Day: December 9, 2023

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, HOLY COMMUNION, SACRAMENTS

Thought for the Day – 9 December – The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 9 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments

“The man who abuses God’s gifts, calls down a curse on his own head.
“Cursed be he,” said the Prophet Jeremias, “who doth the work of the Lord deceitfully” (Jer 48:10).

Many people neglect to make proper use of Confession and Holy Communion.
Let us examine ourselves with special care, in this regard.
Do we go to Confession at least once a fortnight or, if possible, even weekly?
How terrible for us if we are content to remain heedlessly in the state of sin, while we have at hand such an easy opportunity of obtaining pardon!
Furthermore, do we endeavour to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every day, or at least as often as possible?
We have daily need of this Divine nourishment if we wish to preserve the life of the soul.
Otherwise, we shall languish and grow faint and shall eventually fall into sin.
Finally, let us consider whether we receive these Sacraments with the proper disposition, with recollection and with love!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/11/thought-for-the-day-11-december-the-use-and-abuse-of-the-sacraments/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/04/thought-for-the-day-4-december-the-use-and-abuse-of-the-sacraments/

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, GOD ALONE!, MARIAN QUOTES, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on STRENGTH, The DIVINE INFANT, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The REDEMPTION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 9 December – ‘Of her was born Jesus …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 9 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conceptio of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Saturday of the First Week of Advent Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God

“And Jacob begot Joseph,
the husband of Mary
and of her was born Jesus,
Who is called Christ.”

Matthew 1:16

“Mary, having merited to give flesh
to the Divine Word
and thus, supply the price
of our redemption
that we might be delivered
from eternal death, therefore,
she is more powerful
than all others,
to help us gain eternal life.”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

“The One Who is the Wisdom of the Father,
put His arms around her neck,
the One Who is the strength,
which gives movement to everything,
sat in her arms.
He, Who is the rest of souls, (Mt 11:29)
rested on her motherly breast.
… Filled with the Holy Spirit,
she held Him close to her heart …
She never had enough
of seeing Him or of hearing Him …
Thus Mary, grew evermore in love
and her mind was unceasingly attached,
to Divine contemplation.”

St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159)

Posted in DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES on PURITY, The HOLY NAME of MARY, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The INCARNATION, The NATIVITY of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 9 December ‘ … Pure and Immaculate Virgin, chosen from among all other beings … ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 9 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Saturday of the First Week of Advent Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God – Proverbs 8:22-35, Luke 1:26-28 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Hail, full of grace!” – Luke 1:28

REFLECTION – “The degeneration caused by sin had obscured the beauty of our original nobility. But when the mother of supreme Beauty is born, our nature finds its purity once more and sees itself moulded according to the perfect model, worthy of God (Gn 1,26)… We had all preferred the world below, to that above. There no longer remained any hope of salvation. The state of our nature cried aloud to Heaven to come to the rescue… Then at last, in His good pleasure, the world’s Divine Artificer determined to make a new world appear, a different world full of harmony and youth.

Now was it not fitting, that a most pure virgin without stain, should place herself at the service of this mysterious plan first of all?… And where was this virgin to be found, if not in this woman, alone of her kind, chosen by the world’s Creator before all generations? Yes, she indeed is Mother of God, divinely named Mary, whose womb gave birth to God Incarnate and whom, He Himself had supernaturally prepared, as His Temple…

In this way, then, the design of the Redeemer of our race was to bring about a birth and, as it were, a new creation to replace the one that went before. Therefore, just as in Paradise, He had taken a little clay out of the pure and spotless earth, to fashion the first Adam (Gn 2,7), so, at the moment of bringing about His Own Incarnation, He made use of another earth, so to speak, namely, this Pure and Immaculate Virgin, chosen from among all other beings He had created. It is in her that He, Adam’s Creator, has remade us in our very substance and become a new Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that the old might be saved by the new and eternal.” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop (Sermon 1 for the Nativity of the Mother of God ; PG 97, 812).

PRAYER – O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, prepared a worthy dwelling for Thy Son, and Who, by Thy Son’s death, foreseen by You, preserved her from all taint, grant, we beseech Thee through her intercession that we too may come to Thee unstained by sin. 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 DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Prayers and Novena, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, Our MORNING Offering, QUOTES on PURITY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Our Morning Offering – 9 December – Tota Pulchra Es Maria, You Are All Beautiful, Mary

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Our Morning Offering – 9 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” Saturday of the First Week of Advent Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Tota Pulchra Es, Maria
You Are All Beautiful, Mary
Unknown Author – 4th Century

You are all beautiful, Mary,
and the original stain is not in you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem,
you are the joy of Israel,
you give honour to our people.
You are an advocate of sinners.
O Mary, O Mary,
Virgin most intelligent,
Mother most merciful.
Pray for us,
Plead for us,
To the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tota pulchra es, Maria.
Et macula originalis non est in Te.
Tu gloria Ierusalem.
Tu laetitia Israel.
Tu honorificentia populi nostri.
Tu advocata peccatorum.
O Maria, O Maria,
Virgo prudentissima.
Mater clementissima.
Ora pro nobis.
Intercede pro nobis.
Ad Dominum Iesum Christum.

This prayer used by the Church since the 4th Century for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Purity of the Blessed Virgin. It takes some text from the book of Judith and other text from Song of Songs, specifically 4:7. Many composers have set this prayer to music over the Centuries.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 9 December – Saint Proculus of Verona (Died c320) Bishop

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Saint of the Day – 9 December – Saint Proculus of Verona (Died c320) Bishop of Verona, Italy. Died in c320 in Verona of natural causes thus our Saint Proculus was a survivor of the violent persecutions of Diocletian. Also known as – Procolo.

The Roman Martyrology says today: “In Verona, during the persecution of Diocletian, St Proculus, Bishop, who was buffeted, scourged with rods and driven out of the City. Being at length, restored to his Church, he rested in peace.”

The Martyrs, Saints Firmus and Rusticus of Verona with an Angel and the seated Saint Proculu by Sebastiano Ricci.

During the Diocletian persecution, Proculus, the Bishop of Verona went to the prison to encourage Sts Firmus and Rusticus. He was bound and brought with them before Anulinus, the Consul. However, as Proculus was elderly, Anulinus did not consider him worth his interest and had him beaten, released and driven from the City. He lived to survive the persecutions and eventually returned to resume leadership of his flock but died not too long after.

St Proculus from a 9th Century Fresco

Attached to the Basilica of St Zeno in Verona, is the Chapel of St Proculus housing his Relics. It dates from the 6th or 7th Century. It is first mentioned, however, only in 845.

In San Zaccaria’s Church in Venice their stands a life-size wooden statue “St Proculus of Verona” (1451) – see above. In 1704, Sebastiano Ricci executed a large Canvas of St Proculus for Bergamo Cathedral.

St Zeno’s Basilica Verona
Posted in MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception, Nostra Signora dell’Immacolata Concezione / Our Lady of the Conception, Naples, Italy (1618) and Memorials of the Saints – 9 December

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Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception

Nostra Signora dell’Immacolata Concezione / Our Lady of the Conception, Naples, Italy (1618) – 9 December:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/09/nostra-signora-dellimmacolata-concezione-our-lady-of-the-conception-naples-italy-1618-and-memorials-of-the-saints-9-december/

St Adam Scotus
St Auditor of Saint-Nectaire
St Balda of Jouarre
St Budoc of Brittany
Bl Carmen Rodríguez Banazal *
St Caesar of Korone
St Cephas

Ven Clara Isabella Fornari OSC (1697–1744) Virgin, Nun of the Poor Clares, Mystic, Stigmatist.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/09/saint-of-the-day-9-december-venerable-clara-isabella-fornari-osc-1697-1744-virgin/

St Cyprian of Perigueux
St Ethelgiva of Shaftesbury
St Gorgonia*
St Julian of Apamea

St Leocadia of Toledo (Died c 304) Virgin Martyr. Hearing of the Martyrdom of St Eulalia, she prayed that God would not prolong her exile but unite her speedily with her beloved Lord in His glory.
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/09/saint-of-the-day-9-december-saint-leocadia-of-toledo-died-c-304-virgin-martyr/

St Michaela Andrusikiewicz
St Nectarius of Auvergne

St Peter Fourier CRSA (1565-1640) “The Good Father of Mattaincourt,” Priest, Founder, Reformer, Confessor, Ascetic, Theologian, Teacher, Preacher, Apostle of Prayer, Penance and Charity, Marian devotee. Together with the Blessed Alix Le Clerc, in 1597, Fourier founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Canonesses Regular of St Augustine, who were committed to the free education of children, taking a fourth vow to that goal. St Peter was Beatified on 20 January 1730 by Pope Benedict XIII and Canonised on 27 May 1897 by Pope Leo XIII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/09/saint-of-the-day-9-december-st-peter-fourier-c-r-s-a-1565-1640/

St Proculus of Verona (Died c320) Bishop

St Syrus of Pavia (1st Century) The First Bishop og Pavia, Italy, Confessor, Miracle-worker, Defender of the Faith, Evangeliser.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/09/saint-of-the-day-9-december-saint-syrus-of-pavia-1st-century/

St Valeria of Limoges
St Wulfric of Holme

Blessed Mercedarian Fathers – (10 Beati): The memorial of ten Mercedarian Friars who were especially celebrated for their holiness:
Arnaldo de Querol • Berengario Pic • Bernardo de Collotorto • Domenico de Ripparia • Giovanni de Mora • Guglielmo Pagesi • Lorenzo da Lorca • Pietro Serra • Raimondo Binezes • Sancio de Vaillo

Martyrs of North Africa – (24 Saints): Twenty-four Christians murdered together in North Africa for their faith. The only details to survive are four of their names – Bassian, Peter, Primitivus and Successus.

Martyrs of Samosata – (7 Saints): Seven Martyrs crucified in 297 in Samosata (an area of modern Turkey) for refusing to perform a pagan rite in celebration of the victory of Emperor Maximian over the Persians. They are – Abibus, Hipparchus, James, Lollian, Paragnus, Philotheus and Romanus. They were crucified in 297 in Samosata (an area in modern Turkey).