Day: August 6, 2023

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, MARIAN NOVENAS, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, THE ASSUMPTION

Novena to Our Lady of the Assumption – The First Day

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Novena to Our Lady of the Assumption – DAY ONE

First Day: Mary’s Death Was Without Pain

Preparatory Prayer
by St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor of the Church

O Mary, Virgin most Blessed
and Mother of Our Lord
and Redeemer Jesus Christ,
through thy mercy I beseech thee,
to come to my aid
and to inspire me
with such confidence in thy power
that I may have recourse to thee,
pray to thee
and implore thy aid,
in all needs of soul and body.
Amen

Meditation:
Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. She never dimmed by actual sin, the lustre of sanctifying grace which beautified her soul.
Nevertheless, she had to pass through the dark prtal of death, before she was assumed, body and soul, into Heaven.
She had not been endowed with the privilege of immortality, with which God had invested our first parents in paradise.
It was meet that she should be like unto her Divine Son in everything, even in death.
But as she had drained, the bitter cup of suffering during her whole life and especially, when standing beneath the Cross, her death was to be free from pain and suffering.
She quietly passed away, yielding up her spirit, in a yearning desire to be united forever, with her Divine Son in Heaven.

Practice:
If you have dispossessed your heart of all unruly attachment to the goods and enjoyments of this earth, you, too, may hope for a happy and tranquil transition, from this land of exile, to your home in Heaven.
Therefore, if you are still attached to the transitory things of this life, disengage your heart from them now.
The voluntary renouncement of earthly goods, alone is meritorious before God.
The separation from them, enforced by the strong hand of death, is of no supernatural value.

Prayer of the Church: We beseech Thee, O Lord, pardon the shortcomings of Thy servants that we who, by our own works, are not able to please Thee, may be saved by the intercession of the Mother of Thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Novena Prayer: Day One

O Most benign Mother Mary!
I rejoice that by thy happy and tranquil death,
the yearning of thy heart was appeased
and thy life, so rich in merit and sacrifice,
received its crown.
I rejoice that after passing from this life,
thou, O most loving Mother,
was made the glorious and powerful
Queen of Heaven
and dost exercise thy influence as such,
for the benefit of thy frail, exiled children on earth.
Obtain for me, I beseech thee,
this my special petition ………………..
and a happy death
that I may praise and glorify
thy might and kindness,
forever in Heaven.
Amen

Hail Mary …….

Ejaculation: Sweet heart of Mary be my salvation!

Indulgence. – (1) 100 days, every time. (2) A Plenary Indulgence, once a month, on any day, to all who shall have said it everyday for a month, under the usual conditions.

Posted in Against ICONOCLASM, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI

Thought for the Day – 6 August – Sacred Images

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Thought for the Day – 6 August – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Sacred Images

“Apart from avoiding the two extremes of behaviour which have been mentioned, we should cultivate a proper respect for the images of Saints, men and women, who have benefited mankind.
If we can cherish so dearly the portraits of our parents, how much more should we revere the images of Christ, Our Lady and the Saints.

We should kneel before them and imagine that the loved ones are present whom they represent.
As we are praying, we should remember the virtues of those to whom we pray and resolve to follow in their footsteps.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/08/07/thought-for-the-day-7-august-sacred-images/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/08/04/thought-for-the-day-4-august-sacred-images/

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the SUN of JUSTICE, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The SECOND COMING, The TRANSFIGURATION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 6 August – Lord, it is good for us to be here

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Quote/s of the Day – 6 August – The Transfiguration of Our Lord – 2 Peter 1:16-19, Matthew 17:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Lord, it is good for us to be here”

Matthew 17:4

“Let us listen to the holy Voice of God
which summons us from on high,
from the holy mountain top.
There, we must hasten – I make bold to say –
like Jesus, Who is our leader
and has gone before us into Heaven.
There, with Him, may the eyes of our mind
shine with His light and the features of our soul
be made new; may we be transfigured with Him
and moulded to His image,
ever becoming divine,
being transformed in an ever greater degree of glory.”

St Anastasius Sinaita (Died 6th Century)
Priest and Abbot
of St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai

“What was surprising about Jesus’ Face
becoming like the sun since He Himself is the Sun?
He is indeed the Sun but a Sun hidden behind a cloud.
Now, for a moment, the cloud dispersed
and He shone out.
What is this cloud that dispersed?
It was not so much the flesh
but the weakness of the flesh
that disappeared for a moment.”

Peter the Venerable (1092-1156)
Abbot of Cluny
Sermon 1 for the Transfiguration

“At His Transfiguration
Christ showed His disciples,
the splendour of His beauty,
to which He will shape and colour
those who are His:
‘He will reform our lowness
configured to the body of His glory.’”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, St PETER!, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The PASSION, The RESURRECTION, The TRANSFIGURATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 6 August – ‘ … He tries to comfort them …’

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One Minute Reflection – 6 August – The Transfiguration of Our Lord – 2 Peter 1:16-19, Matthew 17:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: ‘Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead.‘” – Matthew 17:9

REFLECTION – “Jesus Christ spoke, a great deal, to His disciples about His Sufferings, Passion and Death and, He foretold the afflictions, they themselves would have to endure and the violent deaths they would one day have to undergo (Mt 16:21-26). That is why, after telling them such hard and difficult things, He tries to comfort them by drawing attention to the reward He will give them when He comes in His Father’s glory (Mt 16:27)… He wants to show them, beforehand, as far as they are capable of it in this life, the great majesty in which He was to come and thus, forestall the trouble and sadness His Apostles, particularly Saint Peter, might feel before His death…

“Jesus took with Him, Peter, James and John.” Why only take these three Apostles? No doubt because they outstripped the others. Saint Peter because of his ardour, his love; Saint John because he was the disciple Jesus loved (Jn 13:23) and Saint James because he had said along with his brother: “We can drink your cup” (Mt 20:22) and subsequently kept his word (Acts 12:2)…

Why did Jesus cause Moses and Elijah to appear?… He was constantly accused of breaking the Law and blaspheming, appropriating for Himself, a glory that did not belong to Him, the glory of the Father… Therefore, wanting, a glory that did not belong to Him, Jesus calls on the authority of two of the most unimpeachable witnesses – Moses, who had given the Law … and Elijah, who had burned with zeal for the glory and service of God (1 Kgs 19:10) … He also wanted to teach them that He was lord over life and death, by causing one man who was dead and another who had been carried off alive in a fiery chariot, (2 Kgs 2,11) to appear. He wanted, too, to reveal the glory of His Cross to His disciples and comfort Peter and his companions, who were frightened by his Passion, reviving their courage. For Moses and Elijah spoke with Him about the glory He was to receive in Jerusalem (Lk 9:31). That is to say, they spoke of His Passion, His Cross which the prophets had always called His glory.” – St John Chrysostom (345-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermons on Saint Matthew’s Gospel no 56).

PRAYER – O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thy Only-begotten Son strengthened the Mysteries of faith, by the testimony of the fathers and, by the Voice coming down in a shining cloud, miraculously betokened the complete adoption of Thy children, mercifully grant that we, be made co-heirs with that King of glory and sharers in that same glory. 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 BREVIARY Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, The TRANSFIGURATION

Our Morning Offering – 6 August – An Image of that Heavenly Light

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Our Morning Offering – 6 August – The Feast of the Transgiuration of the Lord

An Image of that Heavenly Light
Sarum Breviary 15th Century
Office Hymn for the Feast of the Transfiguration

An image of that heavenly light,
The goal the Church keeps ay in sight,
Christ on the holy mount displays
Where He outshines the sun’s bright rays.

Let every age proclaimer be
How, on this day, the chosen three
With Moses and Elias heard
The Lord speak many a gracious word.

As witnesses to grace are nigh
Those twain, the Law and Prophecy
And to the Son, from out the cloud,
The Father’s record thunders loud.

With garments whiter than the snows,
And shining face, Lord Jesus shows
What glory for those saints shall be
Who joy in God with piety.

The vision and the mystery
Make faithful hearts beat quick and high,
So on this solemn day of days
The cry goes up of prayer and praise.

O God the Father, God the Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
Vouchsafe to bring us, by thy grace,
To see thy glory face to face.
Amen.

Words: Sarum Breviary, 15th Century
Trans Richard E Roberts (1874-1945), 1906
This Hymn is used for Vespers I
on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
in the Sarum Breviary.
This is the original text as it appears
in The English Hymnal (1906).

Posted in CHILDREN / YOUTH, EPILEPSY, EYES - Diseases, of the BLIND, MIRACLES, PATRONAGE - HEADACHES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 6 August – Saint Gezelin of Schlebusch O.Cist. (Died 1149)

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Saint of the Day – 6 August – Saint Gezelin of Schlebusch O.Cist. (Died 1149) known as “The Apostle of Hainaut” – Lay Brother of the Cistercian Order, Hermit, Gezelin’s duties included shepherding the sheep of the Monastery, Miracle-worker. Died on 29 July 1149 in Gut Alkenrath, Schlebusch, Germany. Patronages – children, against epilepsy in children, against eye disorders, against headaches. Also known as – Gezelin of Altenberg, Gezelinus of… Gezzelin of… Gezzelino of… Ghislain of… Gisle of… Gozelin of… Jocelin of… Schezelinus of… Gezelin was Canonised by the Bishop of Cologne, Germany, which was a common practice at that time.

The window of St Gezelin near his Shrine in the Andreas Church in Schlebusch

Gezelin was a lay brother in the Cistercian Monastery of Morimond – in today’s Fresnoy-en-Bassigny. In around 1135 he came to the new Altenberg Abbey and worked as a shepherd on the Alkenrath estate belonging to the Monastery in Schlebusch. Even during his lifetime, he was highly praised and revered for his always kind and helpful support of the rural population and the news of miraculous deeds spread more and more. For example, during a drought – in which even the Rhine had dried up – a copious Spring spurted out by his fervent prayers.

In his modesty, Gezelin requested not to be buried in the Abbey in Altenberg but, in the Parish Church near his sheep in Alkenrath. His bones were collected there in 1814. After the demolition of this Church, In 1890, the Relics were taken to the Andreas Church in Schlebusch where they now rest in an oak Shrine made in 1903. More of Gezelin’s Relics were enshrined in Altenberg Cathedral.

The Andreas Church

A Chapel dedicated to him, renovated in 1659 and rebuilt from 1864 to 1868, still stands above the Holy Spring in Gut Alkenrath, which Gezelin caused to rise and whose water heals head and eye ailment and which is still a site of pilgrimage. Many local residents used to fetch their drinking water there and to this day the Baptismal water for the Andreas Church in Schlebusch, is fetched from it. A pilgrimage takes place on the Sunday after Corpus Christi and on his Feast day . The source flow was disturbed by canal work in the 1950s, since then the water is pumped at certain times to the outflow on the west side of the Chapel. The St Gezelin Chapel is normally locked except, of course, during Mass but the Miraculous Spring flows everyday – a sign is posted outside the Chapel of the times when it is pumped.

St Gezelin Chapel
Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The TRANSFIGURATION

The Transfiguration of Our Lord, The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Nossa Senhora das Graças / Our Lady of Graces, Brazil (1936) and Memorials of the Saints – 6 August

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The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Transfiguration of Our Lord
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/06/feast-of-the-transfiguration-of-the-lord-6-august-todays-gospel-mark-92-10/
AND:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/06/august-6-the-feast-of-the-transfiguration-of-the-lord/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/08/06/the-transfiguration-of-our-lord-6-august/

St Pope Sixtus II/ Xystus (Died 258) Pope and Martyr, Philosopher. 25th Pope from St Peter. Papal Ascension 30 August 257. He was Martyred along with seven deacons, (St Lawrence of Rome a few days later) during the persecutions of Christianity by Emperor Valerian. This is the St Sixtus who is commemorated in the Roman Canon Eucharistic Prayer.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/08/06/saint-of-the-day-6-august-saint-sixtus-ii-died-258-pope-and-martyr/

Nossa Senhora das Graças / Our Lady of Graces, Pesqueira, Pernambuco, Northeast, Brazil (1936) – 6 August :
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/08/06/feast-of-the-transfiguration-of-our-lord-nossa-senhora-das-gracas-our-lady-of-graces-pesqueira-pernambuco-northeast-brazil-1936-and-memorials-of-the-saints-6-august/

St Gezelin of Schlebusch O.Cist. (Died 1149) Lay Brother of the Cistercian Order, Hermit.
St Gislain of Luxemburg
St Glisente of Brescia
Bl Goderanno
Bl Guillermo Sanz
St Hardulf of Breedon

St Pope Hormisdas (c 450-523) Bishop of Rome from 514 until his death in 523. A talented diplomat, arbitrator and negotiator.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/06/saint-of-the-day-6-august-saint-pope-hormisdas-c-450-523/

St James the Syrian

St Justus and St Pastor of Alcala – Holy Martyred Children (Died 304) Saints Justus and Pastor of Alcala were two brothers, who in their tender age overcame, with an heroic courage, the rage and power of Dacian, armed with all the instruments of cruelty.
The Martyred Children:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/08/06/saints-of-the-day-6-august-saints-justus-and-pastor-the-holy-martyred-children-of-alcala-de-henares-in-spain-died-304/

Bl Octavian of Savona
St Stephen of Cardeña
Bl William of Altavilla

Martyrs of Cardeña: Two hundred Benedictine Monks at the Saint Peter of Cardegna monastery, Burgos, Spain who were Martyred in the 8th century by invading Saracens. They were buried by local Christians in a nearby churchyard in Burgos, Spain and Beatified in 1603 by Pope Clement VIII (cultus confirmed).