Day: September 23, 2023

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, I BELIEVE!, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES on DOUBT, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on FEAR, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on PHYSICAL SICKNESS, ILLNESS, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE

Thought for the Day – September – Faith and Hope

Posted on by AnaStpaul

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

Faith and Hope

“We should also have great confidence in the continual assistance which God offers us in the temptations, troubles and trials of life.
When we are strongly tempted, we should remember that God will not permit us to be tempted beyond our strength (Cf 1 Cor 10:13), and we should pray to Him for help.

When pain torments us, when humiliations are difficult to bear, when all is dark. we fear each moment and we feel abandoned, let us trust in Him, Who is the Way, the Truth and Life.
He says to us, as He said to Peter floundering in the waves:
“O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” (Mt 14:31).

He is always ready to console and comfort.
He is always there waiting for our call.
We are not alone!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/04/thought-for-the-day-4-july-faith/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/05/thought-for-the-day-5-july-faith-and-hope/

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CATECHESIS, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on PURITY of INTENTION, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on WEALTH/RICHES, St Francis de Sales, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The HEART, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 23 September – Look up!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 23 September – “Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – Hebrews 9:2-12, Luke 13:6-17 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“She was bent over
and utterly unable
to look upwards.”

Luke 13:11

“They shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8

“You will surely not be allowed to see
with an impure heart
what one can only see with a pure heart.
You will be moved away,
put at a distance, you will not see!
The vision of God is promised ONLY
to people with a pure heart.
This is not without a reason, since the eyes
that allow us to see God are in the heart.
Those are the eyes the Apostle Paul was talking about
when he said: “May He enlighten your innermost vision”
(Eph 1:18).
So, at the present time because of their weakness,
those eyes are enlightened by faith;
later, because of their strength,
they will be enlightened by vision…
“Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror;
then we shall see face-to-face.”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Whatever riches and all other transitory things
you may possess, you must keep your heart
free from the slightest affection for them.
Your heart may be surrounded by riches;
however, riches must never master your heart!
… Do not let that mind which is the likeness of God,
cleave to mere earthly goods;
let it always be raised above them,
not sunk in them.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

“Let us not strive for the rewards of Heaven,
valuable though they may be
but live, so as to please the God of Heaven.
If God were not in Heaven,
all its beauty, riches and sweetness,
would be dull rather than delightful.
By faith, we know, God already dwells within us.
But in Heaven, we will see God face-to-face.
May we so live that one day,
we will be in Heaven praising
and praying eternally,
before our Lord and Saviour!”

“To be faithful, we must live simply.
Then, being free from attachments,
we are possessed by nothing.
We live in such absolute openness to Divine Love
that whatever pleases God,
becomes our heart’s desire.”

St Jane Frances de Chantal VHM (1572-1641)

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 September – ‘ … The devil … has bowed the souls of men down to the ground …. ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 23 September – “Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – St Pope Linus (c10 – c76) Successor to St Peter – Hebrews 9:2-12, Luke 13:6-17 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” – Luke 13:14

REFLECTION – “The whole human race, like this woman, is bent over and bowed down to the ground. Someone already understands these enemies. He cries out against them and says to God, “They have bowed my soul down.” The devil and his angels have bowed the souls of men down to the ground. He has bent them forward to be intent on temporary and earthly things and has stopped them from seeking the things that are above.

Since that is what the Lord says about the woman whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, it was now time for her to be released from her bondage on the sabbath day. Quite unjustly, they criticised Him for straightening her up. Who were these, except people bent over themselves? Since they quite failed to understand the very things God had commanded, they regarded them with earthbound hearts. They used to celebrate the sacrament of the sabbath in a literal, material manner and did not notice it’s spiritual meaning!” – St Augustine (354-430) Father, Doctor of Grace (Sermon 162)

PRAYER – Look forgivingly on Thy flock, Eternal Shepherd, and keep it in Thy constant protection, by the intercession of blessed Linus Thy Sovereign Pontiff, whom Thou didst constitute Shepherd of the whole Church. 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 DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY WEEK, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN Saturdays, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 23 September – St Anselm’s Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 23 September – “Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” and Our Lady’s Day

What Can I Say?
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Magnificent Doctor
Marian Doctor

My most merciful Lady,
what can I say about the fountains
which flowed from thy most pure eyes
when thou saw thy only Son before thee,
bound, beaten and suffering?
What do I know of the flood
which drenched thy matchless face,
when thou beheld thy Son,
thy Lord and thy God,
stretched on the Cross without guilt,
when the flesh of thy flesh
was cruelly butchered by wicked men?
How can I judge, what sobs,
troubled thy most pure breast,
when thou heard,
“Woman, behold thy son,”
and the disciple, “Behold, thy Mother,”
when thou received as a son,
the disciple, in place of the Master,
the servant, for the Lord?
Amen

From “The Prayers and Meditations of Saint Anselm with the Proslogion,” Benedicta Ward, trans,1973, Penguin classics, Penguin Group (UK)

Posted in INCORRUPTIBLES, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 23 September – Blessed Elena Duglioli (1472-1520) Widow

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 23 September – Blessed Elena Duglioli (1472-1520) Widow Born in 1472 at Bologna, Italy and died on 23 September 1520 of natural cause, aged 48. Also known as – Elena Duglioli Dall’Olio, Hélène, Helen of Bologna. Elena was Beatified on 26 March 1828 by Pope Leo XII. Her body is incorrupt.

Artist Carolina Bonafede, 

Unfortunately we have scant information on Elena’s life. Elena Duglioli was born in Bologna in 1472 to the aristocrats Notary Silverio Duglioli and Pentisilea Boccaferri.

During her childhood and adolescence, she desired to become a professed religious and decided to enter the Poor Clare Convent of Corpus Domini, Bologna. Her parents, however, wished her to marry and to obey and please them, she agreed to marry the much older Senator Benedetto dall’Olio.

The marriage took place in 1487 when she was 15 years old to the 40 year old Senator. Elena who greatly desired to Consecrate her virginity to God was able to bring Benedetto to agree to maintain total chastity in their marriage (this information is unconfirmed, hence her title remains ‘Widow’). The marriage proved happy and successful with both husband and wife living in admirable union and in complete harmony. Benedetto died after they had been together for 30 years.

Bl Elena with her husband Benedetto

Having become a widow, she devoted herself to pious works with even greater zeal.

Elena bore a particular devotion to Saint Cecilia and the Papal Legate to Bologna – Cardinal Francesco Alidosi – gave her a knucklebone Relic of St Cecilia. Her devotion to the Saint led her to commission the construction of a Church where the Artist, Raphael, would paint an image of the Saint Cecilia.

Elena died on 23 September 1520. Her incorrupt remains are housed in the Church of San Giovanni in Monte.

The Beatification received official confirmation on 26 March 1828 once Pope Leo XII approved her local cultus. Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini – the future Pope Benedict XIV – spoke in favour of Elena’s Beatification.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

EMBER Saturday – Fast & Abstinence, Nuestra Senora de Valvanera / Our Lady of Valvanera, Spain (9th Century), St Pope Linus, St Thecla and the rest of the Saints for 23 September

Posted on by AnaStpaul

EMBER Saturday – Fast & Abstinence – In case you have forgotten about Ember Days as they are not promoted or encouraged since Vatican II, here is a reminder:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/16/today-is-an-ember-day-did-you-remember/

Nuestra Senora de Valvanera / Our Lady of Valvanera, La Rioja, Spain (9th Century) – 23 September:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/23/nuestra-senora-de-valvanera-our-lady-of-valvanera-la-rioja-spain-9th-century-and-memorials-of-the-saints-23-september/

St Pope Linus (c 10 – c 76) Successor to St Peter. Papacy lasted from c 67 to his death as a Martyr. Among those to have held the position of Pope, Peter, Linus and Clement are specifically mentioned in the New Testament. Linus is mentioned in the closing greeting of the Second Epistle to Timothy as being with Paul in Rome near the end of Paul’s life.
About St Pope Linus:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/09/23/saint-of-the-day-23-september-st-pope-linus-c-10-c-76-successor-to-st-peter/

St Thecla (1st century) Virgin Martyr, Disciple of St Paul.
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/09/23/saint-of-the-day-23-september-st-thecla-1st-century-virgin-and-martyr/

St Adamnan of Iona/Eunan of Iona (c 628-704) Relative of Saint Columban. Monk at Drunhome, Donegal, Ireland. Abbot of Iona in 679. President-general of all the Columban houses in Ireland. Hagiographer and Spiritual Writer, Poet, Statesman, Canon Lawyer. Canonised on 11 July 1898 by Pope Leo XIII (cultus confirmed).
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/23/saint-of-the-day-23-september-saint-adamnan-of-iona-or-st-eunan-of-iona-c-628-704/

St Cissa of Northumbria
St Constantius of Ancona
Blessed Elena Duglioli (1472-1520) Widow Her body is incorrupt.

Bl Guy of Durnes
St Peter Acontanto
St Polyxena

St Sosius (275-305) Confessor, Deacon and Martyr. His holiness and wisdom drew many Prelates to his feet, seeking spiritual assistance. St Sosius was a Deacon of Misenum, an important naval base of the Roman Empire in the Bay of Naples.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Capo Miseno in Campania, St Sosius, Deacon and Martyr, who, as Pope St Symmachus reports, wishing to save his Bishop from death, instead found death together with him, obtaining equal glory at the same price.”
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/09/23/saint-of-the-day-23-september-saint-sosius-275-305-confessor-deacon-and-martyr/