Day: September 25, 2020

Posted in INDULGENCES, NOVENA -Guardian, NOVENAS, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS

Novena to Our Angel Guardian – Day Three – 25 September

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Novena to Our Angel Guardian – Day Three – 25 September
(Indulgence of 300 days, each day of the Novena)

Opening Prayer

Deus in adjutorium:
V/. O God +, come to my assistance
R/. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Gloria Patri…

DAY III.

Most perfect executor of the Will of God,
my faithful guardian,
I pray thee,
by the vigilant and loving eagerness
with which thou fulfils
the duty of my guardianship
which God has confided to thee,
obtain for me the grace
of being always anxious
to know and accomplish perfectly,
to the last moment of my life,
everything that God asks of me.
And this special intention of virtue
which I make unto thy prayers
…………………….. (the special virtue you desire). Amen

Pater. Ave. Gloria Patri.

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD

Thought for the Day – 24 September – Faith

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Thought for the Day – 24 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Faith

“A man without the light of faith is like a blind man groping in the dark.
The world which surrounds us is an inconceivable absurdity, unless, we have faith in a God who creates and orders.
Life is an aimless journey if it is not illuminated by faith in a Creator, Who will reward us.
Everything without us and within us, speaks to us of God and directs our steps towards Him, our supreme benefactor, our judge and our eternal reward.
The stars of the heavens and the flowers of the fields, tell us of the infinite beauty and goodness of their Creator.
In the pages of the Gospel, we find, a clearer and more penetrating light which invites us to adore and love the divine Redeemer and to believe in Him, Who alone, has the words of eternal life and Who alone can satisfy the infinite desires of our hearts.

All this is true.
Everything around us and within us leads us to God and invites us to have faith.
The virtue of faith, however, is a supernatural gift, which we must humbly and perseveringly beg from God.
It is, as St Thomas Aquinas says, the foundation of the entire spiritual life (Summa Theologiae,III,q 73, a 3); without it, the spiritual edifice would collapse.
How thankful, therefore, we should be to God for having been called to the faith and for having been born in the Catholic Church.
There are so many souls outside Her, who grope in the darkness, longing for the truth.
We should pray for them that they may reach the port of salvation and may be able to join with us in praising, loving and serving Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We should also be well aware that, as pointed out by St James, faith without good works is dead (Cf Js 2:17-20).
Even the devils believe, as St Augustine observes (De Caritate, 10) but, this does not help their salvation.
Besides faith, the love of God and love of our neighbour are necessary.
The result of this double charity, should be a gradual increase in good works.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, SACRED HEART QUOTES, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – – 25 September – And Peter answered, The Christ of God. Luke 9:20

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Quote/s of the Day – 25 September – Friday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time, Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, Psalms 144:1, 2, 3-4, Luke 9:18-22

“Then he said to them,
But who do you say that I am?”
And Peter answered,
The Christ of God.”

Luke 9:20

“If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”
Jesus turned, and seeing her he said,
“Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.”
And instantly the woman was made well.”

Matthew 9:21-22

“It is I, be not afraid”

John 6:20

“What determines that the gifts of God dwells in us,
is the measure of each one’s faith.
Because it is to the extent that we believe,
that the enthusiasm to act is given us.
And so those who act,
reveal the measure of their faith
proportionate to their action,
they receive their measure of grace
according to what they have believed. …”

St Maximus the Confessor (c 580-662)
Monk and Theologian

“I believe
though I do not comprehend
and I hold by faith,
what I cannot grasp
with the mind.”

St Bernard (1090-1153)
Mellifluous Doctor

“Believing is
an act of the intellect
assenting to the divine truth,
by command of the will,
moved by God through grace.”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus
Doctor Communis

“O Heart of love,
I put all my trust in Thee,
for I fear all things,
from my own weakness,
but I hope for all things,
from Thy Goodness.”

St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)

“Faith is that which makes us believe
from the depths of our souls…
all the truths that our religion teaches us,
all that the Gospel holds
and all that the Church sets before us.
The just man lives truly by this faith (Rom 1:17),
for it replaces for him,
the greater part of his natural senses.
It so transforms all things,
that the senses are of little use to the soul,
which through them is only deceived,
whilst faith shews it realities.
Where the eye sees but a poor man,
faith sees Jesus (Mt 25:40).”

Bl Charles Eugène de Foucauld of Jesus OCSO (1858-1916)

Posted in ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SAINT of the DAY, The PASSION, The REDEMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 25 September – … The Son of Man must suffer many things – Luke 9:22

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One Minute Reflection – 25 September – Friday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time, Readings: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, Psalms 144:1, 2, 3-4, Luke 9:18-22 and the Memorial of Saint Finbar (c 550– 623) Bishop of Cork

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.” … Luke 9:22

REFLECTION – “Jesus made His way of His own free will towards the sufferings Scripture had foretold. He had frequently predicted them to His disciples and had even severely rebuked Peter, who had received their discovery with indignation (Mt 16:23). Finally, He showed how they were the cause of the world’s salvation. This was why, to the men coming to arrest Him, He referred to Himself as: “I am he whom you are seeking” (cf. Jn 18:5.8) (…) He was struck, covered with spittle, mocked, tortured, scourged and, in the end crucified. He allowed two outlaws, one at His right and one at His left, to share His suffering. Classed alongside murderers and criminals He took vinegar and gall, fruits of a bitter vine. He was struck in mockery by a reed, pierced by a lance in His side and, in the end, laid in a tomb.

All this He suffered while working our salvation (…) By His thorns He brought an end to the punishment laid on Adam, since the latter, having sinned, received this sentence: “Cursed be the ground because of you! Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you” (Gn 3:17-18). With the gall He took to Himself all that is bitter and painful in mortal life and sorrowful to men. With the vinegar He accepted human nature’s decline and bestowed on it, it’s restoration to a higher state. By the purple he symbolised His royalty; with the reed He indicated how weak and feeble the devil’s power is. Being slapped, He made known our enfranchisement [just as we do in the case of a slave]. He bore with the abuse, punishment and beating due to us.

He was struck in the side, making Him more like Adam. But, far from bringing forth the woman who, by her straying, gave birth to death, He made a spring of life to gush out (Gn 2:21; Jn 19:34). And this gives life to the world by means of a twofold stream – the first renews and re-clothes us in the garment of immortality in the baptistery and following this birth, the second, feeds us at God’s table, just as one suckles a newborn child.” … Theodoret of Cyrus (c 393-c 460) Bishop – Treatise on the Incarnation, 26-27

PRAYER – O God of love, You sent Your beloved Son to the world to proclaim the Good News of Salvation, to heal every illness and to cure all infirmity of body and soul. Help us to continue the mission of the merciful Christ in the service towards our neighbour, preaching the Gospel and offering our help in whatever way we can. May the example of Your saints, teach us how to love and serve You. Through their intercession, grant us the grace to go forth in love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MARIAN Antiphons, MARIAN PRAYERS, MOTHER of GOD, Our MORNING Offering, SAINT of the DAY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR

Our Morning Offering – 25 September – Alma Redemptoris Mater, Loving Mother of the Redeemer

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Our Morning Offering – 25 September – The Memorial of Blessed Herman of Reichenau/the Cripple OSB (1013–1054) the Author of the Salve Regina, the Veni Sancte Spiritus and the Alma Redemptoris Mater amongst others

Alma Redemptoris Mater
Loving Mother of the Redeemer
By Blessed Herman of Reichenau/the Cripple OSB (1013–1054)

Loving Mother of the Redeemer!
Hear thou thy people’s cry,
Star of the deep
and portal of the sky!
Mother of Him
Who thee from nothing made,
Sinking we strive
and call to thee for aid;
Oh, by that joy
which Gabriel brought to thee,
Thou Virgin first and last,
let us thy mercy see.

Alma Redemptóris Mater,
quæ pérvia cæli
Porta manes, et stella maris,
succúrre cadénti,
Súrgere qui curat pópulo:
tu quæ genuísti,
Natúra miránte,
tuum sanctum Genitórem
Virgo prius ac postérius, Gabriélis ab ore
Sumens illud Ave,
peccatórum miserére.

Let us thank God for Blessed Herman the Cripple. He stands as a shining light reminding us that God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense, in order to shame the wise and He chose what the world considers weak, in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 25 September – Saint Finbar of Cork (c 550– 623)

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Saint of the Day – 25 September – Saint Finbar of Cork (c 550– 623) Bishop of Cork and Abbot – born in c 550 at Connaught, Ireland as Lóchán and died on 25 September 623 at Cloyne, Ireland of natural causes. Patronages – City and Diocese of Cork, Ireland, Barra in Scotland. Finbar is also known as Bairre, Barr, Barrocus, Finbarr, Findbar, Finnbarr, Fionnbharr, Lochan, Finbarro.

Several lives of this saint have been written. According to these, the saint’s original name was Lóchán but when he went as a young man, to be tonsured as a Monk for the first time, the man shaving his head said: “The hair of this servant of God is beautiful.” Another said: “You have spoken well, because his name will be changed and he shall be called Finn-barr, that is ‘beautiful hair’, from the beautiful head he offered in sacrifice to God.” So he was called Finbar by some and Barra by others, Barra being generally used in the Irish language.

Finbar was the son of a metal-worker. He studied in the Monastic school and was Ordained. On completion of his education he returned home and lived for some time on an island in the small lake then called Loch Irce. He founded a number of schools in the surrounding area. He did not hesitate to join in the manual work of constructing the buildings for his community.

He went on Pilgrimage to Rome with some of the monks, visiting St David in Wales on the way back. Whilst there are also many places in Scotland that have the name Barra this is probably more due to missionary journeys made by Finbar’s disciples than to journeys made by himself.

He settled for about the last seventeen years of his life as Bishop, in the area then known as the Great Marsh of Munster, now the City of Cork, where he gathered around him monks and students. This became an important centre of learning, giving rise to the phrase, “Where Finbar taught, let Munster learn” which is now the motto of today’s University of Cork.

The Church and Monastery he founded in 606 were on a limestone cliff above the River Lee, an area now known as Gill Abbey. It continued to be the site of the Cathedral of his Diocese.

Finbar died at Cell na Cluaine, while returning from a visit to Gougane Barra. He was buried in the cemetery attached to his Cathedral in Cork.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Santa Maria del Rosario / Our Lady of the Rosary, San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1983) and Memorials of the Saints – 25 September

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Santa Maria del Rosario / Our Lady of the Rosary, San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1983) – 25 September:

An ordinary housewife, a mother and grandmother who had no formal education and no knowledge of the Bible or theology claimed that she was visited by the Blessed Mother daily for a period of over 6 years. She reportedly additionally received 68 messages from Jesus Christ. Numerous healings, including the cure of a boy with a brain tumour, have been documented.

Every 25 September, the city of San Nicolás hosts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and faithful who meet to venerate and honour the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of St Nicholas. In 2003, on the twentieth anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady, the second largest group ever congregated – 400,000 faithful. Pilgrims came from all the provinces of Argentina, with a group of more than 1,000 people from Buenos Aires who travelled the whole 240 km distance on foot – a distance three times greater than that from Buenos Aires to the national Basilica of Our Lady of Luján. On 25 September 2013, thirty years after the first apparition of Our Lady, 500,000 people gathered surpassing the record of 2004 when the greatest number of pilgrims visited.

In a decree signed on 22 May 2016 and made public a few days later, Héctor Cardelli, Bishop of the Diocese of San Nicolás, declared that the apparitions that took place in city of San Nicolás were supernatural in origin. The devotion is thus approved at the Diocesan level within the Catholic Church.

St Anacharius of Auxerre
St Aurelia of Macerata
St Caian of Tregaian
St Ceolfrid
St Cleopas
St Egelred of Crowland
St Ermenfridus of Luxeuil
St Finbar (c 550– 623) Bishop and Abbot
St Firminus of Amiens
St Fymbert
St Herculanus the Soldier
Bl Herman of Reichenau/the Cripple (1013–1054)
His Amazing Life and Works:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/09/25/saint-of-the-day-blessed-herman-of-reichenau-the-cripple-osb-1013-1054-the-wonder-of-his-age/

Bl Marco Criado
St Mewrog
St Neomisia of Mecerata
St Paphnutius of Alexandria
St Principius of Soissons
St Sergius of Moscow
St Solemnis of Chartres
St Vincent Strambi CP (1745-1824)
Biography here:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/09/25/23731/
AND MORE HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/25/saint-of-the-day-25-september-st-vincent-strambi-c-p-1745-1824/

Martyrs of Damascus: A Christian family of six who were tortured to death in a persecution by Roman authorities. They were: Eugenia, Maximus, Paul, Rufus, Sabinian and Tatta. They were tortured to death in Damascus, Syria, date unknown.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Jose María Bengoa Aranguren
• Blessed Josep Maria Vidal Segú
• Blessed Juan Agustín Codera Marqués
• Blessed Julio Esteve Flors
• Blessed Pedro Leoz Portillo
• Blessed Rafael Pardo Molina
• Blessed Tomás Gil de La Cal

Feast of the Holy Bishops of Milan – a 1st Century Diocese!

Imagine being part of a diocese in which 37 of your past bishops are saints and some are also Doctors of the Church and Popes (and others being considered for sanctity)! The latest addition to this illustrious role-call, is Pope Paul VI.
Today, the Church in Milan commemorates these holy bishops.
They are:
• Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster
• Blessed Andrea Carlo Ferrari
• Pope Pius XI
• Saint Ambrose of Milan
• Saint Ampelius of Milan
• Saint Anathalon of Milan
• Saint Antoninus of Milan
• Saint Auxanus of Milan
• Saint Benedict Crispus of Milan
• Saint Benignus of Milan
• Saint Calimerius of Milan
• Saint Castritian of Milan
• Saint Charles Borromeo
• Saint Datius of Milan
• Saint Dionysius of Milan
• Saint Eugene of Milan
• Saint Eusebius of Milan
• Saint Eustorgius II of Milan
• Saint Eustorgius of Milan
• Saint Gaius of Milan
• Saint Galdinus of Milan
• Saint Geruntius of Milan
• Saint Glycerius of Milan
• Saint Honoratus of Milan
• Saint John Camillus the Good
• Saint Lazarus of Milan
• Saint Magnus of Milan
• Saint Mansuetus of Milan
• Saint Marolus of Milan
• Saint Martinian of Milan
• Saint Mirocles of Milan
• Saint Mona of Milan
• Saint Natalis of Milan
• Saint Pope Paul VI
• Saint Protasius of Milan
• Saint Senator of Milan
• Saint Simplician of Milan
• Saint Venerius of Milan