Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI

Thought for the Day – 13 April – The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

Thought for the Day – 13 April – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem

“Imagine the joyful and triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
The cheering crowds line the street along which He approaches, riding upon the foal of an ass.
Palm and olive branches are waved aloft, while groups of children cry out: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest” (Cf Mt 21:9).
In the midst of all this exultation, Jesus appears to be absorbed and detached.
In his representation of this scene, a famous artist painted a large cross in the distance, far beyond the cheering crowd.
Jesus’ Divine Vision, certainly saw this Cross.
He knew that in a few days, He would be arrested as a malefactor and Crucified between two thieves.
The ingratitude of men towards the Divine Redeemer was to go, even to this length.

We also shall have our moments of happiness and of victory in life.
But, like Jesus, we must not trust too much in the joys and conquests of this world.

The warning of the Holy Ghost, that “the end of joy may be sorrow” (Prov 14:13), is unfortunately, only too true.
Earthy happiness lasts for a short time and ends in grief.
So we must seek the true and lasting happiness which comes from Divine grace and from constant conformity with the Will of God.
This happiness will never pass away but, will become everlasting in Heaven.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on JOY, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SEPTEMBER-The SEVEN SORROWS of MARY and The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY FACE, The LAMB of GOD

Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – Palm Sunday

Quote/s of the Day – 13 April – Palm Sunday – Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 26:36-75; 27:1-60 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Behold the hour is at hand
and the Son of man shall be betrayed
into the hands of sinners
.”
Matthew 26:45

Because of sin, O innocent One,
You were set before the criminal’s judgement seat;
When Thou return in the Father’s glory
Do not judge me together with him.
Thou have put on crimson,
Set the scarlet cloak over Thee
As a dishonour and an affront,
As Pontius Pilate’s soldiers thought it to be.

St Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173)
Armenian Bishop

(Jesus, Only Son of the Father 708-724)

Lord Jesus, whether Thy Face
be glorious or humiliated,
we always see wisdom shining in It.
On Thy Face shines the refulgence
of Eternal Light (Wis 7:26).
O Lord, may Thy Light,
the Light of Thy Face (Ps 4:7),
always shine upon us, in sorrow as in happiness…
Thou art joy and salvation for all,
both when Thou ride on a donkey
and when Thou hang from a Cross
!”

Blessed Guerric of Igny (c1080-1157)
Cistercian Abbot

Posted in Hail MARY!, LENT- 2025, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARY, MATER ECCLESIAE, MATER DOLOROSA - Mother of SORROWS, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT, To JESUS through MARY

Lenten Meditations – 13 April – Jesus Commends His Disciples to His Holy Mother’s Care

Lenten Meditations – 13 April – 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 Sixth Sunday in Lent
Jesus Commends His Disciples
to His Holy Mother’s Care

Read St.John xix:25-27

[25] Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas and Mary Magdalen.
[26] When Jesus, therefore, had seen His Mother and the disciple whom He loved, He saith to His Mother: Woman, behold thy son. [27] After that, He saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. [John 19:25-27]

+1. Our Divine Saviour did not depart from those He loved without providing them with a Mother, who should be their Consoler, their Protector, their Advocate with God.
In the person of St John, He entrusted them all to Mary’s care.
If He had simply been providing Mary with a home, He would first have addressed St John and commended to him, the pious task of sheltering the Mother of God. By speaking firstly to Mary, He showed that it was she, who was to shelter all those, who were desolate and in sorrow. St John was the representative of all who love Jesus, when Jesus said to Mary respecting him:
Woman, behold thy son.

+2. This was the occasion when Our Lady, for a second time, became a mother.
The birth of her first-begotten Jesus, cost her no pains of travail; the birth of her spiritual children, the sinful sons of men, brought unspeakable anguish to her. The Queen of Heaven became the Queen of Dolors before she could earn the right, to exercise, a mother’s fostering care over each of us,.
How we ought to value the privilege of being her children, when it cost Mary such unspeakable suffering!

+3. When Jesus said to Mary: “Woman, behold thy son” He asked Our Lady to regard us with a mother’s love for His Sake.
Her love for Him was to be transferred to us, without, however, becoming one whit the lesser. She was to love us for Jesus’ Sake; to show her love for Him, by loving us.
With what perfect confidence can we go to Mary, who sees in each of us, in spite of our sins, the image of her Divine Son!
Hail Mary full of grace!

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES for CHRIST, The LAMB of GOD, The PASSION, The SACRED PASSION - Meditations for LENT, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 13 April – Palm Sunday – Behold the Lamb of God

One Minute Reflection – 13 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – Palm Sunday – St Hermenegild (Died 585) Martyr, Confessor – Philippians 2:5-11 – Matthew 26:36-75; 27:1-60 –Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Behold the hour is at hand and the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.” – Matthew 26:45

REFLECTION – “To the Lamb of God arise the Hosannas of the people, all those pressing round Him in the crowd, praise Him with one and the same confession of faith: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Mt 21:9). This praise already echoes the choir of Saints, singing: “Salvation comes from our God, Who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb!” (Apoc 7:10). He goes up to where, day-by-day, He will give His last teaching (Lk 20:47). It is there He will accomplish the sacrament of the Jewish Passover, faithfully observed hitherto. He Himself, will bestow a new Pasch of His Own, when, having left for the Mount of Olives, He will be put to the test by His enemies and, the following day, set on the Cross. Of such is the Paschal Lamb, see Him draw near today to the place of His Passion and fulfil the prophecy of Isaias: “Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers” (53:7).

He desires to enter His City five days before His Passion; by this He proves that He is indeed the Lamb without blemish Who comes to take away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). He is indeed the Paschal Lamb, Who, when sacrificed, will set the new Israel free from its slavery in Egypt (Ex 12). It is truly five days before His Passion when His enemies irrevocably agree on His death. Today He shows us, by this that He is going to redeem us all by His Blood (Apoc 5:9). As from today, He enters God’s Temple amongst the joyful jubilation of those who surround him (Mt 21:12).  The “Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1Tm 2:5) will suffer for humankind’s salvation – that indeed is why He came down to earth from Heaven – and today, He wills to draw near to the place of His Passion. Thus it will be clear to all that He bears His Passion of His own free will and by no means by force.” (Sermon No 23). St Bede the Venerable (673-735)
Father and Doctor of the Church

PRAYER – OGod, Who didst teach Thy blessed Martyr Hermenegild to choose a heavenly, rather than an earthly crown, grant, we beseech Thee, that we, like him, may so pass through temporal things that we finally miss not those which are eternal. Through esus 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 CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, franciscan OFM, GOD ALONE!, HOLY WEEK, HYMNS, LENT- 2025, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONSOLATION, QUOTES on DEATH

Our Morning Offering – 13 April – To Thee, O Jesus, Hosanna! By St Bonaventure

Our Morning Offering – 13 April – Palm Sunday

To Thee, O Jesus, Hosanna!
By St Bonaventure (1217-1274)

Seraphic Doctor of the Church

To Thee, O Jesus,
do I turn, as my true and last end.
Thou art the River of Life
which alone can satisfy my thirst.
Without Thee, all else is barren and void.
Without all else, Thou alone art enough for me.
Thou art the Redeemer of those who are lost,
the sweet Consoler of the sorrowful,
the Crown of Glory of the victors,
the recompense of the Blessed.
One day I hope to receive of Thy Fullness
and to sing the song of praise, in my true home.
Give me only on earth, some few drops of consolation
and I will patiently await Thy Coming,
when I hope to enter into the joy of my Lord.
Hosanna!

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 13 April – Saint Ursus (Died c425) Bishop of Ravenna

Saint of the Day – 13 April – Saint Ursus (Died c425) Bishop of Ravenna, in which Office he remained for 26 years. Born in Sicily in Italy and died in Ravenna, Italy of natural causes on 13 April in around 425. Patronages – of Furriers and Tanners, against kidney diseases, against fainting. Also known as – Ursianus, Orso, Ours. Additional Feast – Easter Sunday in Ravenna.

Mosaic of St Ursus in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna

Ursus, was the son of noble Sicilian parents, whom it is believed were pagans. Ursus fled Sicily after his conversion to Christianity in order to avoid their anger against him.

According to the list of Bishops, in c399, Ursus became the 16th Bishop of Ravenna, successor to St Liberius III and the predecessor of St Peter Chrysologus (c400-450), (Doctor of the Church).

He had the Church of the Resurrection built – later named the Basilica of Ursiano after him. He Consecrated it on Easter Sunday in 384. This became the Cathedral, which in the 18th Century, had to make way for the present one.

St Ursus Consecrates the Cathedral of Ravenna by Vincenzo Camuccini,

Ursus also began construction of the associated Baptistery —named after his successor, who Consecrated the completed building.

When, in 402, the Royal Court was moved from Milan to Ravenna, he moved the Bishop’s Seat back from Classe to his Basilica in the City.

Ursus died after twenty six years of Episcopate on 13 April, around 425. His memory is, however, celebrated in Ravenna on Easter Sunday, the anniversary of his dedication of the Basilica Ursiano, He was buried in his Basilica.

Tradition has it that Ursus was of Sicilian origin, a factor which would explain the spread of the cult of Sicilian Saints in Ravenna since the 5th Century.

St Ursus Baptistry at Ravenna Cathedral
Posted in DOMINICAN OP, INCORRUPTIBLES, MARIAN TITLES, SAINT of the DAY

PALM SUNDAY, Santa Maria dei Voti / Our Lady of Mantua, Italy (1640), St Hermengild (Died 585) Martyr, Confessor, King and the Saints for 13 April

PALM SUNDAY

Santa Maria dei Voti / Our Lady of Mantua, Italy (1640) – 13 April:
HERE:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/13/santa-maria-dei-voti-our-lady-of-mantua-1640-and-memorials-of-the-saints-13-april/

St Hermengild (Died 585) Martyr, Confessor, King.
The Roman Martyrology reads: “At Seville in Spain, St Hermenegild, son of Leovigild, Arian King of the Visigoths, who was incarcerated for the confession of the Catholic Faith. By order of his wicked father, he was beheaded because he had refused to receive communion from an Arian Bishop, on the Paschal Solemnity and thus exchanging an earthly for a heavenly Kingdom, he entered the abode of the blessed, both as a King and as a Martyr.
His Life and Death:

https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-st-hermenegild-died-585-martyr-confessor/

St Pope Martin I (598-655) Martyr, The 74th Bishop of Rome.
His Life and Death:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-st-pope-martin-i/

St Agathonica of Pergamus
St Agathodorus of Pergamus

Blessed Albertinus of Fonte Avellana OSB (Died 1294) Monk, Prior General, talented Administrator and Peacemaker, not only in his Monastery but also in the greater world outside it.
About Blessed Albertinus:

https://anastpaul.com/2022/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-blessed-albertinus-of-fonte-avellana-osb-died-1294/

St Caradoc of Wales (Died 1124) Priest, Monk, Hermit, Miracle-worker, Musician.
About St Caradoc:

https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-saint-caradoc-of-wales-died-1124/

St Carpus of Pergamus
Bl Edward Catherick
Bl Francis Dickenson
St Guinoc

St Ida of Boulogne (c1040-1113) Widow, Countess, Apostle of charrity to the poor and needy, a lady of pious devotion and love for the Church to which she extended donations and assistance wherever needed. She supported and became a friend and correspondent of St Anselm of Canterbury who was deeply involved in the Cluniac reform in France. Born in c1040 in Ardennes, France and died on 13 April 1113 of natural causes. Patronage – of widows.
Devoted St Ida:

https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-saint-ida-of-boulogne-c1040-1113/

Bl Ida of Louvain
Bl James of Certaldo
Bl John Lockwood

Blessed Margaret of Castello OP (1287-1320) Italian professed member of the Third Order of the Order of Preachers of St Dominic. Margaret was disabled and became known for her deep faith and holiness. Her body is incorrupt. Beatified on 19 October 1609 by Pope Paul V (concession of indult for Mass and Office).
About Blessed Margaret:

https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/saint-of-the-day-13-april-blessed-margaret-of-castello-o-p-1287-1320/

St Martius of Auvergne
Bl Miles Gerard
St Papylus of Pergamus
St Proculus of Terni
St Ursus (Died c425) Bishop of Ravenna

Martyrs of Dorostorum – 3 Saints: A lector and two students Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian – Dadas, Maximus and Quinctillianus. Beheaded c303 in Dorostorum, Lower Mysia (modern Sillistria, Bulgaria.