Lenten Preparation Novena to the Holy Face
Fifth Day – 21 February
DAILY PREPARATORY PRAYER
O Most Holy and Blessed Trinity,
through the intercession of Holy Mary,
whose soul was pierced through
by a sword of sorrow
at the sight of the passion of her Divine Son,
we ask Your help,
in making a perfect Novena of Reparation with Jesus,
united with all His sorrows, love and total abandonment.
We now implore all the Angels and Saints
to intercede for us as we pray this Holy Novena
to the Most Holy Face of Jesus
and for the glory of the most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen
(Console Holy Face and recite Daily Preparatory Prayer)
FIFTH DAY
Psalm 51,10-11
Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may revive. From my sins turn away your Face and blot out all my guilt.
Holy Face of Jesus,
Sacred Countenance of God,
how great is Your patience with humankind,
how infinite Your forgiveness.
We are sinners, yet You love us.
This gives us courage.
For the glory of Your Holy Face
and of the Blessed Trinity,
hear and answer us.
Mary our Mother, intercede for us,
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Through the merits of Your precious blood and Your Holy Face,
O Jesus, grant us our petition………………
Pardon and mercy.
Prayer to Saint Joseph – Adopt Us a Thy Children
Dear Saint Joseph!
Adopt us as thy children,
take charge of our salvation,
watch over us day and night,
preserve us from occasions of sin,
obtain for us purity of body and soul
and the spirit of prayer,
through thy intercession with Jesus,
grant us a spirit of sacrifice, of humility and self-denial,
obtain for us a burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
and a sweet, tender love for Mary, our Mother.
Saint Joseph, be with us in life,
be with us in death
and obtain for us a favourable judgement from Jesus,
our merciful Saviour.
Amen
Pray (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Marys, (1) Glory Be.
O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, be every adoration Thine (Three times)
Thought for the Day – 21 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Lord, That I May See!
“When Jesus was approaching the gates of Jericho one day, a blind man was sitting on the ground, begging for alms. He heard the sound of a crowd on the road and asked, what was happening. He was informed that Jesus was passing. Then he experienced a sudden upsurge of faith and shouted out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The people who were in front, rebuked him and told him to be quiet. But he cried out in an even louder voice: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Then Jesus stopped and turned towards him. He gave orders that the man should be brought nearer to Him. “What wouldst thou have me to do for thee?” He asked. “Lord,” the blind man replied, “that I may see.” Merciful, as always, Jesus answered in a tone of command. “Receive thy sight, thy faith has saved thee.” Immediately, the blind man was able to see and he followed Our Lord, crying out in praise of God (Lk 18:35-43; Mk 10:46-52).
Read the simple and vivid account of this incident in the Gospel. Mediate on the infinite goodness of Jesus, Who, is always ready to come to our relief. Meditate also, on the lively and spontaneous faith of this poor blind man. If our faith were of the same quality as his, we could obtain everything we asked from God.”
Quote/s of the Day – 21 February – the Memorial of St Peter Damian OSB (1007-1072) Doctor of the Church and St Robert Southwell SJ (1561-1595) Priest and Martyr
The Burning Babe, by Saint Robert Southwell
As I in hoary winter’s night stood shivering in the snow, Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow; And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near, A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear; Who, scorchëd with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed. Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry, Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I! My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns, Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns; The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals, The metal in this furnace wrought are men’s defiled souls, For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good, So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood. With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away, And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.
It’s not surprising, it’s one of the great poems of the English language.
St Robert Southwell S.J. (1561-1595) Martyr, Religious Priest, Poet, Hymnodist, Writer, clandestine missionary was born in 1561 in Horsham Saint Faith, Norfolk, England and he was martyred by being hanged, drawn and quartered on 21 February 1595 (aged 33) in Tyburn, London, England. St Robert was Canonised on 25 October 1970 by Blessed Pope Paul VI. “His poetry – we don’t know exactly when he began to write but it must have been very young because he wrote a great deal of which we have the record and by now the English speaking world knows Robert Southwell. His two outstanding poems are ‘The Burning Babe’ and ‘The Virgin Mary to Christ On The Cross.’” (Ven Fr John A Hardon SJ)
One Minute Reflection – 21 February – Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, Readings: James 2:14-24, 26, Psalm 112:1-6, Mark 8:34–9:1 and the Memorial of Blessed Noel Pinot (1747-1794) Priest and Martyr
“He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” … Mark 8:34
REFLECTION – “What does this mean, “take up a cross”? It means he will bear with whatever is troublesome and in this very act he will be following me.
When he has begun to follow me, according to My teaching and precepts, he will find many people contradicting him and standing in his way, many who not only deride but even persecute him.
Moreover, this is true, not only of pagans who are outside the church but also of those, who seem to be in it visibly but are outside of it because of the perversity of their deeds.
Although these glory, in merely the title of Christian, they continually persecute faithful Christians.
Such belong to the members of the church in the same way, that bad blood is in the body.
Therefore, if you wish to follow Christ, do not delay in carrying His cross, tolerate sinners but do not yield to them.
Do not let the false happiness of the wicked corrupt you.
You do well to despise all things for the sake of Christ, in order that you may be fit for his companionship.” … St Caesarius of Arles (470-543) – (Sermons, 159)
PRAYER – Holy Father, send Your Divine Enlightener into the hearts of all Your faithful, filling us with the strength to fulfil our mission as the followers of Your only Son, our Saviour and to take up our cross in His footsteps. Teach us and guide us, to deny ourselves for His sake. As the zealous, faithful and courageous shepherd Blessed Noel Pinot, died for love of Christ and His Church, may we and all our Priests, profit by his intercession and be strengthened in the face of all persecution. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen
Our Morning Offering – 21 February – Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A
The Grace of Thy Love By St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
O My God,
strengthen me with Thy strength,
console me with Thy everlasting peace,
soothe me with the beauty of Thy countenance,
enlighten me with Thy uncreated holiness.
Bathe me in Thyself
and give me to drink,
as far as mortal man may ask,
of the rivers of grace
which flow from the Father and the Son,
the grace of Thy consubstantial,
co-eternal Love.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 21 February – Blessed Noel Pinot (1747-1794) Priest and Martyr – born on 19 December 1747, aged 46, at Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France and died by being guillotined on 21 February 1794 at Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France. He wore his Mass vestments to execution and died reciting the opening words of the Mass.
Born the last of sixteen children to a humble weaver, he lost his father when he was eight years old. He entered the seminary in Angers. He was Ordained a Priest on 22 December 1770.
He was first appointed vicar in Bousse in 1772 and then chaplain at Angers in August 1781. In September 1789 he became pastor of Le Louroux-Béconnais commune.
During the French Revolution, he refused to take the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy unlike his superior, who took the oath on Sunday, 23 January 1791 and was later a member of the Petite Église. He was accused by the revolutionary municipality of “engaging in ecclesiastical activities to oppose the law.” On Sunday 27 February he was brought before the court. Denounced, he was arrested on 5 March and sentenced to banishment by the District Court. He hid in Beaupreau. Returning to Louroux in 1793, during the war of Vendee, he went into hiding after the failure of the royalist insurgents against Nantes.
Stained glass window of the Church of Louroux-Béconnais showing the second trial of Noël Pinot, before the military commission of Angers, 21 February 1794.
He was arrested on the night of 8 February 1794 during a clandestine Mass he celebrated at the farm where he was hiding.
After ten days of imprisonment, the rebel was brought before the revolutionary court, which held its trials in a deconsecrated church. On this day, 21 February, the committee was presided over by Citizen Roussel. By a horrifying coincidence, this revolutionary officer was an apostate priest, who had initially taken the oath, then left the priesthood! But in Anjou, no one knew his past. After he had given the sentence, Roussel looked at the vestments displayed before the court and mockingly suggested to the prisoner: “Wouldn’t you be well pleased to go to the guillotine in your vestments?”—“Yes,” agreed the confessor of the faith without hesitation, “it would be for me a great consolation.”—“Well, then,” the other replied, “you will wear them and be executed in this get-up.” He mounted the scaffold reciting the first prayers of the mass Introibo ad altare Dei – ‘Come to the Altar of God.’
A statue at the Cathedral of Angers represents the first step of climbing the “altar of God”.
On 26 August 1864 Guillaume Angebault, bishop of Angers recommended Father Brouillet to the commission to “proceed with the canonical investigation into the life and virtues of the priest”.
He was Beatified by Pope Pius XI on 31 October 1926. Ninety-nine Martyrs d’Angers were Beatified by St Pope John Paul II on 19 February 1984.
Blessed Noël Pinot, who has been associated with the Priesthood of Jesus, Sovereign Priest, deign to show your power of intercession towards your servants. Pray that our Priests may be enlightened and strengthened, make them, like you, invincible in the defence of the faith.
Encourage priestly and religious vocations in our parishes, pray to fill the aspirants to the Priesthood and to religious life with generous zeal.
Obtain the grace for the faithful, to know their religion better and to practice it.
May families be strengthened in the fidelity to all the duties, the docility and the respect towards their shepherd priests.
May children and youth be preserved from so many dangers which threaten their beliefs and their virtue. Thwart the plots of those who want to snatch them from the maternal womb of the Church.
Pray for the sick and infirm, that they may be strengthened.
Finally Lord, by the prayers of Blessed Noel, kindly bless and crown with success the apostolic labours of the Ministers of Christ and of all activists, with a view to restoring in dear France the reign of the Heart of Jesus.
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 Blessed Noel Pinot (1747-1794) Priest and Martyr
St Paterius of Brescia
St Pepin of Landen
St Peter Mavimenus
St Randoald of Granfield
St Severian of Scythopolis
St Severus of Syrmium
Bl Thomas Pormort
St Valerius of San Pedro de Montes
St Verda of Persia
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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
AnaStpaul 
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