Day: July 6, 2019

Posted in MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN Saturdays, The ANNUNCIATION, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Thought for the Day – 6 July – Pope Francis on Mary’s “Yes”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 6 July – Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, – Marian Saturdays

Pope Francis on Mary’s “Yes”

Mary first conceived Jesus in faith and then in the flesh, when she said “yes” to the message God gave her through the angel.   What does this mean?   It means that God did not want to become man by bypassing our freedom, He wanted to pass through Mary’s free assent, through her “yes.”   He asked her:  “Are you prepared to do this?”   And she replied: “Yes.”

But what took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also takes place within us, spiritually, when we receive the word of God with a good and sincere heart and put it into practice.   It is as if God takes flesh within us, He comes to dwell in us, for He dwells in all who love Him and keep His word.   It is not easy to understand this but really, it is easy to feel it in our heart….Pope Francis, 12 October 2013

HANDMAID OF THE LORD
The Gospel of Saint Luke presents us with Mary, a girl from Nazareth, a small town in Galilee, in the outskirts of the Roman Empire and on the outskirts of Israel as well.   A village.   Yet the Lord’s gaze rested on her, on this little girl from that distant village, on the one he had chosen to be the Mother of His Son.

In view of this motherhood, Mary was preserved from original sin, from that fracture in communion with God, with others and with creation, which deeply wounds every human being.   But this fracture was healed in advance in the Mother of the One who came to free us from the slavery of sin.   The Immaculata was written in God’s design, she is the fruit of God’s love that saves the world.

And Our Lady never distanced herself from that love, throughout her life her whole being is a “yes” to that love, it is the “yes” to God.   But that didn’t make life easy for her! When the angel calls her “full of grace” (Lk 1:28), she is “greatly troubled” for in her humility she feels she is nothing before God.

The angel consoles her:  “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (v. 30,31).   This announcement troubles her even more because she was not yet married to Joseph but the angel adds: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (v. 35). Mary listens, interiorly obeys, and responds: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word” (v.38)…. Pope Francis, 8 December 2013mary mother of jesus you who accepted - pope francis 6 july 2019.jpg

WE PRAY WITH POPE FRANCIS
Mary, Mother of Jesus,
you who accepted,
teach us how to accept,
you who adored,
teach us how to adore,
you who followed,
teach us how to follow.
Amen

Mary, Mother of the “Yes”, Pray for Us!mary mother of the yes pray for us 6 july 2019.jpg

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Posted in MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN Saturdays, The ANNUNCIATION, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote of the Day – 6 July – God is still searching …

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote of the Day – 6 July – Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, – Marian Saturdays

“Even today, God is still searching for hearts like Mary’s
that are open to welcoming His invitation
and providing hope, even when it’s hard.
God continues to walk our neighbourhoods and our streets,
He pushes in each place in search of hearts
capable of listening to His invitation
and making it become flesh here and now.
In the end, the Lord continues to seek hearts like that of Mary,
disposed to believe even in very extraordinary conditions.
Just like He did with Mary,
God also takes the initiative in our lives,
inserting Himself into our daily struggles, anxieties and desires.
It is precisely in the daily routine of our lives,
that we receive the most beautiful announcement we can hear –
“Rejoice, the Lord is with you!”

Pope Francis, 2017even today god is still searching for hearts like marys - pope francis - 6 july 2019

Holy Mary of the Annunciation of Emmanuel,
God with us,
Pray for us!marys-fiat-holy-mary-pray-for-us-14-may-2019-pope-francis-and-the-rosary-from-fr-enrico-no-1

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN Saturdays, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FASTING, QUOTES on PRAYER, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 6 July – ‘then they will fast …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 6 July – Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Matthew 9:14–17 – Marian Saturdays

And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?   The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them and then they will fast” ...Matthew 9:15

REFLECTION – “However, our mourning is right if we burn with desire to see Him.  How happy they were who were able to enjoy His presence before His Passion, to question Him as they wished and listen to Him as necessary… As for us, we see the fulfilment of what He said:  “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it” (Lk 17:22)…A little while and you will no longer see me and again a little while and you will see me” (Jn 16:19).   But now this is the hour of which He said:  “You will weep and mourn but the world will rejoice… But, He added, I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you” (v.22).  The hope thus given us by Him, who is faithful in His promises, never now leaves us, without a certain joy — until that overwhelming joy comes on the day when we will be like Him because we will see Him as he is (1Jn 3:2)… “When a woman is in labour, she has pain because her hour has come,” says the Lord, “but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world”(Jn 16:21).   This is the joy no-one can take away from us and with which we will be satisfied when we pass to eternal light from our present conception in faith.   So let us fast and pray since we are still on the threshold of birth.“…St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctormatthew 9 15 - the days will come - so let us fast and pray - sta augustine - 7 july 2018

PRAYER – Let our worship give You glory Lord, we ask You, in Your mercy, for the grace always to ponder in our hearts what we proclaim with our lips.   For our salvation, You looked upon the lowliness of Mary, Your handmaid, raise us up to share with her, the fullness of redemption.   We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, in the unity of te Holy Spirit, one God for all eternity, amen.mary our hope handmaid of the lord - pray for us - 26 june 2018

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

Our Morning Offering – 5 July – Our Lady

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Our Morning Offering – 5 July – Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Year C – Saturdays with Mary

Our Lady
St Germanus (378-448)
Bishop of Auxerre

Our Lady
Your name is Our Lady.
You alone are Mother of God
and raised high over all the earth.
O Spouse of God,
we celebrate you with faith,
we honour you with longing,
we venerate you with awe,
at every moment
we exalt you
and reverently proclaim
you Blessed.
Amenour lady - st germanus 6 july 2019.jpg

Posted in MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 6 July – Saint Romulus of Fiesole (Died c 90) Martyr

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Saint of the Day – 6 July – Saint Romulus of Fiesole (Died c 90) Martyr, Bishop, Disciple of Saint Peter (Italian: San Romolo) is venerated as the patron saint of Fiesole, Italy. Romulus was probably a local deacon, priest, or bishop of the 1st century.San_Remo038

According to tradition, he was a disciple of Saint Peter and had been converted to Christianity by the apostle.   This tradition states that Romulus became the first bishop of Fiesole and was martyred during the reign of Domitian along with four companions – Carissimus, Dulcissimus, Marchisianus, and Crescentius.

He was not named as a bishop or martyr in documents dating from 966, however, a document from 1028 names him as such.   From then on, Romulus was considered a martyred bishop of Fiesole and his companions were named.   Their feast day was listed as 6 July in the 1468 Florentine edition of the Martyrology of Usuard and in the 16th century, his name began to appear in the Roman Martyrology, where he was named as a disciple of Saint Peter.San_Romolo

An 11th-century legend associated with him, makes him an illegitimate son of a woman named Lucerna, who had a child with her father’s slave, who was named Cyrus  . Like the Romulus of ancient Roman legend, this Romulus was also abandoned and suckled by a she-wolf.   He was captured, baptised and raised by Saint Peter and Peter’s companion Justin. Romulus then evangelised much of central Italy and was put to death by the governor Repertian.

The most ancient image depicting Romulus is the 1440 polyptych in Fiesole Cathedral, where he is represented with Saints Alexander, Peter and Donatus.fiesole cathedral - Bicci-di-Lorenzo-1450

st romolos Giovanni-della-Robbia-1521

Posted in MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 6 July

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St Maria Goretti (1890-1902) (Optional Memorial)

About St Maria here:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/saint-of-the-day-6-july-st-maria-goretti/

Bl Angela of Bohemia
Bl Augustin-Joseph Desgardin
Bl Christopher Solino
St Cyril of Thessaloniki
St Dominica of Campania
St Gervais
St Giusto of Condat
St Goar of Aquitaine
St Godelieve
Bl Maria Theresia Ledóchowska
St Monenna
Bl Nazaria Ignacia March y Mesa (1889-1943) – To be Canonised on 14 October 2018, together with Blessed Pope Paul VI and Blessed Oscar Romero and others on 14 October 2018.
Her story:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/06/saint-of-the-day-6-july-blessed-sr-nazaria-of-saint-teresa-of-jesus-nazaria-ignacia-march-y-mesa-1889-1943/

St Noyala of Brittany
St Petrus Wang Zuolung
St Romulus of Fiesole (Died c 90) Martyr
St Saxburgh of Ely
St Sisoes the Great
Bl Suzanne Agathe de Loye
St Thomas Alfield
St Tranquillinus of Rome
—
Martyrs of Campania – 23 saints:   A group of 23 Christians arrested, tortured and then beheaded together in the later 3rd century by order of governor Rictiovarus in the persecutions of Diocletian. The names that have come down to us are – Antoninus, Arnosus, Capicus, Cutonius, Diodorus, Dion, Isidore, Lucia, Lucian, Rexius, Satyrus and Severinus.

Martyrs of Fiesole – 5 saints:   Five Christians martyred together in the persecutions of emperor Domitian – Carissimus, Crescentius, Dulcissimus, Marchisianus and Romulus. c 90 near Fiesole, Italy.