Month: March 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph Day Two 11 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph  – Day Two:  11 March

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 TO ST JOSEPH - DAY TWO - 11 MARCH - VIRGINAL HUSBAND OF MARY

*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 to St Joseph

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.
AmenMemorare to St Joseph - 11 march 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph Day One 10 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph – Day One:  10 March

*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 to St Joseph

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.
AmenMemorare to St Joseph - 10 march 2018

Day One
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 in 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 PRAYERNOVENA TO ST JOSEPH - DAY ONE -10 MARCH - FOSTER-FATHER OF JESUS

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN TITLES, MARY, MATER ECCLESIAE, PAPAL DECREE, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Pope Francis institutes new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Pope Francis institutes new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church

Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

DECREE
on the celebration
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of the Church
in the General Roman Calendar

The joyous veneration given to the Mother of God by the contemporary Church, in light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and on his nature, cannot ignore the figure of a woman (cf. Gal 4:4), the Virgin Mary, who is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.

In some ways this was already present in the mind of the Church from the premonitory words of Saint Augustine and Saint Leo the Great.   In fact the former says that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she co-operated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church, while the latter says that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.   These considerations derive from the divine motherhood of Mary and from her intimate union in the work of the Redeemer, which culminated at the hour of the cross.

Indeed, the Mother standing beneath the cross (cf. Jn 19:25), accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal.   She thus became the tender Mother of the Church which Christ begot on the cross handing on the Spirit.   Christ, in turn, in the beloved disciple, chose all disciples as ministers of his love towards his Mother, entrusting her to them so that they might welcome her with filial affection.

As a caring guide to the emerging Church, Mary had already begun her mission in the Upper Room, praying with the Apostles while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).   In this sense, in the course of the centuries, Christian piety has honoured Mary with various titles, in many ways equivalent, such as Mother of Disciples, of the Faithful, of Believers, of all those who are reborn in Christ and also as “Mother of the Church” as is used in the texts of spiritual authors as well as in the Magisterium of Popes Benedict XIV and Leo XIII.

Thus the foundation is clearly established by which Blessed Paul VI, on 21 November 1964, at the conclusion of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council, declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother” and established that “the Mother of God should be further honoured and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles”.

Therefore the Apostolic See on the occasion of the Holy Year of Reconciliation (1975), proposed a votive Mass in honour of Beata Maria Ecclesiæ Matre, which was subsequently inserted into the Roman Missal.   The Holy See also granted the faculty to add the invocation of this title in the Litany of Loreto (1980) and published other formularies in the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1986).   Some countries, dioceses and religious families who petitioned the Holy See were allowed to add this celebration to their particular calendars.

Having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety, Pope Francis has decreed that the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be now celebrated every year.

This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed, the Virgin who makes her offering to God.

The Memorial therefore is to appear in all Calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours.   The relative liturgical texts are attached to this decree and their translations, prepared and approved by the Episcopal Conferences, will be published after confirmation by this Dicastery.

Where the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, is already celebrated on a day with a higher liturgical rank, approved according to the norm of particular law, in the future it may continue to be celebrated in the same way.

Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.

From the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 11 February 2018, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes.

Robert Card. Sarah
Prefect

+ Arthur Roche
Archbishop Secretarydecree - mater ecclesiae - new memorial monday after pentecost - 4 march 2018

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, St JOSEPH

Announcing a Novena to St Joseph Patron of the Universal Church Begins – 10 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

In 1989, St Pope John Paul, in his Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redemeemer), said:

“…may all grow in devotion to the Patron of the Universal Church and in love for the Saviour whom he served in such an exemplary manner … In this way the whole Christian people not only will turn to St Joseph with greater fervour and invoke his patronage with trust but also will always keep before their eyes his humble, mature way of serving and of “taking part” in the plan of salvation.”

St Joseph plays a prominent part in popular devotion:   in numerous popular traditions; the custom of reserving Wednesdays for devotion to St. Joseph — popular at least since the end of the seventeenth century — has generated several pious exercises including that of the Seven Wednesdays;  in the pious aspirations made by the faithful;  in prayers such as that of Pope Leo XIII, Ad te, Beate Ioseph, which is daily recited by the faithful;  in the Litany of St Joseph, approved by St. Pope Pius X;  and in the recitation of the Chaplet of St Joseph, recollecting the Seven agonies and seven joys of St. Joseph.

That the solemnity of St Joseph falls in Lent, when the Church concentrates her attention on preparation for Baptism and the memorial of the Lord’s Passion, inevitably gives rise to an attempt to harmonise the Liturgy and popular piety.   Hence, the traditional practices of a “month of St. Joseph” should be synchronised with the liturgical Year. Indeed, the liturgical renewal movement attempted to instil among the faithful a realisation of the importance of the meaning of Lent.   Where the necessary adaptations can be made to the various expressions of popular piety, devotion to St Joseph should naturally be encouraged among the faithful who should be constantly reminded of the “singular example […] which, surpassing all states of life, should be recommended to the entire Christian community, whatever their condition or rank.”…Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy

St Joseph, pray for us!announcing a novena to st joseph - begins 10 march - 5 march 2018

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY, St JOSEPH, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE

Catholic Devotion for the Month: March is the Month of St Joseph!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Devotion for March
St Joseph

The month of March is dedicated to St Joseph.   Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.   Holy Scripture proclaims him as a “just man” and the Church has turned to Joseph for his patronage and protection.   Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Quamquam Pluries (On the Devotion to St Joseph) in 1889 explains why we place so much trust in this saint:

“Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life’s companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honor, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men.

Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph, that He obeyed him, and that He rendered to him all those offices that children are bound to render to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the obligation which nature lays upon the head of families, so that Joseph became the guardian, the administrator, and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was. And during the whole course of his life he fulfilled those charges and those duties.

…It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.”march devotion - st joseph - 1 march 2018

Daily Morning Prayer to St Joseph

Blessed Joseph, husband of Mary
Be with us this day.
You defended the Virgin
loving the Child Jesus as your son,
you rescued Him from danger of death.
Defend the Church, the household of God,
purchased by the blood of Christ.
Guardian of the Holy Family,
be with us in our trials,
may your prayers obtain for us
the grace to flee from error
and wrestle with the powers of corruption,
so that in life we may grow in holiness
and in death rejoice in the Crown of Victory.
Amendaily morning prayer to st joseph - 1 march 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for March 2018

Posted on by AnaStpaul

The Holy Father’s
Prayer Intentions for March 2018

Formation in Spiritual Discernment

That the Church may appreciate the urgency of formation in

spiritual discernment, both on the personal and communitarian levels.the holy father's prayer intentions for march 2018

A Living Message of God

1. The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.   Those who accept His offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.   With Christ joy is constantly born anew.   In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangeliSation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.

115. The People of God is incarnate in the peoples of the earth, each of which has its own culture.   The concept of culture is valuable for grasping the various expressions of the Christian life present in God’s people.   It has to do with the lifestyle of a given society, the specific way in which its members relate to one another, to other creatures and to God. Understood in this way, culture embraces the totality of a people’s life.   Each people in the course of its history develops its culture with legitimate autonomy.   This is due to the fact that the human person, “by nature stands completely in need of life in society” and always exists in reference to society, finding there a concrete way of relating to reality. The human person is always situated in a culture: “nature and culture are intimately linked”.   Grace supposes culture and God’s gift becomes flesh in the culture of those who receive it.

117. When properly understood, cultural diversity is not a threat to Church unity.   The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, transforms our hearts and enables us to enter into the perfect communion of the blessed Trinity, where all things find their unity.   He builds up the communion and harmony of the people of God.   The same Spirit is that harmony, just as He is the bond of love between the Father and the Son.   It is He who brings forth a rich variety of gifts, while at the same time creating a unity which is never uniformity but a multifaceted and inviting harmony.   Evangelisation joyfully acknowledges these varied treasures which the Holy Spirit pours out upon the Church. We would not do justice to the logic of the incarnation if we thought of Christianity as monocultural and monotonous.   While it is true that some cultures have been closely associated with the preaching of the Gospel and the development of Christian thought, the revealed message is not identified with any of them;  its content is transcultural. Hence in the evangelisation of new cultures, or cultures which have not received the Christian message, it is not essential to impose a specific cultural form, no matter how beautiful or ancient it may be, together with the Gospel.   The message that we proclaim always has a certain cultural dress but we in the Church can sometimes fall into a needless hallowing of our own culture and thus show more fanaticism than true evangelising zeal…EVANGELII GAUDIUM OF THE HOLY FATHER, FRANCIS

Reflection:  The Holy Father says that the expression of truth can take different forms.   In the same way that each individual member of the community needs to re-examine themselves and critically establish if we are not too set in our ways, in practising and promoting customs, which are no longer relevant and also labelling any changes within the Church, as wrong and undesirable.   The message of God remains the same – that really is all that matters.   However, the manner in which we express and live it, has to adapt to the society and culture that is being addressed.   Let us keep an open heart and mind always and know, that where we are in the world, is not where my brother or sister, in the Mystical Body, is!

Posted in NOTES to Followers

Apologies

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Apologies for my hasty exodus.

My departure has caught me completely by surprise!   I am so sorry but I leave tomorrow for my annual Retreat and have prepared absolutely nothing as yet!

So no posts today I am afraid.   I will be back in +- 10 days.

I will be praying for you all!   Keep on keeping on.gone on retreat - 1 march 2018- NO 2

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 1 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Abdalong of Marseilles
St Adrian of Numidia
St Agapios of Vatopedi
St Agnes Cao Guiying
St Albinus of Angers
St Albinus of Vercelli
St Amandus of Boixe
St Antonina of Bithynia
Bl Aurelia of Wirberg
Bl Bonavita of Lugo
St Bono of Cagliari
Bl Christopher of Milan
Bl Claudius Gabriel Faber
St David of Wales (c 542-c 601)
St Domnina of Syria
St Donatus of Carthage
St Eudocia of Heliopolis
St Felix III, Pope
Bl George Biandrate
Bl Giovanna Maria Bonomo
Bl Gonzalo de Ubeda
St Hermes of Numidia
St Jared the Patriarch
St Leo of Rouen
St Leolucas of Corleone
St Lupercus
St Marnock
St Monan
Bl Pietro Ernandez
Bl Roger Lefort
St Rudesind
St Seth the Patriarch
St Simplicius of Bourges
St Siviard
St Swithbert
St Venerius of Eichstätt

Martyrs of Africa – A group of 13 Christians executed together for their faith in Africa. The only details about them to survive are ten names – Abundantius, Adrastus, Agapius, Charisius, Donatilla, Donatus, Fortunus, Leo, Nicephorus and Polocronius. c290

Martyrs of Antwerp – A group of Christians martyred together, buried together and whose relics were transferred and enshrined together. We know nothing else but their names – Benignus, Donatus, Felician, Fidelis, Filemon, Herculanus, Julius, Justus, Maximus, Pelagius, Pius, Primus, Procopius and Silvius. Died in the 2nd Century in Rome. They are buried in the St Callistus Catacombs and their relics were enshirned in the Jesuit Church in Antwerp on 28 February 1600.

Martyrs of the Salarian Way – A group of 260 Christians who, for their faith, were condemned to road work on the Salarian Way in Rome, Italy during the persecutions of Claudius II. When they were no longer needed for work, they were publicly murdered in the amphitheatre. Martyrs. c269 in Rome.

Martyrs Under Alexander – A large but unspecified number of Christians martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Alexander Severus and the praefect Ulpian who saw any non-state religion to be a dangerous treason. c219