“Lord Jesus, I am not worthy to suffer for Thee, much less to receive those rewards which Thou hast promised to those who confess Thee.”
~~~ Blessed Thomas Sherwood before his torture and execution in the Tower of London on this day in 1579
Year: 2017
One Minute Reflection – 7 February
One Minute Reflection – 7 February
We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him…….Romans 8:28
REFLECTION – “Do not allow yourselves to be overly saddened by the unfortunate accidents of this world. You are not aware of the benefits that they bring and by what secret judgment of God they are arranged for the eternal joy of the Elect.”………..St John of the Cross
PRAYER – Father of wisdom, help me to accept all earthly misfortunes even without understanding them, with the sure knowledge that good will comes from them. Let me never despair but trust in Your Providence that governs all things. Bl Thomas Sherwood, I think of you and your acceptance of your fate in total love of our good God, please pray for me, amen.
Our Morning Offering -7 February
Our Morning Offering -7 February
Show me, O Lord, Your mercy
and delight my heart with it.
Let me find You, whom I seek so longingly.
See, here is the man whom the robbers seized
and mishandled and left half dead on the road to Jericho.
O You who can what the kind-hearted Samaritan cannot:
Come to my aid! I am the sheep
who wandered in to the wilderness:
seek after me and bring me home again to Your fold.
Do with me what You will,
that all the days of my life
I may bide by You and praise You,
with all those who are in heaven with You
for all of eternity. Amen.
St Jerome
Saint of the day – 7 February – Bl Thomas Sherwood
Saint of the day – 7 February – Bl Thomas Sherwood LAY MARTYR of the English Persecution under Elizabeth I (c. 1552–1579)
The days of Elizabeth I were difficult and frightening days for the Catholics of England. This was the day of the martyrs, Catholics following in the footsteps of St Thomas More and St John Fisher, who died for their faith. Most of these martyrs were priests, educated and ordained abroad, sent back to England to minister to their flock, declared outlaws and criminals by the government.
Bl Thomas was not a priest and he was not a religious. He had planned to study for the priesthood but had not yet carried out his plan when he was arrested.
He was by profession a wool draper and was associated with other Catholic families, in particular the family of Catholic Lady Tregonwell, in whose home it seems, Mass was heard. The son of Lady Tregonwell, who was a protestant, turned him in to the authorities, who sent him to the Tower of London on 17 November, 1577. There he was tortured in order to discover where he heard Mass, who the priest was and the names of other Catholics with whom he associated.
St Thomas More’s son-in-law, William Roper, tried to send him money for medicine and food but the officer at the Tower would not permit money to be spent on anything but clean straw for him to sleep upon. Blessed Thomas was 27 at the time of his arrest and his brother wrote an account of his sufferings and martyrdom. We also possess the directions given to the lieutenant of the Tower from the privy council, ordering him to obtain information from Thomas on the rack. After his execution, his mother was arrested and put in prison, where she died fourteen years later.
During his terrible sufferings all he said was: “Lord Jesus, I am not worthy to suffer for Thee, much less to receive those rewards which Thou hast promised to Those who confess Thee.” Three weeks after his death it was recorded in the daybook of Douay College, where he was enrolled and awaited: “On the first of March, Mr Lowe returned to us from England bringing news that a youth, named Thomas Sherwood, had suffered for his confession of the Catholic Faith, not only imprisonment, but torture and death itself.”
St Paul Miki SJ – 6 February
Today is the memorial of St Paul Miki SJ (1564-1597), a Jesuit novice from a noble Japanese family who was martyred along with 25 companions at Nagasaki in 1597.
This is from an eyewitness account of the execution:
“Our brother Paul Miki, seeing himself raised to the most honourable position that he had ever occupied, openly proclaimed that he was a Japanese and a member of the Society of Jesus. And that he was being put to death for having preached the Gospel. He gave thanks to God for such a precious favour.
He then added these words: “Having arrived at this moment of my existence, I believe that no one of you thinks I want to hide the truth. That is why I declare to you that there is no other way of salvation than the one followed by Christians. Since this way teaches me to forgive my enemies and all who have offended me, I willingly forgive the king and all those who have desired my death. And I pray that they will obtain the desire of Christian baptism.
At this point, he turned his eyes toward his companions and began to encourage them in their final struggle. The faces of them all shone with great gladness. Another Christian shouted to him that he would soon be in paradise. “Like my Master,” murmured Paul, “I shall die upon the cross. Like him, a lance will pierce my heart so that my blood and my love can flow out upon the land and sanctify it to his name.
As they awaited death the entire group sang the canticle of Zachary (see Luke 1:67-79). The executioners stood by respectfully until they had intoned the last verse. Then at a given signal they thrust their spears into the victims’ sides. On that day, February 5, 1597, the church of Japan welcomed its first martyrs.”
You have heard that it was said: “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’……Matthew 5:43-44
Consider the people who dislike you, who oppose your ideas and aims. How can you show love to them?
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – Day Five – 6 February
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FIVE– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FIVE
O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother,
from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we,
full of confidence in your unbounded goodness
and confident that your Divine Son
will look favourably upon any request you make of Him on our behalf,
we beseech you to come to our aid
and secure for us the favour we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Thought for the Day – 6 February
Thought for the Day – 6 February
Twenty-six Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries and Japanese converts crucified together by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Following their arrests, they were taken to the public square of Meako to the city’s principal temple. They each had a piece of their left ear cut off and then paraded from city to city for weeks with a man shouting their crimes and encouraging their abuse. The priests and brothers were accused of preaching the outlawed faith of Christianity, the lay people of supporting and aiding them. They were each repeatedly offered freedom if they would renounce Christianity. They each declined. Today, a new era has come for the Church in Japan. Although the number of Catholics is not large, the Church is respected and has total religious freedom. The spread of Christianity in the Far East is slow and difficult. Faith such as that of the 26 martyrs is needed today as much as in 1597.
MARTYRS OF NAGASAKI, PRAY FOR US!
Quote/s of the Day – 6 February
Quote of the Day – 6 February
“Like my Master I shall die upon the cross. Like Him, a lance will pierce my heart so that my blood and my love can flow out upon the land and sanctify it to His name.”
~~~ St Paul Miki
“The measure of love,
is love without measure.”
~~~ St Bernard of Clairvaux
One Minute Reflection – 6 February
One Minute Reflection – 6 February
But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly…….1 Peter 4:13
REFLECTION – “The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again – Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”……St Paul Miki
PRAYER – Jesus, Man of Sorrows, in every suffering keep my eyes fixed on You. Let me keep ever before my mind the glory to come and so face the suffering with true Christian courage. St Paul Miki and your 26 Martyr Companions, Pray for us, amen!
Our Morning Offering – 6 February
Our Morning Offering – 6 February
A Prayer of St. Francis Xavier SJ
O God I Love You,
not simply to be saved,
and not because those who fail to love You
will be punished with eternal fire.
You, You, my JESUS, have all-embraced me on the cross.
You have borne the nails, the lance, much ignominy,
numberless griefs, sweatings and anguish and death,
and these on account of me and for me, a sinner.
Why therefore, should I not love You,
O, most loving JESUS?
Not that in heaven You shall save me,
nor lest for eternity You shall condemn me;
not with the hope of any reward,
but as You have loved me, so also will I love You,
only because You are my King,
and because You are my God. Amen
Saints of the Day – 6 February – St Paul Miki & Companions -26 Martyrs of Nagasaki
Saints of the Day – 6 February – St Paul Miki & Companions- MARTYRS
Paul Miki was born in Japan and educated by the Jesuits. He would have been the very first Japanese priest if he had escaped arrest, for he had already completed his studies for the priesthood. From his cross he forgave his persecutors and told the people to ask Christ to show them how to be truly happy.
When the first missionaries, like St. Francis Xavier, came to Japan in 1549 they were welcomed. Many Japanese became Christians. When the leader Hideyoshi took command, he feared that Christians would take over the government. In 1587 he banished them and destroyed many of their churches. Some missionary priests stayed and went into hiding, dressing like Japanese in order to minister to the Christians.
The twenty-six men were tortured and then forced to walk more than 300 miles from Miako to Nagasaki through snow and ice and freezing streams. Along the way they preached to the people who had come out to see them. They sang psalms of praise and joy. They prayed the rosary and told the people that such a martyrdom was an occasion of rejoicing, not of sadness. Finally, on February 5, they reached Nagasaki, where twenty-six crosses awaited them on a hill now called the Holy Mountain. It is said that the Christians ran to their crosses, singing. Soldiers bound them to the crosses with iron bands at their wrists, ankles and throats. Then they thrust them through with lances. Many people came to watch the cruel deaths. Hideyoshi and his solders had hoped the example would frighten other Christians. Instead, it gave them the courage to profess their faith as the martyrs had.
In 1858, Japan again permitted Christianity in Japan. Missionaries found thousands of Christians still in Japan. For two hundred years they had carried on the faith in secret
.
Saints for 6 February
St Paul Miki SJ & Comapnions – Martyrs of Nagasaki – 26 saints (Memorial)- APOSTELSHIP OF PRAYER VIDEO – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8AuKTLjkDs
—
Bl Alfonso Maria Fusco
St Amand of Maastricht
St Amand of Moissac
St Amand of Nantes
St Andrew of Elnone
Bl Angelus of Furci
St Antholian of Auvergne
St Brinolfo Algotsson
Cassius of Auvergne
Bl Diego de Azevedo
St Dorothy of Caesarea
St Ethelburga of Wessex
Bl Francesca of Gubbio
St Francesco Spinelli
St Gerald of Ostia
St Guarinus
St Guethenoc
St Hildegund
St Ina of Wessex
St Jacut
St Liminius of Auvergne
Bl Mary Teresa Bonzel
St Mateo Correa-Magallanes
St Maximus of Aurvergne
St Mel of Ardagh
St Melchu of Armagh
St Mun of Lough Ree
St Relindis of Eyck
St Revocata
St Saturninus
St Tanco of Werden
St Theophilus
St Theophilus the Lawyer
St Vaast of Arras
St Victorinus of Auvergne
—
Martyrs of Emesa
Luke the Deacon
Mucius the Lector
Silvanus of Emesa
Pedro Arrupe SJ
Pedro Arrupe SJ, superior general of the Jesuits from 1965-1983, died on this day in 1991.
He guided the Society through the tumultuous post-Vatican II years. He called for a renewed commitment to the Society’s roots in the Spiritual Exercises and he oriented the Jesuits toward service to the poor and to refugees.
He had a charismatic personality and was beloved by many in the Society and outside it.
He articulated the goal of Jesuit education as training “men and women for others”:
“………men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and His Christ—for the God-human who lived and died for all the world; men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbours; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.” (Pedro Arrupe: Essential Writings, Kevin Burke, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books 2004, p. 173)
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour………Romans 12:9-10
Are you complacent, too accepting of things as they are? Talk to God about this.
NOVENA to Our LADY OF LOURDES – Day Four – 5 February
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FOUR– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FOUR
O Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
we your wayward, erring children,
join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving
to those of the angels and saints and of your own-
that the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified
in heaven and on earth.
Our Lady of Lourdes,
as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette
as she prayed her rosary in the grotto,
look down now, we beseech you,
with love and mercy upon us.
From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son,
sweet Mother of God,
give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need
and at this moment look with special favour
on the grace we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Thought for the Day – 5 February
Female saints were numerous in the early Church and the cruelties these saints suffered for their faith encouraged many others to go to their martyrdom. These early witnesses to the faith became the great Christian heroes and heroines and their zeal did a great deal to cement and establish the faith. Many. like St Agatha, suffered centuries ago but their memory is kept fresh, as if they had died yesterday. As is common in the story of man, we learn not from our past, persecutions against Christians seems to constantly rear it’s ugly head – now we suffer too and our women are under a great attack in the modern world. Let us call on Agatha to be with us, to pray for us all and in particular to pray that all Christian women, may protect their purity and chastity.
St Agatha, pray for us!
Quote/s of the Day – 5 February
Quote/s of the Day – 5 February
“Jesus Christ, Lord of all things!
You see my heart, you know my desires.
Possess all that I am – you alone.
I am your sheep; make me worthy
to overcome the devil.”
~~~- Saint Agatha
“She teaches by her example to hasten to the true Good – God alone.”
~~~St. Methodius
One Minute Reflection – 5 February
One Minute Reflection – 5 February
(God) gave us…..a birth to any imperishable…..inheritance…..which is kept in heaven for you…..1 Peter 1:3-4
REFLECTION – “You have within you everything
that you need to purchase the kingdom of heaven.
Joy will be purchased by your sorrow,
rest by your labour,
glory by your humiliation
and eternal life by your passing death”……..St Augustine
PRAYER – Loving Father, teach me how to make every event on earth lay up treasure for me in heaven. Help me to endure sorrows, labours, hardships, humiliations and death willingly so as to attain heaven. Help me to always manifest You in my life as the life of St Agatha did. St Agatha please intercede for us all, amen!
Our Morning Offering – 5 February
Our Morning Offering – 5 February
Help us, O Lord, our God,
since we cannot flee from the body,
nor the body flee from us:
we must carry it about,
because it is bound up with us.
We cannot destroy it;
we are forced to preserve it.
But the world surrounds us and assails us
through the five gateways of sense.
Alas! Everywhere we are in conflict,
everywhere darts fly against us,
everywhere there are temptations,
there are snares!
Deliver us, we beseech You,
from our enemies;
defend us from all dangers to the soul
and to the body, Lord,
that at length we may come to Your eternal rest,
through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
St Bernard of Clairvaux
Saint of the Day – 5 February – St Agatha of Sicily
Saint of the Day – 5 February – St Agatha of Sicily, (c 231-c 251) VIRGIN and MARTYR, Patronages: against breast cancer, against breast disease, against earthquakes, against eruptions of Mount Etna, against fire, against natural disasters, against sterility, against volcanic eruptions, of bell-founders, fire prevention, jewelers, martyrs, nurses, rape victims, single laywomen, torture victims, wet-nurses, Malta, San Marino, 64 cities
“My fellow Christians, our annual celebration of a martyr’s feast has brought us together. Agatha achieved renown in the early Church for her noble victory. For her, Christ’s death was recent, His blood was still moist. Her robe is the mark of her faithful witness to Christ. Agatha, the name of our saint, means “good.” She was truly good, for she lived as a child of God. Agatha, her goodness coincides with her name and her way of life. She won a good name by her noble deeds and by her name she points to the nobility of those deeds. Agatha, her mere name wins all men over to her company. She teaches them by her example to hasten with her to the true Good, God alone.” – from a homily on Saint Agatha by Saint Methodius of Sicily
Agatha was born at Catania or Palermo, Sicily and she was martyred in approximately 251. She is one of seven women, who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.
One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the persecution of Decius (250–253) in Catania, Sicily, for her determined profession of faith.
Although the martyrdom of Saint Agatha is authenticated, and her veneration as a saint had spread beyond her native place even in antiquity, there is no reliable information concerning the details of her death.
According to Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda Aurea of ca. 1288, having dedicated her virginity to God, fifteen-year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman prefect Quintianus, who then persecuted her for her Christian faith. He sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel.
The madam finding her intractable, Quintianus sent for her, argued, threatened and finally had her put in prison. Amongst the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts with pincers. After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion, Saint Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt at the stake but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds. Saint Agatha died in prison, according to the Legenda Aurea in “the year of our Lord two hundred and fifty-three in the time of Decius, the emperor of Rome.”
Saint Peter Healing Agatha, by the Caravaggio-follower Giovanni Lanfranco, ca 1614
According to Maltese tradition, during the persecution of Roman Emperor Decius (AD 249–251), Agatha, together with some of her friends, fled from Sicily and took refuge in Malta. Some historians believe that her stay on the island was rather short and she spent her days in a rock hewn crypt at Rabat, praying and teaching the Christian Faith to children. After some time, Agatha returned to Sicily, where she faced martyrdom. Agatha was arrested and brought before Quintanus, praetor of Catania, who condemned her to torture and imprisonment. The crypt of St. Agatha is an underground basilica, which from early ages was venerated by the Maltese. At the time of St. Agatha’s stay, the crypt was a small natural cave which later on, during the 4th or 5th century, was enlarged and embellished.
Saint Agatha is a patron saint of Malta, where in 1551 her intercession through a reported apparition to a Benedictine nun is said to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion.
Agatha is the patron saint of bell-founders because of the shape of her severed breasts and also of bakers, whose loaves were blessed at her feast day. More recently, she has been venerated as patron saint of breast cancer patients.
She is claimed as the patroness of Palermo. The year after her death, the stilling of an eruption of Mt. Etna was attributed to her intercession. As a result, apparently, people continued to ask her prayers for protection against fire.
An annual festival to commemorate the life of Saint Agatha takes place in Catania, Sicily, from February 3 to 5. The festival culminates in a great all-night procession through the city for which hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents turn out.
Festival of Saint Agatha in Catania (1915)
Basques have a tradition of gathering on Saint Agatha’s Eve (Basque: Santa Ageda bezpera) and going round the village. Homeowners can choose to hear a song about her life, accompanied by the beats of their walking sticks on the floor or a prayer for the household’s deceased. After that, the homeowner donates food to the chorus.
Burial of St Agatha, by Giulio Campi, 1537
Saints for 5 February
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (2017)
St Agatha of Sicily (Memorial)
—
St Adelaide of Guelders
St Agatha Hildegard of Carinthia
St Agricola of Tongres
St Albinus of Brixen
St Anthony of Athens
St Avitus of Vienne
St Bertulph
St Buo of Ireland
St Calamanda of Calaf
St Dominica of Shapwick
Bl Elisabetta Canori Mora
St Fingen of Metz
Bl Françoise Mézière
St Gabriel de Duisco
St Genuinus of Sabion
St Indract
St Isidore of Alexandria
St Jesús Méndez-Montoya
Bl John Morosini
St Kichi Franciscus
St Luca di Demenna
St Modestus of Carinthia
Bl Primo Andrés Lanas
St Saba the Younger
St Vodoaldus of Soissons
—
Martyrs of Pontus
NOVENA to Our LADY OF LOURDES – Day Three – 4 February
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY THREE– 4 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY THREE
“You are all fair, O Mary
and there is in you no stain of original sin.”
O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O brilliant star of sanctity,
as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes
you spoke to the child Bernadette
and a fountain broke from the plain earth
and miracles happened
and the great shrine of Lourdes began,
so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer
and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Thought for the Day – 4 February
Thought for the Day – 4 February
Saint Joseph of Leonissa suffered illness, poverty, persecution and exhaustion throughout his life, never ceasing in his efforts to bring the peace of Christ to those around him. He embraced his suffering, contemplating the wounds of Christ and frequently exclaiming, “When we suffer anything we give proof of our love.” We look to Saint Joseph of Leonissa as a shining example of the union of joy and suffering made manifest by Our Lord on the cross and the experience of Our Blessed Mother throughout her life. May we, like this holy saint, embrace our own personal sufferings as bringing us closer to our risen Lord, suffering with him and His Mother, for expiation of the sins of the world.
St Joseph of Leonissa Pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 4 February
Quote of the Day – 4 February
“When we suffer anything, we give proof of our love.”
~~~ St Joseph of Leonissa
One Minute Reflection – 4 February
One Minute Reflection – 4 February
Clearly you are a letter of Christ which I have delivered, a letter written not with ink
but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh in the heart. ………….2 Corinthians 3:3
REFLECTION – “Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel. This is what St. Paul says to the Corinthians. (2 cOR 3:3)
Our heart is the parchment; through my ministry the Holy Spirit is the writer
because ‘my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe’ (Psalm 45:1).” …….St Joseph of Leonissa
PRAYER – Almighty God, You made Saint Joseph of Leonessa, an illustrious preacher of the gospel. Through his prayers inflame us with love and with his zeal for souls that we may serve You alone. St Joseph of Leonissa, pray for us, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 4 February
Our Morning Offering – 4 February
Veni, Creator Spiritus
Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .
— Blessed Rabanus Maurus
Today – 4 February – is also the Memorial of Bl Rabanus
St Rabanus Maurus had three careers. He was a schoolmaster, then an abbot, and finally an archbishop. He lived during the reign of Charlemagne when Christianity was being established in Europe. We are indebted to Rabanus and saints like him, for they built the church from which most of us received our gift of faith.
In 799 he was ordained deacon and in 815 became a priest. Sometime during that period he was appointed master of Fulda’s school. In that office he had the opportunity to form young monks who would help create a tradition of Christian learning in the West. He became the abbot at Fulda in 822. During this, his second career, he probably wrote most of his works, including a martyrology and numerous commentaries on Scripture. He was in constant demand as an expert at synods and councils. However, care for the monks caused him to hone his pastoral and administrative gifts. He completed Fulda’s buildings and founded other monasteries.
After a brief retirement, Rabanus unexpectedly took up a third career. In 847, at age 71, he was appointed archbishop of Mainz. He undertook the job aggressively. With a team of priests, Rabanus went about the diocese teaching, preaching, and administering the sacraments. He held synods that called Christians to a stricter observance of church laws and that condemned a local heresy. Once during a famine he fed 300 people a day from his house. With great energy he led the diocese and continued his writing until his death in 856.
Special among Rabanus’s gifts to the church is the Veni, Creator Spiritus. Monks carried the hymn to communities throughout the continent and it became part of the Pentecost liturgy. Praying the Come, Creator Spirit seems to have occasioned life-changing moments for numerous saints, including Lutgarde, Clare and Teresa of Ávila. Apparently, Rabanus’s hymn is extraordinarily effective in releasing the gifts of the Spirit, so when we pray it we can expect God to act.
Saint of the Day – 4 February – St Joseph of Leonissa OFM (Cap) (1556-1612)
Saint of the Day – 4 February – St Joseph of Leonissa OFM (Cap) (1556-1612) aged 56, Friar of the Capuchin branch of the Friars Minor of St Francis, wandering Missionary Preacher. Born on 8 January 1556 as Eufranio Desiderio at Leonessa, a small town then in Umbria, Italy and died on Saturday 4 February 1612 at Umbria, Italy of natural causes. Patron of Leonissa, Italy.
It is said that from his infancy he showed a remarkably religious bent of mind; he used to erect little altars and spend much time in prayer before them, and often he would gather his companions and induce them to pray with him. Whilst yet a boy he used to take the discipline on Fridays in company with the Confraternity of the Holy Saviour. He was educated by his uncle, who had planned a suitable marriage for him but in his sixteenth year he fell sick of a fever and upon his recovery, without consulting his guardian, he joined the Capuchin reform of the Franciscan Order. He made his novitiate at the friary of the Carcerelle near Assisi.
As a friar he was outstanding for his great abstinence. “Brother Ass“, he would say to his body, “there is no need to feed thee as a noble horse would be fed: thou must be content to be a poor ass.” In 1599, the year before the Jubilee year, he fasted the whole year by way of preparation for gaining the indulgence.
In 1587 he was sent by the Minister General of his Order to Constantinople to minister to the Christians held captive there. Arrived there he and his companions lodged in the Galata district in a derelict house of Benedictine monks, actually the St. Benedict high school. The poverty in which the friars lived attracted the attention of the Turks, who went in numbers to see the new missionaries. He was very solicitous in ministering to the captive Christians in the galleys of the Ottoman Empire’s navy. Every day he went into the city to preach and he was at length thrown into prison and only released at the intervention of the Venetian agent.
Urged on by zeal he at last sought to enter the palace to preach before Sultan Murad III but he was seized and condemned to death. For three days he hung on the gallows, held up by two hooks driven through his right hand and foot; his legends state that he was then miraculously released by an angel.
Returning to Italy, he took with him a Greek archbishop who had apostatized and who was reconciled to the Church on their arrival in Rome. Joseph now took up the work of home missions in his native province, sometimes preaching six or seven times a day. In the Jubilee year of 1600 he gave the Lenten sermons at Otricoli, a town through which crowds of pilgrims passed on their way to Rome. Many of them being very poor, Joseph supplied them with food; he also washed their clothes and cut their hair. At Todi he cultivated with his own hands a garden, the produce of which was for the poor.
He died at Amatrice in 1612.
He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746.
Saints for 4 February
St Aldate of Gloucester
Bl Alfonso de Meneses
St Aquilinus of Fossombrone
St Aventinus of Chartres
St Aventinus of Troyes
St Cuanna of Lismore
Bl Dionisio de Vilaregut
St Donatus of Fossombrone
St Eutychius of Rome
St Filoromus of Alexandria
St Firmus of Genoa
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gelasius of Fossombrone
St Geminus of Fossombrone
St Gilbert of Sempringham
St Isidore of Pelusium
St Jane of Valois
St John de Britto
St John of Irenopolis
Bl John Speed
St Joseph of Leonissa
St Liephard of Cambrai
St Magnus of Fossombrone
St Modan
St Nicholas Studites
St Nithard
St Obitius
St Phileas of Alexandria
Bl Rabanus Maurus
St Rembert
St Themoius
St Theophilus the Penitent
St Vincent of Troyes
St Vulgis of Lobbes
—
Jesuit Martyrs of Japan
Martyrs of Perga – 4 saints
NOVENA to Our LADY OF LOURDES – Day Two – 3 February
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY TWO – 3 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY TWO
Be blessed, O most pure Virgin,
for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty,
in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette:
“I am the Immaculate Conception!”
O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with just one ray of the burning love of your pure heart
Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you,
in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity.
O dispenser of His graces here below,
take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son
the petition for which we are making this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God.
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Thought for the Day – 3 February
Thought for the Day – 3 February
We know that Bishop Blaise was martyred in his episcopal city of Sebastea, Armenia, in 316. The legendary Acts of St. Blaise were written 400 years later. According to them Blaise was a good bishop, working hard to encourage the spiritual and physical health of his people. Although the Edict of Toleration (311), granting freedom of worship in the Roman Empire, was already five years old, persecution still raged in Armenia. Blaise was apparently forced to flee to the back country. There he lived as a hermit in solitude and prayer, but he made friends with the wild animals. One day a group of hunters seeking wild animals for the amphitheater stumbled upon Blaise’s cave. They were first surprised and then frightened. The bishop was kneeling in prayer surrounded by patiently waiting wolves, lions and bears.
400 years went by before St Blaise’s life was chronicled, thus there was ample time for fiction to creep in with fact. Who can be sure how accurate Blaise’s biographer was? But biographical details are not essential. Blaise is seen as one more example of the power those have who give themselves entirely to Jesus. As Jesus told his apostles at the Last Supper, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). With faith we can follow the lead of the Church in asking for Blaise’s protection.
St Blaise Pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 3 February
Quote of the Day – 3 February
“The statue must be chiselled with very sharp tools
before it is fit to be placed in’ the grand gallery.”
~~~ St Paul of the Cross
AnaStpaul 
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