Day: February 8, 2024

Posted in QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SUFFERING, SOLDIERS/ARMOUR of CHRIST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 8 February – The Soldier of Christ Must Prepare for Battle, Early in the Morning (Part One)

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Thought for the Day – 8 February – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

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

XVI: … The Soldier of Christ Must Prepare
for Battle, Early in the Morning (Part One)

‘Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.’ – Zechariah 4:6,

“On awaking in the morning, the first thing to be observed by your inward sight, is the field of battle in which you are enclosed, facing the enemy and bound by the law of the combat – either fight or die!

Here picture to yourself, on one side, your enemy (that evil inclination which you are already pledged to conquer) now standing before you, ready armed to wound and slay you.
See also, on the right hand, your victorious Captain, Jesus Christ, with His most holy Mother the Virgin Mary and her beloved Spouse Saint Joseph and innumerable hosts of Angels, especially Saint Michael the Archangel and, on the left hand, the infernal demon, with all his armies, ready to excite this passion and to persuade you to yield to it.

Then shall you seem to hear a voice as of your Guardian Angel addressing you:

“You are to fight this day against this and your other enemies.
Let not your heart fail, nor your spirit faint.
Yield not on any account, neither for fear nor any other cause; for our Lord, your Leader, stands beside you with all His glorious hosts and will do battle for you against all your enemies and will not suffer them to prevail against you or to overcome you.

Only stand firm – do violence to yourself and endure the pain such violence will cause you.
Cry unceasingly from the depths of your heart and call upon the Lord and so assuredly, shalt you gain the victory.
If you are weak and inexperienced, if your enemies are strong and manifold, manifold more, are the succours of Him Who created and redeemed you and mightier beyond all measure and comparison, is your God and more willing to save you, than are all your enemies to destroy you.

Fight valiantly then and be not loathe to suffer; for it is this toilsome resistance to your evil inclinations, this painful struggle against evil habits which shall gain you the victory and win for you a treasure wherewith to purchase the Kingdom of Heaven and unite your soul to God forever.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in POETRY, SAINT of the DAY, The SIGN of the CROSS

Quote of the Day – 8 February – The Mantle of St John de Matha – A Legend of “The Red, White and Blue”

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Quote of the Day – 8 February –St John of Matha O.SS.T (1160-1213) Confessor, Priest, Founder of The Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives

Excerpt from
The Mantle of St John de Matha
A Legend of “The Red, White and Blue”
(1154–1864)
By John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892).

A STRONG and mighty Angel,
Calm, terrible and bright,
The Cross in blended red and blue
Upon his mantle white!

Two captives by him kneeling,
Each on his broken chain,
Sang praise to God who raiseth
The dead to life again?

Dropping his Cross-wrought mantle,
“Wear this” the Angel said;
“Take thou, O Freedom’s Priest, its sign,—
The white, the blue and red.”

Then rose up John de Matha
In the strength the Lord Christ gave,
And begged through all the land of France
The ransom of the slave.

The gates of tower and castle
Before him open flew,
The drawbridge at his coming fell,
The door-bolt backward drew.

For all men owned his errand
And paid his righteous tax;
And the hearts of lord and peasant
Were in his hands as wax.

At last, outbound from Tunis,
His bark her anchor weighed,
Freighted with seven-score Christian souls
Whose ransom he had paid!

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on WATCHING, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 8 February – Let your … lamps burn in your hands.

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One Minute Reflection – 8 February – “The Month of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity” – St John of Matha (1160-1213) – Confessor, Priest, Founder – Sirach 31:8-11; Luke 12:35-40 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Jesus said to His disciples: Let your … lamps burn in your hands.” – Luke 12:35

REFLECTION – “Prayer offered during the hours of night possess great power, even more than that offered during the day. That is why all the Saints were in the habit of praying at night, combating the body’s drowsiness and the sweetness of sleep and overcoming their bodily nature.  The Prophet also said: “I am wearied with sighing; every night I flood my bed with weeping” (Ps 6:7) as he uttered heartfelt sighs in impassioned prayer.  And elsewhere: “At midnight I rise to give Thee thanks because of Thy just ordinances, O just God” (Ps 118:62). For every request for which the Saints desired to importune God, they armed themselves with nocturnal prayer and, at once received that which they besought Him.

Satan himself fears nothing as much as prayer offered during the night watches. Even if they are accompanied by distractions, it does not return fruitless, so long as something inappropriate is not being asked for. That is why Satan engages in severe combat against those who keep watch at night, so as to deter them from this practice if he can, especially if they show themselves to be persevering. But those who are in any way defended against his pernicious wiles and have tasted the gifts God grants at these times of vigil and have had personal experience of the greatness of the help God gives them, wholly despise him, he and all his craftiness.” – St Isaac the Syrian of Nineveh (c613-c700) Bishop of Nineveh, Monk at Mosul, Father of the Church (Ascetical Discourses)

PRAYER – O God, Who graciously and by Divine means founded, through blessed John, the Order of the Most Holy Trinity to ransom captives from the hands of the Saracens, grant, we beseech Thee that through Thy help and the merits of his prayers, we may be freed body and soul from captivity. 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 ACT of CONTRITION, ADVENT PRAYERS, BLESSED TRINITY PRAYERS, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, GOD the FATHER, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, The DIVINE INFANT, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 8 February – An Act of Thanksgiving By St Gertrude

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Our Morning Offering – 8 February – “The Month of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity”

An Act of Thanksgiving
By St Gertrude the Great (1256-1302)
(Excerpt from her Revelations)

May my soul bless Thee,
O Lord God my Creator,
may my soul bless Thee!
From the very core of my being,
may all Thy merciful gifts sing Thy praise.
Thy generous care, for Thy daughter,
has been rich in mercy;
indeed, it has been immeasurable
and as far as I am able,
I give Thee thanks.
I praise and glorify,
Thy great patience which bore with me.
I offer Thee, most loving Father,
all the sufferings of Thine Beloved Son,
from that first Infant cry
as He lay on the hay in the manger,
until that final movement, when,
bowing His Head, with a mighty Voice,
Christ gave up His Spirit.
I think, as I make this offering,
of all that He underwent,
His needs as a Babe,
His dependence as a young Child,
the hardships of Youth
and the trials of early Manhood.
To atone for all my neglect,
I offer, most loving Father,
all that Thine Only-begotten Son did
during His Life,
whether in thought, word or deed.
And now, as an act of thanksgiving,
I praise and worship Thee Father,
in deepest humility,
for Thy most loving kindness and mercy.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 8 February – Saint Stephen of Muret (c1046-1124) Abbot

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Saint of the Day – 8 February – Saint Stephen of Muret (c1046-1124) Abbot, Founder of the Abbey of Grandmont (the Mother House) and the Order of Grandmont. Born in c1046 at Thiers, Auvergne, France and died on 8 February 1124 at his Monastery in Muret, France of natural causes. St Stephen was Canonised in 1189 by Pope Clement III. Also known as – Stephen of Grandmont, Stephen of Thiers, Étienne de…

The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Muret, near Limoges, the birthday of the Abbot, St Stephen, Founder of the Order of Grandmont, celebrated for his virtues and miracles.”

The early life of Stephen, a native of Thiers, France, is uncertain due to historical inaccuracies in the medieval biography of the Saint. We do know that he was born of a noble family, being the son of the the Viscount of Thiers and that he was educated in Italy possibly by Milo, the Archbishop of Benevento for a certain time.

After returning to France and finding his parents had died, Stephen undertook the consecrated life as a Hermit. Having built a small Hermitage in the forests of Muret, Stephen vowed himself to God thus:
“I, Stephen, renounce the devil and all his pomps
and offer myself to God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
the one true God in three Persons.”

He also prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, declaring:
“Holy Mary, Mother of God,
I commend my body, soul,and senses to thou Son and to thee.”

Thereafter, Stephen spent the next forty-eight years of his life in this wilderness, devoting himself to prayer and penitential self-denial. When on one occasion two Papal Legates visited him, they inquired as to whether he was a Monk, a Hermit, or a Canon. He replied, “I am a sinner.”

Other men intending to imitate Stephen came to join him, so that the Hermitage of Muret grew into a monastic community and a new Religious Congregation which would later be known as the Order of Grandmont.

Although Stephen certainly established the Order of Grandmont, a religious order of “extreme austerity and poverty,” he did little for his disciples except offer them the example of his holy life and it was not until after his death that the Order was firmly established.

St Stephen’s Relics are preserved in the Parish Church of St Sylvestre, Canton of Laurière. below we see the Reliquary housing St Stephen’s head. In 1167, he was initially honoured by Bishop Gerald II of Limoges and formally Canonised by Pope Clement III in 1189.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lys / Our Lady of the Lily, Melun, France (13th Century), St John of Matha and the Saints for 8 February

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Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lys / Our Lady of the Lily, Melun, France (13th Century) – 8 February:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/08/abbey-of-our-lady-of-the-lily-melun-france-13th-century-and-memorials-of-the-saints-8-february/

St John of Matha O.SS.T (1160-1213) – Priest, Founder of The Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives, also known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity or the Trinitarians,
Feast day is today – moved in 1969 to 17 December.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/12/17/saint-of-the-day-17-december-st-john-of-matha-o-ss-t-1160-1213/

St Scholastica Novena
CLICK on the LINK BELOW:
St Scholastica Novena

St Cuthman of Steyning (Died 8th Century) Hermit, builder of Churches, Miracle-worker.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/02/08/saint-of-the-day-8-february-saint-cuthman-of-steyning-died-8th-century/

St Cyriacus of Rome
St Dionysus of Armenia
St Elfleda of Whitby
St Emilian of Armenia
St Giacuto
St Gisela
St Honoratus of Milan
St Inventius of Pavia
Bl Jacoba de Settesoli
St Kigwe
St Laureatus of Rome
St Lucius of Rome
St Meingold
St Mlada of Prague
St Nicetius of Besançon
St Oncho of Clonmore
St Paul of Rome

St Paul of Verdun (c576-c648) Bishop of Verdun, in the Lorraine region of France from 630 until his death., Abbot. The Roman Martyrology states: “At Verdun in France, St Paulus, Bishop renowned for miracles.”
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/02/08/saint-of-the-day-8-february-st-paul-of-verdun-c-576-c-648/

Blessed Pietro Igneus OSB Vall. (c1020 – 1089) Cardinal Bishop of Albano, Reformer – particularly against simony, Papal Legate and peace-maker.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/08/saint-of-the-day-8-february-blessed-pietro-igneus-osb-vall-c-1020-1089-cardinal-bishop/

St Sebastian of Armenia
St Stephen of Muret (c1046-1124) Abbot

Martyrs of Constantinople: Community of 5th Century Monks at the Monastery of Saint Dius at Constantinople. Imprisoned and Martyred for loyalty to the Vatican during the Acacian Schism. 485 in Constantinople.

Martyrs of Persia: An unknown number of Christians murdered in early 6th-century Persia. Legend says that so many miracles occurred through the intercession of these Martyrs that the King decreed an end to the persecution of Christians.