Day: March 12, 2023

Posted in NOVENAS

NOVENA FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH – DAY TWO, Prudent Guardian of the Holy Family – 12 March

Posted on by AnaStpaul

NOVENA FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH

DAY TWO

Prudent Guardian of the Holy Family

To you, O Blessed Joseph, we come in our trials
and having asked the help of your most holy spouse,
we confidently ask your patronage too.
Through that sacred bond of charity,
which united you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God
and through the fatherly love,
with which you embraced the Child Jesus,
we humbly beg you to look graciously upon
the beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ
purchased by His Blood
and to aid us in our necessities
with your power and strength
and the special grace we now implore:
……………. (Mention your request)

O most prudent Guardian of the Holy Family,
defend the chosen family of Jesus Christ.
Most beloved father,
dispel the evil of falsehood and sin.
Our most mighty protector,
graciously assist us from Heaven
in our struggle with the powers of darkness.
And just as you once saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger,
so now, defend God’s Holy Church
from the snares of her enemies
and from all adversity.
Shield each one of us by your constant protection,
so that, supported by your example and your help,
we may be able to live a virtuous life,
to die a holy death
and to obtain eternal happiness in Heaven.
St Joseph Most Prudent, Pray for us!
Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father …..

Posted in GOD ALONE!, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, QUOTES on THE WORLD

Thought for the Day – 12 March – Detachment from the World

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Thought for the Day – 12 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Detachment from the World

“This is not the same as saying that we should have no interest in worldly affairs.
Far from it.
It is our duty to think about them and make provision for the future.
We cannot and should not look for miracles from God.
We must have obligations to ourselves, or to our family, or to our position in life.
We are in this world to work, not to surrender to apathy or inactivity.
We must engage in worldly activity insofar as our circumstances demand it.

Nevertheless, our hearts should not be engrossed in earthly things, for they belong to God.
In the midst of our other preoccupations, we should adore, love and thank God, the Giver of every good, our Creator and our Redeemer.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/12/thought-for-the-day-12-march-detachment-from-the-world/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/12/thought-for-the-day-12-march-detachment-from-the-world-3/

Posted in CHRIST the JUDGE, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on TRUTH, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The KINGDOM of GOD, The REDEMPTION, The SECOND COMING, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 12 March – St Gregory the Great

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Quote/s of the Day – 12 March – The Third Sunday in Lent and the Feast of St Gregory the Great (540-604) Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church, “Father of the Fathers”

“Your faith has saved you.”

Luke 18:42

“The blind man does not ask the Lord for gold
but for Light. He sets little store
by asking anything but Light …
Let us imitate him, dearly beloved …
Let us not ask the Lord for deceitful riches,
or earthly gifts, or passing honours
but for Light. And let us not ask for light
shut up in one place, or limited by time,
or ending with the coming of night.
The beasts behold such light just as we do.
Let us ask for the Light which we can see
with angels alone, Light without beginning
or end. The way to this Light is faith.
Hence Jesus immediately says to the blind man,
who is to be enlightened:
“Raise your eyes, your faith has saved you!”

“Have I not a right to do what I choose?
Or are you envious because I am generous?”

Matthew 20:15.

“But no-one should boast of his work or of his time,
when, after saying this, Truth cries out:
“So the last will be first and the first last.”
We know what good things we have done
and how many they are;
we do not know with what exactitude
our Judge on high will investigate them.
Indeed, we must all rejoice exceedingly,
to be even the last, in the Kingdom of God!”

“Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.”

Luke 21:28

“Truth is exhorting His elect by saying:
“When the disasters of the world
become more frequent… let your hearts exult!
While the world, which is not your friend,
is coming to an end,
the redemption you have sought ,is coming near.!”
Those who love God are ordered to rejoice
and be merry at the world’s end.
They will soon find Him Whom they love,
while what they have not loved is passing away.
It should be far from the hearts of all the faithful
who long to see God, to grieve over the disasters
of a world, for they know, these very disasters,
are soon to end. It is written that:
“Whoever wishes to be a friend of this world,
makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas 4,4).”

“Someone who does not rejoice
as the end of the world approaches,
testifies that he is its friend
and this itself convicts him,
of being God’s enemy!”

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/12/quote-s-of-the-day-12-march-st-gregory-the-great/

St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Pope, Confessor, Father and Doctor
“Father of the Fathers”

Posted in "Follow Me", CATECHESIS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, LENT 2023, LENTEN THOUGHTS, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 12 March – MUTUAL CHARITY

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Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 12 March – The Third Sunday in Lent – Ephesians 5:1-9, Luke 11,14-28 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“To Thee have I lifted up my eyes,
Who dwells in Heaven.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.”
Psalm 122:1,3

“Every kingdom divided
against itself is laid waste.”
Luke 11:17

MUTUAL CHARITY
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

“IN TODAY’S GOSPEL[Lk. 11:14-28], Our Lord insists that every kingdom divided against itself, (not united in itself) is brought to desolation.
On the other hand, the converse is true, too – all kingdoms united in concord, not permitting any division to enter, will surely be filled with consolation. For if the propositions are opposite, the consequences must be, too.
These words are among the most remarkable, noteworthy and important that our Divine Master ever spoke. For this reason the ancient Fathers carefully interpreted them.

They agree that our Saviour had three kinds of concord or union in mind when He spoke, where division in any of them, results in desolation.
The first is the concord which should exist between a king and his subjects, making subjects submissive and obedient to his laws.
The second is the union which we ought to have within, in our inner kingdom, where reason must be the king to whom are subject, all the faculties of our spirit, all our senses and even our bodies. … (Without this obedience and submission we cannot avoid having desolation and trouble, any more than there could be peace in a kingdom in which the subjects are not obedient to the laws of the king.)

… The third, is that which we ought to have with each other. This union or concord, has been earnestly preached, recommended and taught to us by Our Lord, equally in word and example. … Nothing is so stressed, nothing stated so completely as the observance of this Commandment [the Commandment of love[. He does so with good reason, for the beloved of the Beloved, the great Apostle St John, assures us that anyone who says that he loves God and does not love his neighbour, is a liar [1 Jn.4:20-21]. On the other hand, he who says he loves his neighbour but does not love God also contradicts the truth. That simply cannot be. To love God without loving the neighbour, who is created in His Image and Likeness [Gen. 1:26-27], is im­possible.

But what should this union and concord be which we all ought to have? Oh! What should it be indeed! It must be such that if Our Lord Himself had not explained it, no-one would have been so daring as to use the same terms as His.
At the Last Supper, after He had given the incomparable pledge of His love for us men, the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, He said:
“Father, My very dear Father, I beseech Thee that all those whom Thou hast given Me may be one, as Thou and I, Father, are One ” [Jn 17:11-12, 21-22].
To show that He was not speaking only for the Apostles but for all the rest of us, He added: “I do not pray for them alone (that is, those He had just mentioned) but for all those who will believe in Me, through their word” [Jn 17:20].
Who would have dared, I repeat, to make such a comparison, or to ask that we might be united as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are united? – (Sermon for the Third Sunday of Lent, 27 February 1622).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 12 March – “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste.” 

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 12 March – The Third Sunday in Lent and the Feast of St Gregory the Great (540-604) – Pope, Confessor, Father & Doctor of the Church, “Father of the Fathers” – Ephesians 5:1-9, Luke 11,14-28 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste.” – Luke 11:17

REFLECTION – “No-one can have God as his father, if he does not have the Church as his mother… The Lord warned us of this when He said: “Whoever is not with me, is against me and whoever does not gather together with me, scatters.” The person who breaks the peace and concord of Christ, acts against Christ; the person who gathers together, outside of the Church, scatters the Church of Christ.

The Lord said: “The Father and I are one.” (Jn 10:30) It is also written of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: “These three are one.” (1 Jn 5:7) From now on, who can believe, that the unity, which has its origin in this divine harmony, which is linked with this heavenly mystery, can be divided up in the Church… through conflicts of will? Whoever does not observe this unity, neither observes the law of God, nor faith, in the Father and the Son – he keeps neither life, nor salvation.

In the gospel, this sacrament of unity, this bond of concord, in indissoluble cohesion, is shown us through the Lord’s tunic. It could neither be divided nor torn but they drew lots, so as to know who would put on Christ (Jn 19:24)… It is the symbol of unity, that comes from on high.” – St Cyprian of Carthage (c 200- c 258) Bishop and Martyr, Father of the Church (On the unity of the Church).

PRAYER – O God, Who granted the rewards of everlasting happiness to the soul of Thy servant Gregory, mercifully grant that we, who are weighed down with the burden of our sins, may be raised up by his prayers to Thee. 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 BREVIARY Prayers, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PAPAL PRAYERS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 12 March – Lucis Creator Optime, O Blest Creator of the Light By St Gregory the Great

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Our Morning Offering – 12 March – The Third Sunday in Lent and the Memorial of St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) – Father & Doctor

Lucis Creator Optime
O Blest Creator of the Light
By St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Pope, Father & Doctor
“Father of the Fathers”

O blest Creator of the light,
Who mak’st the day with radiance bright,
And o’er the forming world did’st call
The Light from Chaos First of all.

Whose wisdom join’d in meet array
The morn and eve and nam’d them day;
Night comes with all its darkling fears;
Regard Thy people’s pray’rs and tears.

Lest, sunk in sin and whelm’d with strife,
They lose the gift of endless life;
While thinking but the thoughts of time,
They weave new chains of woe and crime.

But grant them grace that they may strain
The heav’nly gate and prize to gain;
Each harmful lure, aside to cast,
And purge away each error past.

O Father, that we ask be done,
Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son;
Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee,
Shall live and reign eternally.
Amen

This hymn is used for Vespers (II) on Sundays throughout the year in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary.
Trans John M Neale (1818-1866), 1851.
Tune: “Lucis Creator Optime” Gregorian Chant, Mode VIII, traditional.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 12 March – St Bernard of Carinola (1040-1109) Bishop

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Saint of the Day – 12 March – St Bernard of Carinola (1040-1109) Bishop of Caripola, Counsellor and Chaplain, Confessor to Royalty. Born in 1040 at Capua, Italy and died in 1109 of natural causes at Carinola, Campania, Italy of which City and Diocese he is the Patron Saint. Also known as – Bernard of Capua.

QWe have no information of St Bernard’s early life. We know that he studied at the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino Abbey. He became a Monk and the spiritual student of the Abbot who later became Pope Victor III. One of his fellow students was St Peter Damia, the Doctor of the Church.

This Relief at the Cathedral of Carinola is probably St Bernard

He was Ordained a Priest and then appointed as the Counsellor and Chaplian to Prince Jordan of Capua and the Confessor of Duke Richard II of Capua.

In 1087 he was appointed the Bishop of Forum Claudii by Pope Victor III, his former Master at Monte Casino. Bernard was Consecrated by this Pope on 21 March 1087. In 1100, Bernard transferred the See to the City of Carinola.

The Bishop on the left in this ancient fresco at the Cathedral of Carinola is most likely to be St Bernard/

Bernard died at the age of 69 after having zealously served the Church and his flock for 22 years. His body was nterred in a marble sarcophagus in the Cathedral of Carinola.

Entrance to the Cathedral of Carinola
Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MARIAN TITLES, MYSTICS, SAINT of the DAY

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, St Pope Gregory the Great, Notre-Dames-des-Miracles / Our Lady of Miracles, France (1328) and Memorials of the Saints – 12 March

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THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) – Father & Doctor of the Church – “Father of the Fathers” –Papacy 3 September 590-12 March 604 – Pope, Prefect of Rome, Monk, Abbot, Writer, Theologian, Teacher, Liturgist, Administrator, Diplomat, Political Negotiator, Apostle of Charity and Social Justice, Apostle of Pastoral Ministry, PeaceMaker.
His Feast Day was moved in 1969.
The wondrous St Gregory!:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/03/saint-of-the-day-3-september-st-pope-gregory-the-great-540-604-father-doctor-of-the-church-father-of-the-fathers/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2017/09/03/saint-of-the-day-3-september-st-pope-gregory-the-great-540-604-father-doctor-of-the-church/

Notre-Dames-des-Miracles / Our Lady of Miracles, St Maur des Fosses, France (1328) – 12 March;
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/12/our-lady-of-miracles-st-maur-des-fosses-france-1328-and-memorials-of-the-saints-12-march/

St Almut of Wetter
St Alphege the Bald
St BasilissS of Asia
Bl Beatrix of Engelport
St Bernard of Carinola (1040-1109) Bishop
Bl Claudius the Minor
St Egdunus
St Fechno

Blessed Jerome of Recanati OSA (Died 1350) Priest, Friar of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, Peacemaker. He was Beatified in
1804 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmation).
The Roman Martyrology reads : “In Recanati in the Marche, Blessed Girolamo Gherarducci, Priest of the Order of the Hermits of St Agustine, who worked for peace and harmony between peoples.”
About Bl Jerome:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/12/saint-of-the-day-12-march-blessed-jerome-of-recanati-osa-died-1350/

Blessed Giustina Francucci Bezzoli (c 1257-1319) Virgin of the Order of St Benedict, Hermitess and Anchoress, Mystic. Her body is incorrupt.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/12/saint-of-the-day-12-march-blessed-giustina-francucci-bezzoli-c-1257-1319/

St Heiu of Hartlepool
St Indrecht of Iona
St Pope Innocent I
St Maximilian of Thebeste
St Mura McFeredach
St Paul Aurelian
St Peter the Deacon

St Seraphina (1238-1253) Virgin
Her Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/12/saint-of-the-day-12-march-saint-seraphina-1238-1253-virgin/

St Theophanes the Chronographer

Martyrs of Nicomedia – 8 Beati: Christians who were Martyred in succession in a single incident during the persecutions of Diocletian. First there were the eight imprisoned Christians, Domna, Esmaragdus, Eugene, Hilary, Mardonius, Maximus, Mígdonus and Peter, about whom we know little more than their names. Each day for eight days one of them would be strangled to death in view of the others so that they would spend the night in dread, not knowing if they were next.
Peter was the chamberlain or butler in the palace of Diocletian. When he was overheard complaining about this cruelty, he was exposed as a Christian, arrested, tortured and executed by having the flesh torn from his bones, salt and vinegar poured on the wounds and then being roasted to death over a slow fire.
Gorgonio was an army officer and member of the staff in the house of emperor Diocletian, Doroteo was a staff clerk. They were each exposed as Christians when they were overhead objecting to the torture and murder of Peter. This led to their own arrest, torture and executions.
Died in 303 in Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey)
Additional Memorial – 28 December as part of the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia. Beatified on 14 January 1891 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmation).