Posted in ADVENT PRAYERS, NOVENAS, The DIVINE INFANT

The Monthly Novena to the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague – The First Day – 16 December

The Monthly Novena to the
Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague

There are two standard Novenas to the Infant Jesus of Prague – the one we will use below and the other for the Feast on 2 January. The Monthly Novena attracts Indulgences (see Note below).

The more you honour Me,
the more I will bless you.

So many graces have been received by those who invoke the Divine Child before the original Statue that it has been called “The Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague.” We read the following in an old book printed in Kempt in Canada: “All who approach the miraculous Statue and pray there with confidence, receive assistance in danger, consolation in sorrows, aid in poverty, comfort in anxiety, light in spiritual darkness, streams of grace in dryness of soul, health in sickness and hope in despair.

The Infant’s Patronage is especially sought for:
vocations, good health, financial issues, a holy family life, schools, the welfare of children, freedom and peace, the missions and safety in travel.

THE NOVENA PRAYERS

  1. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory,
    for my own salvation and that of the whole world,
    the Mystery of the Birth of our Divine Saviour.
    Glory be to the Father, etc.
  2. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
    and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
    the sufferings of the most holy Virgin and of St Joseph,
    in that long and weary journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
    I offer Thee the sorrow of their hearts
    when they found no place wherein to shelter themselves,
    when the Saviour of the world was born.
    Glory be to the Father, etc.
  3. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
    and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
    the sufferings of Jesus in the stable where He was born,
    the cold He endured, the swaddling clothes which bound Him,
    the tears He shed and His tender Infant cries.
    Glory be to the Father, etc.
  4. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
    and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
    the pain which the Holy Child Jesus felt in His tender body,
    when He submitted to circumcision.
    I offer Thee that Precious Blood which then,
    for the first time He shed for the salvation
    of the whole humanrace.
    Glory be to the Father, etc.
  5. Eternal Father, I offer to Thy honour and glory
    and for my eternal salvation and that of the whole world,
    the humility, mortification, patience, charity,
    all the virtues of the Child Jesus
    and I thank Thee and I love Thee
    and I bless Thee without end,
    for the ineffable Mystery of
    the Incarnation of the Divine Word.
    Glory be to the Father, etc.

The Word was made Flesh,
And dwelt among us.

LET US PRAY
O God, Whose Only-begotten Son
was made manifest to us in the substance of our flesh,
grant, we beseech Thee, that through Him,
Whom we acknowledge to be like unto ourselves,
our souls may be inwardly renewed.
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee
forever and ever.
Amen.

7 years Indulgence each day, if the above prayers are recited on the 9 days preceding the 25th of any month. Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions, when the Novena is completed. (125)

More about the Infant:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/01/02/saint-of-the-day-2-january-feast-of-the-infant-jesus-of-prague/

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on HUMILITY, The NATIVITY of JESUS

Thought for the Day – 16 December – A Christmas Novena – The Cave of Bethlehem

Thought for the Day – 16 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

A Christmas Novena
The Cave of Bethlehem

The main resolution which we should make, at the foot of the manger, is one of humility.
We should be humble in mind because we should remember that we are nothing without God and that, everything which we have, comes from Him.
In fact, we are less than nothing, for our physical and spiritual gifts have been given to us by God, whereas our sins belong entirely to ourselves!

We should also be humble of heart.
We should be innocent and simple, like children, as the Gospel commands, trusting and loving, so that we may be worthy of God’s favours and consolations.

Unless we acquire the innocence and humility of spiritual children, we cannot be pleasing to God!

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/16/thought-for-the-day-16-december-the-cave-of-bethlehem-2/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/16/thought-for-the-day-16-december-the-cave-of-bethlehem-3/

Posted in "Follow Me", CARMELITES, CHRIST the LIGHT, DOCTORS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, OUR Cross, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, QUOTES on HAPPINESS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 16 December – Seeking St John of the Cross

Quote/s of the Day – 16 December – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Matthew 16:24-27 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Seeking St John of the Cross

For he who will save his life, will lose it
and he who will lose his life
for My sake, will find it.

Matthew 16:25

The one who walks in the love of God
seeks neither gain nor reward
but seeks only, with the will,
to lose self and all things, for God
and this loss, the lover judges to be a gain!

O you souls who wish to go on
with so much safety and consolation,
if you knew how pleasing to God, is suffering
and how much it helps,
in acquiring other good things,
you would never seek consolation in anything;
but. you would rather look upon it,
as a great happiness, to bear the Cross of the Lord.

The endurance of darkness
is the preparation for great light!

Strive to preserve your heart in peace;
let no event of this world, disturb it.

Happiness is not a destination,
it is a method of travel.

St John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in "Follow Me", CARMELITES, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, OUR Cross, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 16 December – “I lost myself and was found”

One Minute Reflection – 16 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – St Eusebius of Vercelli (c283-371) Bishop, Confessor – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Matthew 16:24-27 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

For he who will save his life, will lose it and he who will lose his life, for My sake, will find it. ” – Matthew 16:25

REFLECTION – “I lost myself and was found

The one who walks in the love of God seeks neither gain nor reward but seeks only, with the will, to lose self and all things, for God and this loss, the lover judges to be a gain! Thus it is, as St Paul asserts: “For me death is gain” [Phil 1:21], that is, my death to all things and to myself, for Christ, is my spiritual gain. Consequently, the soul declares: “I was found.” The soul who does not know how to lose himself, does not find himself but rather, loses himself, as Our Lord teaches in the Gospel: “For he that will save his life, shall lose it and he that will lose his life for my sake, will find it. ” (Mt 16:25).

Should we desire to interpret this verse more spiritually and in accord with what we are discussing here, it ought to be known that when a soul treading the spiritual road, has reached such a point that he has lost all roads and natural methods, in his communion with God and no longer seeks Him by reflections or forms or feelings or by any other way of creatures and the senses but, has advanced beyond them all and beyond all modes and manners and enjoys communion with God in faith and love, then it is said that God is his gain, because he has certainly lost all that is not God and has truly lost himself.” – St John of the Cross (1542-1591) Carmelite, Doctor of the Church (Spiritual Canticle 29:11).

PRAYER – O God, Who gladden us with the annual festival of blessed Eusebius, Thy Martyr and Bishop, mercifully grant that, as we venerate the anniversary of his Martyrdom, we may also rejoice in his protection.Through 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 CARMELITES, DOCTORS of the Church, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Prayers and Novena, MARIAN PRAYERS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PURITY, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Our Morning Offering – 16 December – Most Holy Mary By St John of the Cross

Our Morning Offering – 16 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Saturday of the Second Week of Advent and a day to honour our Holy Mother

Most Holy Mary
By St John of the Cross (1542-1591)
Doctor of the Church

Most holy Mary,
Virgin of virgins,
Shrine of the most Holy Trinity,
joy of the Angels,
sure Refuge of sinners,
take pity on our sorrows,
mercifully accept our sighs
and appease the wrath
of your most holy Son.
Amen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 16 December – Saint Albina of Caesarea (Died c250) Virgin Martyr

Saint of the Day – 16 December – Saint Albina of Caesarea (Died c250) Virgin Martyr.  Born in Caesarea, Palestine and died by beheading in c250, during the reign of the Emperor Decius, at Formia, Gaeta, Campagna, Italy. Also known as – Ulbina.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Mola-di-Gaeta, in Campagna, St Albina, Virgin and Martyr, under the Emperor Decius.

St Albina, painting by Antonio Sicurezza.

Albina was a young Christian girl who lived in the middle of the 2nd Century in Caesarea in Palestine. Because she would not give up her Christian faith, she was beheaded in c250 during the persecutions of Emperor Decius (249-251).

Legend has it that her body was placed on a boat which floated ashore near Formia at Gaeta in Campagna in southern Italy and that she was then transported to nearby Gaeta and buried there, next to Saint Erasmus. Albina’s Relics are venerated in Gaeta in the Cathedral

The learned Church Historian, Oratorian and Cardinal, the Venerable Cesare Baronius (1538-1607), included the story of her suffering in the Martyrologium Romanum when he revised it at the end of the 16th Century, based on “ancient documents of the Church of Gaeta.

Posted in ADVENT PRAYERS, CARMELITES, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, NOVENAS, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, SAINT of the DAY, The DIVINE INFANT

Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus and the Monthly Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague, Begin Today, Memorial of St Eusebius of Vercelli and all the Saints for 16 December

Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
THE FIRST DAY:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/16/christmas-novena-to-the-divine-infant-jesus-16-december-the-first-day/

The Monthly Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague
BEGINS today

St Adelard of Cysoing

Bl Adolphus of Tunis
Bl Arnaldo of Tunis
St Albina of Caesarea (Died c250) Virgin Martyr
St Ananias
St Azarias

St Beoc
St Dominic Dosso
Bl Elizabeth of Saint Francis

Haggai the Prophet
St Irenion
Bl James of Tunis
St Jean Wauthier
St Macarius of Collesano

St Misael
St Nicholas Chrysoberges
Bl Raynald de Bar