Day: August 3, 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The SIGN of the CROSS

Thought for the Day – 3 August – The Gift of Every Day

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 3 August – The Gift of Every Day

THE GIFT OF EVERY DAY
by St John Vianney (1786-1859)

“Before beginning your work, my dear brethren, never fail to make the Sign of the Cross. Do not imitate those people without religion who dare not do this because they are in company.   Offer quite simply all your difficulties to God and renew from time to time this offering, for by that means you will have the happiness of drawing down the blessing of Heaven on yourself and on all you do.   Just think, my dear brethren, how many acts of virtue you can practice by behaving in this way, without making any change in what you are actually doing.

If you work with the object of pleasing God and obeying His Commandments, which order you to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow, that is an act of obedience.   If you want to expiate your sins, you are making an act of penance.   If you want to obtain some grace for yourself or for others, it is an act of hope and of charity.   Oh, how we could merit Heaven every day, my dear brethren, by doing just our ordinary duties but by doing them for God and the salvation of our souls!

Who stops you, when you hear the chimes striking, from thinking on the shortness of time and of saying in your minds: “Time passes and death comes closer.   I am hastening towards eternity.   Am I really ready to appear before the tribunal of God?   Am I not in a state of sin?”

“My God, I give you my heart and since You are so good as to give me another day, give me the grace that everything I do will be for Your honour and for the salvation of my soul.”my god i give you my heart - the gift of every day - st john vianney - 3 aug 2018

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Posted in MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST

Quote of the Day – 3 August – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58

“There is line from the illuminator of the St John’s Bible that states:
“We have to love our way out of this.”
There is nothing wimpy or namby-pamby
or blind about this conviction.
When we love extravagantly,
we are not purposely blinding ourselves to moral realities—
just the contrary.

Love is not a sentiment, but “a harsh and dreadful thing,”
as Dostoevsky said.

This is just what Jesus shows on His terrible cross.
And this is just what we, His followers, must imitate.
Taking up the cross means, not just being willing to suffer
but being willing to suffer as He did,
absorbing violence and hatred through our forgiveness and nonviolence.”

Bishop Robert Barronlove is not a sentiment -robert barron - 3 aug 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on TRUST in GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 3 August – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 13:54–58 and The Memorial of Bl Augustine Gazotich O.P. (1262-1323)

Is not this the carpenter’s son?…And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief....Matthew 13:55,58

REFLECTION – “For if I do not understand the nature placed at my service, I discern Your goodness from the mere fact that it is there to serve me.   I perceive that I do not even understand myself but I wonder at You all the more… You have given me intellect, life and human feeling, the source of so many joys, yet I do not begin to understand how I began to be…
So it is through failing to understand what surrounds me that I grasp what You are and it is through perceiving what You are that I come to adore You.   That is why, in what concerns Your mysteries, my incomprehension lessens not a bit my faith in Your omnipotence…  Your eternal Son’s birth exceeds even the idea of eternity; it is prior to the times everlasting. Before any other thing that exists, He was Son proceeding from You, O God and Father.   He is true God… You have never existed without Him…   Before ever time was, You are the eternal Father of Your Sole Begotten One.”…St Hilary (315-368) Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Churchis not this the carpenter's son - matthew 13 55,58 - st hilary - so it is through failing to understand - 3 aug 2018

PRAYER – “So long as I enjoy that breath of life granted to me by You, Holy Father, Almighty God, I will proclaim You as God eternal but also as Father eternal.   Never will I set myself up as judge of Your almighty power and mysteries;  never will I set my limited understanding before the true appreciation of Your infinity; never will I claim You to have existed beforehand without Your Wisdom, Power and Word, God the Only-Begotten, my Lord Jesus Christ.   For even though human language is weak and imperfect when it speaks of You, this will not inhibit my mind to the point of reducing my faith to silence for lack of words able to express the mystery of Your being…” (St Hilary)   Lord God, You hold out the light of Your Word to those who do not know You.    Strengthen in our hearts the faith You have given us, so that no trials may quench the fire Your Spirit kindled within us.   Grant that the prayers of Bl Augustine Gazotich, may assist us to grow in love. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.bl augustine gazotich - pray for us 3 aug 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 3 August – Friday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time

For Your Mercy’s Sake
By St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church

For Your mercy’s sake, O Lord my God,
tell me what You are to me.
Say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
So speak that I may hear, O Lord,
my heart is listening,
open it, that it may hear You
and say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
After hearing this word,
may I come in haste to take hold of You.
Hide not Your face from me.
Let me see Your face even if I die,
lest I die with longing to see it.
The house of my soul
is too small to receive You;
let it be enlarged by You.
It is all in ruins;
do You repair it.
There are thing in it,
I confess and I know,
that must offend Your sight.
But who shall cleanse it?
Or to what others besides You shall I cry out?
From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord
and from those of others spare Your servant.
Amen

for your mercy's sake - st augustine - 10 april 2018

Posted in DOMINICAN OP, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 3 August – Blessed Augustine Gazotich O.P. (1262-1323)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 3 August – Blessed Augustine Gazotich O.P. (1262-1323) born in 1262 at Trau, Dalmatia and died on 3 August 1323 at Lucera, Foggia, Italy of natural causes.  Also known as Augustin Kazotic.   Blessed Augustine was a Dalmatian-Croatian Prelate and professed member from the Order of Preachers who served as the Bishop of Lucera from 1322 until his death.   Gazotich was a humanist and orator who had served first as the Bishop of Zagreb from 1303 until 1322.   He studied in Paris before returning to his homeland where he began working in the missions and preaching in modern Bosnia.  He was one of the first humanist figures to appear in southern Croatia, a great Apostle of Charity.   He was also noted for being the guide for Dante Aligheri as the poet travelled through Croatia.   His reputation for personal holiness remained noted long after his death; this resulted in Pope Innocent XII confirming the late bishop’s beatification in 1700.bl augustin gazotich-my enlg 2

Born to a wealthy family at Trau, Dalmatia, about 1262, Augustine joined the Dominican Order at eighteen and was sent to Hungary.   There his fine spiritual qualities brought him to the attention of the legate Cardinal Niccolo Boccasino, a fellow Dominican.   Upon the latter’s elevation to the Papacy as Benedict XI in 1303, Augustine was made Bishop of Zagreb.augustin-kaoti-b3710491-1f1d-40d7-a635-723897a2b11-resize-750
The new Bishop reformed the clergy, completed building the cathedral and diligently brought about the spiritual renewal of the diocese and its people–while fending off the attacks of the hostile King of Dalmatia.   He was particularly attentive to the needs of the poor and needy peoples, donating most of his own income to them.

In time, Augustine was transferred to the See of Lucera in Sicily, where he continued his work of spiritual renewal, aided by his gift of healing.   The Bishop also defended his flock from attacks against the Faith.   He cared for the poor and needy and fostered devotion to Sts Dominic, Thomas Aquinas, and Peter Martyr.   He died in 1323 in the odour of sa  nctity. In 1702, Pope Clement XI confirmed his cultus.   The cause for his canonisation was re-launched in 2013 in Lucera.   The current Postulator for this cause – since the cause still proceeds – is the Dominican priest Gianni Festa.augustin-kaoti-21c3e900-88eb-45f3-b6c2-93f2a7c0487-resize-750