Thought for the Day – 18 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Veneration and Imitation of the Saints
“The worship of the Saints, is an act of veneration (dulia), not of adoration (latria), which can be given only to God. It is wrong to imagine, as many Protestants do, that by praying to and venerating the Saints, we subtract something from the homage we owe to God. The veneration of the Saints and the adoration of God are entirely distinct activities. Moreover, the Saints are the faithful servants of God and intercede with Him on our behalf. By venerating and invoking them. we honour the Giver of all holiness.
If anyone, on the other hand, were to disregard the worship of God, in favour of devotion to the Saints, he would be making a serious mistake. A person who goes into a Church and rushes over to a Statue of the Blessed Virgin or of one of the Saints, without giving a thought to the Living and Eeal Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist, is developing false and sentimental piety!”
Quote/s of the Day – 18 January – Feast of the Chair of St Peter, Readings: 1 Peter 5:1-4, Matthew 16:13-19
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:16
“And so I say to you, you are Pter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18
“I decided to consult the Chair of Peter, where that faith is found exalted by the lips of an Apostle; I now come to ask for nourishment for my soul there, where once I received the garment of Christ. I follow no leader save Christ, so I enter into communion with Your beatitude, that is, with the Chair of Peter, for this I know, is the rock upon which the Church is built.” (cf Le lettere I, 15, 1-2)
St Jerome (343-420) Father & Doctor od rhw Church
“Yes, the Apostle chosen to be His co-worker, merited to share, the same Name as Christ. They built the same Building together – Peter does the planting, the Lord gives the increase and it is the Lord, too, Who sends those, who will do the watering (cf 1 Cor 3:6f).”
St Augustine (354-430) Father & Doctor of the Church
One Minute Reflection – 18 January – Feast of the Chair of St Peter, Readings: 1 Peter 5:1-4, Matthew 16:13-19
“Upon this rock I will build my church” … Matthew 16:18
REFLECTION – “Nothing escaped the Wisdom and Power of Christ, the elements of nature lay at His service, spirits obeyed Him, Angels served Him. … And yet, out of all the world, Peter alone was chosen to stand at the head, for the calling of all the peoples and the oversight of all the Apostles and Fathers of the Church. Thus, even though there are many Priests and shepherds among the People of God, Peter governed them all in person, while Christ also governs them in the capacity of Head. …
The Lord asks all the Apostles what people think of Him and they all say the same thing, so long as they are making known the doubts deriving from human ignorance. But when the Lord demands to know, what the disciples themselves think, the first to confess the Lord is he, who is the first in dignity of the Apostles. As he had said: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” Jesus answers him: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” That is to say, blessed are you because my Father taught this to you. Earthly opinion has not led you astray but it is heavenly inspiration that has instructed you. It is not flesh and blood that enabled you to discover Me but He, Whose only Son I am.
“And so I say to you,” that is to say- just as my Father has manifested My Divinity to you, so I Am making known your superiority to you. “You are Peter” namely, I am the unshakeable Rock, the Cornerstone who makes two peoples one (Eph 2:14), the foundation other than which, no-one can lay any other (1 Cor 3:11). But you also, you are rock, since you are impregnable by My Strength and, what I have by virtue of My Power, you have in common with Me, by the fact,, that you participate in it. “On this rock I will build my Church” … On the firmness of this foundation, He says, will I build an everlasting temple and my Church, whose summit is to reach to Heaven, will be raised on the strength of that faith.” … Saint Pope Leo the Great (400-461) Father and Doctor of the Church ( 4th sermon for the Anniversary of his Consecration).
PRAYER – Holy Father, send Your Divine Enlightener into the hearts of all Your faithful, filling us with the strength to fulfil our mission as the followers of the Chair of St Peter. And most of all, we pray Lord Holy God, to inspire and light the way of our Holy Father, Francis. Sustain and guide him, keep him in health and strength, to lead Your people by the Light of the Way and the Truth. Holy Father, have mercy on us, Holy Spirit guide and lead us, Lord Jesus Christ be our intercessor and teacher, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 18 January – Feast of the Chair of the Apostle, St Peter at Rome
O Peter, Who was Named by Christ! By Stanbrook Abbey For the Feast of the Chair of St Peter
O Peter who was named by Christ! The guardian-shepherd of His flock, Protect the Church He built on thee To stand unyielding, firm on rock.
Thy weakness, Christ exchanged for strength, Thou faltered but He made thee true. He knew the greatness of thy love And gave the keys of heav’n to thee.
Unseen, eternal Trinity, We give Thee glory, praise Thy Name, Thy love keeps faith, with faithless men, Through change and stress, Thou art the same. Amen
Saint of the Day – 18 January – Saint Prisca (1st Century) Child Virgin Martyr. Born to the imperial Roman hristian nobility and died by being stabbed with a sword in 275 in Rome, Italy. Also known as – Priscilla, Prisque.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “In the City of Rome, the holy Virgin and Martyr Prisca; after many tortures she gained the Crown of Martyrdom under Emperor Claudius II (about 270).”
Born to Christian parents of a noble family, Prisca was raised during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. While Claudius did not persecute Christians with the same fervour as other Roman Emperors, Christians still did not practice their faith openly. In fact, Prisca’s parents went to great lengths to conceal their faith and thus they were not suspected of being Christians.
Prisca, however, did not feel the need to take precaution. The young girl openly professed her dedication to Christ and eventually, she was reported to the Emperor. Claudius had her arrested and commanded her to make a sacrifice to Apollo, the pagan god of the sun.
According to the legend, Prisca refused and was tortured for disobeying. Then, suddenly, a bright, yellow light shone about her and she appeared to be a little star.
Claudius ordered that Prisca be taken away to prison, in the hopes that she would abandon Christ. When all efforts to change her mind were unsuccessful, she was taken to an amphitheatre and thrown in with a lion.
As the crowd watched, Prisca stood fearless. According to legend, the lion walked toward the barefoot girl and then gently licked her feet. Disgusted by his thwarted efforts to dissuade Prisca, Claudius had her stabbed to death with a sword.
Seventh-century accounts of the grave sites of Roman Martyrs refer to the discovery of an epitaph of a Roman Christian named Priscilla in a large catacomb and identifies her place of interment on the Via Salaria as the Catacomb of Priscilla.
Feast of the Chair of St Peter: In 1960, Pope John XXIII removed from the General Roman Calendar, the 18 January Feast of the Chair of Peter, Two Liturgical Feasts were celebrated in Rome, in Honour of Chairs of Saint Peter, one of which was kept in the Baptismal Chapel of St Peter’s Basilica, the other at the Catacomb of Priscilla. The dates of these celebrations are 18 January and 22 February. The two Feasts were included in the Tridentine Calendar with the rank of Double, which, in 1604, Pope Clement VIII raised to the rank of Greater Double. Those traditional Catholics. who do not accept the changes made by Pope John XXIII, continue to celebrate both Feast days: “Saint Peter’s Chair at Rome” on 18 January and the “Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch” on 22 February. https://anastpaul.com/2017/02/22/feast-of-the-chair-of-st-peter-22-february/
St Archelais the Martyr Bl Beatrix of Este the Younger Bl Charlotte Lucas St Catus
Blessed Cristina Ciccarelli OSA (1481–1543) Religious of the Order of Saint Augustine, Mystic, Stigmatist, Apostle of the poor, Reformer, she had a had a particular devotion to the Eucharist and to the Passion and Death of Christ, she was granted the gift of Prophecy, visions and levitation. About Bl Cristina: https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/18/saint-of-the-day-18-january-blessed-cristina-ciccarelli-osa-1481-1543/
St Day/Dye St Deicola of Lure Bl Fazzio of Verona Bl Félicité Pricet St Leobard of Tours
Bl Monique Pichery St Moseus of Astas St Prisca of Rome (1st Century) Child Virgin Martyr St Susanna the Martyr St Thecla the Martyr St Ulfrid of Sverige Bl Victoire Gusteau St Volusian of Tours
Martyrs of Carthage – 3 saints Martyrs of Egypt -37 saints Martyrs of Nicaea – 3 saints
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