Day: March 16, 2025

Posted in MARCH the month of ST JOSEPH, Meditations on ST JOSEPH, St JOSEPH, The FLIGHT into EQYPT

Thought for the Day – 16 March – St Joseph’s Fifth Sorrow

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

“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

16th Day – St Joseph’s Fifth Sorrow
The Flight into Egypt

+I. One night, as Joseph slept, a vision came before his eyes. He saw an Angel who bade him rise and take the Child Jesus and HisMother and fly into Egypt. Without a moment’s delay, he rose quickly, called Our Lady, put together what was necessary for the journey and started ere dawn appeared, in the sky. His heart was torn with sorrow but, like a true son of obedience, he hesitated not for a single moment but accepted all, as coming from God.

+2. Long and perilous was the journey, many were the sufferings of the Holy Family. Perils in the desert perils from the robbers who beset the road, perils from the wild beasts, perils from exposure to the sun by day and to the cold by night. Sorrowful indeed was St Joseph’s heart, as he trudged on day-by-day, leading the ass upon which Our Lady rode. S orrowful not for his own sake but because of the anxiety he felt for the safety of the precious treasure committed to him. Sorrowful at the thought of all they were suffering and would suffer, during their exile.

+3. At last, they arrived at the destination God had fixed for them and here, St Joseph earned a scanty livelihood day-by-day, by his trade as a carpenter. How uncongenial was all around them! They were among those who knew not the true God, among their old oppressors in Egypt, among idolaters and pagans. No murmur ever escaped St Joseph’s lips; he was willing to wait in Egypt, as long as God pleased.
Do I submit with blind obedience to all God commands through my superiors or the arrangement of His Providence, without murmuring or complaining?

Posted in CATECHESIS, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, St Francis de Sales, The TRANSFIGURATION, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 16 March – ‘ … May we be moulded to His Image …’

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Quote/s of the Day – 16 March – The Second Sunday of Lent

“This is My beloved Son;
in Whom I Am well pleased,
listen to Him.”

Matthew 17:5

“Let us listen to the holy Voice of God
which summons us from on high,
from the holy mountain top.
There, we must hasten – I make bold to say –
like Jesus, Who is our leader
and has gone before us into Heaven.
There, with Him, may the eyes of our mind
shine with His Light and the features of our soul
be made new; may we be transfigured with Him
and moulded to His image,
ever becoming divine,
being transformed in an ever greater degree of glory.”

St Anastasius Sinaita (Died 6th Century)
Priest and Abbot

“At His Transfiguration
Christ showed His disciples,
the splendour of His Beauty,
to which He will shape and colour,
those who are His :
‘He will reform our lowness
configured to the Body of His Glory.”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor of the Church

“Aspire to God with short
but frequent outpourings of the heart,
admire His bounty,
invoke His aid,
cast yourself in spirit at the foot of His Cross,
adore His goodness,
treat with Him of your salvation,
give Him your whole soul –
a thousand times in the day.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of Charity

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, LENT- 2025, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES on SUFFERING, REDEMPTIVE Suffering, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT

Lenten Meditations – 16 March – The Assitance Given the Saints, in the Sacred Agony

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Lenten Meditations – 16 March – With Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“The Sacred Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ”
“Short Meditations for Lent”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

The Second Sunday in Lent
The Assitance Given the Saints, in the Sacred Agony

Read St.Matthew xxvi:40–44

40] And He cometh to His disciples and findeth them asleep and He saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with Me?
[41] Watch ye and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh weak. [42] Again the second time, He went and prayed, saying: My Father, if this chalice may not pass away but I must drink it, Thy Will be done. [43] And he cometh again and findeth them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. [44] And leaving them, He went again and He prayed the third time, saying the selfsame word. [Matthew 26:40-44]

+1. Our Blessed Lord was not satisfied with taking upon Himself the sins of the world; in His Divine Mercy and compassion, He added to this, a further Sacrifice of Himself. He took upon Himself too, all the sufferings of the just and especially, all His Saints and Martyrs would have to suffer for His Sake. He endured beforehand, the thousand forms of agony to which they would be subjected for His Sake. Not only would He, in His Love and Mercy, redeem them but He bore their infirmities and carried their sorrows.
What sufficient thanksgiving can we give Him for His unbounded Goodness?

+2. This it is which enabled the Martyrs to despise their torments and made the Apostles rejoice to suffer shame for His Sake. This it is which makes tolerable, anguish which otherwise would be intolerable; for, if it be borne patiently for love of Christ, He has already, in Himself, if not exhausted its bitterness, at least taken the bulk of it, onto Himself. Every pang, every struggle, every throb of agony which should fall to the lot of His servants until the end of the world, He made His Own, for their relief.

+3. For this reason, we are taught to unite our sufferings with those of Our Lord; for, what else does this mean, except that He desires to share them with us? In point of fact, the more we do this, the more we bear our troubles with a supernatural motive, the lighter they will become, or rather, the greater will be our power and willingness, to bear them.
I will be more resigned, more patient, for Christ’s sake. To Him, I will offer all my sufferings and unite them to His.

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, The TRANSFIGURATION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 16 March – This is My Beloved Son ”’

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One Minute Reflection – 16 March – “The Month of Saint Joseph” –The Second Sunday in Lent – Thessalonians 4:1-7 – Matthew 17:1-9 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“And lo a Voice out of the cloud, saying: This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am well pleased, hear ye Him.” –Matthew 17:5

REFLECTION – “He leads them up a high mountain to show them the glory of His Divinity and to let them know that He was Israel’s Saviour, as revealed by His Prophets … They saw Him eat and drink, get tired and rest, sleep, suffer anguish to the point where His sweat became like drops of blood, all things which did not seem to have much to do with His Divine nature but only, with his human nature. This is why He leads them up a high mountain, so that the Father may call Him “My Son” and show them He really was His Son and He is God.

He leads them up a high mountain and shows them His royalty before suffering, His power before dying, His glory before being insulted and His honour before undergoing ignominy. In this way, when He will be captured and Crucified, His Apostles will understand that He did not undergo this because of weakness but, to consent and willingly so, for the salvation of the world.

He leads them up a high mountain and shows them the glory of His Divinity, before His Resurrection. In this way, when He will rise from the dead in the glory of His Divinity, His disciples will testify that He did not receive this glory as a reward for having suffered – as if He needed to but thatH this gloryH belonged to Him long before the centuries, with the Father and in the Father as He Himself will say, as He approaches His voluntary Passion “Now glorify Me, Father, with Thyself, with the glory I had with Thee before the world began” (Jn 17:5).” – St Ephrem (306-373) Deacon at Syria, Father and Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thy Only-begotten Son strengthened the Mysteries of faith, by the testimony of the fathers and, by the Voice coming down in a shining cloud, miraculously betokened the complete adoption of Thy children, mercifully grant that we, be made co-heirs with that King of glory and sharers in that same glory. 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 BREVIARY Prayers, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, LENT, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The TRANSFIGURATION

Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Lux Alma, Jesu – Light of the Anxious Heart by St Bernard

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Our Morning Offering – 16 March – The Second Sunday of Lent

Lux Alma, Jesu
Light of the Anxious Heart
By St Bernard (1091-1153).
Father & Mellifluous Doctor of the Church

Light of the anxious heart,
Jesus, Thou dost appear,
To bid the gloom of guilt depart,
And shed Thy sweetness here.

Joyous is he, with whom,
God’s Word, Thou dost abide;
Sweet Light of our eternal home,
To fleshly sense denied.

Brightness of God above!
Unfathomable grace!
Thy presence be a fount of love
Within Thy chosen place.

To Thee, Whom children see,
The Father ever blest,
The Holy Spirit, One and Three,
Be endless praise addrest.

Translation by Cardinal Newman (1800-1890).
There are eight translations.
Liturgical Use: Hymn for Lauds on the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.
This Hymn is a cento from St Bernard’s Jesu Dulcis Memoria.

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 16 March – Saint Abraham Kidunaia (c 296-c 366) Priest, Hermit

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Saint of the Day – 16 March – Saint Abraham Kidunaia (c 296-c 366) Priest, Hermit, Missionary and a great friend of the Deacon, St Ephrem (306-373) Father and Doctor of the Church.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In Syria, St Abraham, Hermit, whose life has been written by the blessed Deacon, St Ephreme.”

Abraham, born near the Syrian City of Edessa, in modern-day Turkey. Abraham’s wealthy parents chose a bride for him, according to Syrian custom. There was only one problem – Abraham had privately vowed to live a celibate life but he had not reported his desires to his family. He certainly did not wish to disobey them but, he neither did he wish to maryy.

He joined in the week of festivities which led to his wedding but when the big day came, Abraham deserted the bride and the wedding. He ran into the desert, where he hconcealed himself in a cave, leaving only a small hole for food and messages.

During this period, often referred to as the golden age of Hermits, when many (including several who became Saints) chose to witness their faith, by holy solitude. Abraham’s family and friends tried encourage and entice him to return to civilisation but he refused. Finally, they agreed to call off the wedding and leave him in peace.

Abraham led his eremtical life for 10 years, until the local Bishop called upon him to help convert the people of Beth-Kiduna, who persisted in paganism and idol worship despite the Bishop’s best efforts. Abraham did not wish to leave his solitary life but was obedient to the Bishop who Ordained him a Priest before he began his mission.

The people of Beth-Kiduna were not happy to see Abraham. First, he tried preaching but they refused his call to Baptism. Then, he built a Church, came back into Town and destroyed their idols and pagan altars. This resulted in an uprising against our Saint whom they whipped and dragged out of the City gates.

He was back the next day, preaching in the village square. They again threw him outside the walls, stoned him and left him for dead. But he was back again the following day. For three years, Abraham continued to preach and the people continued to hurl rocks and insults at him.

Eventually, Abraham’s holiness and persistence, by the grace of God, resulted in him Baptising 1,000 of Beth-Kiduna’s citizens. He stayed with them another year, teaching them the Faith and Baptising many more converts. He prayed for another Priest to come and take care of the people. And when the Bishop sent one, Abraham returned to his csve, where he remained in prayer and solitude until the age of 70.

He won the love and admiration of the surrounding communities and many people flocked to his cave to receive his blessing during his last days. His final journeyaway from his cave, was for his funeral which was attended by numerous mourners.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

The SECOND SUNDAY in LENT – LENT II, Our Lady of the Fountain, Constantinople (460)

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The SECOND SUNDAY in LENT – LENT II

Our Lady of the Fountain, Constantinople (460) – 16 March:
HERE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/16/our-lady-of-the-fountain-constantinople-460-and-memorials-of-the-saints-16-march/

NOVENA for the INTERCESSION of ST JOSEPH
DAY SEVEN: CLICK here: DAY SEVEN

St Abban of Kill-Abban

St Abraham Kidunaia (c 296-c 366) Priest, Hermit, Missionary, Friend of St Ephreme.
Venerated on 29 October after 1969.
The Lord’s Servant:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/10/29/saint-of-the-day-29-october-saint-abraham-kidunaia-c-296-c-366/

St Agapitus of Ravenna
St Aninus of Syria

St Benedicta of Assisi OSC (Died 1260) Poor Clare Nun, Abbess.
St Benedicta’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-st-benedicta-of-assisi-osc-died-1260/

St Cyprianus Deacon Martyr
St Dionysius of Aquileia
St Dentlin of Hainault
Bl Eriberto of Namur
St Eusebia of Hamage
St Felix of Aquileia

St Finian Lobhar, surnamed “the Luminous Leper” (Died c 560) Bishop, Confessor, Abbot, Founder of Monasteries, Mystic, Miracle-worker.
St Finan’s Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-saint-finian-lobhar-surnamed-the-luminous-leper-died-c-560/

Bl Ferdinand Valdes

Blessed Giovanni de Surdis Cacciafronte OSB (1125 – 1184) Bishop and Martyr, Abbot.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-giovanni-de-surdis-cacciafronte-osb-1125-1184/

St Gregory Makar

St Heribert of Cologne (c970–1021) Archbishop of Cologne, a Miracle-worker and Counsellor. Canonised in 1075 by Pope Saint Gregory VII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-st-heribert-c-970-1021/

St Hilary of Aquileia
Bl Joan Torrents Figueras

Blessed John Amias (1589) Priest, Martyr, Married layman and father of seven children, then a Widower and a home Missionary Priest. John was Beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-john-amias-1589-priest-martyr/

St Julian of Anazarbus
St Largus of Aquileia
St Malcoldia of Asti
St Megingaud of Wurzburg
St Papas
St Patrick of Clermont

Blessed Robert Dalby (Died 1589) Priest Martyr. Born at Hemingborough near Wakefield in North Yorkshire, England and died on 16 March 1589 at York, England by being hanged, drawn, and quartered during the persecutions of Elizabeth I. Also known as – Robert Drury. Additional Memorial – 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai. Blessed Robert was Beatified on 15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
His Life and Death:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/16/saint-of-the-day-16-march-blessed-robert-dalby-died-1589-priest-martyr/

Bl Torello of Poppi Hermit