Thought for the Day – 2 November – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“Purgatory”
“Purgatory is the masterpiece of God’s justice and mercy. St John tells us in the Apocalypse, that nothing defiled can enter into the Heavenly Jerusalem (Apoc 21:27).
There are very few, however, who are privileged to arrive at the supreme moment of death, still wearing their Baptismal robe of innocence. Even the just man falls very often as the Holy Spirit warns us (Prov 24:16). We all possess many failings and have been guilty of many sins, either mortal or venial. It is true, that we can obtain forgiveness by penance and by receiving the Sacraments but, there still remains the temporal punishment due to our sins. Neither the small penances imposed by the confessor, nor our own tiny acts of voluntary mortification, are sufficient to satisfy our debt. We cannot be certain, moreover, that we shall be able, at the hour of our death, to cleanse ourselves of all our sins, by means of one good Confession. Even if we appear before the judgement seat of God without any grave faults, there will still, unfortunately, be many debts to be paid and many imperfections to be purified.
What then will happen to us? The justice of God cannot admit us, imperfect and defiled as we are, into the everlasting happiness of the Beatific Vision. Will He reject us, therefore, even as He rejects those who die in mortal sin and are condemned to eternal punishment? This is unthinkable, for the mercy of God is as infinite as His justice. And so, there is Purgatory, where the souls of those who have died in the state of grace but, still scarred with imperfections and burdened with debts to be paid, can find a way of purifying themselves and, of making themselves worthy of an everlasting reward.
Let us thank God for this gift, the last link in the chain of His mercies, which enables us to prepare ourselves for our entry into the Beatific Vision.”
Quote/s of the Day – 2 November – All Souls Day – Readings: Wisdom 3: 1-9; Romans 5: 5-11 or Romans 6: 3-9; Gospel: John 6: 37-40
“We should have a daily familiarity with death, a daily desire for death. By this kind of detachment, our soul must learn to free itself from the desires of the body. It must soar above earthly lusts, to a place where they cannot come near, to hold it fast. It must take on the likeness of death, to avoid the punishment of death!”
“Death is then no cause for mourning, for it is the cause of mankind’s salvation. Death is not something to be avoided, for the Son of God did not think it beneath His dignity, nor did He seek to escape it.”
St Ambrose (340-397) Father and Doctor of the Church
“We should consider how much good our Lord did us, by His first coming and how much more He will do for us, by His second. This thought will help us, to have a great love for that first coming of His and a great longing for His return.”
St Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167)
“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)
“Do now, what you wish to have done, when your moment comes to die.”
St Angela Merici (1474-1540)
Sabbatum Sanctum By St John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
I look at You, my Lord Jesus and think of Your most holy Body and I keep it before me, as a pledge of my own resurrection. Though I die, as die I certainly shall, nevertheless, I shall not forever die, for I shall rise again. O You, who are the Truth, I know and believe with my whole heart, that this very flesh of mine will rise again. I know, base and odious as it is at present, that it will one day, if I be worthy, be raised incorruptible and altogether beautiful and glorious. This I know, this by Your grace, I will ever keep before me. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 2 November – Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed – All Souls Day – Readings: Wisdom 3: 1-9; Romans 5: 5-11 or Romans 6: 3-9; Gospel: John 6: 37-40
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him, may have eternal life and I shall raise him [on] the last day.” – John 6:40
REFLECTION – “He has said two things: “This is the work of God that you should believe in the One whom He has sent,” while here He added, “whoever sees and believes.” The Jews saw but did not believe; they had the one condition, lacked the other. How could they attain to eternal life without the other? The reason those who saw did not attain eternal life was because they did not also believe. If so, what about us, who have believed but have not seen? If it is those two things that earn eternal life, seeing and believing—and whoever is lacking one of them cannot attain to the reward of eternal life — what are we to do? The Jews [who saw Him] lacked the one; we ,the other. They had seeing but lacked believing. We have believing but lack seeing. Well, as regards our having believing and lacking seeing, we have prophetically been declared blessed by the Lord Himself just as Thomas, one of the Twelve, was blessed when he felt his scars by touching them.” – St Augustine (354-430) Great Western Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 14)
PRAYER – Merciful Father, hear our prayers and console us. As we renew our faith in Your Son, Whom You raised from the dead, strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters will share in His Resurrection, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 2 November – Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
My Jesus, by the Sorrows You Suffered Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory
My Jesus, by the sorrows You suffered in Your Agony in the Garden, in Your Scourging and Crowning with Thorns, on the Way to Calvary, in Your Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls in Purgatory and especially on those, who are most forsaken. Deliver them from the dire torments they endure. Call them and admit them to Your most sweet embrace in Paradise. Amen
Saint of the Day – 2 November – St Victorinus of Pettau (Died c 304) Bishop Martyr, learned Exegetists on both the Old and the New Testament, ecclesiastical writer, theologian. Born in the 3rd Century in Greece and died in 303 or 304 (records vary), he suffered Martyrdom probably in 303, under Diocletian. Also known as – Victorinus Petravionensis, Victorinus von Pettau, Victorinus Pictaviensis, Victorinus of Patawii, Victorinus of Petta, Victorinus of Ptuj. Victorin… Additional Memorial – 12 November on some calendars.
Born probably in Byzantine Greece or in Poetovio with rather mixed population, due to its military character, Victorinus spoke Greek better than Latin, which explains why, in St Jerome’s opinion, his works written in the latter tongue were more remarkable for their content than for their style. Bishop of the City of Pettau, he was the first theologian to use Latin for his exegesis.
His works are mainly exegetical. Victorinus composed commentaries on various books of Sacred Scripture, such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, St Matthew and the Apocalypse, besides treatises against the heresies of his time. All that has survived is his Commentary on Apocalypse and the short tract On the construction of the world (De fabrica mundi). Some believe he is also the author of two poems, “De Jesu Christo” and “De Pascha,” although this is contested.
Like many of his contemporaries he shared the errors of the Millenarians and for this reason his works were ranked with the apocrypha by Pope Gelasius. Nevertheless, by contrast, St Jerome gives him an honourable place in his catalogue of ecclesiastical writers. St Jerome cites the opinion of Victorinus in some of his works but considered him to have been affected by the opinions of the Chiliasts or Millenarians (they believed that Christ would return to the earth to rule for a thousand years..)
According to Saint Jerome, Victorinus died a Martyr in 304.
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed – All Souls Day (Commemoration): Commemoration of the faithful departed in Purgatory. Abbot Odilo of Cluny instituted it in the Monasteries of his congregation in 998, other religious orders took up the observance and it was adopted by various Diocese and gradually by the whole Church. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy on this day and Pope Benedict XV granted to all Priests, the privilege of saying three Masses of requiem – • one for the souls in Purgatory • one for the intention of the Holy Father • one for the Priest’s intentions If the feast should fall on Sunday it is kept on 3 November. Patronage: Monselice, Italy
Notre-Dame D’Emminont / Our Lady of Emminont. Abbeville, France (12th Century) – 2 November:
The Shrine to Our Lady of Emminont, or Notre-Dame D’Emminont, is near Abbeville in France. It is much visited by pilgrims devoted to the Mother of God who at their prayers and petitions, still performs many miracles and favours for her people.
The relics of Saint Wulfram (also spelled Wulfran or Vulfran) of Sens, who died in 656, were brought to the Shrine in the year 1058. Until that time, the Church had been known as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady in Abbeville but after the relics of Saint Wulfram were interred there, the Church was rededicated in Saint Wulfram’s honour. The Church retains that name to this day.
Franciscan Friars, well-versed in wood carving, cared for the Shrine. They were consulted in 1510 concerning work on the Cathedral of Amiens. In richness of detail, Abbeville surpasses many other Cathedrals. The nave was built between the years 1488 to 1539 and the small choir between 1661 and 1663. The construction was paid for by the King of France, and Count of Ponthieu and the faithful of Abbeville. The Church is much smaller than it was originally intended to be, as the initial blueprint for the Church was never completed. The nave is quite short, has only two bays and the choir is extremely small. Still, the façade is a superb masterpiece of the flamboyant Gothic style. During the French Revolution the Church of Saint Wulfram was profaned and given the name of a “Temple of Reason” by the unreasoning revolutionaries who sought to destroy the immutable God by demolishing priceless monuments and artifacts and even, the glory of their own history. The Town of Abbeville was heavily bombed by the German’s during World War II, so that much of what is seen there today is of fairly modern origin. The Church was also damaged, but efforts were made to restore it to its former grandeur. The list of favours granted by Our Lady of Emminont, is indeed very long. It includes miraculous cures, astounding spiritual and temporal favours and streams of graces and blessings.
St Ambrose of Agaune St Ambrose of Agaune St Amicus of Fonte Avellana St Amicus of Rambone St Baya of Scotland St Domninus of Grenoble St Erc of Slane St Eustochium of Tarsus St George of Vienne Bl John Bodey St Jorandus of Kergrist St Justus of Trieste
St Marcian of Chalcis Bl Margaret of Lorraine St Mateo López y López St Maura of Scotland St Theodotus of Laodicea St Victorinus of Pettau (Died c 304) Bishop Martyr
St Willebald of Bavaria — Martyrs of Isfahan – 5+ saints: Acindynus, Pegasius and Anempodistus were Persian priests who were imprisoned, tortured, interrogated and martyred in the persecutions of king Sapor II of Persia; he considered any Christian to be a Roman spy and anti-Persian. The three were brought back to life, miraculously healed, freed from their chains and began preaching Christianity, miraculously healing Sapor II in the process. This defiance enraged Sapor so much that he ordered them executed again; they were thrown into a cauldron of molten lead but walked out unharmed. This miracle brought one of the torturers, Aphthonius, to convert; he was immediately martyred. Other attempts were made to kill them, and they emerged each time unharmed. Senator Elpidiphorus led a group speaking in favour of the Christians for their courage and faith; he was immediately executed. In the end the original three Christians were burned to death. Martyrs all – Acindynus, Anempodistus, Aphthonius, Elpidephorus and Pegasius. They were born in Persia and Died: • c.350 in Isfahan, Persia • relics transferred to Constantinople and enshrined in a church dedicated to them • some relics taken to France in 1204 during the 4th Crusade • relics in France were lost when hidden from anti-Christian forces in the French Revolution • relics in France re-discovered in 1892 in Grozon.
Martyrs of Sebaste – 10 saints: A group of ten soldiers in the imperial Roman army of Emperor Licinius Licinianus who were executed together for refusing to burn incense as a sacrifice to the emperor. The only details that have survived are five of their names – Agapius, Cartherius, Eudoxius, Styriacus and Tobias. They were burned at the stake in 315 in Sebaste (in modern Turkey).
AnaStpaul 
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