Thought for the Day – 9 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
HUMILITY Meditations for a Month
The Attainment of Humility
Humility does not spring up in our souls of its own accord. On the contrary, every child of Adam has a deep root of pride within his soul. It is only by a long and painful process that the generality of mankind can attain humility. We cannot expect to become humble unless we fulfill the necessary conditions.
We must make many acts of humility before we can attain any proficiency in the virtue. Our acts of humility must consist, not merely in protesting to Almighty God that we are vile and worthless ,in His sight and in humbling ourselves before Him by reason of our many sins. Our acts of humility must be practiced towards others by being very gentle towards those who provoke us, by bearing contradictions with patience, by accepting disappointments with patience and rebuffs without complaint. All this is a gradual process and we must not expect proficiency in humility until we have long practiced these means to attain it.
We must pray for humility. No gift of God can be won without prayer and humility least of all because it is so opposed to the natural bent of our nature and, can never be had without a special grace from God. Prayer, moreover, is an acknowledgement of our dependence upon God,and humility consists in nothing else, than a recognition of this dependence and an acquiescence in it. Pray, then, for humility! It is not much use praying for humility unless we also pray for the means that are to implant it in our souls. We must ask God, from our hearts, not to spare us if He sees that we shall not become humble without suffering. We must leave ourselves in His Hands, saying only, “O my God, make me humble at any cost! Amen.”
Quote/s of the Day – 9 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and within the Octave of the Sacred Heart – Pentecost III
“Learn of the Heart of God in the Words of God, so that you may ardently long for eternal things.”
St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Great Father and Doctor of the Church
“In the Sacred Heart, there is the Symbol and the express Image of the Infinite Love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return.”
“And since, there is in the Sacred Heart, a symbol and a sensible image of the Infinite Love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love one another, therefore, is it fit and proper that we should consecrate ourselves to His most Sacred Heart – an act which is nothing else than an offering and a binding of oneself to Jesus Christ, seeing that whatever honour, veneration and love is given to this Divine Heart, is really and truly given to Christ Himself.”
Encyclical Annum Sacrum (1899)
“This Devotion, [to the Sacred Heart] which we recommend to all, will be profitable to all!”
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
“Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart is the extraordinary remedy for the extraordinary needs of our time.”
Pope Pius XI (1857-1939)
(1928)
“It is altogether impossible to enumerate the heavenly gifts which Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has poured out upon the souls of the faithful, purifying them, offering them heavenly strength, rousing them to the attainment of all virtues.”
(1956)
“His Heart is the natural Sign and Symbol of His boundless love for the human race.”
One Minute Reflection – 9 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and within the Octave of the Sacred Heart – Saints Primus and Felicianus (Died c304) Confessors, Brother Lay Martyrs – 1 Peter 5:6-11; Luke 15:1-10 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“ Rejoice with Me because I have found My sheep which was lost.” – Luke 15:6
REFLECTION – “When the time of mercy had come (Ps 101:14) the Good Shepherd came down from His Father’s side… as had been promised from all eternity. He came in search of the one sheep which had been lost. Promised to her from all eternity, He was sent to her in time; for her sake He was born and handed over, eternally predestined for her. She is unique, drawn from both Jews and Gentiles. .., present among all peoples; she is one in her mystery, many in persons, many through the flesh according to nature, one through the Spirit according to grace – in short, one single sheep, yet a crowd without number! …
As for those whom this Shepherd acknowledges as His Own: “No-one can snatch them out of His Hands” (Jn 10:28). For true Strength cannot be forced, Wisdom cannot be deceived, Charity cannot be destroyed, That is why He speaks with assurance, saying…: “I have lost none, Father, of all those Thou hast given me” (Jn 18:9)…
He was sent as Truth for the misled, Way for the straying, Life for the dead, Wisdom for the foolish, Medicine for the sick, Ransom for captives and Food for the starving. For all those, we might say, He was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24) that they might be lost no more. He was sent like the spirit into a rigid body, so that, at His coming, its members might become warm again and quicken with a new, supernatural and divine life – this is the first resurrection (Apoc 20:5). Thus, He Himself can say: “The hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the Voice of the Son of God and those who hear It will live” (Jn 5:25). And so He can say of His sheep: “They will hear My Voice and follow Me” (Jn 10:4-5).” – Blessed Isaac of Stella O.Cist. (c1100 – c1170) Cistercian Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher (Sermon 35; Second Sunday of Lent).
PRAYER – Grant O Lord, we pray, that we may ever honour the festival of thy holy Martyrs, Primus and Felicianus and Thy truth of the Church of Saints. 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).
Sweet Heart of my JESUS, Make me love Thee ever more and more! – 300 Days Indulgence Once a day, Plenary Once a month – Blessed Pope Pius IX – 26 November 1876
Our Morning Offering – 9 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Sunday Within the Octave of the Sacred Heart – Pentecost III
Prayer in Adoration of the Sacred Heart By St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) Visionary and Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God, Whom I believe to be really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, receive this most profound Act of Adoration to supply for the desire I have, to adore Thee unceasingly and in thanksgiving, for the sentiments of love which Thy Sacred Heart has for me in this Sacrament. I cannot better acknowledge them, than by offering Thee, all the Acts of Adoration, resignation, patience and love which this same Heart has made during its mortal life and which it makes still and which it shall make eternally in Heaven, in order that through it, I may love Thee, praise Thee and adore Thee worthily, as much as it is possible for me. I unite myself to this Divine Offering which Thou dost make to Thy Divine Father and I consecrate to Thee, my whole being, praying Thee, to destroy in me, all sin and not to permit that I should be separated from Thee, in time and eternally. Amen.
Saint of the Day – 9 June – Saint Maximian of Syracuse (Died 594) Bishop, Monk at St Gregory the Great’s Monastery in Rome and a close friend and collaborator with St Gregory in many instances and on many projects. Born in Sicily and died in 594 of natural causes at Syracuse, Sicily. Also known as – Massimiano.
The Roman Martyrology states: “In Syracuse, Saint Maximian, Bishop, of whom Saint Pope Gregory the Great often makes mention.”
Master of Portillo The Mass of Saint Gregory the Great (possibly the Bishop is our St Maximian)
Originally from Sicily (John the Deacon calls him Siculus), he became a Monk in Rome and after the death of Valenzione he was the second Abbot of the Monastery of St Andrew, Coelian Hill,, built before 583, by the noble Gregory (I believe it was built from St Gregory’s own ancestral home).
When St Gregory was sent by Pope Pelagius II as Papal Delegate to Constantinople to the Emperor Tiberius, Maximian joined him with some of his Monks. St Maximian seems to have prolonged St Gregory’s stay so much that the Pontiff wrote to Gregory to urge his return to Rome, as he was necessary to his Monastery and to the Apostolic See for an important matter. Upon returning, the following year, 585, after eight days of adventurous navigation in the Adriatic, the ship was shipwrecked in Crotone and Maximian, who had shown trust in God, was saved with all his companions.
When Gregory ascended to the Pontificate on 3 September 590, he chose some of his Monks, among them Maximian, to lead a monastic life in his palace which, according to John the Deacon, became “an ascetery of perfect virtue, a school of Ecclesiastical discipline, a Council of very wise government, so venerated in Rome and throughout the Church that anyone who did not have their papers in order, did not even dare appear, deeming it more appropriate to remain absent.”
In December 591, Maximian was already the Bishop of Syracuse. The Pope granted him the use of the Pallium and renewed the privileges of the ancient Bishopric; he also entrusted his representation over the entire Sicilian Church.
Vicar of the Pope and responding to his hopes, Maximian exercised a general supervision over Ecclesiastical discipline and affairs; he resolved the causes of lesser importance, referring the most difficult ones or those which he did not believe he could judge for himself, to the Pope.
Saint Gregory who, in entrusting him with these very broad powers, had minutely established the directives of Ecclesiastical politics in Sicily, addressed several letters to him and, in the end, showed himself pleased with what Maximian had done in just under three years in the vast territory of the Sicilian Island.
Even if the titles of “venerable, bishop of venerable memory” and “most holy” which often occur in the Epistolary of Saint Gregory, can obviously only be attributed a meaning of honour and respect, nevertheless the esteem which the Pope had for Maximian is evident from the expressions written in November 594 upon his death.
To the Deacon Cyprian, his rector in Sicily, the Pontiff wrote, expressing his great sorrow: “It is not Maximian who must mourn, having already flown to that eternal prize he so desired but these unhappy people of Syracuse ”. He let the Syracusans know that they “should keep in mind that another Maximian was not easy to find.”
An interesting aspect of Maximian’s activity was his collaboration with the St Gregory on the Memoirs relating to the Saints of Italy. Saint Gregory mentions it repeatedly; indeed, in 594, he would have liked to see him again, to know more distinctly, some edifying facts learned from St Maximian in the past, in order to insert them into the Dialogues. Our Saint Maximian, who was no longer able to travel to Rome, briefly and in writing, reported to Saint Gregory what he knew about Saint Nonnosus (c500-560) and some other Saints. Sadly for St Gregory, St Maximian was about to leave this earth and travel home.
St Felicianus and St Primus * (Died c304) Brothers, Confessors, Lay Martyrs. The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Rome, on Mount Caelius, the birthday of the holy Martyrs, Primus and Felician, under the Emperor Diocletian and Maximian. These glorious Martyrs lived long in the service of the Lord and endured sometimes together, sometimes separately, various cruel torments. They were finally beheaded by Promotus, Governor of Nomentum and thus happily ended their combat.” Their Lives and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2023/06/09/saints-of-the-day-9-june-saints-primus-and-felicianus-died-c304-martyrs-confessors/
St Alexander of Prusa St Arnulf of Velseca
St Baithen of Iona (c 536-c 599) Abbot, the first successor of St Columba of Iona. An Irish Monk, especially selected by St Columba, as one of the band of Missionaries who set sail for Scotland in 563. St Baithen of Iona is generally known as Baithen Mor, to distinguish him from eight other Saints of the same name — the affix mor meaning “the Great.” This holy man was closely related to the great St Columba. His Illustrious Life: https://anastpaul.com/2022/06/09/saint-of-the-day-9-june-st-baithen-of-iona-c-536-c-599/
St Comus of Scotland St Cumian of Bobbio St Cyrus Bl Diana d’Andalo OP St Diomedes of Tarsus St Julian of Mesopotamia St Luciano Verdejo Acuña St Maximian of Syracuse (Died 594) Bishop St Pelagia of Antioch St Primus * St Richard of Andria Bl Robert Salt Bl Sylvester Ventura St Valerius of Milan St Vincent of Agen
Martyrs of Arbil – 5 Saints: Five Nuns who were Martyred together in the persecutions of Tamsabur for refusing to renounce Christianity for sun-worship – Amai, Mariamne, Martha, Mary and Tecla. They were beheaded on 31 May 347 at Arbil, Assyria (in modern Kurdistan, Iraq).
AnaStpaul 
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