Day: January 10, 2024

Posted in GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on STRENGTH, SELF-DISTRUST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 10 January – II: Of Trust in God (Confidence)

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Thought for the Day – 10 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The First Two Weapons
of the Spiritual Combat

II: Of Trust in God (Confidence)

“Self-distrust, necessary as we have shown it to be in this conflict, is not alone sufficient.
Unless we would be put to flight, or remain helpless and vanquished in the hands of our enemies, we must add to it perfect trust in God and expect from Him alone, succour and victory!
For, as we, who are nothing, can look for nothing from ourselves but falls and, therefore, should utterly distrust ourselves; so, from our Lord, may we assuredly expect complete victory in every conflict.
To obtain His help, let us, therefore, arm ourselves with a lively Confidence in Him.
And this also may be accomplished in four ways: … [Be here tomorrow, God willing] ”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, THE EPIPHANY of the LORD, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 10 January – Following His Star

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Quote/s of the Day – 10 January – Within the Octave of The Epiphany – Isaias 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“We have seen His Star in the East
and have come, with gifts,
to worship the Lord.
Alleluia!”

Matthew 2:2

“Behold, the star
which they had seen in the east,
went before them
until it came and stood
over where the Child was…”

Matthew 2:9

“I implore you to live with me and,
by believing, to run with me;
let us long for our Heavenly Country,
let us sigh for our Heavenly Home,
let us truly feel that here, we are strangers.
What shall we then see?
Let the gospel tell us:
In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
You will come to the fountain,
with whose dew you have already been sprinkled.
Instead of the ray of Light
which was sent through slanting
and winding ways, into the heart of your darkness,
you will see the Light Itself,
in all its purity and brightness.
It is to see and experience this Light
that you are now being cleansed. …
It has been good for us to share
the common Light,
good to have enjoyed ourselves,
good to have been glad together.
When we part from one another,
let us not depart from Him!”

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

“The obedience of the Star
calls us to imitate its humble service:
to be servants, as best we can,
of the grace which invites all men
to find Christ.”

St Pope Leo the Great (400-461)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“… For this day, I must abide in thy house.”
Luke 19:5

“But He says to all:
“Come down quickly, for the exalted
freedom of the spirit cannot be maintained,
except through lowly obedience of mind.
You must know and love Me,
as both God and a human being,
higher than all and lower than all!
You will savour Me when I raise you up
above all things and above yourself to Myself
and, when you lower yourself beneath all things
and beneath yourself, to Me and for My sake.
Then, I will have to come to your house
and remain living with you and in you
and you with Me and in Me!”

Bl Jan van Ruysbroeck (1293-1381)

(A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness)

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the SUN of JUSTICE, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GOOD WORKS, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, THE EPIPHANY of the LORD, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 10 January – ‘… The obedience of the Star calls us to imitate its humble service …’

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One Minute Reflection – 10 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family” – Within the Octave of The Epiphany – Isaias 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy Light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” – Isaias 60:1

REFLECTION – “This is the day which Abraham saw and rejoiced to see, when he knew that the sons born of his faith would be blessed in his seed, that is, in Christ. Believing that he would be the father of the nations, he looked into the future, giving glory to God, in full awareness that God is able to do what He has promised.

This is the day which David prophesied in the Psalms, when he said: All the nations which you have brought into being, will come and fall down in adoration in Thy presence, Lord and glorify Thy Name. Again, the Lord has made known His salvation; in the sight of the nations, He has revealed His Justice.

This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the Star beckoned the Three Wise Men out of their distant country and led them, to recognise and adore, the King of Heaven and earth. The obedience of the Star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace which invites all men to find Christ.

Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another, then, in the Kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of the Light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Ghost, forever and ever. Amen.” – St Pope Leo the Great (400-461) Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from his On the Lord’s Epiphany, Sermon 3).

PRAYER – O God, Thou Who by the guidance of a star this day revealed Thy Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we, who know Thee now by faith, may come to behold Thee in 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 DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, Our MORNING Offering, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, Quotes on SALVATION, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, The DIVINE INFANT, THE EPIPHANY of the LORD, The EPIPHANY Prayers, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

Our Morning Offering – 10 January – O Child, So Worthy of Our Love, (O Grant Me that Gold, Incense and Myrrh Which I Lack)

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Our Morning Offering – 10 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family” – Within the Octave of The Epiphany

O Child, So Worthy of Our Love,
I Offer Thee My Heart
(O Grant Me that Gold, Incense and Myrrh
Which I Lack)
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

O Child so worthy of our love,
I see You lying on the straw in this cave,
so poor and despised.
Yet faith teaches me, that You are my God
come down from heaven for my salvation.
I acknowledge You as my Sovereign Lord and Saviour,
as such I proclaim You,
yet, I have nothing at all to offer You.
I am without Love’s Gold,
since I have given my love to the things of this world –
I have only loved my own whim, rather than loving You,
so infinitely worthy of love.
I am without Prayer’s Incense,
since I have lived wretchedly without thinking of You.
I have no Myrrh of Mortification since,
so as not to forsake some paltry pleasures,
I have so often saddened Your infinite goodness.
So what am I to offer You?
O my Jesus, I offer You my heart, soiled and naked as it is.
Take it and change it, for You have come down to us
to wash our guilty hearts with Your Blood
and so transform us from sinners into saints.
O grant me that Gold, Incense and Myrrh which I lack.
Grant me the Gold of Your Holy Love;
grant me the Incense which is the spirit of prayer;
grant me Myrrh,
the willingness and strength to deny myself
in all that displeases You…
O holy Virgin, you welcomed those devout Magi Kings
with keen affection and satisfied them.
Deign to welcome and comfort me also,
I, who come, following their example,
to visit and offer myself to your Son
Amen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 10 January – St Pope Agatho (Died 681)

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Saint of the Day – 10 January – St Pope Agatho (Died 681) Bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 (at this time over 100 years old) until his death on 10 January 681. Born in Sicily of Greek parentage, probably in Palermo of which City he is the Patron. Known for his affability and charity, on account of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he has been styled as “Thaumaturgus or Wonderworker.” Also known as – Agathon, Agatone, Agathonius.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Rome, the Pope, St Agatho, who terminated a liferemarkable for sanctity and learning by a holy death.”

Agatho was originally a Benedictine Monk at St Hermes in Palermo and there is good authority that he was more than 100 years old when, in 678, he ascended the Papal Chair asthe successor to Pope Donus.

Shortly after Agatho became the Supreme Pontiff, Saint Wilfred, Archbishop of York, who had been unjustly and uncanonically deposed from his See by Theodore of Canterbury, arrived in Rome to invoke the authority of the Holy See on his behalf. At a Synod which Pope Agatho convoked in the Lateran to investigate the affair, Wilfred was restored to his See.

The main event of Agatho’s Pontificate remains however, the Sixth Ecumenical Council, held in Constantinople in 680, at which the Papal Legates presided and which practically ended the Monothelite heresy. Before the Decrees of the Council arrived in Rome for the approval of the Pope, Agatho had died on 10 January 681 and was laid to rest in St Peter’s Old Basilica.

His memory is still wonderfully celebrated in Greece.

Artwork and Shrine of St Agatho at Lipari Cathedral in Sicily
Posted in franciscan OFM, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

The Fifth Day Within the Octave of The Epiphany, Madonna del Pianto / Madonna of the Lament or the Weeping Madonna, Rome, Italy (1546) and the Saints for 10 January

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The Fifth Day Within the Octave of The Epiphany

Madonna del Pianto / Madonna of the Lament or the Weeping Madonna, Rome, Italy (1546) – 10 January:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/10/our-morning-offering-10-january-o-child-so-worthy-of-our-love-i-offer-you-my-heart/

St Aldo of Carbonari
St Pope Agatho (Died 681) Bishop of Rome from 27 June 678

St Arcontius of Viviers
Bl Benincasa of Cava
St Dermot of Inis Clothrann
St Domitian of Melitene

Blessed Pope Gregory X TOSF (1210-1276) Bishop of Rome 1272-1276. Beatified on 8 July 1713 by Pope Clement XI.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/10/saint-of-the-day-10-january-blessed-pope-gregory-x-1210-1276/

Blessed Giles of Lorenzana OFM (1443-1518) Lay Brother of the Friars Minor.

St John Camillus the Good (Died c 669) Confessor, Archbishop of Milan from c. 641 until his death. Known as “the Good” for his great charity and generosity, his holiness, devotion and his many miracles.
His Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/01/10/saint-of-the-day-10-january-st-john-the-good-died-c-669-confessor-archbishop/

St Maurilius of Cahors
St Nicanor of Cyprus

St Petronius of Die
Bl Raymond de Fosso
St Saethryth of Faremoutier
St Thecla of Lentini
St Thomian of Armagh
St Valerius of Limoges

St William of Bourges O.Cist (c 1140-1209) Archbishop of Bourges from 1200 until his death, Confessor, Monk, renowned for miracles and virtue.
About St William:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/10/saint-of-the-day-10-january-saint-william-of-bourges-o-cist-c-1140-1209/