Year: 2017

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 14 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 14 March

Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, while he who humbles himself shall be exalted……….Luke 18:14

REFLECTION – “Observe a surprising fact. God is on high. You exalt yourself and God flees from you. You humble yourself and He comes to you.
God looks upon the humble to exalt them but He regards the proud from afar to abase them.”…………….St Augustine

PRAYER – Almighty Father, whenever I seek to take pride in what I do, please remind me of the way things really are. The only good I have and am comes from You; all that is mine is my weakness. Teach me that it is only in humility that I can attain You. St Matilda, you learnt humility by the suffering you experienced at the hands of your own family, please pray for us all, amen.

LUKE 18-14OBSERVE A SURPRISING FACT-STAUGUSTINEST MATHILDA PRAY FOR US

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 14 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 14 March

The Second Week of Lent
Tuesday

God in heaven and in my life,
guide me and protect me.
I so often believe I can save myself
and I always end in failure.
Lead me with Your love away from harm
and guide me on the right path.
May Your Holy Spirit inspire the Church
and make us an instrument of Your love,
your peace, your mercy.
Help us to imitate the humility
of Your Son and approach all
with humble care.
Thank You for Your Hand on me,
on the whole Church and
on Your beautiful creation, amen.

MORNING PRAYER - TUESDAY 2ND WEEK OF LENT

Posted in Of a Holy DEATH & AGAINST A SUDDEN DEATH, of the DYING, FINAL PERSEVERANCE, DEATH of CHILDREN, DEATH of PARENTS, Of PARENTS & FAMILIES of LARGE Families, SAINT of the DAY, WIDOWS and WIDOWERS

Saint of the Day – 14 March – St Matilda of Saxony

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Saint of the Day – 14 March – St Matilda of Saxony  (c 894-968) – Queen, Apostle of Prayer and Almsgiving, Foundress  – Patronages – of death of children, disappointing children, falsely accused people, large families, people ridiculed for their piety, queens, second marriages, widows.  Medieval chroniclers like Liutprand of Cremona and Thietmar of Merseburg celebrated Matilda for her devotion to prayer and almsgiving.   Her first biographer depicted her leaving her husband’s side in the middle of the night and sneaking off to church to pray.   St. Matilda founded many religious institutions, including the canonry of Quedlinburg, which became a center of ecclesiastical and secular life in Germany under the rule of the Ottonian dynasty.   She also founded the convents of St. Wigbert in Quedlinburg, in Pöhlde, Enger, and Nordhausen, likely the source of at least one of her vitae.

Born in Saxony, Mathilda was the daughter of Thierri, a prince of considerable importance. From an early age, Mathilda demonstrated great piety and love for the Lord and was raised by her pious grandmother, Maud, the abbess of Enford, in the cloister.   There, as she grew up, she practiced daily prayer and penance and learned a love of labour and spiritual reading.   Mathilda would have been more than content to spend her life dedicated to religious pursuits.   However, her father arranged her marriage to Henry, the son of the Duke of Saxony.   Within seven years, Henry found himself the King of Germany, and Mathilda, the queen.

804

King Henry demonstrated through his actions that he was a God-fearing and pious spouse. His equity and courage won him the respect of his subjects and he encouraged and financed Mathilda’s longing to live a life of charitable service to others.   While Henry ruled his kingdom, Mathilda devoted herself to penance and spent her days visiting the poor and sick, offering them consolation and comfort.   She also founded schools to provide education to all, visited incarcerated prisoners and worked for the conversion of souls.   Overall, her life was relatively a simple one, despite her royalty, with her primary focus on daily prayer.

66b14b42003354aa389e0136cdbdc49f

After seventeen years, Henry died of apoplexy, and Mathilda, looking to the Lord, gave up her royal vestments and jewels, laying them on the alter of the Lord.   Divesting herself of her title, she stepped aside for her children, with the eldest, Otho, becoming king. Henry became Duke of Bavaria and the youngest, Bruno, the Archbishop of Cologne.

However, all was not smooth prior to the coronation, with Henry contesting his brother’s rightful place as heir.   Mathilda, for her part, always partial to Henry, sided with him, her words creating significant discord between the brothers.   Eventually, the brothers reconciled, but turned against their mother, stripping her of her dowry,and accusing her publicly of mismanaging the royal funds in service to her charities.   Saint Mathilda accepted the punishment gracefully, recognising her sinfulness in siding with one son above another, repenting and offering herself wholly to the Lord in reparation.

The persecution and suffering of Mathilda was long and cruel but she patiently bore this all, until her son reconciled with her.   Her dowry restored, Mathilda was allowed to move back into the royal court.   However, instead, she chose to live in the Benedictine monastery of Quedlinbourg, using her funds to serve the poor and extend the religious communities in the region dedicated to charity.  he founded five monasteries, and built many churches.

Saint Mathilda grew ill and realized that death was upon her. In the presence of her community at the monastery, she made a public confession, donned sackcloth and covered herself with ashes.   She further received last sacraments from William, Archbishop of Mayence, her nephew.   Her body remains at Quedlinburg, where she is buried beside her husband.   She is venerated there today.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saints-14 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Agno of Zaragoza
St Alexander of Pydna
St Aphrodisius of Africa
Bl Arnold of Padua
St Boniface Curitan
St Diaconus
St Eutychius of Mesopotamia
Bl Eve of Liege
Bl Giacomo Cusmano
St Lazarus of Milan
St Leo of the Agro Verano
St Leobinus of Chartres
St Matilda of Saxony
St Maximilian
Bl Pauline of Thuringia
St Peter of Africa
St Philip of Turin
St Talmach
Bl Thomas Vives
—
47 Martyrs of Rome – Forty-seven people who were baptised into the faith in Rome, Italy by Saint Peter the Apostle, and were later martyred together during the persecutions of Nero. Martyred c.67 in Rome, Italy

Martyrs of Valeria – Two monks martyred by Lombards in Valeria, Italy who were never identified. After the monks were dead, their killers could still hear them singing psalms. They were hanged on a tree in Valeria, Italy in the 5th

Posted in NOVENAS

Novena to St Joseph – Day Three – 13 March

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Novena to St Joseph

Day Three
MAN CHOSEN BY THE BLESSED TRINITY

Saint Joseph, you were the man chosen by God the Father.   He selected you to be His representative on earth, hence He granted you all the graces and blessings you needed to be His worthy representative.

You were the man chosen by God the Son.   Desirous of a worthy foster-father, He added His own riches and gifts and above all, His love.   The true measure of your sanctity is to be judged by your imitation of Jesus.   You were entirely consecrated to Jesus, working always near Him, offering Him your virtues, your work, your sufferings, your very life.   Jesus lived in you perfectly so that you were transformed into Him.   In this lies your special glory and the keynote of your sanctity.   Hence, after Mary, you are the holiest of the saints.

You were chosen by the Holy Spirit.   He is the mutual Love of the Father and the Son — the heart of the Holy Trinity. In His wisdom He draws forth all creatures from nothing, guides them to their end in showing them their destiny and giving them the means to reach it.  Every vocation and every fulfillment of a vocation proceeds from the Holy Spirit. As a foster-father of Jesus and head of the Holy Family, you had an exalted and most responsible vocation — to open the way for the redemption of the world and to prepare for it by the education and guidance of the youth of the God-Man.   In this work you cooperated as the instrument of the Holy Spirit.   The Holy Spirit was the guide; you obeyed and carried out the works.   How perfectly you obeyed the guidance of the God of Love!

The words of the Old Testament which Pharaoh spoke concerning Joseph of Egypt can well be applied to you: “Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God, or a wise man like to him?” (Gen. 41:38).   No less is your share in the divine work of God than was that of Egypt.   You now reign with your foster-Son and see reflected in the mirror of God’s Wisdom the Divine Will and what is of benefit to our souls.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for having made you the man specially chosen by Him.   As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to imitate your virtues so that I too may be pleasing to the Heart of God.   Help me to give myself entirely to His service and to the accomplishment of His Holy Will, that one day I may reach heaven and be eternally united to God as you are.

day three-novenastjoseph

*NOVENA PRAYER  *(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you.  You are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you.   You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God and will never abandon your faithful servants.   Therefore, I humbly invoke you and commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession.   I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.

Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, charitable mind and perfect resignation to the divine Will.   Be my guide, my father and my model through life that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death and the special grace I now implore:

(Mention your request)

Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers on my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. Amen.

MEMORARE
Remember, most pure spouse of Mary, ever Virgin, my loving protector Saint Joseph, that no one ever had recourse to your protection or asked for your aid without obtaining relief. Confiding, therefore, in your goodness, I come before you and humbly implore you. Despise not my petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer but graciously receive them. Amen.

 

 

Posted in LENT

LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week – Monday 13 March

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LENTEN REFLECTION – The Second Week – Monday 13 March

LENTEN REFLECTION MON 13 MARCH

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” —Luke 6:37–38

Our life is a constant exercise in judgment: in distinguishing what is good from what is bad, in deciding which course of action we would like to take, in discerning which kind of life we wish to create for ourselves.  From the day we are born to our last breath, we judge. It’s the way of life and survival.   Hence, Jesus’ exhortation in today’s gospel reading, that we should not judge, must not be understood to mean that every process of discernment should be abandoned.  If it did, our lives would fall into chaos.

Rather, He should be understood to mean that if we do judge, especially our brothers or sisters, we should see to it that the measure by which we gauge their acceptability is the same measure we would use on ourselves.

There are occasions when we do tend to be too demanding of others while too lax and undemanding of ourselves.  That would not only be unfair in Jesus’ mind, it would also be hypocritical.   For a hypocrite is one who judges himself with a standard far lower than what he would use in judging others.   And this is a very grave danger, not only to one’s faith but to the very integrity of one’s character. Justice and fairness after all, are the measure by which we shall all be judged in the end.

Blessed John Henry Newman says:
“Saint John the Baptist had a most difficult office to fulfill; that of rebuking a king…It is difficult to rebuke well, that is, at the right time, in a right spirit and a right manner. T  he holy Baptist rebuked Herod without making him angry;   therefore he must have rebuked him with gravity, temper, sincerity and an evident good-will towards him.   On the other hand, he spoke so firmly, sharply and faithfully, that his rebuke cost him his life.

We who now live have not that extreme duty put upon us with which Saint John was laden (namely, rebuking a king);   yet every one of us has a share in his office (of admonishing), inasmuch as we are all bound “to rebuke vice boldly,” when we have fit opportunities for so doing…

Aim at viewing all things in a plain and candid light and at calling them by their right names.   Be frank, do not keep your notions of right and wrong to yourselves, nor, conceit that the world is too bad to be taught the Truth, suffer it to sin in word or deed without rebuke.   Do not allow friend or stranger in the familiar intercourse of society to advance false opinions, nor shrink from stating your own and do this in singleness of mind and love…

…The single-hearted Christian will find fault, not austerely or gloomily but in love;   not stiffly, but naturally, gently, and as a matter of course, just as he would tell his friend of some obstacle in his path which was likely to throw him down but without any feeling of superiority over him…”

Great reflection – reread it a couple more times! It gives great advice on how we as Christians are obligated to charitably and meekly correct the sins of others and he also advises us on the way to go about it.   Always ask for the help of the Holy Spirit when you feel called to speak up, so that in careful prudence, you may discern what is the best manner to go about it.

JUDGING OTHERS JHNEWMAN

Posted in Uncategorized

Thought for the Day – 13 March

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Thought for the Day – 13 March

As we pray the Nicene Creed every Sunday, we might reflect on the fact that that same prayer is not only being prayed by every Catholic.   Saint Leander introduced its recitation as a means of uniting the faithful.   Let’s pray that the recitation may enhance that unity today- each time you pray it, pray in your heart for total unity and solidarity of ALL Catholics – “let them be one.”

St Leander Pray for us!

ST LEANDER AND THE NICENE

st leander pray for us 2

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote of the Day – 13 March

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Quote of the Day – 13 March

“There will never be much perfection without much prayer.”

― Alfonso Maria de Liguori – Doctor of the Church
(Uniformity with God’s Will & The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ)

there will never be much=stalphonsus

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 13 March

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One Minute Reflection – 13 March

I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
Whom shall I send?……
“Here I am”, I said, “send me!”……….Isaiah 6:8

REFLECTION – “This man of suave eloquence and eminent talent shone as brightly by his virtues as by his doctrine. By his faith and zeal the Gothic people have been converted from Arianism to the Catholic faith”…..St Isidore of Seville speaking of his brother St Leander, whom we celebrate today.

PRAYER – Help me to discern through prayer and meditation what You truly want of me. Then enable me to offer it to You – and indeed to offer myself and all I have to You. St Leander, you were and are an example to all around you, please pray for us, amen!

IS 6-8-ST LEANDER

THIS MAN-ST ISIDORE OF SEVILLE

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 13 March

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Our Morning Offering – 13 March

The Second Week of Lent
Monday

Lord,
Your commandment of love is so simple
and so challenging.
Help me to let go of my pride,
to be humble in my penance.
I want only to live the way You ask me to love,
to love the way You ask me to live.
To learn not to judge others
but in total humility to love all.
I ask this through Your Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, in unity with the Holy Spirit
who lives in me and stands at my side
today and always.
Amen

MONDAY OF 2ND WEEK 13 MARCH

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 13 March – St Leander of Seville

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Saint of the Day – 13 March – St Leander of Seville (c 534-600/601) – BIsho, Confessor of the Faith, Teacher, Writer Apostle of Spain and Evangelisation – Patron of Episcopal attire and Liturgical garments.   Saint Leander, as Bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a practice which continues today.  He viewed the Creed as a manner in which to proclaim the divinity of Christ at a time when the Church suffered attack from various heresies, as well as an opportunity to reinforce the faith of the people. Through his diligent work, Saint Leander saw Catholicism flourish in Spain at a time of great political and religious uncertainty.

Leander and Isidore and their siblings (all sainted) belonged to an elite family of Hispano-Roman stock of Carthago Nova.   Their father Severianus is claimed to be, according to their hagiographers, a dux or governor of Cartagena, though this seems more of a fanciful interpretation since Isidore simply states that he was a citizen.   The family moved to Seville around 554.   The children’s subsequent public careers reflect their distinguished origin: Leander and Isidore both became bishops of Seville and their sister Saint Florentina was an abbess who directed forty convents and one thousand nuns.   Even the third brother, Fulgentius, appointed Bishop of Écija at the first triumph of Catholicism over Arianism but of whom little is known, has been canonised as a saint.

The family as a matter of course were staunch Catholics, as were the great majority of the Romanised population, from top to bottom; only the Visigothic nobles and the kings were Arians.   It should be stated that there was less Visigothic persecution of Catholics than legend and hagiography have painted.   From a modern standpoint, the dangers of Catholic Christianity were more political.   Saint Leander, as bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a practice which continues today.   He viewed the Creed as a manner in which to proclaim the divinity of Christ at a time when the Church suffered attack from various heresies, as well as an opportunity to reinforce the faith of the people.   Through his diligent work, Saint Leander saw Catholicism flourish in Spain at a time of great political and religious uncertainty.

Leander, enjoying an elite position in the secure surroundings of tolerated Catholic culture in Seville, became at first a Benedictine monk and then in 579 he was appointed bishop of Seville.   In the meantime he founded a celebrated school, which soon became a centre of Catholic learning.   As Bishop he had access to the Catholic Merovingian Princess Ingunthis, who had come as a bride for the kingdom’s heir and he worked tirelessly with her to convert her husband St. Hermenegild, the eldest son of Liuvigild, an act of court intrigue that cannot honestly be divorced from a political context.   Leander defended the new convert even when he went to war with his father “against his father’s cruel reprisals,” the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it. “In endeavouring to save his country from Arianism, Leander showed himself an orthodox Christian and a far-sighted patriot.”

This action earned him the king’s wrath and exile to Constantinople, where he met and became close friends of the Papal Legate, the future Pope Gregory the Great.   Saint Leander served as a contemporary and advisor to Saint Gregory, encouraging him to write his famous commentary on the Book of Job entitled the “Moralia.”

After some time, King Leovigild summoned Leander back to Seville.   Having experienced a change of heart, he wished for Leander to instruct his son Reccared—who would inherit the throne—in the ways of the faith.   Through Leander’s instruction and model, the people of Spain were converted.   He presided over the third Council of Toledo, which upheld the consubstantiality of the Trinity and brought about many moral reforms in the Church. Saint Leader further wrote an influential Rule for Spanish nuns.  He introduced the practice of praying the Nicene Creed at Mass. A prolific writer, unfortunately most of his works have been lost to history, although much of the correspondence written by Gregory the Great to his attention remains extant.

After a long life of fighting heresies and preaching the truth, Saint Leander died around the year 600. He was succeeded by his brother, St Isidore of Seville, who is a Doctor of the Church.

Saint Isidore and Saint leander of Sevilla. Ignacio de Ries

Saint Isidore and Saint leander of Sevilla. Ignacio de Ries

San_Leandro

st_leander_and_st_bonaventura_1665-1666_XX_museum_of_fine_arts_sevilla_spain
St Bonaventure & Leander

Saint Leander of Seville313leander7

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saints – 13 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Bl Agnellus of Pisa
St Ansovinus of Camerino
Bl Berengar de Alenys
St Christina of Persia
St Euphrasia
Bl Françoise Tréhet
St Gerald of Mayo
St Grace of Saragossa
St Heldrad of Novalese
Bl Judith of Ringelheim
St Kevoca of Kyle
St Leander of Seville
St Mochoemoc
St Nicephorus of Constantinople
Bl Peter II of La Cava
St Pientius of Poitiers
St Ramirus of Leon
St Sabinus of Egypt
St Sancha of Portugal
—
Martyrs of Cordoba: Roderick, Salomon,

Martyrs of Nicaea:
Arabia
Horres
Marcus
Nymphora
Theodora
Theusitas
Martyrs of Nicomedia
Eufrasia
Macedonius
Modesta
Patricia
Urpasian

Posted in LENT

POPE FRANCIS: THE CROSS, THE DOOR OF THE RESURRECTION.

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Posted in Uncategorized

LENTEN REFLECTION – THE SECOND WEEK – Sunday 12 March

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LENTEN REFLECTION – THE SECOND WEEK – Sunday 12 Marchsunday of the 2nd week of lent 12 march

A spontaneous question which can arise in our minds today is ‘why the scene of transfiguration’ – a scene which portrays the glory of Jesus – is inserted during the time of Len, which mainly focuses on the passion and death of Jesus?

The transfiguration scene is presented today to remove the fear and the despair of every believer.   This presentation of the glory of Jesus urges us to live the remaining time of Lent with courage and conviction.

The transfiguration is a special and privileged moment, both for Jesus and for His disciples.   For Jesus it was a moment of manifestation of His glory, divine confirmation of His status as the Son of God and an affirmation of His mission.   With all these extraordinary events confirming Jesus’ true identity, the one true response demanded from us is to listen to Him.

The transfiguration beautifully portrays the effects of God-experience.   God-experience reveals one’s true identity;  Jesus heard the voice from the cloud confirming His Sonship.   God-experience is an expererience of God’s love;  Jesus experiences the love of the Father in the voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”   God-experience transforms;  Jesus’ Face shines like the sun and His clothes become bright as light.

For the disciples, the Divine experience was so awe-inspiring that they became ecstatic.   The Divine experience was also so overwhelming that the disciples became terrified.

Though the disciples preferred to remain on the top of the mountain, Jesus leads them down.   Thus Jesus offers us a lesson that contemplation and action should go hand in hand.   The experience of the Lord should lead us to corresponding action – and our actions should receive their vitality and energy from our God-experience in prayer.

…..Fr Devasia Joseph SSP

listen-to-him

 

Posted in NOVENAS

Novena to St Joseph – Day Two – 12 March

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Novena to St Joseph

Day Two
VIRGINAL HUSBAND OF MARY

Saint Joseph, I honour you as the true husband of Mary.  Scripture says: “Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary and of her was born Jesus who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:16). Your marriage to Mary was a sacred contract by which you and Mary gave yourselves to each other.   Mary really belonged to you with all she was and had.   You had a right to her love and obedience and no other person so won her esteem, obedience and love.

You were also the protector and witness of Mary’s virginity.   By your marriage you gave to each other your virginity and also the mutual right over it — a right to safeguard the other’s virtue.   This mutual virginity also belonged to the divine plan of the Incarnation, for God sent His angel to assure you that motherhood and virginity in Mary could be united.

This union of marriage not only brought you into daily familiar association with Mary, the loveliest of God’s creatures but also enabled you to share with her a mutual exchange of spiritual goods.   And Mary found her edification in your calm, humble and deep virtue, purity and sanctity.   What a great honour comes to you from this close union with her whom the Son of God calls Mother and whom He declared the Queen of heaven and earth! Whatever Mary had belonged by right to you also and this included her Son, even though He had been given to her by God in a wonderful way. Jesus belonged to you as His legal father.   Your marriage was the way which God chose to have Jesus introduced into the world, a great divine mystery from which all benefits have come to us.

God the Son confided the guardianship and the support of His Immaculate Mother to your care.   Mary’s life was that of the Mother of the Saviour, who did not come upon earth to enjoy honours and pleasures but to redeem the world by hard work, suffering and the cross.   You were the faithful companion, support, and comforter of the Mother of Sorrows. How loyal you were to her in poverty, journeying, work and pain.   Your love for Mary was based upon your esteem for her as Mother of God. After God and the Divine Child, you loved no one as much as her.   Mary responded to this love. She submitted to your guidance with naturalness and easy grace and childlike confidence.   The Holy Spirit Himself was the bond of the great love which united your hearts.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being the virginal husband of Mary.   As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to love Jesus with all my heart, as you did and love Mary with some of the tenderness and loyalty with which you loved her.

*NOVENA PRAYER  *(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you.  You are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you.   You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God and will never abandon your faithful servants.   Therefore, I humbly invoke you and commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession.   I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.

Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, charitable mind and perfect resignation to the divine Will.   Be my guide, my father and my model through life that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death and the special grace I now implore:

(Mention your request)

Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers on my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. Amen.

MEMORARE
Remember, most pure spouse of Mary, ever Virgin, my loving protector Saint Joseph, that no one ever had recourse to your protection or asked for your aid without obtaining relief. Confiding, therefore, in your goodness, I come before you and humbly implore you. Despise not my petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer but graciously receive them. Amen.

DAY TWO - STJOSEPH

Posted in MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 12 March

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Thought for the Day – 12 March

Sufferings and pain are difficult for anyone to bear and in St. Seraphina’s case they were a true martyrdom.   Seraphina had to make sense out of it, young as she was.   She drew strength from the sufferings of Jesus and found her happiness in God, in spite of her terrible afflictions.   We have little reason to complain about our and we have many lessons to learn from her.

St Seraphina Pray for us!

ST FINA - MARCH 12

 

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote of the Day – 12 March

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Quote of the Day – 12 March

“Joy is the echo of God’s life within us.”

Bl Columba Marmion

Joy is the echo of God's life within us. BL COLUMBA MARMION

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 12 March

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One Minute Reflection – 12 March

For his sake I have forfeited everything…..
so that Christ may be my wealth and
I may be in him…………Phil 3:8-9

REFLECTION – “An act of renunciation is an act of union with God.
The Divine Master looks lovingly upon a person who gains a victory over self.”……….St Madeleine Sophie Barat

PRAYER – Divine Master, teach me to give up all things so that I may be united closely to You. Let me be willing to lose all things rather than give up my union with You. Dear St Seraphina, so young and innocent, you knew completely serenity in suffering and union with the Father, please pray for us! Amen

phil 3-8 and 9an act of renunciation-stmadeleinesophiebaratST SERAPHINA PRAY FOR US

Posted in ART DEI, LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 12 March

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Our Morning Offering – 12 March

The Second Week of Lent – Sunday

Loving God,
there is so much darkness in my life
and I often try to hide from You.
Take my hand Divine Son and Saviour
and lead me out of the shadows of my fear.
Help me to change my heart
and be transfigured by Your Holy Spirit.
Bring me to Your truth
and help me to respond to Your generous love.
Let me recognise the fullness of Your love
which will fill my life.
Free me from the darkness in my heart. Amen

2nd week of lent - sunday 12 march

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 12 March – St Seraphina

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Saint of the Day – 12 March – St Seraphina/Fina – (1238-1253) – Virgin – Patron of physically challenged people, handicapped people and spinners

She was a little girl, very pretty, born into a very poor family, whose father died when she was very young.   As a little girl she learned to sew and spin, spending most of her time at home.

seraphina

After her father’s death, she was struck with a strange and paralyzing illness. She became misshapen and ugly, in constant pain, unable to get out of bed or even to move.   Her mother took care of her but had to leave her for hours at a time to attend to her work. Seraphina’s only consolation was the crucifix and she realized that she was called to imitate the suffering Christ.

So she never complained.   She managed to remain serene and something beautiful shone out of her face.   Then she was struck another blow.   Her mother died and she was left completely destitute, her neighbours repelled by her appearance and her sickness, her only friend a girl named Beldia who visited her and brought her food.

In her reading, St. Seraphina had heard of the great sufferings of Pope St. Gregory the Great and he became her special saint.   She prayed to him, drew strength from the sufferings that he had to endure and prayed that he would obtain for her the patience she needed to bear her own sufferings.   She was now so weak and helpless that it was clear to everyone she could not live very long.

Eight days before her death, alone and almost completely forsaken, St. Gregory appeared to her and told her: “Dear child, on my feast day, God will give you rest” (in those days his feast day was celebrated on March 12).   On that day, she died.   The whole city attended her funeral and from that moment everyone began to pray to her.   On the place where she had lain, her neighbours found white violets growing and even today in the village of San Geminiano where she lived, the white violets that bloom in March are called Santa Fina flowers.   She died on March 12,1253, at the age of fifteen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saints for 12 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

2nd Sunday in Lent
—
St Almut of Wetter
St Alphege the Bald
Bl Angela Salawa
St Basilissa of Asia
Bl Beatrix of Engelport
St Bernard of Carinola
Bl Claudius the Minor
St Egdunus
St Fechno
St Girolamo da Recanati
St Heiu of Hartlepool
St Indrecht of Iona
St Innocent I, Pope
St Joseph Zhang Dapeng
St Luigi Orione
St Maximilian of Thebeste
St Mura McFeredach
St Paul Aurelian
St Peter the Deacon
St Seraphina
St Theophanes the Chronographer
—
Martyrs of Nicomedia – 8 saints
Peter of Nicomedia
Doroteo of Nicomedia
Gorgonio of Nicomedia

Posted in NOVENAS

Novena to St Joseph – Day One – 11 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph – Day One – 11 March

FOSTER-FATHER OF JESUS

Saint Joseph, you were privileged to share in the mystery of the Incarnation as the foster-father of Jesus.   Mary alone was directly connected with the fulfillment of the mystery, in that she gave her consent to Christ’s conception and allowed the Holy Spirit to form the sacred humanity of Jesus from her blood.   You had a part in this mystery in an indirect manner, by fulfilling the condition necessary for the Incarnation — the protection of Mary’s virginity before and during your married life with her.   You made the virginal marriage possible and this was a part of God’s plan, foreseen, willed, and decreed from all eternity.

In a more direct manner you shared in the support, upbringing and protection of the Divine Child as His foster-father.   For this purpose the Heavenly Father gave you a genuine heart of a father — a heart full of love and self-sacrifice.   With the toil of your hands you were obliged to offer protection to the Divine Child, to procure for Him food, clothing and a home.   You were truly the saint of the holy childhood of Jesus — the living created providence which watched over the Christ-Child.

When Herod sought the Child to put Him to death, the Heavenly Father sent an angel but only as a messenger, giving orders for the flight;   the rest He left entirely in your hands.   It was that fatherly love which was the only refuge that received and protected the Divine Child.   Your fatherly love carried Him through the desert into Egypt until all enemies were removed.   Then on your arms the Child returned to Nazareth to be nourished and provided for during many years by the labour of your hands.   Whatever a human son owes to a human father for all the benefits of his up-bringing and support, Jesus owed to you, because you were to Him a foster-father, teacher and protector.

You served the Divine Child with a singular love.  God gave you a heart filled with heavenly, supernatural love — a love far deeper and more powerful than any natural father’s love could be.

You served the Divine Child with great unselfishness, without any regard to self-interest, but not without sacrifices.   You did not toil for yourself but you seemed to be an instrument intended for the benefit of others, to be put aside as soon as it had done its word, for you disappeared from the scene once the childhood of Jesus had passed.

You were the shadow of the Heavenly Father not only as the earthly representative of the authority of the Father but also by means of your fatherhood — which only appeared to be natural — you were to hide for a while the divinity of Jesus.   What a wonderfully sublime and divine vocation was yours — the loving Child which you carried in your arms,and loved and served so faithfully, had God in Heaven as Father and was Himself God!

Yours is a very special rank among the saints of the Kingdom of God because you were so much a part of the very life of the Word of God made Man.   In your house at Nazareth and under your care the redemption of mankind was prepared.   What you accomplished, you did for us.   You are not only a powerful and great saint in the Kingdom of God but a benefactor of the whole of Christendom and mankind.   Your rank in the Kingdom of God, surpassing far in dignity and honour of all the angels, deserves our very special veneration, love, and gratitude.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of having been chosen by God to be the foster-father of His Divine Son.   As a token of your own gratitude to God for this your greatest privilege, obtain for me the grace of a very devoted love for Jesus Christ, my God and my Saviour.   Help me to serve Him with some of the self-sacrificing love and devotion which you had while on this earth with Him.   Grant that through your intercession with Jesus, your foster-Son, I may reach the degree of holiness God has destined for me and save my soul.

*NOVENA PRAYER – *(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you.  You are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you.  You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God and will never abandon your faithful servants.  Therefore, I humbly invoke you and commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession.   I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.

Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, charitable mind and perfect resignation to the divine Will.   Be my guide, my father and my model through life that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.

Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death and the special grace I now implore:

(Mention your request).

Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers on my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. Amen.

MEMORARE
Remember, most pure spouse of Mary, ever Virgin, my loving protector, Saint Joseph, that no one ever had recourse to your protection or asked for your aid without obtaining relief. Confiding, therefore, in your goodness, I come before you and humbly implore you. Despise not my petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer but graciously receive them. Amen.

St Josdeh Pray for us!

DAY ONE-STJOSEPH 11 MARCH

 

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Saturday 11 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Dear Friends

No posts today.   I should be back tomorrow.

God bless your weekend!

Ana

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, NOVENAS, SAINT of the DAY

Announcing a Novena to St Joseph

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Novena to St Joseph

The primary feast of St Joseph is on 19 March, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, the Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of March to Saint Joseph and urges us to pay special attention to his life and example.

Fathers, in particular, should cultivate devotion to Saint Joseph, whom God Himself chose to care for His Son. As we learn more about Saint Joseph, we can teach our own boys about the virtues of fatherhood through his example.

St. Teresa of Avila’s Plea

“Would that I could persuade all men to be devoted to this glorious Saint [St. Joseph], for I know by long experience what blessings he can obtain for us from God.   I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to him and honoured him by particular services who did not advance greatly in virtue: for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him.   It is now very many years since I began asking him for something on his feast and I have always received it. I  f the petition was in any way amiss, he rectified it for my greater good . . .

” I ask for the love of God that he who does not believe me will make the trial for himself—then he will find out by experience the great good that results from commending oneself to this glorious Patriarch and in being devoted to him.”

St. Alphonsus Liguori on St. Joseph,
Patron of a Happy Death

“Since we all must die, we should cherish a special devotion to St. Joseph, that he may obtain for us a happy death.   All Christians regard him as the advocate of the dying who had honoured him during their life and they do so for three reasons:

“First, because Jesus Christ loved him not only as a friend but as a father and on this account his mediation is far more efficacious than that of any other Saint.

“Second, because St. Joseph has obtained special power against the evil spirits, who tempt us with redoubled vigour at the hour of death.

“Third, the assistance given St. Joseph at his death by Jesus and Mary obtained for him the right to secure a holy and peaceful death for his servants.   Hence, if they invoke him at the hour of death he will not only help them but he will also obtain for them the assistance of Jesus and Mary.”

St Joseph we ask for your assistance in all our needs starting tomorrow, pray for us!

NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH STARTS 11 MARCH

 

 

 

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

LENTEN REFLECTION – Friday of the First Week of Lent – 10 MARCH

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LENTEN REFLECTION – Friday of the First Week of Lent – 10 MARCH

LENTEN REFLECTION FRIDAY 10 MARCH

Let us mortify our curiosity

Blessed John Henry Newman

For example, in respect to curiosity.   What a deal of time is lost, to say nothing else, in this day by curiosity, about things which in no ways concern us.   I am not speaking against interest in the news of the day altogether, for the course of the world must ever be interesting to a Christian from its bearing upon the fortunes of the church but I speak of vain curiosity, love of scandal, love of idle tales, curious prying into the private history of people, curiosity about trials and offences, and personal matters, nay often what is much worse than this, curiosity into sin. What strange diseased curiosity is sometimes felt about the history of murders and of the malefactors themselves! Worse still, it is shocking to say, but there is so much evil curiosity to know about deeds of darkness, of which the Apostle [Paul] says that it is shameful to speak.   Many a person, who has no intention of doing the like, from an evil curiosity reads what he ought not to read.   This is in one shape or other very much the sin of boys and they suffer for it.   The knowledge of what is evil is the first step in their case to the commission of it.   Hence this is the way in which we are called upon, with this Lent we now begin, to mortify ourselves.   Let us mortify our curiosity.

LET US MORTIFY OUR CURIOSITY

 

Posted in JESUIT SJ, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the day – 10 March

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Thought for the day – 10 March

“Ogilvie typifies what can be overlooked when we reflect the Creed, in the Creed when we say, ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate.’   In other words, Ogilvie typifies the perennial struggle of the Church with the state.   It was a civil official who condemned Christ and it is the state over the centuries, which in Augustine’s language, has become the arm of the enemies of God that gave the Church her first martyrs for 300 years and has been placing such a heavy burden on those who wish to remain faithful to Christ.   The conflict of Church and state is the final feature of John Ogilvie’s spirituality as a martyr.

Let us ask St. John Ogilvie to obtain, especially for the leaders in the Church today, something of the courage he had to be willing to proclaim the true faith even at the price of their blood.   St. John Ogilvie, pray for us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

BY VENERABLE SERVANT OF GOD JOHN A HARDON SJ

ST JOHN OGILVIE SJ-PRAY FOR US 3

Posted in JESUIT SJ, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE

Quote/s of the Day – 10 March

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Quote/s of the Day – 10 March

“In all that concerns the king, I will be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last drop of blood for him.
But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey.”
~~ St John Ogilvie at his trial

“willingly and joyfully pour forth even a hundred lives. Snatch away that one
which I have from me and make no delay about it, but my religion you will never snatch
away from me!”

“If there be here any hidden Catholics, let them pray for me but the prayers of heretics I will not have.”— Saint John Ogilvie at his execution

“At last conscience won the day.  I became a Catholic;
I abandoned Calvinism – and this happy change I attribute to the martyr’s beads and to no other cause those beads which, if I had them now, gold could not tempt me to part with and if gold could purchase them, I should not spare it.” ~~~ Baron John ab Eckersdorff 

(St. John Ogilvie was executed by hanging on March 10, 1615.
A few moments before his hanging, St. John threw his Rosary into the crowd where it
hit Baron John ab Eckersdorff a Calvinist nobleman on the chest – he later converted to
Catholicism, attributing his conversion to witnessing the martyrdom and St. John’s
rosary.)

IF THERE BE ANY HIDDEN-STJOHNOGILVIEAT LAST CONSCIENCE-STJOHN OGILVIE

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, JESUIT SJ, LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 March

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One Minute Reflection – 10 March

We are ….. heirs of God, heirs of Christ, if only we suffer with him so as to be glorified with him……..Romans 8:17

REFLECTION – If we suffer with Christ, we will be glorified with Him.   The fulfilment of the promised happiness is certain for those who share in the Lord’s Passion……St Pope Leo the Great

PRAYER – Grant me Your grace to overcome my natural fear of suffering Lord.   Strengthen me to bear my sufferings in union with Your sacred Passion, for the salvation of the world.  St John Ogilvie you are an example to me, please pray that this Lenten time will assist us all in overcoming our fear of sharing in the Passion of our God. Amen

ROMANS 8-17IF WE SUFFER WITH CHRIST-STLEOTHEGREATST JOHN OGILVIE PRAY FOR US

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers

Our Morning Offering – 10 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 10 March

The First Week of Lent
Friday

Creator of my Life,
renew me – bring me to new life in You.
Touch me and make me feel whole again.
Help me to see Your love
in the passion, death and resurrection of Your son.
Help me to observe Lent
in a way that allows me to celebrate that love.
Prepare me for these weeks of Lent
as I feel both deep sorrow for my sins
and awareness of Your undying love for me
me, who deserves it not.
Amen

morning prayer-friday 1st week

Posted in JESUIT SJ, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE

St John Ogilvie SJ – 10 March – St John Ogilvie, his Rosary and the Baron

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Blessed Memorial of St John Ogilvie SJ – 10 March – St John Ogilvie, his Rosary and the Baron

Although the judge had tried to pin the crime of treason on him, Ogilvie forced him to assert that it was for his Catholic Faith that he was being killed, rather than for treason, which Protestant history alleges.    Just as with Saint Thomas More, the heroic Jesuit protested his allegiance to the King saying that he was the King’s loyal subject but God’s servant first.    Again, as it was with Thomas More, the executioner begged the martyr’s forgiveness, which he paternally gave.

There were many brave Catholics who came to the execution site to support the saint with prayers and with shouts.   They were fearless.  John said onthe scaffold “If there be here any hidden Catholics, let them pray for me but the prayers of heretics I will not have.”   Then something spontaneous happened, by divine intervention and inspiration.   Just before they tied his hands on the scaffold the saint quickly pulled out his rosary and tossed it to the crowd as a token of farewell.   There was a Protestant Baron, a traveller, who happened to be in the crowd and the rosary bounced off his chest.   The man tried to reach down for the beads but was beaten to them by the surrounding faithful anxious to get such a relic.

This episode of the Protestant gentleman in the crowd was recounted in the records of the trial of the saint because he, the Baron John ab Eckersdorff, was converted by means of the rosary of our Jesuit martyr.   Here is how the event is related, in the words of the Baron, as we have them in Father Daniel Conway’s three part history of Venerable John Ogilvie, published in 1878, in a Glasgow diocesan journal “The Month”:

“His Rosary struck the breast of a young noble
man who was on his travels in these kingdoms.
He was a foreigner and a heretic his name, Baron
John ab Eckersdorff.  ” I was on my travels
through England and Scotland as it is the custom
of our nobility being a mere stripling, and not
having the faith. I happened to be in Glasgow the
day Father Ogilvie was led forth to the gallows,
and it is impossible for me to describe his lofty
bearing in meeting death.   His farewell to the
Catholics was his casting into their midst, from the
scaffold, his rosary beads just before he met his
fate.   That rosary, thrown haphazard, struck me
on the breast in such wise that I could have caught
it in the palm of my hand;  but there was such a
rush and crush of the Catholics to get hold of it,
that unless I wished to run the risk of being trodden
down, I had to cast it from me.   Religion was the
last thing I was then thinking about : it was not in
my mind at all; yet from that moment I had no
rest.   Those rosary beads had left a wound in my
soul; go where I would I had no peace of mind.
Conscience was disturbed, and the thought would
haunt me : why did the martyr’s rosary strike me,
and not another?   For years I asked myself this
question it followed me about everywhere.    At
last conscience won the day.   I became a Catholic;
I abandoned Calvinism – and this happy change I
attribute to the martyr’s beads and to no other
cause those beads which, if I had them now, gold
could not tempt me to part with and if gold could
purchase them, I should not spare it.”

Saint John Ogilvie, pray for us!

st-john-ogilvie-pray-for-us-10 MARCH 2017.jpg