Day: January 16, 2025

Posted in CHRISTMASTIDE!, The DIVINE INFANT, The FLIGHT into EQYPT, The HOLY INFANCY

Thought for the Day – 16 January – “The Angel’s Warning”

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Thought for the Day – 16 January – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Meditations for Christmastide
“The Holy Infancy”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

“The Angel’s Warning”

One night when Joseph was peacefully sleeping in Bethlehem, an Angel’s voice aroused him from his slumbers and he saw before him ,one of the Messengers of the Most High, who said : “Arise and take the young Child and His Mother and fly into the land of Egypt, for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Hence observe:

+1. That God’s ways are so different from ours.
We should have expected that He would exert His Divine Power on behalf of His Only- Begotten Son and that Herod’s soldiers would be struck with blindness on the road, or would somehow fail to discover where Jesus was, or perhaps would come and fall prostrate at the Feet of the newborn King.
How different the course enjoined by the Angel! Apparently so clumsy a way of saving Jesus from His enemies!
Yet such are God’s ways – clumsy in the eyes of men. What strange presumption it is that I should criticise the Divine arrangements as I sometimes do – even now!

+2. That the conditions of safety seemed so unnecessarily difficult.
Why to Egypt – a pagan land, the very name of which was a synonym for bondage and misery. Was this the only way to preserve the Life of the Son of God?
To all this one answer – it was God’s Will and that was enough.

+3. But after all. it was but a vision of the night, perhaps a dream or a mere subjective fancy.
Could anything so wild and imprudent come from God To all this one answer again – I know the message came from God and I cannot and will not, evade the Divine command.

Posted in CATECHESIS, CONFESSION, CONFESSION/PENANCE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, GOD is LOVE, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN, St Francis de Sales, VENIAL SIN

Quote/s of the Day – 16 January – It shall be loosed also in Heaven …

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Quote/s of the Day – 16 January – 1 Peter 5:1-4, 10-11; Matthew 16:13-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth,
it shall be bound also in Heaven
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth,
it shall be loosed also in Heaven.”

Matthew 16:19

“But He still follows behind us and counsels us,
although we have despised Him,
He still does not cease to call us.
We turn our backs on His face, so to speak,
when we reject His Words,
when we trample His Commandments underfoot
but He, Who sees that we reject Him,
still calls out to us by His Commandments
and waits for us by His patience,
stands behind us and calls us back
when we have turned away.”

St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“We fight the monsters of Africa
in imagination
but, from lack of attention,
we allow ourselves, in reality,
to be killed by the little serpents
which lie in our way!”

(Intro to the Devout Life III:37)

“Do not content yourself
with confessing your venial sins
merely as to the fact
but accuse yourself too,
of the motive which induced you
to commit them.”

(Introduction to the Devout Life,
Part II, Chapter 19).

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

“Yet, after all it is the natural
and most suitable means of preparation.
It helps us to bring into subjection,
that lower nature which rebels against
the sovereignty of our King.
It detaches us from finding our satisfaction
in earthly things.
It is, in itself, an act of obedience to our King.
It renders us humble and teaches us
to put our necks under the yoke.
It saves us from being separated
from the Kingdom we are to share
by the long prison of Purgatory.
Learn from all this, to love penance!”

Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CONFESSION, CONFESSION/PENANCE, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 16 January – ‘ … Our God, … wants us to confess … in this world, so that we may not be ashamed … in the next. … ‘

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One Minute Reflection – 16 January – “The Month of the Holy Name of Jesus and the Holy Family” – Saint Pope Marcellus I (Died 309) – 1 Peter 5:1-4, 10-11; Matthew 16:13-19 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven.” – Matthew 16:19

REFLECTION – “For our wellbeing and salvation, all the Holy Scriptures warn us constantly and humbly, to confess our sins, not only before God but also before a holy and god-fearing man. This is what the Holy Ghost advises us to do through the mouth of James the Apostle: “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed” (5:16) … and the psalmist says: “I confess my faults to the Lord and Thou took away the guilt of my sin” (Ps 31:5).

We are always wounded by our sins and, in the same way, we should always have recourse to the medicine of Confession. For indeed, if God wants us to confess our sins, it is not because He would be unable to know what they are but because, the devil wants to find something of which to accuse us before the Judgement Seat of the Eternal Judge. That is why he would rather we thought more about excusing them than accusing ourselves of them. Our God, to the contrary, being good and merciful, wants us to confess them in this world, so that we may not be ashamed because of them in the next. So, if we confess them, then He, on His part, shows Himself to be merciful; if we acknowledge them, then He forgives … As for ourselves, my brethren, we are really your spiritual physicians, seeking with all concern to heal your souls.” – St Caesarius of Arles (470-543) Bishop, Father of the Church (Sermon to the laity No 59 ).

PRAYER – O Lord, we beseech Thee, graciously hear the prayers of Thy people, that we may be helped by the merits of blessed Marcellus, Thy Pope and Martyr, whose sufferings we celebrate. 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 DOCTORS of the Church, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR

Our Morning Offering – 16 January – My Most Sweet Lord

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Our Morning Offering – 16 January – “The Month of the Holy Name of Jesus and the Holy Family”

My Most Sweet Lord
Morning Offering
Of St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

My most sweet Lord,
I offer and consecrate to Thee.
this morning
all that I am and have –
my senses,
my thoughts,
my affections,
my desires,
my pleasures,
my inclinations,
my liberty.
In a word,
I place my whole body and soul
in Thy Hands.
Amen.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 16 January – Saint Melas (Died c385) Bishop

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Saint of the Day – 16 January – Saint Melas (Died c385) Bishop of Rhinocolura, between Egypt and Palestine. Born in his Diocese and died in exile in c385 of natural causes after many sufferings for the Church of Christ. Also known as – Melantius.

The Roman Martyrology states today : “At Rhinocorura in Egypt, in the reign of the Emperor Valens, the holy Bishop, Saint Melas, who rested in peace after suffering exile and other painful trials fothe Catholic Faith.”

The First Council of Ephesus

The City of Rhinocolura is known as an Episcopal Seat in Egypt (its Bishop, Ermogenes, had in fact participated in the Council of Ephesus).

Melas was a native of this City and became its Bishop in the second half of the 4th Century. We owe all that is known about his life to the Catholic Historian Sozomen, who praises his virtues.

The Emperor Valens (died 378) persecuted all the Bishops faithful to the faith of Nicaea, so Melas, having refused to adhere to the Arian doctrines, was a victim of the persecution and sent into exile. The Imperial Commissioners, arriving with an arrest warrant, found him in the Church busy cleaning the lamps. Having learned that they were looking for Bishop Melas, he introduced the Imperial envoys into his home and refreshed them before revealing his identity to them. Won over by Melas’s kindness, they gave him a chance to escape but he was too attached to the Holy and True Faith and too eager toconfess his conviction, to accept such a compromise and went into exile instead.

Sozomen speaks of Melas’ successor to the See of Rhinocolura, namely his brother Solon but the Historian does not provide any further information on Melas. Therefore, it is unknown whether, after the death of Valens, he was able to return from exile and be reinstated in his pastoral office.

Western Martyrologies have kept St Melas in their lists and St Melas is always venerated on the date of 16 January.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Nuestra Señora Refugio de los Pecadores / Our Lady Refuge of Sinners (Spain), St Pope Marcellus I (Died 309) Martyr and the Saints for 16 January

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Nuestra Señora Refugio de los Pecadores / Our Lady Refuge of Sinners (Spain) – 16 January:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/16/our-lady-refuge-of-sinners-spain-and-memorials-of-the-saints-16-january/

St Pope Marcellus I (Died 309) Martyr, Papal Ascension May-June 308
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/16/saint-of-the-day-16-january-saint-pope-marcellus-i-died-309/

St Berard and Companions (Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis) OFM

St Dana of Leuca
St Dunchaid O’Braoin
St Fulgentius of Ecija

St Fursey (Died c648) Irish Missionary Monk, Abbot who did much to establish Christianity in the British Isles and in France, Mystic, whose visions played a pivotal role in the Church’s developing understanding of life after death.
His Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/01/16/saint-of-the-day-16-january-saint-fursey-died-c-650/

Blessed Gonzalo de Amarante OP (1187-1259) Dominican Priest, Hermit, Marian Devotee. Beatified in 1560 by Pope Pius IV.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/01/16/saint-of-the-day-16-january-blessed-gonzalo-de-amarante-op-1187-1259/

St Henry of Coquet

St Honoratus of Arles (c350-c429) Bishop and Confessor, Monk and Abbot, Miracle-worker, Founder of the renowned Monaster at Lérins.
Holy Honoratus:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/01/16/saint-of-the-day-16-january-saint-honoratus-of-arles-c350-c429-bishop-and-confessor/

St Honoratus of Fondi Abbot
Bl James of Luino
St James of Tarentaise
Bl Joan of Bagno di Romagna
Bl Konrad II of Mondsee
St Leobazio
St Liberata of Pavia
St Melas (Died c385) Bishop of Rhinocolura and Confessor
St Otto of Morocco
St Peter of Morocco
St Priscilla of Rome
St Sigeberht of East Anglia

St Titian of Oderzo (Died 632) of Oderzo in Italy where he was born and Confessor, Defender of the True Faith against the heresy of the Arians, Miracle-worker.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/01/16/saint-of-the-day-16-january-saint-titian-of-oderzo-died-632-bishop-and-confessor/

St Triverius
St Valerius of Sorrento