Day: January 9, 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 9 January – The Memorial of St Adrian of Canterbury (c 635-710)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 9 January – The Memorial of St Adrian of Canterbury (c 635-710)

Though Saint Adrian turned down a papal request to become Archbishop of Canterbury,  Pope Saint Vitalian accepted the rejection on the condition that Adrian serve as the Holy Father’s assistant and adviser.   Adrian accepted but ended up spending most of his life and doing most of his work in Canterbury.
Thanks to his leadership skills, the facility became one of the most important centers of learning.   The school attracted many outstanding scholars from far and wide and produced numerous future bishops and archbishops.
Adrian taught at the school for 40 years.   He died there, probably in the year 710 and was buried in the monastery.  Several hundred years later, when reconstruction was being done, Adrian’s body was discovered in an incorrupt state.   As word spread, people flocked to his tomb, which became famous for miracles.   So St Adrian spent most of his time in Canterbury after all, not as bishop but as abbot and teacher.

Often the Lord has plans for us that are obvious only on hindsight.   How often have we said no to something or someone only to end up in much the same place anyway.   The Lord knows what’s good for us.   Can we trust Him?

St Adrian of Canterbury, pray for us!st adrian of canterbury pray for us - 9 jan 2018

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Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, THOMAS a KEMPIS

Quote/s of the Day – 9 January – “Speaking of Conversion”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 9 January – “Speaking of Conversion”

“Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips
and the world in your heart.”

“We recognise a tree by its fruit
and we ought to be able to recognise
a Christian by his action.
The fruit of faith should be evident in our lives,
for being a Christian is more than making
sound professions of faith.
It should reveal itself in practical and visible ways.
Indeed it is better to keep quiet about our beliefs
and live them out,
than to talk eloquently about what we believe
but fail to live by it.”

“It is not that I want merely
to be called a Christian
but to actually BE ONE.
Yes, If I prove to be one,
then I can have the name!”

“Wherever the bishop shall appear,
there let the multitude also be;
even as, wherever Jesus Christ is,
there is the Catholic Church.”

St Ignatius of Antioch (37-105) Bishop & Martyrdo not have - st ignatius of antioch - 17 oct 2017

“God loves each of us
as if there were
only one of us.”

St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Churchgod loves each of us as if - st augustine - 9 jan 2018

“Without the Way, there is no going,
Without the Truth, there is no knowing,
Without the Life, there is no living.”

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) The Imitation of Christwithout the way there is no going - thomas a kempis - 9 jan 2018

“Belief is a wise wager.
Granted that faith cannot be proved,
what harm will come to you if you gamble
on its truth and it proves false?
If you gain, you gain all;
if you lose, you lose nothing.
Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.“

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologianbelief is a wise wager - blaise pascal - 9 jan 2018

“The Catholic Church is the only thing
which saves a man from the degrading slavery
of being a child of his age”

“To become a Catholic is
not to leave off thinking
but to learn how to think.”

G K Chesterton (1874-1936)the catholic church - g k chesterton - 9 jan 2018

“Holiness cannot be bought.
Neither can it be earned by human strength.
No, “the simple holiness of all Christians,
ours – the kind we are called to every day,
can only be attained with the help
of four essential elements:
courage, hope, grace and conversion.”

Pope Francis (24 May 2016)holiness cannot be bought - pope francis - 9 jan 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 9 January – Gospel Mark 1:21-28 – Pope Benedict on the “Messianic Secret”

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One Minute Reflection – 9 January – Gospel Mark 1:21-28 – Pope Benedict on the “Messianic Secret”

” I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”   But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!”   And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him…Mark 1: 24-26

REFLECTION – “For the moment, Jesus does not want anyone outside the restricted group of His disciples to know that He is the Christ, the Son of God.   This is why He often admonishes the apostles and the sick people whom He heals to not reveal His identity to anyone.   Not only does Jesus chase demons out of people, freeing them from the worst slavery but He prohibits the demons themselves from revealing His identity.   Christ insists on this secret because the fulfilment of His mission is at stake, on which our salvation depends.”…Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus 1 Feb 2009)for the moment - pope benedict - 9 jan 2018

PRAYER – O Lord, You who came to save us, teach us all to live and breathe our love for You and Your teachings.   Help us all to realise and give thanks for Your love for us.   our life of pain and sorrow, lived to save us, is our only guide.   Through Mary, Your holy and loving Mother and our Mother, grant us courage and gratitude, amen.holy mary mother of god pray for us - 9 jan 2018

Posted in Blessed JOHN HENRY Cardinal NEWMAN, MORNING Prayers, POETRY, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 9 January

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Our Morning Offering – 9 January

Radiating Christ
By Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)

Dear Jesus,
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 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 Jesus!
Stay with me
and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, 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 the way You love best,
by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching,
not by words but by my example,
by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
Amen.

Note:  the Prayer above has become known as the prayer of St Mother Teresa but it was written by Blessed John Henry and adopted by St Mother Teresa and her Sisters of Charity and is recited daily by them.   It is sometimes called the “Fragrance” Prayer.radiating christ - bl john henry newman - 9 jan 2018

And today, as Christmastide has gone and we race onward to “radiate Christ” let us pray too, to this beautiful Poem, “When the Song of the Angels is Stilled.”

When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled
Poem by Howard Thurman (1899-1981)

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.when the song of the angels is stilled - 8 jan 2018

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 9 January – St Adrian of Canterbury (c 635-710)

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Saint of the Day – 9 January – St Adrian of Canterbury (c 635-710).  St Adrian was born in c 635 in Libya Cyrenaica, North Africa as Hadrian and he died on 9 January 710 of natural causes at Canterbury, England and was buried there.   His tomb became a site of miracles and his body was found incorrupt in 1091.   He was a Monk, Abbot, a brilliant Scholastic and Thelogian, Teacher, Administrator and Adviser.    A record of the teaching of Theodore and Adrian is preserved in the Leiden Glossary.1saint adrian

St Adrian was born in Africa and became a monk and eventually abbot of Nerida, not far from Naples in Italy.   In the early years of the See of Canterbury after St Augustine of Canterbury, the archbishops were chosen from the companions who had come with him from Rome.   Two Englishmen then succeeded but as both fell victim to the plague in 664 and 665, the pope of the time, Vitalian (657-672) wanted to appoint Adrian.   He refused but suggested the nomination of a Greek monk Theodore of Tarsus.   Vitalian accepted this suggestion, provided Adrian accompany Theodore as his adviser and helper.   Which he did.

On arrival in Canterbury Theodore appointed Adrian abbot of the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul (later St Augustine’s).   An excellent administrator as well as a Greek and Latin scholar, Adrian insured that the monastery grew into a centre of theological learning drawing students from all over England and even Ireland.   Adrian helped his archbishop in the pastoral governance of the English Church.   Bede says of this time: “Never had there been such happy times as these since the English settled in Britain.”

Adrian worked at Canterbury for nearly forty years, far outliving Theodore.   He was buried in the church of the monastery.   His body was still incorrupt when renovations made the translation of Canterbury saints necessary.   His tomb became famous for many miracles.

 

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, SAINT of the DAY

Feast of the Black Nazarene & Memorials of the Saints – 9 January

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The Black Nazarene:   The Black Nazarene is a blackened, life-sized wooden icon of Jesus Christ carrying a cross.   It was constructed in Mexico in the early 17th century by an Aztec carpenter. Spanish Augustinian Recollect friar missionaries to Manila, Philippines originally brought the icon to Manila in 1606.   The transport ship caught fire, burning the icon but the locals kept the charred statue.   Miracles, especially healings, have been reported in its presence.   The church in which it stood burned down around it in 1791 and 1929, was destroyed by earthquakes in 1645 and 1863 and was damaged during bombing in 1945.   It used to be carried through the streets every January and Christians would rub cloths on it to make healing relics but centuries of this treatment have left the statue in bad shape and since 1998 a replica is paraded at the feast day celebrations.   In 1650, Pope Innocent X issued a papal bull which canonically established the Cofradia de Jesús Nazareno to encourage devotion.   In the 19th century Pope Pius VII granted indulgences to those who piously pray before the image.   Patronage: Quiapo, Philippines.


—
St Adrian of Canterbury – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPnrrfvsMZ8
Bl Alix le Clerc
St Agatha Yi
Bl Antony Fatati
St Brithwald of Canterbury
St Eustratius of Olympus
Bl Franciscus Yi Bo-Hyeon
St Honorius of Buzancais
Bl Józef Pawlowski
Bl Kazimierz Grelewski
St Marcellinus of Ancona
St Marciana
Bl Martinus In Eon-min
St Maurontius
St Nearchus
St Paschasia of Dijon
St Peter of Sebaste
St Philip Berruyer
St Polyeucte
St Teresa Kim
St Waningus of Fécamp
—
Martyrs of Africa – 21 saints: A group of 21 Christians murdered together for their faith in the persecutions of Decius. The only details to survive are 14 of their names – Artaxes, Epictetus, Felicitas, Felix, Fortunatus, Jucundus, Pictus, Quietus, Quinctus, Rusticus, Secundus, Sillus, Vincent and Vitalis. They were martyred in c 250.

Martyrs of Antioch – 6 saints: A group of Christians martyred together during the persecutions of Diocletian – Anastasius, Anthony, Basilissa, Celsus, Julian and Marcionilla.