Day: July 22, 2021

Posted in GOD ALONE!, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 22 July – Progress in the Love of God

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 22 July – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Progress in the Love of God

“The entire Christian system is based on the love of God.
This, is “the greatest and first commandment” (Mt 22:38) of Jesus, from which the second commandment, to love our neighbour, naturally flows.
A man who does not observe this first commandment is not a Christian, whereas a man who endeavours to increase, everyday, his love for God, is a saint.
There are may grades of ascent in this love but, the basic step is indicated in the words of our Divine Master:  “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he is is who loves me” (Jn 14:15,21).

The love of God should not consist of an empty and ineffective sentimentality but, should comprise a sincere determinations to please God by carrying out His will, without reserve and by becoming more closely united to Him, by the help of His holy grace.
Progress in the love of God is divided by the masters of the spiritual lfe into three stages:
(1) the period of purification;
(2) the period of illuminations and;
(3) the period of union with God.
We may have advanced no farther than the first stage because there is still so much to be purified in our souls.
Nevertheless, let us ask God’s grace, to help us to begin this work immediately!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Advertisement
Posted in "Follow Me", DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on TRUST in GOD, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The HEART, The HOLY SPIRIT, The WORD, THOMAS a KEMPIS

Quote/s of the Day – 22 July –’ … By the heart …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 22 July –“Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St Mary of Magdala -– Readings: Song of Solomon 3:1-4, Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9, John 20:1-2, 11-18

“Do not touch me ”
“Noli me tangere”

John 20:17

“He [Christ], protects their faith
and gives strength to believers,
in proportion to the TRUST,
that each man,
who receives that strength,
is willing to place in Him.”

St Cyprian of Carthage (c 200- c 258)
Bishop and Martyr, Father of the Church

“By His rights as Lord,
He demands wholly
our hearts, tongues and heads.
He wishes to be the object
of our thought and understanding,
our belief and reading,
our fear and love. . . ”

St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431)
Father of the Church

Above Poem 10, from The Poems of St. Paulinus of Nola,

“And yet He could be touched
but by the heart, not by the hand;
by desire, not by the eye;
by faith, not by the sense. …”

St Bernard (1091-1153)
Doctor of the Church

“To magnify her Royal Lover still further,
the soul must have eyes only for Him,
in other words,
with an ever-growing, anxiously eager attentiveness.
the soul must study all the details of His beauty,
His perfections,
must keep on discovering motives
for finding ever-increasing gratification
in the ineffable Beauty with which it is in love.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

“Place all your trust in God,
let Him be your fear and your love.
He will answer for you,
He will do what is best for you.
You have here no lasting home.
You are a stranger and a pilgrim
wherever you may be
and you shall have no rest,
until you are wholly united with Christ.
Why do you look about here
when this is not the place of your repose?”

Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471)

O God, send forth Your Holy Spirit
By St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church

O God,
send forth Your Holy Spirit
into my heart
that I may perceive,
into my mind,
that I may remember,
and into my soul,
that I may meditate.
Inspire me to speak
with piety,
holiness,
tenderness
and mercy.
Teach, guide and direct my thoughts
and senses, from beginning to end.
May Your grace,
ever help and correct me,
and may I be strengthened now
with wisdom from on high,
for the sake of Your infinite mercy.
Amen

St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
Evangelical Doctor of the Church

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on TRUST in GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 22 July – ‘… Have patience, that you may touch Me in My Beauty.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 22 July –“Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Feast of St Mary of Magdala – Readings: Song of Solomon 3:1-4, Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9, John 20:1-2, 11-18

“Whom do you seek?” – John 20:15

REFLECTION – “Only the hearing that catches the Word possesses the truth … “Do not touch me,” says the Lord. He meant: – depend no longer on this fallible sense, put your trust in the Word, get used to faith. Faith cannot be deceived. With the power to understand invisible truths, faith does not know the poverty of the senses; it transcends even the limits of human reason, the capacity of nature, the bounds of experience. Why do you ask the eye to do what it is not equipped to do? And why does the hand endeavour to examine things beyond its reach? What you may learn from these senses is of limited value. But faith will tell you of Me without detracting from My greatness. Learn to receive with greater confidence, to follow with greater security, whatever faith commends to you.

“Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.” As if, after He had ascended, He wished to be, or could be, touched by it! And yet, He could be touched but by the heart, not by the hand – by desire, not by the eye; by faith, not by the senses. “Why do you want to touch Me now?” He says … “Do you not remember that, while I was still Mortal, the eyes of the disciples could not endure, for a short space, the glory of My Transfigured Body that was destined to die? I still accommodate Myself to your senses by bearing this form of a servant (Phil 2:7) which you are accustomed to seeing. But this glory of Mine is too wonderful for you … Defer your judgement, therefore, … With its fuller comprehension, faith will define it more worthily and more surely … They, therefore, will touch Me worthily, who will accept Me as being seated with the Father (Mk 16:19; Ps 110[109]:1), no longer in lowly guise but in My own flesh, transformed with heaven’s beauty. Why wish to touch what is ugly? Have patience, that you may touch Me in My Beauty.” – St Bernard (1091-1153) – Cistercian Monk and Doctor of the Church – Sermons on the Song of Songs, no. 28, 9-10

PRAYER – Almighty, ever-living God, Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ made Mary of Magdala the first herald of Easter joy. Grant that, following her example and helped by her prayers, we may, in this life, proclaim the living Christ and come to see Him reigning with You in glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

Posted in Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 22 July – Christ be Near

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 22 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood”

Excerpt from St Patrick’s Breastplate
Christ be Near
St Patrick (c 386 – 461)

Christ be near, at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me, where’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.

Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined,
Christ control, my wayward heart,
Christ abide and ne’er depart.

Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern, night and day,
Christ be my unchanging friend,
guide and shepherd to the end.

We have this prayer and his own story in one of the authentic writings of Patrick – his Confessio, which is above all, an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

Posted in JESUIT SJ, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 22 July – Saint Philip Evans SJ (1645-1679) Priest ,Martyr,

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 22 July – Saint Philip Evans SJ (1645-1679) Priest ,Martyr, Missionary, Confessor. Born in 1645 in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales and died by being hanged, drawn and quartered 22 July 1679 on Gallows Field in Cardiff, Wales, aged 34 years. Additional Memorial – 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales,

Philip was born in Wales and studied at the English college at Saint-Omer in Flanders, where he entered the Jesuits and continued his studies. After he was Ordained in 1675, he was missioned back to South Wales where he served four years before he was arrested. During that time he became known for his zeal and charity and was fearless in caring for the Catholics entrusted to him.

He refused to leave Wales when persecution of Catholics increased after the Titus Oates plot of September 1678 falsely accused Jesuits of planning to assassinate King Charles II. The government normally offered a reward of 50 pounds for the arrest of a Jesuit but the local Welsh Magistrate, a staunch Calvinist, offered an additional 200 pounds for the arrest of Father Evans. Despite the threat, he continued serving as the chaplain of Christopher Turberville in Glamorgan, where the constables arrested him after he refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, which recognised the King as supreme in all religious matters.

For the first three weeks of captivity, Fr Philip remained in solitary confinement in an underground cell. Then he was brought up to the regular prison where he joined Fr John Lloyd, a Diocesan Priest. They waited five months before going to trial on 3 May 1679 because the prosecution could not find witnesses to testify that they were indeed Priests. Eventually a woman and her daughter said that they had received the Sacraments from the Jesuit, which was true. Evans was found guilty of high treason and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered but the execution was deferred until 22 July when the sheriff took both Priests to Gallows Field, outside Cardiff.

Philip is the only one of the many Priests to be Martyred in England and Wales who learned of his execution date while playing tennis. A prisoner in Cardiff Castle, he was allowed to exercise. While he was engaged in a tennis match, he received the news that he would be murdered the next day. Elated by the news, he asked if he could finish the match but was not permitted to do so. Instead, he took up a harp back in his prison cell and sang praise to God for calling him to be a Martyr.

When he mounted the ladder at the gallows, he said: “This is the best pulpit a man can have to preach in, therefore, I can not forbear to tell you again that I die for God and religion’s sake.” At the time of his Martyrdom, Father Evans was 34 years old and had been a Jesuit for 14 years.

Posted in MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY, YouTube VIDEOS

Feast of St Mary of Magdala and Memorials of the Saints – 22 July

Posted on by AnaStpaul

The only Marian Feast I can find for today seems to be unverified, in other words, I can find absolutely no references online relating to this invisible Shrine.

St Mary of Magdala (Feast) “The Apostle of the Apostles” (St Thomas Aquinas) During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, claims not found in any of the four canonical Gospels.
About St Mary:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/saint-of-the-day-22-july-the-feast-of-st-mary-of-magdala-apostle-to-the-apostles/

St Anastasius of Schemarius
St Andrea of Antioch
St Andreas Wang Tianqing
St Anna Wang

Blessed Augustine Fangi O.P. (1430-1493) Dominican Priest and Friar, Confessor, Mystic, known as “The Miracle Worker.”
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/07/22/saint-of-the-day-22-july-blessed-augustine-fangi-o-p-1430-1493/

St Baudry of Montfaucon
St Claudius Marius Victorinus of Saussaye
St Cyril of Antioch
St Dabius
Bl Jacques Lombardie
St John Lloyd
St Joseph of Palestine
St Lewine
St Lucia Wang Wangzhi

Blessed “María Inés Teresa of the Blessed Sacrament” / Manuela de Jesus Arias Espinosa (1904-1981) Sister and Founder of both the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1945) and the Missionaries of Christ for the Universal Church (1979), of which orders, she is the Patron.
Her Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/07/22/saint-of-the-day-22-july-blessed-maria-ines-teresa-of-the-blessed-sacrament/

St Maria Wang Lishi
St Meneleus of Ménat
St Movean of Inis-Coosery
St Pancharius of Besancon
Bl Paolo de Lara
St Philip Evans SJ (1645-1679) Priest Martyr
St Plato of Ancyra
St Syntyche of Philippi
St Theophilus of Cyprus

St Wandrille of Fontenelle (c 605–668) Priest, Monk, Abbot. Married out of obedience to his parents, Wandrille agreed with his wife to keep their virginity and both retired to a Monastery.
About St Wandrille:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/07/22/saint-of-the-day-22-july-st-wandrille-of-fontenelle-c-605-668/

Martyrs of Marula/Massylis: – 3 saints: Three Christians martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Ajabosus, Andrew and Elian. They were martyred in Massylis (Marula), Numidia (in modern Algeria).

Martyrs of Massilitani: A group of Christians martyred together in northern Africa. Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote about them.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
Bl Jaime María Carretero Rojas
Bl Joaquin Rodríguez Bueno
Bl José María Mateos Carballido
Bl Juan Durán Cintas
Bl Ramón María Pérez Sous