Day: December 15, 2018

Posted in ADVENT, DOCTORS of the Church, HOMILIES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, The INCARNATION

Thought for the Day – 15 December – The Threefold Coming of the Lord

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 15 December – Saturday of the Second week of Advent

The Word of the Lord will come to us – The Threefold Coming of the Lord

St Bernard Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church

We know that the coming of the Lord is threefold – the third coming is between the other two and it is not visible in the way they are.   At His first coming the Lord was seen on earth and lived among men, who saw Him and hated Him.   At His last coming All flesh shall see the salvation of our God and They shall look on Him whom they have pierced. In the middle, the hidden coming, only the chosen see Him and they see Him within themselves and so their souls are saved.   The first coming was in flesh and weakness, the middle coming is in spirit and power and the final coming will be in glory and majesty.

This middle coming is like a road that leads from the first coming to the last.   At the first, Christ was our redemption, at the last, He will become manifest as our life but in this middle way He is our rest and our consolation.

If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the middle coming, listen to the Lord Himself:  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my words and the Father will love him and we shall come to him.”   Elsewhere I have read:  Whoever fears the Lord does good things – but I think that what was said about whoever loves Him was more important, that whoever loves Him will keep His words.   Where are these words to be kept?   In the heart certainly, as the Prophet says I have hidden your sayings in my heart so that I do not sin against you.   Keep the word of God in that way – Blessed are those who keep it. Let it penetrate deep into the core of your soul and then flow out again in your feelings and the way you behave, because if you feed your soul well it will grow and rejoice.   Do not forget to eat your bread, or your heart will dry up.   Remember and your soul will grow fat and sleek.

If you keep God’s word like this, there is no doubt that it will keep you, for the Son will come to you with the Father, the great Prophet will come, who will renew Jerusalem and He is the one who makes all things new.   For this is what this coming will do, just as we have been shaped in the earthly image, so will we be shaped in the heavenly image.   Just as the old Adam was poured into the whole man and took possession of him, so in turn will our whole humanity be taken over by Christ, who created all things, has redeemed all things and will glorify all things.

Come Lord Jesus, my light, my life, I thank You!come-lord-jesus-15-december-2017-the-golden-thread

Advertisement
Posted in ADVENT, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE, The CHRIST CHILD, The INCARNATION

Quote/s of the Day – 15 December – Saturday of the Second week of Advent

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 15 December – Saturday of the Second week of Advent

“Into this world, this demented inn
in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all,
Christ comes uninvited.”

Thomas Merton OCSO (1915-1968)into this world this demented inn - thomas merton - 15 dec 2018

“At this Christmas, when Christ comes,
will He find a warm heart?
Mark the season of Advent,
by loving and serving the others,
with God’s own love and concern.”

St Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

(Love:  A Fruit Always in Season)at this christmas when christ comes - st mother teresa 15 dec 2018

Posted in ADVENT, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PAPAL Apostolic EXHORTATIONS, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Advent and Christmas Wisdom with St Alphonsus Liguori

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Advent and Christmas Wisdom with St Alphonsus Liguori

15 December – Saturday of the Second week of Advent

The greatest sorrow of Jesus

“Consider Jesus, who revealed to the Venerable Agatha of the Cross, that which afflicted Him more than any other sorrow was hardness of the hearts of humanity.   This sorrow, was the bitter chalice that Jesus begged the Father to remove from Him, saying, “Let this chalice pass from me.  ” What chalice?   The contempt with which His love was treated. Our Lord revealed to St Catherine of Siena that this was the reason that He exclaimed from the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

Knowing this sorrow, let us change our will, repent of our sins and resolve to love God. In this way, we shall then find peace, that is, the divine friendship that we seek.   We beg the Lord for the necessary grace to execute what we propose.   We call upon our Blessed Lady and ask that she not cease to pray until we are changed and made into what God wishes us to be.”

Scripture
“So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Matthew 17:12b

Prayer (St Alphonsus)

“O my most amiable Jesus,
how much have I caused You to suffer?
In the future,
I will love You above all things,
ready to give up my life a thousand times,
in order to accomplish Your will.
Mary Holy Mother,
I beg your prayer and loving care.
Please help us all.
Amen”

Advent Action
Today’s Scriptures encourage us to look for the signs of Jesus, who will restore life to us. “Lord, help me see the signs of Your coming.   Let me not be blinded by the glare of business or the millions of lights in malls and on trees.   Rather, let me look for You in the small things of the day, with my heart longing for You.    “Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb.   He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith.   He will dwell forever, in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul.” [Blessed Isaac of Stella (c 1100-1170) Cistercian Monk]   Amen!”advent with st alphonsus - so also will matthew 17 12 - o sovereign god 15dec2018

“Now is the time to say to Jesus: 
“Lord, I have let myself be deceived;
in a thousand ways I have shunned Your love, 
yet here I am once more, 
to renew my covenant with You. 
I need you. 
Save me once again, Lord,
take me once more into 
Your redeeming embrace”.

Pope Francis – The Joy of the Gospelnow-is-the-time-to-say-to-jesus-15-dec-2018-from-the-joy-of-the-gospel

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Our Morning Offering – 15 December “Saturdays with Mary”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 15 December – Saturday of the Second week of Advent

O Most Blessed and Sweet Virgin Mary
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church

0 most blessed and sweet Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, filled with all tenderness,
Daughter of the most high King,
Lady of the Angels,
Mother of all the faithful,
On this day and all the days of my life,
I entrust to your merciful heart,
my body and my soul,
all my acts, thoughts, choices,
desires, words, deeds,
my entire life and death,
So that, with your assistance,
all may be ordered to the good
according to the will of your beloved Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ameno most blessed and sweet virgin mary - st thomas aquinas - 27 april 2018

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 15 December – Blessed Karl Steeb (1773 – 1856)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 15 December – Blessed Karl Steeb (1773 – 1856) Priest, Founder, Apostle of Charity, Lawyer, Teacher of Languages.   Blessed Karl was born on 18 December 1773 in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg (modern Germany) and died on 15 December 1856 at Verona, Italy of natural causes.   Blessed Karl founded the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in support of the needy and the sick of which he is the Patron.Aronne_Del_Vecchio-Carlo_Steeb_(OeaL)

His father was a highly esteemed businessman of the Lutheran faith who administered the assets of the Duke of Wurttemberg.   He sent Karl to Paris at sixteen and at eighteen to Verona, Italy to study further.   He was a mature and reserved boy, focusing his attention on his studies.   He was a fervent Lutheran but was fascinated with the lively Veronese world, with its cultural and religious vitality.   He attracted a dialogue with some well-known priests and laity and this led him in September 1792, to become Catholic.

Four years later he was ordained a priest, which caused great bitterness on the part of his father, who disinherited him.   However, upon the death of his sister Guglielmina he did inherit, all proceeds of which he donated to the poor of Verona.   It was a time of war between Napoleon and Austria – the battles of Bassano, of Bishop’s Castle, the Rivoli and then the uprising of anti-1797 (the “Pasque Veronese”).   Blessed Karl lived at this time between infirmaries, hospitals, the military sickbays and the infectious lepers, as a priest, nurse and interpreter in three languages.

He contracted typhoid through his work in the hospitals but his spiritual director, Father G B Bertolini, assured him “It’s not your time. The Lord expects something great from you.”

His Order, the Sisters of Mercy, was born in 1840, in two rooms, dedicated to all the suffering and needy.   From the two rooms, the Institute began a journey that continues still, with homes in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Karl, who many called the “father of the sick”, died in 1856 after seeing the completion of a church as the Mother Church of the Sisters of Mercy, in Verona, where his body is buried.   Pope Paul VI Beatified him in 1975 after confirmation of a miracle.

(This biography was translated from Italian and is not comprehensive but the best I could find).Carlo_Steeb

Posted in Uncategorized

Memorials of the Saints – 15 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Bl Karl Steeb (1773 – 1856)
St Margaret of Fontana
Bl Maria della Pace
St Mary Crocifissa di Rosa (1813 – 1855)
Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2016/12/15/saint-of-the-day-15-december/

St Maximinus of Micy
St Offa of Essex
Bl Pau Gracia Sánchez
St Paul of Latros
Bl Ramón Eirin Mayo
St Silvia of Constantinople
St Urbicus
St Valerian of Abbenza
Bl Victoria Strata
St Virginia Centurione Bracelli (1587-1651)
Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/12/15/saint-of-the-day-15-december-st-virginia-centurione-bracelli-1587-1651/

Martyrs of Drina – (5 beati): Also known as
• Daughters of Divine Charity of Drina
• Drina Martyrs
Five members of the Daughters of Divine Charity who were martyred while fighting off Chetnik rapists. They were –
Jozefa Bojanc
Jozefa Fabjan
Karoline Anna Leidenix
Kata Ivanisevic
Terezija Banja
Their martyrdom occured in December 1941 in Gorazde, Bosansko-Podrinjski, Bosnia-Herzegovina
They were Beatified on 24 September 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Martyrs of North Africa – (7 saints): A group of Christians martyred together for their faith in North Africa. The only details about them that survive are their names – Caelian, Candidus, Faustinus, Fortunatus, Januarius, Lucius and Mark.

Martyrs of Rome – (22 saints): A group of 22 Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Valerian. The only details we have are five of their names – Antonius, Irenaeus, Saturnin, Theodorus and Victor. c 258 in Rome, Italy.