Thought for the Day – 21 July – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
Holiness
“We need Saints to recall our wayward and corrupt society to the path of Truth, Justice and Charity. We should pray to God to send us Saints who will reform the world by living the Gospel and making it live for others. Above all, we should endeavour to become holy ourselves. To achieve this, we do not have to put on sack-cloth, go into the desert, or shut ourselves up in a Monastery. Each of us can become a saint in his own home and in whatever position God has allotted him. All we have to do is obey God’s Will in everything, love Him above everything, love our neighbour as ourselves, avoid sin and aim at what is good. We can and should, do all this with the help of God.”
Quote/s of the Day – 21 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus” – St Praxedes, Virgin (Died 164) – 1 Corinthians 7:25-34, Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“And the unmarried woman and the virgin, thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy, both in body and in spirit, in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 7:34
“Virginity can be lost by a single thought.”
St Jerome (343-420) Father and Doctor of the Church
“He errs who believes that he can overcome his sensual propensities and preserve chastity, by his own efforts. God’s mercy must extinguish nature’s ardour. Have recourse to the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin and rest assured, you will obtain this mercy.”
St John Chrysostom (347-407) Father and Doctor of the Church
“Chastity depends on the heart, for its source and on the body, as its subject. Hence, it may be lost, by all the external senses of the body and by the thoughts and desires of the heart.”
(Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter 13).
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Doctor of the Church
Prayer for Chastity and Purity By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Dear Jesus, I know that every perfect gift and especially that of chastity, depends on the power of Thy Providence. Without Thee, a mere creature can do nothing. Therefore, I beg Thee, to defend, by Thy grace the chastity and purity of my body and soul. And if I have ever sensed or imagined anything that could stain my chastity and purity, blot it out, Supreme Lord of my powers that I may advance with a pure heart in Thy love and service, offering myself on the most pure altar of Thy Divinity, all the days of my life. Amen
One Minute Reflection – 21 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus” – St Praxedes, Virgin (Died 164) – 1 Corinthians 7:25-34, Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“So shall it be at the end of the world. The Angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire – there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – Matthew 13:49-50
REFLECTION – “Our Lord was an example of incomparable patience. He bore with a “devil” among His disciples even to His Passion (Jn 6,70). He said: “Let them grow together until the harvest lest you uproot the wheat when you pull out the weeds” (cf. Mt 13,29f.). As a symbol of the Church, He preached that the net would bring back to shore, namely the end of the world, every kind of fish, both good and bad. And He made it known, in various other ways, whether openly or in parables, that there would always be a mixture of good and bad. But, nevertheless, He stresses, that we have to protect the Church’s discipline when He says: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother” (Mt 18,15)…
Yet today, we see people who think of nothing but stern commandments, who order that troublemakers be reproved, ‘not giving what is holy to the dogs,’ treating, like the publicans, ‘anyone who despises the Church, cutting off the scandalous member from the body‘ (Mt 7,6 ; 18,17 ; 5,30). Their stormy zeal so troubles the Church, that they pull out the weeds before their time and their blindness makes of them enemies, of the unity of Jesus Christ…
Take care not to let these presumptuous thoughts enter our hearts, trying to separate ourselves from sinners, so as not to be soiled by contact with them, wanting to form a band of pure and holy disciples. We will achieve nothing but breaking up our unity, under the pretext of not associating with the wicked. To the contrary, let us remember the parables of Scripture, their inspired words, their striking examples, where we are shown that, until the end of the world and the day of judgement, the bad will always be mingled amongst the good in the Church, without their participation in the Sacraments being harmful to the good, so long as these latter, have not played a part in their sins.” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (On Faith and Works – Excerpt ch 3-5)
PRAYER – Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour, that, as we rejoice in the festival of blessed Praxedes, thy Virgin, so may we be nourished by the food of her heavenly teaching, as to be enlightened by the fervour of her dedicated holiness. 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 – 21 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus” and the Day of the Passion
A Prayer of the Passion By St Melito of Sardis (Died 180) Bishop of Sardis, Apologist, Father
Lord Jesus Christ, You were bound as a ram, You were shorn like a lamb, You were led to the slaughter like a sheep, You bore the wood of the Cross on Your shoulders, You were led up the hill of Calvary, You were displayed naked on the Cross, You were nailed to the bitter Cross by three spikes, You delivered Your last Seven Words from the Cross You died on the Cross, with a shout of victory, You were buried in noble Joseph’s rock-hewn tomb, By Your boundless suffering on our behalf, fix our eyes unceasingly on Your broken Body and the Blood that poured from Your Hands, Feet and Side. By the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that renews each day Your Sacrifice of the Cross on our Altars, apply the merits of the Cross to all humanity and, especially to those who worship it daily and who offer themselves back to You, our great High Priest and perpetually Intercessor, before the Eternal Throne of God. You live and reign, through all the ages of ages. Amen.
Saint of the Day – 21 July – St Praxedes (Died c165) Virgin Laywoman Born and died in Rome, (whose name means ‘one who does well’), Patronage – single laywoman. Also known as – Prassede, Praxedes, Praxidis.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Rome, the holy virgin, Praxedes, who was brought up in all chastity and in the knowledge of the Divine law. Assiduously attending to watching, prayer and fasting, she rest in Christ and was buried near her sister St Pudentiana and family, on the Salarian Road.”
St Praxedes by Simone Pignoni (1611–1698)
Praxedes was the daughter of St Pudens, a Roman Senator who was a disciple of St Paul and sister to Saint Pudentiana. In the days of Pope Pius I and the Emperor Antoninus, Praxedes edified the Church of Rome by the bright lustre of her virtues.
All her great wealth and riches she employed in relieving the poor and the necessities of the Church. By the comfort and succours which she afforded the Martyrs, she endeavoured to make herself partaker of their crowns and she lived in the assiduous exercise of prayer, watching and fasting.
Paolo Rossetti and Federico Zuccari Saints Praxedes and Pudentiana Burying the Martyrs Late 16th or early 17th Century Oil Caetani Chapel – Basilica of St Pudentiana, Rome
Praxedes died in peace and was buried near her sister on the Salarian Road. St Bede and other Hagiographers on the lives of the Saints, style her as a Virgin. An old title of St Praxedes of a Parish Church, now a Basilica, in Rome bearing her name is mentioned in the life of Pope Symmachus. It was repaired by Pope Adrian I and Paschal I and lastly by Saint Charles Borromeo, who took from it his title of Cardinal.
“The Basilica includes splendid Mosaics behind the simple and very Roman facade. However, the very simple exterior is augmented by an interior which is extraordinary – in particular for its mosaics, commissioned by Pope Paschal (817-824) as well as a beautiful ciborium magnum. (Pope Paschal himself maybe found in the mosaics, bearing a square halo — a sign given to someone who was yet living.) ”
The ancient Christians [and so it should be for ourselves too], lived only for Heaven and in every step looked up to God, regardless of all lower pursuits or meaner advantages which could interfere with their great design of knowing and loving Him alone. This constant attention to God awed them in their leisure; this gave life and wings to their devotions and animated them to fervour in all their actions; this carried them through the greatest difficulties and temptations and supported them under all troubles and afflictions. (Essentially from Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler (1710–1773) English Priest and Hagiographer.)
St Barhadbescialas St Benignus of Moyenmoutier Bl Claudius of Avignon St Claudius of Troyes St Corona of Marceille Bl Cristóbal López de Valladolid Orea Bl Daniel Molini St Eleutherius of Marseille St Eternus of Evreaux Bl Gabriel Pergaud St Iosephus Wang Yumei St John of Edessa St John of Moyenmoutier Bl Juan de Las Varillas Bl Juan de Zambrana St Jucundinus of Troyes St Julia of Troyes St Justus of Troyes Bl Parthenius of Thessaly St Praxedes (Died c165) Virgin Laywoman
Martyrs of Africa – 6 Saints: Six Christians who were Martyred together. We know no other details about them but the names – Emilian, Hugal, Motanus, Saphus, Stercorius and Victor. They were martyred in an unknown location in Africa, date unknown.
AnaStpaul 
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