Posted in St Louis-Marie Grignion de MONTFORT

St Louis Marie de Montfort One-year Reading Schedule of Collected Writings

Posted in NOVENAS

The Monthly Novena to the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague – The Sixth Day – 21 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.

Devotion of the Saints to the Holy Infant:
St Therese of the Child Jesus, as her very name proclaims, cherished a tender devotion to the Divine Infant and loved to imagine herself as His plaything, to be treated as He willed.

This Statue became a source of great blessing to the poor Franciscan Nuns and the devotion to the Infant has been zealously fostered by them to this day.

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 Sixth Day

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 CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on SILENCE, The DIVINE INFANT, The NATIVITY of JESUS

Thought for the Day – 21 December – The Silence of the Divine Infant

Thought for the Day – 21 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

A Christmas Novena VI
The Silence of the Divine Infant

Let us kneel in spirit before the Holy Infant.
He is silent but His heart beats with love for His heavenly Father and for the afflicted human race which He has come to redeem.
Let us adore God in the Mystery of His silence and let us ask Him to favour us with His inspirations and graces.

Let us ask Him to teach us to be like Him, so that our Hearts may be closed to the vain attractions of the world and open to the influence of the supernatural.
Let us ask Him to help us to employ the gifts of speech, in order to adore, praise and thank God and to draw down His blessings upon ourselves and oupon our fellowmen.

May the words which we utter exercise a prayerful and fruitful apostolate, for it was chiefly for this purpose that God endowed us with the gift of speech.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/21/thought-for-the-day-21-december-2/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/21/thought-for-the-day-21-december-the-silence-of-the-divine-infant-2/

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DYING / LAST WORDS, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on THE WORLD, The HEART, The HOLY CROSS, The WILL of GOD

Quote/s of the Day – 21 December – Who is he who overcomes the world?

Quote/s of the Day – 21 December – Feast of St Thomas, Apostle of Christ – Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Blessed are they who have not seen
and yet, have believed.

John 20:29

Who is he who overcomes the world?
but he who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God.”

1 John 5:5

“… No-one professing faith, sins,
no-one possessing love, hates. …

St Ignatius of Antioch (c35–c107)
Bishop, Martyr, Apostolic Father

Let us detach ourselves in spirit
from all that we see
and cling to that which we believe.
This is the Cross
which we must imprint
on all our daily actions and behaviour.

St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Doctor of the Church

If we wish to make any progress
in the service of God,
we must begin everyday of our life,
with new eagerness.
We must keep ourselves,
in the presence of God,
as much as possible
and have no other view or end,
in all our actions
but the Divine honour.

St Charles Borromeo (1538-1584)

The very prince of the universe, is man;
the crowning point of man, is his heart;
of the heart, is love
and the perfection of love, is charity.
That is why the love of God is the goal,
the crowning point,
the be-all and end-all of the universe.

(Treatise on the Love of God,Book 10 Chapter 1)

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of Charity

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 21 December – “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet, have believed.” – John 20:29

One Minute Reflection – 21 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Feast of St Thomas, Apostle of Christ – Ephesians 2:19-22; John 20:24-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Blessed are they who have not seen and yet, have believed.” – John 20:29

REFLECTION – “The disciples’ weakness was so unsteady that, not content with seeing the risen Lord, they still wanted to touch Him if they were to believe in Him. It was not enough for them to see Him with their eyes, they wanted to put out their hands to His limbs and touch the marks of His recent wounds. It was after He had touched and acknowledged His scars that the unbelieving disciple cried out: “My Lord and my God!” Those scars revealed the One Who, where other people were concerned, healed every wound! Could the Lord not have risen without scars? Yet, He saw within His disciples’ hearts, wounds which those scars which He had preserved in His Body, would heal.

And what does the Lord answer that confession of faith of His disciple, who says: “My Lord and my God”? “Have you come to believe because you have seen Me? Blessed are they who have not seen and yet, have believed.Who is He talking about, my friends, if not of us? And not just of us but of those, too, who will follow us. For shortly afterwards, when He had disappeared from mortal sight so as to strengthen faith in the heart, all those who became believers, believed without seeing and their faith had great merit. To acquire it they reached out to Him, not a hand with which to touch Him but only, a loving heart! ” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 88).

PRAYER – O Lord, grant us, we beseech Thee, to glory in the Feast-day of blessed Thomas, Thy Apostle, that we maybe helped continually by his patronage and imitate his faith with a devotion like his. 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 BREVIARY Prayers, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Our Morning Offering – 21 December – Exsultet Orbis! Let the World Rejoice! Feast of St Thomas, Apostle

Our Morning Offering – 21 December – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary” – Feast of St Thomas, Apostle

Exsultet Orbis!
Let the World Rejoice
!
Unknown Author

Now let the earth with joy resound,
And Heaven the chant re-echo round;
Nor Heaven nor earth too high can raise
The great Apostles’ glorious praise.

O ye who, throned in glory dread,
Shall judge the living and the dead,
Lights of the world forever more!
To you the suppliant prayer we pour.

Ye close the Sacred Gates on high.
At your command apart they fly.
O loose for us the guilty chain
We strive to break and strive in vain.

Sickness and health your voice obey,
At your command they go or stay.
From sin’s disease our souls restore;
In good confirm us more and more.

So when the world is at its end.
And Christ to Judgment shall descend,
May we be called, those joys to see
Prepared from all eternity.

Praise to the Father, with the Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One;
As ever was in ages past
And so shall be while ages last.
Amen

(Roman Breviary for the Common of Apostles)
An Office Hymn that was traditionally prescribed for Vespers and Lauds on the Feasts of Apostles and Evangelists outside Easter time. The Hymn is found as early as the tenth century in a hymnal of Moissac Abbey.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 21 December – Blessed Tommaso Vitali OSM (1425-1490) Priest

Saint of the Day – 21 December – Blessed Tommaso Vitali OSM (1425-1490) Priest and Friar of the Order of the Servants of Mary (the Servites), a renowned and highly effective Preacher and patient spiritual guide. Born in 1425 in Endenna, Bergamo, Italy and died on 21 December 1490 in Pesaro, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – Thomas.

Tommaso lived for many years in the Hermitage of Monte Granaro in the Province of Pesaro together with Blessed Paolo Bigoni from Chiari (Brescia) and Blessed Bonaventura from Forlì.

The three blessed together formed an exemplary community characterised by an intense Marian spirituality, whose corner stones were prayer, study, manual work and preaching.

Tradition tells us that Blessed Tommaso grew in the grace of the Lord thanks to his penances, his prayer vigils and his continuous fasting.  A talented preacher, he was able to announce, with great enthusiasm, the experience of Jesus Christ Crucified, His suffering and His love for sinful man.

Living in conformity with his preaching, patiently listening to the Confessions of the faithful in order to be able to guide them wisely on the path of life aimed towards holiness.

He died in Pesaro on 21 December 1490. His body was kept in the Church of Santa Maria Monte Granaro until 1650 and subsequently, in the Church of St Maria delle Grazie. In 1922, when the Church of St Maria delle Grazie was demolished and the Servants of Mary moved to the Church of St Francesco, the body of Blessed Tommaso Vitali was placed under the Altar dedicated to the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order.

The Archdiocese of Pesaro counts him among its Blessed. Even if there is no celebration in memory of Blessed Tommaso Vitali, in some Martyrologies he is remembered on 21 December, on the anniversary of his death.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Feast of St Thomas, Apostle of Christ, Martyr. Christmas Novenas, Notre-Dame de Saint-Acheul / Our Lady of Saint Acheul, Amiens, France (4th Century) and Memorials of the Saints – 21 December

Christmas Novena to the Divine Infant Jesus
By St Alphonsus – The Sixth Day:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/21/christmas-novena-to-the-divine-infant-jesus-by-st-alphonsus-day-6-21-december/

The Monthly Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague
The Sixth Day

Bl Adrian of Dalmatia

St Baudacarius of Bobbio
St Beornwald of Bampton
Bl Bezela of Göda

St Dioscorus

St Festus of Tuscany
St Glycerius of Nicomedia
St James of Valencia
St John of Tuscany
St John Vincent
St Severin of Trèves (Died c300) Bishop, Confessor
Bl Sibrand of Marigård
St Themistocles of Lycia
Blessed Tommaso Vitali OSM (1425-1490) Priest and Friar of the Order of the Servants of Mary (the Servites)