Day: November 21, 2024

Posted in HOW to PRAY at ALL TIMES, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD

Thought for the Day – 21 November – Recollection

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 21 November – Meditations with Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) Bishop, Confessor, Most Zealous Doctor of the Church

“How to Pray at All Times”
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)

The Practice of Praying Constantly
Recollection
Excerpt from Chapter Five:4

“In order to keep yourself recollected and united to God, as far as the imperfections of human nature permit. endeavour, by means of that which you see and hear, to raise your mind to God and to recall the things of eternity,

For instance, when you see running water, reflect that your life is rushing on in like manner and taking you nearer to death. … When you see graves or the bodies of the dead, think of what will happen to yourself one day. When you see worldly people rejoicing in their wealth or distinction, have pity on their folly and say to yourself – For me, God is sufficient. Some trust in chariots, some in horses but we in the Name of the Lord (Ps 19:8). Let them glory, if they wish, in vanity. Be it mine to glory only in the grace of God and in His holy Love.

… When you look out over the ocean and see it now calm and tranquil and now lashed to fury by the winds, consider the difference there is between a soul in sin and a soul in the state of grace. When you see a tree which is withered, reflect on the fact that a soul without God is fit for nothing but to be cast into the fire. If you ever happen to see one who has been guilty of some great crime, trembling with shame and fear in the presence of his judge, or his father, or of his Bishop, consider what the terror of the sinner will be in the presence of Jesus Christ, his Judge. When thunder crashes through the . heavens and you grow alarmed, reflect how those miserable souls who are damned, tremble as they hear continually in hell, the thunders of the Divine wrath.”

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN QUOTES, QUOTES on HUMILITY, Quotes on SALVATION, The NATIVITY of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Quote/s of the Day – 21 November – The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Quote/s of the Day – 21 November – The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“In her, God spun a garment
with which to save us.”

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

“This fair olive-tree,
led to the temple
and, thenceforward planted
in the House of God
and cultivated by the Spirit,
she, as a fruitful olive-tree,
became the abode of all virtues.”

St John Damascene (675-749)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Give thanks to Almighty God
Who resists the proud
and gives grace to the humble
and offer Him all the glory
that this Maiden accorded to His Majesty
by her practice of the richest humility
during her childhood
and throughout the rest of her life.”

St John Eudes CO (1601-1680)

Posted in CHRIST the KING, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, GOD ALONE!, Hail MARY!, MARIAN TITLES, MOTHER of GOD, ONE Minute REFLECTION, Quotes on SALVATION, The ANNUNCIATION, The INCARNATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 21 November – ‘This woman will be the Mother of God, the door to Light, source of Life … ‘

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 21 November – The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Sir ach24:14-1, Luke 11:27-28 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Blessed is the womb that bore you” – Luke 11:27

REFLECTION – “This woman will be the Mother of God, the door to Light, source of Life; she will reduce to oblivion the judgement that weighed on Eve. “The rich among the people seek the face” of this woman, “the kings of the nations shall pay her homage” they shall “ offer gifts”…, yet the glory of the Mother of God is an interior glory: the fruit of her womb.

O woman, so worthy of love, thrice happy, “blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Daughter of David the king and Mother of God, King of the universe, masterpiece in whom the Creator rejoices… you are to be nature’s full achievement. For you, life is not yours; you were not born for yourself alone but your life is to be God’s. You came into the world for Him, you will serve for the salvation of all people, fulfilling God’s design established from the beginning: the Incarnation of the Word and our own divinisation. Your whole desire is to feed on the words of God, to be strengthened by their sap, like “a green olive tree in the house of God,” “like a tree planted by running water,” you are the “tree of life” who “yielded its fruit in due season”…

He Who is Infinite, Limitless, came to dwell in your womb; God, the Child Jesus, was nourished by your milk. You are the ever virginal Doorway of God; your hands hold your God; your lap is a throne raised up above the Cherubim… You are the wedding chamber of the Spirit, the “city of the living God, gladdened by the runlets of the stream”, that is to say, the waves of the Spirit’s gifts. You are “all fair, the Beloved” of God.” – St John Damascene (675-749) Monk, Theologian, Father and Doctor of the Church (Homily on the Nativity of the Virgin # 9).

PRAYER – O God, by Whose will the blessed Mary, ever Virgin, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, was on this day presented in the temple, grant, we beseech Thee, that by her intercession, we may be found worthy to be brought into the temple of Thy glory. 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 BREVIARY Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN HYMNS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN TITLES

Our Morning Offering – 21 November – Mary the Dawn, Christ the Perfect Day

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Our Morning Offering – 21 November – The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple

Mary the Dawn,
Christ the Perfect Day
By Fr Justin Mulcahy CP (1894-1981)
First Published in 1953

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;
Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!

Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine;
Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!

Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread;
Mary the stem, Christ the Rose Blood-red!

Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!

Mary the temple, Christ the Temple’s Lord;
Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!

Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven’s Rest;
Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!

Mary the mother, Christ the Mother’s Son
By all things blest while endless ages run.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY, St PAUL!, The WORD

Saint of the Day – 21 November – Saint Rufus (1st Century) Disciple of the Apostles

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Saint of the Day – 21 November – Saint Rufus (1st Century) Disciple of the Apostles, most particularly a disciple of St Paul, possibly later a Bishop. It is believed that Rufus was born in Rome and to have died there late in the 1st Century probably after St Peter and Paul.

St Paul preaching

Rufus was the disciple to whom Saint Paul sent a greeting and also to the Rufus’ mother (Romans 16:13). St Mark says in his Gospel (15:21) that Simon of Cyrene was the father of Rufus and as Mark wrote his Gospel most especially for the Roman Christians, this Rufus is probably the same as the one to whom Paul sent a salutation.

Simon of Cyrene carries the Cross

Tradition believes too that our St Rufus later served the Church as a Bishop.

St Paul says: “Salute Rufus, elect in the Lord and his mother and mine.” (Romans 16:13).

St Mark says: “And they forced one Simon a Cyrene, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up His Cross.” (Mark 15:21).

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple, La Pequeñita / Our Lady of Quinche, Ecuador (1586) and Memorials of the Saints – 21 November

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The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/11/21/the-presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/11/21/memorial-of-the-presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-21-november/

La Pequeñita / Our Lady of Quinche, Ecuador (1586) – 21 November – Patron of Ecuador:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/11/21/presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-our-lady-of-quinche-and-memorials-of-the-saints-21-november/

St Celsus the Martyr
St Clement the Martyr
St Demetrius of Ostia – Martyr. No other information has survived.
St Digain

St Pope Gelasius I (Died 496) Papal Ascension 1 March 492 until his death on 21 November 496 in Rome, Italy. Gelasius was learned Scholar and a prolific Author, Defender of orthodoxy and of the See of Peter. Zealous Apostle of the poor and needy and of the Majesty of the Liturgical Worship, including the discipline of Hymn and Prayer within his scholastic orbit of Author. The Feast of St Gelasius is kept on 21 November which is the anniversary of his Interment, although many writers give this as the day of his death which actually occurred on 19 November as stated above.
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Rorme, the birthday of St Gelasius, Pope, distinguished for learning and sanctity.”
His Zealous Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/11/21/saint-of-the-day-21-november-st-gelasius-i-died-496-bishop-of-rome/

St Heliodorus of Pamphylia
St Hilary of Vulturno
St Honorius of Ostia – Martyr. No other information has survived.

St Maurus of Cesena (Died 946) Bishop, Monk, Abbot. nephew of Pope John IX. Patronage – against blindness.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/11/21/saint-of-the-day-21-november-saint-maurus-of-cesena-died-946-bishop/

St Maurus of Porec
St Maurus of Verona
St Rufus (1st Century) Disciple of the Apostles especially of St Paul

Martyrs of Asta – 3 Saints: Three Christians Martyred together for their faith during the persecutions of Diocletian. The only details about them to survive are their names – Eutychius, Honorius and Stephen. They were Martyred in c300 at Asta, Andalusia, Spain.