Madonna del Faggio (Our Lady of the Beech Tree), Castelluccio, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy (1672) – 26 July, Ascension Thursday:
In 1672 the Blessed Virgin appeared to a shepherd boy and told him that she wished to be venerated at a certain place in the beech woods near Castelluccio in central Italy. The child , following the directions to the site, discovered a terracotta Madonna affixed to one of the trees. The tiny Statue, barely 18 centimetres tall (7 inches) was moved to a wayside Shrine and then, in 1722, to its own mountain Sanctuary. Until 1964 a caretaker lived in the hermitage there. Since then a volunteer opens the Chapel only in summer on Sundays. In 1975 the sacred image was stolen and a copy was made to replace it.
Since 1756, an annual pilgrimage on Ascension Day brings the image to the Town and back again, and on St Anne’s day, 26 July, a procession goes to the site of the beech tree where the Statue had been originally found, although the tree itself is no longer there as it fell during a storm.
The Sanctuary’s holy card, shown above, does not seem to depict the terracotta image. It may represent one of the paintings of Lorenzo Pranzini, who decorated the interior of the Chapel in the 1800s.
St Benigno of Malcestine Bl Camilla Gentili St Charus of Malcestine Bl Edward Thwing Bl Élisabeth-Thérèse de Consolin St Erastus Bl Évangéliste of Verona St Exuperia the Martyr Bl George Swallowell St Gérontios Bl Giuseppina Maria de Micheli St Gothalm St Hyacinth Bl Jacques Netsetov Bl John Ingram St Joris Bl Marcel-Gaucher Labiche de Reignefort Bl Marie-Claire du Bac Bl Marie-Madeleine Justamond Bl Marie-Marguerite Bonnet St Olympius the Tribune St Parasceva of Rome (Died c 180) Virgin Martyr, Confessor St Pastor of Rome Bl Pérégrin of Verona Bl Pierre-Joseph le Groing de la Romagère
St Simeon of Padolirone St Symphronius the Slave St Theodulus the Martyr
Blessed Titus Brandsma OCD (1881-1942) Martyr of the Faith, Carmelite Religious Priest, Mystic, Philosopher, Lecturer, Writer, Editor, Preacher, Linguist, Social Activist.
John Ingram, born in 1565 at Stoke Edith, Herefordshire, England. Son of Anthony Ingram of Wolford, Warwickshire, and Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Hungerford. He was an English Jesuit and martyr who was executed in Gateshead on 26 July 1594, during the reign of Elizabeth I, aged 29.
He was educated at Worcestershire and the New College, Oxford, England and was an adult convert to Catholicism. After graduating from there at 17 years old, he left England for Douai, then he attended the English College at Rheims, France; the Jesuit College at Pont-a-Mousson, France; and the English College Seminary, in Rome. On the way to Rheims he and three other young men were waylaid and held for ransom by a troop of Calvinist mercenaries in the pay of Francis, Duke of Anjou.
The first mention of Ingram is in a letter from William Allen, Principal at Rheims, to the rector of the English College in Rome: Even at the very moment of my writing to you bad tidings come of four young students. On their way to this college from Douai, they were robbed, and are still held captive, by the soldiery of my lord, the brother of his Majesty, and a large sum of money is demanded of us for their ransom. Meanwhile the soldiers are dragging their unhappy victims from town to town, and from province to province, in the direction of their camp in Belgium. God knows how much we shall have to pay to redeem them, for letters from the Mayor and Corporation of Rheims in their favour have been entirely without effect.”
But the four young men, John Ingram, Richard Haward, Thomas Heath and Christopher Haywood, managed to escape and made their way to Rheims, arriving, in a state of the utmost destitution during October and November 1582. On 10 June 1585, he took the oath of commitment to return to England as a Missionary Priest and took minor orders. John was ordained at Rome in 1589.
Sent on a mission to Scotland in 1592, he was supported by Lords Huntly, Angus, and Erroll, the Abbot of Dumbries, and Sir Walter Lindsay of Balgavies. To get there John traveled to Abbeville in France, then doubled back to Brussels where he said Mass in a secret chapel run by the Jesuits, and thence to Antwerp where he visited the Carthusian church and said Mass. There he abandoned his clerical garb and dressed as a layman. This circuitous route was possibly to obscure his intentions and identity, from the network of spies maintained by the English Government, who were always on the lookout for priests. John lived for 18 months as resident chaplain to the household of Sir Walter Lindsay, in the guise of a steward, ministering to the local faithful. He converted many people to the faith.
He lived under a number of aliases, but when Sir Walter Lindsay fled to Spain after angering the king by his own allegiance to the Faith, John fled south and to evade pursuit, slipped across the English border on 25 November 1593. He rested for some hours at Wark-on-Tweed and then traveled downriver seeking a means to cross back into Scotland but he was apprehended by the English border guards near Norham Castle.
Strenuous efforts were made by Scottish supporters to secure his release, one laird claiming Ingram as his own son, and others offering the substantial ransom of a thousand crowns for his release. This only confirmed the English belief that they had captured someone of significant importance, as up till then they were not certain whether he was a priest or some other enemy of the state.
He was imprisoned for his faith at Berwick, Durgam, York, and the Tower of London. Tortured in the Tower for the names of other “traitorous” Catholics, he gave away nothing, ministered to and encouraged his fellow prisoners, and still wrote 20 Latin epigrams that have survived.
Ingram arrived at the Tower of London on Holy Saturday, 17 April 1593, and later wrote:
Rocks are quarried, the entrails of the earth, That Dives may have living rock for his tomb. No tomb seek I; and yet shall there be a living tomb
For my lifeless body — the carrion-crow.
He was severely tortured by priest hunter Richard Topcliffe. Hung by the joints of his fingers and arms, he was in extreme pain for so long that the feeling of his senses was taken completely from him. He was often put to the rack, but would give no information about persons and places. When he and another priest were moved to York, Ingram was in solitary confinement in a stinking vault of a locked jakehouse for four days, without either a bed to lie on or a stool to sit on. From York, he was transported to Newcastle and imprisoned in the Newgate prison there for four night. A woman visitor to the prison was struck by the serenity and joy of the priest, who said that he had good cause to be merry because his wedding day being at hand, the bridegroom must be glad, for within ten days he hoped to enjoy his Spouse. She remarked that it was true his hope was good, but his banquet was deadly; but he answered that the reward was sweet. The serenity and courage of John Ingram is reflected in two letters he wrote from prison to his friends or fellow prisoners in the same prison: “I look for my trial on Thursday and consequently for my death in God’s honour ( …) in my pained body; my spirit is not pained, nor in any disaster, distress or durance.”
Tower of London cell
Someone in Scotland offered the English Government a thousand crowns to spare Ingram’s life, but he was convicted with Saint John Boste and Saint George Swallowell (the other two Durham Martyrs), for the high crime of priesthood.
When he was asked what he had to say that he should not receive judgement, he made this answer, “I say that I am a priest, and that my exercise and practice of priesthood cannot be made treason by any Christian law; and I beseech God to forgive both you and them that make it otherways. And I do with all my heart forgive you, and all my accusers and persecutors, and so I beseech God to have mercy upon me, and to strengthen me with patience and constancy in mine agony.”
Immediately prior to his execution, he was held for a short while in the Toll-Booth in Gateshead, a small local gaol very close to the place of execution. Holtby gives an account of Ingram’s preparations, the prayers he said, his words to the bystanders, and of the execution itself:
“I take God and his holy angels to the record, that I die only for the holy Catholic faith and religion, and do rejoice and thank God with all my heart that hath made me worthy to testify my faith therein, by the spending of my blood in this manner.”
He was asked to pray for the Queen and he prayed to God that she might long reign to his glory, and that it might please him to procure her to live and die a good Catholic Christian prince. With rope around his neck he said more prayers, ending with the psalm Miserere mei Deus, after which, making the sign of the Cross and saying, “In manus tuas“, the ladder was turned; and being dead, he was cut down, bowelled, and quartered. His severed head was placed on a spike and displayed on the bridge across the Tyne.
The Toll-Booth
In Rome, at the English College, when the news of his martyrdom reached them, the staff and students sang the Te Deum in the college chapel and wrote against his name “Martyro insigni coronatus“.
Our Morning Offering – 26 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood – Reminding you and myself, that in Catholic Time, Monday is the day of the Holy Ghost and/or the Holy Angels.
Nunc, Sancte, nobis Spiritus By St Ambrose (340-397) Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One Trans John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Trans 1836
Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One Art with the Father and the Son. Come, Holy Ghost, our souls possess With Thy full flood of holiness.
In will and deed, by heart and tongue, With all our powers, Thy praise be sung. And love light up our mortal frame, Till others catch the living flame.
Almighty Father, hear our cry Through Jesus Christ our Lord most high, Who with the Holy Ghost and Thee Doth live and reign eternally.
At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, If you had known, in this your day, even you, the things that are for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:41-47
REFLECTION – Do not despise sinners because we are all guilty. If you rise up against him for love of God, weep for him, rather. Why despise him? Despise his sins and pray for him if you would be like Christ, who was not angered at sinners but prayed for them. Don’t you see how he wept over Jerusalem? For we too have been played around with by the devil more than once. Why despise someone just like ourselves, who has been a plaything of the devil who taunts us all? You who are merely a man, why despise the sinner? Is it because he is not righteous like you? But where is your righteousness so long as you have no love? Why did you not weep over him? To the contrary, you persecute him. It is because of their ignorance that some people are annoyed with others – those who think they have discernment into the works of sinners.
St Isaac the Syrian (Ascetical discourses)
PRAYER – True light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ, as You enlighten all men for their salvation, give us grace, we pray, to herald Your coming by preparing the ways of justice and of peace. Help us Lord, that we may sprout and bear fruit, fitting to grow and be a home of comfort to our neighbour. By the prayers of Sts Anne and Joachim, may we too be beacons of Your Light and of the glory of Your Kingdom. Through Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 26 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Ps 53:6-7, Ps 53:3, 1 Cor. 10:6-13, Luke 19:41-47
For days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a rampart about you, and surround you and shut you in on every side, and will dash you to the ground and your children within you, and will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you have not known the time of your visitation.
Luke 19:41-47
As therefore with regard to the prisoner, when you see him with irons on his back, on his hands, and often on his feet too, you therefore most of all account him miserable; so also as to the rich man, when you see him encompassed with innumerable affairs, let him not be therefore rich, but rather for these very things wretched, in your account. For together with these bonds, he has a cruel jailor too, the wicked love of riches; which suffers him not to pass out of this prison, but provides for him thousands of fetters, and guards, and doors, and bolts; and when he has cast him into the inner prison, persuades him even to feel pleasure in these bonds; that he may not find so much as any hope of deliverance from the evils which press on him.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Matthew)
On account then of all these things let us entreat the Redeemer of our souls, that He would both burst asunder our bands, and remove this our cruel jailor, and having set us free from the burden of those iron chains, He would make our spirits lighter than any wing. And as we entreat Him, so let us contribute our own part, earnestness, and consideration, and an excellent zeal. For thus we shall be able both in a short time to be freed from the evils which now oppress us, and to learn in what condition we were before, and to lay hold on the liberty which belongs to us.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Matthew)
And He entered the temple, and began to cast out those who were selling and buying in it, saying to them, It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves.
Luke 19:41-47
It is great honour, great glory to serve Thee, and to despise all for Thy sake. For they shall have great grace who of their own will shall submit themselves to Thy most holy service. They who for Thy love have cast away every carnal delight shall find the sweetest consolation of the Holy Ghost. They who enter the narrow way of life for Thy Name’s sake, and have put away all worldly cares, shall attain great liberty of spirit.
Thomas a Kempis (Third Book: Chapter X)
Therefore all religion is for the sake of the soul; for howsoever the nature of the body may be, it causes no care or anxiety, especially after death, to him, whose soul possesses that whereby it is blessed.
26th Day – The Sixth Shedding of the Precious Blood
Not the hands alone, that did for man those works of love, but also the feet, that went about doing good, were pierced by the cruel nails. It seems as if men were bent on requiting the very limbs that were employed for the good of man with evil in return. They not only hate Him without a cause, but they hated Him for His love to them. Such is man when he is in Satan’s power. Such have I too often been, so ungrateful to God, rebelling against the means which He employed to heal my soul and deliver me from sin.
What must have been the unutterable agony of those three hours during which the sacred body of Our Lord was dragging with all its weight on the wounds in His hands and feet! Who can describe it? The agony that racked each nerve so that there was no sound part of His body, the utter exhaustion, and, worst of all, the agonising thirst that was the effect of the the continual streams which drained His sacred body of the Precious Blood. Who can imagine it? “Behold and see, all who pass by the way, whether there is any sorrow like to My sorrow.”
Yet these wounds inflicted by man’s malignity, are now employed by Jesus as arguments pleading for mercy for sinners at His Father’s hands. Oh, Jesus, when shall I forgive, as Thou didst forgive me? When shall I learn that it is a privilege and a glory to return good for evil, and so to resemble Thee?
It’s been a month since my mom, the founder of this site, died, and I want to once again thank all who have supported her, and her family, in the past, and since her death. Such support, from donations to prayers, to the simplest comment of support, has been invaluable, and I cannot express our gratitude enough. I especially want to thank her great friend: Hugh. Everyone who has supported is being prayed for during our priest’s daily masses, and monthly supporters have masses offered for them and their intentions. Thank you so much ❤ God bless.
St James the Greater (Feast) – Son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of Saint John the Apostle. He is called “the Greater” simply because he became an Apostle before Saint James the Lesser.
Notre-Dame du Saguenay / Our Lady of Lac Bouchet, Quebec (1920) – 25 July:
The Saguenay Fjord is an ancient glacial valley that has been overrun with sea water. In the year 1828 a surveyor, Joseph Bouchette, ventured into the region for the purpose of collecting data for topographical maps. It was during this expedition that he found a suitable site for a future village, which Pascal Dumais and his family later settled. This marked the founding of the village of Lac-Bouchette, with more and more people coming to settle in the area until the village had 300 inhabitants by 1888.
Our story actually begins with a man named Charles Napoleon Robitaille, a salesman who travelled the roads in and around Quebec. During the winters he would have to cross frozen rivers and it was in the winter of 1878 while trying to cross the Saguenay River that the ice broke under the weight of his horse and sleigh. Pulled beneath the surface of the icy waters, Charles was alone and completely helpless. Knowing he was dying, he implored the Blessed Virgin Mary to save him.
Charles miraculously survived, and managed to escape from the river with his life. He knew the Virgin had assisted him and so to honour Mary and her recent apparition at Lourdes, he asked Louis Jobin to create a huge Statue of the Blessed Virgin sculpted in the image of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception. He envisioned the Statue in the heights overlooking the mouth of the river. The Statue Jobin sculpted became known as Notre-Dame du Saguenay.
The finished Statue is an impressive more than 10,5 metres high and weighs 3 tons. Sculpted of solid white pine, it was then sheathed in lead to protect it from the harsh weather. Hauling such a huge Statue into place was a difficult task in the late nineteenth century. After being constructed, it was broken down into 14 separate pieces and then hoisted into place and rebuilt. The Statue made Louis Jobin the most famous sculptor of the time, and it has become a regional landmark, with visitors from all over the world assembling at her feet to sing the Ave Maria.
In 1889 the mission Church of Saint Thomas Aquinas was built and the next year Father Joseph Ironwood became the first Priest there A second Church was soon built, in 1898, as the population increased dramatically. Now, on the north shore of Lake Bouchet, in the Province of Quebec, there stand the buildings of a Friary and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Saguenay. In 1920, Father Elzear Delamarre built a house and a private Chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua on the site, which later became known as the hermitage of Saint Anthony and is one of the national Shrines in Quebec. So began the pilgrimage-shrine that has since grown steadily in popularity.
After Father de Lamarre’s death in 1925, the Capuchin Franciscans took over the property, built their house and Church there and minister to the thousands of pilgrims who visit the Blessed Mother at her Sanctuary.
Bl Alexius Worstius
Blessed Antonio Lucci OFM.Conv. (1682-1752) Bishop of Bovino, Franciscan Friar, Theologian, Professor, Writer, Apostle of Charity and Marian devotee.
Bl Antonio of Olmedo St Bantu of Trier St Beatus of Trier
St Cugat del Valles Bl Darío Acosta Zurita St Ebrulfus St Fagildo of Santiago St Felix of Furcona St Florentius of Furcona St Glodesind of Metz St Magnericus of Trier (c 520-596) Bishop and Confessor Bl Michel-Louis Brulard Bl Mieczyslawa Kowalska St Mordeyren St Nissen of Wexford St Olympiad of Constantinople St Paul of Palestine
Blessed Pietro Corradini OFM (1435–1490) Priest of the Franciscan Friars Minor, Confessor, Preacher, Spiritual Director
St Theodemir of Cordoba — Martyrs of Caesarea – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together in the persecutions of emperor Maximilian and governor Firmilian – Paul, Tea and Valentina. 309 in Caesarea, Palestine.
Martyrs of Cuncolim – 20 saints: On 15 July 1583 the group met at the church of Orlim, and hiked to Cuncolim to erect a cross and choose land for a new church. Local anti-Christian pagans, seeing the unarmed Christians, gathered their weapons and marched on them. One of the parishioners, a Portuguese emigre named Gonçalo Rodrigues, carried a firearm, but Father Alphonsus Pacheco stopped him from using it. The pagans then fell upon them, and killed them all without mercy. They were – • Alphonsus Pacheco • Alphonsus the altar boy • Anthony Francis • Dominic of Cuncolim • Francis Aranha • Francis Rodrigues • Gonçalo Rodrigues • Paul da Costa • Peter Berno • Rudolph Acquaviva • ten other native Christian converts whose names have not come down to us They were martyred on Monday 25 July 1583 at the village of Cuncolim, district of Salcete, territory of Goa, India. Beatified on 30 April 1893 by Pope Leo XIII.
Saint Cucuphas, also known as Cobad, Cocoba, Cucufate (and many more). His name is said to be of Phoenician origin with the meaning of “he who jokes, he who likes to joke.”
Cucuphas was born into a noble Christian family in Scillis, North Africa. He and Saint Felix were deacons in Carthage and they later arrived at Barcelona to evangelize. Cucuphaslived as a merchant in Barcelona while preaching the Faith, baptizing converts, and aiding the Christian community there. He was generous with the poor and a worker of miracles.
He was martyred near Barcelona during the persecution of Diocletian. He suffered many torments. He was handed over to twelve strong soldiers, who were ordered to whip him and tear his skin with iron nails and scorpions. He was then roasted alive after being covered in vinegar and pepper, but was miraculously saved him from death and injury. A great bonfire also failed to kill him and instead killed his would-be executioners. His jailers then converted to Christianity after they found Cucuphas in his cell illuminated by a heavenly light. The next day, he was flagellated with iron whips. Divine intervention slew the prefect Maximianus when his carriage caught on fire. Rufus, the new prefect, having learnt from the experiences of his predecessor, did not dare practice torture of any kind on the saint, and instead ordered his immediate execution by sword, ordering his throat to be cut.
Two Christian women, Juliana and Semproniana, buried his body and were subsequently martyred as well. The Benedictine abbey of Sant Cugat del Vallès is situated on the site of his martyrdom.
Reliquary casket of Saint Cucuphas
The poet Prudentius honored him in a hymn. Cucuphas is mentioned in the Hieronymian Martyrology; the Prayer Book of Verona; in a hymn called Barcino laeto Cucufate vernans, which says: “Barcino bursts into the vernal joy,of Saint Cucuphas, honoring his remains, and spreads privet branches on the burial mound and on the tomb”.
Saint Cucuphas Chapel Basilica Saint Denis
Since the eighth century, Sant Cugat has claimed Cucuphas’ relics. In the eighth century, Saint Fulrad took a relic of Cucuphas from Sant Cugat to Saint-Denis. The relics of Cucuphas occupy a place of honor in the apse to the right of Saint Denis to this day. Many churches in Europe claim his relics, including Reichenau; the cathedrals of Braga, Oviedo; and Lièpvre.
Our Morning Offering – 25 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St James the Greater and the Memorial of St Christopher (died c 251)
The Christopher Prayer, Make Us True Christ-Bearers Anonymous
Father, grant that we may be, bearers of Christ Jesus, Your Son. Allow us to fill, the world around us, with Your light. Strengthen us, by Your Holy Spirit, to carry out our mission of living and following the path of Jesus, our Lord. Help us to understand, that by Your grace our gifts are Your blessings, to be shared with others. Fill us with Your Spirit of love to give glory to You in loving all and preaching by our love. Nourish in us the desire to go forth as the bearers of Your Son fearless and gentle, loving and merciful. Make us true Christ-Bearers, that in seeing us, only He is visible. Amen.
One Minute Reflection – 25 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St James the Greater – Readings: Ps 138:17, Ps 138:1-2, 1 Cor. 4:9-15, Matt 20:20-23
To this very hour we hunger and thirst, and we are naked and buffeted, and have no fixed abode.
1 Cor. 4:9-15
REFLECTION – We are celebrating today the heavenly birthday of a martyr. We must not consider ourselves altogether strangers to his virtue of patience. If with the Lord’s help we are striving to observe the virtue of patience, though we are living in a time of peace for the Church, yet we are holding the palm of martyrdom. There are in truth two kinds of martyrdom: one in the heart, the other in heart and action at the same time. And so we can be martyrs, even if we are not slain by anyone’s sword. To die at the hands of a persecutor is unmistakably martyrdom; to bear insults, to love one who hates us, is martyrdom in our secret thought.
Truth, who asked the sons of Zebedee: “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” testifies that there are two kinds of martyrdom, one in our secret actions, the other in public. When they immediately answered: “We are able,” the Lord replied: “You will indeed drink my cup”. What do we understand by his cup except his passion, of which he said elsewhere: “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”? But the sons of Zebedee, James, that is, and John, did not both die as martyrs; yet each heard that he would drink of the cup. John did not end his life in martyrdom, yet was a martyr, because he sustained in his heart the suffering he did not undergo in his body.We too, following his example, can be martyrs without a sword, if we truly guard patience in our minds.
St Gregory the Great (Homilies on the Gospel, no.35 )
PRAYER – Lord our God, You accepted the sacrifice of St James, the first of Your Apostles to give his life for Your sake. May Your Church find strength in his martyrdom and support in his constant prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ, Pray for us! Amen
Jesus answering, said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to him: We can. He saith to them: My chalice indeed you shall drink; but to sit on my right or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father.
Matt 20:20-23
For the arrogant is of necessity base, and, on the contrary, the lowly-minded is high. For this is the height that is true and genuine, and exists not in name only, nor in manner of address. And that which is from without is of necessity and fear, but this is like to God’s. Such a one, though he be admired by no one, continues high; even as again the other, though he be courted by all, is of all men the basest. And the one is an honor rendered of necessity, whence also it easily passes away; but the other is of principle, whence also it continues steadfast.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 65 on Matthew)
For this we admire the saints also, that being greater than all, they humbled themselves more than all. Wherefore even to this day they continue to be high, and not even death has brought down that height.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 65 on Matthew)
I am going to tell you that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings and His death, has made all our actions meritorious, so that for the good Christian there is no motion of our hearts or of our bodies which will not be rewarded if we perform them for Him.
St John Vianney
Justin said, No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety. Rusticus the prefect said, Unless you obey, you shall be mercilessly punished. Justin said, Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour. Thus also said the other martyrs: Do what you will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice to idols.
The Martyrdom of Justin
O blessed ones, count whatever is hard in this lot of yours as a discipline of your powers of mind and body. You are about to pass through a noble struggle, in which the living God acts the part of superintendent, in which the Holy Ghost is your trainer, in which the prize is an eternal crown of angelic essence, citizenship in the heavens, glory everlasting.
Tertullian (To the Martyrs)
Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the more she shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes to know more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offenses committed against Me.
25th Day – The Fifth Shedding of the Precious Blood
On the summit of Calvary, stretched upon the rough cross, with His arms extended along the cross-pieces which are to form the horizontal part of it, lies the Son of God, already wounded, covered with blood, exhausted by suffering and by His repeated falls upon the way. Surely the executioners will be satisfied with the ordinary method of tying his arms to the cross, and leaving Him thus to die. No, for the innocent, spotless Lamb of God new tortures are in store. Huge nails are placed in the centre of His hands, and with cruel strokes of a heavy mallet driven through His delicate, sensitive palms. The blows are struck, the Precious Blood gushes forth, and Jesus groans under the exquisite pain which thrills through every nerve.
O Jesus! how can we bear to see Thee thus wounded! Those hands which were ever stretched forth to do good to all, to heal sorrows, and cure diseases! They never did aught but good, how then can cruel men be so ungrateful, so barbarous, so impious as to requite Thee thus? Oh, may I learn to sorrow with Thy anguish, and, like They most holy Mother, to join my compassion to Thy passion!
Yet sad and strange to say, my actions correspond but ill to the expressions of my sorrow. It is for the sins committed by my stretched-out hands that Thou art suffering, for my selfishness, unkindnes, immodesty, anger, covetousness. How shall I compensate Thee for my share in this cruelty? Oh, help me to do so, and show me how I can do so!
Boris and Gleb (or Glev), whose Christian names were Roman and David, were the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus’ after its Christianization. Sons of Saint Vladimir I of Kiev and Anne of Constantinople, great-grandsons of Saint Olga of Kiev.
They were younger children of Vladimir the Great, who favored them over his other children. Boris married and ruled the town of Rostov. Gleb, ruled the easternmost town of Murom. Born shortly before the Baptism of Rus’, the brothers were brought up to be pious Christians. Boris, the older of the two, loved to read the Sacred Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers, and especially, the lives of saints. Under their influence, St. Boris developed a fervent desire to emulate the spiritual struggles of these holy heroes, and often prayed that the Lord make him worthy of such an honor. Both excelled in charity and kindness, emulating the example of their father, Saint Vladimir, who was merciful towards the needy, the sick, and the indigent.
The brothers were murdered during the Kievan succession crisis of 1015–1019. The Primary Chronicle, which relates their lives, says their brother, Sviatopolk the Accursed, plotted their assassinations. Boris learnt of his father’s death upon his return with the Rus’ army to Alta. Upon being informed of Sviatopolk’s accession to the throne and urged to replace him, Boris replied: “Be it not for me to raise my hand against my elder brother. Now that my father has passed away, let him take the place of my father in my heart.”
“If he (Sviatopolk) spills my blood and resolves to kill me, I will be a martyr before my Lord. I will not resist, for it is written, “God resisteth the proud, and gives grace to the humble.” (Boris’s words)
Despite his brother’s acquiescence, Sviatopolk sent men to execute him. When they arrived they heard him chanting psalms and praying before an icon of Christ. He asked the Lord to strengthen him for the suffering he was about to endure. He also prayed for Sviatopolk, asking God not to count this against him as sin. Boris and his Hungarian manservant, George, were stabbed to death with spears while asleep in a tent. Later, the prince was discovered still breathing in a bodybag being transported to Kiev, but the Viking men sent to murder him, ended his life with the thrust of a sword.
Gleb believed his father was still alive and rushed to his father’s deathbed. On the way, the saint’s brother, Yaroslav, learnt of Sviatopolk’s treachery and urged Gleb not to meet him. His boat was seized near Smolensk, and in the middle of praying to God, Gleb was assassinated by his own cook, Torchin, who cut his throat with a kitchen knife.
In 1020 another of Vladimir’s sons, Yaroslav, usurped Sviatopolk, and then buried the bodies of Boris and Gleb in the church of Saint Basil at Vyshgorod. Miracles were reported at their tomb, and it became a site of pilgrimage.
The rebuilt church in Vyshhorod
The highest motives were attributed to the brothers’ resignation – unwillingness to repel injustice to themselves by force, and violently oppose an elder brother and thus embroil their people in a civil war. Not martyrs in the traditional sense, the Russian Church perceived them as “passion bearers” – blameless men who did not wish to die but refused to defend themselves, thus voluntarily submitting to death like Christ.
They were canonized in 1724 by Pope Benedict XIII (cultus confirmed) and their patronage is princes. In iconography Boris is depicted in princely attire. He most often holds a cross in his hands — a symbol of martyrdom and humility. He is often shown together with his brother Gleb; Boris’s seniority is indicated by the presence of a moustache or beard.
Foundation of Our Lady of Cambron, France (1148) – 24 July:
This feast day celebrates the Foundation of the Abbey of Our Lady of Cambron, near Mons, in Hainault, Belgium, by Anselm de Trasigny, Lord of Peronne and Canon of Soignies, in the year 1148.
The Abbey of Cambron was founded on the River Blanche and was a daughter house of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. It was situated some distance from Mons in Cambron-Casteau in Hainaut, Belgium and took its name from the land on which it was built. Cambron, in its turn, had daughter houses in the Abbeys of Fontenelle at Valenciennes and six other sites. The image of Our Lady formerly honoured at Cambron was famous for a great number of miraculous cures. A Chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Cambron, was built at Mons in 1550 in a part of the Prince’s park.
In the following centuries the magistrates of Mons had a beautiful door built for the Shrine and added other embellishments. There was a small but well honoured and visited Oratory. In 1559, thieves broke into the Chapel and stole everything of value.
After the French Revolution when the State took over all properties belonging to the Church, this Chapel of Our Lady of Cambron was also taken. It was demolished after all the wood, iron and lead was removed. The Statue of the Blessed Virgin which decorated the Altar was then placed in the Church of Saint Elizabeth at Mons. The Abbey of Cambron was rebuilt in the 18th Century but was ordered to be vacated in 1783 by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. It was later sold to a wealthy Count who built a mansion on the property and the land remained in his family’s hands until it was sold in 1993 to a family, who turned the holy and once revered site, into the location of a public zoo known as the Pairi Daiza.
Verneration of Our Lady of Cambron: “In 1322 there was a serious incident at Cambron. An image of the Virgin Mary was profaned. The widely held suspicion was that a Jewish perpetrator had falsified conversion to Christianity to gain access to the image. The affair caused significant unrest and provoked the sympathy of many Christians. There were prayers and devotions held to repair the image. Thus the devotion to Our Lady of Cambron was begun. After a request by the King of France Philip of Valois, Pope Benedict XII issued a Papal Bull granting indulgences to pilgrims to Cambron. The pilgrimage to the Virgin of Cambron was thus begun. A solemn procession takes place each year on the third Sunday of Easter.”
Among the pilgrims and visitors were several important figures, including the Emperor Maximilian I, who, passing through Belgium in the early 16th century, visited the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Cambron. He gave the Abbey sufficient funds to commission the restoration of the painted image.
St Charbel Makhluf OLM (1828-1898) (Optional Memorial) Monk, Priest, Hermit, Miracle Worker – The holy monk whose dead body radiated white light.
St Aliprandus of Pavia St Antinogenes of Merida St Aquilina the Martyr St Arnulf of Gruyere Bl Balduino of Rieti St Boris of Kiev St Capito
Martyred in England: John Boste Joseph Lambton Nicholas Garlick Richard Simpson Robert Ludlam
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Bl Cándido Castán San José Bl Cecilio Vega Domínguez St Ignacio González Calzada St Jaime Gascón Bordas Bl José Joaquín Esnaola Urteaga Bl José Máximo Moro Briz St Josep Guillamí Rodo St Marcos Morón Casas Bl Maria Angeles of Saint Joseph Bl Maria Mercedes Prat Bl Maria Pilar of Saint Francis Borgia Bl Teresa of the Child Jesus and of Saint John of the Cross St Xavier Bordas Piferrer
Our Morning Offering – 24 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”
Virgin Full of Goodness, Mother of Mercy By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor angelicus Doctor communis
Virgin full of goodness, Mother of mercy, I entrust to you my body and my soul, my thoughts and my actions, my life and my death. My Queen, come to my aid and deliver me from the snares of the devil. Obtain for me the grace of loving my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, with a true and perfect love, and after Him, O Mary, of loving you with all my heart and above all things. Amen.
And the master commended the unjust steward, in that he had acted prudently; for the children of this world, in relation to their own generation, are more prudent than the children of the light.
Luke 16:1-9
REFLECTION – You should know where your own existence comes from, breath, intellect, and what is most precious of all: knowledge of God; from where comes hope of the kingdom of heaven and of beholding the glory that, at present, you see only dimly as in a mirror but that, tomorrow, you will see in all its purity and brilliance. From whence does it come that you are a child of God, inheritor along with Christ and, dare I say it, that you yourself are a god ? Where does all this come from, and through whom ?
Again, to speak only of things of lesser importance, those that are obvious: who granted you sight of the beauty of the heavens, the movement of the sun, the cycle of the moon, the countless stars and, in it all, the harmony and order governing them? Who gave you the rain, the cultivation of the land, food, art, laws, cities, a civilized life, close relationships with people like yourself ?
Isn't it from He who, before all else and in return for all His gifts, requires of you to love humankind?When He, our God and Lord, is not ashamed to be called our Father, are we going to deny our brethren?No, my brothers and friends, do not let us be dishonest stewards of the good things confided to us.
St Gregory Nazianzen (Homily 14, On love for the poor)
PRAYER – All-powerful and ever-living God, splendour of true light and never-ending day, chase away the night of sin and fill our minds with the glory of Your coming. Take away our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, help us in our battle with sin and the devil. By our prayers, Your holy sacraments and the strength of the Holy Spirit, may we be ever vigilant of the evil one. Hear the prayers of our Queen and Mother, the Blessed Virgin of Mercy on our behalf dear Lord. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 24 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Dan 3:84, 87, Dan 3:57, 1 Pet. 5:1-11, Luke 22:24-30
For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:12-17
For since every virtue is a habit that is the principle of a good act, a virtue must needs be defined by means of the good act bearing on the matter proper to that virtue. Now the proper matter of justice consists of those things that belong to our intercourse with other men, as shall be shown further on. Hence the act of justice in relation to its proper matter and object is indicated in the words, “Rendering to each one his right,” since, as Isidore says, “a man is said to be just because he respects the rights [jus] of others.”
St Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica Question 58. Justice)
What sort of deeds then does he mean us to mortify? Those which tend toward wickedness, those which go after vice, which there is no other way of mortifying save through the Spirit. For by killing yourself you may put an end to the others. And this you have no right to do. But to these (you can put an end) by the Spirit only. For if This be present, all the billows are laid low, and the passions cower under It, and nothing can exalt itself against us.
St John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on Romans)
Against such the Lord complains by the prophet, saying, They have reigned, and not by Me; they have been set up as princes, and I knew it not Hosea 8:4. For those reign of themselves, and not by the Will of the Supreme Ruler, who, supported by no virtues, and in no way divinely called, but inflamed by their own desire, seize rather than attain supreme rule.
St Gregory the Great (Pastoral Rule, Book I)
Do you want to be happy, my friends? Fix your eyes on Heaven; it is there that your hearts will find that which will satisfy them completely. All the evils which you experience are the real means of leading you there.
St John Vianney
“No-one can have God as his father, if he does not have the Church as his mother… The Lord warned us of this when He said: “Whoever is not with me, is against me and whoever does not gather together with me, scatters.” The person who breaks the peace and concord of Christ, acts against Christ; the person who gathers together, outside of the Church, scatters the Church of Christ.”
St Cyprian of Carthage (On the unity of the Church)
24th Day – The Fourth Shedding of the Precious Blood
After the scourging the soldiers devised a fresh torture for the Son of God. They wove of the spiny branches of the thorn a sort of helmet or crown of thorns, and put it on His head, pressing it down with their spears. The long sharp thorns pierce through the flesh, and the Precious Blood trickles down over His forehead and fills His eyes, blinding Him, and causing Him fresh pain and misery.
This crowning of thorns was to atone for our proud thoughts, impure thoughts, uncharitable thoughts, the trickling blood covering His sacred face, for our wretched vanity and desire to beautify ourselves in the sight of men, the blinding of His eyes for our immodest looks, careless looks, looks of curiosity and pride. O my Lord, how varied were the sufferings Thou hadst to undergo for my manifold sins!
Each form of suffering endured by the Son of God will have its own appropriate reward for His sacred humanity. As for each stripe a fresh ray of glory, for each insult a new song of praise from angels and saints, so the crown He will wear in heaven will be glorious in proportion to the suffering and ignominy of the crown of thorns. All that we suffer for Him will have a corresponding and appropriate reward in heaven.
Madonna di Altino / Our Lady of Altino, Albino, Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy (1496) – 23 July:
On 23 July 1496, during a heatwave and drought,Quinto Foglia and his two little boys were walking from their home in Vall’Alta to the wooded slopes of Monte Altino, where they worked making charcoal. Stricken with thirst and afraid for his children, Quinto prayed to the Madonna. She appeared and told him to strike a rock with his staff. When he did, a spring surged forth. The next day, people began building a little Chapel, which was completed on 5 September 1496. In 1865 a statuary group depicting the apparition was installed in the Sanctuary. On 23 July 1919, in thanksgiving for her protection during World War I, the Madonna’s Statue was solemnly crowned. The Shrine celebrates its feast with an evening procession on 22 July and solemn Mass on 23 July, the anniversary of both the apparition and the crowning.
St Anne of Constantinople
St Apollonaris (1st Century) Bishop Martyr, Disciple of St Peter
Bl Beaudoin of Beaumont St Conan of Cornwall Bl Emilio Arce Díez St Eugene of Rome St Herundo of Rome Blessed Giovanna of Orvieto OP (c 1264-1306) Virgin, Tertoary of the Order of Preachers, Mystic, Stigmatist
St John Cassian (c 360- c 435) Priest, Monk, Theologian, Writer, Founder., Father of the Church.
Bl Josep Sala Picó Bl Juan de Luca Bl Juan de Montesinos Bl Leonard da Recanati
Bl Pedro Ruiz de los Paños Angel St Phocas the Gardener St Primitiva of Rome St Rasyphus of Macé St Rasyphus of Rome St Ravennus of Macé St Redempta of Rome St Romula of Rome St Severus of Bizye St Theophilus of Rome St Trophimus of Rome St Valerian of Cimiez Bl Wojciech Gondek — Martyrs of Barcelona – 7 beati: Seven Christians, some lay people, some members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and some of the Franciscan Daughters of Mercy, who were martyred in two groups on the same day in the Spanish Civil War. • Catalina Caldés Socías • Francesc Mayol Oliver • Miquel Pons Ramis • Miquela Rul-Làn Ribot • Pau Noguera Trías • Prudència Canyelles Ginestà de Aguadé • Simó Reynés Solivellas 23 July 1936 in Barcelona, Spain. They were Beatified on 28 October 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Martyrs of Bulgaria: An unknown number of Christians killed for their faith during the 9th century war between the Greek Emperor Nicephorus and the Bulgars.
Martyrs of Carabanchel Bajo – 9 beati: A group of nine Passionist priests, brothers and clerics who were martyred together in the Spanish Civil War. • Anacario Benito Nozal • Felipe Ruiz Fraile • Felipe Valcobado Granado • José Osés Sainz • José Ruiz Martinez • Julio Mediavilla Concejero • Laurino Proaño Cuesta • Manuel Pérez Jiménez • Maurilio Macho Rodríguez 22 July 1936 in Carabanchel Bajo, Madrid, Spain.
Martyrs of Horta – 10 beati: A lay woman and nine Minim nuns who were martyred together in the Spanish Civil War. • Ana Ballesta Gelmá • Dolors Vilaseca Gallego • Josefa Pilar García Solanas • Josepa Panyella Doménech • Lucrecia García Solanas • Maria Montserrat Ors Molist • Mercè Mestre Trinché • Ramona Ors Torrents • Teresa Ríus Casas • Vicenta Jordá Martí 23 July 1936 at the Sant Genís dels Agudells highway, Horta, Barcelona, Spain.
Martyrs of Manzanares – 5 beati: Five Passionist clerics who were martyred together in the Spanish Civil War. • Abilio Ramos y Ramos • Epifanio Sierra Conde • José Estalayo García • Vicente Díez Tejerina • Zacarías Fernández Crespo They were shot on 23 July 1936 in Manzanares, Ciudad Real, Spain
Saints Rasyphus and Ravennus are martyrs. Natives of Britain, they fled their country during the Anglo-Saxon invasions, settling in Gaul to become hermits. The parish church of St-Aubin in Macé, Normandy, states that the two saints founded their hermitage near the site of the current building, near a miraculous spring of water. Their reputation as holy men quickly spread, drawing pilgrims from all over the region who came seeking guidance and healing.
King Harold swearing an oath to his enemy, William the Conqueror, at an altar consecrated to Rasyphus and Ravennus in the Bayeux Cathedral (Bayeux Tapestry)
But this renown also brought the Goths, who demanded that the saints convert to Arianism. Of course they refused. As a result they were tossed against a great block of sandstone. Their heads dented the stone but the saints were not hurt (there are two visible prints in the church of St-Aubin of Macé that are considered to be the marks made by the heads of the two saints). They were then decapitated and buried near the present grounds of St-Aubin de Macé; a tombstone marks the site of their former grave.
Macé
The two saints were venerated as great healers, responsible for many miracles. Their relics were taken from St-Aubin to Bayeux Cathedral during the Viking invasions. The relics were then taken to Caen during the Wars of Religion. Finally, they were taken to Grancey in Champagne, where they rest today.
Our Morning Offering – 23 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”
Prayer Before a Crucifix
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus, while before Thy face I humbly kneel and, with burning soul, pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart, lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment. While I contemplate, with great love and tender pity, Thy five most precious wounds, pondering over them within me and calling to mind the words which David, Thy prophet, said of Thee, my Jesus: “They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones.” Amen.
Say – Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be for the Catholic Church and the intentions of the Holy Father. A Plenary Indulgence, under the usual conditions, may be gained by those who shall say this prayer with devotion before an image of our Crucified Redeemer. A Partial Indulgence may also be gained for each devout recitation.
One Minute Reflection – 23 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”
The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they who exercise authority over them are called Benefactors. But not so with you. On the contrary, let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and him who is the chief as the servant.
Luke 22:24-30
REFLECTION – The Son of God himself, who is before all ages, the invisible, the incomprehensible, the bodiless, the beginning from the beginning, light from the light, source of life and immortality, image of the archetype, immovable seal, unchangeable image, the Father’s definition and Word, he it is who came to his own image and took to himself flesh for the sake of our flesh. Then he united himself with an intelligent soul for my soul’s sake, purifying like by like. He took to himself all that is human, except sin… He who enriches others becomes poor. He took to himself the poverty of my flesh so that I might obtain the riches of his godhead. He who is full empties himself. He emptied himself of his godhead for a brief time so that I might share in his fulness.
What is this wealth of goodness ? What is this mystery that touches me ? I received the divine image and I did not keep it. He receives my flesh to save the image and grant immortality to the flesh. This, his second communion with us, is far more marvellous than the first… It was necessary that holiness be conferred on man through the humanity God took to himself. In this way, conquering the tyrant by force, he freed us and led us back to himself through his Son, the mediator. The Son brought this about to the honour of the Father to whom, in all things, he is seen to defer.
St Gregory Nazianzen (Homily no.45)
PRAYER – A pure heart create for me O God, put a steadfast spirit within me! Lord God, bestow a full measure of Your grace to us. Keep us within in the path of Your commandments, help us to work on the earth of our souls, rooting out the weeds and casting forth the stones of malice. Grant that by the prayers of our Blessed and Merciful Mother, we may succeed in attaining sanctity. Through Christ, our Lord, in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 23 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Dan 3:84, 87, Dan 3:57, 1 Pet. 5:1-11, Luke 22:24-30
“God, resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation; cast all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.
1 Pet. 5:1-11
Be sober, be watchful! For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same suffering befalls your brethren all over the world. But the God of all grace, Who has called us unto His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself, after we have suffered a little while, perfect, strengthen and establish us. To Him is the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Pet. 5:1-11
Beloved: I exhort the presbyters among you – I, your fellow-presbyter and witness of the sufferings of Christ, the partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed in time to come – tend the flock of God which is among you, governing not under constraint, but willingly, according to God; nor yet for the sake of base gain, but eagerly; nor yet as lording it over your charges, but becoming from the heart a pattern to the flock. And when the Prince of the shepherds appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the presbyters.
1 Pet. 5:1-11
This being plain, it will likewise be manifest that a great and unspeakable reward will be reserved for him whose labors are concerned with these sheep, upon which Christ places such a high value. For when we see any one bestowing care upon members of our household, or upon our flocks, we count his zeal for them as a sign of love towards ourselves: yet all these things are to be bought for money:— with how great a gift then will He requite those who tend the flock which He purchased, not with money, nor anything of that kind, but by His own death, giving his own blood as the price of the herd.
St John Chrysostom (On the Priesthood, Book II)
Yes, my dear brethren, all these rash judgments and all these interpretations come only from a person who has a secret pride, who does not know himself, and who dares to wish to know the interior life of his neighbour, something which is known to God alone. If only, my dear children, we were able to arrive at the stage of eradicating this first of the capital sins from our hearts, our neighbour would never do any wrong according to us. We should never amuse ourselves by examining his conduct. We should be content to do nothing else save weep for our own sins and work as hard as we could to correct them.
St Jean Vianney ( The Sermons of the Curé of Ars)
No one presumes to teach an art till he has first, with intent meditation, learned it. What rashness is it, then, for the unskilful to assume pastoral authority, since the government of souls is the art of arts! For who can be ignorant that the sores of the thoughts of men are more occult than the sores of the bowels? And yet how often do men who have no knowledge whatever of spiritual precepts fearlessly profess themselves physicians of the heart, though those who are ignorant of the effect of drugs blush to appear as physicians of the flesh!
23rd Day – The Third Shedding of the Precious Blood
When Pilate found that he could not persuade the Jews to consent to the release of Jesus, he ordered Him to be scourged, hoping that they might be satisfied with something short of death, and that their rage might be softened at the sight of a punishment so cruel. The scourging was for this reason severe beyond what was usual, as the Pharisees are said to have bribed the executioners and plied them with drink to induce them to still greater barbarity. See how all seemed to unite to add to the tortures inflicted on the Son of God.
Watch the scene. The Son of God with His hands tied to a short pillar, on either side of Him an executioner with a scourge of many lashes, some tipped with barbed spikes of iron, lashing Him with brutal ferocity. His sacred body first covered with bruises and weals, and then the flesh cut open and the Precious Blood first trickling down and then flowing down from the open wounds. Still they go on striking the wounds and sores and bleeding flesh with unrelenting violence, the barbs tearing off morsels of flesh until the ground is covered not only with a pool of blood, but also with morsels of His sacred flesh. O Jesus, what didst Thou not suffer for me!
Hear Him moaning gently in His agony, and amidst the moans praying to the Eternal father to accept each blow in expiation for the sins of men, and especially for the sinful indulgence of the flesh. O Jesus, may the thought of Thy scourging keep me from ever yielding to temptation, and may I mortify my body for the love of Thee!
Saint Theophilus of Cyprus. Born and raised in Constantinople to a noble family. He was a commander of the Greek armies and a senator, soldier, sailor and admiral of the Christian fleet stationed on Cyprus. Captured in battle by invading Muslims after possibly being betrayed by his junior commanders, he was imprisoned for four years. As an expert in naval warfare, the muslims spent all that time attempting to get him to convert to Islam and serve the Caliph. They made him many offers of all that the average man could want -wealth, women, power, revenge – but he rejected them every time.
As his captors lost confidence that they could successfully tempt him away from Christ, the offers began to be combined with threats and punishments. Theophilus was tortured. Still, at any moment, if he chose to convert to Islam, he would be released and given an equivalent status to what he possessed before. Finally, frustrated by a man who would not break, the Muslims ordered him to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam, or die.
He refused.
In 789 Theophilus went to die, where in the words of Theophanes, he “was revealed as a noble martyr.”
The only Marian Feast I can find for today seems to be unverified, in other words, I can find absolutely no references online relating to this invisible Shrine.There is also a Marian Title relating to the Orthodox Church which is not recognised by the Catholic Church.
St Mary of Magdala (Feast) “The Apostle of the Apostles” (St Thomas Aquinas) She was a friend and follower of Jesus. Filled with sorrow over her sin, she anointed Christ, washed his feet with her hair. He exorcised seven demons from her. She was visited by the Risen Christ.
St Anastasius of Schemarius St Andrea of Antioch St Andreas Wang Tianqing St Anna Wang
Blessed Augustine Fangi O.P. (1430-1493) Dominican Priest and Friar, Confessor, Mystic, known as “The Miracle Worker.”
St Baudry of Montfaucon St Claudius Marius Victorinus of Saussaye St Cyril of Antioch St Dabius Bl Jacques Lombardie St John Lloyd St Joseph of Palestine St Lewine St Lucia Wang Wangzhi
St Maria Wang Lishi St Meneleus of Ménat St Movean of Inis-Coosery St Pancharius of Besancon Bl Paolo de Lara St Philip Evans SJ (1645-1679) Priest Martyr St Plato of Ancyra St Syntyche of Philippi St Theophilus of Cyprus
St Wandrille of Fontenelle (c 605–668) Priest, Monk, Abbot. Married out of obedience to his parents, Wandrille agreed with his wife to keep their virginity and both retired to a Monastery.
Martyrs of Marula/Massylis: – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Ajabosus, Andrew and Elian. They were martyred in Massylis (Marula), Numidia (in modern Algeria).
Martyrs of Massilitani: A group of Christians martyred together in northern Africa. Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote about them.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: Bl Jaime María Carretero Rojas Bl Joaquin Rodríguez Bueno Bl José María Mateos Carballido Bl Juan Durán Cintas Bl Ramón María Pérez Sous
I will rise and go about the city; in the streets and crossings I will seek Him Whom my heart loves.
Song 3:2-5; 8:6-7
REFLECTION – Sometimes when meditating she began to see her interior deformities and to be so displeased with herself that with anxiety she would wonder how she could ever be pleasing to God, who would see so many stains in her, for where she saw only one stain the penetrating eyes of the divinity would see an infinite number.
She was reassured about this by the divine reply: “Love makes pleasing.”By this she understood that if on earth human love has such power that sometimes it makes the deformed pleasing, for love’s sake, to those who love them, and even at times so pleasing that the lovers, through the power of love, want to resemble their loved ones, how then be distrustful of God, who is Love itself? Cannot He, through the power of love, make pleasing those whom he loves?
Another time, when she was downcast at the memory of her former sins to such an extent that she desired only to hide herself completely, the Lord deigned to incline with such gracious condescension toward her that the whole court of heaven seemed to be trying to restrain him as if in astonishment. The Lord responded thus: “Nothing can restrain me from following her when she so powerfully attracts my heart by the cords of her humility.”
St Gertrude of Helfta (The Herald of Divine Love, Book III, ch. 30)
PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ made Mary of Magdala the first herald of Easter joy. Grant that, following her example and helped by her prayers, we may, in this life, proclaim the living Christ and come to see Him reigning with You in glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.
Quote/s of the Day – 22 July –“Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St Mary of Magdala -– Readings: Ps 118:95-96., Ps 118:1, Song 3:2-5; 8:6-7, Luke 7:36-50
Set me as a seal on Your heart, as a seal on Your arm; for stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away. Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would despise it as nothing.
Song 3:2-5; 8:6-7
And turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house; you gave Me no water for My feet; but she has bathed My feet with her tears, and has wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil; but she has anointed My feet with ointment. 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.” And He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And they who were at table with Him began to say within themselves, “Who is this man, who even forgives sins?” But He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
“To magnify her Royal Lover still further, the soul must have eyes only for Him, in other words, with an ever-growing, anxiously eager attentiveness. the soul must study all the details of His beauty, His perfections, must keep on discovering motives for finding ever-increasing gratification in the ineffable Beauty with which it is in love.”
St Francis de Sales
LOVE is strong as death: since both equally separate the soul from the body and all terrestrial things, the only difference is, that the separation is real and effectual when caused by death, whereas that occasioned by love is usually confined to the heart. I say usually, because divine love is sometimes so violent that it actually separates the soul from the body, and, by causing the death of those who love, it renders them infinitely happier than if it bestowed on them a thousand lives.
Half-hours with the Saints (Charles Kenny)
“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.”
St Clare
Love the Lord and so, learn to love yourselves that when, by loving the Lord, you shall have loved yourselves, you may securely love your neighbour as yourselves.
AnaStpaul 
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