Christmas Novena to the Christ Child – Day Two – 17 December
Day Two God’s Love Revealed In His Being Born An Infant.
Reflection:
When the Son of God became man for our sake, He could have come to earth as an adult man from the first moment of of His human existence, as Adam did when he was created. But since the sight of little children draws us with a special attraction to love them, Jesus chose to make His first appearance on earth as a little infant and indeed as the poorest and most pitiful infant that was ever born. “God wished to be born as a little babe,” wrote Saint Peter Chrysologus, “in order that He might teach us to love and not to fear Him.” The prophet Isaiah had long before foretold that the Son of God was to be born as an infant and thus give Himself to us on account of the love He bore us: “A child is born to us, a son is given to us.”
My Jesus, supreme and true God! What has drawn You from heaven to be born in a cold stable, if not the love which You bear for us men? What has allured You from the bosom of Your Father, to place You in a hard manger? What has brought You from Your throne above the stars, to lay You down on a little straw? What has led You from the midst of the nine choirs of angels, to set You between two animals? You, who inflames the seraphim with holy fire, are now shivering with cold in this stable! You, who sets the stars in the sky in motion, cannot now move unless others carry You in their arms! You, who give men and beasts their food, has need now a little milk to sustain Your life! You, who are the joy of heaven, do now whimper and cry in suffering! Tell me, who has reduced You to such misery? “Love has done it,” says Saint Bernard. The love which You bear us men has brought all this on You!
Prayer:
O Dearest Infant! Tell me, what have You come on earth to do? Tell me, whom do You seek? Yes, I already know. You have come to die for me, in order to save me from hell. You have come to seek me, the lost sheep, so that, instead of fleeing from You, I may rest in Your loving arms. Ah my Jesus, my treasure, my life, my love and my all! Whom will I love, if not You? Where can I find a brother, a friend, a spouse more loving and lovable than You are?
I love You, my dear God; I love You, my only good. I regret the many years when I have not loved You but rather spurned and offended You. Forgive me, O my beloved Redeemer; for I am sorry that I have treated You thus and I regret it with all my heart. Pardon me and give me the grace never more to withdraw from You but constantly to love You in all the years that still lie before me in this life. My love, I give myself entirely to You; accept me and do not reject me as I deserve. O Mary, you are my advocate. By your prayers you obtain whatever you wish from your Son. Pray to Him then to forgive me and to grant me holy perseverance until death. Amen
Thought for the Day – 17 December – The Memorial of St John of Matha O.SS.T (1160-1213) – Founder of the Trinitarians
The Trisagion Chaplet
The Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives was founded in France by St John de Matha and St Felix of Valois in 1198. From the very early stages of the of order, the Trinitarians have used a form of prayer based on the Trisagion (sometimes Trisagium or Triagion, from the Greek “three” + ”holy”). This is a Byzantine prayer still used in the Divine Liturgy in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches in praise of the Holy Trinity: its simplest form is “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.”
The Trisagion Chaplet (also called a rosary) has three sets of nine beads each – of course, a rosary can be used too. When reciting the Trisagion Chaplet, each set begins with the Trisagion: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.” and the Pater Noster. An invocation is said on each of the nine beads: “To you be praise, glory, and thanksgiving forever, blessed Trinity. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory.” Each set of nine prayers is followed by a Gloria Patri (“Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…”) and the recitation of the chaplet ends with a closing prayer.
Quote of the Day – 17 December – The Memorial of St John of Matha O.SS.T (1160-1213) – Founder of the Trinitarians and the Devotion to Our Lady of Good Remedy
From the Apostolic Letter “Sacred Vessel of the Holy Trinity” by St Pope John XXIII (AAS LIII, 1961, 602-604)
The Trinitarian religious whose primary duties are to worship the Triune God with a special devotion, to promote this devotion and to aid the needy and those who suffer by performing works of mercy, have honoured the Virgin Mary – Sacred Vessel of the Holy Trinity – under the title of “Mother of Good Remedy” from the very beginnings of their Order.
Indeed, St John de Matha, their founder and lawgiver, had a great love for the Virgin Mother of God. He founded and spread this holy Order under her protection and bequeathed to his sons and daughters the heritage of a strong Marian devotion. A singular love, for the Mother of God, has flourished among these religious throughout the ages, for she continually healed the sufferings of her suppliants; indeed, it still flourishes among them up to the present day.
The General Chapter of 1959, aware that such traditional devotion had become even stronger in the Order, decided to express the desire of all religious of the Order and to petition the Apostolic See that the glorious Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Good Remedy, should be declared the principal, heavenly patroness of the Trinitarian Order.
We have willingly decided to grant this request, hoping that the friars of the Order will be inflamed to honour the Virgin Mary under this title with an even more ardent love. We also trust that they, moved by her example, will more intensely commit themselves to bring relief and remedy to the less fortunate. Therefore, after consulting with the Sacred Congregation of Titles, with full knowledge and mature deliberation and with the fullness of our apostolic authority, by virtue of this document, we designate and declare the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Good Remedy, to be forever the heavenly, principal patroness of the whole Order of the Most Holy Trinity, along with St Agnes, virgin and martyr. The celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Good Remedy is to be given all the liturgical honours and privileges which are fittingly accorded to the patrons of religious Orders and Congregations; moreover, we grant the added faculty of celebrating her feast each year on 8 October.
Most powerful Virgin, we come to you in dangers and adversities. You are our protection, you are our refuge, you are our Mother of Remedy.
Advent and Christmas Wisdom with St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787))
17 December
The Heart of Jesus in the womb of His Mother
“Consider that whatever Jesus suffered in His life and in His Passion was all placed before Him while He was in the womb of Mary. He accepted everything that was proposed to Him with delight but in accepting all things and in overcoming the natural repugnance of sense, O my God, what anguish and oppression did the innocent heart of Jesus suffer. Our Redeemer accepted each moment even though He continually had before His eyes that confusion which He would one day feel at seeing Himself stripped naked, scourged and suspended by three iron nails, ending His life in the midst of insults and curses. And for what? To save us miserable and ungrateful sinners.
My beloved Redeemer, how much did it cost You to raise me from the ruin, which I brought on myself through my sins? What can I do without Your grace? I can do nothing but pray that You will help me but even this prayer comes from the merits of Your suffering and death! O my Jesus, help me!”
Scripture
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
Prayer
O WISDOM You came forth from the mouth of the Most High and reaching from beginning to end, You ordered all things mightily and sweetly. Come and teach us the way of prudence
Advent Action
Time is fast approaching for Eternity to break into time. And today we begin our special preparations to celebrate Your birthday. Your Evangelist, Matthew, begins his Gospel by tracing Your origin as a human being. You did not come to us as bolt from the blue. You fully belong to our human stock. Matthew’s list of Your genealogy is disturbing, if not shocking. Of course, Your ancestors include great patriarchs of the chosen people. But it also includes some of ill repute! It begins with Abraham begetting Isaac. Ishmael, the first son of Abraham, is not in the picture. The story continues with Isaac begetting Jacob and not the elder son Esau. Again, Jacob begets Judah, ignoring Joseph who was obviously the best of the brothers. With these unreasonable choices, Matthew seems to impress on us that often God does not choose the best or the noblest or the saintly. Thank You, Lord, for it is only Your unpredictable graciousness that made You choose me and employ me in Your service! Only by my prayer, ‘O my Jesus, help me’ can I live up to this choice. And so I increase my prayer this week. (Fr Joseph Thena SSP)
Our Morning Offering – 17 December – The Memorial of St John of Matha O.SS.T (1160-1213) – Founder of the Trinitarians and the Devotion to Our Lady of Good Remedy
Prayer/Hymn to Our Lady of Good Remedy
O Mary, you accept our prayers
and lovingly grant remedy,
we ask you with humility,
remain with us continually.
Be with us if we fall in sin
and feel its cruel captivity,
break all the bonds which hold us chained,
and cleanse our hearts’ iniquity.
Help us when love is growing cold
and worldly lures lead us astray,
let heaven shine within our hearts
lest we forget salvation’s way.
Assist us in our sufferings,
when body soul or spirit fail.
Bring peace and calm into our lives
until the light of heaven prevail.
Be with your children at death’s hour,
protect them in your great pity,
that with your aid, they may enjoy
rewards throughout eternity.
With grateful hearts we sing your praise
with hymns unto the Trinity,
for giving us in all our needs
the Virgin as a remedy.
Amen.
From the Breviary Office of Readings for the Feast of Our Lady of Good Remedy
Saint of the Day – 17 December – St John of Matha O.SS.T (1160-1213) – Priest, Founder of The Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives, also known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity or the Trinitarians, Confessor, – born on 23 June 1160 at Faucon, Provence, France and died on 12 December 1223 at Rome, Italy of natural causes.
Patronage – The Trinitarians.
Between the eighth and the fifteenth centuries, medieval Europe was in a state of intermittent warfare between the Christian kingdoms of southern Europe and the Muslim polities of North Africa, Southern France, Sicily and portions of Spain. The threat of capture, whether by pirates or coastal raiders, or during one of the region’s intermittent wars, was not a new but rather a continuing threat to the residents of Catalonia, Languedoc and the other coastal provinces of medieval Christian Europe.
The redemption of captives is listed among the corporal works of mercy. The period of the Crusades, when so many Christians were in danger of falling into the hands of Muslims, witnessed the rise of religious orders vowed exclusively to this pious work.
St John of Matha was born to noble parents on the borders of Provence on 23 June 1169. He was baptised John, in honour of St John the Baptist. His father Euphemius sent him to Aix, where he learned grammar, fencing, riding, and other exercises fit for a young nobleman. It is said that while there he gave the poor a considerable part of the money his parents sent him and he visited the hospital every Friday, assisting the sick poor.
He studied theology at the University of Paris and was ordained a priest at the age of 32 in December 1192.
According to Trintarian tradition, on 28 January 1193, John celebrated his first Mass. During that Mass, he was struck with a vision of Christ holding by the hand two chained captives, one a Moor, the other a Christian (the Crusades were in full force at the time). The Christian captive carried a staff with a red and blue cross. After the Mass, John decided to devote himself to the task of ransoming Christian captives from the Moors. Before entering upon this work, he thought it needful to spend some time in retirement, prayer and mortification and having heard of a holy hermit, St Felix of Valois (1127–1212), living in a great wood near Gandelu, in the diocese of Meux, he repaired to him and requested him to instruct him in the practice of perfection.
One day while walking with Felix, John had another vision–a white stag appeared at a stream with a red and blue cross between its antlers. John disclosed to Felix the design he had conceived on the day on which he said his first mass, to succour captive Christians under slavery and Felix offered his help in carrying it out. They set out for Rome in the midst of a severe winter, towards the end of the year 1197, to obtain the pope’s benediction.
St John of Matha and St Felix of Valois
On 17 December 1198, he obtained the preliminary approval of Pope Innocent III for a new order dedicated in honour of the Blessed Trinity for the redemption of Christian captives. This order was fully approved in 1209. The Order of the Most Holy Trinity’s first monastery was established at Cerfroid (just north of Paris) and the second at Rome at the church of San Tommaso in Formis. Christian slaves were first rescued by the Order in 1201. In 1202 and 1210 John travelled to Tunisia himself and brought back countless Christian slaves.
St John founded the Trinitarians to go to the slave markets, buy the Christian slaves and set them free. To carry out this plan, the Trinitarians needed large amounts of money. So, they placed their fund-raising efforts under the patronage of Mary. In gratitude for her assistance, St John of Matha honoured Mary with the title of “Our Lady of Good Remedy.” Devotion to Mary under this ancient title is widely known in Europe and Latin America and the Church celebrates her feast day on 8 October. Our Lady of Good Remedy is often depicted as the Virgin Mary handing a bag of money to St John of Matha.
Before his death, Trinitarian tradition says he met St Francis of Assisi and introduced Francis to the Frangipani family, one of the benefactors of the Franciscan order. St John of Matha died on 17 December 1213, in Rome in the house of St Thomas In Formis on the Caelian Hill.
In 1655, his relics were transferred from Rome to Madrid. He was Canonised on 21 October 1666 by Pope Alexander VII (cultus confirmed).
Today the Trinitarian family is composed of priests, brothers, women (enclosed nuns and active sisters) as well as committed laity. Members of the Trinitarian family include the Trinitarian religious, the Trinitarian contemplative nun,; the Trinitarian Sisters of Valence, the Trinitarian Sisters of Rome, Valencia, Madrid, Mallorca and Seville, the Oblates of the Most Holy Trinit, the Third Order Secular (tertiaries) and other Trinitarian laity. All are distinguished by the cross of red and blue which dates from the origins of the Order. Trinitarians are found throughout Europe and in the Americas as well as in Africa, India, Korea and the Philippines.
In 2000 the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life approved “The Trinitarian Way” rule of life which would guide all the lay groups associated with the Trinitarians including the Third Order Secular, the Trinitarian Movement, Confraternities, etc.
Like the Jesuits, Trinitarians also pledge not to seek promotion within the Church hierarchy. If promotion is offered, however, it is accepted.
The Order of the Most Holy Trinity is active on five continents and in many countries.
A John of Matha Saint sculpture from Mafra Palace, Portugal, main entrance
Statues of Saints Felix of Valois and John of Matha. Charles Bridge, Prague.
St Judicaël
St Lazarus of Bethany
BL Mariano Alarcón Ruiz
Bl Mathilde Téllez Robles
St Maxentiolus
St Modestus of Jerusalem
St Olympias of Constantinople
Bl Peter of Spain
St Sturmi of Fulda
St Tydecho
St Wivina
St Yolanda
Martyrs of Eleutheropolis – (60+ Martyrs-Beati): Approximately 60 Christian soldiers in the imperial Roman army of emperor Heraclius; they were murdered as a group for their faith by invading Saracen Muslims. We know the names of two of them – Calaoicus and Florian. 638 in Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), Palestine.
AnaStpaul 
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