Day: August 23, 2024

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, PREPARATION for DEATH

Thought for the Day – 23 August – Preparation for Death by St Alphonsus de Liguori

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 23 August – Meditations with Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Bishop, Confessor, Most Zealous Doctor of the Church
Today we begin that which frightens us all but which is very necessary for our salvation. Some of our fellow pilgrims have requested help on this subject and I do not think we can do much better,than calling on St Alphonsus for assistance.
“Preparation for Death” was published in English in 1869. Here we will extract and abridge slightly where necessary, always indicating any such abridgements. To mention that there are 2 versions of this great Treatise available online – one is that which we are using taken from the original publication. Be warned, however, there is another which has been published with the inclusion of an Editor’s opinions, thus no longer retaining the truth of the words of St Alphonsus.
The Book contains 34 Chapters and we begin below with an Extract from St Alphonsus’ Preface.

“Preparation for Death”
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)

PREFACE
Part One

The object of the present Treatise is expressed by a passage which is to be met with in one of the Epistles of St Fulgentius (c462 – 533), on the subject of prayer:
“Compunction of soul excites an affection for prayer; humble prayer obtains the Divine assistance.
Compunction of soul, leads it to regard its wounds but prayer, earnestly demands the medicine for its healing. And who is sufficient for these things?
For who can pray as he ought, unless the Divine Physician Himself, pours into the heart the beginning of spiritual desire.”

. It will be seen that the following Manual of Devotion
consists of a series of chapters or instructions, upon important points of Christian teaching which are called “Considerations”
These Considerations are written for the purpose of pricking or of wounding the conscience, it maybe in many points, that so, it may, be thoroughly aroused and awakened, of exciting, that is, compunction of the soul, real remorse of conscience for past, as well as, for present coldness and dryness. It must be a very hard heart, indeed, which is not moved by these “Considerations” so touchingly simple are they, so plain and so wholly true.
They deal with such doctrines and facts, as have an universal application which admit of no dispute and which are always confirmed by some passage from Holy Scripture. It must be allowed, on all hands that it is necessary for the soul to be aroused, to feel its own needs, to regard its own wounds that so it may be directed to a source whence these needscan be supplied and these wounds be healed.

One great aim of this Treatise, is to arouse, as well as to direct the mind, to lead it to consider its own wants and to see, by prayer, to have those wants supplied.
The book is essentially a guide to prayer.
It represents, from its beginning to its end, the continual outpouring of heart before God –an outpouring which is ofttimes expressed in the very same words which imply, at the same time, a new phase of thought.

Posted in AUGUSTINIANS OSA, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on WORK/LABOUR, St JOHN the BAPTIST, The HEART, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WILL of GOD, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 23 August – Our hearts were made for Thee, O God!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 23 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – – 1 Corinthians. 4:9-14; Luke 12:32-34 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Sell what you possess and give alms.
Make for yourselves purses
which do not grow old,
a treasure unfailing in Heaven,
where neither thief draws near,
nor moth destroys.”

Luke 12:33

“For where your treasure is,
there also will your heart be.”

Lukr 12:34

“Our hearts were made for Thee, O God
And restless must they be
Until, O God, this grace accord,
Until they rest in Thee!”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Where is the heart which loves?
On the thing it loves.
Therefore, where our love is,
there our heart is held captive.
It cannot leave it;
it cannot be lifted higher,
it cannot go either to the right
or the left; see, it is fixed.
Where the miser’s treasure is,
there is his heart and where our heart is,
there is our treasure.
And what is so deplorable is
that the things which hold us in servitude,
are, for the most part,
such unworthy things!”

St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)

Like St John the Baptist did –
“Prepare a path for God
so that He can enter your heart.”

St John Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719)

Almighty God, Open Thou My Heart
A Prayer for Guidance
By St Bede the Venerable (673-735)
Father and Doctor of the Church

ALMIGHTY God,
open Thou my heart
and enlighten me with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
to see those things which are well-pleasing to Thy will.
Direct my thoughts and understanding
to those things which it is proper to meditate upon
and to take in hand;
in such fashion, as by fitting character
and deeds, I might be found worthy
of the eternal joy of heavenly life.
Direct my acts to Thy commandments,
that I might, by labour
so unbrokenly study to bring them to fulfilment,
as to attain to an everlasting reward.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The BEATITUDES, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 August – “The heart.”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 23 August – “The Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” – St Philip Benizi OSM (1233-1285) Confessor – 1 Corinthians. 4:9-14; Luke 12:32-34 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be too.” – Luke 12:34

REFLECTION – “…If, therefore, you wash, by a good life, the filth which has been glued on your heart like plaster, the Divine Beauty will again shine forth in you. It is the same as happens in the case of iron. If freed from rust by a whetstone that which but a moment ago, was black will shine and glisten brightly in the sun. So it is too with the inner man which the Lord calls “the heart.” When he has scraped off the rustlike dirt which dank decay has caused to appear on his form, he will once more recover the likeness of the Archetype (Gn 1:27) and, be good. For what is like to the Good is certainly itself good.

Hence, if a man who is pure of heart sees himself, he sees in himself what he desires and thus, he becomes blessed because, when he looks at his own purity, he sees the Archetype in the image. To give an example. Although men, who see the sun in a mirror, do not gaze at the sky itself, yet they see the sun in the reflection of the mirror, no less than those who look at its very orb. So, He says, it is also with you. Even though you are too weak to perceive the Light itself, yet if you but return to the grace of the image with which you were informed from the beginning, you will have all you seek in yourselves.

…For the Godhead is purity, freedom from passion and separation from all evil. If, therefore, these things be in you, God is indeed in you. Hence, if your thought is without any alloy of evil, free from passion, arid alien from all stain, you are blessed because you are clear of sight.” – St Gregory of Nyssa (c335-395) Bishop, Father of the Church (Brother of St Basil the Great) (Sermons 6 sur les Béatitudes – on the Beatitudes 6).

PRAYER – O God, Who through St. Philip, Thy Confessor, gave us an outstanding example of humility, grant that Thy household may follow his example by scorning worldly prosperity and, ever seek the things of Heaven. 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).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 23 August – To Thee, O Master

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Our Morning Offering – 23 August

To Thee, O Master
Morning Offering
By St Macarius the Wonder-Worker (Died 850)

To Thee, O Master,
who loves all mankind
I hasten on rising from sleep.
By Thy mercy,
I go out to do Thy work
and I make my prayer to Thee.
Help me at all times and in all things.
Deliver me from every evil thing of this world
and from pursuit by the devil.
Save me and bring me to Thy eternal Kingdom,
For Thou art my Creator,
Thou inspire all good thoughts in me.
In Thee is all my hope
and to Thee I give glory,
now and forever.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 23 August – St Flavian of Autun (5th Century) Bishop

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 23 August – St Flavian of Autun (5th Century) Bishop of Autun in France. Also known as – Flavichonus, Flavinian, Flavius, Flaviano, Flavio.

Flavian was a Bishop of Autum who presumably lived in the 5th Century. In the chronology of the Bishops of the Diocese recorded in the 6rd Century, he was believed to be placed in the twelfth place, while recent studies places him in the twenty-second place after Saint Euphronius, historically attested in 475 and before Saint Pragmatius, documented in 517.

We know nothing about Saint Flavian, since the existence of this Bishop is attested only through his name. Most historians identify him with the Bishop of Autun, Flavichonus, remembered in the Life of Heptadius of Cervon, a contemporary of King Clovis.

In many texts he is believed to have governed the Diocese after the death of Saint Euphronius which occurred in the year 490.

The memory of Saint Flavian is remembered and celebrated, both in the Hieronymian Martyrology and in the Roman Martyrology on 23 August.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Vigil of St Bartholomew, St Philip Benizi OSM (1233-1285) Confessor, Notre-Dame de la Victoire de Valois / Our Lady of Victory of Valois, France (1328) and Memorials of the Saints – 23 August

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Vigil of St Bartholomew

St Philip Benizi OSM (1233-1285) Confessor, Co-Founder (one of the Seven Holy Founders of the Order of Servants of Mary) OSM, Servite Priest Genera\Superior, Reformer, Preacher, Medical Doctor. St Philip was Beatified on 8 October 1645 by Pope Innocent X and Canonised on 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X – he was the first Servite to be Canonised.
Born on15 August (Feast of the Assumption and the day that the Blessed Virgin appeared to the first of the Founders of the Servite Order) 1233 at district of Oltrarno, Florence, Italy -and died on 22 August (Octave of the Assumption i.e. the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) 1285 at Todi, Italy).
This Amazing Life:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/23/saint-of-the-day-23-august-st-philip-benezi/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/08/23/saint-of-the-day-23-august-st-philip-benizi-osm-1233-1285-confessor/

Notre-Dame de la Victoire de Valois / Our Lady of Victory of Valois, France (1328) – 23 August: The Feast of Our Lady of Victory of Valois concerns Our Lady’s intercession in the Battle of Cassel, which was fought between the French, under Philip of Valois and the Flemish near Mount Cassel on 23 August in the year 1328. Philip of Valois, or King Philip VI, “Philip the Fortunate,” was the King of France beginning that year until his death in 1350.
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/08/23/vigil-of-st-bartholomew-notre-dame-de-la-victoire-de-valois-our-lady-of-victory-of-valois-france-1328-and-memorials-of-the-saints-23-august/

St Abbondius of Rome
St Altigianus
St Apollinaris of Rheims
St Archelaus of Ostia
St Asterius of Aegea
St Claudius of Aegea
St Domnina of Aegea
St Eleazar of Lyons
St Eonagh
St Flavian of Autun (5th Century) Bishop
Bl Giacomo Bianconi of Mevania
St Hilarinus
St Ireneus of Rome
St Lupo of Novi
St Luppus

St Marcian of Saignon, France – Priest, Founder and the first Abbot of the Benedictine Abbaye Saint Eusebe, the Abbey of St Eusebius. Unfortunately we do not even know the year of his birth or of his death but we do know the day of death was 23 August.
The Little We Know of His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/08/23/saint-of-the-day-23-august-st-marcian-of-saignon-abbot/

St Maximus of Ostia
St Minervius of Lyons
St Neon of Aegea
St Quiriacus of Ostia
St Theonilla of Aegea
St Timothy of Rheims

St Tydfil (Died c480) Martyr of Wales, Confessor, Princess, Apostle of Mercy to the sick and the needy.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/08/23/saint-of-the-day-23-august-saint-tydfil-died-c-480-martyr-of-wales/

St Victor of Vita
St Zaccheus of Jerusalem

Martyrs of Agea – 4 Saints: A group of Christian brothers, Asterius, Claudius and Neon, denounced by their step-mother who were then tortured and Martyred in the persecutions of Pro-consul Lysias. They were crucified in 285 outside the walls of Aegea, Cilicia (in Asia Minor) and their bodies left for scavengers.