Posted in QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SIN, The GREAT TRUTHS

Thought for the Day – 12 February – Man’s First Sin

Thought for the Day – 12 February – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Meditations on “The Great Truths”
From “The Devout Year
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

12th Day – Man’s First Sin

Pride is the beginning of all sin.
(Ecclus x:15)

+1. In Paradise before the Fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed a happiness beyond compare. They knew no pain, sickness, sorrow. They were created immaculate and adorned with a high degree of supernatural grace; they were exempt from all concupiscence; their lives passed in a continual round of unfailing delight; each evening God Himself, came to hold sweet converse with them.

+2. What was it which ruined their happiness?
The tempter came and suggested to Eve, a distrust of God, whispered into her ear, motives of disobedience. Eve listened and consented and in her heart, deliberately revolted against God.
Pride
brought with it concupiscence; she looked at the fruit which God had forbidden, took it, ate it, gave it to Adam. He also ate it and thus lost, for himself and all his posterity, the gift of original justice and all the graces and blessings which accompanied it.
One single sin ruined the world!
How ought I to dread and hate sin?!

+3. What was the history of this first sin?
The same as of every sin.
First the listening to the tempter’s voice then a jealousy of God, as of One Who interferes with our happiness; then, a positive revolt and undisguised pride and after this, every other sin, especially the indulgence of bodily appetite and depraved desires.
If I examine myself, I shall find that each sin I commit,
follows the same course.
Pray to avoid the first beginnings of sin.

Posted in "Follow Me", ADVENT QUOTES, CHRIST the JUDGE, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the BRIDEGROOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on TRUTH, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The SECOND COMING, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 12 February – ‘ … By the Cross, we put on Christ ‘ and Follow Him

Quote/s of the Day – 12 February – The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (1233) – Ecclesiasticus 44:1-15; Matthew 19:27-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

And everyone who has left house,
or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands
for My Name’s sake,
shall receive a hundredfold
and shall possess life everlasting.

Matthew 19:29

He Who is immortal, voluntarily shed His Blood.
He Who created the Host of Angels,
was bound at the hands of soldiers
and He Who is to judge the living and the dead,
was dragged to justice (cf. Acts 10:42; 2 Tm 4:1).
Truth was exposed to false witnesses,
was slandered, struck, covered with spittle,
hung on the Wood of the Cross –
the Lord of Glory (cf. 1 Cor 2:8)
endured every outrage and suffering
without Himself needing these trials. …

So, there is nothing surprising about it,
if we submit to even one of these trials,
since such is our condition …
Therefore, we too have to be offended and tempted,
afflicted by the cutting off of our wills
!”
(Catecheses 1)

By the Cross, death was slain
and Adam was restored to life.
The Cross is the glory of all the Apostles,
the Crown of the Martyrs,
the Sanctification of the Saints.
By the Cross, we put on Christ
and cast aside our former self.
By the Cross we, the sheep of Christ,
have been gathered into one flock,
destined for the Sheepfold of Heaven.

St Theodore the Studite (759-826)
Abbot, Confessor, Father of the Church

It is only right, my brothers,
to celebrate our Lord’s Coming
with all possible devotion,
so greatly does His comfort gladden us…
and His love burn within us.
But do not just think about His First Coming,
when He Came “to seek and save the lost” (Lk 19:10);
think, too, of that other Coming,
when He will come to take us with Him.
I should like to see you constantly
occupied in meditating on these two Comings…
for they are the two arms of the Bridegroom 
…”

St Bernard (1091-1153)
Mellifluous Doctor of the Church

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 12 February – ‘ … In exchange for her rags and ashes …’

One Minute Reflection – 12 February – “The Month of the Blessed Trinity” – The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (1233) – Ecclesiasticus 44:1-15; Matthew 19:27-29 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“At that time, Peter said to Jesus: Behold we have left all things and have followed Thee: what, therefore, shall we have? ” – Matthew 19:27

REFLECTION – “For forty years, to use the analogy made by Saint Paul (1 Cor 9:24), Clare had now run the race in the stadium of very great poverty. She was drawing close to the goal of her heavenly vocation and, to the reward promised to the victor … Divine Providence hastened to fulfil what it had in mind for Clare – Christ desired to bring His little, poor one into His Royal Palace at the close of her pilgrimage. She, on her part, longed with all the impulse of her desire … to behold, reigning on high in His Glory, the Christ Whose poverty she had imitated on earth …

All her daughters had gathered around their mother’s bed … Then, speaking to herself, Claire said to her soul: “Go in all safety; you have a good Guide for the road. Go, for He Who created you, has also sanctified you. He has always kept you and loved you with tender love, as a mother loves her child. Blessed are you, O Lord, Who have created me!” One of the Sisters asked her, to whom she was speaking. Clare answered: “To my blessed soul.” Her guide for the journey was not far off. Indeed, turning towards one of her daughters, she said: “Do you see what I can see? – The King of Glory!” …

Blessed be her departure from this vale of sorrow, a departure which was, for her, the entry into the life of blessedness! As a reward for her fasts here below, she now knows the joy which reigns at the table of the Saints. In exchange for her rags and ashes, she has entered into possession of the blessedness of the heavenly Kingdom, where she is clothed in the robe of eternal glory!” – Thomas of Celano OFM (c1185-1260) Franciscan Friar and close assistant to St Francis, Biographer of Saint Francis and Saint Clare (Life of Saint Clare).

PRAYER – O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, to keep alive the memory of Your most holy Mother’s sorrows, through the Seven holy Fathers enriched your Church with a new family of her Servants, graciously grant that we may be so united with them in their sorrows, as also to share their joys. Who lives and reigns with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in BLESSED TRINITY PRAYERS, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on HOPE, The HOLY GHOST, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY

Our Morning Offering – 12 February – Patris et Filii Concordia By St Bede

Our Morning Offering – 12 February – “The Month of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity”

Patris et Filii Concordia
Come Holy Ghost,
Love of Father and Son.

By St Bede the Venerable (673-735)
Father and Doctor of the Church

O COME to me, my only Hope,
O Lord my God.
Come to me, true Light,
Father, Almighty God.
Come, Light from Light,
both Word and Son of God,
God Almighty.
Come Holy Ghost, Love of Father and Son,
One God Almighty.
Come One Almighty God,
Father and Son and Holy Ghost.

Teach faith, stir up hope, pour out love.
Thy will is present with me
(yet not from me but from Thee)
to leave the world and the earth
and to seek the Heavens.
But this will is a feeble feather, without Thy help.
Give wings of faith
that I might fly on high to Thee.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 12 February – Saint Ethelwald (Died c740) Bishop of Lindisfarne

Saint of the Day – 12 February – Saint Ethelwald (Died c740) Bishop of Lindisfarne from 721 until his death, Abbot.
Also known as – Aethelweald, Aedilauld, Ethilwald, Ethelwold. Additional Memorial – 21 April (translation of his Relics). Ethelwald is the last Bishop of Lindisfarne to have been revered as a Saint. He is often mistaken for his near contemporary, Æthelwold of Farne.

Born between the 7th and 8th Centuries, Ethelwald was a disciple of Saint Cuthbert (c634-687) known as “The Wonder-Worker of England.”

Having entered the Monastery of Melrose, he became first Prior and thethe Abbot. In 721, after the death of Bishop Ealfrid, he was elected as the Bishop of Lindisfarne.

He is most remembered for his contribution to the production of the renowed Illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels. Ethelwald took the raw Manuscripts which his predecessor Eadfrith had collected and had Billfrith bind them. The Lindisfarne Gospel ( which I have been blessed to see) now resides in the British Museum.

He died around the year 740 and was buried in the Cathedral. His Relics, together with those of Saint Cuthbert and other Saints, were transferred to Scotland in 875, then to Chester in 883 and finally, to Durham in 995. Below might be St Ethelwald’s Tomb residing in the now protestant Cathedral at Durham. I have been there and have seen St Cuthbert’s Tomb but I cannot recall seeing St Ethelwald’s.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

Madonna del Pilerio, Italy (12th Century), Notre-Dame-de- Argenteuil / Our Lady of Argenteuil, Paris, France (c 500), The Seven Holy Founders and the Saints for 12 February

Madonna del Pilerio, Italy (12th Century) – 12 February:
HERE:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/12/madonna-del-pilerio-our-lady-of-argenteuil-paris-france-and-memorials-of-the-saints-12-february/

Notre-Dame-de- Argenteuil / Our Lady of Argenteuil, Paris, France (c 500) – 12 February: Cathedral of Our Lady of Argenteuil, Paris, built by King Clovis I containing a portion of the Seamless Garment of Christ.
All about this Marian Title:

https://anastpaul.com/2019/02/12/feast-of-our-lady-of-argenteuil-and-the-seamless-tunic-12-february/

The Seven Holy Founders of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Servites)
Pope Leo XIII Canonised them all on 15 January 1888. After the Canonisation of the Seven Founders, their Feast was inserted in the General Roman Calendar for celebration on 11 February, the anniversary of the granting of canonical approval to the order in 1304. In 1909, 11 February became the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Feast of the seven founders was moved to 12 February.
In 1969 the Feast was moved to 17 February.
HERE:

https://anastpaul.com/2018/02/17/saints-of-the-day-17-february-the-seven-holy-founders-of-the-servite-order-osm-formation-on-15-august-1233/

St Alexius of Kiev
St Ammonius of Alexandria
Bl Anthony of Saxony

St Anthony Kauleas of Constantinople (c829-901) Bishop, Confessor, Defender of orthodoxy. Anthony was a pious man exercising mortification and penances. He generously endowed monastic foundations and founded or re-founded the Kauleas Monastery with the support of the emperor, who preached at the Church’s dedication. Buried in the Church of his Monastery, Anthony was held responsible for many miracles.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Constantinople, St Anthony, a Bishop in the time of the Emperor Leo VI.”
Holy and Courageous St Anthony:

https://anastpaul.com/2024/02/12/saint-of-the-day-12-february-st-anthony-kauleas-of-constantinople-c829-901-bishop-confessor/

St Benedict of Aniane OSB (747-821) “The Second Benedict,” Monk. Next to St Benedict himself, St.Benedict of Aniane influenced the shape of Benedictine monasticism in the West more than anyone else.
The Second St Benedict:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/saint-of-the-day-12-february-st-benedict-of-aniane-747-821-the-second-benedict/

Bl Benedict Revelli
St Damian of Africa
St Damian of Rome
St Ethelwald (Died c740) Bishop of Lindisfarne

St Eulalia of Barcelona (c 290-c 303) Virgin Martyr
Her Life and Death:

https://anastpaul.com/2020/02/12/saint-of-the-day-12-february-saint-eulalia-of-barcelona-c-290-c-303-virgin-and-martyr/

St Gaudentius of Verona (Died c465) Bishop and Confessor

St Goscelinus of Turin (Died 1053) Abbot
Biography:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/02/12/saint-of-the-day-12-february-saint-goscelinus-of-turin-osb-died-c-1053/

Bl Gregory of Tragurio
Bl Humbeline of Jully
St Julian of Alexandria

St Julian the Hospitaller / St Julian the Poor – Layman
Holy St Julian:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/02/12/saint-of-the-day-12-february-st-julian-the-hospitaller/

Bl Ladislaus of Hungary
Bl Ludan

St Meletius of Antioch (Died 381) Bishop of Antioch, Confessor.
His Life:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/12/saint-of-the-day-12-february-saint-meletius-of-antioch-died-381-bishop-of-antioch/

St Modestus of Alexandria
St Modestus of Carthage
St Modestus the Deacon
Bl Nicholas of Hungary
St Sedulius
Bl Thomas of Foligno

Martyrs of Albitina – 46 Saints:
During the persecutions of Diocletian, troops were sent to the churches of Abitina, North Africa on a Sunday morning; they rounded up everyone who had arrived for Mass and took them all to Carthage for interrogation by pro-consul Anulinus. The 46 who proclaimed their Christianity were executed. We know some of their names and stories. They were tortured to death in 304 in prison at Albitina, North Africa.