St Joseph, we ask for your assistance in all our needs. The Novena begins on Thursday 10 March. Please pray for us!
St Teresa of Avila’s Plea
“Would that I could persuade all men to be devoted to this glorious Saint, for I know, by long experience, what blessings he can obtain for us from God. I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to him and honoured him, by particular services, who did not advance greatly in virtue, for he helps in a special way, those souls who commend themselves to him. It is now very many years since I began asking him for something on his feast and I have always received it. If the petition was in any way amiss, he rectified it for my greater good . . .
I ask for the love of God, that he who does not believe me, will make the trial for himself—then he will find out by experience, the great good that results from commending oneself to this glorious Patriarch and in being devoted to him.”
Thought for the Day – 8 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Knowledge and Goodness
“The supremacy of goodness over knowledge, has to be admitted in practice, as well as in theory. It is useless and even harmful, for us to be courageous, if we not also good. Very often, knowledge is like a weapon in the hands of a child. If the child is naughty or careless, he can do a great deal of damage with his weapon. Before everything else, we must be good. We must have that Christian goodness which embraces all the virtues and culminates in the love of God and of our neighbour. Once we have acquired this goodness, science will benefit by it. It will become a powerful means of enlightenment, rather than of destruction. It will no longer be mere knowledge; it will be wisdom. In will teach us how to live and show us our proper destination. In short, it will become an instrument of virtue, which will contribute enormously to the welfare of the human race.”
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent – 7 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers
“Let my prayer come like incense before You, O Lord. – Psalm 140:2
“And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple and He healed them. … and the children cried out ,,, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David” –
Matthew 21:14,15
“You alone are great and generous in everything. You are the definition of abundant goodness, Who pours forth constantly, without measure, more than we ask or expect, as Paul said in gratitude.
For You commanded that we should do good, from dawn to dusk, in the same day, nine times fifty, plus four times ten. Always attentive, forgiving with an unfettered heart, something more than the expectation of men’s prayers.
And if we place my wretchedness and disgrace beside Your glory, omnipotent and awesome Power, God of all, blessed Lord Christ, by what measure of weight shall the balance between the Creator and the clay be set? You remain in these things infinite and unexaminable, good in all things, having no part in the wrath of darkness, therefore, far less are the number of stars than Your greatness, for You called them into existence from nothing by merely pronouncing their names. Or take the mass of the earth floating in air, created from nothing, from which You established the dry land of earth. These are less than the number I formulated above, by which You taught us to be like You in forgiveness.” – St Gregory of Narek (c 951-c 1010) Monk, Poet, Mystical philosopher, Theologian, Father (Excerpt – Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart)
Quote/s of the Day – 8 March – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent and the Memeorial of St John of God (1495-1550)
“Labour without stopping, do all the good works you can, while you still have the time!”
“If we look forward to receiving God’s mercy, we can never fail to do good, as long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever He has given to us, we shall receive according to His promise, a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms He begs us to turn toward Him, to weep for our sins and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbours. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.”
One Minute Reflection – 8 March – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent – Isaias 55:6-11 Matthew 21:10-17-1and the Memeorial of St John of God (1495-1550)
“For just as from the heavens, the rain and snow come down and do not return there, until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats.” – Isaias 55:11
REFLECTION – “For the rain and the snow do not return to heaven but accomplish in the earth the will of him that sends them. So the Word that He shall send through His Christ, Who is Himself, the Word and the Message, shall return to Him with great power. For when He shall come and bring it, He shall come down like rain and snow and through Him all that is sown shall spring up and bear righteous fruit and the Word shall return to His Sender but not in vain shall His going have been but thus shall He say, in the presence of His Sender, “Behold, I and the children that the Lord has given me.” And this is the Voice through which the dead shall live. And this is the Voice of God that shall sound from on high and raise up all the dead.” – St Aphraates “the Sage” (Died c 345) (Feast Day – 29 January) Abbot, Father of the Church [see note below] (Demonstrations 8).
PRAYER – Lord God, bestow a full measure of Your grace upon us, who seek to make our lenten journey fruitful. Confirm us in Your service and help us to bear witness to You in the society in which we live by our lives, our fasting and prayer, our gift of self. Listen kindly we pray, to the prayers of St John of God who so avidly followed in the footsteps of our Saviour, Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name, with the Holy Ghost, we pray, one God forever, amen.
St Aphraates was a Syriac Christian author of the third century from the Persian Empire who composed a series of twenty-three sermons on points of Christian doctrine and practice. He was an Ascetic and Celibate. He may have been a Bishop and later Syriac tradition places him at the head of Mar Mattai Monastery near Mosul, therefore, he was certainly an Abbot.
Our Morning Offering – 8 March – Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Prayer for the Gift of Prayer By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor of the Church
O Incarnate Word, You have given Your Blood and Your Life to confer on our prayers that power by which, according to Your promise, they obtain for us, all that we ask. And we, O God, are so careless of our salvation, that we will not even ask You for the graces that we must have, if we should be saved! In prayer You have given us the key of all Your Divine treasures and we, rather than pray, choose to remain in our misery. Alas! O Lord, enlighten us, and make us know the value of prayers, offered in Your Name and by Your merits, in the eyes of Your Eternal Father. Amen
Saint of the Day – 8 March – Saint Senan of Scattery (c 488-541) Monk, Abbot, Founder of many Monasteries and Churches. miracle-worker, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Born in c 488 at Corca Bhaisin, County Clare, Ireland, tradition says that Saint Patrick foretold his birth and saintliness and died on 8 March 544 at Inish Cathaig, Ireland of natural causes. Patronages – sailors and bodily afflictions. Also known as – Senan of Inis Cathaigh, Senames… Additional Memorial – 6 January as one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Senan was born in Corca Bhaisin, County Clare about 488. It seems that Senan’s family had two farms, one at Moylough and the other at a place called Tracht Termainn.
He placed himself under the Abbot Cassidan and took the monastic Habit. Cassidan was originally from South-west Cork. Senan then went to the Monastery of Kilmanagh (Ossory) to continue his preparations for the religious life. There he was credited with the performance of many miracles. He is next heard of having established a Church at Enniscorthy. The Book of Lismore states that Senan went to Rome and from there to Tours, which was at that time, the great monastic establishment in West Europe. Returning to Ireland,Senan established a Church and Monastery at Inniscarra, in Cork. Returning to his native district, he began his work on the islands of the Fergus . He crossed to Mutton Island, then to Bishop’s Island, south of Kilkee. Finally, about 534, he established himself at Scattery, the low green island about a mile off the coast off Kilrush.
Before Senan arrived on Scattery, also called Inis Cathaig, a legendary monster called “The Cathach” inhabited the island and terrorised the people who were afraid to approach the island. Sometimes referred to as the “peist” or sea-serpent, the Cathach was depicted on a carving in the old chapel of Kilrush as the “Cata.” On his arrival in the island, the Angel Raphael led Senan to the highest hill from which he was able to locate the Cathach. He then faced the monster and ordered it, in the name of the Trinity, to depart from the island. The Cathach obeyed immediately and “neither stopped nor stayed” until he reached the dark waters of Doolough Lake at the foot of Mount Callan.
Little is known of the Saint’s life in Scattery beyond the miracles recorded and the fact that the rule of his monastery was austere in the extreme. Apparently, no woman was allowed to live in or even land on the island. St Cainir, a relation of enans, had a convent to the West of Ballylongford. She crossed the river and hoped to end her days on Scattery Island but Senan forbade her to come ashore. She requested the last sacraments and a grave on the island. Senan agreed to this and she was buried at high water mark.
Senan died on 8 March 544. The river Shannon is believed to be named after him. His patron day on 8 March is an important day of pilgrimage to Inis Cathaig. He is buried on Scattery Island. The grave is supposed to be the site of miraculous cures as well as the miraculous holy well. Stones from St Senan’s Bed (his grave) were regarded as relics and a protection against diseases and especially drowning. In the folklore of West Clare the cult of Senan still survives.
In 1864 it is reported, that the Saint appeared in a vision to a paralysed woman who had visited Senan’s grave on the island. He came to her in a dream and asked her why she had come. She told the bearded man she wanted to be cured of her disease and trusted in the intercession of St Senan whom she had invoked. The next morning she awoke and found herself completely healed!
The above statue of St Senan came all the way from Australia and now rests in the parish of Doonbeg in West Clare.
St Apollonius of Antinoë St Arianus of Alexandria St Beoadh of Ardcarne St Duthus of Ross St Felix of Burgundy St Humphrey of Prüm St Jon Helgi Ogmundarson St Litifredus of Pavia St Philemon of Antinoë St Pontius of Carthage St Provinus of Como St Quintilis of Nicomedia St Rhian St Senan of Scattery (c 488-541) Monk, Abbot, Founder of many Monasteries and Churches.
St Stephen of Obazine St Theophylact of Nicomedia St Theoticus of Alexandria St Veremundus of Irache
Martyrs of North Africa – 9 Saints – A Bishop and some of his flock who were Martyred together in North Africa. The only details that have survived are nine of the names – Beata, Cyril, Felicitas, Felix, Herenia, Mamillus, Rogatus, Silvanus, Urban.
AnaStpaul 
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