Thought for the Day – 10 May – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Mary’s Patience
“Holy Mary, Mother of Sorrows, obtain for me the spirit of loving patience which made you the Queen of Martyrs. Help me to carry with resignation the cross which God has given me. Help me to walk like you in the footsteps of Jesus, until I reach my Calvary, so that I may join Him and you, in the glory of Heaven. Amen,”
Quote of the Day – 10 May – The Memorial of St Antoninus OP (1389-1459) Archbishop of Florence
“In the case, in which, the Pope would become a heretic, he would find himself, by that fact, alone and, without any other sentence, separated from the Church. A head separated from a body cannot, as long as it remains separated, be head of the same body from which it was cut off. A Pope, who would be separated from the Church by heresy, therefore, would, by that very fact itself, cease to be head of the Church. He could not be a heretic and remain Pope because, since he is outside of the Church, he cannot possess the keys of the Church.”
One Minute Reflection – 10 May – The Memorial of St Antoninus OP (1389-1459) – Sirach 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Matthew 25:14-23.
“To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately …” – Matthew 25:15
REFLECTION – “The man who is the landowner is actually the Creator and Lord of all. The Word compares the time the landowner spends away from home, in the parable, to either the Ascension of Christ into Heaven, or, at any rate, to the unseen and invisible character of the Divine Nature. Now, one must conceive of the property of God, as those in each country and city who believe in Him. He calls His servants, those who according to the times, Christ crowns with the glory of the Priesthood. For the holy Paul writes, “No-one takes this honoUr upon himself; he must be called by God.”
He hands over [His property] to those who are under Him, to each giving a spiritual gift, so that he might have character and aptitude. We think that this distribution of the talents, is not supplied to the household servants in equal measure because, each is quite different from the other, in their understanding. Immediately they head out for their labours, He says, directly, indicating to us here, that apart from the procrastination of one, they are fit to carry out the work of God.
Surely those who are bound by fear and laziness will evolve into the worst evils. For he buried, Jesus says, the talent given to him in the earth. He kept the gift hidden, making it unprofitable for others and useless for himself. For that very reason, the talent is taken away from him and will be given to the one who is already rich. The Spirit has departed from such as these and the gift of the divine gifts. But to those who are industrious, an even more lavish gift will be presented.” – St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) Archbishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church (Fragment 283)
PRAYER – O Lord, may the merits of Antoninus, Your Confessor and Bishop, help us and just as we praise You for the wonders You have wrought in him, so may we glory in Your mercy toward us. T hrough 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).
Our Morning Offering – 10 May – “The Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary” –
Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christian By St John Bosco (1815-1888)
Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, how sweet it is to come to thy feet imploring thy perpetual help. If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, how can thou, the most loving of all mothers, forget me? Grant then to me, I implore thee thy perpetual help in all my necessities, in every sorrow and especially in all my temptations. I ask for thy unceasing help for all who are now suffering. Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners. Grant through thy intercession, many vocations to the religious life. Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians, that having invoked thee on earth we may love and eternally thank thee in Heaven. Amen
Saint of the Day – 10 May – Saint Antoninus of Florence OP (1389-1459) Archbishop of Florence, Dominican Priest and Friar, Confessor, Spiritual Director, Apostle of Mercy, Theologian, Writer, Reformer, Prior of the Order. Known as “Antoninus the Counsellor.”
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Florence, the Bishop St Antoninus, of the Order of Preachers, renowned for holiness and learning.”
Saint Antoninus, Bishop and Confessor By Abbot Prosper Guéranger OSB (1805-1875)
“Antoninus was born at Florence, of respectable parents. He gave great promise, even when quite a child, of his later sanctity. Having at the age of sixteen, entered the Religious Order of Friars Preachers, he at once became an object of admiration, by the practice of the highest virtues. He declared ceaseless war against idleness. After taking a short sleep at night, he was the first at the Office of Matins; which over, he spent the remainder of the night in prayer, or reading, or writing. If at times, he felt himself oppressed with unwelcome sleep, owing to fatigue, he would lean his head, for a while, against the wall and then, shaking off the drowsiness, he resumed his holy vigils with renewed earnestness.
Being a most rigid observer of Religious discipline, he never ate flesh-meat, save in the case of severe illness. His bed was the ground, or a naked board. He always wore a hair shirt, and sometimes an iron girdle next to his skin. He observed the strictest chastity during his whole life. Such was his prudence in giving counsel, that he went under the name of Antoninus the Counsellor. He so excelled in humility, that, even when Prior and Provincial, he used to fulfil, with the utmost self-abjection, the lowest duties of the Monastery.
He was made Archbishop of Florence by Pope Eugenius the Fourth. Great was his reluctance to accept such a dignity: nor would he have consented, had it not been out of fear of incurring the spiritual penalties, wherewith he was threatened by the Pope.
It would be difficult to describe the prudence, piety, charity, meekness and apostolic zeal, wherewith he discharged his Episcopal Office. He learned almost all the sciences to perfection and, what is surprising, he accomplished this by his own extraordinary talent, without having any master to teach him.
Finally, after many labours and after having published several learned books, he fell sick. Having received the Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, embracing the Crucifix, he joyfully welcomed death, on the sixth of the Nones of May (2 May), in the year 1459. He was illustrious for the miracles which he wrought during his life, as also for those, which followed after his death. He was Canonised by Pope Adrian the Sixth, in the year of our Lord 1523.
St Joseph de Veuster SS.CC. (1840-1889) – St Damian of Molokai “The Martyr of Molokai,” Priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Missionary – known as “Martyr of Molokai”, “Martyr of Charity”, “Apostle to the Lepers” – Patron of lepers. (Optional Memorial) St Damian’s life: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/10-may-the-memorial-of-st-damian-de-veuster-de-molokai/
St Alphius of Lentini Bl Amalarius of Metz Bl Antonio of Norcia St Aurelian of Limoges Bl Beatrix d’Este the Elder St Blanda of Rome St Calepodius of Rome
Bl Nicholas Albergati St Palmatius of Rome St Philadelphus of Lentini St Quartus of Capua St Quintus of Capua St Simplicius of Rome St Solange of Bourges St Thecla Bl William of Pontnoise
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