Thought for the Day – 19 August – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
CHARITY Meditations for a Month
Charity, Our Protection “Charity shall Cover a multitude of Sins”
One of the characteristics of charity is that it always looks to the bright side of things. It seeks to bring out all that is good in others while concealing their sins. It does not notice their sins. It does not allude to their sins unnecessarily, whether they are committed directly against man or against God. It has a happy knack of forgetting their sins or seeming to forget them. It covers their sins from the eyes of men and even seeks to obliterate them before God by the prayers it offers for the offender. Is this my spirit? Do I not rather cover the virtues of others and disclose their faults?!
In this respect, it is especially true that we shall be treated as we treat others. “With what judgement you judge, you shall be judged,” says our Lord. If we pass the severe sentence of harsh criticism onto others, our sentence will be severe. If we make little of their faults and much of their virtues, God will do the same to us. What utter folly to prepare for ourselves a harsh verdict at the tribunal of Christ, by our condemnation of others here below!
On the other hand, Charity shall cover a multitude of sins. If we have been always men of charity, it is wonderful how God will seem to have forgotten our many sins. The poor whom we have helped will pray for us, those whom we have comforted in sorrow, will say kind things on our behalf and our charitable judgeement of others, will find its counterpart in God’s judgement of us. Our sins will be concealed and disappear under the mantle of our charity. Is my charity such as this to cover my sins?
Quote/s of the Day – 19 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – the Feast St John Eudes (1601-1680) Confessor, “The Apostle of Two Hearts”
“Let us … give ourselves to God, … and beg Him to destroy in us, the life of the world of sin and to establish His Life within us.”
“Any innovation in matters of faith, is extremely harmful and injurious and utterly damnable!”
“A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ.”
One Minute Reflection – 19 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – St John Eudes (1601-1680) Confessor, “The Apostle of Two Hearts” – – Sirach 31:8-11; Luke 12:35-40 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“Blessed are those servants, whom the Master, on His return, shall find watching.” – Luke 12:37
REFLECTION – “It is now fitting we should consider the time of our Lord’s coming. He came, as you know, not in the beginning, nor in the midst of time but in the end of it. This was no unsuitable choice but a truly wise dispensation of Infinite Wisdom, Who, aware that the sons of Adam are inclined to ingratitude, ordained that He would not come to their aid, until they were in the greatest need.
Truly, “it was evening and the day was far spent” and the “Sun of Justice” had almost set (Lk 24:29; Mal 3:20); only a faint ray of its light and heat remained on earth. The Light of Divine knowledge was very small, and, as iniquity abounded, so the fervour of charity grew cold (Mt 24:12). No Angel appeared; no Prophet spoke. The angelic vision and the prophetic spirit alike, had passed away, both hopelessly baffled by the obduracy and obstinacy of humankind. Then, it was that the Son of God said: “Behold, I come” (Ps 39:8; Heb 10:7). And “while all things were in quiet silence and night was in the midst of its swift course, Thy Almighty Word leaped down from Heaven, from Thy Royal throne” (Wis 18:14-15). As the Apostle Paul says: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son” (Gal 4:4).” – St Bernard (1090-1153) Cistercian Abbot, Father and Doctor of the Church (Sermon 1 of Advent).
PRAYER – O God, Who wondrously enkindled St John, Thy Confessor, to promote the religious veneration of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and through him, willed to found new religious families in the Church, grant, we beseech Thee that we may honour his holy merits and may learn from the example of his virtues. 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).
Our Morning Offering – 19 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – Feast of St John Eudes (1601-1680) Confessor, “The Apostle of Two Hearts”
A Magnificat By St John Eudes (1601-1680) A Hymn of Praise and Thanksgiving to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Holy Heart of Mary
My soul doth magnify the admirable Heart of Jesus and Mary And my spirit rejoices in Thou great Heart. Jesus and Mary have given me their Heart, This immense Heart, in order that all in me May be performed in its love.
Infinite praise to them, for their ineffable gift. This Heart infinitely merciful, has done great things for me. It has possessed me from the womb of my mother. Infinite thanksgiving for Thou ineffable gifts.
The abyss of my misery has called on the abyss of His Mercy. Infinite thanksgiving for His ineffable gifts. This Heart infinitely meek has presented me With blessings of its sweetness. Infinite thanksgiving for His ineffable gifts. Amen
Saint of the Day – 19 August – St Donatus of Sisteron (Died 535) Priest, Confessor, Hermit, Miracle-worker. Born in Orleans, France and died in c535 of natural causes in Provence at the foot of Mount Lure. Also known as – Donatus of Mount Lure, Donato of… Additional Memorial – 18 August on some calendars.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “In the neighbourhood of Sisteron in France, the blessed St Donatus, Priest and Confessor. Being from his very infancy endowed with the grace of God in an extraordinary manner, he lived the life of an Anchorite for many years and after having been renowned for glorious miracles, he went to Christ.”
Donatus was originally from Orléans in France. After completing his sacred studies, he was Ordained a Deacon and then he was raised to the sacred Priesthood.
After undertaking a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Martin of Tours, seeking a more perfect imitation of a life of sanctity, he decided to settle alone in the vicinity of Sisteron, at the foot of Mount Lure.
Wonderful miracles surround his life. One of these involves a pagan called Celsus, who had persecuted the holy Hermit, converted because his daughter was miraculously cured by our Saint.
Donatus died around 535, assisted by his friend Marius, the Abbot of Val Benoit. The anniversary falls on 19 August.
A Benedictine Monastery was erected in the 12th Century on Mount Lure, near the Tomb of Saint-Donatus.
St Andrew the Tribune St Badulf of Ainay St Bertulf of Luxeuil St Calminius St Credan of Evesham St Donatus of Sisteron (Died 535) Priest, Hermit St Elaphius of Châlons St Guenninus Bl Guerricus
Blessed Jordan of Pisa OP (c 1255–1311) Dominican Friar, Theologian, Professor, renowned Preacher, Founder of the Confraternity of the Holy Redeemer at Pisa, Visionary, Marian devotee, promoter and daring innovator of the vernacular Italian language as a ‘church’ language and a tool for evangelisation. On 23 August 1833, Blessed Jordan’s cultus was confirmed by Pope Gregory XVI and in 1838 he was Beatified by Pope Gregory XVI. His Life: https://anastpaul.com/2019/08/19/saint-of-the-day-blessed-jordan-of-pisa-op-c-1255-1311/ St Julius of Rome
St Louis of Toulouse OFM (1274-1297) Prince and Bishop, Neapolitan Prince of the Capetian House of Anjou, Franciscan Friar and Priest, Apostle of Prayer, of Penance and of the poor and the sick. He had received the last sacraments on the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady and on the 19th of August, 1297, while pronouncing the holy name of Mary, he yielded his soul to God. Because of the many miracles that were wrought at his tomb, he was Canonised as early as 1317, during the lifetime of his mother. Lovely St Louis: https://anastpaul.com/2020/08/19/saint-of-the-day-19-august-saint-louis-of-toulouse-ofm-1274-1297-prince-and-bishop/St
St Magnus of Anagni St Magnus of Avignon St Magnus of Cuneo St Marianus of Entreaigues St Marinus of Besalu St Magino of Tarragona St Mochta St Namadia of Marsat St Rufinus of Mantua St Sarah the Matriarch St Sebaldus St Thecla of Caesarea St Timothy of Gaza
Blessed Urban II (1042–1099) Bishop of Rome, Abbot, Confessor – after 1969 his Feast was moved to 29 July. The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Rome, Blessed Urban II, Pope, who followed in the footsteps of St Gregory VII, in his zeal for learning and religion and fired the Crusaders with enthusiasm for the recovery of the holy places in Palestine, from the power of the infidels. The veneration paid to him from time immemorial Pope Leo XIII, approved and confirmed.” Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/07/29/saint-of-the-day-29-july-blessed-pope-urban-ii-c-1035-1099-bishop/
Martyrs of Nagasaki – 15 Beati: A group of missionaries and their laymen supporters who were executed for spreading Christianity in Japan. They are: Antonius Yamada, Bartholomaeus Mohyoe, Iacobus Matsuo Denji, Ioachim Díaz Hirayama, Ioannes Miyazaki Soemon, Ioannes Nagata Matashichi, Ioannes Yago, Laurentius Ikegami Rokusuke, Leo Sukeemon, Ludovic Frarijn, Marcus , kenoshita Shin’emon, Michaël Díaz Hori, Paulus Sankichi, Pedro de Zúñiga, Thomas Koyanag., They were beheaded on 19 August 1622 at Nagasaki, Japan and Beatified , 7 May 1867 by Pope Pius IX.
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