Novena in Preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Day Four
O Chosen One among the daughters of Adam, admirable Mary, the Redeemer promised to mankind from the beginning of the world, takes delight in your birth, for He sees the one who is destined to become the Co-redemptress of souls by uniting her tears to the Blood shed on the Cross to save mankind. Dearest Mother, please pray for me and for these my intentions… …………………….. (State your intentions)
Hail Mary…
Prayer: Your Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God, was the herald of joy to the whole world; since from you arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, who, destroying the curse, bestowed the blessing and confounding death, rewarded us with life everlasting.
V. Let us celebrate with joy the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
R. That she may intercede for us with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us pray: Grant to us your servants, we beseech you, O Lord, the gift of Your heavenly grace, that as our salvation was begun in the child-bearing of the Blessed Virgin, so from this solemn festival of her Nativity may we obtain an increase of peace. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Thought for the Day – 2 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Intimacy with Jesus
“In his memoirs written while in exile, Napoleon says: “Many have desired and endeavoured to be obeyed, revered and honoured by all; only Jesus Christ has demanded this because He is God.”
“As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you,” we read in the Gospel of St John. “Abide in my love” (Jn 15:9). Jesus, therefore, asks each of us, not only to love Him but, to remain intimately united with Him in love. He has a perfect right to demand this because, as God, He is our Creator and as God-Man, He is our Redeemer, Who out of love for us has given Himself entirely.
St Francis de Sales writes, that Jesus should always be in our minds, in our hearts, in our eyes and on our tongue. We should be living images of Jesus and we must, therefore, live and act for Him, with Him and in Him.”
Quote/s of the Day – 2 September – Wednesday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time, Readings: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Psalms 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21, Luke 4:38-44
“And the people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Luke 4:42-43
“Peace be with you as the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
John 20:21
“Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand and encourage through all patience and teaching.”
2 Timothy 4:2
“Lord, if Your people still have need of my services, I will not avoid the toil. Your will be done. I have fought the good fight long enough. Yet, if You bid me to continue to hold the battle line, in defence of Your camp, I will never beg to be excused from failing strength. I will do the work You entrust to me. While You command, I will fight beneath Your banner. Amen”
St Martin de Tours (c 316-397)
“I preached myself, the scholars came and praised me. I preached Christ, the sinners came and thanked me.”
St Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Doctor of the Church
“It is no use walking somewhere to preach, unless our walking is our preaching.”
St Francis of Assisi (c 1181-1226)
“What a tragedy, how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
St Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
“Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which, the compassion of Christ, looks out to the world. Yours are the feet, with which, He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands, with which, He is to bless others now.”
St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) Doctor of the Church
“Never say to God: “Enough;” simply say, “I am ready.”
Bl Sebastian Valfre (1629-1710)
“I greatly desire to become a saint, that I may be able to make others saints and thus procure the glory of God.”
St Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868)
“In everything, ask yourself only what the Master would have done and do that.”
One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “Month of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Wednesday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time, Readings: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Psalms 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21, Luke 4:38-44
“Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him and he laid his hands on everyone of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.” … Luke 4:40-41
REFLECTION – “But observe again, I pray, how great is the efficacy of the touch of His holy flesh. For It both drives away diseases of various kinds and a crowd of demons and overthrows the power of the devil and heals a very great multitude of people in one moment of time. And though able to perform these miracles by a word and the inclination of His will, yet, to teach us something useful, He also lays His hands upon the sick. For it was necessary, most necessary, for us to learn, that the holy flesh which He had made His own, was endowed with the activity of the power of the Word, by His having implanted in it, a godlike might. Let It then take hold of us, or rather let us take hold of It, by the mystical “Giving of thanks,” that It may free us also from the sicknesses of the soul and from the assault and violence of demons.
He would not permit the unclean demons to confess Him; for it was not fitting for them to usurp the glory of the Apostolic office, nor with impure tongue, to talk of the mystery of Christ. Yea! though they speak ought that is true, let no-one put credence in them – for the light is not known by the aid of darkness, as the disciple of Christ teaches us, where he says, “For what communion hath light with darkness? or what consent hath Christ with Beliar?” … … St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Father and Doctor of the Incarnation
PRAYER – Heavenly God and Father, through Your Son, Lord God, You shed Your eternal light on all mankind. You gave us our mission, You taught us our way. Grant us the grace to acknowledge the full splendour of our Redeemer, so that, in His steps, we may grow from strength to strength in evangelising all. Fill us with Your Spirit to enlighten and guide us and may the prayers of the Sorrowful Mother of Our Lord Jesus, be our perpetual succour. Through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit, God for always and forever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 2 September – Wednesday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time
Prayer for Five Graces By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
Eternal Father, Your Son has promised that You would grant, all the graces we ask of You in His name. Trusting in this promise and in the name of and through the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask of You five special graces: First, I ask pardon for all the offenses I have committed, for which I am sorry with all my heart because I have offended Your infinite goodness. Second, I ask for Your divine Light, which will enable me to see the vanity of all things of this earth and see also Your infinite greatness and goodness. Third, I ask for a share in Your love, so that I can detach myself from all creatures, especially from myself and love only Your holy will. Fourth, grant me the grace to have confidence in the merits of Jesus Christ and in the intercession of Mary. Fifth, I ask for the grace of perseverance, knowing that, whenever I call on You for assistance, You will answer my call and come to my aid. I fear only, that I will neglect to turn to You in time of need and thus bring myself to ruin. Grant me the grace to pray always, O Eternal Father, in the name of Our Lord Jesus. Amen
Saint of the Day – 2 September – Saint Nonnosus (c 500-c 575) Monk, Abbot and Deacon. Also known as Nonnosus of Monte Soratte, Nonnoso, Nonosius, Nonoso. Born in c 500 and died in c 575 of natural causes. Additional Memorials – 12 May (discovery of his relics), 19 August (enshrining of relics in Freising, Bamberg, Germany). Patronages – Freising (co-patron), Castel Sant’Elia, Diocese of Sutri and Nepi both in Italy, invoked in Germany against diseases of the kidneys, against physical defects, back pains, Castel Saint’Elia, Italy, Freising, Germany.
He by the best information known, was a Monk at the Abbey in Suppentonia, Italy. He was said to have the ability to perform many miracles and in fact, so many, that they caught the attention of Pope St Gregory I – the Great, who wrote the stories of Nonossus’s life and many miracles he performed. These records from Pope St Gregory, are the only records known to exist of this saint’s life, outside of legend.
St Nonossus was born in 500, in what is believed to be, Mount Soracte, near Rome. He lived a life of prayer as a Monk. He was a Prior at the San Silvestre Monastery on Monte Soratte, north of Rome. He later was a Monk at Suppenntonia, near Civitah, Italy. He was a contemporary of St Benedictine of Nursia.
The sole source of Nonnosus’ life is Pope Gregory the Great, who wrote about St Nonossus after being asked by some friends to create a compendium of miracle stories associated with Italian Saints. Maximian, the Bishop of Syracuse, provided Pope Gregory with some information about Nonnosus. Another source that Pope Gregory drew from was Laurio, an old Monk of the Monastery Suppentonia. Laurio had been a great friend of Nonossus, while the two lived the monastic life there, under the Abbot St Anastasius. According to Gregory, Nonossus was a particularly good-natured man, kind and devout.
St Nonnosus statue, Thierhaupten Abbey
Miracles told of Nonossus, as recorded by St Gregory, state that Nonossus removed an enormous rock that had occupied land on which he wanted to grow cabbage. Fifty pairs of oxen had not been able to move it, after many attempts. He miraculously restored a glass lamp that had been shattered against the floor. He also completely filled many receptacles with olive oil, after a particularly bad harvest for the olive crop, so the people would not go without. He had the ability to calm his Abbot, who was sometimes easily upset and frustrated.
Nonnosus was buried at Monte Soratte . A tablet at his burial site reads “Here rests the servant of Christ, Nonossus, Deacon.” The oil from the eternally burning grave lamp is reported to have healing powers.
Inscription on the tombstone associated with Nonnosus, Molzbichl Church
Nonnosus is mentioned in a 12th-century collection of legends from Carinthia, Austria. His cult spread to Bavaria, where relics are kept in the crypt of Freising Cathedral. Veneration of Nonnosus was also established at Monte Soratte in the 1650s, due to the efforts of Andrea di San Bonaventura, a Cistercian Monk and in 1661 some of his relics returned to Monte Soratte and Nonnosus’ cult spread across central Italy.
St Nonossus’s life teaches us that many before us were willing to serve the Church with all they had, so as to preserve the faith for us. The question that comes to mind, what are we willing to do to learn, live and pass the faith on in our generation, for the generations to come?
St Theodota of Bithynia St Valentine of Strasbourg St William of Roeskilde — Marytrs of Nicomedia – 3 saints: Three Christians who were martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. No details about them but their names have survived – Concordius, Theodore and Zenone. They were martyrd in Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey).
Martyrs of September – 191 beati: Also known as – • Martyrs of Paris,• Martyrs of Carmes. A group of 191 martyrs who died in the French Revolution. They were imprisoned in the Abbey of St-Germain-des-Prés, Hôtel des Carmes in the rue de Rennes, Prison de la Force and Seminaire de Saint-Firmin in Paris, France by the Legislative Assembly for refusing to take the oath to support the civil constitution of the clergy. This act placed priests under the control of the state, and had been condemned by the Vatican. They were massacred by a mob on 2 September and 3 September 1792 and Beatified on 17 October 1926 by Pope Pius XI.
Martyrs of 2 September – 10 saints: A group of ten Christian martyrs; their names are on old martyrologies but we have lost all record of their lives and deaths. They were canonised. • Antoninus • Diomedes • Eutychian • Hesychius • Julian • Leonides • Menalippus • Pantagapes • Philadelphus • Philip
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War: • Blessed Baldomer Margenat Puigmitja • Blessed Fortunato Barrón Nanclares • Blessed Joan Franquesa Costa • Blessed José María Laguía Puerto • Blessed Lorenzo Insa Celma
AnaStpaul 
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