Posted in CATHOLIC TIME, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on SLOTH, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on TIME

Thought for the Day – 14 January – The Proper Use of Time

Thought for the Day – 14 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Proper Use of Time

Time is money,” runs an old English proverb.
But, for a Christian, time is something much more important.
It is the price of eternity!

With time well spoent or badly spent, we can purchase a life of eternal happiness with God, or of eternal suffering in hell.
Since our true destiny is God and everlasting happiness, all the time which we spend with this in view, is well spent, whereas, all that is not devoted to this end, is useless or harmful.

We must make a special effort to avoid sloth.
There is good reason for calling it the father of vices.
When a man surrenders to laziness, he is squandering a priceless treasure, which was intended to be used in the service of God and for the sanctification of his own soul and the souls of his fellowmen.
He is also disobeying the clear command which God issued after the sin of Adam: “In the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread” (Gen 3:29).

The man who is steeped in sloth, moreover, is more vulnerable to the temptations of the devil, the suggestions of the flesh and the frivolous attractions of the world.
If our hands are not employed in labour, or our minds occupied in study or prayer, we can easily be diverted from our proper purpose and drawn towards sin.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/14/thought-for-the-day-14-january-the-proper-use-of-time/

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Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on the ANTI-christ, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The SECOND COMING

Quote/s of the Day – 14 January – St Hilary

Quote/s of the Day – 14 January – St Hilary (315-368) Confessor, Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church

The time for speaking is come,
for the time for silence is past.
Let Christ now appear,
for Antichrist has begun his reign.
Let us lay down our lives for our sheep,
for thieves have got into the fold
and a furious lion is prowling around it.
Let us prepare for Martyrdom, f
or the angel of satan
hath transformed himself
into angel of light!

He confesses Christ,
the better to deny Him;
he tries to procure a unity
which shall destroy peace;
he puts down some few heretics,
so that he may also crush the Christians;
he honours Bishops
that they may cease to be bishops:
he builds up Churches
that he may pull down the Faith!

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/14/quote-s-of-the-day-14-january-st-hilary/

St Hilary (315-368)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on SACRED SCRIPTURE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE LIGHT of CHRIST, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 14 January – ‘ … The Father’s true Light …’

One Minute Reflection – 14 January – St Hilary (315-368) Confessor, Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church – 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Matthew 5:13-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but upon a candlestick that it may shine to all that are in the house. … ” – Matthew 5:15

REFLECTION – “The lamp placed on the lampstand, of which Scripture speaks, is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s true Light, Who enlightens everyone coming into the world, (Jn1,9). As for the lampstand, it is the holy Church. It is upon her preaching that God’s resplendent Word rests, enlightening men the world over as inhabitants of His House and filling every soul with knowledge of God…

The Word has no wish to remain under a bushel; it longs to be set well in view, on the Church’s summit. Concealed beneath the letter of the Law, as under a bushel, the Word would have deprived everyone of Eternal Light. It would have been unable to grant spiritual contemplation to those who try to disengage themselves from the seduction of the senses, which are subject to illusion and quick to see only material, passing things. But if placed on the lampstand of the Church, that is to say, founded on worship in spirit and truth (Jn 4,24), it enlightens everyone… For the letter, unless it is understood according to the spirit, has only a material and limited value; of itself, it does not allow the mind to grasp the import of the written word…

So, let us not place the lighted lamp, that is to say the Word of God, under the bushel, by means of our thoughts and actions. Let us not be guilty of concealing, beneath the letter, the incomprehensible force of Divine Wisdom. Let us rather, set the Word on the lampstand of the Church, at the summit of pure contemplation which causes the light of Divine Revelation to shine out for everyone!” – St Maximus the Confessor (c 580-662) Abbot, Theologian, Father (Question 63 to Thalassius: PG 90, 667-670).

PRAYER – O God, Who gave to Thy people blessed Hilary, as a minister of salvation, grant we beseech Thee that we, who cherished him on earth as a teacher of life, may be found worthy to have him as an intercessor in Heaven. 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 CHRIST the JUDGE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, MOTHER of GOD, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, Quotes on SALVATION, The NATIVITY of JESUS

Our Morning Offering – 14 January – Mother of Salvation, Blessed Lady By Anselm

Our Morning Offering – 14 January – Mary’s Day

Mother of Salvation,
Blessed Lady
By Anselm (1033-1109)
Magnificent Doctor
Marian Doctor

Mother of Salvation,
Blessed Lady,
you are the Mother of Justification
and those who are justified;
the Mother of Reconciliation
and those who are reconciled;
the Mother of Salvation
and those who are saved.
What a blessed trust
and what a secure refuge!
The Mother of God is our Mother.
The Mother of the One
in Whom alone, we hope
and Whom alone, we fear,
is our Mother! …
The One Who partook of our nature
and by restoring us to life,
made us children of His Mother,
invites us by this grace, to proclaim
that we are His brothers and sisters.
Therefore, our Judge, is also our Brother.
The Saviour of the world, is our Brother.
Our God has become –
through Mary – our Brother!
Anen

Posted in PATRONAGE - BEGGARS, the POOR, against POVERTY, PATRONAGE - WIDOWS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 14 January – St Macrina the Elder (Died c 340) Widow

Saint of the Day – 14 January – St Macrina the Elder (Died c 340) Widow, Mother of the elder St Basil and, therefore, the Grandmother of St Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nyssa, St Peter of Sebaste and St Macrina the Younger. Macrina was a native of Cappadocia, in what is now eastern Turkey. Patronages – against poverty, of the poor, of widows. Also known as – Macrina of Caesarea.

The Roman Martyrology says today: “St Macrina, disciple of St Gregory Thaumaturgus and the grandmother of St Basil, whom she brought up in the Faith.

Our knowledge of the life of the elder Macrina is derived mainly from the testimony of the great Cappadocian Fathers of the Church, her grandchildren – Basil, Gregory of Nyssa (Vita Macrinae Junioris) and the panegyric of St Gregory of Nazianzen on St Basil.

Two of these grandsons helped shape the Faith which we proclaim today—Basil the Great, a Doctor of the Church and his brother, Gregory of Nyssa, who helped the Church better articulate her understanding of the Trinity. Both of these men played crucial roles in formulating the Nicene Creed which Catholics still recite every Sunday at Mass. Macrina raised both of these men and their influential younger sister, Macrina the Younger. She gave all these great Saints their first religious instruction as children.

The works of Basil indicate that she studied under Gregory Thaumaturgus (or the Wonderworker), the great father of the Faith in Cappadocia, he of whom it is said that when he arrived in the territory, there were only seventeen Christians in the Town of Neocaesarea; when he died in 268, there were only seventeen pagans. It was his teachings, handed down through Macrina to Basil and Gregory that were particularly formative for the two Cappadocian brothers.

Her home was at Neocaesarea in Pontus and according to Gregory Nazianzen, during the persecution of Christians under Galerius and Diocletian, Macrina fled with her husband to the shores of the Black Sea. They left their home and hid in the woods for seven years. They were often hungry and had to live off the land and whatever animals they could hunt. After they were finally allowed to go home to Neocaesarea, another round of persecution took effect and their possessions were confiscated. These trials are the reason for her patronage of the poor.

She was widowed and is also the Patron of widows. She is said to have died in the early 340s

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Nuestra Señora de la Palabra / Our Lady of the Word, Montserrat, Spain (1514), St Hilary (315-368) Confessor, Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church and Memorials of the Saints – 14 January

Nuestra Señora de la Palabra / Our Lady of the Word, Montserrat, Spain (1514) – 14 January:
Here:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/14/our-lady-of-the-word-montserrat-spain-1514-and-memorials-of-the-saints-14-january/

St Hilary of Poitiers (315-368) Confessor, Bishop, Father and Doctor of the Church, Writer, Philosopher, Theologian, Preacher, Defender of the Faith. The “Hammer of the Arians” and “Athanasius of the West.”
Biography:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/13/saint-of-the-day-13-january-st-hilary-of-poitiers-315-368-father-doctor-of-the-church/

Bl Amadeus of Clermont
St Barbasymas
St Caldeoldus of Vienne
St Datius of Milan
St Engelmaro
St Eufrasio of Clermont
St Euphrasius the Martyr

St Felix of Nola (Died c 253) Priest, Confessor, Apostle of Charity .Patronages – against eye disease, against eye trouble, against false witness, against lies, against perjury, domestic animals, of Nola, Italy.
The Roman Martyrology states of him today:
At Nola in Campania, the birthday of St Felix, Priest, who (as is related by Bishop, St Paulinus of Nola), after beomg subjected to torments by the persecutors, was cast into prison and extended, bound hand foot, on (snail) shells and broken earthenware. During the night, however, his bonds were loosened and he was delivered by an Angel. The persecution over, he brought many to the Faith of Christ by his exemplary life and teaching and renowned for many miracles, he rested in peace.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/14/saint-of-the-day-14-january-st-felix-of-nola-died-c-253/

St Felix of Rome
St Fermin of Mende
St Fulgentius of Ecija
St Glycerius of Antioch

St Godfrey of Cappenberg (c 1097-1127) Friar of the Order of St Norbert (the Premonstratensians or Norbertines), Husband and Father, Monk and Founder of Monasteries, Apostle of the Sick and the poor.
His Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/14/saint-of-the-day-14-january-st-godfrey-of-cappenberg-c-1097-1127/

St Isaias the Martyr
St Jesaja of Sinai
St Macrina the Elder (Died c 340) Widow, Grandmother of St Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nyssa, St Peter of Sebaste and St Macrina the Younger.
St Nino of Georgia
Bl Odoric of Pordenone

St Odo of Novara O.Cart. (c 1105-1200) Priest, Carthusian Prior.
St Odo’s Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/14/saint-of-the-day-14-january-saint-odo-of-novara-o-cart-c-1105-1200/

St Paul of Africa
St Potitus
Bl Rainer of Arnsberg
St Sabas of Sinai
St Sava of Serbia
St Successus of Africa
St Theodolus of Sinai
Bl William de Sanjulia

Martyrs of Mount Sinai: A group of Monks on Mount Sinai who were Martyred by desert Bedouins. Their names and exact number have not come down to us. Martyred by Bedouins.

Martyrs of Raithu – 43 Saints: A group of 43 Monks in the Raithu Desert near Mount Sinai, Palestine, near the Red Sea. They were Martyred for their faith by desert Bedouins. Their names have not come down to us. Martyred by Bedouins.