One Minute Reflection – 21 February – Thursday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Mark 8:27-33 and the Memorial of St Peter Damian OSB (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church
“Who do men say that I am?”… “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” ...Mark 8:27,29
REFLECTION – “With these two questions, Jesus seems to say that it is one thing to follow the prevailing opinion and another, to encounter Him and open oneself to His mystery, there one discovers the truth. Prevailing opinion contains a true but partial response, Peter and with him, the Church of the past, present and always, by the grace of God, responds with the truth: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
Jesus is the Son of God – hence He is perennially alive as His Father is eternally alive. This is the novelty, that grace ignites, in the heart of those who are open to the mystery of Jesus, the non-mathematical — but even stronger, inner — certainty, of having encountered the Wellspring of Life, Life itself made flesh, visible and tangible in our midst. This, is the experience of Christians and it is not their merit, not that of we Christians, it is not our merit but comes from God, it is a grace of God, the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. All this is contained in the seed of Peter’s response: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.… Pope Francis – Angelus, 29 June 2018
PRAYER – Lord of heaven and earth, by Your grace You have brought our hearts and mind to seek and hope in Your saving love, in Your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. May we, who like Peter, our father in faith, declare, ‘You are the Christ!’, remain ever in His steps, carrying the cross behind Him. We thank You for the blessing of St Peter Damian, grant that, through his intercession, we may, like him, constantly follow the Light of Christ and so rise to eternal life. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen
Our Morning Offering-21 February-Thursday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C
Lord, Whatever You Will By Blessed Rupert Mayer SJ (1876-1945) The Apostle of Munich
Lord, let happen whatever You will;
and as You will, so will I walk,
help me only to know Your will!
Lord, whenever You will,
then is the time,
today and always
Lord, whatever You will,
I wish to accept,
and whatever You will for me is gain,
enough that I belong to You.
Lord, because You will it, it is right,
and because You will it, I have courage.
My heart rests safely in Your hands!
Amen
Saint of the Day – 21 February – St Peter Damian OSB (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church, Bishop Cardinal, Benedictine Monk, Confessor, Theologian, Writer, Teacher, Preacher, Poet, Reformer. Patronages – Spiritual warfare, Church Reformers and Faenza, Italy. Partly because he was orphaned and had been treated shabbily by one of his brothers, Peter Damian was very good to the poor. It was the ordinary thing for him to have a poor person or two with him at table and he liked to minister personally to their needs.
Peter escaped poverty and the neglect of his own brother when a second brother, who was Archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His brother sent him to good schools and Peter became a professor.
Already in those days, Peter was very strict with himself. He wore a hair shirt under his clothes, fasted rigorously and spent many hours in prayer. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching and give himself completely to prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of Saint Romuald at Fonte Avellana. They lived two monks to a hermitage. Peter was so eager to pray and slept so little that he soon suffered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the Bible.
Unknown St Peter Damian 1725
The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him. Abbot Peter founded five other hermitages. He encouraged his brothers in a life of prayer and solitude and wanted nothing more for himself. The Holy See periodically called on him, however, to be a peacemaker or troubleshooter, between two abbeys in dispute or a cleric or government official in some disagreement with Rome.
Finally, Pope Stephen IX made Peter the Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia. He worked hard to wipe out simony—the buying of church offices–and encouraged his priests to observe celibacy and urged even the diocesan clergy to live together and maintain scheduled prayer and religious observance. He wished to restore primitive discipline among religious and priests, warning against needless travel, violations of poverty and too-comfortable living. He even wrote to the Bishop of Besancon complaining that the canons there sat down when they were singing the psalms in the Divine Office.
He wrote many letters. Some 170 are extant. We also have 53 of his sermons and seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred examples and stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin.
I cannot find out much about this image, it seems to be Saint Romuald on the left (of whom St Peter wrote a biography), St Peter Damian in the centre and an unknown saint, I presume on the right.
He asked often to be allowed to retire as Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and finally Pope Alexander II consented. Peter was happy to become once again just a monk but he was still called to serve as a papal legate. When returning from such an assignment in Ravenna, he was overcome by a fever. With the monks gathered around him saying the Divine Office, he died on 22 February 1072.
In 1828, he was declared a Doctor of the Church.
In Canto XXI, Dante has the Saint pronounce an invective against the luxury enjoyed by prelates in the Church of his day and in that of Dante`s – the translation below is by Allen Mandelbaum:
113 … There, within that monastery, 114 in serving God, I gained tenacity: 115 with food that only olive juice had seasoned, 116 I could sustain with ease both heat and frost, 117 content within my contemplative thoughts.
118 That cloister used to offer souls to Heaven, 119 a fertile harvest but it now is barren 120 as Heaven’s punishment will soon make plain.
121 There I was known as Peter Damian 122 and, on the Adriatic shore, was Peter 123 the Sinner when I served Our Lady’s House.
124 Not much of mortal life was left to me 125 when I was sought for, dragged to take that hat 126 which always passes down from bad to worse.
127 Once there were Cephas and the Holy Ghost’s 128 great vessel – they were barefoot, they were lean, 129 they took their food at any inn they found.
130 But now the modern pastors are so plump 131 that they have need of one to prop them up 132 on this side, one on that and one in front,
133 and one to hoist them saddleward. Their cloaks 134 cover their steeds, two beasts beneath one skin: 135 o patience, you who must endure so much!”
Amos Nattini (1892-1985) Divina Commedia, Paradiso canto XXI, San Pier Damiani nel cielo di Saturno 1923-1941
St Peter Damian OSB (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church (Optional Memorial)
A lot about St Peter here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/02/21/saint-of-the-day-21-february-st-peter-damian/
St Avitus II of Clermont
Bl Caterina Dominici
Bl Claudio di Portaceli
St Daniel of Persia
Bl Eleanora
St Ercongotha
St Eustathius of Antioch
St Felix of Metz
St George of Amastris
St Germanus of Granfield
St Gundebert of Sens
Bl Noel Pinot
St Paterius of Brescia
St Pepin of Landen
St Peter Mavimenus
St Randoald of Granfield St Robert Southwell SJ (1561-1595) Martyr
St Robert’s Biography: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/saint-of-the-day-21-february-st-robert-southwell-s-j-1561-1595-martyr/
St Severian of Scythopolis
St Severus of Syrmium
Bl Thomas Pormort
St Valerius of San Pedro de Montes
St Verda of Persia
—
Martyrs of Sicily – 79 saints – Seventy-nine Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. They were martyred in c 303 on Sicily.
Martyrs of Hadrumetum – A group of 26 Christians martyred together by Vandals. We know little more than eight of their names – Alexander, Felix, Fortunatus, Saturninus, Secundinus, Servulus, Siricius and Verulus. c 434 at Hadrumetum (modern Sousse, Tunisia)
Martyrs Uchibori – Three Japanese laymen, all brothers, all sons of Paulus Uchibori Sakuemon, one a teenager, one only five years old and all martyred for their faith in the persecutions in Japan. 21 February 1627 in Shimabara, Nagasaki, Japan. Beatified 24 November 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Antonius
Balthasar
Ignatius
Thought for the Day – 20 February – The Memorial of Blessed Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr
Excerpt from the account of the Works of Mercy, Spirituality, Love of God and the Church and the Martyrdom of Blessed Julia Rodzinska, by Eva Hoff, a prisoner of KL Stutthof, a German Jewess, who survived and after the war settled in Sweden
In her presence, you felt the need and urge to pray.
Everything she had, she shared with others, even the last piece of bread. Though devastated by starvation, she saw others to be in greater need and offered them her meagre ration of bread.
When other prisoners did everything to avoid contact with those who were sick and dying of typhus, she, instead, rushed to assist them.
Her sacrificial love of neighbour was stronger than fear of exposing herself to a deadly disease. She cared more for others than herself. The person in need was her key concern. She assisted anyone in need with no difference. Her heart’s desire was to be wherever she was of help. She never thought about herself, yet always about others. She was very devout. Her piety was contagious and inspired others to pray. She sought the brokenhearted and downcast to console and uplift their spirits. Strikingly noticeable was tranquillity, her face radiated with. Every time I had been with her, I could sense how calm and recollected she was.
She died of exhaustion and commitment to her sacrificial ministry, so we, whom she served, could survive. She performed works of mercy where there was no mercy!
I got to know sister Julia in that ghastly concentration camp of Stutthof near Gdańsk (Poland), where we suffered humiliation at every turn. The initial selection after arrival at the camp was already horrible. People were sent to the gas, based on external appearance.
I accompanied Sister Julia until her last days. She never concealed that she was a religious. She showed unwavering faith and hope in God. She consoled all of us, entrusted us to God and encouraged us to pray. She organised and led common prayers. We always prayed the rosary, the litany of Our Lady, hymns and any number of prayers she composed according to our needs and situation. Prisoners of different nationalities came to pray. People spread the word – let’s pray the rosary with sister Julia. The image will always stay with me – the small, poorly lit room overflowing with people on bunk beds, three or even four levels high; here and there, rags drying in the air. Kneeling on a wooden plank, straight, with her head lifted up and eyes aimed at the Infinite is our Sister Julia. She holds a rosary in her strong, shapely hands. Her face is focused… She was very pious. Her piety influenced others. In her presence, one felt the need to pray.
She was outstanding in her love of God and the Church. She made arrangements secretly to meet with a priest—also a prisoner—to go to confession and to give others an opportunity for reconciliation. On many a Sunday morning, when the circumstances allowed, we walked in silence around the barrack taking part spiritually in the Mass.
When I encouraged her to talk about the convent, she spoke about the noble customs and lofty ceremonies of religious life. At those time, she became absorbed by what was highest and dearest to her. She thanked me at the end of such conversations, whereas it was I who should have thanked her, for what those conversations meant to me.
Sister Julia performed works of mercy in the camp, where people had nearly forgotten that mercy even exists. She was cheerful, prayerful, obliging and self-sacrificing. She risked her life to help others. She cared for those who despaired. She showed the same attitude toward every person, regardless of nationality or religion. She knew how to offer consolation because of her profound hope in God. She literally shared everything—to the last piece of bread—with those who suffered hunger more than she did.
She reminded us frequently that God guides everything. She said that we needed to obey God’s will, even if we had to suffer everything in such humiliation or die in the camp, that everything was in God’s hands. She accepted her fate in the spirit of faith in Divine Providence, even as she sensed that she would not survive. She prayed constantly and served her neighbour until the very end.
She visited the victims of typhus—so terribly contagious—when others did everything to avoid them. She wouldn’t lie down herself, despite her own illness, in order to help others. Led by love, by sacrificial love, she succumbed to the disease. Despite everything, she couldn’t imagine abandoning those who needed her help. Her sacrificial love was stronger.
Sensing imminent death, she missed her Community and those she would not see again. She cried in her helplessness but she didn’t despair. She overcame her weakness by prayer, serving the sick until the end. Sister Julia died from typhus. She gave her life for others. The survivors spoke of her, as a great and holy person.
Quote/s of the Day – 20 February – The Memorial of Blessed Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr
“Kneeling on a wooden plank, straight, with her head lifted up and eyes aimed at the Infinite is our sister Julia. She holds a rosary in her strong, shapely hands. Her face is focused… She was very pious. Her piety influenced others. In her presence, one felt the need to pray.”
“She was outstanding in her love of God and the Church.”
“She performed works of mercy where there was no mercy.”
“She reminded us frequently that God guides everything.”
By a fellow inmate of the Concentration Camp speaking of Blessed Julia Rodzinska, Martyr
One Minute Reflection – 20 February – Wednesday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Mark 8:22-26 and The First Memorial of Saints Francisco (1908-1919) and Jacinta (1910-1920) and Blessed Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr
And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village….Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored and saw everything clearly. And he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”...Mark 8:22,25-26
REFLECTION – “They came, then, to Bethsaida, into the village of Andrew and Peter, James and John. Bethsaida means “house of fishers” and, in truth, from this house, hunters and fishermen are sent into the whole world. Ponder the text. The historical facts are clear, the literal sense is obvious. But we must now search into its spiritual message. That He came to Bethsaida, that there was a blind man there, that He departed, what is there remarkable about all that? Nothing, but what He did there is great; striking, however, only if it should take place today, for we have ceased to wonder about such things.
How, then, is his house not in Bethsaida? Note the text exactly. If we consider the literal interpretation only, it does not make any sense. If this blind man is found in Bethsaida and is taken out and cured and he is commanded: “Return to your own house,” certainly, he is bid: “Return to Bethsaida.” If, however, he returns there, what is the meaning of the command: “Do not go into the village?” You see, therefore, that the interpretation is symbolic. He is led out from the house of the Jews, from the village, from the law, from the traditions of the Jews. He, who could not be cured in the law, is cured in the grace of the gospel. It is said to him, “Return to your own house” — not into the house that you think, the one from which he came out but into the house that was also the house of Abraham, since Abraham is the father of those who believe.”… St Jerome (343-420) Father & Doctor of the Church – Tractate on the Gospel of Mark, Homily 79.
“Our lives are sometimes similar to that of the blind man who opened himself to the light, who opened himself to God, who opened himself to His grace. Today, we are invited to open ourselves to the light of Christ in order to bear fruit in our lives, to eliminate unchristian behaviours; we are all Christians but we all, everyone, sometimes has unchristian behaviours, behaviours that are sins. We must repent of this, eliminate these behaviours in order to journey well along the way of holiness, which has its origin in baptism. We, too, have been “enlightened” by Christ in baptism, so that, as St Paul reminds us, we may act as “children of light” (Eph 5:8), with humility, patience and mercy.
Let us ask ourselves about the state of our own heart? Do I have an open heart or a closed heart? It is opened or closed to God? Open or closed to my neighbour? We are always closed to some degree, which comes from original sin, from mistakes, from errors. We need not be afraid!
Let us open ourselves, to the light of the Lord, He awaits us always in order to enable us to see better, to give us more light, to forgive us. Let us not forget this!”…Pope Francis – Angelus, 30 March 2014
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, just as the little children, Francisco and Jacinta and Blessed Julia Rodzinska, were chosen to be bearers of Your message, grant we pray, that by their prayers on our behalf, we too may Your bearers of light. Be with us, holy Mother, during our journey to the eternal glory of your Son, help us to become like little children and in that new purity, shine with His Light. Through Jesus our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 20 February – Wednesday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C
Prayer for the Gift of Prayer By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church
O Incarnate Word,
You have given Your Blood and Your Life
to confer on our prayers that power by which,
according to Your promise,
they obtain for us all that we ask.
And we, O God,
are so careless of our salvation,
that we will not even ask You for the graces
that we must have, if we should be saved!
In prayer You have given us the key
of all Your Divine treasures;
and we, rather than pray,
choose to remain in our misery.
Alas! O Lord, enlighten us,
and make us know the value of prayers,
offered in Your name and by Your merits,
in the eyes of Your Eternal Father.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 20 February – Blessed Stanislawa/Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr – Dominican Sister, known as the “Mother of Orphans” and the “Apostle of the Rosary”, Apostle of Charity, Teacher, Catechist, also known as Sister Maria Julia, Mother Maria Julia, prisoner P40992.
Blessed Sister Julia Stanisława was born on 16 March 1899 in Nawojowa, a town near Nowy Sącz. She was baptised and given the names, Stanisława Marta Józefa. Her father was an organist. He also worked in a savings bank and in the District Office. There were four other children in the family. When Stanisława was 8 years old, her mother died and two years later, her father. After her parents’ death, the Dominican Sisters from a nearby convent run by Sr Stanisława Lenart took care of her. There, she finished school and then she started her studies in the Teachers’ College which she was unable to complete because she began her religious formation in Wielowieś. On 3 August 1917 she assumed the habit together with a new name – Maria Julia. On 4 September 1918 she continued her studies in the Holy Family Teachers’ College in Kraków, from which she graduated in May 1919.
After having completed her studies, Sister Julia Rodzińska began to work as a teacher, mainly among orphaned children. She made her monastic vows on 5 August 1924. She then continued her education and in 1925-1926 she completed an Advanced Teachers’ Course and at the age of 27 she was named the director of the State Primary School of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius. Sr Julia was not strong physically, suffering from a very serious stomach disorder, which meant she had to undergo a difficult operation in 1937.
After the Soviet army occupied Vilnius, the situation of the Dominican Sisters was put into jeopardy. In September 1940, the sisters who worked as teachers were dismissed from work. At first, they tried to work as technical personnel but finally in 1941 the Home for Orphans was removed from their authority and placed under that of Lithuanian authorities and Sister Julia left the Home forever. The schooling work done by the Dominican Sisters since 1922 was terminated.
The Dominicans did not leave Vilnius. Together with Sister Julia, they stayed on Parkowa Street and in the convent of the Nuns of Visitation on Rossa Street. In these conditions, Sister Julia continued to teach in secret, also during the German occupation, until she was arrested in 1943.
On 12 July 1943, Sister Julia was arrested by the Gestapo on a charge of political activity and collaboration with the Polish partisans. She was imprisoned in Vilnius and for almost a year she was kept in an isolation cell. Then she was transported to the disciplinary camp but soon, she was evacuated together with other prisoners to Stutthof concentration camp. She arrived there on 9 July 1944 and was given number 40992. Together with a group of women from the Vilnius intelligence, she was assigned to block no 27 in the “Jewish Camp”. The conditions were indescribable. Filth, vermin, overcrowding in the barracks (three or four women slept on one bed on a three-storey bunk bed), low-calorie food rations given out in extreme conditions, unbearable physical work, limited access to water, lack of hygienic products, necessity to satisfy one’s bodily needs in public – these are only some of the elements of the indirect extermination used in the camp. An additional torment, was the inhumane treatment carried out by the prisoners who were assigned as ‘wardens’ – mainly German criminals and SS men.
In these conditions sister Julia did not lose her hope for survival. She shared her hope and spiritual strength with other prisoners. In the camp it had a special meaning because the inhumane treatment distorted the prisoners’ minds and changed the moral norms of many of them. In the barrack, where mostly Jews lived, Sister Julia organised and led the prayers. She also constantly reminded the prisoners about the religious values. Religious observances were strictly prohibited and punished in the camp. Therefore this was one of the forms of moral resistance of the prisoners to what was happening in the camp. Sister Julia was never guided by nationality or religion in her way of helping others. She was kind to all the needful. She was known as the one who consoled and encouraged all the adrift and miserable. She knew that one prisoners, whose wife was living in the “Jewish Camp”, was about to commit suicide. She sent him notes until he assured her that he wouldn’t take his life. According to the testimony of this prisoner, he survived the camp thanks to Sister Julia, who awaken his hope for survival and overcame the fear of the life in the camp.
In November 1944 a typhus epidemic devastated the camp. The illness spread mainly among the prisoners in the Jewish part of the camp. The authorities of KL Stutthof isolated the “Jewish Camp” from the rest of the compound and left the women without any help. Risking her own life, Sister Julia Rodzińska undertook the task of helping the Jews from block XXX, who were dying alone. When the majority avoided this “death block” fearing the infection, Sister Julia took a decision that meant the acceptance of death among those who she helped. She organised water to drink, dressings and medicines that where available in the camp. She served the needful even when she got infected with typhus and was suffering from serious illness.
The Dominican Sister, Julia Rodzińska, died on 20 February 1945 in block no 27. Her body was burnt on a pyre. An amazing testimony about the heroic conduct and the martyr’s death of Sr Julia has been written and declared by Eva Hoff, a prisoner of KL Stutthof, a German Jewess, who survived the marine evacuation and after the war settled in Sweden. There, she gave an oral and written account of the life and the circumstances of the death of Sr Julia in KL Stutthof. The account has been confirmed by other prisoners of KL Stutthof and Father Franciszek Grucza who heard Sr Julia’s confessions and gave her Communion.
A Shrine where Sr Julia’s body was burnt
On the 13 June 1999, during his pilgrimage to Poland, the Holy Father John Paul II beatified 108 martyrs of World War II. Sister Julia Rodzińska, the Dominican nun, was among them.
On 12 June 2006 the Primary School in Nawojowa has been named after blessed Sister Julia Rodzińska.
St Leo of Catania
St Nemesius of Cyprus
St Pothamius of Cyprus
St Serapion of Alexandria
St Silvanus of Emesa Bl Stanislawa/Julia Rodzinska OP (1899-1945) Martyr
St Valerius of Courserans
St Wulfric of Haselbury
St Zenobius of Antioch
Thought for the Day – 19 February – Tuesday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Mark 8:14–21 and the memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933)
And He said to them “Do you not yet understand or comprehend?”...Mark 8:21
Faith, the theologians say, is a certain and obscure habit of soul. It is an obscure habit because it brings us to believe divinely revealed truths, that transcend every natural light and infinitely exceed, all human understanding. As a result, the excessive light of faith bestowed on a soul, is darkness for it – a brighter light will eclipse and suppress a dimmer one. The sun so obscures all other lights, that they do not seem to be lights at all when it is shining and instead of affording vision to the eyes, it overwhelms, blinds and deprives them of vision since its light is excessive and disproportioned to the visual faculty. Similarly, the light of faith in its abundance, suppresses and overwhelms that of the intellect…
Another clearer example… If those born blind were told about the nature of the colours white or yellow, they would understand absolutely nothing, no matter how much instruction they received, since they never saw these colours… Only the names of these colours would be grasped, since the names are perceptible through hearing… Such is faith to the soul – it informs us of matters we have never seen or known… The light of natural knowledge does not show them to us… Yet we come to know it through hearing, by believing, what faith teaches, in blinding our natural light and bringing it in to submission. St Paul states: “Faith comes through hearing” (Rm 10:17). This amounts, to saying, that faith is not a knowledge, derived from the senses but an assent of the soul, to what enters through hearing… Faith, manifestly, is a dark night for souls but in this way, it gives them light. The more darkness it brings on them, the more light it sheds. For by blinding, it illumines them, according to those words of Isaiah: “If you do not believe, you will not understand” (cf. Is 7:9).
Blessed John Sullivan was illuminated by the Light of faith, in his many hours of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, the place where our light is found.
God and Father,
You honour those who honour You.
Make sacred the memory
of Your servant John Sullivan,
by granting through his intercession,
the petition we now make
……………….(name the petition)
and hastening the day,
when his name will be venerated
by the title of Saint.
We make our prayer
through Christ our Lord,
in the Holy Spirit,
God forever.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 19 February – the Memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933)
“Any friend of the poor is a friend of God.”
“I hope every single one of you, will have broken, every resolution you made, in the retreat before the end of the week, and if not then, at least in a fortnight. It will do you good and humble you, provided you get up and begin again and do not flop down and lie there on the broad of your back, saying “It’s no use, it’s all over.” Not a bit of it, it’s not all over, it’s only beginning. So up with you and start again. Remember, each time you fall, that you are not back where you were before but are starting again, from where you fell.”
“Be always beginning. Let the past go. The saints were always beginning. That is how they became saints.”
One Minute Reflection – 19 February – Tuesday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Mark 8:14–21 and the Memorial of Bl John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933)
And he cautioned them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”...Mark 8:15
REFLECTION – “Jesus tells us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. That leaven is hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is an internal division, you say one thing and do another. It is a sort of spiritual schizophrenia. Furthermore a hypocrite is a phoney – he seems good, courteous but he has a dagger behind him. A hypocrite is two-faced. He is a phoney. Jesus, speaking of these doctors of the law, affirms that they say one thing but do not do. This is another form of hypocrisy, it is existential nominalism – those who believe that, by saying things, everything is in order. No, things must be done, not just said. On the contrary, a hypocrite is a nominalist, he believes that everything is done with words. Moreover, a hypocrite is incapable of blaming himself, he never finds a smudge on himself, he blames others. Just think of the speck and the log, this is precisely how we can describe this leaven which is hypocrisy.
May the Lord give to us, to all of us, the Holy Spirit and the grace of the clarity to tell ourselves what is the leaven I grow with, which is the leaven I act with. Am I a just and transparent person or am I a hypocrite?”…Pope Francis – Santa Marta, 14 October 2016
PRAYER – God of mercy, teach us to live as You have ordained. Help us to follow Your commandments with courage and steadfast devotion. Let our Saviour be our master, help us to learn from Him, the ways of prayer in silence. Fill us with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that we may learn. Grant blessed Trinity, that by the prayers of Blessed John Sullivan, we may grow in holiness. Through Jesus our Lord, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 19 February – Tuesday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C
O Holy Spirit of God By Cardinal Henry Edward Manning (1806-1892)
O Holy Spirit of God,
take me as Your disciple;
guide me,
illuminate me,
sanctify me.
Bind my hands,
that they may do no evil;
cover my eyes,
that they may see it no more;
sanctify my heart,
that evil may not dwell within me.
Be You my God;
be You my guide.
Wherever You lead me I will go,
whatever You forbid me I will renounce,
whatever You command me,
in Your strength, I will do.
Lead me, then,
unto the fullness of Your truth.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 19 February – St Barbatus of Benevento (c 610-682) “Apostle of the South” Bishop of Benevento, Preacher, Reformer, Confessor – Patronages – Benevento, Cicciano, Castelvenere, Casalattico and Valle dell’Angelo. St Barbatus was the bishop of Benevento from 663 to 682. He succeeded Hildebrand in this capacity. He assisted in a church council called by Pope Agatho in Rome in 680 and in 681 attended the Third Council of Constantinople against the Monothelites.
St Barbatus was born in 610, in the village of Vandano, near Cerreto Sannita. St Barbatus received a Christian education and spent most of his time studying Sacred Scriptures. He had a desire from an early child to become a Priest and was ordained as soon as his age would allow. The local Bishop immediately assigned him to preaching, which he had a great talent for. Soon after that, he was made the Curate of St Basil’s Church in nearby Morcone. He caused discomfort with the parishioners there, as he continued preaching on their falling short of living the ideal Christian life. They soon persecuted him, in order to get him to allow them to continue in their sinful lifestyles. He didn’t let up and this caused the parishioners to slander his character. It wasn’t long until he was to cease his charitable works because of these slanders.
Eventually he returned to Benevento, where he was welcomed back by those that remembered him from his earlier position there. These people were living a Christian life and loved his spiritual direction and preaching. Eventually they turned to indulging in many idolatrous behaviours, including veneration of a golden viper and a specific local tree. The local Lombard Prince Romuald I, son of Grimoald I, was himself seriously involved in these activities. St Barbatus regularly preached against these pagan rituals, only to be ignored.
He started to tell the people of the city of great trials they would soon suffer at the hands of the East Roman Emperor Constans II, and his army. Shortly after, the army landed in the area and laid siege to Benevento. The people, in their fear, renounced the practices that St Barbatus had been criticising. He then cut down the tree they worshipped, and melted the viper into a Chalice for use in the Church. As St Barbatus had foretold, the siege ended with the defeat of Emperor Constans.
The presiding Bishop of Benevento, Bishop Hildebrand, had died during the siege. After the withdrawal of the invaders, St Barbatus was made Bishop on10 March 633. He took advantage of his new position and quickly destroyed the remaining superstitious artifacts hidden by the Prince and the locals. In 680, St Barbatus assisted in a council held by Pope Agatho and took part in the sixth General Council held in Constantinople in 681 regarding the Monothelites. Shortly after that Council, on 19 February 682, St Barbatus died at the age of seventy. His relics rest partly in the Cathedral of Benevento and partly in Montevergine.
Bl Alvarez of Cordova
St Auxibius
St Baoithin
St Barbatus of Benevento (c 610-682)
St Beatus
St Belina
St Boniface of Lausanne
St Conon of Alexandria
St Conrad of Piacenza
Bl Elizabeth of Mantua
St Gabinus
St George of Lodeve
Bl Józef Zaplata
St Lucia Yi Zhenmei
St Mansuetus of Milan
St Odran
St Proclus of Bisignano
St Quodvultdeus
St Valerius of Antibes
St Zambdas of Jerusalem
These “precepts” are the most important laws of the Catholic Church. They are meant for each of us. Through her precepts the Church, our loving Mother and teacher, puts before our minds the minimum participation which is necessary to maintain our Catholic identity.
Recalling Our Lord’s words that the wise man “built his house upon the rock” (Matt 7:24), we can ask ourselves this Lent how far we are built on the rock of Christ, who is present in his Church and active in her life-giving sacraments, how firmly rooted we are in the community of faith which is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-13).
The Precepts of the Church are to be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) Nos. 2042-2043.
First Precept:
“You shall attend Mass on Sundays
and Holy Days of Obligation and Rest from Servile Labour.”
From the earliest times the Christians celebrated the Eucharist on the Day of the Lord’s resurrection (see Acts 20:7). It is no surprise that the vision of St John in the book of Revelation, a vision deeply linked to the Christian liturgy, occurred “on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10).
St Justin Martyr (100-165), one of the first Church Fathers, wrote in about 150 AD: “on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place …”.
He goes on to explain the reading of the Scriptures and the consecration of the bread and wine and concludes: “Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God … made the world and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.”Christians understood that, now, the Old Testament commandant to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8) applied to Sunday rather than the Jewish Saturday.
It was also clear to Christians that, developing the tradition of the Jews, the Christian sabbath calls for rest from our usual occupations, “to abstain from those labours and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.” (Code of Canon Law 1247).
The Catechism challenges us also when it adds: “Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week.”(CCC 2186)
Sunday is rightly a time for recreation, yet a Catholic must prioritise the Sunday Mass for the simple reason that God himself must be given first place.
The precept to be present at Mass on Sundays (or Saturday evening) is non-negotiable for Catholics – it is a “grave” obligation (CCC 2181). If it happens that we fail to observe it through negligence or without a serious reason, we should confess it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving Holy Communion again.
If, on the other hand, we did have a sufficient reason not to be present, for instance we were ill, had to stay at home to look after young children, or were a great distance from a church, or have no choice but to work on Sunday during Mass, then we’re not obliged BUT let us not ‘look for excuses’ and let us choose our work carefully and do all we can to make it known to our employers that we only need ONE HOUR per week – could we perhaps EXCHANGE our lunch- or off-times for this ONE HOLY HOUR ON SUNDAYS?!
We must further attend Mass on holy days of obligation that usually fall during the week, such as Christmas Day.
The precepts of Church are not regulations trying to catch us out but crucial reminders of what it means to be a Christian. Saint John Paul II, in his encyclical letter on the Lord’s Day, wrote:
“Sunday is a day which is at the very heart of the Christian life. From the beginning of my Pontificate, I have not ceased to repeat – ‘Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!’.
In the same way, today I would strongly urge everyone to rediscover Sunday –
Do not be afraid to give your time to Christ! Yes, let us open our time to Christ, that He may cast light upon it and give it direction. …
Time given to Christ is never time lost but is rather time gained, so that our relationships and indeed our whole life may become more profoundly human.”
Thought for the Day – 18 February – Monday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, First Reading – Genesis 4:1-15
“Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” …Genesis 4:8-12
“Cain favoured instinct – he preferred to let this feeling stew inside him, festering and allowing it to grow. This sin, which he will later commit, which is couching behind the feeling, grows.
This, is how hostilities grow between you – they begin with something small – jealousy, envy and then this grows and I pull away from my brother, saying this person is not my brother, this one is an enemy, this one must be destroyed, driven away… and so people are destroyed -it is thus that animosity destroys families, populations, everything. It is that eating away at you, that being constantly obsessed with that person.
No!… there is no brother.
It is just me; there is no brotherhood – it is just me.
What happened at the beginning, can happen to all of us – it is a possibility. For this reason, it is a process which must be stopped immediately, at the beginning, at the first sign of bitterness. It must be stopped, because bitterness is not Christian – pain, yes, bitterness no.
Indeed, resentment is not Christian – pain yes, resentment no.
Instead, how much hostility and how many cracks exist and it ends in a war that kills.
However, you killed at the beginning. This is the process of blood and today the blood of many people in the world is crying to God from the ground.
And it is all connected – that blood has some connection, perhaps a small droplet of blood that I caused to ooze out with my envy and jealousy when I destroyed a brotherhood.”
Pope Francis – Santa Marta, 13 February 2017
It is not enough to simply “follow the rules” and stay out of trouble. If that is all we do then we are trying to achieve heaven by our own merits. God wants more from us than that. God invites us into a relationship of friends and family, a relationship of love. This type of relationship is a living, dynamic one. To love Christ and to want to be near Him is to be crucified with Him.
It means standing up for the Truth even when it is unpopular. It means finding time to pray. It means that we stay faithful to the teachings of Jesus. And it means that when we fail, we humbly confess our sins as we would apologise to a friend we have hurt, so that that relationship can be restored. It means that we must reflect Christ to the whole world, so that when people look at us they do not see us, they see Christ.
But in the end that is what it means to live for Christ and not for ourselves, to love for Christ and not for ourselves, to give of ourselves for Christ!
Blessed Fra Angelico, you gave your all for Christ, please Pray for Us!
Quote/s of the Day – 18 February – Monday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Mark 8:11–13
And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign?…Mark 8:12-13
Happy is the man who has found wisdom. Even more happy is the man who lives in wisdom, for he perceives its abundance. There are three ways for wisdom or prudence to abound in you – if you confess your sins, if you give thanks and praise and if your speech is edifying. Man believes with his heart and so he is justified. He confesses with his lips and so he is saved. In the beginning of his speech, the just man is his own accuser, next he gives glory to God and thirdly, if his wisdom extends that far, he edifies his neighbour.
St Bernard (1090-1153)
Mellifluous Doctor
“We are born to love, we live to love and we will die to love still more.”
One Minute Reflection – 18 February – Monday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Mark 8:11–13 and the Memorial of The Memorial of St Flavian of Constantinople(Died 449) and Blessed John of Fiesole/Fra Angelico OP (1387-1455)
And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign?...Mark 8:12-13
REFLECTION – “But for what sign from heaven were they asking? Maybe that he should hold back the sun, or curb the moon, or bring down thunderbolts, or change the direction of the wind, or something like that? In Pharaoh’s time there was an enemy from whom deliverance was needed. But for one who comes among friends, there should be no need of such signs.
No sign more impressed the crowds than the miracles of the loaves. Not only did they want to follow him but also seemed ready to make him a king. In order to avoid all suspicion of usurping civil authority, he made a speedy exit after this wonderful work. He did not even leave on foot, lest they chase after him but took off by boat.”…St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father & Doctor (Gospel of Saint Matthew, Homily 53)
PRAYER – Almighty Lord and God, protect us by Your power throughout the course of this day, even as You have enabled us to begin it. Your grace is all that we need to see the loving kindness of Your Son, our Lord Jesus in all we meet. Do not let us turn aside from His path but by the faith You have granted us, let us find meaning in all, which is the sign of Your glory. Do not let us turn aside to sin and may the intercession of St Flavian and Blessed Fra Angelico, grant us courage and peace. Through Jesus Christ, our Saviour, with the Holy Spirit, God now and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 18 February – Monday of the Sixth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Today’s Psalm: Psalm 50:1, 8, 16-17, 20-21
But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you. You sit and speak against your brother, you slander your own mother’s son.”...Psalm 50:16-17,20
Keep Me, O God….. Mary Stuart’s Prayer (Mary Queen of Scots)
Keep me, O God, from pettiness.
Let us be large in thought, word and deed.
Let us be done with fault-finding
and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretence
and meet each other face-to-face
without self-pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgement
and always generous.
Let us take time for all things.
Make us grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put into action
our better impulses
and make us
straight-forward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realise
that it is the little things in life
that create differences;
that in the big things we are all as one.
And, O Lord God,
Let us not forget to be kind.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 18 February – St Flavian (Died 449) Archbishop of Constantinople, Martyr, Confessor, Defender of the Christ’s two natures, both divine and human.
St Flavian endured condemnation and severe beatings during a fifth-century dispute about the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. Though he died from his injuries, his stand against heresy was later vindicated at the Church’s fourth ecumenical council in 451.
St Flavian is closely associated with St Pope Leo the Great (400-461), who also upheld the truth about Christ’s divine and human natures during the controversy. The Pope’s best-known contribution to the fourth council – a letter known as the “Tome of Leo” – was originally addressed to St Flavian, though it did not reach him during his lifetime.
Flavian’s date of birth is unknown, as are most of his biographical details. He was highly-regarded as a priest during the reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II (which lasted from 408 to 450) and he became Archbishop of Constantinople following the death of Saint Proclus in approximately 447.
Early in his reign, Flavian angered a state official named Chrysaphius by refusing to offer a bribe to the emperor. The ruler’s wife Eudocia joined the resulting conspiracy which Chrysaphius hatched against Flavian, a plot that would come to fruition in an illegitimate Church council and the patriarch’s death.
As head of the Church in Constantinople, Flavian had inherited a theological controversy about the relationship between deity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. In an occurrence that was not uncommon for the time, the doctrinal issue became entangled with personal and political rivalries. Flavian’s stand for orthodoxy gave his high-ranking court opponents a chance to act against him by encouraging the proponents of doctrinal error and manipulating the emperor in their favour.
The theological issue had arisen after the Council of Ephesus, which in 431 had confirmed the personal unity of Christ and condemned the error (known as Nestorianism) that said He was a composite being made up of a divine person and a human person. But questions persisted: Were Jesus’ eternal divinity and His assumed humanity, two distinct and complete natures fully united in one person? Or did the person of Christ have only one hybrid nature, made up in some manner of both humanity and divinity?
The Church would eventually confirm that the Lord’s incarnation involved both a divine and a human nature, at all times. When God took on a human nature at the incarnation, in the words of St Leo the Great, “the proper character of both natures was maintained and came together in a single person,” and “each nature kept its proper character without loss.”
During Flavian’s reign, however, the doctrine of Christ’s two natures had not been fully and explicitly defined. Thus, controversy came up regarding the doctrine of a monk named Eutyches, who insisted that Christ had only “one nature.” Flavian understood the “monophysite” doctrine as contrary to faith in Christ’s full humanity and he condemned it at a local council in November of 448. He excommunicated Eutyches and sent his decision to Pope Leo, who gave his approval in May 449.
Chrysaphius, who knew Eutyches personally, proceeded to use the monk as his instrument against the patriarch who had angered him. He convinced the emperor that a Church council should be convened to consider Eutyches’ doctrine again. The resulting council, held in August 449 and led by Dioscorus of Alexandria, was completely illegitimate and later formally condemned. But it pronounced against Flavian and declared him deposed from the patriarchate.
During this same illicit gathering, known to history as the “Robber Council,” a mob of monks beat St Flavian so aggressively that he died from his injuries three days later. Chrysaphius seemed, for the moment, to have triumphed over the Archbishop.
But the state official’s ambitions soon collapsed. Chrysaphius fell out of favour with Theodosius II shortly before the emperor’s death in July 450 and he was executed early in the reign of his successor Marcian.
St Flavian, meanwhile, was Canonised by the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451. Its participants gave strong acclamation to the “Tome of Leo” – in which the Pope confirmed St Flavian’s condemnation of Eutyches and affirmed the truth about Christ’s two natures, both divine and human.
We bless you, holy St Flavian, pray for us, Amen!
From an Altarpiece, depicting St Thomas Aquinas and St Flavian
St Gertrude Caterina Comensoli
St Helladius of Toledo
St Ioannes Chen Xianheng
St Ioannes Zhang Tianshen
St Jean-François-Régis Clet
St Jean-Pierre Néel
Bl Jerzy Kaszyra
Bl John Pibush – one of the Martyrs of Douai
St Leo of Patera
St Martinus Wu Xuesheng
Bl Matthew Malaventino
St Paregorius of Patara
St Sadoth of Seleucia
St Simeon
St Tarasius of Constantinople
St Theotonius
Bl William Harrington
—
Martyrs of North Africa – 7 saints: Group of Christians who were martyred together, date unknown. We know nothing else but seven of their names – Classicus, Fructulus, Lucius, Maximus, Rutulus, Secundinus and Silvanus.
They were born and martyred in North Africa.
Martyrs of Rome – 5 saints: A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. We know nothing else but their names – Alexander, Claudius, Cutias, Maximus and Praepedigna. They were martyred in 295 in Rome, Italy.
Sunday Reflection – 17 February -“As many as touched him were healed”-Mark 6:56
Saint Cyril of Alexandria (380-444) Father & Doctor of the Church
Even for restoring the dead to life the Saviour did not stop at acting by word alone, though it was the bearer of divine commands. For such a surpassing work He took his own flesh as His assistant – if one might put it that way – that He might show, that it has the power to give life and that He might cause it to be seen, that it is entirely one with Him. For it is indeed His very own flesh and not an alien body.
This is what happened when He restored life to the synagogue leader’s daughter, saying to her: “My child, arise!” (Mk 5:41). He took her by the hand, as it is written. As God, He gave her back her life by His all-powerful command and animated her also by contact with His holy flesh. Thus, He bore witness that, in flesh as in His word, one and the same divine energy was at work. In the same way, too, when He came to a town called Nain where the widow’s only son was being buried, He touched the coffin, saying: “Young man, I tell you, arise!” (Lk 7:14).
Thus He not only conferred to His word, the power to raise the dead but He even touched the dead, to show that His body is life-giving and, through His flesh, He caused life to pass into their corpses. If the touch alone of His sacred flesh, restores life to a corrupting body, what profit shall we not discover, in His life-giving Eucharist, when we make of it our food? It will wholly transform into its own property, which is immortality, those who participate in it.
Thought for the Day – 17 February – The Memorial of the Seven Founders of Servants of Mary
“Here I am, the servant of the Lord, let it be according to your word.”
On this day we celebrate the feast of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order- Sts Bonfilius, Bonajuncta, Manettus, Amadeus, Hugh, Sostene and Alexis.
“About the year 1240, while the struggle between Emperor Frederick II and the Apostolic See left Italian cities torn by rival factions, seven Florentine merchants decided to retire in solitude to [live] a common life marked by penance and prayer. They were already members of a lay group, called Servants of Saint Mary and were noted for their special devotion to Our Lady and for a close adherence to the gospel ideal of fraternal love and service to one another and to others, especially the poor and the sick.
“Consequently, they put aside their commercial activities, left their homes and distributed their personal possessions among the churches and the poor. The grey cloth commonly worn by penitents became their regular dress. They moved into a small house outside the city walls where they continued to minister to the spiritual and material needs of those who came to them for help.”
“. . . in the year 1304, Pope Benedict XI definitively approved the Order of Servants of Saint Mary with the Bull ‘Dum levamus.’ He wrote concerning the original spirit of the Order: ‘Because of the devotion you have for the glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, you have taken her name, humbly calling yourselves her Servants.'”
–from the Office of Readings “for the Solemnity of the Seven Holy Fathers of Our Order”
Their names in the world were Buonfiglio dei Monaldi (Bonfilius), Giovanni di Buonagiunta (Bonajuncta), Amadeus de Amidei (Bartolomeus), Ricovero dei Lippi-Ugguccioni (Hugh), Benedetto dell’ Antella (Manettus), Gherardino di Sostegno (Sostene), and Alessio de’ Falconieri (Alexius).
St Alexius lived to be a hundred years old. He died on 17 February 1310. The Seven Holy Founders share a common feast, just as they share a common grave.
It took great courage for these men to leave their prosperous businesses and live a life of prayer and penance. They had been leaders in society, so their decision to change their way of living caused a stir and inspired others to rethink their values and make some changes in their lives.
Good companions are one of the most powerful helps toward a holy life, for all of us are faced, in a new and urgent way, with the challenge to make our lives decisively centred in Christ. In this new day, we often find those ‘good companions’ online, let us too band together and live a holy life amidst the dangers around us!
Quote of the Day – 17 February – Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Every Eucharist is a “Mass on the world.”
Beyond the daily life of the believer, the Eucharist extends its action to the whole cosmos. As Teilhard de Chardin wrote: “When He (Christ) says through the priest “This is my body”, His words go well beyond the piece of bread over which they are pronounced: they effect the birth of the whole Mystical Body. Beyond the transubstantiated Host, the priestly action extends to the cosmos itself.”
Every Eucharist is a “Mass on the world.”
Fr Raneiro Cantalamessa OFM
Preacher to the Papal Household
One Minute Reflection – 17 February – Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Gospel: Luke 6:17-26
“Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” …Luke 6:22-23
REFLECTION – “O that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God! What gain is it to please the world, to please the great, nay even to please those whom we love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, courted, followed—compared with this one aim, of not being disobedient to a heavenly vision? What can this world offer comparable with that insight into spiritual things, that keen faith, that heavenly peace, that high sanctity, that everlasting righteousness, that hope of glory, which they have, who in sincerity love and follow our Lord Jesus Christ?
Let us beg and pray Him, day by day, to reveal Himself to our souls more fully, to quicken our senses, to give us sight and hearing, taste and touch of the world to come – so to work within us, that we may sincerely say, ‘You shall guide me with Your counsel and after that receive me with glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of You. My flesh and my heart fails but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.'”…Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) Sermon on Divine Calls (Plain Sermons)
PRAYER – Holy Father, You have given Yourself to us in the Face of Your Divine Son. You have given Him to us to be our food and our portion. You have consoled us with His presence on the Altar of Offering and washed us with His blood, day by day, You have sacrificed Him to save us. Grant us Your grace, we pray, that day by day, we may be strengthened and made holy by this Holy Food you grant us. May our Holy Mother, be our protection on this journey and may her prayers and the prayers of your saints, grant us courage. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, in the union of the Holy Spirit, one God with You, for all eternity, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 17 February – Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
Suscipe Sancte Pater 1903 Mass Ordinary by Solesmes Abbey
All that we have, O Lord,
comes from You
and belongs to You.
It is just, therefore,
that we return it to You.
But how wonderful are You
in the inventions
of Your immense love!
This bread, which we are offering
to You, is to give place,
in a few moments,
to the Sacred Body of Jesus.
We beseech You, receive, together
with this oblation,
our hearts, which long to live
by You
and to cease to live
their own life of self!
Amen
Saint of the Day – 17 February – Blessed Luke Belludi OFM (c 1200- c 1285) – Franciscan Friar, companion of St Anthony of Padua, miracle-woker, founder of convents – born in c 1200 in Padua, Italy and died in c 1285 of natural causes. His relics reside in the basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua.
In 1220, Saint Anthony (1195-1231) was preaching conversion to the inhabitants of Padua when a young nobleman, Luke Belludi, came up to him and humbly asked to receive the habit of the followers of Saint Francis. Anthony liked the talented, well-educated Luke and personally recommended him to Francis, who then received him into the Franciscan Order.
Luke, then only 20, was to be Anthony’s companion in his travels and in his preaching, tending to him in his last days and taking Anthony’s place upon his death. He was appointed guardian of the Friars Minor in the city of Padua. In 1239, the city fell into the hands of its enemies. Nobles were put to death, the mayor and council were banished, the great university of Padua gradually closed and the church dedicated to Saint Anthony was left unfinished. Luke himself was expelled from the city but secretly returned.
At night he and the new guardian would visit the tomb of Saint Anthony in the unfinished shrine to pray for his help. One night a voice came from the tomb assuring them that the city would soon be delivered from its evil tyrant.
After the fulfilment of the prophetic message, Luke was elected provincial minister and furthered the completion of the great basilica in honour of Anthony, his teacher. He founded many convents of the order and had, as Anthony, the gift of miracles. Upon his death he was laid to rest in the basilica that he had helped finish and has had a continual veneration up to the present time.
Chapel of Blessed Luke Belludi at the Basilica of St Anthony in Padua
The epistles refer several times to a man named Luke as Paul’s trusted companion on his missionary journeys. Perhaps every great preacher needs a Luke – Anthony surely did. Luke Belludi not only accompanied Anthony on his travels, he also cared for the great saint in his final illness and carried on Anthony’s mission after the saint’s death. Yes, every preacher needs a Luke, someone to offer support and reassurance—including those who minister to us. We don’t even have to change our names!
— St Alexis Falconieri – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS
St Antoni Leszczewicz St Bartholomew degli Amidei – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS St Benedict dell’Antella – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS
St Benedict of Cagliari St Buonfiglio Monaldi – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS
St Bonosus of Trier
Bl Constabilis of Cava
St Donatus the Martyr
Bl Elisabetta Sanna
St Evermod of Ratzeburg
St Faustinus the Martyr
St Finan of Iona
St Fintan of Clonenagh
St Flavian of Constantinople
St Fortchern of Trim St Gherardino Sostegni – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS
St Guevrock
St Habet-Deus St Hugh dei Lippi-Uguccioni – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS St John Buonagiunta Monetti – SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS
St Julian of Caesarea
St Loman of Trim Bl Luke Belludi (c 1200- c 1285)
St Lupiano
Bl Martí Tarrés Puigpelat
St Mesrop the Teacher
St Petrus Yu Chong-nyul
St Polychronius of Babylon
St Romulus the Martyr
St Secundian the Martyr
St Silvinus of Auchy
St Theodulus of Caesarea
Bl William Richardson
AnaStpaul 
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