Day: May 31, 2024

Posted in GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, JESUIT SJ, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 31 May – What Humility is Not!

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Thought for the Day – 31 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Chapter Five
What Humility is Not!

We are inclined, sometimes, to aim at a false humility and so to be hindered in our attainment of true humility. We must be on our guard against errors in this regard.

Humility does NOT consist in shutting our eyes to the talents, ability, graces and accomplishments which we possess. To do so is to refuse to acknowledge the good gifts which God has given us. If we have skill in music, in conversation, in painting, in languages, it is no humility to deny the fact. We ought to thank God for His goodness in bestowing upon us this talent. What is contrary to humility is to take the credit to ourselves and to plume ourselves on what we have received from God.

Humility does NOT consist in self-depreciation and in running ourselves down before others. This is often a cloak for pride. Sometimes its object is to obtain, from others, the praise we deny to
ourselves; sometimes it is a marked expression of discontent. The continual song, “What a poor worm I am!” is very much opposed to the spirit of the Catholic Church and to the cheerfulness which every Christian ought to show in his words.

Nor does humility consist in, or even admit of discouragement. If we are discouraged, it generally means that we think more about our own success than about the glory of God. It means that we are not perfectly resigned; it means that our pride is wounded and our self-will thwarted, or that we have worldly motives in what we do and seek honour from men and not from God. True humility is willing to fail in its projects, if God so wills it.
Examine yourself on these particulars and see whether yours is true or false humility!?

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, St Francis de Sales, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 31 May – Corpus Christi

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Quote/s of the Day – 31 May – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi

“He who eats My Flesh
and drinks My Blood,
abides in Me and I in him. ”

John 6:57

“The Saviour has instituted
the most glorious Sacrament
of the Eucharist,
which truly contains His Body and His Blood,
so that, whoever eats it will live forever.
Therefore, those who receive it frequently,
with devotion, strengthen their spiritual life
and well-being, to such an extent,
that it is almost impossible for them
to be poisoned by any kind of evil attachment.”

(Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 20)

“I often speak with my Teacher, Jesus,
in the Blessed Sacrament
because I learn from Him.
Jesus is the Teacher of the science of holiness.
I go to Him because I would like to learn,
from Him, how to become a Saint.
Of what use to me is all knowledge
and education, if I do not become holy?”

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

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the JUDGE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HOLY COMMUNION, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on ENEMIES, QUOTES on JUSTICE, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The HOLY NAME, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 31 May – Christ has hidden enemies.

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One Minute Reflection – 31 May – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi – Mamorial of St Petronilla of Rome (1st Century) Virgin Martyr – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“ … For he who eats and drinks unworthily, … eats and drinks judgement upon himself.”- 1 Corinthians 29

REFLECTION – “Christ has hidden enemies. All those who live unjust and irreligious lives are Christ’s enemies, even if they are signed with His Name and are called ‘Christians’ – I mean the ones to whom he is going to say, “I do not know you” and they say to Him, “Lord, in Thy Name we ate and drank. In Thy Name, we performed many deeds of power. What did we eat and drink in Thy Name?”

You see that they did not value their food very highly and yet, it was with reference to It that they said they belonged to Christ. Christ is the Food that is eaten and drunk. Even Christ’s enemies eat and drink Him! The faithful know the Lamb without spot on which they feed, if only they fed on It in such a way that they are not liable to punishment! The Apostle says, “Whoever eats and drinks unworthily, is eating and drinking judgement upon himself.” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (Sermon 308).

PRAYER – Graciously hear us, O God our Saviour, that as we rejoice in the festival of blessed Petronilla, Thy Virgin, so may we be nourished by the food of her heavenly teaching that we may be enlightened by the fervour of her dedicated holiness.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 DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN PRAYERS, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, MAY - The Blessed Virgin MARY'S MONTH, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS

Our Morning Offering – 31 May – My Most Sorrowful LadyBy St Anselm (

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Our Morning Offering – 31 May – “The Month of the Most Blessed Virgin Mother” and as it is Friday, we remember the Passion of Our Lord

My Most Sorrowful Lady
By St Anselm (1033-1109)
Marian Doctor
Magnificent Doctor

My most sorrowful Lady,
what can I say about the fountains,
that flowed from your most pure eyes,
when you saw your only Son before you,
bound, beaten and suffering?
What do I know of the flood,
that drenched your matchless face,
when you beheld your Son,
your Lord and your God,
stretched on the Cross without guilt,
when the flesh of your flesh,
was cruelly butchered by wicked me?
How can I judge
what sobs troubled your most pure breast
when you heard,
“Woman, behold your son,”
and the disciple,
“Behold, your Mother,”
when you received, as a son,
the disciple, in place of the Master,
the servant, for the Lord?
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 31 May – Blessed Hermann of Marienstatt O.Cist. (1150-c1225) Abbot

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Saint of the Day – 31 May – Blessed Hermann of Marienstatt O.Cist. (1150-c1225) Cistercian Monk and Abbot of the Himmerod Abbey; founding Abbot of Heisterbach and Marienstatt Monasteries, Hermann was a zealous and powerful administrator, blessed with the gifts of prophecy, visions and miracles, Born in 1150 in the Rhineland (in modern Germany) and died in c1225 in Himmerod, Germany of natural causes.

Hermann is mentioned as Abbot for the last time in 1225. Soon after, he seems to have lived as a simple Monk in Himmerod, where he died around that time. In the Cistercian Order’s calendar, the commemoration (memoria) of “the Blessed Abbot Hermann, who laid the foundations of Marienstatt and who was famous for his gift of prophecy and also for many other miraculous signs” is recorded on 31 May.

Hermann von Marienstatt , depiction from the Baroque period, Marienstatt Abbey

Hermann von Marienstatt was born in 1150 into a noble Rhenish family (Rhenish meaning ‘of the Rhine’). He was initially a Canon at the St Cassius and Florentius Monastery in Bonn but , in around 1175, he joined the Cistercian Abbey of Himmerod.

When, in 1177, the Archbishop of Cologne, Philipp von Heinsberg, offered the Cistercians the property of a defunct Augustinian Canonry on the Stromberg – today’s Petersberg in the Siebengebirge – as a donation, Monks from Himmerod, led by Hermann as founding Abbot, more than 10 years later, in 1189, finally complied and took over the former Monastery.

Due to the unfavourable mountain location, the Convent soon moved to the nearby valley of the Heisterbach (1192-1199), from which the new Abbey took the name Heisterbach. From 1195, Abbot Hermann worked in Himmerod again. Endowments by Cologne Burgrave Eberhard von Aremberg and his wife Adelheid von Molsberg prompted Himmerod, together with its daughter Monastery, Heisterbach, to undertake one last founding action. In 1212, under the proven leadership of our Blessed Hermann, twelve Monks settled near Neunkhausen ‘at the place of St Maria’ – since then known as Marienstatt. Disputes over inheritance law within the founding family soon forced the abandonment of this site. Thanks to a new foundation by the Counts of Sayn the Cistercians were able to gain a foothold in the Westerwald again. In this context, Hermann is now also attested in Marienstatt documents.

A Cistercian Monk in front of the Heisterbach Monastery, depicted according to a reconstructed drawing around 1930, in the new Heisterbach Monastery Church

These events were later given legend on 27 December 1324.and recorded in writing, in the “Marienstatter Tafeln” the document for the Consecration of the Church. This iconographically valuable document is now in the Rheinisches Landes Museum in Bonn. Its border is decorated with fictitious portraits of the Abbots, beginning with Hermann.

The Cistercian Marienstatt Monastery in 2016

The text tells us that the Mother of God appeared to the worried Abbot in a dream and showed him an alternative building site, where a “hawthorn bush” blooms in the middle of winter. Its branch still adorns the Abbey’s Coat of Arms today, see below.

Hermann had to manage the founding of two Monasteries which were made difficult by geographical disadvantage, inheritance disputes and, in the case of Heisterbach, resistance from the population. When this happened, the Cistercian movement had already passed its peak in the area and was facing competition from new religious movements. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for Hermann’s resignation and retirement.

Pilgrims visiting Marienstatt
Posted in DOMINICAN OP, MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAY

Within the Corpus Christi Octave and the Saints for 31 May

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Within the Corpus Christi Octave

St Alexander of Auvergne

St Camilla Battista da Varano OSC (1458-1524) Virgin, Italian Princess, Poor Clare Nun and Abbess, Mystic, Spiritual Writer, Stigmatist. Both Saint Philip Neri and St Alphonsus Liguori recorded their admiration for her. On 8 April 1821 Pope Leo XIII approved the acts of the process for her Canonisation. She was Beatified by Pope Gregory XVI on 7 April 1843, following recognition of her long-standing public cult. On 4 February 1893 her writings were also approved. On 17 October 2010 Pope Benedict XVI Canonised her, along with five others.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/05/31/saint-of-the-day-31-may-saint-camilla-battista-da-varano-osc-1458-1524/

St Crescentian of Sassari
St Donatian of Cirta
St Felice of Nicosia
St Galla of Auvergne
Blessed Hermann of Marienstatt O.Cist. (1150-c1225) Abbot
St Hermias of Comana

Blessed James Salomoni OP (1231-1314) Priest of the Order of Preachers, “Father of the Poor,” “Apostle of the Afflicted,” Miracle-worker graced with the ability to cure sickness. Patronages – cancer patients, of the sick.
He died on 31 May 1314, in his eighty-third year. His relics now lie in the Basilica of Sts John and Paul in Venice. Devotion to Blessed James has been approved and encouraged by several Popes. In 1526 he was officiallt Beatified by Pope Clement VII
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/05/31/saint-of-the-day-31-may-blessed-james-salomoni-op-1231-1314-apostle-of-the-afflicted/

St Juan Moya Collado
Bl Kasper Gerarz
St Lupicinus of Verona
St Mancus of Cornwall
Bl Mariano of Roccacasale
St Mechtildis of Edelstetten
St Myrbad of Cornwall
Bl Nicholaus of Vangadizza
Bl Nicholaus of Vaucelles
St Nowa Mawaggali
St Paschasius of Rome

St Petronilla of Rome (1st Century) Virgin Martyr. Her Relics reside at Saint Peter’s Basilica Rome. Patronages – against fever, heirs of the Throne [Dauphins] of France, mountain travellers, treaties between Popes and Frankish Emperors, Acciano, Italy.
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/05/31/saint-of-the-day-31-may-st-petronilla-1st-century-virgin-martyr/

St Silvio of Toulouse
Bl Vitalis of Assisi
St Winnow of Cornwall

Martyrs of Aquileia – 3 Saints: Three young members of the imperial Roman nobility and who were raised in a palace and had Saint Protus of Aquileia as tutor and catechist. To escape the persecutions of Diocletian, the family sold their property and moved to Aquileia, Italy. However, the authorities there quickly ordered them to sacrifice to idols; they refused. Martyrs all – Cantianilla, Cantian and Cantius. They were beheaded in 304 at Aquae-Gradatae (modern San-Cantiano) just outside Aquileia, Italy.

Martyrs of Gerona – 29 Saints: A group of Christians Martyred together in Gerona, Catalonia, Spain, date unknown. No details about them have survived but the names – Agapia• Amelia• Castula• Cicilia• Donatus• Firmus• Fortunata• Gaullenus• Germanus• Honorius• Istialus• Justus• Lautica• Lupus •Maxima• Paulica• Rogate• Rogatus• Silvanus• Tecla• Teleforus• Tertula• Tertus• Victoria• Victurinus• Victurus.

Martyrs of the Via Aurelia – 4 Saints: Four Christians Martyred together. No information about them has survived except their names – Justa, Lupus, Tertulla and Thecla. The martyrdom occurred in 69 on the Via Aurelia near Rome,