Thought for the Day – 2 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)
CARELESSNESS
“Reflect on the Infinite generosity of God, Who created us, redeemed us from sin by shedding the Blood of His Divine Son and enriched our souls with grace and supernatural gifts. How can we remain indifferent and fail to correspond willingly with such goodness? Virtue cannot be achieved without diligence and we cannot be true Christians, without virtue. Let us consider the example given us by the Saints. They lived in a continual and prayerful union with God; they never refused any task or any sacrifice, in order to show their love for Jesus and their total dedication to His will; they made every effort to attract others towards holiness and to bring about the triumph of the Kingdom of Christ in the world.
What are we doing? What are we prepared to do in future? Are we carelessly wiling away our days in indolence and pleasure?”
Quote/s of the Day – 2 September – St Stephen, King of Hungary (c975- 1038) Confessor
“Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life, rather, look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, Whose very Own you are, will lead you safely through all things and, when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His Arms.”
“Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’”
One Minute Reflection – 2 September – “The Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross ” – St Stephen King of Hungary (c975- 1038) Confessor – Ecclesiasticus Sirach 31:8-11 – Luke 19:12-26 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“I say to you that to everyone who has, more shall be given but from him, who does not have, even that which he has, shall be taken away.” – Luke 19;26
REFLECTION – “There is no question but that this Householder is Christ. After His Resurrection, when He was about to return triumphantly to the Father, He called His Apostles and entrusted them with the Gospel teaching, giving more to one, less to the other, never too much or too little but according to the abilities of those who received it. In the same way, the Apostle Paul said that he had fed with milk those unable to take solid food (1 Cor 3:2)…
Five, two, one talent: let us take these to be the different graces granted to each, whether the five senses for the first; understanding of faith and works for the second; the reasons for distinguishing us from other creatures, for the third. “The one who received five talents went away and traded with them and made another five.” That is to say, besides the physical and material senses he had received, he added knowledge of heavenly things. His knowledge was raised from the creatures to the Creator, from the corporal to the incorporeal, from the visible to the invisible, from the transient to the eternal. “The one who received two made another two.” This one likewise, according to his ability, doubled in the school of the Gospel what he had learned in the school of the Law. Or perhaps we could say, that he understood that knowledge of faith and the works of this present life, lead to future happiness. “But the man who received one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” In the grip of works here below and of worldly pleasures, the wicked servant neglected God’s commands. However, let us note that, according to another evangelist, he wrapped it in a linen cloth – by this we could understand that he took away the force of his Master’s teaching, by a life of softness and pleasure…
The Master welcomed the first two servants… with the same words of praise. “Come,” He said, “share in your Master’s joy and receive what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and what has not entered the human heart” (1 Cor 2:9). What greater reward could be bestowed upon a faithful servant!?” – St Jerome (343-420) Translator of Sacred Scripture (the Vulgate), Father and One of the Original Four Doctors of the Latin Church .
PRAYER – We beseech Thee, Almighty God, that Thy Church be worthy to have as her glorious defender in Heaven, the blessed Stephen, Thy Confessor, whom she had as her champion while he reigned on earth. 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).
Saint of the Day – 2 September – Saint Elpidius (4th Century) Abbot in Alcona, Italy, Monk, Hermit, Missionary to Italy, Born in Cappadocia in Asia Minor and died in Piceno, Ancona, Italy. Patronages – Sant’Elpdio a Mare, Sant’Elpidio Morico and Porto Sant’Elpidio, Italy. Also known as – Elpidius of Cappadocia, Elpidius the Abbot, Elpidius the Hermit, Elpidio…
The Roman Martyrology reads today: “In the Marche of Ancona, another St Elpidius, an Abbot. A Town hearing his name glories in the posseson of his sacred body.”
South of Ancona, several Towns bear the name of today’s Saint – Sant’Elpidio a Mare, Sant’Elpidio Morico and Porto Sant’Elpidio. In the Piceno area, this name is also frequently used by parents for their male children, yet, little is known about this Saint, so distant in time and memory that he has been confused with various other figures.
Some believe St Elpidius originated in Cappadocia. The writer Palladius recalls him in his Lausiac History as a Hermit who lived for many years in a cave near Jericho and sings the praises of an ascetic who, estranged from the company of men, chose the solitary ascent to the heights of Christian perfection.
At the time of Sant’Elpidius’ life, in the 4th Century, a new form of monasticism was gaining ground, with St Pachomius, the Founder of community life. In the Thebaid, near the Nile, he founded the first Convents of men and women, divided into individual cells, with a communal Church and refectory. At the head of each nucleus (the future Convent) was the Abbot, whose task was to ensure observance of the common Rule, enforcing chastity, work, fasting and the recitation of the Office.
A few years after St Pachomius, the great Church Fater, theologian and mystic, St Basil the Great, also of Cappadocia, issued a more moderate but wiser Rule, destined to become the constitutions, of all Christian monasticism, through the Benedictine Rule.
Elpidius had likely left the Monastery for a period of austere and solitude near Jericho, if we accept this version of the Saint’s life. He later moved to Piceno in Ancona, Italy, by the visitation and instruction of an Angel (see image below) to establish a Monastic community or at least to carry out some form of apostolate among the people. Some scholars, however, believe Elpidius was originally from Piceno and spent his entire life there, adhering to a highly personal ascetic rule, one which earned him the esteem and devotion, of the entire region. This great veneration has not yet diminished for the beloved St Elpidius who has interceded on many occasions for the welfar of the people and Towns under his patronage.
St Elpidius Relics eare nshrined in the Town of Cluana (modern Sant’Elpidio a Mare), Ancona, Italy. The miracles wrought through the veneration of these Relics saved the Town from a Lombarsiege when Elpidius appeared in the sky.
St Elpidius receives a vision in which an Angel informs him that he must evangelise in Ancona
St Prospero of Tarragona St Theodota of Bithynia St Valentine of Strasbourg St William of Roeskilde
Marytrs of Nicomedia – 3 Saints: Three Christians who were Martyred together in the persecutions of Diocletian. No details about them but their names have survived – Concordius, Theodore and Zenone. They were martyrd in Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey).
The Holy Martyrs of September (Died 1792) – 191 beati: Also known as – Martyrs of Paris, Martyrs of Carmes. They were massacred by a mobs on 2 September and 3 September 1792 and Beatified on 17 October 1926 by Pope Pius XI. THEIR LIVES AND DEATHS: https://anastpaul.com/2021/09/02/saint-s-of-the-day-2-september-
Martyrs of 2 September – 10 Saints: A group of ten Martyrs; their names are on old Martyrologies but we have lost all record of their lives and deaths. They were Canonised: Antoninus, Diomedes, Eutychian, Hesychius, Julian, Leonides, Menalippus, Pantagapes, Philadelphus, Philip.
Holy Bishops of Rennes: Honours all the Bishops of the Diocese of Rennes, France who have been recognised as Saints and Beati. They include Saint Maximinus of Rennes Saint Modéran of Rennes Saint Rambert of Rennes Saint Riotisme of Rennes Saint Servius of Rennes Saint Synchronius of Rennes
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