Thought for the Day – 9 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
The Human Soul
“Remember that every mortal sin means death to the soul, for it robs it of the supernatural life of grace, making it incapable of every good action and deserving of hell. If you committed one mortal sin, God could tire of you, as if you were an unproductive tree and put an end to your life, without giving you time to repent! Then, you would be lost for all eternity. This thought should never leave your mind, particularly in time of temptation. At such a time, turn to God with confidence, tell Him that you love Him and do not wish to offend Him at any price. Face death rather than sin.”
Quote/s of the Day – 9 March – St Frances of Rome (1384-1440) Widow
“It is most laudable, in a married woman, to be devout but, she must never forget that she is a home-keeper. And sometimes, she must leave God at the Altar to find Him in her household affairs.”
St Frances of Rome (1384-1440)
“Be ever more convinced that your Guardian Angel is really present, that he is ever at your side. St Frances of Rome always saw him standing before her, his arms clasped at his breast, his eyes uplifted to Heaven but, at the slightest failing, he would cover his face, as if in shame and at times, turn his back to her!”
Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 9 March – Thursday in the Second Week of Lent – Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Thou hast loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness, above thy fellows.” Psalm 44:8
“So shall it be at the end of the world. The Angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 13:49-50
HEAVEN or HELL? St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor Caritas
“CONSIDER THAT THE CHOICE you make in this life will last forever in the next! Consider too, that while both are open to receive you, according to your choice, yet God, Who is prepared to give the one by reason of His Justice, the other by reason of His Mercy, all the while desires, unspeakably that you should select Paradise. offering you countless graces on God’s part, countless assistance to attain to it. Consider that Jesus Christ, enthroned in Heaven, looks down upon you in loving invitation – ‘O beloved one, come unto Me and joy forever in the eternal blessedness of My Love!’ Behold His mother yearning over you with maternal tenderness, ‘Courage, my child, do not despise the Goodness of my Son, or my earnest prayers for thy salvation.‘ …
O Hell, I abhor thee now and forever; I abhor thy griefs and torments, thine endless misery, the unceasing blasphemies and maledictions which thou pourest out upon my God and turning to thee, O blessed Paradise, eternal glory, unfading happiness, I choose thee forever as my abode, thy glorious mansions, thy precious and abiding tabernacles.
O my God, I bless Thy Mercy which gives me the power to choose, O Jesus, Saviour, I accept Thine Eternal Love and praise Thee for the promise Thou hast given me, of a place prepared for me, in that blessed New Jerusalem, where I shall love and bless Thee forever. ” (Excerpt – ‘Introduction to the Devout Life’ 9th Meditation).
One Minute Reflection – 9 March – Thursday in the Second Week of Lent – The Memorial of St Frances of Rome Obl.S.B. (1384-1440) Widow – Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“So shall it be at the end of the world. The Angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – Matthew 13:49-50
REFLECTION – “Our Lord was an example of incomparable patience. He bore with a “devil” among His disciples even to His Passion (Jn 6,70). He said: “Let them grow together until the harvest lest you uproot the wheat when you pull out the weeds” (cf. Mt 13,29f.). As a symbol of the Church, He preached that the net would bring back to shore, namely the end of the world, every kind of fish, both good and bad. And He made it known, in various other ways, whether openly or in parables, that there would always be a mixture of good and bad. But, nevertheless, He stresses, that we have to protect the Church’s discipline when He says: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother” (Mt 18,15)…
Yet today, we see people who think of nothing but stern commandments, who order that troublemakers be reproved, ‘not giving what is holy to the dogs,’ treating, like the publicans, ‘anyone who despises the Church, cutting off the scandalous member from the body‘ (Mt 7,6 ; 18,17 ; 5,30). Their stormy zeal so troubles the Church, that they pull out the weeds before their time and their blindness makes of them enemies, of the unity of Jesus Christ…
Take care not to let these presumptuous thoughts enter our hearts, trying to separate ourselves from sinners, so as not to be soiled by contact with them, wanting to form a band of pure and holy disciples. We will achieve nothing but breaking up our unity, under the pretext of not associating with the wicked. To the contrary, let us remember the parables of Scripture, their inspired words, their striking examples, where we are shown that, until the end of the world and the day of judgement, the bad will always be mingled amongst the good in the Church, without their participation in the Sacraments being harmful to the good, so long as these latter, have not played a part in their sins.” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (On Faith and Works – Excerpt ch 3-5)
PRAYER – O God, Who along with other gifts of Thy grace honoured blessed Frances, Thy handmaid, with the close companionship of an angel, grant, we beseech Thee, that by the help of her intercession we may be made worthy to attain the companionship of Angels 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).
Our Morning Offering – 9 March – Thursday in the Second Week of Lent
Look Down, O Lord By St Cajetan (1480-1547)
Look down, O Lord, from Thy sanctuary and from the high habitation of Heaven and behold this Sacred Oblation which our great High Priest, Thy Holy Servant, the Lord Jesus, immolates unto Thee, for the sins of His brethren and be propitious to the multitude of our iniquities. Behold, the Voice of the Blood of Jesus, our Brother, cries to Thee from the Cross. Graciously hear, O Lord, be appeased, O Lord, hearken and do. Delay not for Thy own sake, my God because Thy Name is invoked upon this city and upon Thy people and do with us, according to Thy mercy. Amen
Plenary Indulgence on the First Thursday of each month for Communicants visiting the Blessed Sacrament and reciting this prayer. Partial Indulgence of seven years and seven Quarantines, on all other Thursdays. –Pope Pius VII. “Quarantines” signifies a strict Ecclesiastical penance of forty days, performed according to the practice of the early Church. Hence an Indulgence of “Seven Quarantines,” for instance, implies. the remission of as much temporal punishment, as would be blotted out by the corresponding amount of Ecclesiastical Penance i.e. 7 x 40 = 280 days.
Saint of the Day – 9 March – St Frances of Rome Obl.S.B. (1384-1440) Widow, Founder, Wife, Mother, Mystic, Organiser of charitable services and a Benedictine Oblate who founded a religious community of Oblates, who share a common life without religious vows. Patronages – against plague/epidemics, of automobile drivers (given in 1951), aviators, taxi drivers, death of children, the laity, motorcyclists, motorists, people ridiculed for their piety, Roman housewives, widows, women, Rome, Italy.
Saint Frances of Rome, Widow From the Liturgical Year, 1870
Frances, a noble lady of Rome, led a most virtuous life, even in her earliest years. She despised all childish amusements and worldly pleasures, her only delight being solitude and prayer. When eleven years old, she resolved on consecrating her virginity to God and seeking admission into a Monastery. But she humbly yielded to the wishes of her parents and married a young and rich nobleman, by name Lorenzo Ponziani.
As far as it was possible, she observed, in the married state, the austerities of the more perfect life to which she had aspired. She carefully shunned theatrical entertainments, banquets and other such amusements. Her dress was of serge and extremely plain. Whatever time remained after she had fulfilled her domestic duties, was spent in prayer and works of charity. But her zeal was mainly exercised in endeavouring to persuade the ladies of Rome, to shun the world and vanity in dress. It was with a view to this, that she founded, during her husband’s life, the House of Oblates of the Congregation of Monte-Oliveto, under the Rule of St Benedict.
She bore her husband’s banishment, the loss of all her goods and the trouble which befel her whole family, not only with heroic patience but was frequently heard to give thanks, saying with holy Job: “The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord!”
At the death of her husband, she fled to the aforesaid House of Oblates and there, barefooted, with a rope tied around her neck and prostrate on the ground, she humbly and with many tears, begged admission. Her petition being granted, she, though mother of the whole community, gloried in calling herself everyone’s servant and a worthless woman and a vessel of dishonour. She evinced the contempt she had for herself by her conduct, as well as by her expressions. Thus, when returning from a vineyard in the suburbs, she would go through the city, sometimes carrying faggots on her head, sometimes driving an ass laden with them.
She looked after, and bestowed abundant alms upon the poor. She visited the sick in the hospitals and consoled them, not only with corporal food but with spiritual advice. She was untiring in her endeavours to bring her body into subjection, by watchings, fasting, wearing a hair-shirt and an iron girdle and by frequent disciplines. Her food, which she took but once in the day, consisted of herbs and pulse and her only drink was water. But she would somewhat relent in these corporal austerities, as often as she was requested to do so by her Confessor, whom she obeyed with the utmost exactitude.
Her contemplation of the Divine Mysteries and especially of the Passion, was made with such intense fervour and abundance of tears that she seemed as though she would die with grief. Frequently, too, when she was praying and above all, after Holy Communion, she would remain motionless, with her soul fixed on God and rapt in heavenly contemplation.
The enemy of mankind seeing this, endeavoured to frighten her out of so holy a life, by insults and blows but she feared him not, invariably baffled his attempts and, by the assistance of her Angel Guardian, whose visible presence was granted to her, she gained a glorious victory.
God favoured her with the gift of healing the sick, as also with that of prophecy, whereby she foretold future events and could read the secrets of hearts. More than once, when she was intent on prayer, either in the bed of a torrent, or during a storm of rain, she was not touched by the water. On one occasion, when all the bread they had was scarcely enough to provide a meal for three of the Sisters, she besought our Lord and he multiplied the bread so that after fifteen persons had eaten as much as they needed, there was sufficient left to fill a basket.
At another time, when the Sisters were gathering wood outside the City walls, in the month of January, she amply quenched their thirst by offering them bunches of fresh grapes, which she plucked from a vine and which she had miraculously obtained.
Her virtues and miracles procured for her the greatest veneration from all. Our Lord called her to Himself in the fifty-sixth year of her age and she was Canonised in 1384 by Pope Paul the Fifth.
AnaStpaul 
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