Posted in NOVENAS

NOVENA FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH, DAY THREE – 13 March – PROTECT OUR HOMES

NOVENA FOR THE INTERCESSION OF SAINT JOSEPH

DAY THREE

PROTECT OUR HOMES

Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector
and intercessor
of all who love and venerate you.
O most prudent Guardian of the Holy Family,
protect our home.
Pour forth from Heaven.
blessings on our family.
Remain in our midst.
Help us to live in love and harmony,
in peace and joy.
May the wholesome fear of God, strengthen us,
that virtue may adorn our lives and lead us to Heaven.
To you this day we give the key to our dwelling place.
Lock out all things that could do us harm.
Lock our home and our loved ones,
in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
And for this special grace we now implore you:
……………. (Mention your request)
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.
Guardian of the Word Incarnate,
we feel confident that your prayers
on our behalf, will be graciously heard
before the Throne of God.
St Joseph Most Loving Husband and Guardian, Pray for us!
Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary, lGory be to the Father

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on TEMPTATION

Thought for the Day – 13 March – PRAYER

Thought for the Day – 13 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

PRAYER

“The Saints had their failings and temptations like everyone else.
Some experienced continual spiritual aridity.
Others, like St Anthony and St Benedict, were often tempted against purity, while St Francis de Sales, was strongly inclined towards impatience.
Others, like St Therese of the Child Jesus, were even tempted to despair.
But, they all conquered, by means of prauer.

If we wish to conquer in the same way, we must pray too.
Let us never tire of prayer.
Sooner or later, the Father of Goodness and Mercy, will answer us.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-prayer/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-prayer-2/

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on ALMS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on PRAYER, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on the POOR, The KINGDOM of GOD

Quote/s of the Day – 13 March – ‘What great profit you gain …!’

Quote/s of the Day – 13 March – Monday of the Third Week in Lent

Are we going to neglect our own salvation?
Let us show great compassion
towards the poor
so as to be made worthy of possessing
good things to come for all eternity
!”

St John Chrysostom (347-407)
Father and Doctor of the Church

What great profit you gain from God
when you are generous!
You give a coin
and receive a Kingdom;
you give bread from wheat
and receive the Bread of Life;
you give a transitory good
and receive an everlasting one.
You will receive it back,
a hundred times more
than you offered.

If you want God to hear your prayers,
hear the voice of the poor.
If you wish God to anticipate your wants,
provide for those of the need,
without waiting for them to ask you.
Especially, anticipate the needs
of those, who are ashamed to beg.
To make them ask for alms,
is to make them buy it!

St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, GOD is LOVE, LENT 2023, LENTEN THOUGHTS, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD

Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 13 March – TRUE AND LIVING DEVOTION

Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 13 March – Monday of the Third Week in Lent – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

O Lord, deal with us,
not according to our sins,
nor requite us according to our iniquities.

Psalm 102:10

Hear, O God, my prayer,
and despise not my supplication.
Be attentive to me and hear me.
I am grieved in my exercise
and am troubled,”

Psalm 54:2-3

TRUE AND LIVING DEVOTION
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

ONE MAN SETS GREAT VALUE on fasting and believes himself to be leading a very devout life, as long as he fasts rigorously, although, the while, his heart is full of bitterness — and while he will not moisten his lips with wine, perhaps not even with water, in his great abstinence, he does not scruple to steep them in his neighbour’s blood, through slander and detraction.

Another man reckons himself as devout because he repeats many prayers dai­ly, although. at the same time. he does not refrain from all man­ner of angry, irritating, conceited or insulting speeches among his family and neighbours.
This man freely opens his purse in almsgiving but closes his heart to all gentle and forgiving feelings towards those who are opposed to him, while that one is ready enough to forgive his enemies but will never pay his rightful debts, save under pressure.

Meanwhile, all these people are conventionally called religious but, nevertheless, they are in no true sense really devout. …

But, in fact, all true and living devotion presupposes the love of God — and indeed, it is neither more, nor less, than a very real love of God, … And forasmuch as devotion consists in a high degree of real love, it not only makes us ready, active and diligent, in following all God’s Com­mands but, it also excites us to be ready and loving, in performing as many good works as possible … Devotion is simply a spiritual activity and liveliness, by means of which, Divine Love works in us.” – ( Intro­duc­tion to the Devout Life, Chapter 1: What true devotion is.)

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 13 March – ‘… Towards You, then, Lord, are all things turned…’

One Minute Reflection – 13 March – Monday of the Thirs Week in Lent – 4 Kings 5:1-15, Luke 4:23-30 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“There were many widows in Israel” – Luke 4:25

REFLECTION – “My wretched soul is naked and cold and benumbed, it longs to warm itself at the fIre of Your love… Out of my wide wilderness and the great emptiness of my heart, I have collected only these few tiny twigs, like the widow of Sarepta; so that,, when I do come to the tabernacle of my house, I may have a handful of flour and a vessel of oil to eat before I die (1Kgs 17:10). Or maybe, Lord, I shall not die as quickly as all that! It may be rather that “I shall not die at all but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (Ps 117:17).

So I stand in the house of solitude… I open my mouth in Your direction, Lord; I breathe in the Spirit. And sometimes, Lord,… You do put something in my heart’s mouth but You do not permit me to know just what it is. A savour I perceive, so sweet, so gracious and so comforting that… I should seek nothing more. But when I receive this thing, neither by bodily sight, nor by spiritual sense, nor by understanding of the mind, do You allow me to discern what it is. When I receive it, then I want to keep it, and think about it and assess its flavour but forthwith, it has gone… But every time this happens I hear the Lord say to me: “The Spirit blows whither he will. ” And I know, even in myself, that He breathes not, when I will but when He Himself wills…

I know that it is to You alone, O Fount of Life, that I must lift up my eyes, that “in your light I may see light” (Ps 35:10). Towards You, then, Lord, are all things turned… But in the meantime, Lord, how much longer are You going to put me off? How often must my wretched, harassed, gasping soul trail after You? “Hide me,” I beseech you, “in the secret place of Your Face away from the troubles of men, protect me in Your tabernacle from the strife of conguest!” (Ps 30:21).” – William of Saint-Thierry (c 1085-1148) Cistercian Monk, Theologian (The Contemplation of God 12).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, in Thy mercy, pour forth Thy grace into our hearts, that, as we abstain from material food, so may we restrain our senses from sin. 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 Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The WILL of GOD

Our Morning Offering – 13 March – Morning Offering By St Thérèse

Our Morning Offering – 13 March – Monday of the Third Week in Lent

Morning Offering
By St Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873 – 1897)

O my God!
I offer Thee all my actions of this day
for the intentions and for the glory
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart,
my every thought,
my simplest works,
by uniting them to It’s infinite merits
and I wish to make reparation for my sins,
by casting them into the furnace
of It’s Merciful Love.
O my God!
I ask Thee for myself
and for those whom I hold dear,
the grace to fulfil perfectly Thy Holy Will,
to accept for love of Thee,
the joys and sorrows of this passing life,
so that we may one day be united together
in Heaven for all Eternity.
Amen.

Posted in FRANCISCAN OFM, INCORRUPTIBLES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 13 March – Blessed Agnellus of Pisa OFM (c1195-1236) Priest

Saint of the Day – 13 March – Blessed Agnellus of Pisa OFM (c1195-1236) Priest, Frair of the Order of Friars Minor, received into the Franciscans Order by Saint Francis himself., Missionary. Agnellus was the Founder of the Order in England and its First Minister Provincial. Born in c.1195 in Pisa, Italy and died on 7 May 1236 at Oxford, England of dysentery. Additional Memorials – 7 May (Franciscan) and 10 September (English Franciscans). His body was incorrupt but was destroyed during the persecutions by Henry VIII.

Agnellus was descended from an ancient noble family at Pisa. The government of the Parisian Province of the Order was entrusted to him. Later, the holy Founder sent him to England with eight companions. Here Agnellus found it possible to establish several Convents of his Order and to unite them into a Province. Due to his zeal and to his virtuous life, many young men, some from the most prominent families in England, took the Habit of the Poor Man of Assisi.

In order to provide the young clerics with a thorough education, he established a school of theology at Oxford. Meanwhile, however, he infused into them a desire for perfection and a holy fidelity to the Rule of the Order, in all of which, he led them by his own good example.

His humility was so profound that ,under no circumstances could be be prevailed upon to receive Holy Orders. Finally, however, he yielded in obedience to the General Chapter.

A great part of his time was devoted to meditation. At holy Mass and in choir, he was so overcome with interior affections that he was frequently found weeping.

Agnellus died the death of the saints in the year 1232, when he was but thirty-eight years old. His grave and the Church which he had established in Oxford in which he was buried, were destroyed during the persecution of the Catholics in the reign of Henry VIII. Pope Leo XIII solemnly confirmed the uninterrupted veneration that had been accorded to Blessed Agnellus of Pisa.

In honour of his great influence in the establishment of the University. Agnellus’ incorrupt body was preserved with great veneration at Oxford up to the dissolution of the religious houses, when the Friary and Church were destroyed. In 2014, the Conventual Franciscans re-established a Friary again in Oxford, formally dedicating and naming it the Blessed Agnellus of Pisa Friary.

Blessed Agnellus of Pisa knew that while the ambitious are always ill at ease, as to whether or not, they will be properly esteemed, or whether their dignity will be duly acknowledged, the humble live in continual peace of soul. They do not wait for approval and do not fear ill success. Their will is directed solely to the honour of God. They ehope for a reward from Him alone.

The Blessed Agnellus Frairy at Oxford today
Posted in MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Monday of the THIRD WEEK in LENT, “The Salus Populi Romani” / Our Lady of the Empress, Rome (593) and Memorials of the Saints – 13 March

Monday of the THIRD WEEK in LENT – FAST

“The Salus Populi Romani” / Our Lady of the Empress, Rome (593) – 13 March:
HERE:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/13/our-lady-of-the-empress-rome-the-salus-populi-romani-593-and-memorials-of-the-saints-13-march/

St Leander of Seville (c 534-c 600) BIshop, Confessor of the Faith, Teacher, Writer, Apostle of Spain and Evangelisation, Father of the Church – Patron of Episcopal attire and Liturgical garments. Saint Leander, as Bishop, instituted the practice of praying the Nicene Creed during Mass—a practice which continues today.
Biography:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-st-leander-of-seville/

Blessed Agnellus of Pisa OFM (c1195-1236) Frair of the Order of Friars Minor, received into the Franciscans Order by Saint Francis himself.

St Ansovinus of Camerino (Died 868) Bishop, Hermit, Peace-maker, Spiritual Adviser and Confessor to the Holy Roman Emperor, Miracle-worker.
His Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-saint-ansovinus-of-camerino-died-868/

Bl Berengar de Alenys
St Christina of Persia
St Euphrasia

Blessed Françoise Tréhet (1756-1794) Virgin Martyr, Religious Sister, Teacher, Apostle of Charity. Martyr of the French Revolution. She was Beatified on 19 June 1955 by Pope Pius XII at Rome, Italy.
Her Life and Death:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-bl-francoise-trehet-1756-1794-
martyr/

St Gerald of Mayo
St Grace of Saragossa

St Heldrad of Novalese (Died c 875) Priest and Benedictine Abbot.
St Heldrad’s Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-st-heldrad-of-novalese-died-c-875/

Bl Judith of Ringelheim
St Kevoca of Kyle
St Mochoemoc
St Nicephorus of Constantinople
Bl Peter II of La Cava
St Pientius of Poitiers
St Ramirus of Leon

St Roderick of Córdoba.(Died 857) Spanish Priest and Martyr
His Life and Death:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-saint-roderick-died-857-priest-and-martyr/

St Sabinus of Egypt
St Sancha of Portugal