Day: July 10, 2017

Posted in MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS

NOVENA to St BENEDICT – DAY NINE – 10 JULY

Posted on by AnaStpaul

NOVENA to St BENEDICT – DAY NINE – 10 JULY

In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

As there is a harsh and evil zeal which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a virtuous zeal which separates from vice and leads to God and life everlasting.

Let the monks, therefore, practice this zeal with most ardent love;  namely, that in honour they forerun one another (cf Rom 12:10).   Let them bear their infirmities, whether of body or mind, with the utmost patience;  let them vie with one another in obedience.   Let no one follow what he thinks useful to himself but rather to another.   Let them practice fraternal charity with a chaste love.

Let them fear God and love their Abbot with sincere and humble affection; let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ and my He lead us all together to life everlasting. (Holy Rule 72)

day nine - novena st benedict

LET US PRAY – DAY NINE:

Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.

To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.

{mention your petition}

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

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Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, DEVOTIO, MORNING Prayers, The HOLY NAME

The Wonders of the Holy Name – Fr Paul O’Sullivan, O.P. – “Revealing the Simplest Secret Ever of Holiness and Happiness.”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

You will remember a while ago I posted the entire book by Fr Paul O’Sullivan “How to Avoid Purgatory” – you will find the entire Booklet in chapters here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/category/purgatory/

Again I wish to share one of Fr Paul’s wonderful booklets which are such amazing works to grow our faith and inspire our daily lives.  The byline states “revealing the simplest secret ever of holiness and happiness.”  Although January is the Month of the Holy Name – we can never learn this devotion too soon, by January we will be totally ready to give praise, honour and glory to His Name!

 

We have been hearing and have been repeating
from childhood the Holy Name of Jesus, but alas!
many, very many have no adequate idea of the
great wonders of this Holy Name.
What do you know, dear reader, about the Name
of Jesus?  You know that it is a holy name and
that you must bow your head reverently when
you say it.   That is very little.   It is as if you
looked at a closed book and merely glanced at
the title on the cover.   You know nothing of all
the beautiful thoughts in the book itself.

BOW YOUR HEAD!
Even so when you pronounce the Name of Jesus
you know very little of the treasures hidden in it.
This Divine Name is in truth a mine of riches,
it is the fount of the highest holiness and the
secret of the greatest happiness that a man can
hope to enjoy on this Earth.   Read and see.
Devotion to the Holy Name is so easy that
everyone without exception can practice it.   It
demands no time so that the busiest man can
repeat it countless times.
It is so powerful, so certain that it never fails
to produce in our souls the most wonderful results.
It consoles the saddest heart and makes the
weakest sinner strong.   It obtains for us all kinds
of favours and graces, spiritual and temporal.
Two things we must do:  First of all we must
understand clearly the meaning and value of the
Name of Jesus.
Secondly we must get into the habit of saying
it frequently, hundreds and hundreds of times
every day.   Far from being a burden it will be
an immense joy and consolation.

What does the Name of Jesus mean

The Holy Name of Jesus is, first of all, an
all-powerful prayer.   Our Lord Himself solemnly
promises that whatever we ask the Father in His
Name we shall receive.   God never fails to keep
His word.
When, therefore, we say Jesus let us ask God for
all we need with absolute confidence of being heard.
For this reason the Church ends her prayers
with the words:  “Through Jesus Christ” which
gives the prayer a new and divine efficacy.
But the Holy Name is something still greater.
Each time we say Jesus we give God infinite
joy and glory for we offer Him all the infinite
merits of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ.
St Paul tells us that Jesus merited the Name
Jesus by His Passion and Death.
Each time we say Jesus let us clearly wish to
offer God all the Masses being said all over the
World for all our intentions.   We thus share in
these thousands of Masses.
Each time we say Jesus we gain 30O days
indulgence which we may apply to the souls in
Purgatory, thus relieving and liberating very many
of these holy souls from their awful pains.   They
thus become our best friends and pray for us
with incredible fervour.
Each time we say Jesus, it is an act of perfect
love for we offer to God the infinite love of Jesus.

The Holy Name of Jesus saves us from innumerable
evils and delivers us especially from
the power of the devil who is constantly seeking
to do us harm.

The Name of Jesus gradually fills our souls
with a peace and a joy we never had before.

The Name of Jesus gives us such strength that
our sufferings become light and easy to bear.

What must we do? – coming tomorrow………………..

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 10 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 10 July

In today’s gospel reading, (Mt 9:18-26) we read of two different miracles performed by Jesus.    We read of the cure of the woman with a hemorrhage and we read of the raising back to life of the official’s daughter.   While both of these miracles leave us in awe and amazement of God’s power, what is also amazing is the faith of the official and the woman.   Both of them demonstrated an unshakable faith.   Unshakable faith, both the official and the woman had it and because of it they found miraculous cures for insurmountable problems.   May we always remember to look to God for comfort, answers and restoration;  not only when things are good but especially when they seem their worst.   As Christians we are called to have a faith that is unshakable, one that is built upon solid rock, not shifting sand.

“We believe an honourable man on his word.   Why should we put less faith in that of Our Lord?   When a friend desires to prove to his friend that he loves him, he tells him so and he presses his hand affectionately.   When Our Lord wants to show His love for us, He does so in person, discarding the intervention of any third person, whether angelic or human.  Love suffers no intermediate agents.   He remains in the Holy Eucharist that He may repeat to us incessantly: I love you! You must see that I love you!”

St Peter Julian Eymard

our lord wants to show his love for us - st peter julian eymard

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote/s of the Day – 10 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 10 July

“Somebody should tell us,
right at the start of our lives, that we are dying.
Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day.
Do it! I say.
Whatever you want to do, do it now!
There are only so many tomorrows.”

somebody should tell us........bl pope paul VI

“Every mother is like Moses.
She does not enter the promised land.
She prepares a world she will not see.”

Blessed Pope Paul VI

every mother is like moses - bl pope paul vi

Posted in EUCHARISTIC Adoration, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 10 July

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God……….Psalm 84:3

REFLECTION – “To adore Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament is first of all to acknowledge Him truly, really and substantially present therein by the humble sentiment of a lively and spontaneous faith:  humbly surrendering our feeble reason to the divinity of this sublime Mystery; asking neither to see or touch, like the unbelieving Apostle, before accepting the truth of Jesus Hostia;  merely waiting, to prostrate ourselves at His feet, for the infallible and gentle word of the Church telling us like Saint John the Baptist:  ‘Look, this is the Lamb of God; look, this is He who takes away the sin of the world.’ …………………..St Peter Julian Eymard

PRAYER – Living God, let me desire to see You as often as possible and make use of evey opportunity to visit You and to attend Holy Mass. Grant that I may live in such a way, atoning here on earth for the sins against Your Eucharistic Heart and that I may gain the blessed vision of You in the Holy Eucharist here and now and one day attain the joy of seeing You in Heaven. Amen

PSALM 84 3 - look this is the lamp of god - st p j eymard

Posted in MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 10 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 10 July

Shine through me Lord!
Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman

Dear Lord,
help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being
so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me
and be so in me, that every soul I come in contact with,
may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me
but only You, O Lord!
Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as You do;
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Lord, will be all from You;
none of it will be mine.
It will be You shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You in the way which You love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching,
not by words but by example,
by the catching force,
the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You. Amen.

shine through me lord - bl john henry newman

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 10 July – St Amalberge of Mauberge

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Saint of the Day – 10 July – St Amalberge of Mauberg – also known as:   Amalburga of Temse, Amalberga, Amalia, Amelberg, Amelia – (Born in the seventh century in Brabant, Belgium –  Died in 690). She is buried beside her husband at the monastery at Lobbes, Belgium and her relics have been in Saint Peter’s abbey church in Ghent, Belgium since 1073.   Patronage – against arm pain, against bruises, against fever, of farmers, fever victims, Ghent, Belgium.   Attributes – crown, fish, geese, sieve, woman holding a palm and open book, woman standing on a giant sturgeon or other fish, woman with a crown at her feet.

St Amalberga, otherwise Amelia, was born at Brabant and was related to Pepin of Landen. Whether she was a sister or niece, the Bollandists are not sure. She was married to Witger and became the mother of three saints: Gudila, Reinelda, and Emembertus.

The Norman chroniclers speak of her as having been married twice, which seems to be erroneous. She and her husband ultimately withdrew from the world; he becoming a monk and she a nun. There is very great confusion in the records of this saint and of a virgin who came a century after. To add to the difficulty a third St. Amalberga, also a virgin, appears in the twelfth century.

She died in 690 and is buried beside her husband at the Lobbes monastery. Her relics have been in Saint Peter’s abbey church in Ghent, Belgium since 1073. She is known to protect people against arm pain, bruises, and fever.

It is said that she once crossed a lake by riding on the back of a giant sturgeon, which led to her representation on or with a fish.

Wapenschild_Zandhoven_met_Sint_Amelberga
Amalberga statue at Hammelburg (Bavaria, Germany)
amalberga of mauberg.2
amalberga of mauberg
Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saints’ Memorials – 10 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Amalberga
St Anatolia of Thora
St Antôn Nguyen Huu Quynh
St Apollonius of Sardis
Bl Arnold of Camerino
St Bianor of Pisidia
St Cuán of Airbhre
St Elilantus
St Etto
Bl Euménios
St Knud of Denmark
St Lantfrid
Bl Marie-Gertrude de Ripert d’Alauzier
Bl Parthenios
St Pascharius of Nantes
St Peter Vincioli
St Phêrô Nguyen Khac Tu
St Rufina of Rome
St Secunda of Rome
St Sylvanus of Pisidia
Bl Sylvie-Agnès de Romillon
St Victoria
St Waltram
—
Martyrs of Africa – 4 saints: A group of Christians martyred together in Africa. The only information that has survived are four of their names – Felix, Januarius, Marinus and Nabor.

Martyrs of Antioch – 10 saints: A group of ten Christians martyred together. We have no details about them but the names – Diogenes, Domnina, Esicius, Macarius, Maxima, Maximus, Rodigus, Timoteus, Veronia and Zacheus. They were martyred in Antioch, date unknown.

Martyrs of Damascus – 11 beati: A group of Franciscans and laymen ordered by Druz Muslims to convert to Islam. They refused and were hacked to pieces.
• ‘Abd Al-Mu’ti Masabki
• Carmelo Bolta Bañuls
• Engelbert Kolland
• Francisco Pinazo Peñalver
• Fransis Masabki
• Juan Jacobo Fernández y Fernández
• Manuel Ruiz López
• Nicanor Ascanio de Soria
• Nicolás María Alberca Torres
• Pedro Soler Méndez
• Rufayil Masabki
They were cut to pieces on 9-10 July 1860 in Damascus, Syria.
Beatified on 10 October 1926 by Pope Pius XI.

Martyrs of Nicopolis – 45 saints: A group of 45 Christians tortured and martyred together in the persecutions of emperor Licinius. We know nothing else but six of their names – Anicetus, Anthony, Daniel, Leontius, Mauritius and Sisinno. c 329 in Nicopolis, Armenia (modern Koyulhisar, Turkey).

 

Martyrs of Nitria – 5 saints: Fathers of Nitria – Four monks and the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt who were martyred by heretics. Saint John Chrysostom wrote about them but their names have not come down to us. They were martyred in the 4th century in Nitria, Egypt.

Martyrs of Tomis – 45 saints: A group of 45 Christians martyred together. No details about them have survived but seven of their names – Aurelian, Diomedes, Domus, Emilian, John, Marcian and Sisimmus. They were martyred in Tomis, Scythia Minor (modern Constanta, Romania), date unknown.

Seven Holy Brothers – 7 martyrs: A group of seven brothers, the sons of Saint Felicitas, all Christians and all martyred in Rome, Italy in 165 in the persecutions of Emperor Antoninus – Alexander, Felix, Januarius, Martialis, Philip, Silvanus and Vitalis. Patronage – Abbey of Badia di Cava, Italy.