. The image excited a lively religious fervour upon its reception and there are numerous miracles credited to pious devotion to the image of Our Lady of Louvain.

Over 350 years later, as the Chapel of Our Lady of Louvain was built on land that was needed for the construction of the new and larger Church of Saint Peter, it was necessary to demolish the Chapel. In a letter dated 28 March 1496, Bishop John Horne of Liege, authorised the transfer of materials from the Chapel of Our Lady of Louvain to the new Basilica of Saint Peter The old Chapel was demolished two years later in 1498 and the Statue of the Virgin was placed on a special Altar in the collegiate Church of Saint Peter. Every year, on the eve of the first Sunday in September, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Louvain had been carried in procession by the canons and members of the local council while bells tolled and musicians accompanied the image singing the Salve Regina.

Sometime later, the Statue became known by the title of Notre-Dame-sous-la-Tour. The original Church of Saint Peter was made entirely of wood and completed in about 986. It burned to the ground in 1176. It was rebuilt in Romanesque style with two west towers, and that image is still used as the ancient seal for the City. The Church was then enlarged in 1425 in the Brabantine Gothic style. The Church of Saint Peter was heavily damaged in both world wars but most importantly, the original Statue of Our Lady of Louvain was completely destroyed in 1944 by allied bombing during World War II and it is now only a replica that is on display at the Church.

Abigail the Matriarch

St Abdon the Judge
St Aegidius
St Agia
St Anea
St Arcanus
St Arealdo of Brescia
Bl Colomba of Mount Brancastello
St Constantius the Bishop
St Donatus of Sentianum
St Felix of Sentianum

St Giles (c 650 – c 710) Monk, Hermit, Abbot.- One of the 14 Holy Helpers

Blessed Giuliana of Collalto OSB (1186-1262) Benedictine Nun
Bl Giustino of Paris
Bl Giovanna Soderini

St Ibzan the Judge
St Jane Soderini
St Joshua the Patriarch
Bl Juliana of Collalto
St Laetus of Dax

St Lupus of Sens (Died 623) Bishop of Sens – France, Confessor, Monk, Missionary.

St Lythan
St Nivard of Rheims
St Priscus
St Regulus
St Sixtus of Rheims
St Terentian
St Verena
St Victorious
St Vincent of Xaintes
—
Exiles of Campania
Twelve Holy Brothers: Martyrs of the South –
A group of Martyrs who died c 303 at various places in southern Italy. In 760 their relics were brought together and enshrined in Benevento, Italy as a group.
• Saint Arontius of Potenza
• Saint Donatus of Sentianum
• Saint Felix of Sentianum
• Saint Felix of Venosa
• Saint Fortunatus of Potenza
• Saint Honoratus of Potenza
• Saint Januarius of Venosa
• Saint Repositus of Velleianum
• Saint Sabinian of Potenza
• Saint Sator of Velleianum
• Saint Septiminus of Venosa
• Saint Vitalis of Velleianum
One tradition describes Saint Boniface of Hadrumetum and Saint Thecla of Hadrumetum as their parents.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Martyred Hospitallers of Saint John of God – (12 beati)
• Blessed Alejandro Cobos Celada
• Blessed Alfonso Sebastiá Viñals
• Blessed Amparo Carbonell Muñoz
• Blessed Antonio Villanueva Igual
• Blessed Carmen Moreno Benítez
• Blessed Crescencio Lasheras Aizcorbe
• Blessed Enrique López y López
• Blessed Francesc Trullen Gilisbarts
• Blessed Guillermo Rubio Alonso
• Blessed Isidro Gil Arano
• Blessed Joaquim Pallerola Feu
• Blessed Joaquín Ruiz Cascales
• Blessed José Franco Gómez
• Blessed José Prats Sanjuán
• Blessed Josep Samsó y Elias
• Blessed Manuel Mateo Calvo
• Blessed Mariano Niño Pérez
• Blessed Maximiano Fierro Pérez
• Blessed Miquel Roca Huguet
• Blessed Nicolás Aramendía García
• Blessed Pedro Rivera
• Blessed Pio Ruiz De La Torre

Posted in Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 1 September – What Can I Say? By St Anselm

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 1 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary”

As we enter the Month of our Sorrowful Mother, let us unite ourselves to her and offer her our meagre consolation.

What Can I Say?
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Magnificent Doctor
Marian Doctor

My most merciful Lady,
what can I say about the fountains
that flowed from your most pure eyes
when you saw your only Son before you,
bound, beaten and suffering?
What do I know of the flood
that drenched your matchless face,
when you beheld your Son,
your Lord and your God,
stretched on the Cross without guilt,
when the flesh of your flesh
was cruelly butchered by wicked men?
How can I judge, what sobs,
troubled your most pure breast,
when you heard, “Woman, behold your son,”
and the disciple, “Behold, your Mother,”
when you received as a son
the disciple in place of the Master,
the servant for the Lord?
Amen

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION

One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “No servant can serve two masters”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 1 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary” – Readings: Ps 83:10-11, Ps 83:2-3, Gal 5:16-24, Matt 6:24-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: No man serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Matt 6:24-33

REFLECTION – To want to place one’s hope and trust in passing things is to want to set one’s foundations in running water! Everything passes, God abides. To be attached to what is transitory is to cut oneself off from what endures. For who, carried away by the angry whirling of a rapid, can stand firm in that roiling flood? So if you want to avoid being carried away by the current then flee from all that flows away. Otherwise, the object of our love will make us end up doing exactly what we wanted to avoid. Whoever attaches himself to transitory things will surely be dragged along to wherever the things he is clinging to are drifting.

So the first thing we must do is to keep ourselves from loving material goods; the second is not to put our trust in such of those goods as are entrusted for our use and not our enjoyment. The soul who is attached to goods that only pass away very soon loses its own stability. The current of this present life carries off whoever it bears, and it is a foolish delusion, for whoever this current carries, to try to stand upright in it.

St Gregory the Great

PRAYER – God our Father, Your rule is a rule of love, Your providence is full of mercy for Your people. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Word made flesh and His sorrowful Mother, grant the spirit of wisdom and understanding in Your Word, Your Son Jesus Christ. Grant that by the healing Word our repentant hearts may know our way to our eternal home and strive to attain eternal joy there with You. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE

Quote/s of the Day – 1 September – Why are you anxious?

Posted on by AnaStpaul

And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of those. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which flourishes today but tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith!

Matt 6:24-33

Let us place our trust in the Providence of God. Let us cut off all those anxieties which serve only to torture our minds uselessly, since, whether we make ourselves uneasy or not, it is God alone who sends us all these things, and who may increase them until He sees they disturb us less.

St John Chrysostom

Why fear? says St Augustine: you have a GOD for a protector and His Providence for a guide. What! says the holy doctor, you fear to perish under the guidance of God, and under the protection of His Providence? Times ergo ne pereas? Is it that you know not that a single hair can fall off without His approval? Cujus capillus non peribit. Ah! if He takes so much care of things that are of little or no consequence, how safe ought we not to feel when we know with what care He watches a soul which is so precious to Him?

La Pere Croiset (17th century)

He not only is their guide and protector, but He showers down His graces and even makes use of His angels to help them. He warns them, by secret inspirations, what they should do and what they should not do, so that one would say that God is solely occupied in caring for His creatures.

La Pere Croiset

Happy, indeed, is she
to whom it is given to share this sacred banquet,
to cling with all her heart to Him
whose beauty all the heavenly hosts admire unceasingly,
whose love inflames our love,
whose contemplation is our refreshment,
whose graciousness is our joy,
whose gentleness fills us to overflowing,
whose remembrance brings a gentle light,
whose fragrance will revive the dead,
whose glorious vision will be the happiness
of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem;

St Clare of Assisi

I determined to do the little that was in me – namely, to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could, and to see that these few nuns who are here shod do the same, confiding in the great goodness of God, Who never fails to help those who resolve to forsake everything for His sake.

St Teresa of Avila

He who has given us life will give us wherewith to sustain it. He who feeds the thief, will He not feed the innocent? And if He takes care of His enemies, what will He not do for His friends? You cannot place yourself into better hands than He who made you what you are. He who has been so good to you before you were what you are, can He leave you uncared for, now that you are what He would wish you to be?

St Augustine