Day: January 19, 2024

Posted in GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on REASON/INTELLECT, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), SOLDIERS/ARMOUR of CHRIST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 19 January – Of the Exercise of the Will (Part One)

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Thought for the Day – 19 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 Third Weapon
of the Spiritual Combat

X: … Of the Exercise of the Will and the End to
which all our Actions, whether Interior
or Exterior, Should Tend (Part One)

“Besides this necessary exercise of the Understanding, you must so
regulate your Will that it may not be left to follow its own desires but, may, in all things, be conformed to the Divine pleasure.
And remember that, it is not enough only to strive after those things which are most pleasing to God but you must so will them and so do them, as moved thereto. by Him and with a view to please Him alone.

In this exercise of the Will, even more than in that of the Understanding, we shall meet with strong opposition from nature which seeks itself and its own ease and pleasure in all things but especially, in such as are holy and spiritual.
It delights itself in these, feeding greedily upon them as upon wholesome food.
As soon, therefore, as they are presented to us we look wistfully upon them and desire them, not because such is the will of God, nor with the sole view to please Him but, for the sake of the satisfaction and benefit to be derived from willing those things which God wills.

This delusion is the more subtle from the very excellence of the thing desired.
Hence, even in the desire after God Himself, we are exposed to the delusions of self-love which often leads us to look more to our own interests and to the benefits we expect from God, than to His will which is, that we should love and desire and obey Him for His own glory alone.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in "Follow Me", ADVENT QUOTES, ADVENT REFLECTIONS, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, EVENING and NIGHT Prayers, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on MERIT, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on REASON/INTELLECT, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, QUOTES on VANITY, QUOTES on WATCHING, QUOTES on WISDOM, The BEATITUDES, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The HEART, The SECOND COMING

Quote/s of the Day – 19 January – ‘In the hours of the night, think always on Christ …’

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Quote/s of the Day – 19 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family” – St Marius and Family of Persia, (Died c 270) Martyrs – Hebrews 10:32-38, Matthew 24:3-13 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Tell us when shall these things be?
and what shall be the sign of Thy Coming
and of the consummation of the world? ”

Matthew 24:3

“Watch, therefore because you know not
the day, nor the hour.”
Matthew 25:13

“ In the hours of the night, think always on Christ
and hope for His coming at every moment. …
Christ enters at the open door.
He will not fail to do so, for He has promised to enter.
Embrace Him, Whom you have sought.
Approach Him and be illumined.
Hold Him and ask Him not to go away quickly.
Beg Him not to depart.
For “His Word runs swiftly” (Ps 147:15)
and will not be held by the slothful
or negligent soul.
Let your soul run to His call and follow closely,
the sound of His heavenly Voice,
for His passing is swift. …”

St Ambrose (340-397)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“… In fact, according to the merit
and fervour of each one,
there is a frequent and familiar advent of the Lord
that, in this intermediary period,
between His First and Last Coming,
models us on one and prepares us to the other.
The Lord comes to us now,
so that His First Coming to us, may not be in vain
and that the Last One, may not be that of wrath.
Through His Present Coming, in fact,
He works at reforming our pride,
in the image of the humility of His first advent,
to then remodel our humble body,
in the image of the glorified body He will show us,
when He will return. This is why we should desire
and fervently ask this personal coming –
which gives us the grace of this first advent
and promises us the glory of the last. …”

Bl Guerric of Igny (c1080-1157)
Cistercian Abbot

(2nd sermon for Advent, 2-4)

Grant Me, My God
By St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Angelic Doctor, Common Doctor

Make my heart watchful, O God,
so that no vain thoughts may distract it from Thee.
Make it noble,
so that it may never be seduced by any base affection.
Make it steadfast,
so that troubles may not dismay it.
Make it free,
so that it may not yield to the onslaughts of passion.
Grant me, my God,
the intelligence, to understand Thee,
the love, to seek Thee,
the wisdom, to find Thee,
words, to please Thee,
the perseverance, to wait faithfully for Thee
and, the hope of embracing Thee, at last.
Grant that I, a repentant sinner,
may bear Thy chastisements with resignation.
Poor pilgrim which I am,
may I draw on the treasury of Thine grace
and may I one day,
be eternally happy with Thee in Heavnely glory!
Amen.

Posted in ADVENT QUOTES, ADVENT REFLECTIONS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the BRIDEGROOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The SECOND COMING, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 19 January  – The Third coming …

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One Minute Reflection – 19 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family”– St Marius and Family of Persia, (Died c270) Martyrs – Hebrews 10:32-38, Matthew 24:3-13 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For yet a very little while and He, Who is to come, will come …” – Hebrews 10:37

REFLECTION – “ It is only right, my brothers, to celebrate our Lord’s coming with all possible devotion, so greatly does His comfort gladden us… and His love burn within us. But do not just think about His first coming, when He came “to seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10); think, too, of that other coming when He will come to take us with Him. I should like to see you constantly occupied in meditating on these two comings… “resting among the sheepfolds” (Ps 67:14), for they are the two arms of the Bridegroom, in which the Bride of the Song of Songs took her rest: “His left arm is under my head and His right arm embraces me” (2:6)…

But, there is a third coming between the two, to which I have just referred and those who know of it, can rest in it, for their greater happiness. The other two are visible but this one is not. In the first, “ the Lord has appeared on earth and has spoken to us” (Bar 3:38)… in the last, “all mankind shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3:6; Is 40:5)… But the one that comes between them is secret – it is that in which the elect alone see the Saviour within themselves and their souls find salvation.

In His first coming, Christ came in our flesh and in our weakness; in His coming in the midst of time, He comes in Spirit and power; in His final coming, He will come in His glory and majesty. But it is by the strength of the virtues that we attain to glory, as it is written: “The Lord, the King of armies, He is the King of glory” (Ps 23:10) and, in the same book: “That I may see Thy power and Thy glory” (Ps 62:3). And so, the second coming is like a road leading from the first to the last. In the first, Christ has been our Redemption; in the last, He will appear as our Life; in His coming between, He is our Rest and our Consolation!” – St Bernard (1091-1153) Cistercian Monk, The Last Father and Mellifluous Doctor of the Church (Sermons 4 and 5 for Advent).

PRAYER – O Lord, hear Thy people as they humbly pray, in union with the patronal intercession of Thy Saints that Thou wouldst grant us to enjoy peace, during our life on earth and to find help for life eternal. 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 DOCTORS of the Church, INDULGENCES, Our MORNING Offering, PARTIAL Indulgence, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, St Alphonsus de Liguori,

Our Morning Offering – 19 January – Indulgenced Act of Reparation

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Our Morning Offering – 19 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family” –

Act of Reparation
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor of the Church
Indulgence of 3 Years – Once a Day

O Jesus, my Saviour and Redeemer,
Son of the living God,
behold we kneel before Thee and offer Thee our reparation;
we would make amends,
for all the blasphemies uttered against Thy Holy Name,
for all the injuries done to Thee in the Blessed Sacrament,
for all the irreverence shown toward Thine Immaculate Virgin Mother,
for all the calumnies and slanders, spoken against Thy Spouse,
the Holy Catholic and Roman Church.
O Jesus, Who hast said:
“If you ask the Father anything in My Name, He will give it you,”
we pray and beseech Thee,
for all our brethren who are in danger of sin;
sheld them from every temptation to fall away from the true faith;
save those who are even now standing on the brink of the abyss;
to all of them, give light and knowledge of the truth,
courage and strength, for the conflict with evil,
perseverance in faith and active charity!
For this do we pray, most merciful Jesus,
in Thy Name, unto God the Father,
with Whom Thou livest and reignest
in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
world without end.
Amen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 19 January – Saint Lomer of Corbion (Died 593) Abbot

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Saint of the Day – 19 January – Saint Lomer of Corbion (Died 593) Abbot of the Monastery he founded at Corbion near Chartres, friend of animals, Miracle-worker. Born in Neuville-la-Mare, Diocese of Chartres, France and died in January 593 of natural causes. Also known as – Laumer, Laudomarus, Launomar, Launomaro.

Statue of St Lomer at the Church of Notre-Dame at Perche

In his childhood and adolescence, Lomer kept his father’s sheep, in which employment he mortified his body by regular fasts and spent his time in studies and prayer.

He was initially trained for the Priesthood by a holy Priest named Chirmirius, was Ordained and then served in Chartres and the surrounds, where he was made both Canon and Bursar of the Cathedral Chapter.

After many years, Lomer withdrew to live a eremitic life in the forests of La Perche where, some brigands, who had come to rob him, left edified and spread the fame of his sanctity. . His reputation for great holiness and miracles, including the gift of prophecy, resulted in a number of disciples attaching themselves to his hermitage in the forest.

In c570 Lomer founded a Monastery at Corbion to house his many disciples, six leagues from Chartres. He died more than a hundred years old, in January. 593 (the actualy day, however, uncertain).

His body was buried in the Church of St-Martin-du-Val and Subsequently, IN 595, moved to Corbion. During the Norman invasions, his Relics were protect in Blois, where, in 924, the Monastery of St-Laumer was built, to which that of Corbion was joined. These two houses were destroyed in 1567 by the Huguenots and the Relics were lost. However, in 912, St Lomer’s skull was transferred to Moissat, where in 1284, St Simon of Bourges, carried out a new translation.

The Saint’s Feast has celebrated isince the 17th Century in the Diocese of Chartres and then, in that of Chartres and Séez. His name was inscribed in the French and Benedictine Martyrologies on 19 January. The iconography of the Saint depicts him as a teaching Abbot, as he appears in the 13th Century Statue im the South portal of Chartres Cathedral, in the guise of an Abbot, with a book in his right hand.

In the early 20th Century, an event in the life of St. Lomer – an incident involving the theft of the Saint’s favourite cow – was published in The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts, a collection of brief tales for children, Lomer’s Vita states that the Abbot was so holy that “savage wild beasts obeyed when he commanded.”

St Lomar Statue at Chartres Cathedral
Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Sts Marius & Companions, St Canute (1040-1086) Martyr, King of Denmark and all the Saints for this day in history – 19 January

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Sts Marius and Family of Perisa – Martha, Audifax, Abacjum (Died c270 – Martyrs, Husband, Wife and 2 Sons – in the time of Emperor Claudius.
The Roman Martyrology today states: “At Rome, on the Cornelian road, the holy Martyrs, Marius and his wife Martha, with their sons, Audifax and Abachum, noble Persians, who came to Rome, through devotion, in the time of the Emperor Claudius. After they had been beaten with rods, tortured on the rack and with fire, lacerated with iron hooks and had endured the cutting off their hands, Martha was put to death in the place called Nympha. The others, were beheaded and cast into the flames.”
Including:
St Abachum of Persia + (St Marius and Family of Persia – Martyrs)
St Audifax of Persia + (St Marius and Family of Persia – Martyrs)
St Martha of Persia + (St Marius and Family of Persia – Martyrs)
Their Lives and Deaths:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/01/19/saints-of-the-day-19-january-st-marius-and-family-martha-audifax-abacjum-died-c-270-martyrs/

St Canute (1040-1086) Martyr, King of Denmark, known as Canutus the Holy – Canutus was an ambitious King who sought to strengthen the Danish monarchy, devotedly supported the Roman Catholic Church and had designs on the English throne. Slain by rebels in 1086, he was the first Danish King to be Canonised. He was recognised as Patron Saint of Denmark in 1101.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/01/19/saint-of-the-day-19-january-st-canutus-1040-1086/

Bl Andrew of Peschiera
St Arsenius of Corfu

St Bassian of Lodi (c320–c409) Archbishop, Penitent, Miracle-worker. St Bassian was a close of friend of St Ambrose and St Felix of Como.
About St Bassian:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/19/saint-of-day-19-january-st-bassian-of-lodi-c-320-c-413/
Bl Beatrix of Lens
St Branwallader of Jersey
St Catellus of Castellammare
St Contentius
Bl Elisabetta Berti
St Faustina of Como
St Fillan
St Firminus of Gabales
St Germanicus of Smyrna
St Godone of Novalesa
St John of Ravenna
St Joseph Sebastian Pelczar
St Liberata of Como
St Lomer of Corbion (Died 593) Abbot
St Messalina iof Foligno
St Ponziano of Spoleto
St Remigius of Rouen

St Wulstan (c1008–1095) Bishop of Worcester , England, from 1062 to 1095, Monk, Prior, a man of extreme holiness and penitence who was admired by all, he was a he was a man of iron will, immense charm and unworldly humility and piety and suffered no luxury, preferring always the poor to himself.
A Life to Imitate:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/19/saint-of-the-day-19-january-saint-wulfstan-c-1008-1095/

Martyrs of Numidia – 9 Saints: A group of Christians Martryred together for their faith. The only details to survive are nine of their names – Catus, Germana, Gerontius, Januarius, Julius, Paul, Pia, Saturninus and Successus. 2nd century Numidia in North Africa.

Martyrs of Carthage – 39 Christians Martyred together in Carthage, date unknown. We have no information about them except 9 of the names – Catus, Germana, Gerontius, Januarius, Julius, Paul, Pia, Saturninus and Successus.
Died IN Carthage, North Africa (modern Tunis, Tunisia).