Day: August 18, 2024

Posted in CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, GOD is LOVE, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING

Thought for the Day – 18 August – The Gratitude of Charity – “We love Him because He first Loved us”

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Thought for the Day – 18 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Gratitude of Charity
“We love Him because He first Loved us”

Perfect charity loves God for His Own sake, independently of any thought of ourselves. However, perfect charity, is preceded and accompanied by, a charity which has, at least, an indirect reference to ourselves. The love of God, first springs up within our hearts because, of the Love which He has shown to us. We think of all He has done for us and we recognise therein, a clear proof of His Love.
Love begets love and we cannot help being drawn towards One, Who has, thus gratuitously, manifested towards us, a charity to which we owe all which is really precious in our lives and all the good gifts we possess.
How then can we fail to be attracted towards Him, Who has shown such Love for us?

This love of gratitude, is not the same, as the love of concupiscence and, not the same, as the pure love of friendship. It most resembles the latter and always enters into it.
Without some sort of gratitude, friendship would be mere admiration; the personal element necessary to love, would be wanting. When a Saint dwells with rapture on the Divine perfections, there is always present to his mind, a remembrance of all God has done for him. Do I, with gratitude, ever recount to myself all God has done for me?

This element of charity is present in the charity of the Saints in Heaven. Their song will not only be, “We give Thee thanks because, Thou hast taken to Thyself, great glory and hast reigned” but also “because Thou hast redeemed us to God in Thine own Blood.”
The song, I must seek to sing in my heart, here on earth says, “Thanks to God, first for His great glory and then for His goodness and love to me.”

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CONSECRATION Prayers, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, INGRATITUDE, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 18 August – Gratitude … Ingratitude

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Quote/s of the Day – 18 August – Pentecost XIII – Galatians 3:16-22; Luke 17:11-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Were not ten made clean?
And where are the other nine?”

Luke 17:17

“While He is judged, Wisdom remains silent
and the Word says nothing.
His enemies despise and Crucify Him …
Those, to whom yesterday,
He gave His Body as food, watch from a distance
as He dies. Peter, the first of the Apostles,
is the first to flee. Andrew also took flight
and John, who rested at His side,
did not prevent the soldier from piercing that side
with a lance. The Twelve fled –
they did not say one word in His favour, they,
for whom He is giving His Life.
Lazarus is not there, he, whom He called back to life.
The blind man did not weep for Him
Who opened his eyes to the light
and the crippled man, who could walk
thanks to Him, did not run to Him.
Only a bandit who was crucified next to Him
confessed Him and called Him his King!
O thief, precocious blossom from the tree of the Cross, first fruit of the wood from Golgotha!””

St Ephrem (306-373)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“ For man’s lowliness,
is his gratitude
and, God’s greatness,
is His Mercy.”

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

Daily Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Prayers to the Sacred Heart
1936 – 15th Edition, Dublin

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
filled with infinite love,
broken by our ingratitude
and pierced by our sins,
yet loving us still,
accept the Consecration
we make to Thee,
of all that we are
and all that we have.
Take every faculty
of our souls and bodies,
only day by day
draw us, nearer and nearer
to Thy Sacred Heart,
and there, as we shall hear the lesson,
teach us Thy Holy Way.
Amen

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on THANKSGIVING, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 August – “Where are the other nine?” – Luke 17:17

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One Minute Reflection – 18 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Pentecost XIII –Within the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin – Galatians 3:16-22; Luke 17:11-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Where are the other nine?” – Luke 17:17

REFLECTION – “In our own day we see many people at prayer but, unfortunately, we see none of them turning back to give thanks to God … “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?” As I think you will remember, it was in these words that our Saviour complained about the lack of gratitude of the other nine lepers. We read that they knew well how to make “supplications, prayers, petitions” since they lifted up their voices, crying out: “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” But they lacked the fourth thing required by the Apostle Paul: “thanksgiving” (1Tm 2:1) for they did not turn back nor give thanks to God.

We see still more in our own day ,people who implore God for what they lack but a mere handful who seem to be grateful for the blessings they have received. There is no harm in imploring Him but what causes God not to grant our prayers, is His finding us lacking in gratitude. After all, perhaps it is even an act of mercy on His part, to hold back from the ungrateful, what they are asking for, so that they may not be judged all the more rigorously, on account of their ingratitude! … For, it is sometimes out of mercy that God holds back His mercy! …

So you see, not all those who are healed of the leprosy of this world, I mean their manifest complaints, profit by their cures. Indeed, many are secretly afflicted with an ulcer worse than leprosy, all the more dangerous, in that it is more interior. That is why it was correct that the Saviour of the world should ask, where the other nine lepers were, since sinners avoid cures. So, too, after his sin, God questioned the first man: “Where are you?” (Gn 3:9).” – St Bernard (1090-1153) Cistercian Abbot, Father and Doctor of the Church (Various sermons No 27).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servants and, forasmuch as by our own deeds, we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord. 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 CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, HOLY COMMUNION, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The PASSION

Our Morning Offering – 18 August – “Soul of My Saviour,

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Our Morning Offering – 18 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Pentecost XIII

Soul of My Saviour,
Sanctify My Breast
Trans. Attri. to Fr John Hegarty (1752-1834)

Soul of my Saviour,
sanctify my breast;
Body of Christ,
be Thou my saving Guest;
Blood of my Saviour,
bathe me in Thy tide;
Wash me with water
flowing from Thy side.

Strength and protection,
may Thy Passion be;
O Blessed Jesus, hear
and answer me;
Deep in Thy Wounds, Lord,
hide and shelter me;
So shall I never, never,
part from Thee.

Hear me, Lord Jesus,
listen as I pray;
“Lead me from night,
to never-ending day.
Fill all the world,
with love and grace Divine,
And glory, laud and praise,
be ever Thine.”

This Hymn is based on the original Latin text of the Anima Christi. Fr Hegarty is attributed with its translation and/or arrangement.
He was born in County Derry, Ireland, educated at Dublin University and was Ordained in June 1890 and spent most of active apostolic years in Brisbane, Australia. He died aged 82 years.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 18 August – Saint Firminus of Metz (Died c496) Bishop and Conmfessor

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Saint of the Day – 18 August – Saint Firminus of Metz (Died c496) Bishop and Conmfessor.

The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Metz, Firminus, Bishop and Confessor.”

Firminus was the 11th Bishop of Metz. In the official chronology of the Bishops of the Diocese, he succeeds Adelphus and precedes Leontius. His position was assigned by the oldest catalogue of the Bishops of the City, compiled around 776 and which has come down to us in the “Sacramentary” of Drogo,the Bishop of Metz between the years 823 and 855.

We know very little about our Saint today. Firminus is presumed to have been Greek in origin and that he governed the Diocese at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th Centuries.

He seems to have been the Bishop for fifteen years and to have died on 18 August, in an unspecified year. but is was probably just before the assent of the new Bishop, Leontius, hence we place his death in c496.

St Clements Church in Metz

His body was buried in the crypt of the Church of Saint Clement, the first Bishop of Metz. The stained glass window above resides in this Church too. His remains were transferred to the upper part of theChurch, where they were venerated until the end of the 18th Century. His Relics, after that time, as in many other cases, were destroyed by the satanic horrors and violent excesses of the French Revolutionaries.

The Feast of Saint Firminus, in the Proper of Metz is fixed on the 18 August.

The Church of St clemtn in Metz
Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Pentecost XIII, Within the Octave of the Assumption of Our Lady. St Helena (c 250 – c 330) and all the Saints for 18 August

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PENTECOST XIII

Within the Octave of the Assumption of Our Lady

St Agapitus the Martyr (c 259- c 274) Martyr, Roman Youth aged 15: Born in c259 in Palestrina, Italy and died in c 274 by being thrown to wild animals in the arena. When the animals would not touch him, he was beheaded at Palestrina, Italy.
His Short Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/08/18/saint-of-the-day-18-august-st-agapitus-the-martyr-c-259-c-274/

St Helena (c250 – c 330) Empress, Mother of Saint Constantine, Founder of the True Cross of Christ. 
St Helena’s Story:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/08/18/saint-of-the-day-18-august-st-helena-c%e2%80%89250-c-%e2%80%89330/

St Macarius the Wonder-Worker (Died 850) Monk, Abbot, Defender of Icons, Miracle worker
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/18/saint-of-the-day-18-august-saint-macarius-the-wonder-worker-died-850/

St Crispus of Rome
St Daig Maccairaill
Bl Domenico de Molinar
St Eonus of Arles
St Ernan
St Evan of Ayrshire
St Firminus of Metz (Died c496) Bishop and Conmfessor.
St Florus of Illyria
Bl Francis of Francavilla
Bl Gaspar di Salamanca
St Hermas of Rome
St John of Rome
St Juliana of Myra
St Juliana of Stobylum
St Laurus of Illyria
St Leo of Myra

Blessed Leonard of Cava (1232-1255) Abbot of the renowned Cava Monastery. An Administrator par excellence, a Peace-maker, a Monk devoted to the Rule of St Benedictine. He was known as a man of extraordinary gentleness and peace.
Blessed Leonard’s Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/08/18/saint-of-the-day-18-august-blessed-leonard-of-cava-1232-1255-abbot/

St Maximus of Illyria
Bl Milo of Fontenelle
St Polyaenus of Rome
St Proculus of Illyria

Blessed Rinaldo of Concorezzo (c1245 – 1321) Bishop of Vicenza from 1296 until his 1303 appointment as the Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia holding that until his death, Doctor of Canon Law, Papal envoy, Arbitrator and Peace-maker. Archbishop Rinaldo was also a close friend of Dante Alighieri.
His Courageous Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/08/18/saint-of-the-day-18-august-blessed-rinaldo-of-concorezzo-c-1245-1321/

St Ronan of Iona
St Serapion of Rome

Massa Candida: Also known as Martyrs of Utica and the White Company: Three hundred 3rd Century Christians at Carthage, who were ordered to burn incense to Jupiter or face death by fire. Martyrs. Saint Augustine of Hippo and the poet Prudentius wrote about them. They were forced to cast themselves into a pit of burning lime c 253 at Carthage, North Africa.