Day: March 16, 2022

Posted in NOVENAS, St JOSEPH

NOVENA FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH – DAY SEVEN – 16 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

NOVENA FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH

DAY SEVEN

Patron of Workers

Dear Saint Joseph,
you were yourself once faced
with the responsibility
of providing the necessities of life,
for Jesus and Mary.
Look down with fatherly compassion upon us
in my anxiety over my present inability
to support my family.
Please help us to find gainful employment very soon,
so that this heavy burden of concern,
will be lifted from my heart
and that I am soon able to provide for those
whom God has entrusted to my care.
Help us to guard against bitterness and discouragement,
so that we may emerge from this trial,
spiritually enriched with virtue
and with even greater blessings from God.
We raise our hearts to you
to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus
all the graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare,
particularly the grace of a happy death,
and the special grace I now implore:
…………….. (Mention your request)
Guardian of the Word Incarnate,
We feel confident, that your prayers on our behalf,
will be graciously heard before the throne of God
St Joseph Most Holy Patron of Workers,
Pray for us!
Amen

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen

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Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PRAYER, The HEART

Thought for the Day – 16 March – The Spirit of Prayer

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Thought for the Day – 16 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Spirit of Prayer

“The spirit of prayer is the spirit of the love of God and this should inspire all our vocal prayers.
Flowery petitions are no use if our minds and hearts are turned away from God.
God wants our hearts.
This is why He complained that “this people honours Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me” (Nt 15:8, Mk 7:6).

Remember the apt expression of St Augustine: “To pray is to love. Whoever loves God well, prays a great deal. A man who is lacking in love, prays very little. A man who does not love God at all, never prays, or if he does, he recites coldly, the usual formulae and disregards Christ’s warning: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God! (Mt 4:7).”

Let us pray often but let our prayers be sincere acts of the love of God, coming from the heart.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/14/thought-for-the-day-14-march-the-spirit-of-prayer/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/15/thought-for-the-day-15-february-the-spirit-of-prayer/

Posted in "Follow Me", DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on JEALOUSY, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The WORD

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent – 16 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – ‘Now is not the time for rewards …’

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Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent – 16 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Esther 13:8-11; 15-17, Matthew 20:17-28

“Forsake me not, O Lord, my God, be not far from me! Hasten to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” – Psalm 37:22-23

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee
came to Him with her sons …”

Matthew 20:29

“THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE press Christ: ‘Promise that one may sit at Your right side and the other at Your left.’ What does He do? He wants to show them that it is not a spiritual gift for which they are asking and that, if they knew what their request involved, they would never dare make it. So He says: ‘You do not know what you are asking,’ that is, what a great and splendid thing it is and how much beyond the reach even of the heavenly powers. Then He continues: ‘Can you drink the cup which I must drink and be baptised with the baptism which I must undergo?’ He is saying: “You talk of sharing honours and rewards with me but I must talk of struggle and toil. Now is not the time for rewards or the time for my glory to be revealed. Earthly life is the time for bloodshed, war and danger.”

CONSIDER HOW by His manner of questioning He exhorts and draws them. He does not say: “Can you face being slaughtered? Can you shed your blood?” How does He put His question? Can you drink the cup? Then He makes it attractive by adding: which I must drink, so that the prospect of sharing it with Him may make them more eager. He also calls His suffering, a baptism, to show that it will effect a great cleansing of the entire world. The disciples answer him: We can! Fervour makes them answer promptly, though they really do not know what they are saying but still think they will receive what they ask for.

HOW DOES CHRIST REPLY? You will indeed drink My cup and be baptised with My baptism. He is really prophesying a great blessing for them, since He is telling them: You will be found worthy of Martyrdom; you will suffer what I suffer and end your life with a violent death, thus sharing all with Me. But seats at My right and left are not Mine to give; they belong to those for whom the Father has prepared them. Thus, after lifting their minds to higher goals and preparing them to meet and overcome all that will make them desolate, He sets them straight on their request.

THEN THE OTHER TEN became angry at the two brothers. See how imperfect they all are: the two who tried to get ahead of the other ten and the ten, who were jealous of the two! But, as I said before, show them to me at a later date in their lives and you will see,that all these impulses and feelings have disappeared. Read how John, the very man who here asks for the first place, will always yield to Peter when it comes to preaching and performing miracles in the Acts of the Apostles. James, for his part, was not to live very much longer; for from the beginning, he was inspired by great fervour and, setting aside all purely human goals, rose to such splendid heights that he straightway suffered Martyrdom.” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Archbishop of Constantinople, Great Father and Doctor of the Church – An excerpt from Sermon 65 (On Matthew)

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The HOLY NAME, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 16 March – The Proof of our Love

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Quote/s of the Day – 16 March – Wednesday of the Second week of Lent – Esther 13:8-11; 15-17, Matthew 20:17-28

“Are you able to drink the cup
that I am to drink?”

Matthew 20:22

“… Now is the time in this life of suffering,
when we journey apart from Him.
… So let us fast and pray now
because, we are in the days of childbirth!”

St Augustine (354-430)
Bishop of Hippo
Father and Doctor of Grace

“Only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ,
that I may suffer together with Him!
I endure everything
because He Himself,
Who is perfect man, empowers me.”

St Ignatius of Antioch (c 35–107) Martyr

“Embrace, then, Jesus Crucified,
raising to Him the eyes of your desire!
Consider His burning love for you,
which made Jesus pour out His Blood
from every part of His body!
Embrace Jesus crucified,
loving and beloved and in Him,
you will find true life because He is God made Man.
Let your heart and your soul burn
with the fire of love drawn from Jesus on the Cross!
… You will have no other desire than to follow Jesus!
Run, … do not stay asleep
because time flies and does not wait one moment!
Dwell in God’s sweet love!”

St Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380)
Doctor of the Church

“To labour and to suffer
for the One we love,
is the greatest proof of our love.”

St Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870)

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the JUDGE, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on TRUTH, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, The PASSION, The REDEMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 16 March – . Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”

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One Minute Reflection – 16 March – Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent – Esther 13:8-11; 15-17, Matthew 20:17-28

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” … the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” … Matthew 20:22,28

REFLECTION – “It is our task and, in our case, an obligation, to make of you the object of all our care, our zeal, our ministrations, by word and deed, by warnings, encouragement, admonitions and incitement, (…) so that, in this way, we might insert you into the rhythm of the divine will and face you towards the goal set before us – to give pleasure to God. …

He Who is immortal, voluntarily shed His Blood He Who created the host of Angels, was bound at the hands of soldiers and He Who is to judge the living and the dead, was dragged to justice (cf. Acts 10:42; 2 Tm 4:1). Truth was exposed to false witnesses, was slandered, struck, covered with spittle, hung on the wood of the cross – the Lord of glory (cf. 1 Cor 2:8) endured every outrage and suffering without Himself needing these trials. How could this have happened to Him Who, even as Man, was without sin and Who, to the contrary, snatched us away from the tyranny of the sin through which death came into the world and falsely took possession of our first father?

So, there is nothing surprising about it, if we submit to even one of these trials since such is our condition … Therefore, we too have to be offended and tempted, afflicted by the cutting off of our wills. According to the interpretation of our Fathers, there is in this, a shedding of blood for this is what it means to be a monk. And we must gain the Kingdom of Heaven in that way, by spending our lives in imitation of the Lord. … Apply yourselves zealously to your duties, in the thought that by means of them, far from being slaves of men, you are serving God.” … St Theodore the Studite (759- 826) Monk at Constantinople (Catecheses 1).

PRAYER – Look mercifully upon Your people, we beseech You, O Lord and grant that they whom You command to abstain from food, may also refrain from harmful vices. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in INDULGENCES, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, Quotes on SALVATION, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER

Our Morning Offering – 16 March – O Most Compassionate Jesus!

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Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

O Most Compassionate Jesus!
By Blessed Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
Indulgence of 100 days, once a day
6 October 1870

O Most compassionate Jesus!
Thou alone art our salvation,
our life and our resurrection.
We implore Thee, therefore,
do not forsake us
in our needs and afflictions
but by the agony of
Thy Most Sacred Heart
and by the sorrows of
Thy Immaculate Mother,
succour Thy servants,
whom Thou hast redeemed
by Thy most Precious Blood.
Amen

Posted in FRANCISCAN OFM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 16 March – St Benedicta of Assisi OSC (Died 1260)

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Saint of the Day – 16 March – St Benedicta of Assisi OSC i (Died 1260) Poor Clare Nun, Abbess Died 1260 of natural causes. The Franciscan Martyrology affirms, that her life shone out in singular prudence and a great reputation for virtues and miracles.

Benedicta entered the Poor Clares of Assisi in 1214, she succeeded St Clare in the government of the Monastery of St Damiano, remaining in that office until 1260.

She almost certainly is the same one we find Abbess in 1227 in Siena and from 1240 to 1248 in Vallegloria near Spello.

Benedicta was present at the process and Canonisations of St. Clare in November 1253. After Clare’s death, Brother Leone and Brother Angelo entrusted the Breviary used by St Francis to Benedicta.

She witnessed the beginning of the construction of the Basilica in honour of St Clare (1257), the transfer of the Poor Clares from St Damiano to the abuilding annexed to the old Church of St George and perhaps also, the transfer of the body of St Clare from the Church: of St George to the new Basilica, if one accepts, with the Bollandists, as the date of death on 19 October instead of 16 March. 1260.

She was buried in the Church of St George. In 1602 the Bishop of Assisi, Crescenzi, had her relics placed with those of the blessed Amata and of St Agnes of Assisi in the Chapel dedicated to the latter, in the Basilica of St Clare. In it, above the main Altar, a large shaped cross is venerated, with St Clare and the blessed Benedetta and with the following legend in Gothic characters: “Domina Benedicta post Sanctam Claram before Abbatissa me fecit fieri,” – “Blessed Woman, first Abbess after St Clare.”

Posted in FRANCISCAN OFM, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY, YouTube VIDEOS

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent, Our Lady of the Fountain, Constantinople (460) and Memorials of the Saints – 16 March

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Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent +2022

Our Lady of the Fountain, Constantinople (460) – 16 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/16/our-lady-of-the-fountain-constantinople-460-and-memorials-of-the-saints-16-march/

St Abban of Kill-Abban
St Abraham Kidunaia
St Agapitus of Ravenna
St Aninus of Syria
St Benedicta of Assisi OSC (Died 1260) Poor Clare Nun
St Dionysius of Aquileia
St Dentlin of Hainault
Bl Eriberto of Namur
St Eusebia of Hamage
St Felix of Aquileia

St Finian Lobhar, surnamed “the Luminous Leper” (Died c 560) Bishop, Confessor, Abbot, Founder of Monasteries, Mystic, Miracle-worker.
St Finan’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-saint-finian-lobhar-surnamed-the-luminous-leper-died-c-560/

Bl Ferdinand Valdes

Blessed Giovanni de Surdis Cacciafronte OSB (1125 – 1184) Bishop and Martyr, Abbot.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-giovanni-de-surdis-cacciafronte-osb-1125-1184/

St Gregory Makar

St Heribert of Cologne (c 970–1021) Archbishop of Cologne, a Miracle-worker and Counsellor.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-st-heribert-c-970-1021/

St Hilary of Aquileia
Bl Joan Torrents Figueras
Bl John Amias
St Julian of Anazarbus
St Largus of Aquileia
St Malcoldia of Asti
St Megingaud of Wurzburg