O most powerful Patriarch, Saint Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, which has always invoked you in anxieties and tribulations. From the lofty seat of your glory, lovingly regard the Catholic Church. Let it move your paternal heart to see the mystical Spouse of Christ, weakened by sorrow and persecuted by powerful enemies. We beseech you, by the merits of the most bitter sufferings of Christ, to wipe away the tears of His pilgrim people, to defend and liberate them and to intercede with the Giver of peace and charity, that every hostile power be overcome and every error be destroyed, so that the whole Church may serve the God of all blessings in perfect liberty and peace. We too raise our hearts to you, to implore your powerful intercession, in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus, all the graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death, and the special grace I now implore: …………….. (Mention your request) 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 Holy Patron of the One Holy Catholic Church, Pray for us! Amen
Thought for the Day – 16 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Purification
“We should also value Indulgences as a means of spiritual purification. They ought not to be treated lightly. Jesus gave His Church, the power of loosing and binding every bond of sin. As long as we have the necessary dispositions, therefore, it can draw on the merits of Christ and of the Saints, to release us from the temporal punishment due to the sins which have already been forgiven us. It achieves this by the concession of Indulgences. These require, on our part, the fulfilment of certain conditions, a sincere sorrow for sin and, a strong resolution never to offend God again.”
Quote/s of the Day – 16 March – Thursday of the Third Week in Lent
“Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him and he laid his hands on everyone of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.”
Luke 4:40-41
“If thou art bound down by sickness, if sorrows weary thee, if thou art trembling with fear, invoke the name of Jesus!”
St Lawrence Justinian (1381-1456)
“The poor and the sick are the Heart of God. In serving them, we serve Jesus Christ.”
St Camillus de Lellis MI (1550-1614)
“Our misery is the throne of God’s Mercy.”
“If it be God’s will that the remedies overcome the sickness, return to God thanks, with humility; if it be God’s will that the sickness overcome the remedies, bless God with patience.”
“The prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer, for there is none more powerful, save Martyrdom!”
Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 16 March – Thursday of the Third Week in Lent – Jeremias 7:1-7, Luke 4:38-44 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Thou opens Thy hand and fills with blessing every living creature.” Psalm 144:16
“And standing over her, He commanded the fever and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them.” Luke 4:39
PROPER CONDUCT IN ILLNESS St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor Caritas
“St Peter’s mother-in-law knew that Our Lord was in Capharnaum and that He was curing many sick people. Nevertheless, she did not anxiously send for Him to tell Him that she was suffering, nor did she beg Him to come to her house. But what is even more amazing, is that even when they encountered one another in her house, she looked at Him and He looked at her but she did not say a word about her illness, so as to move Him to have pity on her; nor did she cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me” [Matt 15:22] or “Lord, say only the word and my soul will be healed” [Matt 8:8; Lk. 7:7]—that is, I will regain life and health. …
Our fever patient did not act in this way at all. She was in her bed without making any fuss whatever. It was enough for her that others knew she was ill; she was content to take what was given her for her health, not fretting over whether it would benefit her or not. She believed firmly that God was not the first, nor the second, nor the third cause of her illness, for He is not the cause of sickness in any way whatever. Since He is not the cause of sin, then He is not the cause of sickness either. But just as He permits sin, He sends infirmities to correct and purify us of it. Thus, we must be submissive to His Justice, as well as to His Mercy, keeping a humble silence. This will make us tranquilly embrace the events of His Providence, as David did, who, in his afflictions said: “I suffered and was silent because I knew that it was Thou Who sent them to correct me and purge me of my guilt.” [Ps.38: 10-12].
Our fever patient did the same. “Thou have sent me the fever and I have accepted it. I have submitted myself, both to Thy Justice and to Thy Mercy. Just as Thou sent it to me, without my asking for it, so Thou can take it away, without my asking Thee to do so. Thou knows better than I do what is best for me. I have no need to trouble myself about it. It is sufficient for me that Thou look at me and that Thou knows that I am sick in my bed!” – (Sermon for the Thursday after the Third Sunday of Lent, 3 March 1622, concerning the cure of St Peter’s mother-in-law).
One Minute Reflection – 16 March – “The Month of the St Joseph” – Thursday of the Third Week in Lent – Jeremias 7:1-7, Luke 4:38-44 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And standing over her, He commanded the fever and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them.” – Luke 4:39
REFLECTION – “The Apostle Paul writes: “I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all His patience, as an example for those who would come to believe in Him for everlasting life” »(1Tim 1:16). Desiring to show pardon to all, He chose one of His most vicious enemies so that, when they saw him healed, no-one would be tempted to despair.
Is not this just what doctors do? When they have settled somewhere where they are not yet known, they first of all single out people who are suffering from incurable illnesses, so as to give proof of their kindness and make their skill known. Then each will say to the other: “Go and seek out this particular doctor; I assure you that he made me well again!… I had the same illness as you do, I went through the same suffering.” This is what Paul said to each sick person in danger of despairing: “The One Who healed me sends me to you, saying: Go and look for that hopeless sick person, tell him of your illness, make known to him the pain from which I cured you… Shout aloud to the despairing: ‘This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance – Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1Tim 1:15). What have you to fear? Why tremble? I myself am ‘the foremost of sinners’. I am telling this to you, who are sick, I, who have been cured. I, who now stand upright, to you who are cast down. I, who today ,am full of confidence, to you who despair.
So do not let yourself fall into despair. Are you sick? Come to Him and you will be healed. Are you blind? Come to Him and you will be enlightened… Let everyone say: “Come, let us bow and bend low before Him; let us weep before the Lord Who made us” (Ps 94:6).” – St Augustine (354-430) Bishop of Hippo, Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 176, 4).
PRAYER – From all perils of soul and body defend us, O Lord, we beseech Thee and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of thy blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints, graciously grant us safety and peace that all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom. 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).Through the same 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 – 16 March – Thursday of the Third Week in Lent
My God, Do Not Abandon Me By St Arsenius the Great (c 354-c 449)
My God, do not abandon me,, although I have done nothing good in Your sight but because You are compassionate, grant me the power to make a start. Amen
Saint of the Day – 16 March – Blessed John Amias (1589) Priest, Martyr, Married layman and father of seven children, then a Widower and a home Missionary Priest. Born at Wakefield, West Riding, Yorkshire, England and was Martyred on 16 March 1589 by being hung, drawn, and quartered at York, England. John was Beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI. Also known as – William John Anne. John Amvas. Additional Memorial – 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai and on 4 May with the 107 Martyrs of England and Wales, Beatified on 15 December 1929.
This illustration shows the ghastly ridicule and sacrilegious abuse of the bodies of the Martyrs after death. The illustration of the Blesseds John Amias and Robert Dalby, “At the place of Execution” Illustration for Memoirs of Missionary Priests by Bishop Challoner (Jack, 1878)
Besides the region of his birth, we have no information of his early life but there does exist the possibility that he was really William or John Anne, the youngest son of John and Katherine Anne, of Frickley near Wakefield. Whichever it is, John was born at or near Wakefield in West Yorkshire where he traded as a cloth merchant, married and raised seven children.
Upon the death of his wife, he divided his property among his children and left for the Continent to become a Priest. On 22 June 1580, a widower calling himself “John Amias” entered the English College at Rheims previously at Douai, to study for the Priesthood.
He was Ordained a Priest in Rheims Cathedral on 25 March 1581. On 5 June of that year, John set out for Paris and then England, as a missionary, in the company of another Priest, Edmund Sykes.
Of his missionary life we know little. Towards the end of 1588 he was seized at the house of a Mr Murton at Melling in Lancashire and imprisoned in York Castle. Given the 1585 Act making it a Capital Offence to be a Catholic Priest in England, the sentence of hanging, drawing and quartering was inevitable.
This barbaric murder was carried out on the outskirts of the City of York on 16 March 1589. Our Martyr was beginning to address the assembled people explaining that it was for the Faith of Christ and not treason, that he suffered but was not allowed to proceed.
His fate was shared by a fellow Priest, Robert Dalby. Both were Beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929.
St Hilary of Aquileia Bl Joan Torrents Figueras Blessed John Amias (1589) Priest, Martyr St Julian of Anazarbus St Largus of Aquileia St Malcoldia of Asti St Megingaud of Wurzburg St Papas St Patrick of Clermont
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