Day: March 20, 2024

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, The FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 20 March – Virtues Are To Be Gradually Acquired,One At A Time and By Degrees

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Thought for the Day – 20 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

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

XXXIV: Virtues Are To Be Gradually Acquired,
One At A Time and By Degrees

“Although the true servant of Christ who aspires to perfection should set no limit to his advancement, there are some kinds of spiritual fervour which require to be restrained with a certain discretion, lest, being initially embraced too ardently, they should give way and forsake us in the midst of our exercise.

Hence, besides what has been said as to moderation in exterior exercises, we
have to learn, moreover that even interior virtues, are best acquired gradually and in their due order – for thus, what is small in the beginning soon becomes great and permanent.
Thus, for instance, we should not ordinarily attempt to rejoice in afflictions and to desire them, until we have firstly passed through the lower degrees of the virtue of patience.

Neither would I have you give your chief attention to all, or to many virtues at once but, initially to one and then to the others – for thus, will the virtuous habit be more easily and firmly planted in the soul.
For, by the constant exercise of a single virtue, the memory recurs to it more promptly on all occasions, the intellect grows quicker to discern new methods and reasons for attaining it and, the will inclines more readily and fervently to its pursuit, than if occupied with many virtues at one and the same time.

And, by means of the uniformity of the exercise, the acts which relate to any single virtue are produced with less effort from the conformity between them. The one calls forth and aids his fellow and, by their mutual resemblance, they make a deeper impression upon the heart which is prepared and disposed, for the reception of new seed, by having already brought forth similar fruits.

These reasons have the greater force, as we know assuredly that whoever exercises himself well in one virtue, learns, at the same time, how to exercise himself in another and thus, by the inseparable connection between them, all grow together with the increase of one, as rays proceeding from one and the same Divine Light.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in "Follow Me", CATECHESIS, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SACRED SCRIPTURE, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, ST FRANCIS de SALES, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 20 March – Gathering up the Words He speaks to us

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Quote/s of the Day – 20 March – Wednesday in Passion Week – Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-19, 25; John 10:22-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“My sheep hear My Voice;
I know them and they follow Me.”

John 10:27

“For just as from the Heavens,
the rain and snow come down
and do not return there,
until they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
giving seed to him who sows
and bread to him who eats.”
Isaias 55:11

“So the Word that He shall send through His Christ,
Who is Himself, the Word and the Message,
shall return to Him with great power.
For when He shall come and bring it,
He shall come down like rain and snow
and through Him all that is sown shall spring up
and bear righteous fruit …
And this is the Voice through which
the dead shall live.”

St Aphraates “the Sage” (Died c 345)
Abbot, Father of the Church

“Always (read and) listen to it (the Scriptures)
with attention and reverence;
make good use of it;
do not let it fall to earth
but take it into your heart
like a precious balm.
Do all this after the example
of the most holy Virgin,
for she carefully kept in her heart
all the words spoken in praise of her Child.
Remember that our Lord gathers up
the words we speak to Him in prayer,
in measure with the way
we gather up those He speaks to us
by His preaching.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

(Introduction to the Devout Life
Part 2 Chapter 17)

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, LENT 2024, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 20 March –Seize Christ with the Hands of Faith

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Our Lenten Journey with the Angels and the Saints – 20 March – Wednesday in Passion Week – Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-19, 25; John 10:22-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“O Lord my God, I have cried to Thee
and Thou hast healed me.”
Psalm 29:3

“My sheep hear My Voice.
And I know them
and they follow Me.

”
John 10:27

Seize Christ with the Hands of Faith

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

“If the Law calls them gods to whom the Word of God came and Scripture cannot be set aside, how can you say that the One Whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? Yes indeed, if God has spoken to us, so that we might be called ‘gods,’ how could the Word of God, the Word which is in God, not be God? If we have been made sharers in His nature and have become gods because God speaks to us, how could this Word, through which this gift comes to us, not be God? … As for you, you approach the Light and receive it and are counted among the children of God but, if you draw back, you become dark and are counted among the children of darkness (cf 1 Thes 5:5). …

“Believe the works, so that you may realise and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father.” The Son of God does not say “the Father is in Me and I in the Father” in the same sense as we are able to do. In effect, if our thoughts are good, we are in God; if our lives are holy, God is in us. When we are sharers in His Grace and enlightened by His Light, then we are in Him and He in us. But … recognise what is proper to the Lord and what is a gift made to His servant. What is proper to the Lord is His equality with the Father but the gift granted to His servant is to participate in the Saviour.

“Then they tried to seize Him.” If only they had seized Him! But by faith and intellect, not so as to mock and put Him to death! At this very moment, as I speak to you … all of us, both you and I, are wanting to seize Christ. To ‘seize’ what does that mean? You have ‘seized’ when you have understood. But Christ’s enemies were looking for something different. You have seized in order to possess but they wanted to seize Him in order to get rid of Him! And because this was how they wanted to seize Him, what does Jesus do? “He escaped from their power.” They were unable to seize Him because they did not have the hands of faith. … We truly seize Christ, if our minds grasp the Word!” – (Sermons on the Gospel of John No 48: 9-11).

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on SIN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 20 March – ‘ … But, we are able to fall from His Hands, if we are negligent!’

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One Minute Reflection – 20 March – “The Month of St Joseph” – Wednesday in Passion Week – Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-19, 25; John 10:22-38 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And I give them everlasting life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My Hand.” – John 10:28

REFLECTION – “For “no-one snatches us away from His Hands,” according to what was said in the Gospel according to John.
Yet, it is not written, that just as no-one snatches us away, no-one also falls from His Hands.
For one who is self-determined is free.
And, I say, no-one will snatch us away from the Hand of God, no-one can take us.
But, we are able to fall from His Hands, if we are negligent!” – Origen (c 185-253) Priest, Theologian, Exegist, Writer, Apologist, Father (Homilies on Jeremiah, 18).

PRAYER – In Thy mercy, O Lord, may this hallowing fast enlighten the hearts of Thy faithful people and since Thou have given them the desire to serve Thee, lend a gracious ear to their prayers.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 HYMNS, MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS TO St Joseph, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, St JOSEPH

Our Morning Offering – 20 March – Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!

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Our Morning Offering – 20 March – “The Month of St Joseph” – Wednesday, St Joseph’s Day

Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!
By Father Frederick William Faber CO (1814-1863)

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Chaste spouse of Mary hail!
Pure as the lily flow’r
In Eden’s peaceful vale.
Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Prince of the house of God!
May His best graces be
By thy sweet hands bestowed.

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Comrade of Angels, hail!
Cheer thou the hearts that faint,
And guide the steps that fail.
Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
God’s choice wert thou alone!
To thee the Word made flesh,
Was subject as a Son.

Hail, holy Joseph, hail!
Teach us our flesh to tame
And, Mary, keep the hearts
That love thy husband’s name.
Mother of Jesus! bless,
And bless, ye Saints on high,
All meek and simple souls
That to Saint Joseph cry.
Amen

Posted in For RAIN OR Against RAIN, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 20 March – St Guillermo de Peñacorada (Died c1042) Abbot

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Saint of the Day – 20 March – St Guillermo de Peñacorada (Died c1042) Abbot, Miracle-worker. Patronage – Cistierna, Spain and he is invoked for rain in times of drought and he regularly proves his worth, bringing rain whenever needed. Also known as – Guglielmo, William.

We have no information regarding the early life of our Saint today. He became a Monk in the Cluniac Monastery of Satagún in the Province of León in Spain.

In 988 he fled with the other Monks from the horrors of the Almanzor invasion. They initially took refuge in a grotto on the southern slopes of Peñacorada, near Cistierna. This rough Hermitage became a pilgrimage site and remains so today. Below is an image of the Hermitage of Saint Guillermo, which is attended by devotees throughout the year.

After quite a long period in the Grotto, Guillermo and his Friars accepted the hospitality of the Augustinian Abbey near the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Velilla, in the northern area of ​​Peñacorada. There, after some time, he was elected Abbot and governed with great foresight.

Upon his death he was proclaimed a Saint and immediately afterwards the Monastery was solemnly renamed in his honour.

In the year 1281, the Monastery of St Guillermo de Peñacorada was annexed by King Sancho IV to the Cathedral of León.

Postage Stamp featuring St Guillermo

His Relics are located in La Mata de Monteagudo and lhe is remembered and celebrated on 20 March.

Posted in DOMINICAN OP, MARIAN TITLES, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Wednesday in Passion Week, Our Lady of Calevourt, Belgium (1454), St Photina & Companions, St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and the Saints for 20 March

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Wednesday in Passion Week – FAST

Our Lady of Calevourt, near Brussels, Belgium (1454) – 20 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/20/our-lady-of-calevourt-near-brussels-belgium-1454-and-memorials-of-the-saints-20-march/

St Photina & Companions / Martyrs of Rome – 9+ Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together in the persecutions of Nero. We know nothing else about them but the names Photina, Sebastian and Victor, Anatolius, Cyriaca, Joseph, Parasceve, Photis.

St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (c634-687) “The Wonder-Worker of England,” Bishop of Lindisfarne, Monk, Hermit, Miracle-worker.
St Cuthbert’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/20/saint-of-the-day-20-march-saint-cuthbert-of-lindisfarne-c-634-687-the-wonder-worker-of-england/

Blessed Ambrose Sansedoni of Siena OP (1220-1287) Priest and Friar of the Order of Preachers, Preachers, Confessor, Mystic, a powerful and convincing Preacher employed by various Popes as a Diplomatic Peacemaker and that which seems opposed, as a Preacher of the Crusades, Peacemaker. A fellow student with St Thomas Aquinas under St Albert Magnus.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/20/saint-of-the-day-19march-blessed-ambrose-sansedoni-of-siena-op-1220-1287-priest/

Anastasius XVI
Archippus of Colossi
St Benignus of Flay
St Cathcan of Rath-derthaighe
St Clement of Ireland

St Guillermo de Peñacorada (Died c1042) Abbot
St Herbert of Derwenwater
Bl Hippolytus Galantini
Bl Jeanne Veron
Bl John Baptist Spagnuolo
St John Nepomucene
St John Sergius

St Martin of Braga (c520–580) Archbishop, Monk, Missionary, Monastic Founder, prolific Ecclesiastical Writer.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/03/20/saint-of-the-day-20-march-st-martin-of-braga-c-520-580/

St Nicetas of Apollonias
St Remigius of Strasbourg
St Tertricus of Langres
St Urbitius of Metz

St Wulfram of Sens (c640-c 703) Archbishop of Sens, France and Confessor, Missionary, Miracle-worker.
Patronages – Abbeville, France, against the dangers of the sea/of sailors, childbirth and young children.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/20/saint-of-the-day-20-march-saint-wulfram-of-sens-c-640-c-703/

Martyrs of Amisus – 8 Saints: A group of Christian women Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. The only details we have are eight of their names – Alexandra, Caldia, Derphuta, Euphemia, Euphrasia, Juliana, Matrona and Theodosia. They were burned to death c 300 in Amisus, Paphlagonia (modern Samsun, Turkey).

Martyrs of San Saba – 20 Saints: Twenty monks who were Martyred together in their monastery by invading Saracens. They were Martyred in 797 when they were burned inside the San Sabas monastery in Palestine.

Martyrs of Syria – 3+ Saints: A group of Christians who were Martyred together in Syria. We know nothing else about them but the names Cyril, Eugene and Paul.