Why is St Cuthbert depicted holding St Oswald’s Head (c 605-642) King of Northumbria and why is it entombed with St Cuthbert?
For those who were seeking the reason for St Cuthbert depicted holding St Oswald’s Head – here it is. You will find it at the bottom of the post.
For St Oswald’s full Biography go here:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/05/saint-of-the-day-5-august-saint-oswald-of-northumbria-c-604-642-martyr/
Thought for the Day – 27 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
“In times of temptation, it is especially necessary for us to place ourselves in the presence of God.
We are courting disaster, if we do not raise our minds and hearts to God to implore His help, when temptation assails us.
Like the Apostles on the lake of Genesareth, when their frail boat was battered by the storm tossed waves and was in danger of being wrecked, let us cry out with the same faith and confidence, when we are assaulted by the devil: “Lord save us! We are perishing!” (Mt 8:25).
God knows our weakness and will certainly have mercy on us.
Let us not lose courage if He seems to be slow in granting His enlightenment and His grace and leaves us prey to the onslaughts of our passions.
Like the Canaanite woman in tbe Gospel, let us continue to pray with constancy and with faith and the merciful God will take pity on us at last.”
PART ONE HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/30/thought-for-the-day-30-march-the-presence-of-god/
Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday” – 27 March – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Galatians 4:22-31, John 6:1-15
“Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people, both now and forever.” – Psalm 124:2
“LORD JESUS how well I know You have no wish to allow these people here with me, to remain hungry but to feed them with the food You distribute and so, strengthened with Your food, they will have no fear of collapsing from hunger. I know, too, that You have no wish to send us away hungry, either… As you have said: You do not want them to collapse on the way, meaning, to collapse in the byways of this life, before reaching the end of the road, before coming to the Father and, understanding that You come from the Father…
OUR LORD TAKES PITY, then, so that none may collapse along the way… Just as He makes it rain on the just, as well as the unjust (Mt 5,45), so He feeds the just, as well as the unjust. Was it not thanks to the strength of the food, that the holy prophet Elijah, when he was collapsing on the way, was able to walk for forty days? (1Kgs 19,8). It was an Angel who gave that food to him but, in your case, it is Christ Himself Who feeds you. If you preserve the food you have received in this way, then you will walk, not forty days and forty nights… but for forty years, from your departure from the borders of Egypt, to your arrival in the land of plenty, the land where milk and honey flow (Ex 3,8)…
AND SO CHRIST shares out the foodstuffs and, there is no question, He wants to give it to all. He withholds it from no-one, for He provides for everyone. Nevertheless, when He breaks the loaves and gives them to the disciples, unless you hold out your hands to receive your portion, you will collapse along the way… This bread that Jesus breaks, is the Mystery of the Word of God: it increases as it is distributed. With only a few words Jesus has provided abundant nourishment for all peoples. He has given us His Words as bread and, while we are tasting them, they increase in our mouths… Even as the crowds are eating, the pieces increase and become more numerous, to such an extent, that, in the end, the leftovers are even more plentiful than the loaves that were shared.” – St Ambrose (c 340-397) Bishop of Milan, Great Father and Doctor of the Church (Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke, VI, 73-88).
Quote/s of the Day – 27 March – The Memorial of St John Damascene (676-749) – Father and Doctor of the Church
“In former times, God,
Who is without form or body,
could never be depicted.
But now, when God is seen
in the flesh conversing with men,
I make an image of the God Whom I see.
I do not worship matter;
I worship the Creator of matter
Who became matter, for my sake.”
“The Saints must be honoured
as friends of Christ
and children and heirs of God.
Let us carefully observe
the manner of life of all the Apostles,
Martyrs, Ascetics and just men,
who announced the coming of the Lord.
And let us emulate their faith,
charity, hope, zeal, life,
patience under suffering
and perseverance unto death,
so that we may also
share their crowns of glory.”
One Minute Reflection – 27 March – Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday” – Galatians 4:22-31, John 6:1-15
“When the people, therefore, had seen the sign which Jesus had worked, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet Who is to come into the world..” – John 6:14
REFLECTION – “Governing the entire universe, is a greater miracle, than feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread, yet no-one marvels at it. People marvel at the feeding of the five thousand, not because this miracle is greater but because, it is out of the ordinary. Who is even now providing nourishment for the whole world if not the God Who creates a field of wheat from a few seeds? Christ did what God does. Just as God multiplies a few seeds into a whole field of wheat, so Christ multiplied the five loaves in His Hands. For there was power in the Hands of Christ. Those five loaves were like seeds, not because they were cast on the earth but because, they were multiplied by the One Who made the earth.
This miracle was presented to our senses, in order to stimulate our minds… and so make us marvel at “the God we do not see because of his works, which we do see” (Rom 1,20). For then, when we have been raised to the level of faith and purified by faith, we shall long to behold, although not with our eyes, the invisible God Whom we recognise, through what is visible. This miracle was performed for the multitude to see; it was recorded for us to hear. Faith does for us, what sight did for them. We behold with the mind, what our eyes cannot see and we are preferred to them because of us it was said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20,29).” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of the Church (Homilies on Saint John’s gospel, 24).
PRAYER – Stay with us Lord Jesus, be our companion on our way. In Your mercy enflame our hearts and raise our hope, so that, in union with our brethren, we may share with each other Your food of life. Listen to the prayers of your Angels and Saints and as we entrust ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary, may she open our hearts to compassion and fraternal sharing. Through Your grace with God our Father and the Holy Ghost, forever and ever amen.
Our Morning Offering – 27 March – Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday”
God, my God,
May I Always Abide in You
By St John Damascene (675-749)
Father and Doctor of the Church
God, my God,
inextinguishable and invisible fire,
You make Your Angels flaming fire.
Out of Your inexpressible love,
You have given me Your divine Flesh as food
and through this communion
of Your immaculate Body and precious Blood,
You receive me as a partaker of Your divinity.
Permeate all my body and soul,
all my bones and sinews.
Consume my sins in fire.
Enlighten my soul and illumine my mind.
Sanctify my body and make Your abode in me,
together with Your blessed Father
and All-Holy Spirit,
that I may always abide in You,
through the intercession
of Your immaculate Mother
and all Your saints.
Amen
Saint of the Day – 27 March – Saint Augusta of Treviso (Died 5th Century) Virgin Martyr. Died by being beheaded by her father in the 5th century, The name Augusto means “consecrated.” Patronages – Ceneda, Italy and Serravalle, Italy. Also known as – Augusta of Ceneda, Augusta di Serravalle, Augusta of Tarvisium, Augusta the Martyr.
The “Acts” of St Augusta, that is, the reports about her life and Martyrdom, were written at the end of the 16th century by Minuccio de ‘Minucci of Serravalle,the Apostolic Protonotary and Secretary of Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605).
These “Acts” were sent to the editors of the volumes “De probatis sanctorum historiis” by Lorenzo Surio, a Carthusian and German hagiographer (1522-1578) and were included in volume VII of the edition printed in Cologne in Germany.
According to these “Acts,” Augusta was the daughter of Matruco, an Alemannic chief (Alemagna – Germany), who had conquered and subdued Friuli, Italy. He resided in Serravalle (the current ancient village of the City of Vittorio Veneto in Italy) and was a bitter enemy of the Christian religion.
Augusta secretly embraced the Christian Faith but her father learned of it anyway and had her arrested. Since she refused to apostatise, she was thrown into a prison and after various tortures, she was beheaded by her own father. Her body was found a few years later buried on a hill overlooking Serravalle, which took her name. A Church was built and was dedicated to her – a Church and Shrine, which became very popular with the inhabitants.
The Saint is also known as Augusta of Ceneda, a City located at the foot of the Belluno Prealps, in the Province of Treviso).
St. Augusta is depicted with the symbols of her Martyrdom, a toothed wheel for torture, her teeth that were torn from her, mouth and her palm. On the hill of St Augusta, there are still the remains of the castle of the grim father Matruco and the large Church dedicated to her.
Fourth Sunday of Lent “Laetare Sunday” +2022
St John Damascene (675-749) Father and Doctor of the Church, Confessor, Priest, Monk, Theologian, Writer, Defender of Iconography, Poet, a Polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, music, Marian devotee. Also known as Doctor of Christian Art.
Feast moved in 1969 to 4 December.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/04/saint-of-the-day-4-december-st-john-damascene-675-749-father-doctor-of-the-church/
Bl Aimone of Halberstadt
St Amphilochius of Illyria
St Alexander of Drizipara
St Alexander of Pannonia
St Alkeld the Martyr
St Amator the Hermit
St Augusta of Treviso (Died 5th Century) Virgin Martyr
St Claudio Gallo
St Cronidas of Illyria
St Ensfrid of Cologne
Bl Francesco Faà di Bruno
Bl Frowin of Engelberg
St Gelasius of Armagh
Blessed Giuseppe Ambrosoli MCCI (1923-1987) Priest of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, Missionary to Uganda, Doctor and Surgeon, he is known in Uganda as the “the Doctor of Charity” and the “Saint Doctor,” Apostle of Charity, medical professor, Founder of a Hospital and a School of Midwifery.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-blessed-giuseppe-ambrosoli-mcci-1923-1987-to-be-beatified-on-22-november-2020/
St John of Lycopolis
Blessed Louis-Édouard Cestac (1801-1868) Priest and Founder of the Servants of Mary.
Blessed Louis’s Story:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-blessed-louis-edouard-cestac-1801-1868/
St Matthew of Beauvais
St Macedo of Illyria
Blessed Pellegrino of Falerone OFM (Died 1233) Lay Brother of the First Order of St Francis of Assisi.
Blessed Pellegrino’s life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/27/saint-of-the-day-27-march-blessed-pellegrino-of-falerone-ofm-died-1233-lay-brother/
Bl Peter Jo Yong-sam
St Philetus
St Romulus the Abbot
St Rupert of Salzburg (c 660–710) Bishop and Abbot Apostle to Bavaria and Austria.
Biography of St Rupert:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/27/saint-of-the-day-st-rupert-of-salzburg-c-660-710/
St Suairlech of Fore
St Theoprepius
Martyrs of Bardiaboch: A group of Christians who were arrested, tortured and executed together for their faith during the persecutions of Persian King Shapur II. Martyrs. – Abibus, Helias, Lazarus, Mares, Maruthas, Narses, Sabas, Sembeeth and Zanitas. 27 March 326 at Bardiaboch, Persia.
AnaStpaul 
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