Thought for the Day – 7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Promises Made to Those Who Practise Devotion to the Sacred Heart
“When Jesus appeared to St Margaret Mary Alacoque and commanded her to propagate the worship of His Sacred Heart, He promised very special blessings to those who would be truly devoted to His Sacrd Heart and spread this devotion among others. “I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life…consolation in all their trouble…peace in their families…blessings on all their undertakings.”
These promises are an inducement to us, to love Jesus and to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart.
Our Divine Saviour, is not content with having loved us so much during His mortal life and given us His Precious Blood, the Blessed Eucharist and His most Holy Mother, for our salvation. He sees that His infinite love is not returned as it ought to be and seems to exercise a gentle pressure, in order to compel us to love Him. “Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spare nothing…to prove to them It’s love. And, in return, I receive from the greater part of men, nothing but ingratitude, by the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me in this Sacrament of Love.”
“I thirst, I burn with a consuming desire for men’s love and I find none to quench this thirst, according to My wish, by making any return of love.”
Quote/s of the Day – 7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Readings: First: Second Corinthians 1: 1-7, Psalm: Psalms 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Matthew 5:12
“Why do we on earth not strive to find rest with Him in heaven even now, through the faith, hope and love that unites us to Him? While in heaven. He is also with us and we, while on earth, are with Him. He is here with us by His divinity, His power and His love. We cannot be in heaven, as He is on earth, by divinity but in Him, we can be there by love.”
St Augustine (354-430) Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church
“Keep a clear eye toward life’s end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as God’s creature. What you are in His sight, is what you are and nothing more. Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received… but only what you have given – a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.”
St Francis of Assisi (c 1181-1226)
“In truth, the loss or gain of God’s kingdom, is up to you.”
Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)
“We should work and pray with our feet on the earth and our minds in heaven. We should seek God, not ourselves, in everything which we do. Let us remember, that one moment in Heaven, is worth infinitely more than all the pleasure, love and vanity of this world!”
One Minute Reflection –7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart” – Readings: First: Second Corinthians 1: 1-7, Psalm: Psalms 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.” – Matthew 5:12
REFLECTION – “Rejoice in the Lord without ceasing (cf. Phil 4:4), my dear children. I beg you rejoice, citizens of heaven but exiles on earth, inhabitants of the Jerusalem on high (cf. Gal 4:26) but banished from affairs here below, inheritors of the kingdom of heaven but disinherited from taking any part at all, in earthly pleasures! Rejoice, ardent travellers, at undergoing exile and maltreatment in a foreign land in the name of the commandment of God! Rejoice, you who are last in this world but lords of blessings that exceed our understanding (cf. Phil 4:7). Rejoice, noble company, brought together by God, assembly united in heart and soul, who give life to filial and fraternal love, a replica on earth of the host of angels! (…) Rejoice, God’s workers, apostolic men. … Rejoice, you who set your joy in each other, each making his own the reputation of his brother, you in whom is found neither jealousy, rivalry nor envy but, in their place, peace and charity and life in common. In truth, I do not say that we are not attacked – indeed, who is crowned if not the one who struggles and fights, who exchanges thrusts and wounds with his assailants? – but I say that we should not let ourselves be brought down by the machinations of Satan. Yes, my children, assembly of God, nourish yourselves with the food of the Spirit and drink the water given by the Lord – whoever comes to possess this water, will never thirst again but it will become, in Him, a spring of living water welling up to eternal life (cf. Jn 4:14). … Yet a little while and we shall have vanquished. And blessed shall we be; blessed also, it shall be said, are the places, family and countries that have borne you (cf. Lk 11:27-28).” – St Theodore the Studite (759-826) – Catechesis 47 (The Great Catecheses)
PRAYER – King of heaven and earth, Lord God, rule over or hearts and bodies this day. Sanctify us and guide our every thought, word and deed according to the commandments of Your law, so that now and forever, Your grace may free and save us. Teach us Lord to walk in the ways of the Cross of Your Son, our Saviour, rlonging for and rejoicing always in our heavenly home as St Robert Newminster so lovingly and willingly inspires us to do. Through Christ our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God, forever, amen. Sweet Heart of my JESUS, make me love Thee ever more and more!300 Days Once a Day. ii. Plenary, Once a month. Raccolta – 162. Blessed Pope Pius IX, 26 November 1876.
Our Morning Offering – 7 June – “Month of the Sacred Heart”
Everyday of my life belongs to You Morning Offering to the Sacred Heart (Treasury of the Sacred Heart 1950)
Everyday of my life belongs to You, O my God and every action of my life should be performed with the pure intention of honouring You alone. From this moment, I offer them to Your Sacred Heart and by this offering, I consecrate them without reserve to Your glory. What a motive for performing all my actions with all possible perfection! Do not permit them, O my divine Saviour, to be sullied by any motives unworthy of Your Sacred Heart. I renounce all that could lessen the merit of my offering. I renounce all vanity, self-love and human respect. Grant, O my God, that I may commence, continue and end this day in Your grace and solely from the pure motive of pleasing and honouring You. Amen
Saint of the Day – 7 June – Saint Robert of Newminster O.Cist. (c 1100–1159) English Priest, Abbot, Apostle of the poor, Miracle-worker. He was one of the Monks who founded Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, England, another at Newminster, Northumbria and 3 other Monasteries Robert ruled and directed the Monks at Newminster for 21 years. Born in c 1100 at Gargrave, Craven district, Yorkshire County, England and died on 7 June 1159 at Newminster England of natural causes. Saint Robert of Newminster is remembered as a generous, compassionate and capable man devoted to God. A man of great simplicity, he was reported to be strong and active and committed to fasting. His acts and miracles continue to inspire people to help others and to honoUr , love and obey God.
Robert was born in what is now the district of Craven, near Skipton in North Yorkshire, probably in the village of Gargrave. He studied at the University of Paris, where he composed a commentary – since lost – on the Psalms. He became a parish priest, returning to serve Gargrave.
Aftrer a time he became a Benedictine joining the Monks of Saint Mary’s Abbey in York. A group of Monks, including Robert, established a Monastery in a valley near Skeldale, on land given them by Archbishop Thurstan in 1132. The first two years were difficult and the Monks struggled in extreme poverty. Initially they lived in a makeshift structure on the banks of the River Skell. Despite the hardships, the Monks were known for their holiness, austerity and dedication to the strict Benedictine way of life. Their fame brought a new novice, St Hugh, Dean of York, who relinquished all his wealth to the community who built more suitable facilities.
Because of the many natural springs in the area, the Monastery was called Fountains’ Abbey. Fountains Abbey became affiliated with the Cistercian reform which had been introduced by St Bernard of Clairvaux and became a Cistercian Abbey. (I lived very near Fountains’ Abbey for 10 years. It is still a pilgrimage site, although in ruins, destroyed and pillaged by the excesses of the Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. I have attended Holy Mass in the Crypt, a place still ofpalpable holiness and great beauty. Of course, many of the so-called pilgrims are really just tourists now and there is a very fine restaurant too, which attracts those unconcerned with or even unaware of, the holy history of the amazing Abbey.)
Robert was described as a devout, prayerful, and gentle man. He is known for being merciful in his judgement of others and a warm and considerate companion. He was zealous regarding his own vows of poverty. About 1138 he headed a group of Monks sent out from Fountains’ to establish Newminster Abbey near the Castle of Ralph de Merlay and his wife, Juliana, , west of Morpeth in Northumberland. Abbot Robert was said to be blessed with the gift of prophecy and miracles. During his Abbacy three colonies of Monks were sent to found new Monasteries at Pipewell in Northamptonshire (1143), Roche in South Yorkshire (1147), and Sawley in Lancashire (1148).
Capgrave’s life tells that an accusation of misconduct was brought against him by his own Monks. . He went to defend himself before St Bernard of Clairvaux in 1147–1148. Bernard did not doubt Robert’s innocence as he had received a heavenly sign of his virtuous conduct
Robert ruled and directed the Monks at Newminster for 21 years. The small Monastery of only 17 Monks, was one of the first to be dissolved in 1535 by Henry VIII and the site has been privately owned since.
Robert was a close spiritual friend of the Hermit St Godric of Finchale. On the night Robert died, Godric s saw a vision of Robert’s soul, like a ball of fire, being lifted by Angels on a pathway of light ,toward the gates of Heaven. As they approached, Godric heard a voice saying, “Enter now my friends.”
When Robert died in 1159 he was buried in Newminster,but after its dissolution his remains were entombed in the local Church of Newminister, where many miracles were reported and which still remain a place of veneration and pilgraimage.
Relief of St Robert at the pulpit in the former Cistercian Abbey at Baumgartenberg, Austria
Madonna della Quercia / Our Lady of the Oak – Visora di Conflenti, Italy (1578) – 7 June:
On 7 June 1578, the Virgin appeared for the first time to a shepherd of humble conditions, named Lorenzo Folino. Due to the sultry heat, the young man had lain down under a Chestnut tree and had fallen asleep. He was suddenly awakened by the sound of a beautiful melody, which became gradually clearer and more intense. Frightened, he looked at a small hill called Serracampanara and saw the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels, descending on a large Oak tree. Lorenzo immediately rushed to the tree and knelt devoutly in prayer. Smiling, Our Lady asked him to come closer and entrusted him with this message:
“Go, my son, to the Mayor and the Parish Priest and tell them what you have seen. Say that I am the Mother of God and that I want a Church to be built in the place which I will show to you.“
After showing him a large Oak tree, in the place called Visora, not far from the Town of Conflenti, she disappeared. Lorenzo ran into the village and told the Parish Priest and the Mayor what he had seen and heard, referring to Mary’s message. However, his story provoked general laughter, many believed he had gone mad and turned him away with derision. The Madonna della Quercia then appeared to the peasant Vermiglia Mercuri and, finally, to the housewife Delicia Mastroianni always asking for the erection of a Church to be dedicated to her. Since the reactions of the people did not change and even the ecclesiastical authorities did not give weight to the reports of the three visionaries, Mary reappeared many other times, both to individual citizens and to all the people. She worked numerous miracles, until it was evident that it was a supernatural event and was finally decided, that a Church had to be built. In 1862 a Church was built ad even the Oak tree on which the Our Lady had appeared was kept as a part of the Shrine.
But, on the evening of 21 July 1921, the Church was destroyed by fire. After a decade of complete abandonment, the Church was eventually rebuilt, with the help of the emigrants of Conflenti, scattered around the world. On 7 Jue each year, a Procession and festival is held and attended by many from the Town and surrounding villages.
St Aventinus of Larboust Bl Basilissa Fernandez St Colman of Dromore Bl Demosthenes Ranzi St Deochar St Gotteschalk St Justus of Condat St Landulf of Yariglia St Lycarion of Egypt
Venerable Matt Talbot (1856 – 1925) (born Matthew Talbot) – Layman, Ascetic, Mystic – known as the “Saint in Overalls” and “the Workers’ Saint” disciple of Eucharistic Adoration and the Blessed Virgin – Patron of Struggling and Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics and many addiction treatment programs, retreats and centres throughout the world bear his name. The Matt Talbot Story: https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/07/saint-of-the-day-7-june-venerable-matt-talbot-ofs/
St Meriadoc I of Vannes St Meriadoc II of Vannes St Odo of Massay St Potamiaena of Alexandria the Younger St Quirinus of Cluny St Robert of Newminster O.Cist. (c 1100–1159) Priest, Abbot St Sergius of Cluny St Vulflagius of Abbeville — Martyrs of Africa – 7 saints: A group of seven Christians who were martyred together. No details about them have survived except the names – Donata, Evasius, Guirillus, Januaria, Privata, Spisinna, Victurus. The precise location in Africa and date are unknown.
Martyred in Córdoba, Spain: Habentius of Córdoba Jeremiah of Córdoba Peter of Córdoba Sabinian of Córdoba Wallabonsus of Córdoba Wistremundus of Córdoba
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