Thought for the Day – 25 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Sacrament of Penance
“St Charles Borromeo had the habit of going to Confession everyday. This was not the result of scruples on his p[art, it was simply that he was supernaturally enlightened so as to perceive, even his smallest faults and he was anxious to remove, from his soul, the slightest trace of sin.
We do not have to follow his example but, weekly or fortnightly Confession is strongly recommended by spiritual writers. It is a great loss to neglect Confession for too long a period. We are deprived of the graces of this Sacrament, our fervour grows cold and we slip easily from venial into mortal sin.
Let us decide to make a good Confession every week whenever we find it possilbe.”
Quote/s of the Day – 25 February – The First Saturday of Lent – Isaias 58:9-14, Mark 6:47-56
“Thus says the Lord God: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech. if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness and the gloom shall become for you,like midday; then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty, even on the parched land. He will renew your strength and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.”
Isaiah 58:9-11
“… If you hold back your foot on the Sabbath from following your own pursuits on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s Holy Day honourable; if you honour it, by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice – then you shall delight in the Lord …”
Isaiah 58:13-14
“Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid. And He got into the boat with them and the wind fell.”
Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 25 February – Saturday after Ash Wednesday – Isaias 58:9-14, Mark 6:47-56 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord and may visit His temple.” Psalm 26:4
“Take courage, it is I be not afraid!” Mark 6:50
OUR COMPASS St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor Caritas
“ALL SHIPS HAVE A COMPASS which, when touched by the magnet, always turns towards the polar star. And even when the boat is making its way in a southward direction yet, the compass does not cease turning towards its north at all times.
In the same way, let the fine point of your spirit always turn towards God, its north. … You are about to take to the high seas of the world, do not, on this account, alter dial or mast, sail or anchor or wind. Keep Jesus Christ as your dial at all times, His Cross for a mast on which to hoist your resolutions, as a sail. Let our anchor be profound trust in Him and set out early. May the propitious wind of heavenly inspirations ever fill the sails of your vessel more and more and cause you to speed forward to the harbour of a holy eternity. …
Should everything turn upside down, I do not say around us but within us, that is to say, should our soul be sad, happy, in sweetness, in bitterness, peaceful, troubled, in light, in darkness, in temptation, in rest, in enjoyment, in disgust, in dryness, in gentleness, should the sun burn it or the dew refresh it, ah! this point of our heart, our spirit, our higher will, which is our compass, should, nevertheless, always and at all times, turn unceasingly, tend perpetually towards the love of God!” (From the Letters).
One Minute Reflection – 25 February – The First Saturday of Lent – Isaias 58:9-14, Mark 6:47-56 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And wherever He went, into village or hamlet or town, they laid the sick in the market places, and entreated Him to let them touch but the tassel of His cloak and as many as touched. Him were saved. ” – Mark 6:56
REFLECTION – “Let us set before our interior consideration, someone gravely wounded who is about to breathe his last. … Now, the soul’s wound is sin, of which Scripture speaks in these terms: “Wound and welt and gaping gash, not drained or bandaged or eased with salve” (Is 1:6). Oh you who are wounded, recognise your Physician within you and show Him the wounds of your sins. May He understand your heart’s groaning, Who already knows its secret thoughts. May your tears move Him. Go as far as a little shamelessness in your beseeching (cf. Lk 11:8). Bring forth deep sighs to Him, without ceasing, from the depth of your heart. May your grief reach Him so that He may say to you also : “The Lord has pardoned your sin” (2 Sam 12:13). Cry out with David, who said: “Have mercy on me, O God, in … the greatness of your compassion” (Ps 50[51]:3). It is as though one were to say: “I am in great danger because of an enormous wound, that no doctor can cure, unless the all-powerful Physician comes to help me.” For this all-powerful Physician, nothing is incurable. He heals without charge, with one word, He restores to health. I would have despaired of my wound, were it not that I placed my trust in the Almighty.” – St Pope Gregory the Great (c 540-604) Father and Doctor of the Church (Commentary on Psalm 50[51])
PRAYER – Hear, O Lord, our humble prayers and grant that we may devoutly keep this fast which has been established, to cure our souls and bodies. 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).
Our Morning Offering – 25 February – The First Saturday of Lent
Shelter Me Under Thy Mantle, Refuge of Sinners By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Most Zealous Doctor
Most holy Virgin Immaculate, my Mother Mary, to thee, who art the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the Universe, the Advocate, the Hope, the Refuge of sinners, I, who am the most miserable of all sinners, have recourse this day. I venerate thee, great Queen and I thank thee for the many graces thou hast bestowed upon me, even unto this day, in particular, for having delivered me from the hell which I have so often deserved by my sins. I love thee, my dearest Lady and because of that love, I promise to serve thee willingly forever and to do what I can to make thee loved by others. I place in thee all my hopes for salvation, accept me as thy servant and shelter me under thy mantle, thou, who art the Mother of Mercy. And since thou are so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or at least, obtain for me the strength to overcome them until death. From thee, I implore, a true love for Jesus Christ. Through thee, I hope to die a holy death. My dear Mother, by thy love for Almighty God, I pray thee to assist me always but most of all, at the last moment of my life. Forsake me not then, until thou shalt see me safely in Heaven, there to bless thee and sing of thy mercies, throughout all eternity. Such is my hope. Amen
Saint of the Day – 25 February – Blessed Robert of Arbrissel (c1045 – 1116) Priest, Itinerant Apostolic Missionary Preacher of immense talent, Founder of the renowned dual Monastery of Fontevraud-l’Abbaye in Pays-de-la-Loire, France, Teacher, both a Reformer, as well as possessing the sometimes opposite virtue of being a Peacemaker. A quite astonishing man.
The first Vita (Life) of Blessed Robert was written by Baudri, Archbishop of Dol in Brittany, Robert’s intimate friend, at the request of Venerable Petronilla of Chemillé, widow and first Abbess of this immense and celebrated Monastery, who was named by Robert to replace him at his death, as Superior General of the Order of Fontevrault. The Feast of Venerable Petronilla (Died 1149) is celebrated by the Order of Fontevrault on 24 April.
Blessed Robert, one of the principal historical figures of his time and one of the most astonishing Saints of the Church, was born at Arbrissel, now Arbressec, a short distance from Rennes, in about 1045, the son of Domalioch and Orguende. His father was a Parish Priest. Married clergy were not uncommon prior to the Gregorian reform.
He studied in Paris, sustained in his poverty by the assistance of charitable benefactors and became there a celebrated Doctor in the Sacred sciences. His remarkable gifts were everywhere appreciated.
It is supposed that he was Ordained a Priest in Paris, before the Bishop of his native Diocese of Rennes recalled him in 1085 to assist him in reforming his flock. There in Brittany, as Archpriest, Robert devoted himself to the healing of feuds, the suppression of simony, lay investiture and irregular marriages. He was compelled, by the hostility his reforming zeal had caused, to leave the Diocese when his Bishop died in 1093.
In 1095, after teaching Theology for a time in Angers, Robert became a Hermit near Laval, living a life of severe penance with several others, in the company of St Bernard of Thiron, afterwards Founder of the Congregation of Tiron, St Vitalis of Savigny, Founder of Savigny Abbey and others of considerable note. In 1096, Robert himself, founded a Monastery at the site where they were then dwelling in the forest of Craon near Roe. This was the Monastery of La Roé of Canons Regular, with Robert becoming himself the first Abbot.
The reputation of the solitaries had attracted many to visit them and the piety, kindness, eloquence and powerful personality of Robert, in particular, drew many followers. It is said that the forest of Craon became the dwelling-place of a multitude of Anchorites, as once the deserts of Egypt were.
Robert was summoned by Pope Urban II to go to Angers to preach for the dedication of a Church. The Pope then sent him out from there as Apostolic Missionary, on a preaching mission of the various Provinces. He left his Abbacy at and taught abandonment of the world and evangelical poverty all over western France. Robert found a patron in Hildebert, Bishop of Le Mans.
His gifts of grace and nature, his eloquence, heightened by his strikingly ascetic appearance, attracted crowds and effected countless conversions. His disciples were of all ages and conditions, including lepers; even whole families followed him everywhere. Thus was founded his famous Monastery of Fontevrault, not far from Cannes, to lodge these flocks of determined followers of the Gospel. The men dwelt in a separate region from the women; each group had its Chapel and the lepers their quarters apart. Charity, silence, modesty and meekness characterised these establishments, which were sustained by the products of the earth and the alms offered by the neighbouring populations.
Until the death of the holy preacher in 1116, he continued to preach everywhere in western France. The enemy of souls could not remain indifferent to all of this Christian sanctity. Persecuted by certain heretics and others during his life, Blessed Robert was accused of exaggeration and calumniated after his death but the accusatory writings were eventually declared to be forgeries. A calumniatory letter, attributed falsely to an Abbot of western France, who had, in other situations shown a vindictive spirit, was definitely proved not to be from his hand but written by the heretic Roscelin and containing pure fabrications.
Blessed Robert is remembered for his ideal of perfect poverty, both exterior and interior, according to the words of Our Lord, His first beatitude – “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” He was buried at Fontevrault, as he had desired to be but his remains were later transferred to a house of the Order, restored in 1806 after the revolution, at Chemillé in the Diocese of Angers.
St Caesarius of Nanzianzen St Donatus the Martyr Saint Felix III, Pope St Gerland the Bishop St Gothard the Hermit St Herena the Martyr St Justus the Martyr
St Nestor of Side St Riginos Blessed Robert of Arbrissel (c1045 – 1116) Priest, Itinerant Missionary Preacher, Founder of the renowned dual Monastery of Fontevraud-l’Abbaye in Pays-de-la-Loire, France, Teacher, both a Reformer, as well as possessing the opposite virtue of being a Peacemaker. A quite astonishing man. St Tharasius St Victor of Saint Gall
Martyrs of Egypt – A group oSeven f Christian men who were exiled to Egypt for their faith and were eventually Martyred for their faith in the persecutions of Numerian. We know little more than their names: Claudianus, Dioscurus, Nicephorus, Papias, Serapion, Victor, Victorinus.
AnaStpaul 
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