Year: 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 5 February – The Memorial of St Agatha (c 231- c 251)

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One Minute Reflection – 5 February – The Memorial of St Agatha (c 231- c 251)

Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong…1 Corinthians 1:27

REFLECTION – “My fellow Christians, our annual celebration of a martyr’s feast has brought us together.   Agatha achieved renown in the early Church for her noble victory. For her, Christ’s death was recent, His blood was still moist.   Her robe is the mark of her faithful witness to Christ.   Agatha, the name of our saint, means “good.”   She was truly good, for she lived as a child of God.   Agatha, her goodness coincides with her name and her way of life.   She won a good name by her noble deeds and by her name she points to the nobility of those deeds.   Agatha, her mere name wins all men over to her company. She teaches them by her example, to hasten with her to the true Good, God alone.” – from a homily on Saint Agatha by Saint Methodius of Sicily (c 788-c 847)agatha, the name of our saint - st methodius of sicily - 5 feb 2018

PRAYER – Lord God, let St Agatha, who became precious in Your sight through her pure life and valiant martyrdom, plead for our forgiveness.   For, with joy and rejoicing, as though to a feast, St Agatha, went to prison and offered her sufferings to You, with many prayers.   Through Jesus Christ, Your divine Son, in unity with the Spirit, one God forever. St Agatha, pray for us, amen.st agatha - pray for us 5 feb 2018

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

Our Morning Offering – 5 February

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Our Morning Offering – 5 February

Morning Prayer
St Benedict (480-547)

Gracious and Holy Father,
give us the wisdom
to discover You,
the intelligence
to understand You,
the diligence
to seek after You,
the patience
to wait for You,
eyes to behold You,
a heart
to meditate upon You,
and a life
to proclaim You,
through the power
of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord.
Amengracious and holy father - st benedict - 5 feb 2018

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Saint of the Day – 5 February – St Agatha (c 231- c 251) Virgin and Martyr

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Saint of the Day – 5 February – St Agatha (c 231- c 251) Virgin and Martyr.   St Agatha was born at Catania or Palermo, Sicily and she was martyred in approximately 251 at Catania, Sicily by being rolled on coals.   She is one of seven women, who, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.   Patronages – against breast cancer, against breast disease, against earthquakes, against eruptions of Mount Etna, against fire, against natural disasters, against sterility, against volcanic eruptions, of bell-founders, fire prevention, jewellers, martyrs, nurses, rape victims, single laywomen, torture victims, wet-nurses, Malta, San Marino, 64 Cities.

st agatha header 2

One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the persecution of Decius (250–253) in Catania, Sicily, for her determined profession of faith.   Her written legend comprises “straightforward accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance and triumph which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature”.   Although the martyrdom of Saint Agatha is authenticated and her veneration as a saint had spread beyond her native place even in antiquity, there is no reliable information concerning the details of her death.

Cavallino, Bernardo; St Agatha; York Museums Trust; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/st-agatha-7795

According to Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legend of c 1288, having dedicated her virginity to God, fifteen-year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, rejected the amorous advances of the low-born Roman prefect Quintianus, who then persecuted her for her Christian faith.   He sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel.   The madam finding her intractable, Quintianus sent for her, argued, threatened and finally had her put in prison.   Amongst the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts with pincers.

ST AGATHA - LGst agatha 3saint-agatha-francesco-guarino

After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion, Saint Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt at the stake but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison where St Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds. Saint Agatha died in prison, according to the Legenda Aurea in “the year of our Lord two hundred and fifty-three in the time of Decius, the emperor of Rome.”

Saint Agatha is a patron saint of Malta, where in 1551 her intercession through a reported apparition to a Benedictine nun is said to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion.   Agatha is the patron saint of bell-founders because of the shape of her severed breasts and also of bakers, whose loaves were blessed at her feast day.   More recently, she has been venerated as patron saint of breast cancer patients. She is claimed as the patroness of Palermo.   The year after her death, the stilling of an eruption of Mt. Etna was attributed to her intercession.   As a result, apparently, people continued to ask her prayers for protection against fire.

Agatha is buried at the Badia di Sant’Agata, Catania.   She is listed in the late 6th-century Martyrologium Hieronymianum associated with Jerome and the Synaxarion, the calendar of the church of Carthage, ca. 530.438px-Catania's_duomo_and_balloons

Two early churches were dedicated to her in Rome, notably the Church of Sant’Agata dei Goti in Via Mazzarino, a titular church with apse mosaics of c 460 and traces of a fresco cycle, overpainted by Gismondo Cerrini in 1630.   Agatha is also depicted in the mosaics of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, where she appears, richly dressed, in the procession of female martyrs along the north wall.

Basques have a tradition of gathering on Saint Agatha’s Eve (Basque: Santa Ageda bezpera) and going round the village. Homeowners can choose to hear a song about her life, accompanied by the beats of their walking sticks on the floor or a prayer for the household’s deceased.   After that, the homeowner donates food to the chorus.[25] This song has varying lyrics according to the local tradition and the Basque language.

An annual festival to commemorate the life of Saint Agatha takes place in Catania, Sicily, from February 3 to 5.   The festival culminates in a great all-night procession through the city for which hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents turn out.catania_i_cannalori

St Agatha’s Tower is a former Knight’s stronghold located in the north west of Malta.  The seventeenth-century tower served as a military base during both World Wars and was used as a radar station by the Maltese army.

Burial of St Agatha, by Giulio Campi, 1537
Burial of St Agatha, by Giulio Campi, 1537
Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 5 February

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St Agatha (c 231- c 251) (Memorial)

—
St Adelaide of Guelders
St Agatha Hildegard of Carinthia
St Agricola of Tongres
St Albinus of Brixen
St Anthony of Athens
St Avitus of Vienne
St Bertulph
St Buo of Ireland
St Calamanda of Calaf
St Dominica of Shapwick
Bl Elisabetta Canori Mora
St Fingen of Metz
Bl Françoise Mézière
St Gabriel de Duisco
St Genuinus of Sabion
St Indract
St Isidore of Alexandria
St Jesús Méndez-Montoya
Bl John Morosini
St Kichi Franciscus
St Luca di Demenna
St Modestus of Carinthia
Bl Primo Andrés Lanas
St Saba the Younger
St Vodoaldus of Soissons
—
Martyrs of Pontus: An unknown number of Christians who were tortured and martyred in assorted painful ways in the region of Pontus (in modern Turkey) during the persecutions of Maximian.

Posted in MORNING Prayers, SUNDAY REFLECTIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Sunday Reflection – 4 February – 5th Sunday of Year B

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Sunday Reflection – 4 February – 5th Sunday of Year B

The Action of God on Calvary is a continuous action throughout Creation
Fr Gerard W Hughes S.J. – “God of Surprises”

The same God who manifested Godself in the historical Jesus, once-for-all, is still giving Godself to us in love through the signs and symbols of bread and wine.   God is not time-and-space-conditioned.   The once-for-all action of God on Calvary is a continuous action throughout creation.   In celebrating the Eucharist, we are celebrating our awareness of this tremendous truth.
As our sinfulness can infect and deform our image of God and our understanding of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, so too, it can distort our understanding of the Eucharist.   Instead of a celebration which fills us with joy and wonder, broadening our vision and uniting us with ourselves and with all creation, the Eucharist can become a code and formal ritual, performed mechanically with more attention to rubrics and money-raising, than to God or to one another and, attended by many because they are afraid that their absence might cause their eternal damnation.
Christian communities can be divided into hostile factions over the choice of hymns, the place of tabernacle in the Church, the manner of distributing and receiving Holy Communion, who should and should not be allowed to receive it, what one wears or should wear or not wear, whether women cover their heads, the language used for the liturgy, or whether the Peace of Christ should be given to one another by the congregation!
I am not saying that these questions do not have their importance somewhere, nor am I advocating abolition of all rubrics, rules and regulations but I am saying that many of the questions which absorb our attention, are very secondary.   They preoccupy and divide us within the Catholic Church because our vision and understanding of the Eucharist is too limited – we turn this reality of God’s love for all His creation into a sacred object, a thing and we do not allow God to be God to us, even this most wonderful and mysterious event!
The Eucharist is given to us so that Christ’s presence may be real in the lives of His people, a living presence.the eucharist is given to us - fr gerard hughes - god of surprises - 4 feb 2018

Posted in MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY THREE– 4 February

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Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY THREE– 4 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)

DAY THREE
“You are all fair, O Mary
and there is in you no stain of original sin.”
O Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to thee.
O brilliant star of sanctity,
as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes
you spoke to the child Bernadette
and a fountain broke from the plain earth
and miracles happened
and the great shrine of Lourdes began,
so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer
and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek.
……………………………….. (make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.day three - our lady of lourdes - 4 feb 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 4 February – – The Memorial of St Joseph of Leonissa O.F.M. CAP (1556-1612)

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Thought for the Day – 4 February – – The Memorial of St Joseph of Leonissa O.F.M. CAP (1556-1612)

Saints often jar us because they challenge our ideas about what we need for “the good life.” “I’ll be happy when. . . ,” we may say, wasting an incredible amount of time on the periphery of life.   People like Joseph of Leonissa challenge us to face life courageously and get to the heart of it:  life with God.   Joseph was a compelling preacher because his life was as convincing as his words.

Saint Joseph of Leonissa suffered illness, poverty, persecution and exhaustion throughout his life, never ceasing in his efforts to bring the peace of Christ to those around him.   He embraced his suffering, contemplating the wounds of Christ and frequently exclaiming, “When we suffer anything we give proof of our love.”   We look to Saint Joseph of Leonissa as a shining example of the union of joy and suffering made manifest by Our Lord on the cross and the experience of Our Blessed Mother throughout her life.   May we, like this holy saint, embrace our own personal sufferings as bringing us closer to our risen Lord, suffering with Him and His Mother, for expiation of the sins of the world.

St Joseph of Leonissa Pray for us!st joseph of leonissa - pray for us no 2 - 4 feb 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SPEAKING of ....., The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Quote/s of the Day – 4 February – 5th Sunday of Year B

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Quote/s of the Day – 4 February – 5th Sunday of Year B

“Speaking of the Eucharist/the Holy Mass”

“When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled, with countless angels, who adore the divine victim, immolated on the altar.”

St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father & Doctor of the Churchwhen mass is being celebrated - st john chrysostom - 4 feb 2018

“The Holy Mass would be of greater profit, if people had it offered in their lifetime, rather than having it celebrated for the relief of their souls, after death.”

Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922)the holy mass - pope benedict XV

“One merits more, by devoutly assisting at a Holy Mass, than by distributing, all of his goods to the poor and travelling, all over the world, on pilgrimage.”

St Bernard if Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Churchone merits more - st bernard of clairvaux - 4 feb 2018

“The celebration of Holy Mass has the same value as the Death of Jesus on the Cross.”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Churchthe celebration of holy mass - st thomas aquinas - 28 jan 2018

“When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage, speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul, where He is present, for your happiness, welcome Him as warmly as possible and behave outwardly, in such a way, that your actions, may give proof to all, of His Presence.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Churchwhen you have received him - st francis de sales - 4 feb 2018

“If someone said to us, “At such an hour a dead person is to be raised to life, ” we should run very quickly to see it.   But is not the Consecration, which changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of God, a much greater miracle than to raise a dead person to life?   We ought always to devote at least a quarter of an hour to preparing ourselves to hear Mass well.   We ought to annihilate ourselves before God, after the example of His profound annihilation in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and we should make our examination of conscience, for we must be in a state of grace. to be able to assist properly at Mass.   If we knew the value of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or rather, if we had faith, we should be much more zealous to assist at it.”

St John Vianney (1786-1859)we ought always - st john vianney - 4 feb 2018

Posted in franciscan OFM, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 4 February – The Memorial of St Joseph of Leonissa O.F.M. CAP (1556-1612)

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One Minute Reflection – 4 February – The Memorial of St Joseph of Leonissa O.F.M. CAP (1556-1612)

Clearly you are a letter of Christ which I have delivered, a letter written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh in the heart….2 Corinthians 3:3

REFLECTION – “Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel. This is what St Paul says to the Corinthians.   Our heart is the parchment;  through my ministry the Holy Spirit is the writer because ‘my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe’ (Psalm 45:1).”….St Joseph of Leonissaevery christian must be a living book - st joseph of leonissa - 4 feb 2018

PRAYER – Almighty God, You made Saint Joseph of Leonessa, an illustrious preacher of the gospel. Through his prayers inflame us with love and with his zeal for souls that we may serve You alone. St Joseph of Leonissa, pray for us, amen.st joseph of leonissa - pray for us - 4 feb 2018

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, HYMNS, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY GHOST

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

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Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Veni Creator Spiritus
By Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . .Veni, Creator Spiritus - bl rabanus maurus - 4 feb 2018

Today, 4 February, us the Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus.

Rabanus Maurus was a young boy who loved to study and became a disciple of the great Englishmen who brought learning and holiness to the kingdom of Charlemagne.   He was born in 784, when the Carolingian renaissance was at its height and his parents sent him to be educated at St Boniface’s great monastery of Fulda, which had a famous school.   So remarkable was he as a student that the Abbot of Fulda sent him to study under Charlemagne’s own schoolmaster, Alcuin, at Tours and it was under this teacher that he received the name Maurus, after St. Benedict’s favourite disciple.   On returning to Fulda, he was first a teacher, then head of the school there, which became famous all over Europe.

He continued the tradition of sacred learning begun by St Boniface and Alcuin.   He wrote homilies, scientific treatises, poetry, hymns and commentaries on most of the books of the Bible.   Like St Bede, he was the marvel of his time for his learning and was unequalled in his time for his scriptural and patristic learning.

In 822, Blessed Rabanus Maurus was elected abbot of Fulda and the monastery flourished under his guidance. He increased the library, built new buildings and fostered learning of every kind.  In 842, he retired, planning to live a life of prayer in solitude for the rest of his life.

In 847, he was chosen to be archbishop of Mainz, at the age of sixty-three and the last years of his life were spent directing the affairs of his diocese, holding provincial synods, and directing a multitude of charitable works.   During a famine, he fed three hundred poor people at his own house.   He became bedridden shortly before his death and from the moment of his death was regarded as a saint.

He was buried at the monastery of St Alban’s in Mainz but later his relics were transferred to Halle.

Posted in franciscan OFM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 4 February – Saint Jane of Valois O.Ann.M (1464-1505)

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Saint of the Day – 4 February – Saint Jane of Valois O.Ann.M and T.O.S.F (1464-1505) Princess, Queen, Founder, Religious Sister, Mystic, Teacher.   St Jane was born a Princess as Jeanne de France, Jeanne de Valois on 23 April 1464 – 4 February 1505) and was briefly Queen of France as wife of King Louis XII, in between the death of her brother, King Charles VIII and the annulment of her marriage.   After that, she retired to her domain, where she soon founded the monastic Order of the Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary.   From this Order later sprang the religious congregation of the Apostolic Sisters of the Annunciation, founded in 1787 to teach the children of the poor. She was Beatified on 18 June 1742 by Pope Benedict XIV and canonised on 28 May 1950 by Pope Pius XIIand is known as Saint Joan of Valois, O.Ann.M.st joan valois header

Saint Jane of Valois, the daughter of Louis XI, king of France, was born April 23, 1464. Favoured with great gifts of mind and heart from her earliest years, she despised the pomp of the court and sought her joy in solitude, prayer and meditation.   This manner of life greatly displeased her proud and morose father as being unworthy of a royal princess and he always treated her harshly.st joan valois

Saint Jane, however, bore it patiently and complained of her sufferings only to God.   She once had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary and said to her:

“Be consoled, my daughter!   A time will still come when you will belong to me entirely. A   large group of young women consecrated to God will join you in serving me and proclaiming my praise everywhere.”

At these words a stream of heavenly consolation flooded Jane’s soul and she resolved anew to persevere in the service of God, cost what it might.st joan valois 3

Her divinely guided director, Blessed Gabriel Mary or Father Gilbert Nicolas, a Franciscan, encouraged her in her resolution and was her support and director on the way to perfection.   From him she also received the habit of the Third Order.  From then on she entertained the thought of entering a convent in order to live and die as a bride of the Crucified but suddenly her father announced his decision that she should marry Louis, Duke of Orleans and she was to obey without remonstrance.   In filial obedience and for love of God Jane made this difficult sacrifice in the year 1486.

Her marriage was not a happy one.   Even before the ceremony took place, Duke Louis protested secretly before a notary and witnesses that he yielded to force and was marrying against his will, in order to escape the anger of the king.   He always treated Saint Jane of Valois as a stranger and if he ever permitted her to appear before him, he reproached and ill treated her.   When Duke Louis ascended to the throne of France in the year 1498 as Louis XII, his first act was to send the queen a bill of divorce.   Because of the compulsion employed, the pope declared the marriage null and void.   Jane accepted this great humiliation with a heart resigned to God and said:

“God has now detached me from the world and has made it possible for me to serve Him better than heretofore.”

She now repaired to Bourges and there the revelation that had been made to her in her youth was to be realised.   She united a group of young women to form a religious community which would devote itself to the special veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.   Her regular confessor, Father Gilbert, drew up the statutes, which treat in ten chapters on imitating the ten virtues of the Blessed Virgin:  the chastity, prudence, humility, faith, obedience, compassion, devotion, poverty, patience and piety of Mary.

In the year 1500 Pope Alexander VI approved this new institute, the members of which were called Sisters of the Annunciation of Mary, or Annunciades.   The pope placed them under the obedience of the minister general of the Franciscans and gave Father Gilbert the name of Gabriel Mary.   Jane herself took the veil in the convent of Bourges which she had built and on Pentecost, 1503, she pronounced her solemn vows.

Having for so long a time been prepared in the school of suffering and humiliation, she soon reached the summit of religious perfection and was ripe for heaven.   God called Saint Jane of Valois to Himself on 4 February 1505.   Her body was entombed in the church of the Annunciation and many miracles occurred at her tomb.

In the year 1562, the heretical Huguenots stormed the city of Bourges.   Also the convent and the church of the Annunciades were plundered and destroyed.   They tore Jane’s body, which was still incorrupt, out of the vault and when they pierced it with swords, blood flowed from the wounds.   The holy body was then burned.   This kind of activity by these heretics puts the lie to their claim to be “reformers” of the faith, or even followers of Christ.   Like the Pharaoh at the time of Moses, the miracle they had just witnessed only hardened their hearts in sin.

*from: The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 4 February

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St Aldate of Gloucester
Bl Alfonso de Meneses
St Aquilinus of Fossombrone
St Aventinus of Chartres
St Aventinus of Troyes
St Cuanna of Lismore
Bl Dionisio de Vilaregut
St Donatus of Fossombrone
St Eutychius of Rome
St Filoromus of Alexandria
St Firmus of Genoa
Bl Frederick of Hallum
St Gelasius of Fossombrone
St Geminus of Fossombrone
St Gilbert of Sempringham
St Isidore of Pelusium
St Jane of Valois  (1464-1505)
St John de Britto
St John of Irenopolis
Bl John Speed
St Joseph of Leonissa
St Liephard of Cambrai
St Magnus of Fossombrone
St Modan
St Nicholas Studites
St Nithard
St Obitius
St Phileas of Alexandria
Bl Rabanus Maurus
St Rembert
St Themoius
St Theophilus the Penitent
St Vincent of Troyes
St Vulgis of Lobbes
—
Jesuit Martyrs of Japan: A collective memorial of all members of the Jesuits who have died as martyrs for the faith in Japan.
• Blessed Ambrose Fernandez
• Blessed Antony Ixida
• Blessed Augustine Ota
• Blessed Baltasar de Torres Arias
• Blessed Camillus Costanzo
• Blessed Charles Spinola
• Blessed Diego Carvalho
• Blessed Dionysius Fugixima
• Blessed Francisco Pacheco
• Blessed Giovanni Battista Zola
• Blessed Gundisalvus Fusai Chozo
• Blessed Ioannes Kisaku
• Blessed Iulianus Nakaura
• Blessed Jerome de Angelis
• Blessed John Baptist Machado de Tavora
• Blessed Michaël Tozo
• Blessed Paulus Shinsuke
• Blessed Petrus Rinsei
• Blessed Simon Yempo
• Blessed Vincentius Kaun
• Saint James Kisai
• Saint John Soan de Goto
• Saint Paul Miki
• Saint Paul Suzuki

Martyrs of Perga – 4 saints: A group of shepherds martyred in the persecutions of Decius. The only details we have about the

Posted in MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY TWO – 3 February

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Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY TWO – 3 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)

DAY TWO
Be blessed, O most pure Virgin,
for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty,
in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child Saint Bernadette:
“I am the Immaculate Conception!”
O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with just one ray of the burning love of your pure heart
Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you,
in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity.
O dispenser of His graces here below,
take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son
the petition for which we are making this novena.
……………………………….(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God.
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.day two - our lady of lourdes - 3 feb 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 3 February – The Memorial of St Ansgar (801-865)

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Thought for the Day – 3 February – The Memorial of St Ansgar (801-865)

The “apostle of the north” (Scandinavia) had enough frustrations to become a saint—and he did.   He became a Benedictine at Corbie, France, where he had been educated.   Three years later, when the king of Denmark became a convert, Ansgar went to that country for three years of missionary work, without noticeable success.   Sweden asked for Christian missionaries and he went there, suffering capture by pirates and other hardships on the way.   Fewer than two years later, he was recalled, to become abbot of New Corbie (Corvey) and bishop of Hamburg.   The pope made him legate for the Scandinavian missions.   Funds for the northern apostolate stopped with Emperor Louis’s death.   After 13 years’ work in Hamburg, Ansgar saw it burned to the ground by invading Northmen – Sweden and Denmark returned to paganism.

He directed new apostolic activities in the North, travelling to Denmark and being instrumental in the conversion of another king.   By the strange device of casting lots, the king of Sweden allowed the Christian missionaries to return.

Ansgar’s biographers remark that he was an extraordinary preacher, a humble and ascetical priest.   He was devoted to the poor and the sick, imitating the Lord in washing their feet and waiting on them at table.   He died peacefully at Bremen, Germany, without achieving his wish to be a martyr.

History records what people do, rather than what they are.   Yet the courage and perseverance of men and women like Ansgar can only come from a solid base of union with the original courageous and persevering Missionary.   Ansgar’s life is another reminder that God writes straight with crooked lines.   Christ takes care of the effects of the apostolate in His own way, He is first concerned about the purity of the apostles themselves and thus, through them, we learn the way of zeal, courage and a true missionary spirit, the way we are all called to live.

St Ansgar, pray for us!st ansgar pray for us no 2 - 3 feb 2018

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY

BLESSING of ST BLAISE

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3 February – The Memorial of St Blaise – Martyr (Died c 316)

THROAT BLESSING of ST BLAISE

Although separated by customs, language, politics and more, Catholics around the world celebrate many of the same God-inspired devotional acts, practices and rituals handed down through the centuries by Holy Mother Church.   Such a devotion is the optional memorial celebrating St Blaise and the blessing of throats today, every 3 February.

Throat blessings
The candles used in the blessing of throats may be those blessed yesterday, on Candlemas, or when blessed during the St. Blaise memorial.

With the crossed candles touched to the throat of each person, the celebrant says immediately:

Through the intercession of Saint Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness.    In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Each person responds:  Amen.blessing of st blaise - 3 feb 2018

Posted in franciscan OFM, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, SAINT of the DAY

Quote of the Day – 3 February – The Memorial of St Blaise – Martyr (Died c 316)

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Quote of the Day – 3 February – The Memorial of St Blaise – Martyr (Died c 316)

“Speaking of Prayer”

The heart-rending and beautiful words of another Martyr, St Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941), on the power of prayer.

The day was long,
The burden I had borne
Seemed heavier than I could longer bear
And then it lifted but I did not know
Some one had knelt in prayer;
Had taken me to God, that very hour,
And asked the easing of the load and He,
In infinite compassion, had stooped down
And taken it from me.
We cannot tell how often, as we pray
For some bewildered one,
Hurt and distressed,
The answer comes,
But many times those hearts,
find sudden peace and rest.
Someone had prayed and Faith,
a reaching hand,
Took hold of God
and brought Him down, that day!
So many, many hearts have need of prayer.
Oh, let us pray!

St Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941)the day was long - st maximillian kolbe - 3 feb 2018

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SANCTITY, SAINT of the DAY

One Minute Reflection – 3 February – The Memorial of St Blaise – Martyr (Died c 316) and St Ansgar (801-865)

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One Minute Reflection – 3 February – The Memorial of St Blaise – Martyr (Died c 316) and St Ansgar (801-865)

...Do not use your freedom as an opening for self-indulgence but be servants to one another in love….the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control; no law can touch such things as these…Galatians 5:13,22-23

REFLECTION – “If I were worthy of such a favour from my God, I would ask that He grant me this one miracle: that by His grace He would make of me a good man.”- St Ansgar to a parishioner who was praising him for being a miracle workerif i were worthy - st ansgar - 3 feb 2018

PRAYER – Holy Father, You sent St Ansgar, Monk and Bishop, to bring the light of Christ to many nations of Northern Europe.   Through his prayer give us grace to live always in the light of Your truth.   Grant too, that by the prayers of St Blaise, we too may be granted the grace to follow Your only Son, no matter our sufferings, to You, in our heavenly home.   We make our prayer, through Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever amen.st ansgar - pray for us - 3 feb 2018st-blaise-pray-for-us-3-february-2017

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

Our Morning Offering – 3 February

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Our Morning Offering – 3 February

A Morning Offering of St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

My God, I give You this day.
I offer You, now,
all of the good that I shall do
and I promise to accept,
for love of You,
all of the difficulty, that I shall meet.
Help me to conduct myself,
during this day
in a manner pleasing to You.
Amenmy god I give you this day - st francis de sales - 2018

Posted in Against SNAKE BITES / POISON, Against SORE THROATS, COUGHS, WHOOPING COUGH,, Against STORMS, EARTHQUAKES, THUNDER & LIGHTENING, FIRES, DROUGHT / NATURAL DISASTERS, Of BUILDERS, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS, Of the SICK, the INFIRM, All ILLNESS, PATRONAGE - HEADACHES, PATRONAGE - ORPHANS,ABANDONED CHILDREN, PATRONAGE - TOOTHACHE and Diseases of the TEETH,, of DENTISTS, SAINT of the DAY, SKIN DISEASES, RASHES, STOMACH DISEASES and PAIN, INTESTINAL DISORDERS, Thomas a Kempis, Uncategorized

Saint of the Day – 3 February – St Blaise (Died c 316) – Martyr

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Saint of the Day – 3 February – St Blaise (Died c 316) – Martyr, Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia, Physician, Miracle-worker.   Died in c 316 by his flesh being torn off his body by iron wool-combs, then beheaded.  Patronages – against angina • against bladder diseases • against blisters • against coughs • against dermatitis • against dropsy • against eczema • against edema • against fever • against goitres • against headaches • against impetigo • against respiratory diseases • against skin diseases • against snake bites • against sore throats • against stomach pain • against storms • against teething pain • against throat diseases • against toothaches • against ulcers • against whooping cough • against wild beasts • angina sufferers of ; of children, animals, builders, drapers, against choking, veterinarians, infants, of 21 Cities, of stonecutters, carvers, wool workers. St Blaise is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers – https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/25/thought-for-the-day-25-july-the-memorial-of-st-christopher-died-c-251-one-of-the-fourteen-holy-helpers/

Today the Church remembers the life and witness of Saint Blaise, a 3rd century Armenian bishop who endured terrifying torments and surrendered his life rather than repudiate his profession of Faith.st blaise statue - large

Much of the life of Saint Blaise is history that has passed into legend but even these legendary accounts offer spiritual insight.

Blaise was renowned as a wonderworker, effecting miraculous cures. T  his would have been enough to attract attention but he was also not averse to calling out the Roman officials who ruled the region in which he lived, Cappadocia, for their tyranny and intolerance of Christian faith and practice.   The combination of a reputation for supernatural power and the courage of his convictions was not welcomed by Rome and the governor ordered Bishop Blaise to be arrested.   Blaise was able to elude capture and took refuge in the wilderness.   It was there in the caves of Cappadocia that his ministry and his mission continued.

There is an account of Saint Blaise that identifies not only his pastoral care for the Christian faithful but also for the animals of the wilderness.

A woman had witnessed her piglet carried off by a wolf and spoke of her plight to the bishop.   Saint Blaise called for the wolf, demanded her return the piglet to its rightful owner and reminded the wolf of the grave penalty that awaited a thief.   The wolf complied and returned the piglet to its owner- a credit to the bishop’s power of persuasion.   The woman would later return the favour to Saint Blaise when he was finally captured and imprisoned.   She brought to him candles to illuminate his dank and dreary cell.

This legend hints at how the saints represent, in their holiness, the restoration of a paradise lost and regained in Christ.   The ease and familiarity with which the Biblical character of Adam is believed to have communed with nature before the fall is recapitulated in Saint Blaise- he is a sign that anticipates the restoration of all things in Christ where the lion will rest with the lamb and in this case, the wolf will return stolen property to its rightful owner.

Saint Blaise Painting by Pere Fernandez; Saint Blaise Art Print for sale

Saint Blaise has been invoked for centuries as a specialist in diseases of the throat.   The origin of this practice might be in the story of a child brought to the saint who was either choking or suffering from some other malady of the throat.   Saint Blaise blessed the boy and he was restored to health.

The practice of blessing throats on the Feast of Saint Blaise is a commemoration of this miracle, that crossed candles are often used to impart this blessing might also be a recollection of the kindness of the woman who gave candles to the saint as he languished in prison.

Saint Blaise was an extraordinarily popular saint during the Middle Ages in Europe. Presentations of his miraculous and mighty deeds were commonly represented in art and sculpture, and he was included in a listing of saints called the Fourteen Holy Helpers (or Auxiliary Saints), holy men and women who could be counted on as intercessors for all manner of maladies from madness to travelers in distress.   During times in which a sore throat could be a signal of an impending epidemic or an early death, the faithful were all too happy to accept the help of a heavenly specialist in such matters like Saint Blaise.

The legends regarding Saint Blaise report that his sojourn in the wilderness did not protect him for very long.   He was eventually arrested and brought to trial.   The judge advised him that only a pinch of incense offered to the image of Caesar and the gods of Rome could win him his freedom.   Blaise refused.   He was cruelly tortured and beheaded. Giovanni Antonio da Pesaro, St. Blaise Martyrdom, 15th cent.

The Church does not mourn Saint Blaise, for we know that in Christ this world is not all that there is.   While tyrants like Caesar and his successors can threaten us with death, Christ promises us a life that like his own, is transformed through suffering and death, into resurrection.

The scriptures proclaim, “though they slay me I will trust in you.”

Saint Blaise did precisely this.   He trusted that Christ would not abandon him to the power of death nor allow his suffering to be meaningless.   Our lives might never be raised to the legendary status of Saint Blaise but we can trust in Christ as he did and live in hope that one day we will join him in communion with all the saints who have gone before us in faith and who, from their place in heaven, guide and protect us still. (Fr Steve Grunow)blaiseCandlelarge - st blaise

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 3 February

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St Blaise (Optional Memorial)

St Ansgar (Optional Memorial)
—
Bl Alois Andritzki
St Anatolius of Salins
St Anna the Prophetess
St Berlinda of Meerbeke
St Blasius of Armentarius
St Blasius of Oreto
St Caellainn
St Celerinus of Carthage
St Claudine Thevenet
St Clerina of Carthage
St Deodatus of Lagny
St Eutichio
St Evantius of Vienne
St Felix of Africa
St Felix of Lyons
St Hadelin of Chelles
Bl Helena Stollenwerk
Bl Helinand of Pronleroy
St Hippolytus of Africa
St Ia of Cornwall
St Ignatius of Africa
Bl Iustus Takayama Ukon
Bl John Nelson
Bl John Zakoly
St Laurentinus of Carthage
St Laurentius of Carthage
St Lawrence the Illuminator
St Liafdag
St Lupicinus of Lyon
St Margaret of England
Bl Marie Rivier
St Oliver of Ancona
St Philip of Vienne
St Remedius of Gap
St Sempronius of Africa
St Tigrides
St Werburga of Bardney
St Werburga of Chester
—
Benedictine Martyrs: A collective memorial of all members of the Benedictine Order who have died as martyrs for the faith.

Profiled Benedictine Martyrs
• Blessed Agustí Busquets Creixell
• Blessed Ambroise-Augustin Chevreux
• Blessed Àngel Maria Rodamilans Canals
• Blessed Antolín Pablos Villanueva
• Blessed Augustin-Joseph Desgardin
• Blessed Càndid Feliu Soler
• Blessed Cipriano González Millán
• Blessed Claude Richard
• Blessed Conrad of Seldenbüren
• Blessed Ignasi Guilà Ximenes
• Blessed Joan Grau Bullich
• Blessed Joan Roca Bosch
• Blessed John Beche
• Blessed John Eynon
• Blessed John Rugg
• Blessed John Sordi
• Blessed John Thorne
• Blessed José Antón Gómez
• Blessed José Erausquin Aramburu
• Blessed Josep Albareda Ramoneda
• Blessed Josep Maria Fontseré Masdeú
• Blessed Josep Maria Jordá i Jordá
• Blessed Konrad II of Mondsee
• Blessed León Alesanco Maestro
• Blessed Lluis Casanovas Vila
• Blessed Louis Barreau de La Touche
• Blessed Louis-François Lebrun
• Blessed Luis Palacios Lozano
• Blessed Luis Vidaurrázaga González
• Blessed Mark Barkworth
• Blessed Pere Vallmitjana Abarca
• Blessed Pere Vilar Espona
• Blessed Peter of Subiaco
• Blessed Philip Powel
• Blessed Rafael Alcocer Martínez
• Blessed René-Julien Massey
• Blessed Richard Whiting
• Blessed Roger James
• Blessed Suzanne-Agathe Deloye
• Blessed Thiemo of Salzburg
• Blessed Thomas Pickering
• Blessed Thomas Tunstal
• Blessed William Scott
• Five Polish Brothers
• Martyred Subiaco Benedictines of Barcelona
• Martyrs of Cardeña
• Martyrs of Croyland
• Martyrs of Messina
• Saint Abbo of Fleury
• Saint Adalbert of Prague
• Saint Ageranus of Blèze
• Saint Agigulf
• Saint Aigulf
• Saint Aigulphus of Lérins
• Saint Alban Bartholomew Roe
• Saint Altigianus
• Saint Amarinus of Clermont
• Saint Ambrose Edward Barlow
• Saint Arnulf of Novalesa
• Saint Beocca of Chertsey
• Saint Berard of Blèze
• Saint Bernard of Lérida
• Saint Bertha of Avenay
• Saint Boniface
• Saint Bruno of Querfort
• Saint Deusdedit of Montecassino
• Saint Donatus of Messina
• Saint Elleher
• Saint Eobán of Utrecht
• Saint Ernest of Mecca
• Saint Ethor of Chertsey
• Saint Eutychius of Messina
• Saint Faustus of Messina
• Saint Firmatus of Messina
• Saint Frugentius the Martyr
• Saint Genesius of Blèze
• Saint Gerard Sagredo
• Saint Gibardus of Luxeuil
• Saint Gundekar
• Saint Hadulph
• Saint Hedda of Peterborough
• Saint Hedda the Abbot
• Saint Hilarinus
• Saint Hildebert of Ghent
• Saint John Roberts
• Saint Marinus of Maurienne
• Saint Placidus of Messina
• Saint Porcarius of Lérins
• Saint Rodron of Blèze
• Saint Rumold
• Saint Sifrard of Blèze
• Saint Stephen of Burgos
• Saint Victorinus of Messina
• Saint Vincent of Léon
• Saint Wiborada of Gall
• Venerable Abel Ángel Palazuelos Maruri
• Venerable Ángel Carmelo Boix Cosials
• Venerable Antoni Lladós Salud
• Venerable Antonio Fuertes Boira
• Venerable Antonio Suárez Riu
• Venerable Fernando Salinas Romeo
• Venerable Jaume Caballé Bru
• Venerable Julio Fernández Muñiz
• Venerable Leandro Cuesta Andrés
• Venerable Leoncio Ibáñez Caballero
• Venerable Lorenzo Sobrevia Cañardo
• Venerable Mariano Palau Sin
• Venerable Martín Donamaría Valencia
• Venerable Ramón Sanz De Galdeano Mañeru
• Venerable Santiago Pardo López

Posted in MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, Uncategorized

NOVENA to OUR LADY of LOURDES – DAY ONE – 2 FEBRUARY

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NOVENA to OUR LADY of LOURDES – DAY ONE – 2 FEBRUARY (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)

O Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
virgin and mother, queen of heaven,
chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word
and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin,
we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes
and pray with childlike trust in you
that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes,
you will look with mercy on our present petition
and secure for us a favorable answer to the request
for which we are making this novena.
……………………………………(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.day one - our lady of lourdes - 2 feb 2018

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CONSECRATION Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD, VOCATIONS

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

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Thought for the Day – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

On this holy feast-day we each have an opportunity to consecrate our lives anew to the Lord.    How do we do this?    We can simply make a prayer of re-dedication to God which can take many forms.    It can be a simple heartfelt prayer reaffirming our baptismal promises or a re-visiting of our religious or marriage vows.    Or it can be a prayer which asks the Holy Spirit to renew our sense of vocation as a priest or religious or as a lay person in our chosen job, trade or profession.
We gave our life to the Lord when we were baptised but the call to conversion continues to resound throughout our lives and ‘this second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole church’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1428).    A re-dedication or renewal of vows or promises is a movement of conversion within our heart and is always a work of the Holy Spirit.
Today, step out in faith, whatever your vocation, whatever your calling and give your life to the Lord, in the assurance of God’s grace, blessing and renewal in the power of the Holy Spirit.

LET US PRAY FOR ALL CONSECRATED MEN & WOMEN AND FOR VOCATIONS:

Loving God, You call all who believe in You
to grow perfect in love
by following in the footsteps
of Christ Your Son.
Call from among us more men and women
who will serve You as religious.
Open the hearts of many, raise up
faithful servants of the Gospel, dedicated,
holy priests, sisters, brothers and deacons,
who will spend themselves for Your people
and their needs.
Bless those who are serving now
with courage and perseverance.
Grant that many will be inspired by their
example and faith.
By their way of life, may they provide a convincing sign
of Your Kingdom for the Church and the whole world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.prayer for the consecrated and vocations - 2018

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD

Quote of the Day – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

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Quote of the Day – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

“The glorious St Simeon also was very happy…
to carry Him as did Our Lady…
we do this when we endure with love
the labours and pains He sends us,
that is to say, when the love which we bear
to the Law of God makes us find His yoke easy
and pleasing, so that we love these pains and labours,
and gather sweetness in the midst of bitterness.
This is nothing else but to carry Our Lord in our arms.
Now if we carry Him in this way,
He will, without doubt, Himself carry us.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Churchthe glorious st simeon - st francis de sales - 2 feb 2018

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD, The WORD, Uncategorized

One Minute Reflection – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

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One Minute Reflection – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered...Hebrews 5: 7-9although he was a son - hebrews 5 - 7-9

REFLECTION – “When Mary let Simeon take the Son of the Promise into his arms, the old man began to sing of his dreams.    Whenever she puts Jesus in the midst of His people, they encounter joy.    For this alone will bring back our joy and hope, this alone will save us from living in a survival mentality.    Only this will make our lives fruitful and keep our hearts alive:  putting Jesus where He belongs, in the midst of His people…Hence, it is all the more important for consecrated men and women to be one with Jesus, in their lives and in the midst of these great changes (in the world)…Putting Jesus in the midst of His people means having a contemplative heart, one capable of discerning how God is walking through the streets of our cities, our towns and our neighbourhoods.  Putting Jesus in the midst of His people means taking up and carrying the crosses of our brothers and sisters.  It means wanting to touch the wounds of Jesus in the wounds of a world in pain, which longs and cries out for healing.”…Pope Francis on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life – 2 February 2017world day consecrated life 2018

PRAYER – May the Lord renew in you and in all consecrated people each day the joyful response to His freely given and faithful love.   Dear brothers and sisters, like lighted candles, always and everywhere shine with the love of Christ, Light of the world.   May Mary Most Holy, the consecrated Woman, help you to live to the full, your special vocation and mission in the Church for the world’s salvation.   And may we all follow our Lord in obedience. Amen!

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HYMNS, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Our Morning Offering – 2 February – The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

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Our Morning Offering – 2 February – The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Hail to the Lord who Comes
Prayers/Hymns “Liturgy of the Hours”

Hail to the Lord who comes,
comes to His temple gate,
not with His angel host,
not in His kingly state.

But borne upon the throne
of Mary’s gentle breast,
thus to His Father’s house
He comes, the heavenly guest.

The world’s true light draws near
all darkness to dispel,
the flame of faith is lit
and dies the power of hell.

Our bodies and our souls
are temples now for Him.
for we are born of grace –
God lights our souls within.

O Light of all the earth!
We light our lives with Thee.
The chains of darkness gone,
all sons of God are free.hail to the lord who comes - presentation of the lord - from the breviary - 2 feb 2018

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord – 2 February

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Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a day that is also known as Candlemas.

The Presentation of the Lord is a second ‘epiphany’—revealing Jesus as the Messiah through the canticle of Simeon and the testimony of Anna the prophetess.   Christ, the Light of the World, is revealed in obedience to the Old Lawsand in creation of the new. Traditionally, in recognition of the saving light of Christ, this feast was referred to as “Candlemas,” and marked by candlelight processionals and Masses.

The Presentation of the Lord commemorates the Lord Jesus’ participation in a ritual encoded in the Mosaic Law, in which a newborn child had to be “redeemed” through the performance of a prescribed sacrifice. Christ “embeds” Himself through his Incarnation in the people He has chosen to be His own.   He makes himself an Israelite and accepts that people and culture as His own.   His willingness to participate in this ritual indicates the election of Israel by God in terms of its mission to bear into the world the divine presence and to become the means through which communion with the one, true God would be extended to the whole world.presentation of the lord

The event of the Lord’s Presentation also foreshadows His Paschal Mystery.   Christ will make of His suffering and death a sacrifice, a redemptive offering in which humanity’s reconciliation with God will be accomplished.   The Lord will be revealed, in the event of Christ’s passion, to be a God who is willing to forgive, even to the point of placing himself in the position of the sinner! Such is God’s solidarity with humanity in Christ!

The readings for today all orientate us toward Christ’s revelation as priest.

The prophet Malachi envisions the divine presence entering the temple and once this happens, the God of Israel reigns as the ruler of Israel, effecting the restoration of His people and setting them all in right relationship with Himself.   Christ in His Incarnation is this divine presence and His entry into the temple is happening at the moment of his Presentation.

The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Christ’s sacrifice was to enter into the fullness of our humanity by accepting for Himself a human nature and uniting it to His divine nature.   Christ does this for our benefit and through this Incarnation makes of Himself a gift that is for us.

In this respect, Christ is a priest, the sacrifice that He offers is Himself and the beneficiary of this sacrifice is all of us.

The Gospel of Luke highlights the event of Christ’s presentation in the temple as the revelation of the divine presence, which the prophet Ezekiel had seen abandoning the temple centuries earlier, returning to the great sanctuary.   Christ is the divine high priest who comes to His temple to offer sacrifice but more than this, Christ is the divine presence.   With the arrival of the divine presence, a new age for Israel and for the world begins- the age of the Messiah.

Simeon and Anna can see this revelation and appreciate it.   For them the moment is as profound as it is bittersweet, for they know that with the beginning of this new age for Israel, the previous era has ended.   Their mission is now complete.   The Israel of the covenant, the prophets, the law, the temple and the kingdom has been brought to its fulfilment.   All these divine gifts were foreshadowings of the greatest of all divine Gifts- Christ the Lord- God with us.

The gifts of Israel will be returned to the world but they will all be transformed in Christ, becoming what we know and experience as the Church.

Candles that are used in the Church’s rituals are often blessed on this day and a procession is recommended with candles to commemorate the entrance of Christ into the temple.

The symbolism of the candle is meant to recall the divine presence, manifested to Israel at the time of the Exodus as a “pillar of fire.”   This “pillar of fire” led the Israelites from bondage in Egypt to the land of God’s promise.   Christ is this “pillar of fire” who leads humanity from the bondage of sin and death to the promises of resurrection and eternal life. (Fr Steve Grunow)

It is Christ, the divine fire, that leads us still…presentation and simeonsimeonSOD-0202-PresentationoftheLord-790x480

 

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and Feasts of Our Lady & Memorials of the Saints – 2 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Presentation of the Lord (Feast):   The feast commemorates the purifying of the Blessed Virgin according to the Mosaic Law, 40 days after the birth of Christ, and the presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple.   The feast was introduced into the Eastern Empire by Emperor Justinian I and is mentioned in the Western Church in the Gelasian Sacramentary of the 7th century.   Candles are blessed on that day in commemoration of the words of Holy Simeon concerning Christ “a light to the revelation of the Gentiles” (Luke 2) and a procession with lighted candles is held in the church to represent the entry of Christ, the Light of the World, into the Temple of Jerusalem. “Candlemas” is still the name in Scotland for a legal term-day on which interest and rents are payable (2 February).
Patronage
• Jaro, Philippines
• Western Visayas, Philippines

Our Lady of Candelaria
Our Lady of Good Success
Santa María de Santa Anita

World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life:  Begun in 1997 by St Pope John Paul II, the World Day for Consecrated Life was intended to serve three purposes:
• to praise the Lord and thank him for the great gift of consecrated life;
• to promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God;
• to allow those in consecrated life to celebrate together the marvels which the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty, spread by the Spirit in their way of life and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission, in the Church and in the world;
It serves an opportunity to highlight the extraordinary contributions of men and women religious, as well as a time to pray for vocations to the consecrated life.
—
St Adalbald of Ostrevant
St Adeloga of Kitzingen
St Agathodoros of Tyana
St Andrea Carlo Ferrari
St Apronian the Executioner
St Bruno of Ebsdorf
St Burchard of Wurzburg
St St Candidus the Martyr
Catherine del Ricci
St Columbanus of Ghent
St Cornelius the Centurion
St Felician the Martyr
St Feock
St Firmus of Rome
St Flosculus of Orléans
St Fortunatus the Martyr
St Giovanni Battista Clemente Saggio
St Hilarus the Martyr
St Jean Theophane Venard
St Jeanne de Lestonnac
St Lawrence of Canterbury
Bl Louis Alexander Alphonse Brisson
Bl Maria Domenica Mantovani
St Marquard of Hildesheim
St Mun
Bl Peter Cambiano
St Rogatus the Martyr
St Saturninus the Martyr
St Sicharia of Orleans
St Simon of Cassia Fidati
Bl Stephen Bellesini
St Theodoric of Ninden
St Victoria the Martyr
—
Martyrs of Ebsdorf: Members of the army of King Louis III of France under the leadership of Duke Saint Bruno of Ebsdorf. The martyrs died fighting invading pagan Norsemen, and defending the local Christian population. Four bishops, including Saint Marquard of Hildesheim and Saint Theodoric of Ninden, eleven nobles, and countless unnamed foot soldiers died repelling the invaders. They were martyred in the winter of 880 in battle at Luneberg Heath and Ebsdorf, Saxony (modern Germany).

Posted in MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES, NOVENAS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Announcing the NOVENA to our Lady of Lourdes – Begins 2 February

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Announcing the NOVENA to our Lady of Lourdes – begins 2 February

On 11 February we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Sick and it is also the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! Join me in praying a novena through Our Lady’s intercession for the sick and suffering. The novena begins tomorrow 2 February.

Please lift up in prayer all of your family members, friends and those unknown throughout the world who have no-one to pray for them. God is with us and Mary our Mother stands at His side to intervene for all our needs!

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us all.
St Bernadette, Pray for us.novena to our lady of lourdes - 1 feb 2018 - announcement

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers

1 February 2018 – The Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions

Posted on by AnaStpaul

1 February 2018 – The Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions

FEBRUARY 2018: Say “No” to Corruption

That those who have material,
political or spiritual power,
may resist any lure of corruption.holy father's prayer intentions - feb 2018

Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE, Uncategorized

Monthly Catholic Devotions: FEBRUARY is the Month of THE HOLY FAMILY

Posted on by AnaStpaul

FEBRUARY – THE MONTH OF THE HOLY FAMILY

In January, the Catholic Church celebrated the Month of the Holy Name of Jesus and in February, we turn to the entire Holy Family—Jesus, Mary and Joseph.feb the month of the holy family - 1 feb 2018

In sending His Son to earth as a Baby, born into a family, God elevated the family beyond a mere natural institution.   Our own family life reflects that lived by Christ, in obedience to His mother and foster father.   Both as children and as parents, we can take comfort in the fact that we have the perfect model of the family before us in the Holy Family.

One commendable practice for the month of February is a Consecration to the Holy Family – I will post this pray during this month.   If you have a prayer corner or a home altar, you can gather the entire family and recite the consecration prayer, which reminds us that we aren’t saved individually. We all work out our salvation in conjunction with others—first and foremost, together with the other members of our family.

There’s no need to wait until next February to repeat the consecration, it’s a good prayer for your family to pray every month.

Grant unto us, Lord Jesus,
ever to follow the example of Your holy Family,
that in the hour of our death
Your glorious Virgin Mother
together with blessed Joseph
may come to meet us
and we may be worthily received by You
into everlasting dwellings
who lives and reigns, world without end.
Amenprayer for the help of the holy family - 1 feb 2018