Day: July 26, 2024

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on JUDGING, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 26 July – Humility in Prayer

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Thought for the Day – 26 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humility in Prayer

We are all anxious that God should hear and grant our prayers. He is always ready to do so. The obstacles are always on our side and one of the chief of these is a want of humility.
If God resists the proud, He is not likely to hear their prayers; hence, one of the first prerequisites of ssuccess in my prayers, is that I should humble myself before God. Then and not until then, will my prayer reach the ears of the Most High.
“The prayer of him, who humbleth himself, pierces the clouds.”

One of the most dangerous forms of pride is a contempt for others and one which we maybe very prone to manifest, without realisng its ruinous effects upon our prayers.
When the self-complacent Pharisee thanked God that he was not like the poor publican, he probably was quite unconscious of the offensiveness of his prayer to God. Pride blinded him.
So it often blinds us and we little think that when in prayer, we secretly congratulate ourselves on being free from certain faults which we see in our neighbours and, all the while, we are displeasing God by thus harshly judging others! How would He hear our prayers unmder these conditions!

How are we to be humble in prayer?
We should be humble in prayer by dwelling upon our own miseries and the good points we see in those around us or which we should see, if our own pride did not make us blind to others’ superiority to us and, the fact that, the graces God has liberally bestowed upon us, make our ingratitude and our want of correspondence to them, all the more culpable!

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, franciscan OFM, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on Love of Self, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on TRUTH, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), QUOTES on WISDOM, The HEART, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli, The WILL of GOD

Quote/s of the Day – 26 July – Let us Pray!

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Quote/s of the Day – 26 July – St Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Grandmother of Jesus.

St Anne, through her constant prayer,
received, the Mother of God
and then, became the Grandmother of God!

“Let my prayer come
like incense before Thee, O Lord.”

Psalm 140:2

“Exercise your soul!
Use keeps metal brighter
but disuse produces rust.
… So “No-one lights a candle
and puts it under a bushel
but upon a candlestick
that it may give light.”
For of what use is wisdom, if it fails
to make those who hear it wise?”

St Clement of Alexandria (c150-c215)
Father of the Church

“God accepts our desires as though
they were of great value.
He longs ardently for us
to desire to and love Him.
He accepts our petitions for benefits,
as though we were doing Him a favour.
His joy in giving,
is greater than ours in receiving.
So let us not be apathetic in our asking,
nor set too narrow bounds to our requests;
nor ask for frivolous things
unworthy of God’s greatness.”

St Gregory Nazianzen (330-390)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“Arm yourself with prayer
instead of a sword;
be clothed with humility
instead of fine raiment.”

St Dominic OP (1170-1221)

“In prayer, the soul cleanses itself from sin,
charity is nourished,
faith is strengthened,
hope made secure;
the spirit rejoices,
the soul grows tender
and the heart is purified,
truth discovers itself,
temptation is overcome,
sadness takes to flight,
the senses are renewed,
failing virtue is made strong,
tepidity disappears,
the rust of sin is rubbed away.
In it are brought forth,
lively flashes of heavenly desires
and in these fires,
burns the flame of Divine love.
Great are the excellences of prayer,
great its privileges.
The heavens open before it
and unveil therein, their secrets
and to it, are the ears of God ever attentive.”

A Golden Treatise of Mental Prayer
Download the book, “A Golden Treatise of Mental Prayer”

St Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562)

“When you pray, let it be your intention
to will God’s Will alone and not your own,
as well in asking as in obtaining that is,
pray because God Wills you to pray
and desire to be heard, insofar and, no farther,
than He Wills. Your intention, in short,
should be to unite your will to the Will of God
and not to draw His Will to yours.
And this because, your will, being infected
and ruined by self-love, often errs
and knows not what to ask but the Divine Will,
being always united to ineffable goodness,
can never err.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, I BELIEVE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GREED, WEALTH, QUOTES on TRUTH, The HEART, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 26 July – The Treasure and The Pearl

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One Minute Reflection – 26 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood” – St Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Grandmother of Jesus.– Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Jesus said in parables: The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure, hidden in a field. … Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant seeking good pearls. ”- Matthew 13:44 and 45

REFLECTION – “The two parables of the treasure and the pearl, both teach us the same thing – we should prefer the Gospel before all earthly treasures. … However, there is something even more praiseworthy than this – we should delight to give it preference, joyfully, unhesitatingly. Let us never forget this, to abandon all else, so as to follow God, is to gain more, than one loses. The preaching of the Gospel is hidden in this world like a hidden treasure, a treasure without price.

To gain this treasure … two conditions are required – the forsaking of this world’s goods and a firm determination. For, it is a question “of a merchant searching for fine pearls, when he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” This one pearl is Truth and Truth is one, it is not divided. Do you possess a pearl? Then you know your wealth, it is clenched in the palm of your hand, no-one is aware of your fortune.

So it is with the Gospel, if you embrace it with faith, if it remains enclosed in your heart, what a treasure you have You alone know it is there. Unbelievers, who know neither what it is nor what value it has, have no idea of your incredible wealth!” – St John Chrysostom (347-407) Bishop of Constantinople, Father and Doctor of the Church (Homilies on Saint Matthew’s Gospel No 47:2).

PRAYER – O God, Who in Thy kindness gave blessed Anne the grace to be the mother of her, who Mothered Thy Only-begotten Son, graciously grant that we who keep her feast, maybe helped by her intercession with Thee. 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 BREVIARY Prayers, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS to the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 26 July – Holy Anne, Juda’s Glory

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Our Morning Offering – 26 July – St Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Grandmother of Jesus.

Holy Anne, Juda’s Glory
Unknown Author
Transl. Fr Edward Caswell CO (1814-1878)

Holy Anne, Juda’s glory,
⁠Through the Church from east to west
Every tongue proclaims thy praises,
⁠Holy Mary’s mother blest!

Saintly kings and priestly sires
⁠Blended in thy sacred line;
Thou in virtue all before thee
⁠Didst excel by grace divine.

Link’d in bonds of purest wedlock,
⁠Thine it was for us to bear,
By the favour of high Heaven,
⁠Our immortal Virgin star.

From thy stem in beauty budded
⁠Ancient Jesse’s mystic rod.
Earth from thee received the mother
⁠Of the eternal Son of God.

All the human race benighted
⁠In the depths of darkness lay,
“When in Anne it saw the dawning
⁠Of the long-expected day.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 26 July – Saint Austindus of Auch (c1000-1068) Archbishop

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Saint of the Day – 26 July – Saint Austindus of Auch (c1000-1068) Archbishop of Auch in Aquitaine, France, Reformer of the faithful, Defender of the Church and Restorer and Builder of Churches. He is the actual Founder of the Auchs Cathedral which was completed during the reign of 3 of his successors. Born in c1000 in Bordeaux, France and died in 1068 at Auch, Aquitaine of natural causes. Also known as – Ostent, Austinde. Additional Memorial – 25 September (Archdiocese of Auch, France.

St Austindus Bust and Relics in his Shrine at Auch Cathedral

Austindus became a Benedictine Monk at Saint Orens’ Abbey in Auch, then Abbot of the Monastery. He was elected as the Archbishop of Auch, shortly after the middle of the 11th Century, in place of Raymond Copa who was deposed for simony.

St Orens Abbey

A builder, he erected a Chapter House with Cloister, began a new Cathedral between 1064 and 1069. It was finally completed and consecrated in 1121. Austindus founded the Town of Nogaro and its Collegiate Church dedicated to St Nicholas.
“It was Saint-Austindus, Archbishop of Auch, who founded the Town on land sold to him by Guillaume Raymond Nogaro. He wanted to hold his Councils there. Austindus had a Church built dedicated to Saint Nicholas which he Consecrated in 1060 in the midst of a large crowd of people, lords and dignitaries who had come from all over Gascony. He very quickly equipped it with a Collegiate Church and established a College of Canons and Canonesses there.” ( History of the Town – Nogaro in Armagnac)

A reformer, he had the Rule of Cluny adopted, reinstated the abolished Bishoprics of Gascony, and directed Councils and Synods.

A defender, the struggles between the Frankish Princes and the Princes of Armagnac and Gascony, had repercussions on the rights of the Church which Austindus had to defend against the encroachments of the lords. We have his signature and notes on this matter, during a Council in Jacca in Spain. But this fight against lay usurpers forced him to take refuge in Rheims for two years. He returned to his Diocese and died shortly after a Synod, in 1068.

St Nicholas Church in the Town of Nogaro both Town and Church founded and built by St Austindus
Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Feast of St Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Madonna del Faggio / Our Lady of the Beech Tree, Castelluccio, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy (1672) and Memorials of the Saints – 26 July

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St Anne – Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Grandmother of Jesus.
The name Anne from the Hebrew commonly believed to mean “grace” but St Augustine says (City of God) that it in fact means ,“by the grace of God.”
Patronages – against poverty, against sterility or infertility, broommakers, cabinetmakers, carpenters,of childless couples, equestrians, expectant mothers and mothers, childbirth, grandmothers, grandparents, housewives, lace makers, lost articles, miners, old-clothes dealers, the poor,, seamstresses, stablemen, turners, Canada, France, Micmaqs, 4 Diocese, 18 Cities.
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/saints-of-the-day-26-july-sts-joachim-and-anne-parents-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-grandparents-of-jesus/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/07/26/saint-of-the-day-26-july-st-anne-mother-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

Madonna del Faggio / Our Lady of the Beech Tree, Castelluccio, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy (1672) – 26 July, Ascension Thursday:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/26/madonna-del-faggio-our-lady-of-the-beech-tree-castelluccio-bologna-emilia-romagna-italy-1672-and-memorials-of-the-saints-26-july/

St Austindus of Auch (c1000-1068) Bishop

St Bartholomea Capitanio SCCG (1807-1833) Religious and the Co-Foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Lovere, Canonised in Rome by Pope Pius XII on 18 May 1950 together with St Vincenza Gerosa.
About:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/07/26/saint-of-the-day-26-july-saint-bartholomea-capitanio-sccg-1807-1833/

St Benigno of Malcestine
Bl Camilla Gentili
St Charus of Malcestine
Bl Edward Thwing
Bl Élisabeth-Thérèse de Consolin
St Erastus
Bl Évangéliste of Verona
St Exuperia the Martyr
Bl George Swallowell
St Gérontios
St Gothalm
St Hyacinth
Bl Hugh of Sassoferrato
Bl Jacques Netsetov
Bl John Ingram
St Joris
Bl Marie-Claire du Bac
Bl Marie-Madeleine Justamond
Bl Marie-Marguerite Bonnet
St Olympius the Tribune

St Parasceva of Rome (Died c180) Virgin Martyr, Confessor. Patronage – invoked against blindness, healer of the blind.
Her Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/07/26/saint-of-the-day-26-july-st-parasceva-of-rome-died-c-180-virgin-martyr/

St Pastor of Rome
Bl Pérégrin of Verona

Blessed Robert Nutter OP (c 1557-1600) Martyr, Priest of the Order of Preachers, Martyr of England.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/07/26/saint-of-the-day-26-july-blessed-robert-nutter-op-c-1557-1600-martyr/

St Simeon of Padolirone
St Symphronius the Slave
St Theodulus the Martyr
St Valens of Verona
Bl William Ward