Posted in LENT 2026, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Friday – 27 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – Our Lady’s Suffering During the Passion

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Passion Friday – 27 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Friday
Our Lady’s Suffering During the Passion

“Thy own soul a sword shall pierce”
Luke ii. 35

In these words there is noted the close association of Our Lady with the Passion of Christ.
Four elements, most especially, rendered the Passion excrutiatingly bitter for her.

Firstly, the Goodness of her Son, Who did notsin (i Pet ii. 22).

Secondly, the cruelty of those who Crucified Him, shown, for example, in this – as He was Dying they refused Him even water, nor would they allow His Mother, who would most lovingly have given it, to help Him.

Thirdly, the disgrace of the punishment, “Let us condemn Him to a most shameful Death” (Wis ii. 20).

Fourthly, the cruelty of the torment. “O ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to My Sorroiv (Lam i. 12).

The words of Simeon, “Thy own soul a sword shall pierce,“ Origen and other scholars with him, explain with reference to the pain felt by Our Lady during he Passion of Christ.
St Ambrose, however, says that by the sword is signified Our Lady’s prudence, thanks to which she was not without knowledge of the heavenly Mystery.
“For the Word of God is a living thing, strong and keener than the keenest sword” (cf. Heb iv. 12).

Other writers again, St Augustine for example, understand by the sword, the stupefaction which overcame Our Lady at the Death of her Son, not the doubt which goes with lack of faith but, a certain fluctuation of bewilderment, a staggering of the mind.
St Basil too say,s as Our Lady stood by the Cross with all the detail of the Passion before her and in her mind the testimony of Gabriel, the message which words cannot tell of her Divine conception and all the vast array of miracles, her mind swayed, for she saw Him, the Victim of such vileness and yet, knew Him as the Author of such Wonders.

Although Our Lady knew by faith, it was God’s Will that Christ should Suffer and although, she brought her will into unity with God’s Will in this matter, as the Saints do, nevertheless, sadness filled her soul at the Death of Christ. This was because her lower will revolted at the particular horrors she had witnessed and this is not contrary to perfection.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, INDULGENCES, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, MOTHER of GOD, PAPAL PRAYERS, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 27 March – “Behold, thy mother”

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Quote/s of the Day – 27 March – Friday of Passion Week – The Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady of Sorrows and – St John Damascene (675-749) Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church 

“Behold, thy mother”
John 19:27

“When this hour has passed,
when the sword of sorrow
has completely pierced her soul in labour (Lk 2:35),
then, no more will she
“remember the pain because a child
has been born into the world” –
the new Man Who renews the entire human race
and reigns forever over the whole world,
truly born, beyond all suffering, immortal,
the Firstborn from the Dead.
If the Virgin has thus brought
the salvation of us all into the world,
in her Son’s Passion, then she is, indeed,
the Mother of us all!”

Rupert of Deutz (c1075-1130)
Benedictine Monk, Theologian, Exegete and Writer

Hail Mary, Full of Sorrows!
A Short Prayer to the Most Holy Virgin
in her Desolation
By Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
Papal Reign 1846-1878
(+102 Raccolta)

His Holiness Pope Pius IX, by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, of 23 December 1847, deigned to grant:

An Indulgence of 100 days to all the faithful, everytime they say, with contrite heart, the following prayer in honour of the most Holy Virgin in her desolation.

HAIL MARY,
full of sorrows!
the Crucified is with thee;
tearful art thou amongst women
and tearful is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of the Crucified,
grant tears to us crucifiers of thy Son,
now and at the hour
of our death.
Amen.

LATIN

Ave Maria,
doloribus plena,
Crucifixus tecum;
lacrymabilis te in mulieribus
et lacrymabilis Fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria,
Mater Crucifixi,
lacrymas impertire nobis crucifixoribus Filii tui,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.

“You are more to be valued than the entire creation,
for from you alone the Creator received
a share in the first-fruits of our humanity.
His Flesh was made of your flesh,
His Blood of your blood;
God was nourished by your milk
and your lips kissed the lips of God. …
In His foreknowledge of your dignity,
the God of all the world, has loved you
and, in accordance with His Love for you,
He predestined you and called you into being ”

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/27/quote-s-of-the-day-27-march-st-john-damascene-2/

St John Damascene (675-749)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, Prayers to the SORROWFUL MOTHER, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

Our Morning Offering – 27 March – O Mother of Sorrows, Stand by Me in My Last Agony

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Our Morning Offering – 27 March – The Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady of Sorrows

O Mother of Sorrows,
Stand by Me in My Last Agony
By St Gabriel Francis Possenti
of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862)

O Mother of Sorrows,
by the anguish and love
with which thou didst stand
at the Cross of Jesus,
stand by me in my last agony.
To thy maternal heart
I commend the last three hours of my life.
Offer these hours to the Eternal Father
in union with the agony of our dearest Lord,
in atonement for my sins.
Offer to the Eternal Father
the Most Precious Blood of Jesus,
mingled with your tears on Calvary,
that I may obtain the grace
of receiving Holy Communion
with the most perfect love and contrition,
before my death
and that I may breathe forth my soul
in the adorable Presence of Jesus.
Dearest Mother, when the moment
of my death has at last come,
present me as your child to Jesus.
Ask Him to forgive me for having offended Him,
for I knew not what I did!
Beg Him to receive me into His Kingdom of Glory
to be united with Him forever.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint Romulus (8th Century) Abbot

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Saint of the Day – 27 March – Saint Romulus (8th Century) Abbot of Saint Baudilius Abbey near Nimes and then in Saissy-les-Bois, France. Also known as – Romulus of Nimes.

Unknown ancient Saintly Abbot

Saint Romulus, an 8th Century Abbot, emerges from the mists of time like a luminous shadowadow, shrouded in an aura of mystery and faith.

The few records of his life tell of a pious and wise man, leader of a Monastery of about 80 Monks located near Nîmes, in France. This Monastery, built next to the Church which housed the Relics of Saint Baudelius the Martyr, was a destination for numerous pilgrims drawn by the Saint’s fame.

However, around 725-730, the threat of Saracen raids shattered the tranquility of the monastic community. Saint Romulus, aware of the danger and driven by the desire to protect his brethren and the sacred Relics, made the difficult decision to abandon the Monastery. Together with his Monks, he undertook an arduous journey to Burgundy, taking with him the precious treasure of Saint Baudelius’ Relics.

In the land of exile, the Benedictine Monks found welcome and support. In the area of Cessy-le-Boy, in the Diocese of Auxerre, they obtained land on which to build a new home for their community and for the Relics of the holy Martyr. Thus a Church and a Monastery were built, placed under the protection of Saint Baudelius, who became the new centre of pilgrimage.

The Church of St Baudelius

Unfortunately, the Relics of Saint Baudelius, greatly venerated until the 14th Century, disappeared over time, leaving an irreplaceable void in the Monastery’s history.

The memory of Saint Romulus, however, remained alive thanks to mentions in scholarly works such as the ‘Gallia Christiana’ and the ‘Corona sanctorum anni benedectini.’

On the Benedictine Calendars, today 27 March was designated as the day to celebrate St Romulus’ memory, perpetuating the memory of an Abbot who, in the face of adversity, led his community with courage and faith, preserving a precious heritage of spirituality and culture.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN TITLES, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, SAINT of the DAY, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The SEVEN PASSION Feasts

Friday in Passion Week –  FAST & ABSTINENCE, The Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin, St John Damascene and the Saints for 27 March

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PASSION FRIDAY –  FAST & ABSTINENCE,

Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows
THE FEAST DAY OF THE SEVEN DOLORS IS TRADITIONALLY THE FRIDAY OF PASSION WEEK, WHICH IS THE FRIDAY BEFORE GOOD FRIDAY, OR ON 15 SEPTEMBER.
Our Sorrowful Mother:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/15/saint-of-the-day-15-september-our-sorrowful-mother-mary-the-seven-sorrows/
AND:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/09/15/memorial-of-our-lady-of-sorrows-15-september/
AND HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/15/memorial-of-our-lady-of-sorrows-15-september-2/

St John Damascene (675-749) Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church, Priest, Monk, Theologian, Writer, Defender of Iconography, Poet, a Polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, music, Marian devotee. Also known as Doctor of Christian Art.
Feast moved in 1969 to 4 December.
The Great St John Damascene:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/04/saint-of-the-day-4-december-st-john-damascene-675-749-father-doctor-of-the-church/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-saint-john-damascene-675-749-confessor-father-doctor-of-the-church/

St Aimone (Died 853) Bishop of Halberstadt in Germany, a learned Scholarly Monk, Theologian, Spiritual Writer, Teacher, Aimone became a passionate disciple of the teachings of St Alcuin, whom he sought to emulate in his writings.
A Most Worthy Imitator:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-staimone-osb-died-853-bishop-of-halberstadt/

St Amphilochius of Illyria
St Alexander of Drizipara
St Alexander of Pannonia
St Alkeld the Martyr
St Amator the Hermit

St Augusta (Died 5th Century) Virgin Martyr of Treviso
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-saint-augusta-of-treviso-died-5th-century-virgin-martyr/

St Claudio Gallo
St Cronidas of Illyria
St Ensfrid of Cologne
Bl Frowin of Engelberg
St Gelasius of Armagh

St John (c305-394) Hermit of Lycopolis , Spiritual Advisor, Miracle-worker, graced with the gifts of prophecy and seeing into the hearts of men. John was known and admired by the great Saints of his time, including Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, Saint Cassian and others.
His Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-st-john-of-lycopolis-c305-394-hermit/

St Matthew of Beauvais
St Macedo of Illyria

Blessed Pellegrino OFM (Died 1233) Lay Brother of the First Order of St Francis of Assisi.
Blessed Pellegrino’s life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-blessed-pellegrino-of-falerone-ofm-died-1233-lay-brother/
St Philetus
St Romulus the Abbot

St Romulus (8th Century) Abbot

St Rupert (c660–710) Bishop and Abbot in Salzburg, Apostle to Bavaria and Austria.
The Life of Holy St Rupert:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/27/saint-of-the-day-st-rupert-of-salzburg-c-660-710/

St Suairlech of Fore
St Theoprepius

Martyrs of Bardiaboch: A group of Christians who were arrested, tortured and executed together for their faith during the persecutions of Persian King Shapur II. Martyrs. – Abibus, Helias, Lazarus, Mares, Maruthas, Narses, Sabas, Sembeeth and Zanitas. 27 March 326 at Bardiaboch, Persia.

Posted in GOD is LOVE, LENT 2026, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Thursday – 26 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – Which is the Greatest Sign of His Love?

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Passion Thursday – 26 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Thursday
Which is the Greatest Sign of His Love?

“Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down His life for his friends“
John xv. 13

It would seem Christ gave us a greater Sign of His Love by giving us His Body as our food, than by Suffering for us.
For the Love which will be in the life to come, is a more perfect element than the Love which is in this life.
And the benefit which Christ bestows upon us by giving us His Body as food, is more like to the Love of the life to come in which we shall fully enjoy God.
The Passion which Christ underwent for us is, on the other hand, more like to the Love which is of this life, in which we, too, are to suffer for Christ.
Therefore, it is a greater Sign of Christ’s Love that He delivered His Body to us as our food, than that He Suffered for us.

Nevertheless, it is an argument against this that in St John’s Gospel, Our Lord Himself says, “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down His life for his friends“ (John xv. 13).

The strongest of human loves is the love with which a man loves himself.
Therefore, this love must be the measure, by comparison with which we estimate the love by which a man loves others than himself.
Now, the extent of a man’s love for another, is shown by the extent of good desired for himself which he forgoes for his friend.
As Holy Scripture says, “He who neglecteth a loss for the sake of a friend, is just” (Prov xii. 26).

Now, a man wishes well to himself as to three things, namely, his soul, his body and external items outside himself.
It is then already a sign of love that, for another, a man is willing to suffer loss of things outside himself.

It is a greater sign if he is also willing to suffer loss in his body for another, that is, by bearing the burden of work or undergoing punishment.
It is the greatest of all signs of love, if a man is willing, by dying for his friend, to lay down his very life.

Therefore, that Christ, in Suffering for us, laid down His Life, was the Greatest of all Signs of His Love for us.
That He has given us His Body for our food in the Sacrament, does not entail any loss for Him.
It follows then, that the first is the Greater Sign.
Also, this Sacrament is too, a Memorial and Figure of the Passion of Christ.
But the truth is always greater than that which figures it, the fact is always greater than the memorial which recalls it.

The showing forth of the Body of Christ in the Sacrament has about it, it is true, a certain Figure of the Love with which God Loves us in the life to come.
But Christ’s Passion is associated with that Love itself, by which God calls us from perdition to the life to come.
The Love of God, however, is not greater in the life to come than it is in this present life.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, In the PRESENCE of GOD, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SIN, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 26 March – ‘Forgiven … Because she has loved much …’ Luke 7:47

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Quote/s of the Day – 26 March – Thursday in Passion Week –Ferial Day – Daniel 3:25, 34-45 – Luke 7:36-50 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“She began to bathe His feet with her tears
and wiped them with the hair of her head
and kissed His feet
and anointed them with ointment.”

Luke 7:38

“Wherefore I say to you,
her sins, many as they are,
shall be forgiven her
because she has loved much.
But he, to whom little is forgiven,
loves little.”

Luke 7:47

“A servant of the Lord
stands bodily before men
but mentally,
he is knocking at the Gates of Heaven.
with prayer.”

St John Climacus (c 525-606)
Father of the Church

“For, just as water extinguishes a fire,
just so, does charity blot out our sins.”

St John of God (1495-1550)

“ I shall spend every moment loving.
One who loves, does not notice her trials;
or perhaps, more accurately,
she is able to love them.
I shall do everything for Heaven, my true home.
There, I shall find my Mother,
in all the splendour of her glory.
I shall delight with her
in the joy of Jesus Himself,
in perfect safety.”

St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 26 March – O Holy Lord!

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Our Morning Offering – 26 March – Thursday of Passion Week

O Holy Lord!
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)
Seraphic Doctor of the Church

O Holy Lord,
Father Almighty, Everlasting God,
for the sake of Thy bounty
and that of Thy Son,
Who for me,
endured Suffering and Death;
for the sake of the most excellent
holiness of His Mother
and the merits of all His Saints,
grant unto me, a sinner,
unworthy of Thy blessings,
that I may love Thee only,
may ever thirst for Thy Love,
may have continually, in my heart,
the benefits of the Passion of Thy Beloved Son,
may acknowledge my own wretchedness
and, may desire to be trampled upon
and to be despised by all men.
Let nothing grieve me,
save my guilt!
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 26 March – Saint Felicitas (9th Century) Virgin of Padua

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Saint of the Day – 26 March – Saint Felicitas (9th Century) Virgin of Padua.

Felicitas was a virgin and a Religious Nun in Padua, probably at the Convent of Saints Cosmas and Damian.

The Basilica of Saint Justina, Padua, where Saint Felicitas’ relics now reside.

Sadly we have little information of her life but she remains greatly venerated in Padua where her Relics are kept in the Basilica of Saint Justina, Padua.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Thursday in Passion Week, Notre-Dame de Soissons / Our Lady of Soissons, France (1128) One of Our Lady’s Slippers was kept in this Abbey and the Saints for 26 March

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PASSION THURSDAY

Notre-Dame de Soissons / Our Lady of Soissons, France (1128) One of Our Lady’s Slippers was kept in this Abbey Church – 26 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/26/our-lady-of-soissons-france-1128-and-memorials-of-the-saints-26-march/

St Barontius (Died c725) Monk, Hermit, gifted with visions.
His Life of Grace:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-st-barontius-of-pistoia-died-c725-monk-hermit/

St Basil the Younger (Died c952) Confessor, Hermit, Mystic, Miracle-worker.
His Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-saint-basil-the-younger-died-c-952/

St Bathus
St Bercharius

St Braulio (590-651) Bishop of Saragossa, Spain, Monk, Confessor, Reformer, Scholar, Advisor, Writer, eloquent Preacher, Apostle of Charity. Saint Braulio was friend and disciple to Saint Isidore of Seville (560-636) Doctor of the Church ) and a prolific writer of letters, hymns, martyrologies, hagiographies and history. He fought against heresy and provided both strength and encouragement in the Faith to his congregation.
A Most Ardent Shepherd:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-braulio-590-651/

St Castulus (Died c288) Martyr, Layman, married to Saint Irene of Rome (the woman who assisted St Sebastian after he had been wounded by the Imperial archers), Military Officer and he was the Chamberlain (or officer, valet) of Emperor Diocletian.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-saint-castulus-of-rome-died-c-288-martyr/

St Desiderius of Pistoia

St Eutychius (Died 356) Sub-Deacon, Martyr of Alexandria. Died during Lent in 356, from his wounds and exhaustion, while on the road to the mines in Egypt.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Alexandria, the holy Martyrs, Eutychius and others, who died by the sword for the Catholic Faith, in the time of Constantius, uinder the Arian bishop, George.”
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-st-eutychius-of-alexandria-died-356-sub-deacon-martyr/

St Felicitas (9th Century) Virgin of Padua.

St Felix (Died c400) Bishop of Trier, Germany. Consecrated by St Martin of Tours. We know that St Felix brought the Relics of St Paulinus of Trier back from Phrygia, where he had died in exile and built a Church to house them. The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Treves, the Bishop St Felix.”
Good St Felix:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-st-felix-died-c400-bishop-of-trier-germany/

St Garbhan
St Govan

St Ludger (c742-809) Bishop, Missionary, Founder, Abbot, Writer. Following in the footsteps of the English Missionary St Boniface, St Ludger, who was a native Netherlander, brought the faith to the people of Frisia in Holland and the Saxons of north-west Germany. He founded the Werden Abbey and was the first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia, Germany.
Fervent St Ludger:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/26/saint-of-the-day-26-march-st-ludger-c-742-809/

St Maxima the Martyr
St Mochelloc (Died c639) Abbot at Kilmallock, Ireland. No other information has survived. Also known as – Celloch, Cellog, Motalogus, Mottelog.
St Montanus the Martyr
St Sabino of Anatolia

St Sincheall the Elder (5th-6th Century) On 25 June is the commemoration of a County Offaly Saint, Sincheall of Killeigh. There is a Saint of this name associated with the household of Saint Patrick who is commemorated today. He is distinguished as Sincheall the Elder and may have been related to the St Sincheall of Killeigh. The Irish Calendars preserve this distinction and the two separate Feast Days. We have no further information of today’s St Sincheall the Elder.

St Wereka (Died c370) Martyr – Part of a Congregation burned to death in their Church, somewhere in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. No other information has survived.

Martyrs of Rome – 5 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together. The only details to survive are the names – Cassian, Jovinus, Marcian, Peter and Thecla. Rome, Italy, date unknown.

Posted in QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The PASSION, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Wednesday – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – On Being Buried Spiritually

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Passion Wednesday – 25 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Wednesday
On Being Buried Spiritually

“You are dead with Christ, to the things which are vain and fleeting and your life is hidden with Christ in God”
Col iii. 3

Col iii. 3

The Sepulchre is a figure by which is signified the contemplation of heavenly things.
So, St Gregory, commenting on the words of Job (iii. 22), They rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave, says, “As in the grave the body is hidden away when dead, so in Divine contemplation, there lies concealed the soul, dead to the world. There, at rest from the world’s clamour, it lies, in a three days burial through, as it were, its triple immersion in Baptism. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy Face from the disturbance of men (Ps xxx. 21). Those in great trouble, tormented by the hates of men, enter the Presence of God in spirit and then, are at rest.”

Three elements are required for this spiritual burial in God, namely, that the mind be perfected by the virtues, that the mind be all bright and shining with purity and that it be wholly dead to this world.
All these are shown figuratively in the Burial of Christ.

The first is shown in St Mark’s Gospel where we read how Mary Magdalene anointed Our Lord for His Burial by anticipation, as it were. “She hath done what she could, she is come beforehand to anoint My Body for the Burial” (Mark xiv. 8).
The ointment of precious spikenard (ibid iii) stands for the virtues, for it is a thing very precious and, in this life, nothing is more precious than the virtues.
The soul who wishes to be holy and to be buried in Divine contemplation, must first then. anoint itself by the exercise of the virtues.
Job (v. 26) says, “Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance and the Gloss explains the grave as meaning here, ‘divine contemplation’ as a heap of wheat is brought in its season and the explanation given in the Gloss is that eternal contemplation is the prize of a life of action and, therefore, it must be that the perfect, first of all, exercise their souls in the virtues and then, afterwards, bury them in the barn where all quiet is gathered.

The second of the three elements required, is also noted in St Mark, where we read (xv. 46) that Joseph bought a winding sheet that is, a sheet of fine linen which is only brought to its dazzling whiteness with great labour.
Hence, it signifies that brightness of the soul, which also is not perfectly attained except with great labour. “He who is just, let him be justified still”(Apoc xxii. 11).
“Let us walk in newness of life” (Rom vi. 4), going from good to better, through the justice inaugurated by faith to the glory for which we hope.
Therefore, it is that men, bright with a spotless interior life, should be buried in the sepulchre of Divine contemplation. St Jerome, commenting on the words, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God” (Matt v. 8), says, “The clean Lord, is seen by the clean of heart.”

The third point for consideration is given by St John where, in his Gospel (xix. 30), he writes, “Nicodemus came too, bringig a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight.”This hundred pounds weight of myrrh and aloes, brought to preserve the Dead Body, symbolises that perfect mortification of the external senses, the means by which the spirit, dead to the world, is preserved from the vices which would corrupt it.
Although our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Cor. iv. 16), which is as much as to say, the inward man is most thoroughly purified from vices by the fire of tribulation.

Therefore, man’s soul with Christ, must firstly die to this world and then, be buried with Him in the hiding place of Divine contemplation.
St Paul says, “You are dead with Christ, to the things which are vain and fleeting and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col iii. 3).

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, ROSARY QUOTES, ROSARY REFLECTIONS and QUOTES, The ANNUNCIATION, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE

Quote/s of the Day – 25 March – The Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 25 March – The Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Isaias 7:10-15 – Luke 1:26-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/–

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee …”

Luke 1:28

“And Mary said:
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord:
be it done to me according to thy word.”
Luke 1:38

“… Answer the Angel quickly, then;
yes, through the Angel give your consent to your God.
Answer one syllable, receive the Word;
utter your own word and conceive that which is Divine .
Spek the word which is transitory
and embrace the Word which is everlasting! …””

“May the Blessed Virgin,
unique in her merits,
stand in the presence of her Creator
interceding always in our favour.
She will be radiant in the fullness of glory,
she who brought forth,
from her virginal womb,
the King of glory.”

St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) 

St Bernard (1091-1153)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“The prayers of Mary,
have the force of command with Jesus Christ.
Hence, it is impossible for the Son
not to grant a grace
for which the Mother asks.”

St Antoninus (1389-1459)

Through Thee, to Us, Our Saviour Came
Sweet Lady of the Rosary
By St Amadeus of Lausanne O.Cist (1108-1159)

Through thee, to us, our Saviour came,
Through thee, to Him, we fain would go.
Our lives are marred by wrong and shame,
Yet, confidence in thee we know.
The friendship thou dost give to all
Who love thy name, shall ever be
Assurance thou wilt hear our call,
Sweet Lady of the Rosary!

Thou art our Strength upon the way,
Our Morning Star, to cheer and guide;
Our Beacon Light to show the day,
And lead us to the Saviour’s Side;
A Comforter in ev’ry pain
We find, O Mother blest, in thee,
And seek we, never, thee in vain,
Fair Lady of the Rosary!

Thy praises, Mary, we would sing,
And all our faculties employ,
That unto thee our hearts might bring
A glory-crown of love and joy.
Bless thou each humble effort made
In thy regard and grant that we,
May by thy influence be swayed,
Our Lady of the Rosary!

Posted in MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, Our MORNING Offering, The ANNUNCIATION

Our Morning Offering – 25 March – Blessed Shall be Her Name

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 25 March – The Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed Shall be Her Name
Anonymous Author

Praise we the Lord this day,
This day so long foretold,
Whose promise shone with cheering ray
On waiting saints of old.

The prophet gave the sign
That those with faith might read;
A Virgin, born of David’s line
Shall bear the promised Seed.

Ask not how this should be,
But worship and adore;
Like her whom Heaven’s majesty
Came down to shadow o’er.

She meekly bowed her head
To hear the gracious word,
Mary, the pure and lowly maid,
The favoured of the Lord.

Blessed shall be her name
In all the Church on earth,
Through whom that wondrous Mercy came,
The Incarnate Saviour’s Birth.

Jesus, the Virgin’s Son,
We praise You and adore,
Who are with God the Father One
And Spirit evermore.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 25 March – Saint Pelagius (4th Century) Bishop of Laodicea

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Saint of the Day – 25 March – Saint Pelagius (4th Century) Bishop of Laodicea, today Lataquieli) in Syria where he was born. Being married at a young age, possibly by arrangement, both he and his wife chose a life of total chastity. Pelagius was an icon of virtue and a virulent defender of the One True Faith against the Arians, suffering much persecution for his determined protection of the Church of Christ.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Laodicea, St Pelagius, Bishop, who having endured exile and other afflictions for the True Catholic Faith, under Valens, rested in the Lord.”

Unknown ancient Saint Bishop

The information on the life of St Pelagius, an exemplary Bishop and staunch defender of the Nicene Faith, emerges from the pages of St Theodoret of Cyrus’s Ecclesiastical History, offering a fascinating glimpse into Ecclesial life in the 4th Century.

He was originally from Syria, married very young,but, on the same day of the wedding, obtained from his bride the consent to a life of perfect chastity.

In 360, faced with the example of virtue the couple offered to the Christians of Laodicea, they chose Pelagius as their Bishop. He received Episcopal Consecration from the hands of Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine.

In 363 he attended the Council of Antioch, where he was an ardent defender of the Nicene faith against the Arians and signed the profession of faith in which the term “consubstantial” was included.

Pelagius was also participatent at the Synod of Tyana (367). The Emperor Valens, having adhered to the Arian heresy, deprived the orthodox Bishops of their Sees and Pelagius, included among them, was exiled to Arabia.

In 378, after the death of Valens, Gratian ascended the Imperial throne and Pelagius was able to regain his office. He subsequently sided with the Bishops who favoured the election of St Gregory Nazianzus in Constantinople.

Finally, in 381, Pelagius appears at the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople. The date of his death is unknown.

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The ANNUNCIATION

Wednesday of Passion Week, The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Dismas and the Saints for 25 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

PASSION WEDNESDAY

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/25/the-solemnity-of-the-annunciation-of-the-lord-25-march/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/25/the-solemnity-of-the-annunciation-of-the-lord-our-lady-of-betania-and-memorials-of-the-saints-25-march/

By Paolo Matteis

St Alfwold of Sherborne
St Barontius of Pistoia
St Desiderius of Pistoia

St Dismas (Crucified with Jesus) “The Good Thief”
Here:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/25/saint-of-the-day-25-march-saint-dismas-the-good-thief/

St Dula the Slave
Bl Everard of Nellenburg
Bl Herman of Zahringen

St Hermelandus (Died c720) Priest, Abbot of the Monastery of Aindre, Miracle-worker.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In Aindre, an Island of the Loire, the Abbot St Hermelandus, whose glorious life is attested by many miracles.”
His Zealous Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/03/25/saint-of-the-day-25-march-st-hermelandus-died-c720-priest-founder-abbot/

St Humbert of Pelagius
Bl James Bird
St Kennocha of Fife

St Lucia Filippini (1672-1732) Virgin, Religious Sister, Founder. On 22 June 1930, Lucia Filippini was declared a Saint of the Church by Pope Pius XI and her Statue was given the last available niche in the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. Her statue can be seen in the first upper niche from the main entrance on the left (south) side of the nave of St Peter’s.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/25/saint-of-the-day-25-march-st-lucia-filippini-1672-1732/

Blessed Margaret Clitherow (1556-1586) Martyr, Married Laywoman and Mother of 3. Her 2 sons became Priests and her daughter a Nun. She is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. She was Beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
Her Life and Most Horrible Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/25/saint-of-the-day-25-march-saint-margaret-clitherow-1556-1586-the-pearl-of-york-marty/

St Matrona of Barcelona
St Matrona of Thessaloniki
St Mona of Milan
St Nicodemus of Mammola
St Pelagius (4th Century) Bishop of Laodicea

Blessed Placido Riccardi OSB (1844-1915. Priest and Friar of the Order of St Benedict. He was Beatified on 5 Dercember 1954 by Pope Pius XII. PATRONAGES – against Malaria, against all bodily illnesses
A Devout and Dedicated Servant:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/25/saint-of-the-day-25-march-blessed-placido-riccardi-osb-1844-1915-priest/

St Procopius
St Quirinus of Rome
Bl Tommaso of Costacciaro

262 Martyrs of Rome: A group 262 Christians Martyred together in Rome. We know nothing else about them, not even their names.

Posted in "Follow Me", APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, BAPTISM, LENT 2026, QUOTES on DEATH, The PASSION, The RESURRECTION, The SECOND COMING, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Tuesday – 24 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Burial of Christ

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Passion Tuesday – 24 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Tuesday
The Burial of Christ

“She hath wrought a good work upon Me.
She in pouring this ointment upon Me hath done it for My Burial.”
Matt xxvi. 10-12.

It was fitting that Christ should be Buried.

  1. It proved that He had really died.
    No-one is placed in the grave unless he is undeniably dead. And, as we read in St Mark (ch xv), Pilate, before he gave leave for Christ to be Buried, made careful enquiry to assure himself that Christ was indeed Dead.
  2. The very fact that Christ rose again from the grave, gives a hope of rising again through Him, to all others who lie in their graves.
    “As it says in the gospel, All who are in the grave shall hear the Voice of the Son of God. And they who hear shall live.”(John v. 28, 25),
  3. It was an example for those who, by the Death of Christ, are spiritually dead to sin, for those, that is, who are hidden away from the turmoil of human affairs.
    So St Paul says, “You are dead and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col iii. 3).
    So too, those who are Baptised, since by the Death of Christ they die to sin, are as it were, buried with Christ in their immersion, as St Paul again says, We are buried together with Christ by Baptism unto death (Rom vi. 4).

As the Death of Christ efficiently wrought our salvation, so too, is His Burial effective for us.
St Jerome, for example, says, “By the Burial of Christ, we all rise again” and explaining the words of Isaias (liii. 9), He shall give the ungodly for His Burial, “This means He shall give to God the Father, the nations lacking in filial devotion, for through His Death and Burial He has obtained possession of them.”

The Psalm (Ps Ixxxvii. 6) says, “I am become as a man without help, free among the dead.”
Christ, by being Buried showed Himself free among the dead indeed, for His being enclosed in the Tomb, was not allowed to hinder His coming forth in the Resurrection.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, JESUIT SJ, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FEAR, QUOTES on LUST, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The WILL of GOD

Quote/s of the Day – 24 March – “The world … hates Me … John 7:7

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 24 March – Tuesday of Passion Week – Daniel 14:27-42 – John 7:1-13 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The world … hates Me
because I bear witness concerning it,
that its works are evil.”

John 7:7

“… THE WORLD HATES Christians,
so why give your love to it,
instead of following Christ,
Who Loves you and has Redeemed you?
A man cannot love the Father
and love the world at the same time.
All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition.
The world and its allurements will pass away
but the man who has done the will of God
shall live forever.
Our part, my dear brothers,
is to be single-minded, firm in faith
and steadfast in courage, ready for God’s will, whatever it may be. Banish the fear of death
and think of the eternal life which follows it.
That will show people that we really live our faith.”

St Cyprian of Carthage (200-258)
Bishop of Carthage, Martyr
Father of the Church

(An excerpt from On Man’s Mortality).

“God takes special care
to detach from the passing pleasures of this world,
those whom He Loves with special predilection,
by sending them desires after heavenly bliss
and, by the sorrows and bitterness
of the present life.”

St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

“We must make our way towards eternity,
never regarding what men think of us,
or of our actions,
studying only to please God.”

St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS to the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 24 March – The Feast of St Gabriel the Archangel – Fr Faber’s Hail Gabriel, a thousand Hails!

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Our Morning Offering – 24 March – The Feast of St Gabriel the Archangel

Hail Gabriel, Hail, a Thousand Hails!
By Fr Fr Frederick W Faber CO (1814-1863)

Hail Gabriel, hail, a thousand hails
For thine whose music still prevails
To charm the list’ning ear;
Angelic word, sent forth to tell
How He the Eternal Word should dwell
Amid His creatures here.

Heaven’s voice of sweetness, uttered low,
Thy words like strains of music grow
Upon the stilly night;
Clear echoes from the mind of God
Which steal through Mary’s blest abode
In pulses of delight.

O voice, dear voice, the ages hear
That hail of thine, still ling’ring near,
An unexhausted song
And still, thou com’st with balmy wing
And still, thou sweetly seem’st to sing,
Thine Ave to prolong.

Take up in Heaven, for us thy part
And singing to the Sacred Heart,
Thy strains of rapture raise
And tune with endless Ave still
The voices of the Blest and fill,
The ear of God, with praise.

The Above is an excerpt from Fr Faber’s 14 stanza Hymn.
Tune: “Pembroke” J. Foster, 1807-1885.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 24 March – Saint Bernulf (9th/10th Century) Bishop and Martyr

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 24 March – Saint Bernulf (9th/10th Century) Bishop and Martyr of Mondovi, Piedmont, Italy. We have no certainty about the life of our Saint today but tradition believes that he was the said Bishop and also that he had received the Crown of Martyrdom. Also known as – Bernolfo.

Sources relating to the life of St Bernulf, the Bishop of the Piedmontese Diocese of Mondovì, are very scarce.

In 1514, during the Consecration of the Cathedral’s High Altar, Bishop Lorenzo Fieschi recounts placing there the Relics of St Donatus, to whom the Cathedral was dedicated and also of St Bernulf, the martyr.

The tradition declares Bernulf the Bishop of the City, killed during one of the many Saracen raids which occurred in south-western Piedmont during the 9th and 10th Centuries. The cult dedicated to St Bernulf was centered at a Chapel erected in the locality of Priola, near the Casina Saracina, not far from Mondovì. This Chapel erected on the presumed site of Bernolfo’s Martyrdom, contained a painting, perhaps from the 13th Century, depicting his death by flaying and a wooden Statue in Bishop’s Vestments was also venerated there.

The Chapel which a noble family from Mondovì had built in his honour no longer exists but a silver Reliquary believed to contain his head is still venerated in the Cathedral.

Based on this scant information, it is not easy to reconstruct Bernulf’s true biography, nor to establish, with greater precision, the time and circumstances of his Martyrdom.

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

The Feast of Saint Gabriel, the Archangel, Tuesday of Passion Week, Notre-Dame de L’épine Fleurie / Our Lady of the Flowering Thorn, France and Memorials of the Saints for 24 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

PASSION TUESDAY

The Archangel Saint Gabriel
The Feast of Saint Gabriel was included by Pope Benedict XV in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, for celebration on 24 March.
The Archangel Saint Gabriel’s name means “the Power of God” He appeared to the Prophet Daniel (Dan 8:16; 9:21), to the priest Zachary to announce the forthcoming birth of Saint John the Baptist (Luke 1:11, 19) and, most importantly, to the Blessed Virgin Mary to announce the birth of Our Saviour (Luke 1:26).
St Gabriel!
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-the-archangel-saint-gabriel/

Notre-Dame de L’épine Fleurie / Our Lady of the Flowering Thorn, France – 24 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/24/our-lady-of-the-flowering-thorn-and-memorials-of-the-saints-24-march/

St Agapitus (Died 3rd Century) Bishop of Synnada, Phrygia, in Asia Minor. Its site is now occupied by the modern Turkish Town of Suhut. We have no further information on the life of St Agapitus..

St Aldemar the Wise OSB (985-c1080) Italian Priest, Abbot, founder of many Monasteries, Miracle-worker.
A Most Gifted Man:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-st-aldemar-the-wise-osb-985-c1080-priest-abbot/

St Bernulf (9th/10th Century) Bishop and Martyr of Mondovi, Piedmont, Italy
Bl Bertha de’Alberti of Cavriglia

Blessed Bertrada (c726-783) Married to King Pepin the Short. Queen of the Franks. Mother of Blessed Charlemagne.
A Life of Piety:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-blessed-bertrada-of-laon-c726-783-queen/

St Caimin of Lough Derg
St Cairlon of Cashel

St Catherine (1331-1381) Widow, Nun of the Brigittine Order in Sweden . Catherine was Canonised in 1484 by Pope Innocent VIII.
Dedicated St Catherine:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-st-catherine-of-sweden-1331-1381/

Blessed Diego José /Blessed Didacus Joseph OFM Cap (1743–1801) Spanish Capuchin Priest Friar in Cadiz, renowned Preacher, Missionary. He was Beatified on 22 April 1894 by Pope Leo XIII.
A Life of Love:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/24/saints-of-the-day-24-march-blessed-didacus-joseph-of-cadiz-ofm-cap-1743-1801/

St Domangard of Maghera
St Epicharis of Rome
St Epigmenius of Rome
St Hildelith of Barking

Blessed John dal Bastone OSB Silv. (c1200-1290) Priest, Monk. He was Beatified on 29 August 1772 by Pope Clement XIV.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-blessed-john-dal-bastone-c-1200-1290/

St Latinus of Brescia
St Macartan of Clogher
St Mark of Rome
St Pigmenius of Rome
St Romulus of North Africa
St Secundus of North Africa
St Seleucus Confessor of Syria – No other information has survived.

St Severus (Died c814) Bishop of Catania, Sicily, Italy.
His Little-known Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/03/24/saint-of-the-day-24-march-saint-severus-died-c814-bishop-of-catania-sicily-italy/

St Timothy of Rome

Martyrs of Africa – 9 Saints: A group of Christians murdered for their faith in Africa, date unknown. The only details about their that survive are the names – Aprilis, Autus, Catula, Coliondola, Joseph, Rogatus, Salitor, Saturninus and Victorinus. .

Martyrs of Caesarea – 6 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know little else but six of their names – Agapius, Alexander, Dionysius, Pausis, Romulus and Timolaus. They were martyred by beheading in 303 at Caesarea, Palestine.

Posted in JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, LENT 2026, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, QUOTES on SIN, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, Thomas Aquinas

Passion Monday – 23 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Passion of Christ is a Remedy Against Sin

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Passion Monday – 23 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Monday
The Passion of Christ is a Remedy Against Sin

“Having confidence in entering into the Holies by the Blood of Christ”
Heb x. 19

We find in the Passion of Christ a remedy against all the evils which we incur through sin.
Now, these evils are five in number.
(i) We ourselves become unclean.
When a man commits any sin, he soils his soul, for just as virtue is the beauty of the soul, so sin is a stain upon it.
“How happen it, O Israel that thou art in thy enemies land? Thou art grown old in a strange country, thou art defiled with the dead” (Baruch iii. 10, 11).
The Passion of Christ takes away this stain.
For Christ, by His Passion, made of His Blood a bath wherein He might wash sinners.
The soul is washed with the Blood of Christ in Baptism, for it is from the Blood of Christ, the Sacrament draws its Power of giving New Life.
When, therefore, one who is Baptised soils himself again by sin, he insults Christ and sins more deeply than before!

(ii) We offend God.
As the man who is fleshly-minded loves what is beautiful to the flesh, so God Loves spiritual beauty, the beauty of the soul.
When the soul’s beauty is defiled by sin, God is offended and holds the offender in hatred.
But the Passion of Christ takes away this hatred, for it does what man himself could not possibly do, namely, it makes full satisfaction to God for the sin.
The Love and Obedience of Christ, was greater than the sin and rebellion of Adam.

(iii) We ourselves are weakened.
Man believes that, once he has committed the sin, he will be able to keep from sin for the future.
Experience shows, however, that which really happens is quite the otherwise.
The effect of the first sin is to weaken the sinner and make him still more inclined to sin.
Sin dominates man more and more and man, left to himself, whatever his powers, places himself in such a state, he cannot arise from this state of sin.
Like a man who has thrown himself into a well, there he must lie, unless he is drawn up by Divine Power.
After the sin of Adam then, our human nature was weaker, it had lost its perfection and men were more prone to sin.
But Christ, although He did not utterly make an end of this weakness, nevertheless, greatly lessened it.
Man is so strengthened by the Passion of Christ and the effect of Adam’s sin is so weakened, man is no longer dominated by sin.
Assisted by the Grace of God, given him in the Sacraments which derive their Power from the Passion of Christ, man is now able to make an effort and so arise from his sins.
Before the Passion of Christ, there were few who lived without mortal sin but since the Passion, many have lived and do live without it.

(iv) Liability to the punishment earned by sin.
This, the Justice of God demanded, namely – for each sin the sinner should be punished, the penalty to be measured according to the sin.
Whence, since mortal sin is infinitely wicked, seeing that it is a sin against what is Infinitely Good, i.e., God Whose commands the sin despises, the punishment due by mortal sin is infinite too.
But by His Passion, Christ took away from us this penalty, for He endured it Himself.
“Who, His own self bore our sins, that is the punishment due to us for our sins, in His Body upon the tree”(i Pet ii. 24).
So great was the power and value of the Passion of Christ that it was sufficient to expiate all the sins of all the world, calculated in millions though they be.
This is the reason why Baptism frees the baptised from all their sins and why the Priest can forgive sin.
This is why the man who more and more fashions his life in conformity with the Passion of Christ and makes himself like to Christ in His Passion, attains an ever fuller pardon and ever greater Graces.

(v) Banishment from the Kingdom.
Subjects who offend the king are sent into exile.
So too, man was expelled from Paradise.
Adam, having sinned, was straightaway ejected and the Gates barred against him.
But, by His Passion, Christ opened those Gates and called back the exiles from banishment.
As the Side of Christ opened to the soldier’s lance, the Gates of Heaven opened to man and as Christ’s Blood flowed, the stain was washed away, God was appeased, our weakness strengthened, reparatiion made for our sins and the exiles were recalled.

Thus it was that Our Lord said immediately to the repentant thief, “This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise” (Luke xxiii. 43).
Such a thing was never before said to any man, not to Adam nor to Abraham, nor even to David.
But This Day, the day on which the Gate is opened, the thief does but ask and he finds.
“Having confidence in entering into the Holies by the Blood of Christ” (Heb x. 19).

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2026, OUR Cross, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, Quotes Self-Oblation, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The PASSION

Quote/s of the Day – 23 March– ‘… By the Cross, we put on Christ …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 23 March – Monday in Passion Week

“Let us walk becomingly, as in the day,
not in revelry and drunkenness,
not in debauchery and wantonness,
not in strife and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 13:13-14

“By the Cross, death was slain
and Adam was restored to life.
The Cross is the glory of all the Apostles,
the Crown of the Martyrs,
the Sanctification of the Saints.
By the Cross, we put on Christ
and cast aside our former self.
By the Cross we, the sheep of Christ,
have been gathered into one flock,
destined for the Sheepfold of Heaven.”

St Theodore the Studite (759-826)
Abbot, Confessor, Father of the Church

“He who findeth his life, shall lose it
and he, who shall lose his life for Me,
shall find it. ”
Matthew 10:39

“My dear child, accept this cross from God and bear it –
it will turn into a truly lovable cross,
if you would hand these trials over to God,
accept them from Him with true abandonment
and thank God for them:
“My soul magnifies the Lord”
in everything (cf Lk 1:46).
Whether God takes or gives, the Son of Man
must be raised up on the Cross …
Dear child, leave all that behind;
rather, give your attention to true abandonment …
and think about accepting to bear
the cross of temptation, rather than going
in search of spiritual sweetness …
Our Lord has said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me,
let him take up his cross and follow Me” (Lk 9:23).”

Fr JohannesTauler OP (c1300-1361)
Dominican Priest and Friar,
renowned Preacher and Theologian

“… How can anyone put on Jesus Christ
and imitate His example,
if he does not study this Jesus,
Who must inspire and perfect our faith?
He must run the race to which he is challenged,
the glorious race in which,
he overcomes the enemy of the human family
and follows the Way of the Cross.
Under the lordly banner of that Cross,
he will attain eternal life.”

St Vincent Strambi CP (1745-1824)

Posted in "Follow Me", JESUIT SJ, OUR Cross, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, REDEMPTIVE Suffering, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 23 March – A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 23 March – Monday of Passion Week

This is My Joy, To Follow My Saviour
A Prayer to Seek the Consolation of the Cross
By St Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ (1532-1617)

Jesus, love of my soul,
centre of my heart!
Why am I not more eager to endure pains
and tribulations for love of Thee,
when Thou, my God,
have suffered so many for me?
Come, then, every sort of trial in the world,
for this is my delight,
to suffer for Jesus.
This is my joy,
to follow my Saviour
and to find my consolation
with my Consoler on the Cross.
This is my happiness,
this my pleasure –
to live with Jesus,
to walk with Jesus,
to converse with Jesus,
to suffer with and for Him,
this is my treasure!
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 23 March – Saint Benedict (Died c550) Monk, Hermit and a near-Martyr in Campagna, Italy.

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 23 March – Saint Benedict (Died c550) Monk and Hermit in Campagna, Italy. Although attempts were made to Martyr our Saint Benedict, by the grace and loving protection of God, he escaped unscathed and died a natural death. Also known as – Benedict the Hermit.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In Campagna, St Benedict, a Monk who was shut in a burning furnace by the Goths but was found, the next day, miraculously unharmed.”

Unknown Monk

The little information we have received regarding this St Bernedict comes from Saint Gregory the Great, who gathered it from an old Monk, his relative.

He lived during the reign of Totila, King of the Ostrogoths, a turbulent period marked by wars and persecutions. His unwavering faith and dedication to monastic life made him a target for Totila’s soldiers, who attempted in vain to martyr him.

According to tradition, they condemned him to death by burning alive, first in his cell and then in a fiery oven. But miraculously, the flames did not touch him and he emerged unharmed from both tortures.

Saint Benedict’s fame spread rapidly, attracting the veneration of the faithful who considered him an example of sanctity and Christian heroism. However, due to the scarcity of historical information, his cult did not became widespread in the region.

The Church commemorates him today. His memory lives on in local tradition, especially in Campagnia.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Monday in Passion Week, Madonna della Vittoria di Lepanto / Our Lady of Victory of Lepanto and Hungary (1716) and the Saints for 23 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

PASSION MONDAY

Madonna della Vittoria di Lepanto / Our Lady of Victory of Lepanto and Hungary (1716) – 23 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/23/our-lady-of-victory-of-lepanto-and-hungary-1716-and-memorials-of-the-saints-23-march/

St Benedict (Died c550) Monk in Campagna, Italy
St Crescentius of Carthage

St Ethelwald of Farne (Died 699) Priest, Monk and Hermit, Miracle-worker. St Bede has recorded some of his life and miracles.
St Ethelwald’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-saint-ethelwald-of-farne-died-699-priest-hermit/

St Felix the Martyr

St Felix OSB (10th-11th Century) Monk of Monte Cassino, spiritual teacher and director to the shepherds in the area. P
St Felix:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-saint-felix-osb-10th-11th-century-monk-of-monte-cassino/

St Fergus of Duleek
St Fidelis the Martyr
St Frumentius of Hadrumetum
St Gwinear

St Joseph Oriol (1650-1702) Priest, Confessor, graced with the charism of prophecy, Penitent, Apostle prayer and the sick and Miracle-worker. Known as the Miracle-worker of Barcelona. He was Canonised on 20 May 1909 by Pope Pius X.
His Life of Grace:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-st-joseph-oriol-1650-1702/

St Julian the Confessor No further information has survived.
St Liberatus of Carthage
St Maidoc of Fiddown
St Nicon of Sicily

St Ottone Frangipane (1040-1127) Layman, military Knight, Pilgrim, Ascetic, Hermit, Miracle-worker both during life and after his death. Founder of a Pilgrim’s Hospice in Ariano which later became a huge Hospital. Born in 1040 in Rome, Italy and died on 23 March 1127 in Ariano Irpino, Italy of natural causes.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-st-ottone-frangipane-1040-1127/

Blessed Pietro of Gubbio OSA (Died c1306) Priest and Friar of the Order of Hermits of St Augustine, Lawyer, noted Preacher, Envoy for the Order, Miracle-worker. Pietro was Beatified in 1874 by Pope Pius IX (cultus confirmation).
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-blessed-pietro-of-gubbio-osa-died-c-1306/

St Theodolus Priest in Antioch, Syria. No other information has survived.

St Turibius (1538-1606) Spanish ArchBishop of Lima in Peru, Lawyer, Missionary, Preacher, Reformer, Professor, Miracle-worker. Patronages – Peru, Lima, Latin American Bishops, Native rights, Scouts, Valladolid. St Turibius predicted the exact date and hour he would die, which would come to pass. His reputation for holiness and learning was never forgotten for it led to calls for his Canonisation. Pope Innocent XI Beatified and Pope Benedict XIII Canonise him on 10 December 1726.
Amazing St Turibius:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-st-turibius-of-mogrovejo-1538-1606/


St Victorian of Hadrumetum

St Walter OSB (c1030-c 1099) A very reluctant Abbot, Reformer, would-be hermit.
About St Walter:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/23/saint-of-the-day-23-march-saint-walter-of-pontoise-osb-c-1030-c-1099-a-very-reluctant-abbot/

Daughters of Feradhach: They are mentioned in early calendars and martyrologies but no information about them has survived.

Martyrs of Caesarea – 5 Saints: A group of five Christians who protested public games which were dedicated to pagan gods. Martyred in the persecutions Julian the Apostate. The only details we know about them are their names – Aquila, Domitius, Eparchius, Pelagia and Theodosia. They were martyred in 361 in Caesarea, Palestine.

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Posted in LENT 2026, The PASSION

Passion Sunday – 22 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Passion of Christ

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Passion Sunday – 22 March – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

Passion Sunday
The Passion of Christ

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that, whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish but may have life everlasting.”
John iii. 14, 15

We may note here three lessons.

  1. The Figure of the Passion.
    As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert.
    When the Jews said, “Our soul now loatheth this very light food” (Num xxi. 5), the Lord sent serpents in punishment and afterwards, for a remedy, He commanded the brazen serpent to be made — as a remedy against the serpents and too, as a figure of the Passion.
    It is the nature of a serpent to be poisonous but the brazen serpent had no poison — it was but the figure of a poisonous serpent.
    So too, Christ had no sin — which is the poison but He had the likeness of sin.
    “ God sent His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin” (Rom viii. 3).
    Therefore, Christ had the effect of the serpent against the movements of our desires.
  2. The Mode of the Passion.
    So must the Son of Man be lifted up. This refers to His being raised upon the Cross.
    He willed to die lifted up,
    (i) To purify the air – already He had purified the earth by the holiness of His Living upon it but it still remained for Him to purify the air by His Dying there;
    (ii) To triumph over the devils, who in the air, make their preparations to war on us;
    (iii) To draw our hearts to His Heart, by His Dying there, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to
    Myself ” (John xii. 32). “”
    Since, in the Death of the Cross, He was Exalted and since, it was there that He overcame His enemies, we say that He was Exalted rather than, He Died.
    “He shall drink of the strrent by the wayside, therefore, shall He lift up His Head” (Ps. cix. 7).

The Cross was the cause of His Exaltation.
“He became obedient unto death, even to the Death of the Cross, wherefore God hath Exalted Him” (Phil ii. 8).

  1. The Fruit of the Passion – the Fruit is Eternal Life. Whence Our Lord says Himself, “Whosoever believeth in
    Me, doing good works, may not perish but may have life everlasting ”(John iii. 16).

And this Fruit corresponds to the fruit of the serpent which foreshadowed Him.
For whoever looked upon the brazen serpent was delivered from the poison and his life was preserved.
Now the man who looks upon the Son of Man lifted up, is the man who believes in Christ Crucified and it is in this way that he is delivered from the poison of sin and preserved for the life which is eternal.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, DYING / LAST WORDS, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2026, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on SUFFERING, St Francis de Sales, The PASSION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 22 March – How to escape death …

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 22 March – Passion Sunday – Hebrews 9:11-15, John 8:46-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
if anyone keep My word,
he will never see death.”

John 8:51

“Your purity of life, your devotion,
deserve and call for a reward
because you are acceptable
and pleasing to God.
Your purity of life must be made purer still,
by frequent buffetings,
until you attain perfect sincerity of heart.
If, from time to time, you feel the sword
falling upon you with double or treble force,
this also should be seen as sheer joy
and the mark of love!”

St Raymond of Peñafort (1175-1275)

“We must live a dying life
and we must die a living death
in the life of our Lord.”
(The Spirit of St. François de Sales, XV, 6 )

“Unhappy is death,
without the love of Christ;
unhappy is love,
without the Death of Christ!”

(Treatise on the Love of God,
Book 12, Chapter 13)

“We are dying,
little by little;
so, we are to make
our imperfections die
with us, day by day. ”

(Letters to Persons in the World I:5)

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, St Francis de Sales, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 22 March – Hail, Sweet Jesus! Prayer to Christ in His Passion and Death

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 22 March – Passion Sunday

Hail, Sweet Jesus!
Prayer to Christ
in His Passion and Death
By St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

Hail, sweet Jesus!
Praise, honour and glory be to Thee, O Christ,
Who, of Thou own accord, embraced death,
and recommending Thyself to Thy heavenly Father,
bowing down Thy venerable Head,
did yield up Thy Spirit.
Truly thus giving up Thy life for Thy sheep,
Thou hast shown Thyself, to be the Good Shepherd.
Thou died, O Only-begotten Son of God.
Thou died, O my beloved Saviour,
that I might live forever.
O how great hope,
how great confidence have
I reposed in Thy Death and Thy Blood!
I glorify and praise Thy Holy Name,
acknowledging my infinite obligations to Thee.
O good Jesus,
by Thy bitter Death and Passion,
give me grace and pardon.
Give unto the faithful departed,
rest and life everlasting.
Amen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 22 March – Saint Darerca (5th Century) Wife, Mother, Sister of St Patrick

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 22 March – Saint Darerca (5th Century) Wife, Mother, Sister of St Patrick. Patronage – of Valentia Island, Ireland. Mother of many Bishops and Saints.

There is not much confirmed information of her life but there is a network of legend which medieval writers interwove her acts. He fame comes partly due to her relationship to the great St Patrick, Ireland’s Apostle and Patron but also stands secure as not only a great Saint but as the mother of many great Saints.

Tradition records 17 or 19 sons and 2 daughters, St Eiche of Kilglas and St Lalloc of Senlis. Her first husband was Restitutus the Lombard, after whose death she married Chonas the Briton. By Restitutus, she was the mother of St Sechnall, St Nectan, St Fennor, St Auxilius, St Diarmaid, St Dabonna, Mogornon, Drioc, Lugauat, and Coemed Maccu Baird. Old Irish writers, assign her four other sons namely St Crummin, St Miduu, St Carantoc and St Macceaith.

Darerca was married twice and according to histories in Brittany, she was the second wife of Conan Meriadoc. She was the mother of his eldest son Gradlon Mawr who became Gradlon the Great, King of Brittany. Chonas the Briton, founded the Church of Both-Chonais, now Parish of Clonmany, in Ineshowen, Donegal.

Saint Darerca is honoured on 22 March and is the patroness of Valentia Island.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

PASSION SUNDAY,  Notre-Dame-de-Citeaux / Our Lady of Citeaux, France built by St Robert (1098), Nostra Signora dei Sette Veli / Our Lady of the Seven Veils, Foggia, Italy (11th Century), St Isidore the Farmer, St Catherine of Genoa and the Saints for 22 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

PASSION SUNDAY

Notre-Dame-de-Citeaux / Our Lady of Citeaux, France built by St Robert (1098) – 22 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/22/our-lady-of-citeaux-france-built-by-st-robert-1098-our-lady-of-the-seven-veils-11th-century-our-lady-of-sorrows-of-castelpetroso-italy-1888-and-memorials-of-the-saints-22-march/

Nostra Signora dei Sette Veli / Our Lady of the Seven Veils, Foggia, Italy (11th Century) – 22 March:
About:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/memorial-of-our-lady-of-the-seven-veils-and-memorials-of-the-saints-22-march/

St Isidore the Farmer (c1070 -1130) – Confessor, Farm Worker and Apostle of Charity.
Additional Memorials, 15 May, 25 October.– these occur in local calendars.
About St Isidore:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/05/15/saint-of-the-day-15-may-isidore-the-farmer/

St Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510) Widow, Mystic, Apostle of the sick, the poor and the needy, Writer.
Her Feast Day was moved after Vatican II to 15 September but today is the date of her death.
Her Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/09/15/saint-of-the-day-15-september-st-catherine-of-genoa-1447-1510/

St Avitus of Périgord
St Basil of Ancyra
St Basilissa of Galatia

St Benevenuto Scotivoli (c1188-1282) Bishop of Osimo in Italy, Reformer. He was Canonised in 1284 by Pope Martin IV.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/22/saint-of-the-day-22-march-saint-benevenuto-scotivoli-of-osimo-c-1188-1282/

St Callinica of Galatia
St Catherine of Sweden
St Darerca (5th Century) Wife, Mother, Sister of St Patrick
St Deghitche

St Epaphroditus (1st Century) First Bishop of Terracina, Italy, Missionary, Evangelist, Disciple of the Apostles, Friend and Envoy of St Paul Apostle. St Hippolytus’ list of the Seventy Disciples includes “Epaphroditus, Bishop of Andriace.”
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Terracina, St Epaphroditus, a disciple of the Apostles, who was Consecrated Bishop of that City by the blessed Apostle Peter.”
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/22/saint-of-the-day-22-march-saint-epaphroditus-of-terracina-1st-century/

St Failbhe of Iona
St Harlindis of Arland

Blessed Hugolinus Zefferini OSA (c1320-1367) Italian Priest, Friar of the Hermits of St Augustine, Hermit, Miracle-worker. Patronage – Cortona, Italy (chosen by the citizeins in 1508). Blessed Hugolinus was Beatified in 1804 by Pope Pius VII
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/22/saint-of-the-day-22-march-blessed-hugolinus-zefferini-osa-c1320-1367-pries/

St Lea (Died 384) Widow of Rome, a disciple of St Jerome, Nun, Prioress.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Rome, St Lea, a widow, whose virtues and happy death are related by St Jerome.”
Her Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/03/22/saint-of-the-day-22-march-saint-lea-died-384-widow/

Blessed Lukarda O.Cist (c1275-1309) Virgin, German Cistercian Nun in Oberweimar , Mystic , Stigmatist, Miracle-worker. Born in c1275, probably in Erfurt, Germany and died on 22 March (Palm Sunday) 1309 at the Oberweimar Abbey, Weimar, Thuringia (in modern Germany) of natural causes, aged 33.
Amazing Lukarda!:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/22/saint-of-the-day-22-march-blessed-lukarda-of-oberweimar-o-cist-c1275-1309-virgin/

St Nicholas Owen SJ (1562-1606) – The Priest-Hole Builder, Martyr, Lay Brother of the Society of Jesus
Dear St Nicholas Owen:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/saint-of-the-day-22-march-st-nicholas-owen-s-j-1562-1606-the-priest-hole-builder-martyr/

St Octavian of Carthage
St Paul of Narbonne
St Saturninus the Martyr