Thought for the Day – 4 August – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
How to Remain Aware of the Presence of God
“The third way of remaining attentive to the Presence of God is to contemplate Him living in ourselves. While it is true that God is present everywhere, He dwells in a special manner in the human soul which is the masterpiece of creation!
When our souls are adorned with His grace, His delight in us is unbounded. “I will dwell and move among them. I will be their God and they shall be My people” (2 Cor 6:16). “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor 3:16).
God dwells among us, therefore and lives in us as in so many temples. We should recognise His Presence and listen to His Voice, furthermore, we should adore Him, love Him and pray to Him. Then, we can sincerely claim to belong entirely to Him.”
Quote/s of the Day – 4 August – The Memorial of St Dominic (1170-1221) Confessor
“A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil!”
“Arm yourself with prayer instead of a sword; be clothed with humility instead of fine raiment.”
One Minute Reflection – 4 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – St Dominic de Guzman OP (1170-1221) – 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Luke 12:35-40 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“You also must be ready because at an hour which you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” – Luke 12:40
REFLECTION – “We must always be on the lookout for Christ’s twofold coming, the one, when we shall have to give an account of everything we have done and the other, when He comes day after day to stir our consciences. He comes to us now, in order that His future coming may find us prepared. If my conscience is burdened with sin, what good will it do me to know when the Day of Judgement will be? Unless the Lord comes to my soul beforehand and makes His home with me, unless Christ lives in me and speaks His word in my heart, it is useless for me to know if and when His coming will take place. Only if Christ is already living in me and I in Him will it go well with me when He comes in judgement. If I have already died to the world and am able to say, “The world is crucified to me and I to the world,” (Gal 6:14) then, in a sense, His final coming is already present to me.
Consider also our Lord’s warning: “Many will come in My Name” (Mt 24:5). It is only the Antichrist and his members who, albeit falsely, claim the Name of Christ. .. You will never find the Lord in Scripture, actually declaring, “I am the Christ.” His teaching and miracles revealed it clearly enough, for the Father was at work in Him. Louder than a thousand acclamations His teaching and mighty works proclaimed: “I am the Christ.” And so, whether or not you find Him describing Himself in so many words, the “works of the Father” (Jn 5:6) and His own message of love, declared what He was, whereas the false Christs, who possessed neither godly deeds nor holy doctrine, loudly claimed to be what they were not.” – St Paschasius Radbertus OSB (785–865) Abbot, Theologian (Commentary on St Matthew’s Gospel 11, 24).
PRAYER – O God, Who graciously enlightened Thy Church by the good works and teaching of St Dominic, Thy Confessor, grant by his intercession, that she may never be deprived of temporal helps and may ever advance in spiritual growth. 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 – 4 August – On the Feast of St Dominic, we pray a prayer by one of his most illustrious children, St Albert the Great
Guide Me Lord By St Albert the Great (1200-1280) Doctor of the Church
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who seeks those who stray and receives them when returning, make me approach Thee through the frequent hearing of Thy Word, lest I sin against my neighbour, by the blindness of human judgement, through the austerity of false justice, through comparing his inferior status, through too much trust in my merits or through ignorance of the Divine Judgement. Guide me to search diligently, each corner of my conscience, lest the flesh dominate the spirit! Amen
Saint of the Day – 4 August – Saint Agabius of Verona (Died c350) Bishop, Confessor – the Ninth Bishop of Verona, Italy. His birth date and place are unknown but he died in c350 in Verona, of natural causes. Also known as – Agabio, Agapio, Agapito. Agabius was the Bishop of the Diocese of Verona who lived in the 4th Century. The name Agabius is of Greek origin and derives from the verb “agapao” to love.
We know very little about our Saint today. Our only certain knowledge is that he was buried in the Church of St Proculus and when the Church was suppressed on 28 September 1806, his remains were moved to the crypt of the Basilica of St Zeno, the Cathedral Church of Verona.
The Martyrology of the Veronese Church states: “Saint Agabius of Verona, Bishop of the same City, who, excelling in piety to God and gentleness of manners, he of all virtues, of great faith … and of liberality to all the poor, left behind him examples to the … Bishops.” (The gaps are due to the Italian translation which makes little sense).
Another clarification on this holy Bishop is made by Msgr Dario Cervato in his recent work “Verona Agiografica” where he states: “some said he was a native of Caesarea in Palestine, where he was the Bishop, successor of Teotemius and then transferred to Verona but this is unsupported information.”
St Dominic de Guzman OP (1170-1221) Confessor, Founder of the Dominicans – The Order of Preachers – Priest, Founder, Teacher, Preacher, Mystic, Miracle-Worker, Apostle of the Holy Rosary. At Dominic’s Baptism, Blessed Joan, his Mother, saw a star shining from his chest, which became another of his symbols in art and led to his patronage of astronomy. https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/saint-of-the-day-8-august-st-dominic-de-guzman-founder-of-the-dominican-order-of-preachers/ A lovely personal description of St Dominic here: https://anastpaul.com/2022/08/04/saint-of-the-day-4-august-st-dominic-confessor/ The Roman Martyrology states today: “At Bologna, St Dominic, Confessor, Founder of the Order of Friars Preachers, most renowned for sanctity and learning. He preserved his chastity unsullied to the end of his life and by his great merits, raised three persons from the dead. After having repressed heresies by his preaching and instructed many in the religious and Godly life, he rested in peace on the 6th of this month. His Feast, however, is celebrated on this day by decree of Pope Paul IV.”
St Agabius of Verona (Died c350) Bishop St Aristarchus of Thessalonica (1st Century) St Crescentio of Rome St Eleutherius of Bithynia St Epiphanes of Besançon
St Hyacinth of Rome St Ia of Persia St Isidore of Besançon St Lua of Limerick St Onofrio of Panaia St Perpetua of Rome St Protasius of Cologne St Rainerio of Split St Sithney (Died c 529) St Tertullinus of Rome Blessed William Horne O.Cart. (Died 1540) Martyr, Carthusian Lay Brother
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