Day: December 8, 2016

Posted in ADVENT

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent – 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

 

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent – 8 December
“Lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare Your praise.”
Daily Meditation:
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain
The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and of great kindness.
 
So often we are “afflicted and needy”
and we seem to “seek water in vain.”
Today we listen to a refreshing promise
of how much our Lord desires to refresh us.
Each of us can add what we need the most
I am the LORD, your God, who grasps your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”
Isaiah 41
 
Whoever has ears ought to hear.
Matthew 11
 
Closing Prayer:
Lord, like a loving parent,
You offer me Your comforting hand
 
Help me to wait for Your coming with patience
and to listen to what You ask of me.
 
I want so much to be one of “your people”
and to live my life in You.
 
Thank You for the way You bless my life.
Thank You for listening to my prayers
and for planting deep in my heart
the knowledge that with You,
nothing is impossible.
 
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

 

 

 

thursday-23nd-week

Posted in NOVENAS

NOVENA AND CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION- 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

DAY NINE
O Mother of the King of the Universe,
most perfect member of the human race,
“our tainted nature’s solitary boast,”
we turn to you as mother,
advocate, and mediatrix. O Holy Mary,
assist us in our present necessity.
By your Immaculate Conception,
O Mary conceived without sin,
we humbly beseech you from the bottom of our heart
to intercede for us with your Divine Son
and ask that we be granted the favour for which we now plead…

(State your intention here…)

O Mary of the Immaculate Conception,
Mother of Christ,
you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth;
you have the same influence now in heaven.
Pray for us
and obtain for us from Him
the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will.Amen

Consecration to the Immaculate Conception
On The feast of the Immaculate Conception

In the presence of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and with heaven and earth as our witness, we prostrate ourselves at your feet, O Mary, Our Lady.

We acknowledge you as our Mother, as the Immaculate Conception, living tabernacle of the Divinity, as Queen of angels and of men, as Mother of the Church and of the Catholic priesthood and as refuge of the afflicted. That is why, small and weak as we are, we wish to consecrate to you our families, our persons, our works, our future, all that pertains to us and is in us and which God, in His immeasurable goodness, has entrusted to us for our good use.

We also consecrate to you the value of our good actions, past, present and future, leaving to you the entire and full right of disposing of us and all that belongs to us. Mary, be our Mother; sanctify us, purify us, correct us, guide us, pray for us and protect us.

Help us to perfectly fulfill the duties of our state of life.
Extinguish in us all self-love, which prevents your Divine Son, King and Sovereign Priest, from reigning in and around us.

Cover abundantly with thy maternal protection all the parishes, chapels, schools, works and missions and may you forever impede the devil from reigning, in any manner in the Church which desires to be entirely yours for the greater glory of God, the protection of our Holy Father and the exaltation of our Mother, the Holy Catholic Church and for the conversion of sinners. Amen.

Image – Anton Raphael Mengs

the-immaculate-conception-after-anton-raphael-mengs

Posted in MORNING Prayers

Thought for the Day – 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 8 December

In Luke 1:28 the angel Gabriel, speaking on God’s behalf, addresses Mary as “full of grace” (or “highly favoured”). In that context, this phrase means that Mary is receiving all the special divine help necessary for the task ahead. However, the Church grows in understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led the Church, especially non-theologians, to the insight that Mary had to be the most perfect work of God next to the Incarnation. Or rather, Mary’s intimate association with the Incarnation called for the special involvement of God in Mary’s whole life.

The logic of piety helped God’s people to believe that Mary was full of grace and free of sin from the first moment of her existence. Moreover, this great privilege of Mary is the highlight of all that God has done in Jesus. Rightly understood, the incomparable holiness of Mary shows forth the incomparable goodness of God and the role of Mary in our salvation.  And never forget, at Lourdes when Bernadette asked of the beautiful Lady ‘who shall I say you are’ she replied “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

Mary Immaculate Pray for us!

The Immaculate Conception by Sassoferrato.jpg

Posted in MORNING Prayers

Quote of the Day – 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 8 December

The Apostolic Constitution «Ineffabilis Deus», published on 8th December 1854, more 150 years ago, by Blessed Pope Pius IX on the theology regarding the privilege of the Immaculate Conception, in the following solemn proclamation of this Dogma of Catholic faith:

“To the honour of the holy and undivided Trinity, to the worthiness and splendid beauty of the Virgin Mother of God, to the upholding of the Catholic faith and to the furthering of the Christian religion, with the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with that of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and with Our own authority, we declare, we pronounce and we define the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the very first moments of her Conception, through the singular grace of Almighty God and through the foresight of the merits of Christ Jesus, Saviour of the human race, was preserved immune from all stains of original sin. We furthermore declare, pronounce and define that this doctrine has been revealed by God, and therefore has to be strongly and always believed by all the faithful.”

Image 1 – El Greco; Image 2 – TiepoloEl Greco, The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, 1605-10.jpg

the-immaculate-conception-2-by-tiepolo

Posted in MORNING Prayers

One Minute Reflection – 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 8 December

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your strength and with all your mind ………………Lk 10:22

REFLECTION – Love for Christ pierced Mary’s heart in such a way that no part
of it was left unkindled.
Mary thus fulfilled the first commandment of love in all its fullness and without the
slightest imperfection…………St Bernard

PRAYER – Heavenly Father, help me to imitate Your Immaculate Daughter Mary in her love
for You. Grant me the grace to love You as much as I can all my life. O Mary Immaculate,
Pray for us!

luke-10-22quote-st-bernardmary-pray-for-us

Posted in MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 8 December

Father,
You prepared the Virgin Mary
to be the worthy mother of Your Son.
You let her share beforehand
in the salvation
Christ would bring by His death,
and kept her sinless
from the first moment of her conception.
Help us by her prayers
to live in Your presence without sin.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen

the-immaculate-conception1a3de1ebf2afd7a7b3be3e8fd34148d16a5ba4a3486a6d6155a127764725262c491a7d7a23f6c5e709a0418b3267e397691

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – 8 December

A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. In the 18th century it became a feast of the universal Church. It is now recognized as a solemnity.

In 1854, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

It took a long time for this doctrine to develop. While many Fathers and Doctors of the Church considered Mary the greatest and holiest of the saints, they often had difficulty in seeing Mary as sinless—either at her conception or throughout her life. This is one of the Church teachings that arose more from the piety of the faithful than from the insights of brilliant theologians. Even such champions of Mary as Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas could not see theological justification for this teaching.

Two Franciscans, William of Ware and Blessed John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. They pointed out that Mary’s Immaculate Conception enhances Jesus’ redemptive work. Other members of the human race are cleansed from original sin after birth. In Mary, Jesus’ work was so powerful as to prevent original sin at the outset….Fr Edward Foley OFM/Fr P McCloskey OFM (Editor)

Video – THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: Exploring the Mystery – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQMAScUoFJM

Image 2 & 3 – Anton Raphael Mengs; 4- Cristobal Gomez; 5-Juan de Valdes Leal

f3bb04136cb684c5f4ec6b479bde0fd5immaculate-conception-anton-raphael-mengsanton-raphael-mengs-1728-1779-the-immaculate-conception-oil-on-canvas

immaculate-con-quote-of-st-ambroseinmaculada-cristobal-gomezjuan-de-valdes-leal-virgin-of-the-immaculate-conceptionimmaculate-conception-mosaic

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Saints for 8 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Immaculate Conception (Solemnity)
St Alojzy Liguda
St Anastasia of Pomerania
St Anthusa of Africa
St Antonio García Fernández
St Casari of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
St Eucharius of Trier
St Eutychian, Pope
St Gunthildis of Ohrdruf
St Jacob Gwon Sang-yeon
St Johanna of Cáceres
St José María Zabal Blasco
St Macarius of Alexandria
St Marin Shkurti
St Noel Chabanel
St Patapius
St Paul Yun Ji-chung
St Rafael Román Donaire
St Romaric of Remiremont
StSofronius of Cyprus