Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on FEAR, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The ASCENSION of the LORD

Thought for the Day – 18 May – The Ascension of Jesus

Thought for the Day – 18 May – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Ascension of Jesus

“After His glorious Resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to His Apostles.
For forty days He instructed them concerning the Kingdom of God.
When He had announced to His followers, that He would send the Holy Spirit to give them the enlightenment and courage to preach the Gospel, they gathered together on the Mount of Olives and saw Him rise upwards until a bright cloud hid Him from their view.
The Mystery of the Ascension contains a lesson for us.
We must be detached from the world and brought closer to Heaven, which is our true home.
We are so attached to earthly things because money, reputation and pleasure are closer to our hearts than the thought of God or of eternity.
We shall have to leave all these things behind soon enough, however.
When death comes, the world will slip away from us and the soul will stand alone before God.

Let us begin to detach ourselves from worldly affairs and to make Heaven the object of our desires.
Why should we be sorry or afraid, or both, to leave this earth?
Remember the teaching of St Paul “Here we no permanent city but we seek for the city that is to come” (Heb 13:14).
For me to live is Christ,” he said, “and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). “desiring to depart and to be with Christ, a lot by far the better” (Phil 1:23).

Let us pray in the beautiful words of the Church: “Lord, grant that while we are living in this changing world, we may aspire to the true happiness of Heaven, so that in the midst of earthly vicissitudes, our hearts maybe content in this ambition.” (Roman Breviary).

Let us not be afraid of death, for it is only the Gate of Heaven!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

ANOTHER REFLECTION ON THE ASCENSION:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/13/thought-for-the-day-13-may-the-ascension-of-jesus/

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Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The ASCENSION of the LORD, The LAST THINGS

Quote/s of the Day –18 May – The Ascension of the Lord

Quote/s of the Day –18 May – The Ascension of the Lord

From that time onward,
He was to remain at the Father’s Right Hand,
until the completion of the period, ordained by God,
for the Church’s children to increase and multiply,
after which, in the same Body with which He ascended,
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
And so, our Redeemer’s Visible Presence
has passed into the Sacraments.
Our faith is nobler and stronger because,
empirical sight has been replaced
by a reliable teaching, whose authority
is accepted by believing
hearts, enlightened from on high.

St Leo the Great (400-461)
Pope , Great Father
and Doctor of the Church

“… The just ascend into Heaven
but not in the manner that Christ ascended,
namely by His own power,
for they are taken up by Christ –
“Draw me, we will run after thee.” (Sg 1:3)
Or indeed, we can say,
that no-one but Christ has ascended into Heaven
because the just do not ascend,
except, insofar as they are members of Christ,
Who is the Head of the Church. …

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor Angelicus/Doctor Communis

Perhaps, the Blessed Mother,
was the last to take her eyes off the disappearing cloud
which had removed Jesus from view.
Her human eyes never saw again,
the beloved figure of her Divine Son
but, in her soul, she saw Him entering triumphantly
into Heaven among choirs of Angels
and sitting at the right hand of the Eternal Father.
She saw and thought with infinite yearning,
of the not too distant day,
when she would have passed from mortal exile,
into the everlasting happiness of Heaven,
where she would embrace her Divine Son again,
in an ecstasy of love.

We have all been called to ascend to Heaven
with Jesus and Mary.
Let us remember, however, that only the innocent
and the repentant can be admitted into Paradise!

Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/05/26/quote-s-of-the-day-26-may-the-ascension-of-our-lord/

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the JUDGE, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The ASCENSION of the LORD, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 May – ‘ … Brother, since Christ your Treasure was lifted up to Heaven today, may your heart also be there …’

One Minute Reflection – 18 May – The Ascension of the Lord – Acts 1:1-11, Mark 16:14-20 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

And the Lord Jesus, after He spoke to them, was taken up into Heaven and took His seat at the Right Hand of God.” – Mark 16:19

REFLECTION – “Father, all those Thou gave Me, I would have in My company where I Am, to see this glory of Mine.” (Jn 17:24) Happy are they who now have, as their Advocate before God, their Judge in person; happy are they, who have interceding for them, the One Whom we must adore, equally with the Father, to Whom He Himself addresses this prayer. The Father cannot refuse to grant this desire which His Lips expressed (Ps 21:3), for He is united with Him in His Will, in His Power, since He is One and the Same God… “All those Thou gave Me I would have in My company where I Am.” What assurance for those who have faith, what confidence for the believers! … The saints, whose “youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps 103:5) “soar as with eagles’ wings.” (Isa 40:31) …

On that day, Christ “was lifted up before the eyes of the disciples in a cloud which took him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9) … He strove to draw their hearts to follow Him, by making Himself loved by them and He promised them, through the example of His Body that their body could be lifted up in the same way… Today, Christ in truth “mounted a cherub and flew, borne on the wings of the wind,” (Ps 18:11) which is to say, He goes beyond the power of the Angels. And yet, in His condescendence before your weakness, “as an eagle… hovering over its brood,He wants to “receive you and to bear you up on His pinions.” (Deut 32:11) … Some people fly with Christ by means of contemplation; for you, let it at least be through love!

Brother, since Christ your Treasure was lifted up to Heaven today, may your heart also be there (Mt 6:21). Your origin is from there and that is where you will find your inheritance (Ps 16:6); from there, you are awaiting the Saviour (Phil 3:20).” – Blessed Guerric of Igny (c1080-1157) Cistercian Abbot (Sermon for the Ascension).

PRAYER – Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that as we do believe Thine Only-Begotten Son, our Saviour to have this day ascended into the heavens, so we may also in heart and mind, ascend and with Him continually dwell. 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).

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on THE LIGHT of CHRIST, The ASCENSION of the LORD, The HOLY FACE, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER

Our Morning Offering – 18 May – O Jesus, Redeemer of Mankind! By St Ambrose

Our Morning Offering – 18 May – The Ascension of the Lord

O Jesus, Redeemer of Mankind!
By St Ambrose (340-397)
Great Father & Doctor

O Jesus, Redeemer of mankind,
joy of our hearts, Creator of the world redeemed
and chaste Light of them who love Thee.

What mercy was it that led Thee
to take upon Thee our sins?
and suffer death, O Innocent Victim
that Thou might free us from death?

Thou broke the gates of hell
and the chains of them who were bound.
A Conqueror, with noblest triumph,
Thou now sittest at the Right Hand of the Father.

May Thy clemency lead Thee to repair our losses.
Oh! give us to see Thy Face
and enrich us with Thy blessed Light.

Be Thou our Guide and Path to Heaven;
be Thou the object of our hearts desire;
be Thou the joy of our tears
and the sweet recompense of a life spent for Thee!
Amen

Posted in FRANCISCAN OFM, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 18 May – Blessed Nicholas Denise of Beuzeville OFM (Died 1509) Priest

Saint of the Day – 18 May – Blessed Nicholas Denise of Beuzeville OFM (Died 1509) Priest, renowned Preacher and Friar of the Order of Friars Minor, Vicar General if tge Diocese of Coutance, France. The Blessed Father Nicholas became a noted preacher in the region, and many of his sermons and theological writings have survived.

We have no information of Nicholas’ early life besides knowing that he had received a very good education. He became a Canon of the Cathedral of Coutance and then was appointed as the Vicar General ar of Bishop Goffred.

Finding himself increasingly drawn to the life of St Francis, he abandoned his role under Bishop of Coutance in order to follow in the footsteps of Saint Francis, wearing the Habit of the Minor Friars, in the Convent of Valognes.

A Franciscan Convent in Paris

In the congregation he became the Vicar-Provincial of the Parisian Province and did not support General Egidius Delphin, in his questionable project of re-unification of the Franciscan Order.

An educated man and a famous preacher, he was considered a saint by all. He died in 1509, while holding the position of Guardian of the Convent of Rouen. Upon his death, his tomb became the object of great demonstrations of popular veneration.

Various sermons and various theological works by Blessed Nicholas are preserved. In the Franciscan Martyrologies, the feast and remembrance for Father Nicola Denise of Beuzeville is fixed for today, 18 May.

Posted in FRANCISCAN OFM, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY, The ASCENSION of the LORD

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD – HOLY DAY, Madonna dell’Alno / Our Lady of the White Poplar, Italy (1480) and Memorials of the Saints – 18 May

THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD – HOLY DAY
https://anastpaul.com/2022/05/26/the-ascension-of-our-lord/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/05/13/13-may-the-solemnity-of-the-ascension-of-the-lord/

Madonna dell’Alno / Our Lady of the White Poplar, Canzano, Teramo, Abruzzo, Italy (1480): 18 May
HERE:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/18/madonna-dellalno-our-lady-of-the-white-poplar-canzano-teramo-abruzzo-italy-1480-and-memorials-of-the-saints-18-may/

St Venantius of Camerino (Died c 250) Martyr – St Venantius was a 15-year-old who was tortured and martyred by decapitation at Camerino during the persecutions of Decius.
His Life and Death:

https://anastpaul.com/2020/05/18/saint-of-the-day-18-may-saint-venantius-of-camerino-died-c-250-martyr/

St Pope John I (c 470 – 526) – 53rd Pope from 13 August 523 to his death in 526.
Biography:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/saint-of-the-day-18-may-st-pope-john-i/

Blessed Burchard of Beinwil (Died c 1192) Priest, Miracle-worker.
Blessed Burchard:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/18/saint-of-the-day-18-may-blessed-burchard-of-beinwil-died-c-1192-priest/

St Dioscorus of Kynopolis
St Elgiva of Shaftesbury

St Eric of Sweden (c1120-1161) Martyr, King of Sweden
About St Eric:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/05/18/saint-of-the-day-18-may-saint-eric-of-sweden-c-1120-1161-king-of-sweden-martyr/

St Felix of Cantalice OFM Cap (1515-1587) Capuchin Friar – (the first Capuchin to be Canonised), Confessor, Apostle of Charity, Preacher, Teacher, Writer.
About St Felix:

https://anastpaul.com/2018/05/18/saint-of-the-day-18-may-st-felix-of-cantalice-o-f-m-cap-1515-1587/

St Felix of Spoleto
St Feredarius of Iona
St Merililaun
Blessed Nicholas Denise of Beuzeville OFM (Died 1509)
St Ortasio of Alexandria
St Potamon of Heraclea
St Serapione of Alexandria

Blessed William of Toulouse OSA (c 1297-1369) Priest of the Order of St Augustine
His life:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/05/18/saint-of-the-day-blessed-william-of-toulouse-osa-c-1297-1369/

Martyrs of Ancyra – 8 Saints: Seven nuns Martyred in the persecutions of Diocletian and the innkeeper who was executed for giving them a Christian burial: Alexandria, Claudia, Euphrasia, Julitta, Matrona, Phaina, Thecusa and Theodatus. c.304 in Ancyra, Galatia (in modern Turkey).