Quote/s of the Day – 25 June – Pentecost IV – Romans 8:18-23, Luke 5:1-11 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Master, the whole night through we have toiled and have taken nothing but at Thy Word, I will lower the net.”
Luke 5:5
“To arrive at the knowledge of the truth, there are many paths – the first is humility, the second is humility and the third is humility.”
St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace)
“Those who refuse to be humble cannot be saved. They cannot say with the prophet: See, God comes to my aid; the Lord is the helper of my soul. But anyone who makes himself humble, like a little child, is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
St Bede the Venerable (673-735) Father and Doctor if the Church
“At Thy Word I will lower the nets.” Whenever I lowered them on my own, I wanted to keep what belongs to Thee for myself. It was myself I was preaching and not Thee; my words, not Thine. That is why I caught nothing. Or, if I did catch something, it was not fish but frogs, only good for croaking my own praise! …”
St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church
“When insults have no effect on us, when persecutions and penalties, have no terror for us, when prosperity or adversity, has no influence on us, when friend and foe, are viewed in the same light… do we not come close, to sharing, the serenity of God?”
St Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) “St Bernard of the North”
“Humility is the mother of many virtues because from it, obedience, fear, reverence, patience, modesty, meekness and peace are born. He who is humble easily obeys everyone, fears to offend anyone, is at peace with everyone, is kind with all.”
“Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he, of whom, you are speaking, is your brother and as he is, in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.”
St Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
“Humility and charity are the two master chords – one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them. Therefore, it is necessary, above all. to maintain ourselves in these two virtues, for observe well, that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof!”
One Minute Reflection – 25 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Pentecost IV and the Feast of St William (1085-1142) Abbot – Romans 8:18-23, Luke 5:1-11 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Fear not, henceforth you shall catch men.” – Luke 5:10
REFLECTION – “At Thy Word I will lower the nets.” It is at the command of divine grace and supernatural inspiration that the nets of preaching are to be spread out. Otherwise, the preacher wastes his time in lowering the lines of his words. People’s faith is won, not by carefully composed speeches but the grace of a divine vocation… O fruitful humility! When those who so far have not caught a thing, put their trust in Christ’s Word, they catch a great number of fish…
“At Thy Word I will lower the nets.” Whenever I lowered them on my own, I wanted to keep what belongs to Thee for myself. It was myself I was preaching and not Thee; my words, not Thine. That is why I caught nothing. Or, if I did catch something, it was not fish but frogs, only good for croaking my own praise…
“At Thy Word I will lower the nets.” Running out the net at the Word of Jesus Christ, means not attributing anything to oneself but all to Him; it means practising what one preaches. Then a great number of fish will be caught!” – St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Franciscan, Doctor of the Church (Sermons for Sundays and Saints’ days).
PRAYER – O God, Who made Thy Saints an example and a help for our weakness, grant us, as we walk the path of salvation, so to venerate the virtues of the blessed Abbot William that we may obtain his intercession and follow in his footsteps. 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).
EUCHARISTIC Heart of JESUS, model of the priestly heart, have mercy on us. COR JESU Eucharisticum, cordis sacerdotalis exemplar, miserere nobis. –Indulgence 300 Days, Everytime – Raccolta 177 St Pius X, 11 September 1907.
Our Morning Offering – 25 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
O DIVINE Heart of JESUS Pope Leo XIII Indulgence 100 Days, Once a day Raccolta 167 13 March 1901.
O DIVINE Heart of JESUS, grant, we beseech Thee, eternal rest to the souls in purgatory, the final grace to those who shall die today, true repentance to sinners, the light of the faith to pagans and Thy Blessing to me and mine. To Thee, O most compassionate Heart of JESUS! I commend all these souls and I offer to Thee, on their behalf, all Thy merits, together with the merits of Thy most Holy Mother and of all the Saints, Angels and all the Sacrifices of the Holy Mass, Communions, prayers and good works, which shall be accomplished today, throughout the Christian world. Amen
Saint of the Day – 25 June – Blessed John the Spaniard O.Cart. (1123-1160) Carthusian Prior, Founder of the female branch of the Carthusians for which he wrote the Rule, also Founder of the Reposoir Monastery. Born in 1123 at Almanza, Spain and died on 25 June 1160 at the Reposoit Chapterhouse in Switzerland of natural causes, aged just 37. Patronage – against fever. Also known as – John of Spain. Blessed John was Beatified in 1864 by Pope Pius IX.
At the age of thirteen John left his country for France, both to escape the Moslems and for the purpose of studies. He settled in the Town of Arles , in Southern France. At sixteen he felt drawn to the monastic life and entered a Monastery in the vicinity. After some years, he heard about the recently founded Order of the Carthusians and their Monastery of Montrieux, not far away, founded in 1118, 5 years before he himself was born. Drawn to their austere and entirely contemplative life, he joined the Carthusians there.
Once a vowed Carthusian, he was Ordained a Priest, was named Sacristan and eventually — still a man in his twenties! —elected Prior. We may assume he was precocious on the natural level but, even more so, by the early maturity of his virtues.
The Nuns of the Monastery of Prébayon in the vicinity, following the Rules of Saint Caesarius of Arles and of Saint Benedict , were so impressed with the fervour of Montrieux, under John’s leadership that they asked to be admitted to the Carthusian Order which, unil then, had consisted only of Monks. The Prior of the Motherhouse, La Grande Chartreuse and Superior General of the Order, Saint Anthelm, authorised this. He asked John to adapt the Consuetudines of Guigo , which were the Carthusian Rule at that time, to the nuns. He did so and this was the beginning of the female branch of the Order. It was the year 1145.
Virginal Consecration of Carthusian nuns, by Mathias de Visch (1748)
Various difficulties at Montrieux lead to his retirement from the Priorship and he moved to la Grande Chartreuse in 1150. Just then, a noble lord in neighbouring Savoy, asked for a Monastery of Carthusians on his lands. Saint Anthelm saw in Blessed John the man of Providence. He sent him to make the foundation in Savoy, which was eventually given the name of le Reposoir. There he ruled wisely as Prior for some years.
While being in this new Monastery, for several years he copied, for the Nuns, the liturgical books in use at the Chartreuse. Finally, he contributed to the ratification of the Nuns’ affiliation with the Order, probably during the Second General Chapter in 1155, in which he participated as Prior of the Charterhouse of Reposoir.
Reposoir Charterhouse. This House still exists but is today a monastery of Carmelite nuns.
On 25 June 1160 John died, not yet forty years old. Through unusual circumstances he was interred not inside the enclosure, as the custom is but outside. In fact, during his Priorate, two servants of the Monastery, having died in the mountains, under an avalanche of snow, had been interred in an inappropriate place, outside the enclosure, for which John had been reproved. To make amends he had made his Monks swear that after his death they would bury him at the same place as the two servants. This, however, permitted John’s Tomb—with his renowned for sanctity—to become the object of popular pilgrimages. The faithful prayed at his Tomb and many miracles occurred in the course of the centuries, particularly cures of malignant fever. In 1864 Blessed Pius IX approved the cult of Blessed John of Spain, venerated since time immemorial.
Let us pray: God our Father, Thou called on Blessed John to help draw up a Rule for our Nuns. May we ,who have eagerly embraced the monastic life, also arrive at the perfection of charity. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
St Amand of Coly Bl Burchard of Mallersdorf St Cyneburga of Gloucester Bl Dorothy of Montau St Eurosia of Jaca St Febronia of Nisibis Bl Fulgentius de Lara St Gallicanus of Embrun
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